Reboot Fic: Shadowplay 3/9 (Draws XI) [Pike/Dael/Kirk/McCoy]
For warnings, see Part 1
In the evening, Pike finds out that someone else had been faster. Dael had already been offered this special training mission, and from the look on her face, she's giving it some serious consideration.
"I thought I would end up on some boring space station, but this would be my chance for a really interesting mission," she says excited and looks at him from her spot on the couch. "What do you think?"
He doesn't want to quash her youthful enthusiasm but he's too concerned about this development to remain cool. "It sounds like an interesting opportunity, but you really should look into what they offer you. The career path you might move on isn't just a simple specialization. The missions of these groups are often morally questionable or downright illegal by Federation law."
"Did you ever participate in an Intelligence mission?"
"Not really. Of course, I've often worked with Intelligence material, but I've never directly worked for them."
"And that is that much difference to you?" Dael asks.
"Yes," Pike states bluntly. "It may sound strange to you, but I consider Starfleet's work to be morally and legally grounded. Fed Intelligence, on the other hand, usually works in shady undercover missions."
"Maybe there's something you should know about my family. I never told you the full truth. I never told anyone, because…" She rubs her face. "My mother worked for Intelligence. That's why we moved to Khal'kohachi."
"I know," Pike says. "It's in the locked segment of your 'fleet file."
"Is it?" Dael draws her brows together. "I only learned about it by chance, after her death. It took ages before someone officially admitted to me that she worked for them."
Pike waits a moment, then asks, "Have you never been angry about that? About her choice?"
"No, never. I loved living on Khal', until…" She waves her hand.
"You shouldn't choose Fed Intelligence because of your history," Pike says slowly. "Just as you shouldn't choose the 'fleet because of me."
She tilts her head to the side, brushing through her short hair, suddenly looking damn young and damn tired. "If I accept the offer… would that be the end of us?"
Her direct question catches him by surprise, and he can't help answering it truthfully. "Can't say I didn't think about it for a moment. I always disliked John going this route. I'm not sure I can really live with you doing the same." Pike swallows. "But I'll try. I can see its merits for you. It's your life, and you shouldn't make choices because of my preferences but because of yours."
"But you hate it," she states.
"It has me concerned, yes. Still, if you'd like to take this special assignment, go for it. I'm sure it will be a unique experience. And afterwards, you'll be able to make an informed choice on the matter." He forces a smile on his face. "So - do we have any plans for dinner?"
She allows him to change the course of the discussion, and he's glad about it. If he's going to lose her (he hates the thought but he can't stop having it in the back of his mind), then he might as well enjoy the time they have together.
*
Dael doesn't bring up the subject with him the next day, and he's not very surprised - though also not very happy - to find out that she talks with Jim instead. In fact, he stands next to the door to his home office, dropping an ear on their conversation for a moment before forcing himself to walk away. They all have a right to their privacy… and he exerts the same a few hours later, when he finally reaches the doc.
"This is about Dael, isn't it?" McCoy says.
"Did Jim tell you about it?"
"That she'd been offered a training mission by Fed Intelligence, yes." McCoy gives him a thoughtful look. "She's quite determined to take up the offer, and Jim is all for it. Don't know if you remembered his first mission, but it was on that backwater research station…"
Pike nods. "Pillar 3." Back then, the first assignment was only four weeks long, but from the sound of it, Jim had hated every single second on that station.
"For all I know, the commander had been a special brand of bureaucratic asshole and with some unexplained antipathy to anyone named Kirk, but it had left a big impression on Jim. Of course he thinks anything would be better than that."
"This mission would be a lot more dangerous than a space station."
"You sure? Intel likes to make everything sound cool and dangerous, but I bet they've got enough ships out there that drag along in everlasting boredom to pick up messenger buoys and listen to transmissions. They won't send a cadet into the thick of things."
"They want her because of her background, which would mean a mission with a focus on the Romulan Empire. Maybe even within Romulan space."
McCoy nods. "Still - I don't think they'll purposely endanger her. It's only a training mission, after all. They'll test her a little, of course, like they tested us, but I doubt it will get worse than that. "
Pike is anything but sure about that, but judging from McCoy's unconcerned reaction, he's the only overreacting party around and needs to calm the fuck down before he drives Dael away over this.
"If you think so," he says flatly, ending this part of the discussion from his side. "So - how are you, doc?"
McCoy barks a laugh. "You can be so charming when you're pissed, Chris. I love you too, honey."
Pike can't help smirking, his dark mood lifting considerably. "I'm sorry for making this chat all about Dael," he says, reaching out with his hand.
"It's really weighing heavily on you, isn't it?" McCoy asks.
"Yes, it is, but I'll get over it," Pike says. "Tell me what you did this week. Didn't hear from you for a while."
McCoy sighs, leaning closer to the cam. "Been a hard week, didn't have any real spare time. Today's the first day with just the normal routine."
"And then we call you and keep you busy with our problems."
"Oh, I'll see Jim in about ten minutes," McCoy says with a gleam in his eyes. "And we've got every intention to make it a really good night."
"Fine." Pike smiles, taking a deep breath as the feeling of love settles warmly in his chest. "Take care, both of you, and give him a kiss from me."
"Will do," McCoy says softly. "Love you, Chris."
"Love you too, Leonard."
The connection ends, and Pike feels as if a weight had been lifted from his chest. Not all of it - he still isn't happy with Dael's likely decision, but maybe it's not as bad as he fears. No reason to get worked up as much as he had been for the last twenty-four hours.
*
Friday passes quickly and they meet in the apartment rather early, getting ready for seeing the Esteban's. There's a slight, lingering tension between them due to Dael's still undecided mission offer but Pike tries to ignore for the sake of the evening's goal - improving his working relationship with Esteban.
"How is Mrs. Esteban?" Dael asks as she stands in front of her wardrobe.
"Nice, welcoming, motherly," Pike says, thinking back to his visit. "Conventional. There were other family members around, including their children. I assume that's going to be the case tonight too."
She pulls out something and turns to hold it to her front with one arm. He raises a brow in surprise as he realizes that it's a pinafore dress in medium grey, with a high-collared, long-sleeved shirt underneath.
"This, with black leggings?" she asks.
He tilts his head, "Hmm, yes."
"Not good?"
"Oh, it is, I just didn't know you had a dress like this."
She shrugs. "Jim and I saw it on our last day, and he insisted on buying it for me. So, you think it's conventional enough to meet Mrs. Esteban's taste?"
"Definitely." It's actually quite perfect for the event; decent enough, hiding her chest tattoos, adding a slight female touch, and still fitting to her usual style. Jim definitely has a great taste.
She nods and occupies the bathroom, while Pike dresses in a white silk shirt and an otherwise dark-grey ensemble, which would match her looks.
When she steps out, he's surprised to find her tattoos covered, which she rarely does in his company anymore.
"Not sure the Esteban's are that conventional," Pike says. "You didn't cover them up for months, any special reason why you started again lately?" It hasn't escaped his notice that aside from the trip to the club with John and Eric, she also leaves the house with covered tattoos once in a while, and he really doesn't want her to feel the need for hiding.
"I feel like it," Dael says. "In the past, the makeup often looked like a mask because I didn't know better, but now I've got this new cream and a better grasp on making it look good - don't you like it?"
The light in the corridor isn't very bright, so he pulls her back to the bathroom and scrutinizes her features. Indeed - this doesn't bear a large resemblance to the old makeup that she'd just plastered on her face. The new cream makes her skin look like porcelain, and with the skillfully applied mascara and lipstick, her face looks unusually normal.
"It looks fine," he says, without his heart in it.
"But you don't really think so, do you?" Dael asks flatly.
"Maybe it's egoistic to say that, but I prefer you to be extraordinary. At least when we're out together." He puts his hands on her shoulders. "Your tattoos are something special to me, and always will be."
She sighs. "Not everybody shares your taste, Christopher. Sometimes, I just want to look ordinary."
He shakes his head and laughs, thinking of the many photographs that show her innate beauty. The tattoos might change her appearance, but nothing could ruin her model-like features. "You never look ordinary, darling. From any angle."
"Ordinary enough for them." Dael looks at him. "I know that Esteban doesn't like me, so I want to make a good impression tonight."
"It's not about like or dislike, he just thinks I'm a bad influence on you," Pike says lightly. "And I'm very sure we'll leave a good impression tonight. Let's fake being a normal, straight couple going out to meet friends. We can do that for a few hours, right?"
"I'll try," Dael says, smiling a little.
*
The trip is short, as they use his beam account to get delivered in front of Esteban's house. Once they're materialized, Dael looks up and down the suburban lanes with their lined-up little houses, built a hundred years ago.
"Like it?" Pike asks.
She shakes her head. "It's a bit unreal. I didn't think people still lived like this."
Unusual for her, she captures his hand as they walk to their door. "I'm glad I covered them up," she mutters, right before Mrs. Esteban opens the door. Pike remembers the woman well from the evening he'd visited the family, back when Esteban had commanded the very first Borg mission to explore their history in the Alpha quadrant. He shakes the woman's hand before introducing Dael.
Mrs. Esteban smiles welcoming as she firmly takes Dael's hand, then shows them in. Like last time, other family members are attending, aside from the three small children, and they get introduced to all: Esteban's brother, wife and small daughter, Mrs. Esteban's old mother, and a young cousin called Lise who's come to live with them for the winter to work on her Starfleet application. The teenage girl is visibly nervous about the illustrious guests but relaxes when Dael exchanges some friendly words with her, although Pike notices that Dael isn't very relaxed either.
The meal and the subsequent coffee pass uneventfully, aside from the fact that children at the table have an incredible capacity to engage the focus of all attending adults, not exactly to Pike's liking. But as with Tom's children, Dael has a talent for taming them without falling into the annoying trap of baby-talking, and puts extra effort in keeping the children out of his range.
The evening moves on without any obvious problems. Pike lengthily speaks with Esteban's sister-in-law, who's writing a dissertation on hypodronic installations. Dael is seated next to the aspiring 'fleet candidate and recounts some academy anecdotes, while the Esteban's five-year-old daughter sits in her lap and draws something on a paper on the low table in front of them. It's a surprisingly sweet picture, and when Dael catches his gaze on her for a moment, she smiles happily. It suddenly brings Kirk's statement from their last vacation to Pike's mind:
"I could even see us on a farm, the three or four of us, having horses and some land and children. They could be Dael's or someone else's, maybe adopted - it's not about biology, it would be about what we feel for each other and for them. Think about it!"
