Posted by Colonel Calvin Harris (Commanding Officer) in Harris’s Quarters - A Much Needed Break

Posted by Captain Molly Wright (Chief Intelligence Officer) in Harris’s Quarters - A Much Needed Break

Posted by Colonel Calvin Harris (Commanding Officer) in Harris’s Quarters - A Much Needed Break
Posted by… suppressed (5) by the Post Ghost! 👻
(SNIP)
Harris was visibly shaken at the thought of the couple not having closure and sighed. “I know Amelia, believe me, I do. It’s what’s been keeping me up at night for the past two weeks. I have struggled with it to the point that now I don’t even know if she /would/ talk to me… thinking I completely abandoned her. When it comes down to it, frack the solider… I want my girl back!” Calvin’s eyes burned with resolve, the focus in his gaze as razor sharp as Amelia had ever seen. With that, Harris drained his drink and rose quickly from his seat, tugging his tunic straight. Looking to Manning with a purposeful nod, the Marine said flatly. “And that’s exactly what I’m going to do! If you’ll excuse me Commander, I have some important business to take care of.” Harris then turned and left his quarters.

Harris, CO

A slight smirk showed on Amelia’s lips. “Go get her, Colonel. If you don’t mind, I’ll nurse my drink for a little longer.”

Leaning forward to get her glass from the coffee table where she had just sat it, Manning didn’t watch Harris leave, content in knowing he was gone with the sound of the doors closing behind him. She wasn’t planning on overstaying her welcome, rather, she really just wanted to finish her drink.

Amelia sighed, happy with the conversation she and Harris had just had. It had made her see the man in a whole different light than what she was used to. Wright was lucky. But Manning was luckier. She smiled, thinking of Peter back home. It had been a while since she had managed to talk to him, and she missed him. Sometimes she wondered if taking the XO job on the Dresden had been a good idea.

After downing the remainder of the whisky in her glass, Amelia finally stood up and took both glasses back to the replicator. She put a stopper on the bottle of Laphroaig she had brought with her and left it on the coffee table, together with two new replicated glasses. Next to it, she left a note.

For you and Captain Wright to finish. If you need anything, you know where to find me. Amelia

With a last glance at the room, she said out loud. “Computer, lights.” and she left.

Lt. Cmdr. Manning, XO

It had been two weeks. Two weeks since the Dresden had been assigned the mission to Beta Prime. Two weeks since she and Cal had been taken by Jem’Hadar and tortured by a rogue Intelligence Officer. Two weeks since she and Cal had returned to the Dresden only to find twisted accusations thrown at them. Two weeks since she had been accused of conspiracy and capital treason. Two weeks since her uncle and Commander Harper had started to work on fighting them. Two weeks since she had lost Cal.

Even though Molly had not been restricted to her quarters, she might as well have been. While the investigation had been pending, Wright had been stripped of her command codes per statute with Starfleet, effectively rendering her unable to perform her duties. The only reason she had stayed on the Dresden it was because leaving would have risen more suspicions.

It had been the two longest weeks of her life. There were days when she had stuck to her routine and used her holodeck time in the morning. There were days where she had cried herself to sleep afraid of a life time in prison for something she had not done. One morning her uncle had even barged in through her room to force her out of bed.

But that morning… that morning had been different. That morning her uncle had come in earlier than usual, bearing a letter addressed to her. A letter from the President of the United Federation of Planets herself, absolving Molly of all the charges made against her. The letter also stated that Agent Ashley Newton had orchestrated a complex plan together with her partner, Tomas Dubois, to steal the Dresden, in their attempt to assist the Jem’Hadar to regain control of the sector. When Wright, an old colleague of Tomas, had fallen right on their plate, they had seen that as an opportunity. The letter also stated that the former FCIS Agent would be serving her own sentence.

A weight had been lifted from Molly’s shoulders as she hugged her uncle half crying, half laughing, thanking him and everyone involved in clearing her name. She had spoken to Commander Harper at length that afternoon. The only person left for her to speak to was Calvin.

As the chronometer on her wall marked 2100 hours, Molly placed her plan in motion.

