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“WE’RE GETTING THE BAND BACK TOGETHER!” he shouted the second he appeared on her screen.
Her smile was so big, it was painful. But not nearly as painful as the two years they had spent away from each other, Brad going through advanced training on Earth and Beckett transferring to Amina’s ship to be her XO. Tendi and Rutherford had remained behind on the Cerritos, both taking promotions to full lieutenant.
“Tell me everything,” she breathed, collapsing into a chair, her heart pounding.
“Let me share my screen,” he said giddily as the schematics of an experimental ship popped up on her PADD.
“Mars class,” she said in a whisper. She hadn’t even heard of it, but she was sure that Brad had been exposed to some top-secret information while doing graduate level work at the Academy.
“You should be getting your transfer papers today,” he said, pausing, “I know it’s going to feel like a demotion to you, but this is a crew of 2000, and it actually comes with an increase in rank.”
She swallowed hard. Telling Amina was going to be the worst part, she reasoned, but ultimately, it was worth it to be back with Brad. And sure, Tendi and Rutherford too.
“Who’s the captain?” Mariner said, shaking off the feelings of fear over talking to Amina.
“You’re going to scream,” Boimler warned.
“Just tell me, you brat,” she said, the smile coming back to her face.
“LaForge!” he delivered dramatically.
“THE Geordi LaForge?!” she screeched, covering her mouth.
“I know!! I’m freaking out!” he replied.
With a happy sigh, she threw off her uniform jacket and flopped down on her bed. “When do we depart?”
Brad cringed slightly before speaking. “Well, that’s the thing. They’re sending a shuttle to pick you up. Today.”
“What?!” she coughed, recovering quickly, “I mean, umm, I better start packing!”
Amina had been pissed but ultimately, she understood. Mariner was now impatiently waiting for the shuttle, hoping that the trip would be quick and that she’d be hugging Brad in a few hours. Oh yeah, and Tendi and Rutherford.
“Shuttle Bohr requesting beam over of Commander Beckett Mariner,” a soft female voice came over the comms, Mariner’s stomach starting to do flip flops.
It wasn’t as if they hadn’t seen each other in two years… of course they’d found time to meet up during shore leave, most recently when Mariner had visited Earth for a few days. Boimler had been about to ship out on the maiden voyage of what would now be their ship, but she hadn’t known that at the time. In fact, now that she looked back on things in a new light, everything was starting to make sense.
The kiss. Well of course the kiss made sense. There had been several through the years, all of them accompanied by alcohol, but they both had understood that there wasn’t time for anything serious. They hadn’t even spoken about it, but they had an understanding; there would be time for a relationship one day. He must have known that this crew and this posting was in the works.
Staring out the front window of the shuttle, she only thought about moving forward, not what she was leaving behind.
Her boots clanked as she walked down the shuttle’s ramp. It took everything she had not to scream and run into Boimler’s arms, but he was standing with a group of several people, including Captain LaForge.
“Commander Mariner!” LaForge greeted her cheerfully.
She proudly shook his hand, her heart pounding so loudly in her ears that she couldn’t hear his introductions.
“…and of course you know my First Officer, Mister Boimler,” LaForge said, pulling Mariner back to reality.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you all! I’m looking forward to serving with you!” She managed to croak out.
She felt a gentle hand on her shoulder and sensed a familiar presence. “Come on, let me take you to your quarters,” he whispered, practically bouncing with excitement.
He chattered as they traversed the halls, Mariner trying to take in the details but unable to concentrate on anything other than the purple-haired man next to her. She couldn’t keep her eyes off him. He seemed older, more mature, more confident.
They finally reached her quarters on deck 6. She took a breath in as the doors swished open to reveal a two-room suite in shades of blue and green. Her window overlooked the back of the ship, and she could see the blue-green planet that was slowly turning below them.
The door closed, causing her to jump.
“Are you okay?” he asked her curiously, setting her travel bag down on the floor next to the coffee table.
“Things are just… moving a little fast. Gotta catch my breath,” she whispered with a strained smile.
“Oh, okay,” he looked disappointed and unsure of what to do next.
“Oh, Brad. Come here,” she said with a chuckle, holding her arms out to him.
Before he buried his face in her neck, she saw that his eyes were glistening. “Shhhh,” she said, rubbing his back as they melted into each other’s arms.
“Waiting for this day has been excruciating,” he choked out, “I knew about the transfers 2 months ago, and I couldn’t say anything. Keeping this a secret was hell. I have so much to tell you!”
She could feel his arms tightening around her, pulling her closer.
