Malcolm And His Ex Wife

The bridge officers of the Enterprise NX01 waited patiently at the airlock, awaiting the imminent arrival of their new Counsellor. It was now Starfleet procedure to have a Counsellor on board all ships. Malcolm was the only one not joining them at the airlock, having offered to watch the bridge while his senior officers awaited the arrival. The airlock opened and a young woman stepped forward. The Captain’s mouth dropped open as he realised that Admiral Forest had been right when he said that she wouldn’t be what they expected.
She was very young, no more than eighteen. Captain Archer and Commander Tucker averted their eyes as they felt a rush of desire flood through them. She was the most beautiful woman Trip had ever seen.
“Captain Archer?” she asked and the Captain was forced to look her in the eye.
“Yes, and you must be Counsellor Joherah?” he asked as he shook her hand, skin that felt like silk beneath his touch.
“Actually, it’s Ambassador Joherah.”
Trip tried to stop his jaw dropping as the bridge officers were introduced to the young woman. Then he and the Captain gave her a tour of the ship and they were allowed to ask questions.
“So, how do you know T’Pol?” Trip asked as they toured the mess hall.
“Vulcan and Vitala are allies. Vitala is my home world.”
“Ambassador at such a young age is quite an achievement,” Jon said.
She looked at him with a small smile. “How old do you think I am Captain? Mr Tucker?”
“Eighteen?” Trip ventured and she laughed. “What’s so funny?”
“How old are you Mr Tucker?”
“Forty five.”
“Mr Tucker, I’m only three years younger than you. Vitalan’s have life spans of about 200 years. Captain, I thought you had read my file.”
“It’s still coming through on the data stream. So, you age like Vulcan’s?”
“Not quite. Vitalan’s are a symbiotic race.” She looked at the confused looks on their faces. “When we are young we take a symbiote, a separate living organism, into our bodies. I took mine when I was eleven. Once we take a symbiote we are considered an adult. I joined the Vitalan Counsel when I was twelve. Our symbiote determines our metabolic aging process.”
“So it determines how you age. What happens if you don’t take one?”
“We die. Once we enter into that phase of our life cycle, our metabolic rate goes into hyper drive. If we don’t take one, we age rapidly. The oldest living Vitalan without a symbiote only lived to sixteen. Physically he was 142 years old.”
“What happens if your symbiote is damaged, or killed?” Jon asked.
“We stop ageing. We can live without one but we become trapped in the same age for the rest of eternity. Most Vitalan’s who have had that happen, kill themselves.”
“Why?”
“Can you imagine living forever? To have to watch everyone you love and care about, everyone you know, get old and die around you? It’s torture for an empathic race.”
They walked onto the bridge and Malcolm dropped the padd he was holding. He and the Ambassador looked at each other as the Captain tried to figure out what he was missing.
“How are you?” Malcolm said quietly.
“Good. You?”
“Good. What are you doing here?”
“I’m the new Counsellor. And on that note, you’ll have to excuse me gentlemen, I promised Phlox I would visit sickbay. He’s never had the chance to examine a live Vitalan before.” She made her exit and Malcolm waited for the Captain to begin his questions. But they never came.
“Captain, I’m needed in the armoury.”
“Go ahead Malcolm,” Jon replied. Malcolm made a hasty exit and tried to avoid his fellow bridge officers and the new counsellor, in body even if he couldn’t escape thoughts of her.

Malcolm tossed and turned in his bed as his mind walked hallways.
Malcolm walked through the deserted hallways of Enterprise, not knowing where he was going but being pulled forward by some God-like force. He found himself stopping in front of a door, his hand reaching up automatically to ring the comm to announce himself, but the door opened before he had the chance to push the button. He entered the room and found himself in a place all too familiar to him.
He was in a garden, a garden he had not seen for ten years. The exotic fuchsia entwined with his own red English roses. Trailing ivy with orange leaves danced around his shrubs. He walked towards the lake and found her in the swing he had pushed her in.
