Home Sweet Home

Posted on 24 Jul 2018 @ 7:06pm by Ensign Quinn Mackie & Ensign Kelly Khan

4,087 words; about a 20 minute read

Mission: The Search Begins
Location: Quarters
Timeline: MD2 | 1600 hours

Quinn sat in his quarters, compiling a report of his own from the away mission. It had been a fascinating day really, one that he could have ever hoped for since leaving Deep Space Fifteen. Well, almost a day he could have hoped for. There were several things that he wished he could have done, people he could have talked to, but at least the mission was accomplished.

He also knew that Lieutenant Di Pasquale would be on him like never before. He had very few interactions with the Chief of Security and wanted to keep it that way. Therefore, he continued sitting at the meager desk, typing away.

Kelly finished changing out of the uniform that she had worn to Alpha Trios in the small bathroom and came back out brushing her wavy brunette hair. "Oh come on, Tiger," she said in exasperation when she saw him at the desk working on something. "There's time to do that later. Now it's time to unwind, relax, chill, and just breathe a little. Save that and put on some tunes."

Quinn sighed and bowed his head. He had been working on the report for several hours now, but he hadn't even hit the halfway point. "I don't know if I can relax until this is done," he replied, not looking up, or even trying to see what she'd changed into.

She signed and put her hands on his shoulders and leaned down to kiss the top of his head. "Okay, babe," she said. "I'm not going to force you to stop when you clearly enjoy torturing yourself."

He paused, forcing both hands to stop typing. It wasn't like her to give up so easily. Though, from her tone, perhaps she was taking a passive aggressive approach for once. "I don't," he confessed. "But my team leader was Lieutenant Di Pasquale. And the Captain's wife was on the team. Both expect results, and..."

"It's fine, Quinn, really," Kelly said. "I understand. You're better than I am when it comes to getting this stuff down. I usually have to let it marinate in my brain for a while before I attempt to cook it. I think I'm going to go soak my head in acid or something." Since he hadn't even turned around to look at her or even give her a kiss, she doubted he would catch what she said.

Her doubts were quickly revealed to be unfounded when Quinn shot his head up in remark. He turned around and asked, "What kind of acid? Citric? Hydrochloric?"

"I was thinking polytrinic acid," she said. She wore a white bodysuit with black zebra stripes across it and had her hair pulled back in a French braid.

He winced, then noticed what she was wearing. Quinn knew her to take a sensational approach to her off-duty wardrobe, and somehow she continued to surprise him. He honestly expecting her to continue pushing the limit until she found his breaking point. Quinn smiled at her, having temporarily forgotten what he was doing or what they were talking about. "Wow," he remarked, taking in the sight of her.

"Well, what do you know, he's alive!" Kelly declared at his reaction. "Here I thought you had been replaced by an android. I better check to see if you have any access points around that head of yours to make sure." She began to slide the tips of her fingernails over the sides of his shaved head with a teasing look in her eyes.

"Hey now," he said chuckling, brushing away her hands as he stood to embrace her. "It's been a long day."

She wrapped her arms around him and gave him a kiss. "Does that help make it better, Tiger?" she asked him softly as her eyes met his.

"Just about anything will," he remarked, returning the kiss as he maintained his embrace. "As long as it helps me forget today."

"I hear that," Kelly echoed his sentiment. "The domes on Alpha Trios were depressing, but that'll all be in my report later. I never want to go back there. Enough talk about the mission, though," she said. "Do you want something to eat, drink, or some music?"

"Let's eat," Quinn declared without hesitation. It was only after he said it that he realized that he had not had anything to eat since breakfast. "That's probably just what the doctor ordered."

"What do you want?" she asked as she headed to the replicator. "Denebian Slime Devil with a cinnamon baked apple? Country Fried Romulan Giant Mollusks? Betazoid blue salad with blue cheese dressing?"

