SIM:LtCmdr Blake & Maj Hannibal Parker: Acceptance (Final)
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((Embassy of Duronis II, Ocean-side bar))
::Half-way through her vodka shot, she glanced at Parker suspiciously - if only briefly. She put the shot glass back down on the bar, shuffling it between her hands, not meeting his eyes.::
Blake: I remember where I recognized your name.
Parker:: sipping his whiskey:: From where?
Blake: It’s on my daughter’s record. You’re her godfather.
Parker: I am indeed. That is why I asked about her. I thought you did not remember, and I didn’t want to push.
::She sighed, flagging down the bartender to hit her again, running a hand through her hair, thinking back on her reaction to the unexpected question.::
Blake: I’m sorry. I’m used to people asking about my ‘death’ more than my children.
:: That caught Hannibal up short. If Sky had been declared dead, someone he thought would have notified him of such, or so he thought. Unfortunately, Starfleet personnel die each and every day, and Hannibal had long ago stopped looking at casualty lists::
Parker: Your...death?
::She scoffed, downing another shot.::
Blake: When, uh, all this ::she motioned to her temple:: happened, my mother thought it best to declare my death to Starfleet and for them to expunge my record. I guess someone thought it was a bit suspicious - or, at least, Captain Carrero did. So she sent her XO out to Ornara to fetch me.
Blake: How’d you find me?
Zhou: Well, now, that is certainly an interesting story. But I’m actually kind of hungry now. Mind if we talk about it over dinner?
Blake: You tell me how you found me first. I’m not stupid - you’re a threat to me. And if you really were Starfleet, one would expect that you’d get straight to the point.
Zhou: ::shrugs:: Like I said, I’m just passing through. Wanted to see if you were up for some company tonight. If you want the whole, “Yes, sir! No, sir!” song and dance, I guess we can do that, too, in a few days when my ship gets here. They sent me to find you, see if you’d come back for a special mission. I figured I’d get a read on you, see if you really wanted to be left alone before telling them I couldn’t find you.
Blake: A Starfleet ship in the Delos system? ::She laughed once.:: Now I’ve definitely heard it all. Last time that happened, the Brekkians ended up in a very difficult situation. They’re not major players, but the last thing Starfleet needs right now is to be blamed for an interplanetary war between Ornara and Brekka.
Zhou: Hmmm, I guess someone should tell them.
((End flashback))
Blake: And, after calming down some deeply upset Brekkian officials, I'm now stationed in the Shoals, alive and well.
:: That explains a lot...but it still was hard for Hannibal to take it all in::
Parker: Your mother should have gotten in touch with me. There may have been something I could have done…
Blake: Sabor and I went out of touch for a few months, so mother . . . mother did what mother does. No love lost there. But I appreciate the thought.
:: For some reason, that name rang a bell::
Parker: Sabor?
::There was a sliver of an ache in the back of her skull, a flash of Sabor’s brown eyes burned into the back of her eyelids. She glanced down at her right hand, twirling the gold band on her second finger with her thumb.::
Blake: Father of my children.
Parker:I remember him now. Never liked him for you much. Thought he was entirely too...calm to handle you.
Blake: After what happened, calm is what Faith and Ayden needed. What I needed. ::She took a deeper breath, straightening up.:: He was a good man. He has less then four months to bring me back up to speed on everything. If it wasn't for him, I'd have given up a long time ago.
:: Hannibal heard the words” short time”. That can not be good::
Parker: What happened to him?
Blake: He died.
::It was a short and sweet answer, without emotion, without memory. It just was. She signaled the bartender again - this time opting for a water, rubbing at the back of her head, the emptiness coming back.::
Parker: I’m sorry Sky...for you, for Faith, Ayden…
:: Hannibal tagged the bartender for another whiskey::
Blake: It’s done. I’m moving on. ::She coughed.:: Was there anything else, that I needed to clear up?
:: There was no much Hannibal wanted to say, so much he wanted to tell her, about them, their adventures, their very near intimate encounter, about how much he missed her...but it would fall on deaf ears. She did not remember those things, and they would be building a new relationship from the ground up. Shaking his head, he spoke::
Parker:For now, let’s just say we are building a new relationship, with new memories and understandings.::Holding up his shot glass:: Here is to new beginnings.
Blake: I’ll drink to that.
:: The two downed their drinks, then Hannibal spoke::
Parker: Once you leave here, if you need anything, anything at all, you get in touch. I take care of my friends...
::She smirked.::
Blake: This friend happens to be in the Shoals. ::She shrugged.:: Just keep an ear out in case there’s news of a Tholian attack out in Colonial Coalition territory. Then I’m gonna need you to come running.
::Part of her was reminded that it wouldn't matter, what with the Vesta class USS Thor being over 3,000,000 metric tons of weight that'd get banked the minute it set a nacelle into the Shoals, but it was a nice thought, that at least *one* Starfleet officer outside the area would be keeping an ear out for her.::
:: A fight with the Tholians could be quite interesting. They were incredibly grumpy, and had extremely long memories. Hannibal nodded::
Parker: You call, I’ll come...and I’ll bring friends...friends with guns...
LtCmdr Sky Blake
Ranger, USS Veritas
&
Major Hannibal Tiberious Parker
Marine CO/Chief Tactical Officer, USS Thor/Duronis II Embassy