Let There Be Light (Star Trek Voyager, Star Trek TNG, Chakotay & Beverly Crusher)

[divinemissem13]

Title: Let There Be Light
Fandom: Star Trek Voyager, Star Trek TNG
Pairing/Characters: Chakotay & Beverly Crusher
Content Notes: N/A
Prompt: September 4, "it's dark and there's only one flashlight"
 
 

"Damnit!" Beverly hissed under her breath as her wrist beacon fell down the ravine and got swallowed up in the black abyss. Her hands were usually very steady, it's just that the moment she got her light working, she became acutely aware of just how high off the ground they were.

"Everything OK up there?" Chakotay called up. He was an excellent climber and was already at least a quarter of the way down the sheer rock face. The last thing Beverly wanted to do was make him climb back up to help her. Besides, she was a strong and independent woman; a fearless and capable Starfleet officer. Or at least, she would be, once she passed these last few exams.

"All good! Just, uh, broke a nail on the harness!" she called back, immediately wincing at the stupid lie she had come up with. Could there have been a more pathetic and girly excuse? Probably, but in that moment she couldn't think of one. "Rappelling now!"

Beverly gulped and tightened her grip on the rope. This was the worst part, launching yourself backwards off of a cliff and praying that the rope would hold. Maybe losing her wrist beacon was a blessing in disguise. Maybe it would be easier if she couldn't see how far away the ground was. She closed her eyes, took a few deep breaths, and counted down from 5.

5… 4… 3… 2… 1… 1… 1… Damnit, Bev, jump!

Finally, she did. She forced herself to keep breathing as she plummeted down in a free fall. Some of the other cadets had described this feeling as flying, but Beverly was pretty sure it felt closer to death. After what felt like an eternity, the harness around her waist jerked and tightened and Beverly gasped with the relief that she might actually make it through this.

Her relief was short lived, however, when Beverly remembered why the wrist beacon was important. In the inky darkness, she couldn't see her hand in front of her face, let alone find a hand hold on the rock. Blindly, she dug her fingers into the rock, laughing bitterly as she realized that she probably would break at least one nail, if not all of them.

Suddenly, a beam of light shot across her hand and Beverly actually yelped in surprise (and just add that to the list of pathetic and girly things she did that day). She turned her head to the right and there, glowing in the darkness like a neon sign, was Chakotay and his wrist beacon. The light itself was pointed towards the rock face, casting Chakotay's features in a bizarre mix of shadow and light. Any other time, he might have looked scary, but in that moment, Beverly thought he was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have gone so far ahead," he said with a sheepish grin, the shadows turning his dimples into crevices as deep as the one they were currently hovering in.

Beverly's instincts told her to say it was no big deal, that she would have made it on her own and didn't need his help. Instead, she gave him a grateful smile and only said, "You came back, and that's what matters."

"Never leave a man behind," Chakotay quoted the 'fleet manual. Then he nodded to Beverly and said, "You set the pace this time and we'll climb down together."

Neither one mentioned Beverly's missing wrist beacon, and Chakotay pretended not to notice when she retrieved it and slipped it into her pack once they had reached the bottom. The important thing was that they had reached the bottom, working together to overcome obstacles, just like Starfleet officers.

Comments

[senmut]

Awww!

[suzume]

How sweet~