crack_van | Dynamite with a Laser Beam by framlingem (PG-13)

Fandom: STAR TREK: REBOOT
Pairing: Gaila, Uhura (gen)
Length: 7,688
Author on LJ:

framlingem
Author Website: fic tag
Why this must be read:

Starfleet sends Gaila on a mission back to Orion, and Uhura goes with her.

This fic has so much amazing stuff. Gaila and Uhura are amazing badasses -- this mission is not something Gaila wants to do at all, but she does it even though it hurts her, and she does it brilliantly. Uhura is uncomfortable and out of her depth, but she works her strengths and does her duty as well.

There's a subtle exploration of Orion society and Gaila's past with it, an exploration that shows us both how far Gaila has come since she escaped Orion, and how she's not necessarily very different at all.

Both Uhura and Gaila are utterly awesome in this story, but Gaila really shines. And if you're interested in Gaila being awesome, read the rest of

framlingem's stuff, because she writes a lot of Gaila fic.

The guard pushes Uhura in before she's ready, and she's through the door, and it is not at all what she expected, despite Gaila's descriptions. When she was young, her grandmother had told her stories; Anansi stories and Perrault fairy tales and stories of Baba Yaga in the woods, and this, this should have been like Arabian Nights. She'd anticipated being barely able to breathe for perfumes and stifling heat; she'd expected diaphanous gauze hanging from the ceilings, a floor invisible beneath rugs and cushions. The women should have been lounging about looking appealing. Granted, there are giant wardrobes covering one wall, and mirrors covering another, but the floor is uncluttered, highly polished hardwood, the air contains nothing so much as the unmistakeable tang of some cleaning product, with hints of old sweat, and the women are, for the most part, dressed in a pretty close analogue to her cadet PT gear.

The women who aren't wearing practical clothing are naked, but they're hardly lounging around decoratively. Instead, they're clustered around an older woman who is having them flex muscles in order, alternately barking commands and demonstrating a stance, a pose. She's tall and elegant, still trim and athletic despite no longer being precisely young.

Beside Uhura, Gaila makes a small, quiet noise. When Uhura looks at her, she looks younger than she did when they started at the academy - her voice, when she finds it, is terribly uncertain. "Navaar?"

The woman stills, manages to make falling out of her one-footed position look graceful, and almost before Uhura sees her move, she's across the room and is gazing intently into Gaila's face, hands cupping her chin. I'm intruding, thinks Uhura, as though this isn't something she should be witnessing, but she can't help but watch as the two Orion women stand perfectly still together.

Dynamite with a Laser Beam