SITN2
Disclaimer: Nope, still not mine.
Author's notes: Thank you for the reviews! I love you all for taking the time to let me know what you think. I missed a lot of eps, so if I conflict with the series, please let me know. That's what the edit chapter function is for, after all.
The three waded out of the fight and toward the nearest exit. Tyr tried not to jar his injured armload, concerned that there had not been time to make certain she had sustained no more damage by being moved. At least the flow of blood down his arm from the head wound had stopped. Considering that alcohol thinned the blood and head wounds always bled strongly, he was surprised it had ceased without assistance. Maybe Regina had nanobots? He looked down at her pale face appraisingly. He knew she had gotten a black eye during the fight, but it was gone. Tyr was surprised, but pleased. If the damage was already being repaired, the danger of lasting harm from the head injury was much less likely.
People moved or were shoved aside as Captain Varrus led the way out of the bar. The ones shoved took one look at the large angry blonde and the even larger man behind her and wisely retreated. Harper brought up the rear until they made it without further incident outside. The air outside the bar was cold and invigorating. Regina stirred in his arms and tensed when she realized she was being held immobile.
"Ease down, I have you, Regina" Tyr murmered into her hair, which was beginning to escape the bun she had confined it to.
"Tyr? What? Did you change your mind about humans…" Regina's voice was thready and hesitant. She was obviously feeling the effects of the concussion. "What's going on? Last I remember I was flirting with you…Now my head is pounding."
"You don't remember? You went to the back of the bar with some male and engaged in a bar fight. Someone in the crowd threw a bottle at you, knocking you unconscious. My scrawny crewmate saw the brawl and came to get me. I arrived just in time to see you go down, so I intervened before you sustained more damage."
"Who are you calling scrawny?!?" Harper butted in indignantly.
"You are scrawny; I have it on good authority. Now shut up." Tyr gave Harper a cold look.
"Thank you both, and not just for getting me out of there. The penalty for brawling is forfeiture of the rest of your leave. I'd be brigged if Caal had caught me." Regina sighed and snuggled deeper into Tyr's embrace.
"I did catch you. You're lucky keelhauling went out with the advent of space travel, or I'd have you strapped to Boadicca's hull. What were you thinking? Do you have any idea what kind of example you just set for the rest of the crew?" Callisto growled and moved so she could glare at her first officer.
"Bloody Hell Caal, I can't defend myself because I don't remember what started it. I don't even remember being in it yet." Regina protested, then went on guiltily. "I know, there is no excuse for what I did. I will check myself into medical, as soon as they clear me, I'll change the duty roster. I'll pull extra shifts until leave is over. It's more productive than confining myself to quarters, if that's all right with you."
"What I would rather do is not be in this position at all. I know perfectly well how tightly wound the whole crew is. We've been shipbound for more months than I care to think about. Your performance will be substandard if you don't get some downtime. However, I cannot let you go unpunished, whatever the reason. It would smack of favoritism." Callisto ran a hand through her short hair as she considered the issue.
"I do not enjoy shore leave as such. Perhaps Regina could spend some of her confinement working on her self defense techniques with me. No one looking in on that would think she was being favored. I do not pull my punches when it comes to insuring the proper training. It might get your point about brawling across more thoroughly than confinement, and serve to bleed off that excess adrenaline she is suffering from. Sparring always clears my mind."
Callisto gave him a conspiratory grin, "That would suffice, and it will further Regina's survival. I am always willing to endorse that. She is usually an exemplary first officer. Would you care to begin after medical clears her? No time like the present."
"That would be satisfactory. I have no pressing engagements this evening." Tyr grinned back at Callisto over Regina's head.
Harper piped up, "Do you want me to tell Dylan what's going on?"
"No. But you will anyway, so be my guest. I'll meet everyone back at the ship. Try not to get into trouble for once; I won't be there to bail any of you out." Tyr reminded Harper.
"I'll keep that in mind, big guy." Harper snarked, and darted back to the relative safety of the bar.
"He should have more of a care for his own survival than that." Callisto's voice was amused as she watched the youth retreat.
"You have no idea." Tyr replied in a tone of long sufferance. "How far is your ship, Captain?"
"Not far, but it doesn't matter. It's mostly a formality. Regina is blessed with a hard head and even harder working nanobots. I suspect she is already quite recovered, and is sandbagging." Callisto glanced pointedly at Regina as she continued walking toward the docks.
"Tattlemonger. You could have at least let me enjoy it until we got to the ship. It's the last fun I'm going to have this shore leave." Regina grumped from Tyr's arms.
Tyr looked down at Regina in surprise. Not even his nanobots would have dealt with head trauma this quickly. Hell, he'd still have the black eye. She was making no move to leave his arms though, so he didn't bother to set her down. Now that he was less concerned about her, he was realizing how pleasant it was to have her in his arms. She was heavier than he would have originally assumed, but not too heavy for him to carry. He was also noticing the fact that the arm supporting her head was brushing her left breast as they walked.
Regina had noticed it too, and was working very hard not to moan from the repetitive friction. She was doing pretty well at maintaining her silence, but as they passed under a streetlight the jig was up. Her nipples were plainly visible, straining as they were against the thin jumpsuit. Regina swore in her head, and hoped Tyr was too busy watching where he was going. She knew it would be worse if Caal glanced over…Regina knew she'd never hear the end of this one if she did.
