I'm Talking... Are You Listening?

By:  M. J. Cogburn and C. E. Krawiec

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For a moment, Inmon searched his friend's face still damp with the tearstains he hadn't wanted the other men to see.  Reaching to place a hand on Vaughn's arm, Inmon shook his head slightly. "I... I don't understand, Vaughn," he said quietly. "What is it you're sayin'?"  Whatever explanation he might have been hoping for wasn't forthcoming.  In fact, his mystification only increased when the leaper just looked steadily at him as he repeated, "Just don't ever hurt her, In. That's all I ask," before stepping around him and continuing the short distance up the hall to enter his quarters.  Even when he went to his friend's door and knocked on it, keeping his voice down even as he requested several times, "Vaughn, come on and open the door. Talk to me," the only response the Irishman got was silence.  After a couple of minutes, and even more bewildered than before, Inmon finally gave up and returned to his own quarters to mull over everything that happened in the last fifteen minutes and try to make sense of what didn't begin to make sense at all.

PART ONE

After walking into his quarters, closing, and locking his door, Vaughn slowly began walking back toward his bedroom.  He heard Inmon knocking on the door and then calling out to him to talk with him, but he didn't want to talk with Inmon about Johanna.  He couldn't.  He shook his head at Inmon's continued presence at the door then began stripping out of his clothes as he headed back to the bathroom.  He turned on the water, then slowly stepped into the steady hot stream and closed his eyes as he washed and tried to just not think at all. 

He got out of the shower, toweled off, then placed the towel back on the rack before he went out into his bedroom and finally sank onto the bed.  That was when the tears came as he stared down at the carpet.  Once they started Vaughn felt as if the floodgates opened.  A moment later, he sobbed so hard that he shifted on the bed and lay down on his side.  "Johanna," he called out to her softly, feeling as if he had lost something extremely precious to him.

Vaughn had no concept of how long he lay curled on his bed and crying like no one had seen him do for a very long time.  Even after killing his sister, he'd dealt with that pain with alcohol.  This pain, however, he wasn't prepared to, even in the privacy of his own quarters, demean his giving up Johanna by soaking his brain and body in booze.  Instead, he lay in the darkness and cried until there were no more tears to cry and his mind and, more importantly, his heart was numb.  Only then did Lothos' Chief Leaper feel able to turn over to face the wall, close his eyes, and let emotional exhaustion drag him down into sleep. As the hours passed, on some subconscious level, Vaughn Rickar was grateful when his mind allowed him at last to drift down into the more peaceful realm of dreamless slumber.

Eventually it was, not the sound of an alarm clock waking him, but the feel of a hand on his shoulder, shaking him and calling, "Mr. Rickar, wake up."  It took a few seconds for his mind to let go of sleep and open his eyes, blinking sleepily up at the sight of a young security guard standing beside his bed.

"Who... the hell are you?" he mumbled, fumbling clumsily as he shifted over on his back and dragging the sheet over his body. "How'd you get in here?" He blinked again several times then said crossly, "Just... get outta here... before I report you to Lothos."  Lying back on his pillow again, Vaughn brought his hands up and rubbed his face, only to stop when the guard said plainly, "It was Lothos who sent me here, Mr. Rickar."

That was enough to brush most of the cobwebs of sleep from his brain and cause the leaper to sit up in bed, the sheet sliding precariously low, just barely continuing to cover his nudity.  "What for?" he blurted, his gaze fixed on the other man's face.  "I… mean I just laid down a little while ago...."

Vaughn's eyes widened disbelievingly when the guard told him, "Lothos said to tell you that you've been sleeping almost ten hours, sir.  And, that you're late for a meeting in Central Control."

As soon as the last word was uttered, Vaughn didn't care who the guy was that was in his quarters, all he knew was that he already had his butt in a sling and he was probably going to land exactly in that sling if he didn't hurry up and get down to Central Control.  Flipping back the sheet, he was up out of bed and racing over to his closet to get his clothes.  "Thanks," Vaughn said as he raced back over to his dresser and opened a drawer to find some underwear. 

