Don't call it a comeback

Posted on May 26, 2014 @ 4:53pm by Commander Jacob Crichton & Ambassador Xana Bonviva
Edited on on Jun 05, 2014 @ 8:31am

Mission: The Tangled Webs We Weave
Location: Various
Tags: Xana, Jake, Prolog

"Don't Call It A Comeback"

=/\=


In memory of Kim Toussaint


=/\=

Location: EARTH - Paris, France
Scene: Secretary Bonviva’s Office
Stardate: [2.14] 0403.0144


There were rules for all kinds of occasions. When the President or Vice-President called, the staff of Secretary Bonviva knew to drop everything (as if that had to be relayed).

When it was her children - or a message pertaining to her children - then the Secretary was to be interrupted no matter what. Rumors flew about the rage Secretary Bonviva flew into about how she hadn't been interrupted when her daughter had fallen ill with Bajoran pox and then the others got it too - never mind it had happened during the secret Romulan talks. Her family came first, they learned, and the rest of the universe was to be damned.

And then there were rules for the various politicians and senior officers - some were to be waived in post haste, others to be delayed until the Secretary could be found, and some steered away all together. And [insert your own deity here] the Secretary loved the press and more often than not the staff had to keep her away from them.

There had to be rules. One did not serve at the pleasure to the Secretary to Starfleet – who in turn served at the pleasure of the Federation President – without there being rules. The Secretary had a varied history (re: colorful) that went from serving on up through the Fleet up to Commanding Officer of GATEWAY STATION-2 before stepping down to do a tour on the Ambassadorial circuit. After being part of the team that negotiated a settlement after the Second Dominion War she left (or was pushed out depending upon the spin) only to enter politics after her two marriages.

And she had done all this before turning 37. Bonviva was one of the youngest Secretaries of Starfleet in its history, and the youngest Secretary serving the President currently. Rumor in the press was that she was looking at (not now of course) moving up. Whatever missteps there were in her earlier careers, she had overcome them. Whatever mistakes she made in the fleet and diplomacy she learned from, and now was a pretty damn good politician. So yes, Secretary Bonviva's staff, some of whom who had been with her for years, knew about rules and how to keep them. They weren't letting her be stopped either.

But this...this had no rule.

“What do we do?” Dani whispered. As Press Secretary she was great at dealing with the public. Private matters...

Another associate shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine.”

Ben Hiram, who had followed Xana Bonviva through her various jobs, nodded and downloaded the message to a secure isolinear chip. For now he was her Chief of Staff but really he was the one who knew her best. “Who knows of this?” he asked.

“Just us,” said Dani.

“Keep it that way,” Ben warned. “We don’t speak about him.” Ben then turned and went into the Ambassador’s office.

Xana Bonviva was sitting behind a medium sized silver desk; impressive in that it only had a computer and a cup of tea on it. Behind her was a wall of photos that had special meaning to the woman in question. As the only woman of Bolian/Human descent in Executive Branch Xana Bonviva stood out - she was still 6’ tall, still had white hair, striking violet eyes and when she spoke it was still with a lyrical accent. Today, like most days, she was wearing a suit (this one was red) and she had one heels (“Hell, I’m already tall, why not add a few more inches?” she’d joke.).

Instead of catching up with her reports, or planning her next move, the Secretary was on a call. [[And then, Mom, he was being so gross! I mean who likes playing with slugs? Why did you do this to me?]]

Xana smiled warmly and held back a chuckle.

[[It’s not funny!]]

“It’s a little funny,” Xana replied. Seeing Ben in the doorway she sighed. “Ok, Dahlia, we’ll talk about this tonight.”

[[Mom!]]

“Dahlia.” There was more sighing and dramatics so then Secretary pointed out with some degree of wryness, “Dahlia Alix Bonviva-McInnis you’re bound for the stage at this rate.”

[[Whatever. Later.]]

Xana shook her head at that. “She’s 9 going on 19,” she sighed. Looking up at Ben she asked warmly, “What can I do for you?”

“A message from…” Ben trailed off.

The Bolian/Human woman held out her hand. “I’ll take it.” After Ben walked across her office, and laid the chip in her hand, she asked, “My next appointment is when?”

