Controlled Detonation

Summary: Following an engagement with Orion corsairs and the rescue of the crew of a Bajoran antimatter tanker the Argos continues her journey to Deep Space Nine.

Disclaimer: Same as before.


USS Argos (NCC-14229)
Bridge
2376

The shift change had gone as routinely as possible. Crewmembers of the Argos exchanged information of what had transpired on the first shift of the ship's maiden voyage with their oncoming reliefs before heading off the Bridge. Two officers leaving the bridge included Captain Benson and Commander Carlyle.

They walked towards the Turbolift, Aaron hanging back to allow Olivia to step into it before he followed her. The door hiss shut as Olivia gave the command for their destination.

"That was certainly one Hell of a maiden voyage, huh?" Aaron asked.

"You took the words right out of my mouth, Aaron," Olivia sighed, leaning against the turbolift's wall.

"Well, I'll say this crew did a damn good job," Aaron observed as he shifted his body weight, the tools in his ratty toolbag jingling.

"And that includes you too," Olivia replied.

"That was a damn fine comment you made when you stood us down from Red Alert." Aaron smiled toothily.

"Oh? Why's that?" Olivia quizzically raised an eyebrow.

"Well you spoke from the heart, you told the entire crew how proud you were of them, and ended on a high note. I always appreciate honest speeches."

Olivia smiled with a slight blush. "Thank you, Aaron."

"Counselor Hauser is checking on the children right now, seeing how they were holding up after the Red Alert." Aaron reported after glancing at his PADD after it chimed from an alert message.

"Noah's first Red Alert," Olivia sighed.

"Comes with the territory of being a Starfleet kid," Aaron mused.

"Basically your early childhood, too." Olivia observed.

"Yep, birth till I was about six," Aaron replied, lightly patting the toolkit he'd used to disarm the bomb earlier.

"Aaron, about that drink, can we postpone it for a bit? I have to check on the casualties in Sickbay…"

"That'll do, I'll save you a seat at the Nostalgia . I take it you're feeling a Cabernet?" Aaron replied.

"How did you guess?" Olivia asked.

"Well, let's see, since you were Admiral Gromek's aide-de-camp you developed quite a taste for wine and usually Cabernet Sauvignon is your go-to with Shiraz as a close second." Aaron concluded.

"You know me all too well." Olivia chuckled.

"Comes with the territory of knowing you for fifteen years, Liv," Aaron said with a droll shrug.

"Just like I know you like to celebrate successful bomb disposal missions with a drink," Olivia replied with a small chuckle.

"Not to a point that I'm impeded, of course," Aaron smirked.

"Can't have that in my First Officer," Olivia replied.

Aaron sighed through flared nostrils. "Liv, if anything, the fact that I destroyed our marriage through heavy drinking on my part really drove that point home."

Olivia stepped back a pace, eyes wide. Taking a breath she took Aaron's hand. "There's so much about that time…"

"It's complicated, Liv, I'll be the first one to say that.." Aaron interjected, gently squeezing Olivia's hand in response.

Olivia nodded as she returned the squeeze. "We both knew that going into this."

"In the name of full disclosure, I'll tell you I hit rock bottom after…what I did. My career hit a snag. Because of that, I tried to drink away my demons and in doing so I spectacularly drank away our marriage as a result." Aaron confessed.

"Aaron, I wasn't exactly a saint either. You know my mother's history..." Olivia began.

"I forgave you for that a long time ago. I have no bad blood for what happened. Do you think I would've volunteered to be your First Officer if that had been the case?"

A silence hung in the turbolift as they both regarded each other before Olivia broke the silence. "So where do we go from here?"

"Do we have to make that decision right this second?" Aaron replied.

"No, Aaron, we don't. We have Noah to think about." Olivia gulped audibly.

Aaron nodded in response. "Exactly."

"We do need to talk about this. But a turbolift after we finished a fight against pirates isn't the place," Olivia replied.

"Liv, I completely agree with you there. I doubt either of our heads is in the right place or time right now. Take it from me, good decisions are rarely made following an adrenaline crash." Aaron let go of Olivia's hand after he spoke.

