Icicles 6
Disclaimer do not own star trek
Marla lay in bed. Andrew had called earlier to say he was back on planet. She had called Dr. Marcus the second she had gone back to her office and now she was waiting for Andrew to return with the medication she needed and a heating pad. Unfortunately for her, the cramps had started the last ten minutes of class and she suddenly started the minute she got home. She managed to just barely make it to the store for supplies and only supplies before she had to go. Her prescription was still an hour wait and there was no way she could wait that long.
She was curled up on her side, waiting for the aspirin she took to kick in, tears running down her face. Guess she wasn't joining Amanda and Tyrone for dinner. Napoleon was snuggled against her neck, trilling.
As much as she hated it, she was going to have to call in in the morning. The pills were going to take a bit to kick in and as of right now she couldn't even move.
She reached for the phone to call Amanda to let her know.
Andrew sighed impatiently. The teenager at the drugstore counter was clearly new.
The acne plagued boy fumbled with the register and his supervisor kept coming over to unlock the POS.
Andrew rolled his eyes and groaned as the kid once more managed to lock himself out of the POS.
"Assistance needed up front." The kid whined into the intercom.
"Aren't you supposed to be off planet?"
Andrew turned to see John Harrison in line behind him.
"Hey John. Nah, I just got home and right now I'm just doing some getting home stuff and an emergency run for Marls since she is currently incapacitated."
"Is she sick? She seemed fine at work."
"Um…yes and no. It's something she's had to deal with since we were teenagers. All I can say is she is in a hell of a lot of pain right now." Andrew hoped John would drop it. "So, that thing this morning."
John groaned and shook his head.
"Yeah, that was our reaction too."
"I assure you, it was even worse in person."
"So I take it Marcus is up everyone's asses then?"
"Yes and I have to be off planet with the man for a few weeks starting Wednesday." John grumbled.
Andrew sucked in breath in between his teeth.
"Good luck with that. I do not envy you in the least bit."
"I would much rather be working in my lab than in a lab in space."
"Space isn't that bad. The nearest space station is nice. Deep Space N-7 is a bit rough though. It's pretty close to a Klingon outpost, so you have Klingons mingling in regularly on shore leave. It's around there where we've had the most recent incidents with the Klingons. When one ship gets a little too close to the edge for their comfort."
"Curious." Khan's brain began going. Perhaps he could talk Marcus into taking him there to actually examine and observe the Klingons like they should be doing instead of sitting around reading books about them in an office.
Finally another cashier opened register. Andrew and John switched lines.
"Amanda called me about fifteen minutes ago and offered me dinner. I guess Marla told her I was home. She said you might be dropping by?" Andrew turned and looked at John as the cashier quickly scanned his basket load.
"Perhaps." Andrew paid and stood aside as John paid for his items.
"Alright. I need to go rescue Marla. I might see you soon. If not, good luck."
John nodded.
Andrew drove quickly over to the apartments. As he got to the door, he fished for his keys and unlocked it.
"Marls? You in the bedroom?"
"Yeah." Marla weakly replied.
Andrew set down his things on the kitchen counter before pulling a water bottle out of the fridge. He grabbed the medication and the heating pad and walked in the bedroom.
"Alright Marls. I can't believe you forgot about this, sis."
"I know." She groaned.
"Okay, you're gonna have to sit up. Give me your hand."
He quickly helped her shift as she cried out in pain. He handed her the bottle and the bag from the pharmacy before he fiddled with the heating pad since he knew she wasn't going to be able to figure out the technology at the moment. They didn't make any simple plug in and turn the knob ones anymore. He managed to get it on and heating up before he handed it to her along with the little instruction pamphlet while she took her pill.
"Thanks Andrew. I'll get you back. How much do I owe you? Never mind, just go get it out of my wallet." Marla seized the heating pad and curled back up into fetal position on her side.
"Do you want me to bring you anything from Amanda's?"
"No. I'll get something if I feel like it. Don't worry." She managed a smile which turned into a face of pain.
"I'm gonna go then. I would hug you, but I know you can't have anything touching you right now."
"Thanks bro. Have fun. Ask Tyrone about his big news."
"Alright. Bye, love you. Feel better soon."
