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Chris looked at the planet that was on the viewscreen. It was a nice looking planet called Vannolia IV. The Vannolians knew about warp travel and the Federation, but they had chosen to sign a general trade agreement and support treaty rather than become official Federation members.
“Have you ever visited Vannolia IV, Captain?” Spock inquired.
Chris shook his head. “No. I’ve always wanted to, though. Since we’re between missions and in the area I thought we could take a little trip,” he answered. “Anyone else interested in stretching their legs?” he asked the bridge crew with a smile.
“I’m always ready to explore,” Una said with a smile of her own. “I’ve heard rave reviews of the Vannolian markets.”
“It’s been ages since I was last off the ship,” Erica chimed in.
“Alright, alright,” Chris laughed. “Ortegas, Number One, you’re with me. Anyone else?”
Spock stood up. “I would also like to accompany you, Captain. There are multiple scientific phenomena on the planet that I would be interested in observing first hand.”
Chris nodded and stood as well. “I’d never want to stand between you and scientific phenomena, Mr. Spock,” he teased. “La’an, the ship is yours. Take good care of her.”
“Yes, Captain.” La’an moved over to the captain’s chair and called for replacements for the empty stations.
With one final smile Chris led Una, Spock, and Erica to the turbolift and then to the transporter room, grabbing communicators and a tricorder on the way.
“Mr. Kyle,” Chris said when he stepped into the transporter room. “Can you find a nice spot on the surface for us to beam down?”
“Sure thing, Captain,” Kyle replied as he entered a command into the console. “Do you want a change of clothes?”
Chris shook his head. “No, we’ll be alright. Starfleet is welcome there.”
Kyle nodded. “Have a nice trip. Energizing.”
After a brief moment of disorientation, Chris found himself standing on the surface of Vannolia IV. He took a deep breath and smiled. “Have I ever mentioned that I love this job?”
Una laughed. “You definitely have, but it’s still good to hear,” she answered. “Especially after your . . . vacation.”
Chris bumped his shoulder against Una’s. “Enough of that,” he instructed. “We’re explorers on a planet we’ve never seen before. Let’s enjoy ourselves and do some exploring.”
Una looked around. They were in a plaza with a variety of trees and flowers all around and intricate patterns carved in the walls. The weather was wonderful and there were a number of people milling about. Suddenly, she caught sight of a man with a familiar mop of wavy, brown hair and her eyes widened. “Flynn?” she asked, already knowing the answer deep down. She would recognize him anywhere.
The man turned and a wide grin spread across his face when his gaze met Una’s. “Eve!” he exclaimed. He quickly crossed the distance between them and pulled Una into a passionate kiss, going so far as to dip her backwards.
Chris watched, a little shell shocked, as his longtime friend kissed this stranger–a stranger to him. Not a stranger to her, clearly–just as deeply.
“I was unaware that Commander Chin-Riley was seeing anyone,” Spock commented plainly.
Erica nodded, her eyebrows raised in surprise. “Yeah, it’s news to me, too,” she agreed. “You’d think she would have mentioned this during girls’ night.”
After another few moments, the kissing couple righted themselves and separated, but only far enough to get some air.
“Hello, Librarian. It’s good to see you,” Una said with a soft smile on her lips and a faint blush on her cheeks.
“Hello, Guardian. It’s very, very good to see you,” Flynn replied with a twinkle in his eye and a smile of his own. “I like the hair,” he added, running a finger over the dark strands. “Though I will admit that I kind of miss the blonde.”
“Commander,” Chris cut in. “Would you like to introduce us to your friend?”
Una stepped away from Flynn and coughed awkwardly. “Yes, of course, Captain.” She settled into parade rest. “This is Flynn Carsen. He and I are colleagues.”
“Pretty sure they’re a little more than that,” Erica muttered with a smirk.
“Lieutenant,” Chris chided.
“Sorry,” Erica muttered, not looking at all apologetic.
Chris just sighed quietly and moved on. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Carsen,” he said. “I’m Captain Christopher Pike of the United Federation of Planets. This is my pilot, Lieutenant Erica Ortegas, my chief science officer, Lieutenant Spock, and I believe you already know my first officer, Lieutenant Commander Una Chin-Riley.”
Flynn nodded at each person he’d been introduced to. “The pleasure is all mine, Captain,” he said. “And, please, call me Flynn.”
“Well, Flynn, what brings you to Vannolia IV?” Chris asked.
