~00:14~

Shivering. All you've done is shiver. You've been trying to keep your sobs from coming out while the other side of the line remains quiet. It's been a solid five seconds since you told them who you are, but they haven't replied. You're about to speak again to make sure they didn't leave when someone clears their throat. "Tell us everything."

You do. You tell them how you were a stowaway, how you got caught, how the the explosion hurt your ship, and how you were locked up - forced to listen to the screams of your captors. After a minute and a half of you explaining, you shut your mouth, letting out a sigh. You feel much better now since you let that whole ordeal out. You're no longer alone, you were able to tell someone about your pain. Even if it's the last thing you do, you're at least happy about that. Terror stings at your body, but at least you're not alone.

"Are there alien lifeforms on your craft?"

"I haven't seen any as of yet. I'm staying on the bridge for as long as humanly possible." There's a few beats of silence. You don't blame them, you wouldn't know what to do either. You wouldn't want to risk bringing someone on board who could potentially contaminate others, but at the same time, there's someone with evidence of alien life. Someone who survived a massacre.

"Hang tight Miss L/N," is all you hear before the comm shuts off. Frustration hits your veins. You're not sure if it's possible to regain a connection with them, but truthfully, there's nothing you can do. You're no engineer. With a huff and whine, you slide down the wall and sit as best you can.

