" Atonement "
(Previous Post was Serena's "Executive Visit")
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Setting: USS ANUBIS, Deck 7, Arboretum
The young woman sat on the chequered blanket, the empty wicker basket resting perfectly in the middle of the feast that had been set around it while the mother watched as her child played with some imaginary creature… a creature which seemed to particularly enjoy hiding amongst the more colourful flowers present in the arboretum. More than once the child's adoptive mother had tried to call her over to eat, but each time the call had been ignored.
As the CO of a starship such as the ANUBIS, Rikar had grown accustomed to having people do as she asked right away. As the life-mate of the deceased ILO, the redheaded woman had learned the invaluable lesson that every moment life gave you needed to be cherished to their fullest, and as the mother to the rambunctious child name Talia, Sabrina had decided to do just that.
"Bina help Ta-ha'lia look for Targ?" The little girl inquired of the woman who had just arrived by her side.
A fearful grin flashed on the young woman's pink lips as she tried to imagine why Talia wold have wanted to search for a Targ… but this was neither the time or place for such a question which would be better left to a child Counsellor. Right now the time had been for the redheaded woman to smile, nod in happy agreement and join the hunt for the ferocious Klingon beast.
Because the mother and her adoptive child had been so involved in the hunt and the pure joy that they had derived from it, neither one of them had heard the doors to the arboretum slide open and shut, granting the unexpected new arrival the freedom to move about unnoticed.
David entered the arboretum to the sounds of a child's laughter... and the laughter of an adult. The massive CEO lurked between the perennials and the Bajoran rosehips and he watched quietly. This was a side of Sabrina he hadn't seen in a while and with Talia even. David smiled lightly because from the looks of it his commanding officer was enjoying herself in spending time with her daughter. Maybe this was the wrong time to talk to his captain with all she's been through, but it needed to be done. As he moved through, he himself was being watched as Capi pounced on the CEO's head. Talia's defence mechanism although impossibly small, scratched violently at CEO until Sabrina and Talia arrived.
"Bina… Capi no like bad man." the child said pointing to David's who had fallen to the ground startled.
"David…" Sabrina said clearing her throat, "Capi… stop." The young woman ordered as she motioned her daughter to retrieve the small animal from the top of the CEO's head allowing the man to slowly return to his feet.
"Sorry for the intrusion Captain, but I needed to talk to you…"
"Whatever you need to say David it can wait. I'm busy." The redheaded woman hissed as she reached out and brought the little girl to rest onto her hip.
"Sabrina…" David said, "it'll only take a moment."
Sabrina glared at the CEO for what felt like an eternity before she turned around and placed her daughter back on the grassy ground of the arboretum. "Sweetie, Mommy needs to talk to David…"
"Bina play with me. Send bad man away now!" Talia growled as she glared at David, the small primate on her shoulder mimicking the angered gesture with uncanny perfection.
"I will honey… really soon" she added with a wink, "wait for Mommy by the spring and we'll splash in the water some more."
Talia glared at the massive CEO as she reluctantly walked off, making sure her loud protest was heard "I go, but I 'member you promise spend the day with Ta-Ha'lia but spend with bad man instead!". Sabrina returned her attention to David not making any efforts to hide her anger in the man's intrusion.
"You got 2 minutes Lieutenant. Speak fast."
David nodded, "Well… I wanted to thank you."
"For what?" the ANUBIS' CO said pulling her hair into a ponytail.
"Your press for the court-martial. I don't think Richard would have shown himself if I wasn't faced with the end of my career…"
"Which I still believe should be over for what you did." Sabrina replied tersely.
"Captain," David said and sighed, "I know you and I haven't seen eye to eye lately…"
"Lately?" Sabrina chuckled dryly, "lately?! David… I'm going to level with you. I *stopped* seeing eye-to-eye with you when you continued to defy my orders and doing whatever the hell you wanted. You're a loose cannon and if not checked soon, you're going to hurt and kill more people."
David expected that, "So… you still blame me for Enaii's death?"
"Well now… let me see," Sabrina said tapping her finger on her temple, "yes. *If* it weren't for your blatant defiance of my orders and you trying to kill everyone in the shuttle bay that day, *she* wouldn't have done what she did in trying to save the rest of the MERCURYs crew and *you*!"
Sabrina's emerald green eyes were ablaze with a firestorm the likes of which the CEO had never before seen. It reminded him of the way his right eye was now, but he knew it was anger boiling in his former lover.
"Captain, we risk our lives everyday…"
"*DON'T* pretend to lecture me David. I know the rules of the game and I play them well," and she got right up on the CEO, "*you* forced her into an unnecessary risk and for that I'll *never* forgive you. Do you hear me? *NEVER!*"
David looked down on her as her breathing increased. He chuckled.
"What's so damned funny?" the ANUBIS' CO demanded, looking at the towering man as if she had been ready to throw a punch at him.
