Star Tre Enterprise B. 02 - Inherit

The village of La Barre didn't look all that different to Danaë as she stepped off the transport. Without forethought her feet instantly found the well-trodden road that led to her ancestral home. The old path felt like an old friend and the only thing missing was the tall commanding form of her father walking beside her, telling her the family history as well as the towns. The house itself was not the same one her uncle Robert and Aunt would reside in, but there was some familiarity. It was definitely smaller than she remembered, but she knew that over a number of generations there would be additions and renovations. She was glad to see the vineyards looked the same, although there was a particular patch that she always liked to steal grapes from that wasn't there. Instead there was a pen in its place that held a beautiful chestnut horse. She walked over to the wooden fence and reaching out her hand, she softly petted the animal's nose.

"Hey, what are you doing on my property?" called out a voice sharply. Danaë jumped, startled by the sound. Turning around, her eyes fell upon a man that reminded her of her Uncle Robert, or at least his eyes did. No doubt this was one of her ancestors.

"I'm sorry I was just walking down the road, I didn't realize..."

"Wait, aren't you part of the Enterprise crew?" he asked. She softly nodded. "Yeah, I saw your face on the news," he continued. "You helped save us all. Thank you." he put out his hand and shook hers in gratitude, nearly taking it off in his eagerness. This had happened numerous times since they returned to Earth. Everyone called them heroes, but that title carried a weight and an implication she did not feel equal to, quite the opposite in fact. She had done her duty, nothing more. "I'm Édouard Picard."

"I'm very pleased to meet you. I'm Danaë..." for a moment her lips started to form the first syllable of Picard, but stopped herself. "D'Arcy." She turned back to the animal in the pen and once more stroked its soft pretty nose. "You have a beautiful horse."

"His name 'Mon Coeur'."

"'My heart'" she said, echoing the name's translation. "I used to ride horses all the time, but it's been a long while."

"He is a very gentle animal. You won't find a better stallion in all of France, that I can promise."

"I don't suppose..."

"For a hero of the Enterprise? Of course. Let me get you a saddle." For anyone else the answer would have been a firm 'no', but not this time. In his mind this woman had helped save all their lives so the least he could do was let her ride his horse.

Édouard came back from the stables carrying a blanket and saddle that belonged to his wife, Yvette who was about the same size as Danaë. Once those were on the animal, he went back and retrieved all the other equipment. As he fitted 'Mon Coeur' with his bridle, bit and stirrups, he explained to the lieutenant what commands to give and just what she could expect from the animal. When he was done, she set her backpack on the ground next to the fence then climbed up into the saddle. Getting used to the horse she started out with a nice gentle trot through the vineyard then when she had reached the wide rolling hills she gave the horse a sharp kick causing the animal to erupt into a full gallop.

Oh God, how she had missed this. It felt so good to ride across the green slopes, the exhilaration of feeling the power of the animal beneath her, the wind blowing through her hair. Faster and faster she rode over the hills, meadows and valleys. Her heart was on fire and she felt as though she were almost flying. For a moment Danaë imagined that every care in her life was just falling away and getting trampled to dust beneath the horse's hooves. She could outrun it all! Yet with the sound of every hoof beat she could hear her father's voice echoing from across the centuries and reminding her that no one could outrun their destiny.

At the bottom of one hill she came to a lively creek that babbled over the rocks as it flowed. She slowed the horse and followed the stream a ways before coming to a covered bridge. She couldn't recall ever seeing it before except once, in a dream. In that vision it had been the meeting pace where her past and her future met and seeing it now made her shiver. Danaë started to turn the horse around and go back to the house, when a shadow moving on the bridge caught her eye. She put her hand on the phase pistol that was strapped to her side as the figure emerged from the shadows. She expected to see suliban or the Xindi, but to her surprise it was Archer.

"Lieutenant!" he called out sternly. "Why did you clean out your quarters, steal a hypospray and a set of phase pistols?" He pointed to her hand as it rested on the grip.

"I didn't know where you hid my phaser and a woman has the right to protect herself. Besides, the entire crew is on leave right now, not just me. As it happens I don't have much to carry so I took it all with me."

