The next day, I arrived at my office to find Shangri-La there, ahead of me as always. She froze when I opened the door, and we shared another painfully awkward moment.
"Sorry," I weakly muttered as I shut the door behind me. "I have good news, though, I did manage to find someone to take over your duties, starting this morning."
Shangri-La immediately looked relieved, straightening up as she got to her feet. "Oh? Who is it?"
"Gneisenau, from the Iron Blood."
Her expression grew serious, and she folded her arms over her chest. "You were never one for jokes, Kurt. Don't start now."
"I'm not joking," I earnestly replied. "She's getting the tour from Baltimore right now and she'll be here within the hour, I promise."
When her steely gaze continued to bore into me, I shrugged and sat down at my desk. "Alright, you don't want to believe me, that's fair. But just get ready for turnover."
She glared at me for another few seconds before she let out an exasperated sigh and began to arrange her desk for her replacement. I did my best to hide my smug grin as I got started on the day's mountain of reports.
Sure enough, about forty-five minutes later there was a knock on the door and Baltimore ushered in the Iron Blood battlecruiser. Shangri-La stared, dumbfounded, her jaw on the floor as she finally realized I hadn't been pulling her leg. Gneisenau took it all in stride, however, coming to attention and sharply saluting.
"Battlecruiser Gneisenau, reporting for duty!" she announced, and I got up from my chair to return her salute with a sharp one of my own.
"Welcome aboard, Gneisenau," I replied, "Shangri-La will handle turnover and make sure you're all set. If you have any questions after she's gone, I'd be more than happy to answer them." It was at that point that I noticed the commissary bag in her hand. "Did you not grab breakfast at the mess hall?" I asked, gesturing to the shopping bag.
Gneisenau gave me a curious look for a second until she realized what I was talking about. "Oh, no, sir. I had breakfast, but I just needed to pick up...some...essentials for the workday."
That piqued my interest. "Such as…?"
"Lollipops, Commander."
That caught me off guard. I was expecting something for work, like pens, or snacks but not that. "...lollipops?" I repeated, wanting to make sure I heard her right.
"Yes, Commander," she confirmed with a curt nod of her head. "It helps me focus on my work."
I didn't see how candy was going to help, but as long as it didn't become detrimental, I wasn't going to stop her. "Well...alright then," I shrugged. "Let's go ahead and get turnover done so we can get to work."
"Jawhol, Herr Kommandant." She saluted smartly again, which I returned before she spun around on her heel and headed back to Shangri-La. As I watched the two women discuss the finer points of how to run an office, I realized just how similar they were. Long hair, glasses, no-nonsense demeanor, it was like I'd swapped out Shangri-La for her Iron Blood version. I idly hoped that she didn't have the same thought, that I was just replacing her with a German-speaking doppelganger. Well, in any case, it certainly reduced the chances of Gneisenau and I forming a relationship to a nice, comfortable zero.
In any case, it was time I got back to work, so I sat back down, picked up my pen, and resumed tackling the daily tsunami of paperwork…
A week had passed, and things had settled into a comfortable and regular routine for Gneisenau and me. We'd meet at the office, first thing in the morning, briefly exchange pleasantries and get to work. At the end of the day, she would check in on Scharnhorst, who was still in a coma. I thought about stopping by, but it just felt like I'd be intruding on something private. We didn't really talk all that much in terms of our personal lives, given Gneisenau's preference for "simple and effective forms of communication", but we still managed to have a good rapport and got the work done efficiently.
So naturally, it came as a surprise when Gneisenau looked up from her commission reports, took her lollipop out of her mouth, and asked, "When do you think Scharnhorst will wake up?"
For a second, I just blankly stared at her, not quite sure how to best respond. "I, uh...I'm not sure," I answered, settling on just being honest with her. "Vestal said she could come to at any time on her own. We talked about forcing her awake, but she declined to go that route while Scharnhorst is still under repair. Once work on her rigging is completed, and if she's still unconscious, we'll look into getting her up if she isn't up by then."
Gneisenau let it all sink in, then nodded once. "Thank you for your honesty, Herr Kommandant. I appreciate it."
I could have let the matter drop there, but I decided to seize on the opportunity to get to know her a bit more. "Are you and your sister close?"
"Very," she replied, a rare smile crossing her face. "Though my big sister is a bit reckless, we're actually an invincible team. We've been at each other's side through thick and thin, sharing every glory and defeat together." The smile fell, and for a moment, she looked very vulnerable and lost. "I...I don't know what I'd do without her, and it's been hard these past few days, no matter how vexing she can be at times…"
"I know what you mean," I said softly, giving her a reassuring smile. "Family's important, and while I don't know when she'll wake up, I promise you, she's receiving the best care and before long, that phone's going to ring-"
No sooner than I had pointed to it than it began to ring. We both froze, staring at each other in shock, then down at the still-ringing phone, then back to each other.
"That's…" I began.
"Preposterous," Gneisenau weakly agreed.
