Star Crossed Together [Gabriel/Archangel]

The sun beat down on the beaches of one of Alpha Centauri's smaller, more isolated holiday resorts. In its rays, the sand sparkled like a diamond with a million facets and the waves rolled gently onto the shore. From one of those waves rose the form of Archangel T'Koris-Arthur.

It had been strange, leaving her daughters with Gabriel's parents while she and her new husband travelled to one of the more exclusive holiday resorts to bathe in their newlywed bliss. She couldn't help but think that a part of her life was missing when she didn't have to look after them.

Then her eyes fell on the figure lying on a towel on the sand and she couldn't help but smile. Gabriel Arthur. The man of her life. With water still gleaming on her pale skin and her wet hair clinging to her body, she made her way over to him.

[Centaurus Prime]

Western Tyrus had always been one of Gabriel's favorite regions of his dual-homeworld. Even though he honestly considered Earth to be his actual home, he was most definitely part Centauran, so...any chance to renew those oft-fallowed ties was welcome.

Especially if it was for the reason he was currently lying on a pleasant beach, the rays of a real sun filling him with a warmness that bordered on the sublime. And then...there was the vision rising from the waves.

He was reminded of Venus in the foam, painted by the hand of the ancient Renaissance man, as Archangel made her way toward him. The play of the light kissing the tone of her body, coupled with the sluicing of water from her hair, running all the way down...why, it made him feel positively artistic.

It still felt a little strange to be without the girls, but he knew they were having a wonderful time with their grandparents. Besides...the opportunity to be fully and truly with Archangel, free of any interruption, focusing only on one another...it was such a rare treat, and a time to be treasured. His memories of this trip had already been pleasant beyond words. Though she still had a few nagging pains from her injuries, her eagerness and passion the previous night (and this morning) had been more than he could have dreamed of. It made Gabriel happy to see his Angel lose her cares for a while, too. It had been a long, hard fight to get here.

"Hey, you," Gabe grinned up at his wife. "Don't ya know you're blockin' my sun?"

Archangel grinned at her husband as she sat on the towel next to his, wringing out her long hair. Being on one of his homeworlds was a bit of an experience for her, more so because she had rarely visited this planet. In fact, the last time had been before Aria was born, when they had brought Seika to one of the treatment facilities here. She wished that, one day, she could take Gabriel to Romulus, to show him her homeworld, but that wasn't likely to happen any time soon.

Putting those thoughts behind her, she concentrated on enjoying the now. They were free of all worries and cares. Free to enjoy each other's company. Her grin turned to a playful smile as she remembered the activities of the previous night and that morning. She had wrung him out like a good-looking washcloth. Romulans were known to be a very passionate species and she was no exception.

She reached over to tap his nose gently. "Come now, I wasn't blocking your sun. The angles are wrong for that," she teased.

"Oh...trust me..." Gabriel said, grinning expressively as wife sat down next to him. "The angles are juuust fine." Reaching over, he brushed his fingertips along the edge of her face, tracing her jaw and gently drawing her lips to his. "I have no complaints at all, e'lev."

The sight of her in her swimsuit, and the feel of her skin under his fingertips, made him suddenly wish for more than kissing. This wasn't Risa, however, and so he leaned back on his elbow with a puckish smile. "Got a videocall from mom a few minutes ago. The girls are doing fine. Apparently, she remembered how much I used to love playing with clay on a wheel, and so Seika is learning to make pottery. Or, more likely, messes."

"Cheeky," Archangel gently chided as their kiss broke, although she had enjoyed the contact. She sighed softly, partly wishing that she could continue their activities from that morning.

Of course, then she burst out laughing at the thought of Seika playing with clay on a potter's wheel. The little girl tended to make a mess with anything other than crayons and pencils. "Remind me to get your mother a gift for looking after the pair of them. She'll still be finding bits of clay on the ceiling when Seika graduates!"

