Holly comes home. Thanks for reading!

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Data wakes up to find himself strapped to a table surrounded by the Borg. Hmmm… Interesting. He knows he is on the Enterprise in engineering, but it is all wrong. He watches with detached fascination as the Borg Queen descends and is clamped into her body. He never realized before what a sensual creature she really is. She approaches his prone form and begins to sing,

"How'd you do I, see you've met my, faithful handyman. He's just a little brought down because, when you knocked, he thought you were the, candy man…"

It's only then that Data looks down and realizes he is no longer in uniform…

I'm sure it is the sound of shuffling feet and the refrigerator door being opened that has woken me from my nap. The next thing that I am somewhat painfully aware of is the hard plastic of a joystick digging into my lower back. Why did I agree to stay here instead of at my own apartment? As I arch my back and roll away from the offending object I hear something crunch and crinkle under my head. I am sure if I dig under the nest of pillows and blankets I am resting on I will find a long forgotten, half eaten, bag of junk food.

Today I'm alone in Gail's apartment, or was, catching up on my reading and my sleep. The real reason I'm here is because this apartment is not only home to Gail, and Chris, and Dov, but their living area is almost like the Division fifteen common room. Everyone, or so it seems, has a key and comes and goes, taking showers and eating meals, or hanging out on the couch watching TV, or playing video games between shifts. I know that it makes Gail feel better to know that chances are, at least three of her friends from the squad will drop by at different intervals during her shift and, in the process, check on me. The couch is a massive, lumpy, leather affair that Chris and Dov found in an ally one night on patrol, and dragged home in Chris's truck after their shift. Warm afternoon sunlight is coming through the windows, but the apartment is cold. I pull the large blue afghan Chris made while he was in the hospital tighter around me. He has gone back to work too, sporting a metal brace on his injured leg. I'm not really ready to open my eyes in hopes of being able to drift off to sleep again. There is the sound of what I'm sure is beer being opened, and the feet shuffling towards the bathroom. The shower starts running, and I might just have another half an hour of undisturbed rest.

It's funny the way the mind works. I can still remember the name of every bone in the human body, but it took me three weeks of frustration and anger to remember how to tie my shoes. I know that Gail likes to drink her coffee with just a bit of milk, and her tea, earl grey, with more sugar and cream than anyone should be allowed, but I can't for the life of me remember what I ate for breakfast, or where I left my book, or my keys half the time. The doctors say that I'm improving, but my impatient consternation about what I still can't do is multiplying by the day. Because I am still at risk of having a stroke or a seizure, I am still not allowed to drive, or run, or engage in sexual activity. In-fact I am supposed to keep all strenuous activity limited to less than an hour every day. While I find even riding in a car somewhat overwhelming, my body craves exercise, the satisfying pull on pelvis, and abs, and thighs when I hit my stride that makes me feel like I could run forever, the deep intake of fresh clean air, and the headspace running brings that nothing can replace. And then there are days when I am so damn horny I just want to scream. Ok, there are days, when I am alone, that I do scream, and cry. I've started doing Yoga in the morning with Gail, but it's just not the same.

Things are getting better. In the beginning, I couldn't even remember how to read. That came back quickly though. Within two weeks, with the help of my mom, I was back up to an eighth grade reading level. That, and my ability to write have all but returned to normal. There are still giant gaps in my memory that haunt the edges of my mind. The scent of wood smoke brought back the three days spent with Gail at the safe house farm with such force I cried. It was the last time we made love. The memory of that night returned with images, and sound, and tactile sensations, so clear I was undone. With that came more vague memories of Gail's absence, her undercover assignment, and snippets about the case. There is something important I need to remember, but the harder I try, the more illusive it becomes. It's right there, just out of reach, taunting me. I can only hope it comes back before it's too late.

The water stops running, and several minutes later the shuffle of feet is back, along with the scent of some kind of tropical shampoo.

"Hey Holly! How are you feeling?" Chloe chirps at me from across the room.

