Land of the Living Pt 2

Posted on Thu Jul 10th, 2025 @ 6:07am by Lieutenant JG Katie Kellerman & Lieutenant JG Kally Kellerman & Senior Chief Petty Officer Jadizon Enor
Edited on on Thu Jul 10th, 2025 @ 6:08am

Mission: Lower Decks
Location: Sickbay/Jadizon's quarters

Kally closed her tricorder and folded her arms. "All right, good news, bad news time. Good news: You're healing. Bad news: You're annoying Nurse Taylor. So, to save everyone's sanity, I'm discharging you, sending you to rest in your quarters, and trusting Katie to stop you from being stubborn enough to go do something that will make me have to yell at you in front of my staff."

She leaned over Jadizon and poked his chest with her finger. "Rest and recuperate. Clear?"

Jadizon blinked up at Kally as she poked his chest, the faintest twitch of a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. “Clear as a Vulcan’s conscience, Doc,” he rasped, voice still a bit raw but carrying his usual sardonic undertone.

"Good," Kally said, leaning over him and going practically nose to nose. "And please keep in mind that staying on my good side is far more fun than getting on my bad side, so please don't ruin all my hard work, hm?" She kissed him and patted his shoulder, standing back up.

He raised a brow as she leaned in, eyes locking with hers. “You know, if all discharges ended with a kiss and a threat, I’d probably end up in Sickbay a hell of a lot more often.”

The smirk held just long enough for the kiss to land and for him to grunt at the pat to his shoulder—wincing slightly, but more from pride than pain.

"Wait until you find out what happens when you come for a follow-up," Kally said, smirking, then looking at her mirror image. "He's all yours. Show no mercy." She smirked and gave Katie a kiss on the cheek and squeezed her hand affectionately before she left the recovery room, heading back to her office.

As Kally left, he turned his head slowly toward Katie, already squeezing her hand like he needed the anchor again. His voice dropped, softer than before but with that familiar spark flickering back to life.

Katie looked at Jadizon and held his hand. "Think you an handle walking me to your quarters?" she said.

“Handle walking you?” he echoed, his free hand dragging up to rub the side of his face. “Sweetheart, I’ve handled phaser fire, broken ribs, and being dangled off a Breen freighter at warp two. I think I can handle putting one foot in front of the other… just maybe not gracefully.”

He tried to push himself upright, only to pause halfway, grimace, and mutter, “…okay, maybe like... two feet and a wall to lean on.”

Then he looked up at her, tired but smiling. “But for you? Yeah. I’ll walk. You just might have to steer.”

Katie smiled. "I can do that." She helped him to his feet, keeping his torso straight to avoid compressing his ribs. When he was upright and on his feet, she slipped under his arm as if he were embracing her and put her arm around his waist, looking like a couple walking, but giving him something to lean on as they walked.

She steered him gently out of the recovery room and into Sickbay, then out into the corridor. She winced at the strain he showed, but as they developed a rhythm of walking, things got easier. "So, how does this compare to dangling off a Breen freighter?" she joked. "And how did you manage not to be torn to shreds?"

As they walked the corridor, Katie's steady presence anchoring him, Jadizon managed a dry chuckle. He paused to rest for a second, smirking as he looked at her sidelong. “As for not being torn to shreds? Luck. A little stubbornness. And probably because I owed too many people drinks and the universe wasn’t ready to balance the tab yet.”

He pushed off the wall again, taking a few more steps. “You know,” he added, quieter this time, “dangling off that freighter… I knew I’d make it. I had a plan. This? Coming back this time? I didn’t have a damn clue.”

As they rounded the corner and passed an LCARS panel, Jadizon suddenly slowed, his steps faltering.

The screen flickered—briefly, unnaturally. And in that moment, he saw her. Not clearly, but in fractured shadows and light. A feminine silhouette, those too-familiar eyes, and the whisper that slid straight into his mind:

"You can walk away from them, but you can't walk away from me. This isn't over. You still belong to me."

His breath caught, and his shoulders tensed as a chill clawed down his spine. Katie’s hand on his arm kept him grounded.

He blinked hard, and the screen returned to normal.

“Damn panel,” he muttered, voice hoarse. He forced a crooked grin, though the color had drained slightly from his face. “Remind me to submit a maintenance ticket. Something about... ghost code.”

He took another shaky step, leaning into her presence more than he’d admit. “Let’s get to those quarters. Before the ship starts talking again.”

She was going to ask what made this time different, when she felt him falter. She looked up and saw his face, and she frowned. "What do you mean, the ship starts talking again?" she said, helping move him along.

Jadizon staggered slightly as he stepped out of the turbolift, the corridor of Deck Two stretching ahead, too quiet. The lights overhead flickered—not enough to be obvious, but enough to make him hesitate. For a moment, he swore he saw her again in the reflection on the LCARS panel. Not Teyah… not really. Just something wearing her like a mask.

His jaw clenched. He forced himself forward.

Being the Chief of the Boat came with privileges—rare ones for an enlisted man. Unlike the rest of the NCOs bunked below, his quarters were on Deck Two, right below the bridge, tucked in with the senior officers. A gesture of respect. A reward. A burden.

