It's Been A While

Posted on Wed Oct 18th, 2023 @ 8:32am by Lieutenant Commander Finnley Keating VII & Senior Chief Petty Officer Mason Malone

Mission: Character Development
Location: USS Athena
1490 words - 3 OF Standard Post Measure

The idea went back and forth in Finn's head as she eyed Mason across the bar. Should she go and seek out those she had left behind when she first left the Athena or wait and let them come to her? Or maybe even just try to avoid them all and save everyone some heartache. No. She had decided to stop running. Which meant she had to own up for the abandonment too.

"Hey Mason," Finn finally called out from behind the marine. "I wanted to...I wanted to find you, to apologize. For leaving without saying goodbye. I was in a weird place and I wasn't thinking straight. It wasn't me. I'm sorry." Her eyes were filled with remorse but there was more embarrassment than sorrow swimming in the blue depths. She owned up to it, now she could only hope that her friend would forgive her.

Mason froze first at the sound of her voice, not sure if he was believing what he was hearing until he turned to face her. At a single glance, his trained eye read her body language, seeing the remorse and embarrassment. "Finn!" He called out, all but launching himself at her in favour of his own still healing body. "Is it really you? Are you back?"

"As far as I know, yea," Finn chuckled lightly and embraced a hug from Mason. She was at least relieved that he wasn't utterly pissed at her. Not that she could have blamed him if he was, but she hadn't expected such a warm welcome back. "The Captain, well Commodore, said my spot was still open if I wanted it and I figured it was time that I stopped running from my problems so...here I am."

"Easy on the hug," he whispered, gently disentangling himself from it. "So if you're back what's going to happen to that Connell guy ? He gave George such a hard time, poor man. Oooh does he know yet that you're back?"

"Oh, sorry," Finn released him from the hug. "What happens to O'Connell will mostly be up to him. I spent some time reviewing his records and his reports of his time on the Athena. I know he may have given George a hard time but in his reports it seems like he was really just trying to help him overcome his fears. To be honest, I think I like the guy, at least from what I read on paper. I'll be meeting with him this afternoon. I may jut offer for him to stay as the assistant chief. As for George, no he doesn't know yet. Besides the Commodore, only you and Xav know."

"Oh how..." he shook his head. "Don't be sorry. I got injured in the fight for our module. Was having to fight off pirates while trying to get to engineering. I don't know what became of them though it was quite a fight. I spent some time in sickbay, but was allowed to go home." He paused, not sure how to tell her that he was trying to give George some space and that they'd had a disagreement prior to that. "George will be so happy to see you," he babbled on, changing the subject.

"Oh, yea I heard about the pirates. Sounds intense. I'm glad you're ok though. Where is George anyway?" Finn asked, expecting that he would've been somewhere close to where Mason was.

"I... don't know..." Mason paused again. "Probably in engineering...the pirates did a lot of damage to the ship. He's been really busy and I've not yet convinced him to take a proper break." It was a half truth and not quite a lie. "So when did you get back?"

"Just this morning. I haven't moved back into my quarters yet, I just looked up the latest report from engineering and decided to see if I could find you real quick before I got to work. Why don't you join me in engineering and we can find George together? I wanted to say hi to him anyway before I meet O'Connell and then get to work," Finn smiled.

Mason didn't return the smile. "Sure," he said, beckoning for her to follow. "The Alpha module took quite a beating. Half of the bridge was destroyed, I heard. You'll be needed down there."

Finn noticed the lack of enthusiasm. "Whats wrong? Are you mad at me?" Finn asked. He had seemed happy at first, but maybe he wasn't actually as happy to see her as she thought.

"No I'm not mad at you. Disappointed maybe, but not mad. you're my friend, at least I hope so." Mason shook his head, somewhat sadly. "I guess George is mad at me, and he wants some space after we had an argument of some sort." He sighed miserably. "I'm trying to do what he wants but it's hard, you know? I love him, and I want nothing more than to be with him. I forgot a date after a long day and I was too exhausted to meet up and that's why he wants space." It was really a long story in a very small nutshell but if she wanted more she'd just have to ask George. "I don't want to bug him but I'll take you anyway."

"Oh no, I'm sorry to hear that Mason," Finn truly felt for him. She understood how hard it was to be apart from someone you loved. "It's ok, I can go on my own. How about we meet up for dinner later? We can catch up more then?"

"No I'll take you, I don't have anything to do anyway since I am off duty for medical reasons." The truth was, he was getting stir crazy by now, and he needed something to do, so why not walk down a friend. "You can catch me up on what you've been doing since you were away. Rumour has it you caused quite a stir during the trial."

Finn gave Mason a quick overview of everything that had happened with the trial. The perjury, being confronted by Cameron, her dad capturing Nerak, breaking into the court room to display the truth and her conversation with Kane about coming back to the Athena. They had just entered engineering when she finished the tale. "I think I see George, looks like he's messing with the primary drive coils," Finn pointed across the way to an engineer hunched over an open panel just inside a jefferies tube. "I can take it from here if you still want to give him space, but you're welcome to join if you'd prefer."

"I haven't got much else to do," Mason admitted, "I'm still not on full duty and I'm resigned to light duty at the moment." He shrugged. "Who knows, I might learn something new," he added as they walked up to George. "Hey George, got a minute? I got someone here you need to ah .. see ..."

George looked over and then scrambled out of the jefferies tube. "Finn! Uh, I mean, Commander," he corrected himself realizing they were both in uniform and in engineering. "It's so good to see you. Does this...does this mean you're back?"

"It does," Finn smiled, appreciating the fact that George hadn't reached out for a hug. They'd been friends for a while and he knew how much she preferred to keep a bubble of personal space. "I'm meeting with Lieutenant O'Connell next. Mason here was just bringing me up to speed on what I missed out while I was gone."

"More like the other way around," Mason corrected with half a smile. "When will you be off duty? I may beam down to visit my sisters..." he fidgeted slightly, as if unsure whether to ask. "Want to come with me? Or come down later?"

"Thanks for the invite Mason, but there's a lot of work to do here and I'm sort of hoping the lieutenant commander here might...join me for dinner? I want to hear about everything since you've been gone," George said in earnest.

"I'd love that, George," Finn smiled, grateful for the opportunity of company for her first meal since returning to the ship.

"Oh..." Mason paused, not having expected that one even though it kind of made sense. "Okay... I'll see you later then." Not being invited did sting somewhat, but he did his best not to show it. "I'll leave you to it..." he turned away and started to leave, slowly.

"I guess I better go and meet O'Connell. I'll look forward to dinner, George. Mason, I hope you enjoy your evening with your sisters. Tell them I said hi," Finn said. Things had gone better than she could have hoped for on her first day back so far. With any luck, the trend would continue. This was her last chance after all so she'd take all the good luck she could get.