Next of Paw

Posted on 06 Jul 2016 @ 2:57am by Lieutenant Commander Joey Geisler & Commodore Harvey Geisler

4,547 words; about a 23 minute read

Mission: Risky Business
Location: Captain's Quarters
Timeline: MD 3 || 2000 Hours

For the second time that day, Joey found herself walking down the corridor toward Harvey's quarters, but this time she wasn't alone. Rico was strolling right along with her taking in the sights, scents and sounds as they moved forward. There wasn't nearly as much hesitation in her now. In fact, she was growing more comfortable around him. He was becoming laid back, and was so easy to talk to, not to mention he was a lot of fun to be around. Their impromptu water gun fight had proven that. She was proud of him, and was so grateful he had such an open mind when it came to things that were quite a ways outside of his comfort zone. He'd even admitted, in front of Mila no less, that had she not given him that gentle nudge, he never would have bothered with fun. She meant it when she'd said he needed a little Joey in his life.

She came to a stop outside of his door, the looked down at her attire. She was definitely slumming it this evening, but she was comfortable. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and she wore a pair of academy sweats with tennis shoes on her feet. She glanced down at Rico, who was happily wagging his tail, and reached out to press the chime. Now all she had to do was wait for him to answer... unless he was sleeping, which was possible.

Harvey wasn't sleeping at all. Tomorrow, they would arrive at the nebula. There was something about the unknown that attracted fresh officers and enlisted. It was exciting, almost the romantic kind. Alas, tonight carried a different expectancy. One of dread and anxiety.

It had been two months since he last faced a Federation ship. Harvey didn't care that those orders were falsely given, nor that the outcome possessed a bittersweet ending. The Chimera and Cochrane had been infected and controlled by a cancer. Three hundred men and women knew not what they did or doing. It was Harvey's fear that even just one of those three hundred would be greatly wounded or killed by this mission. It was a senseless feeling, dying for no purpose or the wrong one altogether.

And, on this eve of conflict, Harvey found himself once again reflecting on his past, hoping to find some inspiration for the future. The door chime brought him out of his thoughts, snapping him back to reality. The hour wasn't late, but he wasn't expecting company. Perhaps it was a member of the senior staff with a late report, or even the XO delivering an update.

"Come," he ordered, not turning to face the opening door, but rather looked out the window at the warp trails passing by.

Joey walked through the door with Rico. Her eyes went to him standing by the window, and that's when she knew something wasn't right. It didn't take a genius to know what it was, though. Tomorrow, they'd encounter the nebula, and from there things were going to get worse before there was even a hope of them getting better. As a matter of fact, after talking to Mila, it seemed as though a lot of people were anxious about what was coming. Herself included. "Harvey?"

He instinctively turned to see Joey standing in the open doorway. Harvey was surprised to see her so soon after their fun from the afternoon. In fact, he'd planned to reach out to her at his next convenience, likely after their business inside the nebula had concluded. Then again, nothing ever went as planned. "Come in, come in," he said, walking towards her and Rico.

"I know this is the second time I've popped in on you unannounced," She began, moving forward so the door would finally close behind them. Her nerves were just a mite on edge now, but she was doing her best to keep that hidden. Next to her, Rico settled down once again, watching Harvey as he moved toward them, his tail thumping against the floor. "And I promise not to keep you long considering everything that's about to go on, but I have a rather large and unusual request."

"Please," Harvey asked, gesturing towards the couch. He might still be in uniform, but he promised himself that Captain Geisler wouldn't sit beside her. Harvey, however, would. Joey had done a lot for him in the last few days, and he would keep an open mind to her request.

Joey settled down on the couch, and as if making himself at home, Rico jumped up to settle down next to her so he could rest his head on her lap. Oh, this next part tore away at her as she brought her hand to the canine's head to pet him. She thought about Mila again. "I'm sure it's come across your desk that I'm going to be going to the Chimera, and there's a good possibility that I might not come back from it." She wasn't nearly as emotional as she'd been earlier when talking to her Russian friend, though. However, being what she was... there was always a risk, and she was fully prepared for it. "My request is..." She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "While I'm gone, would you be willing to look after Rico for me?"

