Anika had been about to answer Dani when the other pilot came up. It more than surprised her, the statement the woman made. In its own way it also shattered her.
Until then she had been telling herself over and over that it was her fault, that she was being over-sensitive because of Bryn, and the woman's opening tirade had really been incendiary. Not only had her accusations cut Anika to the core, but they had set of a cascade of memories of how much trouble he'd had with people like this. More than once he'd been captured and put through hell before word had come down for his release, without further delay. There was still a cloud of doubt over the cause of his death, and she knew it would never be cleared up, especially now with their worlds destroyed, and probably all those who had knowledge of what really happened.
But this pilot's statement threw it back in the other woman's court, and that made Anika do a double take. Her own scenario meant, like last time, she didn't have any expectations, didn't have to face any disappointment, or devestation when she copped the blame for it all. Now, with the pilot apologizing, and Dani too, there was going to be repurcussions. While she wanted to tear the damned bitch limb from limb and see her humilitated in ways that would make her know just how insane she'd been, she had pushed that down and capped it tightly, wingnuts on a sealed hatch. Just like before.
And now some of those wingnuts were being loosened. She inhaled deeply, finally loosened the grip her hands had on each other, and slowly rose till she was facing Slingshot.
"Thank you," she manged to croak out, her throat dry and tight with the storming emotions and attempts to hide them. "I'm sorry..." she added, unsure why, but needing to say it.
She looked at Dani, swallowed hard and smiled weakly. "You OK? Want to go sit in Sting You'd fit in the VIP seat OK and its more comfortable that that." She tried to laugh, knew it probably sounded as brittle to anyone else as it did to her.