My sleepless night was catching up to me at the worst possible time as I made my way down the ship's brightly lit corridor, stifling a yawn and then adjusting the duffle bag on my shoulder that held the clothes I'd need for this first training session with Aria.

So much for actually feeling rested after a day off. When Bones had left my quarters after filling me in on what had been going on these past weeks and his growing concern and suspicion, I had spent the rest of my day in a bit of a lost stupor.

It was a lot to mull over. Starfleet had been incredibly vague on the parameters of this mission, something that contradicted every other mission and objective my crew and I had been sent on before. They had given no specifics, no details. We were to follow a very precise flight path, and only the smallest portion at the beginning had been traveled at warp. The rest would be a slow crawl through space, sticking to incredibly particular coordinates until we reached the end, in which case we would repeat a loop again.

There was no mention of what we were looking for, whether it be some kind of planet, or moon, or some anomaly. We were instructed to continue on the path until we received further orders from command. That was it. I had no clue what we were doing out here. It had seemed innocent enough when I had reported for orders with Bones and Spock all those months ago on Yorktown. It had been easy enough then to reason away.

We were going through a quadrant of space I'd never traveled before — maybe they were just looking to have it charted for thorough documentation purposes, or were just looking to see what was out here. But if either of those things were the case, why wouldn't they just tell me? The mission itself was so simplistic that it had been an easy, near automatic yes. I hadn't thought about it twice. Compared to tense diplomatic negotiations, explorations of dangerous new planets, recovering artifacts or helping species maintain their existences by executing complicated interventions, this mission had been refreshingly simplistic.

And that should've been my first red flag. It should've sent alarm bells off in my head, should've had me second guessing their intentions from the start. Instead I'd readily agreed, looking for any reason to get off Yorktown, where my own humanity and loneliness were hunting me, lurking around every corner to remind of just how truly lost I had become.

But the truth of it was, I knew my demons would follow me no matter where I went. Up here in space, trapped on a ship with hundreds of people who depended on me to have clarity, to lead, to be self assured and confident. Had it not been for Aria, I would've been spiraling deep into my all-too familiar despair by now. Instead, she had come into my life at what seemed like just the right moment.

Had that been a coincidence? It seemed like nothing short of a miracle that she'd come into my life on the same day I'd agreed to this prison sentence of a mission, dooming myself to spend who knows how long on the same loop in space until command deemed us done. And for her incident to happen on the same day I'd be leaving to head into said space travel for who knows how long … What would've happened if Aria had stayed back on Yorktown alone?

That question was irrelevant. Because if the board had denied my formal request to bring her along, I'd have found another way to get her on the ship. Whether I would've had to stow her in the cargo hold or find some other way to keep her disguised and her presence hidden, I'd have done it. I had never feared the wrath or power of the board or command. I had always been confident — to a fault, no doubt — in my ability to trust my gut and follow my instincts. I was usually right, and any risk I took was negated by a positive outcome.

Now, as I pushed my way into the men's locker room and changing area, I had uncertainty creeping up my spine and finding a home in the back of my mind. For the first time in my career, I felt unsure of a mission, and I was questioning the nature of Starfleet's true intentions. And with the added complication of the mystery surrounding what was going on with Aria, from her incident, to what had led her to be here now, to the information command would not give us regarding her documentation and personnel files …

As I changed into my one pair of athletic shorts, solid black with the Starfleet insignia at the hem, along with a coordinating dark gray tee shirt, I was beyond ready to shut off my brain and see just how badly Aria was going to kick my ass with this first training session.

We hadn't talked after parting ways yesterday, and I was sure her lesson with Spock hadn't left her feeling full of sunshine and rainbows. I had considered sneaking off to her room as the evening had approached, but caught myself before acting impulsively.

