Mark III gala scraps

See also: Mark III Launch gala (meta)
==Notice==
Notice to agents: If any of you employed by someone who won't be terribly offended when they're ignored, please contact J Walker. 
==Vanessa==
Vanessa /is on the guest list, however the PR person in charge of the horse trading announced she's removed herself from the guest list. 
Jamie frowns.
==Pre-Party Planning==
The agent of a gay +1 with a love of things that move goes to the PPDC PR folk and says, "Hey, I have a great date for your Chrome/Vulcan Spare!"
"They're already accounted for, but I have a Vulcan mechanic who'd be perfect!" 
"My person good for that." 
"So is mine! I'll send you a file." 
==Briefing==
"You're invited to a party for new Rangers, and they've offered you the +1 of one of them." 
"Awesome! One of the pretty blonds?" 
"Well, he's pretty?" 
==+1s==
The 'dates' are in the hall /somewhere but they certainly aren't at their table (though maybe they're getting food).
Maybe the +1s only get the privilege of walking in with the Ranger-esques and the first dance of the evening? Or maybe your vision just has the Vulcan +1s fleeing their dates. XD
==Glory==
A crash. 
Logan leaves the table. 
Jackson scowls. 
Starlette #1 frowns. 
"Sorry," cringes Andrea. 
Starlette #1 clears her head. 
Starlette #3 rearranges cutlery. 
"That's fine." Starlette #1 sighs. "Nothing the press release didn't warn me of." 
"Would you like me to hit him?" offers Andrea. 
"What good--"
Andrea's eyes fall to her napkin. 
Starlet #1 moves his hand closer to her place setting. 
"You're the Spare! Shit, sorry, I thought--" 
Andrea forces a smile. "I get that a lot." 
"And I'm not supposed to bring that up, shit, I'm--" Flops her head back. "I've made this into a clusterfuck, I'm sorry." 
Starlette #3 continues rearranging her cutlery. 
Juliet says, "If Logan had a superpower, that'd be it." Leans against the empty chair. "It's cool." 
Jackson exhales. 
"Mind if we join you?" asks Starlette #2, hand resting on the small of Juliet's back. 
Andrea's smile's a touch less watery. 
Jackson grunts.
"Sure," says Starlette #3. 
Starlet #1 offers the chair. 
"And we are down one place setting," notes Juliet. 
"I'll get it," smiles Starlette #2. 
"Really?" 
"Sure. Looks like you need to do your 'Juliet' thing." 
Juliet's eyes crinkle. "Thank you." 
Starlette #2 kisses the air by her cheek. "BRB." Sashées off. 
[talking; Wash and Liu are presented but no one notices]
"Which is exactly why those capacitors are a problem," argues Juliet. "They're—"
And She walks in. 
"Jules?" asks Andrea, glancing at the door and—
Her beans plunk into her drink. 
"What?" grunts Jackson, looking over his shoulder. 
A couple stands in the reception area.
[Liu's showing off Wash so people'll go "wow, such an amazing person in charge of the Jaeger program! Have money!" (They don't have all the facts; the Mark V's still classified).]
"I want her PR contact," sighs Andrea. 
"'s not PR," mutters Juliet. 
And then...
Andrea kinda picks at her dress, feeling rather unglamorous.
"It won't end well," Juliet says gently. "Mere mortals such as us are but shadows in her glory, we are tin to her silver—"
"Can it," snaps Jackson. 
"Ray?" 
Andrea goes 'don't look at me!'. "That's a two-thousand-dollar suit. I'm not—" She edges her water out of reach. She does feel better after that, though. 
Starlette #2 drops down beside Juliet, whispers, "Did you guys see them?!" 
"Doing a /lot more than seeing," mutters Juliet. 
"/Please tell me you know them." 
"The, uh--" Andrea looks back down at her napkin. 
"The blackfella's Chuck Darling--"
Jackson glowers, "Crashing /our party--"
Starlettes #1, 2, and 3 raise eyebrows and look to Juliet. 
"--Ow!" Jackson scowls, leans down and rubs his shin. 
"She's not crashing, /Jones," snaps Juliet. 
==Rescue==
"The media has me as bi so in countries where being gay's illegal they can pretend I'm straight but honestly? Dicks? Just, no. Is that a bad thing?" 
"Dunno." Juliet leans forward, affording Starlette #2 a lovely view of her neckline. "I get more turned on by machines than people." Sips at her straw. 
