Lilly/Tay Backlash

||USS Fenris
||Readyroom
||TBD

Lillian was annoyed and judging with the fact she asked Marissa to leave and not him it was obvious he was the cause. All the signs where there and Taylor was wondering exactly what was ticking her off. Racking his brains it occured to him that the CIO may have actually gone to her with a complaint. Well, that was within her rights but not needed. He got the feeling it was simply because he had exercised his right to go anywhere he pleased without much care for her thought on the matter.

"Something wrong ma'am?" he asked, still professional.

||USS Fenris
||Readyroom
||TBD

Lillian was annoyed and judging with the fact she asked Marissa to leave and not him it was obvious he was the cause. All the signs where there and Taylor was wondering exactly what was ticking her off. Racking his brains it occured to him that the CIO may have actually gone to her with a complaint. Well, that was within her rights but not needed. He got the feeling it was simply because he had exercised his right to go anywhere he pleased without much care for her thought on the matter.

"Something wrong ma'am?" he asked, still professional.

Lillian took a deep breath and looked at him, shaking her head a little bit. "Do Marines and Intel officers always have to push each others' buttons? Is there like a manual I don't know about on how to make each other miserable?"

She had thought she would have a bit more tact here but honestly Marlena's words were still bothering her and she wanted to stop feeling so stressed out and trapped. She wanted to be with Sareth and cuddling him close and stroking his hair, she didn't want to be telling Taylor to back off of Intel and to leave Marlena alone. Hell, she hardly even knew what had happened between the two that day, but she could imagine.

"From what I've heard it seems you two are rather...I don't even have the word for it."

||USS Fenris
||Readyroom
||TBD

Lillian was annoyed and judging with the fact she asked Marissa to leave and not him it was obvious he was the cause. All the signs where there and Taylor was wondering exactly what was ticking her off. Racking his brains it occured to him that the CIO may have actually gone to her with a complaint. Well, that was within her rights but not needed. He got the feeling it was simply because he had exercised his right to go anywhere he pleased without much care for her thought on the matter.

"Something wrong ma'am?" he asked, still professional.

Lillian took a deep breath and looked at him, shaking her head a little bit. "Do Marines and Intel officers always have to push each others' buttons? Is there like a manual I don't know about on how to make each other miserable?"

She had thought she would have a bit more tact here but honestly Marlena's words were still bothering her and she wanted to stop feeling so stressed out and trapped. She wanted to be with Sareth and cuddling him close and stroking his hair, she didn't want to be telling Taylor to back off of Intel and to leave Marlena alone. Hell, she hardly even knew what had happened between the two that day, but she could imagine.

"From what I've heard it seems you two are rather...I don't even have the word for it."

A small weight of sadness actually clumped within Taylor's heart. Even though he knew that the captain had to enforce some form of disciple in her senior officers the fact that it was Lillian made it ten times as worse. Somehow whatever he thought about saying just seemed inadequate. Instead he just gave a stoic look and an inward sigh. This went beyond the typical distrust between the two departments. This was something else all together.

"Need I remind you that it was an intelligence officer that almost got me and my entire squad killed?" said Taylor in a low voice that almost sounded like a corpse being dragged over gravel. If she wanted to play captain he could play marine officer. "And I might also add that the CIO decided to make sexual advances against me, unwanted ones I might add. If that doesn't give me the right to be a little bit edgy then what exactly can? Besides I didn't go there to make trouble. I went there to get some lunch with Nayla. She's been stuck with low level reports since SFI has yet to clear her for the real job she's meant to be doing so I took it upon myself to cheer her up."

||USS Fenris
||Ready Room
||TBD

Lillian was annoyed and judging with the fact she asked Marissa to leave and not him it was obvious he was the cause. All the signs where there and Taylor was wondering exactly what was ticking her off. Racking his brains it occured to him that the CIO may have actually gone to her with a complaint. Well, that was within her rights but not needed. He got the feeling it was simply because he had exercised his right to go anywhere he pleased without much care for her thought on the matter.

"Something wrong ma'am?" he asked, still professional.

Lillian took a deep breath and looked at him, shaking her head a little bit. "Do Marines and Intel officers always have to push each others' buttons? Is there like a manual I don't know about on how to make each other miserable?"

She had thought she would have a bit more tact here but honestly Marlena's words were still bothering her and she wanted to stop feeling so stressed out and trapped. She wanted to be with Sareth and cuddling him close and stroking his hair, she didn't want to be telling Taylor to back off of Intel and to leave Marlena alone. Hell, she hardly even knew what had happened between the two that day, but she could imagine.

"From what I've heard it seems you two are rather...I don't even have the word for it."

A small weight of sadness actually clumped within Taylor's heart. Even though he knew that the captain had to enforce some form of disciple in her senior officers the fact that it was Lillian made it ten times as worse. Somehow whatever he thought about saying just seemed inadequate. Instead he just gave a stoic look and an inward sigh. This went beyond the typical distrust between the two departments. This was something else all together.

"Need I remind you that it was an intelligence officer that almost got me and my entire squad killed?" said Taylor in a low voice that almost sounded like a corpse being dragged over gravel. If she wanted to play captain he could play marine officer. "And I might also add that the CIO decided to make sexual advances against me, unwanted ones I might add. If that doesn't give me the right to be a little bit edgy then what exactly can? Besides I didn't go there to make trouble. I went there to get some lunch with Nayla. She's been stuck with low level reports since SFI has yet to clear her for the real job she's meant to be doing so I took it upon myself to cheer her up."

"I have no issues with you taking Nayla out to lunch," Lillian told him, shaking her head. "You also don't have to remind me about Lars so..."

Blowing her bangs out of her face she found a lump forming in her throat a bit of anger rise up as she heard about this 'sexual advances' thing and suddenly she just felt overwhelmed. For once though, not even frustrated or stressful tears formed in her eyes...no, instead she found herself chewing on her bottom lip, pain etched in her eyes. She could feel the pressure in her throat and for a moment her voice seemed strained but she made her way through her next selection of words.

"You happen to be a rather attractive man," Lillian began, sighing loudly. "She wants you to stay out of the Intel offices until she says otherwise so she can get some work done. By now I would hope that you know that I trust you and I really just...I'm really stressed out, Tay."

Just like that she was back to putting her head in her arms on her desk, shaking her head and trying to take deep breaths.

||USS Fenris
||Ready Room
||TBD

Lillian was annoyed and judging with the fact she asked Marissa to leave and not him it was obvious he was the cause. All the signs where there and Taylor was wondering exactly what was ticking her off. Racking his brains it occured to him that the CIO may have actually gone to her with a complaint. Well, that was within her rights but not needed. He got the feeling it was simply because he had exercised his right to go anywhere he pleased without much care for her thought on the matter.

"Something wrong ma'am?" he asked, still professional.

Lillian took a deep breath and looked at him, shaking her head a little bit. "Do Marines and Intel officers always have to push each others' buttons? Is there like a manual I don't know about on how to make each other miserable?"

She had thought she would have a bit more tact here but honestly Marlena's words were still bothering her and she wanted to stop feeling so stressed out and trapped. She wanted to be with Sareth and cuddling him close and stroking his hair, she didn't want to be telling Taylor to back off of Intel and to leave Marlena alone. Hell, she hardly even knew what had happened between the two that day, but she could imagine.

"From what I've heard it seems you two are rather...I don't even have the word for it."

A small weight of sadness actually clumped within Taylor's heart. Even though he knew that the captain had to enforce some form of disciple in her senior officers the fact that it was Lillian made it ten times as worse. Somehow whatever he thought about saying just seemed inadequate. Instead he just gave a stoic look and an inward sigh. This went beyond the typical distrust between the two departments. This was something else all together.

"Need I remind you that it was an intelligence officer that almost got me and my entire squad killed?" said Taylor in a low voice that almost sounded like a corpse being dragged over gravel. If she wanted to play captain he could play marine officer. "And I might also add that the CIO decided to make sexual advances against me, unwanted ones I might add. If that doesn't give me the right to be a little bit edgy then what exactly can? Besides I didn't go there to make trouble. I went there to get some lunch with Nayla. She's been stuck with low level reports since SFI has yet to clear her for the real job she's meant to be doing so I took it upon myself to cheer her up."

"I have no issues with you taking Nayla out to lunch," Lillian told him, shaking her head. "You also don't have to remind me about Lars so..."

Blowing her bangs out of her face she found a lump forming in her throat a bit of anger rise up as she heard about this 'sexual advances' thing and suddenly she just felt overwhelmed. For once though, not even frustrated or stressful tears formed in her eyes...no, instead she found herself chewing on her bottom lip, pain etched in her eyes. She could feel the pressure in her throat and for a moment her voice seemed strained but she made her way through her next selection of words.

"You happen to be a rather attractive man," Lillian began, sighing loudly. "She wants you to stay out of the Intel offices until she says otherwise so she can get some work done. By now I would hope that you know that I trust you and I really just...I'm really stressed out, Tay."

Just like that she was back to putting her head in her arms on her desk, shaking her head and trying to take deep breaths.

With something of a sad smile Taylor left his seat and walked behind Lillian. Anger he could take but Lillian being upset was something he learned to navigate with tender loving care. Obviously his tact still needed improving in social exchanges. Gently he gripped his lover's shoulders before massaging them, trying to work tension out of the muscle. "Well one of us has to look good." he teased as he worked his magic.

"Look I know you're stressed. The baby...the job...now this attack. I'm sorry love, you don't need me acting the fool. If you want I'll stay away from the Intel offices till she says so. God knows when she'll actually produce some results given she's Intelligence. Just tell me how to make it better...."

||USS Fenris
||Ready Room
||TBD

Lillian was annoyed and judging with the fact she asked Marissa to leave and not him it was obvious he was the cause. All the signs where there and Taylor was wondering exactly what was ticking her off. Racking his brains it occured to him that the CIO may have actually gone to her with a complaint. Well, that was within her rights but not needed. He got the feeling it was simply because he had exercised his right to go anywhere he pleased without much care for her thought on the matter.

"Something wrong ma'am?" he asked, still professional.

Lillian took a deep breath and looked at him, shaking her head a little bit. "Do Marines and Intel officers always have to push each others' buttons? Is there like a manual I don't know about on how to make each other miserable?"

She had thought she would have a bit more tact here but honestly Marlena's words were still bothering her and she wanted to stop feeling so stressed out and trapped. She wanted to be with Sareth and cuddling him close and stroking his hair, she didn't want to be telling Taylor to back off of Intel and to leave Marlena alone. Hell, she hardly even knew what had happened between the two that day, but she could imagine.

"From what I've heard it seems you two are rather...I don't even have the word for it."

A small weight of sadness actually clumped within Taylor's heart. Even though he knew that the captain had to enforce some form of disciple in her senior officers the fact that it was Lillian made it ten times as worse. Somehow whatever he thought about saying just seemed inadequate. Instead he just gave a stoic look and an inward sigh. This went beyond the typical distrust between the two departments. This was something else all together.

"Need I remind you that it was an intelligence officer that almost got me and my entire squad killed?" said Taylor in a low voice that almost sounded like a corpse being dragged over gravel. If she wanted to play captain he could play marine officer. "And I might also add that the CIO decided to make sexual advances against me, unwanted ones I might add. If that doesn't give me the right to be a little bit edgy then what exactly can? Besides I didn't go there to make trouble. I went there to get some lunch with Nayla. She's been stuck with low level reports since SFI has yet to clear her for the real job she's meant to be doing so I took it upon myself to cheer her up."

"I have no issues with you taking Nayla out to lunch," Lillian told him, shaking her head. "You also don't have to remind me about Lars so..."

Blowing her bangs out of her face she found a lump forming in her throat a bit of anger rise up as she heard about this 'sexual advances' thing and suddenly she just felt overwhelmed. For once though, not even frustrated or stressful tears formed in her eyes...no, instead she found herself chewing on her bottom lip, pain etched in her eyes. She could feel the pressure in her throat and for a moment her voice seemed strained but she made her way through her next selection of words.

"You happen to be a rather attractive man," Lillian began, sighing loudly. "She wants you to stay out of the Intel offices until she says otherwise so she can get some work done. By now I would hope that you know that I trust you and I really just...I'm really stressed out, Tay."

Just like that she was back to putting her head in her arms on her desk, shaking her head and trying to take deep breaths.

With something of a sad smile Taylor left his seat and walked behind Lillian. Anger he could take but Lillian being upset was something he learned to navigate with tender loving care. Obviously his tact still needed improving in social exchanges. Gently he gripped his lover's shoulders before massaging them, trying to work tension out of the muscle. "Well one of us has to look good." he teased as he worked his magic.

"Look I know you're stressed. The baby...the job...now this attack. I'm sorry love, you don't need me acting the fool. If you want I'll stay away from the Intel offices till she says so. God knows when she'll actually produce some results given she's Intelligence. Just tell me how to make it better..."

Lillian moaned gently at the massage, letting herself relax for the first moment since she had heard about Betazed, but relaxing brought the onslaught of emotions with it. Relaxing made her remember her father's message and tears came to her eyes again thinking about Sareth and thinking about how she had to de-stress--for the baby's sake. She wasn't helping anyone like this.

"Do you know how many times I've watched this?" Lillian asked Taylor as she turned on her console and brought up her father's message. "I just want to be with my little cub and with you, somewhere safe. That's all I want."

||USS Fenris
||Ready Room
||TBD

Lillian was annoyed and judging with the fact she asked Marissa to leave and not him it was obvious he was the cause. All the signs where there and Taylor was wondering exactly what was ticking her off. Racking his brains it occured to him that the CIO may have actually gone to her with a complaint. Well, that was within her rights but not needed. He got the feeling it was simply because he had exercised his right to go anywhere he pleased without much care for her thought on the matter.

"Something wrong ma'am?" he asked, still professional.

Lillian took a deep breath and looked at him, shaking her head a little bit. "Do Marines and Intel officers always have to push each others' buttons? Is there like a manual I don't know about on how to make each other miserable?"

She had thought she would have a bit more tact here but honestly Marlena's words were still bothering her and she wanted to stop feeling so stressed out and trapped. She wanted to be with Sareth and cuddling him close and stroking his hair, she didn't want to be telling Taylor to back off of Intel and to leave Marlena alone. Hell, she hardly even knew what had happened between the two that day, but she could imagine.

"From what I've heard it seems you two are rather...I don't even have the word for it."

A small weight of sadness actually clumped within Taylor's heart. Even though he knew that the captain had to enforce some form of disciple in her senior officers the fact that it was Lillian made it ten times as worse. Somehow whatever he thought about saying just seemed inadequate. Instead he just gave a stoic look and an inward sigh. This went beyond the typical distrust between the two departments. This was something else all together.

"Need I remind you that it was an intelligence officer that almost got me and my entire squad killed?" said Taylor in a low voice that almost sounded like a corpse being dragged over gravel. If she wanted to play captain he could play marine officer. "And I might also add that the CIO decided to make sexual advances against me, unwanted ones I might add. If that doesn't give me the right to be a little bit edgy then what exactly can? Besides I didn't go there to make trouble. I went there to get some lunch with Nayla. She's been stuck with low level reports since SFI has yet to clear her for the real job she's meant to be doing so I took it upon myself to cheer her up."

"I have no issues with you taking Nayla out to lunch," Lillian told him, shaking her head. "You also don't have to remind me about Lars so..."

Blowing her bangs out of her face she found a lump forming in her throat a bit of anger rise up as she heard about this 'sexual advances' thing and suddenly she just felt overwhelmed. For once though, not even frustrated or stressful tears formed in her eyes...no, instead she found herself chewing on her bottom lip, pain etched in her eyes. She could feel the pressure in her throat and for a moment her voice seemed strained but she made her way through her next selection of words.

"You happen to be a rather attractive man," Lillian began, sighing loudly. "She wants you to stay out of the Intel offices until she says otherwise so she can get some work done. By now I would hope that you know that I trust you and I really just...I'm really stressed out, Tay."

Just like that she was back to putting her head in her arms on her desk, shaking her head and trying to take deep breaths.

With something of a sad smile Taylor left his seat and walked behind Lillian. Anger he could take but Lillian being upset was something he learned to navigate with tender loving care. Obviously his tact still needed improving in social exchanges. Gently he gripped his lover's shoulders before massaging them, trying to work tension out of the muscle. "Well one of us has to look good." he teased as he worked his magic.

"Look I know you're stressed. The baby...the job...now this attack. I'm sorry love, you don't need me acting the fool. If you want I'll stay away from the Intel offices till she says so. God knows when she'll actually produce some results given she's Intelligence. Just tell me how to make it better..."

Lillian moaned gently at the massage, letting herself relax for the first moment since she had heard about Betazed, but relaxing brought the onslaught of emotions with it. Relaxing made her remember her father's message and tears came to her eyes again thinking about Sareth and thinking about how she had to de-stress--for the baby's sake. She wasn't helping anyone like this.

"Do you know how many times I've watched this?" Lillian asked Taylor as she turned on her console and brought up her father's message. "I just want to be with my little cub and with you, somewhere safe. That's all I want."

Taylor looked at the message briefly before turning his eyes back on his wife-to-be. "As much as I don't want to say it....as long as we're in Starfleet we will never be safe. This job isn't designed to be safe as much as we wish it was. We'll get to Betazed, we'll help and we'll have Sareth with us again. There isn't much we can do if we let the situation get the better of us. Lillian...you're in command. We need you...I need you."

||USS Fenris
||Ready Room
||TBD


Lillian was annoyed and judging with the fact she asked Marissa to leave and not him it was obvious he was the cause. All the signs where there and Taylor was wondering exactly what was ticking her off. Racking his brains it occured to him that the CIO may have actually gone to her with a complaint. Well, that was within her rights but not needed. He got the feeling it was simply because he had exercised his right to go anywhere he pleased without much care for her thought on the matter.

"Something wrong ma'am?" he asked, still professional.

Lillian took a deep breath and looked at him, shaking her head a little bit. "Do Marines and Intel officers always have to push each others' buttons? Is there like a manual I don't know about on how to make each other miserable?"

She had thought she would have a bit more tact here but honestly Marlena's words were still bothering her and she wanted to stop feeling so stressed out and trapped. She wanted to be with Sareth and cuddling him close and stroking his hair, she didn't want to be telling Taylor to back off of Intel and to leave Marlena alone. Hell, she hardly even knew what had happened between the two that day, but she could imagine.

"From what I've heard it seems you two are rather...I don't even have the word for it."

A small weight of sadness actually clumped within Taylor's heart. Even though he knew that the captain had to enforce some form of disciple in her senior officers the fact that it was Lillian made it ten times as worse. Somehow whatever he thought about saying just seemed inadequate. Instead he just gave a stoic look and an inward sigh. This went beyond the typical distrust between the two departments. This was something else all together.

"Need I remind you that it was an intelligence officer that almost got me and my entire squad killed?" said Taylor in a low voice that almost sounded like a corpse being dragged over gravel. If she wanted to play captain he could play marine officer. "And I might also add that the CIO decided to make sexual advances against me, unwanted ones I might add. If that doesn't give me the right to be a little bit edgy then what exactly can? Besides I didn't go there to make trouble. I went there to get some lunch with Nayla. She's been stuck with low level reports since SFI has yet to clear her for the real job she's meant to be doing so I took it upon myself to cheer her up."

"I have no issues with you taking Nayla out to lunch," Lillian told him, shaking her head. "You also don't have to remind me about Lars so..."

Blowing her bangs out of her face she found a lump forming in her throat a bit of anger rise up as she heard about this 'sexual advances' thing and suddenly she just felt overwhelmed. For once though, not even frustrated or stressful tears formed in her eyes...no, instead she found herself chewing on her bottom lip, pain etched in her eyes. She could feel the pressure in her throat and for a moment her voice seemed strained but she made her way through her next selection of words.

"You happen to be a rather attractive man," Lillian began, sighing loudly. "She wants you to stay out of the Intel offices until she says otherwise so she can get some work done. By now I would hope that you know that I trust you and I really just...I'm really stressed out, Tay."

Just like that she was back to putting her head in her arms on her desk, shaking her head and trying to take deep breaths.

With something of a sad smile Taylor left his seat and walked behind Lillian. Anger he could take but Lillian being upset was something he learned to navigate with tender loving care. Obviously his tact still needed improving in social exchanges. Gently he gripped his lover's shoulders before massaging them, trying to work tension out of the muscle. "Well one of us has to look good." he teased as he worked his magic.

"Look I know you're stressed. The baby...the job...now this attack. I'm sorry love, you don't need me acting the fool. If you want I'll stay away from the Intel offices till she says so. God knows when she'll actually produce some results given she's Intelligence. Just tell me how to make it better..."

Lillian moaned gently at the massage, letting herself relax for the first moment since she had heard about Betazed, but relaxing brought the onslaught of emotions with it. Relaxing made her remember her father's message and tears came to her eyes again thinking about Sareth and thinking about how she had to de-stress--for the baby's sake. She wasn't helping anyone like this.

"Do you know how many times I've watched this?" Lillian asked Taylor as she turned on her console and brought up her father's message. "I just want to be with my little cub and with you, somewhere safe. That's all I want."

Taylor looked at the message briefly before turning his eyes back on his wife-to-be. "As much as I don't want to say it...as long as we're in Starfleet we will never be safe. This job isn't designed to be safe as much as we wish it was. We'll get to Betazed, we'll help and we'll have Sareth with us again. There isn't much we can do if we let the situation get the better of us. Lillian...you're in command. We need you...I need you."

"I know I'm in command," Lillian said softly, nodding, taking in all of his other words.

He had a point about Starfleet and while she didn't want to believe him about that subject she knew that he was right and it made her whole face sadden a bit. She'd lost Salyn on assignment and it seemed that every time something seemed to be simple something terrible happened and people got hurt. So 'safe' seemed to be a rather delusional state of mind.