“What am I doing here?” he asked her.
“How long since you last saw this place?”
“Ten years, give or take. I stopped being able to visit it after.”
“Me too, I couldn’t find my way back no matter how hard I tried. But here I am. And here you are.”
“Yes. What do we do now?”
“What do you want to do?”
He smiled. “I want to say I’ve missed you. I want to say that I’m sorry. I want to push you.”
“I’ve missed you too. And I’m sorry too. And you can push me if you want.”
He moved behind her and began to push her on the swing, the way he had done so many times before. He watched her raven hair fly out behind her, and her porcelain skin catch the light as she moved and he realised that this was why he couldn’t find this place again: it wasn’t his, it was theirs. They had built it together, their own personal sanctuary against the world.
She slowed and stood up, looking at him. “We have to leave. They need us.”
“I need you.”
“I know. But it’s not that simple.”
“Why?”
“Because. Just because.”
He brushed his thumb across her lips.
“Wake up Malcolm. Wake up.”
“Malcolm, wake up.” Malcolm awoke to find Trip looking down at him.
“What is it Commander?” Malcolm said sleepily as he tried desperately to not loose his way back to their garden.
“Malcolm, you were meant to meet me in the mess a half hour ago. What’s going on, are you ok?”
“I don’t know.” Malcolm sat up and hung his head in his hands. “That woman, the Ambassador, I know her.”
“We all gathered that Mal. How do you know her?”
“I was married to her.”
Trip’s mouth gaped open. “Ok, Mal, I’m gonna need more than that. I need to know more to understand the situation.”
“It was a long time ago. We married when we were twenty. We were married for twelve years.”
“What happened?”
“We divorced.”
“Were the two of you happy together?”
Malcolm couldn’t speak as the image of his wife lying next to him in bed one Sunday morning found its way up through the layers of his mind.
“Yes, we were happy.”
“Then why aren’t the two of you together?”
“We were young when we met, no more than sixteen. I dated her for four years before I got up the nerve to ask her to marry me. She said yes and we got married. Twelve years ago we had a child together. His name was Jaden. When he was two he drowned. After that we could barely look at each other, let alone try and have a marriage. We divorced nine years ago and I haven’t seen her since.”
“I’m sorry Mal. I didn’t know.”
“I know you didn’t. I didn’t want you to. I didn’t want anyone to know. Me and Jaden, and me and Mara are private to me. What me and Mara had together was a good marriage, we loved each other. But sometimes that isn’t enough. Sometimes you have to do what’s right even if it hurts. If you don’t mind Commander, I’d quite like to be alone now.”
Trip nodded and walked to the door. “Call me if you need anything?”
“Of course.”
Trip left the room and Malcolm tried not to think about her. His desperation was interrupted by a chime at the door. He thought it was probably Trip, so he ignored it. The door opened and he looked up to realise that it wasn’t Trip.
“Can I come in?” the Ambassador asked tentatively.
“Of course.”
She walked in and sat down uncomfortably on the edge of his bed. They sat in silence for ten minutes before the silence became unbearable.
“If having me here is making life difficult for you, I can ask for a transfer to another ship,” she ventured.
“No. You belong here just as much as I do. Mara, we’re both adults, so why don’t we act like adults? I’m sure we can live on the same ship without too many problems.”
She smiled at him. “I think we can do that.”

= Six Months Later =

Malcolm took the day off.
It was an event that Enterprise and her crew had never seen. No one knew why he had taken the day off, not even the Captain knew.
But she knew.
At 2200 she bid farewell to Jon and Trip at the Captain’s table and made her way to Malcolm’s quarters. He didn’t answer so she let herself in and found him curled on his bed, crying. She climbed onto the bed and curled herself around him, Malcolm submitting to her touch.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered.
“Don’t be. I respect a man who can cry,” she joked.
“But it’s my fault.”
“What are you talking about?” she said, sitting up and forcing him to look at her.
