AT/D02 - Ready Room

[Tyra Crawford]

== A room designated specifically for the use of the ship’s Commanding Officer, accessed from the Bridge. The room acts as both office and lounge, allowing the Captain to attend to administrative tasks including private conversations, review of classified material, or to rest. ==

[Tyra Crawford]

As Grant thought on her question, Tyra had settled back into her seat, taking the moment to watch the young man as he considered the question with more care than some. To be honest, she'd found this particular question to be a very good filter for who should and should not be given chances to gather valuable leadership ability and opportunities to further their ambitions. There were two very specific categories of officers that she felt usually made themselves known during these conversations: the clout chasers and the painfully unambitious. The clout chasers were those that passionately expressed their desire to climb the ladder with an emphasis on the glory and esteem that came with such a climb; they were the same officers that would likely crumble when a mission went wrong, shirking the responsibility onto the nearest scapegoat and absolutely leaving their crew to suffer. The painfully unambitious were the ones absolutely unable to name a single goal and were most comfortable being given step by step instructions for every moment of their working lives; they usually were inadequate for command or leadership because they quite literally couldn't think for themselves. They absolutely had a purpose in the fleet, just not in any sort of leadership role.

Fortunately, Grant seemed to fall into a different category, though he made it clear that his ambitions were for command. It was possible that his desire for command involved the sparkle and shine of achievement and accolades but if it was, he, at least, hid it better than most. He understood that reaching such a pinnacle required a great deal of hard work and hard experiences gained and hopefully, his time on the bridge of the Artemis would lead him to understanding what it actually took to be in command. It had always been Tyra's suspicion that if more young officers understood how heavy and suffocating the mantle of command was, they might think twice before desiring the center center. After all, it was largely watching her father command a ship for years that had lead Tyra to desire to be a specialist, an expert in her own field with no desire to promote beyond security, but Fate had other plans for her.

"But I know things don't perfectly line up all of the time," he continued. "Which is why I have to work for those goals. To prove myself worth taking on those positions. Those responsibilities. Where I stand now, with the experience I have under my belt, I know there is a possibility that I could become a Department Head now. I know that's not always feasible, so I would, and plan to, go about requesting to be given more leadership opportunities, some of which I've had, before becoming an Assistant Chief Tactical Officer and moving up from there."

The redhead didn't immediately answer, allowing herself to take a sip and move the drink around her mouth before swallowing it. Either it didn't burn or she was well beyond reacting to the burn of whiskey down the back of her throat.

"Well, I am glad that you're hoping to take on more leadership opportunities," she remarked as she leaned forward once more, her blue eyes watching him closely.

"I've always found that career trajectory tends to be just as much about luck as it is skill and potential. Look at Lieutenant Mayfair: she is skilled and she is talented beyond reason but were she on a different ship, she likely wouldn't have been afforded the opportunity to prove herself as Chief Medical Officer. It's rare for a non-doctor to hold the position and yet, due to personnel issues and personnel losses, a nurse was the best option at my disposal. And quite frankly, I've never regretted it."

"I hope to be able to say the same about you..." she remarked, letting the words hang in the air for him to interpret as she took another sip.

After letting the silence hand for a moment, she continued. "We recently were informed that Mat-- Lieutenant Commander Briggs, our most recent Chief Tactical Officer, will not be returned to the Artemis, which is very unfortunate," she said, her tone sounding a little resigned.

She was getting tired of the revolving door that was her senior staff; she missed when it was an established and cohesive group of officers, who had served together for years. Who knew those had been the good old days with all the war and blood that had tainted them.

"Carol -- Lieutenant Harriman is a good officer and one I have served with for many years. However, she is not a candidate for filling the position left by Mathew; she isn't exactly administratively focused, which is largely what a Chief gets to deal with. I know the role of senior officers seems glorious and glamorous but it's really filled with paper cuts and headaches."

"After looking at the department and what HQ can offer me, I think my best solution for the opening is from an internal source, you, but I am not without my concerns." she stated simply, her gaze unwavering as she gauged his reaction.

"I think you are a capable and competent officer. However, I also think that a great deal of your experience since departing the Academy has been in security, even including the last mission. While you performed well on the bridge, you also acted in a security role during the most crucial portion of the mission. I worry that throwing you into the role of Chief Tactical Officer without actually letting you gain valuable experience as a tactical officer is unfair and is setting you up for failure. One thing you will learn about me as you serve aboard the Artemis is that I value the long term success of my people over the short term ego boosts and I will not put people into positions that I feel will not serve them unless there is no other choice."

She held up a hand to stop any possible objections. "Having thought over this issue for the last week, I think there is a compromise that will provide you the opportunity to prove yourself and give the command staff the oversight needed to make things work. I would like to offer you the position of Acting Chief Tactical Officer with the understanding that whether the position becomes permanently yours will be entirely based on how you perform. As I stated before, CTO involves a great deal of administration and it is a difficult aspect of the job to grasp when you haven't spent an extended amount of time within the department. However, both myself and Commander Coleman will be making ourselves readily available to teach you how to handle that function of the job and we will obviously be on hand to witness your performance on the bridge."

Now, she arched an eyebrow up as she took another sip, clearly waiting for his response. "So?"

== Tag Grant! ==

[Tyra Crawford]

== Before Recall - Barely ==

"****!" The harsh syllable bounced off the walls of the empty room, only cut off from the rest of the ship by the timely slide of the main doors.

Tyra stood there, just a step beyond the door's sensors, running a hand over her face as her mind tried its damnedest to get it's act together. Because there was no other choice right now. The meeting had been clear and while she felt the plan was foolhardy at best and suicidal at worst, it didn't change the needed objective or the grave consequences that failing would trigger.

This was the price of reputation; all the glory but all the crushing pressure. The knowledge that the very decisions she made and the results of them might very well shape the course of the world her daughter and Ethan and Carly would grow up. And while starry eyed cadets might say they wanted that chance, she doubted they truly understood what they were asking for, the crushing weight of that responsibility. The potential to be directly responsible for destroying everything.

Tyra might have stayed there, standing like a statue, for hours had the back door to the ready room not slid open without a warning. Her former yeoman turned quartermaster walked in, pausing as she took in her boss's posture and seemingly deciding that maybe she should have knocked.

"It sounded urgent," Cera said by way of apologizing.

Truthfully, Tyra barely remembered summoning the blonde or the following summons to Damian.

"It is. I'm about to issue a recall. All cargo needs to be aboard ASAP and we need to make sure we get everything we requested. I don't care if I need to personally beat some dock managers over the head."

Cera nodded, her hair hiding her face as she bowed her head to focus on her PADD.

"We're not taking any dependants when we launch -- I need you to work with Coleman to make sure any minors that might have been accompanying their parents have guardians assigned on DS9 until they can be collected. Any adult dependants need to be given quarters on DS9 until they can arrange travel somewhere. I'm advising everyone to leave pets behind as well so if you can help me arrange getting Colt to Dayune or Mac or Hell, even Bryan," Tyra said, trying to ignore the slight tense at the mention of Dayune. Clearly, he was involved in the current upheaval in Cera's life but Tyra had a hard time believing it was the obvious answer.

Cera finally looked up after she had finished typing. "It's that serious then. I will make sure that we acquire an extra crate or two of certain supplies. I had already made sure that Mayfair got the extra medical supplies she had requested."

"Make sure Elias has whatever supplies he needs in Engineering. He's going to be busy," Tyra remarked, partially as a test and partially because she knew how these things went.

To her credit, she didn't even flinch but Tyra didn't miss the fact that there wasn't even a smile. Under any other circumstances, she would have pounced on it but this wasn't the time. Hell, it wouldn't even matter if things fell to pieces.

"Are we departing without non essential personnel?" Cera asked, her dark eyes seeming a little larger as she watches Tyra intently. Tyra knew she was asking because support usually held the most non-essential personnel but even they were usually cross trained in a department where they might be useful.

"I don't know... Under bad enough conditions, everyone becomes essential. I'll talk to Damian about it when he gets here," Tyra answered, her tone less certain than it had been earlier.

It was an important decision; on the one hand, she would never risk personnel unnecessarily but on the other hand, there was no insignificant role on a starship. Removing even one cog from the machine had unintended consequences and she had enough consequences swirling at the peripheral of her thoughts.

Fortunately, the door chiming saved her from having to summon a more definitive answer and she didn't hesitate to call for the door to open since there was only one person not in the room that knew where to find her currently.

== Tag Coleman! ==

[Miles Grant]

==Grant timeline==

Miles listened intently as the Captain spoke of career trajectory depending as much on luck as skill and potential, giving the perfect example of Lieutenant Mayfair, who was the Artemis' Chief Medical Officer even though she wasn't a doctor. Miles nodded as she spoke in depth of personnel issues sometimes forcing a Captain's hand, but that she had never regretted the decision.

And it appeared this is what lead to the point of this meeting. Captain Crawford continued to explain that Commander Briggs would not be continuing aboard the Artemis, so they would be without their Chief Tactical Officer. Miles had noted that he had very few overall interactions with Briggs during his time aboard, but a lot of that fell to the differences in shifts.

As such, Miles saw this going one of a few way, though he believed the next in line would be Lieutenant Harriman.

He knew the Artemis didn't have an Assistant Chief Tactical Officer, but he felt, during the shifts and overall structure of the Tactical Department, that Harriman had been the de facto Assistant.

However, when the Captain spoke next of Lieutenant Harriman, her standing as a good officer, but overall not the fit to fill the Administrative side that being a Department Head entailed.

And that's when it struck Miles why he had been called to this meeting. Going through the personnel that he knew was already assigned to the Tactical Department, including his most recent promotion to Lieutenant Junior Grade, and he quickly came to the conclusion that he would be the next Senior most Officer. The only sign that he recognized this would have been a slight change in his eyes, though the rest of his face remained stoic and focused.

Sure enough, Captain Crawford spoke that after reviewing her options, her best bet to take on the position of Tactical Chief was Miles himself. There was, of course, concerns about the placement. As she laid those concerns out, Miles couldn't help but to agree with her appraisal, especially with his heavy involvement on the Security side of things as opposed to his actual Department. In the end, she offered the position to him in Acting capacity, and how things went from there would determine if the title would become permanent.

After she laid out the expectations and how she and Commander Coleman would be available to ease the transition with the administrative side of things, she raised an eyebrow, awaiting his response, accentuated with a "So?" He took only a moment more before taking a deep breath and responding.

"I am honored in the faith you're placing in me with this position," he said. "I agree with your appraisal about my overall experience, but I accept the role and will endeavor to prove your faith is not misplaced."

==Tag==

[Damien Coleman]

== Before Recall ==

Walking through the corridors, Coleman felt his body rebelling against the fabric of the uniform that he’d put on. Shore leave had been fantastic for him. A chance to stretch his legs, relax some, and enjoy some downtime. Which, apparently, he’d become accustomed to the more casual wear that he’d been in for the last long while aboard DS9.

There'd been his time spent meeting people on the station, and that had gone a long way to alleviating some of his stresses. Though there were the conversations that he’d had with his sister Anita. Oh, there was the usual family drama. That never went away, and was ever present with every conversation between him and his older sister. Despite that, Anita had some wisdom for him when it came to working through whatever was sitting between him and Tyra. That helped Damian immensely, as she broke down the possibilities for where his captain was coming from. Not that he didn’t already understand it, but his sister had a way of talking about things that somehow clarified things. Made them easier to understand and internalize. Not that it always translated into Damian agreeing with her, but it helped.

Then there was actually sitting down with Tyra. After one of his chats with Anita, Damian decided not to go straight into shop talk. Getting Tyra to open up about things was often hard, but on one particular occasion, Damian led the charge. He started with talking about him and his family. There were dynamics at play in his family life that he was sure she’d understand. And understand she did. They shared a couple of laughs along with a couple of drinks. Maybe that had loosened things up, or perhaps Tyra was already coming around to things too. Either way, they managed to talk things out. It wasn’t perfect, as if anything ever was. But it was a start, and it would allow them to move past things; because they were a team at the end of the day.

Which is why Damian was so concerned when he had gotten the summons that he did from Tyra. He’d been lounging in his quarters, doing some writing, when she’d called. It sounded urgent and something else. Something Damian couldn’t quite pin down. It wasn’t so much concern, but it had that quality to it. Either way, Coleman took it seriously, and had changed into uniform just in case. If there was something immediate that needed to be acted upon, he wanted to be ready to execute those actions directly after the meeting.

“Commander,” Ziggy passed him in the hallway as she did a duty patrol with another officer.

“Ziggy!” he exclaimed with a big smile, “keeping busy even on shore leave I see.”

“I could say the same about you,” the enlisted Andorian chuckled and pointed toward his uniform, “you know something we don’t?”

“Not yet,” the smile soured into a frown, knowing that him being readied would get spread about the ship and station in short order.

“Well, good luck sir,” Ziggy gave a mischievous smirk and wink, before carrying on.

Stepping up to the door, Coleman pushed the button for the door chime. There wasn’t much time in between him pushing it, and Tyra calling for him to enter. The doors whooshed apart, allowing a heavy air to settle out of the room, and revealed Cera and Tyra. It was obvious the quartermaster and captain were already having a conversation, and by reading their body language and faces, that there were some difficult decisions on the table. Damian loosened his own body some, hoping to bring a different energy into the room than what was already present. Even then, he girded himself mentally for what was next.

“Hey Cera,” he nodded to her first as he crossed into the room, before turning his attention to Tyra.

