#tiny!logan

He was trying everything he knew. Resetting the system, trying to shut it off, attempting to override the automatic shutdown.

“Ace, override emergency operation Lock Down and return to manual piloting.”

The fact that this mission had been nothing more than an exploration of some of the least charted worlds of the galaxy, he had insisted that he be given a chance to prove himself worthy.

While there were a few other pilots who may have been a bit more acquitted to dealing with this situation, he had been allowed the chance.

Even as Virgil frantically tried to figure this mess out, the constant blinking of red lights in front of him still didn’t cease.

When the ship had gone into lock down, it was something that was supposedly made to keep the pilot within the ship safe if they were unconscious. Unfortunately, he was wide awake and unable to stop what was happening in front of him. The fact that he was useless to stop the hurtling spaceship from smashing into the ground was horrifying.

“Unable to override operation Lock Down.”

“Goddammit,” he swore under his breath, reaching up, he pulled at one of the lever above his head, before flicking the switch beside it and causing one of the only other lights to flicker on to a dying blue hue. The sounds of the locks shutting further gave him a little comfort.

There was nothing he could do if the ship couldn’t even turn it off.

“Ace, attempt to override emergency operation Lock down again and return to manual pilot.”

The beeping almost got louder for a moment and he winced in response to the squealing noises. The more high pitched it got, the more ear grating it became.

“Still unable to override operation Lock Down.”

“Attempt to reconnect contact with Home Base.”

The moment he had lost the connection with Home Base was the exact moment he had realized just how screwed he was. Without it, how would they know where his ship ended up? Would it even be possible to contact them again after he landed?

“Unable to reconnect contact with Home Base.”

Fantastic, that was exactly what he needed to hear right now. The anxiety was threatening to overwhelm him at this point, but if he allowed it to get the better of him, he would have no chance whatsoever.

As Virgil’s eyes focused on the planet in front of him that just seemed to be growing larger and larger by the second, he knew he needed more info on it. If he touched down and knew nothing, it would only get him in trouble faster. Attempting to fit in would be a bit more difficult without any knowledge.

Taking in a deep breath, he slid his hand across the touch pad, only watching as more warnings popped up in front of him. “Give me information on the planet Terra.”

The fact that he had been so sure of himself, only for his ship to shut down right in front of him while being completely helpless to stop it, proved that he probably shouldn’t have been so adamant about doing this.

At least not by himself.

Proving himself meant nothing if he was dead.

“Terra, inhabited by Terran. It resides in the Milky Way. It only consists of one moon and is the third closest planet to the sun, thus the year on Terra is—”

“Important stuff, Ace,” he called up, the panic growing heavier in his chest, making it harder to breathe, “more information on the Terran.”

“Terrans, more commonly known as ‘human beings,’ are a violent race of bipedal mammals that have a long and detailed history of starting wars between themselves over provisions such as oil, water and large expansions of land. There appears to have been a time of peace hundreds of years ago, before Terrans realized the importance of certain provisions. Humans are known for their violent and greedy nature and are often avoided by others.”

He could only sit and watch as the planet of green and blue got bigger and bigger. Hurtling towards the ground at unimaginable speeds was absolutely horrifying.

Then there was the fact that A.C.E. was saying how Terrans were more prone to jump into negative action if they found something they didn’t understand.

“It is rumoured that the humans—“Americans” as Terrans call them—of the United States of America believe there is a secret military base called Area 51. A place where countless other planets have lost explorers to. There are some notable planets in your galaxy that have lost explorers to this base.”

“Great, just what I needed,” Virgil hissed, tugging the seat belt tighter and reaching forwards to hold onto the wheel in front of him even if he wouldn’t be able to change course. The idea that there were people down on this planet that captured other beings set a hard rock in his chest. “Is there any way at all to slow the descent?”

“Negative.”

Well, guess he would just have to brace for impact as best as he could.

“Ace, attempt to reroute all power back to the main bridge and return control to manual pilot.” It was all a loss at this point, but he needed to try at least once more.

The ship went silent for a minute, the flashing stopped and for one brief moment of relief, Virgil thought that he would get control back. Then the sirens picked up again and the yoke remained stagnant. He could tug, he could turn with everything he had in him, and the thing still wouldn’t move an inch.

“Unable to reroute power supply to main bridge,” Ace’s computerized voice spoke from somewhere above him.

While crash landing was inevitable at this point, there was nothing really settling about that. There was so much that could go wrong when one hit the ground too hard. Whiplash, sprains, broken bones and, in the worst case scenario, death.

Sinking a bit further into his seat, the young man grasped the armrests. His knuckles were white from the force. The ground was approaching far too fast and he didn’t have it in him to watch.

