Diell Breaker (LGBT- Sci-Fi - Romance)

Chapter 26

Chapter 26 

"It's all sorted," he told an anxious Nguyen, keeping guard outside the door. Petrov forced a smile, "The Captain would appreciate it if you kept the whole episode to yourself." 

"Of course, sir" agreed Nguyen, his eyes blazing with curiosity. He wanted to peer back into the room, over Petrov's shoulder to see for himself that both men were alive and walking around but he didn't quite dare.  

Petrov hesitated to explain further, he didn't know if the Captain was going to make an announcement to the crew about his sexuality or not. One of the consequences of the agreement they had just made was that the Captain was no longer obliged to tell anyone anything, after all they had just agreed the whole matter should be kept private. He didn't think Nguyen had overheard anything pertinent, as far as he was aware the knowledge was just between the three of them. 

He rubbed the tight spot between his eyebrows. Damn, he supposed that meant Shehu would continue to want to keep his sexuality a secret too.  

XXX 

Back in the Captain's quarters, Shehu got to his feet. Neither man found he could meet the other's eyes. Under the circumstances, 'sorry' seemed a little inadequate. 

"I don't think I can talk about this right now," said Shehu, rather desperately hoping the Captain would let him leave. 

"No," agreed Farrell, the adrenaline still pounding through his body. He knew he had promised Petrov he wouldn't charge Shehu with anything, formally, but that didn't mean he was just going to let it go. After all, the other man had attacked him when he wasn't expecting it, had almost killed him. He realised he deeply resented that moment of fear, when he thought Shehu was really going to break his back. He couldn't help wanting to have another fight, only this time he would be prepared and the other man wouldn't have it all his own way. "Perhaps we should meet again, in the gym," he suggested, a solution suddenly occurring to him. "We could have a proper match, in front of everyone, get it out of our systems." 

Shehu looked at him. A fight was honestly the last thing he felt like at the moment, but he could see it was important to Farrell, to his self-respect. And maybe it would be a good thing, to channel those violent feelings into an appropriate forum, exchange a few blows, step back from the brink of being deadly adversaries, back into the safe arena of professional competition.  

"Alright," he nodded. "This afternoon?" 

"Fine. I'll see you there at 14:00," agreed the Captain. He would rather have gone straight to the gym but he realised it was more sensible to take some time out first. Besides, he hadn't yet apologised properly to Petrov for his own behaviour. He supposed, with the first hint of amusement he had felt for ages, that he couldn't expect Petrov to agree to the same solution. He missed their bouts, the opportunities to cover Petrov's half naked body hard with his own, even if only for a few moments. 

He supposed he should tell Shehu where he was going, only think how excruciatingly embarrassing it would be if they both turned up at Petrov's cabin at the same time! 

XXX 

Petrov was actually back on duty on the bridge when the Captain tracked him down. "Can I have a few words, in private?" He asked, coming up silently behind him. 

"Of course sir." He wondered irritably how long it would take before he stopped blushing when the Captain took him by surprise. Although he'd told himself he wouldn't go anywhere alone with Farrell, he knew this was one conversation they had to have in private. He followed him out of the bridge into the control room next door. 

As soon as he closed the door behind them Farrell found he was fighting off an urge to touch him again. He was so sure Petrov was attracted to him, he could tell by the slight increase in his breathing, the way he dropped his eyes. Sweet god, hadn't he learned anything from the last couple of days? Even if Petrov thought he was the hottest thing since a solar flare he wasn't going to act on it, not while he was with Shehu. He brought his hand up to run it through his hair as if that had been his intention all along and took a small step backwards. 

"I thought you'd like to know, Shehu and I are going to have a bout in the gym this afternoon, see if we can work out some of the tension between us," he announced, his voice still slightly rough. "And I wanted to apologise to you for the other night," he cleared his throat. "I'm sorry for not listening and I promise it will never, ever happen again." 

"Thank you," replied Petrov simply. 

"Just one more thing," Farrell couldn't help adding. "I give you my word this is the last time I will ever mention this, but ... if you ever change your mind, you know where to find me!"  

XXX 

Shehu was in his quarters, trying to pull himself together. He was supposed to be on duty on the bridge but he didn't want to see Petrov until he had spoken privately with him so he had made a brief call to Eriksen and swapped shifts. He was still struggling with the fact that Petrov hadn't betrayed him at all, that his rush of jealousy that had nearly cost him everything, had been unfounded.  

What he needed right now was Alexei in his bed, their arms about each other, listening to him say "I love you" again and again, promising to be his alone, telling him he was a total idiot for doubting him, kissing away all the hurt and pain. And then they would make wild passionate love so that he stopped thinking at all and just felt fierce waves of pleasure slamming into his body. 

But he didn't think that was going to happen, not since he had shown he hadn't believed him, hadn't trusted him to keep his word. 

He wondered if Petrov would ever forgive him.