Trekking through the Stars

by omaster43

The galaxy is a big space filled with heroes, but those heroes need to start somewhere, and that place is the bottom. Have fun with Nathaniel and the crew of the Cerritos fumbling their way to victory... or an early grave, whatever comes first. I just wanted to do this because I like Lower Decks, fun show with fun characters that don't take things too seriously, even if they should

2. Chapter 2

Ch. 2

-/-

Tendi POV

Okay, the married suites are unfair. They were easily twice the size of an upper officer suite and even had a kitchen and private bathroom. Admiral Witt really went all out on the design, but I guess a man who has been married to 12 women at once would like a room to hold everyone.

"Okay, so we're doing this whole marriage thing right?" Olly asked from the bed. "Because this bed is worth getting married for. Gods, I can't go back to my cubby after this. Tendi, if this whole marriage thing doesn't work out with Nate, maybe you and I can give it a shot."

"I'm right here~," Nick teased, handing me some hot cocoa to ease my nerves.

"The deal goes for you too," Olly teased.

"I'll have you know that my marriage with my super smart Orion wife is going great," Nate teased.

"Says the man who needs a demi-god lover," Olly laughed.

"What can I say, she's too much woman for one person to handle," Nate laughed with her.

"Would you two take this seriously!?" I huffed.

"Tendi, my love. How can we?" Olly smirked.

"We got ourselves in quite the pickle," Nate nodded. "But if we can't laugh about it, then we can't fight through it."

"Yeah, it's not like it's a big deal," Olly huffed, "Just say that the marriage didn't work out and we'll be back in our cubbies the second Durga gets her pale ass off the ship."

It's only been 3 hours since our meeting with Captain Ramsey and these two have settled into a comfortable slot after moving all our stuff to our new room.

"Uh," Nate muttered, "It's a little more complicated than that. I have about 48 hours to annul the marriage before the Witt council gets involved."

"The what?" I asked.

Nate let out a long sigh, "Okay, I'm sure you know how large my family is by now."

"Yeah, there's like a million of you guys," Olly huffed.

"1,573," he corrected, "and one of the ways we keep in contact is through the Witt Council, it is a group of our eldest family members who've retired and have nothing better to do than make sure the rest of us haven't fallen off any cliffs and our annual family picnic won't start a small war."

"How many of you have fallen off cliffs?" Olly asked.

"More than you would think," he shook his head, "That doesn't matter, what does matter is that we take marriage seriously, unless there's a report that we're undercover as a married couple, they give us 48 hours to annul the marriage before we're asked to go through marriage counseling before divorcing, excluding extenuating circumstances, like domestic abuse."

"Can't we just explain what happened?" I asked.

He nodded, "Of course, but when my Ferengi cousin, Kiaba, got married to her husband to get some lover's deal, the council sent them to counseling, they've been married for 5 years and have 3 kids."

"mmm," I hummed. "Brainwashing?" I asked.

Nate shrugged, "Doubtful, my grandma Jovroni is a Betazoid and can tell if there has been any tampering. Oh, you mean if the council does the brainwashing? Doubtful, brainwashing never works... long term anyway."

"Has anyone still gotten divorced," Olly asked.

"They have, but only if counseling fails, which can take up to 3 months."

"I can live here for 3 months," Olly smiled, covering herself with the blanket.

"Whoa, whoa~," Nate huffed, "This room is assigned to Tendi and I, you get to return to the peasant cubbies."

Olly gasped, "How dare you!? I am your lover! Tendi~, tell your husband to respect my authority! And to only wear booty shorts." she pointed her toe at Nate.

"How dare I!? How dare you! You are the lover! You are meant to warm our bed, and break any ties on what we eat for dinner!" Nate joked. "Which we have been given access to!" he cheered, showing off his PADD.

"There's a Marriage Catalog!?" Olly jumped out of bed and raced over to him.

I sighed and let them pick lunch and started looking through my PADD for married couple activities. If I was going to fake it, I should at least know how.

I should have turned on Safe Search first.

"Tendi, come eat~," Olly called out holding a plate of waffles. "The whip cream is meant to be eaten off the body but it works just fine on waffles."

"I didn't need to know that," I sighed. The cream was good though, and I was happy to know that waffles weren't only for breakfast.

"Yo Tendi, you're getting a call, awww, it's coming to our new married number. You think it's a Ferengi telemarketer trying to sell us a honeymoon suite on a real moon?" Nate teased.

"Who's calling?"

"Unknown number," he answered, "I got it."

"You're covered in whip cream and not wearing a shirt," I pointed out, I haven't had him put on a new shirt. Why? Because I said so, that's why. I don't need a reason to keep my fake husband from wearing a shirt.

"I'm a messy eater, and you're one to talk," He answered the call anyway. "This is Nathaniel Witt speaking."

"Whoa," A voice I knew from the bottom of my heart gasped, "And here I thought D'Vana had poor taste in lovers." I jumped out of my chair and took the PADD from Nate's hands.

"D'Erika!? Wha- what, why, you're calling!" I gasped.

"Is that whipped cream? Oh, OH~! Did I get you at a bad time... or a really good time?" she teased.

"D'Erika!?" I gasped.

"Hey, you're the ones with sex cream on your faces and still picked up the phone," she smirked.

"I was eating it off a waffle!"

"Hey, call your husband whatever you want-"

"Real waffles!" I held up my lunch.

D'Erika sighed, "You're supposed to eat it off your husband's naked body." Olly burst into giggles, "Who's that?"

"Her lover!" Olly laughed.

"OLLY!" I hissed.

"D'vana!?" D'Erika gasped.

"Nate," Nate cheered.

"Shush!" I growled at the peanut crowd.

"I didn't think they were right, but Starfleet is just filled with perverts, respect," D'Erika gave me a nod.

"NO! It's nothing like that!" I countered.

"Again, statistically-"

"I said SHUSH!" I shushed Nate. "D'Erika, why are you calling?"

"I just want to confirm that you got married, turns out you did. And we weren't invited," she huffed.

"If it helps, I also wasn't even there," Nate teased. "Can you even imagine, I wasn't even husband-napped!"

"D'Vana, you didn't even allow your husband to get kidnapped? You're breaking a lot of traditions," she teased.

"If I cared about tradition I wouldn't have joined Starfleet, what's wrong, I thought I was blacklisted."

"Like we would blacklist the Mistress of the Winter Constellations," she scoffed.

"The mistress of the what," Olly asked.

"NOTHING!" I answered.

"Really D'vana," D'Erika hissed, "It's one thing to run away from the family but to lie to your lovers."

"Don't worry, I knew from the beginning," Nate countered.

"And you still married her?"

"Hey!" I huffed.

Nate shrugged, "She's one of my best friends, great at anything that has to do with a ship, and can keep me from dying. She's the perfect woman. Olly's just around for the dangerous part."

"I can hurt you," I hissed.

"I know, but you won't, because you are a kind loving person, with the patience of a Ferengi businessman who's about to close a deal," he smirked.

One of these days. "D'Erika what do you want, I'm busy doing science."

"That's my nickname!" Olly laughed.

This is what I get for lying.

"Admiral Witt has been in talks with our mother." he learned about our fake marriage less than 3 hours ago! He works fast. "Mom wants to talk with you about how badly we should fleece these guys, I told her you were just duping some poor slob for his ship, no offense." she looked at Nate.

"Jokes on her, I don't have a ship," Nate teased. "And I should warn you, the Witt family doesn't care much about wealth, we do care about family, if you're not careful, you'll be right next to your sister doing a tour in Starfleet."

"Is that a joke?" D'Erika teased.

Nate gave a devilish smirk, "You would look great in Command Red."

"Are you joking? Is he joking?" she asked me.

"Hey! With us moving up here, there should be space in the lower decks," Nate clapped.

"I don't think he is," I muttered.

"I'll make some calls!" he ran off to find his PADD.

"I'll never join Starfleet," D'Erika hissed.

"D'Erika!" Mom burst into D'Erika's study, "Pack your things, these idiots are willing to give us a Bird-of-Prey if you became a Lieutenant in Starfleet, oh hi D'vana! Nice pick on the husband."

"Thank you!" Nate called out.

"MA!? I'm not joining Starfleet!" D'Erika hissed.

"Don't worry dear, they're willing to make some exceptions due to your years of training as our family's Prime. Just 4 months in their silly little Academy to learn about their command codes and they'll put you in a ship."

Something in me sparked, it was something between the hope of seeing my baby sister and the vindictive pleasure of watching her suffer.

"That's great!" I cheered, "And we have plenty of space here on the Cerritos! Isn't that great sis!?"

"NO! No, it's NOT!"

"Oh, I can't wait, I'll send a message straight to Admiral Witt, get her stationed with me!"

"OH! That's great! My two girls, back in action. Oh, I can't wait!" Mom cheered walking out of my sister's room. The look on D'Erika's face... was, amazing. I also forgot how good it was to mess with her.

"You did this," she hissed.

"No, but it was good timing, don't worry, I'll show you the ropes and everything! I love you!" I hung up.

"Are you sure you're not evil?" Olly asked.

... I didn't want to answer that.

-/-

Nate POV

"Make sure to feed Rutherford," I ordered at Becky.

"I got it," she sighed.

"I'm being serious, he goes into those Jefferies tubes and he forgets to eat. Boimler and I won't be here to feed him."

"I got it!" she huffed, "Get out of here already!" she shoved me towards the airlock.

"If you have sex with Ramsey, don't do it in our room," I huffed.

"SHUT IT!"

"And if you become a badass captain, make sure you capture the moment in a vid, I wanna see your growth as a responsible member of Starfleet."

"LEAVE ALREADY!" she finally pushed me into the airlock with Boimler, Tendi, and The Dog.

"WAIT! One last thing."

She groaned. "What?"

I gave her a gentle smile, "If Ramsey tries to recruit you, tell her that we will steal you back. You're a Cerritos girl and we won't let some, fancy upstart with epic missions, take you away. Let's face it, you're the only one here with common sense."

She tossed me a smirk. "You're a married man, you shouldn't flirt with other women."

"To be fair, my wife has a Demi-god lover," I teased.

"You know what? You are right! Screw monogamy!" she cheered as we high-fived.

