Blame HysteriaRogers, who requested more ASV Hornet, especially some of the later stuff. That will be coming along, but I felt Multiplicity left a large plot hole: if Welcome Aboard made it clear that a relationship between Anna and Kepheus was strictly forbidden, why is he still her First Officer when they're involved?
P&F Timeframe: late senior year of high school. Characters are seventeen, almost eighteen.
ASV Hornet Timeframe: eight and a half months after Welcome Aboard The ASV Hornet.
Characters in Isabella's fanfic:
Captain Anna Kaufman-Hernandez [Isabella]
First Officer: Commander Kepheus Connors [Phineas]
Science: Lt. Commander Magda Hahn [Gretchen]
Engineering: Lt. Commander Bowyer (Hephaestan) [Ferb]
Helm: Lieutenant Mei Utada [Ginger]
Navigation: Lieutenant Raji Rai [Baljeet]
Security: Lieutenant Roger de Groot [Buford]
Medical: Lt. Commander Georgia Jones [Holly]
Phineas set down his physics homework with a satisfied nod. It was complete, he was finished with his schoolwork, and now he had the weekend off. He had a little time ime to relax before going over to Isabella's for dinner.
They'd begun dating a couple years earlier, when Isabella had written a Space Adventure story that featured characters closely based on them and their friends. He smiled and decided to pull up one of her stories to re-read. The most recent had had her two leads, Anna and Kepheus, forced to pretend to be a couple while undercover in enemy territory, and they had almost succumbed to their desire for each other.
He had no such problems, fortunately; he was in love with Isabella and it didn't matter who knew it. Her mother was working late tonight, and Isabella had offered to make him a romantic dinner, which he was looking forward to quite a bit. They'd been busy with school all year, and hadn't had enough time for nice dates.
Smiling, he turned on his tablet. He saw that he had mail waiting, so he decided to check that before starting to read. Two pieces of spam quickly got binned, and then he got to the third message - AO3 informing him of a new story by Isabella. He quickly pulled up the story and prepared to read.
Shore Leave
by UltraFSGChief
Rating: Teen and Up Audiences
Fandoms: Space Adventure - All Media Types, Space Adventure (original starships)
No Archive Warnings Apply
Category: F/M
Relationships: Anna Kaufman-Hernandez (OFC)/Kepheus Connors (OMC), Magda Hahn (OFC)/Roger de Groot (OMC), Mei Utada (OFC)/Raji Rai (OMC), OFC/OMC
Additional Tags: Original ship, Original characters, ASV Hornet, Unresolved sexual tension, resolved sexual tension, shore leave, Altair VII, tying up plot loose ends, Form 74, Form 74b, Spacefleet regulations
Part 7 of the Adventures of the ASV Hornet series
This story is dedicated to my boyfriend, PhinnyPhinPhin, because he's just that awesome.
People have been asking me when Anna and Kepheus would get together. Well, it's about time for his transfer to the Tesla, but they need to get through this shore leave first...
Many thanks to SesquipedalianFSG for beta!
"Standard orbit around Altair VII, Commander," Lieutenant Mei Utada said, letting go of her helm controls and sitting back in her chair. She smiled at Lieutenant Ravi Rai, sitting at the navigation controls next to her, and he gave her an embarrassed smile back with a glance at the command chair to see if they'd been seen.
Commander Kepheus Connors, first officer of the ASV Hornet, chose to ignore the glances. The couple had filed their Form 74 a month prior, officially notifying Spacefleet of a romantic relationship between crew members, and he'd sat down with the two of them and said that, as long as it didn't affect their duties, they would remain in their current positions. He had broad latitude in how to handle Form 74 situations, and generally preferred to leave everyone in place as much as possible.
A Form 74b, for a relationship between a superior and a subordinate, on the other hand...that generally meant somebody was getting transferred at a minimum.
He sighed. No sense worrying about that yet. He had two weeks until the ASV Tesla would be ready for commissioning and need a first officer. He just needed to last two weeks without proclaiming his love for his captain.
He punched the intercom button on the command chair. "Captain, this is the bridge. We've arrived at Altair VII."
The mellifluous voice of Captain Kaufman-Hernandez came back through the intercom. "Thank you, Commander. Go ahead with shore leaves as previously discussed."
"Affirmative, Captain. Bridge out." He hit the intercom button again, then selected the all-hands announcement button. "Attention all hands. We have arrived at Altair VII. Shore leave schedules have been distributed to your departments. We will be here for one week, and for most of you, that means that you will have the entire week off. Confirm schedules with your superiors, then go have a good time. Mat-trans schedules should be posted in all common areas."
