Raxsah: So… this one time… at band camp…
Jeck: We don't talk about that anymore…
Raxsah: Truth. Hello all, we is back!
Jeck: And we have a winner for our review contest!
Raxsah: Parallel Days, congrats. SWfangirl21 came in very close though. Maybe next contest…
Jeck: Which'll be announced soon. But not now. And I won the bet. HUZZAH! :3
Raxsah: Good thing I didn't put money on that shit. I already spent a whole lot today. XP That's what happens when you get a payday and go to the mall.
Jeck: I don't bet money. I bet sexual favors. You can all keep that in mind. ;P
Raxsah: Yes… Anyway, thank you to all those who added this to their alerts lists and favorites list. We appreciate it.
Jeck: We always do. NOW ONTO THE STORY!
Chapter 16: Welcome to the Family
"God, I miss being on earth!" Claire said. Ryan chuckled and took a sip of his beer. Colleen nodded.
"Me too," she muttered.
"So, where is Kirk tonight?" Alex asked, taking a sip of his scotch.
"Yeah, I thought you would've brought him along," Liam said.
"No, he's out with McCoy and Spock. We're meeting for lunch tomorrow," Claire said. Ryan smiled, knowing that most of the reason for Kirk's absence was because of him. Colleen rolled her eyes at her boyfriend and looked at Rupert.
"Well, at least Rupert isn't alone," she said.
"I'm not alone, I'm with you guys," he said.
"Yes, but everyone here but you and Claire are here with their significant other. Maybe you should go try and get laid. You're only on earth for two more nights, live it up!' Alex said. Rupert rolled his eyes.
"You might have doubted me, but I've been getting plenty back on the ship," Rupert told them, taking a sip of his bloody Mary. Alex missed his mouth and his scotch dripped onto his shirt. Everyone at the table laughed at Alex's reaction and Liam passed him a napkin.
"Jesus Christ, I can't take you anywhere. You'd think with your skills in bed you would have been able to get that in your mouth." An uncomfortable silence fell over the table as Alex's face went red.
"What is with you revealing every bit of your sexual life with us?" Rupert asked, raising an eyebrow at the male couple.
"Well, well, well… if it isn't my cousin, Ruppy Giles!" The whole table looked over at the platinum blonde making his way over to the table, while Rupert just gave a frustrated sigh.
"Randy, so wonderful to see you," Rupert said. The guy named Randy flinched a bit at his name, but continued on.
"I'm surprised you're actually at a bar, you always were a bit stuffy back home. And by a bit, I mean you never left the God damn house," Randy said.
"Bloody hell, what do you want, Randy?"
"Just stopping by to say hello, and… as always, Spike is the name," the man said. Rupert rolled his eyes.
"Why are you in San Francisco? London get too boring?" Liam leaned over to Ryan, who was watching the exchange carefully.
"Who is this guy?" he asked. Ryan shrugged.
"No clue…"
"Well, seeing as Starfleet is in California-"
"You're in Starfleet? How the bloody hell did you get into Starfleet?" Rupert snapped.
"For fucks sake, you make it sound like it's difficult. You send in a application and bullshit your way through everything else. I mean, that test to get in was pretty damn easy, just pick the most complicated answer," Spike snapped. Rupert ran a hand over his face and gave a frustrated sigh.
"Oh for fucks sake," he muttered. Claire frowned and patted his shoulder.
"Need some hard liquor?" she asked. He nodded.
"You have no idea," Rupert muttered.
"Well… hello Blondie," Spike said, a large smirk on his face. Ryan stood up, glaring at the man who had gelled back his blonde hair.
"Leave her alone," he demanded. Both Colleen and Claire rolled their eyes at his behavior, but Spike just laughed.
"Who are you, the boyfriend?" Claire cringed at the thought.
"No, he's my brother. Regardless, I have a boyfriend," she stated. Spike's arrogant smile never left his face.
"I see the resemblance now. Well, I'm glad we're not practicing any incest here, if you know what I mean, mate. I take it that fine woman over there is yours then, pretty boy?" Spike said, gesturing over to Colleen who folded her arms angrily. Obviously, no one was really particular to the newcomer.
"I like him, he's obnoxious!" Alex declared. Spike sneered and picked up Alex's scotch before taking a seat in Liam's lap.
"I like this one right here," he said, sipping the scotch and wrapping his arm around Liam's neck.
"Guys, meet Randy Giles. He's my bisexual cousin," Rupert introduce, finding it harder and harder to watch his cousin's behavior. Spike shot a glare a Rupert.
"Ruppy, how many times do I have to tell you, the name is Spike. Bloody hell!" Spike snapped as he unconsciously ran a hand through Liam's short hair. Alex felt his blood boil as he watched the man practically molest his boyfriend.
"Can you please get your hands out of my boyfriends hair?" he snapped. Spike smirked and took another sip of his scotch.
"Interested in a threesome?" he asked. Alex turned red and Liam gently pushed the man off of his lap.
"No, we're not. Thanks for the offer though," Liam snapped. Spike sighed and looked over at Ryan and Colleen.
"Nope, not even going there," he said. Ryan clenched his fist and Colleen simply placed her hand on his shoulder.
"He's not worth it," she told him. Spike chuckled and downed the rest of his drink.
"Well… that leaves me and you Blondie… since I'd really rather not get into it with my cousin. Not only is that incest, but that's be a really awkward fuck," he said. Rupert placed his head on the table and let out a string of curses.
"I believe that leaves you alone," Claire muttered.
"Such a shame. Probably for the best though. I'm actually required to report for duty tomorrow so I can get ready to board a ship," Spike told them.
"Do I even want to know what ship you got assigned?" Rupert asked.
"The Enterprise, apparently they are short on doctors." Half the table groaned, and Spike just raised an eyebrow. "I have the strange feeling that I'm not welcome."
"Because you aren't!" Rupert snapped. Spike leaned across the table and patted his cousin on the cheek.
"It'd be awkward fucking you because you've got a stick up your arse all the time, Ruppy," Spike told him. Before anyone at the table could attempt an attack on his life, Spike rose from the table and left. Ryan turned to Rupert.
"You're related to an asshole," he muttered to his best friend. Rupert sighed and leaned back in the seat.
"Tell me about it…"
"You have no idea how relieved I am to see you!" Claire cried, flinging herself into Jim's arms. Jim laughed at her display as she leaned up on her tip toes to lock-lips with her boyfriend.
"Bad night?" He asked, guiding her over to a table. They'd chosen to go somewhere simple for lunch, but it held a beautiful view of the beach. The soothing crash of the waves wasn't their only soundtrack for lunch as the low hum of conversation filtered through the restaurant.
"Not bad, just… tiring. I'm not really looking forward to going to work tomorrow," she said, sitting down. He chuckled and sat down across from her.
"Well, maybe if you ask nicely I'll kidnap you and we'll go far away," he said. She chuckled and took a hold of his hand.
"As lovely as that sounds, we'd get in huge trouble. Not to mention you would miss your ship too much," she pointed out. He sighed and nodded.
"Yeah, true. How about I make it up to you with a terrific lunch?" he asked. She smiled and watched as the waiter came over. They quickly ordered and watched as the waiter walked away.
"Did you have fun last night?" she asked. He nodded.
"Relatively, Spock was a bit of a buzz kill, but it was fun to watch Bones get drunk as shit," he said. Claire chuckled and leaned back in her chair, enjoying the feeling of the sun lightly caressing her skin. Jim smiled as he saw the unconscious movement. The sun seemed to make her skin glow and her grey eyes seem almost silver. Her blonde hair was down in waves, and framed her face a bit. She was gorgeous.
"Sounds better than Rupert's sex crazed cousin hitting on the whole table," she said. He raised his eyebrows.
"Rupert has family?" Claire chuckled.
"Of course he has family. He just never talks about them. You think he just magically appeared out of nowhere as a baby?" She asked with a giggle. Jim shrugged.
"Who knows when it comes to the British. I try not to think about it," he said with a smile, taking a quick sip of water. Claire smiled.
"Right, well anyway, he was trying to get in a threesome with Liam and Alex as well as my brother and Colleen," Claire told him, images from the previous night going through her head. Jim gave her a puzzled look.
"Seriously?"
"Sadly. He tried to hook up with me too, but I told him I was taken," she explained as the waiter approached their table, his arms filled with their food.
"Here is your food," he said. Jim smiled.
"Thank you," he said. The man put the food down and Claire took a bite of her food.
"Mmm, this is good," she muttered. Jim nodded and looked at her.
"So… you said no to this… cousin?" he asked.
"Of course. Look, can we not talk about this, I'm here to hang out with you, and you weren't there last night. Come on, Jim… let's have fun. We have to go back to work tomorrow," she reminded him. Jim sighed and nodded.
"Fine," he replied.