"Alright, it's time for us to go, try not to have too much fun without us," I waved goodbye. "They're going to die, aren't they?" I asked my group.

"No," Tendi huffed, "Dr. T'Ana is here, at best they'll be horribly maimed."

"This whole 'married' thing is changing you two," Boimler muttered. He knew about the whole 'married' thing and was unhappy we were playing with Starfleet regulations but since Grandgramps put in the real paperwork, we weren't technically breaking any laws.

"Don't be silly. We've always been like this, the only difference is that we aren't about to die," I teased.

"Uh?" he gestured to himself.

"Well, we're not about to die," Tendi corrected.

"Yeah, we're going on vacation, you're going to get cured," I teased.

The other end of the door opened to the Osler, one of Division 14's medical transports. There was a bunch of mist for some reason and the lights were really dim.

"Greetings," An Edosian walked out of the mist, wearing a black uniform and face mask.

"Pon?" I called out.

"Ah~, Nathaniel, I see you are returning to the farm," he nodded.

"Yeah, my wife created some kind of super dog, and we're going to make sure she has plenty of space to grow, explore her new surroundings, and where her growing powers are under proper support. What's with the mist?"

"There's been a bit of a coolant leak, we have been trying to fix it," he sighed, leading us into the ship.

"And the lights?"

"Some of our patients have asked us to lower the lights, they," he gave another sigh, "Are a bit self-conscious about their afflictions and don't wish for others to see them."

"Mmm." Yeah, some accidents can have some nasty side effects and some people feared they would never return to normal. "How long have you been traveling?"

"3 months."

"YOU GOT TO BE JOKING!?" I hissed.

Pon held his three hands in surrender. "Every time we were to return to the farm, we would get another call."

"No more stops," I hissed, "Do your patients know what's going on?"

"For the most part."

"...Pon~."

"I don't always have the time," he muttered.

"You want a mutiny? Because this is how you get a mutiny." I huffed. "we're still in the alpha quadrant about a day out from Khwopa, so what, about... A day, a day and a half from the farm? No stops, if anyone calls tell them to head to the farm themselves, we're full. Seriously Pon~," I scoffed, leading my crew to the patient quarters.

"Wow, you really dug into him," Boimler muttered.

"Pon is an amazing scientist, but he needs to work on his bedside manners, he tends to get lost in helping people and fails to remember that there is an entire planet of doctors and scientists ready to help. Still, 3 months," I shook my head, "Someone should have called." it's not a crazy thing, Starfleet isn't for the faint of heart, getting hurt is an occupational hazard, but no one should be held on this ship this long.

I opened the door to the sickbay where over 4 dozen people with different ailments were hiding in the dark.

"Whoa~," Boimler muttered.

"Greetings," I called out. "My name is Nathaniel Witt, I understand that some of you have been here for far too long, I have talked with the captain and we are heading directly to the Farm, we will arrive within a day and a half, please make sure you have all your stuff ready by the time we get there. If you have any questions about the farm please ask, I worked there when I was younger, and it is, in fact, a real place."

"Why is it taking so long for us to get there?" An ensign who was both an old and young man at the same time asked.

"You work for Starfleet, there is never not something happening, somewhere out there another of our people is going through what's happening to you, and unfortunately you were the closest ship, prolonging your time on the Osler," I answered. "Most time a medical ship like this may spend a week or two collecting people before returning, but there has been an up-tick in accidents and scientific abnormalities."

Some grumbled at the time, while others looked relieved that they were finally going to get off the ship.

Nothing like a little break from the madness that was the Cerritos.

-/-

Beckett Mariner POV

Ugh, it's going to take me over a dozen sonic showers to get the smell out of my hair, I hate bog planets, maybe I should have messed with the Waste pipe on Khwopa to make myself look bad. Ever since Amina got on the Cerritos, she's been eyeing me more than just for one of our accidental, meet-ups, hookups. And then making me her number one, she definitely going to ask me to join her team.

It's not like I don't like Amina, I mean, have you looked at her, that's all kinds of captain in tight pants. The problem was that she was a captain, she wanted something I couldn't give... commitment. I just want to be an ensign, not order people around or tell them to do something I wouldn't.

This sucks.

"Yeah, this isn't working," Olly huffed for the fifth time, helping me wash my hair. "I say we cut it off and grow it back."

"That's going to take all day and itch like crazy," I muttered.

"Yeah well, you covered your rebel look with wastewater, why weren't you wearing a helmet."

"Didn't think we needed one," I groaned.

"You were fixing a waste pipe," she huffed. "I'll go get a clipper."

It didn't take long for Olly to shave me bald and add hair growth formula, there was no way I could pull off the Picard look. I already had a curly afro going, I should be back to normal by the end of the day.

Didn't stop the itching though.

I walked into the Bridge as Amina was talking with Mom, she also cut her hair, the whole ground team did, I really should apologize later. I noticed my mom's secret one-piece ninja outfit. Should I get a Secret Mission jumpsuit? They were slimming, but when would I ever use one? I mean I could use it to sneak around the ship, maybe just as under armor, my bra sometimes pinches.

"...These rulot seeds are highly volatile. I may be called to plant them at any moment," Mom called out in her Captain Hero voice.

"Godspeed, Captain." The screen turned off. "Okay, so, they might plant seeds?" Amina rolled her eyes. "Well, sounds like they're on a very important mission."

Oh yeah, like fixing a waste pipe was so important~.

"Durga, how long until we met up with the Rubidoux?" Amina asked.

"We will arrive at our rendezvous point within 10 minutes captain," Durgan answered. Durga has been... Durga. I don't want to say she was a bitch, because she wasn't, but she threw some shade around. Ever since Nate left, she's been more on edge and snappish, which was impressive for a Vulcan.

"Good, Mariner. A moment?" Amina pointed to my mother's office.

Please just be a kinky sex thing, please just be a kinky sex thing.

I followed her into the office, the door closing behind us like a guillotine. I'm sure my mom has cameras in here, no way Amina would try something... right?

"What's going on?"

"What?"

"Do you think I'm an idiot," she scoffed, "Ugh! I forgot the tricorders~," she mimicked my voice.

"I don't sound like that," I huffed.

"And I know you wouldn't forget something so important on accident, what's going on?"

She could always read me like a PADD. "I don't want to leave the Cerritos," I sighed.

"...You knew I wanted to recruit you?"

"Amina~, I love you, I really do, but you have a tell. Every time you want something, you hyper-focus."

"No I don-"

I opened my uniform flap, and her eyes snapped to my cleavage. "What was that? I couldn't hear you." I crossed my arms under my chest and brought up the girls so they looked ready to bust out.

"I, uh, Mmm, uh, what?"

I walked up to her, pressing her up against the desk, my breasts up against her chin. Amina looked ready to tear my clothes off.

"I said, I can read you~," I whispered, before backing away and closing my flap. It didn't stop her from following me, her body pressing against mine.

I'm not saying me and Amina dated back in the academy but we were close. Close to the point where we didn't need a man. We were animals with the understanding that we should just be friends... yeah right~. We would get jealous every time we talked with other people, and the second we were alone we would end up naked, I'm surprised I even graduated from the academy, the stress of finals kept us up all night, and we weren't studying.

"Cameras?" she hissed.

I smirked. "Probably."

She gave a low moan and rested her head in the crook of my shoulder, taking a deep sniff of my neck, and exhaling with a moan. She still smelled like strawberries.

She slowly backed away, fixing her hair. "So," she gave a tiny cough, "Why don't you want to join me?"

"Other than the fact that we wouldn't do any work?" I teased.

"Obviously," she huffed.

I shrugged, "I like it here. I don't know, this place has grown on me, like a fungus. I should warn you, because I know you don't take no for an answer. Nate is planning a full kidnapping counter if you convince me to go with you."

"And how would he do that," she scoffed.

"No clue, but I doubt you would be able to stop him, I've seen him tear a stadium a hundred feet into the air because he missed his nap time," I teased.

"I can take him."

"You can try."

"I want you on my team."

I nodded. "I know."

"We could be great together."

I smirked. "I know that too. But... I want to be me, I don't think I'm ready for command."

"You say that, but I saw you taking command a day ago," she teased.

"That's because... I kinda... made the mistake in the first place." She quirked an eyebrow at me. "Durga kinda freaked out Tendi, thinking she was going to steal Nate."

"Steal Nate?"

I shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine. All I understood was that my friend was scared, so I... may have fibbed... A little."

"a little?"

"They weren't married."

"That's a little more than a little."

"So, you lied," Durga appeared out of nowhere.

I jumped into Amina's arms in fright. "Holy shit woman!? It's called knocking!?"

"We have arrived at the meeting zone captain but the Rubidoux has yet to arrive. Nathaniel isn't married?" she asked, looking deeply into my eyes.

"Uh, well, they... weren't," I carefully answered. "But they are now. You can't have a married suite without the proper paperwork, and Admiral Witt kinda pushed it through~," my voice kept rising at her glare.

"Mariner~," Amina sighed.

"OH-" I pulled Durga into the room and locked the door right this time. "Don't even," I hissed. "Coming in here with your hair in a bun, you know what that does to me!"

She looked away, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"AND YOU," I pointed at Durga, "You have been thirsty for Nate's dick since you saw him. I don't blame Tendi for defending him."

"Nathaniel is old enough to-"

"NO!" I cut her off, "He's not 'old enough' for anything. You left him. I don't know what you think 'amicable' means, but dumping someone like they were in your way for better things isn't AMICABLE! You hurt him, and the worst part, is that he still has feelings for you," I hissed with enough venom to kill a badger. "You have no right to come in here acting offended because we're trying to defend him from you."

"If I can just talk with-"

"Leave, him, alone," I ordered. "You have done enough. When this mission is over, I want you off my ship. Do I make myself clear, Lieutenant?" we may have been the same height, but she didn't look that big to me.

"...yes."

"Get out." I opened the door and locked it behind her. I took a deep breath. Every single one of my nerves were burning.

"Q, that was hot~," Amina hissed.

I slowly turned to her. Her face was flushed and her eyes a bit too wide.

"The Rubidoux is missing," I whispered. She pressed me up against the wall and shoved her tongue down my throat. She was just as rough as always, her fingers clawing at my uniform, squeezing, pulling, nibbling, just trying to mold our bodies together. It took most of my willpower but I was able to break away. "The Rubidoux is missing," I hissed.

