Showdown
Posted on 15 Aug 2016 @ 8:00pm by Lieutenant Commander Joey Geisler & Commodore Harvey Geisler & Lieutenant Commander Camila Di Pasquale
7,582 words; about a 38 minute read
Mission:
Click Three Times
Location: Deck 4
Timeline: MD 6 || 1410 hours
Furell had been laying on the thin cot which served as both a seat and a bed for prisoners who found themselves in the brig and suddenly found himself on the floor as the ship gave a massive lurch and everything went dark. He was thrown to the floor and that's all he remembered for a few minutes until he regained consciousness and when he did, he discovered the lights where still out. Instead of fumbling around and trying to get up, he crawled forward and reached out a tentative hand at where the force field should be and hoped he was gauging the distance correctly when he didn’t feel the energetic resistance. He grimaced and inched forward again, keeping his hand out and still didn’t feel anything stopping him at the point where he knew he should have.
“Jackson! Force fields are down!” Furell yelled at the same time he heard the Security personnel who guarded the two of them began to get calls to secure the prisoners while they fought to bring the backup systems on line. He got up and charged the sound of the voices of the Starfleet officers and was rewarded with a body that stumbled backwards upon contact. “Gotcha!” He cried as he latched on and moved his hands upwards until he found what he was looking for. Hard, trained fists pounded his ribs, but the Bajoran Captain ignored it and wrapped his hands around the neck they had found. He wrapped one hand around the back of the man’s head and grabbed the chin with his other and gave a brutal twist to the right before he was rewarded with a sickening snap and the officer who had been fighting him became a limp body that he let fall to the floor.
Jackson, who’d ended up on the floor along with Furell during the ship’s lurching, began to stir around. The last thing he remembered was leaning back and plotting a way to escape, then... waking up to his entire body protesting. He was sore, bruised and incredibly pissed off. He staggered to his feet and stumbled from the cell that was supposed to keep them prisoner. That wasn’t happening today. He listened for the sounds of the second Security officer trying to bring the forcefields back up, then gave a sadistic smile. Today just didn’t seem to be a great day for the Black Hawk or their crew. In fact, if he had any say about it, it was going to be a day they’d wish they could wipe from their memories forever.
The Marine cautiously made his way down the aisle until he spotted the officer that was working on locking them back up again. He made a sound, knowing the young enlisted officer would make his way over, and hadn’t been disappointed when the gold collar clad man did just that. He raised a huge booted foot and calculated the distance, then when the timing was right, he drove his foot home right into the sternum of the young man. With a sick smile, he watched as the man flew backward, landing on the floor roughly ten feet away before his head connected with the floor beneath him. No, the blow hadn’t been enough to kill the Security officer, but it was enough to render him immobile for the next stage.
Jackson moved over to the officer. With the wind knocked out of him, it was almost sad to watch him struggle to pull a breath in. Almost. The Major had no sympathy, and to prove it, he raised his leg, driving his booted foot down onto the young man’s throat, successfully ending his suffering. He wasn’t done, though. Quickly, he removed the jacket of the man, then did the same with his own before he switched their shirts out, then retrieved the phaser the officer had once been holding. “We need to move.” And, though he didn't want to, he knew it was necessary. The bumps and bruises would wait to be dealt with.
Furell searched until he had found the Type II phaser the Black Hawk Security officer had and removed it and the holster and belt before he attached it to his uniform as well as the combadge of the dead officer. He reached up to remove two of his pips and tossed them down, his disguise complete. Let’s go, Crewman Jackson,” he said as he improvised. “I’m Lieutenant Vale and tonight, we’re going to teach this crew what it means to be boarded.” With a laugh, the Bajoran Consortium agent headed for the doors.
Crewman Jackson gave a laugh and slipped his jacket back on, then zipped it up. The shirt was a bit small, but he didn’t plan on wearing it long. Soon, he’d be off this ship and back where he belonged. Reaching for the fallen Crewman’s belt, Jackson adjusted its size and put it on. If he was going to play the part of a member of the ship’s Security personnel, he needed to look the part. “Then, by all means, Lieutenant Vale,” the Marine said with a laugh of his own. “Let’s blend in with the rest of the crew.”
