“Pressure Under Magic”

Posted on Tue May 12th, 2026 @ 10:36pm by Lieutenant Zachary Addams & Ensign Grace MacKenzie 'Sabre'
Edited on on Wed May 13th, 2026 @ 5:06am

3,480 words; about a 17 minute read

Mission: Flight Of The Valkyries

Zach gently but firmly guided Grace down out of the mess hall and into the corridor. He didn't stop or slow down until they were in the turbolift vestibule, playing the part of a strict security officer.

As the lift arrived, he guided Grace inside and said, "deck four." The lift car took off and nearly an instant later they were one deck higher. He walked with her quickly to his quarters, opened the door and ushered her in.

Once they were alone, he took a few deep breaths, throwing off the override, his face and posture relaxing. He put his hands gently over hers, and as he brushed the cuffs they clicked open and collapsed back together. He braced himself for an attack, but it didn't come. "Grace?" he said, quietly, trying to look in her downcast eyes. "Grace? Are you with me?"

As the cuffs came off, Grace barely moved except to rub where they had been. Her eyes filled with emotion, but her voice was quiet and timid, “T-tu ne vas pas me faire de mal, n-n'est-ce pas?” Her eyes came up, but as soon as they did, they dropped again, “Je promets que je vais bien me comporter.”

Zach blinked. He hadn't been sure what reaction to expect, but French wasn't it. Where's my mom when I need a translator? he thought. He'd have to get his universal translator updated. He went to his replicator and got a padd, letting it translate her mumblings. As he read the words, his face went white.

As he retrieved the PADD, Grace dropped a shoulder in clear invitation and expectation, “Je ne résisterai pas, je serai vraiment sage avec toi, il n'y aura plus besoin de punition.”

Zach tore his eyes away from the padd before he completely Vulked out. "Grace, you're safe. You're not in danger. I will never hurt you," he said slowly and deliberately. "Grace, look at me. Tell me you remember my name." He suddenly had an idea and plucked a coin out of the air under her nose so she couldn't help but see it, letting the light reflect off it.

The glint of gold flickered through her eyes and as the light shimmered into her eyes it chased the shadows that remained and that hadn’t reacted to his words in English. Grace inhaled sharply and her eyes flit around the room as she looked around, then up at Zach as she started to hyperventilate in panic, “Zachary? What happened?” She started, her arms going around her to hug herself tightly, “Where am Ah? What happened? What did Ah do?” She demanded of him, taking a half step back. “Gawd, what did Ah do?”

"You took a swing at an officer, and then at me," he said. "Thankfully your aim wasn't great, and we're both okay." He tried giving her a half-hearted smile. "I got you out of there and got you to my quarters so you could calm down somewhere safe." He hesitated a moment, looking at her with concern. "Are you...are you with me right now?"

Grace nodded twice as she found that she was in the small living room area of his quarters, not the bedroom and her shoulders relaxed ever so slightly, “What did Ah do?” She repeated softly, “Ah remember hearing somethin’ and then felt a hand on my shoulder and that’s it… Ah’ve blacked out before, but never ended up like… This.” She gestured around at his quarters, again hunching in on herself as she remembered where she’d usually snapped out of things at; and what happened before she’d started blacking out during these sorts of episodes, when she still had memories of things. “Ah’m safe.” She repeated his words, not quite sure whether to believe them or not.

"You are safe," he promised. "Like I said...you got agitated, you took a swing at someone, then punched me, then I had to restrain you, and I brought you here. You said some things in French, and then you finally snapped out of it." He hated feeling helpless, but he wasn't sure what else he could do. "Do you want some water? Or sit down? Or both?"

“In French?” Grace asked, now knowing exactly what had happened and what it was she had said, or at least what she would have been doing and sudden nausea hit her as she looked up at him with dread, wondering what he’d have thought of her if she’d done…. That. But she was still clothed, so she couldn’t have gotten too far, “Where’s your bathroom?” She asked after she was able to resist the first urge, “Ah think Ah’m going to be sick.”

"Door on the right," Zach said quickly, pointing at the correct door.

To Grace it seemed like an absolute miracle that she had been able to make it into the small room, close the door and to the toilet before everything she had just eaten for dinner came back out the wrong direction. It was all she could do to hold on and occasionally evacuate the bowl as she groaned and retched.

He watched her run off and stood there feeling absolutely helpless. He went to the replicator and got two large glasses of ice-cold water. He drank one himself, then recycled it and got another. He also replicated a bowl of granny smith apples. He brought them over to his modest coffee table and set them down, then sat back on the couch. wondering what else he could do.

It was several minutes before Grace finally came out of the bathroom, having spent a few minutes cleaning herself up, especially the hair that had been caught in the up in the event, using his sonic shower to just clean that carefully. Thankfully he had a deodorizer in there that she sprayed liberally to cover up any residual smell. Her hands were around her stomach and her flightsuit's chest, armpits and knees were wet with perspiration as she spotted him over on his couch, "Ah... Ah appreciate you gettin' me out of there, Zachary, but Ah think Ah've gone and made enough of a fool of myself tonight."

