Characters: OFC, Sheridan, Ivanova, Garibaldi, Franklin, Kalain.
Disclaimer: I don't own it. I don't get money from it. Sue me and I'll laugh. And hide.
Warnings: AU. Minor violence and injury, some fluff.
Summary: In between helping her Dad adjust to his new life and dealing with her own, Vicki tries to help Susan come to terms with her promotion.
Author's Note: I do not think that I can do a better, equal or even passable imitation of The Great Maker Straczynski. This is just for fun.
Halfway through writing this chapter, I discovered that an old family friend has been murdered in Bexhill, Sussex. I'd like to dedicate this chapter to Peter Bick, who was a wonderful, kind man who we all miss greatly.
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Chapter Three. The Geometry Of Shadows. Wednesday 25th-Thursday 26th January
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"DAD! Did you use all the hot water?" Vicki screamed, naked and shivering under the chilled spray.
"Uh, yeah I did. Is it going to be a problem?" Came the sheepish reply.
"Only if it's against regs to go to a security meeting with icicles dangling from every curve!" She replied sardonically, soaping up vigorously, rubbing her arms hard to try to restore blood flow.
"Thankfully, you don't have that many curves! Besides, you could always wait for the hot water to recycle." He said, preparing his little surprise.
"I can't wait, I wanted to drop by Michael's and have a word with him. He might be ready for work soon, I wanted to catch him up." Rinsing, she snorted loudly enough for him to hear and added, "By the way, I DO have SOME curves!"
"You are not old enough to have curves, honey." As she switched off the water flow, her father's voice came into the bathroom much more clearly. "And, if you're going by Michael's, can you mention that Stephen said he's OK to go back to work when he feels up to it?"
"Sure thing, Dad." She said, her voice muffled as she pulled on her white strapped under shirt. Yanking on the trousers, she pulled them shut- and realised something. Smirking, she quickly walked out to her Dad's bedroom, where he was just picking up a pair of trousers.
Looking up, he smiled at her. "What are you waiting for sweetie? Your breakfast is getting cold."
Grinning at him, she said "I'm waiting to see what you'll look like in my trousers."
By then, he'd already gotten one foot stuck in the fabric, and they spent a couple of minutes trying to separate Captain and cotton, laughing hysterically and (In John's case) ending up on the floor. Finally righting themselves, they went out to the kitchen, where John had lain out a decent spread of cereal, crackers with cheese-flavoured spread and, of course, a plate of orange segments, each separately washed to get rid of the cobwebs, as Vicki had once believed the white residue was. Smiling, she sat down... and breathed in a lungful of rich, delicious heaven scented steam from the cup by her plate. Her favourite brew of real coffee, straight from freshly ground beans, and hot chocolate, straight from a supply of cocoa beans stashed in the bottom of Lizzy Sheridan's bag.
Warming up nicely from her Arctic shower, Vicki and John quickly made their way through the food, chatting happily. Getting onto the subject of the Coffee-Cocoa process, Vicki learned who was responsible for the coffee plant in the Gardens.
"You really didn't know it was her? I thought you were working in the Gardens in your off hours."
"I do! But I never saw the person who worked on the coffee plant. Though, mind you, I should have guessed- there must have been a reason why the Head Gardener was afraid to tell me about it!"
"True, she is quite intimidating, isn't she? That's part of the reason I've decided to give her a promotion." Vicki's eyebrows shot up, her lips curling in the corners. "yeah, the paperwork came in today. I'm going to tell her later."
"You gonna start torturing her?" She asked sweetly, her halo shining.
"Testing Vicki! It's called testing!" He said, sniggering at the thought of trying to 'haze' Susan Ivanova. "And, as it is, I actually do have a plan for trying her out in a Commander's role. All I really need to confirm is that she's got the patience and diplomacy necessary. It's not torture."
"Can I join in?"
Chuckling, he said "Sure thing, sweetie. Fresh Aire for dinner, any chance of meeting for lunch?"
