Aberrant: Stargate Universe - Facing the Brass [Complete]

[z-Olivia Jenings-Izumi]

Olivia slid into the backseat, seeing Declan’s hunched shadow there. “Fine,” she told Caine, glancing back at him in the mirror. As they hit the first main street, she added, “He was a perfect gentleman, as hard as it might be to believe. He took me there so I could clean up after the fight.”

As interested as she was in answering Caine’s questions, she was more interested in Declan. He was such a large man, but tonight he seemed smaller than her. Nervously, she reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. “Hey,” she murmured, “how’re you doing?”

He shuddered and then nodded. That wasn’t the answer she was seeking, and she leaned forward to look him in the face. His head dipped, but not before she saw the shine of tears. Oh, god, she thought, and without thinking about what it might do, reached out to him. Her arms slid around his shoulders as she pulled him toward her, and he came without resistance. She cradled him against her as he almost curled around her, and that was when he broke.

“I’m sorry, so sorry!” he sobbed, and the rest of his words were lost in a barrage of choked noises. He pulled her tight against him, as if she were shielding him from further pain. She heard Caine and Kyria react, but she was too busy with Declan, her attention solely on him.

“Shhh,” she murmured, holding him and pressing her cheek in his hair. It was clumped with sweat, and still a bit damp. “It’s ok, hon,” she murmured, rocking him a bit, ignoring protocol, willing to say whatever would give him comfort. He was covered in half-dried sweat, or that’s what Olivia had assumed it was until they passed under a street light and she saw the red stain. He was smeared in blood.

She felt as though her skin had jumped away from her body. She gasped, then held him tighter, before he could think to pull away. “Declan, Declan,” she said, unable to say anything but his name for a moment. “Oh, Declan.” She was shaking, but she held him tight.

“I thought I’d hurt you,” he gasped between sobs. “All I remembered was talking to you, and then I was in the parking lot… and the blood! I was scared I’d hurt you. I couldn’t stand that, Livy. I couldn’t stand it if I’d hurt you!”

“You’re not going to hurt me,” she whispered, rubbing her hand in circles over his back. “You’re not going to hurt anyone on your team. Listen to me. You’re not going to hurt us. It’s going to be ok, Declan, I promise. It's going to be ok...”

How in the world do you think you can keep that promise? her cynical voice, rarely heard, asked. She had no answer, but she would find one. She had to find one.

[Adrian Moss]

Three in the back seat and him alone in the front. It wasn't that command was that lonely, it was Declan's need was that much greater. Caine wanted to hit the dashboard. It was his job to makes things better for his team, and he had somehow failed. He wouldn't let them put Dec in a cage, not with all the progress he had been making with the team, and with Olivia and Kyria in particular. If only he could get Kyria on his team too.

That was a pipe dream. Kyria had her assignment and it wasn't to deal with Dec everytime his demons came calling. How could he excise those demons. Caine feared that ability was beyond him. That lay in his fractured psyche and the crucible inwhich he had been reformed.

As the sobs and words became murmurs, Caine tried to look for something bright and uplifting to say. It came to him in a flash, though it was a small thing.

"Sar ... Declan, you didn't hurt any of us. None of the airmen in the bar were hurt by you. You could tell thet difference between people you've worked with and stranger out to hurt you ... and us."

Of course, none of the airmen would have attacked him either, but that was a target differentiation all its own.

And, he hadn't killed the bartender.

"You didn't kill the bartender and he pointed a shotgun at you. You held back."

Now, if no one died.

[The Red Man]

"I held back?" Dec looked up, tears mingling with the blood on his face. "But... I don't remember. I blacked out or somethin'. I remember the dude with the shotgun... and Kyria on top of me like she'd just tackled me." He looked over at Kyria quizzically. "If I was holdin' back why did she need to do that?"

He gradually got a tenuous grip on himself and straightened up a little. "I..." he started to say something, then stopped. He was going to tell them about the Other. About how it wasn't him in the bar back there, but he couldn't bring himself to do that. His voice sounded like it was coming up from his boots. "It's gettin' worse, ain't it? I didn't used to blank out."

[z028 Riley]

Kyria rubbed her temples, obviously suffering her own headache from the events of the night. "You didn't black out, Dec. I-I blocked off your memories so that you'd snap out of it. I'm still blocking them off. I don't...."

She sighed and shook her head. "I'm not a trained telepsychologist. I don't really know what might happen to you right now if I gave you back your memories. I don't know if you'd go back to...to like you were, or not." She scrunched up her eyes and rubbed her temple again. "Your mind is trying to cope, but I don't know if your getting better or worse."

Glancing between him and his CO, she shrugged, "And I tackled you because I knew you wouldn't hurt me and it might help keep anyone else from getting hurt." She sounded very tired.