“I actually decided to check it out just recently after I read about it in a book,” Flynn replied. He cast a pointed gaze at Una before he turned his attention back to Chris. “What about you, Captain? Are you here for a Starfleet mission?”
“I take it you recognize the uniforms?” Chris inquired, curious about this acquaintance of his first officer that he’d never heard of before.
Flynn smiled. “I do indeed,” he responded. “I’ve interacted with Starfleet a time or two.”
“Is that how you know Una?” Erica quickly asked with a mischievous grin on her face.
“Nope,” Flynn answered, popping the p. “We actually met before she joined Starfleet.”
Chris raised his eyebrows at that. Even he didn’t know much about Una’s life before Starfleet beyond what was in her personnel file. This visit was proving to be even more enlightening and exciting than he had imagined. “Well,” he said, taking control of the conversation once more. “We were here to do some exploration and research. Would you care to join us?”
Flynn brightened at the invitation. “Sure! I’d love to tag along. Eve . . . er . . . Una and I haven’t seen each other in a while so it would be great to catch up.”
Chris filed away the slip up. If Flynn and Una knew each other as well as they seemed to, then he would know her name. So then why had he called her Eve? There was a mystery going on and Chris wanted to get to the bottom of it. He decided not to ask any questions right then, however, and instead began walking toward what appeared to be the center of town.
Una started walking as well, but stayed with Flynn rather than catching up with Chris. “You read about this in the Clippings Book?” she asked quietly. “Does that mean there’s a case here that we need to handle?”
“I don’t think so,” Flynn answered. “The Book only showed information about the planet, almost like a travel brochure. It didn’t say anything about problems, artifacts, or unexplained occurrences,” he explained. “Jenkins and I decided that I should check it out just in case, so I did, but now, after seeing you, I think the Library just wanted to bring us back together.”
“Ah,” Una said with a chuckle. “The Library always was a romantic,” she replied. “Although it’s not like we don’t keep in touch regularly regardless of the distance.”
“That’s true, but we haven’t seen each other in person in a while,” Flynn pointed out.
Una nodded to concede that. She and Flynn spent time together as often as they could, but they were limited by their schedules and the fact that while Una was on a starship the computer would sound an alert if Flynn randomly showed up or Una suddenly disappeared. “How are things at the Library?” she asked. “Could Jenkins hold down the fort for a few days if you came back to the Enterprise with me?”
Flynn smiled. “I’m sure that can be arranged. It’s been a while since I took a vacation,” he answered. “The newest LITs and Junior Guardian have been doing well. They’ll be fine without me for a little longer.”
“Perfect. You’ll love the Enterprise. I’ve been wanting to show you around for my entire posting,” Una said brightly.
“Will Captain Pike approve of having a visitor?” Flynn inquired.
Una raised an eyebrow. “Since when have you cared about other people’s approval?” she teased.
Flynn made eye contact with Una. “I don’t care for me. I could walk onto that ship whenever I wanted with the Backdoor,” he said. “I just don’t want to get you in trouble with your boss. I know you really like this one.”
Una’s confused look shifted into a soft smile. “Thank you for looking out for me, but I promise it will be fine. Chris is going to have a lot of questions for me either way. We might as well take advantage of the opportunity to spend time together.”
“Works for me,” Flynn said cheerfully. “I’m very excited to . . . ooh, trinkets!” He bounced away from Una and over to some tables where Vannolians were selling wares.
Used to her partner’s antics, Una simply laughed.
“Looks like we found your market, Number One,” Chris commented.
“Nice! I want to look too,” Erica said. “Spock, come on. Put the tricorder down and enjoy yourself.”
Spock looked up from his readings. “Your instruction implies that I do not find scientific study to be enjoyable. That is an illogical assumption to make based on my chosen career path.”
Erica rolled her eyes. “Alright, well right now it’s break time for scientific study and go time for a shopping spree.” She grabbed Spock’s wrist and pulled him over to the booths.
“We do not even have any Vannolian currency,” Spock protested as he followed along.
Una watched them go with a smile before she turned her attention to Chris. “So, how many questions do you have for me?”
Chris huffed. “Many, many questions,” he replied. “But they can wait until we’re back on the ship,” he added. “Should I assume that Mr. Carsen will be returning with us?”
“If you wouldn’t mind,” Una answered simply.
“Sure, why not? You clearly trust him and that’s good enough for me,” Chris granted. He paused for a moment before he smirked. “Should I have guest quarters set up or will you take care of his accommodations?”
