[ Alright, no two-chapter updates this week but only because this one ended up being longer than most of my entries are. As always I would like to thank the readers and reviewers for giving me a reason to write and post. I'm glad to know the apology rang true, I wanted a grand sweeping gesture but keeping in Baird's idea of 'romantic.' Hence…bomb threat haha. I did indeed give Noah his name because they were on a boat because sometimes writers get lazy too. But with no further delays here's chapter 17, enjoy! ]
Totally worth it., every minute was totally worth all of this Baird thought to himself with that smug self-assured grin on his lips. Oh the Gorasni government had labeled him as a terrorist and Marcus was most likely going to demote him in the end, but he'd managed to put a smile back on the face of the woman he'd been at fault from removing them from over the past several days. He was sure he would never forget the image of her on that ship leaning halfway over the railing as that angry scowl turned into a slow grin. As much as he loved the taunting and tormenting that got Samantha all sorts of hot and angry being able to make her smile felt like a much more worthy accomplishment now all things considered. It seemed like his message had gotten through even though the last image of her he'd seen she'd been making no effort to leave the ship. But she had to have stayed, right?
It was a startling realization but Baird hadn't given much thought nay, any to the idea that maybe Samantha had no intention of forgiving him regardless of all grand romantic gestures. After all, he hadn't actually said the words 'I'm sorry' and perhaps she wasn't interested in them in the end. These thoughts came on quickly and undermined that air of confidence that had inflated him. It made the man nervous and he started fiddling his thumbs round and round each other, hands folded between his knees.
Looking up from the dull cement floor Damon stared on straight ahead at the wall of bars that separated him from freedom and several other prisoners that looked of the most unsavory variety. The island's holding area was located several stories beneath Azura's outward beauty, a whole long corridor with eight individual cells on each side most dimly lit with fluorescent bulbs of which half only worked, while some cells had nothing but just darkness to bathe in. There was a litany of stains on every surface Baird wasn't interested in looking too closely at either lest he uncover any more of Azura's terrifying past. It wasn't his first time in jail and but was surprisingly not as bad as most of the other incidents. They'd made sure to keep him and the other inmates separate, for whose safety he could only guess. If Sam wasn't coming back that meant that this all was for nothing and he would be left to rot pathetically in a cell somewhere for a to be determined amount of time. Still he had said what he meant and needed to for once in his life. Maybe just doing the right thing would be his reward in the end if nothing else, but it seemed like a really shitty consolation prize if you asked him.
Where the fuck is she? Baird thought before standing up from the slab of a bench which was the only thing that adorned the cell's eight by ten foot walls save for a metal toilet with no seat on the opposite side. The luxuries just never end…
Hands wrapped around the vertical bars he leaned his head against them as well and tried to pure as far down the hallway as possible wondering if perhaps that was the sound of a door closing not too far away. Twenty minutes in lock up and he was already losing it. Truth be told it felt like he'd been losing it for some time before the events of today, the moments of his unraveling sanity seemed to stretch back past their brief stay in Anvil Gate, back to his time spent on the Sovereign. He wasn't completely crazy though. There had been a door closed in the distance and whomever responsible was the owner of the heavy lazy footsteps clunking over the concrete floor. Not Sam, she didn't sound like that at all. Just another corporate officer making his rounds to ensure none of the inmates had hung themselves with their own shoelaces yet. Damon released a frustrated sigh as he leaned back from and let go of the bars and returned to sit back on the edge of the bench. There wasn't much left he could do now, but wait.
It was hard to find the right words to say for herself. While Samantha didn't feel that she was exactly in the wrong for abandoning The Constant and her scheduled trip to Anvegad there was a distinctive nagging voice in her head reminding her now that she was putting the interests of some man over her own. She was throwing common sense and a reasonable future to the wind for that blonde grease monkey that had done nothing but make her life a constant living hell. Maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration on her part though. Yes Baird had always been annoying and stuck up, but he was also right about 90% of the time and the one Delta turned to when all else failed. He was an asshole, his words not hers, but it wasn't like he was the worst asshole she'd ever met. Right? He had a big mouth, among other things, and a whole lot of explaining to do now that he'd created this scene.
All these thoughts racing through her mind at a speed too fast to keep up with were starting to make her head hurt. Sam pinched the bridge of her nose between her forefingers and closed her eyes, trying to push them all to the back. No such luck. Despite her mental nitpicking she realized she was still smiling and as much as she tried to stop, it just always seemed to come right back.
Walking at an even pace with Augustus they hadn't said much of anything to each other since she scrambled down the ship's deck and he cleared an easy path up through the masses gathered around the pier. Now when she tried to steal a subtle glance in his direction and he looked right back conversation couldn't be avoided. There was a subtle upward turn of the man's mouth as Cole struggled not to gloat over all of this. Just several hours before when he'd tried to tell Sam to stay she'd most abruptly informed Cole he should mind his own business and just try and keep Baird on a shorter leash from now on.
"I'm not going to say it," Sam stated, defiantly.
"Say what?" Cole raised an eyebrow and adjusted her bag over his shoulder. He refused to let a lady carry her items when there was a man about.
