Well it's almost been five years…hands up those of you who thought this was an author's note saying I've given up on this! Come on…I know there are more than that. ;)
Truth is I totally lost this one. I've had part of this chapter written for a long time and got motivated (thanks guest reviewer T) to try and do something with it. It's shorter than most of the other chapters, if not all of them, but cut me a little slack. I had to reread most of the Sit Room today, and apart from some grammar errors and rookie mistakes it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I like to think I've grown as an amateur author, formatting wise for example. Some of you may disagree. ;) I've desperately tried with this and while I know it's not worth the wait, consider it a promise that there's more to come, and it won't be five years down the road. I haven't pestered a beta with this, as I haven't talked to my usual beta for it for years…hey Adena. So all boo-boos are mine. If you see any feel free to let me know. D.
"We're lucky in a sense," muttered Max softly.
Rick looked over to his friend and asked, "How's that?"
Max gestured towards the destroyed shuttle a few meters away from them. "The explosion could have been a lot worse. We're lucky we didn't lose more people." He pointed off to the left and said, "Closer to the fuel pods," then he pointed to the right, "or the ordnance shelves and we would have lost half the ship."
Rick frowned and nodded his head in agreement. He had actually been thinking along the same lines as Max, but was so caught up in his own thoughts that he hadn't realized what Max was getting at.
Some movement from the direction of the main entrance caught his attention, and when he focused on a familiar woman approaching him he couldn't help but smile.
Angie smiled back at him and he waved for her to come over. As she crossed the distance between them, Rick ducked underneath the security tape and waited. When Angie finally reached him, he pulled her into a warm and tight hug, surprising himself a little.
"I'm glad you're home, Angie," he whispered. He released the young medic and moved back to get a good look at her. To his eye, she seemed a little more comfortable than she had been the last time he saw her, a little more at peace with herself. He hoped it wasn't because she had such a great time aboard the Hermes that she was considering a permanent transfer. He smiled kindly at her and said, "I hope Captain Rosario and Dr. Gleason didn't try to bribe you into staying."
Angie looked a little embarrassed and said, "No, sir, they didn't." After a moment of hesitation she said seriously, "Admiral, I have something very important to tell you, sir."
For a moment he thought she was going to say that she was in fact requesting a transfer. He forced down the disappointment bubbling up in his chest and fixed her with a curious look.
"About your wife, sir," she clarified softly.
Rick didn't know what to think or say about that. In the moment or two it took him to say something, images of Lisa and their life together played within his mind. "Lisa?" he asked uncertainly.
Angie nodded at him with a sad look in her eyes. "Yes, sir." She looked at him and said, "Sir, Admiral Lisa Hunter is…"
There was an enormous bang from behind Angie, a thunderous clap that sounded eerily familiar to Rick. It wasn't until he saw Angie's eyes bulge open and heard her gasp in pain that he was able to comprehend exactly what the sound was.
A shot from a REF standard issue sidearm.
He was about to move over to check on Angie when Max stepped in front of him and began barking orders. As Max and crew members sprang into action, Rick could only watch Angie. Her eyes fixed on him and he had the sense that in that look she was trying to tell him something vitally important. Then, as if a switch were thrown somewhere within Angie's brain, a serenity seemed to surround her body and her eyes dulled and then fluttered shut.
She wavered and he pushed back Max, against his protests, to break Angie's fall. He just managed to catch her in his arms and lower her gently to the deck, maneuvering so that when he knelt down he was able to cradle her upper body in his arms, his left arm supporting her neck while his right arm went around her to pull her closer to him.
When his right hand found a spot on her back that was wet and warm, he quickly removed his hand and undid his uniform tunic, hastily slipping it down over his right arm. When his right arm was free, he used it to support Angie while he shook the tunic down over his left arm. When his tunic fell to the deck, his left arm went back to support her neck, and he used his right hand to grab the tunic and hold it to her wound.
He was about to shout for help when something caught his attention, something that chilled him to the bone and infuriated him at the same time.
Standing by the main entrance to the hangar deck with her arms raised above her and her hands resting behind her head, was none other than Sue Graham surrounded by three security officers who had their weapons pointed at her.
And as Rick instinctively and protectively pulled Angie even closer to him, the puzzle began to come together.
