Expectations: Just a Moment Part 2
Series: Expectations
Adventure Thirteen: Just a Moment Part 2 of 3
Author: Aquariuslover
Pairings: Yunjae, KyuWook, WooGyu
Rating: R
Genre: Crossover, Science Fiction, Adventure, Romance
Length: Chaptered
Beta: tahoeturquoise
A/N: This story is inspired by Star Trek and the Kpop community; the story is my own.
Thanks to everybody who commented on the last part! I promise I replied to all the comments...it's just that evil LJ ate them!
Summary: Ancient technology on a deserted planet forces some crew members to stay within arm's reach of each other...literally. As Jaejoong's pregnancy progresses, Jaejoong's telepathic and emphatic abilities fade. Startling admissions are made, and something is stirring on the ship.
Prior Adventures
“I am going to tell you right now-I don’t do threesomes!” Jaejoong said contemptuously as he glared at SooYoung, who was sitting next to Yunho in Sickbay. “I don’t believe in sharing.”
“Damn,” SooYoung responded in a deadpan voice causing Yunho, who was sitting beside her, to let out a small groan.
Jaejoong’s mouth dropped open.
Ryeowook, who had overhead the exchange, teased, “I’m sure you’re heartbroken…I mean, pregnant hermaphrodites are such a rare find.”
“Indeed they are,” SooYoung added straight-faced. “I am always looking for new experiences to broaden my horizons.”
“Is she joking?” Jaejoong demanded, hating that he couldn’t pick up anything from the woman’s closed mind.
“Yes, she is joking, because you are being ridiculous! Stop with the threats. She did not plan this,” Yunho snapped at his mate.
Jaejoong, who was sitting on a chair beside their exam bed, folded his arms across his stomach protectively and stated, “Excuse me, if I find the fact that my bondmate is physically connected to another person unsettling! Also, why can’t she be ugly?”
“You think I’m pretty. I am flattered,” SooYoung said, turning to smile down at Jaejoong. After spending three hours with the cranky, jealous Joong she had decided to give as good as she got.
“I didn’t say that.”
“You said I wasn’t ugly.”
“Doesn’t mean I think you are pretty.”
SooYoung batted her long eyelashes at Jaejoong and conceded, “True, I am more on the beautiful side.”
“You two stop,” Yunho ordered, scolding them both. “Dr. Cho, can you please release us from Sickbay so we can get to the science labs? We need to figure a way out of this mess.”
“I second that,” Commander Yoochun, who was sitting on another exam bed with Lieutenant Sungmin, stated. “Since beaming down to the planet again didn’t help…we need to get to work.”
“The quicker the better,” Sungmin agreed.
Ryeowook nodded his head and told them, “You are released.”
Yunho motioned to SooYoung and they both got off of the exam bed they were sitting on at the same time. “Dr. Cho, I will have Ensign SungGyu and Doctor Nam stay in sickbay so you can also work on breaking the invisible bond-”
“It’s not a bond!” Jaejoong interrupted, correcting his mate. “It is just some artificial link placed there by a mechanical device. It’s nothing like a bond.”
Dr. Cho asked, “I wonder though if it wasn’t meant to simulate a Joong bond?”
“Yes, because the Joong bondmate bond is only a thing of proximity,” Jaejoong seethed, sarcastically.
“It is at first,” Yunho pointed out. “I can’t even remember how many times I fell on my ass trying to get away from you when we were first bonded.”
“True,” SooYoung agreed. “Hangeng and Victoria always stayed within an orbit of each other. He would have her handle issues on a planet but his ship always remained nearby.”
“Also it has to be more than coincidence that Jaejoong, the only Joong, was not affected,” Ryeowook pointed out.
“Just like Changmin wasn’t affected by the gender switching machine,” Yunho surmised and turned to face Jaejoong. “You knew all along, didn’t you?”
Jaejoong grunted, “Yes, and so did the good doctor.”
Ryeowook cast Jaejoong a betrayed glance and quickly explained, “I did suspect it had more to do with his Joong half, than being the dominate male.”
“Hmmmf, I knew I was the alpha male back then,” Yoochun said confidently.
Sungmin snorted and informed the engineer, “I can kill you with my finger…my pinky finger.”
“Focus people,” Yunho warned.
WooHyun, who was leaning against the wall with SungGyu, asked, “So if the connection is an attempt to mimic the Joong bond…what do we need to do so we can put more space between us?”
“Sex,” Yoochun answered, wrapping his arm around Sungmin’s waist. “Sorry, but I’ll have to decline. I hate to disappoint you, but I might be getting lucky with Junsu sometime this decade, so we won’t be participating in the sexperiment.”
Sungmin turned to look at the engineer and asked, “Sexperiment?”
“Sex is why Yunho and Jaejoong are not joined at the hip any longer,” Yoochun explained. “So either SooYoung and Yunho or Cute Little Doctor and Bright Shiny Boy are going to have to sex with each other to see if it breaks the connection.”
Jaejoong stood up and growled, “Over her dead-”
“We will do it,” WooHyun offered.
An appalled Ensign SungGyu immediately replied, “We most certainly will not!”
“Listen here, Boy,” Jaejoong snapped at the red headed ensign. “You two are going to eventually have sex anyway, just get it over with. Because Yunho isn’t touching-”
“Stop it,” Yunho ordered, interrupting his mate. “Nobody is having sex. It’s ridiculous. Yoochun is wrong; the bond isn’t solely based on sex. Jaejoong and I were able to put distance between us long before we had sex.”
Ryeowook walked up next to Jaejoong and put an arm around the Joong whose chest was heaving with anger. “A real Joong bond is an emotional bond more than anything. I think we should all get to work on finding a solution, and stop this guessing game.”
“Doctor Cho, you are right as usual,” Yunho replied, reaching out an arm for Jaejoong. “We will get to the labs. Dr. Cho, please notify me immediately if you discover anything.”
“Of course, just remember you must stay within an arm’s length distance of each other,” Ryeowook answered as Jaejoong moved away from him and clasped Yunho’s hand.
“We will all meet back here at 0700 in Dr. Cho’s office,” Yunho ordered, holding on to Jaejoong’s hand.
“Calm down, this is nothing to be upset about.”
Jaejoong tightened his grip on Yunho’s hand. “How can you say that?”
“Because I love you, and you know it…so stop acting stupid. Really, I thought you were past this kind of petty jealousy. Nothing is ever coming between us.”
Jaejoong looked confused as he tried to decide if he was offended or reassured by his mate’s words. Finally he looked up at Yunho as he informed him, “You are right about that because I will tear her fucking arm off if I have to!”
********************
“Don’t be so fussy.”
Sungmin, who was walking beside Commander Yoochun down the corridor, told the other man. “I am not being fussy. It’s just that-why the hell do you need to see Junsu at this hour? He’s probably asleep.”
“How soon you forget.”
“What exactly have I forgotten?”
“Junsu and I are going to have a breakfast date,” Yoochun reminded the other man.
“Oh, I thought that was just a possibility.”
Yoochun exhaled. “I am trying to turn a new leaf…be less obsessive, so I was waiting for him to come to me.”
“And he didn’t...?”
“No,” Yoochun answered, his disappointment showing. “So I am now going to try another tactic.”
Sungmin side eyed the engineer. “Dare I ask?”
“Well, before I got linked to you, I had thought I would carefully broach the subject with him again, but now I think it works out even better.”
“Why do you say that?”
“You can come along with us, so he will feel more at ease,” Yoochun explained.
The Chief of Security couldn’t keep from smiling. He had been mysteriously tied to the engineer since early morning and he had been happily surprised by the engineer’s good behavior. “Yoochun, trust me, you want to make sure he’s homosexually inclined before you progress any farther.”
“Oh, he likes me,” Yoochun replied, confidently. “I promise he is inclined towards me.”
“Well, I think you might be the only one sure of his inclination.”
“I’m sure.”
“But what do you feel? Is it just lust?”
“I will admit at first it was just lust…but it’s more than that now.”
Sungmin came to a sudden stop, causing Yoochun to stumble backwards toward him.
“You need to warn me!” Yoochun complained.
“Can you pinch me?” Sungmin asked, holding out his arm.
“Why?” Yoochun asked, surprised.
“Because I think I am in some alternate reality…where you are a decent human being,”
Yoochun reached out and pinched Sungmin hard. “Asshole.”
Sungmin jerked his arm back. “Hey, let’s be honest, this behavior isn’t like you.”
“I am just full of consideration for others these days. After we stop and see Junsu, I will even let you stop at the prince’s quarters for a quick booty call. I promise to keep one eye shut as you two do the nasty.”
Sungmin shook his head. “Now, that’s sounds more like you.”
“No, it’s still an improvement because I didn’t offer to join in,” Yoochun informed the other man as he started walking down the corridor again.
“Well, you probably didn’t feel like being transported back to sickbay after I broke both your legs.”
“No, no…I didn’t.” Yoochun admitted with a grin.
They came to a stop outside Junsu’s door.
Sungmin groaned after seeing the goofy grin on Yoochun’s face as he signaled for the door to alert Junsu of his presence. “This is such a bad idea.”
The doors to the quarters whooshed open and a sleepy looking Junsu appeared, he was unable to hide his surprise at seeing the two men standing outside his door.
“Ummm…hello…”
Yoochun leaned against the doorway. “So, I am here about that breakfast date you promised me.”
Junsu blinked. “I don’t think I promised…”
“But you definitely strongly hinted at the possibility,” Yoochun quickly reminded him. “I thought since I am literally tied to Sungmin…maybe we could do it tomorrow, but since my morning will consist of briefings…I thought perhaps we could do lunch instead.”
Junsu looked at Sungmin, who quickly explained to the ensign, “I will be your chaperone. You will be safe.”
Yoochun cleared his throat. “Junsu, he’s being silly. Of course you would be safe-we are both grown men. It just might be more comfortable for you if he tags along.”
Junsu looked back at Yoochun and hesitantly agreed, “Okay, I will have lunch with you…in the mess hall, but aren’t you going to be busy tomorrow? Don’t you have to figure out what is binding you two together?”
Yoochun’s grin was back as he waved his hand in dismissal. “Don’t worry about that. We are going to work on it all night long…we can take a break for lunch. If something else happens, I’ll let you know.”
Junsu nodded his head. “Okay, that seems fair. I’m going back to bed now. Bye…both of you.”
“Bye,” Sungmin told the ensign, trying to hide his reservations.
“Goodnight,” Yoochun replied excitedly as the helmsman disappeared behind the closing doors. Yoochun then turned to Sungmin and surprised the other man by hugging him.
Sungmin pushed the engineer away. “Control yourself.”
“I can’t help it! This is great!” Yoochun declared, almost bouncing for joy.
“Such a bad idea,” Sungmin whispered under his breath.
“Don’t be a party pooper!” Yoochun chastised as he took Sungmin by the arm and headed towards the lift.
“I am not a party pooper.”
“Do you want to stop and see your prince? I promise to behave myself,” Yoochun offered.
“No,” Sungmin quickly responded. “Let’s just get back to labs and fix this.”
“If we solve this little problem, you still have to go to lunch with us.”
“I know…I will.”
****************************
“Are we even sure it is Joong technology?” Dr. Cho asked as he looked over the results of his scans.
SungGyu quickly answered, “No, we aren’t sure of anything.”
Dr. Cho looked up and replied, “Although if Joong technology is half as confusing as Joong physiology then it would make sense.”
WooHyun, who was perched on the side of the exam bed beside SungGyu, asked, “Confusing?”
Ryeowook walked back over to the bed and explained, “Its ability to fool even our most advanced technology.”
“But don’t you use the technology on this ship to examine Jaejoong all the time?” WooHyun pointed out. “You were just looking at the baby yesterday.”
