Three months had gone by since they'd all left the galaxy and Destiny seemed almost eerily quiet without the crew running around the halls. Ez and his older sister spent most of their time on the bridge or in their quarters since all but an tenth of the ship had been shut down to conserve as much power as possible so there weren't many other places on board they could go, just the Control Interface Room, hydroponics, the gate room, the few halls that connected them and if needed the engine rooms; the two of them didn't really need more. They sailed through the cosmos, just them, an arc, in an ocean of dark, no stars to light the universe around them nor planets or natural satellites, just a bleak wasteland. Despite all that though the FTL glow provided a beauty few humans had ever had the good fortune to witness.

In very little time the two had learnt to read one another almost effortlessly so some days they hardly spoke, just interpreted what the other needed and set to work. Cress scribbled on her arms as usual with, her feet swinging over the arm of Destiny's command chair, heels almost scraping Vulpine's ears. In that moment all was silent, she could hardly even hear the engines purr, the footfalls of her brother soon broke that silence though. When he came into view the boy held three small plates of food and had that look in his unique eyes, the one that said he was thinking, always thinking. Ezra knew his sister was too much like their father, a Daddy's girls, if he didn't sit a plate in front of her like his Mother had to with Rush Cressida would never eat. He set one of the plates down on the floor before Vulpine who ate quickly and hungrily before pushing another into Cress' hands. He was pleased when his sister just started to eat without trying to set it aside or announce she wasn't hungry.

Cressida was wrapped up in Eli's blue hoodie, it was much too large on Cress' tiny frame, almost comically so but it smelt of him and kept her warm.

"Thank you, Ez." She said softly as her little brother slumped down onto the floor beside the Elcress and tucked his legs under himself, he quickly noticed she picked at her food more than eat it.

"Seriously what's wrong with you, Cress?" She said nothing. "It's the nightmares isn't it, don't lie to me, sister. I'm the only one you ever told about them remember?"

"I know and thank you. You're right, it's them, I still don't know why I remember them. I shouldn't be able to, who knows, maybe the Nakai installed some kind of backup ability into us." Cress fixed her eyes Vulpine who ate merrily.

"It's the one about setting the fire, isn't it." It wasn't a question.

"Yes. It's not even the actual act I remember, it's heat, it's the fact I was pleased because it had satisfied the Nakai."

"None of that is your fault, they forced you, Cress. And look at it this way, if you'd not done what they wanted then they wouldn't have caught up and Mom and Pops wouldn't have found me."

She knew her brother was right, and even if Cress could have changed things she wouldn't if it meant her brother wouldn't have been there with her.

"I know it wasn't my fault but it's always going to feel that way and even when I did turn on them, I could have killed you." There was a single second of pause before her eyebrow raised. "And since when did you start calling Daddy Pops?"

"That's what the guy who works for Uncle Jack calls him, always asks 'how's your Pops and the others', I kinda like it." Ezra set his empty plate down beside the remnants of Vulpine's and shuffled closer to the command chair. "You should visit Earth, you'd like it. It's just like Mom said."

Finally Cress looked at her brother.

"Someone needs to stay on the ship... and, I want the first time I go to Earth to be as me."

Ez chuckled. "You're too much like Pops, even if we do get to go back to Earth you'll want to stay on Destiny. I think Mom might want to stay too."

"Do you?"

"As long as I get to visit Earth when I want of course I do. This ship is our home, we were basically born here, Cress."

"Good. Now shut up and let me finish eating, I like the quiet."

"Yep, way too much like Pops."

XXXX

Since they'd had complete access to Destiny's system the siblings had been able to have a pretty good look through the data banks, they'd not got even a third of the way through but it was more than they had a two years ago when everyone had gone into stasis. They'd not found anything of real importance as of yet but Cress and Ez wouldn't write it off as useless until they'd gone through absolutely everything.

At the age of fourteen Cressida had found her body starting to develop, just minor things but she knew that soon enough her body would grow inviting curves just like those of her Mother's. Ez – who was eleven – hadn't changed all that much, his hair was longer making him look like their father and his heterochromia had somehow become even more prominent; he also seemed to be in the beginnings of a growth spurt.