"How about a walk first?" Quinn asked. "Or maybe a chicken wrap to go with the walk?" It was an unorthodox request, but the more he thought about it, the more he liked the idea of clearing his head.

"We can do that," Kelly agreed. "Do you want bacon and ranch on yours?" she asked as she entered the order into the replicator.

"Definitely," Quinn confirmed, turning back to the terminal for a moment to save the report. He didn't want to take any chances, especially with the young kitten on the loose.

She replicated the two wraps and some napkins to hold them as well as clean up any mess they might make. "Want something to drink to go with it?"

Quinn shook his head. "I have enough of a challenge walking and eating. I don't think I'd be very good adding a beverage to the mix."

"Then we're good to go," Kelly said as she handed him his wrap and two napkins. "Shall we commence Operation Meanderthal?"

"Only if Gizmo does the grunting," Quinn said, giving a nod towards the sleeping kitten.

She laughed and checked to make sure that the little orange ball of fluff had food and water in his bowl, then moved over to Quinn. "I can't believe I was terrified of him when we lost our memories. He's so adorable. You grunt good enough for me, Tiger. Shall we go?"

Quinn grunted an acknowledgment before tearing into his wrap as he walked out the door. "I tell you, it's nice to see clean bulkheads and bright lighting again."

Kelly took a bite of her own wrap as she stepped out into the corridor with him. "Right?" she agreed. "I don't know how the station was your team went to, but the domes we went to were miserable and filled with miserable people."

"Miserable doesn't even begin to describe it," Quinn declared. "These people have resigned to a meager life. No one works together, and they're not afraid to fight each other for scraps."

"They were forced to fight at the domes," she said as she walked beside of him. "If they owed someone a debt, they were forced to fight in games against trained gladiators. No one was safe if they thought you did something wrong. I was talking to one guy who got taken to the games and I don't even know what he did wrong, but they forced him to fight anyway."

"Fight?" asked Quinn in between generous bites of his wrap and wishing he could have another when he was through. "Like Roman gladiators or something? Sounds barbaric."

"Exactly," Kelly replied. "I was hoping to learn more by going to the games, but all I took from there was a bleak picture and beings that were only out for themselves."

"At least they weren't shooting at you," Quinn observed. "We had two different firefights on the station. One for our lives, and the other to keep the runabout."

"Whoa, that sounds really bad," she said after chewing the bite of wrap she had in her mouth. "I'm glad you all make it back okay. You didn't get some sleazy alien woman trying to buy you or anything, did you?"

Quinn smiled, finishing a bite as they meandered down the corridor. "How do you know I wasn't sold, or that I'm already someone's slave?"

"You'd be marked and I'd see it, then I'd have to skin that part of you off and begin to recondition you after you got out of medical," Kelly replied. "I have not invested in you all this time to have some alien trollop waltz off into the nebula with you. Hmph!"

He chuckled, nearly choking on his wrap in the process. "No one's waltzing with anyone," he replied, coughing just a little, getting the last bits of food out of his esophagus. "Unless it's you and me in the holodeck."

"What, ashamed to waltz with me in the corridor where people could see us?" She teasingly scolded him. "Shame on you."

Quinn chided himself, thinking that he walked right into that one. "I would waltz with you in the corridor, on the bridge, or even in the shuttlebay. Provided that I knew how to waltz."

"You know....I don't know how to waltz, either," Kelly said as she finished her wrap. "We must sign up for lessons!"

Finishing the last bite of his wrap, Quinn stated, "I always figured you for the tango and other exotic dances. Never for something so traditional."

"You just want to see me moving and shaking, don't you?" she asked him as she gave him a hip bump. "Put on something nice and spicy with a good beat and get down?"

He nearly mentioned there was little need for something nice and spicy when a bottle of Romulan Ale would do, but there was a reason none of that was on board the Black Hawk. "Is that such a crime?" Quinn asked, finally starting to feel himself destressing from the day.

