AN - It's so hot I can barely function and it's sapping both my will to live and my ability to write. But here is a chapter to move things along!

The lieutenant allowed herself to be led through the narrow corridor of the ship. It was run down and paintwork long since scratched and faded, but looked like it was ready for just about anything.

Fang led her to a small room that would serve as her quarters, with a small bed and desk. Lightning entered and placed her pack on the mattress, feeling uncertain. She was taking a huge risk by enlisting the help of these two mercenaries, with no knowledge of their background or if they could even be trusted.

"Thank you," she said quietly with a bow. The brunette chuckled and shook her head.

"No need to be so formal, Lieutenant," Fang replied with a mocking salute. "Get yourself settled in. No doubt you're probably in need of some rest after the day you've had. Get some sleep, Lieutenant Farron, I'll give you a tour of the ship later."

Fang spun on her heel and left, the door sliding shut. Lightning kicked her bag off the bed with a frustrated sigh and lay back to try to relax. The cocky mercenary was right though, she was exhausted, and had felt it catching up to her the moment she set foot in the quarters. There was so much to do. Somehow report in and contact her sister...

Her eyes fluttered open and she sat up, confused. The lights in her quarters had dimmed and her watch stated it was about 0100UT. Lightning frowned, not even remembering falling asleep. Her stomach growled and she ran her hands over her abdomen with a groan, not able to recall the last time she ate.

"I wonder if they have anything passing for a kitchen around here..." she muttered aloud, swinging her legs over the side of the bed and standing. When Lightning opened the door to the corridor, the lights flickered on but remained dim. She nodded to herself, mildly comforted by the fact that the lights seemed to operate on a Universal Time cycle, dimming to simulate night. It was a difficult concept to get used to at first when Lightning first started going off planet for missions, but the Universal Time made sense logically. Once leaving the atmosphere of any planet, all interstellar travel adhered to one "time zone" of sorts, a twenty-six hour cycle, to avoid burnout for any of the crew on long haul space flights. By no means accurate in the grand scheme of solar rotations and planetary time zones, it at least helped coordinate ships and stations between nebulas.

Lightning's boots clanked against the metal grating on the floor as she moved, sounding unusually loud over the hum of the engines. It made her miss home, where gravity was a given and not something artificially constructed. It gave her movements an unnecessary jarring feel as she made her way through the ship, following the natural layout to come across the bridge. As the door slid open she found the mercenary sitting in the captain's chair, legs dangling over the armrest while she perused an old fashioned book. Her legs were uncovered, the brunette seeing fit to only wear black boxers and a matching crop top. Engrossed in her reading, she didn't hear the initial opening of the door but looked up when she heard the gentle clearing of a throat.

"Oh. Hey." Fang said, casting a glance down at herself and then back to the blushing lieutenant. "Sorry, I uh... Not used to people being up at this time of night. Vanille usually takes the day shift and uh... Yeah. How are you feeling?"

Lightning opened her mouth to answer, but her stomach beat her to it, grumbling loudly in protest. The pinkette looked down, mortified.

"That answers that then," Fang grinned, closing the book and leaping up from the chair. "Come on, I'll take you to the galley. Grab you something to eat."

They walked down the corridor in silence, and Fang ushered the lieutenant down a ladder into a reasonably-sized kitchen. Private vessels such as this always allowed for a little more comfort than what she was used to with the GC, so the spacious kitchen with comfortable looking seats was a treat indeed. Her stomach seemed to agree, rumbling in anticipation. Lightning heard the quietest of laughs coming from the mercenary and folded her arms in defence.

"It's... Been a minute, alright?" the pinkette complained. Fang gave her a once over with an arch of her eyebrow, leaning forward to rest her elbows on the bench.

"If the GC's ration policy is anything like I remember, it's likely been more than a minute, Sunshine. They still feeding you lot the disgusting protein packs?" Fang asked, the wince from the lieutenant all she needed as confirmation. "Gods. No bloody wonder. That shit isn't good enough for livestock, let alone a soldier who needs their wits about them. Plus, space life is hell. If you aren't getting the right amount of goods into you, you'll cop muscle wastage or worse, even with the artificial gravity."

Lightning was impressed by the knowledge and frowned at the fact these things weren't ever advised in training beyond 'They've done good for the GC for centuries, we've no reason to stop using what works, so shut up and eat the protein packs.'. She watched Fang busy herself at the stove, humming to herself as she pulled pans and pots from various cupboards. Fetching ingredients from the fridge, the brunette opens a container and picked at what appeared to be some form of meat.

