To Save Today: Teaser

Federation beds were not the same as the feather down and furs that Diana had been raised in on Themyscira, but they were synthetically comfortable. Her pillow was soft, the blankets were warm, and she could hear the steady hum of the ship all around her as it lulled her from a state of full, deep slumber to a light drowse.

The only thing that made her truly begin to wake was the sound of something... beeping.

Diana inhaled deeply, shifting onto her side just enough to open her eyes and glance around her. The chronometer glared at her with 0600 hours, Stardate 2264.105. The stars glittered in the viewport as if to welcome her to the new day. The third of such days enjoying comforts both synthetic and natural, more at peace than she had been in many years.

She had trained her entire life for a combat-ready alertness that forced her to awareness within microseconds. Even though her eyes were only half-open, it was more because she knew where she was and was at ease with her surroundings. Even though she had slept soundly and wished to cling to those last few minutes of relaxation, she knew that there was little point. If the chronometer was going off, it was morning by her standards. And Jim's. No sense in depriving herself of a mug of raktajino with the captain for a few more moments staring at the stars. They were not the subject of her interest this morning.

Slowly, she reached out to find purchase on the nightstand, intending to turn the chronometer off. She barely shifted, propping herself up on her elbow a bit before the weight in the bed behind her shifted with cat-like agility.

The warmth against her back reminded her of those natural comforts with a pleasant flush just as Jim rolled over to drape his arm over her body. He pressed his weight against her, sleepily turning off his chronometer with a grumble. He found her hand and laced his fingers with hers on the nightstand. Languidly, he drew her back away from the nightstand and firmly pulled her against him. As he did so, she didn't bother to hide the genuine grin that graced her features.

"Good morning," She whispered, enjoying the way he tucked her hand against her stomach and he held her close with a grip that was fairly impressive, considering she still knew she could get out of it. He just wanted her where he felt like holding her. It was another pleasant reminder that she had spent the last two days with him, sharing warmth, learning their scars and curves.

And for the most part, not leaving the bed.

Jim's lips caressed her bare shoulder as he muttered against her skin in a more gritty, sleepy echo, "Good morning…"

As his lips left a trail of hot touches from her shoulder up along her neck, she forced herself to remember to breathe. He tugged her just a little bit closer, reminding her that had been nothing between them all evening… and the afternoon prior… and that morning before he had gone back to duty.

What Diana had not mentioned to Jim while they'd toured her past in Paris was that the crew had been aware of her plans at a basic level. Nyota had already convinced Spock and Doctor McCoy to issue a day of mandatory rest for the captain.

She couldn't say that they had done much resting that day, but they both had certainly been relaxed and satisfied with each other by the time they finally slept. Yesterday, she'd nearly demanded another full day off from him, but he'd made a compelling argument that while she was off-duty, he wasn't.

Nevertheless, he had provided significant ammunition to fuel her idle mind and hands while he'd gone to the bridge. The crew, however, wanted nothing to do with him, and sent him back a few hours later. Nyota had called ahead long enough to tell Diana that he'd been so distracted with a "dopey smile" on his face that they'd kicked him off the bridge so they could finish their survey.

She had made significant use of the extra afternoon.

Jim's fingers untangled from hers, starting to drift along her bare hip, then down her thigh under the blankets, gleaning another grin from her. It seemed that he had no intention of letting either of them leave the bed for some time.

"Either you are insatiable," She said, unintentionally purring as she shifted to lay on her back and face him. "Or I am out of practice."

He beamed, leaning forward so he could now kiss her neck in earnest and shift his weight more. "Definitely the former, because you are certainly not the latter." He remarked. "Besides, every time I look at you, I just think about all of the times we could have been doing this…" He planted a kiss on her neck, then began to drift a bit lower as he kept muttering against her skin. "Over… and over… and over…again…"

Diana laughed, not entirely sure if she cared to stop him and seize control of the moment, or if she would let that very silver tongue of his continue talking. It was safe to say that with three days to explore the new and the familiar, she had been able to securely come to grips with the fact that he was where her future would be.

Pun absolutely intended.

His mouth had done a phenomenal job of quieting any objections from her.

Unfortunately, the sudden grumble from his stomach objected without either of them having a say.

Diana's laughter dissolved into even more amused giggles, and she reached down, quite easily steering Jim off of her and back onto his side. She rolled to face him, but made sure to keep a bit of distance between them.

