Considering this was the second time the ship was set to dock; Cassie noticed the excitement levels weren't as high as their first landing. She wondered exactly what they were intending to do at this port. It had been two and a half weeks since they had been in space, and she was once again excited to get off the ship and explore. Ash had kept his promise to teach her about the universe every day and Dean was keeping his promise and then some in training her. Between the two of them, she was feeling more confident and fit to go off on her own and explore.
The crew was busy preparing for landing and she was watching Ash and Matt land the ship, Dean standing with her on the bridge above the two. They were flipping switches here and there and Cassie noticed that the two had a rhythm about them like this was a completely natural occurrence.
They set up to enter the planet with Matt at the steering device and both Dean and Cassie braced for the rush after they had given a warning to the crew. Again, the ship suddenly burst into this planet's atmosphere with what felt like a speed of ten times their previous cruise. The atmosphere of this planet was bright, and the sky shone a bright yellow all over making it hard to see. Dean handed her a pair of goggles and Cassie put them on, now seeing the planet in a brownish hue. She watched as they flew through clouds for the next fifteen minutes. Then giant towers that emitted black smoke came into view in the distance.
"Is that where we are headed?" she asked, turning to Dean.
He also had on goggles and Cassie bit her lip trying not to laugh. "Not quite, we'll be heading to the outskirts of town instead of that part. This is a mining planet and it's best we stay away from those facilities while we are here. What's so funny?" he asked as she let out a giggle.
"I'm sure I look the same, but you look like a bug with those goggles," she said still laughing.
He frowned at her, but then Matt chuckled as well from his seat. He too had these ugly goggles on him and with his black hair, he looked like a furry rodent.
"You find this suddenly amusing too?" Dean called down.
Matt looked up at him and smiled. "I'll admit I never thought of that before, but she is right. You look like a giant zenxi!"
"I am going to come down there and smash-"
"Knock it off, guys," Ash said loudly. "I just put down the landing gear and we'll dock in 200 feet on North End."
They went back to being focused on the task at hand though Dean had now crossed his arms tightly, a scowl still etched onto his face.
Cassie watched, not as the ship prepared to dock, but as Ash's hands moved over more of the controls. She was grateful that they were back on friendly terms now, but she couldn't get rid of her feelings for him, try as she might. The ship touched down and then they began powering down.
"Thank god we're finally here. We need to get back into some action," Matt said once his end of the final check was over. He pushed himself out of the chair and climbed the stairs. He met Dean who was still frowning and smirked. "Bzzzzz!"
"You are so dead!" Dean called trying to grab him but unfortunately missed. The two then went running full speed down the stairs and out the cabin door with impressive speed.
Cassie watched them giggling for a moment before she too began to head towards the door. But to her surprise, Ash caught her arm and stopped her. "Hey, what's up? I was just going to find Doctor Beckett to get a translation chip."
"Actually, I need to talk to you about this stay, Cassie," he said. He let go of her arm and crossed his arms. "We're only going to be here for hopefully one night. We're here to pick up a job and then get back into space."
"Okay, so I will be back tomorrow then. Is that it?"
He shook his head. "You can't leave the ship."
Her eyes widened, though he probably couldn't tell under the goggles. "Wait, what?"
"This is a mining colony. It's still run by Sovereigns which means the place will be crawling with them."
"So, I'll be careful. I'll stay away from them."
"It's not that easy."
"Ash this isn't fair!" Cassie could feel the heat rising behind her ears and she could feel her frustration getting stronger.
He didn't say anything at first, but his lips drew together in a narrow line. "Listen, the biggest problem is that only men in these colonies do outside trading. The women don't leave their work ever and your presence, whether being good or getting yourself into trouble is just going to tip them off and make them suspicious. So, I'm sorry, but I need you to stay here."
She frowned and then clenched her fists beside her. "Wish I could say the same." She turned on her heel and left the control room, taking the goggles off her head once she got outside.
