Hey, I Know You!

Posted on 22 Sep 2018 @ 8:01pm by Commander Jayla Kij & Senior Chief Petty Officer Alexander Rylan
Edited on on 23 Sep 2018 @ 12:13am

3,988 words; about a 20 minute read

Mission: The Search Begins
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: BACKPOST - shortly before entering the zone

Senior Chief Hospital Corpsman Alexander Davith Rylan stood outside Sickbay and adjusted his uniform to make sure it sat correctly on his tall, athletic frame. Alex had the build of a man who had spent most of his career in a very physical job. This was appropriate, because that’s exactly what he’d done. Alex started his career as a Hospital Corpsman assigned to the marines and moved from there to becoming a Special Amphibious/Aerospace Reconnaissance Corpsman with the SFMC’s 1st Raider Regiment. As a Raider he had participated in all kinds of ‘action hero’ type missions, most of them he wasn’t supposed to talk about because of that whole ‘Quiet Professional’ thing...and because a lot of it was still classified. When he made Chief, Alex decided he wanted a simpler life, or at least a slightly less violent one. While he was skilled in various forms of violence, Alex really didn’t like violence very much. So he transferred back to the conventional fleet and became an Independent Duty Corpsman. He was assigned to the Black Hawk and then had to make his way out to the Gamma Quadrant. Finally, he’d arrived and after a night’s rest, he was reporting in for his first day on the job. Deciding he looked as good as he was going to look, he entered Sickbay. He stopped a passing corpsman and asked where the CMO was.

It was a slow day in Sick Bay and Jayla was taking full advantage of it. She was enjoying a cup of coffee while slowly compiling her daily report when one corpsman showed another to her office. “Good Morning!” she said cheerfully. “What can I do for you?”

“Good morning Doctor...whoa!” Alex said when he saw who the Blackhawk’s CMO actually was. She was a vision of beauty from his past! He hadn’t seen her is almost twenty years. If he’d thought Jayla Kij was hot when she was a teenager, grown up Jayla Kij was even hotter. Unfortunately, teenage Jayla Kij though teenage Alex Rylan was a total dork and a pain in the ass, and told him so whenever she got the chance. They were both different people now, though, right? Maybe he wouldn’t get punched in the mouth this time around? “Uh, excuse me, Commander, I’m Senior Chief Hospital Corpsman Alex Rylan. I’m your new chief corpsman and senior IDC.”

Alex waited, a little nervous, to see if she recognized him.

There was something oddly familiar about him. And then there was his reaction upon seeing her. Her brow wrinkled at his name. “Do… do I know you?” she asked.

“Uh...if I answer that, will you promise not to punch me in the mouth again?” Alex said.

At first, Jayla’s brow only wrinkled deeper and then, dawning recognition filled her eyes and she gasped. “Alex! Oh, my-! I… I…” She stammered. “Oh, I owe you the biggest apology in the history of all apologies!”

Alex released a sigh of relief. He’d been holding his breath.

“Yeah, it’s me,” he said. He grinned. “And yeah, you kinda do, but we were stupid kids back then. I’m sure my attempts to get a smile out of you were super annoying back then. Anyway...you look fantastic! I mean...wow! And you look like you’re doing well for yourself, Lieutenant Commander and CMO. Impressive.”

“Thanks,” she replied with a grin. “You look great, too. I barely recognized you! You were such a scrawny kid! You have no idea how many times I thought about you and how I treated you. Ugh! I was such a jerk! And you were only trying to be nice.”

Alex shrugged, but also grinned. Having Jayla being nice to him was like a teenage fantasy come true.

“Thanks,” he said. “When I got assigned to work with the Marines I had to buff up or get killed. And yeah, you were sort of mean, but like I said, we were kids. I’m pretty much over the bad stuff from back then.”

“Well, at least one of us is,” she replied. “I still feel like a jerk over it. Oh, I’m sorry, sit down, please. Would you like some coffee? It’s fresh. And real,” she added, nodding towards the pot sitting on a shelf not far away.

“Sure,” Alex said. “I’d love some.”

Jayla immediately stood and grabbed a mug. “If you want cream or sugar, it would have to be replicated,” she said apologetically as she filled the mug.

“I take sugar,” Alex said. “But don’t worry, I’ll get it!”

He was up in a flash and at the replicator and came back with several cubes of sugar. He took the cup from Jayla and sat down. He put the sugar cubes into his coffee and let them dissolve.

“So,” he said. “We both went into medicine, though you went to med school. Very impressive. Starfleet Medical?”

“Of course,” she replied. “Would you expect anything less from Doctor Saraja Jelic’s young charge?”

Alex chuckled.

