Sophia's Daughter

Andrei was fuming as he stormed through the corridors of the . By now most of the crew knew him and avoided him in his temper. How dare that son of a bitch treat his daughter in such a way. He had every intention of finding that Malcolm and teaching him a thing or two. He had just heard what had happened. Not even directly. He had just met a client in the Zocolo and on his way back had seen Dr. Franklin who had spoken to him on the matters, assuming he knew. He had of course forced Stephen to spill the rest of the story. He had barely managed to politely excuse himself before storming off to the docking area where he had learned Malcolm was being deported from. He entered the docking bay. Sinclair was at the door, staying away from the action. Security held down Malcolm who shouted at Susan as Ambassadors Delenn and G'Kar watched. " I can't believe you would side with them over your own kind."

His daughter replied, " I have found many of these people to be more human than you."

" I don't know you anymore." He declared.

" I never knew you." Susan had the last word and walked off, with dignity. To all she seemed calm, but he could detect the anxiety and upset in his daughter's manner. He and Sinclair had moved away from her path and she did not notice them as she walked away. They both knew she was going on duty for a second shift. Michael approached them. The three men stood together in a circle quietly. Jeff murmured an apology to him. Andrei nodded to acknowledge it absentmindedly. He wanted to go after Susan now. But he also knew she needed space after this. He asked the two men to join him for dinner instead. Both agreed and called Stephen to join them.

They had a long dinner and finally Andrei decided it was time to find his daughter. The four men had spoken about her all evening. From what he understood, Susan often dated men like Malcolm, Stephen had confided a belief that she believed she deserved nothing better and perhaps subconsciously she knew the man was no good. Michael had repeated a rumor he had heard about her dating a man who had actually beat her. All this took Andrei to the edge and it had taken him sometime to calm himself. Now he was filled with shame. He knew it was all his fault. He was the one who had treated her so indifferently that she had to seek male attention in this way thinking she did not deserve the right kind, she had looked to all the wrong people who had treated her in such a way that she ended up believing she deserved it. This Malcolm had hurt her in the stand off from what he understood and she had had to be forced to have it treated. Her arm had been stabbed and he would bet a thousand credits she had been neglecting its care and it was paining her.

He found his daughter of C and C. Ordinarily civilians were not allowed on the deck but he had special permission from Sinclair to come and go as he pleased. Jeff and the other men had come to think of him as a father figure. Just last night the commander had confided troubles with a woman named Catherine and had wanted the older man's advise. Her eyes were tired, her face defeated. Her body slowed with exhaustion. She had been on duty for sixteen hours now. He went up to her and stood there blocking her way. She made to pass him weakly but he refused to allow her by. She seemed panicked when she couldn't get by and it broke his heart when he realized that she expected him to hurt her. He took her arm and lead her off the deck, gently but firmly. Once out he lifted her sleeve to stroke the bandaged wound which desperately needed changing. She waited for him to say something, to condemn, to shout anything. Instead he slowly pulled her into his arms and rocked her. At first she seemed startled. Then she sank into his chest. He lead her to her office and held her. Soft sobs broke free from her throat and soon she could not suppress them. She cried until exhausted she fell asleep. He lifted her up and carried her to her quarters, but could not enter. He then took her to his quarters and lay her on the neatly made bed and pulled her jacket and shoes off, her hair loose. He then cleaned and rebandaged her wound. He covered her up and lay out a peasant blouse with embroidery on it and a gypsy skirt. He had brought these things for her and had never had the nerve to give them to her. The skirt was striped in purple and the blouse was light blue with purple design on it. He lay out the shoes that Lydia had sent with them, as well as country made soap and lotion the old woman had also sent. Finally hesitantly, he lay out an hair clip of precious stone that he had himself made. He had worked the metal into the clip shape by hand. He had found the beautiful matching stones and carved them to fit. Leaving all this, he kissed her forehead, and stroked her hair before closing the door and going to sleep on the livingroom couch.