Atlantis slammed the door behind her when she entered her hanger. She was shaking with barely restrained anger and growls vibrated through her hull. "How dare she. HOW DARE SHE!" Atlantis roared, picking up an empty bottle of Jack Daniels and smashing it against the wall. She took vivid pleasure in seeing the glass shatter. Her eyesight was so keen that she could see even the tiniest piece glinting against the sun as it fell to the ground. The splinters cast rainbows on the far wall, sparkling like a thousand jewels. The sight reminded Atlantis on the image forever burned in her memory. The image of Columbia falling to earth. It was an outward symbol of the state of her heart. What she herself had become. Not broken, but shattered.

She turned away, her gaze falling on the cabinets on the far wall. She crossed the room in 2 strides and chose a 50 year old bottle of scotch. She remembered buying it 2 years ago and it was the longest sitting unopened bottle in her collection. Until today. She practically ripped the cap off and took a generous gulp before finding a glass and filling it with ice. Another generous portion was split between the glass and her throat. She knocked back the glass, immediately pouring herself another. Within moments, half the bottle was gone. Atlantis nursed this glass, setting the bottle on the nightstand as she sat near the foot of the bed.

Nares came in 2 additional bottles of vodka, and 3 bottles of Daniels later. By this point Atlantis was as drunk as she'd ever been. She could barely stand and remained mostly hunched over, barely able to utter a greeting. Nares dropped her stuff and raced to her side, realizing that something must've happened. Atlantis said nothing, barely able to utter a protest as Nares pulled the empty glass from her grip. She pushed the shuttle onto the bed and was pulled down on top of her as Atlantis suddenly came alive, holding her in a surprisingly strong grip. The look in her violet eyes was almost frightening in its desperation. It was the look of a shuttle in the last gasps of her sanity, struggling to cling to reality. For years Atlantis had walked a knife edge, flirting with the madness but never falling pray to it. And now it appeared that she was losing that battle. Nares was losing her. "Stay with me Atlantis!" She begged, poking nearly every sensitive place on the shuttle she could reach. Anything to keep Atlantis in the here and now. The shuttle was literally drowning in her own memories. "Love me..." Atlantis whispered. "Love me, Nares. Please..." She was begging. Nares leaned down, looking her in the eye. "Anything you want." She whispered back and their lips joined.

Whatever Atlantis wanted that night, she got. And whatever she gave, Nares gave it right back to her. It wasn't a night of sex for solace like Atlantis had done countless times before, it was a night battle. With each craft fighting the other for dominance. Atlantis, tired of secrets, of lies and wanting to be loved, to love someone else without fear of reprisal. And Nares, wanting nothing more than to help the broken shuttle put herself back together but having no idea how. She was losing Atlantis, slowly but surely the shuttle was being consumed by her worst demons.