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Alicia
made a sound that was most definitely a strangled laugh.

And
Harper, well, her eyes opened wide with surprise. “Don’t you have
more important things to do?”

He’d
done a great job of putting himself on the spot here. The truth
was, of course he had more important things to do. Though he was
between missions with the Force, he knew a crucial operation was
currently being planned. He should be preparing for it, or at the
very least trawling through his paperwork. Yet here he was offering
a no-hoper cadet a hand with her homework.

He
caught himself as soon as he thought that.

She
wasn’t a no-hoper. That was a cruel way to put it. She was
just . . . challenged.

Realising that was hardly more polite, Carson simply decided
to stop thinking about it.

Then
he realised she needed a response, so he shifted his shoulders and
offered a shrug. “I think it’s the least I can do,” he managed
slowly, coming up with an excuse on the fly, “considering I almost
got you killed.”

“We’ve
already talked about this,” Nida sighed, “and it wasn’t your fault.
Nobody, including Sharpe and the doctors, noticed my implant was
malfunctioning. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Yeah,
but he hadn’t done anything right. He should have realised
something was wrong after all the things he’d seen. That block in
the training centre had veered off towards her with frightening
speed, and he should have figured out why.

Nida
rolled her eyes. “You’re not guilty. Nobody is. And you don’t
really want to help me catch up with my classes; you have other
things to do, with far more important people,” she added. “It’s
okay. You don’t have to keep checking up on me. You’ve done your
duty.” She offered a brief, if unsure smile, then took a step back.
“If you don’t mind, I’m kind of tired. Thank you again,” she said
quietly as she walked back into her room and closed the door behind
her.

He
didn’t even have a chance to say goodbye.

Though
he could have overrode the lock on her door easily, he didn't. Not
this time.

She’d
made her desires clear, and it appeared she didn’t want to see
him.

He
stood there understandably shocked.

He
hadn’t been rude, right? Had he come across as belittling at all?
Had he insulted her by offering to help with her
homework?

“Oh,
just ignore her,” Alicia remarked, “she’s very tired. And when she
gets tired, she gets grumpy. Really grumpy,” she emphasised with a
bob of her head.

Carson
doubted that.

He
couldn’t imagine Nida getting grumpy at anything.

Well . . . except him.

He’d
come here to check on her, and he’d somehow upset her along the
way.

He
felt like a fool.

Then
he realised he could hardly stand there staring at Nida’s door
morosely.

Not
with someone like Alicia watching him.

He
straightened. “She’s going to need to head to the technicians so
they can check her implant again in the morning. It’s just a
precaution before she begins classes again,” he told Alicia firmly.
“And keep an eye on her,” he added as he shot Nida’s door one last
look.

“Oh,
I’m really busy,” Alicia stated flatly. “I don’t have the time.
You’ll have to do it yourself,” she added, her tone tightening with
interest.

“Find
the time. She’s your flat mate. You need to check on her
regularly,” Carson snapped.

“I
know, and I will. But I won’t be able to do so during the day,”
Alicia pointed out quickly, the tiniest of smiles lifting her lips
and making her eyes sparkle. “I’m not in the same classes. So
you’ll have to do it yourself,” she repeated.

He
knew very well that she was manipulating him. He would not budge
though. “Harper has made it clear she doesn’t want me checking up
on her any more. I need to respect that.”

“She’s
grumpy,” Alicia repeated as she flopped her hand at him
dismissively. “Don’t pay any attention to her. And I’m serious, if
you want to know how she’s going, well, you’re just going to have
to go find her tomorrow and see.”

Carson
knew he wasn’t going to win, so he mumbled a brief goodbye and left
promptly.

Then
he stood outside of the apartment door as it swished
closed.

He
stared angrily at his feet.

That
had not gone well.

With a
grimace, he ran a hand over his head, and forced himself to walk
away.

He
didn’t like leaving things broken. That included everything from
machines to relationships.

Not
that he had a relationship with Harper of course.

. . . .

He
just knew her. And for some damn reason she occupied his attention.
He couldn’t get the image of her slumped on her bedroom floor out
of his mind. Neither could he clear her whispered, “help me” from
his ears.

But
the point was his natural inclination was to go back and try to
reassure her he hadn’t meant to be insulting.

He
hadn’t always been this conscientious and polite. That had come
with age and a little bit of hindsight.

He’d
been a right card as an undergrad, and he now cringed at some of
the things he'd done. He’d had a new date every other week, and
he’d hardly cared about anyone’s feelings apart from his
own.

That
had all changed though.

He’d
grown up.

And
the terrible thing about growing up was that the older you got, the
harder it became to ignore your responsibilities. Right now, he had
a responsibility to patch things up with Harper and assure her that
a) he didn’t have more important people to see, and that b) she
wasn’t some kind of duty for him. She wasn’t a mission, or some
task he could complete and get a commendation for.

She
was a person. She’d needed help. He’d given it.

He had
the awful, haunting feeling she still needed it too.

But he
couldn’t march back in there and demand she talk to him, so he made
his way back to his own apartment instead. Then he sat there on his
couch, staring at the view.

Maybe
Alicia was right, and he ought to go find Harper tomorrow, just to
check on her.

Okay,
he was damn sure Sharpe would keep a watchful eye on his ‘worst
recruit in 1000 years’, but Carson would just drop by occasionally
to confirm she was fine.