“Sounded urgent,” his words were punctuated by the doors closing behind him, “so I got the formals on.”

Damian gave a light chuckle as he showed his uniform off to the present company. Then he walked closer, creating a triangle between the three of them.

“What’s going on? We aren’t at war are we?”

The last part wasn’t a poor attempt at humor. It was something that was actually a concern of his. After everything that had happened with the Brittany, Coleman was growing increasingly worried that that was where things were headed. It was obvious that tensions were rising on the borders, and conversations that Tyra had with brass affected her enough for Damian to feel the tension.

== tag Tyra ==

[Tyra Crawford]

== Grant Timeline ==

"I am honored in the faith you're placing in me with this position," he said. "I agree with your appraisal about my overall experience, but I accept the role and will endeavor to prove your faith is not misplaced."

It was the expected answer after he had explained his goals for his career but nonetheless, it was good to be made official. She truly hoped that he was up for the task but having made the jump from security to tactical (and then, back), she knew he had an uphill climb as tactical was one of the more technical arenas.

"I'm glad to hear that. I will give you a few days to bask in the warmth of that new jacket supply will need to issue you and, of course, get up to speed on the deeper workings of the tactical department but then, you, Commander Coleman and I will need to have a sit-down to make sure the department is heading in the right direction and that we've got all the bases covered for whatever might be thrown at us next."

She took a bigger mouthful of whiskey than she had previously, emptying the glass and setting it down on the low coffee table. "Are there any questions before I release you to go tackle this new mountain?"

== Tag Grant! ==

[Tyra Crawford]

== Coleman Timeline ==

If Tyra had to compare her current first officer to her previous first officer, she'd have to concede that in many ways they were night and day. Jenny would have entered the room like a full blown thunder storm at such a summons, ready to rain down destruction at the slightest indication it was needed, but Coleman had entered with an optimism that Tyra had hoped lasted through his time on command. While Jenny and Tyra had been a formidable pair, they'd also fed off of each other in ways that weren't always the healthiest so maybe it was a benefit to have a different approach.

“--so I got the formals on.”

Tyra's eyebrow arched, the slightest sign of appreciation, but Cera actually smiled, the tiniest of chuckles following.

“What’s going on? We aren’t at war are we?”

Cera's nose crinkled at the question but Tyra let a wry chuckle escape, the remnants of another coping mechanism. "I wouldn't mark the possibility off the board just yet..."

However, her lips settled into a slight frown instead of the grin that should have accompanied the chuckle. Her blue eyes shifted from Damian to Cera, who seemed to understand her part.

The blonde waved the PADD in her hand. "I'll begin on this. Do you want me to go ahead and issue the recall?"

The redhead shook her head. "No, we need to make a decision related to that first and then, we'll issue recall."

Cera merely nodded before going out the way she had come in, entirely avoiding the bridge altogether.

Tyra waited for the doors to slide closed before moving towards her desk, refilling her own coffee cup before flipping over one of the empty cups and filling it. She offered Coleman the second cup before walking towards the upper deck and the view port.

"You'll likely want something a little stronger after this chat but coffee will have to do."

She motioned for one of the seats for Damian to take, though she didn't sit down. Instead, she paced as she spoke, recounting the details from the meeting in all their grave details. There were a few times she had to pause for coffee and to add needed context. After all, the Artemis had been chosen for this God foresaken task because of their experience, particularly Tyra's with certain aspects, so the context was important.

When she'd finished laying the entire thing out, she finally sat down, letting the silence hang for a moment.

"It's a ******* stupid plan and I would know as the creator of many stupid plans. Which is why we need to come up with a better one before we brief the crew."

"But right this second, we need to issue recall. We need to make it abundantly clear that all dependants need to be left behind without causing panic. I'm leaning towards bringing non-essential personnel with us, even under the circumstances. At minimum, bringing all non-essential personnel that are cross trained but I'd like your thoughts on it."

== Tag Coleman ==

[Miles Grant]

==Grant timeline==

Miles nodded in agreement as Crawford outlined the plan moving forward, allowing him some time to get acclimated, updating his uniform to include the Department Head's jacket, and then checking in to see the trajectory of the Department under Miles' leadership, and the steps going forward from that point.

She then downed the last of her drink before asking if he had any questions before she sent him to begin this new, fairly gargantuan endeavor.

"None at this time, Captain," he replied. "Though I'm sure as I get acclimated, there more than likely will be questions that arise in the...growing pains, as it were...of this new position. Thank you, again."

==Tag, or ETL==

[Tyra Crawford]

== Grant Timeline ==

Tyra smiled warmly at the younger man as she stood up to see him out. She hoped for his sake that he rose to occasion but even if he wasn't ready, he'd gain valuable experience from the situation.

"I have no doubt that you'll do well but don't let any ego keep you from asking the needed question," she advised.

"Get settled in and then, we'll schedule a sit down to go over everything," she added.

Once the door closed behind the young man, Tyra began gathering her things to follow suit. She still had some more free time to take advantage of.

== ETL==

[Tyra Crawford]

== Elias Timeline - During recall, before launch ==

The time spent game planning with Coleman in Strat Ops had, at least, allowed Tyra to wrap her head around the detailed specifics of Artemis' task in this but it hadn't resulted in a detailed plan. Oh, she knew what needed to be accomplished but she couldn't quite see the how just yet.

She just kept coming back to how this was all entirely avoidable if command would just stop giving starships to officers that had proven themselves in efficient at command time and time again. Now, usually, Tyra wasn't one to Monday morning quarterback but the Artemis had been selected for this assignment due to their knowledge of the ship in question thanks to their adventure in the Delta Quadrant, along with their experience with the Cardassians.

She'd spent what time she'd had looking over the files on what occurred that were both readily available and restricted. And all it had done was left her frustrated at being in this situation at all, being forced to risk her people to fix someone else's grand mistake, but this wasn't the first time and it wouldn't be the last time either.

No amount of being irritated with the actions of others was going to help her solve her current issue, which was why she had summoned one of her more creative problem solvers; if his partner in crime were still aboard, she'd probably have dragged him in as well.

If she could lay out what they needed to do, there was a good chance he could, at least, point her in the right direction. That was all she needed, truthfully.

== Tag Elias! ==

[Benjamin Elias]

==Elias Timeline - after quarters but before engineering==

Benjamin stalked the hallway towards the ready room, cursing his big mouth. Of course a disaster begins to loom, he thought as he recalled how he'd tempted fate. And now here he is, called to the captain's office before he could get any more coffee than the raktajino he'd had in his quarters and with nary a word as to what it was about. He had a feeling he knew, and he was almost afraid to face Tyra if she were acting not as a captain but as Cera's long-time friend. Suddenly he regretted the gift of the sword he'd made, and wondered if he was going to be the first Starfleet officer beheaded by his own captain - or possibly worse.

But, of course, there wasn't anything for it. His captain had called, and he was duty bound to answer. Also, he was pretty sure that if Cera or even Tyra had it out for him they would strike when he wasn't expecting it, and that death would be the least of his worries. He rubbed his forehead, somehow feeling the static that crinkled across his artificial eye as he did so, and pressed the door chime before he had time to reconsider that duty. She let him in fairly quickly, and Benjamin stepped into the captain's sanctum.

Somehow, it felt wrong for her to not have her dog in her office and the room felt a little emptier as a result. He couldn't help but note the fact that her office was a little disheveled, as if another meeting had taken place here not too long prior. He made the assumption that recall was going to happen soon, and assumed that Cera had been here. Part of him wished she still was, but as he took in Tyra's face and he knew there were deeper problems to solve. He presumed that if this were about the quartermaster she would look angry and frustrated. 

Instead, she looked irritated but determined, a look he'd seen on her before. Specifically, it reminded him of that Kazon outpost they had helped to defend. It spoke to having to clean up someone else's mess, but knowing that there was nothing for it but to get on with the job and get it done. He assumed that they had been given their mission; what he didn't know was why exactly she'd summoned him, particularly alone. He walked up to her desk, trying - and only partially succeeding - in banishing the tiredness he still felt.

"How can I help, Captain?" he said to her. He dispensed with anything resembling chit-chat and cut straight to the matter at hand; this wasn't the time.

==Tag Tyra==

[Tyra Crawford]

== Elias Timeline ==

When the door chimed, Tyra was watching the docking crews through her ready room's large window, trying to ascertain what her husband would make of this situation. Or more accurately, what he would recommend as a tactician.

She called for the door to open rather absently, not bothering to hide the traces of frustration and exasperation in her expression. The more she thought about what they were being asked to do, the more she felt like it was a rather impossible and unfair tasking. Oh, she enjoyed a challenge but she didn't enjoy a challenge where the deck was stacked against her due to poor decisions of other people.

In fact, this was the same feeling she had had when the damn colonists on Liotu IV had refused to evacuate until it was too late and who had to go hold the line on the advancing Romulans to allow their evacuation? Oh just some young, green security officers, paying the ultimate sacrifice because of the hubris of others. The bitterness she had felt after that bloody endeavor had been a black hole that had lasted for years.

"How can I help, Captain?" Elias asked almost immediately, seeming to sense this wasn't a personal meeting.

"You might want to grab some coffee," she suggested, motioning her own cup at the carafe sitting on the edge of the desk.

"Someone monumentally ****** up and we are somehow suppose to pull a miracle out of our asses and un-**** it up. And if we fail, we're likely the opening volley of the next war," Tyra's tone was hard, tinged with a mix of annoyance and resignation. "No pressure."

"The Callisto has been located in Cardassian hands. We'll have a full brief on how, where and why later but the short of it is that a team from Artemis will be responsible for either bringing it home or destroying it. Preferably the former but I'm not above the latter. Lord knows that ship is as cursed as the Philly, which ironically enough will be assisting."

"Coleman and I have a plan for taking over the Callisto once we get aboard but we need a plan to get aboard. Ideally, I'd like to get a craft into the Shuttlebay so we have a secured area to fall back to if needed but that might be asking a lot."

"Artemis is a little big to be sneaking in so she will be remaining with the assault aspect. Philly will be the team's ride in to the system but there's limits to how close they can get us or what they can do."

She paused to take a drink of her coffee, allowing Elias time to sort the details and wrap his head around the implications.

"I need options and you have consistently proven to be one of my more creative problem solvers. I don't care if it's a way through the Callisto's shields, which might not even be online, or a way to boost the Philly's transporter. Or hell, a way to sneak in under their noses. I'll take freaking space walking in EV suits if that's what it takes to make this work."

"Failure isn't an option. Failure got us into this situation and I'll be damned if we make it worse," she added, her voice resolute and firm.

== Tag! ==

[Benjamin Elias]

==Elias Timeline==

Benjamin was about to reach for the offered coffee when Tyra started into her description of the situation, and he never quite made it to the carafe. No pressure, he thought after her blunt declaration of fact. Right.

He listened as she continued, describing the situation in more detail and trying to wrap his head around it. The Callisto. He remembered her from their excursion to the Delta Quadrant, and had even leant a hand while they were trying to repair everyone after their disastrous arrival. It had taken a not-insignificant amount of time to get her back to a slipstream-worthy state so she could go home. He remembered hearing that she was lost a year or two ago, but hadn't known any details; evidently he would learn some of that soon.

But that wasn't why he was here. He was here, evidently, to figure out how to get them there. He didn't know much about the capabilities of the Philadelphia, but as it happened, he'd already sketched out something that just might work...

"So, Captain," he started. "I might, in point of fact, have a solution for this, but either this is going to be completely off the books, or I need your permission for it." He knew he was being cagey, but he waited for her to give some kind of consent to go on - a head nod, a verbal request, anything. Of course, he also knew that he'd get it; Tyra wasn't going to simply wave him away at this juncture.

He picked up a padd and called up one of his project files from his personal database, something he kept sequestered in his quarters, and handed it back to his captain. "I know it isn't exactly standard issue, but I couldn't help but keep a little... souvenir of that trip Nathan and I took. It's in crate C-86237 down in cargo bay 7. I know it's functional, and I've worked up ways to connect it to a modern ship. It's gotta be a small ship, however; it won't help on something as big as Artemis, or probably even Philadelphia."

Of course, there were other problems with his plan. Strategically it was sound, but there were other realms than the battlefield where issues could crop up. He was likely to land in a lot of hot water for it, but if it gave them a path to success he was ready to do what needed to be done.

==Tag!==

[Tyra Crawford]

After laying her cards on the table, Tyra wasn't exactly sure what she had expected out of Elias but she could attest that she hadn't expected him to so quickly come back with a request for either discretion or her blind permission on an idea that must be less than above aboard.

She didn't answer either way initially, her blue eyes focused on the engineer in a way that suggested she was weigh his words against everything else.

Benjamin Elias was one of those unique cases where she had gotten the honor and pleasure to watch him grow from a troubled and trouble finding young man into the reliable and dependable officer that sat before her now. He'd come along ways from the young man knee deep on Pomn or who had run on the Rogue Planet. Yes, there was whatever rumble had occurred between him and Cera but when it came to her view of him as an officer, there were few she was more proud of and even fewer, she trusted as much. If he had an idea that he thought might work, she trusted it would and if he was asking for her permission to disclose something sensitive, she had no real choice but to give it.

"Of course," she answered with a nod of her head.

