Artie's request took both Corso and Sonny by surprise. Corso looked at their leader. Normally, Sonny would have said something by now. This time, he was silent. Corso agreed Artie could take this operation with a small team. He knew the planet's ways and customs, he would be able to get around undetected. If Opal and Sapphire needed help, Artie was the right man. Sonny was in deep thought. The very name, Abraxor, raised some deeply buried memories for their leader. Ill timed or not, Corso told Artie to tell the guards, lead Keiran back to his cell for now. They had to postpone their plan of action a little more. Artie looked at Sonny, just like Corso, slightly worried.
Was it something I said?" Artie managed. Corso shook his head, resting a hand on Artie's shoulder.
"Go deal with Keiran. I'll talk to him." Corso suggested mildly as he sent the younger man off. He turned to Sonny, who leaned his head against a window.
"The name alone sends shivers down my spine." Sonny finally said. Corso nodded.
"I know the feeling." He said, taking a step towards his friend. Sonny sighed.
"I was only there for one week. One of the worst weeks of my life." Sonny confessed. Corso nodded.
"That's when the abuse started, right?" Corso looked at him. Sonny nodded.
"Sometime after. I saved Bleylock and received that dagger from his father. A very high honor. Bleylock got his hopes up that his father would accept him as he was. He didn't. And in turn he closed himself off and let his darker emotions take hold." He started. Corso recalled the dagger in the bench outside Mei and D'Jok's home.
"The one Keiran had?" He asked. He got a silent nod. Sonny turned his back to him, thinking.
"When I finally broke free, I kept the dagger as a reminder to be careful and pay more attention to red flags. After I joined the Pirates, I carved the emblem of our organization into it. I don't know how Keiran got it, but he gets what it means." Sonny said. Corso nodded.
"It's time to let that part of your life gone. Bleylock's dead. He can't control you any longer. Not physically. Not mentally. I won't give him that pleasure." Corso said fiercely, placing his hands on Sonny's shoulders. Sonny turned and pulled him into an embrace.
"It's a blessing I have you," He said softly. Corso nodded, hugging his best friend back.
"You mean the Galaxy to me. I will get rid of anyone who would harm you." Corso said, not breaking the embrace. Sonny put his hands around Corso's neck.
"You know I would never allow you to do that to yourself but I see what you mean. I need to get this out." He said. Corso nodded.
"I sent Artie to take Keiran to his cell. We should let him go to Abraxor. He knows the planet and knows what to do." Corso said. Sonny smiled.
"You're the Commander the Black Manta deserves. I'll give Artie the mission. And I'll give you the explanation you deserve.
They tried everything, she just couldn't make that jump. The Pirates raised the holotrainer roof as high as they could. She could touch it with her fingertips, but not enough to hold on and pull herself up. Solaris was getting frustrated. How in the Galaxy were they going to get the Golden Armor if she couldn't even find the map to point them in the right direction? Artie tried his best to cheer her up, to no avail.
"It's no use. I'm not able to get a hold. I've tried everything." Solaris complained. Zarind looked at her sadly.
"We have to keep trying. We need that map. Without the Golden Armor, you can't take down Miller. Everyone depends on us finding that Armor." Zarind said. Solaris sighed.
"Being a leader is a heavy burden to bear." She said. Artie nodded.
"Leaders can still be human. You have the support around you. You don't have to do this alone." Artie explained. Solaris and Zarind looked at him. Solaris nodded.
"I should give Zoonia and Coran a lot more credit. With all that's going on at Stellar Unix, they're holding my spot while I'm here trying to find a way to restore order. All the while dealing with my own inner demons. In some respects, Paladins and Pirates are quite the same." she mused. Artie smiled carefully.
"I'll tweak the system a bit. See if we can get that last boost. I have a few ideas. I just need Sonny's approval." He said. Zarind at him, surprised.
"He didn't give you a go ahead yet? I would have figured he would have told you to get right on it." He said. Artie nodded.
