Winter Friends
Posted on Fri Jan 24th, 2025 @ 5:11pm by Commander Arianna Frost & Lieutenant Zharra Neerassi & Lieutenant JG Jaya Maera Garlake
4,199 words; about a 21 minute read
Mission:
S1E6: Where Skies End
Location: Overwatch, Acting Administrator's Office
Timeline: MD 11
They were back! Finally. Her chosen family was back. They too were attacked by the underhanded forces likely belonging to Taskmaster. Luckily they made it out safely, unlike poor Laena and Nandi. Thanks to the Orion woman in front of her. Zharra Neerassi, former Starfleet Security, currently working for Federation Security. She'd given them very thorough reports on what she found at Nandi and Laena's locations and a very detailed, point by point report of the battle at Laphalale.
Like a proper soldier, a veteran.
By the looks of the woman's Starfleet records, she'd served on the same ship as another familiar name, Commander Hawkins.
"Interesting. Ari had thought to herself as she summoned Zharra to the Administrator's office some minutes ago.
She'd let the trio and the triplets board and get put into the system before asking to meet them at Akiva's...no, her office.
Now, the Orion, Zharra stood opposite her, stance relaxed but oozing sharp observation. The woman was sizing her up as much as Ari was.
"So, Zharra..." One space Aussie said to another, "you had the chance to be on your merry way after you put the Garlakes on that transport. That was the deal that Cal made with you. Yet..." the blonde haired woman observed the raven haired one, "here you are."
Zharra could understand the Commander's skepticism. After all spies couldn't help themselves, they always wanted to know more. Always. As much as that could be annoying to most people, Zharra was an investigator herself, so she understood. That was a part of her psyche now too.
The Orion took a deep breath. "Look, guv, bottom line is, I'm a crime fighter, always was, always will be. Me dad was a copper on Driaan in the height of Reetorg's reign. They tried to turn the lot of us, so many times, before the Lashmores took him down, but none of us faltered, not once. My dad faced threats, me uncle threatened to sell me and me sister Leda off more times than I can count. I've always wanted to be a copper like me old man, steely, unwavering, loyal to the sense of justice and right. That's why I joined the Fleet, that's why I went to Fed Sec later." She spoke with never once breaking the Commander's stare.
Reetorg, an Orion warlord, in charge of the Driaan system.
"What you lot have got yourselves involved in is all kinds of fucked. I can't walk away from that and chalk it up to just a CI's day's work. That's turning my back to evil willfully. For fuck's sake they went after the bubs too, not just the adults," Zharra continued. "That's not who I am, that's not who me dad would have wanted me to be. So, I want to help. I'm in, if you want me. If not...look, even if you need a hand later down the line...I'm there."
Ari stared at the woman for a moment as she laid out her emphatic plea. There was raw honesty and belief in her features that reminded Frost a lot of herself. Once upon a time, before she entered the world of Intelligence. Nowadays, that person seemed both too far away and closer than ever.
One thing was for certain, Arianna believed her.
"Alright, Zharra. We could use all the help we would get, plus, we do owe you for all you've done for us so far," Ari began.
"You owe me nothing, it was the right thing to do," Zharra cut in, still not moving from her spot.
Ari, who was leaned against the front desk, PADD in hand, chuckled. "Fair, mate. You do understand that everything you will do here is classified up to the eyeballs, and even further right? There's shit we deal with you can't unsee and unfeel. This place changes you irrevocably."
"So does every job and every major experience. The War with its shit, post War Fleet, the Embassy on Qonos. Hell, Fed Sec and the crime cesspools we dealt with. I know classified like the back of my hand," Zharra countered again.
Ari lifted the PADD and tapped a command on it. "You are officially on LOA from Fed Sec, upon expiry of which you will have resigned your commission by communication and your Fed Sec effects will be returned to them via secure channels. Your official trail ends there for the time being. Once the Field Team Captain returns, he will integrate you into the Field Team ranks and reinstate your Starfleet Credentials. In the meantime, for the sake of prying eyes, you are out of the picture."
