791: Egregious: One

by Vol Tryst and Lair Kellyn
90224.18
Time: During the Captain's surgery;
(in the middle of With Gratitude)

-=Sickbay, USS Serendipity=-

Vol had been pacing the room for a good half an hour now.

He felt there was little he could do here other than continue to wear a path in the carpeting. Still, he was unsure of where else he should be at a time like this, if his services were not urgently needed.

It only took a few moments more for the sound of his combadge to interrupt his thoughts to tell him that those services were, in fact, needed elsewhere.

[Lair to Tryst.]

"Tryst here."

[Do you have a moment?]

"I have several, actually," Vol answered. The Captain was in surgery and would be for some time; the distraught Irishman sleeping soundly thanks to a hefty dose of sedatives. Blane was doing well under physician's care, there really was nothing more to be done here from his standpoint until Zanh Liis woke up. "What can I do for you?"

[Are you somewhere that we won't be overheard?] Lair asked nervously.

"Just a moment." Vol stepped into the CMO's empty office and waited until the door closed behind him. "You may speak."

[I am going to be taking my husband on a trip to Vulcan in the hopes that the people there can help him recover from the trauma of his experiences with Taris," Lair droned, as if unable to believe she was speaking the words. [Arie wants to come with us, but I want to leave her here, with Grace and Reece. I promised her that if you spoke to her and felt it was better for her to go with us, that she could come. We need to leave as soon as possible. I hate to interrupt whatever you're doing,,,]

"It's no interruption, Lair. I will speak to Arie immediately." Vol thought better of putting Arie in his office for this conversation. "Have her meet me in the Arboretum directly. Tryst out."

-=/\=-

Lair Arie stretched her legs and feet forward to make the swing in the Arboretum go faster.

It was a two-seat swing; not the sort meant for children to play on really. Instead it was the sort intended for people to relax on, taking in the evening air perhaps, as they gently rocked to and fro.

Still, Vol kept his feet off the ground for the moment as he allowed her to direct their motion. He sensed the intrinsic playful nature of childhood in her still, though it was nearly eclipsed entirely in the moment by the very adult feelings of sorrow and concern.

"I told mother that I will not get in the way on the trip," Arie announced, it being very important to her that Vol believed she would behave. Vol smirked and blinked as he spoke whilst looking straight ahead.

"Arie."

"Maybe... maybe I will be able to help in some way that my Mother has not yet anticipated."

"I'm sure you could, but..."

"I simply cannot tolerate the thought of being left behind on the ship here while my parents are engaged in such a struggle. "

It was then that Vol's mind stopped. The train of thought halted and he turned to look down at Arie, her thoughts finally granting him a glimpse of where this train was headed. She looked up at him after a few moments, his smile having already faded, though he raised his eyebrows to help articulate his next question.

"Strength in numbers."

"Strength in family Mr. Tryst, strength in family."

Arie sighed and hopped off the swing as she strolled a few steps away from the Counselor. She spun back around and looked him dead in the eye.

"Mother's argument is that, if I go to Vulcan---" She stopped when Vol held up a hand to indicate that she cease.

"Arie," Vol started as he too slipped off the swing to kneel down low enough so that he had to look up at Arie's face. He was very calm when he spoke. "I am neither going to tell you that you are right and your Mother wrong, nor the vice versa."

Arie blinked. "But, that is what I need from you Mr. Tryst."

"Why?" Vol asked in almost a whisper as he tilted his head and squinted his eyes. He asked even though he already knew the answer, already recognized these foot holds, already knew where this was going.

"I need to keep my family together."

"Don't you believe your Mother has that in mind as well? The separation is only temporary Arie and it may be what is best." Again, Vol only asked the question in order to hear the words he was already sensing.

There was a pause. Arie subconsciously sucked on her lower lip, her eyes darted to the floor and back to Vol's eyes several times. She resisted, but she asked anyway, because she wanted to know.

"I find myself confused as to how to absorb the logic of words versus the logic of actions."

Vol leaned back and plunked down on the floor of the gazebo, still looking up at the wise little girl who remained standing. "Explain."

"I have always thought that words, when spoken from loved ones, held nothing but truth. I find that difficult to believe now, because my Mother's actions contradict her speech. She wants what is best for my family..."

The words were like a thud in Vol's heart and mind. Like some load had just been dumped into his soul, so heavy he could not imagine how he'd stand again.

"...but she lied to me. Many, many times. She lied to me."

