p id="docs-internal-guid-d803ad1b-7fff-6e74-efd0-d0f24e7073e5" dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left;"span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap; text-indent: 36pt;"Michael Burnham is so easy to talk to. He marvels at how simple and natural it feels, debating religion, science, and philosophy. She's brilliant and knows it, but she doesn't flaunt it; she merely accepts it as a part of who she is. She's certainly not afraid to tell truth to power, even though there's clearly so much hurt there that she barely keeps below the finely tuned Vulcan exterior. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Chris doesn't even realize he's telling her about his childhood and his family until it's already out of his mouth. He wants to connect with her, to know her, for her to know him. Not two days on this ship, and he's already made connections. How Una would tease him, especially since that connection is with Spock's sister. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"She's finding her humanity, Chris thinks, more and more day by day. The Burnham Spock described was brilliant, naturally, but cold, distant, and unfeeling. The woman herself is anything but. Then again, he's always been able to read between the lines and knew there was just as much about Spock's sister that the Vulcan was omitting whenever the subject came up. He spoke of their childhood, and there was always so much love behind it, whether Spock admitted it or not. His love for his older sister, regardless of their estrangement, was the doorway through which Chris approached their friendship, knowing there was more to the man than only Vulcan's stoicism. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The more Chris gets to know Burnham, the more he takes delight in seeing her grow into who she is; not the orphan or Sarek's ward; not Spock's sister or the /spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Shenzhou/spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" mutineer; not the woman who started the Klingon war or the one who ended it. She's just Michael Burnham, brilliant and innovative, strong-willed and independent, confident and caring. She cares so deeply for her crewmates that it takes his breath away. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"How does she know when Tilly needs a steady hand to help her focus, or when Stamets needs a foil; when Saru is struggling between his fear and his training and needs reassurance; when Owo and Detmer – still so young with so much to learn – need guidance and a confidence boost? It is innate in her how attuned she is to people's emotions – for all she says that she doesn't understand them. She would have made an excellent captain. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Her dedication to science and empirical evidence is beautiful. He can see she sets her sail by it, the same as he does his by faith in a higher power. Call it God, the universe, or a pink-haired Orion with a frog named Wanda, Chris does believe in something greater than himself. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"It's probably why he had been so drawn to Starfleet, to service. The exploration was great, and the adventures a hell of a lot of fun, but being of service to his crew, the people of the Federation, and beyond is sacred to him. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He probably shouldn't be, but he's amused, in New Eden, at how…itchy organized religion makes Burnham; he enjoys watching her squirm and keep most of her theories to herself as much as he enjoys seeing how the people of Terralysium have built a new faith out among the Cosmos. Both are beautiful. He tries not to think about how beautiful she is as he watches her across the firelight. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Then it all goes to hell, as these things do. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He doesn't think about saving the girl; he just reacts. It isn't until he's flying through the air, pain everywhere, searing his flesh, that he wishes perhaps he thought things through more, sometimes. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Then, mercifully, he passes out. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"When Burnham doesn't come to see him in Sickbay, Chris is shocked at how disappointed he feels and how much he wishes to see her. So much so that he basically orders Pollard to help him into his uniform – though she draws the line at him wearing his jacket so the brace can heal his ribs – and he returns to his Ready Room under the guise of work. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Summoning Burnham in the middle of Gamma shift might be a bit risque, but he is on enough painkillers not to be bothered by it. It feels like they talk of shoes and ships and sealing wax, of cabbages and kings. It is night on the ship, he's nursing a detonated chest cavity, and he's pretty high. Still, she does not give him inches he doesn't deserve, going round for round with him regarding science and faith. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He tries and fails not to be amazed at her trust in him that she confides in him about seeing the Red Angel. How she can describe something as beautiful, her face reverent, and then immediately falling back behind the scientist's mask is a sight to see. It's so damn compelling. Chris wants to listen to her talk about anything and everything so that he can hear her voice and ideas. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He chalks that up to the painkillers too. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Still, Burnham convinces him, once he's had a night to sleep off the worst of the healing, to sidestep General Order One, give Jacob some peace, and get the helmet cam. He's amazed that she convinced him, actually. Not that he hasn't bent a rule or found a loophole from time to time, but the General Orders are Starfleet's version of the Ten Commandments. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"It occurs to Chris that chasing an entity called the Red Angel seems to be stirring up some of the comparative religion arguments he and his father passionately argued about over dinners. