A/N: Thank you SnidgetHex, pallysd'Artagnan, ComtesseAlanna, and shewriteswords for reviewing! I'm glad you guys enjoyed that last chapter. *g*

Thanks again to Tessseagull for the Spanish!

"A New Course"

2391

They spent the first two weeks simply coasting through space, no destination in mind like they'd been doing on Earth. Raffi noticed Cris wasn't on edge as much and seemed more relaxed than he had since their untimely reunion. She, however, soon got bored with the same old walls and same old vintage from the replicator. She wanted fresh ale from a lively bar that maybe had some back corner dealers in other recreational substances.

However, it soon became apparent that while they lacked for nothing on Earth, the rest of the galaxy still ran on economics and neither of them had a single Federation credit or piece of latinum to their name.

La Sirena was a freighter though, and so they started working as a ship for hire. They headed for one of the worlds Raffi had done a lot of work on when she'd been on the Verity helping to relocate Romulan refugees. She had contacts there who could hook them up with some jobs transporting cargo, even knew which businessmen had some specialty goods they liked to run under the radar, and an unregistered ship was good for stuff like that.

Rios gave her a commission for setting up the gigs, which she spent on alcohol in whatever bar she could find on whatever planet they were currently docked at. Sometimes Cris joined her, but mostly he invested his earnings in keeping his ship in pristine working order.

Even though La Sirena was a freighter, she had enough cabins they could also take jobs ferrying passengers.

That, however, proved to be an annoyance for both of them after spending so long in isolation. It was one thing to mingle with business contacts in a bar, but curious—or worse, chipper—guests grated on both of them. They finally activated one of the EHs to deal with it: Mr. Hospitality. That was his function after all. He could take care of the guests so neither Rios nor Raffi had to.

Still, they preferred the cargo jobs that left them to their privacy. Though, Raffi was finding that without the ability for Rios to go out on one of his long walks, even the two of them were starting to get on each other's nerves.

She woke one morning to the raucous sounds of quick, repeated thwacks coming from outside her door. She glanced at the time and groaned; it wasn't yet mid-morning or whatever passed for it on the ship's internal clock when one was out in the eternal night of space. Ugh, she was starting to sound like Rios. Speaking of whom…

Raffi dragged herself out of bed, lurching slightly from her hangover, and staggered out the door to give him a piece of her mind. She pulled up short and blinked in bewilderment. Rios was dressed in a tank top and loose fitting pants, and was currently going at Emmet with a pair of…wooden sticks?

"What the hell are you doing?"

The Tactical EH threw up his own pair of short staffs to block a strike from Rios, pausing the two of them in this little sparring dance. Rios broke away to turn to her, breathing heavily.

"I'm out of shape," he said by way of answer.

"It's too early for this," she groused.

He arched a brow at her.

"Shut up." Her eyes widened as Emmet abruptly lunged at Rios's exposed back.

Cris noticed her expression and twisted around just in time to deflect the blow. "¿Juega limpio, quieres?" he snapped.

"Los enemigos no juegan limpio," Emmet replied. He hooked his foot behind Rios's ankle and knocked his leg out from under him, sending him crashing to the floor flat on his back. Raffi winced.

Rios lay there for a long moment, face contorted in a grimace. "Take a break," he breathed.

Emmet shrugged and dropped his sticks on the floor, then sauntered away to go lay down on the transporter pad, arms tucked up behind his head.

Raffi rolled her eyes and went to kneel next to Rios. "What was that?"

He groaned. "Me getting my ass kicked."

She snorted. "Yeah, by yourself."

Which, was probably some crazy Freudian thing that she wasn't going to touch with a ten-foot pole.

Rios finally pushed himself upright. "Like I said, I'm out of shape."

"Can't you do that in the holosuite?" she asked, still grouchy over being woken up.

He cast a sidelong look at her for a moment, then said, "Sure." He got to his feet. "Come on, I'll make it up to you with some coffee."

Well, since she was already up…

Later when she couldn't find Rios anywhere on the ship, she checked the holosuite. Sure enough, he'd moved his training sessions with Emmet there—but he'd had the holo imagers simply project an exact replica of La Sirena's deck. And, she noticed, he'd turned the safety protocols off.

Raffi sighed. They both had their issues.

But despite sometimes getting testy with each other, they were still the best company the other could tolerate amidst their own personal messes.

…

Rios slid into the seat perpendicular to where Raffi was sitting at the mess table and set a slice of chocolate cake in front of her. "Happy birthday."

"Is that today?" she said dully. She hadn't celebrated her birthday in, well, a few years. Kinda hard to when all days started running together in a blur.

She managed a smile for Rios though, since he'd bothered to remember. "Thanks," she said, picking up the fork and taking a bite of the rich, dark chocolate.

He offered a small smile in return and pulled a thin chain from his pocket to present to her. At the bottom dangled a charm in the shape of a dreamcatcher.

Raffi arched a brow at him. "Jewelry?"

He shot her a wry look. "Remember the Native American homestead we stopped at once in the desert? You liked the art. I figured if you don't want to wear it, you could hang it above your bed."

She softened her expression and took the necklace from him. "Thanks." It was simple, which suited her, and she did like the sentiment behind it. She undid the clasp and put the chain around her neck.

Rios picked up her fork and took the moment to steal his own bite of cake. Raffi swatted at him good-naturedly.

"Get your own."

One of the holograms abruptly flickered on then.

"It's your birthday!" He smiled at Raffi but then scowled at Rios. "Where are the candles on that cake? Hold on, let me look up how old you're turning."

"Deactivate Hospitality program," Raffi snapped.

He shimmered away.

…

The following week found them on a planet stocking up on some supplies that couldn't be replicated. The interesting thing about the market was that the shops that lined the main street were a diverse variety of anything from power coils to pastries. But what caught Raffi's eye, though, was the artistry shop with some figurines in the window—including a mermaid.

Rios was busy negotiating price for the power adaptors, so Raffi slipped into the small shop across the street.

"Greetings," the owner called, a lithe Bajoran woman.

"Hi," Raffi replied absently as she gingerly picked up the figurine to look at.

"You like that?" the Bajoran asked. "I find Earth's mythos of the siren fascinating. Such alluring beauty that proves to be deadly to men."

"Uh, yeah." Raffi's interest was much simpler than that. "How much?"

They settled on a price and Raffi made it back just as Rios was finishing up. She waited till they were back on La Sirena before showing him what she'd gotten.

"I found this in a shop down there, if you can believe it."

He roved his gaze over the stone chiseled figurine, a smile tugging at his lips. "It's beautiful craftsmanship."

Raffi shrugged in agreement, but she was glad he liked it.

From there, any time she happened upon some random merchant that dealt in Earth trinkets or collectibles that included mermaids, she bought one for Cris. They had to be the real thing from a vendor, not something she just replicated herself on La Sirena, like postcards collected from the places they traveled as mementos.

Because there was beauty in the galaxy, and sometimes they both needed reminding.