Nuts and Bolts

Posted on Mon Mar 17th, 2014 @ 9:18pm by Lieutenant Colonel Jillian "Phoenix" Sullivan

3,653 words; about a 18 minute read

Mission: Mission 85 - Q-uality Time Aboard Starbase 400
Location: Gym/Sickbay
Timeline: Few Days After the Wedding

Lately, Phoenix had poured herself into her physical training, off-duty, as a means of trying to appease the XO and Tressa. Drinking to excess was something she had done to cope with much of her guilt. Well... She still drank to numb the pain of merilite in her blood. Mostly because she was an alcoholic though.

Day two of this newfound attempt at Change, meant intense strength reps. Which Phoenix had to do twice the number of arm reps because of the fact her metal prosthetic was much stronger than a normal human hand.

Aside from the gloved right hand, scarring along that same arm, from elbow to shoulder, anyone passing by noticed along with the prison number tattoo on the shoulder blade. Now that she was on the pull-up bar, most people noticed her physical markings more frequently.

The doors opened and in walked a massively muscled Marine as Duval took in the situation at a glance, he noticed Phoenix who was doing pull ups as he also noticed two other marines, one was a human male and the second was a Bajoran female.

He went over towards Phoenix as he kept his silence as he watched her technique as her upper body strength was quite impressive.

"New sobering method," Phoenix spoke dryly as she did her fiftieth rep. Then she jumped down from the bar to towel herself and hydrate. "That, and I've let my parkour skills drop a bit."

Duval raised an eyebrow. "It looks painful," he commented evenly. "But I bet it works.." as he raised an eyebrow. "My wife would just climb a mountain over Vulcan's forge.... but I'm a little more pragmatic, I'll try your approach to it."

"XO said she didn't think being hungover all the time was something one should admit to," Phoenix shrugged as she plopped to the padding on the ground and started to stretch. "Probably right. Working out to exhaustion almost has the same effect as excessive alcohol though... Not hungover, but in a bloody amount of pain."

Duval raised an eyebrow. "Why do you push yourself so hard anyway.... I see you in here almost every day... you got something to prove?"

"More like I got no life. So it's either I hit a pub, or I hit the gym," Phoenix both answered darkly, then took a large gulp of water. "Which I assume is why you're in here a lot as well?"

"Yep. I miss my wife..." he commented. "so I take out my anger in here." he shrugged as he regarded her as a smile slowly graced his face. "I served so long I sometimes have to ask when I signed on... war is all I've known..."

Phoenix just nodded at that. She was born in the midst of war. A war that made the Cardassians weaken so much, that they could not afford to occupy Bajor (with Bajor's resistance), and beat the Federation and take worlds they had no right to.

"So why isn't your wife here with you? Having a family?" Phoenix prodded, for she found it odd that 400 was a great family place, yet he did not take advantage of that.

"My wife is serving on the USS Shield of Vega as Chief Science Officer, I have three children and they are all off at the academy yet my wife is still young... for a Vulcan anyway." he explained. "T'Nae is also pregnant...she's three months along.." he shrugged. "whats weight program have you been doing today?" he inquired.

"Normally around two-hundred pounds of resistance, sometimes more, if it feels like a cakewalk," Phoenix shrugged. "Why?"

"Today I'm doing chest and shoulders.... I could use a spotter if... you don't mind." he replied.

"Not at all," Phoenix accepted and pointed to the bench press. "That where we going?"

"Yep." he commented. "normally I prefer free weights... but today I'll settle for that." he shrugged. "give you a break for a few minutes...." he sat down on the bench as he placed his PADD on the deck as he quickly checked it. "Okay. I need a hundred and twenty pounds a side... lets see what weight plates are left in this place."

Phoenix went to work putting two fifty-pound disks on each side of the bar, then two ten-pound disks on each side. Careful to lift with her legs, and not her back.

Duval watched her work silently as he prepared himself and once he was
ready with the weights on the bar, he reached up as he plucked the bar off of the handles as he began his first set.

Phoenix watched silently as she tried to spot any signs of fatigue in his muscles. "So you gonna retire to any place special?" She asked this only fill the silence.

"Oh probably not.... go spend time with my wife on the Shield of Vega... or I might re-up.."

"Even though you've already fought in a lot of wars?" Phoenix frowned at that thought. If she were even given the option to retire, she would do so, and go to a place far from Federation reach.

"Yep." he answered. "My service record is what it is... I've got thirty six years of experience behind me." he commented evenly without arrogance. "So I'll go spend some quality time with my wife.... I know she misses me and I owe her." he placed the barbell back on the rack after pushing ten reps.

