Warning: A little fluffy chapter.
Distress Call
"Mercer, USS Farragut," the officer announced and said the next name without a pause.
She followed the other cadets, searching for the shuttle she was supposed to get on. The officer in front of the entrance asked her name, wrote something into the PADD in his hand, then shook his head. "You're not clarified for duty on this ship," he stated.
"Excuse me?" she asked in disbelief. "They've just told me I was assigned to the USS Farragut, sir," she told him.
"The admirals and captains of the Fleet agreed that scientists, like anthropologists for example," he explained, looking her in the eye with an emotionless expression on his face, "aren't needed during this mission."
"But when did they-"
"A couple of minutes ago," he interrupted her with the answer. "Next."
"God dammit!"
Denise was angry. Furious. She wanted know what was going on, but since her father was currently off-planet, she had no choice but to find Christopher. He was assigned as the captain of the USS Enterprise, so even if she didn't exactly like the idea of talking to him, that was the best way to find out what she wanted. Ever since he had broken up with her about a month before, she had always tried to avoid him.
It was hard, because after the first week, her mother often came up with the same sentence: 'Jeremy, why don't you invite Christopher over for dinner?' Then she always added something else, too, like 'he's working too much these days', 'he seems to be stressed', or 'sad', or 'depressed' or something like that. Then, about a week before, she had talked to Denise, and questioned her about him. She had found it out.
Luckily she had understood why it was so important to them to keep it a secret, especially in front of her father.
Denise soon found who she was looking for. He stood there, already wearing his uniform; the yellow shirt with black pants and boots. As soon as the officer he was talking to disappeared, she took a deep breath and walked over to him. "What do you know about this?" she asked angrily.
He didn't understand it at first. Actually his brain didn't even work properly from the moment he saw her in the red Academy uniform. It reminded him on why he had broken up with her in the first place, and this thought quickly snapped him back to reality. "Denise, what are you talking about? The distress call?" he asked calmly.
"You know well enough what am I talking about, Chris."
"Oh, that you can't go," he said, finally understanding her problem. She seemed to be incredibly determined to get on one of the ships, but there was something she didn't know about. "Listen, there won't be skeletons you could examine, so you are not needed at all," he tried to explain it calmly, leaving out little pieces of information on purpose. Oh, how much he wanted to be on the Enterprise... Even if it was Denise from all people, he still wished he had already been there. Lying her was one the hardest things for him.
But she wasn't stupid. After dating him for about five months, she could easily figure out when he wasn't telling the truth, or when he simply didn't tell her something. The little pieces of the puzzle suddenly clicked into place, and she knew what was going on. "No way," she said slowly. "You were the one who suggested them to leave us here!"
"Denise," he said, trying to stop her.
"I should've known," she went on. "That was your fucking idea! Honestly, are you enjoying it?"
"Calm down and listen to me, please."
"No, I don't want to hear it!" she said loudly.
After making sure no one was watching them, Christopher put his hands on her shoulders, firmly grabbing them to make her look up at him. "I don't care about whether or not you want to hear it," he said in a low voice once she was listening. "We got a distress call, and we have no idea what kind of problem they have. Until it's not absolutely necessary for you to be there, I'd rather like you to be somewhere safe," he explained.
"I can look out for myself. There's no need for you to patronize me."
"I'm not patronizing you," he said, shaking his head in disbelief. "I'm defending you. There's a huge difference between the two."
"Says the one who broke my heart by defending me," she replied bitterly.
"That's not fair, Denise. You know I only did it to-"
"Don't you dare finish this sentence!" she interrupted him.
"Look, I have to go now, but if I die, I want you to remember: I told you it's gonna be dangerous," he stated before turning around and leaving her there. The idea of dying didn't help him relax. It was an emergency, they were about to go and help Vulcan, so it wasn't the best time for thinking about never seeing her again. Because that was exactly what he was thinking about.
Denise let out an irritated sigh as she looked around then hurried after him. "Wait," she said, gently grabbing his arm. "Be safe, okay? Seriously, just come back," she said and finished almost inaudibly, "to me."
"I promise I will," he said with a reassuring smile.
Christopher tried to forget her after the break-up. He tried to burry himself into his paperwork, but it didn't work. She was always acting coldly when they met, but he just couldn't care about it either. His feelings for her were way stronger than he thought. Then, right before they left Earth after receiving a distress call from Vulcan, she was there. Only for a few minutes, but he could see he Denise he'd fallen in love with, the one who still cared about him and who still loved him.
He was sure she wouldn't visit him again. This was sad, really, because his migraine had disappeared after their little chat. But, for his biggest surprise, he was wrong. Denise was there, standing at the door of his room with a small, but genuine smile playing on her lips. "I thought you won't come back," he said.
"I said 'I'll come back in a few days'. It's only been six days," she told him, walking over to the leg of the bed. "Are you ready?"
