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Date: Sun, 06 Jun 2004 23:26:52 -0400
Subject: [ASC] NEW TOS: The Lost Years: Course Correction 1/2 [PG-13] Slayer Series
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Forwarded by the ASC-VSO 
Posted: 5 Jun 2004 19:47:41 -0700  
In: alt.startrek.creative 
From: djinn@djinnslair.com (Djinn) 
 

TITLE: The Lost Years: Course Correction (Slayer Series)
AUTHOR: Djinn
CONTACT: djinn@djinnslair.com http://www.djinnslair.com
SERIES: TOS
RATING: PG-13
CODES: Ch, K, U, Others
PART: 1/2
SUMMARY: The ninth in the Lost Years series.



Uhura looked around the cafeteria, saw Decker and turned to Christine.
 Her friend looked positively morose.

"Christine.  Wipe that look off your face.  Forget about Lori for five
minutes."  She still was having trouble believing the things Christine
and Jim had told her had happened.  The woman really had played them. 
Uhura was just glad that Nogura had shown up when he did.

"I'm not thinking about Lori," Christine said, but she did manage a
smile.

"Well, then stop thinking about Jim."  

"Easier said than done."

"Try."  Uhura would have liked to have smacked both Christine and Jim
upside the head, but striking fellow officers--even for their own
good--was frowned upon.   Especially when one of them was an admiral.

Decker saw her coming toward him and smiled.  "Commander, I trust your
meetings weren't as big a waste of time as mine were?  Why do they
insist we come down here for meaningless meetings when there's so much
work to be done before launch?"

Uhura loved Decker's easy smile; it was so welcoming.  "Bureaucracy
uber alles?  My meeting was only a moderate waste of time."

"Lucky you."  He laughed, turned to Christine.  "Doctor, I'm glad you
could join us."

She smiled back.  "Thank you for inviting me."  

Christine sounded awfully formal to Uhura.  She wanted to tell her
friend to loosen up.

Decker's smile faded.  "Is everything all right, Doctor?"

"I'm sorry, sir.  It's been a strange few weeks."   

Uhura knew that Jim and Christine had been looking with no luck for
Lori nearly full time since the woman had tried to kill Christine. 
Her friend was tired...even if she didn't look it.

Uhura smiled, trying to cover for her.  "Christine finished up her
residency.  Finally."  She shot Christine a teasing look.  She'd been
giving her a hard time for missing all the prep work on the
Enterprise.

"Think you can show up and take over, eh?"  Decker was smiling.  But
there was something underneath the look.  Something not so easy.  Not
so welcoming.

Christine met his eyes.  "I know Nogura's forcing this CMO thing down
your throat.  He's got it in his head that I'm the one for the job."

"Are you convinced that you are?"

She took a deep breath but didn't look away.  "I took a look at the
other staff physicians' bios.  Read their most recent evaluations.  I
think I can hold my own."

Uhura bit back a smile.  Slayer Christine came out at the most
interesting times.

Decker blinked, obviously not expecting that.

Christine smiled tightly.  "If I'm going to be CMO, I should know what
I'm up against, right?  And the files were there for me.  I want to be
prepared.  I imagine there will be some resentment."

Decker leaned forward.  "I'm going to ask you a candid question and I
want a candid answer.  If you were in over your head, would you tell
me?"

Christine didn't answer right away.  Uhura knew Decker would like
that.  He valued a thoughtful, reasoned response.  Ready, fire, aim,
was not his way.

"I would."  Christine scooted forward in her chair.  "If I thought I
couldn't handle it, I'd tell you.  And I'd tell Nogura.  It's only
fair.  For the crew, for the people under me.  For you."

He studied her, then leaned back.  He seemed to relax.  "Okay.  I'm
going to hold you to that.  If I hear that things aren't going well, I
want it to be you giving me the bad news."

Christine nodded.

"For what it's worth, I wasn't wedded to the first selection.  Didn't
even know him."

She nodded again, then she leaned in even more.  "I need to ask you
something."

"Ask away."

"You're going to have to listen to me.  I'm going to be your
conscience.  The one who tells you to slow down, to take a break, or
to back off.   And I can relieve you of duty.   If you have doubts
about my ability to be CMO, will you be inclined to listen to me?  Or
are we going to have problems right from the start?"

He laughed softly.  "Not if you keep speaking your mind like that." 
He grinned at Uhura.  "Commander Uhura knows that I like to see an
officer capable of self expression."

Uhura smiled back.  

