The Russian Returns

Posted on 07 Sep 2016 @ 4:48am by Senior Chief Petty Officer Mila Rasputin & Lieutenant Commander Joey Geisler

3,574 words; about a 18 minute read

Mission: Click Three Times
Location: Security
Timeline: MD 7 || 1200 Hours

Joey sat in the main area of the Security section with a PADD in her hands. She'd been helping Camila out with things that needed to be done as well as handle other business that came with her newly appointed role as the Assistant Chief of Security. Now, with a few minutes to herself, she began to work on a list of classes and what style of training would take place in each one. Instructors would be set up at a later date, but for a great deal of them, she'd handle them herself. There were several levels... beginner, advanced and intermediate. She wasn't quite sure who was going to end up in these training sessions outside of Security personnel, but she hoped there would be others.

True to the word that she had given Harvey, Mila had returned to her quarters and sighed at the wreck she saw there and was promptly pounced by one very terrified Chow. She had hugged and reassured the tiny Capuchin monkey and broke out the stash of pistachio nuts and supplements that she kept stored in the event the replicators ever went out. The sight of her broken Matryoshka dolls saddened her, but she picked up the pieces and set them aside. Chow was alive and he couldn't be glued together if he had been broken like the dolls could. The rest of her quarters was equally in shambles, but she was too tired to care as she took her furry companion and went to get a few hours sleep.

Around noon, ship time, she woke and reassured Chow again as she went to take a shower only to discover the sonic shower was offline and contented herself with washing up in the basin. It wasn't what she needed, but the ships resources were required for more important functions. She knew there was going to be ten dozen things for her to do in Administration, but she didn't care at the moment as she put on a fresh uniform and brushed her hair out. She put out more food for Chow and left her quarters on Deck Thirteen and was pleased to discover that the turbolifts were working once more. She hadn't relished climbing multiple decks through the Jeffries Tubes again and was still sore from the day before.

Now she exited the turbolift on Deck Four and headed down to the Security office. There were people that she wanted to check on and the one on top of the list was one Lieutenant Joey Corwin. She entered the offices and looked around. "Excuse me," she said to a crewman who was carrying a stack of PADDs. "I am to be looking for Lieutenant Corwin."

Chief Warrant Officer 2nd Class Ricardo Gutierrez looked up and smiled when he saw the beautiful Russian Yeoman who was rumored to be the most powerful enlisted person on the ship. "Certainly, Chief Rasputin," he said. "She's right over there." He pointed to a pair of legs which were extended past the edge of some exotic plant that dominated the corner of the main area by a couch.

"I am thanking you," Mila said and went over to the plant. "I am asking to be excused, but why are you to be hiding behind plant?"

Joey looked up from the PADD the second she heard Mila speak. She couldn't help but smile at the thought she was hiding behind a plant. One of few that managed to survive the chaos. "I'm not hiding behind him. Simon and I are bonding. He's only one of a few plants that survived," she said, hoping the Russian woman would find the humor in her answer. "What brings you by?"

Mila stepped to the other side of the plant and smiled. "My legs are doing job today. Tomorrow, I am thinking maybe I will fly." She looked at the plant and gave it a stern look. "Captain is to be having you for salad if you are trying to take his woman."

"Alvin and Theodore survived, too, but they're in other areas of Security," she said with a smile, saving her work on the PADD so she could give Mila her complete attention. "I don't think the Captain has anything to worry about. Simon and I are so far into the friend-zone, there's no chance of coming out of it. Seriously, though... is everything okay?"

Mila laughed and went to sit down beside of her tall brunette sestra. "Da, all is fine, but I am making rounds to see how others are to be doing," she said. "You are looking better than how you were doing the other day. How is shoulder?"

"It's fine now... almost like nothing happened," Joey replied, gesturing for Mila to have a seat. "I slept for a couple hours last night, then got up and start my day, so that might be why I look better. How about you? Are you holding up okay?"