“Ten minutes.”

“Leave me,” she ordered. When she was alone she stared at the chip while sighing. Giving into the inevitable she went through the motions of getting to the message which wasn’t an audio/visual but a written one.

=/\=

FROM: Jacob Crichton, Cmdr
TO: Xana Bonviva, Secretary to SF
SUBJECT: Visit

Xana,

If my current course stays true, I believe I’ll be in the Alpha Quadrant within the week and do not expect to leave immediately. I would like to see the kids if you’re not taking them anywhere. Please let me know.

Jake

=/\=

Xana looked over at the time, and seeing she still had a few minutes before her next appointment sat back in her chair. She opened up a drawer in her desk, and then a hidden compartment within that. And she took out a silver frame and held it for a long time.

Everyone who came into her office saw the public pictures - the pictures of the kids and animals and of her home planets. Yes, there was a picture of her husband out but it was one of him with the kids taken awhile ago. A nice sweet picture - but it didn't stir the soul like this one did.

No one ever saw this picture - this picture was reserved for days like today. The days where she felt small and unsure.

Lonely. Gods above and below, did she ever feel so lonely right now. She could have wept from the loneliness. She certainly had wept over this on more nights than she could count, alone in their bed. Now, though, in her office, she couldn't because that would have brought up more questions and she had become too good of a politician to subject herself to that.

Still Xana indulged...she stared longer than necessary, hungry for the emotions that were once there. She wondered what he was doing (she could have looked up his record but had long ago promised she wouldn't). What he was up to. Unfortunately more than once she wondered if he was...yes they were technically married but...hells, it wouldn't be like the first (or last time) it was heard of.

And wouldn't that be an awkward conversation? “Hello, dear. Haven’t seen you in eons. How was your last tour? By the by, are you sleeping alone? Or is sleeping too strong of a word?”

Just cause she slept alone didn't mean he did. So she let be. She didn't want to know. Couldn't know.

Did he think of her? Did he wonder about the turns of their life? Then again Jake was a fairly practical man, he may have just accepted it and moved on, only looking for the kids and that’s it.

Funny to think that her wedding picture from five years ago stirred up all those feelings.

[[Secretary we have two minutes.]]

“Understood,” Xana called out. Shaking her head (but never mussing up her white hair which was done in a twist) she turned to the computer to type out a message.

=/\=

FROM: Xana Bonviva, Secretary to SF
TO: Jake Crichton, Cmdr
SUBJECT: RE: Visit

Jake,

Of course you can see the kids whenever you want. Aside from school, there are very few obligations for them over the next month. Attached is the family schedule along with all the relevant contact info. I’ll inform the schools to expect you so that you can pick up the kids after school or drop them off with minimal fuss.

The villa’s security is the same if you wish to stay there or if you’ll be staying ship-side then please let me know.

Xana

=/\=

Ben stuck his head back in the office, “Madame Secretary, change in plans. The President needs you in the Situation room.”

“On my way.” Xana put the picture away, along with her emotions. The situation with Jake wasn't going anywhere, hadn't gone anywhere for a long time. She had a job to do that was more pressing. As she followed Ben out she asked, “What's the rest of my day look like?”

Ben nodded as he read a PADD. “Don't worry about it. You've just got to meet a Diplomatic Liaison.”

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LOCATION: USS SHERWOOD, NCC-12506
SCENE: CEO’S Quarters

Once, a long time ago, Jake Crichton had found himself in a nothing-place.

He didn’t really remember it, except maybe in the nightmares that had mercifully waned over the years, but he carried the experience with him just the same: ripped from his physical body by yet another psychotic alien beastie, dumped in a place that wasn’t a place, where there was no sight, no sound, no smell, nothing there to ground him or keep him company except his own fear and the roiling black tendrils of the creature that had trapped him there.

But then there had been something else: a light, in a world that had never even known the concept. It had come to slay the dragon and set Jake free, with a kiss. Like in a fairy tale.

And Jake had come back to himself and she had been there, radiant and beautiful , violet eyes and white hair and blue skin. They had begun as friends, had lived and served together, had weathered storms and fought evil and seen loved ones come and go. But when Jake Crichton opened his eyes in that long-ago sickbay, it was like seeing her for the first time.

