"Emori," Isla calls tentatively. The other woman has not spoken a word to her since dragging her out of bed with the promise of going to the ground.
"What?" Emori replies, in the coldest tone Isla had ever heard her speak.
"Are you ignoring me?" Isla stops packing, reaching a hand out to her.
"No, Isla." The brunette huffs. "Keeping secrets and the silent treatment are your weapons of choice, not mine."
"Holy tongue lashing." Isla scoffs, "what'd I do this time?"
"You're pregnant." Emori accuses.
Isla squares her shoulders, jaw ticking as she does, "yes."
"When were you going to tell me?" Emori asks. "When your belly got too big to hide?"
"I just found out for sure." Isla shakes her head. "We've both been working longer hours and-"
"When were you going to tell me?" Emori repeats, crossing her arms over her chest.
"I wanted to do something special." Isla looks down at the floor wistfully. "You'd come home from work, P would run up and hug you and tell you that she's gonna be a big sister. I guess that was stupid. I know the situation isn't ideal but I wanted you to be happy. Maybe that was stupid too. I don't know. If you're gonna chew me out, go ahead. Get it over with, so we can focus on getting to the ground."
Emori sighs. "Isla."
Isla turns her back to Emori, before she can see her cry, continuing to gather her belongings.
"I'm sorry for being a bitch." Emori's says, her voice returning to normal. Of course Isla wanted to do something thoughtful for her, she always did. Even though their relationship has been turbulent recently, and they've been trying to find their footing without John; they were working to salvage what they had left.
Isla smiles, despite her best efforts not to. Emori has adopted a few choice words up in space. Bitch being one of them, and Isla finds it adorable.
"I'm sorry I was a super bitch, the bitchiest bitch who ever lived-"
"That's a bit of a stretch." Isla chuckles.
"I am sorry," Emori presses kisses to her shoulder through the material of her shirt. "I love you, very much; and I love this baby." She moves her hands down to rest on Isla's lower belly. This is the most intimate they've been in atleast a month. Emori wishes they could fix that now but as usual, there's no time.
"Don't say it just because that's what you think I want to hear Em." Isla taps her fingers against Emori's wrists. "It's ok if you're not happy."
"I'm happy about the baby. No matter what else is going on, that will always be true."
Isla nods, turning to face her. "Did you tell John?"
"Don't worry about him, we'll figure it out. I don't want you to worry about anything." She kisses Isla's cheek, thumbing away any stray tears.
Isla leans in, pressing her lips to Emori's.
She knows that this isn't the time but Isla is all flushed pink cheeks and wandering hands. Emori misses her, loves her, wants her; so badly it hurts. When Isla reaches for her scarf, she lets it fall, hair now freely hanging around her face. Isla kisses Emori's cheek over her tattoo, then the other on the raised skin of her scar, down to the cleft of her chin.
"Gotta wrap it up scissor sisters," John interrupts, popping his head in the door, and staring for longer than he should. "Raven wants Emori to run the preflight check. She took Pandora as ransom.
Emori groans, dropping her forehead against Isla's. "Raven can wait."
"Now that's a concept," Murphy chimes in. "If you're really desperate, I could lend a helping hand."
"Not that desperate." Emori rolls her eyes at his advances.
"It's fine," Isla assures her. "Go finish getting us ready to fly."
"See you soon." Emori untangles herself, from the chemist. "Keep it in your pants, John." Emori says, feeling a smile tug at the corner of her mouth.
"I'll do my best." He salutes her as she moves past him into the hall. "Word on the street is, you've got a little dimpled bun in the oven."
"Do you have a preference this time?" He hadn't when Emori was pregnant, but that was a long time ago. "Boy or girl?" Isla wonders.
"When we were growing up I always imagined a boy." Murphy shrugs noncommittal, "but after having P, I might be a little partial to girls. That being said I'm happy either way."
"You imagined us with a kid." Isla cocks her head to the side.
"Course I did, your dad was gonna hook me up with a good spot on the guard. We'd get married, when we were super old like twenty five, and we'd have a baby. A little boy, that looked just like you and we called him JJ." John shoots a crooked grin in her direction.
"John Jr." Isla raises a brow, "you know I don't like juniors."
"I was nine, give me a break." He chuckles at her reaction.
"You really wanted to marry me?" She smiles conspiratorially.
"Who wouldn't?"