"That's not true and we both know it," he responded as he approached the horse and took hold of the reins so she couldn't leave. Looking up at her, his eyes reflected all the hurt and disappointment he felt over her choice even as he hid it in his voice. "You have no intention of coming back, otherwise you would have stayed where you could be found near Starfleet headquarters. If you were just going for a quick sightseeing trip you would have approached Dr. Phlox about the hypospray and asked for the pistols. Now I want to know why you are leaving."

"I promised you once that I would see the mission to its end and I have. I-I needed a change. I decided that it was time to move on... to continue the journey I started back in my time, but first I wanted to see the Picard vineyards. I'm going to spend the night in town then go back and finally see the Grand Tetons. After that, well, I'll just play it by ear, maybe visit Riverside Iowa."

"Riverside Iowa? Why? There's nothing there but a small town and farms." Of any place she could name this seemed by far the strangest destination she could choose. Danaë just smiled a knowing smile. Few captains could ever be both famous and infamous like James T Kirk. His was the stuff of legends and although history recorded that he died in 2293, she could still fondly recall her father telling her how he met him in the Nexus and together they made a difference.

"It won't always be. One of its native sons will make a very loud noise in the universe and I have the chance to see it before it happens," she smiled, knowingly.

"That doesn't answer my question," he continued, crossing his arms, undaunted by her attempts to change the subject. To this she could only sigh.

"Circumstances have changed. It's time I moved on. I need to find the person that I was."

"The last time you ran away and wandered Earth, did you find yourself?" he asked. Danaë could only shake her head. She had never felt as though she belonged anywhere until she had found herself on the NX-01 with Archer. "The person that you are is a lieutenant in Starfleet. You could wander the earth exploring every rock and crevice, but you'll never be fulfilled. You'll still be looking up at the night sky wishing you were among them." He was right and she knew it, but staying... well, that was a complicated mess too. "You belong on that ship just as much as I do."

Silence fell between them and for a moment Danaë could only sit there in the saddle and look out over the hills. There was so much to say, yet neither knew where to begin. How could things have changed so much in a year? Before the Xindi, everything between them was under control. Both of them knew their places and neither would dare cross the line. Somewhere along the way they had wandered from the path and didn't know how to find it again. The idle chit chat that normally kept things easy and pleasant between them, now seemed forced and superficial and the silence was oppressive.

"It's complicated," she answered, fidgeting nervously in her saddle.

"Yes it is," he agreed. "Please come down here and talk to me," Archer requested, gently. After some hesitation, Danaë climbed down off the horse and tied him to a nearby tree, knowing that it might have been better if she had stayed up there. It would have at least put space between them and she wouldn't have to look into his eyes. Those soft green depths of his could tug at her heart without the captain even uttering a word. Truly an unfair advantage. "Is this because of what happened at the banquet with Admiral Forrest's son, or Ambassador Soval's insinuations?" In answer she shook her head vehemently.

"I've been around politicians most of my life, some that were more boorish than Soval. As for Nathan Gardner, he's just a typical arrogant, stupid pampered admirals brat. Thank God I was raised a captain's brat," she jested off-handedly in a moment of levity before becoming serious again. "He is certainly nothing I would lose sleep over." Archer smiled at her momentary jest, then returned to the moment at hand.

"Are you leaving because you believe you're somehow still damaged from the yamanu? If that's the case then you're wrong. When I was infected by the Xindi-insectoid neurotoxin and you were still barely able to get around on your own, you still helped Trip and T'Pol take control of the ship. I believe I still owe you quite a few dessert ration bars from our many poker games while I was recovering," he pointed out, causing her to smirk. Yes, her childhood on a star ship had allowed her to observe many things including countless poker games between the ships ranking officers. "Trip also told me that while they were on the bridge firing on the spheres, you were down in the belly of the ship making modifications on the fly to increase the deflector pulse. You even went so far as to hand twist wires together. Wires, I might add, that most sane people wouldn't even consider allowing to touch. Those are hardly the actions of a dam..."