Harvey blinked in response. After all her hard work in cracking his shell, reality had its harsh way of making its presence known. The truth is, he hadn't read Camila's report fully. He'd tried to several times, but upon recognizing Joey's name, he had put it aside.

His gaze fell, not to the floor, but to look at Rico. Harvey reached over to pat him on the head as he considered both the reality and gravity of the situation. "You're not taking him with you?" he asked inquisitively. It seemed having a companion for this serious of a mission would be beneficial.

"I thought about it," Joey answered honestly. She'd spent the last two nights cuddled up to her furry companion weighing the pros and cons of taking him with her. Rico would definitely be able to help her out on the Chimera, but there were too many unknown risks that could land him in serious hot water. It was one thing to put herself there, but it was something entirely different to put the life of another... even if it was a dog... in a situation like that. "I don't think it would be a good idea this go around all things considered. Too many things could go wrong, and if he was with me, I'd have someone else to worry about which could get me into real trouble. I've got every intention of coming back, but if I were to take Rico, that chance would decrease greatly."

There was reality, showing its brutal face again. Harvey didn't face her, but his pats had turned into petting and scratching. This was why he'd allowed himself to get detached. As a doctor, he saw death far too often, even before he married. After Alison, it was this very fear, losing another loved one, that caused him to remain detached.

A huge part of him wanted to immediately cut ties with Joey. Sure he'd only known her a couple days, but detaching before extreme emotional trauma could be delivered would serve him better in the here and now. But, wasn't that the point? Learning to feel again, to love again. To do so required the risk of loss, extreme loss even. He had to accept that in all of this, and hope for the best.

But he wouldn't prepare for the worst. He just wouldn't. He couldn't. "You better be coming back," Harvey replied, standing and returning to his spot near the window. He sighed and turned back around. "And, yes, I'll look after Rico."

Joey smiled when he agreed to look after Rico. There were really only two people she'd ever truly trust to watch over her furry companion. She rose to her feet, leaving the dog to resume his lounging on the couch, and moved over to Harvey. "Thank you, Harvey. He likes you, so I don't think you'll have any problems." And it meant she'd have one less thing to worry about while she was away. Now, though, she was worried about him. She didn't want him to close himself off again.

Unable to help herself, she placed a hand against his back and began rubbing it in a way meant to offer comfort. "I will come back. Just like I promised Mila, I'm promising you." It was a promise she definitely hoped she'd be able to keep, but she planned to fight with every fiber of her being to make it a reality. Giving up just wasn't in her nature, and she had no intentions of letting him give up, either. "Everything will be okay."

He nodded, albeit weakly. Harvey wanted to agree with her. In fact, everything in his mind told him that all would be all right. After all, he'd only had one tragedy in twenty years. Either he'd paid his dues or he was well overdue. An impulse struck him, and before he knew it, he'd turned and wrapped Joey tightly in an embrace.

Joey was just a little surprised, but it was short lived. She wrapped her arms around him and returned his embrace just as tightly. Tensions were running high among the crew, and despite knowing what would happen to the ship when they entered the nebula, there were still many factors that remained unknown. Harvey was no exception. In fact, she knew for him it ran higher than everyone else's because it was his job to oversee the safety of hundreds of people. She couldn't imagine how that made him feel, but she would support him. He deserved that and a whole lot more.

"I'm coming back," She whispered in his ear before placing a soft kiss to his cheek. "And be proud. You're an amazing CO that's got an amazing crew serving beneath you that are putting forth a lot of effort to ensure we all come out of this with minimal life lost."

"I am proud," Harvey confirmed softly. It was true. He'd seen many crews in his service, but never one more resilient and ready to face the unknown, especially when their every mission continued to beat them down. It was nice to at least be somewhat on the offensive.

