Love And War Bk. 05

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IronDragon
IronDragon
1,608 Followers

"I would guess that you were there at the race where Ryan got his nickname, Angie." Rachael said.

"Yes I was. I was on Leave at the time, and thought I'd pay my surviving family a visit. Little did I know that little Ryan had a huge crush on me." She winked at Rachael.

"He does have a thing for older women, you know." Rachael winked back.

"Only for you now, bunny." Ryan kissed her lips.

"Awww, is that baby Rash?" Angie asked when she noticed their son.

"Angie, this strapping young lad is Brandon 'Babyface' Rasher, and yes, Ryan has already reserved that callsign for him." Rachael grinned.

"Delaara came up with it." Rash grinned as well.

"Ok, as soon as the Potemkin gets here to replace us as Liaisons, I need to come visit! Two more days, and we'll be at Starbase 1." Angie said. "Will you all be around?"

"We should be. Enterprise should be here by morning with the... whatever it is they're going to use to close this wormhole." Jason said. Nobody knew what was going to be used, but whatever it was, they all hoped it worked.

"Good. See you all then. I have to go, but I'll comm you tomorrow evening, Jay. Comanche, out." She said with a smile as the screen went back to the UFP flag.

"Well, she seems nice." Rachael said. "I like her. Now, what we came by to say was that we'll be heading back in the morning after Enterprise gets here and closes the wormhole. I do want you both on the Bridge when they get here, though."

"Sounds good, Rachael. Yeah, Cousin Angie would give you a run for your money in the toughness department." Jason grinned up at her.

"Is that so?" Rachael raised an eyebrow.

"I was there when she vented and detonated her Warp Plasma when the pursuing Jem'Hadar battleship flew through it at the Battle of Bajor, Rachael." Delaara said with a smile. "I was flying off of the IRW Ravansior at the time as a Squadron Leader."

Rachael nodded in appreciation. "Good tactic. Probably born of desperation."

Jason and Delaara both laughed. "As a matter of fact..." Jason said, leaving it hanging.

-------------------------------------------------

Another One Bites the Dust

The Enterprise warped in and slowly approached the wormhole.

"Good to see you all," said Jean-Luc over the comm to the entire fleet. "We are beginning systems preparation for the release of the Unstable Warp Generator. Move back to five hundred thousand kilometers from the entrance to the wormhole."

"Good to see you too, Jean-Luc." Rachael smiled at her friend, then turned to Ensign Carter. "Ollie, take us back to five hundred thousand from the mouth of the wormhole."

"Yes, ma'am." Carter replied, punching in the course and speed. The Nimitz turned and moved back to the designated safe area. He checked his scopes. "Five hundred K and holding steady, Captain."

"Thank you, Ollie." She said, then turned to Tanya.

"Excalibur, Gryphon, and Eisenhower moving back as well, Captain." Lt. Cmdr Tanya Duran reported from her post at the Security and Weapons station.

"Light it up, Jean-Luc," said the voice of Captain Mackenzie Calhoun over the comm.

"Sit back and watch the show. This should be entertaining." Jean-Luc was smiling.

"I've never seen a wormhole collapsed before." Delaara said quietly.

"Neither have I, sweetheart. This SHOULD be entertaining if it works." Jason replied.

"From the specs and data I received on it, it worked well in simulations." Rachael said wryly. "But then, simulations don't always reflect real life."

"Very true, Rachael. I'm hoping it works just as much as you are." Jean-Luc said. It was audio only, since all the viewscreens were on the mouth of the wormhole itself. "Prep is complete, launching now."

"Fire Torpedo Tube 1," ordered Commander Worf.

The torpedo tube fire a blue glowing orb at the mouth of the wormhole. They watched as it closed the distance, and the mouth opened at the approach of the object. As soon as it reached the event horizon, it detonated in a brilliant blue explosion.

As the glow of the explosion faded, a cheer went up as the wormhole had disappeared from view.

"YES!" Rash pumped his arm.

"Thank God!" Rachael agreed, standing and wrapping her arms around Ryan's neck, kissing him lovingly.

"Scanning...." Lt. Cmdr Soleta said from her post aboard the Excalibur. "The wormhole is gone, Captain." She reported to Mac.

"Thank you, Sol. Enterprise, we are clear. Beers are on me at Starbase 1!" Mac said as the Excalibur turned about with the rest of the fleet and entered Warp.

*****

Jason and Delaara entered The Boiler Room on Starbase 1 to find Mac, Jean-Luc, and Elizabeth already there. Rachael and Rash were right behind them, and they grabbed chairs at the oversized table. The waitress came up and took their orders, raising her eyebrows slightly at the requests for real alcohol instead of the usual synthahol beverages. She walked back to the bar and rolled her eyes as she gave their orders to the bartender.

