Heroic Dramatics Chapter Seven
Title: Heroic Dramatics
Author:
butterflyslinky
Pairing(s): Eventual Linkara/Spoonette; Spoony/80s Chick; one-sided Linksano/Spoonette
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 17,778
Warning(s): Violence, off-screen character death
Summary: Having been rejected as an actress and with nothing left to lose, Spoonette takes her brother’s place in the US Space Corps to fight off the coming threat of Lord Vyce. Now, she has to deal with army drills, her high school stalker with the ability to hack the Pentagon, and a captain who is both way hot and way annoying. Bogus.
Author’s Note: Inspired by this prompt, though I don’t really know if it qualifies as a fill for it. Special thanks to pompoko and
ladydiskette for beta-ing, and of course
trulyamindlost,
robynred, and
lizynob for their lovely bonus content
Linkara set his lieutenant down on a sickbay cot. The room was practically full, the doctors running around, so Linkara didn’t wait. He knew enough to treat a laser wound temporarily.
But before he could start, Dr. Schlumper from engineering came dashing into the room. “Captain!” he called.
“With you in a moment!” Linkara said.
“No!” Dr. Schlumper said. “I mean I have medical training and am familiar with Lieutenant Antwiler’s medical history!”
Linkara blinked. “Oh,” he said. “Right…you two are friends.”
“Well…sort of,” the doctor said. “But the point is, I can take over here and you can go back up and speak to the men.”
“Dr. Schlumper, I am willing to turn Lieutenant Antwiler over to your care,” Linkara said. “But seeing as he just destroyed most of Vyce’s army and saved my life down there, I feel that I owe it to him to stay here until I’m sure he’ll make it.”
Schlumper took a deep breath. “With all due respect, Captain,” he said. “I think Lieutenant Antwiler is going to feel violated enough with just me here and she wouldn’t like it if you were watching.”
Linkara blinked at the pronoun. “What?”
“This is not Noah Antwiler,” Schlumper admitted. “This is his sister…look, I’ll explain later, but right now, she needs help!”
Linkara stood still for a moment. “Do what you can,” he finally said, and then he left the room.
He walked back to his private quarters, his mind reeling. How had he possibly missed something so basic for months?
She is an actress, his brain reminded him. She told you so herself.
But to keep it up for months…Nimue should have informed him…
“Nimue,” Linkara called once he was alone. “Request records on Lieutenant Antwiler.”
There was a moment and then the records were on his monitor.
Eleanor Abigail Antwiler, female, age 26…Last updated 8/14/2108.
Schlumper. He must have gone through and corrected the files to keep her out of trouble. And since Linkara couldn’t possibly track all the updates for every man in the unit, no one could possibly prove that she was never supposed to be here.
“Nimue, why didn’t tell me she was a woman?” Linkara asked.
“Information. This unit respects the privacy of the soldiers and does not make assumptions about their gender identities.”
Linkara sighed. He wanted to be angry, but the girl had won a practically impossible battle almost single-handed and nearly given her life doing it. Recklessness aside, Linkara couldn’t bring himself to be upset about it.
“Thank you,” he said. “Set a course back to Earth. We’re going to need reinforcements and planning time.”
*
It still hurt, but the pain was duller now, more distant, not shooting through every part of her.
She managed to open her eyes, though she couldn’t see much. But she could see a dark figure beside her.
“Linkara?” she whispered.
There was silence, but then a familiar voice. “No,” Linksano said. “I had him leave before I operated…I didn’t think he should see when I cut your binder off…sorry about that, but the shot had already pretty much destroyed it.”
It took a minute for his words to register. She was vaguely aware that she should feel embarrassed that Oscar Schlumper had finally achieved his life-long goal of getting her shirt off, but somehow, that didn’t seem important. “Does he know?” she asked.
“I’m so sorry,” Linksano said. “But I had to tell him…I explained as well as I could…and he asked me to tell you that he’s not angry.”
Spoonette nodded. “That’s…good?”
“It means you won’t be punished, anyway.” He paused. “Not that you could have been since I took the liberty of updating the records…all of them, without any sign that they were ever changed.”
Spoonette smiled. “Thanks, Schlumper.”
“Go back to sleep,” he said. “I’ve got you on pretty heavy pain killers right now, but we’re going to run out soon and you need your strength.”
She nodded, closed her eyes, and was immediately asleep again.
