325Author's Note: Rating will change to M due to sexual themes. You can skip the last three paragraphs of this chapter if that's not something that interests you.
Shoutout to XxLizyBeexX for their last review- this chapter is dedicated to them.
Commander's Personal Log: Stardate 2276.05
Although the context in which my sister and the captain met was less than ideal, their friendship quickly matured. As a human child raised first on Vulcan, and then Terra, Georgiana was usually very selective about who she spent time with, and therefore her platonic relationships would often require years to eventually develop into strong friendships.
I should have guessed Elizabeth would be an exception.
In hindsight, perhaps all the information about the captain I disclosed to my sister previous to their initial meeting primed her for a friendly association. Or, it is possible that they would have become friends regardless of any input from me.
I have learned not to underestimate Elizabeth Bennet's magnetism.
Captain's Quarters, U.S.S. Longbourn: Stardate 2275.310 at 0825 hours
Darcy was dying.
His mouth felt fuzzy, his eyes were dry. He couldn't be certain, but it felt like his head was heavier than it was yesterday. A sense of nausea spread quickly, and even the little muted light that managed to penetrate his eyelids sent a shaft of pain through his brain. Whatever the cause of his symptoms, the disease itself obviously had an incredibly rapid onset. The chances that this clearly contagious and painful disease was benign was... he didn't know exactly, but it probably wasn't a very high number. If he, a man who had never been sick in his life, was so easily affected, the poor humans on board were most likely already dead.
A fissure of fear shot through him at the thought, and with great effort he sat up rigidly, his eyes blinking rapidly in the soft light that signified morning on the ship.
Georgiana. James. Elizabeth.
Quickly stumbling his way out of the bed, and in the process completely neglecting the unfamiliar environment, Darcy hurried through the door before the sight of the very clearly healthy captain at her desk stopped him in his tracks.
The temporary light sensitivity returned with a vengeance now that he wasn't occupied by the thought of a deadly disease sweeping across the starship. He tried to school his face into a smooth mask before she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, but he wasn't sure he succeeded. Her socked feet were propped up on the corner of her desk while she held up a PADD at eye level, and as he watched she absentmindedly scratched at her pajama pants where they hung off her hips. Some of her uniforms revealed more skin than her current baggy shirt and plaid pants, but in this setting her attire and slightly mussed hair create a rather intimate feeling.
Darcy blamed his clearly ailing brain, and shoved the thought to the back of his mind.
Perhaps he waited too long to speak, as Lizzie seemed to wear an expectant look before letting out a sleepy, "Hey." The commander let out a soft grunt in response while clutching at his head, and the captain chuckled at the vague sound from the (usually) articulate officer before gesturing for him to sit on the couch.
"Well, Mary will be ecstatic at the discovery you can experience hangovers. I'm sure she already has a rough outline of the research paper she wants you and T'Hain to co-author." The captain sounded immensely amused at his predicament, and Darcy felt a little foolish at the idea that all his current pain was due to his own misguided actions the previous night.
Although the research paper did sound like an efficient use of his attempt at human socialization traditions. Two birds with one stone, and all that.
"Did I..." the Vulcan began before realizing how dry his mouth was. After swallowing a few times, he continued. "Did I miss the beginning of my shift?"
Lizzie let out a disbelieving laugh as she got up to walk toward the replicator installed in the side wall. "Commander, as much as I admire your dedication to the job, I definitely already reported you as sick today." She held up one hand to pre-emptively stop his protestations as she used the other to fill up a glass with water. "And I've confirmed there's nothing urgent scheduled, and you're ahead on all of your duties. Right now, our priority is getting those vaccines to Tarkalea, and unless there's an emergency we're basically on stand-by."
The captain stopped in front her second-in-command, holding out the glass of water until he took it. Her gaze softened as she told him, "I know you miss your sister; why don't you take the next few days off and spend some quality time with her?"
