Earth - Bending but not Breaking
Posted on Sun May 24th, 2026 @ 3:15am by Captain Rhenora Kaylen & Lieutenant Sarah Wilson & Commander Savar cha'Salik hei-Surak Talek-sen-deen & Commander Dean House & Lieutenant Commander Aurora Vali & Lieutenant JG Jacob Rosen & Lieutenant JG T'Lar & Lieutenant Commander Bonnie "Bon-Bon" Durnell
3,360 words; about a 17 minute read
Mission:
Character Development
Location: Spacedock / Earth
Spacedock
Captain Kaylen Rhenora walked into the busy medical facility in the Earth Spacedock, seeing a large portion of her crew already there. It warmed her heart that they were all being looked after quickly, so that they could enjoy the shore leave they had been promised before.
" Captain - over here please" one of the medic's steered her to a biobed and indicated that she lie down, allowing the sensors to do their thing and assess her injuries from a comfortable position.
Rhenora rested, allowing her eyes to close and the gentle hubbub of people doing their jobs around her to sooth her mind. They were safe again, the Naussicans had withdrawn, her people were safe, her ship would be repaired from the battle and they would finally give Batel the send off the poor woman deserved.
T'Lar finally returned to her quarters. The wounds to her face were healed, but the wounds to her psyche were still fresh in her mind. Now that she was alone her carefully constructed facade began to crumble. She sank to her knees in front of her shrine and began to meditate to calm her nerves. She had killed. Up close and personally. Her training had done its job. Still she trembled, her knees weak, hands trembling. Suddenly she raced to the head and retched into the toilet, giving up the last remains of her breakfast. Images of the fight flashed before her eyes. Oddly, she recollected not being afraid during the battle, save for when she saw Jacob Rosen and the captain pinned under the bulkhead. But now that it was over, the realization of what she'd survived hit her full force. She got up and brushed her teeth before peeling off her bloodied sweatsuit and joggers and getting into the shower.
Having thus refreshed herself, she dressed in a pair of jeans, a brown vegan leather jacket, brown faux suede boots and a USS Sunfire T shirt, putting her hair up in a ponytail. Moving to the computer she contacted the Starfleet Retreat and Conference Center at Lake Tahoe. She apologized for her sudden departure and explained the situation to them. As it turned out they had been informed of the emergency recall and had retained her riding gear for her in storage. She was told that a room would be made available for her should she decide she wanted to return. T'Lar thanked them and said that she was considering it and would be in touch if she decided to do so.
There was only one order of business left to attend to.
=/\=Lieutenant T'Lar to Lieutenant Rosen=/\=
"You've got everything you need?" Jacob asked the Corpsman in charge of the Emergency Medical Team from the Starbase as they organized their people.
"As I told you the first time L.T." The Corpsman said with an exasperated sigh. "We are fine, you need to rest and unplug. Frankly sir, you're just trying to stay busy. Don't make me get the Medical Officers involved."
Jacob tossed his hands in surrender. "Okay Okay, I get it HM1." He began to walk away when his commbadge beeped.
=/\= Rosen here, how can I help you T'Lar? =/\= A feeling of relief washing over him, forming a smile.
=/\= Jacob, I was wondering if you would meet me in the lounge to discuss resumption of our shore leave plans? =/\=
Jacob looked back at HM1 who silently, and aggressively gestured Fucking GO dude .
=/\= Absolutely, on my way. =/\=
A short time later in the ship's lounge
T'Lar was seated at a booth with a bowl of fresh cut fruit and a small plate with avocado on toast alongside a mug of Vulcan spiced tea. Her vantage point gave her a view to the door and she smiled a small but not insignificant smile for a Vulcan as Jacob Rosen entered. Not for the first time was she taken by how aesthetically pleasing he was visually with his firm jawline and masculine beard, dark hair with just a touch of curl to it and his ever twinkling eyes and quick smile. By Vulcan sensibilities his look was somewhat exotic and she found she was developing quite an affinity for it.
Jacob stowed his freshly replicated PaDD in his uniform jacket pocket, looking around for T'Lar. Finally spotting her, he gave a small wave as he strode to her booth. She had cleaned up, changed, and appeared much more relaxed. Good. I hope she took some time to look after herself Jacob thought with relief he hadn't realized he needed. A feeling akin to forgetting that you had been holding your breath in anxiety.