"So, you want to see a movie after this? I heard they have that new action movie… what's it called. I can't remember, I think it's a remake of Mission Impossible," she said. He laughed and nodded.
"Sure, though, I might be a little distracted during the movie," he said. She raised an eyebrow.
"Why?" she asked.
"Well, when you have someone as gorgeous as you right next to you, it's a little difficult to pay attention," he said. She blushed and took a sip of her water.
"You're so full of it," she muttered.
"No way, I'm one of the luckiest guys around. You know how many men would gladly take you off my hands?" he asked. Claire dropped her fork and gave Jim a slight glare.
"Are you still stuck on that?" She asked. Jim rubbed the back of his head as he gave her an ashamed look.
"No… I wouldn't…" But Claire cut him off.
"Yes, you would. Jim, it was just Rupert's creepy cousin. You're my boyfriend and I would never cheat on you. You need to back off a bit with the jealousy thing," she said in a snappy tone. She wasn't completely angrily with him, because it just showed that he cared, but she didn't want him to turn into some creepy stalking guy who had to know where she was twenty-four-seven. She'd been there once before and wasn't going to go down that road ever again.
"I'm sorry, Claire. I truly, deeply am sorry," he apologized, giving her one of the most pathetic looks he could muster up. Claire sighed.
"It's fine. I just… I wish you would trust me. I wouldn't cheat on you. I'm more worried about you cheating on me," she said. He frowned.
"I'm not going to cheat on you Claire. We've been together for a couple of months now, I'm not going to cheat on you. I promise," he said. She sighed and took a sip of her water.
"Look, I don't want to talk about this. Can we just enjoy each other? Please?" she asked. He nodded and took hold of her hand, bringing it to his lips.
"Of course, so… about that movie…" She smiled and leaned over, kissing him lightly before turning back to her food.
"Can't I do this later?" Colleen asked. Claire gave a frustrated sigh as she tied her hair back. Ryan simply stood next to his girlfriend and watched as his sister fixed them both with a glare.
"Why? Where do you need to be?" Claire asked.
"Well… I have to be at my post, and Ryan needs to-"
"Colleen, Shut up. First of all… this is your child, you need to have an ultrasound. Second, this is the only time I'm free. We've gotten three new doctors and it is my job to help them out. Third of all, if you said no now, I'd have to force you to do it during my free time, and I'd rather spend my free time doing more important things. Like sleeping, eating, reading, or hanging out with my boyfriend. So you are going to shut up, get on the medical bed, and let me give you an ultrasound." Colleen paused but gave a frustrated sigh.
"Fine, let's get this over with," she said. Ryan awkwardly followed and sat in a chair next to his girlfriend.
"So… will we be able to find out if it's a boy or girl?" he asked. Claire shook her head and took her scanner out.
"No, not everything is developed, it's only eight weeks old. It probably still looks like a tadpole," Claire said.
"I'm growing a frog?" Colleen asked.
"No… then again with Ryan's genes you can never be to sure," Claire muttered.
"I'm not sure if that's an insult to me or you, seeing as we have the same genes," Ryan said.
"Here, found it. Here is your baby!" Claire said, showing the monitor to the two of them. Colleen just stared at it.
"It looks like a blob…" She mumbled to herself. She looked over at Ryan who's eyes were filled with awe at the little screen, obviously not hearing her comment.
"That's our son…" He mumbled. Claire placed at hand on her brother's shoulder, trying to hide the flood of emotions that were overwhelming her as well.
"It could a girl, Ry. Don't go picking up action figures and painting the baby's room blue yet," she told him, admiring the picture of her niece or nephew. Colleen looked back at the screen and felt a large weight press itself on her shoulders. Somehow, she just couldn't feel the same away about the blob. True, it was growing inside of her and was her child, but the picture didn't even look like a baby. It looked like a blob and nothing more.
"It's b-beautiful…" she lied, hoping to fool the Conaway siblings. Ryan seemed to buy it, but Claire raised an eyebrow and turned off the monitor.
"It looks healthy, eventually it'll start to develop more. Here you can see it's head, it's feet… huh…" Ryan raised an eyebrow.
"What?" he asked. She shook her head.
"I miscalculated. I mean… I thought you'd be around eight weeks, but… you see this right here," she said, pointing to something on the screen.
"Yeah?" Colleen asked.
"It's called the embryonic tail, and already it is disappearing-"
"My baby has a tail?" Colleen asked.
"It's technically a fetus, not a baby. So, yes, it has a tail. But it really shouldn't be disappearing until week nine. I… huh… I guess I just, miscalculated," Claire said, looking at the monitor.
"So… what does that mean? Is the baby alright?" he asked. Colleen looked at him and then back to Claire.
"Yeah, I mean… it just means the baby's due date is pushed up a bit. I can't believe I missed that," she mumbled. Colleen sat up.
"So… it's healthy, can I go?" Colleen asked. Claire looked a little taken back. Not too long ago, she was happy to be having a baby. Now, she seemed like she wanted anything but. Claire wondered what had happened that would change her mind.
"Sure, you are fit to report for duty," Claire said. Before Colleen could get up, Ryan pushed her back down.
"Actually, could you give us a minute, Claire-bear?" He asked, trying to hide a the giddy tone in his voice. Claire nodded, leaving the room to give them some space. Just as she was out the door, she sighed.
"What's wrong?" Liam asked as he looked up from the crossword puzzle he was doing, his pen dangling out of his mouth. Claire ran a tired hand through her hair.
"I need a shower…" she mumbled, leaning up against the wall.
"I repeat, what's wrong?" Liam sounded genuinely concerned this time.
"Nothing, yet. Something's up with Colleen though…"
"Colleen… I didn't know when would be the best time to do this, but after seeing our child, I feel like now is the best time because I know that I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Colleen Stewart, will you be my wife?" Ryan asked as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a little black velvet box. Colleen gasped, unsure of what to say. He just smiled as he nervously opened the box and a small diamond ring was revealed.
"Ryan… I…" Colleen felt her eyes tearing up as swarm of emotions overtook her. Love, fear, insecurity, guilt… so many things overwhelmed her. She looked into his warm eyes and forced a smile on her lips.
"Colleen?" he asked.
"Yes… I will marry you," she said. He smiled and hugged her tightly.
"I love you, I love you so much!" he said, kissing her. She chuckled as he broke away and kissed her forehead.
"I love you too," she said.
"I need to tell Claire," Ryan stated. She smiled as he ran out of the room to tell his sister, leaving her behind. She looked down at her hand where the diamond ring now lay and sighed. She turned and walked into McCoy's office, she needed to straighten something out, and she needed to do it now.
"He's engaged?" Alex asked. Claire nodded and wrote a few things on Colleen's chart. It had been an hour since her brother and his girlfriend- fiancée- were in sickbay, and they were still waiting for the new doctors to show up.
"Yup, as of… one hour ago," Claire said.
"You don't sound so happy," Liam pointed out.
"I am… I mean… it's great. It's just. Colleen's reaction to the baby was weird." Alex raised an eyebrow.
"Weird… like how?" he asked. Before Claire could reply, the doors opened and the three new doctors walked in. Liam rolled his eyes when they saw the familiar platinum blonde hair.
"Alex, we need to go somewhere else… now!" Liam said, picking him up and dragging him to the back room. Claire was a little too late to realize that the men had left her alone to deal with the new doctors.
"What? You just. LIAM!" She hissed, but received no response. She could make out Liam and Alex's eyes from around the door, but sighed. They would pay later.
"Miss me, Blondie?" Spike asked, hopping onto a table instead of taking a seat. The other two doctors watched him, but said nothing. Claire folded her arms.
"Get off the table, Spike. It's not a chair," she snapped. Spike just sneered and pulled out a bottle of beer.
"Lighten up, chickadee," he said with a smirk as he took a nice long swig of beer. Angrily, Claire crossed the room, snatched the beer out of his hands, and shoved him off the table.
"Get in line with the other two or I'll make sure you'll be working graveyard shifts for the rest of the-" Before Claire could finish, the door to McCoy's office slammed shut. McCoy crossed the room with a scowl on his face and stopped in front of Claire.
"Some example you're setting, Dr. Conaway. I believe drinking while on shift is a week worth of graveyard shifts," he snapped. She raised an eyebrow.
"Me? Sir, with all do respect, you have at least seven bottles of whiskey in your desk. And this is Doctor Giles's beer not mine. I don't drink beer." McCoy's face turned red and clenched his fists.
"Graveyard shift for a week, Doctor Conaway! Which one of you runts is Doctor Giles?" Both of the other two doctors looked to Spike, who had sat back on the counter.
"Oh… yeah, me…" He said.
"You? Get your ass of the counter!" McCoy snapped.
