Tap, tap, tap… her fingers touched lightly over the glass screen though her eyes strained in once again and there was a mild ache that pulled down her neck to her mid-spine; settling between her shoulder blades. Michael supressed the need to yawn, pausing the screen though a familiar growled sound echoed from the dark and shadowed pen. Ripper.

It had been perhaps a day since their successful jump with the tardigrade though Michael still found herself down in Lorca's lab, still running assessments on the creature. Despite it being useful, it still needed to be understood; for its physical needs and from what she was ordered from Lorca, to find ways to control it. The image of Laundry's body as well as the crew of the Glenn was enough for her now to work on it; the former over the latter. Light worked just as well for her in here to keep it at bay.

Michael moved away from the screens, back towards the pen as she heard the creature move around, groaning out it's usual sounds in complaint. She had no doubts that it was… given its containment. A familiar sensation given her own incarceration over the past 6 months.

"I'm sorry." She apologised softly to it.

It just whined before curling up in the darkest corner of it's cell away from her and the light that leaked in.

'Michael Burnham to the Bridge.' Lorca's voice called through, surprising her for a fractioned of a second.

"Coming." Michael sighed deeply, saving her work and headed back out towards the lifts. "Bridge." She called out before it started to move.

Her mind flickering back to Lorca's voice, an edge to his tone was much different to what she's expected from him. The undertone was harder and didn't collocate to a tone that hinted at a request; a demand even.

Why?

The elevator doors sprung open and she stepped out but almost immediately the air was tense and it immediately felt wrong, like when she had been court martialled for mutiny at the start of the wall, the seriousness in the air and the burning looks she was getting from everyone.

In front of her, Saru was shadowed by Paul and Tilly. Paul's face was pale but his eyes were alight with anger that seemed to seethe into his breath and his jaw tightened the moment he saw her, Saru just stayed silent but there was a new look in his face that didn't match the soul she knew from him… Tilly just looked nervous, glancing between everyone.

Her heart thudded if a little faster in her chest before her gaze landed onto Lorca who was facing a screen in front with the rest of the bridge crew. Her stomach dropped a little to see what she was watching.

On the screen was the engineering lab, once orderly and tidy was now it's opposite; the spore containment cube was cracked and a few of the panels littered the floor. Wires connecting to the navigation conceal were torn and what looked to be a bat'leth seemed to be imbedded into it. Spore containers were all out and released into the room and a few broken had spores floating aimlessly around.

Then the whole thing reset; leaving her only watching as the orderly spore room opened up, revealing…. Her or at least the back of her entering the lab with a bat'leth and immediately started to bash the cube first before moving on.

"Pause."

The image stopped again.

The silence was like a heavy buzz all around as all eyes turned to her but all she could do but stare; her heart racing in her chest but she didn't feel quite so connected to the reality of what she was seeing….

"Care to explain….why you had to do that?" Lorca spoke, finally turning to face her with a tight jaw and his eyes burning with questions that suppressed his anger.

Michael inhaled sharply, tearing her eyes away from the screen. "I..." She started, her voice sounding weird even to her own ears, "I… I didn't do this."

Lorca's eye brows rose and a bitter snort left his lips. "Quite the contrary with what you've just seen."

"I haven't been near Engineering today." Michael knew that, Lorca should too, given the job he had asked her to do. Why would she jeopardize the ship and the fate of the war?

"I invited you, Michael Burnham onto this ship to help us win this war that you started, putting you to work on our most vital asset and you do this?" He shook his head, anger leaking into his voice. "Right now, I'm struggling to understand why you'd try and lie about it with evidence so clear as day."

"It'll take… weeks to get it going." Stamets spoke, his tone cold but brisling with anger none the less. "The damage has composed the use of it completely. We won't be able to jump at all; short or long like we used to."

Michael looked away, down to her feet. She felt dazed with all of this thrown into her face but she knew none of it had set in, perhaps the shock of it, her Vulcan training too.

"So, Discovery has to be on the side-lines again until the drive is fixed. I can't have any complications so you'll be confide to your Quarters effective immediately and you'll stay there until otherwise told. You got that."

"Captain—"

"Your privileges are being revoked as we speak and If you step out of line again, you'll be moved into the brig for as long as this war is on." Lorca continued then looked to Tilly, nodding her to move forwards.

The red-haired moved forwards, hovering beside her but Michael couldn't hear what he said but she moved as she felt a pressure on her arm, allowing herself to be moved towards the lift, feeling something being wrapped around her wrist with a beep.

Her gaze turned hazily to the crew though as she turned around, their faces like stone and seemed to weight into her chest, the worst was Saru's still….before the doors closed and she felt the lift move down.

This wasn't happening…. It couldn't be happening. It felt like she was in some sort of dream or the sad films or in books you watch where everyone turns against you; leaving you alone to deal with the problems and losing all trust in you… This had to be that, a bad dream to let all this happen again, with the difference was… this wasn't her fault; she wasn't committing mutiny or hurting the captain… she didn't do this…

Doors sprung open to the identical corridors to their floor and Tilly led her from it in silence, which felt disconcerting to what she was used to from the red haired. She felt like she was on auto as she walked.

She was framed. Somehow. It was obvious to day in her eyes. Unless she had an identical twin sister on this ship hell bent on getting her in trouble; that'd really throw her off much more. The footage looked real; Lorca trusted his team too much to think any of them would do this against him. How could she even get a chance to dispute the lie?

"We're here.." Tilly spoke up in a hushed voice. Michael looked around her to see that was true… standing between their beds so she slowly turned to sit down into the covers of her own, letting out a sharp exhale.

"Are…are you okay?"

Michael stayed quiet for a long moment. Was she okay? No. She wasn't Today had not gone as expected, her efforts to help were for nothing and everyone on this ship had another new reason to hate her.

"Sorry, that was a stupid question, of course you're not. I'm sorry."

"Leave." Michael spoke, her voice barely audible.

"W-what?" Tilly's head spoke.

"Leave." She needed to be alone…

Tilly stared at her for a moment. "I do believe you, Michael." She said. "Look, I know I've known you for about… a few days but You don't seem the type to use a Klingon weapon to break our spore drive."

"Tilly.."

"Not when you've worked this hard despite all to get it up and running."

Michael closed her eyes, inhaling deeply at her words. "I can't…."

"I'll talk to the captain. I'm sure this will blow over and we'll move on."

Michael exhaled out, closing her eyes but Tilly didn't speak again but she heard her leave; the door shutting behind her and finally leaving her to her thoughts. Her throat tightened and despite all her Vulcan training Serak had taught her, she was unable to hold back the emotions she had been putting aside for the last 6 months

Tears burned at her eyes and blurred her vision but she allowed them to fall, her chest constructing into sharp breaths and her nose ran but Michael pushed herself to lie down, sinking her face into her pillow as she cried…

They thought she did this…. She knew why they did if they had the footage… she had tried so hard to be helpful, to prove some worth… now it was all gone. The way Saru had looked at her… the distain, the disappointment that she had failed once again… It hurt. How could this have happened?