“Yes, but I don’t put much faith in it. There were no red flags alerting us when Jaejoong first arrived on this ship to show he was anything but a regular human being.”
“There weren’t?”
“Half of the equipment on this ship wouldn’t tell Heechul anything. It wasn’t Jaejoong using his telepathy either. The reports simply did not give away his Joong blood.”
SungGyu frowned. “And now it does?”
Ryeowook leaned against the wall and clarified, “It does…but if I scanned Jaejoong tomorrow and it said he was a normal human male and not a pregnant hermaphrodite I wouldn’t be surprised.”
“It’s like the legends,” WooHyun told them.
“The legends?” SungGyu asked the young doctor.
WooHyun nodded his head. “That the Joong are really omnipotent beings just pretending at being mortal.”
“Jaejoong isn’t omnipotent; if he were SooYoung wouldn’t be tied to Yunho,” Ryeowook pointed out.
SungGyu narrowed his eyes. “But what if it is a game they play? What if it’s all one big game for them?”
“Then why would a Joong like Victoria let Hangeng’s father murder her parents and sexually abuse her?” WooHyun asked.
“ZhouMi tortured Jaejoong before the captain rescued him,” Ryeowook added.
“But would torture or death be the same to an all powerful being? Emotional damage or physical damage, would that even register with them in their omnipotent forms? If their physical form died…wouldn’t they just go on being omnipotent? I mean they could literally start all over again. Mortality could just be a game they play at over and over.”
Ryeowook shook his head. “If they were really playing at being human…wouldn’t they have to really believe they were human?”
“What do you mean?” WooHyun asked.
“What fun would it be playing at being mortal if they didn’t really believe it? Where would the sense of jeopardy come in…if you knew you were indestructible?” Commander Cho, who had been standing outside of the room listening in on their conversation, asked.
“But Commander…maybe they don’t know they are playing at being mortal. Perhaps, they are sincere…maybe they do something to make themselves forget and at the time of their mortal death they become omnipotent once again,” SungGyu suggested.
Ryeowook, who had tensed the minute Kyuhyun had made his presence known, added, “And before they take on their mortal form…they put fail safes into place in the universe. Make it difficult for technology to identify them.”
SungGyu offered, “Put limitations on what they will allow to happen to them.”
“Give themselves amazing healing, telepath, and empathic abilities,” WooHyun added.
SungGyu nodded his head. “Devices like the Guardian of Time to give them access to the universe, alternate realities, and all of time.”
“It’s a very interesting theory, but it doesn’t really solve your problem,” Commander Cho stated, pointing to WooHyun and SungGyu.
“No,” SungGyu agreed.
Ryeowook turned to look at Commander Cho and was unable to hide his irritation. “Is there a reason why you are here? It’s 0200 hours and the briefing isn’t for another five hours.”
“I need something for sleep,” Kyuhyun answered, ignoring his husband’s mood.
WooHyun took SungGyu by the hand and got off the exam bed, pulling SungGyu along with him. He told the commander, “I will be happy to get you something. How long would you like to sleep?”
“Four hours,” Kyuhyun said, answering WooHyun, but he kept his eyes on Ryeowook.
Ryeowook bit his tongue to keep himself from asking if the commander was having nightmares and mentally counted to ten before telling WooHyun, “I am going to go. You two should get some sleep before the briefing or take a stimulant…we need to start over tomorrow with fresh eyes.”
Kyuhyun reached out a hand to stop Ryeowook from departing the room. “Can we talk?”
“No,” Ryeowook simply answered, pushing past the commander with not another word.
An awkward silence filled the room for only a moment before SungGyu broke it, “I’d rather go to sleep than take a stimulant.”
“Of course, it’s your motto after all,” WooHyun told the ensign as he handed the commander a hypospray. “Commander, just take this after you lie down and you should sleep soundly for the next four hours.”
Kyuhyun took the hypospray from WooHyun. “Thanks.”
“You are welcome.”
Kyuhyun nodded his head and left the room.
“Well, that was awkward,” SungGyu mumbled under his breath.
WooHyun, who was still holding SungGyu’s hand, scratched his head with his free hand. “Yeah, they are kinda having a lover’s tiff.”
“I noticed.”
“I hope they work it out soon. It seems like they have been through a whole lot of grief,” WooHyun told the ensign as he led him from the sickbay.
“I am not close to either of them, but everybody on the ship knows Commander Cho has been through hell and back.”
“I just know…I just know them being apart is really hard on Dr. Cho.”
“Really? Dr. Cho looked like he couldn’t get away from Commander Cho fast enough.”
WooHyun pondered SungGyu’s words, and commented, “I think it is really complicated between them.”
“It’s a good reminder why you shouldn’t become romantically involved with people you work with.”
WooHyun glanced at SungGyu as they walked down the corridor towards their quarters. “Aren’t we about to sleep together?” WooHyun asked, purposely swinging their arms back and forth to remind the other man of their connection. “If you plan on sleeping, then I am going to have to sleep with you.”
SungGyu snorted. “Sleep being the key word.”
“You are no fun.”
“That’s right, none at all-don’t you forget it,” SungGyu told the other man, unperturbed.
WooHyun smiled, relenting, “Sleep, just sleep it is.”
********************
“What are you doing in my office?”
Heechul, who had been sitting at Ryeowook’s desk reading, looked up at the young doctor and stated, “Actually, it is my office.”
Hope filled Ryeowook as he rushed to the desk. “Dr. Kim!”
Heechul dropped the piece of paper he had been reading and quickly waved his hands in front of him. “No, I am still fabulous.”
“Nurse Heechul,” Ryeowook grumbled, letting his disappointment show. “Why are you up so early?”
“Since that SooYoung creature arrived on the ship…I have decided to go to bed earlier. I have to remain the superior beauty on this ship, after all. The power of beauty sleep can not be underestimated. Just look at Sleeping Beauty; she is more adorable than ever.”
“Sleeping Beauty?”
“I am talking about Sulli…you are not all that bright.”
Dr. Cho was not in a mood for Heechul and his antics. His attempt to sleep had been a complete failure; he had finally given up and found his way back to sickbay at 5am. “I repeat, why are you in my office?”
Heechul leaned back in the chair. “Starfleet gave me this office.”
“They would take it back, believe me.”
“So harsh.”
“When you started caring more about your clothing choices than the lives of the crew…you kinda forfeited it,” Ryeowook reminded the once brilliant doctor.
Heechul sneered. “Clothing is very important! A girl can’t just wear anything!”
Ryeowook looked up at the ceiling and prayed for patience.
“These pink scrubs I’m wearing are so much prettier than that nasty blue uniform you are wearing…although the blue uniforms are the best looking as far as the uniforms are concerned,” Heechul stated as he got up from the desk after picking up the piece of paper he had dropped earlier. “Don’t you think I look nice?”
“You look marvelous,” Ryeowook forced out of his mouth, knowing honey coated words worked best with Heechul.
“Yes, I know.” Heechul beamed at the younger man and held out the piece of paper he had been reading. “Since you are being nice…I guess you should read this.”
Ryeowook looked at the letter. “What is it?”
“Something that your hubby wrote for you…it is truly touching,” Heechul explained as he reached up and wiped his nose. “It gave me the sniffles.”
“I don’t want it,” Ryeowook said, suddenly tense. “I don’t want anything from him.”
Heechul shook his head. “But he wrote it for you…isn’t it romantic? He wrote you a love letter and left it on your desk. How many people get written love letters in this day and age? You should be flattered.”
Ryeowook moved around to the back of the desk, putting distance between him and the letter. “I’m not.”
With a dramatic wave of his hand, Heechul laid the letter on the desk. “Well, I will just leave it here in case you change your mind.”
“I won’t.”
“Time will tell,” Heechul replied as he strolled out of the office.
****************
“You should go back to our quarters and sleep,” Yunho told Jaejoong.
Jaejoong was sitting in one of the chairs in the science lab. Yunho and SooYoung had been up all night working on a way to solve the problem, and Jaejoong had refused to leave them.
Jaejoong yawned and told Yunho, who was standing next to SooYoung, working on equations, “The briefing is going to be in less than an hour.”
“You don’t have to go to the briefing,” Yunho said calmly. All night he had been trying to persuade his mate to go to sleep.
“I’m going to the briefing,” Jaejoong insisted.
“You have to think of Changmin.”
“Oh, so you don’t think I am thinking of Changmin? I suppose I am a bad birth-parent now?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“Well, I am not a human and I do not suffer from sleep deprivation like the rest of you primitives. If I sleep it’s because I enjoy sleeping! I can heal exhaustion…as you well know.”
Yunho closed his eyes and slowly reopened them. “You just looked tired.”
“Why do you want to get rid of me?”
“What did I tell you about acting crazy? I do not want to get rid of you even if you are a-” Yunho abruptly stopped.
“What were you going to say about me?”
“That you are a wonderful mate and I love you.”
Jaejoong glued his eyes to Yunho and appeared to be concentrating, after a few moments he spit out, “I can’t read your mind!”
Yunho smiled. “Good.”
Jaejoong held out his hand and ordered, “Hold my hand!”
“I can’t, we are busy,” Yunho quickly told his lover.
Jaejoong stood up, eyes blazing. “Don’t you worry, I can come to you.”
Yunho took an involuntarily step backwards and came to abrupt stop as the invisible link binding him to SooYoung halted him.
Jaejoong’s eyes narrowed. “Has the space allowed between you two shortened?”
SooYoung, who had been ignoring the bickering couple, looked up from her calculations and met Yunho’s gaze curiously. Yunho nodded his head and attempted to take a step away from the science officer and found the arm’s length distance that had separated them before had been shorted by half.
Jaejoong groaned. “Just wonderful.”
*************
SungGyu was awakened from a very pleasant dream when he was almost jerked out of bed.
“Oh, shit! Shit! Shit!”
“What?” SungGyu managed to ask as his eyes fluttered open and he quickly oriented himself to being awake. He had been flung to the other side of the bed and WooHyun was sitting on the floor, leaning against the bed with his arm stretched out across the bed to maintain the invisible link with SungGyu.
“I forgot,” Woohyun blurted out.
Moisture on his lips had the ensign licking them. “What exactly have you forgotten? Was it our proximity issue or my stance on exploring a romantic relationship with you?”
WooHyun slapped his forehead with his free hand. “Both…but it was more like I wasn’t thinking.”
SungGyu cleared his throat and slid to the side of the bed, easing the tension in their arms.
“I am a very affectionate person…and I was sleepy…and you were so warm…and I like waking up happy.”
“Waking up happy…” SungGyu repeated hesitantly.
“Once I realized you really were still asleep I stopped…which is, wow…I can’t believe you slept through it.”
“I can sleep though almost anything. It is something I’ve been working on for awhile…since it could lead to big problems on away missions.”
WooHyun shook his head amazed. “Yeah, somebody could kill you in your sleep and you wouldn’t even know it.”
“Or molest me in my sleep.”
“I am really sorry…I just wasn’t thinking. I blame it on living in a brothel,” WooHyun explained as he looked up at SungGyu apologetic eyes.
SungGyu blinked. “You lived in a brothel?”
“Yeah, when I was sixteen I was interning with this doctor and he was stationed at a colony controlled by Hangeng. He lived in a brothel…so naturally I lived there too…and well, they were extremely friendly at the brothel.”
“How long were you there?” SungGyu asked as he got off the bed and sat down beside WooHyun on the floor.
“For two years.”
“So you hung out with prostitutes for two years?”
“No, not all the time; there was a hospital there. I had to study and work a lot, but I won’t lie, I enjoyed my free time…” WooHyun paused to wink at SungGyu. “I learned a lot about medicine and sex.”
