Familial Squabble

[Capt Ayers 0]

By: Commander Hawke, DJ McKinny and Captain Ayers

 

After the meeting in the Observation lounge with the Admiral, Nick heads to his office and steps inside when the doors open. He had kept his sister waiting and he was curious as to the real reason she had arrived. He didn't need to be telepathic to know that something was up with his little sister.

 

Terra glances up as the doors open. As Nick enters she stands and asks "All finished?"

 

He nods "For a while at least. If you want, I'll show you to your guest quarters now."

 

"Your Dr. McKinny came by. She said I'm fine. She seems to be nice but I think I like Dr. LePage better. He's more my type."

 

Nick frowns when his sister says that, having heard that tone of voice before. "Don't get any ideas, sis." Quietly he thinks that the station did not need another Megan-like disruption to the crew...especially to a certain junior officer in DJ's department. His sister, he would admit only privately, would be seen as desirable and gorgeous to most males..well at least male humans and some of the other species. And it had caused Nick and Phelan to be protective at times. Which had become something of a bone of contention with her.

 

"Oh please, Nick. I've come a long way. The least I can do is look, can't I?"

 

"As long as that's all you do."

 

Terra frowns and turns her gaze from him as she says "Is that all you've been doing."

 

"No..but then I live here. You're only here for a few days."

 

"I may decide to stay for a while."

 

Nick escorts her to the turbolift and orders it to one of the VIP guest suites. In a few minutes they are inside the quarters temporairly assigned to her. Terra had spent the trip wondering how to tell her brother the real reason for her visit.

 

As he watches Terra look around the quarters, Nick steps over to the windows and leans back against them. "So...why would you be thinking that you may stay more than a few days?"

 

"Oh, you know. It's a long way to come and now that I'm here, I thought I might hang around for a month or so."

 

"And school?"

 

"School? Oh, school can wait. It's not like I won't be getting an education while I'm here."

 

"And yes, I'm sure Mom will just love that idea. Bet you five to one that if you stay here a month she will show up just to chastise you." He moves to sit down in one of the chairs. "So..what makes you come all the way out here?"

 

Terra laughs "You really think Mom would come all this way just to yell at me?"

 

"Yes..I do. She'll call first and yell at you and if you don't listen I am quite sure she will show up here."

 

"Mom can do as she pleases. I'm a big girl now and I think she'll treat me like one."

 

"Terra, you're twenty-eight years old. Yes that is adult in a human..with us it is a bit more nebulous and you know it. Now..mind answering the other question?"

Meanwhile....

 

Ethan enters Sickbay, intending to have her hand looked at now that she had the time for it. DJ looks up as Ethan enters and steps towards her.

 

Terra sits down on the couch before saying "Tell me something, Nick..how well do you know Commander Hawke?"

 

Nick arches an eyebrow before answering "We've worked together for over three years now. And I've have gotten to know her better than everyone else on the station. And you know I am involved with her."

 

"Uncle Kelain seems concerned about that."

 

Nick blinks "What would Kelain be..why would he be concerned?"

 

Meanwhile....

 

Ethan smiles "Hello Doctor. I don't suppose you have time for one more patient? It can wait, if you're still busy..."

 

DJ chuckles "Oh, there's always room for one more. What did you do to yourself?"

 

"The engine room was in flames when I went to get the last two off the passenger liner. One of the consoles had fallen in the way and it was..hot."

 

DJ carefully takes Ethan's hand and examines it. "Looks like first and second degree burns. And I know that doesn't feel good, especially on the hand." She turns and walks to one of the empty biobeds. "Follow me. I think we can take care of this relatively quickly."

 

Ethan smiles and nods, "Thanks. I appreciate it."

 

DJ scans the injured hand after Ethan sits on the biobed. "Yep, first degree with a few spots that are hot enough to call second degree. Wait just a second. I'll gather the magic potions and be right back."

 

Ethan rolls her eyes as she chuckles "Don't forget your wand."

 

As DJ walks to the med station to gather what she needs before returning to Ethan. "Oh, I carry the wand in my pocket at all times. You never know when an emergency might pop up. Ordinarily, someone would have been available to get these for me, but we're a little busy right now."

 

Ethan shakes her head. "Now you know why I avoid doctors."

 

DJ treats Ethan's injured hand and after injecting her with an antibiotic, she gives Ethan some pills to take with her. After a minute spent by Ethan asking if she has to take the pills and DJ telling her that its either the taking the pills every six hours or coming down to Sickbay every six hours for another shot of the antibiotic, Ethan exits out of Sickbay. {{I'm done in Sickbay, love. Where are you?}}

 

Nick frowns as he waits for his sister to answer his question. {{Finding out why Terra is here.}}

 

{{I see...any luck so far?}}

 

{{Oh..yeah I think so. You may want to not get involved with anything right now.}}

 

{{Uh-oh..that doesn't sound good.}}

 

Terra stands and walks towards Nick. Her nervousness is causing her heart to pound but she's determined to continue. "Seems the Commander has quite a reputation."

