Landing Pad, Shadow

Darling sits in front of the Pelican hanger, talking to Horatio. Horatio is standing, watching Donnelly struggle with refueling the ship. Sarah has just stomped off for town.

"What is?" Horatio enquires, as he looks to Darling out the corner of his eye. "Taking people on face value, or balancing ten things at once?" A moment's confusion, and then he starts to limp towards the Chimera. He glances over his shoulder to Darling. "It was a pleasure speaking with you, take care." Darling's currently outside of the hanger and Fox's currently fighting with a fuel and his coffee, while trying to get the door open.

Darling starts to answer, but just falls back into the bench, watching. He soon turns his attention to the landing shuttle, curious, as always, to the people making their way to his adopted world.

Connie disembarks from the shuttle, a light breeze on the pad blowing hair across her face. She sweeps it back with a hand, frowns, looking around the pad. Then spies her target. The Governor.

Horatio continues on his way, removing the browncoat that's slung over his shoulder and then donning it. He's pretty much got his eyes on the Chimera and the natives of Shadow to worry about glancing back. He raises his hand up to rub at the bottom of his chin. "Really did ask for that." Horatio's pretty much heading away from Darling, while Connie's heading towards the governor.

Crew abuse, crew abuse! Like a finely honed missile with a crew abuse radar, the Captain comes tearing out of the Chimera! Well ... strolling, anyway. And yawning. And smoking a cigatette with a mug of coffee in her other hand.

Darling's frown deepens as he sees the red locomotive steaming his way. He sighs and puts out the cigar, knowing good and well that it's ill likely to be enjoyed.

Fox re-emerges from the Chimera sometime after the Captain, the two clearly having missed each other like ships passing in the black without their sensors on. The mechanic has refreshed his coffee, is puffing on a cigarette, and seems to be basking in the blissful mixture of depressants and stimulants. He pauses to re-secure the hatch, then glances around the landing pad for the first time.

It's not entirely clear what Connie's intent is. Unless perhaps you're Darling, who has inside knowledge. Her walk though, is purposeful, and anyone else on the pad? May as well be elsewhere.

Darling ponders his own safety for a moment. Surely she won't shoot him with witnesses. Well.. this is Connie Saint after all. Perhaps a few weapons in easy reach might be a better thing. He stands and starts to key in the new lock code to the hanger door.

"Wei El," Horatio greets Ella, still rubbing at his chin as he draws. His slate grey eyes then flick up to the mechanic and he greets him. "Fox... How's things?" He drops his hand away, letting it fall naturally down to his side. A start of a bruise is beginning to form.

Ella looks up at Horatio, and raises an eyebrow. Her cup is tipped for another mouthful of coffee, which is swallowed before she asks, "Who'd you piss off this time?"

"No one interesting," Horatio mutters in replies, before motioning with his head towards Darling. "He's not a rutting purplebelly." Then to Fox, who manages to get critically eyed by Horatio, but he does finish the end of the sentance. "World."

Connie's hand lands on Darling's collar before he manages to spell the new password correctly. Her /left/ hand.

There is a smirk from the mechanic in reply to Horatio's critical look. He seems to revel in it, in fact. Damn that caffeine and nicotine for making him human. "You get my stuff?" His eyes flick to Connie and Darling briefly.

Darling freezes at the grasp upon his collar and without bothering to turn, he says, "Heya, Red... everything OK?" He musters his best boyish charm and turns.

"I coulda tol' you that," Ella retorts to Horatio. She doesn't seem bothered that he's bruised, and she takes a long pull on her cigarette, her eye lazily roaming over to watch Connie and Darling.

Connie's roundhouse right is probably the first thing he sees as he turns: straight for the jaw, with all her wiry strength behind it.

"Waiting for it," Horatio replies to Fox, before looking to Ella. "Didn't rutting tell Sarge that," comes a grumbled response to the gunslinger. The techie is pretty much oblivious to the punch being swung.

"Thanks, man. Will feel a bit better when those show up." Fox replies absently to Horatio, still watching the exchange between Connie and Darling. Then to Ella, "Decent form, but not much behind it..."

"I dunno... reckon that'll hurt him more in th' head than th' jaw," Ella comments. She puts her mug down and places her fingers between her lips, letting out a loud whistle. Then she slots her cigarette into her mouth, and breaks out into a rousing applause.

Darling doesn't even flinch. His hand reaches up to the spot on his jaw and blinks a few times before yielding a tired sigh. "I take it you've talked to the wife." He rubs absently a few times, looking down at the five foot something fireball.

"You... take it I've..." Connie just stares for a second, then unloads a backhanded slap across his face.

There is a snort from the Chimera's mechanic, his voice very, very low toward Ella, "Rumor says there isn't much in his head to hurt... maybe she should've aimed much lower." He pauses to take a particularly long draw from his cigarette.

"Hmm... wha'?" comes the semi-logical reply of Horatio, as he turns his attention towards Connie and Darling. A pause, a simple "Oh," and then a he too, starts to join in on the applause.

Darling says, "wha...!?! Wei!?!" Darling stammers, backing up against the door as the redhead starts to boil over."

"As much as I'm enjoyin' this ... prob'ly shouldn't leave Connie t' get put in jail," Ella comments. She hefts up from the ramp and crosses the distance between the two ships in swift strides, reaching for the redhead's arm.

Fox mutters, tossing his now empty coffee mug aside and rising to follow Ella over. He doesn't look thrilled.

