Iron and Memories - Slight Content Warning

Posted on Sun Aug 22nd, 2021 @ 9:43pm by 2nd Lieutenant Alexander Tanner

Mission: Season 5: Episode 2: Operation Save Humanity
Location: Deck 32: Marine Gym
1094 words - 2.2 OF Standard Post Measure

The gym was quiet just the way that Alex liked it, there was nothing worse, in his opinion, when all you wanted to do was get in and get a good sweat on and there was no free piece of equipment as far as the eye could see. However, in this case, the lack of any other personnel present may have something to do with the fact that the ships clock read 02:30.

He threw his towel over a nearby bench and started his workout, he usually enjoyed the effort of working out, the strain, the effort, and the time to be alone with his thoughts. But recently being alone with his thoughts was something that he really didn’t appreciate, the endorphins of the exercise was welcome but thinking about recent events generally put him in a foul mood.

As he was repping the bench press his mind cast back to before he received orders to join the Elysium, things had been going well, his relationship with his mother and half siblings was better than ever, he was even wiling to put up with ‘The Replacement’ more than usual, and he was enjoying the process of planning his wedding. Even now months later the thought of Jess Brought a snarl to his face, he had been so happy he really should have known something was wrong.

There had been no change in her behavior she saw her old friends, kept the same work hours and was still as deeply intimate with Alex as she had always been, there was nothing that would prepare him for what happened that rainy October afternoon.

Alex was working on rack pulls when his mind was cast back to presenting a lecture of boarding tactics to a group of senior Marine cadets, they had been utilizing the UK Academy’s holo-suite to examine a boarding action that Alex and his unit had undertaken in 2390 as part of a Anti-Piracy task force, the had finished up early and Alex had been able tog et home early in the hopes of surprising his lovely fiancé, he however had been the one that was surprised.

Finding your fiancé being bent over and screwed by your stepfather was not something he had expected to see. He barely remembered the next few hours, he did remember the other man taking a swing at him and he certainly remembered the satisfying crunch of Gregory Tomlin’s nose, jaw and cheek were memories that would stay with him for the rest of his life, and he would be lying to himself if he said he didn’t cherish them. Jess had screamed at him to stop, that he was making it worse, but he had never been so angry in his whole life this was the man that had promised to love, cherish and hold his mother after slithering his way into her good graces after the death of his father, and if it wasn’t for Jess throwing her still naked body over the other man, he probably would have killed him, needless to say he had thrown them both out, naked and all.

Sweat was pouring of his face as he sat in the deserted gym, the dumbbells felt like leaded weights in his hands, he had no idea how many reops he had done when he caught a look at himself in the nearby mirror and the snarl on his face shocked him, he had never seen a look like that on his own face. The horror story had continued from there, although his mother had believed him when he told her what had happened, she had decided to forgive and stand by her husband, Jess was still floating around, they still knew many of the same people and she had spun some sort of sob story that had certainly turned all of her friends against him and even some of his own. Needless to say, his step-siblings had all wanted nothing to do with him, although they knew what had happened, the man was still their father after all.

He had managed, however, to deny access to his family estate at Oak Ridge to Gregory, that was something that his Mother hadn’t forgiven him for, she had said that no matter Gregory's faults, and the horrible way he had acted, she hadn't even touched on the fact that he had been shagging her son's soon to be wife, the man was still Alex's family, his response saying that the next time he saw the man he would finish what he started had apparently dissuaded her of that notion, instead his mother’s unwillingness to lose another husband had made her push her oldest son away.

He had needed to get out.

After a few weeks of trying to move past what had happened he had told his then CO what had happened in his personal life and thankfully the Corps takes care of their own, he’d had fresh orders cut to report to Starbase 96 for reassignment.

He re-racked his weights and grabbed his things before heading to the door, maybe it was time to talk to someone about this, he had undergone the usual pre-deployment psychological evaluations that the Corps insisted on and he had passed without issue, but maybe it was time to talk to someone specifically about this. He understood talking to psychologists and others in the mental health field when trauma happened as a result of his job, that was something that had been practically beaten into him when he was going through Basic Training but speaking about his personal life had never been his strong suit.

He sighed as he made his way through the corridors of the ship, it hadn’t been the most productive of workouts as far as exercise was concerned, but he had seemed to sweat out something that had been bothering him. But Alex was certainly now under the impression that he should find some time to speak to either Lieutenant Commander Kelea-Salik or someone in her department.

No matter how painful the resulting conversation may be, maybe afterwards he would be able to get some sleep it was getting ridiculous how much time he was spending in the gym or anything else rather than getting some shut eye, he had even managed to stay on top of all the paperwork that went with being an Executive Officer of a Marine Detachment, if that wasn’t a sure sign of something being wrong he didn’t know what was.