"I need you too, Tay...so much," she managed, turning around in her chair and looking up at him as she took his hands, other thoughts starting to come to her mind. "Do women hit on you a lot?"

||USS Fenris
||Ready Room
||TBD


Lillian was annoyed and judging with the fact she asked Marissa to leave and not him it was obvious he was the cause. All the signs where there and Taylor was wondering exactly what was ticking her off. Racking his brains it occured to him that the CIO may have actually gone to her with a complaint. Well, that was within her rights but not needed. He got the feeling it was simply because he had exercised his right to go anywhere he pleased without much care for her thought on the matter.

"Something wrong ma'am?" he asked, still professional.

Lillian took a deep breath and looked at him, shaking her head a little bit. "Do Marines and Intel officers always have to push each others' buttons? Is there like a manual I don't know about on how to make each other miserable?"

She had thought she would have a bit more tact here but honestly Marlena's words were still bothering her and she wanted to stop feeling so stressed out and trapped. She wanted to be with Sareth and cuddling him close and stroking his hair, she didn't want to be telling Taylor to back off of Intel and to leave Marlena alone. Hell, she hardly even knew what had happened between the two that day, but she could imagine.

"From what I've heard it seems you two are rather...I don't even have the word for it."

A small weight of sadness actually clumped within Taylor's heart. Even though he knew that the captain had to enforce some form of disciple in her senior officers the fact that it was Lillian made it ten times as worse. Somehow whatever he thought about saying just seemed inadequate. Instead he just gave a stoic look and an inward sigh. This went beyond the typical distrust between the two departments. This was something else all together.

"Need I remind you that it was an intelligence officer that almost got me and my entire squad killed?" said Taylor in a low voice that almost sounded like a corpse being dragged over gravel. If she wanted to play captain he could play marine officer. "And I might also add that the CIO decided to make sexual advances against me, unwanted ones I might add. If that doesn't give me the right to be a little bit edgy then what exactly can? Besides I didn't go there to make trouble. I went there to get some lunch with Nayla. She's been stuck with low level reports since SFI has yet to clear her for the real job she's meant to be doing so I took it upon myself to cheer her up."

"I have no issues with you taking Nayla out to lunch," Lillian told him, shaking her head. "You also don't have to remind me about Lars so..."

Blowing her bangs out of her face she found a lump forming in her throat a bit of anger rise up as she heard about this 'sexual advances' thing and suddenly she just felt overwhelmed. For once though, not even frustrated or stressful tears formed in her eyes...no, instead she found herself chewing on her bottom lip, pain etched in her eyes. She could feel the pressure in her throat and for a moment her voice seemed strained but she made her way through her next selection of words.

"You happen to be a rather attractive man," Lillian began, sighing loudly. "She wants you to stay out of the Intel offices until she says otherwise so she can get some work done. By now I would hope that you know that I trust you and I really just...I'm really stressed out, Tay."

Just like that she was back to putting her head in her arms on her desk, shaking her head and trying to take deep breaths.

With something of a sad smile Taylor left his seat and walked behind Lillian. Anger he could take but Lillian being upset was something he learned to navigate with tender loving care. Obviously his tact still needed improving in social exchanges. Gently he gripped his lover's shoulders before massaging them, trying to work tension out of the muscle. "Well one of us has to look good." he teased as he worked his magic.

"Look I know you're stressed. The baby...the job...now this attack. I'm sorry love, you don't need me acting the fool. If you want I'll stay away from the Intel offices till she says so. God knows when she'll actually produce some results given she's Intelligence. Just tell me how to make it better..."

Lillian moaned gently at the massage, letting herself relax for the first moment since she had heard about Betazed, but relaxing brought the onslaught of emotions with it. Relaxing made her remember her father's message and tears came to her eyes again thinking about Sareth and thinking about how she had to de-stress--for the baby's sake. She wasn't helping anyone like this.

"Do you know how many times I've watched this?" Lillian asked Taylor as she turned on her console and brought up her father's message. "I just want to be with my little cub and with you, somewhere safe. That's all I want."

Taylor looked at the message briefly before turning his eyes back on his wife-to-be. "As much as I don't want to say it...as long as we're in Starfleet we will never be safe. This job isn't designed to be safe as much as we wish it was. We'll get to Betazed, we'll help and we'll have Sareth with us again. There isn't much we can do if we let the situation get the better of us. Lillian...you're in command. We need you...I need you."

"I know I'm in command," Lillian said softly, nodding, taking in all of his other words.

He had a point about Starfleet and while she didn't want to believe him about that subject she knew that he was right and it made her whole face sadden a bit. She'd lost Salyn on assignment and it seemed that every time something seemed to be simple something terrible happened and people got hurt. So 'safe' seemed to be a rather delusional state of mind.

"I need you too, Tay...so much," she managed, turning around in her chair and looking up at him as she took his hands, other thoughts starting to come to her mind. "Do women hit on you a lot?"

The question had taken the marine aback since it wasn't one he'd be expected to answer. Every time a woman decided to make a move Taylor would just decline and wipe it from his mind so it wasn't like he had a number to work with. After some thought and brain racking he just shook his head and shrugged. "Not really, no. Kind of a blue moon occurrence. Why, do men hit on you a lot?" he countered with his usual playful smile.

He pulled her up from the chair and into his arms, caressing the baby bump through Lillian's duty jacket with a smile. "You are the only woman for me alright? Didn't get through all we've been through to fool around."

||USS Fenris
||Ready Room
||TBD


Lillian was annoyed and judging with the fact she asked Marissa to leave and not him it was obvious he was the cause. All the signs where there and Taylor was wondering exactly what was ticking her off. Racking his brains it occured to him that the CIO may have actually gone to her with a complaint. Well, that was within her rights but not needed. He got the feeling it was simply because he had exercised his right to go anywhere he pleased without much care for her thought on the matter.

"Something wrong ma'am?" he asked, still professional.

Lillian took a deep breath and looked at him, shaking her head a little bit. "Do Marines and Intel officers always have to push each others' buttons? Is there like a manual I don't know about on how to make each other miserable?"

She had thought she would have a bit more tact here but honestly Marlena's words were still bothering her and she wanted to stop feeling so stressed out and trapped. She wanted to be with Sareth and cuddling him close and stroking his hair, she didn't want to be telling Taylor to back off of Intel and to leave Marlena alone. Hell, she hardly even knew what had happened between the two that day, but she could imagine.

"From what I've heard it seems you two are rather...I don't even have the word for it."

A small weight of sadness actually clumped within Taylor's heart. Even though he knew that the captain had to enforce some form of disciple in her senior officers the fact that it was Lillian made it ten times as worse. Somehow whatever he thought about saying just seemed inadequate. Instead he just gave a stoic look and an inward sigh. This went beyond the typical distrust between the two departments. This was something else all together.

"Need I remind you that it was an intelligence officer that almost got me and my entire squad killed?" said Taylor in a low voice that almost sounded like a corpse being dragged over gravel. If she wanted to play captain he could play marine officer. "And I might also add that the CIO decided to make sexual advances against me, unwanted ones I might add. If that doesn't give me the right to be a little bit edgy then what exactly can? Besides I didn't go there to make trouble. I went there to get some lunch with Nayla. She's been stuck with low level reports since SFI has yet to clear her for the real job she's meant to be doing so I took it upon myself to cheer her up."

"I have no issues with you taking Nayla out to lunch," Lillian told him, shaking her head. "You also don't have to remind me about Lars so..."

Blowing her bangs out of her face she found a lump forming in her throat a bit of anger rise up as she heard about this 'sexual advances' thing and suddenly she just felt overwhelmed. For once though, not even frustrated or stressful tears formed in her eyes...no, instead she found herself chewing on her bottom lip, pain etched in her eyes. She could feel the pressure in her throat and for a moment her voice seemed strained but she made her way through her next selection of words.

"You happen to be a rather attractive man," Lillian began, sighing loudly. "She wants you to stay out of the Intel offices until she says otherwise so she can get some work done. By now I would hope that you know that I trust you and I really just...I'm really stressed out, Tay."

Just like that she was back to putting her head in her arms on her desk, shaking her head and trying to take deep breaths.

With something of a sad smile Taylor left his seat and walked behind Lillian. Anger he could take but Lillian being upset was something he learned to navigate with tender loving care. Obviously his tact still needed improving in social exchanges. Gently he gripped his lover's shoulders before massaging them, trying to work tension out of the muscle. "Well one of us has to look good." he teased as he worked his magic.

"Look I know you're stressed. The baby...the job...now this attack. I'm sorry love, you don't need me acting the fool. If you want I'll stay away from the Intel offices till she says so. God knows when she'll actually produce some results given she's Intelligence. Just tell me how to make it better..."

Lillian moaned gently at the massage, letting herself relax for the first moment since she had heard about Betazed, but relaxing brought the onslaught of emotions with it. Relaxing made her remember her father's message and tears came to her eyes again thinking about Sareth and thinking about how she had to de-stress--for the baby's sake. She wasn't helping anyone like this.

"Do you know how many times I've watched this?" Lillian asked Taylor as she turned on her console and brought up her father's message. "I just want to be with my little cub and with you, somewhere safe. That's all I want."

Taylor looked at the message briefly before turning his eyes back on his wife-to-be. "As much as I don't want to say it...as long as we're in Starfleet we will never be safe. This job isn't designed to be safe as much as we wish it was. We'll get to Betazed, we'll help and we'll have Sareth with us again. There isn't much we can do if we let the situation get the better of us. Lillian...you're in command. We need you...I need you."

"I know I'm in command," Lillian said softly, nodding, taking in all of his other words.

He had a point about Starfleet and while she didn't want to believe him about that subject she knew that he was right and it made her whole face sadden a bit. She'd lost Salyn on assignment and it seemed that every time something seemed to be simple something terrible happened and people got hurt. So 'safe' seemed to be a rather delusional state of mind.

"I need you too, Tay...so much," she managed, turning around in her chair and looking up at him as she took his hands, other thoughts starting to come to her mind. "Do women hit on you a lot?"

The question had taken the marine aback since it wasn't one he'd be expected to answer. Every time a woman decided to make a move Taylor would just decline and wipe it from his mind so it wasn't like he had a number to work with. After some thought and brain racking he just shook his head and shrugged. "Not really, no. Kind of a blue moon occurrence. Why, do men hit on you a lot?" he countered with his usual playful smile.

He pulled her up from the chair and into his arms, caressing the baby bump through Lillian's duty jacket with a smile. "You are the only woman for me alright? Didn't get through all we've been through to fool around."

"Well, I wouldn't say a lot," Lillian teased, kissing him gently. "I trust you, okay? I'm not worried about you fooling around and you shouldn't be worried about me leaving, ever. Part of me is just...a little jealous. Did she manhandle you? Was it just flirting? Everyone on this ship knows I'm having your baby, so color me curious. I know that my main focus right now is Betazed--and trust me it is Betazed and Sareth--but I'm gonna be dwelling on this too now. Especially considering how much more attractive she is than me. I mean wouldn't you go for it if I wasn't around?"

||USS Fenris
||Ready Room
||TBD


Lillian was annoyed and judging with the fact she asked Marissa to leave and not him it was obvious he was the cause. All the signs where there and Taylor was wondering exactly what was ticking her off. Racking his brains it occured to him that the CIO may have actually gone to her with a complaint. Well, that was within her rights but not needed. He got the feeling it was simply because he had exercised his right to go anywhere he pleased without much care for her thought on the matter.

"Something wrong ma'am?" he asked, still professional.

Lillian took a deep breath and looked at him, shaking her head a little bit. "Do Marines and Intel officers always have to push each others' buttons? Is there like a manual I don't know about on how to make each other miserable?"

She had thought she would have a bit more tact here but honestly Marlena's words were still bothering her and she wanted to stop feeling so stressed out and trapped. She wanted to be with Sareth and cuddling him close and stroking his hair, she didn't want to be telling Taylor to back off of Intel and to leave Marlena alone. Hell, she hardly even knew what had happened between the two that day, but she could imagine.

"From what I've heard it seems you two are rather...I don't even have the word for it."

A small weight of sadness actually clumped within Taylor's heart. Even though he knew that the captain had to enforce some form of disciple in her senior officers the fact that it was Lillian made it ten times as worse. Somehow whatever he thought about saying just seemed inadequate. Instead he just gave a stoic look and an inward sigh. This went beyond the typical distrust between the two departments. This was something else all together.

"Need I remind you that it was an intelligence officer that almost got me and my entire squad killed?" said Taylor in a low voice that almost sounded like a corpse being dragged over gravel. If she wanted to play captain he could play marine officer. "And I might also add that the CIO decided to make sexual advances against me, unwanted ones I might add. If that doesn't give me the right to be a little bit edgy then what exactly can? Besides I didn't go there to make trouble. I went there to get some lunch with Nayla. She's been stuck with low level reports since SFI has yet to clear her for the real job she's meant to be doing so I took it upon myself to cheer her up."

"I have no issues with you taking Nayla out to lunch," Lillian told him, shaking her head. "You also don't have to remind me about Lars so..."

Blowing her bangs out of her face she found a lump forming in her throat a bit of anger rise up as she heard about this 'sexual advances' thing and suddenly she just felt overwhelmed. For once though, not even frustrated or stressful tears formed in her eyes...no, instead she found herself chewing on her bottom lip, pain etched in her eyes. She could feel the pressure in her throat and for a moment her voice seemed strained but she made her way through her next selection of words.

"You happen to be a rather attractive man," Lillian began, sighing loudly. "She wants you to stay out of the Intel offices until she says otherwise so she can get some work done. By now I would hope that you know that I trust you and I really just...I'm really stressed out, Tay."

Just like that she was back to putting her head in her arms on her desk, shaking her head and trying to take deep breaths.

With something of a sad smile Taylor left his seat and walked behind Lillian. Anger he could take but Lillian being upset was something he learned to navigate with tender loving care. Obviously his tact still needed improving in social exchanges. Gently he gripped his lover's shoulders before massaging them, trying to work tension out of the muscle. "Well one of us has to look good." he teased as he worked his magic.

"Look I know you're stressed. The baby...the job...now this attack. I'm sorry love, you don't need me acting the fool. If you want I'll stay away from the Intel offices till she says so. God knows when she'll actually produce some results given she's Intelligence. Just tell me how to make it better..."

Lillian moaned gently at the massage, letting herself relax for the first moment since she had heard about Betazed, but relaxing brought the onslaught of emotions with it. Relaxing made her remember her father's message and tears came to her eyes again thinking about Sareth and thinking about how she had to de-stress--for the baby's sake. She wasn't helping anyone like this.

"Do you know how many times I've watched this?" Lillian asked Taylor as she turned on her console and brought up her father's message. "I just want to be with my little cub and with you, somewhere safe. That's all I want."

Taylor looked at the message briefly before turning his eyes back on his wife-to-be. "As much as I don't want to say it...as long as we're in Starfleet we will never be safe. This job isn't designed to be safe as much as we wish it was. We'll get to Betazed, we'll help and we'll have Sareth with us again. There isn't much we can do if we let the situation get the better of us. Lillian...you're in command. We need you...I need you."

"I know I'm in command," Lillian said softly, nodding, taking in all of his other words.

He had a point about Starfleet and while she didn't want to believe him about that subject she knew that he was right and it made her whole face sadden a bit. She'd lost Salyn on assignment and it seemed that every time something seemed to be simple something terrible happened and people got hurt. So 'safe' seemed to be a rather delusional state of mind.

"I need you too, Tay...so much," she managed, turning around in her chair and looking up at him as she took his hands, other thoughts starting to come to her mind. "Do women hit on you a lot?"

The question had taken the marine aback since it wasn't one he'd be expected to answer. Every time a woman decided to make a move Taylor would just decline and wipe it from his mind so it wasn't like he had a number to work with. After some thought and brain racking he just shook his head and shrugged. "Not really, no. Kind of a blue moon occurrence. Why, do men hit on you a lot?" he countered with his usual playful smile.

He pulled her up from the chair and into his arms, caressing the baby bump through Lillian's duty jacket with a smile. "You are the only woman for me alright? Didn't get through all we've been through to fool around."

"Well, I wouldn't say a lot," Lillian teased, kissing him gently. "I trust you, okay? I'm not worried about you fooling around and you shouldn't be worried about me leaving, ever. Part of me is just...a little jealous. Did she manhandle you? Was it just flirting? Everyone on this ship knows I'm having your baby, so color me curious. I know that my main focus right now is Betazed--and trust me it is Betazed and Sareth--but I'm gonna be dwelling on this too now. Especially considering how much more attractive she is than me. I mean wouldn't you go for it if I wasn't around?"

"She's not my type." said Taylor adamantly, kissing Lillian back. "Besides you're all the beauty I need in a woman. You're strong, courageous, thoughtful...the great body of yours just happens to be a bonus." He smiled at her and wondered if it would be best to tell Lillian or remain tactful. No this was one of these situations where any answer was the wrong one so he'd best be honest anyway.

"She grabbed my ass...flirted I think. I think you're CIO is a bit too sickly sweet for my tastes."

||USS Fenris
||Ready Room
||TBD


Lillian was annoyed and judging with the fact she asked Marissa to leave and not him it was obvious he was the cause. All the signs where there and Taylor was wondering exactly what was ticking her off. Racking his brains it occured to him that the CIO may have actually gone to her with a complaint. Well, that was within her rights but not needed. He got the feeling it was simply because he had exercised his right to go anywhere he pleased without much care for her thought on the matter.

"Something wrong ma'am?" he asked, still professional.

Lillian took a deep breath and looked at him, shaking her head a little bit. "Do Marines and Intel officers always have to push each others' buttons? Is there like a manual I don't know about on how to make each other miserable?"

She had thought she would have a bit more tact here but honestly Marlena's words were still bothering her and she wanted to stop feeling so stressed out and trapped. She wanted to be with Sareth and cuddling him close and stroking his hair, she didn't want to be telling Taylor to back off of Intel and to leave Marlena alone. Hell, she hardly even knew what had happened between the two that day, but she could imagine.

"From what I've heard it seems you two are rather...I don't even have the word for it."

A small weight of sadness actually clumped within Taylor's heart. Even though he knew that the captain had to enforce some form of disciple in her senior officers the fact that it was Lillian made it ten times as worse. Somehow whatever he thought about saying just seemed inadequate. Instead he just gave a stoic look and an inward sigh. This went beyond the typical distrust between the two departments. This was something else all together.

"Need I remind you that it was an intelligence officer that almost got me and my entire squad killed?" said Taylor in a low voice that almost sounded like a corpse being dragged over gravel. If she wanted to play captain he could play marine officer. "And I might also add that the CIO decided to make sexual advances against me, unwanted ones I might add. If that doesn't give me the right to be a little bit edgy then what exactly can? Besides I didn't go there to make trouble. I went there to get some lunch with Nayla. She's been stuck with low level reports since SFI has yet to clear her for the real job she's meant to be doing so I took it upon myself to cheer her up."

"I have no issues with you taking Nayla out to lunch," Lillian told him, shaking her head. "You also don't have to remind me about Lars so..."

Blowing her bangs out of her face she found a lump forming in her throat a bit of anger rise up as she heard about this 'sexual advances' thing and suddenly she just felt overwhelmed. For once though, not even frustrated or stressful tears formed in her eyes...no, instead she found herself chewing on her bottom lip, pain etched in her eyes. She could feel the pressure in her throat and for a moment her voice seemed strained but she made her way through her next selection of words.

"You happen to be a rather attractive man," Lillian began, sighing loudly. "She wants you to stay out of the Intel offices until she says otherwise so she can get some work done. By now I would hope that you know that I trust you and I really just...I'm really stressed out, Tay."

Just like that she was back to putting her head in her arms on her desk, shaking her head and trying to take deep breaths.

With something of a sad smile Taylor left his seat and walked behind Lillian. Anger he could take but Lillian being upset was something he learned to navigate with tender loving care. Obviously his tact still needed improving in social exchanges. Gently he gripped his lover's shoulders before massaging them, trying to work tension out of the muscle. "Well one of us has to look good." he teased as he worked his magic.

"Look I know you're stressed. The baby...the job...now this attack. I'm sorry love, you don't need me acting the fool. If you want I'll stay away from the Intel offices till she says so. God knows when she'll actually produce some results given she's Intelligence. Just tell me how to make it better..."

Lillian moaned gently at the massage, letting herself relax for the first moment since she had heard about Betazed, but relaxing brought the onslaught of emotions with it. Relaxing made her remember her father's message and tears came to her eyes again thinking about Sareth and thinking about how she had to de-stress--for the baby's sake. She wasn't helping anyone like this.

"Do you know how many times I've watched this?" Lillian asked Taylor as she turned on her console and brought up her father's message. "I just want to be with my little cub and with you, somewhere safe. That's all I want."

Taylor looked at the message briefly before turning his eyes back on his wife-to-be. "As much as I don't want to say it...as long as we're in Starfleet we will never be safe. This job isn't designed to be safe as much as we wish it was. We'll get to Betazed, we'll help and we'll have Sareth with us again. There isn't much we can do if we let the situation get the better of us. Lillian...you're in command. We need you...I need you."

"I know I'm in command," Lillian said softly, nodding, taking in all of his other words.

He had a point about Starfleet and while she didn't want to believe him about that subject she knew that he was right and it made her whole face sadden a bit. She'd lost Salyn on assignment and it seemed that every time something seemed to be simple something terrible happened and people got hurt. So 'safe' seemed to be a rather delusional state of mind.

"I need you too, Tay...so much," she managed, turning around in her chair and looking up at him as she took his hands, other thoughts starting to come to her mind. "Do women hit on you a lot?"

The question had taken the marine aback since it wasn't one he'd be expected to answer. Every time a woman decided to make a move Taylor would just decline and wipe it from his mind so it wasn't like he had a number to work with. After some thought and brain racking he just shook his head and shrugged. "Not really, no. Kind of a blue moon occurrence. Why, do men hit on you a lot?" he countered with his usual playful smile.

He pulled her up from the chair and into his arms, caressing the baby bump through Lillian's duty jacket with a smile. "You are the only woman for me alright? Didn't get through all we've been through to fool around."

