An Urgent Need

Posted on Sun Feb 3rd, 2019 @ 10:13pm by Senior Captain Connor McKinney M.D. PhD & Captain Madeline Sanchez & Senior Chief Petty Officer Teri Lane
Edited on on Sun Feb 3rd, 2019 @ 10:14pm

Mission: The First Step...
Location: Deans' Offices
Timeline: 2388/08/27 1230 (August 27 2388 1230pm)

Connor walked into the outer office and seeing Teri behind her desk, he walked up to her. "Teri, I need the blueprints of the top floor of my apartment building. If you could find them for me, forward them to my computer...'n' then join me there?"

Teri tilted her head slightly, curious as to what was going on. "I can have them in less then 10 minutes for you." She was already calling up what she needed and getting required authentications going. Blue prints were already locked, only accessible to those with clearance. Something Teri double checked and probably was a bit of pain in a few peoples hind ends over. She didn't want any potential kidnappers having it easy.

Tentatively she asked," Anything else I should bring? Doctor"

After thinking about it for a moment, Connor shook his head. He turned to gesture with his thumb over at Maddie's office door, "Is Captain Sanchez in?"

"Yes, not long either." Teri glanced at her monitor a second before turning a concerned look on the man. "Without trying to be one of those people who ask when being 'okay' is kind of a mute point, but are you okay? As in this very moment. I don't need the details if you don't want but I am here to help." She hoped he understood what she meant.

At first Connor only stared at her, uncertained on how to answer. She knew about Alex, and with her words, his thoughts went to how he had run out of there earlier chasing Ivy, and he could imagine how that had looked to her. "I'm okay, Teri... or I will be." he paused and then as he started to turn away again, added quietly, "Thank you."

Teri gave a slight nod with a small understanding smile in reply.

He nodded back to her appreciately, then walked over to Maddie's office and chimed her door.

"Come in!" Maddie called as she looked up from her desk.

The door opened and Connor stepped in, his face held an urgent expression, "Maddie, I need to speak with you."

"Is everything okay?" Maddie frowned as she stood up and added "Has there been news?"

"No." he shook his head, looking sad. "Maddie..." he swallowed, "my...sister is here. Ivy...she arrived this morning."

"Sister?" Maddie frowned, wracking her brain to try and remember if he had even mentioned that he had a sister, "Here? On Sapientia? Why?" the questions poured out of her mouth like a torrent.

His eyebrows came together, "She found out about Alex... Will you come with me to my office, 'n' I'll explain everything."

With a silent nod, Maddie stood and moved to Connor's side, eager to hear his story because right now she was feeling kind of shell shocked.

He lead her out through the outer office, glancing at Teri who was still working at her desk in getting the information he had asked her for. After asking her to lock the outer office doors, he opened the ones to his office and he told Maddie as they entered there, "My sis was on Zulu when she heard a rumour about the Armstrong." He walked around his desk and remained standing as he started typing on his keyboard. He glanced up at her, "She came here looking for me 'n' I had no idea she was there, let alone in the quadrant.."

"She didn't think to tell you before this?" Maddie frowned but then remembered her own sibling relationship. Estelle would never tell her anything about anything.

"No..." Connor stopped typing, looking downwards as if he was searching, his thoughts going over his and Ivy's conversation, "Until this morning we hadn't seen each other, nor had we talk to each for a long time. She said before Zulu she had been traveling, spent time on Risa..." his brow furrowed, "A few months ago my fam thought I was dead, informed I had karked-it on the table during surgery, to find I was alive after all 'n' now Alex..." He paused, swallowing hard and looking stressed as he ran a hand over his mouth, then extended it outward as he looked over to her, "I would like to think she was planning on coming here before she heard...but I don't know."

"You didn't ask her that?" Maddie sounded surprised.

Shaking his head, he looked towards the open doorway as Teri walked in, "I hadn't thought about it at the time..." He turned to his monitor, and pulled up the blue print that had been forwarded there. He directed at it as both women joined him behind his desk, "From the second floor up, each floor has between two 'n' four apartments, a large storage area. Every other floor has a maintenance room. Maddie, do you have anything in storage there?"

"No." Maddie frowned, wondering what he was getting at, "I came here after trying to run away remember? You kind of travel light when you do that." she added with a shrug.

Connor stared at her for a moment, not sure how to respond to her with all things considered. Frowning, he looked over to Teri, and ran a hand over the blueprint image, "I don't want Maddie's apartment touched, but I think the storage 'n' maintenance rooms...with my second bedroom, which comes with a bathroom..." He inhaled deeply, and studied what was before him, "Okay, this wall can be moved here, place an entry door here, 'n' all of these rooms can be made into a third apartment." He reached over to snatch one of the PADDs that came with a stylus off a nearby shelf, "I'll add my signature..and Teri," he started signing it, "if you can get this order in for me, I need the work started immediately. Any problems," he handed the PADD over to her, "let me know 'n' I'll deal with them."

