| PHD #250: Next Steps |
| Summary: | Wade meets with Serene again after his CAP, they discuss her options. |
| Date: | 03 Nov 2041 AE |
| Related Logs: | Good Surprises |
| Players: |
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| Hangar Deck - Starboard |
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| This Hangar Bay is filled with boxes, crates and other various supplies that are needed throughout the ship. Most have been moved to one end and lashed with tarps to keep them out of the way. The place has gone from extra ship storage on one end and the ability to house over 450 people on the other end. Whatever could be made into cots has been set up like a huge barracks. Some areas have been made more presentable with a few items that belong to the person holding onto their small area in this world. Marines guard this area 24/7 and food is brought in cafeteria style, feeding people out of vats and buckets as they line up with their plates. One area has been tarped off to the side, that holds canvas showers and sinks. As a small improvement in the standard of living, the Head, showers, and sinks have been hooked up to running water and sewage, meaning that they no longer stink or need to be cleaned daily. |
| Post-Holocaust Day: #250 |
Several hours after their last meeting, Serene has had a chance to get assigned to her area with the other refugees from the planet, taking over a small section with a bunk for herself, a makeshift crib for Dare put together out of an old storage locker, and several cots that are around her for some of the other children from the surface. Sitting on the floor on one of the blankets with them, they seem to be doing something with rags that they've gotten ahold of as a group, Serene leading the group by giving them instructions about what she wants them to do with some of the strips of cloth while Dare sleeps next to her in his 'bed'. "Okay, now… Twiiiiist this bit…," looking at all of them she leans over to fix part of one that a little four year old girl is working with, "And tie that off like this."
After the CAP, it was meeting time, after meeting time, it was shower time. And now, Wade is off duty and making his way to the starboard hangar. He is wearing his regular off-duty greens, dogtags hanging over his chest. He looks around for a moment, trying to spot a familiar face be that Serene or someone from her group. There's a lot of people there, lot of kids running around, lot of general confusion so it takes him a while to find them. Still, he does. He spots Serene and a small smile forms on his lips as he walks towards the group. He stays in silence while the woman instructs the others to do whatever they are doing.
She looks like she's gotten a chance to clean up as well, not wearing her doctor coat at the moment, but still in the scrubs that are probably the bulk of what she has to wear at the moment on top of being practical. "So… now, who wants to have girl worry babies and who wants to have boy worry babies?" she asks the gathered children to get a variety of responses, "Okay. If you want a girl worry baby then you're all done! Yay!" At that several of the girls giggle and yay themselves. Some of the boys look over at them and back to the doctor again, "If you want a boy worry baby, you need to give him feet so he doesn't have a skirt on." At that point, she notices the adult standing near by and looks up from the five children and breaks into a smile, "Hey. Want to sit down with us for a minute?"
Wade does smile a little bit at what's happening, it's not that he has lost his capacity to smile after all. When Serene talks to him, he lightly arches both eyebrows and says "Uh, sure…sure" With another small smile, he walks into the group, making sure to not step on any children's head; because he's a nice person and all. The Viper pilot takes a seat and clears his throat, looking at the kids that are now looking at him with curiosity. "Hello" says the man, lifting one hand for a light wave and then looking at Serene "You seem to be doing pretty well"
"Everybody, this is Lieutenant Junior Grade Duncan." Serene says to the kids as Wade makes his way to sit down next to them, "What did we learn we should say earlier?" The kids range in age from two to seven in appearance, and aaaaalll of them turn to look at the big tall guy as he walks through the group and sits down before they all (starting at different times) say, 'Good evening, sir.'" Glancing over to smile at Wade again before she looks back to the others, Serene says, "Good job, guys." She takes her rag doll and hands it over to the littlest of the children, a girl who looks like she's two and is just mostly watching and tugging on her shoes, "Okay, go find Miss Amanda and she'll get you all some snack, okay?" A variety of pleased responses come out of the group as they all get up to run over to the woman that was getting off the shuttle with Serene who's only a few cots away. She glances over to make sure that they all A) go that direction and B) make it there before she smiles to Wade again, "Good flight?"