"Guess I have my work cut out for me." 
"Guess you do." 
Starlette #2 glances out across the floor, frowns. 
Juliet looks out, too. "Don't like the look of that guy." 
"You shouldn't. They're a creep and they keep dancing with Andrea." 
Juliet gets to her feet. "If you'll excuse me." 
"Can't she take care of herself?" 
"She can, but I don't want her to have to. I want to keep her in a bubble--a safe, secure, no need to potentially ghost Drift with Dumb and Dumber kinda bubble." 
Starlette #2 gets to her feet. "I distract them, you grab Andrea?" 
"Sounds like a plan." 
==Indiana Darling==
===Meeting===
"Who are you?" demands Juliet. 
"A friend and ally." 
"Really." She leans forward. "'cause I know for a fact that's the crown princess's tiara and it's in a locked box at court." 
"It's a very good replica," agrees the person. "Grandfather would never let it leave the house, otherwise."
=== Recruitment ===
It's the Mark-III party and Juliet's enlisted Liu in a last-ditch attempt to get Wash and Jackson together (Jackson's been such an asshole she switched to keeping them apart but maybe, ye know, the atmosphere of the party might change things?)
Liu figures Kirra more than deserves having a someone so who feels so passionately about her kneel for her, so he... orchestrates things. 
===Coif===
Does his best to cue (and intimidate and quaff) Jackson onto his best behaviour and his best appearance and it kiiinda works (Wash and Jackson dance twice; Jackson tells her robotically that she looks beautiful (the only words Liu allowed him to say)). So Jackson appears to be capable of the lowest level of decent human-ness. 
Juliet crosses all her fingers, and Liu initiates stage 2. 
===Elevator===
Jackson and Wash end up alone, in a slightly out of the way elevator, that breaks. 
"If this were a cliché, we would hook up." 
Wash scoffs. 
"Wouldn't mind being a cliché." 
"Prove it." 
Jackson steps /very close, tries to crowd her against the wall. 
Wash barely moves an eyebrow. 
"You're gonna have to give me a bit of help."
Her's is not a nice smile. "Deal." 
Jackson shrugs/rolls his eyes, pecks her jaw--
Her eyes flick to the spot with distain. 
So Jackson goes on his knees, brings Wash juuust far enough, then backs off--Wash is seriously annoyed--and thank /God the condom in his wallet is from this year. 
Doesn't get a whole lotta use considering he lasts two thrusts. 
"That's /it?" 
Jackson flounders. 
Wash shoves him away. 
He trips, falls in a heap and he's still got his dick out, and the elevator's suddenly really, /really tiny. 
Wash's turned her presence up to '11' (and she's wearing 2 1/2 inch stiletto heels), her eyes are blazing (and he's pretty sure the dragon's just jewellery, a tiara with rubies and gold but he's also absolutely positive the its eyes are full of fire, too; its teeth, bigger and sharper). 
"You're just so beautiful tonight."
"You're blaming this on /me?" 
Jackson is quite sure he's about to die. 
And then the elevator comes back to life. 
Wash pulls her underwear back on, fixes her dress, and walks out like nothing happened. 
Footsteps and chatting--
Jackson's on his feet, stuffing himself back in his trousers, fixing his jacket. Nods to a couple and walks as carefully and quickly to the washroom as he can--
Juliet links their arms with a polite smile and eyes promsing murder, hauls him into the washroom and throws him into a stall. 
Jackson catches himself on the toilet paper dispenser and the wall, "Jesus, Tam--"
She slaps him 
Andrea comes up behind her, arms crossed, does her best to look her angriest which comes to roughly 'mildly disapproving'. 
"Andrea, sweetie," says Juliet. "You're not helping."
Andrea deflates, slinks away. ""I'll watch the door.""
"Thank you~!"
=== Damage Control ===
Jamie's Squire SenseTM tingles, so he pecks his date on the cheek, excuses himself, and tucks up in a quiet corner of the ballroom with his mobile. "Hello, AGNIS."
""You've abandoned your date for me, Officer Walker? Naughty, naughty.""
"He knows I have problem with commitment. And, speaking of problems, where's my boy, Jack?"
""Why do you think there's a problem?""
"I haven't seen him in about twenty minutes and that's /more than enough time for him to cause a catastrophe."
""Your powers of perception are truly remarkable.""
"Thanks. Now where's my Ranger?"
""Ranger Jones is currently in a washroom three floors above you.""
