Lastland AU: Lost Memory, Lost Time, Lost in Space

Outtake: Run Away With You

"Well, Strike, do you have anything to say for yourself?" Matthias began, arms crossed and eyes severe. He was a muscled man with short, golden hair. The stoic leader of Notus of many years, and a Ranger and soldier for even longer, the scars on his skin told the story. In many ways, he and Strike were similar, but in times like this, all they saw were the differences.

"Piss off," Strike replied coldly. Beside Matthias, Luna looked up at her sharply, eyes flashing, but expression unreadable. He was Matthias' loyal deputy of many years, equally composed and hard to read, but while Matthias hid himself behind stoicism, Luna used smiles.

The older man couldn't help but raise his pale, thin eyebrows at the audacity of Notus' prisoner.

Matthias, however, did not become Captain of the Notus for nothing. If he was so easily shaken that a single, insolent remark from a prisoner shook him, he would not have made it so far for so long. Instead, he only kept his arms crossed and his eyes severe, shaking his head disapprovingly.

"Our decision to keep you with us was a mercy. Do not abuse that trust." As Cipher had asked Irie in the past, it made no sense for Notus to keep such a dangerous criminal onboard the starship. The only reason she had permission was because of Irie, who continually vouched on her behalf and advocated all the reasons why Strike was worth keeping around, despite her prickly and disagreeable exterior, to put it kindly.

"It was an accident. I tried my best, but it wasn't enough. They broke through our lines." Her voice was short and clipped, masking not just impatience, but genuine frustration with herself. I'm such an IDIOT! I let them distract me!

A band of mercenaries from Strike's past came to collect on an old debt, and she was so busy contending with the leader of the gang that the second in command was able to sneak all the way to engine room, nearly sabotaging the entire starship. Irie and Strike insisted that although the mercenaries were there for Strike, she wasn't secretly helping them. They were just about the only ones to believe that.

Luna narrowed his eyes while Matthias' hand moved to his chin without him realizing. He thought long and hard. A part of him believed Irie and Strike too, but Strike's attitude made it hard to ever believe anything good about her. Likewise, Matthias wasn't going to just ignore the possibility that Strike was lying through her teeth at that very moment.

"If you wish to dismiss me, I have already resigned," Strike said calmly, quietly, meeting Luna and Matthias' eyes expressionlessly.

Somehow, Luna's eyebrows raised even higher as he frantically typed out the transcript of everything being said so that he could pour over it later, ensuring that Strike wasn't deceiving or manipulating them in any way, shape, or form. That left Matthias to decide where to go next in the moment.

"We needn't go that far," he began slowly. Worse comes to worst, we could always drop her off at a checkpoint or a waypoint and they can send her back to Earth. For now, though, I would rather keep her with us. She could still be useful yet...

"I have already decided," Strike insisted evenly. To spare them of the "pain" of making such a scandalous decision as moving around a prisoner of one of the Solestar starships, she was going to leave first. She understood what it looked like, even if it was truly a misunderstanding. She was not going to fall on her knees and beg for another chance. If it saved the trouble for everyone, she would jump out the airlock of Matthias asked. Matthias still looked conflicted, stroking his chin. Luna's eyes darted to him, eagerly awaiting his command.

What do you say, sir? Will you keep her? Or should we send her back to Earth? He had thoughts, but he did not envy Matthias making the decision. He was just the humble scribe and right hand, ever and eagerly taking down notes to check and doublecheck later.

ooo

"You're going back to Earth?!" Irie squawked, purple eyes bugging comically. "Over a mistake?!"

"A grievous one," Strike replied dryly. She could concede how bad it looked, and that if not for her, the mercenaries may have never attacked Notus.

"But still! A mistake!" Irie shook her head, wanting to grab Strike by the shoulders and shake her. Was the universe really so crazy that it could look at what was clearly the mercenaries' fault and blame it all on Strike? She hadn't even worked with that group since before the Thieves of Infinity!

"Remember, even if it was years ago, it's still in my past, and to them, it's all the same."

"That's so stupid, though!" Irie cried. Of course she understood it, she just didn't like it. I KNOW Strike is better than her past! Why can't they?!

Strike only shrugged. She resigned herself to this fate the moment she joined Notus. They would never trust her. She'd always known that. The only one with upset feelings was Irie because she was naive enough to hope better of her crewmates. No, they were just being cautious. Better safe than sorry. Neither Strike nor Irie could really fault them for that.

"Well, hang on a minute and let me get my stuff together!" Irie muttered, finally pulling away from Strike.

"What?" Strike's face and voice went flat with shock. Irie looked over her shoulder and smiled playfully at the taller, older woman.

"You heard me."

"But Irie... You can't be serious?"

"Deadly." Run away with me, Strike... Just like we did in Timeline-A when Notus betrayed us the first time! They didn't understand us then, they do not understand us now! Let's do what we did back then, take destiny into our own hands, and fly! We'll find a planet just for us and everything...

Naturally, Strike spent a good portion of the evening trying to understand Irie' thought process, and how she could just abandon her Notus post to join Strike back on Earth like there weren't a million flaws with her plan before they even got to the door. But talking Irie out of a plan she was dedicated to was as impossible as talking Strike out of the same. Irie was just as convicted as Strike was talking to Matthias and Luna earlier that day, a role reversal now forcing her into their shoes.

"If anything," Irie smiled as she returned to Strike with a few bags already in hand. "I'd love nothing more than to run away with you!"

Strike felt her heart jump into her throat, even though she didn't fully understand why. All she knew was that a wave of satisfied possessiveness washed over her. Suddenly, she was excited—genuinely excited—to run away, because she knew it meant she was taking Irie with her.

While the rest of the ship slept, two figures stole a space pod and soared away.

AN: Bonus upload, this would belong somewhere when Irie and Strike were falling in love, but before Storm and the moon pool, etc. The reason I didn't put this in the main story is because I had no idea where to take the plot next since it would've had Irie and Strike leaving the starships (the next chapter would've magically put them back at Notus anyway). But I still consider it canon because it was written as a parallel to Iris and Storm getting kicked out of Notus in Timeline-A.