She’d only been released from sickbay a short while ago, and felt like she should make a trip back as she started to stir. Her entire body ached, and her shoulder begged for mercy. Joey opened her eyes and raised her head, trying to shake the haze from her vision. The power was out. What the hell caused that to happen? And why was she on the floor? She'd been on her way to the isolation brig to check in on two of their more dangerous prisoners, and now she was here.
With the power being out, and things as chaotic as they were, the crew of the Black Hawk was scrambling. Were they ever going to catch a break? She didn’t know, but couldn’t focus on that right now. There were far more important things that needed to be dealt with. Like the fact that without forcefields, dangerous criminals were going to be roaming the ship if the power didn't come back soon.
Joey pulled herself over to a table and got to her feet, then dropped her phaser onto it so she could gather her bearings. She was dizzy, but none of that meant much. None of the pain meant much, either. She spotted two figures coming from the isolation brig, only caught a glance at them out the corner of her eye. One wore the red collar of Command or Flight, while the other bore the same gold as her own uniform. It didn’t strike her as odd for the red collared man to be in Security. In a situation like they were currently in, anyone able to fire a phaser became an honorary member of the Security team in times of crisis.
"How are our prisoners?" she managed to ask, bracing herself against the table for support.
"They've escaped," Jackson said, falling into his newly adopted role. He still hurt, and planned to make someone's life hell for it.
“We need to sweep all decks. We’re looking for two prisoners… extremely dangerous. One Kylar Furell, Captain of the Cochrane, and one Major Carter Jackson, acting CO of the Chimera. I should have just saved everyone the trouble and accidentally killed him while I was on the ship,” she said, finally turning her attention toward the two men. Her breath caught in her throat the second she caught sight of the face of the man wearing the gold uniform. Slowly, her hand inched toward the phaser she’d just set down. “You…”
Jackson couldn’t believe his luck. Today just kept getting better and better. First the easy escape from the brig, and now the bitch who’d taken out the Chimera’s crew had fallen right into his lap. “Well, would you look at what we have here, Furell…” he said, lunging forward to knock the phaser from the table. “It seems today is our lucky day. Not yours, sweetheart. Yours is going to get much worse.”
Furell reached over and tapped the door panel to close it and made a quick sweep of the Security offices to make sure the rest of the personnel had already left. Even the Chief of Security wasn’t present, but her office was locked and required an authorization code that he didn’t know, so he couldn’t go in there and wreak havoc with the Security systems. He came back out in time to see the phaser go flying onto the floor and laughed when he saw that Jackson had found a tall, buxom brunette Security officer with him. “Well, would you look at those,” he said. “I mean her.”
“Seems Lady Luck has smiled upon us, Furell,” the Marine said, leveling the phaser he held in his hand on her. “She recognized me almost immediately. It seems that she’s the one that caused the Captain to get a little frisky, and who could blame him? Oh, I’m going to have fun with her.”
Joey blinked, taking a step backward. “What are you talking about?”
“Well, we know those aren’t brains under her uniform,” Furell said. “Let me spell it out for you, Officer Dingbat. Your Captain came to visit us and got all froggy when we mentioned what we’d like to do to you. He got in such a huff that he actually lunged at the force field containing my illustrious partner here. Which means, you must have a very special place in his eyes...and I can see one of the reasons for it if nothing else...and you, my dear, are going to help us see exactly how stupid he’s willing to be where you are concerned.”
“See… I don’t particularly care about Geisler as much as my Bajoran counterpart does, but I’m willing to help him out,” Jackson said, moving to the other side of the table to stand across from her. “You, on the other hand… I’ve got plans for you.”
“What makes either one of you think I’d be willing to help you with anything?” she asked, gauging the distance between Furell and herself. With Jackson on the other side of the table, there was no way she could get to him, but the Bajoran… “The Captain will never come, so you’re only wasting your time.” She lunged at Furell and caught him with her shoulder in his gut. Oh, she knew she was going to pay for it, but there was no way she could stand around and not fight.
