Happy New Year guys!
I thought I'd update a day early and before the madness starts.
Thanks for your support with this fic, for reading and reviewing, and for the favorites and the follows. Its awesome!
As always, a huge thanks to ultraluckycat and her continue support with this adventure.
Hope you all have a fabulous New Years Eve. Play safe guys!
Chapter 7 - Living Arrangements
"Killian, we've cleared the sensor array."
Killian was too stunned to respond to David's voice. Staring at Emma, he wasn't sure what to say. Her bedmate. That meant sleep with her...in her bed...mate.
Emma released the hatch and powered down her ship. Sitting up, she quickly got out and looked at him, still lying there stunned.
"You don't have to answer right away. But I'm really in need here, and you fit my requirements."
"Requirements?" Killian could believe his voice actually squeaked. What the hell? Gaians had requirements?
"Yes. I think you'd be perfect, and I know that I don't have much to offer, and I'm asking for a tremendous favor, but..."
"You seem very...um," Killian cursed under his breath. He could feel the heat of embarrassment rising up his neck, and now she had him stuttering. "I just mean you seem to have quite a bit to offer."
Emma smiled at that. "I was hoping you would think so! I mean...I know you share a room with David, but my rooms are larger I gather, so you'll be trading up for more space. I noticed my bed is much larger than the standard bunk, so the room factor added in as well should be a bonus." Emma reached over and slapped his chest lightly. "And...and there's an online replicator!"
Killian just nodded. All those were definite benefits, but she was missing the most obvious one. Sleeping with her. Killian had never had a steady bedmate or relationship before, so he remained silent. Part of him didn't want her to know how inexperienced he was at this, and her forthright attitude made him believe that this was a common occurrence among her kind.
Emma jumped down and waited for Killian to join her. After he closed the hatch, they headed out of the landing bay. Killian was quiet and Emma kept looking at him as he walked her back to her quarters.
Emma frowned. "Look, you don't have to say yes, or even agree right away. I mean, I'm being a fool for thinking that you don't want to continue to share quarters with David." Emma placed her hand on the pad to open her door. Moving to stand in the open doorway, she was silent. "Just think about it."
Killian nodded and started to leave. When he heard her sigh, he turned around, reached out, and pulled her close. Looking down in her wary eyes, he quickly moved in and pressed a kiss against Emma's mouth, tongue searching, exploring then tasting her tongue against his. The passion began to burn, building up to a roaring inferno. Killian was starting to be rough, more than he wanted to be, but something drove him to it. He held Emma pinned to him, devouring her with his mouth. She took it, seeming to thrive on it just as he did, almost lost in the moment. Just as suddenly as he started kissing her, he stopped.
"Yes," he said, and walked away, leaving Emma holding onto the side of her door for support with her other hand touching her mouth.
"Yes?" Her voice struggled to form to word. "Um, Killian? Yes?" He was gone.
Dammit. Emma went inside and sat down, just to quickly stand up again and pace. What the hell was that kiss about?
…
Regina wandered around in her dark rooms. The nausea had become worse since they passed the sensor array. Graham had barely started a full diagnostic physical on her when she was alerted to the approaching array. She had rushed back to her quarters to make sure that both Ruby and Mary Margaret were safe.
Regina's hand hit the wall in a loud smack as dizziness and nausea hit her again. Rushing into the bathroom, she vomited again. Sitting on the floor she rested for a short time trying to get her stomach under control.
"Regina?"
Regina just groaned as Ruby came through the door and found her. Rushing to her side, Ruby crouched down beside her.
"Regina, oh god...are you okay?"
Wincing, Regina stood on shaky legs. "Yeah, just a little unsteady."
Ruby helped her to her bed. Watching her roll over and place an arm over her eyes, she rushed back into the bathroom and rinsed out a cloth with cool water. Sitting on the side of her bed, she slowly washed her face.
"You've been sick a lot these last few weeks. M and I are concerned." Ruby frowned. Her relationship with Regina had never been perfect, Ruby resenting the situation Regina and her mother had put Mary Margaret in. At best, she and Regina had been civil around each other.
