Board Thread:The Company/@comment-24930445-20140615054833/@comment-25064783-20140625054723

Frustrated with the long wait, Ry pulled himself out of his hospital bed, gritting his way through the pain in his ribs. He couldn’t lay in bed any longer, not while Kat and Aerli were gods knew where without him.

“Daddy?” Smiling reassuringly, he glanced at the girls who were watching him with concern.

“Eh. Little twinge.” he lied as he leaned against the bed to let the pain lessen.

Ilrea sighed heavily, glanced at Brandy before returning her attention to Ry. “Daddy? Was Axin really going to kill you?”

He had been expecting this conversation. Up to this moment, things had been frantic around them and they barely had a moment to themselves. “Yeah. He was. He’s dangerous, Ilrea, its why I warned you about him. If things had gone differently, he would have. Fact that I’m standing here is pure luck.”

Brandy shook her head. She knew the story as well as the rest of the family did. “What happened? How was he able to do so much damage? I thought you two were the same.”

Ry shrugged slightly. “I decided not to repeat the same mistakes I made with Ilrea.” Shifting, he came away from his bed and stepped to Ilrea’s. Gently, he reached out and caressed his daughter’s cheek. “I missed out on a lot with you. That's the problem with being the oldest. We get to make all our mistakes with you. All the little jobs I went on; hunting down bad guys and putting down monsters kept me from you. At the time I thought I was making the universe a safer place but I was missing out on your life. I didn't want to do the same with Aerli.”

Ilrea sighed, glancing down to her hands folded in her lap, her voice dry. “Lucky her.”

Ry smiled softly, if not a little sadly at the hurt in his daughter’s voice. “Yeah... So I focused on running the ship and spending time with my girls and less on my training, and I would make the same choice again.” He leaned over and kissed the top of his daughter’s forehead, his ribs protesting at the movement. Wincing, he slowly stood, holding his ribs with one hand. “Well.. maybe not exactly the same choice”

It was at that moment his comm beeped. Picking it up from the table, he tapped the video and found himself looking at Korbin. “Yes Doctor?”

Korbin was smiling triumphantly. “The tests on the Darwin appear to have been a great success. The ship was not damaged by either drone attack. It looks as though it wasn’t even touched. On the second test; the live fire, not only were the weapons pods burned out, but the guidance system as well.”

The video shifted, turning as if LaeAnne had taken the device from the good doctor. “Ry. Sandy’s bringing Darwin in to drop off her passengers then she’s heading after Krita.” Although the words were informative, the meaning behind them spoke volumes.

“Thanks, LaeAnne. Delay her until I get there.” He caught his second in command’s nod just before closing his comm.

“You’re going after them.” Ilrea and Brandy had both heard the entire conversation. Ry couldn’t decide if they were relieved or concerned so he smiled.

“You know I have to, honey.” Ilrea smiled back.

Glancing around, he spotted Dante speaking to an intern and waved him over. When the doctor approached, Ry told him of the conversation he had just had, informing the doctor that he would be leaving the Inferno.

Dante knew better than to try and stop him. “Can you give me ten minutes? I can put you in the bone knitter and partially heal your ribs. It would ease the pain. I’m not going to be able to work miracles with your eye either, but at least your pain will be minimal. ”

Ry nodded and Dante continued. “Your heart’s another matter. I strongly advise against going. We were able to seal the holes the rib fragments caused with medi-gel, but its only a temporary fix. Too much exertion could literally tear your heart to pieces. Your heart cells aren’t like the rest of you. They don’t regenerate as fast and it’s going to take a lot of time and rest to repair the damage.”

Ry shook his head. “I’m not going to wait, doc. My family is out there and I’m going to get them back. We’ll do the repairs when I get back.”

“Daddy no! You can’t. You’ll die.” Ilrea launched herself from her bed into her dad’s arms. “Daddy, don’t go, please. Let the others get mom and Aerli”

He held his daughter tight for a moment, softly caressing her head. “You know I have to go, honey. We’ll be alright. You know your mom won’t let me do anything stupid. She’ll kill me herself first.” He smiled at Brandy and nodded slightly before sliding out of Ilrea’s arms.

