Tess despised waiting rooms, and the waiting rooms in a public clinic were the worst of them all. The usual morass of sick and injured aliens surrounded them. Despite the differences in details of hair coverage, coloration and limb number, the place was not much different from a typical waiting room on Earth. Children with dripping noses, beaks and snouts wailed while their parents tried to calm the down, individuals with cloth soaked with blood of all colors clutched to cuts and puncture wounds of varying degrees and aliens with energy weapon burns slumped in the chairs, and the whole place reeked of antiseptic.

If Tess was annoyed, Erik was bordering on a panic attack. Never in his life had he been surrounded by so many without his mask. He knew, logically, that his face would garner no more attention in this motley assortment than any other, but the instinct to run for darkness was not so easily dispelled. The only thing that kept him in his seat was the sharp pain in his chest and Tess's armored hand on his shoulder. She did not look like a strong girl, but the armor must have somehow amplified her strength; he could not have risen from under that firm grip if his life had depended on hit. He kept his gaze at his feet and tried not to breath too erratically.

"I know you said you don't like doctors, but good grief! It's not worth getting this worked up over! Trust me, it'll be easy. They'll scan you, tell you what your problem is, and fix it. We'll be done in fifteen minutes… once we actually get called anyway…"

Erik clenched his teeth in frustration.

"It's not the damn doctor… I hate crowded rooms."

Tess raised an eyebrow at the revelation of his agoraphobia. She hated crowds as well, and people in general, but she certainly wasn't apt to panic attacks over the matter.

"Well… Um, we'll be out of here soon."

It was about twenty minutes later when they were finally called forward. Erik nearly jumped out of his skin when the blue feathered bird-like nurse steered him into a tall box-like contraption, fighting her attempts to get him to stand still. Tess laughed at him, earning herself a scowl that would turn milk sour.

"If you don't stand still, she can't do the scan. Honestly, stop acting like a baby!"

The scan took less than five seconds and surprised Erik in its brevity. Tess smiled at him. He did not smile back.

"Wonders of modern technology, huh?"

The nurse instructed them to go to the next room where a doctor would come with the scan results and a diagnosis. Erik did not have a translator implant, and caught none of what sounded to him like gibberish, but Tess grabbed his arm and hauled him off in the direction of the next room to spend yet more time waiting.

Tess hated places like this and felt she ought to resent Erik for having to come here, but was oddly enjoying herself. It felt weird to be interacting with another after so long an isolation, but it was not entirely unpleasant. Perhaps she should have picked up a pet earlier.

The doctor, another of the Marina species like the one she'd turned in a few hours ago, but a dusky green in coloration, stepped into the room and began speaking directly to Erik, who merely blinked at him.

"He doesn't have a translator. Just tell me."

"Ah. Well, as I was saying, his pericardium is infected with a type of bacteria I am not familiar with, but we should not have any trouble treating it. A single injection should clear up the matter, but I was wondering if you could tell me the origin of the bacteria?"

"It's from a fairly unknown backwater planet. Nowhere especially interesting."

The doctor gave her a knowing look, clearly catching the underlying meaning that they'd been on an illegal planet, but said nothing. This clinic had a reputation for knowing how to keep its collective mouth shut, but even if it had not, her formidable Ayana exoskeleton again would have spared her any unwanted attention. Taking that first foolish job time and again turned out to be the best move she had ever made. She turned to Erik to explain to him, trying to remember when bacteria had first been discovered. In the end she decided to spare him the details.

"There's a problem with your heart, but a single injection will fix it, apparently. The doctor needs your consent to give it to you though."

Erik nodded to the doctor and the doctor left to retrieve the datapad and the medication. He returned and held the datapad out to Erik.

"There's a square on the screen, press your thumb onto it."

Erik almost did so without question before putting two and two together and turning to Tess in annoyance.

"What the devil do they need my thumbprint for?"

"It's like a signature, that's all. Just means you've had the problem explained to you and you agree to the treatment. Just do it, or you'll likely die from what you've got."

"So they can track me later?"

"If you behave yourself, they'll have no reason to track you anywhere. Just press your thumb on the damn datapad."

Erik regarded her suspiciously but did so and the doctor grabbed his arm, jabbing him swiftly with a needle before taking the datapad back and leaving the room to go to the next patient.

"That's it."

Tess got up and grabbed Erik's hand as though he were a small child. He pulled his hand from her grasp, but she merely grabbed it again, this time with a grip that he would not easily escape. He looked at her like she had three heads, but made no further protest as she dragged him through the crowded waiting room out to the front desk. He watched her as the receptionist handed her datapad after datapad and she filled them out swiftly. Finally, she dug around in the bag at her hip, pulling out some small odd coins and giving them to the alien behind the desk. She waited until she received her change and grabbed Erik's hand again.

"What did it cost?"

"300 credits. Not as much as I figured it would."

"Is that a considerable amount of money?"

"It's worth about a week's food for one person, if you regard that as 'considerable'."

Erik stopped and his hand slipped out of Tess's. She turned around to look at him.

"You realize I have no means of paying you back?"

Tess narrowed her eyes at him, as though she were studying his face once again.

"I didn't expect you to. Does it bother you or something? You don't owe me anything if that's what you're worried about. I've got money to spare."

