Elaine shot the commander a look of surprise. Up until now, she had been pleased that Commander Kirk had taken Tony aside to set him straight. But, they were friends. Tony must have said something to get her in trouble. Typical... she thought. Men will say or do anything to get what they want, or to get out of trouble... even lie. "Yes, Sir." she replied robotically. As she walked past Tony's console, she whispered, "Thanks," with biting sarcasm.
Tony's jaw locked and his bottom lip trembled, but he dared not say what had come to his mind. His 'friend' would, no doubt, lower the boom on him again. Instead, he was the 'perfect example of professionalism', and kept his mouth shut.
The door slid closed behind Elaine with a hiss. Kirk was already seated behind the desk. "Please sit down, Lieutenant." He said calmly. He went through a quick vulcan centering exercise T'Nia had shown him before finals week his freshman year. Then, he added a prayer that the conversation would go smoothly.
She was already on the defensive. What could Tony have possibly told him? How could he have twisted the truth? Maybe the commander was just prone to believing whatever Tony said. As she sat down, she started her defense. "Commander, whatever the Lieutenant said..."
Kirk extended his hand calmly. "Calm down, Lieutenant. No one is in trouble and no one is accusing you of anythng."
While she calmed a bit with that revelation, she was also mildly upset to know that 'no one' was getting in trouble after Tony started that whole shouting match. "I see," she replied guardedly. She looked at the commander's face intently, looking for signs of what he was going to say next. He was actually quite a handsome man. His face had angular features with a cute dimple on his chin. His eyes were large and brown with an intense observation to them. His lips were thin... no, no, no... not again. She shook her head and looked away. She wasn't about to let this happen again.
Stephen was somewhat surprised by her intense gaze, followed by a quick look away and head shake. He stroked his mouth absently in case there was any unsightly dinner scraps on his mouth causing her unease. He cleared his throat. "I wanted to get your take on what's been happening between you and Lieutenant Moreau."
This was her chance to get back at Tony for all the hurtful things he said to her. Her chance to get back at all the men who had caused her pain. Did she really just think that? "He's been making improper advances towards me, Commander." His eyes widened. Seeing that she had his attention, she continued, "His last advance was right after we had our dinner at that chinese restaurant. I refused him, and he's been nothing but degrading ever since."
"I see," he replied thoughtfully. That didn't sound like Tony at all. He had always been popular with the ladies, so he didn't have to force his way on anyone. The two used to hold contests on who could get a date the fastest. Tony nearly always won. He had a very laid back, disarming charm about him. His thoughts went to her service record, which he had to read when he was temporarily put in charge of the Warlord prior to the battle with the Rapier. "If you don't mind my asking," he started carefully, "when did he make these improper advances?"
She acted a little surprised. "The whole way home from Romulus, Sir." she replied with a quizzical look. "Surely you heard it. We sit right behind you."
Truth was, Kirk didn't pay much attention to the conversations around him during the trip home. His mind had been preoccupied rehashing the battle, the losses, his mistakes, and what he could have done differently. His mind swam with alternatives; better use of weaponry, better maneuvering, different crew assignments. Eavesdropping on their talks had been pretty low on his list of things to do. What little he could remember sounded innocent enough, however. "Actually, Davies, I really don't remember all the conversations you two had. I do remember the two of you talking a lot, though... but it sounded pretty harmless."
"He had ulterior motives for everything he said and asked, Sir." She offered pleadingly. "He was trying to play on my emotions!" She looked out the window behind Kirk's chair, watching the starlines move past. "Then, when he confronted me at the restaurant... that was just uncalled for." She shook her head.
Kirk remembered that conversation, well... most of it. He, T'Nia and Box were just a few steps behind them when they walked out. They were standing just inside the door when their discussion heated up. "And... things just got worse after that, right?" he asked inquisitively.
"Exactly, Sir." she answered, proud of the case she had built against Tony.
Kirk gently pounded the desk trying to think of how he would word his next few sentences. He squinted at the desk trying to focus his thoughts. Elaine stared at him intently, wondering what he was going to say next. Try as he might, he just couldn't think of a 'soft' way to speak his thoughts. He looked up at her with pained eyes. "Lieutenant, may I be completely honest with you?"
The question took her aback. "Sure, Sir," she replied almost instinctively.
