Break? Who needs a break?(Anna)

[togger]

Will had an idea, but the idea was quickly stomped out when Anna had slammed someone against the wall and he heard the voice that floated into the room:
"None of your stinkin business,witch!" Jen tried to squirm out of the hold, but Anna had her locked up tight: there was no way she was going to get out of it. Will disregarded Anna's orders to stay inside the room when he walked outside, his eyes widening slightly.
"Talk."
"You talkin to me, punk?!" Will shook his head, trying to accept what he could be seeing in front of him.
"J..Jen?"
"How do you know my name?"
"Don't remember me, do you?" Jen stayed silent for a moment before she gasped:
"Wi...Will? Little...little William?"

That was his sister. His sister was a pirate.

[~ ADMIN]

Anna had been about to retort when Will had emerged from the room. If it had been a burly pirate she had pinned up against the wall, she would have kicked his arse back into the room, she didn't want him getting hurt, but she could handle this girl.
Will began to speak, and slowly a frown crossed her face, but she kept her grip tight.
"Little William?" she repeated, looking between the two with a look of confusion on her face.
"This isn't..." she looked flabbergasted, "this isn't your sister?"

[togger]

Will stood up against the wall, running a hand over his face as he shook his head slowly, not believing what his sister had turned into to.
"Jen? A pirate? Really? You never had much sense, but seriously, a pirate?! Did the drugs really get to you that bad?"
"Shut your mouth, you brat! You never had a single thread of hardship! You don't know what it's like to be abused by a father who never loved you, you don't know what it's like to have to deal with addition, you don't know anything!"
"EXCUSE ME?! Who was the one who gave up on me in the orphanage?! Who was the one who didn't have the sense to TAKE CARE OF ME?!?"
"I HATED YOU, WILL! I HATED YOU!" Jen began to shudder, tearing up as she continued:
"I didn't want to leave you...I didn't want to...but the drugs and the men and the sex..."
"SEX?!? You left me for SEX?! You left a ten year old boy who would have given his life for you so you could be a whore!"
"DON'T CALL ME THAT!"
"THAT'S WHAT YOU ARE!" A thunderous CRACK could be heard, the turret firing at two pirates who had come down the stairs, probably because they had heard the mess. Which meant that there might be more.

What Will and Anna didn't know was that the turrets upstairs had been activated, effectively killing most of the pirates. The ones who didn't want to get cut to pieces had left, leaving Jen there at the medical facility.

The momentary pause felt like an eternity, Will speaking up:
"What you did wasn't right."
"DON'T YOU THINK I KNOW THAT?!?" Jen began to sob now, hitting her head up against the wall as she said through the tears:
"I tried so hard... tried to hard Will. You have no idea."
"Oh I do, dear sister, I do. You tried, but you failed. And I have no room for that in my life anymore. As far I'm concerned, you died years ago. Lets keep it that way." The comm system now blared:
"Thread suppressed. Please convene in the main wing for meeting with Doctor Poole."

[~ ADMIN]

Anna listened to the whole exchange, keeping her mouth shut as she held Jennifer against the wall. She had a heck of a lot she wanted to say, but this was between Will and his sister, she shouldn't butt in.
In truth though, she wanted to bash this woman's head against the wall. How could she have left Will like that? After everything they had both been through, Will hadn't needed yet another person in his life to abandon him. It gave him serious abandonment issues, and he made it sound like he hadn't let anyone else but Anne in until she came along and swore blind that she would never do anything to hurt him. She loved him, of course she wouldn't.
Both of the siblings were in pain, Jennifer in physical pain as she was being forced against the wall.
"What do you want me to do with her?" Annabelle asked Will, focusing her attention on him. His sister turning up here of all places had to be a shock.

[togger]

"Bring her upstairs with us. Apparently we missed a lot."