“Did you have to pay for it?”
“Nope,” WooHyun said with pride. “I always got freebies.”
SungGyu darted his eyes away from WooHyun and asked, “Male or female?”
“Back then I was experimenting with both; I am kinda easy going when it comes to sex.”
The ensign looked back at Woohyun and questioned, “What do you mean by that?”
“I meant that I just liked sex, gender didn’t matter all that much back then. My preference is men, but back then I wasn’t picky.”
“And now?”
“And now I am picky…very picky. I have very specific requirements now.”
SungGyu studied the young doctor and stated firmly, “I don’t need you to tell me that you are only interested in me. I am not fishing for that.”
“Okay, but it is the truth.”
“I want us to remain friends.”
“I am trying.”
“You need to try harder.”
“I know…it was wrong of me…” WooHyun looked at SungGyu with curiosity. “Do you remember anything?”
“I remember you’re a good kisser.”
WooHyun smiled. “I learned that from Flumes at the brothel. She was ugly as an Olbger is stinky, but she was a great kisser. She had a forked tongue.”
“Forked tongue?”
“She had a reptilian ancestry,” WooHyun explained. “She could do amazing things with her tongue.”
“Your teen years were definitely interesting,” SungGyu said, unable to keep from smiling.
“They were, but what about yours?”
“When I was sixteen I was still trying to decide what I wanted to do with my life.”
WooHyun looked taken aback. “That surprises me…I would have thought this would have been the life you were born into.”
“Do you?”
“Yeah…you seem so good at it.”
SungGyu nodded his head in agreement. “I am good at it, but I had to come to the decision to join Starfleet on my own. In school my teachers were always telling me I was born to lead others…but I never sought it out. Most people start taking the academy entrance exams when they are fifteen, but not all.”
“You didn’t?”
“No, I waited till I was eighteen. I had to be sure…it was a big decision, and one I didn’t want to regret later in my life.”
“So you were older than the other cadets in your class at the academy?”
SungGyu chuckled. “No, most people have to take the exam many times before they pass it, and some never do. I was older than some, but not the oldest by far.”
“How many times did you have to take it?”
“Once.”
WooHyun nudged SungGyu’s shoulder with his own. “You made the right decision.”
“I did,” SungGyu said with confidence.
“But I’m curious, what made you decide to join Starfleet?”
SungGyu blushed slightly and told the young doctor, “It sounds cheesy.”
The doctor took the ensign’s hand and told him encouragingly, “You can tell me. You should know that I have been called the King of Cheesy before.”
“I bet you have.”
“Tell me.”
“No, we should get dressed and get to the briefing. I don’t want to be late.”
“We won’t be late…tell me.”
SungGyu squeezed the doctor’s hand and confided, “I was walking home one night and I just looked up at the stars, and I knew…”
WooHyun nudged him again and prompted, “You knew what?”
“I knew I didn’t want to live an ordinary life…I wanted to live an extraordinary one.”
******************************
“If you are trying to send me a telepathic message I’m not getting it,” Yunho told his mate who was sitting beside him at the conference table in sickbay for the early morning briefing. “It’s like mental static.”
Jaejoong, who had been concentrating on communicating telepathically, grabbed Yunho’s hand. “This fucking day just keeps getting better and better.”
“I got that.”
“It is still working with physical contact, I see. I hate this!”
“We knew this would happen,” Yunho soothed.
“I don’t like it!”
“I don’t like it either.”
SooYoung, who sat on the opposite side of Yunho, did her best to be as inconspicuous as possible.
“And Changmin has decided to kick me as much as he can,” Jaejoong whined aloud, feeling sorry for himself. “The third trimester of pregnancy is by far the most uncomfortable…he’s either hiccupping or kicking me.”
“Can’t you calm him down?”
“Yes, but-”
“But you are letting things distract you when…when you should be totally focused on Changmin. No wonder he is kicking you.”
“Yunho…” Jaejoong warned.
“I have very clear memories of how demanding he was as a child.”
“And?”
“If the child/birth-parent bond is half as strong as you have hinted…he’s very pissed right now. You should be playing less attention to me and focusing on him.”
Jaejoong rolled his eyes. “You are being an ignorant human again.”
“Excuse me?”
“Even now Changmin is aware of the power of our bond…he is not jealous of that which he is a product of; although, he of course prefers me over you.”
“For now…”
“That’s just being petty, Yunho.”
“It’s a fact. He will grow up to love me best.”
“I can’t believe you are fighting with me...” Jaejoong paused and pointed to SooYoung with open scorn and added telepathically, “In front of that woman.”
“I am not fighting with you…we are having a discussion. I am reminding you, Changmin is not an ordinary Joong child…he’s half human. One that was very possessive and clingy as a child.”
Jaejoong huffed. “So you are saying he is more possessive because he is half human?”
“Actually…he probably gets that from you…”
“Yunho!”
“What? I am not the possessive one in this relationship.”
Before Jaejoong could respond Dr. Cho walked in followed by Yoochun and Sungmin. Dr. Cho looked at the captain and regretfully told him, “40cms closer than they were yesterday.
“Aren’t we the lucky ones,” Yoochun grumbled, sounding anything but lucky.
Sungmin sighed and motioned toward the table. “I don’t feel lucky.”
“It was sarcasm,” Yoochun explained as he took a seat next to Sungmin.
“Do you know the exact time it shortened?” Yunho asked.
“No,” Sungmin replied. “We were sitting next to each other and when we got up, we noticed the distance had shortened.”
Yoochun added, “We can estimate it happened between 0600 and 0645”
“The same with us,” Yunho told them.
“What if it shortens after a certain time period?” Sungmin asked.
“Let’s not speculate,” SooYoung warned.
Yoochun winked and bumped his shoulder against Sungmin’s and stated, “Tomorrow might be too close for comfort.”
“Indeed,” Jaejoong agreed, glaring at SooYoung.
Ryeowook was about to comment when WooHyun and SungGyu walked through the door, holding hands.
Yoochun shook his head in disappointment and mouthed, “Too busy strolling down the corridors hand in had to get to the briefing on time?”
“It is 0657 and the briefing is at 0700, Commander,” SungGyu informed the Chief Engineer as he remained hand in hand with WooHyun and took a seat at the conference table. “So therefore we are not late.”
Yoochun just smiled wistfully at SungGyu and stated, “This is why he is my favorite.”
Yunho studied the two younger crew members and asked, “Why hand in hand?”
“It is more efficient, Sir,” Ensign SungGyu replied.
WooHyun nodded his head. “It prevents the stumbling when one of us walks out of the limited distance allowed.”
“Yes, it would be beneficial,” SooYoung agreed, “especially now with the shortened distance.”
Jaejoong frowned.
“Shortened distance, Lieutenant?” SungGyu asked.
“You haven’t noticed the distance being shortened?” Dr. Cho immediately asked.
“No,” SungGyu answered.
“They probably haven’t let go of each other since last night,” Yoochun pointed out. “How would they know?”
“Stand up and test the distance allowed between you two,” Yunho ordered.
WooHyun and SungGyu quickly got back up and WooHyun took one tentative step away from SungGyu and nothing happened.
“Take another,” Yunho ordered.
SungGyu took a step away from the young doctor, widening the distance between them without any ill effects.
A surprised WooHyun then immediately took several steps away from SungGyu.
“It seems to have disappeared,” SungGyu stated as he walked to the opposite side of the room.
Ryeowook walked up to WooHyun and scanned him. “It does appear to be gone.”
“I knew it,” Yoochun declared leaning back his seat. “Sex is the cure.”
“We didn’t have sex,” WooHyun quickly responded.
Yoochun furrowed his brow, suspiciously. “Really?”
“We didn’t,” Ensign SungGyu confirmed.
“Didn’t you two sleep together?” Ryeowook asked. “You left sickbay to return to your quarters.”
“Yes, and we slept,” WooHyun reiterated. “There was no exchange of bodily fluids.”
“I get that,” Ryeowook quickly told his assistant. “But you slept…maybe sleeping is the cure.”
“No,” SungGyu quickly objected. “We were still linked when we woke up this morning but when WooHyun says there was no exchange of bodily fluids that is not entirely accurate.”
“Of course, there was an exchange of salvia!” An excited WooHyun blurted out. “We kissed-or I kissed Ensign SungGyu to be more exact.”
Yoochun immediately spit into his hand and held it up to Sungmin and demanded, “Drink up.”
“Like hell I will,” a stunned Sungmin hissed indignantly.
“It’s the cure. I have a very important lunch date, so I can’t be kissing on you.”
“Yoochun…” Yunho warned.
“It wasn’t the kissing,” SungGyu stated. “After the kiss the bond was still intact.”
“Link!” Jaejoong snapped. “It isn’t a bond, it is a link!”
“It was?” Ryeowook asked, ignoring Jaejoong’s outburst.
“Yes,” WooHyun agreed, remembering. “I almost jerked him out of bed, when I tried to get up.”
SooYoung asked, “When was the last time you two were aware of the link?”
SungGyu shared a look with WooHyun, pondering the lieutenant’s question. “I believe that was the last time we were aware of it.”
“What exactly did you do after the last time you felt the link?” Yunho asked and then added, “Please sit back down.”
SungGyu took his seat. “We talked, changed into our uniforms, and then we came to the briefing.”
“That’s all we did,” WooHyun concurred as he also sat back down.
SooYoung arched and eyebrow and asked, “What did you two talk about?”
“Our pasts, mostly,” WooHyun answered.
Jaejoong leaned forward studying the younger men and asked, “What emotions were you feeling while you talked?”
“I felt embarrassed,” WooHyun admitted. “Ensign SungGyu was probably angry at me for kissing him.”
“I wasn’t angry,” SungGyu corrected. “I was more amused than anything, and after we talked I felt...”
“You felt what?” Jaejoong encouraged.
SungGyu answered, “I felt closer to him.”
“What the hell did you two talk about?” Yoochun demanded.
“Like I said, we talked about our pasts,” WooHyun replied, hoping the subject of brothels and forked tongue prostitutes wouldn’t come up.
Jaejoong smiled triumphantly.
Ryeowook explained, “It is my theory that the link is intended to imitate the Joong bond. And as I said earlier, the Joong bond is mostly an emotional bond, and you two must have connected on an emotional level.”
SooYoung nodded her head. “And once you connected the link dissipated.”
“But they were already all tingly for each other,” Yoochun pointed out. “It wasn’t like they didn’t like each other before.”
“Yoochun…” Yunho warned.
“My guess it has nothing to do with feeling tingly,” Ryeowook told him. “An emotional connection is the answer to dissolving the link.”
“I get emotional when I feel tingly,” Yoochun stated, refusing to behave.
Sungmin glared at the engineer. “You are not about to feel tingly with me, so let it go.”
“You need to empathize with each other…bond emotionally. Share with each other,” Ryeowook explained.
“With him?” Sungmin questioned, and then turned to look at Yoochun. “Are you even capable of empathy?”
Yoochun looked extremely doubtful and asked Dr. Cho, “How can you be sure empathy is required? Shiny Boy, were you two emotional? Did you cry on each other shoulders?”
“No,” SungGyu stated, frowning slightly at the engineer’s pet name for him. “Not at all, we simply shared stories of our past-there was no crying.”
Jaejoong rolled his eyes at Yoochun. “You have very little understanding of empathy. I can’t say I am-”
“That will be all. This briefing is over,” Yunho stated, interrupting Jaejoong. “Remember, this is just a theory. Ensign SungGyu and Dr. Nam report to Sickbay so Dr. Cho can fully examine you both. Yoochun and Sungmin…try to connect with each other. Do what you can so you two can feel closer to each other. SooYoung and I will do the same. Report immediately if the link dissipates or if there are any other changes.”
