(Untitled)

[divine_mandate]

It's filling the days that presents the biggest challenge. Yes, there are the occasional outbreaks of mass hysteria, monster attacks, and general mayhem, but the average day feels endless when there's no work to be done. Where it had been relaxing at first, like a long overdue holiday, now it's begun to wear on her. Her mind feels idle. She

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[leftwithmybones]

"I'll tell you what. You're a sight for sore eyes," he says as he wanders closer to a woman that he hadn't been sure would make it past the first few hours on the island. "I mean, sure, most people look a lot better outside of being on death's doorstep, but you're really making a case for it," he teases gently.

[divine_mandate]

"I bet you say that to all the women whose lives you save." She smiles brightly up at him, more pleased that she would have imagined she'd be to see him again. It wasn't the first time she'd been injured in the line of duty but she can't remember ever feeling quite so fondly toward any of her doctors before. Possibly it's connected to the circumstances, but it might also simply be a matter of him being far more charming than any other medical professional she's met. Hard to say. "It is lovely to see you again, doctor. I'm not sure I ever thanked you properly."

[leftwithmybones]

"Wouldn't you know it, that number is actually higher than you might expect," he jokes in turn, offering her a gentle smile as he does his best to look her over without being too obtrusive. "And there's no need to thank me. A long time ago, I took an oath, and when you showed up here, there wasn't anything I would do except help."

[divine_mandate]

"I understand," she replies, noticing the appraisal but not minding in the slightest. "Doing what's right because it's the right thing to do, not because you expect any reward. Doesn't mean a bit of gratitude isn't appreciated once in a while, though."

They may come at it from very different places but she understands far better than she can say, really, what it means to swear an oath. Her entire life dedicated to doing what she believes is necessary for her country. Making painful choices, decisions that require sacrifice for the greater good. Usually with others doing the sacrificing. And always believing she not only has the duty, but also the right. Never doubting the path.

It's not, however, a topic for casual conversation. So she lets it be, maintaining her smile and smoothing her hair back from her face. "Have you brought your swimming trunks so you can join me? Or are you content to simply watch?"

[leftwithmybones]

"I'm not a swimming sort of guy," he admits ruefully. The truth is that he used to go all the time back in Georgia, but it's been a long time since he's associated Georgia with happy memories and when his brain is filled with memories of Jocelyn (who, in the right light, Juliet reminds him of), he doesn't love swimming when it just brings to mind thoughts of the divorce and the loss of custody. "I'm more than happy to watch you swim seeing as it gives me a chance to evaluate your motor skills."

[divine_mandate]

"Well then, Doctor McCoy. Exactly what kind of guy are you?" The word feels strange in her mouth but she can't resist the question. He intrigues her. A puzzle she can't resist trying to solve simply because it's there. "Do you take any time for yourself or are you solely dedicated to saving other people's lives?"

[leftwithmybones]

"I'm a doctor and lately, that's all I've been," he admits with the kind of casual shrug that says that past that, he's not entirely sure what else he is. Back home, he'd devoted himself to Starfleet in order to dig himself out of the looming hole that he'd found himself approaching. "I work. That's what I do, I work and when I don't, I'm thinking about it."

[divine_mandate]

She smiles softly at him, a sort of fond understanding in her eyes. "If you're expecting me to reproach you, you'll be disappointed. I've been with the security services since university. One doesn't exactly get the luxury of a separation between work and private life."

The thought makes her mind turn to Clive, to how he'd recruited her. While it was true that he'd betrayed them in the end, he'd paid the ultimate price for that, and she doesn't see the point in letting it taint her memories of him. After all, he'd given her everything. Given her life purpose and direction. She's rather remember him fondly.

"I've never regretted it either. Though it does make adjusting to life here a bit of a challenge."

[leftwithmybones]

"Now, when you say security services..." He trails off because he hasn't got much of a clue and he's not about to jump in with guesswork just because he's from the future and the system he works off is strikingly different to any a one that he's seen before. "Are you protecting someone? Sort of like personal bodyguards for hire?"

He can see why that would eat up a good deal of time.

[divine_mandate]

She blinks a few times before she can even think to reply. It's such an unexpected breakdown in communication and it takes her a moment to think of how to proceed. Juliet suspects she should learn to get used to spelling things out a bit more clearly, though. People from so many different times and places, she needs to stop assuming a shared frame of reference.

"No, not that kind of security. I was an officer in the British Secret Service for most of my career. Protecting British interests and security abroad." It feels so strange having to describe the job that way, but it's accurate enough. "More recently I was promoted to a Cabinet post coordinating national security more broadly. Like I said," she adds with a bit of a wry smile. "Not much opportunity for a personal life."

[leftwithmybones]

McCoy shakes his head apologetically. He wishes that he knew more about it, but the truth is that he's still as lost as he had been before. "You're gonna have to dumb it down even more," he admits with a hapless shrug. "I'm from the twenty-fifth century and I was assigned to a post in space for six months before I got here. I'm a little lacking in history lessons."

[divine_mandate]

It's an odd chill that comes over her at his words. Not at of his talk of being from the future -- she'd known that already, if not the specific date -- but because the idea of the United Kingdom no longer existing is simply too shocking for her mind to accept. It makes her mouth dry and her pulse race.

"I'm sorry," she says after a long moment. "That isn't the kind of thing one hears every day. It's just...you sound American so I'd assumed..."

She lets the thought trail off as she tries to regain her composure. "Great Britain is an island nation off the coast of mainland Europe. I work for the government of that nation as a...a spook. A spy. Me and others like me, we work to protect the nation through covert means. Attempting to avert war and terrorist atrocities. Protecting British lives. Does that make any sense?"

[leftwithmybones]

"Well, I am American, but I left good ol' Georgia behind and served up in the stars," he admits with a smile on his face that's painted with all the frustration and the joy that comes of such a task. "I went all the way across the universe so I could bring a cure back home. At the end of the day, maybe what we were doing wasn't so different. Protecting a nation of people, right?"

[divine_mandate]

The sense of pleasure in his expression is infectious and she can't help reflecting some of it back to him. She'd never spent much time considering space travel beyond the childhood fascination with science fiction or the adult concern with its potential as a tool or a weapon of war. But he makes it sound...romantic in a way that's new to her.

"I suppose you're right," she replies after a moment. Her voice as warm as her smile. "Though it would seem you've gone quite a bit further afield than I ever have. You can't imagine how mad that sounds. How brilliant. Knowing there's a future like yours waiting for us."

[leftwithmybones]

"Well, I dunno, we did almost tear apart the whole of reality with a black hole," he points out in a sheepish tone, giving a slight shrug. "I mean, in the end, we only lost a couple planets, but it was a near thing." And something he's not bound to forget anytime soon, especially not the guilt.

[divine_mandate]

The words make sense individually, but Juliet is having a bit of trouble putting them together to form a shape her mind can accept as reality. It's not that she doubts the truth of what he's saying, more that its simply too fantastical.

She shakes her head and makes her way to the edge of the water, stepping out and grabbing the towel she'd left there. "Listen. You must understand that what you're saying is incredible, and I have about a million questions I want to ask you. Any chance I could convince you to buy a girl a drink?"