“I missed you so much,” he whispered, his hot breath tickling her neck.
“I missed you too,” she said softly, a smile creeping back on her lips as they continued to hold each other.
The smooth whoosh of the warp core was different than she was used to, but it was soothing all the same. The sensory overload was starting to diminish as she lingered in his arms.
He leaned back to gaze at her for a moment before speaking again. “I really mean it. I’ve had a hole in my heart for two years, Beck,” he said softly.
She reached up to touch his face as she saw a single tear slide down his cheek. He closed his eyes and leaned into her touch. “No one gets me like you do,” he continued.
Brad had always been the sentimental one and she had always been the brash and impulsive crazy one. She was sure he’d been planning this moment for weeks, with several contingencies based on her reactions, and she loved that about him.
“I’m here now,” she said, looking into his bright blue eyes with a smile. They held each other’s gaze for an intense moment before Boimler cleared his throat and looked down.
“Well, I’ll let you get settled in. I know things feel crazy, but, um, you’re going to like it here,” he said, stepping back from her. She felt the absence of his warmth immediately and almost shivered.
“And here’s the old Brad,” she thought to herself with a laugh, “and here I thought he’d made so much progress.” It was the Cerritos all over again.
“Brad,” she said, keeping herself from sighing in exasperation, “I brought you something.”
She pulled an isolinear chip from her pocket, holding it out to him with a smirk.
“The bar?!” he asked incredulously.
She nodded with satisfaction. “I recreated it after we lost the mainframe. I was keeping it for a moment like this.”
He held it up to the light with a huge smile, “this is amazing!”
“Meet you there in a couple of hours?” she offered, knowing that she’d be able to form more coherent thoughts after a nap and a shower.
“Holodeck 7. It’s on deck 9. 1700?”
She nodded in agreement, and he practically skipped out of her quarters.
She was right; clarity always came after a nap and a shower. She walked the corridors with clear eyes and appreciated the sleek lines of the USS Archer, which she had just found out was Starfleet’s newest science and engineering vessel: tasked with the research and development of new fuel sources and more efficient fuel technologies. She was amused that as Chief of Security, she would be responsible for the safety of more than 200 nerds and 1800 other crew members. Was she ready? Fake it ‘til you make it was her motto.
She was definitely a fan of the new uniforms. Mostly dark grey with yellow accents for her new division and three solid rank pips for her new rank of Commander. She pondered leaving her sleeves in regulation position, but she wouldn’t be Mariner without the rolled-up sleeves.
She’d studied Boimler’s updated crew picture for a few minutes as she read his slightly redacted profile. She noticed a few more smile lines beside his eyes and a couple more freckles from exposure to exotic stars on distant planets, but mostly, he was still the same old Brad.
Something inside her hoped that he had a few new tricks up his sleeve, and as she stepped up to the holodeck door and saw that the program was running, she took a calming breath and hoped for the best.
“Hi,” he said with a smile, his eyes looking bluer than she remembered from earlier. He had a PADD in front of him along with a glass of whiskey on the rocks.
“Whiskey?” she asked, tilting her head with curiosity.
He chuckled, “Just a bad habit I picked up on Earth.”
“So, you aren’t just the same old Brad,” she observed with a smirk.
She sat down next to him at the bar, glancing down at the carving of their names next to Kirk and Spock’s names. She ran her fingers over the letters and smiled.
“Whatcha got there?” she nodded to the PADD.
He handed it to her as if it were fragile, and after he told her what it was, she decided that it was indeed fragile.
“Um, there were a lot of things I couldn’t tell you because I was doing a lot of top-secret stuff these past few months. But now that you have clearance, um, I can give you this. It’s, um, letters that I wrote to you but couldn’t send.”
She pressed a button to turn on the screen, but he quickly put his hand on top of the PADD. “Um, don’t read them right now. Read them later in your quarters,” he said, looking somewhat alarmed.
She stared at him for a moment, wondering if he’d written her love letters or smut letters. Did he really have it in him to do that?
The holographic bartender brought her a drink and she took a sip, hoping the synthehol was stronger than it was on the Cali Class ships.
“So, when are Tendi and Rutherford arriving?” she asked to fill the silence as Boimler’s comm badge chirped.
“LaForge to Boimler. You got a second to run down to Engineering?”
Brad looked at her apologetically and tapped his comm badge. “I’ll be right there, Captain.”
“Bartender, get me another. I’ll be right back,” he said, his eyes meeting hers before hurrying off.
“OH,” he added as the holodeck arch appeared, “don’t read those while I’m gone.”
Beckett laughed as he left; they both knew that she was going to be reading them.