*******************
“This is your fault!”
Eunhyuk winced. “I know.”
Junsu was leaning against the wall outside of the engineering department. He was trying to muster up enough courage to go inside engineering and face the Chief Engineer. “Would it be extremely rude if I just called and told him lunch was off?”
“You want the honest truth?”
“Give it to me.”
“Yes.”
Junsu pushed off the wall and told his best friend, “I need you to lie to me right now. Tell me it is okay to be a coward.”
“You just told me to be honest with you!”
“I lied, so lie to me now.”
“It’s okay to be a coward.”
Junsu studied his friend, who did not sound convincing. “Say it again like you mean it.”
Eunhyuk squared his shoulders and tried harder to sound persuasive. “You are not ready for this. You might not ever be ready for this. You are still in therapy…you don’t need this complication in your life right now.”
Junsu lit up. “That’s perfect! Who were you channeling?”
“A little bit of both Sungmin and Ryeowook,” Eunhyuk told him proudly.
“Good job!”
“Thanks.”
“I am going to take the cowardly way out…because I’m totally a coward,” Junsu admitted to himself and Eunhyuk. Junsu then hit the insignia on his uniform and called out, “Commander Yoochun.”
After only a short pause Commander Yoochun responded, “I hope I am not late for our very important date.”
“No, not at all…it’s just that I need…” Junsu paused, feeling horribly guilty.
“You need to what?”
Junsu closed his eyes and blurted out, “I need to cancel lunch. I just…I am still in therapy and I think it’s a bad idea. I’m really sorry, Sir.”
“Sir?”
“Yes, I think it is best that we keep it…” Junsu paused. Junsu’s eyes flew open and he gave his friend a pleading look.
Eunhyuk mouthed the word professional to his friend.
“…keep it professional between us.”
“I see.”
“Sorry, Sir.”
“Understood,” Commander Yoochun responded, abruptly ending the conversation without another word.
Junsu leaned back against the wall and muttered, “I am such…such…such…”
“A wimp,” Eunhyuk supplied.
“I know.”
Eunhyuk reached out and took Junsu by the arm and warned, “We better get going, unless you suddenly feel like facing him.”
Junsu rushed down the corridor and away from engineering. “This is your fault,” Junsu repeated from earlier.
“I know. I know.
*****************
Sungmin tried to remain quiet as Commander Yoochun ripped the hearts out of his engineering staff, threw them on the floor, and stomped on them.
“Efficiency is down half a percent from yesterday? From yesterday!” Commander Yoochun seethed as he stalked the corridors of engineering, dragging Sungmin along with him as he hunted down fresh prey to feed upon.
“You all are dim-witted intellectual rejects! You should be working on a Klingon waste barge and not a starship! You are a disgrace to-”
A perfectly placed elbow to the gut had Commander Yoochun shutting up. Sungmin smiled at the cowering engineering crew and told them, “We are going to go talk in Commander Yoochun’s office. Keep up the good work.”
The engineering watched in relief as Sungmin pushed Yoochun into the engineer’s office.
“You are a real bastard,” Sungmin told Yoochun once the doors were closed.
Yoochun just glared.
“I know Junsu hurt you, but to take it out on your subordinates-that is not cool.”
“Feel free to run your department as you see fit, but don’t interfere with how I run mine…mine is actually essential to the ship.”
Sungmin narrowed his eyes. “All departments on this ship are essential.”
Yoochun scoffed. “Anybody-even those of limited intelligence, can fire a phaser or babysit crazy Commander Leeteuk.”
“You are just a psycho aren’t you?” Sungmin demanded as he clenched his fists, hating that he couldn’t get away from the other man.
Yoochun’s whole demeanor changed as he let out loud chuckle, then sat down on the floor laughing, pulling a stunned Sungmin down with him.
Sungmin sat on the floor beside the engineer mystified at what he found so funny. “How am I supposed to connect with you, when you are like this?”
Yoochun just continued to laugh.
“I am serious!” Sungmin exclaimed. “You made your people feel like incompetent fools…and loved it. You took pleasure in hurting them.”
Yoochun stopped laughing.
“I have heard the stories about how awful you are, but I have never been witness to it on this kinda scale. I would take up space diving without a spacesuit before I would work for you.”
Yoochun closed his eyes.
“Are you even listening to me?”
“Yes,” Yoochun answered. “I was a little extreme.”
“A little extreme?”
Yoochun’s eyes remained closed and he answered, “It is my nature.”
“Well, your personality needs an adjustment.”
“It isn’t a matter of personality,” Yoochun said softly as he turned to look at Sungmin. “It goes much deeper than a personality disorder.”
Sungmin’s eyes widened. “What do you mean?”
“You must promise me that if I entrust you with this secret it does not go farther than this room.”
“I can’t promise you that…not if it endangers the ship,” Sungmin replied, honestly.
“Fair enough, but I do not want it discussed trivially-I do not want you confiding in your friends-none of them. The captain and Dr. Cho are both aware of what I am about to tell you.”
Sungmin swallowed nervously, and agreed, “Okay…”
“We need to connect…and this might help you to understand me better.”
“All right, tell me.”
Yoochun stared Sungmin in the eyes and softly stated, “The activity in my orbital cortex was almost nonexistent when I was born.”
“Oh,” Sungmin muttered, trying to hide his surprise. “But that doesn’t-”
“I also have the genetic variant…the Warrior Gene as they called it in more primitive times,” Yoochun interrupted to tell him.
“But you have been treated,” Sungmin blurted out. “If you hadn’t been you couldn’t be in Starfleet.”
“True, I have been treated…I was treated for many years,” Yoochun explained.
Sungmin was unable to hide his shock as he repeated, “For many years.”
Yoochun nodded. “I failed all manner of psychological tests as a child.”
“What do you mean…you failed them?”
“When I was showed pictures of puppies as a child…I didn’t want to pet them, I wanted to dissect them,” Yoochun answered flatly. “I did not bond with my parents as an infant.”
Sungmin stood up and demanded, “Are you fucking with me?”
Yoochun, who had been pulled up along with Sungmin, answered, “No, I am not. I was a very ill child. I spent a great deal of my childhood in therapy being reprogrammed.”
Sungmin tried to shake off his uneasiness and stated, “They must have been successful.”
“I don’t want to murder anybody if that is what you are asking.”
“Yeah, that’s what I’m asking,” Sungmin admitted.
Yoochun motioned Sungmin toward the desk so they could lean against it. “My orbital cortex works at normal levels now and I have had gene therapy, my body now produces sufficient amounts of serotonin.”
“But there is still…something dark about you,” Sungmin couldn’t keep from saying as he felt his skin crawl.
“Dark?” Yoochun repeated, letting out a soft laugh. “My personality is dark-I know this. I do tend to be possessive and I have a temper.”
Sungmin nodded his head in agreement.
“The psychiatrist told my parents I would have most likely died young from high risk taking behaviors or with my considerable intelligence I would have been a very prolific serial killer if I had been born a few hundred years earlier.”
“Did you know…this when you were a kid?” Sungmin asked, darting his eyes to look at the man leaning against the desk beside him. “It must have been hard…knowing you were different.”
“I was a diagnosed sociopath until I was approximately eight years old, so I did not care what others thought.”
“It took that long for them to cure you?”
Yoochun nodded his head. “It did. The rewiring of my thought process took the longest. Everything they tried kept failing…until they made me go see a Betazoid psychiatrist. I can not begin to tell you how grueling those sessions were.”
Sungmin’s mouth dropped open. It was not a secret on the ship that Yoochun was not Jaejoong’s biggest fan. “No wonder you don’t like telepaths.”
“You don’t understand…it wasn’t the telepathy that bothered me, it was the empathy. A skilled empath, especially one like my Betazoid psychiatrist, can subject you to a barrage of emotions. Emotions I wasn’t used to feeling…and they had to make me learn to feel them all.”
“Oh…”
“It was torture at times, but it worked. By the time my sessions with her ended…I was capable of not just observing emotions in others but feeling them myself. When the sessions first started she would telepathically convince me my parents were dead, and I did not care, but by the end of our sessions I was bawling like a baby.”
“They convinced you your parents died?” Sungmin asked, taken aback.
“Yeah, and a lot of other stuff…but she also taught me to be happy and be happy for others. She had to teach me to experience emotions…until it came naturally to me. I am not saying I am some great human being-but I can feel for others and I can feel emotions now.”
“How long did you see her?”
“I saw her for many years. The first year I saw her daily; I even traveled back to Betazoid with her a few times. After a couple years the therapy time started dwindling down. When I started taking the entrance exams to Starfleet I would still see her occasionally, but not routinely. I was just very fond of the old crow by then,” Yoochun said with a grin.
“Old crow?”
“She was really old, it was the name I gave her as a kid...I used to hate her. Hate for her was the first real emotion I ever experienced,” Yunchun said with a chuckle.
Sungmin smiled weakly. “So by the time you joined Starfleet you didn’t have to see her anymore?”
“No, I met Yunho at the entrance exams…” Yoochun paused to smile. “And once I met Yunho she said I was cured.”
“Really?”
“Yunho was the first friend I ever had. My friendship with Yunho is the healthiest relationship I’ve ever had.”
“Did he know about you back then?”
Yoochun nodded. “Yeah, I told him. I was already mentally stable…I mean, if I wasn’t I would have never been able to sit for the Starfleet entrance exams. I have always confided in him…from the very beginning of our friendship.”
“Your friendship with the captain is pretty awesome,” Sungmin commented.
“It is.”
Sungmin reached down and took Yoochun’s hand and squeezed it. “But what about Junsu?”
Yoochun sighed and admitted, “There is a part of me that knows it would be very wise to give up any thoughts of being with him. Unlike my friendship with the captain…I do not feel the Old Crow would approve of my feelings for Junsu. Yunho doesn’t approve of my feelings for Junsu.”
“Why not?”
“You know why not…Junsu brings out all sorts of nasty feelings in me…obsession, possessiveness, but he also makes me so happy. He’s everything I am not…he’s so good. He’s happy, he’s kind, he’s positive, and he’s loved by so many.”
“Do you love him?”
“I want him so badly that it physically hurts me at times.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
Yoochun reached up, ran his hand through his short hair and admitted, “I think I do. It sounds crazy but I think I do. When I say I want him…it isn’t just sexually…I just like being near him. I want him with me.”
“But you want him sexually, too?”
“Hell, yes…perhaps too much.”
“I understand.”
Yoochun turned and looked at Sungmin. “Siwon?”
“Yes, I wanted him sexually for so long…”
“And now you have him.”
“And I don’t think I want him anymore.”
“He was that disappointing?”
“I just feel…like I am not what he truly wants-I hate that feeling. It casts a dark shadow on everything.”
Yoochun nodded his head in understanding. “Some people have no gender preference when it comes to sex, but if they do…I don’t think it is an easy thing to overcome. Like Junsu…if he really prefers women then I need to stop, right now.”
“I don’t think Junsu even knows what he wants,” Sungmin confessed to the engineer. “I really don’t think he knows.”
“But Siwon?”
“Siwon never lied to me; I will give him that.”
Yoochun stretched has arms out over his head. “Yes, he is disgustingly decent.”
Sungmin laughed. “Tell me about it.”
“We should just team up and celebrate our love of cock together,” Yoochun teased, wrapping an arm around Sungmin.
Sungmin laughed and pushed the engineer away. “You jest. You are the most bisexual per-”
“It’s broken!” Yoochun yelled out in excitement as he stepped away from Sungmin.
“It is!” Sungmin shouted gleefully as he stepped farther away from Yoochun.
Yoochun grinned at Sungmin as he tapped his insignia. “Captain, Sungmin and I have had our moment and the link is gone.”
