A Private Meeting

Posted on Sat May 23rd, 2020 @ 6:31pm by Lieutenant Commander Lurath, Son of Grogori & Lieutenant Commander Mackenzie "Mac" Taylor

964 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: New Beginnings
Location: Briefing room
Timeline: After group

ON:

Mac felt unsure how to broach things with the Lieutenant Commander Cayne as she waited to see the young man "How are you, Lieutenant Commander?"

Once the meeting was over, and everyone else had cleared, Darius returned to the replicator and placed his mug in the device. "I'm fine." He replied to the question, a brow raised, as he tapped the console of the machine. When the mug began to de-materialize, he turned around to face the XO, leaning slightly against the wall. "Why do you ask?"

"I wanted to get to know you," she said she looked at her Padd then looked up.

Darius crossed his arms over his chest, narrowing his eyes slightly, observing her. After a few seconds, he replied softly. "What do you want to know?"

"What was life like for you after you returned from the collective?" she asked looking at him calmly. "I can't imagine it was easy for you to readjust?"

He looked down at the floor, smiling slightly, before looking back up to her. He opened his mouth but stopped as if trying to find the words. "Being in the Collective wasn't a picnic. Sure, some people can't remember their experience, but I do for some strange reason." Darius paused again, to gather his thoughts, before continuing. "The voices. The images. I still see and hear them. Even now it's hard to sleep." He turned back around to face the replicator and ordered another coffee. Part of him wished it was something stronger. Something alcoholic. "Adjusting to the arm was easier than trying to move past being part of those monsters."

"I am no counsellor but it sounds like your mind is trying to work through the images so you may still have all that to deal with." She said knowing that he was a kind-hearted person who had been through hell. She thought about the images she saw but they were almost if she had lived another life. Part of her hated him but he was just a human who had been thrust into a horrible situation. She did blame him for what happened.

As Darius picked up the mug and brought it to his lips, he stopped just before the hot liquid hit. He could feel it. Her picking up what was on the surface of his mind. All those years of working with Jola, his Betazoid partner back when he was a cop, made him develop a slight sensitivity to when someone was picking his brain. Back then he wouldn't have minded, but after everything that's happened, he wasn't ready. He closed his eyes and began to drink, slowly repeating a song in his head, focusing primarily on that. As he turned around to face Mackenzie again whatever she was picking up, surface or not was now faded and gone. All that remained was the song in his head, shielding him, as he looked at her with a firm.

Mackenzie looked at Darius and could see the pain in his eyes. She didn't say a thing. She had seen the destruction that the Borg had inflicted at the beginning of 2367 with the battle of Wolf 359. She sighed. "You don't have to tell me anything. During the meeting, I could pick up the anger you had and I just wanted to make sure that you would be okay," she said calmly.

"Angry?" Darius questioned as he took a sip from his mug. If he wasn't angry before, he was now, but his internal singing was keeping it deep inside. "Bringing up memories like that will sometimes do that. Kinda like doing something without permission or pushing something that need not be pushed." He nodded his head slightly as he walked back to the table. "If you're concerned it'll affect my job, you don't have to be. I've got a pass from Starfleet Medical to prove it."

Mac said nothing "If you don't feel happy then. We'll forget the conversation go." she paused as the Captain called to the ready room "Dismissed."

"I see," Darius replied as he walked over to the replicator, placing his mug on the tray. "You did no wrong." He laughed softly as he tapped the console to recycle the mug. Slowly, he turned back around, a slight smile on his face as he crossed his arms over chest. "Typical Betazoid, I guess. Privileged. Unapologetic. Always in the right and never in the wrong." He nodded his head and turned his head slightly to the door before replying as he turned back to face her. "My feelings aren't unhappy. It's violated. I make one request and you take it upon yourself to do the exact opposite, hiding your reasoning behind concern and trust, when you already violated my trust by doing the exact thing I didn't want to happen. Did it ever occur to you to simply ask instead of digging into my brain? It's no secret, the whole thing is in my file, but asking is beyond you I guess." He shook his head, laughing softly again, before looking up to her and asking in an un-amused tone. "Is there anything else, Ma'am?"

"Nothing at present, Lieutenant Commander," Mac said

Darius nodded his head slightly before turning to walk away. As he walked, he kept repeating the song over and over in his head, until he reached the opening doors. At that point, he switched to humming out loud. Briefly, he turned to face the Commander and bowed his head, before taking his leave out the door and proceeding down the corridor.

Mac sat for a few moments after he left. then left to go to see the Captain.

OFF:

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Lieutenant Commander Mackenzie 'Mac' Taylor
Executive Officer

&

Lieutenant Commander Darius Cayne
Chief of Security/Tactical Officer

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