''How we lookin', Chi?'' I asked, staring down in the vague direction of the vat I was standing over.

''Looks good, can't detect a single anomaly,'' he replied and I smiled to myself. Since coming to the future, the biomesh I was developing was having much greater success. With any luck we'd have a few more options on our larynx patient.

''I've gotta say, it's really weird just having unrestricted access to vats of stem cells and shit to make whatever I want,'' I said. ''I'm kinda loving the future, you know, except the whole being blind thing. God, can you imagine what I'd be able to do if I wasn't blind?''

''Probably just as much as you can do now, Marisa,'' Chi replied. Fuck, the future was annoyingly anti ableism. I rolled my eyes, or at least I think I did, and was about to come up with a witty retort when the door swished open. I smiled at the sound of his footsteps before he greeted me.

''Hey M,'' York said with a smile sounding in his voice.

''How was your op?'' I asked as I turned around. I heard his footsteps stop right in front of me and felt the air shift as he immediately wrapped his arms around me.

''That's classified,'' he replied.

''Oh, so you fucked up,'' I teased with a wry smile.

''Why would you assume..'' He started and I threw up a finger to silence him.

''If it went fine you'd have said as much,'' I poked him in the chest and he groaned.

''If I'd have known saving your life would have brought this much bullying I'd have put a lot more thought into carrying you back to the dropship,'' York told me and I snorted.

''Cheer up,'' I said. ''I know how I can make it up to you.''

''Oh?''

I tugged him down by the front plate on his armour and threw my head forward to kiss him. Since Chi had pointed out that most important moments in life people had their eyes closed, I worried less about kissing. I'd always closed my eyes before impact before so why worry about it now? Although York being able to see might have helped on the accuracy front. Our kissing was awkward at first, due to the slight size difference in our heads and even mouths. But we were quickly able to adjust, just like last time.

He shifted his arms that were still wrapped around me to lift me up onto the countertop behind me and press up close between my legs. I held tightly to his chestplate while I kissed him like I'd never get to do it again. I felt his large hands running up and down my back and it sent shudders down my spine. I'm so glad I fell through that tear in space and time.

''Wash is coming,'' I heard Chi chime in and York and I pulled apart. It was unspoken, but for now, this was to remain between us. York stepped a few steps back and the door swished open and the other freelancer skipped in.

''Hey Marisa,'' Wash greeted cheerily before he came to a stop by the bench. ''Eugh, what's in here?''

''Stemcells, some micromesh I'm developing and some human tissue,'' I replied.

''Why?'' he asked, sounding grossed out.

''It'll help bond things when I'm repairing people,'' I shrugged. ''I was planning on using it on the injured larynx patient, but it could come in handy for all kinds of things. It'll help bridge the gap between organic and machine. Any implants will take better, can be used to strengthen damaged nerves, that kinda stuff.''

''Still gross,'' Wash said. ''It looks so gross.''

''I'll take your word for it,'' I laughed and pushed myself to the edge of the bench. I felt hands in front of me and leapt down, knowing it was York helping me down on instinct.

''You guys coming to lunch?'' Wash asked.

''What, too afraid to go see North by yourself?'' I laughed. ''And here I thought York was the main bully.''

''Hey, I resent that, I'm not a bully,'' York said, feigning innocence.

''Sure,'' Wash grumbled.

I walked towards the door without hearing footsteps following behind me. I shrugged to myself, clutching Chi in my hand and headed straight to the mess. I was halfway there when I heard familiar footsteps catching up. I climbed into my usual spot at our table to feel Carolina was already there.

''Hey you,'' I said. ''Don't see you here very often. I thought you were avoiding me.''

''Oh yeah,'' she joked. ''I just couldn't keep myself away any longer.''

''She's been training,'' North explained. ''Hard.''

''I'd have visited you during your recovery from the surgery but the med staff said you couldn't receive visitors,'' Carolina told me honestly.

''Yeah, the implant was making me blow chunks so much they thought the excitement would kill me,'' I rolled my eyes. ''Or that my immune system was too weak from all the surgeries. York snuck in to see me every day. Kept his distance but it was much appreciated.''

