Looking the other way

Posted on Mon Jun 17th, 2024 @ 4:59am by Lieutenant Eirly Andersen & Lieutenant JG Malcolm Beckett M.D.

2,411 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Helping Brunel
Location: USS Astrea Sickbay
Timeline: MD 12, 1600 Hours

Malcolm was lingering near the front desk pretending like he wasn't waiting for Eirly to finish talking with the Captain. When he saw her turning from one of the back halls into the main corridor he perked up, but he waited until she was a few steps into the hallway before putting his PADD down and walking up to greet her.

"Did ye have a few minutes for some tea, or hot cocoa before you run off?" Malcolm asked. He knew that whatever they had talked about she couldn't share out here, and however it went, it would likely be weighing heavy on her mind.

Why was it always such a relief to see him, even if it had only been like ten minutes? She smiled, "Hot cocoa would be nice." Truth be told, she was actually feeling a little bit cold even though the temperature was warm, "Lead the way and I'll follow on."

"My office is private," Malcolm said, leading her through a set of clear doors, then into the second door on the right. A plaque that read, "Dr. Malcolm Beckett, M.D." was next to the door, and there was a large window into the hallway. When they got inside Malcolm closed the blinds on the window and went to the replicator to order himself a mint tea and Eirly a hot chocolate with extra marshmallows.

The space hadn't been personalized much, but for a handful of fidgets on the side table, and a basket of toys in the corner. "The plants were here when I got here," Malcolm said as he handed her the hot chocolate and walked to couch in the back of the office. "Thank goodness someone comes in and takes care of them. They would be looking a bit sad now if it had been left to me."

"You know that one day you'll need to look after someone or something else besides just you, right?" Eirly said before she took a sip of the hot chocolate; it was good, like always. "And plus, looking after plants teaches responsibility and can often be therapeutic too. Some plants can even go like once every two weeks or so with being watered, so there's that."

Malcolm chuckled. "You do realize what I spend my days doing here, don't you?" He teased.

Eirly raised an eyebrow in response, "Outside of work, you know what I mean."

"Aye, forgive me. I'm not good with plants," Malcolm said giving her his best sad puppy face. "They don't tell you when they are thirsty or like to go on walks. They're easy to forget about. Unlike you."

She rolled her eyes and laughed, "I wouldn't expect you to forget about me any time soon because you're stuck with me and I'm not going anywhere." She took another drink from her hot chocolate, "Here's an idea: write up a little chart for yourself that shows which plant needs to be watered and when, and stick it somewhere you'll see it."

"But then what about the poor soul whose job it is to come in and water of all our plants for us," Malcolm protested as he leaned in for a kiss. "What would they do all day?" He whispered.

Eirly giggled and leaned into the kiss, "I'm sure they have plenty of things to do to keep themselves occupied, including dealing with the arboretum, right?" She broke off the kiss, even though she could've done that all day, "Do you want me to take the plants and keep them in my quarters so they recover nicely?"

"They're fine here. There's a civilian horticulture crew that comes through and takes care of all the plants down here," Malcolm said. "If I took them out, I'd just have to find something else to put in here."

"But I didn't bring you back here to talk about the decorations now. How was your talk with the Captain?" Malcolm asked.

"Ah, and there it is." She'd been wondering when the topic was going to come around to that, "It was... good. It was more of a bit more in depth conversation regarding Brunel and something the Captain believes can help him in the long run." Even though it had only been like ten minutes beforehand, the choice she'd made was starting to weigh on her mind a bit.

"Forgive me for being worried about my lady. The Captain didn't say much when she walked you out of the meetin'. I wanted to make sure everything was alright with you before I went back to work," Malcolm admitted.

My lady was something Eirly could get used to and she could feel her cheeks go red momentarily, "Well, I... may... have asked to be a part of an unsanctioned little side quest to Earth that, while it wouldn't take too long, if whoever I go with and myself get caught, there's a high chance for court marshal and or dismissal." She let that sink in for both of them for a moment and waited for Malcolm to reply.

Malcolm took a deep breath. "Eirly, you aren't puttin' yourself in danger like this because you're still blamin' yourself are you?" Malcolm asked gently.

Eirly shrugged in response and looked down, running her finger along the edge of the mug she was holding before looking back up, "Well, kinda, yeah. But I know that there is a lot of risks involved with it, and I know that if everything goes according to plan, this can not only help Brunel but it can also help so many more people in the future as well. I mean, I'm not trying to be a martyr or anything, I'm just trying to help out." Her voice went quiet towards the end.

"If you're going to Earth of all places, this isn't going to be easy, Eirly. When they pulled positronics from the medical field they didn't take any shortcuts searching for every last one. You're going to Starfleet Headquarters home base," Malcolm said, trying to hide the worry in his voice.

Eirly took in what he said and nodded, even though she hadn't specifically mentioned anything about the positronics, "I understand all of that, I really do." She took a deep breath and then let it out before continuing. "All I can do is try and look up as much information as I can so I'm at least a little bit more knowledgeable about what I've signed myself up for, right?" It wasn't as if they were dating or anything, but she valued his opinion, "What is your opinion on it all?"

"Well, I don't like the thought of you out there risking your career and freedom," Malcolm said, reaching up to brush an imaginary hair from her face. "I can't really tell you what to do though. I know that medicine has taken a big step backwards since the ban, and a lot of people have died unnecessarily."

