Bat'leths and Bruises (After mission decompressing)(4.19.20)

"That's it love... your turn..." she whispered sliding her hands up his arms to grip his shoulders. Her body pressing away from the wall to help him drive deeper. Her own rhythm was just opposite his so they began to pant at the same pace with each thrust. Her own heartbeat, irregular at the best of times, almost a double beat against his as two once more became one and she felt him growing inside her. "UUhhhhh... that's it... mmmmmm" <e>


The tightness and heat of her sliding on him and her words pushed him closer and closer. His thrusts which had been rhythmic and regular, became harder and more forceful, driving him deeper and deeper into her until there was no where else to go. His eyes, still locked onto hers as his face flushed and his mouth opened as he tried to speak. "S...Sh... Sha... I... c-c... can't... h-hold it... mu... much... longer..." <e>


She smiled and her eyes filled with wicked mischief, "Then take me..." she whispered and kissed him to stall any denial as her hips moved faster not wanting him to get a chance to recover yet.
She used one hand to press away from the wall and thrust harder against him over and over till her own panting and shivering fortold of her own climax once more rising. <e>

Royal felt her shift and her tighten around him as he slid in and out, faster and faster. "Sha...I'm... I'm... gonna... Oh FUCK!!!" he screamed just as he literally exploded inside her. The force of his orgasm filled her instantly and his hips shook and he slammed a palm against the wall. And it wasn't just once. Maybe because it was so long in the making, his body continued to pump and pump until both his and hers ran together and flowed across each of them. <e>


Her own cry rang out as he screamed and filled her. Her own juices fighting for space in her till they ran down his thighs. "UHHHHHhhhh!!" Her body quivered but she fought to keep pumping against him wanting every drop of him inside her. She spill covered them both and she leaned down without warning and bit into his neck with a growl as her body shudder once more. The bite wasn't serious enough to break the skin this time. She had already done that to his chest. A second later, she lightly teased a lick over the bite mark and rested her head on him. "I don't think I can get back to my room without embarrassing myself," she half whispered, half whimpered against his throat with a soft giggle of laughter. <e>

Between deep gasps for air, he smiled and said "Lass, I doubt I can walk far enough to get to my room." and he laughed.

Looking around, he spied blankets in the open crate. Turning to look at her, her legs still wrapped around him and him slowly going soft inside her, he said "We could always use those and have a sleep over, if you like. But a more pressing problem, my love, is you and I made a mess... and when we move its gonna be a bigger mess." and cast a glance at the floor and the ample evidence of their love-making. <e>

"That's what the laundry is for... there should be towels under the blankets. It's my household goods. Since I was on a station in the past, I had more things than I needed here on the ship." She was grateful, for the first time, that the padding in the box was going to be of use. She wasn't sure she could cross the room much less make it to the lift and her room.
A small laugh escaped her as she twitched her lips to tease him as he softened. "I don't suppose asking them to beam two to your room would go over well without the Captain, XO and medical swarming us soon as we materialized. THAT would be awkward." The vision of it made her smile as she rested her head back on his shoulder, her arms still around his neck. <e>

Smiling, he said "Especially in this position. Poor transporter Chief would be scrubbing the transporter buffers for weeks." and he laughed. "Okay. On three. One..." and he pulled himself from her and gasped a bit. "Wow." was all he got out as a shiver shook his whole body. "I swear, you keep this up and we may may have to make this all official and such." and he winked.

Setting her on her feet, he moved over and began gathering towels and blankets. <e>

She cried out as the sudden absence of him from her made her nearly climax again. She managed not to, but the effect was the same. She felt their mingled juices ran down her thighs. "Yeah, thinking poor scrubbers."


