Title: Year 2508 V

Prompt: (01:00/1AM) "Focus is on wholeness of self and the banishing of any shadow."

Maintenance Shuttle 23 of the USG Ishimura, the Fujinara, drifted through space with an automated course set for the Titan Station for six days before they were hailed by station's patrol route.

In that time, Gabriel Weller learned of a new kind of familiarity and distance with Lexine Murdoch.

1.

It started with the "burial" of Nathan McNeill. Much to his chagrin, Lexine seemed undecided with how she wanted to deal with the situation. He knew that she was aware that the misshapen thing their friend had become could not stay on the ship lest they be trapped in quarantine lockdown forever no matter how many times he bypassed it. (The wires could only take so much tampering before he damaged them beyond repair).

The other part of her was so desperate to cling to what remained of Nathan that she didn't want Gabe going anywhere near the cargo bay. Sufficed to say, despite her best efforts to dissuade him from jettisoning, burning or doing away with the man formerly known as Nathan McNeill, Gabe wouldn't be stopped.

For all the times they'd saved each other, Nathan deserved a burial that wouldn't expose him to hypocrisy of EarthGov and anyone else. Begrudgingly, he waited until she was too tired to keep her eyes open and locked her in the sleeping quarters (he was not getting sucker punched again). Dead bodies were always the least favorite part of his career as a soldier or security officer. He could brace himself as much as he humanly could, but one look into the vacant and hollow eyes of the recently departed and Gabe Weller was fighting the temptation to retch and fall to his knees in despair.

Nathan used to tease him mercilessly for being so weak-kneed and nicknamed him "Jellyfish" during their time in the Resource Wars. The march up Climbatize hill carrying the body of their dead C.O. wasn't a situation he would ever forget. With no limbs to bind together, the task was simple as wrapping the twisted figure in tarp and suiting up. That in and of itself was an unpleasant experience, the hallow eyes of McNeill following no matter where he was in the room. The cargo hold was good and sealed when he finished preparing the body, opening the hatch he rechecked his tethers and used the gravity boots to position himself and the corpse somewhere nearest to the idle thrusters.

Naught but a spare tether kept McNeill from drifting off into space to be found. Returning to the cargo bay, he closed the bay doors and waited for the room to pressurize. Tossing his helmet aside, he crossed the distance between himself and the cockpit, ignoring the frantic cries of Lexine as she demanded to be let out of the sleeping quarters.

He could hear her pressing frantically on the holographic panel as he prepped the shuttle's thrusters. "Don't do it, Weller! Not to Nate, please!" She cried. He didn't listen to her of course, not after going through all of that. The end result of his spacewalk was one corpse 'burnt' to ashes and a fourth quarantine procedure lifted. McNeill's body was gone, there was nothing left to do except deal with the painful reminder of what happened to him and the girl who fell in love with him.

2.

Whether or out of spite or self-absorption of her grief allowed to take its course, Lexine removed herself from the self-appointed position as Gabe's caretaker. In fact, she didn't do much of interacting with him at all, which was fine by him, honestly. Weller was far too content with dealing with the wound on his own.

As far as he was concerned now, Lexine was now just another faceless rescue he'd been saddled with until a station arrived and they went their separate ways. What food they had to ration, Lexine ate in her bedroom. Gabe took to sleeping stretched out on the seats of dining room or lounging sideways in the pilot's seat. All three options left him with an aching back, shoulders and legs so numb that he spent just as long trying to wake them up.

The times she emerged from the sleeping quarters it always appeared to see if he was still alive, her eyes wandering the space he inadvertently occupied before she realized he was staring right at her, watching her mill about like a mouse hoping for the all clear. Questions asked were restricted to their destination or his condition, all of which he answered as frankly as possible.

"It feels like I've been on this ship for ages," She mused to him once, gaze overlooking the holographic display of Titan station projected by his RIG.

"Aegis VII's a ways off from the Sprawl. Even with ShockPoint Drive functions, it'll be a while yet before we reach our destination," He answered, messing with the schematics. Lexine, disappointed by the answer, hugged herself and sat on the floor nearest to the galley threshold. "I hate this place," She said, her weary gaze observing him without hesitation for the first time since the burial. "I just want to get out of here."

"I know you do," He responded softly. "Just hang tight, Lex."

3.

Lexine's reluctance to spend less time outside her quarters lent to the overwhelming atmosphere of monotony on the Fujinara that was starting to drive Weller crazy. The routine of sleeping, monitoring the ship, washing and redressing his wound left plenty for the mind to wander off to. And how his mind spent wandering the bloody halls of the Ishimura; no one technique of mental diversion helped him.