"I went to see Graham earlier, but was interrupted."
"The alert?" Regina just nodded. Ruby reached down and took the covers and pulled them over her. Kissing her cheek, she left her to sleep. It wasn't a surprise that Mary Margaret was standing in the door watching them.
"Sick again?"
Ruby nodded. Looking at her friend, she suddenly looked down at the floor.
"I'm a terrible person, M."
"No, you're not."
"Yes...yes I am. I hated her. Zelena, I mean. I hated her because she was one of them...because she was everything I wanted to be."
Mary Margaret pulled Ruby into the other room and sat with her on the sofa. "Ruby, god, you don't want to be like them...like Regina. Look at how lonely her life is. They stole her life, and her future. She can't fall in love with a man, she wants children so badly and that's something she will never have. They stole that from her."
"I know." Ruby just looked at the dark bedroom. "I guess part of me felt that if I was 'more' then I wouldn't feel so alone in this life Cora has thrust on us."
Mary Margaret understood exactly what Ruby was saying. Regina was certainly 'more' and Mary Margaret had been made 'more' through her connection to Cora, Regina, and Zelena, her status on her world, and her ability to adapt genetically to any other species. Ruby had been caught up in everything through her childhood friendship with Mary Margaret.
"I know. But don't wish to be Regina. Since the day Cora realized she had that extra chromosome, her life changed. They altered her genome, who she was, and made her someone else. Her life stopped being hers that day, and she sacrificed everything when she realized Cora knew about my genetic ability and rescued me from a fate worse than death." Mary Margaret grabbed Ruby's hands. "Don't make her sacrifice be for nothing."
Ruby wiped away tears from her cheek. "I'm just angry. Angry that you're hunted. First they wanted to kill you, and now they want to rape you of your genome. It's just been so long since I've been anything or anyone. We've lived in fear for most of our lives.
"I'm sorry," Mary Margaret whispered. "Sorry that you have been brought into this."
"Don't say that," Ruby all but spat out. "This is not your fault, not one bit."
Mary Margaret took Ruby's shoulders and gave her friend a watery smile. "It will get better."
"How do you know. How can you believe that after everything?"
"Because I have hope," Mary Margaret answered simply. "This can't be all there is for us."
They both turned when they heard Regina groan in agony in the other room. Ruby jumped up and headed for the door.
"Ruby. What are you going to do?" Mary Margaret wringed her hands together.
"I'm going to go find this Graham person, and you're going to stay with Regina."
"You can't go out! Regina will be upset, and she's already not feeling well..."
"I don't care" Ruby hesitated for just a moment, and then headed for the door.
"Ruby!" Mary Margaret watched the door shut behind her friend.
Emma heard the scream and came to look outside the door. She saw the tall brunette woman leave Regina's quarters across from her own. Frowning and uncertain what to do, Emma did what she always did – she acted.
"Can I help you?"
Ruby turned to look at the blonde standing in the doorway. She was like a perfect picture of delicate bones and features offset by soothing green eyes. Ruby just shrugged.
"If you know a doctor named Graham, then yes, you may help me."
"Then you are in luck, because I very much know a doctor named Graham." Emma smile faded. "Are you sick?"
"No. Not me."
"Then your sister or Regina?"
Ruby straightened to her full height and looked at the doll-like creature down her nose, imitating Regina's most haughty of looks.
"You know of us?"
"Of course. Regina promised to introduce me to her sisters. So you'd be either Ruby or Mary Margaret."
"Ruby."
Emma smiled and held out her hand. "Ruby. And I'm Emma."
"I need to find this Graham person...fast."
Emma took the woman's arm and led her into Regina's quarters. When they entered, Mary Margaret stood.
Emma hit the com system. "Graham?"
"Emma? Another headache?" Emma smiled at his voice.
"No. I'm in Regina's quarters. One of her sisters insists you come immediately."
Emma looked at Ruby and gestured to the com.
