We Meet Again (Ally)

[jsneill]

John had to admit, the Venia was a magnificent ship. Dressed in his usual suit, and shirt combo, the top two buttons undone, he strolled down the corridor. He was on board, travelling with the crew for the moment, keeping an eye on the goings on, and he was there to help if need be. They were insistent on investigating into the R4 terrorist group, and if anyone knew about getting past people and finding things, it was him.

A woman passed him, and he slid to a halt. He recognised her, he was sure of it. "Hey," he said, getting her to stop and turn around to look at him. Oh, he recognised her all right. It had been a long while since he had, and she'd been a lot younger, but he was certain she was a member of a group that had been at Harvard. They had been looking into stealing some dodgy chemicals, and they wanted to know how. "We meet again," he said.

[Alliana Porter]

Stressed with her compounds at hand, and curls in disarray, Ally was on her way to her room for a much needed nap. She wasn't exactly having the best of days and she was sure she had heavily overworked herself. She stretched almost gracefully, pulling her soft hair to one side of her neck, and shuffled a little drearily to her room.

She was almost there when an unfamiliar face grabbed the side of her arm, forcing her to look up as he spoke to her. "Uh...hi?" she answered, slightly less enthused than he. He seemed to have recognized her, but she was having a bit of trouble remembering his face. He was attractive, decently yes, and if she wasn't so stupidly, head over heels in love with Luke, she would have given him some interest. Thing was, she was crazy about :Luke, so...he was just..here...."We...uh...do?" she asked a bit cautiously, curious to how he had known her. "I..I'm sorry It must've been years. Care to refresh my memory?"

[jsneill]

She didn't remember him. Funny. Interesting really considering he'd remembered her as the silent face within a group, and yet, her group had been the one that had come to him. But then, John never missed a thing. A keen eye was what made him the best at what he did, or at least, what he used to do. Now he used his skills to catch criminals, rather than become one of them.

"John Neill," he said, "or, at that particular time, it was Avery Scott. Harvard, 2455. You sure you don't remember?" This was one hell of a coincidence, her turning up on a ship like this one. Had she turned away from that life that she had been in, come clean, and become a scientist or something? He could admire her if she had. That was more than he'd been able to do.

[Alliana Porter]

Ally ran a hand through her hair and tossed it a little as it slowly came back, faded in some parts. Most of that was a blur now. That past had ruined her. She had been running from that for so long, busted and shoved into a governmental prison. She remembered, but she wanted to forget.

"It...it's a little foggy, but I do remember. Wish I didn't. That past came up and bit me not too long ago." she sighed, resting her back against the wall of her door. "I've turned away from all of that now though. It's only made a mess of me." She looked back up into his blue eyes, searching for the fragmented memories of a past she was working on forgetting. He seemed as if he was still stuck in that life, where she had turned hers around for the better.

[jsneill]

So she did remember. But she had turned her life around. "That life always comes back to bite you in the ass, no way of escaping it." He'd served four years in jail for his discrepancies and lost someone along the way. He'd learned his lesson. "It's good that you turned away from it though. Smartest decision a person can make." And he believed it. Sure, sometimes he missed the thrill, but catching criminals had a different sort of thrill, he enjoyed knowing he was the only one with his expertise that could do his job.

"I never got a name," he said, looking at her expectantly. "I promise not to bother you any more about a past long forgotten. You're not the only one who has put the past behind them." He was working for the UGAP, and he intended for it to stay that way. It benefitted him in a lot of ways. It kept the clothes on his back, and food in his stomach, while a small fortune collected interest in his bank account. The money was rightfully his, they couldn't do anything about it.

[Alliana Porter]

He seemed like her, but shadier, more secretive. Even though he said he had changed his life around, she still had the feeling he had more up his sleeve than he exposed. He was what she would become if she hadn't left t behind. Life was much better now. She had found love, true friendship and de[spite her past, was getting good marks with the government working on the Venia. Everything here was her second chance.

"Alliana Porter." she half smiled, extending a hand to his. His grip was firm, direct and somehow looking into his eyes, she suddenly felt intimidated..almost..afraid, but she couldn't understand why. He seemed nice, collected, but she knew as good as anyone else, secrets were easy to hide. She took her hand back, sliding it into her back pocket. he knew things, or maybe just made it seem that way.

[jsneill]

John shook her hand in return. Hers was timid, she didn't trust him. And she had her own fair reasons for that. He didn't blame her. "Alliana," he repeated, "nice name. Spanish origin, means gracious." Names like that often came from the parents, what they wished their child to be - or they had no clue at all, and just thought it was a good name, either of the two.

"Well," he said, sensing her unease, "I won't take up any more of your time." He went to walk off, then paused, "any chance you could point me in the direction of the flight deck? There are some files there I need to pick up."

[Alliana Porter]

Ally watched him observe her reaction. True she didn't trust him, but she couldn't pin point why. When he brought up her name, she hadn't really thought of it. Her parents were far from spanish. Australian and Irish. That's where she inherited her stunning looks. She really didn't work on her beauty it just..sort of happened. She wasn't one to flaunt it, and now that she was romantically involved, she really only worked at pleasing one person anyway.

