Oh look, it is the consequences of her actions! Penny is not fond of those.

Lectured

Penny was officially of the opinion that pissing off Prisha Dhar was a death sentence. Even her dad had looked afraid when she arrived, for the second evening in a row, to find her son in the medical bay. Victor was pale as hell as he explained what happened to his wife.

Three stitches to close his arm, not to mention all the stuff to sterilize it before hand. Given Vijay was attacked by a dinosaur, Penny thought that was pretty good.

"It was a very small dinosaur," Vijay pipped in when his dad got to that part. He ducked his head when Prisha aimed her withering stare at him. She said something snappy in another language that had Vijay pursing his lips and looking at his feet.

"I took some swabs of the wound, doesn't look like there was any bacteria in the animal's mouth that we need to worry about," Judy announced loudly, clearing her throat.

Animal, yes, that was a much better word.

"Well, that's something," Prisha let out a measured breath, eyes narrowing on Victor. He straightened, lips pursed and hands clasped in front if him.

He held her gaze, which was damn impressive if you asked Penny. Her dad had basically dragged Will back to his bunk when Prisha arrived after her little brother tried to take responsibility for what happened to Vijay.

"I'm glad you were there," Prisha turned to Penny with a nod, voice much softer, "Thank you Penny."

"Uh… yeah, of course," Penny startled, shoulders rolling back. A flush rose on her cheeks. Prisha flashed her a smile and then turned back to her husband and son. She didn't say a word and they both moved to leave.

There was lots of hushed words in the language Victor seemed to speak too. Prisha wrapped an arm around Vijay's shoulders as they walked away. She kissed the side of his head, eyes squeezing shut as she said something Penny couldn't hear. Vijay nodded in response, head ducking lower as a blush colored the back of his neck.

"Stop staring," Judy said forcefully, tone flat. The med bay was officially empty. Just her, Judy, and the obviously broken cast on her foot.

"I know you're mad-"

"Mad?" Judy huffed, eyes rolling, "Try furious!" Her hands flew up as she gestured to the x-ray on one of the screens, "You broke your ankle!"

"But I saved Vijay!" Penny defended, gesturing towards the door. The Dhars were gone, but the point was still obvious.

"I told you to be careful," Judy quirked a brow and fisted her hands on her hips, "In what world was this careful?"

Penny rolled her eyes, "I thought that was just about dating him." With a shrug she added, "And I would've done it for Will too, but Vijay distracted the thing so Will could get away so…"

"Yes, yes, everyone is very noble and brave," Judy's hands were in the air again.

"You seem very angry about that," Penny drawled.

Judy huffed, moving to Penny's foot to start removing her broken cast, "You could've let Victor go help him."

"Wasn't thinking," Penny leaned forward, knocking Judy's shoulder lightly, "I didn't *mean* to do anything dangerous. I just reacted."

There was a shimmer in Judy's eyes as she turned her head to look at Penny. Almost like she might cry. "That's what worries me Penny. You're not careful when you're not thinking."

"Well…" Penny cleared her throat, averting her gaze, "I did think before kissing him. Does that get me point?"

"You kissed him?" Judy practically shrieked. Her face fell into her hands, cast abandoned on the table, "Do you even understand what careful means?"

"Vaguely," Penny grinned as Judy rolled her eyes. There was a bit of stomping and grumbling as Judy set her ankle and put the new cast on.

"So," Judy crossed her arms, lips puckered slightly, "What was kissing him like?"

Penny fell back on the exam table with a giggle, "Literally electric."

-.-.-

When they'd first arrived her parents had been busy consoling Will and avoiding the wrath of Prisha Dhar. Now that she was gone and Will was finally asleep…

"You're not to leave the jupiter without permission," Maureen looked down at her with arms crossed and eyes piercing.

Judy really had that same look down pat.

"No farther than the airlock or the cargo hold," John clarified, hands on his hips and mouth set in a firm line.

Judy used that one too.

"I have already been lectured on my reckless behavior," Penny groaned, throwing her head back against the wall as she sunk into her mattress.

"Oh, it's not the recklessness we have a problem with," John told her. Maureen's gaze flicked to him, a frown pulling on her lips. "It's the sneaking off. You've gotten hurt twice."

Penny raised her hand, finger in the air, "Technically, it's the same injury."

Neither of them seemed to care for her correction.

"Technically, they're both because you wanted to spend time with Vijay," Maureen was smiling very sarcastically and Penny really didn't appreciate having her own technique used against her.

"I just wanted to see the river!" Penny huffed, arms crossing and nose wrinkling, "And seriously, a whole river dries up overnight and you're not curious? I *had* to see it for myself."

John looked pointedly at Maureen, who hummed as she ignored him, "The point remains. You didn't tell us where you were going." Maureen tossed her arms in the air. "You didn't even tell us you left!"

"I knew you'd say no," Penny shrugged, brow arching. It was incredibly obvious they'd have said no. Both times. And it was better to ask forgiveness than permission.

Not that she was willing to say that bit out loud. Her mom was already scowling.

"We would've," John agreed, "But obviously…" he looked pointedly at the cast on her foot, "…that was for a good reason."

"I hate this," Penny grumbled.

Maureen rolled her eyes. John chuckled, "You're suppose to."

-.-.-

"You let him go off on his own!" His mother hissed. Vijay sat with his back against the wall. The door to his bunk was closed, but he could still hear the main room if he was quiet and his parents were talking loud enough.

Which they definitely were.

"He's 16, Victor! A child. I don't care what the alternative was. You take him with you, he stays *with you.*"

He couldn't hear his dad's side of the argument, but he could make a guess.

"Why are these samples so important exactly?"

And he would've guess wrong. His mother's voice lowered and Vijay strained to hear the rest of the argument. With a glance at his communicator, Vijay typed a quick message.

Penny responded pretty quick.

-.-.-

With careful steps, Penny exited her bunk. She fully intended to simply ask Judy about the samples like she'd told Vijay she would. But she hadn't accounted for her parents still being up.

The eavesdropping was incidental really.

"You sure about the timeline for the planet? A river drying up overnight, that's… that's a lot faster than I would've expected from what you said."

Her dad sounded almost hopeful. Penny paused in the outer hall, waiting quietly.

"It's extreme, but it fits within the parameters I estimated," Maureen sighed. Penny could just see her shaking her head, "If I'm right, we'll start having quakes soon."

"How soon?"

"Tomorrow maybe. Day after?"

Penny did not like the sound of this conversation.

"We have a few days, a week tops, and this planet won't sustain life."

Mouth hanging open, Penny glanced at the comm unit on her wrist. It was definitely not secure enough for her to send *that* to Vijay.

"Well, Victor seemed hopeful about those samples Hiroki took."

"Yeah," Maureen did not sound at all convinced, "And if not, he'll make the call - telling people or... not."

Wow. Okay.

The world was actually coming to the end. Literally. The fact that she was grounded was seeming way less important now.

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