Loire smiled a little at Viva's friendliness, she seemed genuine unlike Noah who seemed ... risky. He was clearly a calculated, dangerous guy, Loire knew it went against his better judgement but ... there was excitement in risk, that was why he'd thrown caution to the wind and wound up on Noveria wasn't it? He wanted to take a risk, launch forth into the deep and see where he would land. Messing around with a research project on a distant planet was different to dealing with a shady space pirate though, Loire needed to keep his wits about him if he was to survive however long he'd be stuck on the Lucidae.

"It may not look like much but it's fully functional. We dont starve, but any talent making Space Preserves taste better than mealy protein chalk is more than welcome."

"I'm afraid my speciality is medicine." he replied with a softly slanted smirk. "Living on a station or planet tends to allow for a greater variety of ingredients, I've not got much experience working exclusively with preserves but theres a first time for everything." he shrugged. Although he was an unwilling guest, VIva was at least trying to make things comfortable for him, which was more than what most would do, it appeared as if Viva, and maybe Valko, though it was too early to tell, would be the only ones who would be warm with him. Noah was strictly business, he didn't want to play friendly, at least, he didn't give Loire that kind of impression.

"I don't even know what the hell we picked up. Noah wouldn't tell. So I prolly won't like it. Fuck, he always does this." Viva gave the box a mean kick, her look turning dark as she growled, "Fuck this shit, I hope it was worth it, Noah-"

"I'm pretty sure there is no cargo thats truly worth it ... Nothing material is worth losing a twin over, or, almost losing a twin." Loire said softly. He hadn't even lost his sister over anything, material or immaterial, it had been a freak accident ... no one had gained anything. Of course no amount of drug money could compensate for Viva's loss if Valko had died because of the bad deal, but at least it wasn't totally senseless and random ... THere was something you could blame, you could pour your hatred into the gang, or the drugs, or your captain. Loire could blame no one for a tragic accident. He couldn't do anything to avenge Lucine or ease his aching soul.


"Nth!" She exclaimed, and it would have been an ear shattering shriek if she could breath, but it only came out as a disbelieving gasp, "He's got us transporting Nth?! Doesn't he know how bad this shit is?! I mean, drugs are one thing but Nth is some next level shit. No wonder those fuckers were chasing us..."

Loire sucked in a breath, he instantly recognised the substance in the crate. There was no mistaking it. Nth was so bloody dangerous that even touching it with bare hands for too long caused a burn-like reaction and mild hallucinations. When the drug was properly consumed its effects were even more staggering. It coursed through the body so quickly it couldn't leave burns, at least not from a single hit, though continued use of the drug literally rotted and burned a body from the inside out (if you lasted that long that is). The hallucinations were powerful, it granted boosts to speed, strength and senses, but also distorted pretty much everything it touched. Nth users were paranoid, dangerous, and hopelessly addicted to the stuff.
Loire had dealt with Nth overdoses and almost every time it resulted in death. Even with his advanced medical training, the drug was so potent that there was almost nothing could be done.

The potency of it meant it was in high demand for both addicts and their dealers, as well as being a popular ingredient in various torture cocktails. The drug done things to people that Loire couldn't even fully imagine or describe, but treating people exposed to the drug was a harrowing experience. Noah was playing an incredibly dangerous game. Nth was so powerful that dealers, forget addicts, even dealers were willing to kill for it. Demand was high an dsupply was limited, prices were at a massive high but it was the most dangerous contrabanned on the circuit. Both the feds, and criminal organisations alike were battling for control.

"This much nth is worth ..." Loire couldn't even begin to formulate the figure, "I don't even know how you could get this much in one ... Oh god. You have to get rid of this." Why was Loire suggesting that? He was a hostage, he wasn't even supposed to know about this cargo ... well now Noah certainly wouldn't let him leave in one piece ... or alive. Loire couldn't even try threaten or blackmail Noah with this knowledge because nth was too dangerous, and anyone who dealt with it was trouble.

She'd expected it to be bad, Noah's mad schemes usually were bad news to begin with and Viva had been growing worried about how far he'd go... but this was a whole new level of low. She had had no inkling as to just how far down into the pit of depravity that he'd drug them into... But so far as Nth?

Just a taste, less than the smallest drop of Nth was enough to make a user a junkie for life. To use it was to feel like a god, all knowing and all powerful, with visions and strength and speed at an inhuman level. Lord and master over your olympus mountain- and dangerously paranoid that everyone and everything was out to get you. It ravaged the body and mind to a level that someone could become unrecognizable in a matter of weeks. Burning and scorching the very essence of a person until there was nothing left but a hungry hollow that could only be filled by Nth.

Nth was so very very dangerous. And Noah had invited this devil into their home.

"This much nth is worth ..." Loire couldn't even begin to formulate the figure, "I don't even know how you could get this much in one ... Oh god. You have to get rid of this."

"We didn't even get it all," Viva replied dazedly, her mind still racing with the implications, "We- there had been more but then Valko- this might not even be half of what we were supposed to pick up."

Did Valko know? Had he been in on this? She'd known that Valko would follow Noah anywhere and he usually was in on Noah's mad schemes, but to go so far as this? And keep it from her? Val had to know she wouldn't approve of this, would never have joined them in running drugs this potent. And if he hadn't known? Had Noah kept this from him as well? Would he feel as betrayed as she did right now?

The questions swirled in her mind, and her ears were starting to ring and she found that the hand she was using to lean against the wall had curled into a white knuckled fist. The hand at her mouth was similarly clenched, and after looking at it a moment she slowly brought them both down to hang at her sides.

She wasn't trembling anymore, although there was a stiff coiled tenseness about her posture that hadn't been there before. The shock had washed away, and now she was calm. And filled with a white hot rage that left her mind quiet.

Abruptly she turned around, leaving the doctor without a word and strode purposefully down the hall to the cockpit. Her boots stepped into the tacky blood on the ground, and her footprints followed her to where Noah piloted the ship.

She didn't slam the door open, although the thought was there, instead she opened it very deliberately. The soft sliding click sounding like a gun chambering in the silence and was sure to garner his attention just as quick.

"Nth, Noah," She said coldly. It wasn't a question. And it wasn't accusing. But the statement alone let him know she knew now, and exactly how she felt about it. Even though she was calm and her posture was almost relaxed, she was radiating rage and a raw betrayal that would be hard to look at if he cared even a little. She doubted it.

Loire was stunned, a haul this huge ... he'd heard of the Alliance seizing large hauls of Nth, but this had to be the biggest batch to move in one haul. No wonder Noah had been so jumpy about getting off Noveria as quick as possible. They couldn't leave this cargo sitting on their ship for long, they needed to get it to a dealer and fast.

Viva ran off before Loire could stop her and tell her to calm down ... he wasn't sure why he was motivated to do that, and he was certain it wouldn't have made a bit of difference. If this was only half the haul, Loire couldn't even begin to manage just how much trouble they were in, but he could see why someone was willing to kill over it. This amount of Nth wasn't something to be laughed at. By the size of the ship, and its crew, Loire would never have guessed they'd pull of a heist this large. They had the perfect cover, why would such a tiny ship haul such an expensive cargo, the Lucidae was light-weight and manoeuvrable, but she wasn't a heavy ship built to carry cargo which could buy and sell a planet. Something this valuable should have been in a heavily armoured ship, not something like the Lucidae, they had perfect cover, but it was still a massive risk, especially since someone was already after them Loire assumed.

Back in the cockpit, Noah didn't even bother turn to face Viva when he heard her come in, he was monitoring every control panel on the dash. Viva was likely suspicious why he was so cautious about double and triple checking to make sure they weren't followed ... now she knew why.

"Here to chastise me?" he replied flippantly, not that anything she'd say would make a difference. She wasn't meant to know what the cargo was, he'd told her not to ask questions and that he'd handle it, the less he knew the better, if she'd gone digging around the cargo hold it was her own fault if she uncovered soemthing she didn't like. She knew they weren't carrying anything legal, so to Noah, it didn't matter what the cargo was, they'd get in trouble if they got caught, Nth, firearms, they were all the same, this one was just a lot more valuable than usual.
Once he figured out Loire knew about their cargo, he'd have to chastise Viva himself, he was a hostage and now the doctor had dangerous information on them and it was Viva's fault for giving him an unrestricted tour of the ship. If he'd known, he'd have told Viva to show the doc his room, and allow him to only go to the deck when someone was at the helm, and the med bay, all other areas, ESPECIALLY THE CARGO HOLD, would have been off limits.

((sorry this is a bit incoherent in bits Im like ... multi-tasking but its like triple-tasking x'D))

The ass hadn't even the decency to turn around and look at her.

"Here to chastise me?" he replied flippantly, not that anything she'd say would make a difference.

"No," She said evenly, ignoring his attempt to dismiss or rile her, "I just don't think you realize the severity of the situation you have so blithely put us in."

Since he wasn't looking at her, the only warning he had as to her temper was the rumbling roll of her accent leaking into her voice. Three bloody steps and she was behind the chair, and grabbing the seat she yanked it around it's swivel.

The moment Noah faced her she punched him. In the throat. Hard enough to throw him from the chair.

As much as she had wanted to, she'd refrained from punching him in the face. While breaking his nose would be satisfying, it would do more damage to her hand than it would his arrogant face- while this would hurt so much more. She hoped he choked on his bruised esophagus for a good long time.

"Get out." Viva said, looking down on him with anger and disgust on her face, that white hot rage burning in her eyes, asking him to stand up so she could hit him again. She wasn't a heavy hitter, but she knew the weak points that would hurt and incapacitate and how to turn them to her advantage. Noah was also injured, and she would not shy away from grinding her bloody bootheel into his wounds for good measure.

"Get out," She stated again, "Go clean up the mess you've made of the Lucidae."

