Reunited

Posted on 15 Dec 2025 @ 1:11pm by Commodore Harvey Geisler & Lieutenant Commander Joey Geisler & Lieutenant Commander Camila Di Pasquale & Lieutenant JG Harleigh Kane

5,876 words; about a 29 minute read

Mission: Imposters Among Us
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: July 8, 2390 || 1430 hours

Before taking the trip to Sickbay, Camila stopped to retrieve Rico and Pequeno from cell that they had been placed in and a former K9 handler assigned to them. She looked at the Commodore and shook her head. "I failed you, but it won't happen again. Let's go see your wife and kids and I'll brief you, Sir."

"Failed me?" Harvey said with an arched eyebrow. "The mess aboard this ship is not one I blame you for," he said, gesturing towards the door so they could speak privately while traveling to sickbay. "If anything, I failed you. Hemming and Hawing over your proposals, making cuts that I felt were extreme. I failed you, I failed Joey, and I failed my kids. Though it seems you did just fine taking a bite out of G90B without me."

"Security failed the ship. I am the Chief of Security," she said as she pressed the button for the turbolift, the K9 officer behind her with Rico and Pequeno. "As for the protocol rant, that was me trying to get a real, emotional response from you or them. Whoever answered the most emotionally is usually the most honest. We would have done better with G90B if not for the sabotage done by the clone of your wife. We wasted two tricobalts and Captain Holmes had to come in with his own."

As they waited for the turbolift to arrive, Harvey turned to face Camila. "Obviously there is a lot I missed since stepping aboard that alien craft a week ago. You came back, obviously with Emily Carter of all people in tow. Captain Holmes gave me an extremely brief overview of the day's events. But I'd like to hear your perspective, even as to why tricobalts were used."

Camila sorted the past few days into a summary for the Commodore since she had last spoken to the real Harvey and the events that unfolded on the ship. "Once the plan for the tricobalts was approved because of the apparent invulnerability of G90B, we set about modifying them. Unfortunately, the clone of your wife sabotaged them and set it to look like Lieutenant Frex had."

"While I was interrogating him, the Bynar found that it was the clone of your wife and not Frex had done it, all hell broke loose on the ship. Holograms were everywhere thanks to her and some very real damage. In the chaos, both her and the clone of you tried to escape in an evacuation of the ship via the Flight Deck. Where I confronted her and your clone showed up at the same time, as well as Emily who likely saved my life."

The turbolift arrived and its doors opened, permitting entrance to the party waiting in the corridor. Harvey was the first to step inside and continue the conversation, "It's incredible that the clones went along with your plan. You backed them into a corner that they tried to exploit, only for it to backfire in the most incredible of ways."

"You know how determined I can be. I also threatened to go up the chain until I roped Admiral O'Connell and I think they knew it," Camila said. "Only the sabotage prevented it from working, too. I have Captain Holmes to thank for finally putting a dent in their forces."

"Sickbay," Harvey instructed the turbolift. As soon as the doors closed, he heaved a heavy sigh. "Who would have thought that we'd all have been saved by the Grahamhole?"

The K9 handler stood in a corner with Rico and Pequeno, minding her own business and kept the dogs calm.

"Right?" Camila said. "There's the problem of Mellon and the colonists to deal with as well. Emily lost her father the night that D'Rimo came and took over. We had all been invited as dinner guests of the Carter family and her father had a deal with our D'Rimo. The other showed up. With this D'Rimo's head in a box that he tossed on the table before he shot her father and took over."

"We can take care of that one as soon as we finish off D'rimo," Harvey confirmed. "Based on what I saw on his ship, there's only four or five Confederation ships that crossed over. D'rimo's dreadnought accounts for one."

"The task force managed to take out one Hunter class and the G90B dreadnought with Captain Holmes' assist," she said, absolutely hating giving Grahamhole so much credit, but she gave it where it was due.

"What should I expect with your wife, Commodore? she asked as the turbolift came to a halt.

