HOmecomings - Part I

Posted on Fri Dec 11th, 2015 @ 8:51pm by Lieutenant Commander William Harding M.D. & Suresh & Lieutenant Commander Michael Darwin & Lieutenant Commander Gilroy & Senior Chief Petty Officer Edana

Mission: Further Challenges
Location: Piper Medical Center

* Piper Medical Center *

Alone in a room, Darwin sat on a biobed and, after a moment, sat back, drew a light blanket over his legs and decided to nap. No sooner had he decided this and closed his eyes to make it reality, the door opened. He decided the universe hated him.

“Darwin!” It was Gilroy, followed by Will Harding, entered the room and started talking, “You’ll need to record a complete debriefing; Carter will walk you through all the questions. If necessary, I can conference in from the ship. Actually, that’s exactly what I’ll do. For yours and the others’ debriefings. I’d like to hear what happened first hand. Were you injured?”

Sitting up and blinking at Gilroy, Darwin was slow to answer; he’d never seen Gilroy like this: talkative. “Hey, Gil, Will,” he chuckled at the rhyme. “I was. A Cardassian used a disruptor on me at short range. Here,” he pulled his shirt up a little then stopped. “How’s Six? And Julisa?”

“I haven’t seen them yet,” Will answered. “Lay back down please.” Once he did, he moved his tricorder over Darwin’s chest. “Disruptor you say, who did the repair? It’s not too bad, though a little clumsy.”

“A Bajoran doctor in a field hospital. Six gave him a regen’er, but it was his first time with one. All first timers are clumsy,” he smiled then his brow furrowed and he looked at Gilroy, “Did you say ship? Where are you going?”

“To an ice planet a few days from here. Oz and Dae Nalas and a couple others went out there to investigate the sighting of a Borg cube.” Gilroy hesitated and looked at Will, calculating the Doctor’s security clearance. “The party that went encountered Borg; only Nico escaped.”

Will stopped and whipped around to look at Gilroy. “Only Nico escaped? Meaning the rest will be lost unless you are successful and Earl,Solis and I are as good as we think we are.”

“Oz?” Darwin sat up, jaw hanging open. “Does Jackson know?”

“Assimilated, yes.” Gilroy answered Harding first, “We will be successful and you, Earl and Solis are as good as we all know you to be.” He narrowed his eyes at Will. “You are the one who brought Chance back from the dead. Well...,” he hedged that statement, “you made sure his body was alive. Jackson knows, Darwin. Sakkath, Jackson, a few others and I are leaving in two hours to go get our people back.”

Darwin grabbed Will’s forearm, “Doc, get me fixed up, I need to go with them!”

“You are going to lay back down until I say otherwise,” Will ordered. “Now. I am going to go over you stem to stern and then fix what that doctor in 2360 didn’t. Then you and Gilroy can fight about whether you’re going or taking a few days off.”

“He’s all yours Doctor Harding,” Gilroy said, “Our ship is full. Besides, I need you here, Mike, covering our department. Ensign Carter and SCPO Lubo are up to date on everything you need to know, so you’re in good hands.”

“You said it’s a few days out - I can rest up on the ride out,” Darwin tried to argue, though he did lay back down for Harding’s exam. “C’mon, Will won’t take that long and I can be ready to go in two hours.”

“No.” Gilroy made it clear Darwin wasn’t going. “There is one thing I need you to watch out for while I’m gone. There’s a ship that just docked, the Ning’Tao. Its Captain is an old friend of mine and I’d appreciate you looking out for her. Her name is Isaura Panossian.”

“She?” Darwin’s brow perked up. “She better be cute.”

Gilroy sighed. “She’s not Orion; she’s not your type.”

“Damn well better believe it.” The voice was Edana’s. She stood in the doorway to the room looking the three men over. “Whoever ‘she’ is.” He words were belied by the bright smile she wore as she looked at Darwin. “Is he damaged, Doc?”

Will chuckled. “He’s stable enough….” He wisely stepped back from the table.

“Ed!” Darwin grinned and held an arm out to hug her. “Just don’t break a coffee table with me and I should be fine.”

Gilroy, not knowing the joke, glanced at Will and shrugged.

“I promise,” she whispered as she hugged him tight. “Are you alright? What happened? Ophelia said you had been injured.”

“Injured and repaired,” Will corrected. “A correction I am about to ..correct.”