She would not be lifting a finger. Not to clean up the blood, not to move one box of Nth out of sight. He was lucky she wasn't blasting him and all of those blasted drugs out the airlock. Only the fact that they were most certainly being followed, and that they would continue to be followed until they passed off this god-forsaken cargo, was sparing Noah and the Nth from her wrath and the cold void of space.

"No," She said evenly, ignoring his attempt to dismiss or rile her, "I just don't think you realize the severity of the situation you have so blithely put us in."

"I know damn well what I'm doing and Val knew as well. We're skint Vee and if you want to keep this ship in the air you need money. We aren't making jack shit doing small smuggling jobs so I got us a job with good fucking pay." he replied. They were still being pursued, maybe not right now, but someone would hunt down that cargo as long as they had it it was only a matter of time before someone began chasing them again.

Then she punched him in the throat. He coughed, he coughed a whole fucking bunch trying to catch his breath, swearing between hacking up his lungs.
"Fucking hell Vee." he swore in a ragged voice.

He managed to get back onto his feet, his hand rubbing his still very sore throat though he'd finally stopped coughing.
"You want to blame someone for this mess? Look at your twin, he's the one who made this deal go south. If he'd kept his mouth shut like I warned him those dealers wouldn't have been so trigger happy and we wouldn't be knee deep in shit right now. THis was supposed to be an easy transaction." Noah replied hoarsely, he'd need to put some ice on his throat to ease the throbbing.

Loire finally caught up with Vee, he'd stopped in the med bay to run a quick toc-screen on Valko to ensure he hadn't been poisoned by the nth at any point, luckily the results were clear, nth was so strong, it was an easy drug to find in the system, not so easy to get rid of once you got hooked though.
"You want to check yourself Viva, because you're messing with the wrong guy. Get us out to Paradiso asap, we'll make the drop off there." Noah threatened, taking his leave and skulking out to the hall.

Loire looked to Viva and then to the door where Noah had made his exit. At least they were going to off load the cargo soon ... Paradiso wasn't the nicest of places, but Loire wondered if he could leave when they got there.
"Your brothers clean." he said softly, worried that he'd be next to face Viva's fists.
"The nth I mean ... I ran a quick toc-screen to be sure ... he's not been contaminated."
He looked around nervously, the monitors and screens bleeping here and there, displaying statuses of different components of the ship. Loire didn't know much at all, he never really got an opportunity to hang around in a cockpit, although he'd travelled across space, he'd been a passenger on commercial cruiser type vessels, not a small carrier with an intimately sized crew.

"I should go stay in the med bay." he said, clearing his throat softly and leaving to return to the med bay, the one place he was sure he'd be fine, out of the way and out of trouble.

Noah was in the hell just outside the med bay, looking through the small window at Valko.
"You can go in you know ..." Loire said, opening the door to let Noah in. Noah stepped in silently.
"You know you're stuck here right? Knowing all that you know. I assume Viva was stupid enough to bring you with her to the cargo hold. I warned her to keep out of it." Noah said, his voice still hoarse.
"She packs quite the punch I see. I'll get you something for the pain." Loire said calmly, routing around for a pain-med shot.
"You're dodging the question doctor." Noah replied.
"I was hoping you'd drop me off at Paradiso, with your sordid cargo." Loire gave Noah a shot of pain relief to help his voice.
"So you can run straight to the feds? Not a chance."
"What if I told you I wouldn't turn you in, if you just let me walk, we'd both go our separate ways."
"You think I'm dumb enough to trust you doctor? After kidnapping you? I'm sure there'd be a hefty reward for turning us in, I got a lot to lose and you got a lot to gain."
Loire sighed, he'd run from his own demons for a long time, as much as he hated to admit it, he wasn't entirely squeaky clean either,although he certainly hadn't done nth dealings.
"What if I told you that I done some things on Noveria that I shouldn't have and that I was trying to escape? If I warn the feds, they'll investigate my involvement, I'm implicated in all this just as much as you are even though I haven't touched the cargo."
Noah looked at Loire, properly, deeply, prying into his eyes with an investigating gaze.
"You trying to tell me you aren't some squeaky clean Citadel-trained doctor? You're running some shady organ farming ring or something?" Noah pried.
"I'm not about to tell you all my business, I'm just telling you this. I'm tied up in this as much as you are. Let me go at Paradiso and we can both walk away unscathed."
Noah smirked, it surprised him... hell it frightened Loire a little. What was he thinking.
"I was beginning to doubt my suspicions about you doctor." Noah said eerily calm.
"What suspicions?" Loire asked.
"You're not just surprisingly calm in the face of danger, you're attracted to it"

Loire's lips formed a thin line and he looked away. He wasn't prepared for Noah to try and suss him out, psychoanalyse him.
"I think you're in over your head Noah, just dump your cargo and let me go."
"What if I made it worth your while? You know how much nth is worth, I could give you a cut." Noah bartered.

--cliffhanger!!!--

"Fucking hell Vee." he swore in a ragged voice.

Viva ignored him as she sat herself back into the pilot's chair. She'd hoped to have knocked the wind out of him for longer- but if Noah would rather ruin his voice just to get the last word that was his problem. He could say whatever he liked, she was done talking to him. Whether Val was in on this or not, she would wait to hear it from him herself, and if he was- like Noah said- then she'd give him the same treatment she'd just given Noah. Pain and Silence.

He managed to get back onto his feet, his hand rubbing his still very sore throat though he'd finally stopped coughing.
"You want to blame someone for this mess? Look at your twin, he's the one who made this deal go south. If he'd kept his mouth shut like I warned him those dealers wouldn't have been so trigger happy and we wouldn't be knee deep in shit right now. THis was supposed to be an easy transaction." Noah replied hoarsely, he'd need to put some ice on his throat to ease the throbbing.

That she more readily believed, but she'd like to hope her brother had more sense than to mouth off to Nth dealers. But south or not, even if this disaster had not resulted in Valko nearly losing his life, she'd still be pissed at them. She didn't care how lucrative the money was. You did not mess with Nth.

Because Nth was like a wildfire. It consumed everything it touched. It destroyed everything in its path. Not just the users, the junkies, those that tasted it and would be forever addicted for the rest of their short lives, but also the dealers, the mobs, the gangs, the mules- And Noah had thrown the Lucidae into this fire. Just by taking the job, they were all in indescribable danger.

"You want to check yourself Viva, because you're messing with the wrong guy. Get us out to Paradiso asap, we'll make the drop off there." Noah threatened, taking his leave and skulking out to the hall.

Again, Viva refused to respond as she checked their stats. The Lucidae was already keyed into Paradiso's coordinates, but she had also been going on a hard burn since they'd had to leave Dross-6. While Noah wouldn't like it, they'd have to make a stop somewhere along the way. Right now Viva could not care less about what Noah wanted, and plugged in the coordinates for the nearest space port they'd hit before the fuel levels when critical.

"Your brothers clean." he said softly, worried that he'd be next to face Viva's fists. "The nth I mean ... I ran a quick toc-screen to be sure ... he's not been contaminated."

The doctor's voice was unexpected, but she didn't jump, still busy at the controls and staring stonily out into space. His words however, were comforting- At least she hadn't dragged the doctor into this mess to save Val, only to lose her brother to the ravaging effects of Nth contamination. Or use.

He looked around nervously, the monitors and screens bleeping here and there, displaying statuses of different components of the ship.
"I should go stay in the med bay." he said, clearing his throat softly and leaving to return to the med bay, the one place he was sure he'd be fine, out of the way and out of trouble.

Viva continued to hold her silence. Not even breaking it to say thanks. If she loosed her tongue now, she'd not be able to stop- and nothing she could say or do would change the situation for the better. So she held course, and continued to monitor Luce's levels, keep her flying.

And wait for her brother to wake up.

-le timeskip!!!-

Things aboard the Lucidae were eerily silent at first, with the exception of the creaking and groaning of aged parts in the engine and the hum of equipment. The place operated pretty much on auto-pilot, except Viva was often at the helm, even she was operating like an autopilot when Loire last checked up on her, not that he could do anything remotely helpful.

With the all-consuming silence aboard the ship, Loire began to wonder how he'd get off. With low fuel,they were forced to move at a crawling pace which meant landing soon wasn't going to be on the agenda right away. Loire reviewed the notes and research he had on his data pad and generally stayed in the med bay to keep an eye on Valko's condition. Valko's prognosis was very positive, he'd make a full recovery, but Loire needed soemthing to do, so he simply assumed Viva's bedside vigil when the pilot was away.

Noah and Viva had been on incredibly bad terms, as usual, he was cryptic and elusive, and Viva's silent treatment was stern and unrelenting. Noah almost wondered what would happen when Valko woke up. Would things aboard the Lucidae return to some shape of normality, or would it only mutate and grow worse.

The only break in the silence was when Noah came down to visit Val in the med bay. Sometimes he'd talk to Loire, other times, not so much. Both Loire and Noah realised that the other was incredibly complex, and while Loire played a stoic and serious front, Noah played a risky dangerous game. Loire almost felt as if Noah was getting under his skin. He mentioned Viva's obvious anger, though he didn't ask for advice on how to make it up to her, Loire hadn't made any suggestions, Noah just said that he'd deal with it and Loire had to accept that answer.

Viva didn't warm to Noah at all, Loire assumed it would take some time and Noah generally appeared unphased by it, though perhaps he was bluffing, Loire couldn't tell. She had taken time to relent the cold shoulder at Loire. When she came down to the med bay later she started some small talk, sheepishly asking Loire's name, as she hadn't gotten it during all the drama. Loire didn't really know how to approach her ... she was going through so much trauma, and still seemed rather shell shocked, at least to him she did. Noah was easier, but also harder to talk to. He spoke quickly but cryptically, he played mind games.

