And here it is, Book 2. I've been posting this mainly on A03 since i don't get much feedback here that would really keep my muse up. But since there are a few who wanna read it here, i might as well post here as well :)
If you do enjoy it, please drop a comment on your thoughts
Michael eyes the human male with weariness and a tense posture as he sat with a strange amount of confidence in front of Georgiou. Nothing between them. Not even a force field. Not that she was concerned that the former emperor would rip out his throat but he had a different vibe to the other humans that they tested her with. Not to mention, his attire was different. Leather-clad, dark, and she could suspect he was more than just a test subject.
If she could guess, possibly recruitment of sorts. It made her frown though at who would try and go for Georgiou. Especially now.
It had been almost three months since coming to the Bloodstone Facility. She had kept out of the loop with most things not related to her. So she had little contact with Discovery beyond brief messages from Tilly and Saru.
Basic news of a new, temporary Captain from the Enterprise. Christopher Pike, if she remembered correctly. Something about an interstellar light show and vampire had become a little more of a fan-base of stories. Good and bad. She expected a proper run down the moment she returned to the ship.
In regards to vampires, she had hoped would get old and the universe would move on. Cornwell had finally established a new and independent fraction of vampire's command on the off chance of an emergency pull-out if shit hit the fan. There had been growing concerns of xenophobia of those races who feared vampires and potential for that to go viral. They needed support and a government that was separate. Vampire affairs shouldn't be federation affairs.
Taking a leaf from the Klingons, there was a clan-based ruling council to determine rules and structures. As of now, there were only 18 vampires, split into five clans. Admiral Cornwell was appointed Governor and each clan had their own insignia badge that went to replace their current badge (if in Starfleet) to signify their allegiance. Human mates would also wear one to ensure their safety with other vampires. The Clan leader would have the say as part of a council that would rule in or out of favor, depending on the situation and problem that would arise. Given her position as the first vampire and Cornwell's sire, she had a good amount of influence on the law-system.
New laws meant new punishments. But now, the federation no longer had the power to order transformations unless in the event of an emergency with little alternatives. Stamets's suggestion which Admiral Cornwell agreed with. They didn't need a huge population.
But they had retained planet as the new 'homeworld', so to speak. They kept the base on the planet, its staff and it's tactics to any newborn and older vampires. While Georgiou was technically part of the federation, she had the availably to leave under the guidance of the Vampiric Legation, as their government was now named but it didn't make Michael less worried about where she'd end up. She just had to hope the emperor wouldn't break their new laws.
"I know this is a new world, I have been briefed on your….unique background." The male spoke, "but that matters little in the light of this new phase. We believe your skills would be more valued in the field—"
Abruptly, the sound from the other room died but the male's lips continued to move. Michael's eyes narrowed, though she picked up the sound of the heartbeat behind her, the sound of smooth plastic against soft flesh as it was fiddled with.
"You really shouldn't be eavesdropping on personal conversations." Ash's voice spoke from behind her but she didn't move.
Her jaw tightened a faction. "So you're back?" It had bothered her a little that Ash's commitment between his bases in orbit was also tied to another fraction. To where she hadn't tried to figure but it kept him busy enough to not call her as often as she would have liked. It would have been nice to talk to someone more than her Cornwell and Georgiou.
Ash's steps got louder, the heat from his body situating into the cool room before she felt him stand a few feet away, obverting the vampire and human inside.
"Who is he? I was not aware she was expecting any visits at the end of her term here." Michael asked though she turned her senses to Tyler's how his heartbeat to what emotions she could pick up from his scent.
Ash barely shifted, aside from crossing his arms. "Captain Leland, I believe." He didn't elaborate further.
"Is he Starfleet?" Michael turned to face him, "Did someone tell that we had Georgiou here? I thought the knowledge was isolated."
There were very little changes on the surface of Ash's face, his jaw twitching a fraction and his eyebrows pulling in but he didn't seem….concerned. It did intrigue her. He knew more than he was letting on. Interesting.
"I'm…not allowed to disclose. I'm afraid." He sighed. "Sorry."
"Hmm." Michael pursed her lips, shaking her head. The way it was phrased said a lot. It was clearly above his metaphorical-pay grade and it didn't sound like it had Starfleet written to it with its lack of transparency.
Tyler stayed quiet for only a further thirty seconds before he spoke, changing the subject. "Discovery's on its way. Good news, I suppose."
