Post by Scribe on Oct 16, 2009 8:36:24 GMT -5
MAYWEATHER TRAIL
2nd November 2170
It was raining hard.
Sheets of rain was sweeping across the landscape as she ran through the trees, barely noticing the water on her skin. She was soaked through, her pony tail hanging limply behind her and yet she continued to run, not slowing her pace, not even thinking about the rain. She hadn't slept again last night and unless Lea wanted to make another trip to D’Tella to get something prescribed for the purpose, she planned on running until she couldn't stand anymore or her body gave out from sheer exhaustion.
Because Lea Lynch, she left behind the memories that plagued, her day and night and never seemed to let her forget...
Being unable to breathe. Forced on her hands and knees, brutalized one by one on his orders. All his men taking turns at her, passing her around like she was unending bottle with which they could satiate their thirst. Hearing the screams and knowing with despair they were hers. Tasting vomit after she retched the contents of her stomach until digestive juices were being ejected and there was nothing left in the wake of the ordeal except the terrible shame and humiliation.
She wondered if she would ever be able to outrun that.
Sometimes, Derick wondered if he wasn't just an adrenaline junkie in the form of a DI. Lynch had seemed eager to get this integration plan of hers going so when the first week went by and he'd heard nothing, he'd assumed as anyone would have. She was busy. The second week, alright, Derick would admit that was his fault. Pushing the maggots through a critical week in their training had occupied all his time, as did spending the remaining time briefing Tom once he'd returned from that Descent into Lunacy. With company, no less. The third week, he'd sent Lea a message or three, just friendly business related ones. Nothing.
He'd checked her place (after looking it up) and nothing. Oh she was there, had been there but every where he went, she'd either just left or hadn't been there yet.
And then there had been that weird look Tom had given him when he'd called her by her first name instead of 'Lt. Commander Lynch'. No character talk about 'security birds' either. Maybe it was that, Tom being -not- Tom that had driven Derick up here to Mayweather Trail at the ass crack of dawn. In the driving rain. Hell, Derick hadn't even bothered to stop at the Barn to tell Tom where he was going. He'd just sent a message because one more day of Tom not saying anything would have driven him up here with the maggots for a search exercise. Or any worried look Tom would have given Derick himself, which had appeared once he'd made the final decision about Ellie. God he adored the woman but she hadn't been there in six months and it wasn't looking like she would be able to return for quite a while. So Derick had done the right thing. Ellie hadn't been too upset about it and agreed, another time, another place, stay in touch. So none of that this morning because he'd left out early and hit the trail. Footprints that might be hers were welled up with the rain now but he followed them anyway because they were the freshest ones out here.
Her runners dug into the wet earth as she continued to run, splashing mud and water as she continued as if hell itself was snapping at her heels. In some ways it was. The trail used by the Sharks was markedly different from the other nature walks that crisscrossed Mayweather Trail. It came complete with obstacle course, rope climbs across an impressive looking ravine, log climbs, earth mounds, trenches and thick, unyielding bush that scratched the shit out of you if you didn’t know what you were doing.
Lea went through this as if they were nothing, barely noticing the strain on her muscle as she crossed one challenge after another. At the Academy, she had done gymnastics and while she never competed, she was able enough to be quite agile, moving across the rough terrain like she was gliding. With the rain on her back, seeming like she was being chased by the devil, it kept the demons away from her thoughts for a time.
Twenty minutes after starting out, Derick caught up to Lea. Sort of. He'd spied her down the trail, the only down part on the way up where it curved around into a glen. At least, he thought, she was alive. That was something, although he understood if she didn't quite think of it that way. Stretching out into his full stride, Derick sought to catch up with Lea and found himself running full out. She was in great shape, his mind automatically assessed. "Heads up...” Derick called from several yards behind her, not wanting to get shot.
For a moment, she thought she imagined the voice that called out to her.
With the rain teeming around her, it was easy to mistake a chirp of a bird for a voice but then she looked over her shoulder and saw that there was someone behind her. It took but a second to identify the who and she wished it was anyone but him.
Anyone but Captain Derick Rickman because she had opened up to him, she had invited him into her wounds and he hadn't run off like most men. No, Derick wasn’t concerned with her hang ups and worse yet, he still determined to be her friend. That more than anything else, frightened Lea most. However, seeing him behind her was also a double edge sword because she couldn’t turn him away as Lea found herself slowing, allowing him to catch up.
