The Wrong Guy, Again
Posted on Fri Mar 1st, 2024 @ 1:47am by Commander Arianna Frost & Master Warrant Officer Trenton Mayhew
Edited on on Fri Mar 1st, 2024 @ 7:35pm
Mission:
S1E6: Where Skies End
Location: Overwatch Various
Timeline: MD2, sometime after 'Call of Duty'
Frost had been re-examining her life today as she sat in her small, makeshift office, going over some actual station administration work. She was used to chaos and unpredictability. It was always her job to make order out of chaos and bring predictability to any given situation. Knowledge brought stability, a both together brough power.
So why was she having so much trouble of late with finding order and predictability? It seemed like the tapestry of the universe was unraveling faster than Ari could find the thread and bein to stitch it back together. It wasn't only her solidifying feelings for a man she shouldn't have them for, it was Castermer, people she thought she knew, she thought she could trust.
Her entire world and her role in it were coming apart at the seams and she was fast running out of rivets.
Was it just that she had reached the new level of the game and she was still just learning the field? Or did she become complacent? Was she starting to fail at what defined her to the core?
"Commander." The distinct digitized voice of Acting Commandant Mayhew interrupted her melancholic reverie. "We have a scheduled meeting tomorrow, but if it's all the same to you, I would like to address matters now."
Arianna looked up from the PADD she'd been trying to read and over at the MWO, who had simply walked into her office without request or announcement.
"Mister Mayhew, please..." she motioned for him to come in and sit down.
He thought these matters couldn't wait a day, so she would accommodate him. Mayhew rarely stepped foot out of line, so Ari would not harp on about protocol when requesting a meeting out of cycle with a superior officer.
"Great." Not thank you. Just acknowledgement. He took a seat across from her desk and extended a PADD filled with grievances. "Here's a list of operational security concerns."
Right at the top of the list was LT Calderon Jarsdel. There was also mention of the Barcade owned and operated by Siany ZyMach in some bizarre diplomatic mess. The frequent absence of Colonel Garlake from his post, whether by orders or some form of leave or another was also included. There was also the network intrusion by the rogue DTI agent, a Bynar named Tenner who had wanted to brute-force his way into seeing a certain artifact which was not kept in Deep Storage but rather on the station.
"While I don't anticipate anything being done to rectify them, they will be included in my log as acting commandant." Mayhew's face was stiff. "Upon the colonel's return, perhaps he will give each matter its due weight."
Right. There was a moment in every job where you got held accountable. Where consequences catch up with you. Seemed like this was going to be such a moment and she would have to bear the brunt of it. The beauty of delegation, eh?
"Alright, start from the top. Mister Jarsdel. Aside from the glaringly obvious fact of what he did, what do you propose a unit like this does with a person with the potential to rip through everything and everyone?" Ari sat back in her chair, calmly, without aggression.
"Bring him to the airlock and I'll show you," Mayhew spat. "But notify the platoon first. A lot of Marines here would love to watch that bastard get sent on the float."
Arianna interlaced her fingers on her lap and waited silently, watching him with sympathy. He had every right to feel angry, and furious even if his current reaction was anything to go by. She gave him a few more moments to let all the steam leave him.
"Yeah, that's what I thought." Mayhew leveled a harsh stare, taking her silence as support for the status quo.
"No." Ari sighed, "that was me letting you have your say without cutting you off after you stepped over the line, Mister Mayhew, because I feel for your role in it. However, Mister Jarsdel is under strict supervision and a re-integration program as he is an asset who is more valuable alive than dead and as part of OSI and Black Ops, we often have to accept the fact that those who hurt us can also be sources of information which can aid us. This is the job, Mister Mayhew. It's sadly that black and white. So airlocking and gun squad request denied."
She extended her hands again, please proceed.
"You got my list there. If you're just going to shoot everything down, I'll leave now and include that in my log." Mayhew put his hands on his thighs and held himself at half-cock, ready to leave if Ari gave any sign of intransigence.
"You'll miss me agreeing with you on the Barcade and ZyMach, but that's fine, I'll process your concerns and run them up the chain." Ari replied casually, not giving any indication that she was phased by his attitude. She did however note to herself that Jaya needed to speak to him. Tne man was a walking PTSD cluster. "Or you could sit with me and talk."
Mayhew kept staring. "You've got a reason why there is a fucking bartender on my station? I'm all ears."
Arianna raised her hands, "hey, this came from OSI head honcho's, we had no say. She's here as a Telino representative guarding a specific artefact. Given she has no formal Starfleet training of any kind they gave her a bar to run, to stay out of our way. The only way we could get the artefact under lock and key was to have her here. Believe me, I'd rather ship her off home to Telino myself but our hands are tied."
