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Chapter 15: Bullet with Butterfly Wings
"An away mission?" Colleen asked as she ran a brush through her long blonde hair. She had just finished straightening it. Ryan poked his head out of the bathroom door, a toothbrush hanging out of his mouth.
"Dats what I dold yew," he said as a small trail of white toothpaste rolled down his chin. Colleen giggled as she rose from her bureau and crossed the room.
"Go finish brushing your teeth and then come out here," Colleen instructed him. Ryan's head disappeared from the doorway as Colleen began strapping on her boots. She was almost ready to head off to work when Ryan reappeared.
"Like I was saying, Kirk needs me to be on an away mission today. We'll probably be gone for a day or two," Ryan explained to her as he pulled his security uniform jacket on. Colleen sighed.
"I don't see why I have to go," Liam muttered, finishing up his dessert.
"Oh shut up. You have a chance to be on an away mission and- Alex I swear to god, you take one bite of that pudding and I will chain you to a bed!" Claire snapped.
"Sounds kinky," Alex muttered. Before Liam could smack him, Ryan did, causing Alex to give a groan of pain.
"Damn, that hurt," he muttered.
"I'm not sure I want you to go. Especially if there are Klingons down there," Colleen said. Ryan shrugged.
"Don't worry. Kirk said that we have to make sure that Captain Wallace and his crew can set up a security base. Plus, I have ensign Lopez covering me," Ryan said.
"How is Anna doing? I see her during dinner a bit, but I haven't really talked to her," Claire said.
"Anna?" Ryan asked.
"Uh, yeah… Anna Lopez," Claire said.
"Oh, she's fine," he said. Claire rolled her eyes and looked to Colleen, who looked a little pale.
"You alright?" Liam asked.
"Morning sickness, when will it be over?" Colleen asked, looking at the three doctors.
"It usually lasts through the first trimester. You have a while," Alex said. Colleen frowned and Ryan wrapped an arm around her shoulder.
"Don't worry babe, I'll take good care of you before I leave," Ryan whispered. Everyone at the table frowned until Liam turned to Alex.
"I better get taken care of before I leave. I don't think I'll be able to last three days without you," Liam said. Alex smiled.
"I'm going to miss you too," he said, but Liam frowned.
"I can't believe we're going to deny my penis…"
"Liam, stop talking or I will force feed Alex pudding," Rupert snapped, sitting down next to Ryan. Alex rolled his eyes.
"There would be no force necessary, I'd eat it willingly," he mumbled. Liam and Claire both smacked him.
"THE HELL YOU WILL!" They both cried out. The rest of the table broke out into laughter before Rupert cleared his throat.
"So who's going on this big away mission?" He asked, taking a small sip out of his cup of tea. Ryan pulled a crumpled piece of paper out of his pocket.
"Well, we'll have most of the security team, Kirk, Spock, Scotty, Liam, and myself there. It'll mostly be a sausage fest, except for Ensign Lopez," Ryan explained. Liam licked his lips at the thought.
"Just how I like it." Silence fell over the table as Alex let out an awkward cough.
"Yeah, that was pretty unnecessary…." Rupert mumbled as he took another sip of tea.
"Come on, can you blame me? A bunch of hot men all standing around and flexing their muscles. Come on, someone has to see from my point of view. Claire?" Claire raised an eyebrow.
"Seeing as one of those hot men is my brother, no, I don't see your point of view. Stop trying to get me involved in those conversations. One, I have a boyfriend, and two, YOU have a boyfriend." Liam paused then nodded.
"Good point," he muttered.
"So, you going to give Kirk a nice goodbye?" Alex asked. Claire knew he was just teasing her, but Ryan sent him a nasty look.
"You know what, shut up, Chambers…" Alex glared back.
"Make me, Conaway." He snapped. Ryan went to stand up, but Colleen pulled him down.
"Stop, not before an away mission," she said. Ryan sighed and focused on his lunch.
"So…?" Liam asked. Claire turned red, knowing what Liam was asking her, and looked to Rupert.
"How have you been Rupert?" she asked. Rupert chuckled.
"I'm… fine, Claire… and you?" he asked.
"Just fine, until recently. Did you know my least favorite game is twenty questions?" Claire asked.
"Claire, why won't you answer me? Are you going to say goodbye to Kirk or not?" Liam asked. Claire rose from the table.
"Maybe I'll go do that now then," she snapped before taking off. Everyone watched her form retreat from the table.
"You guys need to stop messing with that girl…" Rupert mumbled. Ryan rolled his eyes.
"Or maybe you should just stop asking about her sex life," he shot. Alex shrugged.
"Hey, she knows about our sex lives and we know jack about hers," he defended. Colleen giggled.
"Okay, you two shove your sex lives into everyone's faces. And she just knows about Ryan's sex life because I'm kind of pregnant," she said. Rupert looked away from the couple and looked at his tea, suddenly seeming uncomfortable at the table. Liam smiled.
"How can you be kind of pregnant?" He asked, trying to hold back his giggling. Ryan flicked a bit of his sandwich at Liam. Colleen glared at her boyfriend.
"Oh, that was real mature," she scolded. Ryan just gave her a big toothy smile.
"Yeah, but you love me, babe!" He said, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. She chuckled at his behavior as he leaned over to capture her lips. Everyone awkwardly turned back to their food. Finally, Liam looked up.
"I'd really hope that she loves you considering she's carrying your child. Otherwise, we'd be taking this shit to Jerry Springer. Although, I always thought it would be pretty cool to be on that show…" Everyone at the table glared at Liam.
"SHUT UP, LIAM!"
"And here I thought you weren't going to say goodbye," Kirk said with a grin as Claire walked into his room. She chuckled as he stood up from his desk and made his way over to her.
"Sorry, I've been a bit preoccupied with the sickly sweet couples of the ship," she muttered. He chuckled and wrapped his arms around her waist, causing her to turn a bit red. She raised her arms to wrap around his shoulders, giving them a bit of room between them.
"I'm glad you made time to see me," he said, letting his forehead rest against hers.
"Of course, but you might want to make this quick, I've got you scheduled for ten minutes," she joked. He laughed and leaned down, his soft lips pressing against hers. She gave a sigh of content into his lips as he began to slowly move them against hers. One hand dropped from his shoulder to his chest, enjoying the way they felt flexing under her touch. His tongue licked her bottom lip and she granted him permission to enter and deepen the kiss. He pulled away after a moment and simply held her close.
"I wish you were coming with us," he whispered.
"And why is that?" she asked softly.
"Because I could whisk you off to some deserted part of the jungle and have my way with you, and no one would know," he told her. She pulled away only enough to see his face.
"Oh really? What makes you think I would let you have your way with me?" she asked, her hand slowly moving across his chest.
"Oh, I know you would. I can be very convincing," he said, leaning down and capturing her lips once more, but she gently pushed him away.
"Really now? Well, try to convince me not to leave then," she said, crossing her arms. Jim gave her a slight pout as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close.
"Try to pretend that you don't want to be here," he dared her. Claire couldn't hold back the smile that found it's way to her face.
"Fine, you win," she said as he leaned down a placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. Claire closed her eyes and leaned her head on his chest, feeling it rise and fall with every breath he took.
"Sadly, I've got to get going. We're leaving shortly and I need to go check in with the bridge before I leave," he said. She nodded and pulled away, not before he leaned in and gave her a short, but meaningful kiss.
"I'm going to miss you," she whispered. He smiled and caressed her cheek.
"I'm going to miss you too. Try not to get into any trouble," he said. She scoffed.
"Again, pot calling the kettle black!" he chuckled and walked with her out of the apartment.
"I'll see you when I get back, kettle," he said, kissing her cheek.
"See you, pot. Be careful," she warned.
"It's me, what could go wrong?" he asked. He didn't wait for an answer as he began making his way toward the bridge. Claire sighed and began to make her way to sickbay.
"That's what I'm worried about."
"Are you all ready to go, Captain Wallace?" Jim asked.