"Love you too. Lock the door on your way out, please."
Amanda's old hands worked the knife in the kitchen, chopping. She hummed to herself because her boys were coming for dinner. Tyrone, Andrew, and Johnny. Pity Marla wasn't feeling well. She would have liked to have seen her and Johnny behaving for once together.
Amanda tossed the vegetables into the pan and began sautéing.
"Ooh, what you cooking Grammy?" Tyrone shut the front door and hung up his coat on the coat rack before coming into the kitchen. He kissed Amanda on the cheek and looked over her shoulder.
"Oh, just some roast with some vegetables. I'm going to take some to Andrea tonight. Maybe Marla. Or I could go get Johnny to do that." Amanda smirked as Tyrone sat down at he kitchen table.
"No, Grammy, what did we say about trying to fix peoples up? I'll take it to Marbles and Dre. Besides, John don't have a good bedside manner if you get what I mean."
"It worked for you and Marie and countless others. I know what I am talking about." Amanda brandished the wooden spatula she was using at Tyrone.
"Shoot, she ain't even said yes yet."
"But she will." Amanda returned to her vegetables.
"I mean, it's different with other people though, Grammy. Like, I look at Marie and she's my Lakota Queen and she's told me that she looks at me and sees her L.A. King. I seen these two together and they won't even look at each other. I've heard her talk about him and it's pretty damn clear John get on her last nerve."
"They went on a date."
"What?"
"Mhmm…Even though they both deny it was a date, it was a date." Amanda opened up the oven, removed the lid from the roast and dumped the vegetables in before replacing the lid and shoving it back in.
The doorbell rang.
"Tyrone, can you go get that please?"
"Sure thing, Grammy." Tyrone got up and jogged to the door and swung it open. "Oh, hey there, John, wassup."
Khan looked at Tyrone, clearly not understanding his slang.
"Hello would suffice, Tyrone." He muttered as he brushed past him into the house.
"Damn, why you gotta be cold like that? Fine, you want formal, you got formal. Hello Commander John Harrison, I hope this evening finds you quite well. How about that polo match, good sir?" Tyrone put on a poor British accent.
John glared at him as he hung up his coat.
"I'm playin." Tyrone quickly held up his hands.
"Looks like I'm late to the party." Andrew walked in the open door.
"Hey, Drew. Wassup?"
"Not much, Tyrone."
It clicked in Khan's mind and he made a mental note. Wassup equals what is happening with your life since we last spoke.
"Let's go to the kitchen. We're letting all the heat in Grammy's house out." Tyrone shut the door and wandered back into the kitchen.
"John." Andrew nodded at him.
The four sat at the table. Amanda beamed at the three of them.
"So, Tyrone, what's this news Marla said you had." Andrew asked.
Tyrone's face lit up.
"I put a deposit down on a ring for Marie. As soon as it comes in, I'm asking her to marry me."
"Hey, congrats man." Andrew slapped him on the arm. "You ready for that?"
"Oh hell yeah. Man, I am madly in love wit her. I look at her, I see the Sun, the Moon, the stars, the earth, the grass, the birds, the trees. She is the air I breath. I see everything that is holy in her. I look in her eyes, I see our life together, our kids, their first steps, their birthdays, their graduations, them going to college, their weddings, us growing old. I see her screaming at me for not taking the garbage out and I see me yelling at her for taking too damn long to get ready. I know when I come home, she's gonna be there, waiting and I can't wait to hear about her day. About what she's accomplished, what she dreams of, what she wants and needs. I know I can go to her when life is hard, and she knows she can come to me. I want to be there when times are hard, to hold on to her when she cries in the middle of the night because she hears the owls and it reminds her of home and she's terrified out of her mind of those damn birds. She is my ROCK and I want to be hers in the storm of life. "
"Tyrone, if those aren't your wedding vows, I'm going to hit you." Amanda was trying to keep from crying.
"Yes, Grammy."
"Dammit, Tyrone. I think you just made all us other men look bad." Andrew grumbled. Khan muttered in agreement.
"Just because you two aren't as eloquent as Tyrone doesn't mean you need to tease him." Amanda scolded as she checked the roast.
Tyrone looked smugly at the pair of men in front of him.
"So John…how was your, uh, date?"