Speaking of Ezra, he'd gone to check on the stasis chambers almost an hour ago and she'd not seen him since, Cress would have used her radio but she could see her brother's on the command chair; walking off without it had become a habit of late and she'd started to wonder if she should just tie it to him. With a sigh she went down the halls to her parent's stasis room but her brother was nowhere to be found.

"He gets his vanishing act from you, Daddy." She told the frozen form of her father with a soft smile. "And he says I'm too much like you." She rested her hand on his chamber. "I love you, Daddy, you to Mom."

With that she was off to the other rooms to find her brother, if she remained before her parents any longer she'd cry; Cress missed them so much. The teenager quickly searched the other stasis rooms, the sleeves of Eli's blue hoodie constantly falling down her arms forcing her to roll them back up. The fabric was warm and soft, it even still smelt of Eli – which was surprising – but it was much too big on her little frame; she'd started to wonder if she could use it as a tent. Just as her mind started to wander off to Eli and his stupid jokes Cress came across her little brother in stasis room three, he sat cross-legged on the floor hunched over with his unique eyes looking at Ingrid Watson the pregnant civilian among their crew.

"Ez? Ez, what are you doing?" Cress crouched down by his side, eyes glanced between her brother and Ingrid.

"Just thinking." He told her softly.

"What about?" She settled by his side. "You look like something is bothering you."

Ezra didn't speak for a long time and Cress started to grow concerned, she'd never seen her brother like this, he was usually so full of life just like their Mother but in the last few weeks he'd started to grow quiet. In the beginning she'd just dismissed it as the mood changes of a boy nearing puberty but sat there with him she could see it was something else; their bodies may have seemed child-like but their minds certainly weren't.

"Pops loves Mom. Colonel Young loves TJ, Varro loves TJ. Greer is with Lisa." He went quiet again after that.

"Ezra, I don't understand."

He pointed up at Ingrid and her small rounded belly. "That's what people are meant to want right? Find a girl, settle down and have children, live happily ever after."

"I think everyone wants a family. I still don't understand though, Ez."

"I like the sound of that, the happily ever after bit, maybe even have kids. The problem is the... the find a girl part."

Cress smiled softly. "I know that the only person on the ship near your age is me, but we'll get to Earth and you'll meet someone. Not everyone has to travel into the recesses of space to find love like Daddy did."

"No, it's not that it-" He cut himself off and went quiet again but Cress just waited patiently and eventually he carried on. "I don't like them." Ez glanced up at his sister.

"How do you know that until you've met them?"

"No- I think the Nakai did something to me, twisted things." Tears started to fall from his eyes and in an instant Cress had him wrapped up in her arms. "I've never been right, I just didn't realise it until recently. I don't like them, Cress."

Suddenly it all clicked into place and she finally understood what her little brother was struggling to tell her.

"Oh." Ez clung to her. "Ezra, there's nothing wrong with you."

"There has to be."

"No, there is nothing wrong with you. Just because you don't know what it is doesn't mean it's wrong." His head left her shoulder and glance up at her for a moment, eyes red. "You're gay."

"I'm what?"

"Gay, and you're not alone, Camile is too. It refers to someone whose sexually attracted to someone of the same gender. That's what you're trying to say isn't it? That you don't like girls."

He didn't speak, just nodded.

"I asked Camile about it once, I think I insulted her actually but that was because I didn't understand. She said that it's not a choice, not something you can control, apparently you're just born that way. I don't know why and I get the feeling that no one does, but Camile said that there are lots of people on Earth who are, men and women. I won't pretend to fully understand it since I don't feel that way, you'd be better talking to Camile, but I do know there's nothing wrong with you. It's just who you are, Ezra. So please don't cry, you're still my brother."

"You're sure they didn't do something to me?" He asked while wiping tears from his cheeks.

"Yes. You're eyes, me fighting back and helping to save the ship, they're all things that just happened, this is no different."

"Thank you."

The siblings sat there in utter silence for a long time, just the sound of soft breathing filling the room until their legs started to cramp, that finally forced Cress to speak.

"Come on, my legs have gone dead and Vulpine probably thinks we've abandoned him." Ez stood and helped his sister up with him. As they left the stasis room for the bridge Cressida grinned. "So, if you only just realised it recently does that mean there's some cute guy on Earth?"

Ezra just grinned.