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{ breathe }
unedited
1.0k words
— — — — —
Ben and (y/n) reached the Jupiter so they took it amongst themselves to settle in.
It was only a minute after did the Maureen and Will arrive.
"Hey Mr. Adler." Will greeted.
"It's just Ben," The boy nodded as he made his way to (y/n), giving her a small greeting and with her giving him a stuttering on in return. The man looked over to Maureen.
Transport shuttle launch will commence. Please stand clear. Air pressure stabilized.
"Maureen. I appreciate you letting me tag along."
"We both know you'd come whether I wanted you to or not."
"I would've thought you wanted the back up."
"We're used to doing things on our own."
"So I've noticed."
"Look I know what I'm capable of, and I know what their capable of."
"But you don't know anything about me. Still, we're all lost out here together, relying on the visions of two thirteen year old kids to lead us home."
(y/n) giggled lightly at the comment, earning her a weird look from Will to which she whispered to him, "I'm eavesdropping."
The boy nodded, glancing between the two adults.
Launch will commence in T-minus 30 seconds.
"I'll admit, I don't understand their connection to the robot. It's a mystery to me. I could guess at the science but I think it's deeper than that."
Sealing cabin for airlock disengagement.
Everyone took their sears and buckled up.
"Something we have to take on faith, it's not easy for people like us."
Maureen looks from Ben to her son, who was seen giggling with (y/n).
"Hey kids, why don't you guys take a small nap. It'll be a while until we get there."
"We're not babies Maureen, I'm sure we'll be awake by the time we get there."
"If you say so."
An hour passed by with Will and (y/n) falling dead asleep. Will's body would've been off of his seat if it weren't for his seatbelt and (y/n) had her head to the side, almost as if she were dead.
Maureen chuckled at the state of the two kids, "He acts so grown up now, I forgot how young he looks when he's asleep. And even (y/n). After everything she's been through, she still just a kids."
"My kids used to fall asleep whenever we were in the car."
"You have children?"
"Twin boys. A couple years older than the both of them."
"Maybe Penny knows them."
"They're already on Alpha Centauri with my wife. They were in the fifth colonist group."
"You didn't go with them?"
"My hob requires that I travel back and forth on the Resolute. Usually three months at a time."
"Now you're here. That's hard."
"Thanks to your son and (y/n), I have a hope of seeing them again. So it's a good thing he passed his test then."
"Excuse me?"
"Will's records. They say he had some difficulty with his pre-qualification training. But obviously he pulled through."
"Yes, he did."
An awkward silence appeared as Maureen internally panicked about her son's result being talked about. Especially because it was a sensitive topic.
"This metal ring in your report." Ben randomly spoke, scrolling through the device on his wrist.
"Was wondering when that was gonna come up."
"What if I was to tell you that this wasn't the only one? That the planet we're headed to, there's one there as well. It seems to be the same as yours. The electrical storm hits at every 23 days. We've been hesitant to get anywhere close but in typical Robinson fashion, you find yourself right in the middle of it. So uh, any theories as to what they are?"
Will had woken up at this point, interested in the conversation.
"I assumed it had something to do with the lightning. I mean, you don't build something that big as an art project. It has to have a purpose."
"Now these glyphs on the surface, our linguist haven't been able to make heads or tails of what they mean."
"When we find our robot down there, we can ask him."
"Let's just hope we like the answer."
Ten minutes before landing.
Hearing this, Will turned to the sleeping girl beside him, ready to wake her up.
"Wait."
Will stopped and looked at Ben in confusion. "What?"
"Let's her sleep a little longer, I don't think she's been getting enough sleep."
"What do you mean?" Maureen asked.
"You don't know?"
"Know what?"
"I have reason to believe that (y/n) hasn't been sleeping properly. Every time I go back to my Jupiter, she lingers around the kitchen all pale and sweaty. Each time she excuses it for not being used to sleeping on a bed but I think there's more to it."
"She never told me about this." Will frowned and looked at his friend.
He was so used to seeing her smile that he forgot to notice that dark bags under her eyes. Ones that couldn't be seen unless looked closely.
"If I'm going to be honest, I'm not that surprised if she has trouble sleeping properly." Ben sighed. "Being alone in the Resolute must've been hard."
"But she wasn't alone, she had Samantha." Maureen argued.
"Yes but Samantha is so young compared to (y/n), so naturally (y/n) would be the one taking care of her. Just being a thirteen year old girl taking care of someone else is hard enough. Let alone having a robot try to kill you at every turn. That can do so much to someone."
Will clenched his fist and stared down at them. Ben was right. (y/n) was suffering and he didn't even notice. What kind of friend was he?
Jupiter landing in T-minus 60 seconds.
"You should probably wake her up now." Ben gently smiled at Will, trying to release the tension that he had created.
Sighing, Will gently shook the girl beside him, causing her to wake up in a frenzy. She looked around before realizing where she was.
The three other people in the Jupiter looked at her in concern, to which she waved off and awkwardly laughed. "Old habits die hard I guess."
Will and Maureen looked at one another, sad and worried about the troubles that (y/n) was facing. But they could only hope that she would open up to them sooner rather than later.
