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Intro: I actually started writing this one during a meeting. I didn't really have a plan for it but decided I wanted to mix fantasy creatures with a science fiction setting.

"Fire her up," Grant called. He said a prayer under his breath. He knew that this was the last chance they had. If this didn't work, he doubted he would see through the night. He didn't know of any mechanic who could have done as much as he did on this ship. If he couldn't make it work, no one could.

The engine roared to life, lifting the ship to hovering level. His spirits soured. The body jolted as the engine coughed and spluttered. The ship, with Grant on top of it, fell the fifteen-feet to the hanger floor. The magnetic boots kept his feet planted but his body weight shifted and he fell forward. It felt like his ankle joints were being pulled from their sockets.

"Sorry," Josie called. Her boots echoed on the floor as she ran out of the ship.

He pushed himself to a crouched position and blinked away the tears that had come from the shock and pain.

"Are you alright?"

Grant nodded and deactivated the magnetism. He stood and walked, stomped, to the ladder. The generators weren't large but heavy, considering it was a pair of shoes. Climbing down the ladder, even with the groove in the sole, was terrifying. Grant always breathed a sigh of relief when his feet touched the ground. His throbbing ankles threatened to buckle and he stumbled forward. Josie scuttled to his side and bolstered him up. Her wings, bound by the iron straps, vibrated with her concern.

He glanced to the corner of the hanger and lowered his voice. "The air vent. He doesn't know about it. You can get out before he comes."

"I'm not leaving you," Josie said. "We can still fix this."

"This was our last chance. You have to leave, find your own kind, your family. Just away from here."

"You are my family."

He closed his eyes. "I am a dwarf, you are a sprite."

"And the thirty years you have taken care of me means nothing? You are family. Where you are, home is."

"And if you want to create your own family?"

"They had better accept you as a father-in-law."

It warned his heart, even though he knew it was ridiculous. He tried to pull away but his ankles still ached. Josie's head came to his waist but she could bear four times his weight. The sprite was the closest thing he had to family. She had shown up at his shop when she was just a child.

"Is it done?"

Grant's frame filled with terror. This elf had kept him and Josie captive for close to fifteen-years. A slave in his own home. No this wasn't his home anymore.

His boots activated and Grant nearly lost his balance again as they seemed to meld to the floor.

"Have you finished yet?" The elf glided into the room and everything seemed brighter.

Grant flinched back and covered his eyes. It wasn't because he was a dwarf. Before his captivity Grant loved working on his projects outside in the sunlight. His current corking condition involved dim hanging lamps strung up around the cave that served as a hanger. He used as few drop lights as possible because the extension cords and light reflecting from the metal encased floor played merry havoc with his ability to work.

"It's not done yet," Josie said.

The backhand sent her sprawling across the floor. He tried to go to her but his boots were still activated.

"Unacceptable. I told you it needed to be done today." He stood over Grant forcing him to crane his neck. "You have failed me. I heard you were the best mechanic there was. You told me you could do this."

"He has done everything you've asked." Josie pushed herself up. Next to the elf she looked like a child.

"Josie, go to your room," Grant said. He never took his gaze from the elf. He let out a hiss of breath as the elf pulled a pulse laser from the holster on his hip.

The elf glanced at Grant.
"She has done nothing."

"If there isn't a consequence you won't learn."

"I won't fail you. Please." Grant didn't have time to blink before the butt of the pulse laser caught him above the eye. Grant fell sideways and his right ankle snapped. His vision blackened for a moment. The blackness turned to red as a laser bolt struck Josie's temple. She toppled to the ground. The iron bindings crashed against the floor. The elf's boot pounded into him.

"I don't accept failure."

Grant's vision remained on the lifeless body. "She didn't do anything."

The next time the boot rammed his gut, Grant caught it. His fingers latched onto the fastenings and around the top.

"Let me go, you filthy creature."

A bolt burned into his shoulder, his leg, his side, and his fingers relaxed. The elf pulled free.

"Just lay here and die."

The elf left. Grant remained laying on the floor with his leg twisted under him. His body burned.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

Grant closed his eyes. His vision changed from red to white. The pain from his body drifted away.

A small figure hugged his waist. "Welcome home. I want you to meet someone."