<USS Avalon> "A Shift in the Right Direction" by Marksbury and Monroe

A Shift In The Right Direction
by Lieutenant First Class Elissabeth Marksbury and Junior Lieutenant James 
Monroe
 
"Well," Lissi sighed after finishing her shift, "that was certainly 
interesting.  Guess I scored one for the home-team."  She held up the PADD with 
the Rydyn's questions on it.  She felt rather productive for coming to some 
sort of agreement with them.  According to the records, every encounter had 
pretty much ended in a screaming match, but Lissi felt like she had actually 
accomplished something.  Now, she just had to find answers to those questions.  
It was going to have to wait until tomorrow, however, as she needed to see Lt. 
Manson and he was in a meeting.
 
Having nothing more pressing, it was time for a couple hours of R & R.  She 
wanted to see if a certain Lt. Monroe was busy tonight. She felt a bit silly 
because this was the first time she had ever really dated anyone.  If you could 
call it dating, anyway.  She wondered if he had those same tingly feelings of 
anticipation that she did when she thought about him.  And to find out he was 
Intel too.  It couldn't have been a better match.
 
Lissi returned to her quarters and changed into loose-fitting slacks and tunic. 
 The material draped nicely over her curves and the deep green colour brought 
out the highlights in her eyes.  She sat in front of her console to call Monroe.
 
"Monroe," he answered.
 
"Hey you," she smiled.
 
"Lissi!"  His face lit up when he saw her.  "How are you feeling?"
 
"Much better.  The memories came back, though it was a rather unpleasant 
process, and things are bit fuzzy in places.  I'm sorry that I didn't get to 
tell you sooner.  I just received a new assignment from Commander Sierra - who 
I'm pretty sure at this point hates me - and needed to attend to it right away."
 
"Of course.  And why does Sierra hate you?"
 
"He assigned me to work with the Rydyn delegation and I'm not a diplomat." Her 
wry smile and slight eye-rolling __expression was rather cute.  "But I think 
I've made progress."
 
There was a pause in the conversation that was palpable.  It seemed like they 
were both searching for what they wanted to say when Monroe finally broke the 
silence.
 
"So what are you doing now?"
 
"I was going to ask you the same thing," she laughed.  "I was kind of hoping 
that you weren't busy..."
 
"I'm not.  Would you like to come over?  You've never seen my place." Surprised 
at his own boldness, he added, "Or I could meet you somewhere."
 
"I'd like to come over, actually," she told him.  "It will be nice to have some 
quiet time to talk."
 
His smile was one of relief as he gave her directions.
 
"I'll be right there." 
 
It wasn't long before they were sitting on James' sofa having a cup of tea, 
talking as naturally as if they had been friends for a long time.  Lissi's 
nervousness was finally wearing away and she felt more comfortable with him.  
He was a lot more than just good looks, she was happy to find.  It reassured 
her to know that she wasn't such a giggly school girl after all.
 
"How did you get involved with Intel?" she eventually asked.
 
"Do I really have to answer that?"
 
"No."  Lissi smiled a shy smile, like she did anytime she was embarrassed.  
James scooted a little closer to her on the sofa, hoping to reassure her that 
he wasn't offended.  Their knees were touching when they faced each other.  
Lissi felt the colour rise to her cheeks as he leaned a little closer.
 
"I really don't like talking about it much.  There's not a lot to say."
 
"It just seemed like you aren't really happy where you are and I just wondered."
 
"It's ... looking up," he smiled.  "How about you?  Are you going to tell me 
your story?"
 
Lissi bit her lip  Did she dare?  It took her only a moment to decide to stick 
with one identity - the one he knew.
 
"Well, I told you I was raised in an orphanage and trained martially in the 
military way of life since I was four."  Wow, that came out all rambly, she 
thought.  Taking a breath, she continued, "It seemed only natural that with my 
odd knack for finding security problems, that I was sent to Intel.  That's 
really about it."  She swallowed hard, realising just how close he was sitting.
 
"How about boyfriends?"
 
"Boyfriends?" she asked a little louder than she meant to.  His nearness was 
playing havoc with her ability to stay calm.  "No, no boyfriends."
 
"Never?  Not even in Academy?"
 
She shook her head.  
 
"I don't understand it," he grinned.  "Within two minutes of meeting you, I 
knew that I wanted to get to know you better."
 
"Well, I ... ," she just let the sentence trail off as she stared into James' 
eyes.  She licked her lips unconsciously and swallowed again.  She couldn't 
help but glance to his lips as well.
 
Both of them felt the tension in the air.  Slowly, ever so slowly, James leaned 
in and placed his lips against hers.  It felt like little sparks of electricity 
raced through her veins, but it was over before she realised it.  
 
James pulled back another inch and looked into her eyes, "I'm sorry if I..."
 
"No, not at all..." she whispered, knowing instinctively what he was going to 
say.  
 
He leaned in and kissed her again, this time a little more passionately.  He 
slid his arms around her back and hers automatically travelled to the back of 
his neck.  When his tongue touched hers, Lissi thought that she may pass out 
from being so light headed.  It was such a ... new feeling for her.
 
When they parted, James reached for her hand.  "I'll walk you back to your 
room," he said, his mind still reeling from that kiss and knowing that it would 
be a big mistake to spend anymore time alone together tonight.
 
"Thank you," she told him.  
 
They walked through the corridor holding hands, but not talking.  Both of them 
were busy wondering where this new development left them.  
 
When they reached her door, James had decided to ask, "I'll see you tomorrow?"
 
Lissi couldn't help but smile.  "I'd like that."  
 
He kissed her softly goodnight and she felt as though she floated through the 
door to her room.


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