[Reflections 'Verse] Borne On Wings of Fire and Climbing Higher

[lt_cmmdr_scott]

Upon reflection, considering the particularly bloody-mindedness of the Enterprise crew, his so-called 'insurance policy' probably hadn't been the best idea. Granted, it had kept him safe from attempts on his life. He was, in fact, very much alive. Alive, and in more pain that should possible for any one person to be in. A couple hours in the

Comments

[lt_cmmdr_scott]

He reached up with agonizing slowness, closing a hand around one of her wrists. One of his fingers stuck out at an angle that was very definitely not the angle meant for fingers to stick out in; the joint was broken or dislocated, one of the two. "Forced me tae..." He opened his eyes for a moment, and closed them again. Both eyes were beginning to show signs of bruising, and it hurt to open them. "Dis... dism... undo the..." He let go of her wrist, gestured vaguely, and dropped his hand down onto his chest, wincing at the pressure on his finger. "Ship won't... if I die."

That seemed to exhaust his currently ability to speak and in spite of Gaila's insistence that he keep speaking to her, he was silent for a long moment, taking stock of what had happened. Trying to add up what hurt and what didn't. Head: Pounding. Eyes: Bruised. Chest: Aching, at least two ribs broken. Finger: Hurt. Everything else: Pain. His side was a mass of bruises under his uniform, breathing hurt, thinking hurt, hell, everything hurt.

But he was alive. All things considered, he was pretty damn lucky, for a certain quantity of luck. He'd fought long and hard to stay alive in the Empire, but now... He tried to remind himself that he'd been through worse. He'd been through worse, and he'd survived. But this time, he hadn't. This time, nothing he'd been through before could compare. They hadn't let him sleep. They'd kept him awake, they'd starved him, they'd shoved him in the agony booth, and then they'd set to work on him themselves. And if they hadn't beaten him to within an inch of his life, they'd come damn close.

And he was beginning to think that maybe, this time, it wasn't worth the effort of fighting. That maybe this time, it was better to just give in. His hand fell off his chest, and he winced again, and... He could feel the vibrations of the engine through the floor. He laid his hand flat on the floor, or at least as flat as he could lay his hand, and he whispered an apology to the ship.

[missgaila]

Gaila's gaze snapped back up to Scott's face as he closed a hand weakly around her wrist, one of his fingers jutting out at a painful angle, and she cringed at the sight. She couldn't handle broken bones, and who knew how many he had? Listening very carefully as Scott struggled to speak, she picked up on the few words he croaked out, trying to put them together in a sentence that would make sense, when it hit her. They'd disabled Scott's failsafe. They no longer needed to keep him alive. He was disposable now.

Her mind raced with options, and she tried to go through the ones she had and pick the lesser of the evils. How could she keep him safe, and keep him alive as well? There had to be some way to help him, to ease his pain and fix what she could, without risking his life by bringing him out in public for too long. This was one of the lowest decks, and bringing him to sickbay would entail a long turbolift ride and then pulling him through the hallways. Leaving him here to go on her own would take too long, and he wouldn't stay hidden for long given the blood trail. What was she supposed to do?

Then suddenly, she realized just how low in the ship they were located. She was very familiar with the lowest decks, and knew almost all the Security officers stationed there. Now that Scott didn't need to stay on the ship to ensure that the Enterprise would see another day, it wouldn't matter if she just... took him away. He would end up dead if left here, anyway. It was risky, and she would have to be extremely careful, but this was the best opportunity she would ever get. The half-plan she had put together in her heartbroken delusions late at night actually seemed like a legitimate possibility right now.

"Hold on," she mumbled, voice shaking as she rushed to her feet and sprinted back to her corner, grabbing a handcrafted idol of one of the Thousand Gods from off the wall, the knife Scott had given her, his pin and what clothes she had available. Stuffing it all in her belt, she hurried back to his side, gingerly putting his arm around her shoulders and hoisting him up into a standing position with her. He was heavy and injured, and she was terrified of causing him more pain, but he was clearly too injured to walk on his own. The least she could do was make sure he got there in one piece. "I'm gonna take you somewhere safe, just hold onto me, okay? It's not far," she promised as she started walking with him down the hallway, needing to get out of there as quickly as possible. She hoped Keenser would be okay, hoped he'd be able to get out before he was discovered. Right now though, she had much more important things on her hands.