Una flushed. “You don’t need to set anything up,” she responded as calmly as she could manage.
“Sounds good, Number One,” Chris said with a knowing smile. “Now let’s check out this market everyone’s so excited about.”
Chris went over to Erica and Spock and Una found her partner.
Flynn brightened when Una joined him at the booth he’d been browsing. “Hi again,” he said as he leaned over and placed a kiss on her cheek. “Did everything go okay with Chris?”
Una nodded. “All good. He wants to talk more later, but he’s fine with you coming to the ship.”
“Great. We can call Jenkins later and update him. I’m sure he’d love to hear from you,” Flynn said.
“Una, come look at these amazing boxes,” Erica called.
Una crossed the street to the booth where Erica was standing with Flynn following behind. “Wow. These really are amazing,” she said as she picked up one of the boxes. “Did you carve these?” she asked the Vannolian behind the table.
“I did,” they answered with a smile. “Thank you for the compliments.”
“I still do not know how you plan to purchase anything when we do not possess any Vannolian currency,” Spock commented quietly.
“Oh. Here,” Flynn said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of small, metal cubes in a variety of colors. “Souvenirs are on me.”
Spock raised an eyebrow. “Intriguing.”
Flynn just shrugged. “The Library has money from pretty much everywhere. I made sure to stock up before I arrived in case I needed to buy something.” He held the cubes out to Erica.
The pilot’s eyes widened as she accepted the offering. “Woah, man. Are you sure?” she asked. “I don’t even know how much money this is in Federation credits.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Flynn replied with a wave of his hand. “Consider it an early birthday gift. Or a late birthday gift. I don’t actually know when your birthday is but considering I’ve never met you before I have to have missed it at least once so just consider it a gift for whichever birthday you’d like to attribute it to.” He pulled some more of the cubes out of his pocket and gave small piles to Chris, Spock, and Una.
Erica blinked a few times. Flynn was quite a character, but she found herself loving him anyway. He was like the wacky but really cool uncle that everyone wished they had. “Thank you,” she said sincerely.
Now armed with money, Erica picked up the box she’d been admiring and turned back to the Vannolian merchant. “Could I buy this, please?” She looked at the cubes in her hand. “Um . . . will this cover it?” She belatedly realized that just because she now had local currency didn’t mean she knew how to use it.
The Vannolian smiled. “These ones are worth five, these are ten ten, these are twenty-five, and these are fifty,” they said, pointing to the different colored cubes. “The boxes you and your friend are looking at each cost two hundred and seventy.”
Erica perked up at the new knowledge. She then picked out the money she needed and handed it over. “Thank you.”
Una handed over some money as well for the box that had caught her eye.
“Thank you both very much,” the merchant said with a smile.
“You’re very talented,” Erica said. “Good luck with your sales.”
Chris’ communicator chirped. He pulled it from his belt and flipped it open. “Pike.”
“It’s Uhura, Captain. I’m sorry to interrupt, but Admiral April called,” she explained through the communicator. “He said, and I quote, ‘tell Chris it’s time for him to get back to work, but I promise to let him play tourist again soon.’”
Chris huffed a laugh. “Alright. We’ll head back to the ship in a minute.” He closed the communicator and turned back to the rest of the group. “Duty calls. Still interested in joining us, Flynn? We may not be back here for a while.”
“I’d definitely still like to come along, Captain,” Flynn replied. “I can get home from anywhere.”
“Okay then,” Chris said, adding another item to his growing list of questions to ask Una. “Let’s get somewhere a little more open.”
Once they were in a better area, Chris opened his communicator again. “Pike to transporter room.”
“Kyle here, Sir,” the man answered.
“Four members of the landing party and one guest to beam up. Have La’an meet us for a security check,” Chris instructed.
A moment later the scenery of Vannolia was replaced with the sights of the Enterprise’s transporter room.
“Welcome back, Sir,” Kyle greeted.
“Thank you,” Chris said. He turned to the other people on the transporter pad. “Spock, Ortegas, you’re free to leave. Alpha shift is close to being over and nothing major is happening so you can take a break. Number One, you’ll come with me to my ready room to get our new mission. Flynn, this is Lieutenant La’an Noonien-Singh, my chief of security. Please follow her and we’ll meet back up with you in a bit.” He shifted his focus to meet La’an’s gaze. “La’an, this is Flynn Carsen. He’s an associate of Una’s and he’s going to be traveling with us for a little while. Please do a security check and get him set up with the Computer.”
