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Hey, look! I actually turned the thing on for once! [And she's seated on the floor in her living room, back to the couch. Petrichor and Phantom are snuggling behind her, fast asleep and there's a Hypnos in her lap, for once. Charlie's looking at something else, though, the faint sound of rustling heard.]

Went out to run some errands for the apartment and it was raining photographs. I know most of the people in them, which is kind of fun.

[She holds one up, smiling a bit sheepishly.] I don't know this person, though, so if you recognize yourself in this photo and want it back, let me know.

[A pause, more shuffling from the stack of photos.] Miss Lannister, I have one that belongs to you. You should have it. I think it has one of your children in it. Blonde boy a little taller than you. I can bring it by, if you want.

[And she holds it up briefly.] I have a spare picture frame I can put it in. It might be nice for you to have a picture of at least one of your children, right?

Pavel, there's one of you, too. I'm not going to show it on the network, though. It's nothing embarrassing, you just should probably see this one yourself.

Steve, I have one of you, too. You're waiting in a line somewhere. [Another one she's not flashing on the network. And then she's grinning, laughing.]

Stephen, look! [And she holds one up. Charlie and Stephen are sitting on her couch, video game controllers in hand. She's practically swimming in a bulky sweatshirt and both of them are very focused on the video game they're playing.] Can I keep this one, Stephen?

[More grinning. See? She's grinning. She really should keep this one. And then, this one is held up.] Doctor, what are you doing?

Oh, also. Howard? Look! [She holds up one of her and Howard purchasing Sonic. Charlie just looks way too amused in the photo.] That was a good day.

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Charlie, what did you find? Thank you for not showing it, even if you do not think that it is embarrassing.

Are you home? I'll bring it over. You look so sad in it.

I am, yes, and Howl is not, so you do not need to worry about him.

Okay. Be there in a few seconds. [And a few seconds later, Charlie is knocking, photograph held carefully.]

[The door flies open almost before Charlie has an opportunity to finish knocking. Chekov looks somewhat nervous, not at all sure what sort of picture Charlie has stumbled across.]

Hello. Come in, please? You may even sit on the couch. [There isn't anything littering it. In fact, the whole apartment is rather tidy aside from the photos on the floor. Chekov grabs a couple of pictures off of the coffee table.] I have found some of these with you in them.

[Charlie heads in and sits, holding out Pavel's picture as she takes the ones he has for her.]

What...oh. [Well, she's a bit amused as she looks through the pictures.] That was a good day, even if the turtleducks were biters.

[He flops next to her, accepting the picture without looking at it.]

You both look happy, anyway. [He reaches over to point to the two other pictures. One is a young Charlie; the other is Charlie with Sonic on her shoulder.] I like these, also. This one is you, yes? When you were younger?

Oh, wow. [Eying the photo of younger her with some shock.] School photo. I was seven. That was before my parents were...before they died.

[And the picture of Sonic, she grins at that one, too.] Wild day. What's your picture of, Pavel?

I am very sorry to hear about your parents. ...Would you like to keep them? I would like one, maybe. [Because people disappear here and it seems wise to hold on to their pictures, assuming the pictures don't disappear when the day ends.

He frowns down at his picture.] That was not such a good day. I was stupid.

That would be great, Pavel. Thank you. You can keep whatever one you want. [Charlie looks at Pavel, now concerned.] So what happeneD?

Thank you, also. [He takes the one with Sonic in it--hedgehogs are still amazing, okay--and gives the other two to Charlie.]

It is a long story, but the part here... this is when Vulcan was being destroyed by a black hole. Captain Kirk and Sulu were falling and the transporter technicians could not beam them aboard because the black hole--as they were falling, it was gaining mass--and Vulcan's atypical gravity made it so the computers could not lock on to them.

[Chekov glances at Charlie to see if she's following. He hopes the basics get across, at least.]

I left my station to help because I am good with both transporters and physics and I was able to do a manual computation that compensated for Vulcan's gravity as well as the fluctuating mass of the black hole. The captain and Sulu were saved, I was very proud of myself, and I stayed there--the transporter technicians were not happy--thinking that I would bring Commander Spock and the Vulcan High Council aboard. [a pause] The High Council is the most important group of individuals on Vulcan. We could not save the planet, but if we could save them, then Vulcan's cultural heritage would also be saved.

And so I was there, sitting where someone twice my age should be sitting, knowing that I would save Vulcan just as I saved the captain and Sulu. No doubts, Charlie--that is how certain I was. [He slumps down into the couch unhappily, absolutely not looking at Charlie.] When it was time to beam them up, Spock's mother began to fall. There is no reason why I should not have been able to target her. The black hole's mass was increasing exponentially, but that was a small thing, relatively speaking. I lost her. Spock, Spock's father, and the rest of the Council made it aboard, but Amanda did not. Spock was there, standing on the transporter pad and reaching out to his mother... and then he realized that she was gone.

That is this picture.

[She's listening and she's following as best as she can, watching Pavel and trying to keep her expression calm. Neutral. But then he gets to what happened and her expression saddens some. She's silent after he finishes speaking, tapping her photos on her knee before setting them aside.

And then, of all things, Charlie leans towards Pavel and wraps an arm around his shoulder. This is a hug, Pavel. From Charlie. As best as she can manage on the couch. That's all.]

[Charlie giving hugs? Considering how reluctant she seemed to accept the hug he had given her, he should be surprised. He is, however, much to busy hugging her back and absolutely not crying to bother with surprise.]

[quietly] I have never told that story before, not even to Sulu.

Everyone has stories they need to let out to someone at some point. I have a mountain of them. [Still hugging. He needs all the hugs she can give him, so she thinks.] And it's between you and I, okay? No one will hear about it unless you want to tell them what you just told me. I promise.

If you need to tell them, ever... [He isn't going to be the one to stop the hugs. Hugs are good and, oddly enough, quite rare on a Starfleet vessel.] Thank you. I would like to have few people know. Even those who do know that it happened--I have not told them that I was bothered.

You will be the first person I come to. I promise. [Charlie ends the hug carefully, giving Pavel a grin.] Do you want me to get rid of the picture for you?

Thank you, Charlie. [He returns her smile, if a bit unconvincingly.] If you would, yes. Burning, I think, would be a good fate for it.

[Charlie takes the picture and heads towards the kitchen, tearing the picture and cupping the pieces in her hands. She focuses and the picture is nothing short of ash two seconds later and Charlie is unharmed. She turns the kitchen sink on, washing the charred remains off of her skin.] How's that, Pavel?

Perfect--exactly as it should be. [And it was cool to watch, because fire.]

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