Pike is all for the farm idea although he doubts it will ever come to pass in his lifetime - but that thing with children…
"Are you enjoying the evening?" Mrs. Esteban suddenly says at his side, and he turns his focus towards her.
"Oh yes," he says. "Thanks for the invitation." For a moment, there's a pause in most talks, and Dael's voice chimes in, clearly audible.
"Of course the academy is stressful but I've worked in the Silver Barracuda for a while, and it was a good diversion from all the learning."
All adults fall silent, the eyes of the family members coming to rest on Dael. As she notices the sudden drop in background noise, she looks up with a questioning gaze.
"It's definitely not standard for cadets to work in that kind of clubs," Esteban says stiffly. "I'm glad to know that you stopped working there, Dael."
"It's a licensed night club," Dael says defensively. "It's like working in any other bar, but the times agreed better with my class schedule."
"I'm sure your mentor would have been able to propose a better working place for you," Mrs. Esteban adds, her well-meaning gaze resting on Pike.
He meets Dael's eyes, and she rolls them a little. Maybe they could pretend being majority-defined normal for a few hours, but there are limits to his willingness to do so.
"I actually encouraged her to work there," Pike says consequently. "She needed to get out more, see people outside of the Academy who wouldn't judge her by their usual shallow standards."
He sorely regrets that Dael has covered up the tattoos. They'd never fit into the Esteban's world view, where the husband might sail out to find strange new worlds, but the rest of the family stays safely at home, living in their cocoon of normalcy and small-town-life. Having Dael show her true look might have made a change and displayed more of the diversity they actually represent.
"I thought it was a sex club," Lise says, blushing furiously the second the words are out.
"It might be a sex club, but it's not a brothel," Dael replies unusually impulsively.
For a moment even Pike is a little shocked, but then amusement wins out. He sees the old Mrs. Esteban's chin drop over the word; he almost waits for the adults to run and cover the ears of their children, and sure enough the kids are soon ushered out of the room. The climate in the room has cooled down considerably, as Dael, bereft of the small girl in her lap, gets up and joins him. He puts his arm around her tense shoulder. They'd kept apart most of the evening, trying not to broadcast their relationship too much, but now he feels like making a point. They aren't just any straight couple, and he'd never again try and pretend it. Lesson learned.
"Guess we should go home," he says. "It's getting late." Actually, it isn't but from the look on everyone's face, they'd all be relieved when this dinner invitation ends.
Esteban brings them to the door.
"Thanks for the invitation," Pike says. "It's been - interesting."
"Definitely," Esteban says stiffly. "See you on Monday." As the man opens the door, they find another couple waiting in front of it, just having arrived.
"My sister Marian, her husband Jack," Esteban introduces them quickly. "Admiral Pike and his partner Dael."
"Are you leaving already?" Esteban's sister says, eyeing them intensely. "I've been looking forward to speaking with you."
"Another time, maybe. We already claimed your family's hospitality excessively," Pike says smoothly.
"What a pity," the woman says, nodding at Dael. "Well, then good night and safe ride home."
Minutes later, they're back in front of their own apartment house.
*
"What the fuck," Pike says as they've made it a few steps, both not ready to go in yet. The air is crisp, autumn signaling its arrival, and he draws his jacket a little tighter around his chest.
"I'm sorry for having mentioned the club," Dael says, more distressed than she'd let on in Esteban's house.
"Fine by me." Pike shrugs. "Bigoted assholes."
"But you'll have to keep working with him."
"And he with me. We've dealt with our differences in opinion already for a while; we'll manage."
"Oh." She leans against him with a sigh, and he pulls her close, putting a kiss on her forehead.
They walk the nightly streets in silence for a while, until she quietly says, "I've made up my mind."
He doesn't need to ask what about. "And?"
"I'll accept the offer."
He nods solemnly. "Good."
"I'm sorry," she says and halts her steps.
"Don't apologize for being who you are, and doing what you need to do," he says, trying to tame the numb feeling that rises inside of him.
She looks at him. "But -"
"Don't." He understands that she feels like elaborating, but he can do without. If he still were her mentor, he might have had his misgivings but overall, he would have advised her to accept this interesting, unusual offer. As her partner, he can't do any less.
"Even if I chose another mission I'd still be away for three months -"
"I said, don't," Pike says firmly. He might be supremely self-sacrificing when it comes to Dael, just as John accused him once, but this is about her life, not about his that is constantly veering at the edge of death and decay.
However, he could still do his best to be a part of her life for a while longer. "You do what you need to do, and then you come back to me. If you still want to."
"Of course I will," she mutters and takes a stronger hold on him. "I love you."
"I love you too," he replies and puts another kiss on her forehead. "How about going in? I'm freezing."
Through the dark, he can see her squinting at him with a frown. "It's not that cold."
"It feels cold to me. Come on." They start moving again, and he doesn't unlace from their embrace when their neighbors join them in the turbolift, the middle-aged couple who still nurtures the idea that Dael is his daughter. He faces their strange gaze squarely for a moment, then half-turns and kisses a very surprised but obliging Dael fully on her lips. When the door of the lift opens, he breaks away and says, "She's my girlfriend. Just so you know." The couple is completely at loss for words as he passes them with Dael in his arm.
Under his palm, he can feel her trembling, and once they're in their apartment, he lets her go. "Everything all right?" he asks concerned, and then smirks as she sags against the wall and starts giggling.
"Christopher! The poor people!" She shakes her head, and then convulses with laughter. He joins in, laughing until his chest hurts. It takes them a while before they make it from the corridor to the bedroom.
"Did you see her face?" Dael says when she finds her breath again. "I thought her eyes would pop out." She gets out of her clothes.
"He was too surprised to say anything, but I wonder what he'll do next time we meet," Pike says, undressing swiftly too.
Dael flops down on the bed. "If he's with his wife, he'll criticize you. If you meet him alone, he'll congratulate you on your sexy young girlfriend."
Not exactly Pike's major criterion why he's with her, but he can see her point as he looks at her sinfully inviting body with a smile. He nudges his already half-hard member for a moment, the irritations of the evening quickly fading away over the prospect of a great night with the woman he loves.
"Oh, I should remove the cream," she adds with a sigh. "Don't want to spoil the bedding."
"I'm all for spoiling the bedding," he says and kneels down next to her, running his hands over her hips and along her crack. She giggles again, then rolls over to reach out for their collection of protective lubes.
"Vanilla?"
"Fine by me," he says, though nothing he's got in mind for them is of the vanilla variety, and starts kissing the black lines on her chest.
*
Something unfurls inside of him when Pike finds an invitation to a reception at the Vulcan embassy in his message folder a few evenings later. He'd waited for a chance to have Dael escorting him to an official occasion, and this is the perfect hook.
He walks into the kitchen where Dael is experimenting with something she didn't want to reveal beforehand. "Did you get an invitation to the Vulcans' reception too?"
"Yes," she says distracted, eyes on the pot.
"I want us to attend together."
"Didn't Nogura forbid you from bringing me along to such events?" Dael asks, looking at him with a wary gaze.
"As long as you've got your own invitation, he couldn't stop us without looking like the asshole he is regarding our relationship." Pike pulls her in a light embrace, kissing her patterned forehead which is slick from sweat in the overheated kitchen.
She looks at him. "I already declined." There's guilt in her eyes.
His arm around her waistline drops a little. "Why?"
"I was advised to keep out of the spotlight for a while."
Pike draws away. "By Nogura or the press office?" he asks coolly.
"By neither," she replies. "By the advisor for my training mission."
So you already let Intelligence influence our way of living? springs to Pike's mind, accusing and wounded. It must reflect on his face, considering the way her expression of guilt deepens.
"I'm sorry," Dael says, capturing his hand. "I thought it would be no big deal, considering Nogura's opinion. But if you really want us to go -"
"No, I guess it's better this way then," he states, jaw tight. Unwilling to show the true depth of his hurt feelings, he looks into the pot. "What are you cooking here anyway?" he says lightly, and takes a spoon against her protest to test the food in advance. Soon he has her thoroughly distracted from the original discussion.
*
Shaa becomes Head of Ship Operations, which isn't a big surprise at this point. Although not everyone is in favor of her, general consensus is that it had been necessary to fill the position with someone with a strong personality, something Shaa definitely has. It brings various changes to the departments.
Pike himself is called to Nogura's office to be introduced to Lieutenant Thelin, one of Shaa's younger clan members, and told that the young Andorian would be assigned to the task force. His role would be to work hand in hand with Captain Esteban until the Pathfinder launch, and to support Pike in the strategic analysis of the Borg threat.
Pike doesn't like to have spies in his team, not even when they come in the disguise of a promising young alien that looks at him in a way that leaves Pike wondering whether Shaa has some underlying motive in choosing the lieutenant. Well, if so then she's fucked, because he's taken and she should have known.
His musing about her motivations intensifies over the first task force meeting with Thelin attending, who turns out just as bright and strangely attractive as Pike has feared. Shaa is a tactical genius and he's sure she knows his dossier as well as he knows hers. So if he assumes Thelin is intended as a bait of some kind… but it just doesn't fit. Four is the Andorians' golden relationship number, and interfering with his relationship, which is common knowledge by now, should be opposed to everything that's holy to them.
Pike isn't sure what Shaa is up to, but he's got a bad feeling about the development.
*
"I liked you better while you stayed out of business decisions," Ole grouses at Pike when they leave the house, walking down the stairways into the nightly city. "Three hours with some goddamn idiots who don't know a number from Vulcan script. It'll be a miracle of galactic proportions if we survive this ball."
The meeting with the other fifteen club owners who'd participate in the organization of the Rainbow Ball had been… enlightening, is probably the best word. Aside from Arissa and a few people who seemed reliable and dedicated to the cause, a fair number of them had only their own advantages in mind and spared little thought for the actual effect the ball should have, celebrating diversity.
It had also been a slightly unplanned outing, as only few of the attendees had known about Pike's ownership of the '99 Idaho' (still named by its former location, though it has moved once). People had stared and whispered once when they'd realized who hides behind "Chris", as Arissa had introduced him.
"It will be fine," Pike says, pacifying. "Come on, let's have a drink." He steers Ole into a random bar, and they take a seat and have a beer together. Dael had stayed with Arissa; while she isn't officially working for her anymore, helping her former boss organize this special event had been high up on Dael's agenda, despite her full timetable. It gives Pike the room for a little private chat with Ole.
"Speaking of the business, I lately thought that a queer night once a month would be nice."