*
The next few days were spent drifting in and out of consciousness, alternating between pain and oblivion. There were several days when she would wake up screaming, begging Linksano to end it and let her die, to end the pain. He always refused and just gave her more morphine.
But as time went on, the pain lessened, and finally a day came when she was both fully coherent and able to move a bit. At least, enough to sit up. That was when she was able to see well enough to notice how exhausted Linksano looked.
“When was the last time you slept?” she asked.
“Hmm?” he said absently. “Oh…let me think…whenever Linkara last came in and ordered me to.”
Spoonette sighed. “Go to bed, Oscar,” she said gently. “I’ll be okay.”
“I’m all right,” he said. “I need to record this…you’re very lucky, you know. Another inch higher and you would have been finished…hell, you probably only made it because that chest binder was made to absorb hits. Between that and the standard-issue armor, you were better protected than anyone else in the unit.”
She blushed, finally conscious enough to realize that she still wore only clean bandages around her chest. Not that Linksano seemed to care, being too busy taking her pulse and blood pressure.
“I was afraid you wouldn’t make it,” Linksano continued. “You had two broken ribs and a very nasty second degree burn on your chest, and for a while I thought your right lung had collapsed, but I was very luckily wrong. You should be able to get up in a few days, though I would recommend not doing anything strenuous for a few weeks if you can avoid it.”
Spoonette nodded. “And then what’s going to happen to me?”
Linksano looked confused. “Um…honorable discharge with a bunch of shiny medals and a nice pension? Seeing as you just saved the world and all.”
“But…I lied to the military! I stole Spoony’s identity…endangered myself and my captain…”
“I told you,” Linksano said. “I switched all your records. Even if Linkara was angry with you, which he isn’t, he has no proof that there was ever a switch…and he’s not going to court-marshal you for winning his war for him.”
“So…that’s it?” Spoonette said. “I’ll just take a Purple Heart and go home?”
“I think you’ll get a bit more than that,” Linksano said. “But yes…essentially.”
Spoonette sighed. “Okay,” she muttered.
*
A few days later, Spoonette was discharged from the medical ward. She was glad enough for that, and even more gratified when no one seemed to treat her any differently than before. When she asked her unit if they cared, 90s Kid looked very confused. “Why would we care?” he asked. “You’re awesome, dudette!” The rest of the men concurred and Spoonette laughed, even though it hurt, and she felt slightly better.
But her relief was short-lived as only a few hours later, Nimue called over the intercom, “Lieutenant Antwiler, please report to the captain’s office. Lieutenant Antwiler, to the captain’s office.”
The men looked at her, but she shook her head. “I’ll be okay,” she said as she stood and walked down the hall. She took as deep a breath as she could as she reached the office and knocked on the door.
“Come in,” Linkara called.
She entered and stood at attention, the months of drills still in her head. “You wanted to see me, sir?”
He looked at her for a solid minute before he spoke. “Sit down, Lieutenant.”
She did so, feeling even more nervous. “Captain…”
He waved his hand. “How are you feeling?” he asked.
“Much better, thank you,” she said. “But…”
“Good,” he interrupted. “I was scared there for a while…Dr. Schlumper was very concerned. I had to order him to sleep several times…”
“Captain,” Spoonette said firmly. “Would you please get to your point?”
Linkara looked mildly surprised. “My point was to see how you’re doing,” he said.
“But…”
“I already told Schlumper-I’m not angry and there’s nothing I could do to you if I was.” Linkara looked serious. “Besides, the entire Space Corps has been reduced to a grand total of fifteen men, only nine of whom are even capable of walking at the moment, so I can’t really afford to discharge my smartest soldier.”
Spoonette blushed. “I’m not that smart,” she muttered. “Everything I know came from my brother and Linksano.”
“Everything everyone knows came from someone else,” Linkara said. “But you can apply that knowledge. Maybe your plans are a bit insane, but they usually work because you’re willing to try them.” He stood up and went to the window, looking out at the vastness of space. “Lord Vyce survived the rock fall,” he continued. “He’s the one who shot you and I have no doubt he has a spare ship with soldiers to pick him up. You slowed him down, certainly, but he will reach Earth. We don’t have the resources to stop him out here, but once we get back, the Air Force can back us up. Even with them, we’re going to need all the help we can get.” He turned back to Spoonette. “So…do you want to save the world with me?”