Ben fiddled with his PADD before handing it over to her. "I know it isn't exactly standard issue, but I couldn't help but keep a little... souvenir of that trip Nathan and I took. It's in crate C-86237 down in cargo bay 7. I know it's functional, and I've worked up ways to connect it to a modern ship. It's gotta be a small ship, however; it won't help on something as big as Artemis, or probably even Philadelphia."

Tyra stared at the PADD for a moment before her blue eyes came up, her facial expression, for once, entirely readable as an eye roll was followed quickly be a disbelieving shake of the head. The implication was that this item had managed to be on her ship for years, likely through collusion with a certain quartermaster, and she'd been none the wiser. It was impressive on the one hand and entirely irresponsible on the other.

However, the matter at hand wasn't the smuggling of contraband on a Federation star ship but whether that item could be used to meet their mission goals and whether it should be used.

When 20 year old Tyra Crawford had graduated from the Academy, she had graduated with an idealism that might have given Nathan Ramius a run for his money. She would have balked at the mere idea that an older version of her was considering such an action but the young woman had been swallowed rather quickly in the tide of war, spitting out a more hardened version. Whereas that bright young woman would have argued that the ends would never justify the means, that bitter and angry war veteran would have said the ends always justified the means because someone had to do the dirty work that allowed civilians to sleep peacefully at night.

Now, Tyra understood that the argument was more nuanced than straight black and white. Yes, she still believed that as an officer, a captain and a soldier, it would always fall on her shoulders to do the dirty work that needed to get done and sometimes, her hands would get dirty. However, she also understood that a blanket belief in justified means was a lazy excuse for not having any convictions or standards; there were still things not worth selling your soul for, as the Krynar had taught.

However, what Elias was proposing didn't require the sale of a soul; it just required the willingness to possibly be a political sacrifice when everything was said and done. There was a very real chance that, even with success, there would be hard questions and no good answers, but Tyra could say with full confidence and no regrets that there was very little she wouldn't do to make sure that Evie and Ethan didn't grow up under the banner of war.

This was a small risk in the grand scheme.

After a long silence, she finally spoke, her tone level and calm. "The Philadelphia has a Waverider. If I can get Jenny to agree to its use, is it small enough? Will you have enough time to get it installed and working during transit?"

Now, she finally looked up from the PADD and looked Elias in the eyes. "And are you sure? Even if we succeed and bring Callisto back, there's likely to be some asshole at HQ that's going to want to dig into the how. We can't claim we just found this thing laying around," she waved the PADD for emphasis. "I'll run interference, you know I will, and I will absolutely take the blame for approving it. However, there's a good chance it won't stay quiet with another ship involved and they're going to want to know where it came from."

== Tag! ==

[Benjamin Elias]

Benjamin hadn't been sure what response to expect. A stoic stare, maybe, or a detonation of anger. An eyeroll and disbelief hadn't exactly been his expectation, though it was definitely somewhere on that spectrum. He wasn't sure if it was the speed that he'd brought up the plan, or the fact that some creative bookkeeping had kept this hidden from not just the captain but from Starfleet at large that merited the eyeroll, but he couldn't exactly blame her. He'd been toying with this particular plan for a few years now, knowing that eventually it was going to come into play. Given the nature of the missions the Artemis seemed to be given, it was inevitable that out-of-the-box thinking would be required to get them done, eventually. 

And sometimes, that required sacrifice.

Sure, some sacrifices were harder than others. He remembered the creative thinking that had cost him his eye when he'd tried to make do with substandard "parts" for an EPS conduit, but he'd also had more successful attempts such as the plan that had won him a medal when he saved the Artemis' from a warp core breach. The fact that had given him his current post wasn't entirely lost on him, even if he still, on occasion, was haunted by the Vulcan who preceded him. But this plan had been thought through for a while, and he'd come to terms with the cost.

If that's what it takes, so be it.

He nodded as he listened to her finally reply, her words even and calm. He understood there was likely a storm underneath, but he felt she saw it like he did; he wouldn't have even brought it up if he didn't trust her judgement. First, she asked some technical questions before continuing to the more existential ones.  "And are you sure?" she asked. "Even if we succeed and bring Callisto back, there's likely to be some asshole at HQ that's going to want to dig into the how. We can't claim we just found this thing laying around. I'll run interference, you know I will, and I will absolutely take the blame for approving it. However, there's a good chance it won't stay quiet with another ship involved and they're going to want to know where it came from."

He sighed and nodded, deciding to answer the last question first. "Yes, ma'am, I'm sure. I kept that thing because I knew there'd be a day when it would be needed, and given the situation you laid out for me this is the only solution I can think of that gives us a fighting chance to make it to Callisto and make this thing happen. I don't expect you to take a fall for me; I knew when I held on to it that there'd be a price if it was discovered, much less revealed like this. I've been party to much worse than this in my life, and if I have to pay for this one maybe it's just justice catching up with me. But for now, we'll focus on the mission and trying to make it back to face that music.

"To that end," he continued, "a Waverider should be just fine, though I'll want to run some tests once it's installed. I'll get the schematics up as soon as I have a chance and start checking how best to install the damned thing." He just hoped it was the device that was damned, and not them.

==Tag==

[Tyra Crawford]

== Elias Timeline ==

Ben's answer was well reasoned and thought out as he answered her in reverse order, though likely in the order of importance. It seemed that he understood that eventually he would have to pay the man so to speak but at some point in time, his little project would have become known, whether due to needing it or its existence being discovered.

Still, Tyra wasn't certain it was fair to be asking this, not when it was due to command asking for a miraculous performance without giving them the tools for a miracle. But what was new? She was starting to lose count of how many miracles she'd been asked to pull out of her ass and while that was likely a self induced problem caused by success, she didn't have to like it.

"I won't hang you out to dry on it," she stated simply. "After all, it's sat in my cargo hold for how long? Someone's going to want an explanation for that, at minimum and it's been a while since I've had to bullshit my way out of a command meeting," she stated with a wry grin.

"I'll get permission from Jenny to utilize their Waverider and make needed modifications. If possible, I'd rather she not outright know what we're doing; she's the junior captain and has already had a bit of a rough start. She's smart but I'd rather her have plausible deniability on it, if it turns out I'm not in a position to defend my decisions after the fact. We also need to keep the number of people that know to a minimum; the less that know, the better."

"It'll be hard. I don't expect Philly's Chief Engineer will like you making modifications to his vessel without his input but he can suck it up. They all can," she stated dryly before taking another mouthful of coffee.

"I would strongly suggest that you make whatever arrangements you need to make. As soon as we're launched, we'll be headed full steam ahead with little time to get things set," Tyra instructed, her words surprisingly pointed and Ben might get the feeling that she was no longer talking about this little project. The arch of her eyebrow and slight sharpening of her gaze didn't help.

== Tag! ==

[Tyra Crawford]

== Mission Timeline ==

As soon as the doors slide shut behind her, she let a deep breath escape, the careful expression of calm and control slipping just a fraction. She was under no illusion about how things were going to go; this was very likely the last moment of peace and quiet she would have before all hell broke loose.

Her steps were careful and measured as she moved to her desk, setting the thermos on the edge as she opened one of her bottom drawers. She gentle rolled the emergency bottle of bourbon out of the way, her fingers curling around the edge of a well worn PADD before pulling it out.

As she held it in her hands, it felt impossibly heavy as if its emotional weight had manifested itself physically. She swallowed at the implication of having to pull it out yet again before setting it in its customary place next to her console. Occasionally, it had been left with someone in safe harbor but usually, it sat right there so that it could be found by whoever took her mantle. This time, if worst came to worst, Cera would find it and know what to do with it.

She hoped that it never needed to be delivered but if her career had taught her anything, it was to be prepared for the worst. There was nothing she could imagine worse than those she loved being robbed of closure.

After a moment of considering the PADD, with another sigh, she reached up and began to unfasten the necklace around her neck. She gently tugged it out from under the collar of her, allowing the gold chain to dangle in front of her face. Her fingers traced the edges of her engagement ring and then, her wedding band, her lips tugged into a wistful smile before she caught herself. Carefully, she refastened the necklace and gently placed it on top of the PADD.

If nothing else, she'd be damned if she allowed her Cardassian to take them from her like some trophy.

The last thing she did was type a short message to her husband. There was no code word between them for critical missions but she knew the four word message would catch his attention.

She could imagine the way his brow would furrow at reading the message the first time, how he would lean forward for the second reading and shake his head at the third. He wouldn't understand what she was trying to say immediately but he was a man that couldn't leave a mystery unsolved. He'd likely wonder across the hall into her office, examining the books on the shelves for clues as to what she was referring to. He might even go through her music before likely wandering into Evie's room. There was a chance he'd get a hunch if he looked through Evie's books, noting the hand written notes she left in some of them, but there was a chance he might not. He'd eventually end up back in his own office and maybe out of frustration, he'd pick up one of the many books she'd gifted him. He'd read her looping handwriting with its careful note and maybe, it'd jog a memory of an inscription that fit her message. Eventually, because she knew he wouldn't let it rest, he'd come across the inscription on the book she'd given him right after they'd married. In those early years, the quote had been a promise to work through the hard times but now, it was a promise to always come back to him, even if it was hard.

Oh, she could have been more blatant about her reference but she knew this puzzle would keep him occupied for hours. By the time he realized what she meant and attempted to message her, she'd likely be unable to receive or answer messages. That was assuming he tried because he'd know, he'd know why she had written it that way. After all, he knew her best. Maybe it was a coward's way out of that hard goodbye but she couldn't keep torturing them with those moments. He'd forgive her for her cowardice, he always did.

She didn't allow herself to consider the PADD, the rings or the message for long after hitting send nor did she allow herself to remain long enough to carefully consider the appropriateness of some liquid courage. Instead, she took a deep breath and released it, forcing her shoulders to relax. No, she was far from relaxed but she didn't need that tension to seep into every midshipman she ran into on her way to the transporter room.

The curse of being a CO was that their mood was infectious and she didn't need to let everyone know that she was worried, maybe even more than worried. That was why she moved out of her office and through the bridge like a woman on a mission with no intentions of idle chit chat.

>> Transporter Room >>

[Benjamin Elias]

==Elias Timeline==

Benjamin listened as she continued talking about the challenges, but as was typical she seemed to be of a mind to simply bullrush through them. He'd learned years ago that when Captain Crawford had a mission and a plan, woe betide those who got in her way. Fortunately in this instance, he could simply follow along behind and take advantage of that. He knew that working on a Waverider was going to be a different challenge, but he was confident he could get it done. 

"I can keep it secret if I need to," he told her. "It's not a difficult operation to get it attached and working, but the thing is fairly bulky. Fortunately I should have a pair of hands with me from Artemis to help in that way, unless you want to get your own hands dirty," he said teasingly. She was right; the fewer people that knew what was about to happen, the better.

"I would strongly suggest that you make whatever arrangements you need to make. As soon as we're launched, we'll be headed full steam ahead with little time to get things set," Tyra instructed. She arched her eyebrow at him, and the look in her eye was as sharp as the sword hanging behind her on the wall.

He swallowed, and nodded. Now that they were away from the mission and technical talk, he was less sure. He'd seen the message from Cera as he was getting dragged to Ori's going-away party, and then saw the dozen or so "Message Recovered" indicators from the week previous, and knew he was in deep trouble. Of course, he'd known that while he was back home with his dad, too. The fact that a painful conversation had been coming anyway didn't make him want to contact her any more than he already did. "Yes, ma'am," he said simply, and stood back up. "Is there anything else, Captain?"

==Tag and/or ETL==

[Tyra Crawford]

== Post Mission ==

It has been three days since they'd made it back despite all odds to the contrary. Three days of feeling a heavy weight hovering over head, just waiting to crash down. Three days of wondering when the summons would come to answer for her decisions, necessary in her eyes but sins nonetheless. And she knew it was coming, that was the benefit of friends in the right places. It was also how she knew about her Chief Engineer's noble but flawed attempt to fall on a sword that hadn't even needed to exist, a revelation she had stewed on for the past three days. Three long, miserable days.

She'd basically spent that time holed up in her Ready Room. Some might say she was hiding, though hiding in plain sight hardly seemed like a wise idea. The truth was a little more complicated, a mix of trying to tie up loose ends before she was inevitably ripped out of the command chair and trying to not be at her house when that occurred, not exactly wanting that particular image for her family to witness. It was why she hadn't moved Artemis back to Sol from DS9 if she was being honest.

She was awaiting another meeting to set another thing right while she could when her door chimed. Without much thought, she'd assumed it was Damian or Cera, the only two truly brave enough to seek her out since their return, and hadn't hesitated to allow her visitor in.

Instead, her eyebrow arched as she took in her guest, a bottle of whiskey in one hand and a smile worthy of the Cheshire Cat on his lips. He moved with confidence and poise as if he belonged in every room he ever walked into and if she hadn't intimately known better, she would have thought he was born with that smooth self-assurance.

"A little bird informed me that you might need to be talked off a ledge, dear," the guest offered, his tone melodic and practiced like the rest of him. Even his accent was practiced but it fit his public persona, a secret she was willing to keep for an old friend.

And Chase Demerick was about as old of a friend as they came. They'd grown up together, coming from similar family backgrounds and only two years apart. They'd attended mind numbing Starfleet events together as the future legacies of prominent families, sneaking little bits of fun as they could. They'd chased each other through corn fields, had gone to school together and had been virtually inseparable. He'd even been her first kiss at twelve, which they often laughed about. They'd entered the Academy together and that had been when their paths had veered in opposite directions. He'd climbed the ladder as quickly as possible while she had tried to avoid it like the plague, which was why he's was a Commodore while she remained a lowly Captain. However, while they might have been opposites in their public personas, they were still bound by loyalties that ran as deep as her veins.