When Max had heard the shot, he'd done what came naturally to him: he protected Rick. It was pure instinct that made him step in front of his friend, something that had been ingrained in him from the second that Roy introduced him and Ben to their new superior officer aboard the SDF-1. It went farther than a subordinate's sense of duty to protect his CO, however, even if that was where it had started. Rick was his friend, his brother, and Max would take a bullet for him as surely as he would take a bullet for Miriya or Dana.
So there was no hesitation at all when he moved his body into the line of fire, and the realization that the assailant was Sue caught him off guard for only a second, though in a brief thought of retrospection he realized it shouldn't have. In fact, his surprise wasn't so much that it was Graham as much as it was the realization that his instincts about her had been right.
He pointed to Graham and shouted to the deck at large, "Arrest that woman!" As three security guards moved in towards her with their weapons drawn, Max looked down to Angie in time to see Rick hold his jacket to Angie's back.
Max turned and pointed to one of the senior flight crew members. "Get some medics down here now!" The woman scurried towards the nearest comm. panel and Max turned his attention back to Sue. By now the guards had disarmed her and she was standing facing them with her hands behind her head. Her mouth was closed, with her lips pressed into a thin line and her eyes, those hazel eyes that could be oh so beautiful if they didn't belong to someone who had just tried to murder a woman in cold blood, nearly glowed with something that Max couldn't describe as anything other than evil.
Max turned and saw that Rick was looking at Sue, and to his surprise Rick's face didn't show any hints of surprise or shock. On the contrary, Rick looked as though he knew exactly what had happened.
Rick let go as the medics, people who cared for Angie and worked with her on a daily basis, moved in. He listened as they commented on blood loss and shock, and then said that her pulse was weak.
He looked down to his hands and flexed his fingers. They were sticky with the already drying blood- Angie's blood. When the medics gently moved Angie onto a gurney he turned to the entrance and barked, "Clear a path!"
The sea of people instantly parted to make a pathway for the gurney to travel through, and the medics immediately began to move through it. Rick followed them with Max in tow until he reached where the guards held a now handcuffed Sue Graham.
Rick looked deep into her eyes, trying to find some remnants of the woman who in the very beginning of their relationship was a kind and sweet young lady, but he was unsuccessful. All he could see was something that looked more like evil than he had ever seen in any woman's eyes before.
He glanced to the guards and said one word before rushing to catch up to Angie's gurney.
"Brig."
"She's locked up in the brig, Rick," reported Max when he returned to the waiting room. It had been nearly two hours since Jean had rushed into the OR to try to save Angie's life. Rick had fallen heavily onto the well padded chair that was usually occupied by those waiting to hear news about loved ones. Max sat in the chair next to him, his mind going a hundred miles a minute trying to put it all together.
After forty-five minutes had passed Max had figured it was time to check on Graham and bring Miriya and Vince up to speed. His conversations with Miriya and Vince had been short, telling them only the details he knew with certainty and leaving speculation out of it for now. The chief of security had informed him that Graham was in a cell and under guard.
Rick only nodded at Max's information and turned to keep his vigil on the door to the OR.
"I wish they'd let us know what's going on in there," he said wearily. He rubbed his hands across his face and stifled a yawn. He was so tired. Not necessarily sleepy, but emotionally exhausted.
Max sat back down in his chair and grunted his agreement. "Me, too." He folded his arms across his chest and turned to look at Rick. "The hangar has been sealed off, and Vince has everything under control. I imagine by now the rumors are running pretty wild through the ship."
Rick nodded. Running wild was probably an understatement.
"What did she say, Rick?" asked Max. He hadn't heard what Angie was saying to Rick when Sue shot her and Rick hadn't said anything about it while they waited.
Rick glanced to Max and then looked straight ahead at the far wall. "She said she had something important to tell me…about Lisa."
Max's eyes opened wide in surprise and he leaned forward, still keeping his gaze on Rick. "Lisa? What could she want to tell you about Lisa?"
"I don't know, Max," answered Rick with a shake of his head. "I don't…" He broke off and jumped out of his seat when the OR doors opened and Jean walked through them. She looked so very tired and sick with worry.