"IT WAS NOT A DATE."
Tyrone laughed.
"Denial is not just a river in Egypt. Ayo Andrew, get a handle on your boy Fred. He won't stop blowing up my phone to complain about your sister. I told him I don't want to hear it, but he still keeps going."
"What is he saying?" Andrew leaned in.
Tyrone glanced at the still glaring John.
"I'll tell you later, man. In private."
"Amanda, how long do you think that roast has on it?" Andrew asked.
"Fifteen minutes or so."
"Tyrone, lets go in the other room. Sorry to abandon you, John."
The two rose and walked to the front room where they sat on the two couches facing each other.
"Alright, what is Fred saying?"
"Look, Fred and Marla went on a date this weekend. She basically told him it wasn't going to work out, she wasn't ready for a relationship. I think he was a little too ahead of himself emotion wise since they had been sleeping together before and thinks she led him on, on purpose. But anyways, now don't get mad. You listening, Drew? Marla ran into John after and he took her to tea, they both say it was not a date. Fred says they've been getting pretty cozy at the office and that she was wearing his scarf when he passed them while on a bus home that night. Drew, are you calm here?"
"Yes." Andrew responded, making a mental note to interrogate Marla.
"Alright, now Fred's been calling me, ranting about how Marla is a slut and a bitch who fucked with his emotions and that she's sleeping around with John and he wonders how many other guys she's screwing right now and wouldn't be surprised if she's sleeping with some guy named Kirk Lakewood from what I could make out. I don't know. But I told him to shut his damn mouth because I'm friends with both of y'all and he could go spread his immature filth elsewhere because I know and he knows it ain't like that and she ain't like that. Andrew, I need you to stay calm and not kill him."
Andrew remained silent, a stony expression on his face.
"Thank you for telling me this, Tyrone."
"Drew, you're scaring me. What are you feeling right now?"
"Like beating the teeth out of Fred Kraft's mouth so it has to be wired shut so he can't talk shit about my sister's honor."
"Calm down, man. He's angry and he's jealous bout how John and Marbles are getting to be good friends so he's probably saying things to start shit."
"I'll sort this out right now. JOHN! Come here, please."
Khan entered the room to find Andrew on the edge of his seat, knee jiggling and mouth in his hands.
"Yes?"
"I want you to be one hundred percent honest with me or so help me God I will kick your ass to kingdom come."
Khan mentally laughed.
"Alright."
"Have you been sleeping with my sister?"
"No."
"Did you go on a date with my sister?"
"We went for tea, it was not a date." Khan growled.
"Any type of sexual activity between the two of you?"
"NO. Why are you asking me this exactly?"
Andrew didn't look up at him.
"According to Fred Kraft, you two have been sleeping together. I'll take your word over his right now."
"Boys, dinner is ready. Come eat and save this nonsense for later."
Marla sat on the sectional, emailing out the lecture for tomorrow. If she wasn't going to be there, there was no reason her students had to not get the lecture. The aspirin had finally kicked in enough to take the edge off the pain. Now it was just a dull ache. She had been rotating the heating pad between her abdomen and back most of the evening. Her phone rang beside her.
"Hello?"
"Marla, it's Amanda Sayes."
"Hey Amanda. What's up?"
"Are you in bed?"
"No, I'm on the sectional."
"Perfect. Tyrone and I are bringing some food over for you. Did you eat yet?"
"No and Amanda, you don't have to do that."
"I know and I am. I'm making the run over to the hospital anyways and bringing Andrea some since Tyrone wanted to go see her. Hold on." She could hear her talking to a man in the background. She couldn't make out who it was since Amanda covered the receiver. "And Johnny's coming too whether he likes it or not."
"Amanda." Marla's voice dropped.
"Marla."
"No."
"Yes."
"Did he agree to it?"
"No. But he's coming anyways because I want to take a walk with him afterwards. Keeps me young. So get decent. Endometriosis?"
"No. They've checked for that in the past. It's just very severe. I think Dr. Marcus wants to check again. I started some pills today so hopefully it will be better in two days. I'm taking off work tomorrow."
"Okay sweetheart. Andrew gave us his key. We will be over in a half hour or so."