Zharra nodded, understanding the undercurrent of the Commander's words. "Yes, guv." Then she visibly relaxed. "Cheers."
The doors opened with Jaya marching inside with a flashy box wrapped in an ornate bow. She was all smiles, beaming ear to ear at both women. "I can't say how happy I am to be back," she said, "or how grateful I am for everything you both have done." She marched forward with a lilt in her step until she reached the desk and then extended the box. "Just a little something by way of thank you." Jaya and Ari had shared sweets before. Since getting blackout drunk together was off the table for a variety of reasons, Jaya met in the middle with this gesture.
Zharra nodded and smiled at the bald woman. "All good, Missus Garlake. Looks like we'll be working together, Guv here authorized my transfer." She grinned at Jaya.
Ari accepted the box with a nod and looked between the two. "Zharra wants in on it. I was about to suggest we settle in and get her in the system before we brief her fully. While you and I catch up, eh?" She looked over at Jaya.
As much as she wanted to embrace her friend, she would comport herself with at least some measure of duty and authority. Zharra was a new recruit, sure but she was hardly stupid or inexperienced. The familiarity that Ari shared with Jaya was to be kept between them, for now.
It wasn't hard to catch Ari's meaning. Between her nonverbal cues, body language, and atypical reticence, Jaya had a clear picture. New ally but still not inducted. "That sounds fantastic," she said, maintaining her initial level of joy without becoming overly familiar. "How can I help?"
"Master Warrant Officer Mayhew will meet you momentarily outside to get you signed into the system." Arianna said to Zharra after nodding to Jaya. "Once all the checks are done, I'll come meet you to finish the induction. Dismissed."
Neerassi stood at attention for a moment out of sheer reflex and nodded. "Yes, Commander." She did an about face and stepped out of the office. The moment the doors closed behind her a smile creeped into her face. Finally, that adrenaline rush was coming back.
Meanwhile, Ari turned to Jaya as the doors closed and embraced the bald woman tight. "Oh, I am glad you are okay," she whispered into her friend's shoulder, feeling tension seep away from her.
Jaya stood up on her tiptoes and let herself swing from Ari's neck in a bouncing hug. "Oh, the feeling's mutual," Jaya whispered back. She kissed Ari on the check and hugged her again. "I missed you! Tell me everything! Spare no detail!"
Ari chuckled and motioned over to the couch. Then she sighed, preparing to recount the events of the past few weeks, from interacting with Taskmaster and confirming that her crazy theory was actually true, the disappearances of Laena and Nandi and...well, everything related to Akiva. From the devastating blow of his mother's death, to the passionate moment against the starry backdrop to his departure and thoughts of the future.
"You know, I've never more hated being right than with the whole Taskmaster being Omri thing." She decided to go with the big hit first. She'd sent a simple message to Jaya, a hebrew symbol for truth, a veiled message to convey the results of her research. "I still can't believe I was right." Ari said as she sat next to her friend.
Jaya nodded her agreement. The issue of Omri's death had plagued Akiva his entire adult life and was one of the more volatile traumas in his life. Taking the blame for his brother's death had changed the course of everything he'd known, and Jaya had stated as much in his psychological profile. "You were right," she said. "I'm sorry I doubted your intuition."
Arianna shook her head, "don't be. To be honest, I never thought I would be. After all the shit cropped up, I stared hoping I would be wrong. To know that your brother was alive, and on top of that the evil we have been fighting...that's a cruel reality to come to terms with." She said with a sigh. "He...took it better than I'd thought, more stoically at least, but, we haven't talked about it at all since I told him. I've mostly been coordinating with Cal and Zharra the search for Nandi and Laena...we're fairly certain he's behind that too."
"When you pick your adversaries, you sure know how to pick them," Jaya said with grim merriment. "Akiva needs to come to terms with this and that is not in his nature to do. Burying it will be his instinct. It's the wrong one because this is an issue which affects several other key areas of his life." She turned more grave as she said, "This has the potential to erode Akiva if it goes unchecked."
