John made it back to the Phoenix Hawk without further incident and brought Niki directly to his room, ying her down on his bed. "Middle Heal! Cure!" He said, mending her wounds. He went into his bathroom and grabbed a wet washcloth, then proceeded to wipe the dirt and grime off her body. He paused when she started to purr from his touch, almost sounding like an actual cat. He smiled at how adorable she sounded, but continued wiping the dirt off her quickly in case he woke her up by accident. Once that was done, he covered her up with a bnket and sat down in his chair.

  Now what?

  He let out a deep sigh. It had been a long day already, and now this happened.

  I just... need a nap. I'll deal with it in the morning.

  He y back in the chair and nodded off, the lights in the room dimming automatically after a few minutes. The sounds of the two people sleeping were the only things heard in the room.

  The Next Morning...

  John woke up yawning. He quickly checked his Link for the time, and was surprised it was after ten already. Thankfully, Katrina hadn't sent him a message yet. He looked over at the bed, and Niki was still asleep, curled up into a ball.

  Fuck, I need to talk to Katrina. I might need to depart this station sooner rather than ter.

  He opened the messaging app on the Link and wrote a hasty message describing the incident st night. It didn't take long before she replied.

  K - [Be here by noon. You owe me, Captain.]

  J - [Okay. See you then.]

  He wasn't sure what she meant by that, but he wasn't going to question it right now. He did kill three people st night. He got up, went to the bathroom and had a shower. He then put on his leathers and shook Niki's shoulder.

  "Hey, it's time to get up." He said softly, trying to wake her. She didn't move at first, then started to stir.

  "Mmm...five more minutes, Dad..." She said groggily, her eyes not opening.

  "Well, I am old enough to be your Gr- Dad, but suffice to say, I am not." He said, correcting himself from saying grandfather.

  "Wha- AHHH!" She jumped up and pulled the bnket in tight to herself. "Where am I? Who are... I remember you! John, the burger guy!"

  "Yes, never a title more deserving." John deadpanned, trying not to ugh at her. She didn't seem scared once she realized it was him, and not those gang members. "How are you feeling, Niki?"

  "Wait... st night, Timur's gang... You saved me from them?" She said, recalling the events from the previous evening.

  "Yeah, I made a bit of a-"

  "THANK YOU!" She said and unched herself at him. She kissed him on the lips hard. "You saved me from becoming Timur's sve!" She kissed him on the lips several more times before hugging him deeply and crying softly into his shoulder.

  The hell? It guess she is grateful.

  "Shh, it's okay, you're safe now." He replied, returning the hug. He held her for a few minutes as she cried, letting her release all her pent-up emotions. "You good?" He asked once she started to settle down.

  "Mmm... not yet." She said, still nuzzling his neck.

  "Take all the time you need. Though I think a shower and some food will do you good." He said, still hugging the cat girl. Her tail twitched at the mention of food.

  "O-Okay... nope. Give me a minute more, please." She said, trying and failing to let go of him.

  "No problem, Sweetiepie. Take as much time as you need." He said with a ugh, letting her continue to hug him.

  What happened to this kid?

  "Thank you..." She replied and hugged him deeply again. A few more sobs crept out of her as all the pent-up stress from her time on the streets was slowly being released.

  After a few more minutes, she finally let go of him and stood beside him.

  "Thank you... John. Thank you for saving me." She said, her crystal blue eyes looking up at him.

  "No problem, Niki. Welcome aboard the Phoenix Hawk."

  "Phoenix Hawk? I... I am on a ship?" She said, sounding confused. She looked around the room nervously.

  "Yeah, this is my ship, and we are in my cabin." He said.

  "Oh no... umm... am I now your... sve?" She said, sounding terrified.

  "No, Niki. You are not my sve, nor my IDS. Currently, you are my guest here. What you are legally on the station, though, I have no idea." He replied. If he hadn't had that conversation with Tanya and the others st night, he wouldn't have any idea what she meant by that.