"No thanks," Spike said. Claire's eyes went wide and she took a few steps back. The other doctors exchanged looks and stepped back themselves. McCoy took a step forward and grabbed the front of his shirt.
"Listen, I don't give a rat's ass who you think you are, but you're in my God damn sickbay. That means you'll be doin' what I say, when I say it? So you can take your punk ass off that counter and do work! Do you understand me?" he snapped. Spike paused for a moment before nodding.
"Sure mate… whatever…" he said. McCoy clenched his fists and pushed him away.
"Two weeks worth of graveyard shift. You will answer to either me, or Doctor Conaway, is that understood?" Spike rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, sure… whatever," he muttered. McCoy took a deep breath and turned to walk away, not before grabbing the bottle from Claire and throwing it away. Spike rolled his eyes.
"Big Doc on campus, I see. Well, what are we stuck doing today?" He asked, before taking a seat back on the counter. Claire grabbed the bridge of her nose.
"Dr. Giles, why don't you go sort through the boxes of medical supplies we got while we were on earth," she instructed, gesturing to the corner where at least five crates sat waiting. Spike shrugged and headed towards the boxes. Claire let out a sigh of relief and turned back to the other new doctors.
The first seemed to be a young man who probably joined Starfleet right out of high school. He had an eager look on his face, his hazel eyes sparkling with excitement. His dirty blonde hair was combed to the side, showing his overly large forehead. Claire tried to hold back a giggle seeing as the boy barely looked like he hit puberty. The other doctor, a woman, looked as if she'd seen a lot of things in her young life. Pale green eyes scanned the room and her brown hair was tied back in a ponytail to stay out of her way. All in all, she seemed ready for anything that might come her way.
"Let's see… who do we have here…" Claire glanced down at her chart, but found it pointless as the young man stepped forward.
"The name is Jackson Carter! I'm so hyped to be here serving under such an amazing doctor as yourself!" Claire raised an eyebrow in surprised as he offered his hand. She accepted the friendly gesture, but was mildly taken back by how forward he was.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Jackson. And you are?" She asked, turning to the woman.
"Sophie Rogers," she stated, not bothering to greet Claire. Claire was a little put off, but simply shrugged it off.
"Cool. Well… Sophie, what type of medical field are you going into?" Claire asked.
"Trauma," she answered. Claire nodded.
"Good, Alex has a new friend. Go to the back room, knock three times and wait until a guy names Alex steps out. Just don't go in there," Claire said. The woman raised an eyebrow, but did as she was told. Claire then looked to Jackson, who was smiling widely at her.
"So, who am I working with? Am I working with Doctor McCoy?" he asked. Claire snorted.
"No, let's just figure out what you want to go in…"
"I want to do it all, surgery, trauma, general. Everything!" he said. Claire paused and nodded.
"I see… well, for now, you can help Doctor Peterson, later we can figure out what's going on," Claire said. He smiled and walked off to find Liam. Claire rolled her eyes at the new recruits and walked behind the counter of the med station and began to work.
"So, Doctor Blondie… how long do I have to keep doing this shit?" Spike asked.
"Till it's done, now get back to work," she snapped.
"How about I give you a good time and I don't do anything?" Claire raised an eyebrow.
"A good time? You… oh just… get back to work!" she snapped. Spike grinned.
"Aren't you going to ask me what I'm going into?" he asked. Claire shook her head.
"I don't care. Stop talking to me, I don't give a damn about what you are doing," she snapped again. Spike sighed and turned back to the boxes. McCoy's squeaky door opened again and Claire was surprised to see Colleen walk out.
"Oh, hey Claire," Colleen said nervously as she gently shut McCoy's door behind her. Claire nodded in her direction.
"Hey. I thought you left awhile ago with Ryan?" She asked, her suspicions growing stronger every time she saw her brother's fiancée.
"Yeah, well I was talking to McCoy about… you know, getting a medical excuse once I get farther along into the pregnancy. I don't want to get in trouble with Scotty for being out with an excuse," she explained. Claire nodded, not entirely believing the reason.
"Oh, okay… I guess I'll see you at dinner," she said. Colleen nodded.
"Yeah, sure… see you then," Colleen said. She didn't spare Claire a second look as she walked out the door, leaving the young doctor bewildered and confused.
Ryan gave a sigh as he began going through a few crew members files. It was his job every time they got new recruits to go through them and see if they are legit, and they picked up half a crew this time. So tonight, he was working late, much to Colleen's disappointment.
"Hey commander, I have a few more files…" Ryan looked up to see Anna standing next to him. He gave a sigh and ran a hand through his hair.
"They just keep coming," he muttered. Anna chuckled and sat down next to him.
"Need any help?" she asked. He paused then nodded.
"Sure, that would be appreciated," he said. She smiled and picked up a file.
"No problem. Back when Commander Harris was Chief of Security, I ended up doing most of this stuff," she admitted.
"Really? You don't have to if you don't want to." She shook her head.
"No, it's fine. I don't mind doing something like this. Keeps me busy, you know?" he nodded and they went through some files.
"So… how long have you been on this ship?" he asked.
"A while, my older brother wanted to join Starfleet, but really hurt his back when he was nineteen. When he couldn't joined, I did," she told him.
"Do you just have an older brother? Or other siblings?" he asked.
"No, I have two younger brothers, and four older brothers. Who do you think taught me how to fight?" she asked. He chuckled and shook his head.
"I couldn't imagine having so many siblings. It's tough sometimes with just Claire," he admitted.
"See… I can't imagine not having them. I call them everyday." Ryan nodded and smiled.
"Going through these files is so much better with good company," he said with a warm smile. Anna returned the smile before they both turned back to the files.
"I heard from Bones that you're stuck on the graveyard shifts this week for drinking on duty," Jim said, causing Claire to jump in fright. Sickbay was quiet after everyone else had headed to bed and Spike was off doing another errand for her. It was just her and Jim. Her heart was still racing from the scare as he crossed the room to where she was standing and wrapped his arms around her waist.
"I was taking it from one of the new doctors and got in trouble for it. You know trying to reason with him, it's impossible," she told him, leaning back into his embrace. Jim nodded and placed a kiss on her neck.
"Tell me about it. Well, I figured I'd bring you a midnight snack. And I brought food with me too," he told her with a smile as she giggled at his lame attempt at a joke.
"Really? I haven't had a chance to eat," she said. He smirked into her neck and tightened the grip on her waist.
"You shouldn't go long without something to eat. I bet you're thirsty too," he whispered. She turned bright red and turned around in his embrace.
"James Kirk!" a wide smile made it's way to his lips as he leaned forward.
"I love it when you say my name," he told her.
"Jim?" she asked.
"James. Plus when you say it when you are mad it makes you even more sexy," he said softly. She blushed and lightly bit her bottom lip.
"Oh really, I wonder what would happen if I said your full name?" she asked.
"Hmm, how about you lie on one of those medical beds and we find out?" he asked.
"How about you show me some of the actual food you brought, because I actually am starving," she said. He frowned and sighed.
"Ruin all my fun," he muttered. She chuckled and watched as he set a small box of food next to her.
"What is it?" she asked.
"Just a sandwich, I asked Liam what kind of sandwich you ate and packed accordingly," he said. She pulled out the sandwich and chuckled.
"Peanut butter and jelly. You really do know me," she said. He laughed and took out his own small pack of chips.
"Who doesn't like peanut butter and jelly?" he asked. She shrugged and took a sip of her glass of milk.
"So, how was your day?" she asked. He shrugged.
"Alright, the life of a captain is very busy. I pretty much just introduced the new members and went back to my captain thing. How was your first day?" he asked.
"Alright. Other than dealing with annoying new doctors, it was pretty good. Except for Colleen," she said.
"What's wrong with Colleen?" She sighed and finished her sandwich, really being that hungry. She grabbed a packet of cheetos and began munching on them.
"I don't know. She just… wasn't excited to see her baby." Jim furrowed his eyebrows.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"I don't know. I mean… if you are engaged and pregnant, you should be more excited to see your child. It's like… you helped to make that. You have a living child growing inside of you, one that you created out of love with another person. You should be talking about baby names and getting ready to buy clothes and… other stuff. You don't call your baby a blob!" Claire ranted. Jim paused as he watched his girlfriend go off about the baby.
"I mean… God, you're going to bring a child into this world, you should be jumping for joy. I mean, the look on Ryan's face was priceless. He was just so happy and… I mean I even almost cried. You should be so excited to just see if that baby has your eyes or his nose or… something like that. God… not to mention you're going to get married! You should be on top of the world right now! Who wouldn't be?"
"Yeah…" Jim whispered. Claire finished her dinner and looked at Jim, raising an eyebrow at his pale face.
"Jim-"
"I don't want to have a kid," he stated suddenly. Claire paused and blinked a few times.
"Okay."
