The Broken Ones

Posted on 19 Nov 2023 @ 10:50am by Lieutenant Aria Rice & Lieutenant JG Sofie Ullswater

1,740 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Episode 18 - Cold Station 31
Location: USS Galileo-A - Deck 4
Timeline: MD 19, 11:40

[ON]

Aria let out a breath as she went to Sofie's quarters. As a Chief, she now had her own quarters. Aria had gone to sickbay, gotten the scar on her face healed. And some other injuries too, that she had dismissed as discomfort. She rang the chime, swallowing as she looked down herself. Starfleet uniform again. And now, she needed to talk to her friend. Well. See if they were still friends. The way things had gone on Regula I had been uncomfortable. Aria had tried to protect her, like she had tried to protect everyone.

If you try to save everyone, you get everyone killed, she thought, her jaw tightening a little.

After a couple of moments of a cheerful hum approaching the door from its other side it slid open to reveal Sofie, Padd in hand, wearing some comfortable looking lounging about in her quarters clothes and with that practiced Sofie smile on her face. It was there for a moment at least, as her mind registered who it was standing in front of her the smile dropped away very quickly. "Oh. Hi."

"Hi..." Aria looked at her, giving her a weak smile. She had seen how that smile had fallen of Sofie's face. "Do...you got time to talk?" she asked, her voice gentle. She didn't really want to have the conversation outside, but would go with whatever Sofie was comfortable with.

Sofie crossed her arms defensively, she otherwise didn't move from the doorframe. Their encounter the previous night had hurt her deeply, she couldn't imagine that this one wouldn't have the same outcome. "What would you like to talk about?" She placed her words cautiously, not wanting to give away all the muddled things she was feeling.

"I was going to start with apologising..." Aria said, giving her a small smile. "And then see where it went from there. Possibly with hand puppets...but I didn't have time to make any."

Sofie couldn't meet Aria's eyes, she was looking to the side slightly, her eyes fixed on some patch of floor not too far away. "Alright," again her response was slow and her tone defensive "And then what? I mean after the apology step."

"That bit is up to you," Aria said as she watched her. She guessed she would have to do this out here then. "Sofie, I am sorry. I sent you away from the Klingons because it was dangerous. They were dangerous and it was my responsibility to make sure no one on the base got hurt. That includes you. You weren't the only one I sent away either."

And you couldn't have spared just five minutes to walk out to the corridor and talk to your friend? I needed you, I needed a friend not a doorman. She didn't say it. However brightly it was burning in her head she didn't say it. Instead she raised her eyes to look into Aria's. Though the rest of her body language remained closed off she managed to give a small smile. "You don't have to apologise for that Aria. I completely understand." She tilted her head to glance in either direction along the corridor "If we're going to talk we probably shouldn't do it in the corridor. Let's head somewhere else."

"If you want to," Aria said, the body language clear. Tiredly, Aria shifted where she stood, glancing around. "Only if you want to." Despite the small smile, she saw it didn't reach Sofie's eyes. A bridge burned then, possibly beyond repair, a small voice whispered in her head and she pushed it aside with annoyance. She did not need it right now with her nerves raw and flayed out across her skin. "As long as I am not disturbing you."

Sofie looked back down at her feet. There was part of her that was scared, that didn't want to be hurt. Having this conversation opened her up to that again, Aria might say something that cut through all her defences and leave her feeling alone and upset all over again. But even knowing all that, all the danger she perceived, she couldn't help it: she didn't want this to be the end. "I don't want this to be the end, Aria." She pulled in her crossed arms tighter, her voice becoming a little shaky "I'm not saying everything is good, or it'll all be easy, but I don't want this to be the end."

Aria watched her, a slight frown coming to her. "I am..." she paused, trying to find the best way of saying it. "A little confused. I get you're upset for me sending you away from the Klingon party, but as...far as I remember, that is it, right? We've both gotten promoted out of sharing quarters." She watched Sofie, her jaw tightening for a moment to keep herself calm. Tapping into feelings of upset wasn't going to be helpful or productive. "Is there something else I've missed or put my foot into?"

