Saving Mar

16 PLEA

The decontamination process with Mar was even more uncomfortable for Jon than the first time around.

He had to put a shameful amount of willpower into breaking eye contact with her and stabbing his gaze into the floor. Even when she followed the example set by others this time and didn't strip fully, the sight of any stretch of her bare skin was difficult to ignore.

He seemed to be the only one having this issue, though.

"Neat undies," Erika grinned at Mar when she sat next to her.

"Thanks," Mar chuckled. "Not really my pick, one of the Enterprise crew was kind enough to give up some of her old back-ups. We've all arrived quite light."

The small clothes she wore were white with tiny red hearts, little laces and miniature bows. Hilarious as Jon thought that was, the silly cuteness of it did nothing to diminish her magnetism, even though the cloth covered quite a large area. 'Adorable' was a good color on her.

Mar unconsciously rubbed her knees against each other and he had to pinch his own arm when his mind slipped to images of him ripping the ridiculous fabric off her pliant body. He should save it for when he's alone in his quarters tonight.

"Uhm," Mar sighed when Erika passed her the decon ointment. "Mind helping me put that on? I don't think I can move my left arm."

Not only Jon's eyes jumped to the two of them at the notion.

"No worries, just keep still," Erika replied casually, as if unaware of the three sets of curious eyes following her every move as she dipped her fingers in the ointment and began spreading it over Mar's skin.

Jon loudly cleared his throat and scrambled for a topic for the men to discuss instead of ogling two pretty half-naked women doing unexpectedly intimate things.

"So... Shran, this data you've managed to snatch, can you translate it for me, please?"

.

Jon entrusted Mar to Phlox's gentle care and retreated to his ready room to regroup while he waited for their talk. When a knock sounded only a few minutes into his attempt at meditating his attraction away, he shot up from his chair as if it burned him.

The door opened unprompted and Erika peeked inside.

"Relax, it's just me," she commented on his disheveled state and obvious tension with an amused smirk.

"Thank fuck, I wasn't ready," Jon sighed, slumping back into his chair and offering Erika the other one.

"Wow," she laughed as she sat down. "Oh, Jon, I still worry about you... but I must say that she pleasantly surprised me."

"Yeah," he sighed. "She's no damsel in distress. Found out when I met her."

"No. She's a damsel in over her head," Erika frowned. "I'm sure you noticed how that message terrified the hell out of her. She's running from something bad—and now it looks like we're trying to run towards it."

Jon fell quiet for a moment, studying Erika's darkened features. He had the same feeling. Though in him, Mar's fear inspired a level of protectiveness he'd never reached before, not for a single individual he barely knew.

"You're going despite that, aren't you," she leaned back, the realization ironing out her features. "You will chase her to the edge of the galaxy if she asks."

"It's not..." Jon began, but cut himself off before he uttered a lie she wouldn't believe anyway. "I don't understand it myself, Erika."

She gave him a sad smile and tapped his knee. Then she reached into her pocket and pulled out a delicate device.