NOTES: I haven't written anything in this fandom in something crazy like fifteen years or more, and I went back and read that previous attempt recently and all I can say is this: I really hope I do the fandom justice this time around. Anyway, that being said! I recently tumbled back into this fandom around Christmas, when I randomly discovered the SyFy channel playing episodes in the mornings, and I fell back in love with the show. I loved it an insane amount a long time ago and I've really rediscovered my passion for it, even if objectively I know it had its problems. So I took it upon myself to give in to the temptation to have another crack at writing a fic, and here we are. I've been taking my time with this, trying to get myself comfortable with the characters' voices and personalities, which is being helped along by re-watches of the right episodes. Setting-wise, I'm very much a Season Two cast person (for the record, the Season One cast was spectacular - I just find it easier to write the Season Two crew) and timeline-wise this is all set after the penultimate episode, Blindsided, and for me, that's where the show ends. Needless to say I hated the end of the second season, as well as the entirety of the third, so in my mind they never happened. For the sake of this fic, and any others I write, that will be the case. I hope that's okay with everyone!

Anyway, that's enough of my ramble. Please do let me know what you think, I would love to hear your feedback, and I will do my best to update this fic regularly :D

No sooner had he set the shot glass upside down on the table than another tray was being brought over to a chorus of good-tempered protests and raucous disbelief. The liquor was still burning down his throat as he listened to the people around him questioning just why another round was being delivered already, the heavy and strong taste of the alcohol lingering in his mouth as he looked across the round table at one person in particular.

It didn't take a genius to figure out who was responsible.

Piccolo's voice rose effortlessly above the loud music and clash of overlapping voices from all around them. "What?" With a broad gesture he continued, "I told 'em not to let us run dry. That's all!"

"You paying for these, Piccolo?" Even as he asked that question, Brody was reaching across to take one of the fresh shots from the tray.

Looking around at the faces of those gathered Piccolo shrugged and shook his head, gesturing again before he said, "We got a group tab, right?"

That triggered another rush of voices, some of them objections that were somewhat ruined by the laughter they rode out on while others argued that since the shots had already been ordered and delivered it would be a shame and a waste to not drink them.

"Okay, okay!" Brody's voice cut across the clamour and he laughed, holding his claimed shot aloft. "Look, it's the last night of shore leave. We're back on the boat tomorrow." He looked around at the others gathered, brows lifted as he studied them each briefly in turn. "It's gonna be a while before any of us get to drink like this again, right?"

Miguel couldn't help but laugh at that, shaking his head and looking around at the others gathered. They were all considering it, glancing to one another and then down at the shots. One by one they took the small glasses and held them aloft as well. With the taste and burn of the last shot still lingering Miguel threw caution to the wind and claimed one as well. "What the hell," he said, looking across at Brody whose smile had become a grin.

The Security Officer counted down from three and no sooner had he finished the count than they were all downing their shots. Miguel couldn't help the small groan and the hiss through his teeth as the taste that had already been sitting heavily on his tongue and in his throat was amplified intensely.

To his right Lonnie grimaced and coughed once before she managed to gather her voice enough to say, "If I have a hangover tomorrow, I'm holding both of you guys responsible." She indicated both Brody and Piccolo in turn.

"Hey," the shorter man protested, holding up his hands, "don't blame me for your low tolerance." He grinned.

A handful of discarded pretzels went sailing rapidly across the space between Lonnie and Tony, catching the latter off guard. He started to complain loudly about being assaulted, turning various affectionate barbs and teasing jabs in his direction. Lonnie started to laugh in earnest, adding her voice to the light-hearted barrage.

"If it comes down to a fight between you two," Miguel cut in, looking between Tony and Lonnie, "my money's on Henderson." That got the reaction that he had been expecting with everyone but the Seaman himself breaking out with laughter or cries of feigned shock. The woman in question met Piccolo's gaze and raised her hands to either side as if to say There you have it before she too started to laugh.

