Chapter 44
Garden of Minos
Deathtrap carried them through the portal and back outside and as they cleared the skeleton he started to rise, only to be stopped by Artemis crying "Wait!"
"What?" Gaige cried in alarm, looking around.
"We need to go back to our original landing point."
"Why? That'll take forever and we're kinda on a tight schedule here."
"Yeah, but do you know what's straight above us? Cause I don't. And what if we're right under that Silent Death place? We'd go up and be dead before any of us knew it."
"Urk. Ah, right, let's go back the way we came." Gaige said, turning pale.
Deathtrap shook his head, he understood why they had to, but he was already having to race against time and now he was having to add to his trip. He was just grateful that the girls didn't weigh all that much, contrary to what one of them might have thought.
He took off flying again, skimming just under the clouds as he followed the ravine that they'd come in from till he spotted the familiar debris of their landing battlefield and turned upward, cutting through the clouds and emerging between two of the ships.
He continued up, past the rows of ships that got newer as he went, slowly feeling the girls getting lighter the further away they got.
Right as Gaige was wondering if she should figure out if she needed to ask to be dropped off at a different ship, whether it was just to salvage or not, a shockwave hit them. Looking down she saw the clouds had been blasted clear from the planetoid, which was in the process of collapsing in on itself.
"Uh, we might wanna go faster." Artemis said from the other shoulder.
Deathtrap agreed, but he was already going almost as fast as he could, any faster and he risked burning something out or running out of power. Still, this wasn't the time to sit around and think about it, so he sped up as much as he safely could, while starting to angle towards where the Hunter's Moon was.
Gaige continued looking down, even though she knew it wouldn't change anything, as the planetoid vanished completely and the lowest level of ships she could see started to fall inward.
The cascade of ships began slowly, but seemed to speed up as it rushed up towards them. Deathtrap didn't feel any heavier, in fact he felt lighter, as if all the gravity had vanished. And then it hit him, without the planet generating the artificial gravity that they'd been using, there wouldn't be any gravity at all, which was causing the ships to lose their orbits.
Above him he saw two of the ships start to collide in slow motion, forcing him to change course, diving through the gap that opened up on the other side.
The girls held on for dear life, the only things keeping them from floating away were the two strong arms holding them against the robot's body and the pressure created by his acceleration through the field of ships.
Deathtrap watched in horror as a massive blockade suddenly appeared in front of him, it seemed that a dozen ships were crashing into each other on all sides. With nowhere to dodge, he gripped the girls a little tighter and dove forward, twisting through the narrow openings as the ships tore apart, at one-point diving into one of the ships itself and flying down the central corridor before exiting as the ship split open.
Gaige held tight, and as she was wondering if the others that had accompanied them had made it to safety, she started to struggle to catch her breath. In a confused panic she looked over to Artemis to find her with her hands over her mouth. Noticing Gaige's look, she mouthed out 'No Air'. It took Gaige a second to catch on, but as soon as she did, she realized that without the gravity or the air generation of the planet, all the available air was rushing out into the void of space.
Deathtrap noticed this as well, but it wasn't affecting him, so he sped up, deciding to risk a little more speed since the girls were in immediate danger.
And then the Hunter's Moon came into sight.
Dodging around the last few ships, he flew them right up to the hatch and held them in place as Artemis got to work fixing the door.
It didn't take her long with her practiced motions, but those few seconds seemed to drag on for an eternity. Finally, the door slid open and Deathtrap practically threw them through it.
Not wasting any time, even as the girls lay gasping on the floor, he dove through after and closed the door, before unceremoniously scooping them up and dashing for the bridge.
By the time he got there, they had recovered and throwing their bags aside, dashed up the short flight of stairs and jumped into their seats.
"Get us outta here." Gaige yelled.
"Working on it."
"Well, work faster."
"You wanna do this? Cause I'd be happy to let you." Artemis bit back.
Gaige thought about it for a moment and then said "Nah, I'll just navigate and complain."
"I could do without the latter, but I'll take what I can get. So which way."