Walking to Cal’s quarters, there was an urgency in her step that wasn’t usual, combined with a knot in her throat and a nervousness in her stomach she was not accustomed to. As she finally stopped in front of his door, Molly straightened her uniform and her hair before reaching for the chime. But before her finger could even touch it, the doors opened, and finally, after two weeks she was staring into the blue eyes of the man she had missed so much.

Molly

Cal froze in his steps, the breath sucked from his lungs as he looked into a set of eyes he had only hours before wondered if he’d ever see again. The Marine was… terrified. It took everything in him to step to Molly’s right side, clearing the door and allowing a tiny bit of privacy to be theirs as the door to his quarters hissed shut, leaving them alone in the most vacant corridor on the Dresden.

Looking down into her eyes, her beautiful eyes, the Marine took a slow breath and said softly. “Hey Mol’s… I was just coming to see you.”

Cal

Cal’s gaze was met with a cold stare. Molly’s expression was the hardest and most devoid of emotion he had ever seen. When they finally came, the words were dry out of her lips.

“Follow me.”

Harris felt scorching pain in Molly’s gaze and also knew better than to question the redheaded firebrand and followed as ordered, wondering where in the hell they were going.

And then, turning on her heels, she walked away down the corridor.

For a split second, and damn did he feel guilty for it, Cal stole a momentary admiration of Wright’s backside as she walked. The woman really did have a great ass but as pissed as she rightly was with him at the moment… if she caught his gaze, she’d probably rip his manhood off and throw it out the nearest airlock. His eyes snapped back up quickly.

Molly walked the whole way in silence, keeping an eye to see whether Harris was still with her, or if he had gotten lost somewhere during the way. Part of her was mad at Newton for throwing her under the bus by weaving her past together in such a way that it would support her false accusations. The other part of her was hurt. Hurt that Cal had believed the story Newton had fabricated. That he had considered even for a second that her love for him was not real, that she had been playing him all along for the purposes of fulfilling her own personal agenda.

His eyes had returned to the back of her head a moment before she turned to check on him… Good call Raven the Marine thought to himself. The hurt in her eyes remained and he quietly kicked himself as they walked. He knew he was stupid for doubting her.

Finally, as the massive doors of Holodeck 1 came into view, it would become apparent to Harris where they were going. Molly hurried her step and, with the tap of a few buttons in the pad by the doors, selected the program the desired program. She had put a lot of thought into it, and had spent countless nights with Lucas making sure everything was just right.

Now he was seriously confused, wondering what exactly was going on. He had opened his mouth to ask just what the frack was going on when…

Even so, walking through the doors was as if the air was punched out of her lungs. Molly knew that the feeling of walking in that room was never going to go away, even if it was not the real thing.

Instantly, Harris was speechless but in his silence… he had a fairly good idea where they were.

It was a living room. There was a wooden coffee table in the middle, with a sofa and a recliner around it. A floor lamp laid across the space, its top resting on the recliner seat. Behind them was the front door and to the right, a small galley kitchen. Two steps behind the sofa allowed access from the sunken living room to a small reading area where two large bookshelves lined the far wall. To the right, a hallway let to three other rooms.

Harris stepped into the room, his tac boots giving the slightest squeak on the worn wooden floor as he entered. The reeking smell of stale beer nearly made him sick and instantly, Harris felt immensely ashamed of his own privileged upbringing. He looked around at the home that was barely larger than half the size of the first floor of his childhood home.

The fallen lamp was not the only misplaced item in the room. A few empty beer cans and bottles of liquor were scattered around, some on the floor, some filling the coffee table and the other surfaces that would normally be empty. But behind the alcohol, one could see that the room had been put up with thought.

The place was a wreck and things about why Molly was the way she was started slamming together with so much force he could nearly hear it. He could see the place had a woman’s touch, but that touch was years ago.

