Fillin' In Darwin

Posted on Thu Aug 30th, 2012 @ 4:41pm by Lieutenant Commander Michael Darwin & Lieutenant Commander Gilroy & Lieutenant Commander Leto

Mission: Sections of the Delta Quadrant
Location: Varies

“What’s with the secrecy, Gil?” Darwin wasn’t yet over his anger and had turned a glare on his superior officer - something that, fortunately for Darwin, Gilroy ignored. They both knew who had the bigger ...rank... and didn’t have any need to prove it.

“When we’re in a secure location, I’ll fill you in. You have the security clearance; it’s just been a matter of getting the information to you,” Gilroy explained, not slowing his pace at all. Not, at least, until he saw a shadow within a shadow. A shapely shadow. He first thought of Kai, but knew this wasn’t Kai. Kai’s brightness couldn’t be hidden in shadow.

He stopped and waited a beat, staring at the shadow. “Come out.”

Nenita stepped out, dressed tonight in a formal dress in a deep plum. “Hello, boys.” The smile she gave them was worthy of the cheshire cat.

“Um, hi, ‘Nita,” Darwin hadn’t, quite, jumped out of his skin, but he also hadn’t been as aware as Gilroy. Of course, his excuse was that he was focused on Gilroy, not on searching shadows for exquisitely dressed spooks.

Gilroy, meanwhile, smiled and shook his head. “Shoulda known it was you, Nenita. Care to join us for a cup of something and a chat?”

“I thought you’d never ask.” She strolled over to meet them and slipped in between, then hooked her arms through theirs. Looking up, way up, from one to the other she laughed. “You two look like a pair of bookends. Very hot bookends. So what can I do for you gentlemen?”

The arch of Darwin’s brow would have earned him another kick in the shins if they’d been sitting down. He grinned and opened his mouth to make a suggestion, but Gilroy coughed out: “Shutit!” and smiled at Nenita.

“Let’s get to Security and we can fill each other in,” he suggested. With a hand at the small of her back, he guided her in just such a direction, Darwin following.

* * *

Setting a cup of coffee in front of Darwin and another steaming mug in front of Nenita, Gilroy took his seat at the small conference table and opened the conversation, “You saw Suresh lose it in the Nexus?”

“I might have been there.” It was a typical spook non-answer. “But if I was, I’d say it was a most interesting display.”

Sighing and rubbing his face, thinking he was too tired for a spooky conversation, Gilroy frowned. “Okay, assuming you were there, did you see what triggered it?”

“Oh! I got this one!” Darwin spoke up. “A bottle of wine and a single wineglass. Who is Suri grieving, anyway? I did a quick check of deaths in the past two weeks. No one named Isha comes up.”

Nenita shot Gilroy a look that spoke volumes. “You want to tell him or shall I?”

“With pleasure, Nenita,” Gilroy laughed and turned towards Darwin. “There’s no Isha because Li is... was Isha.”

For a moment, Darwin stared at Gilroy, putting it all together. “Bastard. You could have said so!”

“I just did!”

“Yeah, maybe in the Nexus. No wonder you were nearly laughing when Suresh went off in Sickbay. You’re such an asshole, Gil.” Darwin frowned into his coffee before taking a sip.

“I heard you met Isha the night of her arrest,” Nenita commented and blew on her coffee before sipping it. “And that you didn’t recognize her.”

“Yeah, well that is the whole point of your department’s outfits and costumes and such, right?” Disgruntled, Darwin shifted in his seat. “I mean, if she were easy to identify, what’s the point? But now, what’s the point: this fictional Isha is now dead, Li still seems very much alive, last I saw her. And Suri is wallowing in grief and self-pity.”

“And our very own Admiral is stirring the pot,” Gilroy added, looking at Nenita, as if she had something to do with the Admiral’s antics.

Nenita choked on her coffee at Gilroy’s words. “He...is...what??”

“The bottle of wine.” He frowned. “Admiral Wegener ordered it from his server, sent it courtesy ‘Jayne Cobb’.”