"Well, I wouldn't say a lot," Lillian teased, kissing him gently. "I trust you, okay? I'm not worried about you fooling around and you shouldn't be worried about me leaving, ever. Part of me is just...a little jealous. Did she manhandle you? Was it just flirting? Everyone on this ship knows I'm having your baby, so color me curious. I know that my main focus right now is Betazed--and trust me it is Betazed and Sareth--but I'm gonna be dwelling on this too now. Especially considering how much more attractive she is than me. I mean wouldn't you go for it if I wasn't around?"

"She's not my type." said Taylor adamantly, kissing Lillian back. "Besides you're all the beauty I need in a woman. You're strong, courageous, thoughtful...the great body of yours just happens to be a bonus." He smiled at her and wondered if it would be best to tell Lillian or remain tactful. No this was one of these situations where any answer was the wrong one so he'd best be honest anyway.

"She grabbed my ass...flirted I think. I think you're CIO is a bit too sickly sweet for my tastes."

"How is it possible for you to be just as romantic--if not more so--than you were when we met?" Lillian asked with a smile, kissing him tenderly until her answer came to her.

Grabbed his ass?! That was just not okay! Not at all!While she understood why a woman would approach Taylor and try to make a move, Marlena had gotten incredibly handsy with her outranking MCO whom she knew was dating the captain and then gone to Lillian and demanded that Taylor stay out of her offices. While Lillian understood that, she didn't understand the flirting part--why flirt with him if she was just going to start blaming things on him?

"She did what?" Lillian asked him, pulling back a moment. "While I understand her being distracted and frustrated with your hatred of Intel officers, under no circumstances is it alright for her to be touching my things."

||USS Fenris
||Ready Room
||TBD


Lillian was annoyed and judging with the fact she asked Marissa to leave and not him it was obvious he was the cause. All the signs where there and Taylor was wondering exactly what was ticking her off. Racking his brains it occured to him that the CIO may have actually gone to her with a complaint. Well, that was within her rights but not needed. He got the feeling it was simply because he had exercised his right to go anywhere he pleased without much care for her thought on the matter.

"Something wrong ma'am?" he asked, still professional.

Lillian took a deep breath and looked at him, shaking her head a little bit. "Do Marines and Intel officers always have to push each others' buttons? Is there like a manual I don't know about on how to make each other miserable?"

She had thought she would have a bit more tact here but honestly Marlena's words were still bothering her and she wanted to stop feeling so stressed out and trapped. She wanted to be with Sareth and cuddling him close and stroking his hair, she didn't want to be telling Taylor to back off of Intel and to leave Marlena alone. Hell, she hardly even knew what had happened between the two that day, but she could imagine.

"From what I've heard it seems you two are rather...I don't even have the word for it."

A small weight of sadness actually clumped within Taylor's heart. Even though he knew that the captain had to enforce some form of disciple in her senior officers the fact that it was Lillian made it ten times as worse. Somehow whatever he thought about saying just seemed inadequate. Instead he just gave a stoic look and an inward sigh. This went beyond the typical distrust between the two departments. This was something else all together.

"Need I remind you that it was an intelligence officer that almost got me and my entire squad killed?" said Taylor in a low voice that almost sounded like a corpse being dragged over gravel. If she wanted to play captain he could play marine officer. "And I might also add that the CIO decided to make sexual advances against me, unwanted ones I might add. If that doesn't give me the right to be a little bit edgy then what exactly can? Besides I didn't go there to make trouble. I went there to get some lunch with Nayla. She's been stuck with low level reports since SFI has yet to clear her for the real job she's meant to be doing so I took it upon myself to cheer her up."

"I have no issues with you taking Nayla out to lunch," Lillian told him, shaking her head. "You also don't have to remind me about Lars so..."

Blowing her bangs out of her face she found a lump forming in her throat a bit of anger rise up as she heard about this 'sexual advances' thing and suddenly she just felt overwhelmed. For once though, not even frustrated or stressful tears formed in her eyes...no, instead she found herself chewing on her bottom lip, pain etched in her eyes. She could feel the pressure in her throat and for a moment her voice seemed strained but she made her way through her next selection of words.

"You happen to be a rather attractive man," Lillian began, sighing loudly. "She wants you to stay out of the Intel offices until she says otherwise so she can get some work done. By now I would hope that you know that I trust you and I really just...I'm really stressed out, Tay."

Just like that she was back to putting her head in her arms on her desk, shaking her head and trying to take deep breaths.

With something of a sad smile Taylor left his seat and walked behind Lillian. Anger he could take but Lillian being upset was something he learned to navigate with tender loving care. Obviously his tact still needed improving in social exchanges. Gently he gripped his lover's shoulders before massaging them, trying to work tension out of the muscle. "Well one of us has to look good." he teased as he worked his magic.

"Look I know you're stressed. The baby...the job...now this attack. I'm sorry love, you don't need me acting the fool. If you want I'll stay away from the Intel offices till she says so. God knows when she'll actually produce some results given she's Intelligence. Just tell me how to make it better..."

Lillian moaned gently at the massage, letting herself relax for the first moment since she had heard about Betazed, but relaxing brought the onslaught of emotions with it. Relaxing made her remember her father's message and tears came to her eyes again thinking about Sareth and thinking about how she had to de-stress--for the baby's sake. She wasn't helping anyone like this.

"Do you know how many times I've watched this?" Lillian asked Taylor as she turned on her console and brought up her father's message. "I just want to be with my little cub and with you, somewhere safe. That's all I want."

Taylor looked at the message briefly before turning his eyes back on his wife-to-be. "As much as I don't want to say it...as long as we're in Starfleet we will never be safe. This job isn't designed to be safe as much as we wish it was. We'll get to Betazed, we'll help and we'll have Sareth with us again. There isn't much we can do if we let the situation get the better of us. Lillian...you're in command. We need you...I need you."

"I know I'm in command," Lillian said softly, nodding, taking in all of his other words.

He had a point about Starfleet and while she didn't want to believe him about that subject she knew that he was right and it made her whole face sadden a bit. She'd lost Salyn on assignment and it seemed that every time something seemed to be simple something terrible happened and people got hurt. So 'safe' seemed to be a rather delusional state of mind.

"I need you too, Tay...so much," she managed, turning around in her chair and looking up at him as she took his hands, other thoughts starting to come to her mind. "Do women hit on you a lot?"

The question had taken the marine aback since it wasn't one he'd be expected to answer. Every time a woman decided to make a move Taylor would just decline and wipe it from his mind so it wasn't like he had a number to work with. After some thought and brain racking he just shook his head and shrugged. "Not really, no. Kind of a blue moon occurrence. Why, do men hit on you a lot?" he countered with his usual playful smile.

He pulled her up from the chair and into his arms, caressing the baby bump through Lillian's duty jacket with a smile. "You are the only woman for me alright? Didn't get through all we've been through to fool around."

"Well, I wouldn't say a lot," Lillian teased, kissing him gently. "I trust you, okay? I'm not worried about you fooling around and you shouldn't be worried about me leaving, ever. Part of me is just...a little jealous. Did she manhandle you? Was it just flirting? Everyone on this ship knows I'm having your baby, so color me curious. I know that my main focus right now is Betazed--and trust me it is Betazed and Sareth--but I'm gonna be dwelling on this too now. Especially considering how much more attractive she is than me. I mean wouldn't you go for it if I wasn't around?"

"She's not my type." said Taylor adamantly, kissing Lillian back. "Besides you're all the beauty I need in a woman. You're strong, courageous, thoughtful...the great body of yours just happens to be a bonus." He smiled at her and wondered if it would be best to tell Lillian or remain tactful. No this was one of these situations where any answer was the wrong one so he'd best be honest anyway.

"She grabbed my ass...flirted I think. I think you're CIO is a bit too sickly sweet for my tastes."

"How is it possible for you to be just as romantic--if not more so--than you were when we met?" Lillian asked with a smile, kissing him tenderly until her answer came to her.

Grabbed his ass?! That was just not okay! Not at all!While she understood why a woman would approach Taylor and try to make a move, Marlena had gotten incredibly handsy with her outranking MCO whom she knew was dating the captain and then gone to Lillian and demanded that Taylor stay out of her offices. While Lillian understood that, she didn't understand the flirting part--why flirt with him if she was just going to start blaming things on him?

"She did what?" Lillian asked him, pulling back a moment. "While I understand her being distracted and frustrated with your hatred of Intel officers, under no circumstances is it alright for her to be touching my things."

"She grabbed my ass." echoed Taylor in exactly the same voice as he had said it the first time. It seemed that Lillian was none to impressed with Marlena's earlier actions which was more or less her right to be. She had crossed a line and then skipped behind Taylor's back to report him in like some naughty schoolkid. War had more or less been declared but the victor was yet to be seen. At least Lillian had went from despair to anger which meant that she would stop moping around which was more or less Taylor's objective. The method however could have been better.

"Yes...she touched your things...and enjoyed it." he said evenly with no hint of joking. "She didn't seem all too impressed with my reaction or lack thereof. I more or less batted her hand away. Should have broken it..."

||USS Fenris
||Ready Room
||TBD


Lillian was annoyed and judging with the fact she asked Marissa to leave and not him it was obvious he was the cause. All the signs where there and Taylor was wondering exactly what was ticking her off. Racking his brains it occurred to him that the CIO may have actually gone to her with a complaint. Well, that was within her rights but not needed. He got the feeling it was simply because he had exercised his right to go anywhere he pleased without much care for her thought on the matter.

"Something wrong ma'am?" he asked, still professional.

Lillian took a deep breath and looked at him, shaking her head a little bit. "Do Marines and Intel officers always have to push each others' buttons? Is there like a manual I don't know about on how to make each other miserable?"

She had thought she would have a bit more tact here but honestly Marlena's words were still bothering her and she wanted to stop feeling so stressed out and trapped. She wanted to be with Sareth and cuddling him close and stroking his hair, she didn't want to be telling Taylor to back off of Intel and to leave Marlena alone. Hell, she hardly even knew what had happened between the two that day, but she could imagine.

"From what I've heard it seems you two are rather...I don't even have the word for it."

A small weight of sadness actually clumped within Taylor's heart. Even though he knew that the captain had to enforce some form of disciple in her senior officers the fact that it was Lillian made it ten times as worse. Somehow whatever he thought about saying just seemed inadequate. Instead he just gave a stoic look and an inward sigh. This went beyond the typical distrust between the two departments. This was something else all together.

"Need I remind you that it was an intelligence officer that almost got me and my entire squad killed?" said Taylor in a low voice that almost sounded like a corpse being dragged over gravel. If she wanted to play captain he could play marine officer. "And I might also add that the CIO decided to make sexual advances against me, unwanted ones I might add. If that doesn't give me the right to be a little bit edgy then what exactly can? Besides I didn't go there to make trouble. I went there to get some lunch with Nayla. She's been stuck with low level reports since SFI has yet to clear her for the real job she's meant to be doing so I took it upon myself to cheer her up."

"I have no issues with you taking Nayla out to lunch," Lillian told him, shaking her head. "You also don't have to remind me about Lars so..."

Blowing her bangs out of her face she found a lump forming in her throat a bit of anger rise up as she heard about this 'sexual advances' thing and suddenly she just felt overwhelmed. For once though, not even frustrated or stressful tears formed in her eyes...no, instead she found herself chewing on her bottom lip, pain etched in her eyes. She could feel the pressure in her throat and for a moment her voice seemed strained but she made her way through her next selection of words.

"You happen to be a rather attractive man," Lillian began, sighing loudly. "She wants you to stay out of the Intel offices until she says otherwise so she can get some work done. By now I would hope that you know that I trust you and I really just...I'm really stressed out, Tay."

Just like that she was back to putting her head in her arms on her desk, shaking her head and trying to take deep breaths.

With something of a sad smile Taylor left his seat and walked behind Lillian. Anger he could take but Lillian being upset was something he learned to navigate with tender loving care. Obviously his tact still needed improving in social exchanges. Gently he gripped his lover's shoulders before massaging them, trying to work tension out of the muscle. "Well one of us has to look good." he teased as he worked his magic.

"Look I know you're stressed. The baby...the job...now this attack. I'm sorry love, you don't need me acting the fool. If you want I'll stay away from the Intel offices till she says so. God knows when she'll actually produce some results given she's Intelligence. Just tell me how to make it better..."

Lillian moaned gently at the massage, letting herself relax for the first moment since she had heard about Betazed, but relaxing brought the onslaught of emotions with it. Relaxing made her remember her father's message and tears came to her eyes again thinking about Sareth and thinking about how she had to de-stress--for the baby's sake. She wasn't helping anyone like this.

"Do you know how many times I've watched this?" Lillian asked Taylor as she turned on her console and brought up her father's message. "I just want to be with my little cub and with you, somewhere safe. That's all I want."

Taylor looked at the message briefly before turning his eyes back on his wife-to-be. "As much as I don't want to say it...as long as we're in Starfleet we will never be safe. This job isn't designed to be safe as much as we wish it was. We'll get to Betazed, we'll help and we'll have Sareth with us again. There isn't much we can do if we let the situation get the better of us. Lillian...you're in command. We need you...I need you."

"I know I'm in command," Lillian said softly, nodding, taking in all of his other words.

He had a point about Starfleet and while she didn't want to believe him about that subject she knew that he was right and it made her whole face sadden a bit. She'd lost Salyn on assignment and it seemed that every time something seemed to be simple something terrible happened and people got hurt. So 'safe' seemed to be a rather delusional state of mind.

"I need you too, Tay...so much," she managed, turning around in her chair and looking up at him as she took his hands, other thoughts starting to come to her mind. "Do women hit on you a lot?"

The question had taken the marine aback since it wasn't one he'd be expected to answer. Every time a woman decided to make a move Taylor would just decline and wipe it from his mind so it wasn't like he had a number to work with. After some thought and brain racking he just shook his head and shrugged. "Not really, no. Kind of a blue moon occurrence. Why, do men hit on you a lot?" he countered with his usual playful smile.

He pulled her up from the chair and into his arms, caressing the baby bump through Lillian's duty jacket with a smile. "You are the only woman for me alright? Didn't get through all we've been through to fool around."

"Well, I wouldn't say a lot," Lillian teased, kissing him gently. "I trust you, okay? I'm not worried about you fooling around and you shouldn't be worried about me leaving, ever. Part of me is just...a little jealous. Did she manhandle you? Was it just flirting? Everyone on this ship knows I'm having your baby, so color me curious. I know that my main focus right now is Betazed--and trust me it is Betazed and Sareth--but I'm gonna be dwelling on this too now. Especially considering how much more attractive she is than me. I mean wouldn't you go for it if I wasn't around?"

"She's not my type." said Taylor adamantly, kissing Lillian back. "Besides you're all the beauty I need in a woman. You're strong, courageous, thoughtful...the great body of yours just happens to be a bonus." He smiled at her and wondered if it would be best to tell Lillian or remain tactful. No this was one of these situations where any answer was the wrong one so he'd best be honest anyway.

"She grabbed my ass...flirted I think. I think you're CIO is a bit too sickly sweet for my tastes."

"How is it possible for you to be just as romantic--if not more so--than you were when we met?" Lillian asked with a smile, kissing him tenderly until her answer came to her.

Grabbed his ass?! That was just not okay! Not at all!While she understood why a woman would approach Taylor and try to make a move, Marlena had gotten incredibly handsy with her outranking MCO whom she knew was dating the captain and then gone to Lillian and demanded that Taylor stay out of her offices. While Lillian understood that, she didn't understand the flirting part--why flirt with him if she was just going to start blaming things on him?

"She did what?" Lillian asked him, pulling back a moment. "While I understand her being distracted and frustrated with your hatred of Intel officers, under no circumstances is it alright for her to be touching my things."

"She grabbed my ass." echoed Taylor in exactly the same voice as he had said it the first time. It seemed that Lillian was none to impressed with Marlena's earlier actions which was more or less her right to be. She had crossed a line and then skipped behind Taylor's back to report him in like some naughty schoolkid. War had more or less been declared but the victor was yet to be seen. At least Lillian had went from despair to anger which meant that she would stop moping around which was more or less Taylor's objective. The method however could have been better.

"Yes...she touched your things...and enjoyed it." he said evenly with no hint of joking. "She didn't seem all too impressed with my reaction or lack thereof. I more or less batted her hand away. Should have broken it..."

"You're not a thing, I just...I don't like thinking about other women touching my husband." Lillian explained, sighing loudly. "I think her distractions weren't your fault--I get distracted with you around being all perfect too--but you told her you hated Intel so...for now just stay away from her. And no, I mean professionally I think that is best for right now and when this incident with Betazed is over, I want to talk to both of you and settle this all. No violence, no more of this nonsense...just talking this all out. That ass of yours is mine and she will not grab it again..."

She winked and then kissed him, focusing on Taylor before everything kind of came crashing back on her. For a little bit it was nice to be distracted by some form of anger and yet she had a job to do and she had to be strong about it. Taylor had a way of reminding her of such things and so she tugged on his lip with her teeth and then pulled back and looked him in the eye.

"So, as my MCO, do you have a plan for what happens when we get there?" she asked him slowly.

||USS Fenris
||Ready Room
||TBD


Lillian was annoyed and judging with the fact she asked Marissa to leave and not him it was obvious he was the cause. All the signs where there and Taylor was wondering exactly what was ticking her off. Racking his brains it occurred to him that the CIO may have actually gone to her with a complaint. Well, that was within her rights but not needed. He got the feeling it was simply because he had exercised his right to go anywhere he pleased without much care for her thought on the matter.

"Something wrong ma'am?" he asked, still professional.

Lillian took a deep breath and looked at him, shaking her head a little bit. "Do Marines and Intel officers always have to push each others' buttons? Is there like a manual I don't know about on how to make each other miserable?"

She had thought she would have a bit more tact here but honestly Marlena's words were still bothering her and she wanted to stop feeling so stressed out and trapped. She wanted to be with Sareth and cuddling him close and stroking his hair, she didn't want to be telling Taylor to back off of Intel and to leave Marlena alone. Hell, she hardly even knew what had happened between the two that day, but she could imagine.

"From what I've heard it seems you two are rather...I don't even have the word for it."

A small weight of sadness actually clumped within Taylor's heart. Even though he knew that the captain had to enforce some form of disciple in her senior officers the fact that it was Lillian made it ten times as worse. Somehow whatever he thought about saying just seemed inadequate. Instead he just gave a stoic look and an inward sigh. This went beyond the typical distrust between the two departments. This was something else all together.

"Need I remind you that it was an intelligence officer that almost got me and my entire squad killed?" said Taylor in a low voice that almost sounded like a corpse being dragged over gravel. If she wanted to play captain he could play marine officer. "And I might also add that the CIO decided to make sexual advances against me, unwanted ones I might add. If that doesn't give me the right to be a little bit edgy then what exactly can? Besides I didn't go there to make trouble. I went there to get some lunch with Nayla. She's been stuck with low level reports since SFI has yet to clear her for the real job she's meant to be doing so I took it upon myself to cheer her up."

"I have no issues with you taking Nayla out to lunch," Lillian told him, shaking her head. "You also don't have to remind me about Lars so..."

Blowing her bangs out of her face she found a lump forming in her throat a bit of anger rise up as she heard about this 'sexual advances' thing and suddenly she just felt overwhelmed. For once though, not even frustrated or stressful tears formed in her eyes...no, instead she found herself chewing on her bottom lip, pain etched in her eyes. She could feel the pressure in her throat and for a moment her voice seemed strained but she made her way through her next selection of words.

"You happen to be a rather attractive man," Lillian began, sighing loudly. "She wants you to stay out of the Intel offices until she says otherwise so she can get some work done. By now I would hope that you know that I trust you and I really just...I'm really stressed out, Tay."

Just like that she was back to putting her head in her arms on her desk, shaking her head and trying to take deep breaths.

With something of a sad smile Taylor left his seat and walked behind Lillian. Anger he could take but Lillian being upset was something he learned to navigate with tender loving care. Obviously his tact still needed improving in social exchanges. Gently he gripped his lover's shoulders before massaging them, trying to work tension out of the muscle. "Well one of us has to look good." he teased as he worked his magic.

"Look I know you're stressed. The baby...the job...now this attack. I'm sorry love, you don't need me acting the fool. If you want I'll stay away from the Intel offices till she says so. God knows when she'll actually produce some results given she's Intelligence. Just tell me how to make it better..."

Lillian moaned gently at the massage, letting herself relax for the first moment since she had heard about Betazed, but relaxing brought the onslaught of emotions with it. Relaxing made her remember her father's message and tears came to her eyes again thinking about Sareth and thinking about how she had to de-stress--for the baby's sake. She wasn't helping anyone like this.

"Do you know how many times I've watched this?" Lillian asked Taylor as she turned on her console and brought up her father's message. "I just want to be with my little cub and with you, somewhere safe. That's all I want."

Taylor looked at the message briefly before turning his eyes back on his wife-to-be. "As much as I don't want to say it...as long as we're in Starfleet we will never be safe. This job isn't designed to be safe as much as we wish it was. We'll get to Betazed, we'll help and we'll have Sareth with us again. There isn't much we can do if we let the situation get the better of us. Lillian...you're in command. We need you...I need you."

"I know I'm in command," Lillian said softly, nodding, taking in all of his other words.

He had a point about Starfleet and while she didn't want to believe him about that subject she knew that he was right and it made her whole face sadden a bit. She'd lost Salyn on assignment and it seemed that every time something seemed to be simple something terrible happened and people got hurt. So 'safe' seemed to be a rather delusional state of mind.

"I need you too, Tay...so much," she managed, turning around in her chair and looking up at him as she took his hands, other thoughts starting to come to her mind. "Do women hit on you a lot?"

The question had taken the marine aback since it wasn't one he'd be expected to answer. Every time a woman decided to make a move Taylor would just decline and wipe it from his mind so it wasn't like he had a number to work with. After some thought and brain racking he just shook his head and shrugged. "Not really, no. Kind of a blue moon occurrence. Why, do men hit on you a lot?" he countered with his usual playful smile.

