I Still Hate You
Posted on Fri Dec 19, 2025 @ 3:51am by Lieutenant JG Ace Cannon & Civilian Paula Pendergast
Edited on on Sat Jan 10, 2026 @ 4:57am
1,493 words; about a 7 minute read
Mission:
Chicken Run
Location: Arboretum
Timeline: Before Marine Ball
Ace was bothered. He also was tired. Perhaps that is why he allowed the conversation with T'Lul to keep running through his mind and it did not sit well with him. Why, he was not certain but he knew few things: 1) He was pissed with Tillie. 2) He was pissed with Paula. 3) He had not heard from Bri and finally, 4) He had no date for the Marine Ball as a result. Now, he was not fully certain what a Marine Ball entailed, but he was more than a little certain that there would be women there and there would probably be some dancing. But what was dancing without Bri?
So, what was a guy to do? If Bri was not going to come with him because of Paula, that really left him with two options, neither which was terribly attractive at the moment: apologize to Paula or find another woman at the ball. Finding another woman at the ball had its own issues, like Tillie or Bri seeing it and Tillie already caused two people to meet that should not have.
Ace sighed heavily. Well, that really settled it, didn't it? Damn it!
Without warning, Ace headed down to the arboretum. Paula never left the place, did she? Well, why would she? He started looking around, strongly suspecting that her face was half buried in some sort of mulch or manure. The latter seemed to fit her personality better.
"You were told not to come back here," Paula stated from behind him. She'd been in one of the workrooms when he entered and, fortunately, checked to see who was poking around. Most people kept to the paths. Not Cannon. He was looking for something, and she didn't like it.
"I'm not known for listening well," Ace answered back simply. "Besides, if I didn't come here, there was no way that I would be able to talk to you, right?" Ace explained logically. He wondered what she would think of that, him wanting to talk to her. Perhaps that would put her off guard enough that he could enjoy the moment.
Paula folded her arms. "Why do you want to talk to me?" No, she didn't want to talk to him, and she had no idea why he wanted to talk to her. Especially after the last time he was in the arboretum.
"Because...." Ace choked on the words, cleared his throat, and then tried again. He shuffled his feet, looked down, and then back up. "Look, both of us care about Bri, right?"
He shook his head and tried to think of better words, but he was not finding them. "And we both despise the other, right?"
He sighed heavily again. This was not easy and he was not even certain that he was doing it well. "Well, I don't think it is a good idea for us to do our normal routine in front of Bri. I think, well, in front of her, we should be more civil. So, I came here to say, well, I'm sorry for being an ass to you in front of her."
"I accept that," she replied grudgingly. She still didn't like him, but she could accept his apology. "You should also apologize for being an arse when you aren't in front of Bri."
"Excuse me?" Ace asked. "And you shouldn't, Pot?" He huffed heavily. "I save your butt from Cardassians and Xi’Cadians and all you did was grouse and complain about me. A little respect for me and my position would go a long way. But you're a civvy and neither one of us can do much about the other, can we?" He wrinkled his nose, disgusted at that very situation.
"What I do know is that we both care about Bri and I think she cares about both of us. I'm pretty sure neither of us can figure out why she cares about the other, either. So, since we have that mutual interest, I just don't want her to be in the middle of our obvious distaste for one another. She has enough on her mind."
"I can agree to that...as long as you stay away from the arboretum unless you're asked. Or you come here to enjoy nature." That last part she doubted. He only came here when he was trying to impress Bri--or assert his bossy authority.
"I think we both know there's only two reasons that I would be here, so why be pushy about it? Besides, I've probably blown your brain enough for one day, right?"
Paula laughed. "Hardly. It would take a lot more than this to blow my mind, as you put it. You know I'm not going to invite you here, so as long as you don't come without Bri asking you--and being here herself--I can live with that."
"I'm not making that promise to you. After all, I may come here to ask Bri to go with me somewhere." One of his knees bent slightly as he changed his posture. "But trust me, I have no desire to be anywhere near you and last I checked, this is still a public place. I think you should just be satisfied with us being civil in front of Bri." He paused as he shifted his weight to the other side of his body. "Frankly, I didn't expect this conversation to go this well. I think this is the first time that we have not groused about the other." He laughed shortly and during it said, "Maybe you're finally seeing my charm."
Paula laughed. "I might, if you had any." She paused, then clarified. "Charm, that is. No. I won't agree to just be civil in front of Brianthe. But I admit this is a public place and you can come here to talk to her. But you can't come here thinking this is yours to do with as you will. You have no authority here. A message has already been sent to operations to state that we want Matilda to be the person doing repairs here. Not you."
"Except that I'm the Assistant Chief," Ace reminded Paula. "So, your pettiness likely will have no effect. My authority extends to the entire station to your chagrin." He sighed. "Once again, you have exhausted me. Here, I thought we had an understanding. I know that Bri would appreciate our civility in front of her, but if you cannot agree, well, I'll just let that bite you in the ass while everyone else sees my charming self. Be a child. See if I care." He gave her a mock half-salute, half-wave and then a shrug. "Can't say I didn't try."
"Your ego is getting the better of you. Bri wants civility. Period. Not just civility in front of her. You clearly don't get that. And you don't get that with all the people working in operations, we can easily ask for someone else to do repairs here--unless it's an emergency and you're the only one available." She was really getting tired of his attitude.
"My ego?" he asked with a laugh. "Perhaps you should take a look in the mirror. On second thought, don't do that, it might break." He shook his head. "It is a shame that your nice ass makes up your entire personality - being just that. So much for logic..." he groused referring to his private discussion with T'Lul. "Maybe I should have finished reading that Taming of the Shrew play in ancient history...."
"At least Petruchio had some redeeming qualities. You have none." She pointed to the door. "You've had your say, now leave."
Ace rolled his eyes as he pivoted towards the exit. "Like I said, pot, meet kettle. You wouldn't want to defuse anything except on your terms. Nobody can say I did not try."
Paula sighed. She couldn't reason with him. She couldn't even talk with him--not without him taking umbrage over something. So, she folded her arms and said nothing, letting him have the last word so she could get back to work.
"Right. When I prove my point, you have nothing to say. Sucks when I'm right, huh?" He sighed. "Whatever."
"Ha! Too bad you don't have a personality to go with that ego."
Ace grinned wickedly at Paula. "If I had no personality, then you would not react like that." Satisfied, he laughed heartily. "Knew you couldn't let it go."
Paula didn't say anything. She went to a side panel and turned on the sprinkler system above Ace.
"Mature," Ace simply responded. "Keep proving my points." He then made his way to the arboretum door.
Paula didn't respond. She was done--more than done--with Ace. As soon as he was out the door, she turned off the water and went back into her office.
A post by
Lieutenant JG Ace Cannon
Assistant Chief Operations Officer
Deep Space 5
Paula Pendergast
Botanist
Deep Space 5
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