Title: Juliet and Her Romeo
Summary: AU: The crew have an honest job for once: transfer Colyn Fortuna, the son of a famous singer, from a space station to his home. But his presence on the Raza proves troublesome when he and Five decide they're soul mates.
Rating: T
Disclaimer: Dark Matter was created by Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie. I make no money off this work of fan fiction.
Notes: Companion piece to The Scoundrel Gentleman.

Two woke up in bed with Three.

She laid still for a few minutes, hand resting on his bare chest as she pondered the fact that not only had they not been drinking heavily the night before, they'd actually discussed the consequences of this before going to his quarters. This hadn't been an impulsive decision. No alcohol fueled, hormonal booty call. They'd decided, as adults, to change the direction of their relationship and see where it went.

And in the first minutes of morning, it was sort of freaking her out.

The last adult decision she'd made of this sort had ended abruptly with One's death. They'd been left unfinished and she still felt a bit of a hole in her from the loss of him. She hardly wanted fresh holes and if this went forward, there was a great likelihood of that same thing happening once more. Their lives really weren't conducive to long, lasting relationships.

Raising up onto her elbow, she studied Three as well as she could in the darkness. She thought she was beginning to see the man he could've been if his life hadn't been turned upside down by the murder of his parents. She could see the man Sarah had fallen in love with; the man she herself was beginning to feel something more for. Little bits of the core man he was were peeking out, softening the rough edges.

There were layers to him that were yet to be uncovered and she wanted to be there when they were peeled away.

Slowly, she got dressed and sat down on the bedside to put her boots on.

"Where are you going," he asked, voice sleepy and warm, a little husky.

"I have a few things I need to check on with the Android."

His hand stretched out, fingers curving about her wrist, thumb lightly caressing. "Stay." The grip was light, barely anything at all. She could easily pull away. He wasn't physically trying to keep her there.

On impulse, she leaned down and over, pressing a kiss to his lips and sitting back before he could tempt her to stay. "Go back to sleep. It's early. I'll stay another morning."

Three released her wrist. "Promise?"

"Yes." Now it was out there, that promise. It was a thing she'd have to acknowledge later and follow up on.

"I'm going to hold you to that," he replied and she heard the smile in the words. He would, too. He'd remind her, probably tonight, that she'd promised to stay in the morning.

Two was only a few steps from his door when Five came around the corner, carefully balancing two cups and a plate of doughnuts. She looked strangely chipper for as early as it was.

"Do you know if Three's up yet," Five asked.

He was probably up, but not in the way Five meant. "I don't think so. Why?"

"We were supposed to have breakfast like half an hour ago. He's late, so I thought I'd bring breakfast to him."

It was a nice thought, but Two could easily imagine him stumbling naked to the door to answer it. The last thing they needed was Five getting a full frontal view. Two was fairly sure Five had seen a naked man at some point, having both been a street kid and been on this ship for awhile before the memory wipe. But, Two wasn't sure how careful any of their previous selves had been with the teenager around. Not to mention Five did have all of their memories in her head, which would include personal nudity and sexual situations. Still, it'd be better to hold off a definite view as long as possible. "Why don't I have breakfast with you today?" A shower and change of clothes could wait.

Five glanced at Three's door. "But you don't like doughnuts. Or at least you never eat them. I managed to save one of the raspberry ones and I didn't even put cayenne pepper in it this time."

"Cayenne pepper?"

She shook her head, a mischievous gleam in her eyes and smile on her lips. "Long story."

"Okay. I'm willing to try one today." She reached for the cups, which looked more in danger of spilling than the plate. "Let me get those."

She managed to successfully steer Five back to the mess, but no sooner had they stepped inside than Nyx looked up and whistled low.

"Usually when I do a walk of shame, it's planet side and have an excuse. You're like mere steps from your quarters."

"Walk of shame?" Five frowned, her steps slowing as she moved closer to the table. She turned her head, looked at Two, or rather what Two was wearing. "Dumb," she whispered, slapping the plate down on the table. "I am so dumb! Of course he'd miss breakfast with me. He was with you and I'm an idiot." She hurried from the room before Two could say anything.

Nyx winced. "Sorry. I didn't think."

"It's okay." She set the two cups down by the plate. "She'll cool down."

"Are you sure? She looks pretty upset."

"Three'll talk to her."

"Are you sure that will help? Tact and subtlety aren't exactly his thing. He tends to exacerbate situations, not improve them."

Usually, she'd agree about the tact and subtlety, but with Five, he was different and it'd been building for awhile now. It was obvious that he cared for the girl. Like Two did. And Six. And she thought even Four did in his own cool way. Nyx liked Five as well. They were like family. Two thought that summed it up rather neatly. They were all like a family.