Spoonette stared at him. “Of course I do,” she said.
Linkara smiled. “Then that’s all I need.”
Just then, there was a knock on the door and Pollo came in. “Sir, we have reached Earth’s orbit and have received orders from Washington.”
“What did they say?” Linkara asked warily.
“They said that in light of the death of Admiral Finevoice, you have been promoted to take his place.”
Linkara blinked. “What?”
“You have been promoted to Admiral,” Pollo repeated.
Linkara looked shocked. “But…I don’t…”
“Yes you do,” Spoonette said. “You held up well against the odds…and you stood up to Vyce when you knew he would kill you. You came after me when I went down, even though it was a stupid and dangerous thing to do. And let me ask you this. When you ordered Linksano to get some sleep, who sat up to make sure I would live through the night, even though his job was to be elsewhere?”
Linkara blushed. “The doctors were all busy,” he muttered.
“I know,” Spoonette said. “But that doesn’t change the fact that you will make an admirable Admiral.”
Linkara stared at her for a moment, his mouth twitching. “Did you just make that entire speech just for that pun?” he asked.
Spoonette smirked at him. “Maybe,” she admitted. “But it’s still true!”
“I concur,” Pollo said. “You have shown remarkable courage, compassion, and honor in your leadership.”
Linkara smiled softly. “Thank you.”
“The order also asked you to appoint a new captain,” Pollo said. “Even with nine soldiers, the chain of command must be maintained.”
Linkara nodded. “I’ve already done so,” he said. “Tell them that I have named Eleanor Antwiler Captain of Comicron-One.”
Spoonette blinked. “What?”
“You heard me,” Linkara said. “If I’m anywhere near as brave and honorable as you say, you’re fifty times above that. By all rights, you should be the Admiral, but I’m not going to argue with Washington.”
“But…I just got out of bed,” she protested. “I can only stand up for about ten minutes, I can barely get a full breath because these bandages are still incredibly tight, and I have not been cleared to return to active duty.”
“Being captain doesn’t require you to do anything but give orders for now,” Linkara said. “I’m not expecting another battle for a few weeks at the soonest anyway.”
She was quiet for a moment. “All right,” she said. “Thank you, Admiral Lovhaug.”
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Author:
butterflyslinky
Pairing(s): Eventual Linkara/Spoonette; Spoony/80s Chick; one-sided Linksano/Spoonette
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 17,778
Warning(s): Violence, off-screen character death
Summary: Having been rejected as an actress and with nothing left to lose, Spoonette takes her brother’s place in the US Space Corps to fight off the coming threat of Lord Vyce. Now, she has to deal with army drills, her high school stalker with the ability to hack the Pentagon, and a captain who is both way hot and way annoying. Bogus.
Author’s Note: Inspired by this prompt, though I don’t really know if it qualifies as a fill for it. Special thanks to pompoko and
ladydiskette for beta-ing, and of course
trulyamindlost,
robynred, and
lizynob for their lovely bonus content
Linkara set his lieutenant down on a sickbay cot. The room was practically full, the doctors running around, so Linkara didn’t wait. He knew enough to treat a laser wound temporarily.
But before he could start, Dr. Schlumper from engineering came dashing into the room. “Captain!” he called.
“With you in a moment!” Linkara said.
“No!” Dr. Schlumper said. “I mean I have medical training and am familiar with Lieutenant Antwiler’s medical history!”
Linkara blinked. “Oh,” he said. “Right…you two are friends.”
“Well…sort of,” the doctor said. “But the point is, I can take over here and you can go back up and speak to the men.”
“Dr. Schlumper, I am willing to turn Lieutenant Antwiler over to your care,” Linkara said. “But seeing as he just destroyed most of Vyce’s army and saved my life down there, I feel that I owe it to him to stay here until I’m sure he’ll make it.”
Schlumper took a deep breath. “With all due respect, Captain,” he said. “I think Lieutenant Antwiler is going to feel violated enough with just me here and she wouldn’t like it if you were watching.”
Linkara blinked at the pronoun. “What?”
“This is not Noah Antwiler,” Schlumper admitted. “This is his sister…look, I’ll explain later, but right now, she needs help!”
Linkara stood still for a moment. “Do what you can,” he finally said, and then he left the room.
He walked back to his private quarters, his mind reeling. How had he possibly missed something so basic for months?
