Dal sighed as the door swished shut behind the two captains, and leaned back in her chair. Change was a constant, and could be difficult, especially after the recent events with Frontier Day, but… yeah, she wasn’t sure if those two worried her, or made her want to smile more. 

A chirp from the console got her attention and she couldn’t help the smile as she recognised the ID on the screen. 

“Well lookit what the cat dragged in,” she grinned as she answered it. “You still owe me a drink for that promotion, Mr. Executive Officer.”

Keith raised his eyebrows, a grin playing at the corners of his lips as he gave her and incredulous look, “I owe you? Oh, I’m sorry, who made Task Force XO first, lady?” He asked. “You owe me that drink,” he teased, giving her that winning grin of his. 

She shook her head, still smiling. Only Keith could turn things around that quickly. “Yeah, yeah… you have to be in the same place as me to collect it. And last I checked you were…” Way too far away. “Across the other side of the galaxy.” 

“Listen, at least you’re admitting that you owe it this time,” Keith replied, waving it off. “At this rate, we’ll drink Quark out of house and home,” He teased. His face softened a little and the smile turned a little less mischievous and a little more sincere, “How you doing, Trouble?” He asked. Even on a screen, it was good to see her face. 

“Is that even possible?” She quipped, then her smile slipped a bit and she shrugged one shoulder. He was the one person she’d always been able to be honest with. About most things. “You know, recent events… it’s been a bit rough. How about you?” 

Keith narrowed his eyes at her for a split second. ‘It’s been a bit rough’ from Dal meant she’d been hanging on by a thread… but if she wasn’t chasing it, he wasn’t going to, “Trying to get my head around everything that happened,” He admitted. “That was a lot closer than I’d care to admit.” 

“Yeah, too right.” She nodded, glancing toward the door. “If it hadn’t been for Zale…” She shrugged and smiled again, brightly. The relief she’d felt when she’d checked the casualty lists and Keith wasn’t on there… 

“Yeah, I can imagine. How’s Zale doing?” Keith asked, smiling. He’d always gotten on well with Dal’s yeoman. For some reason, the man seemed to really like him and honestly, he liked how hard he looked out for Dal. Lord knew someone had to. 

She nodded. “Pretty good. Pretty good. But I never want to see that side of him again, believe me. It was not pretty. He took a shitload of damage. Saved a lot of people.” 

“Sounds about right for him,” Keith said with a chuckle. He sighed a little and shook his head and looked off a bit, “We’d just gotten a whole bunch of lowerdeckers on the Asger,” He explained. “Most of them fresh out of Academy. They all turned,” He said, his eyes growing darker. “We managed to subdue most of them but a few…” 

He looked back up at the camera with that kicked puppy look she knew so well from all the other times his heart had been broken, “How do you send a message home telling their family that you’re sorry their kid got turned into a Borg and you had to kill them to save the rest of the crew? That’s… that’s a bitch.” 

She wanted to hug him. He’d always worn his heart on his sleeve. “It is, and sensitively.” She sighed. She’d had to write those letters herself. “If there is such a thing. You spare them the details, ramp up their kid’s heroism. Then you get drunk after and try to dull the pain.” 

“Yeah,” Keith said with a nod. He gave her a hint of grin, “Thanks for that bottle of Irish Whiskey, by the way” He said, then chuckled. “Completely unrelated, of course.” 

“You’re more than welcome. Just don’t ask where it came from,” she winked. She still had a few contacts that weren’t strictly legal. “You still doing your stretches, Starfleet?”

“Uh… yeah,” Keith replied, in the most unconvincing tone ever. 

She raised her eyebrow at him. “You know I’m going to make you do them all when I see you, and it’s going to hurt because you haven’t been doing them.”

“I’ve been doing them, just… probably not as much as I should,” He said, immediately feeling embarrassed that he’d been slacking off. He gave her a grin, “I miss you… you know that? I don’t like being on the other side of the galaxy,” He said, honestly. 

“Yeah… I miss you as well,” she said, dropping her gaze for a moment. He’d always been disarmingly honest, and it did her every time. “When’s your next leave. We should do something… not paragliding this time though!”

Keith immediately started laughing and waving her off, “Never again! Ever!” He said, remembering exactly how poorly that had gone last time. “I don’t know why I thought that was a good idea!” 

She snorted. “Because you’re an adrenaline junkie, that’s why. I don’t know why I let you persuade me every damn time. I’m sure we exhausted the replicators stores of ice packs.” 

“That’s because you trust me more than anyone else in Starfleet,” Keith replied, pointing at her on the screen. “And you know that I won’t get you into too much trouble,” He teased. 

She laughed. “Your definition of too much trouble and mine are very, very different!” 

But he was right, she did trust him. She couldn’t let him off that easily though. “More than anyone in Starfleet? I dunno, Zale is running a pretty close second these days. And I have a couple of new captains that look promising.”

“I’ll take Zale, but if you’re talking about RJ and Mason, we’re going to fight,” Keith replied in mock offense. “You stole my troublemakers. You know I love my troublemakers.” 

She looked at him, eyebrow inching up. “I did. Whatcha gonna do about it?” 

Then she laughed. 

“Oh my god, they are a pair, aren’t they? Tell me about Mason,” she demanded, leaning forward and wrapping a lock of her hair around her finger. It was a habit she’d never been able to completely get rid of, but one she thankfully only fell into when she was comfortable.