"I meant... Why would you re-up?" Phoenix asked more clearly.

Duval raised an eyebrow. "I said I might... I've not decided but.... I probably won't." he commented. "Let these young idiots who think they can do anything handle it..." he shrugged. "Federation personnel these days.... too arrogant for their own good..."

"Whats that suppost to mean-"

Duval was on his feet as the look on his face went from dour to enraged as he almost drove his fist into the smaller marine as he growled. "Get the fuck out of my face Jarhead or I will seriously fuck you up!"

"You can't- Urrkkk"

Duval's massive fist closed around the other marine's throat as he growled.
"I think you didn't hear me junior...."

"Stand down, Master Sarge," Phoenix bellowed from behind, gripping a five pound disk with her metal hand. She had every intention of hitting him with it too, if things got worse.

Duval slowly let the man go as he seethed supressed rage. "Do not ever sneak up on me like that, ever again..."

"Yessir.."

Duval sighed. "Don't call me sir either... " he growled as the younger man turned and fled, a rather angry mark appearing around his throat where Duval had grabbed him.

Phoenix set the weight down skeptically and just shook her head. He was, in many ways, as violent as she was. But it appeared he did not compartmentalize well.

"Fists fights are one thing... This?" Phoenix sighed as she sat on the bench in bafflement. "You realize he could report you, right??

Duval's answer was simple. "Yep.... If he does or not... is up to him." he replied as he slowly turned around.

"You don't seem worried about getting a medical discharge? Because I'm pretty sure he's gonna tell his superiors that you snapped," Jillian stated with much caution.

"Had you asked me that six months ago Phoenix, it would have bothered me but.... now it doesn't bother me as much as I thought..." he admitted. "In the end, it doesn't really matter..." he added evenly as he slowly cracked his knuckles.

It is a really bad thing when you see a crazy person has the same mantra as you. Phoenix was looking in the mirror now, not liking what she saw. As an officer she was supposed to report this sort of thing. And yet she struggled with that because of how strongly she related to him.

A month ago, she might of exited the room and let him kill the boy because she really did not care about the others. But with Anandra and Tressa working with her, it honestly was a situation she felt conflicted on.

"Eighty-five on each side, please," Phoenix finally said as she took a turn on the bench. First stretching her arms out, then her hands before laying on it.

Duval carried out the Majors request in silence, he knew why he had grabbed at the man's throat and he had the strength to do some serious damage but not enough to actually crush the man's throat, no he would have needed both hands and a good measure of strength for that.

He watched her in silence as she prepared herself to grasp the weight as he prepared to spot her.

Phoenix began to rep in silence. Breathing in as she let the bar come slowly down toward her chest. Then she breathed out smoothly as she pushed the bar up. The manner in which she repeated this rhythm suggested it taxed her arms, but gave her a need to keep pushing.

"You snap... of-ten?" Phoenix asked while she did her tenth out of twenty rep.

Duval nodded as he removed a ten pound weight plate from each side, then he dogged down the rest of the weights so they wouldn't fall off. "

Phoenix became a bit annoyed by him arbitrating her weights. She could of finished... and been in immense pain. But she could of finished. Though even with the small bit of reprieve, the pilot struggled still. Sweat pouring off her as she forced herself to finish the final ten reps.

The one thing she had not intended on, however, was her prosthetic going screwy. And when she forced that final rep down and up, she found her metal thumb had locked up, overlapped on her index finger. Try as she might for her brain to send the signal of releasing? Her thumb forced the right hand to maintain its grip.

Panic was in her intense eyes as she allowed Duval to hold the bars. "I... I can't let go."

Duval gently grasped the bar as he gently touched her thumb with his hands. "The prosthetic has locked down Major... this may bother you." and with that he gently grasped her thumb with his hand as he gently braced the prosthetic thumb as he quickly dislodged it from the barbell as he heard a soft crackling sound. "That's not good."

Phoenix's face paled greatly with shooting pains going through her arm and the pilot came off the bench and hit the floor almost immediately, cuffing her prosthetic to her chest. Then she began to roll and scream to the top of her lungs, mostly from the power leaks moving through open currents in her now broken, metal joint.

"Make it stop," Jillian finally cried out before she became really quiet from shock settling in. All the nerves connected to the thumb joint in her arm, were making all sorts of signals that just kept acerbating the problem.

Duval wasn't sure of how to help her, he was not an engineer but the issue here was the faulty prosthetic limb as he tapped his combadge. "Duval to Infirmary, medical emergency. Two to beam to the infirmary..."

