Falling Toward Destiny
By Felicia Ferguson
Rating: This section PG-13/R.
Disclaimer: Riker, Troi and all recognizable characters belong to the Star Trek people. The characters that you don't recognize are my creations.
Archive: Certainly, but please ask first.
Feedback: If you feel so moved, I'd love to hear from you.
Then
1/?
The shuttlecraft Calliope landed in the shuttlebay with a light thump. The young ensign piloting the new command crew blushed slightly at the landing. The captain raised his eyebrows a fraction, but otherwise made no comment. The counselor, his wife, offered the pilot a reassuring smile. He blushed again, realizing that a man could lose himself in her dark eyes. Her smile warmed with understanding. Perhaps that was what her husband had first thought when they'd met.
The captain cleared his throat and the ensign jumped, quickly returning his attention to the control panels. He didn't hear the captain comment to the counselor, "Flirting with the junior officers, Commander?" A light smile decorated his lips. He understood the younger man's reaction and could no more hold it against him than he could change Earth's orbit. Will knew the effect his wife had on men, yet no jealousy lurked underneath his question. She was his Imzadi. She belonged to him alone just as he belonged to her. To question the bond was laughable.
Deanna raised her gaze to her husband and caressed his bearded cheek. "Why would I flirt with junior officers when I have a captain who takes me to bed?" Her whispered response, accompanied by the sultry darkening of her already coffee-colored eyes, sent a swift wave of longing through him. Soon, Imzadi. We do have new quarters to christen.
Will's eyes danced with mirth as she playfully rapped a data padd against his arm. Opening her mouth to respond, she closed it as the shuttle doors opened revealing the Titan's first officer and security chief. She settled for sending, You are incorrigible.
No, just a man in love. The words warmed her just as he'd known they would and Deanna had to force her brain to focus on the two officers who waited to greet them. An Andorian male, his white shock of hair styled so that it lay flat between his antennae, bobbed his head in greeting while the Vulcan female stood with her hands behind her back.
"Captain, I am Commander Shek Lemoor, your first officer. And this is Lieutenant Commander T'Noth, chief of security. I apologize that more of command staff was unable to be present, sir," the Andorian first officer said as he gestured to the rest of the deserted shuttle bay.
Will smiled and shook his head. "Quite alright, Number One, I understand that we are under a tight timeline to get aboard and out to the Romulan Neutral Zone. I'd rather have them at their posts and meet them once we're en route." He paused then indicated Deanna who stood on his right. "This is Commander Deanna Troi, the new counselor."
"It is an honor to meet you."
"You are empathic," the security chief stated in matter-of-fact acceptance, her Vulcan eyebrows raised.
Deanna smiled and nodded once. "I haven't had many occasions to work with Vulcans. I would be interested in exchanging information about your own telepathy skills."
"I look forward to it, Commander," Lieutenant Commander T'Noth replied.
As the Vulcan woman turned aside so that Riker and Troi could pass in front of her behind Lemoor, the counselor hid a smile. Deanna had heard reports of the legendary T'Pol's beauty, but she hadn't encountered what she would term a ravishing Vulcan of the female sex. Until now. Good. It was about time Will met someone impervious to his legendary charm. He might be a married man, but she knew for certain he wasn't dead and that was definitely the state a man would have to be in for him not to notice the lovely Vulcan.
"The rest of the senior staff will meet us at 2100 in the conference lounge. Until then, I've arranged for a tour of the ship." The Andorian paused to allow Riker to counter schedule if he wanted to do something else. When he made no objection, the first officer gestured to the shuttle bay area.
"This is the largest of three shuttle bays and extends the length of the saucer section of the ship. It and the other two bay areas were designed for rapid deployment and retrieval of shuttles as well as other small craft as needed. There are 21 decks in total with crew quarters on decks five, six and seven."
The doors to the shuttle bay opened revealing the traditional gray and red hallway. Lemoor turned left and nodded to the group of engineers who knelt beside a computer panel. The Andorian stopped in midstride and stood at attention. "Captain on deck!" he cried, his loud voice easily booming down the hall. The engineers snapped to attention.
Will, not having expected such a display, blinked then looked to Deanna. A slight, proud smile tinged the corners of her lips. Captain. He was now officially a captain. There would be no return to the Enterprise after a short mission, nor would Picard replace him in "The Chair." Captain. He, Will Riker, was the captain.
Sensing Deanna's unabashed pride, Will squared his shoulders and nodded to the engineers and other personnel who had just entered that section of the hall as the command had been voiced. Riker drew every experience he possessed to the fore and, in his most commanding voice, stated, "At ease. Return to your duties. I'm sure we'll have ample opportunities to become better acquainted. Mr. Lemoor, if you would, I believe we have a tour to finish."
True to his word, the first officer conducted the new captain and counselor on a thorough tour of the Titan, emphasizing the important points, such as the fifteen photon/quantum torpedo banks. It was a sight that was relatively reminiscent of a certain Klingon. But with the Andorians, being similarly warlike and appreciative of the finer combative abilities, it was to be expected. And Deanna just smiled. No, it wasn't the Enterprise, but their new home was shaping up quite nicely.
