Subject: Grail:"The Great Brightness"-'Taking Control of Kaitlyn's Flagrancy'

"Taking Control of Kaitlyn's Flagrancy"

A joint post by:

LtCmdr. Janice Hargen

-&-

Lt. Kaitlyn Brennan

{OOC: Okay, this is the revised version between the two of us. Please

disregard "Flagrancy" (Kait's post) and "Taking Control" (Janice's post).

Sorry for the disruption... Thanks! :) }

-------

::Well?:: Terrakian asked her telepathically. His anger seemed to well up

inside of Kaitlyn,

and she felt the force of his powerful anger. But as a result, her own anger

had been

dispelled, and it was only his. In response to his temper tantrum, she stood up

straight,

leaning closer in towards him, "There are _always_ alternatives, sir!"

Then she backed away, breaking the fiery bond of fury that had threatened to

engulf her by

his very proximity to her. In place of it, a calm curtain fell over her

facade.

With a more professional attitude, she continued, "First of all, Kerestia is

hell-bent

towards destruction right now. That _is_ their natural evolution. By forcing

this planet

back into its former M-class state, we will be changing the power structure of,

not just

Kerestia, but possibly the beta quadrant. You don't seem to even understand

the

implications, and playing the hand of God is not just your decision to make,

sir. We do

not necessarily need to violate the very foundations of this ship and its crew

to extract the

cure from the planet. You want an exchange? I seem to recall you saying that

`clean

blood' was a very precious commodity among the Kerestians. You haven't really

thought

this through."

While speaking, her placidity had turned into amusement. Mr. Terrakian didn't

know her

very well. He couldn't affect her, if she didn't allow it. But she seemed to

affect him

greatly, even if it was negatively, it was still amazing. Her objection had

knocked him off

the deep end, but if she wasn't the only one able to do that, then who was to

say that he

wouldn't lose it, in a crisis situation? To give him the benefit of a doubt,

she assumed that

not just anyone could get him blazing with a metaphorical snap of a finger.

Janice Hargen cast a furious glare at Kaitlyn Brennan. Her own assistant was

going

directly against herself and Epic. She was nearly ready to erupt in her seat.

She knew she

wasn't only angry because of Kait, but Janice sure felt like taking it out on

her. It was that

Brinn who did it. Janice's pulse was racing, her heart beating a mile a minute

- it felt like

she would explode if she had to look at her face one moment longer.

*How dare she?* she thought, shaking with ferocity. *She goes out of her way

to

undermine Epic's authority! When he could use it the most... and then insult

me...* Oh,

Brinn was certainly on a roll. It took all of Janice's self-control not to

leap over the table

and tear them both apart. Both Brinn and Brennan.

Captain Terrakian's anger had not subsided, and he was clearly about to start

yelling again,

but after seeing his enraged eyes, she could barely suppress the laughter that

bubbled up

inside of her. She did not completely suppress her obvious amusement, but she

did back

up, and would be happy to leave.

Kaitlyn was not afraid of a reprimand, and she was not afraid of others'

disapproval. She

was afraid for herself, and after feeling his ire grow in intensity, she was

afraid of his

wrath.

Janice had watched as Epic had gotten angrier and angrier. She had watched

while

Brennan had goaded him on, more and more until Janice feared he would go into

cardiac arrest if he shook much harder. But most of all, she had watched his

eyes... she shivered in spite of herself. They were nearly white. It was

frightening.

"Okay, that's it!" Janice shouted, pure venom in her voice. "Everyone out and

get to work!"

But Kaitlyn had already turned around and ran out the door, to save herself

from being in

that hostile place any longer.

Kaitlyn did not go much farther than just outside of the observation lounge,

not even near

the turbolift. She was ashamed to have run out of there like a scared jack

rabbit, and if

Captain Terrakian had anything more to say, he would have the opportunity when

he

walked out.

People started to pour out of the observation lounge, but none of them was the

Captain.

He was still inside with Janice. Fionn was the last to leave the observation

lounge.

Kaitlyn gave up waiting, and her resolve started to fade. Maybe she should

apologize, but

Kait didn't think she had it in her to admit that she had handled the situation

all wrong.

Inside the observation lounge, Janice slowly walked up to Epic, who hadn't

moved since

the shouting match. She couldn't see his face, and she was glad she couldn't.

Laying

her hand on his shoulder, she took a deep intake of breath when he jumped

nearly a foot.

He looked at her, his eyes still white with fury. It sent chills down her

spine, erasing any

anger she had within herself.

"Epic. Relax. It's over." With that, she took him in her arms, trying to

calm him.