Captain John Scott Could occur shortly after Elfin's fic "Open the Skies."
The Bell and the Dauntless met at Starbase 10, both ships scheduled for standard repairs, resupply, and shore leave. Olivia's ship arrived near the end of the other's layover to avoid overwhelming the station's resources, but the two-day overlap still granted an opportunity for the two crews to mingle. The timing wasn't an accident; Starfleet liked the personnel from different commands to meet, exchange stories, and generally remember they were all part of a larger organization dedicated to the same goals. Crews in isolation tended to develop funny ideas about their importance in the scheme of things.
The fact that it was the Dauntless in port gave Olivia pause, just for a moment. Running into an ex was never easy. But in this case, she and this particular ex had an understanding.
They met with a restrained exchange of "Captain Scott" to "Captain Dunham" and everything was very civilized, especially the moment when John invited Olivia to a perfectly appropriate private dinner. Starship captains were expected to discuss relevant matters and exchange information.
Olivia was pretty sure information wasn't the only exchange John had in mind and frankly, she was more than okay with that.
She had to give him credit: there was, actually, a prepared dinner waiting when she showed up in his quarters at the station. Olivia stopped in the doorway, unable to keep a broad smirk from her face.
John knew her well enough to understand why. His lips twisted into a wry smile. "You didn't think I'd feed you first?"
"'First,'" she mocked, "so presumptuous."
He grinned at her in that knowing, infuriating way he had, and pulled out a chair for her to sit.
The food was good, even if Olivia wasn't much interested in it. The conversation was more intriguing, nearly distracting them both from the ultimate purpose of the evening. The Dauntless had been quietly investigating a series of disturbing incidents on Federation starbases and ships, a seemingly random group of occurrences that were starting to form a distinctly alarming pattern.
"Sabotage?" she asked quietly, and John made a face.
"That's for the brains at Starfleet Intelligence to determine. I'm still gathering information." He glanced across the table at her. "But you're going to ask what I think, and yeah, gut instinct says it's all related." He paused for a long moment and added, "I think what happened on the Hartford was part of it, but don't pass that onto Commander Lee yet."
Sometimes being the captain meant holding terrible secrets. After a moment Olivia nodded reluctantly. "You'll tell me as soon as you have proof. Lincoln deserves to know."
"You'll be my second call." John got up and went over to a side table. He poured a neat glass of amber liquid from a familiar bottle and held it out to her. "If I remember right, this is your poison."
She crossed over to him and took the glass, clinking it against his. They drank and Olivia savored the burn of the whiskey. "You always remember."
John leaned back against the cabinet, looking at her. "What do you want, Liv?"
Olivia let out a short, sharp breath and the words tumbled after. "I want orgasms. Many, many orgasms. Enough so I forget how long it's been since I had one in the company of another person. Enough to hold me over for however many months it is until I have a chance like this again." She stopped and blinked, a little surprised at what had come out of her mouth.
John was laughing at her, damn him. "You always did take self-denial too far."
She wrinkled her nose at him. "Like you're any better off." The statement held irony; she'd been an officer under John's command when they first started their affair. But she knew he'd taken the lessons they'd both learned to heart and refrained from that kind of indulgence since.
"So why are we wasting time?" John held out his hand and sighed to Olivia's hesitation. "We made a deal, it still stands. No strings until you say otherwise. Sorry, 'unless' you say otherwise."
The slip was nearly enough to make her reconsider. But it really had been too long, and Olivia knew John would keep his promise.