Chapter Text
Grace stood in the darkness of the room, eyes tired. He stared at the controls in front of him, watching the bright buttons beneath him.
He heard Rocky shuffle behind him, and Grace glanced over his shoulder. He smiled over at Rocky, and turned his head back to the controls.
Something kept bugging his mind as he looked down. Everything seemed just fine, and Mary was well on her way to Erid. Grace couldn't shake the feeling something was off, but maybe it was just the lack of sleep that was getting to him.
Rocky moved towards the middle of the room, settling down as he too seemed to look out towards the front of the ship. Grace let his mind wander then, and looked out towards the bay windows.
The sky and its stars seemed to go on for forever, and Grace wondered what the stars would be like when they get to Erid. Rocky had explained that the idea of his and Simon's home was to be created by Eridians scientists, and Rocky had already created the first blueprint of how the dome would work for them.
They discussed a home by the ocean, where a sandy beach would stand. Grace explained how much he loved the beach as a kid, and Simon agreed as long as he could see the stars. Rocky was more the happy to oblige. He worked tirelessly over the project, and had been bursting with excitement of creating a world for his Grace and Grace's mate.
Grace let his mind wander off, until something caught his eye on the main control port of the scanner. A small blinking light drew Grace's full attention. Grace's face immediately fell when he leaned towards to the window, squinting as he stared into the dark abyss of space.
He moved back to the control panels and went to work, wondering if the object could've been a stray asteroid. His heart sank as he tried to get a better view, unsure of what he was exactly looking for. The blinking light steadily grew closer, and he was about to set a course to begin to shift Mary away when he heard a high-pitch trill from behind him.
"Grace! Grace look: Grace look there!" Rocky cried, his legs pushing against his ball in panic.
"Holy crap!" Grace swore, bursting past Rocky to get a better view.
"Alien species! Spacecraft! Grace eyesight bad, statement!" Rocky exclaimed, his legs pushing his ball towards Mary's controls.
Grace glanced over to the scanner, seeing the object get closer and closer towards them. He tried to make his eyes adjust to the best of his ability, and saw something begin to shift into focus.
"It looks like...a little pill capsule. Small. Wait- Wait..that looks like-" Grace cut himself off, horrified.
"ROCKY!" Grace screamed, as the little pill spaceship came into Mary's full view.
The lights from Mary shone into the small spaceship, highlighting something sitting inside. Grace's heart sunk down to his knees, and he stared in horror at the little figure. Their body was at an awkward angle, their head pressed against their chest with a teddy bear leaning against their legs. Wires littered their back as Grace stared through the window, and he automatically pressed his hands against it as if to reach out towards them.
"Rocky. Its a kid." Grace whispered.
"Huh? Huh? What?! Statement!" Rocky responded, pressing against Grace's legs.
Oh my god- Rocky! Get the suit. Get Simon!" Grace yelled, and took off down the hallway, with Rocky tumbling after him.
-
Simon stood in the Don't Go Crazy Room, watching the trees sway in the breeze. He wondered if he could ask Rocky to make him trees too, since Grace gets a whole ocean. He smiled to himself, the large teeth on the side of his face stretching across his cheek. He brushed the hair out of his eyes, and took a deep breath.
A clatter against the metal floor broke him from his thoughts, and he immediately heard Grace yelling down the hallway. Simon scrambled as he went to stand, and took off towards Grace's yells.
"What?! What!" Simon called out, rushing off to see Grace and Rocky stumble towards the hatch of the ship.
Grace struggled to grip the astronaut suit, his face sweaty and expression terrified.
"Grace! What the fuck is happening?! Whats wrong, Angel?" Simon said, immediately springing into action to help Grace slip into the suit.
Grace huffed loudly, struggling to control his breathing. Simon put his hands against his shoulders, trying to calm Grace down.
"Human outside! Statement!" Rocky answered for Grace, and Grace hurriedly nodded his head as he went to grab the helmet.
"What?! A human?" Simon answered, shock stopping him in his tracks.
Simon stood there, staring at the two. His heartbeat quickened, and a part of him wondered if it was a sick joke. But their expressions looked terrified, and Rocky couldn't stop vibrating in his ball.
"J-Just help me, please, I need to go help-" Grace begged, and Simon broke out of his state.
"S-Sorry. Holy shit. Grace, who the fuck is out here with us?" Simon asked, his heart hammering as he zipped the back of Grace's suit.
"I don't know. But its a kid, Simon. Simon..its a kid outside. I gotta...I have to." Grace hiccuped, small tears formed in the corners of his eyes.
Simon immediately reached forward and brushed the tears out of Grace's eyes. He pressed his forhead against Grace and took a deep breath.
"Breathe first. Save after. We'll get them." Simon promised, and Grace shivered audibly.
Grace clutched onto Simon's shirt and sobbed into it, the pure terror and worry was sinking in quickly. Simon took Grace's head in his hand and cradled his cheek.
"Breathe." Simon said, and Grace slowed his breathing.
"You got this, Grace. Go help them, me and Rocky have you back here. We're ten steps behind you, okay? Me and Rocky will have the cord and all you need to do is get them into the haul of Mary. You did it for me, and you'll do it for them. One step at a time, angel." Simon said, and Grace nodded quickly.
Grace leaned over to press a quick kiss against Simon's lips, and Simon helped him into his helmet. Grace turned around and took off into the hatch, and the air-lock door closed tightly behind him.
Rocky took off to the panel to get the cord ready for Grace, and Grace began connecting it to his suit. Simon watched the scanner as Grace gave the go for him to press the button of the air lock. Grace began climbing the ladder towards the hatch, and began turning the wheel to open it.
Simon watched Grace push it open and began drifting into space, towards the small pill-shaped spaceship that came into view.
Rocky directed Simon to begin shifting Mary towards the ship, and opened the large bay door beyond the air lock. They opened it slow, and Simon noticed Grace had wrapped the cord around the ships main port. It was so small, small enough to be easily moved towards the inside of Mary. Grace moved it completely before the door shut behind them. Grace climbed back up the ladder to close the hatch and seal it shut, before he drifted back down and had the large bay door close behind him and the tiny ship.
The air decompressed back into oxygen, and Simon gave it the go for Grace to remove his helmet.
Simon immediately opened the air-lock door to see Grace bent over the front of the small spaceship. Grace's expression looked terrified, and he hesitantly pressed a hand against the glass of the ship. Simon approached from behind and let out a sharp intake of breath.
A small girl, maybe around thirteen or so, sat hunched over with wires protruding from her starving body. Whisps of dark hair covered his face, her mouth slack and her eyes closed tight. Grace immediately shuffled to find the release button on the corner. The glass door opened slowly, a burst of air pressure was heard as the cover slid open.
Grace went to kneel down to her level, watching her small chest rise and fall as she slept. Grace deduced the wires had been keeping her alive, and he went to carefully brush the hair out of her face.
She was just a kid, and not much older then the kids he left behind. He let out a sob and carefully cradled her face in his hands.
"A-Angel?" Simon choked out from behind Grace, and Grace's face became determined.
"We have to help her, Simon. Get Armando, we're getting her out of these wires." Grace said, and Rocky moved to Grace's side.
Simon nodded, brushing a few tears out of his eyes as he immediately went down the hallway to fetch Armando.
"Grace and Rocky help small human, will make sure is safe, statement. Will watch over." Rocky said, and Grace looked over at Rocky.
"We'll give her a home here." Grace agreed.