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1. Trapped in a Turbolift
Her feet were bare.
The emergency lights were throwing chaotic shadows around the lift, and the emergency klaxon was blaring, but none of that was as distracting as the fact that her feet were bare and they looked... vulnerable. This was why there was a requirement for regulation footwear.
He heard her curse, and jerked his attention from her toes to the rest of her, practically half inside the maintenance panel she had opened.
"I can't get it going. Main power is down, as well as Comms. If we want to find out what's going on, we're going to have to climb out of here."
She glanced upwards, at the emergency hatch in the ceiling. She was so short it was four feet above her head.
"Absolutely not. Climbing out is too dangerous without the proper-" he paused, mouth shifting. "-equipment."
She glared up at him. "If you mean shoes, don't start. I can climb just fine like this." She grinned up at him, and he frowned even more. "I'm like a little spider monkey."
"If you get injured while..." he started, but Ake was already getting to her feet, brushing her hands together before grasping his forearm with one hand.
"Kelrec, it's going to be fine." She still had that smile on her face, the one that said she thought he was being - what had she said when they'd met? Adorable. That's what she had said. Your cynicism is adorable. She still had a hand on his arm, and she gave it a squeeze. "But just so you know, I wish I'd worn my regulation boots too. Now give me a boost."
A boost, as it turned out, meant lifting her up to the emergency exit panel. She was faced away from him, so he didn't see what her face did when his hands went around her waist, or when he lifted her up, steadily and easily. He heard her breath hitch, and she muttered "You folks at the War College take arm day seriously, I see."
She couldn't see his face either, which was good because he wasn't sure what it was doing. He had inhaled as he lifted, and then inhaled again because the way she smelled was...
“Got it.” she grunted as the hatch swung open. His hands slipped from her waist to her thighs, and then to her knees as she climbed up. For a moment her bare foot stood on his shoulder, and his hand wrapped around her bare ankle, as if to help her balance. Then she was all the way up, her face reappearing a moment later to look down at him. She grinned.
The hand she offered him was small in his, but strong as she pulled him up.
********
2. Trapped in a Shuttle
Chancellor Kelrec was angry.
She had seem him angry before, of course. Usually at her. This was different; this wasn't him frustrated, or annoyed, or coldly seething. This was Kelrec furious.
There was colour high in his cheeks, and red smudged across his knuckles from where they had connected to the bulkhead. He snarled, shifting the heavy piece of metal he held in his hands, getting ready to hit the wall of the shuttle again.
“Chancellor.” she said, more softly than she meant to. She tried again, swallowing to get the lump out of her throat. “Chancellor Kelrec.”
He turned to look down at her, towering over her where she was slumped on the floor. She watched his shoulders heave as he took a deep breath. When had he taken off his uniform jacket?
She shifted, then gasped. She felt pain bloom in her side, and she curled around herself, around the fabric pressed against her side... oh, there was his jacket. She was bleeding on it.
“Stay still.” he tossed the metal onto the ground, shockingly loud in the small space. He winced, and she saw his face crumple for a moment from angry to something else. Something vulnerable. “I'm going to get us out of here. Just, just stay still.”
She tried to breathe steadily, slowly turning to look up at him through her hair. “I thought I was the optimist.” she muttered.
“Your injuries are serious but treatable. Once we get you to med bay you'll be fine.” he picked up a handheld light and pointed it into the hole he had created in the bulkhead. “Once I find the people responsible for our shuttle attack, they won't be so lucky.”
“Aww, aren't you sweet.” Ake murmured, eyes slipping shut. “Threatening to kill people.”
“Chancellor. Chancellor.” Hands were gently moving her hair away from her face, making her eyelids flutter, bringing her back to wakefulness. “Field medic procedure is to keep you awake to prevent further shock.”
“I'm tougher than I look, Chancellor Kelrec. The only shock I'm suffering from is how concerned you are for my welfare.” She tried to keep her tone light; Kelrec was worried enough already.
“Yes, I'm sure all those electrons you absorbed through your bare feet are helping.” He passed her a small cup of water, and his face darkened but he didn't say anything when he had to help her drink it.
“I'm worried about the kids.” she admitted quietly.
“Me too.”
********
3. Trapped at a Party
He was wearing his dress uniform. The tight collar felt like it was slowly strangling him, and his dress shoes pinched. It was too warm from the press of people, too loud from the sounds of music and conversation and laughter, and he resisted the urge to drink deeply from the champagne flute in his hand.
He was here to represent the War College. He needed to show restraint, and discipline. He tried to school his expression into polite interest.
The admiral at his elbow introduced him to four people whose names he definitely would not remember. Across the ballroom, Chancellor Ake laughed at something Admiral Vance was saying. She seemed comfortable – effortlessly making conversation with everyone she met, smiling and touching. She wasn't wearing a dress uniform, she was wearing some kind of gold gown, all tasteful drapery and rich fabric. She looked like a Greek senator, or a nymph from myth, or … something that belonged here. A completely different animal from him, that was easy to see.
