"Crispy!" called Vickie as she caught up to the brisk pace Josh was setting away from the briefing room.
"Hi, Vickie," he replied coolly, eyes fixed straight ahead, not slowing down.
"'Hi, Vickie'," the Jedi mimicked as she drew alongside. "Is that all you've got to say? The only time we met since I got back, you were sawing logs." She grinned at Josh, but stopped after he failed to even look around. "With a bandsaw," she added, hoping in vain that would draw a smile. "Look, I thought we could catch up, you know?"
Josh stopped for a moment, and turned stone-facedly towards Vickie, right hand extended. "Thanks for bringing back my lightsabre," he said tonelessly. Vickie somewhat tentatively took her friend's hand, a little confused by his behaviour, and he gave a firm, formal shake. He then let go and continued his stride down the corridor.
"Hey!" she called after him, and with a short dash grabbed his shoulder and spun him around. The Australian deftly disengaged her hand, but Vickie was too angry to care. "What's up your ass? I was worried half to death about you out there! The rest of the team was convinced you were dead, you know that? And I -"
"- went out looking for me, at risk to the mission. Yes, I know, I read the report. That was stupid." Vickie was taken aback for a moment by the matter-of-fact insult, and Josh continued, ticking points off on his fingers, "You exposed yourself to unnecessary risk going out alone, you jeopardised the mission's secrecy -"
"Now wait just a damn minute! No way in hell am I leaving my friends out there to rot! And it's your ass we're talking about here, bud! How dare you act like trying to save your butt's some kind of mistake? I've already had one Josh read me the riot act - I don't need this as well!" Vickie tried to continue, but so many tirades were vying for vocalisation she ended up just sputtering in rage.
Josh's reply was infuriatingly toneless. "I'd fulfilled my role in the mission. I was cannon fodder, and I did my job. You should have stuck to yours. None of us can afford to let our personal feelings get in the way of our work. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some actual mission-related business to attend to." Josh spun on his heel and set off again towards his quarters.
Furious, Vickie reached out with the Force, trying to gain some understanding of why her friend was acting so strangely, and recoiled from the grey, emotionless emptiness she sensed inside him. The shock was not enough to dispel her anger, however, so she called at his retreating back, "You could at least say thank-you!" Josh kept walking, giving no external sign that he'd heard, and she sullenly added, "Asshole."
"Kristy."
Kristy blearily looked up from what results she had on the DNA tests she was running to see Josh Nolan looming over her, and jumped slightly. "Crispy! I didn't hear you come in." She tried grinning, to show she was happy to see him, but when his face remained impassive, the grin disappeared.
"Try listening," the other Captain advised coldly. He held out his hands towards Kristy - in one, the black fabric of a Kevlar vest, in the other, a holstered pistol. "Here. You'll need these."
"What, now?" Kristy blinked, trying to shift mental gears back from 'interpreting lab data' to 'interpreting people'.
"The tailor needs to fit the suits over them, so yes." Josh wasn't helping, as his face remained impassive, not even giving a flicker of a clue for her to seize on.
"The tailor?" asked Kristy, a little bewildered. She couldn't remember anything about a tailor...
"The tailor we're going to see so we can portray ourselves as business types. And I'm guessing none of your suits are cut to conceal a firearm."
Kristy blinked owlishly at the test results as she finally finished the gear-change. "Crispy, about the closest thing I've got to a suit at the moment is a labcoat."
"Then we're in the same boat. Closest I had, I left in Paris. How long will it take you to finish up here?"
"Finish? Quite a while. But I guess I don't need to be here while it runs - it's mainly just PCR at the moment."
"And there's a machine for that. Right. Then come on."
Kristy refrained from cursing Josh as she hurried to keep up with him along the streets of Mendel City. He was walking briskly, and with his longer legs was moving at a faster pace than Kristy could keep without occasionally breaking into a run. He hadn't looked back since he'd left the lab, and plowed on like a human icebreaker, walking with an implacable mien that parted the crowds before him. Kristy had given up trying to remember the twists and turns they had made on the way here, and was just concentrating on keeping in Josh's wake.