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He informs Command about Spock's connection to the Seven signals and tries to push down the shame that rushes up his throat like he's betraying his friend. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"When Ambassador Sarek's shuttle appears on /spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Discovery's/spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" view screen, Chris damned near chokes on it. His feet have him crossing the bridge, drawn to her before he even realizes it./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He knows she clocks his body language. It's a damned sure thing that his guilt is radiating off him in waves. He's sure Saru can probably sense it, though the Kelpian, bless him, keeps it to himself. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Chris tells himself he goes to Burnham for council, right there on the bridge in front of everyone, because she's the most logical party, as the Ambassador's daughter and Spock's sister. If he's being honest, it's the pull he feels toward her. He suspects even if she wasn't literally related to the matter at hand, he might have sought her out. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"She knows what plagues him without him needing to spell it out. It's all very proper and within Starfleet protocol, but as he stands there on the bridge, having a calm conversation with his Science Officer, Chris notes that it feels decidedly intimate. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Burnham knows what to say to him, knows what he needs, and yet doesn't give him inches he doesn't deserve. She doesn't coddle, but she is decidedly compassionate for someone who has only known him for a few days. He's not sure he deserves her compassion. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"But he wants it. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Chris tries not to think too hard about how much that conversation soothes his nerves and guilt. About how being close to her settles something in him that he didn't realize needed settling. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Michael Burnham is his Science Officer, his friend's sister, and an officer under his command while he is on temporary assignment, he reminds himself as he resists the urge to watch her leave the bridge as she goes to greet the Ambassador's shuttle. Anything beyond friendship would be improper and skirting the fraternization regs. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"If only he didn't find her so damned compelling. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He can tell by the look on her face when she brings Lady Amanda Grayson to his ready room that shit is, in no uncertain terms, hitting the fan. Burnham's face is pinched, and there is something desperate in her eyes, even her voice and body language project calm and professionalism. It's clear that her mother has clobbered her. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Families can do that/spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;", Chris muses. /spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"They push your buttons because they installed most of them. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Lady Grayson," he said formally, rising from behind his desk to greet her. "What an unexpected pleasure." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The woman smirks nearly imperceptibly. "Captain, I've been a diplomat's wife long enough to smell bull when I hear it. I am completely upending your ship with my unexpected arrival." She holds her head high. "I won't apologize for it." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Only years of training keep Chris's eyebrows from rising as high as his hairline. He flits a glance toward Burnham and finds her looking embarrassed. If he were a lesser man, he'd find it utterly adorable. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"(He is a lesser man.) /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Understood, ma'am," he replies smoothly. "How can Discovery be of service?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"With little preamble, Ambassador Sarek's wife tells him about her recent trip to Starbase 5, what she couldn't obtain – and what she could. Somehow, knowing Spock and getting to know Michael, he can't say he's surprised. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"For all that it is clear her mother's appearance has upset the apple cart, Michael is nothing if not loyal to the people she loves, immediately making a case for why he can break into Spock's medical records. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Chris flirts with her vis-a-vis her mother and can't decide if he's relieved or disappointed that Una isn't here to give him shit for it. He assumes that Michael won't clock it, too focused on the matter at hand. Her mother, on the other hand… /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Lady Grayson puts him in his place without even breaking a sweat, and when he looks at Michael, Chris is stunned to see that she has clocked it. Her eyes say, /spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Really, now?/spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" There's a heat in her gaze, a knowing. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Well, shit. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Since he has no desire to get his ass handed to him by Michael and Spock's mother or further embarrass himself in front of Michael, Chris decides to use the opportunity to try and get Diego on the horn. His former classmate has been dodging him for days. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Not that he thought otherwise, but by the end of the call, Chris is certain that the three people who love Spock most in the universe are here in this room, and they're the only ones who can get to the bottom of the mystery. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He's always been a rule follower – he believes in rules, boundaries, guidelines, and structure. But nothing has ever taken him from the path of righteousness faster than when someone he cares about is in trouble. He resolves to ask Michael later what the precedent is, although that's mostly for the report. