A/N: Thanks to my first reviewers, Icedaggers and Maxmagnus20019. Without further ado, here's chapter 2. Oh, and apologises to any Albel fans that read this: I just needed an excuse to help Cliff and Leios' relationship and Albel was the first thing to hand. Sorry!
Everyone was quiet as Mirage slowly and cautiously piloted the Eagle down onto the firm groundings of Luna Base. Yesterday's surprise, and in some cases, good mirth had departed just as quickly as they had arrived and were now replaced by nervousness and a sense of great unease. Even Cliff and Sophia, the two most upbeat people on board the Eagle with the exception of Peppita when she was around, had been reduced to nervous silence on Sophia's account and a worried expression and a tendency to snap harshly at anyone foolish enough to interrupt his thoughts on Cliff's. "We're here." Mirage stated to nobody in particular. Cliff sighed heavily. "Right, let's get out of here and collect Leios." He said as he left to round up the other crew members that were going down onto the base to collect the fare.
Cliff, Fayt, Sophia, Maria, Mirage and Nel walked out onto the landing bay. Albel had refused to come 'because of my own reasons, fool'. No one could be bothered to argue with him, not even Nel; the longer they could delay Leios and Albel meeting, the better chance the young woman would stay. Cliff was thinking on this when Sophia shocked him into reality as she bounced on the heels of her feet, pointing forward amongst a swarm of people regarding a monitor which displayed opening times for near-by theatre. "It's got to be her!" She said excitedly. Cliff followed the line of her finger and his eyes set upon the outsider nearest to the monitor. Around the woman's feet were dirty, battered bags which appeared to be hastily packed with bits and pieces. "Give me one good reason why she might be our passenger." Cliff challenged. "Because she's looking straight at us now and waving us over." Nel uttered as she took a few steps towards the woman in the crowd. Sensing he was beaten, Cliff trailed at the back of the group as they approached the throng of tourists.
"Hi, are you guys from the Eagle?" The woman asked, smiling broadly as Cliff shoved his way to the front of the group. "Yes we are. I take it you're Leios Corrigan?" He asked, stretching his hand out. Leios nodded as she shook Cliff's hand. "Well, who are your group?" She asked as she placed her hands behind her back and observed the others. Cliff scratched his head. "The blue haired boy is Fayt," Fayt shook Leios' outstretched hand and uttered a quiet 'hello', "to his left is Maria," another hand shake, this time initiated by Maria, "the red head to my right is Nel," another hand shake and an warm welcome from Nel, "to my left is Sophia," Sophia hugged a surprised Leios and hoped her stay onboard would be a good one, "and behind me is my pilot Mirage." Mirage stepped forwards and shook Leios' hand earnestly. "Hello to all of you! But, sir, you forgot to tell me your name." Cliff seemed shocked for a second then laughed at his own ignorance. "Well, Ms Corrigan, I'm Cliff Fittir, captain of the Eagle." Leios nodded. "Pleasure to meet you, Captain Fittir. Shall we go to the ship?"
After unsuccessfully threatening his way through several bouts of teasing from Mirage calling him 'Captain Fittir' Cliff trailed at the back of the group and took in Leios' appearance. She was around the same height as Fayt, maybe an inch or so taller than him. She had dark brown hair than flowed down her back to her hips and contrasted with her pale cream skin. She wore a basic pair of dark blue trousers with a simple brown leather belt holding them up, a white sleeveless, hooded top and a pair of scuffed walking boots on her feet. As he slowly began to catch up with the front of the group, Cliff noticed what jewellery she wore. A pair of silver studs in her ears, a silver ring on her left thumb and she wore a pendant of some sort on a black cord, but the pendant itself was hidden beneath her top so Cliff could only speculate what hung from the cord. "Uh, Cliff? I'm sorry about calling you Captain Fittir; I didn't know what sort of ship I was boarding so I thought 'better safe than sorry'! But still, I apologise." Cliff smiled warmly at Leios. She had obviously thought he was looking at her because of what she had called him. Shaking his head, he swept over to Leios' left and plucked the bag from her hand. "Forget about it, okay? Everybody slips up now and again." Mirage shot Cliff a look as if to say 'and you should know'. Cliff glared back but Mirage missed it as she adjusted the bag she was carrying; Leios had brought six so everyone agreed to carry on between them. "On the subject of names," Leios brought up suddenly, "if you like, you can call me Lei. It's just simpler than Leios and it'd remind me off…" Leios trailed off, voice heavy with emotion. "Home?" Mirage finished, wrapping her free arm around Leios' shoulders. Leios nodded and shook her head, wiping away the last of her thoughts. "Best not dwell on the past, hm?" Leios smiled weakly. Mirage was going to agree but Nel get there before her. "We're here."