“Yeah. Gilroy, bring her back safe,” Darwin said, waving slightly. Gilroy nodded and slipped out of the room. “Doc, do you need to ... open me up for this?”

“A little yes. You’re still experiencing some pain in the area aren’t you?” Will dropped the tricorder in his pocket and smiled at Darwin, who was still wrapped in a pair of green arms. “So I’ll need to knock you out but it will be no more than half an hour.”

“When I lift my arm, it hurts,” he confirmed. “Whenever you’re ready. Looks like I’m not going on the party bus.” He looked at Ed, “Guess you’ll have to console me.” He winked at her.

“I think I can do that. I’d planned to whisk you away for a vacation when you got back but it will have to wait till Gilroy and Oz are back.” Worry was still evident in Edana’s eyes as she reached down to brush his hair back. “I’m so glad you’re home.”

“So am I,” Darwin said. “I’m glad Six and Julisa are safe, too. I could sleep for a few days, I think. Doc, you’ll go check on Six and Jules before we go into surgery, right?”

“Dr. Crane is overseeing them as we speak,” Will answered. “I’m going to go scrub up and have Ophelia come in and knock you out. I’ll be back in a few.” He hurried out, leaving Darwin and Edana alone.

She turned back to Darwin. “So what really happened? Why were you three transported up here instead of just exiting the ship?”

“I’m not sure, actually. What’s been going on here?”

“It’s been quiet, actually.” Edana hesitated as she looked back down at him. “Aside from Niro running off with you three. Believe it or not, you’ve only been missing for two days in this time. But I am curious about something. Why is Six in one of the secure rooms?”

“Because Niro did what Niro does: I’m pretty sure he messed with her head and memories. When we left here, she was ready to kill him, would have done so happily, I think. But somewhere in there, after I got hurt and Julisa was taken by the Cardassians, things changed. By the time we were coming back, Six was angry when I stunned Niro and almost threatened me. I didn’t request it, but I’ll bet the Admiral remembers my concerns.”

Edana nodded. “He specifically wanted her secured and not in contact with anyone till she was cleared. Suresh was waiting at the dock. I’ll need to track him down before long. Anything else I should know about now, or can it wait for your debriefing?”

“Um... hmm... No, not that I can think of at the moment. I just hope we didn’t change the timeline at all.”

“I’ve not noticed anything and I’m sure if you had, Commander Winter would be all over you, figuratively speaking. That said, I can’t guarantee it won’t affect the future in a general way. It is an event in your life after all, as well as mine and everyone else affected. You are what matters at the moment, however.” She rested her hand on his cheek gently. “Do you want me to stay while Will does his thing?”

“No. Actually, I’d rather you go see Suresh, run some interference for whichever nurse or doctor he’s going to yell at about seeing Six.”

“I will. I’m sure by now he’s been informed she is here, which means he will be arriving any minute now.” She sighed aloud. “I’ll have Will call as soon as he finishes with you though.”

“Thanks, babe,” he smiled at her. “I was concerned I wouldn’t see you again.”

“We would’ve found a way, trust me.” She leaned down for a kiss just as the sound of raised voices came from out in the corridor. “I think that’s my cue.”

“Yup. Bye,” he sent her out to handle Suresh.

* * *

Edana emerged from Darwin’s room and stood listening. The commotion was coming from farther down the corridor to her left, the area where the locked rooms were grouped together. Now that she knew Darwin was home safe and sound, she was greatly relieved and had regained her calm. As she started off in the direction of the voices, she has a feeling she was going to need it. It took just a few minutes and finally she arrived to find Suresh deep in conversation with one of the nurses. It wasn’t going well.

“I’m sorry,” the nurse was explaining. “Those are Admiral Wegener’s orders and I cannot ignore them. Six will have to remain here until Dr. Harding and the psychiatric staff have cleared her. Well, Security too, actually.” She stopped, not wanting to mention that Six had requested he not be allowed in to see her. Not that it mattered since no one but the medical staff could get in her room right now.

“Suresh?” Edana slipped her arm around his shoulder and steered him away from the harried nurse. “What’s the scoop?”

“They won’t let me see her!” He turned a stricken look on Edana. “She’s back, but ...get me in to see her, Ed. What if she’s hurt, dying, and they aren’t telling me?”

