Episode 2: Let's Run Away: Part 1

Una took a seat at the kitchen table in Chris' quarters and reached for a cupcake. His hand shooed hers away from the filled platter, scolding, "Those are for Aalin." When the timer beeped, he retrieved another dozen from the oven, and with care placed each on a cooling rack.

"You're in the doghouse?"

"Little bit," he muttered. The tin was refilled with batter and returned to the oven.

"At this rate you'll be handing out cupcakes in the mess hall."

"Okay. More than a little bit." He stirred a new batch of icing, chocolate this time.

Una had claimed her prize while his back was turned, treat now consumed she licked her fingers then reached for another. His eyes narrowed; she defended, "Your wife would share."

Chris surveyed containers holding varied flours and sugars, bowls, pans, baking racks, and platters of finished cupcakes, all littering the counter along with a piping bag of pastry crème used for filling. A forefinger scratched at an imaginary itch on his chin. "Guess I've gone a little overboard." He fixed two mugs of coffee and sat opposite his friend, offering her the cup with cream.

"Want to talk?"

"There's little to say. I made a choice, the right one by the way, one in her best interest. Aalin disputed this fact."

"I see," Una said in a musing tone.

"Good."

"That wasn't an 'I agree with you' sentiment. Personal matter?" she asked.

"Mostly."

"And not a minor issue."

He nodded. "It could have become dicey."

"I see."

"Hate it when you repeatedly offer that observation." The words spilled out in a grumble.

"You may have been right," she said.

"Exactly."

"Or you may have been wrong."

"Remind me again why I hired you?" Chris asked. His expression was stern, his tone playful.

The smile held back shone in her eyes. "To disagree with you. Aloud." Una leaned against the back of her chair; arms folded across her chest; she scrutinized his expression, looked past the resistant insistence, saw the concern, then tugged the thread chafing him raw. "So, in a mostly personal matter, you treated Aalin like a member of your crew instead of a spouse."

A reluctant, "You could frame it that way," answered.

"I see."

He glared.

"Many assume starship captains have a high divorce rate because of lengthy separations, the burdens they carry, and twenty-four by seven responsibilities for crew, mission, ship. Those are factors, and significant ones. Also playing a role are massive egos," her lips curved up in a faint smile, "present company excluded there. The mystique, and yes, power, of a commander who owns decisions with far-reaching consequences, with seldom yet possible literal galactic ramifications, who holds life and death in their hands, this glamorized image attracts willing companionship like a neodymium magnet. Don't try pretending it doesn't."

His cheeks blushed which he hid by sipping from his mug.

"Such adoration and pedestal-placing are heady temptations. Certainly when lonely. Or flirtation reaches for a doomed romance, one unprepared and unable to withstand the realities of a commander's life, with its frequent interruptions, derailed plans, and conflicting priorities." Una grinned. "And despite the lofty media portrayals, every morning they, like everyone else, still put on their pants one leg at a time."

She nailed him with a piercing gaze. "But the number one reason this rare breed can be a challenge to live with? They forget in a partnership decision-making isn't a solo activity." Her arms unfolded, hands resting relaxed on the table. "Don't be too hard on yourself." A pause. "Oh, be a little hard, putting two and two together I'm betting you deserve that."

"I stand by my choice, still believe it was the right, the best path forward." Dimples hinted with the admission, "And yeah, a little hard on myself is warranted."

"Turning off habit and innate nature isn't easy. We both possess insatiable curiosity and are explorers. We both are protectors drawn to a career, a life of service. At times that instinct will laser-focus on our lovers."

He sighed. "I'm smothering Aalin again. Like early in our relationship, during those first months after we married …"

"When you didn't want her out of sight?" Una finished.

"Was I that transparent?"

Her head shook in a gentle motion, eyes softening, answering his question with an empathetic no. "I simply understand the sentiment. Existence can be precarious out here; someone can be lost before a problem is realized. Who wouldn't shield those they cherish with everything they have?" She finished her coffee. "Remember Enterprise's tangle with the Tholians? When Sarah insisted on beaming to their ship with medical aid? Bob April risked a war to get her back."