Adventure Thirteen: Just a Moment Part 2 of 3
Author: Aquariuslover
Pairings: Yunjae, KyuWook, WooGyu
Rating: R
Genre: Crossover, Science Fiction, Adventure, Romance
Length: Chaptered
Beta: tahoeturquoise
A/N: This story is inspired by Star Trek and the Kpop community; the story is my own.
Thanks to everybody who commented on the last part! I promise I replied to all the comments...it's just that evil LJ ate them!
Summary: Ancient technology on a deserted planet forces some crew members to stay within arm's reach of each other...literally. As Jaejoong's pregnancy progresses, Jaejoong's telepathic and emphatic abilities fade. Startling admissions are made, and something is stirring on the ship.
Prior Adventures
“I am going to tell you right now-I don’t do threesomes!” Jaejoong said contemptuously as he glared at SooYoung, who was sitting next to Yunho in Sickbay. “I don’t believe in sharing.”
“Damn,” SooYoung responded in a deadpan voice causing Yunho, who was sitting beside her, to let out a small groan.
Jaejoong’s mouth dropped open.
Ryeowook, who had overhead the exchange, teased, “I’m sure you’re heartbroken…I mean, pregnant hermaphrodites are such a rare find.”
“Indeed they are,” SooYoung added straight-faced. “I am always looking for new experiences to broaden my horizons.”
“Is she joking?” Jaejoong demanded, hating that he couldn’t pick up anything from the woman’s closed mind.
“Yes, she is joking, because you are being ridiculous! Stop with the threats. She did not plan this,” Yunho snapped at his mate.
Jaejoong, who was sitting on a chair beside their exam bed, folded his arms across his stomach protectively and stated, “Excuse me, if I find the fact that my bondmate is physically connected to another person unsettling! Also, why can’t she be ugly?”
“You think I’m pretty. I am flattered,” SooYoung said, turning to smile down at Jaejoong. After spending three hours with the cranky, jealous Joong she had decided to give as good as she got.
“I didn’t say that.”
“You said I wasn’t ugly.”
“Doesn’t mean I think you are pretty.”
SooYoung batted her long eyelashes at Jaejoong and conceded, “True, I am more on the beautiful side.”
“You two stop,” Yunho ordered, scolding them both. “Dr. Cho, can you please release us from Sickbay so we can get to the science labs? We need to figure a way out of this mess.”
“I second that,” Commander Yoochun, who was sitting on another exam bed with Lieutenant Sungmin, stated. “Since beaming down to the planet again didn’t help…we need to get to work.”
“The quicker the better,” Sungmin agreed.
Ryeowook nodded his head and told them, “You are released.”
Yunho motioned to SooYoung and they both got off of the exam bed they were sitting on at the same time. “Dr. Cho, I will have Ensign SungGyu and Doctor Nam stay in sickbay so you can also work on breaking the invisible bond-”
“It’s not a bond!” Jaejoong interrupted, correcting his mate. “It is just some artificial link placed there by a mechanical device. It’s nothing like a bond.”
Dr. Cho asked, “I wonder though if it wasn’t meant to simulate a Joong bond?”
“Yes, because the Joong bondmate bond is only a thing of proximity,” Jaejoong seethed, sarcastically.
“It is at first,” Yunho pointed out. “I can’t even remember how many times I fell on my ass trying to get away from you when we were first bonded.”
“True,” SooYoung agreed. “Hangeng and Victoria always stayed within an orbit of each other. He would have her handle issues on a planet but his ship always remained nearby.”
“Also it has to be more than coincidence that Jaejoong, the only Joong, was not affected,” Ryeowook pointed out.
“Just like Changmin wasn’t affected by the gender switching machine,” Yunho surmised and turned to face Jaejoong. “You knew all along, didn’t you?”
Jaejoong grunted, “Yes, and so did the good doctor.”
Ryeowook cast Jaejoong a betrayed glance and quickly explained, “I did suspect it had more to do with his Joong half, than being the dominate male.”
“Hmmmf, I knew I was the alpha male back then,” Yoochun said confidently.
Sungmin snorted and informed the engineer, “I can kill you with my finger…my pinky finger.”
“Focus people,” Yunho warned.
WooHyun, who was leaning against the wall with SungGyu, asked, “So if the connection is an attempt to mimic the Joong bond…what do we need to do so we can put more space between us?”
“Sex,” Yoochun answered, wrapping his arm around Sungmin’s waist. “Sorry, but I’ll have to decline. I hate to disappoint you, but I might be getting lucky with Junsu sometime this decade, so we won’t be participating in the sexperiment.”
Sungmin turned to look at the engineer and asked, “Sexperiment?”
“Sex is why Yunho and Jaejoong are not joined at the hip any longer,” Yoochun explained. “So either SooYoung and Yunho or Cute Little Doctor and Bright Shiny Boy are going to have to sex with each other to see if it breaks the connection.”
Jaejoong stood up and growled, “Over her dead-”
“We will do it,” WooHyun offered.
An appalled Ensign SungGyu immediately replied, “We most certainly will not!”
“Listen here, Boy,” Jaejoong snapped at the red headed ensign. “You two are going to eventually have sex anyway, just get it over with. Because Yunho isn’t touching-”
“Stop it,” Yunho ordered, interrupting his mate. “Nobody is having sex. It’s ridiculous. Yoochun is wrong; the bond isn’t solely based on sex. Jaejoong and I were able to put distance between us long before we had sex.”
Ryeowook walked up next to Jaejoong and put an arm around the Joong whose chest was heaving with anger. “A real Joong bond is an emotional bond more than anything. I think we should all get to work on finding a solution, and stop this guessing game.”
“Doctor Cho, you are right as usual,” Yunho replied, reaching out an arm for Jaejoong. “We will get to the labs. Dr. Cho, please notify me immediately if you discover anything.”
“Of course, just remember you must stay within an arm’s length distance of each other,” Ryeowook answered as Jaejoong moved away from him and clasped Yunho’s hand.
“We will all meet back here at 0700 in Dr. Cho’s office,” Yunho ordered, holding on to Jaejoong’s hand.
“Calm down, this is nothing to be upset about.”
Jaejoong tightened his grip on Yunho’s hand. “How can you say that?”
“Because I love you, and you know it…so stop acting stupid. Really, I thought you were past this kind of petty jealousy. Nothing is ever coming between us.”
Jaejoong looked confused as he tried to decide if he was offended or reassured by his mate’s words. Finally he looked up at Yunho as he informed him, “You are right about that because I will tear her fucking arm off if I have to!”
********************
“Don’t be so fussy.”
Sungmin, who was walking beside Commander Yoochun down the corridor, told the other man. “I am not being fussy. It’s just that-why the hell do you need to see Junsu at this hour? He’s probably asleep.”
“How soon you forget.”
“What exactly have I forgotten?”
“Junsu and I are going to have a breakfast date,” Yoochun reminded the other man.
“Oh, I thought that was just a possibility.”
Yoochun exhaled. “I am trying to turn a new leaf…be less obsessive, so I was waiting for him to come to me.”
“And he didn’t...?”
“No,” Yoochun answered, his disappointment showing. “So I am now going to try another tactic.”
Sungmin side eyed the engineer. “Dare I ask?”
“Well, before I got linked to you, I had thought I would carefully broach the subject with him again, but now I think it works out even better.”
“Why do you say that?”
“You can come along with us, so he will feel more at ease,” Yoochun explained.
The Chief of Security couldn’t keep from smiling. He had been mysteriously tied to the engineer since early morning and he had been happily surprised by the engineer’s good behavior. “Yoochun, trust me, you want to make sure he’s homosexually inclined before you progress any farther.”
“Oh, he likes me,” Yoochun replied, confidently. “I promise he is inclined towards me.”
“Well, I think you might be the only one sure of his inclination.”
“I’m sure.”
“But what do you feel? Is it just lust?”
“I will admit at first it was just lust…but it’s more than that now.”
Sungmin came to a sudden stop, causing Yoochun to stumble backwards toward him.
“You need to warn me!” Yoochun complained.
“Can you pinch me?” Sungmin asked, holding out his arm.
“Why?” Yoochun asked, surprised.
“Because I think I am in some alternate reality…where you are a decent human being,”
Yoochun reached out and pinched Sungmin hard. “Asshole.”
Sungmin jerked his arm back. “Hey, let’s be honest, this behavior isn’t like you.”
“I am just full of consideration for others these days. After we stop and see Junsu, I will even let you stop at the prince’s quarters for a quick booty call. I promise to keep one eye shut as you two do the nasty.”
Sungmin shook his head. “Now, that’s sounds more like you.”
“No, it’s still an improvement because I didn’t offer to join in,” Yoochun informed the other man as he started walking down the corridor again.
“Well, you probably didn’t feel like being transported back to sickbay after I broke both your legs.”
“No, no…I didn’t.” Yoochun admitted with a grin.
They came to a stop outside Junsu’s door.
Sungmin groaned after seeing the goofy grin on Yoochun’s face as he signaled for the door to alert Junsu of his presence. “This is such a bad idea.”
The doors to the quarters whooshed open and a sleepy looking Junsu appeared, he was unable to hide his surprise at seeing the two men standing outside his door.
“Ummm…hello…”
Yoochun leaned against the doorway. “So, I am here about that breakfast date you promised me.”
Junsu blinked. “I don’t think I promised…”
“But you definitely strongly hinted at the possibility,” Yoochun quickly reminded him. “I thought since I am literally tied to Sungmin…maybe we could do it tomorrow, but since my morning will consist of briefings…I thought perhaps we could do lunch instead.”
Junsu looked at Sungmin, who quickly explained to the ensign, “I will be your chaperone. You will be safe.”
Yoochun cleared his throat. “Junsu, he’s being silly. Of course you would be safe-we are both grown men. It just might be more comfortable for you if he tags along.”
Junsu looked back at Yoochun and hesitantly agreed, “Okay, I will have lunch with you…in the mess hall, but aren’t you going to be busy tomorrow? Don’t you have to figure out what is binding you two together?”
Yoochun’s grin was back as he waved his hand in dismissal. “Don’t worry about that. We are going to work on it all night long…we can take a break for lunch. If something else happens, I’ll let you know.”
Junsu nodded his head. “Okay, that seems fair. I’m going back to bed now. Bye…both of you.”
“Bye,” Sungmin told the ensign, trying to hide his reservations.
“Goodnight,” Yoochun replied excitedly as the helmsman disappeared behind the closing doors. Yoochun then turned to Sungmin and surprised the other man by hugging him.
Sungmin pushed the engineer away. “Control yourself.”
“I can’t help it! This is great!” Yoochun declared, almost bouncing for joy.
“Such a bad idea,” Sungmin whispered under his breath.
“Don’t be a party pooper!” Yoochun chastised as he took Sungmin by the arm and headed towards the lift.
“I am not a party pooper.”
“Do you want to stop and see your prince? I promise to behave myself,” Yoochun offered.
“No,” Sungmin quickly responded. “Let’s just get back to labs and fix this.”
“If we solve this little problem, you still have to go to lunch with us.”
“I know…I will.”
****************************
“Are we even sure it is Joong technology?” Dr. Cho asked as he looked over the results of his scans.
SungGyu quickly answered, “No, we aren’t sure of anything.”
Dr. Cho looked up and replied, “Although if Joong technology is half as confusing as Joong physiology then it would make sense.”
WooHyun, who was perched on the side of the exam bed beside SungGyu, asked, “Confusing?”
Ryeowook walked back over to the bed and explained, “Its ability to fool even our most advanced technology.”
“But don’t you use the technology on this ship to examine Jaejoong all the time?” WooHyun pointed out. “You were just looking at the baby yesterday.”