He dressed quickly, grabbed his boots and his socks, and decided that he could put them on in the elevator as it descended.  By the time he got to the elevator, he passed the guard who had been sent to wake him.   Pushing the button to call the elevator, Vaughn quickly reached out and clapped the guard on his arm.  "Honestly, thanks, man.  I can't believe that I was asleep that long."

Getting into the elevator as soon as it came, Vaughn immediately plopped down on the floor and began putting on his socks and his boots.  By the time he reached the fourteenth level, he was standing and waiting for the elevator doors to open.  He ran down the hallway to Central Control.  He tried to catch his breath as he waited patiently for Lothos to open the door.  'Please,' Vaughn thought to himself, 'please don't send me to correction.  It's the last place I need to be.'

From the moment his Chief Leaper had returned inside from his excursion into the gardens to the confrontation with Inmon Fitzpatrick to mere moments before as he observed the leaper's frantic and swift transition from bed to standing outside Central Control, Lothos was very pleased with how his manipulation of the leaper was progressing.  The moment when, by the naked realization coming across the man's face, he knew the leaper finally understood about the 'allowed' relationship with the Chief Observer, was the highlight of the entire time period observed.

Lothos allowed the leaper to cool his heels for exactly two and a half minutes before opening the doors to Central Control to admit him.  The doors whispered shut as the leaper crossed immediately to the large red circle situated in front of the huge main console and dropped, not to just one knee as was required, but both knees, and bowed his head. He didn't mince words.

"This is your second warning, Mr. Rickar," Lothos snapped. "Mark this well there won't be a third warning, because I'll strip you of your rank and then kill you where you stand at that moment. Is that clear, Mr. Rickar?"

Keeping his eyes closed, his head bowed, Vaughn uttered, "Yes sir.  Perfectly.  My humblest of apologies, sir."  It seemed to be more than what Vaughn expected of Lothos to even give him a second warning about him being late. He was going to make damn sure that he was never late again.  

He continued to stay in the same position until Lothos finally ordered him to stand. When at last he stood, Vaughn raised his head and looked at what he considered was Lothos' eye.  He waited patiently for whatever his master wanted of him.

Waiting until the leaper was on his feet again, Lothos eyed the man a moment before he said, "I have decided that I need further information from Beckett's project, Mr. Rickar.  To that end, you will review your last report on Steven Beckett and prepare yourself for an extended mission."  He watched the leaper's expression change. "You have something to say, Mr. Rickar?"  He waited to see if the leaper would point out the extensiveness of the last leap with the same objective foremost.  He wasn't disappointed, then informed Vaughn Rickar that, "You initiated and built a rapport with the boy, that is true. This time, your objective is to begin to turn the boy to me."  Lothos didn't bat the proverbial eyelash when the leaper said plainly, "You mean brainwash him."

"Exactly, Mr. Rickar," he replied.  "For the next two weeks you will spend as much time possible with the boy each day."

"How?" 

The question went beyond irritating and stupid to the super hybrid computer. He answered the leaper with a question. "Perhaps an error was made in your selection as my Chief Leaper, Mr. Rickar?  Perhaps the testing wasn't sufficient to demonstrate your capacity to visualize and conceive of a means to successfully execute any mission given to you."  He waited. Of course, the wait was miniscule at best.

As soon as the question was asked, Vaughn Rickar wished that he stuffed it back in.  Nevertheless, even as Lothos put it so effectively, Vaughn’s eyes closed before he answered, “No, sir.”  He paused, licked his lips, and swallowed.  "My question was not one to ask you, sir, how it must be done, but more to the effect of how am I going to be able to escape their computer's knowledge of my signature in their complex.  Ziggy knows my signature, sir," he finally responded.

