Stinger isn't surprised at the media attention camped outside the complex. But it makes his job more difficult and he swears a blue streak at the inconsiderate media hounds. He has the rest of the family flown in cloaked. But Aleksa unfortunately has to face the crowd, or they won't leave her alone. At least he can be there to help her through it. Upon landing, he counsels her on how to handle the tide of reporters.

One of the crew had been kind enough to give her a scarf and perfume to dress up the simple uniforms they had aboard the ship. Reflexively she slips her arm into his as he leads her down the walkway, escorted by several Zeroes. This Zero variety has cannons and arms.

Instantly she's flooded by a barrage of questions about her discovery. At first she does well answering as many as she can. But the flurry doesn't stop and they don't even seem to wait for her to finish answering before another is asked. She looks to Stinger and he mouths, 'Done?' and she nods vigorously.

"That is all for now. Excuse us." He guides her through the throng of floating microphones and live video feeds. Questions continue to bombard her and Aleksa stiffens as it becomes harder and harder to take. Patting her hand to try to bring her calm, he reverts to his military training. He taps the back of his neck and neural net messages the Zeroes to close in.

"Make way for the Lady Jones!" Stinger barks so harshly that it makes Aleksa jump — the crowd parts in deference. Aleksa isn't sure if it's due to his commanding presence, his reputation, or the fact that technically she's 'Lady Jones' now. Or maybe it's all three.

When they're finally within a stone's throw of the entrance to a castle that Aleksa can only gawk in awe and compare to the Taj Mahal surrounded by some sort of force field. Out of nowhere Stinger jerks her down to the ground and she hears shots fired as one of the zeroes scoops the two of them up into an energy shield. She hears a roar from the machine and suddenly they're flying into the castle's shield. As Stinger sits up she sees the lush gardens and pools pass under them. Turning her attention to him, his eyes are attentively sweeping the landscape for any dangers, but he's holding his side as blood soaks his clothes.

"Oh god, no. Not again," she bemoans and starts to cry.

Wiping a tear from her cheek he comforts but the wound makes it difficult, "Shush now, m'lady. They'll get me patched up in no time."

She looks at him doubtfully, but he gives a decisive single nod.

Removing the scarf from her neck she takes his bloodied hand, moving it out of the way and urging him to lay back so she can put pressure on the wound. He sucks in a breath and hisses, "Careful!"

She curls into the Zero's hand next to him in order to keep steady and be of some help. Several moments pass by, but it feels like an eternity to her. While she's holding him, it's not how she'd prefer to be laying beside him. Every second that passes she's more worried that he might be wrong and it's churning her insides. Breathing is hard for him and there's so much oozing red that she can't look. But to say anything would be an insult. She's not sure, but he may have sensed her worry because he uses his free arm to stroke her hair.

"You wore lavender today," he comments out of the blue and it catches her off guard.

She nods into his shoulder.

"You shouldn't wear anythin' else," he continues.

That causes her to blink and a retort pops out of her mouth before she can stop it. "That's um… quite forward of you, Sir. Especially considering you can't take proper advantage of that in your current condition."

His snort of laughter is cut short by the pain in his side and she kisses his cheek before snuggling back a little closer into his chest as they touch down, "Well, I know what you meant."

They're met by a medi team and Aleksa is gently but firmly pulled away from Stinger. Though, she clenches her fists and flat out refuses to go inside until she knows he's safe. "What are you stupid or something? I'm staying here with him! You do not want to see the Bolotnikov temper!"

One rookie staff member, named Takul, makes the mistake of trying one more time. Placing a hand on her arm and tugging he urges, "But Lady Jones, you'll be safer inside and what if you're hit too?"

Grabbing the poor fellow's hand in a crushing grip - from years of hard labor, she extracts his hand from her arm and lowers her voice to a steely rumble, "I gave birth with no hope of any medical help or relief. I'll do damn well as I please right now. And if he is not being cared for with the same care I'd receive, that will be remedied immediately." The young looking servant, despite being quite a bit taller and stronger than her, looks in awe and steps back several paces.

Stinger glances up at her with an appreciative smirk, but then his expression changes with the exertion to speak. "M'lady, are you sure? I'd be appreciative, but if you knew what the cost is - you might think twice."

"I'm not worried about money," she glares, appalled that he'd think he should receive anything less.

"That's not the kind of cost I'm talkin' about. Jupiter gets her moral compass from you. Fewer die for the less expensive stuff. That's all I'm sayin'," he pants as a servant arrives with a glowing tube.

"Yes," she says and then bobs her head deciding officially after the fact. "But I'll need to understand more about this all later."

"Just heal, no dunk," he instructs painfully, knowing that she'll not take it well when she finds out what the glowing stuff really is.

Instead of the dreadful burn that usually comes with what he refers to as 'juice', it's a soothing salve and he instantly relaxes as the high grade RegeneX does it's magic - stitching him up good as new where the shot wound was.

Aleksa's eyes go wide when a few moments after starting to attend Stinger, one of the medics offers him a hand up. She'd mentally prepared for hours of surgery. Suddenly her knees feel wobbly, now that the adrenaline is done running it's course through her veins. The attendant that had tried to assist her before gets a shock when she grabs his shoulder and leans heavily on him, "Help me inside, please."

"I'll do it," Stinger insists and jogs up to relieve the young man.

"But…" Aleksa weakly protests, still mentally reeling from how quickly everything is happening around her. How can he be able to help her already?

Slipping his arm around her waist and giving her support as they walk, "You're a brave woman, m'lady. He can help us find you sit and a drink."

"Something strong…" she mumbles almost incoherently.

Nuzzling her head with his cheek, he comforts, "As you wish."

…

Nino is so giddy she's vibrating when she sees Stinger tenderly helping Aleksa into the sitting room to join the rest of the family. But she gasps at his blood soaked shirt and jacket and Aleksa's sticky hands. After the pair gets cleaned up and the group has another round of drinks, Aleksa shares the tale of the attack.

Everyone insists on poking and prodding Stinger's side when she tells of the miraculous healing. After the 3rd poke he curls up protectively and declares his ticklish side off limits - which only makes the matter worse. Aleksa teases him as Nino and Moltka insist on trying to get that spot, "Welcome to the Bolotnikov household. When we tease, it's love and acceptance." Stinger manages to get Moltka in a hold and gives him a knuckle rub on the head as Nino tries to pull the boy out to rescue him. When Vladie comes to help Nino, Stinger counts down "3...2...1!", then lets go. The whole trio goes sprawling backwards much to everyone's amusement.

Holding her sides from the laughter, Aleksa leans on Stinger and whispers, "You're as much a rascal as they are."

He puts an arm around her. "I had to deal with a squad of 50 of them for my first command in the Legion. Play is good for bondin', but I had to always stay a step ahead."

…

As Stinger predicted, Aleksa and clan don't take it well when they find out what the substance that healed him is made of. The staff is required to reiterate Queen Jupiter's policy - emergencies only and when it's gone it's gone. The Bolotnikovs take it even worse when they find out Earth was just barely saved from harvest by their very own Jupiter at great risk to herself. Stinger assures them all that Jupiter has put the planet on the list to join the commonwealth and that Jupiter and some powerful friends are working on alternatives so they can shut down the market.