Furell had seen the calculating look in the brunette Security officer’s eyes and had braced himself a moment before before she lunged. His hard abdomen took the brunt of her desperate lunge and he only staggered a little before he brought a hard fist down on her shoulder while bringing a knee upwards so she had no way to break the force of either blow. “Jackson!” he bellowed. “Don’t just stand there, help me with this little wildcat!” It was a phrase that he had heard humans use about people who were feistier than they had a right to be and this woman was proving to be just that.
Joey was grateful she’d taken the hit to her right shoulder and not her left. This was by far a fair fight, but she was dealing with Consortium, and when was anything ever fair? With his knee up the way it was, it prevented her from being able to do what she wanted to, and that was to incapacitate the Captain by hitting him where it would hurt him the most. It didn’t mean she wasn’t going to stop fighting against either man, though, and that’s when she balled a fist and landed a kidney shot to the Bajoran’s left side.
“She’s got fight… I like that,” Jackson said with a twisted smile as he made his way over to the two of them. In his sickened mind, he began to play out various scenes, none of which would be good for her. “You are a feisty one, aren’t you, bitch?” he found himself asking as he grabbed a fist full of her hair and threw her backward, unable to keep the look of pure joy off of his face when she connected solidly with the table she’d just been standing at. “Give it up. There’s no way you’re going to be able to take the two of us on at once. Or… maybe you can.”
Furell clutched the side she had hit with one hand and grabbed the stolen phaser with his other hand and nudged the setting up to three on it and pointed it at the woman. “Enough!” he shouted. “Or I will kill you and don’t think I won’t. You mean nothing to me, whoever you are and one hostage will work just as well as another.” He was bluffing, but there was enough real anger in his voice to make the threat sound real.
“Then do it!” Joey shouted. She leaned against the table she’d been thrown against, trying to gather her bearings. Like his, her own anger was real, and if Rico were with her, the fight would have been a fair one. Thankfully, though, he wasn’t. He was safe. Harvey was safe. Everyone else on the ship was safe. But for how long was the question. “But know this… it’s only a matter of time before those doors open and this place is flooded with Security. I’m prepared to die today. Are you?”
“She’s right, Furell,” Jackson said, hating that he had to agree with the woman. It made him feel sick to his stomach, but he was able to push through it. “We need to get somewhere where we can keep control of this situation.”
Furell grunted and switched the phaser down to setting two before they would need her mobile but incoherent for their purposes. He pressed the firing stud and the beam lanced out and connected with the woman; it was only enough to keep her down for fifteen minutes, but that would be more than enough time for them to get to a secure location. “Take her feet,” he said as he holstered his phaser and ripped the woman’s combadge off her uniform. “We’ll act like we’re taking her to Medical. We found her like this in Security. Got it?” The Bajoran was a Captain and used to giving orders, so he didn’t think twice about issuing them to the Marine.
Jackson didn’t appreciate taking orders from the Bajoran, but he’d do it this once. He holstered his own phaser and reached down to take Joey’s feet, then pulled her away from the table where her upper body fell to the ground with a thud. “We need to get Geisler to us, and she was the key to doing that,” he said, holding his hand out for the combadge. “I’ll call him myself, then we’ll toss it away.”
Furell handed the human the combadge and then plucked the one off his chest that he had stolen from the dead Security officer and tossed it on the table before he leaned down to lift the woman’s upper body with his hands under her arms. “Think we should take the armory? We can hold out there for a long time.”
“Furell… you’re a genius,” Jackson said, tapping the combadge a single time. =^=Major Jackson to Captain Geisler. Your presence is currently requested on deck four, the armory to be precise, and it would be wise that you come alone at this time, or something I feel you’re a bit fond of won’t live to see another day. This is your only warning.=^= He quickly closed the link and tossed Joey’s combadge farther into the facility. He reached down to grab her legs and lifted her up with ease. “Let’s move.”
Furell grinned at the message that Jackson had delivered to the Captain and activated the door panel to open it and backed out with the woman’s upper body supported. “Security coming through. Wounded personnel!” He called out. A helpful Ensign cleared the corridor outside of Security. “Want me to call Med…” “No,” the Bajoran said. “Sickbay has enough on their hands right now without needing to send out more teams. We’ll carry her there. Go find the intruders.” “Yes, Sir,” the Ensign said and headed back in the direction that he had been going.
