Not-so-happy Reunion
Everyone just looked on quietly as Rick left the office. It wasn't hard for the sheriff to see that there were unresolved problems between the two young men. The other S.T.A.R.S members knew about their history, but they were still a bit shocked to see their former teammate. After a few minutes, a few of the members began to shake hands with, and speak to the former S.T.A.R.S member, but others were obvioiusly less than thrilled about the prospect of reuniting with Ken.
"Hey mate, what's the deal here?" Townsend asked.
Chris explained, "Ken used to be the leader of Alpha team, before Rick was promoted. Ken and Rick were actually good friends at one time, but something went wrong during an Alpha team mission, and the relationship soured. Citing an inability to work with his teammates, Ken left the team. This is the first time we've seen him since that happened, about a year ago, give or take a month or two."
"What happened between them?"
"Well, according to the report, Ken made a bad decision that caused a mission to fail. Most of us at S.T.A.R.S knew he honestly felt that he had control of the situation, and we let him off with a reprimand. Rick, however, wasn't so forgiving."
"So this animosity is because of a bad decision? Hasn't your current captain ever made a bad decision?"
"Yes, I have..." everyone looked as Rick walked back in and glared at Ken. If looks could kill, Ken would've been on his way to the morgue. "...But my decisions have never gotten innocent people killed!"
"Well, c'mon then, what happened?" Sheriff Townsend demanded. "We need you two to be professional if we want to solve this case, and if the two of you can't get along, then this situation will continue to escalate."
Rick looked at the sheriff, and explained. "Fine. About a year ago, a disgruntled building superintendent threatened to blow up the 10-story apartment complex where he worked. Four members of the Alpha team were sent in to handle the situation. Ken, myself, and two others. When we arrived, we found out that all but one of the cables to the elevator had been snapped. There were about ten people trapped inside, and the bomb was allegedly attached to the bottom of the elevator. Ken decided that we needed to get the people out, but he believed the elevator door had been rigged, so he decided to try and go in from the top. I told him that there would be too much weight for the one frayed cable to handle, but he didn't listen. He was the leader, so in his own mind, it was the right decision. The other two members, Reneè Aguilera and Marcus Ciccone were told to go down the shaft, and help the civilians out of the elevator, and up the shaft to the above floor. Despite protests, they did what they were told. The last cable snapped, and as you probably figured out by now, Reneè, Marcus, and the civilians were all killed. They were killed, because he was too high and mighty to take advice from his second-in-command. I lost two of my best friends, and ten innocent civilians were lost as well. There's also the fact that I thought we were going to die, as well as an apartment building full of tenants, but luckily, there was no bomb. But that doesn't change the fact that Reneè and Marcus, and others died needlessly..." Rick's temper began to flare, and he was poised to attack as he shouted, "They died because you were too damned stubborn to listen to anyone else! Because you were the leader and were not to be questioned!"
Dan and Hunter, who were the only teammembers stronger than Rick, grabbed him and held him back.
"Calm down Rick!" shouted Dan, "dwelling on the past is not going to help us now! You think we don't miss Reneè and Marcus too?! We do, but damn it, there's nothing we can do about it now! It was a year ago, let it go!"
Finally, Ken chimed in, "How many times do I have to apologize? I think about what happened every single night! It was my failure that made me leave S.T.A.R.S. I let you down, I let Reneè and Marcus down. But more importantly, I let ten people down. Ten people who needed my help, but died because I was cocky and overconfident! Ten innocent people died because I was arrogant, and believed I could do things my own way without consequence! But dammit, Rick, I've changed! After hating myself for most of the last year, I resolved to change. To be a better person. And I've done that. But the question here is: Can you? Can you get over yourself long enough to listen to us, and take our advice seriously? Can you come down off that self-righteous perch of yours long enough to make this mission succeed. I'm willing to follow your lead, and so is everyone else, but we need you to be the leader everyone believes you to be. This situation is not about our past, it is about the present and the future. For your own sake, and for our sakes, leave the past behind! That's the only way we can succeed here."
Liz went over to Rick, who finally calmed down. Liz patted her brother on his upper back.
"I hate to admit it, but he's right big brother."
"What? You think I'm self-righteous too?"
"No. That's one thing you're not. But you do have to let go. I know how you felt about Reneè. And I also know, that you blame yourself for what happened, almost as much as you blame Ken. You forget, noone knows you better than I do, not even mom and dad."
"You're right. It's time to let go and move on." He looked over at Ken, and while he wasn't ready to reconcile completely, he took a step in that direction as he nodded in Ken's direction and said, "You're right, we need to work together, and I'm willing to do that, but can you follow orders?"
Ken looked at Rick and replied, "I don't know, try giving me one."
After a tense moment of silence, Rick said, "Your first direct order is to accept my apology for getting out of line."
Ken gave kind of a half-smile and said, "Yes, sir. Now if you don't mind, captain, I'd like to get underway."
With that, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and headed out.
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Note:
Well, I hope that wasn't too short. I don't count the words as I type. Anyway, I hope you liked the latest character-driven chapter. Fear not, the action will start up soon. I'm trying to get most of the character-development out of the way, so I can concentrate more on action later. I don't know who's all reading this, because I haven't gotten many reviews up to this point, but whoever's reading, I hope you're enjoying it.
