Loire Valley

Monday 14th February 1994

Coming awake with a start, Krang opened his eyes to find that it was still dark. Chrissie was curled up right next to him, her head on his shoulder and arm across his chest. Other than the soft sound of Chrissie's breathing, the house was silent, indicating that the children too were sleeping. He relaxed slightly and then remembered that it would not start to get light until at least 07:30, and he needed to be long gone by then.

Suppressing a growl that would almost certainly wake her, he reached out a hand and touched the button on the alarm clock. Obligingly, it lit up, displaying the time. 04:52am. He cursed under his breath. If he was going to honour his promise to slip away without saying goodbye, he would have to get up now.

Carefully disentangling himself from Chrissie's embrace, he slid out of the bed and pulled on the uniform that was laid out neatly over the back of a chair before sliding his feet into the boots that, for once, were not lying haphazardly across the floor. Chrissie had picked them up, he remembered, after almost falling over them. She'd shaken her head in exasperation, wanting to know how someone who was so tidy in every other way, could be such a menace with those big, clumsy boots. They were dangerous, she'd complained; what was it with Klingons that even their footwear had to be weapons? He'd just laughed and catching hold of her, had pulled her onto the bed.

He had made love to her with a fierce desperation that had stopped just short of violence. She'd seemed to want it that way, biting and scratching and doing everything she could to further inflame him. Afterwards, exhausted, extremely satisfied, and for the moment at least, happy, he'd held her in his arms until she'd fallen asleep.

He hadn't intended to waste any of the night sleeping, had wanted to spend the remainder of the night… their final night together… savouring every precious moment before he had to get up and leave her forever. Not, he mused with faint bitterness, that 'forever' was going to be a very long time. It would take the troop transport approximately fourteen days to get to Qo'noS. After that, he estimated that he had a day, maybe two before they sent troops to arrest him. He did not think there would be a trial; they would not want to risk the story of what had happened on Earth becoming public. Instead, they would demand that he explain himself, condemn him, and carry out the sentence with immediate effect.

Wishing, not for the first time that things could have been different, he sighed and picked up the kitbag that contained the last of his personal possessions, slinging it over his shoulder. In truth, the bag was mostly empty, containing just a few items that had sentimental value to him. Everything else – his clothing, his weapons, the picture of his little family and the contents of his office – had all been packed up last night, after the children had gone to bed and had been beamed to his quarters on the transport ship.

Moving to the bedroom door, he opened it and turned back for one last look, although in the darkness all he could see was a faint dark outline marking her presence in his bed. Almost he went back to her, and in his imagination, he could see himself doing just that… dropping the kitbag, taking her in his arms, promising he would never leave her… piling her and the children into his shuttle and going Kahless knew where… but he did not. Instead, he stepped through the door, closing it behind him with a quiet 'snick' and heading down the corridor towards the stairs.

The children's bedroom door was open and he stopped for a moment, wildly tempted to go in and check on them one last time. No, he told himself, there was too big a risk of waking them and he had promised not to do that. One moment wouldn't hurt… He would just look… make sure they were all right… That was acceptable, wasn't it? Before he could stop himself, he moved to the open door and peered round it. Fina was still scared of the dark, something Chrissie had told him was very common with young children, and the bedroom was lit by the soft, amber glow of the teddy-bear-shaped nightlight that they had chosen because it reminded them of Mr Bear the hero of their bedtime stories. The light level was low, just enough to vanquish the blackness and give the children a sense of security, and he could see them curled up under the blankets in their respective beds.

He'd tried to move quietly but he must have made a sound, because there was a rustle of blankets and Toni sat up. "Vavoy?"

Krang cursed, resulting in a soft giggle from the boy. "That's a bad word."

"Yes, it is," the Klingon admitted, "and you will not repeat it. Now, be quiet or you will wake your sister."

"I'm already awake." Fina threw back the blankets and sat up.

Krang sighed. This was not going as he had intended. "So, I see. Why are you not asleep?"

