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Side Sim: It's Been a While, But...

Posted Jan. 12, 2021, 1:17 p.m. by James Sinclair

Posted by Lieutenant Faye Calloway (Mission Specialist) in Side Sim: It’s Been a While, But…

Posted by James Sinclair in Side Sim: It’s Been a While, But…

Posted by Lieutenant Faye Calloway (Mission Specialist) in Side Sim: It’s Been a While, But…
Posted by… suppressed (4) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

Faye shook her head. =/\=You didn’t wake me,=/\= she said softly. =/\=It’s oh-two-hundred here, but I couldn’t sleep.=/\= Resting an arm on the edge of her desk, she gazed at the Orion with something of a mystified expression. She had had many tests in those first few days and it had been surprisingly easy to spend time with Daggum. Which he surely understood after they had realized they shared a similar traumatic experience. Her and Orions generally didn’t mix, and yet she had enjoyed every minute she had spent with him those first days as they settled into the ship. And Faye had been far more social than her record would have suggested. But there had been reasons for that beyond a surprising comfort with the man.

Which brought her immediately back to her current predicament. =/\=And of course I remember you. You’re rather hard to forget,=/\= she said, feeling her eyes well with tears. Turning her head to the side, Faye bent her arm and cupped her chin in her hand, clamping her fingers over her mouth to stifle the unexpected sob that tried to escape.

Lowering her hand, she had managed to regain some composure and gazed at him apologetically. =/\=I’m sorry. It’s just been a really… rough… =/\= She trailed off and shook her head, casting her gaze elsewhere.

~Faye Calloway, Data Specialist

Hammor became acutely aware of the state Faye was in and his face softened and his voice concerned. =/\= Lieu… Faye… what’s wrong? Are you all right? If you want me to let you go, I can try to call another time. I don’t mind. I just… well… I’ve really missed talking to you.=/\= and he paused and looked at her intently. The tears… the fatigue… the visible strain. Something was wrong. But he simply said =/\= Actually… I’ve really missed you; but again, I can call back if you want. =/\=

Hammor, COO, USS Athena

Suddenly that whole part of her conversation with the counsellor came to mind. Zef has challenged the notion that no one had ever loved her, by pointing out that people didn’t always share their feelings. Faye had scoffed at the entire notion because she was one of those people that most people didn’t like, and if they did, well, when it came to romance it usually was unhealthy or feigned. And here was someone expressing how much they missed her and she could tell by his expression that it was sincere. Well… crap. Point for Zef. She shook her head. =/\=No, don’t go.=/\= She inhaled slowly and exhaled audibly. =/\=I’m not okay, no. But just hold on one second, I need to secure this call…=/\=

Faye’s fingers danced over her terminal and within a few moments Daggum could tell that the call was now heavily encrypted.

When her gaze lifted, there was regret there. =/\=Daggum… I have a confession. You know my whole confidential work on the systems? Well,… =/\= She was going to do it, wasn’t she? She was in enough trouble as it was. What was a little more? =/\=I’m technically a senior field agent with Starfleet Intelligence. And my work, while legit has been restricted knowledge because my secondary orders were to do a security audit on the entire senior staff of the Manhattan before anyone could be brought into the loop. All of the senior staff.=/\= That would have included hm while he had been on board.

~Faye Calloway, Data Specialist

Daggum, to his credit, showed no real reaction. To Faye’s trained eyes, the only tell was a dilation of his emerald-green eyes. He sat back a minute and looked at her and then said =/\= Faye… I really appreciate you telling me. I do, but… =/\= and his face showed struggle within the Orion for a moment before he spoke.

=/\= But that doesn’t change anything. You are obviously upset… a lot. I’m guessing something went wrong. I’m really sorry. If you can, and if you want to, you can talk to me about it. =/\= and his tilted slightly to the side and he added =/\= Or about anything. Or nothing. I’m… I’m here for you. And whatever I can do for you, I will. No strings. I just want you to be ok… ok? =/\= Hammor knew that he was walking a thin line. Half of him expected her to talk, half of him expected her to hang up. But all of him was hurting seeing her pain.

