No team. He was returning to the ship with no team, and a little girl. He had lost ten good men, and was returning with a little girl. Oh, dead god have mercy, he was going to need it. What the hell was he going to do with her? She was only fifteen, three years too young to be a Starship Ranger. And either way, she needed to finish school and there was no way she's be able to make it into the Academy. She was, well, a she! Admiral Jones strictly insisted on the Academy being boys only. Boys turned into men, tough sons-of-bitches men, well we could only hope they did. Nevertheless, with the amount of skill and determination showed back on Earth, she was obviously tougher than twenty of the candy-asses at the Academy put together.
"Drop pod docking in two minutes." Rang a robotic voice. Lieutenant Up looked down at the sleeping girl in his arms. Taz… such a strange name. Then again, he shouldn't be so hypocritical. He subconsciously traced a cut on her cheek with his thumb, wondering what would happen to her if the Admiral didn't let her join.
"Uhm, Taz?" he nudged, "Taz we're here. You have to get up now." He prodded her in the side with a calloused finger. With a cry of pain, she shot up, clutching her ribs.
"Da hell was dat for?" she scowled, breathing heavily.
"I needed to wake you up."
"No hubo necesidad de hacerme daño," she muttered, sliding into the seat next to him.
"We're gonna be at the ship soon. Can ya walk?"
"Por supuesto! I'm fine," she stood quickly, as if to prove it, only to sway, her knees giving out. Up caught her with ease. Taz raised her impossibly tiny head, grimaced, and shoved herself off him, plopping into a seat across the pod. Up sighed.
"Drop pod docking," rang the robotic voice. The two stood silently. Up grabbed his zapper and jacket, and turned to the door.
Up cleared his throat; Desk Lady, as Taz had creatively mentally named her, looked up and put on a sad smile, her eyes crinkling in the corner.
"Ah, Lieutenant. How many?"
"Just me."
"I see. And… her?" Desk Lady gestured lamely to the Latina who was hardly the height of Up's shoulder.
"Oh! Well she- I- the thing is- y'know what? She needs to get to the sick bay, now," Up stammered. Desk Lady leaned over the marble desk, lowered her glasses, and scanned him in an x-ray fashion. When seemingly satisfied, she sat back whilst pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose.
"Yes. Yes I suppose she should. Go down that hall," she pointed down a hall on the left, "take the second right and it's at the end of the hall."
"Gracias," Taz muttered, not really meaning it. Watching her limp slightly down the hall, Desk Lady rounded on Up, clicking her tongue.
"Up, you brought her on board?"
"I had to!" he held his hands up. I don't think she'd let me do otherwise.
"But she's twelve!"
"Fifteen. And it's not your argument, Morrison. Let Admiral Jones know I'm on my way up." And with that he turned on his heel and marched up the staircase behind his.
She scrunched her face in concentration. 'You don't limp, you gordita poca mierda, you don't limp.' Nearing the end of the hall, she watched two boys practically fly across her line of vision. Taking a moment to make sure they'd passed, she turned the corner, just to have a body slam into hers. A reflex gasp escaped her lips as she, and the rude chocho, was thrown to the floor.
"Hey, watch where- oh." Slightly stunned, she saw a bright-green-eyed boy getting to his feet. She sat slowly, regaining her breath. He offered his hand, which she took reluctantly, and helped her to her feet. "You a'right?" He sounded so Irish she almost started seeing green. She waved off the thought as if swatting a fly, leaning against the wall, clutching her side. "No yer not. Yer bleedin'." Taz looked at her hand, which was coated with blood from her side, the thick cuts on her forearm, and felt blood trickle down her face. "I'll get cha to da sick bay."
"I'm fine." she mumbled, doubling-over with another jolt of pain. 'Eres débil, Taz, débil.'
"Sure ya are," he smirked, wrapping his arm around her (impossibly tiny) waist and draping hers around his shoulders.
"Seriously, ese, I'm fine. I'm tough."
"Obviously. Ya look like ya put up one hell o' a fight. What happened?"
"Maldito autobots. Mi familia, gone. Hijos de puta." She blinked.
"I know what you mean." He sympathized, pointing to a long scar on his upper arm, partially hidden by hid sleeve. "Got this when I crashed through the floor o' me home. I'm Grint, by da way. Grint McKleith."
"Taz."
"Taz what?"
"Just Taz."
"Well, 'Just Taz', welcome to G.L.E.E. It's a shame you can't stay."
"Can't stay? What da hell are jou on about?"
"Well, da Admiral says boys only. Wouldn't let me sister come on board, and left 'er to da autobots." He sighed, shaking his head. "Nice dress, by da way." She tensed.
