Love And War Bk. 01

"Hey, hon. From what Jimmy said, you got nothin' to be ashamed of", Ricky said with a huge grin.

Jason's combadge beeped. "Rash to Friday", it said. They shared a glance. "This would have to be important", he said to Delaara and Ricky.

"I agree. They know we're on our honeymoon", she said to Ricky by way of explanation.

"Go ahead, Rash", said Jason.

"Rachael and I need you to come to Starfleet HQ immediately. It's important." He sounded... excited?

"We're on our way, brother. We'll be there in a few minutes. Friday, out." Delaara nodded and they turned to Ricky. "We have to go, Ricky. We'll be back ASAP, though!"

"Take your time, kids. Have a good one", he said as they left at a dead run.

They jumped on the Harley and were speeding towards Starfleet HQ at top speed within seconds.

*****

Ryan and Rachael saw the Harley and heard its roar as it sped across the grass in front of the HQ building. It skidded to a stop and two leather jacketed Bikers dismounted. Jason was wearing his Trivium t-shirt under his jacket, and Delaara was wearing a Slayer shirt under hers. They removed their tinted goggles and stared at the grinning faces of Captain Thatcher and Lieutenant Rasher.

"What happened?" Delaara asked, hugging the Captain.

"Well, Nick... Admiral Nelson received a complaint about us from the USS Hood for fraternization", Rachael said.

"Buuuuut, since we've been engaged less than a year after we started having sex, we're in the clear!" Rash hugged Jason and Delaara in turn.

"Holy shit, Rash! You had me worried!" Jason was grinning ear to ear.

Delaara noticed it first. "You're wearing the ring Rash got you! It's true, then!", she grinned. "I heard from a friend that serves on Excalibur, and he said that my parents let it slip to everyone on the Hood about you two. I'm so sorry!"

"It's not your fault, Delaara," said Rachael with a smile.

"How long are you two gonna be here?" asked Jason.

"Well, I just commed Nimitz and ordered 48 hours of shore leave for everyone. Why?" Rachael asked.

"Because, my dear Captain and soon to be sister-in-law (adopted), we're going into Santa Barbara and you're going to meet the rest of your extended family." Jason said with a grin.

"You're going to love our friends, Rachael!" Delaara exclaimed.

*****

Three hours later, the shuttlecraft was setting down in the parking lot of Big Lou's. As they dismounted and Jason walked his hog out of the boarding ramp, Big Lou himself came out to see what was landing.

"Holy shit!" He exclaimed, turning back inside. "Hey, honey! Jay and Del are back, and they brought Roadrash and some hottie with them!"

Delaara and Jason grinned at Rash's wince at the nickname. "Hey, Lou!" Rash shouted, grinning in spite of himself.

They walked inside and were immediately greeted by the attractive Klingon woman behind the bar. "Rash! Welcome back, hon! Who's your friend?" asked Kralla, smiling at Rachael.

"Hey, Kralla! This is my fiancee, Rachael. Rachael, this is Kralla. She's Big Lou's wife." Rash grinned at the slight shock on his lover and Captain's face.

"Yep, she's my ol' ball and chain." Lou said with a fond wink to his wife. "Well, Cap'n. I ain't seen you since the Cardassian Conflict!" Lou grinned, and Rachael squinted at him a moment.

Recognition dawned on her. "Gunnery Sergeant Gibson??"

"Yes, ma'am!" Lou grinned. "Welcome to my bar, Cap'n. Your food and drinks are on the house anytime you're here," he said with a smile.

Rachael turned to her crew. "Gunny Gibson is the toughest bloody Marine who ever walked the face of any planet, anywhere!" She grinned. "I watched him take down 5 Klingon Warriors barehanded after the rest of his platoon was killed in the battle."

"Those were the days, Cap'n," he grinned, handing her a beer. "Come on up to the bar, kids", said Lou to everyone.

Kralla hugged Captain Thatcher. "Any woman of Rash's is a sister of mine, hon," she said. She then hugged Delaara and Jason. "Jay and Del are our family too, so anything you need, Rachael. You got it."

"Thank you, you're very kind." Rachael replied with a blush.

"Rachael, you're our Captain, our friend, and my brother's fiancee. Lou and Kralla are now your extended family, and Bikers look out for their own." Jason explained.

"Well, I do still have my Ducati in storage", she said with a smile.

"A Ducati?" Lou was wide eyed. "Kralla honey? How about we both marry the Cap'n here?" He joked.

"Together? I was thinking of taking her for myself!" Kralla shot back with a laugh.

Delaara chuckled at the easy comraderie in the bar between friends, former enemies, and lovers.

"How long have you both known Friday, Lou?" Rachael asked.

