New Home in The Sky [Kara/Open

[Daniel Bruce]

[February 6th 2523]

Dan groaned underneath the weight of his younger siblings' bags as he helped them carry the bags to their new quarters of the Rayya. He smiled slightly as Chris and Skye argued over who would get which bunk, not knowing that the captain had given them a room with a double bed and not a bunk bed.

Dan said this to the two of them and the predicted shocked looks appeared along with Chris replying, "Really? We were both under the impression that we were getting separate bunks in the same room."

Grinning like a Cheshire Cat, Dan said, "Nope. Kara told me that you two are getting a double bed so don't try complaining to me. If you want to ask for separate bunks, then take it up with her." They finally arrived at the twins' room and Dan threw the two bags he was carrying through the door. He said to the two remaining members of his family, "You two get settled in. I've already asked the others to tell me if they see you two messing around so don't think you can get away with anything if you do something wrong, alright?"

They both nodded to say they understood so Dan walked back to the cargo bay of the ship to get his own bag and get himself unpacked in the room he had been given. As he was gathering up some of his luggage that had fallen out of the black duffel bag he heard something clatter in the cargo bay. Dan's hand snapped to the back of his waistband to grab a gun that wasn't there and he spun his body around to try and see what had made the noise. Even though he knew that no one apart from the crew were on the Rayya at that current moment, Dan still hadn't been able to shake the instincts that had formed from 2 years of living in some of the biggest cess-pits in the 'verse. Cautiously, the young thief called out, "Who's there?" And waited to see whether someone was actually there.

[Kara Monroe]

Children, children on her boat. Kara still didn’t like the sound of that, she wasn’t good with kids. Well, unless she was teaching them hand to hand combat skills, but that was only at the academy, and she could dump them off on the nearest teacher when she was sick of them. No, kids were not her strong suit, and planned on leaving most, well almost everything to her sister. After Kyla seemed to have all the people skills. Kara was more of the force behind her sister, who actually owned the ship, and made plans. Gah, she was going to have to work on her people skills she could feel it.

As she walked she held a small tablet in her hand, she was flicking though some job offers, some were less shady than others, transport food, medical supplies, steal some medical supplies, or so it seemed. Kara could only sigh, there seemed to be more and more paperwork that went with this job by the day. Transfers, then the companion.. Oh the companion gave her a new list of things to deal with. She needed to work out something with and this schedule.

She didn’t even look around until she kicked something. Sighing Kara kneeled down and picked the small metal item, something else she needed to figure out where that belonged. She didn’t think much the noise until someone said something. One of the kids, Kara sighed heavily. “Always going to greet people that way?” Kara turned the corner her hand resting on the butt of her gun, she trusted no one, at least not yet, and she couldn’t blame the boy for having his hand on his gun, they all had habits to break. “Settling in?” She asked with as much care as she could, though it didn’t change her cold stance, or look that crossed her face. Kara didn’t often show emotion unless her sister was directly involved.

[Daniel Bruce]

Dan relaxed slightly at the sound of Kara's voice but still stayed marginally tense at the tone of it. He had heard the same tone more times than he liked to mention. It dripped with a condescending manner that came naturally to people that had had to deal with Dan or his siblings in the past because of their age, although they had quickly been proved wrong in some way or another. Dan gave the older woman a cold smile and replied, "Yeah, at least until I've gotten used to sleepin' in a warm bed for a while."

He picked up his bag as the captain asked him if they were settling in and said, "I would say so, yeah. I've had to stop Chris and Skye from running around like crazy looking at everything twice, though. I think they're just excited to finally have a proper roof over their heads." Dan's smile changed then, from one of cynicism to one of genuine happiness over the fact that his two younger siblings were happy. As an after thought, he asked, "Those two been giving you any trouble at all? I've been trying to keep my eye on them as much as I can but they've been able to steal off occasionally so I don't account for them sometimes."

[Kara Monroe]

“I think Ky would know more about your siblings than I do.” She motioned for him to keep moving towards the passenger dorms. “I believe my sister is trying to teach yours to cook.” Kara was never one for children, unless she was teaching them how to kill. She taught several classes at the academy on the topic. Silent kills, sniper shots, hand to hand combat tactics. Those were her favorites and some of the best times she had. Even though there were children, well students really, involved. This however was complete different. These kids were on her ship, and it wasn’t for anything but passage. However, she had heard that Dan had some useful skills at obtaining items, well, she might have to put that to use, not that she truly wanted to.