"Of course, and you can call me Drake," Captain Wallace said. Jim smiled and looked at the away crew.
"Everyone ready?" he asked.
"Yes sir, we're waiting on you," Ryan answered.
"Good, let's get going. Beam us down." Jim said. The engineer technician nodded and began to type a few things into the computer.
"You be careful with her! She's really sensitive!" Scotty called out. The engineer rolled his eyes, but nodded anyway. A few seconds later, Ryan left his body become lighter and a slight felling of dizziness washed over him. He slammed his eyes shut, but just as the funny sensation had started, it ended and Ryan opened his eyes to see that he teleported into a swamp.
"Lovely," he mumbled, lifting his boot out of the mud puddle they had landed in.
"Well, considering this is where my home is going to be for the next ten years, I think it's great!" Captain Wallace said, his comment mostly directed to Ryan. Ryan ran a hand through his hair as they began trekking through it to the base.
"So why is Starfleet sticking you on this planet for the next ten years?" Liam asked as he swatted at the bugs that had immediately been drawn to him. Captain Wallace smiled, as though remembering a fond memory.
"Two months ago, my crew had attacked a Klingon vessel in our airspace. Well, the Klingons didn't like that too much and now we've been put under something similar to the witness protect program to keep safe," he explained. Scotty coughed.
"Starfleet stuck me on a planet once. Never sent me food or supplies. Just me and a giant icicle!" He snapped, remembering his time spent on the arctic planet.
"Then again, you did mess with Admiral Archer's beagle," Jim pointed out. Scotty shrugged as they made their way onto dry land. They stopped when they saw an old building, where they assumed was to be the new base.
"Here you are, so we're just stuck here while we wait for the rest of your crew to arrive," Jim said.
"Yes, thank you. I doubt there will be much trouble," Drake said. They walked into the building and Drake turned on the lights, flinching when they saw the sight of the disheveled looking base.
"Home sweet home?" Liam asked. Drake sighed and crossed his arms.
"I guess my crew will be doing some spring cleaning when they arrive," he muttered. Spock raised an eyebrow as his continued to scan the area.
"I believe that would be an understatement," he said. Jim chuckled at Spock's joke and sighed.
"So, we're going to set up tents outside, and we'll have people monitoring the base at all times," Jim told him.
"I'm not sharing a tent with Peterson," a security ensign said. Ensign Lopez rolled her eyes.
"Shut up, you homophobe," she snapped.
"I have no plans on getting all Brokeback swamp, thank you very much." Annalisa simply punched his arm and rolled her eyes.
"Okay fine, Ensign Nguyen can share a tent with Ensign Owens. Ensign Lopez gets her own tent. Captain Kirk can share a tent with Commander Spock. Captain Wallace is going to remain in the base. Liam and I can share a tent," Ryan said, trying to stop the argument between his security team. Spock shot Kirk a look out of the corner of his eye before turning to Ryan.
"Perhaps it would be better if I shared a tent with either yourself or Doctor Peterson," Spock offer. Kirk folded his arms.
"It was one time, Spock. It won't happen again!" He snapped. Silence fell over the group.
"Um… should I even ask?" Ryan asked slowly. Kirk's eyes got wide as Spock shrugged.
"The last time the Captain and I shared a tent, he violated me in my sleep after having a sexual dream about…" Kirk rushed to cover Spock's mouth. Ryan felt his anger rising as Spock's words began to register.
"You had a sex dream about my sister?" He snapped. Captain Wallace raised an eyebrow as Ryan grabbed Kirk by the collar.
"It really wasn't like that…" He said, forcing himself to chuckle. Ryan's stony grey eyes bore holes in Kirk's head.
"I think it would be best if you shared a tent with the Captain tonight, Lt. Commander Conaway," Spock offered. Liam folded his arms over his chest.
"Don't I get any say in this?" he asked.
"I am just assuming the best way to proceed. Do you have a problem with the arrangement?" Liam paused for a moment before shrugging.
"I guess not, I don't really care," Liam said.
"Then it is settled," Spock said.
"The security team and I will be up a perimeter," Ryan said.
"Sounds good, we'll set up the tents," Kirk said. Ryan simply nodded and took his security team outside. Jim sighed and ran a hand over his face before looking at Liam, who was shaking his head.
"He's going to kill me, isn't he?" Jim asked him. Liam shrugged.
"It's quite a possibility. I wouldn't suggest having another sex dream about his sister, probably wouldn't go over to well," Liam said.
"Nor would I suggest invading him anally either, captain," Spock said. Jim sighed and nodded.
"I'll keep that in mind."
The night was humid, and it seemed like all the heat that transpired through the day simply never went away. As a result, a lot of the men were walking around without shirts on, not that Liam was complaining. Ryan and Kirk were blessed with being the first ones on watch, though anyone could tell Ryan wanted to be anywhere but with the Captain.
"It's pretty quiet out…" Kirk offered, trying to get a conversation going. He was normally a very social person and sitting in silence for the past hour was killing him. Ryan shot a glare in his direction under the tree branch.
"Well it's not anymore," Ryan snapped. He leaned back against the tree that he was sitting in, trying to enjoy what little he could of the night. He hated the heat and the way it made his clothes stick to his skin. It really made him regret wearing boxers…
"Lovely weather?" Kirk tried, but Ryan only shot him another glare.
"I hate it," he stated simply. Kirk sighed.
"You know, I'm trying to be civilized here!" Kirk called up into the tree, but Ryan ignored him. After no answer, Kirk picked a small rock up off the ground and hurled it into the tree. Kirk heard a yelp and smiled as he heard leaves rustled and watched Ryan fall into a bush underneath the tree.
"You dickweed!" Ryan called out, as he tried to stand up. A few leaves stuck to his sweaty chest and a stick was protruding from his blond hair. As soon as Kirk took in the sight before him, he bust out laughing. Ryan rolled his eyes and pulled the horrible twig out of his hair. Kirk sat down on a old tree trunk, and Ryan sat down not far from him.
"Do you need to see a doctor?" Kirk asked.
"No, I'm fine," he snapped. Kirk rolled his eyes and looked out into the jungle. Since the base was centered at the bottom of a gorge, so they only had to watch one side. They sat in a silence and let each other get lost in their own thoughts.
"So, I heard you are expecting a kid, congratulations," Jim said. Ryan turned to him and raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, thanks," he said. Jim sighed as he scratched the back of his head.
"So, are you going to stay on the Enterprise? Or are you going to go back to earth?" Jim asked. Ryan gave a frustrated sigh, not liking the sudden amount of personal questions being dumped on him.
"I'm not sure yet. Depends on what Colleen wants to do, and if you agree to let us raise it on the ship," Ryan said. Jim paused and shrugged.
"I don't see why not. When is she due?" Jim asked. He figured he would continue on the subject, since it seemed to be the only thing he could get the man to talk about.
"It's really none of your business, sir," Ryan snapped. Jim ran a hand through his hair, something he was steadily picking up from Claire.
"Look, I'm not sure what your problem is with me, but it needs to stop. This is ridiculous," Jim muttered. Ryan snorted.
"Isn't it obvious?" He countered, but Kirk shook his head.
"No, not really. The only connection is that I'm going out with your sister!" Kirk yelled. Ryan stood up.
"That's exactly it! You don't deserve her. She's gone out with some pretty weird guys before, but I still can't even believe she'd go out with a guy like you!" Ryan shouted. Kirk stood up as well.
"A guy like me? What the hell is that supposed to mean?" He spat, advancing towards Ryan.
"A player, a womanizer! Ever since her last boyfriend, she's steered clear of guys like you and stuck with a good, but I guess she just couldn't resist your pretty face like every other girl who ends up in your bed!" Ryan spat, refusing to back down. Kirk stopped just short of stomping on Ryan's foot. They were practically nose to nose at this point.
"She's a big girl and you need to back off. We've been going out this long and haven't done anything sexual. I changed and I don't like you holding me to my past!"
"I don't like you dating my sister, so get over it." Jim pressed his lips together.
