Joint Personal Log - Capt Ivanova, Cmdr Grant, Commo Levine, Lt Atarah - "Good Morning Sunshine"
Posted on Sat Oct 18th, 2014 @ 6:01am by Admiral Rochelle Ivanova & Commander Logan Grant, PhD. & Danielle Atarah
3,851 words; about a 19 minute read
Mission: Are You Touched?
Riding on a supply ship with children was not an easy adventure. Riding in hiding onboard a supply ship that was filled with criminals was even less easy.
And yet, Andrea would have taken that over the alternative, over their lives in the past months on Earth, the horror and stress. Whatever they have to go through in this ride, the light at the end of the tunnel kept them all going.
And it was a bright light, indeed. The brightest, and with each passing day, it came closer and closer. It was worth the cramped space they were in, the small beds, and even the rocky parts of the ride, when the ship passed through gods-know-what in its attempts to escape Federation scouts.
They could have walked out and about in the ship, for the most part, at least to the mess hall and back, but Andrea preferred they stay in, away from the minimal crew of the ship, of people whose honor and intent she was completely unsure about. So they stayed inside, keeping each other company, not sleeping much through the night, waiting for the trip to be over.
So when Dani walked in with two crewmen carrying a large piece of flat screen, Andrea's stress levels returned to their frayed state; she picked up the children and held them tight, keeping a weary eye on the unfamiliar faces.
They left as silently as they entered, leaving Dani behind, and the woman finally turned, smirked, and gestured at the screen with a tilted head.
"We're out of Federation First's space, so we can be less stealthy now," her smirk grew to a wise-ass grin as she examined Andrea and the children.
"Let's make a call."
That was the second-best news Andrea could have heard.
* * *
The call came in to a tired Rochelle Ivanova. One who's fingers had just closed the top of her tunic and affixed her pips to her collar in preparation for the work day. She'd come to know the sound of the incoming secret communiques, they tended to chirp, to trill. Her hair hadn't yet been tied back in it's usual severe twist, and it swayed across her shoulder and back as she leaned over to take the call, "On screen." she called and the picture snapped to life and focus.
Her brow immediately furrowed. "Dani?" She asked, her head tilting, not quite sure way to make of the woman's classic grin. "What have you done?" a single brow shot up. The former Lieutenant was up to something. She just knew it.
Dani's grin persisted, her face filling up the entire screen. Behind her, a baby whined. "Oh, just the regular business, you know me," Dani winked and stepped back, revealing the small room to the camera, "always the trouble maker."
It was prepared in advance for this, with beds and a desk and -- most importantly -- a big portable viewscreen for exactly this purpose. Behind her, sitting on one of the beds with bleary eyes and two toddlers in her arms, was an exhausted and somewhat confused Andrea Levine. Anne stood next to her, petting Schlompi, who was smelling the new surroundings nervously.
"Rochelle!" Anne called, startling Schlompi. The ball of fur blinked, tilted its head, and then opened his mouth slightly, smiling.
Andrea breathed, and finally smiled. In her arms, Cooper twisted, reaching a small hand to the screen, pointing at it happily with a cheerful call, "Ochelle!"
"That's right," Andrea smiled, turning to look at her daughter on the other side of her lap; the girl was still whining, her head firmly placed in Andrea's shoulder, the stress of the past few hours showing themselves in her demeanor. Andrea reached and brushed Madison's hair off her face. "Look who it is on the screen, Maddy," she prompted, her relief spreading from her smile to the rest of her body like a tidal wave.
"Holy sh--." The Captain bit her tongue quickly to keep from swearing with the babies so close at hand. The comb she'd grabbed in preparation to drag her hair back was dropped with a clatter as it hit the shined teak wood floor beneath her. Rochelle's eyes moved from person to person to person, assessing, weighing, deciding whether or not they were real. "Cooper..." A smile slowly began to blossom over her face as she greeted the little boy that had yelled out her name as best as his little lips and tongue could manage.
"Commander Grant, please report to my sitting room." Her fingers hit her combadge with a chirp of compliance and her voice somehow still managed to hold a certain degree of authority as she ordered the man to her quarters and quickly cut the channel. "Dani... You did it. Where are you guys?"
Andrea laughed at the almost-spoken curse that so perfectly reflected her own feelings. Everything happened so quickly, so overwhelmingly, so loudly, that it took her a moment to actually decide if she was dreaming or awake. The mention of Logan's name made her heart jump to her throat and stick, pounding, filling her eyes with tears. In her lap, her son giggled at Rochelle, and her daughter, rubbing her eyes in whiny dismay, finally looked towards the screen to examine the source of the voice she knew.
"We're almost there, moving pretty fast towards your location," Dani poked her head back into view. She did do it. After everything that happened -- at least that part was a success. There was more to come, but this was the big one. The important one. "We've had to go silent for a while, and there were a few close calls, but we're safe now, we're on our way."
