Chapter Text
Captain Will Riker is about to leave his ready room in a hurry when a com signal calls him.
“Incoming transmission from Starfleet Headquarters, priority one.”
He sighs. Not now! He’s already way behind schedule. But of course, it’s not as if he has a choice. It doesn’t matter where he is on the ship, a priority one call from HQ is always going to reach him, so he can just as well get it over with.
He accepts the call, answers while quickly walking back.
“This is Captain Riker.” He falls into his chair and turns to the screen behind his desk. “Admiral Akaar!” He greets him a little surprised. Normally the admiral makes an appointment when he wants to speak with him. Will cannot remember a time he reached out to him spontaneously.
“Captain Riker. How good to see you.” Admiral Akaar’s deep voice sounds unusually friendly. “How are things going on the Titan?”
“Everything is running smoothly, Sir.”
“Good, good.” He makes an awkward pause. “And how’s the family?”
This is definitely weird, Will can’t help but thinking. Akaar isn’t one to make small-talk, and he almost never asks about his private life. And since his time is running out, he wouldn’t mind getting straight to business himself, so he just replies firmly, “We’re good, Sir. What can I do for you?”
Can it be that Akaar is actually hesitating, unsure how to proceed? Will can hardly believe it. He never saw him lost for words, as he seems to be now.
“Ah, look, William,“ he begins in a confidential tone Will is sure he never heard him use before, "this is a bit of a sensitive issue. I need you to pick one of our men up who got himself into a bit of trouble on Petarogan and bring him home. He’s with Starfleet Intelligence, but worked undercover on the planet, so we can’t go through official channels...” He makes a pause, struggles.
“I understand, Sir.” Will tries to encourage him, although he has not the slightest idea, why Akaar has chosen the Titan of all things for this commission. It’s not as if they specialize in extraction.But perhaps it is precisely because they are a exploration vessel and as such rather unsuspicious?
“Please, believe me, I would never bother you with this, if I had another solution for the problem at hand. And although it is your right to decline my request, I would ask you to think about it thoroughly before you make a decision. If you could meet me with this one, I’d really appreciate it. You’d be doing me a personal favor, so to say.”
It can't be true that the admiral has chosen today of all days to be so loquacious. Will takes a look at the time. It’s already past 18.45 hours. They said they’d meet at 19.00 at the latest. And he still has to change. If the admiral doesn’t cut to the chase fast, he’s definitely going to be late, so he tries to speed things up.
This whole affair seems ridiculous anyhow. Akaar might try to sell this to him as if he had a choice, but it boils down to the fact that he will carry out the admiral's task anyway, one way or another. As if he had ever done anything else.
“Sir, you know I’m always happy to help you out as long as there’s no conflict with our current mission.”
“I already cleared that with my colleagues here at HQ for you, Captain. It would be no problem at all, if you prioritized my mission and delayed your current assignment for the time being. I mean, these stellar nebulas aren’t going anywhere anytime, soon, right?” He laughs a little forcedly.
“Ah, right.” Will agrees, a little irritated, but also relieved that he doesn’t need to discuss this. “Well then, why don’t you just send me everything and I’ll look into it first thing tomorrow and then we’ll be on our way to fetch your man.” He hesitates, does hardly dare to ask the next question. “That’s going to be sufficient, right?”
Please say yes, please say yes.
Akaar’s face lights up, his tone is benevolent. “Of course, absolutely, Captain! Thank you.” He declares solemnly. “I knew I could count on you.”
Will has already stopped listening closely. As he gets up, he’s trying to get his superior to release him now. If he runs really fast and skips the shower, he might still make it on time.
“Well, then, I don’t want to be impolite, Admiral but I do have another appointment, so if we are through here, I’d like to…”
“Huh? Yes, yes, that was that.” Suddenly he sounds much more like the man Will knows. Formal and distant. “Goodbye, Captain Riker. Akaar out.”
As soon as the screen turns black Will starts sprinting towards the door.
***
He’s on time. Definitely within a time frame that most people would consider as almost being on time. Thankfully. Because, although she is generally very patient and understanding, there are limits, and he does not want to test them today of all days.
