Picking Up the CAG's Son

Posted on Tue Jun 10th, 2014 @ 7:56pm by Lieutenant Colonel Edward Maxwell & Lieutenant Lynsi Mason

Mission: Picking Up the Pieces
Location: Docking Ring

Given that Ed had been on duty until late the night before, or early this morning depending on how one looked at it, almost ten hours from arriving onboard and there were no matters terribly pressing Ed had opted to go casual for the day. If someone didn't like it, they would have to deal with it, he wasn't changing. He had spent his time after waking up setting up his quarters, something he had failed to do the day before. He had only the personal belongings that came with him in his bags. These were evenly spaced between the living area, his bedroom, and his office on the flight deck. Once things were settled, for the time being at least, Ed went into the bathroom for a shower.

Once he was finished with his shower he wrapped a towel around his waist and went to the bedroom to get dressed. He emerged in black soft soled boots, black pants tucked into the tops of his boots and a dark red sleeveless shirt with a black diagonal stripe running from the right shoulder seam down to the left hem. His dog tags were hidden under the shirt. He was beginning to get anxious, knowing his son would be here any time. He was in the process of making himself breakfast when his commbadge chirped at him.

Lynsi Mason's voice called out through the commbadge. Mason to Maxwell.

"I'm in my quarters Blaze." He replied, opting to use her callsign since he didn't know who was around her and didn't want anyone thinking they were being too friendly. "Given the late hours yesterday and Ryan's arrival sometime today I thought I'd work from home. Do we have any updates on his ship?"

Actually, I do. Sitting alone in her office, she neglected the use of ranks. His transport just docked. It will take them a little while to unboard, and then he'll still have to get through security, so we should have plenty of time to get to the dock before he's out.

"Okay. Swing by and get me and we can go get him."

Sounds good. I'll be at your quarters shortly. Blaze out. Disengaging the comm by tapping her communicator again, Lynsi got up from her desk and took off for Ed's quarters. She was really looking forward to meeting his son.

Ed put the ingredients for breakfast away and looked around to make sure the room was cleaned completely. He didn't want his son's first impression of their quarters to be that of a mess. Especially when he had grown up on Earth and not on ships and starbases,

It didn't take Mason long to get to Ed's quarters. The station may have been big, but it had very fast turbolifts. She pressed the buzzer outside his door.

"It's open, come on in Blaze." Ed called as he finished putting away his breakfast stuff. He'd have to eat when they got back from the docking bay.

The doors to Ed's quarters opened with a whoosh and Lynsi stepped inside. She took a quick glance around, looking at his choice of decoration. "Nice place you've got here. It's certainly nicer than my quarters."

"Rank Hath It's Privileges." Ed chuckled. "Well that and having dependents living with you." He admitted with a grin.

"Good point," Mason replied, laughing. "Besides, I wanted to be closer to the hanger anyway."

"It's what they gave me." Ed shrugged. "Besides, I'm not supposed to get too close to my pilots. I work with the Squadron Leaders. Them I get close to."

"I'm glad I'm a squadron leader then," she replied with a laugh.

"That would depend on how close you want to get." Ed grinned as he finished cleaning up.

Lynsi walked over to Ed's table and started picking up dishes. "Let me give you a hand with that."

"I've got a handle on it." Ed smiled. "Besides, I wouldn' want to get used to the help. I'm a single parent."

She let Ed take the dishes from her. "What about his mother, if you don't mind me asking?"

"She passed away recently, hence why he's coming here to live with me." Ed said with a shrug. "We were never marriage serious, but Ryan's still the result and I'll take care of him."

"I'm sorry to hear about that," Lynsi replied sincerely. "At least Ryan still has a good man for a father."

"I dunno about a good man, but he's got me." Ed shrugged. "Come on, let's get going."

Lynsi laughed. "Fair enough. Let's go then." She led the way out of his quarters and waited for Ed to lock up before starting for the turbolift.

Ed palmed the lock on his quarters, locking them and turned to follow Blaze. "You know I might be able to get used to this view." He smirked as he caught up to her.

Lynsi smirked at his comment. "I guess this means you want to watch my six."

"I can think of worse things to watch." He allowed with a smile.

Lynsi turned and smiled. "Naughty boy. Don't make me report you to my superior officer." She let out a laugh, hoping that he did too.

"As long as it's not an unwanted advance, then your superior can't do anything." Ed said with a grin. "Unless it's unwanted?"

"I never said that," Lynsi replied with a grin of her own. The two continued to chat and joke on the way to the airlock security checkpoint. This particular docking port didn't seem to be too busy, but there was still enough people and children that Blaze wasn't sure which one was his son. "Can you see him?" she asked.