"Nope," Kelly said. "So what are you waiting for?" she asked as she started to dance next to him like she was at a concert. She shook her hair back and forth, put her arms in the air and shook her hips to music only she could hear.

Putting his inhibitions aside, Quinn snapped his fingers and began to dance. He'd come a long way, from the awkward Engineering cadet who hid in a closet during a boarding raid to the guy who wasn't afraid of much anything anymore. Of course, this did not make him a better dancer. He did his best, and the fact that a small crowd had begun to gather didn't phase him either.

She laughed and waved at the gathering crowd. "Everyone dance!" she called out. "We're alive and it's a great day to get down!" she encouraged the others while she continued to dance.

A couple crewmen shook their heads, but leaned against bulkheads to watch. A nearby Bolian, however, chose to join the party, though he did not saunter over to the dancing ensigns.

"You all are no fun," Kelly said as she continued to dance. "Live a little. Let your hair down. Thank whatever you believe in that you're part of something greater than isn't trying to oppress you!"

In that moment, an agent of oppression (in this case, a gold-collared lieutenant), entered the area and started to direct the crewmembers away from the area. "That's what the holodecks are for," he remarked, passing through the group.

She sighed as the funsucker rolled through like an agent of the crown or some such entity. "Well...where to next, Tiger?"

Quinn sighed as everyone was urged to move along. "Dip in the pool? Trip to the holodeck? Karoke in Talons? Snooping around in Jefferies Tube 47-Bravo-Gamma?"

"The pool sounds cool as long as it isn't floating around the ship again," Kelly said. "However, you've caught my interest. What's in tube 47-Bravo-Gamma? I haven't had time to map out all the ones on this ship yet."

"Something unique," he cryptically said. "It's easier to show you than try to explain it."

"Then let's make like Bennett and go get in it," she said, excited as always to discover something new.

"Then off to Deck Fourteen we are," Quinn said, leading them to an access junction not far from their impromptu dance floor. "Normally," he said, opening the hatch, "I'd say ladies first, but since you don't know where we're headed, I'll lead the way."

"I'm also not a lady," Kelly laughed. "But if you said it, you'd be in trouble. Now duck on in there and lead the to this unique whatever it is!"

"As you wish, milady," Quinn obeyed with a smile, sliding into the Jefferies tube before she had much of a chance to react.

"Didn't I just say I wasn't..." she trailed off before she ducked down and went in after him, stopping only to pull the panel shut behind her. "..a lady?" she finished. "So can I get a clue about The Great Mystery of Jeffries Tube forty-seven-Bravo-Gamma?"

Quinn smiled as he continued to crawl forward. "Just that it's a magical place," he told her before stopping to examine an interesting sticky substance. "There's a web here," he remarked. "That's pretty big for a spider."

Kelly looked over his shoulder at the web. "Woah. I've been hearing rumors on Gamma about these weird sounds people have been hearing in their vents. Think this is what is making the sound? How did something get on the ship like that, anyway?"

"You'd be surprised what slips by in cargo transports," Quinn answered. "Especially since a lot of cargo still isn't safe for transporters and needs to still be hand delivered. I heard the USS T'Pol once got so infested with Garanian bolites that the ship's Andorian captain was orange for weeks."

She laughed. "Now that had to be embarrassing," she said before she pointed back at the web. "Is that...is that a piece of donut in the webbing?"

Quinn wasn't carrying a tricorder which he could use to make a positive assessment. "You could always taste it and see," he said, starting to crawl again. "The ladder should be three more segments ahead."

"I'll pass," Kelly replied as she continued after him while avoiding the web and looking around constantly for whatever made it. Quinn, on the other hand..."Keep an eye out for more of those webs before you crawl into one. These tubes are too small for kung fu fighting."

"Like they're able to keep one of us down or stuck," he remarked, stopping just long enough to pull off a shoe in the event that he needed a weapon.