It wasn't long before he caught Loire off guard and said it straight.
--le flashback--

"Admit it, you're attracted to me." Noah said cockily, leaning his elbows on the vacant surgical table.
"Someones cocky." Loire replied, trying to keep his voice even, he was glad his head was turned slightly away as he had been reviewing something on his datapad. He was positive his eyes would have betrayed his thoughts.
"But I'm not wrong am I?"

--end flashback--

Things aboard the Lucidae were incredibly strange, but they were nearing the nearest station to refuel. Hopefully things would start to make sense and ease into normality again soon.

Chronos II was a cesspool of a planet.

It was a waste really, as it really shouldn't have gotten into this state to begin with. Grandly named, the large frozen gas giant was in a prime bit of space and its surrounding satellites were rich with resources. But something had happened not too long down the line, something in the Citadel's bureaucratic machine caused a logjam and now all that potential was reduced to a glorified tax write off and now the majority of the planet's space stations and habitations had been left half-completed and mostly empty.

Space Station 241 was one of those stations. Some enterprising soul had taken over, and turned the station into a refueling stop for traveling ships. But it was guaranteed that it wasn't a sanctioned takeover. The only reason why they were stopping at this particular station was because it was absolutely vital that they keep a low profile. It might be host to all kinds of desperate unsavory types, but it was fast, cheap, and nobody stuck around long enough to ask questions.

Viva guided The Lucidae slowly into docking position in a vacant, out of the way fuel port, acutely aware of how hot she'd been running. Even at the slowest possible speed, Luce was ticking and groaning something fierce, and they'd barely had enough fuel to get them in. Viva gave a relieved sigh as the ship successfully docked, they'd need to get the pair of tanks fueled up and have some serious cooldown time, but the odds of being able to outrun another tail had gone up considerably in her mind now that they were here.

Still, it was a stark reminder of just how rickety the old girl had gotten. The Lucidae was home, and she didn't like to admit that she was falling short of her former glory... From the fading paint to the weakening couplets and jury rigged power converters, her age was showing and if she didn't get some serious TLC she might be on her last legs soon...

She wished Val would wake up, if only to ease her mind about the Lucidae breaking down. Valko still hadn't waken from his healing coma, but the Doc said it was only a matter of time now. Viva would gladly put up with him chewing her ear off over how hard she'd driven Luce and what all needed fixing if it meant he'd be up and at 'em again.

The Doc, Liore Lanrete, had turned out to be a pretty decent sort of fellow. He'd weathered her cold shoulder and snapping attitude with more compassion and empathy that she rightly deserved seeing as he wasn't even the main target of her ire. Liore'd had nothing to do with this mess that Noah had gotten them into, and while she was glad he was so willing to help in her time of need Viva was still feeling guilty about literally dragging him down with her.

So after she'd had enough time to sort through things, she'd shaken off her pride and gone and apologize... And she'd sheepishly asked him his name as well. They'd talked, innocuous stuff and nothing of any real importance beyond her brother's prognosis and where they were headed next, but between her friendly nature and his reserved kindness they'd made it on to pretty good terms despite the situation being- well...

Which was more than what she could say about the state of her relationship with her Captain at the moment. They had not gotten along at the best of times, the way things were now it was only her own self discipline that kept her from doing anything too 'mutinous'. But Noah's continued arrogance, 'I know better than you' attitude, and snide comments and jabs weren't doing him any favors either, but she refused to give him a reaction. She continued to hold her cold steely silence towards him, save for the occasional 'yes sir', 'no sir' that made it clear that she was still angry and 'not talking' to him. She only ever called him sir when she was pissed off at him, and usually in a way that made it clear that she did not consider him worthy of such respect. Not that he cared, but she still refused to give him the satisfaction.

The rest of the time she'd spent pointedly ignoring him, either cooped up in the med bay with the dock looking over her brother, or shut away in the cockpit with the door closed and her rockus music jacked up full blast in a clear indication that she was not to be bothered.

Securing the dock lock, Viva set the Lucidae down to idle and keyed in the codes that would initiate the 'request for fueling', only to frown when she didn't get the usual automated response. Turns out there was a reason that this side of the station was mostly vacant, as the station message she received indicated that the automated fuel mechanism was down for maintenance and she would either have to initiate a manual pump or relocate to a different fuel dock. Rolling her eyes at the inconvenience, she punched in the authorization codes for the manual pump activation along with the indication that they would be paying on their already strenuous credit... Usually Noah was the one who dealt with the financial side of these transactions, but since they were already hauling a fortune in drugs they would be getting paid well enough in blood money to cover the expense, she thought. Noah would have to deal.

Turning off her music, she swapped it out for her data-pad and slung her oversized headphones around her neck and grabbed her coat. The space station was atmosphere accessible, which meant that she didn't have to completely suit up and go for a spacewalk to fuel up manually, but it was a thin atmosphere and that meant that it was damned cold and quiet out there. The cold she could handle, that kind of all pervasive silence got into your head though so she always made sure to bring her music, if only to have something other than her own breath and heatbeat to listen too.

Heading out, she made a short detour to the medibay.

"Knock knock," She said at the doorway in place of actually knocking, "Hey Doc, we're docked."

"This backwater rock's auto-fuel is down," She continued after a moment, "So i'm gonna have to do a manual pump. I might as well top up the power cells while i'm out there, so if the lights flicker don't freak out. Unless we have anything else that's in dire need of getting we should only be dirtside for about thirty min tops."

Loire had been doing his regular vitals-check on Valko, then returning to his research, when Viva knocked, he looked up, taking off his glasses briefly.

"I take it we're not docked to drop off any passengers are we?" he said, assuming already that he wasn't going to be left at this dock. Noah hadn't mentioned letting him off anywhere, or the deadly nth in the cargo bay, or throwing him out the air lock which was good all things considered. Loire just had to assume he was staying put for a little longer.

"Valko's doing fine, vitals steady, no new activity but sometimes people just suddenly wake up, sometimes they ease in."
he explained reassuringly. "Everyone's different, you know what he's like though, I'm sure you'll know when he's coming back before any of us." Maybe it was a twin sense, maybe not. He couldn't recall the moment he'd lost Lucine, the exact second she left, too much time had passed. He couldn't even remember the raw pain he'd felt back in those first few days following the incident, all he knew now was the dull but agonising ache he felt, the ache he'd felt for years. Had he sensed her pass on before the news actually broke to him? Had he known she was gone before anyone told him? All he knew now was the pain he felt every day, not the pain he felt then.

He hadn't said anything about Lucine to Viva, then again, he didn't really talk about Lucine or himself and his history to anyone.

With Viva on the station, out refuelling, only Noah, Valko and Loire were left on board.

--brief timeskip--

Noah's quarters weren't huge, the rooms on the Lucidae were modest, practical in size. Loire looked up at the low ceiling in the room, Noahs room, and wondered why he was so reckless. Why was he lying in bed next to his kidnapper of all people? Noah had been right, he was attracted to danger.

Noah laughed a little to himself. "You're a mystery doc."
"I can't be that mysterious, you seem to think you have me figured out."
"No. I don't have you figured out, not entirely. I know what you want me to know."
"Hm you think so?" Loire mused.
"I know enough. I know you're attracted to danger."
"You don't strike me as the type to be attracted to someone too safe, what could be safer than a respectable doctor who trained on the citadel?" he retorted.
"Noveria isn't a place for respectable doctors, the Citadel is safe. You aren't someone who is safe, you pretend to be." Noah started and his voice dropped down to a whisper, "And I'm attracted to danger too."

"I take it we're not docked to drop off any passengers are we?" he said, assuming already that he wasn't going to be left at this dock.

"Naw, just a pitstop," She said with a wry commiserating grin, "And believe me, you wouldn't want to be ditched on this rock anyway. This place is miserably cold."

She didn't mean just temperature wise either, although Liore would have no way of know it. If they left him here the doc would never get off this rock, his skills and talents as a medical man would be far too valuable to let him leave. They wouldn't give him a choice, and he'd be forced to stay- to heal or not at their wim.
Not that they were giving him much of a choice in the matter either, but at least she would see that they didn't totally abuse their unwilling crewmember too badly. She was the one responsible for him being stuck here, it was the least she could do... Her eyes darted over to her brother, she did owe him one after all.

"Valko's doing fine, vitals steady, no new activity but sometimes people just suddenly wake up, sometimes they ease in."
He explained reassuringly. "Everyone's different, you know what he's like though, I'm sure you'll know when he's coming back before any of us."

Viva merely nodded and shrugged at the doctor's reassurance as she tugged her coat on fully. It would be just like her brother to prolong his convalescence just to vex her, but that would only be if he knew how much trouble he was in with her. She wanted her brother to be okay, but Viva also wanted answers... and she wasn't sure she'd like the ones she would get.

"Just sit tight doc," Viva replied pulling her headphones from around her neck, "We'll be out of here in no time."

With that she headed out of the ship, leaving Liore to his bedside vigil. Reaching the hatch she stepped out into the frigid cold silence that was Spaceport 241. Taking in the atmosphere, she breathed out clouds of breath that hung frozen in the air, the only sounds that could be heard was the quiet hum of electricity, the cooling tick of machinery and her own breathing. The place was mostly vacant, as it would be what with it being down for maintenance, just a few scraggly souls sculking in corners trying to keep warm, and she could hear a service patrol jogging by- probably a few miles away.

Donning her headphones, she was soon soothed by the raging metallic tones of White Noise Blackout, and nodding her head as she grooved to the pounding beat she set herself to work refueling The Lucidae. It had been a while since she had had to do something like this, everything was so automated now. Still, it was fun getting the fuel lodge open herself, and using the old robotics to move the spigot. Doing stuff this mechanical only served to remind her more of her brother. If he was up and about it would be him doing this for sure. After a few tries however, she finally managed to get the parts to mate up, and snickering to herself she turned to go top off the power cells.