"I'll try to swing it, but everything's still up in the air, what with Michael still being off. I'll let you know what we're doing."
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"Vicki. Come in, kiddo. Just made some coffee." Michael stood back to let his little friend in. As she made a beeline for the couch, he poured another cup of steaming coffee in a mug with a picture of an austere looking Minbari getting licked on the head by a cute little poodle.
"So, Dad asked me to tell you- Stephen says you can go back to work as soon as you feel up to it- you're medical is clear."
"That's great." He said flatly, somehow sounding less than enthused as he fished out a pack of chocolate wafers from the depths of a cupboard.
Feeling wrong footed and suspiciously like she was going to start crying, Vicki said "Yeah, it is. Lou and Zack have been trying to hold everything together. I've been ducking work at every opportunity. Called in sick a few times, faked an injury, you know me..."
"Yeah." He smiled distantly. "Yeah, I do. Vicki..." He trailed off, and they looked each other in the eye for a moment. The moment passed and Michael half-heartedly laughed, shrugging his shoulders. "I see you're all better."
"As are you Michael." She said, using her worry and anxiety to fuel the anger levels in her voice, and disguise the threat of tears. "So, when are you coming back?"
"Soon, maybe." He said distantly. He tried to avoid looking her in the arms as he said, "don't worry so much. I'm fine."
Vicki focused on her coffee as she thought that, regardless of what he said, Michael was getting very close to the edge.
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"Then he said; 'I just want to know it's going somewhere'!"
"So?" Asked Vicki as she tweaked a few more buttons on the console. She'd finally tracked down the smuggler's ship, and was in the process of scanning it. In between counselling a love-struck Lieutenant, that is. "I thought you were worried about Zack thinking it was just sex, now you're panicking about meeting his parents?"
"It's not me worrying about commitment- his parents don't even know he's gay! And they're crazy religious, they might not accept it very well. What if this makes him leave me?" Whimpered David, his young face creased in an expression of fear.
Vicki reflected on how he'd changed so much since they'd first met- the fresh faced pretty boy turned hunky lover to the gruff Security Second. She gave him a look, trying to figure out the best way to get her point across.
"Vicki! What are you doing here?" Susan's voice echoed through C+C as she crossed the pit to stand next to the sanguine Sergeant.
"Just getting my kit together to bring in a smuggler. You, Lieutenant Commander?" Vicki asked neutrally.
"Not Lieutenant Commander any more, Sergeant. It's Commander Ivanova now." Said the carefully pride-free CO.
"Really? You don't say?" Said Vicki, trying to inject surprise into her tone.
Susan grinned good naturedly. "You already knew. I guessed your father would have told you, you're too close to each for it to be otherwise. I don't mind."
"Oh, fantastic. So, what did Dad tell you to do? He said something about a mission he had for you..."
"Yeah... that. I have been assigned to the Drazi Wars."
Vicki stared. "You mean that interminable Green and Purple thing? You're supposed to stop it?"
"No, just keep it controlled so no-one else gets hurt." She raised her eyebrows at Vicki. "Any suggestions on how to do that?"
Vicki smiled at her friend. "Just give me a few hours. I'll uncover something."
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"So, he seemed down?"
"Yeah. I mean, more than down- he was downright depressed. Think about it, he got shot in the back by his own guy. Who's now vanished. It's all on that bastard Jack's shoulders, but I bet you Michael's feeling guilty. I'm worried about what he might do, if he can't get out of his funk. But what can I do?"
"You've done everything you can do. You've shown him you're there. Now it's my turn."
"Dad?"
"Just leave it to me."
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"I appreciate her concern, but Vicki has nothing to worry about." Said Michael as he slumped back on the couch. John walked over to the table and picked up the PPG.
"I'm sure that has nothing to do with this being out, does it?"
