Author's Note: Thank you to my beta,Lucy, and everyone who reviewed/followed/favorited! Again, if you have any questions, please feel free to message me.

Commander's Personal Log: Stardate 2276.05

In hindsight, my first meeting with Captain Bennet was not very successful.

Starfleet Academy: Stardate 2275.183 (Six Months Earlier)

Elizabeth Bennet trudged into her temporary quarters while massaging her temples. The sterile, beige room did not help her mood. Her meeting with the admirals had gone just the way she expected; she was to have little control over her crew selections, but at least they finally deigned to inform her about the first couple of assignments. Thinking about her crew convinced Lizzie to finally open the file they sent her. After logging into the computer, a list of names and positions popped up and Lizzie scanned them with trepidation.

She was pleased that Charlotte, Mary, and Jane had been assigned to her ship. After looking for familiar names, she decided to research her bridge team as they would be the ones she would be working with the majority of the time. Lizzie pushed a button on the screen.

"Computer, bring up files for Commander William Darcy."

"Acknowledged. Task Completed," a robotic voice replied.

A picture of a stern, young man popped up on her screen along with a biography summary. She was surprised to note the green-tinted and pale skin, pointed ears, and cropped black hair; the only Vulcan in Starfleet history was to be on her ship. Lizzie had only read the first sentence of his biography when she heard a knock on her door. "It's Jane, Lizzie!"

Lizzie flipped the switch to open the doors. "Come on in!"

Jane stopped at the entrance. "Permission to enter, captain?" she asked while playfully saluting.

"Permission granted," Lizzie replied with a proud smile.

Jane squealed and ran over to hug her sister. "I can't believe you're a captain now! Actually, I can since you're brilliant and confident and a hard worker-"

"Shucks," Lizzie deadpanned, "you're making me blush."

"Have you looked at the officer list?"

"I'm researching my bridge crew now. You, Mary, and Char are all assigned to the Longbourn-"

"Yay!"

"-but I'm not acquainted with most of the staff."

"Well, let's look." Lizzie moved over and sat in the chair while Jane stood at her shoulder.

"According to Starfleet files," Lizzie informed Jane as she skimmed the information, "Darcy was awarded custody of his little sister when their father died. They moved to Earth when he was 18 Terran years old. He was accepted by Starfleet academy around the same time, and graduated three years later with high marks in both the command and science tracks. He spent almost four years teaching before being transferred to a research vessel for 18 months. After that he accepted the position as chief science officer aboard U.S.S. Lambton and now he's being promoted to First Officer on my ship."

Lizzie clicked on the file that held his previous superiors' recommendations. "Apparently Commander Darcy is well-respected, intelligent, and, as every one of them seems to stress, efficient. Although Captain Barrows did lament his communication skills. She said, and I quote, 'Commander Darcy is as talkative as an emotionally constipated Cozralin.' Ha! Get it, Jane?"

Lizzie laughed at Jane's sound of disbelief. "I can't believe Captain Barrows would say that in an official document!" Jane chided.

"Because Cozralins don't have mouths-"

"The poor man can't help it! He's Vulcan."

"Calm down, Jane. Nobody in Starfleet cares if the guy is quiet. I should probably meet him before the briefing tomorrow, though. I'll ask around- see if anyone's happened to see him. Want to come with me?"

Charles Bingley, no matter where he was, what he was doing, or who he was with, was always a cheerful man. When he had started Starfleet academy years ago, cadets always asked him why he was friends with "that Vulcan." William Darcy could, on occasion, be a tad blunt. Although he was respected and admired as a extremely intelligent scientist and dependable officer, he had yet to master the art of "small talk." Because Darcy was aware of his short-comings, he did not often initiate contact with his fellow cadets. The interactions with the few that approached him never turned out very well. When asked a question, he often answered in a succinct and frank manner. Therefore, their peers had difficulty comprehending how Bingley could frequently socialize with a being that was his total opposite in many ways. What they did not understand that it was because Bingley was relentlessly good-natured and optimistic that he was able to see the commendable aspects about Darcy and forge a friendship. Bingley had basically attached himself to Darcy's hip until Darcy became comfortable in his presence. Now, about a decade after their first meeting, Darcy and Bingley sat in Starfleet's mess hall and discussed some interesting news.

"I can't believed we've been assigned to the same ship, Darcy! And you, you got promoted to first officer! Aren't you excited?" Bingley's messy, bright red hair bobbed around as he reached across the table to slap Darcy on his shoulder.

Darcy, used to this type of behavior by now, merely set his utensils down before answering. "Having you assigned to the same ship will be an advantage as you are already familiar with my personality and demeanor. I am honored to be selected to this coveted position; however, I cannot claim to be as excited as you appear to be."

Bingley waved his hand around. Flecks of food flew off his fork to land in Darcy's soup. Darcy pushed his tray away and turned his attention towards Bingley again. "And did you hear who's going to be captain? Elizabeth Bennet! Remember when she saved that city?"

"Yes I do, as the event only occurred approximately 5 weeks ago-"

"I mean, hundreds of thousands of people are alive because of her actions!"

"Yes, I'm aware-"

"And she's going to be the captain of the ship we're on! Even you must be excited about our assignment now."

Darcy raised one of his eyebrows. "I'm sure that, like the majority of humans I know, I will find her to be illogical and bothersome." Darcy's attempt at a joke fell flat when Bingley failed to respond. Instead of chuckling, Bingley instead stared at him with wide eyes.

"Why are you making that expression?" Darcy questioned curiously.

"I'm sure, Commander, that you will learn to deal with my 'illogical' ways after some time," an amused voice said from behind him.