Hang tight. They'll help you. They have to.

~~~

"Shit," Namjoon mutters, rubbing his temple with his fingers. "Do we have a decontamination center rookie?" Jimin takes a second to realize Namjoon's talking to him before clearing his throat.

"Medbay, if that counts. We can clear the important medical supplies from there and keep her inside."

Namjoon sighs, nodding slightly. "Well, shit. We don't really have a choice now do we? I don't like the idea of heading back, but she can be the key to all of this."

Jimin raises a brow. "Sir?" Jimin has never seen an executive so stressed. As if the Hep blowing up wasn't enough, now there's a potential rescue mission they have to perform.

"Even if she didn't see anything, being onboard gives us a witness from a different angle. Plus, this isn't just any witness."

Jimin's only more confused, his forehead creasing. "Sorry sir, I don't follow."

"Y/N L/N: the oldest daughter of Captain L/N. Famous pilot, particularly around Ganymede and Mars. A hero - he fought in the Martian Civil War, he even fought to protect Mars from Earth back when tensions were high."

"Aren't they still high, sir?"

He laughs, but there's no amusement laced into the noise. "Very much so, but I mean to the point where war was about to break out."

"I don't remember there being any cold wars," Jimin says, Namjoon waving the air as if swatting a fly.

"That's because you and I weren't exactly alive. This was almost thirty years ago."

"Thirty years ago? Jesus, how old is this guy?"

"I couldn't tell you, but when she's on board, we can ask her." Namjoon presses down on his handheld comm. "Pilot Byun, set course for the Blackwell, we have a package to pick up."

Jimin can sense the hesitation storming in the young pilot's head. Regardless, Byun answers with a "right away sir". Soon enough, the Athena is soaring through the vastness of space.

Namjoon steps up to the comm link on the wall, sighing before pressing it on. "So we're clear, when we board that ship, I go alone. No one else. We'll contact her soon and make sure she knows to meet us near the airlock." Namjoon halts for a beat, his tone laced with hesitation. "Listen rookies, I know today was... beyond tough. Probably one of the worst days of your lives, but unfortunately, we have to keep moving." He pauses, glancing back at Jimin. "For Captain Kwon and the Hep, we have to keep moving. This girl could be the key to everything. We can make a case and open an investigation, find out who took our ship- no, our home from us."

Jimin softly smiles at the Executive's words. "I promise you, I will give you a new home, and in the process, take down the bastards who killed our friends." Namjoon finishes his mini speech, creeping away from the comm. He peeks at Jimin, who gives him a thumbs up.

"I always respected you, but I have to say that speech was pretty powerful."

He grins at the rookie. "Well good, I was making it up as I went along."

Jimin chortles. "You don't really have much of a choice, sir." The Executive eases his tensed shoulders, trotting over to him. "I know it must be rough, being stuck with a bunch of rookies, especially considering the situation we're in."

Namjoon shakes his head, patting his hand on Jimin's shoulder. "Truthfully, I was worried about the state of our crew. But after seeing how all of you performed today? I'm not. You all followed orders even under pressure. And you..." He trails off, looking Jimin right in the eyes. "You're getting there."

Jimin's throat collapses in on itself, and he can't halt the giddiness he feels at the Executive's praise. Namjoon gives him one last nod before wandering off, exiting the room presumably to clear the important medical supplies from the medbay. Jimin merely stands there, staring at the space Namjoon was and lightly squealing. "I did it," he mutters to himself, feeling rather bittersweet. His smile is quick to fall, him realizing how selfish his thoughts are. He may have gotten praise and recognition, but at what cost?

~Unknown~

"It's only been an hour... it's only been an hour... it's only been an hour," you say, floating in the air with your knees tucked into your chest. "They'll come back, I know they will," you mutter, burying your face into your knees. Truthfully, this is the first time you've ever been scared like this. Your father terrified you, hell he probably gave you PTSD, but nothing compares to seeing the devastation of the Blackwell.

Honestly, you'd do anything to not feel this fear. You'd trade this fear to the one you'd experience on Ganymede every time you looked up and saw Jupiter. You can almost hear your father's yells. 'Not only did you leave, but you're a coward, hiding in a situation like this', or something like that.

Wait.

Your head shoots up. You're no coward, you're not about to rush into the great unknown for a minuscular chance at finding out what happened. A witness. You're a witness. Bodies, blood, damage - you've seen all that. And at the moment, it seems as though you're the sole survivor. You grit your teeth, moving your legs away from your chest and pushing off the wall. Your dry hands grab the console and steady your body in front of it, watching the blinking yellow light closely. It's been that way for an hour. Since you made last contact. You have no idea what it means, but you hope it's something good. Normally red is bad, so as long as it doesn't turn red, you'll be fine, right?

You peer around the room, but there's nothing you can do to pass time. Luckily for you, however, as soon as you're about to start pressing random buttons, the blinking yellow becomes a steady green. "Shuttle number 46715-B requesting comm access, codename Athena. Do you wish to accept this request?" a robotic voice asks, which makes you smile in disbelief.

"Yes," your says in a quiver.

"Y/N L/N, correct?" the same man you were talking to before asks. A wave of relief crashes inside your chest. You thought they would leave you, ignore you. But no, they're actually coming. They're actually here.

"Still here!" you reply.

"Good. My name is Executive Kim Namjoon, and we are the Athena. We came back to board you, please meet us at the airlock. ETA 5 minutes."

Your brows furrow. "Wait. Come back? You were here before?"

To your dismay, he doesn't answer. The line goes cold, the light switching back to its unsettling yellow. You tremble, gripping the pistol you tucked into the back of your pants and freeing it, bringing it in front of you. You click off the safety, pushing against the console and towards the ladder that you rush down.

You try to remember what paths you took to get to the bridge, but it's impossible. You stroll around aimlessly, looking at the walls for paint. Every ship is color coded: one color line would run in the direction of a specific place. Red is the bridge, blue is the medbay, yellow is the airlock. Each ship is required to have those three at the very least. The bigger ships have more and would often have colors like purple for the dining halls and orange for the hangar. The Blackwell has a medbay, airlock, bridge, and cargo bay. Blue, yellow, red, green.

You continue to patrol the area. Blood stains the walls and floors, but you manage to find a sharp yellow line leading to the left. You follow it, slightly shaking. Despite that, you mentally fling off your father. He would call you a coward for fleeing. You're not a hero either. You're a girl in the wrong place at the wrong time. Of all days you choose to leave, you chose to leave on one that would change everything. And not only that, you chose the right ship. Out of the dozens upon dozens, and you chose the Blackwell. Maybe it was fate, maybe you have extremely bad luck - but honestly it only makes sense that a L/N is in the middle of all this.

You keep close to the walls, using them as leverage to move you along. Some bodies are scattered around, many of them missing limbs that almost makes you sick, but you manage to stay strong and keep going. "Just a little further," you whisper, giving the wall one good kick to propel you forward. You see the airlock now; it's right at the end of this corridor. You're about a hundred feet away from the door when it hisses, causing your eyes to expand.

After a few seconds of eerie silence and you growing closer to the door, it opens, and out comes a single man holding a pistol up and wearing a gas mask. Somehow you can still see his eyes behind the giant cage hiding his face. When his brown eyes lock with your e/c ones, he lowers his weapon, his body stiff. You approach, placing your hand on the wall to slow yourself. "I know, I've looked better," you joke, which makes him slightly chuckle. It's the best thing you can muster right now. The only way to mask how scared you are is to joke about it. It's the only way.

"Namjoon I presume?"

He hums. "Pleasure to meet you. I would give you a handshake, but I think it's best if we put you right in the medbay." Although the thought of being locked up makes you shudder, you can't say you blame him. He gives you an apologetic glance, but you shake it off.

"Do what you have to do, I understand." He lets his posture go from stiff to open, then gestures to the entrance of the Athena.

"Shall we?"