She didn't need to invite him to make himself comfortable as he located her glasses and poured them both generous helpings of the amber liquid. However, it wasn't until he'd carried her glass up to the upper level and had pointedly indicated the opposite end of her couch from the one he flung himself onto that she moved from her desk, joining him on the couch.

Their conversations were always easy, no pretenses needed. He asked about her family and she asked about his. They compared notes on worthless older siblings and fathers that would never be exactly happy with them. They always seemed to reach the same conclusion, their fathers very likely would have preferred to have the opposite child as theirs. Chase, ever the politician and ladder climber, was the type of non-boat rocker that Jeremy Crawford would have preferred and Tyra, spirited and willing to toe the line, was what Max Demerick would have preferred as an heir.

Even when they pulled into silence, it was comfortable.

"What's taking so long?" She finally asked, blue eyes examining her glass before looking up at Chase.

He hummed, his shoulder raising a little in a rather unbothered shrug. Actually, from the way he slouched to the way his blonde curls fell over his forehead, he just generally looked unbothered and she wanted to smother him for it.

"There are two very popular theories and I think both have some merit," he finally answered with a flippancy that underscored the topic. "First, you are a walking nightmare for most of the brass, both professional and politically... and for some personally."

He took a drink of his whiskey, purposefully leaving the second option hanging for a moment. "Second, they don't have any evidence."

Tyra's spine went rigid as she leaned forward with an abrupt burst of movement. Her brows knitted together in a frown. "No evidence?"

His lips curved into that grin again, even though the glass hid all but the corners. "Not a piece. Well, except the confession that your dimwitted engineer sent. I'm told, when investigators got aboard the Philly to look into that cluster of a ****, they couldn't find any readings to corroborate the eyewitness testimony. There also wasn't any data from the bay that housed the Liberty Bell prior to her launch. I can only assume that somewhere between mutiny and stealing a ship, the Philly, being the faulty bucket of bolts that it is, suffered quite an odd memory storage failure. Truly baffling."

Tyra's spine released, only to allow her head to fall into her hand. If the bulkhead had been closer, she no doubt would have fought the urge to bang her head against it. Instead, she finished her whiskey in one large mouthful, her lips pulled into a disdainful grimace.

"That dumbass," her words punctuated by the glass being set down with more force than needed. It wasn't clear whether she was talking about Elias for his letter or Jenny for her attempted cover-up. "That ******* nitwit. So if he hadn't said anything ..."

"Home free. It would have been your word versus the Philly's eyewitnesses. And no offense, I don't think the Brass would put much stock in the statements of a crew that couldn't decide if they wanted to mutiny or wanted to steal a ship or wanted to actually do their jobs. They set the bar pretty low as reliable witnesses go."

She laughed but it was hardly a happy noise, more choked and incredulous.

She wasn't sure exactly when he refilled her drink or how exactly it ended up back in her hand. However, the burn of another mouthful was the only thing keeping her from seriously considering how much force it would take to choke one Benjamin Elias into unconsciousness.

"How do I fix this? Is there a way to fix this? He can't..."

"He made his bed," Chase cut her off. "I know loyalty and falling on swords is basically second nature to you but don't."

The change was almost instant, from lounging self-indulgence to aware, calculating and formidable. His elbows pressed into his knees as he leaned forward, all traces of relaxation and good humor gone.

"You are one of my closest confidants. You have been my moral compass more times than I can count and you have never led me astray so let me repay the favor. There is nothing you can do to save your idiot of an engineer. Nothing. His fate was sealed the moment he sent that confession but don't let him take you with him."

She started to open her mouth, to protest, but he moved lightning fast, his hand closing over her wrist and tugging just enough to stop her.

"If they want to take this opportunity to topple you, make them work for it. They have no evidence and limited options. The political and professional risks to pursuing this are enormous. They can try to be creative, dig up some skeletons, but I think they're all aware that any skeletons they might find will just lead back to them. Just by your very nature, you have them in an unwinnable position...use it."

The redhead took another sip, her head shaking side to side. "Politics isn't my game. In fact, I may be allergic…"

"Then, take some medicine because you do not have a choice. This is bury or be buried. I know you are capable of pure ruthlessness when it's required and this is no different. It's just a different set of tactics and fortunately, I'm here to help," the last part was said with that Cheshire Cat grin again, making her suspect that he was enjoying this more than she'd like.

The sound of her door chime going off caused Chase to sigh slightly, sitting his tumbler on the table. "No rest for the wicked, I see," to which, she hummed in agreement. "I'll let you get back to work, hun, but dinner? We have a lot to talk about and you might want to invite Cera. This is in her wheelhouse as well."

She sighed before nodding her agreement. She couldn’t say she particularly looked forward to lessons in politics but she also knew that Chase was likely right, she had a game to play if she hoped to stay alive and more importantly, keep everyone else out of the fire.

"Just make it somewhere with lots of alcohol," she offered with a wry grin as she got up, taking the glasses with her and part way escorting him to the door. His grin was knowing as he gave her a quick hug and a peck on the cheek.

Always a player of the game, he gave her time to stash the tumblers and bottle and straighten her uniform jacket before taking the step forward that would trigger her door sensor. He was careful to side step the young woman waiting outside, offering her a rather charming smile before shooting a wink back over his shoulder at Tyra, who was leaning against the front of her desk.

"Don't forget dinner, dear. I'll make sure Cera picks the loveliest of places for us," he called out with a smirk that told her he knew damn well what he was doing before disappearing.

There was a slight sigh and a shake of her head, even though the corner of her lip turned up ever so slightly.

"Ensign, you can come in. Please have a seat," Tyra motioned to one of the chairs across from her desk as she circled back around it.

== Tag! ==

[Eun Ju Han]

Eun Ju was nervous, actually nervous was an understatement. Even though this was not her first time meeting Captain Crawford it was her first time doing so in an official capacity. Not only was she transferring to the ship, she also knew that her Starfleet jacket would have come with her and likely shown all of the mess from the Philly as well as the knowledge that the Commander had brought her as his plus one to the Christmas party. She also was nervous about a new ship, new crew, new everything. All he could do was wait to be given the chance to prove herself because she knew that she was a good officer and would do well if given the opportunity.

Standing outside the door to the Captain’s Ready room Ju ran a small candy around in her hand nervously. She wasn’t dumb enough to put it in her mouth or anything, but she always had some in her pocket anyway. Remembering how candy had got her kicked off her first and only away mission so far kept her from putting it in her mouth and also the fact that she wouldn’t do that when meeting the Captain anyway. It wasn’t that she had learned a lesson it was more that she had seen no issue eating a piece of candy before a mission to begin with. But, she supposed she had learned a lesson now about mission etiquette.

Pulling her empty hand out of her pocket, Ju reached up and pushed the bell button beside the door to announce her arrival. It had been a few days since Artemis had gotten back from being on mission. Ju had not seen Damian yet because these last few days had been filled with paperwork on both ships, moving into her new Quarters and trying to figure out a much larger ship with a wider array of shift changes. She also didn’t want to spoil the surprise. She wasn’t exactly sure know she was going to tell him or if he already knew. He was the First Officer so it made sense he would know but if he did he hadn’t contacted her which was odd and so she found herself in a little bit of anxiety wondering if he knew or didn’t.

The door opening in front of her brought her out of her thoughts. A male was leaving reminding the Captain about something one last time before he passed her. Ju stepped to the side so that she could be out of his way and give him more room to pass. Once he was gone Ju stepped back into the doorway hearing the Captain beckon her to enter the Ready room. Ju took a deep breath and tugged on the front of her shirt to ensure it was properly placed before she stepped into the Ready Room. The last time she had been in one of these was when she introduced herself to Captain Braggins, but now again, she was here to introduce herself to Captain Crawford.

Crawford was walking back around her desk to the chair and told Ju that she could have a seat. “Yes, Captain.” She stated calmly as she felt her boots carry her towards the chairs on the other side of the Captain’s desk before she sat down. Once she sat down, she wasn’t sure if she should speak. She didn’t know if it was the right thing to do to feel comfortable talking to the Captain because they had already met.

“It’s good to see you again, Captain. Thank you for accepting me onto your ship,” she stated calmly hoping that everything would go well. The butterflies in her stomach were certainly in high gear. She was only an Ensign and this was her second ship, she had also gotten in trouble on her last ship, so she wasn’t exactly sure what was going to come of everything. She was also concerned that the Captain might believe she was only here for Damian, but she hoped that she would realize that was not the case. Only time would tell, she would have to prove herself and earn her place for people to believe that she was here legitimately and it had very little to do with Damian.

==Tag Tyra==

[Tyra Crawford]

As Tyra rounded the desk, her blue eyes caught on the glasses and bottle she had hastily stowed in the cubby under her console and she quickly pivoted towards the replicator to collect a cup of very strong coffee. No, her alcohol tolerance was at sky high levels and two drinks was hardly enough to even give her the slightest of buzzes but this was a conversation that she needed to be on her toes for, for her, Damian and this young woman's sake. The ensign was just settling into her seat when Tyra returned to her own seat with coffee cup in hand.

While Tyra tended to lean towards a more casual relationship when it came to her senior officers and those she dealt with on the bridge regularly, she usually tried to install a sense of formality and principle when meeting her younger officers during their transfer process. It was easier to lay out the expectations from that position, even knowing that her future dealings with them would involve less policy and procedures. However, this was inherently different on multiple levels; not only was this not the first time that she was meeting Ensign Han but her presence on the Artemis had the potential to cause her quite a few headaches if this wasn't handled correctly. As such, she bypassed her normal hands clasped on the desk routine and instead, reclined slightly, her left leg crossed over her right with that knee acting as a resting place for her coffee.

"It's good to see you again, Captain. Thank you for accepting me onto your ship," the ensign managed after a few moments of silence.

There was the tiniest of chuckles that escaped the redhead before she shook her head. "Don't thank me yet; it's more of a preliminary acceptance at the moment. There's just a few things I wanted to discuss and clear up before I put my final stamp of approval on it."

For a second, she watched the engineer over the rim of her cup as she took a sip of the coffee, the strong, almost bitter taste mixing with the remnants of the whiskey at the back of her throat. Briefly, she considered whether she should have opted for an Irish Coffee instead of just black but dismissed it just as quickly.

"However, I couldn't very well leave your request in the queue until I had a chance to fully vet you, lest Da-- Commander Coleman take notice of it and feel obligated to act in one way or another. His reputation means a great deal to me and I will not create a situation that brings the appearance of any impropriety on his part, which is why he is not involved in this in any sense," she said, her tone firm as she spoke.

"As you may or may not know, your former commanding officer and I are quite close. In addition to serving as my first officer for more years than I would like to admit, she's quite literally married to my brother so it's safe to say that I have gotten both the official and unofficial retelling of your time on the Philly. I'm very clear on what Commander Jensen's opinion of you is but I'd like to hear your side of it. Particularly, how exactly a piece of candy managed to snowball into you being removed from an away team."

What Tyra didn't say was that while she trusted Jenny implicitly, her opinion of Jenny's first officer was about as low as it could be. She had little respect for someone that blindly put orders before lives and she had even less respect for a former security officer who was so willing to abandon people to their fate for the sake of his own safety. It was safe to say that if Jensen had been within range of her when she'd learned about the Philly/Yeager fiasco, it likely would have taken both Damian and Calleja to pull her off of him. However, no matter her personal distaste, she wouldn't talk poorly about another command level officer to a subordinate in this circumstance.

With the first piece laid out, Tyra settled back fully into her chair, her blue eyes seeming to focus like lasers on Han as she awaited an answer.

== Tag! ==

[Eun Ju Han]

It seemed that her transfer had not been fully accepted by Crawford, she had some questions that needed answering. Ju gave a respectful nod because she had been expecting some sort of Q&A. There was no problem with it at all, she figured that any good Captain would have questions. Word on the street was that Crawford was one of the best that could be found so she expected some information to be requested before everything was complete.

The Captain’s coffee smelled good permeating the entire office as she sat down and got comfortable. Ju’s eyes followed the woman’s moves not certain what all she would ask but Ju was willing to answer what she could. There were reasons for this transfer but it had nothing to do with Damian. Well that’s a lie, it has very little to do with Damian, she reminded herself. Because she would be lying and foolish to say he didn’t help the decision along by introducing her to the ship and merely being assigned here. However, it was not the reason she had wanted to leave the Philly.

Captain Crawford mentioned that she wanted to talk to Ju herself because she wanted Damian to be kept in the dark before he made a decision in an emotional way. Ju was still getting to know Damian so she wasn’t sure that he would make emotional decisions on her behalf. They hadn’t even spoken about their level of relationship, plans for the future, and they hadn’t been able to see each other since Christmas due to missions. She had contacted him via PADD and they had exchanged a lot of correspondence getting to know each other but she didn’t know him in an official capacity yet.

“I understand, I have not yet informed Commander Coleman of my decision to transfer either. I wanted to make sure everything was settled and accepted before I mentioned anything about it,” she admitted to the Captain.

