The True Story Of How They Met

Posted on Tue Mar 26th, 2024 @ 10:49am by Ensign Alexandra 'Lexi' O'Connery & Commander William Gerhard

Mission: Contagion
Location: Barcelona, Earth
Timeline: July 2155
1991 words - 4 OF Standard Post Measure

Nestled within the historic streets of Barcelona, Spain, the venue for celebration of Atlantis assignment to the Xindi mission was an architectural marvel that seamlessly blended tradition with modernity. The venue was a refurbished 18th-century Catalan mansion, adorned with intricate wrought iron balconies and vibrant mosaic tiles. The grand entrance led guests into a courtyard illuminated by the warm glow of fairy lights, where centuries-old olive trees provide a natural canopy for mingling under the starlit Mediterranean sky.

But none of that mattered to Lexi as she watched the guests below coming in and she left her view point to go down. She had gotten there early as Leroux’s insistence due to several people not speaking Spanish to aid the crew and it had been worthwhile to meet Captain Morgan in person properly but now she wanted to meet more of the crew other than her department.

William had arrived promptly and been mingling with his fellow officers lightly sipping his drink. He wore his dress uniform as he surveyed the crowd. He’d already met Captain Morgan briefly when she had poked her head into his interview with Lieutenant Commander Sloan. William had been to enough admirals functions during his time at Starfleet HQ as Rear Admiral Carson’s aide, but he was more used to mingling in the shadows with the other flag officer aides. He chanced a glance up as he spied a blonde haired woman coming down the steps. He wasn’t familiar with the other junior officers yet, but he felt like she looked somewhat familiar.

The blonde woman in question caught the glance up and smiled as she noticed him and took a detour to him. She was surprised by the fact he was wearing uniform as most people were not but it suited him but she did not know him at all. “Wearing uniform huh? Bit of a rule breaker there as Captain Morgan said formal casual.” She said indicating her summer dress which was perfect for the May Mediterranean weather.

William glanced down at his uniform, already having noticed his stark difference from the others. He shrugged slightly before taking a sip from his drink. "Only thing I had readily available. Though, it seems I'm not the only one," he said having noticed one of the MACOs wearing his own dress uniform and a red beret. He held out his right hand towards the woman, "Lieutenant JG Gerhard, Assistant Chief Armory Officer."

“Ensign Alexandra O’Connery. Communications.” She said before glancing around and saw the person who he was talking about. She offered a shrug before looking back at the man. She felt like that uniform was most likely what he wore day in and day out and belt uncomfortable in anything other than it. He just looked the type..”MACO he probably ignored the order on principle that it came from Earth Starfleet … Sir.”

"He must've been the only one then," William replied having spied a few other of the MACO team in civilian dress at the party. He took a sip from his drink again before looking over at her. "So, to what do I owe the pleasure," he asked.

Lexi snorted into her glass and looked at him. “Well… I came to say hello as you looked a little lonely and bored. I was going to go for a walk and explore. Could come with me?” She admitted with a shrug. He was also attractive but he did not need to know that there and then as a more senior officer. “I do not bite.” She added before she could help herself.

William took a moment to look around before he shrugged his shoulders. "I guess that would be fine. Still haven't met everyone yet," he offered as he moved to follow her lead around the venue.

The woman grinned and led the way across the partygoers grabbing a bottle from a stand and 2 more glasses as she went. She led her he way back inside and through another courtyard that seemed to be in the middle of the house where it was all strung up with fairy lights from the trees that were growing. “So why have you been up to in Earth Starfleet before you ended up here?” She wondered quietly.

“Nothing too special, I was Rear Admiral Carson’s flag aid. It was kinda boring if I’m being totally honest,” he said as he followed her around the courtyard. He looked around at the impressive courtyard with its myriad of lighting. “As soon as my tour was up, I put in for a starship posting. Starfleet Command is no place for a Armory guy,” he continued.

“Well that is a bit of a change?” Lexi commented as she sat on the stone bench and poured some of what she thought was champagne into a glass holding it out to him. She grinned wondering what was going through his head as he stood there.

William took the glass from her and took a sip with a nod. He looked back at he with a slight smile, “What about you? What was your posting before now?”

“No posting. This is my first posting outside of officer training.” As a language specialist she had a slightly different route via university and then Earth Starfleet Officer training. “It was Earth Starfleet for this polyglot as they need translators, interpreters and language specialist or I was heading for something more sneaky like the intelligence services.” She declared teasing him.