"We should have gone to Big Lou's." Rash nodded sagely as he watched the girl's reaction.

"True. They don't judge us there." Mac said with a grin for his old drinking buddy.

"Hell, if you aren't drinking real beer at Big Lou's, you're either on the clock working for him, or you're a pantywaist." Jason agreed with a grin.

"So you were just going to ditch me and go planetside? I see how it is." Angie said with her hands on her hips from behind Jason.

"I know that voice!" He jumped up and hugged her, picking her up and spinning her around.

"Put me down, Colonel! People will talk!" She laughed.

"Not with you us in front of my wife, they won't!" He set her down and pulled up a chair for her.

She sat finally, looking around at some unfamiliar faces and smiling.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is my cousin, Captain Angelina Castigliano of the USS Comanche, obviously back early from a two year tour as Federation Liaison to the Klingon Empire." Jason grinned, then turned to Angie with a confused look. "Why'd they let you go early, Angie?"

"Potemkin got there ahead of schedule. The diplomat they were supposed to pick up on the way bowed out at the last minute, claiming a family emergency." She shrugged with an ironic smirk. "I'm not going to argue. I've had enough blood wine to last me the rest of my life."

The beers arrived and Jason ordered another one for Angie, which arrived within the minute. She guzzled half the bottle. "Now THAT'S what I've been missing!" She grinned and sighed.

"Angie, you know Jean-Luc. This happy couple here are Captain Mackenzie Calhoun and his wife, Captain Elizabeth Shelby-Calhoun." Jason introduced them. "Mac, Angie is the one I told you about that slugged Rash on Earth after he made a pass at her." He grinned.

"Ah, the infamous Angie!" Mac shook her hand. "Good to meet you, Angie. I'm a fan of your work, both on Rash, and at the Battle of Bajor." He grinned.

"Hey!" Rash shouted with a mock indignant tone. "You know you love me, Mac!" He grinned.

Everyone laughed. "Yeah, we loves ya, Rash!" Mac agreed and clinked bottles with him.

Angie turned and gave Rash a big hug, and gave Rachael a hug since she was family now, too.

Jason realized he got his sense of Family from the Italian side. His Mom, Evelina Luciano-MacKenzie, was full blooded Italian, as was his cousin. The family resemblence could have made Angie his older sister to those who didn't know them.

"Anyone else coming that we don't know about, Jay?" Elizabeth said with an amused smile.

"Hey, Elizabeth. I didn't even know she'd be here this soon." Jason replied with a chuckle. "But since she's here, why don't we head on down to Big Lou's. Who was buying, here? Oh, yeah. MAC!" Jay grinned.

"Yeah, yeah. Ok, I'll pay the tab and we can get down to Lou's place." He smiled. "On the bright side, Lou always cuts us a discount."

"Exactly, Mac. Now you can buy Elizabeth something nice for your anniversary." Rash grinned at the blank look on Mac's face as he froze halfway out of his seat.

Elizabeth saw it. "You forgot again, didn't you?" She crossed her arms and glared at him.

"Of course not! I just didn't figure on Rash remembering." He grinned, and everyone laughed.

"Good save, Mac." Jean-Luc said with a chuckle.

He finished standing, walked to the bar, and paid his tab. When he returned, they hit their combadges and asked for site to site down to Big Lou's.

*****

"WELL HOLY SHIT!" The familiar greeting thundered through the Biker Bar as they all appeared. "ANGIE!" Lou grinned as he rumbled across the floor and picked her up in his Bear Hug.

"Ooooh! Gunny! I didn't know you liked me in that way!" She winked at him, and he set her down, laughing.

"Shit, Angie! I got a wife and kid now!" He grinned, and Angie looked shocked.

"Yes, and if you made a pass at Lou, she'd probably cut your head off." Delaara grinned at her.

On cue, Kralla came out from the back room after putting Vinnie down for his nap.

"Speakin' of which, Angie, meet my wife, Kralla. We got married after I retired from the Corps. Kralla, this is Jay's cousin, Angie." He introduced them.

"Good to meet ya, hon." Kralla said with a smile and a nod. "You wouldn't be the one that was always flirting with Lou, would you?"

Angie shrugged. "I was, until I found out he was married." She smacked Lou a backhand across his chest, and Kralla laughed.

"She flirts with everyone, Kralla." Jason said with a grin.

"Well, Vinnie's down for his nap and Suze is watching him." Kralla gave her husband the sitrep.

"Oorah, baby." Lou replied and kissed her.

They walked over to the bar and gave Guinan their orders. Jason introduced Angie to her as well. "Aunt Guinan, Angie here took down a Jem'Hadar battleship with nothing but warp plasma and a single phaser blast." He grinned.

They shook hands. "Jay's exaggerating. We were nearly dead in the water, and I vented the plasma as a last ditch effort to get that thing off our backs."

