Never Hurts To Help

Chapter Nine: The Arrival

Here it is, the day of the handoff. Sylvia had better decide what she's doing soon!

See you at the bottom!

Sylvia woke to sunlight, the logs settling in the fire, and a mouth-watering smell.

As she'd predicted, she hadn't slept well. Thoughts of the handoff today had continued circling in her mind and it had been a long time before she was able to drift off. She blinked blearily, sitting up and looking across to where Wander was cooking. It looked a little more elaborate than the pancakes from yesterday, and she wasn't sure what he was making, though it smelled delicious.

It didn't seem like he'd noticed she was awake yet, as he looked to be intensely focused on his cooking.

Sylvia stretched luxuriously, keeping one eye on the little chef as he somehow juggled two pans, a flipper and a toasting fork at once.

It still felt slightly strange to see him there. She wouldn't have blamed him if he'd snuck away during the night, though she hadn't really expected him to.

Which meant it was still her problem.

She felt absurdly like she was fighting a losing battle. Logically, she knew it made more sense to turn Wander in, regardless of how nice he was. She'd captured and traded in plenty of 'nice' aliens before, after all. It should be an easy choice. If she continued what she was doing, she'd maintain her reputation as a ruthless, effective bounty hunter, get more money than she'd ever dreamed of having, Grop, she'd probably get to retire if she wanted to. If she listened to the treacherous voice inside of her and let the little alien go, then she'd still be in debt, chased by loan sharks, criminal syndicates and other unsavory characters. Not to mention that she might be making an enemy out of her client, assuming she wanted Wander as badly as his bounty suggested.

Yep; it really should be an easy choice, and yet somehow it wasn't.

Getting to her feet, Sylvia stalked over to the campfire, stopping next to Wander so she could get a good look at what he was currently transferring from the pans to two plates. He turned as she came up, deftly finishing his plating as he did so.

"Mornin', Sylvia!" he greeted with an almost painfully large smile.

"Yeah, morning," Sylvia muttered back. She didn't look him in the eye, pretending to focus on the plate he was holding out to her. It contained a mixture of rice and some small black beans with sliced tomatoes on top and some kind of sauce, a bowl of mixed fruits and two slices of perfectly browned toast. She took the plate hesitantly, seating herself on the big rock by the fire. Wander trotted back to his pans for a moment, then returned holding a steaming mug. This time, Sylvia wasn't shy in taking it from him. She took a long drink, sighing in bliss. The coffee was a little strong for her, but she wasn't complaining as it cleared some of the fog in her head. She shot Wander a look as he retrieved his own plate and sat beside her.

"Where'd you get all of this stuff?"

"I did some foragin' this morning."

"And the coffee? That glagmuncher didn't have any on his ship. I looked."

"Guess I had some with me. Ya really looked like ya needed it." Wander glanced from Sylvia to her plate, biting his lip with anticipation. He was clearly waiting to see if she liked the breakfast. Sylvia sighed. She took a bite of the toast, smiling involuntarily as it crunched deliciously. She had no idea where Wander had found fresh bread around here either, but decided not to ask.

Wander's smile widened again when he saw her eating, and he started on his own breakfast. For a while, they ate in a somewhat companionable silence, the only sounds being crunching and slurping. It was strangely peaceful, and Sylvia briefly found herself wishing they really were just two friends traveling through the galaxy together, without the problems and the divisions that existed in real life. It was an appealing fantasy, but it was just that; a fantasy.

Sylvia finished the last of her breakfast, her smile disappearing at the same time. She glanced at the horizon. The sun was now fully visible above the treeline, high in the sky.

"It's time to go."

Wander glanced up from where he was washing his dishes in a pot of water. She thought he looked sad for a moment, but she must have imagined it because the next second he was smiling up at her as usual. He dumped out the water, standing and slipping the dishes into his hat.

"Okey-doke!" he said agreeably. He paused for a moment, glancing around at the clearing, the trees and campfire. "This is a nice little planet though. We should come here again sometime."

"Yeah, sure." Sylvia's voice was flat. That wasn't going to happen, but she couldn't bring herself to correct him.

Wander put out the fire while Sylvia checked the camp, throwing the rest of their meagre gear into the ship. They climbed in and Sylvia started the engine, setting their course back for Quarth, a dense pit forming in her stomach as she did so.

This time, the trip felt both too short and agonizingly long. She couldn't look at Wander, and even his chattering petered out after a while as she stared stonily out the window.

Then they were there.

