Reconnecting...

Posted on Thu Oct 13th, 2022 @ 8:14am by Lieutenant Nicholas Reece [Reece] & Lieutenant Cassia Cavendish

Mission: Season 5: Time Warp
Location: USS Elysium, Lieutenant Cavendish's Quarters
Timeline: 16/08/2397 / 1500 hours
2269 words - 4.5 OF Standard Post Measure

PREVIOUSLY...

This made Nicholas's brows furrow. "Since when have you ever seen me with a beard? Also, I'm much better looking than my brother," he chuckled softly.

The lift finally reached their destination and the doors opened to an empty corridor. Nicholas held the door from closing and stepped aside, to allow Cassia to exit first.

She exited and said over her shoulder. "No you are not better looking than him."

Nicholas's eyes grew wide in shock. "Hey!" He said aloud in humorous admonishment. He then started to move after her in pursuit.

AND NOW...

Cassia unlocked her cabin and waved him in. It was a blank slate. Her favourite duffle bag was on the floor near the door along with her old fashioned chest that carried her belongings. She had not yet unpacked.

"You are twins Nicholas, you know you both look very alike. And you are in Intelligence. You could grow a beard."

Moving to fill her doorway, Nicholas looked around the bare space. After stepping inside, the doors slid shut behind him. "You still have the duffel I got you for your first birthday that we were together." It made a small smile cross his face. "As for my brother, we may be identical twins, but, the beard always seemed to look better on him than me."

"It's a good bag" Cassia said. "Would have been a waste to throw it out." She walked to the couch and sat down..

Nicholas moved over and sat down next to her, though respectfully, he kept a space open between them, as he didn't want to make her uncomfortable. At least no more than she already was.

"Cassy," he finally started, his voice low and soft. "I'm sorry that I left you like that. That night, after you fell asleep, I was contacted by my superiors in SFI. They told me that I had to leave at once for the assignment that they had just given me. They also forbade me from telling anyone that I was leaving, as they felt it would cause too many questions to be asked."

He took in a ragged breath as he tried to find the right words. "When I joined Starfleet and was selected to join SFI, all that mattered to me was the job. I had never been lucky with relationships, so, I just decided to not be in any. I gave everything I had to the mission. It was all that mattered to me....until the day that I met you." He looked over at her, his emotions of regret and love for her clear on his face.

"You gave my life meaning again, beyond the mission. I finally had something and someone real to protect and defend. When the orders came down, I tried to refuse them. I was told that my particular skill set was needed and that I'd only be away from you for a week, two tops."

"Well that obviously didn't go as planned"

He nodded. "I know. The mission didn't go as planned. In fact it went to shit pretty much the first day in. But, once I had gone in, they couldn't find me and I couldn't get back to the extraction point without risking hundreds of innocent lives." Je took in another ragged breath as he continued. "While I was undercover, my team was discovered by the enemy, apparently we were sold out by someone who was supposed to be an ally."

"Most of my team was killed." He paused, his features going dark before he continued. "They were the lucky ones. The three of us that survived the first attack were captured and taken deep into the enemy camp, hidden away from any form of rescue. We were tortured for weeks on end, but we never gave up who we really were."

Cassia listened her hands clenched in her lap. He had been going through hell the same time as her.

"Within the first four months, the other two members of my team were killed during their torture sessions. The night before I was to be transferred to another prison, a rebel force attacked and liberated me. I was in no condition to escape, I could bare move. Slowly though, the rebels nursed me back to health."

She flinched but she didn't reach yet, she was still mad at him.

"Unfortunately, even when I was healed, I still had no way of contacting my superiors. So instead, I stayed and helped the rebels, hoping that, one day, I'd find my way back, back to you. I started writing you letters everyday. They're all in that PADD I gave you."

"Three months ago, I was finally able to get a signal out and then, ten days ago, I was finally extracted and taken to a SFI Starbase for debriefing. I still wasn't allowed to contact anyone and, in a bit of rage, punched the Commander who was debriefing me. Hit him so hard, I knocked him out with one hit to his jaw. That's when I was demoted and put on a shuttle. Supposedly, I was being sent to an outpost so far out on the border, I'd probably never make it back to Earth in my lifetime. However, along the way, the shuttle crew received new orders and were redirected here. And now, you know everything that I can legally tell you." He got quiet again.

"I'm still so sorry that I hurt you, Cassy. If you don't ever want to see me again, I'll leave your quarters and respect your wishes."

She stared at him in silence. "Really?" She asked. She could not believe he was willing to walk away from her.

Unable to read her tone, Nicholas furrowed his brows slightly. "Of course, Cassy. You know me. I may do many things wrong, one thing I never do is break my word. If you tell me to leave and never talk to you again, you know I will. It will gut me, but I will keep my word."

She gave him a steady look then nodding at him, spoke. "I have been on earth for the past 12 months. Did they tell you that?"

He shook his head as he replied. "No, they didn't. Why do you ask? What happened?"

"I had a breakdown" She gave a shrug.

Concern for the woman he loved filled Nicholas's face as he moved closer and took her hands into his. "What?! What happened??"