"Indeed." She couldn't deny she wasn't looking forwards to it. To see not just Tilly and Saru but to catch up on Stamets too. He hadn't called often and it intrigued her to see how her lack of presence affected him if it did. "It'll be here in 7 hours if I'm not mistaken. I'm surprised they're not jumping here."
"Stamets's been using it sparingly, from what I've heard."
"Until convenient. I suppose." Not all too surprising. Stamets would no doubt be a little put off of using it given how it had shattered him before. Still, it would have been nice but she supposed it was reasonable. After all, it'd allow her time to finish up here.
In the other room, the vampire stayed still, watching with a vivid intenseness that could make anyone uncomfortable yet the human—Leland—looked oddly calm about despite the looks. From his pocket, he pulled out a small box and held it out to her. Her ruby gaze dropping to it with mild suspicion though she reached forwards and plucked it from his hand, opening it up.
Michael couldn't see inside it, nor did the woman's expression change but it seemed to satisfy the human male.
He said a few words more before he turned and headed to the door. Ash reached forwards and pressed the panel, unlocking it before he breezed past him.
"Lieutenant, Commander," Leland spoke, his eyes drifting to her before he walked away, head held high and unconcerned if a bit pleased with himself.
Georgiou's scent followed first before the vampire herself, her given box being slipped away into her shirt.
"What was all that about?" Michael nodded towards the direction the man had gone.
"I got a new job," Georgiou smirked a fraction before pulling out the creased in her clothes and flicked her hair back. "I'm going to pack. My clearance papers will be done before I finish."
"That soon?!"
"Now, now, Michael, we both need our space," Georgiou remarked. "I didn't put myself through the…training for nothing. I can handle it and I won't be killing anyone on a blood-lust rampage if that's what you're…concerned about." With the air of the conference, Philippa took her to leave quickly with a wide smirk.
Michal's jaw clenched but she forced herself to not question her any further, to demand more information to sate her discomforts. The idea of Georgiou…roaming through space was vastly different from her just simply roaming this planet. Out there, the risks were higher. Lots more people, lots more blood and very little vampire activity. To who she was concerned for, Michael didn't quite know. She pulled a face, folding her arms over her chest.
Ash chuckled softly, waiting a long moment. "I don't know about you, but that gave off some…protective parental vib—"
Michael cut him off swiftly by elbowed him softly, shaking her head. "Nope."
"Okay, Message received." Tyler wheezed out softly, stumbling back though his lips were uplifted by a fraction; a sign of good humour still there.
"Call it a general concern, Ash. It's nothing to do with the fact I sired her but the fact she's trigger-happy with a genocidal past."
"Well, she hadn't done anything on those topics here so…"
She could hear the shrug in his voice, it made her roll her eyes softly. "Yet."
"Don't worry, Michael. You've both learned from this experience. She'll be good."
Michael wanted to have his confidence, but not knowing made it uncomfortable. But…. There was little she could actually do now. She'd have to let her go sooner or later. Perhaps she was underestimating the woman… With only one way to find out. No news had to be good news.
"I hope so." Michael gave him an easy look. "I'd…hate for anything to happen. To her… or to people around her."
His head bobbed softly in understanding. "I'll keep an eye on her while I'm on that ship. My duties might be split but I'll keep a tab open for you if I feel anything needs to be addressed, okay?"
That marginally helped. Eyes she could trust, even if the…place of where Georgiou would end up might not deserve as much. She trusted Ash. He knew what was right.
"Okay."
Michael never got to see Georgiou off. Between packing and securing their house, Georgiou had slunk away, unsurprisingly but it did bother her only a fraction the woman didn't bid a farewell. Instead, she found herself back at the orbital station. Awaiting Discovery's arrival so she took the time to go over her assignments Admiral Cornwell had left her with on overseeing her duties.
"Commander Burnham." T'Tal's familiar voice pulled her attention pulled her away to see the Vulcan standings a few feet away, her face passive and calm as it ever was.
"Lieutenant Commander," Michael replied, though her eyes flickered down to the woman's hands were a neat little black box sat in her palm as well as a blue data ship. "What's that?"
T'Tal moved forwards, holding it out. "I am aware you have a clan member, Lieutenant Stamets, on-board of Discovery. He wasn't yet given a clan badge that Commander Georgiou has."
