Disclaimer: I don't Killjoys or any of the characters.

Johnny Jaqobis stared out the front screen of Lucy and into the deep void of space. It seemed so cold, empty...and so very vast. Where were they going to find D'avin? Their last few leads since the bombing of Old town had no turn out. They knew that D'avin was alive and with Khlyen having found no signs of him on Westerley. If D'avin was in Khlyen's hands, Khlyen would know better than to hurt him - because if he did, Dutch would never go back to him. This of course was the only 'good' news Johnny could derive from everything that happened. After eight years of not knowing whether his brother was alive or dead, this was a welcome change though. But obviously being a hostage of Khlyen' was not a good thing, especially given the latest discovery: Khlyen was Level 6.

Their last encounter with a level 6 had been at the Ancestral Hall on Qresh. The man that Dutch had fought with was inhuman, unfazed from any attacks from Dutch - until of course when Johnny shot him when he licked Dutch. The thought of course, still disgusted Johnny. Seriously, who licked their opponents? While Dutch was sure that D'avin was alive she was unsure of what Khylen would do to him. Whatever it was, it was better than being dead, Johnny tried to remind himself. Not much of a consolation, but Johnny took what he could.

While D'Avin was presumed alive and missing, that couldn't be said for much of the people that were in Old Town. Although Hills had sounded the alarm as soon as he found out the Company was going to bomb the city, the casualties were still a sizable amount. The Company left no room for escape. To them, the citizens in Old Town were on the same level as rats in the tunnels - better to be exteriminated. Although it was said the target was to eliminate those that were a part of the Rebellion, Johnny knew better. The city was levelled to the ground by the Company based on orders from the Nine; all to avoid the follow through of the Seventh Generation Accord.

Well, really it wasn't really Nine any more was it? Delle Seyah Kendry had made sure of that with the genetic bomb that removed her rival families. Previously, Kendry had only two Lands, one in which she inherited - Land Kendry - and the other she held guardianship over until the child was of age, Land Lahani. The families spared on Qresh were the two families aligned with her: Land Simms and Land Derrish. Land Hiponia was gone, wiped out completely, so that left the land to split between the remaining ones. Johnny wasn't sure if really any of the rival families did survive; but seeing that it was a genetic bomb, maybe it would be able to wipe out one family at a time. Then again, if they weren't killed this time, there would be another time... this was only the beginning of Delle Seya Kendry's reign. She was after all, one very psycho b*tch.

Land Simms was spared though. That was a small Johnny still couldn't believe that Pawter came from a family like that. It was like night and Day. Whoever that had died incidentally under her care must have been important to be exiled like that. Johnny had to wonder, did Seyah Simms feel anything when she heard about Old Town being bombed? Or was she as cold as when Johnny delivered Pawter's heartfelt message to her.

Thinking about Pawter reminded him again to scan for any new transmissions retrieved from Westerley by Lucy.

When they had first returned to Old Town to look for D'avin and survivors, they had seen the damage on the city. Pree had been anxious to see if his bar, the Royale, had survived the bombing and had been more than relieved to see that it was still standing. How it looked on the inside was another story. Pree and the others that had been on the ship with them had opted to stay on Old Town and rebuild what they could. No matter what, it was still home to them. Without the Accord in place, it was the only choice that they had.

Johnny while on the surface of the moon had been ready to go on a search mission with Dutch to find Alvis and Pawter but instead they found them instead. The two along with the handful of people that were in the bunker with them were looking for survivors in Old Town. It hadn't been going too well. There was always a 50-50 chance of meeting those that were hostiles - those that believed the Scarbacks were to blame for their predicament, while others were too hopeless to care.

This was exactly what the Nine and the Company had planned for. Ensure that Westerlyns knew their place and incite hatred for those in the Rebellion. Scarbacks were not only the scapegoats of the Leith Massacre but also for the Assassination of families of the Nine on Qresh. This had been used as the reason for the bombing of Old Town and the dissolving of the Accord. If anything should piss surviving Westerlyns off it was this: all their hard work for the past seven generations had been wiped away. They were stuck in their social caste with no hopes of ever reaching beyond this industrial wasteland of a moon. Leith would only be a place where they slaved but never lived on.

The Nine had set things up well. There was no need to vote about the Accord, since all those that may have been pro with following through with the promise were dead. And the ones responsible for it were the rebels. The blame was all placed on the Scarbacks and their followers. Instead of having to deal with angry Westerlyns about the dissolving of the Accord, the blame was shifted to the Scarbacks and their followers. They were to blame.

All the while the Nine and the Company were patting their own backs for keeping the Lands to themselves, the lives of those that lived in Old Town were forever changed. Those that died, only those that lived to know them mourned while the rest of the quad kept on going.