About halfway through Night Rage: World Ending Love, about a quarter of the way refueled and almost finished with the power cells- Viva had been warming her hands with her breath before they froze solid, when she stopped cold. A chill had gone up her spine that had nothing to do with the temperature, and yanking the headphones off she whirled around with her brothers name on her lips -

Only to choke on her tongue as she came eye to eye with the barrel of a plasma pistol.

The pistol wavered in front of her face, clutched in the trembling grasp of a desperate looking vagabond. The man, or woman, honestly it was so difficult to tell what with how emaciated and filthy they were, was wild eyed and wracked with fully body tremors. There was a fervid gleam in those over-dilated eyes, and a blackened tongue snaked out to lick at cracked and grimy lips.

"Don' move," They hissed in a hoarse and wrecked voice, as Viva had slowly put her hands up, "Don' move don' move don' move. I'll kill yah. I'll shoot em dead ifin ya move."
A skeletal hand left the grip of the pistol, and made to grope and rummage through her pockets, "Where is et, gotta have it. Know ya have it. Gotta have it."
As the wasted creature grew more frustrated with the lack of anything on her person, it became increasingly angry.
"Give et to me," It shrieked and snatched at her throat, and slapped savagely at her face, throwing her music player to the ground, "Give et to Me! Gimme the NTH!"

Her eyes darting up from where her music player had landed, the sudden increase in silence making the creatures wailing shrieks for the dambed drug all the more loud, Viva's eyes pinned the druggy with her own enraged stare. The smoldering anger she still had for Noah getting them involved with Nth raged to a bonfire, and this pathetic exuce for a human being had just volunteered to be her punching bag.

With her still half raised hands, she brought them both down full force on the would be mugger's ears with a resounding clap. Then as it recolid and made to clutch at its wounded person, she brought them down on the back of it's head and shoved it down to meet her rising knee.

With a screach of pain, the druggy rocked back and went down hard, dropping the plasma pistol as it went. As it tried to scramble up to its knees Viva gave it a savage kick to the solar plexus- knocking the wind out of it and leaving it gasping and drooling on the floor.

With almost casual slowness, Viva bent down and picked up her musicplayer- and then the plasma pistol almost as an afterthought.

Stepping over to the squirming mass on the ground, she shoved it over onto it's back with her boot. Still gasping and weazing, the creature looked up at her with tears and blood trickling down its wasted face- to come eye to eye with the same pistol that it had used on her.

"Kindly do us a favor," Viva said, leaning down on her boot that was still on the creatures chest as she primed the gun, "Fuck off, before one of us kills you."

With that she removed her boot and shot the gun right next to the muggers head. The druggy screamed and yowled in terror as it scrambled away from her, and she gave it a parting shot near its boots to ensure it's retreat.

Lifting a hand to her face she felt at her nose, and pulled it away to find blood there. Damn Nth druggies were always freakishly strong even when wracked out with withdrawls. She'd prolly have a partial black eye as well- but what realy was fueling her fire right now was the fact that they were mugged by a nth druggy that KNEW they were halling Nth.

Slamming the powercell back into its slot, she checked the refuel and saw that they were nearly halfway through. As much as she would love to leave this rock now, they needed to be fully topped off in case they were caught into another chase. And they would be, someone out there knew that they were hauling Nth and wasn't shy about spreading the word- they needed to leave this rock fast.

Dabbing at her nose again, she kicked the hatch door open and made her way inside.

"Noah! Fuck-NOAH!" She hollered into the ship, "We have a problem- We-"

A clatter from the kitchen silenced her, and ducking behind one fof the crates she made shure the door was shut behind her before she made her way farther in. Had the druggy brought a friend? Nth users were usually too paranoid to maintain relationships but stranger things had happened, and after checking the powercells on the plasma pistol she made her way stealthily over to the kitchen window.

A glance inside and she saw a dark hunched and limping form scrabbling in the cubbords, coughing and groaning. Easing herself around the corner she mentally counted down to three before whipping herself to the doorway pistol brought to bare, "Freeze right there scumbag!"

Flinching back with a clatter as proteinbricks and other nonperishables clattered from thier places, Valko lost his ballance and fell back with a yelp onto the floor "Ow, Fuck! What the shit Viva?!"

"Val!" She cried back, immediately lowering the pistol and going to her knees by his side to help him up, "What the fuck are you doing in here?"

"I was hungry," He whined pathetically, and groaned as he put pressure on his brused and wounded side.

Noah was making out with Loire, or was Loire making out with Noah? Did it even matter? When Valko woke up, and given that he'd been drip fed while he was KO'd, it went without saying that his tummy craved some solid food. He hadn't made much of a racket yet though, and went unnoticed, and luckily for Noah and Loire, he'd headed straight to the kitchen instead of looking around for his captain or Viva.

"So are you going to let me go?" Loire asked.
"Didn't think you were the type for one-night stands doc." Noah replied, casually smoking a cigarette, despite the fact that most cruisers didn't allow smoking on board for health and safety, heck the Lucidae was his ship, he'd smoke if he wanted to.
"It's a serious question Noah." Loire replied, for someone who was usually so soft spoken, Noah managed to bring out a stronger side, a healthy challenge.
"Do you really want to go? I mean, I know we didn't meet on conventional terms, and right now, I'm in deep shit, but we could give it a go right?" Noah was lying of course.
He had no intentions of really making anything work with the doctor, but he knew that Loire would be able to outsmart him, he was a genius. No bribe, and no cage would keep the doctor with them, and a doctor was valuable, especially since Noah found himself in the line of fire more often than he'd care to admit. Having someone to patch them all up was a good asset to have on the Lucidae. Plus, out in deep space it was hard to get laid, Noah would be lying if he said he didn't enjoy those perks as well. Viva wasn't exactly up for it, at least not with Noah, not to mention how awkward things would be on board between himself, Val and Vee if anything ever happened.
Loire was too smart to be held captive against his will long-term, and knowing Viva, she'd help Loire escape, either to spite Noah, or because she pitied the doctor. Noah knew he had to convince the doctor to stay himself. Not only was that the easiest, but it was also the most effective option, and luckily for Noah, the doctor seemed to have one dreadful weakness, despite all his brains, he had the emotional intelligence of a space-cow. Something had traumatised the doctor, Noah had a sneaking suspicion that the doctors depression wasn't a chemical imbalance like the doctors would tell you, but instead it was some trauma that never really left him. A jilted lover? A humiliating rejection in his teens? Noah couldn't tell, but he knew Loire would lap up any affection if it appeared genuine enough, once his guard was down.

Noah hated to admit that it was almost laughably easy to crack the doctor, now, depending on the doctors response, he'd have him right where he wanted him.
"You're asking me to shack up with a space bandit trafficking drugs throughout the galaxy?" Loire rephrased.
"I'd hoped you didn't think so lowly of me, but yeah, that pretty much sums it up."
"That's not what I meant-" Loire started.
"Save it, you're doing what I'd do. Talking tough, being sarcastic and witty ... deflecting. I'm not deflecting you right now." Noah looked the doctor straight in the eyes, deeply, quizzing him.
The doctor was vulnerable, his eyes always carried a glint of pain, a slightly haunted stare. Now Noah had Loire's full attention captured in a serious and unwavering gaze. Noah was an incredible actor when he needed to be, and Loire was totally convinced by the act.
"If this is just a one night affair to you and nothing more, I can handle that, but I'm asking you seriously ... Do you want to stay with me? I can't promise you the sun moon and stars ... or that I'll keep my nose clean, but I can try make you happy, thats what you want right?" Noah said, ready to collect his Oscar at this point given his award-winning performance.
Loire's eyes faltered and glanced away briefly. Noah wondered if he'd lost the gamble he'd taken ... seducing the doctor was one thing, getting him to stay and believe this could become something was a riskier game.
"Make me happy? ... I want that more than anything but-."

Suddenly Loire heard a rummaging noise outside (Valko of course.)
"Did you hear that?" Loire asked, perching up on his elbows.
Noah, concerned for his cargo, and the fact that they were vulnerable when they were docked, sprung up, tugging on his clothing hastily. Loire followed suite, getting dressed himself, though Noah already had a head start and was already halfway dressed and making a move for the door.

Further down the ship chaos errupted as Viva made her entrance. Noah and Viva stumbled upon Valko at about the same time. "What the fuck?" was all Noah could manage admidst the confusion. Loire finally caught up, looking a little less prim than usual, his normally neatly brushed hair (which was either tied back out of his way or neatly brushed through) was tousled as though he'd just woken up, he was fully dressed though and looked otherwise his regular self. Noah was unkempt as usual and looked no different than normal.
Noah glanced back at Loire. "Doc you'll need to review him right?" Loire nodded and Noah helped ease Valko back up to his feet.
"C'mon champ, back to the med bay with the doctor, you're up earlier than expected." he said, casting his gaze to Viva who had a bloody nose and a sore looking eye. She'd need to see the doctor too but she was steady on her feet and appeared to be able to handle herself, Valko had just woken from a coma and life threatening injuries, he needed medical attention first, Viva would have insisted Valko get looked at first anyway.
Loire tried helping Valko back to the med bay and up onto the bed to begin checking over his wound and do some standard tests.

With the doctor taking care of Val, Noah was able to take on Vee. "What the fuck happened out there Vee? Your nose is bleeding, get the doc to check you over once he's cleared Val. Whats our status? What happened out there? What happened to you, are you okay?" he said, he'd already planned what to say if Viva asked why Valko was able to get up and wander around without the doctor noticing (because he wasn't going to expose his plans to her at least not yet). Noah knew Viva was fond of the doctors company, and he also knew that she'd probably interfere with his plans, once he had the doctor right where he wanted him, Noah was going to tell Viva and make it clear to her that the doctor wouldn't take her side, Loire would be with Noah and hopefully that would keep Viva somewhat under his control too. Her loyalty to the doctor would keep her compliant, to spare Loire's feelings.