She was panting like a marathon runner, how long as she been holding back.

"After?" she whimpered.

"Nate's unused room is open," I teased.

She put on her captain face and marched out of the room, "Durga, find me that ship!"

"Aye captain, I have used the ship's long-range sensors and may have located the Rubidoux," the Vulcan answered, her face as passive as ever, but her hands were clutched into a fist.

She wasn't going to let this go.

"Warp us," Amina ordered. It only took us a second but we came out of warp in front of a dead Rubidoux in space. "Warren, can you hail them?"

"No captain," the Trill answered. "The Rubidoux is completely dead... but I can't find any damage, it's as if they just turned off all their engines."

Amina groaned, "I told Dayton to get her energy coils replaced last month. Looks like I was right~. If power's out, they're probably holed in a safe room, waiting for rescue, just like last time. Suit up team, let's give them a jump."

We got suited up with some space suits, we didn't know if the ship still had air, and we weren't going to risk it. Beaming straight into the Rubidoux's bridge was disconcerting, it was dark, had no gravity, and was quiet... the beginning of every horror vid in the galaxy.

Durga was quick in the uptake and moved to the bridge controls. "Power has been interrupted in engineering."

"Get the main systems back online," Amina ordered. "Mariner, you and I are going to look for the rest of the crew."

We activated our mag boots, sticking us to the floor.

"Did you hear that?" I asked.

.

.

.

"No," Amina answered, "What did you hear?"

"...Nothing," I looked down at my feet, "Usually there's a thump or a bang as metal meets metal, but... there isn't any, like the floor is heavily insulated. Is that normal in the Rubidoux?"

"I'm... not sure, I've never used mag boots in a bridge before," Warren muttered.

"Mariner, what do you make of it?" Amina asked.

I tapped the floor with my boots, "what stopped the power?"

"Force choke," Durga answered. "Emergency shut down."

"Then someone turned it off, on purpose," I muttered. "They weren't attacked, and everyone is hiding."

"Sabotage?" Prachett asked.

"The ship is still here," I countered, "If you're going to sabotage someone you need the attackers to be close by. Unless..."

"Unless?" Amina asked.

I gave the room another look, "...The attacker is still here. We need to find the crew and get out of here before we do anything. Quickly."

"Let's move people!" Amina roared.

Amina took the lead; haven helped the Rubidoux before she knew where the nearest emergency safe room was. It didn't take long for us to find the crew, or whatever was left of them, behind a manually sealed room.

A screaming woman came flying by, wide-eyed and bushy-tailed.

"Captain Dayton!" Amina called out, grabbing the poor woman. "Relax Captain we're here."

"No!" she panicked, looking around the room like something was hiding in the shadows. "That thing is still out there!"

"What thing?" I asked. "The Cerritos only picked up your vessel."

"You don't understand! WE'RE INSIDE OF IT!"

My stomach dropped. You know, I was joking about the whole being eaten thing, it's like the universe can't take a metaphor.

"Did it siphon the ship's energy?" Durga asked.

Dayton shook her head. "We shut down systems because it feeds on electricity."

Amina and I shared a look.

"Cerritos this is Captain Ramsey, do you read?"

"Ba... no... oppy..." Billups's voice broke over the comms.

"Damn thing is probably blocking signals from escaping," I muttered.

"I DON'T WANT TO DIE IN SPACE! I DON'T WANT TO DIE IN SPACE!" Captain Dayton started panicking.

I took a deep breath. Just like Nate taught me. I pulled my hand back and performed a tactical tap, aka a slap to the face. One of Dayton's teeth flew out of her mouth.

Dayton floated there for a second, before glaring at me. "Did you just slap me, Ensign?" she hissed, completely rebooted.

"Oh damn, it really works~," I smirked.

"Get that stupid smile off your face. Stevens! How many people do we have left?" Dayton regained control of her ship.

"Uh, um, 21 Ma'am," an Ensign called out.

"Captain Ramsey, where did you and your team come in from?" Dayton asked.

"The bridge."

"Maybe we'll get better reception there," I pointed out.

"You heard her. Move people!" Dayton ordered.

We started moving people, the comms got clearer as we got closer to the bridge, the second we reached the bridge Billups's voice came through.

"Captain, can you hear us?"

"Billups, start beaming people to the Cerritos!" Amina ordered.

Billups didn't say another word, just started beaming people from the ship. Six people were being beamed at a time but because I couldn't have anything nice, when it got to the team, the ship started waking up, I wasn't sure if the thing in the ship was sleeping or all the beaming woke it up, but the ship wasn't having it. As it started shattering into pieces, blue tentacles reached out for us.

"Fancy a spacewalk?" I asked, gesturing to the bridge window.

"You take me on the nicest dates~," Amina smirked, shooting out the damaged glass, decompressing the bridge, and launching us into space.

Space is beautiful, it truly, truly is. It is, everything and nothing at the same time. Most people think that just because they're on a planet that they're no longer in space.

That's silly.

We're always in space. Floating through the cosmos, on a tiny rock, circling a tiny star, circling one of trillions of Galaxies. It's... pretty awesome... and terrifying. The blackness of space is the type of darkness that feels alive, it can see you, feel you, it could even hear you where nothing else could. I always loved space walks, beauty and terror in equal measures. I also got a great view of the Rubidoux shattered apart, revealing a giant blue glowing jellyfish, before I was grabbed out of space and beamed on board.

I landed in the Cerritos's teleporter room, which was packed with over 20 people.

"So," Amina stood over me. "a free room?"

I'm sure Nate and Tendi wouldn't mind.

-/-

D'Vana Tendi POV

"Higher~," I ordered the pool boy.

"This isn't fair~," Nate huffed, working my shoulders. That pool boy outfit hugged him nicely.

"This is a resort for the injured Nate," Nallo Witt, one of Nate's Betazoid cousins, huffed. She was scanning Brad, who was drinking a Margarita and relaxing on a beach chair. Apparently, they found some kind of parasite egg in his hair but luckily it hadn't hatched yet.

The Dog was running around the resort, enjoying the large open space The Farm had. We arrived 3 days ago and got settled in.

Nate not being injured or related to any of the injured, wasn't allowed to stay, but since he used to work here, he was recruited to work for his stay.

"No slacking back there," I huffed. I may be using him as my personal manservant.

Nate's magical fingers traced one of my aching muscles, and applied the right amount of force, unwinding the knots that I had since I joined Starfleet.

"D'vana, I know I was teasing before but you have way too many knots," Nate muttered. "We're doing this every three days." he gently covered my back with a towel. "You should be good for now. Brad, your turn."

I gave a soft moan and got off the massage table, I haven't felt this good in... oh, I had no idea when, I've been trained to be an assassin since I could walk, and Starfleet training was no joke, and add medical, I think this is the first time I've ever relaxed.

"Uh, can I get another masseuse?" Brad asked.

"Uh, what's wrong with my fingers?" Nate huffed.

"They're not attached to a pretty woman," he gestured his head to Nallo.

"Hehehehahahahaha!" Nate laughed, "Okay~," he giggled.

Nallo punched him in the ribs. "Why are you laughing!?"

"No reason~," he continued to giggle. "Have it your way Brad, but don't come crying to me~. Tendi, my dear, do you want something to eat? Drink?" he smiled at me.

"Can I get one of those fruity drinks with the tiny umbrella?" I asked.

"I'll be right back." I watched his buns bounce as he walked away. Yep... this is paradise.

"NYAAAA!" the sound of a dying animal caught my attention; I turned to find Boimler crying for mercy.

"Ah~, you humans are so soft," Nallo smiled, "I usually only get to work on Klingons," she added way too much strength into her massage, it looked like she was pulverizing him. I could hear his bones popping. "You have a lot of stress."

"My bones~," Boimler whimpered.

"Don't worry, I'll massage them too," Nallo cheered.

Boimler gave another whimper as a grinding noise came from his body.

"Blue Hawaii for the lady~," Nate came back with a blue drink with an umbrella. "3/4-ounce vodka, 3/4-ounce light rum, 1/2-ounce blue curaçao, 3 ounces pineapple juice,1 ounce sweet and sour mix, pineapple wedge on the rim, and one cocktail umbrella."

I took a sip. The flavor danced on my tongue. "SO GOOD~." I took a bite of the pineapple, super sweet~. "This is the life~," I sighed relaxing in my chair.

"Someone save me~," Boimler begged.

"The life~," I sighed again, putting on some sunglasses and letting the planet's star warm me.

"Wait~," Boimler hissed, "Look! Look!" he held up his hand, his completely normal and non-see-through hand. "I'm back to normal!"

"Amazing," Nate muttered, "Your body, knowing that you were about to die, chose to heal itself to escape from my cousin's touch."

"SHUT UP!" Nallo hissed, before whispering something to Brad.

"U-uh, no, I-I-I uh, can't! I need to get back to the Cerritos!" he squeaked. His face was redder than a tomato, jumping out of the table.

Nallo sighed, "Why are the good ones so flighty~."

"I guess with Boimler back to normal and The Dog happy to be here, our time here has come to an end~," I sighed. It was barely a day~! I snapped my fingers, "Man servant! To my room~." I usually don't like being carried but I was still on vacation time and Nate was my pretend husband; I was going to put those muscles to work.

He rolled his eyes but still carried me, "See you at the family reunion~," Nate called out to his cousin.

"Bring Brad along, I don't know what it is, but that purple hair is doing it for me."

"Will do~." he turned to me, "sacrifices must be made," he whispered.

It didn't take long for us to get our things, mostly because we just brought some PADDs, we did steal the robes, we didn't need to, but it was tradition.

Instead of heading to the Cerritos, we headed to Starbase 28, apparently, something happened to the Rubidoux, and the Cerritos was doing a drop-off as a new ship was being made for them.

Unfortunately, Captain Freeman was still on her secret mission, so Durga was still on the ship.

Reaching our new room was the best, the Sick Bay was just around the corner so I didn't have to fight my way through a crowd of people to get to work.

"Do I really have to carry you all the way to our room~," Nate teased.