"You know and I'm not saying it because then I would still be saying it." The sentence came out more convoluted than she had anticipated, and wondered if it even made sense.
"Oh, you mean 'I was right?'" He asked, some how without the a sense of mockery. Cole was a lot of things, but certainly not a know-it-all or one to rub someone's gaffes in their face. That must have been what endured him to Damon so much.
"Something like that," she admitted, before beginning to rationalize her actions. "It's not like that's the only ship on this island you know? I'm sure I can find another one that'll take me to Anvil Gate before the day's over."
With the show over, ending in what almost everyone there watching must have considered an incredibly anti-climactic finale completely devoid of fireworks and all other explosions the people had started to ebb back to their duties and places of work. Of course they stared as Sam and Cole cut and weaved through them but for the first time today Sam was honestly unaware of the attention. It was nice to walk with Gus because everyone made a concentrated effort to let him through rather than get lost under foot and they traversed the outer most path along the island quicker than usual.
"So why did you get off that ship at all then, Sam?" Cole wasn't dumb, nor did he think so of Samantha. However he knew she was stubborn, wasn't apt to take other's advise if she didn't agree with it and extremely prideful. She was a much more attractive package for a personality type he'd been dealing with for several years now. He just wanted Samantha to admit to herself why she was back on dry land.
An eyebrow raised along with a corner of her mouth as she tried to figure out what to even tell herself. "I don't know Cole, I guess it felt right? Maybe I was caught up in the whole heat of the moment, it's not the first time I've made that mistake with Blondie after all. I guess he just seemed genuine for once in his life and I want to figure out if that's real."
"Ya don't get much more real than a bomb threat," he thought out loud to himself, more than he really meant to say. The stutter in his teammates step was a good indication that was the first she'd heard of such a thing and her face confirmed it as she gawked at him, jaw slack. "I guess he had to be sure they were really going to turn your boat back."
It was the God damn dumbest thing she could imagine and explained perfectly the controlled panic of the ship's crew. Of all stupid things Baird had done this was his crowning accomplishment without a doubt. Sure he had had actually blown up a ship before lending credence to his words, but that had been for good reason, he was killing a leviathan. Now here he had threatened the destruction of another vessel just for what he knew might just be a few moments of her time. It was stupid and so fucking sweet Samantha swore it made her teeth hurt just thinking about it. Trying to keep that smile at bay was useless now so she kept her gaze to the stone streets and her own boots as much as she could incase Cole wanted to call her out on being impressed by Baird's crime and that yes, he had been right when he told her she should stay earlier. She thought back to it…
Carmine jogged up the beach taking his ball with him as he went and left the two other Gears to converse. Samantha was unfortunately facing into the sun as she looked up and towards Cole to address him. They both knew why he had come here and on whose behalf which for a somewhat confusing reason made the woman's blood boil. Obviously Cole wasn't too excited about the prospect of having this conversation with her either, she was still seething despite her stoic warrior woman persona and he didn't deserve any of her wrath that might spill over. He just had to remind himself she was his friend and so was Baird and someone had to set this whole damn mess right.
"Can we just pretend to have this conversation Cole? I'll tell everyone you begged me to stay, told me Baird really is a great guy, just some poor misunderstood genius and that I was still such an unrelenting bitch I left regardless of your emotionally charged words. It's a win-win situation." She asked, truly tired of having to hear everyone's opinion on this matter.
Up until then she couldn't recall if she'd ever heard him scoff before. It was an odd thought and trying to make eye contact with the man while partially staring into the sun made it hard to tell, but the expression on his face actually seemed quite a bit insulted.
"You know who sound like when you get all defensive and stubborn like that don't you?" He countered and watched her eyes narrow.
"Just let this go, please Cole I'm asking nicely. It's not up for debate, I want to go home. I don't want to have to keep dealing with Baird's … Bairdness. I thought I was ready for it and everything else when I joined Delta but I guess I was wrong."
Of course he had heard what Damon had said and done, he was only a dozen meters away when it went down. Hell, Cole knew they had slept together without Baird ever saying a word, he had just assumed finally giving in to all that overt tension between the two would calm the guy down, not send him barreling over the cliff of overreaction. Should've known better of course, the guy was about as cuddly and sensitive as the business end of a Lancer, add in mommy issues and it was a recipe for him to try and fire bomb every relationship with a woman he had. Anya being the man's superior was certainly the only thing that saved her from much of his day in and day out rude ramblings, but the fact Sam played into it all hadn't helped her case in the end. Baird famously didn't know when enough was enough.
"I know he went too far this time Samantha and whether you believe it or not I'm sure Blondie feels bad about it. You've got to stick around though, without you here there's not going to be anyone to give him what he deserves when he gets out of line." Cole tried to reason as lightheartedly as he could. It was true she was the only person around who gave it to Baird just as rough as he did to everyone else.
"If Baird was capable of feeling remorse he would be the one out here Cole, not you. If you're so worried about him maybe you'll keep him on a shorter leash from here on out. I'm not his nanny."