He loved the sound of her laughter. It was something that he very rarely heard. Oh, she was happy...she smiled, she chuckled, she grinned in amusement at something silly he'd said, or something adorable the kids had done. But...full-on, joyous laughter? It seemed like there'd hardly been time for that, as of late. With the war done, and the path to recovery after Jarris clearer and stronger than ever, Gabriel figured they had a few things to laugh about now.

"Oh, mom'll be fine. It's no worse than what she had to clean up after Chira. If that girl didn't have her hand in mud, she wasn't happy, it seemed," he laughed. "Besides. We'd best be preparing ourselves. You just know mom's going to send that potter wheel back home with her, right?"

Still smiling, Gabe reached over, trailing his fingertips down her shoulder and upper arm. He was always amazed at how warm she was, and she seemed to be practically glowing in the sun, with the rays giving her pale, greenish complexion a coppery tinge. "Can I get you anything?"

Archangel chuckled again ath the thought of Seika using the potter's wheel in the close confines of starship quarters, then shivered slightly at the sensation of his fingers tracing her arm. Deciding that turnabout was fair play, she brushed the tips of her fingers along the line of his jaw, feeling how cool he was despite the sunlight. He always felt cooler to her, since the human body ran a few degrees lower than her Romulan physiology. Her smile took on a decidedly playful air.

"A repeat performance of last night, perhaps?"

Archangel T'Koris wrote:

Archangel chuckled again ath the thought of Seika using the potter's wheel in the close confines of starship quarters, then shivered slightly at the sensation of his fingers tracing her arm.  Deciding that turnabout was fair play, she brushed the tips of her fingers along the line of his jaw, feeling how cool he was despite the sunlight.  He always felt cooler to her, since the human body ran a few degrees lower than her Romulan physiology.  Her smile took on a decidedly playful air.

"A repeat performance of last night, perhaps?"

The feeling of her delicate fingers on his face was enough to jolt Gabriel as if he'd grabbed a naked EPS circuit. He closed his eyes and practically purred like a cat, enjoying the precise nature of her touches. She had an engineer's hands.

And then, what she said...it didn't lessen the intensity of what was passing between them. Not even in the least bit. A slow smile crept onto Gabriel's face as he propped himself all the way up, slipping behind her and placing his hands on her shoulders. "You remember basic Academy First Aid, right? Gotta warm up before strenuous activity..." he murmured, working his thumbs and fingers in little circular motions. Gabriel figured that he could rub her shoulders for a month straight and still not get all the stress knots out.

Still working on her shoulders, Gabe moved her wet hair slightly out of the way, placing a soft kiss on the back of her neck. "...Warm yet?"

Archangel tensed as Gabriel moved behind her, resisting the urge to turn so that she could face him. She knew that the last couple of months had been hard on him, that the marriage was supposed to be a way of cutting the past loose and focusing on their future together, but there were some scars that were proving very slow to heal.

She forced herself to relax, to let herself enjoy the feeling of his skilled fingers working on her muscles. Walking with a cane put so many knots in her shoulders that it was hard to believe sometimes. After a few moments, she was a puddle of purring, puttied Romulan in his hands.

Feeling him pause, Archangel took advantage to turn around, gathering her legs under her to give her the leverage to spring at her husband with the intebtion of knocking him to the sand and pinning him there so that she coild claim his soft lips and show him just how warm she was.

Archangel T'Koris wrote:

Archangel tensed as Gabriel moved behind her, resisting the urge to turn so that she could face him.  She knew that the last couple of months had been hard on him, that the marriage was supposed to be a way of cutting the past loose and focusing on their future together, but there were some scars that were proving very slow to heal.

She forced herself to relax, to let herself enjoy the feeling of his skilled fingers working on her muscles.  Walking with a cane put so many knots in her shoulders that it was hard to believe sometimes.  After a few moments, she was a puddle of purring, puttied Romulan in his hands.

Feeling him pause, Archangel took advantage to turn around, gathering her legs under her to give her the leverage to spring at her husband with the intebtion of knocking him to the sand and pinning him there so that she coild claim his soft lips and show him just how warm she was.

