<USS Avalon> "True Lies"

True Lies
 by Ensign Ffej Harak and Petty Officer Vevay Davis

Marching down the corridor, Vevay wanted to be away from the office as
quickly as possible. She'd done it, she'd actually quit. Dear God, she'd
lied but she'd got out of that place. Her quick footsteps took her where she
knew they would. She needed to see him, tell him what she'd done. Freezing
outside Ffej's quarters, she raised her hand to press the chime, forcing
herself to complete the action, despite reservations.  Oh God, what's he
gonna say when I tell him I lied about us?

Ffej drifted through his mind, reliving memories of the distant past and
those of the recent. Sitting in the lotus position, he barely showed signs
of life. His heart beat only but once a minute, breathing so shallow. This
stage of meditation was his preferred method of rest, he only truly slept
maybe eight hours a week, the rest of the time was spent in a deep trance
such as this.

"Computer, locate Ffej Harak," she said when there was no response to the
chime. After it told her he was in his quarters, she frowned. Hitting her
comm-badge, she said, "Davis to Harak, Ffej are you okay?"

When there was still no response, Vevay began to panic. Ffej had given her
the codes to get in to his quarters, but she'd promised herself that she'd
never use them. "Come on, V, what if he's dying or something?"

Keying it in, she forced the doors to open quicker than they would normally
and dashed inside. What she found made her heart stop. He was deathly pale,
not breathing and stiff. Kneeling down in front of him, she reached out to
touch his face. "Oh God..."

The moment her fingers gently touched his cheek, his eyes snapped open
unfocused. In a blur of motion he had grabbed her wrist and twisted her
around, slipping an arm around her shoulders and locked over her neck. The
arm in his iron grip was pinned and held at a painful angle with her hand
between her shoulder blades. Within a handful of rapid heartbeats, her
familiar smell wafted up his nose, bringing him completely aware. "Oh my
god! What have I done?" Releasing her and trying his best to steady her
balance, he said, "I'm sorry V."

"Er..." She stumbled against him, feeling dizzy. Her arm hurt as did her
shoulder and neck. Looking up into his eyes, she managed a crooked smile.
"S'okay." Then, "You're alive."  Well, no shit Sherlock!

"Uh, yea. Sorry about my reaction. Never been interrupted from my trance and
I guess my body reacted a bit violently..." His heart raced with the fear
that he could have seriously harmed her, let alone how close he had come to
ending her life. He shivered violently and buried his face in his hands.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Rubbing her hands up and down his arms, she tried to
comfort him. "I'm okay, honest. It was my fault anyway, I shouldn't have
barged in like that. I'm sorry, okay?"

Without looking at her, he mumbled into his hands. "It was too close... two
more seconds and you could have been dead in my arms."

"But I wasn't, was I? I'm fine." Drawing his hands away from his face, she
said, "Look at me. See? I'm fine."

Pulling her down into his lap, he wrapped his arms about her, trembling into
her shoulder at the imagined corpse laying in his arms. "I could never
forgive myself if I had caused you harm."

Touching his face, she cupped his chin in her hands. "But I am fine. Please
stop beating yourself up about this, no harm came of it, none at all." She
leaned in to brush her lips against his. "You can't hurt me that easily."

Pulling away slightly, he was instantly lost in those glorious emerald orbs.
"You're right." Ffej let out a slow long sigh. "To what pleasure have I been
graced with your pressence?"

 Suddenly shy, she blushed and looked away. "I came to tell you something."
She stood and looked out of the viewport, not really seeing, just staring at
nothing. "I quit JAG. And I lied about us to do it."

Furrowing his brow, "Lied about us? To leave JAG?" Confusion shattered his
composure, cracking into a giggle. "Oh please do tell."

"You're laughing at me." Her heart hit her shoes and she refused to look at
him. Hugging her arms around her, she said, "I told them that we'd had
sexual relations, when we haven't. Then I offered my resignation and it was
accepted. I have been suspended from duty and, pending the results of his
court marshal, Keith will take me on in Security."

The knife named 'Keith' pierced his heart and silenced him as sure as death.
He coughed lightly after several agonizing breaths. "I'm not laughing at you
V. Just that you lied about That... I thought you meant you had lied about
us getting closer than diplomacy merited for such an investigation."

"No. I'm sorry I lied, I needed to. It was the easiest and best way."  And
the most wonderful, because for a short time I could pretend that we had.

 Slowly, he stood and walked up behind her. His hand hovered just a
milimeters from her shoulder, unsure if his contact was desired. He lowered
it back to his side, as his eyes drifted shut. "Honestly, I don't mind that
you did. In fact, I wish it were only true. To have shared with you a moment
of tenderness and a spark of how I feel for you." He walked away from her
and flopped into his beanchair.

She turned to glance over at him. "You do?"  Now, now, Vev, don't get your
hopes up, he could be teasing or something. "I mean, do you? That is..."
Stuttering to a stop, she pulled her arms tighter around herself and
muttered, "Nevermind."

 He looked up at her huddled form. "Yes. Why the distance suddenly?" He
patted the large lump of a chair. "Come join me, we can admire the stars
together."

She carefully eased herself down next to him, laying her head on his
shoulder. "You're not mad at me?"

Slipping his arms around her waist, he laced his fingers together. "Why
would I be?"

"Because I lied and you said that we'd split up if I did that again." A lump
caught in her throat. She whispered, "And I don't want that to happen."

He giggled lightly. "Maybe I should make myself a little clearer on that
front. So long as you don't lie to me anymore, there is no problem. Besides,
it's only a lie if it never becomes true..."

Her breath caught and her pulse jumped. Tentatively, she drew her fingertip
down his cheek, tracing the line of his scar. "I-I've never..."

"Never?" Twisting his head slightly to match her gaze. "You mean never
never?"

Nodding gravely, she repeated, "Never."

Pulling her closer, snuggling deeper into the chair, he said, "Well then,
only when you're ready." He leaned his head against hers and peered out into
the stars with her, content to hold her close and share this moment with
her.

"Wh-what if I'm ready now?" She felt such a nervous fool, how could this man
still make her feel so naïve? "Wh-what would you do?"

 Carefully, he twisted in the chair to look at her fully. Slowly, he combed
his hand through her hair, bringing it to rest upon her cheek, pulling her
closer until their lips met.

There have been five great kisses since 1642 B.C., when Saul and Delilah
Korn's inadvertent discovery swept across Western civilization. (Before then
couples hooked thumbs.) And the precise rating of kisses is a terribly
difficult thing, often leading to great controversy, because although
everyone agrees with the formula of affection times purity times intensity
times duration, no one has ever been completely satisfied with how much
weight each element should receive. But on any system, there are five that
everyone agrees deserve full marks.

Well, this one left them all behind.

Drowning in his touch, she sank down into it. Every nerve in her body
tingled with him. She let him lead her, show her the steps of the dance they
would perform.

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