"Son of a..."
"Now honestly Atticus is it that big of a deal it's not like we're doing anything around here anyway." Vivian was shaking her head, her arms crossed over her chest as she stood behind his chair. Atticus's head was on the control panel under a flickering away holo image.
"That's easy for you to say Viv, you get to hang around here and not deal with higher politics. You just get to clean guns." He chuckled, not really whining but wanting to seem like he was. Getting out of the base for awhile would be good for him, he didn't envy Viv having to stay here and hang around by herself. They'd lost three team members earlier this week.
Fuck it still was harsh when he though about Sullivan, Kent and Lee. They had been his family for a good long time. It was the longest group that'd lasted in the Zandeleigh outfit at once. He pushed himself out of his chair looking at the control room behind him. He could imagine them still at their seats. Sullivan far too knowledgeable, Kent ready to fight and looking over Sullivan's shoulder, and Lee would be typing up the information they had found writing out "reports" though their superiors didn't really see them that way.
Now he had to go do some damn lectures on Hunting for the Civil Students and then the Frosh's considering it. He really was honored to be one of the Weilands that they picked rather frequently to train the Frosh's heading into The Wastelands in other Outfits...but sometimes it felt like no one else ever had to do it.
"I'm gonna go pack," Vivian stood up saluting him and grinning. They rarely had that level of formality, especially now that it was...just the two of them. He rolled his eyes at her. "While I'm gone I have a list." Her smile faltered heavily.
"You're kidding me! I thought this was like a vacation week." Her voice had a hint of laughter to it. He could tell she needed the vacation however.
"Well Vivy, guess what it's not, we have a severe lack of man power now and we need to..." He was going to say clean out their rooms, the sentence stopped in his mind and mouth before anything came out. "...actually, just take care of yourself while I'm gone. It'll only be a week or two...hopefully." He walked over to her the expression on her face and in her eyes distant.
"Yeah...hopefully." She looked down as he put a hand on her shoulder. He didn't want to leave her by herself in this ghost base. No other option he supposed. He put his other hand on her arm and pulled her in for a hug. It hadn't been the first shared between the two of them but the gesture was rare.
Vivian froze in his arms for a second before wrapping hers around him. Her eyes closed as she put her chin on his shoulder. Her dark tinted skin made his stand out brightly with their faces next to each other. They pulled apart and she looked at him for a moment. A tension filled second electrified the air then she pulled him in kissing him for just a second. It was intense but gone in a moment and she was turned away from him walking out of the room.
Atticus's breath caught as he watched her leave his hand on his mouth.
"Take care of yourself while I'm gone Vivian."
"No problem Cap'n. Her quiet voice drifted back to him as she went out of sight.
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A couple hours later, Atticus was riding a four wheeler over to the Hajari Building. The Hajari building used to be home to Atticus. He spent so much damn time in its walls learning the tricks of the trade. He'd even slept there several times right before his two years were up. Some people stayed there all the time, if home wasn't treating them to well. He slowed to a and got off of his vehicle, grabbing his duffel bag. Looking up at the four floored building brought back lots of memories. The track around the outside of it brought back phantom muscle pain. He didn't even want to look at the obstacle courses behind it.
He walked through the door a few Civil Students were in the hallways looking at him. The kids, they looked younger all the time. They looked at him some nervous, others were a little bit scared, and then the last group which he remembered being a part of the first couple months the rebels. They didn't want to deal with this. He wished he could tell them the fulfillment it might bring later...even if it did blow some days.
The elevator doors closed and he rode up silently tapping his finger against the strap on his duffel. To Tenzin Cormac again. Atticus respected the Tenzin but sometimes...well, they had a bit of a history. At least Atticus thought they did. Cormac always seemed to ignore his calls for a Scientist in the Zandeleigh. Constantly. It would help them help Teinar. Of course now maybe he understood why...He pulled himself back from that swirling hole where his teammates were. They were gone, he had to move on...it happened. He looked up at the line of numbers representing the floors.
Longest. Elevator. Ever.
Finally the doors opened and he wasn't left alone with his thought any longer. A couple young guards stood on either side of the elevator and turned when he came through. He pulled out his badge which had his picture, name, rank and a bar code on it. One of the guards held his hand over it and a red laser swept across the ID, he nodded to the other guard.
"Come on through Weiland Venaco." Atticus nodded and they saluted him as he went passed. Now, to Cormac's office. Atticus knew the way to this office like the back of his hand, easily. Most of the rooms on this floor were offices or quarters for higher ranked people helping the training. He couldn't believe he'd be sleeping here...again. The quarters weren't bad, but they weren't home.
Ah, room number forty three. Atticus took a long breath and knocked on the door. He could almost smell that vanilla tobacco he always smoked in that pipe already.
"Get on in here Venaco. That better be you." Here we go.