Sylvia parked the ship and looked out at the dull, gray landscape. She couldn't see very far because there seemed to be a thick, greasy looking fog seeping out of the rocks. The ground was gray, the rocks were gray, even the sky looked gray. Even Wander was quiet. She could feel him looking at her, but she didn't look back.

She opened the door of the ship and stepped out into the merk, walking forward slowly until she had a better view of the landscape, such as it was. She heard the creak of his door, then quiet footsteps as Wander followed. There was still about half an hour before the handoff, and no sign of Lady Infinite's ship so far.

They stood together silently for a minute, watching the sky, waiting.

Unwillingly, Sylvia felt an impulse to look at Wander. His unusual silence was starting to bother her. Her gaze shifted to him, and she felt her heart give an unexpected lurch. Wander was looking at her, and for almost the first time since she'd met him, he didn't look happy. He looked worried, maybe even sad, and more than that, he looked small.

When he saw her looking, his gaze shot to his feet, then back to her again, and he wrapped his arms around himself as though he was cold.

"Guess this is gonna be goodbye, huh?" His voice too was low and sad, not at all the way he normally sounded. Sylvia felt a heaviness settle over her at the sound, at the look of him standing there in the grayness. It looked like the situation was finally getting to him, though the realization brought her precious little comfort now.

"I guess so," she said dully. There was another pause.

"Didja have at least a little fun, Sylvia?"

Sylvia froze. That's what he'd been worried about?

Wander rubbed his upper arm with one hand, looking up at her shyly.

"I know I caused ya some problems, an' ya didn't exactly love my company at first, but I think we were startin' to make a pretty good team by the end, an' I sure had fun travelin' with you, Sylvia. Didja have some fun with me too?"

"Get out of here."

Wander tilted his head to the side, confusion creeping across his face.

"Pardon?"

"Leave, escape, whatever! Go hide or something before they get here!" Sylvia found she was yelling.

"You sure, Sylvia?" Wander sounded genuinely surprised. "Why?"

"Oh Grop!" Sylvia slapped a hand to her forehead before glaring down at him again. "I did have fun with you, okay? It wasn't on purpose. I tried not to! I tried to be the big bad bounty hunter but you just wouldn't leave it alone. So, go! You win, okay? I can't do it! I can't turn you in." She crossed her arms, glaring at the little alien like he was responsible for all the problems in her life.

There was another pause, longer this time. Wander seemed almost sadder now. He looked at Sylvia, at the sky, and at the dull horizon on this grimy world, nothing but the gray sand and slimy looking rocks sticking out of the shrouding fog. Then a smile crept over Wander's face, that smile Sylvia had grown all too unwillingly familiar with. It was a soft, gentle smile, and Sylvia found it hard to look at, even now. She didn't want to admit she had missed it.

"Ya know," Wander said thoughtfully. "You could come with me."

Now it was Sylvia's turn to balk.

"What?"

Wander took a step closer, almost bouncing on his heals. His eyes were big and hopeful. They made Sylvia's stomach twist.

"Ya said you had fun with me. We could travel together, see different planets an' meet all kinds a' different folks, have adventures an' help people! What d'ya say?"

Sylvia didn't answer. Her brain seemed to be stuttering.

In all her dithering and arguing with herself, the idea of traveling with Wander had never occurred to her. She had only thought of letting him go or not, and the problems she would face because of either choice. She certainly hadn't expected the offer, and a large part of her felt that she didn't deserve it. They had been traveling together because she'd captured him, after all, whatever it had become afterward. He'd consented to stay with her when he could have escaped, but she supposed she'd never expected him to want to be with her for longer. She'd never thought about whether she would want to be with him.

Wander was still giving her that hopeful smile, hands clasped, standing on his tip toes to bring him closer to her.

It could never work, she told herself. If they traveled together, they'd be chased twice as much, him for his bounty and her by a long line of people she'd swindled and cheated. Besides, they were too different. She tried to ignore the disappointment swirling through her gut at the thought. As usual, Wander didn't seem to see any problems with his proposed course of action. He seemed perfectly convinced things would be fine.

He was so flarping weird.

Sylvia was pretty sure Wander was the only person in the galaxy who would have thought them teaming up was a good idea. Even their surroundings seemed to agree with her. The sky had started darkening now, a shadow creeping across Wander's smiling face and further dulling the fog-shrouded landscape.

Wait…

Sylvia looked up, eyes reluctantly finding what she knew would be there.

The ship was massive, taking up most of the sky from their perspective. It was copper coloured, burnished and well maintained, but old fashioned, she noticed absently, with a bulkier shape that wasn't seen nowadays, and strange, stumpy fins.

"Oh glorf!" Sylvia swore. She could already see a smaller ship detaching from the main vessel, no doubt carrying her client and whatever toughs she'd thought it necessary to bring.

