Ch. 1 - The darkest hour is just before the dawn
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Kara was laughing at Tex's imitation of Commander Slattery when Doctor Scott entered the isolation tent, following closely by Doctor Tophet and Doc Rios. The three had been in and out of the tent many times over the past five days, but there was a stark difference this time, one that immediately caught the attention of the five patients. Instead of being covered from head to foot by hazmat suits, Doctor Scott and Doctor Tophet were wearing simple lab jackets, while Doc Rios was in his uniform.
Doctor Scott stopped at the entrance to the space, hand moving to her throat as she considered the five of them, her eyes lingering for a long moment on Maya's empty cot. When Doctor Scott finally spoke, her voice cracked, betraying her emotions. "Before I release you, I wanted to say…that you are all extraordinary people. You have gone far beyond the call of duty and I owe you a debt of gratitude. The human race owes you a debt of gratitude. Without your bravery we would not be in the position we are in right now – heading home with not only a vaccine, but with a cure. So I thank you."
"And we thank you Doctor Scott," Master Chief Jeter, appropriately, was the one to respond. The man whose belief in the success of the trial had never wavered. "I lost my family long before this tragedy struck and I often wondered why I had survived. But now I understand that I was left alive for a higher purpose. To allow me to be here to assist you, Doctor Scott."
Kara felt tears sting her eyes as she gazed back and forth between Doctor Scott and the Master Chief. Two people who had stood firm in the face of adversity, certain of who they were and what they had to do, what their mission was. So very different from the doubts that plagued Kara's mind every time she closed her eyes.
The fear. The hurt. The longing for something that was never meant to be.
"Well, if the fancy speeches are done, is it time to break out of this joint? Because while I love spending time with you, Doc, I not love the smell of disinfectant."
Tex's remark broke the solemn mood and Kara, along with Tex, Commander Garnett, Miller and the Master Chief, began gathering her belongings. While she was still somewhat nauseous, Kara was more than ready to return to her cabin. She had begun to go stir crazy in this tent with nothing to do other than sleep or read and was hoping that Alisha was off duty and could fill her in on what had happened outside of the helicopter bay over the past five days. A light touch on her shoulder distracted Kara from her thoughts. She turned to see Doctor Scott.
"I would prefer that you stay behind for a little while, Lieutenant Foster."
"Of course," Kara responded automatically, but a chill swept through her as she realized why Doctor Scott would ask her – only her – to stay behind. And the reason was not good. Doctor Scott had to be worried about her seizure, and whether there were going to be long-term consequences. Kara's gaze met Commander Garnett's, who had turned towards them, presumably having heard Doctor Scott's request. The Commander smiled at Kara in a reassuring manner. "It should be a lot quieter without the entertainment. If you want, I can finish reading my reports here."
Kara bit down on her lip uncertainly. The idea of staying here – alone – in the isolation tent was not appealing, but Kara knew how anxious Commander Garnett had been to return to her post and check to see what it happened during her absence. Workaholic did not come close to describing the woman's dedication to her job.
"I'm sure that you have a lot to do, ma'am," Kara began.
"I can read reports just as well from here as from my cabin. Besides, Captain Chandler has barred me from engineering until at least tomorrow so he'll be avoiding me." Andrea Garnett winked at Kara as she settled back onto her cot, picking up the first from a pile of files.
Doctor Scott hesitated, almost as though she was going to object to the Commander's presence, before she changed her mind. "I need to take another blood sample, Lieutenant. Just to check a few things."
Kara obediently held out her arm, wincing slightly as the needle slid into the back of her hand. The veins in her arms had given out yesterday after four days of abuse and this was the second time that Doctor Scott had been forced to resort to her hand. After all the poking and prodding of the last five days, Kara would be happy to never see a needle again.
Doctor Scott pocketed the vials of blood she had taken from Kara. "I'll be back as soon as I finish running the tests."
Kara watched as Tex, Miller, and Jeter left the tent, envious of their departure despite knowing that she would be following them shortly. Once they had the tent to themselves, Kara turned Commander Garnett. "Thank you for staying ma'am. The idea of waiting here alone was a bit unsettling."
"Feeling like a lab rat?"