“Well, I can’t tell you much because you didn’t let me crack his shell enough!” Keith replied, pretending to be offended. He couldn’t hold it long, seeing her act all cute and demure was absolutely hilarious to him, knowing how likely it was for her to literally crack someone’s skull if the need arose. 

He chuckled and shook his head, “There’s a lot to that one,” He admitted. “He told me some, but not much. Be good to him,” He said. “Man needs a friend. He’s got an incredible amount of potential, but he’s holding himself back for some reason,” He explained. 

He could have told her everything… but nah, he was going to make her work for it. 

He knew more than he was telling her, she could tell. She leaned on her elbows, pouting. “Come on, you have to have more than that! You’re like a damn interrogator when you want to know something.” 

“Oh, I definitely know more than that,” Keith said with a coy grin. “But that would require you and me at the same table with something far more alcoholic than either of us should be in possession of,” He told her, that spark of mischief making its way back into his eyes. 

He had to admit, it was hard when she dialed up the cute, but he’d grown at least a bit of a resistance over the years. 

“Would you take an IOU?” she pressed. “I mean, these are my guys now. RJ’s an open book, but Mason… he’s different. There’s something about him. I think I should be in full possession of the facts, especially since he’s an asset in my task force now.”

“Nah, Dal, this one is pay on delivery only,” Keith said with a grin, then turned a bit more serious, “In all honesty though… this isn’t mine to tell. There’s no security risk, there’s no major issues, but… it’s something personal he’s carrying,” He admitted. “I think if you let him get to know you a bit, and then push some, he’ll tell you the details but… What he told me was off the record over a drink. I don’t feel right passing it on,” Keith admitted, then smiled a little more softly, “Even to you, and that should say a lot.” 

She nodded. That did tell her everything she needed to know. Keith was so squeaky-clean some of the time it made her teeth ache. But, he was one of the good guys. “So… alcohol? I’m heading out to the Deneb Sector on the Manticore, so I have time to get him to open up.” 

“Start by finding one of his crewman passed out in a coffee shop and drag him halfway across a space station and get him in bed. Then drinks,” Keith said, nodding sagely before he started chuckling. “Let him know he can trust you first. Show him. He’s a good man, Dal. I feel that in my bones,” Keith explained. “RJ… RJ can go out an airlock if need be,” He said, chuckling a bit. 

She grinned. “Let me guess, he cracked onto you?” 

Keith laughed, “Oh, he tried. I don’t think he knew what to do with me.” 

“Probably not.” She’d have paid good money to have been a fly on that wall. “He’s a tad predictable, isn’t he? A lot of a wildcard out in the saddle, but predictable everywhere else.”

“Yeah, pretty much so,” Keith admitted with a grin. “I’ll be honest with you, though, there’s something about him too. Working with him is going to be herding cats, but if you can make it work, I think he’ll do good.” 

“Oh, I can make it work.” She grinned unrepentantly. “I already have him on the back foot. He was like a cat on a hot tin roof just now.”

Keith leaned forward, narrowing his eyes and grinning, “What did you do?” 

“Nothing… much,” She bit her lip, amusement in her eyes. “Played on his lack of memory a little. He chatted me up in a bar months ago, but passed out when… yeah.” She snorted. “Covered him with a blanket and left him to it. He doesn’t know that though.” 

“So he thinks…” Keith burst out laughing hysterically. “Oh my god, that man must be losing his damn mind right now!” 

She grinned like the cheshire cat. “He did not want to be in here, let me tell you. He was so close to Mason he might as well have been in his pants. You should have seen it. Oh, and if you ever need the info, he has a tattoo of a cupcake on his ass.”

“Oh my god… Computer, RJ has a tattoo of a cupcake on his ass, please make note of that,” Keith called out. 

“Note added to your private record for Captain Reese-Riggs,” the computer chimed back happily. 

“I will absolutely use that information for absolutely no good later,” Keith admitted, laughing. 

“That’s what I like to hear.” She tilted her head. Talking with Keith always cheered her up. “So when is your next leave? I have some personal time coming up. Just a few days…” She let the sentence trail off. 

“Majestic is out on patrol right now, but I have some leave I can take as soon as we get back. Where do you want to meet up?” Keith asked. There was no question, he was going wherever she said. He missed her too much not to take the chance. 

“How about the Silvaasian Resort? Beaches… blue seas as far as the eye can see?” She suggested. “Waterfalls, and there’s even jet-skiing if you really have to get the adrenaline rush in.”

Yeah… she may have been planning to tempt him there for a while. 

Keith resisted the urge to raise an eyebrow. “That… sounds incredibly relaxing, and you have a deal,” He said. Part of him wanted to say date… but he didn’t quite know if that was the vibe or not. He’d spent so long trying to convince himself that any feelings he’d had for this woman were platonic that the thought that she might be asking him to a resort planet known for it’s beautiful and quiet for any reason other than friendship was… crazy. 

Right?

“Perfect!” She smiled like the cat that got the cream. “It’s a date. I’ll confirm the details and make a booking so you can’t back out.” 

She checked the time. “Shit. I’m going to be late for my meeting if I don’t get a wriggle on. I’ll call you when I’ve made the booking, okay?” 

‘It’s a date’… huh… Keith didn’t let it make him flounder, to his credit, and just smiled and nodded, “Sounds like a plan, Trouble. Go get your meeting done. Give ‘em hell.” 

“Catch you on the flipside, Starfleet.” She winked and cut the comm.