H7A9

Posted on Sat Jan 13th, 2024 @ 6:39pm by Captain Akiva ben-Avram & Commander Arianna Frost

5,934 words; about a 30 minute read

Mission: S1E6: Where Skies End
Location: ben-Avram's Office, Overwatch
Timeline: MD 1

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As the shuttle landed, Alexander Night stepped over to the door that was beginning to lower. This was it, the culmination of a few months of wondering and a few days of prep. Ever since his talk with Xanthe a few days ago, Alexander began preparing his trip to Overwatch and the appropriate excuses that wouldn't raise flags, or so he hoped.

He looked over to his younger companion who had also stood up. The coincidence of another Castermer member appearing in Internal Affairs mere days before his departure for Overwatch wasn't lost on Alexander. Sebastian Herrera was one of Castermer's technical support members, one of the few to be with the Project since its inception. Night decided to take the young man with him, to see if he could shake that particular tree and see if any tell take signs fell out.

Such as what the hell he was doing assigned to IA all of a sudden. Was he sent by the 'turned' Taskmaster? Was it a coincidence? In Alexander's experience, coincidences were rare to nonexistent. Still Night needed to know if he just got a potential issue or if he got a double agent in the making. Without giving away that he knew anything, Alex asked Sebastian to join him on this inspection of Memory Theta, as per mandate.

So, as the door was lowered he nodded to the Spaniard, who nodded in return and he stepped down the ramp.

"Present orders." A squad of four Marines approached Alex and Sebastian with their phaser rifles pointed in a safe direction but still at hand. Two of them fanned out at right angles in either direction while the third took a 45 degree arc at half distance. It was a lance corporal who had challenged them. While peaceful, they were not taking any chances. Noting the pips on Night's collar, the lance corporal added a stiff, "Sir."

Night nodded, flashing the marine a bright smile. "Of course. Admiral Alexander Night, Director of Internal Affairs, conducting the scheduled H7A9 Inspection, this my attache Lieutenant Sebastian Herrera." He presented a PADD with associated orders for both of them and the briefcase with assorted PADDs for inspection.

The lance corporal assessed the PADD, tapped it with his own, and acknowledged the green light that lit up. "Orders confirmed." The full green light meant the Admiral had the run of the place. "One side!" His three support guards flanked Alex and Seb with the lance corporal joining the odd man out, forming a makeshift honor guard that led to the corridor.

Night contemplated whether or not to request Captain ben-Avram be notified of their arrival, or whether he should get the beat on the man unannounced. Of course, the flight deck would have sent word up that a flag officer had arrived. Flag officer. It was a title he still wasn't used to. At heart, Alexander was still a fielder and a teacher. But needs were must therefore he was here, doing his friend, colleague and protege a favor.

As the marines lead the two towards the Captain's office, Night took in the surroundings. The behavior of the crew, the normal day to day, looking for anything out of the ordinary that could jump out at him. Without a deeper take, he could not see anything that would catch his attention unfortunately.

The marines left the two officers at the corridor where another pair of silent sentinels acknowledged their passing. With all the marines resuming their stations, Alex and Seb arrived at Akiva's office without fanfare.

Not quite disheveled, Akiva still looked more the worse for wear. His five o'clock shadow stood out prominently and did nothing to hide the bags under his eyes. His shoulders held an uneven posture from the crick his neck, the wages earned from a night sleeping at his desk. It took him a moment to register the fact he was, indeed, in his office, fully clothed with the previous day's uniform, and a splitting headache that made him long for the cold embrace of unconsciousness.

The door chirped.

"What now?" Akiva moaned.

He checked the day's scheduled and let out a hard groan. Another inspection. For HaShem's sake, why couldn't he be left well enough alone for at least a day? There wasn't much he could do now. Whoever it was stood waiting on the other side of the door. Akiva rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, cracked his neck, and did the best he could do to smooth out any wrinkles in his uniform.

"Come in!"

Alexander stepped through, Sebastian in tow.

Nights eyes fell on the Hebron Captain. The man had clearly drank in the last few hours and had not been to bed, if his bloodshot eyes, five o'clock shadow and somewhat dishevelled hair was anything to go by.

