EXETERRPG: (1, 20:00) Captain Trip Williams and Commander Ailynn Bracken

[Will Banowsky]

Mission: Space Was Cool Before it Mattered
Day: 1
Stardate: 2446.04.25

(USS Exeter - Captain’s Quarters - CO, Captain Trip Williams and Med. OBS,
Commander Ailynn Bracken - 20:00)

As Trip returned from Ronnie’s room he gave his guest a warm smile before
sitting down opposite them.

“Thanks for helping me tuck in the rugrats. Ash had some last minute work
come up and I figured that the kids wouldn’t mind some time with Auntie
Ailys.”

Ailynn smiled as Trip sat down. The time with Ronnie had been difficult,
but like all exposure therapy, it got easier and less stressful each time.
“It’s no bother. It’s something I need to get better at.”

“I hope it wasn’t weird, with… Ronnie.”

“A little, but not too difficult. I still miss her, and always will, but my
heart has adapted, and now loves that little girl more than ever.”

“That’s good, because she isn’t going anywhere.” Trip said with a laugh.
“I’m kinda stuck with her.”

Ailynn laughed. “Auntie Ailsy you getting fat.” Ailynn sighed in pleasant
melodrama, “out of the mouths of babes.”

“If I would have said something like that, you’d punch me right in the
face.” Trip replied.

“She’s cuter than you are.” Ailynn stuck her tongue out at Trip playfully.

“So how was your first day back….hope it wasn’t too weird?”

“A little, but I was able to catch up with people that I didn’t get much of
a chance to say goodbye to, and I’ve had my head in the nebula the rest of
the day, so not too weird no.”

“That’s good. It can always feel weird to come back. We’ve had some
turnover too. So I just didn’t know if you might have felt out of place or
just struggling to find your place.”

“It was a worry,” She admitted, “but coming back isn’t the same as never
having left. I feel recharged.”


“That’s good, we want you recharged.” Trip paused. “And your place here, is
well, as much as I would miss AJ, it’s secure. It’s part of your sabbatical
orders, once you are ready to come back, the FO post is yours. Whenever
that may be.”

“At the moment, I’m not sure.” She admitted. “I’m at the behest of the
Admiral for the moment, but she won’t drag things out. We get on too well
now for her to let me clutter up her office for too long.”

“As for Caity, she’s welcome onboard with you, but I can’t guarantee her
place at Nine and Dine back. Civilians are a little bit harder to plan
around. But I’m sure it will work out, I’m guessing I’ve got a few more
months with you gone, right? After the twins are born and maternity leave
is over?”

“Those are decisions that haven’t been made yet, each with a dozen
variables, but ostensibly yeah, it’ll be a couple of months at the soonest
at the moment.”

“Well….you’ve been missed.” Trip said, pausing trying to figure out what to
say next. “So you really are good right, like this has been exactly what
you need? Personal life good? I know I asked early, but now we have a bit
more privacy. So to speak.”

Ailynn nodded, sipping at a glass of water that she’d poured. “I am yeah. I
found the right balance of rest and poking my nose into stuff. Lots of
counselling. New professional interests helped too. Mum and I are closer
than ever, I had a long long chat with her, really opened up, and she to
me.” Ailynn smiled. “I guess I never understood the pain that she’d gone
through, nor she mine.”

“Well, you’ll understand her even more when you have your kids.” Trip said
with a laugh.


“Thanks for that.” She laughed gently. “Beyond that Tee and I are doing
okay, again, lots of long long chats. Rocky parts, but smoothing out,”
Wincing slightly, Ailynn shifted in her chair.

“Well, I hope…I hope that things work out….the way they are supposed to.”
Trip said pausing, “You are my ‘niece’ after all, and my best friend, your
happiness to me is paramount.”

“I appreciate that, I do.” She said as she drew a breath.

“Do I need to get you a more comfortable chair, more pillows, let you lay
down on the couch?”

“You’ve been trying to get me to lay on the couch for a decade, this is not
the time…” She laughed. “It’s fine, just at this time one wakes up and the
other goes to sleep and it all starts moving, it’s so weird. I’m fine I
promise.”

“Hey, I still haven’t finished Bracken bingo.” Trip said with a laugh, “But
I think I’m retired from that game.”

Ailynn laughed, “you’d better be.”

“And besides, if Ash were here and I didn’t ask if I could help you get
more comfortable, she’d be cross with me. So I have to ask.”

“I know, and like I said, as much as I tease, it’s appreciated.” She said
as she sipped her water once more. Layla came stepping into the room, a
gentle wag of the tail as she trotted up to Ailynn and rested her head in
her lap. “Hello gorgeous girl. How are you?” Ailynn said as she scratched
behind Layla’s ear, causing one of the black lab’s back legs to twitch in
pleasure. “Go on to bed sweetie, good girl.” She watched as the dog,
calming down a bit now as she got older, stepped over to her bed.