"I don't really think you've done much wrong." Sofie was quiet. Something about the questioning way Aria was responding seemed to confirm to Sofie what she believed and so as if admitting defeat she just let the monster inside her say its piece: "I have though, I've got a lot wrong recently. And if you don't want to be around anymore, if you don't want me as a friend then I can't blame you. I doubt you are the only one so don't feel any guilt, not for my sake."

Aria watched her with confusion before she moved closer. She touched her arm, a gentle and light touch. "Sofie...get off it," she said, a small smile coming to her. "I got zero idea what's going on, all I remember was upsetting you with the Klingons. And I sort of had to because, you know...if you stayed you could have gotten killed. And then I'd have gotten killed and it would have been a lot of time of us two being dead which is boring." She met her eyes, letting out a breath. "So how about we have a hot drink together, realise we're not perfect and you can tell me why you're so hard on yourself?"

There was silence for a moment, Sofie scrunched her eyes shut, some internal conflict playout out on her face. After a moment she let out a breath, shifted her weight on her feet and uncrossed her arms. "Alright" She said, though there was no certainty in her voice "Let's grab a drink."

Aria looked at her, taking a deeper breath. She nodded and motioned for her to follow her. Somewhere private, but Sofie was guarding her door like it was a magical realm, so she assumed she didn't want to talk here. And she wasn't sure Sofie would be comfortable going to Aria's, so...the mess it was. She walked in silence with her, glancing at the other woman before looking ahead. "I was glad to hear you got that promotion. Couldn't think of anyone who deserves to be Queen of the Brainy people more."

"Thanks, that means a lot. It really took me by surprise, was honestly worried I was going to be kicked out." You could hear in her voice that Sofie was trying very hard to be conversational. She wanted this to be back to normal, she didn't want to be seen as a mess. For all that normality that she wanted though, she couldn't leave it unasked "I assume you heard about what happened? The thing with Mimi, Lamar, Dr Quil."

"No," Aria said as she looked at her, shaking her head. "I've only been back a few hours, not had the chance to do anything except run between my quarters, the sec department, the First Officer's office and sickbay. I did hear that Lamar assaulted one of the doctors in sickbay though. I need to catch up on that after this system test. I feel there's a lot to catch up on."

"Conversation for another time then, we probably need to have some kind of formal chat about it anyway. Just know it wasn't Lamar's fault, he was doing what I told him to." Sofie sighed, half at the memory of what had happened and half with relief that it was something that could be shelved for another time. As the two of the stepped into the turbolift that would take them up to deck 2 Sofie ventured a quiet question, a little trepidation in her voice "Were things alright on the Klingon ship?"

Aria looked at her, before looking away. "It's over," she said, as if it said it all. "I'm not going to dwell on it. Besides, I am here making sure you're okay. You seem...dimmer," she met her eyes before she gave her a small smile.

"I'd guess the medication." She replied. She'd thought the same, which is why she had stopped taking it. "The Cold Station was a lot." Her voice was quiet and reserved but still audible over the hum of the turbolift. The way Aria had responded, like she was flinching away after poking an injury, clearly she had been through something too. A little guilt crept in to Sofie's mind, why had she been thinking so much of herself, and not the pain her friend might be in. "I'm sorry, for how I'm acting. It's just I-" The turbolift slid to a halt and the doors to deck two opened with a hiss. They stepped out towards the mess hall, Sofie didn't bother to finish her sentence.

Aria looked at her, at the way she had said it. She moved close and hugged her, quickly, not giving her a chance to say any more. "You're going through stuff," she whispered against her ear. "It's okay, I still love you, Sofie. Nothing will change that, you're my friend."

"Thanks," Her voice was still quiet. In the arms of her friend, a moment of warmth that stood in contrast seemingly with the whole rest of the world. "Thanks." Sofie repeated, she didn't have the words to properly express how she felt right now, just a lot of thanks. That would have to do.

[OFF]


LTJG Sofie Ullswater
Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo-A

&

Lieutenant Aria Rice
Chief Security Officer
USS Galileo-A

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