(I am so sorry that this is so bad. I’ve been working on it for a week and can’t do better. I had a ton of muse when I started and it waned FAST.)

The Fleet wasn’t kidding when they said that his job would be intense. He was up for it; trauma and triage was his life’s chef-d’oeuvre, his bread and butter, his main motivation for his feet hitting the floor in the morning. Of course, that drive had just been intensified when he became a family man, starting first with his marriage, then the birth of their first (and so far only) child five years ago. Lucy said it made him insane. She also said she’d do it again. 

Today? Today was a day for R&R, and though he’d tried to object, neither wife nor boss listened. He figured that at least he could see his favorite sister again, if nothing else, and it would do for Minnie to see her extended family. Even though he was mostly estranged from his parents these days, he still had his sister Kate, who he was very close to, and her wife, and Lucy’s parents. In fact, he was HOPING that his message to them all worked, and they’d all been able to meet at Kate’s house for a much-needed long weekend, before he had to return to the Ship for more death and destruction. 

The ride to the interplanetary traveling area was short, and they were there in under five minutes. In Uni, he’d read about earlier generations, and their airplanes. It seemed…quaint, but fun, and he wondered how it’d be like to travel in one. Perhaps one day, they’d find a planet not as advanced as theirs and they’d be able to try it. Soon, they were there, ensconced in the warm, fire lit living room of his sister’s house.  He sat, legs crossed, in front of the fire, happy. He realized it had been a while since he’d been THIS happy. Oh sure. He was content with this life he’d built for himself, and his family, but this type of happiness-the one achieved by being surrounded by people you loved and who loved you?-it had been been a time since he’d experienced that with more than Lucy and their daughter.  

His sister was his favorite person, and as Lucy got Minnie ready for bed, they chatted. He told her everything, like he had for so many years, except the things he couldn’t tell her, of course. Some things were meant to go to the grave with him, but still, she learned it all-about his new assignment, and the sudden changes they’d made. He spilled his guts about the psychic attacks, and the brain surgeries he’d performed, and how he’d felt inadequate and out of his league. Further, he explained the fear he felt that the man wouldn’t make a full recovery and the guilt that’d cause. All natural, human emotions but their father hadn’t taught him to express them well.

 He felt miles better that night when he went to bed, and slept like he hadn’t in nearly a decade. When he woke up, he was refreshed and felt a renewed joy. He heard his sister playing with Minnie, and smiled a little as Lucy leaned into him. After a bit, they got up to face another day. He had a surprise for HER, too. Her brother, Thomas, was coming to visit them there, and had news, he said.  The man arrived later in the day, excited. The news he had? He joined the StarFleet, and was excited to start. Being several years younger than Lucy and their middle sister, he was just at the age of enlistment, and Roger couldn’t help but feel worry. He just hoped the man would be safe. Finally, it was time to return to the Ship, and he was relaxed, refocused, and ready for the next adventure.