How Long was I out?

“Ohhh,” Jacy was moaning softly as she stirred on the floor. The cold metal deck of the shuttle was beneath her, sapping the heat from her body. Her hand went to her forehead before she had completely come round. There was a welt there and she’d not be happy with the discoloration sure to follow, but none of that registered just yet. Her eyelashes fluttered as she began to gain consciousness and slowly realized that she must have fallen.

And then she was being abducted by Reavers; Reavers who smelt surprisingly clean and had gentle hands.

A pair of hands hefted her up off the floor and set her down on the bed. "Hey, Jacy…" Vas, who looked worse for wear himself, gently turned her head to see the growing knot. "...Hit your head pretty good. How are you feeling? Dizzy? Nauseous? You want me to take you down to the Doc?" He asked, keeping her steady just in case she started tipping in an undesirable direction.

“Beloved?” she called out in a feeble voice as she brought his face into focus. “You *are* back. I thought I dreamt that element as well.” She moved her head over to rest it in his lap and tears began to well up in her eyes. “I’m so sorry.”

Vas blinked, not knowing what he did wrong to make her tear up like that. "What? Awe Jacy, don't be sorry. I got a little roughed up is all really; nothing some sleep and time won't fix. Doc patched me up really good and I got my job back," the punk said quickly, hoping to soothe Jacy out of her tears. "You didn't do anything wrong…really," Vas assured her with a smile. Ouch nose!

“But I did, Sugarbear,” she mumbled.

"How 'bout I take you to the Doc then? Have you checked out?" He asked as he brushed a stray platinum hair from her face.

“I’ll escort *you* to see Dorian - you look worse than I feel. Why is it always your nose?” She reached up and gently prodded his snout.

"Right? Not just me! Second time in less than two months," he said, trying not to laugh…that would hurt.

“Ooh sorry. Wait - how are you roughed up?” She had her arm around his waist for support, but she could already tell walking was not going to be a problem. “You were just supposed to deckhand for two --” she cut herself off and quickly reached for her head, playing it off as a side effect of the fall. “I don’t know what I’m saying. Will you tell me what happened?”

Vas easily passed it all off from that konk on her head also given how easily it could be misinterpreted. The punk also had no reason to believe anything else; Jacy had been nothing but kind and loving to him. "I thought I had found a great ship… for both of us. Turned out they were slavers. Drugged me and coerced me into signing a 'contract'. The getting out was a bit messy. Doc and Captain came to my rescue, though," Vas explained, leaving out the bloody parts. "Got me rehired out of pity I think." He joked.

“I’m glad Keller returned your position to you, but it should not have come to this.” Jacy tugged at the bottom edge of her shirt and considered her next question before tentatively asking, “Did you have to kill anyone?”

"You sure you wanna know something like that?" Vas asked her gently. He wouldn't lie to her of course, but Jacy was seeing fit to take a measure of blame; it was sweet. So he didn't want her feeling guilty over something he had no choice over.

“Then you have answered my question.” They were nearly to the infirmary at this point, but the entire ship smelled of Marisol’s cooking. If Jacy hadn’t thought herself certain what was in it, she might have found the smell pleasant. “Did you kill them all or just enough to escape?” She knew it was a very strange question considering they’d never really discussed his particular skillset, not in detail, but she needed to know. She needed to hear it from Vas; she needed to hear the name Serena Edwards and what fate befell her.

“Well, how do ya know *I* killed anyone? How do you know if Doc or Captain didn’t shot ‘em?” He posed, clearly not taking the whole thing as seriously as a normal person would. “Either way I got out, who cared what happened to a bunch of slavers anyway.” Was Vas a bit biased on the matter? Very. He was very biased.

“I *don’t* know, Sugarbear. That’s why I’m asking. I received terrible news on the Cortex about Reavers attacking the Skyplex…” She reached over and pinched his nipple. “...which you still have not mentioned. Then I fell and hit my head. I wake up to my chivalrous knight who is trying to protect me from the truth when the truth is all I want from him. For now. When we’ve both been to see Dorian and he has me fixed up - then I will want *more* from you.” Something about the way she said *more* made it clear just what she was referring to.

“Oh… right… we got attacked by Reavers on the way back.” Vas laughed. “We shot a bunch of ‘em. We also stole a truck full of meat and plum wine.” He explained with a smile. “So bonus? Oh and Captain kinda… won one fo the crewmate in a high stakes tall card game. She’s in her room sleeping it off just so you know why there’s a stranger running around,” he added, opening the door to escort her in.