He withdrew from the embrace, but gripped both of her hands tightly. He looked into her eyes, feeling a myriad of emotions he'd felt a few times before. Now was not the time to express them, and he only prayed that that day would be soon. Other words eluded him, nor did he try to pursue.

Joey held his gaze, feeling many emotions raging through her like a storm, but she kept them under control as best she could, except for one. Strength. They both needed her to be strong. "It's going to be okay," She assured him. "Once this mission is over, we'll be that much closer to putting an end to all of it. It may not seem like an achievable task right now, but it is, and we're all going to come out stronger for it in the end."

He smiled. "Funny. I thought I was supposed to be the voice of reassurance." He released her hands before his mood could completely change. "The part that I fear the most is that there really could be a Thalaron weapon buried in the heart of that nebula. If it is captured, and we fail, then there's certainly more at stake here than just you and I." After a beat, he added, "And every soul on this ship."

The thought of encountering such a device was an incredibly scary one. Not just for them, but for everyone. What it was capable of doing... there was no chance of survival. Letting anything like that get in the hands of the enemy just wasn't an option, and while she wasn't going to be on the team being sent to check, she had the utmost confidence in the ability of everyone in her department. "Which is why, if there is one waiting for us, the enemy will never get their hands on it. I have no doubt that we're going to succeed." She was definitely a positive person when she needed to be. "Failure is not an option, and I'll bet you the nearly seven hundred in latinum I won playing poker that I'm not the only one who feels that way."

Harvey grunted and nearly laughed. "I'd hate to see the odds of that bet. You're right, failure's not an option. And you are certainly under orders to return, especially since you still have to teach me the hula."

Joey couldn't help but smile. "Since you've made it an order, I can guarantee you I'll be returning. I wouldn't want to miss seeing you when you're a pro at the hula and surfing. Besides... we pinky swore we'd make it to Hawaii some day. I can't back out of a pinky swear."

"It'll take a lot more for you to break it, I imagine," Harvey said, still smiling. Looking over to Rico, he nodded towards the canine. "Besides, there's at least two of us here that will hold you to that."

She looked toward Rico who still appeared to be right at home on the couch. "See... when it's put like that, how can I not want to come back?" Smiling, she moved over to the couch to give Rico's belly a rub, and that's when she saw it. Beneath him was his only weakness in the entire galaxy. It wasn't food or toys as some might think. No, it was something that went far beyond that. A blush crept up her cheeks when she went to take it from him, but he quickly grabbed it in his mouth and turned his head away. The object of his current affection came in the form of one of Harvey's socks.

While they were caught up in talking and oblivious to what was going on, the canine took it upon himself to explore a bit. It was only when he made it to Harvey's bedroom that love at first sight happened, and now he wasn't going to part ways with that that had captured his heart. Rico didn't growl when Joey reached out to take it, but he had no intentions of wanting to give his new sock friend up. With it still in his mouth, he covered his face with a paw and gave a whine that said it all.

Joey cleared her throat and turned back toward Harvey. "What can I say? He's got a thing for socks. If you let him keep it, I'll replicate you some more. You should feel honored, too. He normally sticks to stealing mine. This means he likes you."

"That's all right about the sock," Harvey said, with a chuckle. It didn't bother him any as he did have enough pairs to last a lifetime. His eyes glanced over to the desk where he had a small pile of the popped balloons--he just hadn't been able to let all of the three hundred go. The monkey and the surfboard rested nearby on a sidetable. The balloons themselves were still perky. "Besides, you had to have used all of your rations just on today."

"You have made Rico a very happy boy," She said, giving his belly another rub before she settled down again, then followed his gaze to where the popped balloons and monkey were. "A few, yes, but I should be okay until it's time for them to reset. Besides, you and the fun we had today were well worth it."

He nodded as he sat down next to Joey and Rico on the couch. "I have a confession of my own," he said. "I met today with some of the crew. I hope it doesn't come to it, but we preparing in case everything fails. No matter what, the Black Hawk cannot fall into Consortium hands, and neither can the squadron. The data in our computers alone is enough to permanently give them an upper hand."

