A Hot Mess

Posted on 14 Mar 2016 @ 5:29am by Lieutenant JG Catherine Cooper & Commodore Harvey Geisler

1,769 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Outbreak
Location: Deck Five
Timeline: MD 3 || 0800 hours

Just like any other morning aboard the Black Hawk, Harvey was once again navigating the Black Hawk's corridors, bound on his morning inspection. Only in the last few days, he'd gotten used to doing this tour on his own, allowing Commander Kos to hold down the bridge and Yeoman Rasputin to tend to her own duties. Well, Commander Kos had been placed on leave, so the bridge fell to the most-senior officer present. Harvey didn't want to think about who that was, at least not until his inspection was finished.

As his habits dictated, Harvey continued to navigate the corridors, bound to check in on the major departments and the science labs. His gaze was cast downward on a PADD he was carrying while his other hand held a steaming mug of coffee recently acquired from the mess hall. Because his focus was downward, his subconscious continued to direct his steps, relying purely on muscle memory. That particular memory prompted his direction to change, only to run into something unexpected.

His mug didn't just fly out of his hand. It tilted backwards, releasing a cascade of hot black coffee, right onto the Captain's chest and PADD.

The officer responsible skidded to a halt in horror even as another security officer came up behind him, she'd also been running. Without missing a beat Lt. Catherine "CJ" Cooper, newly minted Deputy Security Chief sized up the situation then grabbed the officer by the back of the neck part of his uniform like a wayward kitten and tossed him around the corner with a gesture to run. The panicked officer, logical panic if one spilled hot coffee on ones CO, took off and CJ went to the CO. "I'm so sorry Sir, all my fault. Thank the gods these things are coffee proof eh? She grabbed the PADD and dropped it to the deck, covered in hot coffee as it was. She ignored the sting on her own hands. Knowing from experience that speed counted with burns she moved. She grabbed a medical kit from a nearby field station, opened it quickly on the deck. Then pulled out a tricorder in one hand and hypo in the other. "If you'll lift your shirt Sir, you'll be fine in no time." She hit him with the hypo near the area to help numb from the pain. Seconds had passed, it was unlikely he'd even had time to feel much of the pain before she reacted, her words and actions coming rapid fire. They weren't panicked or rushed. The moves swift yet methodical.

Harvey wasn't quite sure what had just happened. Of course he'd been stunned by the interruption in his morning routine, and that an unfamiliar officer had quickly tended to the situation. Unsure of what exactly to address, he quickly and calmly collected himself and chose to address her last action. The pain, and the numbing effect, was not what concerned him, rather it was his wet jacket and shirt. "Thank you, Lieutenant..." his voice trailed off both because he was looking for her name and a nearby room that might have a replicator where he could recycle his uniform and refill his coffee.

"Cooper Sir, Security...there all set..." She said using the dermal regenerator to heal the burn. Just as quickly as she grabbed it she put the medical kit away, wiped off the PADD and handed it back. She then gave a quick once over on the Captain. "Right..." She she glanced around then tapped a code into an empty room nearby to unlock it and gestured to the replicator in the wall. Pleased he didn't seem inclined to start yelling at anyone.

"Cooper..." Harvey muttered, recalling her name as one of the newer transfers. He proceeded to completely remove his red shirt and extract the combadge and gold pips from it. "You're quite... versatile... for a security officer."

She mentally blinked once and in Catherine's head, "Me Security Ug, what does he think we do?" What came out was, "You would be surprised Sir at the skills one needs as a Security Officer..." Babysitter, Field BooBoo kisser, Meat Shield, Mini mom to anyone below you in the department, the list was never ending. She didn't do anything special in her mind though. She had advanced medical training thanks to SAR and only an idiot keeps a hot wet shirt on. It was logic but she was happy to let the CO be impressed if that meant he wasn't yelling at the security department. And to be honest she'd spilled more than a few hot items on herself over the years and hence had experience in it but wasn't about to tell the CO that.

Normally, he wouldn't be concerned about staring bare-chested in a room. However, given recent events, being in these open quarters with Lieutenant Cooper nearby made him quite self-conscious. Fortunately, none of the coffee had reached his pants. "Something tells me you've needed those skills on multiple occasions," he commented as he placed his wet garments in the replicator and pressed the recycle button.