"T'Lar, you are a sight for sore eyes." Jacob said with a warm smile spreading across his face.
"Greetings Jacob. I hope you don't mind, but I was hungry and thought I'd replicate a light repast. I'd be more than willing to share, if you like."
"Thank you, I will in fact steal a slice of melon." He replied lightly, popping a green morsel into his mouth. Jacob looked over her off-duty attire with an appreciative gaze. "You look great, not that the uniform looks bad by the way. I just admire your style." Jacob's ears turned the slightest tinge of pink.
"I got a bit preoccupied trying to make sure the repair and medical teams had enough supplies." He said with a cough as he rubbed at a spot on his jacket sleeve that had been frayed and torn during the action on the bridge. "I'll need to run by my quarters if you still want to go on that hike." Jacob said, smile returning to his face in earnest. "That is, if you still would like to go. I would completely understand if you no longer felt it appropriate given..." He gestured around in a circular motion, words failing him.
"Logistically speaking, the day is far gone and the sun will be setting on the lake soon. I'm afraid the opportunity for that particular hike, being five miles up and five miles back has passed us by for today. To be honest, I am not sure I would have had the energy for it after all that has transpired here." T'Lar confessed.
"That being said, the SRCC has offered me renewed accommodations and there is a little beach adjacent to the conference center grounds. If we hurry we can get checked in in time for a walk along the beach as the sun is setting, then perhaps dinner, drinks and dancing in the Tahoe room? Of course we will have to dress up for that, but I am up for it if you are..."
"Well, I was taught that whenever a woman gives you a deadline you should never keep her waiting. I'd better repack that bag in a hurry." Jacob said rising to his feet. "Luckily my quarters aren't far at all, if you want to bring your fruit you can ensure I don't sneak any of my Jordan 1 recreations in the bag." He said with an increasingly playful tone.
This entanglement between the two of them was new, fresh, and vibrant, full of that charged energy of two people who resonated with each other. Still, in contrast to that newness Jacob felt a sense of comfort when he was with her. There was no pressure to taper his sense of humor. He offered T'Lar his arm.
"Well, shall we?"
"The food can wait... Let's go." She answered taking his arm.
On the bridge Aurora walked across to her beloved husband. “Savar are you able to get away for shoreleave? I’d like to get off the ship if only for a short time.”
Savar turned as the lift doors hissed opened and Aurora his wife who made his blood burn with passion and desire stepped out and made her way across the bridge to his position. "I believe that can be arranged. A change of scenery I believe is called for. Do you have any specific locations you wish us to visit?"
“I would like to visit Niagara Falls, I’ve never been there and I’ve always wanted to.” Aurora smiled. “I could make us a booking?”
"Niagara Falls sounds wonderful and i look forward to seeing it as well. An excellent choice. Yes please. make us a booking. I take it they have tours for the tourists." Savar asked. he could see how excited Aurora was.
“I would think so” Aurora smiled. “I’ll make us a booking as soon as I get to our quarters.”
"That would be most excellent. I look forward to seeing what you arrange for us." Savar replied his eyes twinkling in a combination of delight and merriment.
Sunfire - Captain's Quarters
Rhenora returned back to her quarters a few hours later, her wounds mostly healed and the hallways mostly empty as the ship's crew took advantage of the shore leave they were supposed to have fully enjoyed a short time ago. Was it only days? It feel like weeks? She'd never even had time to change from her dress uniform, the red gold and black threads tarnished with blood and torn from the fight.
The doors had barely finished opening before Remal looked up from where he sat with Patina resting against his shoulder, the little girl heavy with the quiet exhaustion only children seemed capable of carrying so completely. Warm light softened the room around them, a sharp contrast to the torn uniform and dried blood Rhenora carried home with her.
His expression changed the moment he truly saw her. He rose carefully so he would not disturb Patina, though the child had already noticed her mother and lifted her head with a sleepy little sound of recognition. Remal crossed the distance slowly, giving Rhenora the chance to stop, to breathe, to simply arrive before anything else was asked of her. One hand settled gently against her arm, his thumb brushing once across the torn fabric near her elbow.