The walk to his door felt longer than it should’ve. The silence buzzed in his ears. He slapped the access panel and stumbled inside before the doors could finish opening.

Bright, clean, quiet. He fell to his knees just inside the room, the chill of the deck biting through the thin hospital scrubs. His fingers curled against the floor, breath catching.

“I died,” he whispered. “I saw her.” The lights hummed gently overhead. “She wore her face. Teyah. She smiled like her. Touched my cheek. Said I was hers.”

His voice wavered, breaking. “And I believed her.” He exhaled hard, trembling.

“I let go… just for a second. It felt like peace. No pain. No war. No orders. Just quiet.”

A pause. Then:

“But it wasn’t peace. It was control. Possession. She’s still watching. Still waiting.”

Katie didn't really process what he said, she was down, hands under his arms, trying to pick him back up to get him to his bed. She felt him shudder and it sent a similar shiver through her, although she couldn't exactly pinpoint why.

"Well....well she can fuck right off!" she said with a bravado she didn't really feel. "You're alive and here and that's that. Now, on your feet and into bed. That's an order." She pulled and helped him off the floor and onto the bed.

Jadizon sat still on the edge of the bed, his back hunched slightly, shoulders tight. The silence between them was thick, but not empty—more like the kind of quiet that comes after a storm.

“She’s still there,” he said softly, not quite looking at Katie. “Not in the room. Not in the corridor. Just… in the edges. Like static you can’t tune out.”

He rubbed his palm slowly over his face and let out a shaky breath. “I know it wasn’t real. But it felt real. Too real. Like she knew me. Like she’d been waiting for the right moment.”

He finally turned his head, eyes meeting Katie’s—not panicked, not broken, just tired. “I’m here. I know that. I just… I need time for all of me to catch up.”

His voice dropped slightly. “Can you just... stay close? Not to guard me. Just to remind me where I really am.”

He offered a faint, self-deprecating smile. “Besides, I'm not supposed to be out of bed anyway. Doctor’s orders, officer’s orders… and yours.”

Katie blushed. "Well, mine was really more of a strong suggestion," she said, smiling softly. She helped ease him onto his back and get comfortable, then stood up and quietly took off her boots and removed her uniform, folding it neatly and placing it on a nearby chair. Now comfortable in her standard-issue tshirt and shorts, she carefully crawled over Jadizon and curled up next to him, her fingers tracing patterns on his chest. "So, since I have you as a captive audience. I think we should talk about some things," she said, quietly.

Jadizon exhaled slowly, the tension in his chest loosening as her warmth settled beside him. Her fingers tracing idle shapes along the scarred and bandaged lines of his chest grounded him in a way he hadn’t realized he needed.

His voice was quiet, almost hoarse, but steady. “You’ve got me, Lieutenant. No evasive maneuvers left in me tonight.”

He turned his head, eyes soft despite the weariness behind them. “Just… go easy. I’ve been through hell twice now, and I’m still trying to remember which side I landed on.”

One corner of his mouth tugged upward. “But yeah... let’s talk.”

"Nothing heavy," she assured him. "Just those little things that define us as people. The important things that really determine compatibility. We'll take turns. I'll pick the first topic: do you put jelly on the peanut butter, or on the other slice of bread?" she smiled up at him.

Jadizon let out a quiet chuckle, the sound low and rough in his chest. He turned his head slightly to glance down at her, the hint of a smile playing at the corner of his mouth.

“Jelly goes on the opposite slice,” he said, mock-serious. “Anyone who mixes it into the peanut butter deserves a court-martial.”

His hand drifted to her back, resting there gently. “Your turn, Lieutenant. But fair warning—I will judge harshly if you say crunchy peanut butter.”

"My mother loves crunchy peanut butter," Katie said. "I used to hate it when I was a kid." She looked up at him with a guilty grin. "And I put it on the peanut butter side. That way I can spread it without soaking the bread in one spot. I'll defend that at my court martial." She smiled and tapped his chest. "Your turn."

Jadizon let out a low groan and shook his head dramatically. “Crunchy peanut butter and jelly on the same slice… and you’re Starfleet?” He gave her a mock look of betrayal. “Remind me to submit a report to Command—clearly we missed a psych eval.”

He shifted slightly, wincing as he got more comfortable beside her. His eyes met hers again, the humor in his tone softening.

“Okay, my turn,” he murmured. “I sleep with one boot under the bed and one by the door. Just in case I need to run... or fight.”

He paused, the smirk fading as his voice dropped. “Old habits. Hard to unlearn.”

"Okay," Katie said, bemused. "Less a question than a curious admission. How...exactly does that work? I suppose a boot under the bed you could grab and start swinging it, but how does having both boots far apart help in the 'flight' aspect?"

Jadizon gave a tired chuckle, eyes half-lidded as he stared at the ceiling. “It doesn’t,” he admitted with a shrug. “That’s the point. It’s not supposed to make sense.”

