In Time Gone By...

~ 23 ~

The office was a little dead. After the rush of trying to get everything sorted out, though, it was a welcome relief to have some peace. Although, on the other hand, tensions were far, far worse. 

The two of them sat at their desks without much conversation, getting on with their respective tasks with only the occasional glance over to the other side of the room. Bailee wouldn't maintain them though. 

The general looked up, turning his pen in his hands. "Did the major get back to you?" 

"No, not yet." she replied, signing a file and placing it in a pile to her side. 

"Can you follow it up...? Please..." 

"Yeah..." 

He sighed and nodded, getting up to leave with hands in his coat pockets. "I'll be on the bridge...if you need me." 

She looked up with a small, hollow smile. "Okay." 

"Right..." 

For a moment he considered staying but soon left, giving Bailee some room to breathe. She seemed to need it. From her perspective, she wanted to talk to him, of course she did. But it was hard: what would she even say? It needed time, more time than she had, really. 

Her files slid into the cabinet one by one: slow, her mind elsewhere. Of course it was. And with those thoughts, with him walking out the door, her eyes began to well. There was a pressure in her head that she tried to push away. Please don't cry...

She couldn't hold back a juddery gasp as a tear slipped down her face, throat closing up; sore. Why...why did it all have to happen now? And why was it so difficult to control herself? She wiped the tears away, trying to regain her breathing. 

The door clicked open behind her so she composed herself. "Just one second..." 

"Oh, take your time," That voice...it stung her bones. She turned. "I'll wait." 

"Elliott..." 

He was different. His hair was scraped back, a new look in his eyes, but most prominent was the captain's uniform he wore, freshly pressed from the laundry room, boots recently polished. The hat on his head cast a shadow over his eyebrows. Her blood ran cold and she stepped back, holding a file to her chest. 

"Bails..." he muttered. Her breathing picked up in an entirely new way now, a wash of nerves wracking every extremity. Her legs shook alongside her hands and stomach. 

"How...are you here?" 

"Nothing for you to worry about now." He moved toward her so she stepped back into the wall. "There's no where to go this time." 

She watched as a blaster emerged from his belt, the thing aimed at her head. "Elliott..."

"Shut your mouth, Latt." 

Her eyes didn't move from his. "They'll find you...You won't get off of this ship alive." 

"My contact assures me I will." He stepped closer, the barrel grazing her skin. "As for you, you can say goodbye to your precious general. Or, rather, he can say goodbye to you-"

Her foot stamped down on his shin as she grabbed ahold of his wrist and struggled to release his hand. Her body was wrapped around his, her foot trying to find his leg once again as she bucked to get him to drop the gun. With a grunt she forced his hand open, the blaster dropping to the floor and being kicked away. 

"Just die, you bitch!" His elbow made contact with her face, sending her to the floor with a thud. Regardless, and after recovering from the shock of the fall, she wrapped her leg around his ankle as he tried to run for his weapon, pulling him down with her and stunning him briefly.