La’an nodded at the order. “If you’ll follow me, Mr. Carsen. We’ll go to the security office.”
Flynn stepped off the platform and turned to smile at Una. “Will I see you later?” he asked.
“Of course,” Una replied with a playful eyeroll. “You’re stuck with me, Librarian.”
Flynn grinned. “I wouldn’t have it any other way, Guardian.” He stepped over to La’an and gave her a polite smile. “It’s nice to meet you. Please, lead the way.”
La’an had a lot of questions but she pushed them to the side for the moment and focused on her duties. “Right this way, Mr. Carsen,” she instructed.
Flynn followed La’an out into the hallway, looking around as he walked. “How long have you been in Starfleet, Lieutenant?”
“Standard procedure is to not share any information with guests until their security clearance has been set up,” La’an explained evenly.
“Ah. I suppose that’s smart,” Flynn replied. “Never know who you can trust.”
La’an opened the door to the security office once they arrived and guided Flynn inside. “Place your dominant hand here, please,” she said as she gestured to the scanner.
Flynn did as instructed.
“This will just take a few moments.” La’an entered a few commands into the console and watched the program run.
A ding sounded when the computer finished its scan.
La’an looked at the screen and blinked once, then twice, then three times. Then, when she saw that the results hadn’t changed, she moved over to the comm panel on the wall and pressed the button. “Lieutenant Noonien-Singh to Captain Pike.”
“Pike here,” Chris answered a moment later.
“Sir, I was doing the security set up for Mr. Carsen,” La’an explained. “The computer already has him in the memory banks and says that his status is classified and he has full security clearance.”
Chris was silent on the other end of the call for a few moments. “Huh,” he finally said. “Well alright then. Stay there. Una and I are finishing up with Admiral April and then we’ll come down.”
La’an ended the call and turned to Flynn. “I suppose my comment about not answering your questions was laughable to you.”
“Nonsense,” Flynn replied. “Firstly, I honestly wasn’t sure if my clearance would still be active and, secondly, you were doing your job,” he explained. “Besides, if I had told you that I had top clearance would you have believed me?” he asked with a chuckle.
“Ah . . . probably not,” La’an admitted. “No offense, Sir.”
Flynn coughed in surprise. “You don’t need to call me sir. It’s just Flynn. I’m not an officer. I’m just a specialist. Of sorts. Starfleet consults me. Sometimes. When they need something. Well, I guess they always need something, they’re super active, but I mean when they need something a little less run of the mill.”
La’an blinked as she tried to understand this man who was in front of her. The captain had said he was an associate of Una’s but the two seemed like almost polar opposites in terms of personalities. Although, now that security was handled, maybe she could get some answers about that. “So how do you know Una?” she inquired.
“Oh, Una and I go way back,” Flynn said just as the doors swished open.
“What are you saying about me now?” Una teased as she and Chris stepped into the room.
“Only good things, my Guardian,” Flynn promised. “Only good things.”
Chris cleared his throat. He didn’t need to see Una and Flynn flirting again. Especially not if it devolved into another makeout session. “Well then, Mr. Carsen, would you like a tour of the ship or would you prefer to rest for a bit?”
“A tour would be great if it’s not too much trouble,” Flynn said cheerfully. “Una has sent me some photos over the years, but I’d love to see everything in person.”
So they went on a tour. Chris did most of the talking, but Una chimed in sometimes, too. Chris commented idly at one point that it was interesting to give a tour to someone with top clearance. Usually he had to skip some areas or have people hide what they were working on so the visitor wouldn’t see, but that wasn’t an issue with Flynn.
“And this is main engineering,” Chris said as the group walked through the door.
Flynn looked around the vast space and let out an impressed whistle. “Wow. I haven’t been on a Starfleet ship since the NX class. You guys have definitely made some improvements. It was clear on the whole ship, but it’s especially obvious here.”
Chris tilted his head slightly in a silent question at that comment.
Una coughed pointedly.
“Uh . . . at the museum,” Flynn hurried to add. “You know, Archer’s Enterprise that’s on display.”
Chris looked between Una and Flynn and, once again, felt like he was missing something. “Right. Well then. Flynn, allow me to introduce you to our chief engineer, Lieutenant Hemmer.”
Upon hearing his name, Hemmer moved over to the group. “Hello,” he said simply, facing each of them in turn. When he turned to Flynn his eyebrows lifted. “I didn’t expect to ever meet a Librarian in my travels,” he said as calmly and casually as if he was discussing the weather.