"Bringing you onto the ship was a damn mistake," Jim snapped turning around and taking a few steps away.
"What?" Ryan asked.
"How do you think you fucking got onto the Enterprise? Sure, you're a pretty good officer, and any other ship would have taken you. But if it wasn't for my specifically asking for you, you wouldn't be on my ship," Jim snapped. He paused when he realized what he was saying. He ran a hand over his face and frowned.
"You requested me on the ship? Why?" Ryan asked. Before Jim could say anything, there was the sound of a branch breaking and something charged into Jim, causing him to fall to the ground. Ryan picked up his phaser and went to shoot the Klingon that was now trying to kill Jim, but was stopped by another Klingon jumping out and tackling him to the ground. However, unlike his captain, Ryan had gone through six months of training for moments like these. He felt the Klingon jump onto his back and quickly shoved him off to the side and spun around to kick the Klingon before he could get back up.
"RED ALERT!" Ryan yelled towards the camp. Before he could go help Jim, two more Klingons jumped out of the bushes and rushed towards Ryan. Ryan's reflexes were quick as he fired at one Klingon with his phaser and tripped the other Klingon before he could use his knife to attack him. Ryan shot the Klingon in the hand, causing him to drop the knife. Ryan grabbed the knife, the handle warm in his hand, and threw it towards the Klingon that had Kirk pinned to the ground. The knife pierced the Klingon's side and he fall off to the side of Kirk, allowing him to get to his feet.
"Captain, are you alright?" Spock said.
"Just fine, damn I need to hit the gym," Jim said. Spock, who seemed to be the only person wearing a shirt next to Lopez, gave a light nod and looked at the Klingon who was writhing in pain.
"What are you doing here?" Jim asked.
"We're here for Wallace," the Klingon said. Jim sighed and looked over at Spock, who simply raised an eyebrow.
"They know he is here," Spock said.
"You can surrender, and we can have Starfleet deal with you. Or we can keep you prisoner, and we'll deal with you," Jim said. The Klingon didn't answer, simply grabbed a dagger and charged at Ryan. Before he got too close, Kirk raised his phaser and shot him down, letting out a deep sigh.
"Damn, we're going to have to contact Starfleet now…" he muttered.
"Doctor Peterson and I will take the next watch," Spock said. Jim nodded and made his way to the tent. Ryan stayed put for a moment before moving his shoulder, causing a crack to echo through the woods.
"Jesus, you alright?" Liam asked.
"Yeah, fine… just a stiff shoulder," he answered. Liam nodded and sat down on a log as far away from the Klingons as possible.
"You should get some rest, Lt. Commander…" Ryan nodded as he begrudgingly made his way to the tent, pausing before entering. He turned around to see Kirk slowly trekking up to the tent behind him.
"What?" Kirk asked, noticing the look that Ryan was giving him.
"I could have let you die back there. After what you said to me… I should have let you died," Ryan mumbled. Kirk pushed past him into the tent.
"Then kill me in my sleep. I'm too tired to argue with you right now," Kirk mumbled as he crawled into the tent. Ryan waited a moment before following. The two men stripped down into the boxers in silence and went to bed without another word.
It was the middle of the night and Ryan woke up to his bladder screaming at him. The heat had subsided a bit and he considered grabbing a t-shirt to sleep in after running to use a bush. Just as he opened his eyes, he realized that Kirk and him weren't alone. Towering above Kirk's sleep form was a Klingon, a knife raised over his head. Ignoring his urge to use the bathroom, Ryan leapt up and tackled the Klingon out of the way. They fell into the side of the tent, bringing the whole thing down. Ryan could feel the knife digging into his shoulder, the blade ripping through the tender flesh and muscles. The Klingon cried out in surprised, waking up Jim.
"Holy shit!" He cried, searching for his pants underneath their deflated tent. Ryan grunted in pain as he ripped the knife out of his shoulder, the warm crimson liquid already pouring out of his wound and all over his naked upper half. Without a second thought, Ryan drove the dagger into the Klingon chest just as Kirk pulled out his phaser.
"WHERE IS HE, RYAN?" Kirk cried out. Before Ryan could reply, the fallen tent was ripped off of them. Ryan looked up to see Ensign Lopez holding the tent with one hand and a phaser in the other. The Klingon was hidden by a few items in the tent, and she only saw Ryan with his shoulder bleeding, and Kirk with a phaser pointed at Ryan.
"Qué carajo? What happened in here?" she asked. Both Ryan and Jim paused to take in the fact that a very attractive looking woman was standing in front of them in nothing but her bra and shorts.
"There is a Klingon, somewhere in the tent," Ryan said. He got up and walked out of the tent, Jim right behind him.
"How did a Klingon get in your tent?" She asked.
"We don't ask questions. I think I'm sleeping in the base though," Jim said, putting his pants on before walking to the base. Ryan sighed and went to run a hand through his hair, but stopped when a pain went through his shoulder.
"You should get Liam to look at your cut, it's looks pretty nasty," Lopez said. Ryan nodded and sighed as he looked at the disheveled tent.
"I'm not getting any sleep tonight… am I?" He asked. Lopez raised an eyebrow.
"On this planet? Yeah right…" he nodded.
"Thanks Lopez, for checking in." She nodded and gave a light pat to his good shoulder.
"Of course sir, I was on duty and I heard the commotion," she told him.
"All by yourself?" he asked. She shook her head.
"No, I was with Ensign Owens, but he ran off talking about seeing something and we drifted from our post." He nodded.
"Alright, well… keep up the good work, I'm going to go see the doctor," he said.
"Of course, but uh… sir…" he looked at her and raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah?" She pressed her lips together and gave a small cough.
"You might want to put some pants on, and get a change of underwear…" she told him. He gave her a confused expression before he realized that before the attack he had to use the bathroom.
"We've been here one day and you've already gotten stabbed. Good thing I'm here and not your sister," Liam mumbled, more to himself than Ryan. After quickly getting changed out of his "wet" attire, Ryan went to wake Liam up while Lopez captured the Klingon that had attacked while he was sleeping. Despite how tired Liam was, he managed to stitch Ryan's shoulder up with little effort.
"Yeah… thanks for doing this, by the way," Ryan added, seeing Liam stifled back yet another yawn. Liam nodded and rubbed at his eyes.
"No problem at all. That should do it until we get back onto the ship. Until then, go easy," Liam told him. Ryan thanked him before heading back to his destroyed tent. Just as he arrived, he noticed Kirk sitting on a rock nearby.
"We should talk," he said bluntly, his head resting in his hands. Ryan nodded and took a seat next to the captain. They sat in silence for a moment before Jim ran a hand over his face.
"Look, it's not secret you don't like me, and it's not secret I'm not a big fan of you. We started off badly from the beginning. I'm sorry I've been egging you on, it wasn't very mature of me. But I tend to do it when I'm faced with a jerk." Ryan sent him a look.
"Listen-"
"Let me finish. Twice you have saved my life, not counting the amount of times you have led the security department to help out the ship. I owe you a lot for that. But for some reason we cannot seem to get along," Jim said. Ryan sighed and lightly rubbed his shoulder.
"Sorry… I'm usually not as much of an ass I make myself out to be…" Jim raised an eyebrow.
"Really? Could've fooled me. Dude the first time we met you broke my nose," Jim said.
"In my defense you were hitting on my sister…" Jim sighed and looked at the ground. "You think if Claire wasn't involved… we would be fine?" Ryan asked.
"If Claire wasn't involved… you wouldn't be on the ship…" Ryan looked at him.
"You gonna explain?" he asked. Jim sighed.
"Before you were on the ship… she was different. Don't get me wrong, she was still amazing, but… she's different now. Her smile didn't quite reach her eyes, she spent most of her time working, rather than enjoying everything. She was different. It was like a piece of her was missing. When you came back, she was back," Jim said. Ryan was a little taken aback. On one hand, he was surprised this guy could read his sister so well, on the other, he felt a little used.
"You brought me on your ship so you could get with my sister?" Jim made a disgusting face.
