Christopher Pike ensured that he spoke to all of the Discovery conspirators involved with setting up his Ready Room before he sent them on their way. But first, he had presented his challenge coins to Owosekun and Detemer. A small gesture that he had picked up from one of his commanders that represented a Commander's appreciation for a job done well. He had picked up quite the collection over the years and on the nights, he couldn't sleep, he'd review the coins which represented commanders past and lessons learned. Both the good and the bad.
Owosekun and Detmer had taken his presentation of their challenge coins as though he had given them a moon made of solid lantium.
"With this, it means, if you ever need anything from me, I will do everything I can to help you," he explained as he handed the coins to the pair. "They're from the Enterprise, I know, but it's all I have. I greatly appreciate you preventing me from becoming a Christopher on a pike."
The Bridge team had been pleased about the pair's recognition but his sincere thanks for setting up his Ready Room had made his officers perceptibly reassured. It was though they had secretly feared his reaction. Why would he be angry? He had a place to sit, a place to have group discussions, and with his Ready Room, he had a working base to purge Lorca's taint from the Discovery bit by bit.
He understand why they acted like they did. God knows he did. It didn't make it any easier for him, though.
You've had a mirror universe Lorca infiltrate the crew warping your Star Fleet ideals in possibly unknown ways, a Klingon impersonating a human, who killed your doctor, a mutineer who is now a Federation hero … oh and Commander Saru had a slight mental break with reality on Pahvo when he had been possessed by blue cloud aliens thingies. (Mental note to self – find better description for those blue cloud alien thingies. Chris, you're a captain of a Starship, use big words as thingies lacked a certain gravity though it was appropriate as they were blue cloud thingies and not affect by gravity.) You skip through space on the Magical Mushroom Tour and one of your new officers had decided to modify his DNA to talk to the spores better, which you're hoping StepDad doesn't know about as he's sure to blow a warp coil. You're anxiously waiting for the real Christopher Pike to show up, for the new StepDad to sprout two additional heads, four extra appendages and a tail and reveal his alcoholic rage while he beats you raw.
And you're trying to be well behaved and quiet so the new StepDad doesn't beat the shit out of you.
He opened a secure channel to Admiral Katrina Cornwell and waited for her to answer.
"Hello, Chris. Been busy on Discovery, haven't you?" she questioned even though she already knew the answers to those questions and a thousand more unvoiced queries. "Jumping into Asteroid belts, rescuing lost ships, possible dark matter asteroids and those big red dots. Got your fill of action yet?"
The two of them had known each other too long to pretend, so he chuckled at her caustic greeting.
"I sent you Jet Reno, I figured you'd have your hands full with her, so you'd stop picking at my psyche." was his fast retort, complete with smile. "By the way, my XO wants her bad."
"Saru?" Cornwell pointedly asked, just to remind him that the Enterprise wasn't his, not currently. To complete the lesson, she bequeathed him a Vice-Admiral-sized eye roll. "Don't do the dimples, Chris. They don't work on me as I am immune to them. Yes, she's rather interesting. Quite refreshing, in fact. Horrifies the old crew here, but sometimes you need to shake things up. What's your opinion of the Discovery?"
"Honestly, they're walking on eggshells, waiting for the other shoe to drop. I think there's a pool on when the real Chris Pike shows up and beat the hell out of them. There's only a couple that are willing to express an opinion. Burnham… Saru… The rest don't trust that what they're seeing is who I am."
He gestured with his hand, and Cornwell agreed.
"Naturally," Cornwell agreed. "There's no façade with you, Chris. That's one of the reasons why I put you there as I need that crew fixed and functional. What do you think of Sylvia Tilly?"
Christopher tapped his fingers on his desk and deliberated before he spoke. "You advised me that in your opinion the Mirror Lorca deliberately put Burnham and Tilly together to try to recreate their Mirror selves. I'm not coughed or sneezed around Killy yet, so I'm still observing."
Katrina narrowed her eyes so she wasn't amused.
"Ok. She's got smarts like few I've ever met. I'm thinking Jet Reno level smarts complete with matching missing filter. I make her extremely nervous so she chatters a great deal in our one to ones. I've taken her on as my yeoman, claimed it was part of the Command Track Program so I'm squeezing a few hours in my schedule for her daily. I'll give you a better evaluation in a few days but I am concerned that I may have another officer under my command heading towards complete mental and physical exhaustion. I don't want to carry that guilt if Tilly self-immolates."
"She is too bright, too brilliant for her to burn out, Katrina."
They sat in silence for a bit and then Cornwell softly spoke. "There was another fire on the Enterprise today."
