Guardian Angel in Green

Posted on Sun Jul 1st, 2012 @ 11:44am by Commander Oralia Zeferino & Lieutenant Commander Michael Darwin & Cadet Senior Grade Chance Conradi & Cadet Senior Grade Eli Ziyad

Mission: Sections of the Delta Quadrant
Location: Varies

“...ugh?” In her bed, Oralia Zeferino fought against waking up. It was a losing fight: something was demanding her attention, something was trying to wake her up. What was she hearing? Barely awake, she lay still another moment then the sound came again: “Oz! Oz, I need you!”

A voice over the comm. Was that Connor? She sat bolt upright, a move that immediately made her grimace as a wave of sickness hit her. “Connor?”, she called, hoping it was him on the comm. It’d been more than a week since she’d heard from him - more than a week since he’d told her he was going on a ‘walkabout’.

But the voice that answered wasn’t Connor: “Oz, it’s Chance. It’s Eli, he’s disappeared and I need to find him.”

Now she could hear the worry in her brother’s voice. If it weren’t for that, she’d have berated him for waking her up. “He’s young, Chance. He’s probably just cattin’ about with some girl. I’m surprised that’s not what you’re doing right now,” she cast a glance at the clock and sighed.

“No, Oz, he’s ...look, he did something tonight.... He’s drunk and I think I hurt him--”

“What?!” Startled, Oz interrupted him then sat up again and groaned.

“No, no, not physically. You know..., e... emotionally,” the word was said softly.

“Oh. Well, he’ll get over it, Zirc. Hang on.” Oz clambered out of her bed, tussling with the sheets before they released her, and disappeared into the bathroom. Moments later, she came back.

Though he couldn’t see her, Chance wondered, “Hey, are you okay?”

“Yeah, just fine, little brother. Must just be something I ate on the planet or ...something.” She moved to her living room computer console and touched the screen to bring it to life.

“Ooo...,” Chance winced on seeing his sister’s image, “...wow, remind me to never wake you up in the middle of the night again.”

She smirked at him. “Funny. So what do you want me to do? Deploy all my officers to locate a drunk and emotionally distraught cadet?” Her tone made it obvious she wasn’t about to do that.

“Do something!” Chance urged her.

“Okay, okay,” she shook her head, trying to rid herself of the muzziness in there. A bad taste lingered in her mouth and she scraped her tongue with her teeth. “I’ll have the Shift Officer put out a general alert for him. That should, at least, help keep him out of any real trouble.”

“That’s it?”

“Until he’s been missing for more than a day, yeah. Now good night, little brother.” She closed the commlink on him and sent a message to her minion for all personnel to be on the lookout for Eli Ziyad. With that done, she went back to her bed. And lay there, worrying about Connor.


* * * Saturnalia - The Cherry Pit * * *

Eli managed to fasten his tuxedo shirt back and tucked it in. Then he rolled up the sleeves a bit and ran a hand through his hair, looking presentable once again. The bow tie was gone but he still looked ‘dressy casual’ and on him, it was a good look. THe unexpected turn in the conversation with Chance had effectively brought him back to something approaching sober. Not entirely, but enough that he was steady on his feet and kicking himself for his unexpected revelation.

“I am so stupid!” he grumbled. He’d wanted to tell Chance several times and had chickened out every time. Until tonight. And Chance had quietly freaked out. It certainly had not been the happy ‘I Love You’ moment ending with them in each other’s arms that he’d envisioned. And yet, despite Chance’s fear, he had made a point of showing Eli how he felt for him. Chance wasn’t nearly so certain, however.

Eli groaned again and let his head fall back against the wall of the lift. He knew Chance would be pissed at him for slipping out, but he really needed to get out, clear his head. He’d read every single thought that passed through Chance’s mind, including the question of whether they should part now before things got any deeper. At least that hadn’t happened but the thought of losing Chance terrified him. At this point, Eli had no idea what to do, but maybe a little distance and perspective would help.

Eli was so lost in his contemplation he didn’t notice the lift had stopped.

“Hey, you gonna stay in there or get out?” a gruff voice rumbled at him.

“Sorry.” He stepped out of the lift and passed a small group waiting. They were Delta Quadrant natives and apparently recognized Eli’s race - they parted to let him go by without a word.

Finally, he reached Saturnalia and entered. Since the place never closed, it was in full swing. He stopped a passing waitress and ordered lemonade with bourbon, then moved on through the crowd. He lucked up on a table that was just being vacated and had a seat, his back to the wall. You couldn’t be too careful down here. His drink arrived and he smiled at the waitress, who smiled back and gave him the once over.