"Cassie, I'm sorry," Ash began, following behind her.
She turned to face him, though it was hard to do since he still had his goggles on, he stopped inches away from her seeming surprised by her sudden stop.
"You know, I would accept your apology if it was more reasonable," Cassie said. "Like I get it! I won't leave, I will continue to stay on board, bored as ever while the rest of you get to stretch your legs and find a job. But the least you could have done was tell me I couldn't go get off like yesterday or maybe when you knew this is where we were headed. Do you realize I got my hopes up to finally go explore again? Guess that was a waste!"
She stared at him for a moment, his mouth gaped open slightly before she turned on her heels and walked away towards her room.
"Cassie!" Ash called again, though this time she could hear his voice waver slightly.
She just shook her head, holding her arms tightly as she headed back. Once she reached her room, she quickly closed the door behind her and then pushed up against it and sat down her muscles clenched and tightened across her body.
Cassie did her best, though she had to bite her tongue to do so, to not let any tears slip over this. After all, she was in fact angry about this more than anything else. After a bit, she began taking long deep breaths. Once she had finished this calming technique, she leaned her head against the wall listening. The ship was still, and she realized they had left rather quickly. "Lucky them," she whispered.
She pulled herself back up to standing, kicked the wall just let out more pent-up anger before she opened her door again and left the room. She walked back to the atrium and saw that indeed the door was now closed again, but it was so seemingly lifeless now, which made for the perfect chance to try and break some doors open.
On her explorations of the ship, she had come across many locked doors that she couldn't get to. She wanted to ask Ash about them, but every time they got too into talking about various planets and aliens that they she never got around to asking him. Not like how she was hiding her training from him still. That point was beginning to irk her, but she still had Dean's warning in her head that Ash wouldn't approve of it so she was making sure he wouldn't find out about it just yet.
Well now that she was good and mad at him, she wasn't feeling as guilty as she ransacked the control room. It took a bit of looking through various back compartments, but finally, she came across a small rod that read skeleton key on its long side. She pocketed it and made her way back towards the bottom of the atrium and into the outer hallways.
It had taken her a couple of tries to find these lost corridors. They were hidden in the corridors less travelled by the crew and somewhat looked cleaner and nicer than most of the ship. Cassie knew that the farthest part of the ship was the cargo bay though she had yet to really be in there, there was a hallway right before it that led to these locked doors. The doors leading up to it were far more interesting since they were locked, and she only had her imagination to draw upon when looking at them.
With the skeleton key in her hand as she approached the first of these doors, she felt it spin in her fingers as excitement began to slowly fill her. She gently slid it into the circular lock on the side of the door and waited. A couple of seconds later, the circle turned green, and the doors slid open. Cassie felt immediately disappointed though as it was just a plain empty room. Sighing she pulled the key out and began to try the rest.
Most of the rooms had nothing in them and she was beginning to feel her frustration grow exponentially each time. In fact, she was about to give up as she went to try the last door in this section but pushed through the frustration with her curiosity driving her.
When the door to this room slid open, she was surprised to find not only something in it, but it looked well put together. The walls were covered in red perforated panels and each of them had different-looking weapons hung off pegs here and there.
Cassie walked inside and then slowly passed over the different weapons. Most of them were guns and she looked at them curiously. At the back of the room, there was a small cabinet and she opened it gently. Inside there were shelves of the helmets she remembered seeing the crew wearing that first day she was here. Beside them were extra black and blue uniforms too. She ran a hand along with the shiny material and then a thought occurred to her.
She took one off the hanger and then held it up to her to see if it was close to her size. After determining that it was, she tried to slip it on and see how it fit. She was expecting it not to since she was a girl, but to her surprise, the suit began to auto adjust to her. It even flattened out her front side to look like a guy. She looked at herself and then walked around the room in it to see how well she could move in it.