“Wait… I don’t even know where to start. Let’s see - Plum wine is a disgrace, it should be poured down the drain and never mentioned again. Winning a stranger in a card game sounds a step or two above slavery. What is *her* name?” Jacy held a finger to Vas’ lips. “Shooting a bunch of Reavers on the station should have been the first thing you mentioned. Their ships are probably nearby and saw us leave the Skyplex. I’m fairly alarmed here.” She removed her finger and goosed him. “Now answer me please before Dorian comes in.”

“Serena is her name and don’t worry, there is a bunch of Alliance ships chasing away the big bad Reavers. A lot happened in the past few hours or so...” Vas said with a hand motion. “Sorry?”

“You don’t chase away Reavers. You have to kill them; blow them out of the sky. How long ago did we leave the station? Baby, this is important information here.” Jacy pressed the comm button on the wall and held the back of her hand to her forehead. “Paging Doctor Adler. Level 10 Code Platinum in the infirmary. I bumped my head severely, Doc.” Jacy released the button and looked around the medbay. It looked less frightening without all the red flashing lights. “Serena Edwards, deckhand of the Skyship. Is that the one?”

“The very same,” Vas said, happy to go along that line. It wasn’t a lie - she was a deckhand - now. Besides the kid has a chance to start with a clean slate, she deserved the chance at least.

“And now you have your position back so you have a deckhand who isn’t a child. You’ll need new clothes for that. I bought you new clothes for that.” Jacy sat down on the fancy medical chair and bounced twice. “This is nice.”

“I can't wait to see.” Vas grinned.

“I had the tailor remove the ass from all of your new pants. This way, when Riley chews it out, we won’t have to replace them. And…I thought they’d come in handy for number seven on the list. I think you remember number seven?”

“Har… har,” Vas said with chortled and shake of his head. “I aim to avoid a second chewing and maintain the integrity of my pants.”

“Then come over here and kiss me and I promise I will give you all the pants with ass that you can handle. After Dorian gives me something for the headache.”

“How can I say no?” Vas asked, giving her a peck on the cheek. “...more *after* the Doc sees you.”

She grabbed him by the waist of his pants and pulled him in. "I'll have just a bit more now, please. And then more later. After I meet your new deckhand."

“Harry the poor girl after the poor girl gets some sleep.” Vas asked as she pulled him in. “And if Doc catches me here sneaking some nookie in his office and not getting rest he will give me the eye.”

"Have you been put on bed rest? Why didn't you say so? I could have walked down here on my own. Your poor nose…" and she reached up to gingerly touch it again. Jacy may have enjoyed inflicting small amounts of pain. "Which room is the girls?"

“She is in the crew quarters near the cockpit.” Vas said with a wince. His nose was tender as hell.

"That is good to - what is this?" She pushed his collar aside to get a look at his neck. "Was that - they didn't! A collar? Nobody puts a collar on my Sugarbear, except for you or me when we have the list out. I can't believe there's still slavery in this day and age. What does she look like?"

“Shock collar. Pretty common actually. The marks ‘ell go away quick.” Vas assured her. “Slavery never went out of style Jacy. Folk in the core just called it something else so it doesn't sound so distasteful.” He snarked.

Jacy raised an eyebrow and gave him a look, but let the Alliance jab slide.

“Serena? Yay high,” He said, holding a hand up to her approximate height. “Pig tales. Don’t be offended if she runs away at first sight; girl's a might jumpy.”

"Was she the crew won during a game of cards? I ask because that hardly seems enough to make her jumpy. Was she poorly treated as well?" Jacy smacked a hand to her mouth. "Was the entire crew of the Skyship enslaved?!"

“Skyhook,” Vas corrected. “And yes. Captain had his choice and he picked the girl holding herself in the fetal position in the corner. From what I gather all the crew I met were enslaved. There could have been more, but I was locked up most of the time.” Vas elaborated.

"That's terrible," she replied while holding his hand tightly. "That should not have happened. After she wakes up I will talk to her and see if there is anything I can do to make her feel more at ease. And I have a cream we can put on your neck to avoid scarring. At least, I find it helps when I… Oh Sugarbear! I'm just so glad you're back and safe. Mostly safe."

“Me too. Now, don’t you be fretting. All is well now.” Vas assured her.

But Jacy definitely looked like she had more fretting planned.