Work or Play, Part Two

Posted on Sun Aug 18th, 2019 @ 8:15pm by

Mission: For Whom The Bell Tolls
Location: USS Majestic, Deck Two
Timeline: MD06, 2000
2216 words - 4.4 OF Standard Post Measure

[Previously]

"Okay," Sullivan took a deep breath, clearly still feeling the effects of the alcohol. "There's no turbolifts down either of these corridors, and I don't think there are any other exits. We've got this guy trapped. What do you think we should do next?"

"He can't have gone that far, unless he decided to open a hatch and get in a tube," Cassie hypothesized, thinking how uncomfortable that must be, while catching her breath. "We call Security, and we can split up? Cover more ground?"

"You see this?" Lily pointed at herself, answering the question by not answering. "This is my 'I'm having fun' face."

"We're going to be in so much trouble for this..." Cassie almost whined, and tapped her commbadge. "Cassandra Leblanc to Security. Lieutenant Sullivan and I spotted our streaker on Deck 2. If you'd be so kind to join us there while we go and find him, we'd be eternally grateful," she said before tapping it again, not even waiting for an answer. Deck 2 was rather small, after all. "Shall we?"

[Continued]

"I was born ready, but wait a second. We should keep comms open on a local channel. Oooh, we need callsigns," Sullivan's eyes and mouth widened, so great was the inebriated genius trying to escape her brain. "I've always been 'Pocketwatch' since my zoomie days. We need one for you Cassie, something cool and sophisticated like..." she scratched her chin in thought. "Got it! You're Macallan."

Cassie rolled her eyes, but it was obvious she was amused by Lilith's antics. "Fine. You're Pocketwatch, I'm Macallen. You go right, I'll go left, the one who catches him call the other," she instructed. Deep down, she knew she should get her friend to bed, but they were having so much fun. Plus they weren't endangering themselves or anyone else.

Wilfred was nearby when he heard the call. He didn't fancy tackling a naked man much but he figured he'd probably get into trouble if he ignored it so he slowly made his way there, dragging his feet as much as possible and hoping he didn't have to do anything he would later need therapy to try and deal with. Then again he pretty much needed therapy for everything. "Hi," said softly approaching two people who looked like they were waiting for something or someone to jump out.

"Jesus wept! Wow, we need to put a cowbell on you," Lily blurted out, sinking against the wall into a pile of laughter. "You've got a bright future in covert operations sneaking up on people like that you know," she looked up at the young man as he approached. He walked with a bit of a slouch and was trying everything he could not to make eye contact with either of the two women there. "Hi yourself stranger, I'm Lilith. It's okay you can come closer, I've had my cooties shot and Sandy promises I'm not contagious."

"Are you okay?" He asked, frowning a bit. He couldn't meet her eyes for more than a few seconds at a time but he was seriously beginning to think she was having a nervous breakdown or something. He took a couple of steps closer to where she had slumped on the ground, all the while keeping an eye on the other woman.

"I'm great, thanks for asking," Sullivan giggled. "My originally scheduled drinking buddy ditched me, but I found a way better one," she motioned to the woman standing to her right by tilting her head.

Cassie had jumped in surprise and yelped when the young Security officer suddenly appeared, but chuckled softly once she had gotten over the initial startle. "Hi, I'm Cassie, she's drunk," Cassie responded to the young Security Officer. He was still standing with a slight slouch, and still avoid direct eye contact. "Don't be shy, we don't bite. Ideally, she should be in bed. Not ideally, she's hell-bent on finding that streaker. I can't blame her though, he's got a great ass. And from what I saw, a superb spot pattern. Anyway, Ensign..." she trailed off, waiting for the young man to tell her his name.

"Wexler, ma'am. Wilfred Wexler." He sucked in a breath and told himself to call down. What could possibly happen with two drunk women?

"Ensign Wexler, then. Do you mind helping us out?" Cassie asked, trying to keep eye contact with Wilfred. He was so shy, it was almost painful to watch. "Apparently, your people have been looking for him for a while now. Imagine if you're the one who finally finds him, yeah? A little ego boost?" she conjectured.

"I suppose so." He didn't looked all that convinced. "So you followed him but you don't know which door he might have entered?"

"He went this-a-way," Lily motioned down the right branch of the split corridor, slowly rising to her feet. "Or maybe it was that-a-way, anyway, the only way we're going to catch him is with a plan. Cass, sorry, Macallan and I were going to split up and chase him back out this way, which is where you come in."

"He's kinda cute," Sullivan whispered behind a cupped hand into Cassie's ear, who slightly nodded.

Wilfred gave Lily an odd glance when she whispered in the other one's ear. "Umm . . . I know I'm the security personnel and all but maybe one of you ladies should tackle him? Surprisingly I don't deal with a lot of naked men in my line of work."

"We don't either, but we probably won't have to tackle him anyway, and like I said, he can't have gone that far. It's just diplomatic offices and reception halls," Cassie said, feeling herself sober up. "Look, I'm not keen on leaving her by herself, so maybe us two can go one way, and you could go the other. I can unlock most of these doors anyway. I'm assuming you have override codes too?"

"Yes . . ." At least they weren't breaking into people's quarters to try and find the streaker.

"And you, young lady, you're coming with me," Cassie told Lilith, helping her upright. "You're gonna be okay?"

"Okay mom," her charge retorted with a mischievous grin. "Yeah, I'll be fine. Let's get going!"

Without bothering to see if Cassie was following or not, Sullivan marched down the right fork of the split corridor towards the first of three doors between them and the outer hull. She stuck her back to the wall and slinked her way to the keypad, conjuring the spirit of a low budget B film detective through her exaggerated motions.

