<USS Avalon> "Walking a Tight Rope"

Walking a Tight Rope
Lieutenant Commander Elissabeth Marksbury
and Lieutenant Second Class Bryce Quinn


It had been a strenuous day. Enough interrogations, many of them friendlier 
than he wanted, to make a diplomatics corps officer cringe, Bryce was ready for 
a nice relaxing cup of coffee and a long, innocent look at the stars. No matter 
how stressful his day had been, no matter how many things were running through 
his mind, staring out into the abyss of stars always made him seem small - and 
his problems too. That's what he planned on doing tonight. 

The doors parted and his usual table, directly in the far back corner, was 
occupied. He stopped, blinking, and looking around to see if all the other 
tables were taken or if they had been destroyed by a freak accident. A woman at 
the table. Elissabeth Marksbury. He recognized her face from the many profiles 
that he'd studied. Replicating a cup of coffee, he walked over to her, "May I 
sit down?" 

Jolted from her thoughts, Elissabeth looked up to the man standing before her. 
Oddly enough, she had come here to escape being alone and, yet, still desired 
solitude. She?d been looking over all the decrypted information Josh had given 
her. It was amazing how much was classified that he just blew right through. 
She wanted him on her team.

Appraising the lieutenant a moment, trying to place him, she couldn?t pin his 
name. Elissabeth had created a great deal of the crew to memory by profile, but 
as familiar as he seemed, it just wasn?t coming to her. "Do I know you, 
Lieutenant?" she asked, not unkindly. 

"No," Bryce said simply, sitting gently in the booth opposite of her, "I'm 
Lieutenant, Second Class, Bryce Quinn. I'm the Judge Advocate Officer assigned 
to the Avalon to investigate the previous...engagement with the Ferengi 
Marauders." He shrugged it off as he took a sip of his coffee. "You're 
Lieutenant Commander Elissabeth Marksbury, are you not?" 

Sighing visibly, she responded, "I am. If you wish to speak with me, please 
make an appointment with my office." 

"You off duty?" He said with a look that almost made him seem sorry for 
interrupting. 

"I am never entirely off duty, Lieutenant. I just don't like lawyers who 
attempt to twist the truth to suit their needs, and so far, that is the only 
exposure I've had to your department, which I'm not in any hurry to face 
again." 

"Ah, my dear Jayden," Bryce smiled, knowing that she learned from the best. He 
was proud of her in his own little way, but not enough to tell anyone about it 
- he did have a reputation to uphold. "I'm going to have to have a talk with 
her, but since I'm off duty and don't intend on working, why I don't just sit 
down and have a cup of coffee with you and dispel your stereotypes of lawyers?" 
He smiled genuinely at her. 

"I really didn't come here for company, Lieutenant." 

"Me either," he paused, "but you're in my seat." 

"Then I'll go," she said, beginning to slide out of the booth. "I wasn't aware 
there were assigned seats." Her voice was dry and slightly irritated with this 
stranger, but it was easier to leave than argue. 

"No, please stay," Bryce's voice was lined with desperation, "I'm sorry to be 
intrusive. I'm just a sucker for innocent conversation. You were here first. If 
you really don't want to be bothered with good company," he chuckled, "then 
I'll take my leave." Bryce stood and downed his cup of coffee. 

"Good company," she smirked, slightly intrigued with his boyish confidence. 
"Sit. No reason we can't share the coveted 'hiding' table." 

He grinned, happy to have won the small battle. "OK, just to clear the air, the 
myth that lawyers have no souls is actually true, but we hide it with good 
intentions." He smiled as the waiter headed over and handed him another 
beverage. "Is it true that covert operations and all security staff sleep with 
one eye open and a phaser under their pillows?" 

"Yes, but we don't bother hiding behind good intentions," she smiled, slightly. 

Bryce laughed, "So, why are you all alone over here in the corner, if I may 
ask?" 

Quirking her brow, she answered, "Because I chose to be. Why were you 
attempting to sit all alone in the corner?" 

"Stressful day," he said, gazing out at the stars which he would rather have 
done in the solitude of his booth. "You know how it is when you want nothing 
more than to sit by yourself, drink a nice cup of coffee, and think about how 
the day should've gone." 

"I do, Lieutenant. Only it's tea. And I believe I offered to leave. You're the 
one who's a sucker for innocent conversation." Though she didn't want to, she 
couldn't help but smile slightly. Lawyers were unbelievable. Undoubtedly, Cross 
informed Quinn of their earlier meeting and Quinn was here to make nice to keep 
her off guard. The games people play, she thought. 