But he seems to be in luck, because Deanna just laughs as he enters their quarters, breathing heavily and heading straight to the bathroom.
"Give me five minutes!“ He shouts to her as he passes without even looking at her.
"I'll give you ten if you take a shower!" She calls after him, and after a quick glance in the mirror, reflecting his bright red, sweaty face, he decides to accept the offer.
Ten and a half minutes later, he re-enters the living area of their quarters, where she is sitting on the couch and smiles at him expectantly as he walks over.
"I'm ready." He declares, before he lets out a loud, devoted sigh at the breathtaking view of her. "Oh, Imzadi!"
She is wearing a seductively cut strapless dress with a flared skirt that reaches down to her calves and matching high heels. The matte dark purple color of the fabric accentuates her flawless, fair skin, and her shiny hair falls in soft waves over her perfectly shaped shoulders.
"Is that appropriate?" She asks him with a raised eyebrow. "You haven't given me many clues to where we’re heading."
He reaches out to her, and when she takes his hand, he gently pulls her up, holding her hands with outstretched arms, tilting his head, and watching her with a dreamy smile on his face.
"It's perfect."
Slowly, he pulls her into his arms and kisses her tenderly, first on her hands, then her on shoulders, one by one, and finally on her mouth.
"You are perfect." He murmurs as their lips part.
She smiles brightly but can’t resist teasing him a little. "Because I didn't scold you for being late? What's going to happen? It's not like the holodeck would get going without us. And besides, I've only just got finished myself. I had to run back from Chris twice because Kestra still remembered something else she needed for her sleepover."
"And Thad?" He inquires.
"That was unspectacular." She shrugs her shoulders. "He went off on his own with his duffel bag over his shoulder, couldn't wait to get to Luke, as usual. Although, he was almost as excited as I was because he wanted to know where you were taking me tonight and whether it was special enough for the occasion."
He laughs. "Great, now I have to think about what my son thinks too, when planning a romantic evening? As if surprising you wasn't challenging enough. And to be honest, now that I see you in all your spectacular beauty, I'm getting quite nervous. I'm afraid nothing I could come up with could do you justice tonight."
But Deanna disagrees. "We're both here now, and both off duty. Keru is in charge of the ship. The children will be well looked after until tomorrow." She puts her arms around his neck and looks into his eyes, her voice low and loving. "You're all mine now. For the whole night and the morning. Just you and me. When is that ever the case? If you ask me, Will, this is already the most wonderful anniversary, no matter where we go or what we do.”
As he gazes at her, once again, he cannot believe his luck. Ten years. They have been married for ten years. The best ten years of his life, a life that has not been short on good times. He has so much to be grateful for, but Deanna is undoubtedly at the very top of the list. What would his life be without her?
His voice is soft, every word spoken with truth and seriousness.
"I love you, Deanna. Thank you. Thank you for marrying me, for allowing me to be your husband. Thank you for lighting up my life every day with your love."
He senses a glow in her, a warmth that is now spreading from her into him, deeply penetrating him. They kiss slowly, sensually, demanding, her warm, soft body in his arms smells delicious, and he is completely intoxicated by her presence
I love you, Will. Happy anniversary.
Happy anniversary, Imzadi.
***
Christine Vale puts her feet up the couch and after taking a look around her living area, she decides to postpone the tidying up until the next day. After all, it's not as if she's expecting visitors any time soon. So, it doesn't matter if it looks like a horde of almost three-year-olds has been on the rampage, even if it was really just one.
This is the first time that Kestra spends the night in her quarters and she prepared herself well. They really had a lot of fun too. But the best part was when she read to her until she fell asleep. They lay together in Chris's bed, side by side. Kestra had her favorite cuddly toy, a wolf with the very original name Wolfie, tucked tightly under her arm and her head leaning against Chris'. The little girl had held out for quite a long time, hanging on to her lips as she read her one story after another. Chris had joked earlier when she saw how many books Deanna had packed in her daughter's bag. But of course, as always, her friend had been right.
Hopefully Will made it in time. He'd been pretty busy all week. As usual. But since he'd been planning this evening for so long, he certainly wasn't going to mess it up at the last minute. He'd gone all out for their tenth wedding anniversary, and although Chris wasn't really into the romantic stuff herself, she couldn't help but be impressed. Deanna was sure to love it.