All roads seemingly lead to the Ishimura.

Part of him almost wished he was conscious for the time Lexine attempted to hail the USG Kellion, at the very least he would've heard her voice for a little longer. As it stood, there was little by way of variety in the shuttle, flight manuals and manifests were all that were provided by way of reading material and there were no vids to watch. He was going crazy listening to himself think.

A look at the manifests showed the shuttle was stocked to send foodstuffs to Aegis VII. The time dated was one in the morning, a little around the time before they'd left the ship. He didn't have to wonder what happened to the crew intended to pilot her to the doomed planet. The food was still stocked in the storage, who knew if it was still any good considering the circumstances.

Lexine still wasn't quite ready to resume talking to him yet and he had to be alright with that for time being.

4.

"Weller. Weller, wake up."

Behind his eyelids he could see the light flashing behind his eyes like an S.O.S. message. His mind automatically linked it to a shuttle flying overhead as it scanned the terrain for signs of life or hostiles. Assuming he was lying somewhere under cover, Weller paid it no mind and scooted away from the insistent jostling that meant to shake him loose from the cobwebs of his mind.

"Weller, please wake up," The voice returned and slowly, he responded to her, brown eyes swishing over to the luminous light shining over him. Lexine was kneeling over him, a mini flashlight attached to magnet strip on her right arm. Her expression was taught with anxiety. "Lex…. Lexine, what do you want? You realize what time it is?" He groused, glaring at her. "One in the morning, give or take," Lexine answered as she grabbed him by the arm and pulled him into an upright position.

Weller, not quite yet aware of his surroundings, bumped his head on the table. How did he end up here? Following Lexine out from underneath the table, he stretched his body to loosen the knots in his muscles. "What is so important that you had to wake me?" He groused. Lexine paced in a half circle, her fingers twisting the sleeves of the spare CEC uniform they found in the sleeping quarters. "Lexine-"

"I need you to tell me about Nathan," She said finally, arms at her side. "I need you to tell me why you did that to Nathan-"

"It's what he would've wanted me to do. It's what he would've done for me," Despite the exhaustion of sleep still hanging over his head, he was coherent enough to remain firm in his decision. Lexine said nothing in response to the declaration, swallowing the knot forming in her chest she shook her head and asked, "You really think the EarthGov would really be so underhanded as to cover up something like what happened to my home and the Ishimura?"

"Sweetheart, the Ishimura was performing an illegal planet crack on Aegis VII, we were in violation of EarthGov regulations for even being in that sector and they sent us there anyway. Then the ship gets attacked by the same thing that decimated the planet? The Ishimura had no business messing with Aegis. You really think EarthGov is going to admit they were in the area? It's self-incrimination."

"I still don't see why you had to destroy Nate's body that way. People deserve to know what happened to all of those souls. My father, Sam, Nathan-"

Pressing one hand to his face, Weller proceeded to rub the sleep from his eyes and inhaled deeply. "Of course they do, Lexine. I'm not denying that at all, but we can't tell anyone what happened on Aegis or the Ishimura. We'd be hauled off into to the brig or worse."

"How do you know that? You can't possibly be absolutely certain they'd do that," She said.

"Yes, I can. I've seen it far too many times during the service. Good men - best friends - too damn noble to keep something they see, know is wrong, to themselves. You always turn up missing, dead or a scapegoat," He explained. "There is no happy ending with this course action, there's too much about those creatures, that Marker and our being there that smacks of a connection to be a mere coincidence."

"And you think that if we told anyone what really happened there, they would just make us disappear because we'll get them in trouble?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying, Lexine," He said. "If Nathan was right about anything, it's that none of this would have happened if it weren't for the rock that team pulled up and brought to the ship."

"Then what do you plan on explaining how we got this shuttle? One look at our records, our clothes and they'll know you were an officer on board and that I was a colonist on the planet," Lexine countered.

"I've lied my way out of worse situations, I'll think of something," Gabe answered. "Now, can I go back to sleep?"

"But-"

"Look, once we reach the Sprawl, I'll tell you everything you want to know about Nathan, okay? His pants size, where his hairline used to be, anything and everything. Right now, I just want to sleep," He turned away from her with all the intention of crawling back underneath the table and burying his face in the crook of his arm. Instead he found himself being halted by Lexine who insisted that he face her again. "Lex, please-"

"You should be sleeping on a bed, Weller, not out here," She said to him.

"Funny, you didn't seem to mind before," He grinned.

