who_is_she | i do not like that little peanut man

i do not like that little peanut man

Wirth was really starting to like this little starship Captain.

He reminded her of herself at that age; reckless and determined and feeling like the whole world was at her feet. Of course, joining the Federation as soon as she could had maybe was not the best choice for a free spirit like she'd been. She wonders, vaguely, what would have happened if she had been like Roddie; gotten her own ship, made her own rules, refused to exist under the toe of a corrupt organization. She probably never would have married her second-in-command if she had. She rejects the question and shakes herself out of the daydream, focusing on the present instead. She's had enough what-ifs for a lifetime.

She likes Roddie's crew as well, such a colorful quilt of characters that seem to fit together despite differences, not unlike her own crew. Looking across the table, she notices Roddie's Torak making eyes at Ayin, and makes a mental note to investigate that later. Then she turns to Roddie, sitting next to her while they all have a lively dinner in the station's mess hall.

"So, Captain. How'd such a free spirit like yourself end up with a Federation babysitter, hm?" she says, gesturing to Tony, who's sitting on Roddie's other side and having an animated conversation with one of Wirth's science officers. If she hadn't heard Tony screaming over the radio for medical aid for his Captain, she would have suspected he was just another pencil-pushing cog in the big, terrible machine, but she'd seen the haunted look in his eye that didn't fade until Roddie was safe and taken care of. To be honest, there were a little too many similarities between Tony and her late wife, so that Wirth hadn't really been able to have a full conversation with him yet without excusing herself halfway through.

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Roddie had been in a little bit of a daze, watching fondly as Tony talks enthusiastically with a member of the space station's crew, and starts a little when the woman speaks to him.

"Oh, Tony?" he says, the small smile on his face growing a little wider, "He's not so bad, he's great, actually."

He rests his chin in his hands, still looking in Tony's direction, and swings his legs a little, which aren't quite touching the ground in the chair he's seated in. It takes him a moment to realize he hadn't really answered Wirth's question.

"We, uh, saved a bunch of people, sort of. They said they wouldn't arrest me and would clear my criminal record if I agreed to go under Federation surveillance. That's basically all there is to tell."

Edited 2014-11-01 08:41 (UTC)

Wirth raises an eyebrow at Roddie's explanation, smirking knowingly at the lovestruck expression on Roddie's face. It makes a long-dormant ache rise up in her chest; the loss she had never quite gotten over.

"Big hero, eh?" Wirth says, taking a long sip of her drink, "I should have known. What was it this time, deadly space parasites? Wormholes? I don't exactly keep up with the news out here."

"A lot less fun than any of that," Roddie sighs, "It was this big robot conspiracy on earth. Lots of boring politics. We did get a little action in, though. I don't even really understand the whole thing still, but remember those mining ship bombings back in 2049? The ones that got blamed on the Arnesians? That was an inside job, trying to get rid of some artificial intelligences that had become self-aware."

He stuffs more food into his mouth as he launches into an explanation of what had happened, about the miner who had returned with the last remaining AI, and how the two of them had exposed the corruption, shifting the focus off of himself as much as he could, even at the parts in which he was involved; he was uncomfortable being thought of as some kind of a hero.

Wirth freezes with her glass at her lips when Roddie says 2049, then slowly lowers it to the table. Wirth is plunged back into her memories--they'd had an argument before Madeline had left, Wirth thought it was too long of a journey and Madeline had been too thrilled about the scientific discoveries to stay. Wirth had sent an apologetic message the day after Madeline had left, but she'd never received a response until she heard about the bombings. At the time, she had railed against the explanation--she'd had dealings with the Arnesians and them being terrorists had never sat right with her. She'd never been able to prove anything, and in her search for information she had ensured that she would never raise above the rank of Commander.

She stares at Roddie while he tells the story, barely hearing the words, and she interrupts as Roddie reaches the end.

"These orchestrated bombings-- was the USS Victory one of them?" she asked, her voice low and her expression dangerous.

