Penny and Vijay take a trip to the waterfall and the water isn't exactly regular H2O. Plus, a D&D reference.

Should've Checked the Water

Well. She'd been attacked by a giant dinosaur-like monster, and a moth. She'd embarrassed herself in front of Vijay twice. And Judy had grilled her for almost an hour about her conversation with Vijay.

Yesterday had been a bust. Like, just throw the whole day away, it had not been good.

There was one positive outcome. Robot was out. No more secrets.

Angela hadn't reacted to Robot so he was officially in the clear for the whole Resolute thing so far as Penny was concerned. Dad and Judy were skeptical. Fair.

More importantly, mom and dad were focused on damage control. Not Penny.

"Having fun?" Penny approached Vijay with just a little bit of a skip in her step.

He was not having fun. There is absolutely zero fun in moving some sort of alien animal corpse.

"If you're curious whether rotting meat smells the same here as it does on earth…" Vijay looked down at the wrapped up carcass, "It does."

Penny wrinkled her nose, "Gross." She hooked her thumbs into the straps of her backpack, "I'm going swimming at the waterfall."

"But we haven't tested the water yet?" Vijay's forehead creased.

Ugh. Everyone wanted to test everything. The air. The dirt. The water.

"So?" Penny shrugged. She knew for a fact that Dr. Watanabe did not have testing the water anywhere near the top of his to do list.

And the chances of Penny getting another chance to swim before Alpha Centauri - if they actually made it there - were slim.

"So it could kill you?" Vijay said it slowly, as if that might make her listen.

It did not.

Rolling her eyes, Penny turned away, "I'm going, you can come if you want."

It did not take long for Vijay to catch up with her. He fell into step with her, "We have to at least check it's not acidic first."

"Deal," Penny grinned at him as they walked towards the tree line. She knocked his shoulder as she deactivated the perimeter fence to pass through it.

"Can I ask questions about the robot now?" Vijay asked, brow quirked up on one side.

"Sure," Penny nodded, pursing her lips as she pulled out the envelop from her pocket. "And since everyone knows about Robot now..." she offered it to him, "I don't need this anymore."

He took it slowly. Throat bobbing. He fell a few steps behind as he stared at it and Penny turned to walk backwards.

"I didn't open it, if that's what you're worried about."

"I wasn't," Vijay cleared his throat, tucking the envelop away. The red rising on his cheeks gave him away though. Penny chuckled. He pointed behind her, "Tree."

It processed about a second after her back collided with the tree. Vijay tried to hide his smile, but he failed. Badly.

"So, where is this waterfall anyway?"

"Oh, close to where we hid Robot."

Their conversation was slow, but it felt natural. The further they got into the forest the easier it became for them to talk.

"So what else is in your dad's files about us Robinsons?" Penny wiggled her brows and Vijay actually groaned.

Cringing, he tried to beg, "What would it take for you to forget I mentioned-"

"First born child," Penny quipped before he could finish. She smirked, "Payment up front."

He huffed, lips curling into a pout, "It's mostly just raw data. But my dad is..."

"A control-freak?" Penny offered, throwing her head back to look at Vijay behind her as he shook his head, "No judgement. It's a pretty common alpha thing." Vijay's eyes narrowed. Penny shrugged, "Have you met my mother?"

"Okay, sure," Vijay snorted, ducking his head as they climbed a few boulders, "He made all these cover sheets, summaries of strengths and weaknesses."

"That's... pretty smart actually," Penny admitted as she took a seat at the top of the boulders. She watched Vijay climb the last bit, the way his hands grabbed the edge of the rock. He came up right beside her, eyes fluttering as he processed their proximity.

"Don't act so surprised," Vijay nudged her to the side and took a seat. She offered him her water. He took it, giving it back as he lay back to rest.

They were almost to the river. But Penny would've happily stayed put where they were. His leg pressed against hers.

Vijay was finally ignoring the foot of distance rule. Penny was not about to question that gift horse.

"So," Penny nudged him with her knee, lying back so they were both looking up at the sky, "What's my cover sheet say?"

"Ever play dungeons and dragons?" Vijay asked, face turning to look at her.

Penny puckered her lips, head shaking, "Nope."

