A/N: Hello and welcome back! I hope you're all enjoying the changes! Enjoy!

Three weeks later, I got another visitor. One I was not prepared for.

My captor was a Felid as well, taller than me by several inches. He wore very casual attire as if he were simply out for a midday stroll, not coming to visit one of his many captives.

He had jet black hair, one bright blue eye, and one dull green one… all accompanied by a blindingly white grin that sent fearful chills down my spine.

When he entered, I was sitting near the sink on the floor, facing the cement wall. I was using the water that leaked from the sink's pipes to draw my plans on the wall with my finger. I was glad I had a good memory, each different plan carefully catalogued in my mind. I'd spent the last few hours in a daze, my mind on nothing more than how in the Etherium I was going to escape my cell, help Delbert rescue over a hundred innocents, and get us all out safely.

"I hope you're happy, my dear Captain."

His voice startled me, and I spun around to face him. I said nothing in response to his statement, my hands balled into fists at my sides. I got to my feet quickly, my body tensed in fight-or-flight. I kept my gaze locked on him, prepared to fight if necessary, although I was a bit unsteady on my feet from not eating any solid food in months.

"Yes, I hope you are pleased with yourself, my dear. Your stupidity has finally paid off." he said casually, leaning against the doorframe of my cell.

"What are you talking about, you coward?" I hissed, crossing my arms, trying to portray an air of flippant confidence. I couldn't help myself. I didn't care that Delbert had told me to play the part of a weakling, I was ready for a battle.

"Why, your stubbornness, my dear." he said, smiling as if he'd just stated the obvious. "You've finally gained an audience with me."

"And who exactly are you?"

"Peter Tschaw." he said icily, as if I should already know that. "I'll forgive your obvious amnesia."

"I have no amnesia, Mr. Tschaw. I simply don't know you." I couldn't help but smile at his frustration.

"Is that so?" he said, his voice tensing ever so slightly.

I simply nodded once, using my hand to brush back an errant lock of my auburn tresses.

"Now, if you'd like to enlighten me…"

Tschaw growled, yanking out a tablet, looking away from me only to tap something on the screen.

"Here, perhaps this will jog your memory."

I took the tablet warily, staring him down. When I realized he was waiting for me to look at the tablet, I did as he wanted, as much as it pained me to do so. Staring me in the face was a news article from almost six years ago… from Montressor.

FIFTEEN MISSING FOLLOWING MASSIVE RAID

SUSPECT STILL AT LARGE

WITNESSES FRIGHTENED INTO SILENCE

Following the massive raid at the old Mining Factory on the planet Montressor, the fifteen missing victims have still not been found. Evidence that they had once been living at the Factory was found, but not a single victim was recovered as a result of the raid. Officials are searching the area, and warn civilians not to approach. Please keep your children indoors. A temporary curfew is being put into effect until the suspect and his victims are found. If you see the suspect, do not approach him, call the authorities. He is being regarded as armed and dangerous. He may have fled to another planet, so said curfew is being put into effect on Montressor's neighboring planets as well.

I remembered the event clear as day. I was still too young to completely comprehend what had been happening at the time, but even an infant could have felt the tense atmosphere. It took almost a year and a half for the curfew to be lifted, and that was only after many protests against it. I looked back up at Tschaw, not at all sure of what this had to do with anything… Until I saw the evil sneer on his lips.

"...It was you!" I hissed, narrowing my eyes, fury running unchecked through my veins.

Tschaw grinned, bowing deeply, his arms outstretched.

"Indeed. Now you recognize me."

"You...You tore apart families! You tortured children! Many of your victims were never found!"

"Oh, I wouldn't say never found… Simply… Never found alive." he shrugged, snatching the tablet from my suddenly trembling hands. "The media never tells all the details. I suppose they felt the public could never handle the truth."

My words caught in my throat, suddenly so angry that I couldn't sort my thoughts fast enough to form a decent sentence. He raised an eyebrow and flashed a menacing smile my way, relishing in how speechless I was. He smirked, chuckling softly as he tapped another section of the tablet screen.

"But we're not here to talk about the past, my dear Amelia. I'm more interested in the present. Such as… the locations of every Royal Navy base in the Etherium."