Pictures had been placed mostly everywhere, from the bookshelves, to a small side table standing against the wall next to the kitchen door. They showed what appeared to be a happy family. In one, a teenage couple held a small newborn baby, their smiles glowing on their faces. In another, a red headed toddler, whose features she already shared with Molly, was playing with a toy starship. There was a picture of the young father, his arms extended out and a proud smile on his face, helping Molly learning how to walk, and finally a happy family picture of five year old Molly and her parents, with her mother visibly pregnant. That was the last picture where the young mother appeared.

Quietly, slowly… Harris walked carefully around the home, living room first. Taking in every picture. God, their mother was stunning and frack did her father look like Lucas! What the hell happened?! He thought to himself.

The few other pictures that existed peeked into fewer happy moments into the Holloways’ lives. There was a picture of Molly holding her baby sister, and a picture of a young man holding Molly’s hand on her first day of school. This was the only picture he showed up in, and Cal would recognize the man as a two decades younger Lucas Holloway. Lastly, there was a picture of both sisters, Erin was now a toddler and Molly would be nine or ten. They were both laying in the grass laughing. There was a faded bruise on Molly’s arm. It could have been from anything, but Cal would know what had caused it.

As he looked at the final groupings of pictures, Harris recognized immediately his old friend Lucas Holloway. He smiled at the pictures of the girls growing up, the absence of their mother now troubling him as he noticed changes in clothing, cleanliness, and… and the bruises. Cal felt his fist tighten at his side. What worthless piece of trash hits his own damn kids?! He could feel his teeth grinding.

On one of the walls there was a framed hand turkey drawing with the letters M O L Y drawn to the side. Dried leaves had been glued to it, as well as a few random strands of pink wool.

The hand turkey brought a quick but brief smile to Calvin’s face.

“Uncle Luc helped me with the pictures.” Molly finally broke the silence. “They were the only thing I couldn’t remember.” She took one of the frames from the small side table and lifted it closer to her face. It was the only picture where Lucas appeared, the one on her first day of school. “Of everyone in my life, he was the one who was more of a father to me…” Putting the picture back in place, Molly looked at Cal with a sad smile. “You’re probably wondering what this is…” She paused, thinking about her next words. “You showed me your house, so I’ll show you mine. Well… not the one in San Francisco…” A sarcastic chuckle came through Molly’s lips. “This is where I grew up…” There was a mix of bitterness and sadness in her voice. “Welcome to New York City, the Big Apple, the city that never sleeps… whatever you want to call it.” Her tone grew a sarcastic note. “Welcome to the vibrant borough of Queens.”

Molly

“A little different side of the city than I’ve seen…” Harris said in a notably soft tone. He looked around from where he stood, his expression even sadder than Molly’s. “… what…” Calvin paused, looking for the right words. “.... what the hell happened here? Is this how you remember the place you grew up?! My God Molly… I… I’m sorry. I literally don’t know what else to say but that I’m sorry.”

Molly scoffed softly. “Of course it is. People only see the good side of New York City. They never see the reality people like me do.” Finally, she shook her head. “You don’t have to feel sorry about anything. This is the house I grew up in. Not as I remember it. Rather, as I left it. It was not my choice to live in it, but it was my choice to leave it. And I don’t regret it.”

There was a slight pause and Harris asked. “What happened to your folks Molly?”

Cal

Molly sighed. “Before I reply to your questions, let me explain to you why I brought you here.” She paused. “I think we need to talk, Calvin.” Molly didn’t sit down. Cal would feel that she didn’t do so, not because of whatever she wanted to say, but rather because of the memories the place brought to her. “There are a lot of things I didn’t tell you over the years. Not because I was trying to hide them, but because they never came up in conversation.” She gave Cal a meaningful stare. “Both of us like to keep our cards close to our chest… I’m pretty sure there’s plenty of things I have yet to know about you as well… but I never asked.” Molly paused, looking around for a moment, seemingly lost in thought.

Harris knew better than try and push the topic, which he… at the moment… still didn’t exactly know what the hell that was. Looking into her eyes, Cal paused next to the couch, he too not sitting in this room clearly full of so many memories. “I think we all do that Molly… even more so when we’ve had a lot of hurt in our lives.”

