Jilleen Adel Simmons (absolutelysheba) wrote in bsg_avalon, @ 2010-01-09 20:22:00 |
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Entry tags: | caprica, jake mackenzie, james chase, jilleen simmons |
Almost like old times
WHO: Jilleen Simmons, Jake Mackenzie, James Chase
WHERE: Her apartment in Athens Park, Caprica
WHEN: Toward the end of the Avalon's liberty call.
"Where are you James?" she said to herself before she pressed call on her phone. Her husband went to the market to get some steaks and a few more things to grill out in the patio. He should have been back by now. Jilleen had to take a last-minute conference call with the chief of staff for Admiral Pierce who arrived on Caprica this morning for the Quorum hearings in two days.
She heard the sound of his ringtone in the other room. "James are you here?" She walked into his den and saw the blue glow of his phone on the desk, but James was nowhere to be found. He left for the market without his phone. She believed that had been his intention, no doubt. He knew she did not want to meet Jake alone when he arrived, but he had argued it would be best if she did. Part of her agreed with him, but she was nervous to see Bridget's widower.
Jilleen waited on the phone to leave a voice message. "Asshole," she said into the mic and then pressed the end call button. She was not furious with him, just did not like being set up.
Jake had to admit to a trace of nervousness at seeing Jill again, the first time since the public memorial service for Bridget and her family after they'd been killed by that frakking drunk. She'd been pretty clear in her silence afterward that she wasn't interested in keeping their friendship alive.
Maybe it had just been too much for her, Jake had theorized at the time. Jill had known Bridget since they'd been young girls after all, and they'd been very close friends. He chuckled to himself at the memory of how horrified she'd been when he'd started dating Bridget. She'd loosened up eventually, but he had to laugh about it now.
He rang the doorbell and waited for James or Jilleen to open it.
Jilleen was in the bedroom changing her blouse when the door bell rang. "Just a second," she shouted, not certain if Jake heard her or not. She checked her mint colored blouse in the mirror and then her hair before walking out to answer the door.
At the door she peered into the peep-hole and saw him standing there on the other side. She took in a deep breath, like she would before diving into a swimming pool and opened the door. "Jake."
Her plan was to greet him with a broad smile and graciously invite him into the apartment, but instead she leaped and embraced him with a big hug.
"Oof!" Jake staggered back a half step at the bear hug, and couldn't help but laugh at the welcome. That was Jill for you, he thought to himself, one minute mad then ecstatic the next.
"Hey Jill. Good to see you!" His arms encircled the woman and he patted her back before releasing her and taking a step back. "You're looking well."
"Yeah," she stepped back into the threshold of the door. Her eyes looking away to the side as she wiped the edges of her eyes with fingers. She promised herself she would not get too emotional in front of Jake. Also she did not need her mascara smeared under her eyes.
"So do you," she stepped to the side. "Come in. My home is your home." Her primary residence was in Aerilon, but this was her and husband's apartment when they were in Caprica. They had another place in Picon as well.
"Thanks," His eyes were slightly moist as well but he blinked a few times and it was gone. He stepped into the apartment, taking note of the decor that clearly reflected James' touch. "So where's your better half?" He joked, "You send him out so we could have alone time?"
"James?" she tilted her head like she did not know the name. "Oh my lovely husband," she closed the door. "I sent him to the market to get some steaks, but apparently he had gone out to the country to hunt for meat." She laughed. "He should be back soon."
It felt like old times again. "Jake, do you want something to drink? Wine? Beer?"
So James was out making himself scarce? That was no real surprise to Jake, he'd half expected the other man to do that. "A beer would be fine, thanks."
"Beer it is," she gave him a nod, and then walked behind a small bar, where a small refrigerator was kept. She took two beers out of the refrigerator and placed them on the bar, and with a bottle opener she popped the caps off. Jilleen passed one of the bottles to Jake. The brand of beer was her husband's favorite, Port Pisces Blonde.
Jilleen lifted her long neck bottle, "To your battlestar," she toasted.
Technically Avalon wasn't his battlestar, he was merely the CAG after all, but he appreciated the spirit the toast was offered. He nodded and clinked his bottle to hers. "To the Avalon, best ship in the fleet."
He took a deep swig of the beer and nodded in appreciation. "This is a good brew."
Jilleen sipped her beer. "It's okay, a little weak, nothing like hardy Stonebrook Ale." She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand as she kept her eyes locked on to him. He looked a lot better than the last time she saw him on Aerilon.
