Wilde Questioning

Posted on Fri Aug 3rd, 2012 @ 7:24pm by Lieutenant Commander Michael Darwin & Cassidy Wilde

Mission: Sections of the Delta Quadrant
Location: Detention Center, Deck 306

* * * Main Security Center | Detention Facilities | Deck 306 * * *

“Ma’am, please...if you’d just calm down and let us examine you, we can get you taken care of...” The Brig doctor watched as the slender blonde paced back and forth.

Cassidy paused, mid-stride and turned to face the man. Heaving a sigh, she crossed her arms over her stomach. “I am calm...my problem is I’m worried about someone and I’m stuck here.” Waving her hand dismissively, she started pacing again, still a bit hopped up on adrenaline some, but mostly worried about Jackson. Her dress, which had been white and rather short to begin with, was mostly in tatters now and fluttered open to expose her toned stomach and the front of her lacy underwear.

“You’re wounded, we need to treat you,” the doctor tried once more.

This time she stopped to give him a look, a denial on her lips. “I’m fine...” Glancing down at herself, she saw the blood on her arms. Flexing slightly, she felt pain this time...nothing too bad, but enough to know he spoke the truth.

A voice from the doorway of the exam room spoke up, “You’re not. You’d do well to listen to the doctor, Ms. Wilde.” It was Darwin. He was eyeing Cassidy up and down, taking in not just her wounds, but... well... he was a guy. She wasn’t in immediate danger, so... He shifted, cleared his throat then motioned for someone behind him to come into the room. It was a female security officer. “If you don’t, Chief Langley here might just have to restrain you.”

Cassidy’s gaze shifted from Darwin to Langley and she arched a brow. “That won’t be necessary.” She gave a small smile, amused by something. “I’d tell ya to avert yer eyes, but seeing as you’ve spent some quality time with a certain woman of the green persuasion, I don’t think anything I’ve got will cause problems for ya.”

It took every ounce of poker player in Darwin to not blush furiously at that. How did she know about Seyla?

Turning to face the doctor, she pursed her lips. “Should I take this off?” She tugged at what was left of her dress.

At that question, Darwin nodded at Langley and turned his back - just in time, as the doctor answered, “We can just cut it off, Ms. Wilde. Up on the biobed, please.”

Moving over, she boosted herself up leaving her long legs dangling over the side for now. “Darwin, is there any word on how Jackson is? Is the doctor with him yet?” she asked, grimacing slightly. The blood on her arm had dried mostly, but where it had clotted, it started seeping again from her movements.

The doctor went to work while the nurse drew a privacy shade around Cassidy. Standing to one side, Darwin could see her face. “Jackson is in surgery at Piper Medical. The doctor said Jackson should be fine; Doc Harding has the situation in hand.” He shifted slightly as the noise the doctor was making made him wonder just what in the hell the doctor was doing.

“If you’re up for it, Ms. Wilde, we have some questions for you,” he added.

“Yes, of course, Lieutenant Darwin...ouch!” She hissed and jumped as the doctor palpated a nasty bruise over her ribs. “In case the discoloration of my skin wasn’t enough of an indicator for ya, doctor, that hurts.”

The doctor muttered an apology, which was almost drowned out by Darwin’s first question: “How is it that you were on vacation with Jackson Banning? Are you two in a relationship?”

“It’s pretty simple. He asked me to go with him. Told me he needed a few days off and asked me to go. I said yes, obviously. As for if we’re in a relationship together...well...that’s,” Oh hell, she couldn’t believe she was going to say it. “...complicated.” Glancing down at herself, she was shocked at the amount of bruises developing, but kept her thoughts about them to herself. “Things were goin’ great until Zachary Chase showed up and interrupted our fun.”

“Chase did that? When did that happen?” Zeferino and he had discussed Chase, again, just recently. There had always been something about the man neither of them had been comfortable with, but they couldn’t quite put a finger on it.

The doctor, however, was putting a finger on it: on another bruise, as if testing to make sure it really was a bruise before using the dermal regenerator to clear the pooled blood and damaged tissue.

Holding her arm out of the way, Cassidy tried to remember exactly when it was that Chase had shown up and ruined everything. “Two...three days ago, I believe. Jackson and I were at one of those beach side bars where they play steel drums, just dancin’ and havin’ a grand time and Chase came up and started talking to Jackson. At first I wasn’t really concerned, just thought he wanted to say hi, but then he bought us a round of drinks...and that’s when things started gettin’ strange.”

“Define strange, Ms. Wilde,” Darwin kept his eyes on her face.

“It wasn’t something I could nail down right away, but he seemed a little too interested in makin’ sure I drank the drink he brought me. I still had the one Jackson gave me from before our dance. I don’t know...he just seemed...odd. Tell me something...if you came upon someone you knew and it looked like he was on a date, would you sit down between them?”

