trans_9 | The Sound of Silence: [R for Cussing] [Open]

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The Sound of Silence: [R for Cussing] [Open]

The Mystery Machine stood in the same spot in the hanger where Sawyer had eventually parked it after spending hours with a group of crew members driving around in circles and passing around joints until they were all half-baked. After dealing with "Nightmare Kings", difficult deputies, a hangover, a fascist command staff, and a crew of brainless sheep, Sawyer wandered into the hangar to get away from all the levels of stupid that had permeated those that like to call themselves 'in charge.' Sawyer hated glory whores and self-anointed 'leaders.' They were nothing but walking sacks of hubris. Hubris that, like Jack and Locke, could only manage to get people hurt with their half-wit plans and knee-jerk decisions.

Hell, the entire pantheon of twits spent more time barking orders and talking at everyone that they had no clue just how deeply the resentment and distrust they had seeded in the crew had taken root. And they had no one to blame but themselves. The crew was divided, angry, and it was because of the command, not despite them.

And Sawyer had no intention of getting killed because no one could get along. So, that's why the con-man planned to get rid of the command staff--some of them, anyway. They were no longer the solution, no longer an asset. They were the problem and if their egos kept them from stepping down for the sake of the crew, for the sake of its unity, then he was going to do whatever had to be done to remove them.

But all of that could wait, for the moment. Right now, Sawyer relaxed in the back of the Mystery Machine, the door wide open, with a copy of Vonnegut's Mother Night in his lap and a lit joint between his fingers as the gears turned in his head, turning over the best means to execute his plan.

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Sawyer was about to be unpleasantly surprised. Kirk swung himself inside, settling down on the opposite side of the van from Sawyer, a pleasant smile on his face. "Nice to see you again, Sawyer. How have you been holding up since the Nightmare King?"

Sawyer looked up at the captain with an annoyed look on his face. Great! What in the hell was he doin' here?

"A little surprised I ain't in jail yet, if that's what you mean," he answered, rolling his eyes at Kirk as he turned his attention back to the book in front of him.

"I was just asking how you've been holding up. That was a rather... traumatizing experience for us all. As for jail - I've no reason to have you arrested. What makes you think you'd be thrown in the brig?"

Kirk was still being cheerful. He was in a good mood, obviously.

"Oh, I dunno," Sawyer replied, setting his book aside for the time being. He took a long hit from the joint in his hand and held it in for several seconds before finally exhaling the smoke...right in Kirk's face. ~~Stick around long enough, Kirk, and you'll be more than just cheerful.~~

"Maybe 'cause lockin' people up for pissin' ya off seems to be your default 'round here."

Kirk waved the smoke away, expression turning into a frown. "I made a mistake in dealing with Roxie and I haven't made an issue of that. However, as far as I'm aware positively no one has ended up in the brig for anything other then reasons pertaining to the safety of the crew."

He raised a brow. "Your accusation doesn't hold much water, I'm afraid."

"Oh yeah?" Sawyer matched Kirk's raised brow with two of his own. "Well, that's funny, 'cause I seem to recall someone gettin' tossed into the 'brig' for doin' nothin' but speakin' their mind during your whole 'save the mind-controlling slug' campaign."

He paused, leaning forward and looking the captain dead in the eye. "Now, I may not be able to remember who it was, but I know it happened and I'm sure there are a lot of other people 'round here who do, too. And, let's face it, the way this place likes to f*ck with people's memories, I'd say that's enough."

"Your memory is faulty," Kirk replied, returning Sawyer's gaze evenly. "This person was arrested for assisting the previous Sam Winchester in his attack on the security detachment. As I recall they were subsequently released when it was determined that they hadn't participated in the fighting."

"Is that right," he said. He wasn't buying it. He knew what he remembered and that it wasn't faulty. "Well, then I guess your memory must be faulty, Hoss. 'Cause I was at that meetin'. The one ya'll held down in the Vatican. And I remember you not bein' all that keen on lettin' that person go even then. Somethin' about 'cooling down in the brig' until they learned to keep their mouth shut."

"Sawyer, there is distinct difference between simply voicing your opinion in a calm and rational manner and assisting and abetting an armed group during a stand-off." Kirk was discovering why he didn't talk to Sawyer much. The man was determined that his way was the only right way.

"I haven't thrown you in prison and that is to my memory the only other incident in my mind during the several months I've served as commanding officer of this ship. And that was justified by the fact that she was aiding an armed group intent on murdering another living being. For all of your talk, the only vaguely constructive suggestion you've offered is to tear down the whole system - which we were already intent on in the first place."