The hair on the back of my neck stood straight up, my body tensing.

"What interest could you possibly have in the interplanetary war? We're in the midst of peace talks with the Procyons." I shrugged, trying to portray an air of flippancy. "I can only assume you're a rogue Procyon who cannot let go of your people's violent past."

He laughed, rolling his eyes as he tucked the tablet underneath his arm.

"Ah, see that is where you are wrong. I am no Procyon. I have no interest in who wins this war… I have my own goals. You see…" He began pacing around my cell, obviously not worried that I would attack him. "These situations are always complicated. War, to be exact. No one truly wins, even when a peace treaty is signed. Both sides always lose men. I simply want to show everyone the light… So that when the dust settles, I will stand above all."

"What...What d-"

"Oh, my dear simple-minded Amelia. You don't get it, do you?"

"Get to the point." I hissed at his comment, watching him lean against the sink and flick a droplet of water from the edge.

"Well, to put it simply… I plan to play both sides against each other, using the many resources I have at my disposal to cause such a rift that both the Empire and the Procyons…"

"Destroy each other." I said it in almost a whisper, my mind reeling as my arms dropped to my sides and I stared into space. He wanted to wipe out both sides… So that those who were left would have nowhere to turn but to him.

He wanted complete control of the galaxy.

"I can see in your eyes that you finally get it." he chuckled.

The disgust I felt towards him was enough to make me want to vomit. He smirked and hummed, tapping his chin thoughtfully.

"You're going to kill millions of innocents...men, women, children… Just for power?"

"Of course! Power is always the ultimate goal!" he laughed, shaking his head as if it were obvious. "The need to be in control is engrained is the DNA of every species, on every planet, in every galaxy. Whether it is control over a classroom of children or control over an army… it's all about the same thing. Power."

Chills ran down my spine. He sounded almost giddy at the prospect of so many deaths. It ate at me to realize that I could understand his point of view… no matter how sadistic and evil that point of view was.

Before I could sort out my next statement, his grin faded and he whipped out the tablet again, licking his lips as he scrolled through something on the screen.

"You've gotten quite close to our dear Delbert, haven't you?"

My entire body stiffened, my mind a jumbled mess from the sudden focus change. It was as if my thought process had been effectively stopped in its tracks... from the simple mentioning of his name. I blinked, unable to respond.

"Such a kind man, isn't he? Very gentle with you."

"I barely know him." I hissed through gritted teeth, cursing myself for being unable to maintain my facade.

The slow, dark smirk that spread over his lips seemed to seep into my mind like oil. He took a few aggravatingly slow steps towards me, and it took everything within me not to reach out and strangle the living daylights out of him. I balled my hands into fists at my sides, trying to stop them from trembling.

"Aw, but we both know better than that, don't we?" He said mock-playfully, his tone condescending. "You two have gotten quite acquainted, haven't you?"

"...Hardly."

"Oh? Our cameras say otherwise, my dear Captain." He said softly as his eyes darkened, and I felt a chill of terror go through my body. How in the Etherium could this man cause so many reactions in me with simply a look?

"I... I don't know what you're talking about." I growled, standing my ground as he closed the space between us and shoved the tablet towards me.

"Oh, I think you do, Amelia."

I looked down at the tablet glowing in my hands, my eyes growing wide. It was Delbert and I during our many interactions, from multiple angles. Without the sound, each scene seemed very different than it had in the moment.

The two of us in my cell the day we met. I watched his nervous fumbling and my overall irritated demeanor, feeling a bit guilty at how angry I looked… When he had done nothing but what he was told to do.

Next was the day he took me to the balcony. The moments of silence that passed between us, mixed with us sharing stories of our pasts, accompanied by the gentle way he placed a hand on my arm the moment he needed my attention… It looked as if there were much more to our relationship than we were letting on. Especially when I saw the looks on our faces when we spoke of our escape. It looked as if he were consoling me about something rather than detailing a plan.

