Love And War Bk. 01

Kralla picked up the narrative. "The next time we met was during the Dominion War, which turned out to be our last war." She wrapped her arms around his chest from behind.

"My unit was assigned to hers as a joint operations group against the Jem'haddar", he said by way of explanation.

"So Lou here comes up to me after our second patrol together and says 'Hey, babe. I'm not Klingon, but I would love to take you out for a date sometime'. I was stunned, to say the least. My Lou is more Klingon than most Klingons I've met," she smiled.

"Yeah, I only had to beat down two guys that were talkin' shit while we were on our date." Lou smirked and swigged from his beer.

"Lou's being modest. He defeated two mek'leth wielding Klingon Warriors with his bare fists."

Delaara was impressed. "You both are perfect for each other. Now I know why Jason wanted me to meet you. It's my pleasure to make your acquaintances!"

"The pleasure's ours, hon," said Kralla with a smile and hugged Delaara.

"Well, don't that beat all, kid? Ever think you'd see a Klingon hug a Romulan?" Lou grinned.

"Lou, we both know our wives aren't stereotypes." Jason grinned back.

"Very true, Jay. You still a hotshot fighter jockey?" asked Lou.

"Delaara and I are both still in Fighter Command, yeah. She got the job after she defected." Jason was proud of his lady, and let it show.

"Well I'll be damned! Hey, Delaara. What was your rank in the RIF?" asked Lou.

Delaara turned from her conversation with Kralla. "Oh, I was a full Commander. Why?" she asked.

Lou was stunned. "You gave up two full pay grades to defect. Darlin', you just got yourself two friends for life. You're Jay's wife, which makes you part of our family. Do you ride?"

"Thank you both so much! Jason is going to teach me to ride", Delaara informed them.

"Well hot damn!" Lou grinned.

As the bartender handed them some more beers, the door opened and in stepped the hottest redhead in the galaxy, or so she liked to call herself.

"Jay, you might want to duck behind the bar. You know who is here", Kralla said, but it was too late.

"YOU SONUVABITCH!" rang out across the bar.

Jason closed his eyes and said "Oh fuck no." He turned around and saw the gorgeous redhead he had dumped right before joining the Academy move towards him with deadly intent. "Hi, Gina."

Jason stood up, prepared to defend himself, but Delaara intervened before she could close the distance. "Step back" was all she said.

Gina stopped dead. She looked up at the statuesque woman in front of her with the faint forehead ridges and pointed ears. "Who the fuck are you? No, I don't care. Get the fuck out of my way, bitch!" She threw a punch at Delaara and missed.

Barely seeming to move, Delaara's fist shot out in a blur, sending Gina sprawling backwards. "I'm Commander Delaara, Starfleet Fighter Command, 155th Interceptor Squadron XO, and if you ever threaten or insult my husband again, I will kill you where you stand." Her voice had never raised above a normal tone. She was in complete control, and her eyes were ice when Gina looked up again.

Gina wiped the blood from her chin and lip as she glared daggers at the woman who'd just decked her. "Fuckin' Vulcan cunt!" she screamed and launched herself at Delaara.

Delaara sidestepped her charge, and hit her with a spinning backfist in the face, knocking out a few of Gina's teeth.

"Jay, if I was you, I would NEVER make your lady mad." Lou grinned and clinked bottles with Jason.

"Lou, you just said a mouthful, brother." Jason watched in stunned bemusement as his wife, the love of his life, proceeded to beat the living shit out of his ex-girlfriend and known psycho hosebeast, Gina Lee.

When Gina was down for the count, barely conscious, Delaara grabbed her by the front of her leather jacket, looked her dead in the eye, and said "I'm a former Praetorian Guard of the Romulan Imperial Fleet. I'm no fuckin' Vulcan cunt!"

"Hell, Del honey. You're now an honorary Starfleet Marine, as far as I'm concerned!" shouted Big Lou, handing her a beer and clinking bottles with her.

He looked down at Gina. "Gina, get your sorry ass outta my bar. If I see your face in here again, I'm gonna have Shawn and Julie arrest you."

Delaara moved to Jason and hopped up on his lap, giving him a deep passionate kiss as Gina got to her feet, glowering at them. She wiped some blood from her cheek and walked out without another word.

"Now that felt good. Been a while since I had the chance to mix it up a bit", Delaara said after breaking their kiss. She was smiling sexily and winked at Jason, who grinned back.

"Sweetheart, you just gave Gina what she's had coming for the past 5 years!" Jason kissed her hard and passionately.

"Well, she cheated on you, then stalked you after you dumped her. She had more than that coming, as far as I'm concerned," said Delaara, stroking his face lovingly. "I know you're too much of a gentleman to hit her, so I did what you couldn't."

