Post 333: Not the Woman He Used to Be

Stardate: 70729.2300
Title: Not the Woman He Used to Be
Authors: February Grace and Dabin Reece
Scene: Runabout Hiawatha en route to Trill
Time: Following "Not the Man She Used to Be"

"So this is it then?" Reece began again after Gilmore had gone. "I've waited years for this and you won't even be able to look me in the eye when I tell you what you've done?"

"What Deveral did," February reminded him. *Deveral the rock star.* she thought. * Deveral the genius. Deveral the incorrigible, irredeemable bastard.*

"Yes, what Deveral did. In this case, ruin my life. Or, should I say Tuli's life."

"Tuli?" Ashlyn asked softly, thinking she needed a piece of paper and pencil at this point to keep score of who did what to whom.

"Reece's host before Dabin." February whispered. "She and Deveral were. . .acquainted."

"If you call having a torrid affair acquainted!" Dabin snarled, pacing back and forth with his arms folded. "I was young and naive. He used me up and threw me away and then when he was done, nothing. I waited by the view screen for three years for him. But did he once try to contact me? Did he once try to do anything?" Reece moved closer and put his hands on February's shoulders, shaking her gently.

"Step off, Reece," Trind warned. "She's in no condition for this."

"Well I'm in no condition to let this go." Reece replied. "You said we'd be together forever. Why didn't you call?" He seemed to be speaking as his former host Tuli now, and February responded in kind.

"Well you know, there was that whole tour of the Alpha quad thing going on. . .we went through three drummers that summer. It was a tough gig, sweetheart." She said, suddenly sounding very un-February.

"But you didn't even send me a postcard- or concert tickets! You told your security guards not to let me come backstage anymore!"

February reached out and touched Reece's face with the back of her hand gently.

"I'm tellin' you baby, there was nothing I could do about it. But you know our time together was very special to me, there was nobody else like you." February thought she might gag from the sheer size of the lie that the symbiont was feeding her to say, and her hands shot up to her mouth. "My god. What did I just say?"

"Yeah, well, I'll have you know a little something else, you worm." Dabin continued, poking February in the stomach, in the vicinity of her symbiont.

"Jaze Deveral Reece is an unjoined Trill and he plays in an alternative rock tribute band on Risa! I figure that YOU owe ME about forty-three thousand bars of latinum in unpaid child support!"

February thought she might pass out. "Jaze... Deveral. . .Reece?" February stammered "My son?"

"Congratulations," Reece growled. "It's a boy!"

"I didn't know, honestly." February blurted. She tried to reach out for Reece's hand, but he'd moved away again. She was, quite simply, mortified. "Deveral had no idea, and neither did Grace!"

"Doesn't change the fact!"

"Might I remind you Commander Reece, that new hosts are not considered responsible for the actions of past ones?" Ashlyn interjected, hands on her hips. "We're all joined here. We know what that means."

"Yeah," February began, suddenly growing angry. "Hey, yeah! Unless you want me to bring up Reece's dirty laundry and air it out too?" He was forgetting that she had gotten to know his symbiont quite well, as well as the past host in a life gone by.

"I don't know what you mean." Dabin folded his arms indignantly.

"The name Aramos Reece doesn't mean anything to you, Commander?"

February couldn't see it, but he went pure white, then beet red at the mention of the name of this particular one of his previous hosts. He stammered.

"It's not my fault, what Aramos did to that girl Marisol Kar, breaking her heart like that."

"But it's my fault that Deveral was a womanizing jerk and broke Tuli's?"

Reece sighed, dejected. He began to regain control of the raging personality within the symbiont. "No, it's not."

"Well then. Why don't you go take a nap or something for the rest of the trip, Reece, and leave February alone." Trind suggested, putting her hands on his shoulders and 'encouraging' him toward the door..

Dabin suddenly felt pretty sheepish for the outburst. "Sorry about that, Reece just got away from me for a moment there." he confided. "I'm sure you both have had moments like that in your time as hosts."

"You have no idea." February replied. "It's okay, Dabin, I understand."

She was being so nice about it, that it made him feel even worse. He tried to think of something he could do to redeem himself. "Well, another of my previous hosts was a doctor. And, it so happens that my significant other is one of the brightest medical minds in Starfleet. She's currently taking up residence on a patch of beach at the Amethyst Ocean Resort and Spa down yonder. I could get her on the horn, we could have a confab." He offered. "Maybe if you show us what you've got in the way of findings so far, we can give you some input."

"You'd do that for me?" February was surprised. Obviously this was, by far, the kindest of all Reece's hosts.

"Yeah. 'Cause that's just the kind of guy I am."

Lt. February Grace
Helm/Flight Controller
USS Independence

and

Commander Dabin Reece
Science Officer/Guest Trill
Starfleet