The doors opened and Harvey hadn't yet moved from the car. The ship itself was still at red alert status, as indicated by the alert panels still active along the corridor. But there were no crew members moving about, indicating that everyone was either at their stations, or still outside the ship waiting to be let back in. "She's... she's not well. I think a few more days with D'rimo and she would have died."

"How did you and her manage to escape?" Camila asked. "We never would have found you."

Harvey led the way out into the corridor but made no effort to move fast. "Believe it or not, but an escape pod. Once D'rimo got desperate, we exploited an opportunity. We even managed to blow up a couple plasma conduits to cover our escape. We might even be able to use that to track them to the wormhole."

"Smart. We used a similar tactic when they had us hauling ore form Mellon. Ensign Wallace used the tractor beams to sling the ore pods at the refinery and G90B to give us time to escape. They have a refinery in a asteroid field there. Or did." Camila added as she followed him and the K9 handler following with Rico and Pequeno.

The trip to sickbay did not take long as the turbolift had deposited them nearby. Harvey stopped outside the door, debating whether this was a good idea or not. He knew Joey was safe, but he hadn't seen her since he'd left the Endurance's sickbay. "The twins," he whispered. "I forgot to check on the twins. Are they okay?"

"Yes, but I'm afraid they may not like Titi Cammie for a while," she said, willing to put up with the nickname assigned as Aunt Camila by the twins. "They saw me holding a phaser on their Mom and shoot their doggies."

He shook his head. "We'll have to deal with that when the time comes," he said. "But at least their memory is short right now. They'll soon forget about it.

Harvey looked back towards the closed sickbay door. Speaking of forgetting... he thought, considering that he would not forget the events of the last few weeks any time soon. He inhaled, steadied his nerves, and took a step forward. The sickbay doors opened, and Harvey was not surprised to see the area so chaotic. Clearly the wounds the Black Hawk sustained had performed a number on the crew.

Camila stepped in behind him and then went past him and to the right towards the Intensive Care Ward. "This way, Commodore," she said as she headed for a room with a Security Officer outside. She spoke to him for a moment and he left his post. "She's in here, Sir. Would you like a moment or would you like me to get the twins before you go in? They're next door."

Harvey shook his head. "I don't want to bring the twins in to see her yet. They're not going to understand any of this, and if they think that you shot the dogs, they might think you hurt their mother too. Do you know if they're sleeping or awake? I should see them before I see her."

"They were sedated, but should be fine," Camila told him as she gestured towards another room in the Ward, this one also guarded by a Security officer. "I don't think they'll want to see me, either."

The K9 handler stood by with the dogs and waited orders.

Harvey moved down the ward to the room Camila had indicated. Through the window, he could see both of the twins sleeping soundly in a makeshift crib. Neither of them needed a crib to sleep in any more, but seeing how high the biobeds normally were, no one wanted them to fall and add further injury to insult.

The Commodore turned to the K9 officer that accompanied them and said, "Rico and Pequeno can stay with the twins. It'll do them good to see familiar faces when they wake up, and it'll help them feel safe in an unknown room."

Camila gave the K9 handler a nod who headed off with Rico and Pequeno before she turned back to Harvey. "Do you want a minute with her alone?"

Harvey shook his head. "No, she'll want to see you." At least he hoped that Camila's presence would be comforting for her, knowing that not only were they home but that this entire season would soon be over.

Camila gave a nod and entered the code in the panel by the door, an added precaution for high risk patients. She took a breath, not knowing what to expect, and stepped in. She paused, temporarily blocking Harvey's way as she looked at the woman in the biobed who looked a lot different from the woman that she had known three weeks earlier. "...Joey?"

Joey stirred at the sound of her name, her movements slow and deliberate, as if each shift required careful negotiation with her body. The hospital gown hung loosely on her frame, emphasizing the sharpness of her collarbones and the gauntness of her face. Her cheeks were hollow, the skin beneath her eyes bruised with exhaustion, and yet—there was clarity in her gaze, a flicker of recognition that softened the haunted look.