"Queer?" Ole raises a brow. "Nobody uses that word anymore."
Pike shrugs. "You know what I mean. A night for people of all genders who identify as non-straight."
"And you'd be attending with your leading lady?" Ole asks sardonically.
"You really don't like women, do you?" Pike asks back.
Ole downs his beer. "I don't care about them, if that's what you mean. And you didn't either before you hooked up with the girl. You've been perfectly fine with the club being men-only for the longest time. If you let them in, it will change its character, even if it's only for one night."
"So that's a no to my suggestion?"
"You're the boss," Ole states coolly. "If you say you want it, we're going to do it. Just like the Rainbow Ball." He gets up. "Got enough for tonight. See you around."
"Damn, Ole, we're partners," Pike says annoyed, but by then the man has already left. He slaps the table in frustration. Why does the universe at large feel inclined to work against him? He must be doing something wrong but hell if he knows what that is and how to fix it.
*
While life in general offers some challenges for him, his relationship life is fine except for the four of them just not managing as many chats as Pike would like, despite the lingering ache after every sign-off. The Enterprise is in and out of the range for real time transmissions too often lately, and more than once they're left alone on the line, waiting for Kirk and McCoy in vain.
Tonight, their first explicit joined sex date is planned but after waiting for an hour, they give up and decide to start, both too frustrated and aroused at the same time to keep their hands from each other.
"What do you want?" Dael asks him as she leans over him, one hand already deep up his ass, just a tad away from getting her knuckles in for a full fisting. "Would you like to get fucked? Ride my cock?"
He cradles his hard-on, spreading his folded legs a little wider. They've done it that way round a few times since their men had left, and while it's still not his favorite activity with Dael, it's far from being a bad thing. "You're just teasing, or do you really want to do something about it?"
Without warning, she pulls her hand out, making him gasp. "Turn around, get on all fours," she orders him, and he obeys, curling forward with his forehead on his laced arms, his ass high up in the air. There's the faint noise of her picking up her dick, and then her hand is back on him, slipping in and out, mocking him with allusions of the real thing.
"As I said, just a tease," he mutters challengingly although his breathing is rather labored by now.
"A tease?" she says, and screws her stretched-out hand into his hole, withdrawing and repeating the act until her hand is finally slipping inside, her fingers curling into a fist.
He moans on the sudden fullness and the strange feelings that come with it; he feels open and vulnerable in this position, his usual strength rendered useless by the handle she has on him. Maybe that's why he's not as often into it as she would prefer.
"You like my teasing?" she says very sweetly, slowly rotating her fist a little which doesn't exactly evoke good feelings.
He gasps. "I'd still rather like a fuck."
Her fist pulls out a little, stretching his muscle from within, while her other fingers curl around his sack's top, stretching it downwards. "Do you?"
At times she's become almost a little too self-confident for his taste. Not that she'd ever been a blushing virgin in bed, but somehow she'd seen too many inspirational actions during their last vacation. He's not ready - maybe never - to grant her quite the same rights as the doc has; maybe it's about a man, or maybe just about Leonard, but giving in to her still has something strange about it.
"Please, Dael," he says, and it's strangled and more of a plea than he'd wanted it to be. His intestines relax as the tightness ends, her fingers drawing out.
"Why the hurry?" she asks in his ear, her body draped over his back, two of her fingers settling back in his hole. "I just want to make it good for you."
"You know what I want." He wants a fuck, plain and simple, a dick pounding into him, flesh against flesh with every push forward that makes him forget that he wants someone he can't get right now, not even on a goddamn real-time transmission. His emotions are edging along a shitty rollercoaster and this is the only way to get off without fallout.
"All right," she suddenly relents, making him wonder if she picked up his mood, and then her fingers are gone and her cock slides in, large and hard, unyieldingly piercing into his slightly raw asshole.
This. This is what he needs.
He leans back against her, driving her member even deeper into his body - and freezes as the long-awaited transmission suddenly comes in.
"Not now," Pike groans but Dael accepts, even though sound-only from their side.
"Hey lovelies," Kirk says as the screen comes alive. Kirk and McCoy lay on the bed, their naked bodies and puffy lips leaving little to assume. "Sorry for being so late. We had some technical problems. The line is super-protected - give us visuals. Pretty, please?"
"No," Pike says again, but damn if she doesn't switch them on anyway. Sometimes he'd dreamed about this kind of erotic transmissions, but hell if he wanted to be featured with a dick in his ass right at this moment. He hangs his head, surprisingly unwilling to face them.
"Ah, what a lovely sight," the doc's voice resounds, its hushed quality signaling his arousal. "Come on, Chris, let us see you ride her. Let us watch."
He rolls his head to the side, trying to keep out of sight of the cam but his needy body bucks back against Dael anyway, quite out of his control. Her hands are on his hips and she holds her own, pushing into him hard enough to make him moan.
"Lord, yes, Dael, sweetie, ride him," the doc's voice says. "Chris, come on, look at me, look at us, see how Jim's climbing on me and riding me too, fuck hell." The sounds coming from their side leave little to assume and finally compel Pike to look up, catching a glimpse of Kirk's muscular ass riding up and down the doc's length. The hotness from the screen multiplies his own arousal, and he gives up trying to hold back. He fucks himself hard on Dael's cock, until he's close, his breathes coming rasped and harsh - then she suddenly pulls him upwards, his back against her chest. He whimpers as the dildo gets embedded in his ass up to the hilt, causing some discomfort.
"Give yourself a hand, Chris," the doc says, and Pike glances up to see McCoy's flushed face. "Imagine it's Jim putting his lovely mouth on you. Ah fuck, what an image, you in the middle of the sandwich, fucked and sucked from both sides." The image seems to be enough to drive Kirk to orgasm, and he comes with broken little noises, shoving down and pulling back up a few more times before sagging forward to catch his breath.
McCoy doesn't give his husband a break, though, just rolls them over and spreads Jim's legs with strong hands before driving into his ass with verve, his gaze still locked with Pike's.
"Fuck -" It's too much, and Pike comes with a groan, arching against Dael's chest as he spurts over his fingers and the bedding.
"Yes, Chris, damnit, yes…" On the other side of the quadrant, McCoy follows swiftly, half-crushing the man beneath him. Once done, he rolls to the side and kisses Kirk open-mouthed.
Pike rests slack against Dael's upper body, her artificial cock still impaling him as her arms keep him from moving.
Kirk finds his voice again. "Come on, Chris, suck off her dick. I know you love that."
I do, but she doesn't, Pike thinks but when she releases her grip, he moves around anyway. Dael sinks on her back, her legs invitingly spread for him. As he looks at her, she wordlessly gestures him up into a kiss, then pushes him down again and laces her hands into his hair, making it absolutely clear what he's supposed to do.
Fuck yes, he thinks, and opens his jaw wide, giving in to the ride. She pushes deep into his mouth as she comes, dry-rocking against its bottom until her last waves of orgasm flitter away. He sags down on the mattress next to her, exhausted but still buzzing from arousal. On the screen, the two men are curled around each other.
"You know you can get them with ejaculation?" Kirk asks with a wink. "I think you should get one. I'll send you the shop's address. Just don't try chocolate sauce, it looks too much like shit to handle."
Pike groans, burying his face into the crook of Dael's neck. "That's an image I really didn't need, Jim."
McCoy slaps his husband's head. "Sorry for that," he apologizes over the screen.
"Not your fault."
"I fear our time's over," Kirk says. "Thanks for the wonderful time. We love you, Chris - we love you, Dael."
"Yeah. Love you both. Take care," McCoy chimes in, waving and smiling.
"We love you too," Pike says, Dael nodding and smiling. "Take care too."
They don't manage to get up anymore, just fall into a sleep full of happy dreams.
*
Pike's quiet hunt for a new, good assistant turns out to be a frustrating task. It seems as if every good candidate is taken, and the remaining ones are not convincing. Of five people he interviews, he can't see any of them running his office successfully.
The reason for this problem gets clearer when he overhears two people in the restroom of another floor exchanging the newest rumors about him, including a blown-up rendering of the club evening with Dael, John and Eric (they really need to keep to his private rooms in the future) and the wildly wrong idea that he would invite other cadets to his apartment to celebrate orgies together with his lovers. That he seems to be out of Nogura's favor leads to additional, malicious remarks about his stagnating career and his unclear responsibilities in the admiralty.
Ever since he'd come together with Kirk and McCoy, Pike had realized that he'd become part of the rumor mill, but these are new heights of defamation. He considers walking out of the stall and facing the men head-on, but then they've already left the restroom. And thinking it through, this looks like a fight he cannot win by confrontation. He'd have to find a better way to deal with this.
Disillusioned, Pike keeps the lousy assistant for now.
*
"Chris, would you have a moment for me?" Nogura says when he calls Pike to his office a day later. Pike can feel his heartbeat speeding up over the brief walk, wondering if Nogura had heard about the rumors and would ask for their level of truth. But when he joins the small gathering in Nogura's office, it's about a strategic decision in a sector barely anyone of the attendees had ever heard of.
It's an interesting little brain-storm they engage in, and it's interesting to meet Shaa in debate at last, see the way her mind ticks. She's definitely very good in tactics and has a perfect overview of the 'fleet situation as a whole, and is also willing to sacrifice a pawn on the way to winning the game, just as any good Andorian soldier would. Pike muses if that will raise the 'fleet losses, and hopes it won't have adverse effects on the Enterprise.
The impromptu meeting ends after only twenty-five minutes. "Thanks for helping out, Chris," Nogura says with a nod when they part at the door. "By the way, I read your latest reports. It's good to know your project is well on schedule. Keep up the good work." With these words, Pike is dismissed, and his tiny chance of having a few more words with Nogura in private is gone.
*
I'll come later, Ole's message blinks on his PADD, and Pike sighs. He's early to the meeting for the Rainbow Ball - actually, he doesn't even want to be here, not really having the time to deal with any more of the arrangements. But Ole keeps resisting their club's participation and so it ends being his job to show up at the gatherings and keep up appearances. The room above Arissa's club is still empty aside from him, and he takes a bottle of Coke and meanders around, thinking of the tasks waiting for him tomorrow while reading some of the old-fashioned posters.
A broad, tall man enters, and Pike smiles as he recognizes Joe Mercury, the owner of the Blue Sun club. It'd been one of those clubs he'd driven to in the search of Dael after her brother's death and her disappearance; he'd always intended to go back to it one day, maybe with her, but hadn't made it so far.
They heartily shake hands.
"Joining in?" Pike asks.