Giving herself a mental pat on the back for the idea, Lizzie waited for Darcy to finish chugging the water before setting the cup on the side table. Affection welled in her chest at the sight of Darcy blinking up at her in consideration. He definitely deserved the time off, and she was sure he was going to wholeheartedly agree and maybe even thank her for the idea-
"This is unnecessary."
Well, that was not quite the response she was expecting.
Gesturing as if to say, "go on," Lizzie waited a few seconds in silence before realizing Darcy was not going to give an explanation. She raised an eyebrow and felt her facial expression morph into a frown, and now she knew what Charlotte meant when she accused her of having "judgmental face." "Why is that 'unnecessary'?"
"My sister and I will simply meet after my shift ends, if she is also available, of course."
Sitting down next to him on the couch, Lizzie turned until one of her legs was comfortably draped across the seat and she could face him for the discussion. For some reason her suggestion that Darcy spend time with his sister became vitally important to her. If the captain would have thought about the weird urgency the idea had taken on, she may have realized that she simply wanted the Vulcan to be... happy.
"Darcy," she began lightly, "didn't you tell me that you only see your sister once a year, if that?" She continued at his nod. "Therefore, isn't it logical to conclude that spending this time with her, when you're both available and in the same location, is the smart choice?"
The conversation briefly paused as the Vulcan considered the proposition.
"Yes."
Lizzie preened. She almost couldn't believe she had actually gotten the Vulcan to agree with her; he had a history of arguing over any and every detail if his opinion differed from hers. They didn't disagree that often, but when they did he had a habit of winning their little arguments, mostly through sheer perseverance. And finally, finally, she got him to-
"I can work half my shift each day and still have adequate time for personal activities."
A gob smacked expression littered her face before she stood up and firmly said, "Commander Darcy, you are relieved of your shifts for the next 6 days. As a matter of fact, so is Officer Fitzwilliam," she tacked on, a little guilty because- to be honest- she had almost forgotten that there was another officer on board related to Georgiana. "As soon as I find out if that shift change is feasible. You are going to enjoy spending time with your family, damn it!"
The Vulcan clutched at his head, wincing at the rising volume of his captain's voice. That persistent headache didn't stop him from sarcastically asking, "Is the latter statement a command too?"
Lizzie rolled her eyes affectionately, crossed her arms, and gave a regal, "Yes."
A part of him knew for a fact that Lizzie would never wield her captaincy power over something so trivial, and as he had gotten better at differentiating between her various tones, he was aware that while she was joking, that this was important to her. He mentally reviewed his upcoming projects before yielding to her expertise in human socialization. While he spoke to Georgiana via satellite fairly consistently, he was also aware that humans still required direct face-to-face interaction to properly maintain existing relationships. The physical proximity would also improve their fairly neglected familial bond, which faded naturally due to the light years of space that was frequently between them. Only he suffered the very minor ill effects caused by the negligence, so he placed less importance on the latter reason as opposed to the former. It would most likely be beneficial to use this time with his sister on the ship to reconnect, as well as learn more about her betrothed. With all this in mind, he gave the woman next to him a terse nod, and a simple, "Okay."
And the captain, who had been mentally preparing to further argue her point, quickly deflated before stuttering out an, "Oh-okay, then... Glad that that is settled." She quickly perked up after realizing she had won not one, but two, arguments with the commander in the last 24 hours. Maybe I'm getting really good at framing my side in a logical and cohesive manner! Or maybe the alcohol has dulled his tenacity... Either way, success for me!
Wincing a little in sympathy, Elizabeth flicked her hand toward his head. "How are you feeling?"
"I am fine," Darcy replied automatically, despite the barrage of symptoms he was currently experiencing.
Instead of responding with, "bullshit" like she wanted to, the captain simply gave him a disbelieving look before refilling the glass and encouraging him to drink more water.