She blinked, once, then again, as if confirming that Camila and Harvey were real and not figments conjured by pain or solitude. Her lips parted slightly, not to speak, but to breathe in the moment. Relief washed over her features, subtle but unmistakable. The tension in her shoulders eased, and her fingers curled weakly around the edge of the blanket.

Joey’s eyes welled, not with fear, but with something quieter—gratitude. She didn’t need to say anything. The way her gaze lingered on them, the way her body relaxed into the bed, said enough. She wasn’t going to be hurt anymore.

Camila studied her for a moment, trying to reconcile the difference between the woman..the clone...in the Brig and the woman here. They were the same genetically, but physically? The omber haired woman could spend an hour pointing out all the differences, but Joey's eyes spoke the loudest and told the most.

She stepped forward, the Security Chief left behind for a moment and extended a hand towards the sheet where Joey's hand was. "I'd like to welcome you back," she said, the absolute least threatening thing she could say and wouldn't betray the flood of emotions that threatened to well up in her.

Joey’s gaze dropped to Camila’s outstretched hand, her eyes lingering there as if weighing the risk of touch. Slowly, with the kind of deliberation born from pain and caution, she extended a trembling finger from beneath the covers over her and brushed it against Camila’s knuckles. The contact was featherlight—barely there—but it was enough. Enough to say she was present. Enough to say she trusted her.

Her lips parted, and the sound that came out was rough, like gravel scraping against silk. “Thank you,” she rasped, the syllables dry and fragile, but unmistakably sincere.

Camila gave a nod. "Would you like something to drink?" she asked. There was no way that she was going to launch an investigative interrogation on the other woman without being civil as she could be.

Joey gave a small nod, her voice still raw as she murmured, “Water.”

She leaned back slightly against the pillows, her gaze drifting to the ceiling for a moment. Years of Security work had taught her how to read a room, how to anticipate the questions before they were asked, how to brace for the moment when civility gave way to scrutiny. She’d been on the other side of this scene more times than she could count—tone measured, eyes sharp.

Her eyes shifted to Harvey, then she turned her attention back to Camila, her expression calm. "I assume you have questions for me?” she asked, her voice still scratchy but gaining strength. There was no accusation in her tone—just a quiet acknowledgment of the inevitable. She wasn’t afraid of the questions, but was afraid of the answers. That meant she would be required to think about everything that happened to her.

Camila got a cold glass of water from a pitcher and offered it to her with a straw. "I do. Right now, I think it would be easier for you to tell me what happened at your own pace." She looked at the vitals on the biobed monitor above Joey's bed, getting a baseline reading on her.

Joey accepted the water with a faint nod, her fingers curling around the cup as she took a slow sip through the straw. The coolness soothed her throat, and she let the liquid settle before drawing in a deep breath. The monitor above her showed steady vitals—calm, if fragile.

She looked at Camila, then briefly to Harvey, grounding herself in their presence before speaking.

“It was on Razmena,” she began, her voice still hoarse but clearer now. “We were getting ready to rejoin you and the others. Everything felt normal.” And, as she spoke, there was slight uptick in Joey’s heart rate registered.

Joey’s eyes narrowed, not in anger but in focus. “A woman approached me. Said she had information—something important. I told the others to stay put. I didn’t want to risk dragging them into something if it turned out to be nothing.”

The monitor pulsed again. Joey’s grip on the cup tightened, the plastic creaking faintly under her fingers.

“We walked down a corridor. Nothing seemed off. No alarms, no strange behavior. Just quiet.” Her voice faltered for a moment, then steadied. “I asked her what the information was. She said… ‘You’ll see it soon.’”

Her hand trembled slightly, and she set the cup down on the tray beside her. “I didn’t get to ask anything else. Something came down on the back of my head. Hard. The pain was—blinding. But only for a second," she said, then paused, her eyes distant now, as if replaying the moment in her mind. “Then everything went dark. I woke up somewhere practically nude. And nothing was the same after that.”

