EXETERRPG: (16 - 1250) - ss - FO Lt(sg) Ailynn Bracken

[Mark Howard]

NRPG. A massive thanks to Mat H for going with this. The timing of this one
is a bit wibbly wobbly, as it starts just after Ailynn collapses, but ends
roughly at the end of day 17.


Mission: The flames of purity

Day: 16

Stardate: 2445:09:16



(Location unknown - white room - FO Lt(sg) Ailynn Bracken and Prophet– 1250)


Ailynn slowly came to.


The backdrop of her fight with Jost and the wraith that had encompassed him
was already fading away, fading.


Fading to white.


Slowly she pulled herself up to her feet; looking at her hands and arms,
she knew that she should feel sadness, and pain; but she couldn’t remember
why, only that she didn’t want to anymore.


“Hello?” She called out.


Slowly she became aware of a presence behind her. Turning sharply, she
looked at the figure in front of her.


“Human male…” She briefly ran her eyes over the usual tell-tale factors,
before turning the boy around, and looking at the back of his neck, to see
a familiar scar, uncharacteristically left. "5 years old."


"I remember you." She continued "C4 shrapnel incursion, severe threat
of...well, pretty much everything to be honest."


“And now I’ll grow up to be a big boy, and help people.”


Ailynn shook her head. “Cut that out. I know who you are.”


The boy smiled as Ailynn took his hand and they stepped forward. Ailynn
felt parts of her warm that she didn’t even know existed. “Cheater”


“You’re hurting Doctor.” the boy answered, the cadence of his delivery
belied him.


“I killed a man. Two men actually, and at least three others that will
never...well; you saw.”


“This is a boring place...How about this?”


The world swam around her, and the vineyards of Tuscanny swam into focus
around her.


“You miss this…”


Ailynn felt her heart ache, “More than you...well… I miss this place.”
Absent mindedly Ailynn picked a few grapes from a bunch just to her left
and put them into her mouth, the sweet juice a contrast against the tart
bitterness of the skin. “If you're after my attention, you have it.” Ailynn
said irritably. “If I’m dead is this a judgement? At least tell me...or am
I already in the cave of the wraiths?”


As she spoke she felt the hand that she was holding change, it became a
man’s hand, the strong hand enveloped her own, small, and delicate. There
was a gentle strength that warmed her heart somehow.


Holding her hand the room swelled again, this time turned into an office,
it was covered in PADDs, the screen on the wall was showing the end of a
comms, it was night. On the unit under the window were several photos.


"You're troubled still, the corporeal being needs to rest but her pah is
eager, it wants to understand, explore, keep going. Now is it's momentary
rest."


The man changed slightly from a ghostly form to a more solid image; unlike
the normal apperations he seemed more solid, real. The uniform was clearer,
grey yolk with red undershirt, commander pips, unseen right now to match
the photo under the window.


"Come, sit down, you're probably hungry from your experience, those grapes
won't fill you up, pancakes will"


“I feel that I can’t rest. I always have. As if there’s something in me
that is always driving me. As you say. My Pah.”

Grabbing the pancakes from the replicator he watched as she eat.


Ailynn sat down, the sweet sting from the syrup already assaulting her
senses. “Thank you.” She picked up the fork, and took a few mouthfuls of
the pancakes, a stray drop of syrup escaping and dripping onto her chest.
“Rats.” She ate some more. A rumble of appreciation from her stomach made
her realise how hungry she actually had been. “Mum said she always used to
have pancakes like these. Way back when she was on the Hades.


As the moment dictated the prophet broke away from its normal rigid self,
this was a person who needed a softer touch, the Sisko had taught them much
about their presence. Sitting down at the chair the man watched still. "You
need substance, your body needs food, for itself and its soul. Tell me
child, what troubles your Pah?" The mans head tilted to watch Ailynn as she
spoke.


“You’re right, of course. I am troubled, and I don’t know how to deal with
it. I’m a doctor, a surgeon. I’m supposed to heal people, help them, even
ones that are so twisted and misguided as Jost had become. I’m struggling
to rationalize killing someone. There’s part of me that doesn’t want to
wake up, so the pain goes away and I don’t have to deal with it.
I’m...scared.”


"Protecting and saving life comes with great risk, death is inevitable in
some cases. Each outward and inward battle carries the troubles, weights
and pain of loss. Life must always end."


There was something, her mind was screaming something at her, and her
conscious thought couldn’t yet translate what it was. As if a blanket had
been put over her mind, trying to give the chaos of her thoughts some rest.


The man rose and the scene changed. They were now in a medical bay, sat on
a bed; the room had an emerald tint, the mans undershirt was now blue with
Lt pips. "Every step along your journey has been planned, each moment timed
to prepare you for this. You have not, are not and will not be alone."


The man jumped off the bed and place a warm hand on Ailynns shoulder.


"We have known your presence for some time, the result of two great
troubled loves. It is time to allow your own troubles to be free."