"I didn't want to wear it. It was for mi quienceañera."
"Quienceañera? Like da birt'day?"
"Sí."
"Must've been one hell o' a party."
"Jou have no idea."
"So, fifteen, eh? Could've fooled me, shortie." She knew he was just joking, but when had that ever stopped her?
"Escúchame, jou piece of shit, just because I'm short doesn't mean I can't rip out your internal organs and turn dem into a hat! If Up hadn't brought me here, I'd be dead. But I'm not, so jou better watch jour back, ese." She steamed, shoving him far too lightly than she had intended. He held his hand up in mock surrender.
"Hey, I didn't mean it. But did ya really meet Lieutenant Up?"
"Sí." Taz tried to hold her head high as Grint pushed open the white double doors. Taz, temporarily blinded by the sheer surplus of white, clean, shiny white. Hundreds of beds, some occupied with soldiers, lined the room. When greeted by a nurse, she couldn't help but freely let her jaw drop.
"Grint, is this another one of-"
"No," Grint swatted at the idea, "this is Taz. Lieutenant Up brought her." The nurse stared Taz down with distain, as if mentally scrubbing off every particle of dirt with a chainsaw.
"Very well," she purred. "Get her to a bed and give her a gown. You should know where everything is by now." Grint nodded, guiding Taz to an empty bed.
"B-but she's a gato! A cat!" Taz stammered, throwing a glace over her shoulder.
"No, not a cat, she's a Sister of Plenitude. Alien, really, but they make fantastic nurses. Best in da galaxy. Now don't stare," he grabbed Taz's face and turned her attention to a small hospital bed and shoved a hospital gown into her hands, "and don't purr, ever. They have claws." Grint faked a shudder before stepping back and drawing the curtains around her, leaving her in complete solitude.
"Lieutenant, whatever would possess you to bring a child on board, let alone a girl?" Admiral Jones spat in distaste, leaning back in his big fancy chair in his big fancy office.
"Admiral, permission to speak freely?" Up inquired. Jones nodded once, grabbing a big fancy cigar and lighting it in one fluid motion. Up cringed at the smell, mentally pledging never to take up the nasty habit. "Sir, Taz has no one left. Her family was killed right in front of her face. But she's tough! She's really tough, saved my skin, and destroyed a handful of autobots with her bare hands. I don't see why she can't finish school and join the Rangers, she'd be an improvement."
"Because she's a girl!"
"With due respect, sir, so is your wife."
"True. But tell me, is she big and strong? Like a true Ranger?"
"Well, no, sir-"
"How tall?" Up raised his hand level to his shoulder; Jones laughed menacingly. "She is small and weak and-"
"And she saved my life! My whole team was slow and foolish and it got them killed. The recruits areafraid of push-ups! Literally, they start shaking. But this 'weak'" he finger-quoted, "little girl tore off an autobots head! She has more balls that my entire team did." Jones held his hand up, silently ordering Up to shut the hell up. He sucked slowly on his cigar, contemplating.
"Convince me."
"She would- I don't know- be a good influence. When those candy-asses at the Academy see how weak they really are, they'll train harder. Better Rangers, send fewer on missions, save money, right?" At this, Jones snapped his forward in his big fancy seat.
"YES!"
"Yes, sir?"
"Yes, she could be useful that way, couldn't she?" Jones nodded to himself. "Yes. Fine, Up, I'll let her stay if she keeps her grades up. Keep her tough, I want to see people cringe at her name. Until regular classes start again at the Academy she is your responsibility, yours and only yours."
"Thank you, sir."Up saluted, relieved.
"No, thank you, Up. Dismissed." Up turned on his heel, crossing the big fancy office. "Lieutenant?" Up turned. "Did you bring her on board because you were reminded of someone?"
Up smirked. "Possibly, sir, possibly."
"McKleith?" Grint raised a hand to his jet black hair in a salute, albeit Up waved it off. "What are you doing here? Saving another one of your friends' victims?"
"No, not this time,sir," Grint stuttered. "I ran into Taz in the hallway, literally, and she says you know her." Up glanced behind the cadet, as if he expected Taz to be hiding behind him.
"And, uhm, where is she?"
"Oh! A Sister is taking care of her. From what I've 'eard, broken rib causing internal bleeding and a sprained ankle. They're doing some surg'ry now, but I suppose they'll be finishing soon, sir." Up felt something heavy settle uneasily in his stomach.
"Right, right," he muttered to himself as a Sister drew back the green curtain, furry face and all.