Kara might dislike children, but she believed that they should be given a chance at a normal life, unlike her and Ky. Though, her sister came closest. “There will be two bunks in your siblings room before we take off, the arrangements will take a couple of days to be met. Hopefully by then I will have a suitable pilot for fly…” She wanted to add as long as his siblings stayed away from her office or any major controls they would be fun, however, he had been on a ship before, and left it as his previous captain would have wanted something similar.

[Daniel Bruce]

Dan noting how light his bag was compared to Skye's or Chris' due to it's content, Dan made his way to his quarters whilst still talking to Kara. Skye had made a habit of finding spare vids of medical and cooking lessons and keeping all of them, even if she already knew the stuff from the lessons, whereas Chris... In fact, what did Chris have in that bag? As far as Dan knew, he didn't actually have that much to pack. Hmm, he thought to himself. I'll have to ask him about that.

He smiled at the mention of Skye and replied, "I can tell she's gonna enjoy that. Skye's always been the one out of the three of us who has liked that stuff the most and also the only one who can actually cook, so some extra lessons will be more than welcome." Dan was still distrustful of the some of the crew, but he guessed that came naturally with someone of his rather unusual background. After getting himself and his younger brother and sister out of the orphanage they had been in for years, Dan hadn't trusted anyone due to his previous trust in the staff of the orphanage who had ended up making Skye's a living hell for the duration of their stay.

Dan listened to what Kara said about his siblings' quarters and said, "They'll be glad to hear that. They already started complaining when they saw the double bed but I just told them to live with it for the moment. Although, I did tell them to not complain about it to me since I didn't sort out who got which beds, so if they start hassling you at all, I'm sorry." To him, it would be interesting to whether or not they would actually complain to the captain, as, in Dan's experience, neither Chris or Skye were particularly confident with talking to other people outside of their family.

[Kara Monroe]

He loved his family. Kara could respect that in him, after all, she gave up her entire life for her sister. Perhaps that was the one redeeming quality so far for the boy. She could see herself behind his eyes, at least in part. There still wasn’t that blood lust, which was for the best. As they neared the doorway, she allowed him to go through first, then it was just a short walk down to the passenger dorms. They walked past the first set, and onto the second, she had the siblings across the halls from each other, her eyes looking from one door to the next.

If she had known the boy better she might make a comment, but, such was life. “Is there anything that you will require before we take off? Ky has informed me that people have food and medicines they don’t respond well to.” Kara never had allergies, but if there was a chance someone else could, she supposed she was going to have to ask. After all she didn’t want to make a pit stop because someone decided to get suck over a medicine that was administered.

“I’m sure if your siblings start to bother me I’ll have them clean something around this ship…” It was the nicest way of saying, she would give them something to do, even though she disliked kids, a thought had crossed her mind on their walk, she couldn’t expect Kyla to always child sit, after all they would have to make themselves useful. Free room and board, on her ship, well, she would have to find something.

[Daniel Bruce]

Dan thought for a second at Kara's question, trying to to remember whether or not him, Skye or Chris had any allergies. The fact that the three of them had eaten almost the same food most of their lives didn't exactly make any allergies involving food obvious, but as far as Dan knew they didn't have any involving anything else either, so he replied, "No, we won't need anything really. As far as I know none of us have any allergies to speak of."

Just as Dan was about to respond to the captain's comment about getting his siblings to clean something when one of said siblings, Skye, came out of her and Chris' room and was immediately surprised by her brother and Kara standing there. She said shyly, "Umm... Hey Dan and... Cap."

Dan smiled at his younger sister as she tried to avoid his gaze and said, "What's wrong, sis?"

"Well... Chris has run off somewhere and I was just going to look for him..."

Dan sighed at his brother's actions and asked her, "Which way'd he go?"

She shrugged and said, "I dunno. He didn't tell me anything, he just ran off. Sorry..."

Dan ruffled her hair and said, "No need to be sorry, sis, you didn't run off somewhere when I told you to not mess around."

"You're gonna kill him, aren't you?"