We stared at it as it continued to ring one more time, at which point, I gave in to my natural curiosity and answered the phone. "Admiral Fraser," I said, keeping my tone neutral.
A familiar voice came through the line, and my eyes must have widened in surprise because Gneisenau's did the same. "Admiral, it's Vestal," the voice on the other end said. "You wanted me to call you when Taihou or Scharnhorst was awake."
"I did," I said, still trying to keep the shock from my voice.
"Scharnhorst's awake. And I know it's not my place to give you orders, Commander, but…" Vestal's voice trailed off, and I vaguely heard a commotion on the other end before she spoke up again. "...you should probably get down here quick."
That didn't sound good. "We'll be right there." Without waiting for a reply, I hung up the phone and got to my feet. "Guess we should have had that conversation a week ago," I quipped, looking back at Gneisenau as I grabbed my coat and cap. "Scharnhorst's awake, so let's get going."
Her eyes got even wider and she shot to her feet, ready to dash out the door for a brief second. Just as suddenly, she hesitated, looking around at the office. "But what about…?"
"Do I have any appointments for the next hour?"
"Well, no, but…"
"No buts," I insisted, waving her out the door. "We'll catch up on work later, sister now. Come on."
When we reached Vestal's office, the repair ship looked haggard-more haggard than I'd ever seen her, to be honest. She saw us coming and let out a huge sigh of relief, staggering towards us.
"Thank heavens you're here, Commander," she exhaled. "Scharnhorst's been a handful and I'm hoping you and Gneisenau can talk her down, she's been trying to break out of here since she woke up. I don't want to have to call base security, but…"
I held up my hands to forestall any further worries on Vestal's part. "I gotcha, Vestal. No security should be needed, Gneisenau and I have this covered."
The relief coming off her was palpable as she leaned against the doorframe. "Thank you, Commander…she's in room 2."
"My pleasure, Vestal." I gave her a reassuring smile before I glanced over my shoulder at Gneisenau. "Let's go." She gave a curt nod and we strode down the hall together in lockstep. Once I was certain Vestal was out of earshot, I asked her, "We've got this covered, right?"
Gneisenau shrugged fatalistically. "Possibly. If she gets an idea in her head, she's not one to back down from it, no matter how hard anyone tries to persuade her."
"Fantastic," I sighed. Maybe having base security on standby wasn't such a bad idea, after all. In any case, it was too late to back out now, we were already at her door, which, to my surprise and alarm, was already open. Steeling myself for the worst, I peered around the corner, only to find Scharnhorst sitting in a chair, facing the window, arms crossed. I allowed myself a quiet sigh of relief before I walked in, knocking on the doorframe.
"Scharnhorst?" I called out to her, and she shifted slightly in her chair. She glanced over her shoulder, glaring at me with her single blue eye.
"Who the hell are you?" she growled.
"Admiral Kurt Fraser, commander in chief, Azur Lane."
She snorted and turned back to face the window again. "Don't much care for your last name." Bellicose, indeed.
Already she was beginning to get on my nerves. I could see how she had given Vestal so much trouble. "Well, it's the only one I've got, so we're both just going to have to live with it," I snapped back.
"Yeah, we'll see about that," she muttered, just loud enough for me to hear. Before I could respond to that, she continued, louder this time. "When am I getting out of here? And what have you done with my sister?"
Right on cue, Gneisenau stepped around me so her sibling could see her better. "I'm right here."
"Gneisenau!" Scharnhorst exclaimed, practically exploding around her chair to wrap her arms around her sister in a tight embrace. "I'm glad you're up and about. How've they been treating you? They haven't interrogated you or anything, have they?"
"I'm fine," Gneisenau chuckled as she returned the hug. "Everyone here's been treating me well, don't worry about me, I'm just glad you're up."
As they broke the embrace, Scharnhorst smiled at her sister again, and honestly, when she's not scowling or shooting daggers out of her eye, she really is a beautiful woman. I must have been appreciating that beauty for a bit too long because she turned her single azure eye on me and the smile immediately died.
"So why can't we leave?" she bluntly asked. "You tell 'em we died out there or something?"
Gneisenau fidgeted slightly and put her lollipop back in her mouth, glancing nervously at me. Scharnhorst caught the gesture and looked between the two of us before she let out an exasperated sigh. "I'm not gonna like this, am I…"
"They're aware of your location and status," I said, pointedly ignoring her last comment. "In fact, I offered to sail you back once you were both seaworthy. But Iron Blood HQ had an interesting counteroffer: Gneisenau and yourself would be transferred to my command as sort of an 'officer exchange'."
Her eye narrowed and her expression hardened even further. "Don't lie to me. There's no way in hell they'd-"
"It's done." Gneisenau's soft voice silenced Scharnhorst as effectively as any cannon volley. "I have our transfer papers, I talked to Friedrich myself. It's real, and it's been done. From now on, he is our Kommandant."
Scharnhorst looked at us both in shock and disbelief, until she finally spat, "Forget this," and stormed out of the room, her lavender hair billowing behind her. She stopped for a moment, looking both ways until she saw whatever she was looking for, and then continued to storm down the hall. Her voice echoed up and down the corridors as she roared, "Someone get me my goddamn clothes!"