Wade offers a smile to the kids and nods "Good evening to you all" There's a brief salute offered by him, to the kids and he adds "Please, as you were" Figures Serene explained that one as well. The man scans their faces, not being able to stop some sadness from touching base with him. When they walk away and Serene speaks to him, he looks at the woman and nods "Yes, no special events." He smiles a little and then looks at where the baby is sleeping "Dare seems to be enjoying himself" Now he looks back at Serene and he asks "How are you holding?"
Nodding, Serene scoots around so that she's both facing Wade and keeping an eye on the kids at the same time, "No news is good news, right?" At the mention of her son, she glances into the bed and smiles a little more softly, "Oh, yeah, he's great. Loving the attention, for sure." She reaches over and moves around his blanket a little, making sure he's comfortable, "He's pretty easy to please, though. Change his nappies, feed him, let him sleep. Make some faces. Change nappies. Repeat." She smiles and reaches up to tuck some hair behind one ear, "I'm good, thanks. I did my interview with a Marine LTJG… Lunair? She was very nice. Tried to be very understanding and polite and all, I can't imagine having to do that all day long with the complaints she must get and stay that positive."
Wade smiles at what Serene says about the baby and offers with a smile "Well, he's a Duncan after all, a charmer by nature" He shows an amused smile and then clears his throat "Yes, in this case, no news is good news." Now the man takes a deep breath and uses a couple seconds to look around again, to see if Serene and the baby have everything they need. The man finally looks back at her and nods "Yes, Lunair. She conducted my interview when I was rescued from Leonis." His place to hide was a strip club, imagine that. "She is a very positive person, and we need that, to be honest. Specially right now"
"It's true. You Duncan men always do seem to manage to get your way." Serene says with a half grin, glancing back at him for a moment before she gives Wade her attention. It's no Ritz-Carlton, but by comparison it looks like she's set up their area nicely. This group didn't make it up with much, mostly a few bags of clothing if that for many of them, and they've been provided with blankets and water and what food there is available. "Yeah, I agree. She said there's been a little trouble, it sounded like? Some people getting rowdy or something like that?"
"Well, get hundreds of scared people from different colonies in one room and something is going to happen." says Wade, clearing his throat after that "Fear makes us act without thinking, without considering the outcomes of what we do" He nods to this and then runs his fingers over his chin. "Have you discussed your options with Lunair? Something tells me that as a Doctor, you don't want to just sit and, do nothing. Am I right?" asks the man now, knowing her far too well to know she's not going to be a sitting duck. "I know I wouldn't be able to, not do something. Lucky me, I'm a Viper pilot so, there's plenty to do"
Serene nods, "Yeah, definitely." She shifts a little where she's sitting, leaning over so that one arm is resting on the edge of Dare's makeshift crib, "We did, a little. She said that there's not much I'll be allowed to do until they clear my background check, obviously. And that that might take some time. I told her about Pops, so hopefully it'll make it faster for them to pull my records through his, I'd guess the military files are more current than anything. And then after that… She gave me a couple of options and said that I could request a preference… And any of them would mean that I was still practicing medicine, so that's no surprise."
"Yes, standard procedure, you are not allowed to certain areas until your background check is complete. But yes, I think you might get cleared a little faster than most, because of your father. It's just a matter of pulling up the records, if they are available" says Wade, nodding at what Lunair said to Serene. "And yes, Medicine is your field after all." He presses his lips together for a moment and considers "Have you thought about those options? What are they exactly. I mean, yeah, they are related to your status as a Doctor but still, some differences would apply I guess."