Immediately after was the moment shared between us when he returned me to my cell. The way he pressed himself against me when he untied the ropes around my wrists… The silent moment of understanding as we stared into each other's eyes before he left, finally accepting that we would be working together from now on…

And more recently, the time when he tended to my black eye. I hadn't noticed at the time, but he was so gentle with me, his touch soft as to not cause more damage to the already thoroughly damaged area. I watched my past self touch Delbert's arm as we talked, and silently wished there had been sound on this particular video. Out of context, one would believe we were falling in love.

"This one right here is one of my favorites… I don't believe you remember this one." Tschaw grinned, scrolling past a few hours of more footage to a different video, still recent.

I was asleep, obviously drugged up. It looked to be the middle of the night, the night vision on the camera seeming to have issues deciphering what was happening. A moment passed, and I suddenly realized that this was the only video with sound. A soft shuffling was heard, then the long low creak of my cell door opening. Delbert came in slowly, whispering my name softly.

"Hm… I wonder what he's doing there?" Tschaw whispered, his breath hot on the side of my face. "And how does he know your name? Why does he address you that way…?"

I swallowed hard, my eyes glued to the tablet screen. So Tschaw had already been very suspicious. Wonderful.

What was he doing there? Why hadn't he mentioned this visit before? I could feel my heart beating in my chest as I watched him kneel down next to where I lay on my mattress. His hand moved toward my face, and I felt my heart practically stop in my chest. He touched the bandage over my eye gingerly, letting out a long sigh.

"Oh, Amelia… What are we doing...?"

His voice was barely above a whisper, and it shocked me how my heart ached in my chest just to hear him say that.

"You see that there?" Tschaw grinned as he zoomed in on the scene. "Yes... closely. What's that, Amelia? Hm? It looks... well it looks far more friendly than a doctor and his patient... wouldn't you agree? And what does he mean by that? Hm..? What are you two doing?"

I couldn't take my eyes away from the screen as he played the rest of the footage from that night. My throat felt dry, my heart pounding with fear. Tschaw knew that we were close. Perhaps not in the way we meant to be… but still close.

"Yes... look at him. You see how he looks at you?" More footage was played from various interactions, ones I hardly remembered due to the fact that my days had started to blur together at that point.

"I...It…" It was becoming hard to speak around the lump in my throat, and all I wanted to do was look away from the screen… but I couldn't.

"Here's one I think you'll like… a conversation we had with him the other day."

I simply stared as he tapped the most recent video. Delbert sat in what looked like an interrogation room, his wrists handcuffed to the table. He looked strangely calm, much more irritable than I'd ever seen him…

"I told you, I don't know anything! She hasn't told me anything! I never signed on for this! I…"

"The footage does not lie, Doctor Doppler. You two have been speaking rather often. What have you been speaking about?"

"N-Nothing. Just… the past. Gaining her trust, like you… like you said."

My head began to spin as reality came crashing down. Delbert was working with Tschaw. Had been the entire time. He had tricked me. I wanted to believe he wouldn't do that to me… but experience had proven that you couldn't always trust everyone… no matter how much you wanted to.

"It's taking much too long. You need to change tactics. Time is not something we can afford to lose, Doppler. Fix this."

"I… I'm doing the best I can! I've done everything you've asked! I've gone against every belief I've ever had! What more do you want me to do? I've given her the injections, I've taken her out of her cell… what more do you want? It's bad enough that I'm already falli-"

I watched in stunned silence as he stopped abruptly, his face going pale as his cheeks turned a deep crimson. He coughed, tugging at the handcuffs nervously.

"C-Can we… Can we turn off the cameras?"

Tschaw in the video raised an eyebrow, then grinned, gesturing to the camera filming the whole exchange.

"Cut it. Apparently... we have much to discuss."

The video, and our conversation, ended after that.

XXXXXXXXX

That night, Liam swung my door open just as forcefully as ever, but I was more than a little concerned when he literally tossed Delbert into my cell. He landed with a think, scrambling away on his knees before Liam slammed the door behind him, almost catching Delbert's foot in the door.

It took every ounce of strength in my body not to hurry to his side and make sure he hadn't been hurt. I simply sat on my mattress, my legs crossed, staring him down.

"Goodness, you'd think I'd spat in his eye…" Delbert muttered as he brushed himself off and came to kneel in front of me.

I felt my heart jump at the concern I saw written all over his face as he reached a hand up toward my eye.