Darwin’s coffee mug hit the table hard enough that coffee jumped out of the mug and spilled on the table. “Suri was telling the truth? Old Ricky’s been trolling the Saturnalia for prostitutes?”

“Oh fuck me running,” Nenita grumbled. She turned to Darwin and began to speak slowly, as one might when explaining things to a child. “Do you really think our CO needs to buy it? There’s a certain Klingon on this station that would likely wear his nuts around her neck if he did. And no, I do not mean Kh’ali. She’s dealing with more scientific nuts. Let’s settle that question first, then I’ll explain what happened at Saturnalia.”

“You’re talking about the Klingon that starts with an ‘A’. I got that, that’s why I was surprised the old boy would be looking to purchase some lovin’.” The human male nodded, fully cognizant of the Admiral’s interest in Akima. This would be why, however, Darwin was in investigations, where he could ask questions to his heart’s content, instead of in spookville, where he’d have to muddle along and not ask stuff.

“Yeah, that Klingon,” the part-Klingon nodded. “Tell us about Saturnalia, Nenita.”

“According to Li, she was there with Suresh, sitting at a table. Admiral Wegener and the Marine CO arrived, in casual dress and sat down for drinks. They caught Suresh’s eye because they were new to the place and neither exactly looks like the type that usually frequents the place. He sent ‘Isha’ over to say hello and scope them out. Now imagine their surprise. Well the Admiral’s surprise. She warned him,” she paused to tap her head, “so he wouldn’t slip and say her name out of surprise if he recognized her. The MCO didn’t realize it initially.”

“Of course. Purple eyes, red hair... who’d associate that garishness with Li Hawke?” Darwin made a face. “So... the Admiral buys ‘Isha’ so he can have a moment alone with Li?”

Nenita sipped her coffee, then resumed her tale. “Eventually. Suresh apparently didn’t like the fact that Isha was speaking so closely to another man, so he moseyed on over and introduced himself and that’s where the Admiral gave the name Jayne Cobb. Suresh played charming, said that if there was anything he could do or any entertainment he could offer, just ask. Mr. Cobb understood the drift and requested Isha. Before Suresh could refuse, she jumped in and said she would be happy to, and they left Saturnalia and went to one of the rooms for that purpose.”

Getting it, Darwin nodded. “Nice. So Suri thinks Jayne Cobb got with his favorite who--,” he glanced at Gilroy and changed his word, “Prostitute who is now dead.”

“And that Jayne Cobb sent over a bottle of wine, which is just how Isha was killed,” Gilroy gave a touch more context to the whole picture.

“The thing you have to understand, boys, is that he didn’t see her as a whore.” Nenita, apparently, had no problems with the word. “He loved her, hell he was obsessed with her. And you can bet he won’t rest till he finds who did it. That bottle from Jayne...” she shook her head. “Will make him think the Admiral is involved if not wholly responsible. Aside from your department and medical, who else would know but the one who did it? That’s his rationale anyway.”

“It’s a good line of thinking on it,” Darwin noted. “It’d certainly have my investigator’s senses tingling.”

“And why we’ll need to notify Oralia and step up the Admiral’s detail a bit,” Gilroy added. “Smith needs to know, too.” Notifying Smith, Gilroy would leave that to Nenita.

“I’ll pass it along to him and to Lazan as well. Those two will know first if anything is brewing.” She took another drink of her coffee as the scene replayed in her mind. “Wow, he really lost it didn’t he?”

“Yeah, he did,” Gilroy shook his head. The depth of emotion Suresh had displayed was greater than anything he’d expected. “Anything else in the works we should know about, Nenita?”

“Well, since we’re baring things...” she stopped to look Darwin up and down, “sadly, it’s business things and not other things....this Archadia business is also on the hot plate.”

