Back from Oz part 1

Posted on Fri Jan 26th, 2024 @ 10:24am by Leiddem Kea (*) & Delaney O'Callaghan

Mission: Fractures
Location: Various
Timeline: Present
2279 words - 4.6 OF Standard Post Measure

Delaney, still holding Leiddem's hand, glanced around with a mix of curiosity and concern. The air felt different, a subtle shift that hinted at temporal displacement. Despite the uncertainty, Leiddem couldn't help but be grateful that they were still together amidst the chaotic jump as he knew that she was not 100% well.

"Well, I guess I owe you for insisting we stay connected. Looks like we're still in one piece, at least." Leiddem took a moment to collect himself as he surveyed the sickbay but it did not necessarily mean it was their sickbay in their time. Either way, the Betazoid let out a sigh of relief that it looked like the one with the brand-new refit sickbay but who knew if it was present and not the future? "You okay?"

After the initial effort to make sure they hadn't arrived in the midst of a gun-fight, Delaney slowly succumbed to the need to close her eyes and wait out the disorientation. If she had to judge, and she was not the type to embellish, each jump made recovery just a little more uncomfortable, which would account for the slight nausea she could add to her breathlessness. Unwilling to let Leiddem go, she stretched out their tether to lean herself back against one of the beds and forced herself after a few heavily regulated breaths to reopen her eyes.

"Not sure I'm big on this whole hungover-without-the-party syndrome." It wasn't exactly the same but it was the best way she had to be flippant about it. Noticing his concern, she mustered a reassuring smile and gave his hand a squeeze. "Just finding my time traveling legs, not all of us are as experienced with weird spatial anomalies." Risking further dizziness, she took a moment to glance around. "This actually looks familiar. Do you think...?"

Leiddem could not shake the feeling that their journey through time was far from over but he was happy they were somewhere where evil Dixoho was not. The unpredictability of time travel left an unsettling sensation in the pit of his stomach, yet the determination to help Delaney made him lean over for tricorder.

“I do not know.” He said gently not sure what the process was to get your time travelling legs but he hoped she did not need to do it much longer. “Going to have to let go to scan.” He warned not wanting to but needing to use both hands.

"I'm fine."

It was a mild protest, mostly because for once he had her at the disadvantage of having a point. Mostly, Delaney didn't really want to know what was going on, as much as she recognised that the ostrich-head-in-sand trick didn't really work when it came to medical issues. She wasn't used to being unwell, however, certainly not with a potentially chronic condition that was apparently going to rear its ugly head more often now that she'd actually found a lifestyle she wanted to pursue. Focusing instead on the complication of lack of physical contact, she further downplayed her unsteadiness by reaching out with a leg and using it to lasso him in closer, remaining hooked around the back of his knee. It glued them together close enough that scanning was going to be squishy but, as her beguilingly innocent eyes tried to convey, at least meant they couldn't inadvertently go their separate ways. "There, problem solved."

Leiddem glanced down at them being connected the way she hooked him in. It was awkward but it would work enough for him to get a reading from her. “Solved enough for now.” He said thinking if he was going to need to do anything wise to help her with no sign of anyone medical around he was going to need both hands and space. “For now.” He earned gently as he started the familiar process on the tricorder.

"Look," Delaney started, recognising a familiar stubbornness that promised she wasn't going to get away with distracting him. "We know what's causing it, this probably counts as the same kind of 'extreme conditions' that triggered diagnosis in the first place. I was kind of hoping we'd avoid finding anything similar quite so soon." Her silence allowed for clarity of emotion, and as she was becoming more and more aware of, Leiddem's psionic presence allowed for honesty on a level that didn't require her to put things into words she really didn't want to say. She was scared, yes. Scared and being equally as stubborn about giving in to it. "We don't really do light and easy around here though, do we?" Her tone was softer, partially defeated by sheer, bold-faced evidence that suggested ignoring things was just not going to work.

“Never done light or easy on any vessel I have been on.” Leiddem pointed out with a small smile before he turned serious. “But you need to look back I do not want to lose you so you will have me mother henning as you put it and try and fix the situation to the best of my abilities and as the doctor is not here you have me and my marine skills as medic.” Once upon a time he had spent more time in sickbay than security but he had moved away when more experienced people had come onboard.

"It's a small heart defect, Lei'." Saying it out loud brought no comfort, nor did lifting her hand to settle gently over the one holding the tricorder as she attempted to meet his eyes. "I'm not sure there's anything we can do." Reynolds had told her at the time of diagnosis that the corrective surgery was not overly complex and had a high success rate. What she hadn't told Leiddem was that the doctor had also told Delaney that it would become inevitable if she was determined to live in artificial environments long-term, having chosen at the time to latch on to Evelyn's reassurances that it shouldn't prove life-threatening unless the conditions turned extreme. The trouble was, their conditions were always extreme. "At least not right now."

Leiddem just started at her and sighed putting the tricorder down. “A small heard defect turns into a big heart defect.” He said simply before cursing in Betazed. “We really need to get to get you home to my mother.” He knew someone in his mother’s friendship group could do something, she knew enough doctors but it was not something for now. Now they needed to find out where they were in the timeline.

