So... Is Ehliena going to come clean....? Btw.... There's a very good reason why she hasn't been able to break the link between herself and Horatio...
Enjoy
Lucy
Chapter 39
Horatio looked up from the book he was about to start reading, startled by the thoughts that had just come through his mind. Suddenly he could sense someone suffering great anguish and frustration, it only took him a moment to realise it was Ehliena.
The slight connection he had had with her from the beginning that he had held on to, to keep himself balanced, to help him overcome his initial insecurity in his human form had once more allowed him to detect negative feelings from her. The link that he had deliberately kept open - that he had used to watch over her – was once again pulling at his emotions.
Quickly he left his quarters and caught the turbolift to her deck and activated the chimes when he reached the door. After a few moments he rang the chimes again and was rewarded by a muffled ‘come in’.
He was shocked by her appearance, eyes red from crying, her usually calm character gone. Sitting beside her on the sofa he said nothing at first, still trying to clear his own mind from the thoughts he had received and wondering what Will might have said to make her react the way she had.
“Ehliena, what’s wrong, what happened?”
The empath shook her head and countered his question with one of her own. “What are you doing here?”
Horatio hesitated for a moment, not sure what to say, before taking a deep breath, “I… sensed you were upset.” Ehliena stared at him, for a moment not understanding what he meant, then she began sobbing quietly. Horatio sighed, “Ehliena, please tell me what’s going on… It has something to do with me, doesn’t it?”
Ehliena shook her head, not wanting to answer his question. First she had to sort out her own mind, before she could tell him what was happening. Horatio became more concerned, Ehliena’s emotions were starting to come through the block she usually held in place and he could almost read them.
“Ehliena, please… I know whatever it is that is upsetting you must be to do with me. I can sense it.”
Looking at him Ehliena pulled herself together. The concern on his face touched her deeply and she realised that Will was right. She had to tell Horatio the truth.
She explained how she had been unable to completely dissolve the link that had been created between them and that the Romulan incident had made it stronger. Horatio took the news calmly listening to her explanations.
“I am so sorry Horatio, that’s why at the times when your emotions were at their strongest I would keep myself away. I was afraid I would influence who you became. It was so important to me that you should have the freedom to adapt to our way of life – to build your own character.”
Horatio smiled softly, “and you have done Ehliena, I thank you for that. But right now that’s not important. What’s important is that you’re ok.”
Ehliena stared at Horatio, he had just quoted words from the old show at her – but had he done it on purpose? Was it something that he had just absorbed from her – or something else?
Horatio caught her glance and chuckled, “I’ve been watching the show…”
The empath was startled – not only by his admission, but also by the fact that Horatio had answered her unspoken question. She was about to say something when he continued, “Ehliena, I can understand very clearly why the character Lieutenant Caine inspires such respect in you. I would be fortunate indeed if I were anything like him.”
“But you are like him… maybe not exactly, but…” Ehliena’s voice tailed off, feeling a little embarrassed, “Horatio, there’s something I need to tell you…”
Quietly she began to explain the extent of the link between them, how she could sense where he was and read his emotions and feelings – just by focusing her abilities. Haltingly she told him about the echo effect in her room. “Horatio, when your emotions are at their strongest, I feel what you are feeling, I can almost see what you are seeing, read your thoughts as if they were my own.”
The red-head was stunned, “So the other night, when Laren and I…” Abruptly he stood up and moved away from her, not sure how to react. At first he was angry, annoyed at Ehliena for not telling him the truth earlier, but then he realised that he himself had kept the link between them open and also began to see her reasoning.
“You thought I might not enter into a relationship if I knew that you could sense whatever I was doing.”
Ehliena nodded, unable to speak. Horatio’s mind was in a turmoil trying to understand the implications. Ehliena gave a soft cry of pain holding her head with her hands, “Horatio, please… I don’t want to send you away, but if you need to think about this, please do it elsewhere. The closer we are together, the stronger the link.”
The Ambassador sat next to her, forcing himself to calm down, happy to see the relief on Ehliena’s face. “You aren’t reading me are you? How is it then that I affect you so easily?”
The empath sighed, “On Betazed, where everyone is telepathic and many are empathic to varying degrees, we are taught from a young age to control our internal thoughts and emotions – not to ‘broadcast’ how we feel and what we think. This control gets stronger as we get older – its important to learn so we don’t affect other telepaths.”
Horatio chuckled and interrupted, “I broadcast? Like a communications transmitter?” Seeing Ehliena’s confusion at his humorous response, he took her hand gently in his. “Ehliena – have you forgotten what I am? A member of the Symehk race… A manipulator of energy… Communication – using radio waves is a form of energy – and my speciality… When we are in range of Earth – it is how I speak to the rest of my people. It is perfectly natural for me to ‘broadcast’.”
Ehliena gave a weak smile at his attempt to joke her out of her state. Horatio looked at her sympathetically, “I should have realised… The time when you rescued me from Worf’s monster… You told me then that you had ‘heard’ me…”
“I didn’t realise that it would affect you so much. Well, now I know, I suppose I had better learn how to ‘shield’ myself, just in case Geordi and Data’s physical shield is not enough.”
The soft smile that crossed Ehliena’s face indicated her relief that the situation seemed to have a solution, though she suggested that they both rest for a few days before starting Horatio’s ‘training’. As he left, Horatio couldn’t help sensing Ehliena’s emotions before the doors closed behind him. A thoughtful look fleetingly crossed his face as he discovered something that he had hoped for, but had been too afraid to ask. The problem was – how deep did that feeling go?