#CONFRONT is gonna get spicy INTERROGATE is gonna be tense and ASK is a little taste of both but also more fluff

[kisskissbanggang]

Jumpspace Renegade - ep. 4 ✨🚀

[3k words, 11 min. read - Stray Kids Multi Fic, Scifi!au, Choose Your Own Adventure - SFW/Smut in Later Chapters - Meeting the Gang, Touring the Ship, Shady Happenings, Petty Theft, Cybernetically Enhanced Anatomy, Different Levels of Asshole, Always Check the Tags]

[Episodes on Fridays 7pm pst, Polling closes Saturdays 7pm pst]

[Series Masterlist | Come Say Hi!]

Jisung looked on expectantly, in a way that was woefully and admittedly a little cute.

But still.

“I hate to admit it,” you lightly sighed with a shrug, “but it’s been a crazy day for me. I think I’d love to have a minute to recoup.”

The pilot nodded with enthusiasm.

“... By myself,” you clarified.

“Oh!” Jisung caught on. “Got it. Of course.”

“Glad you get it,” Changbin chuckled with a roll of his eyes. His toolbag in one hand, he gently patted your shoulder with the other to get you turned around so you could follow him. “Come on, love, let’s get you situated.”

“Want me to come along?” Jisung brightly offered.

Changbin waved him off before herding you back to the spiral staircase at the back of the bridge. “Fly the ship, bright eyes.”

“We’re on auto-nav–!” you heard Jisung whine as you left him behind. Changbin simply shook his head, stifling a laugh while he led you down the stairs.

“Don't mind Jisung,” the mechanic assured you. “He doesn't get out much and we don't meet a lot of people, as I'm sure you could've guessed.”

“Good pilot, though?” you asked. It was good to get a feel for any resources available to you, after all. 

Changbin nodded heartily. “The best, seriously. He’s been flying since before he could walk. I think he was in the courier business before joining us? He even helped Chan pick out the ship.”

You were led through the modest galley again and back past the stairs down the cargo hold. “So it’s a good ship? The Ambler, right?”

“She fares better than you’d expect.” Changbin affectionately patted a support beam. You spied his own prison mark, just like yours but a royal purple hue. “Jisung managed to roll this beast of burden last time we really had to get out of dodge, and somehow all of us were fine, the Ambler included.”

Changbin pointed down the stairway. 

“So Hyunjin’s room is down in the hold, behind the stairs. Jeongin’s bunk is there, too. Jisung is just off the galley here.”  With that, he pointed to an entryway tucked into the maintenance access  you'd paused in front of. You almost wondered if there was a gym on board, catching yourself staring at Changbin’s biceps straining the seams on his t-shirt sleeves.

“Changbin,” called a voice from behind you. There was Jeongin, the one that still had a soft expression despite his angular features, standing at the top of the stairs to the cargo hold. “I’m all done pulling out the barter goods.”

“Cool,” Changbin nodded. He gestured upstairs. “Can you check for any updates from Fed Patrol up on the bridge? You know Jisung forgets.”

Jeongin nodded and shot you a quick smile with a wave before leaving back the way you came from. Here in the maintenance access, all manner of control boxes and panels lined the walls in the open room. In front of you both was another sealed hatch door. 

“And Jeongin is a good cabin boy, if you were wondering,” Changbin chuckled while he pulled up the latch bar on the door, the vacuum seal letting out a little exhale. “Alright. This is the workshop! Felix should be around here still.”

Once again, you'd been fooled by the scale of the ship from the outside. This was actually an incredibly decent sized garage. One speedster bike and one four-wheeler were parked in their bays… And so was one boat. 

Embarrassingly, you'd never seen a boat in person. It never even really occurred to you that you might see all sorts of things you never had before on this impromptu trip. The craft was somewhat small, sleek, compact, probably enough to haul the crew and not much else. 

“Like it?” Changbin asked, catching you focusing on it. 

You nodded dumbly. “Sure! I mean, yeah. For the first boat I've ever been this close to.”

Changbin paused after he stowed his tools in the workbench on the wall. “Seriously. You've never been near a boat?”

