=/\= Deck 10 Quarters 02 =/\=
Brent was finalizing his last bit of paperwork for the day. Orders had come down that he was to submit his paperwork faster. Whatever that meant. He had sent it out the day it was recorded to be due, it wasn't his fault that the ship was on the other side of an Empire that the Federation had only just now gotten into an uneasy treaty with. Either way it was threatening to spoil his evening. Unfortunately for the Marine Commander his night was about to be completely spoiled in any regard.
=/\= The Brig =/\=
The Marines had been called in to watch the prisoners now that there was more than two. One was some kind of stone cold killer that they had orders to dispatch if he tried any funny stuff. The other two were Brig favorite Ambassador Lamont, and... Commander Sakarra Tyrax. The Marine, a private, had heard the rumors floating around about the Commander and his CO. Apparently they were quite the item now, and spent a good deal of time with one another. The Marine shook his head before he nudged his buddy who was threatening to nod off. "I'm gonna go grab something to eat, these twelve hour shifts are brutal. You want something," he asked. The sleepy headed marine shook his head but for his part began to pay attention. Perhaps he had gotten the rest that he needed.
The other Marine took a brief look at Sakarra before he exited the Brig and really hoped that his Lt would not shoot the messenger...
=/\= Deck 10 Quarters 02 =/\=
"Let me get this straight Private. You want me to believe that Lieutenant Commander Tyrax is in the brig right now," he asked disbelievingly at the ceiling as he pinched the bridge of his nose. If this Marine was messing with him as some kind of a joke... Brent asked him just why she was there and the Marine said that she had checked herself after having violated several federation laws. That gave Brent a cause for pause. Checking herself in after she had done something questionable... That might sound like her. He shook his head and told his Marine to get back to his post unless he wanted to be running for a few days straight. After the com link cut out Brent stood up and set his PADD down. There was only one way he could tell for sure if this Marine was telling him the truth or not.
=/\= The Brig =/\=
Brent didn't know if he should simply laugh, sigh or rub his forehead when he came into the Brig and saw that Sakarra was indeed sitting there in the holding cell. He settled for a light hearted chuckle as he walked over towards her cell, nodding at the Marines and Security officers guarding the three prisoners. He leaned against the wall as he looked down on her. "You know. I would have bet a great deal of money that it was going to be you that would some day have to bail me out first, not the other way around," he said as he smiled at her.
The stares from both security officers and Marines had been met with complete, stoic calm – but she had known it was only a matter of time before news reached one particular Marine. And although she had all but anticipated him walking through those doors, it was still enough to nearly put a visible crack into her composure.
Giving a slow nod of greeting to hide the expression threatening to cross her face, Sakarra heard him chuckle and blinked. For a long moment she was perfectly still, seated on the carpet in the meditative pose of a Vulcan prepared to remain in one spot, be it for an hour or eternity. The heavy, amaranth robes draped around her still held the scent of herbs and roses and with the black tresses falling freely down to her waist, she would not have looked out of place in a Vulcan monastery.
Finally, she looked up to meet a gaze out of sea-blue eyes – and to her utter astonishment, Brent was smiling. Mindful of being watched by several curious eyes, Sakarra got to her feet with her usual fluid grace and walked towards the force field. There were quite a few things she wanted to say, but nothing seemed adequate.
"I am afraid a bail will not suffice in my case." her low voice was as musical as ever, and if there was a touch of surprise and tenderness in it, anyone but Brent would have been hard put to detect it.
Brent nodded. "So I've been hearing. After I got the call I investigated why you would have gone to such lengths. What I have been able to come up with sure won't make the Captain happy, but I'm sure that someone with a much better shot of the big picture will tell her what she needs to know," Brent said softly as he reached to touch the forcefield, as if he was trying to be nearer to her. "The captain will be the one to decide if you should press charges or if there are enough extenuating circumstances to warrant the dropping of all charges and your release."
Brent paused before continuing, he wanted to ask her something but he wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer. Eventually his curiosity got the best of him. "Did you send Savant to distract me last night? Or to simply keep me busy somehow?"
Dropping of all charges? She was not sure if such a thing was possible, nor was she certain she wanted that. And even if Starfleet would not press charges, there was still that … other matter.
She stood only a few centimeters from the forcefield separating them, in her thoughtful pose with hands loosely clasped behind her back and head tilted slightly to one side. And it was all she could do to keep herself from moving when he reached out, hanging on to her stoic demeanor by barely more than a thread. Until now, she realized she had not been sure how he would react to what she had done, or if it had changed how he felt about her.
Relief, joy, and the burning desire to rush through that wall of energy so she might return that gesture, if only for the sake of telling him what she felt he deserved to know in the privacy of their entangled minds, fought to surface and were subdued by sheer force of will.
The hands behind her back tightened and she could not prevent a slow exhale escaping her lips, as close to a sigh as she was willing to allow herself.
"Send her? I did not …" for a second, there was clear puzzlement in her expression but understanding dawned quickly. She might have anticipated this. Should have, perhaps. Savant was intelligent and intuitive, yes. But to what degree, the young Vulcan had obviously misjudged. She was at once deeply grateful and filled with wonder yet again at what a unique lifeform this truly was, until a wave of sorrow overshadowed both and her eyes closed briefly, slowly, before she met the deep blue gaze again, steadier than she felt.
"In a way, you might say I did." To keep him from being caught in this terrible mess, to let there be no doubt he had not been in any way involved – but that did not matter, did it? He had been denied the right to choose and take the fall along with her, and from all she knew about him by now he just might have insisted on that. For several heartbeats that seemed an eternity, Sakarra was torn apart by doubt. A part of her insisted she had wronged him by taking the burden of that choice away – stand by and do nothing or follow her because – yes, why? Loyalty? Trust? Either would have been repaid with something she could not accept.
Nam-tor u'sha'yut. Friend, lover, companion, it was the same. You did not let him take the blow if you could prevent it. And if you had to, you had better be damn sure you could live with it.
Her resolve returned, but it was not enough to cover the sadness lingering deep in the black eyes resting on the Marine.
"Savant apparently … anticipated that I did not wish for you to be … implicated in my transgressions." Stubborn pride and fierce protectiveness insisted that she leave it at that. Maybe it would be best after all if he left now, thinking her a cold, calculating woman. Leave before he might get caught up in all sorts of troubles.
But he had come here and smiled at her, given her a brief flare of joy after she had already thought herself too numb to feel that again. Somewhere deep inside, the young Vulcan silently laughed at herself. "I was foolish enough to not realize that she would be as protective of you as … she understood I was. And even if I had realized it, there is a good chance I would not have intervened. I have wronged you." her voice was low enough for any other than Brent having to strain to hear, but Sakarra knew full well they could record whatever they wished, which didn't make this any easier. But she owed him that much, damn everything else to hell.
"And I cannot regret it." Slowly, the proud neck that had defied T'Pelar, the V'Shar and all their games and thrown their pretty plans into the lap of the despised Captain of Charon, bowed. "I can only ask that you forgive me."
=/\= To be continued ... =/\=
Brevet 1st Lieutenant Brent Warren
Marine Commander
Lt Cmdr Sakarra Tyrax
Chief Helm
USS Charon
