The Boy from the Bunker (𝘼𝙇𝙏𝙀𝙍𝙉𝘼𝙏𝙄𝙑𝙀 𝙑𝙀𝙍𝙎𝙄𝙊𝙉), Season 5

Episode One, Part 4:

Episode One, Part 4:
False Starts

As Quill prepared himself to tell Chessca the plan, he squinted his eyes a little, finally having a moment to observe her properly now that he wasn't bargaining for his life.

"What is it?" She wiped at her face, thinking there was blood on her somehow.

"How'd you get that?" Quill asked tenderly.

Chessca shied away a little, immediately aware of what he was talking about by the softness in his voice.

"I had to make it look believable..."

Quill shifted. "Make what look believable?"

Chessca sighed, contemplating if she should tell him. She thought, for a moment, that he might have been lying up until this point, and maybe he really was here to help her. But then she remembered seeing the young girl outside the window, and how exhausted she looked, and so afraid. Quill wasn't lying.

"When I gave your friend the serum the other day. They killed the guard so I at least had to make it look like I put up some kind of fight for it."

"Chessca..." Quill stepped forward, struggling to comprehend. "Why? Why did you do that?" Sol had told him how the girl, who he now realised was Chessca, had willingly handed over the serum to her without explanation. Knowing that it was most likely the reason his sister was still alive, he was desperate for an answer.

"Probably for the same reason you're here," she said. "To stop The Alteration."

Quill lost his breath, wondering what would compel a complete stranger to sabotage herself to save his sister.

"You did that to yourself? You gave us the serum to stop The Alteration from happening? I... I don't understand."

Chessca sighed, smiling sadly at her new friend. Her only friend. "Let's just say I know what she would have to go through to complete The Alteration. They told me she was young... And I knew that if there was something I could do to make sure they didn't put anyone else through it, I would do whatever it takes. It's... It's awful. I'm sorry they're trying to do this to your sister."

Quill returned her smile, a weight of sadness to it. "Thank you for doing that for my family."

"Please. Don't thank me. Anyone who knows anything about The Alteration would have done the same thing. I'm just glad that it might have helped."

Quill nodded, then remembered what he was there for, moved by what she had said.

"If you still want to help, there is something you can do... It's kinda why I'm here."

Chessca stood up a little taller, intrigued. "I'm listening."

/////

"You know, you don't actually need to hold onto the rope so tightly," Chessca pointed out.

"Oh, sorry," Quill mumbled. He loosened his grip on the ropes that trailed a little behind him, tied up around Chessca's wrists.

She laughed softly, shaking her head. "You know, you're a pretty bad hostage-taker," she told him light-heartedly. "And the easy part was already done for you: I'm already a hostage."

Quill looked back at the girl, who despite joking around, had managed to move him quite profoundly.

"I'm sorry," he said to her, full of sympathy.

"What are you sorry for?"

"That you're a hostage. I can't...even imagine what it must be like for you. No one should have to be locked up like that."