Cutting away the Lily

Posted on Wed Jul 31st, 2019 @ 5:26am by Commander Nicolas Trigman 'Trigger'

1,542 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Demons in the Dark
Location: Trigman family quarters
Timeline: Backpost

ON:
Locking the door behind her, Lily leaned against the wall for a moment with a sigh. She was home, she was alone, she was safe. No one was in here. That other-Nicolas was gone. She shuddered a little as she tried to push the thoughts of him away.

They had been home, in their own universe several days, but Lily still wasn’t sleeping, wasn’t relaxing. She ran from home to work, from work to home, locking the doors behind her and not letting anyone near her in the corridors. She was scared of her own shadow- and sometimes if she caught a glance of Nicolas out of the corner of her eye, she flinched a little until she saw his face, saw his eyes, and was able to recognize him for her husband and not that Other-Nicolas.

As she started to go take a hot shower, she saw a light flashing on the comm unit, indicating a file had arrived. A quick glance showed it was a collection of images. A weak smile flitted across Lily’s face. Photos meant her nephews and niece. She could do with a dose of family right now, even more than a wash.

She settled back in the chair and opened the file, but the hope on her face was quickly replaced by confusion.
The file was programed to open as a slide show and photos slowly played out before her; they looked like shots from the ship’s security system, a system that wasn’t usually used to capture images but could be set to do so.

The first photo was of her and Nicolas in his office, his arm wrapped around her shoulders. Both of their faces were clearly visible in the image as they walked into the office. Her face was bruised and her jacket was torn, just like it had been when the other-Nicolas attacked her. But… Lily hadn’t gone to the flight deck after being attacked. She hadn’t been in his office ever with her face bruised and her clothing torn. That wasn’t her. It couldn’t be her.

Lily shook her head- was that- the other one? The other her? It had to be, but, what-

Another photo. The woman who looked like Lily was pulling Nicolas’ flight jacket off his shoulders.

Lily frowned in confusion- what was going on?

Another. Nicolas had his arms around the woman and was kissing her passionately- both of them had taken off their jackets and were clinging to each other.

Another. The other woman leaned back against Nicolas’ desk and smiled at him. The image was so clear you could actually see the items on his desk, including the ‘pin up image’ of Lily herself he kept framed on the desk.

Another, taken from directly above so it looked down on them, zoomed in so all you could see was the two of them. He was leaning over her as she leaned back onto the desktop, kissing her, no shirt on.

Another, also zoomed in. Both half-undressed, his face buried in her neck.

“No,” Lily whispered. She felt sick. Like she’d been punched in the stomach. It was hard to breathe. “No, stop.”

More images. Less clothing, him atop her. More pictures. Each one more graphic than the last.
“NO!” Lily shouted, her voice cracking with emotion, and hit the viewscreen. “ST-STOP!”

The images kept cycling- the file was programed not to stop.

The last image showed That Other Woman smiling and sauntering out of Nicolas’ office with her jacket slung over her shoulder.
The first image appeared again; the file looped and nothing Lily tried would get it to stop. She tried to look away, but she couldn’t. The sick feeling in her stomach got worse and worse, but she couldn’t look away as the images played out for her again. And again.

"Hallo Love, I am home." He announced as he always did when arriving, unzipping the jacket as he caught a strange sound; some kind of a holo program; an erotic one at that? "Lily Love, you here?" He started to go towards the source of the sound. Lily stood transfixed looking at a screen; she was between him and the images on the screen. He moved to put his arms around her waist and to nuzzle her neck.

Lily flinched away from him, dancing sideways out of the embrace he tried to pull her into until she was in the middle of the room and backing away from him. "D-don't touch me," she stammered.

He tilt his head sideways and gave her a slightly bewildered look. "What is going on here, Love?" Trigman asked. "I was on Ramp Duty so I could not have done much to irritate you?"

She stared at him and shook her head, backing up another step. "How c-could you?" she whispered and her eyes unintentionally flicked back to the viewscreen which, since he had turned to follow her, was now behind him.

"Do what?" Trigman asked. "I was on Ramp Duty for goodness sake?"

Lily just continued to shake her head as tears rose in her eyes and slipped free to trickle silently down her cheeks. She couldn't say anything- she'd just start stuttering so bad she wouldn't be able to be understood. Instead she just pointed at the viewscreen behind him with a trembling hand.

Trigman turned around to see the pictures that were on the screen and his eyes widened; here was pictures of a very compromising positions of who seemed to be Nicolas and that minx Lilith from the alternate universe having a very heated interchange.

"What the hell is this, some kind of a joke?" He turned to Lily. "Really; you cannot think I would do that to HER?"

She flinched away from his anger, backing further away from him. Lily had been watching that obscene slide show for close to twenty minutes, over and over, the images cycling through, each one now etched into her brain. She'd tried to deny them, tried to say they weren't true, but each time the show started over, she saw the clear pictures of his scar-free face, his eyes, as her husband kissed the woman who wasn't her.

A heartbroken sob finally wrenched free from her, competing with the lewd soundtrack that accompanied picture show.

For another second she stood there crying, her shoulders slumped in defeat. She'd never felt so... broken.

The show started over again, and she couldn't take it anymore. Tears pouring down her face, she turned and ran, right out the door, into the corridor. She had to get away, she had to find someplace safe. Safe from the images, safe from the sounds. Even safe from Nicolas.

The words of Lilith saying Trigman would pay came back to him. He knew one thing about his wife; she could hide when she felt threatened and by the look of these images she was feeling betrayed.

"Damn Minx..." He cursed as he went out the door after her; hoping her Com Badge was actively tracking her. Not to catch her... yet, but just to track and know she is safe.

Lily dashed through the halls as fast as she could. At first she had no destination; she didn't know where to go now that her home was the place she was fleeing. Normally home was the place she ran to, but now... Where could she go to be safe?

She didn't notice where she had gone until she ran into her office and locked the door behind her. At least here she could lock out the universe and be alone. No one could see her here. No one could see her as she fell apart piece by piece. She collapsed into her office chair and curled up on herself, then proceeded to do just that.

Trigman was not ready to knock on Lily's door, she would not answer but he gave her a haven to get this silly thing out of her head. He went back to quarters and to the images still flashing by. He had to admit it looked bad; how could he have done this to her; that Lilith was a damn good actress and he had kissed her only to repel and instant later; that part ... was edited out. He could tell a splice as the kiss initially had not lasted nearly longer than a snap shot. But to Lily whom the Evil Trigman had abused her was a close ringer for Trigman naturally. But how could Nicolas get his wife in her current state to realize it? He did a few quick commands and the images ceased; he pulled the data and would work on something to prove it was not him that Lily might listen to?

Show original message

=^= Nicolas to Lily, I am going to spend time at the ready room, you can come home when you like. I-I will give you space til I can prove this is all wrong...out. =^= What else could he do but pack a few things and take a place as constant vigil of the Squadron Wings as he is the Commander of Air Groups?

End Part One

RSS Feed