The puzzle pieces were falling into place for Noah, all he had to do now was make the Nth drop-off without any more hitches and they were going to live like kings, for a few months at least.

Valko had woken up reluctantly, groggy and still heavily doped up on pain meds. The mesh ceiling of the tiny medbay was a familiar sight, as was the dull detached feeling of pain suffusing his body- if not the almost drunk grogginess that made room shift in and out of focus and his limbs heavy and clumsy. Whoever had doped him up hadn't been shy about the morphine- Noah and Viva should know better than that, Valko's pain tolerance was remarkably high, and morphine wasn't cheap. The fact that he hadn't woken up to agony was more remarkable- but hey he was not going to fuss about their mistake, and so he was gonna enjoy his high for as long as it lasted.

At least that had been the plan his fuzzy brain had managed to come up with, until his stomach made its opinion known. He'd managed maybe twenty minutes of just relaxing back as best he could on the small medical cot (no small feat but greatly aided by the morphine) before the rumbling complaint finally managed to grab his attention.
Looking about, Valko finally noticed that he was alone in the medbay- a small part of him wondered where the others were, but couldn't bring himself to be too worried. He was sure they were fine, he was fine. He felt great- like he'd been run over by a truck, but he was fiiiine. And hungry. Very hungry.

Gathering up the mental fortitude to make his heavy, lethargic limbs do what he wanted, Valko moved to sit up and winced as an echo of sharp pain twinged through his middle. Oh yeah, there was a reason he was in the med bay. He'd been shot- that bastard. Valko giggled to himself as the memory swam back to the forefront of his mind. It had been a good, dirty fight and he had clearly won, at least until the stooge had decided to bring guns into their fistfight. At least the bastard would never get a second chance, Valko had put him down like the dog he was and the thought put a smile on his face.

Groaning as he rolled himself over the side and onto his feet, Valko staggered as his knees failed to support him and he leaned heavily on the cot he'd just vacated. It rolled a little under his weight and bumped into the mobile medical shelf, jostling its contents and causing a few things to go clattering to the floor. Val giggled some more as he tried to get his legs back under him. Morphine was notorious for giving him the giggles, and he was a very happy drunk.

And currently a very hungry drunk. Man he felt like he hadn't eaten in a week. Using the cot, he tried to wheel himself to the door, when a twinge on his arm stopped him. Was he on an iv? He was! Who the fuck did that? Picking the IVs off with exaggerated focus, he could only imagine the disaster that Noah or Viva would be with all these tubes and needles. Free of drip and tubing, Valko again tried his feet, and found himself to be a bit steadier this time around. Staggering drunkenly he bounced himself from wall to wall, making it to the doorframe and then inching himself across the lounge couch before reaching the insurmountable looking gap that was the hallway.

The ship was quiet, humming lowly in a way that meant they were grounded at the moment, so Valko didn't try to call for Viva to come from the cockpit and help drag his drunk ass into the kitchen. Manly pride kept him from doing the same for Noah, he was gonna do this himself thank you very much. Judging the gap best he could, Val pulled himself up and did his best to stride across right into the kitchen.... Annnnnd end up careening wildly into the wall, where he scrambled and slid his way around the door frame and to the other side. Nailed it.

He'd made it to the kitchen, that was half the battle won. Now to get food, he eyed the cupboards as he slowly dragged himself into a convenient chair. Should be easy enough, especially now that he had a chair. Said chair was then scootched noisily across the floor and to the cupboards. Feeling like he was twelve again, sneaking in for a midnight snack while their folks were asleep, Valko giggled more as he used the chair as a prop to help him stand as he reached to pull out anything his hand landed on to be inspected with exacting scrutiny, his drug addled brain deliberating on what to feed his ravenous stomach.

Soon nearly half the contents of the cupboards laid discarded on the counter, deemed inedible, and now he had his eyes set on reaching up to the top shelf for what he hoped were snacks- When his sister barged into the Kitchen waving her pistol and giving him the fright of his life.

"Freeze right there scumbag!"

Flinching back with a clatter as protein bricks and other non perishables clattered from their places, Valko lost his balance and fell back with a yelp onto the floor "Ow, Fuck! What the shit Viva?!"

"Val!" She cried back, immediately lowering the pistol and going to her knees by his side to help him up, "What the fuck are you doing in here?"

"I was hungry," He whined pathetically, and groaned as he put pressure on his bruised and wounded side.

"No shit," Viva snarked back as she helped him sit up, "What are you doing out of the med bay? Wasn't Liore watching you?"

"Lore who? Who's Lore?" He blinked at Viva and then squinted at her, fighting a grin, "You finally get a boyfriend while i was out cold sleeping? Does pop's know?"
"What. Val," Viva deadpanned back, unamused with his playfulness, "Shut up."

"What the fuck?" was all Noah could manage amidst the confusion.
Noah glanced back at Loire. "Doc you'll need to review him right?" Loire nodded and Noah helped ease Valko back up to his feet.

"Don't look at me," Viva shot at Noah (and wow what the fuck was her problem?) as Val goggled over at their captain and the dark haired stranger, "I just got in and found him like this."

"C'mon champ, back to the med bay with the doctor, you're up earlier than expected." he said, casting his gaze to Viva who had a bloody nose and a sore looking eye.

Lurching about on his feet drunkenly, Val passed a glance over at Noah with a grin that quickly faded as he returned his dazed gaze back on the doctor. It might have been an intimidating expression had he been in a more sober frame of mind, as it was Valko had a more confused expression than the one of intense scrutiny he usually would employ. He may or may not have looked slightly constipated, nearsighted, and like a stiff wind would blow him over.

"What the fuck happened out there Vee? Your nose is bleeding, get the doc to check you over once he's cleared Val. What's our status? What happened out there? What happened to you, are you okay?" he said.

Viva didn't get a chance to answer when Valko interrupted them, lunging out of their grasp clumsily to stand in front of Liore, weaving and not quite intentionally encroaching on the man's personal space.

"Who the fuck are you?" He asked, looking the man up and down, "The fuck you doing on this ship? Are you the one fuckin' my sister?"

"Val!" Viva cried out mortified, before manhandling her brother out into the hall and towards the med bay, "That's the Loire the Doctor. I brought him here, and he's the one that saved your fool life so you better be damned grateful. And for the Love of- He's not my Boyfriend VAL!"

Valko allowed her rough handling, mostly because he was too busy cackling with laughter that left him weak and breathless. And only partly because of the pain and his wounds.

"For heaven's sake Doc," Viva called back to the doctor, "How much of those drugs did you give him?"

Loire's eyes went wide, like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming 4-x-4 at Valko's sudden spontaneous accusation. Of course his reaction was totally natural because he wasn't fucking with Viva, to quote Valko. His surprise at the accusation was evident, but what was not obvious was that he was sleeping with Noah instead. Noah actually found the exchange tremendously amusing though he wouldn't let his face convey his mild amusement because Viva would get suspicious, and probably furious. He would certainly chuckle about it later though, for now, his poker face was firmly in place.

"That's the Loire the Doctor. I brought him here, and he's the one that saved your fool life so you better be damned grateful. And for the Love of- He's not my Boyfriend VAL!"

Loire cleared his throat a little following Viva's introduction and added calmly, "A pleasure to meet you, properly this time, I'm sure, Valko." Loire was glad Val seemed to be doing tremendously well, he was certainly lively for someone who'd practically shook hands with death himself not too long ago. Loire would feel better once he'd given Valko the once over first, he had suffered massive internal trauma, while it was good to be up and active, he had to be careful.

"For heaven's sake Doc," Viva called back to the doctor, "How much of those drugs did you give him?"

Loire was a little baffled actually, he hadn't drugged him up too much, just standard stuff. "I gave him no more than he needed. I must admit I'm quite perplexed by his behaviour ... I didn't have him pegged for being a lightweight." he replied, at least Valko was sort of steady on his feet though, he'd manage to make his way back to the med bay now and then wait it out till the giddyness wore off.

"He was grunting in his sleep, I thought he was uncomfortable." Noah said steadily, "Slipped him a little more morphine, nothing major." he explained. Turning to face Viva who would no doubt want to lynch him now. "I know how much an overdose is so don't even begin to lecture me about being stupid."

Loire, ever the pacifist, wanted to diffuse the situation, plus, stress would likely upset Valko's condition, not that this was stress for Val, he was most certainly accustomed to Viva and Noah's never-ending disagreements. "No harm done, it'll wear off within a couple hours and we can sort out a dosage that suits." Loire was begging the Gods, if they existed, that Viva and Noah would let things drop and that the Lucidae would stay in a state of relative calm for just a little longer, at least till they got away from this wrtetched space-port. He'd noticed Viva's injuries and needed to look at them too.

Noah called out just before Loire and Valko were too far down the hallway towards the med bay. "Your feeling okay doc?"
Loire looked dazed for just a moment but Noah gave him a knowing stare and Loire just nodded and waved his hand dismissively.

Noah pulled Viva aside for a moment and dug out the first aid kit that was up in the cockpit, it wasn't much compared to the med bay, but Viva just had a bloody nose and bruised eye, the med kit had the necessities to patch that up but not much else.
"Vee we're in a bad way out here, so don't fight with me right now, wait till we're in the clear. We just have to get to Paradiso and then we can put this all behind us. Hold still and let me patch you up, Val will keep the doc busy, you know what he's like."

Loire was a little baffled actually, he hadn't drugged him up too much, just standard stuff. "I gave him no more than he needed. I must admit I'm quite perplexed by his behaviour ... I didn't have him pegged for being a lightweight."

"Lightweight?" Viva retorted, her tone incredulous, "Valko's a lot of things but he's never been called that before. He usually doesn't even feel the usual dose..."