“I wish I could have told you some of those things before you found out about them through some crap interview made to screw me over.” She shook her head. “As such, I think we should just take it from the top… Molly Wright 101, if you will.” A bitter smile showed on her lips. “After that… you can judge me however you like. If you still want to be with me, I am more than happy. If you don’t because whatever you find is too much for you to deal with… I promise, I’ll go my own way. I know where the door is, and I can find you an Intel Chief to replace me.” There was no question, but it was clear from the glance that she gave him, that Molly wanted to know whether he agreed to her terms or not.

“Fine.” Harris said flatly with a nod. “Though, you should know finding the right Intel Chief isn’t the easiest thing in the world.” There was the faintest of smiles across the Marine’s face. “Seriously Molly, after everything we’ve both been through… I would love to know where I stand with everyone and vice versa.”

The hurt in Molly’s eyes shown through her intense stare. She nodded in acknowledgement of Cal’s words without a word to comment on them.

“Now, back to your question… my parents… the Holloways. The first thing Newton was very adamant on was my last name. Yes, I changed it when I was ten to my mother’s maiden name. And yes, I was born Molly Holloway. The importance of the family? I had no clue.” A soft scoff left Molly’s lips. “This is the house I grew up in. Not very… Holloway-esque, right?” She paused for a moment before continuing. “That door right there?” She pointed one of the doors on the hallway. “That’s my bedroom. You can open it. I built it from what I can remember.” This time she pointed to the wall near the kitchen. “That wall? My first concussion and my first broken bones.” She smirked as she pointed to the middle of the room. “That recliner? My father’s favorite spot. That lamp? What I hit him with when he threatened Erin.” Molly sighed. “That night I took her and never came back.”

The slightest gasp left Calvin as he shook his head. “God Molly… you couldn’t have been over… what?… 11? And the last memories of your childhood home was hitting your drunk off his ass dad over the head with a frackin’ lamp cause he tried to attack Erin?” The pain in his eyes was piercing as he looked down at her. “Still… that was your home.”

“Ten…” Molly said under her breath. “I was ten.” She finally said a little louder. She glanced at the room and then back at Cal. “Those might have been the last memories I had from this place, Calvin, but they are far from the worst.”

Finally, Molly sat down on the old couch. “This apartment belonged to my parents. They moved here after I was born so that I could attend Elmhurst Elementary.” For a moment, Cal would be able to see the sadness in her eyes. “Do you know what the irony is?” Molly shook her head. “She died before I started school… she never saw me get there…”

“That’s terrible…” Was all the Marine could muster in a hushed and stunned response. He took in more of the room and shuddered at the thoughts of what happened there.

After a pause, Molly sighed. “I’m sorry… I’m rambling.” Looking at Cal, she cleared her throat and took a deep breath before seeming to restart. “My dad… my dad was reckless. My grandparents sent him to Business school and he played around instead of studying. He got a girl pregnant before he met my mom, and payed for it to go away… so, when my grandparents found out that he had gotten my mom pregnant at nineteen they cut him away from the Holloway business and money. My mom was eighteen. My dad was a subway conductor for the New York Port Authority. A subway conductor, Calvin. He was a subway conductor. How was I supposed to think we were rich?” She sighed. “He made enough money for us to go by and that was it…” The anger in her voice was noticeable, but it was not directed at Cal, rather at the fact that a simple fact had caught her blindsided.

Calvin watched in remorseful pain as Molly laid out her past like a book. Shocked didn’t begin to cover it as the pieces of the woman he loved’s past began locking together. Many questions had been answered yet a few big ones remained…

“Uncle Luc came around a lot, and he would spend afternoons with me. Sometimes he would come and visit mom when dad was at work. He was great.” The smile on her face made it clear how fond she was of her uncle and of those past memories. “When I was five, mom got pregnant again. You know… with Erin.” She smiled sadly. “I remember her birth as if it was yesterday… It was June… only a few months before I started school. Mom took me with her to do some grocery shopping… I don’t know what happened… she must have put her foot wrong on the step and she fell down the stairs…” Molly paused for a moment trying to hold her emotions in, covering her eyes for a second before continuing in a shaky voice. “There was so much blood Calvin… I will never forget… I tried to wake her up but she didn’t—“ Her voice cracked. “An ambulance came and we went to the hospital. My grandparents were there… they took me away from mom. They told me I was going to get to see my little sister that night… I had never been more excited. Until the doctor came.” She paused. “At the time I couldn’t understand what was going on, but… Uncle Luc came and held me in his arms and told me…” She took a deep breath. “Told me mom was not coming home.”