[lt_cmmdr_scott]

He let out a sharp hiss of pain as Gaila hauled him to his feet, but gave no other indication that he was seriously injured. He'd learned a long time ago how to, if not ignore the pain, at least to act as though he wasn't hurt as badly as he was. In spite of the rush of nausea as a wave of pain hit him, he remained silent, his eyes on the floor in front of him. It kept trying to rush up to meet him. He leaned heavily against Gaila, trembling every now and then, swaying with every step. He'd have asked where she was taking him, but wherever it was, even if he didn't want to go, he was in no position to argue. The best he could manage at the moment was being grateful that at least he'd been able to stay upright long enough to make it somewhere relatively safe.

It was slow going. The adrenaline-fueled need to get somewhere safe, somewhere he knew he wouldn't be killed, had worn off, and without Gaila's support he wouldn't have been walking at all. There was a worrisome grayness closing in around the edges of his vision. Worrisome if he'd been in any state to notice it. He was too busy trying to keep the floor where it belonged, i.e. under his feet, and not under his face.

[missgaila]

At least he was standing upright as she supported him down the hallways, automatically putting one leg in front of the other, tripping over his own feet here and there. But she was keeping him standing, and they were moving forward. Gaila was desperate to get Scott to safety as quickly as possible, and tried to dodge the officers they stumbled past on their way to her safe haven. The thought that I can't believe I'm actually doing this crossed her mind for a fleeting moment, before it disappeared from where it came, leaving her with one thing on her mind; hurry up.

They finally reached where they needed to be, a swift turbolift ride and one more hallway's length down, into the practically abandoned shuttlebay area. Two security officers were stationed in the hallway, both of them smiling at her as she passed, and another one was right outside the entrance. He grinned particularly widely, making Gaila smile back. She was grateful she'd thought to seduce as many security officers as she could, without them trying to kill each other over her.

A whispered conversation, and he opened the door for her, pointing towards one of the flight ready shuttles, and as she dragged the Chief of Engineering with her towards the shuttle craft, the security officer sprinted off through the hallway, towards the turbolift; she had asked him very kindly to get some supplies for her, and return as quickly as he could. Now she just had to get Scott inside the craft...

Her heart was pounding in her chest. How was she supposed to pilot this thing? How was she supposed to even get it off the landing pad, let alone out into space? Would Montgomery be alright..?

[lt_cmmdr_scott]

He didn't protest. Didn't say a thing, actually, just followed along, one foot in front of the other. That was all he could focus on right now. One foot in front of the other, over and over again, because as long as Gaila led him he couldn't gather up the energy to stop. Momentum lent him the strength to keep going, although he stumbled a bit when Gaila slowed to speak to the security officer - stumbled, and grasped her shoulder tightly to keep himself from pitching forward and making friends with the floor.

He was only marginally aware of the conversation between Gaila and the security officer, only vaguely aware of where they even were, and where they were going. He managed to look up long enough to catch sight of the shuttlecraft, but if he realized what Gaila was planning, he didn't say anything.

At least, not until she tried to get him into the craft. He must have realized, on some level, what was happening, and he attempted to twist away, attempted to fight. No. She couldn't take him from the ship. He needed to stay with the ship, he needed to stay with the Enterprise. He'd do anything to stay with the ship.

He stumbled, and fell against the shuttle's hull, wincing at the stab of pain from his ribs. Knife. Where was his knife? They'd taken his knife. He couldn't fight. God help him, she was taking him away from his ship and he couldn't fight her.

[missgaila]

Gaila didn't expect him to start fighting. She thought he'd been too out of it to realize where they even were, much less what she was about to do to him. And, as she really should have expected, he started squirming, twisting, trying to push away from her. He was not going on that shuttle willingly.

"No! No, no, no," she said, trying to hold on to him, trying to keep him standing and get him onto the shuttle, the doors open and waiting for them to step inside. But he refused, and managed to stumble out of her grip, falling against the craft's hull with a pained noise. Hissing a sharp curse, the noise bouncing off the walls of the shuttlebay, she grasped him again, this time with more determined force. He was going on that shuttle.