“So how’s my little man? Sleeping well or up half the night?”

“He sleeps better than his sister.” Trip said smiling. “And by that I mean,
when he wakes up, well I just have to go and check on him. Ronnie is at the
face where she sometimes crawls into our bed when she is up and we aren’t
and wisely kicks me in the head until I wake up. And I say wisely because
she hits me and not her mother.”

“Who’d have thought that Ashlyn Jones would end up the proud matriarch that
she is.” Ailynn half asked, knowing however that the strength of character
had always been there, even back at school.

“The person who knew that Ash would have ended up such a proud mom is the
same fool that had me pegged as Captain at 23. And someone who probably
used those abilities to rig the lottery.”

“Ain’t that the truth.” She answered simply.

“Though I guess tomorrow I’ll no longer be a 23 year old captain.”

“It’s downhill from 24,” Ailynn teased. “Especially with children. I would
make you a cake but I’m not great at that sort of thing. Birthday tiramisu
is about my limits.”

“It’s ok, I’ll settle with what I asked you for my 15th birthday.” Trip
said with a wink.

Ailynn laughed warmly. “You’re disgusting. That’s a cold hard no.” She
covered the front of her dress with her hands.

“You’re thinking of my 14th birthday. For my 15th birthday I asked you to
steal a phaser from Dale and give it to me. You wisely said no.”

“Okay, now that I can do…I’ll steal you a phaser from Security…how's that?
Or I could just go and yell at people until they hand me one?” She knew her
temperament, and relaxed as she was was happy to tease herself.

Trip laughed. “No, I can just order people to give me phasers now.”

“It’s so boring being able to order everyone to do shit….I miss being
disreputable.”

“Gosh, I’ve missed just hanging out with you.”

“I’ve missed it too. Last time was on Risa, but even then I had a whole
host of things on my mind.”

“Do you regret not taking the hood?”

“No I don’t, that time will come for me, but the Hood wasn’t it, didn’t
feel right.”

“Does it ever feel right?” Trip said with a sigh.

“Perhaps not,” She laughed. “Aleks Kovak was next up though. Good Captain
so I hear.”

“I guess it was different for me. I was in charge of the fighter wing, so
either way, I was in command of something.”

 “Yeah that’s true. At the time it wasn’t my bag. I just rebuilt a
hospital, and became CMO of the largest medical facility outside of Medical
HQ. Not bad for a girl of 26. Command hadn’t been on my radar at all
though, not then.”

“Yeah, until I put you on it whether you liked it or not.” Trip said. “Do
you regret being my first officer instead of, say, my Chief Medical
Officer?”

Ailynn shook her head. “No.” She said almost instantly. “As much as I love
being a Doctor, and a Surgeon, those are roles that limit me, there’s few
things that I can’t do as a matter of routine, and routine me gets bored.
I’m glad…or rather was glad of the daily stretch. Even the difficult times,
the dangerous ones. You know?”

“Nothing about us is routine.” Trip said pausing.

“Ain’t that the truth.” Ailynn said.

“I mean think about it, not only were we given a Starship at 23 and 26
respectively, and were given a fighter wing and a hospital at 22 and 25,
look at the rest of our lives. I married the secret daughter of my mentor,
of whom I have an intimately close relationship to, especially considering
Dale helped nurse me back from my darkest moment. My wife, not only is the
secret daughter of my mentor but the secret aunt of my best friend. And my
daughter was deaged and mind wiped from a version of what could have been
my child, from an alternate dark timeline. And your twins are the progeny
of an alternate version of the man who died saving your life, created by an
omnipotent trickster from the Q-continuum, to give you perfect bliss and
happiness, all while trying to save our lives and get into my pants.”

Ailynn smiled and snorted a laugh, resting her hand on her bump. “When you
put it like that, it’s a good job that it was real…I’d question the sanity
of anyone who made up any of that crap…”

“Hey at least, as far as we know, Q’s can’t get pregnant from mere mortals.
I don’t think Ronnie and Drew need a demigod half siblings. Their lives are
already ^@#%#%@ up enough as it is.” Trip said with a shit eating grin.

“Ronnie has Bracken blood, she’d show them what for…” She drew back from
the smile, that had threatened to form, but was slipping from her face.
“You were right you know…”

“I was?”

“I hide it so much, from everyone; but I miss her…I worship Ronnie I do,
you know that, and will die, kill to protect her.” Ailynn sighed. “I just
miss the girl that I looked on as my baby sister.”

“I know you don’t believe in the soul mate thing, and you and Ronnie were
not and would never have been connected romantically, but I think losing
her, you lost a part of yourself, a part of your soul. A part you can’t
really get back. I’m your best friend, but she was….she was truly your best
friend, ways I could never be.”

