InsaneJournal

Lucifer was starting to get the hang of life on the Enterprise, and was even starting to appreciate the situation for what it was. He was meeting new people, trying alien forms of liquor and there wasn’t anyone around who had any expectations of him. There was the small detail where he was actively trying to ignore any thoughts of the detective, home, or what life had been a couple short weeks ago. Trivial matters, really.

Stepping into a turbolift, he didn’t even pay attention to the woman in there, just directed it to take him toward the Deck 5 Lounge. The doors slid shut, and the lift started to move. It was a short ride to the lounge, and Lucifer had grown accustomed to it.

This time, however, the lift seemed to lurch to a stop earlier than expected, and Lucifer waited for the doors to open and the woman to exit. Only the doors didn’t open.

“That’s odd,” he said, before the lights flickered off. When they came back on, the lift still didn’t move. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” he said, finally taking a look at the woman with him in the lift, not immediately recognizing her. “You know how to restart this thing?”

Caitlin wasn’t really sure how to fit in on the Enterprise. She had expected upon arrival that she could jump right in the science of it all and enjoy working with the advanced equipment. But she hadn’t really managed to do that yet. She was a lot more worried about her lack of sun, and the effectiveness of her amulet. If it couldn’t keep her powers under control, she was genuinely concerned for everyone on board. She’d kept Killer Frost held back for too long. She wasn’t sure she’d have any control the next time she was unleashed.

She didn’t really notice the man who joined her, completely engrossed in her data pad, scrolling the posts for someone she could befriend. Maybe she was too picky about her friends.

As the turbolift lurched, she looked up, annoyed. The man reacted and Caitlin took in their situation. A tight space, a broken door, and someone else with her. Combined with her anxiety, this was not a good combination. “What? No, I have no idea. I’ve never seen it stop like this before.” She tried to give it new instructions, but the lift didn’t respond. Caitlin sighed, blowing her bangs off her face.

“Right,” Lucifer said cheerfully. “Well there’s got to be an emergency button or a call for help button, or the equivalent, right?” They were in the future after all, technology was far more advanced.

He started scanning for that option and mentioned that he was going to need an extra drink or five after this when a woman’s voice came through the speakers, apologizing for the delay and assuring them that the issue had been brought to the crew’s attention.

“See, not so bad,” Lucifer said, whether to Caitlin or himself was unclear. Then the woman’s voice returned stating, “We estimate the delay at thirty minutes to ten hours.”

“What?!” Lucifer shot back in reply. “That’s not an estimate! And this is a real emergency!” he added, if only because he was being inconvenienced and he wasn’t too accustomed to being inconvenienced yet.

Caitlin scrunched her nose. “Oh, it won’t take ten hours.” Will it? It didn’t seem to make sense for it to take like that long. If anything, couldn’t they pry the doors open and get them out? Seemed strange they could potentially be stuck that long.

More importantly, she wasn’t sure she could keep her powers controlled that long. She swallowed and slid down the side of the lift, pulling her knees to her chest. “It can’t be ten hours,” she whispered quietly.

“That’s the spirit,” Lucifer said cheerfully, but then the woman basically just gave up and sat down and Lucifer stared at her, puzzled. “Right! That’s ridiculous,” he said, staring up at where he expected a camera to be. If there was one there, it was well hidden. “This is Lucifer Morningstar and I’m stuck in here with…”

He paused and turned toward Caitlin. “I’m sorry. What was your name?”