Mom Friend (SHADOWs of GHOST

Outcast (and Rippley)

If there was one way to describe Outcast, Journey would use the term "walking death wish."

On the battlefield, she couldn't lie and say she wasn't their strongest fighter. A force to be reckoned with and always ready to strike, Outcast found clever ways to take down the enemy forces time and time again and would never relent from a fight. Outside of that, well... she was exactly the same, only with there being no enemies to thwart, she was always bored.

So, she took to doing dangerous shenanigans around base, even to the point where Remedy had to be on speed dial. It was barely halfway through the day and there had been two incidents. Neither had resulted in anything more than a bruise here and a scratch there, which was not only a miracle, but an invitation for her to find even more things to experiment with.

By now, Journey considered giving up. If she got into something else, maybe whatever injury she got from that would finally teach her a lesson. That was just wishful thinking, and even then, she would be right by her side again with a first aid kit and a lecture.

Over her radio, the request of her presence followed by a whispered "trust me" had her moving very quickly to the inside of the hangar.

Next to a plane E.G.O had recently acquired, Outcast stood not alone, but with Rippley, who was clearly distressed about something. Journey served them a disapproving look, though it was more directed at Outcast than anything. It was one thing to keep messing around, but dragging Rippley into her reckless shenanigans was where she drew the line. "What are you two up to?"

Outcast had an innocent smile plastered on her face. She glanced behind her leader and the plane at her side. "Hey, Journey, I just had a question. You know, about the plane."

She had a feeling she knew already. "None of us have training for flying the plane and it's not as easy as you're probably thinking, so no. If that's what you were thinking."

"Ooo, you're good. I guess skydiving is out, too."

Journey threw her arms in the air. Of course. Some new strangers had been arriving on the island recently and their ways were already rubbing off on her. "You are not going skydiving."

"No, duh, I can't go skydiving if we can't even take the plane," Outcast said. She reached into the plane and grabbed some sort of large craft. "Come on, I have a glider and everything."

From one glance, it didn't look very sturdy, like she had thrown it together in five minutes. Even some of the fabric looked wet, as if she had very recently dyed it. "I don't think you're getting very far with that."

"Whatever." She handed it to Rippley. "What if we do this anyway?"

"I could request you're put on probation," Journey deadpanned.

"But you won't."

Turned out she was good, too. Journey sighed and glanced back at Rippley, who was fiddling with his hands. He was always too nervous to object to anything anyone said. "So, say you're skydiving... What is Rippley doing? Because I know for a fact he is not doing anything as extreme as you."

Outcast's mouth hung open as any possible excuse died in her throat. She knew nothing would fool her or change her mind. "He's going to fly the plane."

"Liv."

"It's boring around here, Journey!" A.L.T.E.R hasn't done crap for like two weeks, what do you expect me to do?!"

"I expect you to stop getting yourself into trouble and find something quiet to do. You've had two strikes already today. Don't make it three, okay?" Not that she ever listened to her warnings. "Do you understand?"

Outcast stared her down, as she always did when trying to show defiance or get someone to cave in to her biddings. But Journey was never phased by her, and they both knew that that wasn't going to change. Finally, she sighed, rolling her eyes to the sky. "Fine, I'll figure something out, but you can't seriously think whatever I do will be quiet. Happy?"

Journey smiled. "Yes. Just... don't get hurt again, and don't get Rippley into doing anything dangerous, either. Thank you."

She left it at that and returned to her guarding duties at the outskirts of the hangar. However, she didn't stick around long enough to hear Outcast sarcastically whisper, "yeah, thanks, mom."