Honey, did you miss me?

Posted on Tue Nov 17th, 2020 @ 3:15am by Admiral Deela T'Lar & Captain Jack Solomon

1,458 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Episode 107 – Recovery
Location: USS Essex
Timeline: MD5

Deela sat in her office, thinking about when they had just arrived after taking Starbase 400 back. She felt so blessed that they survived this mess...

Day 1, the return to SB400

Once he was given the all-clear from the Infirmary, Jack made his way back towards Operations, heading back over to the Engineering station to relieve McCabe.

Once the Chief moved on to his duties, Jack ran a quick scan of the area, seeking the location of the Essex, knowing that Deela hadn't gotten back on board the station yet with quite a few ships unable to dock until various areas of the Docking Ring were repaired and back online.

Knowing that various Operations and Engineering teams were already working on the situation, Jack grabbed an Engineering kit and made his way over to the Transporter Pad. Once there, he locked in the co-ordinates of the Essex and activated a site to site transport protocol.

Arriving on the Essex itself, Jack then made his way to the Bridge as soon as he could, almost dropping into a run as he got closer. The need to see Deela, to make sure she was ok and also let her know that he was ok grew as his pace did.

Once he arrived on the Bridge, Jack smiled as he saw her sitting in the command chair. "Anyone call for an Engineer?" he asked quite loudly, making sure he got Deela's notice.

As soon as she heard Jack's voice, Deela practically jumped out of her seat and ran into Jack's arm. She didn't care that the bridge crew, although quite small, saw her vulnerable. It had been a long fight, "Jack!" She hugged him tightly, "You're here."

Jack closed his eyes for a moment as he hugged Deela tightly, again, not worrying about the various members of the Bridge that were on duty. As soon as he had been given the all-clear on the station, he'd come straight over to the Essex. As he stood there for a moment, Jack then stood back a step, with some tears clearly running down his cheeks.

"So, I figured, you know... that you may need one of those miracle-working Starfleet engineers to come and look over your ship?" he said, trying to keep a straight face and not let the emotion of seeing Deela again break him, especially not on the Bridge.

"Can we talk in private?" he asked.

Deela nodded, "My ready room, come." She made her way with Jack following. Once there, they could be themselves, emotional and all.

She sat down on her couch and waited for Jack to do the same. Once he sat, she took his hand in hers and held it as she failed miserably to keep her emotions at bay. She was thankful that Jack survived because she had already lost one engineer.

With teary eyes, "Sorry." She briefly tried to compose herself, "Lieutenant Goldberg was killed and it has hit me harder than expected." She felt emotionally overwhelmed.

Jack held Deela's hand and could see that the battle had taken its toll on both her and the ship, however, he could see and feel the emotion building up inside her now that he was here, almost as if a relief was now possible for her to take. He took her hand in his and then moved closer to hold her tightly to him.

"Talk to me, tell me what's going on?" he asked. "I'm here and I'm ok....I know that this one was tough though and I wanted to come and see you as soon as I could."

He knew he was probably risking a telling off for his trip to the Essex but right now, he didn't care. All he wanted was to be with Deela and to make sure that she was ok. She has been more emotional of late and he wanted her to know he was there for her.

"During the whole ordeal, I could not stop thinking about the kids and you. I could not imagine what my kids would go through if they lost me. And when I heard about your ship, it just became more surreal." She exhaled, "I was relieved to know that you were okay." Deela wiped her cheek as she composed herself, "I am sorry about your ship."

Jack listened carefully as Deela spoke and he could tell that this last battle had taken its toll on both himself and her and it was clear to himself, more than anything, that she was missing the children during this difficult time. Starfleet could be hell on relationships and recently both he and Deela had been pout through the wringer.

"Well, thank you, the Ark Royal was a good ship and she did us proud in service," he said. "However, starships can be replaced...people can't. So, once this has all died down and we have some sort of peace in place...however about we go see the kids at your parent's place?" he asked.

Pausing before he continued, Jack looked Deela in the eyes. "I know you've missed them and I have missed them a lot too. I miss being around them as much as I miss being around you and after all... we are a family. I know we said we'd get married and we still do that, I made a commitment to you and that's a promise that will not be broken... hell I can get a Runabout if need be and we can be there as fast as possible," he offered.

He held her hand gently but also firmly as he made his offer, looking into the eye of the woman he loved, whom he had asked to be his wife and also the woman he wanted to spend the rest of this life with.

"That is good because as soon as we get the clearance to leave, we're getting the children and bringing them back to their home. And as for our getting married, I would like to get married soon as we can. I am tired of putting everyone else's happiness first. It may sound selfish but I do not want to wait." This whole situation made her realize how short life is.

Jack leaned in and kissed Deela gently as soon as she explained what she wanted to do and he was fully on board with it.

"Agreed, the whole nine years....as soon as we can, we're getting married and I'm putting that ring on your finger, no more waiting...we've waited for long enough," he said, once they separated.

"We'll get the kids and they'll be there with us, all we need is a couple of witnesses and we'll finally get what we've both wanted." He sat back feeling as if a weight was lifted from his shoulders and suddenly life felt a little better.

Looking down at his toolkit and what was his cover for coming over to see Deela, Jack felt a little embarrassed. "I guess I should make some attempt to pretend to have a look at the ship..as I'm here...unless you have something else you want to distract me with?" he asked.

Deela chuckled, "Actually, there is something you could check for me. The propulsion systems if you wouldn't mind. I do not trust these newbies who are working on deck 11."

Jack smiled as he picked up his tool kit. "No worries, I'll head down there now and also check in on how things are in Engineering," he said, giving her a small kiss on the cheek before he stood up.

"With all of the recent combat we've seen, the last thing you need is any of your newbies doing something to the Essex that can cause any delays to her...and it'll be good for them to see a senior officer down there who can get things back on track. Hopefully, things will quieten down a bit and give us some time to get back up to speed and get used to being home again."

Jack stood up and made his way over to the door, before stopping. He turned around for a moment. "As soon as your free, you and I, we have a date together... we also need some downtime, ok?" he said to Deela, seeing her smile in the process as an agreement.

"We do and we will. Thanks."

Present

Deela was hoping to go on that date soon. She was feeling a little lonely without the kids and she could really use a distraction now. She all of the sudden jumped up out of her seat. She was supposed to meet Alex for lunch. She let Alex know that she was on her way.

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