Christine settled back in her chair and turned her attention to
eating--or at least pushing bits of her salad around the plate. 
Decker watched her for a moment, then went back to his lunch.

"Did you find your perfect navigator?" Uhura asked.  It had become a
joke between them.

Decker shot her a look she didn't understand.  He seemed suddenly
nervous.  "Lieutenant Ilia.  Do you know her?"

Uhura shook her head.  "What's she like?"

"Deltan."

Both her and Christine's head came up.

He smiled.  "She's nice.  You'll like her."

"Everybody will like her," Uhura joked and saw something flicker in
his eyes.

He seemed eager to change the subject.  "We're even getting a Vulcan
science officer."

Christine's hand jerked.

He shot her a look.  "You don't like Vulcans?"

"They're fine.  Who is it?"

"A Commander Sonak.  Admiral Kirk recommended him highly." 

Christine nodded, seemed to relax.  Uhura watched her.  Had she really
thought that Spock was coming back?

Christine never talked about him anymore.  Had she forgotten him?  

Decker got up.  "I hate to eat and run.  But I have another meeting. 
Doctor, I'll see you soon?"

She nodded.  "I'll be up the day after tomorrow."

Uhura knew she was taking the next day off.  It was time to say
goodbye.  Uhura would be doing that too.  Len was coming home,
finally.

They'd only have one day together.  But it was better than nothing.

She hoped.

---------------------

Kirk closed his eyes, tried to sense where Weasel was, where his
teacher would stage his next attack from in this training exercise. 
He reached out, sensed nothing.

Suddenly a jab of energy knocked him off his feet.  He fell heavily to
the mat Weasel had put down before they started.

Kirk had spent more time on his butt than he had standing.  He rubbed
at his eyes.

"Mac, I got to tell you.  You are not impressing anyone today."

Kirk just nodded.

"You want to tell me what's wrong?"

"Other than that I've been chasing werewolves every night and getting
no sleep?"

"Yeah, other than that."

Kirk pushed himself to his feet.  "She's leaving."

"Christine?"

Kirk nodded. 

"Got sick of you, did she?"

"She's shipping out."

"Oh.  Wow.  Did you know this?"

"It may have been my idea."  

Weasel chuckled.  "Man, you do like to make your life a mess, don't
you?"

"She'll be safe on the ship."

"Safe?  Safe from whom?" 

Kirk could feel his jaw tighten.  

Weasel sighed.  "The woman loves you."

"I know."

"You love her."

Kirk nodded.

"Have you told her?"

"What's the point?  She's going away.  I have to let her go.  For her
own good.  She needs to make a future, her own future."

"Yeah, it sounds pretty noble, all right."

Kirk shot him a look.  "You were the one who told me to not to mess in
a friend's nest."

"Well, yeah.  But where is this friend?  I thought he was a real
person, not this hypothetical thing."

"Spock's not hypothetical."

"Well, he's also not here."  Weasel sat down.  "So when does she
leave?"

"Today's her last day."  Kirk looked at the chrono.  It was early. 
She'd just be getting up at the visiting officer quarters.  He'd
wanted to invite her to stay with him when she'd moved out of her
apartment.  But he'd known that he wouldn't have been able to keep his
hands off of her if she was with him for too long.  The VOQ was safer.

"And she'll be back when?"

Kirk shrugged.

"Guess."

"It's a five-year mission, Weasel."

"Oh."  He shook his head.  "Sucks to be you, my friend."

"I was hoping for some encouragement."

"Sorry."

There was a long silence, then Weasel said, "I was in love once."

"Only once?"

Weasel nodded.  "I was sort of focused on the magic.  But when it hit,
it hit hard.  She was amazing."

"What happened to her?"

"She died."  Weasel wasn't meeting Kirk's eyes.  "Because of me. 
Because of a spell I did."

"I'm sorry.  Is that why...?"

Weasel nodded.  "It was not a good time for me.  I was so single
minded.  I was convinced the rules didn't apply to me.  I took too
many risks.  She was an innocent bystander.  She got caught in the
crossfire."  He looked up finally.  "The thing about love is that you
don't know how strong it is it until it's gone.  And then it's too
late."

Kirk nodded.  

"We don't get second chances, Jim.  Life just doesn't work that way. 
When I told you to stay away from her, I'd never met her and I didn't
know you very well.  I'd never seen you together."

Kirk held up his hand.  "I appreciate the pep talk but don't."  He
knew his face was hard.  Unyielding.  And a total lie.  He wanted
Weasel to talk him into doing the selfish thing.  He wanted him to say
it was all right to have her.  To keep her.  To tell her not to leave
him.

