Happy Trails

[Scribe]

COCHRANE HILLS
NEW EARTH COLONY, GAIA
Stardate: 30.03.69

The small trail head wasn't all that much to look at especially compared to the spectacular sunset that awaited them at the top of the mountain. Easing the skimmer into the small area, Derick brought it to a stop and glanced over at his companion. "Last call to say no, take me for lobster and crab cakes," he told the gorgeous brunette next to him.

Almost not able to look at her, because he didn't want to stare, Derick would have told anyone he'd be meeting Elena Rose AND taking her on a date in the same 24 hours that they were certifiable. He liked her, yes…the Elena Rose of the movies and glossies and truthfully, Derick saw her first before he saw Ellie Domingo and it was a struggle to remember to treat her normally. Not that he was a kiss-up or anything like that, far, far from it but Derick couldn't help but feel slightly surreal.

Hiking, Elena thought with a smile, he was taking her hiking.

Elena was almost of the opinion that Ren had been coaching the Captain about what she liked to do since his selection of an occupation for their first date was almost too perfect to be simply serendipity. Hiking was one of her favourite past times before her celebrity made it impossible for her to take lengthy excursions alone without an entourage. The Domingo family had always been accustomed to the outdoors and her father would take her and her mother out frequently into the countryside surrounding Havana. The island of Cuba had originally been sheltered by thick equatorial forests which were cleared for farming and human settlement but the rest of the country was a veritable jungle of lush green trees.

Elena had loved it.

It still pained her to think that beautiful island was gone, along with the rest of Earth and in settling on Betazed, Elena's father Jose had tried to return life to some semblance of normalcy. Fortunately, Betazed was a world almost as picturesque as Earth with magnificent landscapes and Jose made it a point to explore it with his family. After awhile, Elena began going out on her own trips, hiking and white water rafting among other pastimes. As difficult as it was, she still tried to go hiking when she could and it kept her in better shape as any exercise regime she could construct for herself. It certainly aided her in keeping her physique the way it was.

Thus when he suggested they go hiking, Elena was almost certain that it was part of some plan concocted by Mrs. Renee 'Push Up' Hayes to fix her up with the Captain.

Of course, that being said, Elena did not object to Ren's efforts on her behalf. She did find Captain Rickman attractive from the moment she laid eyes on him. Well sculpted, handsome, good company and possessing a coarse, no frills military demeanour that all women claimed was chauvinistic but none could resist, Derick Rickman was just what she needed. He was a down to earth guy who was refreshingly honest and unafraid to speak his mind.

"Like you could get lobster," she snorted as she looked at him through her sun glasses, wearing khaki shorts, polka pink t-shirt and good, worn hiking boots. Walking past him, she looked over her shoulder. "You're lagging groundpounder." She challenged through her tousled hair.

"I'm enjoying the view," Derick threw her a smirk as he shrugged into the pack he'd retrieved from the skimmer. "You know, they actually tried to introduce lobster here on Gaia. Entire school was eaten within two weeks, shells and all," he chuckled, remembering the rant Julian had had over that. "I don't know if they ever bothered to find out by what," he said, moving up beside her. He wore shades too, silver, sleek ones that often accompanied him in the field too.

"The trail's not that long, few miles but it's all uphill," he continued, leading the way towards where the woods parted to reveal a dirt path. Looking down at Ellie, Derick motioned for her to go ahead of him. "Ladies first..."

"Such a gentlemen," she threw strode boldly forward into the path, flanked by tall trees which thick canopy like leaves and vines. "I don't think it's such a good idea anyway, trying to introduce a new species into an alien environment. It's one thing to attempt it with pastoral farming animals but more exotic species...bad idea. No way to predict how it could affect the ecosphere."

Christ, she had great legs, Derick thought. Just the right amount of tone and muscle.

"Don't tell that to my brother," he said, his stride easily catching him up with her. In fact, Derick reminded himself to watch the pace, just in case. "He's the head of Xenobiology here. To him, it's all about exotic species," he said, as they fell into an easy pace. "Same thing happened to crabs and all the other shellfish. So now what they do have is all synth." Around them, a breeze moved gently through the trees, the creaks of wood the only real noise out here. "So did you and Ren have a good time after I left?"

