Movie Night

Posted on Tue Jan 26, 2016 @ 1:31am by Lieutenant Nicole Anderson & Lieutenant AJ Taggart

1,900 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: The Fall
Location: Sickbay/AJ's Quarters
Timeline: 2100-2200 after "Everything is about to change"

ON:

AJ rubbed his eyes as he sat at the Tactical station. He had been running scan after scan on the jump points of the vessel that the Victory had encountered and had come up with nothing and he had no access to the holographic footage- that had been forwarded and locked down by Intelligence the moment it had been downloaded. He had sent Master Chief Tomaszewski down to the Communicore to attempt to coax some information from that department. In the meantime, fatigue and sheer boredom were beginning to creep up on him. Checking his wrist chronometer, he saw the time- nearly 2100. Running yet another scan, he was coming up with the same convoluted information that he couldn't seem to extract a pattern from. Sending his results through to the Intelligence Duty Officer and Lieutenant Yarin for review assured that some fresh eyes could see something that he couldn't- and that he could finally get some downtime. Fighting the urge to sleep, he continued to watch the screens for any sign of activity other than dust and echoes.

After what seemed like an eternity, Pete walked back onto the bridge with a PADD in hand, whistling a triumphant tune. Stopping behind AJ, the Master Chief gave him a playful tap on the back of the head with the PADD, jarring AJ back to reality. Swiveling around in his chair, AJ addressed him. "What do you have for me, Master Chief?"

With a hint of flourish, Pete handed the PADD over. "That PADD contains the video footage of the landing in addition to time points of interest and my preliminary analysis. What they saw down there is NOT good by any means but we have some information now and it should work out just fine. You, however, look like a mess. I'm relieving you. Get off the bridge and get some sleep."

AJ was in no condition to argue, especially with someone like Pete. Nor could he deny the fact that he was packing a mean five o'clock shadow and could barely concentrate. He rose from his station and headed for the turbolift. There was one place he wanted to head- Sickbay. Stepping inside the lift car, AJ leaned against the railing and tried to keep his eyes open.

"Sickbay." Not even a moment later did the turbolift begin its move downward. The lift stopped gently and the doors slid open silently. AJ walked out, his shoulders slumped. Rounding the threshold into Sickbay, he looked around for Nicole.

Nicole glanced as the doors opened and frowned. She walked over, arms folded and sized AJ up. "You look like hell," she said.

AJ chuckled weakly. "I feel like hell," he said, leaning on the bulkhead. "So I was thinking, maybe we could head back to my quarters and watch a few movies in bed with some popcorn, candy, and pajamas, what do you say?" he asked.

Nicole leaned against the bulkhead and smirked. "I say why bother? I can already tell you what'll happen. We'll get about 10 minutes into the movie, you'll begin to snore and I will quietly extricate myself and sneak back to my quarters." She flicked him on the nose. "Just like last time."

She turned and picked up her black bag from the counter top next to her. "Besides, I don't much know if I'm in the mood for a movie. Have had a lot on my plate lately. Not quite sure what I want to do, to be honest."

It was interesting to AJ that he had become so predictable. This switch back to shipboard life was jarring for him and he wasn't adjusting well.

"You all right?" Nicole said when his focus seemed to drift. As his eyes moved back to focus on her, she shook her head and smiled. "Why don't you go get an hour nap and I'll stop by after and we'll talk, hm?"

"Yes, Doctor," AJ said sarcastically. "You know, you don't look too fresh either. I'll take that nap and in an hour's time, if you're tired, we can watch movies and eat chocolate until we pass out, what do you say?" AJ said, answering Nicole's question with a question.

"Always trying to get me sloshed," she said, shaking her head. "We'll talk, then maybe a movie...and maybe chocolate." She patted his cheek and turned back to her specimens.

***********************************************

An hour later, Nicole was changed into simple off-duty clothes and ringing AJ's chime.

AJ was roused from his nap by the chime, checking his chronometer, he noted that it had been 56 minutes. He was clad in nothing but a pair of loose black athletic shorts. Walking over to the door, he watched as the doors slid open to reveal Nicole.

As the doors opened, she smiled a bit. "Hello," she said, eyeing him quickly.

"Hello, yourself." AJ motioned towards the interior of his quarters with a flourish. "Come in and make yourself at home."

Nicole stepped past him and sat down on the couch, leaning back and crossing her legs. Watching him with amusement as he walked past.

As always, his quarters were meticulously clean with nothing out of place. AJ made his way into the kitchen to dig something out of his fridge to eat. His head buried in the fridge, he yelled out. "Can I get you anything? I can cook something, if you're feeling peckish."