William gave her an upraised eyebrow and slight smile. From her blonde hair, he knew she wouldn't have been a likely intelligence operative. The Armory division in Starfleet generally took the backseat when compared to the sciences and linguistics aspects of Starfleet's mission. "So this is your first time out into the new frontier, and a pretty good mission to start out on. Xindi territory is still full of species we haven't made contact with," he said remembering the mission briefing packet he had recieved.

“Lots of languages to learn and Xindi languages are so interesting.” The woman declared watching him smile. She would never had made it intelligence or armoury departments. But neither of them were her type of thing anyway. She wanted something that challenged her linguistically as that was her forte. “So Lieutenant JG Gerhard, Assistant Chief Armoury Officer… do you have a first name?” She wondered.

"William," he replied blushing slightly as he had forgotten his manners. He took a sip from his drink to cover his slight embarrassment before he cleared his throat and looked back over at the her. "And yours," he asked as he saw her begin to smile at him.

“I already told you Alexandra but most people call me Lexi.” She admitted thinking that people she liked called her Lexi and he was certainly in that category. He was especially cute when he blushed. “So where is that accent from?” She could not quite place it.

"Sorry," William said blushing again remembering she had told him her name. He took another quick drink before looking back towards her. "Stockholm, though i did spend some time north of the Arctic circle when i was a teenager with relative," William said. He was surprised she had detected his accent, but then again she was a linguist. William's mother tongue was Swedish, but he was also fluent in German and English. His years in Starfleet had tamped down his accent since he spoke English mainly since it was the UE's official language.

“No need to apologise. Did you want to go back to the party?” She offered speaking Swedish easily as she shifted the dress around herself better. It was not one of her comfortable languages but she could easily hold a conversation with the man.

William brightened slightly as he heard her speak in his native tongue. She had a trace of a foreign accent, but it was only noticeable to native speakers. "I thought we were exploring," he asked switching to Swedish to follower he lead. He gave her a raised eyebrow before indicating their surroundings. "From the outside, this place looked a lot bigger than just this courtyard," he said.

“Well come on then.” She grabbed his hand and tugged him further into the courtyard. It was very true the villa looked huge from the outside and she had wanted to explore it from the moment she had arrived. Hours later Lexi was laughing as they ran down a corridor trying to avoid a couple of colleagues that neither of them wanted to see.

William had definitely felt his drink relaxing his inhibitions as he had let himself be pulled around by Lexi as they went all around the castle exploring. As they ran down the corridor, William pulled up short as he spotted Sloan, his department head amongst the crowd. "We better find another route, I don't want my new boss to see me like this," he said referring to his slightly tipsy state.

“Poor you having to resort to hiding to avoid Sloan. Leroux is definitely the best manager … or department head or whatever I have had.” She giggled as she opened a door to a small room and slipped inside. He was barely tipsy but she had certainly felt him relaxing and becoming less of a stick in the mud.

He noticed that the room was small and tight before she had pulled him in and shut the door. He looked around as his eyes adjusted to the darkness before he saw the shadows of people cross in front of the door frame. He held his breath as the did and relaxed slightly when the voices passed by. "Ok, I think the coast is clear," he said as he turned to look where he thought she was before he felt her pressing close to him. He heard her giggle slightly before he felt hands wrapping themselves around his neck.

Lexi could not help but giggle as she realized they were in cleaning drone store room. It amused her that even in this hundreds of years old villa there were still cleaning drones. “Could hide here with me a little bit longer?” She tempted in Swedish reaching up to loop her arms around his neck and press herself against him.

"Won't that raise eyebrows with our new crewmates, " he asked but allowing her to continue to wrap her arms around his neck and slowly pull him closer to her. While his mind was clouded from the alcohol, he still had some sense to know that as a more senior officer they could get into trouble for this kind of fraternizing if they were caught. William was known as a stickler for rules, which was surprising given his past run ins with the law. But, there was something about Lexi made him feel like risking the consequences. Or, perhaps it was just the booze.

“People have not looked yet.” She whispered as her lips touched his in a soft kiss before she pulled back. “But I am not holding you hostage.” She reminded gently as she looked up at him in the dim light. She would happily walk away there and then but she very much did not want to.

The slight brush of their lips had made the hairs on the back of his neck bristle before she had pulled away. "No, you certainly aren't," he replied, letting the smile creep into his voice. He then pulled her closer to him as he kissed her again, deeper this time and she clutched at the back of his neck. There was something about the way time seemed to slow as they were there together, lips locked. He didn't know if it was the booze, but he felt something else within him that drew him to her. He knew that he was the superior officer, but at this point he didn't care.