The Light At The End Of The Tunnel

Posted on Thu Oct 17th, 2024 @ 3:41am by Ensign Evie Forde & Captain Ansel Benoit

1,510 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: In Between
Location: Sickbay, USS Victory

Ans was sitting up for the first time since . . . No, he didn't want to think like that. Technically he had been dead a few moments but he wasn't going to dwell on that fact. What he was dwelling on was feeling the presence of Melissa. Ans had always been a spiritual man, but not religious. Despite having flown from one galaxy to the next he had never seen anything he would consider a deity and yet in his heart he felt a presence. He could neither explain it or give it a name.

Sickbay doors opened and Ans actually felt a slight bit of dread. He'd been so focused on what it felt like when he had slipped away that he hadn't even thought about what it must have done to Evie to be there watching that, not only as her Captain but as something . . . more.

"Hi," he said stupidly when he saw her walk towards him.

The bags under Evie's eyes were... significant. Watching Ansel die was both a profound and disturbing experience, and not to mention the setting of it as well. Being back in the past, being on that ship, being in the heat of a battle and made to look like a boy wearing a tight fitting corset of sorts had now resulted in her having panic attacks since returning to the Victory.

"That's it?" she asked with a tone she wasn't expecting. "You save my life, then die in my arms, and all you say is hi?" Evie's eyes teared up at the very thought of the experience as it replayed quickly in her mind. A flash of a memory she'd rather forget. Her hands shook as she tried to calm herself, to get her breath back. Her emotional state was that very much of a young Human both confused about what this was between them and angry at what had happened, A melting pot of emotions ranging from relieved he was alright, scared of if it might happen again and happy to hear his voice. "I had your blood..." she trailed off. "It was everywhere." she was transfixed on her finger nails. They looked raw as if she had been scrubbing them clean for hours.

"Oh Evie," Ans said, her tears slicing into him. Unfortunately his brain had gone numb and he couldn't think of what else to say for a moment, but he made the attempt to get up and wrap her in his arms, an attempt that was painful.

"What else could I do? Not the dying part obviously. But the saving your life part. I mean I would have done it for any of my crew but especially you. You have your whole life ahead of you and you're brilliant. You weren't meant to die on that ship because I screwed up and put you in that position." He sighed. "I never wanted you to have to see that though. I'm sorry. And I'm going to be okay. The doc patched me up. I'm just a bit sore is all."

"What are you doing?" Evie almost chastised his attempt to sit up and comfort her. "You've not to move yet. Lie back down." she essentially ordered him as she closed in to hug him instead.

"You didn't put me there, that alien did." Evie protested. "And you'll be even sorer if you ever do that to me again." she felt a strange connection to him that almost went beyond a simple attraction. "You're not that old you don't have your life ahead of you as well." she swept her hand through some of his salt and pepper hair. "I don't think it'd be much of a life if you're not in it." she sighed and rested her head on his chest lightly.

He smirked. "Are you going to argue with everything I say?" He half stood, half rested on the biobed and let the smell of her hair sink into him for a minute or two before he spoke again. "Don't take this the wrong way. But I think we should take things slowly. It's been one hell of a mission so far and there's probably a lot of built up emotions . . ." Ans actually wasn't sure where he was going with this. He supposed he was falling back on he was the Captain and she only an Ensign but he had never been one to rush into anything. He was a thinker and he'd always known that. He liked to mull things over and ponder them. He sensed in a lot of ways that Evie was the opposite of him.

"No." Evie said defiantly. It was as if she wanted another argument there and then just to prove him wrong but she didn't have the energy. She was just happy he was alright.

At the mention of taking things slowly she lifted her head off his chest and took a half step back. Looking up at him, he stood just about 6 inches taller than her, she arched a very Vulcan brow. "It's not like I'm moving in." she had to admit she was still pretty emotional and probably still in survival mode from where they'd just come from, and what she'd just seen.

Her left leg shook with adrenaline? Anger? She wasn't sure. Her eyes began to water. Why? She wasn't sad... was she upset? Offended? She had no idea.

"Are you saying what happened between us so far has just been because of where we were? You don't come across as someone who leaps into anything without thinking... or is this because I'm younger than you? Are you saying I'm more emotional because of that?" she had so many questions rattling around in her head.

"Not entirely, but I'm saying it could be a contributing factor. The attraction was obviously there before we left the ship." Ans took a deep breath, it hurt slightly but he didn't show any outward signs of the pain, or so he thought. "I guess I'm just stuck on the whole you are an ensign and I'm a captain idea. I know a lot of regulations in my head that tell me this is wrong and I also know how excited and nervous and thrilled I am. It's a confusing mixed bag." He pulled himself back up on the biobed.

Ans scratched his head with both hands. "You can tell me to shut up you know. I won't be offended."

"Even if I told you to shut up you wouldn't listen." Evie sighed heavily. "And yes, the attraction was there before the ship, and still is." she put her hands on her hips as she replied with a certain amount of sass. "You need to get out of your own head Ans... captain. If you keep thinking of me as one of your ensigns then that's what I'll always be and I know you don't want that. Not really." she placed her hand on top of his, the warmth of hers seeping into his.

Pretty persuasive argument in his opinion. She smelled nice, she felt good and it drove any thoughts of doubt temporarily out of his brain. He took a breath and let it out slowly. "I think I'm going to be released in a few hours. Up for dinner? Nothing fancy. Just you, me, and two mad guinea pigs. You might have to fight them for my attention." It was a deflection but he was too tired to discuss anything this serious. And what would dinner hurt?

It was almost a quick turnaround but Evie could always be quite persuasive when she was passionate about something. The flutter in her stomach as he asked her about dinner made her smile involuntarily and it looked like he'd instantly won the argument instead of her. Her distraction clear and evident she looked into his soft blue eyes and squeezed his hand. "I'll put up a good fight. It's your attention I want."

Ans smirked. "We'll see. They are very demanding ladies. 1900 hours? My Quarters. Until then I'm feeling the need for some more rest." Apparently almost dying really took it out of him. He could practically feel himself melting back onto the biobed. "Don't worry about bringing anything but yourself. I'm an excellent cook."

"I'll be there." Evie replied with a nod and a grin. "I'm looking forward to seeing what you'll make." she gave his hand a quick squeeze and then jumped up a little to give him a kiss on the cheek before leaving sickbay.

He grinned as he watched her leave. So much for trying to talk her out of anything. He'd talked her right into coming to his quarters after he was released. Shaking his head he leaned his head back on the biobed and closed his eyes. Starfleet could court-martial him later and perhaps by the time they got home they'd have a lot more evidence to do just that without even looking at Evie.

Captain Ansel Benoit
Commanding Officer
USS Victory

Ensign Evie Forde
Alien Archaeologist/Anthropologist
USS Victory

 

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