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Virginia chuckled, "Oh, don't worry about losing that when the battlecruiser is operational and combat ready again. I'm waiting for it like a mercy... I really miss my captain's chair and very heavy weapons already.". She wanted to feel useful and actually important, and so far captaining a small gunship had not been it.
She still had a smile on her face for a moment with a slight eagerness before it was replaced with a serious expression, perhaps too serious. She took a long breath and fixed her piercing blue gaze on him, "It's been... more than three days... do you have anything for me about Marcus?".
The question in her voice was so serious that she barely breathed and the tension was evident throughout her entire being. Perhaps there was a sort of ambivalence evident there as well - one part of her was already burning with eagerness to finally learn the truth and the other part was afraid of it. After all, not knowing her brother's fate gave her room for false hopes, but the truth could be a lot harder than wishful thinking.
There was no hesitation in him announcing what he knew, because he had absolutely no intention of forcing her to stew in the worry of never seeing her brother again or false hope. "He's alive, we know he's on the Wall. He's not exactly popular either, seems to have your temper. Our likeminded associates on the prison are making sure he's safe and a few palms were greased in order to transfer him to a more favorable cell block. When his sentence ends, which isn't that far off, and they spit him back out onto Houston - I'll have him brought to you." It was all expressed bluntly and he watched her reaction carefully. Even if he was under their protection, prison was still a hell of a place and things could change and go wrong in ways that couldn't be anticipated. The LPI were not known for their good graces or integrity.
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As soon as Morreti told her the current fate of her brother Marcus Bell, Virginia visibly relaxed and sighed with visible and audible relief. It took her entire silent minutes to truly believe it herself, his words repeating over and over in her head. Her blue piercing gaze softened and she smiled genuinely, "Thank you.".
It was admittedly a very short response from her to such a pivotal piece of information, but the tone and color of her voice said everything of substance in that short reply - a whole decade of worrying about her brother was over, one less skeleton in her closet. She could just throw away all those crazy plans and theories she had had about her brother and any crazy and reckless attempts at freeing him. It was over at last.
It was obvious he took satisfaction from the fact that his efforts had given her some peace of mind, the fact she now knew about her brother and his whereabouts, down to the exact cell number if necessary. Rather than responding to her thanking him, he simply smiled and nodded his head before moving back to the reason why she was here. "Keep me updated on the Roanoke's status. Was there anything else you intended to brief me about?" This shifted the conversation back to a professional capacity, something he considered appropriate now that the elephant in the room had been vaporized and the weight of doubt lifted. His focus on her was momentarily broken by his terminal audibly notifying him of something, since the monitor was facing away from where Virginia was standing it wouldn't be clear what it was about. After giving it a few moments of attention by way of a glance, he looked back up to her expectantly.
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Virginia rubbed the back of her neck with her left hand and adjusted the high collar of her uniform, "There is something personal... else... to report... request?" she bit her bottom lip while still following him with her eyes. She took a deep breath to give herself courage and closed her eyes briefly before continuing, "I'm running low on my... medicine. I have it for... two more weeks and then nothing.".
Even though she had told Morreti about this before, it was still a very difficult subject for her to talk about and even more difficult to admit that she was existentially dependent on it even though it was a completely objective fact. It was most obvious that she hated it and felt deeply ashamed because of it.
Calmly and as if he considered nothing wrong about her situation, he thoughtfully responded. "There's a surplus amount, I'll allot it to you so you have enough for three weeks until the next shipment comes in." This was a deliberate effort to show her there was nothing to be ashamed of considering he managed this like any other requirement his people had.
"If there's nothing else, then I have something to look into, but I'll be here for at least the next three hours so you can drop by if something comes up." He stood up and flashed her a brief but sincere smile, prepared to make a move for the door and hold it for her if she truly was on her way out now.
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Virginia shook her head and smiled slightly. Morreti's calm attitude put her at ease slightly, it was still an incredibly awkward and complicated situation for her, or at least it was in her own mind.
"No, I don't have anything else for you right now. All that's left is waiting for things to get moving.", she replied in an informative tone and walked towards the door from the office, "That'll be all, I'll let you get to work. And thank you for the gift.". She smiled and said goodbye to him, waited for his response, and walked out of his office, closing the door behind her.
When she drew near to both him and the door his posture straightened out deftly, assuming a position of attention and conveying to her what the LFR's militia adopted as an official salute. It was a simple series of motions that involved putting his feet together and placing an open right hand over his chest, meant to signify a solemn promise of being willing to defend the rights of the person the gesture was made to.
"Be a beacon." Was his choice of parting words, something that had become engrained in the LFR's culture over the last few generations.