Leaning her head onto her hand and sliding her fingers into her hair a little, Serene nods, "They are. She mentioned that I could petition to stay here on the battlestar if I wanted to, but did seem to think that she wasn't sure how good it would be for Dare. She also mentioned a freighter that they're getting ready to commission that's a garden? I'd imagine since several of the families that were with us were farmers that's where they'll be going, though I haven't talked to them. And then the other civilian ships where more of the children are would be an option, too."
Wade listens in silence, running his fingers over his chin again. "Well, we do have a pregnant officer, a couple civilians too…" says Wade, thinking about Quinn in this particular case. "I'll see if she can take some time to visit and maybe talk?" Maybe she can help her decide? He doesn't know. "Have you considered the possibility of, applying for OCS? Not that I know how that is being handled or /if/ it's being handled but, still…it's an option. And you would be aboard Cerberus I think. I believe you would have with the Marines CO for that one."
"I hadn't, actually, but I could?" Serene agrees, "And yeah, that'd be nice. I remember stories about Forseti and all, but Pops was always partial. And mostly he was talking with his officers and CAGs about funny things that had happened rather than the day to day." She smiles, "Not that you couldn't give me a good idea of what goes on around here, of course." She reaches down and picks up the baby as Dare starts to squirm just a little, rubbing his fists on his face, "What do you think, though?"
At her first words, Wade shakes his head and says "Don't end that as a question, I cannot answer that for you." he nods to this and smiles a little "That is your choice to make" The man takes a deep breath and looks at the spot where the baby is for a looong moment. He then looks at her taking the baby and follows both of them with his gaze until she asks the last "I think you should do what you think it's best for you, and the baby" And, he doesn't mention one single thing about her father.
Serene nods, "I know you can't make the decision, that's fine. I just hadn't thought about it as an option." She gets Dare settled, holding him up against her shoulder so he's looking over it as she rubs his back gently as he starts to wake up a little more and kisses the top of his head briefly. Smiling, back over when she gets him settled she nods, "Of course, but what's your opinion about what that would be? You've been around here a lot longer than I have, obviously, so you know more about the fleet than I do and who's where and what's going on with all of that."
Wade looks at them in silence, watching the interaction between mother and son. He remains in silence long after she asks what his opinion is and then he opens his mouth, saying "I…don't know. If I want to be objective, I would say that you would like being in a place that hosts a lot of kids. At least you would like it more than, being in a Battlestar. But if I want to put objectivity aside, you are my sister in law, and that is my nephew…" She can figure out the rest. Wade clears his throat and finishes with "So I guess my opinion doesn't do frak, for this particular case" A small smile at that.
Tilting her head to the side a little as she pats the baby she frowns a little, "Wade, don't be silly, your opinion means a hell of a lot. Especially in this particular case." Serene sighs a little, sitting up more as she holds Dare, "I know that you would never recommend a plan that you didn't think would be good for me and for the baby. And there are lots of reasons that staying on the Battlestar would be a good choice, but I don't know the people here… you do… That's really what makes more of a difference than what kinds of bulkheads I have to pick from."
"I don't know that many people, I haven't been here for that long, only a couple months." informed Wade, but then nods "However, the people I know are very good. Specially the CAG, she's a pretty decent person. And some folks from the Black Knights are good too." He clears his throat, shaking his head "Not that the others aren't, is just that I haven't been doing a lot of socials." He smiles a little at that "As for the rest? Well, I don't really know anyone."
Serene nods, "Okay, well, that's good?" She gets a thoughtful expression as she considers things for a moment, the baby falling asleep again for the moment against her, "How many families are there living on the ship besides the refugees? Is it something that's happening often? Or more like just a couple of civvies?" Glancing over to Dare she checks on him and looks back to Wade, "Want to hold him? He'll probably just keep on sleeping like a little log, but it'll mean he's not being fussy."