Lothos thought about what his Chief Leaper said to him.  It was true.  Ziggy did have the capability of acquiring and setting a lock on the quantum signatures of his leapers and that knowledge bothered what was left of Nathaniel Lothoman.  “This is true,” he finally answered, “however, I do want you to leap into the same technician. Glean any information that you can about Stephen Beckett and we’ll go from there.  I’m sure that there must be something that you can find out about the boy.”

“Yes sir,” Vaughn nodded his head as he already began to form the questions in his mind that would help him get the necessary information that his master wanted of him. 

Lothos shifted his attention back to his Chief Leaper as the man brought his hand up to his face and ran his hand along his cheek, back down to his chin.  He could plainly see that the man was already formulating what he was going to do when he succeeded in leaping into Beckett’s complex once more.  “Do you have any questions?”

“No sir.”

“Report for your assignment in five hours.”

Vaughn dropped his hand as he blinked at Lothos.  “Sir?”

“Some necessities must be taken care of first, Mr. Rickar.”  Seeing the man’s frown quickly appear, Lothos appreciated the man’s desire to start as soon as possible, but he knew that if the man didn’t eat something soon, his desire and want for the leap would fail and fail miserably.  A review of the man’s time within the last day revealed that he hadn’t eaten anything within the last sixteen hours.  “I appreciate your desire to begin immediately, Mr. Rickar, however, you need to see to your own needs.  Go eat and study your previous leap.”

When Lothos mentioned food, Vaughn’s stomach rumbled and he placed a hand on his stomach in apology.  “Yes sir.  Five hours, sir.  I’ll be ready, sir.”

“Dismissed.”

Vaughn nodded, did an about face then marched out of Central Control his mind set on going to the cafeteria to grab a bite to eat.  Once that basic need was taken care of, he would maneuver back to his quarters to get the files needed so that he could make sure that he studied, as Lothos required of him.

PART TWO

Even when he went to his friend's door and knocked on it, keeping his voice down even as he requested several times, "Vaughn, come on and open the door. Talk to me," the only response the Irishman got was silence.  After a couple of minutes, and even more bewildered than before, Inmon finally gave up and returned to his own quarters to mull over everything that happened in the last fifteen minutes and try to make sense of what didn't begin to make sense at all.

By the time that Inmon was in his quarters, his mind reflecting on what happened with Vaughn in the hallway, the only conclusion he could arrive at was that it didn’t make any sense.   Even as he plopped down on his couch and propped his feet up on his coffee table, Inmon scratched his head consideringly.

‘Why would Vaughn go from one extreme to the other so quickly?’ Inmon frowned as he leaned his head back on the couch and took a deep breath.  Thoughtfully chewing on his lower lip, he stared up at the ceiling.

Inmon considered himself an intelligent man, but for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out what was running through Vaughn Rickar’s mind.  He reviewed the moments in the hallway.  The way that Vaughn stood so firmly, his anger stirred and riled, but somehow reserved made Inmon wonder all the more.  And the tears – what was that all about?

Vaughn Rickar didn’t cry openly.  He never showed any emotion other than if he was happy or extremely irritated.  It was his final words of ‘Just don’t ever hurt her, In,” was the stumper for the Irishman.

Standing, Inmon went to his kitchen and opened the refrigerator door.  He grabbed a beer from the six-pack that he had, opened it, and took several gulpfuls before he closed the refrigerator door.  As he walked back toward his bedroom, Inmon shook his head then remarked aloud, “Damn, Vaughn, it’s not like you can’t have what you want.”

The moment the words came out of his mouth, Inmon stopped in his tracks, his mouth open, his eyes wide in realization.  He turned to go back to Vaughn’s quarters then stopped. 

“Just don’t hurt her, In,” Vaughn’s words came back to him.  “Just don’t ever hurt her.”