I open my eyes and roll into a sitting position. Chloe is wearing a giant white terrycloth robe and fuzzy pink slippers, her hair wrapped in a towel.

"Uh hi! I'm good!" I smile and respond as briefly as possible.

"Great!" She replies happily, "You know, when I woke up from my coma last year, I was really confused at first, but then it was like I got a whole new lease on life…"

Gail is so right. Where did this girl come from, The Sound of Music? My eyes glaze over. I can see her lips moving as she gazes whimsically off into the distance, and gestures with the hand that is holding her beer. I am beginning to worry that she is going to spontaneously burst into song when I notice the time. And…saved by the bell!

"Gosh Chloe, I just saw the time and remembered that I promised to call my mom." I grab my glasses from the coffee table and get up to make good my escape.

"Aw, that's so sweet!" She muses as she sits down on the couch and flips on the Disney Channel. "Now why can't Gail be more like that?"

Yup. And now I have to go.

Unlike Gail, I like my mom! I think Gail was both surprised and impressed when my parents dropped everything and rushed to my side the instant they found out I had been hurt. Gail got along well with them, much to her surprise, and to her greater surprise, they like her. My family is a bunch of do-gooding hippies who are out to save the world, as Gail likes to say. I swear my parents have done more for gay and lesbian youth since I came out, the summer after I graduated from High School, than anyone else I know. My father is a retired professor of mathematics, and my mother is a botanist. Together they founded Garden of Hope, a residential farm and school for displaced GLBT teens on Salt Spring Island, just a ferry ride away from Vancouver. My brother, Ash, works for Unicef digging wells and teaching permaculture in sub-Saharan Africa, and my sister Laurel is a performance artist in San Francisco with a burlesque cabaret act that is all about safe sex and the rights of women in the sex industry. I think Gail must have asked her about a billion stupid questions with the unselfconscious curiosity of a child when they met in my room at the hospital. Which, I am sure, amused Laurel to no end.

I am just about to retreat into Gail's room when the door opens. Gail and Dov stumble in, laughing so hard they are holding on to each other so as not to fall over. I realize they are both soaking wet and kind of muddy.

"Oh God!" Dov can barely gasp out "The look on his face when he realized the fountain he created was the water main…"

"Yeah," Gail snorts, "But the best part was the little dog.."

The two of them dissolve into a fit of laughter. Gail is downright giddy.

"Hey!" I smile at them and raise my eyebrows, "You're home early, and what's so funny?"

"You know how we've all been assigned to the construction by the Arena, right?" Dov begins, a silly grin growing on his face, "So the guy digging with the large backhoe thing hits a water main, and next thing you know there is this giant fountain shooting out of the ground."

"Did we mention that Us Festival tickets had just gone on sale?" Gail begins to laugh again.

"Oh yeah, so Us Festival tickets have just gone on sale when this happens, and all hell breaks loose! There is water, and mud, and wet people running everywhere." Dov is excitedly gesturing with his hands. Chloe is smiling and watching him from the edge of her seat. "And this tiny little dog…"

"Chihuahua.." Gail interrupts

"Right. Chihuahua," Dov continues, "jumps out of this old ladies bag and gets into the front seat of McNally's cruiser, and it keeps growling and barking at her and it won't let her back in to her car."

"Oh my God! Really?" Chloe is looking at Dov with wide eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, it had to be like three pounds or less. And Andy has no idea what to do. So finally the old lady comes over and is like, Oh Officer just pick him up, he's harmless. And so Andy goes to reach if it and it latches on to the sleeve of her shirt, and it won't let go…"

"So, was Andy hurt?" I inquire cautiously

"Oh no," Gail replies "It was just hanging from the fabric of her shirt by its nasty little teeth, with all of its stupid little legs flailing in the air." She claws at the air in front of her with her fingers in demonstration.

"And then," Dov cuts in again, "the old lady just comes over and scoops it back into her bag, and is like – Oh Pookey, you bad, bad dog.."

