"—ouse keeping, if you will," the man said.

"Housing keeping?" she replied, if only because her memories seemed to be taking a little longer to return.

"Yes," he answered with a shrug. "It's always easier if I start first," he repeated with a little smile.

She shrugged, if only for a moment.

"Good," and he reached down by his side, and as he straightened he placed a briefcase, leather bound, clasps shining brilliantly in the emptiness of the space she found herself in. "Read over these," he continued. "It's always easier on the mind if you acquaint yourself with your next life before we begin."

She paused, hand outstretched in tempered thought, but only for long enough that she could consider as many options as she could.

"Ok."

Jupiter station, jokingly referred to as the Donut, perhaps obviously, orbited Jupiter. It was home to almost thirty thousand men, women and children. Though not the only station orbiting Jupiter, and certainly not the only station in the solar system, the Donut was the largest of its kind within any kind of spitting distance of Earth.

The Donut, as the name would suggest, was made predominately of a large ring. The exterior ring's diameter was marathon in size. That size was taken up by space hangers and cargo bays so large that standing in any of them would make even the tallest of people feel dwarfed. Main docking arms reached out from the Donut horizontally, their length long enough to accomodate even the largest of space ships. The outer ring was always a bustle of traffic, of those moving supplies from one ship to another, of ensuring that any ship coming in to dock was seen to in as timely a manner as possible. Any other free space was used as facilities for refining ore and for processing the supplies that would enable the crews of any ships to travel the longest of voyages in relative comfort.

Because of its size the Donut functioned more like a small city than lowly outpost, it had administrative branches, police and fire stations, hospitals, even schools and parks and shopping districts. These were placed in the ball or central structure that sat nestled within the embrace of the Donut's ring. It was connected to the ring by large structures that acted like highways enabling those who lived on the ball to travel to where they found themselves working.

Despite how long she had spent on the Donut, Lexa was always amazed, always awed by just how large it was. Sitting in the fast moving shuttle train, Lexa watched as the storms raging across Jupiter's surface danced before her eyes so very far below her.

"You know," Anya said beside her. "I always think I'm going to wake up one day and see that the Great Red Spot's gone."

"That's not how it works," Lexa said as she craned her head a little to the side, just enough that she could spy the edges of the storm from under Alpa highway that always seemed to block the storm from her view when she looked for it.

"You never know," Anya said. "It's been raging for hundreds of years and it's getting smaller."

"It's still larger than the entire size of Earth," Lexa challenged as she turned to find Anya not even looking at the storm, but rather the tablet held in her hands that bathed her face in a warm yellow light.

"You never know," Anya repeated with a shrug as she looked up at her.

The shuttle train came to a sudden stop, the inertial absorbers helping to stabilise and keep all who had been unfortunate not to find a seat from even swaying with the sudden stop.

Lexa eyed one man who rose from his seat next to Anya and began making his way to the nearest exit. She took a moment to look around for anyone who seemed like they needed the seat before she took a step forward and sat down with a tired yawn.

"So," Lexa said as she tried smoothening the think fabric of her uniform out of habit, the thick composite material deceptively soft and wool-like despite the nanites coursing through its form.

"So?" Anya said, her attention back to her tablet.

"Who exactly are we meeting?" Lexa said, her annoyance at having been volunteered to greet the new transfer colouring her tone.

"New doctor from the Sentinel," Anya said, "here," and she turned her tablet so that Lexa could see.

"All the way from Phobos?" Lexa asked as she reached for the tablet.

"Yeah," Anya said. "She's some hotshot who seems to have some pull," she said. "I'm guessing fixing up miners all day wasn't as exciting as she wanted."

But Lexa didn't quite hear Anya's words as she continued to stare at the name flashing underneath the image on the tablet.

A woman looked back at her, gaze calm, confident and sharp. The blonde of her hair was pulled back in a tight bun, the arch of her eyebrows seemed a little more sharp than she had ever seen, but the kindness, the warmth and the same intensity she had always seen in her eyes remained.

"Lexa?"