Arching a brow at her, Darwin grinned and nodded before turning serious. Though Gilroy had handled the investigation into the bombing he, Kai and Admiral Hawke had nearly been in, Darwin had been handling the big picture of Archadia, including the investigation into Banning’s and Wilde’s abductions and how those fit in with everything else. “Yeah, it is. Oralia has a meeting with Kh’ali scheduled for the morning. She knows there’s a lot more happening here than just Bren being a jealous lover. Bren was planning to have the Archadian military take the fall for Banning’s and Wilde’s deaths; evidence from the bomb from Gilroy’s adventures points to the military as well. It’s too convenient, particularly with what that conclusion could lead to both up here and down there.”

Shaking his head, he continued, “We just... we need Bren to recall who he... she... it was working with. Wilde told us tonight that she ‘sensed’ someone else in that warehouse, someone watching, so there’s definitely another player running around. She also thought that same someone was in the Nexus tonight, but hasn’t been able to point him out or give us a way to id him.”

“Well shit.” Nenita frowned. “And given the size of this station, he could be anywhere. You two are aware that she was Section 31?”

They both nodded. “She told Jackson,” Darwin said, leaving out the obvious statement that anything told to Jackson most likely had a direct line to Oralia, “and Harding, when she was dying. Stupid thing, having a joined Trill as an agent.”

“I owe the Doc an apology it seems. She was trying her best to paint him as the bad guy. They have a past.” She decided not to mention that Jackson was also tied up in that past.

“Did a good job, too, it seems.” Gilroy agreed. “I’m with you, Dar: Trills make for bad agents. Once a host dies, the next host gets all their secrets. Did you ever meet Ian Leyva?”

Darwin shook his head. “I don’t think so. He’s a botanist... not much call for us to crossover with his area of expertise.”

“This is why you’re not dating anyone, Darwin,” Gilroy told him. “He’s got a great talent with roses and some other flowers. A rose is a rose...,” he quoted Shakespeare. “You’d know him if you had ever thought to give a flower to a woman.”

Nenita gave Gilroy a sly smile. “Been doing that a bit yourself, I’ve heard.”

Gilly smiled, though he tried to hide it. “Perhaps. Perhaps not. Are you now keeping tabs on me?”

“You can keep tabs on me, anytime, ‘nita,” Darwin winked at her.

She raised her eyebrow at Darwin. “Who says I don’t already, handsome? We keep tabs on everyone. And fair warning, Gil, your girl is deathly afraid of spiders.”

“Then I’ll keep her far from that bandersnatch of Oralia’s,” he grumbled, causing Darwin to laugh out loud. He shot the human a glare.

“Good idea. So is there anything else I can do for you? I’m off tonight, just saying.” Nenita leaned back in her seat and crossed her legs. “I was thinking that a drink down at Saturnalia sounded good.”

“A nice, intimate, and cozy drink at Chateau d’Darwin sounds better,” Darwin offered, giving Nenita’s curves a good measuring assessment.

“On that note, I’m out of here,” Gilroy stood and addressed the two, “Goodnight. If there’s anything else, Nenita, I’ll comm you.” He didn’t wait for either of them to respond, he simply left, off to find Kai. And maybe a rose along the way. Definitely a rose.

Nenita rose and moved over before Darwin. Resting her hands on the arms of his chair, she leaned down, nose to nose with him and giving the man a more than generous view of her cleavage. “That depends on whether drinks are drinks or a euphemism.”

“How about them being both?” He made no bones about where his eyes wanted to land, but he did manage to look her in the eye and smile.

“You have no idea how tempting that is, sugar. But since we were on the subject of Klingons, I have one wandering around here who’s an assassin by trade. He works for the good guys but he’s a little possessive. A shame though.” She ran a finger over his lips and smiled though there was regret in her tone. “This ‘saying no’ thing is new for me.”

“Nice, so I’m just your ‘no’ test run, huh?” Darwin smirked, “I’ll bet he’d never even know, unless you’re the kiss’n’tell sort, which I doubt. C’mon, I make a mean chocolate martini.” Well... the replicator did, but he didn’t see the need to tell her that right now.