"Well, the important thing is that there are six skills and the player has these scores for each one that decides how good they are," Vijay explained, shifting beside her. Penny hummed. "My dad put most of your points in Charisma and Wisdom."

"Wisdom?" Penny snorted, "I'm suppose to be wise?"

Vijay chuckled, shrugging. Penny turned her head and there was suddenly only inches between them. Which felt very significant.

"You're the Robinson who understands people, essentially," Vijay's eyes flicked down to her lips briefly before he held her gaze.

"Accurate," Penny cleared her throat, fidgeting slightly as she rose up on to her elbows, "How's that compare to..."

"To your sister?"

"...to the rest of my family?" Penny elbowed him. Vijay snickered.

He pushed himself up on to his feet as Penny stood up. Following her, he explained, "Judy and your mom have high intelligence scores. Will too. Your dad has high fortitude."

"Fortitude is a skill?" Penny's nose scrunched up as they walked out of the trees into the open sky above the river.

"No," Vijay shrugged, "But most of your dad's stuff was redacted, so his skill points were all question marks. I didn't exactly *ask* my dad how he decided stuff."

"Because you weren't suppose to see it?" Penny asked lightly, walking backwards again so she could see Vijay's attempt to hide his guilt.

Pursed lips, averted eyes, and his hands twitched.

"Alphas really are the worst liars," Penny laughed and Vijay glared at her.

She turned around as they came up to the waterfall. The sound of the water rushing and splashing filled her ears.

Yup. Totally worth the risk of grounding.

"Wow," Vijay whispered beside her.

Penny turned her head to smirk at him, "Told you it was awesome." He smiled. "Don't you love a good adventure?"

Vijay ducked his head, lips splitting into a grin, "I'm more of an indoor adventure person."

"Not today obviously," Penny took a step towards the water, dropping her bag and pulling her jacket off.

"What are you doing?" Vijay's voice cracked.

"Swimming," Penny reminded him, pulling her hair up and securing it with a quick elastic.

Vijay just blinked, mouth slightly gaping, "We, uh, we haven't tested it yet."

"You're obsessed," Penny groaned, tossing her head back.

"Well, yeah, I like living," Vijay tugged his jacket off and gestured towards her bag, "You have a PH test kit?" Penny nodded, rolling her neck along with her eyes this time.

He was more right than paranoid, but Penny felt no desire to tell him that.

She did appreciate the way his tshirt stretched across his back as Vijay knelt in front of her bag. Penny was not about to pass up an opportunity to watch him move.

Probably should've been watching where she was walking too.

The rock Penny caught her foot on was sharp and twisted and very well disguised by all the other rocks. Absolutely couldn't have seen it. Even if she had been looking. Really.

Yeah, she didn't buy it either.

But it sent her falling into the river. She yelped as her back made contact with the shallows along the edge.

The water stung!

Something told her Vijay was going to be bringing that up later.

In the moment, he just rushed to help her. Points for him. He didn't even think about the fact that he was getting wet too.

Or that the water was apparently electrified as jolts of pain snaked across her skin.

The entire length of her back was submerged in the water, along with the back of her arms. She pushed herself up, wincing as the water started to spread. It dripped down her neck from the bottom of her hair. Her shirt was half soaked and getting worse.

"Penny?" Vijay was kneeling in front of her. Hands outstretched to help her up.

Penny took them. And then promptly fell forward. He caught her, arms wrapping around her waist as he dragged her away from the river.

"Didn't kill me," Penny huffed out. Vijay flashed her a look. She winced and his eyes immediately softened. "Pretty sure it's not regular H2O though."

"We should probably get you dry, like... now." Vijay tossed her the towel out of her pack. He started pulling her boot off as Penny wrapped it around herself.

Her ankle was already red and swollen, but Penny was significantly more concerned with the fact that her back felt like it was on fire. Little spasms across her spine did not seem normal.

The problem was her shirt.

It was still wet. In fact, the absorbency meant that it was wetter. And it kept sticking to her skin. Which meant the water kept shocking her or whatever. Which...

She did not have a spare shirt.

Penny glanced around. Vijay's jacket was closer. She grabbed it. Then checked that it's owner was properly distracted digging through her pack for the first aid kit.

It was a quick process. She tugged her shirt off, wrapped the towel around herself, then slipped off her bra. Vijay's jacket was bigger than hers so once she zipped it closed she still had room to maneuver the towel.

