SET Initiative

Addie shook her head. "Don't apologize, it's okay. I don't mind." She smiled gently, trying to encourage him to continue.

As he spoke, the smile faded into that sympathetic expression again. Nearly every word that came out of his mouth, she could relate to. The nightmares, especially. She shook her head slightly, bringing her mind back to the current conversation. He needed her focus.

When he hung his head, and leaned forward, she felt her heart aching. The man had been sent to keep them safe, and she couldn't imagine the weight on his shoulders. She hesitated for a moment, then mimicked his pose, but her hands reached to grasp his clasped ones, thumbs rubbing against the tops of his hands.

When his voice cracked, she thought she would burst into tears. Scooting her chair closer, she pushed his hands aside, so she could wrap her arms around him into a tight hug, arms around his neck. "You didn't fail. I'm right here."

Tears began to flow when Addie grabbed his hands in hers. He couldn't full-on cry, of course, but one or two escaped.

He continued and then she hugged him. He didn't move at first, but his arms eventually wrapped themselves around her as well. He felt warm. It was a good feeling. She was here; Everything was okay.

Austin took a deep breath in through his nose (because ew mouth breathing) and whispered, "I'm glad."

The hug didn't solve any of his psychological issues, of course, but it did feel like some massive weight had been lifted off of his chest.

Addie just continued to hug him for a while. She knew it wouldn't solve everything. But it might help him, even just a little, and that was everything.

Moving back a bit, she pressed a palm against his cheek and quickly used her thumb to brush away the two tears that had leaked down his cheek, managing a small smile. Her voice was as quiet and soothing as she could manage.

"It's not going to be easy, getting past what happened, and what we saw. It's going to take a long time. And some.." She hestitated, to compose herself. "Some things, we just won't be able to get over, but.. I'm here. You're here. We're safe. We made it, and I'm not going anywhere. Okay?"

Austin closed his eyes for the duration of the hug. It's weird how physical contact can do wonders for the emotional side of things.

He watched her hand move to touch his cheek. His insides were now all warm and fuzzy. She was great.

She smiled at him. There were words. He took another deep breath. "Okay," he whispered. "Thanks."

A moment passed, and some silence. "You're the best."

Addie smiled in return, hand lingering on his cheek before lowering to rest against his again, squeezing gently. "Only as great as the company I keep." She winked. Boy, she was really pouring on the charm to try and make him feel better.

Giving his hand another squeeze, she smiled a little brighter up at him. "You know where to find me.. and you're welcome to drop by..well, whenever you want, really." Her smile turned a little playful. "I'm not used to not having you around all of the time."

She really did miss him, more than she was really willing to admit just yet, but it showed. "If you get anxious or anything, even if it's late, come find me, okay?"

Her charm worked. Well, the whole thing "worked." She had successfully helped him take a first step in recovering from it all.

He felt better. For now at least. Tonight he would go through the whole thing over again in his mind, thinking up plans he could've used, things he could've done differently in high-stress scenarios, ways he could've saved the people who died...

Austin smiled back at her, and turned his hand so that he was holding hers. He gave it a squeeze.

"Thanks. I will."

Addie smiled, relieved that he seemed to be alright for the moment. Squeezing his hand in return, she used her other hand to very, very briefly push back some of his bangs, chuckling faintly. His hair always did make her smile.

"If you want to hang around for a while, I can change, and we can go walk or something, get some food if you're hungry." She offered, giving his hand a little squeeze before she stood, releasing it so she could move to her little closet to find something besides shorts and a tank top to wear. Once she found somethng, she headed to go change, hand giving his shoulder a squeeze as she passed by.

Emerging from the bathroom a few minutes later, she bent near the door, pulling on a pair of boots over her black pants to her knees. Most everyone on board wore uniforms, but since she was a civilian, hers were plain, with no markings, unlike his. She tugged on her jacket, and glanced at him with a grin, offering her hand out for him to grasp after hesitating for a moment. They were tentatively a couple, not really sure, but she figured he could use the comfort still.

Austin smiled and watched her hands move. It was calming. He felt goosebumps.

"Yeah, that sounds good. Food is a little more filling than coffee." He replied with a small chuckle. He watched her walk off and sat for a minute, waiting for her to change.

Austin took her hand in his quickly, standing up when he saw she was ready. They may not be completely sure of what they were, but she meant a lot to him. They had been through a lot. It certainly wasn't just nothing.

Grinning, she squeezed his hand as she led him from the room, glancing down the hall. "Been here a month and I still don't know my way around that well.. I guess we can just walk until we find the cafeteria." She smiled, glancing to him before leading him down the hallway.

Once out of the living quarters, there were more people, some, like th two of them, just kind of wandering around, stretching their legs, while others were actually working.

As they walked, chatting about different people they saw here and there, Addie kept close, hand shifting to lace her fingers with his, her other hand resting against his forearm. Something he had just pointed out about one of the crew members passing made her laugh, which caught someone's attention.

"Addie!" A male voice called out, and she visibly cringed.

The man that approached just SCREAMED jerk: he was tall, well built, and disgustingly attractive. But from the way Addie just shuddered, that was the only positive thing about him. Jackson was his name, evident by the shiny name tag on his chest, and he basically ignored Austin, sliding right up beside Addie, even throwing an arm around her shoulder. "Hey red, how's the leg today?"

Addie recoiled, glancing over to Austin in a silent plea. If there was ever a time for him to be a man, this was it.

Austin chuckled. "Well, it's somewhere on this floor. We'll find it eventually."

Austin pressed the tips of his fingers into her palm. He felt very refreshed.