  She looked relieved for a moment, but some of the tension was still there. "Ahh... well. I... am a debtor IDS." She said, then sighed. "Though it's not my fault."

  "What happened?" He asked, curious about how someone so young managed to become an IDS.

  "Well... my parents caused a rge accident and were killed in the process. The damages were charged to the estate, and when I turned eighteen, I inherited their debt." She said quietly.

  "What? Seriously? That is messed up."

  "Yeah... Well, I managed to get by for a few years, but ran out of money to make the payments when I was in my second year of university. So, I was arrested and taken to court. The judge offered me jail time at a bour camp, sold as an IDS to a brothel, or to be banished to the Third Ring of the colony. The work camps would have been the fastest to pay back what I owe, but women make up a very small percentage of those poputions, so I would probably be-" She said, then started to cry again.

  John pulled her back into a hug. "It is okay, I understand." He said. He could only imagine what would happen to a beautiful young woman like her in a bour camp full of hardened criminals.

  After a few moments, she collected herself and continued. "The second option would be no better, other than I would have been paid for... it. The third option, coming here, is what I chose to do. I might have been able to find legitimate work. If I could do that, I could pay off my debt, then move back to the second ring, eventually.

  But, Timur... he is a noble's son... he has it out for my family since my father exposed his brother's corruption. The moment I was 'released' into the third ring, he had his gang making my life... difficult. I was fired from several jobs; the gangs were putting pressure on the few businesses that would even hire someone without a completed education.

  I think... I think he was hoping to make me desperate enough to come and beg for his help. When I refused to do that, when I kept living on the streets... the gangs became more insistent. They have been trying to corner me for over a week now... and they finally caught me. Then you showed up and... you saved me... like a knight in shining armour from some rom- fantasy story." She said at length into his chest, hugging him tightly. He could feel his shirt dampening even more as she was both crying and ughing into his chest.

  He held her close for a few minutes, letting her get a hold of herself. He parsed over her words, wondering what kind of shit he just stepped into.

  I might not need to talk only to Katrina, but Greg, Ash, and the twins might be a good idea, too. Not to mention the guild. Damn it, I was hoping for a rexing day. I took a shotgun to the chest a couple of days ago, went through a space battle, and now a shootout. My body might be fine in this world, but my brain is starting to get overwhelmed again.

  "Okay, Niki, grab a towel and go have a shower, then we will go have a meal in the galley." He said, pointing at the bathroom. "We need to go meet someone in about an hour and a half about... st night. Does that sound good to you?"

  "Yes, Da- John." She said, finally detaching herself from his chest. He missed her blushing cheeks as she darted to the bathroom.

  John smiled at her retreating form for a moment, then pulled up his Link. Her clothing was torn and dirty, and there was no way she was going to fit into any of the clothing he had onboard... well, maybe a few of those tex suits in that sex wardrobe, but that wasn't exactly the kind of thing you dress up in before you leave to visit the police.

  An image came unbidden to his mind, the cute white-haired cat girl, dressed in a tight tex suit, strapped down to his bed while he-

  God damn it! Why am I so damn horny? I should have let Tanya try to help me out.

  "Welcome to the Parrax Navel Po- Oh, hello again, Mr. Wayne. Are you here to see the Lieutenant Commander?" The clerk behind the desk said as the pair of them walked into the police station. John still had his leathers on, while Niki had a light blue tracksuit he found on his Link. It was a bit baggy, but he didn't know her exact size. She seemed happy enough to have clean clothing at any rate.

  "Yes, we are. Did she get promoted or something?" He replied, wondering how that happened.

  "Heh, yeah. They surprised her with it this morning. She was definitely not expecting it." The receptionist replied, giggling a little at the earlier event.

  "Good for her. We will wait over-"

  "No need, Captain, please come with me," Katrina said, walking into the reception area. She was wearing a dress uniform this time instead of the flight suit she normally wore. The dark grey suit was rather fetching, with a pair of silver pins on her colr. He assumed that signified her rank, but it wasn't the same as the American system he was familiar with.