So, he squeezed his eyes shut as tight as possible and waited for the worst of it.

—

The first thing he registered when he began to regain consciousness was the stinging in his left arm. Sharp, jabbing pain that seemed to allude to something greater than just a hurt wrist.

But there was pain almost everywhere. Every time he tried to move, there was something hot and burning. His muscles ached and could feel thin cuts along his good arm. The crash landing must have taken more of a toll on him than he had originally planned for. At least his ‘worst case scenario’ hadn’t played out. He was still alive for everything that counted for.

The next thing he registered, even when he still laid half unconscious, was that whatever he was on was much softer than solid ground or even the leather covering of the seat in his ship. Whatever he was on was a lot warmer as well. While the ship had its heating system, this felt like it was more body heat than anything else.

Whatever was happening couldn’t exactly be good.

When he tried to move his injured arm—ignoring the awful, horrible pain that shot up through the rest of his arm—that’s what jolted him awake instantly. He couldn’t move it. Not just because of the pain, he could grit his teeth through the pain, but because of something that prohibited its movement in the first place.

He sat up, suddenly hyper-aware of the weight slightly pressing against the back of his neck and his right shoulder.

Wide, startled brown eyes moved directly to his left arm and he saw the pristine white bandage wrapped around it, before tied back into a sling that was tucked around his neck. The sling itself was surprisingly well made and did its job with keeping his arm from moving, but that led Virgil to another question.

Who did it?

Which led to yet another question; where, in the name of God, was he?

His attention shifted, after realizing that he couldn’t just spend his time staring at his broken, but miraculously wrapped wrist. Not if he wanted answers. Though, when he did take the time to look around the room, he was only left with more questions.

And a crippling stab of anxiety in his stomach.

He was in a bedroom. It looked like any other normal bedroom, just on a scale a hell of a lot bigger. There was a bed, a dresser, closet, bedside table, a window, lamps, wall decors, anything that you would expect in a bedroom. Except everything was probably twenty times his own height and the panic began to set in hard.

The feeling of tightness in his chest was the first sign of the oncoming attack, then there was the heavy breathing that followed closely afterwards.

Tearing his eyes away from the looming sight in front of him, Virgil noticed a small cup of water to his right but if he wasn’t mistaken, the water was contained inside a bottle cap. Something that he had tossed mindlessly into the trash before. Seeing it nearly the size of his hand was unnerving and frankly terrifying.

While a part of him wanted to reach over and quench his thirst, another part of him—the more reasonable part of him—knew that the drink could very easily be poisoned. This entire thing could all be some sort of Godawful trick and the Terran that was currently keeping him captive would eventually do away with him. He was a hostage and there was no way to change that, not if the scale of the room said anything about the scale of the human being.

It took a moment, but something caught his attention, set off to the side as if it were an afterthought. It was his ship. Sitting right there out in the open, so close but so far away from him. It was like a sick tease.

However, the more he looked at it, he saw the damage that had been done when it had plowed into the earth’s surface. Glass was shattered, it was dented in more places than one and wires stuck out along it’s edges. Seeing it in such poor shape hurt him, even if the thing wasn’t sentient.

Everyone had an attachment to the ship they were assigned to pilot and he had been in his for what seemed like weeks. Getting to learn its controls and figure his way out around the large place.

Ace, even as an A.I, had been some of the only company he had gotten during his mission. However, because of the advanced technology he had been able to make contact with either Logan or Roman at least once every two days. Never for very long, but hearing the voices of his two closest friends was always reassuring.

Maybe if he could get back to his ship, Ace would be able to help him now. They were on solid ground, so perhaps he’d be able to rework some of the wires without the panic of crashing unexpectedly.

Almost as if fate thought that this was some cruel joke, he could hear movement coming from the other side of the closed door.

The shadows of someone moving on the other side caught his attention and his stomach sank. Panic quickly managed to wrap its clammy hands around his throat and squeezed, easily directing his focus from breathing, to ‘oh my god, what do I do now.’

He was hurt, which took away his chances of fighting. He was tiny, which took away his chances of actually finding a way to escape. He was nearly in the midst of a panic attack, which took away his rational thinking and replaced it with the common fight or flight response.

Adrenaline pumped through his veins as the door handle jiggled, only to open a lot slower than he thought it would have. Struggling to right himself, Virgil managed to halfheartedly move slightly backwards. Whatever he was currently laying on was much too soft to actually try and make some sort of getaway.

The door eventually did crack open and Virgil shrunk further back into the soft comforters of the bed, as if that would hide him from plain sight.

