Author's note: Set in S4, I wanted a story where Tomsha isn't completely Angsty and Anger riddled. Also just a touch of respect with a dash of hope for the ship.

One Day

"Shit- how long have you been in here?" Sasha asked as she turned on the light to find Tom leaning against the wall in her quarters. He had shaved and was dressed in Navy BDUs, he looked so handsome and vibrant just as she remembered back when he was CNO.

"A while. We need to talk." Tom told her.

"Actually we don't." She said as she closed the door. She didn't need their voices travelling down the P-way. She meant it, she didn't need to talk, she didn't need to reopen old wounds. She just wanted to exist.

"Sasha." Tom started, she turned to face him but kept her distance. "I want to clear the air. I've been re-instated which means we'll be working together." he told her.

"You think there will be issues." she said, she stayed at the door, her hand resting on the handle; ready to kick him out at any point that suited her.

"Yes, given our history." Tom said carefully, he saw a flash of angry mixed in with a annoyance across her face. She looked a way for a moment, as if carefully choosing her words.

"Tom, the only issue I have with you is the mixed messages you're giving the crew." she told him, Tom said nothing as he felt she wasn't just speaking for the crew. She continued.

"You walked away, no contact for over a year. Then you reappear right in the middle of a mission, where you imposed yourself on us and expect us to trust you, when here-" she gestured to the room indicating the ship "Right here is not where you want to be. That being back in the Navy isn't what you want. That's a great attitude to come aboard with given you couldn't stay out of the action." Sasha told him calmly, but under the facade anger and pain majority of it was because of him and his actions.

She was right about all of it. He did walk away and even though he was back, he didn't want to be here. He just saw it as a mean to an end to keep his kids alive.

"I didn't have a choice." he told her, she gave a wry smile at his choice of words.

"You had a choice, it seems that only the President can sway you into making one that suits his desires instead of yours." She told him, she had to admit it still stung even after all these months. But mostly, she was done with being angry and she had better things expend her energy on than pining for Tom.

"I couldn't stay Sasha." Tom told her in a low voice. They shared a look of understanding, as he spoke the truth. There was nothing she could have said that would've made him stay. It had nothing to do with her, it was him. He had to leave for his own sanity.

"I know, I even waited for you for a while, waited for some kind of signal but it never came." Sasha said, tom's heart did a flip flop as he didn't expect such a confession from her. She looked half annoyed and embarrassed by it. "It took me a long while to understand you weren't ever coming back. So I accepted your decisions and I stayed with the mission with Mike. It took a while but I also moved on with my life. I might not be in love with James but I care deeply for him." Sasha said truthfully.

"I'm not trying to start something." Tom lied, he had wanted to clear the air but he was lying to himself if he didn't admit that it made him happy that she didn't love James. He could respect her boundaries and her relationship with James. But he felt a sense of hope that maybe after they found a cure for Red rust, maybe when things burnt out between her and James. Then he maybe he'd get another chance with her. One he wouldn't waste. He knew that much for sure.

"Yet you're here in my quarters, wanting to drag up the past and piss me off. I'm over it, if you want an apology, I'm sorry. But I just don't see the point of us talking about something that no longer exists especially when we have bigger problems to deal with." she paused as she didn't like hurting him but she saw no other way around it.

"I don't hate you Tom, I'm just indifferent. Hopefully, we can maintain a functional working relationship until this over. But I think that it's best that we keep this purely professional." she added, she wanted to protect herself, as it was so easy to fall back in love with him. But she had so many things she needed to deal with before she was ready to even attempt thinking about it.

She opened the door to her quarters, her silent signal telling him the conversation was over.

"Ok." Tom said accepting her at face value, he didn't begrudge her for feeling indifferent, he had broken her heart just as he'd broken his own when he walked away from her. He pushed off the wall and just as he made to the doorway she spoke.

"James is a good man," Sasha told him, he gave a small closed lip smile. He shouldn't be happy for her, but he was glad that she hadn't let her love for him get twisted with anger and change her. James was a lucky man but Tom knew he would ultimately be with Sasha in the end. As they couldn't escape fate.

"Of course he is, you wouldn't be with him if he wasn't." Tom told her, he knew like her that fate wanted them together. He looked at her for one long moment, knew he sensed the same spark that was always there. the recognition in her eyes and the softening of her features. He gave another small smile and left her quarters, his smile widened as the door closed. All he could think was 'One day..'

End