( nsfw open )

[skittys]

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[unas]

( waking up in a strange location was strange. waking up in bed next to someone you definitely didn't go to sleep next to was stranger. she'd been on shore leave on earth, bunked in the officers' quarters whilst they'd been debriefed about something and going to bed alone. una hadn't woken up alone, though judging by the decoration of the quarters they didn't feel the same either.

she might have punched someone, accusations and defenses quickly flying before they'd recognised her. una didn't know who they were but they knew her... and seemed a little afraid of that (and not in the sense that she was used to).

starfleet security had been called (and medical) though no one wished to answer her questions, una eventually being led across to starfleet medical for more in depth scans. scans that, after arriving there, she refused to have: answer her questions or get captain pike.

they'd ended up calling him, dragging him out of bed and across to medical which relieved her and hopefully would set aside some confusion )

Chris, what the hell is going on?

( though his expression wasn't looking any better )

[whistles_loudly]

[Chris has been through a lot of weird shit during his time as a captain. There was the whole mess on Rigel VII, Talos IV, the whole thing that was his first mission as captain, just general strange. He was even used to being woken up in the middle of the night to discuss said weird shit at a meeting with the higher ups. None of that could have prepared him for this. None of it. People were not supposed to come back from the dead.

He saw her through the window first, she looked like Una. The doctor that called him said she was Una and as he walked in the room he couldn't hide the shock on his face. She sounded like Una, but how could that be? She'd been gone for years.

He knows, he remembers that day with astounding clarity. He even learned to tolerate her hot sauce afterward. It made him think about her whenever he saw a bottle and here she was. asking him what the hell was going on.]

I don't...I don't know.

[And he didn't. He swears his throat's as dry as the Mojave, but that doesn't stop him from issuing an order to the rest of the personnel in the room.]

Everyone out.

[unas]

Chris--

( but she knows that look, knows that he's not saying anything until everyone had left.

knowing that doesn't help her feeling nor stop her giving her side. if he's got something... he needs to hear everything )

Tell me what's going on. We finished the debrief, I went back to my quarters, got some sleep... woke up next to someone I don't know. ( the one sporting a broken nose )

It's the same location, Chris, but not the same room. So what the hell is it?

[whistles_loudly]

[It could be time travel. It could be something else. So he's going to try to dance around it, just a little bit. No one should know about their own death.]

No, we didn't. We haven't been on the same ship for years.

[She shouldn't be here. They told him she was dead. There was a memorial service. If anyone in command lied to him there was going to be hell come morning.]

I really don't know what's going on.

[unas]

Years?

( that wasn't right, that wasn't right at all )

That's not funny, Chris. ( he wasn't laughing so it wasn't a joke but how the hell did you respond to that?

except her mind is now thinking similarly )

When are we?

[whistles_loudly]

[It's not funny, for a lot of reasons.]

2256. You were promoted to captain a few years ago. I took a planet posting at the academy.

[None of this should give too much away. Una was always destined for a ship of her own, and he couldn't be out there again. Not so soon after Talos.]

[unas]

( that got her attention and una couldn't actually tell if she was surprised or upset at, minutes passing before she speaks )

I'm not a Captain. ( it's a whisper first before she repeated it louder ) It's 2256 but I'm not a Captain and you're not at the Academy.

[whistles_loudly]

[None of that is right.]

I was captain of the Yorktown, we went to Talos IV. I needed some time after that. I accepted a posting as Starfleet's Executive Recruiting Officer. You were offered and accepted a captaincy. The Yorktown went to Captain Batel.

[But now he has to ask.]

What am I doing in your 2256?

[unas]

You were never captain of the Yorktown... but Enterprise. You're still her Captain, I'm your first officer.

( refusing each of those promotions.

she's quiet, no longer asking what's wrong but clearly thinking about it. she'shad enough experience that it makes sense )

What happened to me in this universe?

( since she wasn't arrested immediately she's assuming it isn't the mirror universe )

[whistles_loudly]

[So not time travel, maybe intra-universe travel. Pike's heard the theories.]