Cassie had to give it to the Sovereigns for making such smart clothing, she thought to herself as she took it off, folding it tightly. She tried on a couple of helmets until she found one of those that fit her as well. It was best to be prepared just in case anything happened, she told herself. Plus, if this whole not being a guy thing came up again, at least if they were ever in uniform again, she could disguise herself and sneak out now. She took one of the simpler guns as well before leaving the room with a small smile.
As she began to head back, wondering what time it was she began to feel her nerves spike. Cassie hadn't ever considered what being on the ship without the guys really meant and she didn't like the sudden feeling of being alone all night on the empty ship. So, in a hurry she rushed back to her room, locking the door tightly for the rest of the night.
~~
The following day, Cassie decided to sit on the bridge, her legs dangling below her as she watched the empty atrium. She waited patiently for the crew to return just so she could get some noise back into the ship. When the door began to creak open though she jumped, and her heartbeat spiked for a moment before returning to normal.
Slowly by slowly, the guys filed back on board, a few with bags of stuff, but most just seemingly grateful to be back on board. They were probably putting the cargo in through the hatch in the back, but she continued to stay there, her arms on the lower reinforcement bar.
It didn't surprise her that her favourite trio was one of the last groups to come back on board. Matt was talking to Dean now and they went to go walk down the hallways, possibly to check on the cargo load. Ash looked up and caught Cassie's eye for a moment before she quickly looked away from him to watch others boarding the ship.
A couple of seconds later it didn't surprise her to hear him coming towards her or sitting down next to her. Cassie refused to look at him and continued to look away from him. He didn't say anything at first and she was wondering if he was waiting on her to talk first, but she wouldn't let that happen.
Finally, he said softly, "I know you're still upset with me, Cassie. I also understand why after you made your point yesterday and though I said it before, I do mean it when I say I'm sorry. I should have told you before we landed about the conditions here. I promise I won't keep that from you in the future either. But I am just trying to look after you and the rest of us here on board."
He paused and she turned slightly towards him, enough to see him in her peripheral vision, but that was all. She could hear the sincerity in his voice this time, but the pain from their argument still hung heavy in the air.
Ash shuffled a little bit away from her and then she saw his hands move to place a smaller bag down between them. "I know this probably doesn't fix everything, but I hope I can make it up to you with these as a start."
Cassie looked down at the bag and then slowly reached in pulling out a thin book from the top of the bag. She brought it in front of her and read the title: "Beware the Groffels- A Collection of Children's Stories from the Outer Moons". She opened it and saw the stories intermixed with some small illustrations as she flipped through the pages. A small smile crossed her face and she looked back at the bag looking at various books of all topics inside of it.
She finally looked back up to him and then met his hopeful eyes with a smile. "Thanks for this. I really appreciate the gesture."
He smiled back looking a bit relieved. "I figured you would enjoy these since you struck me as a girl who likes to read based on your interest in learning."
"I didn't mean to lose my temper with you yesterday, but I was really upset with you."
"I know," he replied quietly. "I thought about it after we left, and I realized how unfair it was which is also why I bought you these because I figured you probably have been bored just being stuck here."
Cassie nodded and then said, "Thanks again, Ash."
"So did you find anything to do while we were gone?"
She looked down at that and shook her head. "Actually, I'll admit I was a bit lonely without any of you on board."
There was another moment of silence between the two and one of the crew members called up to him that everything was loaded and ready to go. Ash saluted to the man as a sign of acknowledgment and then slowly began to pull himself out of his sitting position. He then turned and began heading to the command door, but Cassie got up to follow him inside.
Forgetting for a moment how bright it was outside, she shielded her eyes until she felt a pair of goggles push into her hands. She put them on and then blinked regularly at her now brownish-toned vision. She then climbed up into the co-pilot seat and watched as he began to turn on the engine and prepare for take-off.
She sat there holding her knees to her chest as the ship came to life and the control room lit up with all the control settings.