"I- I never told you you couldn't come and take the other bunk," Lexine's gaze shifted to the right. "You just assumed-"

"I gave you the space you needed, and the diner booth wasn't such a bad bed," Gabe interjected.

"How- how is your wound, by the way?" She asked, eyeing his side. "And don't give me some offhanded reply, like 'you've had worse' or something. That's not an answer."

"It's fine mostly. Healing slowly, but otherwise I've had no complications."

"Good," Lexine sighed. "But, you still need to rest." Pulling on his arm, Lexine led him out of the galley and down the hall to the sleeping quarters.

5.

He woke that morning feeling relatively numb and disoriented. The environment of the sleeping quarters wasn't something he was quite used to yet. The inherent absence of kitchen smells struck him as strange after spending so much time sleeping there. And the comfort, as much as he loved it, part of his mind was wondering why it was there instead of a cool floor thrumming with the energy of the ship. Rolling out of top bunk, he proceeded into the bathroom to freshen up.

In accordance to their conversation, Gabe followed his own advice and deleted the audio log he created in the aftermath of Nathan's transformation and double checked the system for any backups it may have created on the hard drive.

His and Lexine's clothing he figured were the only articles of clothing he could toss out the airlock while the ship was still using the shock drive, he maintained his badge if only for security reasons and reference. He was pretty good liar, but there was no way in hell he could declare he was ship security and not have some type of solid evidence to corroborate the story.

The culmination of their journey was finally coming to a head with the appearance of Titan Station as they shocked back into normal space. Lexine was waiting in the cockpit when he managed to get himself together, looking more rested than hisself and genuinely excited by the environment floating around the window of the ship.

"You're first time here, I take it?" He asked, getting comfortable in the pilot's chair. Lexine nodded, one hand reaching up to pat her pony tail self-consciously. "I've done a little traveling, but the Sprawl, Mars - they're the kinds of places you only hear about and never touch, you know?" She answered. "I figured you'd have to be rich to afford to live on a space station."

"Not, really, but an expendable budget wouldn't hurt," Gabe yawned, double checking the latest diagnostic check for the shuttle. "Besides, the Sprawl is hardly what I'd call a classy place, if you get my meaning."

Lexine nodded. "Why do you call it the Sprawl?"

"See that?" Gabe pointed to the left wing the station that came in barely half way to meet the right wing, Lexine leaned forward in her seat and nodded. "All of that there, top to bottom, is the Public Sector of the station. All sorts of peoples, homes and jobs reside in those sectors alone, it's a clusterfuck. Government resides strictly in the middle, the Titan shard. Nate and I used to report there when the station was expanding to accommodate for the number of people that were leaving Earth to live in space," He explained. "Basically, with the exception of Gov Sec, Public Sector is pretty disorganized."

"Is that really it?" Lexine raised her eyebrow at his explanation, thinking there had to be more to it that.

"Uh, no, I actually haven't slightest idea why they called it the Sprawl. It's suiting though," Gabe recounted with a small nod of his head. Lexine had to agree with him.

"Right, I figure it's about time we introduce ourselves," Gabe aligned the shuttle accordingly and began to hail the space station. "Titan Station, this is the USG Fujinara, requesting permission to land."

"Gabe - what do you plan on doing when we get there?" Lexine asked while they waited for a reply. The man commonly known as Weller did his best to maintain a neutral expression as he mulled over her question. At present he had no real place to call home; the total duration of his stay on the Ishimura would've lasted until the ship was decommissioned and it was off to find another job or return to Earth and find someplace live.

The Sprawl, as unpleasant as some of his memories were of the place, sounded like just as good a place to live for the time being despite its relative proximity to Aegis VII. "I dunno, probably rest. I know someone who's lived there for a while. Contacted him a couple days ago, so, he'll take me in," He answered. "And yourself?"

"I don't know either. My dad was my only family, I've spent half my whole life on Aegis, and I can barely remember Earth. I never kept in touch with the relatives on my mother's side, they aren't exactly charitable people," Lexine sighed. "Don't worry, I'll figure something out."

"I'm sure my friend could arrange a place for you to stay."

"No, no, I couldn't possibly think of imposing-"

"Hello, USG Fujinara. Apologies for the delay, clearance has been granted. You may begin your approach," The professional response interrupted their conversation. "Please proceed to dock LAA23." The two shared a nervous glance, the moment of truth finally upon them. Gabe seemed to be asking whether or not she still felt the way she did about their situation, if she was going to say anything. Lexine raised a hand to lips and pretended to zip them, promising she wasn't going to say a word. Leaning back in the chair, Gabe focused his attention on landing the shuttle in the docking bay.