We had an Enterprise in the fleet, Alexander Marcus and Robert April were her captains. There hasn't been an Enterprise since, rumor has it that's going to be the name of the next flagship.

[Pike never lied to her, but telling her this is proving to be more difficult than he thought. Then he supposes you aren't supposed to be able to tell someone that they died. It takes him a few minutes before he decides how he's going to phrase it, wondering how he was going to hide the anger he usually had when he talked about it.]

When we accepted our new positions, we had a few weeks before you shipped out. You finally accepted my invitation to see the ranch. It was a really good few weeks. [Really good.] We were going to pick up where we left off when you got back but, you didn't.

[Somehow it was easier to say that than 'Your ship was destroyed'.]

[unas]

( there are some things the same here and some things vastly different. una remembers those weeks at the ranch, her version of them, assuming that those weeks are like hers.

but that's not where she's caught and she understands why he phrases it as he does )

I died.

( it's hard to hear but now she understands why everyone had acted as they did, had told her nothing. on impulse, she crosses the room, wrapping arms around his neck to hug him. she doesn't often hug, initiates them less but he's talking to the supposedly dead woman that he loves, she figures that needs a hug )

I want to see the ranch. ( she's not intending it as a 'filling her place' but of getting out of here, of getting chance to digest it, maybe sleep more in a bed she hopes is familiar, then come to figuring out the problem in the morning )

[whistles_loudly]

So did the rest of your crew.

[He still holds on to whatever bad feelings he had toward Starfleet for the way it was all handled. Her ship wasn't supposed to be that far out, they weren't supposed to run into a Klingon Ship. They weren't supposed to be destroyed like they were.]

It's in Mojave. It'll take a few hours to get out there. Unless, I get a transporter slot. I need to cancel my classes for the rest of the week. I have a place on the other side of campus if you want to stay there for the night...

[He needs to figure this out, and he needs to make sure Una's safe, and he needs to stop rambling.]

[unas]

( not montana is what she stops herself from saying. they can do details when it's not the middle of the night, sit and talk properly )

Your campus one.

( after being rudely woken by universe travel and held here for hours she feels pretty exhausted. is this like jet lag? )

Thank you, Chris.

( for coming, for talking to her, for offering her a bed )

[whistles_loudly]

[He nods. His campus apartment made the most sense.]

I'll go talk to the doctors and get you out of here. Are you going to be okay for a few minutes?

[He knows she'll be okay, she's Una. She can handle anything. But all of this can be a lot.]

[unas]

( she nods. if she's lucky they can postpone the last of the scans until tomorrow when she's not exhausted, when she's more cooperative and willing to be seen to.

she steps back, letting him go and sort this out for her )

[whistles_loudly]

Okay. I'll be right back.

[He goes in the hall to speak to the doctors. They're not the ones at fault here, but they get the brunt of his anger anyway, after about fifteen minutes they agree that he can take her back to his campus apartment, if they come back tomorrow to finish those scans. He'll deal with anyone who comes out of the woodwork from Starfleet Intelligence, since he assumes they're next on the list.]

We can go, as long as we come back. I'm sure there'll be a lot of questions tomorrow.

[unas]

I'll answer them then.

( she presses her hands to her face for a moment before pushing her hair back. this situation was a mess and she didn't even have answers for it.

she steps towards him, reaching initially to take his hand but then stopping before she grabs it. they weren't dating and this had to be hard enough for him. god, she shouldn't be going vack to his, should she? not that it's stopping her from following him out )

[whistles_loudly]

[As far as he's concerned, she's some version of Una and Una was his best friend before she was anything else. And he was going to help her no matter what, even if that just meant that he could give her somewhere to stay that isn't a hospital room for the night. Though he is fighting the urge to hug her, like he would have if she came back from that mission two years ago.]

At least you can try to get some sleep. Hospitals are never good for that.

[The walk to his apartment was short, just across the lawn and down the block. The layout is standard Starfleet but he has a few personal items scattered here and there including a few photos together with Una.]

