Ghost-Town Heart - Part I

Posted on Sun Feb 28th, 2016 @ 8:46pm by Captain Li Hawke & Maxym Balasz

Mission: Further Challenges
Location: Maxym's Quarters / XO's Quarters

* Max's Quarters *

Max stood before the mirror but wasn't really seeing his reflection. The scene that passed in his mind was a day five years ago on Betazed. Li had been away for two months on a mission for the Fleet and had finally come home on leave. Max and Seren had joined Li and Rhys at the Janaran Falls to relax and unwind. It had been a hot day and they'd spent it alternately playing in the water, then drying off on the shore of the lake. There had been plenty of food and drink and they'd spent the day catching up on the past few months since the foursome had been together.

The foursome....they'd grown up together. Li the youngest, then Rhys, then Max a year older than Rhys, and Seren a year older than Max. You rarely saw one without the other, ever. Looking back on that day, as Max did often now, he could see things he'd missed at the time. Granted, it had been hard to keep his eyes off Li. He'd had to make a conscious effort to do so, though, so it wouldn't be noticed. He saw, from the distance of years, the subtle changes in Rhys as he interacted with Li. The slight possessiveness Rhys always had seemed stronger, more stern. He was noticeably more controlling too, holding on tighter. At the time Max had attributed it to Rhys missing her when she was gone and being afraid of the danger and of losing her, given her work in Intel. These days, when it was too late, he saw it for what it was.

Late that afternoon, while Seren and Rhys had gone back in for a swim, Max and Li had taken a walk. They'd strolled slowly in the sun, enjoying each other's company, talking of simple things. Rhys and Li's wedding was supposed to be two months away but she had revealed to Max that she was going to postpone it. Another mission was coming up and she had to go. She also wasn't ready to marry Rhys yet, she said. It was that moment that Max had decided, on the spot, to tell her how he felt, plead with her not to marry Rhys at all.

It never happened.

As they sat on a large rock talking, Rhys had appeared. There was no mistaking his displeasure at finding them alone, so deep in conversation. He had been polite when he informed them it was time to go, but Max had read enough in his brother to see the seething jealousy. For the rest of Li's leave, Rhys hadn't left her side and had insisted on seeing her off on his own. It was at the end of that mission that Li and Rhys had been assigned to the Berkeley and flown off to parts unknown while Max worked his way up the ambassadorial ladder and locked his feelings away.

A year later, Rhys was dead, Li nearly so at his hands, and both families in chaos. Soon after, news had come that Li was married to a Vulcan, a problematic mix by Betazoid standards. Max had put on a good face and kept his own feelings on the matter to himself.

And now, here he was, in the wake of Li's tragic loss, hoping to be her lifeline. What Lucius was asking him to do would blow open the vault of his feelings and he didn't think this time there would be any way of locking them away again. This would require patience, but he had plenty of it. What mattered now was keeping Li from self-destructing.

He finally checked himself and decided he looked acceptable. It was going to be a long night and he had opted for casual, comfortable clothes. Around his neck he wore a necklace made of red silk cord that held two tiny leaves dipped in latinum. Li had plucked them from a newly-sprouted flower they'd seen on their walk that day and had the necklace made for him. He wore it almost every day and he hoped its presence would remind her of better times. He took one last look in the mirror, then departed.

* XO's Quarters *

It had been a busy day for Li. From the moment she had departed Darwin’s quarters till now, she hadn’t stopped….on purpose. Standing still meant thinking and that was something to be avoided. Her first stop had been Intel, where she had made plans to fill tomorrow afternoon as effectively as she had filled today. Then, on to Piper to see Earl where she had assured him she was just fine, thank you so very much. Following her appointment with Earl, she had visited with Dae, Bryce, and Patrick, then finally arrived in Oz’s room. She had sent Jackson off to get something to eat and taken the time to catch up Oz on what had been happening while she was away. Li had done her best to avoid any in-depth discussion of Sakkath, however. As with Earl, she had assured Oz she was doing well.

Lucius had arrived at Piper just as Li was leaving and he had mentioned some of the memorial arrangements, but that was another subject Li couldn’t think about. She assured him the plans sounded just fine. Then she had escaped Piper. Travelling up in the turbolift, that word came again.

Fine.

She was fine, the service arrangements were fine, everything was just fine...fine...fine….and she had pretty well convinced herself of it. As long as she didn’t think about any of it, life would be….fine and dandy.

Her thoughts shifted to something far easier to contemplate - Darwin. He was the bright spot in her hollow emotions, the light that kept the darkness at bay. He was vivid and alive and she craved that so intensely it all but consumed her. He was life and emotion, sensation and feeling. He’d said down on Archadia that her ability to give mental pleasure was a drug, but what he didn’t realize was that he was a drug himself. In some hidden recess of her mind, she knew that but refused to think about it, just as she was refusing to think about so many things right now. What mattered was having something that kept away the dark shadow that threatened to suck her down into oblivion.

The lift stopped and Li began the walk to her quarters. Once she arrived, she stood facing the door, willing herself to move forward. As she entered, she almost gave in to her usual habit of calling out for Sakkath. WIth some effort she resisted and hurried to the bedroom to change for dinner.

* * *

Li had hurried through her shower and now stood, giving her hair one last check. She wanted to get out of these quarters as fast as she could and, given her plans to stay at Darwin’s that night, didn’t intend to be back here till tomorrow. She wore a sleeveless dress of deep green that reminded her of the water down on Archadia. It was low-key and casual. It would be fine for dinner with a friend, she decided. She added a spritz of a scent she had worn since her Academy days and was just about to slip on her shoes when the chime rang.

“Who would be coming here?” she wondered. Leaving her shoes by the dresser, she hurried out to see who it was and tell them she was going out.

Li was already giving an excuse as the doors opened. “I’m sorry, I’m just about to --” The words died in her throat as she looked at the man standing there. What she was seeing was impossible, surely, but her panicked mind latched onto the past and it was suddenly terrifyingly real. She screamed aloud. “No...nononono…..you can’t be alive.”

She pressed the panel to close the door, then turned and ran back through the apartment, trying desperately to get away.

“Li!” Max called out. He slipped through the doors just before they closed and stopped to take a breath and prepare himself mentally for what was to come. “Computer, lock doors.” A beep of acknowledgement came and Max fell silent, now opening up his thoughts to Li. He immediately wished he hadn’t but there was no other choice.

Li had retreated to the bedroom and in a flash, pulled open a drawer where she kept a phaser hidden. She now appeared back in the living room, watching Max, the phaser pointed at his head. “Don’t move. You are dead….twice. How is it you are back here? Answer me!” The panic in her thoughts kept her from reading the man before her. All she knew was what she thought she saw. “Two attempts not enough for you, Rhys?”

Max began to slowly raise his hands but when he saw Li’s phaser hand shift he stopped. Lucius had wanted a reaction, well….they’d gotten one.

“Li, listen to me carefully,” he began, his words calm and measured. “This is not what you think. Please lower the phaser. I am not Rhys.”

“Computer, open a channel to Lt. Darwin.” When the beep came, she yelled out, “Darwin, report to my quarters immediately!”

To Be Continued...

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Captain Li Hawke
Ambassador Maxym Balasz