Lizzie had almost forgotten how it felt to take care of someone. When she and her sisters were growing up, Jane was the one all the girls turned to when they were emotional or on the verge of a breakdown (never mind the fact that their father was an actual psychologist, he was more inclined to take notes on your behavior than actually console you). But Lizzie was the more practical sister in their family, and as such was turned to when an errand needed to be completed and her parents were busy, or the girls needed to be picked up from school. Of course, she managed her crew and supported them in any way necessary, but obviously that wasn't the same thing as holding back someone's hair when they got sick, or making sure somebody got home all right after a night of drinking (which were a few things Lizzie did often back at the Academy; those cadets really loved celebrating the end of finals). She now considered William Darcy a friend, and he deserved to be guided through his first hangover, even if he wasn't going to admit the extent of it.
"Well, nonetheless," Lizzie glossed over the clear lie from the Vulcan, "I think you should probably eat something."
Mess Hall, U.S.S. Longbourn: Stardate 2275.310 at 0840 hours
The mess hall was blessedly quiet, although still too bright for Darcy's immensely sensitive eyes.
Given the time, it was far too early for the crewmembers who had Beta shift to eat breakfast, and a little too late for those on the Alpha shift. There were only a handful of people spread across the hall and, to the captain's relief, that number also included Georgiana Darcy and her fiancé. Lizzie had almost reached out this morning to check on T'Hain, but had resisted the urge just in case she ended up disrupting the Vulcan's much needed sleep.
Turns out it had been the right call; T'Hain looked about as grumpy as the commander.
Lizzie pointed out the couple, and suggested to Will that she would get them some food while he go sit at his sister's table. As she plugged their orders into the replicator, the captain ruminated a little about their walk to the mess hall, her head subconsciously tilting to the right while she did so. During the walk, she chatted with Darcy about how he would spend the week with his sibling, and suggested several activities she believed his younger sister would enjoy.
She didn't bring up the number one thing blaring in her mind during their walk... and actually, every time they were alone. Namely, that she owed him an apology. Try as she might, she had yet to bring up his romantic confession and their ensuing fight, and was now considering the idea that maybe he didn't want to discuss it. Maybe the experience was humiliating for him, or maybe he considered the matter over and moved on exactly as fast as she guessed he would. Maybe in a few years they could look back on that moment as the start of an unconventional friendship.
They had bonded over the last few days (it couldn't have been less than four days since his confession, could it?), and now her opinion of him had pulled a 180 with her barely noticing. She could also see a tentative friendship forming with Georgiana; the young woman was a very interesting cultural blend, an intelligent conversationist, and they could always exchange funny stories about Will and James.
But now was not the time to carefully dissect their every exchange as she could see the rest of the group waiting on her. Plugging in Darcy's usual breakfast order of plain oatmeal to the replicator, Lizzie also added a side of Vulcan fruit and a piece of toast on a whim. Her own order of a waffle loaded with strawberries and whip cream seemed downright decadent in comparison, but seeing the Vulcans' hangovers had her feeling nostalgic about her own experiences, and therefore she suddenly had a hankering for her own usual hangover meal.
One look at the meal that Lizzie had placed in front of him had Darcy's nausea coming back with a vengeance. He let out a soft groan unintentionally, and got a sympathetic glance from T'Hain. The captain, on the other hand, was not-so-subtly amused by the situation, and rubbed the palm of her hand on her commander's upper back before letting out an, "Awww, poor buddy, is the hangover winning?"
Georgiana fully expected a scathing retort or look from her brother, as he had a history of reacting poorly to teasing from anyone that wasn't family, even if it was innocuous. Surely these circumstances would only worsen his reaction: he felt ill, probably a little embarrassed and, taking those things into consideration, she was prepared for him to become subtly defensive. She opened her mouth to intervene before he had the chance to insult the person she was hoping would be her future sister-in-law, but blinked in surprise when she realized her input wasn't necessary. Instead of becoming offended, Will simply cast an affectionate smirk toward Elizabeth, his eyes softening and the edges of his lips turned up minutely, before turning back and muttering to himself in a pathetic tone, "I would sell my first born for a hangover remedy right now.
