The Hand of Wrath, epilogue [PG-13, seaQuest, Bridger/Westphalen]
And it's complete! Two years and a lot of work later. Thanks to all you readers (here, FFN, AO3) who have posted feedback and messaged me privately. Your comments and thoughts are greatly appreciated :)
What's next? Well, my return to school for fall semester 2015, LOL. But I DO have some other projects on the horizon--some SQ, some not. Just keep an eye out here for what's next!
index post
Epilogue
Kauai Channel, en route to Pearl Harbor
Ten weeks later
"Doctor Kristin swim!"
"Darwin, I can't right now, remember?"
"Not work, sit. Swim instead." Darwin punctuated his demand with a slap of his tail against the water's surface.
Kristin smiled down at the impatient dolphin. "Not until Joshua clears me."
"Tell Doctor Josh swim."
She shook her head, still smiling. "That's not how it works, Darwin. I'm still not well enough to be swimming. When I am, that's when Doctor Joshua will clear me."
"When?"
"Probably another couple of weeks or so. You'll be one of the first to know, I promise." She gave his melon an affectionate rub before he turned to swim away.
Kristin let her hand idly float on the moon pool's surface while her eyes followed Darwin as he swam in lazy circles; he nudged her hand every time he passed by. Before long, her thoughts began to inevitably drift as she reflected over everything that had happened in the past few months.
Recovering from her kidnapping had been both a physical and an emotional ordeal. Getting her strength back had been the easier part, minus a reoccurrence of the pneumonia that landed her back under observation in medbay for four days. Her emotional recovery was a whole other story. Recurring nightmares continued to disrupt her sleep, often leaving her sluggish during her waking hours. Once she had been cleared to return to limited duty, she pushed herself as much as she could get away with under his careful eye--and the eyes of the entire science crew as well, as none of them would let her overdo it. It drove her crazy and became the cause of more than a few arguments between her and Joshua. But as time went on, they all learned to back down and allow her to push herself a little bit more each day, knowing it was another step on her road to recovery.
Being able to return to work, even with everyone's constant looking over her shoulder, helped keep her mind occupied so that she didn't have to spend as much time dwelling on her ordeal--or on reluctant sympathy for the devil. Len's love for Stark had nearly cost Kristin her life, but she still found herself able to identify with her tormentor on the most basic level of bereavement. She knew that the death of a spouse was often devastating; she'd experienced that loss herself with her first husband--and she knew that grief had the ability to drive people to extreme and sometimes inexcusable measures.
It had taken almost two weeks before she noticed Charli's absence. When she questioned it, the revelation of her involvement with Len stunned her, as did learning of her subsequent suicide upon being found out. Kristin found herself both taken aback at her own inability to see through the girl's duplicity and yet dismayed by the idea that Charli had felt the need to throw away both her future and her life rather than face the consequences of her actions.
At least the latter was something she could give Kamik credit for. As the only survivor of Len's crew, the full brunt of prosecution would be ending up on his shoulders, despite the rumors of potential leniency that hinged on the validity of additional information he claimed to have on Len's other contacts. Two weeks earlier, she had gone down to the brig and confronted him herself against Nathan's objections. He had refused to elaborate on the subject of his sister's death beyond what she already knew, but he apologized for the harm that he had done to her.
The feel of Darwin's snout brushing her fingers distracted her from her troubled musings, an instant before a warm hand closed on her arm. Her intended greeting for the dolphin dissolved into a startled gasp as she spun around to meet Nathan's concerned gaze.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."
"It's all right. I was just distracted. Have been all morning, in fact." She took a deep breath to calm herself as he moved to sit next to her. "No doubt, it's from lack of proper sleep. And I'm not looking forward to later, either."
"You know you can always call me if you need to talk--any time. Or even stay overnight if you think that will help."
She shook her head. "I can't be expecting you to be at my beck and call because I can't get past this stage of my recovery...."
Nathan gave her arm a gentle squeeze. "Hey. You never have to apologize for having nightmares, especially after what you went through. That's something completely beyond your control."
"Even though I know it's not true, I keep thinking that I should be handling this better by now." Kristin huffed a sigh of frustration. "Then there's also that damn debriefing they want to put me through. At least all these sleepless nights have given me ample time to rehearse possible answers to their more likely questions."
"They will just be wanting to get your side of the story. I can't imagine they will be too harsh with you given what you went through," Nathan remarked. "Now with me...that's another story."