"Oh we did," Elena answered, remembering with a coy smile to herself what the bulk of the conversation had been about after he had left. However, there was no need to tell him that. "She told me how she met Gabriel. Its a story worth filming by how crazy it is. Then again, Ren always liked the wounded ones. Still," she looked over her shoulder at Derick. "It works."

"It does. Just don't tell Tom it should be filmed." Laughing, he shook his head. "I'll have to break out the smelling salts again." Just ahead, the path was blocked, by a tree that had come down way shortly after the path was built up. No one had ever bothered to remove it and at easily, two feet in diameter, it was easy to see why. Climbing up on it, Derick held a hand out to help Elena up.

Elena accepted his hand and allowed him to help her climb up the thick trunk, bumping into him when she got on top. "Thanks," she replied, diffusing her awkwardness with her usual flippancy. "You always help a girl get on top?." She teased.

Dropping his head so that sea green eyes looked at her over his shades, Derick winked, one hand easily steadying her with a strong grip on her arm. "I like it when girls are on top."

Jumping down on the other side, he reached up without really realizing it and took Ellie by the waist to help her down. Difficult to do, considering her chest was right even with his eye line about then.

Bad, bad Uncle Drick.

"So," Derick set her easily on the ground, not letting his gaze follow that gorgeous sight. Letting go almost reluctantly of that warm, lithe body, he continued. "Those boots look suspiciously broken in. You hike on Betazed?" he asked.

A slight thrill escaped her at his arms around her body, the brief contact was enough to make Elena more aware of him than she liked to admit and pliantly, she remained in his grip until he was ready to let go, which was far too soon by her reckoning. When he spoke, she had to blink twice to recalibrate her momentary sinful thoughts about rustic settings and privacy.

"Yes I do." Elena recovered promptly, an actress used to recouping from a flubbed line, "I used to do it all the time before I started doing this for a living. Nowadays, I hike when a location we're filming at provides the opportunity."

Standing there, Derick had to remind himself this was a date and not some chick he'd pick up at a bar. He was not, as Tom would say, tail mining.

But Christ, she smelled good. Like…baby powder (which a tough MACO like him knew only because of Lexie), flowers and something else sweet and sexy at the same time. "They have a lot of places to go on Betazed? I've only seen the city," he said, stepping back to an acceptable distance.

“Oh yes,” she said enthusiastically as she walk along side of him. “Betazed has a lot of natural reserves. They really take care of their nature … lots of mountains and beautiful lakes. You should let me show you around if you’re ever there again.” She smiled at him, the invitation clear in her eyes.

For a second, Derick didn't say anything as he looked over at her. "That would be cool," he said finally, having shut up the mental 'hell yes' in his head although it probably danced in his eyes as well. "So you didn't have to kill anyone to get time off for this, did you?" he teased, with a wink, "Because I can get Tom to pull some strings with security if you did."

“I told them that I was going on a date,” she replied, “and unless they wanted to piss off one very cute Captain, I was going.” She winked at him. The long look he gave her was not missed, just like anything else he had thrown her way. It was nice to meet someone who liked you for just you. In Elena’s world, there was all together rare.

"Cute huh?" Giving her a sidelong glance, Derick nudged her playfully with an elbow. "You're pretty cute yourself," he replied, a grin curling the corner of his mouth. Goddamn, was that lame? After a day of yelling at his maggots, he actually found it difficult to have a conversation. Come to think of it, usually if Jules was home, Derick let him do the talking about biospora ecology or whatever it was he found growing somewhere. And Derick wasn't about to relate Jules mayo recipe to Ellie.

“Thank you,” she said coyly, “and cute is just for starters. I’ll let you know in the morning if it's anything else.” She teased and continued to walk. “So is there anything you’d like to know about me? I know the tabloids can be ridiculously inaccurate so any thing I can clear up?” She didn’t want him to get the impression that her notoriety with the opposite sex was at all the real her. Every time she went escorted to an event, she was labelled having a new man. It was very tiresome.

