dark_ages | landing party ( for thecanarylives )

landing party ( for thecanarylives )

[ He comes to with his head pounding, his vision blurred, and a persistent ringing in his ears. It takes him a while-- a good while, maybe seconds or maybe minutes, to even regain his vision properly, and to take in his surroundings. He's in a shuttle, which is completely wrecked, panels broken and burnt, wires hanging from everywhere, sparks going off and small fires here or there. They're also tilted forward slightly, so he can feel his weight pushing against the belts keeping him strapped to his chair. He looks beyond the window and he sees a lush forest just outside, trees and blue skies as far as the eye can see. It'd be pretty if not for the fact that they've clearly crashed on the planet they were supposed to land on.

Shit. Holy shit, they crashed. How the fuck did they crash? Leonard just wanted to gather some samples from the surface, it didn't even warrant a landing party bigger than two people, how the fuck did they end up like this?

That thought gets his brain into gear. Because he's not alone. He looks over to find Sara passed out, though at least thankfully still strapped to her seat. He lets out a shuddered breath, trying not to panic as he struggles to undo his own safety belt. ]

Sara!! Come on, you piece of shi-- [ His panicked grousing is cut off as his belt comes undone, and he just barely manages to brace himself against the controls rather than slam right into them. Head still spinning, he nevertheless forces himself to stumble towards her, looking her over briefly for possible injuries before he cups her face, trying to wake her up. ] Sara. Hey, can you hear me? Come on, open your eyes...

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[ He lets out a soft chuckle, pressing back against the kiss, slow and lazy as he just curiously peppers her lips with small licks and gentle nibbles. Elbows propped on the mattress, one of his hands moves to stroke slowly through her hair, just enjoying the moment rather than trying to get things to go anywhere. Although her legs wrapping around him do feel very nice. ]

[ She laughs softly, contently against his lips, countering his little licks and nibbles with ones of her own. Her hand reaches up to brush her fingertips along his jaw, his cheekbone, his chin, smiling up at him quietly a moment.

Shit. She likes him a lot. ]

[ He pulls back from the kiss with a curious chuckle of his own, first letting her brush her fingers along his face for a while, his head tipping toward those touches with a soft hum. ]

Mm, what is it?

[ She just smiles up at him, fingers trailing along his lip, down the curve of his chin. ]

Ask me something. [ She meets his gaze. ] Whatever you want.

[ Well, that was an unusual request. Leonard raised an eyebrow, smiling lopsidedly. ]

Okay, uh... what do you like for breakfast?

No... [ She laughs, leaning up to press a kiss to the corner of his lip. ]

No, I mean. I know you've got questions for me. Ones you've been holding back on. [ She toys her fingertips over his cheekbone again. ] You can ask.

Oh. [ He pauses there, knitting his eyebrows. Granted, he figured she meant something of that sort, but she did kind of catch him by surprise with that. ]

I... don't really have anything off the top of my head, [ He admits with a small smile. ] Can I save that for another time?

[ She scans his face curiously, fingers toying through the hair behind his ear. It's a nice, sweet moment, and she doesn't want to ruin it with dredging up whatever mystery from her past he's curious about, but... she does want to be honest.

She nods up at him, smiling and leaning up to kiss him again. ] Sure.

[ Honestly, he's not even sure where to start. He probably has some questions, but overall, he's not dying to hear all the details of Sara's life before she joined Starfleet. Not unless she wants to talk about it, air it all out. Hardly a deal breaker if he doesn't know to the smallest detail what she's done in her past.

But he'll remember this, for later. When he does remember something he wants to know, when a questions pop up, he'll make sure to ask. Just not right now. ]

Don't worry, Sara. I will... definitely ask, when I want to know something. [ He assures her with a smile, kissing her slowly. ] And the same goes to you, if you ever want to know anything about me or my life.

[ As far as Sara's concerned, there's a hell of a lot to air out. Things she's done even outside the League of Assassins that would make his head spin. And the closer they get, the harder it'll be to lose him if and when he decides it's all too much.

She returns his kiss, a little distracted. ] That's not the same... [ She murmurs, glancing up at him. ] Whatever I find out about your life isn't going to change the way I look at you. Or the kind of person I think you are.

[ She shakes her head. ] Sorry. I'm not trying to mess this up. Tonight's been... It's been great.

[ Maybe there is, but it's not like he even knows where to begin. Many of the things he won't remember to ask unless she brings them up, and honestly, for now he doesn't mind taking their time learning those things about each other. He'd much rather that she shared once she was ready. ]

You sure about that? [ It's mostly said as a joke. Mostly. There have been a few things in his past he's not exactly proud of, and a few things he hasn't told her about himself yet. ]

Aren't you the person I think you are? Haven't you been honest with me? [ That's the only way he can imagine that she'd be someone different than what he thinks. He smiles a little at her, fingers brushing through her hair. ] Tonight's been great, yes. Just wished you'd stop worrying I'll just walk away for something you might've done in the past.

