Meeting the In-Laws

Posted on Fri Nov 27th, 2015 @ 8:11pm by Bajun Tora & Admiral Lucius Hawke & Lieutenant Commander Solis

* Solis & Julisa’s Quarters *

Will had nicely but firmly put Solis on leave until there was some news about Julisa. He’d made it clear that nothing pressing was on the schedule and Solis needed to be home, trying to unwind - and be close in case they were looking for him. Now, instead of pacing in his office, he was pacing his quarters where everything in view reminded him of Julisa. He’d gone to call Gilroy almost a dozen times and then didn’t because he didn’t want to annoy him.

Finally, he had decided he needed to eat and had made a sandwich and plopped down on the sofa to watch the news. Julisa’s face was going to be known all over the quadrant by the time she got home. The door chime rang and he set his water aside and went to open the door.

“Vedek Bajun, hi. Come on in.”

"Thank you, Doctor Solis," Tora entered his quarters and drew Lucius inside with her. "I believe you know Admiral Hawke, Julisa's father," she dropped a bomb then saw an image of Solis and Julisa on a shelf over the couch. "Oh, she looks radiant beside you!"

“Yeah, she does and ---” Solis stopped and looked from her to Lucius. “Her what?”

"Father, dad, male parent," Tora listed off a few alternate terms for him.

“Father,” Solis repeated slowly. “I think I need to sit down.” He moved back to the sofa and sat heavily. “No offense sir. Not that I think you wouldn’t make a good father...umm...well..you have already but…” Suddenly realization dawned. “Wait. She doesn’t know.”

Lucius shook his head and sat down in a chair by the sofa. “No, she doesn’t.”

“There were circumstances and we felt it necessary to not tell Julisa,” Tora said, still looking around the apartment. “We’ll make sure she knows when she returns.”

“So if you don’t mind my asking, why now after all these years?” Solis wanted to know. “Her life has settled down after a difficult year when she…” He checked himself, not wanting to get into the whole timeline change and her death in one of them.

“Because she’s in the past with us, Solis,” Tora said. “Her and Lieutenant Darwin, a Borg named Six, and a guy named Niro.” She looked at Lucius and frowned with worry. “At the moment, I only recall that she was taken by Darhe’el to Gallitep. We took a team into rescue her.”

Solis’ jaw tightened at her words. “In….Gallitep?? With Darhe’el? He….” Solis’ temper was riding high now and he was back on his feet pacing. “She….oh I don’t even know where to begin!”

Lucius had been mostly silent but now he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “I know this is hard but you getting all riled up is not going to help.” His tone was firm as he continued. “There is nothing to indicate yet that she doesn’t get out of this. Commander Winter has confirmed that so we need you to be level-headed here. Julisa certainly will need that when she gets home.”

Solis whirled around to face Lucius, opened his mouth, and thought better of voicing the words that rose in him. The admiral was right, of course, but that didn’t ease his worry. A new thought came to him, however. He wasn’t the only one missing someone at Niro’s hands. He nodded finally.

“You’re right.”

“We’re not sure how they get back or when, but they do get back here,” Tora wandered over and sat next to Lucius. She put a hand on his thigh and smiled up at him; in that moment, she looked like her daughter. “She’ll be fine,” she reassured herself. “And then you two,” she looked at Solis pointedly, “are getting married. Siri told me you two have been engaged for months.”

Unexpectedly, Solis laughed. “Siri didn’t tell you everything apparently.”

“Meaning?” Lucius asked.

“It was official some time ago actually. Not that it matters to the two of you.” He stopped and sighed aloud. “Sorry about that, really, but look at it from where I am standing. You said you had reasons, convince me.”

Glancing at Lucius, Tora hesitated then deflected his demand. “You two are already married? Julisa didn’t tell me that! When did this happen?”

“A couple of months ago after we returned from Bajor. That trip was part of an undercover investigation that actually saved Admiral Hawke’s ass...and Admiral Wegener’s. Begging your pardon sir.” Solis smiled. “It was a rough trip and when we got back, a few other things happened and after that? We decided we’d danced around long enough.”

Lucius nodded. “No offense taken. He’s right, Tora, they turned up evidence that linked a fellow SFC member to the capture and torture of an officer who tried to frame us and….well..long story.”

“Oh,” Tora’s voice was small and tight. “That must be why Julisa didn’t see me on that trip.” She withdrew her hand from Lucius and tucked both hands in her lap. “Exactly why we’ve never told Julisa who her father is isn’t really clear in my head. He was there, living with us, fighting alongside Bajoran Resistance fighters. But we always knew that pressures from Betazed would call him away.”

Another thought hit Solis and now he looked to Lucius. “Does Li know?”

Lucius nodded. “She does now. We just spoke with her.” He left it at that.

“How do you think she will take this?” Solis asked Tora. “I mean...living here this whole time with the admiral and not knowing?”

“Oh, you know Jules,” she smiled slightly. “Likely, she’s not going to take this well at all. Unless you’ve had a bigger influence on her than I know about, I wager she’ll find a way to run away from it.”

“That’s what worries me,” Solis admitted. He frowned and rubbed his eyes. “Especially since things are going well after all that’s happened. There’s more than you two know about.” He leaned back into the sofa and looked up at the ceiling. “What if she figures it out while they’re there?”

