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Not Broken, Just A Little Cracked

Posted on Fri Feb 5th, 2016 @ 4:14pm by Commander Angelica Fairchild & Lieutenant Daln Hadren

Mission: Where Angels Fear to Tread
Location: CO's Ready Room

Angel had barely made it inside the ready room before the chime rang behind her. Too early for reports to be coming in just yet, it was a bad time. A terrible time, in fact, for a visit. Angel knew, however, that a good commander didn't turn away an officer with concerns, even if the one thing that commander wanted was to lock the doors and hide. Her back still to the door, she laid her hands on the desk and leaned over it, taking a few slow breaths to steady herself before answering the ringing bell. "Come in."

Hadren entered and saw that the commander was holding on to her composure by a thread. It saddened him because he knew Cmdr Fairchild to be one of the strongest women he had seen.

He waited until the doors shut and then asked, "Are you okay, Commander? Is there anything I can do?"

Hadren. Out of all the people on the bridge, Angel knew it would be either Daln or Sinek who would pick up on her distress after all that. "I'm fine. Just not fantastic with creepy alien voices talking to me when they have no business being here at all." It wasn't quite the whole truth as she wasn't feeling fine at all, but she could hardly tell one of her senior officers that since Ven's reappearance, she'd had a rush of the same feelings she'd had after the Reman cold storage station and the Devidian occupation of the Hera, especially one who had come to the ship after those events had transpired.

Being telepathic, Daln knew there was more to it. He didn't want her to be hurting, though he also didn't want to overstep. "You don't seem fine. In fact it seems like there's more, and it's freaking you out." He thought a minute. "I just don't want you to be...well..." Daln was not a words guy. He was a man of action. He wasn't touchy-feelly like his cousins, and he wasn't a brainiac like his brother. But he did care about people and it showed.

Despite still feeling like she was drowning in flashbacks and something that felt a lot like paranoia, Angel couldn't help smiling just a little at the somewhat awkward attempt at counseling. "Stick to security, Hadren. Psych is not your thing." At least there was a tone of amusement now where before she'd been flat and withdrawn. "The last time I had to listen to a creepy male voice over comms that was 'hunting' I had to fight off some sort of canine zombie creatures. Half my away team was eaten in front of me. Not long after, we were being hunted by Devidians... again with several of the crew getting eaten. One of the man who was eaten is here again, seemingly alive and well. It's a bit much to take in."

Hadren frowned. "That's...disturbing. I don't blame you for being upset." Then he smiled wryly. "And no, I am not nearly as touchy-feely as my cousins. That's why they're the doctors." He started to tell a story to try to tell her up. "And Ranel is the most touchy-feely. He's so gay he should be in drag. I remember one time he showed up in a light yellow suit with a pink shirt and baby blue tie. The shoes were the worst. They had golden studs all along a certain part of them. Problem was we were going to a club and he was pastel nightmare. Then he wondered why the guys avoided him. We didn't have the heart to tell him that they were scared of him."

Angel couldn't help giggling a little at the mental image that story conjured. "If you ever started being that touchy-feely, I'd take your phaser and stun you with it." She still felt tense and anxious, coiled tight like a spring even. But the story at least helped.

Daln gave her an offended look and shuddered. "Four Deities forbid it." Then he grinned at her. "I'm glad I could make you laugh, ma'am. You looked like you needed it."

"I did, thank you." Feeling just that little bit better, Angel finally went around the desk and sat down, wishing it was appropriate to just give up and take a nap. ''

Daln nodded. "You know, a zebra mocha latte helps my cousin, Naila. Or she says it does. Maybe try it?" Feeling he was overstepping he said self-consciously, "I'll get back to work now."

"I appreciate the advice." Angel smiled just a little. "Please don't let me keep you from your duties. You're free to go, of course."

Daln nodded, trying not to be as awkward as he felt. "Right. If you need anything, I'm here. I'm not the shrink some of my family is, but I'm here for you." He smiled a little and left, glad she felt better. The ship may need her, but she needed her friends.

 

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