"It will go right in," Teri took the datapad reading it over once more out of habit to make sure all was in order, her mind already thinking over what would need to be done.

"Trust me Doctor when I say," She added with a look only dangerously experienced yeoman give, " there won't be any issues." Not unless people want to be on my bad side or the Universe decides to curse me ...some more. She gave an inward eye roll at the last thought.

"Wait!" Maddie said quickly, "Third apartment? Why do we need a third apartment?"

"It's for my sister." he replied to her, and then turned to his yeoman, "Thank you, Teri." and watched as Teri walked out of his office.

"She's staying here?" Maddie was getting more and more confused by the minute, "I thought that she was visiting?"

Connor shook his head, staring down at his desk as he started rearranging a few things. "She's staying." he said, and then looked over at her, "Maddie, I'm sorry," and running a hand over his mouth again, went around her, "I needed to get all of that started." He poured himself a glass of melon water, and walked over to sit down on the couch where he leaned forward with this drink in both hands.

With a mute nod, Maddie couldn't help but feel anxious. There they were embarking on a new relationship and he was going to have a family member right down the corridor. She hadn't met Ivy yet but she couldn't help but feel that she'd be under scrutiny. What if the other woman thought that she wasn't good enough for her brother? What if she didn't like her? Without a word, Maddie sat beside Connor, her mind full of her own irrational thoughts.

"I almost chased her away the moment she arrived," he announced sadly.

"What do you mean?" Maddie asked, forcing herself to focus on him and not her own internal melancholy.

"I have trust issues." he answered, clearly annoyed about that. He placed his glass on the coffee table, "I deal with persistent unwanted thoughts 'n'...anxiety. So in wanting answers 'n' reassurances so BADLY in order to, instead of, alleviating my fears, I only made them worse. All she wanted was a hug, Maddie, to be comforted by her big brother she hasn't seen in years 'n' I pushed her away."

"But she's your sister, surely she knows you are like you are?" Maddie offered, trying to make him feel better but knowing deep down that she was probably failing miserably.

Connor looked away. Although he knew she was right, her words really bothered him. "She does...but she ran out of here, out of the building. I had to go after her." Feeling a headache coming on, he Leaned against the arm of the couch, pinching between his eyes. "Something else is wrong, besides Alex."

"What do you mean?" Maddie asked softly.

"Something else is upsetting her." he replied. "I don't know...it's like she's afraid of something...or someone..."

"And she wouldn't tell you?" Maddie asked, not sure she liked the sound of what she was hearing.

"She didn't have the chance...'n' I didn't ask her. At least not yet." Dropping his hand from between his eyes, Connor leaned forward and activated the small desktop built-in interface on the coffee table before them. He typed in a search. "I need her to stay, Maddie."

"She's family." Maddie replied softly, despite her estrangement from her sister, family meant a lot to the beautiful Latino, it was a fundamental part of the Sanchez clan, "Of course you want her to stay."

"I need her apartment next to mine," he added, and then shook his head, needing to breathe in deeply, at his own actions, "That's why I've gone a bit extreme on having my apartment renovated. Okay..." he looked determined as opened positions from the planet's Science Research Division began to scroll down the screen. He nodded, "There's an opening for a botanical engineer..."

"She's a scientist?" Maddie asked finding herself suddenly keen to meet Connor's sister even though thoughts of what she'd think of her plagued her.

"Yes," Connor glanced at her, "a civilian scientist." and then leaning forward, he pressed an elbow on one leg and ran a hand over his mouth, keeping it there as he returned to staring at the screen. He was feeling concerned about Ivy's work record. Strangely, it couldn't all be in the Federation database, or they would have had an idea of where she'd been for the past several months. Unless she hadn't been working, and if not, then what had she been doing?

Everything catching up to him, Connor's head dropped as he ran a hand over it and behind his neck. "Maddie.." there was something else that was deeply bothering him, her remark "But she's your sister, surely she knows you are like you are?", bringing it back to him.

"Yes Mi Amor?" Maddie said softly, knowing that he was still in turmoil.

He leaned on the arm of the couch, and starting rubbing his forehead as he gazed back at her, "I want this to work between us. I don't want you to think even for a second that I'm not here for you whenever you need me too." His mind went back to when he had said something similar to someone else, and failed, and he closed his eyes with a pained expression.

"Hey, other than the fact that I think I'm a terrible Captain, I don't have anything for you to be here for me for right now Connor." Maddie smiled at him, "Right now it's your time to need me but I know that will change from time to time and I know that you will be there. Don't ask me how I know but I do." she reached out and took his hand.

His eyes wanting to tear up, he could only nod back to her while he fought the doubts that went through him, wanting so badly for them both to be right.

~~~End~~~


Captain Madeline Sanchez
Assistant Dean
Magellan Campus

Doctor Connor McKinney
Dean
Magellan Campus

CPO Teri Lane
Dean's Yeoman
Magellan Campus