"Jean…"
"She's stable," announced Jean, "for now." Jean moved and sat in the chair Rick had vacated and sighed heavily. "We managed to extract the bullet easily enough, but it caused some extensive damage, even though it missed all the vital organs. She lost a lot of blood and we lost her once on the table." Her tear filled eyes bored into Rick's. "I don't know if she's going to make it."
"Jean," said Rick with a hint of desperation as he knelt down in front of her, "I need to talk to her." Jean looked as though she were going to hit him so he added hastily, "Just before Sue shot her she said she had to tell me something important, something about Lisa, Jean."
Jean's mouth opened slightly in surprise and after a moment her eyes asked what her mouth was having difficulty in asking.
"I don't know, Jean," he answered, "that's why I've got to talk to her."
Jean was shaking her head before Rick even finished. "I don't know when, or if, she'll pull out of it, Rick," she explained, a tear trailing down her left cheek adding to the misery in her voice.
Rick reached over and put his hands on the upper part of Jean's arms. "Jean, it could be important. She may know who killed Lisa." He tightened his grips on her arms. "She may be able to point the finger at Sue."
It went against every fiber of Jean's being to suggest what she was thinking. A combination of stimulants, adrenaline and two or three other potent medications could possibly bring Angie around for a few moments, but it would be extremely risky for her. The drug cocktail could easily be too much for her weakened system to handle and send her into a fatal cardiac arrest.
Jean looked at Rick, and seeing the desperation, the hope in his eyes that justice was around the corner and the knowledge that Angie herself would want to help tipped the scales. "I might be able to bring her out of it for a minute," she explained with a heavy heart and matching voice, "but no more, and it's a one shot deal. If she pulls through it I won't try it again, it would just be too dangerous for her."
"Understood," said Rick, his tone of voice relaying to her the worry he felt for Jean and the appreciation for what she was saying.
"Come with me and we'll get you suited up," said Jean. She opened the OR doors and waited for Rick, who followed after giving a nod to Max.
They silently walked into the bowels of the infirmary until they reached the change rooms.
"Go in here and put a gown on over your uniform," instructed Jean. "You're going to need a hat and mask as well. You'll find it all in a series of baskets, which are all labeled. When you're dressed, come out and wait here."
Rick nodded his comprehension and went inside to change. As he found the items Jean had told him to put on the questions kept running through his mind. "What does Angie know about Lisa? Why did Sue shoot her? What's' going on?"
It only took a few moments to get dressed, and once he was done he stepped back out into the corridor to find Jean, surgical mask, gown and gloves already in place, waiting for him. He waited as she carefully scrutinized his wardrobe, and after giving him one nod of satisfaction she turned and headed down the corridor.
He followed her without saying anything. Angie was very important to Jean, and what he was asking her to do had to be very difficult for her. He looked up as they came to a stop in front of the ICU and took a deep breath.
"I've got the trauma team on standby," said Jean, and though her voice was slightly muffled by the mask she was wearing he could easily hear her fear. Her brown eyes looked directly into his blue ones. "To be honest, Rick, I'm expecting this to end badly."
What was left of his heart cracked for Jean. "I'm sorry, Jean," he struggled to say.
Jean nodded curtly and said, "Me too."
She pushed the door open and went through and Rick had to rush to keep up with her.
But he didn't have to go far. Angie was in the very first bed, the one closest to the main nurse's station and the door should extra personnel be needed to work on her. Rick took a second to take in all the tubes, wires and machinery surrounding Angie, the sounds and lights enough to keep most people awake under normal circumstances.
But these were far from normal circumstances.
Rick slowly moved towards Angie, well aware that any noise he might make wouldn't make any difference to her state of health. He stopped next to Jean and looked down at the beautiful young woman fighting for her life, the beautiful young woman he suspected had the answers he so desperately needed.
"She's breathing on her own so we could remove the breathing tube," explained Jean, sadness permeating her voice making it thick and hollow at the same time. "If she comes to she should be able to speak, assuming she…"
Rick looked to Jean as the doctor stopped speaking and once again felt so bad for what he was asking her to do.
