Vestal led us down the hall and into a quiet vestibule where she could deliver the news in relative privacy. Even before she spoke, the look on her face told me that I wasn't going to like this
"Good news first," she began, "Intrepid will pull through and make a full recovery."
"Okay," I replied, shooting a glance over at Bremerton, who looked equally puzzled as she glanced back at me. "So why do you look like you're about to be the bearer of bad news? How long will her repairs take?"
She grimaced and glanced down at her chart again. "If we're lucky, two weeks. If we're not, a month. Maybe more."
I exhaled slowly as I ran my hand through my hair. I looked over at Bremerton, who looked stricken at the thought of her best friend being sidelined for Operation Siren. And I certainly understood that feeling. The last thing I would want is to leave Intrepid behind, especially in the state she's in. "Anything you can do to speed that process up, Vestal?"
She shook her head ruefully. "I'm afraid not, sir. We're working as fast as we can to get her rigging repaired, but until I have a better idea of the extent of the damage, I can't give an accurate estimate. If what I've seen so far is the worst of it, then two weeks. If the damage goes any deeper…"
"I follow," I sighed. "How long before she can be discharged?"
"A few days at most," Vestal answered quickly. "At least keep her overnight for observation."
"Have you told her yet?"
She shook her head. "Not yet. I wanted to get a full preliminary damage report and make sure she'd stabilized first."
I nodded slowly, wondering just how I was going to break the news to her. "I'll let her know if that's okay."
An empathetic smile flashed across Vestal's face and she nodded. "Of course, Commander. In any case, I'm sure you're both eager to see her so I'll let you go. She's in room two. Good day."
"Take care," I smiled as she quickly strode away. Once she was gone, I turned back to Bremerton. "Two weeks?" I hissed. "A month? She's going to be devastated."
"I know," she agreed as she leaned against the wall and let out a long sigh. It was the closest to looking defeated that I'd ever seen her. "If she misses out because of this patrol, she's going to be doubly hard on herself." She glanced over at me. "When's the cutoff point for Operation Siren?"
"Three weeks," I answered grimly. "If, and this is a big if, Vestal can get her operational in two weeks, and she can requalify, then she'll make it. Barely, but she'll make it."
Bremerton nodded slowly as she mulled things over. "If Vestal can get her repaired in time, she'll be able to pass any test you throw at her."
"I know she will," I agreed. "She's a hell of a woman."
"It's worth reminding her of that every once in a while," Bremerton smirked as she pushed off the wall. "C'mon, let's not keep her waiting any longer."
I grinned back and followed her down the hall to room two where we found Intrepid laying in bed, looking out the window. She looked forlorn and dejected as she gazed outside as if she'd completely failed. Bremerton and I shared another glance before I knocked on the doorframe to get her attention. The silver-haired carrier jumped slightly as her head whipped around to look at us. "Hey, Intrepid," I greeted her softly. "Mind if we check in on you?"
She averted her gaze for a moment before she nodded slowly. "Yeah," she sighed, "I guess so."
"How're you feeling?" Bremerton asked as we filed in and took a seat next to her.
Intrepid made a disgusted face before she answered. "Horrible. Couldn't even escape a Siren ambush without getting knocked out."
Bremerton put on her best smile as she leaned forward. "That's not what I heard. Word around the base is that you saved your patrol from that ambush."
That seemed to lighten the storm clouds above her head. "Really?" she asked, casting her eyes in my direction.
"Mhm," I confirmed for her. "Your patrol said the same thing when I went over their debriefing, and I have to agree with them. You took decisive action that got your friends out of a tough scenario, and you should be commended for that."
For a second, I could see pride, and perhaps a bit of hope, beginning to blossom on her face before it vanished beneath despair and self-pity. "But I'm still here, back at the docks. Again." She let out a long sigh and glanced out the window again. "How long am I going to be here for this time?"
Inwardly, I grimaced and braced for her reaction as I gave her the bad news. "At least two weeks."
"Two weeks?!" Intrepid wailed. "Does this mean I'm out of Operation Siren?"
"Not yet," I answered, trying to be optimistic, but honest about her chances. "With a little luck, Vestal can have you out of the docks in two weeks, which gives you a week to go through working up and ready to go."
The anguish on Intrepid's face subsided somewhat, but never fully disappeared. "With all due respect, Commander, somehow I don't think my luck's all that great…"
Before I could say anything else, Bremerton surprised both of us by getting out of her chair and giving Intrepid a pat on the head. "I think this is about to become a private conversation in a second, so I'm going to see myself out. You take care, Intrepid, and we'll catch up later, 'kay? Or hit me up on Juustagram, either or. Laters!" Both Intrepid and I gave her a quizzical look as she left with a bright smile and a wave, then turned back to each other.
