Posted by Lieutenant Faye Calloway (Mission Specialist) in Brig, Day 2- Disentanglement

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Zef Rollo (Counselor) in Brig, Day 2- Disentanglement

Posted by Shara Calloway (Intel Liason) in Brig, Day 2- Disentanglement
Posted by… suppressed (4) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

Faye almost shook her head, but as she gazed at Rollo, she knew that later there would be a lot of untangling that would need to be done. If there was a later. Faye was trying to be hopeful, but it was actually easier if she expected to have to fight tooth and nail at the moment. If she simply expected everything to work out she understood that she might not be compelled to fight as hard. And right now that could mean the difference between life and death.

Taking a deep and steading breath, Faye gave a smile, weak thought it was. “If things don’t go well for me today, do me a favour and tell my mom… thanks.” There was too much to say and not enough time. It had to be enough.

~Faye Calloway, Prisoner

Zef understood the simple request held much more meaning than it sounded like it did. “I’ll do that.” She stood and looked down at Faye. “I’m going to get the clothes you requested and your boots. While I’m gone, try to finish that protein shake. I shouldn’t be more than ten minutes.” The counselor walked over to the doorway where the active field was and signaled Oberon she was ready to leave.

“I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

OOC: Is Commander Calloway still in the corridor or did she go somewhere else?

—Rollo, CNS

OOC: She’s gone down to Faye’s lab. While the door is locked, Shara can be paged/called: https://www.star-fleet.com/core/stf1/manhattan/posts/107670/. Feel free to post to that thread. It’s more or less concurrent.
IC:
Something small shifted in her during the last moment of her conversation and Faye knew it. She sat just a little bit taller and could feel the anticipation floating through her as she awaited something amounting proper clothing. And her boots. It was a small thing, but her boots were hers, broken in and fitting her feet perfectly. There were that precious connection to the life she was desperately clinging to and maybe if she wore them during this ‘meeting’ with Blue, she could fully claim that life back. Maybe

There were so many unknown variables right now and the hard part was knowing that she could do nothing but wait for things to unfold. Events were happening beyond her cell and she had zero clue about any of it. Conversations occurring, decisions made. All of it would ultimately affect her, but she had no say in any of it. She had to trust.

Trust . It was that terribly difficult thing she had learned. Some might assume that she still didn’t trust anyone and that any ground made on that front had happened here on the Manhattan. They would be wrong. There had been a whole swath of time where Faye had learned to give up a huge measure of control over her life and trust in others to have her back, to keep her life intact and safe. They didn’t understand that the man who was coming to see her (if it even was truly him) had been the first person she had ever given the entirety of her trust to.. And willingly. And very soon she was about to find out if he had broken it.

~Faye Calloway, Prisoner Awaiting Her Fate

It didn’t take long for Zef to return with the promised items. She’d had the quartermaster replicate a garment for Faye, cut like a uniform, that was entirely black with no identifying markings for rank or specialty, then stopped by her quarters to pick up the boots. While there, the counselor stepped into the bathroom to look over the countertop. She saw a few personal items that Faye might like, so she grabbed them too. It was while she was there that she contacted Cmdr Calloway.

Faye’s small quarters were neat and tidy, but also fairly bare. She didn’t seem to have a lot of personal effects, save a framed photo on the bedside table, tilted towards the bed, and perhaps a surprising number of plants tucked in nooks and corners of her place. There was a shelving unit with grow lights on where trays of tiny seedlings had recently sprouted. In addition to a small sofa and a small dining table, she had a side table in a corner with some sort of cooking implement (a personal oven of some sort), and there was a desk with a small stack of padds. The computer was shut off.

The bathroom was equally tidy, with most things tucked away, with the exception of a lipstick and a necklace sitting in a small teal glass dish. The necklace was a long silver chain with a round pendant in a pewter colour, its surface stamped with an IDIC symbol.

=/\=Cmdr Rollo to Cmdr Calloway. Private conversation to follow. Once you have found a secluded space, please contact me back.=/\= OOC: Since she’s in the lab, there should be an immediate response. Zef just didn’t want anyone listening in.

—Rollo, CNS

~Faye Calloway

=/\=Calloway here. I’m all clear.=/\= A flurry of questions immediately came to her mind but she took a steadying breath and allowed the counsellor to say whatever she needed to.

~Commander Shara Calloway, Starfleet Intelligence

Still in Faye’s quarters, Zef responded. =/\=Cmdr, I wanted to let you know that I’ve met with Faye and I think she’s better. I am currently in her quarters, gathering personal items for her to change into before her meeting with this Blue person. She requested black clothing and her boots. I’ve also included a lipstick and necklace that I found on the bathroom counter. You should also know that I got her to drink most of a protein shake by appealing to her intelligence that it will help her think and sort while the inquest is going on. All in all, I believe she is in a better place then she was when I first entered the brig.

A flood of relief flushed through Shara and she was extremely glad to be alone at the moment. While she could allow herself to show emotion in public, there was a certain amount of stoicism the current circumstances demanded, if even for her own sake. The more she kept things compartmentalized, the better she could make rational decisions, an right now they all needed to keep their heads clear.

