Love And War Bk. 04

Doc came in and checked on Evelina. He read her vitals and compared them to her chart, then leaned down and squeezed her hand. "Commander MacKenzie, I am sorry for the loss of your husband. We did everything we could to save him." His tone was gentle.

"Thanks, Doc." Jason said. Evelina looked from the Vulcan to her son.

"Mom, Doc Tavolk is Chief Medical Officer on the Nimitz. He's here at the Academy while Nimitz is in drydock." Jason said. "Mom, he's the best damn doctor in Starfleet."

Doc went on to explain to her exactly how they had been poisoned and how she'd survived due to the faulty nanobots in her system and his quick action in saving her life.

"Thank you, Doctor." She said finally. He nodded and smiled his faint smile which reached his eyes more than his mouth.

"Doc, would you and Tanya like to join us at Big Lou's down in Santa Barbara later?" Jason asked him.

"I will ask her, Jason. It sounds interesting." He smiled again.

Evelina actually chuckled. "You aren't what I expected in a Vulcan, Doctor."

"I am not unique, Commander MacKenzie. However, I suppose that I am rare among my people." He shrugged and squeezed her hand again.

"Thank you, Doctor." She smiled at him.

"I only wish I could have done more, ma'am." Doc said in his gentle tone. He then turned and left.

Evelina looked the question at her kids.

"He never finished his Kolinahr." Delaara said with a smile. "Jason is right. He is the best damn doctor in Starfleet."

"He's not bad looking, either." Jason's Mom said with a smirk and chuckle.

"Our Chief of Security thinks the same. They've been together for about a year and a half, now." Jason grinned as his Mom's eyes widened.

"He's definitely not the average Vulcan, is he?" She smiled.

"Not by a long shot, Mom." Delaara said with an answering smile.

*****

Evelina was released from the hospital that evening after Doc and Mae ran a full toxicity screen of her blood and organs. He pronounced her clean of all poisons, and released her to Jason and Delaara, who escorted her to the parking lot and onto the Mjolnir. As they lifted off, he swung the nose south towards Santa Barbara, and punched the throttle forward, thanking Rash silently for dropping it off. The big warbird roared down the coast and he slowed as they reached Big Lou's. Jay set it down in the parking lot next to Cole's bomber.

They went inside to the Irish style wake at the Bar. A photograph of Bryan in full dress uniform was sitting on a display stand by the bar itself. Everyone who knew him was there, and Jason saw people he hadn't seen in a long time. Lou himself had dressed in full SFMC Dress Reds, and Kralla had dressed in her dress armor from her time in the Klingon Defense Force. The rest were in Biker jeans, leather, and t-shirts. All were drinking and remembering their friend.

"Officer On Deck!" Lou shouted, and all in the room came to Attention. He walked to Evelina and saluted her slowly. Lou had cut off most of his beard, which was now about the same length as Jason's, and had cropped most of his hair off as well. His Dress Reds were nearly overloaded with medals, which filled the entire upper left quadrant of his uniform tunic.

Evelina slowly saluted back. "Thank you, Gunny." She said with a smile.

"Ma'am," he nodded in respect. He then turned back to the assembled Starfleet personnel and bikers. "As you were!" He shouted. Master Gunnery Sergeant Louis Gibson had the loudest command voice in the Corps, and still had it even after years of retirement. Once a Marine, always a Marine.

They came in the rest of the way, and Jason realized he'd come to Attention along with everyone else. He grinned wryly to himself that Gunny still had it. He could make a full Admiral snap to Attention and salute if he wanted to.

Then Jason spotted Admiral Nelson and realized that he had snapped to Attention with everyone else.

"Blasted Gunnery Sergeants think they're right next to God," he muttered with a smile as he shook his head.

"They are, Nick." Rachael said with a smile as she clinked glasses with him and drained her Scotch. "Oh, Chivas, how I've missed you!"

Ryan was showing off Brandon to the old crew. Charlie told Cruiser that she wanted a baby, and her boyfriend got pale with a panicked look in his eyes. Gears and Reggie weren't there, as they were on duty aboard Excalibur, but they sent a comm with their condolences, along with Mac and Elizabeth.

"Damn, Gunny!" Jay shouted. "You even made Admiral Nelson snap to Attention!"

"I outrank him." Lou shrugged, and everyone had to laugh at that.

"Bloody hell, Gunny!" Rachael laughed as Guinan refilled her glass of Scotch.

"Thanks, Guinan. Do you have any idea what it's like not being able to drink while pregnant?" Rachael asked.

"As a matter of fact, I do. It's murder!" Guinan grinned as Rachael laughed.

"Nick, he got me too." Jean-Luc told his friend with a pat on the shoulder.

"Yeah, Jean-Luc. A couple old warhorses like us, and we still snap to when a Gunny barks." Nelson laughed along with his friend.

"He's the most decorated Marine in the history of the SFMC or even the United States Marine Corps," Jason said with a nod, and the two Starfleet officers laughed.

"That's true." Jean-Luc nodded.

Evelina was never alone again for the rest of the night. Everyone sharing stories about Bryan and making sure she knew that she was loved as much as her husband. The old crew were just amazed that she was alive, then heard about how they'd been rescued by the Marines, which earned an "Oorah!" from Lou, but had been boobytrapped by their Orion captors.

Luckily, as soon as they'd been diagnosed, the other survivors of the USS Stanford had been brought in for testing. The Medical team had put them in stasis until Doctors Tavolk and Siln were able to diagnose them and find the nanomachines in their systems. Once found, they were rendered inert and flushed out.

Much to everyone's shock, Doc showed up with Tanya, and they were welcomed into their family by Lou.

