Begin!

Universe*

~Normal POV

The Baudelaires certainly hadn't expected Phil to be the same man they had known at the Lucky Smells Lumber Mill when they were introduced to him at lunchtime. Sunny had graciously helped prepare their food, showing off her promising culinary skills. They spent most of the meal telling the others their stories. Quigley had been eager to know what his siblings had been doing since they were separated. And Fiona was curious as to how the others had ended up where they were now.

"Wait, you were hypnotized? That can't be possible," Fiona said.

"It's true," Klaus insisted, "Phil was too. Dr. Orwell used hypnotism to get her patients to do her evil bidding. She had the whole lumber mill under her spell. It was terrifying, and it helped me understand why my father always said to never trust an optometrist."

"It's insane," Isadora said holding Klaus' hand.

"Yeah, the worst part is she could have forced me to hurt my sisters if she wanted to..."

"Aye, I remember Georgina," Captain Widdershins said, his eyes darkening a bit as he drank his brandy, "Foul old bitch that one. Got her medical license revoked the second we discovered her cruel intentions. She had a habit of hypnotizing men to take to the annual V.F.D. masquerade balls at the Headquarters. Gustav Sebald was one of her unlucky victims once I recall. He was Dr. Montgomery's assistant."

"We know," Violet said, "We never met him though when we lived with Uncle Monty. He said he resigned before we moved there."

Captain Widdershins shook his head, "Aye, no. Olaf murdered him. One of the volunteers found his body in a pond outside Monty's house. Autopsy said it was a poison dart that did him in."

"Did you know him well," Duncan asked.

"Not particularly. He was friends with Jacqueline though. They did a lot of coded film work together. Passing secret messages to other volunteers through films; it's crazy work but someone has to do it."

"You guys have certainly been through a lot. I can't imagine how you must have felt in that terrible hospital," Fiona shuddered, "Was he really gonna make you kill your own siblings?"

Isadora nodded, "Yes, Olaf's cruelty truly knows no limits. I'd never been so scared in my life."

Duncan patted his sister's hand comfortingly. Quigley then explained his survival story as the crew had been told to only expect two of the triplets.

"That's incredible that you were so dedicated to finding your siblings," Fiona smiled at Quigley, "I wish my brother was like you..."

"You have a brother," Quigley asked.

The mycologist nodded, her smile fading a bit, "He's about a decade older than me and he lives on land. I haven't seen or spoken to him in years."

"And let's hope it stays that way," Captain Widdershins added, "That good for nothing boy wasn't worth living on my ship."

Fiona gave her stepfather a rather stern look, "Stepfather, I would appreciate it if you would not speak of Fernald like that. Just because the two of you didn't get along doesn't mean you have the right to say such things in front of me."

Her stepfather took a final drink of his brandy and shrugged as he got up from the table, "You can get back to work once you're done everyone. Those who hesitates are lost!"

He and Phil left the room; Fiona looked down at the table avoiding the others' gaze at her stepfather's harsh words. This was a conversation she appeared to be used to. The Baudelaires and the Quagmires shared knowing glances with each other. Their new friend didn't deserve to be talked to like this. Quigley felt especially bad for her. He had spent the last year hoping to find his brother and sister, and he couldn't imagine going through life any longer without the two of them. Yet here was a perfectly nice girl who missed her lost brother dearly, but her stepfather seemed unwilling to care. He gave her a sympathetic look and grabbed her hand.

"I'm sure your brother misses you too," Quigley said.

"Do you really think that? What if he forgot all about me?"

"A good brother will love you no matter what," Violet said, "Those are the words our parents taught us."

Klaus smiled at the comment, and Sunny voiced her agreement.

"It's true," Isadora added, "Duncan and Quigley might be idiots sometimes, but they're still my brothers and I'll always love them."

The two Quagmire boys grinned in response. Fiona smiled at all of them.

"Thank you," She said, "I've never met people like you guys. I've lived on this sub almost all my life and the only times I get to meet people is when we surface for supplies."

"Must be tough living in a submarine for so long," Duncan said.