"I understand it," Mayhew said. "I just disagree. The bar is fine for morale but bad on discipline. While you were laying on a beach on Risa, I had several interactions with ZyMach that revealed her to be a material threat to the integrity of my security apparatus. She is a weak point, admitting to leaking classified data if given the chance and constantly pushing to receive clearance to areas she ought not to be."
"I disagree with it too. The Captain lodged a complaint and so did I from an Intelligence standpoint we both got re-buffed." Ari sighed. "That's why the staff have instructions not to discuss sensitive information in front of her, or if it gets too bad to give her false information. As for clearance, she will not be getting it. We have to have her here, but it will be in our terms. So all that you've said, Command agrees with, all valid points."
"So if I have to detain her and she cites diplomatic immunity or royal privilege, I won't be hung out to dry?" Mayhew looked skeptical.
Ari spread her hands out from her lap, "diplomatic immunity is immunity from persecution and royal privilege extends to subjects. We are not subjects and she's being detained, not persecuted." She said easily. Then her tone turned serious, "but yes, you will not be hung out to dry for doing your job, Mister Mayhew."
No, just seriously maimed and or killed. She thought to herself with pity as she observed him. Ari sympathized with what had happened to him on a very deep level. When she took that plasma explosion to the eyes, had believed that she would be blind forever. For a full year, not knowing whether she'd ever see again.
"I'm going to trust you," Mayhew said, "because she was... persistent... while you were away. I'm honestly surprised she hasn't tried again."
"What's your take on it?" Ari prompted.
Mayhew sighed with a scowl. "I already told you, sir. That she needs to get the fuck off my station!"
"Mister Mayhew, one day, when you get to be the full-time Commandant," Ari clipped, "you can reply to genuine questions like that. However, I would still like to hear your take on what this...thing she was persistent on...is. I'm still asking, at this point."
The look on Mayhew's face showed that he wanted to change the subject but couldn't, as he'd been the one to press the issue. "She wanted access to... certain... secure... training... facilities..." It was hard to trail off with a synthetic larynx and the digitized voice it created.
Ari nodded, "and you..." She prompted with her hands.
"Denied it, of course," Mayhew said, incredulous she even asked. "She has no business being there."
Ari nodded, the dots connecting in her mind. A gym was hardly a secure training facility on most days. Not unless there was specialized equipment there for whatever reason. Most days there was not. No, this was not a matter of security. This was personal. This was...her enroaching on his territory.
Of all people that she considered insecure on the station, Trenton Mayhew hardly qualified for Ari. Until now. It explained so much!
"Have you considered diverting her to one of the other facilities...one with less strategic importance? It's often found if given another toy, curious cats will have their attention diverted." Ari suggested, trying very, very, very hard not to show her thoughts and realizations in her face.
"No." Mayhew turned adamant. "She is a noncombatant. She isn't even Starfleet. She isn't supposed to be here."
"And this is why you fail." Ari canted her head again, observing the man for a moment. "Alright, next order of business?" He wanted someone to yell and vent at, she understood that, but he needed to find an appropriate conduit. Circle jerk conversations didn't get people anywhere.
"My commandant is gone," Mayhew said. "The brass might think about assigning me one who could actually be here more often than not."
Ari crossed one leg over the other, "Master Warrant Officer, what is the purpose of this facility?" She asked, fingers interlacing on her lap.
"That is irrelevant to my mandate," Mayhew retorted, "which is to secure it."
"Your mandate is the same as ours. Do...what...it...takes." Arianna countered. "So as Command, we don't have the luxury of sitting back cozy and safe while the subordinates take all the risks. We have to get our hands dirty too. Sometimes that means, someone else takes over in the interim. My mandate is to task assets and collect information to pass on, as an Intelligence Officer. I've done fuck all of that here. Had to take it on myself while someone else sat in the cushy chair and did the analyst's job. This is the description of Black Ops, especially one with our classification." She said with a sigh, "that being said, I do understand your frustration at the matter. I have been in your shoes a few times myself. Especially after my injury, while my bosses ran around creating more problems for me to deal with."
She then shifted slightly, fingers now interlaced on her desk, "but you know what? I pulled my big girl pants on and went on with it. Like it or not, Mister Mayhew this is the job. We don't fall under 'regular' purview, and the sooner you but your big boy pants on the sooner you will have an easier time getting on with it."
Mayhew glowered at her. This time last year, he would have taken the verbal beating like a good marine. After everything from the past few months, though, he spoke freely without permission. "With all due respect, sir, fuck your mouth." He stood up. "You have my report. I think we're done here."
Arianna sighed and stood. "No, we're not. Two hours, the gym. Don't hold back." She took her commbadge off as a silent communication of this being off the record.