"Well," Isla shrugs, looking him up and down, "you've got a point there."
"I'm sorry it didn't work out." John admits.
"Me too." The air between them shifts, first to sadness; then after a moment to something else.
"I wouldn't mind trying again." Murphy throws it out there, because he has nothing to lose.
"What?" The blonde stammers.
"I'm just saying that door is always open. It doesn't have to be right now, but someday. When we get all this shit figured out. And for the record Isles, you always did make me happy. When you couldn't, that wasn't your fault." He wants her, he wants Emori, he wants his family back, and he is prepared to fight like hell.
Isla rushes him, throwing her arms around him, burying her face in the crook of his neck.
Murphy's lips are in her hair, breathing her in.
"Final sweep, you good to go?" Bellamy wraps twice, against the door frame.
"Yeah," Isla pulls away first, grabbing her bag off the bed.
"Hey, woah, woah." Murphy protests, taking it from her, "let me."
"Johnny." Isla rolls her eyes.
"You shouldn't be lifting things." He slings the bag over his shoulder.
"What do you know, I guess there are heroes in space." Bellamy laughs, shaking his head as he goes.
"Rocket's this way Bell." Isla calls after Bellamy as he continues down the corridor.
"Be there in five, kid." Bellamy nods.
They strap Pandora into the rocket, making sure to adjust the length accordingly. Isla is on one side with John on the other, Emori with Raven at the controls.
"Ready for lift off, in three, two, one." Raven announces and the pod separates from the Ring.
"Are we flying Mommy?" Pandora bounces her feet off the bottom of her seat.
"Yeah babygirl, we're flying." Isla smiles down at her.
"Do you like flying Daddy?" The little girl struggles to turn her head inside the oversized helmet.
"Sure do," Murphy grins.
"Mama's gonna drive the rocket," Pandora mimics the motion with her hands, wide blue eyes fixed straight ahead. "She's really good."
"Mama's gonna pilot the rocket," Murphy corrects her, "and yeah, she better be. She's been practicing for a long time. Since before you were even born."
"Woah." Pandora breathes in wonder. "Can I drive the rocket when I get big?"
"You can do anything you want to do, Niron." Emori smiles fondly, beneath her helmet.
"I wanna fly like you and Boom. I wanna make stuff like Mommy and Monty. I wanna fight like Bellamy and Echo, and I wanna be a good helper like Harper and Daddy! Can I do that Mama? Can I?" The little girl jerks on her straps in excitement.
"Anything you want." Emori repeats.
"Helper?" John huffs, "everybody else gets an awesome title and I get stuck with helper?"
"Helpers are awesome Daddy." Pandora shouts over at her father. "Without helpers the flyers can't fly, the makers can't make, and the fighters can't fight. Helpers are the best."
"Aww," Harper coos, "P. That's so sweet."
"Look at the monitor, Pandora." Raven points at the screen in front of her. "What is that?"
"The big ship!" The little girl cries in excitement.
"Boys and girls, meet Eligius four." Raven says.
"Powering a better tomorrow." Emori reads aloud.
"Must be a mining ship." Raven breathes.
"Mining in space?" Harper asks skeptically.
"I've heard stories." Monty explains, turning to her. "Missions sent to mine asteroids or search for habitable planets. That was over a hundred years ago."
"Means they must have fuel." Bellamy offers.
"Now that's a ship with a story to tell." Raven says, moving the control slightly. "It looks like one of the engines was destroyed. At least the hab is still rotating, that means they'll have gravity. Sorry love birds, no zero g space sex."
"Boom, what's sex?" Pandora asks, blinking at her innocently.
"That's a great question P." Raven gives her a thumbs up. "One that I don't have an appropriate answer to. So I will hand that over to you Murphy. What is sex?"
"Something only adults can do." Murphy states firmly, staring down at her sweet face. A perfect mix of him and Emori, he wonders what his next child will look like, "and only when they really love each other. There's more to it, but it's really boring. Ask me in thirty years."
"Ok Daddy." She shrugs happily.
"We're gonna have to start s-p-e-l-l-i-n-g." Murphy grumbles.
"That was really f-u-c-k-i-n-g close." Raven half smiles in agreement.
"There's the docking bay." Emori calls their attention back to the task at hand.
"I hate to ask this now, but what if they don't let us dock?" Monty begins, thrumming his fingers against Harper's thigh anxiously.