The hand that held his beer slowly went down to his side and Inmon licked his lips then sighed.  Understanding but not knowing the full reasons behind Vaughn’s actions, Inmon nodded.  “Okay, buddy,” he announced to his quarters.  “I won’t hurt her, but we are definitely going to talk.”

After finishing his beer and having a nice long shower, Inmon Fitzpatrick crawled between the sheets and fell asleep.

When he awoke five hours later, Inmon stretched languidly in bed before he got up to start his day.  Although Dr. Hugen released him early yesterday, he decided to go back early to check on Johanna and be with her.  It took him no more than ten minutes to finish dressing, even to putting on some of the cologne other women told him they adored on him, and head out to go to the infirmary to report for work.

As he waited for the elevator to descend to the infirmary, Inmon already knew that there wasn’t going to be a problem with Vaughn showing up at Johanna’s room.  The more he reviewed last night’s incident with Vaughn, he now realized even more about how the Chief Leaper must feel for his Observer.  The more Inmon focused on that, the more he felt like a heel for being in the middle, but he wasn’t there by accident.  He knew that as well.  It was by design.

He nodded to the nurses he passed at the nurses’ station then headed toward Johanna’s room.  Knowing it was still early in the morning, Inmon carefully opened the door not wanting to wake her.  Finding Johanna asleep, Inmon grinned and walked over to the side of the bed. 

He looked down at the beautiful woman lying there and he watched her as she turned her head toward him in her slumber softly moaning.  Not seeing any frown or an inkling of pain coming from her expression, he carefully bent down and placed a kiss on her hair.

Johanna sighed softly her eyes still closed, then murmured, “Oh, Vaughn, I knew that you’d come.”

Inmon just looked at the woman who had in so many words admitted feelings for her partner.  He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly before he replied, “Go back to sleep, Johanna.”  He then slowly moved to sit down on the cot not too far away.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

As Inmon watched Johanna sleep over the next several hours, he found himself thinking more and more on the previous night’s events.  He had to talk with Vaughn.  He wanted to sort out everything with his friend—at least, as much as Lothos would let him.  The more he thought on it, the antsier he was becoming.  He just continued to watch Johanna until Dr. Hugen came through the door.

“Inmon? What are you doing here so early?”  Peter Hugen asked carefully as he eyed the security guard who looked as if he was floating in the ozone.  “Inmon?” he asked again when he waved a hand before the young man’s eyes.

Inmon’s lapse into woolgathering was cut short when he reacted instinctively to a shadow falling across his face, blinking as he looked up to find Peter Hugen looking at him intently.  “Dr. Hugen,” he finally commented.  “Is Johanna okay?  She’s usually awake by now,” he said as he glanced at his watch to see that it was turning eight o’clock.

Peter nodded his head.  “When she came back last night, I added something to her drink to help her sleep.  She’s fine.  However, In, you look… well…”

“Concerned?”

“Somewhat.  It’s more… preoccupied with your thoughts.”

Inmon nodded.  Licking his lips, he leveled with Peter.  “I don’t think that you’ll be having a problem with Vaughn anymore.”

Peter raised one eyebrow curiously.  “Oh?  Why do you say that?”

Inmon took in a deep breath then let it out in a sigh.  He wasn’t sure if he should say anything or not.  Instead, he answered, “Just a feeling I have.”  Inmon looked over at Johanna once more and shook his head.

“Why don’t you take a couple hours break, Inmon?”  Peter suggested as he watched the young man stand and go over to Johanna’s side.  “How about four hours?  Then you can get something to eat, relax for a bit, then come back, and talk with Johanna.”

Inmon looked over at Dr. Hugen, blinked then nodded his head.  “Four hours?” he questioned.  “Won’t Johanna…”

“Johanna will be fine, Inmon. You look as if you have some questions that need to be answered.  This may be the only time to get them answered.”

Inmon nodded at his words then moved to Dr. Hugen and held out his hand.  After shaking Peter’s hand, Inmon looked back over at Johanna then left the room.