"Okay.  I won't."  Weasel pushed himself out of the chair.  "How long
do you plan on moping once she's gone?"

Kirk shrugged.  

"Life is pain, Mac.  And you are determined to wallow.  So I'm not
going to get in your way."  He motioned for Kirk to move back.  "Now,
let's try this again.  And pay attention this time."

Kirk closed his eyes, reached out with his magic, looking for Weasel. 
Another bolt of energy knocked him backward.

It was going to be a long morning.

------------------------

Christine stood outside the Los Angeles-Santa Monica transporter
station.  The sun shone down brightly, the water sparkled, and she
could hear the sounds of children squealing from the rides on the
pier.  This seemed like an odd place to find a vampire.  Or two.

She checked the instructions she'd printed out.  It was a short walk
according to the map.  She set out, wondered at the lack of
pedestrians as she walked past small houses and not-so-small apartment
buildings.  A few blocks later, she was into a business district and
she checked the addresses until she found the right one.

She took the elevator to the top floor, and walked down the hall,
finally opening a door onto a spacious and very well-lit corner suite
of offices.  "I'm sorry," she said, to the receptionist, as she took
in the floor to ceiling windows through which a copious amount of
sunshine was spilling.  "I must have the wrong place."

The young man nodded, then answered the comm unit.  "Angel
Investigations.  We help the helpless."

"Or maybe not," she said softly, walking back to his desk.

He transferred the call and said, "Can I help you, sweetie?"

"I'm looking for Spike."  

"He's not here right now."  The receptionist handed her a padd.  "Feel
free to leave him a message.  If it's dirty, let me listen."  He
winked at her.

"Excuse me.  Did you say you were looking for Spike?"

She turned.  A young man, handsome, a bit dour, stood in front of her.
 Loomed in front of her might be more exact.

"I did.  Do you know when he'll be back?"

"I expect him any time."

"Then I'll just wait..."

He didn't say anything.  Just studied her.

"Not one for small talk, are you?"

"You're Christine, right?"

"You must be Angel."  

He nodded.

"He's talked about me?" she asked.

"Oh, yeah," he said, with such a longsuffering voice that she laughed.

"Talked your ear off, I guess."

"Well, he can do that normally.  It just gets worse when it's about a
woman."  He suddenly smiled.

She was charmed by the warmth the smile brought to his face.

"You're not what I expected," he said.

"I could say the same thing.  You're probably the oldest vampire I've
met.  I mean I thought Drusilla was old."

"That's right.  You killed Drusilla.  I was her sire."

She tensed.  "Were you fond of her?"

He shot her a startled look, then laughed.  "Oh.  No.  Relax.  It's
fine. I mean, not fine fine, but not a problem."

She laughed.  "Good.  I'm glad we've got that straight."

"Can I get you some coffee?"  He led her to a small room off the
reception.  "I have to admit, you're the oldest slayer I've ever
seen."  He seemed to realize what he'd said and quickly turned to the
coffee machine.  "I mean, you look great..."

"For my age?"  She laughed again.  "I like it with cream, thanks."

He nodded, seemed grateful for something to do.

"You don't get out much, do you?" she asked.

"No."  He smiled again, a shy, sort of sad smile.

She had a sudden urge to take him out somewhere fun just to see if he
could smile for any longer than a few seconds.

"Oh, now, see.  This is exactly why I didn't want you to meet him." 
Spike stood at the door.

"Hey."  She threw herself at him.  

He caught her up in his arms.  "Hey, yourself."

She could feel the grin he always brought out.  It was nearly
splitting her face.  He was grinning too.

"I'll leave you two alone," Angel said.  

"Oh, don't leave on my account," Spike said as he leaned in and kissed
her.

It was a really good kiss.

When he let her go, Angel was gone.

"Now, that was fun."  He let her go.  "What are you doing here?  No,
wait, don't tell me.  You decided you couldn't live without me and
you're moving to la-la land?"

She laughed.  "No."  She touched his cheek, loving how lighthearted he
was, even after centuries.  She should take a lesson from him on
enjoying life.

"Then what?  You're getting married and need someone to give you
away?"

She could feel her smile fade.  "No."

He studied her.  "You all right?"  He led her out of the room, to an
office.  A sunlit office.

"Do you want to explain these windows to me?"

"They're necro-tempered.  Some kind of magical process.  Angel knows. 
He knows all the boring stuff."  He leaned in.  "We heard there was
some trouble down your way?  Whole lot of watchers and slayers."

