You put your arms around me...
And I'm home.
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T'oi was sitting on the edge of his bed, the bed that Narciso was laying on. It was the only luxury in his room besides his personal clothes. It was large enough for two people to comfortably sleep in, his favorite green sheets were on it and the matching pillow cloths. He looked at Narciso tenderly and gently stroked his hair, "Everything will be fine, I promise." The words were half-vow and half...prayer. He was so...confused, how did this beautiful man come to cast his spell on T'oi and he not realize it? A voice from the entrance to his room...his mother...startled T'oi.
"I remember when I first saw Sentak. He was tall, mysterious, handsome, and intelligent. My son...I see that look in your eyes, the one I saw when I looked in the mirror after seeing your father for the first time. I know...how you must feel. Your heart is full to bursting, you want to gather him in your arms and hold him, protect him, never let go...but, if this is ever to work for the both of you, he must be your match in all things. You must let him be himself, like your father did with me."
T'oi looked up at his mother, he could feel the pain in her voice, soon she would be without the man she loved, but it would not feel like a short time, Bendai Syndrome first strips a Vulcan of their emotional walls and then takes away their sanity. "Mother...I am so very sorry. Father...is a part of you. We will get through this together." He turned his eyes back to Narciso lying on the bed, still stroking his hair. "He will awaken soon, but the shock will remain with him for a while. I have seen his service record, he lost a lot of friends on the Adonis, and now he has lost another group of friends, and perhaps more on the Corona. I will not be able to take his pain away right now, and all sedating him would do is to delay the pain. So I will sit with him, listen to his heart beat, and hold him when he cries...if being an emotional Vulcan had an advantage, it is that I know tears." He wanted to hold his mother too, but he knew she would be embarassed.
Narciso's mind was in a state of flux as he dreamed. Every terror he had ever experienced had come forward and began to drown him in a sea of horrors. He dreamt himself back on Betazed, when the Dominion had invaded. How they were trapped inside a city, running for their lives with blasts from the Jem'Hadar at their heels every step of the way. How he, a child, as being pulled along by the guiding hand of a young woman, refusing to allow him to fall behind. How they had split off from the main group, as it was assaulted by an ambush instantly killing those who ran in the front. They made their way, running faster then they knew possible, towards the mouth of a cave. Every single step was remembered by Narciso as he dreamed, every single pain. Then finally, how they ran inside the rocks, how the young woman had stopped, shoving the small boy inside as the Jem'Hadar grabbed at her, tearing not only her clothes but her delicate flesh beneath. How her screams filled his ears, how she kept telling him to run. How he killed her... The rocks collapsing down on the Jem'Hadar, and atop Sarahi. No longer hearing her screams, no longer seeing anything as the darkness filled the cave...
Narciso tossed over in his sleep, whimpering her name, crying out for her. T'oi couldn't do anything but watch as the pain emerged from Narciso's face. T'oi looked up to his doorway, to see his mother but she had gone, wanting to leave the two alone in private. Not that privacy would last long...
A sudden bang came from the entrance to the home of Sentak. It echoed loudly, and was only muffled by the scream that came after it: "Narciso!?!? Where is Narciso!?!?" The voice was strong, yet clearly that of a woman. It had a hint of Earthling French behind it. "Where is my baby brother!?!?" The young woman ran into room after room, searching disperately for the one she claimed to be her baby brother. T'ylen rushed to the noise, followed by her Husband. Sentak stood before the Earthling his voice loud and resonant. "Who are you that you violate our peace!!" His voice more of a warning than a question. The young woman turned around and faced the pair, determination in her eyes. They were lucky she didn't have her favorite assault weapon with her, or she would simply blast through the walls until she found what she was searching for. Then again, she had kicked in their front door... "I am looking for Narciso! Where is he!" Sentak and T'ylen looked at each other and then to their uninvited guest. "What purpose have you with the counselor?" Sentak asked, not ignoring the fact that she had burst into his family's home in such a rude fashion. "He needs me. He is upstairs isn't he!?" The young woman ran past the distinguished pair and made a mad dash upwards and towards the bedroom that belonged to T'oi. T'oi himself had stood up and was standing guard at the doorway to his room, ready to fight should he need to. As he heard the fast footsteps, he rose and waited. The young woman burst into the room, delivering a swift tackle onto T'oi, sending him across the way. she only stopped until she was hovering over the bed, looking down at the one who laid upon it; Narciso. Her hand reached down, moving the strands of hair from his face. "Ah, little one... I'm here now." Narciso's eyes slowly opened, his vision blurry at first due to the tears that had seen their way down. He looked up at her, and a soft smile graced his lips as he spoke her name. "Marietta.."