What I had with Aria … It was new. It was different. And as the thought had crossed my mind to abandon the loneliness of my empty quarters and seek her out, I caught myself. As badly as I wanted to see her and spend time with her, I wanted to take it slow. Give us room and space and time to breathe. So instead of immediately caving in to my impulse, I paused, convincing myself to catch up on some clerical work and reporting before heading into the new week.

As I had sat at the large table in my quarters, nursing a glass of whiskey as I plowed through a bit of a backlog of necessary documentation required as captain of the ship, my comms beeped.

I glanced down, and saw a message illuminate the screen. It instantly had the corners of my mouth pulling up into smirk.

"Meeting request received through Starfleet Comms Portal: First mandatory training session with Aria Suhn, 5:00 p.m. Message attached: Your presence is formally requested for your first session with me, captain. You're expected to be on time and ready to perform admirably."

Tugging on my shoes, I tightened the laces and tied them securely, smiling as I thought about how she'd used the meeting request to make a jab at me and the absolute I'd prick I'd been. I'd made sure to return the favor in my response.

"Request accepted. I commend you for using the portal to schedule our session. I look forward to an introduction to your area of expertise."

With a final tug on each shoe to make sure they'd stay put through whatever hell Aria was about to put me through, I stood up from the metal bench, tucking my bag into a locker before heading towards the door that would lead me out into the decently-sized workout room.

I was ready to let go of all the thoughts swirling through my mind. I was ready to push them aside and focus on nothing but Aria for the next hour. And by focus, I meant on her instructions, drills, and exercises, and not on her curves, the shape of her lips, the angles of her body …

Convincing myself to not seek her out last night had been easy. Denying the part of myself that wanted her in the most base, animalistic sense, however, would be a brand new exercise for me. Much like this entire training session would be. But I welcomed both challenges. Because just being with her, near her, having the chance to make her laugh and see her smile, watch her cheeks flush … It was enough.

The automatic door swooshed open before me, revealing lingering cadets that were red with exertion and drenched with sweat. Aria stood at the opposite end of the room, arms crossed, eyes zeroing in on me as soon as I walked through the door and started walking — or maybe more accurately, strutting — towards her.

Trying to be a version of myself I'd never been before would be different, and no doubt difficult. But as I took in her perfectly straight posture, her arms folded across her chest and the look of a predator sizing up its prey on her face, a thrill washed through me.

I let a smirk spread across my features as I neared her, and I nearly laughed out loud as her demeanor switched from cooly calculating to annoyed in an instant. I'd revel in every minute and second of this hour with her. Stopping in front of her, I became the epitome of obedience by placing my hands behind my back and matching her perfect posture.

"I appreciate your formal meeting request through the portal, cadet. I'm looking forward to experiencing this first training session with you."

She stared back at me, face tinted with the slightest hue of light pink, and framed with stray wisps of hair that had fallen down from her high ponytail from all the sessions before mine. If she had been leading training sessions all day, it barely showed.

I watched as her gaze narrowed in on me, growing both more intense and more irritated. I could've sworn it even looked a tad bit sinister. The thought had another thrill shooting through my body. This was going to be an hour of pure hell, and she was going to enjoy every single second of it.

"You're two minutes late, captain. Start running laps around the room, and I'll let you know when you're done. Go."

My eyebrows raised at the authoritativeness in her demeanor, a smirk still playing at my lips and even growing a bit more pronounced.

"My apologies, cadet. I'll be sure to —"

"That's enough chit chat, captain, or you'll be here until midnight completing your exercises. And I can assure you I do not want to be here that late. Go."

I shot her an incredulous look, noting that there were cadets still lingering around the room, no doubt waiting eagerly to see what was about to unfold.

And before starting off at an easy jog around the room, I gave her a nod and what I hope was a looked laced with respect and a bit of pleasant surprise.

"Yes ma'm."

As I loped away, past the cadets who quickly started talking to one another or busying themselves in other ways, I let the image of Aria returning my smirk back to me fill my brain before the pain and strain of exercise took over my every thought.