Now, that was a question he hadn't expected and it caught Derick slightly by surprise. Not that he read the tabloids.

Okay. Not that he took anything they said seriously. But, it was better than talking about the by-products of Gaian soil after 100 years of erosion. "Alright," he said after a moment, with a nod. "Candor 5. Were you really arrested..?" he smirked.

“Yes,” she laughed remembering the incident though at the time Elena did not find it at all remotely amusing and had raised nine kinds of hell until she was released. “I didn’t know that women were allowed to laugh in public. I so kicked my agent’s ass for that one. Here I am, someone tells me a joke, I laugh and then I’m being hauled away for lewd and indecent behaviour!”

"Oh so…" Derick chuckled. "You weren't dancing on the tables, stripping?" he laughed. "Lorio owes me five credits then." With a wink over the top of his sunglasses, he continued. "Hobbies? Other than hiking with cute Captains?"

“Hobbies, let’s see,” her eyes narrowed thinking on the subject before opening her recital like she was one of those Playboy Bunnies of long ago. “I’m a Capricorn, I like reading, I can actually sing when I’m drunk enough, I’ve done a little ballet which I mostly keep up now for coordination and exercise. My turn offs are men who men who won’t kill bugs and turn ons are men who like to give head as much as get it.” She winked at that last statement.
Derick actually, nearly, sighed. He was in heaven. "Well, you're in luck," he joked. "I kill bugs…if they're too big to step on, I have a phaser."

Purposely leaving off a response to the last bit, he moved on quickly to the next question despite the pleased smile on his face.

*****

Hours later, once the sun had set and they'd walked back down the trail to the skimmer, Derick brought the sled to a stop outside the inn where Ellie was staying. Set aside strictly for diplomatic guests from off world and VIPs, the place was turned out in fine decorations and landscaping. "Is this place as swanky on the inside as it is out here?" Derick asked, leaning back in the seat for a moment, gaze catching on Ellie's profile. That lower lip was beautiful, forming a natural pout that made her smile sparkle.

“Apparently so,” Elena replied somewhat surprised by the construction. “If I recall correctly, I think Ren said he sometimes signs things without really paying attention, at least the stuff for municipal construction. Bored out of his mind apparently. He only pays attentions when it's something that doesn’t involve stuff getting blown up or collapsing.” She chuckled. “Come on, let’s go in there and scare the straights.”

Laughing, Derick nodded. "Deal... although I warn you, security is uh... familiar with me on this planet," he added with a smirk. He'd figured Hayes would never be one for the bureaucracy of it all. "If they hear I'm here... they'll know something's up," he said, getting out of the skimmer anyway.

Meeting Ellie on the other side, he pulled his shades from where they were hung on his t-shirt. "You want to wear these? So no one can tell it's you?" he chuckled.

“No that’s not needed,” Elena said but smiling at him with affection for suggesting it. “Fortunately because of the clientele, they’re pretty well behaved here. I haven’t had much trouble with mad stalkers or anything.” That was something Ellie mostly endured off world, with populations that didn't need to worry about basic survival that those on Gaia did.

They walked into the front door and the concierge greeted Elena promptly though he cast a concerning eye over Derick, uncertain whether he was a bodyguard or a friend. The tall man certainly didn’t look like the bodyguard the concierge recognised Elena with earlier.

Bedazzled by the smile, Derick almost didn't notice the haughty up and down look given to him by the greeter guy. Digging his badge from a pocket, he handed it over. "There, I'm legit. Stop staring at me like that." He almost made it an order and backed off his tone just at the last second, reminding himself this wasn't Utopia and this guy wasn't some one who recognized his type by his clothes or tattoos or anything else.

But the fact that someone, after all this time, was turning their nose up at him... bothered Derick.

Elena had to bite back her snigger when she saw the concierge swallow visibly and hell wasn’t she just a little turned on by the gruff display? “He’s with me Charles,” she assured him and continued across the lobby towards the staircase leading up to her room.

Taking his ID back, Derick caught up with Ellie at those stairs, a hand dropping proprietarily to the small of her back. "Straight Number One, scared," he joked, leaning down from behind to Ellie's ear.