She heard his offhand comment about making official and bit her lip, glad his back was to her. She wasn't sure she could let him do that, yet... so she ignored is laughed and pushed away from the wall to go help. "Towels should be under the two blankets. They are blue." There were, indeed, 4 each of two sized towels. A large blanket of soft fur, some unrecognized animal most likely, was on top with a slightly smaller quilt beneath it. She moved to the other side of the box to help pull things out. The Bat'leth going easily into the bag now and being set on a nearby crate. <e>

"Yeah... we will need to buy them a good thank you present for this one." he chuckled. Finally getting all the needed supplies, he quickly cleaned up the majority of the mess and then laid out a surprisingly comfortable pallet on the deck. He then reclaimed their clothes and folded them up and set them aside. Finally, he looked down at his chest and the bleeding bite mark. "Now this may take some explaining." and he laughed and then winced as he gently poked the surrounding skin. "Damn, woman. I know you like me, but is it necessary to brand me like some kind of Highland cattle?" he asked with a grin. <e>


Once she had cleaned up herself, she moved to the makeshift bed and stretched out letting her body move like a cat waking from a nap. "Mmmmmm Well, I could say the same of you, Mr. Sinclair," Sha laughed and tapped her shoulder where a nearly identical mark was already scabbing over. "But to be honest, if anyone comments on it, I will have to do some serious investigating into why someone was looking at your bare chest." She laughed softly and patted the blanket beside herself. <e>

Not needing a second invitation, Royal stepped over and laid down next to her. Making sure their skin was touching as much as possible, he looked at her and his face became serious. "Sha... about what I said earlier. That comment about 'official'... I hope that didnt make you uncomfortable. It wasn't... well... completely serious. But I'm not gonna say that I havent thought about... well... where this may lead. But I want you to know, there is no pressure on you. We can go as slow as you need to, okay? I just..." and his words failed him for a bit. <e>

She took a deep breath and ran her hand over his chest without looking up as he finished. "I can't... not yet. We haven't even told the ship we are together." She bit her lip and moved to stretch out along the line of his body, her cheek on his chest. "I can't bring this baggage, Royal... I need to work thru this before I can even entertain the idea of something more permanent. I don't want to lose what we have." She moved to prop up on her elbow so she could look at him. "I'm not going to be with anyone else. I give you my word. But I can't..." she let the commitment hang between them for a moment, like him, unable to say anything more. "Just not yet... ok?"
She didn't know if he would wait, or even how long it would take. But she would never hold him to his claim on her if he chose to move on. She didn't voice it, but she had the feeling they both felt the same way in that regard. <e>

Royal looked at her and smiled and ran his fingers through her hair. "I dunae know if you need a translator, but that's what I just said." and he laid back and cast a glance at her naked body. "We are gonna go as slow as you need ta. And I am here for the duration, so ya no need to fret." and then he stretched.
"We are gonna get you through this... together. And after we get you unpacked and good with you, we can come back to this topic." and then he looked at her seriously. He propped himself up on an elbow and looked at her intensely."But you have to promise me... " and he paused to make sure he had her attention.

"... we still get to get naked on a regular basis." and his eyes twinkled with a lecherous light as he smiled at her. <e>

She laughed and shoved him back onto his back. "If you think I'd let you out of that you are mad indeed." She snuggled back up against him and dragged the quilt over them. The room was small enough that between her work out and their love making, it was comfortable in the small bay.
She closed her eyes and got comfortable in the crook of his shoulder. "I don't want to leave you, Royal... not if there is ever any way to prevent it..." she said softly and he could feel her drifting off. <e>

"Then dont, love. Simple as that. Now... you get some rest." and he pulled her close. "You're gonna need it for round two." and he laid his head back and listened to her breathing and slowly joined her in exhaustion- fueled sleep. <e>