"Captain... " she interrupted. "Jonathan..."

"Dani," he responded, joining her in informality.

"That's not the reason I'm leaving," Danaë took a deep breath to steel herself before continuing. "You are."

"Me?"

"Each person has the right to love and be loved by whomever they choose. I interfered with my father's personal relationships and it brought me nothing but unhappiness and drove us apart. I know you have feelings for Captain Hernandez and she has them for you. If she can make you happy then there is nothing more I could possibly wish for you." Archer started to open his mouth to interrupt, but she quickly held up her hand stopping him. "That said, I am not a robot either. Despite all my best efforts to ignore my feelings or make them go away, I can't do it. Nor can I spend every day of my life trapped on a ship watching you love someone else. As far as your century is concerned I am nobody with no pedigree, no family connections... I barely have any rank to speak of. You... you're Jonathan Archer, a captain, future admiral... future Federation President for crying out loud! Yet, if tomorrow I had the chance to be equal in rank with you then things would be so different. I would make Captain Hernadez fight harder for even the smallest scrap of your affection than she has for anything else in her life."

"Dani," he started to say again, finding it difficult to repress his smile as his heart leapt with happiness in his chest. No one had ever spoken to him like that, not Margaret or Erika, no one.

"Captain Hernandez was very quick to remind me of my place and I suppose she is right, but I don't feel that way. When I am around you I can't help but feel that at our cores, you and I are equals. You have never treated me as anything less than that. I am so grateful to know the real Jonathan Archer rather than the God written about in those history books, because that is the man I respect and admire." she looked down at her feet, everything in her heart laid bare except for those words that quickly fell from her lips. "The one I... the one I love."

Hearing just those words was enough for Archer and he quickly pulled her to him and pressed his lips to hers. In disbelief Danaë pulled away and started off towards the bridge, certain he was playing a game with her. She had laid bare the feelings of her heart and would not allow him to use it for sport. Even if that weren't the case, there was still the matter of rules and regulations... there was Erika Hernandez! This was not a game they should be playing. Besides, why was he so determined to make things harder on her then they needed to be? Couldn't he see that it was false hope and it would just hurt her in the long run?

"Dani, it's okay," he said, following her and stopping her just before she reached the entrance to the covered bridge. Gently Archer held her by her shoulders and looked down into her face, but Danaë could only shake her head. This was not okay. "Listen to me. After a particular grueling day I was allowed to take a couple of days off and I decided to go rock climbing. Erika found me out there and she and I did a lot of talking. We talked about the Xindi conflict and the impossible decisions you face as captain of a star ship. She offered to help me recapture whatever it was I thought I had lost during the mission and it was very tempting. At the end of the day, she wasn't the one I wanted. It seems that as we talked I kept bringing up the same name over and over. I suppose it only makes sense because it was the person that kept me grounded, focused and never allowed me to lose hope no matter how bad things got. I didn't even realize I was doing it until Erika pointed it out to me. She seemed to think that for me to speak that highly, or that often, of someone then they must be very important to me and she's right. You are the most important thing to me."

"You're making fun of me." Danaë said, finding what he said hard to believe. He was Captain Archer, a name that had made a very loud noise on Earth and now in space. His was the standard by which all other captains would be judged. People clamoured to be at his side and claim even a momentary acquaintance with him. In this era, she was no one. Perhaps the name 'Picard' would have great significance one day, but that was more than two hundred years from now and D'Arcy meant even less.

"I'm not making fun of you," he sighed, his hands moving down and clasping hers. "I love you." At the sound of these three simple words, Danaë looked into his eyes and could see that it was real and he meant it. "I didn't plan for this to happen nor is this how I would have chosen for things to go, but I am not sorry that it did, nor would I change one moment of it."

"Jonathan," she managed to whisper before the two came together in a kiss with nothing held back.