He let out a deep breath. "If you want to pursue a formal inquiry on him after I say my peace, I'll do it without hesitation." She continued to look at him intently. Obviously, the words weren't coming easily for him. "I've known Tony Moreau for over ten years and while he's no knight in shining armor, he's a good guy." Her look of cynicism made him pause a moment. "He IS, Davies. He wears his heart on his sleeve sometimes, and he's always talking without thinking first... but that's him. He speaks his mind and he's straightforward. He doesn't manipulate people, especially women. He doesn't need to. Women just like him."
How could he be so blind to his own friend, she thought. She sat forward in her chair. "But, Sir..."
"Wait," he countered, holding his hands up, "hear me out." Cautiously, she sat back. "Jeez... there's just no easy way to say this..." He looked around, hoping to find some kind of inspiration from the room around him. Regretfully, there wasn't anything in the room other than the desk, two chairs, an empty bookshelf, an overhead light, and a window. Captain Bolerov hadn't considered decorating it a priority. "I looked at your personnel record," he stated solomnly. Kirk paused to give her a moment to determine what that meant.
Oh, no! she thought. Those were supposed to be personal! If he knew, who else knew? No wonder he didn't believe her! Memories of her previous assignments flooded her mind. Almost panicked, she stammered, "Why did you...?"
He knew this would be delicate. He tried to smile warmly to calm her. "I had to when I took command of the ship a month ago. It's Starfleet protocol for me to get to know the senior officers." She looked visibly pained. He tried to predict her next question. "Captain Velasquez read it, I read it, and Captain Bolerov read it... that's all... and we're not allowed to share it. Nobody else knows anything."
While that gave her some comfort, she couldn't help but feel she'd never be treated fairly in this matter, even though Commander Kirk was trying to sound kind. She feared Kirk would somehow use that information to blackmail her into silence... or worse. Her blue eyes welled up with tears that she tried desperately to hold back.
"Lieutenant," Kirk started slowly, "we've all made mistakes. There isn't a one of us on this ship that hasn't made a bad judgement call every now and then. You're not alone. Heck, some people think I belong in a stockade, not the first officer's chair." He smiled hopefully.
She looked up at him and managed a chuckle through the tears. She sniffed. "I bet you never caused a peace treaty to fail."
"Well, no," he admitted, shrugging his shoulders. "But I could tell you a few stories that could come close." She wiped a tear away that had started to fall. He folded his hands on the desk. "It's just that you've made some judgement errors before... as have we all." He waited a moment. She was about to offer a weak defense, but stopped. "I think you're making one now. I think you're reading way too much into the guy. I think if you got to know Tony, you'd find out that his attempt to be nice to you was just an attempt to be nice to you. I think that, if you give him a chance, you'll discover he's the best kind of friend you could have."
Although she wasn't completely convinced, some nagging voice in the back of her head was already agreeing with the commander. "Oh," she replied simply.
Hoping he had gotten through to her, he dared to ask the question. "Now, would you like to file charges against Lieutenant Tony Moreau and launch an inquiry?"
Her mind was completely confused. Was Kirk manipulating her, too? Had Tony been manipulating her? Had she really misjudged a man AGAIN? "No, Sir." she whispered finally.
Stephen let out an audible sigh of relief. "Okay," he started, his voice perking up a bit, "you've got another hour and a half on your shift. I'm not asking for miracles or anything... but can you and he just be professional towards each other?" She nodded. "I mean it... even if he says something stupid, I need you to be the better person. If he gets out of hand, I'll deal with him... but don't you fall into it." She nodded again. His voice became more official. "Do we understand each other, Lieutenant?"
She looked and sat up, wiping her other eye. "Yes, Sir." she replied with a semi-official tone.
He started opening drawers looking for a tissue. Regretfully, even the drawers were bare. "Sheesh...sorry, I don't have any tissues for you."
She wiped her eyes one more time, then wiped her hands on her pants, somewhat embarassed that she let herself fall apart like that. "I think I can manage, Sir." she half smiled.
He smiled back. "Okay. When you're comfortable, you're dismissed."
"Thank you, Sir." She replied. After a few moments, she stood up, straightened her uniform top, and left. Stephen crumpled on the desk and let out a giant sigh. "Praise the Lord that's over," he said aloud. After several moments, he looked up at the ceiling. "Thank you, Lord, for letting that go smoothly." he said. He stood up, collected himself, and headed for the door. I am SO not meant for this stuff, he admitted.