She is an actress, his brain reminded him. She told you so herself.
But to keep it up for months…Nimue should have informed him…
“Nimue,” Linkara called once he was alone. “Request records on Lieutenant Antwiler.”
There was a moment and then the records were on his monitor.
Eleanor Abigail Antwiler, female, age 26…Last updated 8/14/2108.
Schlumper. He must have gone through and corrected the files to keep her out of trouble. And since Linkara couldn’t possibly track all the updates for every man in the unit, no one could possibly prove that she was never supposed to be here.
“Nimue, why didn’t tell me she was a woman?” Linkara asked.
“Information. This unit respects the privacy of the soldiers and does not make assumptions about their gender identities.”
Linkara sighed. He wanted to be angry, but the girl had won a practically impossible battle almost single-handed and nearly given her life doing it. Recklessness aside, Linkara couldn’t bring himself to be upset about it.
“Thank you,” he said. “Set a course back to Earth. We’re going to need reinforcements and planning time.”
*
It still hurt, but the pain was duller now, more distant, not shooting through every part of her.
She managed to open her eyes, though she couldn’t see much. But she could see a dark figure beside her.
“Linkara?” she whispered.
There was silence, but then a familiar voice. “No,” Linksano said. “I had him leave before I operated…I didn’t think he should see when I cut your binder off…sorry about that, but the shot had already pretty much destroyed it.”
It took a minute for his words to register. She was vaguely aware that she should feel embarrassed that Oscar Schlumper had finally achieved his life-long goal of getting her shirt off, but somehow, that didn’t seem important. “Does he know?” she asked.
“I’m so sorry,” Linksano said. “But I had to tell him…I explained as well as I could…and he asked me to tell you that he’s not angry.”
Spoonette nodded. “That’s…good?”
“It means you won’t be punished, anyway.” He paused. “Not that you could have been since I took the liberty of updating the records…all of them, without any sign that they were ever changed.”
Spoonette smiled. “Thanks, Schlumper.”
“Go back to sleep,” he said. “I’ve got you on pretty heavy pain killers right now, but we’re going to run out soon and you need your strength.”
She nodded, closed her eyes, and was immediately asleep again.
*
The next few days were spent drifting in and out of consciousness, alternating between pain and oblivion. There were several days when she would wake up screaming, begging Linksano to end it and let her die, to end the pain. He always refused and just gave her more morphine.
But as time went on, the pain lessened, and finally a day came when she was both fully coherent and able to move a bit. At least, enough to sit up. That was when she was able to see well enough to notice how exhausted Linksano looked.
“When was the last time you slept?” she asked.
“Hmm?” he said absently. “Oh…let me think…whenever Linkara last came in and ordered me to.”
Spoonette sighed. “Go to bed, Oscar,” she said gently. “I’ll be okay.”
“I’m all right,” he said. “I need to record this…you’re very lucky, you know. Another inch higher and you would have been finished…hell, you probably only made it because that chest binder was made to absorb hits. Between that and the standard-issue armor, you were better protected than anyone else in the unit.”
She blushed, finally conscious enough to realize that she still wore only clean bandages around her chest. Not that Linksano seemed to care, being too busy taking her pulse and blood pressure.
“I was afraid you wouldn’t make it,” Linksano continued. “You had two broken ribs and a very nasty second degree burn on your chest, and for a while I thought your right lung had collapsed, but I was very luckily wrong. You should be able to get up in a few days, though I would recommend not doing anything strenuous for a few weeks if you can avoid it.”
Spoonette nodded. “And then what’s going to happen to me?”
Linksano looked confused. “Um…honorable discharge with a bunch of shiny medals and a nice pension? Seeing as you just saved the world and all.”
“But…I lied to the military! I stole Spoony’s identity…endangered myself and my captain…”
“I told you,” Linksano said. “I switched all your records. Even if Linkara was angry with you, which he isn’t, he has no proof that there was ever a switch…and he’s not going to court-marshal you for winning his war for him.”
“So…that’s it?” Spoonette said. “I’ll just take a Purple Heart and go home?”
“I think you’ll get a bit more than that,” Linksano said. “But yes…essentially.”
Spoonette sighed. “Okay,” she muttered.