"Yes, my vacation ends when I return to my sleeping quarters, does this hallway look like my sleeping quarters?" I drawled.

"No."

"Then hop to it man-husband," I huffed.

"Yes, my Mistress~," Nate teased.

I playfully slapped him on the shoulder. "Don't call me that," I huffed.

"Yes, my-" he paused as our door opened... to Ramsey and Mariner in white lingerie about to have sex on our bed. "... I asked you for three things, videotape all captain-like activities you do, keep Rutherford fed, and don't have sex in my room. I can only imagine that you've become an Admiral while we weren't paying attention, Rutherford is definitely dead somewhere in the Jefferies tubes, and I'm going to have to burn that bed. Captain," Nate gave her a respectful nod. "I'm going to take my wife to see the sights in the Starbase and eat some lunch. Clean up after yourselves." he closed the doors.

We quietly walked back out to the base. Starbase 29 was stationed over a ringed gas giant so lunch came with a beautiful view, returning to the ship we ran into Rutherford at the bar with Boimler and Olly in a large corner booth.

"Hey guys!" Mariner greeted us with a smirk and a wave.

"So?" Nate asked.

"It's clean," she rubbed the back of her head, "Can we keep what you saw between us?"

"Why? You looked good in white lingerie," I nodded. That got Sam, Olly, and Brad to cough out their drinks. "It contrasted greatly with your skin. You think I should get one, does it pinch?"

"Not that part!" she hissed, her face rosy pink. "And it doesn't pinch but it does take time to put on."

"Don't corrupt the innocent, you beast," Nate huffed.

"I'm 24," I huffed. "I'm a big girl."

"There's being a big girl and then there's being Mariner," Nate teased.

"I'll take that as a compliment," Mariner huffed, taking a seat next to Olly. "So, mum's the word?"

I leaned over to Nate. "What are we looking at?" I whispered.

"6 favors but ask for 10, let's negotiate," he answered.

"10 favors," I called out.

"10!? You're crazy. 3," Mariner yelled.

"8."

"4."

"let's just jump to 6 and call it a day," I offered her my hand. She looked at it like it was about to strike, but shook it anyway. "It is a pleasure to make a deal with you."

"Hey Becky~," Ramsey waved at Mariner only to freeze at the sight of us. "And friends."

"Good save," Nate gave a thumbs up.

"Just got word that Captain Freeman just finished her mission, and should be back by tomorrow morning," Ramsey nodded.

"Nathaniel." Durga, in a skirt uniform, walked up next to Ramsey, as Nate's hand wrapped around mine under the booth.

"Durga," Nate nodded.

"Ensign Tendi, may I speak with you? Privately?" she asked.

"Is something wrong?" Nate asked.

"No, I wish to have a conversation with ensign Tendi."

Nate looked over at me, his hand rubbing my fingers, his warmth gave me strength I didn't know I needed.

"I'm a big girl," I huffed, sliding out of the booth and walking to the bar counter.

We stood there at the counter for a second.

"I won't stop," she answered a question no one asked.

"Stop?"

"... Nathaniel. I won't stop. You were right, I did leave Nathaniel for my own wants."

"So what? Now that you have what you wanted, Nate should come back?" I felt my anger rising.

"... no. I chose myself over us. Over what we had, what we could have had, I don't regret chasing my goals, but I do regret chasing them alone. I am done being alone." she looked me in the eyes, they were filled with more emotion than I thought a Vulcan could ever have. "I do want Nathaniel, I want his taste, I want his comfort, I want his love."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"...Because, you will make a mistake, just like me, and just like you, I will be there. I do not know the future, but I want Nathaniel there, with me. And if I have to wait for you to make a mistake, I will."

This woman had a lot of nerve.

"I won't let you steal him," I hissed.

"I don't have to," she dusted her skirt. "I know you and Nathaniel got married by accident, your relationship is built on a lie. You see Nathaniel as a friend, a confidant, but not a lover, not as a partner. Nathaniel is human, he has needs. How long are you going to play house? Do you think his going to sit around and wait until you throw him a pity kiss like before."

I balled up my fists.

"Shut up," I hissed.

"You act like you are better than me, like I treated him like a toy."

"Shut up!"

"But you're the same. That's how I know you'll make a mistake. Good day, D'vana Tendi, Mistress of the Winter Constellations." The world froze around me. She knew. How? "Consider this a challenge by one of the descendants of clan Spock." she turned and walked away.

Yep... I hate her.

I returned to the group and sat next to Nate.

"Are you Okay?" he asked, holding my hand again.

I sighed. "Yeah, but I think I'm at war with the Spock clan."

To say they freaked out was an understatement.

If she wants a war, then she better bring her 'A' game.

-/-

Flip me, I guess.

She didn't even give me a day before attacking. We returned to our suite and found her lying in our bed in nothing but her comm badge, naked as the day she was born. Olly and I kicked her out with nothing but a towel, Nate was drenching himself in cold water for a good 20 minutes before we were able to come to bed, and even then, he kept his distance. Men really are simple creatures, I mean, she broke his heart, and one naked flash later the man could barely control himself.

Of course, Olly and I probably didn't help. It wasn't until last night that I realized that Olly and I tend to move around in our sleep before we were sleeping in a tiny cubby, there wasn't much move, but our new large bed gave us plenty of room for us to get comfy. We ended up using Nate as a pillow.

Lucky Captain Freeman showed up in the morning, not that Durga didn't take one last shot. I didn't even know what she did until Mariner pointed it out.

Durga was wearing thigh-high socks, and apparently, that was one of Nate's weaknesses, if the way he was looking at her meant anything.

She had seven years of experience and I barely had 3 months. This was going to be a problem, my saving grace was that Durga wasn't staying, giving me time to build up my skills.

At the moment we were meeting up with our friends at the bar for breakfast, and Boimler was looking extra excited talking into his PADD.

"Ensign Boimler, personal log, Stardate 57783.3. The Cerritos is in orbit around Mixtus III to assist in a controlled demolition of an unstable moon. We're providing support to the Vancouver, a Parliament-class ship which focuses on complex large-scale engineering projects. So the moons orbit could cause, blah blah blah blah—okay, okay. The real news is~, I get to have lunch with the coolest, Smartest officer in Starfleet!"

"Aww, that's nice buddy, but I have plans," Nate smirked.

"Not you! I'm talking about my girlfriend, Thee Barbara Brinson~." he gave a little dance. "We met 3 months ago and it's just been magical," he sighed.

"Ugh," Mariner groaned, "look out everyone, I'm pretty sure this is Log number one million about Girlfriend Barb. Do you guys have any more space in your love nest for a woman who can't take another day of this?"

"No way~," Olly huffed, "I'm using that space to escape lover boy over there," she gestured to Boimler. "Listen to me Boimler, you better make sweet-sweet love to that woman, because 3 weeks of hearing you go on and on about her has driven me up a wall. You better make my suffering worth something."

"Oh~, I have the perfect dinner ready. A 10-course meal that will knock the socks off her," he smirked.

"What are you, starving?" Nate asked. "Just take her on a tour of the ship, have lunch on the holodeck, I'm thinking evening, Paris, on top of the Eiffel Tower, a slightly cool 71 degrees, low wind, so you can give her your jacket and not be cold yourself, a three-course meal, nothing too heavy, and then give her the business." we all looked at him. "What?"

"That's a... good plan," Mariner nodded, looking Nate up and down. "Whatcha doing later?"

"I'll be busy watching my nieces. My cousin Lora, the cyborg, is stationed on the Vancouver and has asked me to watch over them while she and her husband have some alone time."

"Can make a date and is good with kids? I can see why Tendi married you," she teased.

"I try my best," he shrugged. "And Brad, don't forget that Barbara is also a woman with needs, she's probably as pent-up as you are, so don't go crazy if she skips a few steps."

"Rutherford," I looked at my Cyborg friend across from me with a serious look. "I heard that the Vancouver has T88s, is that true?"

"T88s!" Olly gave a spit take, "That's impossible! They're not even out yet! Is it because they have a bigger ship!?"

Rutherford crossed his fingers, and took a deep breath, "...It's true ."

Olly and I gasped. T88s made the scanners we used on the Cerritos look ancient. The things I can do with a T88 were just short of legendary. I needed one.

"So," I hummed, "how do we get one?"

"With Nate's cousin taking a vacation day, I put in a cooperative work order," Rutherford nodded, looking down at his PADD, "Which I just got confirmation!" he cheered.

"RUTHERFORD! RUTHERFORD! RUTHERFORD!" we cheered.

"I'm beginning to think you guys are going to take it too far," Nate muttered.

T88, you're as good as mine.

-/-

Becket Marriner POV

"It's beautiful~," Olly gasped as we landed on the Vancouver. I gave the ship a look around, other than the crowd of people helping organize our mission, nothing looked too different than the Cerritos.

"It looks exactly the same as the Cerritos," I pointed out. It was kinda funny, once we found our design we kinda stuck to it. I felt an arm wrap around my waist and pull me into a large chest.

"BACK!" Nate hissed, "I said back!" he slowly backed away from the crew. I looked over to find Tendi, Rutherford, and Olly giving me death glares. "She knows not what she says, spare her foolishness, you know Command, they wouldn't know the difference between a fusion and a fission engine." The engineers gave a huff and ran off into the ship. "You can't say that to an engineer," Nate hissed, putting me down. "How have you survived this long? Do you want another 10-hour lecture on warp colors?"

"Sorry, I wasn't thinking," I muttered. For being a bundle of love and optimism Tendi had a mean streak when it came to science. I had no idea why she wasn't taking science officer training.

"Where is she?" Brad muttered looking around the dock, looking for Barb.

"This is so sad," I muttered. "Look at him, looking for a woman that doesn't-"

"Brad!" A chipper voice cried out, as a beautiful blonde-haired lieutenant came from the crowd of people, and started making out with Boimler.

"I'm a married man and even I don't kiss that much~," Nate muttered.

"More like dry humping~," I joked.

"My goodness~," Barb gasped, breaking away from Brad, "Hi, Sorry. You know how it is."

"It's alright, just find a closet next time," Nate teased. "You guys have fun; I have to go meet up with some family." he waved goodbye, heading to the ship.

I turned to see the couple bumping noses.

I should have gone with Nate.