"Amelia... are you alright? They told me Tschaw came to visit you, earlier and I was so worried he…"

"Shut it, Delbert." I spat, swatting his hand away. "I know what you've been doing."

Delbert flinched, recoiling slightly, obviously confused.

"What I've been… I'm not… I don't…"

"Tschaw showed me footage of your talk with him." I hissed, crossing my arms, fixing him with a fiery glare. "You've been working with them. Against me. You lied to me..."

Delbert blinked, his mouth dropping open in shock. His face was red, his voice was hoarse, and he began to fidget.

"I-I-I… I'm n-not… I d-didn't… Amelia I…" he stuttered and fumbled, wringing his hands nervously. "It's not what you t-think…"

"Then what is it?" I growled, leaning forward to meet his gaze evenly. "You thought I was weak enough to believe your never ending trail of lies and half-truths, in the hope that I would simply give in and tell you and Tschaw everything you wanted to know?!"

I knew I was yelling, but couldn't have cared at that point. If Liam caught wind of our conversation, it would only solidify what he and everyone else already knew.

"Amelia, please…" Delbert sighed, lowering his voice. "I...I didn't lie to you. I…"

I watched him move closer as he spoke, but I refused to back down. I only flinched when he placed a hand on my arm, the same way he did out on the balcony almost what felt like a lifetime ago.

"I lied to Tschaw, not you… I thought you… I thought you would understand that." His brow furrowed, his eyes filled with a deep hurt that rocked my very core. "I was telling him what he needed to hear… to buy us more time."

He took my hands in his, his eyes never leaving mine.

"I would never betray you that way, Amelia… Never."

I truly felt like a prize idiot in that moment as I searched my mind for something to say. I could see and hear the sincerity… He was already easy to read… but after knowing him for a while now, it was far too easy for me to know when he truly meant what he was saying… and this was it.

I felt so foolish. How could I think that for even a moment Delbert could be capable of such treachery?

"...For someone so utterly transparent, you paid played the part of backstabbing traitor well." I said softly, allowing myself to smile apologetically. "So well in fact that even the ever observant Captain Amelia Smollet believed you."

He smiled shyly, relief evident in his features. I couldn't stop a chuckle from escaping my lips, relieved to know that Delbert was indeed still my ally.

"I accept the apology that was hidden in that statement." he grinned, squeezing my hands fondly, and I took note of just how wonderful his smile was.

XXXXXXXX

I'd chosen not to bring up what he'd been about to say at the end of the video footage. I knew our focus needed to be on this mass liberation movement we were organizing.

But as I lay in my cell, silently watching the first light of dawn creep into the space that had become my home… I couldn't help but think about it.

What had he been about to say? If it was what I thought it was, had he still been acting? Or had he let it slip? Did he truly have feelings for me? And why? Since when? And how would we deal with the situation after our escape?

We'd talked about the obvious fact that we would more than likely lose one or two captives in our escape, and had mostly come to terms with the concept. Whatever happened would be for the greater good… as unfortunate and awful as it was.

As the warm orange hues flooded my cell, a grave thought crossed my mind. What if it came down to Delbert or I? His life… or mine? Who would I choose?

If I'd been asked a month or so ago, I would've chosen myself in a heartbeat, without a moment's hesitation. But now… knowing Delbert might have feelings for me beyond friendship...the choice was much more difficult to make. I didn't want to die, but simply the thought of Delbert losing his life to save me caused a dull nauseous ache in the pit of my stomach.

I reached up, gently feeling the area around my bandaged eye, pleased to note that the swelling had gone down significantly. I sighed, remembering the other footage I had seen. Delbert was always so gentle, so careful when it came to me. Could I honestly live with myself if I ever traded his life for mine? Would I want to? Would the Etherium be as bright and wonderful to me, knowing Delbert was gone? Would I be able to enjoy captaining my ship, sailing among the stars, training new cadets and doing cargo runs… knowing I would never see his smile again?

It was then that I realized… that perhaps I had feelings for Delbert as well... and that was a problem.

A/N: it is currently midnight, on the dot. This revamp is fun but omg I gotta work on my time management skills. Lol (3/20/2019)