Without thinking about it, she seized Wander's arm and slung him around and onto her back. He was much lighter than her old partner, and of course, she wasn't wearing her saddle, but she felt his arms lock around her neck and somehow that felt so right.

Their ship was past some boulders, relatively hidden from above, but it was practically underneath where the shuttle was coming down. There was no way to get to it without fighting through their approaching enemies, and Sylvia didn't even know how many there were, let alone what species. Not that it would do much good if they could reach it. They would certainly be spotted taking off, and there was no telling what kind of weapons the big ship had.

Instead, she ran in the opposite direction, though she had no real destination in mind. She knew it was a forlorn hope they hadn't been seen, even with the poor visibility; the ship had been practically on top of them. This was a small planet too, and completely barren so far as she could tell. There might be good hiding spots in the fog and amongst the slimy rocks, but they were still sitting ducks as long as they were on Quarth.

All she could do at the moment was get out of sight. If they hadn't been seen, the shuttle would land, and its occupants would probably get out to wait for them. If they had been, the search would start at once. At least they couldn't do too much damage to the planet, not if Lady Infinite wanted Wander alive.

Sylvia ducked behind a cluster of sharp rocks. The fog was even thicker here. It really did seem to be leaking out of pours in the stone. They were certainly out of sight now, but they needed to distance themselves from where they were. With a lot of luck, they might be able to circle around the planet and get to their ship from the opposite direction.

Wander was still quiet and she could feel him tense behind her. He was sitting with his knees pulled up, feet braced on her back, chest pressed tight to her neck, arms still encircling it. His fur was warm against her skin in the chill air.

Behind her, she could hear the sound of the shuttle's engine's now, an insistent whine.

As she made her way through the passages between the rocks, her eye caught a chasm between two of them, disappearing into the gritty sand beneath. Not letting herself hesitate, she ducked under the overhang and down into the ground. It was more spacious than she'd thought, almost a passage underneath the rocks. She paused for a moment once they were fully in, listening for sounds from outside and peering around their strange cave. The sand was moist beneath her feet, rock ceiling beaded with condensation.

Wander made a move as though to slide off of her back and she shook her head at him.

"Not yet. We might have to make a run for it."

"Ooooo Sylvia!" Wander's voice was an excited whisper in her ear. "'S this mean 'yes' ta comin' with me?"

"No!" Sylvia kept her voice down as well, one eye on the opening above as she moved further into the crevasse, but she could hear the annoyance in her tone. "This is not the time, Wander!"

"How come? We've got a moment alone, so to speak. Nothin' to do but wait."

Sylvia rolled her eyes, though she knew he couldn't see it.

"Yeah," she scoffed. "A moment to hide while those guys out there try to find us." So what if she was avoiding his question? She'd answer him eventually, just as soon as she had an answer. "Besides," she continued, trying to convince herself she wasn't stalling, "we should be using this time to think of a way out of this. We don't even know how many of them there are, or if they saw us or not. They must have landed by now, and I have no idea how we're going to get back to our ship without being seen."

She felt Wander shrug.

"I don't have an answer for that 'm afraid, but there is somethin' else we could try that might work."

Sylvia looked back at him, at the conspiratorial grin that had settled over his face in the dimness. It was on the tip of her tongue to brush him off, to keep working on her own plans by herself, the way she always did. The only person she'd really schemed with before had been Ryder, and he had a tendency to let her take the fall when things got hairy. She was better off alone. But as she looked at Wander's happy grin she stopped. It wouldn't hurt to hear what the little guy had to say. This was a villain he was familiar with. He might have some insights she hadn't thought of. Besides, much as she'd rather not admit it to herself, they were in this mess largely because of her. They wouldn't be in danger right now if she'd just let him go earlier.

"Okay," she managed, not without a sigh. The words felt unfamiliar on her tongue. "What's the plan?"

Wander's grin widened, small chest swelling with joy, and Sylvia braced herself for whatever hair-brained scheme he had in mind.

This wasn't a good situation, and she had no idea how they were getting out of it. Still, despite everything, she felt a thread of that familiar excitement whisper through her, the thrill that danger gave her. And, despite the weirdness of the little alien on her back, it was still kind of nice that he was here with her through all of this. It was nice not to be alone.

Hope you enjoyed!

I love rice and beans for breakfast. Figured that might be something fun Wander could make.

We've only got a couple more chapters of this left! Next chapter might be the last, or there might be one more after that. It will all depend on how much I end up writing for each chapter.

Learning to swim is probably getting updated next.

See you soon!