"Come here often?" She said when he was next to her.
"That the best line you could come up with?" Derick grinned, taking in how she was soaked to the bone and seemed... distant. Mayweather Trail was a long from Nausican territory but it appeared the memories knew nothing of boundaries.
Damn him. Damn him and that sweet, charming manner that could somehow penetrate her defenses so easily when all others had been kept out so effectively. "Well I only had a minute's notice." She found herself falling into stride with him so they were running side by side. "Give me a few more seconds and I'll come up with something better." Lea almost smiled as it continued to rain torrents down on both of them. “What are you doing here in the rain?”
"Needed a shower," Derick cracked, seeing if he couldn't get that smile to blossom.
"A shower," she stared at him. "You like to shower with your clothes on? How disappointing for the rest of us." She teased and then winced inwardly again. Great, now she was flirting with him. Way to show him that she didn’t want company.
Score. Not a full on blossom but hell, he liked it when the flowers weren't fully open. "My tats scare the straights," Derick chuckled. "Actually, I came up here to find you. Apparently, yours is the only email that's not working." He grinned broadly at her, knowing full well he was putting her on the spot.
Lea immediately felt guilty about the wide berth she had been giving him all week, aware that he had been trying to contact her but after that dinner at the Grill, Lea felt as if she had had exposed too much of herself and her past and did what she normally did in such situations. Withdraw. However, it seemed that Captain Rickman didn't scare easily and no matter how much she pushed back at him, hevwas starting to show her that he could give as good as he got.
"Sorry, I've just been a bit caught up with things. I did authorize all you requests however, I have been keeping up with your part in our little project." It wasn't much of an excuse but served much better than the truth which was that she found herself vulnerable around him. She had worked to maintain this tough façade, to prove to everyone that she was damaged not incompetent. She was aware that some of the objections to her getting the position was her supposedly unstable mental state. Lea was determined to prove them. "And for that you come out here in this weather to find me? I am flattered."
"It was this or mobilize the maggots and trust me..." Derick shook his head with a laugh. "You don't want that current lot bumbling around out here." He was pissed at them and rightly so. "I saw the approvals, thanks. You know.. Your secretary is very protective of you," he said.
"Only because she knows I'm such a people person," she replied, gesturing to a sheltered rest stop through the trees a few hundred yards ahead. "Race you!" She winked and burst into a surge of speed to get there before him.
"Wh... HEY...!" Breaking into a run, Derick had held back until he realized she was seriously fast. Using his stride, he'd barely caught up to her when she pounded into the shelter. Laughing, he came up beside her, wiping the rain off his face.
Reaching the shelter first, Lea reached around her head and freed her wait hair from its pony tail, running her fingers through her wet hair as she waited for him to catch up. "Too slow Captain Rickman." She laughed right back and surprised herself by how easily it came to her around him.
"I was checking out the view," Derick retorted, running a hand through his own wet hair, wicking the water off it. "You're fast, Lieutenant Commander Lynch," he grinned and coming from him, that was saying something.
"I've been running this course almost every day since I got back," she explained, wringing the water from the bottom half of the white singlet she was wearing. "I guess it made me improve my time."
"Sounds like it." Every day? Did it help her cope? Run til she puked, that's what Lea had said at the Grille. Was running like this therapeutic for her? He figured yes, that maybe it gave her a sense of control, let her escape whenever she wanted unlike back on that shuttle. "Well, at least you're not puking," he teased.
"Not yet," she smiled, "give it time. Although, I have to admit, I think I rather like running in the rain. Washes away everything, makes you feel clean." She said gazing out into the torrent.
"Depends on the rain." Mars rain had been... ehh, smelly. Something to do with the terraforming process. "Here though, I like being out in it, too." Though he tried not to stare at Lea and to keep the innuendo out of his speech, Derick couldn't help but let his eyes drift over her skin, what he saw of it anyway. Like him, she bore scars, and his eyes fell on her shoulder, where one stood out. The smooth twist of flesh was familiar, skin melted under extreme heat. He had similar marks on his own body, courtesy of a cigar and a drunken, angry Tom Rickman. However, it was the shape that made it so different than his.