Xana. His love. His great romance. In that moment he knew he would always be hers. And funny thing, she even seemed to feel the same way.

They tried to ignore it at first, of course. After all, having one’s consciousness ripped free and dumped in a serviceable analogue of Hell has a way of upsetting one’s emotional state. Jake thought the feelings were misplaced, that it was gratitude that he felt because Xana had saved him. He got back into the swing of working, not admitting to himself just how much he looked forward to those stolen glances or brief encounters.

Sometimes he would pass her a PADD and their hands would briefly touch and it was like holding onto a live electrical wire. Sometimes he would be on a turbolift and the doors would swish open and Xana would be standing there. Jake would tell himself that her sudden intake of breath, her hesitation, the way she seemed to want to meet his eyes but didn’t, was all just his imagination. The moment would pass, Xana would nod politely and step aboard, and Jake would spend the ride with his hands clasped tightly behind him, eyes fixed on an invisible point on the turbolift doors, and a feeling of free-fall in his stomach. For a time, he *lived* for those encounters, even if he didn’t admit it to himself.

It might have gone on that way forever. People have always been good at denying their own feelings, after all. But Jake and Xana’s time in that alien abyss had changed them both. After the encounter, Jake found he could *feel* Xana, even when she wasn’t with him. And Xana found that she, too, could feel Jake. Their emotions were shared, each always aware of what the other was feeling. And this made them realize that the love they were trying so hard to deny might not be wholly their own. The reason they felt this connection so strongly and suddenly, even against all reason, was because the other was feeling the same thing, at the same time. It was like a feedback loop, each fleeting desire coming back on them ten-fold again, and again, until eventually there was no denying it and they had come together not as friends, or colleagues, but as two halves of a whole that was quickly becoming much too big for either one to contain.

There was love, and sex, and talk of the future. There were fights and reconciliations, made even sweeter by their shared emotional awareness. There were friends, and parties, public to-do’s and quiet evenings. There was adventure, and danger, victories and defeats. And through all of it, they had each other.

Those were the good times.

But the universe keeps turning, and not even the galaxy’s greatest love story could stop it. Jake and Xana had careers. They had responsibilities, people who depended on them. Xana was a Federation ambassador, and Jake was a military officer, and there was a war. The Dominion was a brutal and powerful enemy, and countless lives were destroyed in the fight against them.

There had been… traumas.

Attacks on the home they shared, and the deaths of close friends and respected allies.

A glimpse at a potential future, where Jake’s love for Xana and their children had made him do terrible things.

Pain. Loss. Grief. Anger.

And fear.

The bond that Xana and Jake shared had made their love for each other almost intoxicating. But it worked both ways. Each would feel the other’s pain, and rage, and weariness, and this on top of their own feelings. In those days, everyone was always fighting an uphill battle against their own emotions, and Jake and Xana had to carry their own weight as well as each other’s. At the beginning, Jake would have thought that this was a strength, that they could always be there to ease the other’s burden. But like drowning sailors, their struggles to stay afloat together only seemed to pull them down.

And a time came when their bond, the very thing that had drawn them inexorably together, started to push them apart.

Jake lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling. He could feel the faint, familiar hum of the starship’s warp-drive beneath him. It was always there, though most people didn’t notice it. Jake always did. He’d grown up on starships, and had spent most of his professional life in space. His connection with his ship wasn’t just physical, or technological, but almost spiritual. It’s what made him a good engineer.

But tonight, beneath the subtle hum of warp drive and the faint pressure of the inertial dampers, Jake could feel something else. A warmth, that seemed to bring with it a sensation of soft lips and the faintest whiff of perfume.

Xana.

It was true that their bond had diminished over time and across space; the further apart they got, both in distance and in time, the less they seemed to feel the other. And, though neither one would have admitted it, part of it was because they had intentionally turned away from each other, and had each become very practiced at pushing those feelings down so deep that they became easy to ignore.

But it never went away completely. It was usually faint, but it was there. It always was, like the hum of the warp engine. And on nights like this, when Jake was alone and sleep seemed like a faraway prospect, it became hard to ignore.