"True, and I deserved that. However, I'm the best example of how one person can 
leave work at work. Once I leave my office at the end of the day I'm just Bryce 
Quinn until the next day." He sipped his second coffee gingerly. "You've got to 
learn to do that, you know. It makes it way easier on you." 

"Oh, a lawyer and a counselor. Quite busy, aren't you, Bryce Quinn?" There was 
that smirk again. She was toying with him and for some reason it distracted her 
enough for her to enjoy it. 

"Jack of all trades really. You should see me wield a hypospray, watch out!" He 
laughed a bit. 

Laughing involuntarily, her eyes lit up for just a brief second before she 
caught herself and returned to her normal reserve. Elissabeth took a sip of her 
tea and appraised the man across from her. 

"So, what about you?" he asked.

"What about me? You have my profile." 

"Profiles are so cold and distant. The word is better coming from a beautiful 
mouth and not some durasteel inanimate object that gets tossed around. I guess 
you could say that it's the lawyer side of me kicking in - wanting it straight 
from the horse's mouth. You know?" He finished off his second coffee, thank 
heavens for the invention of a caffeine-substitute. He'd be up for hours after 
polishing off two peppermint espressos. 

Eyes sparkling with mischief, she asked, "Does that mean you have a fondness 
for horses, Lieutenant?" 

He exhaled quickly, a chuckle barely escaping, "Well, you did have a long face 
when I came in here." 

She smiled, "I think I prefer veiled insults from you than insincere 
compliments. You'd do well to remember that." Setting aside the PADD that had 
her attention for the longest time, she looked him squarely in the eye, laying 
her hands on the table and clasping them together. "What do you want to know?" 

"This isn't an interrogation, Commander," Bryce smiled as the waiter brought 
him, yet again, another drink. He palmed the warm glass, letting the heat 
radiate to his skin. "I only want to know what you want to tell me. This goes 
so I don't get the 'I can't tell you that' answer or the 'I'd have to kill you 
afterwards' response. Just want you want people to know." 

"Ah, but there's your catch, Lieutenant," she declined anything else to drink. 
"I don't want to tell you anything. You have no reason to need to know 
anything, am I right?" 

"You were a lawyer in a previous life, or you're going to be in a future life." 
He shrugged, "OK. We'll keep it simple. What do you do in your spare time?" 

She chuckled inwardly at the small victory. It was slightly fun to play these 
games. "Depends. Right now, I mostly sleep when I can. I work out on the 
holodeck when I'm in better shape for it. Sometimes I study the latest tactics 
for keeping up to date in security, tactical, and covert ops. I'm afraid you're 
wasting your time on a very boring person," she admitted. 

Bryce shook his head, "No one is all work and no play. You have to have 
something that you do that is just free, spontaneous, and unique to you. Swing 
dancing? Velocity? Hoverball? Romance novels on the holodeck?" He had a hard 
time believing that she was as boring as she thought she was. Plain and simple: 
everyone had a vice that was their key out of the world of Starfleet. 

Several degrees of expressions crossed her face as he mentioned each of those 
activities. Swing dancing? Romance novels?! She nearly laughed out loud at him. 
"Just martial arts, the occasional classic fiction novel, and music. What do 
you do that is so entertaining, Mr. Quinn? Go ahead, show me how truly boring I 
am," she dared him with a slight chuckle. 

"I'm an avid rock climber, I play several games of Velocity per week, I am a 
wonderful dancer in several different genres, and I am a prolific holodeck 
program creator." He smiled over his steaming cup of java before taking a small 
drink. Setting it back on the tabletop, he assumed the same position she was in 
- hands clasped on the table in front of him. "I would love to get you hooked 
on any number of my personal hobbies." 

And modest as well, came the sarcastic thought. Arching her brows, she asked 
bluntly, "Why?" feeling slightly confused. Noticing the close proximity of 
their hands, she withdrew hers and placed them in her lap. 

He tilted his head, "You enjoy being boring, as you so eloquently put it?" 

"I'm completely content with my life as it is." Liar. 

"You should know that you can't lie to a specially trained lawyer. The 
capillaries in your eyes just dilated, and your mouth twitched because they are 
the most sensitive muscles in the face. The slightest change in demeanor and 
they flinch." Bryce grinned, "What could a rock climbing venture possibly hurt? 
Besides your competitive nature?" 

"Talk to me in about a month," she snapped, eyes burning with frustration. "Try 
again when my muscles aren't quite as atrophied and I can move from one end of 
the ship to the other without getting out of breath!" Then closing her eyes, 
she took a deep breath and calmed herself down, unsure as to what angered her 
more, the fact he knew she was lying or the fact that she couldn't go along 
with his suggestions. She had been so much better at keeping a passive face. 
The fact he knew felt like some sort of defeat. "I'm sorry," she added softly. 
"I... should just go." 