"You're all against me," Tony complained loudly, his expression turning sour but Miguel could tell that the other man wasn't as hurt by their ribbing as he was making out. He suspected that Piccolo was just glad to be off the ship for a while, and happy to have been included in their outing. They had all been there at one point or another, unsure as to whether or not they fit in or were wholly welcome, and Miguel remembered a time not too long ago when he had been in that position himself. A lot had changed since then, not just in terms of crew compliment but with the seaQuest herself. She had been destroyed and rebuilt since those days, sacrificed for what anyone would surely call the greater good. Her sacrifice had saved the entire planet, a cost that might have seemed too high to some but not to her crew, who understood the severity of the situation they had been dealing with. Captain Bridger had made the right choice, and Miguel suspected they would be hard pressed to find any sensible person who would disagree with them. Some of the UEO bigwigs who worried more about money than other matters like the overall state of the planet they all lived on might have been unhappy about what it had cost to fund the seaQuest's reconstruction but the fact that they had gone ahead and funded it anyway said a lot about the vessel's ultimate worth.

Really, saying that a lot had changed since those days was something of a laughable understatement. As Miguel looked around at the faces of those gathered at the table and listened to their carefree chatter and laughter he found himself glad for many of those changes. The new additions to the crew were welcome ones, and though those who had left during the seaQuest's rebuild would always be missed, they had all had their reasons for moving on. Miguel couldn't fault anyone for making choices that they believed would better their lives in any way. Hitchcock was a perfect example, obviously, now commanding her own vessel, a position for which he believed she was perfectly suited.

Not so long ago the man to Miguel's left had thought to do something similar, leaving the seaQuest in order to pursue another path, thinking that he had no place or real purpose among the crew. His best friend could have told him that that was a crazy thought, about as far from the truth as anything he had ever heard. Everyone knew that Tim O'Neill was the best at what he did, and whether or not he believed it for himself he really had made a difference, not to mention an impact, on the seaQuest and her crew, as well as her ongoing mission. There was no reason for him to think otherwise, and Miguel was just glad that the other man had come back, even if he had been somewhat shoved in that direction after what had happened with Mariah.

With a glance to his side he saw that Tim was pulling a face that clearly said he wasn't enjoying the alcohol as much as everyone else and he smiled quietly, bringing one hand up to pat his friend on the back. That triggered the Communications Officer to turn his head and laugh a little sheepishly. "I think," he said, not loudly enough to be overheard by anyone else, "I'm just about done."

Miguel's smile grew, though not without sympathy. "Yeah?"

Another sheepish laugh and a shake of the head was Tim's initial response while he took the time to summon his voice again. "I know when I'm beat." Setting his hands against the edge of the table he said, this time loud enough for the others to hear him, "I think I'm going to head back."

"Aw, man, really?" Piccolo actually looked genuinely disappointed. "C'mon, Tim—"

"No, no, no," he said, adjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose and then waving his hand in the air. "I've officially lost count and that means I've had too many." He made a vague gesture with the same hand towards the various glasses on the table top. "You guys have fun, okay? I'm just going to go and pass out for—" he consulted his watch, "—seven and a half hours."

Piccolo screwed up his face. "Ugh. Don't remind me how soon we gotta be back."

"Do you want someone to walk back with you?" Lonnie leaned around Miguel just enough to meet Tim's gaze as he rose from his stool. She managed to ask the question casually enough not to make it obvious that she was reluctant to let him go anywhere on his own. His kidnapping hadn't happened all that long ago and they were all still a little on edge about him being in similarly vulnerable situations.

From the look on Tim's face it seemed as though he had seen right through Lonnie's attempt at disguising her concern, but to his credit he didn't look annoyed in the slightest. "I'll be okay," he assured her. "But if you're ready to head back too, I wouldn't say no to the company." He smiled at her, and she thought about it for a moment before she nodded her head, conceding to the fact that she might have had enough as well. She pushed up from her seat, moving around to join the Communications Officer.

Miguel slapped one hand lightly on the table, saying as he did so, "I'll head out with you guys."