"Aaron, one of the things I've always appreciated about you is that you always speak from the heart. You might have no filter at times, but I know you have the biggest heart out of anyone on this crew."

"Let's not beat around the bush, I think I don't I ever had any sort of filter." Aaron smiled. "And the booze doesn't always help with that."

"I still don't know how you EOD guys have livers." Olivia barely suppressed a chuckle of her own.

"Liv, I can't answer that either. But there is a historical precedent, bomb disposal types have long been known to be heavy drinkers," Aaron countered.

"Isn't there that old joke that EOD stands for is Everyone is Drunk."

"Every Other Day, is another popular one," Aaron joked back.

"No wonder the rest of the Starfleet Corps of Engineers doesn't know what to make of you guys," Olivia quipped.

Aaron guffawed loudly, hands on his stomach. After the laugh subsided, Aaron's expression changed as he regarded Olivia. "Do you want me to check on Noah right now?"

"Counselor Hauser's still dealing with the kids, I think it's best he sees both of us after this Red Alert," Olivia replied.

"He'll need both of us, I agree. However, if Hauser finishes with him before you're done in Sickbay I'll come to pick him up."

Olivia managed a weak smile. "Thank you."

"I gather we should take a Molokai on that drink?" Aaron asked.

"No need to mess with your post mission success tradition. And by the way, what did you mean by Molokai? Isn't that a Hawaiian island?"

"Well, Liv, yes, Molokai is one of the Hawaiian islands. It is also a local golfer's equivalent to a Mulligan…or a rain check." Aaron smirked.

Olivia's smile widened with genuine amusement. "I'll hold you to that 'Molokai' for having a drink together later on, Aaron."

"I'll be more than happy to oblige you." Aaron smiled at her as the turbolift stopped.

Just before the turbolift door opened Olivia said, "Let's keep this strictly between us-no giving know-it-all cadets ideas…"

"I assume you're talking about our niece?" Aaron gestured with one hand to let Olivia go through the door first.

"We both know our niece would call our conversation just now a LivRon moment," Olivia replied, looking over one shoulder.

"No doubt in my mind." Aaron chuckled before following her out of the turbolift.

Around then Olivia's comm badge chimed. "Hauser to the Captain."

"Benson here, go ahead," Olivia replied after tapping her comm badge.

"I've finished with Noah. Can you meet me at the schoolroom before you take him home?" Hauser asked.

Aaron and Olivia both looked at one another and nodded.

Olivia tapped her comm badge. "Commander Carlyle and I are on our way."


USS Argos (NCC-14229)
School Room
2376

"So gameplan is, pick up Noah, take him to your quarters and talk to him about what happened, right?" Aaron asked as they stood outside the school room.

Olivia nodded. "And then I've gotta get to Sickbay afterward."

"I'll stay with Noah till you get back," Aaron replied.

"Thank you." Olivia sighed softly as she heard the schoolroom door hiss open before Counselor Hauser stepped out of the room

"Captain, Commander," Hauser began as he approached before taking a quick glance at his PADD.

"How's Noah?" Olivia asked.

"Still scared and in a little bit of shock. I wouldn't be surprised if he has problems with nightmares tonight as worse case scenario." Hauser looked up from his PADD.

"Hence why both of us are here," Aaron interjected.

"He'll need that. And as much normalcy as you can give him to ramp him down. In any case, I'm ensuring my schedule's as wide open as possible for the kids, given this was their first Red Alert," Hauser replied.

"Thank you, Counselor. Anything else?" Olivia replied.

"Captain, also, if you could let the rest of the crew know that if anything about today rattled them, my office door is always open. Metaphorically speaking that is."

"Well, Counselor, I could always install an actual hinging door," Aaron joked, hefting his toolkit.

"Commander, I'm sure that violates Starfleet regulations on gastight doors and thus might irritate our already high strung Chief Engineer." Olivia turned to face Aaron as she spoke.

"You're right, Audrey might bend a wrench around my head." Aaron chuckled.

"With maybe a few dozen Spanish profanities to go alongside it…none of which Noah should ever hear."

"Believe me, while you were pregnant with Noah my side of the family gave me every variation on, 'Don't let your foul mouth rub off on the baby' lecture," Aaron quipped.