The letters started out simple enough. Many of the first ones read like log entries with a couple of “I miss yous” and “wish you were heres” mixed in.
“Oh Boims, you never change,” she sighed, skipping over a few months of letters to come to some letters that were written immediately after she had seen him last on shore leave.
I’m such a coward. I don’t know how I let you leave without telling you how I feel.
Her heart skipped a beat as she let out a tiny gasp. Brad Boimler, who had to be drunk to even attempt to kiss her, had started pouring out his soul in a letter.
I can’t stand being away from you. I think about you every second, wishing you were beside me. Wishing I could hold you and kiss you and make love to you.
Her eyes widened again.
I know we’ve never talked about it, but I don’t want to wait anymore. I wish I could tell you right now that I’ve been begging Captain LaForge to give you a position here and he agreed. He talked to Captain Ramsey about it last night. It’s going to be a little bit before I can tell you about it, and everything will happen really quickly, but we’re going to be together again. And this time I hope it’s forever.
She glanced at the door hurriedly, hoping he would be gone just a few minutes longer so that she could get up to the current timeframe.
You arrive tomorrow. I’m freaking out. I’m so in love with you and I can’t wait to see you and—
The doors to the holodeck swished open and Brad jogged back in.
“I’m sorry it took so long, we were trying to get something ready for Rutherford when he gets here and—” he paused when he saw her face.
She didn’t realize that she’d been crying and that tears were streaking down her cheeks.
“You read them,” he said in a whisper, cringing a bit.
She could only nod.
“Dammit,” he said with an embarrassed chuckle. He paused and took a shaky breath to gather his strength.
He walked slowly back to his seat, taking a deep swig of his whiskey before sitting down. She could tell that he was waiting for her to give him a clue as to what to do next as he sat silently and stared into his glass.
“I have a question,” she whispered, looking down at her own drink, setting the PADD to the side, “Are you drunk enough to kiss me yet?”
He burst into laughter; the tension released from the room.
“What? I mean one of these letters is basically a to do list,” she smirked, reaching over to pull up the letter.
“No, no, no. I know what one you’re talking about,” he laughed, his face turning bright red as he dropped his forehead down to the bar.
“But the problem is, you’ve never kissed me without being at least buzzed,” she teased, “I don’t know if you can do it.”
“Well…” he pondered out loud in a shaky voice, “I’m definitely terrified out of my mind and not at all buzzed at the moment. How about now?”
“Whenever you’re ready,” she whispered, unable to wipe the smirk off her face.
He took a steadying breath and turned toward her, their eyes meeting. He willed his hands to stop shaking as he gently touched her face, her skin softer than he remembered.
She didn’t rush him. She knew she needed to give him the time to make the first move.
“Beckett,” he whispered, his face inching closer to hers.
“Brad,” she smiled softly, encouraging him to keep going.
“I love you,” he whispered, his lips finally touching hers.
She’d been sober a few of the times that he’d kissed her through the years, but she tried to commit this kiss to memory, hoping for it to last forever.
She opened her eyes to find his blue eyes watching her in nervous anticipation, his arm draped across the back of her high-backed bar stool as he leaned close to her. She reached out to brush a lock of his purple hair off his forehead and let her hand linger on his cheek for a moment.
“What else can we check off your to do list tonight?” she murmurred, smirking at him.
“Anything you want. Everything you want,” he sighed, leaning his forehead against hers and closing his eyes again.
“Wake up, Beck,” Brad said in a sleepy voice, leaning close to her and catching a whiff of her shampoo.
“I don’t wanna get up,” she said, rolling over to bury her face in his chest.
“I know, but Tendi and Rutherford will be here in an hour,” Brad said, pushing her chin up so that he could look at her.
She blinked her eyes open groggily and met his gaze. Their smiles widened as their eyes met.
“Hi,” he whispered.
“Hi,” she said softly, melting a little bit when she noticed his disheveled hair.
“I could wake up every morning to this,” he whispered.
“Last night… was everything,” she replied, leaning forward to kiss him.
“Marry me,” he whispered.
He opened his eyes to see her reaction, which of course was shock mixed with amusement.
“I mean it. I don’t want to wait,” he whispered a little more urgently.
“Bradward Boimler. I love you,” she held his face in her hands.
“Is that a yes?” he laughed.
“I figured you would want to make a spectacle out of this. You know, plan something for weeks, orchestrate it in front of all our friends, ask my dad for his permission, etc,” she giggled.
“I mean yes… I planned to do all those things. But all that matters to me is you,” he said.
“Yes,” she said simply.