"Must have been a rough night." Alex thought to himself. How many nights had he spent like that in his years with Intel? Too many to count.

He let his amusement show in a knowing smirk and in sympathetic eyes. Running Memory Theta was hard, Night understood that, and hardship took a toll on people?

"Good morning, Captain." He said in a crisp, middle class british accent. "Rough night?" That hint of amusement coloured his tone too.

Sebastian stood behind Alexander to the right, but made no outward expression or comment.

"You could say that," Akiva said with as much cordiality he could muster. Everything throbbed from the top of his head to the middle of his back. He pulled his hand away from his stiff neck long enough to extend it to the Admiral in greeting. "Most of us got back from Risa this week, but we're ready for an inspection anytime." Hopefully that would smooth over getting off on the wrong foot without discoloring the rest of the Admiral's time aboard Overwatch Station.

Night shook Akiva's hand firmly, "of course, Captain. But let's start from the beginning, I'm Admiral Alexander Night, Director of Internal Affairs, this is my attache, Lieutenant Sebastian Herrera. Good to finally meet you." He nodded over to the younger man who nodded at Akiva in return. "My apologies for not being here sooner, I only recently took over the office and I've been trying to get things in order since the Hightower Incident." Alex said affably, observing Akiva casually, but closely at the same time.

Hightower. That was a name Akiva hadn't heard in a long time. Commodore Thaddeus Hightower had been the Deputy Director of Internal Affairs as well as the head of Section 31. He had sent his agents to Bynaus as a double cross against the Black Nagus operation there. Biynah, Akiva's android daughter, had uncovered it all and set in motions a series of events that led Akiva to Memory Theta and her to her demise. The Black Nagus has seen Hightower's treachery coming and made plans to expose him first. He'd been arrested by Starfleet Security before Akiva even reached Overwatch Station to claim Biynah's body back from Mrazak.

Such awful memories.

"Yes, I'm familiar," Akiva said flatly.

"Captain, would you mind asking Commander Frost to join us? Might as well meet your Deputy and dot the i's and cross the t's all at once." Night said with a nod and a beaming smile, giving an innocuous reason for getting his agent in the room. Xanthe had said he needed to talk to her. Having Frost and Herrera in the same room together might yield even more information as well as clue him in as to what was going on with Castermer.

Alex didn't like coincidences, he didn't believe in them and as far as coincidences went, this was a mighty big one.

"Of course," Akiva said. "I'm actually surprised she isn't here already. I'm sure she is en route, but..." He tapped his combadge. "Ben-Avram to Frost. Please report to my office immediately. We have...company."

There was a niggling feeling at the back of Akiva's mind that he should know who this Admiral Night was but his mild hangover prevented him from connecting any dots. In truth, he was happy that Ari was coming. Two on one was a distinct disadvantage even without the Admiral in the room.

"Frost, on my way, sir." Came a short reply.

Night looked over Herrera, who was looking around the Captain's office, hands clasped behind his back. He was wringing his hands.

A note for later.

Arianna was just returning from the departure bay, after she had seen Laena off on her mission. True, Laena didn't know Arianna was there, but Frost still felt a sense of responsibility and hope, despite their disastrous meeting earlier.

She'd not given the night before any thought until Akiva's call came. They had company? There wasn't anyone on the schedule for a visit or an inspection. At least there wasn't anyone yesterday when she'd finished her shift. Things must have changed during the night.

As she arrived at Akiva's door, she quickly checked over her appearance, smoothing down her hair and her uniform before stepping through and stopping short of the door that had closed behind her. Talk about a gut punch.

"What the fuck!?" A question came unbidden as she looked over at the two newcomers. While Alex was always a welcome sight, the other man...

Did he send him? Was the jig up before they set up the safety net? Was it an accident? What in the hell was Sebastian Herrera doing here>

"Oh Seb, not you too..."

"Hello again, Commander Frost." Alex's voice cut through the inner barrage of questions.

"Admiral! Admiral?" When did Alex get promoted? "Admiral Night, it's good to see you again, sir." She said finally hoping that her shock wasn't as evident as it felt.

