Admiral Cauis Lemuria was pissed more than anyone had ever seen him. He had always been such a sarcastic and fun loving person that it was hard to imagine him angry. Of course from time to time, he did show frustration, but this was bigger than that

But he was showing it to Callum, Olivia, and Carol who had been trying to have a nice talk. But When Callum's datapad began to pick up Cauis's signal, they knew they couldn't escape it. He was an Admiral and had been for a few months.

The three were sat in Callum's quarters, hoping to have this break time to watch a movie. Though they had trouble agreeing at first, they finally decided to watch 2001: A Space Odyssey. As well as have a few drinks and snacks.

"Care to explain why the hell your ship was seen battling over a moon that ahan't even invented a phone yet?" Cauis asked.

He was dressed in one of his regular wears instead of an admiral like outfit. He was wearing a long sleeved black shirt with old looking jeans. Probably he had been putting some instructions and design ideas for his project of Yorktown.

Callius had been the one who agreed to the idea. Though Cauis had shown and spoke about his idea of Yorktown, since he loved reading the revolutionary war and the battle names. He found it as a worthy name for the upcoming starbase.

"It's really complicated. I could try to give the best shortly to you, sir. We pissed someone off, we had a fight, and their ship exploded," Callum tried.

He was busy behind the counter with the blocks of different kinds of cheese he kept in the fridge. Picking from cheeses of Brie, Gouda, and cheddar were all just enough. As well as a few saltine crackers plated to the side.

He had put over a gray sweater over his uniform, having been cold seconds before. Recently, having shaved, but hiding the lack of sleep well. He was much more calmed now that chaos was over for now.

"You're not going to get away with just that when it comes to Callius!" Cauis remarked.

"You didn't exactly state he couldn't say it like that," Carol added.

"She has a point," Olivia smiled.

"Could you just get the parts out of it?!?" Cauis exclaimed, "Tell me what just happened!"

"To put it shortly, but not as bad as Callum's," Olivia joked, Callum feigned fake offense, causing a  few giggles out of Carol, "We had a small incident happen that got Brystal captured-"

"I'm sorry, WHAT?!?" Cauis looked at them incredulously.

"If I may finish," Olivia added, "Then, we decided, well more Jim made a deal with Amaya. We were able to find her from one of the scavengers that captured her."

"He made a what?!?"

"Then, that scavengers name was Silas, and that they both had pissed off one of Arik's old toys, Anya-"

"She's still alive?!?" Cauis asked, knowing he had met the woman only once in his lifetime.

"Well, she's dead now," Carol told him, "She's been dead for the past three hours."

Cauis stared at the screen from his spot on earth. He had no idea what he'd just heard was real or not. It sounded ridiculous enough to fit into the categories of true and fake stories.

"You did all that in one day?" Cauis asked.

"Precisely," 28 hours, 4 minutes," Carol replied.

"You kept track?" Callum smiled.

"It was hard not to," Carol smiled back.

Olivia rolled her eyes at the two, "That's pretty much it though. You, Una, and Cosette can go back to whatever family things or you back to work-"

"You can't stop there!" Cauis reprimanded her, "I can't believe I'm even saying this. But this story is the craziest thing I've ever heard......why Brystal though?"

"That's also complicated," Callum told him.

"Complicated or not. You still need to write a report," Cauis added before the sound of someone calling his name, "One last thing, please make sure you put every detail."

"What makes you think we won't?" Olivia asked.

"I have many reasons to think so, Hale," Cauis grunted, annoyed before the screen call ended.

"Well......we came here to watch an old film that nobody understands so..........." Callum looked over to the two.

"Yes, I believe we all did say we were going to," Carol agreed.

"Could you possible make this not feel painful?" Brystal asked Leonard as he fixed up some stitching on her thigh. Already having one tissue in one nostril that hadn't seized bleeding. In all honesty, she felt and looked like hell.

She added up all the things that could've caused her pain to be etched throughout her body. The occasional being electrocuted and tossed to the side was frequent, could've added to the slight healing marks across her body. And then her head being smashed against a cargo bin.

The minor bruises from falling a few stories. But mostly what had disappeared was the red marks from almost being choked to death by one of Anya's soldiers. By all means she probably wasn't suited for fighting for a few days, but then minus one day cause of her blood that would always heal her up.