"Not this time. According to Corso, the emotional trauma of his past has finally caught up with him. Sonny has some issues to deal with." Artie said. Zarind nodded.
"He's almost ready to leave that past behind." He said thoughtfully. Artie nodded. A signal came from his transmitter. He was called to Sonny and Corso's cabin. They made their decision. Artie waved goodbye, and headed off.
Callie was thinking about what Corso told her. It didn't come as a surprise. Corso was always very close to Sonny. Joined at the hip. And the fact Sonny kissed him made her realize he had feelings, too. She looked at her ring. Could she accept this? Sonny loved her… but he loved Corso too. Could she be able to live with that? She knew that Corso would step aside if she asked. That man just wanted Sonny's happiness, even at the cost of his own. But then again, Callie didn't want to be responsible for that. It would also break Sonny's heart. She had made her decision. She would share her lover and husband with someone who was her equal and who loved him every bit as much as she did.
Artie knocked on the door to Sonny and Corso's shared cabin. As soon as the door opened, he entered. Corso and Sonny sat on their beds. Sonny looked at him.
"Artie, You're cleared to go in and extract the girls." Corso said.
"You'll write down a detailed plan which we'll read through. This is your first time leading a mission like this, I want to make sure you're doing it right. Safety is priority number one. Second, You will also inform Corso and me, on what it is you know about Abraxor. If this connects to the reason why your past is wiped clean, you'll still need to keep Corso and me in the loop. As your superior, and your captain, I'm responsible for your safety. I will only allow this to happen if these demands are met. Am I making myself clear?" Sonny asked. Artie nodded.
"Do you want me to tell or should I write it down?" He asked. Sonny looked at him.
"It's better if you just told us. For a start, what is your real name?" Sonny asked mildly. Artie looked at him.
"My name's always been short for Arthur. My last name is Simmordale. It's from Abraxor. For some reason I always felt out of place there." Artie confessed. Corso sent Sonny a look.
"The Paladins sent us a DNA profile from their records. I took the DNA sample we have on you and cross referenced it. The Paladins know your father. It is a positive match." Corso explained. Sonny rose from his bed, standing next to Artie as Corso said this. Sonny had a strong suspicion that his assistant was hiding his feelings.
"I need to sit down." He managed. Sonny handed him a chair.
"Take your time. It was a shock for us too but it also puts a lot of things in place. Like your amazing hacking skills." Sonny said. Artie looked at him.
"What about my mother? Anadrea Simmordale." He managed. Sonny placed his hands on Artie's shoulders.
"She's not your biological mother. Anadrea Simmordale was your nanny. Corso gathered all the information the Paladins had in this file." Sonny said, and handed him a green folder with the Pirates emblem on it. Artie knew what these files were. Corso at Artie with compassion.
"You've suffered more than enough. You deserve closure." He said softly. Artie looked at him. Corso was acting strange. This worried him.
"Did you read this file?" He asked. Corso nodded. Artie nodded back.
"All my life I knew something was wrong. I only had vague memories. It kind of feels like a nightmare took place. I can recall, someone running with me, in the dead of night, from a house. I think I saw lights get turned on." He said, Sonny took Artie's hands. He was shaking, remembering what happened to him.
"Anadrea Simmordale got fired by your father for raising you the Abraxor way. He went to great lengths to find you after she kidnapped you. To her,it was revenge. She was an Abraxor agent, sent to keep your father under control. Your father was a danger to the Abraxor families of power. He knew their secrets and was about to go public with it. When you were kidnapped, your father and the Paladins did all they could to find you. They tracked down Anadrea but it was too late. She died under rather suspicious circumstances. They tried to find you, but Abraxor is big and they never managed. They had no way to breach the systems. Your mother, Marybeth, kept hoping until grief over the loss eventually claimed her life. The Paladins can show you to her grave after the mission, if you want." Sonny said. Artie looked down. Sonny and Corso could both see the streaks of tears rolling down his cheeks. He looked back up.
