Christopher Pike (daretodobetter) wrote in thedoorway, @ 2013-04-24 14:11:00 |
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Current mood: | blah |
Who:Christine Chapel and Christopher Pike
When: Sunday afternoon April 14
Where: Pike’s apartment
What: Pike’s been brooding, Christine decides to find out what’s going on
Rating: We’ll go with moderate for possible language
It had been several days since she’d spoken to Pike and this worried Christine. She’d sent him a text which he hadn’t replied to and that in and of itself was unusual. While admittedly she had been in her own little world for the last couple of weeks, she’d grown used to talking to Pike either on the network or by text every few days so the lack of communication bothered her. If there was one thing that could be said about Christine Chapel, it was that she didn’t allow the men in her life to brood. Or anyone in her life for that matter. This was the reason she had gone knocking on Mulder’s door when Scully was taken and it was the reason that she was standing outside Pike’s door right now, punching in the medical override code that she had in case of an emergency. No doubt he wouldn’t be particularly thrilled that she’d done it but Christine simply didn’t care. Something was wrong and she was damn well going to find out what it was. When she finished entering the numbers, she pushed open the door and walked inside. She didn’t see him at first which scared her so she called out to him. “Hey are you here? Good lord, turn on some lights,” and she reached over to switch on a lamp. “Where are you?” Pike wasn't in the mood for company. That was an understatement. He hadn't been in the mood for company since his birthday party really - since the sex that had set his rehabilitation back. It was his own damned fault for letting himself get distracted. It had been a relief that the setback was only temporary, but he wasn't looking forward to the long rehab again. He was hard on his crew when they fucked up out of stupidity, but he was ten times as hard on himself. And much more likely to brood. At least he was managing [barely] to avoid the alcohol right now. His rehabilitation was most important so the bottle of scotch was unopened on the table in front of him. In his hands were the admiral's insignia he'd ripped off the dress uniform he'd come through wearing and a photo that he'd had in his pocket with his ID when he came through of him and Boyce when they first served together. "I'm fine, Chapel." She crossed her arms over her chest and looked at him. The bottle of scotch, the fact that he was holding his admiral’s insignia, those did not go unnoticed. “Like hell you are,” she said, not bothering to mince words. Christine walked across the room and sat down in the chair to his right and picked up the bottle, looking at the label. “Well at least you picked some top notch booze to stare at, I’ll give you that.” She put it down and looked at him instead. “So you’re not fine. I know you’re not fine and so do you. You can’t bullshit me and you know it so don’t bother. What’s wrong.” "Nothing is wrong. I'm reminiscing. In the dark. Alone." Maybe if he ignored her, she'd just go away. He closed his hand around the photo and the insignia. "I didn't invite you in, Chapel," he said in his command tone, hoping that might inspire her to leave. “Reminiscing in the dark alone. Yes that’s very healthy. In fact that’s what I would recommend to anyone. It makes you feel so much better.” She crossed her arms again and met his gaze. “No you didn’t invite me in but I have the code and when you won’t talk to me, I am not afraid to use it. You should be grateful that it was me that abused the privilege and not McCoy.” "I didn't ask for your opinion, Chapel. When I want it, I will," Pike snapped, crankier than usual. He didn't care who it was interrupting his private time, he'd locked his door for a reason. "There is nothing to worry about - I'm teaching all my classes, attending physical therapy, my results are where they need to be so why does it matter if I choose to stare at a bottle of overpriced scotch in the dark?" She shouldn’t have been surprised that he snapped at her but she was and it stung. Christine knew she could be pushy and perhaps she had been in this case. “My apologies,” she replied. “but that doesn’t stop me from being concerned about you. Mostly because even though you’re doing all those things you’ve mentioned, you’re still sitting here in the dark by yourself. That tells me that something is bugging you. You don’t want to talk to me, fine but I care about you so I worry.” There was a lot more she wanted to say to him but the last thing she wanted was to get into a fight with him. Pike huffed out a sigh and ran a hand over his hair. "It doesn't matter, Christine," he said tiredly. "The only thing that matters is moving forward with the rehab and focusing on that again. Can't let myself get distracted." He set the picture and the insignia down on the table before wheeling himself to the kitchen to pour himself a glass of water. "Want something to drink?" Christine could have easily argued that point with him. Yes, the rehab was important but so was his mental health but there was really no point in it. She could tell that as far as Pike was concerned, they weren’t going to discuss what was bothering him. “Something to drink would be good,” she said. “Water is fine.” When Pike left the room, she glanced at the picture, immediately recognizing Boyce’s face. She had never met the man although she knew who he was. What she hadn’t known was the fact that apparently there had been more to Pike’s friendship with him than CMO/Captain. “I never met Dr. Boyce,” she said, indicating the picture as Pike reappeared. “I’ve always heard he was an excellent doctor.” Christine wasn’t about to bring up the fact that they looked rather cozy in the photo even if she was extremely curious. Pike felt himself flush slightly as he came back with water for both of them, running a hand over his hair. "We served together for quite some time," Pike said with a fond smile. "The man made a mean martini. Probably the only one who could get me to leave the bridge." “Being able to make