I have a second bedroom, just need to makeup the bed. Do you need anything?

[unas]

( she starts to shake her head and then laughs at herself )

Everything.

( depending on how long she was here, anyway. she could use this universe's things if any still existed but... they weren't hers, even if they were the same. it felt more like using a dead person's things, like a sibling if anything )

I'll need to replicate some clothes in the morning. ( at least her pyjamas are decent enough to walk around in, long legged bottoms and a tee. she wasn't going to replicate a uniform though, not for this world ) Then it's day by day... whatever ends up happening.

[whistles_loudly]

[It was a pretty stupid question, or at least the phrasing was pretty stupid, so he's amused too.]

That won't be a problem. If you need anything from the kitchen it's pretty well stocked.

[Including strawberries, he can't not have those anymore. When she says the last part, he can't help but be reassuring.]

It's going to be okay, Una. We'll figure it out.

[He doesn't say that she could stay with him until they do, but he'd never leave her on her own.]

[unas]

Thank you.

( truly, deeply. if una wasn't already wildly in love with this many (any version of him, all versions of him) his care for her now would make her fall for him, a care and consideration she's known from few others. or let herself need from others )

How far is it?

( she was desperate to try and get back to sleep again and end this long night )

[whistles_loudly]

It's right this way.

[He takes her down a short hallway to his spare room, his is right next door and it was obvious he left in a hurry, lights still on, bed's a mess.]

The bathroom's at the other end of the hallway. Towels are in the closet right next to it.

[He disappears for a few seconds, and returns with a set of sheets then goes about making up her bed.]

[unas]

You don't have to do that.

( she puts a hand on his shoulder to pause him, a grateful look on her )

Go back to bed. I'll be okay.

( it's more than she keeps thinking about how awkward it must be, or painful for him rather than putting him out. they're best friends in every universe and apparently still slept together. that's the part she's thinking of from what he said )

I'll see you in the morning.

[whistles_loudly]

[At least he knows better than to argue. So he finishes tucking the bottom sheet that he was working on into the corners of the bed, then leaves the rest neatly folded for her to finish up.]

There's blankets under the bed if you need them.

[He turns to go and can't help himself, even if it is a little weird.]

I'm glad you asked for me...I'm glad you're here.

[Then he shuts the door behind him and heads back to his room to get back in bed. He's not sure how he's going to cope with this at all considering she isn't his Una, but she is. There's so much about the two of them that's the same, and so much that isn't.

But he has feeling that whichever Chris is without her now is feeling completely lost. Though at least her Chris has something he didn't, hope that she'd come home one day.]

[unas]

( she smiles at his last comment, waiting until he's left before making a start on the rest of the bed and is glad that she'd already been in pyjamas to not have to ask for something of his to wear -- she's not sure she'd be able to handle that even if she's used to stealing his t-shirts in an emergency.

though una's exhausted, comfortable in bed, she finds it hard to get to sleep, laid there for maybe an hour without having been able to drift off. her mind's too wired on this universe, on him, on what her life was like... what happened to her. it has her pulling herself out of bed, tapping at the computer that's in this room. if her mind won't stop thinking about it she'll settle it, looking up the information herself. except whilst her security access seems to be the same it's all locked out, unsurprising when she's meant to be dead. so then she tries chris's, doubting that his password in this universe is any better than her chris. she's right.

it's easy to pull up her own file, the service record in front of her reading much like her own even if the smaller details are different, and it isn't difficult to find logs and reports surrounding the time of the accident, finding out what the mission was, learning of what happened to her, her ship and her crew.

it's awful, the computer quickly shut down and she's paused there, minutes passing, twenty, thirty before she moves from the chair. her steps are quiet, lightly padding down the corridor and pushing open the door to his room. he's so still and quiet that una expects that he's asleep, tiptoeing still in to slip under the covers. she knows what she's doing is selfish, that she reminds him of the woman he misses, but maybe they both could use a little comfort. she always sleeps better with chris and... maybe waking up next to her won't be too awful for him )