Mercury barks a laugh that resonates in the room. "If I don't join in, this is going to end so bloody Earth-centric, I'm going to cry." Some people think the man has Klingons among his ancestors, and the rolling sound supports that idea. In any case, Mercury is a friend of a truly multi-cultural, multi-species surrounding, always supporting diversity. More than Pike does, admittedly.
"I heard that Romulan kid is yours?" Mercury asks while taking a bottle of Coke for himself. "The one Arissa had in tow when she coaxed me into participating in the ball organization. I don't like those tattoos, but she's got guts to walk around like that."
"She's neither Romulan nor a kid, but if you're talking about Dael, yes, she's one of my partners," Pike replies.
"One of them. I see." Mercury just nods. "Got a couple too, you'll probably meet some of them at the ball. So, how far are you with the planning? Did you get to the question of the buffet yet? I've got a few suggestions regarding the food - we absolutely need silicon-based snacks and hydrocarbon drinks, last time someone tried to give a mixed party, some of the guests almost starved to death."
Having Mercury take Pike's poly relationship in such a stride is a great relief; one he feels more keenly because of the many antagonistic reactions lately. They soon sit on a table, juggling new ideas until the others join them. The group is already diminished, some of club owners who'd been less than enthusiastic about the good cause of the ball not bothering to show up again.
"That's the nice thing about making it real work," Arissa states with a twinkle. "It weeds out the idiots." Dael sits next to her, smiling at Pike over the PADD on which she takes notes.
Ole never shows up, and Pike decides it doesn't matter.
*
A week later, the long overdue furniture for Jim's and Leonard's room arrives, and they get the old furniture moved back to Pike's old apartment, which smells stale by now.
"What are you going to do with it?" Dael asks him, and Pike shrugs somewhat helplessly. This had been his home for so long, he feels uncomfortable renting it out but can't imagine selling it either.
They drive back to their apartment and decorate the room for their lovers. It ends up looking surprisingly homey and comfy, a far cry from what Pike would've imagined them to prefer. Dael walks through it with the cam, before they sit on the bed together with champagne in their hands and film themselves while telling their men how much they miss them and that their room is waiting for them.
Several days later they get an audio file in reply, and the men's voices tremble a little when saying that they hadn't known how badly they'd missed a home on Earth until they got it.
That night, Pike gives head to Dael on the terrace, and when she sobs Jim's name in the end, he just holds her close for a while.
*
A few days later, Pike walks into his apartment and freezes as he hears voices - plural. He follows them into the kitchen, where Dael just puts kisses all over Caitleen's chest, both very naked. He's more stunned than they are.
"Didn't think you'd be coming that early today," Dael says, shielding Caitleen with her body. The other girl smiles, a soft red flush covering her features. At least someone with a leftover shred of decency around, Pike thinks.
"A word with you, Dael," he says and turns on his heel, marching into his office.
"What's the matter?" she asks as she joins him. He throws her one of his shirts that hung over his chair, and with a frown she covers up.
"I don't want to have her here," he says.
"Oh," Dael replies, crossing her arms defiantly. "You mean, fucking someone else is okay as long as you don't see it?"
"That's not the point," Pike states. "Having her in my apartment in such a compromising situation just won't do."
Dael shakes her head in disbelief. "What became of our apartment? I live here too."
"Yes, and I'm very glad about that. But she can't stay here. She's a cadet."
"I am a cadet too."
Pike bristles, the overheard discussion ringing in his ears. "You may not have noticed, but our relationship is only possible because of Nogura's support, and trust me, that was a strategic decision for him, not because he's in favor of it. Last thing I need right now is some internal commission accusing me of abusing my rank to gain sexual services from cadets."
"And you fear her father would bring on something if he knew we're here."
"If anyone brings on something, I want to be in a clean position. I don't want to make a statement about running into my girlfriend and her lover in the middle of a scene."
Dael huffs, but her glare recedes a little. "So where do you suppose we'd go? We can't meet at her home anymore, and I guess your old apartment is out."
"Find a hotel?"
"With whose credits?" Dael says.
"True, it would still be from my account, but at least not within my space," Pike replies. He takes a deep breath. "I'll leave again for now. When I return, I want her to be gone."
"And I?" she asks darkly.
"If you're here, I'll be happy. If not, I hope you'll have a nice evening and we see each other tomorrow." He leaves, annoyed both about the kids as well as himself, that he's reached the point where he thinks he needs to protect himself from potential charges.
The admiralty's building is largely empty as he returns to his office, sitting down with a sigh and forcing himself to tackle some work. After three hours he decides that he could probably give going home a second try. When he arrives, he opens the door cautiously, listening for any noises inside. It's very quiet, and with a subdued sigh he walks in. His heart makes a relieved leap when he finds Dael in the living room, curled on the couch and reading.
"Hey darling - glad you're here," he says and kisses her before slipping onto the place next to her, lacing one arm around her shoulder.
She puts the PADD aside. "I'm sorry. I didn't really think it through, what all this does to you and your reputation."
"You shouldn't. If I couldn't stand it, I wouldn't do it. But this situation today…"
"Was too much. I see that now." She brushes through his hair, drawing a line down his cheek. "I'll be more careful next time."
"And next time I'll be nicer when I've got something to complain about."
She smirks, her dimples deepening. "Maybe I like your authoritative voice."
"Yes, maybe." He knows their relationship wouldn't work if she couldn't stand him occasionally falling into CO behavior, but he doesn't want her to have a special preference for it either. It's too far out of his comfort zone due to the vast power difference between them, no matter how illusory the goal of complete equality might be.
"Bed?" he says, and she nods. There's nothing but her own light scent on her body, and no other smells on his sheets either, and he's really glad about that.
*
Time flies for Dael, who's helping Arissa with the ball preparations, racing through the last regular classes of the year and on top of that, taking part in some special trainings, like the interrogation camp that's usually a part of the third year but one of the requirements for her mission. She comes out of the one week class thinner and paler than Pike has ever seen her, withdrawing from the world - including him - for days. Although her special assignment is largely a non-subject between the four of them, by Dael's choice and Pike's preference, he can't help sending the doc a ranting message this time, wondering how blind Medical is not to see that she's on the edge of a breakdown.
"They say she's fit," is McCoy laconic answer, showing that the doc considers Pike's concerns for Dael's health coming in a little late. "You could always place an official complaint."
They both know Pike wouldn't do that. Three days later Dael goes through the final security screening, and when it takes longer than expected, he skips a meeting and sits down in front of the office she's in, waiting for the outcome.
He's up to three skipped meetings when Dael walks out, her face deathly pale. "Fucking hell," he mutters as he jumps up to take her into an embrace, heedless of the few stares thrown their way.
Is that damn mission really worth this? The question rises in his throat but he swallows it because it's her choice and he'll defend her choices even if they're the way to doom.
"I'm okay, Christopher," she mutters against his shoulder at last. "I just hate Vulcans poking around in my head."
Intelligence uses various methods for the process, but the quickest, deepest and most uncomfortable is a scan by a telepath, usually a Vulcan. Pike would've thought that her experience on Vulcan had made mind melds easier for her than other humans, but maybe it had only made her dislike them more.
She pulls out of his arms, repeating. "I'm okay, really." And then she smiles, tired but victorious. "I passed. And it's been the last test. I fucking passed." Pushing her fist into thin air, she repeats, "I passed! No more tests!"
He's happy for her, he really is - but this also means she's going to go away in just five days, and he won't know where she goes and what she'll do there, and it kills him a little every time he thinks about it.
"Let's go celebrate," is what he says instead, glad when she takes his words at face value.
He's a better diplomat in his relationships than he's ever been on missions.
*
"We've got a date," he says when he calls Dael in the late afternoon three days before her departure. "You're free at 2100?"
"Yes."
"Meet me at the corner of California and Laurel Street."
When he arrives there, she's leaning against a house wall with arms loosely behind her back as buffer, her half-closed eyes and her posture signaling her exhaustion.
"Thanks for coming," he says and kisses her before leading her down Laurel Street and across a corner. They end in front of a closed shop with a sign that says, "Goldberry, since 1967", and Dael frowns a little as he rings the old-fashioned bell. Charisse Rogerson herself opens to them, greeting him with a familiar smile although he'd never met the illustrious heir to the design empire in person before. She's a lady through and through, perfectly fitting to the image of her company.
"Welcome, Miss Dael, Admiral Pike." They all shake hands before they walk inside, passing through beautifully decorated round rooms until they stop in the one that has rings all along the walls, sparkling in the subdued light.
"Please, take a seat," Rogerson says.
Pike wants to move forward as Dael stops him. "Christopher… what are we doing here?"
"Buying rings," he says as if it's the most normal thing in the world and frankly, in his head it's all settled already.
"Rings?" Dael says alerted, and warily looks at Rogerson.
"Please, leave us for a moment," Pike says and the woman nods and walks away, closing the door behind her.
Dael looks at him strangely. "Why?"
Pike captures her hands, holding them firmly. "I want us to have something to remind us of each other when you're away, and this is the symbol I felt to be the most appropriate."
She searches his eyes. "Does that mean what I think it means…?"
"Just a sign that we're together." Pike pulls her closer, although she resists a little.
"You should know by now that I don't like to be pressured into something like this," she says annoyed. "You could've asked me before bringing me here."
"I wanted it to be a surprise. And I only made up my own mind this morning, so it's not as if I had a lot of time to ask you."
She shakes her head with an exaggerated sigh, but then a tiny smile grows on her lips. "You want to tag me. Make sure that others know that I'm taken."
"A bit, maybe," Pike admits. "But this doesn't change a thing. I want you, but I don't own you. You're always free to make your own choices, in every regard."
She laces one hand into his hair, gently guiding his face to rest on her shoulder, his lips on her collarbone. "I know what you really want," she says very softly, stroking his neck. "Thanks for not asking for it." Her lips are gentle on his forehead, as if he'd break under too much pressure.
"I can't promise to wear it during the mission," she says.
"I know," he says against her cadet-red chest, his hands splayed on her back. "Wear it when you can, and come back with it in one piece. That's all I ask for."
Her heartbeat seems to gather speed, the only sound he hears in the long, lingering silence.
"All right. Let's buy them," she says at last and removes her hand. He looks up, brushing his fingers over her cheek before pulling her into a deep kiss.
"Thank you," he says, and if he feels a little brittle, maybe that's how it should be.
Pike wonders how to signal Rogerson their agreement, but she magically returns just in time, a deep smile on her dark-red lips. "Would you like to see the collection now?"