''Really, because I remember you spending most of those visits sobbing and swearing at me,'' York said sitting down beside me.

''Yeah well women are complicated,'' I shrugged.

Honestly I lived for the visits from York. I was feeling so much, I was distraught over the very real possibility of never being able to see again, what was almost becoming the reality. I was embarrassed I couldn't keep anything down and even when there was nothing to throw up I was still heaving. And I wanted everyone to stay away from me, I couldn't deal with their pity but once no one was around I was desperately lonely. Also it was York. For some reason I didn't worry about him seeing me that way, I knew he didn't pity me, I liked him. A lot. I wanted him around all the time.

''What are you training so hard for, aren't you like the killing machine around here?'' I asked. Carolina snorted.

''Now how I would describe myself, no,'' she replied. ''I've gotta keep up my edge.''

''We got a new agent a while back, they're the only one who can rival Carolina in skill and strength,'' York answered for her.

''So what, you're worried they'll take your spot?'' I asked. ''But you're Carolina.''

''They already did,'' Carolina seethed. ''I want my spot back.''

''Stop training so hard then,'' I replied. ''All work and no play makes Carolina a dull girl. If all you do is train you're going to hit a point you can't improve anymore. Especially if you're psyching yourself out by the mindset of having to be the best. Take it from someone who used to fight to be the top scientist in my field, just so I could prove I could be. I was pretty convinced if I wasn't the best I was letting my entire gender down. I know that's not why you're doing what you're doing but you can't push yourself too hard or you'll get worse, not better. I mean, before this noob came around did you even care you had number 1 or was it just an added job perk? Were you so good naturally or did you have to fight for number 1?''

''It was my ranking since I started and I'd held it up until she showed up,'' Carolina replied. ''But it's not like I didn't work for it, I earned my spot..''

''I'm not saying you didn't,'' I replied. ''All I'm saying is stop riding yourself so hard, or you're going to total yourself. Look after yourself. Please? For me and my booty that just won't quit?''

''Fine,'' she grumbled, York snorting at my booty callback. ''I gave you three slots a week on the beam.''

''What'd Wash want with you earlier?'' I asked York as he strolled leisurely beside me. He was escorting me to my room after another night chatting in the mess after my gymnastic sessions.

''Huh?'' he replied.

''Why else were you two so far behind me to lunch?'' I said and he groaned.

''He's still got a thing for Carolina and he wanted to make sure I wasn't going to go after her,'' York explained and I chuckled.

''He should just ask her out, worst she can say is no and then it's over. He'll know and can get over her,'' I said.

''Well he believes me, I'm not going to shoot my shot,'' he said and I smirked.

''From the way he tells it, you already did.'' I smiled wryly, thinking back to my days in the medbay listening to Wash winge about York's one night stand ruining his chances with his dream girl.

''You heard about that, huh?'' York asked, sounding awkward. I laughed.

''Yeah, he wouldn't shut up about it,'' I told him.

''You're not upset?'' he said. I shook my head.

''It was one time, right?'' I asked, keeping pace with his steps.

''Not exactly,'' he muttered. I raised an eyebrow. ''I actually did like her. I tried to make it work for a few weeks after but she wasn't interested.''

''But it's over now, no residual feelings?'' I asked.

''Nope, all over,'' he answered honestly.

''Then no, I'm not upset,'' I said and leaned against my door. My heart sank. We'd finally reached the threshold and as much as I was tired and wanted to crash, I also didn't want our time together to end. I spent a lot of time with him, I know, but it felt like we didn't get a lot of time to just be with each other. It was just stealing kisses when we could and acting like friends the rest of the time.

''You look it,'' he said.

''I'm sad we're at my door already,'' I replied. ''I'm sad you're leaving.''

''I don't have to,'' he said.

''No?'' I breathed as he stepped closer. I could feel him inches from me, breathing the same airspace. ''You wanna come inside?''

''I can do that,'' he said heavily.

