Chapter12 

By Kari and Rascal

Once Sive was finished showering she stepped out of the stall, reaching for a clean towel to dry off with. She kept wondering where Jason had gotten to. Having nothing to put on but the towel, she wrapped it around herself and headed back to her quarters. Once dressed again she decided to locate Jason and find out why he hadn't joined her in the shower. Since it was late she figured to try his cabin first. Once she reached it Sive hesitated slightly before knocking.

What if he doesn't want to see me? Oh hell, don't be such a jellyfish...just knock.

She took a deep breath and banged on the door. On her third bang it suddenly opened, causing Sive to nearly fall into Jason's arms. 

They both looked at each other and laughed. Once Sive found out that the door had locked Jason out of the shower she said made light of it by saying, “Oh well, I'm here now. I know it's late, but Jason, can we talk? I need to inform you of some...important issues before we go on with our relationship.” 

Jason replied, “Well, if me must, but I have to say that you certainly pick some strange and frustrating times to have a conversation.” He pulled a chair up close to her, and waited for her to begin. 

Still feeling high from what had just happened between the two of them, Sive smiled, looking into Jason's eyes. “Under that crusty exterior you are a sweet man, but seriously, what I went through earlier has never happened before. I've been thinking. Here are the facts, you made me feel safe enough to let my guard down, which led to me being attracted, and yes, even caring for you.” She ran her hand up and down his arm, “I don't know where this will lead, but I am very willing to find out, that is, if we are both on the same page.” 

Jason thought for a moment before replying, “Sive, I'm becoming more and more enamored of you too. I don't know where this will lead either, but I sure don't want it to stop now.”

She searched Jason's face, those words made her feel vulnerable. She shifted her body a little before continuing, “After being on the run for the last five years, I just want to belong and start to live a somewhat normal life if that is even possible. I know I don't want to go back to my old life of running from place to place and alias to alias. Now from what I have been able to see, it seems to me, you have a pretty good life right here. I have learned to be adaptable and I know I can fit in.” She started to grin. “And not just with my body.” 

Getting serious again she kept on going, “There is one thing I need to talk to you about. It's about my, for lack of a better term, 'My Condition.'” She sighed and looked away for a minute, trying to put the words together. "This is only my theory mind you, since I can't really compare myself to a control subject. I think I have now entered into the last stage of my transformation. I don't know what my total abilities are going to be, but I know I'm really looking forward to exploring all the possibilities.” 

She frowned and continued, “Jason, I'm pretty sure that there has been a transmission of the nanites from my system into yours.” She watched his reaction to this information. “We won't know for sure for a few weeks, but if you're anything like I was, to begin with it will show up in small ways. Or you may have a very accelerated version. The fact is I'm pretty sure in five years my original nanites have morphed into a much more sophisticated variety.” She paused shifting on the bed before continuing, “I'm afraid we'll have to wait and see.” Looking into his eyes again she added, “Jason are you going to need some time to process all of this?” 

Jason thought for a minute. "Sounds like either it's happened, or it hasn't. Rather like pregnancy, actually." He pondered a bit more, then smiled. "Very like pregnancy. As you say, we'll need to wait and see. Until then, let's see where our relationship goes." He shifted from the chair to sit beside her on the bed and enveloped her in his arms. “Now, do you think that we can get back to where we were before you locked me out of the shower?” Events quickly advanced until they both laid there catching their breath and falling asleep, arms and legs entwined. 

Sive awoke abruptly in the middle of the night, her heart started pounding. Who? she wondered...then remembered the wonderful evening she had spent with Jason. Gently pulling her long hair from under her body so she wasn't so cramped, Sive settled back down, careful not to wake the softly snoring man. 

Laying in the dark, her mind went over the events of the last couple of days. What an about-face her life had taken on. It certainly was her lucky day when Jason came across her being chased be Ricky's goons. She could have easily ended up sold into prostitution or worse... dead. She wondered what it was about Jason that had made her go after him when he'd left her in the alley. It certainly wasn't his charm at that time, she chuckled quietly.

It just must have been a gut feeling, and she always trusted her gut feelings, they usually got her out of most predicaments. She smiled as her mind continued to go over the events up until yesterday. She soon became sleepy again. Suddenly her eyes snapped open with the thought: I have to devise some kind of test to see if Jason is going to turn into a changeling. Maybe his DNA is somehow compatible with mine and that is why I've been so strongly drawn to him. Well...it certainly is baffling, but there will be plenty of time to look into it tomorrow. She yawned slightly as her eyelids fell again, sleep claiming her once more.

In the morning Jason woke her up with a kiss. "Good morning, beautiful lady. Time to get up and ready for another day. You have steward duties today." He nuzzled her neck, then got out of bed. "The fresher in my quarters is larger than the one you used last night. We need to get to work, though." He dressed and headed out, wondering if she'd come with him or take some alone time. He knew he wasn't going to be in the mood for anything physical for some time.