“You can tell who he is?” Una asked in surprise. She paused as another thought came to her. “Wait, does that mean you’ve known about me this whole time?”
“I do have telepathic abilities if you’ll recall,” Hemmer responded with a mildly amused huff. “It seemed obvious that you did not wish to broadcast your identity as the tethered Guardian, however, so I did not mention it.”
Una sputtered for a moment before she regained her composure and nodded. “Thank you for your discretion, Lieutenant. I would appreciate it if you would continue to maintain it in the future.”
Hemmer cast an unimpressed gaze at Una. “I only commented on Mr. Carsen’s identity because it was immediately clear to me that he was not trying to hide it. I have no trouble keeping things I learn to myself when the people I learn them from prefer secrecy.”
“You’re Aenar!” Flynn blurted suddenly with a wide smile on his face. “Wow. This is amazing. It is such an honor to meet you. I mean, by now I’ve met loads of aliens, and it’s always incredibly cool, but, I don’t know, there’s just something about the Aener that has always been especially fascinating to me and the fact that you rarely leave Andoria meant it wasn’t very likely that I would ever get to meet someone like you so this is just so amazing.”
Una sighed but the corners of her mouth were twitching up towards a smile. “Flynn, you need to breathe. Let Hemmer get a word in.”
Flynn took a deep breath as instructed. “Sorry. I just get so excited sometimes,” he said. “Seriously, though, it would be amazing to talk and ask you some questions some time,” he added. “If you wouldn’t mind, that is.”
“So long as I can ask you some questions in return,” Hemmer answered easily. “It’s not often you get to talk to the Librarian.”
A young ensign walked over to the group. “I’m sorry to interrupt, Sir, but you asked to be notified when the antimatter scan was complete.”
“Yes, thank you,” Hemmer replied. He turned back to Chris, Una, and Flynn. “We’ll have to continue this conversation later.”
“Perhaps around my table,” Chris said. “I’m hosting dinner tonight to welcome our guest and all senior staff are invited.”
“I’ll be there, Captain. Thank you,” Hemmer said happily. He nodded to Una and Flynn and then followed the ensign to review the reports.
Chris lead Una and Flynn out of engineering to allow the crew to get back to work. “Well, I think that covers the main highlights of the tour,” he told Flynn.
“Thank you for taking the time, Captain,” Flynn responded. “Being given a tour by the captain is a special honor.”
“It was my pleasure,” Chris replied. He turned to look fully at Una. “Number One, what do you think about showing Flynn to your quarters and then meeting in my quarters for a chat?”
Although the words had been said as a question, Una knew they were actually an order. “Of course,” she answered with a nod. She then turned to guide Flynn towards her quarters.
Flynn bumped his shoulder against Una’s as they walked down the hallway. “It’ll be alright.”
Una huffed. “How can you know that?”
“First, Chris’ respect and admiration for you are easy to see,” Flynn answered. “Second, if he was going to court martial you he would have done it already. And third, he asked you to meet him in his quarters, not his ready room, which means he wants to have a personal conversation rather than a professional one. So chances are good that you aren’t in trouble and he just wants to understand everything.”
“That’s . . . actually a good point,” Una said after a moment. She took a deep breath. “It’s just a lot,” she admitted as she and Flynn stepped into her quarters.
Flynn took in the space with a smile. “Video calls didn’t do this place justice.”
“Wait until you see Chris’ room. He has a full kitchen and a real fireplace,” Una commented back.
“Wouldn’t having a fireplace on a starship be a waste of oxygen or something?” Flynn asked. “On the other hand, do you think he’d let me use it to make s’mores?”
Una chuckled. “You’ll have to ask him that, but I don’t see why not. The replicators could make everything you’d need.” She ran a hand through her hair and sighed. “Speaking of Chris, I should go see him. No point in delaying the inevitable.”
Flynn cupped Una’s cheek softly and met her lips in a kiss. “Good luck, Guardian,” he whispered after he’d pulled away.
“Thank you, Librarian,” Una whispered back. “I don’t know how long this will take, but I’ll be back as soon as I can.” With that, she gave Flynn one last kiss and then headed out of the room.
When Una entered Chris’ room she was greeted by the sight of Chris sitting on the couch nursing a drink and staring into the fireplace. She took a few steps forward, trying to get a read on where Chris’ head was.
“Was any of it real?” Chris asked sullenly, gaze still locked on the dancing flames.
