by Zanh Liis and TC Blane
90109.23
Soundtrack: Right Back Where I Started From, by The Alarm
The Morning After The Trembling Poplar
-=/\=-
-=Sickbay, USS Serendipity=-
90109.23
Soundtrack: Right Back Where I Started From, by The Alarm
The Morning After The Trembling Poplar
-=/\=-
-=Sickbay, USS Serendipity=-
A dizzying mixture of beeps, clicks, and unintelligible words swirled in her mind, spinning and dragging her under like an auditory whirlpool as she attempted to get her bearings.
Muddled, muted, and impossible to sift through, she couldn't even tell how many voices there were at first but she was aware that they were somehow familiar.
She tried harder and harder to separate extraneous noise from actual speech, and found at last that one voice amidst the cacophony assaulting her ears quickly rose above all others, commanding her attention.
As soon as she clearly made out the sound of that one voice, his voice, she knew that no matter where she was, everything was going to be all right.
"You lot. A pretty pair of babbies, listen to ya." Keiran shook his head gently and sighed.
"He started it."
"He started it."
Her heart leapt in her chest as she realized that the voices she was hearing were those of TC Blane, William Lindsay, and of course, the one belonging to her Keiran.
She heard yet another voice in the distance make reference to 'Salvek, Arie and Kellyn,' and she felt the last of the tension fade from her body. If all of those people were present and accounted for then they had done, in her estimation, a hell of a job however the mission had ended.
Zanh Liis found that she couldn't remember, at the moment, exactly how the mission had ended.
She slowly opened just one eye, hoping to catch a glimpse of the trio of men before they realized that she was awake.
Blane was in the biobed to her left, Lindsay was in another on the opposite side of Blane, and Keiran stood wedged into the small gap between them.
"You mean to tell me that you had that thing on you the entire time and you did'na give it'ta me?" Lindsay gestured toward the small table between their beds, upon which their personal effects had been laid out after they were stripped of their clothes and put into standard, Sickbay togs.
"You did just fine without it." Blane responded, shifting to reach for the item in question. He brought the Swiss Army knife toward him and tilted it side to side, watching the light bounce off of the highly polished handle.
"I'd 'ave done a hell of a lot better with it!"
"It didn't occur to me at the time!" TC replied innocently, "I've hardly had a chance to look at the thing since I got it. I forgot that it had a wire stripper on it."
"Has everythin' on it! Hell, thing pro'lly has warp capability!" Lindsay folded his arms as he struggled through another fit of coughing. Their lungs had been pretty badly beaten up by smoke inhalation, and he and Blane were both still receiving breathing treatments hourly. "Where didya get it anyway? Is beautiful. I've never seen the like."
"That," Blane remarked with clear satisfaction, "was a gift from none other than Captain Zanh Liis, herself. A keepsake, to thank me for standing up in her wedding."
"Get out!" Lindsay tried to sit up, but failed and allowed his head to fall back against the pillow with a dull thud. "She did'na."
"Oh yes," TC crowed proudly. "She did."
"I performed the damned ceremony and she didn't give me a Swiss Army knife." Lindsay complained.
TC smiled and faked a little kid’s voice. “Cause she likes me better then youuuuu.” He jeered.
"What did she give ya, Will? Ya never did tell, yeah?" Keiran asked, his hand reaching up to stroke the intentional, newly-grown stubble on his chin.
"It was not a Swiss Army knife." Will groused.
“Perhaps a shiny silver tea cup?” TC pressed.
Liis couldn't prevent herself from laughing softly at their spirited exchange. These three men, the set of them, were individually amazing; like no others she'd ever known. Together, they were capable of accomplishing feats that were nothing short of miraculous.
*Like putting up with me...*
She felt inestimable relief that they were alive and in one piece.
She felt inestimable joy that they were all around her now, in the same room. She didn't know how she could be so blessed that the first thing she got to hear when she woke up aboard her ship was the sound of their banter.
She considered herself more fortunate in this moment than she'd ever felt in her life.
One man's presence was lacking, however, and so the moment felt to her still incomplete. Of course she knew that Salvek had other places to be, and other people to speak to, right now.
She and he would stand together side by side soon enough. When that moment came, she knew that even if he managed to control his emotions over all that had happened that when they finally stood in a room alone and faced each other again, that she would never be able to.
Hearing her stir, Keiran was instantly back at her side. Without regard for the fact that anyone else was in the room, he leaned down and before speaking a word, he kissed her.
"Top of the mornin' to ya, beautiful," he caressed her face tenderly with the back of his hand. "Did'ya have sweet dreams?"
Liis tried to speak past the lump in her throat, but was for the moment, incapable. Overcome with relief at finally seeing her open her eyes once more, Keiran simply kissed her again.
"Aaaa-aahhhh-hhhhemmmm." Will's gravelly voice addressed them, and the pair looked over at him. He offered a sloppy, two-fingered salute. "Welcome back'ta the land o' the livin', Zanh Liis."
"Thank you, William." She found her voice at last. "It's good to see you," she glanced over at TC, her eyes locking upon his ice blue irises. "All of you."
“It’s good to be seen, to be sure.” His smile faded. “Are you feeling alright? Because if not I’m sure we can convince Bru to take command again.” He winked.
"If she does uniform code will include pink shoes and jammies before you know it."
"He'd probably like that." Blane countered wickedly, glancing toward Lindsay. Even as he joked, he noted that Zanh did not answer his question as to how she felt, directly. That told him clearly that she still felt pretty awful.
Will parted his lips, ready to fire another volley of smart-ass verbiage at Blane but before he could pull the trigger, Ensign T'Dara approached.