For a second, I struggled to find the right words to say, suddenly set off-kilter by Bremerton's sudden departure. In the end, I decided I'd need more information. "What do you mean by that?"
Now it was her turn to try and articulate how she felt. After a few moments of false starts and stops, she said, "I just…I'm never good enough. I'm always being sent back to the docks, I can't do anything right, it just feels like…" She let out a defeated sigh, "...everyone's better than me."
"The hell they are."
We both looked at each other, both of us equally surprised at what just popped out of my mouth. Did I really just say that? More importantly, did I mean that? After a few seconds, I realized yes, yes I did and leaned into it. "I said, 'the hell they are,'" I repeated confidently. "I've seen your record, I've seen you kick ass in training, and while I haven't seen the footage yet myself, by all accounts you kicked ass out there today. You made the right call, and while you didn't get to see it pay off, you saved your patrol. They know it, I know it, I'm pretty damn sure the Sirens know it, the only person who doesn't seem to know it is you. Don't sell yourself short for one second, Intrepid."
Intrepid lay there, her eyes wide, cheeks flushed as she stared at me in stunned silence for a few moments. "I…I…had no idea you felt so strongly about my capabilities."
"It's not just your capabilities," I said, wondering if I should keep going or if I've already shared too much. Screw it, I thought. In for a penny, in for a pound. "It's you. All of you. You are an amazing, supportive, caring, beautiful woman. Every day you surprise me with something new and wonderful about you and I just…I can't get enough of you. You've done so much for me and I can never repay you but the least I can do is tell you how I feel and tell you just how superb you are."
Her blush grew even darker and those blue eyes of hers looked like they were going to pop right out of their sockets if they got any bigger. My rant over, I felt suddenly sheepish and embarrassed, and when Intrepid didn't say anything, I decided discretion, no matter how belated, was the better part of valor and started to stand up. "I, uh, I'm just gonna-"
Intrepid didn't let me finish as she leaned out of bed, grabbed me by my tie, and pulled me into a passionate kiss. While this wasn't the reaction I was expecting, it was no less welcome as I sank into the kiss, my arms wrapping around her in a fierce embrace as we continued to make out. She leaned back, pulling me onto the bed with her before we finally broke for air.
"Thanks, John," she gasped as she smiled sheepishly. "Guess I needed to hear that."
"I could keep going if you want," I grinned playfully. "I think I could get a good monologue going if I had a little time to prepare."
Intrepid's sheepish smile turned into a sly smirk. "Maybe later," she murmured, her lips brushing against mine. "I think the time for talking is over for now…" We kissed again as I sank onto the bed, entangling myself with her.
Things began to quickly heat up as our hands began to explore one another's bodies, caressing, and groping each other. I have little doubt that things would have gone much, much further than a simple make-out session had it not been for the sound of approaching footsteps.
"Vestal!" Intrepid hissed, and we quickly disentangled ourselves. I managed to stumble out of bed and collapse into my chair just as the repair ship came around the corner.
"Everything okay over here?" she cheerily asked, oblivious to what she'd interrupted.
"Yep!" I said with a thumbs-up while still facing away from her so she couldn't see my flushed cheeks.
"Mhm!" Intrepid replied, facing toward the window again to similarly hide her features.
"Okaaaay…." The tone in Vestal's voice hinted that she thought our behavior was suspect, but she seemed to let it go. "Well, in any case, after keeping her overnight for observation, she's free to go back to her quarters. While her rigging's in drydock, however, she'll be confined to light duty, until repairs are complete."
I gave her another thumbs up. "Sounds good!"
Intrepid likewise nodded and turned slightly to face Vestal as her cheeks had returned somewhat to their normal color. "Thank you, Vestal."
"All part of the job," she smiled. "I'll be back to check up on you in a bit. Commander, Intrepid."
We waited to hear her footsteps fade away before we both let out a massive sigh of relief. "That was too close," I chuckled as I shook my head.
"Yeah," Intrepid agreed with a giggle. "I don't think I want to be on the receiving end of one of Vestal's lectures."
"Trust me, you don't," I confirmed. "I've been on one or two and it's taught me not to incur her wrath unless absolutely necessary."
Her eyebrow arched slightly as she grinned wolfishly. "Oh? Making out with me isn't 'absolutely necessary?"
"I-it is!" I blurted out as I quickly tried to recover. "But I'd rather not have any interruptions next time, and being chewed out by Vestal really kills the mood."
"Fair," she smirked as she leaned back in the bed and sighed. "Guess I'll need to find a job I can do in the meantime for two weeks…"
I grinned as an idea formed in my head. "I think I can help you with that…"
My offer accepted, I strode out of the hospital doors to find Bremerton waiting for me, looking like the proverbial cat that had eaten the canary. "So," she grinned, "how'd it go?"