6.

"So, if I'm hearing you right, your shuttle was ordered to depart the Aegis VII before the Ishimura disappeared off the grid and you lost contact with the planet?"

"Yes, that's correct."

Adjusting to the thriving ecosystem of the Sprawl was task for both Lexine and Gabe. Where time and space seemed once suspended and irrelevant, it was a necessary part of living in the Public Sector. People functioned on a day to day basis, comfortable in the knowledge that there would be another day and another day to look forward to. Falling back into that routine wasn't as simple as reintegrating with a living population.

"As one of the security officers aboard the Ishimura, aren't you crucial to safety of her people?"

"There are over a hundred P.C.S.I. officers aboard the Ishimura, they could spare one and Chief Vincent thought I was suited for the task."

"And you, Lexine Murdoch, was it?"

Lexine was insistent that Gabe visit the hospital before he did anything further and reluctantly he obliged her request. There was more than a little work the doctors had to do before Gabe could be given a clean bill of health, complete with a bottle of pills that would knock him out for hours on end. From there it was as simple as working their way from sleeping in the shuttle to finding a lodgings to live in. As he said, at least one of his friends still remained on the Sprawl, an old timer named Gibson Williams from a time before the Resource Wars. He looked about fifty, but there was no telling how old he actually was. He took a real shine to Lexine, much to Gabe's amusement, and offered her a place to stay at his home while his great granddaughters were out surveying the traverse for the CEC.

"Yes, sir, that's my name."

"You were aboard the Ishimura?"

"No, sir, I was on Aegis when the Fujinara landed. I took a fancy to Weller and I thought to hitch a ride when he told me he was going to Titan Station."

"Huh, a fatigue chaser, eh? You don't strike me as the type."

"I'm not, really, it was really just an excuse to visit the Sprawl while Weller restocked."

"Darling I'm hurt! And here I thought you liked me."

Gabe managed to find Lexine an otherwise affordable apartment in Titan Heights with a little help from Williams. Oddly enough there was enough room for two people and he could only wonder if the old man had gone senile and mixed up "one room apartment" for a "two room apartment". Either way, he didn't think much of it after promising to pay his friend back once he got a job and getting Lexine accustomed to her new surroundings.

There was only one job he was interested in: Titan Station Security Enforcement Guard. Background requirements seemed unlimited as far as experience was concerned, but they took a particular liking to soldiers and marines. "You don't seem terribly comfortable separated from a weapon, Weller," Lexine remarked sardonically when she watched him attempt to do push-ups in spite of his gunshot wound. "It's complicated, Lexine," Was all the reasoning Gabe was willing to give her at the moment.

"Yeah, well, you know women. Anyway, are either of you aware of the communication problems either the ship or the planet was experiencing?"

"No, I had no idea."

"Is that right, Sergeant Weller?"

"Yes, sir."

"And can either you tell me why, if you're departure date was roughly a week and a half ago, it took you half that time to reach Titan Station?"

"I- uh, overtaxed the drive, sir. We lost power, but managed to life support systems back on. It took a while to reroute the proper energy necessary to finish the journey."

Lexine's attempts to find a job were less fortunate than the injured sergeant. As a grade two surveyor, her major hope was to find a job in the science/planetary divisions of the CEC facility, but there were either no openings for her position or she lacked the experience they were searching for.

Rudimentary jobs were the best she could get until another opportunity would present itself to her, unless she took up Gibson's offer to arrange a meeting with a "peculiar doctor" in the Government Sector. The man was too generous with his favors, so much in fact that she was suspicious and hesitant of taking so many free handouts from him. One could only take so much before you were too deep in the hole to give back.

"So by all accounts, until now, you've been unaware of the problems encountered and you're primary purpose was resupply here at Titan Station?"

Gabe and Lexine nodded in unison, their expressions either neutral or blank. "Alright, you're free to go. We'll contact you if anything changes."

As far as Lexine knew, their little excursion into the Gov Sector's interrogation office after being declared clean for public integration didn't exactly go as Gabe planned, but neither did they throw them into the brig and make them disappear. The detective - or whatever he was - didn't so much as flinch when they explained situation to him, but he didn't look completely convinced of their story either (such was the way of authority figures). Either way, she and Gabe left the sterile, white and silver compound without incident, hand-in-hand like a pair of love-sick puppies unaware they'd been admonished. Gabe remained relatively on edge, even as they traversed the Public Sector, using his waypoint navigation to find a way to his friend.

Lexine hoped they would just be left alone.