"Maybe once we get these positronics and we can see that they're working and saving lives, then maybe we can take it to HQ and show them the evidence and this ban could be reversed?" What she was more thinking out loud than anything else, yet her tone was slightly hopeful. She preferred to focus on the positives rather than the negatives, but often that also meant it was more fantasy than reality, "It's not too late for me to say to the Captain I'm out either."

"Are thinking about it? Not going?" Malcolm asked.

I was hoping you'd try and talk me out of it, Eirly thought to herself as she finished off the drink and put it down with a large sigh, "I mostly think my main motivation for going is my guilt and to prove that things can get better for everyone involved, but I'm starting to understand the risk factors for it now too. Is the risk worth the rewards?"

"You don't have anything to feel guilty about, we've been trying to tell you. It's the boy's genetics," Malcolm stressed. "I don't know how you came about to volunteer, but it sounded to me like someone was goin' before you popped in, so if you didna' want to go, I don't think the Captain would mind. Would she?"

Eirly shook her head, "Like she said, it's purely voluntary and I don't have to go if I don't want to. I guess I'm just really conflicted about it all. The questions is though: because everything we'd be doing is banned in the eyes of Starfleet HQ, would you personally be able to look the other way and not think of me any different if I do go?"

"Oh, don't you be worrying about what I think. I'm about to assist in the procedure if we get what we need. I'd just be worried about you is all," Malcolm said tenderly. "Worried a wee bit more about you than the others if I can admit."

She smiled at the affection as she felt her cheeks redden slightly, "Aw, I love how much you care about me, and I want to always know your opinion on things. But you must know by now that I'm a big girl with big girl boots, right?" Her tone was slightly more serious as she said the next part, "My hope is that we'll get in, get what we need and then get out without any issues, then you can do your part. Then you and I can live the happily ever after route." The last part was more wishful hoping than anything, and she hoped he saw the humour in it.

"Happily ever after sounds nice," Malcolm stated. "The Captain will have to bring you back to me safely so we can go about that part."

She raised an eyebrow in response and grinned, "I think you've got a deal there. So just to be clear, you're okay with me going on this little mission?"

"Just so we're clear, I'm never going to tell you what you can and cannot do. For somethin' like this," Malcolm took a deep breath. "I don't care if we've been dating for two weeks or married for twenty years, I don't ever be the one to stand in the way of you doing something that you want to do. Or pushing you to do somethin' that you dunnae want to. I'll support you no matter what."

"Twenty years? I'll be sure to hold you to that." Eirly replied, feeling more confident with everything that was going on between them.

"Is that all you're going to give me then? Should the time come I mean?" Malcolm asked playfully.

"What more would you like?" She said with an equally playful tone as she stood up and came around to sit next to him and placed his arm around her shoulders.

"Didn't you say something about 'ever after' earlier?" Malcolm asked once Eirly had situated herself under his arm. "If we ever had kids you'd be stuck with me then. If we split, I'd never see the grandkids. I'm sure they'd pick Granny Eirly over Granddad Malcolm if they had to choose," he added.

"You know you'd have to make an honest woman of me first before that can ever happen, right?" Eirly laughed in reply, thinking about that scenario and how wonderful it actually would be, "Plus, I'm sure they'd always want to come and see their cool bedstemor and bedstefar, their grandparents sorry, and would see how much they'd still love each other after all those years and think it was gross."

"Aye, hearing them make a fuss would just make us put on more of a show, wouldn't it?" Malcolm asked they played along talking about a possible future.

"Well, how about after we've done our parts in this little mission, we maybe get some sort of practice for that in?" Eirly replied with a smile.

"I'm looking forward to taking you out again. I take it you must be leaving soon then?" Malcolm asked.

Eirly nodded as she leaned into him a bit more for comfort, "Yeah, within the next few hours, I believe. She said she'd get in touch and then we'd go from there."

Malcolm sighed audibly and let out a small groan as pulled Eirly a little closer to him and kissed the top of her head. "Promise me you'll be careful."

"Of course I will." Eirly replied with a smile, "I've got things to look forward to when I get back." She thought it was probably the time to get some things ready, but she wanted to stay with Malcolm for a while longer. "I pinky promise." And she held up her left pinky.

"According to my sister and her friends this is very serious and cannot ever be broken," Malcolm responded letting out a small laugh as he good naturedly put up his own left pinky for the promise.

Eirly giggled, "I started this with my youngest brother, Leif, when he was like two years old whenever I went somewhere he couldn't come with me or vice versa, and I can honestly say we've never broken a promise yet." She stretched out her legs a bit, "And it's something I don't intend to do with you either, so it's very serious."

"I'm going to hold you to it then," Malcolm said, pulling back so he could look her in the eyes, then he leaned back again. "Did you want to sit here a while before you have to go?"

"As much as I want to stay here with you, I should probably go and get everything organised so I'm not scrambling last minute and run late." Eirly admitted. There was a weird feeling in her stomach, maybe it was anxiety, maybe it was nausea, maybe even anticipation. Either way, she wasn't used to it and therefore didn't like it.

"Aye, well I don't want you to feel unprepared." Malcolm stood up and offered her his hand. "You'll let us all know as soon as you can, when your safe."

Eirly took his hand and stood up, "I'll for sure let you know when I can. A promise is a promise, after all. But I'll go now and I'll see you when I return." She reached up and gave him a sweet kiss on the cheek before squeezing his hand affectionately and walking out the door.

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