Let the yelling begin!

Posted on Wed Aug 8th, 2018 @ 6:46pm by Major Hailey Weston & Lieutenant JG Siobahn Fallon

Mission: https://wellington.pegasusfleet.site/index.php/sim/missions/id/4
Location: Siobahn's Quarters

Siobahn wasn't sure how long she had spent in the shower, but even having washed her hair three times and scrubbed her hands until they were red, the metallic smell of blood still permeated her senses. Now wrapped in a freshly replicated robe, she pulled the blanket from her bed and wrapped it around her before walking quietly back into the small living area of her quarters, sinking down onto the couch and tucking her feet up under her. "Computer, turn out the lights and lock the doors," she ordered quietly as she rested her head against the back of the couch.

She was exhausted, a bone weary, utterly drained kind of exhaustion that left a dull feeling of nausea in her stomach and every part of her aching. She could feel a tension headache building up behind her temples and longed to close her eyes and sleep, but every time she closed her eyes all she could see was blood. So much blood.

With an involuntary shiver, Siobahn drew in a slow breath and pulled the blanket tighter around her, wincing at the pain each movement brought.

Nyx had kept talking and talking and talking to Hailey, blocking her path time and again so that the Major couldn't leave, even defying direct orders to move while still covered in blood. Had she made valid points? Yes, she'd told her what had happened, generally speaking, she'd even walked through the compound and the details of the death of Carlos Rivero, but that kept Hailey from going to see Siobahn.

And she was furious. At Nyx, at Siobahn, at everything involved in this gods be damned situation. So it had almost been an hour since Nyx had shown back up on board the Wellington with the bedraggled and bloody Siobahn as well and Hailey was finally, FINALLY able to go see her. She made it to the door and pressed the admittance key, but the door didn't open. She punched in the code Siobahn had given her, but the door didn't open then, either. She finally knocked on the door, "Siobahn, are you there?" No answer. Finally, she formed a fist and pounded on the door, "Siobahn," She growled, "Open the door."

The feeling of nausea increased about a hundred fold. Siobahn knew this moment was coming, and in all honesty she was surprised it had taken as long as it had. She had expected Hailey to have stormed her quarters moments after she got back. The delay could only have been, once more, thanks to Nyx. Yet another debt she would never be able to repay.

"Unlock the door," Siobahn ordered quietly, listening in the darkness as the doors slid open with a hiss and then closed again, leaving them both in silence and near darkness.

Part of Hailey automatically started to order the lights on and up, but certainly the younger woman had them off for a reason. She moved forward, hands wringing in front of her, unsure what to do, what to say, then her mouth opened and it just came out. "What were you thinking?" Her tone was angry, but soft, rising in volume, "You could have gotten yourself killed! Hell, you DID almost get yourself killed!" A couple more steps and it was far louder, "I TOLD you not to go near him!"

"I know," Siobahn replied quietly, figuring it was just going to be easier to let Hailey get it out of her system, at least for the moment. She opened her mouth to say something else, then stopped, remaining silent instead.

"I spent four YEARS with him as a girl, because I HAD to, I knew what he was, not at first, but year after year, I did what I had to do to SURVIVE, I told you about that, I told you what he WAS. I joined the Marines to get AWAY from him, to put him away in jail forever!" Her fists were clenched, no filter to her voice, yelling, knowing it wouldn't help, but couldn't stop herself, "The first thing I wanted to do when I saw him was put a bullet between his eyes, but I didn't have my gun with me! So I thought if we didn't go near him, he'd just go away! I TOLD YOU NOT TO GO NEAR HIM!" Tears were running down her face.

"He would have killed you without a second thought! Just to get to me, because I'M the one who got him sent to prison and you were close to me! THEN he wanted me to come after him myself! So that either I'd get myself killed in the process, or so he could do it himself with you as a hostage, THEN he would either have killed you or broken you to his will!" An anguished sob came from her through her anger, "Why? Why did you do it?"

Hearing the emotion in Hailey's voice nearly broke her as Siobahn glanced away, biting down hard on her bottom lip to stop herself from reacting. "He hurt you," she finally said simply, her voice shaking with every word.

"A long time ago..." Hailey seemed to plead, "Over a decade ago. He couldn't have done it to me again, unless he had you." She shook her head hard, "I could have come up with a way to deal with him, quickly, cleanly, no muss, no fuss." Her fists unclenched then clenched again, "Instead, Nyx had to put herself in extreme danger to save you.. I owe her more than you can possibly imagine, but she thought it was amusing to do."

Siobahn sniffed, turning her face away again in the darkness. "I'm sorry," she said quietly, not knowing what else to say.

"That's all you can say? 'I'm Sorry'?" Hailey snarled, "Did you know that Nyx actually got SHOT?"

The change in Hailey's tone was what finally pushed her over the edge as Siobahn choked back a sob. "I'm sorry, okay! I'm sorry! It was a stupid, stupid thing to do and I didn't think about it properly and I'm sorry! I'm sorry! He hurt you, that's all I could think about, he hurt you and I wanted to hurt him back, and I was stupid enough to think I could do something, and I'm sorry!" She drew in a shaky breath, pulling the blanket tighter around her again, her voice going back to a hushed whisper. "I'm sorry..."

With that, the rage, the fury of Hailey left her, all drained out, "No, you didn't think. You did do something stupid and it's too late to change that now." She shook her head, "Too late. I believe you're sorry, Siobahn, but it doesn't change the facts. I need you to tell me you aren't going to do something like... This again. If I tell you to avoid someone, stay away from them."

"Computer, lights," Siobahn ordered quietly, her voice still shaky. As the lights came up, she turned to face Hailey for the first time, pulling back her tangled hair to reveal the full extent of her injuries, every bruise, every cut, every graze, every contusion. Every physical mark on display. "Suffice it to say I learned my lesson," Siobahn replied softly.

