A/N: Hello fans of Leviathan! This is my first Leviathan fic and I hope you like it! I had the house to myself so I couldn't justify not posting anything. Unfortunately I didn't have the next chapter for Finnick's Final Request (Hunger Games fans check it out!) ready yet so I decided to put this up. I've got half of the next chapter ready so I hope to get it up sometime next week.

School ends Wednesday so that means more frequent updating! Hope you like it!

Disclaimer: If only I owned Leviathan...

Aww well, Scott does a pretty dang good job!

"Are you quite sure you want to do this?" she asked him. They stood poised on the doorstep to her mother's house, Deryn looked nervous but not nearly as much as Alek was.

"They can't be as bad as you say they are." he replied nervously.

"Aye," she said gravely, "They're much worse." And with that she rang the doorbell. Not ten seconds later, a middle aged woman in a long, rather ugly, paisley skirt opened the door.

"Oh, Virginia, come quick, it's Deryn!" she called back into the house, "And God's wounds, she's brought a boy!

"Always the tone of surprise, Auntie Jo," Deryn muttered, "Is it really that barking miraculous?" Just as Auntie Jo pulled Deryn into a fierce hug, another woman stepped out. This woman was obviously Deryn's mother; she was tall, had the same light blond hair-although hers was starting to gray-, and long slender nose but she didn't have the same smile. No, Deryn's reckless grin, that sparkle in her eye, her brutally honest way with words, obviously belonged to her father.

"My baby," her mother whispered before pulling her close, "I thought for sure you were dead."

"Ma! Why in sodding hell would you think that?" Deryn said incredulously.

"Deryn!" her mother and Jo exclaimed simultaneously.

"Oops, sorry. That's how they talk in the military." she replied defensively. Alek chuckled, that's the only way he'd ever heard her talk, and he was looking forward to seeing who her family thought she was.

"Well, that's not how a proper lass ought to talk." her mother scolded, "You look half frozen dear. Come in, before you catch your death. And who might you be?" Mrs. Sharp, asked, finally noticing Alek.

"Ma, this is Alek, he's my-uh, he's my friend." Deryn said, stepping over the threshold. Alek was slightly hurt by the apparent downgrade, but he trusted Deryn and thought that she would probably be better about navigating these waters than he would.

"Your friend?" Aunt Jo asked, unbelieving.

"Aye, we met in Switzerland." Deryn replied, purposely omitting the very dangerous circumstance that had placed her in Switzerland.

"You don't look Swiss." Aunt Jo stated, taking his jacket.

"I'm not, I'm Austrian." Alek told her, figuring that lying would not make the best first impression.

"Austrian!" Mrs. Sharp gasped, "You're a Clanker!"

"Ma!" Deryn warned just as Alek said, "Well not exactly."

"Why don't we come in and sit down." Aunt Jo suggested.

"No, Josephine! I want to know what this, this Clanker wants with my daughter!"

"Mum, will you just listen for one barking minute!" Deryn said, exasperated.

"No, I want that Clanker out of my house." she said firmly.

"Maybe I ought to leave." Alek said quietly.

"Aleksander von Hohenberg, don't you move a barking inch." she said viciously, without taking her eyes off her mother, "He's not a barking Clanker, at least not a proper one. He's the sodding heir to the sodding whole Austro-Hungarian Empire. He's saved my sorry bum more times than I can sodding count. He's bloody brilliant and I barking reckon I love him."

"No, you're not THE Prince Aleksander Ferdinand of Hohenberg, the one in all the papers?" Aunt Jo asked eyes wide.

Alek nodded just as Deryn smirked, "Aye, the very same."

"Virginia, he's famous." Aunt Jo breathed.

"Aye, I know." Deryn's mother replied calmly.

"God's wounds, Deryn's got herself a lad, and a barking handsome one, might I add." Aunt Jo gaped, "Blisters, a barking handsome prince! I must go find Gertrude and Margaret. They won't believe it!" And with that, Aunt Jo went off to go find her sisters, leaving Deryn and Alek alone with Mrs. Sharp.

