Val yawns as she sits back down at her work station. She had a hard time sleeping and eventually just got out of bed and decided to get a head start on work. She picks up her tools and gets right to work. 

She isn't sure how long she's been working. She's so focused on what she's doing the rest of the world melts away. 

Apollo is also up early. He wanders the halls of the ship, deep in thought. He's nearly startled from his thoughts when he notices his niece hunched over her work station. Blinking out of the daze he was in he steps into the room. Her lack of acknowledgement to his presence shows just how focused she is. Checking his watch to confirm the time he sighs. Not wanting to startle her too much, he makes his way over to her. She jumps slightly when he places a gentle hand on her shoulder. 

"You're up early." 

She shrugs. "So are you." 

The medic fights the urge to roll his eyes at her response. "Couldn't sleep?" She doesn't answer. Apollo sighs and takes the seat next to her. "Need any help?" She only shrugs. "How about some company?" 

"Seeing as I know there's no getting rid of you," Valkyrie states, annoyance lacing her voice, "you can stay. Just please be quiet." 

Apollo grins at her. He pretends to pull a zipper across his mouth and lock it. Val rolls her eyes at him and returns her attention to her work. 

They have a comfortable silent few hours. It is only broken when a yawn draws their attention to the door. They both look up to see Alex entering the room. The man pauses in his movements when he realizes he isn't the only occupant. "Morning." They both just stare at him for a moment. Apollo can't seem to decide if the scenario is awkward or amusing. Alex clears his throat. "What are you doing up so early?" 

"Couldn't sleep," Apollo states plainly. "And you?" 

Alex struggles to come up with a decent answer. "I always get up this early." 

Apollo snorts. "Liar. You would sleep in every day in college is you didn't have morning classes." 

Alex sighs. He knows he can't get anything past. Apollo. "It's nothing. Really." He tries to insist. 

Apollo narrows his eyes at his friend. "It's okay to admit." Alex does his best to look as though he doesn't know what his friend is referring to. "You couldn't sleep either. Could you?" 

Alex sighs in relief. Nodding his head he answers with a bit of a chuckle. "You got me." They fall into a comfortable silence. Alex watches his daughter continue to tinker with the small device in front of her. he isn't entirely sure what exactly she's doing but he knows she does and it very good at this type of work. He wants to ask about what she's doing and when it will be done. But he doesn't want it to sound like he's pressuring her. he struggles for a minute, thinking on how to word it. "How's it coming along?" 

Val glances up at her father. "Don't worry, you should have them by this afternoon." 

Alex looks at her a little affronted, startled by her blunt answer. Apparently he wasn't as subtle as he was hoping. He tries to cover up his surprise and cover his obvious blunder. "That's not what I meant. I'm sorry." 

Val rolls her eyes but otherwise ignores him. He would get this done a lot sooner if they stopped interrupting her. She makes it a point to ignore them while she continues working. Alex and Apollo chat among themselves as he works. 

After another hour or so she sighs and sits back in her seat. "Alright. First one is done." 

This gets the attention of the other two in the room. "Really?" Alex asks. 

Val nods. "Now I have to work on the other one." 

"Wait," Alex grabs her attention. "Aren't you going to explain it to me?" 

She rolls her eyes. "You're smart. Figure it out. I have to get working on the other one." She huffs and shoves him away. 

Apollo chuckles and others his brother-in-law from the room. They head outside and together start trying to work out how everything works. They take turns pushing buttons and watching the screen. 

"She couldn't make it user friendly?" Alex complains. 

Apollo sighs at the other man's impatience. "I'm sure she did. But you're too frustrated to try to figure it out." 

Alex huffs and shoves the device into the medic's hands. "You figure it out then." 

Rolling his eyes Apollo starts to fiddle with the device. He takes note of what happens with every button he pushes. he's not sure how long he's been working on it when he gets interrupted. 

Meg and Artemis step out of the ship with two plates each. They approach the two men and hand them each a plate. "What's that?" meg inquires, glancing at the device in Apollo's hands. 

Val's environment scanner thing she's been working on." 

Meg nods in understanding. "Okay. What're you doing with it?" 

"We're trying to figure it out." 

The girls looks between the two men for a moment. "She didn't explain it to you?" Meg asks. They shake their heads. She sighs. "Alright. I'll help. After we eat." 

They agree and all of the adults sit and eat together. Meg finishes first and immediately grabs the device from Apollo. She starts working with it, doing her best to figure out all of its mysteries. Apollo finishes eating shortly after her and they begin to work on it together. Artemis and Alex take their time. Watching the other two work together. The couple exchange a few looks and smiles. The sight infant of them bringing much needed levity to their situation. 

"Do you think they can do this without fighting?" Alex whispers to his wife. 

Artemis grins. "They are so far." 

"They don't even realize how well they work together." 

Artemis doesn't take her eyes off the other two adults. "Maybe." She has a sneaking suspicion that they do actually know just how good of a team they are. They will just never admit it to themselves or each other. The more she watches them, the more she is convinced they are perfect for each other. If only they would see that themselves. "Let's leave them to figure this out." She gently takes her husband's hand and tugs him back into the ship with her. 

Meg and Apollo continue to explore the new device. With very little bickering. "Try this," Meg suggests. She pushes a button and turns a dial then an image appears on the screen. 

Apollo nods and tries a different button. The image on the screen changes. They continue like this for several minutes. Occasionally on lets out a victorious shout or makes a suggestion. 