Blinking, he smirked, "I'm not offended. Unless that's what you're going for 
and then I can fake it. I was just trying to be friendly and open some doors 
for you. If you can't do them, then I can wait. You can program a holodeck 
program without losing your breath, I'm sure of that." He looked over his 
shoulder, "Murder mystery? Sports program? Name your poison." 

"I'm really not interested, Lieutenant," she said, with finality. "Good 
intentions or whatever your agenda is, I'm just not interested." She moved to 
stand slowly, picking up the PADD she'd been reading. 

"Can I be brutally honest, Commander?" 

Sighing, she paused and looked at him. "Of course. I'd rather have brutal 
honesty than whatever game you've been playing." 

"Do you enjoy pushing people away?" 

"I don't push people away." Sitting on the edge of the seat, she looked at him, 
"Just because I don't allow you to walk into my life immediately, squashing 
whatever ego you've built up, doesn't mean that I push people away. Maybe I 
just don't like you. Maybe I think you're too pushy. Maybe I really hate 
lawyers that badly. And maybe I'm just tired and want to go to bed. Or maybe I 
know that within the next two days, you're going to be in my office asking me 
questions, trying to discredit the captain of this ship and it leaves me a 
little prejudiced. Take your pick. They're all true." She paused, then asked, 
"Can I be brutally honest with you, Lieutenant? Well, more so." 

Bryce remained unwavering, "Of course, but allow me some time for rebuttal." 

Gesturing with her hand, she offered graciously, "It's only fair." 

"I'm off shift. My motives are as pure as the day a baby is born. The fact that 
you're getting hostile is just another sign of pushing people away. You were 
having a genuine good time, I even managed to get a smile and laugh out of you, 
but you immediately jump the gun at uncovering a conspiracy when there isn't 
one. I invited you to the holodeck. That's all I wanted from you." Bryce 
finished off his third glass and shooed the waiter away when he returned with a 
fourth. 

"But why?" she asked, genuinely confused. "You don't know me and I can't 
imagine why you'd want to, especially when I've been 'hostile', as you put it. 
Though if you think I'm hostile, I'd really hate to see you run into an 
uncooperative prisoner." 

"Do me a favor, will you?"

Tipping her head up in frustration, she allowed herself a moment before 
leveling her gaze back on him. "What is your request?" 

"Stop working. Don't analyze the situation for an ulterior motive. I want to 
get to know you. I would like to see the real you, not this front that is your 
Starfleet persona." His gaze was a simple, unyielding stare. He smiled, "I 
would settle for a stroll through a park on the holodeck." 

"If you want to get to know me, Mr. Quinn, there are a few things you're going 
to have to understand about me. One, I severely dislike people with so much 
confidence that it comes across as egotistical. Two, I am this Starfleet 
persona. It's all I was trained for and all I ever wanted to do. That's it. 
Nothing else. And three, I know that everyone has an angle. If you don't like 
that about me, then I suggest you rescind that offer before I'm so inclined to 
continue arguing with you on the holodeck." 

"I won't rescind my offer, Commander. I meant every word. If you are still that 
against the idea, then I will take my leave." Bryce stood and smiled at her, 
"But know that my offer is still on the table. I think that sometimes you get 
so attached to what you do, that you think it defines who you are. It can be 
part of that definition, but it is never all of it. Think about it." With that, 
he pivoted on his heel while nodding at her and headed for the door. 

She was letting him leave, tired of dealing with someone so... bothersome. Is 
he really? Or are you just threatened that he reads you like a book? Elissabeth 
tried lying to herself, believing that he didn't intrigue her one little bit. 
But her mouth didn't wait for her brain to be deluded. "I'll go with you," she 
said softly, before Bryce was two paces away. What?! I can't believe I just 
said that. 

Stopping, he gazed at her, an inquisitive look in his eye. "Are you doing it 
out of really wanting to do it, or are you doing it because you feel I've left 
you no choice?" Either way, he internally thought, would be all right with him. 
It was a natural thing for a lawyer to do, make sure that the two choices were 
always the same. No way out, no where to go, instant victory. 

"I'm never without choices, Lieutenant. Bryce," she corrected, softly. "I 
could've just as easily walked away." 

"I almost walked away," he joked. "So, what do you say we stroll through 
Waterfront Park, San Francisco? Nice day, of course." 

Tipping her head slightly to the side, she offered him the first intentional 
smile of the evening, though it wasn't very bright. "I think that sounds 
lovely, but how about at night? I miss seeing the moon." She sighed lightly and 
joined him as they left together. 

"Perfect." 


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com

Other related posts: