Starting Over By Senior Lieutenant Elissabeth Marksbury and Ensign Sussanna Jameson "Dismissed." The small group slowly dissolved into even smaller clicks, mostly silent as they all filtered out of the room. Sussanna hung back and watched them leave, debating on wether or not to try and talk to Marksbury. Fenner tried to hang back too, but when he saw her, he hurried to catch up with someone else, pretending he hadn't noticed her. Hmm, that's one to watch, she thought. After a moment she decided to just forget it and exited as well. Sussanna made it about halfway to the turbolift before the rift between her and Marksbury irked her enough to return to the security briefing room. Marksbury looked up when the door opened once again, surprised to see anyone, much less Ensign Jameson. "I suggest you get some sleep, Ensign," she said softly and with a measure of kindness. "I will, sir. I don't sleep well. I don't enjoy it, so I only do it for as long as I absolutely have to." Sussanna felt her formality slipping. It had been a long day and she hated all this bullshit. "Permission to speak freely, sir?" Trying not to show her exhaustion, Lissi asked, "Would it be possible to have this conversation another time, Ensign Jameson?" "No, to be perfectly honest, sir, it really wouldn't. And could you please get off your high horse and call me Anna?" Sussanna grinned wolfishly and swaggered slightly. Narrowing her eyes and cocking her brow, Marksbury asked, "Do we need to continue our lessons on protocol, Ensign Jameson?" She took a deep breath - she didn't want it to be this way. Lissi prided herself on getting along with just about anyone. She didn't understand why this woman had to be so damned difficult. Just follow the book. That's it. "I don't understand what your problem with me or with authority is, but I will not tolerate your rudeness to me any longer. If you speak to me like that again, I will have you transferred off my team. You are dismissed." "My attitude? Sounds like you've got one all of your own, sir!" Anna took a really deep beath and put out her hand to try to placate the increasingly irritated Marksbury. "Look, I'm sorry okay? Please, let me just say that before you chew me out again. I wanted to offer an apology, I'm not being deliberately belligerant." She held out her hand for shaking. "My name's Anna Jameson, what's yours?" Her smile was genuine and she hoped that this woman would see it as her only peace offering. God, I don't want to be at your throat for the next few years, she thought. How did this woman make it through the Academy and Intel training? "To be sorry is to change your behaviour and/or actions, Ms. Jameson. You show no sign of either one. There are certain things that are appropriate and certain things that are not. Telling your command chief that she has an attitude problem is not one of those appropriate things. Please sit down, Anna." She spoke softly, wanting to get this all out in the open and straightened up right now. Anna took the proffered seat and looked Marksbury straight in the eye. She was better than this, if only her dad hadn't... Let's not think of that, not right now, please, God, not now. She swallowed and knew instantly that it would be taken for her nervousness. Pulling out all the diplomacy she could muster, Elissabeth began, "You obviously have amazing talents and qualities, Anna. If you did not, you would've never lasted this long. You have been fortunate to have superiors who have seen your potential and overlooked your attitude. That much is obvious to me." She paused, hoping she could get her next point across without sounding condescening or mean. "However, I'm not going to coddle you. If you have potential, we're going to see you apply it properly. You will not behave like a spoiled brat in front of me or my teams. If I can't have your cooperation in this, I'm going to have to ask you to leave right now. I'll make you medical full time and you can finish out your tour on the Avalon never having to see me again. You don't seem to be someone who quits, otherwise you wouldn't have come back to see me tonight. It shows a measure of character. And I would hate to see you quit." Marksbury looked earnestly into her eyes , hoping that Anna saw the compassion she was extending. Her words weren't spoken harshly, just honestly. "No sir, I don't quit." Anna sighed and leaned back in her chair, extending her long legs under the table. "Honestly? Yeah, I've been coddled. I don't play well with others, but to be perfectly honest, I am the best you will ever get." Anna could feel her tiredness catching up with her. She normally only had a few hours sleep a day anyway, but what with one thing and another she hadn't had any in the last 27 hours. She was still trying to get over the call from her father when she suddenly blurted out, "I don't want to get kicked off of this team. God, I sound like a brat, by all rights I should cry and stamp my feet right now, but it's been a long while since I did that. I can do the work, I'll keep up. I graduated top of my year by being the best." She looked at her hands and then back up to Marksbury. In a very small voice she said, "I really need this." "Now that is more what I want to hear. Confidence, not attitude. If you're the best, then prove it to me. I want to see you excell. But you're also going to have to realise that part of excelling isn't just being the best. It's also knowing how to behave. I'm willing to help you, but we're going to have to start out on a better foot than this." She stood and offered her hand to Susanna. "I'm Senior Lieutenant Elissabeth Marksbury." Anna grinned and stood as well, taking the Lieutenant's hand. "I'm not going to insult your intellegence by saying 'Golly gee it's going to be awful fun working for you, Lieutenant,'" she said in a mock southern american accent. "Oh, but I did - and you know, I might just mean it." She narrowed her eyes. "Might." Elissabeth gave her a wry smile. "Very well, then, Ms. Jameson. Now, go get some sleep. You have an early day tomorrow." --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? The all-new My Yahoo! ? Get yours free!