"I mean… I eventually want kids. Lots of kids, maybe not lots. I mean, two or three would be nice, but not right now. And I don't want to get married either, not for a bit. Like maybe a few months I might think about it, but it's just too soon. I'm not father material yet, nor husband material. I'm sorry if you feel differently but… I just can't," Jim said. Claire was frozen for a minute, but then nodded slowly.
"Okay…" she said. He raised an eyebrow.
"Okay? You're… okay with this?" he asked. She nodded.
"Yeah, I mean… I don't want to get married or have kids either," she stated.
"You… you don't?" he asked. She shook her head.
"Jim, we've only been dating for three months. We haven't even had sex yet. What makes you think I want to get married or have kids?" she asked. He shrugged.
"I don't know. Normally when a girl brings this kind of stuff up, they start hinting towards their own relationship. I just wanted to be honest with you in that I'm not ready for that yet," he told her. For a moment, Claire looked at her boyfriend with a blank stare. Jim raised an eyebrow, but she burst out laughing seconds later.
"I'm sorry, I'm not laughing at you. Well, yeah, actually I kind of am. No Jim, I'm just legit talking about Colleen here. No need to worry," she reassured him. They both broke out into laughter as Claire finished cleaning up her meal. Jim reached over and pulled her against his chest.
"Well, maybe people just react differently to that kind of stuff. You're probably just worried since she's going to be apart of your family now and you don't want her to hurt your brother," he said. She shrugged and leaned against him.
"I know. I'll just be so much happier when this is all over," she confessed. He nodded and pulled he closer.
"Well until then, you have me to distract you," he said, leaning down and pressing his lips onto her neck. She sighed and leaned into the kiss and closed her eyes.
"You have this thing with my neck, don't you?" she asked softly. He chuckled and pulled away.
"Is there somewhere else you would like me to assault?" he asked. She chuckled and stood up, throwing out some left over trash. Jim stood up as well, and took a hold of her waist when she walked closer to him. "Well?" he asked. She paused and shrugged.
"I don't know, let's start with your choosing, and if any come to mind I'll let you know." He chuckled and leaned down, capturing her lips with his. Her hands rested on his shoulder as his mouth moved furiously against hers. She gave a small moan when his hands traveled slowly across her skin, which caused him to groan and set her down on the desk. Her hands traveled up and tangled themselves in his hair. Jim grunted, moving his lips down to lightly kiss her jaw, before resting on her neck once more. Claire quickly moved his head back up to her lips before moving down to assault his neck.
"Claire," he hissed. Claire simply smiled as his body shuddered when her teeth lightly scrapped his skin. His grip on her waist tightened and she continued to burry her face in his collarbone. His hands lightly moved down to her thigh, and moved up slowly. Claire could feel the cold air hit her skin, but was too busy to care.
"Sorry to interrupt your shag-fest, but I've got that damn file for you," a voice said. Claire pulled away and looked at the door, where Spike stood, a large smirk on his face.
"God damnit…" Jim hissed.
"Spike… uh… I need you to go in the storage room and restock the medical shelves," she said.
"Looks like you need to pull down your skirt. Though, that is a lovely pair of purple lace panties you're wearing. Victoria Secret model number seven right?" he asked, taking a sip of his beer.
"Spike!" she hissed. She tried to moved her skirt, but Jim was still in the same position he was a few minutes ago.
"Right, right… I'm going," he muttered, walking to the back room. When the door closed Claire gave a heavy sigh and buried her face in Jim's shoulder in order to hide her embarrassment.
"Jackass…" Jim muttered. She sighed and pulled away and jumped off the counter.
"I should get back to work," she told him. He nodded and sighed.
"Yeah, I actually have some paper work to do," he said. She nodded and kissed him.
"Shall we continue this later?" She asked with a wink. Jim just smiled.
"Most definitely."
"CLAIRE!" Claire looked up from her patient to see Ryan charging through sickbay.
"Yes, please come speeding through sickbay. It's not filled with injured people or expensive medical equipment or anything," she muttered to him as she dismissed her patient. Ryan didn't say anything as he practically lunged at his sister, grabbed her shoulders with a horrorstruck look on his face.
"You know that space station we're stopping at today?" He asked through his panting. Claire nodded slowly, mildly frightened by her brother's behavior.
"Yeah, why?" She asked slowly.
"I just got a message… mom and dad are going to meet us there!" He exclaimed.
"What? Why?" she asked.
"I don't know. They said that they know we're 'seeing' people and they want to meet them too! FUCK!" he snapped. Claire ran a hand through her hair and gave a frustrated sigh.
"How the hell did they find out?" she asked.
"You know mom, Spawn of Satan, she has eyes fucking everywhere." Claire nodded.
"Damn, well… we could always say that we're busy with work. Or something…" Ryan shook his head.
"No, that doesn't help us. That just means Satan will find away to get on the fucking ship," he told her.
"Okay, Ryan… you seriously have to use a word other than fuck." He began to pace for a moment before looking at her.
"What should we do?" he asked. She sat on the medical bed and frowned.
"I don't know… we're fucked."
"You want me to meet your parents?" Jim asked. Claire gave a sigh as he began to massage her tired feet.
"No, I don't want you to meet them, they want to meet you," she said. He raised an eyebrow and continued to work on her feet.
"I thought they didn't talk to you or Ryan…" he muttered.
"They don't want anything to do with Ryan, but I guess they found out about Colleen and are flipping out. They try to send me messages every now and then," she confessed. Jim scratched his chin.
"So Colleen and I get to meet the parents. Sounds like fun," he said, resuming his work on her feet. She gave a slight groan as he hit a tender spot, but relaxed against his touch.
"Not at all. I'm expecting this to be bad. Just… put on your charming James T. Kirk face and hope for the best, I guess. Oh, and don't mention anything about sex around my dad unless he brings it up," Claire warned, close her eyes as the soothing sensation in her feet began to eyes to feel heavy.
"I shall be the perfect boyfriend for mommy and daddy then," Jim confirmed.
"You want me to meet your parents?" Colleen asked as Ryan paced the room, a conflicting look on his face.
"Well… not really. It's not personally, it's just that my parents hate me and whoever I'm dating. But I want them to meet the girl who I'm going to spend the rest of my life with," he confessed. Colleen rose from their bed and crossed the room to her stressed fiancé.
"Calm down, I'm sure it won't be that bad. And besides, no parent could hate their kid. Especially not one as smart and handsome as you," Colleen told him reassuringly. Ryan sighed as she pulled him down into a kiss.
"If handsome played into the equation of how much a parent loves their child, I'd be mildly concerned." Colleen chuckled and shook her head and simply kissed him.
Claire gave a frustrated groan as she pulled on the sleeve of her dress. She decided to wear a long sleeve black dress that came down to her knees, and wore her hair up. Jim stood next to her, a black dress shirt and dress pants, looking as fine as ever.
"Claire, you need to relax," he whispered.
"I can't… my parents are in there, and Ryan is late. Ugh… can we just leave?" she asked. Jim shook his head.
"No, you promised Ryan he wouldn't have to go trough this alone… you can't just leave him," Jim said. Claire paused before a wicked smile came to her lips.
"What if I dragged you to the coat check-in and took off my dress?" she asked. Jim froze as he looked at her, then gave an awkward cough.
"Are you… are you serious?"
"Sorry we're late…" Ryan said. Jim held back a groan and smiled at him as he came into view. He wore a pair of black dress pants and a red dress shirt, while Colleen wore a dark red short sleeved dress that went down to her knees.
"Come on, let's get this over with," Colleen said. Claire nodded and Jim grabbed her hand, walked through the entrance. Claire took a glance around the restaurant and cringed as she spotted her parents.
Her father sat at the head of a long table, his dirty blonde hair graying quite a bit, but didn't make him seem much older. His stony grey eyes scanned the scotch in his hand, though they were no where near as expressive as Ryan or Claire's, they were calculating and critical. He seemed like a fairly fit man, but seemed to have lost a little muscle around the middle. His suit was high class, and everything about him practically screamed high class business man.
Her mother sat at the other end of the table, her nose practically stuck in the air. Her platinum blonde hair was tied back in a tight bun, and Claire debated taking her own hair out of it's French bun. Her pale blue eyes scanned the menu, and were so cold they seemed to freeze anything she looked at. Her designer dress hugged her skinny frame, and at one point it was suggested that she once had a killer figure, but it seemed to waste away over time. Claire leaned over to Ryan and grabbed his shoulder, allowing her to reach his ear.
"Kill me now," she whispered. Ryan leaned over to her ear.
"Only if you kill me first," he mumbled back. The crossed the room, dodging all the waiters and the chairs of the many rich patrons that had to decided to dine there. After all the ducking and weaving, Claire and Ryan stood in front of their parents table, hands grasped tightly with their significant other.