He sat up straighter and intently asked, "Casualties?"
"None, Svenson got burned but he'll be ok. But it's pushed back the repair date. Your XO's fuming as I ordered her not to tell you. I told her that I would."
"Saru? I thought he was male," he quipped before he turned serious. "Do they have any idea what caused the original problem?"
Cornwell shook her head.
He reviewed the duty rosters, crew evaluations, mentally noting the ones Lorca had praised as people that needed further review and monitoring/mentoring plus the various duty logs. While Lorca had been a power-hungry egomaniac from an alternative universe, he had run a tight ship so his records were thorough and quite up to date. And while Christopher was spending paperwork time in his Ready Room, he tried to get in tune with the ship's inertial dampeners so he could keep his space sickness at bay. It was a smaller ship than the Enterprise so he was feeling slightly… off… Didn't need to be medicated, but he had to get comfortable with the feel of the smaller ship or maybe it was just the self-induced pressure of being the best Captain Discovery needed right then and there.
That's why he was late for the cake. He had debated changing into civvies, but since it was just a welcoming cake, and probably the audience was just a straggler or three besides department heads and the bridge crew. The hell with it, they'd have to take him in uniform.
The band was playing, the backup DJ had prepped their music, people were happily dancing but there was no Captain Pike. A few souls had made eyes over the Tres Leches cake but Tilly had warned them to back off.
"Great party, Tilly, if I do say myself," Stamets modestly admitted as he had been the one of the ones conscripted to oversee it. "Where's our guest of honor?"
"I told him seven, so we could all get here before he showed up, just in case he's early. I have figured out his schedule yet," she admitted.
"Really?" Stamets asked. His head was tilted and he looked amused. "For some reason I thought you'd have it down cold."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Her voice rose as she stepped toward Stamet.
"You're really scary when you're coming off a caffeine high," Paul confessed as he stepped away from her. Tilly wasn't having of it, as it wasn't an answer, so she stepped towards Paul. In her one hand was the cake knife as she had removed it from risk of being acquired by the vultures that were circling the cakes and the churros.
Fortunately, Paul Stamets' life was saved by Christopher Pike arriving.
Chris entered the mess hall and the first thing he realized, a good proportion of the crew was there.
And…. Nobody was wearing a uniform except for him.
There was a band including a horn player and… what appeared to be one of his engineers playing a rather mean bass. And was that Ramsey on an electric sitar?
There was a DJ.
There was a bar and there was a vast quantity of food, and… someone (BOYCE!) had reported on all his personal favorites… yes… there was cake. Or should he say, CAKES.
He nodded his head and quickly zoned in on a certain auburn ensign who was unsuccessfully hiding behind a certain Kelpian Commander. Therefore, he walked over to the bridge crew who was looking inordinately pleased with themselves.
"Been very busy today, have we?" he asked. "Between the Ready Room and this…"
He waved his hand in the general direction of the music, food and cakes.
"Traditionally, there is a small gathering when a new Captain takes over command," Burnham explained. For a moment, she sounded so much like Spock that Pike almost did a double take.
"I was told you were merely having cake," he explained. "CAKE as in singular, Ensign Tilly. Care to explain the plurality, Ensign?""
Tilly twirled and he saw the knife in her hand. Instinctively, he grasped her wrist, but very gently.
"Please put the knife down," he requested. He dimpled to show his amusement. "After all the trouble you went to my Ready Room, I'd hate for you to have to redo it for the next Captain."
"Oh, this? I'm saving it for the cake..." Tilly explained even as she bit her lip.
"Cakes," inserted Pike as he released her wrist. "CakeSSSS. As in more than one."
"Engineering was scoping out the cakes, and I wanted to make sure that you got your choice," she explained. "I figured if I took the knife, they couldn't grab any. Wait! Wait! The Captain gets first dibs."
Tilly ran over to defend the desserts as the Engineering team had decided to expeditiously solve the problem of the missing knife by cutting the cakes with a laser carver.
"Engineers," sighed the long suffering Saru. "Perhaps you might want to make your selection before Security arrives, Captain."
Pike decided on two pieces of the Tres Leches cake, one for tonight, and one for tomorrow because the Engineering Team had convinced him that there would be nothing left in a few minutes. The confectionary safety arranged with the kitchen staff, he decided to it proper and necessary to peform the mandatory Captain mingle which was a finely-honed skill. He spoke to this person, and that person, nursed one drink until it was watered down from the ice cubes.
That drink discarded, he then walked up to one of his bridge crew and tapped on their shoulder.
"Do you dance?" he asked.
