A Walk Down Memory Lane

Posted on Tue May 19th, 2020 @ 11:58am by Lieutenant Commander William Rogers & Ashe Zachariah

Mission: Around The World in 8 Days
Location: Earth

With Operations and Engineering hard at work tearing the lounge apart, Ashe had some free time up her sleeve, and a plan on how she intended to use it. Returning to her quarters, she showered and changed before pulling her rainbow hair up into a ponytail and slid her feet into comfortable boots. If she wanted to take a walk, she had to be able to actually walk, and heels just wouldn't cut it in unknown terrain. Dressed and ready, there was only one thing left for her to do. Find Lieutenant Commander Rogers and convince him to join her.

She would find him in the gym working away on a punching bag. A red field shimmered intermittently in a square which encompassed both Buck and the bag - a safety warning indicating the presence of increased gravity within. The sound of heavy impacts filled the otherwise unoccupied room.

Sitting on a weights bench, Ashe watched him for a long moment, not wanting to interrupt his training, content to just watch until he finished. "Who were you picturing? The Captain? An ex girlfriend? Old Academy room mate?" she finally asked cheekily as the assault on the bag stopped.

"Someone from long ago." Buck replied. "So what brings you down here, Rainbow Brite? Looking for someone to spot you while you hit the weights?"

"Actually, I was going to ask if you wanted to join me for a walk on Earth?" she asked with a smile. "It seems you're something of an expert on Brooklyn and I've never been. Care to join me?"

Buck laughed. "Don't know who told you that, but the Brooklyn I knew is long gone."

"Still, I'm sure you have at least some happy memories from being there," she countered. "Come on, be adventurous. You can show me where you grew up." She grinned as she watched him from her position, cross legged on the bench.

"I could show you roughly what they replaced it with." Buck shrugged and started unwrapping the bindings around his left hand. "You're not going to take no for an answer, are you?"

"Not a chance," Ashe grinned easily. "You should know me by now, I never take no for an answer. And it'll do you good to get off this ship for a while. Who knows, you might actually enjoy it!"

"Computer, deactivate enhanced gravity field." The computer chimed an acknowledgment and the field surrounding the punching bag vanished. "Thanks." Buck began coiling the bindings he'd removed. "So when do we leave?"

"Well I'm ready and I have nothing else to do, so when ever you want." Ashe stood up and watched him. "How long will it take you to get ready?"

Buck started unwrapping the bindings on his other hand. "Okay, gimme ten minutes to shower and change."

"Great, I'll meet you in the transporter room in fifteen!"

=/\= Thirty Minutes Later =/\=

They had been walking for a few minutes. "So what was it like when you lived here?" Ashe asked as they walked along a rather nondescript street. "Is anything still the same?"

"They're using it for the same purpose at least." Buck explained looking around. "All this was low quality housing when I was growing up. So one of the nicer neighbourhoods."

"I guess it must all look pretty different. What were your favourite places around here? Your favourite things to do?" There was a hint of curiosity in her voice as she spoke.

Buck thought for a moment. "Valentino's." He said at last. " That's where me and The Boys hung out mostly."

"Still remember where it was? We could go see if it's still there." Ashe smiled as they kept walking. "Wouldn't be the first time somewhere survived."

"Park's still there, but they rebuilt the pier though. It's down this way."

"It must have been nice, to grow up in an area like this? With other kids around and things to do?" Ashe asked as they walked, her gaze lingering on the park for the longest moment.

"Got nothing else to compare it to, really." Buck's broad shoulders raised slightly in a noncommittal shrug. "I made a lot of friends growing up here though. It wasn't anything like this when I was growing up: a lot of slum housing and crime." He chuckled. "I remember we hung out here because the smell from the river kept most of the junkies away. "

"The smell from the river?" Ashe asked, clearly confused. "Why did the river smell?"

"It was..." He reached up and rubbed the back of his head. "We used to pump a lot of stuff into the river: Sewage; industrial run off; you name it, we flushed it out to sea."

"Oh..." Ashe paused, not sure how to respond. "I guess they stopped that at some point, it doesn't smell now." She sniffed deeply. "It smells like fresh air... and fresh cut grass? That's something you don't really get on a starship."

"We did start trying to stop that in the 80's and 90's." Buck added sheepishly. He didn't know why he felt the need to defend the actions of his country at the time; it wasn't like he had any choice in what they did. "Not outside of the holodeck. People tell me you can tell the difference, but I can't. You have no idea how weird it is smelling the park like this."

"Have you been back here since?" Ashe asked quietly. "To Earth? To Brooklyn?"

Buck nodded and looked out over the river towards the Statue of Liberty. He wondered if it was the original or a facsimile constructed after he originally left Earth. "Only once: After the trial; before I went to the Academy."

"You don't enjoy coming back here?" Ashe linked her arm through his. "We can go somewhere else if you want, I'm sure there's a transporter somewhere we can get into."

"I don't, no." He left it at that, not wanting to explain why even to himself. "Yeah, let's get out of here."

Ashe grinned and squeezed his arm gently. "Okay, how about you choose this time, what strikes your fancy?"

"Ever been to DC?"

She shook her head. "I've spent very little time on Earth," she said while they walked. "So I'll trust your decisions. Lead the way!"

"The Smithsonian museum recently got it's hands on the plans for some Eugenics War era jets and they've invited me down to try out the replicas they've constructed." He grinned. "This'll be fun."

His excitement was contagious and she laughed. "Good! I can't wait."