YES! I AM SCOTT WESTERFIELD! MWAHAHA-

Hem. Sorry about that. I had a brief moment of super insanity (since I am already insane). I, unfortunately, am not Scott Westerfield. If I was, I don't want to think of the surgeries I would need to go through. *Shivers*

Deryn sat on the ships spine, looking out at the sunset. Everything always looked ten times as beautiful from the sky than it did from the ground. She looked down at the current picture she was drawing. She didn't know where the idea came from, but she had started it straight away, and liked how it was coming out. It was a man, currently faceless, holding hands with a woman, also faceless, under a table, both looking away from each other. She was sketching this when she heard someone coming over to where she was. Without looking she knew it was Alek. His footsteps were easily recognizable. They were light, like-

Alek speaking brought her out of her thoughts. "Sorry, what did you just say?" Deryn asked.

Alek shook his head with a small smile on his face. "Aren't you cold?"

Deryn looked down at herself. She was so focused on getting up here to concentrate on sketching that she had completely forgot about a jacket, or gloves. And now that he mentioned it, her hands were beginning to chill. Before she could answer, Alek plucked her sketchpad from her lap and looked at it inquisitively. "What's this?" he asked.

She felt a blush forming on her cheeks, but didn't let it get far. "Aye, nothing much. Just some drawings."

Deryn felt like he didn't really care what it was when he immediately started flipping through the pages, stopping every now and then to examine one more closely. The blush came back, but Deryn fought harder then ever to keep it from emerging onto her cheeks.

When Alek finally looked up about five minutes later, there was a broad grin set on his face. "Dylan, these are amazing! Why did you never tell me you could draw?"

Deryn was speechless. She'd never heard someone compliment her art. Well, her dad had, but those days were long gone. And whenever her mother saw her drawing, she would make some remark about how instead of spending her time drawing, she should learn to cook, or learn to crochet, or play the piano, or clean the house like a normal lady, or just plain find a man. She felt something change inside of her. It was a strange feeling, and she wasn't sure whether it was good or bad yet, but she was going to go with it.

"Um… Alek? I have something I need to tell you," Deryn asked in a small voice.

Alek turned his attention to her. "Yea, Dylan?"

She swallowed. Well, no going back now. "Well, I've kind of been keeping it a secret. And you can't tell anyone." Alek nodded, as if saying yes, go on. She took in a deep breath and whispered it so low that even she couldn't hear what she had said.

"What was that Dylan? I can't hear you when you talk to your feet."

Once again she steadied herself, but this time let the words be heard. "I'm a girl, Alek."

She looked up at his face. He looked shocked for a second, but then relaxed. "Ha ha, very funny Dylan. But really, what did you want to tell me?"

Deryn inwardly groaned. Why did he have to make this even more difficult on her? "I'm not joking Alek," she said. "I really am a girl. My name is Deryn Sharp, and I dressed up as a boy to get into the Air Force." She forced herself to look at him. At first she saw only shock, but then it was replaced with anger, betrayal and… was that disgust? Before she could say anymore he had ran off, those light yet forceful footsteps pounding on the ships membrane, sending vibrations through the beastie, fading and fading after every second.

"Barking Spiders," she muttered to herself after he had been completely out of ear and eyeshot. Her eyes went to the sketchpad, now lying on the floor, open to the page with the man and women holding hands beneath the table. She forced he eyes to the sky; Who knew if this would be the last time she would see it?

*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'

*4 days later*

Deryn was making her bed when she heard the footsteps coming from outside her door. She shrugged it off, not thinking anything of it.

Suddenly her door was open, and seven figures entered the small room. She saw Alek, who was fiercely looking down at his shoes, Count Volger, who looked as smug as a cat, Otto Klopp, who looked utterly confused, the ships captain, Dr. Barlow, who looked at Deryn with grief, and two rather large men who she had seen with the hydrogen sniffers on multiple occasions. The first thought that popped into her head was What is this, an intervention?

She came to her senses and saluted the captain. "At ease," he said "Miss Sharp."

She put her hand down, and then she realized what he had just said.

Miss Sharp.

Not Mister.

Miss.

As in woman.

Barking Spiders…

Deryn backed up until she hit the bed, fear raging inside her. How could they know? She thought. I was always careful. Volger promised not to tell. And Alek-

Wait.

Alek.

Her gaze, which had been on the group in general, now focused on Alek, anger and rage filling them. She shakily lifted her hand, isolating one finger to point at Alek, who still glared at his shoes. "You," she muttered. She knew she must sound crazy. She let out a large slew of curses that made the men jump and Dr. Barlow give a small, sad smile. The language was often heard from Dylan, but to hear a lady say such foul words must have really given them a shock.