He pulled her up from the chair and into his arms, caressing the baby bump through Lillian's duty jacket with a smile. "You are the only woman for me alright? Didn't get through all we've been through to fool around."

"Well, I wouldn't say a lot," Lillian teased, kissing him gently. "I trust you, okay? I'm not worried about you fooling around and you shouldn't be worried about me leaving, ever. Part of me is just...a little jealous. Did she manhandle you? Was it just flirting? Everyone on this ship knows I'm having your baby, so color me curious. I know that my main focus right now is Betazed--and trust me it is Betazed and Sareth--but I'm gonna be dwelling on this too now. Especially considering how much more attractive she is than me. I mean wouldn't you go for it if I wasn't around?"

"She's not my type." said Taylor adamantly, kissing Lillian back. "Besides you're all the beauty I need in a woman. You're strong, courageous, thoughtful...the great body of yours just happens to be a bonus." He smiled at her and wondered if it would be best to tell Lillian or remain tactful. No this was one of these situations where any answer was the wrong one so he'd best be honest anyway.

"She grabbed my ass...flirted I think. I think you're CIO is a bit too sickly sweet for my tastes."

"How is it possible for you to be just as romantic--if not more so--than you were when we met?" Lillian asked with a smile, kissing him tenderly until her answer came to her.

Grabbed his ass?! That was just not okay! Not at all!While she understood why a woman would approach Taylor and try to make a move, Marlena had gotten incredibly handsy with her outranking MCO whom she knew was dating the captain and then gone to Lillian and demanded that Taylor stay out of her offices. While Lillian understood that, she didn't understand the flirting part--why flirt with him if she was just going to start blaming things on him?

"She did what?" Lillian asked him, pulling back a moment. "While I understand her being distracted and frustrated with your hatred of Intel officers, under no circumstances is it alright for her to be touching my things."

"She grabbed my ass." echoed Taylor in exactly the same voice as he had said it the first time. It seemed that Lillian was none to impressed with Marlena's earlier actions which was more or less her right to be. She had crossed a line and then skipped behind Taylor's back to report him in like some naughty schoolkid. War had more or less been declared but the victor was yet to be seen. At least Lillian had went from despair to anger which meant that she would stop moping around which was more or less Taylor's objective. The method however could have been better.

"Yes...she touched your things...and enjoyed it." he said evenly with no hint of joking. "She didn't seem all too impressed with my reaction or lack thereof. I more or less batted her hand away. Should have broken it..."

"You're not a thing, I just...I don't like thinking about other women touching my husband." Lillian explained, sighing loudly. "I think her distractions weren't your fault--I get distracted with you around being all perfect too--but you told her you hated Intel so...for now just stay away from her. And no, I mean professionally I think that is best for right now and when this incident with Betazed is over, I want to talk to both of you and settle this all. No violence, no more of this nonsense...just talking this all out. That ass of yours is mine and she will not grab it again..."

She winked and then kissed him, focusing on Taylor before everything kind of came crashing back on her. For a little bit it was nice to be distracted by some form of anger and yet she had a job to do and she had to be strong about it. Taylor had a way of reminding her of such things and so she tugged on his lip with her teeth and then pulled back and looked him in the eye.

"So, as my MCO, do you have a plan for what happens when we get there?" she asked him slowly.

"Maybe I should wear my armour plates on the lower half when I have this talk with her." Teased Taylor with a smile and a wink. He could switch from personal to professional, playful to stoic in a heartbeat. It made him both unpredictable and a pain to deal with at times. People never really saw what triggered certain responses unless they spent a lot of time with him. Sometimes Taylor thought that he even surprised Lillian at times which what he said or did. Then again no one really knew what he was capable of doing apart from himself. "But I read you…I'll stay away from Intel until advised otherwise."

The request for an idea by the CO to the MCO was not an uncommon occurrence but something that SB7's commanders had ever done. The only time he actually had anything to do with command choices was when he became acting XO and only because of his rank which was something of a miracle. Not that he enjoyed being in charge of the station. His marine department was his little world with its own customs. Taylor didn't feel comfortable trespassing within the realms of the Fleet. Again Lillian had asked something that both took him aback and required some thought. Marines had something of a unique approach to solving problems. Where an engineer or scientist might use the latest technique or fanciest technobabble a marine would instead come up with the most simplest and effective solution.

"Suits for everyone. Armour, EVA suits, HAZMAT suits…anything that prevents physical and airborne contact with contaminated areas or people without restricting our ability to work. Even non-telepaths should take precautions in case they become a viable carrier. I won't die from the virus but it doesn't mean I couldn't pass it into a Betazoid. We know very little about this virus other than what it does."

Taylor paused to take stock and plan ahead before speaking. Marlo would obviously have her own ideas but it paid to have multiple options which gave Lillian the ability to mix and match to her own preferences. "Get medical and science set up ASAP to deal with casualties as well as get some fact finding done. Security could handle the more physical investigations as well as work with Intelligence into finding out where the second bomb, if it exists, is hidden. My marines will be on stand-by to assist the Betazoid authorities as well as the Starfleet garrison and alert ships. I'll liaise with the ground commanders there to see what I can dig up."

||USS Fenris
||Ready Room
||TBD


Lillian was annoyed and judging with the fact she asked Marissa to leave and not him it was obvious he was the cause. All the signs where there and Taylor was wondering exactly what was ticking her off. Racking his brains it occurred to him that the CIO may have actually gone to her with a complaint. Well, that was within her rights but not needed. He got the feeling it was simply because he had exercised his right to go anywhere he pleased without much care for her thought on the matter.

"Something wrong ma'am?" he asked, still professional.

Lillian took a deep breath and looked at him, shaking her head a little bit. "Do Marines and Intel officers always have to push each others' buttons? Is there like a manual I don't know about on how to make each other miserable?"

She had thought she would have a bit more tact here but honestly Marlena's words were still bothering her and she wanted to stop feeling so stressed out and trapped. She wanted to be with Sareth and cuddling him close and stroking his hair, she didn't want to be telling Taylor to back off of Intel and to leave Marlena alone. Hell, she hardly even knew what had happened between the two that day, but she could imagine.

"From what I've heard it seems you two are rather...I don't even have the word for it."

A small weight of sadness actually clumped within Taylor's heart. Even though he knew that the captain had to enforce some form of disciple in her senior officers the fact that it was Lillian made it ten times as worse. Somehow whatever he thought about saying just seemed inadequate. Instead he just gave a stoic look and an inward sigh. This went beyond the typical distrust between the two departments. This was something else all together.

"Need I remind you that it was an intelligence officer that almost got me and my entire squad killed?" said Taylor in a low voice that almost sounded like a corpse being dragged over gravel. If she wanted to play captain he could play marine officer. "And I might also add that the CIO decided to make sexual advances against me, unwanted ones I might add. If that doesn't give me the right to be a little bit edgy then what exactly can? Besides I didn't go there to make trouble. I went there to get some lunch with Nayla. She's been stuck with low level reports since SFI has yet to clear her for the real job she's meant to be doing so I took it upon myself to cheer her up."

"I have no issues with you taking Nayla out to lunch," Lillian told him, shaking her head. "You also don't have to remind me about Lars so..."

Blowing her bangs out of her face she found a lump forming in her throat a bit of anger rise up as she heard about this 'sexual advances' thing and suddenly she just felt overwhelmed. For once though, not even frustrated or stressful tears formed in her eyes...no, instead she found herself chewing on her bottom lip, pain etched in her eyes. She could feel the pressure in her throat and for a moment her voice seemed strained but she made her way through her next selection of words.

"You happen to be a rather attractive man," Lillian began, sighing loudly. "She wants you to stay out of the Intel offices until she says otherwise so she can get some work done. By now I would hope that you know that I trust you and I really just...I'm really stressed out, Tay."

Just like that she was back to putting her head in her arms on her desk, shaking her head and trying to take deep breaths.

With something of a sad smile Taylor left his seat and walked behind Lillian. Anger he could take but Lillian being upset was something he learned to navigate with tender loving care. Obviously his tact still needed improving in social exchanges. Gently he gripped his lover's shoulders before massaging them, trying to work tension out of the muscle. "Well one of us has to look good." he teased as he worked his magic.

"Look I know you're stressed. The baby...the job...now this attack. I'm sorry love, you don't need me acting the fool. If you want I'll stay away from the Intel offices till she says so. God knows when she'll actually produce some results given she's Intelligence. Just tell me how to make it better..."

Lillian moaned gently at the massage, letting herself relax for the first moment since she had heard about Betazed, but relaxing brought the onslaught of emotions with it. Relaxing made her remember her father's message and tears came to her eyes again thinking about Sareth and thinking about how she had to de-stress--for the baby's sake. She wasn't helping anyone like this.

"Do you know how many times I've watched this?" Lillian asked Taylor as she turned on her console and brought up her father's message. "I just want to be with my little cub and with you, somewhere safe. That's all I want."

Taylor looked at the message briefly before turning his eyes back on his wife-to-be. "As much as I don't want to say it...as long as we're in Starfleet we will never be safe. This job isn't designed to be safe as much as we wish it was. We'll get to Betazed, we'll help and we'll have Sareth with us again. There isn't much we can do if we let the situation get the better of us. Lillian...you're in command. We need you...I need you."

"I know I'm in command," Lillian said softly, nodding, taking in all of his other words.

He had a point about Starfleet and while she didn't want to believe him about that subject she knew that he was right and it made her whole face sadden a bit. She'd lost Salyn on assignment and it seemed that every time something seemed to be simple something terrible happened and people got hurt. So 'safe' seemed to be a rather delusional state of mind.

"I need you too, Tay...so much," she managed, turning around in her chair and looking up at him as she took his hands, other thoughts starting to come to her mind. "Do women hit on you a lot?"

The question had taken the marine aback since it wasn't one he'd be expected to answer. Every time a woman decided to make a move Taylor would just decline and wipe it from his mind so it wasn't like he had a number to work with. After some thought and brain racking he just shook his head and shrugged. "Not really, no. Kind of a blue moon occurrence. Why, do men hit on you a lot?" he countered with his usual playful smile.

He pulled her up from the chair and into his arms, caressing the baby bump through Lillian's duty jacket with a smile. "You are the only woman for me alright? Didn't get through all we've been through to fool around."

"Well, I wouldn't say a lot," Lillian teased, kissing him gently. "I trust you, okay? I'm not worried about you fooling around and you shouldn't be worried about me leaving, ever. Part of me is just...a little jealous. Did she manhandle you? Was it just flirting? Everyone on this ship knows I'm having your baby, so color me curious. I know that my main focus right now is Betazed--and trust me it is Betazed and Sareth--but I'm gonna be dwelling on this too now. Especially considering how much more attractive she is than me. I mean wouldn't you go for it if I wasn't around?"

"She's not my type." said Taylor adamantly, kissing Lillian back. "Besides you're all the beauty I need in a woman. You're strong, courageous, thoughtful...the great body of yours just happens to be a bonus." He smiled at her and wondered if it would be best to tell Lillian or remain tactful. No this was one of these situations where any answer was the wrong one so he'd best be honest anyway.

"She grabbed my ass...flirted I think. I think you're CIO is a bit too sickly sweet for my tastes."

"How is it possible for you to be just as romantic--if not more so--than you were when we met?" Lillian asked with a smile, kissing him tenderly until her answer came to her.

Grabbed his ass?! That was just not okay! Not at all!While she understood why a woman would approach Taylor and try to make a move, Marlena had gotten incredibly handsy with her outranking MCO whom she knew was dating the captain and then gone to Lillian and demanded that Taylor stay out of her offices. While Lillian understood that, she didn't understand the flirting part--why flirt with him if she was just going to start blaming things on him?

"She did what?" Lillian asked him, pulling back a moment. "While I understand her being distracted and frustrated with your hatred of Intel officers, under no circumstances is it alright for her to be touching my things."

"She grabbed my ass." echoed Taylor in exactly the same voice as he had said it the first time. It seemed that Lillian was none to impressed with Marlena's earlier actions which was more or less her right to be. She had crossed a line and then skipped behind Taylor's back to report him in like some naughty schoolkid. War had more or less been declared but the victor was yet to be seen. At least Lillian had went from despair to anger which meant that she would stop moping around which was more or less Taylor's objective. The method however could have been better.

"Yes...she touched your things...and enjoyed it." he said evenly with no hint of joking. "She didn't seem all too impressed with my reaction or lack thereof. I more or less batted her hand away. Should have broken it..."

"You're not a thing, I just...I don't like thinking about other women touching my husband." Lillian explained, sighing loudly. "I think her distractions weren't your fault--I get distracted with you around being all perfect too--but you told her you hated Intel so...for now just stay away from her. And no, I mean professionally I think that is best for right now and when this incident with Betazed is over, I want to talk to both of you and settle this all. No violence, no more of this nonsense...just talking this all out. That ass of yours is mine and she will not grab it again..."

She winked and then kissed him, focusing on Taylor before everything kind of came crashing back on her. For a little bit it was nice to be distracted by some form of anger and yet she had a job to do and she had to be strong about it. Taylor had a way of reminding her of such things and so she tugged on his lip with her teeth and then pulled back and looked him in the eye.

"So, as my MCO, do you have a plan for what happens when we get there?" she asked him slowly.

"Maybe I should wear my armour plates on the lower half when I have this talk with her." Teased Taylor with a smile and a wink. He could switch from personal to professional, playful to stoic in a heartbeat. It made him both unpredictable and a pain to deal with at times. People never really saw what triggered certain responses unless they spent a lot of time with him. Sometimes Taylor thought that he even surprised Lillian at times which what he said or did. Then again no one really knew what he was capable of doing apart from himself. "But I read you…I'll stay away from Intel until advised otherwise."

The request for an idea by the CO to the MCO was not an uncommon occurrence but something that SB7's commanders had never done. The only time he actually had anything to do with command choices was when he became acting XO and only because of his rank which was something of a miracle. Not that he enjoyed being in charge of the station. His marine department was his little world with its own customs. Taylor didn't feel comfortable trespassing within the realms of the Fleet. Again Lillian had asked something that both took him aback and required some thought. Marines had something of a unique approach to solving problems. Where an engineer or scientist might use the latest technique or fanciest technobabble a marine would instead come up with the most simplest and effective solution.

"Suits for everyone. Armour, EVA suits, HAZMAT suits…anything that prevents physical and airborne contact with contaminated areas or people without restricting our ability to work. Even non-telepaths should take precautions in case they become a viable carrier. I won't die from the virus but it doesn't mean I couldn't pass it into a Betazoid. We know very little about this virus other than what it does."

Taylor paused to take stock and plan ahead before speaking. Marlo would obviously have her own ideas but it paid to have multiple options which gave Lillian the ability to mix and match to her own preferences. "Get medical and science set up ASAP to deal with casualties as well as get some fact finding done. Security could handle the more physical investigations as well as work with Intelligence into finding out where the second bomb, if it exists, is hidden. My marines will be on stand-by to assist the Betazoid authorities as well as the Starfleet garrison and alert ships. I'll liaise with the ground commanders there to see what I can dig up."

"I think that's an incredibly good plan," Lillian said with a nod as she thought it all through. "Though I don't know exactly how I want Science and Medical to act yet...this virus is transmitted through blood and while it could have been altered, I...who am I kidding? Of course its been altered, otherwise there wouldn't be an airborne threat. It seems to be the same progression that I had, however, but I won't know until I get there and fix this. I need to get Sareth safe and then...what if the only way to do this is to test it out, Taylor? What if I need to infect myself to see how it affects the bloodstream and the brain through tests?"

The idea had actually crossed her mind a lot as she thought about how things had been when she was infected. Taylor had really showed her what lengths he would go through for her even though the two of them couldn't be together at the time and it had just made her love him all the more. This was her home planet though--her home--and she would do honestly anything to save it. Her thoughts kept bringing her back to the baby though and she knew she couldn't do such a thing...the virus would more than likely kill off the baby before she could figure out a cure and she just couldn't lose the baby. What was she going to do?

||USS Fenris
||Ready Room
||TBD


Lillian was annoyed and judging with the fact she asked Marissa to leave and not him it was obvious he was the cause. All the signs where there and Taylor was wondering exactly what was ticking her off. Racking his brains it occurred to him that the CIO may have actually gone to her with a complaint. Well, that was within her rights but not needed. He got the feeling it was simply because he had exercised his right to go anywhere he pleased without much care for her thought on the matter.

"Something wrong ma'am?" he asked, still professional.

Lillian took a deep breath and looked at him, shaking her head a little bit. "Do Marines and Intel officers always have to push each others' buttons? Is there like a manual I don't know about on how to make each other miserable?"

She had thought she would have a bit more tact here but honestly Marlena's words were still bothering her and she wanted to stop feeling so stressed out and trapped. She wanted to be with Sareth and cuddling him close and stroking his hair, she didn't want to be telling Taylor to back off of Intel and to leave Marlena alone. Hell, she hardly even knew what had happened between the two that day, but she could imagine.

"From what I've heard it seems you two are rather...I don't even have the word for it."

A small weight of sadness actually clumped within Taylor's heart. Even though he knew that the captain had to enforce some form of disciple in her senior officers the fact that it was Lillian made it ten times as worse. Somehow whatever he thought about saying just seemed inadequate. Instead he just gave a stoic look and an inward sigh. This went beyond the typical distrust between the two departments. This was something else all together.

"Need I remind you that it was an intelligence officer that almost got me and my entire squad killed?" said Taylor in a low voice that almost sounded like a corpse being dragged over gravel. If she wanted to play captain he could play marine officer. "And I might also add that the CIO decided to make sexual advances against me, unwanted ones I might add. If that doesn't give me the right to be a little bit edgy then what exactly can? Besides I didn't go there to make trouble. I went there to get some lunch with Nayla. She's been stuck with low level reports since SFI has yet to clear her for the real job she's meant to be doing so I took it upon myself to cheer her up."

"I have no issues with you taking Nayla out to lunch," Lillian told him, shaking her head. "You also don't have to remind me about Lars so..."

Blowing her bangs out of her face she found a lump forming in her throat a bit of anger rise up as she heard about this 'sexual advances' thing and suddenly she just felt overwhelmed. For once though, not even frustrated or stressful tears formed in her eyes...no, instead she found herself chewing on her bottom lip, pain etched in her eyes. She could feel the pressure in her throat and for a moment her voice seemed strained but she made her way through her next selection of words.

"You happen to be a rather attractive man," Lillian began, sighing loudly. "She wants you to stay out of the Intel offices until she says otherwise so she can get some work done. By now I would hope that you know that I trust you and I really just...I'm really stressed out, Tay."

Just like that she was back to putting her head in her arms on her desk, shaking her head and trying to take deep breaths.

With something of a sad smile Taylor left his seat and walked behind Lillian. Anger he could take but Lillian being upset was something he learned to navigate with tender loving care. Obviously his tact still needed improving in social exchanges. Gently he gripped his lover's shoulders before massaging them, trying to work tension out of the muscle. "Well one of us has to look good." he teased as he worked his magic.

"Look I know you're stressed. The baby...the job...now this attack. I'm sorry love, you don't need me acting the fool. If you want I'll stay away from the Intel offices till she says so. God knows when she'll actually produce some results given she's Intelligence. Just tell me how to make it better..."

Lillian moaned gently at the massage, letting herself relax for the first moment since she had heard about Betazed, but relaxing brought the onslaught of emotions with it. Relaxing made her remember her father's message and tears came to her eyes again thinking about Sareth and thinking about how she had to de-stress--for the baby's sake. She wasn't helping anyone like this.

"Do you know how many times I've watched this?" Lillian asked Taylor as she turned on her console and brought up her father's message. "I just want to be with my little cub and with you, somewhere safe. That's all I want."

Taylor looked at the message briefly before turning his eyes back on his wife-to-be. "As much as I don't want to say it...as long as we're in Starfleet we will never be safe. This job isn't designed to be safe as much as we wish it was. We'll get to Betazed, we'll help and we'll have Sareth with us again. There isn't much we can do if we let the situation get the better of us. Lillian...you're in command. We need you...I need you."

"I know I'm in command," Lillian said softly, nodding, taking in all of his other words.

He had a point about Starfleet and while she didn't want to believe him about that subject she knew that he was right and it made her whole face sadden a bit. She'd lost Salyn on assignment and it seemed that every time something seemed to be simple something terrible happened and people got hurt. So 'safe' seemed to be a rather delusional state of mind.

"I need you too, Tay...so much," she managed, turning around in her chair and looking up at him as she took his hands, other thoughts starting to come to her mind. "Do women hit on you a lot?"

The question had taken the marine aback since it wasn't one he'd be expected to answer. Every time a woman decided to make a move Taylor would just decline and wipe it from his mind so it wasn't like he had a number to work with. After some thought and brain racking he just shook his head and shrugged. "Not really, no. Kind of a blue moon occurrence. Why, do men hit on you a lot?" he countered with his usual playful smile.

He pulled her up from the chair and into his arms, caressing the baby bump through Lillian's duty jacket with a smile. "You are the only woman for me alright? Didn't get through all we've been through to fool around."

"Well, I wouldn't say a lot," Lillian teased, kissing him gently. "I trust you, okay? I'm not worried about you fooling around and you shouldn't be worried about me leaving, ever. Part of me is just...a little jealous. Did she manhandle you? Was it just flirting? Everyone on this ship knows I'm having your baby, so color me curious. I know that my main focus right now is Betazed--and trust me it is Betazed and Sareth--but I'm gonna be dwelling on this too now. Especially considering how much more attractive she is than me. I mean wouldn't you go for it if I wasn't around?"

"She's not my type." said Taylor adamantly, kissing Lillian back. "Besides you're all the beauty I need in a woman. You're strong, courageous, thoughtful...the great body of yours just happens to be a bonus." He smiled at her and wondered if it would be best to tell Lillian or remain tactful. No this was one of these situations where any answer was the wrong one so he'd best be honest anyway.

"She grabbed my ass...flirted I think. I think you're CIO is a bit too sickly sweet for my tastes."

"How is it possible for you to be just as romantic--if not more so--than you were when we met?" Lillian asked with a smile, kissing him tenderly until her answer came to her.