She looked up to find Anya looking at her curiously.

"What?" Lexa said as she passed Anya the tablet.

"Don't," and Anya shook her head and smiled.

"Don't what?" Lexa asked.

"I know that look," Anya said and Lexa hated the way Anya seemed to stare at her as if she could read her thoughts. "You're thinking this woman is going to be a thorn in your side, you're already planning on not getting along with her—"

"—No"

"—Or," Anya pushed. "You've got your eye on her."

"That's not what I was thinking," Lexa said and she leant back in the chair.

"And what were you thinking?" Anya said with a smirk as she began scrolling through the woman's file.

"She's young to be a chief medical officer of anything. Especially a station, even if it's just one wing."

Anya snorted and folded the tablet in half before tucking it into a pocket.

"Sure."

Docking pylon five was so frustratingly long that Lexa almost regretted not taking a shuttle from the Ball, no matter how lazy it would seem to others.

The interior spaces of the docking pylons seemed more like busy highways of traffic, so wide that Lexa was sure she'd run out of breath if she needed to run from one wall to the other. Large transports moved about slowly, their automated sensors doing an impossibly good job of ensuring no one was run over. Officers moved about, some in uniforms dirtied from hours of working, others freshly pressed as they reported for duty. Even armed soldiers stood guard at certain docking bay doors where government or military ships had docked.

Even cafes, small bistros and shops, trees and gentle gardens lined the middle of sections of the pylon, their presence a welcomed reprieve during a long day.

Lexa watched as a cargo drone flew by overhead, its anti-grav engines humming away. She watched as a mech walked past her, its eyes flashing a greeting as their gazes met.

"Here we go," Anya said then, and Lexa came to a stop by a large set of docking bay doors recessed into the wall.

Large windows lined the walls beside the docking bay doors that allowed Lexa to look through it and to the extended docking arm that connected the just arrived ship to the Donut. She could already see people in the distance walking their way, some clearly tired, others eager to explore what would become their new home for however long they were assigned. She even saw kids, families and civilians mixed with the military officers.

"Twenty nine," Anya said, and Lexa looked at the other woman to find her looking at the tablet again. "Top Honours from the Citadel on New London. Helped pioneer a low dosage injection to help those coming out of cryo-sleep with adverse reactions and then ran a medical clinic on Phobos for two years before requesting a transfer," Anya looked up at her with a smirk upon her lips. "She's driven."

"She's going to have her own way of doing things," Lexa said. "There's no way she won't have ideas of how to run things differently."

"Hey," and Anya nudged her shoulder. "You don't know that. At least it'll be nice having someone our generation to talk with."

"Yeah," Lexa sighed then, and she couldn't help but to feel the butterflies beginning to fill her belly as the doors hissed open with a heavy thud.

People began moving out, some greeting others who waited, others looking awed at how large the Donut was. She even recognised a man, bald headed, dark skinned with kind eyes walking with a woman whose hair was braided in intricate patterns.

"Cute couple," Anya said, and Lexa eyed her from the corner of her eye to see that Anya watched the same couple as they moved off, their familiarity with the station clear.

"Yeah," and Lexa smiled a bittersweet smile. "They were."

Lexa turned back to the docking bay doors, her hands now clasped behind her back as she wondered how long the introductions would last before she would need to report back to Indra at the Ops centre.

"You're nervous," Anya said then, and Lexa glanced at the just barely taller woman to find her with a curious expression twisting the corners of her lips. "Why are you nervous?"

"I'm not nervous," Lexa said with a grimace. "This isn't the first time I've been on greeting duty."

"Don't tell me it's the doctor," Anya laughed.

"I'm not nervous," Lexa said through grit teeth.

"Ok," Anya said as she folded the tablet and tucked it back into her pocket as she straightened, smoothed whatever wrinkles were present in her uniform and began scanning the crowd that approached.

Lexa smoothed down her own uniform and found herself unexpectedly nervous. But before too long she found her gaze snap to a flash of blonde in the distance.