“You made it home,” he said softly, the words carrying more feeling than volume.
Patina reached toward her immediately, small fingers opening and closing with determined urgency despite the sleep pulling at her eyes. Remal’s tired smile surfaced briefly at that. “Seems someone else has been waiting very patiently for her Captain to return.”
"Some didn't" Rhenora replied sadly as she reached for their daughter, uncaring of the state of her own attire. It was good to feel them both, alive and well, warm and whole. She maneuvered to the couch and flopped onto it, still cradling Patina in her arms. The young ones' delight faded with the late hour until the yawns of sleep threatened to consume her.
"Come now, bedtime for you" she whispered as she rose again after a few blessed minutes, heading for the small second bedroom in their quarters and settling Patina down for sleep.
"I'm glad they didn't make it down here" she commented a moment later after closing the door behind and heading back towards the living room. "It wasn't pretty."
Remal listened quietly as she returned, giving the words the same care he gave everything else that mattered. When she came close enough, his arms slipped around her without hesitation, drawing her gently against him while the last echoes of the ship seemed to fade into the background. One hand settled at the middle of her back, steady and warm through the damaged fabric of her uniform.
“We were safe here,” he said softly, his voice low against her hair. “And now you are too.”
He held her there for a moment longer, long enough for the stillness of the quarters to begin replacing the noise and violence still clinging to her shoulders. Patina slept peacefully in the next room, the faint hum of the ship returning to something almost domestic around them.
His hand moved slowly along her back in a quiet, grounding motion before he finally leaned back just enough to look at her properly. “What comes next?” he asked gently. “Besides sleep, which I suspect you desperately need.”
She stood mute for a moment, clearly feeling as though she didnt deserve this kind of care.
"I need a vacation, we need a vacation. Where do you want to go? It'll have to be on Earth though" she replied as a bowl of something warm appeared in front of her. She had no idea how late it was, time had taken a secondary place during recent events.
“A vacation?” Remal repeated softly, a faint smile finally finding its way through the exhaustion of the evening as he set the warm bowl in front of her. “That sounds like sage counseling advice.” He settled beside her, one arm draping comfortably along the back of the couch. “How long are we thinking of disappearing for?”
"We should have a week, maybe two. We need to conduct Batel's memorial, I think that will be tomorrow, other than that our time will be our own. What's your vibe? Beach, mountains, or countryside? And the obligatory hot or cold" Rhenora hovered the stew that Remal had brought her without really tasting it. When had she eaten last?
Remal leaned back slightly, considering the question with the same quiet seriousness he gave most things, though a trace of amusement warmed his expression as he thought back over the last few years. “I think we’ve spent enough time freezing lately,” he said softly. “Snowpack on Bajor, the northern ice fields, our missions lately seem determined to involve frostbite and shriveled nethers.” His hand drifted absently, “I’m beginning to suspect the universe is trying to tell us something.”
A gentler warmth settled into his features then, something more domestic, more hopeful. “So my vote is somewhere tropical. An island perhaps. Warm water, sea air, a little splash pool for Patina to terrorize while we pretend to relax.” The image clearly pleased him more than he expected.
His eyes dropped briefly to the stew she continued to hover over rather than eat. “And before you plan our escape from reality,” he added gently, “take a few bites. Your body’s been surviving on stubbornness for far too long.”
"Stubbornness is a food group isn't it?" She settled in to eat properly, attempting to slow her body and mind enough to enjoy the meal.
Remal gave a soft huff of amusement into his own drink, quietly pleased to see her finally eating properly. Some of the tension in her shoulders had already begun to ease beneath the warmth of food and the simple act of sitting still.
“Only in your food pyramid,” he agreed dryly. “The rest of us usually supplement stubbornness with vegetables, except maybe Leo.”
"A tropical island, Fiji? Bali? Hawaii? What's your preference? Some of the resorts have child minding as well," Rhenora mused as the food began to hit her belly with warmth. A week in the sun would do all of them wonders.