Grabbed his ass?! That was just not okay! Not at all!While she understood why a woman would approach Taylor and try to make a move, Marlena had gotten incredibly handsy with her outranking MCO whom she knew was dating the captain and then gone to Lillian and demanded that Taylor stay out of her offices. While Lillian understood that, she didn't understand the flirting part--why flirt with him if she was just going to start blaming things on him?

"She did what?" Lillian asked him, pulling back a moment. "While I understand her being distracted and frustrated with your hatred of Intel officers, under no circumstances is it alright for her to be touching my things."

"She grabbed my ass." echoed Taylor in exactly the same voice as he had said it the first time. It seemed that Lillian was none to impressed with Marlena's earlier actions which was more or less her right to be. She had crossed a line and then skipped behind Taylor's back to report him in like some naughty schoolkid. War had more or less been declared but the victor was yet to be seen. At least Lillian had went from despair to anger which meant that she would stop moping around which was more or less Taylor's objective. The method however could have been better.

"Yes...she touched your things...and enjoyed it." he said evenly with no hint of joking. "She didn't seem all too impressed with my reaction or lack thereof. I more or less batted her hand away. Should have broken it..."

"You're not a thing, I just...I don't like thinking about other women touching my husband." Lillian explained, sighing loudly. "I think her distractions weren't your fault--I get distracted with you around being all perfect too--but you told her you hated Intel so...for now just stay away from her. And no, I mean professionally I think that is best for right now and when this incident with Betazed is over, I want to talk to both of you and settle this all. No violence, no more of this nonsense...just talking this all out. That ass of yours is mine and she will not grab it again..."

She winked and then kissed him, focusing on Taylor before everything kind of came crashing back on her. For a little bit it was nice to be distracted by some form of anger and yet she had a job to do and she had to be strong about it. Taylor had a way of reminding her of such things and so she tugged on his lip with her teeth and then pulled back and looked him in the eye.

"So, as my MCO, do you have a plan for what happens when we get there?" she asked him slowly.

"Maybe I should wear my armour plates on the lower half when I have this talk with her." Teased Taylor with a smile and a wink. He could switch from personal to professional, playful to stoic in a heartbeat. It made him both unpredictable and a pain to deal with at times. People never really saw what triggered certain responses unless they spent a lot of time with him. Sometimes Taylor thought that he even surprised Lillian at times which what he said or did. Then again no one really knew what he was capable of doing apart from himself. "But I read you…I'll stay away from Intel until advised otherwise."

The request for an idea by the CO to the MCO was not an uncommon occurrence but something that SB7's commanders had never done. The only time he actually had anything to do with command choices was when he became acting XO and only because of his rank which was something of a miracle. Not that he enjoyed being in charge of the station. His marine department was his little world with its own customs. Taylor didn't feel comfortable trespassing within the realms of the Fleet. Again Lillian had asked something that both took him aback and required some thought. Marines had something of a unique approach to solving problems. Where an engineer or scientist might use the latest technique or fanciest technobabble a marine would instead come up with the most simplest and effective solution.

"Suits for everyone. Armour, EVA suits, HAZMAT suits…anything that prevents physical and airborne contact with contaminated areas or people without restricting our ability to work. Even non-telepaths should take precautions in case they become a viable carrier. I won't die from the virus but it doesn't mean I couldn't pass it into a Betazoid. We know very little about this virus other than what it does."

Taylor paused to take stock and plan ahead before speaking. Marlo would obviously have her own ideas but it paid to have multiple options which gave Lillian the ability to mix and match to her own preferences. "Get medical and science set up ASAP to deal with casualties as well as get some fact finding done. Security could handle the more physical investigations as well as work with Intelligence into finding out where the second bomb, if it exists, is hidden. My marines will be on stand-by to assist the Betazoid authorities as well as the Starfleet garrison and alert ships. I'll liaise with the ground commanders there to see what I can dig up."

"I think that's an incredibly good plan," Lillian said with a nod as she thought it all through. "Though I don't know exactly how I want Science and Medical to act yet...this virus is transmitted through blood and while it could have been altered, I...who am I kidding? Of course its been altered, otherwise there wouldn't be an airborne threat. It seems to be the same progression that I had, however, but I won't know until I get there and fix this. I need to get Sareth safe and then...what if the only way to do this is to test it out, Taylor? What if I need to infect myself to see how it affects the bloodstream and the brain through tests?"

The idea had actually crossed her mind a lot as she thought about how things had been when she was infected. Taylor had really showed her what lengths he would go through for her even though the two of them couldn't be together at the time and it had just made her love him all the more. This was her home planet though--her home--and she would do honestly anything to save it. Her thoughts kept bringing her back to the baby though and she knew she couldn't do such a thing...the virus would more than likely kill off the baby before she could figure out a cure and she just couldn't lose the baby. What was she going to do?

A small beaming smile of self pride touched Taylor's lips at the sound of Lillian liking his idea. There was nothing that meant more to him professionally than doing a good job and getting props from the boss was as good as it got for him. As long as she continued to have faith in his abilities that would keep Taylor happy during his on-duty hours. However the smile died instantly at the mention of Lillian infecting herself for study. No matter the cost Lillian was not expendable in his eyes. Taylor would gladly die for mother, pie and Federation but not Lillian…she deserved better.

"Or…you take a blood sample and a brain tissue sample and apply the virus then." He said carefully. "Or even better you take scans of the infected. Or…even better you stay on the ship and let Spots and Moody figure it out. You're the CO not the CMO anymore. Like it or not you're out of the saddle and sickbay for good. Let them do the medical work."

||USS Fenris
||Ready Room
||TBD


Lillian was annoyed and judging with the fact she asked Marissa to leave and not him it was obvious he was the cause. All the signs where there and Taylor was wondering exactly what was ticking her off. Racking his brains it occurred to him that the CIO may have actually gone to her with a complaint. Well, that was within her rights but not needed. He got the feeling it was simply because he had exercised his right to go anywhere he pleased without much care for her thought on the matter.

"Something wrong ma'am?" he asked, still professional.

Lillian took a deep breath and looked at him, shaking her head a little bit. "Do Marines and Intel officers always have to push each others' buttons? Is there like a manual I don't know about on how to make each other miserable?"

She had thought she would have a bit more tact here but honestly Marlena's words were still bothering her and she wanted to stop feeling so stressed out and trapped. She wanted to be with Sareth and cuddling him close and stroking his hair, she didn't want to be telling Taylor to back off of Intel and to leave Marlena alone. Hell, she hardly even knew what had happened between the two that day, but she could imagine.

"From what I've heard it seems you two are rather...I don't even have the word for it."

A small weight of sadness actually clumped within Taylor's heart. Even though he knew that the captain had to enforce some form of disciple in her senior officers the fact that it was Lillian made it ten times as worse. Somehow whatever he thought about saying just seemed inadequate. Instead he just gave a stoic look and an inward sigh. This went beyond the typical distrust between the two departments. This was something else all together.

"Need I remind you that it was an intelligence officer that almost got me and my entire squad killed?" said Taylor in a low voice that almost sounded like a corpse being dragged over gravel. If she wanted to play captain he could play marine officer. "And I might also add that the CIO decided to make sexual advances against me, unwanted ones I might add. If that doesn't give me the right to be a little bit edgy then what exactly can? Besides I didn't go there to make trouble. I went there to get some lunch with Nayla. She's been stuck with low level reports since SFI has yet to clear her for the real job she's meant to be doing so I took it upon myself to cheer her up."

"I have no issues with you taking Nayla out to lunch," Lillian told him, shaking her head. "You also don't have to remind me about Lars so..."

Blowing her bangs out of her face she found a lump forming in her throat a bit of anger rise up as she heard about this 'sexual advances' thing and suddenly she just felt overwhelmed. For once though, not even frustrated or stressful tears formed in her eyes...no, instead she found herself chewing on her bottom lip, pain etched in her eyes. She could feel the pressure in her throat and for a moment her voice seemed strained but she made her way through her next selection of words.

"You happen to be a rather attractive man," Lillian began, sighing loudly. "She wants you to stay out of the Intel offices until she says otherwise so she can get some work done. By now I would hope that you know that I trust you and I really just...I'm really stressed out, Tay."

Just like that she was back to putting her head in her arms on her desk, shaking her head and trying to take deep breaths.

With something of a sad smile Taylor left his seat and walked behind Lillian. Anger he could take but Lillian being upset was something he learned to navigate with tender loving care. Obviously his tact still needed improving in social exchanges. Gently he gripped his lover's shoulders before massaging them, trying to work tension out of the muscle. "Well one of us has to look good." he teased as he worked his magic.

"Look I know you're stressed. The baby...the job...now this attack. I'm sorry love, you don't need me acting the fool. If you want I'll stay away from the Intel offices till she says so. God knows when she'll actually produce some results given she's Intelligence. Just tell me how to make it better..."

Lillian moaned gently at the massage, letting herself relax for the first moment since she had heard about Betazed, but relaxing brought the onslaught of emotions with it. Relaxing made her remember her father's message and tears came to her eyes again thinking about Sareth and thinking about how she had to de-stress--for the baby's sake. She wasn't helping anyone like this.

"Do you know how many times I've watched this?" Lillian asked Taylor as she turned on her console and brought up her father's message. "I just want to be with my little cub and with you, somewhere safe. That's all I want."

Taylor looked at the message briefly before turning his eyes back on his wife-to-be. "As much as I don't want to say it...as long as we're in Starfleet we will never be safe. This job isn't designed to be safe as much as we wish it was. We'll get to Betazed, we'll help and we'll have Sareth with us again. There isn't much we can do if we let the situation get the better of us. Lillian...you're in command. We need you...I need you."

"I know I'm in command," Lillian said softly, nodding, taking in all of his other words.

He had a point about Starfleet and while she didn't want to believe him about that subject she knew that he was right and it made her whole face sadden a bit. She'd lost Salyn on assignment and it seemed that every time something seemed to be simple something terrible happened and people got hurt. So 'safe' seemed to be a rather delusional state of mind.

"I need you too, Tay...so much," she managed, turning around in her chair and looking up at him as she took his hands, other thoughts starting to come to her mind. "Do women hit on you a lot?"

The question had taken the marine aback since it wasn't one he'd be expected to answer. Every time a woman decided to make a move Taylor would just decline and wipe it from his mind so it wasn't like he had a number to work with. After some thought and brain racking he just shook his head and shrugged. "Not really, no. Kind of a blue moon occurrence. Why, do men hit on you a lot?" he countered with his usual playful smile.

He pulled her up from the chair and into his arms, caressing the baby bump through Lillian's duty jacket with a smile. "You are the only woman for me alright? Didn't get through all we've been through to fool around."

"Well, I wouldn't say a lot," Lillian teased, kissing him gently. "I trust you, okay? I'm not worried about you fooling around and you shouldn't be worried about me leaving, ever. Part of me is just...a little jealous. Did she manhandle you? Was it just flirting? Everyone on this ship knows I'm having your baby, so color me curious. I know that my main focus right now is Betazed--and trust me it is Betazed and Sareth--but I'm gonna be dwelling on this too now. Especially considering how much more attractive she is than me. I mean wouldn't you go for it if I wasn't around?"

"She's not my type." said Taylor adamantly, kissing Lillian back. "Besides you're all the beauty I need in a woman. You're strong, courageous, thoughtful...the great body of yours just happens to be a bonus." He smiled at her and wondered if it would be best to tell Lillian or remain tactful. No this was one of these situations where any answer was the wrong one so he'd best be honest anyway.

"She grabbed my ass...flirted I think. I think you're CIO is a bit too sickly sweet for my tastes."

"How is it possible for you to be just as romantic--if not more so--than you were when we met?" Lillian asked with a smile, kissing him tenderly until her answer came to her.

Grabbed his ass?! That was just not okay! Not at all!While she understood why a woman would approach Taylor and try to make a move, Marlena had gotten incredibly handsy with her outranking MCO whom she knew was dating the captain and then gone to Lillian and demanded that Taylor stay out of her offices. While Lillian understood that, she didn't understand the flirting part--why flirt with him if she was just going to start blaming things on him?

"She did what?" Lillian asked him, pulling back a moment. "While I understand her being distracted and frustrated with your hatred of Intel officers, under no circumstances is it alright for her to be touching my things."

"She grabbed my ass." echoed Taylor in exactly the same voice as he had said it the first time. It seemed that Lillian was none to impressed with Marlena's earlier actions which was more or less her right to be. She had crossed a line and then skipped behind Taylor's back to report him in like some naughty schoolkid. War had more or less been declared but the victor was yet to be seen. At least Lillian had went from despair to anger which meant that she would stop moping around which was more or less Taylor's objective. The method however could have been better.

"Yes...she touched your things...and enjoyed it." he said evenly with no hint of joking. "She didn't seem all too impressed with my reaction or lack thereof. I more or less batted her hand away. Should have broken it..."

"You're not a thing, I just...I don't like thinking about other women touching my husband." Lillian explained, sighing loudly. "I think her distractions weren't your fault--I get distracted with you around being all perfect too--but you told her you hated Intel so...for now just stay away from her. And no, I mean professionally I think that is best for right now and when this incident with Betazed is over, I want to talk to both of you and settle this all. No violence, no more of this nonsense...just talking this all out. That ass of yours is mine and she will not grab it again..."

She winked and then kissed him, focusing on Taylor before everything kind of came crashing back on her. For a little bit it was nice to be distracted by some form of anger and yet she had a job to do and she had to be strong about it. Taylor had a way of reminding her of such things and so she tugged on his lip with her teeth and then pulled back and looked him in the eye.

"So, as my MCO, do you have a plan for what happens when we get there?" she asked him slowly.

"Maybe I should wear my armour plates on the lower half when I have this talk with her." Teased Taylor with a smile and a wink. He could switch from personal to professional, playful to stoic in a heartbeat. It made him both unpredictable and a pain to deal with at times. People never really saw what triggered certain responses unless they spent a lot of time with him. Sometimes Taylor thought that he even surprised Lillian at times which what he said or did. Then again no one really knew what he was capable of doing apart from himself. "But I read you…I'll stay away from Intel until advised otherwise."

The request for an idea by the CO to the MCO was not an uncommon occurrence but something that SB7's commanders had never done. The only time he actually had anything to do with command choices was when he became acting XO and only because of his rank which was something of a miracle. Not that he enjoyed being in charge of the station. His marine department was his little world with its own customs. Taylor didn't feel comfortable trespassing within the realms of the Fleet. Again Lillian had asked something that both took him aback and required some thought. Marines had something of a unique approach to solving problems. Where an engineer or scientist might use the latest technique or fanciest technobabble a marine would instead come up with the most simplest and effective solution.

"Suits for everyone. Armour, EVA suits, HAZMAT suits…anything that prevents physical and airborne contact with contaminated areas or people without restricting our ability to work. Even non-telepaths should take precautions in case they become a viable carrier. I won't die from the virus but it doesn't mean I couldn't pass it into a Betazoid. We know very little about this virus other than what it does."

Taylor paused to take stock and plan ahead before speaking. Marlo would obviously have her own ideas but it paid to have multiple options which gave Lillian the ability to mix and match to her own preferences. "Get medical and science set up ASAP to deal with casualties as well as get some fact finding done. Security could handle the more physical investigations as well as work with Intelligence into finding out where the second bomb, if it exists, is hidden. My marines will be on stand-by to assist the Betazoid authorities as well as the Starfleet garrison and alert ships. I'll liaise with the ground commanders there to see what I can dig up."

"I think that's an incredibly good plan," Lillian said with a nod as she thought it all through. "Though I don't know exactly how I want Science and Medical to act yet...this virus is transmitted through blood and while it could have been altered, I...who am I kidding? Of course its been altered, otherwise there wouldn't be an airborne threat. It seems to be the same progression that I had, however, but I won't know until I get there and fix this. I need to get Sareth safe and then...what if the only way to do this is to test it out, Taylor? What if I need to infect myself to see how it affects the bloodstream and the brain through tests?"

The idea had actually crossed her mind a lot as she thought about how things had been when she was infected. Taylor had really showed her what lengths he would go through for her even though the two of them couldn't be together at the time and it had just made her love him all the more. This was her home planet though--her home--and she would do honestly anything to save it. Her thoughts kept bringing her back to the baby though and she knew she couldn't do such a thing...the virus would more than likely kill off the baby before she could figure out a cure and she just couldn't lose the baby. What was she going to do?

A small beaming smile of self pride touched Taylor's lips at the sound of Lillian liking his idea. There was nothing that meant more to him professionally than doing a good job and getting props from the boss was as good as it got for him. As long as she continued to have faith in his abilities that would keep Taylor happy during his on-duty hours. However the smile died instantly at the mention of Lillian infecting herself for study. No matter the cost Lillian was not expendable in his eyes. Taylor would gladly die for mother, pie and Federation but not Lillian…she deserved better.

"Or…you take a blood sample and a brain tissue sample and apply the virus then." He said carefully. "Or even better you take scans of the infected. Or…even better you stay on the ship and let Spots and Moody figure it out. You're the CO not the CMO anymore. Like it or not you're out of the saddle and sickbay for good. Let them do the medical work."

"I think we both know that I'm not staying on the ship and even though I'm currently captain, Sickbay is in my blood," Lillian responded, shrugging softly. "I know that they are the ones that are in charge, here, I do, but I just can't...I can't sit back and do nothing. I am going to help the medical team while you do your job and we'll meet back up once we've stopped the threat."

She took his hand and rested it on her baby bump, smiling up at him. "And when this is over it'll be you, me, our son and our unborn son or daughter and everything will be fine. I have to believe that. So just come back to me. No running off to get blown to pieces again, please. You are not expendable and you are not replaceable and I need you to be that boomerang, alright?"

||USS Fenris
||Ready Room
||TBD


Lillian was annoyed and judging with the fact she asked Marissa to leave and not him it was obvious he was the cause. All the signs where there and Taylor was wondering exactly what was ticking her off. Racking his brains it occurred to him that the CIO may have actually gone to her with a complaint. Well, that was within her rights but not needed. He got the feeling it was simply because he had exercised his right to go anywhere he pleased without much care for her thought on the matter.

"Something wrong ma'am?" he asked, still professional.

Lillian took a deep breath and looked at him, shaking her head a little bit. "Do Marines and Intel officers always have to push each others' buttons? Is there like a manual I don't know about on how to make each other miserable?"

She had thought she would have a bit more tact here but honestly Marlena's words were still bothering her and she wanted to stop feeling so stressed out and trapped. She wanted to be with Sareth and cuddling him close and stroking his hair, she didn't want to be telling Taylor to back off of Intel and to leave Marlena alone. Hell, she hardly even knew what had happened between the two that day, but she could imagine.

"From what I've heard it seems you two are rather...I don't even have the word for it."

A small weight of sadness actually clumped within Taylor's heart. Even though he knew that the captain had to enforce some form of disciple in her senior officers the fact that it was Lillian made it ten times as worse. Somehow whatever he thought about saying just seemed inadequate. Instead he just gave a stoic look and an inward sigh. This went beyond the typical distrust between the two departments. This was something else all together.

"Need I remind you that it was an intelligence officer that almost got me and my entire squad killed?" said Taylor in a low voice that almost sounded like a corpse being dragged over gravel. If she wanted to play captain he could play marine officer. "And I might also add that the CIO decided to make sexual advances against me, unwanted ones I might add. If that doesn't give me the right to be a little bit edgy then what exactly can? Besides I didn't go there to make trouble. I went there to get some lunch with Nayla. She's been stuck with low level reports since SFI has yet to clear her for the real job she's meant to be doing so I took it upon myself to cheer her up."

"I have no issues with you taking Nayla out to lunch," Lillian told him, shaking her head. "You also don't have to remind me about Lars so..."

Blowing her bangs out of her face she found a lump forming in her throat a bit of anger rise up as she heard about this 'sexual advances' thing and suddenly she just felt overwhelmed. For once though, not even frustrated or stressful tears formed in her eyes...no, instead she found herself chewing on her bottom lip, pain etched in her eyes. She could feel the pressure in her throat and for a moment her voice seemed strained but she made her way through her next selection of words.

"You happen to be a rather attractive man," Lillian began, sighing loudly. "She wants you to stay out of the Intel offices until she says otherwise so she can get some work done. By now I would hope that you know that I trust you and I really just...I'm really stressed out, Tay."

Just like that she was back to putting her head in her arms on her desk, shaking her head and trying to take deep breaths.

With something of a sad smile Taylor left his seat and walked behind Lillian. Anger he could take but Lillian being upset was something he learned to navigate with tender loving care. Obviously his tact still needed improving in social exchanges. Gently he gripped his lover's shoulders before massaging them, trying to work tension out of the muscle. "Well one of us has to look good." he teased as he worked his magic.

"Look I know you're stressed. The baby...the job...now this attack. I'm sorry love, you don't need me acting the fool. If you want I'll stay away from the Intel offices till she says so. God knows when she'll actually produce some results given she's Intelligence. Just tell me how to make it better..."

Lillian moaned gently at the massage, letting herself relax for the first moment since she had heard about Betazed, but relaxing brought the onslaught of emotions with it. Relaxing made her remember her father's message and tears came to her eyes again thinking about Sareth and thinking about how she had to de-stress--for the baby's sake. She wasn't helping anyone like this.

"Do you know how many times I've watched this?" Lillian asked Taylor as she turned on her console and brought up her father's message. "I just want to be with my little cub and with you, somewhere safe. That's all I want."

Taylor looked at the message briefly before turning his eyes back on his wife-to-be. "As much as I don't want to say it...as long as we're in Starfleet we will never be safe. This job isn't designed to be safe as much as we wish it was. We'll get to Betazed, we'll help and we'll have Sareth with us again. There isn't much we can do if we let the situation get the better of us. Lillian...you're in command. We need you...I need you."

"I know I'm in command," Lillian said softly, nodding, taking in all of his other words.