They both nod and take a seat.
*
Onto Part 4
In the evening, Pike finds out that someone else had been faster. Dael had already been offered this special training mission, and from the look on her face, she's giving it some serious consideration.
"I thought I would end up on some boring space station, but this would be my chance for a really interesting mission," she says excited and looks at him from her spot on the couch. "What do you think?"
He doesn't want to quash her youthful enthusiasm but he's too concerned about this development to remain cool. "It sounds like an interesting opportunity, but you really should look into what they offer you. The career path you might move on isn't just a simple specialization. The missions of these groups are often morally questionable or downright illegal by Federation law."
"Did you ever participate in an Intelligence mission?"
"Not really. Of course, I've often worked with Intelligence material, but I've never directly worked for them."
"And that is that much difference to you?" Dael asks.
"Yes," Pike states bluntly. "It may sound strange to you, but I consider Starfleet's work to be morally and legally grounded. Fed Intelligence, on the other hand, usually works in shady undercover missions."
"Maybe there's something you should know about my family. I never told you the full truth. I never told anyone, because…" She rubs her face. "My mother worked for Intelligence. That's why we moved to Khal'kohachi."
"I know," Pike says. "It's in the locked segment of your 'fleet file."
"Is it?" Dael draws her brows together. "I only learned about it by chance, after her death. It took ages before someone officially admitted to me that she worked for them."
Pike waits a moment, then asks, "Have you never been angry about that? About her choice?"
"No, never. I loved living on Khal', until…" She waves her hand.
"You shouldn't choose Fed Intelligence because of your history," Pike says slowly. "Just as you shouldn't choose the 'fleet because of me."
She tilts her head to the side, brushing through her short hair, suddenly looking damn young and damn tired. "If I accept the offer… would that be the end of us?"
Her direct question catches him by surprise, and he can't help answering it truthfully. "Can't say I didn't think about it for a moment. I always disliked John going this route. I'm not sure I can really live with you doing the same." Pike swallows. "But I'll try. I can see its merits for you. It's your life, and you shouldn't make choices because of my preferences but because of yours."
"But you hate it," she states.
"It has me concerned, yes. Still, if you'd like to take this special assignment, go for it. I'm sure it will be a unique experience. And afterwards, you'll be able to make an informed choice on the matter." He forces a smile on his face. "So - do we have any plans for dinner?"
She allows him to change the course of the discussion, and he's glad about it. If he's going to lose her (he hates the thought but he can't stop having it in the back of his mind), then he might as well enjoy the time they have together.
*
Dael doesn't bring up the subject with him the next day, and he's not very surprised - though also not very happy - to find out that she talks with Jim instead. In fact, he stands next to the door to his home office, dropping an ear on their conversation for a moment before forcing himself to walk away. They all have a right to their privacy… and he exerts the same a few hours later, when he finally reaches the doc.
"This is about Dael, isn't it?" McCoy says.
"Did Jim tell you about it?"
"That she'd been offered a training mission by Fed Intelligence, yes." McCoy gives him a thoughtful look. "She's quite determined to take up the offer, and Jim is all for it. Don't know if you remembered his first mission, but it was on that backwater research station…"
Pike nods. "Pillar 3." Back then, the first assignment was only four weeks long, but from the sound of it, Jim had hated every single second on that station.
"For all I know, the commander had been a special brand of bureaucratic asshole and with some unexplained antipathy to anyone named Kirk, but it had left a big impression on Jim. Of course he thinks anything would be better than that."
"This mission would be a lot more dangerous than a space station."
"You sure? Intel likes to make everything sound cool and dangerous, but I bet they've got enough ships out there that drag along in everlasting boredom to pick up messenger buoys and listen to transmissions. They won't send a cadet into the thick of things."
"They want her because of her background, which would mean a mission with a focus on the Romulan Empire. Maybe even within Romulan space."
McCoy nods. "Still - I don't think they'll purposely endanger her. It's only a training mission, after all. They'll test her a little, of course, like they tested us, but I doubt it will get worse than that. "
Pike is anything but sure about that, but judging from McCoy's unconcerned reaction, he's the only overreacting party around and needs to calm the fuck down before he drives Dael away over this.
"If you think so," he says flatly, ending this part of the discussion from his side. "So - how are you, doc?"
McCoy barks a laugh. "You can be so charming when you're pissed, Chris. I love you too, honey."
Pike can't help smirking, his dark mood lifting considerably. "I'm sorry for making this chat all about Dael," he says, reaching out with his hand.
"It's really weighing heavily on you, isn't it?" McCoy asks.
"Yes, it is, but I'll get over it," Pike says. "Tell me what you did this week. Didn't hear from you for a while."
McCoy sighs, leaning closer to the cam. "Been a hard week, didn't have any real spare time. Today's the first day with just the normal routine."
"And then we call you and keep you busy with our problems."
"Oh, I'll see Jim in about ten minutes," McCoy says with a gleam in his eyes. "And we've got every intention to make it a really good night."
"Fine." Pike smiles, taking a deep breath as the feeling of love settles warmly in his chest. "Take care, both of you, and give him a kiss from me."
"Will do," McCoy says softly. "Love you, Chris."
"Love you too, Leonard."
The connection ends, and Pike feels as if a weight had been lifted from his chest. Not all of it - he still isn't happy with Dael's likely decision, but maybe it's not as bad as he fears. No reason to get worked up as much as he had been for the last twenty-four hours.
*
Friday passes quickly and they meet in the apartment rather early, getting ready for seeing the Esteban's. There's a slight, lingering tension between them due to Dael's still undecided mission offer but Pike tries to ignore for the sake of the evening's goal - improving his working relationship with Esteban.
"How is Mrs. Esteban?" Dael asks as she stands in front of her wardrobe.
"Nice, welcoming, motherly," Pike says, thinking back to his visit. "Conventional. There were other family members around, including their children. I assume that's going to be the case tonight too."
She pulls out something and turns to hold it to her front with one arm. He raises a brow in surprise as he realizes that it's a pinafore dress in medium grey, with a high-collared, long-sleeved shirt underneath.
"This, with black leggings?" she asks.
He tilts his head, "Hmm, yes."
"Not good?"
"Oh, it is, I just didn't know you had a dress like this."
She shrugs. "Jim and I saw it on our last day, and he insisted on buying it for me. So, you think it's conventional enough to meet Mrs. Esteban's taste?"
"Definitely." It's actually quite perfect for the event; decent enough, hiding her chest tattoos, adding a slight female touch, and still fitting to her usual style. Jim definitely has a great taste.
She nods and occupies the bathroom, while Pike dresses in a white silk shirt and an otherwise dark-grey ensemble, which would match her looks.
When she steps out, he's surprised to find her tattoos covered, which she rarely does in his company anymore.
"Not sure the Esteban's are that conventional," Pike says. "You didn't cover them up for months, any special reason why you started again lately?" It hasn't escaped his notice that aside from the trip to the club with John and Eric, she also leaves the house with covered tattoos once in a while, and he really doesn't want her to feel the need for hiding.
"I feel like it," Dael says. "In the past, the makeup often looked like a mask because I didn't know better, but now I've got this new cream and a better grasp on making it look good - don't you like it?"
The light in the corridor isn't very bright, so he pulls her back to the bathroom and scrutinizes her features. Indeed - this doesn't bear a large resemblance to the old makeup that she'd just plastered on her face. The new cream makes her skin look like porcelain, and with the skillfully applied mascara and lipstick, her face looks unusually normal.
"It looks fine," he says, without his heart in it.
"But you don't really think so, do you?" Dael asks flatly.
"Maybe it's egoistic to say that, but I prefer you to be extraordinary. At least when we're out together." He puts his hands on her shoulders. "Your tattoos are something special to me, and always will be."
She sighs. "Not everybody shares your taste, Christopher. Sometimes, I just want to look ordinary."
He shakes his head and laughs, thinking of the many photographs that show her innate beauty. The tattoos might change her appearance, but nothing could ruin her model-like features. "You never look ordinary, darling. From any angle."
"Ordinary enough for them." Dael looks at him. "I know that Esteban doesn't like me, so I want to make a good impression tonight."
"It's not about like or dislike, he just thinks I'm a bad influence on you," Pike says lightly. "And I'm very sure we'll leave a good impression tonight. Let's fake being a normal, straight couple going out to meet friends. We can do that for a few hours, right?"
"I'll try," Dael says, smiling a little.
*
The trip is short, as they use his beam account to get delivered in front of Esteban's house. Once they're materialized, Dael looks up and down the suburban lanes with their lined-up little houses, built a hundred years ago.
"Like it?" Pike asks.
She shakes her head. "It's a bit unreal. I didn't think people still lived like this."
Unusual for her, she captures his hand as they walk to their door. "I'm glad I covered them up," she mutters, right before Mrs. Esteban opens the door. Pike remembers the woman well from the evening he'd visited the family, back when Esteban had commanded the very first Borg mission to explore their history in the Alpha quadrant. He shakes the woman's hand before introducing Dael.
Mrs. Esteban smiles welcoming as she firmly takes Dael's hand, then shows them in. Like last time, other family members are attending, aside from the three small children, and they get introduced to all: Esteban's brother, wife and small daughter, Mrs. Esteban's old mother, and a young cousin called Lise who's come to live with them for the winter to work on her Starfleet application. The teenage girl is visibly nervous about the illustrious guests but relaxes when Dael exchanges some friendly words with her, although Pike notices that Dael isn't very relaxed either.
The meal and the subsequent coffee pass uneventfully, aside from the fact that children at the table have an incredible capacity to engage the focus of all attending adults, not exactly to Pike's liking. But as with Tom's children, Dael has a talent for taming them without falling into the annoying trap of baby-talking, and puts extra effort in keeping the children out of his range.
The evening moves on without any obvious problems. Pike lengthily speaks with Esteban's sister-in-law, who's writing a dissertation on hypodronic installations. Dael is seated next to the aspiring 'fleet candidate and recounts some academy anecdotes, while the Esteban's five-year-old daughter sits in her lap and draws something on a paper on the low table in front of them. It's a surprisingly sweet picture, and when Dael catches his gaze on her for a moment, she smiles happily. It suddenly brings Kirk's statement from their last vacation to Pike's mind:
"I could even see us on a farm, the three or four of us, having horses and some land and children. They could be Dael's or someone else's, maybe adopted - it's not about biology, it would be about what we feel for each other and for them. Think about it!"