"Well if I've learned anything in life, it's that there's always more time to be foolish," Zach said, giving her a gentle smile. "And if you really want to go, at least let me walk you home. But, given what you just went through, you should really sit for a moment." He gestured to the table. "I got you some cold water to cool you down, and green apples to help settle your stomach." He held out a hand. "You're still safe here, if you want to rest."

She looked at the hand warily, not sure if it was an offer to take it in her own or not, yet wanting to take it in both of hers to hold onto as an anchor. Involuntarily, her body shook and she nodded to him, one hand reaching out in compromise to take his hand while she sat down on the edge of the couch and reached for the water with her other, taking only a sip of the water. She saw the reddened mark on his face and winced. "Ah'm really sorry about hittin' you," she offered.

Zach shrugged and sat down on the other end of the couch. He picked up his glass and sat back, sighing. "The first time someone punched me," he said, "I was fourteen. I felt like my brain had been knocked straight out of my ear. This wasn't quite that bad, but I appreciate the apology, nonetheless." He smiled a bit and sipped his water. "I gotta say, my first week on board has definitely been full of surprises."

She released the hand as he moved away, but she couldn't blame him in the slightest. She was a stranger to him, in his quarters, and she'd just spent the last few minutes in a rather undignified situation. She wrapped both hands around the glass and held it, "Tell me about it?" Grace asked him, anything to distract herself.

He sighed and shrugged. "Ever heard of the Farris and Fairway Intergalactic Circus? After their final act, everyone comes out to take their final bows. Afterwards, the audience usually files out and goes home. Well one show, this one audience member was pretty heavily intoxicated, and he'd taken a shine to one of the trapeze artists. When everyone filed out, I saw him sneak down and head back towards where the performers would go. I followed him, and sure enough, he tried accosting the girl he'd been whistling at. Apparently it wasn't the first time he'd tried to get her attention. I ran over, told him to back off. He turned and...bam. I was flat on my ass, with my bell rung. It took me a moment to recover, but I managed to stumble to my feet and launch myself at him. I wasn't much of a fighter and I didn't really do much against him, but it caused enough of a ruckus, and took enough time that a few more guys came running and took the guy down."

Grace blinked a couple times as he told the story, but the fact that he'd gone to rescue some poor girl that was just doing her best to entertain people? That brought some warmth to her heart and she realized that it had been similar to her own situation, though a bit sideways. "That's really sweet, Zachary, Ah do hope that she was grateful to you for the rescue, even if all you did was delay him. It was quite brave." She managed a shaky smile, "But Ah'll admit that Ah was askin' about what's happened this last week? For me, it's been about three weeks since Denmark happened."

Zach stared at her for a moment, realizing his mistake and resisted the urge to smack his palm against his face. "Ohhh...right. Well, starting a new ship, having to meet my staff. I have one who does gymnastics in Main Engineering, one who cannot whistle in tune to save his life, and one who seems to not answer the question you ask, but answers the last question someone asked him. It's an eclectic bunch." He shrugged. "And then, I sit down for dinner and meet this girl and she's cute and has a great smile and next thing I know I'm taking a shot to the jaw." He gave her a smile to show he was teasing. "Helluva way to kick off a new assignment, hm?"

Despite the obvious teasing, Grace managed a blush, but only averted her eyes from him for a half-second, "That does sound like a bit like a complicated way to start an assignment, yeah. But Ah wouldn't get hung up on this cute girl you met, she's got... Issues. She ain't as innocent as you may think she is, even if it weren't her fault that those issues happened." She steeled herself to tell the truth about herself, "Ah'm no fair maiden to be rescued, just a worn out girl whose luck is likely to run out sooner rather than later." She changed what she had been about to say with that last, even now not able to tell him what had happened on board her own last assignment.

Zachary looked at her for a moment, then put his glass down and moved over, putting himself near her without fully encroaching on her space. "I'm not here to rescue you," he said, quietly. "I'm here because once upon a time, my luck ran out too. I don't know what you have been through, but it seems like we've both been through the wringer, so I can understand you have 'issues.' So do I." He swept his hands together and a fanned out deck of cards appeared. "That's why I keep these things on me. They're my defense against the world, against what hurts me. They remind me of happier times, and they are my weapons against the things that scare me." He took one card and snapped his wrist, sending the card shooting forward into an apple where it sliced in and stuck there. He set the rest of the deck down on the coffee table and leaned back on the sofa, looking at her. He held out his hand again. "Neither of us are innocent, and I don't pretend to be. But I can at least hold your hand if you need it."

Grace stared at the hand for a few moments before shakily reaching out to put her glass down on the table in front of them. How could he be making this offer after only meeting her recently. She didn't even know how long it had been, but it couldn't be more than an hour, maybe two. Yet in that time, he'd shown her kindness that was beyond what she could have expected. The others aboard supported her, but this just seemed different. Her shaking hand reached for his, but as it touched it, her other flashed out to grab it and she held on for dear life.

Zach let out a sigh. He always wondered how he appeared to others as a teenager, now he knew. He'd been adrift and had to rebuild himself in order to avoid drowning. He knew the look, knew the weariness, knew the feeling of finally having someone just hold his hand. He pushed thoughts of Sara out of his mind, knowing that dwelling on a previous chapter of his life wouldn't do him any favors. Instead, he focused on the girl in front of him. He moved closer, still holding her hands, rubbing them between his.