Gaige looked around, wracking her brains as she tried to remember how they'd arrived. "I think it was, uh, that way."
"Urgur"
"Glad we have a consensus." Artemis snapped and put as much power as she could into the engines, pushing them away from the collapsing fleet of ships.
She charted their course around the mess, trying to ignore it each time a ship came too near and before long she heard Gaige let out a small cry.
"We're being followed." She sounded happy as she shouted "It looks like at least some of them made it."
"Great." Artemis said, not breaking her attention from the task at hand "You wanna stop paying attention to that, and tell me where the exit is? Cause I'd like to get the heck outta here."
"Sorry, right, I think you just keep going this way and it should be somewhere around here."
"That's specific."
"Well, it's not like it's labeled."
"Whatever. Here's hoping we can get out the way we came in."
"Don't say that. Don't even think that."
Artemis chose to ignore the whining coming from her navigator and before long she spotted an abnormality in the clouds, like a slightly darker shape hidden behind them. Either that, or she was seeing things.
Still, she headed for it and as it got closer, she became more sure this was the way out, even though the shape never became clearer. And then they passed through it and all of their instruments came back to life, from the radio to the navigation, it was like the rest of the galaxy had suddenly popped into existence around them.
They all let out a cheer and pulled the ship away from the emergence point, clearing it for the rest of the ships to follow.
It wasn't long before a small fleet had emerged and Gaige got to work on the radio, contacting them. She would've preferred to use the ECHOnet, but she didn't think that many of them were equipped for it, or even if they had been, whether or not the crew could use it.
After a brief discussion with them, they all agreed to go their separate ways, though a few of the survivors from the Den of Bears followed along after them, since they didn't really have anywhere else to go, especially since they didn't want to report back to the corporation after all this time.
A Few Days Later
Eden 6
They called ahead and had set up a meeting with Wainwright so that when they arrived, they were shown in immediately. They found Wainwright and Sir Hammerlock sitting in the same room that they'd been shown to the last time they were there, though it seemed like that had been years ago.
"Now then, what can I do for you?" Wainwright opened the discussion.
"Now now, Winny, all in good time. Let them get seated first." Sir Hammerlock said before turning to them and asking "Would you care for something to drink? We've just cracked open a delightful bottle of aged bourbon that is truly magnificent."
Artemis watched as Gaige's tongue flicked across her lips, almost as if she could taste it. But then she swallowed hard and said "No thanks, water's fine."
"Really? I mean it is a little oaky, but the caramel undertones are truly superb."
"I'm, uh, I'm not, uh,"
"My dear Alistair, I do believe she's on the wagon, so to speak."
"Oh, dear me, I am dreadfully sorry. I do hope root beer is acceptable. The water here is a bit, well, non-potable." Sir Hammerlock said, quickly hiding the bottle and pouring out two glasses of root beer.
"Now then," Wainwright said after looking around "I take it you have some news you wish to share with us?"
Artemis nodded and said "Well long story short, we found the ship."
"Geez." Gaige groaned "You really need to work on your story telling."
"Really? Now?"
"If I don't do this now, they'll never get the full story."
"First, we don't know how long they've got."
"Fair. How long do you guys have?"
"We have the rest of the day off." Wainwright answered, swirling his drink "We figured that you would have a story to tell and wanted to give you all the time you needed."
"See, we've got plenty of time."
"Fine, on to second, do you really want to tell them the whole story?"
Gaige blanched slightly and said "We can tell them the short version for now."
"Well now I am curious." Wainwright said.
"Winny." Sir Hammerlock chastised him "There are things that we shouldn't pry into."
"Er, why don't you tell it." Gaige said, not wanting to reveal her mistake out loud to the people in front of her, whom she wanted to like her, but at the same time knowing that she needed to own up to it, so unable to decide what to do she tried to pass it off and let Artemis tell it. She knew it was cowardly, that she needed to reinforce to the other girl that she was truly repentant, but in the moment, she couldn't step forward herself.