"Yep." Dan turned to the captain and asked, "Would you be able to help me look for him please? I know this ship is small but I still don't know my way around this place that well." He shrugged then continued. "I'll understand if you have more important things to do than help me find my idiotic little brother but the help would be appreciated."

[Kara Monroe]

Kara couldn’t help but sigh, on her ship for less than a day and they were already causing her problems. “Very well, let’s look for this brother of yours. I swear I should put bells on all of you.” It was something she use to say to her sister all the time. Putting bells on her so she could hear where her sister was coming from or going to. Kara checked the other passenger rooms first but not seeing him there, assumed he had to of gone upstairs.

“If he comes back down, hit the intercom and let us know.” She spoke firmly with the girl but offered a smile, it was a forced one, and it showed a little. Kara was not use to being personable, it was both a strength and weakness when it came for dealing with people. However, the woman moved to the stairs and walked up into the common area. “What kinds of places does the boy enjoy?” Her glanced at Dan as he came up the stairs. Behind them, the engine room, in front of them was the bridge, and several crew dorms. To either side shuttles. Then like all ships it left the large open place for the common room. Began walking around looking for his brother. “Does he do this sort of thing often?”

[Daniel Bruce]

Dan heard Skye say, "Okay..." As he and Kara started their search for Chris.

"He doesn't really enjoy specific places, but he doesn't like sitting still in the same place for too long. He won't be causing any trouble probably, he's just gonna be walking around a bit. And yeah, Chris did this a lot when we were back on Persephone, but not without telling someone where he was going." Dan looked inside the kitchen quickly and, unable to see his little brother, moved inside to see if Chris was hidden behind one of the counters.

Still not finding him, Dan walked back out and said to Kara, "Trust me, he won't be doing this too often. Don't know why he would do this without telling someone, though." As he said it, Dan moaved through into the unoccupied shuttle to look for Chris and immediately found him sitting in the pilot's chair of the craft. Trying to sound as gentle as he could given the situation, Dan said, "Chris, what are you doing? I told you to stay in your room."

Without turning, Chris replied, "I dunno. Just didn't want to stay in that room, that's all. You know how much I hate enclosed spaces."

Dan sighed. "Well you could have at least told Skye where you were going couldn't you? I was worried sick about you getting hurt."

His brother's tone shifted slightly to one of apology. "Sorry, Dan. I didn't think it would be so much trouble."

"I know, but we have to be careful now. We're not in a shipping container any more, Chris. If you do something stupid around here you might us all killed, so try to think a little more before running off again, alright?"

Dan saw his younger brother nod then continued. "Good. Now, I suggest you come with me to your room before the Cap' rips you a new one."

"The Cap's with you?"

"Yep."

At that, Chris rose from his feet and stood next to Dan as they walked out of the door and straight into Kara.

[Kara Monroe]

Kara looked down at the child with her eyes on fire. She didn’t stay a word at first. “No shuttles, dorms, engine room, and bridge unless permission from a crew member. Other than that you and your sister can move about as you please. Understood?” There was no real anger behind her voice, just a twang of annoyance. After all there was so many things that could possibly go wrong, and on a mission, she wanted them tucked away and safe. After all, them getting hurt, burnt, or otherwise bleeding for some unknown reason, well that wouldn’t help anyone and might slow down treatment if Kyla was busy.

Her cold eyes moved back up to Dan. “There will be a few games set up in the cargo bay when we are not hauling materials, they may do as they please in that area or the common area.” There were a number of other areas that they would be allowed to play within, but she didn’t get into listing each one. The captain didn’t realize that she was going to have to set rules like these with the children, however, what was done was done. There was no reason for her to scream and yell at any of them, no harm was done, this time.

Looking back to the twin, she could see a good deal of her sister within him. Perhaps both of them. Though they never had a normal life, it was going to be as close as they were going to get. Kara sighed heavily and put her hand on his head and ruffled his hard, though a smile never crossed her face. Perhaps she would sacrifice some hidden cargo area, allow these children to have someplace to hide and play where they would no be in the way. Though, that would come much later, if she trusted them enough to be behind her walls.

[Daniel Bruce]

Chris nodded confidently at the captain's orders and said, "No problem. I'll be sure to tell Skye that as well." He grinned at the mention of games and replied slyly, "Great! More games I can beat Dan in."

