The Campaign Begins

Posted on Sun Aug 30th, 2015 @ 12:56am by Commander Dae Nalas & Ensign Six of Ten & Vic
Edited on on Sun Aug 30th, 2015 @ 9:29am

Mission: Further Challenges
Location: Intel

* Intel Offices *

Dae had received word from Six that was was on her way and he was relieved to know she was out and about. He had notified Vic to get his ass to Intel (a direct quote). When Phoebe informed him Six had arrived, he stepped out of his office as she approached and smiled.

“Welcome back kiddo. How’re you feeling?”

“Good actually. Solis said to take it easy for a day or two but he told me this morning I’m as good as new. Vic left word yesterday that I needed to come up and check in. I think he wants to do some physical work too, to make sure everything’s working like it should.”

Dae cleared his throat and held back his laughter with a Herculean effort. “He should be here soon. I called to tell him you were on your way up. Once you’re done, check in with Leto. She’s been promoted to assistant chief and she wanted to get an update from you and Vic.”

“Aye, sir,” Six answered. She paused as Dae looked past her and nodded. Turning, she saw Vic approaching and smiled.

"Good to see you up and around, Six," Vic said as he came to a stop by the two. "Sir, you said you wanted to see my ass?"

Dae snorted. “Actually Six needs to see your ass...well...you.” A smile lingered on his face a moment. “Pardon me, Six. This crew doesn’t stand much on ceremony.”

Six laughed. “I spend a lot of time with Edana, nothing shocks me.” She turned to Vic. “Ready for me?”

"I've been ready," he said, smiling at Six. He nodded to Dae then led her off to the training deck. "Might as well strip, Six." He was already pulling his shirt off.

“Strip?” She blinked at Vic and for a moment, his kiss when he’d come to see her in Sickbay flashed through her mind. “Oh. Ahh...sure.” She peeled off the sleeveless shirt she wore, then the skirt, leaving her in a pair of workout shorts and sports bra. Her sandals were left with the clothes, as she preferred to train barefoot. “So, what’s first?”

He looked her over, thinking that he loved it when women did as he asked - at least this woman. "Um... Well." His brain was shorting out; the only 'first' thing he could think of was kissing her. "How about.... hmm."

“How about something mild first, just to check out everything? You recall your Tae Kwon Do black belt forms?”

"Do I?" He searched his head, though the site of her kept him from doing a great job. "I'd rather try a few French moves first. Do you recall those?"

“French?” She searched her memory and came up empty. “I don’t think I do. Do you think the medical trauma damaged me and made me lose something?”

"Let's try the move, then answer that," he suggested, smiling and pulling her in. "It goes like this," he kissed her.

“Vic--” She started to protest but he cut her off, the kiss soft at first, then deeper and more demanding. She tried to think logically, but the fireworks going off in her head blocked everything. She could immediately sense his joy at having her back here in one piece and all to himself.

He held her, not caring that they both were in what amounted to underwear, and eventually, slowly, stopped kissing her. "So that's French. Recall it now?"

“Ummm...yes,” she whispered. “I suppose this means you’re glad I’m back?” It wasn’t exactly what she meant to say but it was what came out.

"Very, Six." Now, he was aware that they were both, essentially, in underwear. "I'd be happier if you were coming home to me, but that you're okay will have to do."

“Thank you.” She wasn’t sure how to answer that one any other way. Pressing her hand against his bare chest, she smiled. “Doesn’t Dae or somebody see the footage of this? To check my progress?”

"Right, once we start recording," he said. "Um... So stripping... Maybe that's something you shouldn't do, even though I said that." He smiled and stepped back then quickly turned away to find his jeans.

“You can’t very well spar in those jeans.” She reached out and hooked her finger in the waist of his shorts and blushed deeply when the stretchy fabric pulled back, giving her a brief glimpse of his ass. “Get back here.”

He stopped but didn't turn around; he could already feel her mild embarrassment over seeing his ass; he didn't want to traumatize her further. "Well... Dae did say you needed to see my ass."

It was the perfect thing to say and it both eased her embarrassment and tickled her funny bone. She began to laugh, softly at first, then it turned to a full-fledged guffaw. “That’s….awesome,” she gasped.

He laughed with her and turned to look at her. "All right, sorry for the trick, Six. I wasn't thinking clearly."

“I know,” she answered softly. “What am I going to do with you?”

"I have some ideas," he smiled.

She nodded, took his hand and sat down on the floor, pulling him down beside her. “I know you do. Sit.”

He sat, glumly pulling his jeans over and into his lap. "We're having the talk again, aren't we? The one where you say, 'I'm marrying Suresh', and I say, 'that's a mistake', and so on?"

“This is where I say I agreed to marry him, yes, and then ask you a question,” she replied. She eyed the jeans and shook her head. “Really? Little late for that isn’t it?”