"Oh, you mean Jay? About 10 years now," Lou said with a smile. "I never got the 'Friday' callsign. I would have called him 'Reaper', myself."

Rachael thought about it and agreed. "I know what you mean. I tried to watch those flatvids that Bounce was showing to everyone, but didn't see the resemblance between Jason here and that Jason in the movies. Well, except for being an implacable killing machine." She shrugged and kissed Rash out of the blue.

"Mmmhmmm! Needed that one, baby!" She winked at Rash as he grinned.

Delaara said "I have an idea for a new callsign for Jason."

"Oh?" Rash asked. Everyone turned to Delaara.

"How about 'Cobalt' for his eyes?" She smiled and kissed him.

"I like it!" said Jason readily.

"I could go with that," said Rash, nodding.

"I think it fits," said Rachael, smiling at the memory of her pussy getting wet when she'd first looked into his eyes before finding happiness with Ryan. "Let me check with Starfleet to see if it's taken."

She moved off a ways and checked for availability. She spoke quietly, and returned a moment later, Ryan's arm slipping around her waist. "Ok, folks. It's official. Lieutenant Commander Jason MacKenzie, your old callsign 'Friday' has been deleted off your records, and your new callsign 'Cobalt', has been approved by Starfleet Command. Congratulations, Cobalt!"

"Thanks, Rachael!" He hugged her, then hugged Delaara, kissing her lovingly. "And thank you, sweetheart."

"I always thought Friday was a strange callsign, but it never occurred to me until right now that your eyes are the same color as my wedding dress!" She smiled and kissed him again.

Jason grinned widely. "I never noticed it either, honey. Your beauty eclipsed all other thoughts in my mind, that day."

Delaara blushed deeply, and Rachael was awestruck. "Does he say stuff like that to you all the time, Del?"

"Yes he does, Rachael." She blushed even more.

"Delaara, as much as I love you like a sister, I swear that if you ever leave him, I will personally hunt you down and make a bloody mess of you! He has a silver tongue, but doesn't use it unless he means it!" She grinned.

Rash said "It's true. I've never seen him use it to pick up women. Delaara, you're the only woman I've ever seen him say stuff like that to."

"Same here", said Kralla. "Take notes, fat boy!" She glared at her husband.

"Yeah yeah, babe. If I said stuff like that to you, you'd break my arm without fucking me first." Lou grinned as she smacked him playfully.

Reggie and Gears came in and saw the little group at the bar. "Hey, guys!", shouted Reggie as they walked over.

"Hey hey, Reggie and Gears!" Jason grinned. "Rash and Rachael got off on the charges since Old Man Nelson found a loophole they fit through!"

Rachael looked confused. Delaara enlightened her.

"Gears and Reggie are married and on leave too, but they serve on Excalibur." She explained.

Rachael grinned. "Good to meet you both. Tell Mac Hi from me when you get back?"

"Sure thing, Captain," said Gears.

"Do you two have a place to crash for the night?" Jason asked to Rash and Rachael.

"We were probably just going to head back to the ship. Why?" asked Rachael.

"Well, if you want, we do have a spare bedroom at my place," said Jason with a smile. "Spend the night planetside for a change, and I'll be cooking breakfast in the morning."

"Mmmmmm, I love your Scrambled Eggs and Bacon, baby!" Delaara said with a look of pure bliss.

"Do you cook them like your mom did, Fr... Cobalt?" asked Rash.

"Exactly, brother," replied Jason with a grin.

Ryan turned to Rachael. "Honey, let's stay with the MacKenzies tonight. Trust me when I say you will love breakfast in the morning!"

Rachael smiled. "I think I'd like that. Ok, you two. We'll stay." She said. Ryan kissed her lovingly.

Jason and Delaara grinned.

Rachael looked around. "You know, I really like this town." She said with a smile. "How about you, love?"

"Honey, I spent so much time here during Semester breaks and summer vacation from the Adademy, I already call it home." He said in reply.

"Well then, I think I might just put a down payment on a house while we're here." Rachael winked at Ryan.

Rash said "Well, if we're going to spend the night, I need to get some stuff from our quarters, Rachael. I'll take the shuttle up and transport back down with our bags."

"Sounds good, baby," she said and kissed him. He ran out of the bar at top speed and jumped in the shuttle.

They heard the roar of the shuttle's engines as it took off, and chuckled at Rash's eagerness to do just about anything. "Well, Rachael, Let me go home right quick and get the Mjolnir. I can fly it back and pick everyone up", said Jason.

"Sounds like a plan, Commander." She smiled back.

"Ok, folks. I'll be back in a few minutes," he said, leaving the bar to take his bike home.