Marla hung up and groaned. This meant she had to go put on pants and a bra. Everything hurt. Maybe she would just put on her sweatshirt and open the windows. She really wasn't feeling up to having visitors, especially John.
Maybe she could get away with staying curled up in the afghan. A part of her brain reminded her she used to be a stripper and it really shouldn't bother her to have men look at her with more clothes on than she did at the club.
She thought about it before reluctantly shuffling to the bathroom before putting on a pair of athletic shorts, a bra and her sweatshirt and opening the windows.
Marla flipped on some music and sank back on the sectional. She should probably have emptied the bathroom trashcan in case anyone wanted to use it. Oh well. Napoleon was settled on the heating pad beside her.
"Better than the vent I take it?"
The tribble merely cooed in reply.
Marla remembered she needed to go feed Scarlett's cat. It was only two floors up. She groaned as she put on a pair of sandals and grabbed the keys to Scarlett's apartment off the counter and her own keys.
Scarlett's apartment was very minimalist. Everything was white with pops of red. She found the food bowl and opened a can of cat food and emptied it and changed the water before leaving. The cat was in the bedroom most likely, hiding.
Back in her own apartment, she found Napoleon still on the heating pad. She moved the tribble and put the heating pad on her thighs and turned it to low as she laid down. Napoleon scooted on her lap and started trilling. Within minutes, she found herself asleep.
It wasn't long before she found herself jolted out of sleep by something crashing to the floor. She sat up and looked over by the door.
"Oh, shit, woke you up, didn't I, Marbles?" Tyrone looked sheepish as he picked himself up from the door way. "By the way, your door is hard to open."
"Can't take you anywhere." Amanda sighed as she stepped past him, containers in hand to put them in the fridge.
"Are you okay, Ty?"
"Yeah. Just my pride is wounded. Glad you were asleep to not see that." Tyrone made his way to the sectional and sat down beside her. "How you doing?" He held out his arms for hug.
"Better than earlier." Marla sighed. "No, Tyrone, please don't hug me right now."
"Earlier, you were sitting on my desk." John entered her apartment. "Technically you're feeling worse than earlier."
"Shut up, John."
He smirked at her as he leaned against the arm of the couch. Napoleon cooed as he scooted up the arm of the couch to Khan's hand where it settled.
"You can sit, you know. I have chairs and a couch. I don't have a desk though."
Khan could smell blood. Finally it clicked in his brain. Pain, blood, issues since a teenager, endometriosis talk from Amanda. He started ruffling the tribble's fur and earned a cascade of trills. Growing up with the female Augments, hormones combined with their superiority created a massively terrifying experience once a month once they all synced to the same cycle. He had seen more than one massive bodily injury sustained by others due to it.
Marla looked up at him with an amused look. Khan realized he was now cuddling the tribble. Marla hid a smile by turning to face Tyrone.
"Tyrone, is something bothering you?"
"Yeah. I'm worried."
"About what? Marie?"
"Nah. Your brother."
"Why? What's going on?" Marla urgently sat up and faced him, letting loose a small whine and wincing.
"Whoa, easy there, Marbles." Tyrone held out his hand. "He's probably hunting down Fred right now if hasn't already found him and giving him one hell of a beatdown."
"Why?" Marla's voice went higher and slightly panicked.
"Because he's saying shit and Andrew's out to defend your honor."
"What kind of stuff?" Amanda shuffled in and was leaning on the edge of the couch Khan had moved from.
"Grammy-"
"What is Fred saying, Ty?" Marla grabbed Tyrone's hand and looked him in the eye. "I want to hear it from you and not someone else."
"Dammit. Tch. Fred's been blowing up my phone calling you a whore and a bitch, you're sleeping with this fool," He waved his arm at a scowling Khan who was still holding the tribble and stroking it. "And saying you're sleeping with a bunch of other Starfleet peeps I don't know. Kirk Lakewood or some shit."
"You mean Kirk AND Lakewood? Kirk is a captain who has been off planet harassing my brother about his ship and whom I've never met and Lakewood is a creep of a Commander."
"Yeah, whatever. So he's been running his mouth to whomever will listen and making noise about how you're a fucking lying slut."
"Alright then. I would normally take care of this myself, but I have the feeling Drew has it covered."