"No, what are you on crack? Spock suggested you as a candidate. I just said yes because I knew that you were Claire's brother," Jim said in his defense. Ryan sighed.
"Still… you put me on your ship for my sister, not because of my skills…" Ryan trailed off, his eyes downcast.
"We seem to be doing well with the honesty, so I'm not going to sugarcoat it. Yeah, I did. But I'm glad I did because you've proven yourself on more than one occasion. Was it for bad reasons? Yes. Do I regret it? Not at all." Ryan didn't know what to say. After a moment of pondering in an awkward silence, he sighed.
"I don't like you and I haven't from the start, plus you've given me every reason not to. Like it or not, you're my sister's boyfriend. And what's more, you're my captain. So we're going to have to get along without killing each other," Ryan said slowly, still unsure of his words. Jim nodded.
"I agree, we need to get along. So let's set up some guidelines…"
"So you guys sat there and talked for a whole hour?" Liam asked as they ate their breakfast together. Ryan nodded.
"And we laid down some rules for each other. For instance, I won't glare at him every time he and my sister are together. In return, he'll try to leave the touchy-feely stuff to when I'm not around. We've got a whole list, man," Ryan told him, poking at his mushy eggs. Liam shrugged.
"Well, it's better than you trying to kill him with your mind. Speaking of touchy-feely, I miss my Alex…"
"I'd like so say I understand what you're going through… but I think it's a little different," Ryan said. Liam shrugged and poked at his own breakfast. A second later Ensign Lopez sat down next to Ryan, causing him to raise an eyebrow.
"Yeah?" he asked. She looked at him and suddenly looked really offended.
"What? You think because I sit next to you I have business to talk about? You ever think that maybe all my friends are on the ship?" she snapped. Ryan frowned and felt like he was two inches tall.
"Sorry… I just assumed…" She rolled her eyes.
"That's what you get for assuming," she snapped. She then began to mutter a few curses in Spanish under her breath, causing Liam to giggle.
"You make me laugh, you should hang out with us more often," Liam said.
"Maybe I will, I'm usually working though." Liam nodded.
"Me too, our superior officers are hard asses." Anna snorted.
"You have no idea," she muttered. Ryan looked at her, eyebrows raised.
"Dude!" She rolled her eyes.
"I'm off duty, I can say whatever I want," she said. Ryan sighed and stood up.
"We're expecting some of the crew today, you guys should get ready to receive them," Ryan said. Liam nodded and threw away the rest of his food. Anna practically inhaled the rest of her food and followed Liam's example.
"Lt. Commander Conaway… Is your team ready to receive the rest of the crew?" Spock asked.
"I believe so sir, they just ate breakfast, but once they have all their equipment together we should be good to go," Ryan said. Spock nodded as he turned to Liam.
"Dr. Peterson, you are request to join the rest of the team inside the base where we shall began helping the crew clean as Scotty and their engineers set up the security system for the base," Spock told him. Liam nodded as the Vulcan walked away. Then he turned to Ryan.
"He totally wants me," Liam said as he darted off in Spock's direction. Ryan rolled his eyes before running a tired hand throughout his hair. He'd gotten minimal sleep the night before and humiliated himself in front of Kirk and Ensign Lopez.
"I guess I'm working again. So what's the word, boss man?" Anna asked as she cleaned up her plates from breakfast. Ryan paused for a moment to pondered their plans for the day.
"Ensign Nguyen will take the west side of the building and Ensign Owens will take the east. You'll be on top of the base doing rounds while I take the north. We won't really need to worry about the south, but if you see any activity just let us know. We'll all be on radio channel four for the rest of the day," Ryan explained. She nodded.
"Got it, boss man," she said. Ryan gave a yawn and wished he had gotten more than four hours of sleep.
"Time to work…"
Jim gave a small smile as he saw half of Drake Wallace's crew walk through the door of the base. He was still quite anxious to get this over with, and it seems like his crew was taking their sweet ass time.
"Thank you, Captain, for helping my crew. Tomorrow the rest of them should arrive and you'll be free to go back to your ship," Drake said. Jim jumped slightly, but smiled when he saw the captain.
"It's a pleasure, Captain. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't anxious to get home," Jim said. Drake smiled and nodded.
"I don't blame you, there is nothing like being on your own bridge. I'd be anxious too." Jim nodded.
"Yeah, that and other things. It's always a pleasure to help out another Captain though…" Jim offered. Wallace just shook his head.
"You've got a girl back on the ship?" Jim felt as if his eyes were bulging out of his head.
"How did you…?" Wallace merely smiled at Jim's question.
"You've got this look in your eyes. It's like a mixture between lust and longing. And I highly doubt you'd be feeling that way for best friend, so I assumed," Wallace offered as Jim nodded. In that moment, he felt like a window, as if the whole world could see right through him. His feelings for Claire were obvious and he was missing her so much, it almost hurt. Just the thought of her left a pang of pain in his chest. He had it bad…
"It's weird. It seems like everything recently is revolved around her. It kind of scares me," Jim confessed. Wallace just smiled.
"I know the feeling," he muttered. Before Jim could say anything else, Ryan walked through the door.
"I believe that is all, the security crew will help clean up a bit before we get ready to patrol. Is there anything specific I should tell my men to do?" he asked.
"I don't think so. The engineering team is helping them get some security systems online, maybe one of your men could help them out," Jim said. Ryan nodded and pointed to Nguyen, who moved to help the engineering team.
"Alright, Owens, go tell Lopez she is needed down here and take her spot. Everyone else, you are to help clean this place out and follow orders from Captain Wallace's crew. I'm going to help the patrol team outside," Ryan told his men. Jim watched him take control and raised an eyebrow. If he ever wanted, he could see the man becoming a Captain, just not of his ship.
"Yes sir," they all answered. Without any hesitation, they set out to do what their commanding officer had ordered them to do. Spock appeared next to Jim as he watched them work.
"Something on your mind, Captain?" Spock asked as he also watched the security team carry out their business. Jim sighed.
"I just wish that my crew would respect me as much as Ryan's men respect them. I feel like they just follow me because I'm their Captain," Jim confessed as Wallace disappeared to yell random things at his crew. Spock stroked his chin thoughtfully.
"Well Jim, you are their captain. What more do you want?" He asked. Jim sighed as he leaned against the railing that prevented them from falling off the riser they were on.
"I want their respect, not just because I'm their captain, but because I earned it." Spock stepped forward and placed a hand on Jim's shoulder.
"You have nothing to fear from Lt. Commander Conaway. His men just respect him because they are together all the time. You have got an entire ship of people who you have got to lead. You can not be there for every one of them. The best thing that you can do is be their captain. In time, they will learn to respect you just like the security team respects Lt. Commander Conaway," Spock told him, trying to lift Jim's spirits. Jim couldn't help as a smile formed on his face.
"I could hug you, Spock," Jim told him, turning around to see the Vulcan take a hesitant step back.
"I believe now is not the time for a hug, since I am still not over our run in the last time we shared a tent, Captain." Jim's face went red as he nodded.
"Good plan." there was a sudden yell and every one paused to look at each other, then the Enterprise crew ran out just in time to see ensign Owens narrowly miss a Klingon stabbing him in the side. He did miss, however, the same Klingon hitting the back of his head. He fell to the ground in a heap, and turned to Lopez, who was already in a fighting pose. When the Klingon charged at her, she used his own weight to flip him and kick him in the side. He groaned in pain and grabbed her ankle, causing her to fall to the ground. She spun to her side and kicked him in the face before standing on her feet. The crew simply stood to the side, not sure if they should intervene or not.
"You will die, human!" the Klingon snapped when he stood up.
"Bring it, perra!" she snapped. The Klingon rushed at her, but instead of falling for the same trick twice, he darted to the side before she could grab him again. Ensign Lopez was caught off guard as the Klingon kicked off the wall and shoved them both off the side of the base. Ensign Lopez cried out in surprised as the two of them rolled down the hill that the base was located on top of. Ryan proceeded to follow them, phaser out in his hand.