"Hmmm. I also recall your piloting saved the ship, the day, and averted a conflict." Pike refilled their mugs, adding cream again to Una's in the exact amount she liked. "It's more than that." Defocused eyes stared over her shoulder. "The hourglass is upended and dripping sand. Grain by grain, slowly but steadily, with no letup." After resuming eye contact, he continued, "Turns out, knowing your future triggers odd, or perhaps unexpected is a better word, behaviors. I can see the end date when I can no longer physically protect Aalin, no longer hold her hand, kiss her, dance with her, vocalize I love her," an arm sweep gestured at the messy kitchen, "no longer make her favorite comfort food." He looked away again. "I need her safe so I can do these things while I'm able. For me as much for as her. I need. Selfish, huh?"

Una's voice was soft. "I don't think so. Experience and do as much as you can before you can't."

He squeezed her hand. "Before circumstances, or others won't let you. You've lived that."

"The dishonorable discharge and imprisonment I believed would happen when Starfleet inevitably learned of my ancestry and lies, turns out that future wasn't prewritten. And yours isn't either. At least it doesn't have to be."

His voice barely reached a whisper. "Yes, it is. It does. For important reasons I now grasp."

"I think otherwise." She held her hand up. Her tone and expression were adamant. "And don't argue cause I'm never going to back down from this opinion nor stop reminding you of it."

"I've made peace with my fate." His tone of voice changed from calm reassurance, now sounding distracted as if thoughts were far away. "Aalin's acting differently too. Pulling her punches, metaphorically speaking. Before Boreth and its aftermath," raised eyebrows and a slight grimace accompanied recalling his overheard conversation with Batel, "discovering from another I made a choice to keep something from her, well, she'd wouldn't have let me off so easily. She's irritated but internalizing instead of talking about it. How will that sit in her? How will it affect us?"

These questions lingered in the following silence, echoing silently like a menace he couldn't outrun, outfight, outmaneuver, or soothe.

Una hesitated. Reflected. Considered. "Are you interpreting another intention as anger? Such as letting go of her desire to be proven right."

"Perhaps."

"Or reordered priorities," she said.

The last piece clicked into the puzzle he was puzzling. His perception altered; his shoulders straightened; his chin lifted. Una felt the atmosphere of the room shift, like the clouds were obliterated, like the seas had parted. Momentum rushed in with the vigor of a flash flood. Captain had joined uncertain man. This was whole Chris, confident, focused, purposeful, with the clarity, the energy, the steadiness which galvanized crews facing annihilation into believing miracles happened and they could create them.

He asked, "How are you settling in?"

Her smile beamed with the wonder invoked by a stellar nursery. "Being back on board, in uniform, at my post rather than in the brig on the way to a penal colony, every time I step onto our bridge my spine shivers. Thank you for sheltering me." She looked thoughtful. "You purposefully laid the tracks, didn't you."

"I have no idea what you mean," he said while returning the kitchen to its typical inspection ready state.

"You went around the law. Quietly. Used your discretionary authority. Granted an aura of protection that would later cloak me with substance."

He filled the sink with water and tossed a towel to her. "Need an assistant, Number One. The officials overseeing the tribunal granted your asylum. Neera defended you with brilliance. And not to be lost in importance, you had the guts to trust in the organization you love and serve, in its adherence to the spirit of its ideals."

Una accepted a bowl from his wet hands and rubbed the towel against it. "Because I felt you had my back."

"Always."

"Chris, what if," her voice filled with concern. "Not if, when others we encounter, maybe among the crew, judge the court's verdict as wrong and dangerous. They will be furious at my continuing in Starfleet. Distrustful of my decisions and actions. Fearful of my genetic engineering."

He looked up from the sink and held her gaze with unblinking eyes. "I'll, we'll, deal with this when it happens." After her weak, unsure nod he resumed washing dishes. "By the way, I took care of the ship's duty roster for the next three months."

"Yes, I noticed. I spent half a day fixing it."

"Does the acronym OCD ring a bell?" he teased while holding out a plate to her.

"Doing it right isn't compulsive, its … well … right. And you ignored my quick glance system. I have explained to you the importance of color coding for both text and highlighting."

He grinned. "More than once."

She laid the towel over his shoulder. "Good thing I'm here to run your ship."

"The Gorn language task force is consuming Aalin's waking hours leaving me on my own this evening. What do you say to a sparring session and dinner? I'll cook the vindaloo you like."

"Keep in mind my superior strength is outed so I no longer have to pull my punches and those aren't metaphorical. Ergo, you're going to be spending a lot of time on the mat."

He tapped a forefinger to his temple. "Sparring is as much a mental game as a test of force."

She raised an eyebrow. "And your point is?"

"I'll still make curry for you after you kick my ass."