"Fine." Artemis said, giving her a flat look that told her nothing of what she was thinking "I need the practice telling stories anyway. Or at least that's what everyone tells me."
So, she told the story as best she could, which meant her going back and adding things here and there, as well as having to consult with Gaige on a few details. But when she got to the point where Gaige had exploded at her, she skimmed past it, making it seem like they'd separated for other reasons and that she'd been scouting in the Orochi's den when she'd encountered it. She skipped a bit more here and there, but other than that, it was mostly accurate, though Gaige couldn't figure out why she wouldn't tell them all of what had happened.
"And that's more or less what happened." She concluded.
Wainwright sat back, thinking about their story, while Sir Hammerlock excitedly wanted to talk about the Orochi.
"So, you actually saw one? I truly am envious. To think you got to face what might be the last Luring Orochi and lived to tell the tale. Jolly good story."
"Uh, thanks? Still, it wasn't fun, that thing smashed me up pretty bad. Plus, I failed once. Wouldn't have made it without a good bit of help." Artemis said, looking embarrassed.
"Nonsense. Most of us hunters have lost at least a part of ourselves to some beast or another. You faced your foe and lived to tell the tale, what more could you ask for?"
"A lot." Artemis muttered so soft that only Gaige could hear.
Wainwright seemed to pick up on the mood and swept in to change the direction of the conversation. "Yes, that is all interestin an I am sure that you hunters will be havin a long discussion about it, but I am more curious about what you found on the Ranger's Iron."
"Ah yes." Gaige said, shaking her head to get her thoughts back in order "Let's see, I've got the assault rifles here." She said setting them on the desk.
Wainwright picked them up and did a quick check of them "Hmm, yes. I see they were goin in a different direction with these. Still, don't think we'll learn much from them."
Artemis drew the pistol she'd picked up and emptied it of ammo before setting it on the table. Wainwright picked it up and did another quick check before sliding it back "Seems pretty similar to the Peacemaker line, I'll have Dalton look it over, but I see no reason that you can't hold onto it."
"We also found a couple of sniper rifles." Artemis said unslinging the one off her back and again removed the ammo before setting it down as Gaige followed suit.
"These are interestin, but more as collector items then research."
It was obvious that he was waiting for the true trophy gun they'd found and after Artemis nodded to him, Deathtrap flew out to where he'd left it and brought it in.
Wainwright ran his hands over the cannon, looking at it from all angles while muttering about the lack of scroll-work on the barrel and the wood choice used on the stock before turning to them and asking "So, you fired it?"
"Yeah, sorry but I felt I had to. Used up two of the shells that were with it."
"Nothin to be sorry for, I told you you could, I was just wonderin what your take away was?"
"You really wanna know?"
"Wouldn'ta asked otherwise."
"Alright." Artemis said shaking her head "I don't think you should ever put the thing into production. First off, it kicks hard enough that it cracked my shoulder when I fired it. Had to use a Insti-Health just to keep going, and that was even with Deathtrap holding onto it, and I'm meaning after every shot. That I had to use an Inti-Health, I mean. Second, I dread the thought of any opponent with one of these, especially a bandit. This thing's got enough force to mess up a ship so there's no telling what harm the wrong person could do with one."
"Hmm, fair points. Anythin else?"
"Well, there's also the weight factor and I'm sure I'm forgetting one or two things else, but that about sums it up."
"I will take that into consideration." Wainwright said with a nod, indicating that the conversation was finished.
"Oh, one more thing." Gaige said slapping her fist into her palm before sending Deathtrap back out. He came back shortly with a small crate that he set to the side of the table "All the notes and stuff we found with these things."
"I thank you. I believe this concludes this issue."
"Not quite." Gaige said guiltily "Or rather, we have something else to discuss before we can move on."
"And what might that be?" Wainwright asked, arching an eyebrow.
"Well, you remember how we told you about the Vladof troops that were stuck there? And how they helped us? Well, a number of them didn't wanna go back to the corporation, especially most of the younger ones. But with that, they didn't have anywhere to stay and no money to start up a new life, so we kinda sorta told them that we'd ask you if you had any ideas and whatnot."