"PENTARIUS IV… our last vacation before you regained your memories. How angry you were that I called it short because of all the damned rain we were getting."
"That was a lifetime ago… one I soon would forget."
"Dammit Sabrina!" David exclaimed, "what would you have me do? Take her place? Do you hate me that much?"
"I don't hate you as a person David… but what you have become. *You* were a person I trusted. A person I could confide in. Now… you disgust me. I'm surprised that Koniki didn't drum you out even after the court-martial was called off. You don't deserve to wear that uniform."
"Listen to you," David said taking her by the shoulders, "this isn't you…"
Sabrina shrugged him away, "Get used to it. It’s the new me…" and she paused. Locking eyes with him, her fire reflecting in his eyes, "and since we're on the matter of trust, when were you going to tell me about the little secret pact you and Enaii made?"
David's brows knitted together, "Pact? What pact?"
"Don't play stupid with me David!" Sabrina snapped, "The little deal the two of you made… I think it went something like this… something happens to her, you take care of me and Talia."
David could do nothing but blink.
"So it *is* true," Sabrina hissed, "why?! Do I look like I need you to take care of me? Or Talia for that matter?!"
"Sabrina" David sighed, "OK… OK… Enaii and I made the agreement when we first arrived here. I wanted more information on my parents death and she said that she'd help me. But for her help I had to do something for her. It was her idea…"
"I don't believe you." Sabrina replied hotly. "Enaii would never have entrusted anyone to protect Talia and me. What I do know and believe is that you were jealous of her and still are… and you are hoping that this will be your chance to get back you lost."
"Jealously has *nothing* to do with this!" David exclaimed out of sheer disbelief in what the redheaded woman had said.
"The hell if it doesn't! You're still harbouring something for me that'll never materialize and you need to realize that…"
"*You* made that clear before the mission to the TANGIERS!" David exclaimed, "and just about anytime before that. And I've realized that long before." He paced away from her, "I know you don't like me. You say you don't hate me… but I can see it in your eyes! You'd rather it have been me that died other than Enaii…" the CEO said allowing his words to drift into a silence that seemed to crush the two of them at the same time.
"You robbed Talia of her mother!" Sabrina exclaimed after several moments of enduring the silence that had suddenly taken over the arboretum, "she's only *4* David. So explain to me what is she going to do without her mother?"
"Live," David replied.
"Of course she'll live…" Sabrina said, "but no thanks to you."
"You don't see my point Captain" David said suddenly returning to a professional stance, "she'll live. Like she's doing now. She has you, and your friends… and me… because we have a kindred spirit."
"You?! And Talia… a kindred spirit. An unlikely story," the CO said crossing her arms across her chest, "if anyone seriously dislikes you David, it's her."
"The same thing that happened to her happened to me," David said pointing in Talia's direction, "*my* parents died when I was young as well. Who did I have?! *No one!*"
He paced away from her and sat on a rock, "Everyone expected me to be bigger than I was. I was the son of Captain David Dawson… I was the name sake. I wasn't supposed to show weakness, but who did I have to turn to?" and he stood, "let me honour Enaii's wish to help her." He concluded glancing at the little girl who had been listening at their conversation from afar.
After following the CEO's gaze to her daughter, the young woman motioned for Talia to join them which the child did never taking her eyes off the engineer. Had the little girl been any anything else than what she was… a child… David might have actually feared for his life. Once her daughter had arrived by her side, the redheaded woman reached down and brought Talia to rest on her hip.
"It always has to be about *you* doesn't it?!?" Sabrina hissed, "You're too bloody self-involved to see past the events of your own life and into the lives of the people you've destroyed." Stepping closer to the engineer and becoming increasingly more threatening, the Captain spoke. "Lt. Dawson… I will make this as clear and direct as I can. *WE* do not need your help. *WE* do not need your protection. *WE* do not need you watching over us. In plain and simple terms, *WE* do *NOT* need you."
David looked at the young woman and the child she held in her arms, seeing the anger reflecting in their eyes. Nothing he could say or do would change what had happened or how they felt towards him at this time, so without having any other recourse the CEO turned and left the arboretum knowing that the road ahead of him would be a long and difficult one and that this had been only the first of many more pits he would have to work his way through.
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as
Lieutenant David Dawson
and
aCEO
"A Starfleet officer...that's all I am and that's all I'll ever be."
*AND*
Sabrina Jones {sabrina_sweet@hotmail.com}
"We are Grey, we stand between the Candle and the Star, between the Darkness and the Light" 2005 post #491
Stardate: 60328.1150
Julian Knight (d_dawson_1@yahoo.com)
Chief Engineer
USS ANUBIS NCC 18501
USS HATHOR
- Avery Brooks as Captain Benjamin Sisko,
Commanding Officer of the Federation Spacestation Deep Space 9
Captain Sabrina Rikar
Commanding Officer
USS ANUBIS, NCC-18501
-Entilza Delenn, Babylon 5