Wade leans forward, extending his arms to carefully take the baby from Serene. He looks at him for a moment before looking back at her "Umm…I don't think I'm the right person to answer that, Serene. I don't know the numbers. To be honest with you I have been mostly, keeping to myself." He clears his throat and lets his fingers run lightly over Dare's forehead. "Perhaps I can get someone to talk to you about that? I'll have to ask around really"
Scooting over so that she's nearby in case Wade needs to quickly pass Dare back, she hands him the baby with a smile, watching him get settled before she crosses her legs and nods, "Okay, I can ask around. I'd like to meet the med unit anyway and I'm sure they have all the population vitals on the ship right off the top of their head with everything that's been going on." Glancing down at the baby before she looks back up to Wade as he holds him, she smiles, "So what -do- you do when you're getting rack time and not in your rack?"
Wade smiles a little at the question and says "Well, I go to the Athletics area and exercise. Play Pyramid, do weight lifting, do cardio…" he shrugs at that and adds "Maybe a few games of Triad, altho I'm pretty bad at it. Derek was the good one" He smiles at a couple of memories that pop in his head and then looks at the baby again. "I'm not antisocial or anything like that, I do speak with other people, you know?" Wade was the social one out of the twins actually. "But it takes time, to earn people's trust. I'm one of the new guys after all"
"Well, I thought you would." Serene says with a teasing tone to her voice, "Honestly I think when I first met you the thing that surprised me the most was that there was someone who could talk -more- than Derek." She doesn't seem to be pained at bringing up his brother, tucking a bit of hair behind her ear again as she leans over to kiss the top of the baby's head before she sits up streight again. "But that makes sense. So your squadron's the Black Knights? That's a great name, is there a story behind it?"
Wade smiles and nods "Well, you know Derek, he was the intellectual one, I was the…" he stops and chuckles as he quotes his own brother "…'batshit crazy' one" He nods at this and then clears his throat, gently moving Dare back to his mother's arms. Now he nods and smiles "Yes, the Black Knights." He says that with a proud tone of voice and then says "Well, I've heard that in the past, the Black Knights were nicknamed, 'black sheep', they had a bad fame, about not being the best and all. But things changed during the years and I can say that it hosts a group of the best pilots I've seen. So I'm glad to be flying with them. Altho I miss the Horsemen"
When he starts to move the baby, Serene seems to be able to tell that he's going to pass him back over, reaching to pick him up easily and settle him on her lap so that he's cradled there with his head on her knee as he keeps sleeping, "Well, yeah. I mean, who else would pull half the crazy stuff that you used to run around doing?" She smiles back and listens, "Yeah? Somehow… that makes me think you'd fit right in. And of course, that makes perfect sense. You guys were really close. Who was that one pilot that used to convince you to go out and then he'd get so hammered that he'd end up passed out in my bathtub?"
Wade chuckles at her last comment and he nods "Yeah, that was Spank" Yes, that was his callsign…or is; he doesn't know what happened to them, only that the Chimaera went boom. "Never got to understand what was with him and bathtubs" He shakes his head at that "I think it was because Pandora used to reject him all the time" He chuckles again and then presses his lips together for a moment. "I will talk with some folks and see what I can find, about the other people around here and how things are going to be handled." This so she can better decide what she wants to do "In the meantime." He leans in and places a soft kiss over Dare's forehead and then another one on her cheek. "I have to get back, rack time is demanded" He stands up and finishes with "But I will stop by tomorrow, promise"
"Spank… that's right. At least he normally made coffee in the morning when he got up." She reaches out to take his hand and give it a squeeze when he leans in, kissing his opposite cheek back when he's next to her, "Definitely. And don't worry about us, we'll do just fine. It's a pretty good group, we all look out for eachother." Smiling up at him when he starts to stand up, Serene says, "Take care of yourself? And do get your rack time, doctor's orders. And we'll be around here, I'm sure. Let me know if there's anything you hear of that I can do to help."
Wade smiles as he looks at her and shakes his head "I can't, not worry about you two…you are my family" And with that said, he takes a step back "I will, I'll see what I can find. Try to get some sleep" He turns around now and walks back to where he came from.