The Morning After

Posted on Wed Aug 15th, 2012 @ 6:30am by Jackson Banning V & Commander Oralia Zeferino & Janice Gree

Mission: Sections of the Delta Quadrant
Location: Jackson's Quarters

When Oralia woke, she didn’t do it slowly. On the contrary, she went from being seemingly dead asleep to sitting upright and in a panic. She was breathing hard and her heart rate skyrocketed. It was only after she reminded herself that last night hadn’t been a dream, that she started to calm down.

It certainly hadn’t been a dream, though, as she shifted in the bed, she realized one was sleeping next to her. Smiling happily, she gently brushed a lock of hair from Jackson’s cheek and kissed him. “Jackson? Hey, wake up,” she whispered.

“Mmmph,” he mumbled. “Just take the shipment to Vic, he’ll check it in.”

“Jackson,” she pulled the sheet off of him and touched places on him she’d only discovered last night. Now, she tried again, “C’mon, sleepyhead.”

A low chuckle escaped him. “Keep that up, no one’s goin’ anywhere, Oz.”

“Oh, there you are,” she laughed. “And who said I wanted to go anywhere? You’re the one who thought he’d be all set to wake up and fool around before his appointment with Harding.”

“Well, now that you mention it....” Jackson snuggled her in against his side as he rubbed his eyes with his other hand. “How are ya this mornimg?”

“Think anyone would care if I took a sick day and just hid here all day?”

“I’ve no doubt that someone would come knockin’ before long. Likely Ophelia wonderin’ why I wasn’t in sickbay.” He turned his head to kiss her forehead. “What time is it?”

“Five-thirty. You have time to sleep once I leave, but... I don’t want to leave,” she cuddled closer to him and kissed his collarbone and up his neck.

“Five thirty? Is this time normal for you? If Li changed the start of alpha shift I’ll kick her butt.” He raised his chin, giving her lips more room to roam.

“Hmm..., yup, this is normal for me. I don’t stick to the Alpha/Beta shift times. My department does, but I’m in early, late, everything in between. Keeps the minions in suspense.”

“And why so early this mornin’?”

“Cassidy and I are going for a jog later this morning. I want to check in with Darwin before that.” She hadn’t stopped touching him since waking him, wordlessly daring him to keep her in bed a little longer. “And, who knows, I might just take off the rest of the day to keep a certain entertainment owner company.”

“I’m game. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of this, Oz.” He drew her on top of him, wincing only slightly as she pressed down on his chest. “I have to see Harding but after that, I’m all yours. All.”

“Mmm... then we’ll meet back here,” she whispered. It was the last of their coherent conversation for the morning.

* * *

The appointment in sickbay hadn’t taken long. Harding had removed the bandages, made the usual doctor noises as he examined the area beneath. He’d asked about Jackson’s evening, if he’d rested, if there had been any pain. Jackson had, of course, lied on both counts, swearing he spent the evening on the sofa before going to bed. Well, that was mostly true. A little work with the regenerator had removed the last faint traces of the surgery and while the area was still a bit tender, Harding seemed satisfied. Now, Jackson approached his quarters, looking forward to a day with Oz.

The doors slid open and he stepped in, then called out. “I’m home!”

Only it wasn’t Oz who answered. “So I see, Jackie,” Janice’s smoothly calm voice came from the living room. “And you haven’t been here alone, that much is certain,” she held up a certain blue dress, which she’d found crumpled on the sofa.

“Jan!” He crossed the room all smiles and leaned down to hug her. “Glad to see ya.” He eyed the blue dress and his smile returned.

She returned the hug - she might be furious with him, but she still loved him. Pushing him back a little, Jan gave him a once over, just like she did with Cassidy. “Are you all healthy again? Fit as a fiddle?”

“Mostly.” Jackson sat down on the sofa and memories of the previous night spent on it brought another smile. “The outward signs are all healed, but it’s still a trifle sore. That should pass in another day or two, according to the doc.”

“So two days till you’re back to performing?” She was watching him carefully and trying to recall the last time he’d seemed so ...relaxed. And happy.

“I’ll be in tomorrow. I’ll leave the performin’ to you two but at least I’ll be there to give you a bit of a break, honey. Everything going okay at the club?”

“Yeah, it is,” she said, then reconsidered slightly, “If you count having that monster decorate your office with spider webs as ‘okay’.” A hint of her anger showed on that gibe.

“Iggy was visiting?” He seemed surprised but not overly annoyed. It was doubtful that anything would annoy him right now though. “Vic called last night to say Cass had come in. How is she?”

“Cassidy? She’s okay, Jackie. There’s a ...not a dullness, but... a reduction in her brightness, about her now. You know I don’t like prying into others’ business,” a true statement, unless the business belonged to either Jackson or Vic, “so I didn’t ask too many questions. I got that she beat the tar out of ol’ Natalia.”

Jackson nodded. “She did, and took out both of Natalia’s goons. That’s a lot to carry for someone like Cass, who’s not used to the lifestyle I’ve led. She had to or we’d both be dead now, Jan. And it’s only been two days since we got back. It’ll take time.”

“She’s in our circle now; I’ll worry about her if I want to,” Jan said, reeling slightly at the idea of slight little Cassy taking out three evil people. Sunshine and light triumphs over dark, she thought. “Just like I’ll worry about you, Jackie.”

“I know, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.” He paused a moment as he looked back at Jan. “How much did she tell you?”

“Cassidy? Nearly nothing. Though I did get that Natalia was the masterplotter. Kick in the pants with that, wasn’t it?”