"C-c-captain?" Stamets stammered. He seemed surprised that Pike had selected him as his first victim. "I do."
"Shall we then? I lead," Pike helpfully offered.
"Naturally," Paul chuckled as he looked up at the slightly taller man. "You're taller. You're the Captain. You lead."
Pike dimpled, then turned serious.
"I use my bridge crew to run interference at social events when necessary, so I need to figure out who I can use on the Discovery," Pike explained as they walked out to the dance floor, causing everyone to horribly fail at not noticing. "We leave a wide berth between us and everything is above board. You're really not my type, I'm afraid."
Paul tilted his head and attempted a joke which failed miserably because HUGH. Paul had only been Hugh's type. "I think I'm insulted. Who is your type?"
"A lady by the name of Discovery," Pike admitted. "While I'm Captain, she is my one true love and nothing will ever come between us. Speaking of which, I wanted to thank you for staying with us until we determine what those red dots are."
Detmer circled back to Owosekun and Tilly. They were standing next to Rhys and Airiam and they were making short work of their desserts. "Pike's dancing with Stamets," she hissed.
Joann Owosekun smiled and teased, "Stamets appears on the verge of flight. It's a good look on him."
"He does look terrified," admitted Tilly.
The music stopped yet the commenting continued.
"Now he's dancing with Burnham," Rhys inserted. "Oh dear, she needs lessons. Stamet dances much better than she does."
"You offering to give her lessons, Rhys?" Detmer quipped.
"God no," the tactical officer admitted, complete with head shake. "No, no, no. Just commenting."
Tilly continued to fake a smile as well, her inner vixen had decided to get totally smashed on Risa Mai Tais and was now loudly sobbing in the back of her mind. Her Inner Vixen was a sloppy, maudlin drunk. The inner Brainiac processing unit of Tilly wasn't helping matters as she huffed, 'Like we had a chance, people! He thought you were channeling your inner Killy when you nearly stabbed him with a cake knife.'
'I didn't,' wailed the Inner Vixen. 'I just wanted to make sure that he got a piece of the cake. Dr. Boyce said his mother used to make it. I wanted brownie points.'
'You mean, cake points,' the Brainiac announced.
'Ladies, he took two pieces. That means tomorrow morning, Gym time, hello!' said another inner Tilly. 'Hot, sweaty Pike in clinging clothes. I think I may actually get up early and hit the gym tomorrow morning.'
Her personalities were splitting so fast that Tilly wasn't sure which one was speaking then but it was someone who liked getting up awfully early. Thank God she didn't insert her opinion that often..
"Excuse me? You didn't answer my question," a male voice asked.
"I'm sorry, I was thinking?" she offered. "Would you mind repeating the question?"
She turned and realized that she was speaking to Captain Pike. He held out one hand and turned a crooked smile her way. "I was asking if you would like to dance? By all means you can say no. This not an order."
Her inner Tillies jumped to attention and started the Lambada, spilling multiple half empty pitchers of Risa Mai Tais in the process, but Sylvia Tilly shook her head. "I don't really know how to dance."
"That's fine, I'll show you. Come on," he offered. His hand was loose and gentle on hers as he led her through the crowd.
"But.. but…" she protested. "I'll step on your feet. And what if I break your toe?"
"Ensign, please tell me that you didn't partake in an Expresso Martini," he asked. "Because you're talking extremely fast. I thought we agreed, one expresso a day."
"No," she began before he turned to face her once more. "But sometimes I need expresso as part of my problem solving skill kit…."
"Ok, I'm going to put my hand on your back. Are you ok with that position?" he asked.
She nodded, and then he proceeded to place her arm on his shoulder before gently grasping her free hand and positioning it just so. Oh my God, he's wearing that cologne!
"Now, we just sway to the music. There's a good foot or more between us so your reputation will remain safe," Pike assured her before he started instructing her on what foot to place and where. "And now we can chat. First question, do I still make you nervous?"
She nodded, and he softly exhaled. He was silent for a long moment, and she was about to speak.
"Twirl," he explained just before he twirled her a full 360. "And back. I cannot blame you for not trusting me. Trust has to be carefully and deliberately built over time. But as your Captain, let me assure you that I would die for you."
"I don't want that," she shakily protested.
"Well, my decision, not yours, Tilly." The music stopped and then Pike smiled. It was a warm, dazzling smile that made Tilly feel as she was the only person in the entire universe. "Thank you for the dance and you didn't break any of my toes. Now, it's time for me to quietly make my exit as the crew needs to have fun and not worry about the Old Man. I have a piece of cake that I have to sample. Plus, I have these new Andorian spider web bed sheets. I should have my best sleep in years."