  "Good Afternoon, Lieutenant Commander. Sure, we are right behind you." He replied. He started to follow her, but was stopped when Niki pulled on his sleeve. He looked back at her. "Are you okay?"

  "I... I'm nervous." She said, shaking a little bit.

  "Don't worry, she doesn't bite. I work with her and the other people here." He replied to her warmly. It was technically true, though he still only knew a dozen of them in passing.

  Actually, I am not even sure I remember any of their names other than Katrina and that... Sergeant Baker? Oh damn, I probably should get to know these people I am working with better.

  Niki just nodded and followed him. The three of them walked silently to a nearby office, where Katrina offered them a seat before sitting behind the desk. It wasn't much bigger than the interrogation room they used on him when he first arrived at the station, with a fairly minimalist feel. The chairs were more comfortable, at least.

  "Thanks for meeting us, Lieutenant Commander. Congratutions on the promotion." He said.

  She sighed loudly. "Thank you, and thank you for coming. It was a great excuse to get out of there; people kept coming up and congratuting me for my 'Achievement'. Frankly, it was getting exhausting."

  "Not happy about it? I would think it would be something to be proud of."

  She sighed again. "Captain, I am happy to be promoted, but I am unhappy to have been promoted on someone else's success."

  "What? What happened?" He said, confused.

  She stood up then, leaning over the desk and raising her voice a few octaves. "What happened? YOU HAPPENED THAT'S WHAT!"

  He was taken aback for a moment. "I happened, and you got promoted?"

  "I am being uded as a prodigy for taking out that pirate base!" She said, thumping a fist down on the desk. "My 'Pn' was so successful that they want me to lead further operations against the pirates in the surrounding sectors going forward."

  "Okay. And this is a bad thing?"

  "Yes! Are you not paying attention? They are putting me in charge of a fleet to exterminate other pirate bases, all because of my 'Pn'." She was clearly agitated.

  "Okay, so what?"

  "It wasn't my pn! It was yours! You knew what to do, and you did the crazy operation yourself. I was barely there for more than morale support! I know I am good, and given enough time and experience, I might someday be able to pull that off, but I am also honest with myself. I cannot do what you did. I have neither the skills nor the equipment to do it. Now they are expecting me to pull off more stunts like this one." She said, practically looking like she was about to leap across the table at him.

  "It's-" He tried to butt in, but she continued her tirade.

  "And to top it all off, I have now been given the command of a battleship to lead my team from. I am no longer a fighter pilot!"

  "That is... really weird, isn't it?" He replied. He didn't want to say she was too young for the position, but... well, she was in her mid-twenties. Were her commanders setting her up for failure again?

  "Well... Technically, I am not in command of the ship itself, but of the fleet. It is a command ptform."

  "Hun. So in normal circumstances, an admiral or commodore would be calling the shots?"

  "Yes."

  "And you are only a Lieutenant Commander." He ughed at the absurdity of this. "You appear to be under-ranked and underpaid for this position, Kat."

  She smiled a bit at that quip, but quickly put her work face back on. "Hah, just a bit, but since I am the Earl's daughter, apparently it's okay." She sat back down and leaned on the desk, rubbing her temples like she had a headache.

  "You'll be okay, Kat. Just let me know if I can help. Remember, you do have me on contract for a year." John said, pcing a hand on her arm. She stiffened up for a moment, but rexed quickly.

  "Thanks, John. It is just weird. This is the rank I assumed I would have when I retired in three years and returned home to begin my duties as a Countess-in-training. Now, I am in a position to shoot up even further." She said, looking into his eyes. They seemed softer than normal, almost like she was exposing her true self just a little bit.

  As quickly as it appeared, it left again, Katrina leaving the office, leaving the Lieutenant Commander behind. She turned her gaze to Niki, her voice now all business. "Now, Captain, let's talk about your friend here, and the mess you made in the alley st night."

  John sat back in his chair, just realizing Niki was still clinging to the sleeve of his jacket. He patted her hand, reassuring the smaller woman that he was there to support her. "That is why we are here."