“What do you mean?” Una asked back.
Chris growled and finally made eye contact with Una. “All of it. Our talks, our missions, our chess games, everything,” he bit out. “Was any of it real? Or was it all just some undercover Guardian business? Whatever that even means.”
Una’s heart broke at the pain and confusion she saw in Chris’ eyes. She sat down on the other end of the couch and poured herself a drink. “The only fabrications were my name and most of my backstory,” she said. “Everything I’ve done since joining the academy has been genuine. No one sent me here. I chose to come.”
“So then who are you, really? Are you Una or are you Eve? And what are you? Is ‘Guardian’ a species or a title?” Chris inquired, trying to make sense of all the strange information he’d gotten so far that day.
Una took a sip of her drink and then set the glass back on the coffee table. “How about I share my real history to cover the basics and then you can ask questions from there?” she suggested.
Chris nodded. “That sounds good.”
So Una talked. She talked about being born Eve Baird and growing up in the twentieth century and joining NATO. She talked about meeting Flynn in Germany and about the white envelope she received when she got home. She talked about Cassandra and Ezekiel and Flynn and Jacob and Jenkins and how many times the six of them saved the world together. And then she talked about tethering to the Library with Flynn and becoming immortal.
Chris stayed silent while Una spoke. When she was done, he took a deep breath. “That’s . . . wow,” he said as he worked to process all of the new information. He didn’t doubt anything Una had said, though. He’d seen plenty of crazier things in his life and he trusted his first officer to tell him the truth. “So you’re, what? Three hundred years old?”
Una laughed. “Now, Chris. You should know it’s impolite to ask a woman her age,” she teased. “For the record, though, I’m closer to two hundred fifty than I am to three hundred.”
“Good to know,” Chris commented before he took a sip of his drink. “Why did you join Starfleet?”
“The same reason as you. I wanted to explore the stars,” Una replied. “The Library is amazing and I love my role as Guardian, but I want to see the world, too. Jenkins and Flynn have taken other jobs over the years as well,” she explained.
Chris hummed. He supposed that made sense. “Why the name change?”
“A few reasons. For one, it strongly lowers the chance of people discovering the truth. For another, it helps to set different roles apart mentally,” Una said. She paused and thought about what Chris had said when she’d first entered the room. “Using different names doesn’t mean I’m a different person, though,” she assured. “Both our working relationship and our personal friendship are genuine and important to me, Chris. Please don’t doubt them just because you know my real birthday now.”
Chris chuckled at that. “Okay, okay. I get it,” he responded with a smile. He sobered after a moment, though. “I have one more question.”
It was Una’s turn to chuckle. “Only one? I’m impressed.”
Chris’ face remained serious.
“Sorry,” Una said, seeing that it wasn’t a joking matter. “What’s up?”
“Were you going to tell me? I mean on your own,” Chris asked. “If we hadn’t run into Flynn, would you have ever told me about the Library?”
Una took a sip of her drink. She thought about the bottle of Bathsheba’s Oil of Healing that was sitting in the library and had, so many years ago, brought her back from the very brink of death. That green elixir which she had already gotten Flynn’s permission to offer to Chris in the future if the vision he saw on Boreth came true and they didn’t find another way to help him. But she couldn’t tell him about that yet because knowing he had a magic cure available could change how he acted and impact the timeline. “We don’t share the secrets of the Library easily, I’m sure you can understand why, but yes. I would have told you one day for one reason or another.”
Chris let that answer sink in and then nodded. “I suppose that’s fair.” He drained the last of his drink and then stood up. “Alright. I have a dinner to start preparing. You’d better go back to Flynn before I rope you into being my sous chef,” he teased.
Una stood as well. “Are we good?” she asked, a little thrown by the abrupt change of tone and topic.
Chris smiled. “Yeah, Number One. We’re good,” he assured. “Thanks for getting me out of my head,” he added. “I think I knew deep down that you never did any of this to hurt me, but, I don’t know. The more I sat with it the more I started to doubt everything.”
“Hey, I get it. It’s a lot. I certainly went through the whole range of emotions when I found out and saw the Library for the first time,” Una replied. “If you ever have more questions, feel free to ask.”
“Oh, believe me, I will have so many questions,” Chris joked. “For you as well as for Flynn. I bet after knowing you for over two hundred years he has a ton of embarrassing stories about you that he can share.”
“Christopher!” Una shouted, chasing after the man as he dashed across the room. “You will do no such thing!”