"It's my sister, Regina. She is sick. Very sick." The woman shared a look with Mary Margaret. "I think she's dying."
Graham swore. "I'm on my way."
Emma rushed into the darkened room and searched for Regina on the bed. Placing her hand on her forehead she was concerned at the clamminess of her skin. She was sound asleep and didn't seem to know she was there.
"Emma." Emma stood when Graham called her name.
"She's asleep."
Graham approached the bed with caution. He was reading the sleeping Regina, and the tiredness and nausea was overwhelming. The headache was like a mini explosion in the back of her head moving forward. Emma quickly stood and grabbed Graham before he fell.
"Graham?"
He just shook his head to clear it, and quickly put up a mental shield from Regina's emotions. It was wrong. Regina was normally impenetrable, too hard to read, but her emotions were all over the place. Confused.
"Emma, could you..." Graham gestured for her to leave him with his patient.
"Of course." Emma started to leave, looking back in concern. "I'll just...go. You know, I think I'll take her sisters to the mess and threaten them with food poisoning, giving you some time with Regina."
"Thanks."
Graham waited until Emma left the room before injecting Regina with something for nausea and her headache. He then woke her.
"Graham?" Regina slowly opened his eyes.
"Hey. So I take it that we need to finish looking at you."
Regina sat up a little feeling a little better. "What? How?"
"Your sisters and Emma. I guess one of your sisters took off out of here to find me, but found Emma instead, who returned them to your rooms and called me."
"Ruby. It had to be Ruby."
Graham just shrugged. "Let's get you to Sickbay for that physical."
"My sisters..."
"Emma has them. She'll show them a good time to keep them from worrying, and bring them back safe and sound."
"They are outside?" Regina sat up in alarm, pushing herself off the bed.
"Whoa, calm down! You didn't think you were going to keep them hidden away forever, did you? They're with Emma. She'll keep them protected."
"But..."
"No buts about it. Let's get to Sickbay before the medicine for nausea wears off." Regina stood up and weaved on her feet as Graham steadied her. Graham was right. His empathy must have alerted him to the fact that Regina's body was already clearing the drug.
…
"Regina isn't going to like this." Mary Margaret protested, looking around in interest despite herself.
Emma chuckled as the woman put on her disdainful look and appeared unaffected by being out of her quarters for the first time in over six months. Ruby was the opposite. She was all over the place, looking at everything and asking many questions.
Emma watched them talk to the mess crew and get food before she put a call through to David.
David's no-nonsense voice over the com actually made Emma smile.
"Go."
"David, it's Emma," she replied just as curtly, but with a smile on her face.
There was a moment of silence. "You're not coming back to my Bridge, are you?" David asked cautiously.
Emma swallowed her immediate indignant retort and instead, responded to the humor of the situation.
"Not immediately, no." His sigh of relief had her eyes narrowing. David and Killian may not be bound by actual familial ties, but in so many ways, they were the same.
"Did you need something?"
Emma decided not to take offense until later. "Actually, this is just a call for your edification. I've got the Eminent sisters, and I refuse to give them back."
David frowned at his com and then looked at his brother. The woman was a loon. "What?"
Emma just laughed. "I just wanted to let you know that Regina's sisters are with me in the dining room, and outside their normal protected quarters."
"Understood." David rubbed his face and fingered his scar. "Where is Regina?"
"With Graham. She's sick."
That made David stand up and take notice. "I'll check on the situation. Thanks for the information."
"No problem."
David looked at his brother and frowned. Killian? A normal Killian reaction would've been to immediately insist on rushing to the crew mess to stand guard over Regina's sisters just in case of trouble. Instead, his horndog friend/brother seemed preoccupied and lost in his own thoughts.
"Killian?" David's frown deepened when his brother had to force himself to pay attention.
"What?" Killian's distracted voice was bothering David.
"Let's go check out the situation."
Killian nodded and followed his brother from the Bridge. "What situation?"
David stopped. "Okay, what's going on?"
Killian just grimaced and shrugged. "Nothing. Why?"