"Broken rib, internal bleeding, sprained ankle, took a nasty blow to the head, we're lucky she's conscious. Cuts and bruises but nothing that couldn't be fixed. She'll be right as rain in a few days. I'll let her leave Sunday morning if everything is alright. She'll be asleep within a few minutes, so make it quick. McKleith, she asked for you." The cadet slipped past Up, who scowled. Shouldn't he been the one to see her? After all, she wouldn't be here if he hadn't brought her.
But why? Why did he bring her here? He'd seen a hundred men die right before his eyes, every molecule of their bodies exploding faster than the speed of light, yet he couldn't leave her. He couldn't leave this little girl, swinging helplessly from a tree resembling a ragdoll. But why?
Well she did save your life, a voice in the back of his head piped. True as that was, it was still no true reason to bring her on board. She was his responsibility now, another burden on his shoulders, another thing weighing him down. Yet he adopted her onto the ship. Just like that Ranger did with you. Up blinked, taken aback at the realization hitting him in the face like a brick. That's right… All those years ago, that Ranger could've left him in his house, left him to burn to the ground like the rest of his life. That Ranger could have left him to die, screaming and choking on smoke. But look where he was now, a Lieutenant of the Starship Rangers and possibly the most feared person on board, besides the Admiral.
Lost in his thoughts, Up scarcely noticed the curtains opening. Only when Grint timidly poked Up on the shoulder was he driven out of his reverie. "Uhm, sir, I told 'er you were here and she wants you to come in."
Up entered the quarters and was taken aback with the sight in front of him. Gone was the girl of fury, the girl he had seen shred robots with her bare hands. She couldn't be the same girl. This girl looked broken and lost, swimming in a dead soldier's too-big pajamas, legs curled under her on a hospital bed. This girl was bandaged and clean, hair dripping from a decontamination shower. She couldn't possibly be the same girl who was so filled with rage and fury.
"Don't jou dare pity me." Never mind.
"Wouldn't dream of it," Up chuckled, examining the bag of fluids an IV was dripping into her arm. "How are ya?"
"Jou saved my life." He let his gaze trail over her face, which was bandage-covered. "Why?" Startled, Up repeated the question. "Sí, ¿por qué? Grint told me dat the Admiral wants chicos, not chicas, so what are jou goin' to do with me?" She huffed matter-of-factly.
"Well," he started, sitting on the edge of the bed that she hardly filled, "I talked to the Admiral-"
"Continuar."
"He figured you'd be a kick in the ass to the half-fart recruits we have. Y'know, bein' beat in combat by a… you."
"So, I'm in? I'll be going to school here and I could become a Starship Ranger?"
"When we get to the Academy, if you keep your grades up and fight real good and you'll be just fine." Taz looked uneasy.
"But, I don't know how to fight." It was all Up could do to refrain from laughing.
"Could've fooled me."
"Up, I street-fight. I don't," she circled her hands, struggling for words, "lucha for real."
"Tell you what," Up poked her in the shoulder, "when you get out, I'll take you to the combat deck. You need to see what you're up against. Watch, observe, and practice in the gym." She smiled sadly. "Listen Taz," he placed his hand on her uninjured forearm, "I know how hard this is for ya-"
"I told jou not to pity me."
"But yer in good hands!"
"I told jou not to pity me!" Should he be taking orders from this minuscule girl?
"I'm not!" he held his hands up in defense. "I know how ya feel."
"NO!" she shoved him off, making as much as much room between them as possible. "Jou don't know! I've never had any amigos, ahora mi familia se ha ido también!" She blinked, her eyes clouded with rage and disobedient tears leaking their way down her cheeks. The only words registering comprehendible being amigos and familia, his forehead creased in misunderstanding as Taz wiped her eyes. Up sighed, reminded briefly of his sister.
"McKleith?"
"What about him?"
"Well, isn't he your friend?"
"He's simpatico, dat's all." Taz scowled. Up considered that for a moment before blurting,
"Well, you have me, don't you?"
"Jou?" No, he was going to be her commanding officer, her teacher. He couldn't be her friend. He needed to set that barrier now. He was the commanding officer, she was the cadet. That's all.
"Me." Up's grin faltered when Taz just stared blankly, silently. Up stood awkwardly. "Rest, I'll see ya tomorrow." He was closing the curtains when she called,
"Tanabeth!"
"What?"
"It's Tanabeth." She rubbed her arm shyly. "Tanabeth Angelina Zorro-Lopez. Tell no one."
"Tanabeth," Up said vacantly, a bit stunned that she trusted him so quickly. "Well that's a fine name."
"Really?" she yawned, fighting the drugs in the IV.
"A lovely one."
