Work Text:
Shelby slumped against the wall of her holding cell, hands bound in cuffs meant to prevent her from escaping. As if she could, with the laser bars keeping her in place and her hands completely encased by magic-proof metal. She glanced out the window to the stars around, watching a skiff zoom by with a sigh.
How had she gotten here, again?
Tortoise let out a croak from the sheriff's desk, trapped in a glass dome cell of his own, and Shelby glared at him.
Right. Her greedy little sidekick had seen a fly on the wall and tripped the alarm with his tongue.
Thanks for that, buddy. She thought sourly, before cracking a grin when he hopped and bumped his little head on the glass around him. Okay, she couldn't stay mad at him.
“Do I not get a phone call?” She asked, looking over to an officer swiping through his holographic newspaper. This star system really did have a gadget for everything, didn't it? Nothing like her home planet.
Oof. The thought of home made her cringe, imagining the disappointed look on her grandmother's face if she knew she'd been arrested. Her grandma was a hard-working, honest witch, one Shelby had looked up to as long as she could remember.
“...understand?” The officer's voice brought her from her thoughts.
“Uh, pardon?” She smiled timidly, and the man rolled his eyes realising she hadn't heard him.
“I said, you're allowed one call, collect if it's in another system. If no one picks up by the third click, that's it. Understand?” He repeated with crossed arms.
“Yes, sir.” Shelby nodded, and waited for the cell to be opened so the guard could unfasten her cuffs. As soon as she felt the air on her tingling fingers, she slumped in relief. It was uncomfortable having her magic restrained, traces of it dancing in the air around her as soon as she'd been temporarily freed.
“One. Call.” He reminded, passing an older model phone her way, one without a holographic screen that felt like a slab of metal in her hand until she realised it was a slab of metal.
She began slowly typing the numbers to call home, bracing herself to be chewed out by her worried grandmother and then be dragged home by the ear like a dog with its tail between its legs, her gap year of freedom cut short as she'd be forced to attend her grandmother's magic school for advanced studies when all she'd rather do is explore the worlds around her.
“Excuse me, officer? I'm afraid I need some help and I can't seem to find anyone else around.” A voice called from the doorway, thumb stilling from typing the next number as Shelby's breath caught in her throat upon looking up.
The man cleared his throat, seemingly just as bashful, and strode towards her without fully leaving Shelby’s cell. “I'm a bit busy right now, cutie. If you give me a few minutes to let this criminal make her call, I'd be happy to help.”
“But, officer…Joey,” the woman said, leaning closer to him to read from his name tag, “It's very urgent. Surely you can let this girl wait, right? Where would she even go, without a ship?” She said, casting a glance at Shelby that made her heart skip a beat.
“I suppose you're right.” He muttered before turning to face Shelby. “You. Stay right here, got it? I'll be right back, so don't even try thinking anything.”
“Of course, sir.” Shelby nodded, watching him glare at her for a moment before turning to head out the door.
The woman waited a moment before quickly walking to the man’s desk and grabbing hold of the officer's ship keys, tossing them to Shelby’s feet before scampering out the door.
Shelby blinked down at the keys, dumbstruck, before pulling them under her boot to hide them just as the officer stepped back into the room.
“Made your call yet?” He asked with a frown, giving another glance out the door before turning his attention back to the woman in the cell.
“Didn't pick up.” She lied, holding out the phone as she felt her magic thrumming beneath her skin. Just as he reached to take it back, she released a shock that carried through the phone and went straight into his arm, causing the man to yelp and jump back, startled.
Taking the opportunity, she pushed him against the wall with a gust of air and grabbed hold of Tortoise in his glass dome, stuffing her wand hurriedly into her pocket before breaking into a sprint before the guard could get back to his feet.
“Come on!” The woman from earlier called, waving her over. Shelby didn't even pause her stride, shifting direction until she was beside the taller - much taller, holy moly - woman. “Give me his keys.” She said, hand outstretched.
Shelby dropped the keys into her hand, lingering on the brief contact for less than a second before she watched the woman wind her arm back and throw them as hard as she could, landing with a puff of dust on the barren planet's surface a good distance away.
“Should take him a while to find those.” She grinned, grabbing Shelby by the wrist. “Now get in.”
Shelby didn't question where she was being led as she heard blasters powering up in the distance, guided into a pitch-black ship as she set Tortoise down and clicked a safety belt around him while the woman started up the engines.
“Hold on.” She warned, giving Shelby barely any time to grab onto Tortoise's seat before they took off at record speed away from the small planet and away from the cell Shelby had been taken to.
“Thanks.” She said once she was finally able to catch her breath, her body still adjusting to the speed the thrusters had carried the ship, the jail barely a speck on the horizon.
“Sure thing.” The woman turned in her seat to smile at her. “I'm Katherine, by the way.”
“Shelby.” The witch nodded back. “Why, uh- Why did you…?”
“Get you out?” Katherine finished, then shrugged. “You don't look like a criminal. I saw you getting taken in and you looked like someone who's never seen a cell in her life.”
“I am. Was.” Shelby admitted with a giggle.
Katherine chuckled back. “I thought so. What did you do to end up in that cell, anyway?”
“It's a long story.” Shelby said, rubbing her neck. Part of her was too embarrassed to admit the reason, or how she'd been caught to begin with.
“It'll take a while to get where I'm headed. If you want to ride with me until then, I'd be happy to hear it.” Katherine suggested, patting the seat beside her with one hand while the other stuck to steering the ship.
Shelby couldn't contain her grin, shuffling closer. “Oh, yeah, sure. That sounds great.” She nodded, sitting down and adjusting her safety belt.
“So, I guess it all started when my grandma told me I had to continue my studies at the Academy…”