Pike is all for the farm idea although he doubts it will ever come to pass in his lifetime - but that thing with children…
"Are you enjoying the evening?" Mrs. Esteban suddenly says at his side, and he turns his focus towards her.
"Oh yes," he says. "Thanks for the invitation." For a moment, there's a pause in most talks, and Dael's voice chimes in, clearly audible.
"Of course the academy is stressful but I've worked in the Silver Barracuda for a while, and it was a good diversion from all the learning."
All adults fall silent, the eyes of the family members coming to rest on Dael. As she notices the sudden drop in background noise, she looks up with a questioning gaze.
"It's definitely not standard for cadets to work in that kind of clubs," Esteban says stiffly. "I'm glad to know that you stopped working there, Dael."
"It's a licensed night club," Dael says defensively. "It's like working in any other bar, but the times agreed better with my class schedule."
"I'm sure your mentor would have been able to propose a better working place for you," Mrs. Esteban adds, her well-meaning gaze resting on Pike.
He meets Dael's eyes, and she rolls them a little. Maybe they could pretend being majority-defined normal for a few hours, but there are limits to his willingness to do so.
"I actually encouraged her to work there," Pike says consequently. "She needed to get out more, see people outside of the Academy who wouldn't judge her by their usual shallow standards."
He sorely regrets that Dael has covered up the tattoos. They'd never fit into the Esteban's world view, where the husband might sail out to find strange new worlds, but the rest of the family stays safely at home, living in their cocoon of normalcy and small-town-life. Having Dael show her true look might have made a change and displayed more of the diversity they actually represent.
"I thought it was a sex club," Lise says, blushing furiously the second the words are out.
"It might be a sex club, but it's not a brothel," Dael replies unusually impulsively.
For a moment even Pike is a little shocked, but then amusement wins out. He sees the old Mrs. Esteban's chin drop over the word; he almost waits for the adults to run and cover the ears of their children, and sure enough the kids are soon ushered out of the room. The climate in the room has cooled down considerably, as Dael, bereft of the small girl in her lap, gets up and joins him. He puts his arm around her tense shoulder. They'd kept apart most of the evening, trying not to broadcast their relationship too much, but now he feels like making a point. They aren't just any straight couple, and he'd never again try and pretend it. Lesson learned.
"Guess we should go home," he says. "It's getting late." Actually, it isn't but from the look on everyone's face, they'd all be relieved when this dinner invitation ends.
Esteban brings them to the door.
"Thanks for the invitation," Pike says. "It's been - interesting."
"Definitely," Esteban says stiffly. "See you on Monday." As the man opens the door, they find another couple waiting in front of it, just having arrived.
"My sister Marian, her husband Jack," Esteban introduces them quickly. "Admiral Pike and his partner Dael."
"Are you leaving already?" Esteban's sister says, eyeing them intensely. "I've been looking forward to speaking with you."
"Another time, maybe. We already claimed your family's hospitality excessively," Pike says smoothly.
"What a pity," the woman says, nodding at Dael. "Well, then good night and safe ride home."
Minutes later, they're back in front of their own apartment house.
*
"What the fuck," Pike says as they've made it a few steps, both not ready to go in yet. The air is crisp, autumn signaling its arrival, and he draws his jacket a little tighter around his chest.
"I'm sorry for having mentioned the club," Dael says, more distressed than she'd let on in Esteban's house.
"Fine by me." Pike shrugs. "Bigoted assholes."
"But you'll have to keep working with him."
"And he with me. We've dealt with our differences in opinion already for a while; we'll manage."
"Oh." She leans against him with a sigh, and he pulls her close, putting a kiss on her forehead.
They walk the nightly streets in silence for a while, until she quietly says, "I've made up my mind."
He doesn't need to ask what about. "And?"
"I'll accept the offer."
He nods solemnly. "Good."
"I'm sorry," she says and halts her steps.
"Don't apologize for being who you are, and doing what you need to do," he says, trying to tame the numb feeling that rises inside of him.
She looks at him. "But -"
"Don't." He understands that she feels like elaborating, but he can do without. If he still were her mentor, he might have had his misgivings but overall, he would have advised her to accept this interesting, unusual offer. As her partner, he can't do any less.
"Even if I chose another mission I'd still be away for three months -"
"I said, don't," Pike says firmly. He might be supremely self-sacrificing when it comes to Dael, just as John accused him once, but this is about her life, not about his that is constantly veering at the edge of death and decay.
However, he could still do his best to be a part of her life for a while longer. "You do what you need to do, and then you come back to me. If you still want to."
"Of course I will," she mutters and takes a stronger hold on him. "I love you."
"I love you too," he replies and puts another kiss on her forehead. "How about going in? I'm freezing."
Through the dark, he can see her squinting at him with a frown. "It's not that cold."
"It feels cold to me. Come on." They start moving again, and he doesn't unlace from their embrace when their neighbors join them in the turbolift, the middle-aged couple who still nurtures the idea that Dael is his daughter. He faces their strange gaze squarely for a moment, then half-turns and kisses a very surprised but obliging Dael fully on her lips. When the door of the lift opens, he breaks away and says, "She's my girlfriend. Just so you know." The couple is completely at loss for words as he passes them with Dael in his arm.
Under his palm, he can feel her trembling, and once they're in their apartment, he lets her go. "Everything all right?" he asks concerned, and then smirks as she sags against the wall and starts giggling.
"Christopher! The poor people!" She shakes her head, and then convulses with laughter. He joins in, laughing until his chest hurts. It takes them a while before they make it from the corridor to the bedroom.
"Did you see her face?" Dael says when she finds her breath again. "I thought her eyes would pop out." She gets out of her clothes.
"He was too surprised to say anything, but I wonder what he'll do next time we meet," Pike says, undressing swiftly too.
Dael flops down on the bed. "If he's with his wife, he'll criticize you. If you meet him alone, he'll congratulate you on your sexy young girlfriend."
Not exactly Pike's major criterion why he's with her, but he can see her point as he looks at her sinfully inviting body with a smile. He nudges his already half-hard member for a moment, the irritations of the evening quickly fading away over the prospect of a great night with the woman he loves.
"Oh, I should remove the cream," she adds with a sigh. "Don't want to spoil the bedding."
"I'm all for spoiling the bedding," he says and kneels down next to her, running his hands over her hips and along her crack. She giggles again, then rolls over to reach out for their collection of protective lubes.
"Vanilla?"
"Fine by me," he says, though nothing he's got in mind for them is of the vanilla variety, and starts kissing the black lines on her chest.
*
Something unfurls inside of him when Pike finds an invitation to a reception at the Vulcan embassy in his message folder a few evenings later. He'd waited for a chance to have Dael escorting him to an official occasion, and this is the perfect hook.
He walks into the kitchen where Dael is experimenting with something she didn't want to reveal beforehand. "Did you get an invitation to the Vulcans' reception too?"
"Yes," she says distracted, eyes on the pot.
"I want us to attend together."
"Didn't Nogura forbid you from bringing me along to such events?" Dael asks, looking at him with a wary gaze.
"As long as you've got your own invitation, he couldn't stop us without looking like the asshole he is regarding our relationship." Pike pulls her in a light embrace, kissing her patterned forehead which is slick from sweat in the overheated kitchen.
She looks at him. "I already declined." There's guilt in her eyes.
His arm around her waistline drops a little. "Why?"
"I was advised to keep out of the spotlight for a while."
Pike draws away. "By Nogura or the press office?" he asks coolly.
"By neither," she replies. "By the advisor for my training mission."
So you already let Intelligence influence our way of living? springs to Pike's mind, accusing and wounded. It must reflect on his face, considering the way her expression of guilt deepens.
"I'm sorry," Dael says, capturing his hand. "I thought it would be no big deal, considering Nogura's opinion. But if you really want us to go -"
"No, I guess it's better this way then," he states, jaw tight. Unwilling to show the true depth of his hurt feelings, he looks into the pot. "What are you cooking here anyway?" he says lightly, and takes a spoon against her protest to test the food in advance. Soon he has her thoroughly distracted from the original discussion.
*
Shaa becomes Head of Ship Operations, which isn't a big surprise at this point. Although not everyone is in favor of her, general consensus is that it had been necessary to fill the position with someone with a strong personality, something Shaa definitely has. It brings various changes to the departments.
Pike himself is called to Nogura's office to be introduced to Lieutenant Thelin, one of Shaa's younger clan members, and told that the young Andorian would be assigned to the task force. His role would be to work hand in hand with Captain Esteban until the Pathfinder launch, and to support Pike in the strategic analysis of the Borg threat.
Pike doesn't like to have spies in his team, not even when they come in the disguise of a promising young alien that looks at him in a way that leaves Pike wondering whether Shaa has some underlying motive in choosing the lieutenant. Well, if so then she's fucked, because he's taken and she should have known.
His musing about her motivations intensifies over the first task force meeting with Thelin attending, who turns out just as bright and strangely attractive as Pike has feared. Shaa is a tactical genius and he's sure she knows his dossier as well as he knows hers. So if he assumes Thelin is intended as a bait of some kind… but it just doesn't fit. Four is the Andorians' golden relationship number, and interfering with his relationship, which is common knowledge by now, should be opposed to everything that's holy to them.
Pike isn't sure what Shaa is up to, but he's got a bad feeling about the development.
*
"I liked you better while you stayed out of business decisions," Ole grouses at Pike when they leave the house, walking down the stairways into the nightly city. "Three hours with some goddamn idiots who don't know a number from Vulcan script. It'll be a miracle of galactic proportions if we survive this ball."
The meeting with the other fifteen club owners who'd participate in the organization of the Rainbow Ball had been… enlightening, is probably the best word. Aside from Arissa and a few people who seemed reliable and dedicated to the cause, a fair number of them had only their own advantages in mind and spared little thought for the actual effect the ball should have, celebrating diversity.
It had also been a slightly unplanned outing, as only few of the attendees had known about Pike's ownership of the '99 Idaho' (still named by its former location, though it has moved once). People had stared and whispered once when they'd realized who hides behind "Chris", as Arissa had introduced him.
"It will be fine," Pike says, pacifying. "Come on, let's have a drink." He steers Ole into a random bar, and they take a seat and have a beer together. Dael had stayed with Arissa; while she isn't officially working for her anymore, helping her former boss organize this special event had been high up on Dael's agenda, despite her full timetable. It gives Pike the room for a little private chat with Ole.
"Speaking of the business, I lately thought that a queer night once a month would be nice."
"Queer?" Ole raises a brow. "Nobody uses that word anymore."