"To protect you Arie." Vol's eyes pleaded now, as he wanted desperately for Arie to understand. "To protect you."

Arie bowed her head, before nodding finally. She could see out of the corner of her eye that Vol was extended his arms out to her. Arie bent down to hug Mr. Tryst from her standing position.

"I will try to remember that," Arie declared. "But I wonder." She stopped, clearly uncomfortable with the thoughts that she could not dismiss.

"Wonder what?"

"How I am to believe, in future, that she is telling me the truth."

Vol's heart sped up, and he felt an incredible sense of indignation on behalf of this innocent, dragged into such a complicated web of deception, whatever the reason.

Still, his decision was made, and now it was time to inform the inquiring party of his recommendation. As if sensing that he had made up his mind, Arie tugged gently on his sleeve as he rose to his full height once again.

"Will you allow me go to Vulcan?"

"I will make my suggestion to your mother, Arie, but in the end it will be her decision."

Arie nodded. "I understand. Shall I accompany you to speak with Mother now?"

"Actually I'd like to do that on my own, if it's okay with you." Vol asked.

"Of course." She returned to the swing and put it into motion. "I will...swing here a bit longer, I think."

"Just give me fifteen minutes." Vol said, patting her on the head gently. "Then come home."

-=Quarters of the Executive Officer=-

Lair Kellyn had packed and unpacked her suitcase half a dozen times, dissatisfied with anything she could choose to take with her. Not that it mattered to her at all what she was wearing. She would have been content to simply stay in uniform the entire time they were on Vulcan.

She knew, however, that where they were headed that to do so would be considered a sign of utter disrespect and to appear disrespectful was the very last thing that she wanted.

She was already going to be considered an outsider; someone with no right to tread the hallowed ground of sacred places to begin with. If she was going to dare to set even one Bajoran foot down upon those grounds, she had better be damn sure she was wearing appropriate shoes.

Wearing traditional Vulcan attire would also be seen as presumptuous so she didn't know what in the worlds she was supposed to choose at this point.

*Maybe I should just show up naked.*

After all, that was how she felt these days. Stripped, vulnerable, with her most personal flaws and intimate failings on display for all to see.

Sighing in frustration she sat down on the edge of the bed.

Salvek had, by this point, returned to the ship. She had heard people in the halls speaking of having seen him on the bridge and of the fact that he was not himself.

He was back, yet he had not come home.

The computer indicated that he was in a holodeck- truly strange because Salvek very rarely if ever visited the holodecks unless she dragged him there for a much-needed diversion. She thought back to her insistence to him that they go to Vulcan, the heated conversation they'd had before he left for the Inquiry, and her heart ached.

-=Flashback=-

"Don't you trust me anymore?" Kellyn asked, hands on her hips as she tried to will him to look her in the eyes. "Don't you believe me when I tell you that I have seen you a hell of a lot of different ways since the day we met but this..." her eyes were clear and, Salvek noted, completely sincere. "This, I have never seen."

Salvek simply stared at the floor.

"Why?" Kellyn moaned bitterly, turning away and allowing her head to drop against the wall with a small thud. "Why did you do it, Salvek? Why did you meld with her?"

"It seemed the only way to ...find peace."

"Well it didn't quite work out that way did it?" She was unsure that was the real reason he'd done it. Perhaps his decision was one she'd never understand. All Kellyn knew was that the thought of him melding with Taris made her feel physically ill.

A part of the Romulan was now part of him; and the idea of any thought, any emotion, any fragment of that madwoman no matter how miniscule becoming entangled with her husband's soul was too much for Kellyn to take.

"No. It did not."

"Vulcan."

"I beg your pardon?"

"We have to go to Vulcan, Salvek."

"Kellyn,"

"No." She gave a definitive shake of her head. "Don't say another word, I won't hear it." She spun and took him by the shoulders. "I don't think I can help you," she admitted softly, "and that terrifies me. But there has to be someone who can, Salvek. There has to be. All I can think to do now is to take you to Vulcan."

"I must not be late for the inquiry." Salvek replied, shaking her hands free of his arms and turning away. Without another word, he departed.

"I love you too." Kellyn whispered to the empty room, her heart heavy as she considered what she had to do next.

-=End Flashback=-

Kellyn was awakened from her daydream by the sound of the door chime. She steeled herself and bid her visitor to enter.

-------------------------------
Lieutenant Vol Tryst
Ship's Counselor
USS Serendipity NCC-2012

and

Commander Lair Kellyn
Engineering Research and Development
The Alchemy Project