The Major worked with the Bajoran Captain to get the unconscious woman to the armory. Any time someone stopped them, he used the same excuse of needing to get her to sickbay, and with the ship in chaos and turbolifts being in use constantly, it wouldn’t necessarily be seen as unusual for them to take her to another area to get her there. He looked to Furell. “We’re going to need to tie her up, just so she won’t be able to fight us when the time comes.”
When they arrived at the armory, Furell entered it and saw a Master-at-Arms approaching them. “Help me with this woman,” he said, using his Command voice. “She hit her head when the power went out and we didn’t want to leave her in the corridor.” He glanced at Jackson and gave a nod towards the other Security officer that had moved to help him and his look was clear as to what he didn’t say.
Jackson stepped out of the way so the Master-at-Arms could help Furell with their prisoner… little did he know. While his back was to him, the Major produced his phaser, set it to level three and fired on the man. He would have rathered kill him, but the less bodies they’d left behind, the better off they’d be. There were already two waiting for them. When his body slumped forward, Jackson grabbed one of his legs and pulled him out of the way. “Strip her down,” he said to the Bajoran.
Furell hauled the unconscious woman to the workbench in the armory and set her on it before he started with her boots. A moment later, he whistled as he held up a large Kabar knife. “Looks like she was armed to the teeth,” he said before he set it aside and pulled her other boot off and found a Type I phaser in a holster there. “I wonder how many we’re going to find before she has nothing left?” he asked as he set that aside, too and worked on getting her pants off. He gave a whistle of appreciation but didn’t stop as he began to maneuver her around so he could get her jacket and top off, leaving her undergarments on. “I’m not much for humans, but this woman is built like a phaser array that I can appreciate any day.”
Jackson gave a low whistle of his own. “Damn… she looks even better out of clothes,” he said, moving over to the workbench. “And she’s quite resourceful. You know, I’m willing to bet…” He brought his hand to her chest and reached in rather slowly to appreciate what he was doing, then produced a Type I phaser. “I knew it. Not only does she have exceptionally soft skin, but she utilizes what she’s got. Clever, bitch.”
“I’ll say,” Furell said as he gathered the weapons and put them out of her reach on another table before he got two pair of handcuffs and handed them to Jackson. “Get her cuffed to something solid. I’m going to see what we have here in the way of weapons.” He went to the wall and began pulling down three Type III phaser rifles and set them on a table and a half a dozen Type II phasers. Once he had them out, he retrieved power cells for all of them and began to check them out before he got each one ready. “A shame there’s nothing here we can barricade the door with, but they’ll regret coming in that way.”
“That’s the idea. Make them regret the day they decided to try to go up against us, and they will,” he said, slapping one of the handcuffs onto Joey’s wrist before he pulled her off of the table. After looking around for a moment, he dragged her over to the desk on the far end of the armory and brought her second arm up to secure her to it. “I wonder if Geisler has been lucky enough to see her in such a state?” He crouched down in front of her limp body with a grin and took her chin in his hand. “Oh, darlin’, you and I are going to have so much fun together. Well… I am at least.”
Furrel looked at the Marine in disgust as he set up the phasers in a row facing the door and then looked around. “I need a place to hide,” he said as he went to inspect the vent leading into the armory to circulate the air. “It looks a bit tight, but I think I can do it.” He worked on getting the vent cover off and shoved a Type III phaser rifle in, then wiggled into it until he found a junction to turn around in, then pushed the rifle ahead of him until it was right up to the vent opening. “Close the vent and don’t draw attention to me,” he said. “I have a clear shot if anyone gets brave enough to charge the armory.” and a way out if you get your stupid ass killed, he thought.
Jackson rose to his feet and moved over to the vent to cover it again. “Keep your mouth shut, and pray to whoever will listen you’ll be able to get out of there quickly if you need to,” he said, making his way back over to the weapons they had. He lifted one of the Type III phasers and leaned back against the desk to wait for their guest to arrive. Oh, this was going to get interesting.
Having just escorted his Chief of Security to Sickbay, Harvey was now on a quest to locate Rico to make sure the canine was alright before he proceeded to Engineering to be brought up to speed on repairs. He'd just stepped out onto Deck 6 when the call came in. He stood still in the gangway, listening to every word from the Marine. With every breath, the knot in his stomach tightened more and more. In fact, he'd forgotten the sharp pains in his thigh from the sharpnel he'd acquired on the bridge.
