Deep Thoughts

Chloe walked the hallways of the Destiny , hardly lifting her head to stare anywhere but at the solid metal floor beneath her feet. Her arms were crossed over her chest but it was more of a comforting gesture to herself than anything else. Her thoughts were elsewhere; elsewhere than the imposing doom and death that her and her fellow shipmates currently faced.

She felt scattered. Scattered and lost in the monsoon of events that had swallowed her whole over the past few days and she'd needed this moment to simply 'be'. She didn't know how long she'd been walking this way, unerringly making her way through the maze of hallways and sharp turns.

Only once did she get worried that she wouldn't find her way back, but it was a fleeting moment and just as swiftly as the thought had entered her mind, it had left.

Left, right, left, right. Her feet were taking her somewhere, anywhere, away from the madness.

Just as she approached another corner, she stopped suddenly as a figure appeared before her in the shadowy light of the connecting crossways.

At first she felt annoyed to be interrupted in her solitude but upon recognizing Lt Scott, her frown turned into a small smile and she felt a slight flutter in her chest, that she internally admonished. This was not the time nor place to be feeling anything like that.

"Hey," Scott said to her easily, taking two strides towards her. "I came looking for you to make sure you were all right. You walked away from the control room looking kind of…….well…" He trailed off.

"No, its fine. I'm fine. I just wanted a moment to get away and just….breathe, you know?" She uncrossed her arms and let them hang gently by her sides as she studied his nearing face.

"Oh. I'm sorry." He looked uncertain. "I'll leave you to it then."

He started to walk away but Chloe felt her right hand move itself towards him and lightly take hold of his arm, stopping him from his leave.

He looked down at her hand in surprise, before looking up and meeting her gaze with a look of intensity and curiosity that sent a shiver coursing through her body. She quickly dropped her grip and looked away, embarrassed.

"Sorry," she said quickly. "I don't mind if you stay….." Suddenly the ground seemed fascinating to her once again.

She didn't look up but she could hear a smile in his voice when he spoke next.

"Well I'll stay then, no problem."

They walked a bit together, just talking about normal things back on Earth and Chloe found it amazing how easy she found their conversation to be. Something about him just felt……she didn't quite know how to express how it made her feel.

She knew she was barely functioning on any sane level since her father had died but being around Scott somehow made it just a little bit easier to breathe.

He'd been talking about being back at the church in his home town when a strange, electronic buzzing sounded violently from one of the panels on the wall they'd just passed. Chloe had jumped considerably at the loud noise and Scott had instantly put his arms in front of her and pushed her slightly behind him.

The panel was now silent and the only sounds to be heard were their slightly elevated breathing.

After seeing it was nothing noticeably imminent, Scott turned towards Chloe with a bit of a sheepish look on his face.

"Looks like its nothing," he said softly.

She was still half-standing in his protective grip, close enough to feel his breath on her face and she found herself looking up into his eyes, about to tell him 'No problem, better safe than sorry' but found herself immobile and unable to form the words.

His eyes caught hers and they stood that way for a long moment. Chloe's heart was hammering in her chest and she suddenly felt her lungs close tight.

"Lt Scott?" A sharp woman's voice came sharply to them from only a few feet away.

They both turned quickly and looked at a woman soldier, her hands on her hips, whose name Chloe thought might be Lt. James.

"Yes, Lieutenant?" Scott's voice came out slightly flustered.

"We've been looking for you for fifteen minutes now sir. Your radio must be off and Colonel Young needs you to go over ration control. Now."

Chloe couldn't be sure but the girl seemed sort of hostile and Scott's face was flushed, though Chloe wondered if her own looked the same.

He turned back to her apologetically. "I gotta go."

Chloe forced a polite smile to her face and looked at both of them briefly. "Of course. I'll just continue my walk."

The two of them walked off, the woman soldier a good step ahead of Scott. Chloe watched them until they were out of view and then breathed a deep sigh. Crossing her arms again over her chest, she looked back at the ground and started walking.

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