Moving Help

Posted on Wed Nov 27th, 2024 @ 2:51pm by Lieutenant JG Zai & Lieutenant Adrianna Baciami

1,442 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Stars Around the Well
Location: USS Arcadia - Various
Timeline: During Shuttle Prep/Evac

ON:

Sabastian had dealt with Annabelle who'd shut down on him. Frankie said he knew what the matter was but would not tell Sab...he didn't like it but he trusted Frankie. Now he stood in the turbo lift with Adri while Vance packed the last of his things. Sabastian carried a couple of things. "So. You okay?"

Adrianna looked up at Sabastian, confused, "of course. Why?"

"The Annabelle thing...I tried to talk to her and Frankie but...She's very protective of Vance. Loves him a lot...but...well it's not like she loves Frankie."

Adrianna shrugged, "I trust Vance. I am a secure person. It wouldn't be the first time someone dislikes me, and nor would it be the last time. It doesn't bother me." She did looked at Sabastian curiously though, "I must admit though-- the tears were a bit unusual. That's passion. Makes me think they know each other from perhaps another time. I know it isn't from when I knew Vance in his past life, it's not to say it wasn't from before, or even after-- the between. She seems a little young for it to be before me knowing him though."

"From what I know she met him once at the Academy when he was there to see Zai. Then she saw him again here. I ... don't know. She's a few years younger then him." He shrugged. "Her and Frankie meeting was...interesting. She's been with our family since her accident."

"Call me intrigued," she replied, "I mean, I am curious about this whole situation. Not as a jealous woman, but rather just curiosity to ensure I don't make things difficult for Vance. What happened, accident wise?"

"Nobody's sure. Frankie was pre academy then. It was June and in September he would have started the academy. He was swimming and he thought he saw something in the water on Betazed...it was her. She was hurt. Stabbed bleeding, pretty bad. Frankie got her to the hospital and they saved her she was in a coma for a month. That boy visited her daily. He called her his mermaid said he'd met the woman he wanted to marry." He snorted. "We all thought he was nuts. But she woke up, couldn't remember a damned thing. She seemed to be...taken with Frankie and they somehow became friends and well in December of that year she married him, she proposed."

Adrianna listened, her brain working. It sounded overly familiar. "Betazed?" She asked, "stabbed?" Adrianna couldn't help but wonder, but surely it was a long shot. Knowing how Vance got his own memories back, in a form of a trickle, it could be that she knew Vance from before. Vance used Betazed for a number of runs before she joined the crew. "Seems Frankie is a twin of Vance-- both fell for a woman far too quickly."

He laughed. "Honestly nobody expected it. When she woke up like I said didn't know who she was. Starfleet couldn't find anything in the database. No history. The only thing she knew was how to take a ship apart and put it back together. She had a way like she could see things...I mean damn she was only eighteen but she could outsmart half the engineers in the fleet and she was given a spot next to Frankie in Engineering." He shrugged.

If she was on the Pendragon with Vance, she would have learned from the best. "I may have a hunch about who she is, or was," Adrianna knew that she'd have to hide it from Vance. She didn't wish to get his hopes up about an old crew member being on board.

"Oh?" He looked at her. "Like I said she's been run through Starfleet D-base but no hits. She's not Betazoid though. We know from medical she's human. There are a couple of other weird things from when she woke up."

"When Starfleet runs someone through I database, they run it through their own only," she replied, "they miss a number of other databases like school systems and planetary specific databases. As an example, if my face was run through a database on Ferengi, I'd come up with a 'no play' warning, because of counting cards, but if I go to Vegas on earth, chances are I'll be fine." Adrianna paused, "can you get me everything you know about her? Maybe if I can piece together her previous life, she'll relax a bit around Vance and ease off of my ass. I don't want her making like difficult for him because of me. With any luck, it's not a past lover."

He laughed. "I doubt that." He shrugged. "I'll get you what I can. Try talking to Frankie too. He knows her best." The lift opened and they walked in silence towards her quarters. "I'm really happy for you. I can sense how much you and Vance love one another."

Adrianna smiled, "not just saying that as an empath?"

"Nope. I can sense how much you mean to one another. Hold onto that and always communicate. That's the key even when its hard."

"I do not have a filter with Vance," she replied, "if something is wrong, I just say it. Even when undercover. The only thing I have kept from him was my identity, the truth about who spiked his coffee one time and how I managed to steal his favourite shirt." She looked Sebastian over, "I don't have to be an empath to know that your words are masking experience. You and Zai alright?"

He sighed. "We're okay. We had an intense counselling session with Alexander. She's good but having Fang there was a trigger for me."

"Not a threesome of fun, then," she responded quickly in Italian, before responding properly in standard, "I assume tempers flared?"

"Yeah, they did. Zai was the one hurt in all this. I just... I can't be around Lee not without wanting to smash his face in." He shrugged. "But it is what it is. I don't want to stress Zai out more then I have to."

"I think that is the perog--perogi--peri-ogat-tivo... That is the what you should be like in terms of prior lovers of your partner. Fang hurt Zai and, regardless of forgiveness being obtained or not, it still happened and you feel obliged to help in an almost instinctual or animalistic way."

"Oh they were never actually lovers. Thank the Gods for small miracles. But Fang is not what he's making out to be." He sighed and then shrugged. "But it is what it is. I promise I won't vent him. Too much paperwork."

"Venting is stupid anyway-- leaves too much evidence. Your best bet would be to--" she hesitated playfully, "never mind. But still, you'll need to find a way to deal with Fang in the same way Zai does, or else you will be destined for misery."

"That's the thing I don't want to deal with him. I'm fine with Zai and him staying friends but I don't want to deal with Lee Fang unless it's pressing a button that reads vent." He sighed. "Sorry I know you two are close."

"We're close because our parents are," she shrugged, "I'm closer to Zai than Fang. Anyway-- I hear your point, but like it or not, murder is illegal. I know-- terrible. But, also, I'm not saying that you need to be best friends with the guy, but you need a working relationship with him. You cannot stay angry-- it will kill you."

He sighed. "Yeah. I guess you're right."

The door opened and Vance walked in with another box. "That's almost it. Just the box of my clothing and we're done like a really bad pun!"

Sabastian laughed. "Man you're like my sister in law. She uses that phrase all the time. Done like a bad pun and I'll smack you so hard that ...."

"You'll orbit the Kipher belt." Vance finished.

"Yeah! Are those common phrases?"

He shrugged. "Guess so." He looked at Adri. "I'm gonna go back for that last box. Sabastian come on you too. Zai has me walking you to tire you out."

Sabastian snorted. "Fine. See you in a few." He told Adri.

Adrianna smiled and watched them leave. She saw a photo stick out of a box. It was the same as the one Vance had tattooed on his back-- Vance and his sister. She picked it up and carried it to a wall of photos of her family. Her eyes went to the eyes in the photo...

Could it be?

She'd seen the impossible before. Why not?

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