Mission of Mercy (poetlore and dunruffle)

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Cassandra smiled, "Thank you Erik," she said as they all moved to the exit, "See you guys in a bit."

Jen smiled, "My pleasure," she said and flashed him a bright smile, "See you at dinner then Dante."

Harrison bowed slightly to Nog and then waited for the ladies, "Shall we then?" he asked and held the door for them.

They went back to the sick bay and Cassandra checked on her patient before going to shower. Graves rolled his eyes at her, "He is fine doc...go clean up. You smell like a skunk and a wet dog mated."

Cassandra looked at him, "Gee thanks graves. I appreciate that." she said as she left the main desk and went to her quarters to shower. She decided to dress a bit nicer than normal for some reason. maybe it was that comment about smelling like a skunk and a wet dog, but she put on a flowing dress that fell to her feet and slipped on a pair of very dainty sandals. She actually took the few extra minutes to fix her hair and put on a bit of jewelry and make up.

She made her way back to the main desk and Jen came out dressed in a cute little mini dress and looked quite. "Think he'll like it?" she asked as she turned in a circle.

"He'll love it," Cass assured her, "Most men like to look at legs for miles."

Harrison nodded, "Yes we do," he agreed. "Hey graves?" he called, "Staying or going?" he asked.

Graves reappeared from his little cage, "Staying dude...this place give me the creeps. This is the only place I feel comfortable. Bring me back a steak and baked with whatever the side of the moment is. Don't really care..and grab some extra cookies this time. Two does not count as cookies my man."

Harrison huffed and turned to escort the ladies to dinner. They rode up in the elevator and he was as usually staying to the edges of the room, to avoid the sight of the heights they were at. he was getting good at hiding his fear though, by making it appear he preferred a certain food and that he was going there first. He rushed over the floor where it was clear only after his arms were full of food. Luckily their friends took compassion on his and always made the table on an opaque circle so he'd feel more comfortable.

Cass made her way to their normal table after grabbing what food she wanted. She set down the tray and smiled at everyone. I don't know about you, but the shower was welcome. I didn't realize how bad i smelled until i got into a place where things smelled normal."

Jen got a little food and made her way to the table and sat next to Dante. A bright smile on ehr face, "Hi everyone!" she said but she was only looking at Dante.
 
The saints were dressed in their usual grey base fatigues as they looked up to see Cassandra and Jen. "Well apparently we missed the memo to dress up." Kirst teased as he drank some juice. Meanwhile Dante tried and failed to discreetly check out Jen and her outfit. "Well aint this a treat." Erik sitting next to Cassandra looked at her and smiled. "You look...very nice doc." He had his usual stoic expression on his face but the tips of his ears were tinged with a slight flush.

Turk simply ate his food in usual silence as Kirst put down his drink. "So how was your caving trip? Erik says you were trying to find something?"
 
Cassandra sat and smiled a sweet smile, "Thank you, Erik," she said, "I would have sent out a memo about attire, but I didn't have time. Graves informed me I was a combination of a wet dog and a skunk...so I thought maybe it was time to clean up a bit." She chuckled and grinned at Dante's reaction to Jen.

Jen smiled and blushed brightly. She'd put on the dress, but she was so nervous about the reaction she might get. She was relieved but still a bit nervous. "Have you all been waiting long?' she asked.

Harrison just sat quickly as he always did and tried real hard not to look at anything but his food. But Kirst's question had him glancing up, "We are trying to find the cause of the rotlung among the locals. It's horrible and needs to be eradicated."

Cass blinked and looked at Harrison. She very rarely heard that many words out of him, at least in public. He spoke pretty easily with her, but he was quiet and reserved around other people. She nodded, "We did manage to collect a lot of samples even if we did get splattered with bug blood and guts."

Jenn shuddered, "Never again...one time was enough for me."

Harrison huffed at her, "Unless Dante goes...."

Jen reached over and slapped his arm.