"I'll just excuse myself, right now," Hauser interjected before walking off.

"We may have scared off the good counselor, Captain," Aaron chuckled.

Olivia rolled her eyes and smirked. "Well, Number One, you were the one who brought up the fact that I was pregnant with Noah and the profanity lecture."

"I can't see why he'd find that awkward, given he knows you and I were married at one stage," Aaron smirked again.

"I doubt he found that awkward. I think it was more the 'Watch your mouth around the baby' comment you made," Olivia countered.

"You'd think a counselor would realize being married means children, usually." Aaron grinned toothily.

"Aaron, you are impossible sometimes!" Olivia sighed.

Aaron grinned enigmatically at her as Olivia rolled her eyes, folding her arms across her chest.

"There are times I can never figure you out." Olivia groaned.

"I distinctly remember you considered that one of my charms at one stage." Aaron's grin widened.

Olivia rolled her eyes. "All that aside, we have our son to worry about."

Aaron nodded. "After you."

"Noah should see his Dad first right now. Especially because you disarmed that bomb…" Olivia countered.

Aaron smiled at Olivia, nodded and stepped towards the door. It hissed open as Aaron stepped through the entryway.

The children were clustered around the center of the classroom, the desks pushed aside. Aaron managed a small smile as he saw Noah sitting on the floor with a small white Bull Terrier puppy in his lap, licking his face and wagging his tail.

Standing near Mrs. Morgana Pickles, their teacher, was Lieutenant Borgia. At the sound of the door hissing both women turned while Aaron entered the room with Olivia just a pace behind him.

"Commander, Captain." Morgana began with a smile. The shorter, older woman walked toward the two officers with practiced authority.

Olivia glanced over to Aaron who nodded as he met Morgana while Olivia walked over to Borgia to confer with the lawyer.

"Seems like the kids are doing okay," Aaron craned his neck to look past the teacher.

"I'd still be watchful of nightmares. I'm gonna let each of the parents know." Morgana replied.

"Noted," Aaron nodded.

"Personally I'm glad Lieutenant Borgia had been here making a presentation for the kids about Starfleet, and socializing Piglet around children. She also did a great job helping me with a couple dozen very scared kids." Morgana smiled as she turned her neck to the right where Olivia and Borgia were talking.

"I'll ensure the Captain hears that," Aaron replied.

Aaron glanced over, smiling as Noah was petting Piglet as the puppy licked his face, tail wagging mightily.

"If you'll excuse me," Aaron added.

Morgana nodded and with a small smile she said, "Go get your son."

Aaron smiled and replied, "Thank you."

He walked over to Noah and crouched down in front of his son. The puppy in Noah's lap turned towards Aaron and barked before licking his face.

"Ack!" Aaron exclaimed as yet another barrage of licks commenced. Noah let out a peal of laughter.

"Trouble with the dog, Number One?" Olivia's voice sounded from behind him and to the right.

"Piglet come here!" Alex commanded.

Piglet trotted over to Alex before she attached his leash to the collar. "I'm sorry, sir."

"No problem, Lieutenant, I grew up with dogs." Aaron replied, wiping his face with his left arm.

Olivia approached Noah and said, "Hey Pumpkin."

"Mommy!" Noah stood up and hugged her. Olivia lifted her little boy into her arms, supporting Noah's weight from below.

Aaron joined them. "Hi kiddo..we missed you."

"Daddy!" Noah said, smiling as he and Olivia walked out of the school room.


USS Argos (NCC-14229)
The Nostalgia
2376

Major Girani Dannik sat at one of the high tops nearest the viewport in the Nostalgia, a tall and thin glass in front of him. He took a sip of it just as he saw movement out of the corner of his left eye.

He saw Lieutenant Kat Derringer approaching the high top and turned to face the Argos' security chief. Girani sipped at the glass of the Lake Lyot Pilsner.

"Good afternoon, Major Girani. I just wanted to say thank you for your help with the crew of the tanker."

"Just Dannik will do, we are off duty." Girani smiled.

"Okay. I go by Kat when I'm off duty. Is this seat taken?"

Girani gestured with his left hand and Kat took the seat across from him. He sat and sipped at his drink just as Dobb approached them.