"Push those five buttons on the panel to your left," he said as he began to take the steering unit. She did as he said and then soon after felt the ship lift off the docking bay. Ash's control was smooth and with grace the ship lifted and then began to ascend towards the outer atmosphere. "Now pull that lever on the floor beneath you."
Again, Cassie did as he instructed and the ships thrust burners erupted as the propelled them through that atmosphere and back into the hollow vastness of space. Cassie slowly took her goggles off now and then watched as he did the same. He then ruffled up his hair a little before setting in coordinates and relaxing back in his chair.
"So can I ask where we are headed or what the job is?" Cassie asked. "If you don't want me to, I understand."
He was silent for a couple of seconds before he said, "We're doing a drop for a guy we've worked with before. Not sure what we are delivering, and I've learned from past incidents that it is sometimes best not to. But this will be relatively short luckily. We are meeting in 38 hours at a specific drop point to deliver the cargo and collect payment and then we will be on to the next one." He paused again before sighing and looking over at her. "I will say, during the drop process it can sometimes get messy. Can I ask you a favour though I know it might not be the best of conditions considering our argument yesterday?"
Ash met her gaze, and she could tell right of way that this was not going to be good news. She hugged her knees closer to her and rested her chin upon them waiting for him to speak again.
He took a deep breath before he began. "Sometimes things can go wrong on job sites. We can only hope that it's a quick and easy transaction, but the actuality of that happening is rare. So once we get within proximity to the drop site, can I ask if you stay in your cabin until it's complete? I don't want you to get hurt."
Cassie now somehow wished she hadn't kept it secret that she was training with Dean. Though they hadn't gotten very far, he was beginning to teach her small combat manoeuvres and she felt like in a tight squeeze she could get by. But watching Ash, she could see his eyes full of concern and she just nodded slowly at him. "I appreciate the heads up this time."
He looked relieved. "I said I would try." He then stretched his arms behind his head and relaxed back into the seat, Cassie following his example with a smile of her own.
~~
"We are T-minus thirty seconds before the cargo drop. Time to get in position guys," Ash said over the crew radio.
Cassie was messing with her hair, trying desperately to brush it into a ponytail even though it didn't seem to want to cooperate with her. It was amazing to see how long it had gotten in the short five weeks she had been on board now.
"Cargo bay stations are set up, captain," came one of the crew member's voices.
Finally, after all her effort, Cassie got the small ponytail to hold. She smiled at the effort and missed having her hair off her neck. But her bangs were being problematic. She had found some small clips and began to try and put them on as flat as she could.
"Gunners set in position to fire in case the ship tries to double-cross us, Captain," came another crew member.
Once her hair was finally set Cassie looked at the communicator unit she had been given and listened intently as she sat down at her desk.
"Back up men are stationed in the atrium, captain," came Johnson's voice. "Ready for you to enter the cargo bay and make the exchange."
Having been waiting for that last message Cassie took a deep breath and picked up the helmet sitting on the top of the desk. She then slipped it on, feeling it enclose her head perfectly just like the uniform she also was wearing. She realized this was probably risky if things went bad and that she was technically not doing what Ash had asked of her, but she was curious, and it had gotten the better of her. She tucked the communicator inside the helmet so she could hear while she sneaked out, but then after everything was settled, she strapped the gun to the holster on the leg and then quietly exited out the door.
She watched and listened in case anyone else was still moving, but when all was still, she made her way to the entryway of the atrium. Looking out into it, she saw about fifteen of the guys lined up in some sort of formation. She stayed above just in case any of them would hear her moving on the stairs and waited.
It was dead silence for a couple of minutes until she heard Ash on the com, "Doors are opening now. Let's hope all is good."
Again, Cassie stayed perched on her knees and waited for anything to happen. But then she began to hear small fidgeting downstairs and wondered why everyone was getting so anxious.
"Captain," came one of the crew members. "Something's wrong." Cassie felt her heart beat a little faster as she listened. "I think this is a dead ship."
'A dead ship?' she wondered. But before she could ponder this, she watched as the men immediately pull out their guns and looked a bit more nervous than before.