But Rollo’s remarks revealed several details. Faye had told her about Blue and that told Shara everything she needed to about the situation.

I can’t tell you what she shared with me, but it was significant and encouraging. She hasn’t given up and I wanted you to know that.=/\=

—Rollo, CNS

Zef couldn’t see Shara’s expression, so she couldn’t see that her eyes had welled with tears. Faye had a real chance here and her daughter’s ability to stare down the enemy and fight was the one variable she hadn’t been sure she could count on. But it was back on the table. Well, and good.

Several moments of silence passed before Shara was sure she could speak in a steady tone. “That is excellent news. Thank you, Counsellor.” Now that she could once again feel more sure of a ‘later’, Shara knew that this was only the beginning. Her and Faye had a lot of things to untangle together and she knew they wouldn’t be able to do it alone. But before even that could happen, Faye had to get through this day and get out of the brig before she was traumatized even further than she already was. “Might I suggest you keep tabs on the situation as you are able to. I suspect we’ll need your help again sooner rather than later.”

~Commander Shara Calloway, Starfleet Intelligence

=/\=I am headed back to the brig, but there is one more think I wanted to share. After Faye shared certain things with me and I was going to leave to gather her things, I asked if she had any messages she would like me to pass on. There was only one and it was for you. She said “If things don’t go well for me today, do me a favour and tell my mom… thanks.”

Oh dear Gods, Calloway thought.

“I thought it was important for you to know that.”=/\=

She waited to hear what the Cmdr might say in response.

—Rollo, CNS

The moment Rollo had called her, she had been prepared for a variety of things. But that message from Faye was not one of them! Shara gazed up at the ceiling as if that might stop the tears from falling. But it was useless. How many years had they both been wandering? How many years had she wished she could create the perfect opportunity for a reunion? So far her presence had been not only shocking to her daughter, but potentially traumatizing simply because of the circumstances. Yet again circumstances were trying to tear things apart. But they had both managed to navigate their way forward before and she had this thread of hope running through her that they could do so once again.

Silence filled the comm and Shara wouldn’t have blamed the counsellor for wondering if she was still there. But she swallowed and exhaled slowly. Shara fought to keep her mind in the here and now, where the demons were not allowed to have their say. Not now. Not today. But Faye’s words lingered in the air and Shara realized the truth. She wasn’t ready to lose Faye. Not again. It would destroy her. It had been hard enough on Voyager when news travelled slow and inquiries were hard to make. But there had been that inevitable moment where she had had to give up on the idea that maybe Edward and Faye had survived. Then when they had returned home to the Alpha Quadrant and she had to figure out what to do with her life alone, only to miss the moment when Faye surfaced in the galaxy again and joined Starfleet. By then Shara was elsewhere and it would take several more years to find out that her daughter was indeed alive.

Zef stood by, silently. Letting the Cmdr process all that the message meant. From a daughter who had been through so much, to a Commander who had a reputation for strength and cunning in times of trial, the counselor knew the message was not a simple thing. She kept the channel open in case Shara wanted to pass a message of her own to Faye. She could hear the woman breathing, but no words were spoken.

She wished she could tell Faye that everything would be okay, but she couldn’t make that promise and neither could anyone else on the ship. But she believed in her daughter. She had watched her over the course of many months do what others might not have been able to. She had not just survived her time with the Tal Shiar, but she had resisted them. No matter what they did, how much pain they inflicted, and how close to the brink of death they had brought her, Faye had refused to let them claim her mind. Did Faye even realize that? She had been drugged and in pain so often that she knew her daughter’s memory was iffy, but did she know deep down that she had had the final laugh? If not, then Shara craved the moment when she could reassure Faye that she had seen that her beautiful, smart, and passionate daughter had never once broken. Ever.

It was the realization that there was nothing she could say back to that final message. If there was a ‘later’, then the things that had to be said would be far more than she could convey over the comm to a woman who really didn’t know her at all. Closing her eyes, Shara said, “Okay,” in a soft voice, still deeply moved by that one tiny word her daughter wanted to sum up as much as possible. Always, Baby Girl. Always.

~Commander Shara Calloway, Starfleet Intelligence

Finally, a response. In that one word, ‘okay’, there were volumes of emotions, promises and memories. The weight of the uncomplicated yet heavy communications between mother and daughter were so substantial, that Zef felt them weighing her own body down. She did not envy the next conversation Shara and Faye would have—especially if it had to be edited for others that might be around them at the time.

=/\=Cmdr, I need to get back to your daughter. What I’m carrying to her could be the difference between fighting for herself and just giving up. The old Faye was feisty, but the prisoner…? She’s walking a razor thin line and trying with everything she has not to give up. I’ll be in contact if I have any more news. Rollo, out=/\=

The counselor left Calloway’s quarters and made it back to the brig before Blue’s arrival. She put the items on Oberon’s desk to be scanned or searched, then stood outside Faye’s cell with her arms full and a small smile on her face. “I’ve brought the things you requested and thrown in a couple I thought might help.”

—Rollo, CNS