"We've been through this." Echo looks over at him from across the ship. "If they were still inside and saw a foreign ship trying to board them, they would shoot us out of the sky."
"Alright," Raven nods, "commencing operation uninvited guests. Firing thrusters in three, two, one." The pod lurches forward. "Emori, once I line us up with the hab, it's all yours. On my mark."
"Ok, we're in alignment." Emori narrows her eyes at the monitor somewhat nervously.
"The nav is yours." Raven tells her, "it's just like the simulator."
"Copy that." Emori takes the controls from the mechanic.
"Grounders don't say copy that." Murphy quips.
"This one does." Emori snaps back, more irritable than normal. "Initiating docking sequence."
"We are so s-c-r-e-w-e-d." John sniffs.
"Shut up John." Emori say in exasperation.
"Why are we losing alignment?" Raven demands, as the warning sirens begin to ring throughout the rocket.
"Commencing stabilization." Emori flips the switches, doing her best to remain calm. "I don't know."
"Mama? What's happening?" Pandora asks, she wants desperately to cover her ears but she can't. She struggles against her harness.
"Nothing Niron, we're almost there." Emori replies, feeling a bubble of panic erupt in her chest.
"I don't like it Mommy, I want to get out." Pandora reaches for the button securing her seatbelt.
"I know babygirl, it's ok." Isla closes her eyes, doing her best to choke down the fresh wave of nausea.
John puts a restraining hand on his daughters leg, "stop it P."
"We're coming in too fast." Raven shouts, not at all helping the little girl's current melt down. "Ok I got it, I got it! Switching back to manual. Hold on. We're coming in hot."
The rocket finally comes to a stop and they all let out a shaky breath.
"That was fun, let's do it again some time." John let's go of Pandora as she stills her frantic tugging.
Isla slaps his helmet, hard.
"Let's go, suits off in the cargo hold." Bellamy as usual is all business, completely ignoring his dysfunctional shipmates.
Murphy unbuckles the little girl between himself and Isla, lifting Pandora into his arms. Exiting after Bellamy.
Isla unhooks her own straps, noticing Emori still hasn't moved. She stops to do away with the brunette's helmet, kneading her tense shoulders. "You'll get it next time."
Emori sighs, resting her cheek against the top of Isla's hand; following her out of the rocket, too embarrassed to meet anyone's eyes.
Once the airlock door opens, the alarm screeching amplifies.
"That's just annoying," Murphy remarks as Pandora buries her face in his chest, both hands pressed tightly over her ears.
"If someone was here they'd shut it off right?" Harper takes a step into the ship.
Echo draws her sword, earning a wary look from Bellamy. "We don't know what we're walking into."
"We've gotta move fast," Bellamy instructs.
Raven grabs Emori's arm as she tries to pass her. "Not you, you should run a full diagnostic check on the pod. That was a big impact, we need to see if we took on any damage."
Emori nods, "P can stay here then, it's not as loud."
"I could stay too," Murphy offers, "incase you need help."
"Help how?" Emori snaps. "By making your stupid little jokes?"
"You used to like my stupid little jokes." He brushes off her comment. "Maybe if you weren't so s-e-x-ually frustrated-"
Isla pinches the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger.
"Enough, Harper will stay here with Pandora and Emori. Everybody else, you're with me." Bellamy steps in to defuse the situation before it gets out of hand, as Murphy and Emori tend to do these days.
Harper takes the little girl into her arms, using the access panel to close the airlock door between them and the others.
"This place is like a maze," Bellamy notes, illuminating their path down the hallway with his flashlight. "No inmates past this point," the overhead sign reads.
"Inmates," Echo repeats, unfamiliar with the term.
"Prison labor," Monty confirms. "Mining missions were dangerous, they sent people they thought were expendable."
"Sounds familiar," Murphy muses, sneaking a glance in Isla's direction.
"Relax, their ancestors were prisoners a hundred years ago. The descendants on that transport ship are survivors; just like us." Raven says, stepping to the head of the group. "Come on, the bridge is this way." The metal doors have a giant hole in the center, "looks like someone forgot their key." She remarks, stepping into the control room; waiting for the others to do the same. "Jackpot."
"Something bad happened here." Bellamy can feel it radiating from the walls.
"Monty," the mechanic calls for him.