It was unmistakable, unavoidable and any other number of words she could use to describe. As the head of blonde approached she found herself taking in a woman she didn't think she had seen for lifetimes, whose face was so very familiar, and whose eyes seemed to convey the same depth, the same intelligence, defiance and stubborn annoyance that had at times made her want to scream out in frustration and embrace with wanton longing.

The blonde seemed to notice her within seconds, and for just a moment Lexa thought she saw something more than she had seen before, but the surprise and recognition quickly smoothed into a professional calm that seemed slightly at odds with Lexa's memories.

The blonde came to stop before them, a single large duffel bag held in her right hand hung by her side, her left held onto a tablet whose screen still flashed whatever information she had been reading.

"Griffin? Clarke?" Anya asked, though it wasn't needed for she wore a name tag stitched to right side of her chest, just like every other officer.

"That's me," she said, and the way her voice seemed to carry an eagerness hidden behind professional stoicism was so very charming.

"I'm Commander Woods," Anya said.

"It's a pleasure," Clarke said as she tucked the tablet under her arm and extended a hand before turning her attention to Lexa.

"Commander Woods," Lexa echoed as she held out her own hand. "No relation to Anya. Just coincidence."

"My pleasure," Clarke said as their hands shook.

Their hands came apart then, and Lexa found herself studying the other woman, perhaps partly to relearn every little detail she saw, and perhaps in part because she simply wanted time to organise the thoughts that raged through her mind.

She must have been looking too obviously and for too long for Anya cleared her throat and kicked her surreptitiously.

And so Lexa steeled her nerves, made sure her voice wouldn't shake and she smiled before speaking.

"Welcome aboard, Commander."

This Clarke Griffin was so very different to the woman Lexa knew from lives past. Or perhaps she just hadn't seen her that way in so long that she found it so very unfamiliar.

Clarke's hair was tied back in a tight bun that settled just above the nape of her neck with the tiniest of baby hairs the only thing to escape. She wore barely there makeup, just enough that Lexa was sure Clarke did it to accentuate the piercing blue of her eyes. Even her posture was stiff and formal, each step measured and calm.

Though the uniform Clarke wore was the exact same as Lexa's save for the flash of medical white across her shoulders, Lexa thought it looked so very stunning on her. The dark grey seemed to emphasise her pale skin, it seemed to even make her hair seem golden at times as the lights from overhead caught it at just the right angle. Even her shoes were expertly polished, the black crisp and shining as they clipped against the metal grav plating underfoot.

"It's a lot bigger than I thought," Clarke said thoughtfully as she glanced back over her shoulder and down the docking arm that continued to stretch out far behind them and out into the reaches of space.

"We run marathons once a year," Lexa said as she followed Clarke's gaze back the way they came before turning forward. "One whole lap of the Donut's a marathon."

"The Donut?" Clarke asked as she looked from Lexa to Anya.

"The outer ring," Anya said with a simple smile. "And the ball's," she paused in thought. "The ball."

"I see," and Clarke seemed to nod to herself as she looked around and at the docking bay doors they passed, to the crowds of people that milled about or moved and worked and talked amongst themselves.

"I'm sure you've been briefed, and I'm sure you've read up on Jupiter station," Lexa said. "But the Donut — the Ring — mostly houses all our infrastructure and workplaces. Science labs, cargo bays, food and waste processing, administration," and she gestured to a ship that could be seen through a window as it began to pull away from a docking arm. "It's best we keep everything needed to keep ships moving as close to them as possible."

"Makes sense," Clarke said as she nodded to herself.

"And the Ball is home to every creature comfort we have—"

"For the most part," Anya added.

"Yeah," and Lexa pointed to a busy cafe not far from them. "Save for the odd cafe or shop out here, every other source of entertainment can be found on the Ball."

"That's where all living quarters are, too," Clarke said and it came out more statement than question.

"Correct," Lexa said and she eyed Clarke to find her thumbing through a slide on her tablet. "You've been assigned quarters in the same section as us," she continued. "You've been given time to get used to the station before you're expected to report for duty."