"Now, if the crew decides that I'm no longer fit to command, I'll step down and support whoever is elected in my place to the best of my abilities. You? I suspect that you will continue to do everything you can to cause problems. I'm not going to stop you and unless you take some sort of overtly hostile action against the crew or the ship, I'm not inclined to stop you. Whatever you may think of me, I fully believe in the ideals of the Federation and I will cling to those ideals even though our backs may be against the wall. If I toss those out, then everything I have ever done is meaningless."

"Oh yeah? Is that what they were doing?" Sawyer pushed. "Well, maybe she just made a 'mistake.' Ya know, like you keep sayin' you did when you tried to arrest a little girl for bein' a pain in the ass."

"Sawyer, I came down here because I wanted to try and have a constructive conversation with you. To try and find some common ground. If all you're going to do is throw accusations and insults at me, my time would probably be better spent else." Kirk shifted to the door.

"The difference between us is that I admitted to my mistake. I've apologized for it and I'm prepared to accept whatever consequences may come. I do know this - I've nothing to prove to you, Sawyer."

"Alright, Hoss, you wanna be constructive?" Sawyer replied, putting out the marijuana and setting it aside for the moment. "Then let's be constructive. How 'bout we start with your Chief of Security and work our way up?"

Kirk paused, brow quirked again. "Mister Kennedy? I'd say he's been doing an excellent job so far."

"Yeah, he's just a regular ole employee of the month," Sawyer mocked. "Got himself a nice little 'normals only' army going. 'Supergeeks need not apply. Except, of course, when we wanna send ya to the front lines so ya'll can get killed doin' the sh*t we can't. But, when all that's done, to the back of the bus with ya.'"

He scoffed. "Yeah, he's just super, can't imagine why anyone'd think otherwise."

"Sawyer, I'm quite sure that if the 'metahumans' had issues with Mister Kennedy, they would have brought them forward by now. I'm not a telepath - I can't read minds and discover what's bothering people. If someone has an issue, then it needs to be brought to our attention. If they don't, we don't know about it."

He shrugged. "As it is, if you really think it's a pressing issue, I'll look into it. See if there's any merit to your claims and if there are, deal wit hit. However, I am not going to sack my chief of security on your word alone."

"Yeah, I've already seen what happens when somebody comes to you with an issue, Captain," he countered. "Like I said, I was at that little meetin', remember. And it wasn't pretty. And I ain't the only one that's noticed."

He paused, considering the renowned Star Fleet Captain for a few moments before pressing on.

"And I think you know I'm not. Hell, all ya gotta do is look at the comments my little message got. Not many people were disagreein' with what I said...just how I said and when I said it. And that's just the ones that replied."

Sawyer grinned. It might appear as if he's gloating but he's not--not entirely, anyway--he's just confident.

"Now, you wanna be constructive, then you best start lookin' at ole Kennedy a little closer and decide if he's really someone you can afford to have runnin' your little army. 'Cause, let's face it, the only reason you came down here is 'cause you wanna keep your job. And you're scared sh!tless that I may just not be in the minority on this."

"Coming to the command crew rationally is a far cry from making a speech in a very tense situation - after a crew member acting in the interests of security has been shot down, I might add - and about how the crew as a whole is wrong and we ought to stand by and let a small vigilante group murder a sentient being. There is a very distinct difference and it is one I believe you are not recognizing. We are prepared to listen to the crew's concerns and always have - that's why we're drafting a constitution," Kirk replied as he settled against the side of the van.

"If the crew believe it is necessary for me to step down, I'll accept that. I think it's the wrong decision, but I will step down. This isn't about me, Sawyer. Quite frankly, I don't care about the job. I just want to help this ship and crew. I want to get all of us through this alive. Minority or not, I will do what I believe is the right thing/"

"Until I hear more then just your word about Mister Kennedy, I don't think action needs to be taken. If there truly are others, talk to them. Have them come to me and tell me their concerns, either in person or over the omnicomms. Because so far? I haven't heard anything from anyone else. Not from the crew and certainly not from Batman, who happens to be the liason between myself and the super-powered humans aboard this ship."

He caught that, Kirk.

"Really? Well, correct me if I'm wrong, but I seem to remember Sam Winchester, the old Sam Winchester sayin' he was only doin' what he believed was 'right' and he was in the minority."

"If the best you can do is play semantics with me rather then offer up any sort of rational counter-argument, I'd say your words are even emptier than I thought. However, I'll indulge you for the moment - you seem have to missed the part where I also plan on obeying the new captain, if indeed we receive a new captain like you predict," Kirk replied, "I may be in the minority, if what you say is true. If I am then I will step down if I am not elected to head this crew. I've said this before."