“Nothing less,” he said, pausing to take a sip of his coffee. “Wow! This is really good! Yeah, I expected you’d go far. You were always super smart, smartest kid on the ship...except maybe for that Betazoid kid, what was his name? He always did well on tests, but I think he was using his telepathy to cheat.”

“Paul Ambres,” she replied. “I hated him, too. He was a bit of a narcissist. Kept saying I was lucky he’d taken a liking to me and I should go out with him before he changed his mind.” She rolled her eyes. “I punched him in the face, too.”

Alex laughed.

“I don’t know whether to be glad I wasn’t the only one or jealous that I wasn’t your chosen punching bag!” Alex said. “Was I that bad? I mean, I was really into you, and I know I was always trying to get a smile out of you, but I never thought you ‘owed’ me a date because I was nice to you. At least, I don’t remember feeling or behaving that way.”

“Nah, you didn’t deserve the way I treated you,” she replied. “You were nothing but friendly to me. He was just an entitled jerk. When I met his father, I totally understood where he got it. I kinda feel bad for him now, though. Poor kid never had a chance.”

“Thanks,” Alex said. “And yeah, his father wasn’t any better. Mom and dad couldn’t stand that pretentious jerk. Sooo...you’re my boss now. Is that going to be weird for you?”

“Not at all,” she answered. “I enjoy bossing people around.” She grinned at him, eyes twinkling. “But, seriously, it might have been if you’d been ornery about how I treated you when we were teenagers, but no. I think we’ll be okay.”

“What if I asked you to join me sometime for coffee or booze or food or some combination of the three?” Alex asked, flashing a winning smile.

She returned the smile easily. “I think that would be nice,” she replied. “Look! You got me to smile! And it only took 20 years!”

Alex laughed.

“I knew it,” he said. “Seeing you smile was definitely worth the wait!”

She laughed. “Well, then, aren’t you glad you held out?” she replied with the laughter still in her voice.

“Yes,” Alex said. “Definitely. So, should we get the official ‘hi, I’m the new senior NCO in your department and your newest IDC’ part out of the way? Any questions for me as my boss? Or, you know, you can ask me other questions and we can just tell people that we had a completely professional conversation.”

“Eh, that’s mostly the same thing everywhere anyway,” she replied with a shrug. “And then we just sit around getting to know one another for awhile. In our case, it can be reminiscing. Well, and getting to know one another as I’m sure we’re totally different than we were 20 years ago.”

“So,” Alex said. “Tell me about the last twenty years. I know you went to Starfleet Medical, but nothing else. Details, please.”

“Details,” she repeated. “Oh, boy. Well, first I had to start listening to Doctor Jelic. It must have been after you left, but I got drunk and broke into the Captain’s ready room. They took me to the brig and Jelic left me there all night and all the next day. When she finally came to get me, I was ready to listen. All that time alone with Kij’s previous hosts convinced me I needed help.”

“Ha!” Alex said. “Sorry. The thought of you in the brig back then is a little funny, but it sounds like it was time well spent. What did you do about this revelation of yours?”

“Starting listening to Jelic and doing as she said,” answered Jayla. “She arranged a Jian’tara for me- that’s where the previous hosts’ personalities are transferred to a temporary host in order to interact with them. That helped a lot. Especially Belar. He’s gruff and grouchy, but deep down, he’s just a big teddy bear. Anyway, I started working hard on the mental disciplines necessary to control the previous hosts and keep myself separated from them. I got less grumpy and cross and got back to my old cheerful self in about six months’ time.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t get to see that transformation,” Alex said. “But I’m glad you found yourself again. I could see how much pain you were in but...you just weren’t in a place where you could accept my support and I probably wasn’t mature enough to be supportive in a way you needed. Anyway, you obviously got through your secondary education. What inspired you to join Starfleet and become a doctor? Jelic again?”

“Of course,” replied Jayla. “I basically idolized her. I suppose I still do a bit. She’s brilliant. Anyway. So, yeah, I decided to apply to the academy and was accepted- I had to do some extra work because I’d fallen a bit behind- and… well, I went, I suppose. I did the same basic things that every cadet and medical student does, of course. Once I got here- well, to the old Black Hawk, I had a bit of trouble. Lots of complicated stuff got to me and… well, it was a bit of a tough time. I’m still a bit off, but I’m getting there.”

“I’m sorry you had a rough time,” Alex said, honest compassion in his voice, eyes, and overall demeanor. “Do you mind me asking what happened?”

“Well,” she sighed. “A lot of things. First of all, to make a long story short, I was in a group who was attacked by some Hunters. I reacted without thinking and I suspect I may have killed one. I don’t have any way to verify that, though. Anyway, due to certain circumstances around it, I was afraid that Belar was taking over when I was under stress. It turns out that I just exhibit his characteristics when I’m under stress and my brain can’t handle it because it’s so different from how I normally react and so it convinces me that I didn’t really do it. It’s all fairly normal for a joined Trill.”