Waiting until the door closed, Peter shook his head then turned to his patient sound asleep in the bed.  Moving to her, he said, “Oh, Johanna, he’s got it bad for you, too.  I just hope there’s something left of him when he gets back.”

PART THREE

Inmon walked through the corridors of the complex with only one goal in mind: to find Vaughn Rickar and talk with him.  It didn’t take too long to realize where he was not.  He wasn’t in the cafeteria and he also knew that Vaughn wasn’t one who would hang out at the mall.  Hoping that he’d find the man, Inmon approached the man’s quarters.  Sighing through his nose, Inmon planted his feet in front of Vaughn’s quarters, raised his hand, and knocked.

He heard movement inside and he lifted his hand once more and knocked again before the door opened to reveal the dark-haired Leaper.  “Hey Vaughn,” Inmon said with a slight nod of his head.

Vaughn had barely sat down with the meal he brought with him from the cafeteria.  He’d decided that if he had to study, he could get a few more minutes in while eating.  However, when a knock sounded at the door, he frowned.  He didn’t need a distraction at the moment.  He needed to focus solely on what Lothos set out before him.  He already decided he wasn’t going to fail the man-machine who held his life literally in his hands. 

When the knock came again, Vaughn stood as he shut the file he’d just opened, and went to the door.  Opening it to find Inmon, his mind immediately went to what occurred the previous evening.  ‘Damn,’ he thought to himself as he heard Inmon’s greeting.  ‘Damn it all to hell.’

“Inmon,” he responded as blandly as possible so that his friend might reconsider why he was at the door.

“Can we talk?”

Knowing that Inmon was going to want to talk about last night, Vaughn took a step into the doorway as an effective measure to stop Inmon’s entrance into his quarters.  “There’s really nothing to talk about, Inmon,” Vaughn responded bluntly.

“Do you really want me to stand out here in the hallway and start questioning you loudly about what happened last night?”

Vaughn’s shoulders slightly shifted.  Stepping back, he let Inmon enter his quarters and then shut the door.  He chewed at the inside of his bottom lip for a moment before he turned to see Inmon standing in the middle of the room.  He signed and then said, “There’s nothing to talk about Inmon.”

“I beg to differ with you, Vaughn.”

“Look, Inmon, I have work to do.  Lothos asked me to study up for my next leap in a couple of hours and I want to be prepared. “  Vaughn walked back over to the table and flipped the file open once again as he sat down.  He picked up the fork he had laid down a minute ago and cut a piece of the lasagna and took a bite.

Inmon watched the man and shook his head.  He couldn’t believe that Vaughn was just blowing it off as if nothing had happened.  “So, it’s just how it is, then Vaughn?”  Inmon asked offhandedly.

“Yup,” Vaughn replied as he turned the page he’d been reading to begin reading the next one.

“Doesn’t she have a say in this?”  Inmon asked rather bluntly.

“There’s nothing to have a say in, Inmon.  Johanna doesn’t know…”

“That you love her?”

Vaughn stopped himself from taking the bite he prepared to put into his mouth and turned to look at the security guard who had his hands in his pockets.  Giving a half-snort, half-laugh, Vaughn shoved the food into this mouth finding it extremely bland as he regarded his friend.  The action itself was simple, but it also gave him time to think of a good answer.  Instead, he just chuckled somewhat as he chewed and shook his head negatively.

Inmon watched Vaughn and wondered what the answer to that question was.  Between the shaking of his head and the chuckling, Inmon was somewhat up in the air on the correct answer.  He narrowed his eyes at the Leaper as he watched him before he pursed his lips and nodded.  “Either you do or you don’t.  So, which is it?”

“What do you care?  Don’t you have your own agenda with Johanna?”

Vaughn asked, the words literally cutting into his heart, but he didn’t even flinch as he looked at the security guard standing in his living room. 