"Why?" David laughed at that. "First, Regina's sisters are out and about on the ship, and you aren't there, Mr. Johnny on the Spot, to check them out. Then, Regina is sick, and you're not your usual...space herpes...it has to be. Instead you're distracted. I'd even say daydreaming."
"Daydreaming? I don't daydream!" Killian and David continued walking. They took the lift to Sickbay. Killian stopped his brother outside the door. "I'm moving out of our quarters."
"What?" David stared at his brother incredulously as he entered Sickbay.
…
Graham ran the full scan twice while Regina tried to resist the nausea. She failed.
"Oh god! I am sorry." Graham patted his friend on the shoulder and handed her a vomit bowl.
"Don't worry about it. We get a little of everything in this place." Graham caught one of his assistant's eyes and they acknowledged his need for a cleaning crew.
"I don't remember the last time I was sick. Maybe when I was a small girl, before the change?" Regina laid back and put her arm over her eyes. "I do not remember it being this miserable."
After the mess was cleaned, Graham stood beside his friend and watched her with a slight apprehension. This wasn't going to be easy.
"Regina, tell me what happened the last time you saw Zelena, before she died."
Regina closed her eyes. "I tracked her down when I felt a disturbance. She was sick. Dying from poison. I think she might have been able to hold off the effects for a long time, but she had another purpose."
"Purpose? What purpose?"
Regina sighed, almost as if she was in pain and resigned to it. "When one of us dies, our energy...our essence seeks out the remaining members of our kind. Zelena knew she was poisoned and that one of her murderers was Cora, our mother; the only remaining Eminent other than myself. She melded her essence into me, so Cora would not benefit for her treason."
Graham moved his mouth around in thought and crossed his arms in front of him. "So instead of holding one-third of all the essence of the Eminents, you hold two-thirds?"
"Yes."
"I think what's happening to you is your body is settling into the power you now possess," Graham hypothesized as Killian and David entered sick bay. "It's a lot of power, Regina, more than you should have. I'd be more surprised if your body didn't struggle with it."
"What can be done?" David asked quietly.
"She needs as much rest as possible. Let her body regenerate, if you will, to embrace her new strength." He turned back to Regina. "It will happen. If your body were to reject Zelena's power, it would have done so by now."
"How?" Killian asked, intrigued.
"She would have died," Graham answered simply.
Regina swallowed nervously, not realizing she had put herself, her crew, at so much risk by accepting her sister's essence.
"You'll be fine, Regina." Graham pattered her arm reassuringly.
"Could one of your sister take some of your powers," David asked, hoping to relieve his friend of her sickness.
Regina shot out a snort of laughter. "I have to confess. They're not really my sisters."
"What?" Killian and David exclaimed at the same time.
"Mary Margaret is the daughter of the man my mother married later in life, just before the war, so I guess we're stepsisters or something."
Killian and David continued to look confused. Stepsisters, or brothers, was something unheard of on their world. Couple's mated for life, whether they got along or not.
"When Cora sided with the Dark One, she raped Mary Margaret's world, took everything of worth, every treasure, and killed her father. Once allied with the Dark One, she learned about his passion for genetics, his ambition to great more Eminent Ones. She remembered Mary Margaret had a gene anomaly; that she holds genetics that can bridge all others. She is the key in his ambitions. So, I took her and Ruby, her closest friend, and I've kept them with me. Passing them off as my sisters is the best way for people not to ask too many questions."
She paused, glancing up at the three men she considered just as much as family as Mary Margaret and, by extension, Ruby. "I'm sorry I lied to you, but it was necessary." She hoped when the real truth came out, they would forgive her again for not being completely honest with what she was telling them now.
David listened quietly. "You did what you thought was best," he said, understanding completely. "And we will protect this Mary Margaret just as much as we protect you, and others."
Graham looked back to Regina. "What about Emma?"
Regina looked confused for a moment before understanding what he was asking. "She's a possibility."
Killian looked quizzical for moment before he caught on. They were discussing Emma taking in some of Regina's powers. His reaction was surprisingly brisk and almost violent. "No! Absolutely not!"
