New series Suitable for all readers

 

 

Worry me Erin

 

A New Captain Scarlet fanfiction

by Isabelle Saucier

 

 

 

~*~

 

 

Captain Blue pulled impatiently at the safety line hindering his movement. He was almost done and had to stretch in an odd posture to fix the last few fastenings… There! He backed up, and looked at the finished product.

 

MARRY ME SERENA

 

The huge, white letters stretched across the Skybase Flight deck at an angle that would be perfect to be visible from the Observation deck. Green and Blue had talked about marriage a few times, and agreed to wait until things calmed down with the Mysterons. Time had gone by, and the threat was still present. Blue had had enough of the waiting, and told himself that there wasn’t a 'for better or for worse' line in the vows for nothing.

Obtaining Colonel White’s permission to act upon his proposal project had been surprisingly easy. The Spectrum commanding officer had readily agreed, providing it didn't hinder the take off and landing of the planes. They had set a time when Blue could install his letters and White had offered to make sure Lieutenant Green wouldn't approach Observation deck to see his handiwork. Blue suspected that White was curious to see his executive officer's reaction and wouldn't venture far away when the surprise was revealed.

 "Blue to White, come in," the blond officer called, using his private communication channel.

"White here."

"I'm done, I'll come up to Central Control shortly. Is Serena busy?"

"She's talking with Destiny Angel. The patrol is on its way back."

The Angel patrol had been scheduled and their ETA still gave plenty of time to get Green's attention away from her controls long enough for her to see the proposal, and hopefully react positively to it. "Excellent. I'll be right over. Blue, out."

 

***

 

Colonel White cut the communication with his captain and looked up at Lieutenant Green. She was finishing her conversation with Destiny, and he heard his Angel leader say: "Thank you Lieutenant. ETA, 2 minutes."

His eyes opened wider. Two minutes? They were too early! Hopefully, they wouldn't say anything about the "surprise" as they landed… Blue didn't have enough time to change and come to Central Control before they arrived, and Green would have to stay at her station to give them instructions…

He watched apprehensively, waiting for the next communication from Destiny. He did not have to wait long. "Destiny Angel to Skybase, on final approach to land on…" she gasped softly and White winced. "… on runway 02."

"Angel leader, your permission is confirmed. Crosswinds 15 knots."

"S.I.G."

The communication cut and White silently thanked Destiny for not saying anything. He stood up and made his way slowly to the Observation deck, trying not to attract Green’s attention. All she did was smile at him in the reflection of the glass screen as he passed her.

He went down the steps, approached the viewing bay, and looked down. The message was there in clear, square letters. He smiled to himself, happy that his two officers were making things official—he had no doubt Green would accept Blue's proposal—and watched as the first Falcon came in to land on the magnetic strip.

The landing gear locked in and the aircraft was brought to a stop onto the revolving platform at the end of the runway in a few seconds, but as it went across the strip, White watched in horror as some of the message became unfastened. Oh no.

He heard the escalator door open and turned around to see Blue walk across the room to reach Green's desk. She was busy with something, so he stretched out his hand toward her and she squeezed it in return without missing a beat of what she was doing.

The blond man turned to the Observation deck and saw his commanding officer look at him with an odd expression on his face. Considering how composed White usually was, his worried frown didn't bode well… White beckoned to him discreetly, then tilted his head to indicate the viewing bay.

Blue walked forward, then looked down. "What the Hell!?" he exploded.

 

***

 

Green, startled by her partner’s outburst, spun around in her seat. She saw Blue and White looking out at something. The Angel flight had landed successfully, what had happened? White said something to Blue in a low voice, but she was too far away to hear clearly. She stood up and approached Observation deck.

 

***

 

 

WORRY ME ERIN

 

White and Blue stared down at the messed up, wobbly message. "We could have the maintenance crew remove that quickly while she hasn't seen it yet, or you could deny it was you," White suggested.

"What happened?" Blue asked in a defeated voice.

"The Angel patrol returned earlier than anticipated, while you were changing. Some of the fastenings didn't hold."

Blue let out a few choice words, apologizing almost immediately afterwards. White was about to say that he understood his frustration, when a feminine voice said: "Who's Erin?"

They both turned to Green, who was now standing next to Blue and looking down at the flight deck with a perplexed expression. "Someone had enough time to vandalize the flight deck and no security alert rang?" she asked, outrage in her voice. "Did we lose the live feed? How come no one notified me about this?"

She began stalking back to her desk, but White moved forward to block her. "I'll handle it," he said, then gave his poor captain a sympathetic look before going up the stairs to his office.

"Can you believe that!" Green took another glance. "Well, I hope Erin, whoever she is, didn't see it. No need to display one's grief publicly like that—it's just insulting!"

What could Blue say to that? He couldn’t really confess that it was his writing down there, and then get down on one knee at that point. Sorry, ha-ha, that was me.