An involuntary shudder ran down her spine at the touch on the small of her back, a place he had no idea often drew that response, to say nothing about his breath against her ear. “Not that straight,” she replied. “I’m sure he’s dating the bellboy.”

Derick let out a chuckle. "That just sounds... wrong..." he laughed. "But well…" He grinned. "He could ring his bell, you never know..."

“I can’t believe you just said that,” she laughed as they reached the top of the stairs and went to her door, opening it with her security card and stepping in, assuming he would be right behind her. “Come in for a drink” she looked through her tousled hair, invitingly.

Like he would say no. Derick was a lot of things but stupid wasn't one of them. Especially not when her look was all come and hither. Moving in behind her, he found himself in a room awash with that lovely scent that lingered over Ellie, despite the somewhat long hike and exposure to the outdoors. Taking it in, he looked around the place. "Nice. We'll have to get the Governor to sign off on more stuff he doesn't he read."

“Ren says she’s working on getting the MACOs their very own Jacuzzi and orgy centre,” she joked, going to the bar. “What would you like?”

"What is there?" Derick joined her, eyebrows going up. "Nicely stocked bar too. I'm moving in," he joked, pulling up a bottle of Jack Daniels. "On the rocks. The Barn is an orgy centre enough with that Randolph kid there now," he laughed.

“I heard,” she stepped back, allowing him to pour his own drink since he knew what he liked. “Ren said he tried to pick her up. Wanted to know if this thing with the Governor was going to last. This was of course followed by the inevitable question…” she dared him to guess.

"There was a question? Ren didn't shoot him?" Derick laughed, holding up an empty glass. "What do you want?"

“Give me vodka and lemon,” she answered before replying, “She made him run drill until he puked after he asked, believe it or not. Was her hair that crazy everywhere?”

"Jesus Christ..." Derick half-groaned, laughing even as he shook his head. "No wonder he looked so washed out at lunch." Vodka went into the empty glass and he lifted up a container lid or two before finding fresh cut lemons on ice. Only once her drink was finished and he'd handed it over, did he fix his. "I was in the chow hall when she brought her squad in. Although…" he smirked and shook his head again. "He could have been doing it to milk sympathy from Hartwood or anything else female in the room."
“That boy does sound like trouble,” she laughed. “Please make yourself comfortable, I just need to go fresh up a bit. There’s another bathroom over there, if you’d like to do the same.” She suggested, since they’d been hiking through some pretty rough terrain. She disappeared into the bedroom and stepped into the small shower cubicle. It wasn’t a bath as such more like a five minute shower to clean off the dirt and sweat from the day.

She emerged a moment later, dressed in a thin cotton dress that clung to her skin loosely, swirling around her knees as she moved back to the sofa to join him.

Leaving his drink on the bar, Derick had made use of the extra bathroom, washing grit and sweat off his face. Not much else he could do, without a change of clothes and...well. They weren't there yet. He'd come out before she had and taking both their drinks, Derick had sat down to review the remote to the vid player.

And when she came out, it was all about comfort but the look on her face was relaxed and pleased. Handing her drink back, Derick smiled. "Feel better?"

“Absolutely,” she said sitting down on the sofa next to him. “Betazoids like sonic showers, supposedly cleans better than water but it feels weird and they always find it odd that humans waste water with bathing.”

"I don't like the sonics. When we built Gaia, thank god someone saw to having the water showers in the barracks." And in their house, he and Jules had installed one and ripped out the sonic one. "Don't feel as clean and it sure as hell isn't the same after a twenty mile march in the heat and mud," he said, glancing at her. With legs as long as they were on screen and her naturally dusky skin tone, even in something comfortable (especially), she looked downright hot. There was something else Derick had noticed as well. Ellie looked.. relaxed. More so than she had last night and he wondered if it was because of this, of him.

"Any questions you have for me? You answered all mine," he said, sitting back. "Only fair I answer yours."

Studying her over top of his glass, Derick didn't respond at first, face canting into that sort of frown he got when thinking over something. He took a drink finally and set the glass down. "I admit I read some of that stuff but I don't believe it. I'm smarter than that, understand the 'game'," Derick made air quotes with one hand. "Better than that. I wouldn't have asked you out if I hadn't seen the woman you are."

