Mended

Posted on Tue Jan 19th, 2021 @ 2:30am by Captain Jane Saulitis (P) & Hak

Mission: Torn- Parallel Majestic
Location: Hak's Quarters/Parallel Majestic
Timeline: MD04
1332 words - 2.7 OF Standard Post Measure

Jane stood outside the termporary quarters that she'd assigned Hak when he found himself on her ship during the attempted takeover of Majestic by some of Yorktown station's personnel. She pressed the chime and waited patiently for him to answer the door, her heart was beating fast but she was trying to calm herself so she could explain. When the door opened she wasted no time. "I need to talk to you, it's rather awkward and very important."

It would be a lie to say that Hak hadn't found the guest quarters entirely too comfortable and the Majestic overall entirely too new and perfect. However, there were things he appreciated: the vast library of replicated foods, and the overall tone and comradery that came with the social security of having 'enough' resources for everyone, for instance. The Majestic and her crew came from a different universe and it certainly felt that way to him. But time would wear her down, he knew. It was only a matter of months and resources, even on a ship like this, would start to run scarce. So that's what he expected Jane's visit to be about.

"Awkward and Very Important are practically my middle names," Hak answered, stepping aside and motioning her in. "What is it? What's going on?"

"Uh . . . . I Don't know how to tell you this so I'm just going to come out with it. I'm pregnant. I had the doctor confirm it this morning." She hoped that would be enough for the wheels to turn and for him to figure out that although it wasn't his child. It was the other Hak's and essentially genetically they were bound to be virtually the same. She was in such a state of shock that she just stood there staring at him, unable to articulate what else she wanted to say.

It was enough. His expression softened into concern. He clearly understood and he felt her shock -- an undefinable mixture of anxiousness and loss. A pain of grief that she couldn't be with the one she loved and guilt that she was scared about something that should be bringing her happiness. Hak did not know how to navigate this, but he felt he needed to be present for her. He didn't have a romantic attachment to her, but she had come into his life and he promised her that he would help while they were out-of-place in his universe. "I--- I was just about to... uh, order a cup of tea. Maybe you'd like one too? Sit and process everything for a few minutes. Surely the ship doesn't need her captain for a few minutes."

"That sounds good," Jane said letting out a breath. And she sat in an empty chair that didn't appear as if it had been used. She stared out the viewport while he made the tea and felt it touch her shoulder lightly. She automatically reached for it before looking up. "Thanks," she said. "So this is going to make things different than I imagined. Not that I had a real clear picture about how life would be."

"Children do change a person," Hak confirmed sympathetically. He lowered himself onto an adjacent chair gently so as not to spill his own tea. He wasn't really a tea person, finding it generally a tolerable but not quite enjoyable beverage. "but it doesn't have to mean the end of anything. It's just a path you hadn't foreseen." He allowed a pause to hang in the air for a moment before adding, "You know, if he's anything like me he wouldn't stop until you're back with him. You have to believe you'll find a way back."

"I know. And I do. Isn't there some saying about hope being hard to kill?" Jane sipped the tea, letting the hot liquid spread down her throat and warm her body. "It does complicate things though and I do worry about the future until such time as we make it back." She shrugged. "Plus . . . not that anyone has to know but if a dna test were ever performed, wouldn't it show that you were the father?"

"I... I suppose," Hak wrinkled his brow and wondered who might actually make an accusation like that. It seemed like a stretch. "I think we're safe. You're clearly not my type," he declared, attempting to lighten the mood a bit with some humorous deflection.

Jane did laugh and it felt good to let go of all her worries for a moment. "Thanks, i needed that." She bit her lip as her brain started working again. "Tell me more about Yorktown, we got the quick version when we docked. I think you mentioned something about your family having a hand in it. Is your mother just as over the top as she is in my universe?"

"The people of Yorktown are good, Captain," he stressed to her, almost pleadingly so. "Even Meriven, as flawed as her tactics were, she's doing what she thinks is right for the people. We've had to do things to survive that, I'm sure seem uncouth from the outside. I won't defend her course of action, but I can beg for your mercy. She won't hurt them. She needs their skills and cooperation to keep the colony going." He was clearly afraid that Jane would retaliate to retrieve her people, even though she'd had already assured him she wouldn't.

"My mother was a passionate and intimidating woman," Hak smiled at the memories, "Hard-working. She would have done anything for her family. Thanks to her, I have a hard time picturing a good mother who wouldn't. My father... a much more complicated man."

Jane nodded. In her universe his father had died many years before. But of course she knew his mother. "In my universe your mother is a force of nature but she's still living. In fact . . . my father and your mother are an item. They're expecting a baby too." She let that sink in for him.

"I'm not someone who seeks revenge. I understand why they behaved the way they did but I am disappointed because I would have given most anything to help, except control of my ship."

"I'm sorry, again," he replied before taking a sip of the tea. He missed his mother and the idea that somewhere in time and space she was still alive, thriving, was somehow comforting and also a bit sobering because her re-marrying meant that his father wasn't in the picture anymore. He wasn't sure what to make of that. His thoughts came back around to Majestic. "What's your plan now?"

"Not die, try to help people . . . . the specifics are blurry. Majestic could do so much, and she should. I'm just not sure about so many things." Jane answered honestly. She gave an apologetic shrug. In the back of her mind she also wanted to keep the ship for starfleet, and that was something that didn't exist in this universe. It was a strange tug of war in the back of her mind.

"Well, I'd like to help you.... not die. And help people," Hak answered quietly. "Maybe some day I will be able to return to Yorktown, but for the moment I'm left without a home or cause. It breaks my heart that my daughter is still there."

"Yeah," Jane obviously wasn't a parent yet but it made her blood run cold thinking about it. "She'll be okay and we will go back to Yorktown eventually. We just need to figure some things out. Diplomacy, but you are in luck because that's this ship's specialty actually. Plus, I'd like to get my crew members back as well." She sincerely hoped they wouldn't be harmed, but they were Starfleet officers, they were trained for this sort of thing.

"Then I think we have a plan," Hak raised his tea cup. "Moving forward."

"Moving forward," Jane nodded, raising her tea as well and sipping it one more time.