He felt a little ridiculous and let her leave without saying anything, a disappointed expression on his face. He should have done the same as any other normal, unoriginal guy and propose over some candlelight dinner.

Following her up the stairs, he stopped when he saw the escalator door open to reveal all five Angels, still dressed in their flight suits. They crossed Central Control and approached Green's desk, various expressions of curiosity on their faces. Green stared at them, not understanding why they were there. "Girls? Um, what's going on?" she asked.

They all looked at each other. Then, Harmony ventured: "... so?"

"So... what?"

"What did you say?"

Green looked genuinely confused. Behind her, Blue frantically tried to signal the girls to shut up, but they didn't see him. Melody said: "Serena, didn't you see the message out—" she saw Blue and gave him a guilty look that meant: I didn't give it away, did I?

"You saw that too? I know, huh, the nerve of some people!" Green commented.

"I thought it was pretty romantic..." Destiny commented.

The black woman snorted. "I'm not sure Erin would share your opinion."

"Who's Erin?" Harmony asked.

"I don't know... maybe she works in Engineering? Or is that Erica? The one with the red hair?" Green shrugged. "We'll have it removed right away. It won't impede the strips if you have to go out again."

The chime signaling an incoming communication rang and Green's attention was drawn away from the Angels. Blue hesitated, then seeing his partner's work would keep her busy for a while, decided to leave. He walked toward the elevator door, and the girls followed him out.

Once the doors closed behind them, Harmony exclaimed: "Adam, that was awful!"

"I ruined your moment, I'm so sorry!" Destiny added, hugging him.

The other Angels joined her and he was duly pixified with a group hug. "It wasn't your fault. The fastenings didn't hold up," he commented.

"Is there anything we can do?" Melody piped in.

"Don't worry, I'll find some other way to ask her," he replied.

"Well, I'm sure she's going to say yes, regardless of how you ask her. But I feel bummed out because it was super romantic," the Angel leader said.

He smiled in thanks and she kissed him on the cheek, soon followed by the other Angels.

"You know what, darling? We're all going to pitch in and pay for some nice place you two can go to once she's accepted, both as an apology and congratulations present. And we'll tell her it was our fault," Rhapsody said, to which the other girls agreed readily.

 "You don't have to," he began, but they protested so much he gave in, laughing a little.

 "We have to go back to the lounge since our shift isn't over. Are you coming along?" Destiny asked.

 "Nah, I'm due for a training session with Magenta shortly, I'll just go down to the armory right away."

 "Okay. We'll be on the lookout for the good news," Melody said.

 "And prepare paper hearts accordingly of course," Harmony added.

“Don’t beat up poor Magenta too much,” Rhapsody concluded.

Blue rolled his eyes, but was smiling at the same time. The girls bade him farewell, kissing him again for good measure, then they all parted ways to go to their separate destinations.

 

***

 

Blue was sitting at the workstation when Green came in their quarters that evening. She closed and locked the door behind her, heaved a sigh, and said: "Oh, Sunshine, just seeing you there makes my day better already."

 That's something at least, he thought.

 She removed her boots at the door and walked over to kiss him, making a soft cooing sound when she found that he was freshly shaven.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Three words: internal revenue inspection. They don't care if it was the late shift and not all of the personnel were on duty. I tried my best to keep them at bay, but we still had to issue reports…" she shook her hand in front of her and began to remove her uniform. "I don't want to talk about them. I want to relax, take a shower, and spend some quality time with my favorite captain." She picked up her nightclothes, pausing on her way to the bathroom. "How was your training in the simulator with Mario?"

"Not bad. We managed to save two children and retrieve secret documents without being hit once."

"I'm so proud of you! I'll have to watch the footage." She came back to the workstation for a quick kiss. "Be right back."

He watched her go into the en-suite then got up to put the kettle on for her evening tea ritual. He was beginning to know which tea she took for what occasion, and had actually watched her do it many times, so he was now rather proficient at making both the bagged and loose-leaf varieties.

He leant on the counter while the water heated up, looking absently at the floor. He wasn't sure of what to do about the proposal. Wait? Just ask her point blank? Tell her about the fiasco? The ring was back in his sock drawer, hidden inside a pair at the bottom. He wondered how long it would stay there for.

He heard the shower stop, and shortly after, the kettle whistled. His timing was becoming excellent, he thought, not without some pride, as he prepared her a mug so it would be ready by the time she was done with her ablutions.

When she came out of the en-suite, she saw the mug, and Blue leaning against the counter, and smiled. She walked to him, threw her arms around him and held him close, sighing contentedly. His arms closed around her reflexively and he kissed her brow, amazed once again how they just fit together. Physically, and, who would have thought, mentally. He almost blurted out the words then and there.

She moved her head so she could look at him. "Sorry I couldn't pay much attention to you when you came to visit in Central Control earlier," she commented.

"That's okay. Duty first."