"I'm sorry if I come across a little too serious about this but too often, people can't tell the difference and that just makes things awkward when they're expectations aren't what I can give them." She met his gaze.

"Understood," Derick nodded as if answering a senior officer although for once in a long time, he wasn't sure what to say. Everything he wanted to tell her in response sounded too trite, too used. There hadn't been many that could make him like that, in fact the last one being.. Sloane. Not wanting to go there, Derick focused on other things and it was then he noticed how tired Ellie seemed. How world-weary of the things that must go with being a celebrity.

"I .. am not sure what to say, Ellie," he began, sensing it was honesty she wanted, no matter how trite or brutal it might be, that it would the exception to alternate life she lived when outside these four walls. "Earlier today, I was a little star struck. I looked at you and had to remember you were Ellie Domingo and not Elena Rose. I mean.. who wouldn't?" He gave her a soft smile. "But now..? It's Ellie I see.. that I want to see again."

Elena flashed him a radiant smile, one that she didn't give to the camera or to the tabloids, but one that was exclusively his. A gift of herself that she did not give to just anyone. Leaning across, she kissed him gently on the lips, a chase kiss but one with affection. "She wants to see you too."

Whoa. It had been a while since anyone's smile made his stomach knot up like that. Derick spread his arms, an invite if she wanted it to lean against him. "Good. Ellie..." he said, meeting her gaze directly.

The invitation taken, she rested against him, full lips finding his again, kissing him, liking how it felt to kiss him, liking that he saw a woman and not an image. She hated that, sacrificed herself for a persona. It was her part to play, to be a the star of stage and screen so that Gaia's people, thought that they were still on Earth and the trivial things still played a part in their lives. "Derick."

Smiling against her gorgeous lips, Derick tucked his arms around her, happy to just hold Ellie if that's what she wanted. That kind of tired he'd seen in her face could weigh on a person's soul, until the weight became corrosive. He understood now, what she might see in a ground pounder like him. A chance to back away from the edge between normal and grandiose, to return to a life that wasn't constant parties and invites and all that crap. "So," he said after a moment, nearly losing himself in that incredible scent that was all woman. "This means there is no trapeze built in your bedroom and you don't have portable fire hydrants for that target rat you call a dog?" He said it jokingly, to try for a laugh from her. She could light up a room with that husky laugh but mostly, Derick hoped to ease that sense of weariness.

"Well I got rid of the trapeze for the monkey bars," she teased, "and the rat of a dog belonged to my agent. It was just for the tabloids and strangely enough for a pink number I was wearing for a photo shoot." She laughed and then sighed because arms holding her was possibly the nicest sensation she had felt in a long time.

"Pink? It looked like a Pepto-Bismol commercial," Derick chuckled, kissing the top of her head, one hand stroking the length of her back softly. "God, you smell good..." he commented.

"I could very used to you Captain,' she smiled languidly in his touch.

"Please... " he said almost plaintively. "Call me Derick. I get Captain'd and sir'd all day long at work, usually in squeaky voices I swear haven't changed yet. Unless I get to call you Princess," he grinned.

"Only during sex," she deadpanned with a wicked smile. "Derick." She crooked an eye open at him.

Chuckling at that, Derick smiled, looking down at her. "Close your eyes. Sleep if you want, I'll wake you when I leave and tuck you in," he offered quietly.

"I don't know if I want you to leave," she replied, softly but her limbs were heavy and his words enticing.

Sliding his hand smoothly along her back, Derick kissed the top of her head again. "Then I won't," he replied, just as quietly, recognizing the effect of sleep dragging on someone.

And on the warmth of those oh so enticing words, Elena Rose went to sleep in Derick Rickman's eyes, hoping that he would be there when he woke.

******

Sometime shortly after Ellie had drifted off in his arms, Derick had followed suit. Comfortable, warm where her body laid against his, he didn't wake up again until the alarm on his watch went off, buzzing against his wrist.

