New Directions

[Isabeau Delevan 0]

Nick was sitting at a table in the main lounge, contemplating the drink standing in front of him, oblivious to his surroundings. He had agreed to meet Isabeau that evening. She seemed to think he needed to get out of sickbay every now and then and she was probably right. Now he was waiting for his friend, wondering how to break the big news to her.

 

Entering the lounge, she paused and glanced around looking for Nick. Most of the tables were taken and she finally spotted him sitting at one by a window, his back to the room. She skipped the bar and went to one of the replicators and ordered an orange juice. She walked to his table and took the seat across from him, greeting him with a smile. "Good evening, Dr. Lepage. How's my favorite CMO tonight? Did you have a good day?" He'd been off shift since yesterday.

 

Nick was a little startled as Isabeau sat down. He had been lost in his thoughts. "Hey, good to see you. I had a great day. I got up late this morning, went jogging and this afternoon I actually got to read a book. And now I am here with you and looking forward to spending a nice evening with you."

 

"Sounds like a very nice day, mon cher-I'm glad you did something besides work and worry about the Portas system." She leaned back in her seat and looked past him, unconsciously noting who was here and whom they were with. "Nothing to report from today's Alpha shift; everything's quiet-everyone's healthy." She looked back to him and smiled a little ruefully. "You're going to remind me of this at some future time but it's just too quiet."

 

"I'll blame you if the ship breaks apart tomorrow. Besides, quiet isn't too bad. Maybe that way you'll be able to hang on to that new pip of yours," he said teasingly. He knew Isabeau deserved her promotion but it wasn't the first time she'd made this rank. In fact, she'd already been a Lieutenant at one point.

 

She swallowed her juice before she choked on it, the dirty look she threw him echoing her thought that it would serve him right if he'd gotten sprayed with it. "Very amusing, Nicolas. Somewhere, the stage at a comedy club is empty right now because you're here." Setting her glass down, her glare at him faded to bemusement and she shrugged. "I'll try not to get too attached to it--easy come, easy go." Like Hell. "You must get so tired waiting for the other shoe to drop--you really do seem to think I'm always on the verge of a disaster."

 

It was difficult for Nick not to burst out laughing at Isabeau's expression. "Well, I remember you saying something about an old legend. I'm not sure what to think about that. I know how you enjoy going off on your adventures. And remember what I told you, I am your friend but I am also your boss and I won't treat you any differently than all the others in my department." He hadn't meant to sound so harsh, especially since he knew Isabeau didn't expect any special treatment from him. However, he felt he should remind her nevertheless.

 

She was now wishing she'd gotten something a little stronger than orange juice. She listened to him with a mixture of frustration and amusement, and decided there was no point in letting him get her riled up. "All I said, was that there's an old legend, story, whatever you want to call it and the particulars place the events within this area of space. From that simple statement you have managed to extrapolate a scenario that has me abandoning my post, probably while in the middle of surgery, to go on what you no doubt feel would be a wild goose chase," she finished dryly.

 

"Actually I had extrapolated a scenario that had you hijacking a runabout but that hardly matters." Now Nick was grinning widely again. He was only teasing his friend. Though Isabeau got easily excited over old legends and stories, she was very reliable. So he wasn't really worried there would be any problems.

 

"I'm not certified to pilot a runabout." She knew he was only teasing and had a hard time keeping a straight face.

 

"Oh, but not being certified to pilot a shuttle didn't keep you from flying one last time," he remarked dryly.

 

She couldn't argue with that and wisely decided to move on. "Water under the bridge, mon ami. The past doesn't concern me--only the future." Her smile and the sparkle in her eyes showed there were no hard feelings--he knew her a little too well.

 

"Talking about the future," Nick said with his grin firmly back in place. "DJ and I had a talk a few days ago."

 

His expression told the story and she smiled expectantly in response to the happiness she saw there. "And?"

 

"I think I didn't make a fool out of myself," he said, not really answering her question.

 

"I've never known you to make a fool of yourself, Nicolas," she answered quietly. Isabeau remembered the conversation she and DJ had shared the first time the crew had taken the Mercury out. Their conversation had been about Nick and it was during it that Isabeau had become convinced that DJ was in love with him. She'd known how Nick felt about DJ for years. She watched him, waiting for him to go on--he was happy so this talk with Dr. McKinny must have been what he'd hoped for-and what she hoped for him too, for him and DJ.

