Love And War Bk. 01

"Not too bad. Got promoted to Lieutenant Commander, got shot down, marooned, fell in love, got rescued, and married a Romulan fighter pilot." Jason said with a smile.

Steve laughed. "Yeah, right!"

"Baby, who's your friend?" came the sweet smokey sound of Delaara's voice right on cue. Jason grinned.

Steve turned to look and his eyes about bugged out of his head. "Dammit, Jason! You were telling the TRUTH???"

Delaara came down the steps and walked to Jason, slipping her arm around his waist as she held out her hand. "Hello, there."

"Umm, hi," said Steve, shaking her hand in stunned silence.

"Steve, this is my wife Delaara. Honey, this is an old friend of mine. Steve Winston." Jason made the introductions.

"Is everything Jason just told me true?" he asked.

"Yes. All of it. We first met nearly 6 months ago, and the circumstances of our meeting were unusual, to say the least." She smiled.

"Well, it's an honor to meet you, Delaara", he said, recovering from his initial shock nicely. He turned to Jason. "Jay, do you mind of I bring Cindy over later and we can catch up? I know she's been dying to see you, and she's going to love Delaara here."

Jason looked at Delaara. She said "Sure. When we retire, we're going to be living here, so I don't see why not. So far, you're the most normal of Jason's friends, Steve."

"Yeah, we're not all as bad as Jay's neighbors." Steve shrugged.

"Well, we're going to watch the sun set, but we should be back after dark," Jason said.

"Sounds good, Jay. See you both then, and I'll ask Cindy to make some cookies." he said and walked down the block to his house.

*****

After making sure the fridge was stocked and the furniture uncovered, it was getting pretty late in the afternoon.

"Sweetheart, would you like to go watch the sun set?" Jason asked, slipping his arms around Delaara's waist from behind.

"Gods yes, baby!" she jumped into his arms and wrapped her legs around him, kissing him passionately.

"Mmmmmm good, honey. We can walk down to he beach and watch the sun set on the sand," he said with a grin.

They left the house and crossed the street to walked down to the beach. The surf of the Pacific ocean lapped against the shore, and Delaara loved the feel of the sand between her toes. They sat on a dune and cuddled as the sun dipped toward the horizon.

"You're wrong, my love. These sunsets are better than on the island," she said with a smile and kissed Jason lovingly.

"I was hoping you'd say that, sweetheart. I love you, Delaara."

"I love you too, Jason. Is Steve your only normal friend?" She asked with a laugh.

"In this neighborhood, pretty much, yeah." Jason shrugged. "Stephie is a straight up airhead, who keeps bouncing from boyfriend to boyfriend in hopes that some guy will take care of her for the rest of her life. Mrs. Schmidt is about 150 years old and is too mean and evil to die. Heaven won't let her in, and Hell is scared of her."

Delaara laughed musically and leaned her head on his shoulder. "I missed this, Jason. Sitting on the beach with you as the sun set."

"So did I, honey. This is our time. We were in need of this honeymoon since we got rescued", he said.

"I agree with that assessment, my dear husband," she said and kissed him again. The kiss was long and lingering, passionate and sensual. Jason closed his eyes and lost himself in her as their mindmeld gently took effect. She could see his childhood and his memories of Mrs. Schmidt being nasty to everyone around her. She could see Stephie Riley trying to take advantage of him, and Jason finally shutting her down.

Jason could see memories of when Delaara got promoted to Centurion, and the ship's XO had propositioned her. She had slapped him, drew a dagger, and placed it to his throat. Her CO had stopped her from killing the man, but had relieved the XO of his duties and had him court martialed. The mindmeld was gentle this time, instead of extremely intense like the times before.

They finally broke the kiss and smiled at each other. They finally knew the full depth of their love, and realized that they had each other through everything.

They walked back to the house and got to the door as they heard Steve and Cindy Winston on the sidewalk behind them. Jason turned and waved, inviting them up to the house. "Got some beer in the fridge, Steve." Jason said.

"Sounds good, buddy." Steve replied as they came inside.

"Delaara, this is Steve's wife Cindy. Cindy, this is my wife, Delaara", Jason introduced them.

Cindy and Delaara got along like old friends who had known each other all their lives, and Jason sat catching up with Steve while drinking some good German beer.

"Wow, man. If your wife hadn't confirmed it, I wouldn't have believed it," he laughed and shook his head.