There was really no use being defensive, you tried to remind yourself. “Nope,” you laughed. “You'd love what all I haven't seen. Your man Minho down in the hold told me I reminded him of a little bird. I didn't have the heart to tell him.”

“Birds? You've never seen birds?!” cackled a voice in the boat, making you both jump. Hyunjin sat up from where he’d apparently been stooped over, brushing his fingers back through his blonde hair. Unlike you and Changbin, Hyunjin had multiple prison and jail brands on his arm. You helplessly shrugged. “Well then,” he continued, “you’ll love it when we stop at the Hatchery. Birds, boats, all sorts of stuff.”

Changbin blinked at Hyunjin in confusion. “We’re detouring to the Hatchery?”

Now Hyunjin looked confused. “Yeah…? Remember Seungmin took that gig doing the charts for that fishing company? He's done early and they want the hard copies. It’s not that bad of a detour, considering the payday.”

“Right, no, I know that,” Changbin argued from where he still was at the workbench. “I just don't know when we decided this–”

Hyunjin held up his hands in innocence. “Hey, you didn't hear it from me.”

“What're you even doing in there?” you finally asked. 

“Oh!” Hyunjin excitedly pivoted to hold up a small bag. “I’ve been looking for these foreign credits for ages and just remembered I had them in here for bartering last time we used the boat.”

You and Changbin watched Hyunjin casually hopped out. 

“Keep an eye out for Jisung, by the way,” he warned over his shoulder on the way out. “I thought I heard him rustling around.”

The mechanic shared sideways glances with you. Unlikely, seeing as you’d just seen Jisung on the bridge. 

But almost as if to change the subject, Changbin cracked a crooked grin. “For everything you haven't seen, I'm betting you have seen one of these.”

You nearly jumped out of your skin when Changbin pointed an electric lasso at you and fired it with a crackling pop. The thing wasn't charged, thank god, but it still startled the hell out of you. You did manage to duck out of the way nonetheless. 

Changbin nodded, impressed as he retracted the lead. He even looked proud. 

“Nice dodge.” 

“Nice shot.”

“What the hell was that?” a beleaguered voice nagged from the doorway. You both whipped around to face the blonde man standing there. He dropped the bag of junk in his hands. 

“Felix,” Changbin preemptively defended, already walking over to him. “I was just playing–”

“That's how we get hurt, you fucking maniac,” Felix laughed, exasperated. He easily pulled the lasso out of Changbin’s hands. “And you know I spent a fortune getting this with the other surplus!”

“Felix is our weapons specialist,” Changbin furtively explained to you. “He keeps us strapped at all times.”

You watched Felix literally pull back the whole workbench along with the attached wall. Behind it was another wall, this one being a rack with an impressive selection of gadgets, all ranging in different degrees of lethality. Felix flipped open a compartment and stowed the lasso before sliding the false wall and workbench back into place. Even more curiously, Felix had no prison branding… But he did have a Federation Marine mark. 

The small, blacked out barcode was difficult to make out on Felix’s neck, being covered with a far more noticeable tattoo of a tiger lily on top of it – but it was unmistakable. 

Felix turned to acknowledge you now, almost like he caught you inspecting him. “Nova,” he warmly grinned, “let’s show you your room, dude.”

You were a little relieved, to be honest. Felix strolled back over and patted a friendly hand on your shoulder to herd you in the direction of your bunk. 

“Don’t worry about Chan,” he casually assured you. He paused when you looked confused. 

“Did I seem like I am?” you asked. “I haven't seen him since you were all dealing with the port authority.”

Now you were both confused. Felix stroked his chin. “Oh. I thought I saw him recently so I assumed you ran into him. I was at least going to tell you he just generally looks annoyed; it's almost never one person's fault.”

“I appreciate that,” you giggled, “but you must like him a lot to be so readily defensive.”

Felix's cheeks rouged, shading his cute spray of freckles. You were amused to imagine this guy was the crew’s sharpshooter. “Chan’s great,” he downplayed with a dismissive shrug. “Great captain and a great guy. I’m betting we all owe him a favor, at least I know that’s how Changbin and I ended up here.”

