101 Things To Do In Zero Gravity - Chapter Nine

[acroamatica.livejournal.com]

Title: 101 Things To Do In Zero Gravity
Status: WIP - Part 9/?
Author: Pip of acroamatica
Pairing: BB/DM
Rating: R
Summary: A wee little space opera in the classic style, with added Hobbity goodness. Obviously rather future AU - begins in June 2087, in fact, slightly before the events depicted in Sniper 470.
Content/Warning: Angst, language
Spoilers: Sniper 470 (note: You don't need to have seen it, but it helps.)
Disclaimer: If I told you I owned them, that this was all real, and that I was making loadsamoney writing about it, would you believe me? Because I would find that very entertaining. I don't own Sniper 470 or anything connected with it either.
Author's Notes: Most fun thing evar: writing Dom with a head full of drugs. (His head, not mine, that is - though the latter might be fun too.) Second most fun thing evar: Sekrit Agent Doctor Lady! I couldn't resist - she's perfect. Next most fun thing evar: reading your reviews. I feel so evil - but then after I feel so good. :D

Previous chapters: [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]


Chapter 9

When Dom opened his eyes again, the ceiling said ASDFS Perseus.

He puzzled over that for a few minutes. It seemed a very odd thing for a ceiling to say. Certainly no ceiling he'd ever seen before had words on it. Pictures, yes - mirrors, on one memorable occasion - but never words. Especially never words he didn't understand.

There was a sound then. In fact, there had been that sound for a little while, but it hadn't really registered on him. He wondered what it was, and tried to turn his head to look for it, only his head didn't want to turn. That would have distressed him, but just then the source of the sound drifted into his field of vision once more.

It was a tall blonde lady he didn't recognise, wearing a badge with a logo he did. Not that he knew why, of course, but it was setting off all kinds of mental bells. None of them were alarm bells, particularly, so he decided not to be alarmed.

"Fmm bzz wlll," said the lady. "Krg hvv wps?"

Dom frowned. The lady smiled, and reached down to touch his arm with something shiny. There was an instant of sharp pain, but then it was gone and the lady patted his hand.

"Grlph-mm schlig better?"

Dom blinked at her. "Pardon?" he rasped, awash in the shock that his head suddenly contained a whole language he didn't think he had known a moment ago.

"Is that better?" she repeated, smiling a little more.

"Yes," Dom said slowly. "Ta." Then he realised why her badge looked familiar. He had one just like it.

"You're from the Firm," he said positively.

"I am indeed," she agreed. "Quite a bit more senior than you, though. My name is Cate."

"H'lo, Cate," he said gruffly. "I'm Dom."

Her laugh was mellow and sparkling. "I know who you are, Dom. We were quite worried about you, you know, my dear. After all those dire messages - well, we thought we'd send someone after you, in case we could help. And then we saw what was going on, what you were doing, and just stepped in. The ASDF was happy to cooperate - especially after they got all the data your ship's computers had been storing. Everyone is very impressed with you and your computers, Dom."

Dom took a moment to assimilate that. "I see," he said finally. "And what was that you just stuck in my arm? It's brilliant."

"A stimulant. Since you woke on your own, it's safe to bring you back to normal, and I wanted to talk to you. But you were given quite a hefty dose of anaesthetic earlier, when we patched up your leg and found you a couple of pints of blood to replace what you'd lost, so it's no wonder you were a tad groggy still." She patted his hand again. "You've healed very well - you shouldn't even have a scar. So don't worry."

Her voice was very soothing, and Dom found himself more than willing to do as she said. Still, there was something nagging at him. It felt like curiosity.

"Can I - I mean, am I allowed to sit up and take a look at it?" he asked.

Cate nodded. "If you think you can, I don't see why not."

He did a quick self-assessment. All of his extremities seemed to be present and accounted for, and better yet, they were now responding to hails. Very carefully, he levered himself into a sitting position.

His leg was not very interesting after all; they'd covered it from knee to ankle in what looked to be several miles of gauze tape and bandages.

"I'll take your word for it, I suppose," he said.

"You should." She was smiling again. "I did the surgery."

"Well then." He looked up at her, a grin starting - and then he looked past her, and lunged for the edge of the bed, because in the bed next to his was -

"Billy!"

But Cate had him by the shoulders, and was pushing him back against the bed. "Hush, hush, Dom," she soothed. "He's sleeping."