"This has nothing to do with his strawberry allergy, ay?"
""He's not exhibiting any signs of digestive upset.""
"That's something, at least. Where's Andrea?"
""She's outside the washroom serving as Officer Tam's advance warning system.""
Jamie's in motion. "Call and hold the nearest lift for me, please?"
""By your command.""
"Thank you, AGNIS." A beat. "Also, may I file a formal complaint against whoever let you digest /Battlestar Galactica?"
""I'll prepare a draft for your approval.""
"You're the best."
The lift doors open and Jamie's inside without breaking stride.
"What'm I charging into?"
""Officer Tam is berating Ranger Jones over his unsatisfactory 'performance' while trapped in lift with Cadet Darling.""
"Aw, hell." Deep breath. "Thank you, AGNIS." Slides the mobile into his inside pocket, straightens his tie.
The lift doors open and Jamie strides out.
"Ray!" he greets. "/There you are! We need you downstairs."
Andrea eeps.
"The press wants an Australian Ranger and you're up."
"But …."
"Lemme get you an escort." Pushes past her into the washroom.
""But--!""
"Jules!"
She turns and glares.
"Andrea's going back on press duty downstairs. Why don't you escort her?"
"I'm not done with him--" Flicks her head. "--yet."
Jack slouches against a stall wall, rubbing his jaw.
"Don't you think he's had enough?"
Juliet crosses her arms. "No."
"Really? His ego's shredded--probably his dignity, too--/and you hit him." Shrugs. "Not sure what else he's got for you to break."
"Well, there's his--"
Jamie holds up a hand. "Okay. Let's talk practical. In less than a minute, I'm sending Andrea to face the press. You want to keep her in her little bubble of safety, you'd better go with her."
Juliet glowers.
Jamie tilts his head toward the door.
Juliet huffs, snaps a turn, stomps out.
"AGNIS, please lock the door and mark this washroom as 'out of service'."
""As you wish,"" says Jamie's jacket.
The door bolt slots home
"Thanks, AGNIS."
""You're welcome, Mr Walker.""
Jamie leans on the stall doorway. "You can come outta there now, if you want."
Jack doesn't move.
"Take it my assessment of your situation was pretty spot-on?"
Hangs his head.
"Lemme see if I can add to my streak: Tam and Ray jumped you before you got yourself sorted."
Nods a fraction.
"'kay, then. Strip off, hand me your clothes."
Blinks.
"You picked a washroom with a shower for a reason, I believe."
Rubs his neck, pinks a little.
Jamie rolls his eyes. "You don't get to be shy around me, seeing as I buy your shorties."
Smiles weakly, pushes off the wall, and eases himself from his jacket.
Jamie folds it over his arm. "Any physical hurts?"
Grunts a negative, works on his shirt buttons.
"Anything I can find for you while you're showering?"
"A time machine," mutters Jack, handing over his shirt.
"Think I saw a police box on the hangar deck." Grins. "Which gives me a /great idea for your birthday present."
Jack raises an eyebrow.
"I know you're a Trekker--"
"I'm /not--"
"/'course you're not, but you /are still 'Captain Jack', and what's Captain Jack without a few futuristic gadgets?"
Jack sighs, steps out of his trousers and shorts, hands them over, shtumps for the shower.
Jamie folds everthing neatly, sets it on a shelf, then leans against a countertop with a sigh of his own, as the shower starts up.
==Polish==
(warning: self harm)
She strides far, far away to another elevator, ribs lacing themselves together and pulling tight around her lungs; squeezing her brain...
She'd help, gladly--sex with /him, how she ever thought that was a good idea; she should be institutionalized lacking so much sense, locked away, prevented from ever making another decision ever again--
She should be executed. 
Death would be too kind. 
She should get acid in her face, cruel picks tearing her skin until everyone knows what a wretched, disgusting mess she actually is. 
She presses the button for the top floor, pulling shallow breaths through her nose and starving for air but her breath comes too sharply, too loudly, and through her mouth she'd sound so /stupid, so obvious that she can't inhale as deep as she needs. 
The doors open; Wash goes straight for her suite, flips every lock, straight for her washroom--
She locks the door, wets a washcloth, flushes away of any remaining trace of the last few minutes, and takes care to scrub herself clean /gently. 
Aims for the sink, washcloth lands soundly; Wash puts her clothes back to how they should be. 
She finds the first-aid kit under the sink. 
She takes off her left shoe. 