Dread pooled into his stomach as soon as his eyes made contact with the Terran’s. However, where Virgil was expecting to see blood red eyes (or something else relatively terrifying) he saw dark hazels—that would have rivaled Roman’s—hidden behind thick black glasses. And where he was expecting to see fangs and canines that were designed to tear and maim, he saw blunt teeth bared in an expression of relief and excitement.

A.C.E hadn’t given him any information on human body language, but he could only pray that a smile meant the same thing it did on his own home planet.

“Oh good!” The human said suddenly, stepping further into the room, shutting the door quietly behind him. “You’re awake. I‌ was a little worried there for a bit! You weren’t moving and it was a little hard to tell if you were breathing.”

Virgil had half a mind to demand release, but the other more sensible part of him realized that he was certainly in no place to be demanding anything. The human had been kind enough to leave water for him, but that didn’t mean he had the right to push that kindness just in case he pushed too far.

Anxiety tried to push forward, trying to make Virgil relent and stay compliant. And while that might save his hide, it wasn’t what he had been trained to do. At least, nothing had really trained him for interacting with giants, but at least humans—or this human in particular—seemed willing enough to make causal conversation.

So, he swallowed back his nerves and cleared his throat to the best of his ability, trying to still the trembling in his good hand. He dug that one into the thick covers to stop it. “What–” he took a breath, hating the way his voice shook, “what are you going to do to me?”

It was a morbid curiosity as well, Virgil reasoned. He wasn’t sure if it would be better to know his fate or to allow the human to do what he wanted and have it over with.

The human’s expression seemed to crumple. Virgil felt his stomach drop at the disheartened look that crossed his features.

“I’m not going to do anything to you,” the human said, his voice was softer this time. “I‌ really just wanted to make sure you were okay. The way your ship looks and the way your arm looked…”

Virgil’s eyes darted down to his wrist, seeing the careful bandaging and the sling. He felt slightly ill at the idea of how close the human had to get to him to do such impressive work, but it was still shocking. “You.. you did this?”

“The sling and the cast,” the human said, that soft smile returning once more. It looked proud and warm. “I‌ don’t know how well I‌ really did with it since you’re so small, but I‌ hoped it helps enough to let your arm heal correctly.”

You and me both.

Virgil took another breath, letting it out steadily and forcing the nerves back for now. He could let it take over when he was alone. Falling prone in the midst of a dangerous creature was not a good option.

“My name’s Patton,” the human said suddenly, causing Virgil’s eyes to shoot back up and meet his own. “I‌ just thought it’d make this a little easier, you know? A‌ bit more personal too.” The human—Patton—paused, and Virgil felt nervousness fluttering in his stomach again. “Do you have a name?”

Of course he had a name. Obviously he had a name. However, before he had the mind to speak it, he held his tongue. Was telling a human his name really the best way to go about this encounter? What if names had power on this planet, and the minute Virgil gave his away he was immediately in more danger.

Though, Virgil also had to take stock of everything that had happened—well, everything that hadn’t happened already.

Patton had done nothing but stand by the bedroom door, talking softly at him. That wasn’t exactly the recipe for a monster. However, there was also something else niggling at him saying that this could all be some elaborate scheme to get Virgil to trust him and than that’s when it happens.

Though, another part of him said, he seems pretty genuine. If he really did mean you harm, he didn’t have to fix your wrist. Or let you live, for that matter.

Virgil licked his lips, trying to wet them only to come up with a dry mouth. Right, he was thirsty. His eyes flickered over to the bottle cap of water to his side that miraculously hadn’t spilled in his panicked movements to create distance between himself and the human.

He then side-eyed Patton again. “Is the water poisoned?”

Patton let out a soft, surprised noise at that. As if that wasn’t the question he had been expecting in the least. If Virgil had any suspicion that it was poisoned, going off of that reaction it very obviously wasn’t. “No!” The human quickly said, wanting to get that truth out there vehemently. “Of course not. I‌ promise, I‌ really don’t want to do anything to you!”

Virgil gave a satisfied enough nod at that, tugging the cap of water toward himself—ignoring how weird it was that it was a bottle cap of all things—and tilted it just enough to let himself bend down and take a few greedy drinks of it. It was cool and fresh and amazing. The task of drinking was a bit difficult one handed, but certainly not impossible.

When he had drained about half of it, and felt a little better than before, he used his sleeve to wipe at the water on his mouth. After another moment of hesitation, watching Patton’s wide sparkling gaze, he sighed.

“…my name’s Virgil,” he said, turning his head away immediately, as if that would stop the heat from flooding up the back of his neck and into his cheeks.

And because of that reaction, he missed the way Patton’s eyes lit up further.

Virgil guessed that maybe he’d landed with an…alright human.

For now.