Title: Battle Scars
Rating: K+
Category: het, gen
Characters or pairings: Davenport/Goddard, Harlan/Cat. Appearances by Bova, Rosie, Radu, Shank, Elmira, and Thelma
Note: An alternate ending to the season 1 finale "On the Road to Find Out." Because I wanted Catalina to stay, and I wanted Davenport to have a chance to shine.
Disclaimer: I don't own them; I just like to play with them.
Summary: For the second time that day, T.J. realizes that standing and waiting isn't enough to serve. An alternate ending to "On the Road to Find Out."
Battle Scars
Who knew how long ago the Lumanians recorded that message? For all T.J. knew, the Christa's sister ship would self-destruct in a matter of seconds. She raced through the corridors dizzy, disoriented, and short of breath. Her chest tightened, and she was almost certainly on the verge of another panic attack. In fact, it was a wonder she hadn't fainted yet. But she could not afford to pass out now. The crew's lives were at stake.
She rounded another corner, nearly catching her chin on a length of dangling wire bowing from the ceiling. Of all the ways to die, she thought accidentally hanging herself would be one of the least dignified. But if the ship did blow up, it would save her the embarrassment of being found by anyone. She shuddered.
"Goodness, I'm starting to sound like Bova," she grumbled to herself.
She turned to check behind her as she rounded another corner and ran into something—no—someone! "Oh Commander, thank heavens!" she exclaimed.
"What are you doing here? Warlord Shank is running around!" There was an edge to his voice, but T.J. knew it was only out of concern and urgency and not of anger.
She shook her head and attempted to sort through her thoughts in time to deliver her life-or-death message. "The ship," she began through gasping breaths, "we have got to get out, it is going to blow up. That's what was in the ship's log!"
Seth's look of concern morphed into one of sheer terror as he forced T.J. down the dark hall, back the way she came, with one hand grasping hers and the other on her shoulder, urging her to move quickly. "People, we are leaving!" he announced.
They came to an intersection, and T.J. stumbled over some debris. Seth caught her before she hit the ground with an "I've got you," and quickly helped her regain her balance before looking around, confused.
"Do you remember how to get out of here?" T.J. inquired.
A second passed before he answered and pointed to the left. "This way!"
She prayed he was right.
T.J. felt her heart thudding in her ears as they ran. She couldn't help but notice that Goddard's grip on her hand had tightened. They came to another cross-hall, and she looked at him, completely lost.
"It's a slightly different layout from the Christa," he commented as worry seeped into his voice.
"Either that or the ship rearranged itself," Davenport offered. An unsettling thought, indeed.
Goddard rolled his eyes. "Terrific."
At the start of their journey, Davenport had declared that they were going to die. She hadn't wanted to be right, but maybe their fate was predestined. After all, the Christa still hadn't accepted T.J. or Seth as crewmembers.
"We aren't supposed to be here," she whispered. "Seth, if we don't make it—"
"We will make it," he refuted. "It's my fault we got into this mess in the first place. I'm the one who suggested we explore this ship. You came to warn us, T.J. You came to save us, and I'm not going to let you die here. Understand?"
T.J. feared she understood a great deal more than what was on the surface of his statement. The intensity in his voice scared her, as did the intensity of her own emotions, and she wondered if he felt the same.
Before she could respond, Seth turned and continued venturing through the corridors, still with a firm hold on her hand and urging her to keep up with his pace as he ran...into a dead end.
The doors to the engine room were jammed open, and the protomixer sparked and sputtered with an intense energy neither T.J. nor Seth had seen before. Davenport's breath hitched as the pulsing lights seemed to make the engine look even more alien and alive than she thought possible. That was when she caught sight of a blinking device that was most definitely not supposed to be attached to the protomix master core.
"We have approximately seven minutes," she declared, dazed. The flickering lights seemed to hypnotize her. "Unless you know how to disarm a bomb."
Goddard followed her gaze, alarmed. "If that thing goes off—"
It was her turn to interrupt him, not with words, but with an impulsive kiss that took them both by surprise. It only lasted a few seconds, and when T.J. pulled away she explained, "If we don't make it."
"No. We'll make it," he declared in a gruff determined voice before once again grasping her hand—his fingers entwined with hers—and leading her back down the corridor the way they came. He was prepared to either pull her behind him and shield her if they came face-to-face with Shank, or push her in front of him into the Christa if their escape came down to mere seconds. He had already decided that he would risk his life to spare hers.