Ari sighed as she leaned against the back of the couch. "On top of his mother passing away a few days later and his ex going missing, for sure. It would erode anyone, especially someone with his predilections. Though..."
Why did she feel hesitation all of a sudden? She'd been wanting to talk to Jaya about this for days, so why the hesitation now?
Her hesitation prompted a raised eyebrow from Jaya. "Ari?" she asked with coy suspicion and a knowing smirk. "Is there something else you'd better tell me?"
"Oh, I don't know why this is so awkward all of a sudden. I mean it's not like you don't know that he and I have this tangled friendship going on." Ari admitted with another sigh, and began telling Jaya of the day of the tryst against the window.
At first Jaya listened with the stoic aplomb of a mental health professional, but by the time Ari had finished, she had already transitioned to BFF and was biting her lip with glee. "Ari, you are so bad! I love it." She giggled as she gave her friend a playful slap. "Of course you did the right thing. Akiva is no place to be planting his victory flag anywhere near your end zone." She made a face. "I'm sure the sports analogy failed but you get my drift. There will be plenty of time once the both of you are ready for the next step."
Ari couldn't help but laugh at her friend in amusement. "Yes, the analogy was pretty bad." A slight flush coloured her cheeks, "and I'm not the bad one, he is. I was just the not so innocent victim...again." The blonde chuckled, "we got drunk the night after we returned from Risa. He was...so down on himself, me and my big mouth told him how I saw him in an attempt to get him out of the funk...and he kissed me in a drunken stupor. I think we've both silently agreed to file that one away not speak of again...or, so we thought. I don't know how long I can keep burning the brakes, Jaya. It's getting harder every time. The more it happens, the more I want it and the more I have to fight myself and him for some semblance of doing shit right." Ari ran her hands through her short hair. "Sure know how pick my romantic interests too, eh?"
"We don't pick our romantic interests as often as they pick us," Jaya corrected in an even tone, though the look in her eyes was as sassy as ever. "Your shady spy training never prepared you for that harsh reality, did it? No amount of intelligence can make the heart stop wanting it what it wants." She teased Ari by batting her lashes. "You're clearly crazy about each other. Set a plan. Push for those goals. Don't let a moment go to waste. There's plenty of time to work out the rest of the kinks once you get the foundation laid." After finishing, Jaya started to giggle at her innuendo. "Hehehe... laid." She bit her lip to hold back her grin. "Sorry. It's been a minute for me and Storr. The babies haven't given us much of a break."
Ari leaned back, crossed one leg over the other and folded her hands in her lap. "Jaya, I am sure that you two will not go long without." She said, mimicking Jaya's mental health professional posture with a smirk. "With both of your libidos, I am sure it will right itself. At least you don't have to compete against an Orion. Just your last iteration of yourself. I've got..." she raised a hand and began counting on her fingers, "four dry years and an Orion to compete with."
That just made Jaya shake her head and laugh.
The mention of the Orion dampened the mood for Ari a little. "I should have fought harder to not let her go. She was so overconfident and determined she knew better than me, I should have stopped her somehow. Now she's...fuck knows where. If she's even alive. And Nandi..." the australian said with a sigh, "...Cal's not okay, Jaya. He's trying to be functional, but you can see it's taken a toll on him."
Her hands wrung themselves again in her lap. "How can I even think about possibilities with Akiva when our world is falling apart around us?"
Amused by Ari's dramatism, Jaya decided to take another tack. "Don't you see? The destiny you see in Akiva is the very thing that makes the crumbling world worth fighting for. It's a condition that makes you both stronger, perhaps even strong enough to survive where you wouldn't before. You see it is a liability, Ari, but it's actually your greatest asset. You shouldn't be running from it for any reason, and certainly not out of regrets for other people's choices." She leaned into her friend's space with a solemn expression and placed her hand on Ari's shoulder. "As your friend and your counselor, Ari, you need to mount that man and ride him into eternity. Your instincts are not wrong. Trust them to guide you to that stable place where you both can start rebuilding the world together."