It was still a leap of faith for her, he knew, letting someone behind her like he was. Gabe knew this, but he also knew that it was an old habit that would only be worked through by repetition, and so he didn't feel too bad. Besides, any excess tension she may have felt seemed to soon melt away as he worked his fingers into her knots. They were fingers that, months ago, had been severely injured by alien terrorists. It made Gabriel happy to know that he still had it where it counted, as far as massages went.

Gabe paused for a second, wondering if his kiss to the neck had worked yet another of his wife's buttons. He was still learning them all, and having a wonderful time in doing so. His answer came in the form of a sneak attack that brought him laughingly to the sand, feeling the warmth of it pressed into his bare back.

Whatever he was going to say next was swallowed up by the contact of Archangel's lips on his, a passionate kiss that he returned with like ferocity. He suddenly became very aware of the skin-on-skin press of their sun-warmed bodies. "No...no fair," Gabe murmured, as she allowed him a breath. His eyelids were heavy, and his mouth curled in a contented smile as he brought her in again. This time, though...he wasn't without a trick or two of his own. As they kissed, Gabriel ran his fingers through her still-wet hair, making sure to gently trace his thumbs along the delicately-tapered shape of her ears.

Archangel had been about to claim 'all's fair in love and war' when Gabriel touched her ears and the words were lost in a low, rumbling purr. Unfair, she thought to herself. Gabriel knew perfectly well how sensitive her ears were and just how to touch them to get her riled up.

"If you're not careful, Mr Arthur," she murmured to him between kisses, "I am going to have my way with you right here, public beach be damned..."

There was a polite cough a couple of metres away. A centauran whose uniform marked him out as being on the staff of the resort they were staying in stood there, very deliberately not looking at the newlyweds.

"My apologies, Mr Arthur, Mrs T'Koris," he said, holding out two PADDs. "These missives have just arrived for you from Starfleet Command. They are marked urgent."

Oh, yes. The ears, definitely. A small smile of satisfaction came across Gabe's face as she mentioned not caring about the beach. "Maybe...that's my plan all along," he breathed, giving her lower lip a very slight little tug with his teeth. His lips trailed down from there, kissing along the curve of her neck. Things were definitely reaching the point at which they'd have to retire to their own rooms. Run there, more like. Gabriel smiled again as he "accidentally" brushed his fingertips against...

...a shadow fell over them, and Gabriel grimaced slightly at the sound of a discreet cough. He halfway wondered if the resort staff was coming to politely ask them to get a room. Instead, though, the man handed him and Arch a padd each. "Er...thank you," Gabriel said, trying to sound like the Starfleet officer that the missive was directed to, and not the lust-struck teenager that had recieved it. "Wonder what the hell this is," he said. Talk about bad timing...

Archangel was quick to return to the professional demeanour she usually had when dealing with Starfleet matters. Then again, there was a faint green flush across her cheeks that gave away that she wasn't quite Vulcan in her return to professionalism.

Inclining her head in thanks to the Centauran as she took the PADD from him, she entered her personal access codes into the device and reading the message contained on it. Her face was impassive, then troubled, then afraid as she looked up at her husband.

"They want me back in service," she said quietly. "They want me back on a ship."

Archangel T'Koris wrote:

Archangel was quick to return to the professional demeanour she usually had when dealing with Starfleet matters.  Then again, there was a faint green flush across her cheeks that gave away that she wasn't quite Vulcan in her return to professionalism.  

Inclining her head in thanks to the Centauran as she took the PADD from him, she entered her personal access codes into the device and reading the message contained on it.  Her face was impassive, then troubled, then afraid as she looked up at her husband.

"They want me back in service," she said quietly.  "They want me back on a ship."

Gabe could fairly well imagine what Arch's padd said.  Likely something similar to what his did.  Starfleet Command respectfully requests, blah blah blah...experienced command officers needed, blah blah...