Hammor, COO, USS Athena

And that did it. Her head lowered and there was no helping the tears. Earlier, it was as if a great numbness had flowed over her. It was soooo hard to explain just how deeply she felt everything. And suddenly it all felt loose and free and threatened to swallow her. She lifted her head and nodded slowly, and then began to explain.

She explained how Commander Creed also was with Intelligence but her assignment had not gone through him. Which was suspicious. And then about how in the ready room, her mother (a woman she hadn’t seen in twenty-five years, showed up in a Starfleet uniform, with Intelligence and had confronted her about a possible issue with these secondary orders. And then she explained her unbelievably stupid plan to force things to happen faster before false evidence could be placed against her and allowed herself to be deemed a fugitive and be captured. She had spent the last two days in the brig.

Faye forced herself to breath. =/\=And really long story short, my handler came to sort things out but it turns out he’s not really my handler. He’s a fake. And somewhere out there, my real handler might be alive, but I can only imagine what they’ve done to him. But the worst part is even if we clear my name, I’ve ruined it all, Daggum. I’ve lied to them. Under orders, yes, but how can this crew trust me now? And the worst part is that this place is my home. And I haven’t had one of those since the Dominion burnt mine to the ground.=/\= She paused there. It was a lot and it wasn’t even the full picture.

~Faye Calloway, Data Specialist (USS Manhattan)

Daggum listened, taking in everything. As she told him about her trials, her flight through the Jeffries tubes and her time in the brig, his jaw clenched and unclenched. =/\= By all the gods above, Faye… =/\= he said softly as she finished. His voice was soft… kind, even. There was not a shred of judgment or hesitation in his voice when he simply looked at her and said =/\= I am glad you are safe. And I know… I know it, Faye… that you are going to get through this. And I am really glad you shared what is going on. Is there anything I can do from here to help? Anything, Faye. You can ask. I’m here to help you… whatever form that help takes. =/\= and he paused and leaned in closer to the screen and looked directly at her as best he could and said =/\= I’m here for you, ok? Always. =/\= and he looked at her a small smile spread across his deep red lips and he unconsciously touched the screen where her cheek was.

Hammor, Ops, USS Athena

Despite the tears, she smiled at him. =/\=Oh Gods, you’re a sweet man. Thank you. It’s… been hard. There’s a lot you don’t know about me, or might have only been rumour to you before you left, but before I came to the Manhattan I had spent the last year on medical leave on the Atlantis recovering from my last assignment. Where I ended up being captured by the Tal Shiar and was their… guest, for nine months.=/\= She all but laughed. =/\=You have to understand that the odds said I should never have made it out of there alive. But I did. And after everything I’ve been through in my life… the Maquis, the… Orion I told you about… I want to run, Daggum.=/\= Suddenly as this desire became clear, Faye got calmer. =/\=I want to run away and hide so badly right now. But I can’t. Because I promised myself that I would do more than survive. I’ve been determined to live. And I’m trying. Not that I’m getting much of a break here,=/\= she said with a bitter laugh.

Folding her arms on her desk, Calloway gazed at him. =/\=You can help though. Distract me from my mess? Tell me about you. What’s happening? You’re on the Athena now?=/\=

~Faye Calloway, Data Specialist (USS Manhattan)

Hammor didn’t reply for a moment, he just looked at her with that small smile. Then he said very softly +/\= You can always run to me. I’ll always make sure you have a place to hide… even for just a minute. =/\= and then it seemed he may have not meant to say that out loud as his eyes went big for a second and he leaned back and looked away, a darkening of his cheeks indicating his embarrassment.

=/\= Me? Um.. yeah.. so… well… not a whole lot to say really. =/\= he stammered as he composed himself. =/\= I’ve been bounced around a lot more than I like the past few months. I just got on the Athena a few days ago. I was attached to Special Projects as the Head of Logistics before here, and before that I was the COO on the Dresden… but I was there like a few days before I got yanked. Something about resupplying a dreadnaught in three days with full stores and no breakdown in intake caught someone’s attention I guess. =/\= and then a sort of grin touched his lips and he said =/\= Oh, and I got promoted. Lieutenant Commander now. So there’s that. =/\= he said with a hint of pride in his voice.

Hammor, Ops, USS Athena


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