trans_9 | In the jungle, the quiet jungle [Closed]

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In the jungle, the quiet jungle [Closed]

To say Nightwing was unhappy with his orders was an understatement. He absolutely didn't agree that protective custody was the best way to handle this. Yes, the kid and the Yeerk needed to be protected because there were far too many people on the crew that had been affected and still weren't dealing with it well. He just wasn't convinced that this was the way to do it.

Of course, in order to get him into protective custody, Dick had to find the kid, first. Not the easiest of feats in Hydroponics, but he figured the boy might not be anywhere near the beer tree. Too many people were around there on a daily basis. So he went the opposite direction, looking for places that would be good to hide in or provided good cover.

And was still a little surprised when he stumbled into the right area. "Tom?" he asked, straightening slightly. "Tom Berenson?"

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"It happens, even with aliens. Occasionally, you just feel the need to react. I'm mostly an undercover operative, so when someone is so sickeningly obvious about everything and ignores every stage of caution and logical observation of the situation before they act...it drives me insane. Knowing when not to act is almost as important as knowing when to act. In this situation, inaction is obviously the safest course. Even with a pool, with these many hyper motivated people, some of who are aware of the existence of yeerks..." He sighed, and shook his head. "Smash and grab never works out how you want it to."

The thoughtful look was not faked. "I've monitored what I could of Jake's announcement. It seems like there are still people who are...quite unhappy and ready to lock me up or kill me for the sin of Stacy kidnapping me." He rubbed his face. "What a mess. I was trying to keep my head down and figure out a way to fix the situation before people found out. Being outed makes me feel incredibly vulnerable."

Nightwing glanced over at him for a moment. "Which is one reason why we're getting you under cover, at least for the moment. Until we can be certain of your safety. I don't believe for one minute that Stacy didn't know you were in Tom's head when she picked you both up, so it's likely that she wanted you both." And...well, Stacy was probably quite capable of finding a way to get Iniss out of Tom's head if she hadn't wanted him on the ship. "I told Jake I'd keep you both alive. I plan to honor that promise."

< Did JAKE Get your autograph? >

"Jake is the one that has put us in danger in the first place." He sighed faintly. "I've told him what's going on, but he's been infected by the Andalite opinion of my species, he won't listen."

< He won't listen because you're in me. You still don't know much about human families, do you Iniss? He's my brother. And you know how much I was to protect him, why do you think the reverse should be any less true? >

"It's impossible to know which of us she wanted, or if she wanted both of us. But she has protected us, as much as she can. I understand she can't reach the city."

"Which is why I'm not going to leave your side while you're here." There wasn't any false bravado in Nightwing's voice. It just was what it was. He could probably take a few of them if they decided to come after Iniss. More than enough time to get back up, at least.

"And he'd probably be able to handle you better if you weren't in his brother's body," he pointed out mildly. "I realize that it's the only real way for you to survive. That doesn't make it much easier for humans to accept. We're used to having a certain autonomy, after all. Our minds are our own and we do, for the most part, like being alone in them."

"I appreciate it. I think my chances of surviving until a better solution can be created has increased greatly with your defence."

He sighed faintly. "I suppose I can accept that. Humans are very emotional creature." He lifted his finger to tap his forehead. "I'm still striving to understand the nuances of your behavior. And what you find offensive and abhorrent. I've discovered it's different in every creature." His lips twisted into a wry smile. "We don't have families, really. Our parents die in the act of reproducing, and it's a struggle to survive and rise above the ranks of our spawnmates. It's a very different environment. I often find your loyalty and connection to your siblings and parents puzzling."

"Whereas we find your lack of connection just as confusing, I'm sure." If not moreso. "For me, it's a little different because...the people I call family are mine by choice, for the most part. I lost my parents young and was an only child. So the man I call Father and my brothers are...not genetically related. I'd still die to protect them, though." Which was probably so far beyond what the Yeerks knew that it was part of the puzzling stuff about humans.