"Or perhaps like I'm in the Planet of the Apes." Kara replied, gesturing at Doctor Scott's sole surviving monkey, who was currently hanging out on a corner of the doctor's desk eating crackers from a bowl.
Commander Garnett chuckled. "You should call me Andrea, or Eng, when we're off duty. No point in standing on formality with someone who sang you nursery rhymes."
Kara was surprised that the Commander – Andrea – had mentioned those moments when, at the height of their delirium, Andrea had believed Kara to be her daughter and Kara, for her part, had been more than willing to accept that mothering, reality blurring with memories of Debbie singing to Kara as a child. Kara met the older woman's eyes directly, a silent acknowledgment of the bond that had been formed in those moments.
"You have a beautiful voice, Andrea. You should sing more often."
Andrea smiled slightly. "Don't tell anyone. It might ruin my reputation."
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"If you don't mind, Commander Garnett, I would prefer to speak to Lieutenant Foster alone," Doctor Scott said as she approached the two women an hour later.
Kara pushed herself to a seated position. She had been lying on her cot, reading A Brief History of the United States, which she had borrowed from Carlton before entering the tent five days ago. Despite the title, the book was not brief. In fact, it was over seven hundred pages. But it was a decent read – at least it had been interesting enough to distract her from the tests that Doctor Scott was running.
Andrea glanced at Kara questioningly and Kara nodded. "Thank you for staying with me, Andrea. It made the time go by much quicker."
Doctor Scott waited patiently while Andrea gathered the reports that she had strewn across the cot formerly occupied by the Master Chief and left. As the hatch swung closed behind the engineer, Kara noticed again how quiet it was in the isolation tent, which muffled much of the background noise that Kara had become accustomed to on the Nathan James.
Kara decided to hit the topic head on. "I guess you have bad news if you need to speak with me alone."
"Not bad, exactly," Doctor Scott began, and then stopped. "Let me start over. I have been meaning to talk to you for several weeks now, to thank you. Not just for your assistance in establishing the video link back in Cuba, but for … supporting me. It meant more to me than you probably realized."
Kara stared at Doctor Scott blankly, the unexpected reference to Gitmo triggering a jumble of emotionally charged memories.
Watching the clock click to zero, her chest tighten until she could barely breathe, knowing that Danny was out of oxygen.
Danny finally appearing - in CIC – after what felt like hours – to report to Commander Slattery, the shadows in his eyes tearing at her heart.
Slipping into his stateroom as he was packing up Frankie's belongings, his devastation etched onto his face.
The feeling of helplessness as he cried, before she distracted him the only way she could think of, with a kiss that it turned into so much more.
Her happiness when Captain Chandler assigned her to impersonate Rachel on the speedboat, understanding how much faith the Captain – and Danny – would be placing in her.
The stiffness of Danny's shoulders when he told her to bail, leaving her both infuriated by his high handedness and strangely thrilled to know that he was willing to risk the mission to keep her safe.
The anger blazing in his eyes when he told her that he loved her, then demanded that she stay away from him.
Followed by six long weeks of being treated as nothing more than a colleague
Weeks when she fell asleep each night dreaming of the stolen kisses in the Arctic, his hand on hers at the rail of the ship as they approached the coast of the United States, the look in his eyes when she stumbled across him in the helicopter bay before they reached Serrano Bay. Then waking up to his utter indifference as he entered the wardroom, laughing at something Tex said or planning his day with Burk, his eyes gliding past her without so much as a flicker of interest, each indifferent glance and curt nod a cut to her heart, until she became almost numb to the pain.
Leaving her with nothing else to do but pick up the pieces of her shattered heart.
Kara could only hope that her confusion and pain was not written across her face. "I was just doing my job, ma'am. As were you."
"Anyway," Doctor Scott continued, "I hoped that we could move to a first-name basis. Please call me Rachel. Would it be okay for me to call you Kara?"
"Of course Rachel." Kara didn't hesitate. With so few women on the ship, they needed to stick together, and Kara sensed that Rachel could use a friend.
"Good." Rachel relaxed slightly, a smile crossing her face for an instant before it faded, as though she had just remembered why they were here. "As for your blood results, physically you will make a full recovery. There appear to be no lasting from the seizure. But your blood results also revealed something else, Kara."
"You're pregnant."