“She got me, understood me…” Ailynn sighed. “...in ways that as much as I
love you, you never can understand. She helped me to…it’s a total girl
thing…”

“I know. I could feel…not quite pain, I wouldn’t call it pain, but it is in
that family, but I could feel it as you kissed her goodnight. There is a
loss there. In a way that isn’t there for Ash and I.”

“It’s different, and please understand I love what you have, and I’m not
saying I’ve lost more, I’m not playing that game, I promise.”

“We lost a friend, a surrogate daughter, someone we were close to. But we
gained so much more. We gained our daughter. You lost…more than we did. And
it isn't quite fair.”


“It’s only her happiness that matters, I just need to put on my big girl
pants and grow up.” Ailynn half smiled, swallowing her pain once more.

“I think, I think if Ronnie knew how much her loss would hurt you, she
probably wouldn’t have gone through with the mind wipe. To stick around,
for you.”

“I know,” She nodded. “And that’s why I wasn’t around when she was making
her decisions, or being prepped for surgery. It would have swayed her.”

Trip nodded. “I know, and I thank you for it.” He began to tear a little
bit.

“Hey…It’s okay. She has a chance, she has a family, everything. One person
shouldering the pain that I do is worth the pain of a trillion deaths in
her memory.” Ailynn shrugged, “it’s what I do. My task, or part of it.”

“I know, but we can shoulder it a little bit, Ash and I.”

Ailynn smiled, but shook her head. “It’s best you don’t. She’s your
daughter. End of.” Ailynn half shrugged. “You need to just be ‘Dad’ and
‘Mom.’ If there’s a secret, a trace of a thought, then there’s a chance,
regardless of how small, that she could cascade and remember it all. I’m
the best Trip, but even I can’t reset a Trillion to the power of a Trillion
neural connections.”


“Now you’re making my head hurt with math.” Trip said with a laugh trying
to inject some humor into the conversation.

Ailynn half smiled. “Sorry. I know big numbers make pilots' heads hurt.”
She said in reflex. “Ash looks well. The blue suits her.”

“Yeah, well her librarian outfit does more for me than…” Trip paused.
“Sorry bad joke,”

“You silly arse.” She smiled and watched Layla breathe out heavily as she
slipped into a slumber.”

“I’m not keeping you from anything am I?” Trip asked.

“I’m meeting Caity at the Starlight Lounge, date night, hence the dress.”
She motioned to the teal green dress that she wore.

“Oh I figured it was for comfort. I mean, as soon as you leave, I’m taking
of my pants and lounging around in gym shorts.”

“If it was comfort I’d be in my underwear, believe me, either that or my
pirate rabbit PJ’s.” she giggled.

“Has….has Ronnie ever seen your Pirate PJs?” Trip asked.

Ailynn shook her head, knowing what he was asking. “No, she hasn’t. I
always wore something a little more upmarket when she slept over. Girl’s
got to have some secrets.”

“Oh, because she mentioned this morning about a dream she had where she and
I where in a fighter and she was a big girl, fighting pirates. But when I
asked a little deeper around lunch time, she mentioned that the pirates
looked like bunny rabbits and there ship was an evil duck.”

“Sounds horribly like a near 3 year old to me. That said though, joking
aside, I’m the best there is…anywhere, but I can’t guarantee that I’ve
removed everything. Most of what you’re telling me could be residuals, but
also could be that you have a healthy happy daughter, who is being cared
for so well that her imagination and her creativity is being allowed to
flourish.”


“And of course her mom does read floppy bunny 8 million times a week.” Trip
laughed.

“That’s a beast of her own creation.” Ailynn said, secretly being jealous
of Ashlyn and her ability to simply create things.”

“Anyways go on, get, you go do your things. I’m not gonna have Caity cross
at me because on this evening I monopolized your time, because I’m more
dashing and fun.”

“It’s fine, we had a time set to meet.” Ailynn stood up, and slipped her
shoes on again, the flats weren’t her favourite, but they were comfy. “I’m
glad she has you guys, I really am, she’s so loved. I’m no empath, but I
can sense that in her.”

“Well, she’s my daughter what else can I say.”

“I’m going to head…” she said with a smile. “Can’t stand up the Missus,
might not pull again.” She winked playfully.

Trip stood up to walk Ailynn out. “I think you could have any woman, man,
or non corporeal entity on this ship that you wanted. If you let yourself.
Trip said with a laugh.”

"Flatterer." She said with a blush.

Trip then gave Ailynn a kiss on the cheek and whispered something in her
ear.

“Food for thought.” he said after he was done whispering.

Still blushing, Ailynn smiled. "I'm going to go, before I get stood up."

“Well you’re welcome to my bed if thats the case. I’ll sleep on the couch.”

"Thank you Trip. And…well. You know." She blushed a shy smile.

As Ailynn left Trip looked around and made sure he was alone. He then
stretched, had the monitor in his living room put on a baseball game and
relieved his pants, using the american sense of the word, from their duty.

(reply none)
(posted by Will and Mark)
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