Any anger and stress that had been remaining in Hailey vanished at the sight of Siobahn and she took a weak-kneed step towards the younger woman, "Yeah..." She couldn't help but say. She staggered towards where Siobahn always kept an emergency med kit, "I, I need to get you patched up."

Siobahn shook her head, pulling away as Hailey returned with the medical kit. "No," she said quietly, staring down at her hands that were holding the blanket firmly in front of her. "Don't... I got what I deserved."

"I've been where you are." Hailey said quietly, "No one deserves what happened to you, I'm happy he didn't get further than what he did." She was firm as she opened the medkit and grabbed the dermal regenerator.

Releasing her grasp on the blanket, Siobahn let it fall back on the couch silently, allowing Hailey to do her thing. "I really am sorry..." she said weakly. "I didn't let myself think clearly... I'll apologise to Nyx too... I swear..."

Hailey slowly and meticulously worked on healing the physical marks left on Siobahn by Carlos, "You won't need to apologize to her... She seems to think it was a bit of fun, she only got grazed with that shot.. I think she's worried about you, what you had to do, thinks she should have taken him out without you needing to do anything. Could she have?"

"Maybe... I don't know..." Siobahn hesitated for a long moment. "I don't even know how Nyx got in there..." she paused again. "When she came in he had a knife in my throat. I spent most of the time with my eyes closed just praying he would kill me and get it over and done with..." she said quietly.

"I know that feeling." Hailey smiled hopefully, "It's not 'fun' in any shape or form. As for Nyx? She let herself be recruited as a mercenary to get her foot in the door, literally if I caught her story correctly, then she did what Nyx does."

"What did she tell you?" Siobahn asked quietly, not entirely sure at this point what had and had not been said.

Hailey sat back on her haunches and looked at her, "That she forced him to drop the knife, you picked it up and stabbed him twice."

Siobahn remained quiet for a long moment, thinking about everything before she replied again. "He dropped the knife, and me at the same time... When I hit the floor I saw the knife and I just reacted. I killed him... I took the knife and I pushed it into his heart under his sternum." she spoke matter of factly, almost as if she were discussing a simple procedure. She lapsed back into silence, contemplating how honest she should be at this point. Finally, figuring she had nothing to lose, she turned enough to look at Hailey with a deadpan, expressionless face. "Before Nyx came I shot someone too.. that's how he got me. That was my mistake. I shot his bodyguard, not him."

It took a few seconds for it to register in Hailey's mind because she had never expected it. Then her eyes widened in shock, in shame, in concern and then in curiosity, "Siobahn, you shouldn't... You really shouldn't be doing that... I wanted you to learn how to defend yourself, not how to..." She shook her head, "What about the Hippocratic Oath?"

"I was defending myself," Siobahn replied quietly. "He had a gun, he had been sneaking up on me from behind, but I turned and used the wall for support and he was there." She fell silent for a moment, her voice wavering with emotion as she spoke again. "I didn't do it for fun. I wouldn't... I..." she stopped speaking as she struggled to find the words to accurately describe and explain.

"I understand." Hailey said quietly, reaching out and wrapping her arms around Siobahn, "More than you can imagine. You did good, better than most, you have nothing to be ashamed of, you hear me?"

"Except for the fact that I didn't listen, did something phenomenally stupid and put everyone at risk because I decided to be a hot headed idiot." Siobahn shook her head and pulled away slightly. "I have everything to be ashamed of."

"It wasn't everyone at risk, just... Us. And there's no evidence that it was anyone from this ship that caused the problems." Hailey tried to reassure Siobahn, "Bow and arrows and a few bits of metal, none of it traceable to us. Nyx assured me of that, anyways... Would any of the survivors of his gang want to admit that it was one woman who did all of that? It's done, it's over, now we move on with life." Spoken like someone who had been there, done that, again and again.

"What if I can't move on?" Siobahn asked quietly, genuinely looking at Hailey for the first time.

"Then..." Hailey shuddered internally, knowing what it could mean, turning into someone much like herself after she joined the marines, "We take those steps if we get there. But we take any steps together, all right? You and me."

Siobahn paused for a long moment, not speaking, simply staring at her hands before looking back to Hailey again. "You don't hate me?" she asked quietly. "Because, you know, you should and I wouldn't blame you at all."

Hailey gave Siobahn an odd look, “Hate you? Why would I ever hate you? Angry, yes, worried off my ass, hell yes, but hate you?” She shook her head slowly, “Darling, sweetheart, you made a mistake, one bloody hell of a mistake, one that could have turned out badly, but it was a mistake in judgement. Everyone makes errors like that and this one turned out better than most.” ‘Better than some I’ve made or been a part of.’ She thought.

With a soft sigh, Siobahn pulled the blanket up around her again. "Small mercies," she said dully. "Computer, lights to twenty five percent," she ordered, leaning back against the back of the couch, still resisting the urge to close her eyes.

Hailey let her weight carry her back to a sitting position on the floor, "I'm relieved that you made out out all right."

Siobahn reached one hand out in the direction of Hailey, pulling her forward toward the couch. "Sit with me?" she asked hopefully. "I just don't want to be alone."

Hailey grabbed the hand and hauled herself up, sliding onto the couch and pressing up against Siobahn, wrapping her arms around her, "I don't want to be alone either... It really sucks."

Leaning into Hailey, Siobahn sighed softly, feeling the tension ebb from her body. "It does, it really does."

OFF:

Major Hailey Weston
Marine CO/Second Officer
USS Wellington

Ensign Siobahn Fallon
Medical Officer
USS Wellington