Lieutenant Siaxx Dvald came over as she quickly assessed the injuries sustained by the Major. "Phoenix... your prosthetic limb is damaged." the Bolian woman explained as she heard the Major preferred to be addressed by Callsign rather then name, something Siaxx wasn't having an issue with.

"Morep," Phoenix prodded Dvald as she fought to remain alert. "Master Sarge broke... the joint. Just... fix it."

Siaxx nodded as she prepared a hypo. "I'm going to give you something for the pain okay?" she smiled warmly at the other woman, hoping the Major would not fight her, she gently administered the painkiller once she had leave to do so. "There is no sedative, just a painkiller." she added, by why for explanation.

"Sarge, help her onto the bed please."

Duval nodded as he gently picked up the Major and with one smooth motion as he placed her on the biobed as the Bolian went to work. "Lets see.." and with that she opened her medkit as she proceeded to go to work.

"Cracked bracket, and broken wires," Phoenix spoke with very glassy eyes as she looked at the metal thumb.

"Easy Phoenix... you're going to be okay." the nurse commented as Duval stood silently nearby, clearly proving the small Bolian's point as the Bolian tapped her combadge, calling for an Engineer to report to her quickly.

A few minutes later as the Nurse continued to work, an engineer came "Yessir" he inquired upon seeing her rank.

"I need an opinion on this prosthetic limb... its broken..."

The engineer nodded as he opened his tricorder from his kit as he looked over the prosthetic limb. "Oh yeah.. its old and busted alright... it'll need to be replaced." he looked at the nurse and then he turned to Phoenix. "Major... you with us?"

"Oh yeah," Phoenix answered with a half-grin. Opiates in her system generally did calm her, when she was in extreme pain. "But no new limb... Just make replacement parts."

"Okay.." the engineer replied. "You can be fitted with a whole new limb if you-"

"No...replacements parts only." Duval's voice rumbled like an old style grav sled that was badly in need of repairs. "....Sir.." he added a moment later, almost as an afterthought.

Siaxx nodded her head. "The limb can be repaired.. right?"

The engineer nodded. "Yes... but it would be easier to replace it with a new one..."

Duval mearly crossed his arms across his chest. "Why?"

"The limb was replaced in service by the mark eleven hand replacement system." he explained. "this is a mark eight... and I'll have to do some digging to find replicator specs for it...."

"No-new-prosthetic," Phoenix spelled out between gritted teeth. "Just fix the damned thing. Mmm kay?"

Siaxx raised an eyebrow. "Phoenix... you need a new hand... I can't force it on you and lets face it... we're better off waiting until you come back to yourself from your trip on cloud eight.." she commented with a smile. "I cannot ask you to make this choice in your present state... its unethical of me."

"I said no, on the new limb. Fix what's broken," Phoenix said flatly, and then started patting her tummy with an odd fixation. "Tis a good drum... Thump... thump.... thump-thump-thump..."

"Fix her hand Ensign... look for the specs and replace what she needs to make her hand work." Dvald explained with her soft dusky accent coming out, it sounded a cross of French Canadian and Pennsylvanian which made her hard to ignore.

"Computer, play Wipe Out," Phoenix commanded and began to air drum with her left hand.

The Engineer nodded. "Yessir.." and with that he departed, leaving the Major with the lovely Bolian who was presently checking on Phoenix's vitals as she ran her tricorder over the Major's form. "How are you feeling Major.... I can give you something to sober you up... if you wish." she had her medkit beside her as she checked it over while they waited.

"Ooooh," Phoenix snickered as she realized something that only she thought was important. "You could be percussion too, Doc. You'd fit in well with that Blue Man Group."

"You mean the band in the bar on the promenade.?" Siaxx inquired. "I've seen what the waitresses in there wear.... its not much... besides.. I think red clashes with my skintone..." Dvald commented back. "Maybe black or really dark red..." she raised an eyebrow. "your blood pressure is normal.... you sure you don't want anything to counter the effects?"

"You need to get high at least once to get why it's fun when you feel nothing," Phoenix stated rather seriously, then made a sound that nearly mimicked a symbol clash.

Siaxx regarded the Major who was higher then a kite in a strong breeze. "I find I get more mileage out of singing." she replied as she checked the major's vitals. "You have another few hours with that painkiller.... "

"I get a lot of mileage in the sack," Phoenix admitted with a goofy grin, and then suddenly went bug-eyed once she realized she'd said that aloud. "Err... Yeah. Drumming again."

For which Phoenix went for the most epic solo, one-handed air-drum routine once more.