T'oi spoke, his tone of voice icy. "As you can see, your friend is resting comfortably and the only harm that has befallen him here is the news of the loss of his ship, friends, and comrades. Something that I feel as sharply as he does...however your barging in here and damaging my parents property was incredibly rude. You owe me nothing, but you owe my parents a sincere apology and I expect you to deliver it-"
Marietta looked to the Vulcan before her and then back down to Narciso as he spoke. Before he could finish his last sentence she cut him off. "Yes yes, apology and all of that. But hush up, your voice is upsetting him." Her voice was thick with her accent, but she was obviously much calmer now. Narciso looked to her with a reaised eyebrow and then shook his head. "Damn it Marietta. You didn't blast through the walls again did you?" Marietta leaned back, standing up now and pointed a hand to her chest. "Moi? no of course not. I used the front door." At that moment Sentak and T'ylen appeared at the doorway, T'ylen followed Marietta's comment with her own. "The front door is meant to be opened. Not torn down." Narciso rose up from the bed and looked to his hosts. "I am very sorry for her actions. I trust nothing else was broken, no walls were torn down yes? She'll pay for everything to be fixed up. Though if I remember correctly she is still paying for having destroyed the hulls of a Steamrunner class starship." Marietta tossed her hands in the air as Narciso gave her a glare. "Little one, you were in trouble. I had no choice but to cut through." Narciso rose his hands to his head and leaned backwards, closing his eyes in disbelief. "Marietta, we were drydocked!!"
"Now, if you will forgive me, I would very much like some answers, Lieutenant. I am a forgiving man,mainly because you are quite obviously a loyal friend to Narciso here. What are you doing here? Oh..allow me to introduce myself, I am Vice Admiral S'ynek nee T'oi, Commander of Task Force 101 at the Borg Front."
Marietta looked to the man as he spoke, introducing himself as a Vice-Admiral. she quickly dismissed his words though by waving her hand. "Yes-yes, I know who you are. That is part of the reason why I am here. I was ordered to bring you your next assignment. And Narciso's as well. but then I heard of what happened to the Corona, so I came as fast as I could. I was scheduled to arrive in two days, but I 'may have' taken over the helm of my transport and punched her up to then past her maximum warp. Oh I might have to pay for the warp core I 'may have' damaged, but it was worth it." As she spoke she rose her hands and made quote marks in the air with her fingers whenever the words 'may have' left her lips.
Quite unexpectedly T'oi started laughing joined by his father. "I like you, Lieutenant, you are by no means standard Starfleet issue. Do you work for Quinn? Oh, never mind...give me my orders, please."
Marietta laughed a bit as well, then reached behind her for her bag and pulled out two datapads. One for Narciso and one for T'oi. She tossed them to the boys concurrently and watched each one try to catch it in mid air. "The gist of it says, Vice-Admiral T'oi is to retake command of his vessel and lead the task force in the Borg front, mission specifics can be found on the pad." She then sat down beside Narciso and wrapped an arm around him. "And you, are to continue your project... They believe it may just be useful against the borg. You are to be placed aboard the new Oddyssey Starship, as it will have the facilities to support your work." Marietta looked down before she spoke again. "So you'll be going to the Borg front as well. But I will be too. I have been reassigned to an Andorian Kumari, which shall be escorting your Oddyssey. Both our ships will be under the command of, Vice Admiral T'oi. Forgive me Admiral, before you read on further into the Datapad... Your task force has lost three ships to the Borg."
T'oi read the orders and data carefully, finding that everything matched up with what the young tactical officer said. "We lost USS Wellington, USS Yunte, and the heavy cruiser USS Tobias Wolff." He winced. "I knew Captain Ch'gon...a good friend." Turning to his parents, "They would not have called unless matters were grim, I must leave quickly, but I will return as soon as I can. Lieutenant, I realize you are dear friends with Narciso here, would you please keep him company while I get into uniform?"
Marietta shook her head, signaling a no. "No time. We leave now, our shuttle is waiting for us. We will be taken to a transport ship and then to Starbase. From there we are to be taken by our respective ships. Come, come. We must hurry now." Marietta lifted herself up off the bed and then hooked Narciso by his arm and lifted him up. She gave him a push towards the door and did the same to T'oi. "We take our leave. The sooner the better. The Borg do not wait, they assimilate." She continued pushing both of them towards the front door, not letting one or the other grab anything. She pushed them past Sentak and his wife, giving them the hand gesture while speaking, "Peace and Long life." Still managing to push the boys along with one hand. Sentak rose his, as did his wife, as they watched the three young Starfleet officers hurry towards the front door. "Peace and long life." They both called out, and stood still as the small group disappeared beyond the walls of their home.
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