"I'll have what he's having," Kat said as she took her seat.

"I do like this Lake Lyot Pilsner." Girani sipped the beer.

"I'm more a whiskey or bourbon kind of girl, but I won't pass up the occasion al beer," Kat replied just before Dobb arrived with another beer. Kat thanked Dobb before taking a pull of her drink.

"Bourbon? I'm familiar with whiskey and scotch as Chief O'Brien and Doctor Bashir would order it on occasion when I was stationed on Deep Space Nine with the Bajoran Militia." Girani gave her a quizzical look.

"Bourbon is an Earth distilled spirit from Kentucky. It's kind of a reddish brown liquor with a sweet and savory taste." Kat explained.

"On a separate note, I should have an analysis of that bomb Commander Carlyle disarmed today. The tri-nitrogen chloride base is familiar to me…" Girani replied as he hefted a PADD in his left hand.

"How so?" Kat asked before recognition hit.

"What is that Earth expression about the quadruped in the room?" Girani quirked an eyebrow.

"Oh, you mean the elephant in the room," Kat replied with a small smirk at the Bajoran's trip over a human idiom.

"Alright, I was in the Bajoran Resistance in my earlier years. Tri-nitrogen chloride-based explosives were my specialty, as was making said explosive devices." Girani deadpanned.

"Well, you might want to keep the bomb making side of your life story on the sly for now." Kat replied, leaning forward.

"And why is that?" Girani asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You do know our First Officer is a bomb disposal specialist, right? He made his living disarming what you built."

"I never built bombs targeting Starfleet. I went after Cardassians with everything I built."

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised. A good percentage of the Bajoran Militia were ex-Resistance fighters," Kat replied with another sip of her drink.

"A fair percentage, sure. But we get some interesting recruits from all over. For instance Grand Nagus Rom used to be an engineer with the Bajoran Militia."

"No way…" Kat's eyes went wide.

Girani cracked a smile that widened as he looked into Kat's eyes. 'They're a very beautiful shade of brown and…where in the Fire Caves did thatcome from?' Girani thought.

"I remember him as the much abused lackey of Quark before he became an engineer in the militia."

"It must have been so interesting to be on Deep Space Nine." Kat mused, with a smile.

"It was certainly a lively post." Girani replied, "We had all sorts of people come through the station."

Then his comm badge beeped. "Hauser to Girani."

"Girani here, go ahead." He tapped his comm badge to reply.

"I've finished speaking to you son, you can pick him up now."

Girani tapped the badge again. "Acknowledged."

"Gotta run?" Kat asked.

"I do. In any case I'd be happy to tell you about Deep Space Nine sometime later." Girani smiled at her.

"I'd like that."

"As would I." Girani rose from his seat.

"I think we can call it a date then," Kat replied as she stood as well.

Girani nodded before he turned to walk out of The Nostalgia, feeling heat rising in his cheeks. 'This is going to be a very interesting assignment…'


USS Argos (NCC-14229)
Captain Benson's Quarters
2376

Aaron felt Olivia step a bit closer to him on his right side as they both looked down over Noah, who lay on his back, the covers tucked right under his jaw. He watched their son's chest rise and fall rhythmically. And he smiled.

"Sleep well little man," Aaron whispered as he adjusted the covers a little.

"Good night sweet boy," Olivia whispered and kissed Noah's forehead.

They walked out of Noah's bedroom and towards the dining area. Olivia went into a cabinet and grabbed a pair of place mats which she set atop the table as Aaron walked over to the replicator and made an order.

"One Benson Special." Aaron made the order, and saw the shimmer of energy which produced a tray with a hot grilled cheese sandwich cut diagonally in half and a bowl of tomato soup. 'Today really had to have gotten to Liv.'

He heard Olivia's footsteps before he heard her words. "Again, Aaron you know me all too well."

Aaron turned to face her, stepping aside to let her get access to the replicator. "Enough to know your go-to comfort food and to order it from the replicator."

Olivia smiled slightly as she took her tray from the replicator before she said, "One Carlyle Special."

Again the replicator shimmered and Aaron saw a tray with a bowl of gumbo on it. He smiled at her. "And it works both ways, you know me all too well."