He heard the words come out of Vaughn's mouth, saw the reserved expression on the leaper's face, but no matter how he added the two factors together, they just didn't add up in Inmon Fitzpatrick's mind.  In fact, the longer he studied on it, the more illogical it seemed to him.

"What do I care?" he parroted the question back at his friend, his eyes wide as he stared all but disbelievingly at Vaughn.  Marching over to the table, Inmon stopped beside his friend and told him, "I care because you're my friend, Vaughn.  And I know that you care a whole helluva lot about Johanna."  It bordered on maddening to see the fleeting looking of consideration that appeared Vaughn's face only for it to disappear, replaced instantly by what he could only describe as a vague 'oh well' shrug.  Stepping closer, Inmon leaned toward his friend, demanding, "Vaughn, it's me, Inmon.  Your best friend, remember?  You can talk to me.  So come on now, tell me what's eatin' at your guts, man."  When the only response he got was a brief glance and a shrug of the leaper's broad shoulders before he turned his attention to his food again, Inmon's sense of frustrated outrage at the indifference pouring off Vaughn Rickar hit it's breaking point.

"Damn it, man!" Inmon shouted almost in the leaper's ear, a swipe of his hand sending the plate of lasagna skittering off the other side of the table and crashing to the floor, barely giving enough quarter not to be bowled over when Vaughn leaped to his feet. "Talk to me! Dammit it, I know you're not a whiner or a crybaby over women, Vaughn. But you can't just let whatever it is eat ya up inside. It won't do ya or Johanna any good, and for damned sure, it won't go away."

Vaughn Rickar stood, the emotions that he thought he'd dealt with when he'd locked the door to his quarters the night before, swirling and churning inside. Taking a steadying breath and keeping a tight hold of his yet unstirred temper, he said quietly, "Leave it alone, In.  If you're really my friend, you'll just drop it and... and do what I asked of you."  He studied the other man's intense expression a moment then turned and started around the table to clean up the mess of broken crockery and food.

"Like seven bloody kinds of hell, I'll leave it alone," Inmon announced as he strode after the leaper, grabbed his friend by the arm, and spun him around. His eyes flashed when the leaper's startled then annoyed gaze found his, but it wasn't enough.  Inmon pushed the envelope way over the line.  "Ya know, Vaughn, I never... never ever woulda figured you to be such a bleedin' heart over a woman."

Vaughn yanked his arm away from the leaper and roughly swiped at the man's arm and took two steps back away from him.  "In, leave it alone," he hissed lowly.

Inmon shook his head as he opened his arms once again and met the other man's gaze.  "Don't you get it, Vaughn?  You can tell me anything.  Anything!  You said it yourself last night.  I'm one of the ones that hung around after what happened with Danessa."  He watched as Vaughn blinked and swallowed and looked down at the floor as if to get a grip of his feelings.  Inmon let his arms fall to his side and he licked his lips.  "I want to help.  I want to understand... but if you aren't going to talk with me, then you don't have the right to use me as a fuckin' punching bag anymore."  Seeing Vaughn's head come up at that, Inmon met his gaze pointedly.  "I need to know why you decided to beat the shit outta me."

"In..." Vaughn tried to interrupt him.

"No!" Inmon responded.  "I deserve every right in the world to know why you beat me up, broke my nose and gave me all kinds of bruises, aches and pains.  If you don't love her, then why in the bleedin' hell did you do it?"  Inmon searched Vaughn's eyes, and then even pressed a bit further.  "Just do us both a favor and don't lie."

It was the truth in one way and in the other it wasn't.  It was, Vaughn knew, even before an all too familiar voice whispered inside his head to consider his words with utmost care.

"Because I loved... love Johanna," Vaughn said simply, looking into Inmon's piercing gaze.

"And that's it?" Inmon declared incredulously. "You coulda made that point a helluva lot clearer, and a whole lot less painful on me than that, Vaughn," he declared, stepping closer to the leaper.  "And now... what?  You don't want her anymore? Is that it? You've sampled the wares and it's time to move on to the next honey that catches your eye?"