 

Nick frowns darkly "He's been digging in her background?""

 

"Do you have a problem with that?"

 

"Do I have a problem with an uncle of mine digging into the background of someone I work with and care about? Yes...damn it..I do have a problem with it. It shows a remarkable lack of trust."

 

Ethan senses Nick's anger rising and she starts heading in his direction.

 

Terra replies "So I don't have to worry about you digging into the background of anyone I might choose to become involved with?"

 

"Not unless that person gave me cause first."

 

"And what if that person was Starfleet Security..with a heavy background in undercover ops?"

 

Nick blinks and can't help but chuckle. Terra frowns and says "I'm so glad you find it amusing."

 

When he stops chuckling he taps his commbadge and says "Commander Hawke to my location please." That said he turns his attention back to his sister and says "What I find amusing, sister, is that uncle thought I didn't know."

 

"I would rather you not invite her here."

 

Nick narrows his eyes "This concerns her, Terra, and I will not have my family talking about her behind her back.

 

"And maybe Uncle knew you'd figure it out. But love is ofen blind and I'm concerned that you've become her next undercover assignment."

 

Ethan arrives at the door and steps through it in time to hear the last of Terra's comment. "Excuse me?"

 

Terra ignores Ethan and looks directly at Nick "I have nothing more to say." She turns to walk out of the room.

 

Nick stands and steps after Terra, grabbing her arm with his hand. "No, sister..you have a lot to say and you're going to say it. Or I'm throwing you on the first ship back home whether you like it or not and under guard if I have to."

 

Ethan frowns "This is not quite what I pictured when we talked about telling your family.."

 

Nick dryly says "I wasn't picturing my family having gone off the deep end since I've been gone."

 

Terra looks at Nick's hand on her arm, thinking that her brother may have changed a lot since he started hanging out with Ethan."

 

Ethan frowns "Who thinks you're my latest mission, love?"

 

"Apparently my sister and my mother's elder brother Kelain does. Kelain, if I haven't told you about before, has worked in Starfleet Intel for a number of years..though lately he's been Captaining a starship. That and certain other things that happened before our arrival in the Federation and immediately afterwards have caused Uncle to be slightly paranoid." He switches his attention to Terra "Now tell her what you told me."

 

Terra slips out of Nick's grasp "What's this about telling the family?"

 

Nick shakes his head "No..you first." He steps back to the chair he was sititng in.

 

"I've already spoken my piece to my family."

 

Ethan glances at Nick and asks "What did she say?"

 

"As I said, Terra, I will not have you or any other member of my family talking about her behind her back. If you're not going to tell her then I will."

 

Terra starts to get that sick feeling as she recalls Ethan's remarks on the Pandora. She glares at Nick "Did you marry that woman?"

 

Ethan steps up to Terra "I have a name, dear. Now, what crawled into your shorts and died."

 

Nick ignores Terra's question for the moment as he says sadly to Ethan "She thinks that you are on an undercover mission, because of your former work in Starfleet Security, to investigate me and find out what I know concerning, I imagine, among other things that El Aurian ship we found." He glances at Terra and asks "Do you know how ludicrous your concern about Ethan is, Terra?"

 

Ethan turns to face Nick and asks "What?" As her anger rises she turns back to Terra and says sharply "How dare you...my work in Starfleet Security nearly destroyed my life! It's only been recently that Nick helped me..get it back. And Now you want to take away the one good thing in my life..because you're paranoid?" Ethan regains her temper with some effort. "Did your precious uncle also tell you that I helped Nick with letting that El Aurian ship get away rather than let Starfleet have it?"

 

Terra stands at the door with her arms crossed in front of her and her back to Nick and Ethan. She fights back the tears as she is convinced that all is lost.

 

Ethan senses Terra's frustration and steps towards her but doesn't touch her. "Terra, I love your brother. I'm not here to do anything to hurt him, or your family. But I can't force you to believe that, nor would I try. The problem is that you aren't objective anymore. You won't even look at the evidence. You've made up your mind so completely that you're right..all hope is lost..but it's not the hope you think." Ethan sighs quietly.

 

Nick shakes his head "Terra, I've known about Ethan's past employ in Starfleet Security for a long time. And I've known about her undercover work. Do you honestly think I'm so blind? Just because she used to work for Starfleet Security does not make her a threat."

 

Terra whirls and glares at both of them before addressing Nick "And when were you planning on telling the family that you were romantically involved? Or worse?"

 

"Mom and dad have known that I am romantically involved with Ethan for quite a while now. How do you think Kelain knew about her?"

 

Terra says softly "You married her, didn't you? That's why she said I was part of the family. Isn't it?"