[z-Olivia Jenings-Izumi]

Olivia looked up at Damien, meeting his gaze in the mirror. For a moment, she gazed at him, her dark eyes helplessly pleading before she dropped her eyes. Part of her was scared by the blithe way that Kyria had shut down someone's memories; another part of her was intrigued. She wondered if it was only immediate memories, or if she could block older ones as well. It was a thought with potential.

But that was a concern for another night. Declan needed her now, and Olivia shifted her grip on him as he moved. He didn't pull away, so she kept the firm grip on him. His arms remained around her and she made no attempt to free herself, despite knowing that she was grinding blood into Vinny's shirt. She hid a wince at the thought; Vinny didn't deserve that.

Declan didn't deserve this either and she murmured to him, "See? It was Kyria, not you blacking out. And you didn't hurt any of us. You weren't a blind assailant. You were defending us." Even if it sounds like you were overdoing it. "You're getting better, Dec. This was just one incident. You were fine on leave."

[The Red Man]

"Damn... That's good to know, at least." He sighed in partial relief, relaxing back against the seat. "Thanks, Kyria. I mean it." He gave a dry chuckle. "Maybe you should finish the job - Aww shit..." he was distracted from his bad joke as he realised that he had gotten blood all over Livy. "Crap, crap, crap! Sorry Doc! Ah man!" He disentangled himself from her gently. "Laundry bill's on me, okay? Wait - this is your car too, ain't it? Yeah, I'll pay for the cleanin'." His mind seemed to be very willing to focus on something so mundane as making a mess of Livy's clothing and upholstery, but the distraction was only good for a minute or two before he became somber once more.

"Major... Did I kill anyone? Hell, I know I probably put a bunch of folks in the ICU at least." he seemed calm, the peace of quiet despair as he met Caine's eyes in the rearview mirror. "The General's goin' to fuckin' flip, sir. Ain't he?" It wasn't precisely a question.

[z028 Riley]

"Well, I probably helped take some of the heat off you," she winced in an attempt at levity. "I sorta...well, I got a hold of an EMT. Without a phone. General Oniell'l probably have as much of a field day over that as anything else. They got there pretty quick, though, so..."

She let the implication stand. She didn't really want to talk about the people Declan may or may not have killed. She did want to talk to whole sodding group of novas and somehow stamp it on their minds how fragile baselines were compared to them. You don't start bar fights with them. You don't start any fights with them; it's like picking on toddlers.

[z-Olivia Jenings-Izumi]

"Don't worry about the shirt, or the car. It's all replaceable," Olivia said, letting him pull away. She was hoping that she was right and that Vinny didn't have a special attachment to this shirt. She'd get him another, because she was pretty sure that this one was ruined. Or maybe Declan would pay for it. Either way, it didn't matter. Vinny would get a shirt identical to this one, and it would be fine.

She glanced past Declan to Kyria, nodding. "I should of thought about that... but I..." Her voice trailed off and she swallowed hard. "I hurt someone too, Dec, so... you and me, bud." He looked at her, and she smiled sadly. "The things you've taught me... they helped me. I... fought dirty." She didn't sound too happy, but there was a quiet pride there, too. She hadn't needed to be rescued. She'd done it by herself. Mostly.

[Adrian Moss]

"Declan, Kyria, I'll deal with the General. That's my job. I'll keep tabs on the hospitals to see what is what. If there are any fatalities ... well that's a road we will go down if we need to."

There was real compassion in his voice. This was his family in crisis - his real family.

"Kyria, let's see if anyone asks around about what you did. I'll have to point it out to the General, but if there is no incident to cover up, no foul is my belief ... this time."

He drilled that last part home. They had to keep the Specials under wraps, or it would be a zoo.

"Declan, nothing is going to happen to you while there is anything I can do about it. You should know that by now. You didn't let me down. I don't think you let any of us down. The fault lies elsewhere."

All he could do was reasure them and get ready for the struggle ahead.

[The Red Man]

Dec was silent as the car pulled up to the perimeter gate for the Cheyenne Mountain complex. The guards, shining their lights into the car, took note of his bloody state but accepted Caine's authoritative voice when the Major told them that his man was fine, but needed to get inside and get cleaned up ASAP.

At least, Dec was outwardly silent.

Yeah, maybe these folks here will try to look out for us. But you know what the brass will say. Kyria's taken quite a lot of traumatic memories from us. "How many more times?" they'll ask. "Is this likely to happen again?"

Shut up. They're my friends. I won't fight them.

They're my friends too. OUR friends. But face it. They can't control this: the General will either lock us up or destroy us. I ain't gonna let that happen. The cold, lethal voice in the back of Declan's mind whispered.

I've disappointed the Major already. Let's just let him handle this. Olivia... she hurt someone tonight, dammit.