"I never did congratulate you on your promotion to Major. Well done, Jake, you deserved it. I'd never imagine you would out rank me, five years ago, and commanding an air-group on top of that." Jake had always been a better pilot than she was in the cockpit. He was a natural aviator, while she was not.
In a way it was an intervention from the gods, which took her away from her first squadron leader position when James was hurt. She was able to save face and preserve her record. It had been a struggle for her to keep up high flight ratings, especially for a squadron attached to the Pegasus, which is known as the Beast. They did not nick name that ship the Beast for nothing.
"I probably would have gotten there sooner, if not for my name." Jake wasn't trying to boast, but he did mean what he said. "I knew they would be bending over backward to make sure there would be no appearance of special treatment due to family connections."
He took another sip of the beer and looked at Jill speculatively. "I'd wondered why you hadn't gone back to flight ops after James recovered. You really like what you're doing now?"
Jilleen tilted her head. "It pays the bills, right?" She never had a financial problem in her entire life with a nice trust fund in her name since she was born.
"I still keep up a minimum flight status with an occasional few hours behind a Raptor, at least once in a while." She took another sip. "It's been interesting working for a field commander. Admiral Pierce is an absolute gentleman, and does a brilliant job keeping the peace on Sagittaron."
"He does at that, gods know that place is a basket case." Jake mused. He'd never been an Admiral's aide-de-camp and was glad that his career track had never put him in that position. No, his place had always been on a battlestar, and some day he'd have a command of his own.
There would be a staff duty in his future, but hopefully that would come later in his career.
"It's still a mess politically since Zarek's death. On the surface the government looks stable but," she paused for a beat. "It's standing on weak ground. Everyone thinks they were behind Zarek's assassination." This belief was common among the colonist, and there were plenty that thought Caprica facilitated it, not the unified central government, but the Colony government. "The Politics is tricky."
"Better you than me then," Jake smirked before taking a swig of his beer. "You always were better at politics than I was, probably growing up a politician's brat than a fleet brat."
He was personally convinced that the Capricans had been behind Zarek's assassination. The man had been in favor of a government that would have been hostile to Caprica's interests and he'd had a large following.
"I'm not an advisor, just a simple aide-de-camp," she smirked. Jilleen knew how to maneuver in political waters and it might have been one of the reasons she had been tapped by the Admiral for the position. Also the fact that she was the sister of the new governor of Aerilon. Her home colony had been vital in keeping Sagittaron feed after years of civil war devastated their farms.
"How about you? Other than working, what have you been up to?" she asked. Jilleen did not know if he was seeing someone else or become a hermit. "Are you enjoying your leave?"
"I haven't had much time to enjoy it, we have exercises coming up that the airgroup needs to be ready for. I've been hip deep in planning sessions." He shook his head regretfully. "The workload just gets heavier the higher up you go, but I plan on taking some time off soon."
"You better," she quickly took a sip of beer. Jilleen preferred drinking wine, but working in the military she learned to drink beer with the boys and girls. It also helped to get to through some serious business sometimes.
"Bridget," she paused to sigh. Her best friend had been on her mind all day, and it was time to speak of her. "She would want you to enjoy yourself." Jillleen walked to his side of the bar. "It's hard," she nodded and swallowed. "I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you." Her eyes looked down in shame.
Jake nodded. "It took me a long time to accept that you had your own issues to work through with her death. I had thought we were friends outside of our mutual interest in Bridget and that it would be enough to get you to seek me out." He sighed as the memories came to the fore, reliving those first grief-filled days again, and looked over at Jilleen.
"I admit, it hurt."
"I'm sorry," she said again. "I should have, I know but I couldn't manage. It's inexcusable." Her eyes still looked down. "I wanted to tell you it was ok," she swallowed back again. "It wasn't ok, Jake." Jilleen gazed at Jake now with teary eyes. "She was taken away from us, and there was nothing we could do about it. I loved her, Jake, she was my best friend ... I didn't want see you because I would have to admit she was gone."
She wiped her eyes. "It's stupid, but I needed some time." Jilleen never thought it would take years.
Jake didn't really want to talk about it. It just brought back unpleasant memories that he'd rather leave in the past. Still, he put down his beer and opened his arms to her. "C'mere. All's forgiven, Sheba."
Jilleen wrapped her arms around him, and lean her head against his shoulder. "Jake, I'm so sorry about Bridget." She burst into tears, and just cried. The distance of time had not erased the lost she felt in her heart, but this time she was able to share it with him. "She loved you, so much."
