[TheNoir] "Ich Hab Dich, Mein Freund"
- From: Isabella Valentine <wistful_fancy_noir@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: thenoir@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 24 Dec 2004 09:38:28 -0800 (PST)
Ich Hab Dich, Mein Freund
"I have you, my friend"
By Isabella Valentine and Vanir Wagner
Vanir was shaking his head as he left Ethera with K'lor. Not that he found
anything odd about leaving a child in the huge man's care but was giving him a
sense of deja vu. Small wonder that I survived my own childhood, he mused,
considering some of my guardians. His mission now was to find Bella. Ethera
was fidgeting about her whereabouts and Vanir promised to look for her.
Bella had spent nearly all her time in bed. She has gotten up to use the
bathroom and take pain pills, grabbing a glass of water now and then. She
still maintained a low grade fever as her body tried to heal itself. She knew
that she should find her way to sickbay, but she couldn't bring herself in that
close of proximity to Anita intentionally. Instead, she locked herself into
her quarters and slept.
It was easy enough to locate her. He asked the computer. ==Isabella Valentine
is in her quarters== it told him. "I should have left that in German," he mused
as he set off to find her. He found it strange that she wasn't in Sickbay any
longer, especially considering her injuries. When he reached her room, he
pressed the door chime.
Somewhere in the back of her mind Bella heard the chime but it didn't matter to
her. She was injured - physically and emotionally. She only wanted to sleep.
Vanir stared at the door, as if he could see through it. She was in there,
according to the computer. It just bothered him that she wasn't in Sickbay ,
where he thought she should be. He pressed the chime again. "Isabella, it's
Vanir. Please open the door."
Bella heard his voice. It was comforting to know he meant her no harm.
Outside of that, she didn't want to see anyone. Or be seen, either. A dark
cloud had descended over her and she no longer cared. She didn't answer.
He waited a little while longer then shook his head and pulled out his tool
kit. He popped open the access panel to the lock and started tapping at the
controls. After a while he narrowed his eyes at the mechanism. "Ich bin heraus
verriegelt worden," he grumbled. "Very good, Isabella, but that isn't going to
keep me out, you know."
This was, he realized, a standard room on the ship. He didn't like the idea of
teleporting blindly but he had faith. He whispered a quick prayer, closed his
eyes and found himself in the middle of the room's common area a breath later.
Bella knew immediately someone was in the room with her and her phaser was
already in her hand. "Computer - lights," she ordered. It was to her relief
and consternation that Vanir stood in the middle of her room. She weakly laid
her head back down, letting go of her phaser. Closing her eyes, she just hoped
he'd go away once he saw her.
The first thing he saw as the lights came up was the phaser and he froze,
holding his breath. When Bella lowered the weapon, he caught sight of her
face. "Heilige Maria, Mutter Gottes..." he whispered. "What happened to you?"
"Go away," she whispered.
"Not likely," Vanir said, approaching her cautiously. He stopped within a foot
of where she lay. The injuries were almost nauseating. Very softly, he said,
"Ethera and I...we were worried about you because we could not find you."
"You found me. Now go away."
"No," he said simply. "You sound terrible and look worse. I don't know how
you got here but let me take you back to the doctor."
"No, Vanir. Please," she whispered, having used his name for the first time.
"She's there." Swallowing, she said, "Need water."
Without a word, he walked over to the replicator to get the water. He set it
down on the end table then held out his hand to help her sit up. He nearly
flinched at how clammy they were. "Drink slowly...and tell me who 'she' is."
"Anita," she said, thankfully taking the water from the table. She hadn't let
go of Vanir's hand. It felt good to hold onto something - someone - for just a
moment.
"She did this to you? Mein Gott...somebody needs to stop her in her tracks,"
he stated. He didn't want to get her started on that, not in her current
state. Instead, he chose a more practical route."You're feverish, Isabella.
That isn't good."
"I'll be okay. I've been through worse." She was exaggerating. In fact, if
she hadn't felt so apathetic, she'd have been crying and wanting babied. At
least that's how it had been in the past. Her 'bravery' had nothing to do with
her tolerance for pain. It was all about the pain in her heart superseding the
rest. "And Shane stopped her."
Vanir shook his head slowly. "I don't know the doctor very well but I know
enough to say that she is like the doctor my family has. I very much doubt she
would have allowed you to leave simply because the other is there. So, why not
tell me why you're here and how you did that? Sorry, mein freund, but I doubt
you made it on your own."
"Doc wasn't there when I left," she whispered. "Cervin helped me here.
Really, I'm fine. I feel like shit, but it'll pass. I just wanna be left
alone."
Vanir put an arm around her. It was an unconscious thought, a gesture meant to
console. He was used to that at home. "They say the people from my father's
homeland are a stubborn lot and I think I inherited that. I'm not leaving just
yet."
Bella managed a small sigh. "Suit yourself then. I'm going back to sleep."
He managed a short chuckle. "I used to try doing that to my two closest
friends at school. I don't think you want me to do what Magni used to do to
get me awake."
"What the fuck are you talking about?" she mumbled. "I'm sick, I need to
sleep. Go away."
"I am talking, Miss Isabella, about someone almost twice my size dumping a
bucket of cold water on me," he replied, ignoring her profanity for the moment.
She was answering him still. "I wouldn't do that to a sick person, though,
although...you said you were hurt and not sick. What is causing this sickness?"
"Hurt, sick, whatever. I just wanna sleep," she said, reaching for another
pain pill. They were almost gone.