Fiona shrugged, "It's not so bad really, unless you're claustrophobic or something, and I'm not. Besides you get the best view down here."

She stood and walked over to the window staring out at the colorful array of fish swimming peacefully around in the bright ocean waters. The midday sunlight illuminating the whole area as the submarine moved steadily towards their goal. Quigley stood and walked over to join her. He didn't even notice that the others had taken a silent hint that perhaps they should leave the cartographer and the mycologist alone once more. Duncan and Violet walked off together, the journalist wishing to help the inventor with the various repairs that the Captain had assigned to her. Klaus and Isadora wished to find some reading material to occupy their time. Though Duncan and Quigley couldn't ignore the dazed looks on the couple's faces when they came to the kitchen for lunch; the two boys chose not to ask what their sister had been up to earlier as they were very afraid of the answer.

Fiona glanced at Quigley as she noticed him beside her, "You can't get a view like this on a mountain top. Lovely, isn't it?"

"Very lovely indeed," Quigley said smiling, but he was not looking out at the view, he was looking to his side at Fiona.

She gazed curiously at him, "But you're not looking at... oh..."

She blushed deeply in realization and averted her eyes. His own face reddened as well as he stared at her.

"Ahem, I should, uh go help Violet and Duncan with the repairs."

He blinked snapping out of his trance and replied, "Hm, yeah you go do that. Listen would you mind if I help your stepfather navigate? I don't want to take your job away from you; I just figured it might help you out a bit that's all."

She smiled, "I don't mind at all, Quigley. Thank you for offering. Just don't mess up my stuff, ok?"

"Of course, Miss Fiona, I'll make sure not to break anything. Besides, Violet and Duncan are probably making out rather than getting any work done so you definitely need to keep an eye on them."

Fiona laughed, "I'll make sure they behave."

~...

"Fiona, could you hand me that wrench?"

"This one," She replied grabbing a tool from her toolbox.

Violet examined it for a moment, "Yep, thanks."

Duncan stood off to the side as the two girls worked. He was writing observations of his surroundings in his notebook to occupy his time.

Fiona sighed, "You know you two are lucky you found each other in this crazy world. I've never even had a boyfriend."

"Quigley's taken a pretty big interest in you," Violet smirked as she continued working.

Fiona blushed, "I'm sure he's just being polite..."

Duncan laughed, "Are you kidding? I've never seen my brother this interested in a girl before. I've seen dogs drool less over a rib-eye steak!"

Violet nodded, "I agree, he's obviously into you. Though I'm surprised he hasn't made a move yet. Duncan said Quigley is usually very straightforward when it comes to girls."

"He usually is. Look, Fiona, I'm a journalist and I'm pretty good at reading people, and I can tell you right now: Quigley likes you, a lot."

The mycologist smiled shyly her face turning even redder, "He is rather charming. I just can't help feeling a bit jealous of you Violet. You're only 14 and you already have a great boyfriend who worships the ground you walk on."

Violet blushed, "15 actually."

"Wait, what," Duncan asked.

"I noticed what day it was when we were on the deck. April 8th, it's my birthday so I'm 15 today."

"You mean it's your birthday and you didn't tell anyone," Fiona asked, staring curiously at her and adjusting her glasses.

Violet shrugged, "I didn't want to make a big deal out of it."

Duncan gaped at her, "Excuse me? Did you think that maybe your siblings would care? Or your best friend Isadora? Or perhaps me; it's your first birthday with us as a couple and you kept it a secret?"

"Sorry, honey, I just didn't think it was that much of an issue."

Duncan sat down beside her and grabbed her shoulder, "Listen, love, I don't care if you don't think it's important, but I do and so will the others. It's your birthday and after everything we've been through so far you deserve to celebrate."

"Violet, why don't you let me take over the repairs? After all you are our guest and I'm sure you'd much rather spend your birthday with Duncan."

"Are you sure, Fiona? The captain might be a little upset if I take a break since he's expecting me to help with all this."

Fiona waved her hand dismissively, "I'll handle my stepfather. He may be stubborn, but I can get him to calm down. You two go and enjoy yourselves, and happy birthday."