“Yes, but I don’t put much faith in it. There were no red flags alerting us when Jaejoong first arrived on this ship to show he was anything but a regular human being.”
“There weren’t?”
“Half of the equipment on this ship wouldn’t tell Heechul anything. It wasn’t Jaejoong using his telepathy either. The reports simply did not give away his Joong blood.”
SungGyu frowned. “And now it does?”
Ryeowook leaned against the wall and clarified, “It does…but if I scanned Jaejoong tomorrow and it said he was a normal human male and not a pregnant hermaphrodite I wouldn’t be surprised.”
“It’s like the legends,” WooHyun told them.
“The legends?” SungGyu asked the young doctor.
WooHyun nodded his head. “That the Joong are really omnipotent beings just pretending at being mortal.”
“Jaejoong isn’t omnipotent; if he were SooYoung wouldn’t be tied to Yunho,” Ryeowook pointed out.
SungGyu narrowed his eyes. “But what if it is a game they play? What if it’s all one big game for them?”
“Then why would a Joong like Victoria let Hangeng’s father murder her parents and sexually abuse her?” WooHyun asked.
“ZhouMi tortured Jaejoong before the captain rescued him,” Ryeowook added.
“But would torture or death be the same to an all powerful being? Emotional damage or physical damage, would that even register with them in their omnipotent forms? If their physical form died…wouldn’t they just go on being omnipotent? I mean they could literally start all over again. Mortality could just be a game they play at over and over.”
Ryeowook shook his head. “If they were really playing at being human…wouldn’t they have to really believe they were human?”
“What do you mean?” WooHyun asked.
“What fun would it be playing at being mortal if they didn’t really believe it? Where would the sense of jeopardy come in…if you knew you were indestructible?” Commander Cho, who had been standing outside of the room listening in on their conversation, asked.
“But Commander…maybe they don’t know they are playing at being mortal. Perhaps, they are sincere…maybe they do something to make themselves forget and at the time of their mortal death they become omnipotent once again,” SungGyu suggested.
Ryeowook, who had tensed the minute Kyuhyun had made his presence known, added, “And before they take on their mortal form…they put fail safes into place in the universe. Make it difficult for technology to identify them.”
SungGyu offered, “Put limitations on what they will allow to happen to them.”
“Give themselves amazing healing, telepath, and empathic abilities,” WooHyun added.
SungGyu nodded his head. “Devices like the Guardian of Time to give them access to the universe, alternate realities, and all of time.”
“It’s a very interesting theory, but it doesn’t really solve your problem,” Commander Cho stated, pointing to WooHyun and SungGyu.
“No,” SungGyu agreed.
Ryeowook turned to look at Commander Cho and was unable to hide his irritation. “Is there a reason why you are here? It’s 0200 hours and the briefing isn’t for another five hours.”
“I need something for sleep,” Kyuhyun answered, ignoring his husband’s mood.
WooHyun took SungGyu by the hand and got off the exam bed, pulling SungGyu along with him. He told the commander, “I will be happy to get you something. How long would you like to sleep?”
“Four hours,” Kyuhyun said, answering WooHyun, but he kept his eyes on Ryeowook.
Ryeowook bit his tongue to keep himself from asking if the commander was having nightmares and mentally counted to ten before telling WooHyun, “I am going to go. You two should get some sleep before the briefing or take a stimulant…we need to start over tomorrow with fresh eyes.”
Kyuhyun reached out a hand to stop Ryeowook from departing the room. “Can we talk?”
“No,” Ryeowook simply answered, pushing past the commander with not another word.
An awkward silence filled the room for only a moment before SungGyu broke it, “I’d rather go to sleep than take a stimulant.”
“Of course, it’s your motto after all,” WooHyun told the ensign as he handed the commander a hypospray. “Commander, just take this after you lie down and you should sleep soundly for the next four hours.”
Kyuhyun took the hypospray from WooHyun. “Thanks.”
“You are welcome.”
Kyuhyun nodded his head and left the room.
“Well, that was awkward,” SungGyu mumbled under his breath.
WooHyun, who was still holding SungGyu’s hand, scratched his head with his free hand. “Yeah, they are kinda having a lover’s tiff.”
“I noticed.”
“I hope they work it out soon. It seems like they have been through a whole lot of grief,” WooHyun told the ensign as he led him from the sickbay.
“I am not close to either of them, but everybody on the ship knows Commander Cho has been through hell and back.”
“I just know…I just know them being apart is really hard on Dr. Cho.”
“Really? Dr. Cho looked like he couldn’t get away from Commander Cho fast enough.”
WooHyun pondered SungGyu’s words, and commented, “I think it is really complicated between them.”
“It’s a good reminder why you shouldn’t become romantically involved with people you work with.”
WooHyun glanced at SungGyu as they walked down the corridor towards their quarters. “Aren’t we about to sleep together?” WooHyun asked, purposely swinging their arms back and forth to remind the other man of their connection. “If you plan on sleeping, then I am going to have to sleep with you.”
SungGyu snorted. “Sleep being the key word.”
“You are no fun.”
“That’s right, none at all-don’t you forget it,” SungGyu told the other man, unperturbed.
WooHyun smiled, relenting, “Sleep, just sleep it is.”
********************
“What are you doing in my office?”
Heechul, who had been sitting at Ryeowook’s desk reading, looked up at the young doctor and stated, “Actually, it is my office.”
Hope filled Ryeowook as he rushed to the desk. “Dr. Kim!”
Heechul dropped the piece of paper he had been reading and quickly waved his hands in front of him. “No, I am still fabulous.”
“Nurse Heechul,” Ryeowook grumbled, letting his disappointment show. “Why are you up so early?”
“Since that SooYoung creature arrived on the ship…I have decided to go to bed earlier. I have to remain the superior beauty on this ship, after all. The power of beauty sleep can not be underestimated. Just look at Sleeping Beauty; she is more adorable than ever.”
“Sleeping Beauty?”
“I am talking about Sulli…you are not all that bright.”
Dr. Cho was not in a mood for Heechul and his antics. His attempt to sleep had been a complete failure; he had finally given up and found his way back to sickbay at 5am. “I repeat, why are you in my office?”
Heechul leaned back in the chair. “Starfleet gave me this office.”
“They would take it back, believe me.”
“So harsh.”
“When you started caring more about your clothing choices than the lives of the crew…you kinda forfeited it,” Ryeowook reminded the once brilliant doctor.
Heechul sneered. “Clothing is very important! A girl can’t just wear anything!”
Ryeowook looked up at the ceiling and prayed for patience.
“These pink scrubs I’m wearing are so much prettier than that nasty blue uniform you are wearing…although the blue uniforms are the best looking as far as the uniforms are concerned,” Heechul stated as he got up from the desk after picking up the piece of paper he had dropped earlier. “Don’t you think I look nice?”
“You look marvelous,” Ryeowook forced out of his mouth, knowing honey coated words worked best with Heechul.
“Yes, I know.” Heechul beamed at the younger man and held out the piece of paper he had been reading. “Since you are being nice…I guess you should read this.”
Ryeowook looked at the letter. “What is it?”
“Something that your hubby wrote for you…it is truly touching,” Heechul explained as he reached up and wiped his nose. “It gave me the sniffles.”
“I don’t want it,” Ryeowook said, suddenly tense. “I don’t want anything from him.”
Heechul shook his head. “But he wrote it for you…isn’t it romantic? He wrote you a love letter and left it on your desk. How many people get written love letters in this day and age? You should be flattered.”
Ryeowook moved around to the back of the desk, putting distance between him and the letter. “I’m not.”
With a dramatic wave of his hand, Heechul laid the letter on the desk. “Well, I will just leave it here in case you change your mind.”
“I won’t.”
“Time will tell,” Heechul replied as he strolled out of the office.
****************
“You should go back to our quarters and sleep,” Yunho told Jaejoong.
Jaejoong was sitting in one of the chairs in the science lab. Yunho and SooYoung had been up all night working on a way to solve the problem, and Jaejoong had refused to leave them.
Jaejoong yawned and told Yunho, who was standing next to SooYoung, working on equations, “The briefing is going to be in less than an hour.”
“You don’t have to go to the briefing,” Yunho said calmly. All night he had been trying to persuade his mate to go to sleep.
“I’m going to the briefing,” Jaejoong insisted.
“You have to think of Changmin.”
“Oh, so you don’t think I am thinking of Changmin? I suppose I am a bad birth-parent now?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“Well, I am not a human and I do not suffer from sleep deprivation like the rest of you primitives. If I sleep it’s because I enjoy sleeping! I can heal exhaustion…as you well know.”
Yunho closed his eyes and slowly reopened them. “You just looked tired.”
“Why do you want to get rid of me?”
“What did I tell you about acting crazy? I do not want to get rid of you even if you are a-” Yunho abruptly stopped.
“What were you going to say about me?”
“That you are a wonderful mate and I love you.”
Jaejoong glued his eyes to Yunho and appeared to be concentrating, after a few moments he spit out, “I can’t read your mind!”
Yunho smiled. “Good.”
Jaejoong held out his hand and ordered, “Hold my hand!”
“I can’t, we are busy,” Yunho quickly told his lover.
Jaejoong stood up, eyes blazing. “Don’t you worry, I can come to you.”
Yunho took an involuntarily step backwards and came to abrupt stop as the invisible link binding him to SooYoung halted him.
Jaejoong’s eyes narrowed. “Has the space allowed between you two shortened?”
SooYoung, who had been ignoring the bickering couple, looked up from her calculations and met Yunho’s gaze curiously. Yunho nodded his head and attempted to take a step away from the science officer and found the arm’s length distance that had separated them before had been shorted by half.
Jaejoong groaned. “Just wonderful.”
*************
SungGyu was awakened from a very pleasant dream when he was almost jerked out of bed.
“Oh, shit! Shit! Shit!”
“What?” SungGyu managed to ask as his eyes fluttered open and he quickly oriented himself to being awake. He had been flung to the other side of the bed and WooHyun was sitting on the floor, leaning against the bed with his arm stretched out across the bed to maintain the invisible link with SungGyu.
“I forgot,” Woohyun blurted out.
Moisture on his lips had the ensign licking them. “What exactly have you forgotten? Was it our proximity issue or my stance on exploring a romantic relationship with you?”
WooHyun slapped his forehead with his free hand. “Both…but it was more like I wasn’t thinking.”
SungGyu cleared his throat and slid to the side of the bed, easing the tension in their arms.
“I am a very affectionate person…and I was sleepy…and you were so warm…and I like waking up happy.”
“Waking up happy…” SungGyu repeated hesitantly.
“Once I realized you really were still asleep I stopped…which is, wow…I can’t believe you slept through it.”
“I can sleep though almost anything. It is something I’ve been working on for awhile…since it could lead to big problems on away missions.”
WooHyun shook his head amazed. “Yeah, somebody could kill you in your sleep and you wouldn’t even know it.”
“Or molest me in my sleep.”
“I am really sorry…I just wasn’t thinking. I blame it on living in a brothel,” WooHyun explained as he looked up at SungGyu apologetic eyes.
SungGyu blinked. “You lived in a brothel?”
“Yeah, when I was sixteen I was interning with this doctor and he was stationed at a colony controlled by Hangeng. He lived in a brothel…so naturally I lived there too…and well, they were extremely friendly at the brothel.”
“How long were you there?” SungGyu asked as he got off the bed and sat down beside WooHyun on the floor.
“For two years.”
“So you hung out with prostitutes for two years?”
“No, not all the time; there was a hospital there. I had to study and work a lot, but I won’t lie, I enjoyed my free time…” WooHyun paused to wink at SungGyu. “I learned a lot about medicine and sex.”
“Did you have to pay for it?”
