Chapter Text
Of course Cal knew Eddy would struggle. The girl had lost her arm in the battle of C-9. That wasn't an injury even the toughest of soldiers could just shake off. The problems was, that in typical Eddy fashion, she stubbornly refused to admit to needing help. While Cal usually admired her independence, he just couldn't understand why she kept refusing to try her prosthetic.
He had watched the girl mope around Alvor for the entire three weeks since they had arrived on the planet. At first he had accepted Eddy's claims that her dour mood was due to the limitations of being confined to bed rest and banned from training. And on some level it made sense - the girl's boundless energy and aggressive attitude indeed did not make her well suited to extended stays in the Aurelian's medical ward.
However, even after being allowed to return to light physical activity, Eddy's mood had yet to improve. She usually sported a far-off look, and tended to zone out whenever not actively engaging with one of the crew. In fact, Eddy had taken to pulling a dour expression whenever anyone other than the crew tried to initiate a conversation. Her usual energy was noticeably absent as she barely seemed motivated to mumble or grunt responses to doctor. Cal found himself particularly concerned when the girl casually ignored the frilly pink bows and ribbons stuck to her favorite boots (courtesy of a prank by an equally concerned Toker).
The worst of it however was Eddy's determined avoidance of Viktor. The young genius had tried numerous times since completing it, to convince Eddy to test out the prosthetic arm he had designed for her. Yet despite weeks of pushing, it still hadn't happened. Eddy seemed intent on evading the tech lab all together.
It had been virtually impossible for Viktor to find the girl whenever he tried— something that did not go unnoticed by the rest of the crew. Eventually, he had given up and simply set Melinda to the task of wrangling Eddy into the lab. Upon realizing her new hunter however, Eddy had taken refuge in the one place Melinda could not access.
Cal didn’t know how exactly his petite friend had convinced General James Decker and the Chief of Alvor’s Research team to give her access to the ships in the West Hanger, but Eddy had taken a small seeker ship and parked it somewhere in orbit around Alvor.
This of course frustrated Viktor to no end, but effectively created a stalemate. Melinda could take the Star Splinter and chase after Eddy all she wanted, but the Seeker Prototypes were simply smaller and faster.
Cal wasn’t too worried about Eddy running off. He knew first hand how small the cockpits of the Seeker ships were and was fairly confident the girl would return within a day or two for food. However, Callum couldn’t help worrying about Eddy herself.
He would be the first to admit that emotions and psychology were hardly his strong suit. (As evidenced by his having neglected to talk to his younger compatriots about the destruction of Earth) Yet, he couldn’t shake his concern for the girl.
Surely something was wrong? He just didn’t understand what. Obviously she was affected by her traumatic experience losing her arm. The battle of C-9 had left countless such wounds, both physical and mental. But Cal was at a loss as to specifically what about her injuries continuing to affect her. He didn’t know how to help if he couldn’t identify the root of the problem.
Did she need counseling? Was she feeling anger or helplessness? For the life of him he just couldn’t see why she was hesitant to test her prosthetic.
Cal was restless and frustrated. He needed to be doing something. He needed to be out there, searching for Kya. But in order to do that, he needed to help his crew. Toker and Vikor seemed fine overall, if a little shaken. And Jumper’s wounds were nearly healed. That just left Eddy and her missing limb. The one problem that seemed to have an immediate and simple solution if only she’d just take it!
She had to be struggling with her situation, and Cal felt for her - he really did. He just wished there was something he could do.