"He was grunting in his sleep, I thought he was uncomfortable." Noah said steadily, "Slipped him a little more morphine, nothing major."

"Nothing major!?" Viva cried out, whipping her head around to glare at Noah but before she could say more he continued:
"I know how much an overdose is so don't even begin to lecture me about being stupid."

Viva could only stare at him in angry disbelief as her mind reeled at his sheer gall. They had an actual doctor on board and Noah decided to go ahead and dope up her brother? Valko rarely needed the usual dose of morphine, Noah knew what her brothers pain tolerance was like- No wonder her brother was acting drunk off his ass! And if Valko had been making noise that could have been a sign of him waking up- Why the hell did Noah feel the need to give him more morphine? Cause Noah "thought he was uncomfortable"? Bullshit!

"No harm done, it'll wear off within a couple hours and we can sort out a dosage that suits."

The good doctor obviously wanted to play peacemaker, so she'd hold her tongue. And really now wasn't the time for her to be starting in on their wayward captain again. No matter how much she wanted to or how much he deserved it. So Viva swallowed down the vitriol that was threatening to spill for Loire's sake and let it go. For now.

Her continued icy glare promised as much as she helped manhandle her brother over to the doctor, whom had finally finished his cackling but was still little more than deadweight as he clumsily tried to maneuver himself, his attempts actually hindering more than it helped.

"Only a few hours? Aww man," He said as the doctor finished talking, "I feel fantastic. Like seriously you are amazing doc. I'm like a new man- we should go out on the town. Go get you laid since my sis' is too much of a prude." "Fuck you Val." Viva interjected as Noah pulled her away. Valko continued unperturbed as he babbled on a roll, "I'll get laid too. It'll be fun. What kinda woman ya like? Me, I like Tall Blonds- just like my drinks. I could sure go for a drink... and some food. I am so damn hungry an- Wait nooo, I wanted food. Take me back to the kitchen."

Valko's voice faded out of earshot as they reached the cockpit and Viva shook her arm free of Noah's grasp. Sitting herself in her chair she delicately touched her face around her eye as he rummaged around for the small first aid kit.

"Vee we're in a bad way out here, so don't fight with me right now, wait till we're in the clear. We just have to get to Paradiso and then we can put this all behind us. Hold still and let me patch you up, Val will keep the doc busy, you know what he's like."

"I fuckin know how bad the situation is," She said swatting at his hands as he tried to dab her cut with antiseptic, "A situation we wouldn't be in if you hadn't of gotten us involved with the Nth. Which I'm still pissed about, and that's besides this nonsense about you spiking Val's drip- which I will get to the bottom of cause I ain't about to swallow that bullshit. So I hope you understand what I mean when I say we have Bigger Problems to deal with."

"I just got accosted by a druggy Noah," Viva said ardently, pointing an indignant finger at her blackening eye, "Some wasted, cut off, lowlife, who KNEW I was involved with Nth. Fucker was going through my pockets trying to find it!"

"We got somebody on our tail Noah. Somebody who isn't shy about spreading the word about who we are and what we're hauling. Now we got a bullseye on us that's to the point that some wretch off the street can find us, who knows who else is gonna be gunning for that thrice damned cargo So Just Who the Hell did you Piss Off?"

"Only a few hours? Aww man," He said as the doctor finished talking, "I feel fantastic. Like seriously you are amazing doc. I'm like a new man- we should go out on the town. Go get you laid since my sis' is too much of a prude." "Fuck you Val." Viva interjected as Noah pulled her away. Valko continued unperturbed as he babbled on a roll, "I'll get laid too. It'll be fun. What kinda woman ya like? Me, I like Tall Blonds- just like my drinks. I could sure go for a drink... and some food. I am so damn hungry an- Wait nooo, I wanted food. Take me back to the kitchen."

Loire was rather amused by Valko, well ... drugged up Valko, he appeared amicable and pleasant, then again, that could just have been the drugs talking, Val could be a whole other person once they wore off. Loire opted to just enjoy the good company for now, Valko was very friendly and the doctor was relieved that there was potentially one other person on this crew who wasn't as complicated as Noah could be.

"I'll have to politely decline Valko, I have no interest in women, I'm very much married to my work." he replied pleasantly. He hadn't gotten the chance to answer Noah's question about taking things more seriously, so of course he wasn't going to tell Valko he was seeing someone ... besides, Noah was complicated, Loire didn't think he'd be the type to be open about his affairs ... Then again, he could be wrong. Being committed to his job was the easiest answer and wasn't a lie either.

Loire had a hard time admitting his sexual preference. The colony world that he'd grown up on was small, a rigid religious regime had flourished, although not everyone was a follower it was impossible to entirely escape the influence and the judgement of the neighbours, and when everyone knew everyone else, gossip between neighbours spread easily, everyone was aware of everyone elses affairs and anything that wasn't fair, just and heteronormative, was usually regarded with scorn. Unfortunately for a young Loire, he grew up on one of the few somewhat "backwards" planets that held onto extremely dated conservative views that had pretty much faded out on other worlds.

Loire had only been young when he'd left, but he'd learned that being gay wasn't something to openly declare on his homeworld. The Citadel was vibrant, in every way imaginable, and all sorts of people with all sorts of preferences were very vocal and visible and it was okay, Loire wasn't really accustomed to it though and generally kept to himself. His silence didn't mean he didn't acknowledge his sexuality though, he accepted it himself and assumed his parents were aware of it by now, parents could just sense this sort of thing right?

"Once you're back on your feet, and not staggering around, you can eat and drink to your hearts content." Loire reassured. Usually patients who suffered internal traumas like Valko would need a special diet for a while, but Valko was a hardy bloke, there would be no need to molly-coddle him, he was already doing very well.

Loire proceeded to help ease Valko back up onto the bed and began to do a series of routine checks, blood-pressure, temperature, heart beat, checking his responses to ensure he wasn't suffering from any kind of brain trauma.
"You gave us quite a scare you know." Loire said as he worked. "I'd be lying if I told you you weren't at deaths door when Viva brought me in."

"I fuckin know how bad the situation is, A situation we wouldn't be in if you hadn't of gotten us involved with the Nth. Which I'm still pissed about, and that's besides this nonsense about you spiking Val's drip- which I will get to the bottom of cause I ain't about to swallow that bullshit. So I hope you understand what I mean when I say we have Bigger Problems to deal with. I just got accosted by a druggy Noah, Some wasted, cut off, lowlife, who KNEW I was involved with Nth. Fucker was going through my pockets trying to find it! We got somebody on our tail Noah. Somebody who isn't shy about spreading the word about who we are and what we're hauling. Now we got a bullseye on us that's to the point that some wretch off the street can find us, who knows who else is gonna be gunning for that thrice damned cargo So Just Who the Hell did you Piss Off?"

"You can't peg this all on me Viva, your brother was there too and it was because of him that this deal went south, if he hadn't caused such a scene we wouldn't have attracted so much attention adn we'd probably have already made the drop off by now if he'd just followed the plan." As far as Noah was concerned, 90% of the troubles right now were mostly Val's fault, that didn't mean that things wouldn't have fucked up later on because of Noah or the cargo, but this was the hand they'd been dealt and it was Val who'd caused the fight that landed them in hot water in the first place.

Noah knew Viva was mad about upping Val's pain relief, and while Noah could understand her anger at him for the Nth deal, he wasn't going to sit back and let her look down on him because of Val. As selfish and manipulative as he could be, Noah did care about Val very much, and as insufferable as she was in his eyes, part of him cared of Viva too in his own not very obvious way.
"Vee don't dare think that I'd ever harm Valko. He's my best friend ... heck he's more than that, he's like a brother to me and I would die without him. Do you think you're the only one who was scared out of your freaking mind when he was bleeding out? Because you're not. You can hate me all you want, but don't for one second think that I don't love Valko, anything I do, I do with all of our best interests in mind."

He wasn't lying. That much was pure honest truth. Maybe Viva would believe him, maybe, but right now, they had other issues to deal with so it wasn't worth dragging out this any longer, at least not for now.

Noah swore under his breath when Viva outlined just how much more shit they were in now. During the blood bath, someone had sent out a signal, the class of their ship, and its cargo, and now it was doing the rounds on the underground intelligence circuit.
"Fuckin' Patches" he cursed. "Patches" of course referred to "Mal Sullivan", a big baddie drug lord who lost his eye and thus earned the lovely nickname "Patches" ... well ... not quite, no one lived if they said it to his face, but Noah thought the nickname was catchy.
"Mal Sullivan, he's ... He's not good news, but we can just get to Paradiso and get rid of the cargo quick. Are we refuelled and ready to go or what?" Noah asked, they didn't have time to sit around anymore, if the refuel wasn't finished up, Noah would go out with Viva and they'd get everything wrapped up quick and get off this damn station fast.

"I'll have to politely decline Valko, I have no interest in women, I'm very much married to my work." Loire replied pleasantly, "Once you're back on your feet, and not staggering around, you can eat and drink to your hearts content."
"Oh man you are missing out," Valko said his attention once again distracted from his quest to raid the cupboards, "But hey it's your loss Doc, just mean's there's more for us. I know some damn fine women who could show you a thing or two... I can totally hook you up if ya change your mind. Or a lad, if that's the way you swing."

Valko waggled his eyebrows lewdly as he squirmed his way into a comfortable spot on the cot. Reclining because sitting up was too much work, as he let the Doctor do his stuff... maybe it was the drugs talking but this guy wasn't too bad. He was dreadfully fun to tease- almost as fun as Viva.

"You gave us quite a scare you know." Loire said as he worked. "I'd be lying if I told you you weren't at death's door when Viva brought me in."

"Ah shit doc," Valko cackled again at that, although this was a much different laugh from the one before- colder and much more sober from his previous giggling, "This was nothing. Just a lil disagreement is all- A difference of opinion if ya will... Guy had the opinion that he had the rights to do some unmentionable things to Vee. Made the grave mistake of letting me know and I let him know how grave that mistake was, Ha Ha!"