"You have the coordinates of K3?" Rochelle asked to be sure, stooping off screen just long enough to pick up her comb before showing back up and wiggling her fingers at Madison and Anne, still stunned and so very unsure of how to react. Her eyes left Dani's to find Andrea, the smile growing as she caught sight of her friend. Now all that needed to happen was for Logan to arrive and, of course, for them to find the ship all safe, sound and warm.
"Of course we do," Dani nodded as if it was the most obvious data to have. And perhaps it was; The Bristol's boss (and soon to be previous boss) had a special interest in knowing exactly where things are. She gave Ivanova a smartass smile and vacated the screen again, letting Andrea have her much deserved moment. Or two, and even three. They would have to keep things hidden for a while, but not as much as they did on Earth. They could enjoy this for a little while.
"Ochelle," Cooper emphasized, as if explaining the interesting picture to his mother, and Andrea's smile expanded even further, the air escaping her lungs in a soft chuckle. He shifted, struggling to push himself off Andrea's lap. Andrea held him for a moment, but relented, letting the boy onto the floor. He yelped, giggled, and toddled to the screen, reaching his arms to touch it.
Andrea kissed Madison's head gently, and wiped the tears off the girl's eyes, drawing the fussing toddler closer. She was still whining, clinging to her mother's shirt like a life line, and Andrea held her tighter, hushing in her ear gently.
She watched her son walk to the screen and exchanged a quick look with Dani; the room was small and had very few items in it, but it wasn't entirely baby proof, and the portable viewscreen was perched against the wall haphazardly. With everything that was going on, Andrea's nerves were stretched almost to the breaking point. Dani nodded, crouched, and extended an arm to hold the screen in place, watching to make sure the boy's little feet don't carry him off to unsafe places.
Anne shifted her weight between her legs, a still somewhat nervous Schlompi in her arms. "Are you coming to get us, Rochelle?"
From her side of the screen, the safe side, Rochelle watched the little boy toddle forward and closer to her. So much had changed since the last time she'd seen any of them, and now he'd actually appeared to have mastered the art of putting one foot in front of the other rather confidently. It was no small secret that children were quite possibly the Captain's only weakness, and her heart quickly swooned as his little face practically mashed into the screen in his attempt to get to her. "Hey Coop." She smiled, waving to him, "You keeping everybody safe, big man?" He'd always been the braver of the two twins, Madison having long ago figured out how to twist her parents around her precious, chubby little fingers.
Anne's question brought her eyes across her screen to where she could find the tall blond girl, and she nodded. "Kind of. Dani's bringing you here, to the Vindicator and we're not going anywhere until you're all here and settled in. I'll be having Logan move into bigger quarters today in preparation."
"Can I have my own room?" Anne grinned, and Schlompi snuggled, feeding off the atmosphere in the room and relaxing in her arms.
Andrea gave her eldest daughter a sideways look, and the girl smiled sheepishly. "What? Schlompi wants us to have a room. Right, Schlompi?" The rat barked, his head dropping in assent, and Cooper turned to look at him, the quick movement causing him to waddle and almost fall on his chubby butt. Dani reached instinctively, but the little boy stabilized himself and walked closer to Anne, mimicking Schlompi's bark. Even Madison raised her head from Andrea's lap -- though her fingers still clutched like chubby little vices.
---
There had been something in Rochelle's voice that begged the counselor to hurry. Something that sounded like a mix between excitement, confusion and worry. It seemed so foreign to him, after all the young Captain was known universally as an extremely cocksure woman that had the spine and bite to back such confidence. Rochelle Ivanova wasn't the type that confused or excited easily. Anger? Yes, at the drop of a hat, but not confuse.
With that in mind he'd dropped what he was doing and limp-jogged the halls, forgetting the stability of his cane in the process. People looked, and would likely talk, but that meant nothing in the long run. He made the trip in quick time, stopping only to tap his foot in the turbolift during the ride from deck three to deck two and when he was forced to sit and wait after ringing the chime to the Captain's suite.
A moment later she'd have to excuse herself as the chime rang to her quarters, and she couldn't help but grin widely as she held up her finger to note she'd only be gone a second before she tore off to let the man in. "Enter!" she called and ushered the leggy counselor in as the doors slid open.
Logan lifted an eyebrow as he stepped through the doors and hit the brakes to turn and look at the obviously excited little redhead. “Is the war over?” He asked, not quite ready to let slip his own hopes of Andrea’s return. It was better to leave that part unspoken and devoid of a chance of being clipped and knocked from the sky. Shattered dreams were truly awful.
“Not yet. This is better.” Rochelle replied and grabbed one of the man’s massive hands to drag him towards her bedroom.