Night nodded, "you too, Commander," his eyes however were closely on Arianna and Sebastian.

The spaniard, slightly shorter than Night and ben-Avram, but stockier than both, grinned at Arianna, though it never reached his green eyes. "Senora Frost, good to see you!" He stepped over to Arianna and pulled her in for a bear hug.

"We need to talk, alone," Sebastian whispered in her hair.

"Seb! Hi! What are you doing here?" Ari awkwardly returned the embrace before she stepped away.

Castermer was still active to her knowledge, so why was a support Engineer following the Head of the IA around? He needed to talk?

"Just reasignment, Senora. Sebastian needs to upskill." Herrera chuckled, his eyes roaming up and down her form unabashedly.

Arianna nodded, blinking away her confusion. "Yeah...that's always good. Um..what brings you here, sir?"

"You didn't know..." Alex realized, having observed the interaction, "interesting..."

It took several back and forth head-bobs for Akiva to track that these people weren't just making professional small-talk but actually were very well acquainted. What did this mean for him?

"We were just about to discuss that, Lieutenant, give us the room please," Alex said to Sebastian.

The younger man looked reluctant for a moment before he nodded. Arianna took a moment to look over at Akiva, giving him a questioning look and a shrug.

"There isn't much for amenities on Overwatch Station, but you might visit the arboretum," Akiva said to Sebastian. "We also have a sanctioned pub establishment on the station. Unorthodox for a black site, I know, but it involves a very complicated treaty with an affiliate nonmember world."

Sebastian nodded, "gracias, Capitan."

With another nod, Sebastian left the room.

Alexander looked between the two. "Now that that's out of the way, it's damned good to see you, Ari." Night visibly relaxed and opened his arms a little, with a hopeful smile. After Herrera's display, he didn't want to take away her agency again.

Her cobbled-together defenses relaxed considerably and a genuine smile formed in her features as she stepped in and embraced Alex fondly, "You, my friend, are a sight for sore eyes," Frost said with an exhale of tension.

Moments later, Ari stepped away again, "the Admiral and I go back aways, he used to be my TO and my mentor when I was cross-training for intel. He introduced Leah and me for the first time." She said looking over at Akiva.

Alex chuckled, "taught them observational tradecraft through dance. Heard you two are working together again."

Ari nodded, still mostly looking at Akiva, raising her palm in a way to signal a need to increase privacy levels. "Yeah, Leah's our bio-med expert."

Night nodded, observing the two people next to him with increased interest. Some sort of communication was going on there.

Though Akiva was fighting the hangover, he still recognized the hamsa hand that Ari flashed at him. It meant Admiral Night was part of their operation against the Castermer Taskmaster. Why today of all days? Akiva sighed and nodded to acknowledge he'd seen it. "Allow me to adjust environmental controls to something more comfortable." As he spoke, Akiva returned to his desk, accessed the inlaid control panel, and established a secure environment free from remote eavesdropping. "We can speak freely now. What can I really do for you, Admiral? Or, perhaps, is it something you can do for us?"

"Alright, now we're in business," Alex thought to himself as he took a seat, placing the briefcase to the side of the chair. "Please, Alex is fine." He said to Akiva before re-focusing on Ari. "I hear that you wanted to reach out, Ari. What's going on?"

Ari took the other seat, "we need your help, Alex."

"We?" Night glanced between the two again.

Ari nodded, "the Captain's been read-in into Castermer. There's been a major humanoid rights violation within the Project."

Alex leaned back, steepling his fingers together. "Go on..."

"Captain, this is your station..." Ari spoke out of deference and respect.

Where to begin? The atrocities were myriad. "All right, Alex. You might have noticed the Borg drones ambling around the station. Officially, there is a level for them on the planetoid below, but our Intendant AI finds them useful, so they are unofficially patched into the station grid to perform essential maintenance tasks. It helps keep down the number of maintenance personnel, so as macabre as it seems, I've allowed it continue." Having waited for shock or outrage from Alex and seeing none, Akiva went on. "It turns out that some of the drones were not here as survivors of attacks by the Borg Collective. We have a positive visual ID from a member of our field team who is next-of-kin to one of them. Ari here can vouch that he never encountered the Borg. Someone injected him with nanite technology and assimilated him, perhaps posthumously. As you may be aware, I have not reported this finding as yet because I'm told the culprit likely performed this action as part of a nefarious conspiracy and that opening a formal inquiry into the matter could provoke retaliation with the same fate of anyone involved."