Everyone just looked on quietly as Rick left the office. It wasn't hard for the sheriff to see that there were unresolved problems between the two young men. The other S.T.A.R.S members knew about their history, but they were still a bit shocked to see their former teammate. After a few minutes, a few of the members began to shake hands with, and speak to the former S.T.A.R.S member, but others were obvioiusly less than thrilled about the prospect of reuniting with Ken.
"Hey mate, what's the deal here?" Townsend asked.
Chris explained, "Ken used to be the leader of Alpha team, before Rick was promoted. Ken and Rick were actually good friends at one time, but something went wrong during an Alpha team mission, and the relationship soured. Citing an inability to work with his teammates, Ken left the team. This is the first time we've seen him since that happened, about a year ago, give or take a month or two."
"What happened between them?"
"Well, according to the report, Ken made a bad decision that caused a mission to fail. Most of us at S.T.A.R.S knew he honestly felt that he had control of the situation, and we let him off with a reprimand. Rick, however, wasn't so forgiving."
"So this animosity is because of a bad decision? Hasn't your current captain ever made a bad decision?"
"Yes, I have..." everyone looked as Rick walked back in and glared at Ken. If looks could kill, Ken would've been on his way to the morgue. "...But my decisions have never gotten innocent people killed!"
"Well, c'mon then, what happened?" Sheriff Townsend demanded. "We need you two to be professional if we want to solve this case, and if the two of you can't get along, then this situation will continue to escalate."
Rick looked at the sheriff, and explained. "Fine. About a year ago, a disgruntled building superintendent threatened to blow up the 10-story apartment complex where he worked. Four members of the Alpha team were sent in to handle the situation. Ken, myself, and two others. When we arrived, we found out that all but one of the cables to the elevator had been snapped. There were about ten people trapped inside, and the bomb was allegedly attached to the bottom of the elevator. Ken decided that we needed to get the people out, but he believed the elevator door had been rigged, so he decided to try and go in from the top. I told him that there would be too much weight for the one frayed cable to handle, but he didn't listen. He was the leader, so in his own mind, it was the right decision. The other two members, Reneè Aguilera and Marcus Ciccone were told to go down the shaft, and help the civilians out of the elevator, and up the shaft to the above floor. Despite protests, they did what they were told. The last cable snapped, and as you probably figured out by now, Reneè, Marcus, and the civilians were all killed. They were killed, because he was too high and mighty to take advice from his second-in-command. I lost two of my best friends, and ten innocent civilians were lost as well. There's also the fact that I thought we were going to die, as well as an apartment building full of tenants, but luckily, there was no bomb. But that doesn't change the fact that Reneè and Marcus, and others died needlessly..." Rick's temper began to flare, and he was poised to attack as he shouted, "They died because you were too damned stubborn to listen to anyone else! Because you were the leader and were not to be questioned!"
Dan and Hunter, who were the only teammembers stronger than Rick, grabbed him and held him back.
"Calm down Rick!" shouted Dan, "dwelling on the past is not going to help us now! You think we don't miss Reneè and Marcus too?! We do, but damn it, there's nothing we can do about it now! It was a year ago, let it go!"
Finally, Ken chimed in, "How many times do I have to apologize? I think about what happened every single night! It was my failure that made me leave S.T.A.R.S. I let you down, I let Reneè and Marcus down. But more importantly, I let ten people down. Ten people who needed my help, but died because I was cocky and overconfident! Ten innocent people died because I was arrogant, and believed I could do things my own way without consequence! But dammit, Rick, I've changed! After hating myself for most of the last year, I resolved to change. To be a better person. And I've done that. But the question here is: Can you? Can you get over yourself long enough to listen to us, and take our advice seriously? Can you come down off that self-righteous perch of yours long enough to make this mission succeed. I'm willing to follow your lead, and so is everyone else, but we need you to be the leader everyone believes you to be. This situation is not about our past, it is about the present and the future. For your own sake, and for our sakes, leave the past behind! That's the only way we can succeed here."
Liz went over to Rick, who finally calmed down. Liz patted her brother on his upper back.
"I hate to admit it, but he's right big brother."
"What? You think I'm self-righteous too?"
"No. That's one thing you're not. But you do have to let go. I know how you felt about Reneè. And I also know, that you blame yourself for what happened, almost as much as you blame Ken. You forget, noone knows you better than I do, not even mom and dad."
"You're right. It's time to let go and move on." He looked over at Ken, and while he wasn't ready to reconcile completely, he took a step in that direction as he nodded in Ken's direction and said, "You're right, we need to work together, and I'm willing to do that, but can you follow orders?"
Ken looked at Rick and replied, "I don't know, try giving me one."
After a tense moment of silence, Rick said, "Your first direct order is to accept my apology for getting out of line."
Ken gave kind of a half-smile and said, "Yes, sir. Now if you don't mind, captain, I'd like to get underway."
With that, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and headed out.
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Note:
Well, I hope that wasn't too short. I don't count the words as I type. Anyway, I hope you liked the latest character-driven chapter. Fear not, the action will start up soon. I'm trying to get most of the character-development out of the way, so I can concentrate more on action later. I don't know who's all reading this, because I haven't gotten many reviews up to this point, but whoever's reading, I hope you're enjoying it.