Roddie tenses up, gritting his teeth together at the terrifying expression on her face.

"...Yes," he says hesitantly, "that was the one Miriam and IRRA came back on, actually. Did you...hear about it on the news?"

Wirth's hand clenches into a fist and she looks away, her thoughts swimming. She takes a deep breath, and then looks back at Roddie with her intense laser-focus.

"And it was all a cover-up? You're sure?" she asks, barely stopping herself from throttling Roddie to get him to speak faster. She doesn't even notice some of the crew turning to look at her, including Tony on the other side of Roddie.

"Y-yes," Roddie nods, forgetting to chew before he swallows the large bite he had taken a moment ago. "Definitely, they proved it."

Wirth stared at him for a long moment, and for the tiniest second, she lets herself believe it. That she'd been right all those years ago, that finally, finally, the people responsible for the death of her wife had been brought to justice. But it's all too perfect. Wirth's expression hardens.

"Why are you telling me this?" she snarls, standing and grabbing Roddie by the collar and shaking him, "Who put you up to this?"

Roddie chokes, raising his hands defensively, his head shaking around as though it's on a spring.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, I'm sorry," he pleads with her, "No one put me up to it, it's the truth, honest, I swear!"

Wirth realizes slowly that the whole mess hall had gone quiet and was staring, and behind Roddie Tony was standing and looking murderous.

"Hey, back off!" Tony says, and when Wirth looks over at him she feels a wave of nausea. She drops Roddie unceremoniously and turns on her heel, striding from the room. Tony is immediately at Roddie's side.

"Are you okay? What happened?" Tony asked, his hands fluttering over Roddie's chest and sides like he expected the Commander to have secretly stabbed him or something.

"I'm fine," he says, fixing his jacket and his shirt and wiping away the wetness that had formed in his eyes when he had choked. He stared after Wirth in bewilderment as she turned on her heel and left.

"I don't know, she was asking about how I ended up with a Federation officer observing me, and about the ship Miriam came back on and then she just...got real mad and freaked out at me."

Tony frowned, looking over at the door the Commander had disappeared into, then back at Roddie.

"The ship... You mean the ship where Miriam was the only survivor?" he said, gathering an inkling of an idea, and then something hit him, "Oh. When you were... Unconscious, she spoke to me a little. She said she'd been married, and her wife had died," Tony turned wide eyes on Roddie, "You don't think..."

Roddie shrugs, shoveling more food into his mouth as the mess hall slowly returns to its previous volume.

"I'unno," he says, mouth full again, "Could be. That's a pretty big conjecture. Whatever it is, it seems like she's not too happy with me anymore, so we better get what we can and get ready to get out of here ASAP." He was used to this kind of thing, cutting and running quickly when he'd run out of favor with a host, or a client, or a friend. Being threatened was just part of the routine.

"What? Don't be silly, Roddie, she loves you! We'll get to the bottom of this," he said, taking Roddie's arm and then turning away. Most of the mess hall had gone back to their meals, aside from a few, including Ayin, who was looking at Tony and Roddie worriedly.

"Ayin!" Tony called, walking over to where Ayin and Zakeef were sitting next to each other, Roddie in tow.

"What's going on?" Ayin asked, looking warily between the two of them.

"Ayin you're close with the commander, right?" Tony asked instead of answering his question.

"Yes," Ayin said slowly, nodding.

"What do you know about her wife?" Tony asked, leaning over the table and making Ayin lean back a little, looking bewildered.

"She died, uh, about ten years ago. On a science vessel, I think. The Commander suspected foul play and got caught trying to break into her superior's confidential files. She couldn't prove anything." Tony turned to Roddie at this information, gesturing expressively.

"All right, so you're probably right," Roddie sighs, reluctantly getting up from his seat. "what are we supposed to do? Or say?" He shifts uncomfortably, wishing he hadn't gone into so much detail about what exactly he had done to get Tony put on his case. He didn't like dealing with the deaths of anyone's loved ones.

