#captainsona

Mark does.

“What the hell just happened?” he asked, his voice trembling while his other hand gripped at your forearm, his gaze intensifying when he asked the question.

“The crystal has a mind of its own sometimes. When it does, it pulls me through the wormhole that my ship is stuck in right now, but, with enough attempts, I have figured out how to navigate the paths. It’s very dizzying and disorienting at first and I’m not pulling you through anymore of them.” you explained, placing your hand over his and giving him a reassuringly firm nod before you heard your name called from behind you.

“Who the hell is this? Where did you pull him from? Captain?” the sound of Mark’s voice made you turn around and look at him while stepping in front of Simon protectively. 

“Mark, I will explain in a while but right now, I’m going to get Simon to Medical to get looked at. He doesn’t need your questions, remarks, or concerns right now.” you told the head engineer. Mark’s eyes widened a bit at how fast you brushed him off, watching as you guided the stranger to the medical wing of the ship. Mark’s eyes narrowed a bit at the stranger, Simon, and the only thing he could think at that moment was why the hell Simon looked so similar to him.

You entered the medical wing and spoke to the head doctor, explaining the situation and where you’d found Simon before watching the doctor nod and offer Simon a gentle smile. Simon looked suspiciously between you and the doctor before his gaze settled on you. “It’s okay, he’s simply going to give you a basic check up to make sure everything is physically okay with you.” you explained to Simon. He nodded slowly before following behind the doctor to a curtained off section meant for patients and privacy.

You returned to the Command Center and found Mark standing at the console, arms crossed over his chest with a mild scowl on his face. Your voice filled the room, requesting everyone else to vacant the room for the time being so you could talk to Mark. The room was silent for a while after everyone else had left, and you stood in front of the glass that allowed for a broad view of the stars and space outside of the ship but your thoughts were interrupted when Mark spoke. “Are you going to answer my question then?”

“One of the paths in the wormhole dropped me in his ship. It was new, foreign, and frankly, absolutely inhumane.” You started, continuing to stare out into the vast emptiness of space. When Mark didn’t say anything, you took it as your sign to continue. “His name is Simon and his ship was given the name the Iron Lung. A ship that he couldn’t get out of if he wanted to, and he wanted to.” You turned and looked at Mark, who was leaning against the console with an interested look on his face. You proceeded. “When I dropped into the Iron Lung, he was wary. He’s obviously got some trust issues but who wouldn’t after being welded into a submersible meant to be your method of execution?” Mark’s expression changed to one of mixed horror and disbelief. “Simon told me that he was blamed for something that was never meant to happen and as a way to make amends, he was instructed to get into a submarine that would be dropped onto a moon with a blood ocean, take a few photos of what’s down there, and all would be good. But that wasn’t the case. He was never meant to make it back. Or get out of the submarine.” Mark’s expression dropped and the scowl returned for a second.

“So you brought a convict with a death penalty onto MY ship without any prior discussion?!” Mark lost it. Your brows pinched together at the terms he used.

“Hey! I was not going to let this fucking crystal pull me out of that hellhole without him! I don’t care what he did or why! No one deserves to be lied to and tricked into a punishment ending only one way!” you argued back.

“He’s a criminal! What if he’s killed people!?” Mark started going on about the ‘what ifs’, but you snapped.

“I saw the fucking look in his eyes! He was scared shitless! And in that moment, it reminded me of that path where WE got tricked. I thought of how fucking scared you were in that path. Simon was terrified!” Your words silenced Mark, his eyes widening a bit before he released a soft breath and nodded a little, finally understanding why you made your decision. His gaze dropped to the floor, and your hands dropped to your sides as you approached him, bringing your hands up to cup his face in them. “I will take full responsibility if something goes wrong with him. Whatever punishment it may be from the crew, I will accept it fully because it was my decision, my judgement, my call. It was a last second choice that I made in the moment without thinking of the consequences here and I know that. But give him a shot. Give Simon the shot that the people who sent him to his death didn’t.” You pleaded softly, meeting Mark’s gaze and watching him contemplate your words for a moment before nodding in agreement. Your lips tugged into a small smile before you muttered a soft ‘thank you’.