"COVER ME!" He called out to Ensign Owens. Mark Owens was normally a pretty chill guy, his green eyes carefree and happy. But as Ryan disappeared, he realized that it was up to him to guard the base. He wasn't fond of pressure.
"Y-Yes, sir!" He called back. Ensign Nguyen ran to his side and put his hand on his shoulder.
"I got your back!" Mark had never been so relieved to her Tommy Nguyen's voice before. Normally, the two couldn't stop fighting and bickering. Ryan looked back to see his two ensigns in position as he reached the bottom of the hill. Ensign Lopez was already on her feet, getting ready to deliver a kick to the Klingon chest.
"Are you okay, Anna?" Ryan asked. Anna was slightly distracted by Ryan's voice and the Klingon seized the opportunity to grab her by the arm and pull her back down. Ryan went to fire his phaser, but Ensign Lopez was now in the way of him getting a clear shot.
"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?" She called to him, seeing his hesitation. He took a deep breath and took the shot, hitting the Klingon, and a bit of Lopez's thigh. The Klingon fell on top of her, and she groaned in pain, from her leg and the sudden weight. Ryan put his phaser down and ran over, lifting the Alien off his Ensign.
"You okay, Anna?" he asked. She nodded and tried to stand up, only to practically fall on him.
"Fuck, my leg, shit…" She began a string of curses in Spanish, and Ryan simply placed her on the ground.
"Liam, I need you!" he shouted.
"It's about time!" Liam replied. Ryan rolled his eyes and looked at Annalisa, who blew a strand of her dark hair out of her dark eyes.
"Liam will take a look at your leg, you'll be on your feet in no time," he said. She nodded and sighed.
"Thank you, Commander…" she said. He chuckled.
"You can call me Ryan… after this mission it's appropriate." She smiled and rolled her eyes. Before she could reply, Liam walked up to them and set his medical kit down.
"So… what happened?" Liam asked.
"My phaser hit her thigh, she needs to be looked at," Ryan said. Liam nodded and began searching through his medical kit.
"Okay, Ryan I need you to go back up to the base and try to find something we can use to carry her back up with," Liam ordered. Ryan got ready to move, but Anna grabbed his shoulder.
"I'm fine to get up there by myself," she said through clenched teeth, trying to hide the sound of pain in her voice. She used Ryan's shoulder to support her weight, but hissed as her leg gave out and she fell back down.
"Stupid girl, stop trying to hurt yourself more!" Liam snapped. He pulled out some cotton wads and began cleaning her wound. She hissed again as the medicine soaked into her thigh. Liam went to grab more cotton wads and noticed Ryan still standing there. "What are you waiting for? Another Klingon to jump out and kill us both? Hurry up!" Liam snapped. Ryan immediately took off up the hill. Anna sighed and glared at the Doctor.
"It's just a scratch," she snapped.
"Oh shut up, you're just as bad as the men." Anna scoffed and looked up the hill, waiting for Ryan to come back.
"So… that's Claire's brother?" she asked. Liam nodded.
"Hot piece of ass right?" he asked. She nodded absentmindedly and shook her head.
"He has a girlfriend. And I just- OUCH! Qué diablos? Eso duele!" She snapped.
"English dear, I don't speak Spanish," Liam said.
"That hurt!" she snapped.
"Oh, yeah… it tends to…" he said. She rolled her eyes and crossed her arm.
"Is Ensign Owens going to be alright? I saw him hit his head pretty hard." Liam looked like he was thinking before shrugging.
"He was up and walking when I saw him. Shit… you might have a bit of scarring. If we were on the ship I could have McCoy or someone take care of it, but I don't have the skill or equipment to take care of it," Liam said.
"I'll be able to walk though… right?" She asked.
"Yeah, don't worry. As soon as Ryan get's back with a bed or something!" They heard something slide down the hill and Ryan appeared in front of them with a hover bed.
"I'm here, I've got a bed!" Ryan said. Liam scoffed.
"About time, put her on the bed and take her up. I have shit to do," Liam said, walking up the hill. Ryan rolled his eyes and gathered the small woman in his arms, placing her carefully on the bed.
"You going to be alright?" he asked. Anna was about to snap at him, but froze as she saw the compassion in his grey eyes. She'd never really looked at him like she was now, but she couldn't help it. His olive-colored skin almost sparkled in the light and she could see his well-toned muscles from under his shirt. His grey eyes were kind, but fierce at the same time. His blonde hair was short and choppy, but seemed to fight him perfectly. Not to mention she'd got a nice look at the half naked man the night before, but she hadn't really stopped to think about it.
"Anna… Annalisa? Ensign Lopez!" Anna snapped out of her thoughts to see Ryan's grey eyes full of concern.
"H-hey…" Ryan went to check her pulse.
"Are you okay? Should I get Liam back here?" Anna realized what was happening and grabbed Ryan's hand. She felt his rough fingertips graze hers and she thrust his hand back at him.
"I'm fine, I'm fine. I was just a little dizzy there for a second. Let's just get back up to the base!" She said, letting out a breath that she didn't even realize she'd be holding. Ryan nodded and guided the hover bed back up the hill and into the base. All eyes fell on Anna as she was pushed into the building.
"You okay there?" Captain Wallace asked as he approached her bed. She nodded.
"Just a scratch. I'll be back on my feet soon," she told him. Captain Wallace smiled, but Ryan shook his head.
"She'll be taking it easy the rest of the day. Ensign Nguyen will be taking over her shift for the rest of the day. Hopefully security can continue setting up the defense system without him," Ryan explained. Anna sent him a glare as Captain Wallace nodded.
"I'll go inform them now. Take care, ensign." Captain Wallace bid farewell to them as Ryan continued pushing Anna to an area where she could rest.
"I don't know if you realize it right now, but I'm really pissed at you right now," Anna snapped at him. Ryan just gave her a confused look.
"And why is that?"
"For relieving me of duty. I can still kick some Klingon ass even like this!" She declared. Ryan rolled his eyes.
"No. Hate me all you want, I'm doing this for you own good. You might be good without the rest, but you'll be even better later with it. Just chill out. We've got everything covered without you," Ryan said in a demanding voice. His word was law and Anna couldn't do anything about it. He was a Lt. Commander and she was his Ensign. Funny how the statement seemed to apply to a lot more than him telling her to take it easy.
"What I don't get is why all these Klingons are coming at us one by one. Usually they are pretty straight forward," Jim muttered. Spock raised an eyebrow and watched as the Captain read over a few things on his data pad.
"Interesting question, Jim… perhaps there is a reason to why they are attacking like this." Jim nodded.
"I don't think they see us as a threat. We're a relatively small group." Ryan, who had been listening to the two men talk, interjected.
"Maybe they went after you first, sir," Ryan said. Spock glanced at him like he was in deep thought before speaking.
"That would make sense. In order to break up the order, the leader must first be eliminated." Ryan nodded.
"Maybe after the attack in the tent they thought they took care of you and went after some of the other members," Ryan said. Jim pressed his lips together as he thought it over.
"So, there is probably more of them…"
"If there is, there can't be much more of them out there. If there was, there would be a lot more of them attacking us. It doesn't seem that serious," Captain Wallace interrupted.
"Two of my people were hurt, one can't walk. How is that not serious?" Ryan asked. Jim put a hand on his shoulder to keep him from swinging at the Captain. Before another word could be send, Scotty ran up to the group.
"Well we shouldn't have to worry about it anymore. The defense system is up and the radar system can pick up any potential threat in a five mile radius. We're all good to go home, Captain," Scotty said, addressing Jim. He nodded and turned to Captain Wallace.
"It seems that you and your crew are set now. I believe your security team is arriving shortly, so we'll leave after they arrive," Jim stated. Captain Wallace nodded.
"This is great. You have no idea how appreciative I am of you coming to help us out!" Wallace declared, rushing to hug the other captain. Awkwardly, Jim patted Wallace on his back as Ryan shot him a glare. Scotty saw the display and leaned over to Ryan.