The phrase 'walk of shame' had been one of the ones Three had mentioned on their outing a few weeks earlier, yet it took Five a moment to remember what it meant. It meant someone going home the morning after a wild night wearing the clothes they'd worn the day before. A wild night of…. Since she knew Nyx couldn't possibly be talking to her, she looked at Two and registered the fact that those were definitely the clothes she'd been wearing the previous day. She knew they were because Five had often wondered if she would ever have the body confidence to pull off a body hugging top like that without adding something over it to cover up the body hugging part.

Suddenly, she felt horribly stupid and very much the kid Three usually called her. It was obvious Two and Three had been flirting. Even she could see that. They weren't really subtle about it. But she'd somehow missed that there was more than flirting going on. Stupid. She was stupid. Of course having breakfast with a teenager wasn't going to get priority over that. Three made no secret over the fact that he thought that was one of the best things in life.

Five felt even more stupid then because she couldn't even say the word to herself.

She left the mess as fast as she could and wandered the halls, her arms crossed over her chest and angry thoughts flying through her mind. He hadn't had the courtesy to just reschedule instead of standing her up. Jerk. Dumbass. He could have rescheduled. She wouldn't have minded. Well, not much anyway.

In a fit of teenaged temper, Five came up with a plan to show him how upset she was….

When he finally got out of bed, Three was struck by the nagging idea that he'd forgotten something. He sat on the bedside and pondered it for a moment as he stretched and yawned. He winced a little at the pull on his lower back and smiled to himself. He didn't mind that pull because Two was nicely flexible and he'd enjoyed finding that out. Their previous one-time fling hadn't really showcased her fantastic flexibility.

There was something he couldn't quite bring to the front of his thoughts. That nagging idea was there when he brushed his teeth and there when he stared at his reflection and tried to decide if he wanted to bother shaving today. He started a shower and stepped inside. The temperature was perfect…until the water suddenly went icy cold and his brain kicked in for the day.

"Shit," he yelled as the cold water seemed to leech all heat from his body. He fumbled at the tap. "Shit, shit, shit! Breakfast with the kid. I forgot breakfast with the kid."

He'd forgotten to have breakfast with Five and she knew the inner workings of the ship almost as well as the Android. He wouldn't get hot water back to his quarters until he found her and apologized.

"Cold, cold, cold, cold, cold." He dressed, shivering, and went searching, finally finding her in one of the larger vents. She was lying down with it open, waiting, and making a pointed comment to herself about inconsiderate men as he approached. He caught the briefest sound of a sniffle and felt lower than low to know that he'd made her cry. "I'm sorry, kid."

"About what?"

"I missed breakfast this morning."

"Oh, did you? I didn't notice." The hurt she was feeling was blinding. It was in her expression, her posture, and her voice. He'd let her down and been every bit the inconsiderate bastard she'd just called him. She hadn't used that word, but it was what she'd meant.

Never in a million years had he ever thought that he'd care this much about hurting her feelings, but he did. "I did and I'm sorry."

She snorted. "You slept with Two and forgot about me. Forgot."

"It wasn't intentional. The forgetting you part. The other was."

"Whatever."

"Not whatever. I overslept and I didn't mean to. How can I make it up to you?"

That made her pause. She stared down at him with a slightly suspicious narrowing of her eyes. "Make it up to me?"

"Exactly what it sounds like. What can I do make it up to you? And get hot water back to my quarters?"

"I'll have to think about it."

"I like our breakfasts," he admitted. He even liked her occasional jokes, like the cayenne pepper mix she'd carefully piped into the raspberry jelly doughnuts one time. It had been surprisingly tasty in a 'kill his taste-buds for two days' way. Six didn't get it and neither did Nyx. He wasn't sure Two had even noticed and Four, oddly, understood. That prank had actually made the man smile. It had been a scarily amused smile, but a smile nonetheless. "I wouldn't have missed it on purpose. You make good coffee." Not a lie. She made less sucktastic coffee than the rest of the crew and didn't even drink it most of the time.

"You think so?"

"I know so. And you save me the jelly doughnuts." Recently, the crew had decided to have a few casual breakfasts each week, where they didn't have a full hot breakfast. Three wasn't sure it'd last. Those mornings he was usually starving by lunch, though he'd never admit to Five that the doughnuts didn't fill him up like they did her. He'd taken to scrounging for a snack mid-morning.

"I try, but they go fast if I don't hide a couple. I don't know who's eating them."

"They do go fast. So….the water?"

"Oh, that's just a switch on a panel. It's easy to fix."