He had a point about Starfleet and while she didn't want to believe him about that subject she knew that he was right and it made her whole face sadden a bit. She'd lost Salyn on assignment and it seemed that every time something seemed to be simple something terrible happened and people got hurt. So 'safe' seemed to be a rather delusional state of mind.

"I need you too, Tay...so much," she managed, turning around in her chair and looking up at him as she took his hands, other thoughts starting to come to her mind. "Do women hit on you a lot?"

The question had taken the marine aback since it wasn't one he'd be expected to answer. Every time a woman decided to make a move Taylor would just decline and wipe it from his mind so it wasn't like he had a number to work with. After some thought and brain racking he just shook his head and shrugged. "Not really, no. Kind of a blue moon occurrence. Why, do men hit on you a lot?" he countered with his usual playful smile.

He pulled her up from the chair and into his arms, caressing the baby bump through Lillian's duty jacket with a smile. "You are the only woman for me alright? Didn't get through all we've been through to fool around."

"Well, I wouldn't say a lot," Lillian teased, kissing him gently. "I trust you, okay? I'm not worried about you fooling around and you shouldn't be worried about me leaving, ever. Part of me is just...a little jealous. Did she manhandle you? Was it just flirting? Everyone on this ship knows I'm having your baby, so color me curious. I know that my main focus right now is Betazed--and trust me it is Betazed and Sareth--but I'm gonna be dwelling on this too now. Especially considering how much more attractive she is than me. I mean wouldn't you go for it if I wasn't around?"

"She's not my type." said Taylor adamantly, kissing Lillian back. "Besides you're all the beauty I need in a woman. You're strong, courageous, thoughtful...the great body of yours just happens to be a bonus." He smiled at her and wondered if it would be best to tell Lillian or remain tactful. No this was one of these situations where any answer was the wrong one so he'd best be honest anyway.

"She grabbed my ass...flirted I think. I think you're CIO is a bit too sickly sweet for my tastes."

"How is it possible for you to be just as romantic--if not more so--than you were when we met?" Lillian asked with a smile, kissing him tenderly until her answer came to her.

Grabbed his ass?! That was just not okay! Not at all!While she understood why a woman would approach Taylor and try to make a move, Marlena had gotten incredibly handsy with her outranking MCO whom she knew was dating the captain and then gone to Lillian and demanded that Taylor stay out of her offices. While Lillian understood that, she didn't understand the flirting part--why flirt with him if she was just going to start blaming things on him?

"She did what?" Lillian asked him, pulling back a moment. "While I understand her being distracted and frustrated with your hatred of Intel officers, under no circumstances is it alright for her to be touching my things."

"She grabbed my ass." echoed Taylor in exactly the same voice as he had said it the first time. It seemed that Lillian was none to impressed with Marlena's earlier actions which was more or less her right to be. She had crossed a line and then skipped behind Taylor's back to report him in like some naughty schoolkid. War had more or less been declared but the victor was yet to be seen. At least Lillian had went from despair to anger which meant that she would stop moping around which was more or less Taylor's objective. The method however could have been better.

"Yes...she touched your things...and enjoyed it." he said evenly with no hint of joking. "She didn't seem all too impressed with my reaction or lack thereof. I more or less batted her hand away. Should have broken it..."

"You're not a thing, I just...I don't like thinking about other women touching my husband." Lillian explained, sighing loudly. "I think her distractions weren't your fault--I get distracted with you around being all perfect too--but you told her you hated Intel so...for now just stay away from her. And no, I mean professionally I think that is best for right now and when this incident with Betazed is over, I want to talk to both of you and settle this all. No violence, no more of this nonsense...just talking this all out. That ass of yours is mine and she will not grab it again..."

She winked and then kissed him, focusing on Taylor before everything kind of came crashing back on her. For a little bit it was nice to be distracted by some form of anger and yet she had a job to do and she had to be strong about it. Taylor had a way of reminding her of such things and so she tugged on his lip with her teeth and then pulled back and looked him in the eye.

"So, as my MCO, do you have a plan for what happens when we get there?" she asked him slowly.

"Maybe I should wear my armour plates on the lower half when I have this talk with her." Teased Taylor with a smile and a wink. He could switch from personal to professional, playful to stoic in a heartbeat. It made him both unpredictable and a pain to deal with at times. People never really saw what triggered certain responses unless they spent a lot of time with him. Sometimes Taylor thought that he even surprised Lillian at times which what he said or did. Then again no one really knew what he was capable of doing apart from himself. "But I read you…I'll stay away from Intel until advised otherwise."

The request for an idea by the CO to the MCO was not an uncommon occurrence but something that SB7's commanders had never done. The only time he actually had anything to do with command choices was when he became acting XO and only because of his rank which was something of a miracle. Not that he enjoyed being in charge of the station. His marine department was his little world with its own customs. Taylor didn't feel comfortable trespassing within the realms of the Fleet. Again Lillian had asked something that both took him aback and required some thought. Marines had something of a unique approach to solving problems. Where an engineer or scientist might use the latest technique or fanciest technobabble a marine would instead come up with the most simplest and effective solution.

"Suits for everyone. Armour, EVA suits, HAZMAT suits…anything that prevents physical and airborne contact with contaminated areas or people without restricting our ability to work. Even non-telepaths should take precautions in case they become a viable carrier. I won't die from the virus but it doesn't mean I couldn't pass it into a Betazoid. We know very little about this virus other than what it does."

Taylor paused to take stock and plan ahead before speaking. Marlo would obviously have her own ideas but it paid to have multiple options which gave Lillian the ability to mix and match to her own preferences. "Get medical and science set up ASAP to deal with casualties as well as get some fact finding done. Security could handle the more physical investigations as well as work with Intelligence into finding out where the second bomb, if it exists, is hidden. My marines will be on stand-by to assist the Betazoid authorities as well as the Starfleet garrison and alert ships. I'll liaise with the ground commanders there to see what I can dig up."

"I think that's an incredibly good plan," Lillian said with a nod as she thought it all through. "Though I don't know exactly how I want Science and Medical to act yet...this virus is transmitted through blood and while it could have been altered, I...who am I kidding? Of course its been altered, otherwise there wouldn't be an airborne threat. It seems to be the same progression that I had, however, but I won't know until I get there and fix this. I need to get Sareth safe and then...what if the only way to do this is to test it out, Taylor? What if I need to infect myself to see how it affects the bloodstream and the brain through tests?"

The idea had actually crossed her mind a lot as she thought about how things had been when she was infected. Taylor had really showed her what lengths he would go through for her even though the two of them couldn't be together at the time and it had just made her love him all the more. This was her home planet though--her home--and she would do honestly anything to save it. Her thoughts kept bringing her back to the baby though and she knew she couldn't do such a thing...the virus would more than likely kill off the baby before she could figure out a cure and she just couldn't lose the baby. What was she going to do?

A small beaming smile of self pride touched Taylor's lips at the sound of Lillian liking his idea. There was nothing that meant more to him professionally than doing a good job and getting props from the boss was as good as it got for him. As long as she continued to have faith in his abilities that would keep Taylor happy during his on-duty hours. However the smile died instantly at the mention of Lillian infecting herself for study. No matter the cost Lillian was not expendable in his eyes. Taylor would gladly die for mother, pie and Federation but not Lillian…she deserved better.

"Or…you take a blood sample and a brain tissue sample and apply the virus then." He said carefully. "Or even better you take scans of the infected. Or…even better you stay on the ship and let Spots and Moody figure it out. You're the CO not the CMO anymore. Like it or not you're out of the saddle and sickbay for good. Let them do the medical work."

"I think we both know that I'm not staying on the ship and even though I'm currently captain, Sickbay is in my blood," Lillian responded, shrugging softly. "I know that they are the ones that are in charge, here, I do, but I just can't...I can't sit back and do nothing. I am going to help the medical team while you do your job and we'll meet back up once we've stopped the threat."

She took his hand and rested it on her baby bump, smiling up at him. "And when this is over it'll be you, me, our son and our unborn son or daughter and everything will be fine. I have to believe that. So just come back to me. No running off to get blown to pieces again, please. You are not expendable and you are not replaceable and I need you to be that boomerang, alright?"

All Taylor could do was give a sad sigh at how much his fiancée thought he was worth. To him he was no more important than the next person which made him feel fully capable of stepping out into the firing line. He knew his place in the process of being a marine and while it was important it didn't give him the right to not put himself in the same danger as his marines. The day he hid behind his rank was the day he was no longer fit to wear it.

"I think you overestimate how much I'm really worth Lilly." He said with his typical sad smile. "I know it's hard to step back from the front line. I've gone from being a front line marine, to officer, to a staff rank. But at the end of the day my job is warfare. Your job was medical now it's command. Please…just let this lie. I know you want to help your people but please help yourself for once."

||USS Fenris
||Ready Room
||TBD


Lillian was annoyed and judging with the fact she asked Marissa to leave and not him it was obvious he was the cause. All the signs where there and Taylor was wondering exactly what was ticking her off. Racking his brains it occurred to him that the CIO may have actually gone to her with a complaint. Well, that was within her rights but not needed. He got the feeling it was simply because he had exercised his right to go anywhere he pleased without much care for her thought on the matter.

"Something wrong ma'am?" he asked, still professional.

Lillian took a deep breath and looked at him, shaking her head a little bit. "Do Marines and Intel officers always have to push each others' buttons? Is there like a manual I don't know about on how to make each other miserable?"

She had thought she would have a bit more tact here but honestly Marlena's words were still bothering her and she wanted to stop feeling so stressed out and trapped. She wanted to be with Sareth and cuddling him close and stroking his hair, she didn't want to be telling Taylor to back off of Intel and to leave Marlena alone. Hell, she hardly even knew what had happened between the two that day, but she could imagine.

"From what I've heard it seems you two are rather...I don't even have the word for it."

A small weight of sadness actually clumped within Taylor's heart. Even though he knew that the captain had to enforce some form of disciple in her senior officers the fact that it was Lillian made it ten times as worse. Somehow whatever he thought about saying just seemed inadequate. Instead he just gave a stoic look and an inward sigh. This went beyond the typical distrust between the two departments. This was something else all together.

"Need I remind you that it was an intelligence officer that almost got me and my entire squad killed?" said Taylor in a low voice that almost sounded like a corpse being dragged over gravel. If she wanted to play captain he could play marine officer. "And I might also add that the CIO decided to make sexual advances against me, unwanted ones I might add. If that doesn't give me the right to be a little bit edgy then what exactly can? Besides I didn't go there to make trouble. I went there to get some lunch with Nayla. She's been stuck with low level reports since SFI has yet to clear her for the real job she's meant to be doing so I took it upon myself to cheer her up."

"I have no issues with you taking Nayla out to lunch," Lillian told him, shaking her head. "You also don't have to remind me about Lars so..."

Blowing her bangs out of her face she found a lump forming in her throat a bit of anger rise up as she heard about this 'sexual advances' thing and suddenly she just felt overwhelmed. For once though, not even frustrated or stressful tears formed in her eyes...no, instead she found herself chewing on her bottom lip, pain etched in her eyes. She could feel the pressure in her throat and for a moment her voice seemed strained but she made her way through her next selection of words.

"You happen to be a rather attractive man," Lillian began, sighing loudly. "She wants you to stay out of the Intel offices until she says otherwise so she can get some work done. By now I would hope that you know that I trust you and I really just...I'm really stressed out, Tay."

Just like that she was back to putting her head in her arms on her desk, shaking her head and trying to take deep breaths.

With something of a sad smile Taylor left his seat and walked behind Lillian. Anger he could take but Lillian being upset was something he learned to navigate with tender loving care. Obviously his tact still needed improving in social exchanges. Gently he gripped his lover's shoulders before massaging them, trying to work tension out of the muscle. "Well one of us has to look good." he teased as he worked his magic.

"Look I know you're stressed. The baby...the job...now this attack. I'm sorry love, you don't need me acting the fool. If you want I'll stay away from the Intel offices till she says so. God knows when she'll actually produce some results given she's Intelligence. Just tell me how to make it better..."

Lillian moaned gently at the massage, letting herself relax for the first moment since she had heard about Betazed, but relaxing brought the onslaught of emotions with it. Relaxing made her remember her father's message and tears came to her eyes again thinking about Sareth and thinking about how she had to de-stress--for the baby's sake. She wasn't helping anyone like this.

"Do you know how many times I've watched this?" Lillian asked Taylor as she turned on her console and brought up her father's message. "I just want to be with my little cub and with you, somewhere safe. That's all I want."

Taylor looked at the message briefly before turning his eyes back on his wife-to-be. "As much as I don't want to say it...as long as we're in Starfleet we will never be safe. This job isn't designed to be safe as much as we wish it was. We'll get to Betazed, we'll help and we'll have Sareth with us again. There isn't much we can do if we let the situation get the better of us. Lillian...you're in command. We need you...I need you."

"I know I'm in command," Lillian said softly, nodding, taking in all of his other words.

He had a point about Starfleet and while she didn't want to believe him about that subject she knew that he was right and it made her whole face sadden a bit. She'd lost Salyn on assignment and it seemed that every time something seemed to be simple something terrible happened and people got hurt. So 'safe' seemed to be a rather delusional state of mind.

"I need you too, Tay...so much," she managed, turning around in her chair and looking up at him as she took his hands, other thoughts starting to come to her mind. "Do women hit on you a lot?"

The question had taken the marine aback since it wasn't one he'd be expected to answer. Every time a woman decided to make a move Taylor would just decline and wipe it from his mind so it wasn't like he had a number to work with. After some thought and brain racking he just shook his head and shrugged. "Not really, no. Kind of a blue moon occurrence. Why, do men hit on you a lot?" he countered with his usual playful smile.

He pulled her up from the chair and into his arms, caressing the baby bump through Lillian's duty jacket with a smile. "You are the only woman for me alright? Didn't get through all we've been through to fool around."

"Well, I wouldn't say a lot," Lillian teased, kissing him gently. "I trust you, okay? I'm not worried about you fooling around and you shouldn't be worried about me leaving, ever. Part of me is just...a little jealous. Did she manhandle you? Was it just flirting? Everyone on this ship knows I'm having your baby, so color me curious. I know that my main focus right now is Betazed--and trust me it is Betazed and Sareth--but I'm gonna be dwelling on this too now. Especially considering how much more attractive she is than me. I mean wouldn't you go for it if I wasn't around?"

"She's not my type." said Taylor adamantly, kissing Lillian back. "Besides you're all the beauty I need in a woman. You're strong, courageous, thoughtful...the great body of yours just happens to be a bonus." He smiled at her and wondered if it would be best to tell Lillian or remain tactful. No this was one of these situations where any answer was the wrong one so he'd best be honest anyway.

"She grabbed my ass...flirted I think. I think you're CIO is a bit too sickly sweet for my tastes."

"How is it possible for you to be just as romantic--if not more so--than you were when we met?" Lillian asked with a smile, kissing him tenderly until her answer came to her.

Grabbed his ass?! That was just not okay! Not at all!While she understood why a woman would approach Taylor and try to make a move, Marlena had gotten incredibly handsy with her outranking MCO whom she knew was dating the captain and then gone to Lillian and demanded that Taylor stay out of her offices. While Lillian understood that, she didn't understand the flirting part--why flirt with him if she was just going to start blaming things on him?

"She did what?" Lillian asked him, pulling back a moment. "While I understand her being distracted and frustrated with your hatred of Intel officers, under no circumstances is it alright for her to be touching my things."

"She grabbed my ass." echoed Taylor in exactly the same voice as he had said it the first time. It seemed that Lillian was none to impressed with Marlena's earlier actions which was more or less her right to be. She had crossed a line and then skipped behind Taylor's back to report him in like some naughty schoolkid. War had more or less been declared but the victor was yet to be seen. At least Lillian had went from despair to anger which meant that she would stop moping around which was more or less Taylor's objective. The method however could have been better.

"Yes...she touched your things...and enjoyed it." he said evenly with no hint of joking. "She didn't seem all too impressed with my reaction or lack thereof. I more or less batted her hand away. Should have broken it..."

"You're not a thing, I just...I don't like thinking about other women touching my husband." Lillian explained, sighing loudly. "I think her distractions weren't your fault--I get distracted with you around being all perfect too--but you told her you hated Intel so...for now just stay away from her. And no, I mean professionally I think that is best for right now and when this incident with Betazed is over, I want to talk to both of you and settle this all. No violence, no more of this nonsense...just talking this all out. That ass of yours is mine and she will not grab it again..."

She winked and then kissed him, focusing on Taylor before everything kind of came crashing back on her. For a little bit it was nice to be distracted by some form of anger and yet she had a job to do and she had to be strong about it. Taylor had a way of reminding her of such things and so she tugged on his lip with her teeth and then pulled back and looked him in the eye.

"So, as my MCO, do you have a plan for what happens when we get there?" she asked him slowly.

"Maybe I should wear my armour plates on the lower half when I have this talk with her." Teased Taylor with a smile and a wink. He could switch from personal to professional, playful to stoic in a heartbeat. It made him both unpredictable and a pain to deal with at times. People never really saw what triggered certain responses unless they spent a lot of time with him. Sometimes Taylor thought that he even surprised Lillian at times which what he said or did. Then again no one really knew what he was capable of doing apart from himself. "But I read you…I'll stay away from Intel until advised otherwise."

The request for an idea by the CO to the MCO was not an uncommon occurrence but something that SB7's commanders had never done. The only time he actually had anything to do with command choices was when he became acting XO and only because of his rank which was something of a miracle. Not that he enjoyed being in charge of the station. His marine department was his little world with its own customs. Taylor didn't feel comfortable trespassing within the realms of the Fleet. Again Lillian had asked something that both took him aback and required some thought. Marines had something of a unique approach to solving problems. Where an engineer or scientist might use the latest technique or fanciest technobabble a marine would instead come up with the most simplest and effective solution.

"Suits for everyone. Armour, EVA suits, HAZMAT suits…anything that prevents physical and airborne contact with contaminated areas or people without restricting our ability to work. Even non-telepaths should take precautions in case they become a viable carrier. I won't die from the virus but it doesn't mean I couldn't pass it into a Betazoid. We know very little about this virus other than what it does."

Taylor paused to take stock and plan ahead before speaking. Marlo would obviously have her own ideas but it paid to have multiple options which gave Lillian the ability to mix and match to her own preferences. "Get medical and science set up ASAP to deal with casualties as well as get some fact finding done. Security could handle the more physical investigations as well as work with Intelligence into finding out where the second bomb, if it exists, is hidden. My marines will be on stand-by to assist the Betazoid authorities as well as the Starfleet garrison and alert ships. I'll liaise with the ground commanders there to see what I can dig up."

"I think that's an incredibly good plan," Lillian said with a nod as she thought it all through. "Though I don't know exactly how I want Science and Medical to act yet...this virus is transmitted through blood and while it could have been altered, I...who am I kidding? Of course its been altered, otherwise there wouldn't be an airborne threat. It seems to be the same progression that I had, however, but I won't know until I get there and fix this. I need to get Sareth safe and then...what if the only way to do this is to test it out, Taylor? What if I need to infect myself to see how it affects the bloodstream and the brain through tests?"

The idea had actually crossed her mind a lot as she thought about how things had been when she was infected. Taylor had really showed her what lengths he would go through for her even though the two of them couldn't be together at the time and it had just made her love him all the more. This was her home planet though--her home--and she would do honestly anything to save it. Her thoughts kept bringing her back to the baby though and she knew she couldn't do such a thing...the virus would more than likely kill off the baby before she could figure out a cure and she just couldn't lose the baby. What was she going to do?

A small beaming smile of self pride touched Taylor's lips at the sound of Lillian liking his idea. There was nothing that meant more to him professionally than doing a good job and getting props from the boss was as good as it got for him. As long as she continued to have faith in his abilities that would keep Taylor happy during his on-duty hours. However the smile died instantly at the mention of Lillian infecting herself for study. No matter the cost Lillian was not expendable in his eyes. Taylor would gladly die for mother, pie and Federation but not Lillian…she deserved better.

"Or…you take a blood sample and a brain tissue sample and apply the virus then." He said carefully. "Or even better you take scans of the infected. Or…even better you stay on the ship and let Spots and Moody figure it out. You're the CO not the CMO anymore. Like it or not you're out of the saddle and sickbay for good. Let them do the medical work."

"I think we both know that I'm not staying on the ship and even though I'm currently captain, Sickbay is in my blood," Lillian responded, shrugging softly. "I know that they are the ones that are in charge, here, I do, but I just can't...I can't sit back and do nothing. I am going to help the medical team while you do your job and we'll meet back up once we've stopped the threat."

She took his hand and rested it on her baby bump, smiling up at him. "And when this is over it'll be you, me, our son and our unborn son or daughter and everything will be fine. I have to believe that. So just come back to me. No running off to get blown to pieces again, please. You are not expendable and you are not replaceable and I need you to be that boomerang, alright?"

All Taylor could do was give a sad sigh at how much his fiancée thought he was worth. To him he was no more important than the next person which made him feel fully capable of stepping out into the firing line. He knew his place in the process of being a marine and while it was important it didn't give him the right to not put himself in the same danger as his marines. The day he hid behind his rank was the day he was no longer fit to wear it.

"I think you overestimate how much I'm really worth Lilly." He said with his typical sad smile. "I know it's hard to step back from the front line. I've gone from being a front line marine, to officer, to a staff rank. But at the end of the day my job is warfare. Your job was medical now it's command. Please…just let this lie. I know you want to help your people but please help yourself for once."

Lillian opened her mouth to protest but then she shut it and gave a gentle nod. Perhaps her place here right now was to protect her son and she should let Kara and Elena and Reius and the other doctors handle this unless they specifically asked her help. She had been the one to give up her CMO position and she had to trust in others or this was going to drive her crazy--maybe it would drive her crazy anyway.