The other three men looked at him in confusion at his intense response.
Killian scratched his forehead and frowned. "Emma's genetics are equally unique. If the Dark One ever scans her, she'll be hunted. Losing the entire Gaian genome was a devastating loss for him, and Emma is like a glimpse of dessert. Adding your eminent powers to that would be icing that cake."
"Killian is right." Regina laid back to rest and think. "Sooner or later, Cora will sense the great power in Emma anyway." At the men's lost gaze, she continued. "Emma resonates something that could be greater than an Eminent One. She could be even more than I am, she could be something the known universe hasn't seen in eons. Adding my power to that could be devastating for her, and the universe."
David looked at his sick friend. "How long before Regina is back to normal?"
Graham just shrugged. "It's unprecedented. There is no way to tell, but I have no doubt she will recover. She's lasted this long. If the power was going or kill her, it would have done so by now."
David and Killian left Sickbay with Regina to escort her back to her rooms. When Robin passed them in the corridor, David smiled and asked the new crew member to escort the Eminent One. Regina bristled at the request.
"I'm quite capable of returning to my quarters," she gripped.
"Of course you are, My Lady," David schmoozed, slipping back into his formal tone with her. "But I would prefer to know you are safe for the time being."
"How about I walk several paces behind, m'lady," Robin offered with sly grin. "That way you can convince yourself I'm a mere peasant."
Regina just huffed as she turned and stalked, as best she could with a nauseated stomach, back to her rooms with Robin grinning as he followed her.
"Killian?"
"Hmm?"
"Do our lives seem a little strange lately? Hidden sisters that aren't really sisters, the last remaining member of an unknown advanced race, an ill Eminent, and now you're moving out."
Killian just scratched his brow. "I don't know. Sounds kind of normal, or same-old stuff. We're setting down on Palin II in about ten days, and things should look a little more routine."
David just laughed. Palin II was their next scheduled supply stop, and it was anything but routine. The last time they had stopped there, Regina had gone missing and Will almost got married without realizing it. Graham had shacked up with a native healer who ended up wanting one of his two hearts.
"You're avoiding telling me, aren't you?"
"What?" Killian looked at his brother and then grimaced. "Okay, maybe a little."
"What's going on?"
"I'm moving in with Emma." David stopped dead in his tracks, and just stared at him. "Hey, she asked me! I swear!"
"You two fight and bicker constantly, and you go out of your way to irritate her."
"That's not true. She's just such an irritating person at times," Killian said, brooking no argument, but she did have some redeeming qualities. "Though her ship is totally worthy of worship."
David just shook his head and continued to the crew dining room. That explained Killian's sudden lack of interest in Regina's 'sisters'. Emma? David just added this to his list of strange and bizarre events.
Then he met the women again and added them to his ever-changing bizarre life. They were in the dining room laughing and talking to crew members, the most prominent being Will. One was quiet and polite, while the other was flirting outrageously with Will.
Killian quickly looked around and found Emma in the kitchen having a very private intense conversation with the cook. Moving through the room, he leaned against a wall and listened.
"No, I'm positive they baked them on a bed of salt, and after they were done, rubbed them with a cloth that removed the outer peel. Then, they sliced them up and served them in the green salad."
"My mother always peeled and boiled them."
Emma pointed at the man's hands. "I understand that following old traditions is important, but the bleeding beetroot leaves stains everywhere if you try to peel it before cooking it." Emma gestured to the man's red stained hands. "Supposedly, the salt bed you bake it on absorbs the red liquid and keeps your pan clean."
Leroy looked at her and tipped his head in speculation. "I thought you didn't know how to cook?"
"I don't! Really, I don't, but I've always been curious and took great pains to watch how people do things." Emma smiled her most engaging smile. "Aren't all these different cultures and ways of doing things so much fun?"
"Fun?" The man looked at her skeptically, but her smile disarmed him and he soon found himself smiling back. "So just wash them and bake on a bed of salt in the oven? Then rub off the peel?" She smiled and nodded.