Valko's eyes had an almost fevered intensity to his dazed gaze as he looked at Loire, a wide toothy smile on his face that looked more than a little demented. Underlying the playful loopiness there was something vicious in that vindictive pleasure that now crossed the young man's face, "If you think I'd let anybody fuck with my family you got another thing coming."

<VoV>


"You can't peg this all on me Viva, your brother was there too and it was because of him that this deal went south, if he hadn't caused such a scene we wouldn't have attracted so much attention and we'd probably have already made the drop off by now if he'd just followed the plan."
"Vee don't dare think that I'd ever harm Valko. He's my best friend ... heck he's more than that, he's like a brother to me and I would die without him. Do you think you're the only one who was scared out of your freaking mind when he was bleeding out? Because you're not. You can hate me all you want, but don't for one second think that I don't love Valko, anything I do, I do with all of our best interests in mind."

Viva just growled in frustration, stopping just short of rolling her eyes. Of course she was well aware of their "brotherhood" they'd been harping on her about that same shit all since childhood- you'd think they'd realize she had gotten the picture by now. Best interests though? She highly doubted that Nth could ever be in Anyone's best interest. And she was getting real fucking tired of how Noah was trying to shift the blame onto her brother. Yeah Val could have been in on this goddamned stupid idea of a job- but Noah was their Captain goddamnit! He was responsible. Was it too much to ask for him to fucking act like it?

"Fuckin' Patches" he cursed. "Mal Sullivan, he's ... He's not good news, but we can just get to Paradiso and get rid of the cargo quick. Are we refuelled and ready to go or what?"

"Not yet," She said wiping the last of the blood from her nose that had thankfully stopped bleeding a short while ago, "I was a bit busy being mugged for fucks sake. We should be almost topped off by now though, it's a manual pump so we gotta disengage it from the outside. Come on, the sooner we ditch this frozen rock the better..."

Viva lead the way back out through the hall only to stop short- coming to an abrupt halt at the doorway to the cargo hold- the door that she'd closed but hadn't locked now stood wide open. Horror and alarm screaming through her as she instinctively reached for the plasma pistol in her pocket only to be greeted with the sound of the electronic whine of plasma rifles priming. There were people in the cargo hold. Hostiles.

There was three-no four? Three large heavy brut looking guys- rippled with muscles and matching tattoos moving about the hold amongst the crates, one of which now currently had them covered with a nasty looking rifle on his shoulder. He was standing next to a woman, looking disturbingly at ease in her fancy dress even as she sat upon the filthy crate. She was blond and uncommonly lovely, and currently cooing and petting comfortingly at the matted filthy hair of the wasted soul that had attempted to rob the Lucidae earlier.

"Ah-ah-ah!" The Woman said chidingly, her voice lilting and cruel, "Reach for a gun and Taggart here will blast a hole through that pretty little head of yours. You too Captain. We wouldn't want this getting messy now would we."

"Brody, Craven," She continued snapping her fingers, "Do go relieve our two new friends of the temptation would you? It simply won't do if itchy fingers get the better of our negotiations after all."

"Oh man you are missing out," Valko said his attention once again distracted from his quest to raid the cupboards, "But hey it's your loss Doc, just mean's there's more for us. I know some damn fine women who could show you a thing or two... I can totally hook you up if ya change your mind. Or a lad, if that's the way you swing."

Well that was reassuring I guess. At least Loire wouldn't have to worry about Valko having any extreme opinions ... Valko was willing to try hook him up!!! Not that that was a problem right now though.
"I'll keep that in mind." he smiled a little, Valko appeared friendly and approachable like his sister, then again he was high off his tits on morphine so perhaps that was influencing him a lot.

"This was nothing. Just a lil disagreement is all- A difference of opinion if ya will... Guy had the opinion that he had the rights to do some unmentionable things to Vee. Made the grave mistake of letting me know and I let him know how grave that mistake was, Ha Ha!"

Valko's eyes had an almost fevered intensity to his dazed gaze as he looked at Loire, a wide toothy smile on his face that looked more than a little demented. Underlying the playful loopiness there was something vicious in that vindictive pleasure that now crossed the young man's face, "If you think I'd let anybody fuck with my family you got another thing coming."

That made sense. Loire could relate. He wasn't exactly built like a tank, heck he was a doctor not a bodybuilder or muscle for hire, but if anyone dared to harm Lucine, he'd want to tear them limb from limb ... Then again, he didn't really have to worry about that did he, where Lucine was, no more harm would come her way.
"I understand, family is very important, I don't blame you." he said, then he recalled Valko looking him up and down and asking if Loire was the one "fuckin'" Viva.
"I sure am glad you didn't lash out at me back there, since you thought I was sleeping with Viva, you're a pretty tough guy. You do know I'm not sleeping with her right? And that I'd never hurt her, just so we're clear."

Noah swore under his breath at their unwelcomed guests ... At least Viva was cooperating with him for the first time in weeks though, something was working in his favour, it was about time something went to shit.
"Naomi babe, howya been?" Noah asked nonchalantly. The Nth had been tucked away, hidden in one of the many nooks the older models of cruisers had. He wasn't going to appear scared, or try start a fight, because he knew she'd need him alive if she wanted to find the damn cargo, so he'd buy himself and Viva some time to figure out how to get out of this situation.
"You look good, though I can't say the same about the company you keep." he looked up at one of the big henchmen she'd dragged along and added as a side note "No offence buddy."
He looked over to Viva and motioned for her not to draw her weapon.

"It's alright Vee, Naomi's a civilised woman, I'm sure we can work something out without making a mess of the Lucidae's lovely cargo hold, and Ms. Dybuk's lovely dress." his voice was smooth like melted chocolate, of course he was acutely afraid, as long as they made no sudden movements or didn't say anything rash they'd find a way out.

"I understand, family is very important, I don't blame you." he said, then he recalled Valko looking him up and down and asking if Loire was the one "fuckin'" Viva.
"I sure am glad you didn't lash out at me back there, since you thought I was sleeping with Viva, you're a pretty tough guy. You do know I'm not sleeping with her right? And that I'd never hurt her, just so we're clear."

"Oh sure you're not sleeping with her," Valko said, his overly toothy smile never wavering, "I was mostly yankin' Vee's chain- gotta keep her on her toes. But you..."

Valko trailed off, a knowing glint in his eyes as he repeated his earlier wandering gaze and took in Loire's still disheveled appearance. He'd noticed that the doctor hadn't reacted to his earlier teasing until he'd mentioned lads- the man's slight smile a mix of relief and disbelief was very telling, "You've been bumping uglies with somebody for sure. I've got three good guesses who and the first two don't count."

He laughed at the doctor's expression, taking delight in treading all over whatever delicate sensibilities the educated man may have.

"Now Noah," He continued after his mirth subsided, although he did flash a grin at the mention of his prime suspect, "Unlike Viva, Noah can take care of himself more often than not. Noah wants to play "Doctor" with a Doctor I ain't gonna tell him no. So If you wanna play 'Cabin boy' to his Captain well then have at it..."

"Just you keep in mind our little discussion yeah?" Val's voice remained casal, but had taken on a dark timbre, "Fuck around all you want, but Noah is as much my kin as Viva is. And if anybody, Anybody Fucks with my family...

"I'll end em." Valko bit the words out with savage relish. Then smiling innocently at the doctor, "Just so we're in the clear ya know."

<VoV>

"Naomi babe, howya been?" Noah asked nonchalantly, "You look good, though I can't say the same about the company you keep." he looked up at one of the big henchmen she'd dragged along and added as a side note "No offence buddy."
He looked over to Viva and motioned for her not to draw her weapon, "It's alright Vee, Naomi's a civilised woman. I'm sure we can work something out without making a mess of the Lucidae's lovely cargo hold, and Ms. Dybbuk's lovely dress."

The big man, either Brody or Craven, merely snarled at Noah's cheek and continued to pat him down for concealed weapons- being a little rougher than necessary. The other man approached Viva, leering at her as he groped through her pockets. The plasma pistol taken from her pocket and was thrown to the floor where it was kicked down the hall and well out of reach- along with any other weapons that were found on them.

"How considerate," Naomi purred as she watched them, "I see my reputation has preceded me... "

Switching her legs she ruched up a bit of her lacy skirt, flashing a tantalizing peek of creamy thigh, "I've heard quite a bit of your own reputation Noah Rhoads, Captain of the light freight star cruiser Lucidae."

She recited it with ease, enunciating it clearly as if to a small child. Standing up she slinked towards them as she continued, "You, Captain, are a small time smuggler. A criminal with delusions of grandeur. Which is the absolute worst kind of criminal you could be.
"A humble criminal lives longer..." She crooned, running her elegantly manicured nails down his cheek, "But you have too much ego to ever be satisfied with Humble, don't you. Just look at you, how young and handsome. Tsk, such a shame. "

"You thought it would be a good idea to play with the big boys," She said stepping aside as the two brutes secured their arms behind their back, "And ended up stepping on the wrong person's toes. Mar Sullivan doesn't suffer fools, Captain. And that is what you are..." Naomi turned to Viva and repeated her caress on the girl's cheek, "So now you are going to suffer the consequences of your foolishness."

"Is this the one, Pet?" Looking Viva over with an impersonal judging eye Naomi asked the filthy creature that was still back at the crates,"She's the one that struck you, yes? Well now, we just can't have that can we."

Quick as a flash, Naomi struck Viva a vicious slap across the cheek that whipped her head to one side.
"Oh no," Ms. Dybbuk said in dismay as she turned away, "I've broken a nail- That's going to cost you."