She knew why he was acting the way he was. He was still angry about Paris - and Kristy found she couldn't really blame him. If she'd just been a little quicker with the systems, a bit more on the ball, then maybe... maybe he wouldn't have been hurt. She knew he blamed her - she blamed herself.
Still, she grimly held pace, determined not to let him down again.
The tailor removed the last of his pins from his mouth. "And what does milady think of the suit?"
Kristy gave another experimental twirl in front of the mirror. "I've never felt so dressed up without a skirt before! And comfortable." She brushed her hands down her hips, liking the feel of the fabric. "It's a good fit, too."
"Milady! You wound me! It is an excellent fit. Though rarely am I graced with such a sublime form to fit it to." Kristy blushed and laughed - the tailor had been flattering her shamelessly all through the fitting, yet something about the way he acted suggested Josh might have had more to worry about during the necessary intimacy of the measuring session. Still, the suit felt more comfortable than some of her comfortable clothes, and it made her look like she breathed Wall Street. And the bulge from the pistol was barely visible, even though she could definitely feel its weight nestling under her armpit.
Finally, she regained her composure enough to speak. "It's a wonderful fit. It's the best-fitting suit I've ever worn." Then she drew a breath, steeling herself for the big question. "How much do I owe you?"
The tailor smiled. "Your gentleman friend has already arranged payment, milady. Now, if you would kindly change back out of it so I may make those modifications permanent...?"
"Oh! Sure." She began to shrug off her jacket, while the tailor politely turned his back. Then he spoke.
"Milady... your gentleman friend. Is he always so... sullen?"
Kristy frowned as she hung the jacket up. "No," she answered, then felt a catch in her throat as the guilt poured back. "No, he's not."
Kristy stepped out of the tailor's, her new suit folded up over her arm, the vest and pistol hidden under the draped fabric. She took a deep breath of the sea air, then looked to her left where Josh peeled himself off the wall where he'd been lounging.
"You like the suit?" he asked, his tone bored and disinterested, and he turned away and started striding off towards the Palace without waiting for an answer.
Kristy began her embarassing scuttle to keep up. "Yeah, I think -"
"Good," he interrupted, not turning his head to face her. "Now. Remember, if trouble starts up out there, you keep your head down and get out of there. Think you can do that?"
"I - uh, sure, yeah, I can do that."
"Good. Nice to know you can do something."
Kristy couldn't be sure if Josh picked up his pace slightly after that parting remark - but it didn't matter. The cold comment had stopped her in her tracks. She stood, staring after him, a tear springing from her eye as the guilt assaulted her again, the foot traffic in Mendel City passing her by unnoticed.
"But -" she managed to force out past the knot in her throat, but he was already gone.
Josh had found a private corner in the Home's docking bay, and was doing some stretches, limbering up muscles that had decided to tense up for not much reason. To keep his mind occupied, he started going through his checklist of objectives.
Vickie - she's not going to be quick to forget the hurt. She should be treating me as an unpredictable, cold-hearted arsehole now. Here's hoping. Surprisingly easy, really, given she's a Jedi.
Kristy - I can keep playing the guilt card on her - if I do it enough, it might stop her trying to 'make it up to me'. Fair enough. If the stormie gets out of hand and she gets drilled by him, there's no way I'd ever be able to make it up to her.
Nick - wily bastard. He's going to be the toughest one to shake. Can't do it yet. Maybe an opening'll come up later down the line.
Evil Josh - he should be pretty easy. His ego gets in his eyes sometimes. I can use that.
Brad - what can I say? Game, set and match there. No worries. A past master, there.
Becki - haven't exactly seen much of her. Don't know how much she relies on me - but I have to cut that down when I get a chance. I owe 'em all too much to betray them. Rile 'em up a little, and I won't be in a position to.
Mike - much as I've toyed with the thought of sticking a blaster bolt in him once or twice - probably about the only way to push him away is to seriously 'over-react' to him. And that'll be dangerous - he can handle himself, after all. Probably not well enough to stop me, though.
And then, when Sci gets back...
The thought of Sci, and his mission off-world, sparked a brief flash of an image of a quirky smile under blue-striped hair, and a figure daintily stepping out of bushes...
This is going to be harder than I thought.