"A few weeks after you left the Rok, we encountered an .. entity, a being, not really sure what it was. But it pulled the crew into a nightmare state where all memories become horrible regardless of if they are good or not. So nightmares become hellish, happy memories become nightmares." she said calmly. "And you know my past. You can guess what happened to my mind. And when we were released I had no one to fall back on. You were not there, the crew had their own families, my family as you know are not around and when I came out of the trance or whatever, I simply broke down, crying. They had to sedate me I am told. And we were in that trance for several days according to scans."

There was more but she was not sure she wanted him to know. She had, had to deal with it, but she was not sure she could tell him. "So i was sent to Earth for counseling and such."

He felt his heart breaking as he listened to Cassia speak. When she was done, a tear rolled down his face. "Cassy..." His voice a pained whisper. "I am so sorry I wasn't there...I'd give anything to change that fact!"

"We both went through hell" she said as she chose not to add more to what it was. She would keep her other issue secret. He had suffered enough to her mind in that regard. "I am still mad at you Nicholas though I know logically it is not your fault and you were in dire straights. I wish you had gotten out of the game sooner than you did."

He nodded, "I know, sweetheart, and if I could change what happened and never left your side, I would. All I can hope to do is find a way to rebuild what we had. That is...if you want that as well?" He suddenly realized that she may not want to rekindle a relationship with him. Silently, he knew that he wouldn't blame her.

She reached out her hand to him and at the same time, her mind reached out to his. It had been ages since she had touched his mind with her's since they had linked. ~Nico~ she thought.

Nicholas inhaled sharply as he heard Cassia's melodic voice in his head. The sensation was like taking a warm, soft blanket and wrapping it around himself on a cold morning. "Imzadi..." he said aloud. He took hold of her hand and brought it up to his lips, gently kissing the inside of her wrist.

~I... missed you Nico, a lot. I am not sure it can be the way it was...but if we try..~ Cassia was always better with sharing her emotions via their link.

Nicholas smiled happily, hearing Cassia's voice in his head again. After hearing her words, he paused, then replied. "So we won't make it be like before. We will make it stronger!"

"If we can" she said. She studied his face. Maybe when things were better she could tell him. But she didn't think either of them could handle what she knew. "But we need to work on it."

Though he couldn't read her mind, Nicholas recognized when something was bothering Cassia. Something she wasn't talking about. "Imzadi...." he said softly. "Please, tell me what you're thinking about."

Cassia closed her eyes briefly. "I..." the counsellors had said to be honest. But this sort of honesty could kill. "I tried to find you when I was on Earth. I got blocked and no one would take my call. I... had been given some news that you deserve to know but i am not sure how to say it." Which in itself was strange as Cassia had never been backwards about things. Sure she was nervy, jumpy when someone snuck up on her and could throw that knife of hers with scary accuracy but she had always been open about things.

Nicholas carefully pulled her into his embrace, supporting her fully. "You can can always tell me anything, Imzadi." His tone and soft words were filled with compassion and love.

"When they got me to Earth and I was stable, the doctors told me that the being had done something to me. It had done something to a lot of the female crew. One had been given a complete hysterectomy at the age of 26. Others had, had their eggs harvested. Me, it took more in someways. It took a piece of me and of you that neither of us knew about." She raised eyes and blinked back tears. "I was pregnant, about 6 weeks along according to the doctors. They found out when they did a full scan of me and found no evidence of a miscarriage or birth but that my body was... resetting itself I guess." Her hand clenched around his tightly. "I am sorry Nico."

For a few beats, he couldn't find the words to say. It was as if his heart shattered right there. But then, after collecting himself from the shock, he looked deep into Cassia's eyes and spoke quietly and truthfully. "Listen to me very carefully, Cassia Cavendish. There is absolutely, and I mean absolutely zero reason for you to apologize!" A few tears started to fall down his cheeks. "What happened to you was beyond your control. Even had I not been pulled from your side, it would have still happened. Our unborn child was stolen from us! If I ever find that creature who did this, I will kill it very slowly! But until that day, we will rebuild our lives together into a stronger bond. We will have another child some day, hopefully more than one. We will help each other to come back from our own dark places, back into the light. Do you understand me?"

Cassia nodded "yes"

"Do you trust me?"

She nodded, even when he had left she had trusted him.

"Do you still love me?"

Cassia nodded. "Yes I do. If I didn't you would not be in my cabin, Nico." she said as she leaned into him.

He wrapped his strong arms around Cassia protectively, holding her to his chest. With emotion still in his throat, his voice cracked slightly as he said, "I love you, Cassia. I am never leaving your side again!" He gently kissed the top of her head when he finished speaking.

She wrapped her arms around him and closed her eyes tightly as she held on to him. She didn't speak just sat there holding him.

They stayed that way for a long time. Finally, Nicholas gently scooped her up into his arms and carried her to her bed. He didn't try to do anything, he just laid down with her, still fully clothed, holding her against his chest.

Eventually Cassia drifted off to sleep in his arms, getting a proper sleep for the first time in months.

After he felt her drift off, Nicholas closed his eyes and soon followed her into slumber.

~OFF~

 

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