So, after dragging my feet for a while, I finally decided to post a new chapter. I apologize for taking so long. My personal life has been a wreck these last few months, and I really haven't been up to updating this story like I should have. However, I think I've dawdled around enough. Time to put on my big girl boots and get this show on the road. I would like to give a huge thanks to all of my reviewers and to everyone who took the time to read and favorite. You guys are the best.a

"Thanks for walking with me, Nihlus." Nebula said, stopping in front of the hotel door. His mandibles twitched nervously, and he nodded. "You're welcome." And awkward silence settled over them, each unsure of what to do or say next. "So... I had fun." she said, smiling up at him. His mandibles spread to match her grin. "I did too."

"We should do it again some time." Her voice was hopeful, almost as if she were asking. A tension he hand't realized he was holding eased almost immediately. "Definitely." he said. Nebula beamed. "Sweet!"

The hug came without warning. She threw her arms around his crowl, catching him completely off guard. It took him a moment to recognize it as the display of affection it was intended to be, but managed to return the embrace before she could pull away. She smiled sheepishly as color rose to her cheeks, turning them a bright shade of red. He smirked, causing her to blush even harder. She cleared her throat.

"Well, this has been sufficiently awkward. I guess I'll see you later." She turned to go inside. "Nebula?" She stopped and looked back at him, the question hanging in her eyes. "Do you have any plans for tonight? I don't know how long I have until the Council give me another assignment. I'd like to see you again before I have to leave."

The smile that spread across her face lit up her eyes. "I'd like that." There it was again. That easing of tension. That relief. "I'll see you tonight then." he said. Nebula nodded. "Definitely." she said, then continued into the hotel.

"Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in."

Nebula grinned. She would recognize Ellie's taunting anywhere. She turned to her friend and raised an eyebrow. "I know that smirk, Ellie. What are you up to?" she asked, eyeing the red-head suspiciously. Ellie pushed off the wall and draped her arm across Nebula's shoulders. "Where ya been bestie?" she asked. Nebula laughed. "Nosy much?" she chided. Ellie simply grinned. "Only because I love you, Neb."

They shared a laugh and made their way up to their room. Once inside, Ellie closed the door behind them. "So, I saw you leave with that turian last night." she said, waggling her eyebrows. Nebula flashed a coy smile. "Your point?" she asked.

"Don't play dumb with me missy. You leave with him last night, then don't show up again until this late in the day?"

Nebula cut her off. "You want to know if I slept with him." she stated matter-of-factly. Ellie snickered. "You know me too well, Neb." The silence hung between them for the span of a few heartbeats. "So did you?"

Nebula cast her a withering look, and Ellie held up her hands in defeat. "Okay, you didn't sleep with him. So what did you do?" she asked. They settled themselves on the bed as Nebula recounted the events of the previous night, and Ellie listened with quiet fascination. When she was finished, Ellie sighed. "You're so boring, Neb. Didn't I teach you anything?" she said. Nebula shook her head. "We can't all be night club queens like you."

"Are you going to see him again."

"Of course."

A wide grin crept across Ellie's face. "When?" she asked. Now it was Nebula's turn to grin. "Tonight."

Ellie squealed in delight and pulled Nebula into a bone-crushing hug. "My bestie is going on her first real date since high school!" she gushed.

"It's not a date."

"Oh really? Well what would you call it? You spend all night together, he walks you back to your hotel, then asks to see you again tonight. Sounds like a date to me."

Nebula shot a glare at Ellie. "It's not a date!" Ellie's grin only widened. "Deny it all you want Nebby-dear. You aren't fooling me." she said. As they stared each other down, Ellie waggled her eyebrows. "You won't win." she said, causing Neblua to dissolve into a fit of laughter. "You are such a cheater." Ellie shrugged. "You're just mad because you're a loser." she said. "Soulless ginger." Neblua retorted. Ellie clutched her abdomen, as if she'd been punched. "Ouch. Low blow." "Serves you right." Neblua said, standing up and making her way across the room.