Dom clutched desperately at her hands. "He's all right? Tell me he's all right. He's not dead."

"Of course he's not dead," Cate said gently. "Though I'll admit he was in very shaky condition when you arrived here. But he's had the best treatment we could give him, and he ought to pull through just fine. It might be a little while before he wakes, though."

Dom noted a change in her tone of voice on the last sentence, and his eyes narrowed. "What d'you mean? How long has it been?"

"You've been here thirty-six hours. Not so very long." She perched herself on the edge of his bed. "The problem with Billy is that, as you probably guessed on your own, he was shot full of all kinds of nasty drugs while the Coalition had him. He is also more than likely badly concussed. We've cleaned the drugs out of him as best we could and repaired the skull fracture, but head injuries are touchy. So we're just going to have to wait until he wakes on his own and we can assess how badly his brain has been affected. The rest of him, however, is going to be as fine as one could possibly expect."

That didn't sound altogether good. Dom had a feeling he knew what was going on here.

"Look," he said quietly, staring into her clear blue eyes. "I don't know if you know what the deal is, between Billy and me. But if you're not telling me things because you don't want to worry me, it's not going to work. I love him, Cate. I have been absolutely through Hell the past few days, thinking that I'd lost him. And I know he's safe now, but if there's still something wrong with him - especially if it's so important that you don't think I can handle it in my own delicate condition - I need to know."

Cate looked down at him for a few moments, clearly weighing his plea. At last she nodded. "Fine."

She let go of his shoulders and clasped his hands gently, loosely, the way his mother might have done.

"You are, of course, right," she began. "Our medical tests gave us some bad news as well as the good, and I had wanted to save you from that burden until you were stronger. But I judged you wrongly. I am sorry."

Dom nodded, accepting the apology without words.

"You know that Billy had spent an unusually long time on Station 470," Cate continued. "One of the tests that we did on him - on both of you, in fact - before we operated was to see how strong your heart muscles were. Yours were in excellent shape. Billy's are not."

Dom nodded again. It seemed to be all he could do.

"The long zero-g stay has weakened him enough that he may have difficulty re-adapting to Earth gravity. In fact, we're not certain whether he'll even be able to stand the g-stress of Earth atmosphere re-entry. At this point, he could still make it. But the degeneration is happening very quickly."

"How long?" Dom said hoarsely. "How long does he have?"

Cate squeezed his hand. "No more than a week. I'm sorry, Dom."

"It's not your fault." Dom bit his lower lip. "So how soon are they shipping us home? Tomorrow?"

This time Cate closed her eyes for a brief moment, and Dom's heart seemed to stop. "I don't know. You see, the Perseus was sent here as a mobile base. It needs to stay here. And we'd send you on another smaller ASDF ship, but there would be tremendous complications if we actually had to explain to anyone just who you are and what you were doing here. After all, you certainly weren't here on ASDF business."

"Then send him, at least," Dom cried. "Send Billy home, and leave me here. I'll come later, when I can, but Christ, Cate, you've got to get him home. He's ASDF. There shouldn't be any awkward complications there, should there?"

But Cate only shook her head. "I'm afraid we asked them about that already. They can't spare anything capable of making the trip. I'm sorry, Dom. Truly."

Dom sank back into his pillows, head spinning. After a very long time he realised that Cate was still there, still holding his hands, and he opened his eyes, amazed to find that they were not full of tears.

"How long have I got," he said softly, "before I would be technically, minimally, fit enough to fly?"

Cate sighed. "That's not a good idea, Dom."

"No, I know that," Dom said, exasperated, "but let's assume that I'm going to do it whether it is or not. How long?"

Cate sighed again, only deeper and in a way that reminded Dom even more strongly of his mother. "I'd give you another thirty-six hours before you could get up without doing serious damage to yourself."

"Right," said Dom. "And Aureen?"

"Your ship? It's fully fuelled and in excellent condition." She looked at him pointedly. "Unlike yourself."

Dom nodded. "Granted. But if I'm a very good boy for the next thirty-six hours and don't strain myself in any way and do exactly as I'm told, I will be fit to fly."

She nodded reluctantly. "Yes, you will. Barely."

"Fine," Dom said briskly, or at any rate as briskly as he could manage while flat on his back. "Then you may put those straps I see there back on my arms and legs, and I will lie very still and quiet, and in thirty-six hours I am taking my ship and my lover and we are going home. Aureen made it out here with no trouble: she can make it back."

