<div align="center"><strong>~ First Officer Sasha Dearing on board The Gamble...still right here... (http://youtu.be/dhh21crSohs) ~</strong></div><br/>Sasha peripherally noticed the glaring warning signs that she was pushing Vincent too far, but she was too focused on her need to uncover the critical facts surrounding the attack on her pilots to care. She also completely neglected to remember that the young co-pilot had never witnessed her in serious action, and therefore he might not realize what he was enduring was nothing but a half-hearted toying version of the real thing. Had she<em>actually</em>been interrogating him in earnest...well, let’s just say the man wouldn’t have had the liberties of speech and unrestrained movement with which to express his protest. So although Sasha was just letting off a little steam - albeit in a rather inappropriate way, Vincent apparently read the situation completely differently, evidenced by his violently freaking out at the way she was handling him. If she had thought he would respond with his typical easy-going and humorous take on things, she was dead wrong.<br/><br/><strong>”God fucking damn you Sasha!”</strong><br/><br/>As Vincent stood up and roared at her with hot contemptuous anger, impotently punching his fists into the wall of her cabin, Sasha’s muscles instinctively responded to the heated emotions directed at her with hopeful readiness, her body still eagerly spoiling for a fight.<em>No. This is <strong>Vincent</strong>.</em>Sasha didn’t move or speak, instead letting Vincent’s vitriol spill out of him and crash over her without outwardly reacting. The venomous response from her co-pilot stunned her momentarily, her heart stuttering with pained sadness as she absorbed his bitterly vicious feelings toward her. Subconsciously she registered Si’s entrance into her cabin, but her complete focus remained on Vincent. in all her time working with Vincent he had been mostly a friendly and easy going guy; granted, punctuated with moments of nervousness, and usually sarcastic, but she had definitely never witnessed this side of him before. A small part of her was pleased to see the man had more fire to him than she had given him credit for. But for the most part she was saddened that she had been the one to elicit such a powerful negative response from someone she considered a friend. Sasha knew well that hate is not the opposite of love - indifference is - but at the moment the thought that the normally sweet and gentle young man loathed her with such intensity hurt her more than she would ever admit. Or let show.<br/><br/><strong>“I openly offer to tell you everything.  Things that I have only shared with my closest family members.  And you practically spit in my face for it! In the months we’ve known each other, how many times have I addressed any situation without some sort of quip or remark?  The one time I do address you in earnest you proceed to interrogate me?!  Do you distrust me so much that you have to flaunt your weapons in front of me implying that you would be more than willing to use them?  What’s most fucked up is that I now believe you entirely capable of taking a blade to me.  I know you outrank me on this ship, but the way you spoke down to me was more fitting of a guard grilling an uncooperative convict.  The fact I held back my sarcasm throughout that should have been a clear sign of the respect I had for you.  But my family means a whole hell of a lot to me and I will not sit idle while somebody insults them... I think it only reasonable to show them a little gorram respect.”</strong><br/><br/>Sasha listened to Vincent’s tirade, her mind honing in on the key points but absorbing the entirety of his speech. Her voice deathly quiet, Sasha’s tense stillness was an unnerving underscore to her own barely leashed violence which only she knew was tinged by hurt. “No, Kincaid, what is<strong>most</strong>fucked up is that you think that the mere absence of sarcasm is the equivalent of giving respect. That you’re willing to twist my generic shit-talking into a personal attack on your family - who you know I’ve never even met - to deflect from what the real issue is here. That because she was with YOU, Mae got hurt.<em>That’s</em>what rings the gorram bell on the whats-fucked-up-meter, Pilot.”<br/><br/><strong>"Oh, juh jen sh guh kwai luh duh jean jan. Go hwong-tong. Da jee-ah tzwo sha."</strong>As Si interjected his calm, authoritative request between the explosive emotions of Sasha and Vincent, Sasha blinked, reminded of the older man’s presence, her intense glare breaking away from focusing on the young man acting out in front of her. Shifting her gaze to Si, she took in his stiffly protective body language and subtly disapproving expression, and suddenly and unexpectedly the fight drained from her. Yes, Vincent had grossly overreacted, and acted out inappropriately; but then again she hadn’t exactly been behaving as a paragon of virtue and control herself, either, to say the least.  