Her breath was shaky and while her throat was still raw, she could already feel the tears that were running down her cheeks and knew that it was presaging a fair amount of crying. She scooted closer to him, but it wasn’t a romantic thing, couldn’t be right now at the very least, if ever. Her sense of safety on the ship had cracked and he had saved her from the danger, then saved her from herself and himself. If she fled to her own quarters, the other girls would see and question and… She squeezed his hands tighter, “Ah know we just met, Zachary, b-but kin Ah stay here tonight? Ah’ll sleep out here, on the couch, it’s all right, that is, if you didn’t feel comfortable next to me. Ah wont do anythin’ untoward, Ah promise, Ah just.. Don’t wanna go back to my quarters.” She stopped for another moment, then hurriedly continued on, “But if you don’t want me to, don’t feel you have to, Ah’m not gonna force you to let me stay, Ah kin always go get some sleep in my fighter, Ah’ve done that a fair few times and it’s more comfortable than you might think, so don’t feel bad if that’s what happens.” Her words had come faster and faster and were almost at the point of running together.

For the briefest of moments, Zach was fourteen again, sitting on a trapeze swing, looking at the ground below and judging the distance as he swung precariously back and forth. The grip on his hand in that moment was as strong as the grip back then, but this time, he was keeping someone from falling. Everything about the situation was telling him to run, and every instinct in him told him to send her to her quarters and be done with it. Then he felt her hands shake, saw the same look in her eyes he'd seen in his own, and the same lack of good judgement he'd had since he was thirteen reared its ugly head.

"Of course," he said, quietly. "You can replicate fresh clothes and whatever else you need, have a sonic shower, and rest all you need. However, you are not taking the couch; you will be in the bedroom, safe and sound. You tell me where you want me to sleep."

Graces eyes searched his for any sign, any hint that she couldn’t trust him. It wasn’t that she was a good judge of men, but right now she knew she wasn’t in a good state of mind. The silence dragged on as she opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out and she closed it again. She knew what she wanted to say, but she couldn’t say it and her hands squeezed tighter as she tried to will the words directly into his mind with her eyes. She didn’t want to be alone, she craved touch, just not more than the protective. Still, she didn’t want to give the impression she would sleep with him, because if he made that move, she knew she would and that she would regret it… and hate him for it and she didn’t want that either.

Zach winced as she squeezed his hand so tightly he felt his bones move. He decided to take his life in his hands and moved next to her, putting his free arm around her and holding her close. "Why don't we just share the bed tonight," he said. "That way you can know that I'm nearby."

It wasn’t if that was the trigger that she needed, because in an instant, Grace had released his hand and wrapped her arms around him in a tight embrace, one that almost reeked of desperation. Tears now flowed freely from her as she buried her head into his shoulder as she nodded, but no sound came out as she cried. Noises like that would have only been punished, so she’d learned to weep in silence.

Zach held her tightly and let her cry. He could feel her shaking and could feel the dampness on his shirt. He didn’t know what exactly she was crying over, nor was he sure he could handle knowing, but he knew she needed to.

It took nearly an hour before he felt her stop shaking. He helped her stand up and held her hand as they stood up. He let her go to the replicator and make herself something to wear and then walked with her into his small bedroom, letting her have privacy in the bathroom to clean up and change. While she did, he pulled out a simple tshirt and boxers and changed quickly. It was more than he usually wore to bed, but he was going to be damned before he risked sending any mixed signals tonight.

His bed, by his request, was longer than wide, to handle his height, but it would accommodate more than one person. He sat back against a pillow and waited for her to be ready.

She spent longer in the sonic shower than was absolutely necessary, but Grace knew that she needed to pull herself together from what had happened tonight. He hadn’t asked any questions, for which she was grateful; he hadn’t taken advantage of her state and she knew that she would have thrown herself at him if he’d made any movement of interest, especially when she’d been in that catatonic state where she could only remember things if through a haze. When she finally stepped out of the bathroom, dressed in pajamas of a jersey material that was a tank top and short pants that went just past the knee, she tried to put on a smile for him, one to show that she was grateful to him for everything he’d already done for her.

When he heard the bathroom door open, he looked up and his eyes went wide. For a brief moment, he forgot himself and let his mind feel on how cute she actually was. Then he blushed hard and cleared his throat. “Do you have a preference for a particular side?”

Silently, Grace shook her head, moving towards the bed and hesitatingly climbing into it from the side that had more room to it, seeing him sidle slightly away from her to give her just that much more room. She put her head on the pillow facing him, “Thank you, Zachary.” She whispered to him.

"You're welcome, Grace," Zach said, quietly. "Things will feel better in the morning." He felt the trapeze swinging and he knew the ground was far below, but he had committed to holding on. He took her hand and swallowed nervously. "Maybe, if you want, when we're alone...call me Zed."

Zachary Addams
Chief Engineer
USS Tokyo

Grace MacKenzie
Fighter Pilot
USS Tokyo

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