"I am now that Captain was ordering me to get some sleep," Mila admitted. "I was to be running around clock to be making sure everything went to where it was meant to be with only one hour naps between hours of work. I am grateful computer is to be coming back online. You are to be busy?"

"Just going over some training stuff so I can turn it into Camila before the end of Alpha shift, but I'm just about done with that. New position means new responsibilities," she answered. "Do you need me for something?"

"You are having new position?" Mila asked, an eyebrow going up. "What are you to be doing?"

"I'm the new Assistant Chief of Security. It only happened a few hours ago, though, so I don't know if it would have made it across your desk just yet. Then again... you haven't been in your office for a bit, so it could be waiting there for you to find," Joey said, stretching out a bit. "I'm being moved to Beta shift, but for the next couple of days, I'm going to be pulling doubles to help Camila out until she's been cleared for duty."

"Congratulations!" Mile exclaimed and hugged the Amazonian brunette. "I am being very pleased for you, Joey! Wait...what is happening to other Assistant Chief?"

"Thank you, Mila. Cooper has been shifted to the Assistant Chief of Tactical. She seemed to be better suited for that role, so now, here I am. It's going to be a bit of an adjustment, but I can do it."

The Russian Yeoman looked around and lowered her voice. "With shift difference, are you and Harvey to be having time for each other?"

"We should," Joey answered, keeping her own voice low. "I'll be getting off at nineteen hundred now instead of thirteen hundred. He's got a lot on him presently. We'll make it work, though, so you don't have to worry."

"I am seeing him this morning and he is having hard time adjusting to current state of ship," Mila said. "Is not easy when at top of pile and all are looking to you for guidance."

"No, I can't imagine it would be," the taller brunette said with a frown. What could she do, though? She was in no position to offer any help other than emotionally and mentally. "I haven't seen him since this morning, and I'm not sure I should bother him with everything he's got going on. We did promise we wouldn't go a day without seeing one another, and we kept to that when we said goodbye before I left."

"Then you are holding up end and he is holding up end and you are meeting in middle," Mila said as if it were obvious. "You are wishing romance? I am saying send comm message during day or arranging for meal to be made for each other at certain time."

"When there's time for it. Right now... there's just too much going on," Joey commented. "When my double is over, I'm going to go back to my quarters and make use of my sparring dummy. Maybe try to fix a few things that were broken, snuggle with Rico and Pequeno for a while, then try to get some sleep. I'm not really counting on it, but I'm going to try."

The Russian smiled and leaned in close, cupping her hand to Joey's ear and whispered something in it, then sat back and did her best to look innocent.

Joey listened to what Mila whispered into her ear and blinked as a blush crept up her cheeks. "Now I know where Chow gets it. It's learned behavior."

Mila giggled. "Is not a bad idea, is it?" She enjoyed the blush on Joey's cheek and wondered if she could ever do that to Harvey without crossing the line.

"Given everything that's been happening lately, that's not likely. We're just taking things one day at a time, and since we saw one another this morning... albeit briefly, I'm going to let him have some time to himself to process everything. If I'm stuck to his side, that won't happen," Joey pointed out. Aside from that, keeping still all night once she's woken up from her nightmare was hard enough. She didn't think she'd be able to do that again.

"Bah," the Russian woman grunted. "In time of crisis, is best to have one closest to you by your side. If I am not being so busy in past...I am not knowing how long...I would be at Aidan's side. I am knowing he is unhurt and that is being all, but I desire most to be with him."

"You will get to see Aidan soon. Just keeping telling yourself that, and it will make things easier for you," she said, reaching out to pat Mila's leg. "I promise it will."

"Just like you are to be seeing Harvey soon," Mila countered. "You are preaching one thing while you are to be denying yourself same thing? Nyet. I am thinking you are to be following your own advise and making it happen."