Mayhew was going to warn her that she didn't know who she had just challenged. But then if she thought she was such hot shit, maybe he would show rather than tell. "Be there," he said, intentionally leaving off the subject pronoun.
Arianna nodded. This man sorely needed a vent. No, sorely was the wrong word. Desperately. Oh she understood that she would get her ass handed to her on a plate. Their styles of combat were vastly different and she knew she was no match for him. Someone needed to take the punch however. Before they lost Mayhew to whatever self destructive method he decided upon.
Two hours later, Mayhew was in the gym. Equipment had been pushed against the walls and mats were rolled onto the floor. Things were kept analog here with little more than safety sensors to monitor the health of the personnel. He stood ready, barefoot in his red gi tied with a black belt across his waist. If Frost backed out at the last second, he was going to be livid.
Frost stepped inside, dressed in a sleeveless shirt and loose pants which were tapered at the ankle. She too was barefoot and had a bottle of liquid in her hand and a towel, her face completely make up free, hair pulled back at the sides with safety clips, so as not to get into her face.
"Mister Mayhew." She acknowledged him easily.
"Take your position." Mayhew cocked his head toward the center of the room.
Ari nodded and set aside her towel and bottle on the bench before heading over to the center of the room. She flexed her joints as she did so, to warm up.
As she stepped into the center, she gave him a quick bow, as a greeting and out of respect before she took a position, legs spaced apart, sideways, so she made a smaller target and dropped into a semi squat, her arms up in a defensive posture.
"At your leisure, Mister Mayhew." Ari said with a nod, watching his movements carefully.
Mayhew's lips spread in a tight smirk. Partial cat stance? This was going to be a shit show.
"Kiai!" Mayhew yelled out, jumping forward with his right knee pumped up to his waist which set him up for an aerial front snap kick with his left leg.
Ari dropped to the floor, and swept under his supporting leg, in a bid to sweep him to the floor, but as he spun over her, she spun underneath him and rolled over to the other side, before turning around and resuming her stance.
With their initial moves out of the way, Mayhew lunged toward Ari with a punch combo. Left jab to the face. Right jab to the body. Left cross to the head.
Ari brought her forearms up to cover her face, which resulted in her taking a punch to the kidney. She winced in pain, but made no move to stop. As the second left blow was ending, she grabbed his wrist and used his momentum to pull him closer, turning in and against him. She widened her stance in the process in the move to flip him over her back and get him onto the floor.
The wrist grab telegraphed her intention before Mayhew felt her weight shift. Rather than get pulled into a hip toss, he simply dropped weight. Her grip broke on his wrist. With her widened stance, he shot her legs by grabbing her around the knees and thrust forward with his shoulders.
Part of her was actually enjoying the fact that he wasn't holding back. So many always did, just because of who she was. To have her skill actually be tested by skill, rather than surprise was exhilarating. As Ari joined him on the floor, she used her arms for leverage and kicked out at his chest to get free of the grip.
There was one place she didn't want to touch, or hit. no, it wasn't below the belt. It was his voice box.
Ari rolled out of the grip quickly, before raising her leg and planting her heel in his plexus.
At first Mayhew was going to fall atop Ari but her heel changed that plan. He rolled to one side, though he trapped her leg inside both arms until they slid down to her hip to keep her from going anywhere. Interlocking his legs, he pinned her arm until he could grab it grab her head and force it against her arm while he went for a triangle choke. It would put her arm and neck between his legs that squeezed her shoulders in a hold that could make her pass out.
Hail Mary or tap out. That's where that was at. Ari still had some leverage on her knees, so she drove her other arm under his legs and twisted herself into a turn and forward to open up the triangle lock, before rolling him sideways. Once the lock broke, Ari shoved her free arm through his legs and rolled out once again and to her feet as quickly as she could.
Back on their feet, the two combatants faced off in a half circle. Mayhew launched into a flying knee strike toward Ari's face. His reverse elbow was cocked back and ready for a follow-up strike.
Ari managed to dodge under the knee strike, but caught the followup strike straight in the nose which sent her flying to the floor again. She managed to fall into a roll, though not before spattering blood in her path as she rolled out of his reach.
Frost wiped the blood with the back of her hand, ignoring the thrumming in the front of her face. Broken likely, she'd risk touching it later. Ari started lightly jogging over to him, jabbing here, swiping there, testing his defences. So far he was on the offense, which his reach afforded him well. Mayhew knew what he was doing, and he did it well.
A straight out spar fight, she knew she'd likely lose, which was okay with her. Her strengths were in different combat fields, none of which were present here. Yet, the loss needed to be earned, or this whole situation would have been for nothing. No letting of steam, no earning of respect.
She'd make him earn her loss.
When Ari took the offense, Mayhew changed up again. He took a flat footed stance and let his limbs go noodly. Wherever Ari threw a punch, Mayhew's arms somehow were already there in a wide gesture that trapped hers and left her open to a counterstrike.
