Cloudy With A Ray Of Sunshine

Posted on Sun Jun 7th, 2015 @ 6:20pm by Lieutenant Raymond Benson & Ensign Leela Carter & Chief Petty Officer Siri & Senior Chief Petty Officer Chelsea May

Mission: Further Challenges
Location: JAG Offices

JAG Offices

“Hey Siri, did Julisa see this report on our band of merry men before she left?” Chelsea called out. “Ray’s out now watching them pack up Azoulay and her pals for shipping. They’re sending back that body as well. I like it when things wrap up neatly.”

"They nearly always do with Julisa. What band of merry men?"

“Oh just Azoulay, Monique, that woman that carved up Jim Holbridge,” Chelsea answered. “I haven’t seen Ray so happy since --” The main doors opened and Ray bustled in, singing a little tune. “Ding dong, the witch is dead….”

Chelsea looked over to Siri and raised her eyebrows. “Well, hello Ray.”

“Ladies.” He breezed on past them, continuing to sing his little ditty, went into his office and closed the door.

“I have no idea.” Chelsea shrugged. “Do you?”

"None. Unless he's that thrilled that Azoulay is gone."

“Maybe.” Chelsea checked to see if his door was still closed, then looked back at Siri. “I heard from one of the waiters at the Nexus that Ray was there for the new year’s party..with Carter from security.”

"Blonde? About five-five?" At Chelsea's nod, Siri continued, "She's cute. But would just a dance put him in a mood like this?"

Chelsea pondered the question and finally shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe. He’s not really been out in a long time. I am a little surprised though. I wouldn’t have expected her. She didn’t seem too impressed with him when she stopped in during this investigation.”

"Eh, sometimes humans are like that. They don't like to show their emotions, as if they want to be Vulcans. Pretty silly. Maybe she's a real tiger when out of uniform."

"Who is?" The subject matter of their discussion walked in.

Chelsea’s eyes widened but she smiled immediately. “Hello Ensign Carter.” She shot Siri a ‘help me’ glance. “Someone we saw at the Wormhole the other night, that’s all. What can we do for you?”

"I have a few things for you. Witness statements and such. Plus a couple of new cases to discuss." Carter looked from one to the other. "Is Bajun here? I could discuss them with her."

That struck Chelsea as odd, considering the gossip that Carter and Ray had been seen at the Nexus. “She just went home, but Ray’s in. See him now, trust me. He’s in a good mood for a change. Take advantage of it while you can.”

"Really?" She seemed surprised but moved towards his office, announced herself and stepped into his office when the door opened. "Hi, Ray."

Ray looked up and seeing Leela standing there, he was momentarily speechless. He recovered quickly. “Close the door.”

The door closed, leaving Siri to quietly curse across the aisle at Chelsea. "For once, can't he leave the door open?"

"No shit!” Chelsea whispered back. “Bets on whether it’s quiet in there or gets noisy?”

"Hmm... Quiet," Siri nodded. "Carter doesn't seem the type to make a scene."

“Noisy,” Chelsea concluded. “This is Ray. Winner buys drinks.”

Siri had the feeling she had gotten the better of that bet.

Inside Ray's office, Carter took a seat across from the man she'd kicked out of her quarters last night. "Gilroy sent me down here to discuss a couple of cases, see if they're worth anyone's time."

“Sure, let’s hear it.” Ray eyed Leela, his expression neutral. “What’s up?”


"A few small issues last night. The bottle rockets Ganesh and I noted early on became small fireworks and caused one shop's inventory to combust. The fire suppression system put it out, but there is damage to the station and to the shop owner's goods. Security caught those responsible; they are in the brig. Also, they had a couple of fireworks that didn't go off, even though the fuses were lit," for a moment, she wondered whether she was describing the fireworks or their date post-Nexus, "So Engineering and Ops had to be on the scene to diffuse them. Gil wants to make an example of the idio--- ah, culprits."

“I see. Those lit fuses can be hell, can’t they Leela?” Ray reached for one of the padds on his desk, never taking his eyes from her. “Diffusing them can be very tricky. What sort of ‘example’ are we talking here?” His voice was even as he asked the question but in truth, he wanted to jump across the desk and...do what? Kiss her? Wring her neck? Maybe both? The jury was still out on that one.

She kept a straight face, though part of her wanted to wince. She hadn't been real delicate last night when she'd shoved him into the hallway, still at half-mast. "Perhaps making their actions publicly known? Letting other young men know that playing with fireworks is a dumb idea by stringing these two up?"

Ray considered that and shrugged. “Ultimately, it’s Security’s call. If they’ve confessed, and you think they may be a risk, the maximum sentence can be recommended and far be it from me to counter your recommendations. A little harmless fun is one thing but now we’re talking station damage and loss of property. File the particulars and we’ll take care of it.” He glanced down at the padd, tapping it to bring up the arrest report. “What’s next?”

"There was a breach of hull integrity, again down near the Cherry Pit and again caused by two males. They believed they were drilling into a woman's quarters but had their directions wrong."