Yeah.

That’s
what he’d do.

With
that conclusion calming him, Carson finally settled down for the
night.

He had
a restless sleep though, and every time he woke, he found himself
wondering just what Cadet Nida Harper would be dreaming
of.

Cadet
Nida Harper

Alicia
was still being nice to her, or at least a certain kind of
nice.

In
Alicia’s own brusque way, she was caring for Nida, and it was a
welcome change.

“Now
you better not fall over or get into any kind of trouble today,
young lady,” Alicia said as she pushed a slice of toast over the
counter towards Nida.

“Yes,
mum,” Nida grabbed up the toast and took a bite.

“Excuse me? What? You think I’m old enough to be your mother?”
Alicia pretended to be mortified, and clutched her skin, apparently
looking for wrinkles.

Nida
laughed. “So are you going to check up on me today? Sneak into my
classes just to see I’m not lying dead under the seat?”

Alicia
didn’t laugh. In fact, her expression became stony. “Now, that is
not a funny joke. And to answer your question, no, I’m not going to
check up on you. Carson Blake is,” she pointed out with a
wink.

Nida
paused, halfway through a bite. “Sorry?” she mumbled. “I thought I
told him to leave me alone?”

“No,” Alicia
pointed a finger at her, “you told him he could leave you alone.
You told him he didn’t have a duty to look after you any more. And
he’s clearly decided to ignore you,” she pointed out gleefully.

Nida
didn’t know what to say.

She
suddenly felt angry.

Very
angry.

She
didn’t need someone like Blake checking up on her, because every
time he popped his head around a door to see if she was fine, he
would be wasting his time.

He had
much more important things to do.

“Oh,
don’t look like that,” Alicia snapped. “And you were rude to him
last night. You should have seen the puppy dog eyes he gave your
door when you left him without a goodbye.”

Nida
stiffened, giving up on the toast and returning it to the counter.
“No, he didn’t,” she said, sounding exactly like a child denying
the obvious.

“Ha,
yeah he did. You didn’t see it, but I was there. I know what I saw,
and I can remember just how disappointed everybody’s favourite
lieutenant appeared when you rudely dismissed him. He saved your
life, remember?” Alicia pointed out needlessly.

“Yes,
I remember. It only happened two days ago. But the point is I don’t
need him checking up on me. He shouldn’t waste his time on someone
like me.”

“Well,
he clearly doesn’t think it’s a waste of time,” Alicia purred, then
she looked at Nida sternly, “and what do you mean someone like you?
I’ll admit, you’re no Bridgett, but that doesn’t seem to bother
him. Somehow, and for some reason, you have caught the eye of the
beloved Lieutenant, and you should be proud.”

Nida
felt her cheeks redden. “It’s not like that. He doesn’t like me,”
she forced a laugh, “he just thinks it’s his duty to look after me
for some reason. I thought I told him last night it wasn’t, but he
clearly didn’t get the message.”

“Oh,
I’m sure he’d get it if you got up real close and whispered it in
his ear,” Alicia laughed.

Nida
rolled her eyes.

She
wasn’t having this conversation.

She
grabbed up her toast, shot Alicia a chilly look, then walked for
the door.

“Have
a good day,” Alicia waved to her cheerily.

Nida
opened the door.

“And
don’t forget to send the lieutenant my love,” Alicia added with a
cackle.

Nida
walked to class in a foul mood. Well, half a foul mood. She was
still feeling atrociously ill.

Every
move she made was laborious, and usually accompanied with a heavy,
pathetic sigh.

She
was approximately one year away from graduating, but despite the
pain she'd pushed herself through to get this far, she started
thinking seriously of quitting.

Like
today.

She
could go up to Sharpe, tell him to get lost, and be on a transport
home by the afternoon.

With
that thought to distract her, she made it through the grounds to
her first class. As she walked across the lawns and through the
halls, she half expected to see Carson Blake shadowing her. Perhaps
he'd be leaning out of the 20th floor window, following her with a
holo camera. Or maybe he'd be up a tree, watching to see if she'd
die underneath it or something.

She
expected him to be around every corner.

. . . .

But he
wasn’t.

First
period she had advanced engine design—a core unit that she was most
definitely going to fail. After that, she'd attended astrophysics,
then maths, and finally more TI theory.

She
really expected to see Carson snooping around at some point, but
she didn't.

Not
once.

Either
he was particularly stealthy, or he'd lost all interest in
her.

Perhaps he'd gotten the message that she didn't need someone
like him looking after her.

Apart
from checking for Carson under every seat and behind every door,
the day was mostly a blur.

Nida
spent her time avoiding her classmates. Their sudden interest in
her was unnerving.

They
all wanted to know the same thing.

What
was wrong with her TI? Had it been fixed? Could other TIs
malfunction in the same way?

When
cornered, she always muttered the same reply: she didn't
know.

Needless to say, everyone found this unsatisfying, and they
kept pressing her for more.

So she
found herself running away a lot that day.

In
fact, by the time she made it home, she was totally and utterly
spent.

She
had a pounding headache, her chest felt half frozen, and her right
hand tingled uncomfortably.

All
she wanted to do was head straight to bed.

She
didn't get the chance.

She
made it in the door when the apartment's computer chimed with a
message.

Dreading it was Carson calling to check on her, she slowly
made her way up to one of the large holo panels on the wall. After
a tight breath, she accepted the message.