Crawford admitted that she and Braggins were not only good friends, former crewmates, but also family. Ju had not known that, she had less than a handful of conversations with Braggins before she decided to leave. Braggins was fine enough as a Captain but she still knew very little about her. Now, she would likely not know anything about her. Captain Crawford also mentioned that she already understood Commander Jensen’s opinion of her. Ju’s brow rose, and she fidgeted slightly in her seat because she could only imagine what Commander Jensen had to say since he was the one who kicked her off the away team when she stood up for herself. She decided to remain quiet and give a little nod of understanding. While she wished she could easily defend herself, she also knew that the Captain was not here looking for someone that would take no responsibility for her actions.

“Of course, Captain. It was my first mission, I felt very nervous. After everything that happened before the away mission was even scheduled,” Eun Ju paused looking at the Captain unsure how much she knew about the mutiny but assumed she probably knew more than most with Captain Braggins being her sister in law. “When I was called to the mission, I was surprised, excited, and nervous. I like sweets, a lot of times when I’m struggling to concentrate or I’m nervous I’ll suck on a piece of candy to center myself. It’s something I’m working on.”

Eun Ju swallowed and continued her story. “I came onto the Transportation deck and there was another officer there, my superior, who came to me and told me to lose the candy. She stated that we were not going to party with Cardassians and chew bubble gum. I was nervous and felt a little blind sided by her aggressiveness. I decided to stand up for myself because… I am a trained officer, I went through the academy, I felt as though she didn’t trust me to be professional without even giving me a chance. So, I told her ‘well it’s a good thing I’m not chewing bubble gum then’.”

Ju’s mouth turned down. “Immediately, I was told that I was insubordinate from Commander Jensen who informed the Captain and my Chief Engineer that I would no longer be welcome on the away team. They switched me out for someone else and the away team went off without me. I went down to Engineering to finish my shift mending holes in the bulkhead which had been caused by the Cardassians shortly after.”

Ju’s shoulders lifted and fell with an expressive breath. “In hindsight, I realize, I should have handled the situation better. It would have been easier to spit out the piece of candy or swallow it at least. I just stood there, and thought about, how I hadn’t done anything to deserve being spoken to like that. I thought I wanted to stand up for myself, I realize that was not the time nor place. I do endeavor to do better in the future.”

==Tag Tyra==

[Tyra Crawford]

Tyra kept her face as impassive as possible as she listened to Han explain in detail the circumstances that had led her to being kicked off of the Philadelphia's away team. The only time her expression flickered just slightly was when Han explained her reaction to the bubble gum comment, the corner of her lip pulling just a little into the start of a grimace.

It seemed like a situation that had spiraled out of control due to inexperience, a high stress environment and the lack of even one cool head. In her many years in command of both a department and a starship, she had seen this situation play out numerous times and had to step in to prevent it from cascading probably just as often. It was the issue with having a team made up of young officers, new department heads and inexperienced first officers because none of them had the experience or wisdom to step back when high stress, insecurity and egos clashed. The fact that this had spiraled out of control without one person seeing the ridiculousness of it all was rather fantastic and based on the report, even distance hadn’t led to the realization dawning on anyone.

The redhead rubbed her forehead with her free hand before taking a sip of her coffee, hoping that it somehow managed to make her desire to roll her eyes a little less. It didn't. The only thing she could be grateful for was that it hadn't happened on her ship because she likely would have torn all parties involved a new one. She could only imagine what would happen when real insubordination occurred with real consequences, like with Nathan or Price or Alken or Lucy or any one of a handful of examples she could pull right off the top of her head.

“In hindsight, I realize, I should have handled the situation better. It would have been easier to spit out the piece of candy or swallow it at least. I just stood there, and thought about, how I hadn’t done anything to deserve being spoken to like that. I thought I wanted to stand up for myself, I realize that was not the time nor place. I do endeavor to do better in the future.”

Tyra slowly nodded her head. "High stress situations tend to lead to short tempers and big egos, it's just the nature of the beast. The sooner that's acknowledged and taken into account when handling conflict during those situations, the better it is for everyone. I won't beat a dead horse though; you know what you need to work on in the future and I trust that you will."

Her words were punctuated with another nod of her head, though more decisive as if she was calling the matter closed in her books. While she would have liked to have seen a more measured response from both of Han's superiors, she also knew she had bitten people's heads off over small offenses in the past as well; however, she'd also given second chances to people for far greater and more significant grievances. This wasn't career ending nor should it haunt her for the rest of her career.

"Moving on…"

For a moment, she paused, blue eyes shifting from Han to the cup in her hand as if she was looking for some sort of answer in the dark liquid. In truth, she was attempting to figure out a way to phrase something without it seeming offensive or even presumptuous. The security officer in her wanted to charge forward with bluntness and possibly just shock the truth out of the young woman but the captain in her felt the need to be a little more tactful.

"So why Artemis? And what are you hoping to gain from this transfer?"

== Tag! ==

[Eun Ju Han]

Crawford looked as though she was trying to decide what she felt about the situation. Eun Ju didn’t want to push her on anything she had already said her piece there was no reason to continue talking about the situation when she had already mentioned the lessons she had learned. Crawford took a sip of her coffee before she mentioned that egos tended to run high before missions began and there were many at fault. However, lessons had clearly been learned and there was no reason to continue to beat a dead horse.

Ju’s shoulders relaxed a little bit now that the worst was over, at least that was what she thought. Crawford paused for a little bit, and Ju began to fear what exactly was about to come out next. She didn’t know if it would be something else. As close as the Captain was with her ex-Captain she didn’t know if there was anything else that had been disliked about her on the Philly. Ju hadn’t gotten the chance to make a lot of connections there but she still didn’t know if anyone else had issues.

It seemed that Crawford instead wanted to know why she was coming to the Artemis, what was it about the ship that caught Ju’s attention. Eun Ju wasn’t sure if she was trying to find a way to ask if she was there solely for Damian or for other reasons. Ju hoped that the answer she had would suffice because she had actually thought quite a bit about putting in a transfer.

“To be honest, Captain, it was the Christmas party,” Ju admitted. “The entire ship held a sort of commraderie which reminded me a great deal like back home. In Korea, we are very tight knit and our family is important above all others, including yourself. What I liked was, that everyone welcomed me as a stranger and made me feel very welcome. I spent a large amount of time with Lieutenant Calleja once you and Commander Coleman were called away. I really enjoyed my time here and started comparing the culture and feel of the two ships.”

Eun Ju took a breath and let it out. “I went on my first mission for the Philly, which you already know how that went, and I just felt… disconnected. There was the Captain’s side, the Commander’s side, being new officers we were stuck in the tide of waters with no purpose other than just trying to stay alive. After the Away Mission issue, I just felt like.. perhaps this ship was not the home I was looking for and kept remembering the people on your ship. I remembered you, Commander Coleman, the Lieutenant, and others I came across during the party and it just felt.. warm. When the mission on the Philly ended, I thought, I could at least try to transfer.”

“There is also the fact that your ship is impressive, massive, and your Engineering deck is almost bigger than the Philly as a whole. The opportunities to work on Propulsion research and to continue my hopes of making life support systems that much more efficient will be better suited here than over there. The career opportunities were not lost on me either when I looked through the available specs I could find on the PADD database,” she admitted with a soft smile but an excited sparkle filled her eyes as she talked about the Engineering deck and the opportunities that could be afforded here with the Artemis.

“I hope you’ll give me a chance, I really do think I could be a boon to the ship.”

==Tag Tyra==

[Tyra Crawford]

Tyra was well practiced in the art of keeping her expressions in check, though she was use to it being related to extremely negative and often volatile emotions. She didn't actually know what to do with the warmth that seemed to bloom in her chest and spread slowly into her shoulders as Han described her experience at the Christmas party.

When she thought back on her career, she always seemed to comeback to the Gettysburg and the Avenger as the benchmarks for how she wanted her crew to be with each other. Both crews had been close knit, forged in the fires of war and hardship until they'd been truly a family. It was what she wanted for Artemis, though it felt like the revolving door made that too difficult to accomplish lately. But maybe, they had succeeded to a degree, more so than she thought.

“There is also the fact that your ship is impressive, massive, and your Engineering deck is almost bigger than the Philly as a whole. The opportunities to work on Propulsion research and to continue my hopes of making life support systems that much more efficient will be better suited here than over there. The career opportunities were not lost on me either when I looked through the available specs I could find on the PADD database,” Han explained with that same sense of wonder she'd seen in numerous engineering transfers.

She remembered feeling that same wonder when she'd first seen the Artemis at spacedock and when she'd walked her halls for the first time, and finally, when she'd seen the slipstream come to life for the first time. She still felt it from time to time even years later.

“I hope you’ll give me a chance, I really do think I could be a boon to the ship," the ensign finished.

Tyra nodded her head slowly, though she didn't answer the last part directly. "I may be bias but I do think the Artemis is a magnificent ship with the best crew. I couldn't ask for better on either account. I hope you come to find your place in both."

The redhead paused, taking a sip of coffee as she regarded Han closely. It wasn't lost on her that Damian had only been mentioned in the most brief and vague of senses and yet, having been in Han's shoes, she knew what a driving force feelings of entanglement were. There was no doubt in her mind that she would have transferred for Rex at the height of their relationship and she most certainly would have transferred for Thomas if he'd ever asked, both superiors to her at the time.

"But before you do that, there is one last thing we need to discuss," Tyra started as she considered, once again, that she should have gotten an Irish Coffee. Her previous whiskey intake wasn't doing anything to cut the incoming awkwardness.

"Normally, I try to stay out of the personal lives of my people. It's frankly just not my business but there are times when circumstances dictate otherwise and this is one of them, unfortunately. So... What exactly are your intentions with Commander Coleman?"

The question wasn't pointed or challenging nor did Tyra pointedly look up at the wall of weapons behind her. There might have been a touch of sisterly concern but ultimately, the question was asked surgically with careful precision.

== Tag! ==

[Eun Ju Han]

It seemed that their conversation was going well. She hadn’t made Captain Crawford angry or anything it seemed which was good news for her. Ju knew that she was a good officer it was merely the art of convincing Crawford that was the case. Who knew what Captain Braggins had said about her, but it didn’t matter, she could prove herself with the chance. Now everything was up to the Captain. As Crawford stated that both of her hopes and dreams could come true here on the Artemis, a smile spread across the young officer’s face and her eyes lit up even more than before.

It seemed that she had been accepted onto the ship, however, the Captain did not dismiss her. Instead, she looked pensive. As though she had something else on her mind, and now, Ju just had to wait until the Captain was ready to ask whatever was going on. She stated that she had one more thing to discuss for Han fully joined the ship. Ju waited as patiently as she could watching the Captain and all her body language and the tensity that was evident for a moment before she finally asked.

Damian was the topic, and Ju had truthfully known this question was coming. There was no way that after having brought her to the Christmas party as her date it would not be lost on the Captain. Han had been careful not to mention him in anything other than a professional capacity when talking about her reasons for coming to the ship because she did not want the Captain to believe that it was Damian who had pulled her to the ship. He had certainly helped, though.

For a moment, Han was quiet as she thought about exactly what she wanted to say. “I’ll be completely honest, Captain, I’m not certain. We met and had a drink during shore leave between my graduation and my assignment. Afterwards he brought me as his plus one to the Christmas party. We exchange correspondence regularly but what my intentions are.. I’m not sure yet. I am still very much getting to know Commander Coleman. I do hope to get to know him better to see if we continue to be compatible, but otherwise, I have no ill intent.”

Han wanted to have a better answer, she wanted to say they were together, but at this time she didn’t know. She had not informed Damian of her transfer, she had not even mentioned it, because she wanted to earn her spot on her own. She wanted to have made this choice without anyone’s influence but instead wanted to stand on her own. Even if she and the Commander entered into a full relationship she till wanted to stand on her own. She did not want to be someone who relied on someone else for her success.

==Tag Tyra==

[Tyra Crawford]

The young ensign was quiet for a moment after Tyra's question and the redhead could appreciate the care she was taking. In truth, Tyra didn't want to be meddling like this, she far preferred to hear such things from Cera, but this was the kind of thing that could easily and subtly subvert morale in the blink of the eye, potentially before she even knew she had a problem.

“I’ll be completely honest, Captain, I’m not certain. We met and had a drink during shore leave between my graduation and my assignment. Afterwards he brought me as his plus one to the Christmas party. We exchange correspondence regularly but what my intentions are.. I’m not sure yet. I am still very much getting to know Commander Coleman. I do hope to get to know him better to see if we continue to be compatible, but otherwise, I have no ill intent.”

This time, Tyra made no attempt at hiding the way her eyebrow arched at the answer. Because the young woman had accompanied Damian so openly to the Christmas gathering, she had assumed that the pair had progressed a little bit past passing notes and drunken flirting -- according to Cera, at least. However, that didn't seem to be the case unless this girl was just the best poker player around and Tyra just didn't think that was the case.

Damian…. you couldn't have picked someone a little older…. By like, I don't know, a pip or two?

Now, she did lean forward, setting her cup on the desk as she steepled her hands in front of her. For once, she was wearing her wedding ring and she twisted it on her finger as she considered her answer.

"I appreciate your candor and I, further, appreciate you not being offended by my prying. Truthfully, I would be an absolute hypocrite if I had any issues with relationships amongst my crew but I, also, need to balance the privacy of my people with our ability to function as a ship," she explained, her tone almost gentle.

"If y'all's relationship progresses, Damian and I will discuss what needs to be adjusted but I do want to make this clear: if you all do begin a relationship in earnest, I will remove Damian from your chain of command. This is not because I do not trust you or do not trust him but because, from experience, I know the damage rumors of impartiality can cause and I won't let that happen."