“Nope,” WooHyun said with pride. “I always got freebies.”
SungGyu darted his eyes away from WooHyun and asked, “Male or female?”
“Back then I was experimenting with both; I am kinda easy going when it comes to sex.”
The ensign looked back at Woohyun and questioned, “What do you mean by that?”
“I meant that I just liked sex, gender didn’t matter all that much back then. My preference is men, but back then I wasn’t picky.”
“And now?”
“And now I am picky…very picky. I have very specific requirements now.”
SungGyu studied the young doctor and stated firmly, “I don’t need you to tell me that you are only interested in me. I am not fishing for that.”
“Okay, but it is the truth.”
“I want us to remain friends.”
“I am trying.”
“You need to try harder.”
“I know…it was wrong of me…” WooHyun looked at SungGyu with curiosity. “Do you remember anything?”
“I remember you’re a good kisser.”
WooHyun smiled. “I learned that from Flumes at the brothel. She was ugly as an Olbger is stinky, but she was a great kisser. She had a forked tongue.”
“Forked tongue?”
“She had a reptilian ancestry,” WooHyun explained. “She could do amazing things with her tongue.”
“Your teen years were definitely interesting,” SungGyu said, unable to keep from smiling.
“They were, but what about yours?”
“When I was sixteen I was still trying to decide what I wanted to do with my life.”
WooHyun looked taken aback. “That surprises me…I would have thought this would have been the life you were born into.”
“Do you?”
“Yeah…you seem so good at it.”
SungGyu nodded his head in agreement. “I am good at it, but I had to come to the decision to join Starfleet on my own. In school my teachers were always telling me I was born to lead others…but I never sought it out. Most people start taking the academy entrance exams when they are fifteen, but not all.”
“You didn’t?”
“No, I waited till I was eighteen. I had to be sure…it was a big decision, and one I didn’t want to regret later in my life.”
“So you were older than the other cadets in your class at the academy?”
SungGyu chuckled. “No, most people have to take the exam many times before they pass it, and some never do. I was older than some, but not the oldest by far.”
“How many times did you have to take it?”
“Once.”
WooHyun nudged SungGyu’s shoulder with his own. “You made the right decision.”
“I did,” SungGyu said with confidence.
“But I’m curious, what made you decide to join Starfleet?”
SungGyu blushed slightly and told the young doctor, “It sounds cheesy.”
The doctor took the ensign’s hand and told him encouragingly, “You can tell me. You should know that I have been called the King of Cheesy before.”
“I bet you have.”
“Tell me.”
“No, we should get dressed and get to the briefing. I don’t want to be late.”
“We won’t be late…tell me.”
SungGyu squeezed the doctor’s hand and confided, “I was walking home one night and I just looked up at the stars, and I knew…”
WooHyun nudged him again and prompted, “You knew what?”
“I knew I didn’t want to live an ordinary life…I wanted to live an extraordinary one.”
******************************
“If you are trying to send me a telepathic message I’m not getting it,” Yunho told his mate who was sitting beside him at the conference table in sickbay for the early morning briefing. “It’s like mental static.”
Jaejoong, who had been concentrating on communicating telepathically, grabbed Yunho’s hand. “This fucking day just keeps getting better and better.”
“I got that.”
“It is still working with physical contact, I see. I hate this!”
“We knew this would happen,” Yunho soothed.
“I don’t like it!”
“I don’t like it either.”
SooYoung, who sat on the opposite side of Yunho, did her best to be as inconspicuous as possible.
“And Changmin has decided to kick me as much as he can,” Jaejoong whined aloud, feeling sorry for himself. “The third trimester of pregnancy is by far the most uncomfortable…he’s either hiccupping or kicking me.”
“Can’t you calm him down?”
“Yes, but-”
“But you are letting things distract you when…when you should be totally focused on Changmin. No wonder he is kicking you.”
“Yunho…” Jaejoong warned.
“I have very clear memories of how demanding he was as a child.”
“And?”
“If the child/birth-parent bond is half as strong as you have hinted…he’s very pissed right now. You should be playing less attention to me and focusing on him.”
Jaejoong rolled his eyes. “You are being an ignorant human again.”
“Excuse me?”
“Even now Changmin is aware of the power of our bond…he is not jealous of that which he is a product of; although, he of course prefers me over you.”
“For now…”
“That’s just being petty, Yunho.”
“It’s a fact. He will grow up to love me best.”
“I can’t believe you are fighting with me...” Jaejoong paused and pointed to SooYoung with open scorn and added telepathically, “In front of that woman.”
“I am not fighting with you…we are having a discussion. I am reminding you, Changmin is not an ordinary Joong child…he’s half human. One that was very possessive and clingy as a child.”
Jaejoong huffed. “So you are saying he is more possessive because he is half human?”
“Actually…he probably gets that from you…”
“Yunho!”
“What? I am not the possessive one in this relationship.”
Before Jaejoong could respond Dr. Cho walked in followed by Yoochun and Sungmin. Dr. Cho looked at the captain and regretfully told him, “40cms closer than they were yesterday.
“Aren’t we the lucky ones,” Yoochun grumbled, sounding anything but lucky.
Sungmin sighed and motioned toward the table. “I don’t feel lucky.”
“It was sarcasm,” Yoochun explained as he took a seat next to Sungmin.
“Do you know the exact time it shortened?” Yunho asked.
“No,” Sungmin replied. “We were sitting next to each other and when we got up, we noticed the distance had shortened.”
Yoochun added, “We can estimate it happened between 0600 and 0645”
“The same with us,” Yunho told them.
“What if it shortens after a certain time period?” Sungmin asked.
“Let’s not speculate,” SooYoung warned.
Yoochun winked and bumped his shoulder against Sungmin’s and stated, “Tomorrow might be too close for comfort.”
“Indeed,” Jaejoong agreed, glaring at SooYoung.
Ryeowook was about to comment when WooHyun and SungGyu walked through the door, holding hands.
Yoochun shook his head in disappointment and mouthed, “Too busy strolling down the corridors hand in had to get to the briefing on time?”
“It is 0657 and the briefing is at 0700, Commander,” SungGyu informed the Chief Engineer as he remained hand in hand with WooHyun and took a seat at the conference table. “So therefore we are not late.”
Yoochun just smiled wistfully at SungGyu and stated, “This is why he is my favorite.”
Yunho studied the two younger crew members and asked, “Why hand in hand?”
“It is more efficient, Sir,” Ensign SungGyu replied.
WooHyun nodded his head. “It prevents the stumbling when one of us walks out of the limited distance allowed.”
“Yes, it would be beneficial,” SooYoung agreed, “especially now with the shortened distance.”
Jaejoong frowned.
“Shortened distance, Lieutenant?” SungGyu asked.
“You haven’t noticed the distance being shortened?” Dr. Cho immediately asked.
“No,” SungGyu answered.
“They probably haven’t let go of each other since last night,” Yoochun pointed out. “How would they know?”
“Stand up and test the distance allowed between you two,” Yunho ordered.
WooHyun and SungGyu quickly got back up and WooHyun took one tentative step away from SungGyu and nothing happened.
“Take another,” Yunho ordered.
SungGyu took a step away from the young doctor, widening the distance between them without any ill effects.
A surprised WooHyun then immediately took several steps away from SungGyu.
“It seems to have disappeared,” SungGyu stated as he walked to the opposite side of the room.
Ryeowook walked up to WooHyun and scanned him. “It does appear to be gone.”
“I knew it,” Yoochun declared leaning back his seat. “Sex is the cure.”
“We didn’t have sex,” WooHyun quickly responded.
Yoochun furrowed his brow, suspiciously. “Really?”
“We didn’t,” Ensign SungGyu confirmed.
“Didn’t you two sleep together?” Ryeowook asked. “You left sickbay to return to your quarters.”
“Yes, and we slept,” WooHyun reiterated. “There was no exchange of bodily fluids.”
“I get that,” Ryeowook quickly told his assistant. “But you slept…maybe sleeping is the cure.”
“No,” SungGyu quickly objected. “We were still linked when we woke up this morning but when WooHyun says there was no exchange of bodily fluids that is not entirely accurate.”
“Of course, there was an exchange of salvia!” An excited WooHyun blurted out. “We kissed-or I kissed Ensign SungGyu to be more exact.”
Yoochun immediately spit into his hand and held it up to Sungmin and demanded, “Drink up.”
“Like hell I will,” a stunned Sungmin hissed indignantly.
“It’s the cure. I have a very important lunch date, so I can’t be kissing on you.”
“Yoochun…” Yunho warned.
“It wasn’t the kissing,” SungGyu stated. “After the kiss the bond was still intact.”
“Link!” Jaejoong snapped. “It isn’t a bond, it is a link!”
“It was?” Ryeowook asked, ignoring Jaejoong’s outburst.
“Yes,” WooHyun agreed, remembering. “I almost jerked him out of bed, when I tried to get up.”
SooYoung asked, “When was the last time you two were aware of the link?”
SungGyu shared a look with WooHyun, pondering the lieutenant’s question. “I believe that was the last time we were aware of it.”
“What exactly did you do after the last time you felt the link?” Yunho asked and then added, “Please sit back down.”
SungGyu took his seat. “We talked, changed into our uniforms, and then we came to the briefing.”
“That’s all we did,” WooHyun concurred as he also sat back down.
SooYoung arched and eyebrow and asked, “What did you two talk about?”
“Our pasts, mostly,” WooHyun answered.
Jaejoong leaned forward studying the younger men and asked, “What emotions were you feeling while you talked?”
“I felt embarrassed,” WooHyun admitted. “Ensign SungGyu was probably angry at me for kissing him.”
“I wasn’t angry,” SungGyu corrected. “I was more amused than anything, and after we talked I felt...”
“You felt what?” Jaejoong encouraged.
SungGyu answered, “I felt closer to him.”
“What the hell did you two talk about?” Yoochun demanded.
“Like I said, we talked about our pasts,” WooHyun replied, hoping the subject of brothels and forked tongue prostitutes wouldn’t come up.
Jaejoong smiled triumphantly.
Ryeowook explained, “It is my theory that the link is intended to imitate the Joong bond. And as I said earlier, the Joong bond is mostly an emotional bond, and you two must have connected on an emotional level.”
SooYoung nodded her head. “And once you connected the link dissipated.”
“But they were already all tingly for each other,” Yoochun pointed out. “It wasn’t like they didn’t like each other before.”
“Yoochun…” Yunho warned.
“My guess it has nothing to do with feeling tingly,” Ryeowook told him. “An emotional connection is the answer to dissolving the link.”
“I get emotional when I feel tingly,” Yoochun stated, refusing to behave.
Sungmin glared at the engineer. “You are not about to feel tingly with me, so let it go.”
“You need to empathize with each other…bond emotionally. Share with each other,” Ryeowook explained.
“With him?” Sungmin questioned, and then turned to look at Yoochun. “Are you even capable of empathy?”
Yoochun looked extremely doubtful and asked Dr. Cho, “How can you be sure empathy is required? Shiny Boy, were you two emotional? Did you cry on each other shoulders?”
“No,” SungGyu stated, frowning slightly at the engineer’s pet name for him. “Not at all, we simply shared stories of our past-there was no crying.”
Jaejoong rolled his eyes at Yoochun. “You have very little understanding of empathy. I can’t say I am-”
“That will be all. This briefing is over,” Yunho stated, interrupting Jaejoong. “Remember, this is just a theory. Ensign SungGyu and Dr. Nam report to Sickbay so Dr. Cho can fully examine you both. Yoochun and Sungmin…try to connect with each other. Do what you can so you two can feel closer to each other. SooYoung and I will do the same. Report immediately if the link dissipates or if there are any other changes.”