“It’s my fault. If I had just been paying more attention to Jaden then this wouldn’t have happened. He’d still be here.”
“No. No, this isn’t your fault. This is no ones fault, it was an accident. It’s just something that happened. Yes it was a terrible thing but it happened. We just have to try and move on, try to live with it.”
They were silent for a long time, both thinking about their son. “I miss him,” he whispered.
“I do too. It’s ok to miss him. Mal, can I ask you something?”
“You can ask me anything, though I doubt there’s much about me that you don’t already know.”
“Why did you take the day off? It fast became apparent to me that you’ve never taken a day off before, even when ill.”
Malcolm paused. “He’d be twelve. He’d be taking his symbiote.”
She felt tears rise as she realised she had forgotten what year it was. She sat up, gasping for breath. “Oh God! Oh God!”
He sat up and looked at her, suddenly alarmed at the tears running down her face. “What? Mara, tell me what’s wrong.”
“I forgot. I forgot how old he’d be. Oh God, how could I forget? I’m his mother, I should’ve remembered. I’m a terrible mother.”
“No! Mara, you’re a wonderful mother. You always have been. I only remembered because I was explaining to Trip why we weren’t together anymore.”
“I forgot him. I forgot our son,” she whispered.
He leaned in and wiped her tears away. His hands lingered on her face, his fingers lingering on her lips, and they both leaned in, kissing each other with a passion they had forgotten years ago.
Malcolm lay her down, kissing her with a passion that he had only ever felt for her. They pulled off the others clothes, revelling in and worshipping every inch of skin as it was uncovered. They touched and cherished and kissed, caressed and loved each other, their whole bodies. And then she welcomed him into her again, gasping as he slid in, feeling him fill her, make her whole, fill the emptiness that she had had for nine years. He kissed her as he began to move, her moaning sigh a roll on his tongue. She was everything he had ever needed, ever wanted. She was all that he dreamed about, all he worried about, all he thought about, all he needed and wanted.
They moved together, caressing skin and kissing sensitive parts to make the other moan. She wrapped her legs and arms around him, burying her head in the crook of his shoulder, biting him as they came closer and closer. He called out her name as he felt her tighten around him. They came together, calling each others names.
She fell asleep in his arms, sleeping soundly for the first time in many years.
They awoke hours later, rested and content. She looked around and realised where she was, scrambling out of bed and scrabbling around for her clothes.
“What are you doing?” he asked, suddenly wide awake.
“Leaving. I shouldn’t be here.”
“Mara, we did nothing wrong. We made lo..”
“Do not finish that sentence!” she cried, rounding on him. “What happened between us was sex. Passionate, mind blowing sex. It wasn’t love, Malcolm.”
“But, I don’t understand.”
“Malcolm,” she said, finishing putting on her clothes and looking at him. “what happened between us was good, I’ll admit that. But it is not going to happen again. We have a good friendship now, a good working relationship. Do you really want to jeopardise that?”
“But I thought last night meant something. I thought it was just like we used to be,” he said, pulling on his clothes.
She walked to the door and paused. She looked at him, unable to meet his eyes. “I’m not Mrs Reed anymore Malcolm. And we can’t turn back time.”
He was about to argue with her when they were interrupted by the sound of a red alert and a call of all senior officers to the bridge.

They walked onto the bridge to see a menagerie of disarray. They went to their stations, Malcolm resolving to confront Mara again later.
“Captain, we’ve been boarded,” Malcolm said.
Captain Archer tried to think of some way to protect his ship and his crew. “Send out security teams.”
“Captain.” His attention was focused on T’Pol. “The ships configuration is Akalan.”
“Akalan?”
“Are you sure?” He was interrupted by Mara.
T’Pol nodded and the Captain lost his patience. “Does someone want to explain to me what the hell is going on?”
The Ambassador looked at him. “Akalan’s. They are a species of warriors, their home world neighbours with mine. Most of them have dedicated their lives to exterminating my species.”