Ari bit her lip as Jaya dispensed her sagely advice, trying very hard to keep herself from laughing at her friend's serious expression and the entirely raunchy speech leaving her lips. Never in her wildest dreams would she have imagined she would be getting this particular brand of advice in such a serious and 'this will save your life' manner.
"Well," Ari ventured as Jaya finished, willing her lips to form words rather than laughter, which ended up with her grimacing to start with. "I don't know if I see it as a destiny necessarily," Ari swallowed more laughter down. "But," Jaya's advice had to be acknowledged, "I will take it under advisement. You raunchy wench, you." She used the proximity as an excuse to hug Jaya again. "Thank you, my friend. It means a lot to be able to talk it out with you."
"Oh I can't believe how much I missed you!" Jaya wrapped her arms around Ari and returned her hug. After releasing her embrace, she said, "So tell me the real scoop on the new girl. You're not skeptical at all that she came out of nowhere and is so eager to help without any details?"
Ari chuckled, "not out of nowhere...per se. She's an old mate of Cal's. When we realized that Laena and Nandi were missing, we needed to send an asset there to do a welfare check, mine who were untapped were too far away, but Cal had Zharra and another one who were willing to lend a hand. She's an Klingon in Orion's clothing that one, as it were. Vet, close protection details in Starfleet and with the Federation Embassy on Qonos, Organized Crime with Fed Sec. That and she's from Driaan V. Daughter of Viguv Neerassi, Chief Inspector with the Driaan Federal Police. Almost reminds me of me, with that sort of conviction. Believing in justice and right and the rule of law. We need more people like her, with strong morals rather than gray morals."
"I was following you until Driaan V, but if you trust her, then I will too." Jaya smiled and nodded. "And I do agree that the moral quotient could do with a raise around here. I'm happy to hear she can help with that." She cocked her head curiously. "You mentioned another?"
"Yeah, Cal sent another asset, but we're keeping them under a lid for now. The less we know the better for the time being. For their own protection, and ours." Ari replied with a nod. "Allies are dying, allies are being manipulated, allies are turning into enemies. We've managed to open an official investigation, but that stream might be compromised. Taskmaster....Omri," she made a face as she said the name, "is making strange personnel moves, whether to expose, or dispose of, I don't yet know." Ari leaned back against the back rest and shifted sideways so that she was facing Jaya.
"An agent I send to aid Joriel, Kazyah Linn has been killed, by him, before he escaped the Odyssey. She was part of Castermer I, an engineer was reassigned to Internal Affairs, just as my new boss took over, only to tell me Omri's losing the plot. The people I lost during Donnager,, they were Castermer as well. He's thinning the herd, there's three of us left, that I know of. I don't know if he recruited new ones, after he sidelined me. And on top of it all, he's Akiva's fuckin' brother." She sighed again, "we're not alone in the fight, this much I can tell you though."
That was a name that Jaya had not heard in awhile. "So Kaz is out there taking out Omri the Taskmaster's people? I'm not sure how to feel about that..." Jaya let out of an awkward chuckle that veiled the horror she felt at casually discussing such violent intrigue. "Grateful, I suppose, that he's still on our side." The light in her eyes still shined with the courage she often instilled in others yet could not always muster for herself. "Maybe we'll come through the other side after all. So what's next?"
Ari had a haunted look in her eyes for a moment. "I certainly hope he is. The Joriel I remember, he saw the world in black and white, not in shades of gray, which is an irony in itself, considering. So if he killed Zora, he would have had a good reason. Provided he's still on our side." Frost blinked away the memories of that day, the blast and after she woke up in the ICU. "Or she made him and his real goals and he killed her to cover it. One of them's flipped, that's all we know at this point."
The blonde buried her head in her hands. "He was there for me in one of the lowest points of my life. I rarely turn to the gods, but I pray he's not the one who flipped. That would be...It would gut me," she said quietly, looking down at her shaky hands.