"Yes," said Cate. "But can you, Dom?"

He looked bleakly at her. "Do I have a choice?"

She was silent for a long moment. And then the hint of a smile quirked one side of her mouth. "No, I don't suppose you do."

"Good. Then we understand each other." Dom closed his eyes, then opened them again. "Wait - you can arrange a bed for Bill at Armstrong, can't you? Someplace for full-grav rehab? Because he and I can stay there for awhile."

"Of course," said Cate. The quirk became a knowing smile, and she was awfully beautiful when she smiled. "We are the Firm. We can arrange anything."

"Good," Dom said again. This time his eyes stayed closed, even while he felt the restraints being set back on his wrists and ankles. He didn't mind.

"Goodnight, Dom," Cate murmured, laying her hand on his forehead for a moment.

"Thirty-six hours, and not one moment longer," he said forcefully, eyes still closed.

And he heard her laugh, and then the swish of the door opening and closing behind her, and he fell asleep smiling.

The thirty-six hours were endured, mostly without too much trouble. Cate arrived periodically, now with a stethoscope hanging from her shapely neck, to feed him tabs and strange liquids, and departed with blood samples or data chips from his medical monitors. She poked and prodded various bits of him until he was sure it was a scheme she'd come up with just to send him mad, but he wouldn't give her the satisfaction of making him break his promise. He laid quiet and complacent, and let her do exactly as she wished, until thirty-six full hours had passed.

And then he brooked absolutely no argument about whether she should take the restraints off him and give him back his clothes.

"I don't care," he told Cate obstinately, though she was shaking her head at him. "I've got to get Bills home. I've got to. I'll be sitting most of the way, and I know I was in great shape before this. I can take it, Cate, I really can. And I'm going to."

"And what about the sleep deprivation?" Cate pointed out. "You can't very well take naps when you've got a patient to take care of. Which you do."

"I thought of that too," he said proudly. "Very simple, innit? You just give me a kit with a few shots of stimulant, and I dose myself whenever things start to blur about the edges."

"Oh no," Cate said firmly. "No stimulants until you're healed. Not wise."

"Fuck wise," Dom said succinctly. "Excuse my language, Cate, but I think even if I put myself back in sickbay for a couple of days when I get to Armstrong, it's worth it. I mean, I can't very well take any ASDF people back with me, and there aren't likely any spare analysts kicking around, looking to hitch a ride home. It's got to be me that does it, just me and Billy. So I've got to have the drugs, really. No other way."

He looked craftily at Cate. "You know, you can't deprive me entirely of stimulants. I can always get coffee. I'll mainline the stuff if I have to."

Cate shook her head. Again. She'd been doing that a lot. But this time she was smiling a little. "You seem to be absolutely determined to injure yourself, one way or another, Dom," was her comment. "But I suppose you're right. I might as well at least know what you're taking and how much you're giving yourself. I'll have a kit ready for you shortly."

"Thank you," said Dom, with real gratitude. "Am I allowed up now?"

Cate grinned, and undid one of his wrist restraints. "Do I think I could stop you?"

He returned the grin as he undid the other. "You made a fair try. I understand, you know. It can't be easy, from a doctor's point of view, to have to stand down against your patient, when you know you know better."

"More than that," she said quietly. "I do work for the Firm, Dom. We'd hate to lose someone of your calibre, just because you made an ill-advised decision. You are an incredible asset to us. It's my duty to make sure you understand exactly what risks you're facing by doing this."

Dom met her eyes without hesitation. "Against the risk Billy's facing - and has faced, and survived - this seems like the least I could do. I'll be all right, Cate. I'll get us home."

Once more she shook her head, still grinning. "Somehow I'm ill inclined to doubt you. All right, Dom; you get yourself dressed, and I'll go see to that kit and make sure Aureen's ready to become a hospital ship."

Once the door had closed behind her, he took the jumpsuit she had brought him - clearly, she'd been through his lockers on Aureen, but he didn't much mind that - and slowly, carefully, pushed himself free of the bed. Mid-air, he pulled it on, then did a few experimental stretches. He wasn't as weak as Cate had seemed to expect, nor quite as strong as he'd hoped. But he'd do.

On the other hand. Billy.

