No Regrets

Posted on Sun Apr 26, 2026 @ 4:11pm by Commander Caoimhe O'Connor M.D. & Lieutenant Commander Ronald Hawk

2,128 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: S03E01 - Something about Tribbles
Location: Langley Station: Ronald's Quarters
Timeline: MD02 23:45hrs

ON:

Caoimhe stumbled down the corridor, her eyes barely focusing as she studied the numbers beside each door that she passed. "He has to be...." Her appearance garnered her many looks of shock; no doubt fodder for the gossip already making it's way through the foundations of the station the ice queen, she's drunk in public!!! At that moment in time she had no care for others opinions; she just needed to reach her destination.

"One four...one ten...two twelve...." By some objective miracle, the officer found the quarters she was looking for before stumbling again and leaning against the door as her hand reached for the door chime.

Within the room a drunken Lieutenant Commander Hawk played music on his guitar, every other chord with misplaced fingers. He sang poorly as he played. "I don't know who's gonna kiss you when I'm gone, So I'm gonna love you now like it's...." The door cut across him.

"Come in," he ordered in a melodic inflex.

As the support under her shoulder disappeared; Caoimhe lost her balance and before she knew it, was flat on her back looking at the the ceiling. The level of alcohol in her body diminished her pain receptors but her head has definately taken a bang on the floor.

It still took a few moments more to remember to breathe before letting out a groan and managing a few words. "That was a cheap shot..."

Even in his drunken state the view of Caiomhe coming to harm made Ron him spring into action. Only in that drunken state he not only forgot to let go of the guitar, but also took a stumble of his own as he got up, tripping over his coffee table and landing on his back side, guitar twanging as it hit the floor with force. He looked over at Caiomhe unable to do anything other than laugh at their shared misfortune.

As Ronald's laughter reached her ears; Caoimhe couldn't stop the same bubble of laughter in her own chest. A lightness blossomed in her that she hasn't felt in so many years; a lightness that sparked an awareness of just how much this moment and situation meant to her.

"This didn't work out as I imagined...." Caoimhe managed to twist her body, wincing as she realised how much she was going to hurt tomorrow but the alcohol continuing to take away the edge. "In my mind you would answer the door, Id jump you and we would spend the night making up for the lost time...I can't help feeling that this is probably the unsexiest you've ever seen me in my life."

“You still look damn fine to me!” Ron blurted, perhaps more crudely than he would have if he had been sober. He pulled himself back up to his feet, catching himself as he almost stumbled forward on the way up. Stumbling his way over to Caoimhe he offered her a hand that would likely do her no better than her own ability to stand.

Caoimhe couldn't help but laugh at the responce, her eyes raising to meet Ron's from where she was now seated. Her body continued to sway a little before she took his hand and tried to lever herself back to her feet. The shift in weight resulted in what everybody but the couple themselves would have seen happening.

Caoimhe laughed harder still as Ron ended up pinning her to the ground under the weight of his body; her hand still in his, pinned between their chests. "I love you...I really genuinely and truly love you Ronald."

Sharing the laughter for a moment before locking eyes as the woman confessed her love Ron paused. “You know I love you,” he said in what could have been mistaken as a sober voice. He lowered himself, so that his lips touched hers.

Caoimhe leaned up into his lips, tasting whiskey as she deepened the kiss and tightened her hand in his. From her angle on the floor, she struggled but pushed her body against his as all her instincts cried for what it has missed in their time apart. Her free hand moved to tangle in his hair as she tried to take more.

“Ehem!” A voice is heard from behind them. Ron slowly turns to see a junior officer, a Vulcan, standing in the open doorway. Ron immediately realises the door never closed.

“May I suggest,” the Vulcan says, “that you may benefit from a closed door?”

Ron laughs in the man’s face. “We’re sorry,” he says stumbling back to his feet and leaning against the button to close the door in their watchers face. Then he turns back to Caoimhe, smile spreading as yet more laughter passes from his mouth.

With her face slightly reddened from the alcohol and the moment that just passed, Caoimhe used the wall to move back to her feet; giving herself a moment for the room to stop spinning and for her feet to feel a little more solid on the floor.

A laugh still left her lips as her eyes returned to Ron's face, her hand reaching out to touch his cheek. "I guess by morning the crew will know ice queen Cammy has finally met her match and been thawed out."

"You're no ice queen," Ron said lifting his hand to mirror her action and touch her cheek also in an awkward pose. "They don't see what I see." There was something about complementing the Caiomhe that came naturally to Ron, even whilst drunk. He dropped his hand back down out of the awkwardness and took her hand pulling at it as he tried to stumble his way over to the couch.

Caoimhe laughed even as she struggled not to fall over her feet, eventually toppling and landing on Ron's knees as she sat on the couch. Her arms went around his neck as just in those moments she looked into his eyes with contentment. "The girls said something tonight...or I guess I said something. Or somebody said something!"

The woman tripped and stumbled over her words as she tried to string the sentence together. "Life's too short for regrets...you could go out on the Fury tomorrow and disappear again. And how much will we have lost? We haven't had sex since you came back! Haven't went on a date! I mean like...everything could be lost because we don't take advantage of the here and now!"

