An Alternate Life AU
Chapter 10 Meeting Bogg
Real
Class the following morning seemed to last forever, and as soon as it was over, Daryl, Gary and Jeffrey headed for the lab.
"I didn't mean anything yesterday, you know?" Daryl had said during the first class break.
"I was mad at myself, not you," Jeff answered.
"I think Voyager Bogg is great, I really do," Daryl continued, "but I don't think you're very logical where he's concerned."
"What do you mean? I'm always logical!" Jeff returned, incensed.
"You said he was overprotective."
"He is!"
"Doesn't he let you solve red lights? And didn't he leave you here with no supervision? How is it overprotective if he does those things?"
Jeff hesitated, Daryl just didn't understand. Bogg wasn't always overprotective, he was just, well, here Jeff was stumped. Bogg seemed overprotective, but was he?
They waved to Dennis and entered the chamber and took their seats as the screen flicked on.
Alternate
In the Medical Center, Jeff sat up in bed.
"Great job!" Jeannie told him. "Now I want you to eat breakfast, and if that goes okay, we can release you."
"Where would I go?" Jeff asked as he took a bite of toast.
She shrugged, "I guess wherever your," she paused, "Voyager Steel says," she finished lamely.
"Will you be there?" Jeff asked hopefully.
"No, I have to work." She turned away and exhaled as she left the room.
At the desk, she asked about Jeff's status.
"Voyager Steel is supposed to be on his way," the manager explained.
An hour later, Jeff was led out of the room to a waiting area. He sat quietly as he waited, but soon was thumbing through a few magazines that were strewn across the few tables in the sparsely decorated area.
As the morning wore on, other people came, waited, then left. Soon Jeff stood up and stretched and began to pace.
Real
"Where is he? I thought he was supposed to come get me?" Jeff said as they watched.
"Let's jump ahead an hour," Daryl replied.
But the scene didn't change. So they jumped ahead another hour, then another, until finally at 3 PM, Dan Steel walked in.
Alternate
"It's about time, I've been waiting forever!" Jeff accused the older voyager as soon as he saw Dan.
"Let's get one thing straight," Dan responded sternly, pointing his finger at Jeff, "I don't want you, but I'm stuck with you until we go to court. End of story. So I don't want to hear any complaints. You should be thanking me that I didn't leave you in some orphanage somewhere."
This proclamation silenced Jeff immediately. His shoulders slumped and he stared at the floor. When Dan turned, he moved to follow him quietly down the hall.
"Where are we going?" Jeff asked as he followed Dan, trying to keep up with his long strides.
Dan stopped and pointed straight ahead, "that's the dormitory. We all stay there when we're back at headquarters," he said, and continued on toward the huge building. He took Jeffrey up to a small room on the second floor. "This is your room, I'm next door. Stay in this building and you won't get into trouble. If you leave it, well, I'm not responsible for what happens." He paused, "I've got something to do, so I'll see you tomorrow."
"I'm hungry, where can I eat?" Jeff asked as Dan paused on his way out the door.
"They didn't feed you at the hospital?"
"Breakfast."
Dan sighed and rolled his eyes.
"Hey Dan," Bogg greeted him as he approached the door across the hall and inserted a key into the lock.
"Look kid, just find the cafeteria and get something, okay? I'll see you tomorrow." He turned to leave and caught Bogg's eye. "Phineas," he acknowledged him, then pulled the door shut and left.
Phineas Bogg watched Dan walk away, and then stared at the door he'd just pulled closed. After a moment, he approached it and knocked.
Jeff stood still in the center of the room after Dan pulled the door closed. "Where's the cafeteria?" he whispered to himself, but before he could think about anything else, he heard a knock.
Jeff smiled and pulled the door open, "I knew you…" his smile disappeared when he saw a stranger standing there.
Phineas saw the smile fade quickly, replaced by a look of fear that was quickly covered up by another smile. "Who're you?" Jeff asked, with false bravado.
Bogg held out his hand, "Phineas Bogg."
"Phineas?" Jeff asked in disbelief as they shook.
Bogg shrugged, "that's my name, what's yours?"
"Jeffrey Jones." He paused, "what do you want?"
"I heard you say you were hungry, I was just heading out for an early supper, and I thought you might want to come." Bogg seemed to be able to watch the wheels turn in Jeff's mind. He'd been afraid at first, so he had acted tough, but he could tell that hunger was winning out.
"Yeah, okay," Jeff replied almost immediately.
"Come on then," Bogg motioned with his head and they started down the hall together.
As they walked, Bogg started to explain the layout of the complex. In the cafeteria, Bogg began another bit of education.
"Did Dan give you a code for food?" Jeff shook his head. "You don't need money here, because everything works on a code system. We type in our code instead of paying for food and other things. My code is 126, you can use that."
"Thanks," Jeff said and typed the numbers into the screen as they left the line.
They ate in silence, until Jeff finally spoke. "Why're you doing this?"
"Doing what?"
"Teaching me this, giving me your code, you know, being nice."
"I'm a nice guy."
"No really, you don't even know me."
"I know you said you were hungry."
"So?"
Bogg shrugged, "So if you're hungry, I'll feed you, what's so hard to understand about that?"
"Dan didn't care that I was hungry."
"Every voyager is different, we're just people you know."
"Oh."
"This is my favorite," Bogg said digging into a giant piece of chocolate cake.
Jeff smiled, then chuckled and tried his piece, "it IS good," he said with his mouth full.
"I heard you have to wait a week for the Tribunal to decide what to do with you."
"Word gets around I guess."
"Yeah, so we should find you something to do to take up your time. What do you like?"
"I like to read."
Bogg took another bite of the chocolate cake and slowly chewed it. "How do you feel about libraries?" he finally asked.
"I love libraries…is there one here?"
Bogg nodded as he finished the cake. "Come on, I'll show you," and they got up and left through a side door.
"Dan told me not to leave the building," Jeff said, hesitating as they stepped outside.
Phineas faced him, "you're with me. Besides, once you get a book, you'll be able to read to pass the time in your room."
Jeff smiled from ear to ear, "alright!" he exclaimed.
They walked across a large expanse of grass and between two buildings off to the left.
"Why were you having such an early supper?" Jeff asked as they walked.
"I wanted to get to bed early, my Omni's been malfunctioning, I haven't had a break." They walked further and turned a corner, "there it is."
The building was huge, and Jeff smiled as he thought about all the books it could hold. He jogged the last few steps and pulled the door handle, but it didn't budge. He glanced at Bogg in confusion.
"Use the keypad," Bogg instructed, indicating an area next to the door.
Jeff typed 126 into the keypad and heard a click as the door unlocked.
They found their way to the young adult section and Jeffrey began searching up and down the stacks, while Phineas sat down to wait. He leaned back and closed his eyes.
"The library will be closing in 30 minutes, please make your way to the lower level." The announcement was loud enough to startle Phineas and he sat up quickly. He must have fallen asleep. He glanced around and saw the kid, curled up on a chair a few feet away, sound asleep, an open book in his lap.
"Hey kid, time to go," he said as he moved to shake his arm.
"Huh?"
"Guess we were both tired. It's time to leave."
Jeff nodded and stood up. "They said I'd sleep a lot."
Bogg frowned, "who said? Were you in the medical center today?"
"Yeah."
It was dark as they made their way back to the dormitory.
As they approached their rooms, Bogg spoke again, "you just got out of the infirmary, maybe you shouldn't be alone. You can stay with me tonight if you want."
Jeff hesitated, and glanced at the door of his room across the hall, then up at Bogg. "I… okay, thanks."