Interning on the Aronnax

Steady Hands

A/N: Again: love messing with canon scenes. At first it was hard because I was trying to match canon, but then I just went, "eh, forget it," and ran with it.

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"What do you mean 'someone' else?" Fontaine asked.

"I mean, this isn't my doing!"

Will turned the Mag Knight's arm, showing the view from the Rover's cameras. It was driving quickly through the tunnel, avoiding the walls with ease.

Ant whooped. "Good job, Cooper!"

Nereus looked at him. "Cooper?"

"He's our ghost friend. He's been haunting the Aronnax for a couple weeks."

"And you let him?" Nereus sounded horrified.

"Well, he's been very helpful," Ant said.

"Great, Nereus believes in ghosts, too," Fontaine said with a sigh.

Nereus frowned at her. "And you don't?"

"She refuses to, even though we have video proof," Ant said.

Fontaine turned to Kaiko. It was simpler to just drop the topic when somebody mentioned the Aronnax "ghost."

"The Rover is nearly here," Fontaine said, staring into Kaiko's eyes. "Just hang in there, Mum."

Kaiko gave her a weak smile.

Will moved closer. "Kaiko, will you be able to hold your breath long enough to get inside the Rover?"

Kaiko blinked slowly at Will, then nodded.

"After this, we're keeping rebreather masks in the Knights," Will said.

Kaiko gave a slight chuckle.

A hum made Fontaine turn. "Dad, the Rover's here!"

The Rover dropped and circled them. It turned to Kaiko, then to Fontaine. One of the Rover arms reached out and tugged on the Swamp Knight's arms.

"What?" Fontaine said blankly, subtly asking Finn what he wanted.

"Somebody needs to be in the Rover in case Kaiko needs immediate assistance," Will said. "I think... er, Cooper wants you."

Fontaine nodded. "I have the most medical practice of the rest of us, too."

The Rover tugged again, harder, then rapidly began to fill with water. Fontaine glanced at Kaiko and saw her intent frown.

"Now or never," Fontaine said. "Ant, wait to start filling the White Knight."

"'Fill the White Knight'?" Nereus repeated, shocked.

"It's the only way to equalize pressure," Ant explained, moving the Shadow Knight to the manual controls on the White Knight.

Fontaine took a deep breath and quickly filled the Knight. She opened the dome and swam through the cold water. She shuddered, the fact that she was inside a giant sea worm suddenly strange.

Fontaine reached the Rover and dug under the console for a couple tube rebreathers. She put one in her mouth, then kicked over to the White Knight. She creased her eyebrows in a silent question.

Kaiko blinked, then nodded. As water filled the dome, she shifted upward to keep her head above water for as long as possible. She took a deep breath, then the dome was full.

"Open it!" Will told Ant.

Fontaine slid to the side while the dome swung upward. She surged forward, putting one hand on Kaiko's shoulder. With her other hand, she pushed the rebreather against Kaiko's mouth.