Then to even more surprise, Mae and Steve showed up, also to be welcomed into their group.

Cole introduced his wingman to Donatra, who they remembered from the much celebrated drinking contest on Christmas Eve.

Commander Helen 'Freya' Thorst showed up as well. She'd taken a temporary posting as a flight instructor at the Academy along with Jason, Delaara, and Rash, but was itching to get back into action once the Nimitz refitting was completed. She had decided that the Dominion would die in fire if they attacked the Federation again, and she would be the finger on the trigger.

Lou fired up the jukebox with some old country western music, and 'Highwayman' was the first song in the line up. Evelina smiled at the choice and gave Lou a kiss on his cheek. They all sang along with the last verse, done by Johnny Cash, and more than a few had tears in their eyes as the song ended. It had become the unofficial funeral song of Starfleet, as most of them served aboard Starships in one form or another. Even Donatra had joined in when Cole had taught her the lyrics to the last verse. The song repeated twice more before moving on to 'Ghost Riders in the Sky' and other old ballads.

As the wake wound down, people paid their respects to Evelina and the picture of Bryan standing proud in his dress uniform, and left. Jason, Delaara, Jean-Luc, Rash, and Rachael were the last to leave, and they escorted Evelina home.

"Thank you, Jason." She said as she threw her arms around his neck and hugged her son close.

"Lou did it all, Mom." Jason said. "He put it all together and called everyone who attended."

"I mean for saving my life. If it hadn't been for you and Delaara, Doc Tavolk might not have found what was killing me until too late." She smiled and pulled Delaara into their hug. Evelina leaned up and kissed Delaara on the cheek.

"Mom, our house is yours for as long as you need or want it." Jason said to her. The title had transferred to him when they'd been declared KIA seven years before.

"I was talking to Nick at the wake, and he has given me my choice of duty assignments. The USS Einstein leaves tomorrow from Starbase 1, and I intend to be on it." Evelina grinned. She would lose herself in her work as an astro-geological surveyor.

"That's Captain John Random's ship." Rachael said from her spot on the couch with Ryan. "He's a great Captain, and a good man."

"Yeah, he used to command a Frigate through the Dominion War. He transferred to command of the Einstein after that." Jason remembered the story of his ship, the USS Rigel, and its impossible survival against three Jem'Hadar battlecruisers.

"If any man could be considered a god of survival, it would be John Random." Rachael chuckled at the recollection. Every member of the Rigel's crew had vouched for his account of what had happened, and how he'd flown the Rigel between the ships as they fired, destroying each other around his old Reliant class frigate.

"Well, I'll be in good hands then!" Evelina was smiling and looked happy. Jason knew that it was only temporary, but she had already cried at the wake, and she adapted to most changes easily. This was the biggest change of her life, but she would be ok.

Rash and Rachael left after a few more minutes, and Delaara invited Evelina to let them know if she needed anything during the night.

"I will if necessary, dear." She smiled at her daughter-in-law.

"Mom, we're here if you need anything. And once you're onboard the Einstein, you have our comm frequencies." Jason assured her.

"Thanks, Jayjay." His Mom hugged them both close, and they returned her hugs with their own.

Delaara held Jason in bed that night as he grieved. She soothed him and kissed him as he let all his emotions out to grieve once again for the loss of his father.

Once he had finished, he kissed her lovingly as they snuggled close together and drifted off to sleep.

*****

Two and a half months after the funeral, Jason and Delaara welcomed Bryan Stamro MacKenzie into the world at Santa Barbara General Hospital. He had his mother's upswept eyebrows and ears, as well as a very faint ridge along his forehead. Delaara noticed the biggest difference first, though.

"He has your eyes, my love." She said with a grin as she held her baby in her arms, surrounded by her husband and all of their friends and family.

"The refit of Nimitz is complete, and it's had additions made of a school and daycare facilities aboard." Rachael grinned as she held baby Brandon as Ryan held her from behind. She'd worked out like hell for three weeks after she'd had him, and had snapped back into shape quickly. She was a Starship Captain, after all.

Alex and Jenny were married in a beautiful ceremony where Jenny's mother, Alicia, had given her daughter away. Delaara stood as Maid of Honor wearing her Dress Reds, now approved for Starfleet Fighter Pilots, as did Rash, standing as Best Man for his former Wingman. Alex wore his Dress Whites with a Klingon sash over the tunic, while Jenny wore a gossamer gown of the purest white, which accentuated her firey red hair and beautiful green eyes. Jason, also in his Dress Reds, stood as a groomsman, along with the rest of the men in Skull Squadron, while the women stood on Jenny's side in the same uniform.

The reception was a different matter, however. A woman who was a friend of the family had asked Jason to dance, and he had accepted. She then made the mistake of grabbing him and kissing him. he'd pushed her away as gently as possible, but when she turned around, Delaara was there. Delaara smiled briefly, then decked the woman so hard that her teeth went flying. The Skulls erupted into cheers for their Old Lady.

"You don't fuck with a Romulan Marine's man." Lou said after it had all died down, which started another round of cheers and laughter. The woman in question was asked by Jenny to not come back.

The next day they boarded the new and improved USS Nimitz. The new Valkyrie Mark IIs of Skull Squadron had a fresh coat of paint and the new squadron emblem of a black skull with crossed swords beneath it emblazoned on the wings, top and bottom.

Jason and Delaara stood together as the Skulls looked at their new fighters, nodding appreciatively. The SF-77-A Valkyrie Mark IIs were sleeker, faster, more agile, and more heavily armed than their predecessors. Jason grinned and turned to his pilots.

"Welcome to the 155th Interceptors: Skull Squadron!"

To Be Continued....