Dom twisted easily and kicked at the ceiling with his good leg, sending himself cruising easily towards Billy's bed.

The terrible cuts had healed scar-free, like the bolt-wound on Dom's leg, with significant assistance and mysterious ointments from Cate. The bruises had paled and yellowed, though they weren't yet gone. His skin was still pale, but no longer death-white, and warm instead of cool. A good improvement overall, Dom decided.

But he hadn't woken. Cate claimed that was normal, after the stresses his body had endured; it was giving itself time to recuperate. He would wake when he woke, and that was that. Still, it worried Dom. He wanted his Billy back, which he felt was quite understandable, and though it was good to be able to hold his hand if he wanted to, or kiss his forehead, as he did then, it wasn't the same when the kiss didn't make him smile in his sleep, or open his eyes and greet Dom with a real kiss.

"Do you even know I'm here, Bills?" Dom murmured. "Do you know you're safe? Or do you still think you're back on the Cbase? Is that why you won't wake up?"

"He won't wake up because he's concussed," said Cate, from behind him. "But he probably will before you get him home, though he may be a bit odd for awhile. Good to see you're dressed - feeling all right?"

"I'm fine," said Dom. "Ready to go home. Is Aureen?"

"Perfectly. Got all kinds of new equipment hooked into her - heart monitors and the like. She'll make a fine nursing sister."

"That's good. So can we move him, then?"

"I can," Cate said, and took Dom's wrist. "You don't need to help - save your energy. It's not as though he weighs anything, after all. In fact, you may as well grab hold of the end of the gurney - I'll tow you both."

And so she did, cruising down the corridors like Mary Poppins with the Banks children's pram, a dignified if nurse-like figure. Dom perched on the front of the gurney, sitting at Billy's feet; in both hands, he clutched the medkit Cate had assembled. Three doses of strong stimulants. She wouldn't allow him any more than that.

"Each dose should last you ten to twelve hours," she'd said. "And if you double-dose yourself, it'll be a competition whether the heart attack kills you first, or I do."

Still, thirty-six hours, with a probable twelve to fourteen before he had to dose, ought to see him to Armstrong. Then - well, then he could afford to go and lie down somewhere so as not to fall on his face when they wore off.

He and Cate arranged Billy on Aureen's sleeping couch. Dom noted that the usual waist restraint had been augmented and heavily padded, and that there were now wrist and ankle straps as well. He wasn't best pleased to see Cate putting them all on Billy, and said so.

"He needs it, though," Cate told him. "He's concussed, remember, Dom? He could be highly irrational when he wakes. He might hurt himself if he can move freely, or if he strains too hard against unpadded straps. But he's got to have them. His body can't take very much stress at this point, if there's to be the best chance of a full recovery."

Dom sighed. "I'm sure you're right... but he won't like the straps. They... they had him in straps, there."

Cate squeezed his arm sympathetically. "But you can stay with him, this time. I'm sure he'll be able to deal with things if you're with him to explain it all."

"Maybe." Dom lowered himself into his pilot's chair and did up his own lap belt. "I suppose I'll find out. Are we ready, then?"

"As ready as you're going to be, at this point."

He swivelled the chair around so he could see her, standing at the airlock. Suddenly he felt a mad urge to salute.

"Thanks, Cate," he said instead. "Really. Thank you."

"Godspeed, Dom," she said from the doorway. "Perhaps I'll see you Earthside. I just hope, for your sake as much as Billy's, that you're fast enough."

"So do I," he said softly, as the airlock closed behind her.

Then he looked back at Billy, sleeping the overly-peaceful sleep of the deeply drugged, and listened to the clang and clash of the umbilicals being disconnected, and the hum of the docking magnet activating, drawing them out of the neat row of ASDF ships, into the vast open space of the Perseus docking bay.

"We'll manage it somehow, Bills," he promised, out loud because it felt more real. "This time I won't be too late - I won't. You're going to be fine."

And then the docking magnet released them, and Dom turned to his board and eased Aureen past the enormous bay doors and out.

Carefully, in one smooth turn, he faced Aureen towards home. Slowly, he began to accelerate, feeling the familiar press of inertia like a hug from an old friend.

"Wagons ho," he said, with a wry grin.

Then he kicked the throttle all the way open and Aureen leapt as though she'd been stung, arrowing towards Earth as fast as her engines and Dom's determination could take her.