Sive felt Jason kiss her and heard his words but she really wasn't ready to get up yet. First of all, she was aching in places she didn't even know could ache. “Ohhhh steward duties,” she mumbled as she opened one eye. “And exactly what do steward duties on the good ship 'Angel' entail?” 

“Oh, nothing much, just making sure that our supplies are ready to use, making meals, cleaning up your area and making sure the other areas are cleaned, make sure that passengers and crew have what they need or desire. Hardly anything,” he chirped with a grin. 

Listening to his reply she really just wanted to stay in bed a few more minutes so she moaned, “Jason, you go ahead and I'll follow shortly, I promise. I'll shower and dress here and meet you on the bridge, OK?”

Watching him dress and leave, Sive closed her eyes for another minute, then slowly eased her body out of the warm bed. Oh my poor muscles sure got a workout last night. I hope a hot shower will loosen them up a bit, she thought as she stumbled to the fresher, turning the spray onto extra hot and stepping in. Mmmm, she could feel the spray warming and relaxing her sore areas. She quickly proceeded to wash her hair and the rest of her body. Stepping out she felt better, not a hundred percent, but better. Sive dried her hair quickly then put it up with her favorite pin, got dressed and headed to the bridge.

After using the 'fresher and getting a ship's suit on, Jason headed for the common area and fixed a quick breakfast. Then he made his way to the bridge, sipping coffee and realizing his body was a bit upset at the exercises he'd put it through last night. Gaining the bridge he found Donny and Zlanta already there. Glancing at the chronometer, he realized that he was 20 minutes late for duty. 

Rather than being upset...or worried...the two of them were grinning like cats at the cream. "Have a good night, Captain?" purred Zlanta, and Donny went off in peals of laughter. Jason sighed, then grinned ruefully. 

"Alright, you know enough to be laughing. How?" 

Donny answered. "You forgot about the 30-second video we set up anytime an override is used, didn't you? When you popped Sive's door the video kicked in. I didn't know you were into that kind of scene, Captain." Donny's smile was wide enough to drive a car across. "Off-shift knows about it, too. Jonesy was going to answer a call from our passenger when he saw Sive, then you, heading down the hall from the 'fresher. And...he heard some of your adventure as well. Either the Angel's soundproofing is going a bit, or the two of you were quite... enthusiastic." 

Jason finally caught their mood. They weren't upset or worried. Not much anyway. They were happy for him. For them. And were going to tease the life out of them for the next couple of days to show it. 

As Sive stepped through the hatch, heads turned her way, grinning. She stopped and looked at them. “What? ... What are you all grinning about?” She continued to the nearest console chair and tenderly eased her bottom onto it. That is when the laughter erupted. “What? What is going on with you people? Can't a person be out of sorts around here?” There was more boisterous laughter at that comment. 

Sive's arrival couldn't have been timed better by a comedian. She almost shuffled in, obviously sore, making Jason's guilt nip at him. He was the reason she walked like that, after all. But Zlanta and Donny just broke into new gales of laughter when she asked so innocently what they were laughing at. 

"Ah jes' bet yer outta sorts, dahrlin'," said Zlanta silkily. 

Sive turned to look at the captain. Raising her eyebrow, she waited for an explanation. 

Jason cut in when Sive looked at him. "I, aahhh, forgot about a safety feature we installed. There's an alarm unit inside the passenger cabins that will trip a video recording anytime the override is used. Helps catch thieves...and worse. But...um, last night it caught how...eagerly you welcomed me." Jason's face reddened alarmingly. "Thankfully it um...ran out before anything really...interesting happened. But yes, the crew knows." 

Sive's eyes got huge, looking at each one of the crew on the bridge, she brought her hand up to her mouth. Her face changed colors, first going white as a sheet then turning a deep crimson. “Oh gods,” she moaned, trying to sink down into her chair and disappear.

Looking back at Jason, seeing his sheepish grin, she dropped her hand from her mouth, now her temper went into override, “Jason! How could you do this to me?” She jumped up, about to run out of the room, then suddenly stopped herself. OK, just take a deep breath, and calm down.

She again looked at all the smiling faces, and started to smile too, looking back at Jason. “Looks like we're busted!” Shrugging her shoulders, seeing Donny and Zlanta nodding their heads, she surmised, “And you all are going to get your pound of flesh out of this aren't you?” Donny and Zlanta burst out laughing again, tears running down Donny's face.

“Oh you bet we are, honey. We have waited for something like this for years!”

She started to move toward the doorway with as much dignity as she could muster. “I guess I will get started on my steward duties now,”she said, looking back at them. “See you all later on.”

As Sive walked out of the bridge, she thought on a little retribution.

Mmmm...now what will I be fixing for the crew's dinner?