"Where the hell do you think you're going? This conversation isn't finished!" Ellie called after her. "I'd like to take a shower, if that's okay with you!" Ellie threw herself dramatically back onto the bed. "Finally! I can smell you from here!" she exclaimed.

"Fuck you, Ellie."

"Only if you buy me dinner first." the red-head quipped. Nebula flipped her the bird, and Ellie blew her a kiss. "May I go take a shower now?" she asked. She didn't wait around to hear the answer.

"Seriously! You should wear this one! It would be perfect with that top you have on!" Ellie insisted, holding up what Nebula assumed had once been a skirt. She wasn't entirely certain. It was so short she was almost sure it had to be missing a few pieces. She shook her head. "Make it stop!" she whined. Ellie scowled, lowering the offending article. "Will you at least try it?" she asked. Not a chance. "I don't even know what it is!" Nebula said, determined that she wasn't going to touch it. "It's a skirt!" Suspicion confirmed. "Hell no! There's no way that thing will cover my ass! I'd be better off wearing it as a scarf!"

Ellie threw up her hands, exasperated. "You're impossible!" she shouted, tossing the skirt back intro her luggage. Nebula was relieved when her omni-tool pinged, signifying an incoming message.

20:25: N.K. Still want to go out tonight?

20:26: N.C. If it gets me the hell out of here, I'll go tap danging though hell with a can of gasoline strapped to my back.

20:26: N.K. I'm going to assume that means yes.

20:27: N.C. It does. Just get me out of here. I don't know how much more Dolly Divine I can take!

20:27: N.K. Dolly Divine?

20:28: N.C. Ellie's spent the last 3 thours using me as her personal dress-up doll.

20:28: N.K. Ouch.

20:28: N.K. If you want to make a break for it, I meet you outside in a few minutes.

20:29: N.C. Running for the hills right now.

20:29: N.K. How does that work? There aren't any hills to run to.

20:30: N.C. Smartass.

Muttering a quick goodbye to Ellie, Nebula threw on her jacket and raced down the stairs. She pushed through the double doors, spotting Nihlus as he turned the corner. "I'm saved!" she cried. Nihlus rolled his eyes. "It couldn't have been that bad." he said, skeptical. "That's what you think. You didn't see the last thing she tried to make me wear." Nebula protested, shuddering as her thoughts returned to the too-short-skirt. He laughed. "Well, the rest of the night will be better. Spectre's honor." he assured her.

They walked down the crowded streets, talking and laughing as they had the previous night. It still amazed her, how easily conversation came for them. "So what exactly are we doing tonight?" she asked. The question gave him pause. He turned his eyes towards her, his mandibles twitching slightly. "Damnit. Why is his face so difficult to read?" she thought, studying him. "You haven't even thought about it, have you?" she asked. Nihlus shook his head. "No," he admitted, "Shooting people is more my thing." That caused her to laugh. "At least you can actually hit your target. I sit behind a console all day. My aim is shit." she said. "That bad, huh?" Nihlus said. Nebula snorted. "I can hit the broad side of a cruiser, but that's about it. Only guns I'm any good with are the big ones on the Cairo."

"And the brass is still debating whether they should have even let you anywhere near those guns, Neb." someone said from behind her. She recognized the voice instantly, and a smirk played on her lips as she turned. "Well, we can't all be sharp-shooters like you, Orion." she said, "How have you been?" "Well, I'm a hell of a lot better now that I know you're alive." he replaied, glaring. Nebula winced. 'Sorry about that." she said. Orion held up a hand to silence her before pulling her into a bone-crushing hug. "I'm just glad you're okay." Nebula returned the embrace and smiled, "Thanks." she said.