"Check the cargo," Ash's voice said sternly. Everyone waited silently while this search took place although noticeably the tension in the air was growing. It took a couple more minutes before Ash cut back in and when he did, his voice was strong and fierce. "Everyone, keep your helmets on and eyes peeled! We've been set up and they've let loose a Shifter on the ship!"
Suddenly people were talking all at once over the communicators and scrambling out of their positions to various points of the ship as the search began. Cassie hung back in the hallways out of sight until a few people passed by so it wouldn't be as suspicious for her to suddenly appear. She felt her stomach twist a little bit, but she realized she was at least a little bit grateful that she wasn't in her room by herself feeling completely helpless.
Cassie charged down the stairs past other people, pulling the gun out of her holster to match everyone else's outside personas. People weren't exactly talking as much on the coms except to call out whether they had found the Shifter at this point. She watched as people flew past her in both directions and decided to somewhat stay in the atrium since it appeared to be a good middle ground.
People continued to scramble until through the coms she suddenly heard a fight break out. Guys were heard firing a little bit and taking physical blows. There was grunting and cries of pain, but all too fast the fight seemed to end. It was again quiet for a moment and then someone called out, "Someone report!"
Silence fell and a few more minutes passed. Then a different voice called out, "Report! Captain!"
There was suddenly a shuffling on the mic that was loud and hard to hear out of. Now seeing more of the guys appearing in the atrium, she could see it was bothering all of them as they held their helmets. Then Ash's voice carried through them, "Sorry about that, guys. I lost the Shifter. He managed to pull my helmet off during the fight. So, beware if you see me other than leaving the observation room. I'm headed back to the atrium now."
The crew seemed a little bit more stressed as they began to also barricade the stairs. Cassie fell in beside them hoping she could pull off the appearance well. They suddenly tensed up though as Ash came around the corner, but he put his hands up and after the crew relaxed, he did as well and began to descend the stairs.
"Sorry Captain," someone said. "Just got nervous."
"I understand," Ash said in reply. He walked over to the atrium and leaned against it flexing his shoulders out. "Listen, someone, find it and fast. I'll stay here so if you find the other one, shoot on sight."
"Yes sir!" came a couple of crew members, but a few hesitated like Cassie did as she watched his back. Seeing the others pause though, the rest followed and stayed where they were.
Finally, one began to move closer to Ash and the com cut in with Matt's voice. "You sure about that Cap?"
Ash turned to stare straight at Matt his eyes narrowed, and his brows furrowed. "Of course, I'm sure. It's dangerous and it's gotten a glimpse of me so that means it can trick us into killing the entire ship. Now get after it."
Matt slowly backed away and nodded and that surprised Cassie. As Ash turned to the side though, she noticed something else that made her a little nervous. One of the things she had come to notice about him from having a crush on him was that right below his jaw on the right-hand side of his face, he had a small birthmark. This Ash noticeably did not.
He turned back and noticed she wasn't moving like the rest of the crew and furrowed his brows further. "Something wrong?" he asked sharply.
Cassie felt her heartbeat pick up again and she swallowed hard before doing her best to try and lower her voice just in case she was wrong. "Sorry 'captain,' I'm just surprised you want to suddenly engage in violence. I thought you didn't stand for that."
He frowned more and then began walking closer to her, but she held her ground. She also noticed the other guys stopped to watch what would happen. So did the few that were entering from the hallway across from them. "Did you not just hear my explanation or are you deaf? This is a Shifter. Is there any other reason I should explain myself further?"
"Well now that we're on the topic of explanations sir," Cassie continued in her lower voice. "Can you explain how a birthmark on your chin just seemed to magically disappear in a couple of hours?"
No one moved and Cassie waited, wondering if for a second maybe she was wrong and just missed it on his face. But then he let out a hiss and his eyes changed to a blood-red colour and he went to reach out for her.