Cass chuckled, "Now now...fight nice children." she said. She really did think they acted like brother and sister most of the time. Not that she felt like their mother but it just always seemed like they could have been siblings. She turned then to Turk, "They were telling us about an expedition deeper into the caves," she said, "To follow some signal. You knew someone Turk? What happened?"
 
Turk looked up and frowned, his usual emotionless expression twisted into one of anger and sadness. "Yes...and nobody should ever go back. Including you." He quickly stood up and dumped almost half of his food into the trash before disappearing into the elevator. Kirst sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Try not to feel bad. That topic is a bit of a sore subject for him. If you really want to find out I suggest going to the range after dinner. Turk usually goes there when he wants to blow off some steam."
 
Cass blinked and leaned back in her seat when he abruptly left like that. She'd never seen him show any emotion before, so this was a shock. Her eyes followed him to the elevator, a slight frown on her brow as she did. Her attention then came back to Kirst and she sighed, "Hard not to feel bad about that...." she said looking down at her food and feeling no appetite for it at all. "He doesn't look like he wants to talk about it...." she said pressing her lis together and folding her hands on her lap.

Harrison huffed at her that time, "Since when does that stop you from talking to someone?" he asked with a brow raised.

Jen reached over and smacked his arm again, "Stop it." she scolded and then looked at Cassandra, "Maybe by the time you finished eating he'll have calmed down a bit..."

Cass looked around at the rest of the guys, "Opinions?"
 
Erik shrugged, "Turk is not the most sociable guy, especially in groups. By himself he is a little better so if you still wanna find stuff out then go to the range after dinner."
 
Cassandra nodded, "Nothing ventured nothing gained I guess," she said and scrunched up her face and dug into her dinner, though a little less enthusiastically than she would have before Turk had stormed off. She really hated to upset anyone, much less people that she felt she owed her life to in many ways.

She looked over at Kirst then, "Sorry you couldn't have joined us earlier..it was quite an adventure," she commented, "It's not often anyone gets the opportunity to see Harrison in purple."

Jen almost spewed a mouthful of food across the table at that comment, but managed to grab a napkin fast enough, "Good one."

Harrison cast her a quelling glance, "The ONLY time."
 
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Kirst laughed at Cassandra's joke and the following reactions. "Well as much as I would have, today is my monthly call to the wife and daughter. My little girl is starting first grade soon."
 
Cass smiled a big toothy smile at him, "Oh that is so great!" she said, "It must be hard on all of you to be apart so much. Do you ever get to go home?" she asked. She didn't have a family anywhere that would be worried about her or missing her. Her father had passed away and her brother was still mad at her for leaving, and refused all her calls. She was envious of Kirst, but at the same time had no idea how he managed the separation especially with only one call a month.

Jen coughed a bit into the napkin and recovered. "Only once a month?" she asked, "That's a long time between calls. Who decided that?"

Harrison had to agree but didn't say anything about it. No one he worked with knew about his family, and he planned to keep it that way. Not that he had a good things going there, but he had a daughter too. She'd be almost ten now, but her mother had slapped a no communication order against him and he'd stopped trying to fight that about a year ago. He had a picture of her though, from the last time he'd seen her when she was four. He just ate in silence and tried not to think about it.
 
Kirst shrugged, "once a month is better than nothing. Operational security and such. Also that any family communications are heavily encrypted so an enemy cannot track them down and use them as hostages." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small holodisk and set it on the table. A holographic image of a thin woman with long brown and green eyes next to a mousy young girl in the middle of waving.

"Anna was a nurse when we met, took care of me after I got hit on my first tour. I kept finding reasons to go back to the hospital and visit her. Eventually she caved and we started dating, the rest is history. My SOG pay is more than enough for their living costs and such."
 
Cass watched the little images waving and smiled, "beautiful family Kirst." she said honestly, "How long are you planning to stay with SOG?" she asked curiously. "I can understand all the security. It would be horrible if they were used in such a way. I guess I'd be cautious too..."

