starandrea: (charlie and rose support)
[personal profile] starandrea posting in [community profile] starsfic
So, in Team Building with Jack Landors, the original members of A Squad were released from containment on Cruger's order and are undergoing voluntary rehabilitation. Charlie has refused reassignment as A Squad Red unless her entire team comes with her. Rose and Don have both asked to return, but Des' family wants him to resign and Miguel has gone back to his home planet indefinitely.

This scene follows missing (in which Jack is accidentally caught in a base-wide lockdown), and the full PRAU prompt table is here. (Other references: why Japan and when they're going.) ♥


against all odds


"I want to climb Mt. Fuji," Charlie announced.

Rose didn't look up from the dragon she was painting. "Climbing season is over," she said. She had every color imaginable spread out on the glass table in front of her, and Des knew she didn't need them all but he had bought every shade he could find and wrapped them up in one long box that he insisted she open before she left.

"Good," Charlie said, from her seat in front of the networked screen. "No crowds."

Charlie was supposed to be ordering their tickets. It was remotely possible that she had done this before getting sidetracked by Japan's biggest tourist attractions. It was also possible that she hadn't done anything of the sort, and she would be using air travel arrangements as an excuse to get out of anything she didn't feel like doing for the next two days. Rose was betting on the latter.

"Mt. Fuji is covered with snow right now," she said, brushing a long blue-green streak over the nearest wing. She studied the effect critically, decided that it was sufficiently stretched-looking, and repeated the stroke on the other side. Alternating should help it dry just enough to layer, the edge of one pass overlapping with the next.

"Sounds good to me," Charlie declared. "We don't get enough snow around here."

"We don't get any snow." Aliya had a holo proof spread across her lap, stylus in each hand, tweaking 3D details no one else could see. Des was off in the other room, on the comm with Miguel, and had been for the last who-knew-how-long.

His sister was more fun anyway, Rose thought. She didn't insist on having the TV on in the background no matter what she was doing.

"Neither did Dagobah," Charlie said. They had argued over what to call the planet they'd been stranded on many times, with Des pointing out that it was more reminiscent of Wayland's climate while Don called it their sanctuary moon. Charlie won, of course, but comparisons continued when she wasn't around.

"You're not going to pull the 'I was stranded for a year so I get to do anything I want' crap," Rose told the dragon's wing. "I was there too."

"You grew up in Japan," Charlie said. "This is the first time I'm going to be anywhere near your famous mountain."

"It'll be the last if you try to climb it in December," Rose replied calmly. "Mt. Fuji is cold and harsh and unpredictable. And there's no air. Read a guidebook."

"Respect the mountain," Charlie mimicked. "Whatever. I'm a Ranger; I can do whatever I want."

"You're not climbing the mountain," Rose said.

"Yeah, what," Charlie said, and Rose looked up just as the screen switched over to a Sirian image with the A Squad logo emblazoned across it. "We're taking the afternoon off."

"Slackers," Don's voice answered. "What the hell is Des doing? He won't pick up."

"What the hell are you doing," Charlie countered, insolent and automatic. But she glanced back, caught Rose's eye, and jerked her head at the door. Rose was already putting her paintbrush down. "Aren't you supposed to be on patrol?"

"Indefinite patrol, now," Don said. "Base is locked down."

"Why?" Charlie asked. "You try to cook again?"

Rose shook her head, only mildly tempted to wait and find out what was going on. Charlie would figure it out and pass it on. In the meantime, what could Des possibly be doing that was more important than acknowledging a Ranger call?

She found him with his feet up on the desk, still chatting with Miguel over an extended intergalactic link that probably cost more than SPD paid. Rose paused long enough to be sure they weren't talking about anything sensitive or traumatic--it seemed to be an accounting of recent moto tricks--before she interrupted. "Are you not talking to Don now?" she asked.

Des looked up, glanced at the dragon she was carrying with interest, and didn't look at all guilty. "I'm not talking to Miguel, lately," he said. "Figured we could change that."

"That's a lovely dragon," Miguel added from the screen. "May I see it?"

"It's not done," Rose felt compelled to point out, but she brought it over and held it up to the camera, turning it a little so he could see the whole thing. "Don says the base is locked down and Charlie is afraid something terrible has happened to you."

Des snorted. "I'm sure."

Rose tried not to smile. "Well, she asked me to make sure you were still alive, anyway."

"By not stopping you when you decided to come check," Miguel added.

She couldn't keep from smiling at that. "I'll tell her you're fine. But if you want to know what's going on at the base, you'll have to come find out for yourself."

"I'm sure it's a thrill a minute," Des said dryly. "At least this time we're on the right side of security."

"I'd like to see your dragon when it's done," Miguel added.

"I'll bring it in," Rose promised. "Since you'll probably still be on the comm by then."

Des waved her away, but all he said was, "Close the door behind you, would you?"

She didn't ask. They'd all earned their secrets, few and fleeting though they might be after the last year. Des obviously wasn't furious with Miguel anymore, and that was worth a lot. Maybe it meant Miguel was coming back, maybe it didn't. But at least he didn't seem as far away as he had before.
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