There was a break in conversation, and like the trained tactician he was, he saw an opening and took it. Time to fall back to a more defensible position. He made his excuses and slipped through the crowd, making his way to the balcony doors along one wall. Some fresh air. He would get some fresh air and then return better for it.
In the darkness of the balcony, he breathed in deeply and loosened his collar. The sounds of the party were distant here, and the view of San Francisco was breathtaking. He let his eyes slip shut, listening to the sounds of the city below.
He almost didn't notice when she stepped out through the doors, but her sandals made a faint clicking noise on the tile. She walked to his darkened and quiet end of the balcony and leaned on the railing, sighing and bending down to take off her sandals. She didn't know he was here, and he considered keeping it that way.
No. It was too tempting to startle her and he did so, purposefully. “Taking a break?” He left the shadows to stand next to her. She jumped, gratifyingly, and glared up at him.
“Yes.” She delicately rubbed her temples with her fingers, wincing. “I'd forgotten what these functions are like.”
“At least you're...” he trailed off, trying to think of a way to give her a compliment that wouldn't make him sound pathetic. “...experienced in statecraft.”
She guffawed at that, her usual bright laugh, and then she shook her head. “If my superiors knew what they were doing they wouldn't have made me attend. There's no knowing what I might say, or to who.” she winked at him mischievously, and for a moment he forgot that she was like this with everyone. That he wasn't some special confidante that she always made jokes with.
“But you have things to say.” he pointed out, awkwardly.
“And you don't?” She turned towards him, craning her neck to look at him better. “Didn't I hear you tell Thok that you had a list of twelve bullet points regarding school funding, that you were hoping to discuss with members of the Education Committee?”
“People expect small talk. I'm not good at small talk.” he sighed, and moved to re-tighten the collar of his dress uniform.
“Maybe you could talk to them about tea?” She smiled at him, and he tried not to visibly wince.
She frowned, lines appearing between her brows. “I just meant... you should start by talking about something you enjoy. Then the bullet points. The bullet points are a good idea. We need the support, and I don't think we'll get it without schmoozing.”
He hummed noncommittally. “Schmoozing.”
She smiled again, and wrapped one of her arms around his bicep. She felt warm. “Yes, schmoozing.”
He looked down at her. “I don't schmooze. But perhaps a two pronged approach?”
She grinned up at him. “Are you suggesting that I do the schmoozing, and you do the funding talk?”
Another noncommittal hum. “Do you think you can talk to members of the education committee without causing an incident?”
She laughed again, louder this time, and she pulled him back towards the light and noise spilling through the balcony doors. “Back into battle, Chancellor.”
********
4. Trapped in a Cave
It was dark. If they turned off their lights there was no hint of light anywhere, no matter how hard they strained their eyes or waited for them to adjust.
Ake sighed, and then sat on the floor of the cave, obviously trying to make herself comfortable despite the fact she was using a boulder as a backrest. Across from her, Kelrec stood against the wall of the cave, watching. When she looked at him pointedly, he sat down across from her.
Once he was settled, she reached out with her foot and nudged his boot. “Penny for your thoughts.”
He rolled his eyes, loosening his uniform collar. “Only that I seem to find myself in these situations more often since you arrived.”
She snorted, nudging his foot again. She found physical contact soothing, and they were trapped in a cave. He nudged her boot back with his.
“It's been a few years, Kelrec, surely you're used to me by now.”
“Not yet.” He leaned his head back against the stone and closed his eyes. “They'll find us once a search gets close enough to detect our beacon through the rock. We just need to wait it out.”
She nudged his foot again. “You know, in the early days of Starfleet they used to shoot rocks with their phasers to heat them, and use them to stay warm in situations like this.”
“Don't shoot anything.” He opens his eyes to look at her. “And there is no way that can be true. It's ridiculously dangerous.”
She shrugged and smiled, winking. “Sounds like fun.”
He closed his eyes again. “No shooting. We'll be out of here soon.”
She kept quiet for 4 standard minutes before nudging his foot again. He nudged her back out of reflex.
“Know any good campfire stories?”
“No campfires.” He closed his eyes more tightly.
“But stories?” she leaned forward, curious. “Maybe you know one I haven't heard.”
“Doubful.” he thought for a moment. “King Arthur?”
“Don't be ridiculous.”
“Aktuh and Maylot?”
“I'm not a child, Kelrec.”
“I could tell you how my grandparents met.” He says it quietly, almost to himself, but he feels her interest immediately.
“I'd like that.”
When the rescue party finds them, they haven't run out of stories.
*****
5. Trapped Apart
She was lying on the couch in Kelrec's office, listening to him make tea. It was the familiar sound of the tea-making that probably made her say it.
“I think there's something wrong. In the Admiralty.”
She could hear him stop folding his tea, could feel the way he directed his entire attention to her, suddenly. Alert. Cautious.
“You think there's something wrong. In what way?”