"What about my father? Anadrea never spoke a word about him." Artie said. Sonny nodded to Corso, who turned on his laptop. An image of a man, looking very much like Artie, appeared. Artie gasped.
"I've seen him. He's a wanted criminal on Abraxor." He said. Sonny nodded.
"Do you know his name?" He asked. Artie shrugged. Corso placed his hand on Artie's shoulder.
"That's your father; Hawk Tidman." He said softly. Artie couldn't believe it.
"THE Hawk Tidman, the famous hacker?" He asked. Sonny nodded.
"That's the one. How about you go to your cabin and take time to read through and process this? We'll take off for Stellar Unix in two days. Make sure to have a plan by then." Sonny told him. Artie looked at him.
"Maybe we should share our experience of this planet later. We've seen two very different sides of it." He said, Sonny smiled. Artie had a good idea. It could help him deal with some of the memories from there.
"Process this first. When you feel ready, come see me." He said. Artie walked off. Corso looked at him as he left to be by himself.
"He took it well." He said. Sonny nodded.
"Let's plan on how to move forwards with Keiran."
Callie decided to cook that evening. The kitchen smelled of pot roast. She heard Sonny and Corso arrived.
"That smells delicious. Did you make dinner for two? I'll leave if it is." Corso said. Callie smiled.
"Too bad, I've prepared for three." She said. "Have you talked to Artie yet?" Sonny nodded.
"He read some important things about his family. It will take some time to process all this. His whole world is turned upside down, That's familiar." He said as he sat down. Corso looked at him as he took a seat.
"Speaking of that. I want your X-Rays done tomorrow." He said. Sonny nodded.
"Make sure Duke Maddox gets a copy. I can get compensated since Bleylock was Technoid's employee at the time." He said. Corso placed a hand on his arm.
"There is a certain crack that worries me. When we did the marrow extraction at the lair, the needle pierced your spinal cord in that exact area. No wonder it got infected." Corso said, taking a bite of the roast.
Callie also took a seat, and she had a smile on her face.
"I wanted to speak to both of you about something." She said. Corso and Sonny looked at each other.
"First off, I want to thank you both for being honest with me. Sonny, I know how close you are with Corso and that asking you to choose between him and me wouldn't be fair. Could you even choose between us?" Callie asked. Sonny was surprised by the question.
"I choose you both, because you both mean the Galaxy to me." Sonny said. Callie smiled. Exactly what she hoped for. She turned to Corso.
"Corso, would you be willing to come live with us?" She asked. Corso was rattled for a moment. Callie smiled.
"What are you up to?" Sonny asked, slightly suspicious. Callie smiled as she put dessert on the table. Home made fortune cookies.
"I figured I'd make this fun." She smiled. Sonny tried to figure her out.
"Open the cookies and find out. I'll be waiting in the bedroom." She teased. When Callie left the kitchen, Sonny and Corso both took a cookie.
"I'm nervous." Corso admitted as he broke his open. Sonny nodded. He had some ideas.
"Let's open these at the same time." He said. Corso nodded. They both broke it open at the same time, and read the message. Corso looked at Sonny with a smile.
"This is the perfect solution." He said. Sonny was all smiles, staring at the message from his cookie.
"Remember, she said we have to agree." He said. Corso smirked.
"I would go all in with this. How about you?" He asked. Sonny decided to tease Corso a bit.
"I will tell you on one condition." He smiled. Corso looked at him.
"What?" He asked. Sonny grinned.
"Kiss me." He said. Corso grinned as he obeyed the order.
"There's a lot more where that came from. He said, pushing Sonny back against the wall, pinned Sonny's wrists and gave him a deeper kiss. As soon as they could breathe again, they made their way to the bedroom to inform Callie of their decision.
A/N: Sorry for the tease. Clearly, our two pirates liked this idea. Once again, thank you to the ultra amazing Paranoidgirl, for betaing and giving so many amazing ideas to keep the story moving forwards.