I could feel my chest rapidly rising and falling. I reached up for the door release, barely able to put the movement together. I felt a hand on mine before it was steered upwards to the button. We pressed it together and I was leaning so hard on the door I almost hit the deck when it whooshed open. York stepped forward just as I stepped back and in one fluid motion I was behind hoisted up to face height and wrapping my legs around his waist. I heard the door beep closed and I was held up against it from the inside.

I threw my head forward to kiss him and he kissed back feverishly. My hands held his face to mine. The fingers of one hand knotted in his hair while the others rested on his jaw as it moved on mine. I slid my hands down his neck and to his hemline, yanking his shirt in an attempt to get it off. He took his large hands off my waist for a brief moment to throw his shirt up over his head and make quick work of mine. His lips moved to my exposed neck and shoulder and I squeezed my eyes shut at the sensation. I rested my head back on the door and arched into him.

I felt his hands slip behind my back to unhook my bra before his mouth moved to kiss across the valley of my breasts. I heard the click of his tongue coming out of his mouth before I felt it flicking over the nipple of my left breast. The bud peaked instantly, already semi erect to the cool ship air. I let out a whine, god did I want him.

His hands went to the fastener of my cargo pants and practically ripped them open. He thumbed the waistband of my panties, ready to slide them down as he mouthed along the side of my neck. I let out a moan and was jolted forwards. While York was holding me up against the door there was a frantic banging on the other side. I let out a moan of protest, what could be this important. York and I sighed, realising it was probably important just in time for the door to whoosh open behind me and hit me with an icy cold plast. York opened his mouth to yell at the culprit but the scream died in his mouth.

''Thank god, finally, Marisa, there's an emergency… why's he shirtless?'' he asked, pausing in his desperate speech..

''Why's that your first question?'' I asked and York chuckled, bending with me still attached, to pick up something off the ground. I felt straps sliding up my arms and realised he was helping me cover up so I wasn't exposed to the hallway. I'd been getting more and more careless with my modesty, forgetting that just because all I saw was darkness that it didn't mean we all were.

York dropped me to the ground and I felt my t-shirt being tugged back over my head. I popped my arms through the sleeves and I felt York squatting down again, presumably to grab his own shirt. There was a deep rumble that reverberated through the floors and I slipped, losing my balance, unprepared for the sudden jolt on the previously very steady ship. I let out a squeal and York grabbed me, wrapping strong arms around me.

''There's a shipwide emergency,'' Wash explained. ''I've been ordered to escort you to the briefing room, the Director wants you safe at all costs. And York? You'd better suit up. The ship's under attack.''

''Fuck,'' York hissed. There was a second, much louder and much closer sounding explosion and I narrowly avoided tumbling, being caught by York who still held me tight. He bent down low and pressed a fierce kiss to my forehead. ''I've gotta go baby. Stay outta trouble. I'll find you when this is over, I promise.'' He kissed me again, a deep, open mouthed kiss before letting me go, taking off in a run down the hallway in the direction of the locker room.

Another explosion rocked right through the ship and I stumbled forward, reaching desperately for Wash, connecting with his outstretched arms instantly. I let out an unintentional whimper and he tugged me close.

''I got you,'' he said.

''I gotta get Chi,'' I blurted out and he pulled me closer.

''Don't be mad, this is faster and we don't have a lot of time,'' he explained and before I could ask what I'd be mad about he scooped me up in his arms, darted forward into my room and grabbed the board Chi was loaded onto. He closed the door behind us and charged down the hallway but I had no idea from the moment he picked me up, where we were going.

I chewed my lip nervously as the ship rumbled with more explosions, I gripped Chi to my chest hard, holding on like he was anchoring me to the earth. I needed to distract myself from this. It's hard for me to picture if I would be more or less scared if this was happening and I had my sight, but blind I knew I was terrified. I didn't travel this far, in an amazing feat of science, unable to be replicated by even the greatest scientists of this century, to die in a spaceship explosion in some random galaxy.

''Not that I'm not flattered,'' I started, between explosions, trying not to stutter. ''How come I'm important enough for a valiant rescue from a big cheese?''

''Don't ask me, it's the Director that gave the order,'' Wash replied. ''Aside from him and the Counsellor, you've been listed as one of the most important members of staff on this ship.''