“No, I totally do, too,” a voice pitched in from the entryway leading to your bunk. The three of you jumped, Felix fully gasping in surprise despite trying to suck it back down. 

Jisung awkwardly waved in greeting. “Sorry,” he winced. “Just thought it was worth contributing. Nova, I brought your bag up. I saw you didn't have it on the bridge.”

“Thanks…?” you acknowledged. “How did you–”

“He probably used the service passages,” Changbin groaned. He punched Jisung in the arm, getting a whispered curse out of the pilot. “They’re between the floors, and between the walls and hull, and they’re not for playing.”

“I was just being helpful!” Jisung excused. 

“And it was!” you gratefully reassured him. 

Felix pointed to the door. “Out, Jisung. Can't you see the poor thing is exhausted? You can overwhelm her with questions about T’kaarm later.”

Jisung grinned brightly in realization. “I didn't even think about that! I’ve wondered so many things every time we’ve been there–”

Felix exaggeratedly pointed again. “OUT, JISUNG.”

“But we’ll talk later!” Jisung finally relented on his way out of the garage. “You gotta rest. Clearly! And recoup, like you said. I’ll see you later!”

You, Changbin, and Felix let out a sigh of relief when Jisung closed the door behind him. A peacefully quiet hum filled the workshop again. 

“Okay,” Felix exhaled. “Now let’s show you your room.”

You nodded thankfully, turning the corner from the entryway to a set of doors. One labeled “6” was shut, but “7” on the right was open, and Felix opened it more with a soft push of his open palm. He and Changbin let you peek in before entering ahead of them. 

Smaller than the bedroom you'd left behind, but far bigger than your cell, the immediate draw of the bunk was having your own window. Outside was simply darkness, stars, and small wisps of astral clouds. 

It took you a second to realize your mouth was hanging open. 

“I think Jisung was being strategic when we drew rooms,” Felix chuckled behind you. “He’s closest to the communal head midship. Hope you don't mind.”

“And it's easy enough to shower in private,” Changbin added. “If you're worried about that. I know I am.”

“Oh, and I'm sorry about the room. I know it's small,” Felix apologized, “and it’s not as clean as I'd like but–”

“Felix,” you interrupted. “It’s perfect. You almost did too much.”

“You really did a good job,” Changbin earnestly praised Felix, the mechanic scooping up his companion's hand in his own. “Now come on, leave her to it. You said you had cookies for me in the galley.”

Felix’s cheeks were tinted rosy again and he gave you a small smile with a wave before walking out with Changbin. You closed the door and allowed yourself a second to just sit in your room. 

Alone.

With all the space you ever wanted outside. 

You sat on the windowsill and simply watched. Most craft were already past the jumpspace checkpoint by now. If you were detouring to the Hatchery, it made sense that you were flying below the high speed corridor and not seeing any ships. It was so amazingly quiet. 

You scanned the room again, getting your bearings. How did Jisung even get in here? The small room contained a writing desk along with a modest closet built into the wall across from your bed. Sure enough, your bag laid on the simple bedspread. You slipped off the windowsill. Here, part of the question was answered. A hatch was laid into the wall right under the window, but it only said “LATERAL AND DOWN ACCESS ONLY”. If Jisung came from the bridge, wouldn't that have been up? That is, if he even came through the service passages the whole way. 

You popped open the closet. Now here was the second part of your answer. Footholds built into the wall of the storage space led up to a hatch in the closet’s ceiling. This one said “UP AND LATERAL ACCESS ONLY”. Interesting. So this led to the bridge? You turned the handle on the hatch and pushed up, following your hand as you climbed. 

It was far darker in the service passage, only lit by work lights. This was like being in the cargo hold all over again. You ducked back down into your room and, sure enough, an emergency flashlight was clipped onto the built-in nightstand by your bed. 

The ambient hum in the service passage sounded off, you thought. It wasn't just machinery and electronics. Then you noticed the hatch overhead. Your flashlight beam illuminated the label. 