"MARLA." Amanda reprimanded.
"I-"
"MARLENA." Amanda tossed her a phone. "I do not care how bitchy of a mood you are in right now. Call him off. Now."
Marla narrowed her eyes. Amanda stared back. The two men watched as the two women had a stare down. Marla did not break eye contact as she dialed.
"Andrew, it's Marla. What are you doing? No…go home. Now. I will deal with him… What do you mean? Stop. Now… Because I do not have the funds to bail your ass out of jail because of an immature asshole who can't handle being rejected…No, I don't give a flying fuck if you're defending my honor right now…At least drag him out to the street and let him wake up there…Andrew, you knocked him out with one hit, that's enough. I will deal with him later. Bye." She hung up and handed the phone back to Amanda.
"Marla, I understand you are upset and not in the most merciful of moods right now, but allowing your brother to do that is not the answer."
"I am aware. I am also aware that Andrew and Fred are friends and Andrew would not kill him but merely beat him up enough to scare him into keeping his mouth shut and call it even. He's not a mindless rage machine. Trust me, I'm not exactly feeling calm and collected right now."
"Shit, we need to get to the hospital. Grammy, let's go before they tell us we can't go in." Tyrone stood up. Amanda sighed and turned to follow.
"Johnny, you coming?"
"Who are we seeing?"
"He can stay if he wants." Marla grumbled.
"Alright. John, we'll be back."
"Send Andrea my love."
The door closed behind the pair.
"Sit down John, you're making me nervous standing there."
Khan moved to sit next to her.
"So. Not in a very forgiving mood, are we? Hormones can do that."
"Oh fuck off." Marla snarled. "How the hell-"
"Is the pain usually this bad?" Khan interrupted her as he put the tribble down on his lap.
"Yes. Unless I'm on a medication." Marla moved the heating pad to her back. "You've got something on your pants." She picked at a piece of lint stuck to his pants.
"Thank you."
"Tell me more about you John."
"There is not much to tell. I am the best in my department and that is why Marcus is constantly calling me to his office. I do a far superior job than the rest."
"And you're so modest too. Fine, tell me more about your family."
Marla leaned back as John began telling her about his sisters. About their habits, their personalities, how they were…
"You really do miss them, don't you?" She looked at him as he took a pause.
"Very much so."
"Why not reconnect with them?"
"I cannot find them. Any of them. I would do anything to be able to talk with them, walk with them, be with them again." Khan let the words leave his mouth before realizing he said it and his face betrayed his emotions.
Marla moved next to him, took his hand and stroked his knuckles with her thumb.
"You will. Don't give up hope. They are out here and you will be with them again one way or another."
Khan was slightly taken aback by the sudden gesture. He recovered quickly and brought Marla's hand to his mouth and gently kissed the webbing between her thumb and index finger. Marla sat perfectly still, absorbed in the moment and sensation.
They both jumped when a knocking came from the front door. Khan dropped her hand.
"They can't be back already." Marla looked at the clock in confusion. "It's only been twenty minutes."
"Are you expecting anyone?"
"No. I wasn't even expecting you guys until Amanda called."
"Sit. I'll go get it." Khan got up and walked to the front door. Whomever was at the door pounded again, a bit harder.
Khan unlocked and opened the door to see the woman from the McGivers house in front of him.
"Hello again. Move, I need to speak with my aunt." Tabitha pushed past him as he stared at her, bemusement evident in his face as to who she thought she was, shoving him aside.
Marla stared at Tabitha in front of her.
"How did you find where I live?" She questioned.
"I brought macarons." She shook a small brown bag before she put them on the counter.
"Uh…thanks? Will you answer my question please"
"You told me where and I figured out which floor and number. I wanted to apologize for the other night." Tabitha cleared her throat. "It was not my intention to frighten you or scare you off. I apologize if I hurt any feelings or crossed any lines. I got over excited I suppose. I really do want to have a relationship with you Aunt Marla. Please forgive me. You have access to the house whenever. Both the farmhouse and mine. You don't have to move in with me or do any of the things I said. But please, just come have coffee with me on Friday night. You can bring Uncle Andrew too."
Marla stared at the red headed woman in front of her.
"I'll have to think about it."