He was about to tell her to go ahead when she reached down to the table standing as a sentinel next to the bed and picked up a thick syringe. Without saying anything Jean brought the tip of the needle up to Angie's IV and stopped. Jean's hand shook momentarily, the war within her concerning trying this insanity no doubt tearing her apart, but then she pushed it in. There was a soft sigh from Jean as he pressed on the plunger, sending the drug concoction directly into Angie's bloodstream.
As Jean removed the needle from Angie's IV and replaced the now empty syringe upon the table, Rick looked to Angie's face and waited.
And hoped.
He heard the first indications that something was happening. The heart monitor which up to that point was emitting a series of slow and steady beeps to indicate Angie's heart rate, sped up the beeping. Rick didn't have to be a doctor to know something was about to happen.
Then he saw it. Angie's eyelids parted a millimeter, then it happened again and again. After several flutters her eyes stayed open and Rick's sorrow multiplied tenfold for her eyes were blank and almost lifeless.
Rick stepped toward her and leaned forward, then took her left hand in his carefully as to not jostle the IV. He ignored the clamminess of her skin and swallowed the lump that had developed in his throat.
"Angie?" he said softly, afraid to speak too loudly and frightening her. "Angie it's me…Rick. Can you hear me?"
Angie's eyes moved about the room as the heart monitor continued to race. Angie's breathing quickened and Rick chanced a look to Jean. All he could see were her brown eyes above the mask covering her face, but it was all he needed to see the concern she was feeling.
His eyes shot back to Angie's face when she squeezed his hand. His heart spasmed when he found her looking at him with her dull eyes. A tear had already escaped from the corner of her eye and disappeared into her hair. Rick reached over and placed his shaking hand on her left cheek, and all he could do when she uttered a choked sob was to try to smile reassuringly, forgetting that his mask would keep her from seeing it.
Angie tried to speak but all that came out was a gargle. Rick waited as she swallowed and breathed deeply, all the while painfully aware of the alarms sounding from the monitors and Jean nearly rocking back and forth in anxiety.
"Sorry, sir."
Rick had barely heard Angie's whisper so he wasn't sure he'd actually heard what he thought he'd heard. After all, what could she be sorry for?
Her eyes focused a little more on his, and he could see her summon all of her strength to speak to him.
"Sorry, sir," she repeated, her voice strained and rough. "So sorry."
"It's okay, Angie," said Rick as calmly as he could. He tenderly stroked her cheek with his thumb and said, "You have nothing to be sorry for."
Angie let loose a strangle cry that sounded suspiciously like a laugh to Rick.
"So much," she struggled to say. "So much." Angie struggled to take in a breath and said, "She's alive." She drew in another raspy breath. "Lisa….alive."
Rick was certain he'd misheard her. Lisa was dead. His Lisa was gone. She couldn't be alive. But as soon as he heard Angie's next word he knew it was true.
"Sue."
Rick found himself struggling to breathe, the enormity of what Angie was telling him nearly suffocating him with relief, rage and disbelief.
"Preg…she…" Angie's breathing became dangerously fast and shallow, and the alarms that had been screeching from the monitors were joined by even more.
"Shhh," cooed Rick as softly as he was able. He nodded at Angie and said, "You need to calm down, Angie." He glanced meaningfully at the monitors and added, "Please, Angie."
Angie closed her eyes for a moment and tried to compose herself enough to talk to Rick. Her breathing evened out enough for her to speak as plainly as though she hadn't been shot a few hours earlier. "She's pregnant. She's going to have a baby."
Rick felt Jean's grab his shoulder but he couldn't move. All he could do was look into Angie's tear filled eyes and roll the words 'Alive, 'pregnant', 'baby' and 'Sue' around in his head.
Finally Jean managed to pull him away from the bed, wrenching his hands away from Angie and almost flinging him clear across the room. By the time he regained full use of his senses the trauma team was in the room and in full resuscitation mode.
He took a step towards the bed and said, "Jean!"
Jean didn't look up from what she was doing but yelled, "Out, Rick!"
Rick was about to protest when he finally noticed a noise coming from the heart monitor that had his blood running cold throughout his body. He stumbled towards the door, yanking the mask from his face and throwing it to the floor as the steady tone of the flat lining monitor echoed in his ears. He didn't know how, but he managed to make it to the door that separated the ICU and OR from the waiting area.