"I know she did," Jake said softly, letting his own arms wrap around her for a moment. He'd grieved, and done his best to move on, but her death would always be a defining event in his life.
"I'll love her till the day I die."
Yeah you will. After a minute, she withdrew her embrace from Jake, and quickly reached for some tissue that had been left on the counter, which was placed there by James before he left. She wiped her eyes and nose, and then tossed the tissue away into the bin.
"I'd promised myself that I would never cry on your shoulder again after Plebe camp. You used to make me cry, and I wrote Bridget about that before she met you, she thought you were a frakking prick." She snorted at memory of the reply. "I agreed."
"I only made you cry on purpose that first time," Jake smirked, glad to be on less painful ground. "After that it was just because I was pushing you hard to get through the camp."
"Besides," he laughed. "I am a prick! Just ask any of my pilots."
"Right, you always had my good interests in mind. I do appreciate that, and so must your pilots," she grabbed her bottle and then took a long drink. It was good to see Jake laugh again.
"I met one of your pilots a few days ago on the Galactica while I was waiting for James. I think his call sign was Heel, no wait Achilles, yeah that was the name. Very cocky and sure of himself, just like every pilot that drives a viper." She grinned knowing the type very well. A fighter pilot was a different breed, they depended on instinct and muscle memory developed over hundreds of hours of flight training. Jilleen still thought of herself as a hot-shot too, except her goals turned to other pursuits.
"Achilles? Yeah he's one of mine. You could resemble that remark too, you know. Cocky and sure of yourself, at least back when we were in the Academy." Jake chuckled and finished his beer.
"They're all good pilots. I'm glad to have them in my group." Not that he'd be willing to say otherwise, even to a friend like Jilleen.
While he spoke, Jilleen went over to a small pantry to get a can of cocktail mixed nuts, and brought the can back to the counter. "Cocky? No sir, I was confident," she smirked. "You were the cocky one if I remember it right. I was not the one in my first year to declare he would be the cadet commander." She peeled open plastic cap off the can of nuts, and then poured a portion of them into a small bowl. "I decided to challenge you later in the second year, when you teased me for once being a cheerleader for the one thousandth time." She exaggerated.
It was actually an article written in one of the newspapers back home that claimed she did not earn her way into the Academy and that she would drop out once her father retired from office. They said that her enlistment had been some kind of PR stunt set up by her mother to boost her father's approval ratings. It made Jilleen want to prove herself even more, and if that meant going against Jake for the number one slot at Gladius Cross, so be it.
"I'm home Honey buns," she heard her husband tease as he came into the apartment. They did not have any pet names for each other that they shared outside the bed room.
Jilleen shook her head and gave Jake a look, and then replied with a high voice, "Pinky-winky, do you need help with those bags."
"Cute," said James, and he then placed a couple of filled plastic bags on the breakfast table. "Jake, how are you doing? How are things up stairs?" He meant in orbit above Caprica.
"Not bad," Jake replied, eyeing the bags. "The food isn't as good as you can get down here though. How have you been James?"
He turned toward Jilleen to conclude their little discussion. "I said nothing about being Cadet Commander, everyone else was too busy saying it for me." It had been almost holy writ that Jake would follow in his grandfather and father's footsteps and take the top spot. A shrug. "Anyway, that's ancient history now Captain, wouldn't you say?" The emphasis on her rank wasn't said maliciously, but more with a hint of mischief instead. She'd made her choice and it had slowed her career, Jake didn't blame her a bit for it but it had had consequences.
Jilleen went to James' side and then gave him a quick kiss, and turned to face Jake when he continued. "I don't mind being a Captain," she replied immediately. She knew that Jake was not being mean, but she did not want her husband to feel awkward about it. Jilleen would have given up her career entirely if required.
"I wouldn't go around saying you share an ancient history with Jill," warned James. "Try getting her to admit her age now." He laughed and then removed a few white paper packages with prime grade steaks inside.
"An old woman at twenty nine forever eh?" Jake chuckled. Bridget had always said she would never allow herself to turn thirty, but instead stop counting at twenty nine.
"Those steaks look pretty good." He crossed over to the counter and glanced down at them. Good, thick cuts of prime beef.
Jilleen smirked and reached out to pat him on the shoulder. "You get it." It was time to get the grill and other things prepared for dinner. She also had some things that belonged to Bridget with her that she wanted to give to Jake, but she would leave that for later.
"Let's get these on a fire then," said James.