Darcy's back straightened as he turned to look at the women who were standing there. The short one on the left he instantly recognized as Elizabeth Bennet, his new captain. Her curly brown hair came to her mid back and her green eyes were alight with laughter. However, he failed to recognize the woman standing next to her. She was approximately 5 inches taller than Captain Bennet and had shiny blonde hair and bright blue eyes.

"I'm Elizabeth Bennet, your new 'illogical' captain. You must be Commander Darcy and Lieutenant Bingley."

The other woman laughed somewhat nervously before extending her hand towards Darcy. "I'm Jane Bennet, Lizzie's sister. It's nice to meet you."

Darcy replied but made no move to shake her hand. "You as well."

Jane awkwardly moved her hand to rest by her side until Bingley hastily stood up and reached across the table for a handshake. "I'm Charles Bingley. Both Darcy and I were just assigned to the U.S.S. Longbourn with your sister. I'll be the chief communications officer."

"Oh, actually," Jane corrected, "I'll be on Longbourn too. I'm the ship's counselor."

Bingley sighed dreamily. "That's nice."

After a couple of seconds of Jane and Charles shyly smiling at each other while Darcy looked on in confusion, Lizzie cleared her throat. Bingley turned at the sound. "Captain, I am very excited about working with you. Darcy is too, right Darcy?"

Darcy nodded tersely. "Indeed."

"I just came over here to introduce myself and inform you two about the conference. The high ranking officers will be meeting in the command building in room 220A at 1700 hours tomorrow. I expect to see you both there."

Bingley nodded energetically. "Of course, captain."

"Acknowledged," Darcy replied without emotion.

Jane and Lizzie turned to walk away. When they were out of hearing range, Bingley playfully smacked Darcy's arm and cheerfully stated, "I think we made a good impression."

Conference Room 220A: Stardate 2275.184 (one day later)

The conference room was small and fairly bare. A sleek table sat in the middle of the room and a projector attached to a small computer sat at the end. One wall of the room was composed of glass, and through it you could look down and see Starfleet cadets hurrying to get class. Seven people, all wearing red, blue, or gold shirts with black slacks sat around the table. At exactly 1700 Elizabeth stood up and inserted a disk into the computer.

Elizabeth breathed deeply before addressing the room. "Hello, my name is Elizabeth Bennet and, as you all know, I am the new captain of the U.S.S. Longbourn. I have met you all individually, but before discussing our first assignment I would like you to introduce yourself and state your title to your fellow crew-members."

She nodded to Darcy, who sat himself on her right. Darcy robotically stated, "I am Commander William Darcy, First Officer."

Bingley smiled widely as he introduced himself as the Chief Communications Officer.

Next a brown eyed, brown haired man introduced himself. Lizzie found that Officer James Fitzwilliam, although head of security, was a rather upbeat man. He smiled amiably as he claimed he looked forward to working with everyone.

Sitting next to Officer Fitzwilliam was her best friend of 20 years, Charlotte Lucas. Charlotte's dark skin made her hazel eyes seem that much brighter, and her smile was polite and professional as she looked around the table. "I'm Dr. Charlotte Lucas, Chief Engineer."

Lizzie resisted narrowing her eyes at her friend. Charlotte had a soft, innocent face, and frequently used it to her advantage to hide her wicked sense of humor. Lizzie imagined Charlotte was using all this new information to come up with some sort of prank. She'll have to keep an eye on her.

Mary began her introduction shortly after Charlotte finished. Poor Mary had a seemingly permanent scowl, something which she was never aware of until someone asked her if she was angry. Her new acquaintances were a little confused by her demeanor as she announced her name and position as the Chief Medical Officer.

Lastly, a rather enthusiastic, bubbly Orion woman named Mary King introduced herself as the Chief Science Officer.

Captain Bennet, satisfied with introductions, proceeded to turn on the projector and begin the briefing. A picture of a silver planet projected onto the blank wall, and Lizzie began speaking.

"This is a Nyx, a class M planet-"

"Captain Bennet," Darcy leaned toward Lizzie while speaking quietly, "Section 2A under code 11-3 of the Federation Regulations states that privacy screens must be applied to any windows and doors of a room while discussing classified information."

Lizzie resisted the urge to roll her eyes at her first officer. While he was technically correct, their first assignment was basically a milk run; officers routinely used the privacy screens when more sensitive information was being discussed. But, she stifled her first reaction and instead nodded at the commander. The window darkened after she pressed a button on the computer and she continued the presentation.

"-a class M planet that possesses a significant amount of dilithium crystals, which are essential for warp drive. Our first assignment is to perform physical check-ups on the ten miners inhabiting Nyx and to evaluate their security measures. Dr. Bennet will be performing the check-ups, of course, and Officers Lucas and Fitzwilliam are in charge of assessing their security."

Lizzie covered more details about their first mission before discussing their boarding date. "All personnel are to report to Bay 37 next Monday at 0800 hours to sign in before boarding the shuttlecraft that will take us to Longbourn. I expect you all to be there an hour earlier to help with check-in. If you have any questions feel free to contact me. If there are no more questions you are dismissed."

Captain Bennet struggled to repress her smile as the officers left the room while chatting with each other. It was happening; she had her own ship. Excitement ran through her as she contemplated her crew. The brightest minds the United Federation had to offer were going to be working with her. Although...

Her enthusiasm dampened slightly at the thought of Darcy. As her first officer, she is going to have to interact with him on a daily basis. The thought of her borderline emotionless second-in-command judging her constantly for her every little error was slightly daunting. But, Lizzie reminded herself as she squared her shoulders subconsciously, she had dealt with much more intimidating people to get to where she was now. She had a ship to run. As she exited the conference room, she told herself that not even Darcy could stop her from being passionate about her job.