Page 29 of Space Daddy’s Guide to the Galaxy (Villains in Space #2)

29

MICAH

The mind-blowing discovery we'd just stumbled upon temporarily distracted me from Ziggy’s ongoing emotional constipation.

Dr. Micah will be bringing it up at our next session.

Of course, it wasn’t news to me that the Lacertus— along with Stellarians—invaded Earth once upon a time. My eldest brother turned into an apparently ‘miniature’ version of the oversized lizards when in supe form, and we now knew where that DNA came from. If the cave painting’s timeline was to be believed, the Eki touched down on Earth before the Lacertus did, but it wasn’t clear what they had to do with the events that followed.

Were they trying to protect Earth from the others?

Or… were they the ones we needed protection from…?

“We need to get off this planet, sunshine.” Ziggy’s voice in my ear startled me from my thoughts. “I can’t?—”

There was a hint of emotion in his tone—in our bond—that I rarely witnessed from my unflappable Space Daddy.

Fear.

“Are you… okay?” I switched off my headlamp and turned to face him, unsure what had spooked my man.

“No. I’m not,” he replied, surprising me yet again with his honesty.

Since I know he’s keeping something from me…

Pedro wriggled their top half out of the baby sling and reached for their favorite space dad, but before I could intervene, Ziggy leaped away.

What…

“If the Eki can see you have a piece of me inside you…” he pointed accusingly at the cave painting with a shaking finger, “then they know what I am!”

Is… that what he’s upset about?

I suddenly felt like the biggest jerk in all the galaxies. I’d been suspecting Ziggy might be more invested in the karnilian inside Pedro than the Trol themself. Meanwhile, my ambush predator was legitimately losing his shit over whether the Eki could sniff him out.

“Zig, I need you to breathe.” I stepped closer and placed my palms on his chest, knowing it helped. “Even if the Eki are aware you’re a Stellarian, it doesn’t mean they see you as a threat.”

I hope.

“They don’t need to!” he shouted, but I held my ground, knowing it wasn’t me he was angry at. “This entire city is shielded. I can’t… I can’t star hop, Micah. Not to the surface, not even from here to the ship. I… We are trapped here!”

I had never seen Ziggy like this—not when he’d ’failed’ his mission on Earth to capture Theo, not even when his entire worldview imploded upon discovering the truth about Astrum Force Command. This wasn’t just concern over his powers being stifled. Zig was triggered and in danger of descending into a full-blown panic attack if I didn’t step in quickly.

It’s time for Commander Babygirl to take control.

“I don’t believe the Eki created the shields to keep you in,” I calmly stated, desperately wanting him to focus on the facts. “It’s probably how they protect their city in general?—”

“From Stellarians,” he interrupted, crossing his arms, apparently not too scared to stop being stubborn as fuck.

“From anyone!” I exclaimed, throwing my hands into the air. “The shields I made for Pedro are all-purpose protection.”

Although, yes, it’s effectively Stellarian-proof…

Ziggy scowled, his gaze dropping to Pedro, who chirped and stretched their little pangolin claws in his direction again. This time, Space Daddy allowed them to leap into his arms, and I smiled to see how just having the little creature close seemed to settle him.

Why did I ever think he could hurt our baby?

“Yes, the shields you're able to create—for yourself and others—are quite impressive,” Ziggy murmured, scratching behind Pedro's furry ears while they purred. “Unfortunately, everyone on this planet aside from the Trol can also create them, which means anyone could trap my tendrils at any moment if they wanted.”

“Well, I would never do that—” I began, only to snap my mouth shut.

Because I already did.

Ziggy’s gaze snapped to mine, and my heart sank to see the pain in his eyes.

Pain I put there.

“I’m sorry, Zig,” I repeated, realizing how badly I’d fucked up. “I should have told Leeloo I didn’t want to do it.”

“It’s fine, Micah,” he replied, even though it clearly wasn’t. “What’s done is done.”

Fuck, I really fucked up.

I thought back to our family video call, when Theo mentioned how horrific it was to have his tendrils trapped inside him. Dre accomplished his torture psychically—which was probably how Uulvin had accomplished it during our visit to Dionaea. Granted, Dre and Theo’s relationship had a more sado-masochistic flavor than ours, but there had been real emotion behind Theo’s words.

Because the last thing a Stellarian, or any supe, wants is to be seen as is weak.