Before they could recover, Deryn had jumped on Alek, landing punch after punch on his pretty little face. Well, not so pretty anymore. It wasn't too long before they came to their senses and pulled her off of him. She saw that Klopp was tending to the emperor, but blood still flowed. The captain laid eyes on her and changed her life with just a few words.

"Miss Sharp, with these men and Dr. Nora Barlow as witnesses, I hereby strip you of your rank on this ship. We will permit you to go back to your home, and you will leave this ship with your life. We would not feel right sending a 15-year-old girl to her death."

*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'

*3 years later*

Alek lifted the mug to his lips, savoring the warm liquid as it flowed through his throat. He was alone for about 5 minutes until Count Volger entered the hall, bowing a little as he entered. Now that he was emperor, Volger had to show him more respect. Alek thought it was good for him to be knocked down a peg or two.

Volger walked towards him, a newspaper in his hand. Alek was confused when he saw that the headings were not in German, but instead English. Volger saw the look, and mysteriously said, "I have a feeling that you will find a particular article in here… interesting, to say the least." And with that he walked away.

Alek sighed, and began to leaf through the newspaper, scanning the heading, when one caught his eye. It read:

"The lass with the iron will", former Leviathan crewmember, Deryn Sharp, who disguised herself as a man, commits suicide! More on page 12.

Alek hurriedly went to page 12, thoughts racing through his head. It couldn't be… But then again, how many Deryn Sharps are there that dressed up as a man and got onto the Leviathan are there?… She killed herself?… Am I the cause of this?

When he got to the article, he absorbed every word.

WOMAN WHO DRESSED UP AS A MAN TO GET INTO THE AIRFORCE KILLS HERSELF!

ByPhillip Newkirk

Deryn Sharp. You've all heard of her. The lass with the iron will. The insane one. The Snow White of sorts of this century. The girl who was able to fool officials on the Leviathan for about a year that she was a man. Whatever you called her, you all knew her. Just two days ago, Ms. Sharp committed suicide in her apartment in London. She had taken a knife and jammed it through her heart, saying farewell to the world. Or, knowing her, something with a lot more curses. She was found out and kicked off the ship exactly three years ago today.

While playing Dylan Sharp, Deryn certainly didn't act like a lady. She cursed like a sailor, wasn't afraid to get down and dirty, and could certainly be called a risk taker. Nothing stopped her from sliding down a rope on a Huxely Ascender, saving my life from burning on one, and even being entrusted, and carrying out, a mission that literally changed the outcome of the war.

When I saw Deryn being taken out of the ship, I was shocked. As far as I knew, "Dylan" was one of the manliness people I had ever met. But one thing was clear: Once he left this ship, nothing else mattered to him. Not family. Not friends. Not health. Nothing. Deryn was meant to be in the air; that was clear to anybody who saw her. She belonged there. But, a woman does not. So when I heard the news, I have to admit, I wasn't very shocked. Saddened, yes. Hurt, yes. But I always knew that flying was all that Deryn ever cared about in the end. So this article is to acknowledge the passing of Airwoman Deryn Sharp. A flier. A fighter. And one hell of a friend.

Alek looked up from the article. He had caused this. It was his choice to turn Deryn in. And here was his punishment. As he scanned the rest of the article, he saw that next to the picture of her in her airman's outfit, one of the pictures was a note with a caption that said it was left next to her body. It read:

Alek-

Just thought I'd let you know, in case you see this, that I never forgave you. And never will. At least I'm in the sky again.

- Deryn

P.S. Tell Bovril that I said goodbye.

Below the note was the picture Deryn had been drawing the day he had found out, only it was now finished. They were both looking away from each other, a sense of disdain radiating off of the picture. As he studied it, he realized why the people looked familiar. It was them. Now that it was colored, it was hard to believe he had missed it.

The tears that had been welling up inside his eyes finally pushed through, falling on his cheek. As if summoned, Bovril jumped up onto the table, knocking over the coffee. He looked curiously at the paper, and, as if he could read, nuzzled next to Deryn's picture before he made Alek begin to sob.

In a sad voice, Bovril said, "Goodbye, Mr. Sharp."

A final tear falling on top of the picture of the note, smudging the ink that made up the drawing.

Okay, I have FINALLY made a Leviathan fic! I'm sure some of you are saying, "Wait, she killed herself? C'mon!" Well, we all know that flying is what means the most to Deryn. Without it, she's nothing. You may also think she would have forgiven Alek. If you were her, and a boy that you like told everyone that you were a girl, would you forgive them? I know I wouldn't. I'm not sure if they ever said Newkirk's name, so I made one up. I'm deciding whether or not to continue this with maybe the funeral, or to leave it be. It also may become a series of drabbles, if I can think of any more.

Please review! If you do, I'll give you Bovril clones! Don't you all want Bovril?