"What are ya doing?" Emma turned to see Killian and quickly lost her smile. Shuffling on her feet, she decided not to let him bother her.
"Just talking shop."
Killian grimaced. "I've seen your cooking. This can't be shop, but an intent on making mischief."
"Not true! I was offering some sage advice gained from my last six years of traveling."
"Uh huh." Killian took her arm and helped her from the kitchen. "Let's just keep your cooking to your assigned night, love."
"I was just observing."
"Uh huh."
"I hate it when you do that!"
Killian stopped and looked at her confused. "Do what?"
"That, 'uh huh', Emma is getting into trouble. 'Uh huh', she is touching things again. 'Uh huh', now I'm going to have to put her in a corner and keep an eye on her." Emma jerked her arm away. "Stop being so condescending and preachy. You're not my father!"
"I know that. And I don't act anything like a father to you."
"Do too! All … there goes Emma again stuck in the access panel between deck three and four, or...or 'Emma, I want you to wear this anklet which will give you an electrical jolt if you should enter areas where you will cause problems."
"The anklet was a good idea, a sort of learning device."
"I'm not a pet needing training!"
Killian just made a snort of derision. "I'm just trying to keep you out of trouble and from hurting yourself, love."
"I've lived twenty-eight cycles still functioning fine, thank you. I think I can handle it."
"Oh!" Killian looked at her menacingly. "What about the airlock in the forward manifold array?"
"That was an accident! I told you, I tripped and grabbed the lever to save myself."
"And almost blew yourself out of the airlock."
"I held on!"
"The access crawl space..."
"I wasn't stuck! I told you, I was just realigning some power couplings."
"Did Will ask you?"
"No, but..."
David watched his brother and Emma for a moment and just shook his head. Impossible. They would kill each other in no time, or he'd find Killian back in their quarters, bitching.
"Do they always fight like that?"
David looked at the woman standing next to him. Mary Margaret, quiet and discreet.
"Pretty much. Not really fighting as much as disagreeing violently."
"They do it well. How long have they been together?"
David frowned and shrugged. "They aren't together, well at least they weren't until today."
"Interesting. It seems like he's trying to protect her, and she's trying to get him to give her some space."
"Something like that." David smiled at the woman momentarily. "You really shouldn't be out of your protective quarters."
"I know. But Emma said that she was in danger, too, and no one pushed her into a large dampening field, and that if things became a problem 'the big bore butt' would find us." Mary Margaret actually laughed. "I take it he is 'the big bore butt'?"
"Evidently." David scowled at the arguing two. They seemed to be enjoying themselves too much. "I guess I need to take some precautions with Emma as well."
David turned to see his Chief Engineer whispering in Ruby's ear. Great. He was floating a crate full of giggling couples. "Will, I hadn't realized you were off duty yet?"
Will quickly got to his feet at David's words, and sheepishly looked around. "I was just getting a quick …cup of coffee."
David's eyebrow went up.
"And now that I have, I'm on my way back to work." Will smiled at Ruby, and was quickly out the door taking a few of his men with him. Ruby just sat, sullen and pouty over the loss of her companion.
"That wasn't very nice," Mary Margaret observed, noting Ruby's displeasure.
David just shrugged. He was running a ship, not a dating service among the stars. "Job description for Captain didn't list being nice as a prerequisite."
"Doesn't mean you can't cultivate an obvious good trait."
David looked at her again and fingered his scar. "I'll keep that in mind."
"Do that." David managed not to smile at her haughty tone. She was a piece of work, refusing to concede to anyone.
"So I just came to check on you and your 'sister'," he used air quotes, "and let you know Regina was heading back to your quarters."
David smirked as he watched racing emotions across the woman's beautiful face. She had forgotten about Regina.
"Ruby! We need to go." The brunette pointedly ignored her. Mary Margaret quickly excused herself and moved across the mess hall to her friend.
David critically watched them, noting the differences between them. Mary Margaret was quiet, but she held a reserve of strength. And Ruby, who appeared more brash and self-assured, seemed to need attention and reassurance.