Of course she was setting us up. Again. I swear, if Wingwoman of the Year was a thing, she'd have earned it a dozen times over. "That was the moment, wasn't it?" I asked with a grin. "The one you told me about."
"Yep!" she happily chirped as she slipped her phone into her jacket pocket. "I trust you did the right thing?"
"I..think so?" I said slowly as I glanced back at the hospital. "I told her how I felt, how awesome she was, what a wonderful person she was. I might have been a little more…emphatic in my declaration than I would've liked. I kinda just…blurted it out and ran with it."
Her grin grew by several orders of magnitude. "And?" she questioned me with a playful slap on the arm, "What'd she say?"
I tried to find the correct words without being all "kiss and tell" about it. "Ah, she…didn't respond…verbally, per se…"
It took Bremerton a second, but when she put my reluctance to be more specific together with the blush that had now covered my cheeks, it clicked. "Intrepid, you sly dog," she laughed. "Must've been one hell of a kiss to make you blush like that."
When I didn't respond and my face got warmer by the second, Bremerton's eyes grew wide. "She didn't…you didn't…in the hospital?!"
"No, no!" I hissed, tossing a panicked glance over my shoulder to make sure nobody heard her. "I mean, things got a little handsy, but nothing more intimate happened, I swear!"
She raised an eyebrow and shot me a look of disbelief. "Surprised you two managed to stop yourselves once things got started…"
"We heard Vestal coming so we stopped before she caught us," I admitted, "and afterward we decided to wait until we had complete privacy."
"Ah," Bremerton nodded slowly, her expression deadpan. "So Vestal coming meant you two didn't get to."
It took me a few seconds for me to realize the innuendo, but when I did, I turned as red as a tomato. In the back of my mind, I idly wondered how long I would last with all of my blood concentrated in my face. "Oh my god!" I quietly exclaimed, not trying to cause a scene right in public. "Can you not?"
She let out a raucous laugh and patted me on my arm. "Just pulling your leg, Commander. Don't worry, though, your secret's safe with me. I'll just get all the juicy details from Intrepid."
Silently, I hoped that I'd done well. It's a bit odd when you know you're going to be critiqued on your make-out skills. "Well, have fun…or something with that."
As if she could read my mind, she reassured me. "Don't sweat it, Commander. I'm sure you did fine."
"Hoping for a little better than fine," I muttered, much to her delight.
"Only one way for me to find out," she declared as she gestured back towards the hospital. "You headed back to the office?"
I nodded, feeling some of the color finally beginning to drain from my cheeks. "Yeah, gotta review the data from the patrol, reports to file, all that fun stuff."
"They say when Intrepid'll be able to leave?"
"They're going to discharge her tomorrow morning," I answered softly, "but she'll be on light duty until her rigging's been repaired."
Bremerton grimaced slightly, then looked up at me. "You have a job picked out for her yet?"
"As a matter of fact, I do…" I smiled.
Having left Bremerton and Intrepid behind for the afternoon, I headed back to the office to review the patrol data and to finish up what I could of the day's reports. The data, while difficult to watch at the end, held up my beliefs and corroborated what everyone else said: Intrepid fought hard and made the right call. I hoped and prayed Vestal would be able to pull off a miracle and get her operational again before Operation Siren commenced. Now having seen the data, all that was left was to write up the after-action report and get it filed.
As I was finishing up the report, Essex walked over to my desk and handed me a large, sealed envelope. "Just got the latest intelligence photos from our spy planes, sir."
"Thanks, Essex." I looked up from the report and took the envelope from her with a smile. As she returned to her desk, I opened the photos and began leafing through them. Some looked relatively close, but some of these could be mistaken for satellite photos due to just how high an altitude the plane had to be for them to be taken. As I studied these a bit more, an idea took root.
"Hey, Essex," I called out, looking up from the photos. "You said these were all from spy planes?"
"Yes, sir," she confirmed. "HQ has a few spy planes that can operate at very high altitudes. They're all remote-controlled now, but they still have the pilot and copilot seats. Why?" Almost as soon as she asked, she realized where I was going with this. "Commander…"
I ignored her pleas and set the photos aside. "Essex, if you could get Admiral Sprague on the line down in the CIC while I place a phone call to Vestal real quick…"
With a little luck, I just might be able to get Intrepid the date she deserves…
A/N-What could the Commander POSSIBLY have in store? Is it even something he can do? How's he going to pull it off? Blackmail? Apologies for the week's delay, there was a loss in my family and I needed to take some time off to handle it. Until next time, fair winds and following seas!