Christine's own contribution had been the suggestion to let the children spend the night somewhere else. It wasn't a problem with Thad, of course, but Kestra was going through a rather clingy phase. Deanna especially had been pretty exhausted lately, having to manage all her various tasks on the ship and at the same time needed to take care of their daughter's intense need for closeness and attention. Which is exactly why Chris thought it would be the icing on the cake of Will’s plans if she might be able to let go of her duties as mother for the night, too.
Although she had noticed the faint doubts that had surrounded her friend when she had brought Kestra to her earlier, Deanna's anticipation had clearly outweighed them. About the fact that she and Will could just be a couple for once, for a whole night, neither parents nor Starfleet officers, but committed only to each other and no one else. After all, that hardly ever happened.
She knows how much Will and Deanna are absorbed in their many duties. Together and individually. Officially and privately. But she also knows better than most how much strength they both draw from each other, from the life they have created together and from their astonishingly strong passion for one another. The only thing is that there is not enough time to give in to the latter, at least not to the extent they would like to give it.
But if the night goes well and Kestra doesn't get too badly homesick, Chris will be happy to make sure that they can plan more evenings like this in the future if they want. At any rate, it shouldn't fail because of her. She has hardly any private obligations. Most of her friends are single officers like her, with whom she can arrange spontaneous meetings, but who also have no problem if you cancel at short notice because you want to look after your goddaughter. And she doesn't have a love life worth mentioning at the moment, so that's not a problem either.
She indulges in casual fun, no question, but having a real relationship on a starship isn't that easy, especially when you're the first officer and therefore the superior of practically everyone on the crew except the captain. She's not really looking either. Although it would be nice to have a little fling again. But sooner or later she'll probably take over her own command and then it's better if she's unattached anyway.
A soft hiss snaps Chris out of her thoughts. The door to the bedroom has opened and suddenly she is standing there. Kestra. Drowsy, her hair sticking out wildly in all directions, even though she had brushed it so thoroughly before putting her to bed. Sweet, little Kestra in her striped pyjamas, Wolfie in her hand, looking at her godmother rather unhappily.
"Kiss?"
"Hey wild girl, what are you doing here? You're supposed to be asleep." She reaches the little girl in a few quick steps and immediately takes her in her arms, lifts her up and presses her tightly against herself. "Well, what's wrong?"
Kestra puts her head on Christine's shoulder. "I miss Thad." She murmurs softly.
"Oh, I totally get that. You have it so good that you can always sleep in a room with your brother. I always have to sleep alone. But not tonight. Luckily, you're here tonight to look after me, right?" She tickles her lightly on the stomach and the bright, clear giggle makes her grin broadly. "And I really have to go to sleep now. It's a good thing you came and got me. Come on, let's go back to bed."
"Can you sing?" Kestra asks softly as she carries her back into the bedroom.
"For you, I can." She assures her.
Kestra snuggles against her and already closes her eyes, as Chris lies down on the bed with her again, beginning to sing a soft tune. She is stroking her head, senses how the girl’s breathing slows down as she falls asleep again and feels nothing but perfectly happy and content.
***
As he steps onto the bridge, the captain greets his bridge crew in a particularly cheerful tone, even for him.
"Good morning, everyone!"
"Good morning, Captain."
Will gives his first officer a friendly pat on the arm as she moves out of his chair and winks at her as he sits down, before he starts pulling up files on his screen.
Christine Vale takes her usual seat to his right. Then she leans to the side and inquires confidentially, "Did everything go according to plan last night, Sir?"
He doesn't look at her, as he starts scrolling through the files on the screen, but still replies in a neutral, quiet voice. “Affirmative, Commander. I think it's safe to say the mission was a great success. And how did it go on your end?"
"I have no particular incidents to report, Sir." She returns in a likewise manner. "We had a very good time last night and this morning too. Only the goodbyes were a bit difficult, but I've heard that's been a regular occurrence lately.“
"Unfortunately, yes.“ He sighs, and looks at her with a frown and a shrug. “I don’t get it. Thad was never that difficult, he always loved going to daycare. And Kestra used to do so, too, until recently."