"Well at least he's not gay," Adrienne Conaway muttered to her husband, not even bothering to hide the loathing for her son. Charles Conaway looked Colleen up before motioning for them to take a seat.
"Perhaps she's a male to female transsexual," he offered, smirking at the hurt look on Colleen's face at the comment. Ryan clenched his fists, but Claire put on hand on his shoulder, a sign for him to bite his tongue.
"Pleasure as always," Claire muttered to him. They were seated so Claire and Jim were on one side of her parents, and Colleen and Ryan sat across from them.
"Claire, darling… good to see you well," Charles said.
"Dad…" she said.
"And who is this gentleman?" her mother asked.
"James T. Kirk, ma'am," Jim said, offering his hand. She shook it and he shook her fathers hand.
"What a fine young man… I suggest you try your hardest not to screw up this relationship Claire," Adrienne snapped. Claire pressed her lips together and gave Ryan a look that said 'if you don't find a way to shut her the fuck up I will stab her with a spoon.'
"Mother, Father… this is Colleen Stewart…" Ryan said.
"Nice to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Conaway," she said softly. Ryan and Claire's parents said nothing as they looked at her, and Claire instantly felt bad for the girl.
"I am Charles Conaway, this is my wife Adrienne. We appreciate that you both could meet us, Miss Stewart, Mr. Kirk," he said. Claire scrunched her nose at hearing her father address Jim as 'Mr.', even Jim flinched a little.
"Pleasure is our sir," Jim said. Colleen gave him a look as if to say 'speak for yourself.'
"We're glad you could make it too, Claire. Oh, and Ryan… it was nice of you to actually show up to this meal," Adrienne said. Ryan pressed his lips together and tried not to glare at his mother.
"Pleasant as always, mother," Ryan said. Claire just took a deep breath and almost sighed in relief as liquor was placed in front of her.
"Claire, a White Russian is not suitable for a young lady in high society." Claire pressed her lips together and tried not to jump her mother.
"Oh gosh, what was I thinking? Do you want me to go quickly throw it up in the bathroom? I might have to call Joyce Feldman, I hear she's an expert on that type of thing," Claire snapped, taking a large sip of her drink.
"Claire, that is inappropriate! For your information, Joyce Feldman has gotten married, and she and her husband are very happy," her mother snapped. Claire turned to Ryan.
"Must've kicked the habit." Ryan chuckled and shook his head.
"She's a fashion model now," Adrienne said proudly.
"Oh, even better. She fit's right in!" Jim tried to hid a laugh, but a small smile broke through. Adrienne Conaway frowned.
"It's better than going around playing doctor, Claire Adrienne Conaway," her mother hissed. Claire flinched, quite visibly, and took another chug of her drink. Before Claire could reply, her father spoke.
"Mr. Kirk, what is it you do for a living?" He asked. Jim spared Claire a quick glance before turning to address her father.
"I'm a captain, sir. Captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise," he told him proudly, puffing out his chest a little for emphasis. Both Adrienne and Charles smiled.
"A captain? And you have your own ship? Good work, Mr. Kirk. I'm glad to see that my daughter has good taste!" Charles declared, awkwardly giving Jim a pat on the back. Adrienne clasped her hands together as she eyed Jim up, a small twinkle in her eye.
"Such class!" She squealed, fussing over Jim. He smiled and nervously rubbed his head and Claire relaxed a little. They approved, just as she expected. They probably expected him to be rich, powerful, and everything else that defined a man of high society. Ryan crossed his arms as Colleen fumbled with her napkin, already wishing the dinner date was over. She'd already been called a transsexual and her boyfriend had been called gay and they hadn't even met their waiter yet.
"So… what are you doing on that ship?" Adrienne asked Colleen.
"I'm… I'm an engineer, Ma'am," Colleen said. Adrienne raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. The waiter came over and took their orders, signaling the point of no return.
"I suppose that is a respectable career," Charles said. Colleen nodded and glanced down. Ryan simply gave her a sympathetic look. Maybe he could get his parents pissed enough to dismiss him from the table. Then again, that would leave Claire all alone.
"I personally don't see the interest in space travel, especially when I'm stuck around a ton of dirty, grungy, machines. Bizarre if you ask me," Adrienne said.
"No one was asking you," Claire told her. Adrienne sent her daughter a look, and took a sip of her wine.
"Claire, stop back talking your mother," Charles scolded. Claire went to open her mouth, but shut it again after seeing the look that Ryan was giving her. She bit her tongue, trying to resist the urge to snap at them.
"She's very good at it though, the ship has never run as well as it does now that she's onboard," Jim said, trying to defend Colleen. As soon as they sat down at the table, Jim had never felt so close to Ryan's girlfriend. They were in the same boat, the specimen on the table for the Conaway parents to exam. However, they didn't seem to like what they were seeing with her and Jim felt the need to protect one of his own.
"I'm surprised, I figured that she'd be distracting all those hardworking men with her fake chest," Adrienne said casually as she took a small sip of her wine. Ryan angrily slammed his fist down on the table, causing a few people in the restaurant to look towards their table.
"Stop belittling her. You might have a problem with me, but Colleen is smart, beautiful, and the girl I'm going to spend the rest of my life with!" He snapped. Claire placed her face in her hands, fearing where the conversation would go next.
"Oh, be realistic Ryan. You might love her now, but eventually it'll turn out to be just a fling," Adrienne said. Ryan gave a heavy sigh and clenched his fists.
"No, it's not just a fling, mother!" he snapped. Claire looked at him.
"Ryan, please… don't go there," she whispered. Jim simply looked at the situation, and Colleen turned deathly pale.
"Colleen is my fiancée, I'm going to marry her whether you agree to it or not. I'm not going to sit here and watch you insult the mother of my child," he snapped. The table became deathly silent and Claire pressed her lips together.
"You went there."
"You're what? How could you let this happen? What have you done?" Charles snapped. Jim looked at him and raised an eyebrow. He seriously wanted to know how his girlfriend could've came from these two.
"I have done nothing! You wanted to meet her, how are you going to invite me and my fiancée to dinner than insult us!" Ryan snapped. Colleen simply continued to stare at the table, trying to ignore the fighting.
"We were hoping you had finally come to your senses. We were wrong apparently," Adrienne hissed. There was a small silence before food was placed in front of them. The waiter could feel the tension from the table and had previously heard the yelling. He quickly gave them their food and darted away so they could continue. Ryan stared at the plate in front of him, but never bothered to even touch his silverware.
"I think I've already come to my senses, mother. If I try to let either of you two run my life, I'll be miserable. Having children… it just never fit into your life," he mumbled, glaring his parents down. Claire never looked up once, too focused on not getting involved. It was just like old times.
"You expect us to pay for your dinner after saying such horrible things to your mother and I? We did what we thought best!" Charles snapped, glaring his son down. Jim and Colleen looked back and forth between the two men, noting how their expressions were similar.
"We never asked you to pay for our dinners. It's always about money, never your kids. The best? The best thing that happened to you was when I left!" Ryan snarled at his father, who scoffed at his son's words. Adrienne remained silent, not knowing how to respond. Claire began to move some of the food on her plate around and bit her bottom lip lightly. Everyone else began to slowly eat, and Adrienne decided to use this as a topic change.
"So, Captain Kirk. When are you planning on marrying my daughter?" Both Claire and Jim almost choked on their food.
"MOTHER!" Claire hissed. Jim said nothing as he became deathly pale.
"Yes, that is a good question. I would like to know when you are going to make an honest woman out of my daughter," Charles said. Ryan gave a sigh. On one hand, he was glad that the conversation was no longer on him, but now another fight was about to start, which was always so much fun.
"Well… sir, I um… we just. It's difficult to explain…" Claire rolled her eyes.
"We're not getting married, not now, not soon, not for a while. If we even make it that long. No offense," she said to Jim.
"None taken," he said softly. Adrienne looked at her daughter and leaned toward her.
"Well, if you want him to marry him, I suggest you get pregnant as soon as possible, that's the only way you're going to keep him," she whispered to her, but the whole table could hear her. Jim turned even more deathly pale, Colleen ate her dinner without another word, and Ryan's face turned red with rage. Claire's mouth practically dropped to the table as her mother's words registered in her head.
"You're… a horrible woman!" She shot back. Adrienne leaned back in her chair and held a hand to her face.
"How dare you say that to me? I am your mother! I raised you from a tiny infant to the successful woman you are today!" She countered back. Without realizing what she was doing, Claire shoved her seat and rose to her feet.
"You may be my mother by blood, but you were never there for me. I am the way I am today because Ryan looked out for me. You did nothing, but shove handsome, rich men for me to marry. All you wanted was for me to get married and have babies. What kind of mother wants that from her child? And god forbid I bring up how you treat my brother!" Claire shouted at Adrienne, but her words were directed to her father as well. Jim tried to grabbed Claire's hand and calm her down, but there was no going back.
