Catching Up

Posted on Tue Aug 25th, 2020 @ 7:31pm by Major Ashley Rogers

1,066 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Shore Leave: Welcome to Drozana
Location: ???
Timeline: 238612.30

Ash looked up at him, "Miguel?"

"Who did you think it'd be? You've done a good job hiding for a while now. Getting sloppy though. Asking around about the Ourainavassa? What did you think would happen?" he said wiping the blood from his face.

"I thought you were out of the business," Ash said, still stunned.

"I thought you were too," he replied in kind.

"I am. I have been. Trying to..."

Miguel interrupted her, "Bullshit. You don't think I haven't kept tabs on you? You really think it's that easy to disappear off the radar?"

"You did!" Ash retorted.

"I did. But I also didn't gallivant across the galaxy as a mercenary for hire. There really aren't that many people with your skill set, Ash. And here you are now, a human wearing Romulan Centurion rank working with Raven? That's not exactly the definition of inconspicuous. You can't help yourself, can you?" Miguel crossed his arms giving Ash a disapproving look. "If you were going to leave my daughter without a word, I'd at least think you'd be smarter than that."

Oh... that's what this is about... Ash looked down and took a breath, a very painful bloody breath, "I'm sorry I left Renee..."

"Shut up. I'm not the one you need to apologize to. Because believe it or not, I actually do understand why you did what you did. And you're not sorry. You did what you had to do and for the first time in your life, you're feeling remorse," he opened a first aid kit and tossed Ash a hypospray and a bone regenerator.

Ash took the hypospray and gave herself some relief from the pain of what is probably a couple of broken ribs as she ran the regenerator on herself. Miguel walked over and grabbed her face, turning it side to side, "You're going to need that nose reset." Without any warning, he quickly reset her nose as she yelped in pain.

"You couldn't have waited until the pain meds kicked it?" Ash said in between gasping breaths.

He leaned into her, "That's not nearly enough to make up for the pain you caused Renee."

Ash hung her head, "How is she?"

Miguel glared at her, "How the hell do you think she is? Her mother left us when she was young. I disappeared from her life when I left the Section. And then her fiancee did the same thing... I'm not sure how much more my little girl can take."

Ash leaned her back against the wall and sunk down to her feet, "I screwed up."

"You did. And you didn't," Miguel sat down next to her on the floor. "Like I said, I understand why you did what you did. And to an extent... so does Renee. She knew what you were when you met. It shouldn't surprise her that you can't be changed."

"I can't fix this, can I?"

"Not with things the way they are now," Miguel continued. "There are a lot of rumors and and conspiracy theories out there. Even the Section doesn't know who to trust. Mars was devastating, no one could have predicted the actual repercussions," he stopped when he saw Ash grimace. He knew that she felt responsible and that was what initiated the chain of events that led them here, "And abandoning Picard's mission to save the Romulans left many feeling disenchanted. But yet... you always had a clarity of purpose. You may not play by anyone else's rules, but you always play by your's. And your twisted code of behavior has been a constant that the Section has missed. And your style fits with current affairs."

Ash furrowed her brows, "You're back with the Section?!"

Miguel shook his head, "No. They still have no idea I'm alive. But, I do keep my ear to the ground."

"So, what happened on Drozana..."

"Was the Section trying to get you back. They need someone on the outside, not subject to the politics of headquarters... and you threw up a flare by asking too many questions," Miguel then grabbed his own nose and reset it with a loud crack.

"Did I just endanger Renee? And my family?" Ash asked.

"No. After I killed Jimmy back there for you... I don't think the Section will be coming after you for a while. They're short enough on trusted agents, the last thing they need is for a pissed off Ashley Rogers coming after them," he smirked. "You're welcome."

"Guess I'm back to square one on the Ourainavassa," Ash sighed.

Miguel hands her a PADD, "Not necessarily. Like I said, I keep my ear to the ground. You'll find a lot of interesting information in there."

"Why are you doing this? You once told me that you were going to kill me if I ever hurt Renee. I don't... I don't deserve any of this. I'm a danger to myself and anyone I've ever cared about. I'm better off dead..." Ash said dejectedly.

"Because... Renee still cares about you. She may still love you... for whatever reason. And while she's deeply hurt by you leaving, she knows that you did what you think is right. And a small part of her believes that maybe one day, you will go home. And maybe I'm getting sappy in my old age... I might believe that too," Miguel stands up and offers a hand to help Ash up.

"I wish I believed in myself as much as she did..." Ash said as she grasped Miguel's hand and stood.

"One day, when you're ready... after you do all the things you think you need to do... you should reach out to her... and to your family. But until then, go be who you are," he put a friendly hand on Ash's shoulder. "I'm not saying she's sitting around waiting for you. But eventually, I'm sure you'd both want closure, one way or another."

Ash nodded silently and felt the familiar sensation of a transporter beam. When she rematerialized, she was in her quarters on the Raven's Claw with nothing but the soreness in her body and a PADD in her hand to show for her meeting with Miguel. She sat down on her couch and grimaced as her tender ribs protested the contact.

"Gedak owes me..." she grumbled as she started reading the PADD.

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