Jen smiled too, "Awww...they are so sweet...she's a pretty little thing!" Someday, she wanted to have a family. She smiled a tender smile at the image and then peeked up at Dante before returning to her food.

Harrison made the mistake of looking up when the image flicked to life. He stared for a minute but then pushed away from the table and made like he was finished, and getting Grave's dinner. His jaw was clenched though as he fought off the pain that little image caused. He got Grave's food as requested and left the dining area without saying anything to the group.

Cass frowned at him and was even more shocked when he left without saying anything, "Ok....that was very strange..."
 
Kirst shrugged, "another year or two. After that I qualify for advanced veterans benefits and such." As Harrison stood up, Kirst noticed his look and pocketed the holodisk. "It may not be my place to say...but I am guessing Harrison has some family issues. Seen that kinda look in others when their wives leave them in the middle of deployment and such. If he has not told you then he probably does not want to share." Finishing his food, Kirst stood up and nodded to Cassandra. "Sorry for spoiling the mood, I have a briefing to get to." Xanders, Dante, and Erik stood up as well. "We gotta go as well Doc, weekly inspection and such." Erik and Xanders waved goodbye as Dante winked at Jen.
 
Cass nodded, "No he hasn't shared..." she said and then watched them all stand to leave. "Good night gentlemen, thank you for sharing dinner with us. And..not your fault Kirst. I started it.." She turned to look at Jen, "Well that was a waste of a perfectly good dress up."

Jen chuckled, "Oh I don't know..." she said, "I got the reaction i was looking for, and I think that one guy kinda likes you."

Cass waved a hand at her, "You are seeing things," she said and then stood to put her tray on the pile and deposit her trash. "I'm going to the shooting range to find Turk and apologize. You want to come along?"

Jen shook her head, "Um..no thanks. I've had enough underground for one day thank you very much. I'll go check on the patient and Harrison too."

Cassandra nodded and the rode the lift down together but parted ways at the bottom. She made her way to the range, even though she was completely inappropriately dressed. She put in for a few small weapons but doubted she'd use them. She got the most odd expressions from every person she passed though. It was kind of amusing. She asked where Turk was and she was given his location. She made her way to it and set herself up next to him. She fired off the handgun in rapid fashion, not stopping until she had unloaded the entire clip. Maybe she had a bit of pent up aggression as well. She recalled the target and was surprised to see all the holes clustered on the center of the bulls eye.

She put the handgun down and moved to peek around the partition. She was hoping that he'd notice the flash of the print from the dress she was wearing and she wouldn't have to interrupt him or startle him.
 
Turk was in the middle of reloading a sniper rifle and looked over. "Getting better I see." He closed the bolt of the rifle and pulled it up to his shoulder. Several human sized targets popped up at long range and began moving behind various obstacles. Firing and chambering the next round in rapid succession, Turk hit all of the targets in the head. Setting down the rifle, Turk glanced over at Cassandra as he began reloading. "Yes?"
 
Cassandra smiled a sideways kind of smile at him, "I wanted to apologize." she said moving a little bit more fully into his cube. "I didn't mean to upset you. If I'd known..." she fell silent and then drew in a breath, "I'm sorry."

She looked at his targets and then back at him. He was good at what he did. he was in the proper role on the team, and even his quiet nature seemed to speak to the hidden nature of what he did. "I really didn't mean to ruin your dinner. I brought a peace offering," she said going back to her side for a moment and returning with cookies in a box. She set the box on the counter next to the ammunition and peeked up at him hopefully, "Forgiven?"
 
Turk was silent as he mulled over Cassandra's apology. Looking down at the cookies, he took one and bit into it. Swallowing, Turk nodded. "Forgiven." Staying silent for a few minutes as he inspected his rifle Turk sighed and suddenly spoke.