Pike shrugs. "You know what I mean. A night for people of all genders who identify as non-straight."
"And you'd be attending with your leading lady?" Ole asks sardonically.
"You really don't like women, do you?" Pike asks back.
Ole downs his beer. "I don't care about them, if that's what you mean. And you didn't either before you hooked up with the girl. You've been perfectly fine with the club being men-only for the longest time. If you let them in, it will change its character, even if it's only for one night."
"So that's a no to my suggestion?"
"You're the boss," Ole states coolly. "If you say you want it, we're going to do it. Just like the Rainbow Ball." He gets up. "Got enough for tonight. See you around."
"Damn, Ole, we're partners," Pike says annoyed, but by then the man has already left. He slaps the table in frustration. Why does the universe at large feel inclined to work against him? He must be doing something wrong but hell if he knows what that is and how to fix it.
*
While life in general offers some challenges for him, his relationship life is fine except for the four of them just not managing as many chats as Pike would like, despite the lingering ache after every sign-off. The Enterprise is in and out of the range for real time transmissions too often lately, and more than once they're left alone on the line, waiting for Kirk and McCoy in vain.
Tonight, their first explicit joined sex date is planned but after waiting for an hour, they give up and decide to start, both too frustrated and aroused at the same time to keep their hands from each other.
"What do you want?" Dael asks him as she leans over him, one hand already deep up his ass, just a tad away from getting her knuckles in for a full fisting. "Would you like to get fucked? Ride my cock?"
He cradles his hard-on, spreading his folded legs a little wider. They've done it that way round a few times since their men had left, and while it's still not his favorite activity with Dael, it's far from being a bad thing. "You're just teasing, or do you really want to do something about it?"
Without warning, she pulls her hand out, making him gasp. "Turn around, get on all fours," she orders him, and he obeys, curling forward with his forehead on his laced arms, his ass high up in the air. There's the faint noise of her picking up her dick, and then her hand is back on him, slipping in and out, mocking him with allusions of the real thing.
"As I said, just a tease," he mutters challengingly although his breathing is rather labored by now.
"A tease?" she says, and screws her stretched-out hand into his hole, withdrawing and repeating the act until her hand is finally slipping inside, her fingers curling into a fist.
He moans on the sudden fullness and the strange feelings that come with it; he feels open and vulnerable in this position, his usual strength rendered useless by the handle she has on him. Maybe that's why he's not as often into it as she would prefer.
"You like my teasing?" she says very sweetly, slowly rotating her fist a little which doesn't exactly evoke good feelings.
He gasps. "I'd still rather like a fuck."
Her fist pulls out a little, stretching his muscle from within, while her other fingers curl around his sack's top, stretching it downwards. "Do you?"
At times she's become almost a little too self-confident for his taste. Not that she'd ever been a blushing virgin in bed, but somehow she'd seen too many inspirational actions during their last vacation. He's not ready - maybe never - to grant her quite the same rights as the doc has; maybe it's about a man, or maybe just about Leonard, but giving in to her still has something strange about it.
"Please, Dael," he says, and it's strangled and more of a plea than he'd wanted it to be. His intestines relax as the tightness ends, her fingers drawing out.
"Why the hurry?" she asks in his ear, her body draped over his back, two of her fingers settling back in his hole. "I just want to make it good for you."
"You know what I want." He wants a fuck, plain and simple, a dick pounding into him, flesh against flesh with every push forward that makes him forget that he wants someone he can't get right now, not even on a goddamn real-time transmission. His emotions are edging along a shitty rollercoaster and this is the only way to get off without fallout.
"All right," she suddenly relents, making him wonder if she picked up his mood, and then her fingers are gone and her cock slides in, large and hard, unyieldingly piercing into his slightly raw asshole.
This. This is what he needs.
He leans back against her, driving her member even deeper into his body - and freezes as the long-awaited transmission suddenly comes in.
"Not now," Pike groans but Dael accepts, even though sound-only from their side.
"Hey lovelies," Kirk says as the screen comes alive. Kirk and McCoy lay on the bed, their naked bodies and puffy lips leaving little to assume. "Sorry for being so late. We had some technical problems. The line is super-protected - give us visuals. Pretty, please?"
"No," Pike says again, but damn if she doesn't switch them on anyway. Sometimes he'd dreamed about this kind of erotic transmissions, but hell if he wanted to be featured with a dick in his ass right at this moment. He hangs his head, surprisingly unwilling to face them.
"Ah, what a lovely sight," the doc's voice resounds, its hushed quality signaling his arousal. "Come on, Chris, let us see you ride her. Let us watch."
He rolls his head to the side, trying to keep out of sight of the cam but his needy body bucks back against Dael anyway, quite out of his control. Her hands are on his hips and she holds her own, pushing into him hard enough to make him moan.
"Lord, yes, Dael, sweetie, ride him," the doc's voice says. "Chris, come on, look at me, look at us, see how Jim's climbing on me and riding me too, fuck hell." The sounds coming from their side leave little to assume and finally compel Pike to look up, catching a glimpse of Kirk's muscular ass riding up and down the doc's length. The hotness from the screen multiplies his own arousal, and he gives up trying to hold back. He fucks himself hard on Dael's cock, until he's close, his breathes coming rasped and harsh - then she suddenly pulls him upwards, his back against her chest. He whimpers as the dildo gets embedded in his ass up to the hilt, causing some discomfort.
"Give yourself a hand, Chris," the doc says, and Pike glances up to see McCoy's flushed face. "Imagine it's Jim putting his lovely mouth on you. Ah fuck, what an image, you in the middle of the sandwich, fucked and sucked from both sides." The image seems to be enough to drive Kirk to orgasm, and he comes with broken little noises, shoving down and pulling back up a few more times before sagging forward to catch his breath.
McCoy doesn't give his husband a break, though, just rolls them over and spreads Jim's legs with strong hands before driving into his ass with verve, his gaze still locked with Pike's.
"Fuck -" It's too much, and Pike comes with a groan, arching against Dael's chest as he spurts over his fingers and the bedding.
"Yes, Chris, damnit, yes…" On the other side of the quadrant, McCoy follows swiftly, half-crushing the man beneath him. Once done, he rolls to the side and kisses Kirk open-mouthed.
Pike rests slack against Dael's upper body, her artificial cock still impaling him as her arms keep him from moving.
Kirk finds his voice again. "Come on, Chris, suck off her dick. I know you love that."
I do, but she doesn't, Pike thinks but when she releases her grip, he moves around anyway. Dael sinks on her back, her legs invitingly spread for him. As he looks at her, she wordlessly gestures him up into a kiss, then pushes him down again and laces her hands into his hair, making it absolutely clear what he's supposed to do.
Fuck yes, he thinks, and opens his jaw wide, giving in to the ride. She pushes deep into his mouth as she comes, dry-rocking against its bottom until her last waves of orgasm flitter away. He sags down on the mattress next to her, exhausted but still buzzing from arousal. On the screen, the two men are curled around each other.
"You know you can get them with ejaculation?" Kirk asks with a wink. "I think you should get one. I'll send you the shop's address. Just don't try chocolate sauce, it looks too much like shit to handle."
Pike groans, burying his face into the crook of Dael's neck. "That's an image I really didn't need, Jim."
McCoy slaps his husband's head. "Sorry for that," he apologizes over the screen.
"Not your fault."
"I fear our time's over," Kirk says. "Thanks for the wonderful time. We love you, Chris - we love you, Dael."
"Yeah. Love you both. Take care," McCoy chimes in, waving and smiling.
"We love you too," Pike says, Dael nodding and smiling. "Take care too."
They don't manage to get up anymore, just fall into a sleep full of happy dreams.
*
Pike's quiet hunt for a new, good assistant turns out to be a frustrating task. It seems as if every good candidate is taken, and the remaining ones are not convincing. Of five people he interviews, he can't see any of them running his office successfully.
The reason for this problem gets clearer when he overhears two people in the restroom of another floor exchanging the newest rumors about him, including a blown-up rendering of the club evening with Dael, John and Eric (they really need to keep to his private rooms in the future) and the wildly wrong idea that he would invite other cadets to his apartment to celebrate orgies together with his lovers. That he seems to be out of Nogura's favor leads to additional, malicious remarks about his stagnating career and his unclear responsibilities in the admiralty.
Ever since he'd come together with Kirk and McCoy, Pike had realized that he'd become part of the rumor mill, but these are new heights of defamation. He considers walking out of the stall and facing the men head-on, but then they've already left the restroom. And thinking it through, this looks like a fight he cannot win by confrontation. He'd have to find a better way to deal with this.
Disillusioned, Pike keeps the lousy assistant for now.
*
"Chris, would you have a moment for me?" Nogura says when he calls Pike to his office a day later. Pike can feel his heartbeat speeding up over the brief walk, wondering if Nogura had heard about the rumors and would ask for their level of truth. But when he joins the small gathering in Nogura's office, it's about a strategic decision in a sector barely anyone of the attendees had ever heard of.
It's an interesting little brain-storm they engage in, and it's interesting to meet Shaa in debate at last, see the way her mind ticks. She's definitely very good in tactics and has a perfect overview of the 'fleet situation as a whole, and is also willing to sacrifice a pawn on the way to winning the game, just as any good Andorian soldier would. Pike muses if that will raise the 'fleet losses, and hopes it won't have adverse effects on the Enterprise.
The impromptu meeting ends after only twenty-five minutes. "Thanks for helping out, Chris," Nogura says with a nod when they part at the door. "By the way, I read your latest reports. It's good to know your project is well on schedule. Keep up the good work." With these words, Pike is dismissed, and his tiny chance of having a few more words with Nogura in private is gone.
*
I'll come later, Ole's message blinks on his PADD, and Pike sighs. He's early to the meeting for the Rainbow Ball - actually, he doesn't even want to be here, not really having the time to deal with any more of the arrangements. But Ole keeps resisting their club's participation and so it ends being his job to show up at the gatherings and keep up appearances. The room above Arissa's club is still empty aside from him, and he takes a bottle of Coke and meanders around, thinking of the tasks waiting for him tomorrow while reading some of the old-fashioned posters.
A broad, tall man enters, and Pike smiles as he recognizes Joe Mercury, the owner of the Blue Sun club. It'd been one of those clubs he'd driven to in the search of Dael after her brother's death and her disappearance; he'd always intended to go back to it one day, maybe with her, but hadn't made it so far.
They heartily shake hands.
"Joining in?" Pike asks.