"I'm pretending you haven't already seen me naked. Oh, wait... You haven't." He smiled a little. "What's the question?"

“Those shorts are about the same thing,” she grinned. “What do you want from me Vic? Really?”

A roll in the hay was not the correct answer here. "I want you to know who you are, what you want from life, before you tie yourself to one person or place or idea." He looked at her. "What do you want?"

His answer did nothing short of blowing her mind. She opened her mouth, nothing came out, and she closed it. Then tried again without success. She hadn’t really thought that deeply about it had she? Suresh had wanted her to be sure of what she wanted, certain that no one else made the decision for her. But…..

“I want a lot of things,” she admitted.

"Jewels and dresses and fancy things? Or accolades and degrees and experiences?", he asked, shrugging. "'Things' means something different to everyone."

“I want to be seen for me and not my hardware to start with. I’d like for people not to hate me on sight, though I know they have good reason to - I’ve helped kill countless people and there’s no denying that. I’d like to know that I’m good at my position here. And I’d like to be certain I am doing the right thing….the right thing for me. But how do you ever know that?” She turned her dark eyes on Vic, confusion filling them.

"Sometimes you don't know, not until a situation is over or an opportunity past. You can only hope that what you've done outweighs any regrets over what you haven't done. Some follow the idea

that if it feels good, it must be right, which is fine, if you don't mistake the 'feel good' part for just being physical. Others get frozen by their options and let things pass them by." He doubted any of those platitudes would actually help.

“And when you’re at a crossroads? When faced with a choice between something wonderful that you have and something that could be just as good? What then?”

"I don't know. I can't honestly say I've ever been in that position."

“Huh.” Six frowned slightly. “You didn’t tell me everything,” she prodded. “You want more than what you’ve just said.”

"I want more? Well, sure. I'm also single, with only my wants to consider. You've put yourself in a position where you have Suresh to consider. So if I don't tell you everything I want...," he shrugged. "That's the way of it."

“Like I can’t sense it?” She stood and started to pace, sweeping back her long hair. The thing is, I can’t even test the waters without someone getting hurt. I thought I had no doubts until…..until you got to sickbay. Do you know how hard it was for him to call you?”

"I don't, but I can imagine how I'd feel. I don't know if I'd call the other guy if I was in Suresh's place. But then, he knows we haven't done anything and won't do anything, so, why not call me?" It was a rhetorical question. "What doubts did that cause for you?"

“Solis said that I wasn’t breathing when I got to sickbay, and crashed on the table. That makes you think, you know? About everything.” She reached over, moving the jeans aside to rest her hand on his thigh. “People see him as some tough, unemotional, uncaring man who’d kill as soon as look at you….and you they see as aloof and mysterious. I know better. You both are the most emotional, caring people I’ve ever met. You just hide it well.”

"So well that I let good women get away." He chuckled ruefully, taking her hand in his. "You know the last Suresh was a tough uncaring guy, right? That's where that comes from. For me, aloof and mysterious works well for a bartender."

“And for a man who’s secretly Intel, too,” she added. “The old Suresh... well, this one has to keep that appearance but if he truly was that way, he’d be a monster. Like the other night at Saturnalia, Marabeth was there, in his lap. People expect that from him and she’s aware. She knew he was a second before anyone else did I think. She keeps his secret for her own reasons, mainly because she understands what he’s like and knows that things down there would turn lethal otherwise. The old Suresh never cared what those who cared for him thought, though. Like Seyla.”

He glanced at her and frowned. "Seyla? Seyla cares for people and cares what some think of her. Not many, but some." He thought of Eli, particularly Eli as he was after Chance's death. "Isn't Marabeth the one dating ...." He trailed off asking that question. "Nevermind, that's not important. But, yes, Marabeth probably is well aware just how lethal the Pit can be."

“Seyla loved the old one though goodness knows how she could.” Six shrugged. Something he’d just said came back to her suddenly. “Why do you think Suresh is certain nothing would happen here?” She motioned between them.

He looked startled and shrugged. "Didn't you tell him that?"

“I did but that wouldn’t necessarily make him believe it,” she answered. “Even if it’s true.” She looked back at him, not as certain of that as she had been.

"And it might not be true?" He laughed lightly, knowing it just might not be. "Well, hell. And he's not really in favor of sharing, huh?"

“What do you think?” Six smiled. “Would you be?” She leaned forward and kissed him gently.

He caught her and deepened the kiss. "Some people say that half of something is better than nothing. But I don't know, Six. I know what I want right now." And that was her.

She nodded slowly. “I know too,” she whispered. “Let’s just...see how things go, okay? You said you wanted me to know what I want from life, I need to find out.”

"And we need to run you through some routines," he said. "Let's do that, before I lose my mind completely and try to have sex with you right here. That'd end lots of things."

