A/N: First up, all the apologies on not updating this before now. RL is being a pain and draining me of energy and creativity, and I got kidnapped by other fics, and for the longest time, the next chapter just wasn't working. So I've decided to rework things: the last chapter was the end of Part I, this chapter is an interlude, and then next chapter (which is half done) will be the start of Part II. There will be another interlude between Parts II and III, and Part III will start when Trudy and Norm are reunited on Pandora in time for canon.

So, I hope you enjoy, and thank you all so much for your patience. :)

Interlude

October, 2138

Brown Campus, Rhode Island

Norm finds Trudy sitting in a corner of the college bar's patio, head tilted back against the wall, finger tapping against her bottle of soda angrily. Her best friend, Mohammed Farzan, is still with her, gesturing as he talks. As they argue.

"Look, Farzan, I'm...fine, okay, just. Fuck off," she is telling him, and then she catches sight of Norm. Her expression is hard to read, but she gestures him over. "See? I have a friend. Norm, you'll babysit won't you? Make sure I don't kill anyone?" Her words are oddly flat, which only seems to make her bottled-up fury worse.

"I won't babysit," Norm says, holding his hands up. "I'll keep you company, though."

"Trudy-" Farzan starts, and then he pinches his nose. "Fine."

"Good. Go play. Find your fiancee," Trudy says, and Farzan gives her an exasperated look.

"Just...don't try and start any more fights," he says, getting to his feet.

"Olsen comes over, I ain't promisin' anythin'," she replies tartly, taking a defiant swig of her bottle. Farzan rolls his eyes, catches Norm's gaze, and nods slightly as he passes by. If Trudy noticed the exchange, she doesn't mention it. Still, when Norm sits next to her, he does so carefully, as if trying to avoid being burned.

They sit in silence for a time, and then Trudy says, "Fuck it." Just like that, she sounds tired rather than angry, her fury dialed down to a tight unhappiness.

Norm hesitates, and then asks, "What actually happened? I saw you get up in the girl's face, but I couldn't hear anything. Um. If you want to tell me, you don't have to, obviously."

Farzan had pulled Trudy back, and one of the other USNA cadets had hauled back the blonde girl.

"Olsen. Libby Olsen. Second year cadet. On the soccer team. You know, obviously. Been fucking my girlfriend." Trudy slumps further down on the bench, lets her head hit the back of it. "Stupid bitch."

Cautiously, "Which one?"

Trudy smirks at that, a little. "Both. I mean, hell, if Shelley had asked, I wouldn't have cared if she had sex with anyone else. I'm pretty easy-going. And busy. I get that. But Olsen. You just...you don't do that. You don't fucking fuck around on your team-mate's girl. Or boy. Or whatever. It's trust. I have to trust her. Olsen. Not just on the football pitch, but she's heading for the Marines, too. I have to trust her to have my back, but I can't." She shakes her head, her eloquent mouth twisting. "They're all such fucking children," she mutters, taking another drink.

Watching her, he's glad it's only soft drink she's tossing back. "Children?" he asks, although he thinks he knows who she is referring to.

"Children. The other cadets. They have no fucking idea what their oaths mean. I can't stand it sometimes."

"But you don't talk about it," he says quietly, "because they'll never get it until they are in those situations." He swallows, and remembers tasting seawater that tasted like blood. "And yet, you hope they never will have to. Be in those situations, I mean."

He can hear her breathe in and out, and out of the corner of his eye he sees her nod.

"Yeah. Exactly." She sighs. "This...wasn't how I'd planned to spend the evening."

"What, after you completely thrashed us?" His tone is teasing, and she grins at him.

"USNA vs Brown, four-nil, baby. That wasn't a thrashing. That was easy."

"Yeah, yeah, be smug. Just remember that our men's team still beat yours."

"One-nil. Yeah. Another reason Farzan's pissy tonight." But her smile fades as her gaze drifts over to the bar-proper, where the rest of her team would be. Where Olsen is, presumably. "Ah, hell with it," Trudy says and shifts, her head coming to rest against his arm.

This time, the silence is far more comfortable.

"...you have dragons on your boots," Norm says after a long moment, sounding surprised. It also sounds like an abrupt change of subject, which it is, but it had honestly just struck him then. She laughs.

"Yes, yes I do," she replies, smugly pointing her left foot like a dancer. Trudy has a red Chinese-style dragon curling around each boot, right one different from the left; when she points her foot, the dragon looks like it's stretching its neck.

"Where the hell did you get them?" he asks, mind running through possible websites.

"A place in Annapolis. One of those stores where they don't even bother showing the price."

"Ah, if you need to ask the price, you can't afford it?"

"Bingo. Let's just say that I'm glad I've got five years of service rather than student debt, and leave it at that."

He laughs, shaking his head. "Vanity. Your true vice is finally revealed."

"Hey," she says, shoving him slightly with her shoulder. "Not a vice if you only indulge occasionally. 'Sides, who are you to talk, look how long your hair is now. It's in a ponytail. If you had it out, you'd look like a Viking."

"I...might have meant for that," Norm allows, slowly and with great dignity.

"A geeky Viking." Trudy pauses. "Did they even have geeks?"

"Pretty sure they did. Everyone has geeks."

Trudy scoffs a little, goes back to leaning her head against his arm. "You're okay, Norm," she says at last.

A little confused, he says, "So are you."

"Uh-huh. So, why's my girlfriend two-timing me?"

Ah. "Because she's an idiot," he says, and he means that, as well.

"Yeah, well. Sweet of you to say," Trudy says, and then asks, tone casual, "So, why aren't I going out with you?"

For a moment that stretches a beat too long, he can't really think of a reason.