Rachael laughed. "Desperation... you all know the rest."

"Yes we do, Rachael." Jay grinned and gave her a hug.

"Pardon me, guys. I need the lady captain's room, if you know what I mean?" Angie said with a sheepish smile.

"Through there, hon." Kralla pointed, and Angie nodded her thanks as she walked towards the restroom.

"Where's the kids, guys?" Lou asked when he noticed they didn't have their babies.

"They're in the daycare aboard Nimitz, Lou." Delaara said. "It was one of the new features we got with the refit."

Lou nodded. "Sounds good, Del. Umm, could ya not tell the ladies about any more romantic things Jay does. He's makin' the rest of us look bad." He looked around with a conspiratorial shifty look.

"Well, the last one he did was writing a poem in Romulan for my 64th birthday." She grinned wickedly.

Everyone turned to Jason, who blushed furiously. "It was a dirty limerick." He confessed.

"No it wasn't!" Delaara threw her arms around his neck. "It was the most beautiful poem I've ever heard!"

Kralla looked at Lou with a smirk, and Rachael smacked Rash upside the head.

"Hey! I don't even speak Romulan!" Rash complained, rubbing the back of his head.

Delaara started reciting the poem, first in Romulan, then in English.

"True love is what thrives,

Through the trials of our lives.

It never bends,

It never breaks.

Your heart is mine,

My heart is thine.

We shall always endure,

For our hearts' love burns pure."

Every woman in the bar was smiling with a wistful look in her eyes, and every guy in the bar looked at Jason as if he'd just kicked them in the balls.

"Hey, I can't help it! I look at her every day, and I know that she's the perfect woman for me." Jason said defensively.

Elizabeth looked at Mac. "I'm divorcing you so I can convince Del to let me marry Jay too!" She grinned.

"So am I. Rash, we're done!" Rachael chuckled.

"Hell with it. Lou, I'm gonna whoop your ass, divorce you, and marry Jay too!" Kralla laughed.

"Well, I'm single, so I can marry him as soon as possible." Guinan said with a smile.

"Shawn, I want a fuckin' divorce!" Julie said, as she and Shawn had entered while Del was reciting it.

"Hey!" Jason said. "Sheesh! I just wanted to do something nice for Delaara." He grinned and kissed his wife.

"Jay honey, you need to give these neanderthals a class on how to romance a lady." Guinan grinned, and everyone laughed.

"Shit, Guinan. You know Kralla! If I write a poem that flowery, she'd kick me in the nuts without even givin' me some, first!" Lou laughed.

"Damn jarhead!" Kralla grinned and kissed him. His beard had grown back out a bit since the wake for Jason's Dad, but he'd kept his hair short.

All the ladies were revelling in their husbands' discomfort. Even Delaara for bringing Jason's obvious 'romantic superiority' out into the open.

"Jay, you are NOT going to hear the end of this anytime soon!" Shawn said as he clapped his friend on the back.

Julie hugged them both, and they ordered synthbeers instead of regular. They were only on lunch break from their swing shift.

"Two Harleys Unleaded, coming right up." Guinan said to Shawn and Julie as she opened two bottles.

"Put those on my tab too, Guinan." Mac said and raised his bottle to the two Detectives.

"Thanks, Mac." Shawn said with a nod and a smile.

"No problem, guys. We're celebrating the closing of the Gamma Wormhole, thanks to Jean-Luc and the Enterprise!" Mac toasted Captain Picard.

"Thank you, but it's the scientists at Starfleet who deserve all the credit. They modified a photon torpedo with the unstable warp field generator in order to collapse the wormhole. We just shot the blasted thing!" Jean-Luc laughed.

"You're too modest, Jean-Luc. Now I know where Jason gets it from." Delaara kissed the old Captain's cheek.

"Thank you, Delaara." He said with a smile.

"Angie!" Julie shouted as Angie came out of the ladies' room.

"Julie! Shawn!" Angie ran over and gave her friends a hug. She'd watched them both grow up, and had been Julie's Maid of Honor at their wedding.

"It's been forever! Where have you been?" Shawn asked.

"The Comanche was on a two year tour as Federation Liaison to the Klingon Empire. You both made Detective!" She exclaimed.

"Yeah, a few years ago. We heard about your maneuver at the Battle of Bajor." Julie said with a smile.

"Yeah, nobody's letting me forget that. I got lucky!" Angie laughed.

"Well, sometimes it's better to be lucky than good." Lou raised a beer to the Captain.

"You have a point, Gunny." Angie grinned and raised her own beer in salute.

"Gears and Reggie should be here soon." Mac told them. "And I believe both Excalibur and Gryphon will be giving out shore leave momentarily."

"So is Nimitz. You ready for all the business, Gunny?" Rachael grinned at the big Master Gunnery Sergeant.

