From Darkness

[Manticore]

LAMBERT

James Lambert sat in stunned silence for a long moment. Hearing Pita’s voice for the first time in several long months was a complete shock to his system.

“Wow… honestly I didn’t expect to run into you out here again,” he finally said. Another pause – this was far more difficult for him than it should be.

“Uh… so how have you been? With Buster and everything, I mean.”

There was silence for a moment, and then Pita initiated a video link with his ship. She appeared on-screen, looking much as he had left her. Her wide blue eyes met his, and she shrugged slightly.

“I’m okay. Buster has stuff to do that he doesn’t want me there for so I stay here a bit…” She sounded distinctly sad, and she looked away.

“Over at Cold Bay?” Lambert asked. “I guess that’s…” he paused again, deciding to change direction. “So Buster’s home is out here somewhere, huh?”

“He’s like me, he doesn’t really have a home,” Pita said. “It got destroyed or something…”

“Oh…” Lambert said, starting to put the pieces together. “So you’ve been living on that big ol’ Pilgrim with him?” He tried to smile to encourage her, but it was difficult.

She shook her head. “No, not really.”

Lambert was confused. “So you’ve been staying at Cold Bay more often?”

“Yeah,” she replied. “The people there are kind of nice.”

Lambert frowned deeply. When he had left Pita with Buster, he had extracted a promise from the ex-Rogue that he would take good care of her and keep her safe. This was all wrong.

“Pita, when I said you could stay with him, that wasn’t exactly what I’d had in mind…” he locked eyes with her, unable to keep his rising fury for Buster’s lies under control. “Are you happy with that situation?”

She gets a faraway look in her eyes. “He just has things to sort out that he doesn’t want me there for. It’s okay… some of the times.”

He nodded slowly, his anger now being overcome by sadness at the realization that it was ultimately his fault that the girl had been left in the care of the blasted Rogue. “Well, Pita… I’ve always wanted you to be happy. If you’d rather be someplace else, then I can help with that.”

She looked down, twitching her shoulders into a shrug. “Where else would I go?”

Lambert exhaled, looking away from his screen for a long moment. Finally, he turned back to her, forcing a smile. “Anywhere you want, kiddo. Any place in the entire sector, I’ll make it happen.”

Quietly, she said, “I miss our house.”

Hope soared within him. “Really? I… still own it, actually. Went back the other day, even. I was planning on selling it…”

Pita looked a little confused. “Do you want to sell it?”

“Well, that was what I was thinking. It’s too big for just me, and too filled with… sad memories.” He sighed, recalling his visit to the house along with all the ghosts of happier days it had conjured.

Pita frowned, clearly not understanding. “But it wasn’t sad there…”

He tried to think of how to explain. “It wasn’t at the time, but for me, now, it is. Makes me think back on all the happy times, all the stuff I threw away when I left…”

“Oh…” she said, clearly in thought.

He cracked a smile. “But if you did decide that you wanted to come back, I reckon it just might make that old house livable again.”

She nodded, smiling too. “And will it be our house again?”

He hesitated a moment, then nodded. “I daresay it would be, Pita. Are you sure that’s what you want to do?”

“I don’t get to see Buster much. He’s always away doing work.” She smiled sadly, shrugging.

Lambert sighed, shaking his head. “At least he had the decency not to involve you directly. But if I’d known, I would’ve been down here a lot sooner.”

“It’s okay, I can look after myself.” She paused a moment, thinking. “Hey James? Why did you come down here?”

He tried to think of a good way to explain it. “Really just for the small chance of seeing you or Buster. I guess it worked.”

“It’s a long way to come down here just to maybe see me.” She frowned, still looking confused.

He shrugged, smiling. “Texas is only one system away. But even if this were Omicron Alpha, I’d still want to find a way to check up anyways.”

“You’re strange,” Pita said, with complete solemnity.

He actually laughed at that, for what felt like the first time in years. “That I am. But I still care about you, even if I was… silly and ran away from it when you went looking for Buster.”

He paused, then sobered for a moment. “And I'm sorry for that. I don't think you'll ever be able to understand just how sorry I truly am.”

Quietly, she said, “If you’re as sorry as I am for going to find Buster, then that’s a lot.”

He nodded, then cracked a smile. “You know what we should do? Stop feeling bad about all this silliness and go home. How's that sound, kiddo?”

Pita’s eyes lit up, and she nodded enthusiastically. “Can we? Really?”

He grinned. “Honestly, I would like nothing more in the entire universe.”

(Credit to Widow for her character's portion of this chapter.)

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