He turned his head slightly toward her, his voice quieter now, more reflective. “One boot for instinct. One for intention. You run, or you fight—but you don’t do both. Can’t.” A pause, then a faint smile. “It’s just a reminder. That even in the worst moments… you still get to choose.”

He looked at her fully now, the weight of it lingering behind his tired grin. “Your turn, Lieutenant Peanut Butter.”

Katie stuck her tongue out at the nickname but thought a moment. "A quirk of mine," she said, quietly, thinking. "Well, you've probably noticed this one, but Kally and I always sleep facing each other." She smiled, slyly. "It's been that way...well pretty much forever. Mom says we did it in the womb too. Even in different quarters, I always know which way to lie." She snuggled against him a bit. "That's why we make you sleep in the middle." She giggled slightly and shrugged, then leaned up and kissed his jaw.

Jadizon smiled at the kiss, a warmth behind his eyes that hadn’t been there for days. He turned his head slightly, brushing his cheek against her hair. “So that’s why I’m the human barrier between twin tornadoes,” he murmured. “Could’ve sworn it was just bad luck.”

Katie raised herself up on an elbow, eyebrow raised. "Bad luck?" she asked pointedly.

Jadizon smirked, eyes half-lidded with the kind of mock-seriousness that only someone thoroughly wrapped around someone’s finger could pull off.

“Well,” he drawled, voice husky with playful fatigue, “let’s review: two sisters who hog the blankets, steal the pillows, and talk in their sleep—one of them probably dreams in warp schematics. I get elbows, knees, and enough heat to cook a ration pack.”

He paused, the smirk softening into something more tender.

“But,” he added, reaching up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, “it’s also the only place I sleep without ghosts clawing at my mind. So yeah—bad luck?”

His thumb brushed her cheek.

“Best damn luck I’ve ever had.”

"Better," she said, kissing him and snuggling back against him. "But, for the record, I do not hog the sheets." She stuck her tongue out again. "All right Herr Hengst," she said, "what do you think of escape rooms puzzles?"

He let the quiet settle between them for a beat before chuckling at her next question.

“Escape rooms?” he said, raising an eyebrow. “I’ve been breaking out of lockups, enemy cells, and bad situations since I was old enough to spell ‘shitstorm.’ Lock me in a room with a flashlight and a puzzle box, and I’m probably gonna jury-rig the door and walk out.”

A pause, then he smirked, voice lower.

“But if you’re in there with me? I might take my time.”

"Goooood answer," Katie purred nuzzling his neck. "I've been working on a holodeck program. We should test run it some time," she said.

Jadizon grinned lazily at her purr, his hand absently tracing slow circles against her back. "Holodeck, huh?" he mused, eyes half-closed. "Let me guess—walls closing in, coded locks, sudden temperature drops, and a ‘surprise’ lava pit if we guess wrong?"

"Not exactly so deadly," Katie said.

He leaned his head back against the pillow, sighing softly.

“Tell you what, sweetheart… how about we skip the simulated near-death experience and try something a little more… warm? Real sun, soft beaches. Maybe Risa, or even Betazed if you’re feeling brave.”

He gave her a playful nudge with his shoulder. “No puzzles. Just you, me, and the kind of quiet that doesn’t come with phaser drills or screaming plasma conduits.”

He smiled faintly. “We’ve both earned a little peace, yeah? Jadizon grinned, eyes twinkling with mischief as he added, “Or hey, if you’re feeling really adventurous, we could always take a romantic getaway to Vulcan—enjoy the ‘delightfully temperate’ 40-degree Celsius days with zero humidity and zero fun.”

He chuckled, then lifted his hand with mock flair. “Or Andoria—where the breeze can peel your skin off and the locals call it ‘brisk.’ Pack a parka, a phaser, and your will to survive.”

He looked back at her with a wink. “So… still voting for the lava pit holodeck program, or shall we book that Risa suite with the ocean view and the bottomless drinks?”

"Oh, option B, all the way," Katie said, grinning, excitedly. "Excellent first date idea," she said. "Just the place to breathe a little life back into us." She straddled him gently and laid down over him, resting on her elbows and looking him in the eyes. "Because you are going to be alive for a long, long time. That's an order."

“Option B… aye,” he murmured. “Warm breeze… cold drink… you.” Jadizon’s eyes fluttered shut, her warmth and words a lullaby more potent than any sedative. His breathing slowed, deepened—then, soft and steady, a gentle snore escaped him.

“Mmh… requisitions… wrong power cells again…” he mumbled faintly, brows twitching in sleepy protest. “Told 'em… not for Type-9 shuttles…”

He shifted slightly under her, fingers giving the faintest twitch like he was still filling out a manifest in his dreams.

“Gonna fire the whole supply bay…” he whispered, then let out another soft snore, drifting deeper into rest—wrapped in her warmth and the quiet comfort of survival.

Katie very carefully moved back to his side, keeping a hand on his chest reassuringly, and keeping her thoughts calm. A few things were needling the back of her brain, but she'd work on them later when she was out of his range. She carefully pulled the blankets--that she would not hog--over them and stayed close, guarding him from whatever ghosts may still be lurking for a while.