“RM 1. CPT’S QTRS”

What? So Chan’s room was above yours? There must've been another access on the bridge you hadn’t noticed, because if your recollection was correct, this room was right behind it. You straightened up, just to stretch out your back. The ceiling was much shorter here. There weren't even any footholds or rungs up to the hatch; the truncated height meant they simply weren’t needed. 

The incongruent noise was easier to make out now. It wasn't just music, but maybe a livestream and maybe even a movie as well. But there was an unmistakable electric whirring of a drill up here. Almost like all the other noise was meant to drown it out. 

You could've left it alone, and should've, but curiosity got the better of you. 

The handle was as cold as the rest of the service passage when you turned it. 

You weren’t going to snoop much. You just wanted to know what the noise was, clearly. This was understandable. 

The cacophony was even louder when you opened the hatch, just enough to see. You were at floor level in the Captain’s quarters, over by the wall. This was like a stretched out version of your own room, with a much roomier bed, private head, tiny kitchenette, and a much larger desk that had been converted into a mini workbench. The lights were kept somewhat low aside from ambient hues of purple and blue. The most illumination in the space was the lamp over where Chan was currently working at the desk. This was where the whirring was coming from, and suddenly stopped. 

Chan sat up and slipped off his safety glasses to inspect his work. He was holding a cybernetic leg. Squinting at something in the piece, he picked up a screwdriver to tinker with something inside the calf. A twitch in his right hand made him pause and flex before finishing up. He pushed himself away from the desk, and this was the first time you’d noticed.

Although you weren't sure how you would've noticed otherwise. 

Dressed in a comfy pair of shorts, it was plain to see Chan only had one leg. The right leg he held in his hands seemed to be a perfect match. He slipped the top of the leg into the bottom of his shorts and settled onto it, adjusting and shifting his weight until he was bipedal again. The Captain inspected the limb, wiggling his toes and rolling his ankle around. 

While Chan fiddled with the leg, now you noticed Chan’s own blacked-out Marines barcode. 

Prison and ex-military. 

Chan turned around, right to the end of the room you were snooping from. You ducked down, letting the hatch clamp shut over you. 

You jumped back into your room and paced a little. There was clearly a lot going on in just the small world of the Ambler. But you weren’t sure where to go from here. Could you maybe even dip from the crew at the Hatchery if you liked it enough? You thought about this as you resumed enjoying the view outside. It really was gorgeous. Maybe you’d just find a cruise ship and bum around port to port. There'd be plenty of options once you got the payoff for that ring. 

A crick in your neck prompted you to massage the muscles there, when you noticed how much of a sweat you worked up just snooping in the stale service passage. You opened your bag on the bed, pawing around for a spare shirt to change into. 

When you noticed the ring was gone. 

You didn't believe it at first. The contents of your bag spilled out onto the bedspread when you emptied it out, and you meticulously pored over every single item. You checked your pockets. You checked the bag itself, and then everything again. 

It really was missing. 

You tried to run down a quick list of suspects. Changbin was with you the whole time from the moment you got to the bridge. For all you knew, Seungmin never left the bridge. Jeongin came up from the cargo bay where your bag had been left, and Hyunjin was in the garage before you got there. Felix wasn’t likely, he’d been cleaning and preparing your room and was surprised to find Jisung in there. And Jisung! Jisung brought your bag up himself. Then there was Chan, whose room was literally right above yours. And what did he say when he threw you in the brig? They had to see if there was a “pretty little price” on your head? 

And, of course, there was Minho, who would've been left with your bag the whole time until Jisung grabbed it. 

Maybe you could go directly to the source to maybe gather some clues. 

Maybe you could ask someone for more info. 

Or… Maybe you could simply and quietly confront someone.

#stray kids fanfiction #stray kids fanfic #stray kids smut #skz fanfiction #skz fanfic #SPOILERS #ALWAYS CHECK THE TAGS #we only have so much time before we reach the Hatchery just keep that in mind 👀 #CONFRONT is gonna get spicy INTERROGATE is gonna be tense and ASK is a little taste of both but also more fluff #we're not gonna solve this right away but we DO have a chance to make some headway on the mystery