“You’re such a pain in the ass, Captain.” Mark chuckled before leaning down and kissing your forehead. Your heart skipped a beat and your smile widened when you laughed at his comment before you shrugged a little.

“I aim to make your life difficult~” you hummed before releasing Mark’s face and walking towards the door. “Now, I’m going to check on Simon. You behave yourself, mister.” You looked at Mark over your shoulder with a raised brow and a knowing smirk, watching Mark give you a mischievous grin before you shook your head and headed to Medical.

The door slid open and the sound of your boots carrying you into the room sounded through the air, making the doctor look at you after he seemed to have been staring intensely at Simon’s eye. You raised a brow and crossed your arms over your chest, waiting for the doctor to say something. He cleared his throat and stepped back from Simon and over to you with a clipboard in hand. “Everything looks as normal as they can be, however, his right eye seems to have obtained a red color which is odd and the appearance of his white cell count is quite strange but they’re still doing their job so it’s no cause for concern.” the doctor explained to you. You looked over the doc’s shoulder and at Simon, who was looking around at the interior of Medical. Your gaze ran up and down Simon’s frame, finally noticing how his clothes seemed to be rags patched together to make something substantial.

“Is he clear to leave Medical then?” you looked at the doctor, keeping an unreadable expression on your face. The doctor nodded. “Simon.” Simon looked at you after you called his name, getting up and following you after you nodded towards the door as a gesture that said you were taking him someplace else on the ship.

“Where are we going?” Simon asked, looking around at the interior of the ship while the two of you walked through the halls towards the personal chambers. You glanced at him and chuckled a little, your thoughts comparing his behavior to that of a puppy seeing its new home.

“I’m taking you to get a better change of clothes. I’m sure you don’t want to be in those any longer.” you answered, raising your hand to a scanning pad to scan your print before a door opened and the two of you walked through it. “Considering the similarities between you and my head engineer, I’m sure I can find something that’ll fit you better than that.” You explained, gesturing to Simon’s current clothes. Simon looked down at himself before nodding a little and continuing to follow your lead. You finally reached your private quarters and gestured for Simon to step inside before you. Upon reaching your closet and rummaging through it, you found and pulled out a blue jumpsuit, removing the name tag and looking the jumpsuit over before looking at Simon and back at the jumpsuit as if doing an eyeballing estimate of whether it would fit Simon or not. “Here, try this on.” You handed the jumpsuit over to Simon and watched him stare at it cautiously before looking at you. You gave him a small, encouraging nod before turning around to allow him some privacy to change.

The sound of rustling and a huff of frustration later, Simon zipped up the front of the jumpsuit and let out a soft hum of surprise. “It fits.” he said. You took that as a sign that you could turn around and look at him, feeling your cheeks warm a bit.

“Looks good.” you commented, smiling at him and chuckling when he started to fuss with his curly hair. You looked around your room for a moment, opening a couple of drawers before finding a hair tie that had managed to sneak onboard from Earth. “Here we go.” you muttered to yourself before turning towards Simon, showing him the hair tie and gesturing for him to come to you where you had him sit down on the edge of your bed. 

The door to the Command Center opened and you and Simon walked through. Mark turned and looked at you, his brows going up in surprise when he saw the old jumpsuit on Simon. Your attention was on the control pad on your arm, trying to figure out a name tag for Simon, your expression twisted in focus until you felt Mark grab your arm and pull you to the side. You raised your head and looked at Mark, confusion obvious on your face. “You dug out my old jumpsuit?” he whispered, glancing at Simon every few seconds but mainly focusing on you and your answer.

“Uh, yeah. You never wear it anymore and he’s the same build as you so it fits. I don’t see a problem with it. Besides, you have your own special jumpsuit on you right now. You’re still my Head Engineer.” you whispered back, shaking your head a little at how Mark was behaving but you knew he was just being cautious and maybe a little bit selfish. Mark was silent for a moment before huffing and realizing that you were right, making him groan in frustration. You simply grinned and shook your head. “Hey, just think of it as welcoming a new colonist. He’s just not in cryo-sleep like that rest of them.” you told Mark, watching him staring at you with a small pout before huffing and nodding slightly. You smiled more and mouthed a ‘thank you’ before returning to your previous task of making a name tag for Simon.