"I've seen relationships like that. The hosts have a habit of striking up such relationships. Since very few have actual contact with their blood families." He paused. "Honestly, picking your family makes more sense to me. You can pick loyalty, you can get to know someone and feel a sense of kinship. Merely accepting such a thing based on a quirk of physical relationship...It seems like a good way to end up betrayed. To trust based on only shared genetics."

< I love my brother. I love my family. >

< And I feel loyalty to mine. Love is a human emotion. >

Nightwing nodded. "And there are people who do end up betrayed by people they share genetics with. It doesn't mean that they all do." He considered it for a moment. "Humans are pack animals," he finally said with a shrug. "We feel safer in numbers and the family unit helps solve a lot of that to start with. It's safety and security. Love is part of that. It fosters stronger ties, allows children to forge new families, new units as they go out into the world.

"But it also unites us." He tilted his head slightly, looking back at Iniss. "Your host has a brother. A...younger brother?" He hadn't seen Jake, but he had a feeling. "A lot of family relationships, from the outside, look antagonistic. They pick on one another, prod the places that are painful. But if somebody from outside the unit tries it, they'll band together and protect each other. And the larger the family unit, whether genetic or otherwise, you'll often find the same thing. Try coming at them from the outside and you'll find yourself against a lot more than you bargained for."

"Pack animals..." His head tilted thoughtfully at the analogy. "I suppose that makes sense, even if I still have trouble understanding the connections you form."

He paused, working the words out on his head for a moment. "Yes, younger. By three years. Tom is very protective of him. They have...or had, I suppose, a habit of being rough with each other."

< Not really. He's right. He gets it. He's a big brother too. >

< Humans understand other humans. >

"There is not much banding, at the moment. Though apparently they've both taken steps to try to protect each other." His lips twitched wryly. "Tom and I have an agreement, regarding Jake. Or we did, on Earth. I still consider it valid."

He raised an eyebrow at that. "You're right. Jake's doing everything he can right now to make sure his brother stays safe. And you as well. Me, I'd say that's banding of its own sort.

"If I might ask...what's the agreement?" He didn't think it was all that important, maybe, but anything else he could learn.

"Possibly. I call it overreacting." He shrugged his shoulders. "Jake's off limits. *I* won't get him involved. Though judging by what he's told me, he's managed to find his own in. But our agreement was simply that he wouldn't cause me trouble and I would do my very best to keep Jake out of the loop. No trying to lure him in, extra caution to act just like Tom to keep him from suspecting anything, and keeping myself between him and other controllers."

He quirked a smile at that. "Older brother instincts." They were also, in some way, leader instincts. It had worked for Nightwing, at least. "It's understandable to humans. Possibly to some other species here on the ship, mostly ones that depend on strong community units for survival. It's an instinct some of us develop to...keep others safe. That's one reason why some people in my world wear the technicolor pyjamas."

"Oh really? Can you explain that reaction to me then? Because it's still a one that puzzles me. If, as you said, humans value autonomy, then why should the autonomy of another matter more than your own?"

He could feel Tom's focus. Not hero worship, not anymore. Just intent interest in what Nightwing might say.

Nightwing looked over at him, eyebrow raised. "Why shouldn't it?" he turned back, then shook his head. "Because...sometimes, people can't protect themselves. They become victims through no real fault of their own, just caught up in what's happening in the lives of others. Wrong place, wrong time. Or sometimes they're targeted. Singled out for reasons...it's hard to understand. Maybe the people behind it don't really understand it either.

"They've already lost their autonomy. Some of them lose their lives before we even find out and try to stop it. So why are their lives less important than my own? And why should I just sit back and do nothing when I might be able to stop it?"

Iniss stopped, just studying Nightwing for a long moment.

He didn't understand. He didn't understand humans and their raw passion and their bonds.

It was so strange. So alien. Beyond a Hork-Bajir's simple understanding of the world. Beyond a Gedd's acceptance of servitude. Beyond a Taxxon's raw and needy hunger, blinding in it's intensity.