Still, I'm here, might as well eat my words and get to know Barb. The way Brad talked about her, she was the perfect woman.

"Come on, I'll give you a tour," Barb smiled at us. Wow, even her smile was pretty.

How did someone like Boimler, who's a 5 with makeup, snag someone like Barb who's a 9 on her worst day?

Something wasn't right.

The tour of the Vancouver was... nothing special, it was the Cerritos, but bigger. Barb did go on some pretty neat missions, she even time-traveled. It would have been nice to listen to, if Brad wasn't making kissing noises every 30 seconds. I wanted to say he was getting handsy but Barb was the same way, Nate was right, these guys are ready to blow, and I was being a very uncomfortable third wheel.

"Barbasaurus Rex!" Jet Manhaver, more muscle than man, called out, walking down the hall. Thank Q, if I had to hear one more of Brad's stupid nicknames I was going to lose it, the fact that Barb didn't seem affected must mean she really liked him... or something else... something dangerous.

"Jet?" Barb cheered.

"Get up here. We're gonna be working together!" he cheered, lifting her up in his arms.

Kind of a douche move to twirl another man's girlfriend in front of them, but Brad really has to stand up for himself. That and I'm beginning to think Barb wasn't who she said she was, I'm willing to sacrifice Alpha shift for the greater good.

He finally put her down, "Did you hear, there are some purple people throwing a tantrum? Implosion's been postponed~," he sighed. "We got to recalibrate the whole goddamn containment field."

"Oh~," Barb hissed, "Boim-Boim," she snuggled up to Boimler. I'm pretty sure that was the worst nickname so far and she should be tossed out an airlock, but that would get me locked up. "It looks like I can't make it to lunch at the Cerritos."

"Oh, no, it's fine. It's not like I programmed a 10-course meal or anything~," Brad muttered.

"I'm sorry Brad," Jet patted Bard on the back, "even I heard how much you wanted that date, I'll try and get her back to you by lunch. See you in engineering." He waved goodbye.

"How do you know Jet?" I asked. "He's like, the 5th coolest person in the Cerritos."

"Oh, we dated like a billion years ago," She huffed, "Turned out we had a lot in common... a lot." she bounced her eyebrows at us. It took me a second but I got her meaning. I didn't know that about Jet, but to be fair he was in Alpha shift so I didn't care.

"Like what?" Boimler asked, Barb's look flying over his head.

"Q, you're adorable~." she gave him another kiss, "I'll try and get this over with before lunch, I'll call you after I'm done," she whispered something in his ear.

"Barbara!?" Brad gasped, his face a bright red, and trying to cover his body. "Control yourself!"

"Oh, my Bradward, I am in control." She gave him one last kiss and ran down the hall.

"Goodness, some people, am I right?" he dusted his uniform, trying to regain some composure but his red face remained.

I looked at a retreating Barb... if that was Barb.

"Bradward?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm a Bradward, there are Bradley's, it's a common name," he shrugged.

"Meh~." I shook my hand back and forward. "Not that common." He rolled his eyes looking at Barb's retreating back. "Try and keep it in your pants," I teased.

"Mariner!" he gasped. "Why are all the women in my life so dirty?"

"Cuz we're human," I huffed. "You do know that women can be just as horny as men, right? Okay, well, not you or Sam... or Billups, but most men. Shaxs and Dr. T'Ana are seconds away from doing it in the hallway, Ransom is always trying to get tail every time we touch down, Barnes keeps trying to seduce Rutherford, while Tendi, Olly, and I are always staring at Nate's ass when he passes by. You can't be in a confined area with someone you find attractive before your eyes begin to wander."

"Is that why you're always sleeping with every Witt you come across?" He teased.

"Oh Bradward," I sighed, "You only seen two Witts. They make me believe there is a god sometimes." I allowed myself to remember all the pretty Witts I've met during my time in the stars.

Thank Q I was born a woman, otherwise, I would have quite the family.

"Have you called any of them back?"

"Yes~," I drawled, "... Most of them... some of them... they know what I'm about," I huffed. "This only proves my point!"

"This only proves that you have a problem with commitment," Boimler muttered.

"How dare you," I hissed.

"I'm sorry, allow me to apologize to your paramour... oh wait~," he sighed.

I narrowed my eyes at him, "When did you get the balls?"

He shrugged, "I just kissed a beautiful woman," he smirked.

"I like this new look on you, bold, confident, your back straight for the first time in months," I nodded. "If only Barb wasn't some kind of shapeshifter."

"Uh, what?"

"Oh Boimler~," I sighed. "So naive, so trusting, this isn't a fairy tale silly. The funny sidekick doesn't walk away with the girl~."

"Okay, first of all, that's just not true, if anything the sidekick is the only one who gets the happy ending. Second, don't kink shame people, alright," he huffed. "Barb finds this," he gestured to himself, "hot. And finally, I don't care if she's a shapeshifter, it's not illegal or anything. Besides, I like her because of her leadership skills," he gave a longing sigh, "You should have seen her in ordering people around."

"...I'm learning things about you today, and I'm not sure how to handle it."

He shrugged, "That sounds like a 'you' problem~, I'm going to see if I can do that holo-date Nate talked about."

"You do that," I waved him goodbye. "...I'll find the truth," I hissed under my breath and followed Barb.

-/-

Nate Witt POV

"Curse you, Captain Witts," I hissed, flying away in my spaceship, "YOU HAVEN'T HEARD THE LAST OF ME!"

"And we'll be ready!" Vicky roared back, her sisters cheering with her.

"And the day was saved yet again by the heroic acts of Co-Captains Victoria, Unju, and Sholka Witt!" the cheesy Holo-narrator cheered, as my nieces high-fived.

The holodeck returned to normal.

"Alright you little rugrats, it's lunchtime," I yelled over their cheering.

"One more!" Victoria, the eldest at 9, whined.

"Yeah! I'm not done kicking butt," Unju, the middlest at 8, shadow boxed.

"SCIENCE!" Sholka, the littlest at 7, roared.

"Yes, yes, you're all great heroes, but even heroes need to eat," I ushered them out of the holodeck and towards the Vancouver's cafeteria, which was a little too packed with people from both ships mingling.

"I want spaghetti with little pieces of hot dog," Sholka rushed to the nearest replicator, her sister right behind her.

I was going to join them but I spotted Becky combat rolling over to Barb, who was eating with a couple of engineers, a blade in hand. I quickly snuck up behind her, which was surprisingly easy, she was way too focused on Barb, and I plucked her right off the ground.

"HEY!?" she turned to me. Oof, she had some crazy eyes.

"Sorry," I waved to the engineers and carried Becky over to my booth.

"I was doing something," she hissed.

"Girls this is Beckett Mariner awesome space hero, Becky, these are my nieces, Victoria, Unju, and Sholka, energy morphed into children." I introduced my half-human half-Bajoran nieces, ignoring Mariner's grumpy look.

"Hi!" the girls waved. Pasta all over their faces.

"Oh, uh, hi," Mariner awkwardly waved back. Kids are great, most people tend to regain their senses when they're around.

"So, what's with the blade?"

"Barb's a Reptoid!" and the crazy was back.

"What?" I teased.

"Think about it."

"I'm trying but I just can't see it," I smirked.

"Nate~, take this seriously! A woman that hot dating a man like Brad, did you know his full name was Bradward by the way?"

Oh, I know that look, shapeshifters were a real threat during the Dominion War. I reached out and held her hand. "Okay, calm down," I said softly. "I'm right here, and no shapeshifter is going to attack you or Brad."

"But-"

"Let's walk through this," I cut her off. "Let's say that Barb was a shapeshifter-"

"Reptoid," she corrected.

"Reptoid, she would have to pass a large number of tests Starfleet has added to their recruitment since the Dominion war, that it would be next to impossible for her to keep the secret."

"She's dating Brad," She hissed.

I nodded, "Becky, Brad is like your little brother, so you can't see it, but he's a handsome young man."

"What? Brad? Bradward Boimler? Our Brad? No, that's impossible."

"Yeah, our Brad, and it's thanks to your mentorship," I teased.

"What!? Me?"

"Yeah, you. You've been teaching Brad to stand up for himself, taking him to the gym, sword practice, and making sure he eats heavy protein meals, he's no Jet or I, but he can hold his own, all thanks to you. Is it really so crazy that a woman might find him attractive?"

"I mean... I guess not." her eyes were still moving over to Barb.

"Then why does it look like you're about to ignore everything I just said?"

"Huh? What?"

I rolled my eyes. "Fine, if it will keep you from ruining Brad's date, and make it our problem until he finds another lover, I use my secret weapon."

She focused on me. "Secret weapon?"

"Girls," I passed my nieces my tricorder. "Check if Barb is human, and we get to play princess rescue."

They didn't hesitate, just took the scanner and ran over to Barb. Barb didn't even question it, just smiled and allowed them to use the tricorder on her, even the other engineers got in on it, before running back to us. Nobody ever questioned the kids playing with tricorders, it was too cute.

"Human!" Vicky cheered.

Mariner took the scanner, "Huh, look at that, she's human," she sighed. "Maybe I am overreacting. Sorry, see you later-" I draped my arm around her shoulder, stopping her from leaving.

"Going somewhere?" I smiled.

"... duties?" I kept smiling, and she sighed. "What do you want?"

"I'm calling in a favor." I passed her my burger. "Eat up, princess saving is hungry business."

"Ah, man~."

After some lunch, we returned to the Holodeck and got dressed up for an epic quest of princess rescuing.

"Wait? You're the princess," Becky giggled at the dress I was wearing. She dressed like a rogue.

"That's cute, how you think you have the hips to pull off this dress," I teased.

She gasped, "I can pull off that dress."

I nodded, "Sure, I believe you~."

"Why I outta~," she shook her fist at me.

"We're ready!" my nieces came running in Vicky and Unju knight outfits, holding foam swords and shields while Sholka was in wizard robes.

"Thank the Gods of science you have arrived Adventurers~!" I gasped.

"Of course, princess! We heard the call of adventure!" Vicky held up her sword.

"Adventure!" Unju nodded.

"Science!" Sholka held up her holy math book.

"If not us, then who?" Becky teased.

