Interning on the Aronnax

Intruder Alert

A/N: I had the hardest time with this chapter. Don't ask. But thanks to Cass for helping me with my dumb question. XD

---------------------------------

"Lock down the Aronnax!"

Will's yelling voice in Fontaine's ear startled her awake. Half-asleep, she tried to jerk away from the noise.

Wham!

Unfortunately, since the noise had come from her wrist-comm, all Fontaine managed to do was slam herself into the wall.

"...ow."

Fontaine opened her eyes and blinked at the blinking red light on the ceiling. It took her a moment to remember where she was.

After being sent to bed, Fontaine had returned to check on Finn. Finding him sound asleep and breathing fine again, Fontaine had debated on whether or not she should leave him alone.

Fontaine had settled with hanging a sheet across the room for privacy, then putting together a nest of blankets from her room and the room's rugs. She was going to be stiff, but she had wanted to be close in case Finn needed her.

When the light continued to flash, Fontaine pushed the sheet aside, hoping the alert hadn't disturbed Finn.

The cot was empty.

Fontaine stared for a long moment, then scrambled to her feet. The alert suddenly made sense: Finn!

Had Finn decided to show himself after all? Then again, Fontaine didn't think Will would lock down the Aronnax if Finn revealed himself. Had Finn tried, then changed his mind? Was Finn even thinking clearly?

Fontaine realized she wouldn't get any answers just sitting in the hideout. She hopped into the ducts and headed for the bridge.

--------------------------------

Fontaine reached the bridge right behind Will and Ant. Kaiko was in her seat and turned to face them, surprisingly unconcerned since there was an "intruder" on board. Finn was nowhere to be seen, though Fontaine wasn't sure yet whether or not that was bad.

"Mum, we saw somebody near Dad's study," Ant reported.

"We checked, and nothing is missing," Will added. "We must have scared them off before they could steal anything."

"Did you see who it was?" Fontaine asked.

"No, just their clothes," Ant said.

"Red-and-white jacket with a black hat?" Kaiko guessed.

Fontaine tried to not act too shocked. Luckily, Ant's confused exclamation claimed her parents' attention.

"How did you know?!"

Kaiko turned and pulled an image from her console to the main screen. Fontaine tried to not gasp.

It was Finn, running down a hall. He had his head ducked, and his hat and hood were so low that his face was completely hidden. From the dull red lights in the hall, Fontaine guessed it was footage from the previous day.

"I was looking through the cameras this morning," Kaiko explained. "The hold cameras were off-line, but I found this in the hall leading to the hold."

"Did you see him anywhere else?" Will asked, staring intently at the screen.

"Just the same hall, five minutes later."

Kaiko pulled up more footage and let it play. Fontaine watched Finn trot up the hall, still hiding his face.

"Ant and I will start checking the halls," Will said. "Fontaine, can you check the ducts?"

"Sure," Fontaine said.

Lucky for Finn, she was so familiar with the ducts that nobody else in the family needed to help her.

"Be careful," Will said while he backed toward the door. "We don't know who this is."

"I'll be fine," Fontaine said confidently. "He's on our territory." As she walked out, Fontaine silently added, "And I know exactly where he's headed."

----------------------------------

"Okay, Finn, what's the big deal?" Fontaine poked her head into the hideout. "Finn?"

The hideout had still been a mess when Fontaine checked on Finn the previous night, and Fontaine hadn't bothered to clean up. Now, while Finn was absent, it was clear that he'd been there.

Three sets of clothes sat neatly folded beside the cot. The books had been moved into one pile. The rugs of Fontaine's make-shift bed had been scattered, and the bedding piled on the cot.

Fontaine looked behind her. Finn didn't usually wander the ducts alone. And after getting spotted, Fontaine was sure Finn would head right back to the hideout.

And why had Finn even left in the first place? Maybe he still wasn't feeling well. Had he just been wandering the halls or what? He'd been near the study. Was that important?

Fontaine groaned and dropped her head. "He was trying to see the Chronicle again."

The air ducts to Will's study was part of a smaller, separate section of the ducts. Finn would have had to cross the hall to reach the ducts to the study.

And if Finn had thought that he was about to be kicked off the Aronnax, he definitely would have taken the risk of crossing the hall to get one last look at the Chronicle.

"That solves that mystery," Fontaine said to herself. She dropped into the hideout. "But now where is Finn?"

Something was wrong with the hideout, but Fontaine couldn't figure out what at first. She looked around.

Her old tablet was still sitting on a stack of books. Three stacks of clothes were beside the books. The supply backpack sat in the corner, open and empty. Finn's jacket and cap both sat beside the pack.

Wait.

Finn always wore his jacket in the ducts because it got cold. And he'd been inseparable from his cap. Yet both sat in a neat little pile.

Fontaine scanned the hideout again. Everything was there.

Everything except Finn's scuba gear.

-------------------------

A/N: Finn moves fast.