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It was strange what a coma could do to you. Put you out cold for a certain expanse of time, leaving you to wake up with the most curious feeling that things have passed you by and left you to stumble and figure out for yourself just what has happened. And Ben, while wonderful and incredibly helpful on helping her fill in the blanks on what she'd heard, could only go so far in helping Nura understand things.

The same could be said about the med bay.

Which was why Nura had left immediately that morning.

Now, she was in the hangar, inside the Calnus, with the diagnostic try open in her lap as she sat in the Captain's seat, pouring over the contents. The coma had robbed her of the time she needed to properly study the diagnostic tray. She was sure that Reimi wouldn't test her right after she learned Nura had woken, but still...

"Let's see..." She ran her index finger down the page, eyes going back and forth and she read on and on. "The start-up button would be about..." she raised her other hand's finger above the control panel in front of her. "...here." She pressed her finger down, not realizing that she’d pressed all the way down on the button, activating it.

She turned a page. "And..." Beneath her feet, the ship started to hum. The bit of darkness she was bathed in, excluding the lamp above her, disappeared as a wash of light from above filled the ship. Nura looked up from the book. Her eyes went immediately to the screen, which was now lit, with the readings filing through, telling her that take-off was sound.

"I’m in trouble."

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Devlin gave Nura a bit of a sheepish grin. That sounded pretty similar to his last big screw-up.

"But everything was okay?" he guessed.

Nura nodded, ponytail bobbing. "Yes. Everything was and is, okay." She reached over and ruffled Devlin's hair with a soft smile.

Devlin smiled back, this time not fighting against the dreaded hair-ruffling.

"So, you're feeling better?" he asked.

"Much better," she said with a nod, retracting her hand once she was sure she'd ruffled his hair enough. She let go of the railing with her other hand, still a little wobbly, but at least she could now stand better here.

"That's good," he said, feeling that ball of anxiety inside his heart loosen more. Yeah, he was still going to be worried and everything, but it was a lot easier to bear now.

"Sorry for everything," he added. "I know I wasn't in control, but..." He shrugged. Thanks to Hikari, Gwen, and Ben, he'd managed to stop blaming himself quite as much, but there was still that sense of guilt. It was his own emotions that had been used against him and used to make him hurt his family. It might not have been his fault, per se, but it was still on his hands.

Nura knew what he was trying to get at. While she'd been in the med bay, she'd let it cross her mind that she'd definitely need to have a talk with Devlin about what happened.

"Nothing was your fault," she said, kneeling down. She placed her hands on his shoulders. "You were under the effects of the virus and had no control."

"I know," he answered, lowering his head. "Everyone talked to me about it already. But I still felt all of it, like it really was me." It wasn't like someone who had been possessed--helpless to stop their puppetmaster. This had been his anger. He couldn't stop himself, true, but it was still him in the end.

Nura smoothed back Devlin's hair. "It's all right. Sometimes there are moments where you're not in control of yourself. It happens. And the virus was one of those moments that qualifies. She pulled Devlin into a hug. "I know you didn't really mean to hurt me."

That hug and the reassurance was everything Devlin needed right now.

"Thanks," he mumbled. "I hate losing control. I don't want it to happen again."

"You just have to be smart about what you do, and where you are, Devlin." She placed a kiss on his forehead, the same way she'd do for Ben. "And if you are losing control, to have someone like me or Ben or May there. We're one big crazy family, aren't we? It's what families do." She nodded her head, serious.

"Yeah," he answered, nodding. Slowly, a smile formed on his face and he asked, "Though should I really trust Ben with that? He's not exactly sane himself."

Nura rolled her eyes. "He tries, kiddo. He tries. That's what matters." Though she had to admit, just to herself, that Ben could be a little more serious about things. Although, on the other hand, he was very serious when she woke up in the med bay, trying to keep her calm and console her.

"Yeah," Devlin admitted, "but then he does stuff like the age candies."

There was a faint blush on his face from that. That had been really awkward with Hikari.

"Isn't he supposed to be too old for that kind of thing?" Fair question from an eleven-year-old.

"Yes." Nura laughed. "I heard about the Great Age Candy Prank." And while she had been supposed to have been admonishing Ben for the mischief, she couldn't help but feel an amount of pride in his antics. "Don't worry about Ben, Devlin. He's just enjoying his childhood."

She ruffled his hair again. "And you're never too old to be silly like that. I'm practically two years older than him, and yet I still do silly things too." Hard to believe ~~but not really~~, but true.

"Yeah, but he's making mine harder," Devlin muttered. He was so glad no one had seen his "omgboobs" moment.

Wait, Nura. Had fun and did silly stuff? Devlin gave her a look of faint disbelief. This didn't quite compute.

"Parents in general will do that," she said, with a little more bite than even used. At all. But she quickly reverted back to her friendly demeanor.

At the look of disbelief he gave her, Nura sighed, positioning her hands on her hips. "You're giving me the same look of disbelief Ben once gave me." She remembered well. "Oh c'mon. Am I really that serious, Devlin?" She gestured to herself.

Devlin flinched slightly from the unexpected hardness, mistaking it as being intended toward him. He wanted to try to explain that it was just a matter of Ben making things painfully difficult with Hikari for a day, but...yeah. Oheyboobs.

But Nura was back to her normal self now, and he was able to relax a bit. "A little?"

It wasn't Devlin bringing out the hardness in Nura. It was more that, while she was doing the best she could to care for Devlin, Ben, and May, in this crazy family of theirs, it also brought on some bad memories from childhood. Memories that made her more determined to do better than what she was given as a child in regards to guardianship. Memories that gave her a bit of an edge in regards to her mood.

Realizing how she'd sounded, she hugged Devlin again. "I don't mean to be serious so much," she softly said. "It's my own cruk I'm dealing with. And I suppose I'm not handling it the way I should be." She squeezed him. "I'm sorry."

Devlin hugged her back. He really didn't like seeing any of the others bothered like this. He was at least a kid, and one who'd gone through a really rough patch. He expected it to be hard sometimes. It shouldn't have been so hard for the older ones, especially when he thought their lives were more idyllic than they really had been.

"I guess you're right about losing control of things," he said.

Nura laughed sheepishly. "Everyone loses control at certain points. Even I do."

That felt good to know, and Devlin grinned.

"Wish I could think of some way to get back at Ben for that prank, though. I wasn't that ready to grow up." Well, he wasn't ready to deal with hormones, to be fair.

"If you start throwing things at him, I'm going to have to give you a time-out," she said mock-sternly with a playful smile.

"Aww," Devlin joked. "But do you have any ideas?"

Nura shook her head. "Nope. You want to cause mischief, you can think it up yourself." She tapped his nose with her index finger. "I'll standby to make sure you two don't get in too much trouble."

"Got it," Devlin answered. "No taking stuff without permission, no doing anything that might blow up." It was always a possibility when Ben was around.

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