"I don't want to go back. I like it here."
"Ruby, Regina is on her way back to the rooms. I want to know what's wrong with her." Mary Margaret tried to keep her exasperation from her voice, because it only made Ruby even more stubborn than usual.
"Okay, okay. But let me finish my drink. I can't believe that after all this time, all you can think about is returning to our prison."
"I'm not! I don't want to go back either, but Regina isn't feeling well, and..."
"Save it." They stared each other down, but they knew that they would return to their rooms.
David just silently watched.
Killian looked at Emma and frowned too. She was in as great a danger as Regina's non-sisters. They had all lost too much to the Dark One and his genetic purity. None of them were willing to lose more.
"You should be behind a dampening field as well, and not allowed to roam the ship unprotected."
"Too bad. I don't care. I won't become a prisoner in that cold crypt."
Killian grabbed her arm and forced her to look at him. "You weren't there. You have no idea what he does to those whose genetics he strips. If you did, you'd have more fear."
Emma removed his hand from her. "I know enough. True, I didn't live it day by day as it was happening, but I came home to it. I almost steered my ship down the black hole that was once my world, my people, and my parents." Emma shoved a finger into his chest. "Don't tell me that I understand nothing of pain and what this war cost."
"Emma..."
"God! You piss me off." Emma started to move away when he stopped her.
"And you are infuriating. So I take it you no longer want me to move in with you?"
Emma was startled at his question. "I didn't say that. I... of course I want you. To move in, I mean." Closing her eyes, she leaned her forehead on his chest unaware of his softening regard, but feeling the hand he moved over her bent head. "I'm alone and it's the way it has to be, working to restore and fix what has already cost too much."
Killian lifted her head by her chin and looked in her eyes. She was tired. He could see it in her eyes, and feel it in her body. It wasn't defeat, just weariness. What weight she carried, he didn't know, but it was a heavy burden.
Lowering his head to kiss her, Killian's face moved closer until his breath was a warm, moist touch on Emma's lips.
"You're right, and I'm sorry," Killian said, just as his mouth moved to cover those glorious lips. Any hesitation that might have been present disappeared at that exact moment. One of Emma's hands came up in protest, but soon slid down to a muscular shoulder and began to knead as the other moved to cradle the back of Killian's head. Killian's hands moved to rest around her slender waist pulling her closer to his body.
Tongues met finally as mouths slanted, grips became tighter, breathing became unnecessary, and the first taste created an addiction Killian didn't ever want to rid himself of, even if he could. God, he loved to kiss! It was almost the only thing he had been permitted to do when he was younger. No woman on his world would've dared to become more intimate than that because they were already promised to a bond mate. But a heavy kissing and petting session with him was like being bad, and there were lots of girls who wanted to feel that way.
Emma was different. She didn't need him to make her feel anything, and somehow there was something much more honest about the way he could overwhelm her. He felt as if Emma was discovering every nook in his mouth, and so he proceeded to do the same thing to her. It became something akin to a race to see who could feel every surface, find every dark corner first.
When blackness began to fall, Killian felt her pull away to pant into his mouth. A low moan of passion mixed with a pout of chagrin, and he pulled her head the last inch forward so their foreheads were resting against each other. They panted together for a few more seconds, slowly calming down as they ran their hands across each other's body. Killian knew the moment that Emma began thinking again, and he waited for her reaction. It didn't take long.
"What is..." Emma cleared her voice to try to remove some of the husky sound. "What's with all the kissing?"
"I like kissing." Killian said releasing her when she moved away from him. "Anyway, you started it."
Emma's brows furrowed. "I did not! You kissed me once before and you just did it again."
"You kissed me first in Sickbay!" Killian's eyes narrowed, suspecting she was going to just shrug it off. "You ravished me!"
"What?" Emma looked at as if he were insane. "It was just a kiss."
"Then you admit it!" Killian snorted. Just a kiss? He'd like to see what she considered more than a kiss.
Emma literally stomped her foot. "I admit nothing. You're delusional."