"You want a rational counter-argument, fine, I'll give ya one. One, you crossed the line. You tried to lock up a little girl for sayin' sh!t you don't like, when you didn't like it. And it ain't the first time, ya done it, so 'I'm sorry' just ain't gonna cut it anymore. I don't trust you. They don't trust you. A lot of 'em ain't gonna follow you and, because of that, they ain't gonna work together, which is gonna get a lot of people killed just 'cause your ego won't let you the 'right' thing and step aside."

Sawyer scooted forward as he leveled with the Captain. Hurt feelings or not, the man needed to hear it. If he made the changes, fine. If he didn't, Sawyer would see him in the election.

"Two, your 'excellent' Chief of Security threw a damn Full Metal Football party down in the city with a damn audience and a lot of people got hurt. And, for what, to catch a kid whose only threat was against a damn slug that had taken over someone else's brain and used 'em? And what's really sad is the whole damn thing was fake anyway. He put the entire crew in danger over a goddamn decoy. And what the hell you do, you give him a f*ckin' pat on the back. But the little girl, yeah, she's gotta get locked up.

"Three, that same bonehead just basically told half the crew that he ain't gonna let them help. They ain't good enough. 'Cause they all 'metahumans' or whatever the hell that means. And you seriously gonna sit here and b!tch to me about 'crew unity?'"

He paused, letting his words sink in for a moment before adding: "Face it, Captain. Your judgment sucks. You crossed the line with that Roxie chick, and ya shouldn't've. Ya shoulda fired Kennedy a long ass time ago and put someone else in charge, someone who can handle the responsibility, but ya didn't and ya haven't. So, now, you can either step up, step down, or get kicked the f*ck out. 'Cause if you wanna play dictator, then go right ahead, but don't go walkin' around pretendin' you goddamn Ghandi when ya do it."

Kirk's face was set in a stony, grim expression as he regarded Sawyer. There were a lot of things Kirk was - proud, maybe to the point of arrogance, but he knew when to admit mistakes. The one thing he knew he wasn't was a dictator and he would be damned if he let this man dictate his actions. "My ego doesn't begin to factor into this, Sawyer. Thus far, I have received nothing but support from the crew. They may have had complaints, they may not always approve of what I do, but being in command means doing more then what's popular. I'll be the very first to admit I've made mistakes, but appointing Kennedy wasn't one of them and dealing with Winchester and his group in the manner we did wasn't a mistake either - it was a 'sting operation'. I assume you've heard of those."

He paused and then continued, "Winchester's group fired first and they were the ones to use lethal weaponry - the onus is not on us. At any point they could've chosen to accept the majority decision of the crew, to accept the imprisonment of the Yeerk - but they didn't. They were the ones who got people hurt in the end and the ultimate responsibility lies with them."

"As to Mister Kennedy? Maybe if I heard more then just complaints coming from you, Sawyer, that would mean something. But I haven't. Not a single solitary word from anyone except you. You're the kind of man who likes to stir up trouble for the sake of it. I don't like it, not in the least." His expression became a glare.

"Now, if you truly think the crew is fed up with me, then you can call for a recall. You need a two-thirds majority. If you can show me that the majority of the crew actually disapprove of me, then I'll step down - until then, we're going to be waiting for the new laws to be coming into effect. Now, is there anything else, Sawyer? Or are am I just going to be subjected to more of your baseless accusations?"

Sawyer glared at the man across from him. "You think you fuckin' know me, Hoss? Well, let me just tell ya a little somethin' about me. It was me workin' my ass off, day after day, down in the Vatican tryin' to get that place ready for when shit hit the fan. It was me that got that Cale kid to come up with a way to stock up on slop without it rottin'. It was me who got the medical supplies down there.

"I didn't see your ass down there helpin' and I sure as hell didn't see Kennedy's. Ya'll were too busy bickerin' over a damn slug. So, you best payin' attention to who you talkin' to, boy. 'Cause half this crew is still alive because of me and what I did. And I didn't get anyone hurt in the process."

"None of which alters the fact that if you had the support you claimed, you could've had me recalled a long time ago, Sawyer. Until the day comes when the crew votes me out or I sincerely believe that my continued leadership would be detrimental, I'll stay in my position and I'll do my best to keep this crew alive. You'll have your chance to air your grievances at Aang's meeting and then again when we present the constitution. We'll see how much of the crew agrees with you then."

Kirk slid out of the van. "Good day."