"Claire Adrienne Conaway, you will sit down and stop this nonsense," Charles snapped. Claire turned to him.
"And you! Oh my God, don't get me started. You have to be the biggest asshole in the world! I have never met a more egotistical and self-centered jackass. That's saying a lot too, look at my boyfriend!" she snapped.
"Claire! Sit down!" her father shouted.
"Fuck you! I've dealt with fucking Klingons scarier than you! You all need to get over yourselves!" Adrienne gave a sigh.
"Look what you have done, Ryan Tyler Conaway! You have corrupted your sister!" Adrienne cried. Claire paused and took her glass and threw it on the ground before shoving her chair on it's side.
"I'm out of here, go find someone else to fuck with!" she snapped, turning around and walking away. The table was silent before Jim stood up and offered a small smile.
"Uh… thank you for dinner," he said. No one at the table said anything as he turned around and walked off. Adrienne was speechless as Charles rounded on his son.
"What nonsense did you fill your sister's head with?" He snapped. Colleen put her fork down and turned to Ryan who was gripping the table for support.
"Ryan, let's just get up and leave. Don't start…" Ryan grabbed Colleen's hand within his own and silenced her with a quick kiss. He then rose to his feet and turned to his parents.
"After all these years, you still think it's me. But have you ever considered that it's all your fault, not mine," he told them, shaking with anger, but eerily calm. He didn't wait for an answer as he pulled Colleen out of the restaurant. Colleen was silent until they got back onto the ship and stood in the lift. Ryan was silently shaking with rage, and she was pretty sure he was close to punching a wall in.
"Ryan… you okay?" she asked. He sighed.
"No… I hate them. I hate them so much. Ever since I can remember they have been like that, always giving Claire the benefit of the doubt and tossing me aside like I was nothing. Then they go and insult you." He paused an ran a hand through his hair. Colleen just stepped toward him and hugged him. "I'm so sorry, you didn't deserve that. I never wanted to put you through anything like that."
"Don't worry about it. I knew from the beginning that your parent's weren't… pleasant. At least I've met them, so when we get married, it won't be so weird," she said. He nodded and pulled her closer.
"I love you," he whispered. She smiled and kissed his lips.
"I love you too."
Claire began pacing the hallway outside her room. She wanted to go in, but she temporarily forgot her key number, so was stuck outside.
"Claire, you alright?" she heard a voice ask.
"No! Can you believe them! I have never been so insulted in my life. Of course they loved you! Mr. I'm-captain-of-a-ship! Ugh, and did you see the way my mother looked at you? Like you are a piece of meat, it's disgusting. She's like… a trillion years old! And you know what, I'll get married when I want to get married! You're my boyfriend and I will decide when I want to have you child and if I want to keep it or not! Well, you'll be in that decision too, but that's not the point. Oh, and don't get me started on the way they treated Colleen and Ryan, I mean… hasn't the guy been through enough! They have to insult his marriage and shit! Ugh, I HATE THEM!" Claire yelled. Jim stepped forward and placed his hands on her shoulder.
"Claire, take a deep breath and calm down," he said softly. Claire pulled away from him and leaned across the wall.
"Normal parents, that's all I ever wanted. But no, I get stuck with them. Damnit, I hate them so much," she mumbled, her eyes glued to the floor. For years she'd put up with the same crap, but she was an adult and she was beyond their shit now.
"I kind of know the feeling, but I'm kind of glad that they were your parents." Claire looked up at Jim and gave him an angry confused look.
"Excuse me, what?" She hissed, feeling her anger begin to boil. Jim held up his hands in his defense.
"No, not like you deserve that because you sure as hell don't. I just mean… you might not be this amazing girl that I fell in love with. It's your life experiences who made you who you are today and if you'd have more loving parents, you might not be who you are now," he explained. She froze as the words sank in.
"Fell in love?" she asked softly.
"What?" he asked.
"You said you fell in love…" she whispered.
"Oh, I… I did," he muttered. There was a silence between them before she spoke.
"Are you?" she asked. Jim looked her in the eye, his heart swelling at the sight of her grey eyes looking slightly hopeful. Did he love her? They only had been going out for about three, close to four, months, but he had known her for almost a year. She made his heart skip a beat whenever she smiled, and his veins felt like they were on fire whenever her lips touched his. She was the only girl who he could feel so comfortable with without having sex. She was everything.
"Yes," he answered. Claire's breath caught in her throat as she stared a the man in front of her. Aside from making her stomach doing summersaults, and causing her veins to feel as if they were aflame, she felt a lot for him. He had always been there when she needed him, and was constantly thinking about her. She knew the moment he had kissed her she was caught.
She moved forward and practically flung her arms around his neck in order to pull him to her. Their lips didn't touch, but she let on hand run through his hair, while the other rested on his neck. His hands immediately went to her waist, and he watched her carefully.
"Say it," she whispered. He raised an eyebrow.
"Say what?" he asked. She looked up, her grey eyes meeting his blue.
"Say you love me," she demanded. He paused, and took a deep breath.
"I… I love you," he said. She smiled and pressed her body against his, in an effort to be closer with him.
"I love you too," she told him.
"Last night was a catastrophe," Ryan stated, taking a seat next to his sister. She shrugged. Claire looked up with a smile on her face and a cup of coffee in her hand. Her smile faltered when she saw her brother's tired grey eyes and noticed his sluggish motions.
"Are you okay?" She asked, slightly concerned. Ryan nodded and let his head fall into his folded arms. Claire used her free hand to rub the base of his neck, something he used to do for her when she was younger and stressed out. "Come on, Ryan, just tell me what's up?"
"I was up all night, worrying. Perhaps I'm making the wrong choice here. I mean, this is going to sound pretty stupid, but maybe Colleen and I are rushing into this…" he trailed off, turning his head slightly so he could peek out at Claire.
"Maybe. Then again, it might be overdue. I mean, living on a spaceship changes a lot of things. You become closer with people than you normally would," Claire said. Ryan sighed and ran a hand over his face.
"Maybe…" Claire chuckled and leaned toward him a bit.
"You don't have to get married right away, just drag it out for a bit. It'll be alright," Claire told him. He nodded and looked up as Anna walked into the dinning hall. He smiled softly upon seeing her joke with one of her security friends. He had been spending a good amount talking and hanging out. Next to Rupert, he really felt he was able to connect with her.
"Anna has a nice ass, doesn't she?" Claire asked. Ryan absentmindedly nodded and let his gaze drop down, before bringing them back up and looking at his sister.
"What?" he asked.
"I knew it! You like her!" she hissed.
"She's a friend. That's all," Ryan snapped.
"Oh please, there is something more than friendship there," Claire stated. Ryan glared at his sister and practically growled.
"There is nothing there. I love Colleen, I'm not going to betray her by starting something with Anna," he said. She rolled her eyes and watched as his eyes made their way to Anna once more. He liked her, for some reason, there was something about Anna that attracted him to her. She only hoped he didn't let that attraction get out of hand. As much as she was annoyed at Colleen, she didn't want to see her brother crush her.
"Alright, whatever you say, Ry," she said in a sing-song voice. Ryan rolled his eyes and glared at his sister.
"How can you even joke about that? I have a kid on the way with the woman I love and we're going to get married!" He snapped. Claire just shrugged.
"A few minutes ago, you were thinking that you guys were rushing it," Claire pointed out, turning to her breakfast. Ryan said nothing as he put his head back down in his hands.
"Rushing marriage. I love Colleen with all my heart and soul though," he stated, though his words were muffled by his arms. Claire still heard him and gave him a pat on his back.
"If you love her that much, then getting married shouldn't be a problem. Unless you want to play the field a little more before settling down," she suggested, playing a nice large piece of pancake in her mouth. She could hear her brother sigh in his arms before he pulled his head up and got to his feet.
"You're right, I shouldn't have any problems getting married now!" He declared before rushing off to the nearest door. Claire rolled her eyes as she turned her attention back on her food.
"Yeah, good-bye to you too," she mumbled.
"Let's get married now!" Ryan said. Colleen jumped a bit and almost dropped the small piece of machine in her hand.
"Uh… what?" she asked. Rupert looked up from his own work and watched the couple, but didn't say anything.
"Let's get married now. I could probably get Kirk to marry us, you just have to say yes," he said. Colleen raised an eyebrow and her eyes met his.
"Ryan, are you serious?" she asked.
"Yes! Why wouldn't I be?" he asked.
"Well… I wanted a church wedding. You know, with my family. I also wanted to wait until after the baby was born." Ryan sighed.
"I can't wait that long. I want to marry you now," he whispered, leaning forward and kissing her softly. She sighed and pressed her lips together.
