<USS Avalon> "Planning Ahead"

Planning Ahead
by Lt. Simon Matthews and Lt. Sussanna Jameson

For what seemed like an eternity, she simply stared at his door. The muscles
in her arm felt so stiff that it was like battling against gallons of water
just to lift it and press the chime.

The door opened and Simon pulled up short to prevent himself from walking
into Sussanna. "Hey Cat," he smiled. "Good timing. I was just coming to see
you."

"You were?" she said as her voice cracked with rust. "Why?"

Snaking his arm around her waist, he pulled her inside the door. "Because
you didn't show up when you said you would."

She fell against him, her body finally deciding that it didn't want to hold
itself up any more. "You're leaving."

"Yeah," he laughed. "I told you I was coming to find you. Something wrong,
hon?"

"You're leaving the Avalon." A frown creased her forehead but she tried to
shake it off. "You didn't tell me."

"Ah." Relaxing his grip on her a bit, he guided her to the sofa and sat next
to her. "Yeah, look... I just couldn't take working for her anymore. After
that last fucked up bit... Anna, I see my career going places and I didn't
want to spend this time with a Commander who wouldn't help me out any,
y'know?" He took a breath, trying to interpret her look. "This was before we
really started talking and all."

She nodded, she understood, of course. "Kyle left too." Sighing, she leaned
her head over the back of the couch. "And fuck me if I don't sound so
fucking pathetic about it." A grim kind of chuckle started in her stomach.

"I heard. And I'm sorry." Leaning over, Simon placed a light kiss on her
cheek. "You could request a transfer too, you know. You definitely have
grounds for it. I'm sure Marksbury could find a way to get it approved to
keep her reputation clean."

Anna glanced over at him, a smile creeping into her eyes. "Don't think I
haven't thought about it. But where would I go? No way in hell I would head
back to Earth. My father would have an absolute field day."

"And, of course, that's where I'm going. Interning with the Academy for six
months. It looks really good in your records."

"It certainly does." The thought of what her father would say scared the
living daylights out of her. "To be honest, I think I'll try sticking with
it here for a bit. It is one of the few ships in the fleet with a Covert Ops
department after all." Turning her head, she looked at him directly. "When
do you leave?"

"My report no later than date is six weeks from now, but I thought about
catching a little leave back home first." Simon found his arm reaching for
Anna to fall into.

She slipped up beside him, snuggling her head against his shoulder. "I'll
miss you."

Pulling her close, Simon kissed her cheek again, then dropped his head to
her neck, kissing her there as well. "It has been fun, hasn't it?"

"Oh yeah," she grinned as she pulled his earlobe into her mouth. "Fun."
Flinching slightly from her aching arms, she tried making her fingers work
enough to play over his stomach.  Bloody hell, why are you so stiff?

"What's a matter?"

"Just stiff, aching." Shaking her head, she pulled back from him. "It
doesn't matter."

"Want me to see what I can do about it?" he asked with a mischeivous grin.

Cocking her head to one side, she frowned. "How?"

In answer, Simon turned her back toward him and began rubbing her shoulders
and down her arms while kissing her neck.

At first it was excruciating, his hands feeling like a new form of torture,
but eventually she relaxed and it began to feel very good. Exhaling deeply,
she leaned back against him. "That feels nice."

"Mmm," he mumbled, kissing up her jawline, "that's the point." Finished
working her muscles, he laid his head on her shoulder and pulled her closer
with his arms around her waist. "So, you're staying on Avalon, huh?"

"Yeah," a mite of doubt in her otherwise steady voice. "I think so." Laying
her hands over his arms, she felt herself swithering.

"Even with the deal with Marksbury?"

She shrugged, pulling forward a little. "This is my first commission
remember? It tends to look bad on your record if you've transferred after
only a couple of months."

He let her go, let her set the pace of things between them. "Yeah, I guess
it does." Running a hand through his hair, he sighed. "I just feel bad for
you. Guess I was kinda hoping that you'd get off the ship for a little while
or something. I mean... I don't know what you felt for her or whatever, but
being hurt like that..." He just let the sentence trail off, unsure of what
to say. Maybe he was just opening old wounds, but it was hard to understand
how someone as fun as Sussanna could get mixed up with someone like
Marksbury.

Off the ship... "I definitely need the space, just to breathe and think."
She turned in her seat so that she could look at him. Meeting his eyes, she
smiled awkwardly. "I heard about a conference at Alpha Centauri A University
about pathogens. It's only a week, but it would get me off and away for a
bit." She shrugged one of her shoulders. "I've heard of a couple of the
speakers, one is my old tutor. I don't know, maybe it's just an excuse...

"It can't hurt to ask, can it?"

A light came on in her eyes. "You're right! And there's this one guy, his
research leads the quadrant. I'm basing my thesis proposal on three of his
papers. Oh man alive! What would it be like to actually meet him?"

Simon smirked. "You science-types. I don't see how in the world you can get
so excited over writing papers and meeting people who are experts on germs."

"Not germs! Pathogens. There's a difference." Shaking her head in mock
astonishment, she said, "You're just a heathen, that's you're problem."

"Well, true, I don't believe in God in the biblical sense, but I'm far from
being a heathen," he responded with mock hurt.

Touching his face, stroking one finger down from his cheek bone to his chin,
she smiled fondly. "Poor bunny, didn't mean to offend."

"Hmph. Don't even bother. Why waste your time with a heathen?" It was
obvious that it was a theatrical attempt at teasing her.

She tried to suppress the giggles as she leaned forward to kiss him
tenderly. "Poor, sweet, sensitive Simon. Such a soul as yours should be
wrapped in cotton wool, placed in a box and protected from evil people like
me."

He grinned, "About time someone saw it." Then he leaned forward and kissed
her deeply. Pulling away, he confessed, "I'm gonna miss you, Cat. Never
thought that I could have a friend like you."

Wrapping her arms around his neck, she sighed. "I'm going to miss you too."

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