“Like you being my contact? Well, job contact...not...the other sort of contact.” She laughed to release a little tension. Leaning closer, she pulled the jeans from his lap and tossed them aside. Leaning closer, she put her hands on his shoulders and in a flash, flipped him flat to the floor. “What was it you told me? Always expect the unexpected?”

He groaned, having nearly bitten his tongue when his jaw hit the floor. "Did I tell you that? And did I forget to tell you not to abuse the old guy?"

“Old, my ass,” she retorted and laughed once more. “You’re in amazing shape and you know it.” She let go so he could get up. “Ready for round two?”

"Yes," he said, "Back off." He stood, grabbed his jeans and yanked them on, while calling up the training protocol for Six. Two holographic Klingons appeared. He smiled at Six, "Did I mention them? Have fun!"

“You so owe me,” she grunted as the two Klingons moved in.

These two Klingons were considerably tougher than the last ones Vic had programmed or her and it took her extensive effort to fell one and finally the other. By the time she was done, she was tired and sweaty. As the holograms faded, she bent over, resting her hands on her knees.

“What the hell did you add to the program?” she panted. “Super powers?”

"Augments, so, yeah, sort of." Vic laughed. "Do you know about the Klingon augments? Well, augmented human-klingon hybrids, really. You looked good, though."

Six straightened up, then twisted her hair up into a knot on her head and fanned the back of her neck. “We heard...I heard the rumours of them, of course, but my group never ran across them since we were out here.” She moved to the wall and picked up a water bottle Vic had left there and brought it back, taking a long drink. “Thanks for the compliment. I was sure that they were going to kick my ass for a bit there.”

"Well, they were intended to test you, Six. It doesn't do much good if you're not overextended," he said, smiling. "But it does seem you're done for now. No use causing you an injury."

“It also seems that the doctors were right and I’m as good as new. I do, however, need a shower, which I’m going to do in one of the rooms upstairs. Dinner later? I know you’re off tonight and Suresh has to make an appearance down on Archadia without the arm candy.”

"Dinner later, yes," he nodded. He wasn't off, but Jackson would understand. "How about we meet at... um... You know where Mamu's Curios is? Let's meet just outside her place, then I'll take you to dinner."

“Sounds good.” Six smiled. “See you at 2000 hours.” She stopped to gather her clothes and moments later she was gone.

“So how’d it go?” asked Dae from the entrance behind Vic.

Vic turned. "Dae. It went fine. She took down both augmented Klingons. Gotta love our modern medicine." He smiled, fairly certain that wasn't exactly what Dae wanted to know.

“And her nanites too.” He smiled. “I saw her performance and it was impressive. How’s your jaw?” Amusement lit Dae’s face as he asked the question.

"Jeez, you were watching the whole time?" Vic wasn't appreciative of that: his moves hadn't been the smoothest. And what if she had let him do more than kiss her?

“Not all of it no, I came in just in time to see her lure you into a position where she could take advantage and you ended up on the floor. She got to you,” Dae answered. “Are you getting to her though?”

"We're having dinner tonight. She could have spent the night with friends - Bryce, for example, but she's coming out with me." He shrugged. "I'm taking that as a sign of getting through to her."

Dae considered it and shrugged. “Maybe. Where’s Suresh going to be during this outing? Being seen up here won’t be an issue, you’re known as a friend of Six’s so no issues there.”

"He's going to Archadia for something," Vic replied. "I was more concerned about the date than why Suresh was going there. Plus, I'll take her to Valentino's, where they have the private booths."

“Good idea,” Dae answered. “I’ll be glad to make the reservation if you want. Besides, even if someone sees you, I doubt it will make waves. The station’s too busy discussing the fact that Reva was snatched by that slaver and is gone.”

"That woman," he shook his head, "She has zero luck, it seems. Darwin told me Carter went after the slaver's ship."

“She did.” Dae paused a moment and crossed his arms. “There’s more. Another ship left, an Orion ship, with Riley and Lt. Amani aboard. I didn’t tell Six yet about Reva. You can, but maybe it would be better to wait until there’s some news.”

"She knows. Darwin... Oh, I suppose she only knows part of it," Vic nodded. "I'd rather wait. What's with the Orion ship? Darwin didn't mention Riley and Amani going anywhere."

“He may not be aware yet.” Dae turned to go, then stopped. I only found out a few minutes ago from a friend working in that area where the ship was berthed. I’m going to call Darwin when I get back to my office. Have fun tonight but be careful. Since you’re with Six, that gives Ed a few free hours but she’ll meet you to see her home.”

"Okay, thanks Dae. I'm going up to shower and such," Vic saluted Dae casually and headed out, slinging his shirt over his shoulder.

*****************
Lt. Commander Dae Nalas
Always Watching

Lt. Vic
Stripper

Ensign Six Of Ten
Seeing The Full Moon