 

Nick smiled as he thought back to that evening after he'd been hiking with Isabeau. The talk with DJ had seemed to go wrong at first, not so much because their plans for the future were very different but more because he had misunderstood her at first. "Well, we both want to be together so I'm going to propose to her as soon as...you know, I need a ring and I want to talk to her parents first." He paused and frowned. "Do you think that's too...dunno, old-fashioned?"

 

"No, I don't think that's too old fashioned, I think it sounds just right," she assured him. She thought it sounded exactly like Nick. He was a traditionalist in many ways. "So you haven't proposed yet, but I take it you're pretty sure she's not going to turn you down?" Now it was her turn to tease him just a little bit.

 

Isabeau's question took Nick by surprise a little. "I...euh...no, she's not going to turn me down...I think. We love each other and I really want to do this, Isabeau. I've always been scared about the thought of getting married but with DJ it's different. I'm convinced it's the right thing."

 

She realized he was so preoccupied he didn't know she was teasing. "I was just kidding, Nicolas-of course she's not going to turn you down."

 

Nick looked up and studied Isabeau carefully. "I'm sorry, of course you were teasing. It's just... I guess I'm nervous about all this, you know."

 

He was nervous she realized. "I can see that but what is making you so nervous?" It seemed to her that the hardest part for Nick might have already come before. He'd been in love with DJ for years not knowing that anything would ever or could ever come of it.

 

"What do you mean 'what's making me so nervous?' I haven't met her family yet and you know how it is, I want to make a good impression. And then there will come the time when DJ will meet Mamie...oh, boy, I feel sick only thinking about it." He took a sip of his drink, trying not to imagine what his grandmother would say to DJ when they met.

 

"Mon Dieu, Nicolas, your grandmother is going to be over the moon with joy! She's been trying to get you married for years so that you can start producing more Lepages. She's going to fall in love with DJ on sight, as will your whole family!" Isabeau sat back and contemplated him fondly. "They just want you to be happy and you know something else? That's what DJ's family wants for her. You'll make a great impression because you're a great guy."

 

Nick smiled gratefully. "Thanks Isabeau. It's just, I'm worried they won't be very...thrilled to see I'm in Starfleet, you know." He knew Isabeau would understand what he was referring to.

 

"Well, yes. There's that." She knew that DJ's first husband had been a Starfleet officer and had been killed in action. "But Nick, DJ's also a Starfleet officer--her family knows she faces the same risks her husband did and I'm sure they're as proud of her as your family is of you."

 

"Oh, well, you know my dad wasn't very happy about it. He'd always counted on me taking over his place at Levesque Memorial Hospital as a psychiatrist. But I think he was just worried. Anyway, I just want this to work out. I want my family to like and accept DJ and I want her family to accept me. So, yeah, that's why I'm nervous."

 

"Your father has twelve other children and surely one of them can step into his shoes-and though I’m sure he's worried, I'm also quite sure he respects your decision and is proud of the path you chose. And there's no reason for your family not to love DJ and as for DJ's family--only time will tell but why don't you let DJ worry about her family? The important thing is that you and DJ love each other. Everything else will follow from that." Isabeau decided it wasn't worth mentioning that since neither he nor DJ even saw all that much of their families, and though she couldn't fathom it, if the families didn't approve, did it really matter?

 

Nick finished his drink and put down the glass. "You're right, thanks." After a few seconds of silence during which he contemplated his empty glass he looked back up at Isabeau and frowned. "Now where do I get a ring?"

 

She met his look feeling a little nonplussed. "That's a very good question, Nicolas. All of the civilian shopkeepers packed up and fled when we pulled up stakes."

 

"Yeah, I thought about that. Well, I'm sure something will come up." Actually Nick hoped something would come up more or less quickly. He was a patient guy but DJ's conditions gave him a good reason to hurry a little more than he usually would have.

 

"It will. I'm sure people get engaged in the Portas system-hopefully it still involves beautiful jewelry." Isabeau turned in her seat and looked out through the window behind the table. "Who knows what we'll find?"

Edited January 17, 2009 by Isabeau Delevan