"Give him a minute or two and then if he hasn't found us, I'll yell and he'll appear." Ed said with a chuckle. "He wants to be a Marine and will answer to a proper Marine summons."

Lynsi wasn't about to get into a Marine versus Starfleet debate. She had always been a Fleetie, so her rules worked a little differently than the marines. But she wasn't opposed to some good natured ribbing. "You don't make him salute do you? I'm not very good at saluting."

"I'll have to think of something for you to do then." Ed chuckled. "Just don't get too jealous when I'm spending time with him instead of you." He teased her.

"Oh, don't worry about that. I know better than to try to come between a father and his son," she said as she smiled back.

"DAD!" Came the yell from halfway across the bay.

"Over here Ryan." Ed called out with a smile. He watched as the boy came over at a jog. He stood a shade over five feet tall with hazel eyes and dirty blonde hair. He had an athletic build similar to his father, though he was still growing, and fast. The family resemblance was readily apparent. The younger Maxwell slowed to a walk as he approached the pair. There was a brief hug between the two and Ed ruffled his hair with a grin.

Ryan grinned in return as he glanced at Blaze standing by Ed's side. "New girlfriend Dad?" He asked with a broadening smile.

"That's.... up to her." Ed replied after a moments hesitation and looked questioningly at Blaze. "Ryan this is my exec, Lieutenant Lynsi Mason. Blaze, my son Ryan." Ed introduced the pair and squeezed Ryan's shoulder.

"I've not ruled it out," Lynsi said with a smile towards Ed. She extended her hand towards Ryan. "I'm not really one for titles. You can call me Blaze, or Lynsi if you'd like. It's nice to meet you, Ryan."

Ed gave the boy a nudge. "Be polite bub." He chuckled.

"The pleasure's all mine Lynsi." The teen managed to get out with some minor difficulty. He was still a bit taken back by her comment about dating his father. "So, where to from here Dad?"

"Oh I think we can head to our quarters and drop your bag off." Ed laughed. "Then maybe some breakfast, since you interrupted me making mine. Care to come along Blaze? I'm sure the Wing can handle itself for a few hours."

Blaze considered the offer for a moment. "If Ryan doesn't mind, I'd love to."

"More the merrier." Ryan laughed. "Then I'll make sure to make myself scarce tonight and explore the station for a few hours."

Lynsi shook her head. "That's not necessary unless that's what you wanted. If you run off, we can't get to know each other. Besides, I know all the best places on the station anyway."

"Cool. I thought you and Dad might want some alone time is all." Ryan grinned.

"Knock it off you knuckle head." Ed laugh and ruffled his hair. "Come on, let's get out of here you two."

Lynsi certainly liked Ed, but they still hadn't known each other for that long. Lynsi figured it was probably better that they do get to know each other better before spending that kind of alone time together. Besides, him being her superior officer made things a bit more complicated. "That's probably a good idea. There's still that breakfast to get to. So, Ryan, how was your trip out here. Did you get a window seat?"

"I did." Ryan agreed. "It was pretty boring and talk about long!" He complained. "Whats up with the big hole anyways? It was pretty hard to miss when we were coming into dock.

"That happened before I got here buddy." Ed shrugged. "We're in the process of fixing it. Blaze and I are working to make sure that something like it doesn't happen again."

"That's right. Some bad people had the nerve to attack us. But don't worry about that. Captain Von is very dedicated to keeping that from happening again, and to bringing those people to justice. Besides, like your dad said, we're going to be out there to make sure it doesn't happen again too."

"So how did they crack security the first time?" Ryan wanted to know.

"Honestly, I haven't looked at the security reports from the incident yet." Ed admitted. "I've had other things on my plate since I arrived Ry. We've got a Wing of mostly nuggets without much experience yet. We've been working on fixing that problem."

"I've been sitting into some of the security briefings in your father's place since he hadn't arrived yet. We have people working on fixing those holes. But our job is to keep suspicious ships away before they even get a chance to dock with the station." Lynsi felt her stomach starting to argue with her. "But enough about that now. Why don't we think about that breakfast?"

"Well you said you know the best places to go Blaze, so lead the way. We'll have your stuff beamed to our quarters Ry." He said putting an arm around the boys shoulders.

"Works for me Dad." Ryan grinned looking up at the two of them.

"Great!" Lynsi replied with a grin. "If you want the tour before breakfast, then I know this great place where you could sit and watch the ships come in," she explained as she started walking, leading the trio away from the bustle of the checkpoint.