Kralla laughed loudly. "Del honey, if you wouldn't be insulted, I'd make you an honorary Klingon Warrior! You have no idea how often I've wanted to do that to Gina. She's a complete cuntrag! Yes, she's even worse than I am!"

"Well, now we can expect a visit from her boyfriend", said Lou with a shrug.

"Tommy is just insane enough to come in here, too", Kralla said, shaking her head.

"Wait what? Gina hooked up with Tommy Hest?" asked Jason. "Well, that would just figure, wouldn't it. I'm just surprised they haven't killed each other yet." He shook his head and laughed.

They sat and joked, told stories, and had a great time drinking for a few hours. Delaara and Kralla had become best friends, and Lou was regaling them with another tale about the Dominion War. He showed off his cybernetic leg and told how it was Kralla's fault that he'd lost it, which earned him a smack upside the head from his wife.

"He's lying. I'm not the reason he lost it. I'm just the reason it got cut off," she said innocently.

"You were the one that cut my leg off, woman!" Lou said, laughing.

"It was infected, and I saved your worthless hide, honey!" She retorted, smiling.

"We were out of medical supplies and stuck way behind enemy lines, so yeah. Kralla cut my leg off, cauterized it with my phaser pistol, and carried me on her back 20 klicks back to the field hospital." Lou looked up at her lovingly.

There was a slam as the front door was kicked in. "Oh hell, here we go", said Lou as he turned to see Tommy Hest walk in.

Jason leaned over to Delaara and whispered "This one is mine, sweetheart."

"Where the fuck is that pointy eared bitch?" he spotted her and strode towards Delaara. "Hey! We don't like your kind around here, and you beat on my girlfriend!"

Jason stepped in his way. "Hey, Tommy. Your girlfriend was looking like she was going to hurt me, so instead of letting me break my own rule against hitting women, my wife stepped in. Gina threw the first punch."

"Outta my way, Jay! I'm gonna teach her some fucking manners!" Tommy stepped to go around Jason, but was once again blocked. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a knife, stabbing at Jason with it. Jason moved to the side, snapkicking the knife out of Tommy's hand, and throwing three successive quick jabs to his nose. Tommy staggered back, his nose gushing blood.

"Stand down, Tommy. I'm not going to warn you again," said Jason.

"Fuck you, Jay." Tommy moved quickly, closing the distance and swinging at Jason. He blocked, and sent Tommy staggering back with a fist to the solar plexus. Tommy couldn't breathe for a moment, and Jason pressed his advantage. He threw a straight punch into Tommy's forehead, knocking him down again.

Tommy got up and looked around for help. Seeing none, he once again threw a punch right at Jason's face and missed by a mile. Jason had finally had enough and grabbed Tommy's arm, locking it behind his back and dislocating his shoulder. He marched Tommy to the door and threw him out into the parking lot.

"Jay, if you ever want a job as a bouncer, it's yours!" Lou, Kralla, and Delaara all laughed.

Grabbing his bottle from Lou, Jason said "Lou, I might just take you up on that." They grinned and clinked bottles.

After being treated to Lou's famous buffalo wings, Jason and Delaara decided they'd had enough roughousing with the locals for the day. They pulled out of the parking lot and roared towards the police station.

They pulled into the parking lot, and Jason parked his bike right next to Shawn's car.

As they walked towards the door, Julie came running out and hugged Jason. "Lou called and said you were planning to drop by!" She grinned.

Julie Sutter was an attractive woman. Blonde, blue eyed, and not stuck on herself. She had a nice, wholesome girl next door look. She was also a great detective.

"Hey, Julie. I would like to introduce you to my wife, Delaara. Sweetheart, this is Julie Sutter. I've known her and her husband Shawn since we were kids." He grinned, and Delaara smiled as she hugged Julie.

"It's great to meet you, Delaara", Julie said with a smile. "Lou informed us that you defended youself quite...vigorously against Gina Lee earlier."

"Actually, I hardly broke a sweat. It was worth it to defend Jason, though." Delaara winked and grinned.

"Remind me not to mess with a Romulan lady", said a new voice behind Julie.

"Hey, Shawn!" shouted Jason, running up and hugging his oldest friend. They slapped each other's backs and turned towards their wives. "Shawn, this is Delaara, my wife. Sweetheart, this is Shawn Sutter, Julie's husband."

Shawn was visibly stunned by Delaara's beauty, until he got an elbow in the gut from his wife. "Oof. Oh, very nice to meet you, Delaara," he said sheepishly, wincing in pain.

Delaara and Jason chuckled. "Very nice to meet you too, Shawn. Jason has told me quite a bit about you both." She smiled.