Giving up on sleep, Jake sat up in bed. He opened the drawer on his nightstand and pulled out a small black box. He opened it and took out his wedding ring- he didn’t wear it any more, but could never bear to get rid of it either- and held it in his hands. He wondered if Xana was feeling him right now, as he was feeling her. He wondered if she was wondering the same thing, if perhaps across all those lightyears Xana was sitting alone somewhere, thinking about him.

[[Engineering to Commander Crichton.]]

Jake returned the ring to the box, and the box to the nightstand. Then he picked up his comm-badge from the nightstand and activated it.

“Crichton here.”

[[Did I wake you up, Jake?]] came the voice of Lt. Dana Chambers, 3rdshift CEO. Her tone had the gentle mocking quality he often heard there, and it always reminded him of young children kicking shins and pulling pig-tails. He knew Chambers had a thing for him, and occasionally he thought maybe he had a thing for her too. But right now, he just felt tired.

“Were you trying to?” Jake asked. He stood and went to the refresher to splash water on his face.

[[Only if you were having bad dreams,]] Chambers said.

“With you in charge of keeping the ship flying?” Crichton asked. “I’m too worried to even fall asleep, let alone start dreaming.”

[[I’m twice the engineer you are and you know it,]] Chamber said, and Jake could imagine her sticking her tongue out at him as she said it.

“You want to count collar pips again?” Jake asked. “I didn’t win mine in a raffle, lady.”

[[Right,]] Chamber laughed. [[That’s why half my staff are in the tubes, repolarizing all the couplings you didn’t install correctly the first time.]]

“I *have* to leave you busy work, otherwise you might start mucking around with the *important* systems,” Jake grinned. “It’s called ‘leadership’.”

[[Kiss my aft nacelles, Crichton.]]

“Hey, I give the orders around here,” Jake said. “Is there a reason for this call or do you just not have enough to do down there?”

[[Not strictly a social call, I’m afraid,]] Chambers said. [[Just wanted to let you know, the bridge ordered a change of course and speed. I know you wanted to put the new dilithium-exhange systems through their paces a bit before exceeding warp 4, so I didn’t want you to freak out when you get here in the morning.]]

“I don’t ‘freak out’,” Crichton said. “I have tactical tantrums. Again, leadership.”

[[Whatever you say, Napolean,]] Chambers said. Now Jake could imagine her rolling her eyes at him. He liked when she did that, it always reminded him of…

“We changed course?” Jake asked. “Where are we going?”

[[Earth,]] Chambers said. [[New orders came in or something, I guess.]]

“You didn’t ask why?”

[[I’m not your secretary, Jake,]] Chambers said. [[I’ll fix your damn couplings, but I’m not going to start taking messages for you.]]

“You’d probably screw it up anyway,” Jake said. “I’ll check with the captain in the morning. In the meantime, try not to blow us all up.”

[[I’ll see what I can do,]] Chambers laughed. [[Engineering out.]]

Jake stood in front of the fresher mirror and reached out with his mind, trying to find Xana. He thought he had her for a moment, but it slipped away, and Jake was alone again. He stared at his reflection for a moment longer, then went into the living room and picked up his padd and started to compose a message to Xana.

It was brief, only a few sentences. He wanted to write more, but couldn’t seem to find the words. At the end, he wrote “Love, Jake”.

He stared at those words for a long time.

Then, he deleted the word “love”. As each letter disappeared from the screen, Jake felt its absence like an open wound. He sent it before he had time to second-guess himself, and blinked a tear out of his eye and he sat the padd down.

Tonight was one of the hard nights.
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NRPG: I understand not everything is totally fleshed out, but let's get this show on the road. Here's a nice, character-focused post to ease us all back in to the bathwater. Hope you guys like it!

I think I have everyone in the mailing list, but if someone wouldn't mind double-checking me I'd appreciate it. Also, I don't see Jerome's email on the excel file from the Facebook page, would someone mind forwarding this to him? (And let me know if I'm crazy, I downloaded it from the FB a few times to be sure and I just don't see it on there.)


Good to be back!
A Joint Post by...

Shawn Putnam
a.k.a.
Jake Crichton, Commander
Chief Engineering Officer
USS SHERWOOD, NCC-12506

and

Sarah Albertini-Bond
Xana Bonviva
Secretary to Starfleet