“Depends upon if I wanted to fu--- um... mess with him or not.” Darwin grinned lopsidedly.

“Un-huh.” She watched him. Cassidy had to give him an A for effort on where he had his ‘attention’ focused on. “Ya know, even though yer lookin’ at my face, Lieutenant, I can tell you that I’m perfectly aware that there’s nothin’ wrong with your peripheral vision.” She rolled her eyes, but smiled.

“I’m focused just on you, Ms. Wilde, not on what the doctor is doing,” he replied, though he did back off a step. “So you were on a date with Jackson? And Chase interrupted, seemed interested in getting you to drink the drink, and cock-blocked Jackson?” He looked at her, to make sure she confirmed his summary. “How did you get from the beach bar to the warehouse?”

“I’m not very big, so I know my limits when it comes to drinkin’. I was nursin’ that second drink. It seemed to irritate Chase...” Remembering back, she frowned. “Jackson, however, drank his down and was oblivious to the tone of the conversation between myself and Mr. Chase. I tried to get Jackson away from him by askin’ him to dance again, but as it happens, when ya drink a lot, ya gotta go...so he excused himself to take care of that. There was a conga line going and Chase asked me to dance. I was not interested and quite irritated with him myself by then...and the hostility comin’ off of him by that time was unmistakable. I joined the line, the next thing I know, some Archadian women joined in and started shovin’ people around...someone yelled ‘bomb’ and all hell broke loose...but not before I just barely managed to turn and see Chase bearing down on me. He did this,” Cassidy pointed to a spot on her skin the doctor hadn’t repaired yet. The scorched skin on her side from where she’d been shocked gave testament to what she said.

“Yer gonna have to look...he hit me with a stun gun or taser of some sort.” She frowned. “Shouldn’t someone be documenting my injuries? Not that he’s gonna face charges for what he did, but if he was takin’ orders from Natalia, then she should have to answer for what was done to Jackson and I.”

The nurse spoke up, “We’re recording your injuries, Ms. Wilde. Lieutenant Darwin, the weapon used was most likely a Starfleet-issue microtaser.”

“Ah.” It wasn’t exactly a common weapon checked out by Security, but the ‘base did have some on hand. He’d bet his replicator rations that there was one missing from inventory right now. “Chase won’t be charged with anything. He’s dead, killed by a close-range shot in the back from the disruptor you were holding. Did you do that to him?”

“No, I most certainly did not. I’m quite aware he’s dead, but when I woke up in the warehouse, he was already dead and Jackson had been shot...twice...” Biting her lip, Cass had to take a moment to hold her emotions back. It was clear as day she was upset over what had happened to Jackson, but she wasn’t going to break down into a sobbing mess in front of anyone.

“I know Chase was shot in the back. That’s how I was supposed to be killed as well. That woman...Natalia...she wanted it to look like the Archadian military had done it.” Looking up, she stared at Darwin. “Same with Jackson. He was supposed to...she didn’t care if he would have died either. It would have served her purpose.”

Reserving judgment or comment on that (Natalia was, of course, spouting a rather different story), Darwin merely nodded. “Don’t worry; Doc Harding is treating Jackson. He’s in good hands,” he assured her, oblivious to any issue Cassidy may have with Harding. “So the three dead men are: Zach Chase, and...? Do you know the other two dead men? Before you answer, I’ll tell you that forensics has already found your DNA on one and on the club that killed the other.”

“You should know that Jackson was trying to find out from Nat where Dr. Harding fit into all of this.” Shaking her head, she wanted to scream at the idea of Harding working on Jackson. What if he finished what Natalia had started? Blowing a breath out, she tossed her hair over her shoulder.

“I have nothin’ to hide from you or anyone, Lieutenant Darwin, in case my full cooperation isn’t enough of a clue for ya. No, I did not know the two other men. One had been stationed outside the door and the other one came in with Natalia...the big one. She called him Jack... no... Jacq... something like that. I’m fully aware my DNA is all over the one man. That tends to happen when you’re fightin’ for your life with someone. I’m fully aware that I killed Jacq. The other man, well, it wasn’t a club, but a table leg and I swung it like a bat, so again, I know my DNA would be on that as well. I’m not denying what I did to either of them.” She stared hard at him, frustrated beyond belief that he didn’t believe her, but at the same time, understood he was being cautious and doing his job.

“My only concern was to save Jackson’s life. I patched him up as best I could after I woke up...and then when Nat and her goon showed up...” A tear betrayed her and spilled over her long lashes to run down her cheek. “What was I supposed to do? Roll over and let her have me killed? Not my style, Darwin. And I sure as hell wasn’t gonna let anyone kill Jackson while I was still breathin’. Ya don’t sit by idle when the person yer in love with is in danger.”