“What are they doing here? They’re a long way from home to be looking for Vitalan’s,” Malcolm said.
“This is why they wanted warp drive. Was the ship scanned before it was attacked?”
“Yes,” Hoshi said quietly.
“They’re here for me. They’re looking for me.”
The whole bridge went silent and they all tried to think of some way to keep her safe. Their attention was centred on the Akalan’s that entered their bridge and grabbed hold of their counsellor. Malcolm was immediately on his feet, phase pistol in hand.
“Don’t even think about it, human,” snarled an Akalan, pointing a weapon at him. The Akalan’s were twice the captains size and muscular with it, so Malcolm had no hope of getting to Mara before they stopped him with brute force.
“Hello Mara.”
“Denar. What do you want?”
He smiled sickeningly at her as one of his men held her still. He approached her and ran his fingers down her cheek, down her neck and uncomfortably close to her left breast. Malcolm felt his blood boil as this man touched her.
“What do you think I want?” he said slowly.
She laughed at him. “They won’t stand by and let you do that Denar. Besides, what makes you think you’d actually be able to touch me like that without me throwing up all over you?”
“What did you say to me, you little bitch?” he snarled at her, his control slipping at a frighteningly fast speed.
“You heard me, you disgusting little evenera. What’s wrong, isn’t that little whore you call your wife keeping you satisfied at home?”
He slapped her hard across the face, splitting her lip. Malcolm used this distraction of attention to try to get to her. He moved swiftly across the room, his movement catching Denar’s attention. He fired, Malcolm falling to the floor. In the confusion, security personnel flooded the bridge, shots were fired and Denar and his men retreated, boarding their ship and departing.
Mara ran over to Malcolm and he sat up. “I’m ok, it’s just a flesh wound, it’s just my arm. Where did they go?” he said.
He was distracted by Mara slapping him across the face. “Are you completely stupid! What were you thinking, trying to save me? I never knew you had kamikaze blood in you!”
She walked away from him, towards the doors. He was about to argue back when she stopped, turning around clutching her stomach just below her ribs.
“Counsellor? Are you alright?” asked Travis.
She looked at him and then at Malcolm, removing her hand and showing him the blood before falling to the floor.
Malcolm ran to her. “Somebody get medic!”

Trip walked into the mess and almost knocked her over. “Hey! Sorry, I didn’t see you there. How are you doing? I heard about the drama on the bridge,” he said.
“I’m ok. A few days in sickbay did me good.”
“When you were shot, did it hit your symbiote?”
She smiled at him. “No. He missed, only just, but he missed.”
“Good. You wanna join me for dinner?”
She shook her head. “Sorry, Trip, dinner with Jon tonight. Maybe another night?”
“Sure thing. We could have breakfast together?”
“Sure. See you later Trip.”
She walked off to the captains private mess. Throughout the meal, Jon carried the conversation one sided. “So I said to this Draxian, did you know that I am green and have a penis growing out of the back of my head?”
She nodded and then looked at him in shock. “At last, something got your attention!”
She sighed. “I’m sorry, just got a lot on my mind.”
“Want to off load?”
“Can you guarantee that it will never leave this room?”
“I’m the captain. I could order it,” he joked.
She took a deep breath. “Well, you know the day we got attacked by the Akalan’s?” He nodded. “Well, when the alarm went I was arguing with Malcolm. In his room.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I slept with Malcolm. It wasn’t planned, it just happened. But I panicked when we woke up and we started talking, and he said stuff about all the meaning behind it. So I yelled. And he yelled. And now he hasn’t spoken to me since it happened.”
“Well, maybe he thinks it’ll make things worse.”
“The thing is, well, this is the part where I wish I had more female friends. I’m late. Me and him weren’t careful and now I’m late.”
Jon tried to find the right words. “Well, that is a biggie. Is there anything else I should know before I answer that?” he joked. She looked guilty. “Is there anything else?”