"So, come on, Tiger. Gimme a hint of what you found, please?" she wheedled him. A shame he wasn't facing her way or she would have batted her eyes at him, but she could save that for later. Or maybe the pout she had been working on that still looked like a upside down sneer of sorts.

"Nope." He chuckled, coming up on the ladder. He crawled out of the tube and stretched, not realizing how tight the crawl had been. "I don't want to spoil the surprise."

"You going to stand there all day or do I have to start gnawing your legs off?" Kelly asked him. "Kneecaps are my favorite." She chirped in a happy go lucky tone.

"You can gnaw all you want, assuming you're willing to carry me all the way down." Quinn shrugged. "Plus, blood might attract whatever webbed up that donut back there, so you'd have to carry and protect me all at the same time."

"I doubt something that likes donuts would like blood," she said. "I just can't imagine 'Blah, I vant to suck your donut'. As for you, you have three seconds." She reached out and massaged his calf with her right hand. "Nice and meaty."

Her touch was enough to make him flinch even though the message felt rather pleasant. "All right then," he said, stepping onto the rungs and starting his descent. "Guess I'll beat you there."

"Well, you're the one who knows where it is. I'm the one following and waiting to stand up straight like my ancestors did all those years ago," Kelly said as she crawled out of the tube and stood up to stretch. With a breath, she started up after him.

The descent from Deck Nine to Deck Fourteen wouldn't take that long. By now, Quinn was in between Decks Ten and Eleven. He glanced upward and smiled, seeing Kelly descend above him. "Probably should have asked you this earlier. How do you do in tight spaces?"

"I took Engineering as my secondary," she replied. "If I didn't like tight spaces, it was the wrong field to go into. I used to crawl through all the ducts and Jeffries Tubes on the old ship. Why?"

"Just curious." He spotted another web and started to wonder if his special place had been suddenly infested as well. That would certainly make things awkward. "I don't think it was something we ever talked about."

"There's a lot of things we haven't talked about, but that doesn't mean we can't find out in time," Kelly said as she climbed behind him. "Things will never get boring because we'll always be learning something new about each other."

Quinn stopped his descent, now in between Decks Twelve and Thirteen. He looked down to see that all of the hatches were open, leading all the way down to Deck Eighteen where the secondary hull's arch eliminated the need for further decks this far forward. "Hey Kelly," he said, looking upward again. "I love you." With that, he let go and allowed gravity to take over.

She started to reply, then she screamed when he dropped down past her voluntarily. "Quinn!"

Contrary to the laws of physics, he didn't plummet all the way down. Deck Thirteen passed by as a blur, but he was not able to slip past the threshold between Fourteen and Fifteen. Instead, he bounced upward, floating in mid-air in the middle of junction Bravo Gamma. A loud, belly laugh escaped his lungs as he surrendered himself to the sensation.

Kelly started to rush down the ladder when she saw him bounce back upwards again. "What. The. Hell?" she mouthed as she looked at him floating. "How.....? This has to be an area between fields that negate each other here, right?"

Quinn chuckled, enjoying the unusual sensation that rippled through his body as he floated in this null zone. "There's two areas like this on the ship. One for the saucer's gravity systems, and this one for the engineering hull. Of course, the saucer's isn't as impressive as it's compacted inside a horizontal shaft. Floating next to unshielded EPS conduits is a little dangerous for my taste. Jump on in!"

"Sweet!" she exclaimed before she let go of the rungs and bit her lip and she went plunging down the ladder and then bounced back up again. "Wow! This is amazing! How did you find it?"

"I had to do some maintenance in here after our memory loss incident," he said, taking off a shoe and giving it a tap to send it slowly away as a demonstration. "Well, actually it was a deck or two above. I accidentally dropped a tool and never heard a clatter. Wound up finding it floating in the middle of the shaft."