"My friend on the expedition....was my mentor. Taught me everything I know about marksmanship. I used to be in the Rangers before SOG, he sponsored me after working a joint mission together. His name was Willis Fisken, you can probably look up his file if you want. Tough old guy, one of the first SOG. Was personally recruited by the Director himself. Best sniper in the military."

His hands clenched into fists as he stared down the range lost in thought. "I begged him not to go. Something didn't feel right. But he said they needed a proper squad leader....my last words to him were in the form of an argument..." Looking over at Cassandra he sighed sadly. "You are a good person Cassandra. More than the SOG deserves. I....I care about you...you are a good friend. Those caves are evil, I dont want to lose another friend."

Picking up the tray of cookies Turk gave her a rare small smile. "If you want to talk about anything let me know. I am a good listener...plus it's not like I talk much anyways." He gave Cassandra a nod and walked away, eating one of the cookies.
 
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Cassandra let out a relieved sigh when he said she was forgiven. She was going to leave it at that, and abandon her inner questions, but then he surprised her by speaking of it anyway. She listened and felt tears stinging her eyes. She noted the name and decided she would dig on her own and not hurt him further.

He cared about her? She was surprised and touched. Her hand went to his arm as he passed by her to leave, "Thank you Turk. I care about you too. All of you. I owe you so much." She didn't want to make promises she couldn't keep, so she didn't promise anything. He was right though...something about this whole mess felt 'off' and wrong. She wondered what the director would have to say about all of it. She thought perhaps she'd find out. She didn't think her life was more important that a whole base full of people, and she was good at digging. there would be answers found, and justice had for those people that died. She could be doggedly determined when it mattered, and this mattered.

She let his arm go and smiled at him as he left her. She went back to her side and picked up ehr remaining weapons and fired off the rounds until they were all gone. She was getting better, or more precisely she was remembering, and her muscle memory was returning. This was indeed good therapy. She finished and left the range, making her way back to the Hospital. She didn't rush, but walked slowly, lost in thought.
 
When Cassandra would arrive back at the hospital, she would be greeted by the sight of Ray slowly attempting to walk with the aid of a walker and his nurse's guidance. "Hello doctor, Ray said he was feeling better and wanted to start exercising." Ray nodded and smiled, "I was getting tired of sitting on my behind all the time so I figured now would be a good time to start."

A flashing light on Cassandra's terminal signified a waiting message. When opened, it would reveal a small typed message. "Doctor Brandford, tomorrow at 0800 local time you are required to report to the command center for a special briefing. I suggest you get some rest."
-Captain Sokolov
 
Cassandra looked at ray and smiled, "Let's see what you can do then," she grinned. Usually she was having to push people to get out of bed, so this was a nice change. She could tell his 'nurse' had a little bit to do with the level of his motivation, but still, it was nice. She watched him take a few steps and nodded in approval. "I know it is tempting to push, but please take it slow and steady. For right now, two times around this central desk. You can add one lap every day for a week, and then I'll evaluate everything and see when I can let you out of here." She smiled at the expression on his face. He was obviously pleased at the idea of getting to leave in as little as a week, and so was his 'nurse'.

She went to the desk and read the message. Hmm. What did HE want? She watched Ray and scanned over the charts for the day. he was making astounding progress. Miraculous inf act. Maybe he's curious to know. She shrugged and tapped the message closed and watched ray make his second lap around the desk, "Very good ray...now...back to bed. You are doing very but let's not push it and cause a setback. ok?"
 
Ray nodded, "alright doctor. I am just really excited for what the future holds. Goodnight." His nurse helped him back into the wheelchair and gave Cassandra a bright smile. "You are a miracle worker Dr. Brandford." She wheeled Ray back to his room as a message from Erik popped up on the terminal.

"Hey doc, got a weird mission briefing order out of the blue for tomorrow. The saints might get shipped out but we will try to say goodbye before we leave."
 
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