"Mm. This'll do. Here try this, tell me what you think." Fang said, handing Lightning a strip of meat from the container. "It's from a planet called Adroa, over in the Archylte vector. Huge angry bird. You gotta marinate it for about a week before it's edible, otherwise you'll wear your jaw out chewing the bloody thing."

Hesitantly trying the meat, Lightning was pleasantly surprised at the rich taste, enhanced with the spicy brine it had been soaking in. "That's pretty good," she admitted, Fang giving a hum of approval and going back to cooking. Before too long three bowls were placed on the counter, filled to the brim with broth, noodles and an assortment of vegetables and meat. Lightning felt herself salivate, slightly embarrassed at her reaction.

She cast her gaze over the third bowl and then looked up at Fang with a raised eyebrow. The merc merely smiled and then held up three fingers, then two, then one, before pointing at the exit. Vanille suddenly appeared, sliding down the ladder with a sleepy grin on her face.

"Little sparrow here could sniff out a cooked meal from a thousand miles." Fang explained with an affectionate ruffle of her sibling's red hair. Vanille simply grumbled and tucked into her meal, and Lightning did the same. She couldn't suppress the groan that tore from her throat from the first mouthful of food, and she held her hand across her mouth in shock. Finding an expectant look from Fang, she cleared her throat and gave a shy smile.

"It's... Certainly better than the rations on the station." The pinkette relented with a nod and noticed the large grin appear across the merc's face. They ate in silence, Vanille and Fang occasionally discussing the route back and the various trade routes to hit up once they're done with this job.

Once they were done with their meal, Fang escorted Lightning back to her quarters. Handing her a bottle with a bright green substance in it, the merc leant in the doorway. "There's a few vitamins and whatnot in the drink. It looks like it'd glow under a black light but I assure you it's safe. If you can't sleep, there's a small gym downstairs by the med bay if you need to work off any other frustrations for your day. Or, you know. I'm here too, to assist in... Working off any other frustrations..." She said with a wink. Lightning scowled, moving forward to the pad by the door.

"Thank you for the meal Fang. I will retire for the night." The lieutenant clipped, shutting the door and locking it. The merc straightened up, just narrowly missing a pinch from the door closing and scratched at her head.

"Right. Well then, g'night lieutenant."

Fang lazily punched coordinates into the monitor, and then stood from her chair. She walked towards the deck window, watching the nearby planet while they skimmed its orbit. The scarred surface told an ancient story of a world pummelled by asteroids and molten eruptions from deep within its surface. A pocket of activity in the southern sector was picked up by the scanners that brought a smile to her face. Enterprising miners, all ambition and not caring about the risk, were on the surface extracting minerals for trade.

It would still be at least half a day's travel to get to the next Jump Gate, and then there'd be another several weeks on the back of that. Fang scratched at her neck, deep in thought. For the lieutenant to be so far from home in such a tiny ship, it would be impossible for it to have made it across the traverse on her own.

Then there was the mention of the Cie'th. That alone made the mercenary's blood freeze in her veins. They were merely regarded as ghost stories in the beginning, but then stations started to go offline on the edges of the known vectors, entire colonies being wiped out. These Cie'th were more than just the standard pirates, but no one had yet to figure out a motive.

"What isn't this little pink-haired beauty telling us…" Fang said aloud, pursing her lips in frustration. The subject of her musings reappeared through the doorway to the bridge, dressed in casual fatigues rather than the blisteringly uptight GC uniform. Lightning walked over with a quick bow in greeting. With a groan, Fang shook her head. "Spare me the formalities. I never liked them in the Corps, so don't start now."

The lieutenant stiffened and glanced at her quizzically. "You… Were in the GC?"

"Briefly," Fang replied, turning back to the viewing deck. She looked out to the stars beyond and huffed. "Didn't like the way they had a hierarchy of assistance in the outer rims. Out here, they allocated less patrols, less presence because it wasn't deemed a high enough priority, and the people should have known what they were getting themselves into when they moved that far away. So, I told them to cram their job and left."

Lightning considered, and then gave a small smile. "Wouldn't have thought you were someone to listen to authority in the first place."

Another mock gasp came from her right, before Fang broke into a rich, husky laughter. "You're not wrong there, Sunshine." She replied, making her way back to the captain's chair. "Listen, I've been thinking, I know you're going to get all self-conscious and concerned at some point or another about eating the food on this ship, using facilities and before you tell me you'll pay," Fang held a hand up to cut off any protest, "I was actually hoping you might just help us around the ship while we're travelling to your home. Earn your keep, as it were."