Nebula turned to Nihlus as Orion released her, making introductions. "Nihlus, this is my brother Orion. Orion, my friend Nihlus." They gave each other a nod of acknowledgement, and Orion turned his attention back to Nebula. "You know mom and Aurora are going to be pissed, right? They've been blowing my omni-tool up the last two days to see if I had heard anything about you. You need to call them ASAP." he said. Nebula rolled her eyes. "I'm not a baby, Orion. I'll call them after I get back to my room." she said. Nihlus chuckled. "You can't blame a guy for being concerned about his little sister." he said. "I'm not his little sister." Nebula said.

"Technically, you are." Orion corrected her. Nebula shot him a glare. "By five minutes and thirty eight seconds. That hardly counts." she said. "You guys are twins?" Nihlus asked, confused. They responded in unison.

"Triplets."

"Oh. I take it Aurora is the third, then?" Nihlus asked. Nebula nodded. "Good guess." she said. "Wasn't hard to figure out. Orion, Aurora, and Nebula. Dead give-away." he said. Nebula and Orion laughed. "Yeah, our parents wanted all of our names to be related somehow." Orion explained. "Dad had a thing for space travel. Ran a merchant frigate before he was killed." Nebula continued.

"And presto. Space names for the triplets."

"As if that wasn't bad enough, all of our middle names start with J"

"James, Jade..."

"...And Jeanine."

Nihlus doubled over in laughter. "You guys always finish each others sentences like that?" he asked. Nebula blushed, Orion smirked, and they nodded in unison. "Some sort of weird triplet telepathy, I guess." Nebula said. She gave Nihlus' arm a gentle tug. "We should probably get going." she said. "Awww. Is wittle Neb embawassed?" Orion asked in jest. "You're an ass." Nebula said. They smiled and gave each other one last hug. "Take care of yourslef, Neb." Orion said. Nebula nodded. "You too, Ri." As they turned to leave, Orion shouted after them. "Call mom, damnit!" Nebula smiled. "I will."

Nebula and Nihlus, continued on in silence. "Sorry about that." Nebula said, after a moment. Nihlus laughed. "Don't be. That's how families are supporsed to be." Nebula shrugged. "I guess," she said, "Sibling rivalry and all that." "At least you have siblings to fight with. I had myself. It gets boring after a while." Nihlus replied. Nebula chuckled and nodded. "True enough. I can bitch about Aurora and Orion all I want, but we've had a lot of fun together." She paused a moment. "At least Orion and I did. Aurora didn't. Orion and I pranked her mercilessly." she said. "Spirits, dare I even ask what you did to her?" Nihlus asked. Nebula grinned devilishly. "Oh, nothing major. Replace her deodorant with cream cheese, fake bugs in her bed, hair dye in her shampoo. You know, harmless things," she laughed, "The best one we ever pulled was when we buried her bedroom under a mountain of newspaper. She had been staying with one of her friends over the weekend and came back to find her room filled to the ceiling with newspapers." Nihlus' mandibles spread as he grinned. "I can't imagine she was happy." he said. Nebula shook her head, still laughing. "No. She was fucking pissed. She didn't speak to us for a week after that." "I can't imagine why." Nihlus said.

He looked at her curiously then. "So, you said you couldn't shoot?" he asked. Nebula shook her head. "Not if my life depended on it." she replied. Nihlus grinned and took her by the hand. "Let's see if we can change that."

I apologize again for the incredibly long hiatus. I've been struggling with this chapter a lot, due largely to a combination of personal drama and writer's block. I'm still not entirely happy with it. The only reason I've even put this chapter out is because I've been pushing myself to get the creative juices flowing once again. Perhaps I'll delete and re-write it if I think of something better to put in it's place. In the mean time, I hope you guys are more satisfied with it than I am. Thanks to:

xx-ENZERU

Kanaydian Dragon

JTheClivaz

GilTano

for their wonderful reviews. Special thanks to J, for being an ever loyal reviewer, and to Gil, for telling me not to give up. Seriously, dude. You have no idea how much that one little statement helped me out, and not even just with this story. Like I said, I have a lot of personal shit going down, and for some reason, that helped.