*
A few days later, Spoonette was discharged from the medical ward. She was glad enough for that, and even more gratified when no one seemed to treat her any differently than before. When she asked her unit if they cared, 90s Kid looked very confused. “Why would we care?” he asked. “You’re awesome, dudette!” The rest of the men concurred and Spoonette laughed, even though it hurt, and she felt slightly better.
But her relief was short-lived as only a few hours later, Nimue called over the intercom, “Lieutenant Antwiler, please report to the captain’s office. Lieutenant Antwiler, to the captain’s office.”
The men looked at her, but she shook her head. “I’ll be okay,” she said as she stood and walked down the hall. She took as deep a breath as she could as she reached the office and knocked on the door.
“Come in,” Linkara called.
She entered and stood at attention, the months of drills still in her head. “You wanted to see me, sir?”
He looked at her for a solid minute before he spoke. “Sit down, Lieutenant.”
She did so, feeling even more nervous. “Captain…”
He waved his hand. “How are you feeling?” he asked.
“Much better, thank you,” she said. “But…”
“Good,” he interrupted. “I was scared there for a while…Dr. Schlumper was very concerned. I had to order him to sleep several times…”
“Captain,” Spoonette said firmly. “Would you please get to your point?”
Linkara looked mildly surprised. “My point was to see how you’re doing,” he said.
“But…”
“I already told Schlumper-I’m not angry and there’s nothing I could do to you if I was.” Linkara looked serious. “Besides, the entire Space Corps has been reduced to a grand total of fifteen men, only nine of whom are even capable of walking at the moment, so I can’t really afford to discharge my smartest soldier.”
Spoonette blushed. “I’m not that smart,” she muttered. “Everything I know came from my brother and Linksano.”
“Everything everyone knows came from someone else,” Linkara said. “But you can apply that knowledge. Maybe your plans are a bit insane, but they usually work because you’re willing to try them.” He stood up and went to the window, looking out at the vastness of space. “Lord Vyce survived the rock fall,” he continued. “He’s the one who shot you and I have no doubt he has a spare ship with soldiers to pick him up. You slowed him down, certainly, but he will reach Earth. We don’t have the resources to stop him out here, but once we get back, the Air Force can back us up. Even with them, we’re going to need all the help we can get.” He turned back to Spoonette. “So…do you want to save the world with me?”
Spoonette stared at him. “Of course I do,” she said.
Linkara smiled. “Then that’s all I need.”
Just then, there was a knock on the door and Pollo came in. “Sir, we have reached Earth’s orbit and have received orders from Washington.”
“What did they say?” Linkara asked warily.
“They said that in light of the death of Admiral Finevoice, you have been promoted to take his place.”
Linkara blinked. “What?”
“You have been promoted to Admiral,” Pollo repeated.
Linkara looked shocked. “But…I don’t…”
“Yes you do,” Spoonette said. “You held up well against the odds…and you stood up to Vyce when you knew he would kill you. You came after me when I went down, even though it was a stupid and dangerous thing to do. And let me ask you this. When you ordered Linksano to get some sleep, who sat up to make sure I would live through the night, even though his job was to be elsewhere?”
Linkara blushed. “The doctors were all busy,” he muttered.
“I know,” Spoonette said. “But that doesn’t change the fact that you will make an admirable Admiral.”
Linkara stared at her for a moment, his mouth twitching. “Did you just make that entire speech just for that pun?” he asked.
Spoonette smirked at him. “Maybe,” she admitted. “But it’s still true!”
“I concur,” Pollo said. “You have shown remarkable courage, compassion, and honor in your leadership.”
Linkara smiled softly. “Thank you.”
“The order also asked you to appoint a new captain,” Pollo said. “Even with nine soldiers, the chain of command must be maintained.”
Linkara nodded. “I’ve already done so,” he said. “Tell them that I have named Eleanor Antwiler Captain of Comicron-One.”
Spoonette blinked. “What?”
“You heard me,” Linkara said. “If I’m anywhere near as brave and honorable as you say, you’re fifty times above that. By all rights, you should be the Admiral, but I’m not going to argue with Washington.”
“But…I just got out of bed,” she protested. “I can only stand up for about ten minutes, I can barely get a full breath because these bandages are still incredibly tight, and I have not been cleared to return to active duty.”
“Being captain doesn’t require you to do anything but give orders for now,” Linkara said. “I’m not expecting another battle for a few weeks at the soonest anyway.”
She was quiet for a moment. “All right,” she said. “Thank you, Admiral Lovhaug.”
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