Dan clipped his younger brother around the head playfully. "Don't start that, Chris. And anyway, you know that I can beat you any day at anything you try to play me at. Now get back downstairs, I need to talk to you and Skye later." Chris grinned at him cheekily then started back towards his shared room. Dan smiled and said to Kara, "He reminds me more and more of Dad everyday. Heck, he's two years younger than me and he's almost as tall as me at this age."

He shrugged, unsure why he was telling this to the captain before smiling at her and saying, "Thanks for helping me with that. I know you probably had other things to worry about but I can't help worrying about him and his sister at most times. I mean I've been looking after them on my own for the past two years so it's nice to have other people around that can keep their eye on them." Dan grimaced, thinking back to when him, Chris and Skye had all lived in a hell-hole that had somehow passed off as an orphanage for most of their lives before they escaped when Dan was only 13. "Well," he admitted. "Other people that won't make life not worth living for us, at least."

[Kara Monroe]

“Dan, I will only say this once, and I will never agree that I said this after.” It was a rare moment for Kara. She knew what he was talking about in a way, she felt that way with her sister. It was the reason that she stayed behind, and allowed her sister to escape. It was that love for a sibling now that was driving her with this child. “You are part of my crew, and they are your family. I will do what I can to protect you all, and take care of you all. I expect you to be honest and do your job when it is required of you.” She put her hand on his shoulder studying his eyes for a moment before she finished her thought. “Aside from Kyla, my crew is my family,” she wanted to say unit, but the concept was the same to her. She was trained to accept people into her unit and care for them. Give her life for them without a blink of an eye. This crew was shaping up to be just like that, and deep down, it was what she needed to feel normal. Though she would do this, she didn’t even dream that they would feel close to the same way.

“That being said, if one of them get caught bein’ where they are not suppose to be. They will face some kind of hellish plot I have yet to dream up.” The look in her eyes when she said hellish plot was a stern warning for a punishment they would not enjoy.

[Daniel Bruce]

Dan smiled warmly at Kara's talk of protecting him and his siblings and said to her, "Thank you. I don't think I've ever had someone care for us that much since..." He hesitated, not wanting to go into too much detail about his parents and past. Instead, his smile turned to one of humour as the captain mentioned a "hellish plot" if his siblings did anything they shouldn't and replied, "Could you try and send them to me if you could? I've got quite a few evil plans of my own to put them through if they do anything wrong. Probably different from yours but probably as hellish."

Dan grinned crazily at Kara before asking gently, "Could you try and be a little less harsh them though if you find Skye somewhere random in the night though? She has nightmares sometimes and she always seems to go into a trance or something after waking up and..." He shrugged. "She seems to end up in places that I wouldn't dream of finding her normally." He shrugged again. Back in the orphanage, Skye had had the worst time out off three of them. She had been constantly beaten by the staff and the only reason why Dan and Chris didn't help was because when they tried, the staff only hurt Skye more. What came as a result of that was that she still had nightmares about the whole ordeal after two years of living away from that damnable place, but it was better now than it was immediately after their escape.

"We'll try to stop her from wandering somewhere dangerous if we can but if you happen to find her somewhere random in the night, you now know why."

[Kara Monroe]

The child was sleep walking? Kara had a fight on her hands when she use to sleep walk, then again that was shortly after she was told her kill her parents. The thought just made her nod once to the boy. She knew that sometimes with emotional damage came different things for different people. That didn’t change what needed to be done, nor did it change that the girl could and most likely would get herself in a good deal of trouble if she didn’t keep her wonderings down to a minimum. “Very well.” It was the only answer she could come up with that didn’t sound harsh, or misguided.

“You should look after your siblings. I need to finish up the final details of this next job.” She couldn’t shake the feeling that something was about to happen. Of course not with the Bruce children, but something involving her own family. The Academy was not going to allow them to get away that easily. Everything had been far to easy so far, it put this seasoned fighter on edge.

Patting Daniel on the shoulder gently “If you need me I’ll be in my office.” she turned from him and started to make her way back towards the front of the ship, and back to her room/office. It was the one place where she didn’t need to concern herself with speaking to the crew. It was almost a safe haven. Why had she thought this was going to be a good idea? She hadn’t spoken to this many people since the beginning of their training. It could only lead to bad things, at least in her own mind.