"Well...shite!" Alex sighed inwardly and nodded. Now he understood Xanthe's words. "So you need me to put it on the books but not publicize it." His words, while a question, came out as a statement.

Arianna nodded, "exactly."

"Why not contact me sooner?" He had to ask, his eyes turning from Akiva to Ari.

Arianna sighed, "Because I've got eyes on me, and ears." She launched into explaining events that followed the Donnager Operation and the details of Taskmaster's punishment and her re-assignment to Memory Theta.

Night listened quietly, not interrupting.

Arianna reached into her pant pocket and pulled out a data chit. It had become second nature for her to carry it with her now, rather than leaving it anywhere in her quarters or other 'secure' places. What precious little information they had, was on that chit.

She reached over and handed it to Alex. "This is the hard data we have so far."

Night nodded and reached down into his briefcase, pulling out two PADDs. Xanthe must have had intel she needed to pass on to Arianna for this situation, but she too must have feared being watched.

"Make sure your PADD is air-gapped before you slot in." Ari said, looking over at Akiva, before looking back at Alex.

"My personal settings should already account for that," Akiva said. "Combadges won't work in here until I disengage the jammers. Emergency communications are rerouted one-way through my desk here."

Night nodded tapped a few commands on his PADD, and slotted the chit in. Data sprang up on his screen and he began reading.

Arianna caught Akiva's eyes for a moment, only then noting the five-o-clock shadow and the slightly disheveled look to his hair. It looked good, she found herself thinking, much to her surprise in this extremely weird morning so far. She shook it away before she refocused on words coming out of Alex's mouth.

"So, Taskmaster has gone off script. I agree with your assessment there." Night said finally as he put the PADD down, and took the other in his hand. "I'll put it on the books," he said, "you have enough to warrant IA involvement. I'll need a name."

"Whytesand." Ari's response was immediate.

"How many people do you have involved in this, Captain?" Night looked over at Akiva.

"You're looking at the two leads," Akiva said, "but currently we have..." He had to give his temple a rub as he counted names and faces. "Eight. No, nine."

Night nodded, "I'll need names. For the safety algorithms."

Ari nodded, "it's in the chit." She sighed then, "we haven't informed the entirety of the field team yet, we're still vetting."

Night nodded again, "so you don't know why Herrera is here, do you? Because I don't. He showed up as a transfer to IA two days ago without much explanation in his jacket."

The question was bound to come up, Ari knew, either from her, or from Alex.

So, she shook her head. "Haven't the foggiest. To my knowledge, Castermer is still active and as support Engineer, he should be at the mobile base, not following you around. Unless..." Sebastian's words came back to her.

"What did he say to you?" Alex prodded.

"That we need to talk." Frost wrung her hands together. "He's either reaching out..."

"Or a plant..." Alex finished and then handed the second PADD over to Ari. "I was told you might need this."

Ari took the PADD. At a tap it required a code.

"Conestoga. But don't open it while I'm here. I can't have influence over your investigation. We'll arrange safe data transfers periodically." Alex said as removed the chit and handed it back to Ari. "Do you still have your Whirrakee safedrop?"

Ari took the chit and nodded. "Yeah, I've kept it active just in case."

Night nodded as he returned the PADDs to the briefcase. "Alright. Make contact when you have an ID and I'll make the transfer without tripping the security protocols."

Alexander then stood up, briefcase in hand. "I better go pretend to make rounds and do this inspection, just in case. We don't want eyes noticing." He extended his hand to Akiva. "Good luck, Captain. I wish the circumstances were better to have met you."

"You and me both," Akiva said. His head still hurt from before and now his mouth was parched. "Do you need me to stroll with you or are you good?"