Not being able to access their tendrils or star hop probably felt like losing a limb to a Stellarian. A more accurate comparison would be if someone took away my powers completely, leaving me unable to create or be useful—unable to protect those I cared about.

Oh.

That’s what this is about.

“Zig…” I began, wanting to soothe him without dismissing his feelings. “You are the baddest bitch around. I know you have my back, and you’d protect Pedro with everything you had—even if that was nothing but your millions of guns!”

The tiniest smile tried to make an appearance, but there was still a dullness in his eyes I didn’t know how to fix.

New tactic.

“I used to think a supe’s powers were so random, especially when you looked at someone like me or Zion.” Glancing over my shoulder, I tracked the moments in ancient history when various aliens landed on my planet before facing him again. “Now we know better with big bro, but what about me?”

I want to know the truth.

Ziggy sighed and nodded, already agreeing to my unspoken request to continue my training with Leeloo.

But that’s not what I’m getting at.

“What the Eki can do—what I have the potential to do—is so incredibly tempting to learn, but I would never choose what I want over your comfort.”

“Micah.” Ziggy’s stern Space Daddy voice had returned. “I want you to learn more about yourself, especially as your potential is limitless. This stop on our journey isn’t about me. I’m simply not… feeling like myself lately, and clearly, I’m not handling it well.”

Sweet danger baby.

I pushed up on my toes to deliver a kiss to his kissable lips. “Okay, how ‘bout this? I need to at least learn how to dissolve shields, so we can free Uulvin’s sibling from the Lacertus, right? That would also be a handy skill to have in case anyone gets the foolish idea about putting unauthorized shields around what belongs to me.”

Because you’re mine.

As usually happened when Commander Babygirl took the wheel, Zig straightened to attention like the good little soldier he was. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t give me a thrill, because it was probably the only time he’d shown deference to anyone outside of his work with Astrum Force.

Who wouldn’t want all that power at your fingertips?

“Yes.” He slowly nodded before offering me a brave smile. “You being able to dissolve another’s shields would make me feel better…”

But…

With a sharp inhale, I realized what he wasn’t saying, the reassurances he still needed from me.

To not hurt him again.

“I promise I won’t ever trap you with shields again.” I swallowed thickly, blinking back tears I hoped he couldn’t see.

“Unless you need to,” he added quietly, that awful dullness creeping into his tone again.

“I can’t imagine there ever being a reason for me to need to trap you,” I scoffed, internally chastising myself for thinking otherwise. “We both know I need my bad bitch mercenary at my back.”

Finally, a real smile lit up his handsome face, even in the dark. “I’ll always have your back, sunshine.”

Grinning wildly, I snapped a few photos of the cave paintings before taking his hand and leading him back toward Nuclei City. “I know you do, and I appreciate you compromising on this. I’m not getting nefarious vibes from Leeloo and the other Eki, but I also trust your intuition, so let’s just be vigilant—together. Keep our enemies close and all that.”

Ziggy was quiet for so long, I assumed that was the end of it, but when the city came into view at the end of the lava tube, he stopped walking and turned to face me.

“I’m honestly not sure if there are nefarious vibes, Micah. All I know is something feels off about this mission—this entire situation—but I can’t identify what is setting off my… intuition.” He dropped his gaze. “Like I said, I’m not feeling like myself lately. I’m… distracted and losing my touch?—”

“You are not losing your touch,” I lovingly scolded. “It might just be because of Pedro.”

“What?!” he hissed, glancing up at me in alarm.

Silly Space Daddy.

So opposed to emotions.

“Priorities change when kids come along, Zig,” I gently explained. “I’ve seen it with Zion and my sister Rose, and some of my older cousins. Unless you’re a total asshole like my parents, who were only interested in what their kids could do for them, it’s not surprising that your focus might be a little more fractured than usual.”

My man looked like he was going to legitimately throw up, so I backed off, taking his hand again and guiding him onward.

“C’mon, Space Daddy,” I laughed, hoping to lighten the mood. “Let’s increase my bad bitchery by a few points and then aim for the stars.”

“And if the Eki won’t let us leave?” Ziggy growled.

I shrugged, trying for nonchalance. “Then we’ll just blast our way out of here.”

Ziggy nodded. “That was my plan as well.”

Of course it was.

“See,” I teased, giving him a poke while Pedro chittered in approval. “We make a great team.”

He smiled tightly, keeping his gaze locked on the city ahead. “Yes, we do.”