“It's the Mir situation.” She scrubbed her hands across her face, trying to settle her thoughts. “The information I'm getting... it doesn't make sense. Something's wrong.”
She turned her head to look across at him. “It seems like someone is covering something up.”
His lips set into a thin line. “I thought we had decided not to discuss Caleb Mir's admittance to the Academy.”
She sat up, angry. “I didn't bring it up to argue about Caleb again. This is about his mother, and about what Braka is doing with -”
“I can't help you.” He set down his tea. Folded his hands in his lap.
She stared at him. “What?”
“Whatever you're planning. Whatever conspiracy you think is going on. I can't help you. I am a school administrator.” He looked away from her, closing his eyes briefly. “It's inappropriate for us to even be having this conversation.”
She got up to leave, tea untouched. “I thought we were past this. I thought we were learning to work together. I have a duty to help-”
“I am more aware of my duty than you are.” he said sardonically, taking a sip of tea.
He was still sitting there watching her when she stormed out.
She didn't see him again until after it had all gone to shit.
*
Nahla Ake wasn't sleeping. She would go to a bunk and stay there for a few hours so that the kids wouldn't worry, but she would lie there, her eyes open, thinking.
She tried to plan, but mostly she remembered.
The feeling of a warm hand wrapping around her wrist, of breath moving her hair, a deep voice in in her ear. The click of her cuffs being released, and Kelrec's voice, out of breath, and desperate, saying “Go, go and I'll cover you. Run, Nahla, you have to RUN.”
During the day she stayed meticulously busy. Repairing their ancient and tiny ship, following up on intel leads, doing odd jobs for resources and information. If she was busy, the memories stayed at a distance. Late at night they crept up on her, an unfair opponent who waited for weakness to strike.
She could feel panic rising in her with every step that she ran. There was the sound of phaser fire behind them, and as Caleb pulled her around the corner and down another corridor, she looked back. Kelrec was on the ground, unmoving, security advancing towards him.
The kids were noticing that she was tired, and she tried harder to sleep, for their sakes. Being a fugitive was hard, and even more so when you had three cadets with you. She needed to keep it together, for them.
Genesis was a solid presence, supportive and helpful and still so young that it broke her heart.
Reymi was terrified, but somehow braver because of it, and unwilling to let Caleb and Genesis out of his sight.
Caleb excelled at being a fugitive, of course. He stared at her sometimes, when her attention drifted, when he had to say her name twice to get her attention.
Run, Nahla...
She snapped her attention back to the cadets. “Say that again.”
Cadet Lythe looked at her with an expression that was far too old for her age, and repeated: “We have a plan.”
**
When they finally contacted the cadets in San Francisco on a encrypted channel, she cried a little. Their hopeful and familiar faces, some of them Academy, some of them War College, filled her with pride. The kids were alright.
“What can we do to help?” Karima Sadal asked, seriously, although her eyes were wet as well.
“Do you know, does anyone know...” she cleared her throat and tried again. “Chancellor Kelrec. Does anyone have a status report on him?”
She's tried to be businesslike, and missed by a mile if the students' expressions were anything to go by.
“He's incarcerated. He's being held in a facility somewhere in San Francisco.” Dzolo volunteered, and Ake felt herself release a breath she didn't know she'd been holding.
As it turned out, convincing the cadets to stage a prison break was surprisingly easy. Convincing certain adult faculty to go against certain members of the Admiralty was almost easier. And then it was just a matter of making a plan and executing it.
**
Of course, nothing went to plan. It was a miracle they didn't all end up dead, or incarcerated. And then suddenly it was over. They had won.
Reno hugged her, and the Doctor hugged her, and Thok threatened her, and Admiral Vance said that she owed him so many favours she would never repay him. But they won.
She walked through the school at 0300 hours, no sound but her bare feet on the deck plating, trying to convince herself that she was back, that it was over. She walked through the school like a ghost, and ended up in front of her own quarters. There was another ghost waiting there.
The lighting was dimmed, but his profile was distinctive, and he wasn't trying to hide. Just waiting outside of her door, at parade rest. His boots were shiny.
She walked up to him, until her bare toes were touching the tips of his polished boots. She had to tip her face up to look him in the eye.
“Been waiting long?” she murmured, her voice rougher than she'd expected.
He opened his mouth to say - something – but then wrapped his arms around her instead, burying his face into the side of her neck. She could feel him trembling. She hugged him back, her arms holding on as tightly as she could. Slowly his hands drifted from her waist and up her sides, cupping her face. She could feel his nose against her jaw, drifting upwards across her cheek, and then his lips brushed against hers.
She made a noise, or maybe he did, but then they were kissing. Kissing so deeply the tips of her fingers tingled, and the bottom dropped out of her stomach. He kissed her slowly, and meticulously, as if he'd been planning how he would do it for a while. He probably had. He was the one who bragged about his attention to detail. It made her want to distract him.
As her hands drifted down to palm his ass, and her teeth gently bit into his bottom lip, he whimpered, and she smiled. Success.