“That sounds...confusing,” Alex said. “How do you deal with all that everyday?”


Alex had his own demons sprung from taking lives. If it came up, he’d talk about them. He wasn’t embarrassed to be who he was. He would be open with Jayla. Just maybe not right this second.

“Not very well,” she admitted. “I yelled at people, avoided my friends, etcetera. But, I didn’t even have time to process that when the ship was destroyed. I ended up in a hospital on New Bajor where I was helping the staff with the wounded- it was a pretty big battle. I’m sure you’ve heard of the Consortium by now. Yeah, that. Anyway, while I was at the hospital, an old friend from the academy was wheeled in on a stretcher. Well, old friend. Okay, so he was a former lover. We ended on good terms. Anyway, there was nothing I could do to save him. He died while I watched helplessly.” She paused a moment as she remembered Silak lying there, bloody and broken, while she could do nothing for him. “Anyway, a mutual friend told me that he’d been taking any transfers that would get him closer to me and had just accepted one to the Black Hawk. He was waiting for us to pick him up on New Bajor. I felt responsible for his death. Like if he didn’t still love me, he would still be alive.”

“I’m sorry,” Alex said. “That must have been extremely difficult. I’m betting that I don’t have to tell you your friend made his own decision to come find you. That you aren’t responsible for his actions. I...I know something about losing people, close friends and colleagues. I know about feeling guilty over it. No matter how often people tell me I’m not responsible or, if my actions were somehow responsible, that I made the right decision at the time, I can’t quite accept that knowledge from other people. I have to work it out for myself, make peace with it myself. So, I get it, trust me, and I’m really sorry you had to go through that.”

“Thanks,” she replied. “I’m getting better. I went back to Trill for a couple of months and saw a counselor at the symbiosis commission who helped a lot. But then when I was recalled to the Black Hawk-A, it was like I was afraid of my friends. An old friend helped me to see it was because I was afraid if they cared too much about me, it might get them killed, like it did Silak. So, I wanted to care about them, but not be cared about in return. And in his words, ‘it doesn’t work like that.’”

“No,” Alex said. “No, it doesn’t. But things are better now?”

“Definitely,” she replied. “I’m still not completely normal, but I’m getting better. Anyway, enough about me. What have you been up to? I mean, besides the obvious.”

Alex laughed.

“How much time have you got?” he said. “Well, you know my mom and dad really pushed me to do well in school. My grades were good, but not Starfleet Academy good, at least not the officer’s academy. I might have gone to a civilian university or college, but my parents were so insistent that I go to a good school that even my safety school was a reach, so I didn’t get in anywhere. That really discouraged me. It made me feel stupid, and I didn’t like that very much. I applied for Starfleet’s Enlisted Academy and got accepted. While there, I was selected for Hospital Corpsman training, which I thought fit with my personality. What I wasn’t expecting was the Dominion War. I’d originally planned to be a fleet corpsman working in clinics and such, but Starfleet needed corpsmen to serve with the SFMC, and my number came up. I spent the second and last year of the Dominion War in the field with the SFMC. That was a huge wake up call. I saw and did things...I don’t like to talk about. But I saved a lot of lives. So there’s that, and that meant something to me.”

“I’ve always felt that if I only save one life, it’s worth it,” Jayla agreed solemnly.

Alex smiled.

“Me, too,” he said. “Most of the time. There was a lot of death. I was relieved when it was over. You’d think I would have transferred back to the main fleet after that, but I didn’t. I found the work mentally and physically challenging, and I liked the camaraderie.
I liked the challenge so much that I applied for the Raiders, SFMC Special Forces. That was difficult, but the job was exciting and, again, challenging. Conventional marines strive to the very best warriors they can be. Raiders strive to top that. It was good work and I was good at it, both the medicine and, I’m ashamed to say, the violence. It seems that I’ve always been good at that. Martial arts, service with the marines. But I never really liked that. I mean, the challenge, the skill involved, doing my job well, yes, I like that. But actually using violence on someone...I like to think it doesn’t come naturally to me. Maybe I was afraid it would. Maybe that’s why I finally transferred back to the fleet.”

Alex grinned.

“Or maybe the Great Bird of the Galaxy just wanted us to meet again, under better circumstances?” he said.

“Anything is possible,” she replied with another sparkling grin. “I know what you mean, though, about not liking violence. You should see me during phaser recerts. I’m atrocious. I’m always afraid to actually shoot anything. I always fail my first time around.”

Alex smiled at that image, then frowned as he tried to explain.

