We Meet Again (BACKPOST)

Posted on Wed Jul 27th, 2011 @ 7:57pm by Lieutenant Colonel Damian Highsmith & Petty Officer First Class Tanner Willeg

1,489 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Mission 76 - Home comings
Location: Starfleet Command, The Presidio/San Francisco, Earth
Timeline: January 6th, 2386

ON:

Damian Highsmith was walking around the Starfleet Command grounds in San Francisco, taking in the salt air and a sweet floral smell- jasmine. It reminded him of Tanner whom Damian liked to think of as the only woman he had ever loved. They had been dating for a few months before he was suddenly reassigned. He hadn't even had time to tell her goodbye, it deeply hurt him and he regretted it ever since. The night before he received orders for Regulus, he had planned to propose to her, he still kept the ring in his pocket to keep himself thinking that there might be hope that he and Tanner could be together again. Little did he know that it would happen sooner than he thought...

Seminars were a mixed pot. On one hand, they got you off the ship, allowed a change of pace from the routine of being on a starship, and every now and again, you actually learned something interesting. On the other hand, you were neither on holiday nor were you working. The way Tanner figured, if they were going to send you off ship and not allow you to do as you pleased, the very least they could do was give some hands activity.

"Examples," she mumbled to herself, "or a demonstration? Maybe they could put together a working model."

Paying no mind to whether or not anyone was listening as she passed through the campus grounds, Tanner gained steam as she grumbled at the open air. "I'll put it in the suggestion box." Though she didn't really mind seminars in theory, Tanner hated having to sit still. And it seemed all the energy she hadn't used in the four hours the seminar had lasted, was bubbling over now that it was over.

Damian noticed a woman pass who looked extremely familiar, she was also one of the very few people who dared not salute him. On a whim, he rose from the park bench that he was sitting on to follow her. He hoped he was right, the last thing he needed was some female officer trying to have him brought up on charges.

Stop. Breathe.

When she did, two things popped into Tanner's mind. The first--she needed some way of using up the pent energy. The second--someone was standing behind her.

Recognition.

The zing and thrum that zipped through her system was pure instinct, and it left no doubt as to who was trailing behind her.

Major...or rather Colonel Damian Highsmith had been capital Love, and he'd also hurt her.

Tanner wanted to curse. She wanted to cry. But she had too much pride to allow the latter, and as she turned, met the gaze of the man she hadn't seen in almost two years, the betazoid suddenly noted that whatever defenses she had were already broken where he was concerned, and she was without the tools to rebuild them. So she used the only weapon she had left.

Straightening her posture, Tanner lifted her chin. "Something I can help you with, Sir?"

Damian almost took a step back, he could literally feel the sting of the curt greeting which was highly uncharacteristic of her. Not able to speak, he gathered his thoughts.

'I didn't think I'd ever see you again.' his mind flashed to an image of the gold ring he had in his pocket. He hadn't wanted things to be like this, not by a long shot.

She could count on one hand the number of people her habitually blocked mind listened for, and the man standing in front of her was either blessed or cursed to be included in that group. "Nor did I think I'd see you again," she snapped. Tanner frowned as something else came through, but before she could decipher the image, it was gone. "But then, I didn't get a choice, did I?"

As hard as she tried, Tanner had never been very good at the cold shoulder. Her effort at being cold dissipated, and she began pacing. "And why is that? I wouldn't understand that people get transferred? That's part of what we do. I don't know that? Or maybe..." Turning to pace back the other way, Tanner huffed, "maybe I'm just so unreasonable that I would've, what? You think I would've told you to stay? Ruin your career? If you think... If you ever thought," she corrected herself. "That I would do that to...anyone..."

He hadn't said goodbye, hadn't said he was leaving, hadn't sent a message to say that he was gone and that it'd been unexpected. For a brief moment, Tanner had actually considered the possibility that he'd been sent on some away mission and hadn't made it back. She didn't know, couldn't recall, if her hands always shook in crisis situations, but she remembered watching her own fingers as though they were foreign objects tap out the keys that would pull up his record. "What was I supposed to think?"

Damian stopped in front of Tanner, abruptly stopping her pacing. He put his hand on her shoulder.

"Look, I didn't know what to say or how to say it. It was so sudden that I..." Damian trailed off. He knew that there was nothing he could do to remedy the situation. He pulled the ring out of his pocket and pressed it into Tanner's hand. He saw it gleam in the sunlight and it made him wish that he had taken the plunge with her sooner.

"I know it doesn't mean much, but I've been keeping this with me for the past two years and I wanted you to have it." Damian said, sounding exhausted before he closed Tanner's fist around the ring in her hand.

Caught up in her own mix of surprise, hurt and anger, it took him stepping nearer before she noticed how tired Damian looked. And sad. She took a deep breath, and opened her hand. There was an audible whoosh as she exhaled, and Tanner stood still. After a moment, she looked up and decided the truth was always the best. "I'm not mad at you."

It was impossible to stay angry with him. Damian was outwardly calm, rarely showing fatigue or weakness, regardless of the situation, whereas Tanner reacted instinctively, she ran from one place to the next and shouted across rooms. Where Highsmith went into any situation with the equipment necessary for anything, Tanner walked through life prepared to take on anything, but with empty pockets. It'd always been that way. And it wasn't the first time he'd seen her temper flare...and then fizzle. Resting a hand on Damian's shoulder, Tanner looked back down at the ring. "It's beautiful, but it isn't mine. Maybe it was..."

Two years ago, it might've been. But you couldn't change the past. All you could do was start new, build fresh. Maybe...they could figure out a way to be friends. She'd missed him. Biting her lip, as though trying to work out some difficult puzzle, she shook her head. She was standing in front of him with a ring in her hand, which meant it was a safe bet to think they'd probably never be just friends. "I'm not mad, Damian. I just..." Tanner sighed, "I can't keep this."

Tanner's words hit him like a punch to the face. He wasn't one for heartfelt gestures and this one being rejected was nothing. As much as he tried not to show it, he was hurt . His proposal, however empty of romance, pomp, or circumstance was extremely heartfelt and now he felt stunned and betrayed. He set the ring down on the stone bench next to them.

"If you ever decide that you ever want to keep it, that ring will be there." he said before he turned on his heel and started to walk away, leaving Tanner behind.

Why, Tanner wondered, couldn't he see that it was more complicated than that?
-It isn't.-
Too much time. Too many wounds.
-He loves you.-
And? That's easy. People do it all the time. Then they get over it.
-It isn't. And not all of them do.-

Tanner frowned. The voice of reason was a bitch. Even if it was right. But then, she wasn't about to stand around and watch him walk away...again. She turned, took two steps in the opposite direction, then stopped. Glancing over her shoulder, she went back, scooped the ring off the bench, and dropped it into her pocket. 'Always,' she sent the words out, unsure whether he'd get them or not, whether he was listening or not. And then, she too, turned and walked away.

:OFF

This has been a joint post between

Lieutenant Colonel Damian Highsmith (SCWS/CXWS)
Chief of Staff to LTGEN Janice Fultain-Bremer
USS Kearsarge, Commanding
Starbase 400

and

Petty Officer First Class Tanner Willing (EN)
Engine and Warp Systems Specialist
Starbase 400

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