''Shit,'' I replied and he chuckled, about to say something when we suddenly spun out to the side and he yelled out some curses of his own. I was thrown down and shoved up against a wall before the sound of gunfire bounced off the walls.

''Chi?''

''It's going to be okay Marisa,'' he soothed. ''Agent Washington knows what he's doing, he'll keep us safe.''

''Chi I can't see, I have no idea what's going on,'' I cried out. I held him tightly to my chest, clinging to my AI companion like he was a child. Even though I was the one who was scared like one. ''Chi, what's happening? Who's attacking the ship?''

''I don't know! I don't have access to that kind of information,'' he cried out, sounding scared for what must have been the first time ever. ''But I know we'll be safe with Wash, he'll protect us.''

I felt a bullet whizzing past my face and I let out a scream, dropping to the ground, using the Chi bracelet to find my way across the floor. Squatting and ape crawling across the hallway must have looked ridiculous but it made me feel safe. I narrowly avoided the fight Wash was having but if I'd stayed put I'm sure I would have died by now, or at least been very squashed. I could hear metal slamming into metal and breaking around whatever had been thrown into it. I must have scurried maybe half a click before I heard the sounds of the fight taper off and there was running towards me. I toyed between breaking out into a short lived run or squashing myself into the small amount of cover I'd found and hoped they ran past me. I chose the hiding option and let out a scream when they reached for me.

''Easy, it's me,'' I heard Wash soothe and I let out a deep breath.

''Who the fuck was that?'' I demanded.

''You know, I didn't stop to ask,'' he joked and I clung to his armour plate hard the rest of the way to the briefing room.

''How come you're not scared?'' I asked.

''I am, a little,'' he told me. ''But I signed up for this. Well, I didn't want this. But I knew it was always a possibility when I enlisted and then got transferred to the project. Was space travel even possible in your time?''

''To like, the moon or the space station orbiting Earth. We sent a robot to Mars, his name was Opportunity and he sang himself happy birthday every year. I had the day marked in my calendar and I used to cry into a cupcake because it was so sad. Yeah I know, he's a robot. But you know what we programmed him to do that and it's heartbreaking,'' I told him and he chuckled.

''That's fucking adorable,'' he told me.

''Shut up,'' I rolled my eyes, or at least I think I did. He chuckled and then came to a halt. He reached forward, letting go of me with one hand and I heard a button click and a door whoosh open. A few more steps into the room and he shifted.

''Alright, down you go,'' he said and my bare feet touched the cool metal. I swallowed.

''Agent Washington, you can find your assignment with Carolina and the other agents,'' I heard the familiar southern drawl of the Director.

''Dr. Holtz, the Counsellor will be coming up on your left to escort you into the vault, you'll be stationed there alongside myself and Mr Pierce until the situation has been handled,'' he told me. I felt cold hands on me, one gripping my forearm while the other rested between my shoulderblades.

''I take it Mr Pierce is the Counsellor?'' I asked and nothing could prepare me for how cold the world suddenly became when the man holding me spoke.

''That would be correct, Doctor,'' he gave me a tug and a push forward and was being led across the room. ''Mind your step.''

''Who's attacking?'' I asked as I hopped over the raised floor.

''Doesn't matter,'' the Director said. ''The agents will have it sorted very soon.''

I heard a hiss and some more rumbling at what sounded like the doors slowly closing. There was a deep clunking noise as some locks slotted into place and there was a final buzz, signaling I guess, that we were locked in.

''Make yourself comfortable, Dr Holtz,'' the Director told me. ''I'll be at the desk, the Counsellor should be able to assist you in anything you may require while in here.''

''I have Chi, I should be fine,'' I said, clutching him close to me.

''We will be,'' he chimed in cheerily.

Wandering around for a moment I found a couch with a few throw pillows and grabbed one, wandering around until I found myself a corner and a piece of furniture to slot myself under. I patted my cargo pants pockets in search of my old phone. Finding it, I sighed in relief, and pushed the Motorola open. I sat the cheeseboard Chi was loaded into beside me and started typing away. If we're going to be stuck in here for a while, I might as well get some work done.

