Running Out

Posted on Fri Feb 8th, 2019 @ 4:04am by

Mission: Run Afoul
Location: Brig
Timeline: Day after "Run in the brig"
999 words - 2 OF Standard Post Measure

Stef moved stiffly, groaning under his breath as he turned over on the cot, the pile of blankets that covered him shifting and sliding from his body onto the floor. He was feeling stiff and cold, the healing injury to his chest itching beyond belief. He resisted the urge to scratch, his face scrunging up as he balled his hand into a fist.

Disoriented, he sat up, not even realizing he was confined. Still half asleep, he got up, fully intent on walking to a bathroom when he walked headlong into the forcefield.

Beata had come through the doors to the brig with a blanket over her shoulders, still in her pajamas. "Stef, are you all right?!" She looked at Wilfred, urging him to lower the field. When he did so she let the blanket slide to the floor in front of Stef, placed her hands on either side of his face to make sure he wasn't hurt from the shock.

Shaking his head to lift the haze on his mind, Stef gave her a weak smile. "Just a little dazed," he answered, shifting to sit properly on the floor. "I believe I have slept too deeply," he admitted, "and I did not realize where I was. I remember now though." he looked up at her, smiling as he sized her up. "Why are you in your sleepingwear?"

"I couldn't sleep, I guess I didn't feel like getting dressed. I . . ." He was already sitting down so she couldn't tell him to do so. Beata began pacing. "I have something to tell you, and you will be furious with me. You might not ever speak to me again but I have to tell you, it's eating at me and it's put you in danger."

Stef followed her with his eyes as she paced, then closed them for a moment. "Stop pacing please, and sit down with me. What is it you want to tell me?" He looked concerned as he stared up at her. "Why would I not speak with you again?"

Beata did sit down in front of him, but she closed her eyes while she said it. "It's my fault you're in here. I put the egg and the feathers in engineering to frame you. I had you deliver the bomb to engineering under the Captain's orders. I had to, I did something terrible a long time ago and someone found out about it. He said he'd tell everyone and I'd be kicked out of Starfleet. Starfleet is all I have, or it was, until I met you. So none of that matters now because I have to tell everyone the truth."

"What was so terrible that you could not talk about it?" Stef asked, more curious than angry. Of course he felt anger, even if he didn't really recognize the emotion, and disappointment. He wanted nothing more than tell her to leave, and leave him alone. But something compelled him to ask; something about what she said, made him feel like she was a victim too.

"I killed someone," Beata said, opening her eyes and looking at him for the first time. Her face was already streaked with tears. "He hurt me, and he tried to do it again and I just snapped."

Stef looked at her for several seconds, without saying anything. Then, he reached out and drew her into his arms. "Sounds like you defended yourself," he told her, "if he repeatedly hurt you, and you considered yourself to be in danger, that is self preservation."

"But I didn't have to kill him, I didn't even mean to. Still, he's dead. And this person knows, somehow. It doesn't matter." Beata pulled away from him. "I have to tell the Captain and I have to get you out of here. We're trading places."

"It does matter Bee. While I agree you should tell the captain, tell her exactly what happened, I do not agree we will trade places." He sighed, got up and returned to the cot to sit on it as that was far more comortable than the floor. "What you did was an accident, you were defending your own life. Yes I am disappointed, and perhaps angry at what you did to me, but that does not outweigh what has been done to you."

Beata was pretty sure she'd never felt this terrible in her life, but at least he still seemed to be speaking to her. She was tired, she felt light headed and her heart was pounding in her chest but there was a glimmer of hope that things would improve. "I'll go talk to her right now."

"No you are not," Stef said, grabbing her arm. "Not until you have calmed yourself a little. I can tell you are not feeling well Bee. Perhaps we can call her down here, so you will not be alone."

She was surprised by his sternness and the grip on her arm. "I'm not going to harm myself," she said quietly though her eyes were a little wide. But she relented and sat down on the cot next to him, resting her head against the bulkhead. "We can call the Captain here."

"Bee..." Stef gave her an exhausted look. "If I were concerned about you harming yourself, do you not think I would not already have called someone?" making sure she was comfortable, he walked up to the forcefield, more mindful of its presence now. "Mister Wexler...could you please call the captain down? I need to speak with her, it is important."

Wilfred nodded and tapped his communicator, tell the captain a bit of what he'd heard.

Beata looked at Stef, "I will make this right, I promise."

"I do not doubt you Bee." Despite it all, he still had feelings for her. Feelings that ran deeper than a fleeting moment of anger.

---

Ensign Beata Lauryl
Operations Officer
USS Majestic
pnpc by Saulitis

Crewman Apprentice Stef
Yeoman/Animal Caretaker
pnpc Lhaes
USS Majestic