JL | Danielle Atarah, RAdm Indi Hawk | Reunion

Posted on 241708.26 @ 10:59pm by Rear Admiral Indi Hawk & Danielle Atarah

Mission: Non-Plot Log

The weather was absolutely and uncommonly lovely, with barely a cloud in the San Franciscan early morning sky. The fog that regularly graced the bay was nowhere to be seen, allowing the bright sun to swim in a sea of blue uninterrupted skies.

Danielle Atarah strolled down the pass, watching with a smile as uniform-clad recruits and officers roamed the area around her. It was both a familiar and strange feeling, being among them, like a distant dream her brain wasn't completely sure it woke up from. She turned the corner and walked towards the Starfleet campus, turning her back to the blue that was the water of the bay, shifting the sun glasses on her eyes to sit better on the top of her nose. It was just warm enough to be happy about wearing a light short sleeved shirt rather than the heavier fabric of the 'fleet uniform, but not as warm as to be sweating. A perfect day, she smiled to herself, picking a place on a lone wooden bench and sitting down, stretching her arms to the sides, waiting. Watching. Remembering, and not entirely sure if the memories were good, bad, or somewhere in between. And after a moment she realized that sitting in the sun and watching Starfleet personnel walk around - without actually being one of them anymore - was not a bad feeling at all.

With a small lopsided smile, she waited, watching.

Indi had received a strange message the night before. She was asked to meet near campus, and to preferably not tell anyone. The ride since her return to Earth had been bumpy, but she did try to pick up her life as best she could. So, tugging down her uniform jacket, she composed herself as best as possible after little sleep and quite an extraordinary Admirals' meeting, out in search of the woman who'd messaged her. Once close to the designated location, it didn't take her long to find the person she was looking for.

Sitting down on the same bench, she crossed her legs and draped one arm over the back of the bench so she could look at Dani. "Now here's somebody I didn't expect to find here."

Dani smirked behind her sun glasses, taking a moment to bask in the sun before turning her head and grinning, enjoying the surprise on the woman's face. "Hello, Admiral." She paused a second, as if tasting something odd in her mouth. "Wow, I didn't think I'd greet another Starfleet person by their rank that soon. It feels..." she tilted her head, as if trying to recognize the taste of an odd piece of candy she was given that was only on the verge of being spoiled, "weird." The expression shifted then, morphing back into her familiar and natural smile, her eyes shining with it. "It's been a long time, boss. Too long." The 'boss' was a habit, a form of speech; she had no bosses anymore now - a fact she would emphasize with pleasure to anyone who'd care to ask. Still, Dani couldn't help but noticing how naturally that term came, and how fluid it lay on her tongue.

From the times Dani had popped up in her intelligence briefings - the extended kind, not the standard one page weekly - Indi seriously doubted that Dani had to call anyone 'boss' anymore. She was a rising star in the mobster filament and she'll be on her radar quite more often in times to come. Of that, Indi had no doubt. And now they were sitting here, next to each other, on a Starfleet site. Dani had balls, she had to give her that. Then again, she'd known that for a long time. "Yeah, it has been," she smiled, looking Dani up and down. She'd always liked the woman. The woman made her think of Jasmin - how'd the doctor be? She'd have to look her up a well, some day. The good old days. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your call?"

"What, my mere presence isn't enough?" Dani chuckled and shifted herself to the side, lifting one leg on the bench and leaning sideways on its back so she could face the woman in front of her directly. "When I heard there's a new sheriff in town, and then saw it's you, well," to say that she was happy to have a sort of friend as the sheriff would have been an understatement, but Dani just plowed on, "I had to say hello. Get back in touch. See if we can help one another. You know, like the good ol' days," she smiled, leaning her elbow on the edge, her eyes, filled with a mix of interest, curiosity and testing-the-grounds bravado, still shaded by the dark sun glasses.

Indi saw Dani's eyes even through the sun glasses. Implants were cool like that.
She recognized- she did a double take that was carefully hidden by years of practice. Implants! What the hell happened to Dani? She made a mental note to ask her about it some time.
She also recognized the mischief. There was sincerity, but it was layered by a lot of things she couldn't identify as easily. If she could make an attempt at trying to predict the future, Earth's largest crime boss was sitting here with Starfleet's highest Security ranking officer in the quadrant. You'd layer yourself for less reasons. Indi was good with that, for now. Once Dani would get into less acceptable busine- she didn't want to go there yet. "I haven't been a sheriff in a while," she replied, just as guardedly. "But it's very nice to catch up with you. It's been long years, my friend," she chose her words very carefully.

Dani's expression remained frozen for a short second as she examined Indi thoughtfully, her smile only slightly becoming less pronounced before resuming its previous merriment. "Are we?" She finally smiled fully, teeth showing, "friends?"

In front of her was the head of the security in the quadrant, and she was on what the woman most assuredly considered the focus of her terf. To think she didn't know about Dani's current chosen 'occupation' would have been disastrously stupid, and Dani, being many things, was definitely not stupid. "Or should I worry about my safety?" She wouldn't, even if she thought Indi did consider her enough of a criminal to be arrested; being not-stupid, Dani had contingency plans up the wazoo.