At that moment, Red entered the room, moving to her husband. “Andrea is with Tali. She’s going to take all the kids to the day-care in Windfall to keep them out of the way and safe while we’re gone.”

Dante frowned. “Tali? She’s only the assistant. What happened to Martine?”

“He's in medbay two. The doctors there don't expect him to make it.” Red’s voice was soft.

Having heard the conversation, Ry smiled at the couple though his comments were directed more towards Dante. “I wouldn't worry, Tali is good. She sits for Aerli all the time.” Glancing at Brandy, he nodded. “Maybe you can drop by later and help. Once Doc says Ilrea’s mobile, she can join you.”

Dante chimed in. “About four hours and she’ll be free to go. I’ll arrange a shuttle for her.”

“Sure Ry. I’ll be happy to.” Ry could tell that she was putting up a front. She hadn’t left Ilrea’s side since everything had started and she really didn’t want to leave now, but she understood that Doc and Red needed reassurances.

Ry placed another kiss on Ilrea’s head before turning and walking out with Dante and Red, leaving Ilrea and Brandy alone. Silently, Brandy watched as Ilrea twisted her fingers in worry for a moment before stilling them with her own hand wrapping around her friends’.

“Your mom must be real secure.” The comment came from out of the blue and was said fairly blandly. Ilrea frowned and glanced up at Brandy with curiosity shining in her eyes.

Brandy shrugged. “Letting Tali babysit. I wouldn't let some hot young babysitter near my man. *I* would cut a bitch... okay?” Brandy punctuated her words with a snap of her fingers.

The absurdity of it did the trick and Ilrea laughed. “You’re stupid.”

Brandy rolled her eyes, then sighed in exasperation as if frustrated by her friend’s inability to understand. “It's not stupid it's preemptive. But I guess you're right. She's no threat. I mean, Tali's hot but she's not as fine as me. Which is why your mom has never asked me to babysit.”

Ilrea, giggled. “First of all.. ew. Secondly they never ask you to babysit because you would end up teaching Aerli how to french kiss or how to sway her hips when she walks.”

Brandy gasped in feigned shock: “Hay, my patented hip sway got us into that club even though we didn't have fake IDs. And don't forget the boots that guy bought us. Don't hate on the sway. Besides, I already taught her.”

The girls laughed together for a moment, then Brandy fell silent, becoming more serious.

“Ily… about Aerli. You need to let her in.” She had been working her way up to this conversation since the moment Aerli had stood up to the monster who had hurt Ilrea.

Ilrea laid back, closing her eyes. “Don’t.”

Sighing, Brandy decided to go against her friend’s wishes and pushed on. “No... you have to stop driving her away. You've already forgiven her for the way she was born. You can try to fool yourself but not me.”

Ilrea shook her head, trying not to hear her friend. “Go... help Tali.”

Brandy stood up from the place she had been sitting on Ilrea’s bed. “She's not Tilvos. You can love her and it doesn't mean she'll die. You're pushing her away now and she may never come back.”

Ilrea head lifted from the bed suddenly, her eyes wide with shock at her friend’s words. “What the hell!? Brandy!”

Brandy shrugged. “I'm sorry but the universe doesn't give a shit about you. Or any of us. Having a mom that's some weird personification of mother nature taught me that. As beautiful as the universe is mother nature is a cold hearted bitch and she doesn't care if you love your sister or not. She won't be taken away because you love her any more than if you pretend you don't. All you're doing is sacrificing time you could have spent with her.”

Ilrea caught her breath, then dropped her head back onto the bed, draping an arm over her eyes in a vain attempt to hide her tears.

Brandy gently reached out to caress her friend’s cheek. “If Aerli makes it back, don't waste anymore time. She loves you, would risk her life for you… she did risk her life for you.., and you're hurting her. When you push her away it hurts you too. I know it, Vee knows it and it's time you knew it.

Brandy kissed her friend’s hand softly, then turned and walked away from the bed. Stopping at the door, she didn’t turn to face Ilrea, merely saying over her shoulder. “Tilvos is gone. As far as we know, Aerli isn’t..

With that, Brandy stepped through the door and was gone to help Tali.