At the End of the Day

[Annabelle O'Halloran 0]

It was late into beta shift when she let her relief take over monitoring from the bridge station. Anna entered the turbolift and once the doors closed, allowed herself to sag against the back wall, quietly requesting to be conveyed to deck 8. The thrill of seeing the Ithaca begin to emerge as more than just a temporal shadow outlined by tachyon excited chronometric particles had faded to disappointment when it became obvious that the time vortex created by the deflector shields had failed to completely stabilize the time within the bubble to match the time outside of it. The Ithaca was now visible but still out of reach because though the time within the bubble had slowed considerably, it was still moving faster than normal. For now, all they could do was attempt to keep the Ithaca stabilized at the rate she was currently at until a way could be found to collapse the bubble or remove the Ithaca from it.

 

Tiredly squaring her shoulders, Anna pulled herself up and exited the lift as the door slid back. Maybe the Ithaca's situation wouldn't seem so confounding after a few hours sleep, she told herself as she reached their quarters and entered. She caught herself before calling out a greeting when she spotted Will sitting on the sofa. He was still in his uniform, head lying back against the cushions, his eyes closed, a PADD still grasped loosely in his left hand. Forgetting all about the Ithaca, Anna moved soundlessly across the carpeting and just stood in front of the sofa, watching him for a moment, the usual, now comfortable, sudden rush of feelings for him, completely eclipsing the exhaustion. She was sure the pleasure of coming home, knowing he was already there or soon would be, could never get old. Even though he was sleeping, he looked tired to her; he'd probably gotten back late again, maybe he hadn't even eaten dinner. Moving carefully, she sat down next to him, gently resting her head against his shoulder. She was being selfish, giving in to her need to be close. She should wake him up; save his neck from a terrible cramp. With a contented smile, Anna closed her eyes. She would wake him up. In a minute...

 

Will opened his eyes and for a moment had to figure out where he was. He looked and realized that he was in their new quarters. He only meant to close his eyes for a moment, but sees that he's been asleep for about two hours. He looked down and smiled to see Anna sitting next to him, her head on his shoulder; sound asleep. He kissed the top of her head and gently nudged her while whispering, "Hey, beautiful. Wake up. Your prince wants to see your lovely eyes." Nothing looked more beautiful to him than when her eyes opened and she smiled at him.

 

"Sounds like a fairy-tale," Anna murmured, blinking sleepily as she shifted her position so that she faced him, her eyes meeting his which caused a warm, lazy smile of appreciation to cross her face. "I shouldn't have sat down next to you," she confessed. "I had the best of intentions, too. I was going to wake you up after just a minute..." Twisting her neck, she checked the antique clock secured to the end table and then glanced back, her smile widening into a grin, "Instead you woke me up after twenty minutes...but..." Her eyes gleaming, she pretended to pout, "Not with a kiss."

 

Will smiled in return. "Then allow me to rectify that grievous error." He bent his head and although his neck protested at the movement, he cupped Anna's chin gently and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. The kiss seemed to linger between them for a long while before they both had to come up for air. Grinning like an idiot, he sighed happily before looking at her. "So, my love, how are you doing now?"

 

"Much better now than I was a little while ago," Anna understated wildly, her smile warm and intimate as she felt her heartbeat slowly returned to normal. "I should have dropped by the flight deck to see you earlier...for medicinal reasons."

 

He laughed as he ran his fingers through her hair. "Tell me what is on your mind. Tell me of your troubles, now."

 

"OK, you asked for it," Anna teased, enjoying the sound of his laughter. She pulled one leg up under her and settled her shoulder against the back of the couch, still facing him. "The maneuver we tried earlier, the thing with the deflector shields we talked about yesterday? Well, it only partially worked," she stated, her smile fading. "It managed to slow the rate at which time is passing within the bubble to only a little further ahead in time than we are, but it's still not enough to be able to scan accurately. We can see it...but it's...blurry."

 

Will thought, "Only partially successful is still a success, Anna." He sat back but had to look away from Anna lest he get distracted from his mind. "Maybe, since you slowed the pocket of time down, perhaps we need to speed ourselves up, just a little. And if we can figure how to speed ourselves up, maybe we can reverse the process and bring ourselves and the Ithaca home. What do you think?"

 

Watching his profile, Anna considered his words for a moment before replying, "We still don't know how the Ithaca became caught in the pocket, and one of the things McQueen is leery about is the Reaent getting caught in the same situation. Right now, we're exerting an influence over that pocket by using the deflector shields to keep the chronotomic particles around the ship in an excited state while keeping the Reaent's shields attenuated to the same frequency so that she doesn't get caught if the field should suddenly expand." She reached and touched her fingers to his jaw, so that he'd turn and meet her eyes, waiting till he did so, to say, "Will, it should be possible to do what you're saying. It can be one of the options for the captain to consider."

 

Will nodded, "Of course, we have to protect the ship, but we must also save the Ithaca, even at our own peril. It is our duty as Starfleet officers." He looked at Anna softly and smiled, "Just as I would go through death itself for you." He caressed her cheek ever so gently.

 

Anna just stared at him for a moment, caught completely unawares, and just shook her head, a little dazed, asking, "How do you do that?" She took hold of his hand in both of hers, gently squeezing it. "We're having a conversation and then all of a sudden, you say things like that and just take my breath away, Will." She blinked back sudden quick tears and laughed a little. "You'll always know just how to distract me if we have a fight."

 

Will smile grew wicked, "Oh, pretty words are just one of the weapons in my arsenal to make you happy." He rubbed her hand gently and locked her gaze with his, "Now for a moment, I want you to just look at me and clear your mind. Concentrate and maybe, just maybe, sudden inspiration will come to you."

 

Anna knew exactly what she wanted to do to him and for him, but couldn't resist teasing him first. "If you pull out a gold pocket watch and start swinging it, I am going to get very nervous," she managed to say with a straight face before getting to her feet. She dislodged the PADD he'd been holding when he fell asleep and she bent to pick it up. "You work so late and then you bring it home with you," she commentated, glancing at the screen that was now illuminated from being jostled.

 

Will gently took the PADD and looked at it, "Actually, Shamor wants to make some adjustments to our new fighters to make them more efficient." He set the PADD down on the table and winks, "I don't need a gold watch to hypnotize you." He took her hand, "Come on, may be a good night of rest will help us figure things out." He gently led her toward the bedroom.

 

"I would argue with you about not needing the gold watch, but I'd be lying and you know it," Anna answered with a soft laugh as she followed him.