"Computer, lights to 25%," she managed to mumble before nearly drifting off. Her final words to him as she faded off were along the lines of asking him to promise to never leave. Then a single sigh signaled her slip into the darkness.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
She was getting off the small shuttle. The four of them armed. They had the intel where the prisoners were and that the guard were minimal. So they had moved in, with all the stealth of a full recon mission. The guards were few around the small building. A single family style dwelling with no neighbors for several kilometers in the scattered forests.
The team had spread out, on her word, and silently removed the half dozen guards around the shack and perimeter with ranged single shots. Every one of them had fallen without so much as a cry. Knowing there would be a couple inside, they were prepared for that as well.
As they regrouped and moved towards the house, something itched at Sha. She chalked it up to the unknown in the house. How many would be wounded? Could they get them all out? Had the alarm gone up yet that the guards were down? She kicked in the door and shot the first carrier of a pulse rifle as they jumped and looked at her in surprise.
That's when chaos reigned down on them. Bodies fell yet Sha and her group hadn't fired yet. But fire was happening and soon it was realized the 'prisoners' were actually the fanatics they had come to destroy. No one had been prepared for the two dozen men that swarmed them. They had each rolled or shifted on the myriad of cots and taken to shooting the crew coming thru the doorway.
One had gone down immediately. The other three ducking behind whatever cover they could. But now the soldiers were rising and coming at them. The quarters were too close for the long arms and Sha was tackled to her back before she could get her side arm loosed. She had gotten to her boot knife and pulled it free to stab the attacker in the heart, up between his ribs just as he choked her.
She rolled to her knees to catch her breath and a sting rang down her back as a claw like saber weapon raked over her and cut thru her protective gear like a hot light saber. She remembered hearing screams as she struggled to get to her feet, her clothes nearly falling off from the near fatal slice. The other two guards were down... dead or nearly so. Too overwhelmed to get back up.
A roar left her and she lost it. Something in Sha snapped and soon she was a frenzy of steel and rage. She didn't see anything but red as her half naked body spun thru the room killing anything that moved. Not with the mercy she gave the first, but with the blind fury of Gre'thor unleashed. Anyone and anything that twisted, moved, or showed life was soon snuffed out.
As the rescue team, alerted by a fellow guard when he had forethought to activate his beacon, arrived, she hurt several of them as they came thru the door before she was stunned and dropped where she fell. The last thing she remembered before blackness took her was the eyes of the dead woman beside her.
It was one of the prisoners they had come to rescue. Her mouth bound with an adhesive so it couldn't open, and her hands bound to her side. Her body clad in a soldier's uniform. They had been tricked. In the frenzy, Sha and the guard had struck down prisoners and guards alike.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
It had been several hours when a scream filled the small room and Sha gripped Royal and tried to shove away from him. At some point in the night she had rolled into his body and the position had let her arm fall asleep. In her dream, she was pinned... unable to escape... still caught in the dream she screamed and struggled against his body and her useless arm, like a caged animal, her nails raking over his chest at least once with more than a lovers strength. <e>

Royal snapped awake as the pain from his chest erupted like molten steel. In the split second it took him to realize what was happening, he felt more than a trickle of blood run down his naked body.

Rolling away from Sha, he came to his feet just off the pallet. "LIGHTS!!! he cried and the room flooded with maximum luminosity. Squinting slightly, he looked at Sha... her thrashing was incoherent and sloppy. Her eyes were shit tight. He realized... she was asleep. His psychologist brain kicked in and simply watched her. Waking her suddenly could hurt them both. <e>

He had gotten away. Her eyes open and she shook her head. "NOOOOO you won't kill them! Not again!" Without warning, her still half sleep addled brain saw a body and lunged for it. Unfortunately, it was Royal. She was half bent from rising and lunged at him with thoughts to grasp him around the waist and take him to his back. <e>

Royal watched her, and had Sha been fully awake she would have seen a look of abject sorrow take over his features... to the point a single tear rolled down his cheek. "I'm so sorry, my love." he said out loud.

As she charged, Royal braced his back foot against the wall where it met the floor. Taking the painful hit in his mid-section, the air blasting out of him as the incredibly strong woman drove her shoulder into his solar plexus, Royal responded.

