Sunrise over the tango factory's A/N: Yes, I know you all must think I'm incredibly sad to be posting a chapter on Boxing day, but it was either this or have a conversation why my family…I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all those who have reviewed, it fills me with an overwhelming sense of joy to see 'review alert' in my inbox.
I'd also like to apologise for the lack of slash, readers of 'Alter U (a lar-ton story, me and my mate Raging tree trunk, a writing partnership that send the Devil cowering under a table). So for those who are reading this expecting something along the lines of 'Alter-U' I'm sorry, but the following chapter does include some 'action'!
"I'm such an arse," moaned Rimmer, pulling at his hair.
"For once we agree on somethin'," said Lister, trying his best to lighten the moment. His efforts proved useless, as Rimmer just sat on his bunk, and stared blankly at the wall.
"I can't believe I just sat there and watched her be stood up…by me, why didn't I just go over, what was the worse that could have happened, would it have been that bad?" he said eventually
Lister was gazing longingly at the open door; he wasn't cut out for long, in depth psychiatric sessions with mentally scarred holograms. He wasn't a Dr. Freud clone; other people's problems bored him, unless they were filled with sex, violence and intricate love triangles, then they stopped being problems and they became a cheap budget soap opera.
Rimmer's problems weren't filled with sex, violence and intricate love triangles; they were just a big swirling void of anxiety and reminiscence.
"It was a pretty stupid thing to do" sighed Lister, getting up and stretching his legs, "I mean, you just sat there, watching the poor girl's heart break in two, and you didn't try, well you tried but it wasn't proper trying, more of half hearted trying, like when…"
"You're just a fountain of constant reassurance and support, aren't you Lister?" snapped Rimmer, before standing up,
"Where you goin'?" asked Lister, startled by the sudden change in Rimmer's mood.
Rimmer turned to look at Lister, his face set in determination "I'm going to get the women I love back…"
"Who?" asked Lister, genuinely confused.
"Elizabeth, you short termed memory loss goit!" shouted Rimmer, having walked out of his quarters, ready to bed for Elizabeth's forgiveness.
Luckily for Rimmer, he was good at memorising things, unless it was to do with exams; in fact he considered it to be a successful time if he could just remember what room he'd been sitting the exam in.
Whilst they were having coffee, the conversation naturally turned to what the over had been doing these last years. Rimmer wasn't forthcoming with his life story; he kept his answers short, preferring to listen to Elizabeth talk about herself, she had the power of enchanting Rimmer, he'd could sit there for hours, watching her mouth moving, captivated by the sound of her voice.
She'd mentioned how she was an architect, and was currently working on the new Bedford Bank building (which she had designed), so that was were Rimmer had to go…
Rimmer's mouth dropped to the floor when he laid eyes on the Bedford Bank building, it was a towering structure of elaborate metal, that dominated the street on which it sat.
"She designed that!" murmured Rimmer, looking the building up and down, "I can't even build a house out of Lego…smeg!"
He cautiously entered in through the glass revolving doors, pieces of timber, metal, glass and other items of an industrial nature were scattered on the floor. A man, who obviously was working here, was stood, ticking off something on a clipboard.
"Excuse me" smiled Rimmer; trying to be polite "does Elizabeth Evens work here?"
Without even looking up, the man nodded "8th floor"
That was all Rimmer needed to go, he headed towards the stairs.
After 25 minutes none stop climbing, Rimmer felt like tying the smart arse who said 'nah, who needs a lift? Stairs are fun!' to some train tracks and watching him squirm as the 10.50 train came zipping along at 250mph.
He never knew so many stairs could be shoved into one building. He couldn't help laughing when he finally reached the 8th floor.
It was dark and unwelcoming, still being plastered; a single light glowed at the end of the vast room, with a figure checking over blueprints,
"Elizabeth?" Rimmer asked, walking towards her.
