Dream A Little Dream Of Me

Posted on Wed Dec 5th, 2012 @ 11:58am by Suresh & Seyla

Mission: The Struggle Within
Location: Somewhere In The Cherry Pit

* * *Somewhere In The Cherry Pit * * *

The Rat had spent the hours after leaving Lazan in a quandary. He and the Enforcer had their orders from Suresh, standing orders that had been in place for some time now and that had never varied. But then he had disappeared and Lazan, trusted second in command, had stepped in. And changed those orders. In The Rat’s opinion, it put them all at risk. Now, if Lazan approved the target, and The Rat had his doubts about that happening, he would know and couldn’t claim innocence in the situation. The possibilities made his head spin. Even so, he had to tell the Enforcer before he got too far in his plans for number two on the list.

Which is why he was now standing outside the Hazari’s door, where he’d been for the past ten minutes, debating with himself and trying to work up his courage to enter. Finally, he stepped inside.

The room was dark, save the one small lamp on the table. The air was once again heavy with the scent of those infernal black cigarettes the Enforcer favored. The light from the corridor illuminated the square of carpet where The Rat now stood, but only briefly. Then the door closed, leaving them once again in darkness held at bay only by the small lamp and the red glow of his cigarette.

“Well?” He noted The Rat had not advanced any closer. He could smell the fear that clung to him, the odor heavy and sour, and it pulled him from deeper thoughts of a pair of dark brown eyes. He shook his head to clear it and focused on the creature so amusingly referred to as his ‘handler’. The Rat couldn’t handle a housefly without fear. The idea of him handling a Hazari was nothing short of ludicrous. “Sit,” he ordered.

The Rat scurried to the chair in an instant without argument. “I have news.”

The Enforcer drew on the cigarette as he considered this. He waited to speak, counting the seconds until The Rat began to fidget. Less than two. This must be something important indeed.

“Spill it.”

“It seems that Suresh is not simply away from the station but missing. No one has any word on where he might be, so Lazan is running things until he reappears. He has given his order that we are not to proceed with any future projects without his approval for each. That approval for the next target has not been given.” The Rat paused for only a millisecond. The Enforcer had not yet moved or spoken, so he took a deep breath and rapidly spilled the rest. “We are on hold, which raises several questions, which I asked. He grew quite angry.” He said waiting now for the axe to fall.

“I see.” The Enforcer considered the situation. “That leads to one conclusion then. Surely even you can see that?”

The Rat may have been challenged in the looks and courage department, but there was nothing wrong with his mind. Which was why Suresh had chosen him in the first place. The Enforcer’s meaning was instantly clear. The situation had become what they referred to as ‘then’. Only then had become now. The Rat nodded.

“How soon?”

“Hand please.” The Hazari waited as The Rat hesitantly held out his palm, then ground out his cigarette there. The only reaction was a hiss of indrawn breath and the Enforcer was pleased. “That’s for daring to question me. I’ll tell you when it is time. Go away.”

The Rat rose without another word and fled before he made the mistake of crying out aloud.

Behind him, the Enforcer sat, mulling over his words. He wasn’t too concerned, really. He’d take care of things as his contract and Suresh expected. Today, however, he was unconcerned. His last job had gone well and he deserved a day off. The eyes appeared in his mind again, looking back at him. He wished now that he knew who or what they represented. He allowed himself to look into them and in moments, he felt as if he were drifting away. Soon, he rested his head on his arms and the room faded away as he fell......deep into...those eyes......

He was on the promenade, looking for something or someone. He rarely went there when it was busy, he didn’t like being spotted. People didn’t like his kind after all. But today, things were different. They were smiling at him.

And he was smiling back, even waving at a group huddled over books at one table. His destination was another table, though - one where a single male awaited him. Getting close, he put a hand on the male’s right shoulder and briefly kissed him before sitting down next to him. “Nice to see you waited for me for lunch,” he heard himself say, nodding at the other male’s plate with half a sandwich left.

“Sorry,” the young man answered. “I was just starving. I was on PT rotation this morning and I could eat one of those dinosaurs I found in the holodeck programming. They were huge! You want the rest?” The plate was pushed across to sit in front of him.

“Yeah, you know I can always eat, E,” he said, the words coming automatically. As he bit into the cheesy offering, a blonde waitress came along and he watched as she flirted with the other male. Of particular note was how she tucked a lock of stray hair behind her ear with the fingers of one hand and smiled at the man. After a moment, she slid a small, folded piece of paper into his hands and sashayed away. “What’s Miss Coffee giving you, besides a ‘come get me’ signal?”

The young man looked surprised. “A ‘come get me’ signal?” Dark eyes, so familiar, looked back at him. “I don’t think she’s really....” He’d unfolded the note as he spoke and, looking down at it, he fell silent. His expression changed to wariness instantly. “This says that two men were here asking about me earlier.”

Alarm and fear - two things he normally didn’t feel, ever; at least not like this - raced through him. “Here? We should tell someone - Security?”, he blathered mindlessly. What was with him? He tried to assert his normal manner, but the other boy was talking.

“I don’t think we need to bother them with this, it could’ve been anything.” The brown-eyed young man slipped the note into his pocket, then reached for his hand. A kiss was pressed to his palm but he had the feeling the young man was holding something back.

A feeling he wasn’t comfortable with ran through him and he yanked his hand back and cried out.

He woke in a cold sweat from the strange dream, shuddering from the last emotion he’d felt go through him. He tried to identify it and, after a long moment, did. It was love.

***************
The Enforcer
In A Nightmare

The Rat
Choosing His Master