“My troubles...” She sighed and stretched slightly as the pancakes settled
in her stomach. She may have eaten too quickly. “...are many and varied.
Some tried to dominate me, others define me.” The alarm bell was ringing
loudly, but her mind still wasn’t listening. “I am known?”


"You are one of few, but you are one of many"


“My corporeal form is tired, and my Pah, although adventurous and yearning
to learn, occasionally has trouble with riddles.” Ailynn smiled gently,


The man smiled a warm smile, he allowed his eyes to come clearer. Walking
into the office he endured Ailynn followed, allowing the picture to be
seen, the same picture that had been in the Bracken household and offices
for years.


"You are known" smiling again the prophet revealed it's true form.


The universe swam around her. A single point of existence. The picture that
she saw was buried so deeply in her memory that she’d known every detail
for as long as she could remember. Her mum, stunningly beautiful, wearing
the pips of LtCmdr with her dark hair framing her face, and a happy,
mischievous twinkle in her eye, all of her life Ailynn had been able to see
how deeply in love she was with the man in the picture. A man whose face
she’d always remembered, and thought of, and a face that she’d always
yearned to simply just be able to see, just once. Wearing the red uniform
and Commanders pips, she wondered now what rank he’d have attained had…


As the figure in the room revealed his face, Ailynn felt not just her
heart, but her entire insides sink to the floor. Her eyes erupted into
tears. Holding her hands over her mouth in shock, she managed to breath
long enough to utter a word.

A word that she’d longed to say aloud all of her life.


“Daddy?”


"My child" The Prophet encompassed her for a moment. Changing the scene
again they were now on a planet fires raging around them, Mil was driving
and Ailynn next to him as they dodge the fire balls.


“I know…” She was still crying. “But you have no idea how much I’ve
always…” managing to stop herself, she corrected the sentence. “Okay so I
know that you do. Why me though? Dale always says our family has a habit of
getting in the way…?”


"You have great sadness, but great strength. Strength that was needed to
right great wrongs."


There was a shift in atmosphere and Mil changed again Red undershirt,
Commander pips and a more relaxed frame, still driving.


"So kid, you're confused why you're here? Confused about what's going on?
Your grandmother would have worked this out by now. Where's those Bracken
brains?" He placed a hand on her knee and patted it.


She laughed. “Flatterer.”


"You don't like riddles? I never did. You've been chosen, not in some
massive way, but like every woman in your family you have a task. I'll tell
you now, ask your mum about her missions but don't let her fob you off, she
knew I didn't like them but they will help you find strength in what you've
been through."


“Mum worked SpecOps. That much I know. I also know that she spent a lot of
time even when she was in research dodging 31’s influence. I know I’m
clever Dad, dammit, but my brain doesn’t work the way that Dale’s does."


Mil laughed, more than a prophet would normally, but he was enjoying taking
the memories of this being


"Ask her about ‘Awaken’, she was deeper in a lot more things than she lets
on. Her pain will be your understanding. Every Doctor must end life when
the time comes."


Ailynn’s mind was moving slowly forward, not burdened by physical
distraction, she sighed “I had no choice back there. Did I.” It was phrased
as a question, but wasn’t. “Jost was more wraith than person.


"There is always a choice, but it is not always yours to make." Mil spun
the buggy as a fireball exploded.


They appeared in a morgue. There was a body laid out, full dress uniform.
The body was holding a Bajoran earring, the one that was given to her mum
by her paternal grandmother at the announcement of her pregnancy. Standing
either side of the table the Prophet returned to a more dignified stance.


"This was an end, one of great importance in your family. The ending you
have just been through is even more powerful, you have returned balance,
extended journeys, righted wrongs." He picked up the earring  and moved
alongside her


“I’m the one that walks the path, the pivot. My job isn’t done.” she spoke
gently, quietly, her voice dropping to a whisper to respect the dead, even
though they were simply echoes. ~you sure Lynn?~


"You have been known, you have been chosen, you have been reborn" he handed
the earring to her.


She took the earring, hundreds of years of her father’s family history
rested in her palm. The more she looked, the more she saw.


Embracing her one last time he whispered in her ear "you are loved."


She should have been sad, a small part of her still yearned to stay, to
never return. The intricate jewelry in her hand however had reminded her of
something. The message, and it’s delivery was kind, and gentle. Loving.

It’s meaning came home to her a little more sharply.


She was indeed a creature of two paths. A healer and a fighter. That had
been the lesson on how to defeat Jost, however moving forward a new lesson
had had to be learned. She was a creature of two paths, her mothers, and
her fathers.


The part of her that was her mother, was palpable. In all respects it was
Ailynn that was at fault. She had spent her entire childhood and teenage
years committing herself to be ‘better than mom.’ The jewelry in her hand
had carried a message, a message that Ailynn took to heart, that in her
pursuit of her mother's shadow, perhaps she had neglected her father’s.


Slowly, the white faded, and the familiar view of Exeter’s sickbay slowly
came into focus.


fin.
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