"Nah, yer good, I can find me way. Don't worry, ye'll be officially passed." Alex's crisp british accent slipped into a light irish twang. "I just have to keep up appearances, is all. You two need to go through that PADD anyway." He pointed to the PADD in Ari's hands.

"Ari," he stepped closer to her and gave her a one-armed hug before he stepped back. "You understand that to do this by the book, we'll need to detain you for investigation as well at the end?"

Ari relaxed into the loose embrace for the moment before they both pulled back. IA could not show any favoritism, and they needed to investigate everyone involved in this whole mess. Her included. "Yes, sir. I'll turn myself in at the end of it."

That bit of news made Akiva's body stiffen from head to toe and his face curl into a grimace. While they were concerned about retaliation, he hadn't considered guilty by association. Was this how good officers turned corrupt? They weren't willing to let their friends go down? Akiva sighed and said nothing. This was another hurdle piled up on the rest of the stack.

Night nodded to the two of them again, Admiral persona back in effect. "Captain, Commander. We'll talk soon!" Without another word, Alexander walked out, ready to perform the sham inspection.

Arianna looked after Alex for a moment, then turned to face Akiva. She opened her mouth, then closed it. There were so many words in her head that she didn't quite know what to go with first. First Laena early in the morning, then the shock of seeing Alex and Seb here at Theta, in the same room, and not working together. The PADD in her hands. The reality of the situation was churning in her gut and it kept her at pause.

After looking at Ari and not knowing what to say, Akiva walked back to his desk and deactivated the privacy measures. It was an action that prevented them from talking about certain things. "When it rains, it pours," he said, sighing with exhaustion. He didn't see back in his chair as he'd evidently spent the night there. But he did sink onto the corner of his desk to get off his feet. Crossing his arms, he looked at Ari with a face full of questions for which his heart and mind weren't necessarily ready to know the answers.

She caught the action out of the corner of her eye, the movement enough to shift her focus into the there and then. "No kidding," she said finally, sounding just as drained as he. "Do you want me to start from this meeting? Or this morning? Because my brain is about to explode and I need direction." She said earnestly, walking over to the sofa that was a bit of a distance away and sitting down, still holding onto the PADD with both hands, elbows on her knees.

How did a heartfelt night full of promise blossom into an utterly disastrous yet cautiously hopeful morning?

"I suppose the first point of order should be how the IA director comes onto my station unexpectedly," Akiva said, "but that's neither here nor there anymore." The look gave her was unintentionally suspicious, but he couldn't pretend he hadn't seen the body language between all three of them. "You lot go back a ways. A friend of yours is a friend of mine."

Friend. Such a nuanced word. It was better than being an enemy. Sometimes it was a euphemism for something more. Was Akiva jealous? Of course not. He was just hungover. The result of stupid choices that led to him embarrassing himself in front of such an important Admiral.

"Let me know if the Lieutenant has anything of note to say?" It was a probing question with a hint of insecurity which was not a good look on Akiva. But who was he to ask after anybody? "Unless it's private. I don't mean to intrude."

Arianna shook her head. How the fuck was she supposed to answer him fully if he turned the scrambler off on her? This was good though, she could feel annoyance and anger rising. This made her creative. She reached into her pant pocket and a sound emanated throughout the room.

She stood up again, leaving the PADD on the coffee table. "Don't..." she started to say, then took a deep breath. This was not...he needed. Ugh!

"Alex is a long-time friend, one of the few in my line of work I could reliably trust." Understanding formed on her face. "Rahal said she'd send more data via a trusted courier. Conestoga was my first mission with her..." Then something clicked in her mind. That wasn't really what the sudden stiff behavior was about. Was it?

Frost took a deep breath and exhaled. "Sebastian...the conversation won't be private. This is about Castermer, it's got to be. He knows I wouldn't touch him with a ten-foot pole. The man has been around...everywhere, I bet you anything he's schmoozing up to an unsuspecting junior as we speak." She shuddered visibly. "He'd flirt with you..." she motioned towards him, "if you let him. He's a brilliant engineer and a good operative, but he's a manwhore. That's not my...ugh..." she shuddered again as she began pacing, trying to release some tension that was coiled inside her.