“I’m here now,” Ron blurted just a touch too quickly for the gravity of the situation, and leaning back seemingly unaware that he was still holding the woman’s hand, and inadvertently pulling her with him. We can do what we’ll want and need in this moment.”

Caoimhe giggled as she rested her head on Ron's shoulder, gently kissing the side of his neck as she just enjoyed the embrace and taking in his scent. "There was a reason I came here..." The woman scrunched up her nose as she tried to pull the memory from her brain, the alcohol doing her no favours. "Something about no regrets...not wasting time anymore..."

“I agree,” breathed Ron as he moved a hand to trace the shape of Caiomhe’s body. “Let’s not waste time.”

Caoimhe felt her breath hitch as she nuzzled in closer to Ron's neck; the memory struggling to become clearer as her body tries to pull everything in a different direction. "It's important..." The woman playfully slapped his hands away as she continued to try and force herself to focus. She remembered Kate and Fiona. The conversation about men and children. About living life with no regrets.

As her breathing became deeper and her struggles to hold Ron back grew more difficult, the memory pushed itself forward again as Caoimhe let out a gasp. "I know what it was! I don't want anything to pull us away from each other again. To have something that no matter the distance we always have that between us."

“What do you mean?” Asked Ron in a pant as he stopped still, maintaining the close distance. “Like a pet?”

"A pet?" Caoimhe scrunched up her face again as she tried to get above the alcoholic daze and make sense of what she was trying to say and the responses coming from Ron. Between his hands, his body and the alcohol; she felt a bear complete loss of control. "A pet? I mean I'm not even sure between us we could manage a baby but you think we could manage a pet? Mind you Fiona wants a baby so maybe we could do some babysitting...see what it's like having another life to mind?"

“A baby!?” Ron spluttered. “I was thinking a hamster or something!” He paused for a moment. “You want a baby?” Another moment passed. “Fi, wants a baby? I’m going to be an uncle?” Tears seemed to start pouring from Ron’s eyes. “That’s beautiful!”

"I want a baby? Didn't I just say between us both we wouldn't manage a baby? We could practice being able for a pet by using Fiona's baby." Caoimhe whacked Ron in the shoulder hard as her bottom lip moved into a pout. "No I don't want a baby...I want to get married."

Ron looked at Caoimhe vacantly for a moment. Not even the most eagle eyed counsellor could discern anything of his emotions in that moment. Then quickly, suddenly, his lips pursed, and erupted with laughter, spraying the poor woman with spittle. “Married? Oh thank God! I didn’t want a baby! At least not yet. If ever really. But married? Sure why the hell not? We love each other right?”

With Ron's sudden emotional surge, Caoimhe grabbed Ron's shoulders in an attempt to ensure she didn't end up on the floor. Glaring at him further, she couldn't help but tut and pout again. "Why is that a question...did I not already say and establish that I love you? I wouldn't be asking you to marry me if I didn't love you would I?"

“The question was…what’s that word?” He clicked his fingers in the air a few times trying to remember. “Rhetorical! Let get married!” He leant in to kiss her.

Caoimhe leaned up into the kiss, tangling her fingers in Ron's hair as she felt happiness blossom for what felt like the first time in forever. It would have been so easy to loose herself in this exact moment but that memory of no regrets kept echoing.

Breaking the kiss, she rested her forehead against his as she fought against that basic instinct to just go keep going. "Now?"

“Get married now?” Echoed Ron, feeling all the raw mechanical urges. “Do you think the Commodore would be free?”

"Commodore?" Caoimhe slid back a little to try and force some distance from Ron; it was hard enough to focus through the alcohol than to try and also focus through the raw instinct to make up for too long having been apart. "Kate...no. Why does it have to be so official? Why not just me, you and a chaplain. White dress...nice suit...just me and you."

Caoimhe was a little startled at herself; unsure of what part of her own mind that had just come from. Her cheeks flushed a dark red, now just not from the alcohol but also the embarrassment. "I'm sorry...I did the formal ceremony with Barry. With you...I want the happy ever after."

“I only care that it’s you I’m marrying,” Ron told her. “I’m not Barry, I promise to love you forever and ever.” He pulled himself back to his feet and stumbled to the replicator. “Three piece suit!” He ordered, looking back at his Fiancée with a cheesy smile. “So. Where do we do this? And do you want a minute to get yourself the right dress?”

Caoimhe felt a childish bubble build inside as she giggled during her attempt to right herself on the couch and ideas took shape in her mind. "There's a small boutique on the promande that opens at all hours...beside the Chapel of Love I could pick up something there that would work.

“Perfect,” Ron said just a little too loud. “What are we waiting for then?” He took Caiomhe by the hand and lurched at a stumbling run for the door pulling her along with him. “I’m gonna marry the girl of my dreams.” He bellowed excitedly in a sing song voice.

OFF:
Lieutenant Commander Ronald Hawk
Assistant Chief Strategic Officer
Langley Station

Commander Caoimhe O'Connor
Head of Research
Langley Station

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