"The chip?" Michael dropped the PADD off to the side, taking the box and chip from her.
"If and when you need to replicate a new badge. It's not a standard design nor assessable for anyone. You'll need to program your replicator for this."
"Ah." It made logical sense. Of course. She flicked the case open to see a familiar badge.
This was a blended version of the clan-badge with a Starfleet one. Meant for those working in the organization. It was just a bit bigger than the Starfleet issue and circular in shape instead. On it, this was clearly designed for relevance for what was deemed recognizable to her. The background consisted of a clear space setting; miniature dots and specks but what stood out most were the two large stars; a binary star set that held a triangle that went from the bottom right to the center in an overlay that showed its Starfleet influence as it's points were curved unevenly as if it was a smaller, tilted Starfleet badge in its place. Its rim held the pips of rank and the triangle held the working division in. Science.
Non-Starfleet ones didn't need the pips nor Starfleet logo on it at all, but the triangle stayed plain as it was, representing parts of her own Vulcan upbringing from the original Vulcan insignia. She had the original one, she could only assume one of them was hers. It was logical that she too would have a similar blend of her worlds given she'd be back to Discovery soon enough.
It wasn't the only badge inside, there were Four in fact. The second working division has a medical cross in so she knew that was for Dr. Culber, given his status as Paul's imprint. Two were silver, two were was gold but one had no division or pips so looked to be a temporary one. Possibly on the off chance of…her mate.
She squashed down the feeling that thought gave her. Her mate. She enjoyed the idea of it but she couldn't enjoy the reality. It made her nervous. Ophelia had made it very clear on her intentions if she ever did imprint on a human. She couldn't advertise the human to the vampire community; if news got back… her mate would be doomed.
Keeping up a calm demeanour and fighting the instinct to freeze up, Michael plucked the gold one up, turning it in her fingers to see her name inscribed on the back before replacing it with her old one on her chest; the new gold glinting on her blue uniform and she tucked the old one into its former place.
She snapped the case shut and nodded with a satisfied hint. "I appreciate the attention to detail. Thank you." Michael smiled tightly at the Vulcan before she picked up her PADD again, resting the box on the top of her bag though watched as the Vulcan walked away.
Michael turned her focus back to the text.
4:40 am, all clan leaders are to report to Gov. Cornwell upon changes of infrastructures regarding rank in work vs rank in clan and when the two co-inside if clan live off-planet and together. Starfleet is to be updated when active officers are involved in such topics. Those that are currently within Starfleet are still under Starfleet regulations if all parties involved are part of the alliance.
Any issues that occur between vampires are so be ordered to settle differences and placements in regulated areas. Confirm to Captains of ship or Starbase for location and—
"Discovery is now in range, Commander Burnham to transporter room one." The voice called over the comms. Michael slipped the case and PADD away and slung her bag over her shoulders before she darted away.
Gold light faded out before her senses were lit with a vast simulation of familiarly of the ship and the scents that washed over her. The voices and steps, the thudding heartbeats, the same hints of recycles air that gave the ship that… unique smell. More…human. More like home.
It made her smile to see the group waiting in front. Tilly there and even Paul were the most predominant ones that she took notice of first, vaguely aware of the human captain and the alien female that hovered behind.
"Michael!" Tilly practically dived for her first, wrapping her arms around her neck in an instant an with a vice grip she was sure would suffocate a human.
Michael smiled, tilting her head away as the woman's red mass of hair threatened to swamp her though she allowed her arms to slip around her softly, careful not to squeeze too hard.
"Tilly, as redundant as it is, give the woman a moment to breathe," Stamets remarked lightly, pulling the Ensign's attention back to the world around them. It didn't lessen the woman's enthusiasm as she pulled away, keeping an arm slung around her.
Michael chuckled softly. "I don't mind, I've been stuck with more than a few uptight people in the last few months. It's nice to have a change." Georgiou and Vulcans sat in the same boat. She wasn't glad to be away, it was after all like a breath of fresh air. Humans did make all the difference.
"It's good to see you, you don't look like you've changed much." Michael mused, allowing her focus to fall on Stamets. He looked good. No more facial scars from his shattered time anymore. Back to normal. His eyes were a bright ruby, so it was clear to see he was kept well fed and…the air about him was more relaxed. More so than before.
Stamets smiled softly and nodded. "I haven't. Sorry for not calling you as often. I was….occupied."
