Feels like the first time Pt 4

Posted on Sat Aug 27th, 2022 @ 8:14pm by Commander Dean House & Lieutenant Commander Bonnie "Bon-Bon" Durnell

Mission: New Harrington
Location: Sunfire cargo bay
Timeline: Before leaving DS9

Dean pulled her into his arms and kissed the top side of her head for a long moment before letting go. “Which is why I am here, I believe the same and would do the same.” Giving a motion of his head, “So let's see what is up, shall we.”

Comforted and now a little emotionally elated she turned her attention towards where he motioned. Panic immediately set in. "No, no no no no, shit." She sat in front of the machine and began pressing what an observer might say as 'all the buttons' in an effort to understand what was causing the malfunction. Something had gone wrong in the transport process, somewhere.

“I’ll pull up the step-by-step logs at the same time.” Leaning to the side and pulling those up on multiple screens. That way they can find what was leading up to the malfunction.

She was studious but frustrated as she checked all the systems. "It looks like the Deanwich is still in the buffer, somewhere between Earth and here. I'm seeing a spike in the power flow, what do the logs show?"

Dean’s fingers pulled across the console stopping here and there. Also over to a PADD as well. “So far I think there’s an EPS collapse between junctions 3 and 7. Causing it to have that spike, so it paused it to preserve the pattern.”

She slunk back in her seat, disappointment filling her very being. "Imagine if that were us, stuck on pause as a data stream somewhere between here and there." She was about to cry as another potential failure was hitting hard. "There are too many things that could go wrong, especially with me involved in the project. I just, I just, can't do this." She spoke, defeated.

“What has you being involved have to do with it, Bonnie?” He turned his head to look at her from where he was. Leaning up from the console. “So we run into hiccups. We’ll fix them.”

Through her tears, she shot him pity eyes for she pitied him for not understanding. “You know me.” She said in an effort to collect herself. Normally she wouldn’t be crying, but with the fact that her father had just passed away and she was oh so many lightyears away, there was little she could do to stop the flow. “Everything I touch tends to turn to shit.” She tossed the tricorder onto the console to emphasize her point.

As if she had un-paused the system, the transport buffer ignited in a haze of blue and white for but a brief second. There, on the Pad in front of them sat a Deanwhich, looking worse for wear. It was different, disheveled, and it looked like a bite had been taken out of it. The lettuce though, was brown and curling up, the bun, moldy. They both stared at it in disbelief for a long moment until a tomato slid out from between the layers, rotten.

Dean was about to reach out for her when the tricorder was tossed and the light show. Aside from thinking about her words. Which, he could understand, in different ways. They all had something similar, just unique to their own situations.

Instead of instantly trying to console her with a hug or telling her it was okay, there was just the offer in his tone and vibe coming off of him. “Part of it worked. No one in their right mind would have taken a bite out of it if it had looked that way upon arrival.”

She was already scanning the sandwich, trying to understand what went wrong. "True. It had to be something on the return trip, perhaps when the system paused. Could you imagine what would have happened if that were one of us though?" She reflected, then set to work deciphering the data.

"Papa always said, if you fail, fail big, then pick yourself up and learn or else you'll never find success." She lamented by mis-quoting her father, which she was often prone to doing.

“I know we wouldn’t have been happy, that’s for sure.” Giving a little thought still. Also looking over things yet again. Until she made the quote. “Not exactly the same words, but the same idea. One of my favorite phrases.” Using the accent, “Why do we fall, sir. So we can learn to pick ourselves up.”

She smiled as he matched her energy, and because she thought she got the reference, "That's from, uh, Bat… bat… something, Batguy? Right? Batboy? Oh I know this one, they made like 30 of those motion pictures before the war. Batarang? No…" She sounded off her frustration which for some reason made Dean smile. "Stop, don't laugh at me." She teased as she lightly smacked his arm.

“What?” Yes a smile, and ever so slightly a chuckle. “Close. Batman. Close though.” Dean gave his arm a little rub as if that really hurt. “Come on, you liked it.”

The grin upon her face was evident, she did like his company. She tucked her loose curls behind her ear and admitted, "Yes. You've at least managed to make me feel better. Thanks."

Then she sent the system into standby mode and checked the chronometer. "It's getting late. Maybe we can try again another day. Attack the problem from a fresh perspective or something. What do you say to walking with me back to my quarters?" She asked innocently.

“There’s that smile.” Dean reached and gave the tip of her nose a boop, “Boop.” Smiling in return. He looked at what she was doing and nodded. They might as well wait for now. “I have to agree with you,” Dean offered his arm. “I’d say that’s a lovely idea.”

While she was still unsure how she felt about his nose boop, she knew for certain he meant well. As she took her arm she felt comforted, safe, and understood that while she had not succeeded in reaching Earth to see her father off. She had succeeded in strengthening a bond with her friend. Which was almost as important, right?

Sure, she was still sad but grieving would come and go naturally. On the bright side, nothing had blown up and no one had died. Oh, that poor Deanwhich though had suffered. She thought about these things as Dean walked her out of the cargo bay and back to her quarters.

-----------------End------------------

Lieutenant Commander Dean House
Chief Tactical Officer
Second Officer

&

Lieutenant Bonnie "Bon-Bon" Durnell
Computer Systems Specialist