Hazari's End

Posted on Thu Mar 7th, 2013 @ 2:14pm by Cadet Senior Grade Eli Ziyad & Commander Oralia Zeferino & Lieutenant Commander Gilroy & Lieutenant Eric Edwards & Cadet Senior Grade Chance Conradi & Tog
Edited on on Tue Sep 22nd, 2015 @ 10:33pm

Mission: The Struggle Within
Location: Chance/Eli Quarters

“...you get that?” Tog whispered to the Hazari, staring at him hard. As the defendant’s attorney, he could speak to the man without whispering and without concern of being overheard. He was simply being dramatic. “Get off this Station and away. It doesn’t matter where, just so long as you get away and keep going.”

“I know the point of escaping. Tell me again how this is happening?”

“Never you worry about the how, just be ready when you see...,” Tog started and ran through the beginnings of the plan again.

* * * Eli’s Quarters * * *

Eli awoke from a light doze and crawled from the bed. Pulling on a pair of jeans, and skipping a shirt, he wandered out and into the kitchen. He was thirsty enough to have been wandering for days on Vulcan. At his request, a tall frosty glass of sweet tea appeared on the replicator tray and he drank it down, then ordered another. The sweet tea was something he’d picked up from Jackson and it was one of the best things he’d ever tasted. He carried the second glass out to the living room and settled on the sofa, propping his feet on the coffee table. Chance had gone off to an appointment with Doc Harding and so Eli had time to relax and let his thoughts wander. They didn’t have long, however, as the door chime interrupted his thoughts.

“Come in,” he called out.

Lieutenant Edwards stepped inside, PADD in hand as he looked over the cadet’s quarters, seeing Eli relaxing shirtless on the sofa. He half-smirked and, in an effort to prevent Eli from leaping up and dousing himself in whatever he was drinking, put in a pre-emptive, “As you were, Cadet.”

“I’ve got a few things I need to wrap up with the Hazari investigation, if you’ve got the time, Eli. We’re about ready to hand all of this over to the prosecutor.”

“Oh sure.” Eli replaced his feet on the coffee table and nodded. “Have a seat Eric.” Given they were in his quarters and Lt. Edwards had just ordered him to at ease, he used the name of this man who’d become something of a friend and kindred spirit. “Whatever you need. Can I get you something?”

“Nah, that’s all right,” Eric said as he sat down. “These questions are all basically formalities, we should be able to take care of them pretty quickly,” the Security officer explained, activating the PADD and starting from the top. “So, number one...” he began to drone on.

* * *The Hazari* * *

He was close to being a completely free man again - was just steps away, in fact. All he had to do was go down the corridor to the docking bay and board the ship there. It was simple. But he hesitated. If he did that, he’d never see Eli again.

Eli. The boy’s dark hair and eyes rose up in his mind’s eye. Such a beautiful boy.

He couldn’t leave Eli. Turning away from his assured freedom, he hurried through lesser-used corridors, heading for his love.

Arriving at Eli's quarters quickly, the Hazari hesitated just as moment before ringing the chime.

Eli was just emerging from the kitchen when the chime rang. “Give me just a minute, I’ll see who it is,” he informed Eric. He crossed to the door and pressed the panel to open them.

The Hazari rushed Eli, pushing him into the room and to the floor. He down with him and started babbling. The most coherent thing he said was: "Come with me, my love. We'll travel far from here!"

Between the Hazari’s weight and the hard floor, the breath was knocked out of Eli. He opened his mouth to speak but the only thing that came out was a wheeze. He grabbed at the Hazari’s shirt but the man was far bigger and moving him was not an option.

Eric's eyes went wide in his chair, delaying him only a moment before he found himself on his feet. I've gotta start carrying my phaser on 'routine' investigations, he grumbled inwardly.

"Security team to the Cadet Dormitories," he barked, before laying both hands on the Hazari's shoulders and attempting to remove him from Eli.

* * *Random Corridor* * *

“Not come back? What?” Oralia shot a confused, borderline-hostile glance at Gilroy as they walked. He’d caught up with her as she was heading for Chance’s to see her little brother.

