The metallic sound of a knock caused Regina to meet her closed doorway with a glare. She would have expected the courtesy of being left undisturbed after the events of last night. Based on the faint pang in her wrist, her over-used tear ducts, and the fatigue from a sleepless night she felt entirely used up. Specifically, she felt like someone threw her into a wormhole and then slingshot her around a moon. Just thinking about it plagued her with exhaustion.

After Cora's death the reality of it still wracked at Regina. She still had yet to face the consequences of her mother's betrayal and failed to accept what her passing meant. It was more than betrayal to her, it was one against the Commonwealth. Cora had sold out her friends, her family, and her government. If news spread, this might lead constituents to hazard a closer look into their politicians and their dealings abroad. After all, loyalty in one's government these days was as fragile as Earth's ozone layer. It only took one rumor to spark a wave of distrust in the Commonwealth. For if a retired dignitary could defect to the Raiders, who was to say she was the last?

Yet her visitor refused to respect privacy or the fact that she was in mourning. The sharp knocking persisted, echoing throughout her quarters and in the confines of her throbbing head. Throwing aside the blanket donned for warmth, Regina thrust herself up from her sofa. She marched towards the door and slapped the hatch release, preparing to cut down the idiot soul who disturbed her slumber.

Emma Swan (the idiot soul from the other side) snapped to attention at the sudden appearance of the captain. As a shock to Regina, the first officer's uniform never looked so neat. In fact, it had to be the first instance the woman even showed up in uniform. Her black boots were polished to a shine while the gray pants tucked into each boot as ordered. The regulation black long sleeve shirt of First Officer appeared a bit snug along the arms but fit nicely to her build. A slight bulge at her abdomen evidenced the medpatch still healing her knife injury. And to top it all off Regina noted with bewilderment how golden blonde hair usually left askew had been pulled up into a tight pony tail.

The show of upholding dress code had a most unusual effect on the commander. Taking a step back, she had to grasp the edge of her doorway to bring her back to reality – if this was, truly, reality. Regina blinked rapidly, taking in the appearance with parted lips. Though visibly haggard from her ordeal, Emma still looked as roguishly charming as a 'free trade' smuggler. And the smirk at pink lips indicated that Emma knew it, too.

Eventually, Regina cleared her throat for a proper address. "You've managed to look no worse for wear, Miss Swan."

"Ah… thanks. I think." She scratched her forehead before coming out with it. "Look, we're just here to say hi and give a formal show of gratitude."

Frowning, the captain peeked behind Emma and saw no one there. "We?"

"Yeah, I thought you might –"

"Cap'n!"

Finally, the second part of Emma's "we" charged out of nowhere and came to a screeching halt before Gucci boots. Sporting a rocket ship-themed band-aid above his eyebrow, Henry Swan looked like every one of his dreams had come true after having finally set foot aboard a starship.

Toe-to-toe with the beaming child, Regina wasted no time kneeling down to his level and enveloping him in a hug. The swiftness with which she offered affection was not dwelled on as he returned the embrace with equal enthusiasm. She smiled into the smell of his shampoo and the subtle hint of boyish innocence. Later, it would astound her how she managed to let him go. They had come so close to losing each other. That danger seemed worse than their predicament in the terrorist bombing on Earth. This time she had come within inches of losing her little friend. It bled tears from her prickling eyes.

"You certainly look all patched up," Regina said, observing every inch of Henry's face. "Does your head hurt at all?"

"Nope. The doctor say I'm okay to go!"

"Well, if the doctor says so…" mused Regina with sparkling eyes.

"Yeah, I'm fine by the way."

Regina gave the waving woman a mocking glare before stroking the boy's bangs again. It was becoming a habit hard to break.

"Your mother should be very proud to have so courageous a little boy. Escaping peril twice in one week is a feat I even cannot boast of as a commander."

"Are you proud?" His heels rose with the peak in his voice.

The question elicited a pause as Regina was not sure how he meant it. Proud as a captain? A friend? Dare she consider… a guardian?