Of course, when she said it was just a switch, she usually meant that it was a weird math calculation on a panel that had a switch on it somewhere. It was never an easy fix.

She looked down at the floor. "You know, we could have rescheduled."

"I didn't think I'd need to. I wrongly assumed I'd wake up in time." And remember he needed to wake up. And set an alarm the previous night. He motioned with a hand. "Why don't you come down from there? We can go watch one of those movies. We have plenty left."

"We took the big screen down. We'd have to watch it on a small screen. It won't be the same." She turned and maneuvered herself out of the vent and to the corridor.

"For most of those movies, we won't lose much watching on a smaller screen. Maybe we could rig the big one in one of the empty rooms." Two probably wouldn't go for it, but it was an idea.

"Popcorn?"

"There might be some left." He started walking. "And another pound of candy I hid somewhere in the mess." Candy so soon after a breakfast of doughnuts. Six would have a heart attack about that. All the more reason to make it happen.

"I think I've found a job for us," Six said to the gathered group. Five was missing because she was trying to reroute hot water back to Three's quarters. In her fit of temper, she'd made some sort of miscalculation and she and the Android were busy puzzling out just what she'd done.

"A job," Two repeated, scooting her chair in and going into what Six had heard Three call her 'boss lady mode'. Her expression became serious and she seemed more alert.

"What kind of job?" Three opened a bag of veggie chips, offered the package around the table, and when no one took any, started eating.

"Well, I doubt we'll have to blow anything up or kill anyone, so I'm sure you won't be interested."

"I do like to play to my strengths," he agreed.

Nyx and Four were silent, watching him and waiting for further details.

"I received a message from a friend. She-"

"She?" Three perked up. "We talking friend here or," his brows shrugged up and down several times, "friend?"

"Drea and I were in training together, but there were…issues and she left to begin advanced bodyguard training instead."

"What sort of issues?" Two clasped her hands together on the table top.

The issues didn't matter and weren't relevant, but he was very aware that any job he brought them had to check out on every level. It was a trust issue. He still couldn't go onto the stations they stopped at. That dinner that Three had taken over had actually been Four's contribution. Four had promised to contribute a different way since Three had taken it, though he'd yet to reschedule. "Two other trainees decided she was easy prey. Small, female. The usual. She wounded one slightly and put the other in the infirmary. He later died from his wounds. Two influential families went head to head over it. In the end, she didn't face charges and it was decided that she'd leave GA training and become a personal bodyguard instead. She'd protect the family whose son she'd killed. Penance for the rest of her life or until the family decide they don't need her anymore. It's all public record. You can check if you like."

"That's a sucky deal," Three stated and held the package out to Two.

She hesitated, then took a couple of the chips. "Go on."

"It was a sucky deal. Still is."

"What family was it," Four asked, crossing his arms on the table top.

"The Fortunas."

"The who?" Three set the bag aside.

It was Nyx who answered. "Lilliana Fortuna. The singer, right? It's her family." At his nod, she continued. "One of the Seers is a big fan of hers. He loves her work."

"Never heard of her." Two brushed crumbs from her hands.

"You wouldn't," Six told her, "unless you're a fan of opera. She favors the more violent operas and is extremely popular in some social circles. One probably knew her or of her. He may have even been to one of her performances. Anyway, Drea is guarding Lilliana's son and needs discreet transport. All we have to do is pick them up at the next station and make the trip to their home world. Should only take a couple days."

There was silence a moment. Three stared at him, then glanced at everyone else. "Okay, I'll ask the obvious question here. Why us? If she's some rich singer, why not take the kid on a luxury ship?"

"Because Colyn Fortuna has pissed off some rather difficult individuals. Drea's certain that if they try a traditional transport, he'll be killed."

"How much is the pay?" Four's question was quiet.

Six named the sum Drea had given. "Plus extra for getting him there alive. Don't underestimate the Fortuna name. We do this successfully and we could have an ally, especially if Lilliana takes a liking to one of us when we arrive. Drea says Lilliana 'has a thing for bad boys'."

"You said we get paid extra for delivering Fortuna alive. Does that mean we could deliver him dead and still be paid in full?"

Count on Four to notice that little bit. "It does. There's some doubt as to whether anyone can get him home alive. I believe Drea considers us a last resort."

"Challenge accepted." Three slapped a hand on the table. "We're the Raza. We can handle anything."

Famous last words, Six wondered?

Slowly, everyone else nodded. Two sighed. "Okay. Tell Drea we accept."

The door opened and Five came in the room. She held up her hands. "Okay, there's a slight, microscopic, tiny chance that we need to stop somewhere to pick up a few things for me to actually fix the hot water connection…."