***
"You know, you could have checked my schedule this morning to see if I had time for this, and you would have found that I most definitely do not."
The man to whom the complaint was directed looked up from his medical tricorder and smiled at the Bajoran woman who sat, quite impatiently, on the biobed. Lash Vaden, the chief engineer glared at him. "The new captain just came on board and if he finds Engineering bereft of its chief engineer when he stops by on the tour Lemoor so precipitously concocted, I'm sure there will be hell to pay."
The doctor nodded, still reading the results of the scan. "And you can blame your absence on the fact that you have been avoiding your yearly physical and the chief medical officer finally caught up to you."
"Well," the Bajoran answered, "you might have at least mentioned this last night. Or better yet even done it last night."
"Vaden, last night, a tricorder wasn't even remotely a consideration. Besides, I know how much you enjoy surprise inspections." His smile warmed as he watched a blush steal across his wife's cheeks.
The other medical officers, accustomed to the give and take that existed between the two, offered amused glances at the engineer's predicament, but otherwise offered no assistance. No doubt Dr. Harper was merely paying her back for some ordeal she had created for him.
"What do you think about the new captain, anyway," Michael Harper asked, taking pity on his wife and allowing her a graceful exit from a discussion about their previous night's activities.
She shook her dark head and shrugged, her earring jingling for a moment. "From what I hear, he's quite the ladies' man."
Michael raised a speculative blond brow. His green eyes gleamed with consideration. "So are you saying I should be worried?"
"Hardly," she said, "I wouldn't know what to do with another man as amorous as you. Besides, he's married now. That fact has been known to tame a few wild beasts."
The tricorder beeped, interrupting his amused retort. "Perfectly health, Commander Lash. You are fit for duty."
"Like you didn't already know that. You just wanted to torment me." She hopped down from the bed, considering a site-to-site transport back to Engineering, and muttered, "Never marry a doctor. Mother always told me to never marry a doctor. Gods, why didn't I listen to her?"
"Because your father told you to marry me," drifted her husband's light reply. Vaden refused to dignify that with an answer.
***
The doors to their quarters hissed for a moment, pausing Deanna as she pulled yet another trinket from the Starfleet issued transfer container. How in the world did one accumulate so much stuff? Of course, it was no longer just her "stuff" that had to be unpacked. Example number one being the wooden figurine she now held in her hand. Shaking her head, she rose from her knees and sat on the bed. "I can't believe you kept this."
Will glanced through the doorarch to their bedroom then smiled at the object in question. "I'll have you know some of my fondest memories are attached to that Horga'hn. Picard's expression when he returned from Risa being at the top of the list."
Deanna stood, fighting the smile that begged to be released. "You didn't even forewarn him what it meant before he transported down to the surface."
"Some things are more fun to find out for yourself. But I would have given several bars of latinum to see his face when he was first approached."
She lost the battle with her lips and a full smile broke through her restraint.
"And," Will's smile turned sly as a wicked gleam lit his eyes, "he had a good time, didn't he?"
Deanna couldn't help but laugh, remembering how rested Picard had been when he'd returned. Vash was certainly a surprise. No one expected the captain to find a vacation in itself in one tempestuous human female.
"But one question that I would like an answer to is, why are we talking about Picard's romantic escapades when we should be discussing our own? We have quarters to christen if you remember." Will grabbed her free hand and pulled her to him, divesting her of the statue and setting it on a side table. He placed a light kiss on her forehead and closed his eyes, slipping into her mind and mentally began undressing her. Eyes widened at the ease with which he had entered her mind, Deanna pulled back. Disappointment tinged their bond as she sighed, "Will, we have a lot of unpacking to do."
He glanced around to the myriad of containers still in various stages of being emptied then turned back, including Deanna in his appraising look. Lips pursed, he paused for a thoughtful moment. She felt the tiniest thread of deviousness weave its way between them before he said, "I think the first thing I want to unpack is my wife." Lowering his lips to hers, Will set about to convince her of the correctness of his priority list. Not that she, in truth, needed much convincing.
Brush, nibble, lick. Brush, nibble, lick. Sensation streaked through her. Their bond opened fully, expanding, flowering, luring them deeper. Sweet nectar gushed over them as her tongue slid over his. Heat pooled within her, weighting her arms, buckling her knees. Will banded an arm around her middle tugging her closer, branding her with the heat of his touch. Her fingers drifted of their own accord into the hair at his nape, threading through it until she gently cupped his head.
More desperate for her than breath, Will was nonetheless forced to pull away. His broad chest heaved as if he'd run full distance of the ship. "You are so beautiful," he whispered, the words barely audible in the space between their breaths. Deanna raised her fingers to his kiss-bruised lips. "Shh..." Imzadi. Her dark eyes locked with his blue ones and the universe disappeared. She could deny him nothing when they were joined like this.
Their bond throbbed, aching for completion, urging them on. Through the haze, Will's mind focused enough to realize that they were both still fully clothed, a state that was definitely not conducive to the scenario he had in mind. Deanna smiled as his thought whispered through her. Oh, my, and what a scenario it was.
***
...to be continued...