The two-handed piston that landed in the middle of the Irishman's chest sent him flying backward and sending him plowing, back first, against a wall.  It happened so fast that Inmon didn't have a chance to catch his breath.  In fact, half slumped against the baseboard, his lungs burning for air when, through the instinctive panic, he watched the Chief Leaper stalk over to him and go down on one knee in front of him.  Somewhere in the midst of the panic, which gradually started to recede, let him know he would catch his breath in a moment, Inmon saw the fire alight in the leaper's dark eyes.  Even if he could have spoken at that moment, Inmon knew he wouldn't have risked the break through of the wall his friend had retreated behind.

Grabbing his downed friend by the front of his uniform with both hands, Vaughn hauled the security guard up in his face until there was nothing to see but each other's eyes.  "I told you once, In, and I'm only going to say this once more, and after that if you bring it up again, neither of us is going to like what happens." Vaughn paused, licked his lips then, his grip tightening a little more if that were possible and enunciated each word.

"I love Johanna," he stated. "Not just a good time, party thing, In. I really loved... love her.  And when you... butted in on what... when you butted in, yeah, I got hot. How would you feel if I was making it with your girl?  But then...” For a second that handful of words burned his heart like acid, "...he let you have the relationship so he could control you..." ... mocked him again, and with the mocking echoing in his mind, stared intently into his friend's eyes and said, "But something...."

"Remember what I said, Mr. Rickar," Lothos' voice oozed silkily through Vaughn's implants.

The leaper's guts twisted inside at the warning, more sickened by them than angered, as he released his hold on Inmon's clothing and stood up. Looking down at his friend he added, "Something happened that made me see that... I was taking a whole lot for granted about Johanna and... and it wasn't right or fair to her." He paused a moment, seeing in his mind's eye the lovely Chief Leaper that he wanted more than he wanted any woman in his life.  Watching as Inmon began to shift around and get slowly to his feet, Vaughn extended a hand to his friend and helped him to get up.  When they were eye to eye again, he said quietly. "What I wanted... what I thought she wanted was wrong because... because Johanna never said it was what she wanted, too."  Scanning Inmon's face a moment, he finished, saying simply, "I can't... I won't bully her, or any woman, into anything. It's not right. So... I took myself out of the picture. And that's all there is to it, In. Like it or not... believe me or not... that's all there is to it."

The silence in the room was large, bordering on uncertain as the two men faced each other.  Then, from one breath to the next, it faded as Vaughn turned and went back to the table and sat down, pulled the report folder in front of him and looked at the pages before him.  "I've got a mission in about three and a half hours, In," he stated plainly, no impatience or malice in his voice.  "I've gotta review all of this before then so... just leave now, In."

Inmon wanted to believe everything that Vaughn said.  He wanted so much to believe him, but something... something, he wasn't sure exactly what it was, but the whole incident wasn't sitting well with him.  Inmon nodded at his friend then slowly moved to the door as he put his hand on his chest, knowing that he was going to have a hell of a bruise.  Laying his other hand on the doorknob, he turned his head back to Vaughn to see him leaning on one hand as he studied the papers.

Licking his lips, he called out to his friend, “Vaughn?”  Seeing Vaughn turn his head to him, Inmon met his eyes.  “Tell me, did you ever ask her what her opinion was?  Did you ever tell her or give her an option to choose what she wanted before you just took yourself out of the picture?”

The two men just looked at each other, seemingly in a staring contest.  It was Vaughn who broke the gaze, never answering the questions before he turned back to the file on the table.  "Later, Inmon."

Inmon nodded as he pursed his lips.  He swallowed, opened the door and closed it rather sharply as he left.  Walking away from Vaughn's quarters, Inmon took the next hall to go to his own quarters, opened it and went to lay down for an hour, with the hopes that he would finally be able to take a deep enough breath that it didn't hurt.