Using his much greater height to his advantage, he brought an elbow down directly between her shoulder blades... hard... grasping the connected wrist with his other hand to drive the elbow as far as it would go. This was not naked-play time strong... this was professional Rugby player turned Security officer strong. And though it shattered his heart to do it... he held nothing back from the blow... and knowing the tenderness of the scars, he aimed for them. <e>

The scream was unlike anything he had ever heard from her as the elbow landed directly in the middle of her back, in the middle of her scars. The tenderness and tauntness of the skin meant the blow split the dual lines open at the contact point and his arm would rise with blood on his elbow. Her back, bright crimson where it was now bleeding as she went to her hands and knees in pain and rage.

Unable to stand, she grabbed his legs and tried to yank him down. But it was weak from the pain and damage revisisted on her and she caught only one by accident, leaving her no leverage to topple him if he didn't want to go down. Her cries echoing as they bounced around the small room now as brightly lit as it had been during her solo katas the day before. <e>

Royal didnt go down, but bent low, anticipating a counter attack if he couldnt get her fully conscious. "SHA!! SHA GODAMMIT WAKE UP!! ITS ROYAL!! ITS ME, LOVE!! ITS ME!!" he screamed. <e>


Tone or touch, or simple pain. Something managed to make it to her ears. She went deathly still a moment. She didn't look up but her focus saw the bare feet and legs and she knew something had gone wrong again. Without a word she scrambled back with more swiftness than even she knew she was capable of.
This time the sound coming from her wasn't an enraged animal, it was something in pain. The pitiful sound, equally as unreal as the roar had been, ended as she bumped the nearest cargo container and her back hit it, reminding her of pain. She pulled her knees up and set her head on them, arms wrapped tight around her shins. Her head was shaking as she kept murmuring over and over, "I'm sorry.... I'm sorry... I'm sorry...."
Sorry for hurting him, sorry for the terror, or sorry to the dead bodies in her dream.... Even she wasn't sure. <e>

Bloodied and heart-broken, Royal stood up and looked at her. This was Sha... this was the part of her that had he had known was maybe in her, but he had never seen. He looked at her long and with clarity brought about by his education; but then filtered that through his feelings for her. Seeing her there: fragile... scared... wounded inside and out... so far from the warrior and hard-nosed officer she showed to the rest of the galaxy.

Royal slowly made his way over to her, but stopped just out of her reach. Lowering himself to his knees and ignoring his bloodied torso, he said softly "Sha... hey... Sha... love... c'mon... look at me. You dont need to be sorry. I know you are. I know you are, love. Just breathe... just breathe." He kept his voice soft and calm... not out of training or precaution... but out of caring. Caring for her more and more each passing moment. "Sha... come here... c'mon, love. I'm here... I'm here. I'm not going anywhere."

She shook her head and, surprisingly, managed to tighten herself into a slightly smaller ball.

After several minutes of patient coaxing, she cried herself out and stopped murmuring and slowly looked up at him. Her eyes were swollen and her face had a bruise where her cheek bone had collided with his hip. It was already coloring as it rose to the surface. She looked at his face as if seeing him for the first time. “Royal... I couldn't save them. I'm the one who killed them. We were... sent... we … I was supposed to save them.”

She lunged at him again, but this time with arms open and reaching to encircle him for comfort, not to attack. Not being on the balls of his feet meant he was able to keep himself from being crashed over backwards as she suddenly clung to him, face buried in his neck as she sobbed. “I'm sorry...” she murmured again then fell silent. Her only sounds an occasional whimper as the endorphins slowly let her mind register the pain in her back where he had connected, and in her knees and arms from being driven nearly to the floor. “You should go...” she finally said and started to push away from him. <e>

Royal's arm held her tight, but gently. "Nay. I ain't going nowhere. I'm here for the duration, and no amount of pushing is gonna drive me off. Get that through ya head now, lass." he said, hs voice still calm and even. He settled himself on the floor and adjusted the two of them so they were more comfortable.