Both the humans smirked at the dramatic statement. As Darcy's head continued to hang low, his eyes cast downward, the humans were the first to notice the Chief of Medicine standing next to the side of their table.
T'hain drowsily mumbled, "I thought you were unable to procreate" in the commander's direction, but the comment was spoken over by a smug Mary.
"I have no current need for a tiny human, but I would settle for naming rights," she jokingly bartered before plopping down a small vial next to Darcy's tray along with a hypospray device.
To T'Hain's utter relief, the doctor followed up by taking another vial out her coat pocket and placing it in front of the Vulcan. Georgiana politely thanked the doctor on behalf of her fiancé, who was busy grasping at the hypospray that Darcy had finished using with the desperation of someone experiencing their first hangover. She quickly loaded the vial before injecting it into her carotid artery with a rush of air.
Georgiana barked out a soft, disbelieving scoff. "You didn't even ask the doctor what was in that. That's very surprising coming from you." She turned to Mary before addressing her directly, so that the doctor didn't think her response was out of mistrust in the Chief of Medicine. "Our rare appointments at the healer take such a long time because she questions every single little thing. Which is crazy, because she already knows what is in most of the medications on the market-"
"Your appointments," T'Hain interjected while closing her eyes in relief as Mary's medicine quickly worked its magic (although neither women would refer to it as that). "I do not have the same habit concerning my own."
"I- what?" Georgiana looked almost baffled at this new information while Will also looked a little intrigued. Mary invited herself to breakfast and pulled up a chair to their table. Meanwhile, Lizzie became the only person at the table who was politely pretending not to hear what she thought was ramping up to be a couple's argument.
T'Hain almost looked confused by Georgiana's confusion. "You are human. At your appointments I simply like to verify that the medications and procedures are compatible with your species."
"I've had the same healer since I was 8 months old! She definitely knows I'm human and what medications are contraindicated in my circumstances, and my training at the VSA gives me pretty good insight. I can't believe I never realized you only did that during my appointments!" Georgiana replied while she thought back to their few trips to the healer.
"There is no harm in asking questions and confirming you receive the best options," T'Hain sniffed delicately, unapologetic over the situation, and Georgiana is torn between fondness at the Vulcan's (in her opinion) unnecessary overprotective attitude and a little irritation at the implication that she herself cannot differentiate between harmful and beneficial treatments. People who like to claim Vulcans are the most rational species have definitely never met one.
The commander, whose headache was also abating enough to weigh in to the situation, added his approval for T'Hain's actions. "That is an intelligent precaution. After all, the Terrans frequently say, 'Two heads are better than one.'"
Perhaps she was projecting a little bit, but Lizzie couldn't have imagined that Georgiana wasn't feeling at least a little coddled by her brother and her partner, especially after the discussion the siblings had the previous day. Quickly changing the subject, Lizzie turned to her sister. "So what exactly were in those hyposprays?" If anything was going to distract a bunch of Vulcans (and nerdy humans, i.e. Georgiana and Mary), it was science.
Sure enough, the conversation quickly took off from there, and the group spent several minutes discussing the active ingredients in the hypospray, the differences between Vulcan and human physiology, etc. As they debated specific biochemical pathways, the captain came to the realization that she was definitely out of her depth here and had very little hope of keeping up with the conversation. Instead of feeling annoyance at the prospect, Lizzie simply leaned back and let their quietly excited voices run over her.
About ten minutes into the discourse, a thought occurred to the captain. Even if she didn't exactly follow the entire thread of their conversation, she could still discern that this process would've taken at least a few hours, even with the advanced technology they had on board.
"You figured all of that out this morning?" she asked her sister incredulously.