The staff and patients were in the entrance hall of the medical complex, happy to be alive. There were signs of struggle, burn marks on the wall from the laser bolts that fired from the turrets and two large holes near the entrance where the pirates had made their own doorway. Apparently, the turrets did their job really well. Doctor Poole was standing at the front of the crowd, smiling out of relief. She was ecstatic that everyone came out of his raid alive and nothing got stolen...maybe because they improved their combat sensors with a few upgrades Steve had managed to purchase on the markets on the Lower Levels. Whatever it was, she was happy that they made it.
"Ok people, we're safe for now. Nurses, make sure the patients are taken care of. Security personnel, assess the damage and dump the bodies. Oh good, you two...three?"
"We captured one of the pirates."
"Ah. Right. Is she hurt?"
"If you want her to be." Jen hissed at Will, the engineer glaring at Jen as if to say "Shut your mouth." She complied.
"Well, Blake, if you could help my guys patch up these holes..."
"Done."
"And Anna, I've got some restraints for our pirate.."
"No. Leave her here."
"Blake! Are you kidding?! She'll kill you!"
"No, she won't. Trust me."
"Do you know her?"
"Yes."
"Oh...well, Mcadams, come with me, I need your help with getting these people back to their rooms. I'd also like you to see our security set up, see if you can point anything out that would help us deflect attacks like this more often."

Patching up the holes were simple: just allow the machines to do their work. Or rather, the nano technology that was imbedded into the walls. One of the best things about Alliance facilities was that the walls were coated with nano technology, tiny robots that could rebuild, repair, or restructure the walls. Cut down on repair costs by a LOT. Will managed to toy around with the nano machine "brain" so that they would be a bit more efficient(tuning them were simple). As they patched the walls, Will looked around: everyone had dispersed, leaving him to his work in the entrance hall.
"So ah...Will...Alliance work?" Jen had been sitting on the floor, absent mindlessly stroking her hair.
"Engineer."
"Oh." More silence. Another minute passed before Jen asked:
"She's your woman, huh?"
"Yeah."
"She looks nice."
"She is." Will watched the wall complete itself, turning around to face his sister. He couldn't help but feel disgust for her...but then he remembered what Anne told him about his pride, about it was a weakness. Could destroy him. Was he allowing his pride to destroy a relationship with his sister? But she had crushed him! He could almost hear Anne saying "Forgiveness is the best medicine."

"Why piracy, Jen?"
"Because I had nowhere else to go. Because they gave me a sense of belonging. Something that orphanage couldn't do."
"You didn't want to listen."
"I listened alright. Stuffing us with nonchalant catch phrases that don't apply to real life. I've seen things Will...horrible things. I've experienced things too. Nothing at the orphanage could have prepared us for this."
"If you had listened to Anne."
"Maybe." Jen got up, pacing slightly now as she looked at Will, smiling slightly as she said:
"You always looked better than me. I was jealous."
"I would be too if I was you." They both laughed slightly, some tension easing out of the room.
"You also knew right and wrong better than I did."
"I wont' argue with that either."
"You're so full of yourself."
"Better than being full of drugs."
"Will! I've been clean for months!"
"How would I know that?" Jen blew out a sigh, walking over to him and poking a finger in his chest, responding:
"You want to make up or not? Because I don't have time for this."
"Depends. You want to act like a sister for once? You want to care?" Jen looked away for a moment, Will now doing what he had wanted to do when he had first seen Jen: he hugged her. Jen returned the hug, tears now streaming down her face.
"I'm sorry."
"Don't I know it." Will was beginning to tear up himself.

Love didn't come around very often.

Enjoy it.

[~ ADMIN]

Anna had been a bit anxious leaving Will with Jennifer, but he said he would be fine, and she trusted him, so she left him be.
Helping the patients back to their room didn't take too long once she had a list of everyone and where they were supposed to be. She explained a couple of dozen times to people what had just happened, half of them on such strong meds that they didn't really understand what was going on.
She had an interesting conversation with a war veteran who had been in to have a hip replacement - a new bionic one that probably never would give out, not in his lifetime anyway, or hers.
"You been in a few scrapes, haven't ya?"
"Just a few," Anna said, slightly sarcastically.
"How did a girl like you end up in the military?"
"Long story."
"Yeah, well, I have a few long stories of my own."
"I bet you do."
"These space pirates are nothing compared to the stuff you and I have seen."
"Right you are. Ever been to Collonia?"
"Them jungles are awful, we used to do training exercises there before them militants set up base."
"Well, those militants aren't there any more."
The man looked round at her, "good for you."
"It was my last mission before this."
"Well, I'm sure if you can take care of those guys, then you'll have many more to come."
"Me too. Take care."
"Bye now."