He sat back in his chair as Mei and Ravi turned to him expectantly. Laughing, he said, "Yes, that includes bridge crew. Go, enjoy yourselves." They stood and saluted him before heading to the lift shaft hand-in-hand. The rest of the bridge crew filed out after them, leaving him alone to monitor the ship.
The door to the captain's briefing room slid open, and Captain Anna Kaufman-Hernandez came out. As always, he admired how beautiful she looked, her raven-black hair falling just so, her firm figure that not even the Spacefleet uniform could hide, her brilliantly-blue eyes taking in everything she saw. His admiration for her had grown over the months they'd worked together, too, and he found himself attracted to her as a leader and captain even more than he was attracted to her physical beauty.
"All ready for leave, Commander?" she asked lightly.
"I'm on first watch shift," he said. "I'll be down in twelve hours."
She nodded. "Not willing to make your officers do anything you wouldn't. Well done. When is my watch shift?"
"You have the final shift," he said.
She smiled at him, and he was glad he was sitting down because he knees felt weak. "Thank you. I prefer uninterrupted leave. I'm going to head down, then. Keep an eye on things for me."
"Affirmative, Captain." He watched her walk to the lift shaft, her tight rear end bouncing along in her uniform, then turned back to his console as she reached the door.
Two messages were waiting for him; Lieutenant Commander Hahn and Lieutenant de Groot had each filed a Form 74 as well. He raised an eyebrow and quickly glanced through them before punching up the computer's controls.
"Computer, where is Lieutenant Commander Hahn?"
The feminine voice of the computer spoke from out of nowhere. "Lieutenant Commander Magda Hahn is in corridor 53, outside of Mat-Trans Room Five."
Kepheus smiled. Spring a last-minute form on me before leave, will you? He tapped the intercom button. "Connors to Lieutenant Commander Hahn," he said.
A startled voice came out of the intercom. "Hahn. Yes, Commander?"
"Is Lieutenant de Groot with you?"
He heard Hahn sigh, then say, "Yes, Commander."
"Excellent. Why don't you both come see me on the bridge before you mat-trans down for your leave, and we'll get things straightened out."
"Yes, Commander. On our way." The intercom went silent, and he looked at their forms in more detail while awaiting them. There was nothing unusual in them, but he knew Hahn was next in line to take over as First Officer when he went to the Tesla. Being in a relationship with the head of security, who would report to her, made things much more of a problem than usual.
The lift shaft door opened, and Magda Hahn and Roger de Groot stepped out. They gave him tentative smiles as he gestured them in front of the command seat.
"I hope you don't mind if we just have this talk here. Should take just a few minutes, but I am required to have a conference with every couple filing Form 74, and this way you don't have it hanging over your heads while you're on leave."
From the looks they gave each other, they'd been hoping they could escape on leave before he caught up to them. That way, if Spacefleet had any issues with the relationship, they'd at least have leave together first. But, he'd reacted too quickly, and now they had to deal with the consequences. If he hadn't been scheduled for the first watch shift, they'd probably have gotten away cleanly.
"That's fine, Commander," Hahn said with a forced smile.
"Yeah, whatever," de Groot said.
"Okay. The one issue I have - Commander Hahn, if you take over the First Officer role for anything over a week, you'll need to re-file as a Form 74b, since Lieutenant de Groot will be a direct report for you at that time. Spacefleet HQ may decide that you are not able to take over the First Officer's position on this ship, so if I get transferred, they may decide that one of you has to transfer as well to prevent a relationship between two people where one reports to the other. Or," he frowned, "they may decide not to give you the First Officer position at all, and that may stall your career right there."
Hahn nodded. "I'm aware. That's a risk I'm..." She smiled at de Groot. "...We're willing to take."
Kepheus raised an eyebrow at de Groot, and he nodded.
"Okay, then," Kepheus said. "I'll pass the form on to HQ. Just make sure this doesn't affect your performance, and you're good to go. Have a good leave, you two."
They looked a bit surprised, but thanked him quickly as they headed toward the lift shaft, holding hands. He shook his head and settled down in his seat, looking over the watch schedule. Lieutenant de Groot was not on it, but Lieutenant Commander Hahn was, with the day shift on the third day. Smiling, he removed her from the schedule, putting himself in in her place. He attached a note to the schedule change, saying he hoped the two of them had a good leave together.
Eleven hours and eighteen minutes until my watch is done, he thought, pulling up a book on his data pad.
He was ten hours into Magda's watch, bored out of his skull, when the call came in. "Commander, incoming communication from Admiral Harkness for you," the computer said.