The strange smell of the smoke is not pleasant to Goliath, but he is midway through God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater himself and never could resist a good book discussion.

"I have not read that one yet, but I found Galapagos engaging."

Sawyer looked up from his book and just stared. With a bewildered expression etched onto his face, he couldn't do anything but stare for several seconds. Was this thing serious? (Yes, Goliath, you are a thing to Sawyer until further notice.)

"Really?" he said sceptically. "A giant purple monster that reads Vonnegut? Well, now I really have heard everything."

He doesn't growl intentionally, but his sigh rumbles low in his throat. Here is something he was beginning to think he had left behind.

"I am no monster." He IS pretty purple, though, not gonna lie. "And I prefer Dostoevsky, but yes."

"Hey, looks like a purple people eater, walks like a purple people eater...," Sawyer replied, dismissing the whole 'not a monster' claim. So, Vonnegut and Dostoevsky? Sawyer's kinda impressed. You wouldn't be able to tell from the slightly annoyed look on his face, but he is impressed. Hell, if Goliath has read Of Mice and Men he may just become one of Sawyer's favorite people on board. Maybe.

It might be one sided, because Sawyer's hitting every speciesist button he can possibly hit within the first thirty seconds of their meeting.

"None of my kind eat humans." Now he DOES growl. He's feeling awfully unsettled right now. Must be because he's hungry. (Though not for people). He settles his wings with a growling sigh. "And I doubt I walk like . . . one of those things. As I doubt you have met one."

BLUFF. CALLED.

"Touche," Sawyer said with a nod.

He paused to take a hit from his joint, exhaling the smoke in Goliath's direction. "But, I have met a big black one. Mean as a badger in a bear trap. He made a lotta growly noises, too, right before he killed people."

"Well." He leans away from the smoke, brushing the cloud aside with a wing. It smells worse than cigarettes usually do. "I can't say I have never done that."

Normally he wouldn't be speaking of the warriors he's vanquished in a manner so close to bragging. He's just ticked off. Because . . . why is he ticked off?

He's just hungry. Stupid fake sun.

"Hmm...So, I guess I was right," Sawyer said with a proud grin. He liked being right. He took another hit of marijuana and exhaled again. "You are the purple people eater...."

"I am a warrior who takes defending his home seriously." Glare. "That does not involve eating humans, defeated or otherwise."

The smoke hits him in the face. He waves it away again. "Stop that."

"What? Ya don't like pot?" Sawyer asked, holding up the joint then extending his hand to offer the beast a hit.

"I don't think so." He wards the . . . pot off with a claw.

"Hmmm...Well, too bad, I do. Door's right there," Sawyer said, pointing to the exit before taking a hit.

So much for a book discussion. "Enjoy your reading."

Goliath's off to devour like. Two tons of sludge. And growl at anybody who looks as though they're going to take it from him.

Kang was bored, taking a walk to keep his leg from getting stiff. Seeing Goliath, he immediately went over to say hi to his wing!buddy, but noticed that he was a little... tense.

Oh. Sawyer. That was probably why. :|

"You alright?"

"I'm fine."

He pauses to breathe in deeply to clear his head. The smell of the human's smoke is not helping him settle himself.

"A little unsettled. That's all."

People eater indeed. Just when he was beginning to think that was behind him . . .

"Anything to do with your current company?" Kang asked dryly, crossing his arms over his chest. He'd noticed the smoke, and it made his snout wrinkle in distaste. It didn't smell good to him at all.

Sawyer was in the van, trying to read but finding it hard to concentrate with all the talking going on outside. "Ya wanna keep it down?!" he called out, scowling.

He breathes deeply again. It's meant to steady him.

. . . instead, it sends a whole new wave of THC-laced smoke into his very large, superefficient, flight-powering lungs, and does what it's been doing ever since he got his first whiff of the Mary Jane - make him aggressive and antsy.

He eyes the Mystery Machine, wondering strongly why he doesn't walk over and tip the vehicle on its side, human and all.

What was that about cross-species toxicity? Oh, wait, nobody thought of that.

"Human, your mouth is open - you want to look to that."

He turns to Kang again, all glares. "You were saying?"

...huh. Kang's never seen Goliath like this before, but then again, Sawyer had a tendency to piss people off. Trying to ignore the smell of the smoke, he crossed his arms over his chest, wings rustling, "Let me guess. He refuses to call you by your name, and insists on some ridiculous nickname. He refers to me as Geico, whatever the hell that means."

Oh, is he annoying you, human? Too bad. Maybe you shouldn't be trying to read in a public place, then.

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The Sound of Silence: [R for Cussing] [Open]

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