She let that settle for a moment before nodding her head slightly, seemingly satisfied. "Now, do you have any questions for me before I send you out into your new playground?"

== Tag! ==

[Eun Ju Han]

Eun Ju wasn’t sure what the Captain was going to think about what she said but she was telling the truth. She had not come here for Damian, he hadn’t hurt the decision, but she would be foolish to transfer ships on a maybe. She also didn’t want the Captain to think less of her for coming here it was why she was being extremely honest. Captain Crawford seemed to, like many, respect honesty and Ju didn’t want to start her job here on a bad foot. If Crawford was going to give her a second chance she wanted to make the most use of it, for sure.

When the Captain spoke saying she was glad that Ju had been honest the Korean woman smiled. It was nice to know she had not been wrong about the Captain. However, the red headed woman admitted that should they develop into something more than a ‘maybe’ she would be removing Coleman from her chain of command so that no favoritism could come up as it had n the past.

Eun Ju gave a small nod. “I understand, Captain.”

Eun Ju wasn’t sure all of what would happen between herself and Damian but she figured that sometime after this meeting concluded she would inform him that she was here. It would be creepy to find his Quarters and ring his bell so she would have to let him know that she was around the ship and set up a meeting for them. Captain Crawford asking if Ju had any questions before she sent her off to her new playground causing Ju to give a soft smile.

“No Captain, I can’t think of anything at the moment but if something comes up I’ll let you or my Chief know. Thank you very much for this opportunity, I will do my best not to let you down.” She smiled softly. The Korean woman stood up from her chair waiting to be dismissed from the Captain so that she could head out for the Engineering section. Once the Captain gave her permission to leave Ju gave her another one of her smiles and turned to head off into her now, new ship.

Her heart was filled with hope and excitement, with the possibility of what could happen on a ship like this. She couldn’t wait to tell her family, her friends, and even Damian. Now that her invitation was solidified it was time to find her Quarters and get settled in! As the doors slid shut behind her Ju had a smile on her face and headed to find the Quartermaster to locate her Quarters and find out when her first shift would start.

==Tag Tyra==
==Minor use of Crawford approved by writer.==

[Tyra Crawford]

== Day 5? - The Day After Coffee with Calleja ==

Her boots felt immensely heavy as she stepped into her sanctuary. As soon as the doors closed behind her, she let out the breath that seemed to have been stuck in her lungs for the past two hours. She undid her jacket as she walked further, bypassing her desk, but not before she threw her jacket at it with more force than was necessary.

She didn't even fully register pouring herself a glass of whiskey but it was in her hand as she wearily dropped onto the couch. Her elbows found her knees and her head found itself resting in her free hand as she once again considered this grand mess.

It had been no surprise when investigators had shown up the afternoon before with questions and it has likely been no surprise to any of the parties involved when she'd promptly kicked them out and told them to come back when her representation was available and on site. And it had been even less surprising when they'd promptly scheduled a meeting for bright and early the following morning, this morning.

How the meeting had gone also was probably a surprise to no one. There has been a lot of questions and a lot of "I don't recall" or interjections from her JAG of "no comment". Truthfully, having been on their side of the table, she had almost felt bad until they'd tipped their hand a little too far and began asking questions about things well in the past that had nothing to do with any of matters at hand.

She knew her eyes had narrowed as they'd asked about Doctor Monroe and her death and it was only Alex's hand on her arm that kept her from turning an "I don't recall" into a "go **** yourself". It had snowballed from there as they showed just far far they'd dug into her history and turned into a test of patience and willpower for Tyra as she resisted rising to the bait.

Ultimately, she'd walked out a free woman still, though there had been a promise that there would be another interview scheduled in the future. Alex had answered with far more grace than Tyra would have as she'd rather forcefully ushered her client out of the office. They'd parted a short time later, though Alex had already messaged to arrange a meeting for early the next morning to discuss their options and strategies, and Tyra had trudged on to her sanctuary with some hope that she'd find a little sliver of peace there.

However, there seemed to be very little peace available it seemed, not when it felt like the guillotine's blade had dropped a couple inches closer to her neck.

Without much thought, she threw back the entire contents of the glass in one motion, the burn taking the edge off of the numbness that had seeped in over the last hour. She poured herself another glass out of habit, considering where she was on her to-do list and what was feasible for her to accomplish before the second meeting occurred.

If there was a real chance she'd be removed from her current position -- and it felt like there was now -- she wanted to make sure she did right by her people, even if it meant pushing forward promotions and jamming through approvals left and right.

She swallowed another mouthful, the burn eating away at just a little more numbness, and then, pushed herself to her feet. She could wallow in her own self-pity later, in the privacy of her quarters, but for now, she needed to stay busy.

== Tag! ==

[Damien Coleman]

== Day what you said. Imma buckle up for this! ==

Walking onto the Bridge, he nodded at the Officer on Watch while strolling straight toward the Ready Room doors. He wasn’t in uniform, so there was no need for anyone to really pay him any mind. Though he was wearing a dark gray unlined Artemis bomber jacket and ball cap, so most people still either acknowledged him or gave him a berth while walking. He wasn’t carrying anything either, which most people associated with him being on duty whenever he also had a PADD in hand.

No, Damian was on one singular mission for the moment. For some reason, it felt like enemy territory when it should have been anything but. That, he knew, was partly his fault. For the first couple of days back he had stewed, focusing on work instead of confronting the other problems head on. But after the last forty-eight hours, he knew that time was quickly running down to figure shit out.

Hitting the door chime, Coleman waited until he was bidden in by Tyra’s voice. The moment the door opened Damian regretted his timing. Jacket strewn on her desk, whiskey already in hand, body wearily on the couch, the entire setup felt like she’d had a rough day. Though Coleman knew there’d be no better days for the foreseeable future. Every moment would be slipstreaming towards an inevitable confrontation with some arm of Starfleet about their recent actions and, more specifically, a confession.

“Mind if I…?” he gestured forward, breaking his hesitant pause at her door.

Tyra lazily pointed to the bottle and muttered something along the lines of ‘help yourself’. Coleman had considered not imbibing, and instead trying to remain on somewhat equal footing with Tyra. Though after looking at the bottle, she’d barely broken into it, and so it didn’t much matter if he had a good sized glass.

Taking off the ball cap and tucking it under his arm, Damian strode forward and poured himself a sizable glass. With that done, he found a spot to sit across from Tyra, in one of the comfier chairs that were in the Ready Room. He didn’t quite flop into the chair, unlike how Tyra seemed to be on the couch, but he also did sit back and relax just a bit; despite the conversation that he was wanting to have. Coleman took a sip of the whiskey, and the moment it hit his tongue he closed his eyes. It was good. It was damn good. He soaked in that feeling for a moment, before looking back at Tyra, concern on his face.

“That good huh?” he asked rhetorically.

“It ain’t looking good for me either. I spent the last forty-eight in meetings with my rep. They’ve already starting digging into all of my files, and I got a notice of motion from JAG; they wanna go peeping into my duty and personal logs.”

Coleman sighed a little louder than he should have, but his frustration with the whole situation was trying to burst forth.

“I just don’t understand why Benjamin did it. I mean I do, but… damn it, he could have checked in with one of us first. Or at least you directly. Would have made all this mess a whole lot easier.”

And a whole lot of my past not dredged up.

“You should know,” he started, his eyes flittering down to the golden liquid inside the glass, “I’ve been told they’ve reopened a case from my past, a long while ago now. The things that went down on the Atlanta."

There were a lot of emotions in Damian’s voice as he spoke, betraying just how much he was wrestling with it all. Though he hadn’t heard from Captain Peck, Coleman’s representative did tell him that his old skipper not only had been fielding some questions, but had apparently been summoned for questioning.

“They’ll eventually be questioning me, I have no doubt, cause my name is all over a lot of stuff from back then. There were several of us.”

Swallowing another swig of the whiskey, Coleman sighed again and brought his gaze back to Tyra. He didn’t want to have the conversation now with her, not while she was already down. Not while he was fighting his own fights too. But it was something he had to do. The things looming over them were affecting them professionally; or, if not Tyra, then definitely Damian.

“This ain’t a great time to talk, I know,” he wildly segued into the purpose of his visit.

“But if we get through the next couple of weeks, or whatever, I wanna be able to start fresh with you. Because right now there is a tension between us and I can’t let that keep going. You’ve been the best damn Captain I’ve ever worked for. Has it been perfect? Nah. But I don’t think there ever could be such a dynamic.”

The third sigh in as many minutes came out of him, and he took one more swallow of the courage juice to encourage him forward. Now he looked at Tyra, his face serious as his brows furrowed together.

“But what is going on between us? Have you lost trust in me? I struggled since we came back to figure out if I did something for you to feel like you can’t tell me things. Like the big thing that has us in so much hot water now. I was damn mad at the time, I ain’t gonna lie. And you can’t fault me for that, cause I’m pretty damn sure you would be too if you were in my shoes. But I get that one. I understand it to a degree. Trying to protect us all. That makes sense even if I don’t agree with it.”

Coleman took a breath but obviously wasn’t done.

“I ain’t no snitch though. You could’ve told me and I wouldn’t have gotten mad that I could get caught up in some mess later for it. Hell, we are in that mess now anyway. I have absolutely no hesitation about lying for you, especially to protect you or our crew. If it was something real damn heinous, then yeah, I might think twice about it… you know, unless it was done for the right reasons. I haven’t been in Command long, but I know that sometimes you gotta make the hard calls. Real tough decisions. Some of those might lead to people getting killed.”

Another break, and just enough time for him to take a sip of whiskey. All of it was just pouring out of him now, and even though his brain told him to shut up, he went for it anyway.

“But this thing with Ensign Eun? You couldn’t have given me a heads-up on that? I had to find out by literally bumping into her? C’mon now. I get we’ve both been busy, hella busy with some real serious stuff, but a simple message and I could have been made aware. Or, heck, we could have had a good ol’fashioned sit down chat about it and whether or not my relationship with her was serious or not.”

That was the part where a flush of heat had come to his face. There were a litany of other little things Damian could have come at Tyra with, but it was the lack of communication that hurt him the most. It felt like a lack of trust in him, and if that was the case, then there were real problems for them working together.

“I’ve been a mushroom before, under other commands, Captain Peck for one; getting fed shit and kept in the dark. I never thought I’d feel that way again, and definitely not with you, but damn Tyra it sure does feel like I’m halfway there again.”

[Tyra Crawford]

The door chime almost didn't register, her blue eyes slowly flickering up as she considered the possibilities. Her schedule has been cleared as soon as the investigators requested their meeting, thanks to Cera's constant consideration. It was likely Cera herself or maybe, Alex deciding they couldn't wait to prep. Or maybe Chase.

She couldn't think of anyone else brave or stupid enough otherwise.

"Come in," she stated rather blandly.

Her blue eyes had dropped back to the glass in her hand by the time the door opened. It took her a second longer than it should have to realize there was no one breezing into the room, no one throwing her a buoyancy device to pull her out of the riptide. Instead, her first officer was hesitating in the door way like he wasn't quite certain of what he was walking into.

She motioned him in when he asked haltingly, even motioning towards the bottle and suggesting he at least pour himself some. After all, they might as well start on level ground if they were going to do this.

She stayed quiet as he poured himself a generous glass, watching him over the rim of her own glass as he settled into a chair across from her. She merely hummed in response to his question, figuring there wasn't much confirmation needed.

It took very little to wait Damian out, words bubbling to the surface. She'd grimaced as he'd recounted a similar fate to her own with their files being dug through and equal frustration with Ben's actions. And yet, she knew that neither of those facts were why they were there.

Oh, she knew he was upset at the thought of his past being dug back up and he had every right to be. She understood that feeling intimately now that she knew the same was being done to her. All of her sins unearthed and exposed for examination by people with no context and no desire to find it. However, that wasn't why he was here.

“This ain’t a great time to talk, I know,” he started.

Here we go... she thought and without any conscious consideration, she threw the remainder of her glass back before pouring herself some more.

Her glass was settled back in her hand in time for him to really focus on her, his liquid courage working in full strength.

"But what is going on between us? Have you lost trust in me? I struggled since we came back to figure out if I did something for you to feel like you can’t tell me things. Like the big thing that has us in so much hot water now. I was damn mad at the time, I ain’t gonna lie. And you can’t fault me for that, cause I’m pretty damn sure you would be too if you were in my shoes. But I get that one. I understand it to a degree. Trying to protect us all. That makes sense even if I don’t agree with it.”

As he'd spoke, she's leaned forward with her elbows on her knees again, watching him closely. He wasn't saying anything that shocked her; she hadn't been unaware of his feelings on her subterfuge and she'd been well aware that there would be a reckoning on it. However, she could tell he wasn't done so she kept her mouth closed as he kept going.

And kept going he did, right into the topic that seemed to bother him the most. She didn't even bother hiding the slight twitch of her eyebrow at that revelation, tucking it away for future reference.

“But this thing with Ensign Eun? You couldn’t have given me a heads-up on that? I had to find out by literally bumping into her? C’mon now. I get we’ve both been busy, hella busy with some real serious stuff, but a simple message and I could have been made aware. Or, heck, we could have had a good ol’fashioned sit down chat about it and whether or not my relationship with her was serious or not.”

“I’ve been a mushroom before, under other commands, Captain Peck for one; getting fed shit and kept in the dark. I never thought I’d feel that way again, and definitely not with you, but damn Tyra it sure does feel like I’m halfway there again.”

