608: Her Worst Nightmare: One

by -=/\=- Zanh Liis
81022.00
Following Home

-=The O'Sullivan Residence: County Cork, Ireland, Earth=-

He'd taken her on the grand tour of the house, and Liis simply could not believe all that he'd put into the design of it.

Every corner held some small detail fitted exactly to her needs. In addition to what said he 'hoped were the wants she never dared dream of'.

From antique style real running water fixtures in the baths, to the shelves and shelves of poetry books lining the walls in her study, he had given his all to make it the home she had never truly had.

As the tour wore on, however, Liis found that she was having an increasingly difficult time paying attention. Keiran was dressed simply, in the faded jeans he loved so much paired with a darker denim shirt that matched his eye color exactly. The effect, every time he directed those eyes toward her, was stunning.

He waited until the absolute last moment to show her their bedroom.

He watched nervously, a step behind her as she made her way up the spiral staircase very slowly. She was moving as though expecting to wake from the dream to feel the steps vanish from beneath her very feet.

Reaching the top, she gasped softly.

It was, simply, breathtaking.

As in the study below, there were windows all around, with automatically controlled darkening shades to block out the bright morning light.

There were skylights set into the vaulted ceiling, and as she took note of just how high that ceiling was, she couldn't ever remember feeling that she could breathe so easily in any interior space.

Oak beams above matched the hue of the solid wood floors below; floors which were punctuated here and there by comfortable, elegant area rugs.

Inviting, overstuffed chairs sat close by, and a row of cushioned seats built in along the windows of the far wall overlooking the garden would surely be her favorite spot in the whole house.

The curtains were simple cotton, crisp and white. Gentle florals adorned the bed, along with cotton quilts folded one atop another; ensuring that she would never, ever feel cold when she slept here.

Perfectly positioned pillows were piled high over the blankets and as she stepped closer, it was then that she realized that the beautifully constructed wooden bed was itself handmade.

"Before I left on that last Jump," Keiran whispered at last, as she reached out and touched the intricately crafted headboard, "I...went into Cleary's workshop. Borrowed his tools. Cut out and finished all the pieces of that bed myself."

He closed his eyes, trying to hold back the memory of the emotions he felt as he sawed, sanded, and finished every single component of the whole; never expecting to see it finished.

"I was afraid to assemble it. Worried that it'd get damaged in storage. Asked them to wait, 'till they could set it up here, in the finished house. For you. Whether I came back alive, or." He stopped, looking up at Liis and seeing that tears were falling down her face.

"I know you can't see them now, but I want you to know that at every single joining in the piece, there's a little message to you, or symbol meant only for us. Something that only we would understand." He reached out to brush her hair out of her eyes. "I thought, maybe in that way, a part of me would still be here with you, even if I couldn't be."

Liis wrapped her arms around him, and Keiran held her so close she could hardly breathe.

He began to kiss her and before long, the pillows on their perfect bed were no longer perfectly arranged.

-=0230 hours=-

"NO!"

"Liis," Keiran rolled over, unsure at first where he was. Was he the one having the nightmare this time, or was she?

"KEIRAN!"

He reached over, switching on the old-fashioned bedside lamp. "Liis, darlin', wake up."

She opened her eyes and stared at him blankly, lost as to what was happening.

"I'm right here. Ev'ra'thin' is all right, love." He brought her closer, laying back into the pillows and guiding her head down onto his chest. He began to smooth her hair as she trembled in his arms.

He didn't speak again until she had stopped shaking. "Are you ready now?"

"Ready?"

"To tell me what it is that's been hauntin' your dreams so. Even with me here, asleep just beside you."

She thought long and hard about her answer, deciding at last that the only way to banish the vision was to speak of it, openly.

"The last alternate," she revealed, fear constricting her voice. "The one that was, according to them," she stressed the word, indicating the Sylph, "closest to happening to us all."

-=/\=-In her dream=--

"You can begin by telling me where home is, and we'll go from there. Is home on a planet? Bajor, or..."

"Home," Liis specified, "is the USS Serendipity. Modified Intrepid Class. Want me to give you the registry number?"

"Not necessary." He watched her face carefully as he spoke again. "I had wondered if you were going to say Ireland."

"No. Ireland was never meant to be my home."

Doctor Tucker Brody, PhD, waited patiently for a few minutes to see if she would volunteer any more.

She did not.

"Are you ready to tell me how you ended up here?"

"Well that all depends. Would 'flipping out' be considered a technical enough term for you professional head-shrinking types, or do you want me to be more clinical about it?"

"'Flipping out' is perfectly acceptable to me, personally, but it might not be as pleasing to a Starfleet Medical Board of Review."

"Bastards."

Brody tried not to laugh. He had to marvel that even at times like this, the woman still knew how to twist the pronunciation of a single word to turn it into a joke. "Want to try again?"

She exhaled and then inhaled slowly. "I suffered what is clinically known as an episode of primary time-displacement psychosis. That's a 'psychotic break' to those of us in the audience who do not wear blue."

"Very good. You get to go on to the next round for bonus points."

“Hurray." Liis shifted, taking the thin blanket from the bed and wrapping it around her shoulders. "Bring it."

"Okay. Now tell me what precipitated this event?"

"Well, I was simultaneously subjected to multiple facets of an Alternate Continuity Paradox."

"That could certainly do it."

"That is exactly what did it. I assure you, Doctor Brody before that I was perfectly sane."

Brody chuckled softly, again knowing her well enough at this point to know she intended to make a joke.

"Would that it were so, Zanh Liis. But you see, I've read your history. You'd have to be a little crazy to do the things you've done in your career. Few people Jump as long as you did."

"Yeah, well," Liis pulled the blanket tighter, still unable to get warm. "I was highly motivated."

Brody softly drew in a breath and held it; this was where things usually went wrong.

"Can you tell me what you experienced while you were living the paradox?"

"Well, I didn't know it at the time, but they tell me that we encountered the Sylph. They took advantage of the paradox created by the Cascade to continue their previous round of experiments on me.

“They amped up my brain activity all the way past overload. I experienced at least, oh," Liis raised her eyes to the ceiling as she counted off the fingers of her left hand once, and then added more from the right. "At least half a dozen alternates."

"Do you remember the outcomes?"

Liis nodded.

"All of the outcomes?"

Again, she nodded.

"Do you want me to list them again, Brody? We've been over them already."

"Not unless you want to."

"I'll pass. Thanks."

"Can you tell me how reality, as we know it in the here and now, is different from the outcomes you experienced in the paradox?"

She exhaled a heavy, shuddering sigh. "He's gone."

"Who is gone, Captain?"

"You know bloody well who." Liis' eyes glazed over, her fists tightening.

Brody finally released his breath. "Zanh Liis, I am trying to help you here. Do you want to go home or not?"

She ran her hands through her hair and then dropped her head into her hands. "Keiran O'Sullivan." Her voice was muffled through her hands as they covered her face.

"Gone, as in,"

"He's dead, all right?" She lifted her eyes to his and the coldness of her features chilled Brody through. "Keiran O'Sullivan is dead."

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-=/\=-Zanh Liis
Commanding Officer
USS Serendipity NCC-2012