Next, she had to sit down with the building security and point out where they could make improvements, or where there were weaknesses.
Essentially, they needed more protection on the outside of the building, to stop the pirates from getting into the building at all. Defensive mechanisms were a must, as far as she could see. She recommended a few things they could ask the Alliance for, or install themselves. Codes in the security system that would help them in cases like these. Also, better training for staff in self defence.

After that, she wandered the corridors a little. It had been a few hours since the attack now, and Anna was tired, she couldn't deny it.
Eventually, she came across Will and Jennifer. They weren't at each others throats... wow. Maybe that was a good thing.
"Hey."

[togger]

When Anna walked in, Will and Jen were laughing at a story Will had just told about their childhood(it involved a penny, two kids, and a grumpy old storekeeper), Jen saying something along the lines of: "He had no idea what was coming to him!" Will heard Anna address them, looking at her with a small smile:
"Hey there. Improve their security much darling?" Jen grimaced slightly when he mentioned security, knowing that it was that same security system that had wiped out most of her pirate family. Speaking of which, she missed them already. Even though she was with Will and they had reconciled, she knew that they would never be able to co-exist together in one place. They were too different. She would have to leave. But not now. For now, she wanted a bed: she hadn't slept in nearly thirty some odd hours.
"Hey Will, your bed: Can I use it?"
"If you don't stain the sheets."
"Oh shut up."
"After you." Jen punched Will in the back, saying:
"Respect your elders."
"Hard to when I have to look down at you all the time." Jen scowled, responding:
"You're lucky your girlfriend is here, otherwise I would embarrass you soo bad."
"Any time." Jen laughed, kissing her brother's cheek as she walked past Anna, leaving the two alone.

[~ ADMIN]

Anna watched as Jennifer walked off, waving a little good bye before walking to up Will, "I thought she was supposed to embarrass you because I am here."
"I added some codes to their security system, automatic protocols, and gave them advice on what to do for the external defence systems, nothing too fancy."
She took his good hand and rested her forehead against his shoulder, closing her eyes.
"I'm beginning to think that maybe I should just go hide on a remote planet somewhere, away from everyone else, then I wouldn't be able to get people into trouble any more."
It had been a non-stop riot since that moment when the terrorists attacked back on the Oceanic. That felt like weeks ago now, they'd come so far. She felt old, but that was probably just because she was tired.
"I see you made up with your sister then?" she removed her head from his shoulder and looked up at him. He looked happy, that was good.

[togger]

"Made up? Hardly. We're on the right track, however. There's a lot of things we need to iron out, more her than me of course. I suspect that she'll probably want to go back to doing her own thing and most likely leave me high and dry by the end of tonight. Habits are hard to kill, you know. But such is the human condition." He laughed slightly, continuing:
"Glad you could offer some pointers to those security people. I know they could benefit from your knowledge, although it doesn't hurt that I helped solve their nano machine efficiency. I tell you, the Alliance needs to upgrade to better nano machine AI. The Nexor three doesn't WORK right in concern to coordination. Can't get a thing done unless you prod them constantly with energy signals." He knew he had probably just bored her to tears, but he had to tell SOMEONE about how horrible the technology situation was here.
"You need rest, darling. Find your room and go to bed. I'll sleep on your floor in a few minutes, just want to check something in the medical room."

Doctor Poole shook her head, looking at the security footage with disgust. As the hologram played out, one could see the turrets blasting their way through the pirates, but there was a shimmer here or there that the turret didn't pick up. Switch over to the camera over on the supply room on the main level and the shimmer became a person: a very large pirate. He looted everything he could before turning to TWO more shimmer-pirates, those two loading up on what they could. They quickly became invisible again, dodging the fallen bodies and making their escape along with the few others who were smart enough to stay out of the hallways. So they didn't have about eighty five percent of their supplies.

Dandy.

[~ ADMIN]

"Well, at least if she does leave, you guys didn't leave it badly this time. That's something, right?" She was going to be supportive of Will no matter her feelings to the woman. If she'd been alone with Jennifer, she would have knocked her head against the wall and told her to never hurt her brother again, but it didn't look like that was ever going to happen.
"Whatever you said, I'm going to nod and smile," she said, doing as she said. She didn't need to be ordered to go to bed twice, "a few minutes," she repeated, "if it's any longer, I'm coming to find you." She didn't trust there not be any more trouble in the near future.
Reaching up, she was going to give him a quick kiss on the cheek, she changed her mind, kissing him on the lips instead, lingering for a moment before patting his arm gently, heading off to find her room.

