Last Chance

Posted on Sun Nov 18th, 2012 @ 3:40pm by Cadet Senior Grade Eli Ziyad & Jackson Banning V & Commander Oralia Zeferino & Cassidy Wilde

Mission: Sections of the Delta Quadrant
Location: Jackson's Office - The Nexus Club

* * *Nexus Club* * *

Vic moved down the hall that led to Jackson’s office, headed for the storeroom. With both Jackson and Woodford in and drinking tonight, he knew he’d need more bourbon. He met Cass as she stepped out of the breakroom and slipped his arm around her, drawing her close for a kiss. “Hello gorgeous. Back to work already?”

“Hello yerself, handsome.” She leaned into him, taking another kiss. “I’ve got a few more minutes before I have to be back up front.”

“The Banning boys are in the house and you know what that means.” He smiled down at her. “You up for dinner after we --” Whatever he was going to say was cut off as they heard Eli’s voice raised, coming from behind Jackson’s office doors. “What the--? Eli?” He moved over to reach for the door panel, but before he could, Oz was running down the hall towards them.

“Get back!” Oralia called, jogging past them and nearly sliding past Jackson’s door as she tried to turn. The door slid open and the smell hit her, just as it had Eli: blood. “What the...?” She saw Eli, but she also saw the horrific scene at the desk: Doctor Harding and a body. Dark hair, good looks, if the blood wasn’t there. And if the second mouth along the kid’s throat weren’t there. One part of her mind wouldn’t, couldn’t, register who the kid was; another screamed his name. “Who...?” Even as she asked, Harding and the kid disappeared in a shimmer of transporter lights and harmonics, leaving her able to shift her stunned focus to Eli.

“What...?”, she blinked, but couldn’t complete the question as more bodies crowded into the office around her.

The first were several members of security; next came Jackson. The scene hit Jackson like a nuclear bomb. It was clear something had happened even if the victim wasn’t there.

“What happened in here?” His gaze shifted to Eli who seemed utterly frozen, his eyes wide and locked on the desk. “Eli?” There was no answer.

“Chance?” The realization hit Oralia and she whispered his name. Then she was on Eli, grabbing his lapels, shaking him and demanding, “What did you do!?”

Oz didn’t even seem to register as she shook him. The young man was in complete shock, and barely blinked, his eyes empty.

“Oz!” Jackson called out, utterly confused, since he had arrived after Chance was beamed out with Harding.

Cassidy entered the office a few steps behind Jackson, about to ask the question of the night, when not only the coppery smell of blood hit her, but Eli’s emotions slammed into her. He was silent on the outside, but not on the inside. Horrified, she swayed as her gaze went from Eli to the desk and back again. So much blood... Eli had found Chance...dead? “Oh God, no...”

Not getting a response from Eli caused Oralia’s panic to rise. Surely she hadn’t really seen Chance in the desk chair. She would have shaken Eli again, even slammed him against the wall, but hands pulled at her, disengaged her from Eli’s clothing and pulled her away and out of the office.

Vic had stopped at the entrance as security crew surged in. He zeroed in on Eli and like Cass, what he read there was beyond nightmare. “It wasn’t him, Oz.”

Jackson watched as security entered, then turned to Cass. “Get Eli out of here. Oz?” he called out. “Oz?”

Crossing the short distance between her and Eli, she wrapped an arm around his waist. “Come with me, Eli.” Gently, but firmly, she steered him out of the office and towards Jan’s dressing room, which also doubled as her office.

One of the Security officers on the scene turned to Jackson and Vic and said, “You need to close for the night. We’ll secure the outer doors and run scans of everyone in the establishment prior to releasing them.” She didn’t stay to elaborate, instead, she turned away and received a comm from Sickbay. Details of the victim came across on her commbadge, “Victim is Chance Conradi...,” the rest was lost as she moved farther away from Jackson and Vic.

“Oh my god.” Jackson felt as if all the air had been sucked out of him. “Chance? Here? What in the hell is goin’ on Vic?”

Vic was equally stunned, and his first thought was that it had to be a mistake. Who would come to this office to look for Chance? He decided to keep that to himself, however. “You find Oz, I’ll deal with the crowd.” He hurried out and Jackson left also, moving down the hall to find Oz. He spotted her leaning against the wall and immediately pulled her into his arms.

“J...,” she held onto him. “It was Chance. I saw him. I have to get to Piper Medical.” She was obviously dazed and not actively thinking yet. “Your office. Why would Chance be there? No one would think to find him there....”

“I know.” Jackson’s tone was soothing. “We’ll figure this all out, trust me.” He held her tighter, but spoke to a security man as he passed. “Any issues with us going to Piper?” The man shook his head and Jackson turned to go. “You can find us there when you need us. Come on Oz.”

Movement cleared Oralia’s head for a moment and she looked at Jackson warily. “Are you involved in something I should know about?”