Michael chuckled, shaking her head though she chose not to reply, instead she plucked out the small case and opened it. "Your new badges. One for yourself and the other is Dr Culber's. The latter as a proxy to being your imprint."
Stamets's eyebrows pulled in with a shot of curiosity before his red eyes flickered to the badges inside. "I was informed but I didn't think I would get one." He mused, plucking the two out. His eyes ran over its surface, taking in its design and flipped them around with a short nod. "Thank you."
"Commander Stamets, to engineering." The comm called overhead. Michael nodded her departure before the vampire darted away to duty calls.
"Commander, this is the Captain and Commander Nhan." Tilly's voice called, pulling her attention swiftly back.
Michael turned to the more neglected two; her eyes flickering to the female, noting the woman's calm but cautious expression, the two augments on her face that she could hear small hisses of released air, exchanging the air between the woman's nose and lips with something that had a more… burned, a coppery scent that certainly wasn't part of the common atmosphere. Barzan, if she wasn't mistaken. Though the species as a whole wasn't part of the federation, she had done some reading on them. This wouldn't stop them if they had a good letter of recommendation to get a start in it. Michael could only imagine what sort of pressure that would have been put on her when signing up for this.
Her eyes moved on from the Barzan to the Captain, his uniform a standard blue than the bright gold that the flagship had, not that she had expected much else given the man's new position here. His expression was well crafted with patience's, brown hair laced with grey though his face didn't hold the age, though Michael couldn't help but hold his blue gaze….then everything suddenly seemed to change in the fraction of a second that followed.
Sound froze, the world around them pausing but everything suddenly shifted into a new phase of existence.
It was like she had been struck with a sudden vibrant energy that began immediately coursing through her entire body…as if touching each and every cell within her with a warmth that felt like golden sunlight that seemed to radiate and brim from his every being. Even her sense of gravity seemed to shift towards him. His heartbeat within that frozen second sounded like a drum beat, deep and heavy that drew her attention and his scent… its appetizing thirst trigger-edge seemed to melt away completely, leaving a deep floral fragrance but still held a masculine edge to it that was only slightly covered by lingering aromas of early morning cologne from a recent shave.
Then the beat was over and the reality seemed to slam her back to the present before the second was done, but she felt breathless as he blinked and smiled kindly his hand-raising.
"Captain Christopher Pike," He greeted,
Well…shit.
Michael forced herself to mask her inner panic, the sudden influx of emotions suddenly seemed to want to swing through her all at once, but she held it all back away, forcing a relaxed smile on her face before she reached forwards and shook his hand, noticing the slight twitch in his grasp as soon as his warm hands touched hers, his heat almost searing, breaking through her mask… but he pulled away quickly. Thankfully. He was not used to the cold, it seemed.
"Glad to meet you, although…unexpected." Michael spared a glace to Tilly who still beamed happily; unaware of what had just happened. It seemed only herself knew what she had done.
Pike chuckled. "I'm currently taking over Discovery under regulation 19, section C. The Enterprise is…out of action in the meantime due to a catastrophic malfunction."
"I see." She really had been out of the loop for a lot… she really needed to catch up if Pike was here for that regulation to be instituted. "I guess I'll need to catch up."
Pike nodded. "Of course, your next shift will start later today, Beta shift. I hope that' adequate timing?"
Michael nodded. Plenty of time… at least in her books. Pike didn't seem certain but she had a gut feeling he was estimating the time of settling. He hadn't been certain if it was too short of notice for her to be back on the roster.
"Yes, Sir." She patted Tilly's arm to release her, "If you'll excuse me, Captain, Commander." Her eyes flickering for a moment to Nhan then back to Pike.
Pike nodded though Michael slipped her arm around Tilly's mid then darted away.
It only took a few moments to get into the turbolift and watch as the doors closed, startling the crewmember inside from her timely arrival who yelped out loud, falling back against the wall. Tilly froze up for a moment before she groaned
"ooh… noo.." Tilly groaned out, almost straightaway as she stopped, letting her go, the ensign immediately going to support herself to the turbo side. Knuckles white in her grip "Okay, please warn me… I don't like me going at that speed… "
"Sorry." Michael felt a stab of guilt, which felt like an emotion she needed right now.
"Can you please not sneak into a small space so suddenly, Commander Burnham." The crewmember behind her wheezed, hand over his heart. "Almost scared the shit out of me."