"I'm sure it will get better soon." She tries to be encouraging, even though Kestra's trembling lower lip and her rolling tears when she said goodbye earlier made her heart heavy. She doesn't envy Will and Deanna, who have had to endure this every morning for weeks now. But there's no alternative, and the teachers agree that once her parents are gone, Kestra will be her usual happy and wild self all day.
"Let's hope so." Is his murmured reply.
He straightens up now and uses his official voice as he addresses the helmsman. "Laveena, our current mission has been postponed, so we need to make a course correction. Our new destination is Petarogan. Set a direct course, please, and then let's go. Warp 6."
"Aye, Sir.“
Chris looks at him questioningly, waiting for an explanation. "What's going on?"
"Admiral Akaar wants us to pick up a Starfleet Intelligence officer who obviously got himself into trouble on Petarogan." He replies and looks at his screen again.
"What kind of trouble, Sir?"
Will turns back to her and admits a little sheepishly, "To be honest, I haven't the faintest idea. Akaar reached me last night just as I was leaving, and he was acting all weird and mysterious about it. Anyway, I haven't had time to look into the details yet. But this morning I realized that Petarogan is actually nowhere near our current position and we'll be on the move for a bit. So we should get going while I catch up on the mission briefing."
"I see." Chris leans back in her seat and continues to scan the ship's usual status reports, but everything seems to be running smoothly. She might as well start preparing the next roster, she realizes, to take advantage of the time until Will is ready to brief her on their new assignment.
Getting that done can be complicated, especially as they're still a bit understaffed, so she works on it with great concentration and doesn't really pay attention to her surroundings anymore.
That's why she doesn't notice how Will's face darkens as he continues to study the files the Admiral has sent him, how he presses his lips tightly together. As it bursts out of him, he catches her completely off guard.
"That bloody old dog Akaar," he growls lowly and angrily, jumps up and starts pacing back and forth.
Chris stares at him as dumbfounded as every other person on the bridge. Normally, the Titan's officers are used to their captain keeping a cool head even under great pressure. And if he's letting himself go like this, it certainly doesn't bode well. But he either doesn't seem to notice or to care about their reaction.
"Chris, I want a meeting with the command staff in 30 minutes." He bluffs. "Helm, buy me some time and go down to warp 3, will you?"
"Ah, of course, Sir." Replies the helmsman, a little unsettled.
"Is everything all right, Captain?" Chris asks cautiously, although it is more than obvious that this is not the case. But she wants to hint to him that he has just caused quite a commotion among his crew, a fact which he obviously doesn't seem to be aware of. "Is there a problem with our new mission?"
He stares at her with an expression she can't interpret, doesn't seem to be listening properly. She has rarely seen him this upset on the bridge. At least he starts calming down a little now.
"A problem? You could say that, Commander." He stops and seems to have made up his mind. "As I said, command briefing in 30 minutes. But before that, I need to talk to Admiral Akaar and tell him very urgently what I think of him and this so-called personal favor."
Without another word or explanation, he storms off to his ready room, leaving Chris to deal with his confused bridge crew. She stands up slowly and says casually, as if Will Riker started every day with a public tirade against his superiors: "All right. Op's, can you please inform the senior officers that the Captain is expecting their presence for a command briefing in the observation lounge in 29 minutes?"
"Already on it, Commander."
"Good, I guess that's it then. Everyone carry on." Her tone and facial expression make it clear that she has no intention of speculating on the captain's behavior, nor will she allow any gossip among them for the time being. She waits until everyone has resumed their work before tucking in her uniform and sitting back down in the captain's chair. Her eyes fall on the list of files Will received from Akaar, and she leans forward to take a closer look.
As she goes through the list, she notices one particular document, a personnel file, probably from the officer they are supposed to pick up. And she doesn't even need to open it to finally understand why the captain was so upset. The name on the file says it all. Thomas Riker.
An astonished laugh escapes her as she leans back. Well, that's a real surprise. And suddenly Chris has a hunch that the next few days will certainly be anything but boring.