"Man, you just don't seem to like anyone these days…" He stated before walking off. Ryan ran a hand through his hair and gave a heavy sigh. He needed to get off this planet. The pain in his shoulder, added to the lack of sleep and humidity, he was not a happy person. He walked outside and saw Liam tending to Anna, who seemed to be glaring at the doctor.
"Woman, would you hold still. Shit, you're worse than Alex when he needs to get his shots," Liam snapped. Anna shot him a look and leaned back.
"How is she doing?" Ryan asked, walking over. He didn't fail to notice that she was in her short shorts so Liam could look at her wound a little, and found his eyes shamelessly wandering. He pulled his eyes away and looked at Liam, who was putting a Hello Kitty band-aid on her cut.
"She is doing fine. I would be walking if it wasn't for his insisting that I stay laying down," she snapped. Liam glared at her and pinched her thigh near her wound, causing her to let out a low hiss.
"My insisting is keeping your wound from getting infected, so shut up," he snapped back. Ryan laughed at their childish bickering before taking a seat on the ground next to Anna. Liam began cleaning up his medical kit as Ryan looked up into the sky.
"I don't know about you two, but I can't wait until we get back on the ship," he stated, his eyes searching the sky for a sign of their ship. Anna and Liam looked to the sky as well, trying to follow Ryan's gaze.
"Yeah, me too so they can fix me up right and I can walk again," Anna mumbled under her breath, but both men could clearly hear her. The forest surrounding them was quiet, causing every little noise to sound louder than it actually was. Ryan gave Anna a smile through half-lidded tired eyes. She returned his smile and mimicked his lazy look.
"You should be trying to enjoy this mini break, not bitch about it every ten seconds," Liam muttered.
"Break? Coming from the guy who didn't want to be here in the first place." Liam stuck his tongue out at Ryan and sighed when he finished looking at Anna's leg.
"You want me to take another look at your shoulder? I'm actually surprised that you haven't hurt it even worse." Anna looked at his shoulder and noticed it was still bandaged up.
"I think I'm good. I'm just worried Colleen is going to freak. If she does, will the baby be alright?" Ryan asked.
"I'm sure it will be, it doesn't seem like she's been having a difficult pregnancy. You should ask Claire…" Anna raised an eyebrow.
"Why Claire?" she asked.
"Claire is Colleen's doctor," Ryan answered.
"Oh… wouldn't it be better for McCoy or someone to do it? Why not you?" Anna asked. Liam shrugged.
"I'm not qualified to deal with a pregnant woman. I can take care of babies, but not prenatal care. Or birthing. Alex… Alex won't go near a pregnant woman. He says it'll ruin the image of a vagina for him. Claire, other than McCoy, is the only one who seemed to be able to be her doctor. Which is sad," Liam explained. Ryan rolled his eyes.
"Not to mention that Colleen refuses to let McCoy be her doctor. She requested my sister, so there's not much else to it," Ryan added. Anna smiled.
"I'm sorry, but that's kind of cute. Your sister gets to deliver your baby," Anna said with a smile. Liam squealed at her words,
"See, I'm not the only one who thinks it's ridiculously cute!" Ryan shrugged.
"I'm cool with it because Claire is my sister and I trust her, but she's not so happy with the idea. She wants to be a surgeon," Ryan told her. Before anyone could reply, Kirk stepped outside.
"The rest of the crew just arrived. Once they're settled, we're heading out. Start getting ready, okay?" The crew began to work and Liam stood up.
"Alright Anna… I'll let you get the stuff from your tent, but as soon as your done, you need to take it easy," Liam said. Anna pressed her lips together but gave a sigh.
"Fine, I need help though." Ryan stood up and grabbed her arm, helping her up on the way.
"There you go," he said. She smiled up at him.
"Thanks."
"No problem, let's get going. The sooner we're off this planet the better."
"Well, Captain Kirk, I believe this is where we part ways," Wallace said. Jim held out his hand to shake the captains hand.
"It was a pleasure, hope to work with you in the future," Jim said. The captain ignored Jim's hand and moved forward and hugged him.
"Of course, I would love that!" he said. A few crew members snickered and Liam turned to Anna.
"Looks like Claire has some competition," he whispered. Anna chuckled and they both ignored the look Jim shot them.
"Well, not saying that I'm lesbian or anything, but I think Claire is hotter," Anna replied. Jim ignored them and pulled away from the captain.
"Yes, that would be… enjoyable. We really need to get going though," Jim said. Wallace nodded.
"Of course, and take care of that girl back on this ship." Jim gave an awkward cough and took a few steps back.
"Hope the security system works," Jim said, not quite sure what to say.
"Of course, goodbye, Captain…" Wallace told him. Jim gave a nod and pulled out his communicator.
"Enterprise, away team is ready to beam up." There was a pause before a woman replied.
"Affirmative sir, stand still and get ready for transport." Ryan felt the same familiar sensation of his body getting lighter. This time though, he felt no dizziness. He watched as the inside of the base disappeared from sight. His eyes hurt as the bright lights the covered the ceiling of the base were replaced with the low-lighting of the Enterprise. Ryan smiled to himself as he saw Claire, Colleen, Alex, and Rupert standing to the side of the transporter when he finally arrived back on the ship.
"Man it's good to be home," he whispered to himself as Colleen ran up and launched herself into Ryan's waiting arms. He grunted as she placed a little too much weight on his wound, but he almost didn't care. It was good to have her back in his arms again.
"Are you okay?" She asked, noting the wince of pain on his face. He shook his head.
"I'm fine. We had a little run in with the Klingons, but I'm fine now. I'm just so damn glad to be back!" Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Jim step off the platform and cross the room to where Claire was standing.
"Man, I missed you like crazy," he whispered to her, before leaning down to capture her lips with a hungry passion. He'd missed the way her soft lips felt against his own and how perfectly her smaller frame fit against his. It was perfect.
"Captain, we are required to debrief what we have done to Starfleet," Spock said, interrupting the kiss. Jim pulled away from Claire with a small sigh, causing her to chuckle.
"It's okay, go do your captain thing, I'll still be around in a few hours," she told him. He smiled and went to turn away, only to have the ship jerk under his feet. Almost everyone in the room fell to the ground, including Alex and Liam, who were in the middle of a lip lock.
"Ow, Ale', you 'it I hung!" Liam cried. Jim stood up, taking Claire's hand and pulling her up as well.
"Captain Kirk to the bridge, what the hell is going on up there?" He asked.
"Sir, the planet is exploding, we got hit with a wave. We're proceeding to get away from the planet as we speak," Sulu responded. Jim turned pale and left the transporter room, Spock and Scotty following after him.
"Red Alert! All crew to your posts!" a voice called.
"So much for a reunion," Colleen muttered. Colleen, Rupert, Ryan, and a few other members of the security and engineering team took of. Liam, Alex, and Claire stayed behind and helped Anna, who was fuming.
"I'm fine, I can walk! I need to get to my post!" she cried. Liam rolled his eyes and gestured to Claire.
"Elp 'er to 'ick 'ay," Liam said. Claire wanted to chuckle, but realized this was probably not the best time for humor.
"Here, let me help you," Claire said, hoisting her up. Anna gave a frustrated huff but let the woman help her out.
"I'm sick of people helping my ass out everywhere," she grumbled to herself. Alex shot her a glare.
"We could leave you here and I could go make out with my boyfriend in sickbay," he snapped. Claire slapped him on the arm.
"Asshole," Claire stated as they navigated the halls. Liam rolled his eyes and leaned down to Anna's ear.
"For the record, I'd love to be making out with him right now, but you're top priority right now," he whispered. Anna smirked.
"Glad to know I trump gay make-out sessions." Claire chuckled and walked into sickbay with her.
"Consider yourself lucky. If it were me they'd be all over each other," she said, sitting her on a bed.
"Well… I'm surprised you're not off with your boyfriend," Anna said.