She didn't quite escape him as he grabbed her arm and then twisted it around her pulling her closer. Everyone else pulled out their guns but didn't fire seeing her stuck as a shield in front of him. He backed up until they reached the atrium and waited as the coms stopped to tell everyone to stop the manhunt and the Shifter was in the atrium. The rest of the crew joined, but they didn't know what to do as the shifter had his claws now exposed holding so she could feel the tips begin to poke through the uniform.
"Oh, come on now fellows," said the Shifter in a higher and smoother voice. "You really won't shoot me even when one of your own is in danger? Clever thing this one is too. Maybe smarter than the rest of you so I guess that makes sense." No one moved and Cassie just watched these uniform men holding tough and strong wondering what was going through their minds. Suddenly though the Shifter laughed and then said, "Oh but you won't I know. Sorry for you all though as I've had enough time to get access to your computers and download your personal information. Not to mention rewire a special little trick into your communication units. Want to see?"
The crew shifted a little bit but held their ground.
"Fine," it continued. "Let's get introduced then, shall we? Like how about Jacobs? Phil Jacobs?"
One of the guys in the hallway suddenly cried out in pain and the helmet flew off his head revealing Phil's short black hair. Cassie could see though that he held his head in pain and there was a small burn that appeared to be growing on his neck. The rest of the guys seemed a bit spooked but before they could act, the Shifter began calling out their names quickly.
One by one the guys crumpled to the ground tearing off their helmets and revealing the burning patch. The grasp around Cassie didn't change, but she was surprised no one rushed towards her. Especially Dean and Matt who also crumpled down in pain like Cassie hadn't seen the others experience.
After all the men surrounding her crumpled to the ground there was a pause. Cassie was a little too stunned in the horror to realize what was going on until suddenly the claws tightened and she clenched up. "Why aren't you in pain or on the ground? I called every name..."
Cassie cleared her throat and said in still a low voice, "I'm sure if you count the bodies, it would prove that you did in fact call every one of the crew."
It hissed again, but to her surprise pushed her away. She tried to take a gun that someone dropped, but it rushed at her now with a red undefined face and large teeth and instead she kicked hard and knocked it back a bit. She then rushed towards it and punched its face hard sending it reeling towards the wall. It quickly recovered though and started back towards her.
Cassie quickly dodged some of his attacks, taking only the smaller blows that pushed her around, but she was able to fend him off as best he could. As she pushed him further back towards the wall, she started hitting him with harder blows. She ended it with another strong punch and while he seemed dazed, she kicked him in the stomach, so he doubled over, allowing her to connect his head to her knee and crumple to the ground.
While it was down, she rushed to the nearest gun and grabbed it, aiming it at the monster with at least enough distance away from it so he couldn't try and lash out at her.
"How..." it howled, still in pain from the blow to the head and the stomach. "How did you survive my trap? I had it rigged for everyone!"
"Right," Cassie said keeping her voice low though she was breathing harder now. "Everyone in the personnel files on the ship...."
There was suddenly another sound of a gun being aimed and Cassie glanced over to her right to see Ash standing there with his gun raised. His helmet was gone, and his uniform was torn. He also had a gash on the side of his temple that had stopped bleeding but had trickled down his face. He looked rattled and she wondered where he had been.
"Good work. You managed to fend him off. Help me get it into the holding cell in the cargo bay and then we'll come back and help the crew," he said. His voice was still authoritative, but it wavered just slightly.
Cassie just nodded, figuring she couldn't try to disguise her voice in front of him, now she knew it was truly him. She watched as he approached the monster, cuffing it with some sort of electronic locks as it howled in pain. Then the two picked it up by the shoulders and began to carry it off.
The Shifter thrashed a bit, and it wasn't easy trying to hide from all his teeth, but they managed to move it into the cargo bay and onto some small platform. Then Ash punched in some numbers on a keypad connected to the wall next to it and four shiny iridescent walls rose around the platform. The monster tried to break free, but it was held in these walls that were obviously stronger than they appeared.