Again, Darwin’s skills as a poker player came into play and he didn’t show any outward reaction to that statement. “No, I don’t suppose you do,” he said, sounding as if he’d never been in love. He had quite a bit to chew on and digest. “That’ll be all for now, Ms. Wilde. Once the Doctor is finished, you’ll be returned to a holding cell, for your protection. Just until we get a few other things sorted out. In the meantime, I’ll make sure that Langley provides you with updates on Mr. Banning.” He glanced at the female officer, who nodded. “I leave you in good hands, then, Ms. Wilde.”

“You know...Jackson told you I was tellin’ the truth...but yer conveniently forgettin’ that little fact in the face of doin’ things by the book. While I can understand it, it’s still a load of horseshit that I’m locked up...for my protection. It’ll come out that I’m tellin’ the truth and that Natalia is the one that’s lying. Don’t be fooled by the fact she’s Starfleet. A uniform doesn’t make the person.”

Turning for the doctor, she looked over her shoulder at the tall security officer. “Could you please do me a favor at least? Make sure Jan and Eli know what happened to Jackson and where he is? I know I don’t have to ask you to inform Oralia...” She let that hang in the air. Oz being informed was a given, based on her job and her history with Jackson. “Oh...Vic, too. I’m sure Jan, Eli and Vic have been worried about him.”

“Jan and Eli are the reason Aliso and I were on the planet looking for you two. They’ve already received word,” he replied, choosing not to rise to the ‘horseshit’ comment.

“Bless their hearts. I knew they’d know somethin’ was wrong if Jackson was late comin’ back.” Suddenly she flinched as pain lanced through the back of her ribs. The doctor was frowning and shook his head.

“I’m sorry, Ms. Wilde, it looks like you’ve got a broken rib. Why didn’t you say something earlier?” he asked.

“I don’t know...it didn’t really hurt until you touched it,” she answered honestly. Man...was she going to be hurting tomorrow.

“Darwin? I’m sorry I pointed that gun at ya...I hope ya can understand why I was a little unsure of who I could trust? Considerin’ what happened with Chase and everythin’...”

“No hard feelings, Ms. Wilde. Just hope you know that one bad apple doesn’t mean the whole barrel is rotten,” Darwin said, and wondered briefly whether he’d gotten that gem from Gilroy or Oralia.

Cassidy smiled, though it trembled on her lips. “I know yer not a bad person. I can feel it. And I know better than to think one bad apple...and also in this case, one worm ridden bad apple, means that the whole barrel is rotten. I just hope ya can get to the truth soon, so I can get outta here and see how Jackson is doin’ with my own eyes. I had hoped to be there when he woke up...” Emotion clogged her throat and she forced herself to stop before it overwhelmed her.

Darwin didn’t tell her that, even if she weren’t in the Detention Center when Jackson woke up, she still wouldn’t be able to be by Jackson’s side when he woke up. Security needed to keep the players in this drama separate until they’d all been interviewed. “Mr. Banning will be interviewed as soon as he is awake and aware enough to be interviewed. Once that’s complete, I’m sure you’ll be able to visit him.”

Sighing, she watched him for several moments before nodding. Even sitting there stripped down to nothing but a scrap of lace, Cassidy held onto her dignity. “Then I shall endeavor to try to remain patient for the truth to be revealed and will pray that I will be allowed to see him soon.” A last thought hit her and she spoke up again. “In case I forgot to say it earlier, thank you...for showing up when ya did. I know it’s yer job...but I won’t forget it.”

Still able to see only her face and shoulders, and making sure not to look any further, Darwin nodded. “Just doing my job, Ms. Wilde. But you’re welcome,” he smiled slightly, unintentionally being charming. “If you’ll excuse me, I have a report to draft and deliver, hopefully before Mr. Banning wakes up.” He stepped to the door and paused, just to see if Cassidy said more.

“Since yer gonna see Jackson before I am, will ya tell him...tell him that I’m thinkin’ ‘bout him?” She smiled, knowing her next words would probably make Jackson groan and or roll his eyes. “And tell him he still owes me several dances, since we were so rudely interrupted.”

Darwin chuckled and nodded, “I will be sure to pass that on, Ms. Wilde.” He slipped out the door and headed to report in to his boss.

“You do that,” she murmured, watching his broad back as he departed. Once he was gone, she focused all her attention on remaining stoic as the doctor continued to work on her and kept her complaints to herself. Sending a prayer up that Jackson would truly be alright and that Harding wouldn’t be able to do anything with an operating room filled with nurses and assistants.

_________________________

Lt. Michael Darwin
SB900 Security
Skeptic

Cassidy Wilde
Hostess & Guilty Until Proven Innocent
The Nexus Club