"Cos Toni went to the bathroom," Fina said, glaring at her brother. "…and he tripped over my slippers and said that word and woke me up… and we heard you moving so we pretended to be asleep so we wouldn't get into trouble and…"

"Yes, well…" Krang interrupted quickly, fighting the urge to laugh. There were far too many 'and's in that sentence and Kahless only knew what the child would come out with if he didn't stop her in her tracks.

"Are you going somewhere?" Toni asked equally quickly… anything to turn attention away from himself so his Vavoy wouldn't have time to take note of what Fina had said about him using that bad word. "It's not time to get up yet, is it?"

Krang had noticed but decided to let it go. "I must leave early today," he said evasively. "I have work to do."

"Is this a time zone thing again?" Fina asked him. "Like, you're going to China or America or something?"

"Or something," he agreed. "Now lie down and go back to sleep… or just pretend to be asleep if you like but be quiet… otherwise you'll wake up your mother and get me into trouble."

Obedient, as they always were when he gave them an instruction, both children lay down again, and moving to the bedside of the boy he considered to be his son, he dropped a kiss on his forehead. "Antonio, I want you to be good today. Help your mother and look after your sister while I am gone."

The use of his full name put the child on notice that this was something far more serious than it seemed. "Hija vav," he said formally, wondering what was going on but sensing that he should not ask. "Yes, sir; I promise."

"Good lad." With a satisfied smile, Krang moved to the other bed and bent to kiss the little girl.

She sat up again, throwing her arms around his neck. "I love you, Vavoy."

"I love you too, little one," he responded gruffly, savouring the feel of that small body in his arms and committing it to a memory that would help take him through the worst of what was to come. "I love both of you very much. Now… what did I tell you about lying down?"

"Night, Vavvie." She planted a kiss on his check and disengaged, plopping back down into her bed and burrowing into the blankets.

About to correct her, he changed his mind, and instead, he turned and exited from the room, pausing for a moment in the doorway for one last look. Finding that his heart was just a little lighter for those few, stolen moments with his children, he went on his way, down the stairs and out the front door into the cold, snowy morning. It was done. His time on Earth was over.

The weekend had gone all too quickly for Chrissie's liking, and if she'd hoped that Krang would take some time off to spend with her and the children, she was sorely disappointed. It was maybe for the best, she thought, sighing. As the deadline for the Klingon departure approached, it was getting harder and harder to pretend everything was all right… and for the children's sake, that was exactly what she had to do.

He'd come home for a couple of hours early Saturday afternoon, and they'd had a late lunch together. He was stressed and grumpy but despite that, he'd helped her in the kitchen, getting in the way rather than being helpful, but gaining a lot of brownie points for making the effort. She had promised herself that she would not think of Diego – he was dead and gone and no longer had any control over her life, but, she could not help remembering the early days of the occupation, when he had come home, demanded food and sex and then gone again. It wasn't that Krang didn't want both of those things from her, but the manner in which he did so was completely different. Her Klingon lover did not see her as an object, a possession, that existed solely for his convenience and the only time he had ever demanded her obedience had been a matter of life and death.

Her mate had brought one piece of good news home. Grapok had come through his surgery and although bruised and sore, was recovering well and had already been allowed to go home to Maggie's tender care. "You won't recognise him," Krang had told her. "It's shocking just how different he looks as a human being."

"I am glad," Chrissie replied sincerely. She shuddered, adding, "I dread to think what they must have had to do to him. Didn't you tell me those ridges are actually part of your skull?"

"I did," he agreed, "and they are." He barely hid his own shudder. Before his assignment to the Earth Project, he had specialised in Earth and Starfleet, and he knew exactly what surgery was necessary. Not long before the Earth mission, he'd arranged for the surgical alteration of one of his undercover operatives and facilitated his infiltration into the Federation starbase K7. They'd got a lot of useful intel from the agent, who had gone by the name of Arne Darvin, before…

"Krang? Earth to Krang… Are you there?"