"On screen," Kepheus said, sitting up and straightening his uniform.
The screen flickered and Admiral Jim Harkness, his mentor and chief source of Spacefleet rumors, appeared on the screen, the glow of his own viewscreen shining on his dark skin. "Commander," the Admiral said.
"Admiral," Kepheus said. "To what do I owe the honor?"
"I just received word on something I felt you needed to know, Keph," Jim said. "The Tesla has been delayed. They were getting the large-scale part fabricator on-line and a power overload funnelled back into engineering, wrecking the antimatter power core."
"Oh, no. Any casualties?"
"No, fortunately. But it's going to take a good six months to figure out what went wrong, fix it, and finish the ship."
"Huh." Kepheus sat back in the command chair. "So where does that leave me, Jim? Do they want me to oversee that work?"
"Not at all, Keph. The Hornet's one of the top ships in the fleet right now. We want you right where you are at least until the Tesla's repaired, and we may decide to keep you there longer."
But...that means I can't tell Anna about my feelings for her... Kepheus thought. And I'm not the only one this affects. "Jim, what about Lieutenant Commander Hahn? She's all set to take over the First Officer slot here. She just needs the promotion, which she definitely deserves."
"She definitely deserves the promotion, but to be honest, given this Form 74 that just hit my desk, I'd rather not put her in the First Officer slot right now. I'm a bit worried about her judgement to start a relationship like that just before a likely promotion."
Kepheus nodded. "I can understand that. Let's run the promotion paperwork, then, and leave her as Second Officer?"
"That's what I'm thinking. And when the Tesla is up in six months, we can decide if she's up for the First Officer slot then."
"Thanks for letting me know, Jim."
"Not a problem, Keph. Take care of yourself, okay?"
"Will do. I head down to finish shore leave in another..." He looked at the chronometer. "Hour and forty-two minutes."
"Enjoy it, then. HQ out." The screen went black, and Kepheus sat alone on the bridge with his thoughts.
Anna sat back, watching the sun set over the sparkling Sea of Altarria. Altair VII was always a popular place for shore leaves; the planet specialized in being a tourist destination, and its tropical beaches were particularly prized. She'd pulled rank to get a small cabin on a private beach all to herself, a small hut made of deep brown wood that stood out against the silvery sand and the brilliant blue sea. She spent all day every day dealing with people, and while she was on leave, she wanted to just get away from all of them.
Even though she was just wearing her swimsuit, the air was still warm, although she knew that would change once the sun set. She'd go into her cabin and get some sleep, trying not to think about Kepheus. He had spent just one day planetside before going back up to cover Magda's shift; he'd sent her a message that Magda and Roger were now involved, which Anna had already known. She hoped it wouldn't cause problems for her friend's promotion, but knew it was not her call to make. It's not like my romantic judgement is that great, anyway.
Anna's communicator, sitting on the table next to her, chirped briefly. Rolling her eyes, she picked it up. "Kaufman-Hernandez," she said.
"Anna, it's Kepheus. Can I stop by for a couple minutes to talk to you?"
"Sure, what's up?"
"I'd prefer to talk in person. Be there in five."
She set the communicator down again, her train of thought derailed by knowledge that Kepheus would be visiting. The two of them had been attracted to each other since they'd first met, but unable to act on it because she was his Captain and he was her First Officer. She knew he was due to transfer to the ASV Tesla soon, and she was looking forward to being able to admit her feelings to him, even if they only got to spend occasional bits of time together when their ships were near each other.
The familiar heterodyning hum of the mat-trans sounded off to one side, and Anna suddenly realized she was still in her fairly skimpy little swimsuit. She looked around, but her wrap was lying on a chair a good ten feet away. So be it. If I can't be in command while wearing a string bikini, I don't deserve the job.
"Captain?" Kepheus said, walking toward her.
"What's up, Commander?" she asked, sitting up and looking at him. He was as handsome as ever, tall and lean, with a prominent nose and unruly bright red hair. He looked at her, quickly glancing down at her body before his eyes snapped back to her face. He'd dressed in civilian clothes, an orange-striped shirt and blue shorts. He blushed, just a bit; it was adorable, and she barely suppressed a grin.
"I..." He straightened up. "I just received word. The Tesla had an accident during final fitting before launch, and has been delayed for six months."
"Okay," Anna said, her eyes narrowing.
"I've requested that Lieutenant Commander Hahn receive the promotion she's due anyway. And..." He paused, looking off into the cerulean ocean. "I'm going to request a transfer."
She looked up at him, frowning. "Why?"