Cooper for her part felt none of the awkwardness. It was a nice chest true but he was her CO and so she didn't see him that way. She'd 'Mom'd' more than one fellow officer when they needed it and so didn't think anything of it. "Aye Sir a bit of this and that, I was not always so graceful once upon a time and neither are others. And It does help to know how to prioritize." She cut herself off, reminding herself one didn't babble to ones CO.

Harvey nodded as a new red shirt and black jacket materialized in the replicator. It didn't take long for him to slip his arms in the sleeves and start to zip it up. "How are you liking the Black Hawk?" he asked, working the zipper, which had managed to stick. Harvey started to fiddle with the zipper, finding himself even more self-conscious than he was before. What is going on with me?

CJ, not being stupid turned to pick up the PADD he'd put back down and took her time giving him a minute to fight with the zipper. Somethings a Skipper had to do for himself. "It's very interesting, I'm trying to learn as much about the crew as I can, I've a good Chief I think so that's half the battle right there..." She said sounding pleased about it even as she cast her mind back with what she knew of her new CO and senior staff. They'd had a rough time of it, well that was part of the reason she was here to support the beleaguered ship and crew. It wouldn't be easy but CJ was nothing if not confident.

"Lieutenant Di Pasquale is quite capable indeed," Harvey said, still working with the zipper. Finally, it gave and slid right up to his neck. It only took him a moment to put his jacket on and zip it up as well. His combadge went on quickly, though askew, and then he started working on the rank pips.

She turned around still holding the PADD, " Yes she seems to be.." Pause, "Sir..." She gestured to the Commbadge. One did not let ones CO's go out looking like a scrub. "Are you alright?" She asked noticing his seeming distraction.

"Hmm?" Harvey asked, finishing with the pips. He then glanced down at his chest to see his badge was actually turned upside down. "Yes," he said, fixing his badge. He certainly did have something... someone in particular on his mind lately. Realizing he needed to collect himself, Harvey cleared his throat and straightened his posture. "You were saying, Lieutenant?"

Cooper wished she'd said something like "And then I fought of ninja's in my bathrobe, why they were in my bathrobe I'll never know." Alas missed opportunities. She hide a smile of amusement as ideas flew about what could be distracting him this hard. "Nothing Sir. Your PADD?" She offered her face polite but a gentle humor hid behind her eyes.

"Thank you," Harvey said, glancing down at the PADD to verify it still worked and decided he'd finish reading it when he got to the bridge. It was then he noticed her smile, wondering if she'd found something amusing about his predicament. "Something funny?"

Her face immediately cleared of any lingering traces, "No Sir. I'm fine Sir. Would you look at the time, duty calls. Would you like an escort to the Bridge?" as her mind trigger, "Danger! Danger Will Robinson! Shut up!"

"Bridge?" Harvey asked, almost rhetorically. "No. No. I'm on my way to sickbay to check in with J... Doctor Kij."

Not for nothing was she a security officer, an investigator. She caught the slip, and the shocked look on his face at what he almost said, putting two and two together. "Well alright then." She thought to herself, filing it away under 'none of my business unless it becomes a thing'. "Right Sir. " Wisely she did not offer to escort him there, "With your permission then I'll be on my way...". Her gave one two impressions. Either always moving, or ready to move. She seemed to have three overall modes, asleep, kinetic energy, and potential energy. Right now potential energy was the mode but, dampened giving the impression she could stay like that if she had too indefinitely or burst into action. Sort of depended on the situation.

"Of course, Miss Cooper," Harvey said, finding one drop of coffee to brush away on the PADD. "I wouldn't want you to get into your Chief's hot seat."

Just barely managing to avoid a hot seat and coffee joke Cooper nodded, " Right good luck Sir." She left it to him to figure out what she was wishing him luck on and headed out. "I'm gonna kill him..." She thought to herself making a mental note to knock some sense into the other officer she'd been chasing. Still it was nice to meet the Skipper. He seemed like a decent sort and actually human which with the conflict currently raging that was getting harder to find. War did things to people. War with ones Comrade in Arms? That was a special pain. Despite what had happened everything CJ saw here was a crew that had banded together well and she looked forward to serving here. Now if she could just convince other security that they couldn't run in the halls if they didn't have proper situational awareness, she thought that as she took off at a run.

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