He looked up, catching the hesitation in her eyes.  It hurt him directly to the soul to see that look in those eyes.  Gabe knew damn well what a strong, beatiful, and determined soul those eyes were window unto.  But...she'd been hurt.  And even if he could lay the heads of those who had hurt her at her feet, like some Klingon epic, it still wouldn't take back the things they'd done.  All he could do was continue to support her.  In that, Gabriel knew he'd never waver.

"It's a captaincy, isn't it?" Gabriel asked, after drawing her in for an embrace.

The PADD fell from Archangel's hand as she hugged Gabriel pressing her face into his shoulder. She had avoided thinking about returning to service. She hadn't resigned her commission, instead taking extended medical leave in order to recover from the ordeal Jarris had put her through, and Gabriel had been with her every step of the way.

After a moment of silence, she nodded in response to his question, taking a deep breath as she pulled back. "They want me to take command of the USS Phoenix at Athena station."

Archangel T'Koris wrote:

The PADD fell from Archangel's hand as she hugged Gabriel pressing her face into his shoulder.  She had avoided thinking about returning to service.  She hadn't resigned her commission, instead taking extended medical leave in order to recover from the ordeal Jarris had put her through, and Gabriel had been with her every step of the way.

After a moment of silence, she nodded in response to his question, taking a deep breath as she pulled back.  "They want me to take command of the USS Phoenix at Athena station."

Gabe said nothing for a bit, just standing there, being a solid presence for his wife. He held her close, listening to her breathing. He knew this day would come, though he honestly wasn't expecting it to be this soon. Arch had been through hell, but she was an experienced officer, and one of the best in the Fleet. She also had indelible connections with the Romulan Empire, and the Federation needed all the friends it could get, so soon after fighting the kind of war it had. So...no, in hindsight, he shouldn't be surprised at all that Starfleet hadn't given her hardly any time on leave.

"I know," Gabriel smiled, still holding her. "I assumed that's what it said...seeing as how mine is offering me the Phoenix's XO spot."

Pulling back a little, Archangel raised one shaking hand to rub her brow ridges before offering her husband a faint smile. The message on her PADD had specified that they had sent a similar message to Gabriel to offer him the position of her XO. In all honesty, had they not assigned him to the same ship, she would have turned down their offer, despite the wording that made her wonder whether this was a request or an order.

"I'm glad," she said replied, moving to hug him tightly. "I wouldn't want to do this without you."

Archangel T'Koris wrote:

Pulling back a little, Archangel raised one shaking hand to rub her brow ridges before offering her husband a faint smile.  The message on her PADD had specified that they had sent a similar message to Gabriel to offer him the position of her XO.  In all honesty, had they not assigned him to the same ship, she would have turned down their offer, despite the wording that made her wonder whether this was a request or an order.

"I'm glad," she said replied, moving to hug him tightly.  "I wouldn't want to do this without you."

They stayed like that for a bit, just holding each other. She probably thinks I'm the one holding her up right now, Gabriel thought, wishing that Archangel could possibly know how much support she, in turn, gave him.

"This is what we wanted, isn't it?" he asked, smiling softly. "And no...I wouldn't do it without you, either." In all honesty, he had seriously been considering suggesting that they leave Starfleet service altogether, to concentrate on raising the girls. It was a life that was hard to give up, though. "We've talked about this for a while, now. Our own ship. Our own lives. You can do this, Arch. You were born to lead."

It was nice just to sit there, listening to the waves against the sand, the sound of Gabriel's heartbeat, imagine that Starfleet hadn't just casually walked back into their lives and turned them upside down again just because they felt like it. She had wanted her honeymoon to be free of the turmoil of the past few months, but this just brought it all crashing down on her head once again.

"I don't know if I can," she said softly. "Maybe I could have before... before..."

Archangel T'Koris wrote:

It was nice just to sit there, listening to the waves against the sand, the sound of Gabriel's heartbeat, imagine that Starfleet hadn't just casually walked back into their lives and turned them upside down again just because they felt like it.  She had wanted her honeymoon to be free of the turmoil of the past few months, but this just brought it all crashing down on her head once again.