“If it helps, Dr. Harding didn’t mention anyone being in any danger or injured. I just saw Darwin and he didn’t say anything about it either.” She kept what he had said about Six and Niro to herself, however. She was in no mood for an explosion here in the corridor. “All three of them were brought here to be checked.”

His look went from stricken to angry as he grabbed hold of one of the things she’d said: “You’ve been in to see Darwin? then why can’t I see Six?” He was yelling and didn’t give a damn if he was disturbing anyone. “What is going on with Six that I can’t see her?”

Well shit, was the thought that crossed Edana’s mind. She was so busted. She wished suddenly that Vic was here, but that might not make the situation better. This was, essentially, her operation and so she made a decision. Six was Suresh's wife and he had a right to know, in her opinion. The problem was that sickbay wasn’t aware and thus hadn’t told him anything.

“Look, I can fill you in but you have to stop yelling. You need to calm down and come with me. Got that?”

“Go where? To see Six?” He walked along with her, not really caring that they were moving. “Tell me what you know.”

She led him into a small lounge that was empty and closed the door. “Sit down.”

He did, staring at her. “What is it?”

“This is what I know, which isn’t much, okay?” Edana sat down beside him, between him and the door in case she needed to tackle him and prevent his running out. “So keep in mind, it’s not the whole story.” She knew this sounded bad already.

He squeezed his hands into fists and did his best not to grab her and shake her knowledge out of her. His restraint made him shake and he blurted, “Tell me already!”

“There was a problem with Six. It seems that Niro has…..adjusted her memories. That was Darwin’s best guess, based on some things that happened while they were gone. They will check it out and if there is a problem, they will fix it. Until then, Admiral Wegener ordered no contact with anyone except medical staff. ” Ed kept her voice calm. “Which means you need to get a grip and not go off the deep end.”

The information had a definite effect on Suresh: he went from shaking with worry to being calm. “Niro adjusted her memories?”, he mused quietly. He already had a pact with Lazan and Robart: Niro was a dead man. Suddenly, mere death wasn’t enough for Niro. He started to nod slowly. “I see. Can they fix her memories? What if she doesn’t remember me? Or remember that she loves me?” Oh, yes, death was too easy for Niro.

Edana reached for his hand and held it tight. His sudden calm worried her far more than his agitation. “I think you are seeing reasons to worry before you know what’s what,” she said. She suspected, however, based on what little Darwin had told her, that Suresh was closer to the mark than she liked. “You might try talking to the nurse and not yelling at her next time.”

“She wouldn’t tell me why I couldn’t see Six!” He looked at her like she was crazy. “She could have just told me.” Indeed, because he would have been ever-so-rational about the news, just like he was being right now. “He’s a dead man, Ed. Not immediately. Immediately, he’s going to hurt. Until he wants to die. And I’ll keep him alive just to spite him.”

“Oh no, I did not just hear you say that. Tell me I didn’t hear that.” Edana tugged at her ear. “Must not be working right today.” She then grabbed his shirt and pulled him close until they were nose to nose. “I cannot sit here and listen to plans to kill Niro and ignore them,” she whispered. “I understand and believe me, I’d love to help but it puts me in a crappy position. Officially I can’t be involved. Do you get what I’m saying here?”

“You’re not involved, so don’t worry.” He actually smiled. “That wasn’t even a plan - it was a vague statement.”

“Uh huh.” Edana eyed him warily. “Sure it was. You realize he’s in the brig, right? And has a list of charges as long as my arm?” Once more, she wished Vic was here so they could get an idea of what Suresh might be planning. “Look, they’ll take care of Six and get this all straightened out. The best thing you can do is be calm about it and let them do their thing, okay? Send her some flowers or something. That will at least show her you care and are worried about her. I’m sure she could use that right about now.”

"Flowers. Right, I can do that. Can we see Darwin?" It was obvious he wasn't over worrying about Six - he wouldn't be done with that until he had his arms around her - but he was calmer and making an effort to think about other things.

“Doc Harding is doing a little clean-up on an injury he got while he was there. He said it would take a half hour which means….” She looked at the time. “They should be done any time now. Go see him if you like. I can stay here in case there’s any news.”

"I'll be back shortly. But come get me if they say I can see her!" Suresh stood and headed for whatever room they'd taken Darwin to.

**********************
Lt. Michael Darwin
Lt. Commander William Harding, M.D.
Lt.Gilroy
SCPO Edana
Suresh