Part TWO!

elsannaheadcanon said to elsannafervor: Okay, I apologize in advance: that Star Trek AU of yours has woken the long-dormant geek in me. I might have a few more things to throw your way. Just tell me when to shut up and I will.

LOL it's fine! In fact... I really enjoyed writing Elsa Chapel and Lwirri Anaa, as I am also a semi-dormant Trek geek. Think this calls for a sequel, don't you? Writing that one bit for the random anon was like...

OMG GIMME MOAR! So now - seconds! We shall flash forward a year or two...

"Plot a course for Alpha Centauri," Captain Elsa Chapel told Ensign Olaf as she strode from the lift doors to her command chair, seating herself comfortably. "Warp two."

The young officer turned to raise his eyebrows at her, and she was again struck by his prominent nose. "Don't we have to be there in time to pick up Ambassador Wesselton?"

Her stately lip curled. "The ambassador is not a high personal priority. Every time I see him, I feel the urge to snap 'Shut up, Wesselton' before he even speaks. Old fool." Glancing around at the rest of her crew, she arched an eyebrow in challenge. "What? You have your orders. Make it so."

"Aye, sir. Making it so."

As the USS Norrberg's impulse engines pivoted the bulk toward its destination, Lieutenant Commander Anaa strode over and handed her a data pad. "Those reports on the chemical composition of the asteroid crystals you requested, sir."

"Thank you." When she took the pad, however, there was a popup in front of it. The question was simple: "Ready room?" Such a phrase would seem like an innocent mistake or a nonsense bit to anyone else. To her, she had to suppress a grin before thumbing for the two words to vanish without trace. Once glancing over the report briefly - or pretending to - she sat up straighter. "Might I see you in my office?"

The feigned surprise was just the tiniest bit theatrical. "Of course, sir."

"Commander Gerda, you have the conn."

"Aye, Captain." While the First Officer moved to fill Elsa's seat, Kristoff's eyeroll was too knowing, but he kept his silence as they moved toward the door off to the port side of the bridge.

Chapel's ready room was rather spartan, devoid of many personal effects. There was a ship in a bottle on the corner of her desk, fine art on the walls. Rows of books on the shelves. A mounted bat'leth, which she had received from a Klingon warrior who had pledged her life to the captain for fighting honourably at her side. Behind the dress jacket on her coatrack in the corner hung a pink robe, but most would never notice.

Of course, there were no traditional Vulcan artefacts. Not a single one.

"You wanted to see me?" Anaa asked, fluttering her eyelashes innocently once the doors had closed behind her.

"Oh, stow it," Elsa sighed as she sat on the edge of her desk. "You have to stop doing this."

"Doing what? I haven't done anything at all." When the tick began going in Elsa's jaw, she ducked her head slightly. "You won't talk to me outside of work if I don't create an opportunity. So... here I am. Creating."

Another sigh, fingers coming up to massage her own temples. "You don't understand, and have never understood!"

"Let me do that. Everybody swears by my massage skills, you know."

"NO!" Dropping the hands immediately, she stood and put her hands in the small of her back. Formal, military stance. Sterile and proper. "Commander, you need to remember our mission out here in the starfield. To remember our stations, our ranks. If I have to demote you to make that happen, I will gladly do so."

Finally, the coy smile that had been playing around Anaa's lips died. "Fine. I won't ever bother you again, if that's what you really want. But is that the truth? We both know all I would have to do is-"

"Yes, I do know that, and I appreciate that you're exercising restraint. In that area. But it is still inappropriate to use a report as pretense for this private, ill-advised conversation while we are on duty!"

"But you're always on duty!" she burst out, fists clenched down by her hips. "All I want to do is talk to you, to work through this at least, even if we can't be who we really are to each other! But you shut me out, keep the doors to your quarters locked no matter how many times I stop by, or how long I do or don't wait between attempts! It's..." Biting her lip for a moment, she took a few breaths to force herself to say what was necessary. "I'm not the one who slipped up, so why are you punishing me?!"

So now they were going to have to talk about it. Again. Gripping her own hands tighter and tighter, she growled, "This isn't 'punishment'. My advances toward a junior officer are not appropriate, no matter how much Romulan ale is in my system. They had to stop, and I stopped them. Please respect that."