"It'd be cooler if I had my sunglasses with me," Lily muttered to herself before keying her entrance into the room. "FREEZE SUCKA!" she rounded the corner as the lights came up to full intensity. Much to her surprise, the back wall was only a few meters from the entrance. Various cleaning supplies and other miscellaneous items of a janitorial nature were scattered on the shelves. "Nobody's in here," Sullivan pouted.

A few seconds later Wilfred let out a girlish scream followed by a thud. Then it was eerily quiet as if someone had snuffed out sound. Wilfred blinked, his vision clearing again. He reached for the side of his head where a big knot was starting to form.

"That's not good," Sullivan responded to the high pitched screaming coming from the other corridor. "That wasn't Wexler, was it?"

"I think so," Cassie answered as she turned back to ascertain where the scream had come from. She then jogged back to Wilfred's side got on her tip toes to take a look at the bump on the side of his head. She winced, that looked really sensitive. "Wilfred, are you okay? Did you see who did this to you?"

"Naked man," he gasped. "I turned around and there he was. He spun me around and bumped into me. I fell, hit my head and blacked out for a little bit. He went that way." He pointed down the corridor away from the area they'd been searching.

"Okay, let's get us all in the library at the end of the hall, get you to sit down, yeah?" Cassie asked him. "Lilith!" she called out, and helped Wexler back up and led him to the library, which was towards where Wexler had pointed. She knew there was a medkit there, where the bump, and perhaps Lilith's inebriation, could be treated.

Walking in behind them, Sullivan waited for the door to close before taking a seat beside Wexler. "Oh Wil," she was in a nickname giving mood, "are you alright? Did the streaker do this to you? I'm so sorry."

"Fine," he squeaked out, shying away from Cassie touching him. He didn't seem fine though, he was a bit off in his balance. "Pretty girls make me nervous," But he gave her a rare smile that showed a bit too much teeth.

"She is lovely, isn't she," Cassie stated, referring to Lilith, while helping Wexler sit down on one of the plush library chairs. "Sit tight," she said before moving to the librarian's desk. She reached out underneath it, found the medkit, and opened it when she returned to her two partners in crime.

She handed Wexler a light anti-inflammatory. "Here, it should help with the bump."

"You two an item?" He asked curiously, but Cassie was already moving away from him and didn't seem to hear.

Cassie rummaged through the small medkit, displacing various hyposprays until she found the one she was looking for. This one, she handed to Lilith. "Take this."

There was no indication that Sullivan had heard the command. Sporting a grin like a dog who had caught its own tail, she was clearly in danger of bursting out into a fit of laughter. "Aw, he called us pretty Cassie, what a cutie," she leaned over and kissed Wilfred on the cheek. "Maybe I've still got it, but man, you should've seen me ten years ago. Momma brought all the boys to the yard..."

"Dammit Lilith, you probably can still bring all the boys to the yard. Probably some girls, too. But right now, you're as drunk as a f***ing sailor. Take it," Cassie snapped, which was highly uncharacteristic of the young diplomat. Then again, swearing wasn't usual for her either.

"Geeze! Alright!" Lily snapped back to reality, stopping in the middle of miming as if the hypo was a shot of whisky. Injecting herself, her cheeks slowly became less flushed as the alcohol in her system was neutralized. "You know, I'm still kinda woozy, but I suspect that's from the lack of sleep. I'm sorry Cassie, I didn't mean to upset you," she apologized.

"Yeah, I'm sorry for snapping at you," Cassie said softly, and wondered how she had gotten so impatient.

"Oh and Wilfred," Sullivan continued, "that knot on your head is looking better. Don't worry, we'll get him next time. Well," she added with a sheepish grin, "maybe not the three of us, exactly, but more like the collective we."

He blinked a few times at both women and then said simply, "I should go home. Have a nice rest of your date." He gave a half-hearted wave and stood up, a little unsteadily at first but made his way toward the exit. "Thanks for the . . . head care."

Cassie smiled. "You sure you don't want us to walk you home, Wilfred?" she asked. "Make sure you get there safely?" She was quite certain he would, considering his whole demeanor around them, but the offer was still appropriate. He looked like he was still a bit dizzy from the blow he'd suffered.

He looked back, nearly stumbling into the wall of the corridor. "What?" He asked, still a bit dazed. "No, I don't want to interrupt anything further between you." He blushed and turned his head, taking a few wobbly steps.

Cassie poked Lilith. "Aw, that's cute, he thinks we're a thing," she whispered. She noticed Wilfred was still wobbly on his feet, and she rushed the few steps it took to reach him to support him before he fell. "We'll walk you home."

He blushed again but didn't say anything. His breath quickened as both of them took an arm. "Really nice of you ladies," he mumbled shyly. Privately he thought about maybe doing something for them in return, but he wasn't sure what yet.

"Oh it's no problem Wil, we're happy to help. A lot of guys would take a knock on the head if it meant getting a couple of wing-women like us," Sullivan winked, leaning some of her weight into his right side. "Boy, imagine if this makes it to the rumor mill, you'll be answering questions about Wilfred's Angels for days," she laughed. "Now, let's get you home."

The trio walked slowly down the corridor back to the turbolift. Their mission, though unsuccessful, had at least shown that the crew were aware of the perpetrator and were trying to stop him. Catching him?

That would have to wait for another day.

---

Lieutenant Lily Sullivan
Sober Again
CFCO

Cassandra Leblanc-Reed
Diplomatic Officer

Ensign Wilfred Wexler
Brig Officer