Things Fall Apart

Posted on Thu Feb 10th, 2022 @ 6:54pm by Ensign Michael Sloan & Commander William Gerhard
Edited on on Thu Feb 10th, 2022 @ 8:47pm

Mission: Mission 5 - Babel
Location: Brig, Deck F
Timeline: Day 1 of Michael in the Brig
1527 words - 3.1 OF Standard Post Measure

Rocking back and forth at the edge of the cot, Michael's mind was a maelstrom. One moment, he was Michael wondering what was happening to him. The next, he was someone else. In his mind, flashed movies of his life prior to joining Starfleet. He was on the path to becoming a MACO. But, he was also a Romulan engineer, working on technology acquired from the wreckage of Earth and Vulcan vessels. The images of the Xindi attack on Earth and how it deeply affected him flashed through his mind, but so did the mission details of what he was supposed to do in the event that United Earth ever went to war with the Romulan Empire. Who was he? Why did he lash out so harshly at the Captain and the Vulcan crewmembers who had brought him back from Vrav captivity? Why were they keeping him in this damned cage, were they going to torture him for information? No, that was what his people, no the Romulans would do. Michael's mind was an uncontrollable wreck. He had no idea if he were Michael or if he was a Romulan named Alidar.

William sat in his quarters and stared at the blank monitor on his desk. His mind was still reeling from the revelation that his superior was not actually a human, but rather a Romulan spy no less. The shock of having to arrest Michael had given way to anger as he sat brooding. He thought back to all the interactions they had had, from their first meeting back at spacedock, to dealing with the Vrav. He had trusted Michael, shared war stories, and he had grown to respect him. But it was all a sham, a hoax, and William had been played for a fool. That was what ate at him the most. He slammed his palm on the desk and stood, quickly exiting his quarters and making his way towards the nearest turbolift. He soon found himself outside the brig, and he angrily jabbed the button to open the hatch.

As the door to the Brig hissed open. Michael dared not look up. He had no idea if he would react as Michael the Starfleet Chief Armory Officer or Alidar, the Romulan engineer turned sleeper agent. He placed both hands upon his knees to settle the rocking. For the moment, he was torn between fearing the torture that an enemy of the state would receive on Romulus and the feeling that he was about to have an unpleasant conversation with a person who used to trust him. Either way, he dared not look up to see who entered the room.

William entered the small confines and looked over at the MACO that had been posted to watch over the prisoner. "Wait outside," he said knowing that Michael would not be able to overhear due to the soundproofing of the brig.

"But sir, the captain's orders were to," the MACO said before he was cut off by William.

"I said to wait outside," William said sharply and gave the young man a steely eyed stare. The young man nodded and stepped outside quickly, the hatch shutting softly behind him.

William turned and stared at Michael who was avoiding his gaze. William couldn't help but feel a pang of pity for the man, but that was quickly overpowered by his anger. He pressed the comm button and continued to stare down at him. "So, You can't even look me in the eye like a man. But I forget, you're not a man. You're a traitor," he said as he waited for a response.

"I don't know what I am," Michael replied to the voice over the intercom. He did not speak through a sense of weakness, but through gritted teeth. Somewhere, he recognized the voice of his Assistant. The part of him that was still Michael Sloan knew that man as someone who was trustworthy, but the other part of him considered the man a threat. Michael's brown eyes moved to meet with William's own gaze. Instead of the normal kind eyes that he possessed, they now held a certain intensity. "And I do not hide my gaze out of fear from you, but because I do not know what I will do," he stated, his voice a little more proper and a little more calculating with a little something underneath.

William met the man's gaze and would not break. There was something in his eyes that was different, but William felt little sympathy for him. He tapped the strong duranium hatch separating them, "Oh I know what you'll do. Infact there's several people in sickbay who can testify what you'll do. But that doesn't really matter now does it? You've been lying to us all along, and this whole Vrav screwing with your mind is just bullshit. It's all a clever facade you've been playing because your a Romulan spy."

Looking at the duranium, Michael looked at William’s face and understood what the man wanted. Michael knew he had not attacked anyone, verbal abuse and threats to the Vulcans would not land anyone in sick bay. This was more about the trust that William had put into Michael, stemming from his upbringing. It was then that the Romulan part of him took over. “Don’t put your daddy issues on me,” he said through clinched teeth. “I was there when the Xindi attacked Earth, I helped the Enterprise save our planet from extermination. I’ll not have my loyalty called into question by someone off playing with Trellarite freighters when Earth needed them most.”

The rage began building, and William started seeing red as he stared intensely at the man. He resisted the urge to open the hatch and settle the score once and for all, regardless of who would be the victor. He slammed his clenched fist into the viewport and watched the man jump slightly. "You think your so high and mighty you son of a bitch? Your questioning my loyalty? Your whole story is bullshit. You were never on the Enterprise, so don't lecture me on loyalty. If you had any amount of decency, you'd have saved us all the trouble and flushed yourself out the airlock," he said through gritted teeth.

“I wasn’t on the Enterprise, but I’ve laid my life in the line to defend Earth when it needed me most,” Michael replied, staring at the other man’s eyes. Those were two days that were forever burned into his memory, watching as the Xindi attacked Florida as his task force was just too slow to stop the attack but quick enough to keep it from being truly devastating. He also manned the tactical station of the Valiant as the fleet engaged the Xindi super weapon with allied forces. “You call me a traitor. The only thing I’ve done is have my mind fucked by aliens on one side of a war that hasn’t come.”

William stared back at him as he sat there, "And what, you want me to feel sorry for you? All that talk about what you did with the Xindi is bullshit. The Vrav didn't fuck with your mind, it was already screwed up. The Vrav showed us who you really are, and it doesn't matter what you believe. You would've betrayed us at some point anyway because that's who you are." William turned from the hatch for the first time and looked away. He felt the man's eyes on his back and he turned back around, "Was it easy for you, hmm, playing your role and earning my trust and respect? Was that easy to manipulate?"

“I didn’t know,” Michael replied. It was the Human side, the one who had gone through the training to be a MACO. Michael could see that William was in a state that reason would not get through, and maybe they would never see eye to eye again. “Now all of us know what I am. A Romulan with Human memories shoved into his brain, body broken and manipulated. A mission that will never be. But I am also everything that I have done as a Starfleet officer.” He wanted to ask if it was Starfleet’s procedure to imprison people for life who had the potential to commit crimes, even ones that had not been committed. But, he knew that William had been pushed too far by the father comment to try it.

William considered his words, but dismissed them. He scoffed at the man, "Right, Well it's the captain's call on what to do with you. If it was up to me, I'd keep you locked up here until we get back to Earth." He turned his back on the man and made his way to the exit before stopping. He looked back at him, "You'd better hope for your sake she keeps you looked up here. Because God, or whomever you believe in, help you if they let you out." With that he slapped the exit button and shook his head in disgust before leaving the brig.