He reached to intercept her hand and took the pill. Bright yellow eyes peered
closely at the medication. "How many of these have you taken? No, don't
answer because I am sure I will not like the answer. Too many, ja?"
"Don't think so. Just when I wake up. I need them," she said, quietly. It
was believable, her having been left her alone and seeming to have no sense of
time passing.
"Which means you took one not less than ten minutes ago, which is how long it
took me to figure how to get in here. You don't need another one of these yet.
Isabella, I may seem like some sort of a total lunatic to you, but I am not
blind. I think maybe your pain is beyond physical. Talk to me, my friend. To
share a trouble is to cut it in half," Vanir said quietly, resting one blue
hand on her shoulder.
She wished that she knew what it was about him that caused her to break so
easily. Most people she'd just tell to go to hell. But somehow Vanir had a
way to get past that barrier - to play on her need for friendship and comfort.
"Shane," she said quietly.
Shane. Vanir knew the man in passing. He was, so far as he knew, Bella's
boyfriend. Or perhaps, no longer, he realized. "What happened with him?"
"I thought - I mean, there was something about him - about us that kinda made
sense. Like in this fucked up world, we sorta fit together. Not that I loved
him or nothin'. But I liked him. And I thought he... Aw fuck, I just sound
like some silly teenager. I just wanna go back to sleep, okay?"
"No, no...go on. It makes perfect sense and it has nothing to do with age. I
am twenty-seven years old....make that twenty-eight now...and I am still
learning about how people work. Allea was..." and he felt his face flush
slightly, " she was the first woman I ever loved."
"That reminds me...did Shane talk to you about her? Hearing her name sent him
into some sort of tizzy that I didn't understand. He said it was something
from his past that he had to deal with and to trust him or some such nonsense."
Vanir shrugged. "I haven't seen him so if he wants to talk to me, he can come
look for me. But she left me and I don't know why. What happened with you and
Shane to bring you to such a state?"
Obviously changing the subject wasn't going to work. "I don't know. He acted
like...like he cared. He went after Anita for me. And then...," she couldn't
stop the tears from stinging her eyes, "Then he just changed. All at once.
Turned... evil. Said the worst thing I think he could've possibly said to me.
And I just don't understand it." The tears rolled down her cheeks but she did
nothing to acknowledge them.
As he had done once before, Vanir put his arms around her and let her cry. He
smoothed out her hair a bit, then sat her up straight once her tears were
spent. "My ideas of evil are a bit strange to people. What was it that he
became that has upset you so?"
"One of them," she said, bitterly. "Romulan. Tal Shiar - the worst of them
all. It was like he twisted all up on the inside and the sneer on his face
didn't even come close to showing what he really was." She stopped, taking
another sip of the water. "How can you spend so much time with someone and
never see it coming?"
"Romulan?" He blinked a moment. He was a bit of an innocent when it came to
galactic politics but he knew that they were the enemies, or rivals at the
least, of the Federation. "That is very odd. He looks Human, but looks can be
deceiving. Look at me. I am not the crazed mutant freak they say I am on
Earth. Each of us has sides that no one has seen, though."
"What - what race was Allea?" she asked tentatively, remembering it was a
question Shane had asked her.
"Vulcan," he said simply.
"Nothing makes sense anymore. Nothing at all," she whispered once again. "Can
I go to sleep now? I answered all your questions. Give Ethera a hello for
me." She scooted away from him and tucked herself back under the covers, still
shivering slightly.
"You may call me stupid if you want, but how does his being Romulan...or
whatever he is...bring you to this? My uncle, the one I keep telling you
about, is a vicious and violent man but there is enough in him to make him
wonderful. Do you think there is nothing in this Shane that is worth trying to
find out more?"
"You didn't see his face, Vanir. Or hear how cold his voice was. Or what he
said." Her face clouded over in pain from the memory. "He knew exactly what to
say to hurt me the worst. Anyone who does that..." She shook her head. "He
obviously didn't care about me like he acted- pretended to and I'm an idiot,
which I've proven more than once this last week."
Vanir sat back a moment, arms crossed over his chest, thinking. Were adults
that much different than children? Or Romulans so different from Humans? He
let out a sigh, then tucked his legs underneath him, which looked just about
impossible to do. "First, Isabella, I am sorry this ever even happened. You
scared the daylights out of me when we first met, but I like you and you did
not deserve such hurt. Now," he began, drawing a deep breath, "I am not
defending what the man did but I have something for you to consider. Do you
suppose there is something wrong that could cause such a swing in mood? I have
seen such things amongst my students."
Bella knew all too well about mood swings and how you came across as totally
different person than what you really were. "I don't know." The words barely
left her mouth as she was nearly falling asleep again.
Vanir let her settle back on the bed then unfolded his legs to stand up. He
pulled the blanket up over her shoulders then crouched down so she wouldn't
have to strain her neck. "Listen, my friend," he said softly, "I am taking
these pills with me. You can't think straight enough to know when to take
another. If you need one, you call me. If I don't hear from you, I'm coming
back anyway. Understand?"
" 'kay," she said, eyes fluttering shut. "Someday," she mumbled, "I think I
coulda loved him." Or at least that's what he thought he heard.
Pocketing the vial of medication, he kissed her forehead then 'ported out into
the corridor. Walking back to fetch Ethera, he wondered what Shane's problem
was and why he was so obsessed about Allea. That pain had begun to recede
slightly. He wasn't going to ask. He wanted it to go away.
---------------------------------
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