It was as if Si’s disapproving gaze was a mirror held up to her own actions, and Sasha felt a nauseating wave of remorse roll over her for the way she had handled the situation.<em>What am I doing?</em>it wasn’t like her to take out such intense frustrations on the very crewmembers she cared about and swore to protect; belatedly she realized just how much the events of the day - or maybe even weeks - had been affecting her. The relentless spectre of her murdered family constantly taunting her, bleeding any possibility of joy from her life. Suddenly emotionally exhausted, a heavy sigh slipped past her lips as she sank wearily down to slump on the edge of her bed.<br/><br/>The Gamble’s First Officer was in actuality a woman only a couple years older than Vincent, but the weight of a life infused with overwhelming loss - and the associated torments of guilt, regret and anger - lay heavy on Sasha’s psyche, giving her an aura of someone much older than she actually was. In addition, carrying the responsibility for others who depended on her for their well being - often their very lives - had also been weighing heavily on her since she was just a teenager, and the long-time burden colored every facet of her personality. The combined effect was crushing. Maybe she was starting to crack under the relentless pressure of it all, she thought bitterly to herself. Maybe she needed a more permanent break than just a brief and fleeting shoreleave. Maybe the sheer intensity of the passions that drove her...would only end up pushing her over the edge of the precipice she danced along. Which in her mind would be far better than if it pushed her to become someone she no longer recognized, someone she didn’t want to be....someone who hurt the very people she cared for dearly.<br/><br/>Pulling her dark hair free of the severe ponytail restraining it, her released tresses cascaded softly around her face and caressed down around her pale shoulders. Immediately she looked years younger and infinitely softer, with an undercurrent of vulnerability that was not often witnessed. Running her fingers through the long silken strands, she massaged her scalp with her fingertips, her eyes closed, as if trying to banish an exceptionally painful headache. Finally looking back up at Vincent, for the first time since her initial relief upon discovering Mae was okay and Vincent was relatively okay, Sasha’s eyes swept over Vincent’s exposed body, taking in his bruises, cuts, bloodied fists, and tormented expression. Her heart cringed at what she saw, her feelings reflected in the concern shining in her eyes. Biting her lip in agitation, she sat quietly while Vincent explained the backstory of the attack, and elaborated on the details.<br/><br/><strong>"They were Wah Ching thugs, an off chute of the Triads. Shortly before being hired on The Gamble, I had done something that incidentally caused the local government to attain the evidence needed to arrest and try a handful of their members with respectable ranks. Their leader took it rather personally, which necessitated me leaving Persephone immediately for my well being as well as my family's. Their leader wouldn't be content with a simple hit when it comes to me. We wandered too close to the warehouses and before I had realized my mistake, Mae had run a few paces ahead of me where a man stepped out from the alley and knocked her unconscious. Long story short, I did what I had to in order to get Mae back. So, there you have it.  Is there anything you want me to clarify or am I free to go?”</strong><br/><br/>So much of what Vincent said angered as well as concerned her, but she was done with berating the young pilot. For tonight at least. Standing up, Sasha walked over to Vincent and laid her slender hand gently on his shoulder, looking him intently in his eyes. ”Vincent...I’m...intimately familiar with how guilt and regret can tear you up inside, and I surely don’t wish that hell on you. It’s not your fault that those bastards hurt Mae. But it IS your fault for not coming clean on it right up front, when you should have. Especially knowing how often we get to Persephone.<em>Especially</em>with us splitting up planetside like we do.  Not that it would have guaranteed we would have been able to avoid any trouble, but at least we would have been aware of potential danger and could have taken better precautions. Forewarned is forearmed, and all that crap.”<br/><br/>Looking briefly over at Si, she allowed, “Unless Si wants to get a full debriefing from you first, go let Dani mother-hen you to her heart’s content. I’m sure she’s less than pleased with me strong-arming her patient, if I know our lovely doctor.” A half-smile flitted across her lips too quickly for anyone to be sure it was ever there. Softly and sincerely she finished, “Take care of yourself, Vincent. Take care of Mae.”<br/>