Posted by Captain Alexander Cochrane (Commanding Officer) in Wedding Bells- An End and a Beginning

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Faye Calloway (Counter-Intelligence Officer) in Wedding Bells- An End and a Beginning

Posted by Captain Alexander Cochrane (Commanding Officer) in Wedding Bells- An End and a Beginning
Posted by… suppressed (1) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Mrrow!

Faye turned and met the gaze of her cat, who was no longer a kitten but still just as spunky, whom sat on her desk eyeing her suspiciously. She knew something was happening and she was on edge. “I know Tess, me too.” She surveyed her quarters and immediately retracted that ownership. This was a set of rooms, nothing more. Crates of belongings had been neatly stacked, ready to be transported to her new assignment, and her plants had been given away with the knowledge that she was taking plenty of seeds with her. She would start more on the Athena. In her bedroom her wedding dress (a glitzy affair in pale green that she had unexpectedly been drawn to) hung from a hook on the wall. She had fallen asleep each night with the gown watching over her, a reminder of the beautiful and extraordinary things about to happen in her life.

The room she stood in was no longer her quarters. The signs that Faye Calloway had dwelled here were all neatly packed away and a part of her was sad. She let herself be. It was one of many signs that things had changed. She had changed. Faye knew that she was leaving the first place that had truly felt like home since Tracken. A few places had felt comforting, but were all too temporary.

And beyond the physical structures that made up the Manhattan, more than anything Faye was going to miss the people, even those she had drifted from, those that perhaps weren’t able to handle her complex issues. In many ways she had forgiven them, and herself, and was content to let things be. This was not to say that Faye Calloway had no issues to deal with. No, her BPD was still a daily battle, and one that due to the physical damage to her brain would likely be lifelong. Her need to have control over things had diminished and with it the anxiety that surfaced when she didn’t have control had been knocked way down. All she knew for sure was that she would have a rather intense and lifelong relationship with therapists, and she was now grateful for them.

Flipping the lid on a crate closed, Faye locked it, the snap sounding certain. Final. Tapping her commbadge, she exhaled slowly. “Calloway to Cochrane. Tell me where to meet you and let’s get this show on the road.” Part of accepting things as they came meant allowing Daggum to have his surprise. She knew very little of what was about to happen other than eventually they would have the ceremony she had planned and everyone would be there. Everything else in the middle? A complete surprise. She grinned at that thought, at the likely intense planning that her husband-to-be had done, all to make their wedding a magical event for the both of them. She had her own little surprise, but that would come later. For now, it was one step in front of the other and right now it was Alex who would guide her along. It was fitting for the man who had helped her navigate an utter toss up of her life that led to the love she never expected to happen, to guide her through this transition. Her chosen brother being the one to not only tell her where to go right now, but also marry them felt simply right.

~Faye Calloway, Bride-to-Be

=/\= Shuttle Bay 2 awaits the blushing bride-to-be. Hope you’re packed, Calloway. I’m not helping you load the moving truck. =/\= came Cochrane’s voice over the comms. In the background, the sound of engines coming to life could be heard.

=/\=Please, I’m way too efficient for that. Everything is packed to be moved for later. Just have to grab the things I was told to bring with me, and I’ll be there in five. Calloway out.=/\=

For his part in this whole exercise in logistical extremes, Hammor had at least been kind so far. Get Faye to the Harbinger Dawn on the other side of the wormhole and then get the ceremony laid out for the couple’s final approval. Cochrane grinned slightly and said “Three ships… over five thousand personnel… billions if not trillions of kilometers crossed… and a wedding the likes of which hasn’t been written about in the literature of any species.... yeah. No pressure.” and he shook his head as he powered up the final checks on the Runabout.

Cochrane, CO

Moving to her bedroom, Faye zipped up the fabric garment fabric, concealing her dress inside and keeping it a surprise. Gently folding it over her arm, she grabbed a bag that contained her shoes, jewellery and the stuff she needed for her hair and makeup. There was a box inside that had some flowers for her hair secured to pins and kept safe where they couldn’t be crushed.

Moving back out into the living space, she moved over, slung the bag over her shoulder and reached out. Tess rubbed the side of her face on the side of her hand. Faye smiled. “It’s going to be you, me and Dag now. I’m still not sure he’s a cat person but you’ll win him over, I just know it.”

Mrrow! Tess replied.

Faye chuckled and scratched her head. “I’ll be back at some point later. Kiama said she’d check in on you and make sure you get dinner. Wish me luck?”

Tess purred and Faye took that as a positive response. One last pat and Faye left her quarters, off to the next exciting thing.

A few minutes later, she arrived in Shuttle Bay 2 and grinned. “I don’t know how blushing I am, but the bride is here.”

~Faye Calloway

“Five and a half minutes. You’re late. I swear, this whole wedding thing is really throwing you off, Calloway. Maybe you should call it off.” Cochrane said with a grin as the Faye settled in and he lifted the runabout off the deck. “And no, you can’t fly. Rank has it’s privileges, Commander. And besides…” and he looked at her and grinned wider. “… I’m a better pilot than you.” and the runabout shot out of the docking bay and dove into the blackness of space.

“As if,” Faye said, breaking into a grin. “I’ll bet my unorthodox, flying skills fine-tuned over the years and tested against the Romulans any day.” She was teasing. Mostly.

Cochrane rolled the ship slightly and banked around so they flew in a large, slow circle around the Manhattan. “Take a look, Faye… next time you see her you’ll be on board as a guest, not crew.” He turned his head to look at her and said “How does that feel?”

Cochrane, CO

“I’ve been trying to think about it,” she said, her voice dropping. Her dress was hung in the back with her stuff and as she sat next to Alex, she could feel very distinctly the end of this particular era coming fast. “I’m sad,” she added at length. “But excited too. It’s all very bittersweet. Even Tess is off. She’s been very weirded out by my packing. I don’t blame her.”

“I thought coming to the Manhattan would be the biggest challenge I’d ever face because I was choosing something for me for the first time. But this is bigger. I’m not just choosing something good, I’m walking away from something good in the hopes that this next chapter is even better. A part of me beleives that wholeheartedly, but I can’t shush my inner skeptic all the time.”

~Faye