"The more the merrier!" Kralla grinned.

"Oorah, Cap'n." Lou nodded.

Shawn and Julie had to leave to finish their shift just as the dinner rush hit. Once again, Jason, Delaara, Mac, Elizabeth, and even Jean-Luc were pressed into service for the crews of their ships and the Cadets from the Academy who'd been released for the day. Angie helped out by taking orders and clearing tables and got more than a few whistles from the Bikers who came in. Jason had to resist the urge to correct his friends, since he knew well enough that Angie was more than capable of handling them, herself.

The IRW Valdore had been permanently stationed at Starbase 1 as part of an exchange program, much to Lieutenant Cole McBride's and Commander Donatra's delight, as they would be able to see each other more often. They beamed down together, along with a couple of her senior Bridge crew on the Valdore, and Lou put them all to work as well to give Jason and Delaara a break behind the bar.

One of the local gangs came in, and Lou gave everybody the heads up. It was a pretty large group, flying colors and looking around the bar. They took several free tables and others moved up to the bar itself. They spotted Donatra behind the bar, and mistook her uniform for civilian clothing.

"Hey, sexy lady. I didn't know Vulcan bartenders would be so hot." One of the tough guys said.

Donatra laughed. "What'll you have?"

"I'll have some of this!" He grinned, grabbed her breast, and caught an Irish right cross on his jaw, breaking it as Cole launched himself at the offending asshole.

The tough guys jumped up, and moved towards Cole at the bar.

"Ah shit. Here we go!" Jason got up along with Delaara, Mac, Jean-Luc, and Elizabeth. Lou hit the remote for the Jukebox and started a loop of 'Another One Bites the Dust' by Queen as the good old fashioned barfight really kicked off.

The bassline started and Jason grinned, nodding his head in time to the music as he waded into the fight.

Angie came running over from where she'd been taking an order and launched a flying kick at a Tough Guy's head, knocking him away from Cole.

Starfighter pilots, Starship Captains and crews, Romulans, and Bikers all stood and fought against the larger gang of Tough Guys.

The fight was quick and brutal. Jason launched a series of blows to the body and face of one of the gang members, dazing him and knocking him to the floor. He caught a glancing blow from one of the other Tough Guys, and was saved by a large fist thrown by a Valdore bridge officer, who nodded at him. Jason nodded back, and pushed the big Romulan down as he decked the Tough Guy behind him.

"You fight like a Romulan!" Jason's new friend shouted in thanks. "I'm Sub-Commander Halak, Colonel. I've heard much about you from the Commander!"

"I've heard that before. My wife says it all the time. Good to meet you, Hal. Call me Jay!" He grinned, and the Romulan laughed. Delaara was being hemmed in by three of the Tough Guys, and Jason moved to intercept them with the Valdore officer at his side. "Speaking of my wife!" Jason shouted as he grabbed the first Tough Guy, spinning him around and hitting him in the solar plexus, dropping him to his knees.

Delaara struck like lightning as soon as one entered her range, and he fell with a broken nose gushing blood. The third was caught by Halak and slammed into the floor.

They all turned and made their way towards Mac and Elizabeth, who were fighting off half a dozen gang members. The Xenexian Captain was moving quickly, fluidly, taking down one after the other until he was hit from behind by a barstool. He went down hard as Jason took down the offending idiot who'd clocked his friend. Delaara grabbed Mac and pulled him out of the line of fire as the two Starfleet officers and their Valdore ally moved through to reach Elizabeth.

She had just dropped one when Jason and Sub-Commander Halak were suddenly at her side, fighting with her against the Tough Guys. Jason caught a punch to the cheekbone, but recovered quickly and launched a devastating series of blows to that Tough Guy's gut and nose. Halak was able to clear Elizabeth enough for them to get her back towards the bar where Mac was.

Jean-Luc and Angie were fighting back to back, surrounded, and had dropped quite a few Tough Guys by the time Donatra and Cole fought their way to them. They broke through the Tough Guys and helped their friends back. Even the Cadets were getting in on the action, knocking several Tough Guys down with coordinated fighting moves.

Lou was sacking the Tough Guys left and right, moving cleanly and efficiently. His large size belied the speed he still had in him and the short precise blows he was able to land. Kralla found him quickly, using a baseball bat like a batt'leth and knocking heads with it as she and her husband fought side by side.

Gears, Charlie, Reggie, and Cruiser were fighting their own little war alongside Rash and Rachael. Rash was a brute force machine, throwing elbows and knees into his opponents' faces and groins. Rachael was more fluid in her movements, striking nerve points and making limbs go numb as she struck. The four Bikers were fighting smart as well, moving with economy of motion and using momentum to their advantage against the tough guys.

IronDragon
IronDragon
1,608 Followers