Out of your mind

Posted on Monday, 30 May 2022 - 3:30pm by Crewman Leopold Eberhardt & Lieutenant JG Adrianna Eberhardt

Mission: Shore Leave

The children were in bed and Adrianna was just walking in from her trip. It must have been two in the morning. She pulled off her black combat jacket and hung it up quietly. She looked around and saw Leopold, and smiled,"what are you still doing up?"

Leopold sat down the PaDD that he had been reading when Adrianna walked in. "I couldn't sleep. I was waiting for you to come back home. I still have trouble getting to sleep unless you are home...you know, Ekos still lingers."

Adrianna nodded and sat down next to him as she pulled off her boots, "I know. That's going to take a while." She paused, "sorry I'm late. Took longer than expected."

"I suppose that is to be expected," he replied. "What exactly were you even up to?" inquired her husband with a bit of suspicion. "I know you are very into your work to the point you like to ensure that it is done right, and it isn't uncommon for you to put in long hours, but...you know, a Baciami coming in late at night is typically not a good sign."

Adrianna was silent a moment, "I needed some information about an old friend, for our upcoming mission. I needed to return home. So I was in Italy."

"Oh," he said with a smile. "I mean that makes sense...you are the Chief Intelligence Officer after all, but what does Italy have to do with Cardassians? I may not be as well read into our mission as you for obvious reasons" he added with a bit of a chuckle. "I did overhear some conversation about a situation on Cardassia, and we are relatively close, and the Captain has been pushing to meet deadlines. I can only connect the dots and presume we're heading in that direction."

Adrianna nodded to confirm and then elaborated a little, "I have a contact that we sent there whilst I was working with my family. I'm losing contacts left right and centre anyway as word has got out about me running to Starfleet. I made a deal with Gio so that I can keep contacts and gain more."

Leopold looked at his wife and raised a brow. "Not to be the barer of bad news, sweetheart, but you are a Baciami by birth. Your family isn't exactly in the sort of businesses that 'contacts' stay active, safe, or alive very long. Dropping left and right more so than usual?"

Adrianna sighed, "only because they don't trust me anymore. I'm a traitor and now on the opposite side of the law. If anyone talks to me and knows, they feel I would use them then arrest them or something."

"You aren't a traitor to me," replied Leopold. "You just are one of the good guys. Starfleet ensures you do things through regulations and protocols. Old family associates may not like that, but they also need to realize you are still you."

Adrianna shook her head, "a change in reputation doesn't work. I need to go a little backwards to ensure I can keep good contacts. I can't just wear blue and expect a bull to charge, I need to wear red."

"If you piss it off enough, it will charge at you," quipped her husband. "And what exactly does going a little backwards mean? Are you doing something dangerous again?" He took a deep breath. You can't tame the wilderness his mother's words echoing through his mind.

"I made a deal with Giovanni," she replied bluntly, "I need his help as much as he needs mine."

Leopold grumbled. "He always needs help. Professional help." The man sighed. "I trust you, but you didn't exactly give me a yes or no to this being dangerous, but given it involves Giovanni, I guess we can deduce that it has some danger to it."

"It's only dangerous if Giovanni doesn't hold his end of the deal," Adrianna shrugged, "and he's sane you know. He's the reason I'm here. He's does have smarts and a caring side, you know." She looked to Leopold almost feeling defensive of her brother.

"Sure," replied Leopold. "Though you have that smarts in the family. He's a bit too heavy handed at times. You know when that bull is in a China shop. I have to get worried, I'm your husband. That doesn't mean I'm going to stand in your way or anything."

Adrianna slammed her hand down on the arm of the sofa, in frustration, "I don't tell you how to do your job. I don't make comments about your safety in work because I trust that you know what you're doing. I'd appreciate the same courtesy."

"I'm sorry, but the guy who takes the crew’s waste and recycles it for usage and ensures the systems that handle waste are functioning properly does not usually get shot at by disruptors or phasers. I'm not telling you how to do your work. I'm just here to remind you to come home...safe in one piece."

"I have never not come home," she replied, "my job is dangerous. You wouldn't tell a marine to not die trying."

"I would if they were the mother of our child," he countered. "That is all I'm getting at. I'm just saying that I love you in my own stupid way."

"We've already died once," Adrianna referenced Ekos, "I know what is waiting for me at home, but I also need to ensure a future for what is at my home."

"Your idiot husband loves you even if he's overprotective," Leopold replied referring to himself. "I am sorry."

Adrianna nodded, "look after the kids. I need a drink."

Leopold nodded hoping that he wasn't going to havev a PaDD handed to him one day to inform him his wife was seeking a divorce. They did not have arguments much, but after Ekos, it seemed more stormy in paradise.

She stood up to leave but paused. She looked at him, pensive, "when you were in Ekos, did you ever wish I had not sent that message that started all this."

"I wish that my sister did not die," he replied. "That and that you didn't have to go through what you did. I love you."

"Did you ever, for one moment, regret the lie you told about me being pregnant, or even the hell you got for transmitting that message?"

"No," Leopold quipped. "I love our family, and I was hopeful about it happening. I don't regret anything."

Adrianna nodded, "the pain you caused and the pain you received because of it-- you deam it 'worth it'." She paused a moment, "that is what I am doing. High risk for high reward."

"I trust you," Leopold said approaching her and taking her hand. "You do what you need to. I trust you."

She kissed his cheek, "I know. I know what I'm doing. It's for the best though. Emilia will never know my family. They know we have a child, but that is all. She will remain safe."

"Go have that drink," he said with a small reassuring smile. "You could use it. I'll watch the kids while they sleep."

Adrianna nodded and headed for the door. As she walked away, she said, "you'll be pleased to know that I did almost make Giovanni shit himself when I saw him."

"That definitely pleases me," Leopold noted with a smirk as his wide left to get a drink.