Decided to add this suddenly. Anywho thanks for reading. I'm new to writing fanfics so please bare with me. Comments are appreciated :)
If there was one thing Atlas P. Carter hated more than anything it was being backed into a corner. To have no foreseeable way out, with no options, vulnerable to the mercy of forces out of her control. And she really needed the control. Needed it like she needed to breathe. But out in the black, in the silent void of death and danger, traveling where no one had gone before, that need could not always be fulfilled. The universe did not cater to the whims of mortals, no matter how much they begged or pleaded. A sentiment she knew better than most.
Having been born into squalor and neglect she'd actually come to expect it. Planned for it. Made contingencies around it. Only preparedness didn't always matter. Sometime, sometimes there were fights one just couldn't win. Sometimes there were no-win scenarios, despite how much a certain captain she knew denied their existence. And as a captain herself Atlas was expected to make the hard decisions, to know that sometimes she'd be sending people out who'd never come home, to hold it all together for the sake of the crew, and be the light house in a storm to guide the way.
So it came as no surprise when six month into her own temporary captaincy she was faced with a dilemma. Condemn a man to death or lose her freedoms. Lose her friends or possibly lose her sanity. On the one hand she could save a life, on the other she could save herself. It was a conflicting choice. She could be selfless or selfish. But what it all really came down to was what she could live with. Unfortunately, as her personal computer pinged with a notification from the corner of her quarters, it appeared Starfleet brass made the decision for her. Who the hell informed them!?
Running a hand through her strawberry blonde tresses Atlas sighed heavily and sat at the edge of her bed. Burying her face between her palms in defeat. She could always make a run for it, her violet eyes darted to the door at the thought. It was an option. Not a good one but it was there. Though she was willing to suspect she wouldn't make it very far.
However, Carter did know one thing for certain, this whole situation was fucked up. And in no small thanks to the first officer of the USS Enterprise. Damn him. Things were not going to end well for her. They never did.