 

Ethan sighs "Yes, Terra, he did me the honor of marrying me, and making my life complete for the first time in over a decade. I'm sorry you are so determined to find evil in my life...especially now that it's finally gone. I only hope that the rest of your family isn't so close-minded." She turns to Nick "I should probably go. I'll see you at home, love?"

 

Nick nods "Yes. I'll be there shortly."

 

Ethan steps over to him and kisses him {{You know, Imzadi, that she's wrong?}} Ethan is concerned that Terra might have planted some doubts and is going to try and tear them apart.

 

Nick returns the kiss {{I've never had any doubts on your motivations, Imzadi.}}

 

Ethan tries to smile through the pain of the betrayal. She looks at Terra and says "I hope you're happy that you've tried to destroy my life. What did I ever do to you?" With that she turns and steps through the doors.

 

Nick waits until Ethan leaves before saying "How dare you somehow presume that you can judge someone you've never met."

 

Terra ignores both their remarks, too lost in her own grief and despair.

 

Nick sighs sadly and steps over to the couch to sit next to Terra.

 

Terra chokes through her tears "And how dare you marry someone without telling your own family. Were you afraid someone other than me would object?"

 

He enfolds her in a hug "No, not that at all. It wasn't that I wasn't going to tell you and the others, it was that..." He sighs quietly, "...that we've been busy since we got back. And the only objection I thought any of you might have was in us eloping. If I had known that Kelain would pull this and you'd do what you've done I would have made sure to talk to you."

 

Terra wipes the tears from her eyes "Oh, I'm sure you've been busy."

 

"Terra, we've been dealing with the pirates and a new admiral arriving since we got back."

 

Terra bites her lip and turns to look at her brother "If I pulled a stunt like this you'd have me drawn and quartered." She pauses then says through the tears "We all thought you would NEVER marry."

 

He brushes a hand against her face "Perhaps I would nhave wanted to initially but if the other person made you happy and took good care of you than I would have accepted him." He blinks "Why would you think that?"

 

She gives him a "Boy, you're really stupid" look. "Why? Because of the way you are. So serious, all business..you know. No time for romance." She shakes her head "Well you sure fooled us."

 

Nick sighs quietly "Terra, Starfleet tends to breed a certain amount of discipline. But I've had girlfriends before while in the Academy."

 

"And you were in the Academy how long ago? Practically in the dark ages."

 

"Sis, I'm only forty. Not even a tenth of what will be my probable lifespan. I wasn't exactly in a rush."

 

Terra turns to face Nick "I'm afraid for you. I love you and I'm afraid for you. Uncle Kelain was very convincing."

 

"There's nothing to be afraid of, certainly not of Ethan. As for Kelain..you know full well that he took the Borg attack on homeworld personally..he took that defeat personally and he's watched for the last hundred or so years as at tiems the Federation or parts of it have tried to use us. But just because some people have tried doing foolish or wrong things to us doesn't mean that they all will. If Ethan was untrustworthy she would have turned me over to Starfleet Security or Intel when we discovered that El Aurian ship."

 

Tera stares at Nick for a long moment. {{You really love her, don't you?}}

 

Nick nods "And she loves me. I don't have any doubt on that. I know her as well as I know myself. She didn't try and hide her past from me."

 

Terra leans back on the sofa and faces straight ahead, knowing that Nick means every word he said.

 

"Terra, I knew about her undercover missions and what they entailed. And I also know how much some of what occurred during those missions affected her..hurt her."

 

She stammers through her tears "I'm still afraid."

 

"Of what?"

 

"I'm just afraid, that's all.

 

He sighs "Well, I want you to stay for a few days and we'll work through things. All I'm going to ask is that you give Ethan a chance. Because like it or not, she is part of my life and is staying that way and there is nothing you or the rest of the family can do or say to change that."

 

Terra, feeling like the biggest fool this side of Jupiter and depressed because of it says "I came all this way to warn you..to keep you from doing something stupid. But now that deed is done, I will make no effort to undo it..not that I could even if I wanted to."

 

Nick sighs again as he stands "Sooner or later, sister, you will learn that I did not do anything stupid at all. I do appreciate your concern..but it is misplaced."

 

Terra draws a deep breath "I suppose time will tell which one of us has done something stupid. As for your new wife, I got a taste of her attitude a few minutes ago. I doubt she'll want anything to do with me."

 

"We'll see. Can you really blame her for being mad? At any rate..get some rest. We'll talk more later. And I will let mom and dad know you're here and safe. And I will let them know about Ethan as well."

 

Terra shakes her head "No, as long as her anger is righteous. But how do I know if she's angry because I came out here to warn you about her? Maybe she's angry because I just blew her cover."

 

"Terra, I am not a undercover assignment to her."

 

"I hope you're right. In the meantime, perhaps I should plan to leave as soon as possible." She stands and heads towards the bedroom, not waiting for Nick to respond.

 

Nick shakes his head and leaves, heading for his quarters.