Opening one eye, Derick didn't move at first, reflexes tuned well to quickly judging his surroundings. Ellie was still asleep, her head on his chest and somehow, he'd scooted down enough to where he wasn't sitting upright anymore, just laying back. Lifting his watch hand slightly, to read it, Derick almost considered resetting it for another hour. Ren had the maggots this morning and at this hour, she was just getting them out of bed. Really, he didn't need to be there for a while and Ellie felt too damn good against him.

Plus with the way she was curled up, it was kind of cute. Okay. He was gushing.

Sharks didn't gush. Unless it was blood.

Derick snorted to himself. No, he'd better get going. He could use the time to finish up paperwork although Derick would readily admit that staying with Ellie was far, far more enticing. Especially the way her face was unlined, all the worries he'd seen there yesterday gone.

With a sigh, Derick stretched his neck to get a kink out and wrapped an arm securely around Ellie's shoulders. Luckily, she was in such a position that he'd be able to easily lift her up. Standing up fluidly, he held her against him and headed into the bedroom of the suite.

Ellie sighed into the chest that was pressed against her face, thinking that she was dreaming. Handsome man was carrying her off to bed where great sex would ensue. Yeah movie star she was but she had those fantasies though. She dealt with beautiful people, day in and day out, sometimes reality and fiction got blurred and those result were some great dreams. Unaware that she really was being carried, she muttered. “Straight to bed and don’t spare the change, taxi. The ropes in the dresser and spanking is optional. Get my clothes off first or else its going to be uncomfortable…Captain.”

Trying to cover a laugh, Derick actually had to stop before attempting to navigate the doorway into her bedroom. Glancing down, he shook his head and planted a kiss on her forehead. "I'll take a raincheck," he murmured back, as she was still asleep and moved through the door.

The bedroom was as opulent as the rest of the suite, certainly Gaia's finest for an A-lister. The thick plush under his feet muffled any other sound as he knelt by the bed to ease Ellie onto it.

Ellie’s eyes flew open at the response and looked up. “Oh fuck.” She groaned. “You just heard that didn’t you…?” Her face turned bright red with embarrassment.

"Heard what?" Feigning innocence, Derick propped an arm on the bed. "Or should I just get the ropes now? Dresser, you said?" he grinned, reaching for the top sheet to cover her feet.

Ellie winced, grabbing a pillow and slipping it over her head before peeking out from beneath the silk. “Yeah right next to the fur lined hand cuffs. I don’t like to chafe.” She winked, trying to get back on an even keel.

"Oh," Derick nodded in totally serious agreement that the smirk on his face completely destroyed. "I don't like to chafe either," he said, grinning. Could she get any cuter or sexier?

Gushing. Shark. Blood.. they don't gush unless it's blood. Out of the jugular. Like TEN feet.

Right.

Tugging at the comforter, Derick pulled it up to her hips. "It's early still," he told her, smirk dissolving to a warm smile. "I have to go in shortly." Still on his knees, Derick leaned on the bed with both arms. "I had a good time yesterday."

Ellie rolled onto her side, all suggestive banter faded from her face to show a more vulnerable expression of pleasure. “Me too. This whole thing has been nice Captain,” she met her eyes. “It's been awhile since I’ve enjoyed being around someone so much. Even with out the chafe,” she teased. “I hope we can do it again.”

Derick grinned and nodded his head once. "Count on it," he said, reaching for her hand to squeeze it. "And without the chaffing, I can't do chafing when I'm running the next morning." Leaning in, he put a kiss on her cheek. "Sleep tight, Ellie."

"Don't strain anything you'll need later," she winked, watching him, revelling in him.

Laughing, Derick kissed her hand and winked in return. "I won't. I promise," he chuckled and got to his feet, eyes very much drinking her in, as if it might be the last time. Hell, the last year or so, with Alex dying, had changed his outlook on life. "Send me a message when you get up. We can talk about next time."

"You bet Captain," she smiled, rolling onto her back, getting snug in her bed so she could sleep a little longer.

Not looking back over his shoulder, because he would have caved, Derick headed out of the suite. He could have been walking on air, he wouldn't have noticed because last night had been spent with a great girl, who wasn't Elena Rose. This one was Ellie Domingo.