Hell Hath No Fury

Posted on Tue May 26, 2015 @ 10:13pm by Lieutenant Nicole Anderson

1,282 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: All this has happened before...
Location: Sickbay

Nicole glanced up from her discussion with her nurse as the doors to Sickbay opened. It was a habit she'd picked up from her previous CMO. Knowing what was coming in and going out of her doors was one of her many responsibilities, and the fewer surprises she had in that regard, the better. Her brow quickly furrowed as their newest crew member finally entered Sickbay for his physical.

Seeing her expression, the nurse immediately got out of the line of fire between the Doctor and her newest victim.

Nicole handed the nurse back her padd, saying, "thank you, Mirina, keep me updated on your progress," almost as an aside and moved forward swiftly, stalking her prey.

She silently swept towards him as he looked around, and when his gaze was forward again, she was standing inches from his face. "How magnanimous of you to grace us with your presence, Mister Halloway," she said, her voice deceptively silky.

Outside Sickbay Chris prepared himself for entry. Dr. Anderson's presence was strong enough to be felt even before going inside. He didn't want to be caught off-guard again. Taking a deep breath and exhaling, Chris stepped through the opening doors and into Sickbay. Making a quick scan of the room, it took Chris only a brief moment to locate the CMO - stepping right in front of his face.

Chris sensed the sarcasm in her greeting. The good doctor wasn't happy. Attempting to defuse the situation, Chris just smiled and replied, "You hold all the power here, Doctor. I am at your mercy."

"I'm glad you realize that. It will save me the trouble of reminding you while you remember that five minutes means five minutes, not five and a half, and not six." She was doing her best to maintain a stoic expression, trying not to laugh at the brave smile he was putting up.

Chris sensed her mood lightening slight. "If you'd like, you can poke and prod harder than you normally would in the exam to make up for it. Use something sharp if it makes you feel better," Chris countered, trying to lighten it more.

Nicole raised an eyebrow in surprise. "We'll see. Lie down on a biobed please," she said, pointing. "I'll be back in a moment." She returned to her office and grabbed her black bag, returning quickly and placing it on the stand next to the bed. "Now," she said, "let's see what we have here." She scanned him with one hand, pulling up his medical file on the biobed with the other. She glanced at his ears, then his eyes, then back at the notes. "Vulcan/Betazoid hybrid..." she muttered, then immediately put her mental blocks firmly in place. She'd had enough trouble remembering around Yarin, she didn't enjoy having to keep her guard up again. *No wonder he knew the right thing to say,* she thought.

Chris sensed the mental blocks coming up as he strectched out. Placing his hands behind his head, he smirked and stated, "There's no need to get defensive, Doc. I'm no more powerful than any other half-Betazoid. I can only sense your feelings, not read your mind. At least not without my hands on your face." As an aside he added, "I assume you're familiar with a Mind Meld."

"Very," Nicole said, re-calibrating the biobed to account for his physiology. Her cheeks turned less pale as she blushed. "Try it on me and I'll fry your metacampus." Her ice-blue eyes stared into his grey ones for a moment, hammering her point home. "Any conditions I should be aware of?" she said, trying to sound casual.

"There are a few things you should be aware of," Chris said while staring straight back into Dr. Anderson's eyes, although much less intensely. "One, I enjoy some rather aggressive holodeck programs. I may be visiting you somewhat often as a result. Nothing life-threatening, but maybe up to some broken bones once in a while. Secondly, I wouldn't try to Mind Meld without your permission unless the situation were dire. Finally, you have gorgeous blue eyes. I may want to visit more often anyway," Chris finished, smiling.

Nicole was about to respond when his comment hit home. Her face flushed practically to a normal skin tone and she stood there with her mouth open momentarily. Her jaw snapped shut and she found herself at war with her responses. "Try not to break anything vital," she finally said.

Chris noted the doctor's reaction, both physical and her mental. Her control seemed to be slipping. "I'll do my best, Doc," Chris said. "By the way, since we're going to be colleagues, do you have a first name I can use?"

Nicole looked at him like he had three heads. She was used to attention from males, but she hadn't had someone look at her like that since...well a long time. AJ was a nice guy, but whatever complicated social dance they were doing had been on the back burner as of late as their duties kept them busy. *Or I keep myself busy,* she thought. "Nicole," she said slowly. "However, 'Doc' will suffice."

"Well, Doc Nicole, I would be delighted if you would join me in the holodeck. How about this weekend? I promise, I'll save the aggressive programs for later. That is, unless aggressive programs are you style." From the moment Chris encountered this woman a just few minutes ago on the bridge, he was intrigued. She radiated with presense, strong enough for non-Betazoids to sense it. He could not deny his attraction to such a powerful woman. He continued to look into her eyes, hoping for a positive response.

Nicole swallowed hard. Memories and feelings she wasn't ready for were coming to the fore and she fought hard to push them back down. "That's very sweet of you Mister Halloway," she said slowly, "but I'm...sort of..."

*Seeing someone?* her mind supplied. *Who you like, but barely know, who you aren't exactly chained to and who is a nice guy you don't want to hurt and what even does it matter you aren't going to let some guy stare into your eyes again like last time because you know what that led to and now he wants you to go to the holodeck to what, fight? you're a doctor not a brawler well okay that's not quite true either but you can't just meet him to fight you'll kick his ass oh wait you'll absolutely kick his ass you should totally say--*

"All right," she finally said after an extended moment. "I'll try to go easy on you."

Chris was actually surprised to hear Doc Nicole agree to his request, especially when she started to divert, but he was sure to suppress the reaction. Instead he grinned at her intention to go easy. "So it sounds like aggressive is your style. And Call me Chris. Mister Halloway sounds a bit formal for a date." Glancing at the display next to the biobed, he asked. "Did you get all the readings you need, Doc Nicole?"

"Readings?" Nicole said, shocked by the 'date' word. "Oh...right...yes..." She cleared her throat. "You're all set to go Mister...Chris." She frowned and shook her head. "Good day." She turned and left him on the biobed, heading back to her office, very confused.

Chris got up as Doc Nicole headed for her office. "You have a great day too," he called after her. He departed sickbay to the stunned and confused looks of several nurses, leaving Doc Nicole to wonder if she really did 'hold all the power here.'

JP

Nicole Anderson
CMO

Chris Halloway
Asst Engineer

 

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