Camila had deactivated Lieutenant Commander's access to the computer as soon as the clone had been arrested, but she wondered how much damage had been done. "How badly were you compromised?" She asked. She didn't judge the woman for leaving the group to get information, but she didn't approve of the Security personnel assigned to them to let it happen.

Joey’s jaw tensed slightly at the question, not from defensiveness, but from the weight of what she was about to admit. She took another sip of water, then set the cup down with care, her fingers lingering on the rim as if it grounded her. “I don’t know the full extent,” she said quietly, her voice still rough but steady. “They had access to me for… a while.”

She looked down at her hands, then back up at Camila, her expression grim. “I remember flashes. Restraints. Scans. If I refused to answer questions, I was punished with pain, then the information was ripped from my mind forcefully by a Selemat." At the thought of the Selemat and his torture rod, Joey's heart rate and blood pressure both surged.

Camila winced. Access to her mind through pain could produce anything they wanted and Joey had been gone for there weeks. She had worked closely with the clone and never detected a thing. "How did they get the information from you to the clone?" She doubted she knew, but she had to ask anyway. She pulled a mini PADD from her tactical belt and began to type, making a full scale investigation of Intelligence for the past three weeks and a full audit of everything the clone had done since coming aboard.

The bed ridden woman's eyes flicked to the mini PADD in Camila’s hand, then back to her face. She didn’t flinch at the question—she’d expected it. Still, the answer weighed heavy. “I don’t know,” she admitted, her voice low and rough. “I wish I did.”

She shifted slightly in the bed, the movement slow and careful as her fingers curled around the edge of the blanket, knuckles pale. “I don’t remember speaking much aside from refusing to give them what they wanted. Not really. But I remember pain. And flashes. My own memories, like they were being pulled up without my permission.”

Joey looked at Camila, her eyes steady despite the tremor in her voice. “If they got what they needed, it wasn’t because I gave it willingly. I don’t even know if I could’ve stopped it." She paused, then added, “Whatever they did… it worked. You didn’t see the difference. No one did.”

The silence that followed was thick with implication. Joey wasn’t just mourning what had been done to her—she was mourning the trust that had been broken in her name.

Camila looked back at her, her expression slightly pained but she wiped it away. She felt for the woman, but as yet had to verify her. "How far back do you remember? Do you remember how many were with you on the away team to the USS Chimera?" She asked, referring to a mission where Joey single handedly took down an enemy ship.

Joey didn't hesitate with her answer, her voice quiet but firm. “I was alone,” she said. “There wasn’t an away team. I boarded the Chimera solo.”

She paused, letting the weight of that settle before continuing. “Captain Vaanika Suresh was in command—a human. Compromised by the Consortium."

"Who was Pequeno's handler first?" Camila asked with a nod.

"Xavier Hernandez," Joey replied. It was a bit nice to be grilled on things that had nothing to do with what happened to her.

Camila nodded again. "Why did you leave Security?"

Joey exhaled slowly, her gaze drifting to the edge of the blanket before lifting to meet Camila’s eyes. “Deep Space Eleven,” she said quietly. “Our mission was accomplished, but I took some shrapnel and was seriously injured to the point my heart stopped.”

Her voice faltered for a moment, then steadied. “If it hadn’t been for my team reacting fast—I wouldn’t be here.”

She let the silence settle for a moment before continuing. “That changed things. I’d always known the risks, but that moment made it real. Too real. I left Security not because I couldn’t do the job anymore, but because I didn’t want to keep tempting fate.”

Her fingers flexed slightly against the sheet. “I was ready to retire from Starfleet altogether," Joey said as a faint, ironic smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. “Then brass came knocking with an offer on Intelligence, to which I said yes.”

"I'm convinced you are you, but it's going to require genetic testing," Camila said after a moment. "As to what Starfleet is going to do with this...I don't know."

Joey felt her jaw tightening just enough to betray the unease she was trying to keep buried. The idea of genetic testing didn’t bother her—she welcomed the proof—but the uncertainty of what came after? That was harder to swallow.

