Pacing

Posted on Sun Jul 26th, 2009 @ 5:50pm by Lieutenant JG Lucy Carter

1,155 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Behind the Mask of Familiarity
Location: The Brig
Timeline: 64167.42

ON:

Lucy paced. She had been in the brig for nearly 2 days and had nothing to occupy her mind except the recent words of Captain Lane. Her combadge had been removed by the guard and the basic rations were nothing to write home about - not that she could have written home anyway.

She longed for some company. Stopping by the forcefield she peered into the room beyond and her gaze landed on the crewman at the controls.

"Er, hello, Martin, isn't it?" Lucy had to make conversation or risk mental numbness from boredom. The crewman looked up at her and down immediately without making a sound. She tried again. "Martin? Oh go on, please say something. I don't even know why I am here. I am so fed up"

There was a zero response.

"Surely I am allowed visitors? Huh? What about 10 minutes from Lieutenant Larkin? Please! I am going out of my mind here!"

The crewman sighed and tapped his combadge "Lieutenant Larkin to the brig, please."

Lucy smiled and said "thank you."

Larkin steadied his shaking hand, as the call came through over the intercomm. Only moments before he'd injected himself with a powerful stimulant, in the the hopes that the increased energy and focus would prevent him from once again losing control of his actions. He would have to remember to apologize to Doctor Mabren for the theft when all of this was over.

For a moment, he was confused by the summons to the brig, however that quickly passed as he remembered the counselor's plight. "Lucy," he whispered under his breath. He chastised himself for not visiting her as soon he'd heard she was in the brig, despite the fact that pursuit of the ability to maintain control was logically of a higher priority.

After peeking out into the corridor from the storage room where he'd obtained the stimulant, to make sure no one saw him leave, Larkin hurried to the brig. A few moments later, a rather burly security officer was waving him to go through.

The sight of Lieutenant Carter behind the shimmering forcefield only served to feed Larkin's already intense feelings of guilt. Something in the back of his mind was shouting at him, "This is all your fault. She's being blamed for your actions." He thought for a moment that he'd actually heard someone speaking those words, but quickly wrote that off as a side effect of the rather powerful chemicals now surging through his blood.

He struggled desperately for something comforting to say, but the best he could manage was an awkward, "How are you?"

Lucy had her head in her hands as Kevin entered but upon hearing his vice she leapt to her feet, delighted. "Kevin, how lovely to see you" she said, quickening toward the apeture in the brig, her hands outstretched in his direction. Unfortunately she forgot about the forcefield and both hands were instantly repelled, causing her to jump backwards.

She laughed at this and looked at him. "I have been incarcerated here, Kevin, for allegedly killing Turoc. I have no idea what any of this is about and have never killed anyone. It is so nice to see a friendly face." She searched for words, as she saw a look cross his face - was it puzzlement? Or something else...?

"How have you been, Kevin?"

"I've been...alright," he paused in mid-sentence, unsure of exactly what to say. "A few bad dreams, you know. Nothing out of the ordinary." He needed to get off of the subject of himself, as it was the last thing he wanted to think about at the moment.

"Did they give you any idea why they suspect that you're involved?" Lane had, probably intentionally, avoided telling Larkin what evidence they had against Carter, but the CSO needed to know. He knew that it had something to do with that hypospray, but he needed more if he was going to prove Carter's innocence without exposing himself before he had a chance to work out what was happening to him.

"Yes..." replied Lucy, "but I don't want to say anything at the moment until this business is sorted out." She sighed. "Can't we talk about something else, Kevin? Hey - have you met my old roommate Maria Traho yet?"

"Um, I believe I may have met her in passing, but I haven't really spoken with her." Larkin wasn't exactly sure, as the last few days were something of a blur.

"Well you want to watch out," said Lucy with a smile. "You are just her type!"

"Excuse me?"

"Oh I am sorry, Kevin," said Lucy, the smile clearing from her face. "I didn't mean to embarrass you. It's just that Maria.... well she can be rather, er, persuasive. She would like you. That's all I meant."

Lucy had the feeling she had offended him.

"Oh, no, don't be sorry. I didn't mean that," he trailed off, grabbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "I just didn't understand why you were telling me to be careful." He laughed slightly and continued with a hint of sarcasm. "In case you hadn't noticed, I'm not exactly the most socially adept person."

"Well in case YOU haven't noticed, I don't exactly have many friends on board." She paused, scratching the back of her wrist, thoughtfully. "I don't suppose they would allow me a visit from the EMH. I don't think they have holo-emitters in the brig. And I don't think I could cope with a visit from Maria at the moment." She stopped scratching and walked a pace forward so that she and Kevin were as close as they could be, allowing for the forcefield. "I say it again, Kevin. Thank you for visiting me and thank you for being my friend."

She smiled and nearly stretched out her hands again, remembering the repulsion of the beams just in time.

"Look, Lucy, I know things seem kind of bleak right now, but I know you didn't have anything to do with this," a statement most people would consider to simply be an attempt at being comforting, which ironically happened to be true. "I'm going to find a way to prove it. I promise."

"I am comforted to hear you say that, Kevin. Thank you." She smiled kindly at him then yawned and stretched. "I am sorry - I didn't realise how tired I am. I suppose thi has taken it out of me somewhat. Will you come back and see me tomorrow?"

Lucy sat on the bench, strangely happy that someone was on her side.

"Sure I will," Larkin smiled meekly. "I'll see you then." As he left the brig, the sickening feeling in Larkin's stomach returned. He looked at his reflection behind one of the computer panels lining the Arch's wall. "How am I going to fix this?"

OFF:

A post by:

Lt. JG Lucy Carter

and

Lt. Kevin Larkin

 

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