"Thank goodness," I gasped some more, as the holodeck transformed into feature the inside of a medieval castle with knights and a throne, there was even a jester. "There have been some reports about the deadly Facemuncher in the area!"

"Face muncher?" Becky drawled.

"Facemuncher, all one word," I corrected. "And yes!" I gasped.

"Are you okay? You're gasping a lot," Becky giggled.

"How dare you! All princesses gasp, all the time, that's how you know we're princesses," I gasped.

"Yeah, keep up rogue Mariner," Vicky huffed.

"Slow," Unju shook her head.

"Very not science," Sholka sighed.

"Alright, alright, sorry," Becky teased.

"As a princess, I must forgive you... once~," I eyeballed her.

"It won't happen again."

"Good, as I was saying, Facemuncher has been-" The castle wall exploded inward as a large-scaled dragon hand reached in and grabbed me. "OH NO! IT'S FACEMUNCHER!" I gasped. "HEROES! HELP!"

"PRINCESS!?" the girls screamed.

"HA HA HA HA!" Facemuncher laughed in their deep guttural voice, "Foolish adventurers, you can't even save one princess! What hope does this land have!" the Dragon laughed some more before flying away.

"Heroes! The princess has been kidnapped, you must rescue her!" the king called out.

"...Nate?" Becky asked.

"Sorry master rogue Mariner, but I don't know who this handsome Nate is," I answered.

"I didn't say handsome," she drawled.

"Yeah well, it's a handsome name," I smirked. As DM, I was the storyteller, meaning that I was everyone else important to the plot, I could program some holograms to give answers but I've done this long enough to know that players start asking stupid questions that might break the simulation.

"Right~," she drawled.

"Quickly Adventurers, the princess has been kidnapped by the monstrous Facemuncher, you must save her!" I begged.

"Control yourself, Your Highness," Vicky called out, "We will save the princess, for we are heroes of science!"

"Heroes!" Unju nodded.

"Science!"

They looked over at Mariner.

"Uh... Saving?" she sort of cheered.

"SAVING!" the girls cheered, rushing out of the castle. Becky gave me a look, before following after the girls.

The story was a simple one, nothing crazy, the princess was kidnapped by the evil dragon and it was up to the heroes to rescue them, straightforward, but like any holodeck game, things got complicated fast. Add the fact that Mariner was a loose cannon with nothing to lose, the Party ended up fighting a secret Klingon cult of dragon worshipers, a mafia of Romulan gangsters using a casino as a front, and a snooty Vulcan school of wizards who wouldn't teach Sholka magical spells of explosive science magic.

After a long grueling campaign the adventurers finally made it to Facemuncher's castle, everyone was decked out in magical armor and weapons, ready to face the big bad evil guy, but the simulation ended as they reached the castle's door.

"HEY!?" Becky hissed.

"We were going to kick butt!" Vicky added.

"EXPLOSIONS!" Sholka hissed.

"Stab," Unju held her barbarian axe at the ready.

"That's going to have to wait, because it's dinner time," I teased.

"Dinner?" Becky muttered looking at the nearest, "It's 8!? We've been here for 8 hours!?"

"Yep~," I teased. "You guys' lost track of time, come on you punk adventurers, A feast awaits," I lead them out of the holodeck and back to the kitchen.

We missed the implosion, but it wasn't anything to write home about, seen one impulsion, you've seen them all. We ran into Rutherford, Olly, and Tendi, all of them looking extra shifty and carrying duffle bags. I should have stopped them but I wasn't on the clock.

We never got to finish our adventure, much to their annoyance, the girls' had homework, and a bedtime. I did finish the adventure on the simulation if they ever want to complete it with their parents.

I got back to my room around 11, to find Tendi and Olly drinking some tea.

"Hey? Still awake?" I asked, putting my pip away and my uniform into the matter recycler, and getting a clean new one for tomorrow.

"Just doing crime," Olly smiled.

"Olly!?" Tendi squeaked.

"Is that why you looked extra shifty at dinner?"

"Yep, we stole their T88s," Olly smirked.

"Nice~," I laughed.

"How are you part of security," Tendi sighed.

"It's not my job to stop you from stealing, that's the Vancouver's job, if you got away with it, that's a 'them' problem. I'm guessing there's a story to go with the theft?" I asked putting on my PJs.

"Ugh!" Olly groaned and flopped into bed.

"Turns out working for the Vancouver messes you up~," Tendi started.

Apparently, today was kind of a hectic day for them, the Vancouver's chief of engineering tried doing an ol' switcharoo, and take their spots in the Cerritos. They ended up blackmailing him and then stealing a bunch of T88s.

They also spotted Brad and Barb coming out of the Holodeck rather disheveled, wink-wink smiley face.

Today was a pretty calm day, With the Vancouver being the bigger ship, she was asked to look after any detailed work over the planet, and we were ordered to head to K'tuevon Prime, I wasn't sure of the reason, but we did have shore leave until we got there.

Tendi flopped on my chest as Olly curled up into my shoulder.

Is it weird that we're okay sleeping like this?

Probably not.

-/-

D'vana Tendi POV

Ugh~, I think I slept in my arm. I turned and felt a warm pillow. Ah, I must have spooned Nate in my sleep, not the first time, but can you blame me? Nate runs hot and I like a cool room, but I don't like sleeping in a cold room, so I use Nate as a warm pillow.

I felt a pair of strong arms with calloused fingers hug me back. Oh, I think I was hugging Olly, only for that idea to falter as another pair of soft hands travel up my back with freezing feet stealing my warmth!

My eyes snapped open to find Olly's glowing head wreath in my face.

"Olly?" why was my voice so deep? Am I coming down with a cold?

"Yeah~?" the person at my back answered.

I took a deep breath... like a really deep breath, like, as if my lungs were 35% bigger. I looked down at my hands... my very not green hands.

"Guys," I whimpered.

Olly opened her eyes and looked at me. "... oh... this is bad~," Olly muttered.

"Olly?" I asked.

"Nate," Olly... Nate... Nate in Olly's body corrected. This is going to get confusing fast. I felt the smaller pair of hands hold me tighter.

"I don't want to get up~," Olly... in my body, whined, snuggling into my back. "Why is it so cold~?" she hissed, dragging her cold feet up my leg, Mother Goddess! My feet are as cold as ice! "Warm~," she muttered into my ear, beating back the cold.

"Oh," Nate teased. "Isn't someone having a good time."

I looked down, the pajamas Nate was wearing felt, strained, between the legs.

"I DON'T LIKE IT!" I panicked.

"WHAT'S GOING ON!?" Olly shot out of bed, ready for action. "...I'm green!?"

"And what's wrong with being green?" I huffed.

"Nothing, other than the fact that I wasn't green last night," Olly huffed back.

"It seems like we got a classic case of body swap situation going," Nate slowly crawled over me to get out of bed. He... she... they smelt great. What was that smell? "D'vana?"

I opened my eyes to find myself pressed against Olly's breasts.

I quickly pulled back and accidentally throwing myself out of bed. A new feeling coursing through my body.

Power. I had... power. I looked down at my glowing hands, they had a rainbow outline. A tiny pair of green hands cupped mine, I followed them up to my worried face.

"Tendi?" Olly called out to me, "Are you okay?" I took a deep breath, trying to control my new body, but all that did was smother me with my... perfume? I don't wear perfume. Is this what I smelt like? I smell great. I closed my eyes and just smelt myself. I grabbed my arms and pulled me closer. "Tendi?"

"You smell great," I whispered. I sniffed my neck, just a small taste.

"TENDI!?"

Delicious~, "Just a nibble-" Suddenly I was hit by a mind-shattering smell that physically hurt, causing me to jump away. "What!?" I blinked awake, stars dancing across my vision.

"Smelling salts," Nate answered, holding a little red capsule. "I don't think you're ready for my body, maybe you should stay here and we'll bring Dr. T to you."

"No!" I jumped to my feet, "I'm okay, I just, it was all new, but I have it under control now." They quirked an eyebrow at me. "I'm okay!" I walked into the hallway, which was flashing yellow.

"Yellow alert," Olly muttered, "suit up." I walked back into the room and froze; Olly had her back to me, but she took off her clothes. I have seen my own body, millions of times before. Every scar, every cut, every muscle, but... this was different, my body was, greener, and smoother, my mind connected my freckles into constellations.

Without thinking I took a step forward, I wanted to trace every imaginary line, feel my body's warmth... just a taste-

Nate stepped in front of Olly, with his arms crossed, "Bathroom," he pointed to the bathroom.

"I-"

"Bathroom," he hissed, giving me a uniform. "You're like a horny teenager. Splash some water on your face, get dressed, and control yourself."

I gulped and nodded, walking into the bathroom. I took a deep breath and splashed water into my face. Does Nate have to go through this every day? I can't walk 3 steps without my hormones going wild, I think his cosmic energy is amplifying his emotions, or at the very least his Senses.

I looked myself in the mirror. I'm... tall. I stood at my full height. Was Nate always this tall? I took off my clothes. I traced Nate's scars, flashes of memories that weren't mine danced across my thoughts, a crazed Blazzard clawed deep into his chest during his time on Orion. I traced the large one that on his chest, from his time in a Klingon ship, his attacker got him with a Bat'leth, it nearly killed him, his powers activated and killed his assassin. I traced two small burns on his upper chest, Phaser burns, when he was learning from his Romulan aunt, it taught him how dangerous Phasers were, and how painful they can be, they were not toys and should never be treated as such.

His body was... years of training. Story after story.

I took off my pants, another memory hitting me.

"Nathaniel~," a naked Durga gasped in my ear, her very warm body holding on to me for dear life, "Harder!"

I gasped, returning to the bathroom, my face was on fire, bits of cosmic energy dancing off my skin. I quickly got dressed in a blue uniform and walked out of the room.

Nate and Olly were ready for me, huh. Yellow wasn't the worst color on me, but I'll stick with my blue.

"You keep it tight~," Olly teased.

"Don't worry, I kept her from touching anything she shouldn't," Nate answered. "Here," he gave me a bandana with a picture of me glued to the front. "So people won't get confused."

"Thanks," I nodded.

"Let's head down to the Sickbay and get this all fixed up," Olly smiled.