The lieutenant thought it over. It seemed reasonable, no ulterior motive and the captain at least wasn't asking for sex as payment, despite the rather forward offer the night previous. She nodded, accepting. "I'm good with a turret, navigation and piloting. I can cook a mean steak when the situation warrants, and obviously know how to keep things clean."

Fang grinned, keeping the small list in mind. "Sounds good to me. But there's something I gotta know. How'd you get that tiny arse ship halfway across the galaxy? It doesn't have the warp drive equipped for that kind of distance, and the jump gates would take you the length of time it's taking us to get back. So what gives?"

The silence that followed the question was only pierced by the hum of the engines around them. Lightning chewed at her lip and hugged herself from over by the window. "I don't know." She whispered. "I think... I think the Cei'th have the ability to generate their own jump portals, without the need of a gate. I fell through one of them after the ship lost control when I got hit."

"Well... Shit. That shouldn't even be possible."

Lightning gave a derisive laugh and let her arms hang limp at her sides. "Well I'm here, having to drain my life savings to get home so, I guess it is."

Vanille stuck her head in the bridge with a wave. "Come on Fang, your shift is over. Go get some sleep. I'll come wake you when we dock at the next station to refuel in a few hours." She chided, her sister giving her a lazy gesture as she trudged off. The redhead watched her go with a click of her tongue before settling into the captain's chair with a wiggle of her hips. Lightning watched her for a moment before staring back out to the infinite cosmos from the bridge window.

"So what's your story?" Vanille asked, tapping away at the control panel without breaking eye contact with the lieutenant. When she received nothing but a blank look, she sighed and shrugged her shoulders. "You know, any family, friends, lovers, ambitions, hopes, dreams?"

Lightning simply turned and looked back out the window. Just when the young redhead had given up any hope for a response, she heard the answer but only barely, the lieutenant had spoken so softly.

"I have a sister. And my job, and my ship. That's about all I care about."

Vanille hummed while tapping at her chin, contemplative of the lieutenant. She suddenly snapped her fingers and jumped from the seat, the motion startling Lightning.

"Oh! You wouldn't have had a chance to check in with your sister and let her know you're okay!" she chirped, typing away at a console. The pinkette laughed bitterly and folded her arms, staring back out to space.

"No. I haven't. With how far out I am from home there's probably no point. Comms relays from this distance would only be marginally faster than what we're travelling at present. I didn't see the point of it."

The redhead shook her head and brought up a communications array on her screen. "This one is a little faster. It's a quantum communicator that utilises the same frequency as the jump gates. It's my own design. There's still a few seconds lag but it's still a work in progress." She explained with a shrug. Lightning just stared in disbelief.

"That's amazing! Psicom doesn't even have that level of technology. Why are you out here and not in a lab somewhere?"

Vanille's demeanour suddenly shifted and she looked away, her jaw set. "I was. Didn't like what they were using my research for, so I left with Fang to come out here. Speaking of, I'll give you some privacy and go check to make sure Fang has actually gone to bed."

She left the lieutenant on the bridge staring at the screen in utter amazement. Lightning frowned at the retreating form. There was something about Vanille that was contradictory, a wisdom and experience that betrayed her innocent appearance. Perhaps she had seen more than her share of things. A story for another time over real shots instead of water.

The lieutenant shook her errant thoughts away and focused on the task at hand. She held her breath and punched in the ID and waited for the connection.

"Hello? Who is this?" The familiar voice came crackling though the monitor. The picture was glitchy and sound not the greatest of quality but Lightning didn't care. It was possibly one of the most beautiful sights she'd seen.

"Serah... It's me," she replied, watching the lag as her sister's face went through the varied expressions of confusion, then shock, then relief.

"Oh my god Claire, you're alright! They told me you were dead!" She exclaimed, her voice breaking with overwhelming emotion. The elder Farron struggled with the same problem, unconsciously reaching out for the screen.

"I was, just about." She replied, pulling her hand back and grinding her teeth in anger. She had come so close. So goddamn close to not being here anymore.

Serah sighed with relief and settled back in her chair. "I'm just glad you're alright. You're coming home and staying planet side for at least the next year so I can keep an eye on you!"

"Sounds good to me."

The younger pinkette stopped and stared. It was unlike her sister to ever agree to something so potentially detrimental to her career. Serah filed it away for later and frowned. "So how long until you're back?"

Lightning swallowed hard and fidgeted in her seat. "Yeah... About that... It's going to take a moment to get home. I'm... currently making my way through the Haerii cluster."

"That's not funny, Claire. That's at least a six week trip and I spoke to you near Palumpolum yesterday."