He pushed on the doors and fell out into the waiting area, landing on his knees with a painful thud. He fell forward, but his arms automatically moved to keep him from falling face first onto the deck. He was vaguely aware of his name being shouted, and then he felt himself being lifted from the floor and being placed into a chair.
His head was swimming in quicksand. Everything that had happened since that cursed day in the Situation Room blazed though his mind, pieces of a terribly evil puzzle that he'd already pieced together was suddenly joined by fresh pieces that by themselves made no sense, but when added to the puzzle made all the sense in the world.
"Rick!"
Rick's attention snapped to the source of the troubled voice, a very worried looking Max Sterling. Max was down on one knee in front of Rick, with his hands resting on Rick's shoulders helping to keep him steady.
Rick looked up and found an equally concerned looking Miriya standing behind Max.
"Rick!" exclaimed Max again. "What happened? Are you okay?"
Rick shook his head and reached up to grab Max's elbow. "I…I don't know," he replied honestly. "Just…just give me a minute."
Rick tried to reign in his runaway thoughts; tried to bring some calm to the chaos that Angie had caused with the few simple words she'd managed to utter.
Finally his mind stopped reeling and he looked once more into his brother's eyes. "She's alive, Max." When Max's brow crinkled Rick said, "Lisa is alive."
Max nearly fell back onto his ass but managed to stay upright, even if he had lost the ability to speak. Luckily Miriya hadn't.
"Explain," she demanded.
Rick looked up to her and nodded in confirmation. "Angie said Lisa is alive." He looked down to Max. "She said she's alive and that she's pregnant."
Max finally found his voice, but when he spoke it was still little more than a whisper. "How?"
"I don't know," Rick said, uncertainty making his voice soft. "But I know who's responsible."
Miriya, Max and Rick all said the same name at the exact same moment with the identical amount of confidence mixed with the same amount of disgust.
"Sue."
The doors to the OR opened again and a haggard looking Jean Grant stumbled through. Miriya quickly moved over to steady her friend on her feet, earning a grateful smile from the doctor who had discarded her mask just as Rick had.
"Jean?" asked Rick as he jumped up from the chair. "Jean how is she?"
Jean's eyes were overflowing with tears and Rick felt his stomach drop into his shoes.
"Stable," announced Jean with a quiver in her voice. "We managed to stabilize her for now, but I can't guarantee she will stay that way." She looked Rick squarely in the eyes and said in a stern voice, "I'm not doing that again, Rick."
Rick stepped towards Jean and drew her into a hug. "I know, Jean," he whispered next to her ear. "And I won't ask you to." He leaned away from Jean and held onto her shoulders. "Thank you for everything, Jean," he said gratefully, but then his eyes turned cold as he added, "There's only one person I need to talk to now. Sue Graham."
Rick gave Jean's shoulders a thankful caress and turned towards Max. "We need to go and see Sue, Max. She has all the answers and I…where's Miriya?"
The three of them did a quick double take, and after a quick survey of the room yielded no sign of the green haired General, Max and Rick turned towards each other, both of them having figured out where she would have disappeared to: the brig.
"Shit!" exclaimed Max as he turned on his heel and ran towards the door.
Rick took off after Max, vaguely aware of Jean telling him that she would call security.
They both ran at their top speeds through the corridors of the ship towards the brig, both men zigging and zagging around startled crew members with Max only slightly ahead of Rick. Rick's heart was hammering in his chest as he ran, and not necessarily because of the sprinting he was now doing. Lisa was alive, and the only person who could tell him where his pregnant wife was now was Sue…she was the only person with all the answers. He knew that now without a doubt. He was as certain that Sue knew where Lisa was just as he was certain that he loved Lisa with all of his heart.
And now an enraged Zentraedi Quadrono was gunning for her. Under normal circumstances Rick trusted Miriya with all of his soul, but these were far from normal circumstances. Miriya was still emotionally drained from Lisa's death, and now to find out that Lisa was not only alive but alive and pregnant, there was no telling what she would do.
They rounded a corner and bolted the last twenty feet to the door to the brig. They rushed through to find the sentries on duty unconscious on the floor and the door leading to the detention cells wide open.
Rick and Max didn't even slow down as they ran to the door, and it was only because Max had to jump over one of the guards that Rick got ahead of him and through the door first.