As she spoke, Akiva felt his mouth open and close tight. His olive cheeks flushed somewhat, realizing that Ari had known his thoughts when he himself hadn't quite processed them yet. "I... believe you..." he managed to say. He didn't entirely avoid eye contact. The brief glimpse he gave her was that of a boy whose hand was caught in the cookie jar. Then, once her explanation sank in, he started laughing at himself. "I'm sorry," he said through a chuckle. "I think I need to take something for this headache." But once he started laughing, it wouldn't stop. A river of silliness and joy flowed from his mouth and began washing away his crusty, grumpy demeanor.

Ari felt her own annoyance deflating. "Don't apologize, it's alright. I do have a history with Alex, but it's a casual thing that hasn't been active in years. In my job...I mean I told you this before.." she spoke with her hands as much as with her voice, "...it's hard to have that safe someone and not be compromised, not be attached or biased. It's hard to really have anyone anything. He and I were that for each other a few times over the last 11 years. But that was it. We're primarily friends and that's it. He prefers being alone and I...well..." her hands talked between them now that she had no words.

Did he remember?

That look she had in her eye was one that haunted Akiva. Usually, it was guarded by duty and obligation, but now the inner conflict looked far more real, similar to how she appeared in... his... dreams. Akiva took a breath. Had he dreamed last night or... "Ari... what happened? Last night, I mean."

"Shit..." Ari sighed internally. "What do you remember?" She asked, feeling the need to pace again, yet again. He needed to find himself, she knew that in her bones.

"I remember we had a briefing," Akiva said slowly, "where we talked about the station and field team. We talked about..." He scrunched his nose and looked sideways. "... birthdays? We shared one and never knew it. And..." It was hard to sort recollection from fantasy. While Akiva had passed out the night before, the broken images that followed him into unconsciousness were not chaste ones. He blushed. "... I think I either owe you a thank-you or an apology."

Ari had to chuckle at that. His sense of propriety was adorable and refreshing. "Never have I ever had someone kiss me and then pass out." She said, unable to hide a good-humored smile. "Now I'm not sure if you passed out before I said not yet and that you needed to go and find yourself." Ari added, "and that I'd be here when you came back...during, or after."

"Oh." A look of relief and disappointment somehow passed over him at the same time. "I guess I have you to thank for not waking up on the floor then." He immediately closed his eyes and tried to put his drunken dreams out of his mind. Waking up on the floor would have made a lot of sense had they been real. "Uh... so, thank you. I am sorry for my mood today. From what I remember of our talk, it was a good one."

Arianna fought her muscles which wanted to spasm into an amused smile. Now was not, the time to go there. "NOT...THE...TIME." Her mind was pretending to be resolute.

Her heart reasoned it was exactly the time to lighten the mood.

"Well, I couldn't exactly take you to bed and the floor seemed very much uncomfortable." They were out. They were out. "I'm not that strong or sado-masochistic, I'm afraid. So the desk seemed as good of a solution as any." She considered this heroic act of keeping a straight face her biggest achievement today.

"No need to apologize. My day started shitty too." She shrugged, still trying to stay serious.

Akiva blushed even harder at the words "take to bed," as that was exactly what the alcohol had told him had happened. Grow up, he told himself. "Well, then I'm sorry for your hard start. Maybe we should head to the infirmary together?"

The mark was landed and Arianna's signature smirk did return. "We should probably look at this data first, I'll go talk to Seb and walk you to the infirmary, if you like?"

Normally Akiva would feel even more embarrassed by a knowing smirk like that from a woman, but from Ari, it was actually comforting. "I would," he said with a nod, ready to put the morning behind him.

It was strange to her, how easily they fell into this mode of playful support and something-ship. It was friendship, but also more. It was feelings, but also more. She knew that he at least felt some of what she did. It all fell so naturally into their...maybe dynamic was a better word?

She nodded and went back to the coffee table and picked up the PADD. Ari typed in the date of the mission and the PADD unlocked. Data sprang up at her.

"Fuck...this is data on Lazarus." Ari said, handing the PADD over to Akiva. "We'll need to talk to Leah."