She watched him for a few moments, blue eyes seeming to access and evaluate. She carefully shifted her glass to rest in one hand, her knee offering additional support as her free hand moved up to her collar. It was with practiced ease that she plucked each pip out of its place before dropping them onto the coffee table with a clank.

"This isn't a captain and commander conversation," she said simply. "Just Tyra and Damian."

Now, she was the one taking a hefty mouthful of whiskey.

"It wasn't a matter of trust, not even the slightest. If it had been, don't you think Jenny would have known? Because she got blind sided with everyone else," she said calmly, letting it settle for a moment before continuing. "Whether right or wrong, giving everyone plausible deniability seemed like the best option."

"And if Ben hadn't had a bought of immense stupidity, it might have worked. All the same, I'm sorry; I really was just trying to protect everyone as much as possible. But I have been in your shoes and I understand how maddening it is. That wasn't what I wanted and maybe, if I'd enlisted your help, we might have prevented Ben's confession but what's done is done. What I can tell you is that I do trust you with my ship, my crew and Hell, my life. I never wanted you to doubt that."

She took another sip, her fingers toying with the rim of the glass.

"For what it's worth, they're trying to dig up my skeletons too. I don't know what they're looking for but," she motioned to the PADD on the coffee table, "they're asking questions about things that predate me ever taking command. Things that should be long dead."

Her lips pressed together and she broke eye contact, her eyes examining the contents of her glass as she spoke. "You know as well as I know that if they want to get you, they'll find a way to get you. No one is perfect, no one follows every policy to the letter and if they want to find something, they eventually will. I think that's where we are…"

The burn seemed to last a little longer on the next sip, and she savored it, even as an almost out of place chuckle escaped her lips. "As for Ensign Eun, would you really have reacted well at all to me asking you if you're ******* an ensign when we haven't even been able to be in the same room for the last almost two weeks? And you would not have appreciated any of my commentary on the matter."

"But truthfully, this felt like a "damned if I do, damned if I don't" situation. If I asked you, you get to accuse me of meddling and if I don't, I get accused of not communicating. Honestly, I'd rather it be none of my business that my first officer decided to pursue an ensign that hasn’t even been in the field for six months. Or maybe even three. But it became my business when she requested a transfer and it felt like talking to her about it would cause me less headaches."

Now, Tyra paused, clearly weighing something. Absently, she reached out to toy with her loose pips for a moment before seeming to make her decision. "I also wanted to talk to her first because I wanted to see what I was dealing with without having any preconceptions from talking to you. Once upon a time, I was a very, very young officer head over heels for her first officer and I was just as naïve and giddy as Miss Eun, as shocking as that might sound. And no one did anything to protect me from all of the side effects that come from such a relationship. I don't want that to happen to her or you."

== Tag!==

[Damien Coleman]

There was a long enough pause between them that Damian started to worry that perhaps he’d crossed the line somewhere. His eyes watched Tyra’s as she scoped him out. When she shifted her glass, it brought a raised brow to Damian’s face, and that was before she started pulling the pips from her collar. Never, not once, did any Captain he’d ever been under command of do something like that even in a casual conversation. The clank of each pip had an effect, though he couldn’t help but admire the dramatic flair just a little.

"This isn't a captain and commander conversation. Just Tyra and Damian."

Ah shit, here we go…

Tyra immediately made a good point, one that Damian hadn’t considered in all of his ruminating on the matter of the cloak. Jenny had been blindsided just like everyone else. It didn’t really make Coleman feel better about it though. In fact, it simply raised a specter of another color that he simply had to put to the back of his brain. Jenny and Tyra had years together, on wilder missions than he and Tyra had worked. If she hadn’t told her, he certainly wouldn’t have had a hope in hell of getting told either. Crawford pushed her argument of plausible deniability being the best option, though she had prefaced it with the ol’ ‘rightly or wrongly’. Tyra had made the decision, and she made the best one that she could with the circumstances, and the knowledge she had at the time. It didn’t mean Damian suddenly agreed with it, nor did it fix the matter wholly either. It did give him more to chew on, and tamed the more angry side of his feelings about it.

“...they're trying to dig up my skeletons too… they're asking questions about things that predate me ever taking command. Things that should be long dead.”

That led Damian to take another good sip of his drink. Now things didn’t feel so odd for him. It wasn’t just his past that they were looking into, but perhaps everyone within the Artemis Command structure. Coleman wondered if any of their Department Chiefs had anything of value to hide from such an investigation, aside from Elias. He certainly did.

Listening to Tyra speak more, her eyes finally moving toward something else, Damian let out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding in. It was bullshit, the way they were propagating their witch hunt. There was doing the right thing, and then there was doing the right thing. And sometimes that didn’t fall into a category covered by protocols, codes, and manuals. You just did it, and hoped that you wouldn’t have to do it that way again. Without thought, Damian mimicked Tyra, taking a sip at the same time she did. Though what he didn’t match, was Tyra’s small chuckle.

It was the topic of Ju that came up next. Perhaps she meant to draw his ire some by using a particularly inflammatory way of bringing Ju up. Even if Tyra hadn’t meant to do it, it raised Damian’s hackles some. They hadn’t been ****ing at all. Was there some feelings that he hadn’t quite figured out? Sure. But all they had been doing was talking and writing some correspondence to one another. Damian had given Ju very little in their relationship, and Ju had given him everything. She listened to him, without judgment, and talked to him about things that weren’t work related. They laughed and shared memories with one another, and it was just about one of the greatest things that Damian could have had. Someone, outside of the ship, that he could just be only Damian with, not Commander Coleman, or First Officer. It was a rare thing, he had quickly realized shortly after departing from DS9, to find friendship and solace with someone else who didn’t need to be herded, reviewed, or commanded.

Tyra hadn’t stopped at making insinuations. Instead she heaped on more, incorrectly assuming that he would have tried to take whatever upper hand he could against her when it came to Ju. Damian would have preferred she approach him, because at least then he could have leveled with her. Told her about Ju. Worked out some of the different emotions he was feeling. And maybe even get her expertise on handling things if everything got more serious. Tyra brought up both rank and age, and at that he did nod.

When Ju and Damian had first met on DS9, it had been happenstance, a serendipitous moment that he had even bumped into her and Miss Galactic Glitter Girl. There hadn’t really been an intention of it being anything more than just a chance encounter and some lighthearted fun. Though, when Miss Allergic to Alcohol passed out, it was almost like the galaxy had pushed Damian and Ju together even more. Protecting Premier Passyouty meant both Ju and him spending even more time together, bonding over trying to keep the glitter fairy out of the brig under the harsh gaze of Captain Jennifer Braggins. Everything else just happened to blossom from there.

Regardless, even someone completely enamored could have seen the optics. Damian had considered them too. Yet, at first, it didn’t seem like a problem. They were just friends, hanging out, chatting, writing to one another. Did it toe the line on fraternization? Coleman had to admit, it probably went a little over the safe course. After all, how many Commanders just ‘hung out’ with Ensigns? It frustrated him, because Damian didn’t know quite how to handle it. While Tyra paused, he couldn’t help but take a good swig of his whiskey, and then sought a refill as he rubbed his face. Almost in time with him sitting down, Tyra began to speak again.

Damian could see it from Tyra’s side, even if something within him didn’t quite like it. He supposed it would have been the same for him. If he’d approached Tyra on something, Damian would likely put more stock in it, and it would change how he thought about the issue. With her going straight to Ju, someone she didn’t know at all, the information would be fresh and easy to examine.

“Once upon a time, I was a very, very young officer head over heels for her first officer…” Damian’s right brow jumped at the admission.

Continuing to listen, the shock wore off and his brow dropped. Eventually he nodded, not out of understanding, but out of appreciation for Tyra giving him a glimpse as to how her past colored everything. Silently, Damian cursed himself. The biggest sin, aside from the obvious, had been in not seeking Tyra out sooner. Then he cursed himself again for letting his feelings and pride get in the way of gleaning hardfought wisdom from someone who had plenty of it.

At some point, before Crawford had finished speaking, Damian had gone back to looking at the fresh golden liquor in his glass. There were so many conflicting thoughts and emotions running through him, and he honestly thought a glass or two would’ve helped to clear those out some. It hadn’t. They were all still there.

“I should have come to you sooner about all of this,” he admitted suddenly, looking up at Tyra.

“I’m no stranger to on-board romancing, and I’ve had plenty enough to know how tangled it can all get if you aren’t careful. I mean, you’ve known about them. Or, if not, I’m sure Cera had given you a heads up; it isn’t as though I’m very secretive about my relationships. Problem is, actually the good thing is, I never dated in my department and never cavorted with anyone within my chain of command. So if worse came to worse, things could get broken off and it would never really affect much.”

“Ju…” he used her first name, dropping the rank and family name from it all. It was the more honest thing to do, and would give Tyra more knowledge into where things sat for Damian.

“...it hadn’t started out as anything more than an acquaintance turned into a friendship. I mean, if Jenny hadn’t gotten mad at Ichika passing out because she had an alcohol allergy, we might not have bonded the way we did. It kinda grew from there. It was all very innocent. Just us hanging, and talking, having some food. I felt like I could just be someone who I wasn’t on the Artemis. I didn’t have to be Commander Coleman. I could just be Damian. It is great, and refreshing. We are still figuring out what there is between us…”

There was only a brief pause as he considered something.

“...and whatever that is, I will be sure to keep the two sides separated; work life and private life. I don’t think you would have approved Ju’s transfer if you didn’t think I could do that. And I will definitely follow the chain of command that you’ve arranged so that there is no conflict of interest.”

Now, there was a longer pause, as Damian weighed whether or not to ask Tyra more. Was it prying if it was something she had already offered up in the conversation? Perhaps she was expecting him to ask. Either way, Coleman decided it didn’t hurt to at least posit the question but also offer her a way out of answering it; not that Damian could hold Tyra’s feet to the fire if she truly didn’t want to answer something anyway.

“Now, I’m having trouble imagining a naive and giddy Tyra," he lightly joked before continuing in a more serious tone,

"and you absolutely don’t have to answer this if you don’t wanna. But the thing that happened between you and that First Officer… what happened? Is there something I should know that would help me? Someway I can protect Ju from something similar? Or is it just straight up ‘don’t do it’?”

Coleman wasn’t sure he wanted to hear the answers to his questions, particularly the last one. Though his last question might cause Tyra to roll her eyes, because it was a relatively moot question in all reality; that path was already being traveled by Ju and Damian.

“Cause I do care about her,” he was honest, both hands subconsciously cradling his glass gently.

[Tyra Crawford]

Tyra nodded as Damian spoke, understanding what he was looking for. If you weren't careful, command could be suffocating and worse, it could eat away at you. It was hard to hold two distinct personas without losing one of them and even harder when one was your public face. It was why she often struggled without her family aboard Artemis, knowing that she had to be careful not to let that command persona takeover entirely. She could never begrudge Damian for trying to find a touchstone and he was right, she wouldn't have approved it if she didn't think he could juggle it.

She laughed at his teasing, though she suspected he would have been shocked at the difference between a newly minted Midshipman Crawford and the person sitting before him. She knew Dayune often commented on the difference when they would talk about the old days and she honestly forgot what it was like to be that girl.

"And you absolutely don’t have to answer this if you don’t wanna. But the thing that happened between you and that First Officer… what happened? Is there something I should know that would help me? Someway I can protect Ju from something similar? Or is it just straight up ‘don’t do it’?”

She didn't miss his last admission but she also didn't react to it, instead choosing to pour herself some more. After pouring herself some more, the redhead leaned back on the couch, her leg crossing over the other as her drink balanced on her knee. Her expression had softened to something almost wistful.

"Rex..." she chuckled slightly. "He's not a ghost I talk about often."

No, she couldn't say Rexar Idrani occupied her thoughts very often these days but she also couldn't deny his important part in the pavers of her life. He had quite literally paved the way for a lot of what she had in her personal life, whether he knew it or not.

"Rex was --is-- a good man. He wasn't looking for another notch on his bedpost; he wanted someone to see him as more than just a uniform and someone to solve their problems. And I wanted to be loved and was naive enough to think none of it really mattered."

"As soon as it becomes public knowledge though, it colors everything involving you two. The superior officer will never be viewed as impartial or evenhanded when it comes to the junior and the junior will always be viewed as being given everything they get, even when they've earned it fair and square. I became Chief of Security while with Rex and it probably took a year before people outside the department believed I'd actually earned it and wasn't just given it."

It was very likely that was something that had clawed at a much younger Tyra Crawford but now, it was met with a little shrug and a wry smile.

"There was no explosive end to us; circumstances pulled us apart but we were likely destined for that. I didn't know it then but I was standing on the precipice of war, a war that would fundamentally change me in every way. I don't even think a reflection of that girl still exists. I don't think he could have watched that and I think I would have resented him trying to protect me," she said, her expression still soft but now tinged with traces of sadness. Whether for herself or what might have been was anyone's guess.

She took a sip of her bourbon, considering the amber liquid as if it was part of the story. She supposed it would have been if things had lasted longer; her drinking hadn't started until she'd gotten thrown in well over her head.

"But even then, I just can't tell you not to do it. Rex wasn't it for me but he paved the way for Thomas. I had known my husband for a month when he became my commanding officer and we were at the same stage it seems y'all are at. If I hadn't known what I was getting into, I don't think I would have taken the plunge and I would have missed out on everything with him," she explained, her smile becoming warmer as she spoke.