"Trust me, man. I lived it, and I can hardly believe it," Jason replied, laughing at the whole situation. "Then I look at Delaara, and I have to believe. Because she's as real as they get, man. I look back now and wonder how the hell I could have been with Stephie back in the day, or any of the others."

"She's your Cindy, Jay," said Steve. Jason clinked bottles at that.

"Yes, yes she is. I now know how you felt when you met her. Delaara and I are soulmates, and I'm proud to say it." The old friends grinned and drank while their wives talked.

Cindy said "That must have been horrible, being marooned like that."

"Not really, Cindy. After he shot me down and saved my life, Jason earned my heart and undying love." Delaara smiled and Cindy knew she loved him with all her heart.

"Don't take this the wrong way, Delaara, but you're nothing like anything I've ever heard about Romulans." Cindy smiled apologetically.

"No offense taken, Cindy." Delaara laughed. "I'm not the typical stuffed shirt Romulan. I'm a figher pilot, like Jason."

"Are you the reason why Jay isn't batshit crazy anymore?" Cindy winked.

"I think I had something to do with it, yes." Delaara said with a blush.

Meanwhile, Steve asked about Rash.

"Oh, yeah. Rash hit on our Captain once. He'd just been promoted, and was drunker than shit. So he walks up to Rachael and says "Do the Klingons know you escaped? I heard the like to capture angels", so she slaps the living shit out of him."

Steve busted up laughing at that. "Only Rash would be THAT crazy!"

"Well, it ended up working out, though. They're now engaged, if you can believe that," Jason chuckled.

Steve thought about it. "Yeah, I can actually believe that. Does he love her?"

"As much as we love our wives, bud," said Jason and they clinked bottles again.

"I'll drink to that, Jay," and he did.

*****

Rachael woke up and Rash wasn't there. She picked up her combadge and tapped it. "Thatcher to Rasher."

"Rash here. Give me a moment, baby. I have a surprise for you!"

Rachael grinned. "Well, don't be too long, honey. I might find some other lonely bastard to fuck," she giggled.

"Oh yeah? Well, I hope this is worth it. Look out our window, baby."

Rachael got up and walked over to the transparisteel viewport. What she saw blew her away. 'I love you Rachael' had been set up in lights right outside her window.

"You beautiful man, you!" She felt herself tearing up as she heard the rush of her door opening and Rash walked in grinning as the superheated plasma from his Valkyrie's engine manifold continued to burn outside. He took her in his arms and turned her to face him.

Rash leaned down and kissed his Captain lovingly and softly. "I just wanted to do something special for you, honey," he said with a slight blush.

"Ryan, you are the only man I will ever love and be with for the rest of my life," she said, crying tears of joy as her fiancee held her close and kissed her with love and passion.

*****

Delaara woke up and detected the unmistakable smell of food cooking. She smiled and opened her eyes. She could hear the sizzle of the frying pan and felt a tinge of surprise. With the Replicator, there was really no need for cooking like this, anymore. She got up, threw on one of Jason's oversized surfer t-shirts, and walked out to the kitchen.

Jason was flipping the scrambled eggs and bacon over when he felt her hands come up under his arms and stroke his chest, her toned yet supple body pressing into his back. "That smells wonderful, hotshot", she said lovingly.

He smiled. "Good morning, beautiful. Thought I'd fix you something my mom fixed for me when I was growing up", he replied. "Bacon and scrambled eggs. I hope you like it."

She turned his face towards hers and kissed him softly. "It smells wonderful, baby, and if it tastes half as good as it smells, I'm going to want seconds," she giggled.

"I cooked enough for two, so we should be good to go. Have a seat at the counter, sweetheart. Breakfast is served," he said as he cut the heat to the burner and lifted the large frying pan off the stove.

As Delaara took her seat on the stool at the counter, Jason moved the pan over the plates and scraped half the eggs onto the first plate as well as a few good sized bacon strips. After he scraped the last half of the seasoned food onto the second plate, he grabbed two forks from the drawer and brought both plates of steaming goodness over to their breakfast nook. He'd used salt and pepper for the eggs, with a little basil just for the heck of it.

Delaara kissed him when he set her plate in front of her. "Thank you, baby," she said with a smile.

"I love cooking, honey," he said. "And I plan on making the food around here for the next 2 weeks, unless you would like to help," he grinned and winked.

"I can cook some Romulan dishes, if we can get the ingredients," she agreed with a smile. "I have a feeling you'd like it."

"So do I, love."