The lieutenant breathed heavily through her nose for a moment, trying to calm her frustrations. She knew how it sounded. "I'm serious."

Her sister gaped at her in shock. "But, how? How is that even possible?"

"I don't know. But I'm safe, and have commandeered transport home. We'll be there as soon as we can."

Serah looked over her sister's face, as if she were committing every detail to memory. Taking a deep breath, the younger Farron bowed her head to hide her emotion. "Alright, just... Please be safe. I don't know how you're managing to contact me from that distance but... Can you check in as you go? I need to know you're alright."

Lightning nodded and gave a soft smile. "I'll talk with the engineer behind the communicator, hopefully she'll let me use it again. I'll keep in touch."

Vanille returned after a few minutes of Lightning sitting in silence once the call had ended. The redhead noted how the lieutenant seemed a little more relaxed. "I've got one more thing that will help you feel better." She piped up, drawing the stoic woman from her thoughts. She gestured for the pinkette to follow and led her from the bridge. "Here you go, there's a towel in the spare locker there. It's real too." Vanille skipped out before Lightning could question exactly what was real, and turned to the shower stall with a relieved sigh.

Her sigh turned to a gasp of surprise from the moment the water hit her. It was real. None of that synthesized concoction they used on the GC station that felt more like a slicker, slightly oily liquid that left her skin feeling salty and dry. Real, pristine water. She grabbed one of the soap bottles on the shelf and grimaced at the smell. It was like drowning in candy, an overwhelming sweet scent that gave her a headache on first inhale.

"Etro, it's like something Serah would wear as a perfume," she muttered to herself and reached for the other bottle instead. This time taking a more tentative sniff of the contents, Lightning had to admit this was far more pleasurable than the sweetness of the other soap. If she had to take a wild guess, it wouldn't be hard to figure out which soap belonged to whom. She picked the second one to wash with, after all she'd prefer to smell like a rainforest than a candy store.

The lieutenant hummed to herself as she indulged in the feeling of actual water hitting her skin and smiled. The scent of the soap was lulling her into a state of relaxation, the first she'd experienced in a long time, even before her week went to hell. She found it funny that she could ever have gotten used to the synthetic water back at base and shuddered at the memory of it.

With a resigned sigh Lightning turned the water off and stepped out of the shower, drying herself quickly. Far be it for her to be already depleting her life savings and have to pay an exorbitant water bill on top of it if she exhausted their supply. She got dressed and wandered down the hallway, still drying her hair. As she passed an open doorway she heard a commotion that had her stop in her tracks.

Fang was in the gym, training with a holo-combatant. Lightning had seen these before in the training facilities back home, a device that could generate an artificial gravity and energy shield to give a projection temporary mass and substance. She leant in the doorway and watched the mercenary work, impressed at her form. What Fang lacked in speed she made up for in brute strength, blocking a strike where the lieutenant would have otherwise evaded it. The brunette switched the holo-field off and jogged over to the side of the mat, grabbing a towel to dry the sweat from herself. It was then that she caught the lieutenant's staring and smiled confidently.

"Enjoy the show there, Sunshine?" she drawled, her voice husky and strained from the exertion. Lightning rolled her eyes and grabbed the nearby bottle of water, tossing it to the merc.

"You have an interesting form, I'll give you that." She replied, arms folded. Fang chuckled and took a long drink from the bottle before wiping her mouth with the back of her glove.

"Such a shameless flirt you are, lieutenant."

The pinkette clicked her tongue in annoyance and turned to leave. She didn't know why she hovered, as if waiting to see if Fang would push further or pull backwards. A part of her was admittedly curious. When nothing came she looked over her shoulder to find Fang with her back to her, seemingly oblivious to her presence as she took off her gloves.

"Thank you, by the way," Lightning said, drawing the mercenary's attention back, "for letting me call home to my sister. Vanille's invention is impressive."

Fang smiled and waved her off dismissively. "Don't think anythin' of it, Lightning. I know more than most how important family is. Vanille's all I got left. If I got cut off from her I don't know what I'd do. If you need to talk to your sister again just let us know. We'll position the ship so you can send another communication. Otherwise you can send off email via the quantum relay instead if you need to." The brunette bowed her head with a grin and went back to removing the wrappings off her hands. She glanced up again when she noticed the pinkette still hadn't moved from the doorway. "Something else on your mind, lieutenant?"

There was a contemplative expression on her face, but Lightning said nothing, shaking her head and taking her leave. Fang simply hummed to herself as she went back to the task of freeing her hands from their bindings, the pink-haired aloof soldier on the edges of her thoughts.