"Hmm." Wainwright said, giving the girls a cool stare "An how much do you trust em?"
"Well, can't vouch for all of them, but a number of them are good fighters and scavengers. And Verichenco's pretty good at maintenance, as is Caz."
"Very well, I will meet with them, though I will have to have a talk with Clay before I arrange anything."
"We'll let them know." Gaige said with obvious relief.
Wainwright looked at her and then slid his eye over to Artemis before saying "On that note, Alistair, why don't you accompany our young friend here back to her ship, get yourself a look at them trophies that she's collected while we set up this meetin?"
Sir Hammerlock looked at his husband and got the subtlest nod "Very good. I for one, would very much enjoy seeing this Orochi head you mentioned, as well as this Keeper of the End, I believe it was called."
"Um, sure, that's, uh, sure." Artemis said, suddenly unsure of how to present her trophies to such an acclaimed hunter.
"What ho." Sir Hammerlock declared brightly as he led her out.
"Now then." Wainwright said as soon as they were gone as he turned back to Gaige "I do believe I need to make a call, if you'll excuse me for a moment."
He left her to contact Clay, so she sat in the chair and looked around the room till her eyes fell on the decanter of bourbon and felt the old thirst creep up. True to her word, as soon as they had been underway, she'd found an ECHO support group and started sitting in on meetings, even though she felt ridiculous. But to her surprise, they had helped. Or maybe it was just being able to talk to people that understood where she was coming from. The autonomy of the ECHOnet had helped, but no matter what they said, or how much she wanted to be free of it, every time she saw a bottle, she had to fight the compulsion to take a drink. It had only been through force of will and the desire to not screw things up any worse with Artemis that she'd managed for this long, but this bottle was calling to her, and she desperately wanted to give in. Her lips felt as dry as a Pandoran highway as her tongue ran across them and she was on her feet before she knew it.
Behind her, Deathtrap watched. He could've forced her back into the chair. He could've said something. But this was a fight that she had to do for herself, otherwise, the next time he wasn't there, she'd give in and fall. So, he needed her to be strong enough to fight through on her own.
Gaige stared at the bottle, the way the light bounced around the cut crystal, making it seem to glow, called out to her. Unconsciously she reached out towards it, but when she did, she saw the red metal of her arm, the black plates, the fine craftsmanship and closed her eyes, grinding her teeth as she turned around and forced herself to sit back down.
She sat there panting as the door opened and Wainwright walked back in, heading straight for the decanter and put it in the cabinet.
"I do apologize for leaving that out." He drawled as he walked back to his chair "But you did well to resist your temptation."
"You were watching?" Gaige snapped.
"Of course I was. Wasn't the only one either. I do believe there are some fights you must face alone if you hope to overcome them."
Gaige shot him a dirty look, but let it go with a sigh.
"Now then, business is out of the way, so why don't you tell me what's on your mind."
"What're you talking about?"
"Well, it's obvious that you've got somethin you wanna talk about, but you don't wanna admit to. I'm bettin it's got to do with that girl that ain't here right now and whateva it was you didn't want her to say earlier. Am I right?"
Gaige dropped her head and sighed "I don't want to talk about it."
"But you desperately want someone's help with it."
"How'd you..."
"It's written clear as day on your face, it's why I sent Alistair away, figured you'd be more comfortable talkin one on one."
Gaige mulled it over and finally started talking without looking up "You knew, didn't you? About Artemis, about what she was?"
"Now that is a cold way of puttin it."
"It's how she talks about herself." Gaige said with a groan "No matter what I say, she doesn't seem to change her tune. And I can't blame her."
Wainwright didn't say anything, he just gave her a look.
Gaige swallowed hard, resolving to tell him everything. "Have you ever realized that you're not the person you thought you were? Or at least hoped that you were. No, you wouldn't, you're not like me. I...said some things when I found out, things I'm not proud of, things that can't be taken back, hurtful things, mean and nasty and as painful as I could. I could make excuses for them. I could try and explain my actions away, but none of that will ever change what I've done."