"Yes, darling." Her soft honesty washed over the growing smile. She brushed a thumb over the adorable, blushing cheek. "I am very proud of you."

Arms folded and leaning against the door jam, Emma observed with a carefree demeanor. A strange joy came over her at the sight of her captain and her son sharing identical expressions of mystification. Neither understood what was happening or could identify the rush of novel emotion running through their veins. But as an outsider looking in Emma knew exactly what was transpiring between them. While the newness of it struck a bit of uncertainty in her and called her to reinforce the wall she built between anyone and the home she built with her son, conversely there was something about this event that calmed her. It eased every last doubt in her mind regarding the captain's psychotic vendetta (now history), even in Regina's spiteful sarcasm which just barely masked the veneration.

Watching them chat and beam away at each other made her want to make a break for it before they saw the evidence in her eyes. No tears, just the truth of it staring back at them. And if there was anything Emma needed work on it was confronting humanoids bare of lies or distrust. Because Henry and Regina were the last two people in the galaxy she could lie to or doubt.

"I like your starship."

Regina laughed, feeling the exuberant swing of Henry's hand in hers. "Thank you. I quite like it myself."

"He was too shy to ask you himself, but he wanted a full tour from the captain herself," Emma explained. "I already told him you had important captainly duties to attend to. It's no trouble." she held a hand up before Regina could oppose. "David offered to show him around. And we've got a few more days until we're Earthside, so you two can get into trouble later when the captain finishes her chores."

Henry giggled to the wink in his direction.

Rising to her feet, Regina leveled a stare at Emma. "That sounds like very assertive talk coming from a simple first officer."

"Yeah, well, when the commander decides to slum it with the lesser crew members…"

"Ah, Henry being…" Regina dragged off her realization with a rolling hand gesture. Her lips thinned as she grinned internally at the thought of the boy staying on indefinitely.

Emma nodded after the fact. Her hands hid themselves in her pockets and she rose up on the balls of her feet. Eyes winced to the awkward silence before she found a voice.

"Listen, I just want you to know I stand by your decision to detonate the Raider space station. Whoever was on that thing made a decision to throw their support – not to mention their lives – in with those terrorists. I'm sure the rest of the crew feels the same as I do."

"I… appreciate that."

"Also, I read your report on our recent skirmish." Catching the contemptuous glare, Emma cocked her head and gave a crooked smile. "You really think I wouldn't? Anyway, the little detail of Mary Margaret's given name came up and – me being me – I couldn't pass up the opportunity of reminding the good doctor."

The captain sighed and crossed her arms. "Of course you couldn't."

"Yeah," Emma itched her brow, "which was not appreciated. I don't think I'm allowed to pass Medbay threshold for the next year, regardless of injury, plague, or impending death."

"Smart woman," Regina said, her shoulder shrugging.

"Wow, did it hurt saying that? You look a little pained, Captain." Emma chuckled, disregarding the appreciative scowl to her teasing. "Besides, I think it hurt more to defy Leopold than give yourself and your crew over to him. It was, ah… it was really ballsy and, well, I just want to say thanks for living up to my expectations. It can't be easy to please all your fans."

A sculpted brow from the captain rose. "You're a fan?" A smirk tugged at the corner of her mouth.

"Um, can we just forget I said anything?"

"I don't know… Henry, do you think we can forget that Miss Swan here is a raging admirer of mine?"

"Nooo," sang Henry, giggling between them.

"Ugh, can we just memory wipe the last few seconds? Please?"

Regina took devilish joy in the violent blush coloring her first officer's face. "I can disregard the comment from my Captain's Log," she replied. Despite the glowing opportunity to embarrass Emma, she decided to take pity on the poor woman. "That's the best I can do."

A long suffering sigh escaped Emma. "Good enough."

"Momma?"

The tug on her uniform and faint trace of a whine begged Emma to look down. "Hey, little pilot."

"Momma, are pancakes here?"

Both women laughed despite the serious pout on the boy's face. Emma gave her son's hair a tousle.

"I'm sure the cafeteria can scrounge up the stuff. Though I doubt it's as good as The Classic."

"Can the cap'n come?"