“Not that I know of. I’ve not started anything yet, I swear. The one thing I was supposed to start lookin’ into? He’s vanished off the station.” He turned and went down to a service entrance and after entering his code, led her out that way to avoid the crowd. Once they were out of sight, he took her comm badge, requested immediate transport to Piper and moments later, they were gone.

Back in Jan’s dressing room, Eli stopped moving as they entered the room. He still hadn’t spoken, or even registered that he knew Cass was there.

Closing the door behind them, she turned to look at the young Enaran. Usually, he was careful to keep his thoughts blocked, but he was stuck, almost as if those moments in Jackson’s office were replaying on a loop. “Eli?” Cassidy’s concern for him grew. She took his hands in hers; they were icy cold. Tentatively, she reached for him in a different way. Eli?

“Chance...” he whispered.

Squeezing his hands, Cassidy pulled him over to Jan’s sofa and made him sit down. “Honey, what happened?” Even though she’d seen what Eli had seen, she hadn’t looked deeper for the reason Oz’s brother had been in Jackson’s office. “Why were y’all in Jackson’s office?” As soon as she asked, her heart twisted painfully again. She had a sneaking suspicion.

“A break.... the sofa......” He was still seeing what was replaying in his mind and not what was in the room. “Where is he?”

Chance had been gone - out of the office - by the time Cass had come in, but she was able to sift through the chaos in Eli’s mind for the answer. “You called sickbay for help. Dr. Harding beamed directly in and took Chance with him.” Through him, she felt the loss of his connection with Chance, felt the pain and the panic.

“Sickbay...Piper...gotta go.” Eli stood abruptly and turned for the door. He tripped as he went around the low table by Jan’s sofa, righted himself and by the time he reached the door, he was almost running.

Just beyond the door, a security officer caught Eli. “Wherever you think you’re going, kid, you’re not. Cool your jets here for a bit,” he said as he restrained the male.

“NO!” The moment the arms stopped him, he began to fight back. “Gotta get ...to...Chance....let me GO!” Eli had no clue who held him or why, all he knew was that they stood between him and Chance. His arms were pinned and instinct took over as he thrashed. The closest thing he could reach was a shoulder and he bit down on it hard.

The security officer let out a strangled grunt of pain and forcefully pushed Eli against the wall, face first. “Kid... you were in the room when he was found. You’re not going anywhere yet,” he ground out through clenched teeth. He stopped short of pulling out zip cuffs and restraining Eli that way.

Cassidy had been hot on Eli’s heels and saw him struggling with the security officer. Right as she had been about to say ‘let ‘im go’, Eli had bit the guy. Still, she could understand the desire to get to sickbay. “He didn’t do it. He found him,” she said, coming closer. “Can’t you let him go to sickbay to find out what’s happenin’?” A memory of being shown to the brig instead of sickbay came back to her from when she and Jackson had returned from Archadia. A wave of anger rose up in her at the thought of Eli being suspected of killing Chance. “Please...I’ll stay with him. Send an officer with us...” She hadn’t been shown much consideration, so she didn’t expect much for Eli.

“Hang on,” the officer kept his weight leaned into Eli and nodded at another officer down the hallway. That officer checked with the officer in charge of the scene: Eric Edwards, then nodded back down the hallway and called, “Let him go.”

“Oh,” the officer backed off of Eli, brushing him down quickly and nodded, “You two can go, then.”

Eli didn't wait for him to change his mind. In a flash, he was off and running once more, barrelling into Vic who had appeared, then blowing right past him.

“You going with him Cass?” he asked her.

“Yeah, I told the officer that I would.” She kicked off her high heels to be able to run. “I don’t think Eli should be alone right now. He’s devastated... so is Oralia, but at least Jackson’s with her.” Cassidy had to take a deep breath to steady herself, her own emotions affected by Eli’s and Oz’s. “Can ya come to Piper when yer done here?”

“As soon as they give me the all clear. I’ll take care of informing Jan and Woodford. Now go, catch up with Eli.”

Leaning up, she gave him a quick kiss, then gathered her long skirt up and ran. Eli had too much of a head start on her, but she knew where he was going and would catch up with him.

The lift was blessedly empty as Eli dashed into it and soon he was on his way. Leaning back, his brain was still looping - from the stolen kisses in the storeroom to the horror that waited in Jackson’s office round and round and round. Two minutes...he’d been gone two minutes....and that two minutes, when someone called him but no one had, had cost him everything. Shock gave way to panic and when the lift doors opened, he was running again. He had to get to Chance.

Chance....

____________

Vic
Not The Scene He Wanted To See

Cassidy Wilde
Hostess & Seeing Too Much
The Nexus Club

Eli Ziyad, Cadet 4th Class
Letting Nothing Get In His Way

Jackson Banning V
Owner & Oz’s Strength
The Nexus Club

Oralia Zeferino
In the Land of Confusion