<USS Avalon> "Working Out the Kinks"

  Working Out the Kinks
by Lts Patrick McEntire and Sussanna Jameson

Once Mac was sure that Belle was seeing to Josh, he rose from the bed again 
and headed out. He'd given her time to run and think and hopefully calm. Now 
it was time to deal with this. Together.
 He arrived at her quarters and rang the chime.

The dream of the wasteland faded and she glared at the door. Pulling herself 
out of the huddle, she straightened her still bedraggled clothes and barked 
that the invader could enter.
 Mac stepped in and stopped, taking her in. "Never did work out those kinks 
for you," he said softly at last, "Thought I'd come by and see if my doctor 
was up for a house call."

"What ails you, Lieutenant McEntire?" Her heart broke but she couldn't feel 
anymore, not like that, not if it hurt him.
 "Well see, Doc, I got this pain...right here," he indicated his heart. "I 
gave my heart to this beautiful, wonderful woman, see...and she ran out of 
the room with it." He looked into her eyes, adding, "I won't accept it back, 
though, so she's just going to have to stop running and stay with me."

"I think I have an analgesic cream for these instances," she said as she 
turned away, using it as a way to hide the tears already threatening her 
eyes. Anna fiddlied around in her bag, not even sure what she was looking 
for, feeling the tears crawl down her cheeks.

"I think I'm way past creams, Doc. Besides, I want to feel this. Better this 
than nothing." He turned her back to face him, wiping the tears from her 
cheeks gently. "She's worth it, you know. Even if it hurts sometimes...she's 
worth it."

"No, she's not." Anna rubbed a circle over his heart. "Hurting you is never 
worth anything." Stepping back, she shook her head and dragged a tube out of 
her bag. "It's strong, don't use too much of it at once," she said simply, 
no longer looking at him.

He reached over her shoulder, dropping the cream back into her bag. "You 
know...thinking I'm gonna need help with that...little slow sometimes, you 
know. Guess you'll have to apply it for me. How often? At least...oh...five 
...ten times a day...for the rest of my life." He turned her to face him 
again and told her simply. "I love you. And I'm keeping you. You said I 
could, remember. Gave yourself to me, and I'm just not giving you back. 
What's more...I gave myself to you... And I won't let you return that 
either."

"And what if I don't want you anymore?" The lie was plastered all over her 
face as she bit her lip, waiting.

"Hmm..." Mac pretended to consider the question seriously, seeing her 
expression. "Well, now...that's a good question, I suppose. I'll have to 
think about it. Give me a year or two and I'll get back to you." He shook 
his head. "Nope...probably not. Sorry, sweets, you're stuck with me. I love 
you. I'm staying. Next question?"

"You said that. Why do you keep saying that?" Frowning hard at him, she 
said, "How am I supposed to stop if you keep telling me that you love me? 
And how can I be sure that you mean it? And how do you know that I'm worth 
it? And how do you know that I truly love you, that I wasn't lying just to 
make you feel better?"

"You're not supposed to stop, Anna." He told her, shaking his head. "I know 
you truly do because I see it in your eyes. I hear it in your voice, and I 
feel it in that heart I gave to you. You're worth it because you're you, the 
one I love more than life itself. As for how you know I mean it...I'll keep 
telling you...and showing you...every day of our lives...but if that's not 
enough...well, some things you just have to take on faith." He wrapped his 
arms around her.
 
"Don't leave," she whispered so quietly that she half hoped he hadn't heard 
her. Laying her head on his chest, she closed her eyes tightly as she layed 
her final card down, "And if I told you that I hate you?"

Mac held her tightly. "I'm not leaving. And you might say that a few times 
over the course of ...oh, say, fifty years or so...who knows." He laughed. 
"You might even mean it once or twice, if only for a moment or two. But I'll 
still love you. And I'll still be here. And we'll work past whatever stupid 
thing I did to make you feel that way for that instant until you remember 
that you love me too."

"Fifty years? That's marriage talk, that is." Shaking her head, she kissed 
him lightly. "Just don't ask me today, okay? I might turn you down when I 
don't mean to. Admittedly," she went on quickly, "I could be totally jumping 
the guns and you have no intention of asking me and I'm being a fool. In 
which case, totally ignore me, pretend I said nothing and I'll just go find 
a comfy rock to hide under."

"How about if I ask you now...." Mac smiled, "And if you turn me down...I'll 
ask again later....just in case you didn't mean it."

"You're serious, aren't you?" She goggled at him. "You... I... that is, if 
you still want me. Ask."

Mac's smiled widened as he got down on one knee, taking her hand in his. 
"Susanna Jameson...will you...." suddenly he remembered something. 
"Wait...hold that thought." He jumped back up, digging into his pockets. 
Extricating a small box, he opened it to show a very old and delicate 
looking diamond ring. "I sort of mentioned my feelings for you to my 
mother...this was my grandmother's." Kneeling again, her hand with one of 
his while holding the box in the other, he began again. "Susanna 
Jameson...will you marry me?"

Beaming at him, she touched the ring very lightly, scared it was going to 
break in her fingers. "On one condition: no kids. Not yet, anyway. But other 
than that, yes, God Mac, yes."

Mac looked at her, considering. "No kids right away. But definitely kids 
later...," He agreed as he slipped the ring onto her finger and rose, 
kissing her. "Definitely little Mac and Annas eventually."

"One little Mac or one little Anna, not plural." She shook her head, 
watching the light sparkle in the diamond, trying not to revel in it too 
much. "Now, what are we doing about sleeping arrangements? I'm not spending 
the rest of my life sharing a room with Josh, as much as I love him, he's 
really not my type. Too tall and too quiet," she said, winking. "Besides, I 
doubt Belle would be too impressed."

"It looks like he anticipated that, sweetie. He's moved into the chief 
engineers quarters, near as I can tell. More room. Less furniture." He 
laughed, "Knowing him, probably no furniture." Seeing the darkening of her 
expression, Mac reassured her, "Belle's with him now. He'll be fine. 
Everything's gonna work out okay. Alright? " He smiled sweetly, then went 
on, "Now...as to our children...."

Pressing her mouth to his to shut him off before they started arguing 
already, she curled her arms around his waist and sank into him. She pulled 
back and gave him a lop-sided grin. "You realise these rooms are way bigger 
than that piddly thing you share with Sport. Maybe you should move yourself 
in here, because there's no way in hell I'm moving my stuff into that tiny 
little room." She shook her head vigorously. "I like my space!"

"Me too...and my furniture. Tell you what...I'll move in here, but I bring 
my furniture with me. Deal?"

Glancing around at the massive quarters that had suddenly shrunk with the 
imagined invasion. "I'll have to move my stuff into storage." As she 
accounted for everything, she added, "Actually, not a whole lot of this is 
mine, it just came with the room. I'm more a live light, travel light kinda 
girl. So.. when can you move in?"

Mac grinned. "You tell me. How 'bout now?"

"No, not now, now is for something else," she smiled as she pulled him 
toward the bedroom, kissing him and raking her nails through his hair.

"You know I'm glad you mentioned that, see I've got this kink...." he 
laughed, following her willingly and closing the door behind them.

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