Arm's not what needs grabbing, Ella. Connie gets hold of a fistful of his shirt with her left hand, shoves him hard against the door and brings a knee up, viciously, between his legs. Face close to his. "You pathetic little shit. You couldn't even tell her /who/ it was." He wants to double up, he's going to have to wait. "Maybe next time you'd like me to do the /rest/ of the dirty work as well, you miserable coward." Hissed, "I /defended/ you. I /actually/ believed you might have some respect for the vows you asked /me/..." Her knee goes in again on 'me'. "...to witness." And then she lets him drop. "When do I get to do the same for Juliet, mm?"|

Possible Fight? That's certainly not Horatio's area of speciality, especially when local powers that be are the ones being beaten. Fox and Ella leave, and Horatio slinks on into the Chimera, most likely to surf the Cortex."

Darling's world grows dim as he tastes his own testicles in the back of his throat. He drops indeed, first to his knees, then to his all-fours where he procedes to bring up the half a donut and two cups of coffee that served as the morning repast. There's no effort to get up, no retaliation... just that hangdog look of a man caught cheating.

"Connie, /Connie/!" The brawny Captain wraps her arms around the redhead, and Ella hauls back. "This ain't 'zactly th' place for this," she grumbles. "You want him beaten, shoulda done it someplace quiet... An' so much as I'm enjoyin' watchin', I ain't gonna let you get into trouble over it."

Fox is right there near Ella, situated so he could either help Darling or lend a hand with Connie should she get away from the bulk of Ella. As the governor goes down in a blaze of puke, the mechanic moves toward him to help him up.

There's a moment, just a moment, where she considers one last kick, before Connie shakes her head, cradling her right hand. To Fox, "Leave him alone." To Ella, "No. It's exactly the place for it. He made the damn vows in public, why the hell should he get to throw them away in private?"

"B'cause there's plenty folks 'round here that might take bad t' their gov'nor gettin' beaten in front've 'em, that's why." Ella continues to haul Connie back while she speaks. "Lucky for you, me an' my crew ain't some 've them. Fox, help him out. Take him to th' Chim if you need to."

Darling shakes his head at Donnelly's attempts, probably excercising another one of those macho honor things. He went down by his own actions, he'll get up the same way. The sleeve of a jacket that costs more than the Chimera sees in a week is now an expensive napkin as the Governor wipes away the residue of his breakfast from his lips. "Get away from me... I'll..." He just shuts up and half crawls to the bench.

Fox is pretty much just as belligerent as the woman he follows around the 'verse and, thusly, Connie's advice is completely ignored. No man likes to see another kicked in the kids, cheater or not. Even before Ella reinforces his intention, he is already gripping Darling's shoulder and trying to haul him up. As the wounded man shakes him off, though, the mechanic simply crosses his arms and watches him crawl off, "As you like it, Governor."

Connie pushes against Ella. "Let me go."

"Nope," Ella replies, quite casually. She keeps hauling, one arm around Connie's waist and the other over her chest, from behind. Once they're a safe distance from the downed Darling, Ella says, "I'll let you go if you ain't gonna go beatin' on him no more."

Darling finally makes it up onto the seat and just stares across the field at his assailant. There's a sadness in his eyes that remains unexpressed in words. For this moment in time, nothing else exists but the woman he has let down.

Fox just stands there, halfway between Darling and the others, waiting to see what shakes out of this one.

Connie sighs, still cradling her right hand. "I'm not going to hit him again." Tired, disappointed. "I'm pretty sure he's got the point. Let me go."

"I think he mighta," Ella agrees with Connie. The redhead is released as Ella drops her hands and pushes them into her pockets. "I can show ya how t' punch better, though."

Darling mutters at Ella's comment, "OH yeah... she needs lessons."

Fox smirks faintly, but keep quiet. He keeps his position, though, looking alert and ready.

Darling's knees haven't quite found themselves yet and he remains seated on the bench. Faces start to come into recognition now as he scans the area to see who's witnessed his come-uppance. The only relief is that Rebekah is no where to be seen.

Connie's green eyes narrow at Darling. "What did you tell Juliet?" An angry toss of red hair, and if Ella gets some of it in the face, too bad. "I suppose she just believes the pair of you separated by mutual consent, and everything's shiny, right?"

There would be red hair in Ella's face. That is ... if she hadn't moved. On hearing Darling's comment, the gunslinger sidled over to the governor, and almost casually lashed out with a pop to his jaw. It's not aimed to be a face-breaking punch - but it's still Ella.

Darling frowns now. It's one thing to take a beating for what he did, quite another to be accused of something he did not. "I told her... " The world may never know.

Darling goes down like a Persephone debutante.

Fox gets an even bigger smirk on this face, letting Ella march right on by him. You might expect him to try and stop her from assaulting a government official, but he simply doesn't make that choice.

Connie winces, visibly. Does, though, manage not to /say/ anything embarassing like 'Zach!', before hurrying over to grab Ella's arm, just in case.

Darling remains, like a good little governor, quite unconcious.

There's no fight from Ella as her arm is grabbed, and she just looks down at Connie, flexing her hand. "That's how ya punch someone," she says, straight-faced. A look over to Fox. "Help me get him on th' Chim. We'll get him looked over, an' an ice pack for his face." Beat. "An' his balls."

Connie shakes her head, dropping to crouch by him. "Get him to the doctor's here. Mom'll..." She trails off.

"Yes, Ma'am." Fox nods and walks over, pushing past Connie with a blatant disregard, and helps to pull Darling upward.

"We'll take care've him, Connie," Ella asserts. She moves to take Darling's feet.