She took another sip of bourbon, savoring the burn in hopes it might push back that tug of longing she felt. There wasn't much she wouldn't have traded at that moment for Thomas. He had this way of just knowing how to put her back together after a crisis, knowing what pieces fit where and what she needed to feel human again.

"Even knowing what I was getting into, it wasn't without challenges. I made FO and CO with him in my chain of command so there was a belief he gave them to me. I toed the line hard on some things, knowing he wouldn't truly come down on me. In turn, he tried to send me places I couldn't cause trouble and then, when that didn't work, he sent me on the worst mission in an attempt to counter the favoritism accusations," she explained further before shrugging.

That was all water under the bridge now with Thomas retired but for years, most of their marriage, they had been in the same chain of command. Sometimes, he'd been her direct superior and sometimes, they'd had a buffer but they'd made it work with enough tough skin and communication.

She looked up at him, watching him for a moment before continuing. "I'd be a hypocrite to say don't do it but don't go into it blind. Know what it'll do to your reputation and hers. Know that if this is just a fun little fling, it might not be worth the damage done but if it isn't a fling, well maybe it is worth it."

"The biggest piece of advice I can give is that you can't protect her from this. You can try but you'll just make it worse. She'll either grow thick skin and learn to let the comments roll off or she won't. And you'll either learn to live with the perception or you won't. We can try to mitigate it by taking her out of your chain of command but I doubt that'll squash everything."

[Damien Coleman]

After Tyra had poured herself another, Damian followed suit. The topic that they were on wasn’t exactly hard to talk about for Coleman in a way, as he found romancing easy and straightforward such that it was almost second nature. Though, in this case, it was different. That probably was made obvious to Tyra already just how he spoke about Ju, the words he used, his tone, everything. Tyra’s life as a security officer made her a keen observer, and able to make very educated guesses about people; especially people she knew well.

Coleman sat back in his chair as Tyra started talking about her past, where ghosts seemed to flitter between the pages of history long written. There was still some reverence for this Rex character in her voice, and Damian felt it hit him, though many other emotions played out amongst Tyra’s recollection too. Having something that was as big as getting the Chief’s seat called into question left echoes of hurt in its wake, though time had softened whatever Crawford may have felt long ago and filed the edges down significantly.

It was when the heavier subject of war landed that Damian unconsciously leaned forward, now understanding why it was that he couldn’t see a young or naive officer in Tyra. That war had drawn a curtain between the two distinct time periods. Anything that Tyra had been before the war was sealed off from her, and any attempt to reconnect with that portion of herself was likely colored by the violence and horrors that came after. It was rare for Damian to see sadness from Tyra, though in that moment, it was plain for anyone to see. He wondered what something like that might be like between him and Ju. It was interesting to hear that Tyra would have resented Rex for trying to protect her, and that gave something for Damian to chew on as she sipped on her bourbon.

During the silence, Coleman caught that he’d leaned forward and corrected his posture, using a sip of his own drink as cover. As Tyra started again, Damian focused on her words, particularly the part where she had mentioned Thomas. Coleman didn’t know the man as well as he should have, though perhaps that was for the best all in all. What little he did know told him that Thomas was a rock for her. Something she needed when the weather changed suddenly.

And brother, the storm is raging… Coleman couldn’t help but think of the impending chaos that seemed to gather clouds on every front. If any of them walked away unscathed, it would be a miracle.

Though it did surprise him when she talked about Thomas and her, a pair not just as a relationship, but also in command together. Damian’s brows betrayed that shock, bouncing up not once, not twice, but thrice as she recounted the very basics of their dynamic through the years. That was something that Coleman couldn’t quite imagine. Still, the fact that they were together after all of that spoke volumes.

Tyra’s eyes fixed on him and Damian felt the gaze. Now it was back to the topic at hand, and instead of taking a sip of his drink, Damian drank in her words. Whatever happened next, whatever Damian and Ju were to make of their relationship, it would be an uphill climb in terms of crowd control and spin. Though what Coleman had to do, was to try and not stick his arm out to block shots that would be taken at Ju. At that he nodded in understanding.

Whatever there could be done about the rumor mill, it was better to let it run its course as naturally as they could. Having Ju outside of his direct chain of command might help some, though he nodded again in agreement with Tyra that it wouldn’t put a stop to everything. That was unsurprising. Even when Damian and Ju had been on whole other ships, on shore leave, without any actual romance, plenty of scuttlebutt flew around the Artemis about them. At least now Ju and him could own some of that reputation that they’d already earned. Whether that would be a good thing or not was something they’d have to wait and see about.

After Tyra’s words had settled, Damian let out a sigh and took a good swig of the drink in his hand. The burn of it wasn’t as intense as the first sip he’d taken, but the heat still found a way to swell within him. A sign of how he felt about everything just as much as how the drink affected him.

“What Ju and I have feels different. Something I haven’t felt in a long while with someone. Different enough that I’m willing to fight for it,” his voice lingered in the lower register.

“It won’t be an easy road. I think I knew that going into all of this, even before Ju had come aboard the Artemis. Maybe I can’t protect her, but if I can learn from you and Thomas, it is that I can support her behind closed doors. That I can communicate with her. Let her vent when she needs it. Give advice when asked for it. But more than anything, I just gotta keep standing by her side time and time again without falter.”

There was a smile on his face that Damian wanted to wipe away, but couldn’t. Deep down, there was a romantic side to him that was more than just the surface level flirty playful romancing that others had seen. It’d come up once before, though when that particular relationship hadn’t worked out, it had silenced his taste for it for a while. Now that he was First Officer though, and had a couple of missions under his belt as such, he had quickly realized just how damn lonely it could be.

Sitting in the chair across from Tyra, his eyes had fallen down into his glass, as he absentmindedly made the liquid within rotate along the clear walls. Damian had almost completely forgotten the reason he’d come into her Ready Room in the first place. All of those previous emotions completely fizzled and had gone away. Perhaps there was a little bit of the alcohol doing its work, but mostly it was the discussion. Had Tyra intended to diffuse everything so easily and so quickly with him? Or had it not been as big of a deal to Damian than he thought? No, Coleman realized that what Tyra had said made sense, and that was what he had wanted to hear in the first place.

After another moment, he filled his lungs with air and blew out another sigh, before looking up into Tyra’s eyes.

“Things are gonna get rough for me I think,” he changed the topic.

“Some of the stuff that I’ve found out from old friends, and warnings from others who don’t owe me any more favors, point to a shitstorm. Before I came under your command, I told you about my past with the Atlanta, with Captain Peck. Well, not all of it, but enough that you could easily put the pieces of the puzzle together, especially with your background in security. Whatever hornet nest or nests we’ve stirred up, there is a frenzy about our pasts. There’s been lots of digging, and I won’t be surprised if they wrangle Peck. If they do that, then they’ll be asking me plenty of questions that I don’t particularly want to answer.”

A brief swig punctuated his feelings on the matter.

“I’m hoping that all they’ll do is ask me for a statement and leave it at that. Though I just want you to know that Peck has the amazing ability to make things go from bad to worse. And he doesn’t give a damn who gets swept up in his bullshit. There ain’t nothing they can take a swing at you about it all, but they might go at me some to push your buttons. I’ve already been talking to my own representation, but so far things are pretty unknown.”

“I just felt like you should at least hear it from me first, or maybe second if Cera somehow knew about all of that already,” Damian chuckled at the thought, though he also knew the blonde woman’s web was significant.

[Tyra Crawford]

As Tyra watched Damian over the top of her glass, it was hard to ignore the fact that he looked and spoke like a man in love, or at minimum, very smitten. It was a contrast against the more reserved hesitance of Ju but she also supposed Damian was more likely to be open with her on the matter, particularly after the conversation they'd had.

She felt that tiny tug of longing again, missing the way she'd catch her husband looking at her with that lovestruck smile from time to time when he thought she wasn't looking. Not that he wasn't allowed to look at her like that whenever he wanted but he knew she was quick to tease him for being a sappy old man.

"Just be patient. It's a marathon, not a sprint," she offered with a warm smile, appreciating how Damian had opened up to her. For having started this meeting on opposite ends of an abyss, it felt like they'd built a bridge or the framework of a bridge.

They were silent for a few moments, each nursing their drink with the utmost care, Damian spoke again. His sigh had been the warning sign that the had likely changed, or he was about to divulge to her that he'd somehow ended up in a messy love triangle he needed help extracting himself from. Fortunately, it was not the latter, although maybe that would have been easier to solve.

Tyra was silent as he began to talk about the Atlanta and Captain Peck. Previously, he'd given her enough information that she had been able to draw her own conclusions about the mess that Damian had found himself in on his previous assignment. However, never in her wildest nightmares, had she imagined that this whole mess might drag that back to the surface; that she would inadvertently pull the skeletons out of his closet.

“I just felt like you should at least hear it from me first, or maybe second if Cera somehow knew about all of that already,” he concluded with a chuckle, though Tyra didn't really feel like chuckling when faced with this news.

"Cera is currently on a fact finding mission for me, though I asked her to focus on myself, Elias and Nathan Ramius. I'll be honest, I didn't consider that they might go after you, not like this…" Her voice was soft, apologetic with a tinge of guilt, her blue eyes dipping down to her drink for a moment.

She swallowed before bringing her gaze back up to meet Damian's. "I'm sorry. I know continuing to say that doesn't fix anything but I am. I kept you in the dark to try to protect you from the consequences of this mess and yet, here we are…"

Her eyes flickered down again but only for a second, even as she took a sip of her drink. "Tell me what you need me to do. It's probably wisest if we continue on as if this doesn't bother me and you're not an effective pawn to use against me but if you want me to pull strings, I will. I owe you that much."

"And if Captain Peck somehow drags you into the mess fully, I'll wage a war for you, don't doubt it. As shocking as it might seem, I'm pretty good at it," she promised, her lips curving into a wry grin at the last.

== Tag ==

[Tyra Crawford]

>> Briefing Room >>

Tyra didn't actually recall the steps she'd taken between the briefing room and her ready room or whether she'd taken the back way or the more expedient route through the bridge. In fact, she didn't recall whether she'd surveyed the bare bones of her office when she'd entered either.

Actually, her first conscious recollection was purging what was left of her lunch and the coffee she'd tried to sip as her nightmare unfolded down the hall, her throat burning as she'd leaned her forehead against the cool metal and prayed for some mercy on her soul.

By the time she'd exited her bathroom suite, she, at least, felt some semblance of humanity returning to her. The nausea had receeded and while the storm of emotions was still there, it felt like she might have found the eye of the storm. It was enough to give her hope that she could stumble through the next few hours of necessary tasks before she either found her bed or more likely found another coping mechanism.

Her blue eyes surveyed the room consciously this time. It was sterile and sanitized as if it had waited patiently for a new owner. There was a duffel bag next to the door that she assumed was Givens but other than that, there were no signs that there had almost been a new occupant of the room.

It took her a moment to settle her gaze on the desk, which was not as sterile as she'd originally thought. Tucked back behind the console was a to-go coffee cup from the same coffee shop she'd met Calleja at what felt like months ago, steaming rising from the cup still. There was also another container of what looked to be dinner, though she couldn't tell what through the condensation on the lid, and a napkin with a brownie. She might have assumed these were Givens' if it weren't for the brownie and the way two PADDs were stacked on top of the coffee cup in a manner Cera perfected to ensure she didn't neglect them in her rush for caffeine.

To avoid considering when Cera brought the particular offerings, she added thanking Cera and finding Mara to her growing to do list. The saving grace was that while the former could be done at anytime, the latter needed to wait until everything had cooled off a little. However, probably before launch...as if Tyra had spare hours at this point.

Not feeling overly adventurous, she shifted the food out of the way but she scooped up the coffee cup as if it was something precious, its warmth seeping into her cold fingers. The smell of her favorite coffee blend brought the barest of smiles to her lips as she picked up the top PADD. It held the mission particulars as well as a very detailed account of what she had missed in her absence. Based on the fine details, she was fairly certain Cera had been keeping a running record as if she had full confidence in Tyra's return.

The second PADD held the list she had requested not even fifteen minutes earlier. It started with the most obvious options, Omdor and Givens. Mayfair and Miller, both having just completed their command training, were both listed as well. From there, it ventured to the external, offering names both familiar and unfamiliar to her. Some jumped out as possibilities while others were immediately dismissed but Tyra was well aware that she needed to choose wisely. The person to temporarily -- and she had to believe it was temporary, that Damian would survive this, even if it required calling in every favor she possessed -- had to be selected with the big picture in mind, with an understanding of just tenuous everything was. And yet, it also needed to be someone she could trust to act in the crew's best interest, even if she couldn't.

She ran a hand over her face as she tried to decide what to handle first. There were calls that needed to be made, answers gained from Bill and nerves soothed by Thomas. The list at her fingertips added more calls to her list because the time crunch and the isolation of DS9 vastly limited her access to candidates she already knew. What she wouldn't give for Logan or Sierra or Jason or Jenny...or...

How late is it on Bajor? she mentally calculated as she shifted the priorities of her calls, knowing that both Bill and Thomas could wait a few moments longer if it meant her headache was lessened even a little.

It seemed to take forever for the channel to connect once she'd made her decision, uncharacteristic doubts about whether he'd even answer this late -- not that he'd be sleeping -- flitting about until he did. And then, her lips had curved into the most genuine smile of the last week as she greeted him with the faintest of hopes that he might be able to help her right the world just a little.

== TBC @ launch ==