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Chapter Two

"Every girl should use what Mother Nature gave her before Father Time takes it away."

Dr. Laurence J. Peters

………………………………………………

Liza Fielding spied Anneke Strickson through the big Plexiglas window of one of the shops at the 'high end' of shopping district. She herself was just making her way through the overcrowded arcade, doing a bit of window shopping as she headed towards her real destination, which was certainly no where near there. But while she could never afford the sorts of frivolities at the high end of the arcade, it was nice to indulge in a little idle daydreaming once in a while. Liza had always wondered what it would be like to be the kind of person who could shop here all the time – or even at all.

A bright smile blazed across the younger woman's face when she saw Liza coming in the shop door. "Hey!" she flagged her crewmate over. On another day her loud outburst might have attracted more attention, but like the arcade outside, the store was crowded – noisy.

"What do you think?" Anneke held the garment she had been debating over up to her shoulders so Liza could see. It was a gorgeous lightweight cotton dress in blues and pinks. "It's on sale, see?" she pointed to the tag. She knew better than trying to buy anything full price in a shop like this, but the bargain racks always had great deals. With new merchandise coming in, even the bargain racks were being discounted! Who cared if the clothes were a season or two out of style? It was better than buying everything second, third, or fourth hand. Anneke could barely remember the last time she'd had something new to wear, something pretty.

She only wished she'd had her full pay when she'd had a full twenty four hours to shop; after their initial liberty, Jack was severely restricting shore leave. There was a strict rotation of who could be off the ship when and for how long – a maximum of three hours, even if you were off-duty. She had the feeling that while he could be pretty easy going most of the time, he'd been serious about dragging anybody back by the ears who was out when they weren't supposed to be. She was just glad An Cho hadn't wanted her liberty on Omega, so she could get out sooner than she would have been able to otherwise. She still only had three hours, but at least she'd gotten here before all the good stuff was gone. It seemed like all the shops were having sales, clearing the way for new merchandise.

"Well?" Anneke pressed, when Liza didn't immediately answer her question about the dress. "Do you think it would look all right on? I'm never sure about waistlines like this…" she added in a hopeful tone as she pulled the dress closer to her body, eager for approval from a woman she'd gone from avoiding like someone with Lazar's Disease to someone she truly looked up to. Liza was like the big sister she'd never had, never even knew she wanted, until she'd come to her rescue that day.

"I think you'd be better off spending your money on something practical," the older woman told her matter-of-factly. She couldn't help the stab of guilt she felt when she saw the crest fallen expression crossing the girl's face at the sourness of her tone. "Anneke, honey, where in the world would you wear a thing like that, anyway? There's nobody to impress aboard the Welshman," she said in a more sympathetic tone.

"Sure there is."

She planted her hands on her hips. "Who?"

Annake blinked; she clearly hadn't expected to be challenged. "Well… I don't know. I mean... Just because most of the guys my age have sort of hooked up already doesn't mean I can't look nice for myself, does it? Besides, you never know who we're going to meet…"

"The only thing we'll be meeting any time soon is more space junk."

"You don't know that! There's no telling where we'll be headed to next." She cast another look at the dress, doubt clouding her features. "We could go some place with people…" it was possible. Anything was possible. "We won't spend all our time in space or crummy old space ports like this."

Liza sighed. She had to admit it was an awfully pretty dress. Frivolous. But pretty. The soft blues would bring out Anneke's eyes and the pinks would play off the natural rose-on-ivory hue in her cheeks. She also had to admit that it was a good deal, all things considered.

"You can't go buying things like that all the time you know," she said in a cautious tone. "You'll spend through all your pay and have nothing to show for it if you do – there's no telling what the next haul is going to look like. Life on a salvage vessel is hit or miss. And you need new boots," she added with a sharp look at the girl's feet. Anneke's work boots were a size too big and starting to wear thin in the soles.

"I know," she agreed, following Liza's gaze. Her next stop really was going to be some place where she could get a good pair of work boots that would fit her properly. New boots wouldn't come cheap…. She looked at the cost of the dress again. It was so pretty… she turned to Liza, trying to get her to understand:

"It's just that when I was a little kid, back before I lost my father, whenever the ship we were on took in a good haul and he got a good cut – 'cause he was the best engineer in the galaxy," she added, just like she always did when she spoke of her father. "He always used to take me out and buy me something nice – not always as nice as this," she said of the dress. "Sometimes he'd just get me a doll or a toy or some little bauble," she couldn't help but smile at the tingly-warmth the memory brought on.

She had kept every single thing her father had ever given her. "I just wanted to do the same thing for myself, especially now that…" her voice caught. The Welshman was such a great ship! It had taken her a while to figure out Jack Harkness – not that she was certain she really had him sussed out completely yet, but she believed that he was a good person. A good Captain. He would take care of his crew and he wasn't about to lose his ship in a card game. She had a home again, a real home, and she'd found it all by herself… well, with some help from Pete Davies, of course. If he hadn't come to her with the contract… she sighed.

"I guess I just got a little carried away wanting to celebrate," she admitted in a glum tone.

"There's no harm in buying yourself something nice," Liza surprised her by saying. "As long as it's only once in a while," she added in a stern tone. "You should probably try it on to make sure it fits all right. Then we'll go looking at work boots."

"Really?"

"Really. I'll wait for you here." Although exactly when I inherited another little sister, I'd surely like to know. Liza mused to herself, because Anneke was looking at her just exactly the way her own sister would in the same situation.

"Thank you! I'll be right back, I promise!"

Liza just shook her head; while she Anneke went to try on her dress, she found herself browsing through the bargain rack herself for a few moments, just to pass the time… after all, who did she have to look nice for…? People like her didn't shop in stores like this!

She turned away from the dresses. She would look silly in any of them, anyway. But there was a rack of blouses that had been reduced down to next to nothing to make way for new stock. Paired with the one skirt she owned, she would almost look like a real lady dressed up in one of them… and maybe it might be nice to dress up just a little for their next 'Movie Night'.

Not that Avi Stasi would ever look her way… but I suppose I can just dress up for myself, she smiled. Never mind that the only foot wear she owned were her work boots, which would surely look ridiculous with her long skirt and a new blouse…