“Thanks, might as well send another over as soon as you get time.”

“One of those nights?” She held Eli’s gaze a moment, then spoke directly in his thoughts. If I can do anything, just say so. Leaning down, she touched Eli’s cheek and gave him a front row view of her ample cleavage. You need someone who appreciates you..

“It may be one of those nights for him but not you. Shoo!” A female voice spoke and both Eli and the waitress looked up to find Seyla in all her Orion glory standing there at the table. “You’re not his type honey, so hit the road.”

The waitress grumbled at Seyla, then turned on her heel and strolled away. Seyla took a seat beside Eli and smiled.

“I’m surprised to see you down here Eli. What gives? I could see the dark cloud over your head from across the room.” She paused a moment and frowned. “Does Jackson know you’re here?”

“No.” Eli took a long pull on his drink, sighing as the bourbon burned its way down to the pit of his stomach. “And don’t start lecturing, I’ve had a difficult night.”

Seyla studied him for a moment and nodded. “Okay, I won’t call him, but I am gonna stick close. A cutie like you? They will eat you alive down here. And I mean the women. Speaking of which, how’s Chance? He’s usually stuck to you like glue.”

Eli shot her a warning glance and took another drink.

“What? It’s true.” Seyla leaned in closer. “Uh oh...is there trouble in paradise?” She bit back another joke as she looked at Eli. This close, she could see he was upset and she frowned. Seyla didn’t have soft spots for many, but this kid was one of them.

“Yes..no...I don’t know.” Eli’s expression was glum. He drained the rest of the drink and held up two fingers as was the custom down here. Another drink appeared and a few more sips of that one brought back the welcome mental fuzziness he needed tonight. “I told him I loved him.”

Seyla blinked and then signed inwardly. It didn’t take a quantum physicist to figure out what had happened. It was her experience that those words always meant trouble.

“Oh honey, I’m sorry.”

Eli shrugged. “That sorry might be premature. I don’t know what’s going to happen. I caught him off guard. We’ll see. He’s going to kick my ass for sneaking out when he wasn’t looking.”

She patted his hand and smiled now. “You two will work it out. I’ve seen how he looks at you even if you haven’t.”

“I hope so.” Eli turned his dark eyes on Seyla and managed a smile.

Not for the first time, she wished she wasn’t so much older than him. She smiled again and as she looked up, she saw a man making his way through the crowd. He wasn’t a regular down here and his odd, native dress caught her eye. He wore a flowing robe and had his hair covered as well as a short veil covering the lower part of his face. As the man passed the table, he glanced down at Eli. The look was only a moment, but something about it set off Seyla’s alarm. The man paused as if looking for a table, then turned and retraced his steps, stopping beside them. Without a word, he placed a coin on the table before Eli. He spoke only one word.

“Soon.”

Then he turned, slipping quickly through the crowd. Eli hadn’t moved, his attention locked on the coin. Seyla noticed that he’d paled considerably.

“Eli? What is is?”

“Notice.”

He pushed the coin towards Seyla. She picked it up and looked it over but the letters meant nothing to her. Whatever it was she had a bad feeling about this.

“From?”

“Home.”

Seyla stood immediately. She didn’t like that bad feeling that still lingered, and she really didn’t like the fear that shone around Eli like a beacon. “Come on.”

“What?”

“I’m getting you out of here. Now.” She took his hand and pulled him to his feet. They threaded their way through the crowd, moving towards the main bar. Once they reached it, she spoke to the bartender a moment. He nodded and opened a side door, pushing them through, then closed it immediately.

“Move it!” Seyla took off at a run, dragging Eli with her. They were in a dim back hallway that ran along behind Saturnalia. “I don’t know what the hell’s going on but I don’t like it. And Jackson will kill me if I don’t at least get you out of here.”

A freight elevator came into view just ahead and as they reached it, she pressed the button, then pulled him into it. Once the doors were closed, she turned to Eli. “Talk.”

He sighed and rubbed his eyes. This night certainly was going to hell in a most spectacular way.

“Last week, someone broke into the quarters Chance and I share. Nothing was taken but they left a coin like this. He thought it was mine since it’s Enaran. It’s actually a symbol used by a group from my planet. They get sent out to deal with things, or people, the government sees as a problem. I am, apparently, such a problem.”

Seyla let that settle in and his words shocked her. Not much could these days but this sure did it. Without a word, she pressed the emergency comm panel in the lift.

“Security,” came a voice through the speaker.