"Yes. I awakened at the same time I always do, I had my normal 3-mile run, and then I hit the lab with a rough outline of what chemicals needed to be present in order to relieve the symptoms of a Vulcan that was undergoing temporary illness due to an overconsumption of chocolate and/ or ethanol. We had already discussed the latter information yesterday in the Ten Forward, so I had a fairly easy time setting up the altered parameters. After running several simulations in the system to confirm there were no interactions between the chemicals and that they were all nontoxic to Vulcans, I decided T'Hain and Commander Darcy could probably benefit from utilizing the medication as soon as possible."
"Sounds like a fun morning," Lizzie broke the ensuing silence with her sarcastic comment. To her internal dismay, none of the other four people at the table understood that she was in fact teasing her sister for her insane efficiency. Instead they all nodded in agreement.
'Nerds', she thought affectionately.
She opened her mouth to tell them she was, in fact, joking but instead became distracted by Jane walking into the mess hall, appearing to be lost in thought.
Despite the early hour, the counselor could already say her day had been weird. That isn't to say that the event that occurred was necessarily odd, but that her reaction to it was... actually on second thought, the session was odd too. A distraught ensign had approached her office shortly after she arrived for her shift. While the officers on board were, on the whole, emotionally healthy enough that this wasn't a daily occurrence, it wasn't exactly a rare event. What wasn't usual though, is that the ensign had only gained the resolve to speak with Jane due to the encouragement of one of her friends- Charles Bingley- and had absolutely insisted on him sitting in the session as moral support.
Ensign Yarrow had been experiencing a temporary difficulty with her empathetic abilities- specifically, that her mental shields were faltering due to recent personal stressors. Jane possessed a surprising amount of experience with this issue, as the training she was required to undergo at the academy involved a higher portion of empaths in the Starfleet population than the civilian population of San Francesco. Calmly and methodically guiding the ensign through the process, the counselor proficiently shoved her thoughts about her own life to the back of her mind to examine later.
Shortly after the ensign began to feel normal again, she left, imparting her words of hardy gratitude to the counselor and to her friend before she exited the room.
Charles had remained behind.
The communications officer then proceeded to stumble through a lengthy set of small talk while managing to hit on every single awkward topic that entered his mind. Somehow the immediate idle chatter about unimportant topics left an indelible impression on her mind, one that made her feel like she was an old acquaintance that he hadn't seen in years instead of a close friend that he had suddenly starting ignoring just over a week ago. She had seen the man smoothly strike up conversations with complete strangers before, so the clearly difficult time he had talking to her left the Bennet sister feeling inwardly withdrawn and outwardly cold as a result. The effect of the conversation was jarring, to say the least, and when he finally took off the counselor decided that she didn't just need a soothing tea, but a walk to go along with it. After all, she had already paced around her small office several times, and the repetitive motions didn't help like they normally did. With that in mind, she made the short trip to the mess hall, and was surprised to see her two sisters chatting it up with a few Vulcans. If she was being honest with herself, and she always made a point to do that, Jane would have to say she wasn't disappointed at the interruption to her thoughts. The counselor once again gently pushed her thoughts about Charles Bingley to the back of her mind for the moment, and told herself she would meditate on them later in the day.
To Jane, the Vulcans appeared their normal observant and tense selves. If she had been aware of what they looked like ten minutes before that moment, she would've been impressed with their radical transformation thanks to her sister's inventiveness. As it was, Jane didn't remain ignorant of the previous night's events for very long.
Mary, who never missed a chance to show off new knowledge, immediately starting telling Jane about their drinking binge the previous night. It shouldn't have surprised Lizzie to see her younger sister remove a PADD from her white coat's pocket and pull up a few charts, explaining the data the entire time, but it did. When in the hell did she have time to write all this up? the captain thought to herself, slightly impressed with her sister's time management skills.
"And here are the figures collected last night. There are some statistics about the increase in our reaction times, occurrence of slurred speech, the amount of ethanol consumed vs water intake..."