He shook himself, bringing his mind back to the here and now. "I… yes, I'm here. I was just remembering something. Tell me, Chrissie-oy, do you know what a tribble is?"

She didn't and he had educated her before heading back to work, shaking his head in disbelief and swearing that he would never understand why Terran women found the objectionable creatures so cute.

It had been late when he'd returned, and the children had already been in bed, although not yet asleep. He'd gone upstairs to deliver the promised instalment of the bedtime serial, and if the shrieks of laughter emanating from the room had been anything to go by, Chrissie thought it must have been an entertaining one.

By morning, he'd been gone again and feeling lonely and out of sorts, she'd had Grenn take her and the children to London to visit her brother. It had been cold but sunny and they had gone to the park where they'd spent a couple of hours talking and watching the children play. It was the last time they would ever see each other and saying goodbye to him had been the hardest thing she had ever done - although lying about where she was going had come a close second. A typical, over-protective big brother, if he found out that she intended to put both hers and the children's lives at risk and follow Krang to Qo'noS without his knowledge, he would go mad, and very likely attempt to stop her. At the very least, it would cause a massive fight that would sour their parting. No, she dared not tell him. As far as he and everyone else knew, she would be safe onboard Enterprise. Only Grenn… and of course, Maggie and Grapok knew the truth.

Saying goodbye to them had been hard as well. After parting with her brother, she'd had Grenn stop off at The Neutral Zone one last time. Both children had loved the place and after having a good look round, had begged their mother to take photos of them against the painted mural depicting birds-of-prey flying over what Chrissie now knew to be the First City on Qo'noS. Since she had her camera with her, as well as plenty of spare films, although she had absolutely no idea where she would be able to get them developed, she'd been happy to oblige. She'd taken several photos of Maggie and Grapok as well. They were good friends and she never wanted to forget them.

Krang had been right; the chef really was unrecognisable, and when she first saw him, she'd stared at him in stunned disbelief. There was absolutely nothing about the man standing in front of her to indicate that he had ever been anything but human; all traces of the Klingon had gone.

He'd grinned at her shock. "They did a good job didn't they?"

"Grapok?"

His grin widened. "No. Maggie has given me a new name. I am Charles now, Charles Baxter."

"I am pleased to meet you, Mr Baxter," Chrissie said politely, thinking that the name suited him and approving also of his choice to take Maggie's surname

When the time came to leave, it had been hard to hold back the tears. Maggie had hugged her, and to her surprise, Grapok… Charles, had done the same, enfolding her in a great bear hug before letting her go again and wishing her success.

Their final night too had gone too fast. The faint 'snick' of the door closing was enough to bring Chrissie awake. Softly, she called his name but there was no response. Realising she was alone she got up and went to the door. She could hear voices – her mate's deep growl and the lighter, childish tones of her children. She tensed, waiting for the sound of their grief but heard only laughter followed a moment later, by the sound of his metal-shod boots as he made his way along the corridor and down the stairs… a pause as he retrieved and donned his cloak. The front door opened and closed. Hurrying to the bedroom window, she watched him walk down the snowy path, towards the waiting shuttle. Stepping onto the ramp, he turned back and sensing that she was watching, he saluted before disappearing inside. A moment later, the guards stationed at the gateway joined him and the shuttle took off, quickly disappearing into the dark sky.

She could not stop the tears now. She'd hoped against hope, right until the end, that he might see reason and change his mind, but he had not. She was completely alone now. There was nothing left but memories, nothing to show that he had ever existed but the child within her and the footprints in the snow.

Author's note: Arne Darvin is of course the Klingon spy from the TOS episode "The trouble with tribbles".

This has been a hard chapter to write and I hope I pulled it off... I was aiming for a tear jerker but with bits of humour as well.

My thanks to the usual suspects, you all know who you are... Solasnagreine, JDC0, and RobertBruceScott. And of course my lovely Beta, Linny.