“Very nice, very nice,” Fiona said, after Gemma had reiterated much of what she’d already told Kevin.

Nelllie sat on the floor, enamored with the block set, happy to focus on her new toy.

Fiona’s expression grew serious, “We’ve got a job offer for you.”

“A job?” Gemma tilted her head, “I thought that the Frillish government wants us Lost to be independent.” This must have been what Kevin had been hinting too. Whatever Fiona was going to offer her, Kevin wanted her to have no part of. And Kevin wanted this to the point that he had bended the rules, to give Gemma something else to focus on. Gemma was intrigued.

“They do,” Fiona said, “This is not a regular job.”

“Okay,” Gemma said, “Go on.”

“We know you want to go home. Pretty much all of you do,” Fiona pursed her lips, “Skyler’s weird like that too, wanting to stay here. Anyway, think about it for a second, really think. If you were able to go home, what would that mean for everyone?”

Fiona stared into Gemma’s eyes for a few seconds.

Gemma thought about it. First, there was the relief accompanied by the sense of lightness. The chains of heavy responsibility no longer encircled her. But Fiona knew this already—she was hinting to something more meaningful.

“Well, interdimensional travel would be possible, which means lines of communication would open between many planets and worlds,” Gemma said.

Fiona made a sound between a snort and a laugh, “Communication? Naive.”

Gemma reigned back her annoyance at Fiona’s tone and choice of words. Before she could continue thinking on the matter, Fiona began talking.

“There wouldn’t be ‘communication’,” Fiona waved her hand, “as you so gently put it. There would be war. And it wouldn’t be wars that ended with the sad survivors crawling home. There would be entire planets destroyed, dimension turned to toxic sludge, peoples enslaved to those more magically or scientifically able.

“On a scale that large, with so many different cultures and people and strengths and weaknesses, there will always be a conflict of interest somewhere, and someone who refuses to go about solving that conflict in a polite manner. Those scales would be crooked from the start.”

Stolen story; please report.

“That’s a negative outlook,” Gemma said, a bit taken aback by Fiona’s passion on the subject.

“That’s a realistic outlook, and maybe even a bit tame, considering some of the powers that we’ve seen hints of.”

“That’s why you suppress any efforts of Lost to return home?”

“We’re not that worried about you figuring out a way to get to your dimensions. That part isn't really an issue. Because no matter how much power a Lost gathers— and Lost typically do gather a good amount of power, it wouldn’t be enough. The resources that achieving interdimensional takes requires an entire nation’s backing, and years and years of work. And that’s why we need you.”

“For what?”

“Our neighbor, Gosidonia, is that nation. They have those resources and the time and the guts to go through with this all. They keep their project under wraps, but we both know what they’re up to. And we can’t let them achieve interdimensional travel, ever. We want to recruit you to help stop them.”

“What could I do?” Gemma felt sick about everything Fiona was telling her.

“You’re the perfect candidate for this. You have the motivation to return home, and, as a Lost, the potential for an extremely powerful and versatile Skill set. The Gosidinians would snap you right up into their ranks.”

“Won’t this be dangerous? I have to take care of Nellie, no matter what.” Nellie glanced up for a second when she heard her name, then went back to her blocks when Gemma made no move towards her.

“There might be some risk involved. But would you want your home planet to be leveled by magic’s might or a world that doesn’t have reservations on using nuclear weapons?”

“No,” Gemma swallowed, “but that doesn’t mean I have to agree to this cause.”

“You don’t,” Fiona said.

Gemma’s thoughts ricocheted. What Fiona was telling her, what Fiona was proposing. There was a middle ground. Gemma didn’t have to do one or the other.

Gemma understood what Fiona said about interdimensional war. A certain sci fi series on Earth centered on that kind of story. War and death and horror was the last thing Gemma wanted.

Maybe...maybe Gemma could go along with the Frillish point of view, while still doing what she felt was best.

She would trick both sides, seduce them both into thinking her their greatest asset.

And then she would figure out a way to go home and also bar the way behind her.

“I’ll...I’ll do it.”

Fiona smiled, her grin wolfish.

“Perfect.”

----------------------------------------

Elsewhere, during a conversation about what had occurred, Kevin sighed. Gemma had made her choice, and how he wished she had chosen differently.