They turned the first corner and quite literally ran into Catalina and Harlan.
"Wait! Elmira!" Cat realized. "Where's Elmira?"
"Commander, we can't leave her behind," Harlan added.
Seth nodded. "Find her fast and bring her back to the Christa."
"Quickly, now. Quickly," T.J. urged them.
The students took off ahead of their ranking officers, but came running back seconds later.
"Shank's around the corner!" Harlan told the teachers in an urgent whisper.
The young helmsman pulled Catalina to him as he pressed himself against the wall. To T.J.'s surprise, Seth did the same with her, guarding her body with his.
Cat turned to Goddard and whispered, "Elmira's with him."
They heard Shank's low voice drift toward them, "After all the time we've spent together, after all the glories of the Spung Empire you've witnessed, still you resist me!" the warlord hissed.
His next words were lost as Rosie, Radu, and Bova made their way over to the rest of the crew. Suddenly, a terrible primal shriek echoed through the halls, catching everyone off guard. Davenport winced and dug her nails into Goddard's arm. Radu covered his ears while Bova and Rosie assumed battle stances and Harlan wrapped his arm more tightly around Catalina.
Harlan peered around the corner and gave the all clear. "Elmira pushed Shank down the jumptubes. Cat and I will get Elmira, everyone else head for the Christa."
"The airlock is just down the other hall to the left," Radu added.
By the time everyone else reached the spaceway, the psychic, the engineer, and the helmsman had become lost in the shuffle.
"Catalina and Harlan, where are they? They were right behind us," Seth said, looking over his shoulder.
"Commander," Thelma interrupted, "the Christa is preparing to break off from her sister ship. Destruction is eminent."
Seth's eyes bore into T.J.'s. "I'm going in after them. If I'm not back in thirty seconds, get the ship clear."
He turned to leave, but T.J. could not let him. She instinctively grabbed his arm. "Seth—"
"That's an order, T.J."
He gave her hand one final squeeze before heading back into the sister ship. Davenport watched him go, vaguely aware of Radu, Bova, and Rosie looking to her and awaiting direction.
"That noble idiot is going to get himself killed!" T.J. realized aloud. Turning to her youngest students she commanded, "Do not even think about going back inside. Do you understand?"
She waited for the three cadets to nod before ignoring her own instructions. Rosie called after her, but Davenport's only worry at the moment was the commander.
As T.J. entered the spaceway, Catalina and Harlan hurried toward her with Elmira.
"The commander is still in there!" Harlan announced.
"Shank almost got me, but he distracted him," Cat explained.
"Go back to the Christa," Davenport ordered.
"But Miss D—"
"Go, Harlan!" she said again, taking a moment to lock eyes with the stunned helmsman. Her voice had a new confident edge to it that neither of them was used to. "Make sure everyone is all right. I am putting you in charge. Go directly to the command post. If the commander and I do not return in one minute, disengage the spaceway and get the Christa as far away as you can."
"But—"
"Mister Band, that is an order!"
Harlan nodded and offered a "Good luck" before continuing his way back with Cat and Elmira.
T.J. forged on as quickly and quietly as possible, not knowing what she'd see once she reached the sister ship's airlock, though the footfalls and grunts echoing through the spaceway gave her some clue. Shank's back was to her when she entered, and he had Goddard trapped in a corner and pinned against one of the melted consoles. T.J.'s eyes widened in horror as the warlord laughed manically and charged his scepter, ready to make a kill shot.
"Seth!"
The commander panicked. "T.J. get out of here now!"
Shank whirled around to face her, and his grotesque smile was almost enough to make T.J. queasy as he held his staff steadily, continuing to point it in Goddard's direction. Thinking quickly, Davenport grabbed a piece of piping from the debris at her feet to arm herself.
"Ha! What exactly do you plan on doing with that?" Shank laughed. "I just might take you up on your offer to shoot you."
Shank was distracted for the moment, allowing for Seth to barrel past him. T.J. used the Spung's momentary confusion to clock him across the head with the pipe, effectively knocking him to the ground. She dropped her makeshift fighting staff, dazed, as Seth led her back toward the airlock. Unfortunately for them, Shank recovered quickly and fired his blaster in their direction. T.J. wasn't sure she was in control of her own actions anymore as she pushed Seth out of the way and fell to the floor with him.