He shook his head and grumbled. “Yeah, and played me well enough. Oh, Harding is horrible, he’s makin’ me do all this bad stuff... Bullshit. I think Harding was up to somethin’ but not what she’d have me believe.”

Jan ignored his complaint about Harding. “Maybe you should be careful about gettin’ played again, Jackie.”

“By who?”

Pressing her lips together, she brandished the blue dress at him. “By this one!”, she nearly shouted. “She strung you along for two damned years, Jackie. You were almost free of her. But now? You’re right back under her spell! And she’s going to hurt you.”

Jackson sighed aloud and shook his head. “How can you be so sure?”

“Cause she’s been doing it for two years!” Jan’s logic had flaws.

“It’s complicated, I know. And from the outside, I know it doesn't seem to make much sense. She an’ I talked about this some last night actually. Sometimes, Jan, some people need a little distance from somethin’ to see it clearly.”

“I have distance, Jackson. I’ve seen her type before and she’ll be nothing but trouble for you.” Jan wasn’t raging at him like she’d raged at her mirror, which was a good thing, since some of what her mirror had received had been incoherent. “Cut her loose. We’ll find a good match for you.”

“I don’t want a ‘good match’, I want Oz. I have since the day I met her. I tried my damnedest to get past it Jan, but it just didn’t happen.She’s changed a lot too, and realized a lot of things she didn’t really see before.”

“Really?” Jan obviously didn’t believe it. “Did she realize what a shit she was to you?” She realized she was still holding the dress and dropped it on the table.

“She mentioned it, yeah. Then again, that day in my office, when I found out she was pregnant, I made my views pretty clear on her situation with Connor, and me.”

Stepping back, mentally, to really stop and regard Jackson, Janice asked, “She ‘fessed up to how she...?” It wasn’t something she had expected of Oralia; she thought of the woman as a self-centered, thoughtless bitch. “Sounds like you’ve been doing a lot of talking. She makes you happy?”

“More than you can imagine. Have you ever wanted somethin’ so bad and for so long you thought you’d go crazy without it? Then just when it seems it’s impossible, it happens? And suddenly, it’s right there in yer hands?” Jackson’s gaze was intent but beneath it, she could see real happiness for the first time in ages.

Just as Janice was about to respond, the door chimed. Jackson nearly bounded over to answer it and the object of their discussion entered the room, hugging Jackson and pulling him into a kiss so fierce and deep, Jan nearly blushed watching it.

“Hey, how about I feed you...,” Oz saw Janice move and gasped. “Oh, did I walk into something? Should I come back later?”

Jackson smiled once he came up for air. “Ah, no it’s okay. Jan stopped in to check on me and catch up, and we were just talkin’. Come on in.”

The smile on Jackson’s face sealed the fate of Janice’s anger. She couldn’t maintain it in the light from that smile. So when Oralia turned toward her and hesitantly smiled, Jan smiled right back. “Oralia, good to see you. My condolences for your losses.”

Oz’s smile faltered slightly. “Thanks,” she managed. “Jackson, Janice, if you don’t mind, I’m going to go in the ...kitchen... and just clean up from last night a little bit.” She moved in that direction.

“Sure. Oh and the good news, Harding says I am gonna be fine. All healed up, soreness should fade in a day or two.”

“Oh, shucks, I have to wait another day or two to discover the complete Mr. Banning?” Oz shot him a wicked look, then a slightly chagrined look at Janice.

As Oz disappeared into the kitchen, Janice looked at Jackson. “I’m going to watch her. And if she hurts you, Jackie....” She shook her head.

Jackson sat down on the end of the sofa nearest Jan and took her hand in his. “You know, Jan, now? I think if it works out, I’ll be deliriously happy. If it doesn’t, I’ll handle it. But at least I'm gettin’ the chance to see.”

Gripping his hand in hers, Janice nodded then looked around the room. “You might want to think about retaining a housekeeper, though. Just on the off chance you get guests.” Their discussion about Oz was closed, for now. “On that note, I’ll leave you two... to whatever vices you’re going to get up to tonight, Jackson.” She stood and leaned close to him to kiss his forehead. “Don’t strain anything, okay? I’m up for a night off when you get back.”

“Tomorrow, darlin’. Tell Eli when you see him that I’ll be in tonight and you won’t.”

Jan stared at him and said, “Tonight?” The word echoed from the kitchen, too. Oz appeared in the kitchen doorway. “You mean tomorrow night,” Jan confirmed.

“Tomorrow, yeah, sorry. I’m benched one more day.” The smile on Jackson’s face said clearly that he didn’t mind.

“Uh-huh,” his business partner shot a look at his bed partner, who had a nearly matching smile. “Ok, I’m out of here. You two, do whatever. Talk a lot.” As she passed Oralia, she gave the woman a significant look then disappeared out the door.

Oz breathed a sigh of relief. “She does not like me, does she?”

“Let’s say..she didn’t. She’s working on it.” He drew Oz into his arms, holding her tight. “She’ll get there.”

“I ...love this. You,” she smiled up at him and lightly patted where he’d been injured. “Think you could handle being on top?”

“Wanna see?” He gave her a wicked smile.

“No, I think I’ll just go home now,” she was teasing, but she did turn towards the door.

Jackson was quicker. He scooped her up over his shoulder and set off to the bedroom, with her laughing the whole way.

***********
Janice Gree
Owner & Protector
The Nexus Club

Jackson Banning V
Owner & Caveman
The Nexus Club

Oralia Zeferino
Caveman’s Conquest