After Lorca was cleared for command after his abduction, the missions continued. One night as Skylar rolled off of Lorca, she turned to look at him, "Do you think I could stay tonight?"

"Your cabin isn't that far away," he replied which was a protest to her request without blatantly shutting her down.

"I know that, Gabriel but it's late and I would really like to sleep next to you," she admitted, trailing her hand along his chest as she spoke.

Lorca shook his head, "You know we can only allow the small about of emotional intimacy we've allowed and we can't become too invested in each other. Our jobs are too dangerous, I know you've learned that recently, and we have to be smart about this," he explained, attempting to be gently with his rejection.

Skylar stood from the bed and began putting her uniform on before she looked at him, "I have had the opposite reaction to recent events and that is that I want more. We don't know how much time we have and I want to spend as much of mine with you as I can," she retaliated, her blood boiling at his continued protests to upgrading their relationship to the next step.

"Sky," he coaxed as he sat up, his chest glowing in the starlight, "I understand what you're after but I am not the man who can give it to you. My past doesn't allow me the luxury of the level of intimacy you're looking for. I'm sorry," he tried to clarify his position.

"You can open yourself up, you just choose not to," she replied venomously, "But, if you really insist that I can't get what I need from you then I will get it elsewhere," she threatened as she turned and left his cabin hoping he'd follow but knowing, in her heart, that this moment would be their ending.

Skylar got to her room and she was too upset to cry as she laid down and crashed, too exhausted to even dream.

The days past without any interaction between Gabriel and Skylar that wasn't necessary for their work and it became more and more clear that he really wouldn't open up to her no matter how hard he tried.

"Tate," his voice shook her from her thoughts as she sat at her desk in medbay, "I need you on the bridge."

"Understood," she replied, "On my way, Captain," she added causing Hugh to give her a look of disapproval.

"Don't judge me," she warned him, "If he doesn't want more out of us then he will get the most icy doctor he's ever met," she raged as Hugh shrugged and she made her way to the bridge.

She arrived on the bridge moments later, "Captain Lorca, you requested my presence," she announced herself.

Lorca stood from his chair and looked at her, the bags under his eyes visible to her suddenly, "We are embarking on a rescue mission for Vulcan Ambassador Sarek, he was supposed to meet with the Klingons to negotiate peace but it appears something has happened. You are to work with Michael and be prepared for anything to save him," he explained his orders.

Skylar wanted to move forward and check on him but she resisted her urge and nodded, "Where is Burnham?" she asked.

"You'll find her in her quarters," he replied, "That is all."

She wanted to fire back a comment at his dismissal of her but she chose to rise above his actions and leave the bridge without another word as she made her way to Michael's room.

After Discovery rescued Sarek, Skylar took a much needed break and excused herself to her quarters.

As she sat, sipping a glass of wine, her doors slipped open to reveal Gabriel entering.

"What can I do for you?" she asked, her tone sarcastic as she took a large sip of her drink.

He wasn't surprised by her attitude as he moved toward her, taking a seat on her sofa next to her, "I've missed you and this mission has shown me that maybe I have been wrong and if you'll still have me, I'd like to open up and let down my walls," he offered, the largest gesture he'd ever made towards her.

"I know you slept with Cornwell while she was on board," she replied, a little more tipsy then she'd expected to be, "So, you tried things out with someone else and decided I was good enough, now?"

He placed his hand on her knee, "I wasn't going to hide that from you," he began, "Kate and I have history and in my weakness because of what I did to you, I turned to her but I knew I wanted to give you what you want before that happened," he confessed.

"Gabriel," she started, her voice just above a whisper, "I don't know how much more I can take. This isn't the first time you've hurt me and I keep coming back. It might finally be time for me to think about myself as much as I want to give in," she admitted, looking away.

"I can't do this without you, Sky," he pleaded, "I've been an idiot and I've thrown away chance after chance to be what you need me to be out of fear but I'm over that fear. What can I do to prove my genuine desires to you?" he asked, looking down because he knew how right she was in her reasons to stay away.

After silence passed, Skylar turned her face back to him, a small tear visible on her cheek, "Stay tonight and we won't have sex. We will just sleep together and you will start to confide in me instead of holding everything inside. All I've ever wanted is to be there for you the way I'm supposed to and that is how you can prove you'll let me in. If that doesn't sound impossible then maybe we can do this," she stated her conditions.

Gabriel nodded as he pulled away and leaned back into the other corner of the couch, letting out a large sigh, "Are you really sure you want me to tell you all of my problems? A Starfleet captain comes with a lot of baggage and you might be biting off more then you can chew," he turned her terms on her but he had a grin crossing his lips, letting her know he was in.

She nodded as she moved to lay on him, her head on his chest, "Tell me what's going on in that head of yours," she invited him to begin.

He smiled at the feeling of her body on his, though he knew he would end up hurting her much worse then he ever had eventually. He shook off the conscience suddenly trying to help him make decision since she'd come into his life and began, "Kate has been taken hostage by the Klingons and Starfleet ordered us to hold off on a rescue mission. Normally, I'd go against their orders for a friend however, Kate was here to take the ship from me for doing that exact thing for Sarek and I am forced to listen now which is killing me," he revealed.

"Could a team take a shuttle after her without endangering the whole crew?" she asked as her eyelids grew heavy from the soothing feeling of his heartbeat and his steady breathing.

He shook his head as he began running his hand over her wavy hair, "I've gone rouge one too many times and now, I'm paying the price," he revealed before the pair fell asleep together on the sofa for the first time for the entire night.