She nodded.  "Didn't see you busting your ass to get down there and
help me."

"That many slayers, you don't want me.  They tend to view a vampire as
the enemy.  And the soul explanation...it takes too long to get out."

She nodded.  "We were fine anyway.  But it was nasty.  I lost
someone--a couple of someones--who I cared about."

He cocked his head, studied her.  "But you seem okay.  Haven't been
hitting the demon bars, have you?"

"No."  She laughed.  There was a whole chunk of her life that only
this man had shared.

"Why are you here, pet?"

"Well, seeing you behind a desk was worth the trip."

He laughed, leaned back in the chair and kicked his feet onto the
desk.  He lit a cigarette and put his hands behind his head. 
"Better?" he asked between puffs.

"No smoking in the office, Spike," Angel called from the hallway as he
walked past.

"You don't have to breathe it," Spike yelled after him.  "You don't
have to breathe at all.  Big wanker."  He grinned at Christine.  "He
and I don't get on."

She laughed.  "I came to say goodbye.  I'm shipping out.  On the
Enterprise again.  And in a really strange sequence of events, I find
myself the Chief Medical Officer."

He smiled.  "That's great, Christine.  How long will you be gone?"

"Five years."

"Not long then." 

She laughed.  Vampires did have a different way of looking at time. 
"No, for you, not long."  For Jim?  She sighed.

"Leaving something behind are you?"  He leaned in.  "Or someone?"

She nodded.  "I'd rather not talk about it."

"Your choice."  He smiled.  "Are you excited?  A new opportunity."

"I guess so.  It's complicated."

"It's always complicated for you, love.  You really need to simplify
your attitude.  Smokes, beer, football, and shagging.  That's the way
to live.  Oh and harassing Angel."

She laughed.  "I love you."

He reached over, took her hand.  "I love you too.  Sometimes, I
wish..."

She nodded.  "It would definitely be fun."

He smiled sadly.  "We're so good at being fun together, but we don't
tend to choose that otherwise, do we?  Always diving into the middle
of the angst pool."

"Yep.  That's us.  Angst addicts."

"I think they have support groups for that now."  He grinned.  "So,
you going to be here a while?  Maybe stay the night?"  His grin grew
larger.

"It's a tempting offer.  But I can't."  Part of her still wanted
Spike.  But it was a small part.  She couldn't do that to Jim--didn't
want to do it to him.

How long would she cling to the idea that she and Jim could have
something?  Five years?  Ten?  Would it end only when she saw him
happy with someone else?

That idea hurt more than she could stand.  

"This is that same bloke you were going on about before, isn't it?"

She nodded.

"You two still haven't shagged?"  He laughed in disbelief.  "You're
losing your touch, Christine."

"Don't remind me."  She stood up.  "I have to get back.  I just
couldn't leave without saying goodbye."

He stood up and walked around the desk to her.  "I'll miss you."

She pulled him to her, hugged him tightly.  "I'll miss you too.  Thank
you.  For everything."

He kissed her cheek.  "You don't have to thank me, love.  I got a real
sweet deal with you."  He let her go.  "I hope your fella figures
things out before too long.  If I can tell you're in love, surely he
can?"

"He knows.  He loves me.  It's compl--"

"--Complicated.  I know." He moved back to his chair.  "Okay, beat it.
 I've got work to do."

"Is this even your office?"

"Yeah, it's mine."

She looked around the empty walls.  "You should fix it up.  Put art up
or something."

"Make it mine?"

She nodded.  "Put some roots down.  It'd be good for you."

"Says the original rolling stone."

She laughed.  "Well, I found one person I'd put roots down for. 
Unfortunately, that's not an option."  She headed for the door.  "Be
careful."  She looked back at him.  "I mean it."

"You too."

They stared at each other for a long moment, then she smiled and
turned away.  She walked down the hall, saw Angel talking to the
receptionist.

"You're leaving?"  He smiled at her, the goofy smile that made her
feel warm inside.

"I am."  She held out her hand, didn't react at all to how cold his
skin was when he took it.

He smiled.  "So, you like our William?"

"He's a good man."

"If you say so."  He laughed.  It was only slightly mocking.

"You treat him right, or we'll have to have a talk."  She gave him a
mellow version of the slayer glare.

"I think you've got that backwards.  I'm the one you should be worried
about."  He leaned in, said conspiratorially, "Spike loves to make my
existence a living hell."

She laughed and shook her head.  "It was nice meeting you."

