Disclaimer: I don't own The Rocky Horror Picture Show

A/N: Hopefully this isn't too awful. I've got a few different ideas for what to do next with this story. Of course, those ideas mostly rely on the idea of Brad secretly being a pretty intense science fiction geek. I just think that'd be quite amusing. He looks like the stereotypical idea of a perfectly mainstream All-American guy. That's why I've decided that his secret vice is being a fanboy of comics, Star Trek, etc.

And, yes, all the Star Trek stuff he says in this chapter is really stuff from the Star Trek 'verse.

For the first time they'd need to use the guest room for something other than a storage space. It annoyed Brad that Columbia had shown up at such short notice. And now Janet was making such a big deal out of everything.

Even Columbia seemed to agree. "I don't need too much. Actually, you can let me sleep on the couch. Mrs. Majors-"

"It's fine, Columbia," Janet replied.

She'd gone through all the linen closets to find fresh sheets. This was mainly because she couldn't remember if she'd changed the sheets since she'd last slept there. Of course, this didn't really matter to Columbia. The sheets at the castle hadn't ever been changed as far as she could remember. And she hadn't had a proper blanket there.

"Thank you so much," Columbia said, most sincerely.

Then, she shut the door.

Brad and Janet stood in the hallway for a moment. Neither really knew what to do. For one thing, Janet still hadn't figured out why she'd made such a fuss. Now it all seemed quite silly.

"It's time for us to go to bed now," Brad told Janet, not realizing how suggestive that sounded.

"Right," Janet muttered.

So they went to their room.

Being the insanely prudish couple they were, they slept in twin beds. Like a couple on TV when censorship was much more strict.

Most of the old-fashioned stuff they did was to avoid being like the peculiar inhabitants of the castle. Though their friends mocked them sometimes, it was better than being shunned for acting like that awful Frank and his cronies.

So they both got dressed and got into their own bed. Janet turned all the lights off except for one. That happened to be a lamp on her bedside table. She usually left that on for a while so that they could both read. That night, only she read. He just sat there lost in thought.

Brad wasn't sure what to think of the fact that one of Frank's minions now slept in his guest room. At least her hair wasn't pink anymore. No respectable person had pink hair! That's when he remembered the party they'd been invited to the next day.

"Dammit!"

"What's wrong, Brad?" Janet asked.

"Ralph and Betty invited us to a party, didn't they? It's tomorrow."

Janet nodded. "That's right."

"What will we do about Columbia?"

"Take her along. She's no worse than that wretched niece of mine," Janet replied.

At the mention of Janet's niece Brad frowned. Though she was a bit bratty, Fay wasn't actually a troublemaker. And she shared Brad's love of Speculative Fiction. Though Janet was a bit more open minded these days he still hasn't told her about the comic book stash in the basement. Fay knew about that, and had sworn not to tell. In return he covered for her when it came to sneaking books by Isaac Asimov or Arthur C. Clarke into places.

"Good night, Brad," Janet said, turning off the lamp.

"Good night, Janet."

They next day, Columbia almost screamed. She'd forgotten where she was!

After staring at the ceiling for a while she remembered. Ah, yes. Brad and Janet's house.

The bright light shining in her eyes was the sunlight streaming through the window. And the mattress she slept on was too soft to belong to that awful hospital. The clean white sheets were too soft to be from there, too.

"This is what safety feels like," she muttered to herself.

No need to worry about anyone chasing after her, no nightmares. Everything would be okay for at least a little while.

After a moment of sitting there she sat up. Time to get up and see how far their hospitality extends. Hopefully they would at least have cereal or something she could eat.

As she sat up she realized that she still wore yesterday's outfit. She only had about two outfits to begin with. The other clothes she'd bought while working at that café had gone right back to the consignment shop. Of course, that hadn't been much in the first place.

So, she went though her satchel to find her something to wear. That oversized leather jacket kept people from noticing the bag she'd carried everywhere. Hopefully things would stabilize for good and she wouldn't need to wander around aimlessly carrying only one change of clothes.

After finding the outfit she quickly changed.

Then she spotted her reflection in a nearby full length mirror. Ew, when had she last washed her hair? And the clothes weren't even very clean. Hopefully she could borrow something from Janet later.

Columbia managed to tear her eyes away from the mirror and focus on a different task. Time to go look for breakfast.

Food. That's what she needed first!

As she walked down the hall and the stairs, she realized something. At the castle she'd paid for her presence. Sex in exchange for bed and board. How would she pay Brad and Janet? There surely was something she could do. Maybe cook?

"What're you doing?" asked a voice.

Columbia turned around to see Brad standing nearby. He'd already gotten dressed for the day by then. To her surprise, he wore khakis and a shirt with the mystical words 'live long and prosper' written on it. She'd expected him to wear something nicer - even on a Saturday.

"I'm looking for breakfast," she told him.

"Ah. I'd better show you to the kitchen then," he replied.

She follows him to another room. Down a hall and through the living room. Soon enough, they'd found themselves in the kitchen.

"There's eggs in the fridge and-" he paused suddenly, as if changing his mind. "I'll get everything out."

To Columbia's surprise, he then began to make scrambled eggs with bacon.

"Why are you helping me?" she asked.

"I still don't really trust you," he replied. "And I'm not helping. I'm supervising."

She giggled. Of course, that annoyed him and made matters more awkward.

"What's with your shirt?" Columbia asked, trying to change the subject.

"It's a Vulcan thing. Don't bother asking," Brad replied darkly.

Columbia raised an eyebrow (they'd grown back by then). "Vulcan?"

"A species of alien invented by Gene Roddenberry for his TV show Star Trek. They're really into logic and meditation because they're naturally very aggressive. They train in the practices of logic from a young age, and are known to be very intelligent. They're also similar enough to humans to interbreed, hence the existence of Spock. He's half-Vulcan."

"You wish you were one, don't you?" Columbia asked.

"Not really. I don't want to have to deal with Pon Farr," Brad replied thoughtfully.

"What's that?"

He blushed. "You don't want to know. There's a reason Vulcan's don't talk about it with other species. I'm not going to explain it!"

"But you're not a Vulcan."

"Yes, I know. I haven't got the ears for it. Anyway... breakfast is ready," he told her, clearly trying to change the subject.

Rolling her eyes, she sat down at the table. As they began to eat she began to ask serious questions.

"Why don't you trust me?"

"You're one of his people. Janet and I have tried very hard to distance ourselves from... him. We just want to be ordinary. And then you just appear out of nowhere. You, one of the people living with him. His fangirl or whatever. Though you haven't done anything directly, the association with him is bad enough," he explained.

"Fair enough. I hardly know you guys!"

Now Brad was getting annoyed again. "I've noticed. In fact, I didn't even now your name until yesterday. I don't get why Janet's so excited about helping you. I suppose it's just like that charity thing she-"

"Look, I'm not trying to cause trouble," Columbia said, interrupting him. "I just was running out of people to go to and remembered you two."

"Next time, remember somebody else."

Then, he finished eating his share and left the room. Columbia realized that she really couldn't blame him. She's need to do something in return for what Janet was doing.

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