"Storr served with Kaz longer than I did," Jaya said, "but I can tell you from my interactions that his black and white view was quite situational. I do not think he would be a traitor to the Federation if that is any comfort. But when push comes to shove, I do not think there is much of anything he is not capable of." Jaya hugged her midsection against the chill that ran over her just thinking about the ruthless killers she'd known.
Ari kept looking at her hands as Jaya spoke. "I think that goes for anyone here. We would all, and have all gone to great lengths to protect each other and the Federation." She said in a hoarse tone and then finally looked over at her friend. "I guess that makes us all the same, hey? Ruthless killers?"
She knew without a shadow of a doubt, she would go to any length, save all out treachery for the Garlakes, for her family, for...her heart skipped a beat as she thought about the Hebron, Akiva.
"Gracious, no," Jaya said with a chuckle. "Storr has a higher body count than you, I'm sure, but he is far from ruthless. There is such love and zeal for life inside that man. He would never murder in cold blood, not like... the people we were talking about." There were a number of individuals whose names Jaya did not even like to speak aloud. Kaz was not pure evil but the twisted form a once beautiful soul had taken still made her cringe inside. "You are a beautiful person, Ari. Doing what you must does not mean you must enjoy it."
Body count perhaps, but what she had gotten people to do, and what she got out of people over the past decade in Intelligence, Ari was pretty sure she trumped both of them. Not that she could discuss it with Jaya. Most if it anyway. Her friend's clearance was just not high enough, and the situation was not nearly dire enough to breach confidentiality. Then the last words Jaya said hit her, as she looked down at her hands again, "I never said I enjoyed it. Just that I would do it. I can differentiate between duty and zeal. Between reality and and image." She trailed off, not really sure where she was going with that train of thought.
She blinked herself back to reality and looked over at Jaya, "sorry, I trailed off into the philosophical, when I really should have asked how my nephews and niece are. I hope they weren't hurt in your little rough and tumble?"
"No, their portable carrier saved their lives," Jaya said with a bout of thanksgiving. "I rather wonder why we don't have some adult sized ones, actually. You should come see them when we're done here." Her eyes rolled. "I'm sure Kevin will be ready for another feeding..."
Ari nodded, "I'll stop by after I've inducted Zharra. Need to do my due dilligence." She said with a smile and a sigh, "I miss being just an Intelligence Officer, I miss being IA. The one thing that's made being Assistant Admin bearable has been Akiva." She felt her cheeks flush. "Fuck..." Ari added with a sigh, "why does it feel wrong to feel this way?"
"If you want my professional opinion..." Jaya gave her a coy smirk of her lips before continuing. "Your professional training leveraged your personal insecurities, using them as assets to survive which means that you've never been challenged to overcome them. If anything, you have an incentive to lean into them." Her smirk faltered into a sad, sympathetic grimace. "But they keep you from accessing core feelings like love and acceptance, the things which bond you to another person. That can feel like a death sentence when it goes against your self-preservation instinct." That smirk returned again with a mischievous tinge. "Go for it, Ari. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain."
"Permission to be selfish, eh?" Ari smirked, looking over at Jaya. "Thank you for listening to my rants. It's been...interesting to say the least."
Jaya flashed a warm, supportive grin at Ari. "Always, my friend." She slid her hand over to give Ari's arm a gentle squeeze, her smile growing more contemplative. "Rant away any time. Life on the edge like this leaves you spinning, and if nothing else, I’ve got plenty of experience listening."
With that, Jaya added a playful, self-mocking shrug. "Between counseling, wrangling triplets, and trying to catch even a glimpse of Storr amidst all of this, let’s just say my ears are always at the ready.” She leaned in with an encouraging nod. "Besides, we deserve a little selfishness, don’t we?" Jaya leaned back, feeling the weight of her friend’s worries settle just enough to let in a glimmer of peace. "After everything... maybe a dash of selfishness is the only sane choice."
Ari nodded solemnly, placing her hand on Jaya's knee. "Welcome back to the jungle, Mrs. Garlake."
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