She also doubted, very much, that the Admiral would act so strongly this soon. She did consider her an old friend, even if their paths have diverged into radically orthogonal directions.

And there is was. Indi had figured this was coming, but not so soon. She'd expected more of a build up towards it. They were dancing a careful dance. Each had their own moves. Like chess. thinking three step ahead. Four. Five. It made her head hurt. She was done with the scheming. She'd been undercover for more than six years, she deserved a fucking break. And here they were, back to it, back to their dance. Anger started to bubble inside of her. Dani had no right to ask this of her. She had no right!

"You tell me," she carefully replied after she'd managed to stamp down the worst of the anger. "Are we friends?"

Dani nodded carefully, her smile once again shifting flavors, becoming more real, more pleased, less game and more honesty. She bobbed her head and took her sunglasses off, placing them on the top of her head. She was never much of a dancer, and her games of chess had the sort of strategy you realize you should have seen coming, but only a moment after you lose the game.

"I think we can be. I hope we can be. It would definitely be better if we are," She gave Indi a lopsided smile and shrugged, stretching her arms as if to shake off the rest of the fakeness. "I was hoping I can talk you into seeing the mutual benefit of our potential continued friendship," she chuckled, rocking a bit, and leaned back in the bench. "If nothing else, there's the fact that we know each other. We both know who we are... and who we're not." And they did, for the most part, as much as anyone could know a friend after so many years passed, and such different paths was taken. It was enough, Dani thought. Hoped, at least. She looked at Indi expectantly, her head tilted slightly to the side. The game, it seemed, did not end. It just changed rules.

If anything, they were two chess masters at work.

Indi didn't mind sparring. She minded doing it with a friend just a bit more. Yes, she did consider Dani to be a friend. It was probably the only thing that had kept her from bringing a few officers along. And Dani knew it. Dani had found a weakness that she would exploit whenever possible. Or would she? Did she consider the two of them to be friends? Indi couldn't be sure. But Dani held an advantage over her that she wouldn't be able to take out of the equation. She wouldn't even try. For now. "What are you thinking?" she asked eventually, referring to a mutual benefit she couldn't see right then.

Dani seemed to relax a bit, her smile expanding; there it was - an opening for a dialog. There was a difference between knowing a friend, and trusting a Starfleet official -- one that's responsible for the security in the quadrant, no less. She thought she knew Indi, but she had to admit that the familiarity was tainted by the time that passed. Dani has changed, her life taking the many turns that initially led her to a fairly successful Starfleet career, and eventually to an even more successful exit from it, finding herself and her freedom again, and redefining her existence as she went. She couldn't be sure what changes Indi had gone through, and what direction her evolution took. She could only hope that the person she knew way back in the day was still sitting in front of her now, even if buried slightly by the changes time inflicted.

"I assume you know about my current employment," Dani joked, giving Indi a knowing half wink. "Are you updated on the circumstances that led to my new..." she searched for the right term, something that keeps the intrigue but is not too vague to sound like a movie trope, "promotion?" she finally settled on that one, pretty pleased with herself.

"I know of your current employment," Indi confirmed. No secrets there. They knew what they were both up to. And they both knew they knew it. Otherwise, Dani would never have requested this meeting. Indi wasn't fooled for a second into believing this meeting was just some old friends catching up.

And yes, she knew what had led to her promotion. At least most of is. There was rumor going around that they killed the old boss of the syndicate and took over. Dani didn't strike her as a killer though. She was many things, but not a cold blooded killer. At least not as far as Indi knew.

"Great," Dani nodded. "Well, when I saw your name on the new manifest for the head of Alpha Quadrant Security, I realized we could have a great reunion. The kind that results in the greatest friendship for both sides. You know, since," she shrugged, smiling, "we do seem to be on sides that would usually be in some opposition." Or more than some, if Cardello was still in charge, Dani thought. Or anyone else from Starfleet was in charge.

"I'll just get to the point. The Syndicate is evolving. It's no longer the same organization Tom Cardello was leading. There are limits we are setting up that we don't cross; weapons are out of bounds. Children and innocents are off limits. You could say we're transforming into..." she smirked, shrugging, "a good syndicate." Not quite, but good enough for this conversation. "The kind that cares," she smirked through her exaggeration, having no illusions that Indi knew exactly how far this balance went between truth and extra. She took a second to enjoy this, and then chuckled, shrugging, shifting gears back to non-exaggeration reality. "The point is that we can give you a lot of information that you could really use to preserve 'security'" she said it with the quotes audible, "throughout the sector, without getting you too worried about what you're paying for." She shrugged with both her arms raising, as if finishing a sales speech and showing off the coveted product.