"Really, Miguel, we'll be—"

"Take it easy," he chuckled, meeting Tim's gaze. "I just want to get some air. Even by my standards it's hot in here." That and the back-to-back shots were starting to have a definite impact and some fresh air would go a long way towards helping him clear his head of the buzz that was starting to settle in. Patting Tim on the back again he got them moving forward, amidst calls of farewell to the former who waved his hand in the air as they went.

Lonnie led the way through the crowd, the smallest of the three and therefore better suited to find the best path. As she stepped into small gaps between people they widened the gap to let her pass and in doing so permitted the passage of her male companions. Miguel brought up the rear, stepping out of the bar and into the cool night air last, drawing a deep lungful of it and almost instantly feeling better for it.

"You sure you don't want to head back with us?" Lonnie asked, tilting her head in the direction they were intending to walk.

Miguel shook his head. "I'm good," he told her, smiling, before he jerked his head back towards the doors behind them. "Someone's gotta keep an eye on these guys, right? Who knows what kinds of trouble they'll get themselves into otherwise?"

"What about Jim?"

With a laugh Miguel said to Tim, "I think Piccolo's a bad influence on him."

"Well," Tim returned, "good luck. You'll need it."

"Tell me about it." He clapped his friend on the shoulder again. "See you tomorrow." With a nod and a smile for Lonnie as well, he let them get going, pushing his hands into his pockets and clearing the doorway so new arrivals could enter the bar as he watched the pair head off down the street. There were plenty of people around, he confirmed at a glance, and he trusted that the pair would get where they were going without any trouble. That didn't stop him from watching them until they were more or less completely out of sight though, enjoying the cooler air as he did so and feeling it clear enough of the buzzing cloud in his brain that he was confident he could keep going for a while. Eventually he would hit his limit like anyone else but he planned to at least try to keep up with everyone else. He figured he had a pretty good chance of doing just that, and besides, like he'd told Tim and Lonnie, someone had to try and keep the two men still sitting inside out of whatever trouble they might get themselves into otherwise.

"Hi."

The voice snapped him out of his reverie and turned his head to the left to see a woman, who showed him a smile when their eyes met. She was tall, for a woman, standing pretty much eye-to-eye with Miguel himself, with fairly short blonde hair and eyes that could have been either blue or green. It was difficult to tell without seeing them under direct light. For just a moment Miguel allowed himself to take in the other specifics of her appearance, from the slope of her jaw and her easy smile to the way she stood with her weight balanced comfortably more on one side. It emphasised the curve of her hips. In an instant he brought his eyes back up to hers, realising as he did so that he hadn't responded to her yet. "Hi." He offered her a smile in return.

"Taking a break?" she asked, glancing over his shoulder to the bar's entrance. "Or are you waiting for someone?"

Miguel tilted his head a little to the side. "The former," he admitted with a small laugh. "What about you?"

She tilted her head in the other direction. "The latter."

He would have made a terrible joke about how he hoped she wasn't being stood up if she wasn't very obviously a striking woman, the sort of woman any man would be mad to skip out on spending time with. Whoever she was waiting for was lucky, as far as he was concerned.

"I'm Sasha," she said then, holding her hand out in the offer of a shake.

With a smile he drew his hand out of his pocket to accept the offer. Her grip was firm and confident, and her hand was pleasantly warm in his. "Miguel," he returned. "Nice to meet you."

"And you." She smiled back at him, going on to lean her weight a little further to the side so that her shoulder rested lightly against the wall. Once again Miguel found his gaze drawn down to her hips, if only for a moment. "This is one of my haunts," she said to him, "but I don't think I've seen you around here before." Her smile widened as she went on to add, "I'm pretty sure I would remember you."

It was impossible not to smile at something like that. "Just passing through," he told her.

"Oh?" Dropping her gaze for a moment she said, just loudly enough for him to hear, "Shame." She brought her eyes back up to meet his, her bottom lip caught just lightly between her teeth.

Miguel watched her, his gaze drawn to her lips as she stood there looking at him like that. Even as he watched her, she closed the gap between them, just by a fraction at first and then a little more boldly. He thought about reminding her that she was waiting for someone but it was like there had been some kind of disconnect between his brain and his mouth and the words didn't form.

