Late Night

Posted on 21 Jul 2017 @ 6:39pm by Lieutenant Commander Joey Geisler & Captain Harvey Geisler

2,905 words; about a 15 minute read

Mission: The Finnean Crisis
Location: Captain's Quarters
Timeline: MD 5 || 2300 hours

Up until now, Harvey counted only two days as the longest days of his life. It was fair to say that this day just became the third. Harvey remained on the bridge until he knew he absolutely had to retire for the evening. Aside from wanting to keep an eye on the situation in orbit, Harvey thought Joey would be working late in the Intelligence Center. Therefore, he was not at all motivated to return to his quarters.

Alas, here he was, walking down the quiet corridors towards the quarters he shared with Joey. He was certain Rico and Pequeno were about to clamor for attention. He at least had a pair of socks with Rico's name on it. His pants however... those he'd have to protect.

When stepping towards the door to their quarters, the sensors registered his presence and parted the doors. Rico and Pequeno darted towards Harvey, jumping to see who he'd pet first. A single glance upward told him that the dogs were hungry. "All right, all right," he said, patting them both on the head. "I'll get you some food." Harvey picked up their bowls, inserted them into the replicator and produced their dinner. Both Rico and Pequeno sampled it, but quickly joined Harvey at the couch, who had just replicated himself a cup of chamomile which he hoped with soothe his nerves. Harvey hadn't slept well since Deep Space Nine, and he mused he likely wouldn't be sleeping for several years. First, there was whatever the threat was in the Convergence Zone. And then, there would be little else until the little one became a preteen.

Harvey grunted and smirked. A father. He was going to be a father. Thankfully, he still had time to get used to that idea. Until then...

He took off both his boots, then his socks, giving one to each dog. Rico immediately took to the floor with his. Pequeno, however, just stared at it. He then looked up at Harvey and then down at the hem of the pant leg.

Harvey just shook his head. Some things just wouldn't change.

Joey was exhausted, and her mood hadn't changed much since leaving Moreau's office hours earlier. There was no point in sleeping, either, not when she'd only have to get up in a couple hours time to prepare for the trip to the surface. There was a potential plus side to not sleeping, though, and that was her hope she wouldn't feel nauseous. Time would tell.

She moved down the corridor, taking note that there weren't many people around, but pushed that from her mind and thought about the scan. Joey couldn't sit there any longer and watch as it went on and on, so she put in key words and let the scan run, which she would check on before leaving. And now, here she was, standing just outside the door that led home. She was sure Rico and Pequeno would be happy to see her, just as she would be happy to see them, but a big part of their family would be missing.

Harvey.

He was likely still on the bridge monitoring their current situation, and she couldn't blame him. As a Starfleet Captain, a lot fell on his shoulders, and thankfully, they had amazing medical advancements, otherwise his stomach would be riddled with ulcers from stress... worry... and so many other things.

With a sigh, Joey moved forward to activate the sensors, and once the door opened, she stepped inside to look around. Rico was on the floor chewing on one of his many socks, while Pequeno was sitting in front of the couch staring expectantly at... He was home! She wasted no time closing the distance between them and threw her arms around him before she buried her face against his neck.

Harvey barely managed to keep his tea from spilling as Joey wrapped herself around him so quickly. Her hair still had a twinge of the hair dye scent. After all of these centuries, it was amazing how such technology hadn't masked that scent. Still, he didn't let that stop him from holding her. It was a long day for all of them, but he could only imagine what she had to go through until this point.

Unable to set the tea down in a safe zone, he held it out as far as he could, and wrapped his free arm around her. Rico looked up, spotted the tea, and took the opportunity to give it a taste. Harvey had no time to react, giving Rico a surprised stare in response. Rico grunted, spitting out what he consumed and returned to the sock.

"I missed you," she muttered against his neck, tightening her hold on him a little bit. Had she seen what happened with Rico and the tea, Joey would have laughed, but she was too occupied presently. The canines would get their share of love soon enough.

"It's been a hell of a day, I know," Harvey muttered, just holding her the best he could.

Joey finally loosened up a bit and leaned back so she could see him. "Hell is a good word to describe it. If you ever come across a Selubassari that isn't completely clothed, and their skin is pink... they want you." She gave a full body shudder.

For a fraction of a second, he couldn't blame the Selubassari who shone pink. After all, Joey was attractive in any form, or so Harvey thought. Alas, Harvey knew that this was not the time for snide comments. He was tired, and it seemed that Joey was the same. "I'd offer you my tea, but Rico decided to sweeten it." Were he free from the embrace and able to stand, he would have moved to the replicator to get her a cup without her blessing.