She took the wrench from Violet's hand and crouched down to fix the pipes they had been working on. Duncan grabbed Violet's hand and pulled her along with him out of the room. Violet removed her ribbon from her hair and shoved it back into her pocket as she followed her boyfriend. He led her to an empty hallway before pulling her close with a loving smile.

"I don't exactly have a present to give you, but at least we can have a minute alone."

She smiled, "Well, I certainly can't object to that."

The journalist crashed his lips into hers in a very heated kiss, much like the one they had shared on Mount Fraught. Violet suddenly regretted her decision to keep her birthday secret if it had meant she would receive such a passionate kiss from the boy she loved. She'd never take her birthday for granted again.

~...

That night after dinner everyone celebrated with a special cake Sunny and Phil baked for the occasion. Captain Widdershins told them more stories of their parents and how proud they would have been to see this day. As the Queequeg reached further and further towards its goal the Baudelaires and the Quagmire triplets enjoyed the peacefulness of their temporary home. As the evening drew into night, the captain ordered them to get some rest and most everyone did as they were told. Quigley was about to join Duncan and Klaus in their shared room but stopped when he noticed Fiona picking up the dirty dishes that lined the kitchen table. He watched her for a moment before Duncan grabbed his shoulder to get his attention.

"You know, you could offer to help her," The journalist whispered with a smirk, "Unless world-renowned ladies' man Quigley Quagmire is finally losing his touch."

"Shut up, Duncan," Quigley retorted quietly, blushing a bit, "I'll join you guys after I help her out."

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do, little brother."

Duncan returned to the sleeping quarters with the others as Quigley gathered his courage and walked over to Fiona.

"Here, you look like you need some help," He said grabbing some of the plates from her arms.

"Oh, thank you," She replied with a smile, "We're not used to having so many dishes pile up and I was just going to wash them before bed."

"I'll help you."

The two went into the kitchen and set to work. Not many words were exchanged between the two teens as they did their chore, causing a comfortable silence. The only noise they heard was the soft hum of the submarine's engine. Quigley watched her out of the corner of his eye with a smile. Fiona would glance over at him every now and then as well, a shy smile gracing her lips. Upon finishing their task they walked back to the sleeping quarters together and stopped in between the two closed doors.

"Thank you for helping, Quigley."

He smiled and scratched his head nervously, "You're welcome, Miss Fiona. If there's ever anything else I can help you with feel free to ask."

"Well there is one thing, could you stop calling me 'Miss Fiona,' please? It's kind of embarrassing..."

"Oh, sorry; you didn't say anything about it when I started doing it so I figured it was alright," He blushed, "I didn't mean to embarrass you."

"It doesn't bother me that much. I just don't understand why you kept addressing me so formally."

His eyes softened at her, "I just thought it felt right. You're a special lady and I wanted to show you respect."

She smiled and adjusted her glasses, "You respect me? What do you mean by that?"

"Um... I mean I respect you as a person," He answered, "I think you're a very lovely girl and you deserve a level of respect that I don't normally give to others."

"That's awfully kind of you."

They stood quietly looking at each other for a few moments as Fiona processed his answer. She thought back to what Violet and Duncan had told her earlier and felt her heart race. This charming boy liked her; perhaps this was his way of telling her. She remembered her mantra, "he or she who hesitates is lost." And with such a short time to spend with this boy, Fiona definitely didn't want to hesitate before she would have to say good bye to him. She felt a bit of courage fill her as she grabbed his hand, and gave him a kiss on the cheek, catching him completely off guard.

"Good night Quigley. I'll see you tomorrow," She said sweetly.

He grinned, "Good night, Miss- I mean good night Fiona. Until tomorrow..."

She turned and disappeared behind her bedroom door.

Quigley sighed and whispered softly to himself, "I wish I didn't have to leave her tomorrow..."

He opened the opposite door and joined the other boys in their room. That night the young cartographer and the mycologist fell asleep filled with thoughts of each other. Each held a small glimmer of hope that when they had to say good bye at Briny Beach tomorrow that they would find a way to see each other again.

~End of Chapter