"I can't. Not when they were everything my heart ached for."

"And stop saying things like that!"

"NO! I won't, I don't have it in me!" Her hands reached up, brushing the pips on her captain's collar. "Elsa, please..."

The blonde's eyes slid closed, and her breathing increased in speed as she held perfectly still. When Anaa did not force herself on her, did not make any other move or say anything else for a few seconds, she whispered, "You have permission... to read me... right now."

"Oh?" The Betazoid took in a sharp breath, face entirely stricken. She had rarely seen her look that pained in their years of service together. "No, Elsa, you- please don't be scared. Not scared of me, that's..."

"Those are my feelings," she ground out, obviously barely hanging onto her decorum. "The very idea of giving in, of letting what may happen, happen... nothing is more terrifying to me."

"Because of your bloodline? Your rank? My rank?" Shaking her head, she smoothed her hands over her shoulders. "Chapel, I'm crazy about you. Always have been. I'd resign my post and become your trophy wife if you asked - if that's what it took."

"What?!" Eyes wide, she gaped at the shorter woman, at the earnestness in her wide, beseeching black eyes. "You would- no, Lwirri. No, I will not have that; you have become one of my most trusted officers, and a capable tactician like none other I've served with! Turning you into... arm candy would be a waste of a valuable resource, not to mention would leave your life completely unfulfilled!"

"But I wouldn't be unfulfilled, because I would have you!" Elsa opened her mouth again, but she rushed ahead to close off her protests. "Damn it all, I want you so bad! Sure, I'd miss being an officer, but I could find something else to do on board! Maybe be the cook's assistant!"

That made the captain laugh softly, and Anaa found herself nodding in resignation at the absurdity of her statement, even before the reply. "Picturing you going anywhere near our cook's stores is more or less picturing a month of paperwork about damage reports and rehires!"

"Wow, thanks! See if I ever try to make you a birthday cake again!"

"Picturing your previous efforts, I'd rather not." Then her smile became tinged with bittersweet. "No, I cannot ask you to resign your commission. Would not and will not. You are too valuable to my crew, to the team I have built here."

"And what about Team Chapel-Anaa? What's their status report?" When Elsa didn't respond, Lwirri pressed in as close as she could, feeling her captain stiffen. "If I can't be with you... I don't know if I could survive. Or would want to. You're all I care about; even my duty to Starfleet comes in second place."

"Then... that is something to take into consideration. An officer's duty should always be first. Clearly, you are delirious if you have forgotten that. Perhaps I should relieve you of your post and confine you to sickbay."

The Lieutenant Commander's smirk was so very coy, and the accompanying finger that danced up to Chapel's collar cheeky. "You're about to force me to make another 'Nurse Chapel' joke."

"Don't," Elsa warned her sternly, but not as sternly as she would have warned anyone else under her command.

"But you're the only one I want nursing me back to health."

"Stop!" They both chuckled, and by the time they were done, she found her hand was in the small of Commander Anaa's back. Her throat was tight as she whispered, "This... can't happen."

"It's happening already."

"It shouldn't. We shouldn't."

Shrugging, Anaa leaned up and touched their noses together. "Please, just let me in. We need each other - and want each other besides. Always have."

"You cheated." Her questioning gaze made the captain glare down at her. "Showing me your nude body was jumping over a few crucial steps in the courtship dance, you knew that."

"You found my nude body, you revisionist historian!" Her thumb and forefinger found the hidden zipper amongst the stiff regulation material and began tugging it down. "Besides... that has actually given you the unfair advantage, hasn't it? Knowing what I look like in the buff when I can't exactly say the same about you."

Both of Elsa's hands came up to grip the younger woman's wrists, chest heaving with ill-suppressed anxiety. "Are y-you completely out of your head?! You mean to STRIP ME in my own ready room?!"

"Stop me, Captain." The zipper went further down. Further still, until it opened, revealing the soft grey fabric of the shirt underneath. "You're doing a pretty bad job of keeping your officers in line, huh?"

"Lwirri, you..." When the hands glided up her stomach, so much easier to feel now than before, her eyes eased closed. "You... are so... incorrigible."

