<USS Avalon> "Brewing Storms"

  Brewing Storms
by Lts Patrick McEntire and Sussanna Jameson

Anna's fingers scraped the cliff face in front of her as her head finally 
crested the cliff top. Pulling herself over the edge and onto flat land 
again, she curled up, her breath coming in short bursts. She turned around 
and stared out across the planes, the storm brewing on the horizon mirroring 
the dark grey of her eyes.

"It's gonna rain. I don't remember programming rain into this simulation. 
But then, it does have random weather in it." The breeze that dried the 
sweat on her forehead was hot, though, so the storm would be welcomed.
 Mac climbed up beside her and sat, drawing his waterskin up and offering it 
to her before taking some himself. "My God," he said, looking at the view. 
"It's beautiful here. You did a good job with this." Wiping the sweat from 
his brow, he nodded at her assessment of the weather. "Yeah, a little rain 
would be good right about now, though."

"Water to purge." They hadn't spoken much at all since they'd started, 
Anna's natural stoic silence envelloping them. "That's what they call it. 
Water to purge: the flash floods that bring new life in the wake of 
distruction."
 Mac sighed, stretching then laying back upon the ground. "We've seen worse, 
Anna. You can't really believe this is the first time the kid's pushed me 
and everyone else around him away, can you?"

"It's the first time it's my fault." Glancing over at him, she reached over 
to brush his face with her fingers. "I'm sorry."
 Mac raised up on his elbows and drew her to him. "It's okay, sweetheart. 
It's not your fault. He's gearing up for something and just not doing 
distractions is all. It'll pass. Just relax, okay? It'll be fine."

"Okay." Snuggling down into him, she let her muscles relax. "Why are you so 
sweet, Patrick McEntire?" Anna kissed his cheek lightly and smiled.
 Mac laughed at that, shaking his head. "Good upbringing," he answered at 
last, figuring his mother'd want to know he'd given her at least a bit of 
credit when at last he took Anna home to meet her.

"You have a big family. don't you?" She bit her lip, not sure if she should 
ask, since she knew how hard families could be. "Tell me about them?"
 His smile widened and his expression became almost wistful. "Yeah..I've got 
a big family. Mom - Ana - dad - Jim - and twelve brothers and sisters. Five 
older - Paul, Chris and the triplets - Sean, Shel and Seth - seven younger - 
Connie, Mike, Lici, Tim, the twins - Deanie and Jeanie - and baby Shan. What 
else do you want to know?"

Anna's eyes widened as he recited what sounded like a McEntire convention 
rather than a family. "When do I get to meet them?" she said in a very 
small, scared voice.
 Mac tried not to laugh. "Don't sound so afraid, honey. Whenever you're 
ready, and not a minute before, okay?"

"It's important to you, isn't it?"
 "Well, yeah...of course it is...they are...you are...but I'm patient. It's 
all good." Mac laid back again. "Don't sweat the small stuff, hon, I'm not." 
He looked over at her and, seeing her expression still clouded, asked, "How 
about you tell me about your family."

"I'm an only child of only children. My father's a doctor, a GP you know? 
You know about my Mum. We were happy, I guess. Me and my Dad, we don't get 
on so well. He thinks I should have stayed on Earth, been a surgeon in 
Sydney General Hospital. He's the kind of man who's always right, who always 
knows best. You don't have a conversation with him, he lectures at you and 
calls it 'bonding.'" A little of her old bitterness seeped back into her 
voice. With a bark of a laugh, she said, "Next time we get to Earth, you can 
meet him."
 "Sounds sweet. I've got a better idea," Mac said with a grin. "We'll 
introduce him to Josh."

Chuckling, she moved to kiss him deeply. "Would you think me a terrible 
person if I told you that I half want him to be gone when I go home?"
 Mac shook his head. "No. I couldn't ever think that about you no matter 
what you told me. And given what you've said about him...well...I can't say 
I'd blame you for thinking that at all."

Anna snorted as she rolled away and struggled to her feet. "Ow, I ache now." 
Slowly, she stretched each of her muscles and watched the storm fly nearer. 
"You wanna be here when it hits?"
 Mac laughed from where he remained there on the ground. "Well, seeing as 
I'm too damned lazy to even get up let alone climb back down just yet...why 
not.."

The first spray brushed her face and she closed her eyes in anticipation. 
Purging. Cleansing of the past and cleaning of the future. Each drop that 
hit her face got harder, each pounding spike felt like a bullet. An almighty 
explosion erupted on the horizon as a fork of lightening hit the plane, a 
tree erupting in fire. Another crash, closer this time and Anna sat back 
down to lie next to Mac, finding herself holding onto him like a child.
 Mac held her close, stroking her hair and enjoying the way the thunder 
rolled around them and the lightening lit up the sky.

As the rain eased off, Anna softened her hold on him. "Take me back to 
yours?" 
 Mac kissed her, then smiled. "Let's go."

"Shall we cheat?" Winking at him, she said, "Computer, show exit." The doors 
to the holosuite materialised beside them and she grinned. "Gotta love 
modern technology."
 "Hey, why not cheat the whole way, then?" Winking back, Mac initiated a 
site to site transport to the quarters he and Josh shared.