Ray burst out laughing in spite of himself. “I thought guys stopped doing that crap when they hit puberty,” he commented. “Really?” He tilted his head as he looked at Leela. “Though I suppose us men never get over the thrill of the female form. Sometimes a forbidden fruit, hmm?”

"Indeed. Imagine that, a female saying no and getting a bad response from a male because of it." She quirked a brow, smiled ever-so-slightly and went on. "Again, Engineering responded and is fixing the damage, but things could have gone much worse."

His eyes narrowed slightly. “Was that supposed to mean something, Leela?”

"Do you think it meant something?"

“How the hell should I know? That’s why I asked. What do you want from me?” Ray felt suddenly off-balance and it wasn’t something he was used to. He didn't’ like it either.

"More than one flippin' date before you assume we're going to end up in bed!" She surprised herself with how straightforward her demand was.

“That wasn’t my intention when I asked you out!” He tossed the padd he held aside. “But during the evening you...it was….amazing and you know what? Since we’re being blunt here...I wasn’t interested in it just for a romp. It was because of you and the way you are.” He stood and leaned across the desk. “When you licked the ice cream off that spoon? The ice cream wasn’t the only thing that melted. But it’s who you are that left me with a...a..lit fuse.” His voice had taken on the familiar ‘Ray’ intensity. The urge to pull her across the desk came back even stronger.

They were getting loud. Chelsea would win the bet in the outer office. Carter wasn't sure what to make of Ray; was he a brash asshole like she'd heard him called so often or was he some sort of closet romantic? Would he suddenly start spouting off Shakespearian sonnets like Gilroy? He just came close, claiming he was into her not her body. She shifted in the chair, unsure just how to respond to such... blatant romance. Boy, did he irritate her. "Well, fine. Good. Let's make sure that's how it stays."

Ray blinked, unsure just what that meant and where he now stood. He circled the desk, stopped beside her chair and tugged her to her feet. “Explain that.”

"You're the one with an advanced degree in word usage," she shot back, "Figure it out!"

Ray had not a clue how to decipher that. The words went round and round in his head, soon chased away by the other urges that shouted louder. “I don’t know!” This woman before him was going to make him lose his mind, he was sure of it. She sure as hell threatened his good sense and without a thought, he took hold of her shoulders and kissed her.

She kissed back. And then she turned the tables, taking hold of his arms and pushing him back against his desk.

He wrapped his arms around her as the kiss deepened in the sudden silence of the office. Desire raged through him, blazing hotter as she held him there, pinned against his desk. Finally he broke the contact. “So...what now?” His voice was rough. A vision of her on his desk flashed through his mind and he was suddenly glad she wasn’t a telepath.

She pushed away from him, straightened her tunic and hair then said, "Dinner at 7. Pick me up and don't be late." She turned on her heel and left his office.

Seven? How the hell was he supposed to focus on anything remotely related to work until then? Answer: he wasn’t. Screw this. He’d do what he needed from home….after a long cold shower. He emerged from his office with a curt ‘I’ll be at home, call if you need me' and was out the door.

Chelsea waited till the doors closed behind him and then she began to laugh. And continued till she was wiping her eyes. “So, any guesses Siri? Drinks are on you by the way but what the hell happened in there?”

"On me? But you said winner pays!" Siri shook her head and stared after Ray. "By the smell of him, I'd say sex almost happened. I wonder if he's meeting her at the turbolift. Humans are weird, you know. Of course, Julisa was just as bad. Maybe it's attorneys who are so awful about relationships."

Chelsea laughed harder at Siri’s mention of Ray’s smell. “Maybe so. They are trained to argue and Ray can argue about anything. But things sure got quiet all of a sudden in there.” She wiped her eyes. “I can tell you this - I've never seen him get rattled like this.”

"Rattling can be good," the Bolian paralegal commented. "Look how Julisa has ended up."

“She’s better?” Chelsea sounded a bit incredulous. “I don’t think even a Solis could settle Ray down. Could settle me right the hell down,” she muttered.

"Oh, Solis loosened Julisa up. It's like she's a new woman. I always thought she just needed a really good, hard...," she paused as the comm on Chelsea's desk started beeping.

Chelsea pressed the panel. “JAG Offices.”

“Lt. Solis here.” The name made Chelsea jump, then she covered her mouth to stifle a laugh. “I am trying to reach Ray. It’s something of an emergency.”

“He just left the office," Chelsea informed him. “But hold on, I’ll put you through directly.” She pressed the panel again. Once the office channel closed, she gave in to the laughter. “Speak of the devil…”

"Oh man! What could he possibly need Ray for?"

“Well, if it’s official business, we’ll know soon enough.” Chelsea’s laughter finally subsided. “So drinks. Cravings? And I say we knock off early. If they need us they can find us.”

"Good call. Let's hope Cravings is where Ray and Carter end up!" Siri grinned.

*****
Siri
Chelsea
Getting A Little Of The Action

Lt. Ray Benson
Ensign Leela Carter
The Action