"Alright." Tabitha nodded as she glanced around the apartment. "I will leave you then to your thoughts. Good night." With that she turned and left. Khan shut the door behind her and returned to his spot on the couch.
"Why would she come here unannounced and uninvited? And she thinks I'm the one who needs cleaning up."
"What?"
"Apparently I am not classy enough to be introduced to high society as a McGivers." Marla rolled her eyes. "Or even the rest of the family." She reached for Napoleon who trilled affectionately before climbing up her jacket and stopping on her chest. "Napoleon, what are you doing?" The tribble began burrowing into her jacket and crawled down her back.
"Tribbles are just…" Khan attempted to find a word. Usually he would use useless, but right now, it was entertaining watching the woman in front of him attempting to catch the tribble in her jacket.
"Oh right, the heating pad. Napoleon really likes it for some reason." She grabbed he heating pad from her back and set it beside her on the cushion. Khan watched the tribble emerge from the bottom hem and make its way to the heat.
Khan reached over and scooped up the tribble, which immediately began making squeals of dissent. He held it and the tribble realized the person holding him was producing an exceptional amount of heat and snuggled in.
Marla unzipped the sweatshirt and slid it off. She was getting too hot even with the windows open. Khan's eyes wandered over her bare shoulders. Her bra and tank strap were slipping. She adjusted it.
They sat in silence, listening to a Beethoven sonata.
"Surely, you must miss your family truly or else you would not have even considered her offer." Khan broke the silence.
"When she first offered it to me, it was…it felt like a prison sentence. Come live with me. I will teach you how you should be acting, how you should be dressing, who you should be socializing with, where you should go."
"It would not suit you."
"I have no desire to live that way. I have a new start. I do not wish to spend it constantly worrying about my family name and what high society expects of me. The opinions of my family and friends are what matters most to me, not some socialite."
"The fallacy in that is that your surviving family, sans Andrew, appears to be comprised of entirely politicians and socialites from what I have heard."
"I know. It is a odd situation but I do need to make a decision. Tabitha wants a relationship but I am unwilling to do what she desires which is integrate with that part of the family and be some type of novelty. I would like a relationship but I just stated my reasons."
"She has offered to drop those expectations."
"Indeed, she has."
"If it is something you desire and conditions are to your liking, seize it." Khan leaned in close to her face and lifted her chin with his finger, forcing her to look him in the eye. "Opportunities are fleeting." Marla could smell his aftershave, the smell from the scarf.
Khan's eyes darted to the door as he heard the lock scrape and Marla pulled back from him.
"We're back!" Tyrone swung the door open.
Marla rose and stretched. She winced.
"Thank you guys for the food, I'll get into it soon."
"No problem. Come on Johnny, we've caused enough chaos tonight. Let's go for our walk." Amanda patted Marla's hand.
Khan set aside the tribble and stood.
"Feel better soon Marbles. Thanks again for helping me out yesterday."
"You're welcome Ty." She gave Tyrone a kiss on the cheek. "Say hi to Marie for me when you get home."
"She's working late tonight, I probably won't even see her til the morning."
"Well, hope her shift goes well then."
"Me too. I'll see you Wednesday." Tyrone turned and helped Amanda back out the door.
"Good night." Khan nodded at Marla.
"Good luck on your trip. Please come back alive, I don't want Lakewood attempting to transfer into your empty office." She teased as he lingered in the door frame. "You are covered in tribble fur."
He looked down.
"It appears I am." He started picking at the strands, attempting to get rid of it.
"Well, that is what happens when you cuddle an active tribble." Marla giggled.
"You're going to miss me, admit it." He smirked as he leaned with one hand against the wall next to the door.
"Hmmmm…Nah. Maybe I'll actually get some work done. BYE!" She smirked as she moved to snap the door shut.
Khan caught it quickly with his hand and gave her an amused look.
"How rude to shut the door in someone's face." He raised an eyebrow.
"Alright fine." She took him by surprise when she grabbed his hand again. "Be safe. Keep your temper. I'll see you when you get back, my friend." With that she quickly kissed him on the cheek and shut the door.
Marla shuffled to the kitchen and opened the fridge to pull out the food Amanda left. She put the containers in the microwave and went to pick up Napoleon.