Delaara was smiling widely when Lou started telling one of his famous stories about his romance with Kralla. Rachael had never known her friend had married a Klingon woman, and was fascinated. Especially at the fun and flirty disagreements they seemed to have during the narration.

Soon Delaara heard the unmistakable roar of the Mjolnir landing in the parking lot, followed closely by the thrum of a transporter beam not ten feet away and Rash appearing with two overnight bags for himself and Rachael.

"Welcome back, my love." Said Rachael as he handed over her bag and kissed her lovingly.

"Thank you, beautiful," he said after breaking their kiss.

Jason came back in and said "Ok, the Mjolnir's waiting for us when we're ready to go." He walked back up to the bar, slipping his arm back around Delaara's waist, kissing her lovingly, and taking a swig from his beer. Rash took the bags outside and put them in the Mjolnir himself. He came back in and gave the thumbs-up when he'd finished.

"Well, you guys aren't goin' anywhere yet," said Lou, grinning. He clicked his remote for the jukebox, which began belting out Motörhead's 'Ace of Spades'.

Rash started nodding in time to the song. "Now THAT's music!"

"Hell yeah, Rash!" said Lou. "Gotta love Lemmy."

"Damn jarhead," said Rash, giving Big Lou a backpounding hug.

Kralla said "I never thought I would like Human music until Lou introduced me to heavy metal."

"I know, right?" said Delaara. "It was Iron Maiden for me over at Tesla Records in downtown San Francisco!" She grinned.

"Ricky's place," said Kralla. "Jay told us about it, the last time he was home", she smiled.

The song got done, replaced by Trivium's 'Anthem'.

"They sound a lot like Metallica," said Delaara, listening to the opening guitars.

"They patterned their style after Metallica," said Lou. "Love these guys!"

Reggie and Gears were drinking and listening. "Man, it's gonna suck when we have to leave," said Gears.

"Well, we can take some music back for Mac and the crew. I have a feeling he'd love it," she replied with a smile.

"I love the way you think, sweetness!" Gears said to his wife of 3 years.

Cruiser and Charlie were next to arrive. "Hey, we heard about Tommy and Gina. Great job, Jay!" Charlie said as she plopped down on the bar stool next to Delaara.

"Did Shawn and Julie tell you?" she asked.

"Yeah, we ran into Julie as we were getting off work, and she told us about them trying to shoot up your bomber." Cruiser said, laughing.

Rachael said "Who shot up my bomber, and why haven't I killed them yet?"

Charlie and Cruiser looked at her. Jason said "Cruiser. Charlie. This is Captain Rachael Thatcher, commanding officer of the USS Nimitz, and defacto owner of that Mjolnir bomber out in the parking lot." He grinned.

"And she's my woman." claimed Rash.

"Hey, Rash!", Charlie grinned. "Didn't know you were in town, babe!" She hugged him tight.

"We had some business up at HQ, and Rachael gave us all 48 hours shore leave. We're spending the night with Cobalt and Demoness." he said with a smile before kissing his Captain.

Rachael said "Tell me more about the assholes who shot up my bomber."

Cruiser took up the slack. "Captain, nobody has to worry about them ever again around here. They're facing 30 - 50 years in a penal colony for discharging illegal slug thrower firearms within Santa Barbara city limits, and they didn't even nick that warbird out there." he grinned.

"It's true, Captain", said Jason. I did a check on it the night they shot it up while Delaara and I were in bed."

Rachael sighed in relief. "Good. But before you head back,-"

"Get it inspected at HQ. Way ahead of you, Rachael." Jason grinned.

They heard a noise from the parking lot, and Shawn came in with Julie after parking their cruiser.

"Hey, Rash!" Julie said, running over and hugging him. "Is this THE Captain Thatcher we've heard so much about?" she asked with a smile.

"Hey, Julie! Yeah, ths is Rachael, my fiancee. Rachael, Julie and Shawn here are some of me and Jason's oldest friends." He said.

"Good to meet you both. We've become quite popular around here, it seems." Rachael said, blushing.

"You're our family, Rachael. Of course you're gonna be popular. Especially when you show up riding that Ducati." Jason grinned.

"Mmmmmm Ducati!" Lou said with his eyes closed and a smile on his beared face.

Kralla slapped him. "Down boy!" she laughed.

Lou said "One of these days, Kralla. Kiss! Right in the kisser!"

"Promises promises, big boy!" Kralla stuck out her tongue at him, grinning.

Rachael leaned close to Delaara. "Are Lou and Kralla always like this?" she asked, amused.

"Pretty much, yes," said Delaara with a grin. "I thnk it's what makes their marriage work. Humor."

"Lou, honey. It's your turn to change Vincent," Kralla said almost tenderly.

Jason looked surprised. "Lou! When did you have a kid?"