"He shot at you!" Seth exclaimed as he scrambled to help T.J. to her feet.
"No, he shot at you."
T.J. heard another laser blast and yelped in surprise as sparks rained down from the control panel above her head.
"That time, he was definitely shooting at you," Goddard announced.
"He's still shooting at both of us! Move, you lummox!" She turned toward the airlock and a searing pain shot up her arm. She cried out in agony and dropped to the floor.
"T.J.!" Seth knelt next to her and his eyes went wide when he saw her scorched uniform. "You've been hit."
"I bloody-well know that!" T.J. snapped through gritted teeth.
Seth helped her up, and they disappeared through the airlock, hearing the sister ship's door whir closed behind them, trapping Shank inside. T.J. and Seth reached the Christa's outer door just as it too began to close. They both used their momentum to try to push the other ahead, and they wound up stumbling over each other and tumbling into the Christa in a graceless heap on the deck.
T.J. screamed as she landed on her injured arm, and in an instant, Rosie was at her side, absorbing some of the heat from the blast. Davenport would still need medical attention, but adrenaline combined with the Mercurian's quick thinking was enough to ease some of the discomfort.
Davenport stared up at the ceiling, half-laughing and half-sobbing, as the crew gathered around.
Seth shook his head in disbelief as he knelt next to her. "What the hell did you do, T.J.?"
She smiled at him as her good hand squeezed his forearm. "It appears I saved your life. A brief lapse in judgment. Don't worry, it won't happen again," she joked.
Goddard glanced up at the students. "Harlan, who's flying the ship?"
It was Thelma who answered, "The Christa broke off from the sister ship, sensing the distress. She will fly away as quickly as possible before—"
A flicker of light was visible from through the porthole over the android's shoulder. Harlan and the rest of the students turned to stare out the small windows at the sister ship as it exploded.
"That could've been us," Catalina whispered, gripping Harlan's hand. She swallowed a lump in her throat as she looked down at her teachers, now aware of how much they cared for one another. "It could've been them."
"Thelma, Radu: help me get Elmira to the medbay," Rosie ordered. "Commander, you bring Miss Davenport."
"Bova, Cat, and Harlan: you're dismissed for the day, but let me know if you need anything," Goddard added.
After Rosie treated T.J.'s arm, she sent her back to her quarters so she could work on Elmira. The adults walked first to the galley to get some tea and then to T.J.'s rooms. Seth guided her to sit down on her bed, and he took a seat next to her.
T.J. spoke first. "I am aware my hasty actions earlier qualify as borderline stupidity. I do not need a lecture."
"Good. Because I'm not one for lectures. That's your thing."
"I can't do this without you, Seth," T.J. admitted. "I cannot bear the thought of you leaving me," her voice caught, "to figure everything out alone."
"You think I'd be able to manage without your help? I only know so much. I'm not a teacher; you know that. You said it more than enough times when we were back at the Starcademy."
"That was cruel of me. I—"
"But you, you're like this irreplaceable source of knowledge and—"
Davenport snorted. "Yes, well, so is The Infocore. It sounds like the crew would be just fine without me."
"No, I..." Goddard shook his head. Now it was his turn to trip over his words. "No, I don't think we would. But running on instinct and adrenaline make you a hero today. I owe you my life."
"I appreciate the sentiment," T.J. began, "but I do hope it never comes to that."
Seth nodded and cleared his throat. "I just feel like I—we—almost lost you twice in such a short amount of time. Once to the Christa's computer, and now this. You're irreplaceable, and I…think the crew needs you."
T.J. repeated Goddard's words slowly, trying to make sense of what he was trying to tell her, "The crew," a pause, "needs me?"
Goddard cleared his throat. "How's the arm?"
"Hurts like hell," T.J. answered bluntly, causing Seth to chuckle. "Rosie made good use of the dermal regenerator, but it still smarts, and I'll still have a mark."
Goddard grinned. "Well kudos on your first battle scar."
She rolled her eyes. "I am still not certain it is something I should be proud of."
"Oh really? Let me show you something," Goddard offered.
T.J. blushed and stared wide-eyed as she watched him remove his jacket. "Commander! What...?"
He rolled up his shirtsleeve to show her a scar on his bicep, almost in the same place as her new wound. "We match."