Without missing a beat, I turned to Gneisenau and calmly asked her, "Could you please go to Vestal's office and have her grab Scharnhorst's uniform for me? And then once you have it, meet us on the roof."
"The roof?" she asked, the confusion evident in her voice.
"It's where she's gone," I answered with a slight smile. "She's not going outside dressed like that, not to mention we would have heard Vestal blowing a gasket trying to stop her. There's only one thing in the direction she went: roof access. So I'm going to go talk to her while you get her clothes."
Gneisenau nodded slowly, slightly impressed I'd managed to deduce all that. "Don't you think I'd be the better choice to talk her down, Commander?"
"Probably," I admitted, "but if I'm to be her commanding officer, I need to get her to listen to me. If not, what kind of commander am I?"
"A fair point," Gneisenau conceded. "I'll go get her uniform and meet you on the roof. And good luck, sir."
I acknowledged her with a nod and headed off to face my greatest challenge…
Just as I had guessed, I found her on the roof, arms crossed as she stared out at the harbor. Or, more likely, the ships in drydock. Even from here, there was no mistaking the distinct profiles of an Iron Blood capital ship.
"Whoever it is, get bent," she said, not even bothering to turn around. "Unless you're the Kommandant, in which case you can get bent, sir."
I took a deep breath and bit back the scathing retort before I forced a smile. "Good ears," I announced as I continued to come up behind her. "Most people don't hear the door over the sound of the ocean."
"Well, that's their problem," she shot back. "Why are you up here? Coming to check out my ass a bit more? Damn hospital gowns, never closing in the back…"
"Didn't see a thing," I matter-of-factly stated, "your hair was in the way."
That earned a chuckle from her and she turned to face me, although her arms were still crossed. "Alright then, why are you up here, then?"
"You left in a bit of a huff," I said in what might have been the understatement of the year, "Just wanted to make sure you're okay-"
"Of course I'm not okay!" she snapped, turning to face the drydocks again. Even from here, you could see the sparks falling from the welding torches as the ships were made whole again. "One moment, I'm fighting for my life, the next, I'm someplace I've never been, surrounded by people who, until a few months ago, were my enemy, and then I'm told that, surprise, I work for them now! So no, I'm not okay. And right now, I just want to be left alone…"
She let out a long sigh, and I could see a lot of the frustration, the anger leave with that exhalation, and for a moment, she looked very vulnerable, even a little frightened(although I'd never say that to her face).
I took a few steps closer to her but still kept a respectful distance as I leaned against the railing. "I know it's a lot to take in," I softly reassured her, "And I'll give you that space, I promise, but I wanted you to know that if you need anything, whether it's to talk or vent or if you're having problems with something or someone, I'm here for you. Even if it's just directions to a place where you can scream into the ether, you can always come to me."
She turned slightly to peer at me, her eyes searching mine for a moment. While her expression was a guarded one, it wasn't the look of scathing contempt it had been earlier. Having finally finished gazing into my eyes, she nodded once, a small, almost imperceptible smile on her face. "Thanks."
"Anytime."
To my surprise, she didn't shoo me away or tell me to leave, instead, she turned back to face the harbor again, staring out over the calm waters. We stood there for a good long while, simply enjoying the view and the feeling of the sea breeze on our skin. Until Scharnhorst broke the silence. "So…" she began slowly. "Just to be clear...you did try to get a look at my ass when I stormed out."
I sputtered and stumbled over my words as I tried to explain, making a complete fool of myself in the process. "N-no, I was, ah, that is, you know…" I continued to dig my own grave until I saw the smug smirk on Scharnhorst's face and I immediately realized I'd been had. "Oh, goddammit."
She let out a triumphant cackle and shook her head, her smug smirk now transformed into a broad smile. "You should have seen the look on your face!" she crowed. Eventually, her laughter died down and she fixed me with that steely, penetrating stare again. "Yeah," she finally said, nodding in approval. "You're alright, Commander."
"So glad I've got your seal of approval," I dryly replied. I have to admit, though, despite the wringer she was putting me through, I found myself strangely...drawn to it. Was she the woman I was looking for? Someone who could challenge me? There would be time to sort it out later, for now, I needed to give her the space I promised. "In any case, I'm going to give you your privacy, and Gneisenau will be up in a bit with your clothes. Once you're dressed and ready, Vestal will get you checked out and Gneisenau will show you around the base. Anything else you need from me?"
Her expression became pensive, her eye unfocusing as she thought things over. "Nah, I'm good," she answered, her gaze returning to meet mine with a small smile. "Thanks for asking, though. Now get outta here. Sir."
"I'm going, I'm going," I chuckled as I turned and headed back to the door. As I swung it open, just before stepping back inside, I stopped to look at her one final time and I couldn't help but feel that this was the start of something big…
A/N-Ah, finally, she wakes! She's going to be a lot of fun, I can tell. Until next week, fair winds and following seas!