"Sha... I know you are scared. And I know right now you feel very alone and like there is no way this will get better. But it will. It'll be nigh on some of the hardest work you've ever pulled, but it will get better. If you have ever trusted me, trust me when I say that, okay?" And he looked up at the ceiling. In a voice that seemed distant and in a language that seemed to fit the big man more than anything she had heard him say in the past, he said "Dia mo chuideachadh ach tha gaol agam ort boireannach..." and slowly rocked her back and forth. <e>

His swiftly moved position and his strength soon found her half curled in his lap, her head on his chest near his shoulder. His arm, normally wound around her back, was lower, around her hip though with enough comfort to make her feel safe and secure.

His words didn't seep in completely, but the gist of them did. “I know it will take time. But,” her fingers rose as she saw, for the first time, the blood on his chest. She sat up, wincing slightly, and frowned. “how can you say you aren't going anywhere when I did this to you?” She was reaching up to touch it then realized it probably hurt and balled her fist just shy of touching him.

She shook her head and closed her eyes but didn't lean back against him. “What if the blade had been nearby....” She whispered the fear ever so softly as the shudder ran down her spine and she whimpered like a hurt animal again. Her back hurt. She remembered, vaguely, something hitting her. But dream and reality were still unraveling in her mind and she couldn't remember whether it was remembered pain or new pain she was feeling.

As he spoke in Gaelic, she frowned slightly. She knew it's what it was because he'd often cursed, or rattled off in his native language when frustrated or agitated. “What does it mean?” Sha looked at him with a curious look and half held her breath thinking he was swearing for letting her attack him. <e>

Royal took a breath and said "One, the blade wasn't near by, so let's not borrow problems from nowhere. Two. You didnt do this me. You did this to the people in your dream... your memory. You weren't trying to hurt me, and I know that. Besides, we both hurt each other. And we are both gonna need Medical, I think. And lastly... I'll tell you when you really want to know. But know this now... when I tell you what it meant... there is no going back. So make sure you are ready to take it on. Now..." and he slowly pulled her back to him. "Let's take a look at your back." and the look of anguish appeared again. "I'm so sorry, Sha... please know I didnt want to hurt you... not even a little." <e>


She wanted to know. Bad enough that only his distraction about her back stopped her. If he had gone silent, she would have stated her wanting it. But she paused long enough to think about it. Whatever it was, something told her it was more than merely her surrendering to him as she had that first night together. So she decided to bit her lip and wait.
As he mentioned her back, she tried, out of reflex, to look over her shoulder. But the pull of the skin made her bite her lip to keep from growling. "I know you didn't. If you hadn't done what you did, I could have hurt you more seriously. There is nothing to be forgiven, par'Mach'kai."
She winced as she slid from his lap to kneel with her back to him. Sitting on the heels of her feet, almost meditation like, she slouched slightly. The skin felt flayed and torn again. She knew the feeling well. "There is a loose robe I cover my workout gear with when I'm coming down here. I can put that on. Won't hurt like trying to put the tank top back on." She bit her lip, glad he couldn't see her face. Closing her eyes tight to fight back the tears as the adrenalin wore off and pain started to sink in, she shook her head. "It's all right. I've hurt myself before. Telling him it's from a sparring accident will cover us both." She still didn't turn back to face him as he looked her over. <e>

"I could give a damn about 'covering us'. I just want you taken care of." Royal said as he looked over her injury. It wasn't bad... but it certainly wasnt good, either. "Ok, let's robe you up and get that closed up. And we'll see how far 'sparring accident' gets us. I can always justify it by saying I needed to see if you were impacted in any way." <e>


Sha managed a soft smile as she slowly rose up. His vehement retort at wanting to protect her physically versus his wanting to protect them both in their careers, made her happy. But it also made her realize it couldn't happen again. It wasn't just 'her' career on the line now. Her legs were shaking and she was grateful that it was most likely still early enough to not run into the Medical Chief on their visit. Was easier to explain things to Ensigns and Lieutenants who hadn't dealt with the half Klingon in the past. The robe hurt, but it was better than the top. Once dressed, she silently followed him out of the room. She'd come back later to straighten up. Right now, they just looked like two people coming from a hard workout and heading to medical. Royal's shirt covered him. And Sha was grateful the blood had dried so no one saw what she had done.
<e>

