[TheNoir] Room for One
- From: Johnathon Micheals <laughingcorpse07@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: Noir <thenoir@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 12 Dec 2004 21:19:10 -0800 (PST)
Room for One
by M.E. Nicks and Cervin Molari
The dermal regenerator passed slowly over the thin wound that stretched across
M.E.?s throat. She was really glad that she had her own mini med-kit, because
she really didn?t feel like explaining her little injury. Once the wound was
closed and she?d given herself an antibiotic hypo, M.E. cleaned and stashed the
tools and kit back in her bathroom drawer.
She couldn?t help but rub her freshly healed neck and smile as she walked over
to her dresser. It both thrilled and bothered her that this psychotic woman
could make her skin tingle, and her mind race. M.E. poured herself a drink from
the bottle of brandy on her dresser and then walked over to her bed. Hopefully
she?d be able to get at least a couple hours out sleep.
Cervin stopped in front of her door. M.E. didn't come by the bridge, and he was
determined to find out exactly the reasons for keeping Anita on board. Half of
him was grateful he hadn't encountered Anita again, half of him regretted it;
he'd have shot her and deal with M.E. later. Tapping on the chime he waited.
M.E. groaned at the sound of her door chime. For a moment she thought about
ignoring it, but then decided to scan the person outside to see who it was. It
really didn?t surprise her that it was Cervin. She got out of bed and grabbed
her robe as she headed towards her couch. "Computer unlock and open door." She
flopped down on the couch and waited for Cervin to come all the way in. "I
wondered if you?d show up tonight."
He gave a small smile and presented a different bottle, "I brought bourbon."
"Glasses are on the table." M.E. told him simply as she curled her long legs
underneath herself. She watched as Cervin got to glasses and then made his way
to the chair across from her. "Thanks." She said as he poured the drinks. She
picked hers up and then settled against the pillows on her couch. "So, out with
it."
Cervin perked an eyebrow as he sat opposite to her. Glass in hand, "Me? Out
with what? Last I checked, it's I that would like to know exactly what
compelled you to keep an... unstable person like Anita around."
M.E. swirled the bourbon around in her glass for a moment before looking up at
Cervin. "It?s difficult to explain."
"Try anyway. Because frankly, I'd shoot her dead. No hesitation. Nothing. The
fact that I haven't had the opportunity since you have two injured crewmen
makes me wait, antsy to pull a gun on her." Cervin looked at his glass and
suddenly felt not to drink. He'd wait, eventually he'd drink it.
Closing her eyes, M.E. tried to put into words everything that?s been passing
though her head. How was she going to explain what she sees when she tries to
read Anita? How to explain what it is she sees in the woman?s dark eyes. "Have
you ever thought about how different your life would be if certain events had
never happed or had happened differently? Or if the aftermath of those events
hadn?t have played out the way they did?"
"Of course. I haven't said much to you M.E., but I'm pretty sick of life right
now. Having John and you around makes it a little more bearable than usual," he
halved the bourbon, "but go on."
M.E. took another long drink of her bourbon and reviled in the way it burned as
it went down. "I?ve telepathically scanned everyone person on this ship to make
sure they could be trusted. Never to deeply, I don?t violate their privacy, but
it?s my way of ?checking references?." She said as she looked down into her
glass.
"When I scanned Anita?s thoughts, the ones she doesn?t jumble to keep people
like me out, I thought I felt something familiar." M.E. downed the rest of her
drink. "When I look into her eyes, past the emptiness, I can see what I felt.
There?s a darkness in her that feels familiar to me."
"That's it M.E.? Just a darkness? Everyone has one, different flavor, and just
because it's similar, it doesn't cut it. The woman- I don't have to tell you
but I will anyway- is running around with knives in our crew." Cervin thought
M.E.'s statement for a moment and then, "this darkness, exactly how familiar?"
"I could have been just like her after the rape, after I?d lost Andrew and
miscarried our son." She told him as she looked up at him. "My life had ended
with theirs and in it?s place was this overwhelming, all consuming darkness."
Other then Ri, Cervin had been the only other person M.E. had ever really
opened up to, she hadn?t even gone into detail with Alex.
"I spent weeks with the counselor from the ship who?d found me on that shuttle.