Mercury barks a laugh that resonates in the room. "If I don't join in, this is going to end so bloody Earth-centric, I'm going to cry." Some people think the man has Klingons among his ancestors, and the rolling sound supports that idea. In any case, Mercury is a friend of a truly multi-cultural, multi-species surrounding, always supporting diversity. More than Pike does, admittedly.
"I heard that Romulan kid is yours?" Mercury asks while taking a bottle of Coke for himself. "The one Arissa had in tow when she coaxed me into participating in the ball organization. I don't like those tattoos, but she's got guts to walk around like that."
"She's neither Romulan nor a kid, but if you're talking about Dael, yes, she's one of my partners," Pike replies.
"One of them. I see." Mercury just nods. "Got a couple too, you'll probably meet some of them at the ball. So, how far are you with the planning? Did you get to the question of the buffet yet? I've got a few suggestions regarding the food - we absolutely need silicon-based snacks and hydrocarbon drinks, last time someone tried to give a mixed party, some of the guests almost starved to death."
Having Mercury take Pike's poly relationship in such a stride is a great relief; one he feels more keenly because of the many antagonistic reactions lately. They soon sit on a table, juggling new ideas until the others join them. The group is already diminished, some of club owners who'd been less than enthusiastic about the good cause of the ball not bothering to show up again.
"That's the nice thing about making it real work," Arissa states with a twinkle. "It weeds out the idiots." Dael sits next to her, smiling at Pike over the PADD on which she takes notes.
Ole never shows up, and Pike decides it doesn't matter.
*
A week later, the long overdue furniture for Jim's and Leonard's room arrives, and they get the old furniture moved back to Pike's old apartment, which smells stale by now.
"What are you going to do with it?" Dael asks him, and Pike shrugs somewhat helplessly. This had been his home for so long, he feels uncomfortable renting it out but can't imagine selling it either.
They drive back to their apartment and decorate the room for their lovers. It ends up looking surprisingly homey and comfy, a far cry from what Pike would've imagined them to prefer. Dael walks through it with the cam, before they sit on the bed together with champagne in their hands and film themselves while telling their men how much they miss them and that their room is waiting for them.
Several days later they get an audio file in reply, and the men's voices tremble a little when saying that they hadn't known how badly they'd missed a home on Earth until they got it.
That night, Pike gives head to Dael on the terrace, and when she sobs Jim's name in the end, he just holds her close for a while.
*
A few days later, Pike walks into his apartment and freezes as he hears voices - plural. He follows them into the kitchen, where Dael just puts kisses all over Caitleen's chest, both very naked. He's more stunned than they are.
"Didn't think you'd be coming that early today," Dael says, shielding Caitleen with her body. The other girl smiles, a soft red flush covering her features. At least someone with a leftover shred of decency around, Pike thinks.
"A word with you, Dael," he says and turns on his heel, marching into his office.
"What's the matter?" she asks as she joins him. He throws her one of his shirts that hung over his chair, and with a frown she covers up.
"I don't want to have her here," he says.
"Oh," Dael replies, crossing her arms defiantly. "You mean, fucking someone else is okay as long as you don't see it?"
"That's not the point," Pike states. "Having her in my apartment in such a compromising situation just won't do."
Dael shakes her head in disbelief. "What became of our apartment? I live here too."
"Yes, and I'm very glad about that. But she can't stay here. She's a cadet."
"I am a cadet too."
Pike bristles, the overheard discussion ringing in his ears. "You may not have noticed, but our relationship is only possible because of Nogura's support, and trust me, that was a strategic decision for him, not because he's in favor of it. Last thing I need right now is some internal commission accusing me of abusing my rank to gain sexual services from cadets."
"And you fear her father would bring on something if he knew we're here."
"If anyone brings on something, I want to be in a clean position. I don't want to make a statement about running into my girlfriend and her lover in the middle of a scene."
Dael huffs, but her glare recedes a little. "So where do you suppose we'd go? We can't meet at her home anymore, and I guess your old apartment is out."
"Find a hotel?"
"With whose credits?" Dael says.
"True, it would still be from my account, but at least not within my space," Pike replies. He takes a deep breath. "I'll leave again for now. When I return, I want her to be gone."
"And I?" she asks darkly.
"If you're here, I'll be happy. If not, I hope you'll have a nice evening and we see each other tomorrow." He leaves, annoyed both about the kids as well as himself, that he's reached the point where he thinks he needs to protect himself from potential charges.
The admiralty's building is largely empty as he returns to his office, sitting down with a sigh and forcing himself to tackle some work. After three hours he decides that he could probably give going home a second try. When he arrives, he opens the door cautiously, listening for any noises inside. It's very quiet, and with a subdued sigh he walks in. His heart makes a relieved leap when he finds Dael in the living room, curled on the couch and reading.
"Hey darling - glad you're here," he says and kisses her before slipping onto the place next to her, lacing one arm around her shoulder.
She puts the PADD aside. "I'm sorry. I didn't really think it through, what all this does to you and your reputation."
"You shouldn't. If I couldn't stand it, I wouldn't do it. But this situation today…"
"Was too much. I see that now." She brushes through his hair, drawing a line down his cheek. "I'll be more careful next time."
"And next time I'll be nicer when I've got something to complain about."
She smirks, her dimples deepening. "Maybe I like your authoritative voice."
"Yes, maybe." He knows their relationship wouldn't work if she couldn't stand him occasionally falling into CO behavior, but he doesn't want her to have a special preference for it either. It's too far out of his comfort zone due to the vast power difference between them, no matter how illusory the goal of complete equality might be.
"Bed?" he says, and she nods. There's nothing but her own light scent on her body, and no other smells on his sheets either, and he's really glad about that.
*
Time flies for Dael, who's helping Arissa with the ball preparations, racing through the last regular classes of the year and on top of that, taking part in some special trainings, like the interrogation camp that's usually a part of the third year but one of the requirements for her mission. She comes out of the one week class thinner and paler than Pike has ever seen her, withdrawing from the world - including him - for days. Although her special assignment is largely a non-subject between the four of them, by Dael's choice and Pike's preference, he can't help sending the doc a ranting message this time, wondering how blind Medical is not to see that she's on the edge of a breakdown.
"They say she's fit," is McCoy laconic answer, showing that the doc considers Pike's concerns for Dael's health coming in a little late. "You could always place an official complaint."
They both know Pike wouldn't do that. Three days later Dael goes through the final security screening, and when it takes longer than expected, he skips a meeting and sits down in front of the office she's in, waiting for the outcome.
He's up to three skipped meetings when Dael walks out, her face deathly pale. "Fucking hell," he mutters as he jumps up to take her into an embrace, heedless of the few stares thrown their way.
Is that damn mission really worth this? The question rises in his throat but he swallows it because it's her choice and he'll defend her choices even if they're the way to doom.
"I'm okay, Christopher," she mutters against his shoulder at last. "I just hate Vulcans poking around in my head."
Intelligence uses various methods for the process, but the quickest, deepest and most uncomfortable is a scan by a telepath, usually a Vulcan. Pike would've thought that her experience on Vulcan had made mind melds easier for her than other humans, but maybe it had only made her dislike them more.
She pulls out of his arms, repeating. "I'm okay, really." And then she smiles, tired but victorious. "I passed. And it's been the last test. I fucking passed." Pushing her fist into thin air, she repeats, "I passed! No more tests!"
He's happy for her, he really is - but this also means she's going to go away in just five days, and he won't know where she goes and what she'll do there, and it kills him a little every time he thinks about it.
"Let's go celebrate," is what he says instead, glad when she takes his words at face value.
He's a better diplomat in his relationships than he's ever been on missions.
*
"We've got a date," he says when he calls Dael in the late afternoon three days before her departure. "You're free at 2100?"
"Yes."
"Meet me at the corner of California and Laurel Street."
When he arrives there, she's leaning against a house wall with arms loosely behind her back as buffer, her half-closed eyes and her posture signaling her exhaustion.
"Thanks for coming," he says and kisses her before leading her down Laurel Street and across a corner. They end in front of a closed shop with a sign that says, "Goldberry, since 1967", and Dael frowns a little as he rings the old-fashioned bell. Charisse Rogerson herself opens to them, greeting him with a familiar smile although he'd never met the illustrious heir to the design empire in person before. She's a lady through and through, perfectly fitting to the image of her company.
"Welcome, Miss Dael, Admiral Pike." They all shake hands before they walk inside, passing through beautifully decorated round rooms until they stop in the one that has rings all along the walls, sparkling in the subdued light.
"Please, take a seat," Rogerson says.
Pike wants to move forward as Dael stops him. "Christopher… what are we doing here?"
"Buying rings," he says as if it's the most normal thing in the world and frankly, in his head it's all settled already.
"Rings?" Dael says alerted, and warily looks at Rogerson.
"Please, leave us for a moment," Pike says and the woman nods and walks away, closing the door behind her.
Dael looks at him strangely. "Why?"
Pike captures her hands, holding them firmly. "I want us to have something to remind us of each other when you're away, and this is the symbol I felt to be the most appropriate."
She searches his eyes. "Does that mean what I think it means…?"
"Just a sign that we're together." Pike pulls her closer, although she resists a little.
"You should know by now that I don't like to be pressured into something like this," she says annoyed. "You could've asked me before bringing me here."
"I wanted it to be a surprise. And I only made up my own mind this morning, so it's not as if I had a lot of time to ask you."
She shakes her head with an exaggerated sigh, but then a tiny smile grows on her lips. "You want to tag me. Make sure that others know that I'm taken."
"A bit, maybe," Pike admits. "But this doesn't change a thing. I want you, but I don't own you. You're always free to make your own choices, in every regard."
She laces one hand into his hair, gently guiding his face to rest on her shoulder, his lips on her collarbone. "I know what you really want," she says very softly, stroking his neck. "Thanks for not asking for it." Her lips are gentle on his forehead, as if he'd break under too much pressure.
"I can't promise to wear it during the mission," she says.
"I know," he says against her cadet-red chest, his hands splayed on her back. "Wear it when you can, and come back with it in one piece. That's all I ask for."
Her heartbeat seems to gather speed, the only sound he hears in the long, lingering silence.
"All right. Let's buy them," she says at last and removes her hand. He looks up, brushing his fingers over her cheek before pulling her into a deep kiss.
"Thank you," he says, and if he feels a little brittle, maybe that's how it should be.
Pike wonders how to signal Rogerson their agreement, but she magically returns just in time, a deep smile on her dark-red lips. "Would you like to see the collection now?"
They both nod and take a seat.
*
Onto Part 4