Lieutenant Khar walked through the corridors of the USS Century; his footfalls heavy as he moved ever closer to his destination. Every waking moment had been devoted to the recovery operations, leaving the Klingon no time for personal considerations of any kind. Now that they were several days into their efforts, he’d finally managed to settle into a pseudo-routine that allowed for him to finally make the visit he’d unintentionally put off.

Khar reached out and pressed the door chime to the quarters that belonged to his partner, Lieutenant Lillian Grant. Having seen her at several staff meetings already, he knew she was physical unharmed from both the ship battle and the boarding action. But that didn’t take into account the emotional toll that had been demanded of her though both the fighting and subsequent clean-up.

The door slid open to reveal Lily, her uniform top missing and her boots removed. Her long hair, which was usually tied up neatly in a high ponytail, lay slightly disheveled around her shoulders and face. A few errant strands of her blonde locks clinging to the streaks of tears that she’d hastily tried to wipe away before answering the door.

“May I enter?” Khar asked, keeping his voice subdued.

Lily nodded, backing up a few paces to allow the man to enter. Once the doors slid closed, Khar reached out for her, his face scrunched in discomfort at seeing her in such distress. Grant closed her eyes and half-collapsed into his arms, her shoulders convulsing in silent sobs. The Klingon stood firm, letting the woman brace against him as she grappled with everything that had happened. Occasionally he would stroke her back or give her body a reassuring squeeze, but he remained a silent presence for a long while.

After what seemed like an eternity, Lily finally pushed herself away from the Klingon’s chest and looked up at him, tears still streaming down her cheeks, “When I heard about what happened on the bridge…” The words were choked out by a hard sob that rocked her slight frame.

“It was… fortunate… that I was sent to deal with the Vaadwaur approaching Sickbay,” Khar remarked, struggling to find comforting words in the midst of the warrior’s vernacular he was so used to relying upon, “That day was not my day to seek out Sto’Vo’Kor.”

“yIntagh SoH,” Lily spat in a mixture of teasing and mild frustration.

Khar couldn’t help but grin at her awkward use of his native language to express her displeasure at his phrasing. He’d known for a while that Lily was learning Klingon, but he’d never actually heard it until she’d suddenly lobbed a playful insult his way.

“Spoken like the mate of a warrior,” the man said, wrapping his arms around her.

Lily didn’t resist his embrace, but she did pound her balled fist against his back a few times, “Can’t believe you have the nerve to talk about Sto’Vo’Kor while I’m pouring my heart out…”

“I meant no offense,” Khar remarked, giving her a gentle squeeze.

Grant nodded against the man’s chest, “I know. It’s just been hard to deal with the thought of… of you not being here. Especially when… when…”

Khar ran his fingers through Lily’s hair in an effort to soothe her as she struggled to get the words out. Her hands grabbed at the material of his uniform, balling up as she fought the torrent of painful thoughts and raging emotions that she’d been trying so hard to suppress for the last few days.

“We’ve lost too many,” Khar admitted in a frustrated voice, “And too few Vaadwaur have paid for their dishonorable actions…”

“Why…?” Lily called out between ragged sobs, “Why did this happens? Why?”

Khar had no answers to her desperate cries, and couldn’t bring himself to offer empty platitudes. He wanted to know just as badly as Lily did, though their reasons for asking came from wildly different desires. Lily wanted closure, while Khar wanted revenge. And somewhere deep inside themselves, both knew that they would get neither of those things even if they ever did learn the truth.

The couple stood together for another long, silent stretch of time before the strength finally drained from the woman. Khar guided her over to the small couch not far from the entrance to her small quarters and sat her gingerly on the furnishing before settling down beside her.

“Would you like something to eat, perhaps?” the Klingon asked after Lily had steadied herself on the couch.

She shook her head in response, “No… I haven’t really felt like eating the last couple of days…”

Khar shifted in his seat, a frown tugging at his lips, “I think it is time you did, then. You will not be able to accomplish anything if you pass out.”

“That’s just it,” Lily bemoaned, “There’s nothing I can do… I can’t… I can’t bring them back…”

“Perhaps not. But you can carry on their memory. You can help to put this ship back together in whatever ways you are able. You can help us return to fighting shape so we that we can repay this dishonor,” Khar declared firmly.

Lily listened to his voice rise from the soft tone he’d had when he walked in to an almost feverish pitch. It was both unexpected and completely fitting for the Klingon that she couldn’t help but let out a soft chortle after hearing it. Slowly, Lily reached out and took Khar by the hand, giving it a squeeze that reflected a hint of renewed vigor that she’d all but lost in the previous days.

“Maybe…” she said in a voice just above a whisper, “Maybe I should have something small…”