"Fine...but it's not going to be easy," Lillian told him. "I want you to do your job and I want you to be you but I want you to come home. Just remember that, okay? I'm not allowing you to die when I haven't even married you yet and I'm determined for us both to raise our kids together. So just...be careful. I'm still not staying on the ship..."

||USS Fenris
||Ready Room
||TBD


Lillian was annoyed and judging with the fact she asked Marissa to leave and not him it was obvious he was the cause. All the signs where there and Taylor was wondering exactly what was ticking her off. Racking his brains it occurred to him that the CIO may have actually gone to her with a complaint. Well, that was within her rights but not needed. He got the feeling it was simply because he had exercised his right to go anywhere he pleased without much care for her thought on the matter.

"Something wrong ma'am?" he asked, still professional.

Lillian took a deep breath and looked at him, shaking her head a little bit. "Do Marines and Intel officers always have to push each others' buttons? Is there like a manual I don't know about on how to make each other miserable?"

She had thought she would have a bit more tact here but honestly Marlena's words were still bothering her and she wanted to stop feeling so stressed out and trapped. She wanted to be with Sareth and cuddling him close and stroking his hair, she didn't want to be telling Taylor to back off of Intel and to leave Marlena alone. Hell, she hardly even knew what had happened between the two that day, but she could imagine.

"From what I've heard it seems you two are rather...I don't even have the word for it."

A small weight of sadness actually clumped within Taylor's heart. Even though he knew that the captain had to enforce some form of disciple in her senior officers the fact that it was Lillian made it ten times as worse. Somehow whatever he thought about saying just seemed inadequate. Instead he just gave a stoic look and an inward sigh. This went beyond the typical distrust between the two departments. This was something else all together.

"Need I remind you that it was an intelligence officer that almost got me and my entire squad killed?" said Taylor in a low voice that almost sounded like a corpse being dragged over gravel. If she wanted to play captain he could play marine officer. "And I might also add that the CIO decided to make sexual advances against me, unwanted ones I might add. If that doesn't give me the right to be a little bit edgy then what exactly can? Besides I didn't go there to make trouble. I went there to get some lunch with Nayla. She's been stuck with low level reports since SFI has yet to clear her for the real job she's meant to be doing so I took it upon myself to cheer her up."

"I have no issues with you taking Nayla out to lunch," Lillian told him, shaking her head. "You also don't have to remind me about Lars so..."

Blowing her bangs out of her face she found a lump forming in her throat a bit of anger rise up as she heard about this 'sexual advances' thing and suddenly she just felt overwhelmed. For once though, not even frustrated or stressful tears formed in her eyes...no, instead she found herself chewing on her bottom lip, pain etched in her eyes. She could feel the pressure in her throat and for a moment her voice seemed strained but she made her way through her next selection of words.

"You happen to be a rather attractive man," Lillian began, sighing loudly. "She wants you to stay out of the Intel offices until she says otherwise so she can get some work done. By now I would hope that you know that I trust you and I really just...I'm really stressed out, Tay."

Just like that she was back to putting her head in her arms on her desk, shaking her head and trying to take deep breaths.

With something of a sad smile Taylor left his seat and walked behind Lillian. Anger he could take but Lillian being upset was something he learned to navigate with tender loving care. Obviously his tact still needed improving in social exchanges. Gently he gripped his lover's shoulders before massaging them, trying to work tension out of the muscle. "Well one of us has to look good." he teased as he worked his magic.

"Look I know you're stressed. The baby...the job...now this attack. I'm sorry love, you don't need me acting the fool. If you want I'll stay away from the Intel offices till she says so. God knows when she'll actually produce some results given she's Intelligence. Just tell me how to make it better..."

Lillian moaned gently at the massage, letting herself relax for the first moment since she had heard about Betazed, but relaxing brought the onslaught of emotions with it. Relaxing made her remember her father's message and tears came to her eyes again thinking about Sareth and thinking about how she had to de-stress--for the baby's sake. She wasn't helping anyone like this.

"Do you know how many times I've watched this?" Lillian asked Taylor as she turned on her console and brought up her father's message. "I just want to be with my little cub and with you, somewhere safe. That's all I want."

Taylor looked at the message briefly before turning his eyes back on his wife-to-be. "As much as I don't want to say it...as long as we're in Starfleet we will never be safe. This job isn't designed to be safe as much as we wish it was. We'll get to Betazed, we'll help and we'll have Sareth with us again. There isn't much we can do if we let the situation get the better of us. Lillian...you're in command. We need you...I need you."

"I know I'm in command," Lillian said softly, nodding, taking in all of his other words.

He had a point about Starfleet and while she didn't want to believe him about that subject she knew that he was right and it made her whole face sadden a bit. She'd lost Salyn on assignment and it seemed that every time something seemed to be simple something terrible happened and people got hurt. So 'safe' seemed to be a rather delusional state of mind.

"I need you too, Tay...so much," she managed, turning around in her chair and looking up at him as she took his hands, other thoughts starting to come to her mind. "Do women hit on you a lot?"

The question had taken the marine aback since it wasn't one he'd be expected to answer. Every time a woman decided to make a move Taylor would just decline and wipe it from his mind so it wasn't like he had a number to work with. After some thought and brain racking he just shook his head and shrugged. "Not really, no. Kind of a blue moon occurrence. Why, do men hit on you a lot?" he countered with his usual playful smile.

He pulled her up from the chair and into his arms, caressing the baby bump through Lillian's duty jacket with a smile. "You are the only woman for me alright? Didn't get through all we've been through to fool around."

"Well, I wouldn't say a lot," Lillian teased, kissing him gently. "I trust you, okay? I'm not worried about you fooling around and you shouldn't be worried about me leaving, ever. Part of me is just...a little jealous. Did she manhandle you? Was it just flirting? Everyone on this ship knows I'm having your baby, so color me curious. I know that my main focus right now is Betazed--and trust me it is Betazed and Sareth--but I'm gonna be dwelling on this too now. Especially considering how much more attractive she is than me. I mean wouldn't you go for it if I wasn't around?"

"She's not my type." said Taylor adamantly, kissing Lillian back. "Besides you're all the beauty I need in a woman. You're strong, courageous, thoughtful...the great body of yours just happens to be a bonus." He smiled at her and wondered if it would be best to tell Lillian or remain tactful. No this was one of these situations where any answer was the wrong one so he'd best be honest anyway.

"She grabbed my ass...flirted I think. I think you're CIO is a bit too sickly sweet for my tastes."

"How is it possible for you to be just as romantic--if not more so--than you were when we met?" Lillian asked with a smile, kissing him tenderly until her answer came to her.

Grabbed his ass?! That was just not okay! Not at all!While she understood why a woman would approach Taylor and try to make a move, Marlena had gotten incredibly handsy with her outranking MCO whom she knew was dating the captain and then gone to Lillian and demanded that Taylor stay out of her offices. While Lillian understood that, she didn't understand the flirting part--why flirt with him if she was just going to start blaming things on him?

"She did what?" Lillian asked him, pulling back a moment. "While I understand her being distracted and frustrated with your hatred of Intel officers, under no circumstances is it alright for her to be touching my things."

"She grabbed my ass." echoed Taylor in exactly the same voice as he had said it the first time. It seemed that Lillian was none to impressed with Marlena's earlier actions which was more or less her right to be. She had crossed a line and then skipped behind Taylor's back to report him in like some naughty schoolkid. War had more or less been declared but the victor was yet to be seen. At least Lillian had went from despair to anger which meant that she would stop moping around which was more or less Taylor's objective. The method however could have been better.

"Yes...she touched your things...and enjoyed it." he said evenly with no hint of joking. "She didn't seem all too impressed with my reaction or lack thereof. I more or less batted her hand away. Should have broken it..."

"You're not a thing, I just...I don't like thinking about other women touching my husband." Lillian explained, sighing loudly. "I think her distractions weren't your fault--I get distracted with you around being all perfect too--but you told her you hated Intel so...for now just stay away from her. And no, I mean professionally I think that is best for right now and when this incident with Betazed is over, I want to talk to both of you and settle this all. No violence, no more of this nonsense...just talking this all out. That ass of yours is mine and she will not grab it again..."

She winked and then kissed him, focusing on Taylor before everything kind of came crashing back on her. For a little bit it was nice to be distracted by some form of anger and yet she had a job to do and she had to be strong about it. Taylor had a way of reminding her of such things and so she tugged on his lip with her teeth and then pulled back and looked him in the eye.

"So, as my MCO, do you have a plan for what happens when we get there?" she asked him slowly.

"Maybe I should wear my armour plates on the lower half when I have this talk with her." Teased Taylor with a smile and a wink. He could switch from personal to professional, playful to stoic in a heartbeat. It made him both unpredictable and a pain to deal with at times. People never really saw what triggered certain responses unless they spent a lot of time with him. Sometimes Taylor thought that he even surprised Lillian at times which what he said or did. Then again no one really knew what he was capable of doing apart from himself. "But I read you…I'll stay away from Intel until advised otherwise."

The request for an idea by the CO to the MCO was not an uncommon occurrence but something that SB7's commanders had never done. The only time he actually had anything to do with command choices was when he became acting XO and only because of his rank which was something of a miracle. Not that he enjoyed being in charge of the station. His marine department was his little world with its own customs. Taylor didn't feel comfortable trespassing within the realms of the Fleet. Again Lillian had asked something that both took him aback and required some thought. Marines had something of a unique approach to solving problems. Where an engineer or scientist might use the latest technique or fanciest technobabble a marine would instead come up with the most simplest and effective solution.

"Suits for everyone. Armour, EVA suits, HAZMAT suits…anything that prevents physical and airborne contact with contaminated areas or people without restricting our ability to work. Even non-telepaths should take precautions in case they become a viable carrier. I won't die from the virus but it doesn't mean I couldn't pass it into a Betazoid. We know very little about this virus other than what it does."

Taylor paused to take stock and plan ahead before speaking. Marlo would obviously have her own ideas but it paid to have multiple options which gave Lillian the ability to mix and match to her own preferences. "Get medical and science set up ASAP to deal with casualties as well as get some fact finding done. Security could handle the more physical investigations as well as work with Intelligence into finding out where the second bomb, if it exists, is hidden. My marines will be on stand-by to assist the Betazoid authorities as well as the Starfleet garrison and alert ships. I'll liaise with the ground commanders there to see what I can dig up."

"I think that's an incredibly good plan," Lillian said with a nod as she thought it all through. "Though I don't know exactly how I want Science and Medical to act yet...this virus is transmitted through blood and while it could have been altered, I...who am I kidding? Of course its been altered, otherwise there wouldn't be an airborne threat. It seems to be the same progression that I had, however, but I won't know until I get there and fix this. I need to get Sareth safe and then...what if the only way to do this is to test it out, Taylor? What if I need to infect myself to see how it affects the bloodstream and the brain through tests?"

The idea had actually crossed her mind a lot as she thought about how things had been when she was infected. Taylor had really showed her what lengths he would go through for her even though the two of them couldn't be together at the time and it had just made her love him all the more. This was her home planet though--her home--and she would do honestly anything to save it. Her thoughts kept bringing her back to the baby though and she knew she couldn't do such a thing...the virus would more than likely kill off the baby before she could figure out a cure and she just couldn't lose the baby. What was she going to do?

A small beaming smile of self pride touched Taylor's lips at the sound of Lillian liking his idea. There was nothing that meant more to him professionally than doing a good job and getting props from the boss was as good as it got for him. As long as she continued to have faith in his abilities that would keep Taylor happy during his on-duty hours. However the smile died instantly at the mention of Lillian infecting herself for study. No matter the cost Lillian was not expendable in his eyes. Taylor would gladly die for mother, pie and Federation but not Lillian…she deserved better.

"Or…you take a blood sample and a brain tissue sample and apply the virus then." He said carefully. "Or even better you take scans of the infected. Or…even better you stay on the ship and let Spots and Moody figure it out. You're the CO not the CMO anymore. Like it or not you're out of the saddle and sickbay for good. Let them do the medical work."

"I think we both know that I'm not staying on the ship and even though I'm currently captain, Sickbay is in my blood," Lillian responded, shrugging softly. "I know that they are the ones that are in charge, here, I do, but I just can't...I can't sit back and do nothing. I am going to help the medical team while you do your job and we'll meet back up once we've stopped the threat."

She took his hand and rested it on her baby bump, smiling up at him. "And when this is over it'll be you, me, our son and our unborn son or daughter and everything will be fine. I have to believe that. So just come back to me. No running off to get blown to pieces again, please. You are not expendable and you are not replaceable and I need you to be that boomerang, alright?"

All Taylor could do was give a sad sigh at how much his fiancée thought he was worth. To him he was no more important than the next person which made him feel fully capable of stepping out into the firing line. He knew his place in the process of being a marine and while it was important it didn't give him the right to not put himself in the same danger as his marines. The day he hid behind his rank was the day he was no longer fit to wear it.

"I think you overestimate how much I'm really worth Lilly." He said with his typical sad smile. "I know it's hard to step back from the front line. I've gone from being a front line marine, to officer, to a staff rank. But at the end of the day my job is warfare. Your job was medical now it's command. Please…just let this lie. I know you want to help your people but please help yourself for once."

Lillian opened her mouth to protest but then she shut it and gave a gentle nod. Perhaps her place here right now was to protect her son and she should let Kara and Elena and Reius and the other doctors handle this unless they specifically asked her help. She had been the one to give up her CMO position and she had to trust in others or this was going to drive her crazy--maybe it would drive her crazy anyway.

"Fine...but it's not going to be easy," Lillian told him. "I want you to do your job and I want you to be you but I want you to come home. Just remember that, okay? I'm not allowing you to die when I haven't even married you yet and I'm determined for us both to raise our kids together. So just...be careful. I'm still not staying on the ship..."

"Wearing thick plate armour with overlapping shields, anti-NBC capability and my own air for sixteen hours." pointed out Taylor with a smile. "Strapped with a pistol, carbine, knife and photon grenades and surrounded by people with the same training, weapons and armour as me. Trust me...I'm safe. It's you I worry about. You over-think things and it stresses you. After this I think we need a nice, dull patch of gas to scan."

Still smiling he stroked his hair with his hand, feeling the short brown scalp covering with an air of preparation. Nothing was worse than a situation that involved civilians. An armed enemy set out to kill you was easily to handle because that's what you were trained against. Taylor's mind just shuddered in disgust at the idea of people using unarmed civilians as some type of target. It was a cowards trick but also an effective one. "We'll get these bastards. I promise."

||USS Fenris
||Ready Room
||TBD


Lillian was annoyed and judging with the fact she asked Marissa to leave and not him it was obvious he was the cause. All the signs where there and Taylor was wondering exactly what was ticking her off. Racking his brains it occurred to him that the CIO may have actually gone to her with a complaint. Well, that was within her rights but not needed. He got the feeling it was simply because he had exercised his right to go anywhere he pleased without much care for her thought on the matter.

"Something wrong ma'am?" he asked, still professional.

Lillian took a deep breath and looked at him, shaking her head a little bit. "Do Marines and Intel officers always have to push each others' buttons? Is there like a manual I don't know about on how to make each other miserable?"

She had thought she would have a bit more tact here but honestly Marlena's words were still bothering her and she wanted to stop feeling so stressed out and trapped. She wanted to be with Sareth and cuddling him close and stroking his hair, she didn't want to be telling Taylor to back off of Intel and to leave Marlena alone. Hell, she hardly even knew what had happened between the two that day, but she could imagine.

"From what I've heard it seems you two are rather...I don't even have the word for it."

A small weight of sadness actually clumped within Taylor's heart. Even though he knew that the captain had to enforce some form of disciple in her senior officers the fact that it was Lillian made it ten times as worse. Somehow whatever he thought about saying just seemed inadequate. Instead he just gave a stoic look and an inward sigh. This went beyond the typical distrust between the two departments. This was something else all together.

"Need I remind you that it was an intelligence officer that almost got me and my entire squad killed?" said Taylor in a low voice that almost sounded like a corpse being dragged over gravel. If she wanted to play captain he could play marine officer. "And I might also add that the CIO decided to make sexual advances against me, unwanted ones I might add. If that doesn't give me the right to be a little bit edgy then what exactly can? Besides I didn't go there to make trouble. I went there to get some lunch with Nayla. She's been stuck with low level reports since SFI has yet to clear her for the real job she's meant to be doing so I took it upon myself to cheer her up."

"I have no issues with you taking Nayla out to lunch," Lillian told him, shaking her head. "You also don't have to remind me about Lars so..."

Blowing her bangs out of her face she found a lump forming in her throat a bit of anger rise up as she heard about this 'sexual advances' thing and suddenly she just felt overwhelmed. For once though, not even frustrated or stressful tears formed in her eyes...no, instead she found herself chewing on her bottom lip, pain etched in her eyes. She could feel the pressure in her throat and for a moment her voice seemed strained but she made her way through her next selection of words.

"You happen to be a rather attractive man," Lillian began, sighing loudly. "She wants you to stay out of the Intel offices until she says otherwise so she can get some work done. By now I would hope that you know that I trust you and I really just...I'm really stressed out, Tay."

Just like that she was back to putting her head in her arms on her desk, shaking her head and trying to take deep breaths.

With something of a sad smile Taylor left his seat and walked behind Lillian. Anger he could take but Lillian being upset was something he learned to navigate with tender loving care. Obviously his tact still needed improving in social exchanges. Gently he gripped his lover's shoulders before massaging them, trying to work tension out of the muscle. "Well one of us has to look good." he teased as he worked his magic.

"Look I know you're stressed. The baby...the job...now this attack. I'm sorry love, you don't need me acting the fool. If you want I'll stay away from the Intel offices till she says so. God knows when she'll actually produce some results given she's Intelligence. Just tell me how to make it better..."

Lillian moaned gently at the massage, letting herself relax for the first moment since she had heard about Betazed, but relaxing brought the onslaught of emotions with it. Relaxing made her remember her father's message and tears came to her eyes again thinking about Sareth and thinking about how she had to de-stress--for the baby's sake. She wasn't helping anyone like this.

"Do you know how many times I've watched this?" Lillian asked Taylor as she turned on her console and brought up her father's message. "I just want to be with my little cub and with you, somewhere safe. That's all I want."

Taylor looked at the message briefly before turning his eyes back on his wife-to-be. "As much as I don't want to say it...as long as we're in Starfleet we will never be safe. This job isn't designed to be safe as much as we wish it was. We'll get to Betazed, we'll help and we'll have Sareth with us again. There isn't much we can do if we let the situation get the better of us. Lillian...you're in command. We need you...I need you."

"I know I'm in command," Lillian said softly, nodding, taking in all of his other words.

He had a point about Starfleet and while she didn't want to believe him about that subject she knew that he was right and it made her whole face sadden a bit. She'd lost Salyn on assignment and it seemed that every time something seemed to be simple something terrible happened and people got hurt. So 'safe' seemed to be a rather delusional state of mind.

"I need you too, Tay...so much," she managed, turning around in her chair and looking up at him as she took his hands, other thoughts starting to come to her mind. "Do women hit on you a lot?"

The question had taken the marine aback since it wasn't one he'd be expected to answer. Every time a woman decided to make a move Taylor would just decline and wipe it from his mind so it wasn't like he had a number to work with. After some thought and brain racking he just shook his head and shrugged. "Not really, no. Kind of a blue moon occurrence. Why, do men hit on you a lot?" he countered with his usual playful smile.

He pulled her up from the chair and into his arms, caressing the baby bump through Lillian's duty jacket with a smile. "You are the only woman for me alright? Didn't get through all we've been through to fool around."

"Well, I wouldn't say a lot," Lillian teased, kissing him gently. "I trust you, okay? I'm not worried about you fooling around and you shouldn't be worried about me leaving, ever. Part of me is just...a little jealous. Did she manhandle you? Was it just flirting? Everyone on this ship knows I'm having your baby, so color me curious. I know that my main focus right now is Betazed--and trust me it is Betazed and Sareth--but I'm gonna be dwelling on this too now. Especially considering how much more attractive she is than me. I mean wouldn't you go for it if I wasn't around?"

"She's not my type." said Taylor adamantly, kissing Lillian back. "Besides you're all the beauty I need in a woman. You're strong, courageous, thoughtful...the great body of yours just happens to be a bonus." He smiled at her and wondered if it would be best to tell Lillian or remain tactful. No this was one of these situations where any answer was the wrong one so he'd best be honest anyway.

"She grabbed my ass...flirted I think. I think you're CIO is a bit too sickly sweet for my tastes."

"How is it possible for you to be just as romantic--if not more so--than you were when we met?" Lillian asked with a smile, kissing him tenderly until her answer came to her.

Grabbed his ass?! That was just not okay! Not at all!While she understood why a woman would approach Taylor and try to make a move, Marlena had gotten incredibly handsy with her outranking MCO whom she knew was dating the captain and then gone to Lillian and demanded that Taylor stay out of her offices. While Lillian understood that, she didn't understand the flirting part--why flirt with him if she was just going to start blaming things on him?

"She did what?" Lillian asked him, pulling back a moment. "While I understand her being distracted and frustrated with your hatred of Intel officers, under no circumstances is it alright for her to be touching my things."

"She grabbed my ass." echoed Taylor in exactly the same voice as he had said it the first time. It seemed that Lillian was none to impressed with Marlena's earlier actions which was more or less her right to be. She had crossed a line and then skipped behind Taylor's back to report him in like some naughty schoolkid. War had more or less been declared but the victor was yet to be seen. At least Lillian had went from despair to anger which meant that she would stop moping around which was more or less Taylor's objective. The method however could have been better.

"Yes...she touched your things...and enjoyed it." he said evenly with no hint of joking. "She didn't seem all too impressed with my reaction or lack thereof. I more or less batted her hand away. Should have broken it..."

"You're not a thing, I just...I don't like thinking about other women touching my husband." Lillian explained, sighing loudly. "I think her distractions weren't your fault--I get distracted with you around being all perfect too--but you told her you hated Intel so...for now just stay away from her. And no, I mean professionally I think that is best for right now and when this incident with Betazed is over, I want to talk to both of you and settle this all. No violence, no more of this nonsense...just talking this all out. That ass of yours is mine and she will not grab it again..."

