From: Erik (felldoh_at_voyager.net)
Date: Fri Mar 23 2007 - 18:54:33 PDT
"Bittersweet continued from "Finding Her Place" Location: Earth, San Francisco Stardate: 2.70312.2141 Scene: Hotel room, Bathroom -> Bedroom ____________________________________ "You're kidding. Twins?" She nodded. "Two boys. Just days ago" "I'd never have guessed." Ben replied. "You must have a talented doctor." "Well, It's not that difficult of an operation." Daisy answered matter-of factly. "All you do is take the..." Ben silenced the rest of her answer with a kiss, and she was happy for the trade. The morning was wearing on and they still hadn't left the bed, though they both knew their commitments would soon force them to. So far, neither of them had brought up that inevitable fact, but both were painfully aware of the time, and how quickly it was slipping away. "What happened to your ear?" Ben asked quietly. Daisy blinked, caught off guard by the question. "What?" "Your left ear." He continued. "You used to have a mole. I can't believe you just decided to have it removed after all this time." The change had been obvious to him the previous night, but he hadn't wanted to bring it up at the time. Her mouth dropped open and then she smiled. "I can't believe you even noticed." "I came up in security remember?" Ben replied with a smug grin that made the older woman blush. "I'm trained to notice the small details." His face went serious again. "What happened?" She smiled and admitted finally. "Supply runs can be dangerous too, you know." She'd meant it as a joke, but it left her mouth a lie and she wished, not for the first time, she that he knew the truth about her assignment. "I'd rather not talk about the details, but I had to have a geneticist friend grow me a new ear. My DNA is a little tricky to work with...the pigmentation wasn't exact" For a moment his eyes tightened, almost imperceptibly, but she saw it, and knew from him it betrayed strong emotion. "Ben, I'm ok." The words were a statement, but her voice was almost a plea. "Really, I'm ok. You're the one with the dangerous job, Look at the PATRIOT's mission profile." She knew that the Patriot wasn't actually a significantly more dangerous ship than hers, barring a war, but he didn't know it, and she didn't want him to worry. Ben's smile managed to acknowledge the futility of worrying, and apologize for letting her see it, but not for the feeling. "You're right." was all he said. She smiled sadly, and pulled him closer. "Let's not talk about things that are sad or scary..." her bottom lip quivered a little and she sighed. "That's not what I want you to remember when I have to leave. " He flinched when she mentioned the inevitable topic which they'd been avoiding all this time. With a patient smile and resigned voice he asked. "What do you want me to remember?" She kissed him deeply and then smiled. "Every time I look at myself in a red uniform and every time I step out onto the bridge...I ask myself the same thing. What would Ben do?" It was difficult to read his face from so close, but his surprise was apparent in the way he cocked his head back suddenly to see her better. "Really?" he said, and she wasn't sure if voice was incredulous or mock patronizing. "You don't have to worry about me." she laughed. "You really don't. I always ask myself 'What would Ben do?' and whatever happens, I make it through." He pulled her close again with a tender force that made her sigh pleasantly. "I'm going to miss you." He whispered through her hair. She nodded, swallowing hard. "I'm going to miss you, too." There was an awkward silence as they just held each other. Daisy, her head on his chest, closed her eyes tightly, as if somehow refusing to look around her, could change the reality of the duty they could not escape, and the departure that moved steadily ever nearer. She couldn't see it, but Ben' eyes too were closed, and his jaw was set as if it was only through sheer determination that he could endure the enemy they both shared. The silence felt longer than it was when Ben finally broke it. "Was it what happened with us?" He asked, and she sensed pain under his calm tone. "On the clone ship. "Was that what ended your marriage. I know you were trying to work it out when you left the PATRIOT..." He paused for a moment. "I'm sorry if your family suffered because of what happened with you and me." "To some extent...." Daisy admitted with a small sigh, "But, not the way you think." She turned herself around and leaned backwards against Ben's shoulder. "He understood why it happened. We'd been captured, we thought we were going to die there. That part he got past. It was how I'd ended up captured with you in the first