“Just one more thing.” She paused, playing with her food. “I never signed the divorce papers, me and Malcolm are still married.”
His mouth dropped open. “Ok, I really think you should talk to him.”
“I tried. Every time he sees me coming he walks in the opposite direction.” They sat in silence for a while, before she stood and walked to the door. “I have to go, I have a client in about five minutes. Thank you for listening Jon.”
She walked out of the door and he waited until he was sure she was a good distance away. Then he made his way to the brig.

Mara received a comm. from the captain to come to the brig halfway through her session with Ensign Wighton. She excused herself and walked to the brig, wondering what it was all about. As she entered the room she was grabbed from behind and thrown into the cell with her kind of ex husband. The door locked and Jon activated the communication with them.
“What the hell is going on?” she screamed.
“Well, you two need to talk and seeing as you weren’t likely to do it yourself, I thought I’d help you along.”
He turned off the comm. and walked away, mentioning to the guard not to let them out before leaving the room.
They glared at each other, neither willing to speak first. Malcolm plucked up the courage. “So, how are you?”
“Fine, like you care.”
“You know, I didn’t ask for things to be like this. I was trying to be a grown up by letting you have the space you so obviously wanted,” he spat.
“Excuse you? I didn’t want space. I needed to talk to you but you obviously didn’t want to know!”
“Well, what is it? You’re obviously dying to tell me,” he said sarcastically.
“Why should I tell you anything?”
“Oh for fucks sake! Can’t we just talk like grown ups for once?”
“Fine! One, I’m late because we were in too much of a rush to use a condom. And I never signed the divorce papers so I’m still your wife.”
He stood there in shock. “You what?”
“I might be pregnant.”
“No, I got that bit. What do you mean you never signed them?”
“I never signed the papers, I’m still your wife.”
Malcolm lost his temper. “Of all the sneaky, under-handed, deceitful, conniving things to do! Nine years! You’ve had nine years to tell me that, and you couldn’t have found a spare moment?”
“It didn’t seem important.”
“Not important? Not important! Somehow I think that those fucking brothers of yours have gotten to you! What is more important than letting me know that! Oh, I get it. You did this so I could never marry anyone else, so that if I died on a mission then you would get everything!”
He blinked and found himself pinned to the wall by his throat. She grabbed his genitals and gave them a painful tug. The guard looked panicked and commed the captain. Jon came storming into the brig with Trip hot on his heels.
He opened the communication. “Ambassador, what is going on?”
“Either you let me out of here right now or I do an amateur castration, you pick.”
The Captain opened the cell door and she dropped Malcolm, gasping for air and groaning in agony, on the floor. She walked out of the cell and stopped in front of Jon.
“We talked, it didn’t go so well. So much for your good idea,” she said before walking to the door. Malcolm got to his feet.
“Oh that’s right, walk away, you were always good at that! No wonder your father killed himself, it was the shame of having you for a daughter!” She froze.
“Mal, maybe you might wanna shut up,” Trip suggested.
“No, she wants us to be honest, lets be honest. After you left me I slept with oh so many women, and guess what? They were all better in bed than you. You were a shit daughter, a terrible wife and, to top it all off, to collect the full set, you were a lousy mother!”
She turned around and walked to him, slapping him across the face. “Hey Malcolm? You know I said that Jaden dying wasn’t your fault? I lied. I left my son, my beautiful boy, in your care for one hour and you let him drown. If you had just paid more attention to him than your stupid weapons, he would still be alive. I may have been a bad daughter, a bad wife and a lousy mother but at least I never killed my son. You might as well have held him under the water.”
She walked away, leaving a stunned silence in her wake. Malcolm felt sick, Jon was in shock and Trip wondered if he had heard her right.
“Malcolm?” Jon said.
“Don’t. Just don’t. Don’t say anything.” Malcolm walked defeatedly out of the room and to his quarters, where he cried himself to sleep.

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Ok, new chapter coming soon. Hope you enjoyed this one. Please, please please review. I would love to know what you think.