"The Doctor would like each of you gentlemen to try to take a short walk." She informed Blane and Lindsay. "Accompanied, in case you become dizzy. Who would like to go first?"
"Happy to, love," Lindsay widened his eyes, smiling devilishly at her. His charm was rarely lost on women- even Vulcan women. "Would'ya be the one accompany'n me, then?"
T'Dara blinked repeatedly, uncertain if he was making a regrettably Human attempt at humor, or if he was seriously requesting she be the one to walk with him. In her moment of hesitation to answer, Keiran jumped in.
"Oh William, I thought ye'd never ask meh," he raised the pitch of his voice into jokingly feminine falsetto. "Ah'm the happiest girl alive."
"And they say the Irishman has no sense of humor." Blane grinned as Lindsay gave Keiran an exaggerated scowl.
O'Sullivan patted Liis' uninjured right arm gently, placed a soft kiss upon the top of her head and then moved back toward the Scot.
"The Ensign has more important things to do today than follow your sorry arse around the room. Up with ye, then." Keiran offered an arm for Will to grab onto, and Lindsay slowly swung his legs over the edge of the bed.
"What could be more important than takin' care of me?"
"Takin' care of my wife." Keiran rumbled. "She is captain of the ship, too, right?"
"Ah, 'tis true, I suppose. Well, then." Will rose to his feet and slowly began to amble across the room.
Keiran glanced back over his shoulder and gave Liis a smile that said everything else he wished her to know in this moment, without need of a single sound. "Won't be far, if you need an'a'thin', darlin'." He moved in close proximity to Lindsay, ready to swoop in should the man falter.
"Thanks, Dear! If I think of anything, I'll let you know." TC piped up, before Zanh could answer. His remark instantly achieved the desired response; Zanh Liis laughed.
"Right. I'll be watchin' you, Blane. Trouble, you are." Keiran narrowed his eyes at TC in an intense mock stare, and Liis couldn't hide her amusement. She knew that the performance was being put on entirely for her benefit, and she loved them for it.
"Ow. Ow. Son of a bitch, that hurts." She laughed and cringed at the same time. Tears of both laughter and pain misted her eyes and she blinked. Blane winced as he watched her try to keep from showing just how much pain she was really in.
"You must take it easy, Captain. Your injuries were extensive." T'Dara warned as she checked the monitors on either side of Blane and Zanh and finally nodded with satisfaction. "Your recovery is thus far going as well as can be expected. I will return to you soon."
Blane sized Zanh up after the Vulcan departed. She was shifting her long legs uneasily beneath a thin Sickbay blanket. Her left arm was bandaged, fingers all the way to shoulder in a pressure wrap of some sort, secured into place against her body by a sling so that she did not disturb the deep, fresh wounds knitting together beneath.
"Since everyone is in such a good mood this morning, I take it that Salvek and his family came through all right after I failed you all by taking a nap." Zanh remarked softly.
He ignored her self-deflating remark but responded to her question about Salvek and his kin. "Yes, they are all in good health."
If she'd been a religious woman, Zanh Liis would have thanked the gods. As she was not, she simply made a promise to herself to thank each and every person who had served on the Away Teams that boarded that ship and fought hard and, in several cases, given their blood on behalf of their crewmates, and Lair Arie. She lowered her eyes, acknowledging his reply with gratitude.
She glanced down at her left hand as it sat nestled against her stomach in the sling, and felt rising panic as she discovered that her wedding rings were not on it. She couldn't feel her fingers at all, at the moment, so had not realized that they were missing until she looked for them.
TC immediately noted her worry and inclined his head. "I think they're on the table. Next to you."
Liis turned slowly and with obvious discomfort retrieved the rings from a small tray beside her. Working with just the one set of operational fingers, she set them down on the bed and then wiggled them onto the third finger of her right hand. "This will have to do for now," she said with satisfaction, observing the light as it bounced off of the stones and precious metal. "I won't go without them."
"You shouldn't."
"After all, if I do," Zanh said only half jokingly, considering all they'd been through concerning memories, and who remembered what about whom, and when. "He might forget he's married to me."
"Captain," Blane stared at her directly again, but this time, his expression was kinder, and more gentle, than most people ever had the chance to see it. "There are a lot of things in this life I wouldn't bet on, for or against. But Keiran O'Sullivan ever forgetting Zanh Liis again, after all of this?" He shook his head. "That is something I would bet my life is never going to happen."
Liis was reassured by his words as always, but it was the certainty in his voice that was the greatest source of comfort.
"So, no one has said, Thomas, and I have to know," she steadied herself, preparing to ask him the question that she'd not had the heart to ask Keiran or Will. "Did we succeed? Is Taris finished?"
TC nodded slowly, speaking one word only, but with great satisfaction.
"Yes."
-------------------------------
-=/\=- Zanh Liis
Commanding Officer
USS Serendipity NCC 2012
and
Commander TC Blane
Second Officer and Chief of Operations
USS Serendipity NCC 2012
-=/\=- Zanh Liis
Commanding Officer
USS Serendipity NCC 2012
and
Commander TC Blane
Second Officer and Chief of Operations
USS Serendipity NCC 2012
-=/\=-
NRPG: Alternate potential endings to this plot arc were written and considered, and I will be posting them just for the hell of it. Look for them to appear in our Central Archives very soon.
One alternate is dark. The other is pitch black.
In the end analysis I am very glad the crew wanted to go with this ending instead and worked so hard to make it such a blockbuster *smile* I really could not be prouder of the work you've all done. Thank you.
I love my crew.
~ZL