"Because..." He looked back at her, his eyes raking up her body before settling on her face again. "Because I can't go another six months working with you without filing a 74b," he breathed.
She stood, walking toward him. "If I'm going to lose you to another ship anyway," she whispered, stepping next to him, "then we might as well just file the damn form." She was mere inches away from him now, and she could see the sweat beading on his brow. It's time, she thought. "I love you."
A smile slowly spread across his face, and he whispered, "I love you too," before leaning down and gently meeting her lips with his own. His arms slid around her waist as hers slipped around his neck, and they pulled each other close. She could feel his soft shirt against her skin as their bodies pressed together.
She whimpered slightly as he broke off the kiss, bending down to pick her up in a bridal carry. She rested her head on his shoulder as he carried her into the cabin.
Kepheus woke up, a smile on his face. He and Anna had finally admitted their feelings to each other, and regardless of what it did to his career, he couldn't regret the night they'd spent together.
The bed was empty but still warm where Anna had been, and he sat up, startled. He saw Anna, wearing his shirt as she sat at the small desk on the cabin wall. She saw the motion and looked over at him with a regret-filled smile.
"Sorry," she said. "I woke up early, and figured I should file my 74b..."
"At the first available opportunity," he finished, nodding his head. "If you're done, I'll file mine, and hope we get the rest of shore leave before they tell me where I'm getting transferred to."
"I'm sorry," she said.
"Me too. But it's better this way. I couldn't take not being with you any more."
She nodded sadly and stood up so he could take over the seat at the desk.
They'd enjoyed the last few days of shore leave together, and now the ship was preparing to depart Altair VII on their next mission, whatever that may be. Anna suspected it was going to be a trip to Starbase Zeta-4 to drop Kepheus off for a transfer.
Her console chimed, indicating the arrival of a message. She pulled it up; it was from Admiral Harkness. She took a deep breath and opened it.
I have received your Forms 74b. I'd like to talk to you and Commander Connors. Let's plan to conference at 1400 today. Have Lieutenant Commander Hahn available as well, but we need to talk before she joins in.
Anna sighed. She knew what this meant - Magda was going to get the promotion to first officer after all, and Kepheus was getting transferred.
At least I get another day with him before we arrive at Zeta-4.
Kepheus entered Anna's briefing room and nodded to her.
"I'm sorry," he said.
She shrugged. "We knew. It's why we waited so long."
He sat down in the chair across from her. He wanted to go over and hug her, reassure her. But they were on duty, and he knew that was unacceptable.
"Captain? Admiral Harkness for you," Magda said over the intercom.
"Transfer him here, Commander," Anna said, and the screen to one side of her desk flickered on. Admiral Harkness looked out of the screen, a frown darkening his face.
"Captain. Commander," he said.
"Admiral," Anna and Kepheus said in unison, and the admiral rolled his eyes.
"I've received your forms. You're sure on these?" he said.
"Yes, Admiral," Anna said.
"Affirmative, Admiral," Kepheus said.
"Okay. By all rights, I should transfer Commander Connors, but..." He paused, looking at his console. "I'm not sure if you realized this, but the ship efficiency ratings for the Hornet are the best in the fleet. Literally, number one."
"I'm sorry to cause problems with that, Admiral," Kepheus said.
"Fortunately, regulations give me some leeway here," Admiral Harkness said. "I'm loathe to break up a partnership that is clearly working, so as long as there doesn't appear to be a problem..." He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly; Kepheus felt himself holding his breath. "For now, I'm going to leave Commander Connors where he is now."
"Sir?" Anna said, sitting up.
Wait, is he really just letting us...? Kepheus thought.
"I'll be watching your efficiency reports closely, and I will ask you two to be discreet," the Admiral said. He gave a conspiratorial smile. "I will note that there's a reason there's a direct door between the captain's and first officer's quarters, and it's not just ease of consultation. You're not the first couple in command of a Spacefleet vessel. Now, can you bring Lieutenant Commander Hahn in?"
"Certainly," Anna said, pressing the intercom button. "Lieutenant Commander Hahn, please join us in the briefing room."
"Affirmative, Captain," Magda's voice said from the intercom. A few seconds later, she came into the room, taking a seat next to Kepheus.
"Lieutenant Commander Hahn," the Admiral said. "I need your assistance here."
"Certainly, Admiral," Magda said.
"In case you were not aware, Captain Kaufman-Hernandez and Commander Connors filed Forms 74b this week."
"I had been told, Admiral," Magda said.
"Excellent. Commander Connors is not being transferred at this time, but there are obvious issues involved with having the captain and first officer in a relationship. So that's where you come in. I need somebody to be the captain's counsel in any situations involving Commander Connors. Are you willing to take on that responsibility?"
