<USS Avalon> "Food for Thought"

Food for Thought
by Lts Josh Garrity, Patrick McEntire and Sussanna Jameson

Quietly, with an odd kind of smile on her face, Anna watched Mac work on the 
shuttle. Poor Josh , she thought, we've invaded his hanger bay . Her legs 
were curled under her and she'd laid a journal on the floor in front of her. 
Every so often, she flicked a page to read another article, but mostly she 
watched Mac.
 Josh slid out from under the shuttle with a phase calibrater in one hand, 
and a cup of coffee in the other.
 "Get it?" Mac called to him from the front of the shuttle, where he was 
elbow deep in reintegrating circuits. 
 Josh nodded, sipping his coffee as he stood gracefully and lept aboard, 
somehow managing not to spill any of it as he moved from one task to the 
next.

Grinning, Anna shook her head. "How on Earth does he know when Josh nods 
without hearing him?" she muttered. Calling aloud, she rose to her feet and 
moved up behind Mac, "You going to eat, Sweetie? Or do I have to threaten 
you with the same treatment as Sport over there?"
 Mac laughed. "Hey kid," he called out, "put out the good china and get 
ready to take a break. You got company for lunch." Offering her his arm, he 
escorted her into the newly remodelled shuttle. Where rows of seats had once 
been, a large computer console was centered, lively with action. The entire 
inside of the shuttle had been upgraded, until every wall chirped and 
blinked and hummed with life. Josh stood near the center console, fingers 
flying across the many input controls, seemingly oblivious to his guests. 
"Where do we eat?" Mac asked him, still grinning. Josh nodded toward the 
small replicator he'd installed in the back without looking up.

"Romantic," she muttered with a wink. "It's looking... err... technical in 
here. You got far to go before it's done?"
 Josh shrugged as he finished what he was doing then headed back to the 
replicator for more coffee.
 "What's left?" Mac asked, knowing better than to give him the option of a 
yes or no answer if they wanted to actually hear the answer rather than just 
see it.
 "Final calibration of sensors, weapons, shielding....and cleaning..." Josh 
answered quietly, taking his coffee back toward the console he'd manned 
moments before.
 "Cleaning?" Mac laughed. 
 Josh rolled his eyes.
 "Can you believe this kid? He's been cleaning up as he goes along. Not a 
spec of dust anywhere, but he wants to clean it before he can fly it." Mac 
shook his head.

Silly Anna, had to ask. "Nothing like being thorough, I guess." Not wanting 
to get too much in the way, she wandered over to the replicator and punched 
in a few codes, ordering a caeser salad and a glass of orange juice. "Are 
you both actually going to eat?" she frowned at them, only half joking.
 "Oh hell yeah, I'm starved," Mac answered, grabbing himself a cheese 
burger, fries and a chocolate milkshake. "Kid?"
 Josh shrugged.
 "Bean?" Mac asked, more insistently.
 Again, a shrug.
 "Dammit, Joshua, get over here and get some food!" Mac demanded.
 Josh sighed. Reluctantly, he stopped what he was doing, replicated a banana 
and another cup of coffee, then returned to his work again.
 "Dammit, Bean!" Mac growled. "That is not a meal!"

"Josh, please eat something," Anna asked softly. "I'd offer you my caeser 
but it's got anchovies in it. I can replicate you one without, if you'd 
like. You eat cheese, right?"
 Josh looked at her food and frowned. Shaking his head slowly, he answered, 
very quietly. "I...no..I can't....it's....no thanks."
  Mac wasn't sure whether to yell or laugh. Deciding on the latter, he told 
Anna. "It's touching. His food can't touch or he won't eat it."

"Okay, let me see what I can do then." Stepping back up to the replicator, 
Anna started programming it and when she stood away, she was carrying a tray 
with half a dozen plates on it. One was piled with cheeses of different 
varieties, another had strips of fruits, another had lettuce and another had 
cucumber. Each had their designated plate and nothing touched. Setting it on 
the floor, she stared at Josh, defying him to turn it down. "Eat it." Then 
after a moment, she added, "Please." Why can't peolpe just do what they're 
told?

"um...maybe later," Josh answered quietly, trying to get back to his work 
quickly, before she could argue. 

Mac laughed again. "Could have told you that, too. If he don't program it, 
he don't eat it." He shook his head. "Sorry, sweetie."
  "You have got to be joking!" Eyes of sea-storm grey blazed with 
indignation. "For one, it came from that replicator," she said, pointing. 
"How can I poison a replicator that you designed? Secondly, I am a doctor, I 
have taken the hypocratic oath. How dare you imply that I would poison not 
only one of my patients but one of my friends." Affront reddened her cheeks 
as she continued. "And thirdly... thirdly... oh fuck this for a game of 
sausages." Throwing up her hands, Anna shoved herself to the floor to stab 
at her salad. "Eat it or don't, I don't give a flying fuck. If you get ill, 
you'll end up in Sick Bay anyway, at least there I can do as I fucking 
like."
 "Oh, shit," Mac whispered, seeing where this was going even as Josh's brows 
shot up under his bangs. Josh seemed to consider carefully Anna's words, 
then shook his head. Turning his back to both of them, his fingers once 
again flew across the console. Suddenly, both Anna and Mac were enveloped in 
the electric sparkle of the transporter beam. "Hey!" Mac managed to yell as 
he and Anna were both tranported to the hallway outside the now-locked 
shuttle bay.

"FUCK!" Anna screamed as loudly as she could at the unmoving doors. "Men! 
Bloody, stubborn, pig-headed, arrogant, fucking men!" Whirling around, she 
caught the look on Mac's face and her anger suddenly dissipated. "Fuck it, 
Mac, I didn't mean it. Not any of it."
 "I know...I do, but...well," Mac said, his eyes fixed on the locked bay 
doors,"Good luck getting another chance to tell him that, anytime soon." He 
sighed, looking at her at last.

"I give up." Pulling her arms around herself, she let out an exasperated 
breath. "I make a crappy doctor, I have the bedside manner of an EMH, I 
can't even get Josh to eat, what the hell am I doing here?"
 Mac put his arms around her and drew her to him. "Honey, you're a very good 
doctor, doing exactly what you should be doing. You just got frustrated. 
That's understandable, Josh can be frustrating. I understand, he's my best 
friend, my family, and I still want to strangle him half the time." He 
looked at her, hoping she'd understand what was about to say. "He's got good 
reasons not to trust, Anna. I can't explain it all, but where he came from, 
those monsters were real. The things he's scared of...that's not just random 
shit. Seems like crazy shit, but it existed and he just hasn't learned to 
put it to rest. That's why you just...you can't push like that...not if you 
don't want to end up....well....out here..."

Laying her head on his shoulder, she felt her defeat eat her whole. "Go talk 
to him, he'll let you back in. I'm gonna head home, maybe see if there's a 
holosuite free. I need to think." She kissed him lightly on his cheek. "Come 
find me if you want."
 Mac kissed her on the lips gently, then shook his head. "If he was going to 
let me in there, he wouldn't have beamed me out." he told her, a tinge of 
regret in his voice. "He's not anyone back in there anytime soon. Not if he 
doesn't have to."

"Oh Mac, I'm so sorry." She pulled away and turned to go, desperately trying 
not to cry for what she'd done. "I'm a bloody fool. I need to go think. You 
can... come... if you like."
 "S'okay, hun. It'll work out. I'll talk to him when he comes home. It'll be 
alright." He kissed her again, even as he tried to convince himself as well 
as her of his words. "I'll come...of course I'll come...lead the way."

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