After several minutes they stop. "I think we got it all." Meg states. Apollo nods in agreement. Sighing, Apollo slouches. Meg senses his tiredness and nods in agreement. She stands. "Come on," she gently kicks his leg. "Let's go. Can't sit here all day." 

Apollo groans but gets up. "You know you're kinds mean." 

Meg laughs. "We've known each other how long and you're just figuring that our?" 

Apollo rolls his eyes, not enjoying her humor at the moment. "Yeah, yeah." He scrambles forwards a few paces when she takes another playful swing at his legs. "Hey!" 

"Get moving slow poke." 

Apollo looks at her in mock hurt. "Slow poke? We'll see who's slow." He shoves her and sprints for the ship. 

Meg cackles and takes off after him. Just like old times. 

Artemis turns from the window she had been watching them from. "Looks like they figured it out. And they're both still in one pieces." 

"That's good. Right?" Alex responds. he's seated at his deck in their room, reading. He glances up from his book to see a small smile on his wife's face. 

Artemis nods. "It looks like they're getting along." 

Alex snorts, trying not to laugh at her statement. "Right. And there's pigs flying outside the window. Maybe hell's experiencing a cold snap." 

Artemis rolls her eyes at his sarcasm. "I'm being serious." 

There is a beat of silence he takes in her words. "You're being serious?" She doesn't answer. She doesn't have to. He can read the answer on her face. "Wow. I never thought I'd see the day." 

Artemis shakes her head. "None of us did. This is good, right? This is a good thing." 

Alex sighs. "If it's true? yeah, it's good. After all we all need to be able to work together. Especially right now." He takes a deep breath before letting it out slow. "I've heard that stressful situation can bring people together. But I thought the world would end before those two got along." 

Artemis laughs at his words. 'Yeah. I guess you're right and we shouldn't get our hopes up. Besides, there's a good chance this is just a fluke." She lets out a sad sigh. "I guess we should get back to work. We can't just sit here all day." 

Alex smiles at her fondly. "You're right." The noises of Meg chasing Apollo through the ship echo down the hall. "I think reality is knocking." 

Artemis groans playfully. "Ugh. Tell reality to go away. I'm not ready for it yet." 

Alex chuckles. "Sorry, Missy. I don't think it works like that." 

Artemis huffs. "Fine." 

Alex chuckles and follows her out of the room. They follow the noise of the others down the hall and back into the main room. After seeing Meg and Apollo continuing to childishly chase each other around the room the couple decides to ignore them and instead turn their attention to their daughter. 

"How's it coming?" 

Val sighs in annoyance. "It's fine. Working on this one is easier. I already know what I'm doing." 

"But?" 

"But," she grits out, "it's a little hard to concentrate with them running around." 

Alex tries to hide his amusement at the situation. "Hey Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, why don't you take it somewhere else?" He calls to the two adults running around the room. 

They suddenly stop their childish chasing and look at him. "Did you just fall us-" Meg starts but Apollo cuts her off. "He did." Meg looks at Apollo. "Okay. Just checking." She turns her attention back to Alex. "Who's Dee and who's Dum?" 

Alex chuckles and walks out of the room. He knows he has done enough to get them to leave on their own. And he's right. The two chase after him, bickering. He's not quite sure how they got here, but quite frankly he doesn't care. As long as they aren't arguing. At least not with each other. 

Artemis watches the others leave and quickly moves to sit by her daughter. "How are you doing?" 

"I'm working," Val answers bluntly, not even bothering to look up at her mother. 

Artemis sighs. "That's not what I asked. How are you managing with all this?" 

Val shrugs. "I'm alright. We'll get back eventually, so does it really matter what happens until then?" 

Artemis furrows her brow at her daughter's words. On the one hand, it's amazing how well she is handling this. But on the other, it's a little concerning just how well the teen is taking all this in stride. It doesn't mean natural. Artemis worries it will all hit her later. 

They sit in a comfortable silence w while. Artemis is just content to keep Valkyrie company. And Val is focused on her wok. Artemis is pulled from her drifting thoughts when he hears her daughter sigh. She looks at the teen, concern furrowing her brows. 

"Do you wonder what's going on back home?" Val mutters so quietly Artemis almost doesn't catch it. 

Artemis smiles sadly. "Sometimes. Do you?" 

Val nods. "Do you think uncle Jack has noticed we're gone? That we didn't come back on schedule?" 

Artemis sighs. Thinking on the teens words carefully. Uncle Jack isn't actually her uncle. He's really an older family friend, or rather mentor. He was a huge mentor and supporter of their little crew's ambitions in college and after they graduated and actually started building the ship and taking the trips. He was like a fun uncle to the whole group, and her daughter. So they started calling him Uncle Jack after Valkyrie was born. They always told him about their trips and when to expect them back. So it is almost certain he has figured out something went wrong. He's probably worried sick about them. And completely unable to do anything about it. 

"Yeah. I think he knows something is up. We just have to do everything we can to get back to him." Val simply nods in reply before a smile creeps across her face. "We should bring him back a souvenir. I bet it'll make him a little less mad when we get back." 

Artemis laughs. "Yeah. We should bring him back something. I bet he'd like that. What should we bring back for him?" 

Val's grin only grows. "Maybe a point. Or a pet." 

Artemis' laugh grows and echoes around the room. "Oh he's hate that! It's brilliant." 

Val nods. "He always says he works better with fossils than living things." 

Artemis nods. "I'll talk to your father. We'll definitely bring something back for him." Artemis stands. She gives her daughter a gentle kiss on there temple before leaving the room to find her husband.