She angrily stabbed some potatoes. It was hormones. It was hormones. It was hormones. She kept repeating over and over again. She did NOT have a crush on Commander John Harrison. NOPE. It was her hormones being out of whack from her first period in two hundred and forty-five years. Yes. That was it. She held Napoleon on her lap as she ate, ensuring the tribble didn't get at her plate. It was a good thing he was going to be off planet for nearly a month. Give her body a chance to sort itself out before another stupid thing like that happened.
"So what did you two do?" Amanda held on to the crook of Khan's arm as they strolled down the street near the house.
"Sat and conversed. How was the hospital?"
"Depressing. Andrea was upset Marla wasn't there, but understood. I think Marla's going to attempt to go tomorrow since she has to be over there anyways."
"She was most certainly not herself tonight."
"I'm surprised you noticed."
"I share a confined space with the woman, I am not clueless."
"You seem troubled, Johnny. I've never seen you act this way before."
"I have found myself in a number of situations I have not found myself in before."
Amanda sighed.
"Johnny."
"Yes?"
"You really need to wake up and face it. You are attracted romantically to this woman. I'm pretty sure she's feeling you too. Give it up. We can all see it. The fact that Andrew didn't beat the snot out of you when Tyrone told him the rumors means he does not object. Now the question is, are you going to pursue this or not?"
"I have no intentions with Marla McGivers. There is nothing between us except friendship." He stated firmly. "Also, as she has stated multiple times, she is not ready for another relationship right now so pushing this subject is useless and I suggest it be dropped."
"So you have considered it."
"Amanda. Drop it."
Amanda groaned in exasperation. She desperately wanted to slap the man next to her across the face.
Annora McGivers stared at her sister Tabitha, glass of Chianti in hand.
"So what you're saying, is that Marlena and Andrew McGivers are alive. Tabitha, have you been hitting the bottle?" Annora looked at her sister with amusement on her botoxed face.
"No! Cryostasis!"
"Alright, so you're saying the family managed kept this a huge secret for two hundred and forty-five years? Why didn't we hear about it or have any knowledge of it?"
"Well, maybe they didn't want people to know."
"It doesn't make sense." Annora snorted. "You're making less sense than Peach on that cocaine binge she went on before she went to rehab."
"I thought we agreed to never mention that again. You know what would happen if anyone outside the family got a hold on that information. Media would have a field day."
"True. It would truly be a disgrace. Speaking of which, I desire to meet this woman. Make sure she is up to par before we declare her a family member."
"No. I told her she would not be dragged through that."
"And why not?" Annora asked icily. "If she is to be a member of this family, she must be aware there is a code of conduct we all must follow and if she's running around on a motorcycle, breaking into private property and sleeping with a co-worker, we simply cannot have that and cannot associate with her. She must be cultivated into an upstanding member of society."
"She's a history professor at Starfleet Academy."
"Oh my, what kind of people is Starfleet hiring now a days?" Annora sniffed. "They've certainly lowered their standards."
"Annora, she is our aunt."
"Tabitha, she might be an imposter after the family fortune. I will take this with a grain of salt and am denying her any entrance to the house until I meet her and that is final."
Tabitha crossed her arms and considered her older sister.
"We are meeting for coffee on Friday." She finally spoke.
Khan slammed the door to his apartment.
Once more, he stripped on his way to the shower.
He stood in the hot water, seething to himself. Allowing himself to give her signs of affection...Allowing his emotions to come out like that in front of her. He didn't know what the hell he was doing. He didn't know what the hell was going on with himself.
Yes. He was generally attracted to her. He forced himself to admit that much. He couldn't help it. What exactly else was going on, he didn't know.
She kissed him. On the cheek, but she had kissed him.
He decided to put it from his mind for the moment. He needed absolute focus the next month to be working with Marcus's crew on the ship.
He was going to talk to Marcus about Deep Space K-7. He revisited the thoughts he had had in the store. It would provide a very good learning experience. Much, much more effective with weapon designs to see what they would be up against instead of reading.
Once out of the shower, he did something he had never done. He called Admiral Marcus.
Admiral Marcus watched the setting sun from his office.
"You wanted to see me sir?" A mousy man opened the office door.