Emma managed to hide the wince with a smile, yet still felt the guilt of having to disappoint her son. "Oh, Henry… I don't think the captain can –"

"I'm sure we can work something out," Regina interjected. She laid a hand on the boy's shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't a promise either. At the risk of setting precedent, she couldn't imagine dashing this boy's hopes, not to mention the dormant expectations of her own.

The military strides of Chief Science Officer Nolan sounded down the corridor. "Hey," he greeted to mother and son. His jubilant smile had a contagious effect on the two. "You two are hard to catch up with!"

"Lieutenant Nolan."

"Commander!" At the sight of the captain, David's eyes widened. He immediately fell into a salute. "Sorry, I didn't see you."

"At ease, Lieutenant."

Eyes wide and mouth open, Henry took in the display of military etiquette with nuclear level fascination. To Regina it was heartwarming that so young a child took the operations of rank and file with outright wonder, while Emma concerned over why rules and regulation took precedence over the workings of an ion engine or the distinctiveness of a Regal-class lavatory. Henry's priorities clearly did not follow in his mother's footsteps.

While David led Henry away on a ship-wide tour, Emma lingered in the captain's doorway. Having not been invited in, she had no other choice but to bide her time with the careful scuffing her toe gave the floor.

"So," Emma drawled, heavy curiosity taking over, "I've been wondering…"

"That is quite the achievement."

"… Back on the Raider space station, when you were faced with great risk and with no sign of backup… Were there any doubts then? About sacrificing the crew in Leopold's proposition?"

Not expecting Emma's serious tone or the nature of the question itself, Regina faltered in responding. It wasn't for lack of an answer, she knew exactly what to say, but the interest her first officer had in her decision making had startled her. Never had Emma put this much effort in drawing this kind of… fascination in her captain's sworn duty. Before, she just didn't bother showing interest. Now, it was, Regina might venture, rather flattering.

Captain Mills responded with a resounding, "No."

"Even if they're Mary Margaret?"

Regina knew it would sting before she even said it. "Yes."

"That's an impressive turn around," Emma pointed out. "Is that recent mutiny so distant from your memory?"

"I haven't forgotten that day. A captain would never forget it."

The fierce look in Regina's eyes ensured that the event would be forever burned into memory. Betrayal like that, for however short it lasted, could not be dismissed so easily, or so soon. Emma would certainly never fail to recall the image of her captain being manhandled by the fury-blind crew members. Brown-eyed fear like that, not just for losing one's position, but for one's life, couldn't be forged. The terror had been as real as the threat of mutiny. After that, Emma would never discharge her captain as cold or unfeeling, not when she had witnessed such uninhibited sentience.

"I know I'm no good at taking orders." Emma said. Her hand fussed with the edge of her shirt, which had ridded up over her bandage. "I have little to no experience, my patience with crew performance reviews is nonexistent, and I annoy you out of spite…" Her features scrunched to an outlandish yet candid proposition. "But I can learn to be a better first officer."

Regina had but to raise a single brow to exhibit her authority. It came across as harsh to anyone else, but Emma had associated the gesture with humor, and found it positively endearing.

"What else have we been doing for the past three months, Miss Swan?"

Emma laughed out loud. The whole thing struck her as humorous. She contemplated how far the two of them had come since she had strutted aboard the Storybrooke. Although she had gotten to know some aspects of the queen bitch captain that had been her idol in academy, her efforts had barely scratched the surface. She had suffered and grown for months under Regina's leadership and tutelage, yet there were still more layers of the captain to be peeled back. The challenge thrilled and frightened her simultaneously. But that was why Emma Swan had joined Cosmofleet. It was why she stood toe-to-toe with the commander against every directive known to a fleet officer.

To explore the unknown… It was adventure worth her time.


Captain Mills fell into the sounds of her main bridge with a familiarity known to all seasoned commanders. As she sat in her captain's chair, dividing her attentions between the streaking stars through the viewport and her datapad, she opened herself to the subtle retorts of her vessel. The hum from state-of-the-art ion engines, the sucking whirl from air-scrubbers, every beep and whistle of the sensor arrays, and all the murmurings of her officers was like music to her ears. The life blood of her starship sang through her veins. Its vibrations along every durasteel surface, each bulkhead and floor tile purred in satisfaction as she took every precaution necessary to keep it running smoothly.