"He did?" she asked, unable to keep the tired smile from her face as she reluctantly let him go. She settled back against the couch and looked over at Rico who was back to gnawing on his new sock. "The plus side... no one recognized me. I was even hunted."

"Hunted?" Harvey asked, returning his cup of tea into the replicator for recycling. Within moments, he had two fresh cups of tea, one of which he walked back over to Joey.

Joey accepted the tea and took a sip before speaking. "That was my initial interview, you could say. The owner jacked me in, and I was approached by a Hunter that wished to hunt me. I ended up taking an arrow to the head. That was fun."

As a Captain, he could understand the risk that she took to collect information. As a future husband, he found himself greatly concerned for her health and the baby's. Sooner or later, he was going to have to figure this out, this Captain/Spouse balance. He was certain it wasn't going to get easier, even after they found the probe. "Have you had any luck sorting out any of the information you collected?"

"For the record, I'd rather take a thousand arrows to the head inside the Net than let anyone actually touch me. I'd take a thousand more if it meant not having to cater to the weird fetishes of a grown man wishing me to be his mother. That was not the practice I was hoping for," she commented with another full body shudder.

Now, it was back to business, which was okay with her. Maybe it would help her get that last bit out of her mind since she seemed to have misplaced her mind bleach. "Not much, I'm afraid. There are far more dig sites down on the surface than I could have imagined," Joey said just before taking another sip of her tea. She could already feel its soothing properties helping her relax. "The scan is running as we speak, and is looking for key words. I'll be heading back to my office to check that again soon."

"No rest for the weary," Harvey remarked, sitting down on the couch again and sipping his tea. "I know I was anxious to get back in the chair after all that time off. But I never expected to come back to something like this. Why the hell are the Selubassari suddenly so interested in Finnea Prime? That probe shows up and all of a sudden they declare martial law and enslave the populace."

"Ruins. At least that's what they're rumored to be digging for," Joey replied as she leaned forward to set her tea on the coffee table. Even though she'd have to put them back on again, she made quick work of getting her boots off, then shed her uniform jacket. Now she could be comfortable for a little while. "I just can't figure out the connection between that and the probe. I saw the da Gama footage with Moreau. Akagi did kill himself, and he was the one who put the marking on the bulkhead. With his own blood."

She closed her eyes as she leaned back against the couch once more. "Yuki was there, too, as were the Selubassari. There's little doubt now that they have the probe. It was gutted, and the insides were beamed from the ship. Yuki left with the Selubassari. Neither she, nor Akagi, put up a fight. I think they're part of the Followers. A scan for her combadge turned up nothing, and I'm fairly certain she's on the surface," she said, pausing with a frown. "I did pick up slight traces of components normally found in combadges near one of the dig sites, which means our missing personnel are likely down there being forced to do their dirty work." Now she stopped talking so he could process everything he'd just heard.

This just kept getting better. Harvey leaned back on the couch, eyeing Rico who was taking far more pleasure than expected from the sock. "So, the Vasco da Gama returns from the Convergence Zone. Somehow, one of four people, presumably Yuki or Akagi, alert the Selubassari of the probe, and the Selubassari just go berserk." He sighed. "There's still something missing. Why would the Selubassari care about the probe? And what would make them suddenly be so interested in ruins."

Harvey thought for a moment more, recalling what he read about the planet. "We know that a few hundred years ago, Finnea was struck by an asteroid, which nearly wiped out all life on the planet. The ruins are either of their lost civilization... or maybe fragments of the asteroid that are suddenly valuable. But why?"

"That's the million dollar question," she said, quoting the ancient phrase. Not much of the pieces were fitting yet, but she hoped that would all change soon. "Hopefully, we'll find the answers when we go down to the surface in just a matter of hours." She wasn't looking forward to that, but orders were orders, and it was her duty to follow them.

"I can only hope that this rebellion doesn't start while we're down there. There aren't many people I trust enough to keep me and Peanut safe, and those I do, I don't think any of them are going," she sighed, then shook her head. That was enough of that. Joey was highly trained, but there was a sense of nervousness greater than anything she felt before, and that was because there was another little being depending on her. She needed to take her mind off of things... even if it would only last a few minutes. "I know we're both tired, but I have an idea, and I think we'll both enjoy it."