The channel closed, leaving Harvey alone with his thoughts. Glances down both ways of the dim corridor told him that no one else heard the conversation. Harvey raised his hand to his combadge, but didn't tap it. After all, who could he call. His instincts told him that Jackson had Corwin. With Di Pasquale out, and security already scrambling to get to the other escapees, who could he call? The ship itself was in shambles.
He had to assume the Bajoran captain was with the Marine. And, if they had Corwin, then they certainly had no desire to take the ship. No, this was personal. The crew had to focus on repairs if this ship was going to do anyone any good.
Harvey looked down at his waist only to see that he carried just the medical tricorder and hypospray he'd used on the bridge. The hypo would be useful if he could get close enough, but this was the armory they were talking about.
Fortune decided to serve him a favor as two officers rounded a nearby junction: an armed yellow-collared ensign assisting a petty officer in blue. She'd seen better days, like most of the crew, and thankfully she could walk with his assistance.
"Ensign," Harvey said, hobbling towards the both of them. "I need your sidearm."
"Sir?" asked the ensign, confused. It wasn't exactly protocol to surrender one's weapon, even if it was to a superior officer.
"I have intruders in the armory," Captain Geisler pressed, resisting the urge to disarm the ensign by force. He was the Captain, and he shouldn't have to be questioned, even in a time of crisis.
"Captain," said the bloodied petty officer, noticing the Captain's limp, "I can wait here. You shouldn't take care of this alone."
"Unfortunately," replied Harvey, "I have to." A thought struck him. "There is something you can help me with."
The ensign looked at the captain for a moment before reaching down and withdrawing the phaser from his holster. "What are your orders, Captain?"
Harvey took the phaser and looked down to check the setting. It was set only for Level Two, light stun. With the computer down, and Di Pasquale's protocols disabled by default, he could easily reset the phaser for a higher setting. Of course, he'd only expect the other two to have done the same. He was walking into a trap and needed some sort of advantage, if only to save both his and Joey's lives.
"First, get her to sickbay," he told the Ensign, placing the phaser in his holster. Looking over to the Petty Officer, he said, "Tell Doctor Kij, Abrams or Dodson to flood the security section with anethezine in five minutes."
"Sir?" The petty officer tried to interject, but Harvey just kept going by turning back to the Ensign. "You need to contact the nearest damage control team, or Engineering if you can't get a hold of anyone. In five minutes, I need all of the gravity disabled in the security section. If you can't get a hold of anyone, you are to disable that gravity using any means necessary. Understood?"
Both the ensign and the petty officer nodded reluctantly. Either would have gladly went with the Captain, but it was an honor to receive orders directly from him for once. They'd do precisely what they were told.
Harvey offered to help the injured woman up to Deck Four, and she allowed it, before venturing down the dim corridor towards the security section. As he limped near the entrance to the armory, which he could tell was open as he approached, Harvey withdrew his phaser to again check the setting. For good measure, he increased the setting to level three. A small part of him wanted to raise the level higher, but if he was going to take a risk in hitting Joey, he didn't want to injure her.
Back in the Armory, Jackson cast a glance toward the vent Kylar squeezed himself into. The Cochrane's Captain wouldn't be going anywhere any time soon, which meant it was going to be up to him to torment Geisler as much as possible until it was time to make plans known. He looked down to the phaser in his hand and thumbed the setting up to level eight, then changed the beam to a narrow one. If he calculated the timing right in his head, the Black Hawk's Captain would be arriving right about the time their prisoner would be waking up. Maybe he could help the latter along while the waited.
The Major moved over to Joey and crouched down next to her, keeping himself angled in such a way that the entrance remained visible to him at all times. "Come on, princess. It's time for you to wake up. We've got company coming," he said, giving her a few pats to the face.