*******************
“This is your fault!”
Eunhyuk winced. “I know.”
Junsu was leaning against the wall outside of the engineering department. He was trying to muster up enough courage to go inside engineering and face the Chief Engineer. “Would it be extremely rude if I just called and told him lunch was off?”
“You want the honest truth?”
“Give it to me.”
“Yes.”
Junsu pushed off the wall and told his best friend, “I need you to lie to me right now. Tell me it is okay to be a coward.”
“You just told me to be honest with you!”
“I lied, so lie to me now.”
“It’s okay to be a coward.”
Junsu studied his friend, who did not sound convincing. “Say it again like you mean it.”
Eunhyuk squared his shoulders and tried harder to sound persuasive. “You are not ready for this. You might not ever be ready for this. You are still in therapy…you don’t need this complication in your life right now.”
Junsu lit up. “That’s perfect! Who were you channeling?”
“A little bit of both Sungmin and Ryeowook,” Eunhyuk told him proudly.
“Good job!”
“Thanks.”
“I am going to take the cowardly way out…because I’m totally a coward,” Junsu admitted to himself and Eunhyuk. Junsu then hit the insignia on his uniform and called out, “Commander Yoochun.”
After only a short pause Commander Yoochun responded, “I hope I am not late for our very important date.”
“No, not at all…it’s just that I need…” Junsu paused, feeling horribly guilty.
“You need to what?”
Junsu closed his eyes and blurted out, “I need to cancel lunch. I just…I am still in therapy and I think it’s a bad idea. I’m really sorry, Sir.”
“Sir?”
“Yes, I think it is best that we keep it…” Junsu paused. Junsu’s eyes flew open and he gave his friend a pleading look.
Eunhyuk mouthed the word professional to his friend.
“…keep it professional between us.”
“I see.”
“Sorry, Sir.”
“Understood,” Commander Yoochun responded, abruptly ending the conversation without another word.
Junsu leaned back against the wall and muttered, “I am such…such…such…”
“A wimp,” Eunhyuk supplied.
“I know.”
Eunhyuk reached out and took Junsu by the arm and warned, “We better get going, unless you suddenly feel like facing him.”
Junsu rushed down the corridor and away from engineering. “This is your fault,” Junsu repeated from earlier.
“I know. I know.
*****************
Sungmin tried to remain quiet as Commander Yoochun ripped the hearts out of his engineering staff, threw them on the floor, and stomped on them.
“Efficiency is down half a percent from yesterday? From yesterday!” Commander Yoochun seethed as he stalked the corridors of engineering, dragging Sungmin along with him as he hunted down fresh prey to feed upon.
“You all are dim-witted intellectual rejects! You should be working on a Klingon waste barge and not a starship! You are a disgrace to-”
A perfectly placed elbow to the gut had Commander Yoochun shutting up. Sungmin smiled at the cowering engineering crew and told them, “We are going to go talk in Commander Yoochun’s office. Keep up the good work.”
The engineering watched in relief as Sungmin pushed Yoochun into the engineer’s office.
“You are a real bastard,” Sungmin told Yoochun once the doors were closed.
Yoochun just glared.
“I know Junsu hurt you, but to take it out on your subordinates-that is not cool.”
“Feel free to run your department as you see fit, but don’t interfere with how I run mine…mine is actually essential to the ship.”
Sungmin narrowed his eyes. “All departments on this ship are essential.”
Yoochun scoffed. “Anybody-even those of limited intelligence, can fire a phaser or babysit crazy Commander Leeteuk.”
“You are just a psycho aren’t you?” Sungmin demanded as he clenched his fists, hating that he couldn’t get away from the other man.
Yoochun’s whole demeanor changed as he let out loud chuckle, then sat down on the floor laughing, pulling a stunned Sungmin down with him.
Sungmin sat on the floor beside the engineer mystified at what he found so funny. “How am I supposed to connect with you, when you are like this?”
Yoochun just continued to laugh.
“I am serious!” Sungmin exclaimed. “You made your people feel like incompetent fools…and loved it. You took pleasure in hurting them.”
Yoochun stopped laughing.
“I have heard the stories about how awful you are, but I have never been witness to it on this kinda scale. I would take up space diving without a spacesuit before I would work for you.”
Yoochun closed his eyes.
“Are you even listening to me?”
“Yes,” Yoochun answered. “I was a little extreme.”
“A little extreme?”
Yoochun’s eyes remained closed and he answered, “It is my nature.”
“Well, your personality needs an adjustment.”
“It isn’t a matter of personality,” Yoochun said softly as he turned to look at Sungmin. “It goes much deeper than a personality disorder.”
Sungmin’s eyes widened. “What do you mean?”
“You must promise me that if I entrust you with this secret it does not go farther than this room.”
“I can’t promise you that…not if it endangers the ship,” Sungmin replied, honestly.
“Fair enough, but I do not want it discussed trivially-I do not want you confiding in your friends-none of them. The captain and Dr. Cho are both aware of what I am about to tell you.”
Sungmin swallowed nervously, and agreed, “Okay…”
“We need to connect…and this might help you to understand me better.”
“All right, tell me.”
Yoochun stared Sungmin in the eyes and softly stated, “The activity in my orbital cortex was almost nonexistent when I was born.”
“Oh,” Sungmin muttered, trying to hide his surprise. “But that doesn’t-”
“I also have the genetic variant…the Warrior Gene as they called it in more primitive times,” Yoochun interrupted to tell him.
“But you have been treated,” Sungmin blurted out. “If you hadn’t been you couldn’t be in Starfleet.”
“True, I have been treated…I was treated for many years,” Yoochun explained.
Sungmin was unable to hide his shock as he repeated, “For many years.”
Yoochun nodded. “I failed all manner of psychological tests as a child.”
“What do you mean…you failed them?”
“When I was showed pictures of puppies as a child…I didn’t want to pet them, I wanted to dissect them,” Yoochun answered flatly. “I did not bond with my parents as an infant.”
Sungmin stood up and demanded, “Are you fucking with me?”
Yoochun, who had been pulled up along with Sungmin, answered, “No, I am not. I was a very ill child. I spent a great deal of my childhood in therapy being reprogrammed.”
Sungmin tried to shake off his uneasiness and stated, “They must have been successful.”
“I don’t want to murder anybody if that is what you are asking.”
“Yeah, that’s what I’m asking,” Sungmin admitted.
Yoochun motioned Sungmin toward the desk so they could lean against it. “My orbital cortex works at normal levels now and I have had gene therapy, my body now produces sufficient amounts of serotonin.”
“But there is still…something dark about you,” Sungmin couldn’t keep from saying as he felt his skin crawl.
“Dark?” Yoochun repeated, letting out a soft laugh. “My personality is dark-I know this. I do tend to be possessive and I have a temper.”
Sungmin nodded his head in agreement.
“The psychiatrist told my parents I would have most likely died young from high risk taking behaviors or with my considerable intelligence I would have been a very prolific serial killer if I had been born a few hundred years earlier.”
“Did you know…this when you were a kid?” Sungmin asked, darting his eyes to look at the man leaning against the desk beside him. “It must have been hard…knowing you were different.”
“I was a diagnosed sociopath until I was approximately eight years old, so I did not care what others thought.”
“It took that long for them to cure you?”
Yoochun nodded his head. “It did. The rewiring of my thought process took the longest. Everything they tried kept failing…until they made me go see a Betazoid psychiatrist. I can not begin to tell you how grueling those sessions were.”
Sungmin’s mouth dropped open. It was not a secret on the ship that Yoochun was not Jaejoong’s biggest fan. “No wonder you don’t like telepaths.”
“You don’t understand…it wasn’t the telepathy that bothered me, it was the empathy. A skilled empath, especially one like my Betazoid psychiatrist, can subject you to a barrage of emotions. Emotions I wasn’t used to feeling…and they had to make me learn to feel them all.”
“Oh…”
“It was torture at times, but it worked. By the time my sessions with her ended…I was capable of not just observing emotions in others but feeling them myself. When the sessions first started she would telepathically convince me my parents were dead, and I did not care, but by the end of our sessions I was bawling like a baby.”
“They convinced you your parents died?” Sungmin asked, taken aback.
“Yeah, and a lot of other stuff…but she also taught me to be happy and be happy for others. She had to teach me to experience emotions…until it came naturally to me. I am not saying I am some great human being-but I can feel for others and I can feel emotions now.”
“How long did you see her?”
“I saw her for many years. The first year I saw her daily; I even traveled back to Betazoid with her a few times. After a couple years the therapy time started dwindling down. When I started taking the entrance exams to Starfleet I would still see her occasionally, but not routinely. I was just very fond of the old crow by then,” Yoochun said with a grin.
“Old crow?”
“She was really old, it was the name I gave her as a kid...I used to hate her. Hate for her was the first real emotion I ever experienced,” Yunchun said with a chuckle.
Sungmin smiled weakly. “So by the time you joined Starfleet you didn’t have to see her anymore?”
“No, I met Yunho at the entrance exams…” Yoochun paused to smile. “And once I met Yunho she said I was cured.”
“Really?”
“Yunho was the first friend I ever had. My friendship with Yunho is the healthiest relationship I’ve ever had.”
“Did he know about you back then?”
Yoochun nodded. “Yeah, I told him. I was already mentally stable…I mean, if I wasn’t I would have never been able to sit for the Starfleet entrance exams. I have always confided in him…from the very beginning of our friendship.”
“Your friendship with the captain is pretty awesome,” Sungmin commented.
“It is.”
Sungmin reached down and took Yoochun’s hand and squeezed it. “But what about Junsu?”
Yoochun sighed and admitted, “There is a part of me that knows it would be very wise to give up any thoughts of being with him. Unlike my friendship with the captain…I do not feel the Old Crow would approve of my feelings for Junsu. Yunho doesn’t approve of my feelings for Junsu.”
“Why not?”
“You know why not…Junsu brings out all sorts of nasty feelings in me…obsession, possessiveness, but he also makes me so happy. He’s everything I am not…he’s so good. He’s happy, he’s kind, he’s positive, and he’s loved by so many.”
“Do you love him?”
“I want him so badly that it physically hurts me at times.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
Yoochun reached up, ran his hand through his short hair and admitted, “I think I do. It sounds crazy but I think I do. When I say I want him…it isn’t just sexually…I just like being near him. I want him with me.”
“But you want him sexually, too?”
“Hell, yes…perhaps too much.”
“I understand.”
Yoochun turned and looked at Sungmin. “Siwon?”
“Yes, I wanted him sexually for so long…”
“And now you have him.”
“And I don’t think I want him anymore.”
“He was that disappointing?”
“I just feel…like I am not what he truly wants-I hate that feeling. It casts a dark shadow on everything.”
Yoochun nodded his head in understanding. “Some people have no gender preference when it comes to sex, but if they do…I don’t think it is an easy thing to overcome. Like Junsu…if he really prefers women then I need to stop, right now.”
“I don’t think Junsu even knows what he wants,” Sungmin confessed to the engineer. “I really don’t think he knows.”
“But Siwon?”
“Siwon never lied to me; I will give him that.”
Yoochun stretched has arms out over his head. “Yes, he is disgustingly decent.”
Sungmin laughed. “Tell me about it.”
“We should just team up and celebrate our love of cock together,” Yoochun teased, wrapping an arm around Sungmin.
Sungmin laughed and pushed the engineer away. “You jest. You are the most bisexual per-”
“It’s broken!” Yoochun yelled out in excitement as he stepped away from Sungmin.
“It is!” Sungmin shouted gleefully as he stepped farther away from Yoochun.
Yoochun grinned at Sungmin as he tapped his insignia. “Captain, Sungmin and I have had our moment and the link is gone.”