"Home sweet home!" Cliff joked and managed to get a chuckle out of Leios and Sophia, everyone else just groaned. However, Cliff's bright mood was dampened when they reached the entrance to the Eagle. Standing in the doorway, leaning against its frame was Albel. He let out a slight 'hmph' and wandered towards Leios. When he finally reached her, he looked her up and down and scowled. "Pathetic little maggot." His clawed hand reached out and grabbed Leios' cheek suddenly. Leios gasped and her left leg swung up in a swift kick, the result making Cliff and Fayt turn away quickly and the girls stand in shock. Albel was doubled over in pain, panting as Leios stumbled backwards with her hands raised to her face. "I-I am sorry! So, so very sorry!" She managed to whisper. Albel had recovered enough to glare at her. "You'll pay for that, fool." With a twist of pain on his face, Albel shot forward, clawed hand extended. A single finger managed to graze the skin on Leios' left arm before Cliff caught Albel and grasped him tightly. "I don't care what you say about me or anyone aboard my ship but you may never, ever hurt them!" Cliff raged, his hold on Albel become slowly tighter and tighter. "Is that clear?" Albel's face was now emotionless. "Clear." Cliff released Albel and pushed him away as he walked towards Leios to check her arm. Albel stared at Cliff for a few seconds before sweeping into the ship. "Wow, Cliff, I've never seen you that mad before." Sophia murmured as the other gathered around Leios, Cliff and Mirage. "Yeah, well, let's hope I don't have to get that mad anymore." He uttered as he tenderly ran fingers over the cut. "You're lucky, it's not that deep. It won't take long to heal but in the meantime…" Cliff dug in his pockets and pulled out a small handkerchief and held it onto the cut. "Keep it there till we get into the medical room, 'kay?" Leios nodded and slowly the congregation pushed on into the ship.
Cliff guided Leios to the kitchen. It had taken a matter of minutes for Cliff to heal the cut but Leios had interrogated him about his ship and his crew, and Cliff had felt inclined to tell her some of the more interesting parts of both. Leios had absorbed every word with a keen interest that Cliff hadn't encountered for a long time so he had made every sentence well thought out and purposeful. When he had finished Leios thanked him and told him that no one had bothered to give her such detailed facts before. "Mainly just orders and bits and pieces that I was required to know." She had admitted when the pair left the medical room. "But I'm glad you're different Cliff." He thought about that until he reached the shut door of the kitchen. "Hold on a second." He smiled at Leios before opening the door and peering inside. "Okay, you can go in now." Leios cautiously pushed the door open and received a shock when Sophia ran at her full pelt and wrapped her in a warm hug. "We hope your stay is a very good one, Lei!" Sophia said as she let Leios go to reveal a sponge cake gooey with thick pink icing with green spirals on top waiting to be devoured on the side. Nel, Mirage, Maria and Fayt were standing near the cake, edging towards it with careful deliberation. "One more step and you'll be sucking your slice through a straw." Cliff said, loud enough for only the four to hear as he passed them to get a couple of cans of soda out for everyone. Leios hurried to the cake and grinned. "Thanks for the cake guys." Fayt shook his head. "It was Sophia's idea, you should be thanking her really." Sophia just blushed and waved the praise away. "Anyway, are you going to eat that?" Cliff smiled greedily. "You won't be having any even if she doesn't. You're getting kinda fat." Mirage poked Cliff's stomach playfully and he groaned. Ignoring Mirage's jibes about Cliff's waistline, Leios cut the cake into six pieces. When Nel asked about only cutting six slices when there was seven people on board, Leios just smiled darkly and uttered something to do with 'sweet revenge'. Nel smiled slightly and shook her head as Leios took a bite into her piece. She felt herself glow as the sweet, sugary icing flowed into her veins and made her feel at home. The only thing that could spoil what would be a sadly short trip was if 'they' arrived but Leios put that thought to the back of her mind as Cliff turned to her desperately, asking if he looked fat. "I think you look just as good as the cake did." She replied happily. Knowing that she had just fuelled Cliff and Mirage's argument for several more minutes, Leios settled her back against the wall and watched the mirth.
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Meanwhile, out in space, a small scouting fleet scanned the area for signs of their prey. Surely the youngling couldn't have gone far without a ship to carry them. But a dark voice reported that a signal had been picked up advertising a job. The job was to carry a person into the safety of their noble protectors but it had appeared to be taken up. Green eyes regarded the screen. "Find the carrying ship and when you do, destroy it…" The dark figure bowed and hurried from the room. They were determined to find their prey, and once they did, it would spell the end of all their problems…