This just got real

Posted on Thursday, 3 December 2020 - 6:50pm by Lieutenant Alex Kingsley & Commander Soral

Mission: Operation: Ouroboros
Location: USS Standing Bear
Timeline: 2393

ON:

Soral came home to an energetic Bones. He'd just been dealing with what happened with Stillwater and the Admiral. Grol was in the brig being questioned and he hadn't been able to help get him out. He'd checked on Haru and had heard the news of his condition. Saying goodbye to his kids, and everything else. It had been a rough day to say the least.

He scooped Bones up and collapsed on the Sofa in Alex's and his quarters. He didn't know were Alex was but could only guess that she was as tired as he was.

For Alex, it had been equally difficult. After leaving the Embassy they had been informed of the poisoning of their commanding officer and the Admiral, after which there was a flurry of activity, including her brief meeting with the commander. It had left her troubled and, truthfully, somewhat daunted by the task that lay ahead of them. And the poisoning itself... when she had left his bedside she had reached out to some old academy friends who had promised to forward her the analysis of the wine and the forensic sweep of the room. While the assumption was the wine, everything was being tested. It was protocol and what they eliminated could tell them just as much as what they find.

Once they got back aboard the ship she had began preparing for tomorrow's mission. While the warning that whoever was behind this was likely dangerous still rang in her ears, she was determined to do her part. And she would have good people with her.

"Hey," she offered with a tired smile as she found her husband on the sofa, Bones climbing all over him. Slipping off her boots and uniform jacket she put them away before adding, "I take it, if you are home, that your yeoman is once again a free man?"

"Not yet." He shook his head. "They won't even let me see him. I know he has not part in this."

“He’ll be fine, as infuriating as he can be, nobody can seriously think he was responsible,” Alex pointed out as she headed into the bathroom and began to draw a bath. “Have you eaten yet?”

"No. Not yet." He pondered if he should ask then decided he should. "Why do you dislike him?"

“He’s... an acquired taste,” Alex shrugged, moving into the bedroom and stripping out of her clothes before pulling on a fluffy robe. “And when we first met he told me off for not yet updating my personnel file and when I would like to schedule dinner with you. And when you were gone he walked in here talking about things he needed done in case you didn’t make it back while I was on a call to Severine. Every interaction we have seems to go badly.”

"Indeed. He is very Vulcan like in his approach and it can come off cold but he is a man of deep emotion."

Bones jumped off the sofa and ran to Alex running circles around her.

“Hey trouble,” Alex grinned, scooping him up, “you been lonely today, huh?”

Carrying him back into the lounge she filled his bowl to give him some food to distract him. Once he was settled she crossed to Soral, frowning. “He will be okay and the Commander seemed to be responding well to treatment. Try not to worry.”

"I hope so." He looked at Alex. "I gave away your old quarters today."

“Oh,” she said quietly. It wasn’t as if she had sometimes, on a rare occasion, gone there to have a moment or two alone to melt down when he was gone. “To who?”

"Mac and Haru."

“It’s better than them lying empty,” Alex reasoned, as she headed in to the bathroom, pouring in a generous helping of lavender bubbles. “And I’m sure Haru will do a better job at decorating than I did.”

Soral stood and scrubbed his hands down his face. He followed his wife to the bathroom. It was funny, he thought as he watched her slip into the tub, she never failed to take his breath away. "Haru won't be done much of anything."

Submerged up to her neck in water and bubbles, there was a slight hesitation as she reached for the soap. “How is he?”

"He cannot walk, or talk, his coordination is off and....the doctors are working with him. I went to see him and he seems to be feeling such guilt." He shook his head. "The draw back of being a touch telepath."

“After his injury perhaps he just needs more time and patience,” she reasoned. “And his guilt is ill placed.”

"The question is what is he guilty about. Mac does not know. It could impeded his recovery." He walked over and sat on the edge of the tub.

Alex said nothing as she considered what to say. She didn’t know how or exactly what had happened with Haru this morning, yet it had. What could she say? He feels guilty for surviving? For being forced onto an escape pod by her own father? And that she knew this because...?

With a tired sigh she completely submerged herself in the water, trying to think.

He waited until she was back. "You have a guilty look yourself."

“I do not,” she lied. Did she? Maybe. He always said he could read her like a book most of the time.

He cupped her face. "My wife, what are you not telling me?"

“Something happened this morning, when I was sitting with Haru,” she admitted. She frowned, playing absently with the bubbles, “he feels guilty about surviving the synth attack on Utopia Planitia.”

"I did not know he was on Mars." He paused. "How do you know this?"

“I know because when I touched his hand... it was like this jolt of electricity and then I was right there. Right beside him. It felt so real. The sounds, the images, the smells. It was overwhelming. He was helping to evacuate people and then it came down to the last spot. He is guilty that he was on the pod. That he pressed the release to eject.”

