Work Text:
[UNKNOWN]
Renee?
[RPICARD]
Yes?
[UNKNOWN]
Are you enjoying space?
[RPICARD]
Who is this?
[UNKNOWN]
You must be able to see Mars with your eyes out the window glass by now.
[RPICARD]
Who IS this???
[UNKNOWN]
Are you dressed warmly enough?
[RPICARD]
….Tallinn??
[UNKNOWN]
The very same, my fearsome queen.
[RPICARD]
HOW are you doing this??
[UNKNOWN]
I’m convalescing and bored. So I hacked the Deep Space Network.
[RPICARD]
…How long did it take you?
[UNKNOWN]
A leisurely dinner. How is space?
[RPICARD]
HOW IS SPACE? You know I’ve been up here thinking that you were probably dead.
[UNKNOWN]
Well, I’m not, but it was touch and go for a while there.
[RPICARD]
Tell me.
[UNKNOWN]
Are you sure you want to hear about it?
[RPICARD]
Of course.
[UNKNOWN]
Adam Soong, the man I was concerned about, hit me with a neurotoxin that, had it been you, would have killed you in minutes. It didn’t do great things for me either. It hurt like a bastard.
[RPICARD]
Are you all right now?
[UNKNOWN]
Well, I’m in one piece, and alive, so there’s that.
[RPICARD]
I’m not sure I like that answer.
[UNKNOWN]
I’ll be all right. I’m not quite there yet.
[RPICARD]
But you’re well enough to hack into the DSN, clearly.
[UNKNOWN]
I’d move bigger mountains than that to be able to talk to you.
[RPICARD]
I haven’t quite decided how I feel about the fact that you’ve been watching me for my entire life.
[UNKNOWN]
I know that’s a lot to take. Don’t think I didn’t agonize over that fact when I realized I was in love with you.
[RPICARD]
Which by the way, when was that?
[UNKNOWN]
You were 22. You were singing around a bonfire with some friends on the beach. I was alone in the dark and was ambushed by the realization that I wanted to be near you, sit in the warmth of your smile.
[RPICARD]
But we only just met a few months ago. You knew you loved me that long ago?
[UNKNOWN]
I stayed away until I couldn’t. And when Jack was hurting you, I couldn’t. Understand, Renee, that as a Watcher, that we were never supposed to see each other face to face unless you were in danger. And I was certainly never supposed to become your friend, much less your lover.
[RPICARD]
Is that why you ended things?
[UNKNOWN]
Yes. My supervisors learned that I was involved with you in that way, and I was given a choice; to continue to watch you until the launch, but stay away from you, or leave Earth altogether and let someone else watch you for the remaining week. I stayed. But you knowing the truth would have had potentially disastrous consequences for the timeline.
[RPICARD]
I would never be able to do that. Stay in your world but not come near you.
[UNKNOWN]
Well, I didn’t do so well at it either.
[RPICARD]
I need to know something. How old are you?
[UNKNOWN]
Chronological time is for suckers.
[RPICARD]
Don’t be cute.
[UKNOWN]
I would never. My work involves time travel. The truth is I’m not sure how old I am. The years don’t wear on me the same way as they do people who are moving concurrently with time. But nor do I have a clear sense of how long I’ve spent anywhere I’ve been in this work. It’s not millennia or anything. But it could be a century, maybe.
[RPICARD]
Then I suppose it’s good that I like older women. But time travel! You know I’m going to ask you about that.
[UNKNOWN]
Of course. I’ll send you the rudiments. You don’t have the technology yet, but I think you’ll take to the theory quite well.
[UNKNOWN]
[file] rudiments.txt
[RPICARD]
I can’t wait to read this. But who are your supervisors?
[UNKNOWN]
My job is… or, was, I suppose… working with people who safeguarded the timeline from attempts at tampering. You were one of the pivotal figures they identified as being very important. Your mission had to happen, and it had to be you.
[RPICARD]
What do you mean, “was”?
[UNKNOWN]
I think I’m done.
[RPICARD]
Are you that hurt from the toxin?
[UNKNOWN]
It remains to be seen, but… It’s not that. I just want to spend the rest of my life, however much time that ends up being, actually being near the people I love.
[RPICARD]
I thought you said I was the only one you ever loved.
[UNKNOWN]
Well that’s convenient then, isn’t it.
[RPICARD]
Are you sure you won’t want to go back home?
[UNKNOWN]
To ch'Rihan? I’m sure. There’s nothing for me there anymore. I want to be with you, wherever that may be.
[RPICARD]
What if I want to see ch'Rihan?
[UNKNOWN]
We’ll talk about it.
[RPICARD]
I have to confess something.
[UNKNOWN]
What’s that?
[RPICARD]
I really wanted to touch your ears.
[UNKNOWN]
They’re all yours to touch when you come back.
[RPICARD]
Are they sensitive?
[UNKNOWN]
??
[RPICARD]
You know. Are they fun? To kiss. Does it feel good to you?
[UNKNOWN]
….yes
[RPICARD]
Well, that’s something to look forward to.
[UNKNOWN]
Minx
[RPICARD]
I apologize for nothing. I miss you already.
[UNKNOWN]
I miss you too. Everything about you. Your voice. Your mind. Your laugh. Your smile.
[RPICARD]
My body?
[UNKNOWN]
Settle down. Yes of course your body. When I have you in my arms again, I expect we’ll need to clear your calendar for several days whilst I make love to you repeatedly. But most of all, it's just you. The total experience of you. The sunshine of you in my each and every day. I want to explore this vast and varied world with you, show you things you’ve not even dreamed of, give you everything I couldn’t give you before when I had to simply Watch.
[RPICARD]
Stop.
[UNKNOWN]
Why? It’s all true. From the bottoms of the seas to the tops of mountains, to the rooftops of Paris, I want to share it all. And just as much the ordinary; morning coffee in bathrobes and lazy afternoon lovemaking on a sunday when we needn’t be anywhere. I want a life of ordinary wonder, with you, always.
[RPICARD]
Stop.
[UNKNOWN]
Why?
[RPICARD]
Because I’m crying. Because I want it all with you too, and now it feels like it will be so long before we can have it.
[UNKNOWN]
Our love laughs at time.
[RPICARD]
I wish I had a secret name to give you.
[UNKNOWN]
You could choose one.
[RPICARD]
I’d have to think about it.
[UNKNOWN]
All right. You do that.
[RPICARD]
I have to go to sleep. When can I talk to you again?
[UNKNOWN]
Soon. I don’t know how long I could go without it. Sleep well, my love.
[RPICARD]
Goodnight, Ssaehde.