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He’s doing what all the new trainees do, trying to keep the "floor" of the shuttle below his feet, though there’s no gravity to hold hih at hi okay

I toss him one of the ration bars and then take a few bites of onethe rest into my back pocket for later Flynn looks as worn down as I feel, exhausted and restless at the same time I knoe need to find a way back down to the surface, but now that I’ how tired I aain "Wonder what else we’ve got up here," Iency packs, all with their seals unbroken "Each of these is designed to keep a pair of soldiers alive for a fortnight, with the ship’s H2O recyc syste his bar and popping open a few ency packs "Or even years"

"There are dozens of the around an idea, unwilling to look at it directly "It must’ve been set up for a transport mission, so it could take a shuttle full of soldiers somewhere remote"

Flynn’s turned to the other side of the shuttle to see if there are more of the packs in the rest of the lockers But I can’t stop looking at the one I opened Months’ worth of food for a platoon

Years, for two people

"We could just go" The words come out in a whisper, and as I say them, I find I can’t look up, can’t see Flynn’s face I can’t bear to know his reaction

Still, I can feel him turn toward me I can feel the air move as he makes his way back He ducks his head to try to see my face, but I still can’t look at him No matter what he’s about to say, I don’t want to hear it Hearing it will make what I’ve just said real

"Never "

But I wasn’t

"Jubilee" He’s got one hand wrapped around a handle to steady hi the outline of et it"

He’s silent for a few seconds, speaking only with the weight of his eyes on uilt, under his gaze "Where do you want to go?" he asks finally, a sain "What do you alaxy Where does Jubilee Chase want to live?"

This ti his face for so there, talking about leaving his people andaway But he only s fro it spiral slowly insomewhat hoarsely "Too busy, too many people But not any place too new either Maybe Patron, I liked it there Haven’t been any rebellions for quite a while now"

He grins, his s as there’s a sky there, like this one, I’ets in the way But we could find ourselves a mountaintop where the air’s nice and thin, and it’d be awfully close"

Flynn shifts, sliding his foothim "And what does Jubilee Chase want to do with her life, if she’s not hunting down rebel leaders and skinning the I could go to night school and learn dentistry"

That h, a quick burst of a chuckle that makes my own lips curve "Oh, God no No way could you be a dentist"

"I could! I’d be a daood dentist"

"Lots of call for dentistry on desertedoverto o be an accountant or a esture at hihis arm around me to steady me and him both "Definitely not an accountant" His voice is low, thoughtful "Maybe a ine of our…What do you drive when you live on a mountain, anyway?"

I have absolutely no idea The only ti basic, and I had to learn the bare essentials for snow co smoothly, didn’t break down"

His face is close to h aze is so sad it feels liketo ash as I look at hi Avon alive if we touch down again He’ll never see snow, and I’ll never teach him what skis are

I want so badly to just turn off coo dark, to let this shuttle drift until we get captured by the gravity of some distant star I want to wrap my arms around him and let o His eyes ; I can feel it in the way the air charges between us I can almost taste him half an inch away, can feel the way the tiny hairs on ht