"Please Scott, don't fight me! You can't stay here!" she pleaded, pulling him towards the open door, wanting to just shove him inside and be done with it. If she hadn't cared enough to be genuinely concerned for him, she probably would have. Where was that security officer? She needed help with this!

[lt_cmmdr_scott]

He tried to fight. He tried to resist as Gaila pulled him toward the shuttle door, but he was fighting a losing battle. He didn't have the strength left to fight. But he paused in the door, turning to look back at the rest of the shuttle bay, distantly aware that this was likely the last time he would ever see his ship. He couldn't leave her, but he had nowhere else to go. He couldn't run. He couldn't fight. It was over. The Empire had won.

Please. Let me stay. Let me die here. Let die with her... For once, he didn't bother trying to disguise the pain in his expression. "Just... let me die..." He wasn't sure if he'd spoken the words aloud or not. "Please..." He tried to pull away from her again, lost his balance, and fell against the open hatch. And he gave up. The last spark of resistance dimmed and finally went out, and he let Gaila pull him onto the shuttle, too exhausted, too drained and hurt to do anything else.

[missgaila]

The more Scott tried to resist, the more precious energy he lost, and she was thankful for this as soon as his struggles diminished. He stopped trying to twist away from her, he stopped trying to push her away. Really, he just stopped. Gaila noticed him pausing at the door, looking back at the shuttlebay, and she couldn't help the pang of guilt she felt as she realized what she was doing.

She was, essentially, taking him away from his precious ship by force. This was going to be the last time he would see her, if things went according to Gaila's plan. And while she would selfishly rather him pay attention to her instead, she understood how much pain he must be in right now. Emotionally as well as physically. His last broken plea made her cringe, tears swelling in her eyes once again. She had never heard him speak with such a tone. This man laughed death in the face every single day... and now he was pleading for it. It was breaking her heart.

Reacting too late as he pulled away from her and fell against the hatch, she cursed again and shakily reached for him, holding onto him tightly, pulling his dead weight onto the shuttle. There were a row of mounted chairs against one side, and a mounted bench on the other. She'd have to wait for the security officer's return before she'd even attempt hoisting him onto the bench. Her whole body was shaking with adrenaline. His words were still on her mind as she knelt next to him, hands cupping his face. Just... let me die... Please...

"I'm sorry," she whispered, shaking her head, her thumbs gingerly rubbing his cheeks. "I can't let that happen..."

[lt_cmmdr_scott]

How ironic, that the woman who once would have given anything to see him dead was now fighting to keep him alive. Fighting to keep him alive even as she took him from the only thing worth living for. Taking him from the only thing he cared about, and for what? To save his life? But without the ship, his life meant nothing, didn't she realize that? He couldn't walk away from her, he couldn't abandon her... If he couldn't have the ship, at the very least Gaila could let him have the release of death. But she wouldn't let him have that, either.

He didn't say anything more to her, just closed his eyes and tried to will himself to death. Her hands on his face, in the state he was in, were distracting, and he didn't have the strength to brush them away. He didn't have the strength to ignore her long enough to concentrate on dying. He'd have laughed, if he'd been able to.

[missgaila]

But his life was meant something, even if she removed the Enterprise from the equation! Couldn't he see that? There was so much out there to live for, and she was certain he had something else he could be passionate about, something else to keep himself entertained, to keep him moving. He had spent so long with the Empire, on board a ship like this for almost twenty years, no wonder he didn't have anything else in his life.

But she'd show him. She'd show him the wonders of the world around them, make him rediscover everything he once loved. It might be selfish of her, to just take him away like this and force him to start living for the first time in eighteen years... But Scott's insistant wish to die was even more selfish of him, and she wasn't about to allow him the easy way out.