His expression shifted toward thoughtful curiosity, the names familiar only in passing. Earth still felt vast to him in a way Bajor never had, its cultures and landscapes layered endlessly atop one another. “To me, they all sound warm, beautiful, and considerably safer than our recent excursions.”
He leaned slightly toward her then, interest genuine. “Is there much difference between them? Or are we choosing between styles of paradise?”
Rhenora looked at the planet circling beneath them, the blues and greens similar to Bajor but never quite the same.
" Depends, Fiji is a small island, Bali bigger, but more commercial. And Hawaii is bigger than them all, but built for the mass market. I feel we go quieter, more low-key. What do you think?" She asked as she finished the bowl of stew, chomping on the last slice of bread as she did so. "My goodness, that was amazing. I feel you are spoiling me with too many good things."
Remal’s expression softened immediately at the accusation, because spoiling her had quietly become one of the great pleasures of his life. He reached over and brushed a crumb from the corner of her mouth with his thumb, lingering there for just a moment.
“You say that like it’s an issue,” he murmured, warmth threading easily through the words. “After the week you’ve had, I think you deserve to be spoiled a little.” His eyes searched hers briefly, making certain some of the exhaustion had finally begun to ease. “Besides, feeding you properly has become a survival instinct at this point.”
He settled back slightly, giving a small nod. “Fiji then. Quiet sounds good right now. Somewhere, where the loudest thing we hear is water lapping at the sands and Patina declaring war on a splash pool.” The image carried a calm certainty to it, less an escape than a chance to breathe again. “No admirals, no pirates, no freezing to death. Just sunlight and enough stillness for you to remember how to rest.”
The empty bowl in her hands seemed to satisfy him almost as much as the decision itself. He rose then and offered her his hand, patient and steady. “Come on, Captain,” he said gently. “You’ve held yourself together long enough for one day. Bed, before you fall asleep sitting upright.”
Sunfire - Sickbay
"How come y'all never let me do the surgeries?" Dean smirked a little bit. His pupils were the size of frisbees at the moment, given the amount of pain medicine he was given. The higher amount, enough to work, but not kill him or put him out, due to his physiology.
Cathaur glanced up from the scanner, eyes briefly settling on Dean’s impossibly dilated pupils before returning to her work. “Because surgery requires the patient to survive,” she replied evenly. A faint trace of amusement touched her voice as she adjusted the hypospray against his neck. “Also, you are currently asking that question while chemically negotiating with three separate realities. This weakens your application.”
"I can negotiate things just fine and pay attention to what I'm doing." Dean lifted his head a little to look around and get a better view of what was going on.
"You, are gonna lie on that biobed or I will strap you to it, and it won't be in a kinky way," Sarah said firmly, waving a hypospray at him as she finished up with the patient she was currently treating. "You're bleeding all over my floor."
One of Dean's eyebrows rose a moment, dropping down before he spoke, "That kind of happens when one's been stabbed and the like more than once."
"Well, lie still so there's some blood left when we get to you." Sarah handed over her patient to one of the nurses. "Now, do I need to sedate you, or are you going to behave?" She asked Dean.
Cathaur looked between Sarah’s raised hypospray and Dean’s expression with the quiet consideration of someone evaluating an increasingly predictable chemical reaction. “Sedation would improve efficiency,” she offered calmly. “Commander House is already attempting independent locomotion while partially exsanguinated and pharmacologically overconfident.” She reached for another hypo from the tray, inspecting its contents against the light. “I can tranquilize him now if desired. Gently,” she paused, “or educationally.”
"Educationally, please." Sarah snorted as she shrubbed her hands at the washstation and donned a fresh gown and gloves.
"Now..let us see just what damage you've done here" she peeled back the layers of clothing and peered at the slowly healing wounds. "Interesting..."
Cathaur gave a small nod, accepting the instruction with complete sincerity. “Educationally, it is.” Before Dean could properly process the tone in her voice, she pressed the hypospray firmly against his neck and triggered it with efficient precision. The compound hit his system almost instantly, far stronger than the usual compliance sedative.
“There,” Cathaur said calmly as his eyes began to lose their battle with consciousness. “Lesson reinforced.”
"Peace" Sarah quipped as she picked up her tools, and went to work.
TBC
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