A Betazoid woman who refused to let me completely give into the darkness. She?d
even come in after me once or twice." M.E.?s eyes danced between an unsettling
darkness to near tears to brief sparks.
"That's a different darkness than Anita's. She's.. disturbed. Nothing
penetrates in that head of hers. She sees only death. She knows only death,"
Cervin replied softly.
"And that's not you, M.E. You're alive, you're still living, inside. She's dead
inside. You may feel dead, but you're still kicking," a reassuring smile formed
up. It was his hope that M.E. would agree on this assessment. He downed what
was left of his drink and reached over for the bottle and refilled his glass.
"Everyone has their darkness. But all of them different," Cervin shrugged,
"Maybe Anita just reminds you of what's dead in you."
"Did I ever tell you I watched the man who killed my lover and my son burn to
death slowly? Or that Ri and I arranged his death? Or how good it felt to
watch?" M.E. told him darkly. "Yeah, she reminds me of that part of me. The
only difference between us, Cervin, is I had a place to go to, to heal. Anita?s
never had that. She?d never had a place to go to.
"She?d never had anyone want her around. She?s only known death because every
where she goes people want her dead. She was defending herself against Shane.
Bella, well that was her pushing buttons. It scares the hell out of her that
I?ve offered her something no one has ever offered her."
It became crystal clear. He didn't need anymore of an answer as he looked
directly into Maureen's eyes, "home. You're offering home. I can understand
that. You're taking one hell of a leap, and the crew doesn't get it. Hell-
actually admittedly, part of me still doesn't get it," he raised his hand
before M.E. could respond, "but I'll go with it. Compassion for the one you
least expected to show."
"I don?t know the rest of them well enough to know if they?d get it or even if
they?d care." M.E. said as she placed her glass on the table that was between
her and Cervin. "I haven?t heard a word from Alex, but she?d understand the
need for home. I know I?m taking a risk but it?s a risk I?ll take alone if I
have to. It?s my job to make this ship a home, a safe place for everyone, we
have kids on this tub for the gods sake. I won?t let her harm anyone else and
she won?t kill anyone. She promised me that at least. I don?t know what
happened between her and Bella, my guess is that Bella didn?t know how to play
Anita?s little game the right way. I don?t think she was out to kill, Bella.
Shane, on the other hand went after her first and Anita acts on pure instinct.
He was a threat to her life so Anita became one to his."
"Alright." Cervin nodded, "You want her to have a place. That's fine. It's your
ship, your crew. She has a home- if she even wants one. As for earlier in the
sickbay; Im not apologizing, Maureen. She was.. is.. still.. a threat. And
until she guarantees it in my eyes that she won?t attempt anything, she's not
going to have the most pleasant of times here."
Cervin sighed, "I'll go with what you want," He pushed forward on the seat,
settling the glass on the table, "I'll go out on a limb and try my best to make
it feel like a place for Anita to stay. Just don't expect too much, M.E. She
comes close to John or you in a manner I don't think is safe at all, I'll off
her in a second. What do you say?" It was his best offer, his only offer. Even
if he understood Anita's predicament.
"I understand, Cervin." M.E. told him. "But next time you want to know what?s
going on in my head, ask me when we?re alone. We got not only the life of a
little girl on the line in this next job, but possibly our own. I don?t need
grief from the crew. So handle them."
Cervin smirked, "Oh, they're easy to handle... until Anita comes around, then
it's just chaos."
"Then have them steer clear of her. For now she?s locked in her quarters.
Tomorrow she?ll be cleaning the blood off carpet and walls before helping us
out with the job. She?s got a laundry list of contacts we can use. I want a
couple of plans in place in cause one thing or another goes wrong."
Cervin simply nodded and got up, "We'll see what we can come up with after Cole
gives us more info. We're vague on details."
M.E. nodded. "Cole?s a vague man, but Alex will get what we need out of him."
M.E. left out the part about Alex threading to beat the crap out of her if she
dealt with Cole at all. "I?ll get with her tomorrow and see what she?s got for
us." M.E. stood, walked over to Cervin and hugged him quickly. After stepping
back she smiled. "That is if I get to sleep at all tonight."
"Somehow, I don't think lack of sleep is going to stop you," Cervin smiled back
and exited.
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