The Captain's 'Kid'

Posted on Sun Jan 30th, 2011 @ 4:07pm by Captain Nathan Cowell MD & Lieutenant JG Elizabeth Marion

Mission: Hippocratic Hijacking
Location: Captain Cowell's Quarters, Deck 2, USS Arizona
Timeline: The evening following the 'Those who stay behind' series

The entire day had been a strain on him. Between getting people where they needed to be and the whole Romulan patient with delusions of Tal Shiar dancing in her head, Nathan could honestly say he was both physically tired and emotionally exhausted. If he had entertained the notion of even touching a book before, the thought had long disappeared. Captain Cowell had entered his quarters and immediately discarded his uniform overcoat, which was not resting in a lump on the floor near the coat hanger that he'd put in the corner for the purpose of actually having coats hung upon it. His aim was normally on point, but today he had neither the energy to pick it up or the the desire to care if he'd made it in the first place. His second order of business had been to replicate some vintage 'Coca Cola' that he'd developed a taste for over the years, and through the grace of modern technology, was able to enjoy again after a few hundred years of going without. His third order of business was to flop down in his 'ancient' recliner that had been masterfully restored after his return to Earth nearly 100 years ago, and commenced to decompressing.

The sound of his door opening without so much as a ring of the chime, which could only mean one thing... his 'daughter' had decided to stop by. From his reclined position, Nathan watched through one half-opened eye as she came in and made a bee-line for the replicator. He was only half listening to her when she made her selections, and by the sound of it, she meant to have a meal with him. That meant, among other things, he would have to get up!

"What's the occasion, kiddo?" Nathan asked from his chair.

Lieutenant Junior Grade Elizabeth Marion turned around and gave her Captain an incredulous look, "Why do I have to have a reason to come have dinner with you, old man?"

"Because you don't just pop in. Every dinner we have is an excuse to complain about something going wrong in your life. I know it can't be that damned boyfriend of yours, I chased that dirt bag off months ago... Last I checked your family was doing ok, so it isn't them... So it has to be work related," Nathan scrolled down the list of the 'usual' complaints.

"Why do you ruin the moment like that?" Elizabeth asked as she placed the food she'd replicated onto the table. By the smell of it, it was pasta night and after Nathan made the slow transition from reclining to standing, he could see that she'd even taken the time to make some fresh hot garlic bread.

"I'm honest, kiddo..." Nathan shrugged her question off and sank down into the chair she'd pulled out for him. He poured some sauce from the boat that she'd set near his plate onto the steaming pasta and started in as he watched her fuss with napkins and positioning. Nathan chuckled at her as she did this, which earned him another glare.

"What now?" she asked, knowing full well why he was laughing.

"You're just so exacting," Doc smirked between fork fulls, "Everything has to be all lined up before you tuck in. Counselors call that obsessive compulsive behavior. I think they all agree it's not good for you either."

"Yeah well, I don't take much stock in what someone who only pretends to know what they're talking about has to say. Like anyone really knows what anything a person does truly means... I don't even think those Q critters really do..." Liz said in a huff as she picked up her fork and finally began eating.

"The things I could tell you about the Q..." Nathan chuckled, "But that's neither here nor there. Tell me about your day, babe."

At first, Liz didn't look as if she was going to be overly talkative, opting to shove several fork fulls into her mouth before finally letting out a sigh.

"That pig of a department head..." the woman began. At hearing those words, Nathan sat back and braced himself for a full on PMS driven rant.

"Every time that asshole come on the bridge he's either looking at my breasts or checking out my ass. Even when he's talking to me, his eyes are glued to my shirt puppets..." Lt. Marion began, using many a phrase picked up from her adoptive father, "Every word that comes out of his mouth feels like a prelude for 'you wanna fuck?' I'd have slapped him already if I knew I wouldn't find myself in the brig... And I swear he's touched my ass at least once... maybe more than that but I know for a fact it happened at least once. He's a damn womanizer and a whore... You ought to cut his damn balls off so he can't spread those evil genes of his on and create more like him!"

"I don't think I can perform that kind of surgery without permission," Nathan said objectively.

"I'm just saying... the less I have to see of that pile of shit the better off I'll be..." Liz spat in anger.

"Do you want me to have a talk with him?" Doc Cowell asked bluntly.

"Define talk..." Liz demanded with a suspicious squint.

"You know, pull him aside, slap him on the hand for being a bad boy, that kind of thing..." Nathan said while attempting to look innocent.

"Dad..." Elizabeth said, something that only came out once in a blue moon and generally only when she was cutting through some of his patented parental bullshit, "I know you better than that. You're going to put him on the carpet and chew him until his asshole bleeds... I'd rather not suffer that kind of backlash..."

"I promise I'll be nice..." Nathan lied.

"Oh that's a load of crap and you know it!" Liz countered.

"Well what do you want from me? You're the one that came in here pissed off so you could have me fix it. If you didn't want me to do something, you'd be at the lounge with Merriweather or in your quarters. You know first hand you come to me, I handle it. It's been that way since day one and I'm not about to get soft just because you don't think you can live with his ass dripping all over the bridge staining the carpets. You're my little girl and I'm going to make sure you don't get defiled by filthy shitheads. End of discussion," Nathan said with finality.

Even though she could have voiced an objection, she knew deep down that he'd spoken the honest truth about it. She'd told him everything she had because she knew in her heart of hearts that he would make it go away. She did not, however, have to tell him that. She decided to leave things where they stood and finish the meal with her adoptive father without bringing up any more bad blood.