“This is Seyla. I want Darwin, tell him to meet me at my quarters. It’s an emergency.” She ended the transmission and turned back to Eli. “Don’t worry.”

* * * Seyla’s Quarters * * *

The door opened to reveal a darkly irritated Darwin. He pushed into Seyla’s personal space and entered her abode without speaking. Once in, he caught her arm and stared hard at her. A muscle in his jaw twitched. “Don’t ever do that again, Seyla. Now I have to explain to Commander Zeferino just why the Station’s most renowned female called for me to personally appear at her quarters,” he said the word ‘female’ like it was an epithet. “I already have plenty of uncomfortable conversations coming up with Zeferino; you’ve just added at least one more.”

“Sorry to interrupt your lofty activities.” She smiled for a moment though. “Most renowned? Really? Aww, I’m impressed. And as I recall, you had no problem with coming to my quarters last time.” She walked her fingertips up the front of his shirt.

He knocked her hand away then grabbed her and kissed her hard. “Last time, no one but us knew I was here,” he said, his fingers already pulling her short skirt up. “Now, this emergency? I didn’t think you were the sort of woman who would call on a man and say it’s an emergency.” He kissed her neck and nipped at her skin.

She stopped his hands and sighed. “As much as I’d like to, this really is an emergency.” She pointed to her sofa where Eli lay curled up asleep beneath a blanket. “I found him down at Saturnalia.”

“What?” Darwin paused, at first having trouble getting his brain off of having sex. “Who is he?”

“Eli? Don’t tell me you haven’t heard him sing at the Nexus? I need to call Jackson but I need to tell you something first.”

“Oh, oh, now I recognize him. Yeah, he’s dating my boss’s brother. And we have a ‘be on the lookout’ issued for him,” Darwin looked the kid over. “How come he’s here?”

“I dragged him out of Saturnalia after some guy in robes left a ‘message’ for him. This guy appeared, laid a coin on the table and said ‘soon’. It wasn’t a party invitation I can tell you. Eli said that this guy was from his home planet, some group of the government who gets sent out to deal with problems.” Seyla lowered her voice so as not to wake Eli. “At that point, I got him right the hell outta there and called you. He said one of those coins was found in his quarters recently when someone broke in.”

That was news to Darwin. He watched Seyla’s face for a moment then nodded. “Okay, I can see where that could be a threat and cause for alarm,” he moved towards the couch and nudged Eli, “C’mon, young man, I’m taking you home.”

Eli mumbled softly, but didn’t wake. Seyla moved over to stand by Darwin.

“Why was Security on the lookout for him?”

“Like I said: he’s dating the Chief of Security’s brother. I guess when he didn’t come home last night, that upset the brother, who called Zeferino.” He shrugged. “I suppose I could just leave him here. He doesn’t seem to be in any danger... unless you have untrustworthy intentions towards him?”

“Come on Dar, he’s a little young for me don’t you think? And....he’s not you.” She smiled up at Darwin. “But I think it’s a good idea. Anyone up to no good would have no reason to look here, whereas they would check his place. Maybe you should get Chance out of there too? Bring him here if you want.”

He’d just started to relax a touch when she made that suggestion. “No, I think that’d be a touch difficult to explain to Commander Zeferino. But... leaving this one here with you and giving him a Security detail for the night could happen. Granted, his security detail might be a touch distracted,” he leaned in to kiss her.

“Good idea. That way if anything happens, you’ll be here.” She gave in to the kiss, then pulled back to look down at Eli. Reaching down, she tucked the blanket in and moved his hair out of his eyes. “At least call Chance and let him know Eli’s safe.” She hooked her finger in Darwin’s waistband. “Then we’ll see about the night watch.”

Grinning, Darwin tapped his commbadge and issued a recall on the BOLO for Ziyad. He knew that the Shift Officer would contact Chance, leaving Darwin free to enjoy his night duties.

Seyla leaned down to kiss Eli’s forehead, and whispered, ”It will all work out. Don’t worry.” She stood then and smiled up at Darwin. “He’s so cute when he’s sleeping. You, on the other hand, are much cuter when you’re not.” She turned and with an exaggerated swish of her hips, began to walk to the bedroom.

Looking at Eli, Darwin wished for a moment that he had earplugs for the kid. Of course, he didn’t dwell on that for too long - those swaying hips beckoned and he followed wherever they led.

**********
Cadet 4th Class Chance Conradi
Worried

Lieutenant Commander Oralia Zeferino
Not so Worried

Cadet 4th Class Eli Ziyad
Target

Seyla
Guardian Angel

Lieutenant Michael Darwin
Security Officer
Happily Performing his Duties