Though, she'd grown used the thought her being half-recreation and having the same type of blood as Khan, it still hurt a bit. It had been found from breaking through a lie her mother and father put up to protect her and Kit. He hadn't taken the news too well either, but he seemed ro be improving over the last month with his identity.

"You don't have much of a choice, sweetheart," Leonard grumbled as he continued to mend up her thigh.

"At least it isn't as bad as Jim's brutal beating back at the bar a few years ago," Uhara complimented, who was seated at the chair next to Brystal's bedside.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure this is worse," Brystal replied before looking over at Leonard, "You know maybe I should get an award for being your most likely to be injured behind all belief, but somehow still alive

Uhara let out a soft chuckle while Leo stood back up to full height and rolled his eyes, "You and Jim are the worst patients."

"I shall take that as a compliment," Brystal smiled, jokingly.

"Due to your freakishly healing blood, you should be up and ready by the morning for work as the second officer of the ship," Leonard informed her in a slightly annoyed tone.

"I'm honestly not surprised by that," Brystal commented, "I get to get out of this damn hideous patient dress."

Uhara smiled, holding back a few laughs from the two's bickering. Though the two were usually friendly with each other, Brystal liked pushing buttons when she had to be taken to medical bay. She knew her friend hated being tended to and treated like she'd been in the worst accident ever.

She'd seen this happen a few times in the past. Whether it was after a small mission Callius had sent her on or it was just from being beaten up from training. She knew exactly that Brystal could handle herself.

"You and your damn complaints," Leonard muttered.

Amaya sat up against the glass wall  of her prison cell. Allowing some silence to be able to flow through from all of the sounds of gunfire and screaming. And for once she felt glad to even be in a room by herself. 

Her mind swept to the thought of Brystal hugging her, forgetting how much she missed being by Brystal's side. But she knew her jealousy had taken control of her years ago. So it was good to know their relationship was at least starting to mend up.

The next was having to deal with Ava and Christopher Pike's death. People who had stood by their parents and were friends to them as well as treated her like another daughter. But she knew that pain was going to take a toll on her.

"You're Amaya right?" A man's voice said behind her.

"And you are the Crosshair that took Brystal?" Amaya asked.

"Touché," Silas chuckled before he examined her, "I've heard a lot about you."

"Good or bad?" Amaya inquired.

 "Mix of both," Silas answered. 

Amaya examined the man in fronof her. His left arm was bandage with slight burn marks across his thumb. His jacket had lost some of its stitching, making it look a bit ragged across his body. 

He looked as if he'd been through almost the sma was she and Brystal had that day. Amaya still had a few tissues by her side just in case there was some bleeding from her lips. She hadn't been to accepting of being taken care of just yet.

"Well, you've made yourself a reputation," Amaya commented.

"Heh, good to know," Silas let out an airy chuckle.

He looked to the clean white floors, not even specked with dust or aging. Something that a made him miss the Journey was how they never cleaned it. Even if they didn't, it never really mattered because they were too busy trying to enjoy life.

Like they were trying to make up all the happiness they hadn't gotten from being experimented on. They didn't care how much alcohol, chips  or games were played. Nor what music was played, they were having the time of their lives.

He sat down on the floor, his back against the glass. Amaya noticed this motion, turning her head backward to see what he was going to do next. After a moment of silence, Silas cleared his throat.

"So.......what would you do if you went back in time and changed one thing?" Silas asked.

"I guess I would......" Amaya hesitated, "I guess I would stop myself from turning against Bry. She didn't deserve at all what happened to her, and when we were little we always promised we would protect each other. It'd be nice to watch stupid shows, sneak some of my mom's treats, and stay up all night whispering  about....you know whatever."

"Girl stuff?" Silas smiled.

"Yeah, girls stuff." Amaya nodded.

"I used to do a lot of that stuff with Frida and Jason."

"That's nice to know you don't just blast music," Amaya chuckled, "But.....what would you do if you could change time?"

"I......I would stop myself from making a deal with Arik. I wouldn't have to have lived 300 something years without seeing any of my family again. The only reason I agreed was because he promised a cure for my sister's condition of Polio.......i should've seen past those lies, but I didn't. I'd do anything to live in a cabin in the woods, my grandmother s Christmas dinners, and maybe another Drive-In movie."