"Hey," He chuckled, trying to pull her closer, but finding that she had firmly pinned him in place with her hand casually on his shoulder. "You know, I was perfectly comfortable where I was."

She didn't relent. "When was the last time you ate, Jim?"

He pursed his lips a bit, considering his answer carefully with a little exhale that reminded her - pleasantly - of both the past and a present mannerism. "... I think yesterday," he said, waffling a bit. "But only because I count coffee as a meal."

Diana rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "You need to eat something." When he tried to get up again, she just kept him firmly against the bed. "Or I'll end up breaking you."

"Diana…" He breathed, straining to sit up, only to give up and remain in place with a huff. "I have above average stamina. I thought I had proven that."

"You have, but I also know that you are human. And you need to eat. At least I've took advantage of the mess hall while you were on duty."

"So, what you're saying is you cheated?" He said with a grin.

She laughed, slightly indignant. "I'm saying that…" She trailed off for a moment, an idea striking her. They both knew how to eat, and she had a feeling she could convince him. She let her hand slide from his shoulder to the side of his face. "I'm saying that normal people like to get up and have a breakfast." She reminded him of his unspoken promise in Veld. "I'd like a breakfast."

His eyes lit up and a crooked smile appeared on his features. "You're right. The newspaper might be hard to find, but a breakfast I can do." He slipped out of her grasp, rolling out of the bed and standing up so he could stretch. "Privileges of being the captain," He said as he took a few steps towards a door she'd never seen opened in his quarters. "Is that I have a kitchen."

Diana propped herself up on her elbows, watching him as he paused to stretch again, his back to her. Her eyes greedily took in the lines of his muscles, taut and yet not quite as battleworn as she had seen after their night in the inn. As Steve, he had been hardened by war, cut and chiseled. Jim was a bit less so. It was as if he had once been Laocoon in Rhodes and now was more like Michelangelo's David. The same refined muscles, but with slightly less definition.

It comforted her, in a way. It was a metamorphosis that reminded her that in giving his soul over to the gods, they had rewarded him with a life with hardship, but not so much as to chisel him into the haunted man she had known.

And she was absolutely, unabashedly staring at him.

Jim glanced over his shoulder and spotted her, head canted slightly as if she was in fact staring at one of the many works of art she had restored in her former profession. The grin he gave her was almost infuriatingly arrogant. "Sure you don't want me to come back to bed?"

Diana blinked, then pulled herself out of bed as well before she changed her mind about breakfast. "I'm going to take a shower. You.." She simply pointed at the kitchenette she could see beyond his… backside. "Are a distraction."

As she went in the opposite direction towards the bathroom, which was slightly larger than her own in the ambassadorial suite, she heard Jim remark, delightfully full of himself: "I am above average."

Once the door shut behind her, she wasted no time in getting the shower started. While she was tempted to take her time - and idly wondered if she should drag him into said shower - she forced herself to temper her passions and to simply get clean.

The two of them had spent the better part of the last 72 hours in that bed, or near that bed, and they needed to recharge.

Once she returned from the bathroom, she retrieved the dress and undergarments she brought in a quick trip to her quarters while Jim had been on-duty the day before. She dressed quickly, slipping the burgundy material over her head and tying the golden belt built into the waistline.

She had a feeling that she might not wear the dress for very long, but at least she could force Jim to eat something. She wasn't sure why, but something in her told her that the day was not going to be nearly as calm as the last two had been. Her sense of truth and intuition seemed to catch notes of some disquiet on the Enterprise, but there was no telling where it came from.

That was part of the difficulty with wanting to help everyone: She still had to sort through the emotional turmoil on the ship to determine what she could assist with and what she couldn't.

"You're in luck," Jim's voice came from somewhere in the kitchenette. He'd apparently also chosen to dress - to some extent - with a pair of boxer shorts and a white T-shirt. Judging from the oil splatter near the stomach, she had a feeling he had elected to do so upon realizing that cooking was best done clothed. "I happen to be an excellent cook."

Diana quirked an eyebrow as she padded over to the doorway and watched him. The kitchenette was clearly designed for the captain's leisure time, not really for entertaining. That being said, beyond the small counter space where he had some sort of induction plate and a small thermo-warmer, there was a slim but tall refrigeration unit and a large dining table, easily big enough for four or five people.