Before he even realised that she was close enough to do so she had pressed her lips to his. That same disconnect kept him from questioning whether or not it was such a good idea to respond in kind, and so that was exactly what he did. She took his response as a sign to deepen the kiss, her hands going to his waist even as her tongue brushed firmly over his own.

Someone close by said something to a friend at their side in a low voice and there was an equally hushed rush of laughter that prompted Sasha to break the kiss, but only so that she could give him a tug by his belt, encouraging him to follow her around the corner of the building and into the alley that ran its length along the side. Miguel went along without a word of complaint, not even so much as casting a glance back over his shoulder.

The others might be wondering what was keeping him but it was just as likely that they were amusing themselves so thoroughly that they hadn't even noticed how long he had been gone. He didn't have to rush.

Sasha put her own back to the wall, pulling him close enough that his hips pressed against hers as she rekindled the kiss. He wrapped one arm around her back as it arched away from the wall and lifted the other to bury his fingers into her hair at the back of her head. She made a low sound at the back of her throat when he did that, a pleased sound, shifting her weight just enough to press her hips a little more firmly against his own. It made his heart skip a little, his blood running hotter at the suggestiveness of the motion.

Oh, he was in trouble.

When the kiss broke Sasha let out a small, breathless laugh, looking into his eyes as they opened. She didn't so much smile at him then as smirk, the expression decidedly mischievous and satisfied.

In the moments that followed the kiss' end Miguel's brain managed to reengage enough for him to remember what he had been going to say before they'd ducked out of sight. "I thought—" He had to pause a moment to gather himself more fully. "I thought you were waiting for someone."

"I was," she assured him, that smirk still in place. She tilted her head just a fraction again and there was an unquestionably pleased light in her eyes as she went on to say, "You."

Miguel felt his brow furrow as he frowned, having enough presence of mind then to release his hold on her and start to step back. Under normal circumstances what she had just said would have been undeniably intriguing, undoubtedly flirtatious, and while there were still elements of the latter there was something about the way she was looking at him that made him doubt it was just a line. Before he could ask her what she really meant a movement to his right turned his head in that direction, part of him expecting a blow and instinctively bracing for it. But it didn't come.

Instead he had just enough time to feel Sasha's hand land at the back of his neck, cupping it fully, and then the world went black.

She watched silently as his body went limp under her touch, falling towards the floor only to be caught on the way by the figure who had stepped out of the alley's shadows moments beforehand. The newcomer caught the man effortlessly, his own weight already bowed ready to do so over his shoulder. Without even missing a beat he regained his full height, barely even seeming to register the burden he now carried.

"Good timing as always," she acknowledged with little more than a glance, holding up a hand to instruct him to wait before she strode with calm purpose towards the alley's mouth once again. There, just around the bend, the girl who had been laughing with a friend was still standing in the cool night air, obviously enjoying how refreshing it was in contrast to the stifling heat of the bar.

With next to no effort at all she beckoned the girl towards her, reaching out a hand for her as she broke away from her friend and moved closer. The girl responded in kind and all it took was a moment of that physical contact to get the job done. She gave the girl a smile, almost proud, before she slid her hand free and stepped back into the alley, turning smoothly as she did so and heading down into the shadows her companion had emerged from only moments before. He followed behind her without a word, still carrying the limp form of Senior Chief Petty Officer Miguel Ortiz.

Their group had shrunk rather dramatically in a short space of time and Tony was wondering about suggesting moving on to another bar, if only to free up the table for the people who were frequently glancing in their direction with varying degrees of frustration and envy. The table could seat six comfortably and now it was just the two of them. Maybe they could take up seats at the bar instead.

As he turned to his lone companion to suggest the idea he saw Brody sitting up straighter on his stool and craning his neck to get a look at the bar as a whole. "What's up?" he asked the larger man, trying to follow his line of sight but failing miserably. He could try to support himself on the lowest rungs of the stool to get a better vantage point but knowing his luck, and the amount of alcohol he'd already put away, he'd probably end up slipping and making an idiot of himself.