"Okay, how about the next time we are on earth we do it," she said. Rupert clenched his fists and looked down, suddenly being extremely interested in his work. Ryan smiled and kissed her deeply.
"I love you," he said. She smiled.
"I love you too." He kissed her once more before going off to his post. When he was gone, Colleen gave a heavy sigh before burying her face in her hands.
"He doesn't know… does he?" Rupert asked. Colleen looked up and fixed him with a glare.
"No, and he's not going to find out!" Rupert sighed and walked over to her.
"Colleen, You never wanted to get married. You eventually wanted kids, but you never wanted to be married. So, why are you doing this?" he asked. Colleen sighed and pressed her lips together.
"Because I love him. And after everything that's happened so far, this kid is going to need a stable life with a stable family," she mumbled. Rupert sighed and returned to his post.
"You need to stop lying to him and tell him the truth. The whole truth," he called across the room. Colleen said nothing as she sat in silence.
"Liam, I was kind of hoping we could talk," Alex said as he joined Liam and Claire in sickbay. Claire looked up from her patient, but Liam did not.
"No. We're not talking about this right now. I'm working and you should be too," Liam spat. Since she'd met him, she'd never heard Liam so serious and cold. She could even detect a hint of pain in his voice. Alex sighed and slumped forward.
"Please, baby. We need to talk about this…" Liam quickly finished with his patient, signed him out, and walked out of sickbay.
"Tell McCoy I needed a break," he called over his shoulder. It was an order, not a question. Claire raised an eyebrow as Alex crossed the room.
"What's up with you two?" She asked as her patient rose from the table and left, leaving Claire and Alex by themselves. Alex sighed.
"I denied Liam sex last night," he explained.
"Why?" Claire asked. Liam shrugged.
"I don't know, I mean… I thought that maybe we should try and see if there is more than just sex, you know?" Claire nodded.
"Yeah… did you tell Liam that though?" Alex paused.
"No…" Claire rolled her eyes.
"Then tell him stupid!" she muttered. Alex rolled his eyes and looked at another patient chart as Jackson and Spike stumbled into the sickbay.
"Oh, bloody hell! Don't you watch where you walk?" Spike snapped. Jackson turned bright red.
"I'm sorry! I was just-"
"Shut it, I really don't care," Spike snapped. Alex looked up and rolled his eyes.
"I hate new doctors, they're a pain in the ass," he muttered. Claire rolled her eyes and picked up her own patients chart.
"So, Blondie, what's the plan for today? Some healing, some stalking, wild crazy sex in the storage closet. I'll bring the protection," Spike said.
"Patient number eight is having abdominal pains, go make sure they aren't dying." Spike frowned.
"Is that a no on the sex?" he asked.
"That's a hell no, now get to work!" Claire snapped. Spike rolled his eyes and walked away. Alex chuckled and she turned toward him.
"What?" she asked.
"You're a mini-McCoy. It's cute," he said. She rolled her eyes and picked up another chart.
"Did Colleen reschedule her appointment?" Claire asked.
"Uh… not that I know of. She's been a bit weird lately anyway," Alex said. Claire nodded.
"Yeah. I'm not getting into it. I guess I would be a bit weird after meeting my parents for the first time," Claire said.
"Yeah, but that was almost a month ago." Claire sighed.
"Who knows, that woman is a mystery to me."
"So, did you always want to be in security?" Anna asked. Ryan shrugged as he leaned back in his chair. He was stuck working late again, and Anna seemed to be the only one around who was willing to help him.
"Not really, for a while I wanted to be a engineer," he said.
"What changed?" she asked. He gave a small sigh and ran a hand through his hair.
"Life did. Things happened on the old ship I was on that just… made me lose interest in it. I still miss fixing up my car though," Ryan said. Anna's eyes seemed to light up.
"What kind?" she asked.
"My car?" he asked. She nodded.
"2010 Camaro Coupe 2SS, customized and everything," he said, a large smile on his face.
"No way! What type of engine?" she asked.
"Standard 6.2L V8 SFI. I didn't want to chance it with the present day engines, it could go a bit screwy," he said.
"Not if you do it right. If you use the basic frame and just switch out a few of the smaller parts, you can make it as good as a brand new engine. What color is it?" she asked.
"Uh… red. How do you know so much about cars?" he asked. She smiled and shrugged.
"My brothers were really into cars. My first car was a Mercedes-Benz 2009 CLK550 Cabriolet." Ryan's eyebrows shot up.
"V-8 engine?" he asked. She nodded.
"And a 7-speed automatic transmission. It was white though, I tried to get my cousin paint it green, but my ex-boyfriend crashed it before I could," Anna told him. Ryan's eyes went wide.
"That's horrible!" Anna laughed at the look of horror on his face.
"That's why he's my ex," she restated. Ryan chuckled as he leaned back in his chair.
"Ensign Lopez, you're more than welcome to spend these late nights working with me. Next time, I'll bring you a picture of my baby," he told her, placing his hands behind his head and stretching out. Anna laughed.
"Why would you bring an ultrasound picture with you?" She asked, a smile spread wide across her face. Ryan smiled in return.
"No, not that one. My car, Baby. That's her name," he told her. She giggled in return.
"I can't wait!" she said. Ryan smiled as their eyes met.
"Me neither…"
"Does anyone else feel like the past two weeks have gone by insanely fast?" Alex asked.
"Yeah, and with this big away mission coming up, it's just going to get crazier," Liam said.
"I like how everyone but Alex and Liam are being assigned to the away mission," Anna said. Claire smiled and glanced at Ryan, who let his eyes steal a glance at Anna before looking back at his food. In the past two weeks Anna had begun hanging out with the group more, and pretty much got a long with everyone. Anna took a second to glance at Ryan and smiled before turning back to Rupert. Colleen looked at Ryan and Anna before frowning and turning back to her own food.
"I know, what are we going to in a sickbay all by ourselves?" Liam asked. Alex turned red and rolled his eyes.
"We won't be alone, Jackson will be there. God, I hope that little fucker get's off the crack soon, he's all over the wall." Liam frowned.
"Oh yeah, forgot Jackson was staying. They even sent Rupert out! Gosh, we are so missing out on the trip!" Liam said.
"You probably won't be missing much. I heard that a lot of the senior officers are going to be in meetings most of the time," Claire said.
"Yeah, but the city is right by their ocean. Not to mention you're practically rooming with Kirk. How is that going?" Liam asked. Claire turned red and rolled her eyes.
"Fine, jus fine. Same as before, just a bit more making out and heart to heart talks." Ryan frowned and clenched his fists. He hated hearing about his sisters love life. He'd agreed to lay off them, but it was still difficult for him. Colleen was the only one to notice his body tense up and rolled her eyes. She was getting sick of it.
"Ryan, why don't you come help me pack?" Colleen had phrased it as a question, but everyone knew it was more of a command than anything else as she rose from the table. Claire watched her brother jump up from the table and waved before following his girlfriend as if he were a lost puppy.
"Ugh, I'm getting so sick of that! My brother is so pussy-whipped!" Claire stated, causing everyone at the table to burst out laughing, save for Rupert who merely watched the couple walk away.
"He drives me crazy when we have the night shift sometimes. All he talks about is the crap that she makes him do. It's mad pathetic if you ask me!" Anna told them. Liam rolled his eyes.
"He must be a bottom like Alex here. Although, Alex has been less of a bottom and more of a no-sex boyfriend," Liam said, the last bit of his sentence directed towards his boyfriend. Alex rose from his seat.
"You know what? I'm sick of this. Stop pulling this shit if you're not even going to let me explain myself!" He snapped. Liam ignored his outburst and turned back to his food. Rupert leaned across the table to Claire.
"Can I talk to you for a minute?" She looked at the table, which was in the middle of an argument and nodded.
"Sure," she said. Rupert nodded and they both walked out of dinning hall and into a lift. She didn't ask questions as he stopped at the lift and turned toward her.
"I… uh…" he trailed off. Claire raised an eyebrow and watched the British man try to collect her thoughts.
"Are you alright? You look like you are going to pass out," she said.
"I slept with Colleen!" he said, or practically shouted. Claire paused then blinked a few times.
"You… you did what?" she asked. He sighed and leaned against the wall.
"I… I slept with Colleen," he whispered.
"As in… recently?" she asked.
"About… three, maybe four months ago," he said. Claire sighed and ran a hand through her hair.
"You… you slept with your best friends girlfriend? What the hell?"
"It was an accident! It wasn't like we planned to sleep together, it just happened. I've liked her for a while, and she was just… there, practically asking me to… well you know." Claire placed her face in her hands and shook her head. Why was she always the one people came to when they wanted to get something off their chest.
"Jesus," she muttered.
"I want to tell Ryan, but…" she looked at him.
"You can't… it would ruin his happiness. I understand, I think it is bullshit and you are an asshole, but I understand," Claire said. He sighed and pressed his lips together.