"Eh, it's not as great as everyone says it is," Claire said, taking a look at her leg.
"Really? Making-out with the famous James Kirk isn't fantastic?" She asked. Claire tried to hide the smile, but had no luck.
"No, it's pretty fantastic." Anna chuckled and braced herself as the ship shook once more.
"Shit, what the hell is going on?" Anna hissed.
"I don't know, I doubt it's good though," Claire said. Claire glanced over at McCoy, who looked to be talking to someone on the bridge through the computer. She turned back to Anna and grabbed one of her tools.
"This isn't going to hurt… is it?" Anna asked.
"You can deal with the big bad men from security, but cringe at a medical tool?" Claire asked. Anna raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah…" she snapped. Claire rolled her eyes.
"It's just going to clean out the wound, don't worry." The ship shook again and Claire sighed. "Damn… I hope everything is alright…" Anna's eyes never left the tool.
"Perhaps you should wait until the ship stops jerking…" she said slowly, the fear evident in her voice. Claire gave her a reassuring smile.
"If it'll make you feel comfortable, we'll wait. Let me go check to see what's going on," she told Anna who nodded. Claire crossed the room, seeing Liam all over his boyfriend in the other room. Jeez, those two couldn't make it five more minutes.
"Dr. Conaway, why aren't you over there with you patient?" McCoy asked as he caught sight of the young doctor out of the corner of his eye. Claire cleared her throat as she approached her boss.
"I want to clean out her wound, but I'm afraid I might hurt her with the ship jerking around. I was just wondering if you knew what was going on and how much longer it was going to be going on?" She asked, McCoy sighed and grabbed the bridge of his nose.
"The Klingons blew up the planet and now their ship is after ours. You might want to finish up with her because I can guarantee that we'll be flooded within a few minutes." Claire sighed and nodded before walking away. She stumbled as the ship lurched again. This was not going to be easy.
"So how long will it be?" Anna asked.
"I have to take care of it now, the ship is being attacked," Claire said. Anna paled and watched her move toward her warily.
"Wait, Claire-"
"No time!" Claire quickly injected the serum and Anna flinched.
"Ouch!"
"Sorry, but it's healing," Claire said. Anna went to stand up, and faltered very slightly.
"Great, off to my post," she said, taking off.
"Wait, you… oh fuck it."
Ryan began to type in a few things on his computer, making sure everything was running smoothly. He needed to make sure there was no way any of the Klingons could beam onto the ship, and so far everything was good. The ship shook and he grabbed onto his chair to keep him steady.
"Commander!" a voice called. He turned around and raised an eyebrow.
"Lopez… what the-"
"I'm better… where am I needed?" she asked. He paused and sighed.
"Where ever you can be. Make sure you don't get-" he was cut off when something hit the ship and he almost fell on the girl. Thoughts of the impending attack were pushed aside as Ryan stopped himself at least an inch above the surprised girl. They were practically nose to nose as Ryan tried to push himself up. The ship jerked again and this time, he fell onto of Anna.
"Oh god, I'm so sorry," he said, rolling to the side. Anna sighed as he jumped to his feet as the sweet smell of his cologne faded from her nose.
"It's fine, no harm done," she said as he offered his hand.
"Here, let me help you up. We've got work to do," he said as his grasped her delicate small hand.
"Thanks. Alright, let's get to work."
"Damnit, Sulu… get us out of here!" Jim shouted. Sulu frantically began to type some things into his computer and turned toward the Captain.
"I'm trying sir, the Klingons are matching our speed!" Jim sighed and turned to Chekov.
"Fire everything we've got at them, but make sure that we hit some vital parts." Chekov nodded and began typing something as well.
"Yes Keptin!" he called. Jim pressed a button on his chair.
"Scotty, we need to get out of here!" he called.
"I'm working on it! He bastards hit a deck on engineering and we're a bit slow. Give me five minutes and I'll be able to make her go a bit faster!" Jim nodded.
"Sir, zee ship has been hit!" Chekov called.
"They're slowing down, we're outrunning them!" Jim gave a sigh of relief as the ship moved forward faster, and the jerks in the ship stopped.
"We have outrun the enemy ship, Captain," Spock said.
"Great… Next time Starfleet asks us to do something like that, tell them we're done with the crazy camping trips," Jim said. Spock nodded.
"Yes, Captain."
Claire ran across the room, helping a man onto the bed. Surprisingly, there wasn't a whole lot of wounded, and the medical crew was thankful for it. Those who were wounded were taking up most of sickbay, and they were short of doctors.
"Liam, I need help!" Claire called. Liam ran over and looked at the patient, flinching at the sight of his broken bone.
"Gross," he muttered.
"Conaway, I have two men in need of surgery!" McCoy shouted. Claire sighed and grabbed a pair of gloves.
"Yes sir," she said. They wheeled them into the back and began surgery, while Liam and Alex were in the front.
"Next time we go back to earth, tell Kirk that we need more doctors, four isn't cutting it!" Alex snapped. The door opened and a few security personal walked in.
"Jesus, what is wrong with you?" Liam snapped.
"A computer system flipped out on us and a few people got hurt," Ensign Sheppard said.
"Ugh, take a number and get in line," Liam said. The doors opened once more, and this time they were met with the Captain, Spock, and Sulu.
"No! If you all are hurt you're going to have to wait. McCoy and Claire are in surgery and Liam and I are swamped!" Alex snapped. Kirk raised an eyebrow.
"I'm the captain," he stated. Alex merely glared at him.
"I don't care. Since the two higher ranking doctors are in surgery, I'm in charge of sickbay so get out," he snapped again. Liam passed by and placed a hand on Alex's shoulder.
"He means, try coming back when we're not so busy. Please and thank you," he told them before rushing off to treat another patient. Spock and Sulu didn't move, merely following their captain. Kirk sighed.
"Fine, tell Claire I'll talk to her later then." Alex nodded thought he was still focused on glaring at the captain.
"Fine." Without another word, Kirk reluctantly turned around and exited sickbay with Spock and Sulu at his tail.
Three hours later, two surgeries, and fourteen patients later, Claire finally took a break from all the action. Only one of the men who had gotten out of surgery needed to remain overnight and he was fast asleep. Sickbay was finally silent. She walked over to the medical station, where Liam and Alex were recovering, and leaned against Alex.
"You know you are covered in blood, right?" he asked. She glared at him and moved.
"I know, I've been in surgery all day," she muttered. Liam nodded.
"We need more doctors, it's not even funny," Liam said. She nodded and sat on the medical station.
"I think I should get a promotion, I do more work around here than either of you," she said.
"Well… we're busy!" Liam said.
"Making-out in the backroom doesn't count boys." Alex turned red at her statement, and Liam chuckled and smacked Alex's butt.
"Well… okay, we're not busy. But we're having fun!" he said. Claire sighed and went to run a hand through her hair, but stopped when she realized some of the blood on her shirt was on her hands.
"Damn…" she muttered.
"There should be a few extra uniforms in the back, if you wanted to wash up." Claire nodded and jumped off the station.
"I'll be back in a few minutes," she said. The boys nodded and turned back to each other.
"So… I was thinking that tomorrow, after we get off shift, you and I could meet in my room later and… well…" Alex blushed and gave an awkward cough.
"Well, I mean… that would be fun, but maybe we should just… hang out," Alex suggested. Liam frowned and went to speak, but stopped when the doors opened and Jim walked in.
"Oh… I knew I was forgetting something," Liam whispered. Jim ignored the statement and looked over at the two men.
"Hey, where is Claire?" he asked. Before Alex could speak, Liam covered his mouth.
"Backroom," he answered. Jim nodded and began walking in the direction. Alex looked at his boyfriend and raised his eyebrows.
"You know she is changing… right?" Liam just smiled and chuckled.
"Oh… I am well aware."
Jim could hear the two men talking, but didn't say anything as he opened the door a bit. He paused however, when he saw Claire pull her dress over her head, exposing her pale skin, and her black silk underwear. Jim felt his cheeks heat up and he backed up slowly and silently shut the door. She might have been his girlfriend, but he didn't want to come off as a pervert. Not to mention he was fighting the urge to shove her up against the back wall and fuck her senseless.