"Miguel said he was heading out for some air," Brody said as he turned his head back, shaking it a little. "I thought he'd be back by now."

Tony shrugged his shoulders before looking down at his own watch. "Huh." It had been a while. "Think maybe he changed his mind and headed back too?"

Brody's brow had creased in that way that Tony knew meant he was thinking it over, briefly drumming his fingers on the table's surface. Tony had a pretty good idea what the other man was thinking, a suspicion that was confirmed when the Security Officer said, "I'm gonna go check."

"I'll tag along," Tony said. Before Brody could protest he added, "Table's kinda big for three guys anyway. I figured we'd let another group take it." His companion dipped his head in a nod and then started to lead the way through the crowd, weaving in and out of groups and flirting pairs of people with the kind of cool and confident ease that Tony could only aspire to emulate.

Soon enough they were stepping out into the night air and it was only at that moment that Tony realised just how hot it was in the bar. Miguel had had the right idea in stepping out for a while, but as Tony turned his head left and right he couldn't see any sign of the Sensor Chief. Glancing at Brody he concluded that the taller man had come up empty as well, and he followed the Lieutenant down the few steps leading up to the bar's entrance in order to get a better look around.

"You see him anywhere?"

Brody shook his head, turning slowly in a full circle to try and catch a glimpse of their missing companion. After a moment he stepped away from the entrance, heading toward the side of the building and looking down the alley that ran the length of the bar. When Tony caught up with him he was frowning.

"He probably just took off with O'Neill and Henderson." Tony shrugged again, looking down the street to see if he could spot anything in that direction but even if he was right then too much time had passed for him to be able to see their crewmates.

"Without telling us?" Brody didn't sound convinced. Tony couldn't help but be doubtful as well, even if it had been his suggestion. This was Miguel Ortiz they were talking about, a responsible and considerate guy who wouldn't just take off without a word, especially not if it might cause any trouble.

"Hey." The voice came from their left, turning their attention in that direction to find a young woman leaning against the wall with a friend. She was cute, Tony thought, but when she kept talking he managed to bite his tongue and keep it to himself, at least for the time being. "Are you looking for your friend?" she asked them, looking between the two of them. "Tall guy, black hair, kinda Spanish-looking?"

Cuban. Miguel or Tim would have corrected the girl, the former with an easy, charming smile and the latter matter-of-factly, but Tony did neither, instead just nodding his head while Brody said, "Yeah. Did you see where he went?"

The girl smiled and laughed a little, looking to her friend as she chewed on her bottom lip, looking almost bashful for a second. "They took off," she said to them with a hint of a giggle in her voice. Before either Tony or Brody could ask what she meant she went on, "He and this woman were all over each other. They said they were going to head back to her place." Her eyes were dancing with amusement as she added, "For privacy, you know?" She was turning back to her friend then, the two of them giggling amongst themselves.

Well. So much for responsible. With his brows raised Tony looked up at his companion, who turned his head down to meet his gaze. "I guess he ditched us," Tony said, managing to sound only a little put out. If anything he couldn't help but feel jealous. Even without seeing the woman that Miguel had ditched them for his imagination was doing a good job of convincing him that she was a catch. Of course she was. The Sensor Chief and the Lieutenant beside him always managed to attract the hottest girls.

"I guess so." Brody spoke the words with a sigh and clapped Tony on the back. "So now what, Piccolo?" He summoned a smile. "Head back inside or call it a night?"

Snorting out a breath Tony said, "You kiddin' me? I'm not lettin' Ortiz have all the fun tonight." He was already heading back towards the bar's entrance, hearing Brody's laugh ring out from behind him. As they climbed the steps he looked back over his shoulder to say, "And I swear to God if you swoop in and do your whole Lieutenant Charmin' act I'm gonna kick your ass."

Brody laughed again, louder this time. "You can try, Piccolo."

Try and fail, more like. Tony didn't say it out loud even though they both knew it was true. Holding his tongue he just tossed a glare over his shoulder as he pulled the door open to head back into the hectic crowd.