They slowly made their way to Sickbay, and Royal lent an arm. As the doors opened, the normally bright lights were dimmed due to the late hour. Royal said out "Need some assistance, please." and a nurse came out from behind a bend in the central wall. "Oh, yes sir. What -" and he stopped short as he saw Sha and the bloodied robe "Right this way. Computer, activate surgical suite." and he led them to a dedicated bay. "Ok, lets take a look and see what we are working with, shall we?" <e>


Sha was grateful for the early hour. No one was in the short corridor between the lift and medical when they got to the deck.
As they were ushered to a surgical table, the woman remained silent while Royal helped peel the robe from her back. It pulled away a couple places that started to bleed again.
Wincing, not even thinking of her nudity, Sha laid down on her stomach, her head turned away from the other two as she bit her lip. Her instinct had been to argue it was nothing. But she knew if she didn't get seen, he wouldn't.
"Check the Chief's chest as well," she spoke up. There was an edge to the voice that gave away she was snipping because of her uncomfortableness. <e>

Royal dismissed the statement by saying "You first, Lieutenant. I'll be fine." and he watched the nurse read the scans. His time in medical school wasn't totally wasted, and he saw the results as they came back. "Well, Nurse? Will she live?" he asked with a crooked grin. The wounds were painful, to be sure, but as far as serious went they were thankfully not threatening in any way. <e>


"She'll be fine. They shouldn't have been scars to begin with!" The nurse seemed upset that they hadn't been regenerated to begin with.

"Just stop the bleeding,"Sha spoke up. "We keep our scars." Her own voice was nearly as edged as the nurse's.

Sha turned her head to look at Royal. She has to know if the look on his face was pity, disappointment or something else. She didn't want his pity, but didn't want to see his disappointment either.

"Stop moving," the nurse put a hand on her neck for a moment till the patient went still. Then she finished cleaning the wound.

Sha grit her teeth thru the process till it was done. <e>

Royal looked at the nurse and said "Dermal regenerator on the tears. But once its knitted back together, leave it. The scars arevher choice." and he then took off his shirt. "Me, on the other hand... I'll take a full cycle." The nurse looked him and said "Good lord! What the hell happened?!?! Uh... sir." Royal chuckled and said "Let's just say that you shouldn't spar with a half-Klingon and try to pin them. They..." and he cast a look at Sha that was mildly disapproving, but there was an unmistakable twinkle in his eye, "... take losing personally." <e>

Sha bristled as Royal mentioned the rederm cycle. But when he put the stop to her making them fade completely, she relaxed. Her own hiss of surprise was overshadowed by the nurse's reaction. She hadn't realized, in her blood rage and the aftermath, that she had hurt him that bad.
As he mentioned wanting the scars completely removed, she wasn't sure if he was doing it for her benefit or his own. But in that moment, she was just grateful that all she had done was scratch him. His gaze at her when he teased about the spar made her shiver in both desire and fear. Desire because this was how most mating rituals ended. And fear because that hadn't been why it had happened.
While it probably wasn't necessary, Sha added as the woman worked, "And I trust only the Doc will be aware of what happened. I don't want loose tongues wagging on speculations. Understand?" It was her old Security Chief voice that accompanied the locked stare to be sure the nurse got the message. It was harsh, but she wasn't thinking about that. <e>

The nurse nodded and looked mildly offended. Her own sternness came to the fore and she said "Listen up, Lieutenant. You arent the first sparring partners to be in here, and you sure as hell wont the the last. And if you think part of job description is rumor mongering, you're on the wrong damn ship. Now. Lay still, shut up, and take your medicine like you know what's good for you."
The nurse turned to face Toyal as the Dermal regeneration cycle began on Sha and said "Your turn, Commander. Let's get you on the biobed." and she led him to the next bed over and repeated the process begun on Sha on Royal's chest. <e>