"I don't know if I can," she said softly.  "Maybe I could have before... before..."

"Hey, now," Gabriel said, holding her close again. "None of that. I won't have you questioning your own abilities. Starfleet still believes in you, or else they wouldn't even offer a command of this size and importance." He reached up, brushing a few long strands of black hair behind her ear. "They believe in you. I believe in you...with all my heart and soul, Archangel. The question is...what do you believe?"

Archangel took a shaky breath, closing her eyes and trying to calm her nerves. She truly didn't know what to believe. Last time she had been in command of a starship, a group of aliens had boarded them, killed several members of her crew, forced her to watch as Gabriel and one of their medics were tortured and then went to town on her...

Could she really put herself through that again?

"I don't know what to believe, Gabriel," she replied softly. "I don't know if I can do this again, be responsible for all those lives, after what he did..."

Archangel T'Koris wrote:

Archangel took a shaky breath, closing her eyes and trying to calm her nerves.  She truly didn't know what to believe.  Last time she had been in command of a starship, a group of aliens had boarded them, killed several members of her crew, forced her to watch as Gabriel and one of their medics were tortured and then went to town on her...

Could she really put herself through that again?

"I don't know what to believe, Gabriel," she replied softly.  "I don't know if I can do this again, be responsible for all those lives, after what he did..."

All he wanted to do right now, aside from comfort his wife, was to find the geniuses at Starfleet HQ that thought sending re-activation orders to them on their honeymoon was a good idea, and introduce their asses to his foot.

"You absolutely can do it, Angel." He took her hand up in his, kissing it across the knuckles. "It's your decision, of course...and I'll stand by whichever one you make. But you don't have to do it if you don't want to. If you don't feel like you're ready." Gabriel lightly touched her chin, tilting her face up to his, eye-to-eye. "But I think you are ready."

It was difficult for Archangel to meet his gaze, her dark eyes troubled as memory fragments she had tried hard to bury resurfaced, remembering how she had failed him, how she had almost caused him to die because of her oath to Starfleet and the Federation.

She lifted her hands to lightly brush her fingertips along the line of Gabriel's jaw. "I almost killed you because of them, e'lev," she said softly. "Maybe you can forgive me for that, maybe your family can, but I can't."

Archangel T'Koris wrote:

It was difficult for Archangel to meet his gaze, her dark eyes troubled as memory fragments she had tried hard to bury resurfaced, remembering how she had failed him, how she had almost caused him to die because of her oath to Starfleet and the Federation.

She lifted her hands to lightly brush her fingertips along the line of Gabriel's jaw.  "I almost killed you because of them, e'lev," she said softly.  "Maybe you can forgive me for that, maybe your family can, but I can't."

Hearing the fear, the doubt, the trepidation in her voice...it instantly brought Gabriel back to the lean times between the attack, and her recovery. It also made him want to murder Jarris all over again. It was a baser instinct, he knew, and one that humanity should have been beyond.

But that didn't stop him from feeling disappointment at having not been able to watch the light extinguish from his eyes.

He smiled softly at her touch. One thing Archangel had always been able to do was to calm and keep him grounded. Drawing her in, Gabriel wrapped his long arms around his wife, holding her tight. "I know I can't wave a wand and make you forgive yourself," he said, kissing her damp hair. "As much as I wish I could...because it's just as you said. Nobody blames you. Nobody. You did what you had to. It comes with the uniform, doesn't it? A part of the risk? We can't define our lives by the actions of others."

Gabe gently stroked her hair, giving a rueful smile. "Whatever you decide...it doesn't have to be today, Angel." He cupped her chin, delivering a playfully passionate kiss. "We're still on vacation, after all..."

Archangel returned the kiss, but she seemed somewhat distracted, no longer able to lose herself fully in the moment.  A part of her resented the service, both for what it had put her through over the years and now for ruining her honeymoon.  

Putting on as convincing a smile as she could manage, she took Gabriel's hands, getting up and pulling him to his feet.  "Come swim with me!"