Joey had a feeling she knew what that meant, so there was an obvious question to follow. "So, when you say the Black Hawk cannot fall into enemy hands, you're talking an end game scenario, right?" It would make sense. If the ship herself was taken out, then all that data in the computers would never make it into enemy hands. That seemed like to logical thing to do.

"I am," he confirmed. "Many things have to go wrong for that to happen though. It has to remain a possibility just in case. I mean, if we succeed, no one will ever know. If we fail, the entire quadrant will hear of it. And, if that happens, we have to make things as difficult as possible." He sighed. "I have to make it as difficult as possible."

"And should this happen, you plan on evacuating with everyone else, don't you?" Joey found herself asking.

Harvey sensed a bit of expectancy in her tone. "That's the plan," he said. "I have Operations preparing a memory wipe, and we have an auto-destruct plan ready. But, we have to know for certain it'll work." He didn't want to tell her that if every shuttle and runabout were filled to capacity that they'd only be able to take maybe 200 people. If he had to leave the Black Hawk hastily, it would be through an escape pod.

She was a bit relieved to hear that. For some reason it got into her head that he'd go down with the Black Hawk, which wouldn't have gone over well with her. "It's never going to come down to that, though. We're going to be the victors in all of this. They will never get close enough to the ship to take her." There was anger, passion and determination in her tone.

"They certainly won't," Harvey said. "Especially since I know you're one of the two going over there. It's Cooper I'm worried about."

"Why are you worried about Cooper?" Joey asked, lifting her arm when Rico decided he wanted to put his head on her lap again. "I mean... I don't know her all that well, but she does seem like she's a bit out there."

"That's just it," Harvey said. "She's a bit out there. I'm worried she might take a chance that's too big to handle over there and fails. There's not a lot of room for error in all of this, especially when it's one versus one-fifty."

It felt good to know he was confident in her, but she knew there was a good possibility the same could be said for her. She had every intention of doing whatever it took to make sure the crew of the Chimera couldn't get their hands on the Black Hawk, even if it meant self sacrifice. Of course, she wasn't telling him that. "That's why I have a plan B. I can't tell you what it is, because should it have to go down that way, I don't want you to be held liable for knowing ahead of time."

He chuckled. "You probably have Plans A through G by this point." Smiling, he shook his head before looking down at Rico. "What do you think?" he asked, tempted to tug on the sock as a playful move. "Would she look good in red someday?"

"You could say that," Joey said with a smile, though, her end game plan would result in her strapping an overloading phaser to herself and walking onto the bridge of the enemy ship. However, she didn't plan on it ever getting that far. She shifted when Rico decided to wiggle his way across her lap and move closer to Harvey. The canine clearly wanted to be friends, and even took to pawing at his hand with his new sock friend hanging out of his mouth. "Red, hm? Am I moving to Strategic Ops or Flight in the future?"

Harvey shrugged, taking the cue to tug at the sock. "I have no intention of moving you around, at least, not for now. But having multiple plans is a good prerequisite for Command. Besides, I'm of the variety that won't force a departmental transfer like that without both good reason and the consent of the officer." Unlike what Starfleet had done to him over the years, though they'd mainly applied enough pressure for him to volunteer for a transfer.

Joey watched the two of them and smiled as Rico tugged back on the sock with a playful growl. The fact that Rico liked him meant a lot, and the fact Harvey seemed to like him, too, meant that maybe he could eventually like her at some point. She pushed the thought from her mind. He needed friends, and he'd given no indication of anything otherwise. "I've never really given going into Command much thought before, but it isn't something I'd ever rule out."

A smile commanded Harvey's face as he continued the tug-of-war. He considered taking off his boot, which he really should take his boots off anyway and let his feet air out, and introducing another sock to the playing field. At least he would be down a full pair and not have an unmatched sock in his drawer. "It's not something to rush into," he replied, not at all realizing what he was about to say next. "After all, you look good in yellow."