But the hands didn't go any further upward. They stopped and slipped around to press into her back, still underneath her jacket but in a relatively harmless place. Anaa's cheek pressed into her neck, contented at the closeness, the warmth.

"We'll stop here," she promised. "I... I can feel how scared you are, and I understand. You're not Betazoid, so I'll just tell you outright that yeah, I am, too. But I'm also really excited."

"I've no doubt of that," she murmured shakily.

"Not that kind of 'excited' - though now that you mention it..." The squeak from Elsa's throat made her grin, but she had the good grace not to laugh aloud. "I meant excited to move forward with you. For the slow dance we've performed around each other over the past couple of years to come to fruition. I... I've been aching for this so much, and hating that it was asking too much of you, and waiting for you to be ready... and even if you aren't completely right now, you're ready to start, at least. And that's the best news I've heard in my entire life."

Tears were pricking the corners of Elsa's eyes. "You... have wanted it that earnestly? From when?" No comment. "Just tell me; as you pointed out, I'm no mind-reader. Was it the moment outside the holodeck? Or maybe Risa?"

"The holodeck gave me my first clue about your feelings, yeah. Our shore leave earlier this year, you in the sarong on the beaches... and what happened the second night..." Now it was Anaa's turn to blush, and as heavily as she ever had. "Risa was simply when I figured out that my little schoolgirl crush was never going away. That it was the real deal. I'm in love with my captain."

"Love..." Anaa nodded. "Even though I'm the absolute worst person for you? A woman who puts duty above her personal feelings, who will no doubt hurt you in the worst ways imaginable?" Elsa's teeth gritted as she stared away. "My Vulcan blood is going to ruin this someday. We both know it. I'll be the best I can, but someday when I need to feel, it's not going to work right - I'm going to be confused by something every other human understands on instinct, and it will hurt you more than I can bear! You deserve far better than an ice queen like me!"

Biting her lip, Lwirri allowed her eyes to close, and she simply breathed while her head laid on the woman's shoulder. Then she softly told her, "That's why. Because you care that much about what happens to me. Even if you end up hurting me, it won't be on purpose. People hurt each other all the time; it's what happens because no one is perfect."

"So... that potential margin for error is well within acceptable levels for you?"

"Listen to this lame science officer," she snorted, and Elsa grunted in annoyance. "It is. You're worth the risk. I'd risk way more than just momentary pain for you." At last, she pulled back to look directly into her eyes, bodies flush and voice the barest of sounds. "I'd risk anything to be yours."

Neither of them could remember how long they had been kissing when they heard a light feminine voice from the speakers say, "Bridge to Captain Chapel." However, Elsa did notice she had to literally disentangle her hands from deep within Anaa's red locks before she could pat her combadge and reply.

"Go ahead, Ensign Riker."

"We have an unidentified vessel off our starboard requesting supplies. Say they've been victim of a Maquis raiding party."

"Tell them to wait; I'll take it in here momentarily after I conclude other business."

"Aye, sir."

Anaa grinned as she kissed her chin again. "What other business are we concluding? And how many times are we concluding it?"

"ANAA! That is not the business we're concluding!" Elsa breathed as she reached down to grip her subordinate's hindquarters very briefly - eliciting a gasp of mingling surprise and enjoyment. "This is merely, well, a treatise. We've agreed to a ceasefire so that our... parties may enjoy the benefits of each other. Mutually."

"Mutually, yes." Then she pulled back and began to zip up her captain's jacket, careful to make it as straight and orderly as she could. "Then I am glad we had this, um, summit. And look forward to the celebration tonight. In... my quarters, or yours?"

"Hmm, I don't think I have a preference."

"Mine has a jacuzzi." When Elsa's eyebrows shot up, she grinned as she helped smooth down her the taller officer's blonde locks. "It pays to be nice to Systems Engineer Oaken, you know; he can make pretty much anything happen."

Shaking her head, she pulled her lithe body in closer, heart pounding as she breathed her in, relished her nearness for once instead of dreading it. "You know what? You have me starting to think you're the one that can make anything happen, Lwirri. Anything my heart desires."

Soon after, the alert on Captain Chapel's desk beeped for her attention. And was ignored for yet another minute still.

~ End (Again) ~