"5 months ago, Jay. We've been raising him as best we can. We have nannies come over, and some even stay the hight to help take care of him until we get off shift. He's the main reason we've been looking to hire on more help. We have Sally during the day as bartender, but we need some more help." He shrugged and went into the back room with a smile.

"Gunny Gibson is a father..." Rachael smiled. She looked at Rash and saw in him a great dad. He was young, impetuous, rash (which was how he'd earned his callsign), and completely devoted to her. He'd shown much interest in starting a family, and she knew that he was wise beyond his years.

"Yes, he is. And a damn good father, too. I know how to pick 'em, hon." Kralla was grinning in pride at her choice of a husband.

In many Klingon/Human relationships, the Human had to be tougher than average, for the most part. He or she also had to be willing to suffer for their love. With Kralla, however, in spite of their frequent arguments, Lou seemed to be doing much better than average.

Delaara had leaned in close to Jason, and he sensed that she wanted to say something. "What is it, sweetheart?" he asked with concern in his voice.

"I want to have a baby with you, Jason." She said in a whisper. "I want to be a mother."

"Just as I want to be the father to our children when they come, Delaara." He smiled at her lovely face and kissed her softly.

"Then it's settled. As soon as this tour is over, we can transfer to the Academy and become flight instructors." She was smiling even wider.

Jason grinned. "I'll talk to Commander Stanley and see if we can get things set up." He said with a reassuring squeeze of her hand.

Lou came back in from the back room, towelling his hands dry. "Honey, Vinnie's changed." He grinned. "Suze is about beside herself, though. You might wanna have a talk with her."

Kralla said something in Klingon that sounded none too nice, and threw the hand towel she had at him so he could keep cleaning the shot glasses. "Fine, then you make sure those glasses are spotless, Marine. I'll be doing an inspection later!"

"No combat ready unit has ever passed inspection, Kralla!" He shouted to her retreating back as he grinned.

"Semper Fi, idiot!" She shot back with a laugh.

Delaara laughed. "Lou, you two act as if you hate each other, most of the time."

"It's how we blow off steam, darlin'. Trust me on this. We love each other with all our hearts, but if we don't keep it interestin', we would be at each other's throats over some issues." Lou shrugged and grinned.

After 30 years as a Starfleet Marine, Gunnery Sergeant Louis Gibson was still a solidly built man. He'd developed a beer gut since retiring, and had grown his hair long with a chest length beard to match, both of which were showing some gray here and there, but nobody in the galaxy would be stupid enough to try to take him in a fight. He'd earned every combat medal available to groundpounders, and most of them twice over.

He was the kind of Marine about which heroic holovids were made, except he was completely uninterested in doing that stuff. He loved running his bar and serving the best drinks and food for Bikers in Santa Barbara and all along the west coast. People came from as far away as San Francisco or even Seattle to try the Buffalo Wings. He gave discounts to Starfleet crewmen, Marines, and Pilots, making Big Lou's a favorite watering hole for off duty personnel and Cadets alike.

Being a Friday night, the dinner and dancing rush started a bit early. Jason and Delaara started helping out at the bar, pouring beers and mixing drinks for customers. Some were a bit shocked to see a Romulan in a Slayer t-shirt, leather jacket, and skin tight jeans serving mixed drinks, but then shrugged and smiled as they also noticed the Klingon Warrior with the huge tits serving drinks alongside her slightly shorter fellow bartender.

Jason continued drawing drafts for customers, and several Cadets at the end of the bar recognized him. "Jason!" One of them shouted.

Jason had been out of the Academy for three years, but recognized Cadet Cal Santiago. "Hey, Cal! You guys graduating soon?" He asked.

"Yeah, homie! How you been, man?" Jason had been Cal's first student flight instructor in standard pilot training, and Jason had told him that he would make a great fighter pilot.

"Not bad. My wife and I are on leave right now, and decided to give ol' Lou and Kralla a hand tonight." He grinned.

"Man, you guys are all over the scuttlebutt at the Academy, same as Rash and Captain Thatcher!" He looked at Delaara mixing up a Mojito and whistled. "Homie, how did you bag such a hot mamacita?"

"I owe it all to clean living and fancy footwork, Cal," he grinned in response. "What have you heard about Rash and Rachael?"

"Just that Old Man Nelson got the authorities to back off on them, since they're engaged or something." Cal shrugged.

"That's some accurate scuttlebutt, Cal," said Jason with a grin.

"Well, they say that you and your lady are the best fighter pilots in the galaxy too, and you two hooked up after shooting each other down." He looked disbelieving at that.

Delaara moved over to them and slipped her arms around Jason's waist. She told Cal "It's all true, Cadet."

Cal and his friends were openly ogling Delaara and making appreciative gestures without being too vulgar.