"Well..." Tony starts, looking away guiltily because his enthusiasm about finding out the truth hadn't exactly extended to what to do with it after they knew it, "I don't know." Tony deflated a little, and then quickly explained the situation to Ayin, who was still looking at them oddly. His eyes when wide when he understood.

"Maybe you should go talk to her?" Tony said with a shrug, "She likes you."

"All right, I guess," he says, shifting a little apprehensively as he stares out the door that Wirth had exited through. "But...you come with me, okay? In case she tries to strangle me again."

In truth, he was less worried about that than facing the emotional confrontation alone.

Tony smiles brightly at Roddie's suggestion before managing to dim down his reaction, shuffling his feet bashfully. He liked the idea of staying by Roddie's side, supporting him, protecting him even. Tony bowed his head, triyng to hide his blush.

"Yeah, okay," he said quietly, reaching out to run his fingers down Roddie's forearm.

Roddie walks ahead of him, reluctantly, grabbing hold of him at the wrist to pull him along close beside him. When he gets out into the corridor, he looks around , trying to figure out where she might have disappeared to. It's much quieter out here, and he doesn't see anyone around. His voice echoes when he calls out.

"Hey Wirth?" he calls, trying to keep his voice firm, "Uhh, Commander? Where'd you go?"

Wirth had only made it down the corridor and around the corner before she collapsed against the wall, dry-heaving and then sliding down to the floor. She wanted to be relieved, wanted to feel righteous, but all she felt was the crushing loss and guilt. When she heard Robbie calling for her she jumped, sighing and knowing she owed the boy an apology.

She cleared her throat, trying and failing to stand up, then sighed.

"I'm here."

Roddie pokes his head around the corner before stepping the rest of the way out from behind the wall. He looks up to meet her eyes, only to be surprised to find that she is seated on the floor.

"What, uhh," he starts, before making an attempt to squat down beside her. It's difficult with his leg still not functioning entirely correctly, and he falls down on his ass.

"...What happened back there?"

Tony takes a step towards Roddie when he falls, putting a hand on his shoulder to steady him.

"I'm sorry, kid," she says hoarsely, "I shouldn't have grabbed you like that. I was just... Surprised." She takes a deep breath and closes her eyes, seeing Madeline's face etched into the backs of her eyelids.

"My wife was on that ship I asked you about."

Roddie folds his hands across his knees, and clears his throat.

"Yeah, I know that now," he says, unable to look her in the eyes, "I'm sorry, I...I really had no idea."

He coughs again.

"My mom was too. She was on one of the ships, I mean. So I know it...it sucks." He wishes he could say something more eloquent, but he was never very good at this.

Wirth looks over at Roddie as he speaks, her heart aching for him. She sighs, reaching over to sling her arm around Roddie's shoulders.

"Yeah. It's good to know the truth about them but... It doesn't bring them back," she says softly, "We had an argument before she left. I sent a message apologizing, but... I don't know if she got it before..." She trails off, her voice wavering. She looks away and clears her throat, blinking tears out of her eyes.

Tony kneeled down to take Roddie's hand, and when Wirth looked over at them she smiled.

"You two remind me of--me and Madeline," she said, her voice sad.

Roddie rests his chin on his knees. When Tony takes offers hand he gratefully folds his fingers around it, blushing a little at the comment from Wirth as he does.

"Oh," he says, a little uncertainly, "Thank you." He drums his fingers on his shin and swallows.

"What was she like? If you want to talk about it, I mean."

"She was a scientist. Geology, mainly, she liked rocks. We met when we were both ensigns on the same Federation ship, and when I got my own command she was my first officer. She was... Serious, liked the rules, but strong in her own way. More stubborn than I was, sometimes," Wirth snorts, shaking her head, looking over at Tony, "Like you."

"Thanks," Tony says and blushes, squeezing Roddie's hand a little.

"Don't-- Don't get distracted by the little things. That is the most important thing," she says, pointing to Roddie and Tony's joined hands, "Don't let that go."

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i do not like that little peanut man

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