(no subject)

[detectivewonder]

Who: Tim Drake and you!
Broadcast: Fleet-wide.
Action: Aboard the First Breath.
When: Shortly after the shuffle.

[Text]
JIEYJ XBQXO PYUKO CQZHL TIDPS UKCEJ OVKGW OIDIY CHFQZ YCOIH YYJQF
QOBHJ OPUBP IEFUV EVSHZ RTRFD ZRTMU RGPPH JOOKG KMDIO SIVFO ZWZSV

[Video]

So, when I have missing crew, that just means... what? Their ratings were terrible so they got dropped? It can't be that easy, or people would sabotage their own ratings to get sent home.

Comments

action

[mysunnydisposition]

[ Steph waits until Tim's done sending his messages before she clears her throat and steps a little closer. Even with the disappearances, and the fact that Cass isn't here, it's a relief just to be here, officially on Tim's crew. ]

So how many people are we down to here, now? ...and is there anything stop Cass from just moving into one of the spare bunks if they won't officially transfer her?

action

[detectivewonder]

Not that I know of; that's more or less what happened with Jordan and Alex before their transfer came through.

Welcome aboard.

[he turns away from the screen to give her a warm grin. She's not alone in that relief... ]

[mysunnydisposition]

[ She grins back, brighter now. ] Thanks. Happy to be here, Captain. [ Yeah, she's not letting go of that just yet. ]

And in that case, I'm kidnapping her as soon as I can get her on a shuttle. I'll feel a lot better when all three of us are in the same place...

[detectivewonder]

You and me both.

I keep forgetting to ask, Midshipman - what's your augment?

[mysunnydisposition]

[ She snorts a little at the title. She deserved that. ]

Tactical support. Which... doesn't seem to be the most useful thing right now, but maybe eventually?

[detectivewonder]

Given the implications, I'd rather it wasn't... But I'm glad you're trained up in case it is.

[mysunnydisposition]

Okay, good point. I don't know, maybe everything'll stay quiet and they just expect me to move cargo. That's nice and safe and non-explodey...

[detectivewonder]

Hiro and I smuggled contraband last month. could have used some tactical support then.

[mysunnydisposition]

[ Her eyebrows shoot up. Wow, Tim. She's impressed. ]

Yeah? What kind of contraband?

[detectivewonder]

When we got caught?

Mostly lipstick and eye shadow.

[mysunnydisposition]

[ And that gets a startled laugh. ]

Obviously a pair of dangerous criminal masterminds, you two.

[detectivewonder]

Hey, nobody's perfect!

[But after a moment of protest he's laughing himself.]

I wouldn't have done it, but if a whole planet is going to ban cosmetics, and there's a planet next-door that specializes in them...

[mysunnydisposition]

[ She clicks her tongue and shakes her head, though she's still grinning. ] Honestly, Tim. What would Batman think?

[detectivewonder]

That I should have been more careful about getting caught?

Batman wasn't above committing a few strategic crimes for the greater good. Look at M-

[He goes from cheerful and relaxed to tense in a heartbeat, mid-syllable. She can watch him think about saying something else, deflecting the subject, protecting her.]

... Look at Matches Malone as an example.

[mysunnydisposition]

[ Oh, and suddenly it's not funny anymore. The smile slips off her face, and her voice is much quieter when she answers. ]

Well, I guess I wouldn't know anything about that. Obviously.

[detectivewonder]

... That was his mistake. Not yours.

[mysunnydisposition]

What, not trusting me? Because that part seems like it was a pretty good idea, the way things turned out.

[ She grimaces and scrubs a hand over her face. ]

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to... I don't really want to talk about this. Not now. [ Or maybe ever. It just makes her sad and angry and vaguely panicky, and Bruce isn't even here, so she doesn't even have a way to deal with any of those feelings. She'd rather just avoid them altogether. ]

[detectivewonder]

That's fine. I shouldn't have... it was a bad example.

[mysunnydisposition]

[ Steph sighs, and sits down heavily. ]

It's okay. I brought him up first. I just... forgot, for a second... [ Her shoulders slump a little. ] I kind of want to forget it all happened.

[detectivewonder]

You haven't asked about... the future.

[mysunnydisposition]

When I first got here... the way Cass acted, I kind of figured I was dead. That made sense. But now...

[ She purses her lips, and looks up a little, but she can't meet his eyes. ]

I don't know. I feel like maybe I shouldn't. Like it's cheating or something. Or maybe I just don't want to know how badly I screwed things up. [ How much damage she did, how many people died. The mess the rest of them had to clean up when it was all over. Her fault. ]

[detectivewonder]

I won't tell you if you don't want to know. But... when I come from, when you're speaking to me, anyway, we still work together. You've done way more than enough to earn my respect. And his.

[mysunnydisposition]

But I haven't yet. Whatever happened that you remember... that wasn't me. Not really.

[detectivewonder]

You've still got that potential. And you've still got my respect. I just... I'm sorry it took me so long to see it, Steph. You earned it a long time ago.

[mysunnydisposition]

[ Now she looks up to meet his face, lips pulled into a wry smirk. ] 'Bout time you figured that out...

Thank you.