"Does it contain anything that would help Nandi?" Akiva asked. She had been slated to go to Earth with Storr, Jaya, and Laena to search out any leads they could find, but Mrazak threw a kink in that plan just to be spiteful. Perhaps Mrazak's pettiness would work in their favor for once. "Or maybe even let her scrub her mission?"

Ari nodded, "we'll need to re-task her. Rahal risked a lot to get us this, we shouldn't waste this opportunity. Leah prepped her so they'd have a go-to communication method." Then she paused, memory of early morning coming back with a vengeance. "I'll need to talk to Leah anyway..." Ari sighed and looked over at him, "Laena's prep was a disaster. I've got no control and I am worried. I need to see if Leah has any assets we can use instead. I'm sorry...I tried, but she was set on one-upping me rather than listening..."

"Laena can be a lightning rod," Akiva said with a nod of acknowledgment and agreement. "But we have to trust to each other, now more than ever. Her style might not be by the book, but if she goes too far outside her normal routine then she'd start leaving a trail of red flags. It's a dangerous line we're all walking."

Arianna agreed and sighed. "Agreed. We don't really have much of a choice in the matter either." Then resolute kicked in, "I will look at contingencies though. We can't afford not to have them." She picked up the data chit from her other pocket and slotted it into the PADD. Data began copying over.

Once she was done she removed the chit and re-formatted the PADD, making sure all data on it was erased.

"Alright, let's go get you to the infirmary and find answers." She said after moments of silence.

Akiva nodded with a faint wince. "Hm. Yes. Let's."

Ari nodded, pressed the button on the scrambler in her pocket. "I promise, next time i'll bring something that doesn't cause headaches." She said with a chuckle as she stepped out of the office then stood aside, waiting for Akiva to join her.

"No... no, I just need to regain my temperance," Akiva said. Was there a double meaning there? Perhaps.

Ari shrugged as they headed down the hall, "dunno, I've seen worse. Not from you, just in general."

She felt...deflated. Like her emotions just shut off, deadened.

Akiva gave her a side-eye glance. "I'm sorry." He gave her shoulder a light squeeze and let go. "For as long as I can remember, I've lived with a shadow overhead. Sometimes it gets the better of me and...and those around me suffer most for it. I tend to keep my distance from others for that reason. You've suffered from it today. And... I'm sorry."

It took her a moment to process what he was saying. Wait...what? Why? Ari blinked then stopped, reaching out in a gentle bid to get him to face her. "Sorry...I'm not sure what you're talking about?" Her shut-off brain was scrambling to catch up. "Am I missing a step somewhere that's making you apologize? With everything that's happened since this morning it's hard to keep track."

"Oh..." Akiva sighed with exhaustion himself but somehow summoned just enough feeling to color his cheeks a mild red. "I thought... well, I've been curt this morning and maybe it..." This wasn't Laena. While she often took his gestures the wrong way, Akiva had to remind himself that was unique to the nature of their relationship as well as her as an individual. "Never mind, then. Maybe it was just the headache."

Ari blinked. Oh...wow, was it really that bad for him? How does she keep this professional to passers-by and yet put his mind at ease? "I'm just emotionally flat right now, because of everything that went on since I woke up this morning. This is really the first moment when things stopped and...yeah. I feel a little flat is all. I'm sorry I made you think you'd done something wrong. That wasn't my intent at all. If I'm upset at you I'll tell you and explain why. I promise. And I need you to promise me the same in return." She looked around briefly before continuing, "I prefer talking to fighting, any day of the week."

A half grin of relief broke through his weary face. "So would I," he agreed. "To the infirmary then."

"Alright, let's go see if our new Cardassian v'tosh ka'tur is all she's cracked up to be." Ari motioned towards the Turbolift.

Akiva shook his head. Had he not already met her, he wouldn't have believed it. "She held her own in the brig with the two insane V'tosh Ka'tur. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised by anything."

Ari gave a mock exasperated sigh, "you just jinxed it." She gave him a playful bump on the shoulder as they kept on walking.

"No such thing," Akiva said plainly. "People just are who they are." He couldn't hold back a smirk from her though.

 

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