“Think of it, Darwin loves to explore, to find new things. And, other there, he’d have an entirely new universe in which to do so. Who knows what the conditions are there,” Gilroy sounded half-jealous; he, too, had an explorer’s heart.

“But we do know what that universe is like: other there, the SB was attacked and people were killed. I think he’ll come back, no question about it,” Oralia asserted. She had faith that Darwin was much more duty-bound than Gilroy was currently giving him credit for.

“Right--”, the part-Klingon started then was cut off by the chirp of his and Oralia’s commbadges: =^=Commander, the Hazari is unaccounted for and Lieutenant Edwards just called for a security team to the Cadet Dorms.=^=

Oz made eye contact with Gilroy and they both said, “Chance,” before breaking into a run.

* * *Eli’s Quarters* * *

The tableau Oralia saw when she ordered the door to Eli’s quarters open wasn’t one she ever expected to see: Eli, the Hazari and Eric Edwards were struggling on the floor. The Hazari was shouting: “I love you! Eli! Come with me!”

The arrival of Oralia and Gilroy seemingly snapped the Hazari’s last thread’s hold on sanity. He froze for a split second then, with a roar, shoved Eric back and grabbed Eli’s arm, hauling both himself and the kid to their feet. He then started propelling Eli towards the door, intending to break past Oralia and her goon with speed and surprise.

“NO! Eric!” The shout came from Eli, who dug his heels in as best he could, given his feet were bare. He was doing his best to slow down their progress forward as he had no intentions of going anywhere. He was as surprised as the Hazari to see Oz and Gilroy appear before them. The Hazari was going to stop one way or the other and he intended to help that along. With a grunt, he slammed his elbow back into the Hazari’s gut, hoping to knock the wind out of him. Fear was racing through Eli, riding him hard and, given the low-level telepathic field he gave off, was affecting the Hazari as well. Fear made people unpredictable and that worried Eli even more.

Shouting inarticulately, the Hazari felt Eli’s fear and worry as his own. He couldn’t be caught! Getting caught would mean death! As much as he loved Eli, he couldn’t let himself be caught. He suddenly reversed his hold on Eli and shoved the man towards the bigger threat: the part-Klingon, Gilroy, and then slammed a shoulder into Zeferino’s chest and barreled past her, nearly running over another, very surprised, male in the hallway.

“What the hell...?” The male, Chance, backed up against the wall and watched the Hazari run away; his jaw dropped when he recognized the female running after him: Oralia. “Oz!”, he shouted but she ignored him. He started off after her.

Truth was, Oz didn’t even hear Chance. All she was focused on was the Hazari, the man who’d killed her brother. She raced after the man, keeping pace with him down the corridor and around several turns. When he was stupid enough to duck into a interdeck passage, she caught his legs as he scaled the ladder and hauled him off of it.

Together, they tumbled to the floor and wrestled there. Seeing red, Oralia didn’t play fair: she drove a knee into the Hazari’s family jewels hard enough to make most men vomit. She didn’t let up; instead she leaned in and used her leverage to cause more pain to the male under her. “Who put you to it? Who hired you?”, she hissed at him.

He shook his head, “I don’t know....” Pain and fear radiated off of him. The pain spiked as Oz shifted her weight and hit him with a closed fist.

“Try again, Hazari. You know and you’ll tell me!” Even as she snarled at him, she saw the knife he’d drawn and blocked the blow. In the tight space of the passage, they fought for the knife and for control over the situation. Oralia had already lost control of herself; when she gained the knife from the Hazari’s grip (thanks to the judicious use of her teeth), she didn’t hesitate to turn it on the killer, the man who’d cut her little brother’s throat with the intention of forever changing her world. He’d succeeded in changing her world, even though her brother had come back from the dead.

Panting hard, and with blood pouring over her hand and the hilt of the knife, she looked the Hazari in the eye and demanded, “Who? Who contracted for my brother’s murder?” When the Hazari’s answer was again, “I don’t know,” she twisted the knife and thrust it upwards, opening a hole in the Hazari’s heart. She yanked the knife back out of the wound and watched the man die.

