Other People's Sandboxes

Fandom: Babylon 5/NCIS crossover
Characters: Marcus & Abby
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"Can I-"

"No."

"But what if I-"

"No."

"Why not-"

"No."

"B-"

"No."

"Maaaarrrrrcuussssss," Abby whined and pouted so cutely that Marcus had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling. Then her lower lip began to wobble, and he felt his resolve crumble.

"Look," he said, giving in a little, "it's not that I doubt your ability to learn the controls. I'm sure you'd make a superb pilot with the proper training. But now isn't exactly the best time!" He paused and maneuvered their Mimbari Flyer a little lower into the atmosphere. A quick glance at one display told him that the Earth Alliance vessel was still on their tail.

"And beside," he continued, "it's blastedly hard to fly this thing without learning all three of the Mimbari languages."

"I guess," Abby replied, sounded defeated. Then she sighed. "I just hate feeling so useless."

A quick glance over at his companion told Marcus that she was fighting off tears by stubbornness alone, and he risked taking his hands off the controls to give her a quick hug. The girl had borne up remarkably well under all the pressure, but he could see she was nearing the ends of her reserves.

"You're not useless, Abs. Without you, we would be flying around completely blind. Now we at least have a fighting chance."

"Oh!" she exclaimed with a catch in her voice. "You called me 'Abs'. I didn't think anyone but G-Gibbs would call me that."

"We'll find him," he promised, patting her hand, "we'll get him back."