Wainwright stared at her, looking down and clenching her fists so tight that he wouldn't be surprised if blood started dripping from one of them. He could feel the anguish and self-loathing rolling off of her, could tell that she genuinely regretted it, but he had to press forward and ask "And what exactly did you say to her?"
Gaige winced and told him. To his credit, Wainwright didn't react, didn't sneer at her or say anything about it, he simply nodded and said "I see."
Gaige found herself unable to look at him as she waited for him to continue. After a bit, he finally did "Now, to answer your question, no I have not had anything like that happen to me, but I think we all have a point where we realize that we ain't who we thought we were, not necessarily to the degree that you have, but we all find ourselves questionin who we really are. Now with that said, as for what you did, I cannot forgive you."
Gaige nodded, knowing what she did would likely break her relations with just about everyone.
"I cannot forgive you because it wasn't me that you said it to, so it's not my place to judge. But I will forget that we ever had this conversation as soon as it is over, that is the best I can offer you."
Gaige looked up for the first time since the conversation had started and saw that Wainwright wasn't looking at her with disgust, or anger, not even sadness, just sympathy.
"Thank you." Gaige managed to get out.
Wainwright waved it off "I wish I could say that I'm doin this entirely out of the goodness of my heart, but the truth is, I am appalled at what you said. Havin said that, I understand that we've all said and did things in the heat of the moment that we regret, and seein how you obviously regret what you did, I am willin to overlook it just this once, cause like you said, there were probably circumstances around that you haven't told me about. Now then, let us continue."
"Where should we start?"
"Anywhere you wanna."
Gaige thought about it and let out another in a long string of sighs "Why don't we start at the beginning. You knew about her liking girls back when you first met her, didn't you?"
"Of course."
"Of course you did. So, were you trying to set us up together or something back on Jaka?"
"Not at all. That wasn't what I meant by any of that, I just thought you needed a friend. Still do in fact."
"So, if that wasn't it, then why didn't you say anything about it?"
"It wasn't my place. Besides, I had thought that you'dve figured it out."
"I think I didn't want to. I also've been wondering about something else you said, back on Jaka, about my dad and the guys I seem to go for."
"How is your father by the way?"
"He's good. It was really good to be able to see him again, but that's what really got me thinking that you might've been right. About that relationship stuff I mean."
"How so."
"I donno, it's just that after I got home, I've, well, I've met a lot of guys that I probably would've went for otherwise, but it's like they weren't interesting to me anymore or something, at least not as much as they would've been. I donno how to describe it, but it was like...like..."
"Like you don't remember what you saw in them?"
"Exactly. Wait, you've had that?"
"Before I met Alistair there were plenty of men I found attractive, but afterwards, well, some of them I still do, but I'm not interested anymore. I have found what makes me happy, the question is, can you do the same?"
"Are you sure you're not trying to set us up?"
"Why would you presume that? Did I say anything that would imply that? Or do you truly not know what you want?"
"Um, I think it's the latter. To be honest, I always thought I liked taller men that were older than me, and now I really don't know how to deal with a short younger girl. I don't even know what I feel about her, but I do know that I don't wanna lose her. But it doesn't matter."
"Why not?"
"Because, even if I did like her, she wouldn't accept it, she'd think that I was just trying to make her happy, that I was conning myself, trying to convince myself just to make her happy."
"And what are you goin to do about it?"
Gaige shrugged "If I knew that, I wouldn't be in this spot."
Wainwright looked at her a minute before slowly saying "For once, I am goin to give you some straight advice. I can't tell you how you feel, nor can I give you any proper advice on how to figure it out. What I can say is that you need to determine what you want going forward. How you'd feel if she was gone and what you really want from her. I know that you just said you don't know, but you will need to figure out what you want before you can try and convince her of it. But once you do know, don't give up on it. If it is that you want her as a friend, then be the kind of friend that you want her to be to you. Don't shower her with things if you wouldn't like that reciprocated. But you also need to be the kind of friend that she wants, so if you want to share everything, but she wants to keep things to herself, find a middle ground. Accept her as she is, not as you want her to be. Talk to her. And if you want more than friendship from her, then never, ever do anything to make her sad."