When she got there, she went through the cupboards and found a spare blanket and pillow, which she laid out on the floor, before chucking the blanket from her bed on top so at least he'd be a little more comfortable. Kicking off her shoes, she climbed on the bed fully clothed. No sooner had she wrapped her arms around herself and her head hit the pillow she was out.

----

Anna was crouched in the bush just outside a militant base in the dense jungle of Collonia, drenched in sweat, awaiting orders via her comms. A group of the best military officers had been flown in, under cover, by the government to arrest the members of the militant group and shut down their base. Anna’s six other team mates were hidden strategically around the base perimeter, waiting to pounce.

It had been her 21st birthday just yesterday, a corporal for only seven months, she’d excelled in any task she had been given, trained until she couldn’t no more and kept going; she didn’t know it yet, but she was the best they had.

“You have a go.”

Keeping low, Anna kept one hand on her gun in its holster, whilst nipping and ducking through the colourful plant life. She used a fallen trunk as a boost, leaping onto the roof in two or three easy strides. Reaching her entry point, she dropped through the sky light into a crouched position, looking up and down the corridor. A man emerged from a side corridor and was on the floor before he could even lay a finger on his gun. Good thing Anna had already set her gun to stun. She bound his hands and moved on.

It was the rest of the team’s job to round up the militants; Anna was supposed to take out power to the base. She followed the route she memorised, taking down anyone who got in her way, making sure they could be picked up and questioned later.

A siren started blaring, and Anna skidded to a halt, cursing. Now they knew they were here. She’d had to pick up the pace.

Two easy knock outs later and she was almost at her destination. The guard outside the power room was built like a tank, with good reason. Anna dodged three or four shots before jumping on the guy, pulling him to the ground. Unfortunately he got the upper hand, taking his iron fists to Anna’s face and ribs. She struggled beneath his grip, images of her brothers flashing through her mind, maybe this was it...

----

Anna heard something, her eyes opening a crack. She felt someone move, but couldn't stay awake. She fell straight back to sleep.

(There, nice long post seeing as I passed out in bed last night, like, 2 hours earlier than I usually would xD There is a second part to the memory, that's coming next post.)

[togger]

Will watched Anna leave, waited a few moments and then did something strange: he began to crawl on the ground. At first glance, it would have looked quite odd, seeing as besides the crawling, he was also examining the ground at a very close distance, his face almost pressed to the gleaming metallic floor. Although he knew he looked like an idiot, Will knew what he was looking for...

There it was.

It was a very, very, very small piece of what looked like glass. The glass-like object shimmered as Will picked it up, shaking it slightly to reveal what it really was: a piece of a stealth suit. More importantly, the stealth suits that some of the pirates must have used in order to get inside. When Jen, Anna, and himself had made their initial ascent up to this floor, Will noticed traces of this shimmering as they were walking down the corridor that led to the main entrance. He had also taken note of the fact that a few doors were flung open and, out of his peripheral vision, he was able to see that most of the storage containers had been almost ripped open. A school child could have put two and two together. The pirates had gotten their supplies...but they also left Will a very nice gift. Once back on the Venia, he would put this through a few tests, then shove it into the replication device and...

He smiled.

Staff members were still bustling about when Will walked into the main corridor. Must have been trying to recoup the losses that the pirates had inflicted, plus fortify for the next attack. He didn't see Poole or the other doctor...oh what was his name? Anyhow, it didn't matter: he wanted some sleep.

Walking downstairs, he approached his original room and hesitantly knocked twice. Nothing. Will tried to open the door thinking it was locked, but it slid right open, revealing...

An empty bedroom.

He snorted, shaking his head, knowing full well what had happened: Jen had escaped somehow. She couldn't resist the lure that pirating had. There was however a small holo on the dresser, which Will took and played. A miniature Jen popped up, smiling through what looked like tears. She said:
"Well, I guess you figured I couldn't stay away from it after all. It's too much, Will, too much to walk away from. I...I realize we're on two different walks of life now and I.." She stopped for a moment, holding back a sob before continuing:
"We're different little brother...very different. I don't want to cause you anymore pain than I already have, so...so that's why I left, you see. I love you. I love you so much that you couldn't even begin to understand how much I do." Will could see the holographic recording of his sister turn around, a slight clinking could be heard as she continued:
"I know you like messing with stuff, so I left you a small gift on the dresser next to the holo. Maybe you can show me what it actually does sometime. I got it in a...well, you know." Will paused the holo, looking at the dresser to see a metallic disc the size of a small frisbee. He picked it up: light, durable. Maybe something he could work with. Will continued the recording:
"Well, I have to leave now. They'll wonder where I've been, you know." The holographic Jennifer began to sob now, saying through the sobs:
"Don't forget me...ever."