And speaking of, he would probably get to meet him. "Sure." she replied, almost a little too enthused. It was practically her second home on board. Over the weeks, Luke had been teaching her the constellations and more about how the ship flew and worked. They were slowly becoming more intimate again, closer, in fact probably deeper in love. It was almost sickeningly adorable. Ally shifted from the wall and began to lead him down the corridors.

[jsneill]

Alliana seemed to perk up somewhat when he mentioned the flight deck, and despite her previous caution towards him, she now gladly lead him towards his intended destination. He highly doubted that she was intrigued about the files he wanted. More like there was someone there who she wanted to see. Love was one of the rare things that made a woman's eyes light up like that. He'd seen it before.

It didn't take them long to get there, Alliana appeared to know the route like the back of her hand. As they entered, John saw exactly why she had been so enthusiastic about coming here. The man behind the ship's pilot controls was a handsome one, he had a rugged appearance, but handled the controls with confidence. Confidence was something that women went completely ga-ga over. He knew from experience. With a slight smirk, he thanked her, and started collecting the files he needed.

Luke hadn't been expecting to see Ally until much later on in the day. He'd been at the controls for an hour or so already, steering the ship on a course away from Earth to their next destination. Ally usually came around later in the evening, so that they could stargaze together. Their passion was growing again, his love for her stronger each day. She entered with a man in a suit, which piqued his interest. He looked like a government man, only in a more expensive suit.

"Hey," Luke said, grinning at Ally as she made her way over, "couldn't stay away, huh?"

[Alliana Porter]

Ally pushed open the door with a smile, letting John slide in ahead. It would've been expected for him to open the door for him, but she had gotten there first and ushered him in. From here, he could go straight to whatever he was looking for and Ally had a direct line to Luke. This guy John was as good as good of an excuse as any. Hopefully Luke wouldn't be jealous. It did look rather suspicious; he walking in with some new, dashing fellow.

There was nothing to explain really. The guy..John, just need to pick up some files. Was the Flightdeck really the place for files? Luke's files maybe, or Tobias, but nothing else really. Now her suspicions were beginning to grow. What was he Really up to? She shook her head to shove the thoughts to the back of her mind, and made her way to Luke. She couldn't help but show off her affections and planted a sweet, but slowly saucy kiss to his lips, cupping his cheeks in her hands as she leaned down. It was probably too much for a small run in like this, but she couldn't resist being overly physical right now. "You know I can never resist you." John probably wouldn't bother flirting with her now, and that was the point of the intimate moment she had just shown. There would never be anything to rip them apart again.

After she pulled away, she backed a few inches away to introduce the two. "Luke, this is John Neill. John, Luke. He's new on board. Not really sure what he does. Luke is the ship's pilot." she smirked, nudging him a bit, and rested her elbows on the edge of his chair.

[jsneill]

Luke had to admit, he was a little suspicious. A guy in a suit on board the ship, usually led to bad things. But he didn't look like your typical government liaison. He was almost too smooth for that. He had a different air around him, more like a rich bachelor. The fact that he had entered with Ally immediately put him on edge anyway. It was strange looking from one to the other; both with their dark hair and gray/blue eyes, they could have been siblings, twins even.

Luke took the kiss gladly, even if it was a statement, returning it obviously. Ally was his, and he had to have realised that even before the long and over exaggerated kiss. "Good to meet you," Luke said, extending a hand to the man. It was only polite after all. "John Neill of indeterminate occupation." He smirked at Ally over his shoulder, that one was directed more at her.

John collected the files he needed, keeping one hand free as he heard Alliana introduce him to the pilot, or maybe more importantly, her boyfriend. They'd made that pretty clear. Not that they needed to, John wasn't interested in the slightest. "UGAP Liaison," John said in answer to the question that they hadn't asked, "I'm on board to lend you guys a hand. If you need it. From the files I've seen, it doesn't look like you need much help from me." Not until these terrorists reared their ugly heads again of course. John was completely intolerant of crimes that involved killing innocent people. Charming and cheating them sure, but ending a life? No.

The main reason he was here was because a recent undercover mission carried out by two of the tactical officers had gone terribly wrong - not that it had been their fault. Part of his job was to investigate what went on, and to get to the bottom of the problem.

[Alliana Porter]

The government was something she did not understand. Politics, liaisons and whatever else they were responsible for. After Major Davis, there wasn't one person she dare trust. Maybe this John fellow was nice, possibly trustworthy, but she wasn't sure she had wanted to take a chance just yet. Luke seemed to take to him, but then again Luke pretty much got along with everyone. She gave a short, small sigh, deciding it was just her overreacting. He was probably fine.

Ally moved behind Luke, then over to his left side, only to rest her head against his arm as he explained fully who this man was. There was just...something about him. Perhaps it was the fact that he was the physical embodiment of her past, or worse yet, reminded her of her ex.