Giving Up

Ellie was Henry's friend, but she couldn't just… spring this on him!

"Ellie, I'm sorry, but we've been planning this for a while," Henry said, his voice dragging a little in hesitance. "Can we talk after? It'll just be a few hours. We can meet up in Records or your room or wherever you want."

Ellie started to speak, but shut her mouth and nodded. "…okay, yeah. Sure. Just… don't forget, okay? Meet me back in my room?"

"Yeah, yeah of course."

"Don't need to knock," she said, walking away.

Henry called after her as he left, "Okay!" Damn, she looked serious, but this just wasn't a good time. Ellie, please!

Regardless, he met Howie at one of the pods near storage, just down the hall from the Brig. This was the one Afanasiy used to kidnap him and Katie.

As soon as Henry's feet touched the solid floor of the airship, Henry was making his way to the Living Quarters. Ellie's room was at the far end, just one away from the catwalk that led over the Brig and Engine. Henry raised his hand to knock, but instead pressed the button.

Ellie sat cross-legged on the floor, elbows on her knees and chin in her hands and hard gaze on the mess of papers on the floor. A manila envelope sat on the floor a few feet away, discarded. She didn't look up when Henry entered. Henry glanced over the documents. He found the Toppat Clan logo on them, which was to be expected. Numbers–those were dates, and amounts. Monetary value, weight, amount–all kinds of stuff snatched in heists. Names were there, too. Names of items, titles, and even people.

Henry sat down beside Ellie. "What's this?"

Ellie shut her eyes. "Henry, I was going to join the Toppat Clan. I had been planning to before you asked me, before I was locked away at the Wall. It's not because I wanted to be a Toppat or a criminal of any kind. I was having fun as a mercenary. I was my own boss, making my own hours and charging my own prices. But I take on all sorts of jobs from all sorts of people. Charles came up to me just a week before I was arrested and sent to the Wall. He said Captain Galeforce had a job for me."

Henry followed her gaze to the papers before her. Henry's name was in a few. Howie's, Dad Reginald's, Dad Right's, Cool Katie's, Wallace's, Miss Demeanor's–names were scattered amongst them. Those weren't just heists, those were business deals, a list of corrupt public figures.

"He knew that you were my friend, that I associated with criminals. He knew that I wasn't technically government affiliated. I had skills, potential. Potential for good things, and for bad. So, he said he'd hire me. He'd pay me a flat amount at the start, pay me again for each objective I complete, and then offer me a place in the military at the end. I would get to work with Charles way more often. The mercenary life was fun, but it was inconsistent. This would be consistency in way more than just the financial means."

Ellie hadn't moved. Her eyes were closed, now. In fact, were it not for the fact her lips moved as she spoke, he'd think she was asleep. "It wouldn't be an easy job, he said, but I would be able to do it. I might need to do some bad things to fit in, but it'll be worth it in the end. Sometimes I think about that line. I would be doing bad things, but it was all for the greater good. Like he had done it before; committed crimes in the name of the law. I didn't know you were a Toppat. When you gave me that opportunity, when you offered to recruit me, I was just… I don't know. I didn't know what to feel. You would give me an easy ride, clear a whole bunch of obstacles for me, get this done quickly. But you would be among the people we were going to arrest."

She let out a quiet sigh. "But I decided against that. You're my friend, Henry. I asked the Captain, and he said that if I did this job right, we could talk about you. Letting you go free or taking a few years off your sentence. I thought about it. I thought about what would happen if I brought this airship down or helped at least. He gave me a few options. I could arrest the airship division or arrest their leader. Either would do for now, just as long as they got something out of the deal."

Henry felt sick. She'd been there for how long now? Almost two months? At any point of time, she could have swiped something from Records and went on her merry way. Dad Reginald and Dad Right trusted her because of Henry. She had all the opportunity in the world–especially since she knew where he slept and could get a general feel for his daily schedule–to take him. Henry could go to sleep one night after a day of planning and wake up to having only one parent, or none or down a best friend or both, depending.

Ellie said, "I can't do it. I… I tried. But you're my best friend. I remember our whole lives you were so happy when you talked about your family. Even if we never went over to your house, you talked about it as if it was the greatest place on Earth. Howie was such a great guy. Now that I've been here a while, there are great people here. But I can do my job. Henry, if you weren't here, I could honestly say I would've taken down this entire ship. Today. It would have been today."