Joey stirred around with a groan and tried to sit up only to quickly realize she couldn't. There wasn't a part of her that didn't ache right now, but that seemed to be the new normal as far as the day went. She opened her eyes slowly and looked toward the figure crouched down next to her. So, it hadn't all been a bad dream. She tugged against the handcuffs and winced. "What? Are you so insecure you had to handcuff me for fear I might actually hurt you?" she asked, giving another tug with a look of pure hate in her eyes. "I mean... it's no secret people like you go into the Marines because you have the IQ of a dinner plate. You don't have the intelligence to actually survive anywhere else."
Jackson hauled his hand back and brought it down until it connected with Joey's mouth. He did plan to keep her up until the moment she spoke. Now... he was just going to kill her, but... an even better plan began to form in his mind. He smiled when her head whipped to the side, but what happened next was completely unexpected. The Security officer turned her head back toward him with a bloody grin, then spit in his face. Rage boiled inside of him, but rather than retaliate, he got to hit feet and moved back toward the door, cursing her in ways she'd never heard before.
Phaser at the ready, Harvey slowly approached the open door. His ears picked up muffled sounds coming from the room, but he was certain he heard a slap and the cursing that followed. He could tell it was a man's voice. Joey wasn't nearly that gruff, but he couldn't tell if it belonged to Jackson or Kylar. Lowering the phaser and gripping it with both hands, he stopped beside the doorframe and pressed himself against the bulkhead.
He still heard the cursing and it grew louder, an indicator one of the men was moving towards the door. Harvey took a deep and counted to three. On his mark, Harvey raised the phaser and swung across the doorframe. He remained outside of the room, but stuck his arm inside and fired regardless. At the last second, his leg protested the action, sending pain up the nervous system. Harvey winced as he fired the phaser, unhappy that the pain interfered with his aim.
Jackson narrowly missed being hit by the phaser fire. He let out another curse and pointed his own phaser at the open door. "Come on in, Captain. We've been waiting for you," he said, making his way toward Joey once again. It seemed like she was going to be his reason for not being shot at. He kept his gaze fixed in front of him just in case Geisler decided to be bold again.
While he wasn't paying attention to her, and not knowing where Kylar ran off to, Joey began the subtle work of getting out of her handcuffs. She closed her eyes and bit down on her already bloody lip as she used her right hand to dislocate her left thumb. It took every single ounce of self control she had not to cry out and draw any attention to herself, but now that that was done, she'd be able to slip her hand free when the time was right.
Harvey had withdrawn his arm after firing his shot and was still mentally cursing himself for missing. Every second this dragged out would only spell more doom for both him and Joey. "You don't have to do this, Jackson!" Harvey shouted back into the room, choosing not to look in and see where the voice was coming from. "Stand down and I'll promise you'll get a fair trial."
"That's not going to happen, Geisler," Jackson snapped. "Either you show yourself now, or I kill her. Those are your only options." As much as he wanted to keep Joey around for his own twisted purposes, he wouldn't be able to deal with her mouth.
Joey took a deep breath. She wasn't ready to make her move yet, but she was assessing her current surroundings. "Don't! Don't you dare come in here!"
Harvey had been pondering whether or not to make a move when Jackson shouted back at him. Part of his mind tried to figure out where Kylar was. He didn't see the Bajoran when he wildly fired his weapon, nor had he heard a sound from the man. It was Joey's shout that urged him into action. He couldn't walk away, not now. She might be willing to sacrifice herself for him or the ship, but he just couldn't allow that. Harvey had lost too much.
The Captain turned and peered around the corner, phaser raised and ready. He saw a table fully stocked with phasers, as well as Jackson kneeling next to an undressed Joey. She looked worse than when he'd seen her earlier in sickbay, undoubtedly thanks to Jackson and Kylar. The temptation to shoot Jackson was unlike anything he'd experienced before, and the only reason why he didn't was because he didn't see the Bajoran.
"You bastard," Harvey muttered, taking the opportunity to square up his shot and not moving from his cover.
"Not quite yet, Captain, but I can show you what a true bastard looks like," Jackson said, rising to his feet once again. He grabbed one of the phasers and trained it toward the door as he moved toward it, then aimed the other toward the vent Kylar was hiding behind. With a sick, twisted smile, he fired on the Cochrane's Captain, knowing there was nowhere for him to go except straight to hell. Who the hell did he think he was ordering him around like he was a worthless dog? He looked back toward the door and grinned. "This is what a true bastard looks like, Geisler, and in about ten seconds, she's going to follow right behind Kylar."