"I was cleaning it." Michael snapped, standing up and taking the gun from his Captain's hand. Putting it in it's holster, Michael suddenly turned around and strode forward, standing face to face to John. "Look, I know you're Vicki's Dad and she trusts you and everything but I don't. I don't know you, I don't trust you and I don't particularly like you either. So I'd appreciate it if you'd stay the hell out of my business."
Trying to storm away, Michael was bought to a stop when John grabbed his arm, bringing him around to face him once more. "Now listen, Michael. I would never have hired you myself, I would never have thought that you could do the job. Frankly, I would have written you off as a total failure. But Vicki believes in you. She trust you, she looks up to you, she admires you... She thinks of you like a brother. And if you do anything to hurt her, in any way, I will drag you back from hell and kill you myself, because no-one hurts my little girl. Especially not someone she trusts as much as you. So get your head of of your own ass and look around the world- because we need you. Especially Vicki."
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As Susan hit the floor and yelped, Vicki reflected that maybe this wasn't her best plan. Upholstering her gun and discharging half of the charge pack into the ceiling, Vicki leapt forward, grabbing Susan around the middle, and hoisted her out of the melee that they had inadvertently caused.
Carrying Susan to MedBay, the two of them had a very serious discussion about thinking things through, which was still ringing in her ears as she trotted into MedBay with Susan practically swinging from her shoulder. Plopping her onto a table while Stephen examined her, Vicki took a breath. By now, Security had broken up the riot in the Council Chambers and someone, somewhere, had done the unthinkable and followed procedure- notifying the Commanding Officer.
Right on cue, Captain John J Sheridan walked into the MedBay in high dudgeon, crimson faced and clearly on course for a melt down. Frantically, Vicki waved her arms and pointed to Susan, hoping her father wasn't about to add the words 'riot' and 'Vicki' together in his mind.
Breathing heavily, shaking slightly, John said "Vicki. Admin. SecHub. Now!"
Desperate to stamp and shout, Vicki looked at her father's face and decided that a little Sheridan Diplomacy was in order here.
Walking out of the door, fuming, Vicki shouted over her shoulder "You're tiptoeing a very fine line, Dad!"
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"Hey Vicki. What are you doing here?" Asked Michael, stepping aside.
"Playing hooky. My father needs to learn a certain lesson. I was wondering if you wanted to come for a walk with me?"
Headed for the transtube, Vicki and Michael talked, properly and fully. No walls or secrets, no hiding the truth. They just talked and talked of everything, of Michael's fears about his judgement, his abilities, his doubt. Vicki's worries and pains, losing Hedronn's friendship, losing her father's trust that she could do her job. They spoke about their feelings for each other. How Michael was coming to see Vicki as a baby sister, someone he wanted to protect. Vicki saw him as a brotherly figure- sometimes incredibly annoying, sometimes an astounding support.
They reminisced about old times together, and the various situations they had encountered. The time Vicki had been captured by Home Guard and had staggered into SecHub covered in bruises. The time the two of them and Sinclair had been beaten half to death by Neroon. The time she had deliberately slammed her fingers in a drawer to distract him. Thus Vicki discovered that he knew she'd done it on purpose.
"I never did figure out why, though. Any chance you want to tell me?" He asked as the made their way around yet another corner.
Shaking her head and grinning widely, Vicki said "No. It's not my secret."
At that moment, the sound of running feet assaulted them and they flattened to the wall as a security team ran past. Lou nodded hurriedly as he went past.
"Hey, Lou! What's up?" Called Vicki, fighting the urge to break her father's explicit order.
"We got a link up from Ivanova, she wants us to evacuate some corner in Brown Sector, for some big Drazi peace meeting."
"Did I mention she got promoted?" Vicki said aside to Michael, whose eyebrows immediately raised in surprise. "Yeah, she's a Commander now."
Nodding in approval, Michael nodded to Lou and turned to go- and then turned around again fast. "Wait a minute, you said a Link Up? You didn't talk to her?"
"No, but I checked the ID, it was the Commander's alright. I gotta go." Lou jumped in the transtube with his team as Michael turned to Vicki, eyes wide.