“And what about your green friend who’s got such a deadly aim with a drink tray?” Ohhh, this was not good. Nenita’s big weakness was sitting here, staring her in the face and tempting her, all almost seven feet of him. If this had been a week or two ago, she’d have said yes without a second thought. Now....she had a man who’d never hesitated to indulge in some recreation who said he’d stopped that, sworn he loved her. She hadn’t pledged not to enjoy such pursuits yet, but......

“Seyla? What of her? She hasn’t got a possessive bone in her.” He had the feeling Nenita was weakening. “You think if Seyla made an offer to your Klingon that he’d turn her down?” He gave the slightest shake of his head, “No way. It’s just one time, ‘Nita.”

“He would, surprisingly, and has been for a while now. I know, it surprised me too.” The mention of Seyla brought another thought to mind. “You know she’s a little cozy with the topic of our discussion tonight.”

Darwin’s expression darkened. “I know.” It was clear he knew and was none too pleased about it.

“So do you know where your girl is tonight Darwin honey?” She really needed to stand up, and put some distance between them. Should....

“I don’t know where mine is, but I sure know where yours are,” he grinned, since her girls were right there, almost staring back at him. He had the urge - one he suppressed rather quickly - to cup them and test their weight....

“I’ll make a deal with you. You come with me for a bit, then I’ll go with you. Deal?” Nenita straightened up, pulling her ‘girls’ away from Darwin, curious if he would follow them.

He did. Darwin was a definite friend and follower of the girls. “Go with you? Where we going?”

“Down. Unless you’re wanting to be found by your colleagues on the table in Security?”

“Better than being found by a Klingon while in the middle of pleasing his girl, though.” He considered that... in this room, there was a camera that could be flipped on at any time... Much as he might grin about bedding Nenita, he didn’t really care to have anyone watching while he did so. “Right, lead on, my lady,” he smiled.

Once they were in the lift, Nenita tapped in a code that made the lift descend non-stop. “Deck 532. And lose your shirt.”

“My...,” he glanced at her then decided asking questions wasn’t going to get him where he wanted to be. “Okay... no peeking. Jacket, too?”, he asked as he started undoing his tie.

“You can put the jacket back on but leave it open. And no peeking? My ass.” She grinned. “Get to it.”

“Okay, okay... geesh,” he sped up his process, pulling off the tie and shirt. Both puddled together where he discarded them in the corner of the lift. Before pulling his jacket back on, he modeled for Nenita and moved closer to her, “I think this deserves a kiss.” He smirked. He was right, there were many women who would kiss him just for showing off the abs and pecs he had.

“Maybe, but we have three decks and I’m not done.” She dropped the light silk shawl that had covered her arms and shoulders, revealing that the back of her dress really was no back at all. With a quick motion she tugged off the long overskirt of the evening dress, leaving her in a much shorter one, barely there, that was sheer and revealed just about all of her legs and the high heels she wore. She glanced at the deck readout and then leaned in to Darwin. Just before their lips made contact, the lift halted and the doors opened. “Pity. Let’s go.”

“Stupid lif... woah...!” She hadn’t turned her back on him till just now and the cut-to-there and barely-there-ness of her dress just about kicked him in the groin with surprise. “Me likey!”, he commented and gladly followed those barely covered globes as she stepped off the lift. In less than a second, he got serious and stepped up beside her.

As they reached the open doors of Saturnalia, she stopped him and snuggled up close, slipping her arm through his. “Enjoy yourself, this evening is costing you a fortune...if anyone asks.” Knowing they were visible to those inside, she stretched up and gave him a toe-curling kiss. “There you go big fella. Now let’s get to work.”

“You already have another big fella ready and willing to work for you, ‘Nita,” he said, his smile as tight as his drawers were getting. “Let’s go,” they entered the bar; him, with a knowing grin on his face and his hand on her ass.

************
Lt.(jg) Nenita Quigley
Stepping Out, Sort Of

Lt. Gilroy
Running Away, Quickly

Lt. Michael Darwin
Ending the Night In a Place He Hadn’t Expected