Humans felt.

Everything.

"So you protect the weak. Because they are incapable of protecting themselves?" He paused, thinking for a moment of Dani.

Dani who had come to save him, despite everything. Despite that fact that he was a yeerk, a hostile alien. Because he was her friend.

Something in his face relaxed, something odd. He felt strange and off balance for a long moment. "There is no limit to human..." Foolishness, that was the word he wanted. But what came out... "Kindness."

Nightwing had to smile at that and shake his head. "When it comes to individuals, there are always lines and limits," he pointed out. "And group limits tend to be set by the person with the lowest limit. But...we try. And we keep trying."

"Lines and limits...." He huffed, shaking off the strange emotion. "You're a strange species. I don't think I will ever fully understand you."

He ignored the irritating sensation that said he wanted to.

"So, where do the group lines lie on the ship, Nightwing? Is it the entire crew, or the tiny subgroups that spring up among people from the same world, the same background or just strong friendships made by those who have no one else on the ship?"

Tom was strangely silent, not commenting on anything. Keeping his mind still and clear of any thoughts.

Nightwing shook his head. "I've been studying humans for most of my life. My mentor has been studying them...probably longer than I've been alive. And I'd lay odds that neither of us even come close to fully understanding humans."

It was the truth. Though Nightwing at least could admit that he wanted to.

He hummed softly at that, considering. "For the most part, the ship seems to be coming together pretty well. Yes, people from the same world and background will tend toward each other more than with others, but that's to be expected. And, of course, the real lone wolves who don't seem to want anything to do with anybody else."

Oh that was a comforting thought. Even the humans didn't understand each other. "I've studied your wars, and the people you regard as both heroes and villains. It seems to tell a great deal about a species, or at least it has worked for me in the past. I still feel I have only scratched the surface."

Humans were such complex and confusing things, to understand them truly would mean going native.

And they were at war, going native meant betraying the empire....even though here, on this ship, the empire was dust and only a few fragments remained of it. Only himself and the yeerk hiding in the little girl and one pathetic moron in stasis.

A rather poor showing for the master's of the universe.

At least he could take an odd, twisted comfort from the fact that the Andalites had been similarly decimated, or he could have easily blamed them. "Every ship has it's holdouts, I suppose. It sounds as though there have been many things that have driven you together. I heard about the yeerks, though everyone seems to tell that story different, and very very briefly about something called The Nightmare King." He paused, thoughtful. "It seems almost planned, if you have a ship full of heroes from countless worlds...then you need to force them together somehow, don't you? What better way than to give them a common enemy?"

Nightwing nodded. "Yeah, it's pretty convenient." He'd been trained by Batman. He knew better than to take anything at face value. "The Nightmare King...I honestly would have thought that would bring everybody together, but there was a lot of bickering after it as well. I suppose it's just something we'll have to get used to, as long as people manage to work together when the time comes."

"It doesn't strike you as odd? Or is it just par for course, on a ship full of heroes, bad things come to find you?"

He sighed, rubbing his face. "So tell me about your boss. I find myself curious to know what I might be facing. Is he a hero, like you? Something else?"

"Oh, I'm pretty used to it, actually. Bad things do seem to come hunting for us even back home." Which was likely in Tom's memories. Seriously, most of the 80s run of the Teen Titans was things coming looking for them.

"Kennedy?" That made Nightwing grin. "He's a good guy. Regular human, near as I can tell. Not a hero in the way that we normally define it back in my world." No spandex pajamas for him. "But he's got a good head on his shoulders and so far seems committed to keeping the ship and crew safe. Near as I can tell, he's just a cop."

"Sounds depressing and stressful." He shook his head, reading some of Tom's thoughts on the matter. "Great power draws great evil to knock it from it's pedestal."

He listened to Nightwing describe his boss, head tilted to the side. "A regular human in charge of super heroes? Why place a cop in charge when you have someone like Superman on the ship?"

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In the jungle, the quiet jungle [Closed]

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