She tried not to snort with laughter. "Peckish?" she said. "Picking up a few words, then? I'll just grab a lemonade from the replicator," she said, standing up and ordering her drink, carrying it carefully back to the couch and placing it on a coaster. Her profession had left her a bit fastidious, but then there was AJ's level, and she had no desire to upset him over something trivial.

She sipped quietly as he came back in and sat down next to her, food in hand. She smirked and put her glass down, staring at him. "You're all class, AJ."

Looking around, AJ was confused. Looking down, his face turned red as he realized that he was rather under dressed. Setting down his guava juice on the coffee table, his face started to turn a darker red until it was nearly crimson. He got up and strode into the bedroom, putting on a pair of fleet issue sweatpants and t-shirt. Coming back out, he took his seat on the couch. "Better?" he asked playfully. Looking at the way she was handling herself, AJ put his hands on her shoulders. He could feel the way her shoulders were tensed and her movements were somewhat measured. "Relax. This may look like some regimented area but that's only I keep it mostly clean. You don't need to coasters or anything. If it gets messed up, I'll clean it up." he kept his voice soft.

Nicole smiled softly and forced her shoulders to relax. "Thank you," she said. "I've just got something on my mind. She leaned against the back of the couch, resting her head against her hand. After a moment she said, "you know, we get together, we eat something, we watch something, we talk about our day...but that's all we do. We haven't really talked about this," she gestured between them. "What do we have, and is it going anywhere? And does it need to?" She looked down at her lap for a moment, pulling her legs up under her. "Are you seeing anyone else?" she said, quietly. "It's all right if you are, I mean we haven't exactly talked about being exclusive or anything..." she shrugged helplessly. "I was curious."

AJ didn't even think. He had flirted, sure, but seeing someone else had been out of the question since they first met. Giving her a hurt look, he spoke slowly and softly. "There's never been anyone else, Nicole. You're the only person I've even thought about spending time with." Pondering her question further, AJ became slightly withdrawn. Looking Nicole in the eye, he posed the question. "What about you, has there been anyone else?" he asked.

Nicole was blushing from the way he'd been looking at her, and as she watched him shrink back into the couch, she wished she would just spontaneously combust, or get blasted out of his quarters and into space. She instantly regretted saying anything and would have given anything to take it back, but once debridement of a wound began, there was no turning back.

"Not...exactly," she said, and could see his expression crumple, kicking herself for her choice of words. "There's this one guy, he asked me to join him for a holodeck program he used to work out. I was curious cause of my love for archery and my background, and cause as his doctor I was curious how he broke so many bones. It was just as friends, and everything was going fine...." she looked down at her lap. "Then he kissed me." She could hear AJ groan inside his head. "I ran away fast as I could, straight to Cassandra and had a complete freak-out. I wanted to talk to you then and there, but you were on duty and I was a mess and..." she shrugged helplessly. "I just didn't know what to feel. He asked me to have dinner with him, and I said yes because I wanted to explain to him I was seeing someone and I did and we just talked as friends that's it, and the other time we met in the holodeck was a complete coincidence, he just happened to be there while I was running a program from home--" her voice caught as she realized how ridiculous those excuses probably sounded.

She steeled herself and raised her eyes to meet his gaze and saw his face and her heart almost broke. "Oh, AJ," she sighed. "I'm sorry, I never meant to betray your feelings or hurt you. I honestly don't know what to feel right now. I've had my head on straight for the first time in a long time, and somehow I'm more confused than ever." She shook her head and looked at him helplessly.

A wave of intense confusion and a hint of annoyance washed over AJ as he tried to comprehend what he was hearing and the more he tried to wrap his brain around it, the more confused he became. He had sincerely believed that there was something there between them and now those feelings had been ripped away and discarded. The realization hit him like a freight train. Taking no time, he rose from the couch and walked over to the viewport. Leaning on the ledge, he could feel the tears stinging his eyes as they welled up. "Just leave, Nicole. I'm not going to try to compete for your affection."

Nicole stood up slowly, her jaw having dropped like a stone. A dozen responses bolted through her mind. Her eyes flashed red and she had to fight the impulse to toss him across his quarters. She wanted to hold him, slap him, kiss him, punch him and then she thought about what he said, and she immediately felt deflated. "All right," she said, quietly. "Good night." She walked out of his quarters, wiping her eyes and furious with herself, building up a good head of steam ready to blow.

JP

AJ Taggert
CIO

Nicole Anderson
CMO

 

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