Very clearly, it was a star over what looked to be Nausican lettering. The image of it seared into his brain, much like it had been on her skin and with a start, Derick knew what it was. Knew where he'd seen something like it before. A slaving brand. Of course, he'd paid attention during their dinner at the Grille. She had been taken prisoner but seeing that mark seemed to snap something inside him and he dropped his eyes, almost ashamed for checking her out now.
Missing nothing, she caught the look in his eyes and the way he now seemed unable to look at her. For a moment, Lea wondered if it was what she had said and then realized what it was, the damn mark. He saw the Nausicaan slaving brand on her body. Blinking slowly, turned away from him, trying not to feel as mortified as he obviously did. Of course closing her eyes made her remember the day she had gotten the thing.
They'd left her after they'd finished, in a pool of her own blood and vomit when arms grabbed her and carried her out of the cells. She heard someone screaming and that jarred her out of it. It was Rachel Billings, she was an engineer, a lieutenant who'd never served on a starship before. Rachel died a month later, having strangled herself in her self. Rachel's screams woke Lea up and the next thing she knew, two Nausicaans were holding her down and the pain of the violation earlier was equaled by the pain on her shoulder.
"It’s just a scar..." she said quietly.
Just a scar... yet he heard the pain in her voice. Rather lack of it. Lack of anything else, too. Derick stopped his hand before he could set it on her shoulder and pulled it back. "They're all just scars, Lea..." Fuck. The air in the little shelter was suddenly thick, unbreatheable. Fuck, fuck fuck.
"You know what it is don't you?" She could see the answer in his eyes. He knew what it was and if he recognize the mark then he probably knew what it meant too. The thought that he might have known what was done to her made her ashamed.
Always a straight shooter, no bullshit kind of guy, Derick didn't see any reason to start now. He nodded. "Yeah, I do," he said quietly, meeting her in the eye now, guessing not too many people did that once they found out.
"That's what I was for almost a year," she looked him in he eye, swallowing hard, refusing to feel show the shame she felt. "Property. The others didn't survive it. Two of them suicided in their cells. Hanged herself with bed clothes. The other opened her wrists and bled to death. The rest, died from the abuse. We all wore the mark." She confessed, her eyes, growing black like coals.
And she'd survived. God, that would fuck anyone up let alone being the only one. "Lea..." he paused, frowning. Totally uncharted territory for him. So instead of saying something, Derick simply acted and reached out a hand to her. Same like before, palm up, open.
Trembling, she reached for his hand and looked into his eyes. "Its not that I don't like people," Lea said softly. "Its sometimes, I wake up and have to remember I'm not there any more. You stay inside your head a lot so that you can stay strong. I haven't worked out how to unlock the cell in my head. I'm still trapped inside that space."
"I know." Derick squeezed her hand, the quiver in her fingers going straight to his gut. Maybe he'd made the decision back at the Grille, maybe it had been just now but Derick knew he'd be there for her when she came out. Like Tom, he'd stand right beside Lea too. Hold her up when she needed it. "That's okay you know. You come out when you're ready."
"Why?" She looked at him and ask. "Why would you bother? I'm a wreck. Damaged goods."
Why would I bother what?" Derick asked, purposely missing her point.
"Why would you bother with me?" She repeated herself. "I’m damaged."
Squeezing her hand again, Derick had planned to let it go.. but found he couldn't. Looking at their hands for a moment, he smiled up at her. "We all are. That's the thing you know. We're all damaged, Lea." Talked to her twice and he was torn between wanting to protect her forever and wanting to help her stand on her own two feet.
"I guess we are," she nodded, appreciating him more than she ever thought she could appreciate another person again. "Thank you Derick." She took a step forward and kissed him on the cheek, surprised that she was able to do it without cringing. "Thank you."
Derick automatically tilted his head down, bending slightly at the knees for her. Like most, she was shorter than him. "You're welcome, Lea." He smiled at her, squeezing her hand.
Still holding onto this hand, she tugged him out into the rain again. "Come on Ground Pounder," she said with a smile as bright as day, "show me what you got." And with that, she turned on her heels and started running, daring him to follow.
She smiled and damn if the sun didn't seem to shine, even in the pouring rain. Watching her head off, Derick grinned, pleased with himself. Even if she hadn't realized, he had. The bloom had just opened.