But for as tranquil as these resonances, the captain was plagued by moral dilemma.

Not for the first time in the five years of her command, Regina broke regulation. In a deliberate act to conceal the truth, the details of Emma's tampered academy scores were excluded from her report as was the incursion on Xelphi Six. Despite their galactic threat, the Raiders were dealt with by using unlawful means. Regina took matters into her own hands, disregarding the chain of command put in place for this very reason.

If Command every got wind of this there would be hell to pay. Tampering with or omitting sensitive information in an official fleet report had severe consequences. But that was not why Regina was determined to keep quiet about her offense.

She couldn't expose the truth to Emma. There would be times she'd be tempted by the threat of embarrassing the girl beyond all measure. After all her sufferings in keeping her first officer in line it was a welcome prospect. Emma would push her to that place without knowing, giving reason through her insubordination, rash action in the midst of a mission, or by just being her stubborn old self. But Regina had to pass up the opportunity by realizing the damage that might ensue if she didn't. Crushing Emma would be a temptation, but also a regret. It wasn't like Regina to take others' feelings into account, but weren't her feelings at stake, as well? She'd be affected about as much as Emma. As to how and to what extent, Regina wasn't quite sure.

Keeping the truth could be just as harmful and therein laid the dilemma. Emma would probably never forgive her for it. She had every right to know how she had been recruited to the Storybrooke and on whose charity. Yet Regina could live with the lie, Emma couldn't. If in her position, Regina would want to be spared the realization of not having been good enough to graduate after five years of honest hard work.

In the end, cowardice won out. A captain couldn't lose her first officer over this, not when the recruit had the potential to become something great. Regina acknowledged it and as Emma's superior she had a duty to harness that potential and nurture it into self-awareness. She would challenge Emma, push her beyond conscious abilities to reach her untapped potential. She would treat her like any other first officer and maybe give her a good shove harder than the rest.

With a sigh Regina put her concerns away for a future date. Flicking off the items on her datapad she put the device away and approached the transmission table. Rumple had already set them into hyperspace, but waited for specific coordinates. Next to him sat Belle, going through a navigation systems check. David and Ruby stood over the communication's panel, failing to appear engaged in duty amid their plot to bet on whether Mary Margaret would change her name back to Mary 'Snow' White. At one of the panels across the bridge sat Emma, the nail of her thumb getting chewed out. A devastating frown crossed her face as she powered through but the first chapter of Cosmofleet Regulations and Directives manual.

The scene struck the captain as intimate in that the people taking up her bridge had become quite the familiar sight. They were almost, dare she say, family. Though she wouldn't go so far as using the word irreplaceable, her rag tag team of senior officers was unique, if anything, and that was something to be proud of.

Command had a series of complex missions laid out for the Storybrooke before they reached Earth. None matched the thrill and danger of their last, yet after the harrowing escape from the Raider space station and swift response of her medical staff, engineers, and senior officers, her crew deserved some time off, perhaps even shore leave to one of the paradise worlds Ruby kept going on about since Khione. After a shocking betrayal and a devastating loss, Regina was readily willing to offer it. The crux of the matter lied in the destination. Where in the galaxy should their escape be made to? Regina couldn't come up with an answer, so she turned to a more inquiring mind.

"Lieutenant Commander Swan." A grin struggled beneath pursed lips and a brow rose in good old fashioned challenge. "Where to?"

Shocked that Regina was openly asking for her input (and it would seem with a smile), Emma genuinely thought about it. To get a better perspective she approached the viewport and stood before it as she did her first day on the job, hands on her hips and peering out into the vast corners of the last frontier. Oddly enough, Henry's bedtime stories sprung to mind.

"Second star to the right," Emma answered with a glint in her eye, "and straight on till morning."


Update: To find out what happens next check out the sequel "The Threat Within."