She realises she's gritting her teeth and tries to relax her jaw, moving it back and forth it until it clicks. Her fingers rub at a spot below her ear as she balances a tray on the other. She had known the assignment wasn't going to last forever. At the beginning it had seemed like a good way to develop a relationship with the chancellor, maybe a start on a promotion. It had turned into more than that over the months. Now it has ended, as swiftly as it had begun.

Jaha had just informed her that Waverly is going to be moved. His mouth preached a spiel about it being dangerous to know any more, while his hands' practiced movement had told her that he was hiding something. His fingers waved as if to dispel any fears she may have had. Although he had looked truly sympathetic and weary, the timing of Commander Shumway had seemed a bit too convenient. She didn't get a chance to question him because the Commander had shown up. It sounded a bit paranoid but he could have easily planned it to avoid her questions. Something was up, something he doesn't want to talk to her about. That ruled out anything to do with Waverly's would be assassin.

What is he hiding?

She could turn around and go find him, demand that he tell her what was going on but that would run the risk of pushing Jaha too far. She had to be careful, he had a line and she didn't want to cross it. Already she's started to mimic Waverly with her use of the chancellor's first name which could lead to trouble.

She had heard talk of work going on a dropship from other guards. Dread creeps into her bones as she thinks over the possibilities.

He wouldn't, would he?

She stares at the door in front of her hoping it might reveal an answer and lets out a little huff of surprise as it begins to open. The tray wobbles as her hand goes to her shock baton, getting as far as pulling it out of it's holster before she recognises Abbey Griffin, the chief medical officer.

"Sorry Dr. Griffin I didn't expect anyone" she says relieved as she's pushing the baton down into place.

"That's ok Nicole" Abbey replies smiling at her. Nicole had only met her a handful of times so it was impressive that she remembers her name.

"I'm just finished checking up on Waverly."

Nicole's heart which had just got back to a normal pace, sped up again as she asks, "Is she okay?"

"She's fine, it's just a check up. "

Maybe the relief shows in her face or maybe Jaha had been talking about her, but Abby doesn't continue on her way only closes the door over and steadies her gaze on Nicole. Nicole feels a little nervous under the scrutiny but she patiently waits for Abbey to speak.

"Thank you. For being a friend to Waverly. She doesn't get much chance to make those."

Nicole takes a relieved breath before replying "It'd be hard not to be friends with Waverly, she's such a lovely person. It's a pity she's being moved tomorrow." She's enjoying the novelty of being able to talk about Waverly to another person but she hopes Abbey has more information to give.

Judging by her expression Abbey doesn't look like she knows anything about Waverly's change in location and asks "To where?"

Nicole doesn't know the doctor well but she thinks she detects a hint of sharp anger in her eyes.

"The chancellor didn't tell me anything else. Only that my assignment was finished." Nicole watches eyes narrowing further at her answer. At least she knows there's someone else fighting in Waverly's corner.

Another set of eyes settle on her, ones of a colour that is both green and brown, as Nicole enters the room after finishing her conversation with Abbey. They light up as Nicole smiles at her. The happiness she felt at seeing Waverly fades as questions infuse her troubled thoughts.

What do I tell Waverly? All of it? Some of it?

As she walks slowly through the room, she tries to distract herself by looking around at the millions of words that were written on nearly every available space, on thousands of pages, on the covers of books, on the legs of furniture and even on the ceiling.

"Whatever it is, just spit it out!" Waverly looks at her expectantly.

"I don't -" Nicole is cut off.

"There's no point denying it, there's obviously something up with you." Waverly crosses her arms, an irresistible pout on her face.

Damn.

Nicole shakes her head in a futile attempt to resist her adorableness and lasts another three seconds.

Just get it over with.

"It's my last day, I don't know if Jaha told you..." Nicole trails off as her words hit Waverly who clearly hadn't been told about the change.

Thanks Jaha. Prick could have at least warned her.

"Sorry Wav" utters Nicole softly. Eyes down, Waverly turns away from her, shoulders hunched up as she begins to rummage at her desk.

She wonders if she should tell Waverly her fears about the dropship. Nicole starts to reach out to her.

If I'm wrong I'll have scared Waverly for nothing, screwed up my job along with everything else. If I'm right, there's still nothing we can do to stop it. Who could we tell ? The council? Fat chance they'd believe us over the chancellor, they could have us both floated.

Nicole lets her hand drop, deciding to leave it be. She's moving away when Waverly speaks.

"Sometimes I wish I could just wake up in a story. Somewhere far from this ship, away from it's rules and politics."

Jaha might grant her wish. Maybe we'll all move off the ship onto a planet, Earth if we're lucky. Eat real food, live in real houses...

...The dropship has to survive it's journey first.

"Hello? Anyone home?" Waverly's waving her hand in front of her face.

"Sorry " she's apologising a lot today. "A lot on my mind."

"Is everything alright?" Waverly asks.

"Yeah - it's just...family stuff." she lies, tasting ashes. "And I'm going to miss our chats."

At least the second part is true.

"Do you want to talk about it?

"Thank you but no it's okay. There are a lot more enjoyable ways for us to spend our last bit of time together." She throws in a wink to convince Waverly that she's fine.

"We'll see each other again, things change." Waverly gives her this hopeful look and a weight made of pure guilt physically drops down the inside of Nicole's body, hitting the bottom of her stomach and settling heavily there, even though she knows that this is impossible. Nicole replies "Sure we will" with a positivity she doesn't feel. Knowing it's their last minutes together, maybe ever, she can't but take in every inch of Waverly.

A face that has taken over her dreams, eyes that could hold oceans of emotion. Hair which is normally in a messy bun, today hangs down, a few inches pushing past her shoulders, ends curling back towards her top. Her toned stomach was bare again and Waverly should be freezing but it was as if she felt no cold, that even the air itself could not resist Waverly's presence. Nicole at this moment wore several layers under her stiff uniform. They didn't help if she had to stand at alert for longer than fifteen minutes in one of the corridors. Once the cold got through the layers it seemed to encase her bones and there was no chance of warming up until her shift was over. Whatever recent problems the ship had, it's really messed with the air conditioning.

All thoughts of the cold tumble away when Waverly catches her staring openly, heat entering her cheeks.

I'm officially no longer her guard once I walk out that door - I'm finished already really.

Instead of looking away, she keeps their eyes locked, leaving it to Waverly to decide what happens next. There were times that she had been sure Waverly had been sending signals, but these were usually followed by Waverly's confidence disappearing faster than Unity Day cake. Now however, Waverly's intent seems clear as she closes the space between them and moves her lips towards Nicole's. Infuriatingly she turns and glides past to plant a kiss on her cheek. "Thank you."

Nicole's eyebrows furrow as she utters "For what?"

"For being you and for not just being a guard, for keeping me sane, for the little things you did." Waverly cheekily smiles at her, "Like talking to the chef for me."

The heavy mass of guilt makes itself known by clawing at Nicole's stomach, digging deeper. She reacts to it by wrapping a surprised Waverly up in a big hug, taking whatever comfort she can from it.