I nodded, "Dr. T'Ana probably already has a cure going. Which is probably why we aren't at red alert." without thinking, I took the lead, Nate's legs had greater stride, and without my breasts, I didn't have to control my walking.

Olly gave a little giggle at my awkward walk, "What are you doing?"

"I don't have breasts," I huffed.

"what's that like, being Nate?" she teased.

"Weird, everything is too soft, too tiny, I feel like a giant."

"I know what you mean~, you're at least a cup bigger than me." she played with my uniform, "But I'm good with the height, the Jefferies tubes were not made for tall people, my back kills me every time I have to go in one."

We turned the corner to Sickbay, finding a line of people.

"Crap~," I muttered.

"We'll get in line," Nate answered, leading Olly away.

I entered Sickbay, all the beds were being used, as Lieutenant Shaxs, in a blue uniform, scanned a patient.

"Ensign Tendi, reporting for duty," I stood at attention.

"About-" he sighed, "You too? Cute hat, start making more, we passed through some cosmic energies during our warp jump. Just about everyone in the ship has been swapped." I quickly made one for Dr. T'Ana and gave it to her. She put it on. "The energy is slowly fading; I give it a day, maybe two, before we back to normal. Give people a bandana and send them back to their duties. I hope you have your running shoes ensign, we're going to get a lot of accidents today," she sighed.

"Yes, Doctor." I saluted.

Doctor T'Ana wasn't joking, it only took a few minutes before we got our first injury. Wendy in Jennifer's body damaged her antennas and needed help, Vykkolk, the Male Vulcan, in operations was freaking out, unable to control his emotions in Barne's body, and well over a dozen people having problems going to the bathroom. Normally a day like this would have me exhausted by lunch but Nate's body had energy for days, I've been running up and down the ship and I was ready for more.

"Tendi~!" Nate called me from the Sickbay doors.

"Nate? What's wrong?"

"Lunch time, I came to get you. You and Rutherford have the same problem with taking breaks, come on."

"But-"

"Just go with him," Dr. T'Ana huffed. "The last thing we need is for you to collapse from hunger." she shooed me away.

I nodded and followed Nate.

"So, how's the body treating you?" Nate asked.

I gave a flex, "Great! I've been running around all day and I haven't felt tired for a second."

He smirked, "It's amazing what daily exercise does for the body." we entered the cafeteria, it was rather packed, with people eating together, testing out their new taste buds.

"YO! TENDI! NATE!" Mariner, in Boimler's body, called out to us from our corner booth, Nate gave me a pat on the back heading for the replicators to get our lunch.

"Hey guys," I called out, taking my seat next to Olly, who was scarfing down ribs like her life depended on it.

"TENDI!" Olly gasped. "These are the most delicious things I've ever eaten!"

"You've eaten ribs before," I pointed out.

"Not like these! It's like, they're a billion times tastier in your mouth," she gnawed on the bone, trying to get every bit of meat.

"Please don't make me look like a wild animal," I muttered, as a large plate of food, from pasta to meat dishes, landed in front of me. "Whoa."

"That's a lot," Rutherford, in Boimler's body, muttered.

"A bit too much," Boimler, in Mariner's body, nodded.

"Nah," Nate shook his head. "Tendi doesn't have my control, she's been leaking cosmic power all day."

"How do you know?" Mariner asked.

"Because I'm still human, kinda, I'm pretty sure I have some El-Aurian in there somewhere, my great-great-great-grandmother didn't talk about her lover much," he shrugged. "Tendi, you said you haven't felt tired, right?" I nodded. "You've been funneling power into your body to push away any fatigue. You don't feel it now but it stacks over time. Eat up, you still have a long day ahead of you," he warned.

I began stuffing my mouth. The food had a different taste to it, the flavors didn't explode in my mouth like before, it was good but not overwhelming, and I couldn't stop. I didn't know how hungry I was until I started eating.

"Uh, Tendi. Maybe you want to slow down," Boimler called out.

I looked at him, my mouth filled with food, I swallowed hard. "...no." I kept shoving food into my mouth. It took me 10 minutes but I was finally stuffed, "Ugh~," I groan, "I can't move~."

"That's the craziest thing I have ever seen," Mariner muttered, "I always thought when people say 'I can eat a horse' it was the idiom. I was wrong."

"How does Nate keep his figure," Rutherford muttered.

"You think if I eat that much, I'll get muscles?" Boimler asked.

"Don't mess up my body!" Mariner hissed. "Ladies can't lose weight like men."

Nate reached over with a napkin and cleaned my face. "You should be fine until dinner. You too." he cleaned the BBQ sauce from Olly's face.

"I can't eat anymore~," Olly groaned. She yawned like a puppy and curled up next to me. Huh... I am adorable... and soft.

"Hands~," Nate warned.

"Huh?" I snapped out of my thoughts.

"Hehehe~," Mariner giggled. "And here I thought Nate was the one living the dream, Turns out Tendi's the pervy one~."

"It's not like that!" I squeaked.

"Huh, you can also make Nate adorable, but not to the same power~," Rutherford hummed.

"Nate, does Tendi get handsy at night?" Mariner teased.

"Mariner!?" I gasped.

"No more than usual," Nate shrugged.

"Nate!"

"Ho ho," Mariner laughed.

Nate shrugged, "I run hot, your cold feet keep me nice and cool."

"Oh," Mariner sighed, "you use Tendi as a cooling pillow. Are you sure there isn't anything naughty going on?"

"You need to get laid," Nate drawled.

"You have been... thirstier than normal," Boimler muttered.

"What about Dahae, she and Sleepy Merp have the whole orgy thing going with Anya and Castro?" Rutherford asked.

"Nah, they're a bit too committed to their polyamorous partners, what about Hans?" I asked.

Nate shook his head, "He and Jet have been having this on-and-off thing going for a few weeks now. What about Volis? She into anbo-jyutsu, we sparred a few times, she's pretty good... and single."

"I don't need you guys to get laid, but if you can pass me Volis digits," she whispered the last thing. Nate gave her a nod. "So, what's it like to be married?" She continued to tease me.

"Mmm, normal?" I answered, looking over at Nate.

He shrugged. "Just enjoying the bed before we get divorced."

A dark pit formed at the bottom of my stomach when he said that. "But, uh... what of our families!?" I countered.

"Mmm," Nate muttered, "It will be a bit awkward but I'm sure we can skirt around it, we might have to donate an extra bird of prey as an apology."

My tummy was still cold. "And my sister!?"

"...What about her?" he asked.

"Uhhhh, she'll demand... revenge, she is joining Starfleet because of us, if she finds out we lied, she'll hate me and try and kill you."

"Mmm, that could be a problem, you're one of my best friends, so upsetting your sister is no good."

"And she's going to kill you," Mariner added.

"Meh, a lot of people want me dead, but Tendi only has the one sister." he snapped his fingers, "Olly. We already said she was our lover, just say you dumped me for her. It makes it seem like you used me to get a bird of prey, so your family will see it as a good play."

"What about you?"

He smirked. "I also fell in love with Olly~."

"What?" Boimler asked.

"We both fell out of love with each other but fell in love with Olly, we split up, but stay friends, our love turns platonic, and we buy a farm somewhere," Nate answered.

"That is some convoluted Romulan-level nonsense," Mariner huffed.

"And why a farm?" Rutherford asked.

Nate shrugged, "No idea, but having a farm where we grow stuff would be nice when we're like 90 and retired fleet admirals."

"Wait... how are we all Fleet Admirals," Boimler asked.

"That's what you're asking, not the fact that we'll still be living together in our 90s?" Mariner huffed.

Boimler shrugged, "I don't know, I thought it would be one of those old folk farms where we play lawn bowling and complain about the youth."

"... Alright, that does sound fun, but we're not 90 and Nate's plan is crazy," Mariner rolled her eyes.

"But it could work," Nate countered.

"No, it has way too many moving pieces, and what are you going to do when Tendi's sister gets here?" she asked. "Durga found out in less than a week, your sister is going to be living here for months, maybe even years, what are you going to do when she gets here? Have you even kissed?"

"MARINER!?" I gasped.

"I'm awake!" Olly snapped up.

"See~," Mariner huffed. "Your sister is going to notice something and is going to blow the whistle."

Nate sighed, "Then what's your plan, captain?"

"Don't call me that, and I say, double down."

We looked at her.

"Boimler, you got a better plan?" Nate asked.

"Tell the truth."

We looked back to Mariner, "Double down, you say?" I asked.

"They want a married couple; we'll give them a married couple."

Oh... I didn't like that smirk... but... my tummy did felt better.

-/-

"So... what do you think about Mariner's plan?" I asked, getting into Nate pajamas, the day finally coming to an end.

"It's... a plan," he nodded. "I'm just scared it going to escalate to the point where we'll end up married with 3 kids."

"HA HA!" I gave an awkward laugh, "That would be so crazy... but do you think that's a real possibility?"

He shrugged, bending over to pick up his pj bottoms. Olly had a great rump, real good birthing hips.

"It was her plan that got us married for real," he rolled into bed. "At this point, we should think of baby names," he laughed.

"Ha HA!" I joined him, "Like what kind of names?"

"Mmm," he patted the bed next to him, I quickly got comfortable. "D'vana, D'Erika, maybe something with a D? D'Tiva? What about, D'Vana junior?"

I laughed at the name, "You can't name her that!"

"Why not, it's a strong name. It's the name of one of the bravest women I know."

"I... don't think I'm that brave," I muttered. He curled into me, his cool hands and feet brought my temperature down, it felt nice.

"What would you call a woman who stood up against her whole family to follow her dream, let's face it, you're a storybook princess... who can kick butt," he teased.

The door opened to an annoyed Olly, "Tendi, I love you but you need to be taller," she huffed, tore off her clothes in annoyance, and threw it onto the floor. She flopped into the bed and curled up to me. Her smell hit me like a truck. "Why are you so cold~," she whined, shoving her cold hands under my shirt, and tangling her legs with mine. "Oh, yeah, that's the good stuff. Night~."

"No shower?" Nate asked.

"Tomorrow," she whined, shoving herself into my neck.

This was going to be a long night.

-/-

"D'vana, D'vana?" Nate's voice echoed in my ears. "D'Vana."

"Huh?" I opened my eyes to our room's ceiling.