"You are an excellent cook, yet you have a dining room that I've never seen used and you're constantly in the mess hall?" She asked, both teasing and skeptical.

Jim plated a few eggs, then pointed at her with his spatula. "You know why I eat in the mess. I don't like feeling like I'm some sort of ethereal creature that drifts through my own ship. I like meeting and getting to know my crew." He finished plating a few slices of bacon and then grabbed a couple of pieces of toast. "And yes, I am an excellent cook." He grabbed the plates and made his way back into the living area, setting their places down on the small table he normally used for coffee. "Way better than I was before."

"Before?" She simply muttered, a bit of a tease to her voice as she followed him over to the table.

Jim glanced over at her as he pulled a chair free for her. "You would not have wanted me to make breakfast back then. I'm sure you remember what MREs were like in the first world war. I'm surprised I remember what they were like." Once she was seated and he settled in the other place across from her, she realized that the presentation was remarkably neat. She wasn't entirely surprised that he was more meticulous than he pretended to be. "Do you know what breakfast was like in the 1900s? Two words: Jellied. Meat." Diana's expression reflected the unpleasantness of that notion, which gleaned a laugh from him as he poured them both coffee from his carafe on the table. "Exactly." He said. "This, on the other hand, has the benefit of using some of earth's best ingredients and some of the more interesting ones we've gotten over the years. These are Ktarian eggs. They're bigger than chicken eggs and twice as healthy. The bacon is some of the best applewood smoked bacon from earth and the toast is Bolian seed bread."

Diana was struck by the... rightness of everything in that moment. He had brought the best foodstores he could so that he could impress her. Over breakfast. One of many things she had hoped they would share, that she had mourned as another lost opportunity.

The moment felt surreal.

"Unless… you want something else?" She couldn't remember Jim ever sounding unsure of himself, not like this. There was something almost naive about it.

She quickly looked up at him, smiling and shaking her head. "No. It's perfectly normal. And that's… perfect." To illustrate the point, she took her fork and began to eat.

Jim relaxed a little as she took a bite of the seed bread. It must have been obvious how delicious everything was, because he started to laugh as she moaned happily over the toast.

"If this is how excited you get over toast, I can't wait for you to try the eggs." He said with a chuckle.

The two of them ate for a few moments in silence, save for the clinking of spoons in coffee cups and forks tapping plates. It was the most mundane, normal task, but both of them couldn't seem to stop smiling every time they looked at each other. She couldn't remember feeling quite so giddy in a long time.

About halfway through finishing off her eggs and about to ask for more bread when his communicator chirped. Since the crew knew to leave him alone - at Diana's request - it must have been important.

Furrowing his brow, he wound up reaching for his communicator with a full piece of toast still in his mouth. He waited to finish taking a bite before he answered. "Kirk here."

"Cap'n. I finished compiling the briefing ye asked for." Jim's body language changed. He sat up a bit taller as Chief Engineer Scott continued. He sounded a bit more nervous than Diana would have expected for so early in the morning, but perhaps that was just because he was always so energetic. "About, eh, Jaylah's power fluctuations. With the stellar cartography lab?"

Jim finished his bite of food and took a swig of coffee before he spoke. When he did, Diana heard nothing but the captain's authority. "Understood, Mister Scott. Ambassador Prince and I will be in the briefing room shortly. Please have everything ready."

"Aye, sir."

Jim snapped his communicator shut without much preamble, staring at the table for a long moment. His appetite was definitely gone.

Diana furrowed her brow. "Jim? What's wrong?" She could sense a subtle hint of guilt that rippled through him. Since their first evening, she'd been able to tell that they were more in tune than she'd thought they could be. But, he was holding something back.

"I have something to tell you. I know you asked me to wait, that you didn't want to talk about anything other than us, but…" He took a deep breath. "I need you to understand. Because this could go really wrong."

Her brow knit tightly in concern. Slowly, she reached out and took his hand across the table. "Just tell me, Jim."

So, he did.

48 HOURS LATER

Stardate 2264.107

"McCoy to the bridge." The doctor's voice filtered over the bridge as they all stared down the three Romulan warbirds in the viewscreen. Below her, Sulu sat in the command chair, just as alert as she was. "I have the captain."

"How is he, doctor?" Sulu asked.

Diana gripped the railing, bracing herself against the startling reality before her.

"He's dead."