Aaron took his tray from the replicator, following Olivia to the table and setting it down at his place setting just before Olivia took her seat directly across from him.

"Talk about one Hell of a first day," Olivia began as she took a spoonful of tomato soup from the bowl and blew on it.

"And as usual you order it about 3 degrees Celsius too hot to start eating right away." Aaron quipped before he took a spoonful of his own, swallowing it and then inhaled sharply through his mouth.

"And you take the first bite without checking the temperature, as usual." Olivia faintly smiled.

"So after dinner you're going to see to the patients in Sickbay, right?" Aaron asked.

Olivia nodded. "Thank you, in advance, for looking after Noah when I do that."

"Liv, he's our son, looking after him is in my job description," Aaron replied,

"Still, that's really sweet of you." Olivia leaned forward a bit before she took a bite out of the corner of one half of her grilled cheese sandwich.

"It was one Hell of a first day." Aaron smirked before taking yet another spoonful of gumbo.

"Respond to a distress call, fight space pirates and dispose of a bomb said space pirates beamed aboard." Olivia dipped the bitten corner of her sandwich into her tomato soup before taking a bite.

"And any one of those three reasons would warrant a Benson Special." Aaron's grin widened.

"Honestly the last one really would've warranted a Benson Special and a stiff drink," Olivia replied, a lump in her throat.

"Sounds like one of my habits rubbed off on you." Aaron quipped.

"Honestly, Aaron, I was on the edge of my seat the entire time you were disarming that bomb. If it had gone off…I never would have forgiven myself."

Aaron blinked his eyes as they both looked into each other's eyes. Once again he saw the weight of Olivia's decision earlier that day.

'How much did my service with Felix affect Liv back when we were married? Well, now I know.' Aaron thought to himself.

"I really and truly understand, now, how things were with you when I was in Felix." Aaron broke the silence, referring to the 11th Engineer Squadron of Starfleet Corps of Engineers. The squadron was assigned as engineer support for Starfleet Special Operations.

Oliva sighed. "Those were rough days…you have no idea how relieved I felt to see you when your tour with Felix ended."

"I honestly was just relieved to be alive and in one piece. And happy to see you again." Aaron leaned a bit closer to her.

"I could tell just how happy you were," Olivia replied, a wan smile on her face.

"God we must have stress tested every horizontal surface in our quarters." Aaron smiled.

Olivia smiled back. "And quite a few vertical ones too."

"I don't think we wore clothes unless we were on duty for at least a week." Aaron raised an eyebrow.

"Two weeks, actually." Olivia quirked an eyebrow.

Aaron's grin widened before he took another spoonful of his gumbo and took a bite, lightly chewing on the solid parts.

"Phew, that was one very intense time for sure." Aaron's shoulders sagged slightly as he exhaled, smiling back at her. 'Good God I remember those days.'

Olivia dipped her sandwich into the cooling tomato soup, taking another bite of it. After she chewed and swallowed she leaned closer to Aaron. "I know that my old coffee table from my days on the USS Dunkirk didn't survive those stress tests."

"At least we avoided having an awkward conversation in Sickbay thanks to that Special Operations First Responder course I took." Aaron toothily grinned.

"Low level field surgery does tend to kill the mood." Olivia crossed her arms and arched her eyebrows.

"At least they were particle board splinters that I could see." Aaron raised both his hands, palms facing Olivia as he set his spoon down.

" Small ones, Aaron. And they were a literal pain in the ass to remove." Olivia held up her hand with her index finger and thumb at a minuscule distance apart.

"I really don't think removing splinters can be construed as surgery, Liv." Aaron crossed his own arms as he spoke.

"I'll argue all day that twenty-seven small splinters are surgery on the grounds it was my backside they came out of."

"On the bright side we got a much nicer coffee table out of the deal." Aaron gestured with his head to the left, towards the living room and the coffee table in question.

"Risian hardwood too." Olivia looked to her right at said table.

"Hey, I had to make up for the loss of a coffee table you'd had since you were an Ensign."

"On balance, cheap particleboard furniture is easily replaced." Olivia shrugged.

"If you're ever feeling sentimental I have the exact same model as your old coffee table in my quarters."

"Was that an invitation…" Olivia replied with a pregnant pause, "Commander?"