He was just pointing out how one of the crew members was actually secretly a lizard in hopes of making her laugh. He succeeded,of course (lame jokes were his forté), but then some guy called her name.

He was about to make another joke before he realized that she didn't like this guy.

The jerk was apparently named Jackson, proven by his nametag. Austin was starting to walk away, pulling Addie along- They obviously had some history and it wasn't the good kind- when Jackson pretty much just pretended there wasn't a guy holding Addie's hand.

"Hey red, how's the leg today?"

The look in Addie's eyes said a lot. Austin tried to politely move and stand between the two, making sure to put Addie behind him.

Austin forced a very fake smile. "Hey, do I know you?" He held out his hand to shake.

Addie had never been so grateful for Austin than right then. He successfully pulled her away from Jackson, and when he stood between them, she let her palm rest against his back.

Jackson just raised an eyebrow at Austin, but forced a smile right back to him, giving his hand a rather hard squeeze as he shook it. "Jackson, and...who are you?" He just kind of smirked at Austin, clearly sizing him up. Addie couldn't take it anymore.

"Jackson, is there something you need? We were going to get dinner." She stated firmly, other hand on Austin's arm now. If that wasn't a clear enough picture, Jackson was just an idiot. Or stubborn.

The man just kind of grinned, easily stepping around Austin to be close to Addie again. "Oh, I didn't know we had plans." He grinned even more, hand reaching out to take her arm.

"I'm Austin."

You touch her again I swear to God I will punt you off the back of this ship you little sonofa

Addie piped up. Jackson moved around. What was she, his property? Was Austin completely invisible?

Austin sighed. "Hey man, I know you mean well, but she's clearly not in the mood for this. I know I'm pretty tired. I just wanna take my lady friend to get some delicious freeze-dried astronaut food. Isn't there like, I dunno, some other person you could go harass? Or even better, a room you could go back to?"

That's it. The next time he makes a move, Austin was gonna lay hands on him.

Addie pulled her arm back, but Jackson just didn't get the hint. His grip practically enveloped her arm, and judging from the wince, it was pretty tight.

Jackson rounded on Austin. All signs of pleasantry had vanished. "Look, I don't know who you are, but I'm pretty sure your 'lady friend' here would rather get something eat with an old friend."

Addie hissed. "Get your hand off, Jackson."

It was about to go down.

Austin didn't even bother giving him warning. The punch to the nose was swift and without a wind up.

"Now. Let go of her and then we can settle this like.. Well, like men."

Austin's smile was back just like that, and he nodded at him.

It caught him by surprise, enough that he let go of her arm, and stumbled back. Addie was shocked.

Jackson quickly snapped back upright, and swung right back at Austin, scowling as blood dripped from his nose. Addie just watched, flabbergasted. "Jackson! Stop!" She shouted; she made no effort to stop Austin. She wanted him to beat the snot out the pompous, miserable, cheeky <insert explicit word here.>

Austin expected a return swing. Oh, man. A fight was just what he needed right now.

This would be fun.

Austin ducked, trying to avoid Jackson's wide swing. Jackson was taller and had a wider arm span than Austin did, so Austin needed to get in close and get lots of body shots in.

He wasn't an expert at hand to hand, but he certainly knew more than this poor schlepp. Plus, a few months of beating up super-monsters helps in the strength department.

Austin made two quick jabs to the abdomen, hoping Jackson wasn't smart enough to back up.

It was true. Jackson's size didn't make up for the plain lack of real fighting skills. When Austin's jabs to the abdomen connected, after a few other blows had landed, it was more than enough. He was back up against hte wall, doubled over.

Addie was surprised. He had really gone soft. Not that she was complaining. When Jackson was too busy groaning to make any real effort to hit him back, she hurried to Austin, eyebrows raised. She kept a hand on his arm, glancing back to the tapped out man. "Come on.. let's go."

Dang, that was over too fast. Austin almost wanted to keep hitting the guy, but Addie put her hand on his arm.

"Alright, sure." He nodded. He smiled at Jackson. "You have a nice day."

As they were walking away, Austin took Addie's hand back in his. "Sorry about that. Hope he wasn't too much trouble." He winked. After a few more moments, Austin's curiosity got the better of him. "So, what was his deal?" The question was laced with concern and wonder. How did that guy, the guy who couldn't even keep up a fight, instill fear in Addie, the woman who pretty-muchly carried Austin on her back out of a post-apocalyptic scenario?

ADdie swallowed nervously as he asked the inevitable. After a moment of hesitation, she glanced towards him. "We knew each other before the Infected got out of control. We.." She swallowed nervously again, giving his hand a squeeze. "We were engaged, actually. Things didn't...end well."

She was quiet for a few minutes as they walked. "I didn't know he was alive until he saw me a few days after we got here, when they took me up to my room the first time.. He's right down the hall." She glanced down at her feet.

Wow. Engaged?

Really?

Austin blinked, and remained stunned in silence for a few seconds.

"Wow. Really? That guy?"

He wasn't mad at her at all. Plenty of guys were able to slip under peoples' radars and then, when it was too late, show their true colors. Those were the worst kinds of guys.

"I'm really sorry about that, Addie. He seems pretty unpleasant." Austin squeezed her hand and looked over at her.

She didn't seem to almost be afraid of Jackson. That was more than enough for Austin to have alarm bells going off.

People like that were manipulative. You hated them, but they'd always find a way to guilt you or trick you into doing what they wanted.

"Do you want to be moved? I could get you moved to a different living space..."

Hopefully Jackson wouldn't find a second wind or some kind of delayed adrenaline rush and come running around the corner. That would be just awful.

Just awful.