"He has?" Shawn looked a little nervous. "Nothing good, I hope," he said with an intentionally shifty look. They all laughed.

"Shawn and I were the jokers in school, sweetheart." Jason told her by way of explanation, grinning widely. "I went to the Academy, and Shawn became a cop."

"Speaking of which, I hear you have a Mjolnir class bomber parked in your driveway, Jay," said Julie in a businesslike tone.

"Well, it fits, and it's not against Code, Jules. I made sure that it was completely unarmed and locked it down good," said Jason with a grin.

"I know, silly. I was just busting your balls," she laughed and hugged her friend again.

They all walked into the station together. "Did you two want to file a complaint against Gina or Tommy?" asked Shawn as they went into the break room.

"That won't be necessary. I'm honestly surprised that they're still alive, though. Neither one of them is very smart," Delaara said.

Julie chuckled. "I like her, Jay!"

"So do I, Jules. So do I", he kissed Delaara lightly on her beautiful full lips.

"Shh with the 'Jules', Jay," she said in mock anger. "You and Shawn are the only two who get to call me that, and I don't want these others here getting any ideas."

"Ok, Jules, sorry about that", said Jason with a smile. He knew that only her closest friends got to call her that, and she could handle herself with any of the other officers on the Force.

"Ugh, it's been a tough week with the Ferengi delegation living here while the talks are going on in San Fran," said Julie.

Jason and Delaara looked at each other. "Ferengi delegation?" asked Jason.

"Yeah. Detestable people, every last one of them." She visibly shuddered.

"We got called to a distubance last night over at the hotel they're at, and every one of them hit on Julie," said Shawn.

Delaara sighed. "Yeah, they think they're the gods' gift to women."

Julie gestured for them all to sit. Once seated, she said "Ok, seriously, I have to hear the story of how you two met!"

Jason laughed and told an abridged version, trading off telling it with Delaara. Julie and Shawn were dumbstruck, but accepting of the truth of it.

"When dating fails, get shot down and shoot the one who shot you down with you," said Shawn, nodding sagely.

"Yeah, I guess I was pretty desperate for a date. Yeah, that has to be it," Jason said with a smirk of sarcasm. Delaara laughed musically.

"Hey now, hotshot. I think we should start up a dogfight dating service for lonely pilots." Delaara winked, and Julie nearly spit her coffee over all of them.

Shawn said "You know, that's not a half bad idea!"

"No way, honey!" Julie shook her head. "At least you didn't do what your great great grandfather did. If you had become a 'psychic detective' I would have killed you."

"We stopped by to see if you would like to come to dinner with us," said Delaara with a smile.

"We would, but we have to work tonight", said Shawn with an apologetic look. "One of the Ferengi delegates has been receiving death threats, so we're slated to handle tonight's security at the hotel."

"Only one of them?" asked Delaara. "I would say to let the offended lady have her shot at the scummy little jerk."

"If only we could, sister," said Julie with a wry smile.

"Well, I guess we'd better get going, then," said Jason. "We'll be at Big Lou's for a while if you want to drop by before your shift."

"We might just do that, Jay," said Shawn, smiling and hugging his friend. Julie hugged them both, and Shawn looked like he really liked hugging Delaara.

"Down boy!" shouted Julie at her husband.

"Hey, honey. I'm married. Not dead," said Shawn. Delaara and Jason laughed.

They left out and went back to the bar, which had started to pick up before sundown. They stopped along the way to watch the sun set again, and Delaara loved watching it more and more with her husband.

"It's so beautiful here, baby," she said, kissing him lovingly as the sun sank below the ocean.

"It's even more beautiful with you here, sweetheart." He replied and kissed her back.

They got back on the bike and roared back to Big Lou's. They found a spot and walked in to the sound of cheers when they were spotted. Kralla and Lou were busy behind the bar, but Jason recognized quite a few of the old crew.

"Jay!" shouted a guy about Jason's age wearing a leather jacket and wearing a Testament t-shirt underneath.

"Cruiser!" shouted Jason, hugging another old friend. More bikers surrounded them and hustled them to the bar. He recognized Gears, Spike, Reggie, Stan, and Charlie.

"You must be Delaara", said Cruiser. "I'm Cruiser, this is Stan, Reggie, Charlie, and Gears. Jay used to ride with us before joining the Academy."

"Good to meet you all", said Delaara with a smile.

"Del here is the lady who beat the tar out of Gina earlier," said Lou, grinning as he brought a round of beers for his friends.

The old crew laughed, slapping Delaara on the back. She was glad that they weren't making that big a deal out of her being Romulan. But then, they were used to seeing a Klingon around, so it wasn't that farfetched.