Joey watched wide-eyed as the vent cover blew off, but it was the fact that the Captain was now lying there sans his head. This had gone too far, and Jackson still thought she was still secure. He'd just given her the opening she'd been waiting for. She quickly slipped her hand free from the handcuffs and launched herself at the distracted Major.
Jackson felt her on his back, causing him to fire his weapon once again, but it went toward the ceiling of the ship. He didn't expect the bitch to be so crafty, but maybe that was stupid on his part. It wasn't until she brought the handcuffs around his throat, gripping it with her injured her hand, then throwing her weight back. As she put pressure against his throat, he dropped the phasers and gripped her hair with both hands, pulling it forward.
"Shoot him!" Joey screamed, tightening her hold on the handcuffs. There were only precious seconds to spare, and Harvey's aim needed to hit its mark.
Harvey didn't hesitate. He had lost his aim the very moment Joey surprised Jackson from behind, watching in surprise as she refused to let her lack of clothing stop her. It was her outburst that snapped him back to attention. Harvey quickly aimed and fired, praying that there wouldn't be a last second accident that the beam would strike Joey and not the Marine.
Whoever happened to be listening answered said prayer, because Jackson was the one who was hit. He went out like a light, falling limp with Joey still on the floor beneath him. It took every last ounce of strength she had to push him off of her so she could pull in a much needed breath. Between his weight and the angle he held her head, it was next to impossible to breathe. Instead of getting up right away, she laid on the floor with her eyes closed, trying to calm the rage that was currently boiling her blood. The plus side, it was keeping her from feeling the current ache she would feel all over later.
What Harvey saw happened in pure slow motion. The beam had struck the target, but it was difficult to watch both Joey and Jackson go down. The first thing on his mind was to quickly search the room to be sure there weren't any traps or anyone else waiting for him. That search lasted for only a second as he spotted Joey push Jackson's stunned form away.
He approached Joey next and knelt beside her. Personal instincts overrode both commanding officer and medic and Harvey found himself brushing her hair back and trying to sit her up. "You okay?" he asked her instantly, his voice quivering a bit as the full gravity of what just happened over the last few minutes began to settle on his nerves.
Joey opened her eyes when she felt a hand push back her hair, but it was the voice that kept her from going on the offensive and lashing out at him. She sat up with his help, then looked over to Jackson's unconscious form before turning her attention back to Harvey. "I'm okay," she answered softly, but the crack in her voice as her emotions began to get the best of her told a completely different story. She threw her arms around his neck and clung to him as if her life depended on it.
Harvey's lip quivered as he returned the embrace, holding her more tightly than he'd ever held her before. "It's okay," he reassured her, holding her close. "It's over now."
Sniffling, she closed her eyes and fought back tears. Joey prided herself on being strong, but after a day like the day they'd all had... "It is. You should go. The crew is waiting for their orders. I'll take care of this," she said softly. "I'll still see you later, right?"
"No," Harvey replied, still holding her. "I'm not leaving you alone. Not like this." He looked over to see one wrist still shackled to the desk. "Let's get you out of here."
"I have a key in my belt," she said, gesturing to it. The belt she mentioned wasn't too far away from them, but she'd have to let him go so he could get it, which she did rather reluctantly. "I'm okay, really. Nothing a visit to sickbay, a few shots of Tequila and a good night's sleep won't fix." If she'd be able to sleep.
Harvey pulled away after spotting the belt. He rummaged through it and found the key. "You know," he said after hobbling back to Joey and inserting the key into the lock, "I could have just phasered the thing."
"You could have, but that might have hurt a bit. Not that I'm not familiar with pain," Joey said rubbing her wrist once she was free. She still didn't know that there was going to be Anesthizine gas pumped in at any moment, or that gravity was going to be turned off. "I'll get dressed and call someone else in to take care of this. Sadly, neither of them are going anywhere for a while, but just to be safe..." She took the handcuffs she just had removed and secured Jackson's hands behind his back. To add insult to injury, she added a second pair around his ankles, then grabbed the pair from her belt and attached the two so he looked as though he was hog-tied.