She winked and then kissed him, focusing on Taylor before everything kind of came crashing back on her. For a little bit it was nice to be distracted by some form of anger and yet she had a job to do and she had to be strong about it. Taylor had a way of reminding her of such things and so she tugged on his lip with her teeth and then pulled back and looked him in the eye.

"So, as my MCO, do you have a plan for what happens when we get there?" she asked him slowly.

"Maybe I should wear my armour plates on the lower half when I have this talk with her." Teased Taylor with a smile and a wink. He could switch from personal to professional, playful to stoic in a heartbeat. It made him both unpredictable and a pain to deal with at times. People never really saw what triggered certain responses unless they spent a lot of time with him. Sometimes Taylor thought that he even surprised Lillian at times which what he said or did. Then again no one really knew what he was capable of doing apart from himself. "But I read you…I'll stay away from Intel until advised otherwise."

The request for an idea by the CO to the MCO was not an uncommon occurrence but something that SB7's commanders had never done. The only time he actually had anything to do with command choices was when he became acting XO and only because of his rank which was something of a miracle. Not that he enjoyed being in charge of the station. His marine department was his little world with its own customs. Taylor didn't feel comfortable trespassing within the realms of the Fleet. Again Lillian had asked something that both took him aback and required some thought. Marines had something of a unique approach to solving problems. Where an engineer or scientist might use the latest technique or fanciest technobabble a marine would instead come up with the most simplest and effective solution.

"Suits for everyone. Armour, EVA suits, HAZMAT suits…anything that prevents physical and airborne contact with contaminated areas or people without restricting our ability to work. Even non-telepaths should take precautions in case they become a viable carrier. I won't die from the virus but it doesn't mean I couldn't pass it into a Betazoid. We know very little about this virus other than what it does."

Taylor paused to take stock and plan ahead before speaking. Marlo would obviously have her own ideas but it paid to have multiple options which gave Lillian the ability to mix and match to her own preferences. "Get medical and science set up ASAP to deal with casualties as well as get some fact finding done. Security could handle the more physical investigations as well as work with Intelligence into finding out where the second bomb, if it exists, is hidden. My marines will be on stand-by to assist the Betazoid authorities as well as the Starfleet garrison and alert ships. I'll liaise with the ground commanders there to see what I can dig up."

"I think that's an incredibly good plan," Lillian said with a nod as she thought it all through. "Though I don't know exactly how I want Science and Medical to act yet...this virus is transmitted through blood and while it could have been altered, I...who am I kidding? Of course its been altered, otherwise there wouldn't be an airborne threat. It seems to be the same progression that I had, however, but I won't know until I get there and fix this. I need to get Sareth safe and then...what if the only way to do this is to test it out, Taylor? What if I need to infect myself to see how it affects the bloodstream and the brain through tests?"

The idea had actually crossed her mind a lot as she thought about how things had been when she was infected. Taylor had really showed her what lengths he would go through for her even though the two of them couldn't be together at the time and it had just made her love him all the more. This was her home planet though--her home--and she would do honestly anything to save it. Her thoughts kept bringing her back to the baby though and she knew she couldn't do such a thing...the virus would more than likely kill off the baby before she could figure out a cure and she just couldn't lose the baby. What was she going to do?

A small beaming smile of self pride touched Taylor's lips at the sound of Lillian liking his idea. There was nothing that meant more to him professionally than doing a good job and getting props from the boss was as good as it got for him. As long as she continued to have faith in his abilities that would keep Taylor happy during his on-duty hours. However the smile died instantly at the mention of Lillian infecting herself for study. No matter the cost Lillian was not expendable in his eyes. Taylor would gladly die for mother, pie and Federation but not Lillian…she deserved better.

"Or…you take a blood sample and a brain tissue sample and apply the virus then." He said carefully. "Or even better you take scans of the infected. Or…even better you stay on the ship and let Spots and Moody figure it out. You're the CO not the CMO anymore. Like it or not you're out of the saddle and sickbay for good. Let them do the medical work."

"I think we both know that I'm not staying on the ship and even though I'm currently captain, Sickbay is in my blood," Lillian responded, shrugging softly. "I know that they are the ones that are in charge, here, I do, but I just can't...I can't sit back and do nothing. I am going to help the medical team while you do your job and we'll meet back up once we've stopped the threat."

She took his hand and rested it on her baby bump, smiling up at him. "And when this is over it'll be you, me, our son and our unborn son or daughter and everything will be fine. I have to believe that. So just come back to me. No running off to get blown to pieces again, please. You are not expendable and you are not replaceable and I need you to be that boomerang, alright?"

All Taylor could do was give a sad sigh at how much his fiancée thought he was worth. To him he was no more important than the next person which made him feel fully capable of stepping out into the firing line. He knew his place in the process of being a marine and while it was important it didn't give him the right to not put himself in the same danger as his marines. The day he hid behind his rank was the day he was no longer fit to wear it.

"I think you overestimate how much I'm really worth Lilly." He said with his typical sad smile. "I know it's hard to step back from the front line. I've gone from being a front line marine, to officer, to a staff rank. But at the end of the day my job is warfare. Your job was medical now it's command. Please…just let this lie. I know you want to help your people but please help yourself for once."

Lillian opened her mouth to protest but then she shut it and gave a gentle nod. Perhaps her place here right now was to protect her son and she should let Kara and Elena and Reius and the other doctors handle this unless they specifically asked her help. She had been the one to give up her CMO position and she had to trust in others or this was going to drive her crazy--maybe it would drive her crazy anyway.

"Fine...but it's not going to be easy," Lillian told him. "I want you to do your job and I want you to be you but I want you to come home. Just remember that, okay? I'm not allowing you to die when I haven't even married you yet and I'm determined for us both to raise our kids together. So just...be careful. I'm still not staying on the ship..."

"Wearing thick plate armour with overlapping shields, anti-NBC capability and my own air for sixteen hours." pointed out Taylor with a smile. "Strapped with a pistol, carbine, knife and photon grenades and surrounded by people with the same training, weapons and armour as me. Trust me...I'm safe. It's you I worry about. You over-think things and it stresses you. After this I think we need a nice, dull patch of gas to scan."

Still smiling he stroked his hair with his hand, feeling the short brown scalp covering with an air of preparation. Nothing was worse than a situation that involved civilians. An armed enemy set out to kill you was easily to handle because that's what you were trained against. Taylor's mind just shuddered in disgust at the idea of people using unarmed civilians as some type of target. It was a cowards trick but also an effective one. "We'll get these bastards. I promise."

"As long as I don't have a panic attack, the baby and I are fine." Lillian said with a smile. "Overthinking is simply something that I do, okay? I think it's just how I am programmed. I'll be fine though--I have faith in my sister-in-law."

She nodded as she thought about Kara and how Kara was holding up with three kids to care for, but Leonard would take that responsibility into his hands and care for his children while Kara saved their people. Maybe that was what Lillian needed to do. Perhaps it would be best if she looked out for herself and the kids and let Taylor help to keep things safe. Still, it was hard for Lillian to simply sit still at times such as these when the doctor in her wanted to actually do something.

"I know we will, I just...this is literally close to home," Lillian responded with a sad smile.

||USS Fenris
||Ready Room
||TBD


Lillian was annoyed and judging with the fact she asked Marissa to leave and not him it was obvious he was the cause. All the signs where there and Taylor was wondering exactly what was ticking her off. Racking his brains it occurred to him that the CIO may have actually gone to her with a complaint. Well, that was within her rights but not needed. He got the feeling it was simply because he had exercised his right to go anywhere he pleased without much care for her thought on the matter.

"Something wrong ma'am?" he asked, still professional.

Lillian took a deep breath and looked at him, shaking her head a little bit. "Do Marines and Intel officers always have to push each others' buttons? Is there like a manual I don't know about on how to make each other miserable?"

She had thought she would have a bit more tact here but honestly Marlena's words were still bothering her and she wanted to stop feeling so stressed out and trapped. She wanted to be with Sareth and cuddling him close and stroking his hair, she didn't want to be telling Taylor to back off of Intel and to leave Marlena alone. Hell, she hardly even knew what had happened between the two that day, but she could imagine.

"From what I've heard it seems you two are rather...I don't even have the word for it."

A small weight of sadness actually clumped within Taylor's heart. Even though he knew that the captain had to enforce some form of disciple in her senior officers the fact that it was Lillian made it ten times as worse. Somehow whatever he thought about saying just seemed inadequate. Instead he just gave a stoic look and an inward sigh. This went beyond the typical distrust between the two departments. This was something else all together.

"Need I remind you that it was an intelligence officer that almost got me and my entire squad killed?" said Taylor in a low voice that almost sounded like a corpse being dragged over gravel. If she wanted to play captain he could play marine officer. "And I might also add that the CIO decided to make sexual advances against me, unwanted ones I might add. If that doesn't give me the right to be a little bit edgy then what exactly can? Besides I didn't go there to make trouble. I went there to get some lunch with Nayla. She's been stuck with low level reports since SFI has yet to clear her for the real job she's meant to be doing so I took it upon myself to cheer her up."

"I have no issues with you taking Nayla out to lunch," Lillian told him, shaking her head. "You also don't have to remind me about Lars so..."

Blowing her bangs out of her face she found a lump forming in her throat a bit of anger rise up as she heard about this 'sexual advances' thing and suddenly she just felt overwhelmed. For once though, not even frustrated or stressful tears formed in her eyes...no, instead she found herself chewing on her bottom lip, pain etched in her eyes. She could feel the pressure in her throat and for a moment her voice seemed strained but she made her way through her next selection of words.

"You happen to be a rather attractive man," Lillian began, sighing loudly. "She wants you to stay out of the Intel offices until she says otherwise so she can get some work done. By now I would hope that you know that I trust you and I really just...I'm really stressed out, Tay."

Just like that she was back to putting her head in her arms on her desk, shaking her head and trying to take deep breaths.

With something of a sad smile Taylor left his seat and walked behind Lillian. Anger he could take but Lillian being upset was something he learned to navigate with tender loving care. Obviously his tact still needed improving in social exchanges. Gently he gripped his lover's shoulders before massaging them, trying to work tension out of the muscle. "Well one of us has to look good." he teased as he worked his magic.

"Look I know you're stressed. The baby...the job...now this attack. I'm sorry love, you don't need me acting the fool. If you want I'll stay away from the Intel offices till she says so. God knows when she'll actually produce some results given she's Intelligence. Just tell me how to make it better..."

Lillian moaned gently at the massage, letting herself relax for the first moment since she had heard about Betazed, but relaxing brought the onslaught of emotions with it. Relaxing made her remember her father's message and tears came to her eyes again thinking about Sareth and thinking about how she had to de-stress--for the baby's sake. She wasn't helping anyone like this.

"Do you know how many times I've watched this?" Lillian asked Taylor as she turned on her console and brought up her father's message. "I just want to be with my little cub and with you, somewhere safe. That's all I want."

Taylor looked at the message briefly before turning his eyes back on his wife-to-be. "As much as I don't want to say it...as long as we're in Starfleet we will never be safe. This job isn't designed to be safe as much as we wish it was. We'll get to Betazed, we'll help and we'll have Sareth with us again. There isn't much we can do if we let the situation get the better of us. Lillian...you're in command. We need you...I need you."

"I know I'm in command," Lillian said softly, nodding, taking in all of his other words.

He had a point about Starfleet and while she didn't want to believe him about that subject she knew that he was right and it made her whole face sadden a bit. She'd lost Salyn on assignment and it seemed that every time something seemed to be simple something terrible happened and people got hurt. So 'safe' seemed to be a rather delusional state of mind.

"I need you too, Tay...so much," she managed, turning around in her chair and looking up at him as she took his hands, other thoughts starting to come to her mind. "Do women hit on you a lot?"

The question had taken the marine aback since it wasn't one he'd be expected to answer. Every time a woman decided to make a move Taylor would just decline and wipe it from his mind so it wasn't like he had a number to work with. After some thought and brain racking he just shook his head and shrugged. "Not really, no. Kind of a blue moon occurrence. Why, do men hit on you a lot?" he countered with his usual playful smile.

He pulled her up from the chair and into his arms, caressing the baby bump through Lillian's duty jacket with a smile. "You are the only woman for me alright? Didn't get through all we've been through to fool around."

"Well, I wouldn't say a lot," Lillian teased, kissing him gently. "I trust you, okay? I'm not worried about you fooling around and you shouldn't be worried about me leaving, ever. Part of me is just...a little jealous. Did she manhandle you? Was it just flirting? Everyone on this ship knows I'm having your baby, so color me curious. I know that my main focus right now is Betazed--and trust me it is Betazed and Sareth--but I'm gonna be dwelling on this too now. Especially considering how much more attractive she is than me. I mean wouldn't you go for it if I wasn't around?"

"She's not my type." said Taylor adamantly, kissing Lillian back. "Besides you're all the beauty I need in a woman. You're strong, courageous, thoughtful...the great body of yours just happens to be a bonus." He smiled at her and wondered if it would be best to tell Lillian or remain tactful. No this was one of these situations where any answer was the wrong one so he'd best be honest anyway.

"She grabbed my ass...flirted I think. I think you're CIO is a bit too sickly sweet for my tastes."

"How is it possible for you to be just as romantic--if not more so--than you were when we met?" Lillian asked with a smile, kissing him tenderly until her answer came to her.

Grabbed his ass?! That was just not okay! Not at all!While she understood why a woman would approach Taylor and try to make a move, Marlena had gotten incredibly handsy with her outranking MCO whom she knew was dating the captain and then gone to Lillian and demanded that Taylor stay out of her offices. While Lillian understood that, she didn't understand the flirting part--why flirt with him if she was just going to start blaming things on him?

"She did what?" Lillian asked him, pulling back a moment. "While I understand her being distracted and frustrated with your hatred of Intel officers, under no circumstances is it alright for her to be touching my things."

"She grabbed my ass." echoed Taylor in exactly the same voice as he had said it the first time. It seemed that Lillian was none to impressed with Marlena's earlier actions which was more or less her right to be. She had crossed a line and then skipped behind Taylor's back to report him in like some naughty schoolkid. War had more or less been declared but the victor was yet to be seen. At least Lillian had went from despair to anger which meant that she would stop moping around which was more or less Taylor's objective. The method however could have been better.

"Yes...she touched your things...and enjoyed it." he said evenly with no hint of joking. "She didn't seem all too impressed with my reaction or lack thereof. I more or less batted her hand away. Should have broken it..."

"You're not a thing, I just...I don't like thinking about other women touching my husband." Lillian explained, sighing loudly. "I think her distractions weren't your fault--I get distracted with you around being all perfect too--but you told her you hated Intel so...for now just stay away from her. And no, I mean professionally I think that is best for right now and when this incident with Betazed is over, I want to talk to both of you and settle this all. No violence, no more of this nonsense...just talking this all out. That ass of yours is mine and she will not grab it again..."

She winked and then kissed him, focusing on Taylor before everything kind of came crashing back on her. For a little bit it was nice to be distracted by some form of anger and yet she had a job to do and she had to be strong about it. Taylor had a way of reminding her of such things and so she tugged on his lip with her teeth and then pulled back and looked him in the eye.

"So, as my MCO, do you have a plan for what happens when we get there?" she asked him slowly.

"Maybe I should wear my armour plates on the lower half when I have this talk with her." Teased Taylor with a smile and a wink. He could switch from personal to professional, playful to stoic in a heartbeat. It made him both unpredictable and a pain to deal with at times. People never really saw what triggered certain responses unless they spent a lot of time with him. Sometimes Taylor thought that he even surprised Lillian at times which what he said or did. Then again no one really knew what he was capable of doing apart from himself. "But I read you…I'll stay away from Intel until advised otherwise."

The request for an idea by the CO to the MCO was not an uncommon occurrence but something that SB7's commanders had never done. The only time he actually had anything to do with command choices was when he became acting XO and only because of his rank which was something of a miracle. Not that he enjoyed being in charge of the station. His marine department was his little world with its own customs. Taylor didn't feel comfortable trespassing within the realms of the Fleet. Again Lillian had asked something that both took him aback and required some thought. Marines had something of a unique approach to solving problems. Where an engineer or scientist might use the latest technique or fanciest technobabble a marine would instead come up with the most simplest and effective solution.

"Suits for everyone. Armour, EVA suits, HAZMAT suits…anything that prevents physical and airborne contact with contaminated areas or people without restricting our ability to work. Even non-telepaths should take precautions in case they become a viable carrier. I won't die from the virus but it doesn't mean I couldn't pass it into a Betazoid. We know very little about this virus other than what it does."

Taylor paused to take stock and plan ahead before speaking. Marlo would obviously have her own ideas but it paid to have multiple options which gave Lillian the ability to mix and match to her own preferences. "Get medical and science set up ASAP to deal with casualties as well as get some fact finding done. Security could handle the more physical investigations as well as work with Intelligence into finding out where the second bomb, if it exists, is hidden. My marines will be on stand-by to assist the Betazoid authorities as well as the Starfleet garrison and alert ships. I'll liaise with the ground commanders there to see what I can dig up."

"I think that's an incredibly good plan," Lillian said with a nod as she thought it all through. "Though I don't know exactly how I want Science and Medical to act yet...this virus is transmitted through blood and while it could have been altered, I...who am I kidding? Of course its been altered, otherwise there wouldn't be an airborne threat. It seems to be the same progression that I had, however, but I won't know until I get there and fix this. I need to get Sareth safe and then...what if the only way to do this is to test it out, Taylor? What if I need to infect myself to see how it affects the bloodstream and the brain through tests?"

The idea had actually crossed her mind a lot as she thought about how things had been when she was infected. Taylor had really showed her what lengths he would go through for her even though the two of them couldn't be together at the time and it had just made her love him all the more. This was her home planet though--her home--and she would do honestly anything to save it. Her thoughts kept bringing her back to the baby though and she knew she couldn't do such a thing...the virus would more than likely kill off the baby before she could figure out a cure and she just couldn't lose the baby. What was she going to do?

A small beaming smile of self pride touched Taylor's lips at the sound of Lillian liking his idea. There was nothing that meant more to him professionally than doing a good job and getting props from the boss was as good as it got for him. As long as she continued to have faith in his abilities that would keep Taylor happy during his on-duty hours. However the smile died instantly at the mention of Lillian infecting herself for study. No matter the cost Lillian was not expendable in his eyes. Taylor would gladly die for mother, pie and Federation but not Lillian…she deserved better.

"Or…you take a blood sample and a brain tissue sample and apply the virus then." He said carefully. "Or even better you take scans of the infected. Or…even better you stay on the ship and let Spots and Moody figure it out. You're the CO not the CMO anymore. Like it or not you're out of the saddle and sickbay for good. Let them do the medical work."

"I think we both know that I'm not staying on the ship and even though I'm currently captain, Sickbay is in my blood," Lillian responded, shrugging softly. "I know that they are the ones that are in charge, here, I do, but I just can't...I can't sit back and do nothing. I am going to help the medical team while you do your job and we'll meet back up once we've stopped the threat."

She took his hand and rested it on her baby bump, smiling up at him. "And when this is over it'll be you, me, our son and our unborn son or daughter and everything will be fine. I have to believe that. So just come back to me. No running off to get blown to pieces again, please. You are not expendable and you are not replaceable and I need you to be that boomerang, alright?"

All Taylor could do was give a sad sigh at how much his fiancée thought he was worth. To him he was no more important than the next person which made him feel fully capable of stepping out into the firing line. He knew his place in the process of being a marine and while it was important it didn't give him the right to not put himself in the same danger as his marines. The day he hid behind his rank was the day he was no longer fit to wear it.

"I think you overestimate how much I'm really worth Lilly." He said with his typical sad smile. "I know it's hard to step back from the front line. I've gone from being a front line marine, to officer, to a staff rank. But at the end of the day my job is warfare. Your job was medical now it's command. Please…just let this lie. I know you want to help your people but please help yourself for once."

Lillian opened her mouth to protest but then she shut it and gave a gentle nod. Perhaps her place here right now was to protect her son and she should let Kara and Elena and Reius and the other doctors handle this unless they specifically asked her help. She had been the one to give up her CMO position and she had to trust in others or this was going to drive her crazy--maybe it would drive her crazy anyway.

"Fine...but it's not going to be easy," Lillian told him. "I want you to do your job and I want you to be you but I want you to come home. Just remember that, okay? I'm not allowing you to die when I haven't even married you yet and I'm determined for us both to raise our kids together. So just...be careful. I'm still not staying on the ship..."

"Wearing thick plate armour with overlapping shields, anti-NBC capability and my own air for sixteen hours." pointed out Taylor with a smile. "Strapped with a pistol, carbine, knife and photon grenades and surrounded by people with the same training, weapons and armour as me. Trust me...I'm safe. It's you I worry about. You over-think things and it stresses you. After this I think we need a nice, dull patch of gas to scan."

Still smiling he stroked his hair with his hand, feeling the short brown scalp covering with an air of preparation. Nothing was worse than a situation that involved civilians. An armed enemy set out to kill you was easily to handle because that's what you were trained against. Taylor's mind just shuddered in disgust at the idea of people using unarmed civilians as some type of target. It was a cowards trick but also an effective one. "We'll get these bastards. I promise."

"As long as I don't have a panic attack, the baby and I are fine." Lillian said with a smile. "Overthinking is simply something that I do, okay? I think it's just how I am programmed. I'll be fine though--I have faith in my sister-in-law."

She nodded as she thought about Kara and how Kara was holding up with three kids to care for, but Leonard would take that responsibility into his hands and care for his children while Kara saved their people. Maybe that was what Lillian needed to do. Perhaps it would be best if she looked out for herself and the kids and let Taylor help to keep things safe. Still, it was hard for Lillian to simply sit still at times such as these when the doctor in her wanted to actually do something.

"I know we will, I just...this is literally close to home," Lillian responded with a sad smile.

Taylor gently pulled Lillian into him before kissing her lips softly, nuzzling his nose with hers. At least he had the chance to see her before a mission began rather than having to tip-toe around hoping to steal a few seconds. "We'll protect our home..." he said with a grin.

(end?)

Yeah, that's a good end.