Why The Gifts - Part 2

[DrDMatthews 0]

"Why these gifts," she asked out loud, still staring at the exquisite emerald earrings. "Is he grateful I'm alive or what?"

 

She was distracted by the sound of the main door opening. She looked up in time to see Aidan stride in. His expression was a mixture of serious and angry but that vanished the moment he saw her. He paused near the door and smiled warmly. For the life of her, Deb couldn't think of a word to say.

 

Aidan stood silently by the main door, smiling warmly with a hint of amusement sneaking into his eyes. Deb swallowed, clearly embarrassed. "I hope these were for me," she stammered, finally finding her voice. "They're lovely....really, really lovely. But....why? It isn't my birthday. Did I forget an anniversary or something?"

 

He steps up to her and slips his arms around her before kissing her warmly. Breaking it off after a minute he murmurs "Of course they're for you. Who else on this ship would I buy gifts for?"

 

Her first instinct was to pull away and press him for an answer to her question. She resisted the urge feeling more and more self conscious with each passing moment. "No one," she replied, casting a glance at the dress now draped over the nearby chair. "At least, not gifts like these," she added quickly. She lifted her gaze to meet Aidan's and smiled weakly. "But why? What's the occasion?"

 

"I hardly need an occasion to buy you a gift, love. But let's just say they are a reminder of what you have."

 

They held each others gaze for several seconds. Deb wasn't sure what Aidan was thinking but her own thoughts were racing. "What I have, " she finally whispered, "is an extremely generous husband who has the patience of a saint." She relaxed against him, resting her head on his chest. She felt his embrace tighten just a bit as they held each other in silence. She could hear his heart beating and the steady rhythm of his breathing. It seemed so right yet so very, very strange.

 

"It was real," she mumbled. "The ship was destroyed....you were killed....and it was all....real." She pulled away to look up into his eyes. "I know the ship's log confirmed that. So it wasn't a bad dream....it really happened." She lifted her hands to cup his face and smiled. "But this is real too. We're both here, alive and well." Her expression darkened slightly. "I think...." she paused, searching for the right words. "I think I'm afraid all of this is the dream. I'm afraid I'll wake up and find that you and this ship and everything else I've experienced over the past few weeks is nothing more than an elaborate charade my subconscious created to deal with your death. I'm scared to death reality will come crashing down around me at any moment....and you'll be gone again....gone forever."

 

She dropped her hands, her lips forming a foolish grin. "I pulled away so it wouldn't hurt as much when this beautiful dream suddenly ended and I woke up to find myself back in a Romulan brig."

 

His eyes widen a little, not quite expecting this reaction from her. He knew what had been bothering her but the other times he had to shake her a little mentally to get her to snap out of it. This time she seemed to have done it already for the most part. He smiles and murmurs "I don't quite have the patience of a saint. And as for generous, what you've given me is at least as equal as to anything I've given you. However, you are not a closed book to me, Deb, I'm not that blind. This is not a dream conjured by your mind, you're strong enough that you wouldn't delude yourself that way. I'm quite alive and I'm quite pleased my wife seems to have come to terms with what was bothering her." He brushes a hand against her face and murmurs "This is reality."

 

She giggled nervously. "Is it? Do you promise?" She rested a finger on his lips to prevent him from responding. "I know this is reality," she continued softly. "It's just taken a little time to come to terms with that." She smiled ruefully. "And I'm not the only one. There are others who are struggling as well. I was hoping the session with the Fleet psychiatrist would help but that was cut short."

 

Canting her head to the right, she looked at him curiously. "Speaking of which, why did you call a senior staff meeting?"

 

He sighs "Sorry about that though didn't really have a choice. I'm going to assume that it might be a good idea for a counselor to be at least temporarily assigned here, yes? Asking your professional opinion there." He closes his eyes for a few seconds, feeling for a moment the anger he felt earlier at the affront that the new Captain represented rising to the surface. Capping that he says quietly "We've received our new orders and as soon as everyone is back aboard and everything is ready we'll be leaving. And...we've been assigned a new captain."

 

Deb was about to agree that a counselor should be assigned, at least temporarily. She was even going to tell Aidan that Dr. Curtis was trying to get authorization to stay with Reaent until she was confident her services were no longer required. But those thoughts evaporated the moment Aidan mentioned they'd received new orders. She couldn't believe the were being sent out so soon after that debacle in the Romulan Neutral Zone.

 

Then Aidan dropped the bomb. "A new captain?" she asked incredulously, pulling away from her husband. "Who? Who is this new captain. And what happened to Captain Michaels?

 

"The new Captain is one Captain McQueen formerly of the U.S.S. Marie Curie. I haven't been able to get much of a read on him yet other then he says he is baffled to what is going on. He says he just up and got orders to report here. And as for the Captain...the orders did not say what is going on with the Captain. I definitely intend to inquire before we depart...."

 

"Michaels was the first and only Captain of this ship," remarked Deb, her dismay growing by the second. "They can't just dump him and assign someone else.....can they? And why are we shipping out now? This crew isn't ready for another mission!"

 

He sighs and shrugs. "Well repairs are about complete and knowing Command I'm pretty sure they didn't exactly take into account that the crew of the ship would need more time to recover then the ship did. As for the Captain...I'm hoping this a temporary thing. I somehow suspect I know what my reaction will be if it isn't."

 

She didn't need to ask what his reaction would be if McQueen's appointment became permanent. She was pretty sure she would feel the same way. Then again, Aidan said the new CO was just as surprised as everyone else that he'd been assigned to the Reaent. Was it his fault that Starfleet pulled a stunt like this? Wasn't it only fair to give him a chance?

 

Deb glanced around the room and then shook her head. "Dr. Curtis said she was going to speak to her superiors about a temporary posting to the Reaent. I should probably contact her and let her know time is of the essence." She looked intently at her husband. "As far as Captain Michaels is concerned, do you think you can find out anything? "

 

"Yes, you should definitely contact Dr. Curtis. And keep me informed as to what's going on there. And as for Captain Michaels...I'm not sure. I'm definitely going to try. Think I'll start with a new contact I have..."

 

"What contact?" asked Deb curiously. "And can this....contact be trusted?"

 

"An Andorian Admiral named Meve. He came aboard the ship for...a tour and a discussion on the last mission. And as for whether he can be trusted..that I'm not sure. He happens to be the Admiral that was the Commanding Officer of Sky Harbor Aegis when Nick was there. In some ways Nick liked him...in another way...well let's just say they had a rather large disagreement about something Nick did."

 

Did she really want to know what Nick did that angered this Andorian Admiral? Yes, of course she did but now wasn't the time. The staff meeting was scheduled to begin in less than hour. "Maybe he'll be willing to help you," she replied quietly. "But we don't have much time. I get the distinct impression we'll be leaving shortly."

 

Deb stepped around the table, picking up the dress and earrings along the way. "I need to contact Dr. Curtis and then....freshen up a little. Need to make a good first impression on our new CO."

 

He nods and sighs quietly to himself, thinking that his own first impression on the new Captain was less than stellar. "Yes, we'll be leaving shortly, as soon as everyone is back aboard I imagine. But you're right, we should get ready for the meeting. I'll contact the Admiral while you're tending to what you need to do." With that he steps over one of the desks. As he does so he orders the computer to get in contact with Admiral Meve.

 

Debbie contacted Opps as she walked into the bedroom asking them to locate Dr. Curtis for an update on whether or not she would be able to join the Reaent on a temporary basis. The conversation took less than thirty seconds. Once she entered the bedroom, she turned back and smiled at her husband. "Thanks for the gifts," she said softly. "And thanks for reminding me to enjoy what I have.