Good! Too bad we didn't teach her years ago when she was dating that asshole her brother told us about. Whatever he did to her... I'd love 15 minutes with him. Images of pain and torture flashed through Declan's mind, and he shivered.

Seeking to avoid the Other, Dec turned to Olivia and gave her a wan smile. "I'm glad that what I showed you... helped you. And that you remembered it when the chips were down." He studied her, noting suddenly that she wasn't wearing the top she'd had on earlier. As the lights from the entrance tunnel to the base played over the inside of the car, he realised that it was a man's sweatshirt. "Who's shirt is that?" Under the blood, it smelled of aftershave and tobacco. "Lt Wright's?"

[z-Olivia Jenings-Izumi]

Olivia was silent, lost in her thoughts when Declan shivered. She reached out and took his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. She smiled sadly at his statement; she wasn't about to say that she wished she'd never needed it. She didn't have to; Declan would know. He knew her enough to know what it had cost her to hurt someone.

Thankfully, his question distracted her nicely. "Yeah, Vinny loaned it to me the first time I tried to leave." The tension in the car jumped about ten points before Olivia realized exactly how that had sounded. "No, whoa, he stopped me from walking to a store or something and calling from there. It wasn't... imprisonment or anything." She shook her head and said quietly, "He's not that bad, guys. He was watching out for me. Not that I liked the way he did it, but he had good intentions."

[Adrian Moss]

Outwardly he gave no sign of acknowledging Olivia's sentance then her desperate revision.

Inwardly,

That's fine. I won't cruxify him. I'll just stick him in a deep dark hole were he and the mushrooms can become good friends - say twenty feet under the Star Gate so he can hear the people coming and going.

Outwardly a ghost of a smile comes to his face.

I could live with that. Touch my-our girl again and I'll make damn sure it happens.

[Dawn OOC]

When Caine parked Olivia's car, Gwyn was already there, waiting with two MPs next to Caine's SUV. One of the MPs turned to face the arriving Specialists. "Sir," he said, clearly addressing Caine, "is anyone here hurt?"

"No," Major Caine replied.

"Then General O'Neill wants to see you in his office, immediately," the MP said briskly. There was no arguing with him.

"Alright," Caine said, shouldering the burden of command. He turned to dismiss the others, to protect them, but was stopped by the MP, who turned his attention to everyone. "He wants to see everyone, sir," he said. "Follow me."

With that, he turned and led the way to the General's office.

[Adrian Moss]

Caine acknowledges the instructions (it is tough to order a superior officer around) and led his team toward the elevator. He noted the MP's in tow. Once inside, he made sure his team was crowded into one corner. Half way down, the Major turned to Perault, using his body as a shield and said a normal tone to Declan,

"Sergaent, are you okay?"

Followed rapidly, under his breath to Kyria,

"Give him his memories back."

This was a clusterfuck and he had to do what he knew was necessary to save the team and Kyria. She couldn't be caught robbing people of their memories and hiding evidence. That shit the General might not be able to cover up.

Perault needed to find it in himself to hang on through this ... confrontation. God, he had to just hang on til they got out of the room. Olivia and Kyria could keep him together after that, until the two men had a chance to talk.

[z028 Riley]

Kyria frowned up at the Major, then glanced over to Declan. This is a bad idea. She took Dec's hand and squeezed it, slowly guiding his mind back through the memories of the night and being careful to keep this more movie and less reliving like.

She had herself positioned with Major so that if Declan did begin to panic they both would have a chance of keeping him from harming the MP's in very small space they were in.

[z-Olivia Jenings-Izumi]

Olivia heard Caine's whisper and she took Declan's other hand, behind the bulk of the guards. The blood on both made it tacky and not all-together pleasant, but she felt that he might need her support.

Just like she'd felt Vinny might need it that evening in the woods when they'd almost killed SG8. And to be fair, right now, she could use that kind of help.

[The Red Man]

As Kyria opened the gates and let the memories of the night's violence out through her careful filter, the girl felt something shifting, like a shape in the mist of Declan's mind. Two pinpricks of silver appeared across the stream of consciousness - looking right back at her!

*Don't sugar the water. Let me have it all, sweetheart.* The voice was Dec... and yet NOT the Dec she knew, the voice a cold tone of suppressed bloodlust and red-tinged menace, the result of a lifetime of aggression and channeled violence. Behind that voice Kyria sensed rather than heard gunfire, screams of agony and fright, the crackle of radios, the *whup-whup* of helicopters. All the horrific orchestra of warfare and Man's inhumanity to Man was there, behind those eyes.

Kyria forced herself not to recoil, to stare at those glowing points of gunmetal light as she felt the outline of this Voice. She felt it as clearly distinct from the main personality, who was likewise aware both of her intrusion and of the other personality. In fact, they were arguing.