She didn't typically raise her voice to Gus, she never had reason to. But listening to him try and defend that little prick had gotten her riled up and she ended up snapping. Of course she felt bad as soon as she said it and continued to even after she left the island…
Thinking about her inability to take advise, she hadn't realized Cole was talking to her now and she came back to attention in the midst of the conversation and their stroll. Luckily she was able to step in without missing a beat.
"-probably locked in some General's office getting the tar beat out of him. I'm sure Fenix knows where the Princess is by now. Ha-HA, you know that man is gonna have it out for him. You want me to help ya find him?"
He was talking about Baird of course, and yes Sam did. But she also felt like letting Baird agonize just a little longer over her and giving Cole the apology he deserved.
"Nah," Sam laughed, catching her pal off guard with the response. "Let him sweat it a little more. I actually kind of feel like getting a drink. You in? My treat."
When caught in a lie there were two options one had before them. They could either come clean and accept both guilt and responsibility or they could continue with said lie forcing them to invent new ones to go along with the original. This was the exact fork in the road Anya Stroud now found herself facing with the clock running down until the point she would have to make a decision. She'd answered the call about a quarter of an hour ago from Willings' supervisor Lt. McMahon to discover her Corporal reporting the presence of an explosive device on The Constant, the very ship she'd told Baird that Samantha was leaving on not shortly before then. The Lieutenant wanted to know if both Baird and the threat should be taken seriously, so she lied.
"Corporal Baird is by far one of the most respected and valuable soldiers in our squad, as well as an unparalleled mechanic. Any information he has regarding the safety of your supplies and crew should be taken with utmost seriousness."
Unless he had actually found a way of getting a bomb on that ship Stroud knew it was all a lie. Why Baird had to go straight to terrorism with his bluff she didn't understand but still had to deal with which brought her back to the decision she still had to make. Let Baird hang out to dry or help bust him out? Her com-link and personal line hadn't stopped buzzing for the last twenty minutes even when she ignored the calls, so she shut them off hoping a moment of silence would allow her to think. One someone who had been trying to get a hold of her for long enough made it a point to just find her face to face instead.
The door to her small workspace, a tiny receptionists desk and waiting room she'd taken over just outside the medical wing, opened with no knock and more force than the hollow metal needed. She was quick to swat and pin down several lose sheets of paper that were disrupted by the gust of air Marcus brought in with him. Even though her heart sank at the site of him Anya did her best to keep things professional, it didn't take being the man's lover to see he was upset. He didn't explode with any explicatives or accusations immediately but it seemed if perhaps that restraint just was because seeing her again for the first time since their disagreement last night was a bit more of a shock to the conscience than he might have expected. No it wasn't the first time she'd seen hard-as-nails Marcus falter but it might have been the first time she found some pleasure in it, fleeting as it was.
"Baird got himself arrested," he grumbled but made no move to take a seat or even a step from the spot he had frozen in upon entry, "on a half a dozen different felonies no less."
"I know, I have every branch of the Gorasni Government breathing down my neck and seeking answers. Not to mention that the UIR made a point that they haven't let this go unnoticed either. If they want to call this an 'act of war' it could completely destabilize the peace talks that have been in negotiation for the last forty-eight hours between all organizations."
She looked tired and he found himself wondering how much sleep she'd gotten the night before, having not spent it with her to know. By all accounts Anya had every right to be tired and upset, she was constantly juggling a series of political run-arounds from the higher ups of every military while also trying to keep the day-to-day operations of everyone below her moving efficiently on this island. Of course she had subordinates like himself that were supposed to make this sort of work easier and Baird was perhaps one of the most invaluable ones due to his extensive mechanical and engineering knowledge. He had brought the repair of Azura and almost Sera itself to a stop with this one stunt and while Anya should have been cursing his name she was just sighing and rubbing her neck, stressed but certainly not angry.
His lack of reply, replaced instead by a long ponderous gaze was enough for the Lieutenant to realize he knew something was a miss just several seconds after arriving. He always had been far more perceptive than most people realized. Anya had never really expected she would be able to hide her whole involvement in this issue but she also didn't think that she would find herself admitting to it so quickly and to him first of all.
"Baird got a hold of me this morning about an hour ago asking which ship Sam was leaving on so I told him. Not too long there after, I have someone from the Gorasni Navy asking if I know a Corporal Baird and if his threat is worth returning their desperately needed supply vessel to dock for inspection," Stroud explained as she started shuffling a myriad of reports and papers into their respective folders. "I knew Baird was lying but I said yes anyway. So now the question is do I keep lying to cover our asses and try to clear his name or-"
"Why?" Fenix cut in abruptly, his head snapping to the side to watch as Anya got up from her chair. "Why'd you do any of this to begin with?"
A slender hand brushed at the wrinkles of her pencil skirt, the other gripping a sealed manila envelope. Now that she'd thought about the choices aloud, it was an easy decision to make. Anya took several steps to cross the room, forcing Marcus to notice she was wearing heels today as she began to ease her way around his broad form and out the door. Not of course before she gave him that trademark soft look of hers, bottom lip chewed on momentarily while her eyes looked him over from top to bottom, through and through.
Her shoulders shrugged just slightly and she explained, "I guess I just want see the best in people Fenix, even if they are a little rough on the outside sometimes."