She took a deep, shaky breath, the kind that tried to steady nerves but didn’t quite succeed. “Yeah,” she murmured. “I figured.”

There was a pause, the weight of everything pressing in, and then her voice softened, cracking just slightly. “Where are the twins?” she asked, her eyes searching both of their faces with quiet urgency. “Are they okay?”

Harvey took the chance to jump in. "They are," he assured her, stepping up to the bed and covering her hand with his. "The dogs are keeping watch while they sleep. They, uh... they had an interesting day thanks to our clones."

"Define interesting," Joey countered.

"Your clone was trying to take them off the ship when I encountered her on the Flight Deck," Camila said, barely daring to continue. "During the encounter,. I was forced to stun Rico and Pequeno, which they saw. Then I had to stun your clone and the clone of Harvey after the children were taken by Security."

Joey’s breath caught as Camila spoke, each word landing like a blow. The monitor above her bed reflected the shift—heart rate climbing, blood pressure rising. Her fingers tightened around Harvey’s hand, grounding herself in the only thing that felt stable.

She looked down at their joined hands, then back up at Camila, her voice barely above a whisper. “They saw it?”

Her body protested as she pushed herself upright, muscles aching, ribs flaring with pain—but she didn’t stop. She sat up, swinging her legs over the side of the bed with a grimace, the covers falling away in a heap. "They're here? With Rico and Pequeno?" She demanded, but didn’t wait for an answer before pressing further, her voice rising. “Where exactly are they? I want to see them. Now.”

Her eyes burned—not with anger, but with desperation. The thought of her children witnessing violence, confusion, betrayal—it was too much. She needed to hold them, to see them, to know they were okay. To prove that the nightmare was over.

Harleigh was busy in another area when her medical tricorder sounded. She'd synced it to Commander Geisler's biobed monitor since she couldn't be in there the entire time. When she saw that it was worse then the small fluctuations earlier, she ran into the room.

Harleigh Kane burst through, her blonde hair slightly disheveled from the quick jog, medical tricorder already in hand and visually scanning the room. Her blue eyes widened at the sight of Joey half out of bed, face twisted in pain, and gripping the Commodore's hand like a lifeline. The security chief was standing there looking like she was mid-conversation.

"Whoa, whoa, hold it right there, Commander." Harleigh's voice cut through the tension, firm but laced with that plucky concern she couldn't quite mask. She gently but insistently placed a hand on Joey's shoulder in the hopes of keeping her seated on the bed. "You're not going anywhere with those ribs, not without a full scan and maybe a hypospray for that grimace. Doctor Abrams, your surgeon, wouldn't be very happy if you undid all the hard work patching you up."

She shot a quick glance at Camila, eyebrow arched. "Security Chief, if this interrogation's spiking her vitals like that, we're gonna need to hit pause. Family matters or not, she's still my patient." Turning back to Joey with a softer tone, her compassionate side shining through, Harleigh added, "Why don't you sit for a minute and tell me what's got you fired up. We'll sort it, but easy does it. Breathe."

Joey tried not to flinch at Harleigh’s touch, though her muscles did tense beneath the gentle pressure. She let herself be guided back against the pillows, her breathing uneven but slowly settling. Her eyes, still sharp with emotion, met Harleigh’s. “It’s the my children,” she said, voice low and strained. “Camila said they saw some things that would traumatize an adult, but they aren't adults. They're barely toddlers.”

She swallowed hard, her throat tight. Joey didn't know Eden was in sickbay, either, and neither did Harvey for that matter. “It’s been three weeks. Three weeks since I’ve seen them. Since I’ve held them. And now they’re just… here... just outside that door. Somewhere close. And I can’t even reach them.”

Her vitals continued to flutter on the monitor, but her eyes held steady, pleading—not for permission, but for understanding. "I need to see my babies and my dogs."