"Still... it was nice to see you. Although it was strange for a while up there, with all the commotion about Flight deck. The colonel really handled it personally because I didn't get any orders about it afterwards. That was so weird... I guess putting letters on the deck would be a difficult task, so whoever did it went for the shortest message... But what was that supposed to mean anyway, 'worry me Erin'? It doesn't even make sense!”

"It's probably because that's not what was written there in the first place," Blue blurted out and almost instantly felt his face and ears heat up.

She looked surprised. "It wasn't?"

"When the Angel patrol landed, it messed some of the letters up." Might as well forge ahead with it, he thought.

"You saw the message before they landed? What did it say?"

He remained silent, feeling his heart pound in his chest. From the way she was holding him, she was probably feeling it as well.

She frowned, and for some reason, the events of the afternoon replayed in her mind. The fact that he arrived in Central Control without being summoned, the strange way both he and White had reacted to the message... Harmony's question… something clicked in her head and she understood in an instant. She pulled away from Blue so fast he couldn't hold her back, and stared at him with her hands covering her mouth.

The man figured he didn't have to spell out anything. He looked back at her, silent, unsure of what to say at that point. She scrunched her eyes closed, uttering: "Oh no, oh no, oh no, Adam! No!"

His heart sank. She was clearly distressed by the proposal. The situation was getting worse and worse. "I'm sorry, it was a bad id—" he began.

"You're sorry? You're sorry?” she cut him off, taking her hands away from her face. “You went on the Flight deck, risked your life to set down your message in letters so big everyone saw them, and I ranted endlessly up there about it, and I was outraged for this Erin person when I should have been overjoyed and welcoming your love and proposal! I ruined everything!"

He scratched his head. "Well, technically, the Angels did because they arrived too early and you didn’t get to see the full setup."

"I hope they feel bad!"

"They do, actually."

She sighed, burying her face in her hands once more. He gave her a lopsided smile, then went to get her a box of tissues. She was trying to hold it in, but he was not fooled. When he reached her, he handed her the box and said: "Now you know why the colonel said he'd handle the cleanup himself."

She took her hands away from her face to look at him and he saw that he had guessed correctly. "He was in on this?" she asked, taking a tissue and blowing her nose.

Blue nodded. "Ironically, we had set a time when there would be no traffic, so you'd have time to see it, and hopefully say yes. But then everything got messed up and I was at a loss as to what to do." He shrugged. "I still am," he added in his usual blunt, honest manner.

Pouting, Green buried her face into his chest. He hugged her, leaning his cheek against her head. She sniffed a few times, then said in a muffled voice: “I’m putting snot on your shirt.”

“Okay,” came his reply and he tightened his hold on her.

What was he supposed to do now? He considered the situation, then took a deep breath. "I guess there's no element of surprise anymore, there's no real point in waiting…” He let go of her, dropped down to his knees and looked up at her. “So how about it? Will you have me?"

His question and gesture started a new bout of crying, but she was laughing at the same time. "Yes, of course!" she exclaimed in a shaky voice.

He smiled. "So I can go in the socks drawer to get the ring?"

She wiped her eyes and laughed again, nodding, and watched as he went to retrieve the small box. "I hope it fits," he commented as he came back, struggling to open the box because his hands were shaking a little. "Do you like it?"

It was a simple ring, with a small diamond in the middle. And it fit. "It's perfect, Adam. I love it," she whispered.

"You just made me the happiest guy on Earth, you know that?" he replied, taking her face in his hands to kiss her.

She responded eagerly, letting out a small groan of pleasure when their tongues touched lightly. He thought for a moment to ask her if she wanted to go brag to the others, but when she began to back slowly towards the bed, he figured—and agreed—that it could undoubtedly wait.

 

 

 

~ The End ~

 

 

 

Author's Notes and Disclaimer

 

Thank you Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and the CGI team for creating such a beautiful playground! The characters are not mine, I'm having a great time writing the stories, and no profit is intended from this.

 

I’m not sure when this happens in my storyline. I know it’s somewhere down the line, at least one year after Blue and Green have become officially a couple, probably longer than that. Yes, I’ve used their quarters because I think that at that point, even if they aren’t married, they’ve been long-time partners and I figured it’s quite plausible that in 2067 and later it’s not going to be frowned upon (if I’m not mistaken, long-term partners are already allowed “married quarters” in the army as I write this). Still working on how they actually get to share—that’s for another story.

 

Thanks to Skybase Girl for beta-reading this story when it went from plot bunny to full-fledged story, quite a while ago, actually! I was simply waiting for the right time to release it. Any remaining mistakes are mine.

 

Thanks also to Chris Bishop for the opportunity she gives us to display our stories and share them with other fellow fans. It’s truly appreciated.

 

 

  OTHER STORIES BY ISABELLE SAUCIER

VALENTINE DAY FAN FICTION PAGE

“FAN FICTION ARCHIVES” PAGE  

Any comments? Send an E-MAIL to the SPECTRUM HEADQUARTERS site