If there was one thing Delaney was learning, it was that it was far less easy to be flippant about your own health when there was someone you cared about deeply invested in maintaining it. It was hard to avoid being hypocritical but she wasn't without the capacity to place herself in Leiddem's shoes, was somewhat forced to do it every time his hero complex got the better of him, actually. Placing both hands either side of his face, she held him firm and fixed him with an expression determined enough to challenge even her most temperamental of body parts. "I'll be okay. We can talk about fixing it after we fix our time hopping problem." It was a hefty promise, influenced heavily by the older Oliver's portent-of-doom warning, but it was also a promise that would have to wait. Stealing a kiss, Delaney risked a wave of dizziness and found, as she slipped off the bed to stand on her own, that she was relatively stable. From there, taking Leiddem's hand again, she surveyed the room. "It looks like our Sickbay."

He hated that there was nothing he could do right there and then to help her. “Better be.” He said just as firmly back. “We’re close to our time if it’s not our time.” He said going to a console and bringing up the time and date. “It’s our time but we seem to be stuck in a moment.” He said quietly almost to himself as he watched the time flickering on the screen.

"Not exactly the best timing for romance," quipped Delaney, who had relented to letting him go but followed close enough to grab hold if the need arose. One thing about her physical reaction to whatever was causing their time jumps, it gave her a decent amount of warning before it actually happened. "If we're back, I wonder if that's it then?" Once again, she craned her head around to survey the empty room. "Though if we're stuck, I guess we're still being affected." A deep frown was followed by thoughtful silence, something Delaney was actually capable of if the situation was dire enough to warrant it. The wheels were turning, which was a blessed relief from the headache and nausea at least. Finally, she looked back at the Betazoid. "We should check to see if anyone else has logged any information about what's going on."

"It does not feel like it is over. I am not getting that vibe but I know where I would go if I was back and confused." Leiddem nodded and led the way out of Sickbay to the one place he knew they would get some answers on the bridge. It was the only place that everyone would go if they arrived and have no idea what was going on and he could send a ship-wide communication if not. The silence was comfortable as he held her hand not even knowing if that worked in keeping them together but he was unwilling to test the theory any time soon. As soon as this was over he was sending communication to his mother and kidnapping Delaney to Betazed one way or another with permission.

It was eerie, moving through a quiet ship frozen in time. The only thing that would have made it more odd, Delaney decided, was if they encountered someone else that wasn't part of the temporal bubble. The concept of relegating their friends to functionless statues wasn't a comforting one and so, as they reached the Bridge without encountering another living soul, Delaney was at a loss to know whether she should feel relieved or not. As Leiddem made his way to a console, she risked a break in physical contact to remain staring straight ahead at the viewscreen. Outside, the scene hung in perpetual limbo, which was likely for the best given the pilot's seat was empty and the bolt of laser fire directed at them didn't seem inclined to avoid direct contact once eventually permitted to advance. Delaney moved forward, easing herself into what would normally be Kali's seat, and brought up her own display.

"Flight logs are still intact. Looks like Kali's only been 'gone' for less than a minute."

The man leaned over her shoulder and pointed to someone else having been in flight logs. “Nollel has been here but it’s glitching. It’s like we are held in a bubble of time.” He said, frowning a little as he moved to the security console.

"Are we going to be able to affect anything much then?" Craning her head around to look at him, Delaney's brow was puckered in thought. "Unless there are others stuck here with us, it doesn't sound like trying to raise anyone on comms would really work." Rising, she moved towards the Operations terminal. "Though if we're suspended in time somehow, maybe that'll give us a better shot at getting close to the source. Looks like that was Nollel's plan too."

“Internal communication might work but I am not sure.” Leiddem said scanning the security console. “What did she say?” He wondered as he brought up ship scans for life signs and security logs. He just wanted to confirm that the armoury was secure.

"There's just a note here that she and Reynolds were going to investigate the Grotto. No update afterwards though, so wherever our little bubble is in the sequence of things, we're either trapped before they found anything or they didn't make it that far."

Leiddem nodded. “Well we should try and continue the mission and find out if they got any further.” Leiddem rolled his shoulder and neck feeling the tension of the situation.

It sounded, at least as far as Delaney was concerned, like the best way forward. It was certainly better than just sitting around waiting to be displaced again and she was not the biggest fan of inaction in the first place. Rising from the helm, she crossed towards the familiar access panel of the Bridge's security locker and punched in her clearance code. It she was honest, she was somewhat surprised to find that it worked. "Here," she tossed him a phaser, took herself a flashlight and medkit, as well as a tricorder to compliment the one Leiddem had brought with him from Sickbay.

The Betazoid plucked the weapon from the air and winked. Now he felt like he was fully in control of the situation for the first time in several hours. “Thank you.” He tucked the item into his belt for now and held out his hand. “Do not want you disappearing on me right now.”

Delaney gave his hand a squeeze. "Not planning it, I can tell you that much." Meeting his gaze for a moment, taking that brief time to connect in the understanding that they were about to step into the lion's den together, she offered him a grim yet resolute smile and set her shoulders with a strong exhalation of air.

"Let's go beat up a time machine."