Cal wanted to hold her, his heart broke for her as she shared the story of the loss of her mother. Stunningly painful, such things shouldn’t happen to kids. He was also very grateful that Lucas was there to look after them because their father seemed to be an ass. He looked at Molly in a different light… she had been through so much and so much he had no clue of until now.

“From then on, things got worse. Dad went to work every day as he usually did and came home later and later. Uncle Luc would take me to school in the morning and pick me up in the afternoon… He taught me how to take care of Erin on my own, and I promised him I would look out for her whenever he was not around. And I did… until the day I hid my father’s booze. That was the first time he ever struck me. And it continued every single day for four years. I can’t tell you how many times I missed school over concussions and broken bones… the excuses he made me tell the doctors, under the pretense that they would take me away from my sister if I ever told the truth…” She sighed. “I… I don’t know if you knew but… I repeated third grade…” It was clear the subject was a difficult one for Molly.

Harris felt his fists tightening at his side. Inside, he could feel a surge of protectiveness and rage that seemed to pierce his very soul. “Every single day…” He repeated softly, the disbelief clear across his stoic features leaving no doubt that the redhead’s revelations rocked him to the core.

“Then one night I threw his stash of Bourbon in the trash and waited for the garbage truck to come and collect it. He got home already drunk that night when the dive he used to go to kicked him out for drinking too much. He came home… but when I told him his Bourbon was gone for good he became the most violent I had ever seen him… He threw me on this couch. Erin came to help me and that’s when he turned to hit her.” Another deep breath. “I grabbed the first thing I could find… that lamp.” She pointed to the floor lamp laying across the room. “Erin hid behind the recliner and I hit him in the head with the lamp. And he went down. I didn’t kill him… the hit just left him unconscious. So we left… to the first shuttle I could find… and luckily that was to San Francisco.” Molly’s eyes teared up but no tears rolled down her cheeks. “She was four, Calvin! What was I supposed to do? I promised Uncle Luc I would take care of her… Hell…” Her voice cracked. “I promised mom.”

The two tears that streaked down Cal’s face burned and felt so meaningless in light of what he had just heard. Two women who, intimate relations aside, he was extremely fond of and cared for… had been through a nightmare and he was now one of the few that knew. It was one of the most humbling moments of his life and he lacked the words to even attempt to express how he was feeling. “I…” His voice cracked. “… I’m so sorry Molly.”

Wiping her eyes, Molly continued. “That was the last time any of us ever saw him… or Uncle Luc for that matter. I changed our names hoping never to be found, and no one ever came looking for us. Turns out he was always there… in every big event we ever had, Uncle Luc was there. He just never came to talk to us. His parents decided that Robert was a good fit to take care of us, and they set up a fund for our education. They never came to town or told us who we really were, and it was not Robert’s place to tell us.”

“That’s crazy…” Cal said softly. “…and he was always there. Lucas really is a hell of a guy. You’re lucky to have him.”

“Uncle Luc spent most of the last two weeks with me. Since you decided to walk away.” The hurt in Molly’s voice was unmistakable and her last words were uttered in a cold tone. “But you have to believe I never knew any of this.” Her voice cracked again and a half scoff came through. “I found out two weeks ago my father took his own life the year after we left, on mom’s birthday. My parents are both gone, Calvin… My dad has been gone for eighteen years… Eighteen years! And I didn’t even know.”

Molly

“I believe you… I do. God Molly… no one deserves that kind of mess! Listen…” His voice cracked. “… I had my head filled with a lot of garbage… stuff I’m still trying to process. But…” His eyes glimmered with tears. “… but I had already figured out where we stand… or at least… hell… where I’d like us to stand. You just got to me first.” A smile broke across his pain darkened face.