"Override the ships schematics to find out where they keep their hydrozen?" He finishes for her.
"Yes." She nods. "But first let's kill stupid alarm." Raven does just that.
"Thank you." Bellamy sighs as silence washes over them.
Raven half smirks at him, coding deeper into the computer files.
"Hmm," Murphy hums, "Captain's chair." He motions for Isla to sit.
"Don't mind if I do." Isla smiles, making herself comfortable in the leather arm chair.
"The ship doesn't run off hydrozen." Raven informs them, her fingers dancing along the keyboard. "They could never store enough for a long duration mission."
"What then?" Bellamy wonders, both hands on his hips.
"Looks like... hytholodium." Raven narrows her eyes at the screen in front of her.
"Must have been what they were mining for." Monty adds. "Incredibly efficienct and easy to store-"
"Spare me the science lesson." Murphy cuts him off. "Can we use it to land the pod, or not?"
"Sure, if you want to explode every cell in your body." Raven shoots back.
"Can Isla turn it into something we can use?" John's seen her do more with less.
"Sure, if you want to explode every cell in her body." Raven cocks her head to the side, looking back at Murphy over her shoulder.
"No can do Reyes, she's carrying precious cargo." He winks back at her.
"So if she wasn't, you'd feel differently?" The mechanic returns to her work at the computer.
"Raven." Bellamy warns with a shake of his head.
"Just because the ship doesn't run on hydrozen, doesn't mean they don't have any on board." She types a different sequence into the controls. Finding exactly what she's looking for, a display of the ships stored fuel tanks. "Boom, the crowd goes wild."
"So we have a way down?" Echo asks, still not fully onboard with Raven's terminology.
"We have a way down." Raven confirms.
"That's not all we have," Monty flips the silver switch in front of him. "Laser comm."
Isla hears a voice not belonging to any of her ship mates of the past six years. It isn't one she recognizes, but still she rushes out of the chair.
"Can we talk to them?" John asks, following her over.
"First we find out who they are, and then we talk." Bellamy reasons.
"I've got something better than movement; I've got tracks." The man on the other end of the lazer comm says.
"They're hunting our people." Raven crosses both arms over her chest.
"We don't know that." John offers, glancing over at Isla.
"We know there was no one else left on the ground." Bellamy mutters, Octavia is down there.
"Whatever this is, Octavia can handle it." Echo assures Bellamy.
Isla inhales sharply at the name, John catches her hand, giving it a squeeze.
"Move over," Raven nudges Monty from his chair.
"What are you doing?" Echo wonders, staring over her shoulder.
"Finding out who we're dealing with." Raven's brows furrow in concentration.
"McCreary," the female voice sounds, "we heard gun shots report. Over."
"Relax colonel," McCreary responds almost immediately. "I told you we'd get her, and we did. She's a feisty one, pretty too."
"Bring her to me." The elegized colonel demands in a brisk tone.
"We've gotta get down there, now." Bellamy fights to keep his composure.
They split up then, to cover more ground. Monty, Echo, and Murphy break off to get the hydrozen and fill up the pod, leaving Bellamy, Isla, and Raven to dig a little deeper into the files, about who was waiting for them on the ground.
"Murder, murder, murder, arson resulting in murder, armed robbery, also resulting in murder." Bellamy scrolls through the list of prisoners on board.
"Arson isn't so bad," Isla shrugs a shoulder. That's what landed Murphy in lock up. "Unless the murder was intentional."
"Three hundred inmates, twenty five guards, and twelve crew." Bellamy scratches the back of his neck.
"Relax." Raven insists. "Great, Great, Grandpappy Blake was an astronaut with how many PHDs?"
"I don't know? Four?" Bellamy purses his lips.
"And how many do you have?" Raven asks to prove her point. "Oh wait, shut up. I got it. The captain's log."
"The last entry was over a hundred years ago, play that one." Bellamy points toward the screen.
"Aye, aye, Captain." Raven agrees, hitting the button.
The frantic rambling of the man on the captain's log does nothing to settle their nerves. Who ever these prisoners are, they had inside help killing the crew, one of the lieutenants. Bellamy looks behind them, finding the mug in the back of the frame is still where it was in the video. He lifts it up for a moment, mulling over their next move.
"Cryo. The captain said they were trying to deactivate cryo." Raven spins her chair around just in time to see the man charging toward them through the hole in the metal door. "Bellamy look out."