"No need," Clarke said with a firm shake of her head. "I'm ready to report for duty first thing tomorrow."

Perhaps unsurprisingly given her file, Lexa found that Clarke fell perfectly into her new role as chief medical officer of her given hospital wing. It was odd, too, for in the few times they interacted over the course of the next few weeks Lexa was sure she saw hints of a Clarke she had once known, who had perhaps been too bashful in youth, or too weary and experienced to enjoy life. But as always, Clarke was different, was new, was someone with a life full of memories and experiences unique to the time.

In the few moments they spoke Lexa was even sure Clarke had caught her looking her way one too many times, but from the frown that creased Clarke's brows Lexa was certain Clarke thought she was keeping tabs on her, making sure she was doing the things the way they were supposed to be done.

And that itself led to issues, if only because Clarke had grown a little standoffish, a little brusque and perhaps even cold. It didn't help that the severe bun she wore seemed to highlight the arc of her eyebrows and almost pull her expression into one of perpetual annoyance.

But Lexa didn't mind, if only because she wanted to relearn Clarke, she wanted to get to know this Clarke.

And so Lexa found herself walking down a wide corridor during a lull in the afternoon. The Operations centre had found itself with a rare moment of calm, ship's schedules having miraculously synced up so that the closest inbound ships weren't expected for another Earth hour, and those ready to depart had long since passed checks and were well on their way either deeper into the solar system, or out towards the closest jump gate waiting to hurl them to Alpha Centauri or any other of the star systems long since colonised.

A chid ran past her, his smile wide, his laugh rich and care free. A woman ran behind, a name called and a scowl on her face, and Lexa couldn't even try to fight back the smile as she turned and followed the commotion until child and caretaker turned a corner.

Lexa didn't quite realise how far around the boulevard she had walked until the familiar scents of roasted Martian coffee hit her nose. She blinked back, perhaps partly in surprise, and perhaps partly to try to reorient herself. She found herself standing out the front of the Olympus Cafe, the red sign casting a warm shadow down before her feet and the gentle talk of those inside wafting through the air.

Lexa took only a second to glance inside before deciding against entering, but as she turned to leave a flash of blonde caught her attention.

Clarke sat by one of the far windows, the orange-yellow glow of Jupiter casting its own warm light into the Olympus' interior. Lexa thought she should leave Clarke be, if only because she had her head buried in a tablet, finger scrolling every now and then as she read whatever had so engrossed her.

And yet, the more Lexa watched, the more she felt the pull towards Clarke in the pit of her stomach. She pulled her tablet out of her pocket in the hopes of finding a notification from Anya or Indra, anything to sway her from entering. But no notification was had and so she took in a deep breath, held it for a moment and then released it and smoothed the front of her uniform of any unseen wrinkles that could have taken hold.

As soon as Lexa stepped into the cafe the sounds of the boulevard faded away and were replaced by the quiet rustling of wind through sea-side streets, and bird call, and the quiet clinking of porcelain against porcelain.

She didn't entirely dislike the generated sounds, if only because it did actually do a good job of letting her forget she was technically trapped inside a metal ball flying however fast it did through space. But perhaps she found the setting just a little too quaint for her tastes.

But, before she entirely knew what she was doing, Lexa found herself feet already taking her towards where Clarke sat, back to her. As she approached she found herself taking in the way Clarke's uniform was so very perfectly fitted to her frame, she found herself admiring the creases ironed into them with a precision honed from years of practice. Even Clarke's hair seemed so purposefully simple and elegant despite how severe it seemed at times.

And so Lexa came to a stop beside Clarke's table. A single cup of steaming coffee and a small plate with a slice of cheese cake lying atop it. A small fork was placed by its side, both food and drink untouched.

Lexa cleared her throat then, and she found herself surprisingly nervous. Clarke looked up at the intrusion, an eyebrow raised and a curious defensive in her blue eyes.

"Commander Woods," Clarke said as she placed her tablet, screen down, on her table and sat up straight.

"Commander Griffin," Lexa said, and she winced at the formality. "Can I join you?"

