Unresolved

Posted on Wed Jun 24th, 2020 @ 2:51am by Lieutenant John Sandoval & Lieutenant JG Aeryn Jameson
Edited on on Fri Jul 10th, 2020 @ 5:41pm

Mission: Death in Paradise
Location: Sandoval's Quarters
Timeline: Morning after "Affairs of the Heart"

ON:

John sat at the table in his room, in his robe, freshly showered, eating some toast with peanut butter, laughing at the story Aeryn had just told him. “You sure had some good times before coming to Pandora!” he said. “What ship was that on?”

Aeryn grinned. “That was the USS Saratoga!” She pulled her own robe around her not that she really needed to in front of John. “Those were good times!” She sighed. “I still can’t believe that we’re in the situation we are now! Who would murder someone John?”

John shook his head as he picked up his coffee cup. “I don’t know. Now I’ve taken the lives of Cardassians and Jem’Hadar, but I still think about it sometimes. I saw some messed up people during the war, but the marine corps needed anyone willing to kill. They’re more stringent now. Or so I thought, before meeting Mauricio.” He brought his coffee to his mouth, but then set it down before taking a sip.m”that’s unfair of me. I don’t know Mauricio. I may have just seen him at his worst. You were a counselor, have you encountered killers before?”

“Not really” She frowned. “I did have a short time in a psychiatric facility during my senior cadet year at the academy as part of my training. It was one of the scariest things I ever did. I couldn’t face going into the high security area, the emotions coming from there were....” She shook her head. “Terrifying!”

"I'm glad I don't have your senses," John said. "While they might help in a negotiation, in the war knowing how everyone else felt would have been...unpleasant. On our side, there were the professional soldiers who kept their cool, but also the terrified souls who wanted to get out and the psychopaths that wanted to kill. On their side, the machine-like Jem'Hadar and the unnecessarily cruel Cardassians. My, ah, roommate in the recovery hospital was Ullian. He got a good look at too many minds in those days. It helped us both to talk while we were in recovery."

"I'll admit it scares me that we have a murderer aboard, if you were a murderer and you knew the people in charge of hunting for you had someone at their disposal who could sense your emotions in a crowd and give you away wouldn't you consider that person a threat? That advisor used to be me now its Krysia and I'm concerned that our murderer in hiding may try and get her out of the way, one way or another."

John's mouth was full of peanut butter toast, so he needed to pause a moment before speaking. "It's possible, but her husband is Chief of Intelligence and her brother is First Officer. They wouldn't put her in unnecessary risk. And Griffin is a cold bastard but he's not going to risk a pregnant woman to find the killer. I'm actually hoping we can exonerate everyone. It isn't necessarily one of us. We've just been implicated."

"I know" She nodded "I'm just worrying unnecessarily really. At least I hope I am!" She paused to eat some of her own breakfast.

"You know," John said, "I've been enjoying having breakfast with you like this." He took a sip of his coffee. "It's usually here, though. Surely you miss your own room. Maybe tonight, we go to your quarters? I've only been there the once, and we didn't leave much time for breakfast conversations, did we?"

"No we didn't!" Aeryn grinned a wry grin. "I think that would be nice. Give me chance to wait on you for a change as you'll be my guest instead of me being yours!"

Finishing the last of his breakfast, he wiped his face with a napkin and stood from his seat. "I should get dressed before going on duty." He winced as he took his first step away from the table. "Ugh. Today won't be a good day for my leg. Could you please bring me my cane? The stand is by the bed. I should really move it to the table."

“Of course” Aeryn smiled but looked concerned all the same. “Would you like some pain relief for it or I can do you a quick massage see if it helps any?”

"A massage might help," John said. "I don't want to hamper myself today. I suspect we'll both still be needed at full strength today, and my full strength involves having all my mental faculties, leg be damned." He smiled as he sat himself on the edge of the bed. "But if you can help me out, I'd appreciate it. Though I'll remind you that I'm already showered and need to go on duty in the next thirty or so."

“That’s fine” Aeryn smiled warmly. “I’ll distract you tonight instead. For now I’ll keep this purely professional no matter how much we both enjoy it.” She motioned for him to sit so she could do his massage.

He moved back into his chair and adjusted it so Aeryn could access his thigh. “Thanks,” he said. “What’s your plan for the day? Will Alexandra keep you busy?”

“I expect so!” She smiled as she started his massage being gentle yet firm with his thigh. She had to give it a fair amount of pressure but she didn’t want to make his thigh even more painful than it already was. “I’m not hurting you am I?” She looked at him concernedly.

“No, it feels great,” John reassured her. “Keep going.” He closed his eyes and enjoyed the massage. “I’m going to work with my team to prepare some options for Paradise. Some draft treaty texts. Best case scenario, agreements to continue diplomatic relations between Paradise and the Federation. Worst case scenario...am extradition treaty to hand over an alleged murderer for trial.”

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that!” Aeryn sighed as she continued the massage. “How’s your leg feeling now?”

"Better, thank you," John answered. "I should be off it for most of the day, anyway. We're not going anywhere, and I gave Emmanuelle back to security for a bit to help with the murder investigation, so we won't be training today. If it does get worse, I'll come find you or Alexandra. Or Nurse Renora. She seemed nice."

"Indeed she is" Aeryn smiled as she stood back to allow him to get ready. "I'll let you get on now before I tempt you into anything else!" She grinned a wry grin.

John leaned forward to Aeryn and gently kissed her lips. "Hard temptation to resist! But you're right, I really should get dressed. Can you pass me that cane though, please?"

"Of course" Aeryn smiled and reached for the cane. "I'll see you at mine tonight okay?"

He took the cane from her hand, letting his hand linger on hers a moment. “Thanks. Yeah, tonight.” Cane in hand, he grabbed a uniform out of the closet and started putting it on. “What time should I come see you?”

“As soon as you’re ready, I’ll be there waiting for you!” She smiled as she walked over to him helping to straighten and zip up his uniform jacket. She ran her hands over his chest before leaning forward to give him a loving kiss. “I will be thinking about you.”

John smiled. "And I, you. I'm not sure when you're on duty, but take your time and let yourself out when you need to." He stepped away and headed towards the door. On his way out, he thought it might be prudent to start leaving a couple of things in each other's quarters. A couple of spare uniforms, maybe. They were spending their nights increasingly with each other; it might be a smart idea. He'd think on it during the day. But first, he needed to see his team.

OFF