Henry finally found his voice. "Wh… what? What do you mean?"

"You've noticed the bad luck we've been having, right?" Ellie asked. "The sudden appearance of more guards, higher security, surprise change of plans? For weeks I've been stealing plans and sending over important dates and times to the government, who in turn prepared the various places you were going to hit. One of the Captain's objectives was to basically starve you into action; make you go broke enough to get desperate and slip up. Last time we met, I told them there was something big planned. Not a heist."

"The rocket."

Ellie nodded. "Captain said he couldn't let this rocket plan go through. Our tactics were going to be too slow; you'd be in space by the time we could get close to finishing. When you were there, you'd be unstoppable. Defenses be damned. So, today, just hours ago, I was going to get you to convince the chief to take us north, over Texas and toward Oklahoma. By the time this ship got to the ambush site, it would be dark, and they'd have the upper hand with ground defenses and flying vehicles. I would have slipped out and joined them on the ground. Or I'd get a bonus for capturing the chief and bringing him with me. There was the possibility you could get away, after all. They could take no chances with Chief Reginald."

Henry looked from the papers to Ellie. "Then what are you doing here?"

Ellie opened her eyes and turned to Henry. "Outing myself. Henry, I thought about it while you were gone with Howie. I decided I can't do this. I want to be with you. I want to be a Toppat. So, I pulled together everything I had about the government, as well as everything I would have given to the government, and I want to give it over to you and the chief. Then, it's your decision."

Henry smiled. "So, you are double crossing the people who asked you to double cross us?"

A faint smile appeared on Ellie's features. "Yeah. Guess so."

Henry got up. "Come on. Pick all that up. We're taking this to Dad Reginald. Ellie, you decided your loyalty was with us, even when you had all the reason in the world to do the opposite. I think that's pretty cool."

Ellie sighed and, with a small smile, packed up the envelope and walked with Henry down the hall. "Thanks."

"I can't guarantee what my parents will say," Henry admitted, his smile faltering. "After all, this is pretty serious. In fact, maybe I should have just taken the folder and tossed you into an escape pod or something." He turned his gaze to her. "Do you want to do that? Not risk anything?"

Ellie raised an eyebrow. "'Not risk anything?' After what I did? Heh."

…

Ellie's eyebrows contracted and she slowed to a stop. Henry matched her. "Do you know what would happen? Either way?"

"If I take you to my parents, one of two things could happen. They could see you double-crossing the government for the sake of the Toppat Clan as a good thing, as you doing something for the Clan. They'd still be pressed to punish your actions, but probably nothing as extreme as banishment or something. Or they could see it as disloyalty being disloyalty, paired with everything you've already done, making you incredibly untrustworthy. As you're my friend and I trusted you, I'd be incredibly surprised if they even let me talk much less consider what I had to say." Henry tipped his head a little. "On the other hand, you could take a hike. Permanently. I'd give over everything you gave me, and I could lie and say I told you to wait in your room. If they bought it, they'd scold me for being dumb enough to leave you alone–being my friend or not–or they could accuse me of orchestrating the whole thing–letting you leave–and that might come back a little hard. But! I'm fairly high ranking and I'm their son. They know I'm loyal to the Toppats. I'm a Toppat to the core, there's nothing anyone can do to change that. They definitely wouldn't take their anger on you out on me, of course."

Ellie sighed. "I don't want you getting punished over something I did."

A thought popped into his head. "Ellie, I know you. You would take responsibility. But how about I make you a deal: you can do whichever option you want. But, if you decide to flee, you'll do it on one condition: take Dave and make it obvious you wanted to take him as one last thing your government-aligned heart wanted to do. Now, if you stay, you gotta face the consequences. But! You would do that anyway because you're a good person."

The redhead slowly nodded. "Okay. Henry, I've done a lot of things that hurt you–could hurt you. I was ready to use your trust against you and arrest your father. So, I will go with you."

Dad Reginald and Dad Right were in the Bridge, Dad Right piloting the ship. Henry called as he got close, "Dads?"

They turned back to look at him. Reginald prompted, "Yes?"

"Ellie's got something very important to tell you," Henry said, stopping before them. "Like, really important. Do you have a minute? Now?"

Dad Reginald flashed a look at Dad Right and nodded. "Of course. Let me set the auto-pilot." He turned back to the control panel and messed with it a little before getting up. "Come along, follow me." Dad Reginald immediately left, glancing back only to make sure he was being followed. His office thankfully was not too far past the Warehouse.