The security officer returned, setting the box he'd brought back with him on the floor of the shuttle. Perfect, she hoped he'd been able to fit everything. "Help me get him up on the bench," she demanded, shaking arms hooking underneath Scott's shoulders as the security officer - why couldn't she remember his name? She should just bring him, too - grabbed him gently by the legs, and together they lifted him up on the horizontal surface. Gaila debated to herself whether she should strap him down for now, or leave him laying there, before just turning to focus her attention on the cockpit. Oh Gods, she was going to have to fly this thing... Luckily, the officer was more than willing to help her identify the various controls. As long as she'd be able to propel them forward, she could figure out the rest, right?

[lt_cmmdr_scott]

He didn't fight them as they picked him up and carried him over to the bench, though the movement jarred his ribs again, and his face went pale as another wave of nausea swept over him. While Gaila and the security officer were busy in the cockpit, he pulled himself upright, operating on what could only be sheer stubbornness. Moving carefully, slowly, he managed to reach the box of supplies and drag it closer, and as he'd done many times before, began to tend to his various injuries himself. He was moving on autopilot now, not really thinking about what he was doing. He wasn't certain he'd be able to think about what he was doing even if he wanted to think about it.

First things first. He gave his finger a cursory examination, decided that it was likely only dislocated, and not broken, and with a short, muttered curse he grasped it and popped it back into place. It would be stiff and sore for a while, but at least he could move it now. Next, his ribs. He wasn't entirely sure what to do about them, and in the end he decided that the best he could do for now was lifting his shirt up to bandage his torso and hope that it was good enough.

But when the shuttle began to move, he paused, and turned to look out the window, his expression once again closed off and guarded. Maybe the Enterprise crew would realize what was happening, and maybe they'd blast the shuttle to pieces, rather than let them escape. It was a cheering thought - for him, anyway. He'd rather be killed by his ship than let anyone take him from her.

[missgaila]

After having shown her everything she'd need to know about operating the shuttle two or three times over, Gaila gave a strained smile to the security officer, honestly delighted that she had such a resourceful ally. He'd given her this shuttle without blinking, picked up a whole box of supplies from Medical - including as many pheromone suppressant formulas he could find, she had stressed this - and was now more or less teaching her how to pilot the craft, promising to cover for her as long as he could. She wondered if he knew that this could get him killed on the spot. Because it would. Maybe he knew, or maybe her influence on him was clouding his judgement so much that he hadn't even considered the thought.

Either way, she wouldn't let the thought bother her right now, and she instead gave him a rough kiss of gratitude before he left the cockpit, stepping out of the shuttle and closing the hatch. Sealing it from the inside with the press of a button, Gaila took a deep breath before firing up the shuttle craft, feeling the engine vibrating through the whole structure. It lifted from the ground, hovering unsteadily for a little while as the doors out into space slid open, and she carefully started inching towards the mouth of the shuttlebay, leading right into space. It would be a bumpy ride, she quickly realized that as the craft jerked a bit, but eventually it breached the force field, and there they were. In space. On their own.

Her whole body was shaking as she steered the shuttle away from the ship, increasing the speed as much as she dared without bringing too much attention to themselves. They couldn't know already. The officer had promised to distract the bridge crew for long enough to allow her a pocket of time for escape. So, once the shuttlebay doors slid shut and she was sure the Enterprise wasn't turning to pursue them, she increased once more until the thrusters were on full, and took them away from the ship. It hurt, to know she was tearing Scott from his ship, but she couldn't let him stay there any longer. It would get him killed.

[lt_cmmdr_scott]

The shuttle sped away from the ship, and with the last reserves of his strength, Scotty pulled himself up from the bench and made his way to the back of the craft, gripping whatever support he could find to keep him on his feet. So this was it, then. The last he would see of the Enterprise. He kept his eyes trained on her, as though determined to remember every detail. Against the backdrop of space, she was magnificent. He'd seen her from the outside only once or twice in his career; most of his time was spent down with the engine. But to see her as she was meant to be seen, to see her set against the stars in the distance... She was perfect. And he would never see her again.

Never again would the hum of the engine lull him to sleep. Never again would she whisper to him in that language that only he could understand, that hidden language of the machinery, each thrum, each clank and click a different meaning. He murmured something under his breath, some plaintive plea for those on the bridge to notice, to turn and either catch the shuttle in the tractor beam or to send a spray of phaser fire lancing in their direction, but the Thousand Gods were with Gaila, it seemed.