They dug in and Delaara moaned appreciatively with her eyes closed. It was obviously a very simple meal, but the fact that it didn't come out of a Replicator and the fact that it was cooked by the man she loved made it even better. She loved the simple spices used, which brought out the full flavor of the eggs. And the bacon! Bacon had to be the food of the gods!

"I never thought anything so simple could taste so wonderful," she said with her eyes closed. "Jason, you should be ship's chef!"

"I'm not that great a cook, Delaara," he laughed. "I love cooking, but I tend to stick to the simple stuff."

"This day is starting so much better than yesterday, baby," she said as they finished their meal. "I mean, first the bigoted old woman, then your airhead ex-girlfriend... But at least Steve and Cindy are nice." She smiled.

"I'm sorry, baby. If I thought Mrs. Schmidt would still be alive or if Steph hadn't moved away, I would have warned you," he replied with a grimace.

"It's ok, love", she said, kissing his lips lovingly. "Steve and Cindy are good people, and this breakfast more than makes up for those other two people."

Jason grinned. "Well, I still haven't introduced you to Shawn and Julie. I think we'll drop by their place and ring the doorbell today. Oh, I have a surprise for you in the garage."

"Well, after we get dressed, I would love to see the surprise," she grinned.

Jason had checked to make sure it was still operational when he'd gotten up this morning. His old hoverbike had started right up. He'd nodded and made sure that both sets of protective goggles were cleaned and ready to go.

"Today, I have a feeling that you're going to fall in love with my little town, sweetheart," he said and winked.

They went back to the bedroom and Delaara put on some blue jeans, changed to a regular sized form fitting t-shirt with 'The Trooper' Iron Maiden logo on it that did absolutely nothing to hide her figure, and some calf high boots. Jason was dressed similarly with jeans, boots, and a Metallica t-shirt. With the beard, he looked like a biker from one of the old flatvids that Bounce had loned her for her viewing pleasure and to give her some insight into 20th and 21st century Human culture.

Jason looked at her and grinned. "I read an old fantasy novel once with a female Elven biker as one of the characters. Delaara, you look like her in that outfit!" He grinned, swept her up in his arms, and kissed her passionately.

She giggled. "I like the Earth legends about Elves. Some portrayals resemble Romulans to an extent."

"Well, I hope you like the wind in your hair, lovergirl," he grinned as they walked back towards the kitchen and garage area. As he opened the door to the garage, she gasped in appreciation.

The old modified Harley Fatboy had been refitted with hoverpads instead of the wheels it had originally come with, but that took little away from the sheer power that it possessed. The old V-Twin had been replaced by a VicFive Energy Cell Turbine. Jason grinned proudly.

"I can't believe it! A Harley Davidson Fatboy!" She grinned.

"Yep. When I found it, it was a complete wreck. I salvaged what I could, but I had to replace the engine and wheels. I figured that since I couldn't restore it to original condition, I could use today's technology to improve it." He shrugged as he explained.

She'd told Jason on their second to last night on the island that she would love to ride a motorcycle, and he had just smiled and said "I think that can be arranged if or when we get rescued."

"When did you do all this?" she asked.

"I found the old frame when I was 16, and brought it home in my dad's old truck. I worked a part time job and saved up enough credits to get the parts I needed to fit it out and make it run again. It took me six months, working on it after school and work. When I finished restoring it, some guys were riding past the day I brought it out for a test drive, and they invited me to ride with them." This was a part of his past that he treasured, and this was the right time to share it with her. "Delaara, I want you to meet my old biker buddies. Rash knows them, but I swore him to secrecy when we got back, since I told him that I wanted to take you riding with me on our honeymoon."

"Jason! You are full of surprises, baby!" she grinned and kissed him passionately.

He handed her a pair of the dark tinted protective goggles, and put on the other pair, activating them. "These act as helmets and basic body armor. If we crash, the field they generate absorbs most of the impact."

She nodded and activated her goggles as she put them on. Besides a slight tingling as they activated, it was like nothing had happened.

He mounted up and she got on behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist. He started the Harley, and it thrummed to life. He hit the remote garage switch and slowly accelerated outside when the door had lifted fully. He maneuvered around the bomber in the driveway and hit the switch again, closing the door behind them. "Are you ready, honey?" he asked.

"I was born ready, hotshot!" She said with a huge grin.

He opened the throttle and the beast roared forward, and he turned it towards town.