“That’s the thing,” he said. “I’m going to sound like I’m bragging here, but I’m really good at it...the combat stuff. I’m an expert marksman. I’ve won and/or placed well in mixed martial arts competitions within the SFMC and in the fleet. I can cut you with a knife, stab you with a sword, and beat you senseless with a stick. It’s just...really don’t like it. Once I realized I wasn’t enjoying the many, many challenges of the work I was doing with the Raiders, I decided I just wanted to focus on the medicine for a while. I know I’ll face violence out here. It’s just that now it won’t be the main focus of my work.”

“No, I understand,” replied Jayla. “Just because you’re good at something doesn’t mean you like it. Conversely, you can be terrible at something and love every minute of it.”

Alex laughed and took a sip of his coffee.

“So,” he said. “No great love affairs since the academy?”

“Not really,” she replied. “I had a couple of flings, but nothing major. I think I was a bit hung up in Silak, to be honest.”

“Me neither,” Alex said. “Haven’t found the right person yet, and my career field wasn’t conducive to committed relationships. So, anything I need to know about this ship and it’s crew?”

“Not that I can think of off the top of my head,” she replied. “Everything is pretty standard. The most interesting is that the chief of intel is pregnant. And it’s a normal, by-the-books pregnancy. But, at least there are prenatal exams!” she added brightly.

“Yeah,” Alex said. “I’ve delivered babies in some remote locations, with only mediocre health care available. I’m looking forward to having state of the art facilities to work with, you know, some of the time anyway. What’s the head nurse like? She going to be an issue for me?”

“Blake? Nah, she’s friendly,” answered Jayla. “She can work with anyone. Be careful around a lab tech called Jennin. Bajoran guy, really disagreeable. Of course, I’m beginning to suspect that he just doesn’t like me for whatever reason.” She shrugged, baffled.

Alex smirked.

“You didn’t punch him in the mouth, too, did you?” he said.

Jayla burst out laughing so hard she almost spit out the mouthful of coffee she’d just sipped. “Is that why he doesn’t like me?” she laughed. “It never occured to me not to do that.”

Alex laughed, too.

“You know what they say!” he said. “The Great Bird of the Galaxy gave us two hands and one mouth for a reason, so if we couldn’t solve a problem by talking, we’d have two chances to hit someone before they hit us!”

And she dissolved into giggles again. “See?” she laughed. “I knew what I was doing all along!”

Alex laughed even harder, then settled down and caught his breath.

“You’re really beautiful with a smile on your face, Jayla,” he said. “It looks good on you. I hope that wasn’t too forward of me.”

She felt her cheeks grow warm and she hesitated a moment, some of that fear of being cared for rearing its ugly head. “It- it’s okay,” she assured him. “Contrary to what I may have said as a kid, I actually really enjoy compliments.”

“I’m glad,” Alex said. “I’ll make my business to pay you one compliment a day from here on out. So...any other pointers for me? Any other people I should get to know or avoid?”

“Nurse Rigby,” said Jayla. “She’s a hoot and a half. Her jokes can be a bit obscure and sometimes dark at times, but she’s a lot of fun and sometimes sings show tunes while working. She tried to get me to join in once. And only once. I did warn her, after all. I think her exact words were, ‘that’s okay, sweetie. You have your paintings.’” She laughed. “She’s not wrong.”

“Oh, I’m sure you’re not that bad...” Alex started to say, then stopped and shook his head. “I’m an awful liar. You really can’t sing. I remember we had to take that chorus class together, and the teacher gave you a triangle to play instead. But...you paint? I remember you liked to draw. I’d love to see some of your work sometime, if you’d be willing to show me?”

“Absolutely!” exclaimed Jayla. “I used to be self-conscious about it, but had an exhibition a while back at the urging of a friend and now I love showing people my work.”

“Terrific,” Alex said. “I can’t wait. Let me know when I can come by to see what you’ve got on display!”

“Quite a lot of it is actually hanging in my quarters,” she replied. “Although, I actually managed to sell some of it, if you’ll believe it.”

“Wow,” Alex said. “Doctor, Lieutenant Commander, Chief Medical Officer, paid artist. You really have come a long, long way from that grumpy teenager I used to know. Like I said before, it looks good on you. All of it.”

She grinned, feeling her cheeks grow hot again. “Stop!” she laughed. “You’re more embarrassing than my parents!”

Alex grinned.

“Sorry,” he said. “I can’t help myself. I like paying you compliments and not getting told to piss up a rope by snarky teenage you!”

“Ugh!” said Jayla. “I really was a nightmare, wasn’t I?”

“Yeah,” Alex said. “You were. But I was crazy about you anyway. I suppose we should get to work. I’ve never actually worked in a starship sickbay before. My first assignment out of IDC School was a starbase. Wanna show me around before I glove up and dig in?”

“Absolutely,” agreed Jayla, standing and motioning for him to follow her to Main Sick Bay. “It’s pretty much like planet or star base Sick bays, only smaller.....”

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