Casting a glance at Dutch, Johnny could almost sense her thoughts. While she remained strong in her resolve in finding D'avin, some despair had started to set in. She wasn't the only one. Johnny had repeatedly had to remind himself, D'avin was a soldier, a damned good one at that. He could take care of himself, no matter where he was. But months had passed since the bombing. There was no telling what Khlyen may have done to him since. Dutch, though, must have an inkling. She was under that man's control for so many years, trained under him. Saw him as a mentor and then later a monster. Although Dutch had never said anything as much, Khlyen was in many ways like a surrogate father to her. Johnny couldn't imagine what that must have been like. And then to have her husband die by her mentors hands, to witness, it must have broken Dutch in so many ways. And now to have D'avin, another person she held close to her heart be taken by that same man, Johnny was sure that Dutch's mind was racing with scenarios, of things done to D'avin each day that passed.

The guilt Dutch held for having left D'avin there in old town instead of having him on the ship because of her obsession with getting Khlyen. Now not only did she lose Khlyen, but she lost D'avin too.

Johnny wanted to say it wasn't her fault, but he knew nothing he said would get through to her right now, not in her current mindset. It wasn't her fault. It had been D'avin's choice that led to him being captured by Khlyen, she had told him not to follow him.

But then D'avin went ahead and did what he was told not to do. D'avin was going to be D'avin. Just like he left eight years ago because he saw an opportunity for the Nova Cadets, he had told Johnny, he'd be able to earn more money. They needed the extra money to help with their father's debts. He would go, enlist for a year or two, send the money and he'd be back. Easy. The money did come through, but D'avin never came back. Had D'avin thought it was enough money though, he was wrong. His father had racked up more debt. And their mother had gotten sicker and needed more 'meds'.

Johnny had been worried then. He feared for the worse, that D'avin was dead. He had kept on looking for him though, he hadn't given up. But D'avin... D'avin was alive and he just decided to never come back. He never concerned himself with the consequences of him leaving and not coming back, how much it impacted Johnny. Johnny had given up his dreams of doing what he had loved. It was more than watching his mother waste away and paying off his father's debts. It was the feeling of being left behind like that. But D'avin didn't think about that. He didn't think about consequences like that. Taking unnecessary risks without thinking and then not having to own up to them. Like back then, and like now.

Looking at Dutch openly now, Johnny knew felt a prickle of anger rise in him. It was always like that with D'avin; consequences didn't matter. Johnny swallowed the bitterness in him.

Months ago, D'avin had caused a rift in the team. It had been working well until then when D'avin rocked that boat, like he always did. Dutch was not a woman that lost sleep over any guy. She had felt a connection with D'avin. Perhaps it was even love, dare say. Dutch didn't have much love in her life. From the information Johnny had pieced together, Dutch's life was far from peaches and cream; just blood and death. She was made into a soldier since the moment she could wield a dagger. Although Johnny didn't have a wonderful upbringing either, he never had to live his life killing people.

Johnny remembered how shielded Dutch had been when they first met. She had trusted no one; slept with a gun by her bedside, ready fire at the first sign. Not that Johnny back then could do that much to her without getting his ass kicked. And true, he didn't deserve that much trust either because he did try to steal her ship. But that wasn't the point.

Their real bond didn't form until Johnny had nearly died in trying to save her. The scar was still there, though he'd prefer no scars for the memory. While Dutch had started trusting Johnny at that time, it was also when Johnny realized how much Dutch was to him; she was family. His only family left. He would go to the deep ends for her. Likewise Dutch would do the same. And right now, the person that Dutch would do anything for was D'avin.

While Dutch felt guilty for having left D'avin on Westerley, Johnny knew he was the most guilty of them all. Johnny swallowed a lump in throat. His earlier anger washed away in just knowing how little right he had to be angry with D'avin this time. All this had happened because of him. If he hadn't taken the silver liquid, hadn't been so curious about it, Khylen wouldn't have been on Westerly and D'avin wouldn't have had the opportunity to follow him and he wouldn't be missing right now.

And if anything happened to D'avin while he was held hostage by Khlyen, that was on Johnny. Losing him eight years ago was hard, but knowing this time that it may have been his own doing that caused it, made it more difficult to swallow. For a moment his eyes blurred. God damn it. Was he tearing up? Man up. Seriously. D'avin would laugh in his face if he ever found out he'd cried over him. They would find him, it was just a matter of when.

Right now, Johnny needed to focus. They had a simple delivery that Bellus sent them on; a package to be dropped to a vendor in the Utopia marketplace. Bellus had said as much. Some small fancy box. Johnny knew that Dutch hated detouring in their mission on finding D'avin, but regardless, Lucy didn't run on water; they needed joys to keep things running. Yet thinking of Space Station, he couldn't help but feel a chill. The last time he had visited that place, it was to analyze that liquid he had taken from Khlyen. Someone had died to pay for his curiosity.

Looking again at Dutch and looking at her distant expression, Johnny knew he had to make things right. He would fix this. That's what he did best. Fix things. For all their sakes.