“Stuff you’re still trying to process!?” There was no mistake of the hurt in Molly’s eyes. “What are you still processing!? I saw the man I love throw me to the wolves and leave me in the middle of the most unfair process in my life! And you are still trying to process stuff? Good God, Calvin!” Standing up from the couch, Molly paced around the room.

Calvin knew his mistake the second he opened his mouth. “Jesus Molly…!” His tone more apologetic than defensive. “… that’s not what I meant and you know it!”

“I spent the last two weeks thinking I was going to spend the rest of my life locked up for something I didn’t do! And yet…” Tears fell down her cheeks when she turned to face Cal again. “And yet, that was not what I was worried about…” She paused to catch her breath before continuing. “You say you had already figured out where we stood. Damn it, Calvin… you think you took long enough!? Of course I got to you first! It’s been two weeks Calvin, two weeks!!! Two weeks without you even asking me how I was or whether everything in that interview was true! Two weeks!” The last part of the word turned into a desperate wail as all the emotions she had bottled in seemed to finally leave her body. Grabbing on to the back of the couch she cried, as Cal had never seen her cry before.

Cal walked to Molly, tears in his eyes, and embraced her tightly. “I’m so sorry Molly.” He trembled as he held her. “I know I don’t fracking deserve it but can you find it in your heart to forgive me?”

Cal

As soon as she felt his arms around her, Molly’s face buried in his chest. And she cried, just like she had cried on her uncle’s arms so many times during the past two weeks.

Silently, he held her. Needing her back back in his arms more than even he knew. Never had he missed another’s touch as he had hers.

Moments became minutes before she spoke again, letting go of Cal and sitting back down on the couch. “Uncle Luc told me you’d come around.” She mumbled. “He really does know you…” Looking up into Cal’s deep blue eyes, Molly sighed. “In my heart you have been forgiven a long time ago. All I wanted was for you to come back, and not for me to have to go looking for you. But you never did…”

Harris looked at her with a soft smile. “Where ‘da hell do you think I was going when you showed up at my door? I was leaving to come see you! Just took me a bit to get my head out of my ass.”

Molly gave Calvin a sad smile. “For two weeks I didn’t come looking for you… regardless of where you were going… if I got to you first, you were too late.”

“I want nothing more than for us to go back to what we were… to forget this whole thing and be us. But… there’s something I need to ask you Calvin…” The look in her eyes would tell him that she was serious. “Do you trust me?”

Molly

“Yes…” Harris said as he kissed her forehead. “… without reservations.”

Cal

There was a long pause before Molly spoke again. “You turned your back on me, Calvin…” She stared back into his eyes. “You know I would have never done that. You know I would have gone to hell and back defending you before believing whatever crap someone had put in front of me about you.” She sighed. “I know who you are Calvin… And deep in my heart I know who you strive to be. All those interviews that they showed you? All that video?”

She paused before shaking her head. “I know what they showed you… those were things in the past and yes. I meant every single one of them. I never lied. Yes, I wanted to do to Alison the same thing she did to me. And yes, I joined Starfleet Intelligence for the same reason. Command walked all over me and took my ship away. It’s gone. Together with part of her crew! Our crew Calvin. Half of the Marine complement went with it too! I hope you never get to feel how that feels. So yes. I joined Intelligence so I could gather tools to do the same to them. Or anyone else who tried to pull the same on me. I want— I need to be in control Calvin.”

For a moment Molly rested her face in her hands before looking up at the Marine again. “But I would never do that to you.” She paused. “I thought that… like me, deep in your heart you would know what was right or wrong.” Her eyes teared up again. “And yet, I had to watch you walk away in one of the scariest moments of my life. I played that same moment in my head for two weeks…” She paused to catch her breath. “I was done Calvin… You walked away and I didn’t care anymore… I didn’t care if I spent the rest of my time in prison or not. So… how do I know that you truly trust me. That you’ll have my back the next time something happens? How can I be sure of that?”

Molly