His weight rocked backwards and his brow furrowed. “Hey now, wait a second. Are you feeling alright?” He asked, standing firm and altogether confused by the woman’s nearly frantic attempts at luring him into her sleeping chamber.
“Don’t flatter yourself, Logan, really.” The Captain huffed, an eyebrow of her own arching high as she gave yet another heavy tug forward. Gravity and center of balance were on her side when it came to towing the Counselor along. She could hear the babbling of one of the children behind her, reminding her of just what was at stake and just how precious life really was.
The familiar sound of a cranky little girl trumped Rochelle’s sly quip. It was all the incentive Logan needed to make the trip into his friend’s bedroom with surprisingly fluid strides for someone so grievously impacted by lameness. “Andrea…” He smiled brightly, the payoff for his choice was decidedly worth the momentary hesitation his loyalty had demanded of him. “Madison, angel, what’s wrong?” Logan’s head tilted slightly as he regarded the little girl curled in her mother’s arms. “Aren't Anne and Cooper keeping you company?” He asked, waving to the big eyed little boy and the elegant older girl that stood with her loyal pet. It was obvious they were in a ship’s hold, the how didn’t matter and the why was brilliantly apparent. They were coming home.
Coming to rest against the door frame of her bedroom, Rochelle watched the family reunite over the screen with a smile. Her part in this had been minimal, the glory belonging to Dani's tenacity. Now her job was simple: sit, watch and smile. At least the heartache sustained by their family would be over soon.
"Daddy!" Cooper was the first to yell, turning and bouncing on his feet with such excitement, Schlompi almost fell out of Anne's lap bobbing his head to the motion. Anne grinned and waved back at Logan, swallowing a knot in her throat, holding herself firmly from bursting into relieved sobs. She took a breath and coughed into Schlompi's fur, and the rat licked her nose.
A million words formed themselves in Andrea's mind, mixing with a slush of emotion that drowned the rest of the room in hazy fog, but the words refused to come out. Instead, she grinned, staring at the screen in relief. She only now realized how unreal it was -- how unbelievable, the entire ordeal -- until now. Until she saw him, standing in front of her on that screen, alive, and well, and smiling, and so so close.
Madison lifted her head so quickly, Andrea had to turn her face to the side to avoid clashing with the girl's head. She stared at the screen in confusion, blinking her puffy red eyes with an expression that shifted between smiling and pouting, as if she was too confused to choose between the two.
"Daddy?" She finally joined her brother's chant, and this time she was the one reaching to the screen, her tired pout blossoming into a cry.
Hearing his name spoken by his father, Cooper rushed to his sister's side. His gaze remained fixed on the image of his father, as if he feared that a single moment of distraction will make the image go away. He reached up to put a chubby little hand on his crying sister's head, and clumsily pulled it back and forth, trying to comfort.
Andrea chuckled, finally loosening the knot in her throat. "She's just tired and cranky, and she misses you," she smiled at her husband in the screen; the light at the end of the tunnel just got brighter. "Cooper is a brave and little man," she looked at her son who, still petting his sister's head, was looking at the screen intently.
They were all tired, cramped and cranky. On the surface ,it was the twins who were impacted the most, but after spending so much time cramped together, and watching her eldest daughter during the days and nights, Andrea was not entirely sure of that; Anne was just better at hiding it.
"Madi..." Logan hummed to the crying little girl. His heart broke instantaneously and his arms and hands ached knowing they couldn't just reach out to wrap around and comfort her. He couldn't hold any of them. Not yet. "I miss you all... How much longer until I can relieve my brave little man from his duty shift?" He asked, standing as close to the screen as he could. It wasn't enough, would never be enough. He needed them like they needed him... Like he needed oxygen to survive.
Andrea glanced at Dani; the woman thought a second, then raised a finger and twisted her palm sideways.
"A day or so," Andrea smiled, relieved. "Only a day!" Anne cheered, bouncing Schlompi. Cooper giggled, and Madison, finally quieting somewhat, rubbed her eyes with little fists.
"You better make sure those big quarters are ready fast, Captain," Dani chimed in from behind the screen and winked at Anne. "You're about to get new tenants."
"Good. I'll have Logan moved into those new quarters as soon as we cut the comm." Rochelle nodded from where she leaned against the bulkhead. Her brow furrowed slightly as she pushed away from them to approach the screen. "Listen, Dani. JAG has a presence on the ship now. If anyone ever asks, I sent you on this mission to retrieve an endangered Commodore. Don't mention going AWOL. That's how I'm going to file the report, ok?"
Dani blinked and twisted so she can poke her head up towards the screen. She didn't even consider that option, the option of setting things right with the fleet again. As far as she knew, her price was set in stone, and she accepted it as such. The odds of her coming back to the fleet were pretty abysmal regardless of any JAG action, but with it...