"I do, huh?" She looked over at him with a grin while Rico continued to pull at the sock. He decided laying across Joey's lap just wasn't cutting it any longer and got onto the floor so he could really get into it. "You look pretty good in red, too."

His smile remained, even though his words and her words just registered in his brain. This time, there was no wave of embarrassment or awkwardness. Harvey remained focused on Rico, but he did steal a glance at Joey. She seemed to be enjoying what remained of the evening, despite both of their attempts to sour it with reality. "See, Rico," he told the canine. "Joey's gotta come back for this right here. Who wouldn't want to wrestle over a sock?"

"You know... even though we had some pretty tense moments... it hasn't been a bad evening at all. And I will be back come hell or high water," Joey said while Rico abandoned sock tug of war and jumped back onto the couch with them to settle his head on Harvey's lap this time. "You're such a spoiled dog, you know that?" She asked as she reached out to pat his side, then looked back to Harvey. "But, just in case something does happen over there, I have a confession of my own. I find myself attracted to you. I know you just came out of a relationship, too, but I just... had to get it out... in case."

She took a deep breath. It was no secret she was straightforward. "That being said, I don't expect you to feel the same way, and more than anything, I do want us to be friends. We have a lot of fun together."

Harvey surrendered in the war over the sock and turned to Joey. He was made aware of Joey's feelings the moment she kissed him and ran in the holodeck. Since then, he'd been trying to determine how he felt about her. His relationship with Jayla, however short-lived it was, was not broken off so he could be with anyone else, but so he could learn who Harvey Geisler was, and who he was meant to be.

"Joey," he said gently, pausing just long enough to sort what feelings he could. "We do have a lot of fun together. I don't even know how to express how much I appreciate what you've done, and I hope I can figure that out as we continue teaching me how to have fun once again. I'm definitely not ready for a relationship." He reached over and covered her hand. "When I am, I wouldn't mind that person being you."

Joey turned her hand beneath his to give it a gentle squeeze. "There is no pressure, Harvey, I promise. I know you're not ready, and I completely understand why. For the first time in a really long time, you're taking the time to get to know yourself again. No one can fault you for wanting to do that. I certainly don't." She smiled over at him. "There's more to you than the uniform you wear as Captain Geisler, and I'm really enjoying helping you find that. It's been a long time since I've had the kind of fun we've had, too, so in a way... it's doing us both a lot of good."

She knew the kiss would give him some idea, but it made her feel better to actually say it. Even though she was going to do everything she could to make it back, there was still a little uncertainty, and she didn't want to have any regrets. "When you are ready, I'll be here, but for now... I'm more than happy being your friend."

Harvey smiled. "Me too. It's nice having friends after all these years." He hadn't needed to work hard to be unlikable, but only in recent weeks had he been shown that he wasn't that successful at it. Harvey was glad to be wrong in that regard.

"It is, isn't it? Maybe now you won't decide to shut yourself off," Joey said with a smile. "Caring about people is hard, especially when we don't know what tomorrow will bring, but if we shut ourselves off to greater things, then we're the ones who are going to suffer for it in the long run."

He nodded in agreement, looking back to Rico and pat him on the head. "Speaking of which, tomorrow is nearly upon us. We should try and get some sleep tonight. Who knows how much we're going to get in the next few days."

"Sadly, you're right, and thank you again for agreeing to keep an eye on Rico for me. It means a lot to know he'll be looked after." She rose to her feet and took the canine's leash into her hand. He was up and on his feet next to her in a matter of seconds. "I'll see you when all of this is over." After giving him one more smile, the two of them made their way out the door.

Harvey watched them leave. He was thankful to have a small group of friends on board the ship, but even now, he felt more alone than he'd been since before he found out about the Consortium. Harvey had something--someone--to look forward to when this was over, and that made facing tomorrow all the more easier.

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