"There is more…" he said softly.
"Oh for the love of God…" she mumbled to herself, rubbing the bridge of her nose. Her brother was about to get married to a cheating whore. She slept with his best friend. What could be worse?
"Colleen's baby… it's not Ryan's…" Rupert's eyes were downcast as the words left his mouth. Time seemed to slow down as Claire tried to wrap her mind around it. All her brother's happiness… all his joy… were lies. Colleen was a cheating lying whore who was going to get wed to her brother. It was all wrong…
". . ." Claire opened her mouth, but closed it again, adding onto the guilt gnawing at Rupert's heart. He'd betrayed his best friend all for a good lay and pretty much ruined his life, but he needed to tell someone. Since he didn't have the balls to tell Ryan himself, he choose the next best thing. However, he was starting to think it had been a worse idea to tell his sister.
"You… you son of a bitch!" Claire cried out, her hands going to Rupert's throat. Rupert froze, not knowing how to react. He'd never seen the female Conaway so angry before and it truly frightened him. Deep down, he knew he deserved it. Her knuckles turned white as Claire grasped the soft flesh under her hands, releasing all the rage she felt. For all her life, Ryan had always been there to protect her, and here she was, unable to protect him from the dreaded news.
"C-Claire!" Rupert choked out, but she refused to lessen her grip. Perhaps by fate, but Alex choose that moment to storm out of the dining hall, frustrated by his boyfriend. He looked up to see Rupert's face slowly turning purple and rushed to his side.
"Claire, let go of him. CLAIRE!" Upon hearing her name, Claire seemed to snap out of whatever rage filled daze she'd been in and released Rupert's throat. Alex gave a sigh of relief as Rupert was sent into a fit of coughing. He took a hold of her arms and pulled her back, trying to keep her as far away from him as possible. She was still mad, but it seemed like she had calmed down a bit.
"I'm going to kill him! I'm going to do it! I'll take the worst possible disease and stick him with it!" Claire snapped. Alex sighed and pulled her farther away.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do it!" Claire broke out of Alex's grip and went to lunge at the British man, but Alex quickly got a grip on her waist and pulled her back.
"No, Claire… you do not need a court-martial!" he told her.
"You better not get in an accident, if you need surgery I'll make sure your ass is dead!" she snapped. Rupert flinched and stood up.
"Claire… I'm-"
"Dude, if I were you I would just leave," Alex said. Rupert paused before taking off. Claire clenched her fists as Alex dragged her into the lift and hit the sickbay level.
"Oh my God, I cannot believe him. How could he do this? And Colleen! What kind of woman does that? That fucking whore," Claire hissed. Alex raised an eyebrow as he watched her fume. He had never seen her as angry as she was now.
"Did you… want to talk about it?" he asked, a little unsure of how he should proceed. He was a trauma doctor, not a psychiatrist.
"No… Yes! Wait… I don't know. God, why does this shit always happen to my family?" she asked. Alex pressed his lips together and patted her back.
"Well… you always have Kirk," he told her. She nodded and ran a hand through her hair.
"I should tell Ryan," she whispered.
"About Colleen? I'm assuming she did something with Rupert." Claire nodded.
"She's a whore," Claire answered. The doors opened and the stepped out of the lift.
"I figured that much," Alex said. Claire let a small smile slip and looked at her best friend.
"You think I should tell Ryan? I mean… he's so happy now…" Alex shrugged.
"If Colleen slept with Rupert, which I'm assuming is what happened, then they're obviously not going to be getting married anytime soon. But they might be able to work it out, especially if you can convince Colleen to tell him the truth," Alex suggested as they mindless walked through the halls. They had to be on duty within the hour, but Claire could care less.
"It's worse than that. Alex, if I tell you, you can't say a word to anyone until I decide what to do," Claire instructed, stopping in the middle of the hallway and turning to face her best friend. Liam might have been her gay best friend, but Alex had been there for her since she started on the Enterprise. He was an asshole, but he was also a good guy when he had to be.
"Of course, it's not like I'm a huge gossip queen like my boyfriend," he reminded her. Claire nodded and leaned close, her nose hovering by his ear.
"Colleen's baby isn't Ryan's, it's Rupert's." Alex's eyes went wide as her breath tickled his ear.
"Seriously? Wow, that's low, man. Now I can see why you're so pissed!" He exclaimed, Claire shushed him and they continued walking.
"You can't say anything!" Alex nodded and scratched the back of his head.
"I know, I won't… but… maybe you should tell Ryan. He's about to marry a woman that doesn't love him, and then he's going to raise his best friends kid. Dude, this is so fucked up." Claire nodded.
"That's not even an understatement," Claire muttered. They walked into sickbay and Claire immediately picked up a chart and looked it over.
"Hey! What are you doing?" McCoy asked. Claire paused then looked down at her chart.
"Uh… working?" Claire asked.
"You need to get ready for the away mission." Claire rolled her eyes. The one time Claire needed to work, McCoy was yelling at her for it.
"But… no one will look after my patients!" Claire pointed out.
"You're intern will look after them," McCoy said. After a couple of days, McCoy had dubbed the new doctors as interns, since they acted like such. Claire was lucky enough to get assigned Spike- or Doctor Giles- as her intern. Claire glanced at the doctor, who was currently hitting on a patient, and then looked to McCoy.
"No disrespect sir… but have you met my intern?" she asked. McCoy nodded.
"Indeed I have. Which is why he's your responsibly. If he fucks up, it's your fault. So keep you intern in line or your ass might be the one on the line," McCoy warned her. Claire sighed as McCoy left. Alex placed a hand on her shoulder.
"If I could, I'd happily take your place. I'll keep an eye on your mini-doctor while your away and make sure he doesn't fuck up too badly," Alex told her, trying to be comforting. Claire just watched the patient stand up and leave sickbay in a hurry without even getting checked out.
"I have so much crap that I'm stressing about and half of it isn't even mine to worry about," she mumbled. Alex nodded.
"Tell me about it…" The stood together in silence for a minute, watching Spike crack open another bottle of beer. Claire ran both hands through her hair as she realized what a challenge keeping Spike in line was going to be.
"I need to pack for the away mission and get out of here. Hopefully the time away will give me a chance to figure out what to do…" Claire trailed off, her eyes never leaving Spike since he was the only person in sickbay doing anything. Alex nodded, his eyes also following the trashy British man.
"Right-o. Head on out, I'll take care of this," Alex told her. Claire nodded and gave him a quick hug before leaving sickbay. He sighed before crossing the room.
"Spike, throw that bottle of beer out or I swear to god, I will have you kicked off this ship!"
Onto the reviews
Yayyou
Raxsah: We is working on it! The next chapter, I think, we will have Kirk/Claire action. I think…
Jeck: And what if we said no? lol
nickiR0x
Jeck: Thank you. Here's the next chapter, I hope the wait wasn't too long.
Raxsah: I don't think it was too long… it was only a few days.
Parallel Days
Raxsah: Yay! I know, The Kirk and Ryan part was necessary… we felt, because… idk, because we needed Ryan to stop bitching about it. If my college had marching band I would keep up with it. I loved it.
Jeck: Marching band will keep me busy for awhile. Kirk and Ryan are like the perfect enemies! MAWHAHAHAHAHA! BTW- Congrats again!
SWfangirl21
Raxsah: Alex and Liam are the best, I'm so glad we decided to put them together. Ryan peeing his pants was a last minute addition. It was kind of like "He had to use the bathroom before he woke up right?" "Right." "I have an idea!" Ah yes, Anna… What kind of story would this be if there wasn't at least one love triangle? We love drama, and we are very good at writing it. I am proud to say the last part was my idea. I figured everyone would get a kick out of it.
Jeck: Alex and Liam are amazing! :3 Oh course this isn't the last time that Kirk and Ryan butt heads. What kind of story would this be without the drama? I suppose after this chapter it shouldn't be as hard to pick between Anna and Colleen. lol Although, we know some people really do like Colleen. Sorry. We really like to make things go boom. It isn't the first time and it won't be the last… Spock does provide a lot of comic relief, but there isn't a whole bunch of him later throughout the story. Maybe the next fanfic. Enjoy the update!
Smiley
Jeck: I'm not dissing the name. With a name like Jeck, you think I have any room to judge? lol
Raxsah: Diss the name? Never. It's awesome. Everything is just stupidly funny when you're running off four hours of sleep instead of the usual twelve. ;D
Raxsah: I would like to apologize to all those out there who were true Colleen/Ryan supporters. We tried to throw little hints that something was up, but might have failed. We're not good at the subtle foreshadowing. It had to be done, the more we wrote her, the more we didn't like her.
Jeck: Surprise, surprise. Just wait to see what we've got planned for her in the future. Well, until we update again (perhaps at the end of the week?)!