"Those theaters always sounded nice," Amaya smiled.

"They were," Silas agreed, "They had the best snacks in Minnesota! And I mean the best! They always would show little cartoons before they would start the movie. You would)ve had to have tried to popcorn and pretzels."

"Maybe if I visit a planet like that," Amaya told him.

"Maybe," Silas said.

"Oh..." Jim stopped at the door, seeing Brystal sitting on top of his kitchen countertop. The lights of his room were dimly lit, but enough for her to read what was ever on her datapad. Wearing a red sweater, having being out of Medbay hours ago.

The night shift had long since started minutes ago, everyone who had the day shifts were tired. He had already bid a goodnight to Olivia, who immediately said she the same to him. But he was preferably hoping for a nice calm night.

His mind was already stressed out from how he should write a report to Callius. He didn't know which parts he should keep in and what parts he should keep out. But he knew that in two days that they had to stop to get the ship repaired on the planet, Yalara. To which he was surprised that Callius, earth Ambassador Alejandro Sanchez, and Senator Adeline were going to be there.

Brystal turned her head to see him, hoping off the countertop, "I read your report. I thought how you explained will perform well to Callius's liking. Though I think he'd like a bit more of background information on Silas to be sure of his records, so we can find out who his family was."

Jim was still a bit confused from why he was in his quarters before him, but still he knew what this was about, "It's more than that."

Brystal swallowed hard as she set her datapad down. Though she'd been dreading with what she might have to say, she knew it was the best she had. Every word would have to mean everything she told him.

She'd never been good at admitting when she was wrong. Neither was she good at handle her own pain by herself. But she knew she had enough strength in words than she ever could.

"Yes.....it isn't about the report........it's about.....how I reacted earlier. But that I also learned something," Brystal looked him directly in the eyes, looking serious.

"I'm sorry, what?" Jim asked, still trying to take in with where this was going.

"It was about me........but more about us," Brystal explained though hesitant on where to begin.

"Care to explain.......it more? The part on us?"

"I was being idiot. I closed off because of what happened years ago. Being trained as a Renegade was the only thing that seemed to make me feel special at the time. And that my past through those years has become bitter. But you did point out it wasn't going to keep me safe.......and you're right........not just me but other people as well. But instead I acted like an ass."

"Can I get that in writing?" Jim asked.

"Oh, and you were right about something else......I'm safe as long as I'm home."

The struck a chord in Jim, knowing she couldn't take all the blame, "Hey look.....I....i'm sorry if I pushed too far beyond some boundaries. Like you said it wasn't easy to become one."

"I know......" Brystal nodded, "But there are only a few handfuls of people who decide to care about others and help try to fix them. Who aren't diminished by the facts of what those people fear or what's hurting them, so they put their duties aside  for those people. Because their crew comes first before them....their friends and family. And that is a strength and not a weakness like thousands of others will say."

The words were full of truth, driven with a sense of purpose that she was trying to aim for. But immediately, Jim got her point. He knew exactly what she meant by every word she spoke, he looked to the floor for a second. 

So he let a few moments of silence pass between them as if he was preparing himself for what he should say. Knowing, he should choose his words carefully. But at the same time make it at least sound comfortable in that moment, so he took a few steps forward and directly looked her in the eyes.

"So where are you going to find another person like that?" Jim asked.

"You brought me home. A place I thought I lost a long time ago. That's what happened after the day after the Borg Queen came seeking vengeance. I can never walk away from that.......i've promised a thousand times to others that'll I'll be a better person tomorrow and that I'll be good. But that never really stuck......because I know now that's I'm already the person I already know myself for....and that..........that I don't deserve you. Your kindness, your honesty, and your protection. But I'm asking .........will you forgive me?"

It had been such a simple question along. But she found a way to put it all together in sorrowful and sweet terms, all sounding so poetically concocted. But he knew every word she spoke was from the heart.

He sighed, looking at her as he took in the moment. He honestly and no words and he felt like their argument was at a stalemate. That truly was something he wanted to make up after the mission.

Though he took her by surprise by him kissing her, his hands cupped around her cheeks. The adrenaline that still lingered from the battle seemed to melt away. The warmth of it seemed to comfort her heart.

He slowly pulled away before saying, "Let's see how the next thirty minutes go."