She looked back, guessing what he was thinking. "Susan could have done a Link up, it's not impossible."
"It is if it's Susan we're talking about, she's never more than an inch from her Link."
Vicki nodded absently, her eyes unfocussing as she thought. "Someone has her Link. She's not in a position to tell us." She tried to ignore the way her heart leapt in fear at the thought of Susan hurt, bleeding or worse in some corner of DownBelow. "Someone wants Security distracted. No, only one team, hardly a strain on our forces... but then what? Why would someone send that message?"
"Let's ask them." Said Michael, his shoulders straightening as he prepared himself for the battle.
As they ran towards the Drazi hideout, Vicki mentally ran through the options for getting out of this. She was still racing through the options as Michael convinced the Drazi to open the door to him. As he distracted the guard, she readied her gun and waited for the signal...
"GARIBALDI!" Roared Susan's voice. As the punches flew, Vicki ran in and knocked out the knife wielding Drazi with the butt of her PPG. "Damn good to see you too Sheridan!" Laughed Susan as Vicki pulled her bonds off.
"Susan, Vicki, are you girls alright?" Gasped Michael.
On the offensive as Vicki helped Susan stand, they both said "Girls?" In an offended unison.
After a beat, he said "Let's talk about this later."
Wincing as she put weight on her bad foot, Susan said "Yeah, we gonna have to kick his butt for it later, we've got to get to the Green Drazi before they get to their purple friends!"
"What the situation?" Vicki asked as they left at top speed.
"Long story short, the Green Drazi have started to kill the Purple Drazi. I tried to convince the Green Leader to stop, instead he took my Link and used it to set up the purple Drazi. As soon as the area is cleared of everyone else, the Green Drazi are going to open the corridor out to space." They staggered onto a transtube.
"OK. We need a game plan." said Michael.
"At least the Purples aren't here this time, you can't get yourself confused for an enemy this time." Said Vicki glibly as they directed the transtube.
"What did you just say?" Said Susan suddenly in tones of revelation.
Vicki looked at her friend and saw the light of a crazy plan- the best kind.
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"I realised I bring two unique qualities to the job. Vicki, are you coming up for air any time soon?" He asked glibly as Vicki buried her head in his shoulder. She shook her head silently, her arms squeezing his. Chuckling, he continued. Vicki zoned out, only peripherally hearing his words, focusing instead on his strong, broad tones. Having him back in the fold felt like the only way to restore some semblance of normalcy and sanity to a suddenly insane station.
She wandered out of her self-imposed haze as her father's voice trickled into her ears. "So basically you're perfect for the job. Because you're paranoid and compulsive."
She raised her head as Stephen continued the ribbing. "Or compulsively paranoid."
"Who told you to say that?" Michael replied, his eyes squinting in false suspicion.
As they all laughed, his levity lightening their mood further, John said "Oh, by the way, there's something I think I should mention... Just, randomly, that my favourite pyjamas were, somehow, covered in itching powder. Strong itching powder."
Vicki fought the urge to giggle. "You don't say!"
"I do say sweetie. The rash was enough to shock Stephen!" The Doctor laughed and nodded in agreement. "And now I say this, my little demonic angel. I promise I will NEVER put you on Admin duty again!"
Turning to the others, Vicki said brightly "That's what you call Sheridan Diplomacy!"
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Walking down the corridor, Vicki smiled. Her father was staying behind to talk to Michael. She hoped that meant they'd get along better. They were both too important to her for them to dislike each other.
As she waited for the transtube doors to open, she thought back on the argument she heard about, where John had threatened Michael. That couldn't be allowed to happen again, not after everything that had happened, and everything that was coming.
The doors finally opened, revealing a familiar figure. Vicki felt the unrestrained joy breaking out on her face as she greeted him. "Kalain!"
He smiled back, his beard practically bristling with delight. "Hello Vicki. How was your day?"