Charlie, a raven haired beauty with striking blue eyes, said "Del, you need anything, you just have to ask, hon." Delaara smiled and said "Thanks, Charlie. Jason has great friends, and now I guess I do too."

"Bikers are a family, darlin', and you're married to one," she said with a wink. "Plus you beat the holy hell out of Gina Lee, so you're already one of us!"

"Well, Jason beat the holy hell out of Tommy Hest after I beat down his girlfriend," she said with a smile at her new friend.

Charlie laughed. "Well, damn! Not only does he still have a perfect record for not hitting women, but he sticks up for his woman!" She grinned. "Now I wish I'd asked him out when he was single!"

"It never would have worked out, Charlie," said Jason after overhearing. "You are too in love with Cruiser." He grinned.

"True, true," she sighed, and grabbed her boyfriend. "Cruiser honey, would you like to go back to your place with me?" She gave him her best puppydog eyes.

"Oh, honey. You know I can't refuse you!" He grabbed her up in his arms and said "Take it easy, Jay and Del! Hope to see you both again soon!"

Jason and Delaara laughed as they watched Cruiser carry his girl out of the bar. Jason once again had his arm around her waist, and she liked being a Biker's Woman. She noticed that Gears had his arm around Reggie, who was a gorgeous blonde with long hair down to her butt. Reggie turned with Gears and sat down next to Jason and Delaara.

"Jay, good to see you home, man!" Gears grinned and Reggie smiled.

"Great to see you two also, Gears! Sweetheart, this is Gears and Reggie. They both serve on the Excalibur under Captain Calhoun. Guys, this is my wife Delaara", he introduced them.

"I'm an assistant Engineer on Excalibur, and Reggie's a Security Officer", Gears explained.

"Good to meet you both! We're in Skull Squadron, flying off the USS Nimitz," said Delaara with a grin.

"Lou gave us the veggies on how you both met," said Gears with a grin.

"Yeah, we're not your typical love story," said Jason, squeezing Delaara lovingly and kissing her lips softly.

"Who is these days?" asked Reggie, laughing and hugging Delaara. "I think it's the most romantic thing I've ever heard." She smiled at the newlyweds. "Gears and I have been married for 3 years now."

"Hell, Jay. I heard you made Lieutenant Commander already! Barely 3 years out of the Academy!" Gears said with a grin the size of Texas.

"What can I say?" Jason retorted. "They know talent behind the stick when they see it. That's why they have Delaara as my XO in the Skulls."

"We're the two best fighter pilots in Starfleet", said Delaara with a smile and loving kiss for her mate.

"You guys are awesome! Captain Calhoun told us about your Perfect Mission a couple weeks back." Reggie was beaming. "He made a ship wide announcement about it!"

"Well, Mac is old buddies with Rachael, so that's no surprise," Jason said with a shrug. "Hell, he knew about her and Rash before most of her own crew did," he grinned.

Gears and Reggie laughed. "Yeah, that's about the biggest open secret in Starfleet now."

"It was bound to get out. What really gave it away?", asked Delaara.

"Well, after your wedding, the USS Hood picked up Ambassador Stovrin and Ambassador T'Rya and took them back to Romulus. They blabbed about Rash and Rachael's dance and kiss at your reception, and it got back to us through the grapevine." Gears explained.

Delaara held her head in her hands. "Mom and dad never could keep a secret," she moaned.

"Don't worry about it, sweetie," said Reggie. "Nobody's going to do anything to hurt Rachael or Rash. They have way too many friends in Starfleet, not to mention Ambassador Spock himself. Hell Admiral Nelson would probably find out and go 'So what? They aren't hurting anyone' so it's ok," she said, smiling.

"Well, she doesn't give him any special treatment, except for..you know.. on a nightly basis, and he doesn't ask for any special favors, except the time Delaara and I met, and he asked her to let him take a flight of Valkyries to find me. She said no, and that was that," Jason shrugged. "I'm glad she denied his request, though." He squeezed Delaara's hand and smiled.

"So am I, baby," Delaara said, kissing him lovingly.

"Hey, kid! You been thinking about that bouncer job any?" asked Lou with a smile. "I pay well, and you'd have all the free synthbeer you can drink!"

They all laughed at that. "Well, Lou. If I can talk my wife into it, I'd like us to move here after this tour is up, and I'd definitely like some work if or when we do."

"You plannin' on resigning your commission, Jay?" asked Gears.

"Actually, I was thinking of putting in for a flight instructor at the Academy", Jason said, shrugging.

"Baby, it would get us out of the line of fire, and we could help new Cadets learn the ropes!" Delaara was smiling and he saw the excitement in her eyes.