He stood up, picking up his glass and draining it of the last bit of bourbon and finished with "That's all I can tell you. Now, Clay should be here momentarily, so let us get your people off their ship and down here so we can have a right proper meetin."
A Few Hours Later
The meeting had gone well, with a good number of the ex-Vladof troops electing to join the Jakobs family and would soon be heading off to other planets to help out while being kept under a watchful eye till it was determined that they could in fact be trusted. And a number of others had been offered temporary jobs, just till they got used to the outside and had some money in their pockets.
They were now having a grand party behind the mansion with Artemis providing a good amount of the meat that was being cooked, though many of the guests were being advised to go easy on the food since they weren't used to such fare.
Off to one side Sir Hammerlock was trying to explain the majesty of the trophies he'd seen while his husband desperately feigned interest.
After they'd gotten back from the ship, while they were waiting for the other guests to arrive, they'd had a bit more of a talk. Wainwright had brought Dalton over and after he'd examined the guns, they let Artemis keep the pistol. Afterwards Wainwright presented her with the newest in the line of her old sniper rifle. She'd been taken aback, but he insisted that she keep it as compensation for the one that she'd lost retrieving the Iron Hammer, despite her insisting that she would've lost it there anyway.
Clay was wandering around, cheerfully interacting with the guests while keeping an eye out for trouble, while keeping his distance from Artemis, who'd fixed him with an evil eye the instant they'd met again.
For her part, Gaige was trying to keep the other girl company, even as they had to deal with the remnants of the crew occasionally coming over and talking to them.
"So, what will you two be doing now?" Alec said, eying the party suspiciously. It seemed that she wasn't used to the buildings and the ground not having drop-offs and especially not the sky. But what she kept eying suspiciously were the trees, like she couldn't trust them yet.
"Hmm." Gaige thought "Well, we still have to go to Wilina 2."
Artemis nodded along.
"Why, what's there?" Alezander asked.
"The reason we went to the Garden of Minos in the first place." Artemis said unhelpfully.
"What she means to say, is that the person that she got her estate from left her one last request, so we had to go and collect what he wanted and now we need to return it."
"I don't need you telling me what I mean." Artemis grumbled.
"Wait, you have an estate?" Alezander said eyes widening.
"What was thing you need to collect?" Caz asked quietly.
"We needed to reunite a family." Gaige said with a sad smile "Now they can be buried together."
"What is buried?"
"Uh, how do I put this, when you die out here, there's, uh, different rituals and stuff for how you handle them, and in this case they, er, dig in the ground and, uh, put your body into the hole, before they cover it up."
"Why?"
Gaige shrugged "Cause someone decided it a long time ago, I guess."
"You have an estate?" Alezander repeated.
"Nothing like this one." Artemis said with a shrug of her own.
"Who are you? Are you someone important?"
"No way. I won it in a contest."
"Can we see it?"
"Uh, maybe? Aren't you joining the Jakobs family though?"
"Nah." Alezander said "I mean, we might someday, but we wanted to see more of the, uh, what's it called?"
"Galaxy?"
"Yeah, the galaxy first."
"Well, I suppose you could stop by if you wanna follow us." Artemis said with an awkward shrug.
"Do you need engineer there?" Caz asked "Or security. We can do those."
"I think the place is good on servants, but I suppose you could ask Cranley. He's in charge of the house, so he'd know better then I would."
"You should not have servants, that is what the glorious revolution is about." Alezander said with a terrible impersonation of his father.
"They're not mine. They came with the place."
"I was joking."
"And they are technically yours." Gaige said tilting her head "Though you can't really get rid of them without some effort, but they are still yours."
"Fine, whatever, do you want me to dis-invite you all?"
"Nope, we'll be good."