"I am, Admiral," Magda said, sitting up straighter.
"Very good. You're due for promotion, and this will be easier with a rank equal to Commander Connors. The paperwork will show up later today, Commander Hahn."
"I...Thank you, Admiral!" Magda said, a smile on her face. Anna and Kepheus gave each other hesitant smiles.
The Admiral looked up at them with a smile. "Don't make me regret this," he said. "But I suspect I won't."
"We'll make sure you're proud of the Hornet, sir," Anna said.
Phineas tapped the kudos button, then sat back and stared at the distance. So, she finally got Anna and Kepheus together. Am I supposed to take some sort of hint from that?
He wasn't sure. He and Isabella were already dating, so that wasn't what she was aiming for. Maybe it was just coincidence that she published the story on the day of their date.
He shrugged, and looked over at the clock. He had to get moving if he was going to be on time. He took a quick shower, then got dressed in a nice pair of grey slacks and a white button-down shirt. He picked out a bright red tie to go with it, and a grey jacket. He added the tie pin that she'd given him for Christmas the year before; it was a small triangular piece of a meteorite. Looking in the mirror, he straightened out his hair as much as possible.
"What do you think, Ferb? Do I look okay?"
Ferb, sitting at his desk, turned and gave him a thumbs-up, then got a slightly concerned look on his face. "Have you read her story that she posted today?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Is this just a date, or...?"
Phineas cocked his head. "Just a date. Why?"
Ferb rolled his eyes, then turned and opened a drawer in his nightstand. He pulled out two small blue square foil packets, then stood up and put them in Phineas's jacket pocket. "Just in case," he said.
Phineas's eyes widened. "Seriously? You think I'm going to need condoms? You think we're going to...?"
"I'm amazed it took this long, to be honest. Be careful."
Phineas paused, looking at his brother. "Ferb, why do you have condoms in your nightstand?"
Ferb smiled enigmatically as he sat back at his desk.
Shaking his head, Phineas went downstairs. "I'm heading over to Isabella's, Mom," he said.
"Have a good time, Phineas. Be back by 11, please," his mother said from the kitchen.
"I will." He headed across the street, knocking on the door to the Garcia-Shapiro house.
"Just a second!" Isabella shouted from inside. A moment later, the door opened, and Isabella stood there. She was wearing an apron over a dark blue dress, and heels that meant she was only about six inches shorter than he was. She smiled at him and eagerly pulled him inside, closing the door before leaning up for a quick kiss. "Sorry, need to go finish up dinner." He followed her into the kitchen.
The kitchen was filled with the smell of fresh-baked bread, from the loaf resting on the counter, and roasting meat, from the stew simmering on the stove. The table was set for two, with candles sitting in the center of the table. "Can I help?" he asked.
"That's okay. Have a seat while I finish up," Isabella said, and he sat and watched her bustle around the kitchen.
He loved watching her move. The dress clung to her, showing her lean curves. It had a halter top, baring her back, and came down to mid-thigh, showing her fantastic legs. She turned and smiled at him, then got back to finishing dinner.
They dined by candlelight, and Isabella found herself gazing across the table into Phineas's eyes. She'd been planning this night for weeks, ever since her mother's late shift had been scheduled. So far, it was going perfectly.
After dinner, they cleaned up together - she tried to say she could do it herself, but he insisted on helping out - and then she led him into the living room.
She'd pushed the couch back to give them some room. As they entered, she went over and started up the playlist she'd set up. A piece of slow dance music came on, and Phineas grinned as they stepped close to each other. His hands rested on the back of her waist as her fingers laced together behind his neck. They pressed close together, swaying to the music, lost in the moment.
Phineas kissed the top of her head, and she looked up at him with a dreamy smile. He leaned down to kiss her on the lips, and their swaying came to a stop as their attention focused on kissing, tongues dancing back and forth. His hand slid up to caress her bare back. She felt herself melting into him.
An odd stiff rectangle poked her from his jacket pocket, and she pulled back, giving him a puzzled look. He looked embarrassed as she reached in and pulled the odd thing out, realizing it was two condoms.
Phineas blushed deeply. "Sorry, Ferb decided I needed them..."
Isabella laughed. "It's okay. I've got some in my room. Fireside Girls are always prepared, after all."
"I..." Phineas said, his eyes wide. "I don't want you to think you have to..."
"I want to," she said.
"Ferb seemed to think that was the point of the latest story."
She stepped back, taking his hands in hers. "Maybe. Should we go do something about that?"
"Yes. Yes, we should."