They fell to their knees on the ground clinging to each other there beside the bridge. They had no fear of being caught, in fact, the world around them was completely forgotten. All they could hear was the beating of their hearts and all they could see was themselves reflected in the other's eyes. Excitement and pent up longing made their fingers fumble as they took turns undressing one another, desperate to touch and be touched. How many times had they longed for this moment yet denied themselves? The hot sun beat upon their bare flesh, was nothing compared to the heat burning between them. Their tongues danced together as they tasted the fruit so long denied them. There was no one to stop them. No fear of rules or regulations, no prying eyes. They were not being held back by their respective ranks or a sense of duty and they didn't need any intoxicant as an excuse for taking what they wanted.

He cupped her breasts in his hands, massaging them, feeling their soft weight in his palms. He brushed the sensitive nipples then kissed and gently suckled them, making her gasp and moan. Shivers dappled the flesh beneath his hands and passed from her skin to his at her eager response. Gently he lay back on the soft green earth, looking up at her. His Danaë... She rose above him with the sun behind her head, making a nimbus around her hair. His fingers moved down her narrow waist, feeling her muscled core then to her hips, his thumbs moving to the inside of her thighs. She opened, positioning herself on either side of his hips. He could feel her heat and plunged a finger into her wet sweet depths. She threw back her head and cried out at the intrusion into the sensitive flesh. Her eyes looked into his as if mesmerized as he brought his fingers to his mouth and tasted. She was ready and eager for him.

He reached up and pulled her down atop him, feeling her every breath and heart beat. Gently he slid himself inside of Danaë holding her body tightly against his. She was his, really his and he and he had no intentions of ever letting her go. Everything about her felt so perfect and the moment so right. For one glorious moment in time, they were free to just be themselves and explore their desires. Their bodies moved with each other in perfect rhythm. They explored each other, finding every sensitive point and tapping into it. She kissed his chest as he laid back on the soft thick grass, then sitting up, she straddled him, bringing him even farther into her depths. He gasped as this gave Danaë control over their pace.

Through half-lidded eyes, he watched her as she rocked atop him, enjoying the sight of her naked body, her breasts softly bouncing with every thrust. He felt that if this lasted a thousand years he would never tire of her. Harder and deeper he plunged, claiming her, leaving neither in any doubt that she was HIS. He felt the quiver that began deep within her at his quickened pace. She grabbed his shoulders, her fingers digging into his flesh as an anchor as the waves of ecstasy took her and rolled her and broke her against him. She spasmed against him, crying out and bringing him to his own explosive release. Danaë collapsed against Archer's heaving chest and the two lay there holding each other, relearning the art of breathing. Both were happier and more at peace than they had been in a long time.

The sun was warm on their naked bodies as they lay there. All the world was right and neither wanted to move for fear the moment would somehow be snatched away from them. Danaë softly stroked Archer's chest and belly as she contemplated just how far they had come in such a short amount of time. One moment she was content to return to a life of wandering and the next, she was lying naked beside the only man she had ever loved. He had been correct when he told her that she belonged exploring the galaxy. He did too. Thinking about their shared love of exploration, an idea popped into her mind and a mischievous smile spread across Danaë's face and she giggled slightly. Archer was gently stroking her hair when he noticed her grin. It was as suspicious as it was intriguing and there was no way the captain wasn't going to find out what was lurking behind it.

"You look like you're plotting something."

"Oh, I was just thinking that it might be possible for me to explore the stars without boarding the Enterprise."

"Oh?" Archer was curious to know how she thought she could pull that off. The Columbia wasn't finished and Earth had no other warp capable ships. A wicked twinkle flashed in her eye and catching him off guard she pushed him onto his back and straddled him, catching his wrists with her hands and holding them down.

"I've got Captain Jonathan Archer as my captive," she teased. "I wonder how high the Klingons have raised the bounty on you? If it's enough then I'm sure I can buy a good used feighter."

"Ahhh, but would the Klingons keep their end of the deal?" Archer pointed out. He had been captured by a Tellerite bounty hunter once before and although an amount was agreed upon, the Klingons only paid a fraction of it. With a quick jerk of his wrists he freed himself from her grasp. Getting his arms around her waist he flipped her onto her back and brought his weight down on her. His eyes sparkled just as playfully as hers as she tried and failed to free herself from his grasp.