Feeling comforted by the prison the monster was held in Cassie turned beginning to head back towards the crew. She paused only slightly knowing Ash hadn't followed her, but since she also didn't know how to act alone with him right now, she quickly continued. The pain had subsided among the crew and a few of them were beginning to stand up. She noticed that Johnson had managed to tear his com unit out and then cut the wiring to the rest. Everyone held their necks though and it was clear this was an injury they wouldn't forget any time soon.
Ash finally joined the room stopping at the doorway looking tired, relieved, and worried. Dean looked towards him and said, "You alright?"
"I will be. You?"
"Same."
There was a silence for a moment but then Ash looked in Cassie's direction and said, "You can take your helmet off now. That thing can't escape now."
She didn't move. She looked away from him though and met the eyes of all the other guys and their expressions showed her that they all knew what had happened and how she escaped. She felt a bit numb and even though the helmet was still on, she couldn't meet their gazes and looked away.
"Something wrong?" Ash asked, confusion in his voice. "You're okay right?"
"Ash..." Matt said.
There was a small pause until someone said, "There's a good reason this person's okay Captain."
"And a good reason they weren't affected by the trick the Shifter pulled."
"I was going to ask about that. Why weren't you affected?" Ash asked, his footsteps drawing near.
"Ash," Matt said again. "This person did save our lives."
The steps paused and then Dean said, "Not to mentioned they called the Shifter out and figured out it wasn't you."
"If you heard through the coms-" Someone else began.
"Mine was taken by the Shifter when it stole my form and knocked me out," Ash answered though his voice was growing softer and wavering more.
There was a pause before White said, "Then all you would have to do is count us and you would know why this person is fine."
The pause this time felt heavier. Probably because the knot in Cassie's stomach was growing tighter as the conversation grew. She briefly glanced towards Dean and Matt since it seemed like they had come to her defence, but worry was written on their faces. She then looked back to Ash whose face was paler and his eyes had widened, still focused directly on her forcing her to look away from him again.
Slowly she reached up towards her neck and pushed the buttons on the bottom of the helmet so the pressure would release. She then held it and very slowly lifted it off her head, feeling her ponytail bounce out of it. There was no reaction to this movement as Cassie held it to her side. She bit her lip and tried to take a deep breath before she slowly looked back towards him.
When their eyes met, it was clear to her that he was even more visibly upset. His face was still pale and though his features were strong in not showing any other sign of emotion, his eyes were glossy, and she could tell by the way his nostrils flared his breathing was unsteady. Neither one said anything and neither one broke the others gaze.
Finally, White said, "She did save our lives, like Matt said."
"Yeah, without her, who knows what would have happen to us."
"You could have been..." But this person was shushed quickly.
There was another pause. "I do think we should somewhat celebrate this victory a bit," Johnson said softly.
A few of the others chimed in along with this. To hear the thanks and encouragement from the crew would have been uplifting if Cassie had truly been listening to them. Ash never broke her gaze and his features tightened into a deep frown. His eyes also began to narrow and the gaze he gave her was darker than before. She was doing her best to hold back any other emotions, though her stomach felt nauseous, and tears were beginning to threaten their appearance on her face.
Once the crew had finished expressing their gratitude it went silent again. Then without a word, Ash finally looked away from her and pushed himself past everyone, climbing up the stairs and off towards the cabin's hallway. Cassie watched him leave and felt like someone knocked the air out of her temporarily. Everyone stayed quiet, not knowing what to do either.
Cassie finally took a breath and then felt some heat flowing through her. With sudden confidence, she pushed her way through everyone as well and climbed the stairs quickly after him. She turned to head towards his quarters but paused halfway hearing a door further down the hall open and close. She backtracked her steps and made her way down the hall again.
Halfway down, she paused thinking maybe this is where he had stopped. It was a small study full of maps and chart discs the crew had collected, and she had only been in their once. She thought though that judging by the sound this must have been the door he went into and opened it by pressing the button next to it.