"I'm delusional? You're afraid."
"Afraid? I'm..."
"Hello?" They both stopped and looked at David who was standing there watching them, as was everyone else in the room.
Emma felt the rush of blood to her face. She had completely forgotten where they were and how public it was. Shooting Killian a look of pure fury, she stalked off.
"Think we can escort these women back to the protection of their rooms?" David asked Killian with amusement.
Killian was confused for a moment, and then realized who David was talking about. "Yeah, whatever."
After they deposited Mary Margaret and Ruby to their respective quarters, Killian and David headed back to work on the Bridge, for which David was eternally thankful. All this little stuff was giving him a headache.
"So you're really going to move out?"
Killian just grunted.
David laughed to himself. An hour ago he would have sworn it was a bad idea, and probably could've given detailed reasons for why it was wrong. But after watching them fight and then kiss in the dining room, both oblivious to everyone else, David felt happy for his brother and envious at the same time. Killian had never had anyone to lose himself in before, and even though David had had Kathryn, it was never that type of relationship.
…
Emma's sitting room was covered in her translations. They were finished, but still gibberish. Fussing with the order of the words, she tried to unravel the location of the first gem, but it still eluded all possible combinations. She had unearthed some of the locations and coordinates, but the final ones were still undeciphered.
Emma had searched her possessions to find her holographic helper. It was a computer-generated star map that allowed her to plot the possibilities along the way as she translated. She thought she had located five known points, but she was missing the remaining two. She currently had it switched on, and the air before her was covered with images of galaxies and stars.
It was the opening of her door that made her stop working. Killian stood there with a bag over his shoulder looking at her, waiting.
"If you're coming in, then you'll need to walk over the threshold," Emma offered before turning her head back to her star map.
Killian entered and tossed his bag on the floor. Emma was curious and twisted her head to see what he had. Killian just knocked the stuff aside and out of her reach and view.
"Is that all you've got?"
"I like to travel light." He didn't mention that he didn't see any reason to drag everything with him just in case this didn't work out. It was easier to pack a smaller bag and leave than to walk away with half his crap still in her possession.
"Well, I cleared some space for you in the bedroom. Just help yourself. I'm almost ready to stop working on this today. I was actually going to use the replicator tonight."
"That's fine." Killian took his stuff into the bedroom and looked around. She had definitely moved in. Her stuff was everywhere with a few pictures and trinkets on the bureau.
"You can move my stuff and put out your things, too."
"Thanks." Killian cringed at the conversation. He thought she would be more at ease, and he could take his cues on how to act from her, but she seemed equally as nervous.
Killian picked up a picture and stared at the woman and man in the photo. Showing it to Emma, he waited.
"My parents." Emma joined him and looked at their faces smiling. "They were quite the pair. Always so alive. I was their only child, given to them late in life. They had assumed that they would never have any children, and then I was born. My father use to threaten to tie a strap to me so he could keep track of my movements."
Killian could understand the sentiment. Putting the picture down he looked at other ones of her with her parents. Strange. All the pictures of Emma were of her as a child.
"There are no older pictures of you?"
"No. I was sent to Temple to train when I was twelve. I never saw them alive again." Emma touched her parents faces and didn't even bother to wipe away the tears that naturally came to her eyes.
"I'm sorry."
"It's strange. We think of life as something discreet and full of proof...just there. But once it is challenged, questioned, or even threatened suddenly it takes on so much more meaning. I left home mere months before the end. If my birth had been just delayed by a few months, or if my father waited until my mid-cycle to send me, I too would have perished."
"Your teachers. They weren't your people?"
Emma just shook her head. "No. They were, but they weren't. They were something else, born into the sect... into a calling. Being a Gaian Priest was the highest honor, and their families watched with great pride at their ascension."
"Weren't there other children your age also training at Temple?"
Emma shook her head. "No, of course not. Temple is only for the Alarch de Prin'c."
"The what?"
"Nothing," Emma muttered. "It's nothing." She walked out of the room, unwilling to talk anymore.
…