A Few Days Later
Wilina 2
They had said their goodbyes after the party and set course for Wilina 2 with the last of the Vladof crewed ships following along. It wasn't just the three they'd talked to either, but a number of the expedition troops had come along, as well as Karivona, who had stated that 'someone had to look after them and keep them from getting into too much fun, er, trouble'.
The girls had arrived first and went down to let Cranley know that they were going to have company and that they'd have questions, which earned a "Very good madam." from him.
While he was discussing things with Karivona and Alec, most of the rest wanted to go wandering in the woods, but were warned off it due to the roaming creatures that resided there. Still, a few of the expedition troops accompanied Alezander as they went out a ways, making sure to keep the manor in sight at all times.
While they were doing that, the girls and Deathtrap made their way to Sir Montamore's gravestone and got to work digging next to it, only to be interrupted by a peeved man a few minutes later.
He turned out to be the grounds keeper and he was mad about the lady of the house doing work herself instead of letting him do his job.
As much as Artemis wanted to protest, feeling that this was something that she should do for herself, Gaige reminded her that the staff had all been there under Sir Montamore, so this was as much for them as her.
Artemis wasn't happy about it, but in the end relented and let the man work while they went back to the manor and let Cranley know that the service would be held that afternoon and he should get together any of the staff that wanted to attend.
When the time came, the girls were surprised to see that all of the staff was there, in addition to a few other faces that they didn't recognize. The service was short and to the point, much the way that Sir Montamore would've wanted it and when the talking was done, Artemis stepped forward and lowered the urns to rest next to the one that was already there.
"There." She whispered "You're back with your family. Sorry it took so long."
Gaige didn't say anything as she helped her back up and the groundskeeper set to work filling the hole back in.
While he worked, the girls went around and thanked everyone that was there, on Gaige's insistence. When they got to the faces they didn't know, they found themselves introduced to the rest of the staff as well as Maleva Montamore, who was a pretty woman with almond shaped eyes that would've looked villainous on another face and were hidden behind glasses.
"I thank you." She said after they were introduced "Not just for reuniting the old man with his family, or for kicking the rest of those insufferable clods out of here. But for allowing me and Flora to have a chance. I wish you the same luck."
After they dined and everything was done, Cranley had hired a few of the ex-Vladofs as temporary employees and Gaige found Artemis sitting on a glider on the porch.
"Mind if I join you?"
Artemis wordlessly slid over, allowing Gaige to sit next to her. They sat in silence for a while watching the sky slowly change colors.
Eventually Gaige asked "So what's next?"
"What do you wanna do? And don't tell me whatever I want, cause that's not gonna fly."
Gaige glanced at her in surprise "Does this mean that I can travel with you some more?"
Artemis shrugged and lazily pointed up "Are there any stars left up there?"
Gaige looked up and watched the twinkling lights overhead "Yeah."
"There you go."
Gaige smiled slightly in thanks before Artemis asked again "So? What do ya wanna do?"
"Hmm, let's see, at some point I'd like to go see my parents again. Not right away, but at some point. Other than that, I've got nothing."
"Not what I was meaning." Artemis sighed "I was meaning between us. Like what're we gonna do?"
"Oh, sorry. Uh, well, I guess if I had to answer immediately, I'd say that I wanna pay you back." She held up a hand to forestall any argument "I need to, otherwise I don't think we can really move forward, cause once I pay you back and we're square, I think we can start again on even footing and maybe start really fixing things between us, and then we can figure out what we want from each other and if we can get there."
Artemis nodded slowly. "You might be right. You know I'm, well, not good with this kinda thing, but I don't want to, well..."
"I don't wanna lose you either, no matter what this is." Gaige finished for her "So what do you wanna do next?"
"Well, I kinda wanted to teach A.I. ngel how to shoot. I mean we did kinda promise her that, and we need to get it done before Timothy screws her up too bad. And I was also thinking of trying to look up Mentes, see if I could find his family and let them know what happened to him. But for right now, I wanna sit here and relax as I watch the sunset with my friend."
"Aw. That sounds nice."
Artemis smiled slyly and said "I was meaning Deathtrap."
"Bitch."