Goodbye, For Now

Posted on 06 Sep 2021 @ 5:06pm by Ensign Kelly Khan & Lieutenant JG Daniella Blake

1,418 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Extinction
Timeline: Mission Day 1 at 0000

The time had come.

Dani took a deep breath and let it out slowly. It was time to tell her best friend she was transferring. She didn't expect it to go well, but hoped it wouldn't go too horribly. After all, they would still get to see one another, just not nearly as often.

She brought a hand up to her combadge and gave it a tap. "Blake to Khan, what is your present location, and might you be available to meet me for lunch?"

"In my quarters," came the response after a moment. "And where at?"

"Talons," the petite blonde replied. "I'm heading that way now if you're able to meet me."

"See you in five," her fun sized friend responded.

Dani tapped her combadge as she made her way down the corridor toward Talons. Once inside, she took a quick look around as if committing the scene to memory, then moved toward one of the empty tables by the window. She settled down and took a deep, calming breath.

Since she was off duty, Kelly changed into a pair of black shorts and a black t-shirt that read "Sandbaggers Will Be Penalized" in red lettering on it, and left her brunette hair down. She grabbed a pair of flip flops and headed down to Talon's and smiled when she saw her friend sitting by the window. She headed over and smiled as she hugged Dani from behind. "Guess who?"

"My other best friend?" Dani asked with a smile, before she reached back to wrap her arms around her. "Hey, Kel. I'm really glad you could come."

"Wouldn't miss time with my fun sized friend," Kelly said as she released her and came around to sit down across from her. "I was thinking we should have a chocolate festival and see how many people suddenly become fighter pilots."

"As long as we keep those chocolates from Commander Geisler," the petite blonde said with a smile. "How are things with you, Quinn and your adorable little furball?"

"Things are good," the brunette said with a smile. "Gizzy is getting big and Quinn is still the crouching Engineer, Hidden Tiger. How's things with you and Commander Walsh?"

Dani's smile faded. Not because she wasn't happy, but because she had to tell her best friend news that would surely upset her. "Things are going great," she answered. "And that's part of the reason why I wanted to have lunch with you."

"You're getting married?!" Kelly exclaimed out loud, which caused several other crewmen to start clapping and cheering. "Sorry," she lowered her voice, then noticed Dani wasn't smiling. "Er...you aren't smiling, so it must not be that great. Talk to me."

"Uh, no... we're not getting married," she said softly as a blush crept up her cheeks. "We're transferring off of the Black Hawk." And now, Dani found herself holding her breath while she waited for Kelly's reaction to that bombshell.

Whatever the petite brunette had been expecting, it wasn't that. Her bottom lip trembled and her breath caught in her throat. "You're...leaving?" she asked softly, her hazel eyes becoming glossy with unshed tears.

Dani reached across the table as tears began to shimmer in her own eyes. "For Gamma Command," she answered softly. "So, we'll still get to see each other once in a while."

"Gamma....Command?" Kelly asked, trying to keep her voice from catching. "That's...great. I'm happy for you both, but why? He just made Executive Officer..."

"They needed a Squadron Commander, and he's the best, so they transferred him," Dani explained. "I couldn't be without him, so I requested mine. I swear I'll keep in touch, and whenever you guys dock at Gamma Command, I'll be there waiting with my arms wide open."

"Yeah," the other petite woman said sadly. "I guess that means I won't get any more flight time with the fighters, either. I tried talking to Commander Alexander, but she's no Rocco. I really wish you the best, Dani. I'm going to miss you."

"Thanks, Kel, and I'm going to miss you, too," the petite blonde said softly. "I'm not sure when exactly we're going to be leaving just yet, but I wanted to you so it wouldn't come as too much a shock. I promise, we will see one another again."

"Dannnni," Kelly sobbed now and clamped a hand over her mouth as tears started down her cheeks. "Why? Why did he take Exec when he wanted to be a fighter? Why leave? Send Alexander to Gamma and you can stay here with him back in charge of the Knights." She begged.

Dani was on her feet in a matter of seconds and moved over to her friend as tears began to stream down her own cheeks. "I think it's too late for that, Kel," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "I promise we'll talk every single day during my lunch break."

The petite brunette tried to gather herself and sniffled. "But...but...you're the only fun sized friend I have..."

"And I'm always going to be, Kelly. Nothing is going to change that, I promise you," she said softly.

"I should transfer to Gamma, too. If they need a flight officer on a station," Kelly said, wondering if Quinn would transfer, too.

"I don't know that he would want to leave the Black Hawk," Dani said. "Do you even really want to?"

"I...no," Kelly had to admit quietly. "As crazy as it is, a starbase would be boring for me. That doesn't mean I'm not going to miss you."

Dani moved to settle on the chair next to Kelly after she stood up again. "Captain Geisler is a Task Group Commander now. Chances are the ship will be docking at Gamma Command more often because of that, so we'll be seeing one another."

"Yeah," the petite brunette said. "We can do lunch and stuff."

"You bet we can, but we can make good use of what time we have together while we're still here. What do you think about getting together for lunch every day until me and Terry leave?"

"We can do that," Kelly said and looked like she wanted to suggest something else, but changed her mind. "And go swimming or maybe a jaunt on the holodeck. Me and Quinn had to outrace the Big Bang the last time we went on the holodeck because someone made a patch program to make outcomes of holoprograms unpredictable."

"As long as I have the time, we can do whatever you want to do," Dani assured her.

Kelly sighed and gave a nod. Her friend was leaving, subspace communications, in dock stops or otherwise. She couldn't just go down the hall and tap her chime whenever a thought struck her or talk girl stuff. "Yeah."

Dani felt horrible. She knew she was doing the right thing, because a life without Terry wasn't a life she wanted to live, and she had a feeling that Kelly felt the same way as far as Quinn was concerned. But that still didn't mean she wouldn't miss Kelly a lot. "Are you hungry? I'm buying."

"How about a cob'lat burger with bacon and a peanut butter and banana smoothie?" the petite brunette suggested.

"If that's what you want, go for it," her friend said with a smile.

Kelly placed her order, but her heart wasn't in it. "How about you?"

"A double bacon cheeseburger with onion rings and a chocolate chip cookie dough milkshake," the petite blonde answered.

"So, what do we get into until ...it's time?" the brunette asked.

"Whatever we want to do that doesn't keep us from fulfilling our duties."

Kelly sighed and gave a nod. "How about we go swimming later? You can show me the torpedo move you got Commander Walsh with."

Dani smiled. She remembered that day pretty well, and it was a day that changed her life for the better. "I didn't even know there was anyone else in the pool with me at the time, and I was so embarrassed. If I could breathe water, I might have stayed there as long as possible, but it definitely seemed to work in my favor."

Kelly looked around and had to acknowledge that she would be gone before long herself and the Black Hawk would be a page in her history. "Come on, let's eat and be merry."

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