Kelly hovered in the shaft and gave a happy wriggle, then looked over at him. "It's better than accidentally falling and there being no null gravity field. We're going to have all kinds of fun here, Tiger," she told him.

He chuckled. "You bet we will, Conga," he said with a coy smile, grabbing her closest appendage to bring her in close. "I love you."

"You really know how to melt my heart," she told him as she wrapped her arms around him when she was close enough and leaned in to give him a kiss. "I love you, too."

He returned her kiss, finding the sensation of emotion flowing from her lips to compliment the weightless feeling quite well. Quinn didn't think he'd ever want to leave this spot ever again. If only he didn't have other responsibilities both on this ship and off. But all of that would have to be handled later for there was plenty of time to take care of that. "Thank you," he said, "for getting me away from that screen."

"I'd do anything for you, Quinn," Kelly told him. "You should know that by now. Now then, are we just going to float here, or are we going to have some fun?" She asked with a mischievous smile.

Quinn chuckled. "We can have all of the fun we want. I just, erm, haven't thought that far."

"Leapfrog!" she declared before she pushed down on his shoulders and pushed herself upwards, shooting past him until her feet cleared his head. There, she grabbed onto another rung and looked down at him. "Your turn!"

"All right," Quinn said, unsure about this. It wasn't that he was against it. He knew that the sweet spot was constrained to a very limited area, and he suspected that Kelly was already at the end of it. Still, he smiled and tried, pushing himself upward and launching himself off her shoulders. Sure enough, gravity reunited with Quinn, throwing his balance out of whack though he was barely able to catch the ladder in time. "Whoa!" he shouted, stabilizing himself.

"Woah!" Kelly echoed as she reached out to steady him. "Maybe that's a bad idea. But if he just stay here in this one area, maybe we can think of something to do that would keep us both entertained."

"It's worth a shot," Quinn said. As far as he knew, no one else knew about this little secret area, and that should keep them undisturbed. "You didn't bring anything to drink, did you?"

"I asked you if you wanted anything and you said no," she reminded him. "But I do have an idea," she said before she leaned in to give him another kiss.

"I didn't think we were going to come down here when we left," Quinn pointed out before kissing her. "And what idea might that be?"

"To see how easy it is to get our clothes off in this tight space," Kelly told him and waited to see the look on his face.

Quinn was torn between becoming slightly embarrassed should they be discovered and being extremely excited at the possibility. He smiled at her before saying, "That sounds like a challenge," and kissing her once more.

In response, she kissed him back and started pulling her right arm back into her sleeves and shrugging her shoulders to wiggle free while pulling with her other hand. "It is," she replied as she locked her eyes on him.

He chuckled and smiled before reaching up to close off the ladder access from the deck above. If they were going to do this, a bit of privacy would help avoid detection and brig time.

Some time later, Quinn, having put his clothes back on, leaned back in the weightless void and just laughed. "Oh, wow," he told Kelly. "I think I'm going to have to find a way to counter gravity in our quarters once in a while."

Kelly gave a wicked laugh as she finished getting dressed. "I'll say," she agreed with him. "You learn something new every once in a while and it turns out to be really fun. Except for banging all over the place with each move. Maybe some back protection would help next time, but I'm not complaining. Ready to head somewhere else, or go back home, love?"

"Probably best to head back," Quinn remarked, adding a sigh to the end of that resignation. "Not that I wouldn't like to continue exploring, but I know we've got reports to file. Best to do that while memory's fresh."

"That's true," she admitted. "But we can always come back and explore more tomorrow and every day after that." She said as she began to climb down the ladder once more.

"I think we have a plan!" Quinn called out, following her back up the ladder. He was certainly grateful for their brief furlough, even if it was deep in the belly of the ship. What was more important to him now was that he had a deeper understanding of Kelly. Not that Quinn didn't already love her and understand her deeply. But now he knew that when the time came, he could count on her. The trick now would be identifying the right moment when the opportunity arose.

Time, as they say, would tell.

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