He wouldn't.

Will walked into Anna's room, the door sliding behind him as he looked down at the floor, seeing that Anna had given him her blanket. He laughed quietly to himself, picking the blanket up off the floor and draping it around her body, kissing her on the cheek as he did so. He looked at her sleeping form and couldn't help but admire her. She was hot. Period.

And she was his.

He smiled again, now going back to his makeshift bed and lying down, putting the metallic disc a few feet away from where he was asleep. His eyes shut.

Darkness.

[~ ADMIN]

Two easy knock outs later and she was almost at her destination. The guard outside the power room was built like a tank, with good reason. Anna dodged three or four shots before jumping on the guy, pulling him to the ground. Unfortunately he got the upper hand, taking his iron fists to Anna’s face and ribs. She struggled beneath his grip, images of her brothers flashing through her mind, maybe this was it...

Like hell it was. No guy was ever going to hurt her again, she’d promised herself that.

Spitting blood in the guy’s eyes, she fought him off, grabbing his gun, pressing it between his eyes.

“Do it,” he growled.

Anna breathed heavily, keeping the pressure on the guy for a couple of moments more before knocking him out with the butt of the gun.

“Go to hell.”

Climbing to her feet, she ditched his gun and grabbed her own, entering the power room. Everything was simple from there.

“Job well done, Corporal.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“No casualties, mission accomplished. It’s what we’ve come to expect from you.”
“I always try to do my best, sir.”
“We’re well aware of that, Corporal. Get back to Earth, get cleaned up, take some R and R, you’ve earned it.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“You’re welcome, Corporal.”

Anna stirred, stretching her arms out, realising that her blanket was over her. Will must have put it over her when he got to the room, it must have been him she felt. Nothing she could do about it now. Keeping the blanket wrapped tightly around her, she rolled over and peered over the edge of the bed, looking at Will sleeping.
Despite the fact that they'd fallen asleep together a couple of times already, Anna hadn't actually seen him sleeping. He was adorable.
Smiling a little, she lay there quietly, just watching him, not wanting to disturb him.

[togger]

"You're watching me. I can feel it when you watch me, you know. Kind of creepy." Will had been awake for the past few minutes, but had been stubbornly refusing to actually open his eyes and GET up. He had heard Anna shift in bed and then, as he had pointed out, felt her pair of eyes lock onto him. It was a strange feeling, but he didn't mind, she could watch him all the time if she wanted to. He now groaned, sitting up and rubbing his eyes as he told her:
"You talked in your sleep. Something about corporals and earth and whatnot." Will looked up at Anna, smiling as he asked:
"What? It's been two minutes and I haven't even gotten kissed yet? Do I have to work for everything around here? You women are so lazy."

[~ ADMIN]

Anna's cheeks flushed a light shade of pink, she had been convinced he was still asleep. "You're so easy to watch," she said, "when you're pretending to sleep that is." She grinned, pulling the blanket away from her face.
She'd talked in her sleep? Yikes. She hoped she didn't do that in future, that could make for all sorts of awkward moments. At least her dream had been relatively innocent this time around.
"You're so behind with the times," she said, leaning up on her elbows, "you could have kissed me. Us women don't have to do everything you know." She smirked, then made a 'come hither' gesture with her index finger.

[togger]

As Will stood up and moved towards Annabelle, he said:
"It's all about you, isn't it? You women are all the same. Always about...you..." He kissed Annabelle gently, testing his bad arm's ability to support him as he put some weight on the arm by placing his right hand down next to Annabelle's body. It hurt slightly, but it wouldn't be too bad. He clambered onto the bed now, continuing to kiss her, moving down to her neck as he told her:
"We need to get married, you know that?" He bit down gently before continuing:
"Because I am so sick and tired..." He moved to her ear, biting again as he continued:
"Of having to just look at you."