The captain couldn't help the grin that popped up on her face as Darcy and T'Hain added in their own brief commentary to the conversation. A few weeks ago, she would've assumed that the Vulcans would be embarrassed by the lapse of control they exhibited while intoxicated, but they genuinely seemed excited (well, excited for a Vulcan) about the results of their social experiment. At one point, when they were telling Jane about T'Hain testing her motor skills yesterday by trying to balance an empty glass on her nose, Lizzie saw the commander briefly smile at the anecdote.
"So," Jane asked, "are you all planning anymore bonding activities to try out over the next few days?"
Georgiana was so ecstatic at the idea she was practically trembling. "We can schedule another night of drinking. That sounds like fun, right?" she questioned innocently.
Jane and Lizzie let out a smothered laugh at the look of abject horror on both of the Vulcans' faces before Darcy volunteered the answer, "No, no...no. I will never consume any alcoholic beverages or chocolate again" while T'Hain repeatedly shook her head in the background.
Mess Hall, U.S.S. Longbourn: Stardate 2275.315 at 0730 hours (5 days later)
Elizabeth yawned widely as she approached the replicator, and almost felt like hugging it in thanks after it spat out her coffee and food. The mess hall was fairly busy, considering how close it was to the start of the Alpha shift, and Lizzie was examining the empty seats when she noticed Charlotte sitting at a small table by herself.
Sneaking up behind her friend, the captain had almost made it to the table when Charlotte straightened up and casually said, "Hey Lizzie."
"Wha- how did you know I was behind you?" Surprise colored Lizzie's question as she examined their immediate area, looking for a shiny surface in front of the engineer that could have given her away.
Because you sound like a tiny elephant when walking, is what Charlotte thought but didn't say. Instead, she shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly as the captain pulled out a chair at the table to sit in.
Charlotte's eyes widened as she looked at her friend in fake wonder. "Elizabeth, I haven't seen you in forever. Just by looking at you, I can tell it's been years, my old friend," she added, pointing at the captain's forehead.
Lizzie swatted at the engineer affectionately, before self-consciously touching her forehead. "Wait, I don't really have wrinkles yet, do I?" Charlotte snickered in answer, and in response to that Lizzie indignantly accused, "And if I do have wrinkles, you're the one that put them there!"
Stealing a piece of bacon and popping it into her mouth, Charlotte rolled her eyes while hurriedly chewing the food. "You're so dramatic, I was just kidding. But seriously, we haven't hung out in a while. You're spending a lot of time with your work husband." Charlotte seemed to be making a sincere observation without any ulterior motives or lewd suggestions.
The captain was immediately suspicious.
It also wasn't the first time that Charlotte had called Darcy her "work husband", but it was the first time that the nickname made her stomach squirm just a little. Opening her mouth to make a default denial, the captain paused in sudden thought. The engineer was right- Lizzie had spent the majority of the last week with Will. She usually ate breakfast and lunch, if not dinner too, with him before spending the evening doing a new activity aboard the ship along with others in their social circle. The holodeck had an array of programs that interested their visitors. Three days ago Lizzie, the Darcys, T'Hain, and James spent an entire afternoon "exploring" ancient Teotihuacán.
If somebody had told Lizzie four months earlier that she would one day spend a lot of her social time with William Darcy and actually enjoy it, she would've called them delusional. But it was becoming very clear to her that she had misjudged the Vulcan's personality, and he was, dare she say, fun. (Well, with the exception of yesterday, when Georgiana had insisted that they tour the science lab. Lizzie had to hide a few yawns as the evening turned into night and the siblings continued to cheerfully review every single detail of some of the experiments- the ones Georgiana had the clearance for anyways- while the captain pretended to be interested.)
With the exception of that instance, she genuinely liked hanging out with the Darcys.
"Well," the captain started, trying not to sound as defensive as she felt, "Commander Darcy is very entertaining to be around. I like spending time with him."
"Entertaining," Charlotte repeated flatly, the request for an explanation obvious from her tone.
Lizzie's fingers drummed anxiously along the table before she gave into her friend. "He's fun, okay!" admitted the captain, ignoring her friend's dumbstruck expression.