"Well, don't just stand there, come in and sit down." Mrs. Sharp said, gesturing to a sitting room down the hall. Deryn started down the hall, but since she had stubbornly ignored Alek's reminders and "accidently" left her cane at the office of the Zoological Society, she was limping.

"Deryn! What did you do to your leg?" Virginia Sharp scolded.

"Ma, I'm fine. I just twisted my knee a couple of weeks ago in Mexico."

"This is exactly why girls aren't supposed to go to war, or even fly for that matter."

"Ma, it could have happened to anyone, girl or boy. Even Alek got himself hurt a few times. Got himself a barking concussion and nearly got himself killed." she said elbowing him.

"Yes Deryn, we all know I'd be dead by now without you." Alek said with a smirk.

"Aye, and I'd be long gone without you." she replied with a genuine smile.

"Long gone, Deryn, what happened?" her mother asked, worry tingeing her voice.

"A lot of things happened, Ma, but if you don't mind I'd rather wait to tell those stories until everyone's here and then I don't have to repeat myself."

"Deryn Elizabeth-Joy Sharp, you are going to tell me everything right now or so help me I will-"

"Ma, can we finish this conversation later. I'd like to bring our things upstairs." Deryn interrupted.

"You're staying? Both of you?"

"Aye, if that's alright?" Deryn asked, although Alek knew she wasn't about to take no as an answer.

"I guess that'd be alright, as long as the prince doesn't mind sharing a room."

"Sharing a room?" Deryn asked, sounding confused, and just a little bit hopeful, or at least that's what Alek thought.

"Aye, with your brother." her mother replied.

"Jaspert's home?" Deryn said, raising her eyebrows, "I thought he was on The Minotaur?"

"Aye, he was, that is, until the beast got sick. They had to return to London so the boffins could look at it. Jaspert reckons he'll be home for at least two weeks."

"Well, that's great. I'm sure Alek doesn't mind." she said and Alek shook his head no,

"Why don't we bring these bags up, then?"

"Oh Deryn, honey," Mrs. Sharp said with a rather false looking smile, "You stay and rest your knee. I'll get Jaspert to help Alek. JASPERT, GET DOWN HERE!" she yelled up the stairs.

"Mum, I'm fine. You don't need to baby me."

"Nonsense you're hurt and you ought not to aggravate it."

"That's what I've been telling her." Alek said, which made Mrs. Sharp smile.

"Aye, she never listens." Mrs. Sharp agreed just as a tall, muscular boy came flying down the stairs. "Ahh, Jaspert, nice of you to join us. Deryn's back."

"Aye, how's it going little sister, or would you prefer brother now?"

"Haha, love you, too, Jaz." Deryn said sarcastically, standing up to hug him.

"Nice to see you, Der. And who would you be?" Jaspert asked turning to Alek.

"This is Alek." Deryn told Jaspert, sitting down on the couch next to Alek.

"Nice to meet you." Alek said shaking his hand.

"Wait, are you telling me those rumors about Clankers aboard The Leviathan are true? And you made friends with one?"

"Aye, they are and I did." she replied sheepishly, "But it's okay, Jaspert, he really isn't a proper Clanker, he's on our side. Alek and I are actually both working in London now."

"Really, where?" Jaspert asked.

"The Zoological Society."

"Alright, we can tell all our stories at dinner. For now, Jaspert, will you help Alek bring their bags upstairs? You can put Deryn's in her room and Alek will be staying with you."

"Alright, Mum, but why can't Deryn bring her own stuff up?" he asked innocently.

"I CAN BRING IT UP!" Deryn shouted, trying to stand up, but wincing when she put weight on her knee.

"No you don't!" her mum said, pushing her back against the chair.

"It's okay, I'll be back in five minutes," Alek said standing up and squeezing her shoulder as he passed, then whispering so only she could hear, "It's okay you can do this, I know Dylan could have." That made her scowl and Alek had to hold in his laughter. They'd hardly been in Glasgow an hour and she was already in one of the foulest moods he'd ever seen her in. This was going to be a fun couple of days.