This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.
The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/Engletroll on 2026-02-20 06:33:45+00:00.
Crashlanding / Book version / Patreon
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Kiko watched Peter leave, and the door closed. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she turned back to Maria Gypta, who simply got up, opened a cabinet, took out two bottles of beer, and handed her one.
“Wow, if I didn’t know better, I would say you actually love that guy..”
Kiko took the beer and looked at the brand, Kronenbourg 1664. She smiled slightly as he quickly opened it and took a sip. “So, how have you been?” She replied, changing the subject, but Maria immediately noticed.
“Oh, I’m going through a lot of things, like my best undercover agent getting kidnapped and just vanishing for several months to show up with a well, a man who by all means should be locked inside an insane asylum with the rest of his late crew. And the file you sent us? Are you aware of how bad this is? Blackthorne will go on the warpath for this. The cleanup will be messy and bloody. And we still haven’t managed to find out who's behind the Count. And your dad is still running Sanctuary as his own private playground. Your mission is not over, little lady. But aside from that? I’m pretty fine. Jay finally got down on one knee. Only took him three kids to get him to propose.” Maria sipped her beer as she leaned back in her chair and tilted her head slightly.
Kika gave her a weak smile, “That's great. He was always slow. Wait.. you're sending me back to dad? No.. I want a shot at the count. I want him dead. He killed Sagra, and if he is dead, somebody would have to come and take over the cult, maybe somebody easier to track.”
“Yes, but it won't be you, you're going to a psych evaluation and then back to your dad the moment you're certified sane enough to do the job,” Maria replied, and Kiko sighed.
“Yes sir, what about Peter?” She tried to sound as casual as she could.
“What about him? He will be arrested for kidnapping a police officer; twenty years in the slammer will do him good. You don’t have to worry about him.” Maria said, and Kiko’s jaw dropped.
“No! Did you read the report? Come on. He didn’t even know what the cargo was, He wasn’t even the captain.” Kiko sat up and stared at her freind.
“It doesn’t change the facts. He is a smuggler. He was working for the Count!”
“No! He was working for his captain, who had a gambling debt. We have always turned those guys into informants! He saved my live, without him I would been blown out of the sky by those idiots my dad sent to rescue me!”
“Sounds like you have feelings for him. You are aware of this thing called Stockholm syndrome, right? Was he not taking advantage of you? Tell me, did you sleep with him?” Maria said, her demeanor cold and calculating.
Kiko looked at her, trying to think of a good answer but simply couldn’t find one. “Yes. But I was the one taking advantage of him. Not the other way around.”
Maria brought Peter up on the wall screen again. “Look at him, he is a wreck, has to be heavily medicated. You know, was married, right? And that he saw those bastards kill and eat his wife. That whole crew was survivors of POW camps. Those places were slaughterhouses. It would be a blessing in disguise to put him in jail. His PTSD is categorized as extremely severe. And don’t tell me you can fix him. This is for the best for both of you.”
Kiko looked at her old friend and superior. “No jail time, just let him go. He .. Okay Maybe.. but I would have died without him… I.. Please.. I’m begging you. Just send him away then. Buy his stuff, help him bury his crew, and send him away.” She wiped a tear away as she said it, she could not let them put him in jail. At least he would be free. She closed her eyes and tried to control herself.
Maria came over and hugged her. “Okey. I promise. Good damn it, I can't imagine what you had to go through. Come, I will take you to your quarters.”
Kiko woke up in a white room with a hangover. There were some pills on her table, and she took them. Apparently, somebody had invented hangover pills that actually worked. She had not slept well for the last fourteen days. She looked out of the window of the space station and cursed herself, and that damn doctor Harries, who kept trying to convince her that her feelings for Peter were just a way of coping with the extreme situation she was in. That she only did what she thought she had to do to survive. She really hated that guy.
Maria had been a little better. She had kept her up to date on how Peter had taken it. He had taken it as she expected. He had tried hard not to show any emotion, but when she watched the video, she could see he was crushed. He went to the ship and got drunk, then trashed his room and stayed there for a few days.
The Navy had gone through the whole ship and helped him sell what he wanted, the Vixens had been removed, as had the corpses of his friends, and sent to their families with their belongings.
Last night, she had gotten drunk with her and spilled the beans, she knew it was dumb. Probably got her in trouble, but she needed to get it out. She loves him, and she wants him back. If she had to give him up to save him, then she would; she only hoped he would understand. She noticed the hangover was already gone as she walked over to the cabinet. Today, she was being shipped back to Sanctuary. She looked at her Navy intelligence uniform. One of her lies to Peter was that she was not a cop, she was Navy Intelligence.
She dressed up and looked at herself in the mirror, and all she could think about was Peter; she missed him. When this mission was over, she would resign and find him; she would get her ring and give him many children. She needed her teddy bear.