It's too late, the bearded man tosses Isla aside easily, the side of her head connecting with the corner of the desk. The man moves for Bellamy next, tossing punches, Raven attempts to help but doesn't do much impact before he knockes the breath from her with a blow to the gut. They continue grappling, never really standing a chance until Echo shows up. Slashing the man across his back and then spearing him through the middle as he turns to face her. Knocking her back and allowing Bellamy enough time to get the black plastic tube around his neck. Cutting off his airflow until he stops struggling.
"Son of a bitch," Isla murmurs, coming to and kicking at the mans lifeless body weakly. Then venturing up to touch her throbbing forehead, fingers coming away bloody.
"One down, two hundred and ninety nine to go." Raven breathes, getting her bearings.
"It's gonna need stitches, good news is, you'll live. Bad news is, this is gonna hurt like a bitch." John tells Isla, kneeling before her with the medical kit. "That's what you get for trying to be a hero."
"Must be contagious." Isla quirks a brow, the slice on her forehead screaming in protest.
He starts by disinfecting the gash. Isla hissing as he does.
"Sorry Isles," Murphy mutters under his breath.
"Just do it." She grumbles.
He pinches the skin together once the bleeding slows, pressing the needle through one side and out the other. "Breathe," Murphy insists. "Last thing I need is you passing out on my watch."
"I'm breathing." Isla says through clenched teeth.
"Now you sound like Emori in labor." Murphy muses, feeling Isla's hand clamp down on his knee. "Crazy isn't it? Getting ready to do all this stuff again." He attempts to distract her.
"Crazy about sums it up." Isla agrees.
"What do you want?" He echoes her question from earlier. "Boy? Girl? Something in between?"
"We have a girl, a boy might be nice. Or he might break my heart into a million tiny pieces." She sniffs, "luck of the draw I guess."
"I never want to hurt you." Part of him suspects she always knows that. "I was just so miserable I couldn't stop. I should have asked for help, I should have talked to you and Emori and told you how I felt. You're a person, not a buoy in the middle of the ocean, and that's how I was holding on to you. I'm sorry."
"I still love you Johnny. I still want to be with you. We could grow old together, grow young together. Reunite our sexual tag team that Emori says she hates, but I think she secretly loves. We could have more babies-"
"How hard did you hit your head?" He smirks, cocking his head to the side.
"Not as hard as I'm about to hit yours if you don't say it back." She bats at his leg with her hand.
"I love you Frankenstein." He fight the urge to lean in and kiss her. "You're all stitched up."
"Thank you." She smiles.
He tapes down a piece of gauze over the freshly sealed wound. "We should get back to the airlock, I'm sure by now Raven's got the cryo pods rewired."
Isla and John make it back to the airlock just in time to hear Emori demanding Raven's whereabouts.
"It's technical," Bellamy clears his throat, treading lightly. "But uh, somebody has to stay up here and man the cryo pods."
"What?" Harper whispers in disbelief, they can't possibly be leaving one of their own behind.
"There's an escape pod that she can take down if we can't make a deal. She'll be fine." Bellamy made sure of it.
"I'm staying too." Murphy says after mulling it over.
"John." Emori shakes her head.
John sighs, resigned to his fate. "You want me to do better, this is part of that. Besides, with you flying this is a survivors move. Get to the ground, take care of each other, save our friends. See you on the other side."
"Daddy wait!" Pandora protests, "I have to say the words."
"What words P?" His resolve nearly crumbles when she jumps into his arms.
"In peace may you leave the shore. In love may you find the next. Safe passage on your travels, until our final journey on the ground. May we meet again." Pandora resites the travelers prayer Isla had taught her.
"May we meet again." Murphy pulls her tiny form closer, stroking her soft dark hair. "I love you Pandora, don't ever forget that."
"I love you Daddy." She sings against his ear, moving to stare at him with wide blue eyes. "I see you on the other side."
"See you there." He sets her back on her feet, waiting until she's inside the airlock before closing the door between them. Murphy feels pretty damn confident in his decision to stay behind. This was the first step back to what he really wants. He likes chaos, he likes the fog of war, anything to distract him from his own demons but he doesn't need them. Not the way he needs his family. Then Raven informs him that she lied about the escape pod, and royally fucks up every plan he had.