Joey leaned forward to grab a pitcher, then poured Mila a glass of water before she picked her own up to take a sip from it. "We'll see what happens. I just... don't want to feel like I'm forcing myself on him. Things are great when we're together, but a lot of the time, it's me popping up on him. He deserves a night or two without that happening. We'll cross paths during the day, I'm sure. He'll likely want to pop in to each department and see how things are coming along."

"Thank you," she said as she took the glass. "Is fine that you are not wanting to feel that way, but if you are setting out to avoid him, then I am having problem with you. You and he are being good for each other and I am not wishing to hear that you are not supporting each other."

"I'm not setting out to avoid him, Mila, I promise. If we weren't both on duty right now, I'd tap my combadge and be a gushing sappy woman. However, I can't. I have no idea what he's doing, or who is around him."

"You mean you are not already doing so around him?" Mila asked with a wink and a grin that would make a sailor proud.

Joey couldn't help but laugh as she looked over to Mila. "Do I really look like the gushy, sappy type of woman?"

"Is not exactly what I was referring to," Mila said with a knowing look.

"Yep. Chow definitely gets it from you," Corwin said with a laugh. "I'll try to see Harvey tonight if it makes you feel better, but I'm going to sleep in my own bed, I think. There's no sense in both of us suffering because I can't sleep."

Mila burst out laughing again and took a minute before she stopped. "I am sorry, Joey," she gasped. "But was too easy a target for me not to be taking advantage of it. All you are needing to do is be telling me to be minding my own business. A sestra can push too much, da?"

Joey couldn't help but join in the laughter. She needed it with how she felt. It would work to keep her from thinking about that which was eating away at her on the inside. Maybe talking about it wasn't such a bad idea. "Don't be sorry, Mila, but you do realize there are much easier targets, don't you? I don't know any right off hand, but know you you'll be able to find one," she said, looking over at Mila. "There's something that's been eating away at me, and I'm trying really hard not to let it eat at me, but I'm losing the battle."

Now Mila turned serious and gave Joey all of her attention. "What is being wrong, Joey?" she asked when she heard the tone of her sestra's voice and saw the look on her face. "Let us go in conference room and you are telling me everything."

She shook her head. "I... don't know if I can even talk about it, and the second it's out in the open, I know I'm going to be ordered to counseling. I don't want that. I'm not good at talking to perfect strangers. Not when it comes to things I have a hard time talking to people I care about with. I know that I can talk to you and Harvey about anything, but you've both got your own things going on. This is just something I'm going to have to deal with on my own. And... I will."

"I am not stranger and I am not to be ordering you to do anything," Mila said and sounded hurt. "You are one bringing it up and I am here, but if you are not wishing to, then I am not making you. I am just asking you to remember that now that you have started to say something, I am to be worrying for you."

"I started having... nightmares. About... Jackson," Joey said quietly, and just mentioning his name gave her the chills and caused her to shiver.

"Come," Mila said as she got up and reached for Joey's hand. "Now is not place for such information to be put out." She glanced at the handsome Warrant officer who was still working on PADDs, then back at Joey.

With her PADD and water in hand, Joey got to her feet so she could follow Mila. The conference room wasn't too far away, and it was empty, so it was the best place for them to go. Once the were inside, the taller woman settled down and laid her head on the table. She didn't even know where to start, or if she truly even wanted to, but Mila was one of a few people she trusted.

Mila closed the door and moved over to lay a hand on Joey's shoulder. "First," she said softly. "You are not to be blaming yourself at all for what happened. You were victim, not aggressor. You took extraordinary measures to overcome it and you are to be proud of yourself."

"You'd think it would be that easy, wouldn't you?" Joey asked softly, sitting up to look toward Mila. "It's not just him, but Kylar, too. I'm just... he's dead. He's not going to hurt anyone anymore." She shivered again. "I see his face every time I close my eyes... feel his breath on the side of my neck while he taunts me." As if he were doing it now, a hand went to her neck to brush something off that wasn't even there.