"I know you need to see them," Harleigh said, quieter now. "And you will, but not like this. They’re safe, Joey," she said, using her first name in an attempt to help calm the Commander. "Your children are safe. I promise you that. Right now, your body is running on pure adrenaline and exhaustion. You need stability before reunion. Let me bring your vitals down, and I’ll make arrangements for a short visit once you’re stable." She glanced up at the Commodore and nodded. "You can both see them. I’ll also make sure your dogs are walked and fed. You don’t have to worry about any of that right now. Deal?"

Joey’s jaw clenched, her eyes flicking between the three people present, the war between instinct and reason playing out in her expression. Every fiber of her being screamed to get up, to run until she found her children—but she knew Harleigh was right. Pushing herself now would only delay what she needed most. She let out a slow, shaky breath, her shoulders sagging as the fight drained from her posture. “Fine,” she murmured, the word reluctant but resolute.

She eased back against the pillows, wincing as her body protested. “I just…” Her voice cracked, and she paused to steady it, but it didn't do much as so many emotions surged through her. “I need to see them. Soon.”

Her eyes locked onto Harleigh’s, pleading without desperation. “Three weeks. That feels like an eternity.”

"The sad part is," Harvey spoke up, clearing his throat in the process, "it's that this whole thing isn't over. And I'm not meaning officially clearing mine or Joey's names. But we still have to stop D'rimo. Doctor, is there anything that can be done to medically certify who's the fake and who's real?"

Harleigh paused for a moment and thought. "Back when your clones were transported to Sickbay, we had no reason to suspect that they were clones. I performed scans of each and filed reports." She moved to a wall monitor and pulled up those scans alongside the current scans of Joey from the biobed. "Just a moment...," she said, trailing off as she moved through the scans and reports.

"Hmm, okay." She performed a brand new scan of Joey with the biobed's imagers. "Yes...," she said, looking back at the wall monitor. "Yes, I can medically certify that this is the real Joey Geisler. Pregnancy and birth causes permanent changes in the body. The external cervical os becomes transverse in appearance after childbirth," she started. "The pelvic bone also can also widen permanently from carrying a child. There are other indicators that I could get into, but suffice it to say that the medical scans I have of the clone indicate no pregnancy or birth. That woman in the brig did not physically carry a child, let alone multiples, or give birth. This one did."

Harvey found himself heaving a sigh of relief. He hadn't suspected that the woman he was held captive with was anyone other than another imposter, though he supposed some part of his unconscious was curious or skeptical. Thanks to the good doctor, Harvey could finally put whatever those dormant thoughts were to rest.

"That's one of us accounted for," Harvey said aloud, looking at the wall monitors. He didn't say this other thoughts aloud, however, as he found himself wondering if there were any unique markers that could distinguish a duplicate human male from the original.

While they spoke, Camila slipped out of the room and spoke to a nurse, then the K9 handler. After a moment, she returned but stayed in the background as the nurse came in with Allison and Jameson in her arms, and Rico and Pequeno behind her with the handler. "I hope it's okay for just a moment," she said.

Joey’s breath hitched the moment the nurse stepped through the door, her eyes locking onto the two small children she carried. Allison and Jameson—her babies—safe, whole, and real. Behind them, Rico and Pequeno padded in, tails wagging gently, ears perked as if they too sensed the gravity of the moment.

Everything else—the constant ache she felt—vanished.

Her hand flew to her chest, fingers splaying wide as emotion surged through her. Tears welled instantly, spilling over as she stared, unable to blink, afraid the vision might disappear if she did. Her lips trembled, and a soft, broken sound escaped her throat—half sob, half breath. She held out her arms, trembling but open, her voice cracking as she whispered, “Please… bring them to me. All of them.”

Her gaze never left the twins, her heart pounding with a mix of joy and disbelief. After everything—after pain, silence, and fear—this was the moment she hadn’t dared to hope for. And now it was here.

The nurse stepped forward with a glance at the doctor and Harvey as if daring them to stop her from united a mother with her children. She carefully handed Allison over first, then Jameson before she stepped back.