Siaxx chuckled softly. "Experience in the sack is a great thing... its a good way to release stress and the like." she commented as the engineer returned. "Sorry for the delay Lieutenant." he addressed Siaxx who looked at him expectantly.

"Did you find what she needed?" the handsome Bolian replied.

"I did... took a bit but we can start.." he commented. "Major... I will start fixing your arm now... with your permission?"

"Uh... Sure," Phoenix shook her head like a rag doll in response.

The engineer gently took her arm as he began working on her hand as he sighed softly. "Bloody hell...." he muttered.

Siaxx regarded Phoenix. "Major... how are you feeling?" she smiled as she held a hypo in her hand, ready to clear the painkiller when requested as she hated making people feel like they were higher then a kite.

"Juuust swell," Phoenix grinned as she leaned back in on the bed and watched the engineer. "Feelin' nooo pain."

The Engineer raised an eyebrow as he continued to work on her damaged hand, otherwise he ignored her as Siaxx continued watching her intently.

Phoenix just kept looking very transfixed at the engineer's work. Then suddenly, she veered her eyes over and up until she started at Siaxx's chest.

"You think booby is a funny word?" She asked to the Bolian.

Siaxx raised an eyebrow as she noted where Phoenix was staring but then she was really good looking and she knew it. "I don't but some might." she commented evenly, she had men and women staring at parts of her figure every day so someone who was high who was staring at her chest and being blunt about it didn't bother her in the least. "Major... how high can you count?" she inquired. "start at one and count up from there." she knew she had to keep the major occupied until the engineer was finished.

"I aint being sedated, just asking something we all think," Phoenix laughed. "Why is Booby a funny name?"

"Oh some humans and their nudity taboo... Bolians don't have that issue.... We're so much easier to deal with.... in bed or wherever." Siaxx shrugged. "Yes?" she asked the Engineer who was giving her an odd look.

"Not ever human has a nudity taboo Doctor.."

"Oh yes, you bloody do.." the Bolian woman responded. "You know it and you are trying to impress me by telling me you don't when I know you do." she sighed. "fix her hand please before she hits you..."

"She won't hit me..."

Siaxx blinked her large dusky eyes as a smile crept across her face. "Oh yes she will.... and I'll let her too.." her smile widened.

"Is my infamy on decking superior assholes that well known?" Phoenix asked in true bafflement.

"Yes Phoenix. It is.." Siaxx smiled. "Please don't hit him though... he looks.... truly appetizing and I might want him for myself later.." she grinned at the engineer who raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Oh you can have him... I like more exotic folk," Phoenix admitted off-handedly.

Siaxx's smile widened. "Oh... do you now?" the Bolian woman inquired. "Do I dare ask how exotic?"

The Engineer sighed softly as he carried on fixing her prosthetic arm while Duval stood silently nearby.

"Anyone that I think is unique, compared to humans like me," Phoenix blushed.

Siaxx simply smiled. "Don't tease me..."

"Oh I'm pretty forward when I want something... or someone," Phoenix replied with a light laugh.

Siaxx raised an eyebrow as she regarded Phoenix. "Oh really?" she chuckled softly as Duval smiled softly.

"If the statue over there wasn't married, I'd probably jump him right now. Just cause he's got some wildness to him I like," Phoenix stated more as an example. "Your blue hue is exotic to me as well, but I'm so high at the moment I would probably vomit in the sack, trying to discover you."

Duval chuckled softly as he watched the two women as he glanced at the Engineer with a simple look.

Siaxx blinked her dark eyes. "Then I might have to wait until you're sober before I let you discover me." she commented.

"I'm only sober on duty," Phoenix corrected. "Might be hard ta romp with me sober."

"Then we must give you something to enjoy off duty otherwise you'll turn into him."

"I protest, I am not a merry man!"

"Yeah... addicts don't detox well. An' I don' want another night in this place," Phoenix noted with skepticism.

Siaxx raised an eyebrow. "You will survive." she smiled evilly at the human woman.

Phoenix just frowned and attempted to be still while the engineer finished repairing her hand.

The Engineer blinked as he finished up his work. "There you go Major.... good to go but you really should consider replacing this limb with a new one... that one is well past the end of its service life and needs to be replaced."

"You'd have to pump my with all the hospital's opiates, in order to get me to agree to that madness," Phoenix blinked while she tried to refocus with her high. "That being said, I'm gonna go back to my quarters an' pass out. Peace out!"

Phoenix hopped off the bed and began a very drunken walk to her home after that.

Siaxx and Duval shared a look as they both shrugged. "I must go back to the gym." the massive being rumbled as the smaller Bolian nodded. "Don't break anything..."

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