At a wave of her hand, the grunt that had Viva's hands behind her back quickly pulled them up into a painful looking hold. Dragging her head to one side with a grip on her hair, the man shoved a knife to her neck before she could do more than yelp.

Returning to her original perch on top of the crates, she seated herself like it was a throne, "You are not in a position to negotiate Captain Rhoads, so I am going to dictate the terms. You are going to Tell me where the Nth is, or your little crewmember here is going to suffer greatly for your arrogance. You've already lost one Crux twin after all... can you really afford to lose another?"

"You've been bumping uglies with somebody for sure. I've got three good guesses who and the first two don't count."

He laughed at the doctor's expression, taking delight in treading all over whatever delicate sensibilities the educated man may have.

Loire wondered if Viva noticed ... if it was thaaaat obvious. If it was soooo obvious that Valko, high off his tits Valko, could notice. Not that it was anything to be inherently ashamed of, Loire just didn't want to deal with it right now. Things with Noah and Vee were already pretty messy, Loire didn't want extra chaos brewing on the Lucidae. Plus it was a one-time thing ... for now, Noah had asked about making things serious, but Loire hadn't gotten to respond and now hism mind was reeling.

"Now Noah," He continued after his mirth subsided, although he did flash a grin at the mention of his prime suspect, "Unlike Viva, Noah can take care of himself more often than not. Noah wants to play "Doctor" with a Doctor I ain't gonna tell him no. So If you wanna play 'Cabin boy' to his Captain well then have at it..."

"Just you keep in mind our little discussion yeah?" Val's voice remained casal, but had taken on a dark timbre, "Fuck around all you want, but Noah is as much my kin as Viva is. And if anybody, Anybody Fucks with my family...

"I'll end em." Valko bit the words out with savage relish. Then smiling innocently at the doctor, "Just so we're in the clear ya know."

Loire prepared to respond, prepared to set the record straight with Valko (would he tell the truth but confirm it was a one-time-fling, or would he lie and insist it was all in Val's head, that he was getting totally ludicrous ideas). Suddenly he heard a slight commotion further down the ship, clattering down the halls. Weren't Noah and Viva out refuelling? he thought briefly. Before replying to Valko he excused himself. "I think I heard something ... you stay there and ... stop getting crazy ideas about me and Noah."

He stepped out into the hallway, looking down towards the cockpit (away from the cargo hold). --AMBUSH HIM!!!!--

-----

Switching her legs she ruched up a bit of her lacy skirt, flashing a tantalizing peek of creamy thigh, "I've heard quite a bit of your own reputation Noah Rhoads, Captain of the light freight star cruiser Lucidae."

"All good things I hope." he quipped flippantly. Of course it wasn't good news, he was a fucking criminal.

"You, Captain, are a small time smuggler. A criminal with delusions of grandeur. Which is the absolute worst kind of criminal you could be.
"A humble criminal lives longer..." She crooned, running her elegantly manicured nails down his cheek, "But you have too much ego to ever be satisfied with Humble, don't you. Just look at you, how young and handsome. Tsk, such a shame. "

"Well I won't argue on that last point." he drawled casually, the key was not to show fear, he couldn't let her think she was winning. He knew how much trouble she was though, he knew this wasn't a good meeting but he'd gotten out of that mess with Val, he'd get out of this too. Hopefully with a lot less almost-bleeding-to-death but he couldn't guarantee.


"You thought it would be a good idea to play with the big boys," She said stepping aside as the two brutes secured their arms behind their back, "And ended up stepping on the wrong person's toes. Mar Sullivan doesn't suffer fools, Captain. And that is what you are..." Naomi turned to Viva and repeated her caress on the girl's cheek, "So now you are going to suffer the consequences of your foolishness."

"I'll sort it out with Sullivan, I can take care of myself and my crew." he said, firmly, but calmly, he wasn't going to dare yell at Naomi, he wasn't in the position to mouth off too much. "See this is where I'm getting a little confused, this is between me and Sullivan, you don't have to get your hands dirty with this business at all. Nth isn't exactly your usual remit though is it? Surely your business isn't doing so badly you've had to start pedalling drugs to pick up the girls slack?" it was gutsy ... mayve a little foolish, but Noah needed to know what Naomi was involved too. Her whorehouse usually kept her busy.
"Speaking of which, do you still have that lovely blonde girl working for you? She was from Poseidon her eyes were two different shades of blue, looked weird but she was pretty good at her job."

Quick as a flash, Naomi struck Viva a vicious slap across the cheek that whipped her head to one side.
"Oh no," Ms. Dybbuk said in dismay as she turned away, "I've broken a nail- That's going to cost you."

At a wave of her hand, the grunt that had Viva's hands behind her back quickly pulled them up into a painful looking hold. Dragging her head to one side with a grip on her hair, the man shoved a knife to her neck before she could do more than yelp.

Noah flinched as Viva was attacked and the knife came out. Now they really were in deep shit.
"Y'allright Vee?" he asked, daring to cast his eyes in her direction, but not moving his head too far lest he get beaten too. She had to keep her cool, if she didn't then she'd put them all at risk, she'd have to keep her cool, she knew Valko was still on board and as long as they kept Naomi and her crew here, they'd keep Valko out of harms way.

Returning to her original perch on top of the crates, she seated herself like it was a throne, "You are not in a position to negotiate Captain Rhoads, so I am going to dictate the terms. You are going to Tell me where the Nth is, or your little crewmember here is going to suffer greatly for your arrogance. You've already lost one Crux twin after all... can you really afford to lose another?"

He gritted his teeth, it was all he could do to stop himself lashing out and getting them all shot. He looked over at Viva and willed her eyes to meet his, he was trying to talk to her with his eyes, to tell her that he was bluffing and that everything he would say was a lie to buy them time, a gamble to get them out of this. He didn't mean a thing. She had to play along but know he didn't mean it.

"You're right, I already lost Val ... and what use is just one twin huh? Its like a bike with one fucking wheel, if you kill her, I still won't talk, and if you kill me, you'll have to tear this ship apart inch by inch to find the Nth if its even on this ship, we docked back in Noveria, it could still be there for all you know, the point if I'm not telling. The street value of the Nth is more than enough to get a new crew and a total refit for the Lucidae, not to mention a few sessions with some of your lovely girls Naomi, if you can pencil me in that is." he wished he had the faith to pray to a God but he knew he was on his own right now and it sucked.
"Tell you what, I can cut you a deal, how about 60/40? You know how much Nth we have, 60% is a hefty chunk and we've already done most of the work, you can't get a better deal than that." He hoped it would pay off, it had to pay off he had no other options left.

The savage strike whipped her head to one side, the red hand print blooming high on Viva’s already bruised cheek and splitting her lip against her teeth, a raised scratch where the woman’s nail had snagged against her skin.
"Y'alright Vee?" he asked, daring to cast his eyes in her direction, but not moving his head too far lest he get beaten too.
“Peachy,” Viva sneered and spat blood to the floor- mostly from the bloody nose she’d had earlier, but it certainly expressed her feelings of the moment well enough. The brute then grabbed a hard handful of her hair and pressed the flat of his blade coldly against her throat, the razor edge a warning sting to accompany the pain on her scalp.

He gritted his teeth, it was all he could do to stop himself lashing out and getting them all shot. He looked over at Viva and willed her eyes to meet his, he was trying to talk to her with his eyes, to tell her that he was bluffing and that everything he would say was a lie to buy them time, a gamble to get them out of this. He didn't mean a thing. She had to play along but know he didn't mean it.
"You're right, I already lost Val ...and what use is just one twin huh? It's like a bike with one fucking wheel,”

“Заткнись вам мать!” Viva snarled at him. So much for the ‘concern’, if the bastard was going to gamble with her life then why’d he even bother. With all the bullshit coming out of his mouth it was a wonder the woman hadn't shut him up yet... maybe she was just happy to listen to the idiot dig his own grave, the smug smile on the whoremistress’s face sure gave that impression.

"Tell you what, I can cut you a deal, how about 60/40? You know how much Nth we have, 60% is a hefty chunk and we've already done most of the work, you can't get a better deal than that." He hoped it would pay off, it had to pay off he had no other options left.[/i]

“My my,” Naomi laughed throatily, her voice cruel, “You are quite the chatty one aren't you. If you are going to blather on so, it should be what I want to hear... But that would require you to listen...” The blonde woman trailed off sharply, her eyes darting to the hall between her hostages.

“Taggart.” Naomi commanded sharply, but her head muscle was already on the move
Three great strides and the man snagged the dark haired doctor roughly by the scruff, throwing him down the hall to land in a pile at his mistresses feet.

“Well now. What do we have here,” Ms Dybbuk mused, the whine of a plasma pistol repriming cutting through the air as the man holding Noah freed up one of his hands to level his weapon at the new threat.

“The boy Crux’s body is not yet cold and you’ve already gone and replaced him have you...” Sliding silkily off her seat, Naomi knelt down to grab Lior by the chin, examining his aristocratic features, and carding her hand through his mussed hair, “That is a surprise, I must say. It takes a truly heartless individual to cast aside bonds so easily... I should know, but I didn’t think you were the type to be so insensitive after losing a ‘brother’ after all...”

“But then again...”She smiled prettily as her gentle hands turned mean, gripping his hair and pulling his head back to expose his neck and putting the doctor into an extremely vulnerable position. Her free hand grazing her nails down his throat and the hickies barely concealed by his collar, “Perhaps ‘brotherhood’ wasn’t exactly what you had in mind to replace.”

Valko frowned from his position on the gurney, his mirth at taking the flustered doctor off balance cut short as the sounds coming from the cargobay slowly permeated his drug addled mind. They were not the right sort of sounds that he should be hearing- A woman’s voice that was not his sisters, and a familiar electric sound that was slowly but surely pressing alarm buttons in his brain. It took a moment but eventually it clicked... And Valko grinned.

They had unwelcome company.