Davenport caught herself staring but managed to recover quickly. "Goodness."
"This one's from my battle with Reaver: the one that cost me my rank." Goddard explained. "I didn't think I should be proud of it either at first. But if I hadn't gone after him, I wouldn't have gotten this. And I wouldn't have ended up at the Starcademy. And I wouldn't be on the Christa with you and the students. My mistake led me here, to this crew. And this crew is something I'm proud of."
They stared at one another for a long moment, neither one realizing that they were both slowly closing the distance between them until their lips met, only for a few seconds. Goddard pulled away and saw not shock, but a dreamy look in Davenport's eyes.
"That was very nice," she said softly. Her eyes fluttered closed for a second.
"You're doped up," he realized, taking a couple steps back. There was no mistaking the disappointment in his voice. "The meds Rosie gave you must be kicking in."
"Such a gentleman," Davenport murmured as she lay down. "Stay here with me?" she requested, her eyelids getting heavy.
"I'm right here."
She nodded lazily. "Thank you," was the last thing she said before she drifted off to sleep.
Goddard studied her. When she was asleep, she looked so calm and relaxed. And was there a hint of a smile creeping across her face?
He sat on the edge of the bed, careful not to disturb her. "You're amazing," he whispered. "And not just today. I know I don't say that enough. I'll try to remind you more often. You mean a lot to me, T.J. I hope you know..."
"She knows."
Goddard looked up to find Rosie smiling at him from the doorway. He had been so distracted that he didn't hear her enter. "Rosie." He cleared his throat. "You weren't supposed to hear that."
"I think it's sweet," the Mercurian replied. "You're both caring and supportive and always looking out for us and for each other. When I was bandaging her arm, she told me she thinks you bring out the best in her."
Goddard sighed in frustration. "I don't know about that. If anything, I think I'm corrupting her. She disobeyed orders and left you guys to run in after me."
Rosie shook her head at her commanding officer. "You know why she did that, don't you?"
"To try and give me a heart attack, probably."
Rosie giggled. "Nope. Try again."
He scrubbed his hands down his face. "Yeah, I know. Thank you for your help, Rosie. And for checking in. I'm going to stay with her for a while. I'll let you know if we need anything."
"Okay." The young physician nodded. "Just maybe don't wait until a near-death experience to tell each other how you feel. Mercurians happily communicate how much they care about each other on a daily basis, so I'm not sure I understand the human way of doing things. It just seems really stressful and counterproductive and confusing."
Stressful, counterproductive, and confusing. Yup, that about covered it.
"It's complicated," Goddard agreed.
"She cares about you, and you care about her," Rosie shrugged. As she left the room, she offered, "Unless I'm missing the point, it seems pretty simple to me."
T.J.'s eyes fluttered open as the door closed.
"It's okay. It was just Rosie. Go back to sleep."
She leaned back into her pillows with a smile on her face and patted the spot next to her. Goddard obeyed her silent request and relaxed next to her on top of the covers. Davenport snuggled against him, and he quirked an eyebrow.
"I just want to feel safe," she explained. "In spite of everything, I still feel safest with you near."
Goddard sighed, her declaration tugging at his heart. He felt his lower lip trembling as he gulped back a sob. He'd led the crew into danger and almost gotten her killed. How in the universe did she think he was doing a good job of protecting her?
"I failed you, T.J."
"No. Shh. Never think that. I'm all right." She nuzzled against his shoulder and murmured, "It's my turn to be the brave one. I'll make up a schedule. I'll take this week. You can have the next."
Seth chuckled as he cradled her in his arms and looked down at her exhausted expression. Her eyes opened once more, and she stared up at him. T.J.'s hand came to rest over his as she continued to stare up at him with innocent eyes. When he met them again he felt compelled to place a gentle kiss on her forehead. Her lips parted and she placed a hand on his cheek to keep him from looking away. She glanced from his eyes to his lips and back again, and Seth leaned down just enough to touch his lips to hers—just a peck, a chaste closed-mouth kiss, but it sent T.J.'s heart fluttering. Seth was pleasantly surprised to find his pulse racing. When he pulled away he lowered her back down against the pillows and pulled the covers over her so she was snug.
"Get some sleep, T.J. I'll be right here."
He settled down next to her, placed another kiss on her forehead, draped his arm around her, and closed his eyes, ready to stay by her side for as long as she'd allow.