"Pookey?" I lift an eyebrow

"Pookey. Hey!" He yells as he notices Gail edging toward the bathroom, "I called first shower!" They scramble and dash, but Gail gets there first.

"Ha ha!" she taunts, and slams the door in his face.

Gail went back to work just over two weeks ago, and I have been spending a lot of time with Celery during the day. Celery and Oliver have been invaluable in helping me survive my traumatic brain injury, having dealt with one themselves last year. Oliver likes to drop by in the mornings with donuts and coffee, weather or not he is on duty. On one particularly hard day, a day when I couldn't get my shoes tied, he sat me down waiving a jelly cruller in the air, and admitted, in a round about Oliver way, that he might still need Celery to help him tie his neckties, if he chose to wear one. Celery is so sweet, she insists on making me her herbal anti-anxiety tea free of charge, which I have found helps far more than any of the SSRI drugs I was on for a while.

I am sitting on the edge of Gail's bed drinking my tea when Gail enters. Daylight filtering in through the window illuminates the room. She is wearing only light grey sweats and a Police Academy hoodie that is two sizes too large, her hair is still loose and damp. She hesitates as she sees me put down my mug. The memory of her, on that first night at the farm comes rushing back, inundating my senses.

"Hey." She says softly

"Hey." I repeat reaching for her hands to pull her closer. She is standing between my knees as I rest my head on her chest. My hands take on a life of their own, unzipping her sweatshirt to reveal her soft torso. I slide my hands under her sweatshirt, up the smooth skin of her back and lean in, pressing the softness of my cheek into her sternum.

"Holly," She says quietly, her fingers digging into my shoulders as she tries to back away, "Do you think this is such a good idea?"

"Is what such a good idea?" I can hear her heart beating, its steady rhythm anchors me here.

"You know Holly," She says, "This."

"I dunno…" I press my lips to where my cheek has been. "You just feel so nice." I murmur into her chest. I feel her shiver at the movement of my lips. I look up into her eyes. Gail looks like she's trying not to cry. It surprises me.

"Oh, babe…" I sigh, "don't be so sad. Come here!" I pull her down to me so that she is sitting in my left leg. Her forearms rest loosely on my shoulders. I lean in to kiss her, but she pulls slightly away.

"Holly…don't…" she whispers

I kiss her neck just below her right ear instead. She lets out a sigh that sounds like a suppressed moan. "Don't what?" I whisper in her ear. My right hand is resting on the soft fabric covering her inner thigh. I tug gently at the drawstring of her pants.

"We can't… I don't… I don't want to hurt you…" She whispers

"You won't…" I can't help myself anymore. I need to touch her. I slip my hand inside her pants and touch the wet heat I knew would be there. She breathes in sharply as her whole body convulses at my touch. I know I'm going to win. I feel her legs part incrementally. I slip one finger slowly inside of her. She moans and kisses me hard.

"Holly… I…" She whispers in a low hushed tone, breathing hard.

"Ssshhh…" I move my hand faster now. I know it's not going to take much. She is so beautiful with her head thrown back and her eyes shut. She bites her lip and tries not to cry out as she cums, her body starts to shake uncontrollably, silent tears roll down her cheeks. I slowly remove my hand as she opens her eyes. I can't help myself. Without breaking eye contact, I raise my hand to my mouth and lick her slowly off of my fingers. Her eyes widen and her whole body convulses again.

"You are so bad…" She laughs softly.

I lean my forehead against hers and smile. Mission accomplished. "You're welcome." I breathe out.

We crawl onto the bed and hold each other close. "I've missed you. I've missed this." I say as I kiss her again softly, trying to get my raging hormones under control.

"I've missed us too." She admits, pulling me even closer. Her hand slides up under my shirt and caresses my lower back. I let myself get lost in the sensation as her fingers trace mindless patterns on my skin. I close my eyes and hear myself practically purr. This may not be everything, but right now, it's enough.