''That's amazing,'' Chi commented as I typed some particular notes. I sketched lightly on the touch screen a design and he hummed appreciatively. ''What if we..''

''You two seem to be working well together,'' Pierce commented. ''Are you happy with your assigned partner?''

''Absolutely!'' Chi cheered and I felt the atmosphere in the room change.

''Dr Holtz?'' Piece asked.

''Best lab tech I ever had,'' I shrugged. ''Chi, we work well together, don't we?''

''Of course we do, Marisa,'' he agreed.

''Interesting..'' Pierce hummed and I tried to get back into the metal bone replacements I was working on. In my time we'd used metal to fuse bones back together, but I was working on something that would work in a situation that the bone was too damaged to hold together. Hopefully, preventing amputation and prosthesis. I had a weird vibe I'd be needing to make something like this soon, and that thought only got more concrete when the ship was invaded and I felt nonstop explosions rattling through the floor.

''The two of you have a remarkable partnership, would you not agree?'' he said and I frowned.

''What do you mean?''

''You've bonded in record time, you're almost completely synchronised and you haven't gone through the implantation process yet,'' he said. ''That's interesting.''

''I'll take your word for it,'' I remarked. ''If you're bored, you should have brought a book. Chi and I have work to do.''

I heard the Director snort over on his side of the chamber and went back to typing. I hoped I'd been blunt enough to get him to leave us alone. I was glad I hadn't met the man before now. He made the dismissive and blunt Director look like a social butterfly. Something about this Mr Pierce gave me the wig and I wanted to be away from him as soon as possible.

It was hours later that the rumbling finally stopped and after 30 minutes without another sound I laid my head back on the cool metal wall with a sigh of relief. I put my phone away and grabbed Chi and the pillow I'd been sitting on, standing up to walk back over to the couch. I walked around until I found the desk and stood beside where I thought the Director ought to be.

''Any word?''I asked.

''The agents have secured the ship, but we suffered damage. We've switched over to emergency power and one of the main generators is down,'' he supplied from behind me. ''We'll be in here for a little bit longer.''

''How long is a little bit?'' I asked, turning to face him.

''As long as it takes them to figure out how to get the doors open,'' he answered casually.

''We're stuck?''

''For the time being. All the doors are locked down, they're cutting through to the Generator but even then it'll take time to get the right person in to repair it. People are stuck in different areas all over the ship,'' he explained. ''Be grateful we're in here, Dr Holtz, with food and supplies to last us until then.''

''Chi, get me a damage report,'' I ordered and I could hear him humming as he worked. ''We don't have access to that..''

''Director, wanna give us clearance?'' I asked. There was the sound of typing before Chi let out a noise of concern.

''Looks like the worst of it happened ages away from the generator room, so it's going to be a loooong while before anyone can get us out.''

''Forget about us, Chi, you heard the Director, we're going to do just fine. Run some numbers, how many people are going to die before then?'' I said and he made an upset beeping noise. ''How far is it from here to the generator?''

''For you? A long ass walk even if we could get out.''

''Get me vent schematics and answer me that again,'' I told him and he flicked through file after file.

''Alright, even if we could get in, it'd still be a good 30 minutes of crawling through the vents before you get there,'' he told me. ''And you don't even know what the damage is going to be like.''

''Well, if I can't fix it I can always crawl back,'' I shrugged.

''You still need to be able to open the vent, and they were designed to not be easily unscrewed for this exact purpose, or at least the ones leading here,'' the Director told me.

''Chi?'' I asked.

''I don't have any ideas yet,'' he replied.

''Are they designed to be hard to open from this side or the other?'' I asked.

''The other, I think,'' Chi said and I started moving and he directed me to the wall where the vent cover was. I ran my hands over it, trying to get a feel for what I was dealing with. I could hear Chi muttering about it, trying to figure out how we could open it in here with limited access to the appropriate tools.

''Pierce, run stock on what we've got in here that would be helpful in getting this shaft open,'' I barked and he set to work. ''Chi how many pounds of pressure can the metal this cover is made of stand up to?''