Laughing loudly, Anna draped her arms around his neck and kissed him. "Well, 
at least we didn't drip on the carpets. And as strange as it sounds, I could 
do with a shower."
 "Me too," Mac agreed, heading to his room for a towel. He froze just inside 
the door, looking around. "Shit..." Shaking his head in disbeleif, he called 
back to Anna, "Hey, sweetie, how many PADDs are on that table in there?"

"Err... one? Why?" She moved up behind him, wrapping her arms around his 
waist, laying her head on his shoulder.
 Mac considered quickly and decided not to answer until after he'd talked to 
the kid. No sense in upsetting her further over all of this. 
"Um..nothing..just didn't see it in here...wanted to make sure I hadn't left 
it in the hanger bay." He grabbed towels for them both. "Come on...let's 
clean up."

Trailing after him, she smiled to herself as she slid around to walk by his 
side, her arm still around his waist. She turned the hot water on as hot as 
she could stand and stood back. "Wanna check it's not gonna scold you?"
  After removing his shirt, he reached in and yelped, laughing. "Damn, 
woman, I want to get cleaned up, not barbequed!"

Anna smiled acquisitively as she stepped up close to him, brushing her lips 
over his. Pulling back, she said, "I need to work the knots out of my 
shoulders and back, so the hotter the better."
 Mac shook his head, turning her so that his strong but gentle hands could 
work their magic. "Hell, why didn't you just say so? You don't need water 
for that. That's what you've got me for, remember?"

Sighing as his fingers dug the knots out, she let her head drop to her 
chest. "Magic. Pure joy."

"You know...we could always have our shower after we deal with the kinks." 
Grinning wickedly, Mac added. "I seem to be feeling just a little kinky 
myself."

Anna found it hard to keep a straight face. "Make your mind up, Mac. You 
want us in here or in there? Because you know that I don't mind where you 
get your kinks out."
 Mac's grinned widened as he suggested, "Well, I'm feeling so kinky right 
now we might have to do both...but how about we start in there...and work 
our way back to here..."

Grabbing his hand, she pulled him back into the main room, already kissing 
him. Her fingers danced over his back as they fell into the room. She stood 
back and grinned as she pushed him onto the bed and glanced around her.

Something was missing. Staring around, she stopped thinking of Mac for a 
moment, a mystery suddenly gripping her attention. There was the bed, the 
dresser, the bedside tables, a holovid projector and...

"Mac, where's Josh's bedroll?"
 Mac hesitated a moment, then flipped over atop her, pinning her beneath him 
and kissing her, muttering, "Closet maybe...now kiss me you fool.." hoping 
to distract her, thinking Dammit, I knew I should have just stayed in the 
shower with her.

Pushing her head back as far as she could away from him, she frowned. "No, 
three centimeters from everything, that's the rule. It either sits on the 
floor or in the corner, three centimeters away from the walls." She put her 
hands between them and shoved lightly. "Mac, what's going on?"
 Flopping back onto his back on the bed, Mac sighed. "Hell if I know. He 
probably just decided to take a few things with him on the trip or 
something. Let's not jump to conclusions, okay? I'll know more when I talk 
to him."

"Conclusions?" Propping herself up so that she could get a better look at 
him, she continued, her voice beginning to shake. "Who's jumping to 
conclusions? What conclusions are there to jump to?"
 "Sweetheart, please," Mac nearly begged. "None...not really..." Sighing 
again, he finally answered, "His things are gone, but then he doesn't own 
much, and he's getting ready for a solo mission, so it's natural what little 
he has would be with him, so I'm sure it's no big deal and I'll confirm it 
when I talk to him later. Okay? Please? Now, what happened to working out 
the kinks, hmm?"

"His things have gone." Her brain kicked into over-drive. "He threw us out 
of the hanger bay and now his things are gone. So no, Mac, not okay, not 
anywhere near okay." Rolling off the bed, she grabbed her shirt. "Not at 
all." Dragging it over her head, she started to leave, her mind already 
cementing on the reason for his departure. "My fault, always my bloody 
fault," she muttered.
  Mac grabbed her before she could go and turned her to face him. "No love, 
sorry, not this time. He's a big boy. He makes his decisions, and let me 
tell you I've known him long enough to know he doesn't make them on the spur 
of the moment. He thinks everything through, as a rule, meaning he's been 
considering this," he gestured around the room to the places where Josh's 
things used to be," for quite some time. He made this decision. This is his 
action. His fault. Not yours."

"His choice because of me." Trying to pull away, she felt his hands tight 
around her upper arms. "I love you," she whispered as she finally broke 
loose and bolted from the room. Can't do that again, not ever again. I won't 
love, I'll shut it down, stop feeling, stop everything except my duty. Her 
long legs carried her down the corridors to her own quarters where she 
locked the door, changed the code and then curled up on her sofa, tears of 
frustration and fear already falling. She'd done it again, she'd cared too 
much and now she'd distroyed something important because of it: Mac's 
closeness with Josh.

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