"I—" Clarke looked around them, and Lexa was sure she looked at the other empty tables about.

"It's ok," to say she was crestfallen would be somewhere between an understatement and perhaps too dramatic a description.

"No, Commander," Clarke said as she shook her head and gestured to the chair opposite her. "Sit, please," there it was again, that curious defensiveness that seemed a little cold, yet tinged with uncertainty.

And so Lexa slid onto the chair as elegantly as she could given the circumstances. She had barely had time to adjust in her chair before a waiter came over, the man tall, lanky and clearly space born.

"Cappuccino, please," Lexa said. "Two sugars."

"Earthen or Martian?" he asked.

"Martian, please," and she saw Clarke's eyebrow raise slightly at her choice.

Lexa waited until the waiter had left earshot before she relaxed just a little and smiled at Clarke who still watched her with a guarded expression. Clarke's expression remained passive for a moment longer before Lexa saw her take in a subtle breath before she seemed to steel herself as she linked her finger together on the table and lifted her chin just enough that Lexa found it reminiscent of times long since gone.

"I'm not trying to be rude," Clarke began, and Lexa couldn't help but to wince. "But do you not like me, Commander?"

"I—" Lexa should have expected something like that, and yet, now, as she was confronted with the question, she found herself not so sure of how to respond.

"I've seen you watching me every chance you get," and Clarke's head tilted to the side. "Look, I get that I'm younger than most to be running a hospital wing, especially on an odyssey class station," and she shrugged. "I get that the person I'm replacing had decades more experience than me, and I know how it looks," and she lifted her chin further in challenge. "A hotshot, a know it all, too pushy, you think I'll do whatever I can to get ahead, even screw over my coworkers."

"N—" Lexa tried to interject.

"We don't have to get along, Commander," and Clarke's voice got a little firmer. "But I'm good at my job. I know I am, and if that makes me arrogant, then so be it," and Lexa found herself suddenly understanding just why Clarke wore her hair in a bun as she leant forward in challenge and seemed to stare with a defiant challenge. "You don't have to keep making sure I won't mess something u—"

"—No," and Lexa shook her head firmly. "I'm sorry," and she paused and watched as Clarke's animosity seemed to deflate just a little into tempered suspicion. "That's entirely not why I was watching you," she winced, if only because she didn't quite mean to admit that she had actually been watching her, if only because she was sure it would border on workplace harassment.

"Then why?" this time Clarke's voice seemed a little more gentle though the iron in it remained.

Lexa couldn't quite figure out how to explain without being reprimanded, slapped, yelled at or any number of other things that could be considered bad and so she simply took in a deep breath and decided to tell something just as much a lie as it was truth.

"I admire you," she said and she leant back, if only to try to seem a little less threatening.

Clarke's eyes widened then, her lips barely parted in surprise and her gaze softened.

"I admir—" Lexa was interrupted by the waiter returning and placing her cappuccino down in front of her with a whispered enjoy before stepping away. "I admire you," Lexa continued, "for all the reasons you just said," and it was a truth, she did admire Clarke, and more, but she'd never admit it. Not just yet, anyway.

"I—" it was Clarke's turn to seemingly be unsure of what to say as she looked away before reaching for the cheesecake and slicing off a small piece with her fork, perhaps in an attempt to give herself time to think.

Lexa wasn't so sure how long Clarke remained quiet as she chewed, she wasn't sure if she had insulted, had made it awkward or had now definitely come somewhere too close to something that could be considered workplace harassment.

But then Clarke swallowed, took a breath and seemed to deflate.

"I'm sorry," and Clarke looked down with a frown across her face, "I feel like an idiot. I didn't mean to insult you or anything," and she reached for her coffee and took a sip, the milk foam leaving behind the ghosts of a moustache before she swiped it away with a napkin. "I'm so used to people thinking I'm a princess, that I'm too self centred," she trailed off for just a second. "I get defensive."

"I understand," and Lexa did, more than most.