place that hurt him more." "The transporter beam...." Ben replied with understanding. Daisy nodded. "He saw my face when our shields failed and I saw their transporter beam locked onto you..." "And you threw yourself into my arms..." Ben couldn't help but get a small sense of satisfaction knowing that moment had haunted Zuri. As far as he was concerned the man was jerk, with a dangerous anger problem. Zuri had attacked him once, unprovoked, as far as Ben or the inquiry could discover. He'd been saved from a court marshal by mandatory therapy and the fact that it happened right after TERRANA, a mission from which none of the survivors had escaped without a scar. That hadn't been the extent of their troubles. When Zuri first came aboard Ben had been his immediate superior. That was right around the time he had his stroke, and was off duty for a time. Daisy had once theorized that Zuri felt abandoned, but whether that was true or not, He developed a grudge that never went away. When Zuri and Daisy eventually got together, he took it as a personal victory. Ben was content to let the past be the past and move on, but Zuri could never resist reminding him that he had won. He had married her. Of course, any satisfaction he felt didn't reach his face, but he still felt a little guilty. "I tried to downplay it later." Daisy admitted sheepishly, color rising to her cheeks as if she had read Ben's mind. "I tried to say that I would have done the same no matter who they were trying to capture - but it wasn't true. And, he knew it. He always knew part of me still loved you and later...I had a miscarriage and then we lost Jason and Zuri was....'injured'..." her voice trailed off and she stammered slightly. "Everything.... everything just fell apart under it's own weight." There was a lot more to the story, a lot more she could say, but she didn't want to. She just left it at that and quickly kissed him again. He gladly embraced her, offering all the comfort that he could. "The rest of the crew was a blessing...." she assured him finally, smiling as she pulled back to catch her breath. "They saved me. We're a good team." "I'm glad they suit you so well." He replied, sounding sad for a reason Daisy couldn't grasp. Daisy chuckled softly and rested her head on his shoulder. "Why? Wouldn't you rather they were truly awful so you'd have a shot at convincing me to come work in your sickbay?" "Part of me, I suppose." Ben added with a sad smile. "The rest knows it's probably better this way." Daisy was too stunned to answer. It was the last thing she'd expected him to say. Ben noticed her reaction and quickly added. "Think about it, Daisy. If we were on the same ship It wouldn't be like it was when we were each running our own departments, and just came home to each other at night." He rolled his head back to look at the ceiling and sighed. "One of us would be giving orders that might send the other into danger. We'd be constantly accused of favoritism whether we actually showed it or not. It would make things very difficult for both of us." As he spoke Daisy understood. She moved in closer, and put her head on his chest. "I suppose you're right." Sad thoughts were beginning to swallow her up. "I have to go soon. I have another meeting with Admiral Ranta about the Andalusian Inquiry and then I'm having dinner with Mav..." "I should leave too." Ben replied, pulling himself out of the embrace and standing up. "Arthur doesn't have school today, he's probably already up and wondering where I am." Daisy watched him sadly, not moving herself. She would normally have enjoyed the opportunity to watch him dress - she never tired of seeing his muscled body engaged in purposeful movement, but now the fact of their parting took the joy from the act. "The inquiry could take as much as another week or so...maybe longer..." She said looking up at him, once again he felt the plea in her voice. "I doubt the PATRIOT will be here that long." he answered pulling his shirt over his head. He came over and sat on the bed. "But we don't have our orders yet." He smiled and touched her face in a way the was more reassuring that his words. "We'll see each other again." "Soon..." she promised gently _______________________________________________________________ A joint post by Kim Toussaint - AKA Commander Daisy Byrne Davidson, M.D. USS PROPHECY FRPG website archivist http://www.youth.net/frpg/ KimTvideos at http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=KimTvideos & Erik Walz Commander Benjamin Kenta Executive Officer USS PATRIOT 5781-A & Lt. Seloron Junior ACT Instructor Starfleet Academy, Earth From HyperNews_at_youth.net
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