Erik stared at her for a long time. Few people had ever sacrificed anything for his sake, only one without resentment, and in a lot of ways, he'd recently betrayed the Persian daroga. He shook his head. He'd likely never see the daroga again anyway. He tried to take comfort in the statement that Tess had money to spare, wondering at the uncomfortable weight settling in his belly from the whole episode.

"Come on, let's go back to the Stardust."

"The what?"

"My ship. The Ziggy Stardust."

"Ziggy Stardust?"

"Don't ask, long story. Just come on."

Instead of heading directly back to the ship, Tess made a detour to a small off-the-beaten-path restaurant, fairly dragging Erik by the hand the whole way while cutting a path through the dense crowd. Where did all these people come from? Erik had never been in a city so crowded in his life, not even Paris was so dense. The ugly metal and glass edifices rose beyond sight and flying machines zipped back and forth overhead. Garish glowing signs advertising he-didn't-want-to-know-what were plastered all over the place. If it weren't for Tess's strong grip, he would have collapsed into a corner somewhere. What a horrible place! There was no beauty here, not a tree or bird to be seen, and the buildings were an insult to architecture.

He was hyperventilating by the time Tess dragged him into a booth at the back of the surprisingly busy restaurant and silently thanked God that the sharp pains in his chest were beginning to dissipate. The armored hand rubbed lightly at his back and he found himself inexplicably leaning into the touch.

"Calm down, Erik. Honestly! You're just going to have to get this phobia of yours under control. Nearly every modern city in the galaxy is exactly like this and you're going to have to put up with crowds no matter where you end up."

Erik buried his face in his hands.

"I want… my mask… back."

"Your who-what?"

"My mask… I had… a white mask."

Tess took a minute to process the information. Well, of course he'd have to wear a mask in 19th century France. He was probably surrounded by superstitious peasants all the time.

"Oh… Well masks are illegal in most public places anyway. Besides, nobody here would notice you. I mean, you might look a bit odd to anyone who's familiar with the Eranae, but they keep to themselves so most people have never even seen one. Besides, there are so many different races around here you'd just get lost in the crowd. Everybody's always in a hurry, they aren't even looking at you."

Lost in the crowd… Only in the dead of night with a hooded cloak had Erik ever been able to get lost in a crowd. Erik's breathing started to slow to a normal rate, but he was still shaking like a leaf. A few tears escaped despite his attempts to stop them. He wiped them away and took a few deep breaths to compose himself.

"Well, just chill out. We'll eat dinner and head back to the Stardust and you can sleep if you want."

Erik blinked at the term 'chill out' but the waitress arrived before he could ask about it. Tess ordered a plate with nerf steak and a fried vegetable side that approximated something like Japanese tempura. She glanced at Erik and realized she had no clue what he would like.

"What do you usually eat? Can't guarantee they'll have anything like it, but they might have something approximate."

Erik thought for a minute. His stomach wasn't up to anything especially heavy, but a hot soup would please him greatly at the moment.

"Bouillabaisse or something like it would be fine."

"I have no clue what that is."

"Stew. Fish stew."

"Fish stew, huh?"

Tess scanned down the soup menu. There was something there with a local variety of a fish-like species in it and a few vegetables and she ordered it for him, along with some bread and a local ale-like brew for them both.

"Well, I doubt it'll taste much like what you get back home, but it's fish and it's soup."

Erik waved off her concern. His panic had given way to exhaustion and wished only to lay down somewhere and rest. He resisted the temptation to prop his head on the table and sleep. Their meal arrived about a half an hour later. Tess stifled a laugh as Erik sniffed ridiculously at his soup. She wondered how well he could smell without a proper nose but didn't ask for fear of ruffling his feathers. She dug into her own plate, making short work of her first real meal in over a week. Ration bars might keep you alive, but they were not half as satisfying as real food. She was finished long before Erik, who slowly sipped his drink and ate.

"So is the soup any good?"

"It isn't want I was expecting, but it's not unpleasant."

Tess shrugged and grabbed some of the bread, picking at it while she waited for him to finish. She hated slow eaters, especially since she'd had no need to wait on another person in years. She wasn't quite rude enough to tell him to hurry it up, but her annoyance was obvious.

"If you didn't shovel your food like a starved pig, you wouldn't be waiting so long."

Tess rolled her eyes at him.

"I'll eat however I damn well please."

She left to make use of the restroom and returned to find him almost exactly where she left him. A few minutes later, Erik finally appeared to be finished and the waitress dropped the bill on the table. Tess left a few coins and grabbed Erik, once again hauling him through the claustrophobic streets to docking area and boarded the Ziggy Stardust.

Tess returned to the pilot's chair and Erik glanced around several times before giving up and laying down flat on his back on the deck, covering his eyes with his forearm. He breathed deeply without pain fort he first time in over a week. Did this mean he wouldn't die, after all?

Tess glanced back at him, then put the Stardust into orbit. She sat back and stared at the stars to consider the immediate future. Where to next? She owed it to Erik to look for his father's family but now that she had him, she found that part of her wanted to keep him to herself. It truly would be like having a pet – he'd be totally dependant on her, for a while at least… but that would be a cruel thing to do, especially since she'd told him that she would look for his family back on Earth. She sighed and turned around, watching his even breathing. He was asleep, finally, and looked like he truly needed it as well. He'd be sore after sleeping on the metal floor, but there was nowhere else to put him at the moment. At least she'd be spared a decision on their next destination until he woke up.