She narrowed her eyes in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"Agent Moonin raised enough hell with Command about how I departed Anchorage without waiting for her team to accompany us. Technically, going off of O'Neill's translation of the coded transmission Kamik sent us put the whole crew at risk because we didn't have sufficient intel on Len's location or operations. So, they'll be putting an official reprimand on my record for a violation of investigative protocol."
"What?! That's absurd. How can they blame you for being proactive in a hostage situation?"
He shrugged. "It amounts to a slap on the wrist, but it is what it is."
"Bloody military stupidity is what it is," she muttered, shaking her head. "Whatever happened to that famous 'no man is to be left behind' standard?"
"That's exactly what I'm going to tell them. The welfare of every member of this crew is my responsibility, which means that I will do everything in my power to ensure their well-being and that I won't leave anyone behind, ever." Nathan placed his hand over hers. "If that means putting myself on the line for you or any of the others, then I'll do just that--and the consequences be damned."
"I know you would." Kristin lifted her free hand to touch his cheek. "Your integrity is one of the things I love about you."
"Oh? And what else is on that list?"
"Oh...quite a few things." She tapped her fingers gently against his cheek, unconsciously leaning closer as his arms slipped around her. His lips met hers in the next instant and she relaxed into his embrace, unwilling to pull away until the telltale hint of tension in her chest became an uncomfortable ache. He seemed to sense her distress and ended the kiss, but kept his arms around her. The unexpected chirp of the audio link on the wall next to her made them both jump. They quickly sat back from each other, exchanging embarrassed, amused smiles as Nathan reached past her to switch it on.
"Bridger."
"Captain, we'll be docking at Pearl in five minutes. Admiral Odair has sent a launch for you and Doctor Westphalen."
"Thank you. Tell her we'll be on our way as soon as we're docked." After switching the link off, Nathan rose to his feet and held out a hand for her. "Are you ready?"
Kristin reached out to take the offered hand as she stood. He smiled and gave her fingers a gentle squeeze. She returned his smile for a moment before it faded. "No," she replied honestly. She squeezed back before lacing her fingers through his. "But I'll manage."
They headed out of sea deck a united front; both knowing that the confrontations that lay ahead would not be easy for either of them. Despite that, they both also knew that anything that the future might throw at them could and would be endured as long as they supported each other.
*fin*
What's next? Well, my return to school for fall semester 2015, LOL. But I DO have some other projects on the horizon--some SQ, some not. Just keep an eye out here for what's next!
index post
Epilogue
Kauai Channel, en route to Pearl Harbor
Ten weeks later
"Doctor Kristin swim!"
"Darwin, I can't right now, remember?"
"Not work, sit. Swim instead." Darwin punctuated his demand with a slap of his tail against the water's surface.
Kristin smiled down at the impatient dolphin. "Not until Joshua clears me."
"Tell Doctor Josh swim."
She shook her head, still smiling. "That's not how it works, Darwin. I'm still not well enough to be swimming. When I am, that's when Doctor Joshua will clear me."
"When?"
"Probably another couple of weeks or so. You'll be one of the first to know, I promise." She gave his melon an affectionate rub before he turned to swim away.
Kristin let her hand idly float on the moon pool's surface while her eyes followed Darwin as he swam in lazy circles; he nudged her hand every time he passed by. Before long, her thoughts began to inevitably drift as she reflected over everything that had happened in the past few months.
Recovering from her kidnapping had been both a physical and an emotional ordeal. Getting her strength back had been the easier part, minus a reoccurrence of the pneumonia that landed her back under observation in medbay for four days. Her emotional recovery was a whole other story. Recurring nightmares continued to disrupt her sleep, often leaving her sluggish during her waking hours. Once she had been cleared to return to limited duty, she pushed herself as much as she could get away with under his careful eye--and the eyes of the entire science crew as well, as none of them would let her overdo it. It drove her crazy and became the cause of more than a few arguments between her and Joshua. But as time went on, they all learned to back down and allow her to push herself a little bit more each day, knowing it was another step on her road to recovery.
Being able to return to work, even with everyone's constant looking over her shoulder, helped keep her mind occupied so that she didn't have to spend as much time dwelling on her ordeal--or on reluctant sympathy for the devil. Len's love for Stark had nearly cost Kristin her life, but she still found herself able to identify with her tormentor on the most basic level of bereavement. She knew that the death of a spouse was often devastating; she'd experienced that loss herself with her first husband--and she knew that grief had the ability to drive people to extreme and sometimes inexcusable measures.