Ash indeed was in there, leaning up against the furthest back wall, arms crossed eyes narrowed and he looked pained. When he looked up to see her enter though she felt the confidence suddenly drain out of her. His eyes were narrowed again and were cold looking.
Cassie had to take another deep breath again before she said, "So that's it? You honestly have nothing to say to me? Not even something to yell at me for? Question me about? Even thank me for kind of getting this mess under control?"
"You promised me," he said softly which sent a chill down her spine.
She somewhat expected him to continue, but he didn't and that started frightening her a little. "I'm sorry. I know you didn't want me to come out... But to be honest, I think I would have been more terrified with this going on by just staying in my room with nothing but a com."
"And what if you had gotten hurt Cassie?" he said, his voice growing louder.
"But I didn't," she challenged. "In fact, I don't want to brag necessarily but I did just take out a Shifter and help you lock it up. I mean yes, I could have been torn apart or seriously injured, but I wasn't, and the element of surprise worked and came in handy. I'm not going to apologize about how I handled myself out there."
He broke her gaze, and she could see his jaw clench. "Listen, I do realize what you did, but I don't think luck or surprise is going to come in handy every time, especially if people learn you're here and plan for it. You can't just fumble through every little-"
"I didn't fumble! Dean's been training me!" Cassie yelled.
"What?" he asked, looking back at her wide-eyed though his brows were beginning to knit together.
"Dean's been training me how to fight and defend myself," she replied in her normal tone. Tears were now beginning to leak down her face. "I asked him to after everything that happened with the raid. I didn't want to feel that helpless again. That scared again. I don't want to feel like I couldn't take care of myself because I've never felt that way before!
"I've always been independent, and I've always done whatever I can to protect myself. So now that we've come across two dangerous encounters, I'm feeling even better about the fact that I asked him to do this. I mean if this is what the universe is really like then I'm glad I'm learning to defend myself in it. It seems like a pretty good idea to me at least."
Ash had looked away from her while she said this. Cassie felt the tears beginning to subside as her frustration grew and the words came more forcefully out of her mouth.
He closed his eyes, still looking away from her. "So, I guess all you want is praise and congratulation then..." He took a deep breath before turning back towards her, his eyes narrowed. "Well, I would, but let's recap exactly what happened. Because the bit you missed was the whole part when I got into a fight and got knocked out. Oh, and my identity stolen, endangering the entire crew. The reason why I bring it up... Because it happened in the hallway very close to your cabin door."
Cassie felt like she had been hit with a hard blow to her stomach and stood there frozen.
"Yeah," he said reading her expression. "The only reason I was there was because I was on my way to make sure he hadn't gotten to you, which trust me, as I realized I was losing against him, it was a great feeling knowing that he was in that hallway, and you were unprotected against him. And since you also want this to be perfectly okay, let me also say sorry for then putting you in a dangerous situation without realizing it, but you did show me that I can't trust you.
"I don't mean just what I say and ask of you either. You obviously don't trust me enough to tell me you took up training with Dean, but I guess that now makes sense for why you suddenly got busy on board when you weren't before. Also let's not forget how you took the liberty to steal a security key and sneak around the ship while we were out and steal one of the extra uniforms and guns."
Ash suddenly stood upright and began to walk closer to her even though Cassie couldn't meet him in the eyes now. She felt so sick because of the guilt and the pain she now realized had come from all of this that all her confidence and pride had completely deflated.
He stopped when he was now a couple feet away from her. "I know you and I have had ups and downs before all this," he said calmly. "But I thought you and I had finally become friends. Maybe that means something different in your world, but I can't say you've been one to me lately. So, excuse me if I'm upset with you right now."
Without another word and as tears were falling fast now down her cheeks, Cassie turned and ran back out the door. Matt and Dean were heading down it and tried to catch her as she ran by, but she ran straight towards her room dodging them both.