"Ah yes. Sit. Good to see you Dr. Warren. I have some questions about genetics." He gestured to the chair in front of the desk and Dr. Warren sat quickly.
"Fire away, sir."
"Augments."
"What about them?"
"Tell me, how did their relationships work?"
"Relationships? Like romantically?"
"Yes."
Dr. Warren cleared his throat, taken by surprise. Human genetics were his specialty and natural he had found the topic of the human Augments absolutely fascinating.
"Well, um…let's see. They were exactly like normal humans in the sense. Dating, casual sex, relationships that did and didn't work. The real difference is when an Augment was truly in love. Like normal humans, they married. But they were better at us than everything and that includes love. Once Augments have bonded in a sense and are in love, that is it. They will stay with that person for life."
"Bonded? Like sex?"
"No. Like human bonding. You've surely bonded with your wife, your daughter, your friends right?"
"Ah, I see."
"What we feel with love, it is estimated they felt it much more intensely. If the partner dies, they would not ever take another. The weaker bred Augments occasionally died of Broken Heart Syndrome. They were incredibly loyal to their mates. I don't want to say spouses, since many did not see the need to go through with that particular 'inferior' ritual."
"What if a mate was murdered?"
"Oh, revenge would be immediately sought. No doubt about that. Augments were very intense people when it came to anger. There were at least two wars between them started by a murdered spouse slash mate. One of Khan Noonien Singh's henchmen accidentally killed the mate of a neighboring reigning Augment. The man had been walking at night in the gardens and the henchmen mistook him for an assassin. A bloody war that one was. Of course Singh won and acquired the territory, but he had that henchmen executed as soon as he found out why exactly his ally, Lu Ting was declaring war. Lu Ting was one of the fiercest female Augments known. Upon defeat, Khan offered her a place in his ranks. She opted to commit suicide in front of him instead of giving him a yes or no answer."
"The other?"
"Between two smaller territories in France. The wife of Pierre duPont was kidnapped, raped, tortured and murdered. She was a normal human, surprisingly. Hell rained down and there was no winner because the two sides decimated each other."
"So, you are basically saying if an Augment falls in love-"
"Completely. Like I said, we all think we've fallen in love at some point, but we really don't know it until we've felt the real deal." Dr. Warren interrupted.
"Yes, yes. So if that happens and you attempt to remove the 'real deal' mate from the situation?"
"It would be like signing your own death certificate if that person died. Even if the person did not die, you would still have a very, very angry, wrathful, raging Augment on your hands. Remember, they were aggressive, arrogant and extremely territorial about almost everything, especially such relationships as family and friends. Withholding those people from an Augment could lead to an incredibly nasty situation. But lovers…you were asking for a very painful death if you separate the two with the intent on keeping them away from each other."
"And if they weren't in love?"
"They would still be furious, but probably get over it after a bit, like any normal break up." Dr. Warren shrugged. "May I inquire why you ask?"
"The wife and I were discussing it the other night. I want to give her some answers to her curiosity. Thank you, Dr. Warren."
"Oh, no problem sir." Dr Warren stood and shook the Admiral's hand. "Give my regards to the family."
"Will do."
Khan unceremoniously threw his bags in the back of the car. The Admiral didn't trust him to show up on his own so he had sent a car to pick him up. The sun hadn't risen yet and was unlikely to for another few hours. The driver glanced at him.
"To the docking then?"
"Yes." Khan grumbled. He leaned back and covered his mouth and nose with his scarf to try and take a nap. It still smelled of Marla. He quickly fell asleep in the passenger seat.
He had spent the majority of the day before sleeping and debating about going back to see Marla or Amanda again before he left knowing he wouldn't see anybody he was likely to get along with for a month. He decided against it.
Khan was jerked awake as the car came to a complete stop and turned off.
"We have arrived." The driver nodded at him. Khan shoved a few dollars at the man and got his bags out of the back.
"There we are." Admiral Marcus looked up from a table where several men in red shirts stood. "Alright, everyone is here. Let's move out."
Khan watched them closely as everything was set up to leave. He studied them as everything proceeded.
Marcus took his seat up front in the small shuttle.
"Alright take us out. Coordinates two three, one seven, four six, one one."