Camila saw the look in Joey's eyes and knew that was the look that only a mother could have for her children. Genetics, testing, questioning...it all went out the window at that look. Even the clone couldn't muster that look on the Flight Deck when she was trying to escape with them.

The children were still asleep, but yet they recognized that they were in a warm, loving, and familiar embrace. Both of them snuggled in, refusing to go elsewhere. Rico leapt on the bed and looked cautiously at Joey. He sniffed her for a moment, and once he was satisfied, turned and positioned himself in a guardian stance. Pequeno took a similar position, though it was on the floor by the bed.

Harvey watched them all closely, concerned not just for Joey's well-being, but for the twins as well. "Doctor," Harvey said softly, "how long does she need to remain here?" He quietly hoped that she could be dismissed soon to return to their quarters with the children, allowing them all to recover in peace. Well, as much peace as was possible before the next urgent event to come.

"I'd like to keep her for another twenty-four hours for observation. The team on the Endurance did a fantastic job and we've finished anything else that needs to be done. I want to make sure that she rests from all of that and is stable before she leaves," said Harleigh. "However, I am certainly not opposed to extended visits from you, the children, or the dogs. It obviously helps and will ease the transition into your quarters."

Joey gently tightened her hold on the twins, unwilling to part with them any time soon. "I'm glad to hear that, because I'm not willing to let them out of my sight for a while," she stated. "Maybe Mila or Eden can come sit with us and help me with them."

Camila remembered finding Eden in Harvey and Joey's quarters at that moment. "Your cousin is in Medical at the moment," she said. "It looks like your clone attacked her in your quarters."

"Is she okay?" Joey found herself asking, her vitals picking up a touch at the news. What she didn't know was that Eden was fine, and would be released soon enough. "I don't suppose we can arrange a meeting between me and the clone, could we? I would love to talk to her."

"I'll check on her," Camila offered, especially when she saw Joey's vitals spike again. "As for the clone, I think we might be able to see about something."

With that, Camila stepped out of the room to go find out what happened to Eden.

Joey continued to hold the twins against her while the two dogs stood watch. "I really want to see the woman who has been pretending to be me face to face," she said, hoping Camila would come through.

"Might be best after we get through this next part," Harvey cautioned Joey. "The clones did a number on the ship, and now that they know the charade is up, they're willing to push all the buttons. You... should be healthier before you see her."

Joey tightened her embrace around the twins, her gaze flicking to the dogs who remained alert at her side. “That’s all the more reason they stay with me,” she said firmly, her voice steady despite the exhaustion in her body. “The twins and the dogs—our family—belong right here, where I can keep them close... safe.”

She drew in a slow breath, letting Harvey’s words settle. “You’re right,” Joey admitted, her tone softening. “If I face her now, I won’t be able to hold my own. I’ll wait until I’m stronger… until I can stand in front of her without the threat of falling over.”

Harvey approached Joey and placed a hand atop her head. "For that reason and more," he nodded towards the twins, "you should focus on rest. I'll be sure to pass your regards to D'rimo as soon as we get underway."

"I promise to rest, but I won't be letting these two out of my sight. They stay here with me. I don't really want you leaving, either, but I know you have some pretty important matters to attend to," Joey said. In fact, since their children had been present, her vitals were a bit more stable. "As for D'rimo, I would surely appreciate you doing that."

Harleigh looked at Joey. "Good, it sounds like we have a plan in place. Now, if I may Captain," she said, turning to face Harvey, "my patient needs her rest. And you have those pretty important matters to attend to," she added with a smile.

He nodded to Kane, knowing full well that she was right. Harvey leaned in and placed a tender kiss on Joey's forehead. "Rest, my love." He squeezed her hand a moment, before turning for the door. Harvey's hands each grabbed a corner of his uniform jacket and gave it a tug. In doing so, he didn't just straighten the garment. It was as if he was activating something within his spirit. He had entered the room as a husband and father. Now he was leaving as a Commodore, a man with a singular mission.

It was time to finish this. Once and for all.

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