“That’s a strong possibility, actually. She saw herself as a child before she was taken by Darhe’el’s men but I’m not sure how much she has put together.” Lucius shook his head. “I suppose we’ll know when they are back.”

“She might not have had time to puzzle it out yet. Between arriving at the camp and then going back out and her friend Darwin nearly getting killed...,” Tora shrugged then breathed, “Oh...,” and looked at Lucius. “Do you recall anything more now?”

He looked from Solis to Tora and frowned in thought. “There was some concern by Darwin that the other fellow, Niro, was doing something…..he warned Rick not to let Niro touch him, remember?”

“Hmm, I do. He didn’t want Ricky to be alone with the man and you ended up sending some of our people with them,” Tora nodded. “Do you know why now? He was of a race that we didn’t know at the time.”

“Enaran,” Lucius answered. “His brother is part of Intel. Niro has been rather a thorn in the side of Security here on the station lately. Very strong telepaths. Darwin seemed to think he’d been altering Six’s memories too.”

That got Solis’ attention. “Altering? Oh that’s not going to go over well.”

“I hope he doesn’t get to Jules, either, then,” Tora said.

“Yeah. Whatever he’s doing, I hope it can be undone or we might have a serious problem when they get back.” Solis shot a glance at Lucius.

“Indeed. Let’s hope so.” A frown settled on Lucius’ face then. “I wish I had an answer for you as to when they will return. I don’t. I do think, Tora, that when she does get back, it might be better to give her and Solis some time before we spill the news...if she doesn’t already know.”

Looking from one man to the other, the Bajoran frowned and was on the edge of making a rude comment. She reconsidered, however, and simply nodded. “Perhaps we should leave you alone, Solis.”

The memories of the Bajor trip had been replaying in his thoughts and now he reconsidered his earlier decision. “There’s something you two should know, since we’re spilling secrets.”

For a brief moment, Tora’s spirits rose and she hoped she could guess Solis’ news: a grandchild. “What secret are you holding back?”

“It’s about the Bajor trip. You’re aware Admiral, of how that played out of course, but even you didn’t see everything. Commander Winter and Lt. Commander Nalas know because they were directly involved. We felt it best at the time to keep it that way. In fact, Julisa didn’t know either until the nightmares came…….” Solis looked down at his hands. “On that trip where we recovered the evidence regarding Azoulay, she had some people there. One of them lured Julisa away and when we found her….it was too late. I tried to save her and couldn’t. She bled out right there in my arms. Commander Winter showed up and we replayed that day and managed to get there in time. She knows now, of course, but it never went any further than the four of us.”

Tora blinked a few times then stared at Solis for a long, silent moment. “She died?” She pulled at her earring. “She died on Bajor?” Standing, she walked over to look at the image of Solis and Julisa again. “You frustrated the Prophets’ will by playing with time; they will work to have what they want.”

“No offense to your prophets, but not on my watch,” was Solis’ reply. “I like to think, anyhow, that they chose to exercise their will through Commander Winter.”

“You may be right, Solis,” Lucius spoke up. “It’s not always possible to save a child, but when it happens, it is a blessing. Trust me on that one.”

“After this, she cannot go back to Bajor, ever!” Tora was adamant about it. “She’ll laugh at me about it, but if she has cheated death on Bajor this many times already, she can’t keep taking these risks.”

“This many times?” Solis asked. “You think she’s -- yeah….Darhe’el...enough said. After this I’m betting she isn’t going to want to set foot on Bajor any time soon.”

“Not to mention the other times. As a child, she... well, she was not the most graceful child,” Tora looked slightly uncomfortable and went back to Lucius’ side. “But she did survive the Occupation, which many other Bajorans did not.”

“Ehlana is certain she will survive this too.” Solis swept back his long hair and finally smiled. “Gil has promised to call the second they know something. I think I’m going to go for a walk when we’re done here.” He looked to Lucius now. “Given what you’ve just said about Niro, I think I should deliver a warning. That’s the sort of surprise we don’t want a certain person getting unprepared.”

“What certain people?” Tora disliked being left out of secrets; it was a trait she shared with her daughter.

“Six’s ..significant other I guess you’d call him.” Solis reached for his water glass. “He ...well..I guess you could say he is the station’s bad guy. Underworld boss...crime lord...take your pick.”

“Six? The Borg girl? She’s a crime lord’s... and Julisa was with her? Lucius, I need to go lie down,” she said, standing again and holding out a hand for Lucius. “This day has been quite upsetting.”

“That is an understatement.” Lucius rose and took her hand. “We’ll check in soon, Solis.” And be careful down there. If you need anything call me directly.

“Sure. Till then try and relax.” He stood and walked them to the door with a slight nod to Lucius.

“If you hear anything, please call me, Solis; you’ll be the first one I contact if I hear anything,” Tora assured her son-in-law. On impulse, she hugged him. “You make her happy.”

“I do try.” He smiled as she hugged him. “Take care.”

Nodding, she turned and left with Lucius.

*****************
Lt. Solis
Caged Tiger

Vedek Bajun Tora
Superstitious Mother

Admiral Lucius Hawke
Surprise Father