He wondered, briefly, idly, if she'd thought to disable the communications arrays. Or if she realized that they would be within sensor range of the ship for some time. Had she planned this at all? It didn't matter. With any luck, they would be caught, and taken back to the ship, and if they sentenced him to death he would demand to be allowed to choose how he would die, and he would let the Enterprise kill him... He kept his eyes on her as long as she was within sight.

[missgaila]

Gaila could hear him shuffling behind her, getting to his feet and stumbling around in the craft, but at least he managed to stand on his own two feet. If he tumbled to the ground, she didn't know what she would do. She had to get them as far away from the Enterprise before she could leave the helm, preferably somewhere safe and small where the ship wouldn't be able to reach them, but if he did lose his balance and fell to the floor, she couldn't just leave him there. He was still in pain...

No. She had to focus. Now wasn't the time to engage the warp drive, not when they were still this close and easily spotted. This little thing had very limited warp capabilities, and the Enterprise could catch up with them in the blink of an eye. It wasn't wise to draw attention to their escape by attempting a stupid stunt like that just yet. Besides... She wanted him to have his last look at the Enterprise while he still had the chance. His pain was tearing her apart.

As for the communications arrays, she had barely figured out how to use them yet, let alone disable them. This plan was very feeble, falling apart at the seams, but it had worked so far, and she counted on her strike of luck to last her at least until they were out of the system. The security officer had told her that they had about a week of generated oxygen before the emergency tank would start to deplete, and after that, it all depended on how much they were moving and breathing until it all ran out. She would get them somewhere safe by then. She had to.

[lt_cmmdr_scott]

Somehow, against all odds, Gaila's escape plan was still working. It shouldn't have been possible. They should have been spotted by now, they should have been seen and they should have been pursued, and they should have been on their way to capture even now. And they weren't. It was working. They were getting away. And that was the last thing he could have wanted. His hand tightened on the rail he was using as support as the ship began to dwindle in the distance. She was visible for a long while. Even at the speed the small shuttle was traveling, it would be some time before the ship was out of sight. And he intended to watch her until she was.

He wasn't sure how long it was, how long he stood, just watching, his eyes fixed on the ship. His ship. Eventually, she was too far away to see clearly, just one small spot of light in an expanse of other small spots of light. They'd be beyond the sensor range, now. He closed his eyes, and lowered his head, and a moment later he turned from the window and made his way back to the bench, still silent.

He dug around in the box of supplies, found some painkillers, and administered them quickly. Whatever Gaila had in mind now, he didn't know, and he didn't care. He laid back down on the bench, wincing as his ribs twinged in protest, but the pain slowly faded as the painkiller kicked in. Whatever happened next, it was well out of his hands. He was no longer in control of anything, not his ship, not his engine room, not his life. Nothing.

[missgaila]

After the first hour, Gaila lost her sense of time, and couldn't keep track of how long they'd traveled, or even how far. What she knew for sure was that they were still alive, and still on the shuttle as it chugged along, plowing through the darkness of space towards an unknown goal. There should be an onboard star map, but she had yet to review it. Even though they were far from Syndicate space, there were independent Orion colonies spread throughout the whole Beta Quadrant. And maybe that's what they both needed. A Syndicate free environment. No politics - or in the Syndicate's case, half-politics disguised under piracy and flesh peddling - just a relaxing, quiet, self-sustained colony.

They had been traveling at warp for a good while now, and after a quick review of her surroundings - nothing on the limited sensors, no messages on any frequencies, no immediate dangers - she activated the auto-pilot and rose from her seat, sighing softly with fatigue. The adrenaline had worn off long ago, leaving her to function entirely on terror, guilt and determination, and now she was tired and hungry. Plus she needed to check up on Scott...

She moved to the seating area, watching the broken man as she sat down in one of the chairs opposite of the bench, trying to ignore the painful clenching sensation she had gotten so used to over the course of the months she'd known him. The guilt was almost overwhelming. But she tried to tell herself that her actions hadn't been entirely selfish. She had saved him. And she was able to fix him. She just needed to be given a chance...