Indi was willing to be and do many things, but officially maneuvering her into a position where she would owe to a criminal wasn't one of those. Even if Dani was a friend, she was also a criminal. She'd seen too many things the past few years to brush over Dani's words as if they nothing but good things. If she'd get the chance, she'd nail Dani and her syndicate. She'd lock her up and throw away the key for a few years. If you did wrong, you had to take the consequences and live up to them. "Why did you quit Starfleet?" she asked. It had nothing to do with Dani's offer, but everything to do with the train of thought she was following.

Dani paused, momentarily confused, taking a moment to digest the new direction the conversation was going. She finally nodded thoughtfully, her smile disappearing, her demeanor losing all of the playfulness it held just a moment ago. "I guess my disillusion with what Starfleet was -- and wasn't -- became too big for me to ignore." She took a breath. "Starfleet is for people who are committed to keeping it in check when the system swallows individuals and makes compromises on morals it pretends is sacrosanct." She looked at Indi thoughtfully, wondering just how much of her life in the fleet the woman knew about, and how much of the reasons of her first joining she knew at all. "It wasn't for me."

"You have such a low opinion of me?" Indi asked with a small smile. She'd turned the conversation around with one question. She hoped she could keep the high ground for a bit longer. It wasn't a matter of Dani's Starfleet career, it was a matter of what made her return to her roots. She'd only had access to Dani's enrollment notice, but it was enough for now. Perhaps, if Dani would really become a problem, she'd have to dig deeper. For now, she was content with whatever the woman was willing to tell her herself.

"On the contrary," Dani's smile was thin, but she didn't take the bait. "I think the only way to balance the rigid system of the Fleet and Federation, is by having people like you in it, tugging at it to remind people of the right way." And she meant it; it was just not something she could do. Not anymore.

"Starfleet has a tendency to stick so hard to its own rigid morality, it forgets morality is flexible when it comes to saving lives. It sometimes tends to miss the potential damage that is bound to happen by refusing to think outside the box and compromise." She finally looked up at the woman, pointedly, not a shred of amusement in her eyes. The game was done; what came back instead was her frustration, her disappointment, once again, from the system she took so long to get used to, and finally left behind. "Like now."

Indi wasn't sure the game was over. Quite the contrary, she was convinced that this was only the first round in many to come. There was a bitterness to Dani's voice that made her dangerous. If she actually believed what she was saying, she was very dangerous indeed. She didn't bother to hide the weariness that had settled in her mind. Her shoulders sagged just a bit, and she lowered her eyes to the ground for just a moment. "What do you want from me, Dani?"

"I didn't call you here to bribe you or destroy the tenets of your moral fiber, Indi," Dani sighed, her expression still full of frustration, "I called you here because whether you like my career trajectory or not, there are people in this sector that are a lot worse than I will ever be, and stopping them is to the benefit of us both. I came here because whether you believe me or not about what Starfleet does, did, or will do in the future, there are certain things you can't do." She took a breath and looked at Indi again, directly this time, "that I can do. I didn't come here to ask your permission or get your support. I came here to offer my help, and see if I can get you to try and not destroy the one rising power in the shady-area of this sector that can oppose the kind of powers that keep us all up at night. The ones that manage to go under Starfleet and Federation noses, and does real and sustained damage. I came here to remind you to consider who would replace us if we're not here to reclaim the void that was left with Cardello's death." She finished coldly, her eyes, uncharacteristically, devoid of humor or playfulness, but were softening slightly, the poison running out of them. "I wasn't lying when I said I came here as a friend."

There was only so much resistance Indi could put up. The past few years, followed by the past few days, had taken its toll. She only started to realise that now. Dani's story sounded good. It really did. Why would she want to oppose it? Why would she want to take away a possible ally? Because she was on the wrong side of the law? The law was a treacherous thing. A grey area. Years ago, she wouldn't have caved so easily. Now? Why the hell not.

"You offered your help. I'll keep it in mind," she spoke softly. A lot more softly than she'd intended to. She didn't want to sound like a broken record, but she had to know. "Now, what do you want from me, Dani?"

Dani looked at her for a moment, her eyes shining back with contentment, with approval... with respect. At some point in the conversation, she wasn't sure she would see this woman actually consider the arguments, and actually make a conclusion for herself; Dani has seen many Starfleet officers take the automatic stance - the convenient opinion, the one that doesn't make them think too much or take actual responsibility over their own convictions. She was happy -- and quite a little proud -- to see that wasn't the case with Admiral Indi Hawk. Whether their small little agreement stands the trials of time (and in the face of whatever actions had to be taken) was still left to be seen, but for the moment, the mere fact the woman in front of her acted like a thinking rationalizing person, and not a system-trained automaton, was all the encouragement she needed.

The smile that crept onto her lips expanded, slightly, filling her eyes with the familiar playfulness she was so known for. She nodded at Indi, slowly smiling wider, and decided she still actually really liked this woman.

"How about some coffee?" She gestured towards the waterfront, the smile turning lopsided. "We could pretend we're normal and catch each other up."

--

RAdm Indi Hawk
Commander
Alpha Quadrant Security

&

Danielle Atarah
Privateer, Ex-Engineer
A leader of a yet-unnamed Earth Syndicate