There, she had said it. He could be as angry with her as he liked.

He sighed. "A Vulcan mind... it is powerful. He reached out to you. Is that why you were so quiet when you arrived for transport to Earth?"

“After our bond was broken like it was, I didn’t want to worry you,” she told him. If she mentioned her father she knew she would come apart.

"Alexandra, You must let me in. You re keeping me in the dark about something. What are you not telling me? I am your husband. I wish to help you. No, especially since our bond is broken, we must make an effort to communicate."

“Like you told me your plans for a cloaked ship?” she pointed out.

"That was different." He stood and paced a little. "I had to ensure, in light of all the issues on Earth, that my children and Laura were safe."

“I can get that, it’s natural to be worried about your children. I can see how that is totally different,” she quipped before sliding back beneath the bubbles, not sure it would help her mood any. This, she decided, had to be some crazy Vulcan logic. And it stung. Because it was true. They were his children...

He sighed. "This is not he time to discuss this. How am I to share things with you when you constantly keep things from me. You will not even talk to me about the fact that our bond is broken. When I bring it up you change the subject."

Clearing water for her eyes as she resurfaced, Alex stared at him in disbelief. “Because it hurts like hell, Soral,” she shot back.

He turned. "And it does not hurt me? Our bond was ..." He shook his head. "It doesn't matter." He stood back up. "I will prepare dinner." He left the room and headed to the kitchen where he began methodically preparing the food.

As he left she let out an exasperated sigh as the door slid shut. Even the scented bath water and the warmth couldn’t lift her mood and she washed quickly. She had zero intention of eating or fighting more and, wrapped in a towel she slipped into the bedroom and began looking out her running gear before she sat down to dry her hair and tie it in a messy ponytail. All the while his words echoed in her ears. It doesn’t matter. My children. She felt angry tears sting at her eyes as she pulled on her running shoes.

Soral worked to get dinner ready all the while his mind was working. He'd said things that he regretted. They were not his children they were their children. But he'd also been keeping something from her. He'd wait. He had to tell her and she would be angry. He just hoped that he didn't loose her. That would finish him. He set out the dinner plates and food an sat down hard waiting for her to finish her bath.

Adjusting her hair clips, Alex emerged from the bedroom and stopped when she saw he had prepared food for them both, two plates already set out. And Soral’s face was completely unreadable. “You’ve been busy,” she noted, making no move to sit.

"Yes." He pulled out a chair. "We must speak. I have...a confession to make."

She raised an eyebrow. Was he being serious? Having just called her out for not sharing? Saying nothing she sat down, awaiting his confession.

He sat down. "I have lied to you for...selfish reasons."

There was a pause before she spoke up. “About what?”

"Do you remember when I thought you were pregnant?"

“Vividly,” she confirmed.

"I...You are half human and half El Aurian. While Vulcan and human DNA are not exactly compatible El Aurian and Romulan and Vulcan are."

“I’m not sure I follow...” she admitted, frowning.

"I...did not take my last shot to prevent a pregnancy...I have skipped two shots. In hopes that you would ... be with child."

The silence than followed seemed to stretch on forever. She recalled how, when he had mistakenly thought she was pregnant, that he was all too happy and all too willing to give up his career. To, how had he phrased it? Something about being able to be there for their child in the way he hadn’t been allowed to before. Yet his plan involved her staying in Starfleet, to have her career, while he looked after his children on Vulcan.

“Oh.”

He stayed silent. "I also misspoke. Severine and Soral are our children. Not mine alone.”

“Or perhaps you simply said what you truly feel,” she countered quietly. Taking a deep breath she frowned, “why? Why did you decide this without discussing it first?”

"I do not think that Alexandra. They are our children." He paused. "Because I wanted a child with you. We lost our bond and I feared we'd never get it back. This chid would have been a part of both of us...another kind of bond."

“We didn’t lose our bond, it was torn away from us,” she reminded him.

"Yes...it was however...I had a fear."

“Of what?”

"That if you were free from our bond you would choose not to renew it when possible. You would figure out what I knew already."

“Which is what?”

"That you deserve better then I could give you."

“You are talking a whole lot of crazy,” she retorted as she took a deep breath. “So to recap, you were afraid, and then decided to accidentally on purpose try to get me pregnant and then hid it from me all the while you stood and lectured me on keeping things from you? Did I miss anything?”

"No. That seems to cover it."

She nodded and sat in silence again before she stood, heading for the door. Deep in thought as the tension seemed to roll off of her in waves. "I'll be back later."

He gave a silent nod.

She hesitated at the open door, wishing she had the right words. But she didn’t. At least not right now, not when she felt so angry. Or worse.

After Alex left he soundlessly cleared the table.

Out in the corridor, Alex stood, trying to keep it together and no idea where to go. Running seemed ... inadequate. Which was the exact moment her comm badge came to life.

OFF