It had taken almost two weeks before she noticed Charli's absence. When she questioned it, the revelation of her involvement with Len stunned her, as did learning of her subsequent suicide upon being found out. Kristin found herself both taken aback at her own inability to see through the girl's duplicity and yet dismayed by the idea that Charli had felt the need to throw away both her future and her life rather than face the consequences of her actions.
At least the latter was something she could give Kamik credit for. As the only survivor of Len's crew, the full brunt of prosecution would be ending up on his shoulders, despite the rumors of potential leniency that hinged on the validity of additional information he claimed to have on Len's other contacts. Two weeks earlier, she had gone down to the brig and confronted him herself against Nathan's objections. He had refused to elaborate on the subject of his sister's death beyond what she already knew, but he apologized for the harm that he had done to her.
The feel of Darwin's snout brushing her fingers distracted her from her troubled musings, an instant before a warm hand closed on her arm. Her intended greeting for the dolphin dissolved into a startled gasp as she spun around to meet Nathan's concerned gaze.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."
"It's all right. I was just distracted. Have been all morning, in fact." She took a deep breath to calm herself as he moved to sit next to her. "No doubt, it's from lack of proper sleep. And I'm not looking forward to later, either."
"You know you can always call me if you need to talk--any time. Or even stay overnight if you think that will help."
She shook her head. "I can't be expecting you to be at my beck and call because I can't get past this stage of my recovery...."
Nathan gave her arm a gentle squeeze. "Hey. You never have to apologize for having nightmares, especially after what you went through. That's something completely beyond your control."
"Even though I know it's not true, I keep thinking that I should be handling this better by now." Kristin huffed a sigh of frustration. "Then there's also that damn debriefing they want to put me through. At least all these sleepless nights have given me ample time to rehearse possible answers to their more likely questions."
"They will just be wanting to get your side of the story. I can't imagine they will be too harsh with you given what you went through," Nathan remarked. "Now with me...that's another story."
She narrowed her eyes in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"Agent Moonin raised enough hell with Command about how I departed Anchorage without waiting for her team to accompany us. Technically, going off of O'Neill's translation of the coded transmission Kamik sent us put the whole crew at risk because we didn't have sufficient intel on Len's location or operations. So, they'll be putting an official reprimand on my record for a violation of investigative protocol."
"What?! That's absurd. How can they blame you for being proactive in a hostage situation?"
He shrugged. "It amounts to a slap on the wrist, but it is what it is."
"Bloody military stupidity is what it is," she muttered, shaking her head. "Whatever happened to that famous 'no man is to be left behind' standard?"
"That's exactly what I'm going to tell them. The welfare of every member of this crew is my responsibility, which means that I will do everything in my power to ensure their well-being and that I won't leave anyone behind, ever." Nathan placed his hand over hers. "If that means putting myself on the line for you or any of the others, then I'll do just that--and the consequences be damned."
"I know you would." Kristin lifted her free hand to touch his cheek. "Your integrity is one of the things I love about you."
"Oh? And what else is on that list?"
"Oh...quite a few things." She tapped her fingers gently against his cheek, unconsciously leaning closer as his arms slipped around her. His lips met hers in the next instant and she relaxed into his embrace, unwilling to pull away until the telltale hint of tension in her chest became an uncomfortable ache. He seemed to sense her distress and ended the kiss, but kept his arms around her. The unexpected chirp of the audio link on the wall next to her made them both jump. They quickly sat back from each other, exchanging embarrassed, amused smiles as Nathan reached past her to switch it on.
"Bridger."
"Captain, we'll be docking at Pearl in five minutes. Admiral Odair has sent a launch for you and Doctor Westphalen."
"Thank you. Tell her we'll be on our way as soon as we're docked." After switching the link off, Nathan rose to his feet and held out a hand for her. "Are you ready?"
Kristin reached out to take the offered hand as she stood. He smiled and gave her fingers a gentle squeeze. She returned his smile for a moment before it faded. "No," she replied honestly. She squeezed back before lacing her fingers through his. "But I'll manage."
They headed out of sea deck a united front; both knowing that the confrontations that lay ahead would not be easy for either of them. Despite that, they both also knew that anything that the future might throw at them could and would be endured as long as they supported each other.
*fin*