He didn't know which cell Sue was being held in, but it became glaringly obvious when he found two guards on the floor in front of the only opened cell. A small part of his mind was amused that four armed security guards were no match for Miriya, but all amusement fled him and he came to an abrupt halt when the scene before him registered in his mind: Miriya had Sue up against the left wall, and had her lifted several inches off the floor courtesy of the two powerful hands she had around Sue's throat.
"Miriya!" shouted Max and he tried to run towards her only to be stopped by Rick. "Rick! She'll kill her!"
Breathing harder than he would have liked if he'd been bothered to give a damn, Rick only shook his head and slowly walked towards the two women, coming to a stop to Miriya's right. He faced Miriya, but he glanced at Sue, taking notice of her bleeding lip, bulging eyes and her still handcuffed hands that were clamped around Miriya's wrists.
"I will kill her," announced Miriya in a tone of voice that left no doubt in his mind that she very well would.
"You have to let her go, Miriya," Rick said with a serenity that belied the situation. "She's the only one that can help us now." Rick reached over and put his hands on Miriya's arms just above where Sue's hands gripped them. "She's the only one who can help Lisa."
Miriya gritted her teeth and snarled at Sue, but then let her drop down onto the floor. When Miriya released her, Sue's knees buckled and she fell flat on her ass, coughing and wheezing as she tried to breathe for the first time since Miriya had grabbed her by the throat. Her hands rubbed her throat, trying to massage away the pain that had been caused by strong Zentraedi fingers to no avail.
Rick looked to his best friend, and then motioned towards Sue with his head. Max understood and stepped towards Sue, pausing for a moment to kiss Miriya on her cheek, then reached down and grabbed Sue's right arm as Rick reached down to take hold of her left. Together they lifted Sue up and placed her on the bunk that resided in her cell.
When Sue finally got her breathing under control, she looked up and found Rick's eyes. Her voice was hoarse as she spoke. "Angie told you did she?" Sue cackled roughly and said, "I knew she'd buckle."
Rick folded his arms across his chest and glared at the woman he'd once thought of as a friend with all the contempt he could muster. "Where is she, Sue?"
"Safe," replied Sue. She gave him a smile of evil and ominously added, "For now."
Sue automatically recoiled as Miriya took a threatening step towards her, but she relaxed when Max grabbed Miriya and made her stay put.
"Sue…"
"I'm not answering any questions with them here, Rick," she said as she glared at Max and Miriya. "Tell them to get out and we'll talk."
Rick ground his jaw together in anger. She had the nerve to try to call the shots, but she was in the driver's seat and she knew it. He turned to Max and his friend immediately shook his head.
"Max, please," he said as he looked from Max to Miriya and back to Max. "I'll be fine."
Rick stepped towards Miriya and carefully, for there was still murder gleaming in her eyes, put his hand on her arm. Her eyes shot to his for a moment, but then went back to glaring at Sue.
"Miriya," he said softly but with enough authority that she would look at him, "you and Max need to go outside. Now."
It took a moment but Miriya finally nodded curtly, and Rick turned to Max.
"Check on the guards," he told his friend. "Make sure they're okay and then wait outside for me."
Max spared a look to Sue before looking at Rick and asking, "Are you sure about this, Rick?"
"I'm sure," he said with a smile that fooled neither of them. Rick stayed still as the Sterlings moved toward the door. Miriya gave Sue one more vicious look before disappearing, and Max gave Rick a nod before he stepped through and shut the door behind him, effectively sealing Rick alone with Sue Graham.
Rick tore off the surgical hat he'd been wearing, then shrugged out of the gown and turned around. He tossed both garments onto the bed and looked at Sue. "Talk."
Sue's eyes stayed focused on his as she said, "Your wife is alive, Rick. She's alive and she's carrying your baby." The words burned her mouth as she'd said them, and the way his eyes brightened made her heart clench, but she wasn't done yet. "I know where she is, Rick, and there's only one way I will ever tell you where that is."
Rick waited for her to go on, but after nearly a minute he ground out through clenched teeth, "What do you want?!"
Sue Graham stood up and faced Rick Hunter. Her smile was wide and her voice was sweet as she issued her demand. "Make love to me."