"Ready for what?" he asked.
Denise laughed quietly as she glanced at her watch. "I'll accompany you for this little ceremony, admiral. I thought you knew."
"No, I didn't know," he replied quietly, amused by her good mood. The last time she'd acted like this had been back when they were still together. Oh, yes: he still loved her. He really did.
"Well, now you know," she stated as she looked out to the hallway. "Would you like some coffee before we go?"she suddenly asked, turning back to look at him.
"No, you don't have to…"
"Actually I could use some caffeine myself," Denise interrupted him quickly.
"Fine. A little milk and-"
"I know, no sugar. I made your coffee for a while, remember?" she asked with a small laugh. "I'll be right back."
He watched her walking out of the room. Then she stopped, and he instantly recognized the man she was talking to: Dr. Dylan Windell, the doctor who had been treating him ever since McCoy had taken out that ugly slug from his brain, and the same man who had been dating Denise for months in the past. The little green-eyed monster was slowly coming to life, crawling up to his brain to poison his mind with jealousy.
She smiled at him with the same sweet and charming smile he had seen so many times before. The woman he loved was now flirting with her ex-boyfriend - that was depressing. But were they together? He wasn't sure.
Denise, right after touching his upper arm, turned around and left to get some coffee. The doctor was watching her for a while, then he shook his head and entered the room. "Good morning," he said with a friendly smile. "How are you, Admiral?"
"No migraine this morning," he replied.
"Great. Though, I think I will give you some painkillers in case you will have another migraine during the ceremony," the young doctor told him, while writing something into the PADD in his hand.
Christopher only shrugged. "You are the doctor."
"That is true," he laughed. "She is a really nice girl."
"Who?" the admiral asked, even though he'd already known the answer.
"Denise. You are lucky to have her around," the man explained as his smile grew bigger. "I mean you are her father's friend still, she offered to help you once you get out of here."
Slightly raising an eyebrow, he asked, "Really?"
"Oh, she hasn't told you yet?" Windell nervously ran a hand through his short brown hair as he looked at the other man.
"No, it seems like she forgot."
"Dammit," he cursed. "She will kill me for telling you."
"Don't worry; I'll act like I didn't know."
The doctor gave him a thankful smile. "Thank you."
He didn't say much after that. After a couple of minutes he left, and a bit later Denise returned. Christopher didn't what to say, how to act around her anymore. If she was dating Dylan again, he had no chance anymore. Everyone, even he had thought back then that they were perfect together. Like Barbie and Ken. "Can I ask you something?"
Denise gave him a questioning look, but nodded. "Sure."
"Am I right if I think that you and Dr. Windell got together again?"
"What makes you think that?"
"I saw the way you talked to him. And he mentioned you," he added before going on. "It was quite obvious. I remember how he'd acted around you, and how you acted around him."
She took a deep breath as she sat on the empty chair beside his bed. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be. It was me who broke up with you, so I have no right to..." He didn't know how to finish this sentence. Should he really tell her how he felt? No. At least he thought it wasn't the best thing to do.
Denise didn't let him get away with that. Her eyes widened, and he noticed something he hadn't seen for a while: they were full with emotions. "To be upset? Jealous? What?" she demanded angrily.
"It doesn't matter," he replied.
"It does matter! Dylan is a really sweet and funny guy, but he's not you!" she almost shouted, breathing heavily and probably fighting back her tears.
On the inside, he was grinning, happy to hear the last part of the sentence. But he knew it wasn't right. There was a reason why he had broken up with her, and even if she had graduated since then, her father was still his best friend. "Oh, God, don't tell me you still love me," he said, right when he had enough strength to form these words. It was incredibly hard.
She was shocked. "Seriously, what did you expect? That I'll immediately forget my feelings for you and go on with my life like nothing had happened?"
"You want me to be logical or honest?" he asked quietly, hoping this will calm her down a little bit.
Denise was massaging her temple, trying to get rid of the headache. "There's no logic in love so if you have ever loved me, just be honest," she replied quietly.
"If I have ever loved you?" he asked incredulously. "For Christ's sake, Denise, I loved you enough to risk everything, my friendship with your father and my position at the Fleet just to be with you!" the usually calm admiral shouted. She was close to start crying, and he wanted to take back his words, but it was impossible. And after all he had said, he couldn't even hug her. Nothing - all he could do was sitting there and watching her.
"Then why did you change your mind, only a few months before my graduation?" she sipped.
"You said it yourself: there's no logic in love."
Slowly shaking her head, Denise stood up. "Kirk and others will be here in a few minutes," she stated, and left without saying anything else.
'Congratulations, admiral, you screwed up everything in less than ten minutes,' he thought bitterly.
Author's note: Hello, guys. I felt like writing this and... Well... I hope you liked it.
Sweet Executioner