"Likewise."  He suddenly looked down, an awkward smile on his face. 
"If you ever want to get coffee?"

She bit back a laugh.  "I'm sort of spoken for."  By a reluctant
admiral.  And after him she figured the nemesis of this awfully cute
if somewhat socially retarded vampire had a prior claim.

"Right.  Had to try."  He nodded, smiled one last time and walked into
his office.  No trace of awkwardness in his stride.

She saw Spike had been watching them from his office.  

"How old are you two?  Nine?"  She shook her head.

Spike laughed, and she thought she heard a chuckle from Angel's
office.

"Bye," she said.

Spike raised his hand, then walked back into his office.

The receptionist leaned in and whispered.  "Come back anytime,
sweetie.  Things get really interesting when you're around."  He
winked at her, then went back to his work.

She looked at his forehead a little closer.  Were those...horns?  And
was he sort of green?

He looked up.  "Take a picture, gee."  He made a face.  "I'm a little
bit demon.  Do you have a problem with that?"

She held up a hand.  "No problem.  I was just leaving."  She tried her
best smile.

He huffed but finally smiled.

She opened the door and hurried away before she could get in any more
trouble.

-----------------

Uhura sat in the late afternoon Savannah sunshine, cuddled against
Len.  He tightened his hold on her, looked down and kissed her.

She sighed.  

"I missed this," he said.  "My backyard.  You.  A lazy afternoon."

She nodded.

"It's not the end of the world, hon.  We'll see each other."

She nodded again.

"Ny.  Talk to me."

"I feel like we're going off on different paths."

"That's because we are."  He laughed softly.  "Doesn't mean the paths
won't converge every once in a while."

She smiled.  "You believe that?  That we can last?"

He kissed her again.  "We can last.  Till the sun doesn't shine, and
the sea stops running to the shore."

She laughed.  "Mighty poetic, Mister Doctor Man."

He grinned.  "That was pretty, wasn't it?"  He sighed.  "I did miss
you.  It was a long time to be away.  It's going to be even longer
now."

She nodded.  "If you don't want to wait...I'll understand."

He shot her a suspicious look.  "You trying to get out of this?"

"No.  But maybe you'll meet someone."

He laughed.  "I'm a cranky old country doctor who's in love with a
beautiful, talented woman who loves me back.  Why in god's name would
I want to meet someone?"  He looked at her suspiciously again. 
"Unless you met someone?"

She shook her head.  Unless David counted, and she didn't think he
did.  Especially since he was dead now.  And he was evil.  Sort of. 
"I guess I'm just worried about us."

"I know.  We'll be fine."

She pulled away.  "I'm also worried about Jim."  It still felt a bit
odd to refer to him as Jim.  For so long, she hadn't been in the
circle that called him that.

Len's face tightened.

She hit him on the shoulder.  "Stop that!  You're the big
healer...stop being such an asshole about this."

His eyes widened at her language.

"He's going to be hurting.  He loves her."

Len looked confused.  "Her who?"

"See, if you'd been here, you'd know this already."  She sighed,
cuddled back against him.  "He's in love with Christine.  He won't let
himself have her because of Spock.  She's leaving and he's going to be
hurting.   That's what you need to know."

"Okay."

"And what I expect you to do is to patch things up with him and make
sure he's okay.  Because he's in love with her.  Not just sort of
interested.  Really in love with her."

"I get the picture, darlin'."

"Okay."  She tried to laugh.  She hadn't meant to get so wound up. 
"I'm sorry.  We've just been through a lot, the three of us.  And I
care so much about them and he's not going to have anyone when we're
gone..."

Len tipped her head up, saw she was fighting tears.  "Hey, it's okay. 
I'll make sure he's all right.  I'll find a way to patch things up. 
It may take some time, though.  He's as stubborn as I am."

She sighed.  "I know."

He kissed her.  "I'm sorry I wasn't here.  I should have been here."

She shook her head, wiped away her tears.  "No.  You were where you
were supposed to be.  It was just hard.  Without you."  She kissed him
softly.  "I really love you, you know."

He smiled.  "I really love you too."  His arm tightened on her.  "I'm
going to miss the hell out of you.  And I'm going to go broke flying
hither and yon trying to catch up with that damned ship."

She laughed.  "I'll spot you some credits."

He smiled.  "Yeah?"

She nodded.  

"Well, that's all right then."  He kissed her again, and held her
close.

They sat silently as the sun moved lower in the Savannah sky, closing
down their last day together.


End part 1 of 2

--
Forwarded to ASCL by:
Stephen Ratliff
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