*Leave her be! Don't you touch her you asshole!*

*I want BACK what she TOOK from us. You need me, dammit! Look what happens when you shut me off! You fuck up and kill!*

*Like YOU'RE so much better. You kill and like it!*

*Cry me a fuckin' RIVER! So some cowpokes got sent to the ER. I should get a fuckin' medal.*

*I won't let you hurt my friends.* There was a wash of emotion there, mixed and mingled from both personalities: anger-sorrow-pain, but the same for each one. When the other voice spoke again, it was quieter.

*You know I won't. I'm you. But you better be careful what you think about the ladies holdin' your big paws. Little Miss Mindreader is listenin'.*

*What?!* Images of Kyria leaning back against the bar and over the pool table in 'that' outfit, mingled with Olivia close-up leaning towards him with her hand on his chest: a Dec's eye view, to be precise. Kyria 'glanced away' politely, the mental equivalent of letting someone dress privately, fighting not to grin despite the seriousness of what she had found.

Another Declan, a second personality that thrived on violence. That explained a lot. But it was powerful, nearly on par with the primary personality. She wondered what manner of life produced such a man, and how he'd lasted as long as he had without going mad before.

She kept quiet about it as she retreated from Dec's mind, the memories restored. She glanced at his blood-spattered face and, for a moment, she saw the Other there behind those dead eyes, the silver irises sparkling slightly as though something had stirred in the depths. Then it was gone.

"Done." She murmured to Caine, wondering what exactly had been 'done' here. and if it could be undone.

[Mr Fox]

The group was quiet and subdued as they were escorted into the General's office. O'neill looked angry, angry and disappointed like a parent that had caught their teen lying about what they had been doing. He looked over each person and if any would have spoken he narrowed his eyes as if to cut them off. Finally he spoke, "I expect a certain level of professionalism from my people. Tonight was not up to the expectation. You are all confined to the base pending an investigation. I will be contacting the hospital to make sure no one takes a turn for the worse, but lucky for you all, it looks like everyone involved will pull through." He left it unsaid that things would have been far more serious than being confined to base had anyone died in the brawl. "Report to the briefing room at your scheduled time in the morning and we will discuss why you foolishly chose to beat the hell out of those cowboys after you've returned from your first mission."

Seeing the soldiers and specialists still standing there waiting for the other shoe to fall he spoke irritably, "Dismissed!"

[Adrian Moss]

Caine saluted, spun on his heels, and turned to leave. He held the door for his team and Kyria to leave, not looking at the General. He didn't deserve to.

Once out in the hallway, he looked them over. He felt guilty. The Major had let them all down and now the shit had hit the fan.

"Briefing time is ten a.m. people."

Kyria would have had a different time and it was better to make sure she knew than have her have to find out from someone else.

This sucked so much. Damien needed to go to the gym and work out some. He needed to get ahead of the problem. He needed to have the answers for O'Neil when the time. He had to be there for his people.

In the back of his mind another thought came to him. This wasn't his fault. If Wright killed his team, could he still have her?

[z-Olivia Jenings-Izumi]

Olivia watched Damien go, his shoulders bowed with everything wieghing him down. She sighed, wanting to help him, but knowing that she was the exact opposite of helpful to him. Instead, she trotted after Declan, who had taken off up the hallway. "Hey," she said, falling into step next to him. Her dark eyes shone with concern as she murmured, "Hey, are you ok?"

That shudder in the elevator - Olivia remembered bits and pieces from the fight, but most of it was her own personal hell of gouging eyeballs and being carried around by burly men. She'd had only glimpses of Declan in motion. She'd remember it forever, but that wasn't saying much. She hadn't seen anything.

"I can talk, if you need," she added, feeling like the Mayor of Lametown. She also wanted to know who started it; Rorx was wrong about it being Vinny. He'd told her he hadn't done it. But she wanted to know who had. Still, that was secondary to her concern for Declan, and it was that thought that was in the forefront of her mind as she walked next to her teammate and friend.

[The Red Man]

"I'm okay." He sounded a little distant. Dec had stood motionless throughout the short and savage dressing down by O'Neil, his shoulders slumped and his eyes on the floor. He glanced sideways at her and smiled a little. "I'm just glad you're safe and I didn't hurt... a friendly." He stopped abruptly and leaned against the wall, looking down.

"What the fuck am I saying?" he said with sudden heat. "They were drunken assholes, but they weren't enemies. They didn't deserve what h- what I did to them." He held his hands up and stared at them with distaste before his gleaming dead-metal eyes rose to meet Olivia's. He didn't seem close to tears this time, at least. "Even if I didn't start the fight, damn sure I shouldn't be covered in people's blood at the end of it. Caine said it on our first day: I'm better than that."

I am, but HE isn't.

[z-Olivia Jenings-Izumi]

"You're right," Olivia told him...

... continued in Conditions of the Beast