"Oh?" Harvey asked. Now that he was comfortable on the couch, he didn't feel much like moving. "What're you thinking?"

Joey was comfortable, too, but for what she had in mind, she'd jump at a seconds notice, even if she didn't have to. "Listening to the baby's heartbeat," she answered. "It's a peace of mind thing for me considering everything that happened today, and we don't even have to move." She pulled a medical tricorder off the waistband of her pants and held it out to him. "Dr. Abrams allowed me to borrow it when I went to have the dataport removed."

Harvey accepted the tricorder, smiling nervously as he opened it. As it clicked open and the device began to run, he found himself not anticipating what he might hear, but rather the realization that he hadn't touched a tricorder in more than a year. His last time had to have been on the Schuster, but even that memory was fuzzy. Seeing the indicators flash and the readouts dance brought back several memories.

All of which he pushed aside to focus again on the moment on hand. He activated the speaker, silenced the typical tricorder sounds and withdrew the probe from the back of the tricorder. As he activated it, he began to wave it over Joey's belly, looking for the fetus.

She watched as he opened the tricorder and activated it, then took the probe out. When he began to wave it over her belly, Joey couldn't help but hold her breath. Would they hear it? She'd spent the day rather stressed out, and that wasn't good. So many fears flew through her mind until the probe finally picked up the very steady beating of a heart. A heart that was beating much faster than her own.

Joey breathed a sigh of relief when she heard the steady rhythm of the baby's heartbeat. He... or she... was okay. That, mixed with relief, brought tears to her eyes.

Harvey chuckled, taken aback by the sound. He'd heard it many times before, having performed prenatal scans on many an officer or enlisted over his career. But this was his--theirs. It was magical really.

But something was off.

His smile quickly turned from a smile to a frown. While he'd steadied the probe right above the source of the heartbeat, he began to slowly move it about, searching for the oddity.

"What's wrong?" Joey asked with pure panic in her voice. He was a doctor at one point, and knew things she didn't. "Did you find something bad? Is the baby okay? I did something wrong, didn't I?" Her mind was racing a mile minute as so many thoughts ran through her head, none of them good.

Harvey didn't immediately reply, wanting to be sure of his hypothesis before speaking. After a few moments, he found what he was looking for. The sound of the heartbeat changed. Its familiar rhythm was supplemented by something else, sounding a bit unnatural.

His silence was only making her anxiety worse, but now she was hearing what he had been searching for. "Say something... anything... please," she begged with tears rolling down her cheeks.

He looked up at her, surprised to see her crying. "There's another heartbeat," he said simply. His mouth formed a smile, but he now found himself more unprepared than ever. There was going to be more than one little Geisler. He wasn't expecting that.

"Is that a defect? Can it be fixed?" Joey asked, not quite getting what he was telling her.

He blinked, unsure of what she was asking. Finally, it dawned on him. "No, no," he said. "No defect. There's... there's two... in there."

"Two?" she repeated, still not getting what he was saying, then suddenly, it hit her. "Twins? We're having two babies?" She was never coming back from that.

Harvey chuckled, nodding in reply. "We're going to need a bigger boat," he said calmly.

Joey took a minute to let that new information sink in. She always wanted to have two children, and fate seemed to be on her side in that regard. The plus side, was it only meant one pregnancy... one recovery period... and twice the joy, diapers and everything else that came along with being a parent. All at the same time. She could do this. She'd dealt with more difficult things in her life.

"How do we get a bigger boat?" she asked, putting a hand against her belly. There were two little ones in there. No longer was the little person she thought was in there their Peanut. Now... the two little people were their Peanuts. Or Nuggets.

Sighing, Harvey shook his head. Slowly he closed the tricorder, each click of the hinge louder than the heartbeat it shared and reinserted the probe. "One step at a time," Harvey told her. "For now, we get to be excited parents."

"Are you excited?" Joey asked softly. "I know there's so much going on right now, but are you?"

Harvey nodded an affirmation. "I really am," he said with a smile. Whatever fears he had, he put them aside for now. They could be dealt with tomorrow. He set down the tricorder and placed a hand on her stomach. He knew he couldn't feel them beneath the skin, but knowing they were there, that was enough.

"I am, too," she said, giving him a smile and scooting over a bit to make room for him to stretch out with her. "Let's try to get some sleep for a few hours before we have to get back to it."

He couldn't argue with that. If today was any indication, tomorrow was going to have more than enough trouble of its own.

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