<USS Avalon> "The Face Enshrouded"

“The Face Enshrouded”
by Commander Javan Sierra
& Senior Lieutenant Caine Reilly McKinsely



Caine collected the dirty plates from the table and smiled as she watched Hannah bound out the door, following one of her friends. Tonight was Hannah's first ever sleep-over and she had been so excited, it was all she talked about during dinner with Caine and Javan. Taking a deep breath, Caine turned and headed into the kitchen to dispose of the dirty dishware. "She is doing so great," Caine stated loudly, "She's almost back to her old self again."

Wiping his mouth with his napkin, Javan shook his head and then tossed the napkin back onto his plate. His eyes took a gander at the door before returning his gaze to Caine, "I don't know, Caine, it's quite early for just losing her father. Granted she's young, but it still doesn't make sense that she's immediately over her father's death. If I were you I'd keep an eye on her development - you are the counselor after all." Javan didn't like kids to tell anyone the truth, but he figured that Caine was adamant about helping the child along so he could be nothing but supportive.

"Yeah, I know, I am watching and I have been curious as to how she is doing as good as she is. I don't know though, I sort of wish I was telepathic like you are, that way I could read her and my other patients better," Caine shrugged and turned to face Javan with a smile on her lips. "Oh well, how did you enjoy your shore leave?"

"Caine, stop," Javan shook his head again - he seemed to be doing a lot of that lately, "being able to read people's minds is not the best thing. Sometimes it's the most annoying attribute one can possess. There are plenty of times when I wish that I were just human without all the added telepathic crap. I know things about people I don't want to know and it hurts because I can't approach people about it without looking like an ass." It was the truth; it wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Betazoids were good for some things, but it could be a curse as well as a gift.

Not fully understanding Javan's wish to not be telepathic, Caine just walked over to him and kissed his lips softly. "I'm sorry sweetie, I swear from now on to stop thinking. That way you have one less mind to have in yours," she smiled at him and grabbed the rest of the dishes off the table, moving back to the kitchen.

Smirking he stood and moved over to the bay windows and stared at the blue-green marble that was Earth. Sighing heavily he looked to McKinley Station that wasn't far off either. It was a true spectacle to see - an oasis in the blackness of space - but it lost something each time he saw it. He figured he was just taking the sight for granted, but he shrugged it off. "The crew is glad to be back in our own time - morale was shallow for a long while."

Caine nodded, "I know. I might not be telepathic, but I could definitely read the emotions of everyone. It was hard being in that other time and doing all we had to do." She left the dishes on the counter and moved up behind Javan, wrapping her arms around his waist. "I'm extremely happy to be in our own time and I'm even more happy we're visiting Earth right now, it was great to see my family again."

"How are they doing?"

Again, Caine just shrugged, but the huge smile on her face showed just how happy she had been to see them. "They’re good, very busy and doing their own thing but good. It was great to see them, but I realized something when I was down there. I don't fit into their lives anymore. I mean, they still love me and such and I'm their daughter but I just don't fit into that lifestyle anymore. I also gave up my title. It now goes to my little sister once she gets married." Caine moved over to the couch and sat down, taking a sip of the glass of wine she had been nursing all through dinner. "My brother might be coming up here to visit though."

Javan nodded, albeit it somewhat absently, his family wasn't nearly as close knit as hers and he didn't like talking about it - the conversation, however, was about to take that turn. "That's good, I'm glad that at least you're still involved with them. I know how destructive it can be to lose that contact and I would hate to see you go through that."

"No worries, Amon and I keep in really good touch and through him I'm connected to everyone else." Caine never bugged Javan about his past and his family, even though she had a million questions, she knew that when he was ready he would talk to her, so she didn't let it bother her.

"That's good. I wonder what our new mission is going to be," Javan didn't try to change the subject - it came quite naturally. People were worried about the debriefings and the promotions and what not, but it still was just another day in Starfleet for him. Another mission would come and go and it would be awkward and then it would go away; such was the nature of working with the United Federation of Planets. "Something laid back, you think?"

"Hmm, I'm not so sure. I mean, we have a new Captain, who will want to show his skill and win the crew's loyalty and trust, as well, going along with that, us as a crew needs to get used to this new captain. I'm just not sure what our next mission will be, I hope something really easy but you never know."

He blinked, "what?"

Caine looked at Javan, his body outlined by the stars behind him. She took in the confused look on his face and ended up having matching one on hers. "What, what?" she asked.

"New captain?" He took a step closer to her. There was something in the news that hit him. Generally it wasn't too big of a shock because he would know before all others. This time, however, was different. He stared at her in completely confusion. It hit him like a knee to the stomach and it almost took the breath out of him - his situation was unique and more complex than others. He had a mission to accomplish and it wasn't going to help that Caine didn't know the answers to the questions he needed to ask. "Who is it? When did it happen? And why wasn't I notified?"

It seemed weird to Caine that Javan hadn't known about the new captain, she had just assumed he knew. "His name is Captain Jacob Flubb. As for when it happened, I have no idea, but Captain Ketchum was promoted and taken somewhere else and we got Captain Flubb. Also, for why you weren't notified, I don't know, I had just assumed you knew. I'm sorry for not telling you sooner Javan." Caine placed her glass of wine down on the table in front of her and looked up at Javan. "He seems nice enough, just weird and very different," she said with a shrug, trying to make it seem like not such a big deal, even though she knew it was a big one.

A million and one things ran through his mind at that moment. There were a lot of things he had to go do and he had to do them quickly. The name didn't register with him immediately, but he figured that a once-over on the person's file and all the clouds would be blown away. "That's interesting. Well, hopefully he can guide us as well as Ketchum - he left a some huge shoes to fill."

Caine nodded slowly, not really paying attention to the words coming out of Javan's mouth, instead she was pay attention to the emotions she saw in his eyes for a few short moments there before he hid them again. She didn't exactly know what was going on in his mind, the emotions that had flashed across his face seemed weird to her but one she did recognize was anxiety. Caine figured the reason she recognized it was because that was how she was feeling about the new captain, of course, she could have just been projecting her emotions onto Javan, for he was not the kind that wore their emotions out there for anyone to see. "Yes," she said slowly, her mind going to other things, "Captain Ketchum did leave huge shoes to be filled."

"Well, I should probably go introduce myself to this new captain. Being the second officer and I would expect the same courtesy from him if the roles were reversed," Javan hugged and kissed Caine and moved towards the door without a second glance or second thought.

Slightly bothered by the idea of Javan just leaving like that and not spending much time alone with just her Caine opened her mouth to say something before closing it again. She knew that Javan was a busy man, he had more work then she did to get done, Caine didn't want to waste any of his time with silliness, even though more then anything, she wished to spend her entire night with Javan, she figured he would have more stuff to do and wouldn't be able to anyway. "All right, good luck," she called after him.

He stopped and turned, remembering what she had gone through for him recently even though she didn't know it, "I love you."

"I love you too, come back if you any free time," she said, now with a genuine smile on her face.

He smiled, nodded, and left.

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