"What the hell did you do to get JAG-rats on your ship?" She blurted finally, giving Rochelle a confused, dismayed look, but quickly shook it, reminding herself of the real focus of this conversation. She'll have to discuss the details with Ivanova later. Hell, she'll have to digest the fact Ivanova has just put her own neck out to help her. Although with the plan she had going on with Zett, going 'AWOL' will be the least of her troubles.
"I'm sure they're being treated wonderfully," Andrea smiled, locking eyes with Rochelle's with a knowing expression.
Madison's whines paused, temporarily, for a yawn. Schlompi was the first to be infected with it, yawning a toothy mouth and shaking his head, and Cooper followed. Andrea and Anne giggled together.
"I think they sent the poor bloke here for punishment, at least that's what I've gathered." Logan chuckled and looked over his shoulder at the blustery little redhead, "Rumor is that she absolutely spanked him, drove him and his minions into offices backing up to the fighter lanes." He grinned widely and shook his head before looking back at his family and Dani. "You guys need to try and rest. I'll make sure everything's in order here for you. Things are on the quiet side right now, it's a good time to come aboard."
Dani snorted and raised a hand up to the screen, thumb-up.
"You might want to keep a regular appointment open for a new patient, Logan," Andrea laughed with a nod. "Yes, I don't know how much rest we're going to have," she glanced up at Logan, knowing that she, at least, and the kids most definitely, are going to have a very hard time fighting the butterflies and excitement enough to get any sleep. "But we will take a shower," she extended an arm to Cooper and watched the boy toddle over, though his gaze was still fixed at his father on the screen. "And then we'll try to rest. Right?"
Anne nodded. "Schlompi and I will start preparing for our own room." She smirked and avoided looking at her mother on purpose. Andrea shook her head with a smile and looked down at her daughter in her arms. "Are you ready to take a bath, Maddy?"
"Daddy!" Madison pointed at the screen, "daddy, bath!" and Cooper, not missing a beat, joined the chant excitedly.
"I'll keep the nice JAG officer penciled in and hope the big mean Captain doesn't hurt his feelings too bad." Logan beamed and puffed up a bit. His family was coming home even if home was an absolutely gigantic flying machine that orbited some strange planet several light years from Earth. Home was anywhere they were. Anywhere.
"Yes! Bath!" He grinned and nodded emphatically. Just a few more hours, he chanted internally, just a few more hours. "Now go on, my little puddle ducks, go get nice a clean and aunt Rochelle and I will get your rooms ready. Deal?" He asked.
Cooper cheered and trotted to the door, pointing and chanting, and Madison twisted, wriggling out of her mother's lap for the first time in the past week and a half, and ran-toddled towards her brother. Andrea grinned. Things are going to be alright; only a few more hours. A day at the most. Soon, they'll be together, and everything will be alright.
She looked up at the screen with a grin. "Looks like it's a deal."
"Good. I love you, all of you. I'll see you in a few hours." Logan replied as he watched their twins trundle off with heavy steps against the ship's cargo hold deck. "And Dani? We need to talk when you arrive."
Dani's expression of a dear in the headlight was so comical, Andrea and to stifle a laugh. The ex-engineer turned and poked her head up, only half her face showing in the screen, and nodded quietly.
"I love you, I miss you, and I can't wait to see you," Andrea kissed her palm gently and gestured at Logan on the screen.
"See you soon, Logan!" Anne waved, Schlompi barked twice, and Dani pressed a button to cut off the link.
Only a few more hours. Andrea stayed a moment longer, as if the image was etched in her memory, and then turned to walk towards the door with her children. "Who's going to get a bath first?"
---
Rochelle looked to Logan and quickly jumped to slap the foot, and an inch, taller man upside the back of the head. "You just had to tell her about Parsons, didn't you?" She grumbled and shook her head.
The slap brought Logan from where he stood staring at the now black screen. It stung and the sound of her hand cracking along be back of his skull was loud enough to force him from his thoughts. "Of course I did." He grinned, turning to face her. "It's not like she wasn't going to find out anyway. The entire bridge heard you rip him a new asshole." The sentence was punctuated with a jovial shrug.
"Whatever." She huffed in response and quickly tied her hair up into a knot. "Let's just go get you situated."
* * *
Captain Rochelle Ivanova
Commanding Officer
USS VINDICATOR, NCC 78213-E
Commander Logan Grant
Counselor
USS VINDICATOR, NCC 78213-E
Commodore Andrea Levine
Professor, Starfleet Academy
Dean of Astrophysics
Tenured Researcher, R&D, Starfleet Command
Federation-controlled Earth
Danielle Atarah
Grifter / Thief
Earth
Madison and Cooper Levine-Grant,
Anne Levine-Planck
Schlompi
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