The scuff of a boot on the deck plating made her look up. Gilroy and Eric were there; behind them, stood Eli and her brother. How long had they been standing there? Oz came back to herself, realized that she’d just killed a man out of revenge and anger and hatred, and backed off, dropping the knife.

Gilroy was the first to speak. “Self-defense. You had no choice, Oz,” he caught her by the arm and pulled her into the corridor. As he spoke, he looked at Chance, who blankly nodded, and then Eric.

“I’ll have a medical team out to collect the body, and seal off this section,” Eric said, reserving any vocal judgment on the act. In his mind, it was no more or less than the Hazari deserved or would have gotten after his day in court. Still, he too found his eyes moving towards Eli and Chance. “And you two should get back to your quarters. You really don’t need to be involved in this now.”

"Eric's right, you two. We'll catch up with you later," Oralia said, sounding normal even though her nerves and emotions were a jangled mess. Chance hugged her tightly then let her go and took Eli's hand.

Eli seemed to be in shock as he stood, staring down at the now dead Hazari. A visible shudder ran over him but not even Chance’s hand seemed to register. All he could think of was ‘what if’. What if Eric hadn’t been there, what if Oz and Gilroy hadn’t been at the door, what if the horror wouldn’t end?

“Hey, Eli,” Oralia touched the kid, patted his cheek lightly to make him look away from the Hazari.

He shrank back from her touch but then finally seemed to come back to himself. He looked from the Hazari to Oz. “Is it over? Really?”

“Yeah, now go, let Chance clean you up,” she whispered to him. She was the one who needed cleaning up; blood covered her hands and for a split second, all she could think was, Out, out, damned spot.... Not a very helpful thought at the moment and she nearly giggled at the thought of Lady Macbeth scrubbing her hands.

Eli nodded slowly and squeezed Chance’s hand. “Let’s go.”

Eli wasn’t getting any argument from Chance; he pulled Eli down the hall as two things happened. First, more Security and the Medical First Responders arrived; second, Oralia’s commbadge chirped and announced, =^=Commander, Admiral Wegener has just reported in from the USS Hammond. They’re home, safe. And Suresh is in the Hammond’s brig.=^=

Oz let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding and muttered, “Oh thank somebody for at least one small favor.”

“He’s dead,” Eli whispered. The relief that flooded him was so strong it hit Chance hard. “He’s dead.”

“Yeah, he is,” Chance agreed, walking beside him. He glanced back and felt an emptiness he couldn’t yet figure out.

“You okay?” The doors to their quarters opened and Eli tugged him inside. “It’s not everyday you get to come face to face with your own murderer.”

"Yeah, no, I'm fine. It's not every day you see your sister... um... doing her job," Chance replied.

“He’s gone and neither of us is in danger from him anymore.” Eli ran his hand over his face, then rubbed his eyes. The Hazari’s words came back to him now, the declaration of love which was just too weird. “And I guess my stalking is over. Finally.”

"Come with me, my love," Chance smiled and pulled Eli towards the bathroom. "Oz got some blood on you."

Eli smiled but it slipped for an instant as he realized Chance had echoed the Hazari’s words. “Sure. She did order you to clean me up after all.”

"And you know me, I always follow through on orders." He kissed him, laughingly unaware of just how wrong he was about himself. In the past, he hadn't been very thorough on follow through at all. The Hazari, though, was well-known for executing on orders.

“Uh, yeah, right.” Eli grinned and allowed himself to be drawn away to the bathroom. Suddenly, the idea of getting the Hazari’s blood off him seemed very good indeed.

**************

The Hazari
At Wit's End

Tog
Giving Bad Counsel

Cadet Second Class Eli Ziyad
Safe From Unwanted Attention

Lieutenant Eric Edwards
Conflicted

Lieutenant Commander Oralia Zeferino
Crossing the Line

Lieutenant Gilroy
Pulling Her Back

Cadet Second Class Chance Conradi
Carrying the Flame