He abandoned power for speed and precision. First an inside punch, then after another trap and counter, a backfist. Each blow stung but lacked knockout power. What was he waiting for? Was he toying with her?
Finally an opening presented itself. Mayhew snaked a quick punch through the hole Ari had left. Seeing it would connect, Mayhew primed himself to finish her. A flurry of lightning quick chain punches followed, one light punch after another that moved in a blur, faster than the eye could track. If there was one, there was fifty, all in the span of seconds which drove Ari to the mat.
Mayhew followed her, mounting her upper body with his legs and holding his fist back over her head. His eyes were ignored in the fire of battle. "Yield," he said.
Ari was breathing hard, her hands on his thighs. Sure, yielding was an option. To be honest, she'd loved it. It'd been a while since she'd had a real opponent who was unpredictable, who wasn't a computer generated individual. Her nose was beginning to thrum pretty hard, blood still pouring down the sides of her face now that she was prone under him.
"Should I, yield?" She asked of him, looking up at Trent, seeing the inferno in his eyes. "Or should I keep fighting? Which one do you need?"
Mayhew furrowed his brow. What kind of question was that? If she didn't yield, then he would have to knock her out. They tacitly agreed to full contact. Now she was asking what he needed. Wasn't it obvious? Was she messing with him?
"Which one do I need?" Mayhew was nearly furious at the question. "What do I need?!".
The question made him go into overdrive. Grabbing her cheeks with both hands, Mayhew kissed Ari right through the blood that tricked down her nose to her chin. She wanted to know what he wanted and so he gave it to her.
"Oh for fuck sake!" Ari screamed internally as she was pulled up roughly and snogged out of her senses.
Several thoughts ran through her mind as she spread her arms back, a) to support herself and b) to give no indication of participating. Being locked between his legs, with her face in a vice and her nose most definitely broken she didn't have much wiggle room to break free. She'd have to wait it out.
Yes, her nose was definitely broken, she knew that now for certain as when his nose brushed against hers then remained leaned against it, it hurt like a motherfucker.
Two combative thoughts however tossed and turned in mind. If only she didn't have feelings for someone else, she might have gone for this rough mating initiation. The other though was almost as painful as the pain in the middle of her face. This felt an awful lot like cheating, even though it really wasn't. It still felt an awful lot like it and it hurt in her heart.
They weren't together, they weren't even on the path to it...not yet at least so in every way shape or form she could indulge guilt free. And yet, the hard stone block had been pulled up to a hard stop ahead of her, almost as hard as the abs that were peeking through the opened up gi in front of her.
But no...she couldn't. Moreover, wouldn't. It felt like cheating, even though it wasn't.
Which only meant that the feelings she had were real. "Fuck!"
Mayhew pulled away, his lips stained with blood. Her blood. It was plain to see Ari wasn't into it. But that just fine. Par for the course really. Mayhew stepped over the line, but this entire fight had already broken every reg in the book.
"Don't move." Rather than cup her cheeks, Mayhew's hands covered her nose. Two fingers pinched Ari's nose bone back into a straight alignment and then Mayhew's other hand rapped his own knuckles. A searing crunch put Ari's nose back in place. "Might want to ice that," Mayhew said, getting off of her and walking over to his bench for a towel.
"Oh thank fuck," she sighed mentally as he pulled away, and she gingerly got on her feet. "Yeah..." she said finally as she straightened out and blinked the pain and the wooziness away.
She headed over to where she'd left her towel and instead of wiping her sweaty face, she moulded the towel into her hand before gingerly placing it over her nose and mouth. She didn't really want to draw too many eyes when she went to see a medic.
There remained a matter to settle before she left though. "'Ey Bayhew?" She said, her tone muffled and distorted due to the block of her nose.
While the psycho vibe had seeped out of him, clearly, more than a few regs were broken. He needed to know he wouldn't be hung out to dry for them.
"Yeah, yeah, today never happened. I'm not stupid." Mayhew wiped his face and started toward the showers without looking back.
"I wath doind to thay good batch abd leave it at bat." She said with a sigh before she too turned and left.
She knew she couldn't win them all, but if today helped him at all, that was good enough for her. Mayhew didn't need that conversation, and she wasn't going to have it with him. Part of her felt bad for him though. Poor sod seemed to be getting the short end of the stick a lot lately.
Her more immediate issue was, how the fuck was she going to reconcile her burgeoning guilt with the logic of the situation.
"You'd better get that looked at," Mayhew said, disappearing into the showers. "You sound like a Ferengi overdosing on Hupyrian beetle snuff."
Arianna sighed, and stepped out of the gym, wondering why she kept getting snogged by the wrong blokes lately.