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Spock isn't a murderer, and they're going to prove it. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Chris doesn't even realize he's telling her about his childhood and his family until it's already out of his mouth. He wants to connect with her, to know her, for her to know him. Not two days on this ship, and he's already made connections. How Una would tease him, especially since that connection is with Spock's sister. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"She's finding her humanity, Chris thinks, more and more day by day. The Burnham Spock described was brilliant, naturally, but cold, distant, and unfeeling. The woman herself is anything but. Then again, he's always been able to read between the lines and knew there was just as much about Spock's sister that the Vulcan was omitting whenever the subject came up. He spoke of their childhood, and there was always so much love behind it, whether Spock admitted it or not. His love for his older sister, regardless of their estrangement, was the doorway through which Chris approached their friendship, knowing there was more to the man than only Vulcan's stoicism. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The more Chris gets to know Burnham, the more he takes delight in seeing her grow into who she is; not the orphan or Sarek's ward; not Spock's sister or the /spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Shenzhou/spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" mutineer; not the woman who started the Klingon war or the one who ended it. She's just Michael Burnham, brilliant and innovative, strong-willed and independent, confident and caring. She cares so deeply for her crewmates that it takes his breath away. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"How does she know when Tilly needs a steady hand to help her focus, or when Stamets needs a foil; when Saru is struggling between his fear and his training and needs reassurance; when Owo and Detmer – still so young with so much to learn – need guidance and a confidence boost? It is innate in her how attuned she is to people's emotions – for all she says that she doesn't understand them. She would have made an excellent captain. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Her dedication to science and empirical evidence is beautiful. He can see she sets her sail by it, the same as he does his by faith in a higher power. Call it God, the universe, or a pink-haired Orion with a frog named Wanda, Chris does believe in something greater than himself. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"It's probably why he had been so drawn to Starfleet, to service. The exploration was great, and the adventures a hell of a lot of fun, but being of service to his crew, the people of the Federation, and beyond is sacred to him. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He probably shouldn't be, but he's amused, in New Eden, at how…itchy organized religion makes Burnham; he enjoys watching her squirm and keep most of her theories to herself as much as he enjoys seeing how the people of Terralysium have built a new faith out among the Cosmos. Both are beautiful. He tries not to think about how beautiful she is as he watches her across the firelight. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Then it all goes to hell, as these things do. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He doesn't think about saving the girl; he just reacts. It isn't until he's flying through the air, pain everywhere, searing his flesh, that he wishes perhaps he thought things through more, sometimes. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Then, mercifully, he passes out. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"When Burnham doesn't come to see him in Sickbay, Chris is shocked at how disappointed he feels and how much he wishes to see her. So much so that he basically orders Pollard to help him into his uniform – though she draws the line at him wearing his jacket so the brace can heal his ribs – and he returns to his Ready Room under the guise of work. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Summoning Burnham in the middle of Gamma shift might be a bit risque, but he is on enough painkillers not to be bothered by it. It feels like they talk of shoes and ships and sealing wax, of cabbages and kings. It is night on the ship, he's nursing a detonated chest cavity, and he's pretty high. Still, she does not give him inches he doesn't deserve, going round for round with him regarding science and faith. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He tries and fails not to be amazed at her trust in him that she confides in him about seeing the Red Angel. How she can describe something as beautiful, her face reverent, and then immediately falling back behind the scientist's mask is a sight to see. It's so damn compelling. Chris wants to listen to her talk about anything and everything so that he can hear her voice and ideas. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He chalks that up to the painkillers too. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Still, Burnham convinces him, once he's had a night to sleep off the worst of the healing, to sidestep General Order One, give Jacob some peace, and get the helmet cam. He's amazed that she convinced him, actually. Not that he hasn't bent a rule or found a loophole from time to time, but the General Orders are Starfleet's version of the Ten Commandments. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"It occurs to Chris that chasing an entity called the Red Angel seems to be stirring up some of the comparative religion arguments he and his father passionately argued about over dinners. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He informs Command about Spock's connection to the Seven signals and tries to push down the shame that rushes up his throat like he's betraying his friend. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"When Ambassador Sarek's shuttle appears on /spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Discovery's/spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" view screen, Chris damned near chokes on it. His feet have him crossing the bridge, drawn to her before he even realizes it./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He knows she clocks his body language. It's a damned sure thing that his guilt is radiating off him in waves. He's sure Saru can probably sense it, though the Kelpian, bless him, keeps it to himself. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Chris tells himself he goes to Burnham for council, right there on the bridge in front of everyone, because she's the most logical party, as the Ambassador's daughter and Spock's sister. If he's being honest, it's the pull he feels toward her. He suspects even if she wasn't literally related to the matter at hand, he might have sought her out. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"She knows what plagues him without him needing to spell it out. It's all very proper and within Starfleet protocol, but as he stands there on the bridge, having a calm conversation with his Science Officer, Chris notes that it feels decidedly intimate. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Burnham knows what to say to him, knows what he needs, and yet doesn't give him inches he doesn't deserve. She doesn't coddle, but she is decidedly compassionate for someone who has only known him for a few days. He's not sure he deserves her compassion. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"But he wants it. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Chris tries not to think too hard about how much that conversation soothes his nerves and guilt. About how being close to her settles something in him that he didn't realize needed settling. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Michael Burnham is his Science Officer, his friend's sister, and an officer under his command while he is on temporary assignment, he reminds himself as he resists the urge to watch her leave the bridge as she goes to greet the Ambassador's shuttle. Anything beyond friendship would be improper and skirting the fraternization regs. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"If only he didn't find her so damned compelling. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He can tell by the look on her face when she brings Lady Amanda Grayson to his ready room that shit is, in no uncertain terms, hitting the fan. Burnham's face is pinched, and there is something desperate in her eyes, even her voice and body language project calm and professionalism. It's clear that her mother has clobbered her. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Families can do that/spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;", Chris muses. /spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"They push your buttons because they installed most of them. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Lady Grayson," he said formally, rising from behind his desk to greet her. "What an unexpected pleasure." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The woman smirks nearly imperceptibly. "Captain, I've been a diplomat's wife long enough to smell bull when I hear it. I am completely upending your ship with my unexpected arrival." She holds her head high. "I won't apologize for it." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Only years of training keep Chris's eyebrows from rising as high as his hairline. He flits a glance toward Burnham and finds her looking embarrassed. If he were a lesser man, he'd find it utterly adorable. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"(He is a lesser man.) /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Understood, ma'am," he replies smoothly. "How can Discovery be of service?" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"With little preamble, Ambassador Sarek's wife tells him about her recent trip to Starbase 5, what she couldn't obtain – and what she could. Somehow, knowing Spock and getting to know Michael, he can't say he's surprised. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"For all that it is clear her mother's appearance has upset the apple cart, Michael is nothing if not loyal to the people she loves, immediately making a case for why he can break into Spock's medical records. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Chris flirts with her vis-a-vis her mother and can't decide if he's relieved or disappointed that Una isn't here to give him shit for it. He assumes that Michael won't clock it, too focused on the matter at hand. Her mother, on the other hand… /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Lady Grayson puts him in his place without even breaking a sweat, and when he looks at Michael, Chris is stunned to see that she has clocked it. Her eyes say, /spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Really, now?/spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" There's a heat in her gaze, a knowing. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Well, shit. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Since he has no desire to get his ass handed to him by Michael and Spock's mother or further embarrass himself in front of Michael, Chris decides to use the opportunity to try and get Diego on the horn. His former classmate has been dodging him for days. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Not that he thought otherwise, but by the end of the call, Chris is certain that the three people who love Spock most in the universe are here in this room, and they're the only ones who can get to the bottom of the mystery. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He's always been a rule follower – he believes in rules, boundaries, guidelines, and structure. But nothing has ever taken him from the path of righteousness faster than when someone he cares about is in trouble. He resolves to ask Michael later what the precedent is, although that's mostly for the report. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 10.0pt; margin-bottom: 0.0pt;"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Spock isn't a murderer, and they're going to prove it. /span/p