The short brunette came to sit beside of Joey and rested her hand on the taller woman's shoulder, her voice soft. "First step is always hardest step," she said quietly. "After you are taking that step, you are taking next step and one after that. You are realizing that one is dead and one is never to be hurting you or anyone ever again." She paused and her voice grew harder. "You are doing quadrant huge favor by doing what you did and everyone should be thanking you." Now her voice grew quieter again, but firm. "You are not be having nightmares. You are strong woman and I am here for you, any time."

"If it was that easy, I wouldn't be having them in the first place," she said softly, allowing her head to fall back to the table in front of her. Joey was good at putting on a hard front around people, but... she was only human. Things affected her. "How do I know that, though? I mean... truly. Sure... the power went out the first time, but who's to say he couldn't escape again? He wants to kill me, Mila, and being on a starship..." She shook her head. This wasn't going to get her anywhere. "I'll be okay, but I do need to get back to work. I've got to check in with Camila before she's ready to head out."

"I am being here for you, Joey," Mila said, remembering her words to Captain Geisler about what should have been done with the two Consortium agents. "You are telling Harvey this, too, da?"

Joey finished off her water and set the glass down again before she rose to her feet. "No. He has other things to worry about... like getting the ship put back together. I'll see you soon." She bent down to give the Russian woman a hug, then made her way to the door.

Mila returned the hug, but before Joey could get out the door, she cleared her throat. "If you not tell him, I will," she promised.

Before she could even get out the door, she turned to look at her. "Don't, Mila."

"It is needed for both of you, Joey," Mila said as she stood and faced the taller woman squarely.

"Is it?" Joey asked. "I'll get through it. I've gotten through things like this before, but I've never had to share my space with someone who wanted to kill me. Like I said, I'll see you soon." And, with that, she made her way out.

"Now you are refusing to share with someone that only wants to be with you," Mila said as she followed Joey out. "But...if you are making it an order, than I am having no choice but to obey order."

"Mila... I'm not making anything an order, but can't you see why I might not want to bother him with something this... stupid?"

"Is not stupid!" Mila all but yelled at her, restraining her voice to a furious whisper at the last moment. "You are facing demons and couples are to be helping each other. If you are to be keeping this inside, he will know, Joey, and he will know you are keeping it from him. What is he to be thinking?"

"Okay, you're right. I'll tell him next time I see him. It's like for the best, because as long as Jackson's on the ship, it may be best for me to go to one of the others," Joey said.

"You are now Assistant Chief of Security, da?" Mila asked with a sly smile. "Why are you not putting protocol in place for special prisoners like him?"

"Yes, but I can only suggest those decisions. Only the Chief of Security can put them into place," Joey said. "Trust me... if I could get away with it, he'd already have gone to his special place in hell."

"Then why are you here talking to Yeoman when you are having Chief to talk to?" Mila asked her. "After that, you are talking to Harvey."

"I can't talk to the Chief about that. He's in an isolation cell under heavily armed guard, and I'll talk to Harvey when he has time. I don't want to interrupt anything he might have going on right now," the taller woman said. "I really do need to get back to work now, though. Maybe I can find time to finally force one of the emergency rations down my throat."

"You are having power to speak, Joey and I think she would listen," Mila said. "But I am letting you go for now, but I am questioning Harvey later in subtle ways."

"I'll try to find him later. That's all I can do. He's busy, and I still have another shift to get through," the taller woman said.

"Then I will see you later," Mila responded. "For now, I am needed in Administration. Ship will not run without it."

Joey offered Mila a smile before she moved over to a small group of Security personnel to speak to them before she made her way to Camila's office. It was nearing time for the Chief to clock out for the rest of the day, and she planned to help her get where she needed to be, but first, there was an interrogation room with her name on it so she could take a few minutes to herself, and that was where she was off to next. She needed it. If anyone needed her, she was reachable via the badge on her chest.

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