She folds in a tight crouch. 
She takes a hold of her baby toe. 
The bone breaks easily--Wash stifles a whimper against her arm. 
She takes a hold of her fourth toe. 
That bone breaks just as easily--Wash swallows a sob, gives herself a moment to ride out the physical pain; so /pathetic is she, unable to deal with her emotional shit without hurting her--
She steps from her right shoe. 
She takes a hold of her baby toe. 
She feels the break with only her fingers. 
She snaps her fourth toe with only mild discomfort. 
She gets to her feet, bones clacking together you useless heap of trash, hikes up her dress, pulls down the side of her underwear, digs her fingernails into the skin of her hip. 
Her blood, hot against her skin, wells up. 
She pulls.
Her brain puddles. 
She gasps, rests her head back against the wall. 
Her ribs loosen. 
She exhales, lets her hand fall away. 
Deep breath. Another deep breath. 
She folds a length of toilet paper against the counter, holds it to the faucet for a moment, dabs away the blood. 
First-aid kit, next, the biggest bandage in the box. 
Wouldn't want to ruin the dress. 
Wash presses it down, fixes her underwear, smooths her dress.
She cleans her hands, examines her nails. 
Tiny chip in one, nice going, freak. 
Polish's in Wei's room. 
The first step /hurts. 
She welcomes it and would hang herself if it would make her feel better. 
She grits her teeth, takes a deep breath, unlocks the door, crosses the suite, unlocks that door, opens it and flips the deadbolt, pads down the hall, smothering every wince--it's punishment.--swipes the spare keycard, retrieves the nail polish, makes sure the door locks, and returns to her room, to the washroom--
"I'm so sorry," says Juliet. 
Chuck unscrews the nailpolish. 
"We'll never try setting you two up again."
Chuck presses the brush against the neck. 
"The two of you are so pretty together, we thought maybe, because everyone was having such a good time--"
Brush mostly clean, Chuck carefully fills in the chip. 
==Teenagers==
"I hate teenagers," says the flower arrangement beside Hannibal which is suddenly not a flower arrangement but a young Chinese person in an eleborate get up.
(He really should be used to this but he's not and he doesn't quite stifle his jump.) 
So he replies casually, "They're young adults."
The person flicks their wrist, smiles over the top of their fan at the heir of a defence contractor. "I hate young adults."
Poor shmuck smirks back. Poor shmuck was also found not guilty of murdering two children. 
"You're a young adult." 
The person starts undressing the heir with their eyes. "Don't you have somewhere to be?" 
Hannibal looks at his watch. "Is that the time? There's a young adult that needs sense talked into them." 
. 
Three days later, the papers announce the recovery of the heir, found naked in a pentehouse and babbling inconsonalbly about cats.
==The End Isn't Nigh==
Chantell sits in the chair beside Nguyen's, ankles together and back straight. 
"Telly--"
"Fine! I'm fine! Just ... people. Lots of people. A freaking tonne of people." 
"It's okay--"
"People, Dad. /People." 
Nguyen sighs fondly, stands, helps Chantell to her feet, leads her to Ranger Jones (the younger)'s date. "Would you be so kind as to show my daughter the end is not nigh?" 
"Isn't that what you guys are supposed to be doing?" But the actress is smiling and attending Chantell. 
==Flinch==
(Pasta; Hannibal's had 30+ years of practice coaxing fluffles on the verge of tears not to cry which is what he's applying here.) 
The doors open a floor below Chuck's. 
Chau steps on. "Wei wants me to talk with you."
"Nothing happened."
"Cadet--"
"There's nothing to talk about--"
"If you bottle it up--"
"--certainly not with you."
"--you'll regret it."
Darling rolls her eyes. 
Chau presses the emergency stop button. "Look, Cadet--"
Darling yanks the stop button, stabs the nearest floor, strides out. 
"Listen, kid," He grabs her wrist--
She flinches from head to toe--"Don't touch me."--recoiling violently. 
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry--"
She scrubs at her wrist with the heel of her hand, "Why does /everyone insist on /touching me?!", with her nails--
"Cadet--"
"Don't /touch me!" 
"I won't touch you, I'm trying to help--"
Darling laughs. "That's rich. You, helping." Shakes her head. 
"About earlier--"
"Earlier?"
"Yes, earlier."
"Oh. That." Tosses her hair. "'Something happened', they say." Rounds on him, snarls, "/Nothing /happened."