Michael's lips pursed, nodding. "My apologies, Lieutenant Collins." They weren't wrong.
Tilly recovered as they began waking at the correct deck towards her room, the room stale with her scent, indicating no one had been in since she had left. It was of expectations. Orderly. Michael darted forwards and dumped the bag onto her bed, aware as Tilly sunk herself down onto the sofa with a heavy sigh.
"You know. Commander Nhan wanted to assign this room to someone else, but… I manage to convince her to leave it. I thought you might get irritated and I didn't want to have to walk longer to find your room. It's a shame we're not roomies." Tilly mused thoughtfully.
Michael smiled if a bit tight as she unzipped the bag, placing the black case with her blank badge—still ignoring that that badge was for, as she pulled out her clothing and began to sort them back into cupboards.
"Were you able to get another roommate?"
Tilly shook her head. "No, apparently my snoring is still too much of a special-needs thing that it would bother them too much." Her lips pursed but didn't look overly upset. "Still, I hope that means you can still come over for a…well not quite-sleep over."
Michael nodded. "I'll see, Tilly. But please tell me what's been going on in my absence. Pike is…" She didn't quite know how to finish the sentence. Pike was what? Unexpected; certainly the best option to end with.
She didn't want to dare speak of what had happened, simply because she was glad —as for the moment—to ignore it. Push the feelings that were suddenly there a way to focus on what was happening. Which for now was settling. Pike didn't notice anything and neither had anyone else. She had plenty of time before this became an…issue that needed to be addressed. It was hardly good impressions to announce to the new captain that her physiology has deemed him worthy of a mate.
She felt appalled. Having her own biology dictates that aspect… it should feel wrong. But she knew the choice was there; his word was final. That was what made this whole thing a little more bearable. Though the idea of…rejection was equally terrifying, there was that option. She could not force this. Would not. Pike deserved better than her.
Lock the feelings away, pretend like nothing was wrong was her only course of action. She would be fine. Michael turned her attention to Tilly as she began to speak.
"Okay, to cut a long and complex story short, about two weeks ago, we picked up Pike after the Enterprise went down. Details on that aren't certain but they were following these red signals that's appeared. Ten of them in total We traced one to a dark matter asteroid were we found a presumed destroyed ship, the Hiawatha." Tilly started, her eyes lighting up as she spoke. "Captain Pike, Nhan, Connolly and Wilson went down in drop-pods but… Wilson got caught up by a rogue asteroid."
"Ouch." It wasn't hard to imagine what had happened.
"Silver lining was the rest of the crew got down well and got a lot of the Hiawatha back here in one piece. You may notice a few new faces. Especially Reno. She loves insulting Stamets. She finds the whole sparkly effect the light had on you hilarious."
Michael snorted softly, dumping the empty bag onto the shelf before she shot to settle back onto the sofa seat with a sigh, "Sounds like someone I should get to know."
Tilly's lip twitched. "Starting to think she had no sense of self-preservation."
"Well, as long as the mission was a success. I assume Pike is…here until we can determine the signals."
Tilly hummed, nodding her head. "Yep. Nhan's our new head of security. I'm surprised Landry isn't here or Tyler."
Michael snorted, "Landry's posted at Starbase one's head of security with her Bondmate. I doubt she'd leave that position any time soon."
Tilly sighed, "Well, I'm just glad you have you back. I could do with more training and… well, anything to help with my program. But…" Tilly inhaled deeply, "Mind catching me up on what happened in vampire-land with Georgiou and this…whole new undead legislation you're part of? I mean, I did not expect anything like that to happen so soon!"
"It's a long story, Tilly."
"Well, we've both got the time."
"Hm." Michael hummed.
"And your new badges are awesome! Can I get one?"
Michael wanted to say yes, but… she knew the fact the woman would not be allowed it; something about it just…didn't settle right. As a human and not mated to a vampire of the clan, it didn't feel right. Tilly was a friend, but she wasn't yet part of the clan that made her….qualify. They didn't share that necessary bond that vampires would. Culber was by proxy due to his bond with Stamets. Honorary would not meet the requirements.
"Not yet," Michael decided to respond with, "maybe another time."
Tilly nodded, unbothered nor put out, bounding immediacy to her questions brazenly and Michael allowed herself to answer them, each one a welcome distraction before she could allow the reality to remind her of her situational predicament.