While Joey had tended to securing Jackson, Harvey had made an effort of retrieving her pants and yellow shirt, thinking that Joey would have helped pick up her clothes as well. After all, if he'd lead Joey to sickbay in just her undergarments, that would have really set the rumor mill ablaze. Looking back to her securing Jackson, Harvey grunted and said, "That's a little overkill, don't you think? Come on, we've got to get out of here. The anesthizine will keep him sedated until the brig's back online."
"Maybe, but I don't want to take any chances," she stated, getting to her feet so she could start getting dressed. It was rather odd to do without the use of her left thumb, but she made it work. "How bad is everyone else?" Rather than put her boots on, she picked them up to carry them. There was no way she'd be able to get those on without the use of her thumb.
"What a day," Harvey muttered, tossing Joey the shirt. Though they'd officially been together for a matter of hours, he still turned away, allowing her a bit of privacy as she dressed. "We got pulled through some sort of rift when the Valdore exploded. "I lost one person on the bridge. As for the rest, I haven't heard. Sickbay was pretty busy though."
Joey frowned as she caught the shirt. It didn't take long before she was completely covered once again. "I'm sorry to hear that." She looked around one last time, then shivered. It would be a miracle is this didn't invade her dreams. "I'm glad you came, though, you could have gotten hurt. I know Kylar had it out for you. I just don't know why. We should go before we get caught in here with him once the gas starts pumping through."
Harvey gently placed his hand on the small of Joey's back as he led her out of the armory, limping as he did so. "I wish I knew," Harvey told her. "He's the least of our concerns now. The ship's in bad shape. I doubt we'll be able to use the bridge for a few days. And as soon as the rest of the prisoners are caught again, we'll be able to head back for Unity. Tonight, we'll get to sleep peacefully."
"I'll help with the search once I'm fixed up again and have Rico," she said, letting him lead her out of the armory. The fact that he was limped didn't go unnoticed by her, but she knew he had so many other things on his mind presently and wasn't going to hound him about it. The next time they saw one another, though, it he hadn't had it looked at, she'd drag him to sickbay personally and stand watch while he was tended to. "You know if there's anything else I can do, I'll do it. All you have to do is tell me what it is."
He smiled, looking at her. "I know," he told her softly. Between sending her over to the Chimera to fighting for her life in the armory just a couple hours apart and the ship receiving its worst beating since the Dominion War, Harvey believed it was time for this day to end. "I know."
Joey slipped an arm around him and laid her head against his shoulder. "Why don't you go check in with Engineering while I go to sickbay? We'll see each other in the morning. After today, you need your bed, so I'll sleep in mine. We can have breakfast together."
Harvey sighed. He hated the idea of her backing out of staying the night, even though the circumstances were quite extreme. "I don't suppose I can insist you stay tonight? I need to know you'll be okay." He made no mention of planning to share the bed as he hoped he didn't have to say anything.
"I'll stay," she said softly. "Because, I want to know you'll be okay, too. I'll meet you there in a bit. I promise." And, she always kept true to those. "I have to get Rico... if I can find him, then stop by my place once things get settled."
"I left Rico with Mila after I left you in sickbay," Harvey told her. "I'm sure he's by her side."
"Okay, then I'll get fixed up, grab Rico and stop by my place before I head to yours. That should be enough time to for you to do what you need to," Joey said. Of course, she wanted to kiss him, but as her lips were still busted, she fought the urge. "I'll see you in just a bit, and I won't look like I've been beaten up, either."
"Deal," he said, kissing her on the forehead as they approached the medical section of the deck. Already, he could hear muffled voices from the crew gathering for treatment. Evidently, the ship had dealt more damage than Harvey could have thought.
Joey smiled, then let him go so she could join everyone else waiting. She was likely going to be waiting a little longer than she would have liked, but it would be worth it just to feel better physically. Emotionally, she'd heal over time, but she was going to have help with that, just like he'd get help from her as well.
When she released him, Harvey pulled away with a nod. He offered a smile before Captain Geisler turned and headed for the nearest gangway. With the turbolifts down, he had a long way to go before reaching Engineering. Hopefully, good news awaited him there.
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