Aaron's heart jumped a beat at the smile on Olivia's face. "Well, we do often wind up in one another's quarters for Noah related reasons."

"Aaron, you're backpedalling." Olivia leaned closer, whispering.

"No, I wasn't, Liv. That's called a disclaimer."

"I don't know, some people could construe that as a veiled invitation."

"You are in my quarters on a routine basis given we co-parent Noah." Aaron protested.

"State the obvious much, Aaron?" Olvia quipped.

"Hey, gotta be upfront about things." Aaron shrugged as he went back to his dinner.

After a companionable silence, Olivia glanced at the chronometer. With long strides she crossed the dining room, putting her tray into the replicator. "I'd better head to Sickbay to talk to Dr. Hickle."

"I'll stay here in case Noah wakes up, as promised." Aaron stood up and followed her, putting his own tray in following Olivia's.

"Thank you, Aaron." Olivia turned, and walked out of the kitchen and yet again Aaron noticed that sashay yet again…


USS Argos (NCC-14229)
Bridge
2376

Lieutenant Commander Hal Olden stood up from the captain's chair and stretched before making his rounds around the bridge. He took a quick glance over the shoulder of the ensign at tactical.

"Sir, post combat maintenance on the forward phaser array complete. Aft phaser array about 50% complete." Ensign Kohal, a grey-furred Shistavanen wolf man moved his dextrous paws across his console as he sniffed the air.

"Thank you Ensign." Hal nodded as the hiss of the Turbolift door sounded.

He turned around and smiled when he saw Lieutenant Alexandra Borgia walking out of the turbolift with their dog trotting alongside her left leg.

With a few long strides he walked over to his wife and gave her a small, chaste kiss on the lips. Alex took a step back with a smile and a teasing admonishment. "We're both on duty after all, Commander. "

Alex smiled back at him with a knowing look before she squeezed his hand. Then Piglet barked. "I did want to bring the fur kid here."

"I'm all for him getting onto the bridge, provided he doesn't have a bloody accident." Hal smirked.

"He already had a visit to the hydroponics bay to contribute to the soil quality." Alex quipped as the wide eyed puppy beside her barked and wagged his tail mightily.

"Didn't you take him to the school room earlier?" Hal asked.

"Yeah, and got stuck there when Red Alert got called. Thankfully he was able to calm the kids down during and after the battle." Alex smiled as she walked the dog around the room, Hal following alongside her.

The small white Bull Terrier barked and sniffed the air as he walked alongside his humans, stopping to sniff various surfaces.

Piglet stopped by the security station at Ensign Kohal's feet. He sniffed the wolfman's shoe before bowing with his tail wagging.

"Not right now…I'm on duty." Kohal's own tail wagged as well.

"How did you know…"Alex asked.

"His body language is similar to my species' for the most part…minus our ability to speak as most humanoids recognize it anyway." The Shistavanen replied.

Hal continued his circuit around the bridge with Alex following him. "So, what brings you up here, Counselor? Not that I've any complaints…"

"I just thought that I'd swing by the Bridge since I do plan on taking the Bridge Officer's Test at some point…and decided to mix business with pleasure by visiting my husband." Alex smiled.

"I'll say he definitely appreciates it," Hal replied.

"And I'll say that referring to oneself in the third person is a sign of insanity," Alex gently teased.

"Well, Counselor, what does that say about you, given you married me?" Hal quipped.

"You're really going to argue semantics with a lawyer?"

" I dare do all that may become a man. Who dares do more is none." Hal smiled at his wife.

Alex smiled in return. "Macbeth…"

"Well, it did land me my first date with you."

"That it did." Alex nodded as Piglet barked.

The small puppy wagged his tail, forepaws extended, rump in the air. Hal smiled. "Sorry, Piglet, can't play tonight. Daddy's on duty." He crouched down to pat their dog's fur coat and said, "Be good for Mummy…"

Piglet barked and then reared up on his hind paws and started licking Hal's face. Hal stood back up, wiping his face with the back of his hand.

"I'll see you when you get off shift, sir," Alex replied with a smile before she gave Piglet's leash a gentle tug and escorted the puppy to the turbolift.


TBC