"D'vana," Nate's voice was clear as day.

"Nate?" I blinked awake, I looked around to find an empty room.

"Living room!"

I got up... but I wasn't next to the bed, instead, I was in a living room. I looked around and spotted Nate, but he looked... older, with a beard that did things to me.

"Nate?"

"Morning Hun," he smiled, holding up a plate of waffles. "I hope I wasn't too rough last night, but you know how I get when you growl," he teased, placing the plate on a center table.

"uhm?"

"Olly shocked your last brain cell didn't she, I swear, that woman is way too rough~," he smirked. He leaned over and gave me a kiss on the lips. I was on fire and my legs felt weak. I reached out and held him. "Hun? You okay?" he pressed our foreheads together as his hand grabbed my rump.

"Just... just a second," I panted.

"You better make it a quick second," he warned. The sound of footsteps was heard before Olly walked into the room, just like Nate she looked older, her hair in a braid that wrapped around her neck, and her stomach was huge.

"Breakfast time!" she smiled.

"Breakfast time!" young voices chanted, as two little green girls with glowing eyes came around her... my little girls, D'Vana Jr, and Rebeca.

"Oof, not so fast," Olly huffed. "Can't you little munchkins see how big I am?

"Sorry mama Olly," they chanted.

"Uh-huh," she teased, smirking at me. "How did you do it~?" she patted her stomach. "Two, and another one on the way."

I blinked and looked down at my tummy... my big round tummy. I gently touched my stomach, it was so warm, before I felt a tiny kick.

I blinked.

-/-

And woke up. I looked over to find Nate, I blinked again, making sure this wasn't another dream, I looked down at my hands, only to find peach-pink skin.

"Ugh," I flopped back into Nate's chest, or was it Olly? I don't care. I just wanted to sleep this day away. I felt Nate's hands wrap around me, and slowly travel down my spine.

I should have stopped it.

But...

His hands landed on my rump. My breath hitched; I looked up to Nate but he was still asleep. Was this something he did with Durga? Just a form of instinct? He gave a squeeze that sent a bolt of lightning through my spine, and real bolt of lightning that bounced off Nate's head.

"HUH!?" Nate woke up. "What's going on!? Why is my voice so deep?" making her Olly. "Ah man~." she looked at her hands.

"I'm awake!" Nate called out next to Olly. "Huh," he looked at his hands, "getting closer. Computer, time."

"0743 hours."

He pushed Olly back into the bed, and flopped on her chest, "Nope. Our shift starts in an hour and a half. This will be a problem then." he fell right back to sleep. Olly and I blinked at each other and followed his example. He was right, the problem wasn't going to disappear in an hour, might as well get some sleep.

And true to his word, when our alarm went off, we were still not in our bodies. A quick sonic shower, that Nate was blindfolded for, later and we were ready for the day.

Unfortunately, with my dream last night still fresh in my mind and zero control of Olly's powers, Dr. T'Ana banished me from the Sickbay for the day and had me working with Security, mostly because they didn't have to touch anything vital to the function of the ship.

"What's wrong?" Nate asked, passing me a smoothie at his desk in security. "ya not liking your time as a demi-god?" Nate teased.

I blew a razzberry. "It's not that," I created a squishy lightning bolt. "Olly's super powers are cool, but I have no control over it, Olly makes it look easy."

"It's probably because you haven't done your morning practice, Olly's body is used to working out. Come on, let's stretch those legs." one quick change of clothes later, which I also blindfolded him to. I didn't know why it was so embarrassing to me, he'd seen women naked beforem but I didn't want him to see my body until I wanted him to. Which I DIDN'T! ...Yet.

"Alright!" Nate nodded, "Let's start with a few stretches!"

And that started the next hour of pain. This is going to sound crazy, but Humans aren't Orions! Crazy, I know. Where my body can touch my ear with my toes, Olly's very much couldn't. I also learned that my hands are very soft and I like it when they help me stretch, maybe a little too much.

I think Mariner was right about my pervy-ness. Which was weird, I never felt like this back on Orion, maybe it's just Starfleet, maybe the need for money may have been replaced with lust.

Olly's powers were different from Nate's. Nate was like a lazy river, it did most of the work, I'm not sure if it was because of his years of training or just natural, but it was great. Olly was more like a flood gate, it was all or nothing, if you used it, you better have a handle on it.

We spent most of the morning training, one of the coolest things I discovered about Olly's power was the ability to see the electricity coursing through people's nervous system.

We arrived on K'Tuevon Prime but didn't dock until we got a handle on the whole 'body swapping' problem, just in case it was contagious, so our shore leave was extended.

Well, for most of us anyway.

You can never be too sure on a Starfleet ship, but luck was on our side today, Damien got stuck in a time loop but he got out in less than a week.

"Ah yeah!" Olly burst into our room as I put Nate in my pajamas. "Nate! Let me take this body for a few days," she laughed, flexing Nate's muscles and flaring Nate's power. "I can go all day!"

"No way, sure D'vana's body is tougher than most, but I can't live my whole life with Tendi covering my eyes every time I have to go to the bathroom."

"No peeking!" I huffed.

"Really Tendi~, you didn't do that to me," Olly pointed to herself.

"That's different!"

"...Tendi, that's a bit unfair; you got to see his stick and berries," Olly teased.

"I didn't mean to, and it was really fast!" I countered.

"Really?" Olly muttered. "I gave it a few tugs, worked the shaft, ya know," she made a lewd hand gesture.

"OLLY!?" I gasped.

"What? I got consent," She huffed.

I looked over to Nate, who shrugged and nodded. "I trust Olly not to take it too far, and I understand that this is a situation that may comes once in a lifetime, so I gave her consent."

"Tendi, holy crap~," she fanned herself. "Men don't have it as easy as Mariner says."

"AHHH!" I covered my ears, "I don't want to hear about it!"

Nate rolled his eyes, and gently uncovered my ears, "Tendi, my tender pickle, you're part of medical, stories like these are going to be a dime a dozen."

"Yeah, but those are from people I hardly know, you're my best friends," I huffed. "At least tell me when Nate isn't here," I whispered to Olly. She gave me a thumbs up.

"I'm standing right here," Nate muttered.

"Shush!" a tiny bolt of lightning sparked out of my hair. "Bedtime!" I tossed Olly into the bed.

"I haven't taken a shower yet!?" she squawked.

"That's too bad because I'm ready to hop back into my body. Now sleep!" I ordered.

"Tendi that's not- ZZZZZZ," she fell asleep the second she touched the pillow.

"...Is that normal?" I asked.

Nate shrugged. "She's probably been using my power all day." he crawled next to Olly, getting comfortable, and I joined him. "Good night," he whispered.

"Night~," I yawned, I was ready for this day to be over.

I want my body back.

-/-

"Hun~," Nate's voice called out. I peeked from my covers, finding older Nate standing by our bedroom door, holding a suit in hand. His beard was thicker than before with a bit of white peppering his hair. He looked distinguished, aging like fine stolen wine.

"Nate?" is this another dream?

"We can't be late for Noah, Caylee, and D'Vini's graduation."

"Yeah," Olly peeked from the doorway. She was wearing a white formal dress that matched Nate's. "How am I beating you, you're always the early bird, it's about time old age got to you," she teased.

I blinked and I wasn't in bed anymore, but instead in front of a mirror.

My hair was still shaved at the sides but I did have a long-braided ponytail. I had a few laugh lines, my dress uniform had 3 pips and a gold ring around my finger. Nate came up behind me, his hands draped around my hips, a similar ring around his finger.

We hardly got to wear them on the ship, the last thing I was is to lose it inside someone when I shoved their guts back into their body.

"Beautiful," he whispered into my ear. Every nerve in my body jumped at his voice, he was a bastard, he knew what his voice did to me.

"Hey, keep it in your pants!" Olly huffed, "Mariner and I are waiting for you outside, T'lyn is at the park with the kids getting the party ready, and if Brad and Barb beat us to the academy, they're going to hold it over our heads until we're admirals.

"One for the road~." He gave me a kiss on the neck.

I gasped in bliss, closing my eyes on reflex.

I opened them to find us in a hovercar.

"Becky, you do know where you're going... right?" Nate asked.

Beckett rolled her eyes, "I had to spend 4 years of my life there Nate, trust me, I know where I'm going."

She was also wearing a dress uniform with four pips, showing off her captain rank. Her hair was done up in an afro, I don't know why, but I liked it, so fluffy.

"Really? Cause you missed our exit," he teased.

"Fuck!" she hissed, dipping down and around. "You could have told me, it's the passenger's job to give the driver instructions."

Nate shrugged, "You wanted to drive without the autopilot. Besides, you know I love that little frown of annoyance."

Becky gave him a huff with that cute pout I loved, something between embarrassed love and annoyance at being caught.

"Married for 30 years and they still flirt like we're in our 20s," Olly smirked.

"Remember ladies, if we see Brad we sprint towards the auditorium, trip him if you must," Nate called out. "Sam's giving out the engineering diplomas, so he should be inside before any of us."

"Give no mercy," Olly hissed.

"... no mercy," I nodded.

A blink later, I was in the Academy, watching young adults getting their diplomas. Rutherford was on stage with a huge smile on his face, shaking hands and laughing with the new ensigns. Just like the rest of us, he was older but still had the youthful excitement he always had, except... he didn't have his oculus.

"Noah Witt," the announcer called out, a human man with a glowing wreath walked across the stage, Rutherford giving him a big hug. My little group cheering and whistling. "Caylee Carol Witt." a young dark skin woman marched up to Rutherford, they saluted each other before giving each other a secret handshake. "D'Vini Witt." a green Orion woman with long hair raced across the stage, waving at us.

She had bright green eyes that seemed to glow in the dark.

She even had my freckles

-/-

I took a deep breath. Only to get a deep breath of unwashed Nate. Not the worst smell. I looked down at my green hands.

"Thank the mother goddess." I flopped into Nate's chest.

...I like these dreams.

-/-

A/N: shrug... what? Still love the show, I sometimes play it while I work on this, giving me ideas.

Review if ya are feeling it, Mister reader.

Sorry for any grammar mistakes.

Anyway, still making art, link in Bio, Youtube audio of stories.