Clarke smiled then, and perhaps it was the most sincere smile Clarke had given her since arriving on Jupiter station.

"I'm guessing Ops is quiet?" Clarke asked as she took another bite of her cheesecake.

"Yeah," and Lexa let a laugh colour her breath as she reached out for her cappuccino and took inhaled deeply before taking a sip. "Normally I have lunch at my station, but we've been quiet the last hour or so," she shrugged as she set the cup down. "I thought I'd eat out."

"Is this a favourite spot of yours?" Clarke asked, and she gestured around them, to the warm yellow orange glow, to the scents of martian coffee and to the quiet noise that filled the air that helped take away their minds to distant places.

"I guess so," Lexa answered and she found herself looking at a picture hanging on the far wall of Old York taken years ago.

"Remind you of home?" and Clarke's voice came out a little more careful and quiet enough that it juxtaposed quite charmingly with just how severe her bun made her look at times.

"Yeah," Lexa said and she found herself looking Clarke in the eyes. "Maybe it's a bit lame," and she paused to take another sip. "Especially because of how close Mars is. But Olympus Cafe takes me back," she smiled. "At least for a little while before the rush starts."

"Never thought about getting transferred to Phobos?" Clarke asked.

"No," she hadn't, if only because she had always wanted to travel, had always been in search of something. "Not really."

"But you still decided to stay in our home system?"

Lexa paused then, perhaps to think of an answer, and perhaps to bathe in the way Clarke's gaze seemed to follow her every movement.

And if she was truthful with herself, Lexa was sure, she was certain, that something in the pit of her stomach had told her to stay, to remain within spitting distance of home, and she thought she knew why.

"I'd be afraid that the unfamiliar would become the familiar," Lexa said eventually. "Wherever I found myself," and she shrugged a shoulder. "Alpha Centauri, Tau Ceti. Even somewhere as far away as Orion's belt would become too familiar. But here, on Jupiter Station?" and Lexa gestured around them with a wave of her hand. "There's so many new things to see everyday, so many new people who visit with new stories, new tales, new experiences," and she smiled. "I don't think it could ever get too familiar."

Clarke remained quiet for a long while then, and Lexa found herself looking too keenly upon Clarke, she found herself familiarising herself with every little detail she could.

"What about you?" Lexa asked then.

"Travel?" Clarke said, "going other places?"

"Yeah," and Lexa waved her hand around them yet again. "Is this just a stepping stone for you?"

Clarke paused for a moment, perhaps to contemplate how best to answer, perhaps to even consider whether it would be political to admit whatever admission she had.

"It's ok," and Lexa smiled. "I understand if you don't really want to spill your plans."

"No," Clarke shook her head. "It's not that," and she looked away briefly before turning her attention to her now half eaten cheese cake. "Yes, I want to travel, to be challenged," she smiled lightly, but this time Lexa was sure she could see a fire in Clarke's gaze. "But I never go into a new posting thinking it's just another stepping stone. Maybe it just so happens that sometimes I outgrow places," she paused for a second, "I hope that makes sense."

"It does," Lexa said with a smile. "At least on Jupiter Station you never know what's going to happen next."

And with that Lexa's tablet buzzed in her pocket, and as she pulled it out she found Anya's name flashing and a message for her to return to her station.

"Duty calls?" Clarke asked lightly.

"Yeah," Lexa said. "Someone messed up their jump coordinates and ended up half an orbit out of position."

"Ouch," Clarke laughed. "I hope it's not too serious."

"It could always be worse," Lexa said as she picked up her cup and drank the last of her cappuccino before coming to stand. "They could have jumped into the sun."

Lexa nodded to Clarke, perhaps in part because she was glad they had cleared the air, and in part because she didn't think doing anything else would seem appropriate given the circumstances.

"Hey, wait," and Lexa paused as she turned back to face Clarke to find her swivelled in her chair facing her. "It was nice getting to know you, Commander," and Lexa couldn't help but to smile at the title, at the way Clarke's mouth seemed to form the words and bring her back to a lifetime long since passed.

"Likewise, Doctor."