a mean martini is never a bad skill to have,” she said, taking a drink of water. “and sometimes that’s the best medicine.” Christine smiled. “I’m not surprised to hear that you didn’t like to leave the bridge either. Not in the least.” "Especially when it's medicinal," Pike teased, making an effort to seem like his old self - or rather the self Christine had gotten to know recently. "He was one of the few people who ever saw past the Captain. Though life on a starship is very different than life planetside." There was a hint of sadness in the last sentence - regret almost, but Pike did his best to hide it. "I hate to say it, but McCoy might be a better doctor, though Boyce had the better bedside manner." “Sometimes it’s hard to see past the Captain,” she replied. “but it’s worth it.” It had taken her a while to get to that point with Pike and even so Christine knew there were things about him that she didn’t know and would probably never know but she felt she had a better understanding of him as a person than she’d had at the beginning. “And as much as I like him, I think a rabid dog would have a better bedside manner than McCoy. He’s a fantastic physician but he’s not a people person.” "He thought so," Pike said a bit sadly as he picked up the photo and the insignia and tucked them in his breast pocket of his his button down shirt and ran a hand over his face. "McCoy's the best there is. Knew that when I recruited him. He has potential. He won't ever be surgeon general - doesn't have the diplomacy for it or the patience for bullshit - but besides him and Boyce, no one I'd rather trust my body to." He took a sip of water as his fingers brushed over the pocket again. "So, why else did you come down here? Now that you see I'm perfectly fine." “I feel the same way. I trust McCoy with my life, just don’t tell him I said that,” she grinned. “it wouldn’t be nearly as much fun rolling my eyes at him if he knew I felt that way.” Christine looked at him, still not convinced he was perfectly fine but she’d pretend she did. “Mostly I came because I missed you. I miss getting random text messages from you and talking about things I would have never believe we would discuss. Oh and I got laid so that’s something.” Pike gave her a smile, knowing he still had a bit of convincing to do especially since he was unshaven and still didn't quite look like his normal self. "Oh really? So, you and this Mulder guy? Good for you. Well, if it was good. Was it good? Yes or no, I don't need details, Chapel." She laughed and smiled at him. “I won’t give you details but yes it was good. It was more than good actually, it was amazing.” Christine felt her face grow a little warm as she thought of the past few nights she’d spent with Mulder. It had been a very long time since thinking of a man could make her blush. “I like him a lot. I have to say that I’ve never met anyone quite like him.” Pike chuckled and gave her a smile. "That's good. Because I wasn't looking forward to the concept of having to yell at him for being horrible in bed. You deserve the best." He held up his hands. "And that's all I'm saying on the matter. No more discussing your sex life." He also had no desire to talk about what was currently going on with him and Barbara, so he brought the conversation back to Christine. "So it's good between the two of you? Gonna be shopping for china patterns soon or diapers?" Christine couldn’t quite believe he’d just said...well what he’d just said..and tried not to laugh at the mental picture of Pike arriving at Mulder’s door and telling him that he was going to kick his ass for being lousy in bed. “It is good but no, there is no need to be looking at china patterns.” She laughed. “and definitely no diapers. Oh god no.” Having children was something she’d never really thought about and certainly not here. Who knew what would happen to someone who went through the Tesseract pregnant and there was always the chance that one could be taken back at any time. "Just checking. Need to keep tabs on my crew. Er, former crew, as it were," Pike admitted, his hand straying to his pocket. "So, satisfied that I'm stable?" Was she satisfied? Not entirely but Christine knew it would do no good whatsoever to tell him that. “Yes. For now I’m satisfied.” She looked at him, her eyes locked on his. “If you feel like you need to talk to someone....about anything, call me. Promise? Because I’ll drop what I’m doing and come if you need me. I hope you know that.” "I do," Pike said honestly. "I just.." He ran a hand over his hair. "I'm not big on the talking, but I'll let you know if I need you. Sometimes a man just needs to sit in the dark and think." “I understand,” she said with a nod. “and I’m sorry if I disturbed you. I was worried but next time I’ll text you first. Which means that you’ll have to not ignore my texts which you’ve been doing.” Christine held up her hand. “but I’m not lecturing you. I’m just glad that you’re not hurt or unable to call for help.” She stood up and walked over to him and picked up his hand, giving a squeeze. “I care about you. This place makes you appreciate your friends because you don’t know how long you’re going to have them and I think of you that way now. Whether you like it or not.” "I know you care, and I'm sorry for not responding to your texts, I've been-" Pike paused, searching for the word. "Depressed. Reorganizing my priorities in light of the relapse. I appreciate your concern, Chapel, I do. I like having you as a friend. So, see you Friday for riding?" She wanted to say more about his relapse but she bit her tongue. Christine didn’t agree with his shutting himself off but the last thing she wanted was to fight with him. “You’re welcome and if you need me well you know.” She smiled. “and yes I will see you on Friday for riding. You’ve gotten me hooked on it, I hope you know.” He watched her reaction and let it go. There would be other times for him to push her to say what was on her mind. At the moment, he just wanted to go back to his not-drinking and thinking about Boyce. Who would probably be slapping him upside the head right now, but that was irrelevant. "Good. I'm always glad to convert people to the joys of riding." |