''You're not going to be able to just kick it in, if that's what you're asking… unless you could come up with a way to pry the top forward a bit….'' he mumbled the last part.

''What are the legs of the furniture like?'' I asked.

I thought about the table I'd been sitting under and scurried back over to the small end table. I flipped it over and tried to wiggle it free. It took about thirty minutes but I didn't have any other way to knock it out and if I did, that might bend the metal. It was about the right thickness that it could slip into the gap between the vent cover and the vent if I hit it in there hard enough.

''Get one of the couch legs too, should just unscrew,'' Chi told me and I walked over to it, tipping it over with little struggle and ran my hands along the bottom until I could find one of the sturdy, square legs. It was larger than my hand but because of the corners I could grip onto it easily enough.

''Maybe I should have gotten two legs,'' I muttered to myself.

''Let me know when you're ready to stop disassembling the furniture,'' the Director told me. ''The best option really is just to sit and wait. The agents know what they're doing and will get to us in plenty of time.''

''Perhaps Dr Holtz is claustrophobic,'' the Counsellor suggested and I rolled my eyes. Or at least I think I did. ''You wanna get me another one of those table legs or do you wanna just sit there and psychoanalysis me?''

I took my table leg and lined it up with the gap and took a deep breath. Gripping the block leg of the couch I slammed it repeatedly into the end of my wedge. After maybe five minutes of banging I could hear creaking as I bent the vent cover forward. The counsellor came over with a new table leg and I was annoyed it'd taken him so little time compared to me. Lining that one up with the bottom gap and repeating the process.

''What do you expect to do, when you get down there?'' the Counsellor asked.

''What I'm good at,'' I replied with a shrug. ''I fix things, I work with machines.''

''You've never seen something like this,'' the Counsellor told me.

''Yeah, generators in the future would be vastly different to the kinds I'm used to, but you know what hasn't changed? How people go about breaking them,'' I replied. ''And anyway, anything I fall short in, Chi can help me. We've got this. Once I repair the generator I'm going to head back here through the vents and we can go back to waiting to be rescued like some damsels in distress. But until then, people are dying.''

I started trying to hit the bottom of the vent, knock the cover and push the bottom in and the top out. The cover was so big even if I couldn't get it to detach completely I was small enough that maybe I could crawl under it. Giving up on the block, I eventually switched to kicking at it with both feet, remembering just how powerful human thighs were supposed to be.

''M, take a break,'' Chi told me after half an hour of kicking. He sounded like York, he'd even adopted the nickname he usually used on me.

I sighed and wandered over to where the supply cabinet was and grabbed a bottle of water. I'd spent maybe an hour and a half of trying and I had no idea how long we'd been in here before then, just that it had been at least a few hours. I was losing hope I'd actually be able to do anything. Worried that I'd use up all my energy causing minor property damage only for someone to eventually come open our door and find soldiers and staff members lying dead after being caught up in the attack. No, no one was going to bleed out alone today, I had to get the doors back up and open. This is what I signed up for, to help people.

''What do you think, Chi, we take the other two legs and keep trying?'' I asked. He hummed. I knew he was running through our options and he didn't sound all that hopeful. Which was an odd piece of irony. ''We can't give up, Chi. What if it was me, lying out there? Do you think York would give up? Carolina? Wash or North? No. We keep trying.''

''I know,'' he sighed and I tried to wiggle the table legs free.

The Counsellor came over and took over for me, handing me one of the legs in a matter of minutes. I took it and went to bang it into place while he worked on the next one. Thanks to the other legs being in place, the vent over had actually moved quite a bit. With the next leg it moved further still. Deciding on hammering the last leg into the top as well, I heard a final and very loud creek before the vent clattered to the ground. I let out a sigh, thankful I didn't have to kick it. My feet hurt.

''And you thought I couldn't do it,'' I said to the room before dropping to my knees. I clambered over the vent cover and the stray table legs. I pushed the little, rectangular board Chi was loaded onto through the narrow passage before me and scooted through. I didn't bother saying goodbye to the two gentlemen in the vault, if you could call them that.