Perfect plan. Absolutely flawless.

"What are you doing?"

Penny looked up, jacket zipped to her chin. Vijay was staring, eyes fluttering.

"Your jacket was closer."

His brow furrowed and then he surveyed the ground around her. Shirt. Bra. Towel.

"I'm dry. That was the task assigned to me yes?" Penny raised her chin.

It was all about confidence really. Didn't matter that her face was as red as her hair. She kept her tone level and her gaze pointed.

Vijay blinked first. Or, more accurately, he cleared his throat and focused all of his attention on her ankle. Same difference.

He wrapped it, mumbled something about it not being broken. Penny just nodded along and avoided looking at him.

A solid plan. Till she started shivering.

"Shit," Penny squeezed her eyes shut and focused on her heart rate. It was definitely high, and rising higher.

The sun was high. She was dry. She should not be cold.

"You okay?" Vijay's eyes snapped to her face. His hand was still on her ankle.

He could feel her heart beat. Cheating.

"I'm cold," Penny admitted.

Vijay's eyes widened, which meant he knew what that could mean. Whether that was a pro or con was debatable.

"Your heart rate would go lower if you were about to go into heat though," Vijay sounded significantly more like he was reassuring himself rather than her. "Do your joints hurt?"

Penny blinked at him, "What?"

Low heart rate, low body temperature. Those were warning signs that an omega was about to go into heat.

"What do my joints have to do-"

"My mom says her joints ache before she goes into heat," Vijay explained, he was already pulling the space blanket out of her pack. He also retrieved her jacket.

Both were wrapped tightly around her.

"Your mom is an omega?" Penny asked, heart beating wildly in her ear. Vijay nodded. "And that joint thing? That's standard? It's not some just-her-"

"Penny!" Vijay squeezed her shoulders, "Aching, not aching?"

She shook her head, "Not aching."

"Then it's probably nothing," Vijay nodded to himself, throat bobbing. He rubbed a hand over his neck, "If you get the urge to rip my throat out, maybe warn me first though."

Penny's laugh was more nervous than amused, "I don't know what that means."

"Something else my mom says?" Vijay shrugged, smile strained.

"It is so unfair that you get an omega parent and I don't," Penny huffed, taking a few steadying breaths. She was warming up. Slowly.

"If it makes you feel better, I'm pretty sure my entire family is still confused I got a fever instead of the chills when I presented," Vijay offered, pulling her bag below her ankle to elevate it. He sat next to her, facing her. Close.

Alphas had a higher body temperature than omegas. His latent body heat was extremely tempting.

And she was fairly positive him sitting there was an offer.

"They thought you were going to be an omega?" Penny asked, scooting closer and curling into his side. She kept her face angled down, away from the scent glands on his neck. Just in case.

"My uncle is still convinced I might be," Vijay snorted. He slowly wrapped an arm around her waist like he had when he dragged her away from the river.

It was officially unfair that he was warmer in just a tshirt when she had what added up to three layers of outerwear. Granted, she had nothing underneath them. But still!

"My mom says it's easier when you present with a period," Penny offered, clearing her throat as her voice cracked, "The international sign that puberty has started and a quick thermometer check tells the tale."

Vijay laughed, his head turned and she felt his chin at the top of her head. "My mom said something similar."

"I'm still very unclear on how it works for dudes, not gonna lie," Penny admitted, pursing her lips, "I figured it would be obvious when it happened to Will."

"Its kinda like getting sick?" Vijay said, his other hand moving to rub at his neck again. "Your scent glands get swollen though, no matter how you present. I think for betas it's less intense. But alphas and omegas have similar reactions I think. It's all about the body temp though, until..."

The rut. Or the heat. One for alphas. One for omegas. A great big party of suffering to mark the end of puberty.

At least it sucked for everyone.

"Well, you're very warm, if you need anyone to remind your uncle," Penny smiled into his shoulder. Vijay laughed. Her eyes lowered to his arm, the one around her waist.

Which was when she noticed the spindly purple marks spreading across his skin like lightning.

"What's that?" Penny sat up straight, gesturing to Vijay's hand. He looked down at them, then at hers.

Same marks.

"Okay. Maybe we should've waited for the water to be tested."

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