Chapter 2 of "Just an ordinary day". Main character is an OC. Hope you like it!
Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!
Jane groaned as she slammed the snooze button on her alarm. More than ever, she wanted to just call in sick on this particular morning. But with the admiral himself having arranged this assignment, she could hardly skip work without there being consequences. Knowing her luck, the admiral himself would come knocking at her door to verify her illness. Resigning herself to the inevitable, she dragged herself out of bed and begrudgingly began her morning toiletry routine.
All morning, something was nagging at the back of Jane's mind. Something was off, but damned if she could pinpoint what it was. As she made her way to her office in Starfleet Headquarters, she suddenly realized that there was very little personal information about her new charge, and there was no photo identification. Jane had never seen a file that lacked a photo ID. Oh for fuck's sake... she chided herself. Maybe the photo just got misplaced. I know you hate noob duty, girl, but get a grip on yourself. No sense screwing up an assignment straight from the Boss man!
She squealed into her cubicle at 0757, barely giving herself time to deposit her personal effects before she heard and sensed the duo behind her. Recognizing a commodore, she turned and quickly snapped to attention.
"Lieutenant," acknowledged Commodore Norrington. He was an extraordinarily ordinary man, average height, slightly prominent cheekbones (as was typical of descendants of Earth's England), average build, average looks, average just about everything. He seemed slightly bored with his current assignment, but he did his best to hide it.
"Allow me to introduce you to our new recruit," said Norrington, turning to the stranger next to him. "This is Lieutenant John Harrison."
Jane stared. She did her best not to stare, then stared some more.
"What. The. Fuck?!" she couldn't help but think. This John Harrison was... well, quite frankly, perfect. Six feet tall, his body was very nicely muscled, if his slightly-too-tight uniform was any indication. He had a shock of dark brown hair and bright, piercing blue-green eyes. His skin was pale, and there wasn't a single scar or even flaw on the man. He seemed to be the epitome of human physical perfection. Jane looked him over several times, not quite believing what she saw. "Christ!" she thought, "is he even human?!"
"Lieutenant! Is there a problem?"
The commodore's bark snapped Jane's attention back into place. "No, sir!" she replied hastily. "Sorry, sir."
Harrison gave her a slight smirk, as if he had read her mind. "Shit," she thought as she paid as much attention to the commodore as she needed to (and not an ounce more). "I'm sure he has women fawning over him left and right. Hell, he's probably married. And I don't have time for anything like that anyway!"
Despite herself, she couldn't help but steal a glance at his left hand, noticing that he did not wear a ring. Curiosity getting the better of her, she removed her mental shields and reached out with her mind to see what she could sense of him, and she was nearly knocked senseless. Pain, anger, fear, patience, deception, devotion, power... She gasped, the intensity of his emotions overwhelming her.
"Everything all right, Lieutenant?" The commodore sounded slightly irritated.
Jane composed herself with an effort. "Yes, sir. Sorry, sir. Just a flare-up of an old wound, sir. It happens now and then."
Harrison's eyes narrowed as he looked at her, as if he had read right through that lie. The sudden flare of suspicion Jane sensed from him only seemed to confirm so. She eyeballed him again, driving her mind as far as she could into his. Suspicion, wariness, mistrust, extreme confidence, and... love? Jane's eyes narrowed. All kinds of negative emotions in this man, and yet so many positive attributes hidden beneath the surface. Clearly, this was a very complicated man.
"Any questions from either of you?" Commodore Norrington had finally finished his little speech. Jane had heard it many, many times already.
"No, sir," they replied in sync.
"Lieutenants," the commodore saluted and turned away, leaving Jane alone with this enigmatic stranger. Harrison inclined his head. "Lieutenant."
Jane scoffed lightly. "Yes, Lieutenant. First things first. We're going to sound like a couple of morons if we sit here 'lieutenant, lieutenant, lieutenant'-ing each other to death." She smiled, offering her hand. "I'm Jane."
"John," said the stranger, shaking her hand with a slight smile. Every move he made was measured, calculated.
"Who are you?" thought Jane. She had met many different people of many different races in her time, and not a one had ever been such a mystery. He was definitely human, his emotion patterns confirmed that. But there was something else about him, something she couldn't quite put her finger on. She chewed her lip for a moment, then snapped back to attention again.
"Well," she said hurriedly. "I guess we can start with a tour of the place. Start boring and get more interesting as we go. More or less..."
Carol Marcus was kitty-corner to Jane's cubicle, and was biting her finger so hard she feared she would draw blood. Even so, it was still an almighty struggle to keep from laughing out loud. While it was a punishable act to tamper with an official file, it was more than worth it to remove John Harrison's photo just to see Jane's reaction. And besides, there were some perks to being an admiral's daughter...