"Oh hey Jim, how long were you waiting for me?" Claire asked innocently as she opened the door and emerged fully clothed. Jim swallowed the lump that formed in his throat, trying to shake the images of a half naked Claire out of his head.
"Not too long, just wanted to properly say I missed you since I really didn't get to when I got back," he told her. His voice sounded a little nervous, but calmed down towards the end of his sentence.
"You okay?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at his behavior. As long as she'd known him, Jim had never really been nervous before.
"Yeah. Me? Fine. Great," he said, trying to brush it off. Claire went to open her mouth again and inquire about his behavior, but Jim leaned in and brushed his lips against hers. She instantly wrapped her arms around his neck, and his hands found their way to her waist. His lips were slow and moved sensually against her own. His tongue cautiously asked for permission to enter her mouth, and she granted it without a second thought. When he did, she moved closer to him and pressed her body against his, relishing the fact that he seemed to fit so well with her. He pulled away slightly and leaned down to kiss her jaw, then moved further down to kiss her neck.
"Jim," she breathed when he hit a certain spot on her neck. His hands on her waist tightened as a image of her being half-naked flew to mind, and he groaned at the thought. Claire paused when she felt his friend appear and she pulled away.
"No," he growled, pulling her back and attacking her lips with his. They were a bit more demanding as he assaulted them, but eventually pulled back and pressed his forehead against her.
"Jim… I'm sorry," she whispered. He sighed and caressed her cheek.
"Jesus, Claire… you're killing me," he whispered. Even his voice was strained. Claire sighed in defeat, because she wanted it. She wanted him. But she just wasn't ready yet.
"I'm so sorry, but I can't. Not yet," she apologized. Jim wiped his hand over his mouth, a nervous habit he'd picked up not long ago.
"I'm sorry for trying to push it. I'm just… it's just hard…" he started, but Claire giggled as her eyes lowered to his waist.
"I could tell." Jim blushed as he realized how awkward his comment had made the situation.
"Not like that… well yeah, actually it's exactly like that. I mean… it's just been difficult to not… I'm a pretty sexual guy, you know? And holding out is completely worth it, because you don't even know how much I care about you. It's just…" Jim searched to find the right words, but Claire shushed him.
"I understand. I'm sorry, I promise the moment I am ready, I'll let you know… okay?" he nodded and pulled away.
"Is um… is there any room around here that is sound proof?" he asked. She turned bright red and gave an awkward cough.
"The uh… the back room should be fine…" she said. He nodded and walked in there, causing her to practically run to the medical station.
"So… where is your boy toy?" Alex asked. There was a loud grunt and Claire's face turned bright red. She tried to keep her composure as she picked up a file.
"No clue," she muttered.
"CLAIRE!" This time she almost fell to the ground in embarrassment.
"Oh yeah, no clue huh?"
And to the reviews!
Sophia Gray
Raxsah: Yes, Ensign Creeper, it doesn't get much better. Alex allergic to pudding, gotta love random things like that. I'm sorry, The Kirk/Claire action is a little, slowish. I didn't want to rush them, but now that I go back and read, I realize it's painstakingly slow. Sorry, it get's better… eventually.
Jeck: I had a feeling you guys would enjoy the allergy to pudding. THE IRONY! There's eventually going to be some parts that are just Kirk and Claire for like ten pages straight. We just kind of forgot we had other people in the story. lol
SWfangirl21
Jeck: When we started writing Griffin, we had no intention of making him the bad guy. But then we did. He just kind of got eviler and eviler over time. Liam and Alex forever! Raxsah has me as her gay friend. It's probably not as awesome as having a gay guy as a best friend though… but she loves me anyway! Wow… your reviews always have so much to reply to! I LOVE IT! As a co-writer to a story to a reader, I love you. Just so you know. 3 Yeah, the Colleen pregnancy is going to be a big thing in later chapters, so stay tuned (as if this was a TV show or something lol). I hope this update was quick enough for you.
Raxsah: A lot of comments on Ensign Creeper. All shall be revealed in time, hopefully we'll give you all the element of surprise. Jim always get's the shit beat out of him. It just doesn't feel like a story unless he's bloodied up. Your reviews are awesome. Not to play favorites, but it's nice to get the little notification on my iTouch and spend a few minutes reading it. Thank you. We're rooting for you!
Amberhathaway
Raxsah: I love being a success. Don't worry, this story is VERY long. Longer than we probably initially intended. It won't end for a while, hell, the epilogue never seems to end. Don't worry, it'll be a while before you have to worry about it being over.
Jeck: Yeah, this story probably won't be ending for while. Long after we've finished writing it. So don't you worry, you'll have something to read.
Lilly Romanov
Jeck: I totally agree with you. People get pregnant and they're like "OMG THE WORLD IS ENDING!" But yeah, no. The world won't end. Though I'd be lying if I didn't say it's going to turn everyone's world upside down.
Raxsah: That's an understatement, things will go mad crazy! A baby isn't a bad thing, but they do tend to come at bad times. As we shall see.
Yayyou
Raxsah: I know, it's funny. Can't wait to see what he'll do next!… Wait…
Jeck: Yes, yes we know. We're just awesome like that. ;)
nickiR0x
Jeck: I'm glad we've got ourselves another loyal reader. Don't worry, we're not going anywhere anytime soon. Well, we are going to college. But yeah, there will be more fluff. Raxsah could get a degree in writing fluff.
Raxsah: I could, I'm a hopeless romantic. You need fluff, give me a call… not right now though because I'm kinda busy… Leave a message at the sound of an awesome rave dance party. ::Rave Dance Party::
Parallel Days
Raxsah: Don't apologize, we know all about the college thing. Well, Jeck knows more about the packing than I do, I'm staying home. But yeah. We enjoy your review all the same. You will always be our first official fan girl. : )
Jeck: Trust me, I know exactly how you feel. I'm leaving in less than two weeks and I still have a crap load of packing to do. This Saturday is my last working day, which will open up more time to pack and write. And hang with Raxsah, of course. She's my person. And you should all be jealous. Hopefully, we'll see more reviews from you in the future.
Smiley
Jeck: Want to know a fun little fact? Raxsah was seriously laughing for a few minutes at your name. Why? That's a good question. We even out the lemons in the story. There's a few every once in a while. We'll be around for awhile, so don't worry about withdraw. And I would like to take this time to say that we're not responsible for the deaths of any withdrawing fan girls. Nor will we take death threats seriously. Just putting that out there.
Raxsah: Yeah, Thus the reason there was a lack of action for a couple of chapters. I'm secretly a prude. Hahahahaaa. We might need to have a contract that says fan girls are not allowed to die from withdrawal. Don't die! Please. And I was laughing because it made me smile and it was your name and… I'm tired. I work eight hours a day every day and I worked nine today. Sorry. XP
Raxsah: Alrighty then. That is the reviews. We'd like to remind all readers that we have a set plot, and are going by that plot. We can't change it now… Plus it all turns out awesome in the end. And we're not responsible for any withdrawal symptoms.
Jeck: The last thing we need is a lawsuit. Over fanfiction. That's kind of sad… JUST THREE MORE REVIEWS! And we've got a couple more contest ideas in the future, so if you really have something you want us to write about, there's still a chance if you're not reviewer number 50.
Raxsah: Yes, don't stop lovelies! ::Pause:: Don't stop, believing! I love that song. Lol. We love reviews, alerts, and favorites. Please review! We're slightly desperate.
Jeck: That going to be one the songs in my college marching band show! :3 I'm excited. Almost as excited as I am when we get reviews from our lovely readers.
Raxsah: Yup, so please my dears, review and make us happy. We don't have much to be happy for at work… except when it's over.
Jeck: And the money. Money doesn't make you happy, but it gets you things that'll make you happy. Just saying. :3
Raxsah: Word. Till next time our readers!