She jumped at the sound of his voice; she gave him a brief look
"Go away…" Elizabeth hissed, turning her back on him, Rimmer knew it was bad, he could tell by the sound of her voice,
"Elizabeth" he begged "please let me explain"
"There's nothing to explain," she snapped, shooting him a venomous glare "you. Stood. Me. Up!"
"I didn't" cried Rimmer, knowing it was the crappiest of all crap excuses.
Elizabeth forced a laugh, "well what else do you call leaving me to sit alone for nearly 4 hours in restaurant" she went quiet, her teary eyes bore deep into his soul, Rimmer could virtually feel her gaze tearing him in two. "I thought you were different," she said softly, "I thought you'd be the one to make me smile again, but you're just like all the others" she wiped her eyes, and stalked off.
Rimmer watched her go; he was just preparing himself to walk off when a voice tore out of his mouth
"I was at the restaurant last night" he said, making Elizabeth stop dead in her tracks,
"What?" she said, turning round to look him in the eye.
"I was there" he repeated, trying to ignore the hundred or so snakes that were trying to forced their way out of his stomach. "I went in, and I saw you at your table, and" he paused, closing his eyes and reliving the moment "you looked so...so indescribably stunning, and perfect, then I suddenly wondered why the hell should I be with you. You're so special, so unique and clever, you deserve someone better then me…so I just and watched you all night, and when you left, I cried. I just kept thinking of how much I'd hurt you, and if I wasn't already dead" he sighed, looking straight at Elizabeth through blurry eyes, "I'm sure I would have died through crying…"
He shook his head miserably, and turned to leave. His arm was grabbed by Elizabeth, who spun him round and wrapped her arm securely round his shoulders, and buried her head deep into his chest. She held him tightly, letting out racking sobs.
"I love you," she stammered,
Rimmer smiled down at her, "I love you too" he hushed, taking hold of her face, and kissing her gently on the lips.
Lister walked towards his quarters, slightly confused as to why the door was shut,
'Kryten properly closed it' he thought as it slid opem. Once inside it took him a few seconds to figure out why the door was closed.
He ran quickly out the room, remembering to close it behind him.
He stumbled into the cockpit where the others were trying to fix the damaged console, and leant heavily against the door, shaking.
Cat and Kryten turned round to investigate the source of the noise.
"Mr. Lister?" asked Kryten concerned.
"What's the matter buddy?" asked the Cat "you look like you've seen a ghost..."
Lister shook his head "no, it was much, much worse?" he stammered,
"2 ghosts?" offered the Cat,
"No" dismissed Lister, shaking his head
"3 ghosts?"
"THERE WEREN'T ANY SMEGGIN GHOSTS!" shouted Lister, sliding down the door, and sitting on the floor, drawing his knees to his chest.
"No ghosts?" hissed the Cat "how boring! For a moment then I thought it was something interesting!"
"What was it then" asked Kryten.
"A zombie?" asked Cat.
"Shut up!" chorused Kryten and Lister.
"Sir, what on earth was it that has disturbed you in such a way?" asked Kryten
Lister took a deep breath, wondering if he was daring enough to even speak of what he saw. "I think I just walked on Rimmer having sex…"
Kryten froze, staring blankly at the wall, whilst Cat opened his mouth but no words came out.
"s...sex?" he spluttered, "actual sex, with like a real person…a real woman?"
"Yeah" nodded Lister still shook up by the whole idea"
"I gotta go see this," grinned the Cat, standing up.
"Eh?" yelled Lister, standing up
"People pay hundreds for videos of aliens, imagine how much we'd get for a video of Rimmer having actual sex…"
"Please" begged Lister, stopping the Cat from leaving "never ever, ever mention this again please, I'd like to die with at least half of my mind not plagued by mentally disturbing images…"
"Sorry" said the Cat, Lister nodded, trying to think of something else, trying to take his mind off what he saw
"Did you see anything?" asked the Cat eagerly,
"SHUT UP!"