[ That's part of the problem, she thinks. He's too damn good. He may be grumpy and pessimistic, but underneath all that, he cares about helping people. He's got light inside him, and she... she's been living in the darkness a little too long.

She lets out a dry laugh at his question, rolling her eyes. ] Yes, I'm sure.

[ She quirks a small smile at him, meeting his gaze again. Her voice softens now, smile fading just a little. ] There's still a lot you don't know. The way you look at me... I want to be that person. I'm just not sure if I am. [ Shit. It's dramatic, even for her. But it's the truth. She sucks in a breath, sighing and glancing up at the ceiling. ]

Forget it. We don't have to talk about it now.

[ With a deep sigh, Leonard shifts on the bed, getting off of her and lying down on his side, an elbow propped up and head resting on his hand, his other arm draped over her waist. ]

It's fine. We can talk about it now, I don't mind.

I... honestly don't know what to ask you. But tell you what, you tell me something about your past, something I don't know. And I'll tell you something about me.

[ He pulls away a bit, and for a moment she thinks maybe he's upset. But he keeps her close, and she rolls onto her side to face him, cheek resting on a pillow. ]

You don't have to lie. I know I'm being annoying. [ She chuckles, reaching out to smooth the wrinkles on his shirt at his chest. Chewing on her lip a moment, she considers her options, deciding to start at the beginning. ]

The ship that crashed, back when I was in college. It was Oliver Queen's. [ Queen Consolidated did plenty of business with Starfleet, even now. ] He was... He was my sister's boyfriend, at the time. [ Her brow furrows, suddenly preoccupied with a piece of lint on Leonard's shirt. ] She didn't know that we were... that we'd snuck away together.

Well, maybe a little. But I can live with it.

[ He nudges at her waist, really not wanting her to think that he's opposed to talking about anything that might be weighing on her mind. And clearly there's a lot of that for them both to work through. ]

I see. [ He studies her face quietly for a moment. ] Did you ever... talk to her about that? After coming back?

[ She smiles a little at that, catching his hand when he nudges at her and stroking her thumb over his knuckles.

At his question, she glances up at him, letting out a dry laugh. ]

You mean before or after she threw a glass of wine at my head? [ She glances down again, shrugging a shoulder. ] It, uh... It took her a long time. And a stint in rehab. But she doesn't totally hate me anymore.

[ Leonard purses his lower lip at the mention of a wine glass being thrown around. Yep, sounds like her sister had good reason to. You know, not that he'd want Sara to get hurt, but also he can sympathize with her sister. And all too well. ]

I'm sorry to hear. Family's always... well, it's good to be close to them. Sometimes it doesn't pan out that way, I know, but—

Maybe you and your sister still have time to patch things up.

[ Laurel had had plenty of reasons to be angry at her. Sara didn't blame her for her reaction - God knew she deserved all of it and more. ]

She couldn't even mourn us properly. Blamed me for mom and dad splitting up, which... she's probably right about... [ She frowns down at his shirt again, then looks back up to meet his gaze. ]

Yeah. Maybe. We had a couple moments before I left for the Academy. I think that's part of the reason I enlisted, you know? Show her I wanted to try and do some good.

[ He tilts his head a little at that. ]

Well— I don't know about your parents, but in my experience, there are always more issues behind a split up than what's happened with you. [ They thought she was dead. How can their break up be entirely her fault? Maybe it was the tipping point, sure, but he'd bet there were more issues in their marriage than that. ]

And you are doing some good. [ He looks over her features. ] Think you'll try and meet her, next time we're back on Earth?

Yeah. No, you're right. [ She nods, though she doesn't meet his gaze. ] Still. Didn't exactly help, you know?

[ She gives him a small smile when he tells her she's doing some good, tracing the line of his collar with her fingers. ]

Yeah. I check in on all of them whenever I'm on Earth. Hopefully this time she'll be happier to see me.

[ He can tell she's actively avoiding looking at him, but he says nothing to it. It's just something she needs to work through, he thinks; maybe a conversation she needs to have with herself, and with her family, more so than with him, much as he appreciates getting to learn more about her. ]

Well, you said things were getting better before you joined Starfleet, so I'm sure she will.

[ He'd even wager that she might miss Sara, but he doesn't know her sister at all to be saying that. ]

[ He's a surprise, over and over again. Underneath all that grumbling, he really does find a way to understand. A hell of a lot more calmly than anyone back home ever did.

She nods, meeting his gaze again and smiling a little. ]

Is that optimism coming from Doctor Leonard McCoy?

[ He lifts both eyebrows, feigning shock but mostly looking amused. ]

I know! Must've hit my head somewhere. I'll get that checked out in the morning.

[ She laughs at that, genuinely, shifting in closer and pressing a kiss to his chin. ]

Hopefully your new tricorder works just as well as the one I took apart.

Well, didn't have any hyped security officers messin' with it so I'm sure it's fine.

[ He chuckles, leaning down to return that kiss, lingering close for just a slow, tender moment before pulling away. ]

So, should I share something about myself, now?

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