Henry closed the door behind them.

"Now," said Dad Reginald. "What did you need to tell me?"

Henry looked at Ellie, who threw a short glance right back. She took a deep breath and held out the folder in her arms for Dad Reginald to take. He took the material and immediately glanced over the pages. His eyebrows furrowed, most likely upon seeing that not all of the papers held the same insignia. Ellie explained what she had done, telling Dad Reginald and Dad Right what she had told Henry almost verbatim. It didn't take long at all to pique both of the men's interest, and suspicion, though Dad Right wasn't at all as obvious.

Dad Reginald stood up straight and shut the envelope. "And you have been doing this since you got here?"

Ellie nodded. "Technically, yes. I haven't actually reported any names, yet. I thought if the day after I got here someone like Matilda or Thomas got arrested despite staying on the airship most of the time, that might arouse suspicion. So, I've mainly been leaking information about the where and when. I managed to get a couple of people arrested or driven out, like that mayor that lives here, now."

Dad Reginald hummed. "Whatever is in this folder will mirror that?"

"No, sir," Ellie responded. Henry raised his eyebrows. Huh. That word was in her dictionary. "That is my biggest reveal. It has names of people, crimes, all types of incriminating information. That's what would have given them the go ahead to put down the airship."

"And this was going to happen when?"

"Tonight. I would have left tonight. I was actually going to talk to Henry about it this afternoon. I was planning on trying to persuade him to come with me and hand this over, earn himself a pardon so that he wouldn't be arrested with you. But he blew me off and I had some more time to think about it. I decided against it."

"I didn't blow you off," Henry couldn't help but interject.

"Fine. Didn't entertain my idea for a while," Ellie corrected herself.

Reginald looked down at the folder for a little longer. "And if you did not report to base tonight?"

"I don't think anything would happen," Ellie confessed. "I told them I should be reporting back to base tonight, but something might come up and I may be delayed another night or two. As long as I'm back by the end of the week and give them the heads up, I should be good. Any longer, or if I don't hold communication, they might assume the worst and attack anyway."

Dad Reginald nodded. "Well, we will need to discuss this further. In the meantime, I can't trust you alone, unsupervised. I will allow you to communicate back to base that you will not be coming back for tonight, then you'll need to stay in the Brig a few days."

Ellie nodded. "I understand, sir."

"W-wait, can't she stay with me?" Henry chipped in. "I can watch her, right?"

"Henry, you allowed her onto the ship," Dad Reginald countered, his voice much sharper with him. "In fact, were it not for her change in heart, you would have remained oblivious and this entire division could have been taken down."

Henry set a hand on the back of his neck. "Well, I guess."

"So, you will get the repercussions of that, too. Until further notice, you won't be treated as an elite and given no ability to take responsibility for planning or heists and most definitely not with recruitment. Do you understand?"

Henry shrunk into himself a little and looked away. "Yeah, Dad. Boss."

"Okay. Henry, as I know you must not have anything else planned tonight, report back to your room. You aren't coming out until breakfast."

Henry repeated his earlier line.

"Dismissed. Ellie, stay here."

With that, Henry walked off, back to his room. He was about halfway there before Howie met him in the hall. "Howdy! Er–what's that look fer?"

Henry stopped and chuckled. "W-well, uh… I kinda might have messed up a little. So, I'm pretty much, uh, grounded. Until Dad Reginald and Dad Right think of something else."

Howie raised his eyebrows. "Now what could ya have done in the twenty minutes since I last saw you that could warrant that?"

"I… will tell you later. I don't think they'd appreciate me just telling you right now. I, uh, gotta go back to my room. Goodnight, Howie!"

"G'night, li'l buddy…?"

Henry sat down at his chair and put on his headphones. If he were six years younger, this would not have been an ability he had. At least Ellie could explain to Dave what happened tonight so it wouldn't leave him questioning why Henry wasn't coming back tonight. Or probably tomorrow, though Henry doubted that.

The helicopter icon was lit up. So, Henry sent a message. "Hey, Charlie? What's up?"

"Nothing much! Just got off work. Actually, I'm gonna leave in a few minutes to hang out with the boys. You?"

"Just staying in my room. Gonna catch up on some personal stuff since I've caught a break from work." Ha!