*****

They pulled into the parking lot of Big Lou's Bar and Grill in downtown Santa Barbara and dismounted the bike as Jason cut the power. "This is my old hangout between semesters at the Academy and during summer break. This is where Rash got the nickname 'Roadrash' after a pretty bad wipeout," he grinned.

"Roadrash.." She giggled. "That must have been painful for Ryan."

"Not really. His pride hurt worse than the pain from the wipeout," he said, grinning.

They walked towards the door and as Jason pushed it open, he heard "HOLY SHIT!" from the direction of the bar.

He turned and saw Big Lou stomping towards them with a huge grin on his face.

"LOU!", shouted Jason in response. The old grizzled Starfleet Marine veteran was still alive and kicking. He grabbed Jason up in a bear hug, and then turned to Delaara, smiling.

"How you doin', little lady?" he asked with a genuine smile.

"I'm great, and you?" she asked back, smiling.

"Can't complain," he shrugged.

"Lou, this is my wife, Delaara. Delaara, this is Big Lou. He's like the crazy uncle I never had." Jason was grinning proudly as he made the introductions.

"Jay, she's the hottest woman I've ever seen you with. You best not let her get away," Lou clapped him on the back as he said it. "Hell, when did you get married, and how the hell did you get a Praetorian to fall in love with ya?" Lou laughed when he saw Delaara's surprise.

"It's all in your stance, darlin'. I can spot a Praetorian a klick down the freeway," he winked.

"Lou was Starfleet Marines, honey." Jason said. "He served for 30 years and saw more than his share of ground combat against Klingons, Cardassians, and Romulans."

"Those were the days, kid." Lou laughed, pushing Jason and Delaara towards the bar. "Sally! Beers are on me for Jay and his wife here!"

They sat at the bar with Jason on one side and Lou on the other side of Delaara. Jason's arm went around her waist in the universal sign to all bikers that she was his woman. Delaara smiled and kissed his lips.

"Ok, Commander", Lou finally said to Jason. "There's a story behind how you two met. Let's hear it."

Jason and Delaara both grinned. "Well, Rash and I were on a search and destroy mission over NZ8-257 and engaged a flight of Falcons over the planet. We splashed all four when Delaara here showed up with her wingman and things got interesting...."

He laid it out for the big biker, and Lou just nodded as the story unfolded.

"So we woke up naked with the Enterprise away team standing over us."

Lou laughed long and loud as he clapped them both on the back. "You couldn't make that stuff up!" he shouted and laughed some more.

"I know, right?" said Delaara with a smile. "After Jason and I got dressed and presentable, I declared my intention to defect, and we've been together ever since." She smiled warmly at the memory.

Lou leaned over and looked Jason in the eyes. "If I hadn't lived it, I wouldn't believe it. She's a keeper, son," he said with a smile under his beard. By the way, your whiskers make you look like one of us now, kid." He raised his beer and toasted.

"Jay MacKenzie, as I live and breathe! I thought I smelled a warrior when I walked in," said the harsh yet feminine voice behind him. They turned and Lou grabbed Kralla up in his arms, planting a big smooch on the Klingon woman's lips.

As he set her down, Jason got up and gave her a hug. "Good to see you too, Kralla!" She sqeezed him tight and let him go. "Kralla, this is my wife, Delaara. Delaara, this is Lou's wife Kralla." Lou laughed as Delaara's face showed her shock.

"I said I lived it, little lady. Kralla and I met during the Cardassian Conflict, right before I retired. She and I were both trapped behind enemy lines and on opposite sides."

"Lou was trapped by Cardassians, and he blasted through most of them before engaging them in hand to hand. He saw me coming and grinned. I'm still not sure to this day, but I stopped short of running him through with my batt'leth", said Kralla.

"Probably because all I had was my K-Bar. It wouldn't have been a fair fight. She dropped her batt'leth, and went to draw her dagger, but it wasn't there. I nodded to her and drove my knife into the ground before we went at it hand to hand." Lou shrugged.

"I'd never fought a Human like Lou, so I was not only impressed, but extremely horny when we both finally disengaged after an hour long fight." She laughed for a moment. "Then he did something I never thought I would see from a Human." She actually blushed a bit at the memory.

"I laid one on her, full tongue", grinned Lou.

Delaara and Jason were laughing their asses off, even though Jason had heard the story before.

"Then he took me prisoner," she stuck out her tongue at Lou.

"Best move I ever made," said Lou, taking a swig from his bottle with a wink to his wife. "I let her go before I got back to our lines, since we got the word over our comms that the cease-fire had started." He shrugged.