"Fine, nothing happened."
"/Thank you." Wipes under her eyes. "Great, now I've ruined my makeup. Again." Sneers, "Thanks for that." Strides down the hall. 
Chau stifles a sigh--
Darling's center of gravity does something weird, she throws her arms out but it's too far gone and she hits the floor badly. 
She's picking herself off the ground by the time he gets there, one knee peeking out of the tear in her dress; her fingernails come out and all the mechanisms stand out in her neck--
"It's okay," Chau assures. "It's supposed to do that."
Fingernails pause. 
"Not like this, obviously--"
Darling doesn't see him, sneers. 
"--but it can go from a long, evening dress to a shorter thing for the after party. It's all the rage with you young people--"
Barely a whisper, "Can't even do that right."
"--probably among younger, less important people with more time on their hands."
The tendons in her arms remain engaged, but they aren't driving her nails into her skin. 
"You can trust me. I'm a fashion snob." Offers, "There's a tailor downstairs who can take the rest of the stitches out."
Darling nods, stands--her joints fold--
"May I lend you an arm?"
Darling looks down and away. 
Chau takes her elbow carefully, gently, with as much of her weight as he can, and helps her to her feet--
Darling topples, scrabbles for footing--
Her heel broke. 
Darling looks at it, chin down, jaw tight. 
"Believe it or not, it's supposed to do that, too."
Nothing. 
"Like with cars--the frame cracks in an accident instead of the impacted vehicle moving. The heel snaps off instead of the foot breaking."
Still nothing. 
"I know these things, kid--"
"Because you're a fashion snob."
"Exactly." Crouches. "May I?" 
She steps out of it. 
"Easier to walk without both." 
She steps from the other. 
"Thank you." Scoops up the pieces, tucks them away. "I happen to know every good tailor has shoe glue, and the tailor downstairs is the /best."
===Meltdown===
""I'm two doors down, one moment--"" 
"No, stay away." 
""I got her into this mess--""
"In the most deferential and respectful way possible, Wei, fuck. off." 
A beat.
""I /can talk to child--""
"The last time you tried helping a kid crying led to the Cookie Meltdown of '99."
"That was almost twenty years ago." Brushes by--
Chau steps in the way, pulls Liu back to center, ignoring the alarm bells shrieking that holding Liu's arms this tightly will end very badly for him--
The gold in Liu's eyes glints. 
"Let. Go."
Chau's arms drop. 
Liu brushes by. 
Chau--
His arms don't work. 
He lunges after anyway--
His fingertips itch.
--grabs--gets a handful of dress, hauls Liu away and down the hall to Liu's room, unlocks the door, marches them both to the closet, and slings Liu in. 
Liu tangles in the suitcase stand and doesn't land gracefully. 
"I'm doing this for both of you." Closes and bolts the door, works a pin out of his pocket and jams it in the lock, then leaves for the elevator, trying to think of a way to ask a twenty-something to come upstairs with him without sounding creepy.
==Breakfast==
Jackson keeps scanning the tables. 
Juliet knocks her water into his--
"Jesus, Tam!" Wipes off what water he can. "Damnit, thanks for that." He leaves--
"Use a napkin," she sneers, yanking him back down to his seat. 
==Nothing to Say==
"Lemme guess, you're gonna tear a strip out of me too?" 
"I have nothing to say that hasn't been said." Fingers wiggle. 
Jackson attends.
A wicked blade disappears into a sleeve. 
Jackson swallows.
The elevator chimes.
"Have a good day, Ranger Jones."
==Bugs==
[Juliet's talking to someone a few days after the event]
"So anyway, bolts with lumps in them are from cocoons where the thread's been broken for whatever reason. The really good stuff comes straight from the worm when it's spinning its cocoon and it's one, long, unbroken thread which is why it's so soft and smooth against your skin--"
Jackson shoves to his feet--"Would you fucking give it a rest?!" 
"Jesus Christ, Jones, she's just talking about bugs." 
Juliet smirks, pointedly returns her attention to her table mate.
Category:Ficlet
Category:Scraps
Category:Indiana Darling
Category:Liu
Category:Hannibal
Category:Chuck D
Category:Wash
Category:Jackson
Category:Juliet
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Category:Jamie
Category:Jamie (ficlet)
Category:Vanessa (mention)
Category:PPDC PR
Category:Liu (ficlet)
Category:Juliet (ficlet)
Category:Mark III Launch gala