Only Time Can Heal All Wounds

Posted on Tue Oct 19th, 2021 @ 5:29am by Commander William Gerhard & Ensign Alexandra 'Lexi' O'Connery

Mission: Mission 4 - Eden
Location: Deck D - Officer's Quarters
Timeline: Day 168 - 17:00 hrs
1695 words - 3.4 OF Standard Post Measure

William sat in his quarters staring at the stars out his viewport. The cold pack he had been given by Dr. Avira lay on his desk as it thawed slowly and dripped condensation around it. His hands were steepled under his chin as he watched the stars. The banging behind his head had subsided, but the images of him narrowly missing Nathaja's hand as he fell continued to play across his mind. The more he thought about the situation, the more he realized that he could've done more to help the young man. He could tell that he was merely reacting to their presence, and being the team leader he felt responsible for not being fast enough to help him.

The sound of the door chime brought him back to the present. While normally he would be on duty right now, the XO had given him, as well as the whole team, the remainder of the day off. Captain Leroux and petty Officer Szerda were still being checked out by Dr. Avira, and Lieutenant Leyton still retained command. "Come," he said as he turned his head to see who entered.

Lexi walked straight in and took in where he was sat as well as the blooming bruise. She picked up the cold pack and smacked it back on his head. "Don't argue." She whispered to him relieved to see him in the flesh and confirm that he was okay after all the rumours that she had heard.

He flinched a bit when he felt the cold pack touch his head. He then looked up at her with an upraised eyebrow, "Yes ma'am." He was glad that she was here with him. He had not seen her since returning from the mission, but he was sure the scuttlebutt about what happened was in full force. "I heard a rumor that you and Elegy discovered some interesting information in the data core room," he said.

“I heard a rumour that you confronted the person who killed Davis and then kidnapped Leroux and Szerda.” Lexi said back in Swedish as she sat on the chair at the desk watching him. “Are you okay?” She wondered softly. She did not want to smoother him at all when he looked like he was in a dark mood which she could not blame.

William held the ice pack and nodded slightly before looking down at his boots. "Yeah, we got the captain and Szerda back. According to Dr. Avira, they should make a full recovery, though Szerda may have to spend a day or two in sickbay. And we did find the guy who killed Aurelius, but it wasn't what i expected," he said softly. He then looked up at her and met her eye, "He was just a kid who was scared we were on his ship."

The data core was not common knowledge but she gathered from what they had found so far and the rumours around the ship had told her so far. “I know. Scuttlebutt on the ship is flowing quickly at the moment. But no one blames you or King. It was an accident.” She said touching his free hand.m trying to offer some type of comfort to him when she could see the information was taring him up in

William looked away as he felt her touch his hand. He took it in his and intertwined his fingers with hers. "I had this idea of who it was that killed Aurelius, but to find out it was a kid was...," he said as he trailed off. He looked back at her , "I tried my best to save him at the end, but i wasn't fast enough. I keep seeing the look in his eyes as he fell down from the railing."

”I know without a doubt you would have tried to save him from falling as those everyone else.” She promised thinking of how hard it must be at the moment in his head with all the preconceived notions around Aurelius’ killer. “All of those memories are not going to go away instantly.” She soothed pressing a kiss to him temple as she inspected him better for injuries.

William closed his eyes as he felt her kiss his head. He sighed a bit as he felt her other hand probing his hair as she looked for other injuries, "I know, its some more memories to add to the pile i guess," he said as he pulled her closer. He then looked up at her and saw her eyes searching his head. "You know Dr. Avira already checked me for other injuries," he said with an upraised eyebrow, "Do you not trust her?"

“Not when she was under influence of sedative gas. I saw how out of it everyone else was. I am not taking any chances with you when I know what you are like.” She told him simply as she moved to sit on his lap lying her head on his shoulder. “We all have our own trauma William but it’s what we carry forward together that counts. The kid had no one but you have 70 people who believe in you.” She said sounding so much older than she was.

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him. He knew that she was right and that he would have to push forward past this. He would need to keep his focus given their long journey home. He knew that his fellow shipmates were behind him, but William had spent so much time being a loner that he was still trying to get used to relying on his colleagues. "I'm still trying to get used to not having to rely on just myself," he said softly before he kissed her cheek, "I like to think I'm the luckiest man here to have you to pull me up and dust me off when I've fallen."

Lexi knew he was the type of man who had never relied on anyone else in his life, not parents or guardians, not a sibling, not friends. She was a patient woman. “I will keep reminding you William. Every single second of the day if I need to.” She promised just settling into watching the ship through the porthole for a long moment. “You do not need to get over this in a day you know. One step, one day at a time.” She reminded knowing it had been how she had moved past her abusive ex-boyfriend and found herself in Starfleet.

"I know. I still have to write up the final summary for the file, though I'm sure no one will ever read the whole report," he said as he leaned back in his chair and looked out the porthole with her. He wrapped his arms around her waist before watching her gaze out his porthole. "By the way, you never did say what you and Elegy found in that datacore. I heard it was quite enlightening, " he said.

"They might one day and I want you to be the best armoury officer we have." She told him nuzzling his neck for a moment before she sat upright at the mention of the datacore. "It was... I... um... you need to talk to the Captain about it." She said looking away awkwardly. She did not want to be the one to tell him the fact it came from the future if he did not know. She was not sure who knew and who did not.

William jumped a bit as she sat upright quickly after his question. He looked up at her with an arched eyebrow surprised at her reaction, "Sloan let it slip when we were searching for the captain that the ship was from the future but he wasn't specific," he said as he watched her reaction, "Lieutenant Leyton informed myself and Major King when we returned, but i wasn't aware the captain had decided to keep it classified."

The communication officer let out an expletive in a language that displayed just how relieved she was that he knew. Lexi visibly relaxed as he told her what she already knew. She settled back down and lay her head on his shoulder again. “I do not think it has properly with the Captain in sickbay but it makes sense to. You do not want to know your own history if you can.”

William raised an eyebrow at her when she spoke a word that he didn't understand, but he gathered that it was a curse word. He laughed slightly as she relaxed back into him, "I didn't realized it had you so worked up. What was that word you just said, i may want to add it to my vocabulary." He rested his head on top of hers and looked out the porthole again. "I agree, though wouldn't you be just the tiniest bit curious to see what your future would hold," he asked.

“Kuso. It is Japanese. It literally means dammit or the more versatile swear version. Normally it is not used towards someone else, but yourself to express your frustration. You knowing had frustrated me. I’ve been trying to think of ways to not tell you.” She admitted knowing normally they did not have secretes but she had not wanted to give him spoilers. “No. I want to live my life without a hint of knowing what steps I take.”

He nodded as he listened to her response. He could tell that she had wrestled with the notion of not telling him about the data core, but he was glad that he was able to alleviate her fears. "Interesting thought. I rather agree with you, and I'm glad that I will be able to see what my life holds with you to help guide me, " he said as he kissed the top of her head.

Lexi just stayed quiet and let the words he said warm her as she tried not to think about what she had seen on the datacore about the far future. it was too far away to worry about it now, it could not be changed.

 

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