"Fun?" the engineer repeated after her friend yet again.
"Yes! The other day, we were having lunch with Georgiana and James, when some story I was telling- the one about Lydia getting caught sneaking out the house when she was 16, you know the one- made James laugh so hard his drink came out of his nose. And then Darcy said... some pun or another, I don't really remember, but it was so funny! He just has this really dry sense of humor."
"Really?" Charlotte asked innocently. "Rambling aside, that is very interesting to hear." The engineer then looked down at her plate and attempted to smother a smirk. She did not succeed.
"I knew it!" the captain accused, pointing at her friend's face aggressively. "You think I'm lying."
"No, actually, I don't think you're lying; I just find it a little funny that you seem to like him so much now when a few months ago you- well, I don't want to say hate- but you definitely didn't like him. Can you believe the commander said that? Ugh, Darcy's being picky again, why does he always have to be difficult? Blah, blah, blah."
Lizzie pointed her fork in Charlotte's direction before taking a bite of her food. "Okay, first of all," she said through a mouth full of sweet potato, "that doesn't sound anything like me." She swallowed a large amount of food in order to articulate her next point. "And can't a girl change her mind? You were the one who said I made quick judgements about people and never revised them."
"You know what?" Charlotte leaned back with a shrewd look on her face before nonchalantly shrugging her shoulders. "You're absolutely right. Congrats Lizzie, you finally did it."
The captain gave an exaggerated gasp at the proclamation before miming holding up a trophy. "Thank you, thank you all. I couldn't have done it without your support-"
"Ha. Ha. Ha. Smartass. But seriously, this is kind of a big deal. And it leads me to my next question, which is, do you like Darcy? You know, romantically speaking?"
"Or even sexually speaking?" Charlotte continued at Lizzie's silence. "Because if you want to be adults about it, clearly Darcy wouldn't have trouble separating his professional and personal lives, so you could work it out-"
"That is such a terrible idea!" Lizzie whispered heatedly while looking around to ensure they were far enough away from the other crewmembers in the room that could overhear their conversation. "I'm the captain, literally everyone on this ship is my subordinate... except for the visiting VSA staff, obviously. And yes, I know Starfleet Command tends to turn a blind eye to personal relationships unless somebody is abusing their power, but me- personally- I think that power dynamic will always be present, and that it can poison a relationship really easily."
The captain considered confessing all about Darcy's proposal and former feelings to her friend, but somehow it felt wrong to tell her. After all, Darcy was a private person, and didn't need any other person on this ship to know about his temporary emotional lapse. Not to mention, at this point, there was a good chance he still harbored at least a little resentment toward her after she rejected him. She wouldn't blame him for that; if she was honest with herself, which she tried not to be too often, she still felt guilty for believing Wickham over Darcy, even briefly.
"Just something to consider," Charlotte said consolingly, hands held up briefly in surrender before she changed the subject and asked if Lizzie wanted to have dinner with her and James the next day.
Unfortunately for the captain, she couldn't stop considering it. She thought about it on the bridge that day. She thought about it in her ready room during a conference call. And even as she tried her hardest to shove the idea out of her mind, she thought about it during dinner that evening as she shared a meal with both of the Darcys.
That night, as the captain slept, she dreamt of hands sensuously gliding across her skin and warm blue eyes roaming over her body. Her fingertips traced the shape of a sharp jaw and pointed ears. The dream had those hazy and vague qualities dreams often had, to the point where her subconscious mind didn't quite realize she actually knew this person. Her core tightened in anticipation as her hips gently rolled into the air.
And when Elizabeth Bennet woke up that morning, she felt oddly refreshed and tranquil, a phantom weight pressed against her hips. She had the foggy thought that she had a nice dream last night, and as she blearily wakened to the sound of her alarm clock music, her memories sharpened.
Oh, fuck Charlotte. This is all her fault.
Author's Note... Again: Keep in mind that the timeline for this fic is a lot faster due to their constant proximity on board.