Fragile Moments ((Kent/Riley))

[Samantha_Kent 0]

Brian was standing next to Eagle, reviewing the security protocols being enacted on the Arcadia. The tactical officer had asked for his assistance, in a roundabout way, but he doubted that he could offer any fresh insights into shipboard security for a Sovereign-class starship. His gaze drifted back to the view of New Atlantis in the main viewscreen. Night had just fallen on this side of the planet. The huge space elevator and the city that spread like a starburst at its base were brilliantly lit. Memories...he had been haunted by them since the Captain had told him their destination, and even now he struggled to focus on the task at hand.

 

Sam watched Brian watching the viewscreen, her dark eyes fixed on his face, her expression worried. She had heard what he had been talking to the captain about, and she didn't like it at all; she didn't know the details of his past and how he had come to the elements of darkness in his personality now, but she could tell from the tension in his face and voice that this place was somehow involved with it, which made her very reluctant to cotton to his plans to go down by himself. She gestured at him gently, trying to catch his eye across the bridge -- the few moments of calm that the bridge had settled into seemed as good a time as any to try to talk to him about this.

 

He saw someone gesture out of the corner of his eye and it pulled enough of his attention away from the viewscreen to look over and realize it was Samantha beckoning him. With a mumbled excuse to Eagle he walked toward the port side turbolifts and nodded for her to follow. Brian didn't go for the turbolifts but instead stepped into the alcove to the right of them that led to the bridge restrooms and waited for Sam.

 

Sam immediately stood up from her seat and followed him into the head alcove near the port turbolift. Keeping her voice low, she looked at him with an expression of concern, choosing not to go immediately on the attack but instead beginning with a careful, "Are you alright?"

 

Brian frowned slightly and saw the worry in Samantha's eyes. "No, but I am going to have to deal with that."

 

Sam shook her head slightly at him. Of course he was going to try to pull away on this; she should have expected that. She could only hope that maybe she could draw him back, convince him not to risk himself foolishly because of whatever he thought this planet held for him. "What is it?" she asked, glancing back out of the alcove towards the image of New Atlantis hovering on the screen. "What are you expecting here?"

 

His gaze followed her glance to look again at the viewscreen. "I don't know...that is what scares me."

 

Sam's worried expression deepened and she reached out impulsively and grabbed his arm. "Then why are you going down there alone?" she hissed at him, her tone hovering between frustration and abject fear. She didn't want to become a burden to him, she did not want to be "the obnoxious girl" hanging over his every move, but everything she was hearing about this place said that this was a bad idea and she refused to let him disappear down there without her at least speaking up to try to stop him.

 

Brian looked back at Samantha in surprise as she grabbed him and then shook his head. "I can't stand the thought of anyone else paying for my mistakes. Though I don't think the Captain will let me go alone anyway."

 

Sam nodded slowly at that, her hand still on his arm, almost as if afraid that if she released him he would be immediately sucked down into whatever waited for him on the planet below. "I hope you're right...I don't know what you think you're atoning for but if anything happens to you down there..." Her voice trailed off unhappily and she paused for a moment before continuing, looking down. "I don't even want to think about it..."

 

He reached out and touched his finger to Sam's chin, lifting her gaze to meet his. "I'm not atoning for anything, Samantha. I am going because I am the best suited for the task. As for what might happen..." Brian blinked and shook his head slightly. "There are rules, even in illegal organizations...especially in the Syndicate. One of the most important is to never tell the authorities anything if you get caught. If someone is found to be a snitch, a black mark is placed on their name. They are to be killed on sight...no questions, no explanation."

 

Sam felt the soft touch of his fingers guiding her eyes back to him, and she met his gaze with a wide-eyed, hardly reassured expression that she hated herself for. She reached up and caught his hand before he could pull it away. "Brian...you don't have to get yourself involved in this again. From what you're saying it sounds more dangerous down there for you, not less; why can't you let someone else..." She stopped. She was skating dangerously close to whining at him -- he was a big boy, he knew far better than she did how to take care of himself. "Promise me you'll be careful," she finally said softly, tightening her grasp on his fingers gently.

 

"I'll be as careful as I can. But I have to know my status...I have to know if I am a marked man." Brian saw Samantha's eyes glistening as she struggled to be stronger than she wanted to. He felt the depth of her fear and felt a surge of warmth as he realized the extent of her love for him. A sudden sincere smile spread across his face. "I swear I will come back to you." With that, bridge be damned, he pulled her close and kissed her softly on the lips.

 

Sam felt his arms around her and almost fell into him as he pulled her close, her worry for him overcoming the awkwardness their relationship had suffered up to this point as she pressed her lips back against his gently. For a moment she stopped worrying about anything, even the fact that they were only barely hidden from completely public view; for a moment nothing else was important. When they broke apart after a moment that seemed to last several hours, she looked up at him and quirked her mouth in a nervous half-smile. "I'll hold you to that, you know," she said softly. That sort of promise, in the long run, could not really be sure of coming true, but she couldn't fairly expect to get anything more concrete from him...she could only hope.

Edited September 30, 2008 by Samantha_Kent