Title: Herculean Tasks - Chapter 4 - Later

Rating: T

Pairings: Space Cases - eventual Davenport/Goddard. "Goddenport" if you will.

Summary: Despite Seth's penchant for pushing her buttons, T.J. still trusted him, and she still cared about him. The amount she cared and the fact that he was one of the only people she trusted should have been more alarming, but concern for her father overrode all other anxieties. She felt slightly more at ease since entering the safety of Seth's quarters. T.J. had never been in his rooms before, and she briefly wondered if her decision was a misstep or an invasion of his privacy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Space Cases.

Chapter 4 - Later

Seth had expressly avoided making eye contact with T.J. when she arrived at the canteen for dinner later that day, and he was relieved she didn't follow when he trudged back to his quarters. Finding he was emotionally exhausted, he decided to take a nap, only to be startled awake by a knock at the door sometime later in the evening.

He looked at the clock on the wall to find the late hour of 22:09 staring back at him. He was about to reach for the blaster he kept hidden under his pillow when a familiar accented voice called for him from the corridor. Forgoing the weapon, he propelled himself out of his seat just as the lock override activated from the outside.

The doors parted, revealing a nervous T.J., whose appearance was worthy of a double take. She wore a modest yet elegant navy dress, her hair was sleek and polished, and she was definitely wearing more makeup than usual. She was also clutching a small purse so tightly Seth worried for its contents.

"I, uh… I thought you were supposed to be at the theater with your dad." Seth was relieved he'd managed to cobble together a coherent sentence; part of his brain had difficulty processing that the woman in front of him was in fact the same T.J. Davenport he'd never once seen out of uniform in three years. "Wait. What's wrong? Where is he?"

She fidgeted under his gaze, self conscious. "I went to meet Father at the terminal. His shuttle arrived on schedule with a modest number of passengers, but he was not among them. Have you heard from him?"

Seth's heart dropped. "Come in," he urged, practically pulling her inside. "Computer, lock door."

"Why do you insist upon doing that: locking every door behind me?"

Seth ignored her question and asked one of his own, "Have you tried calling him?"

"Of course. Repeatedly. But I am automatically disconnected every time."

"Did the same thing happen when you tried to call me?"

"No. That is to say I didn't: call you, that is. I suppose I am operating on adrenaline and instinct. In addition to seeking your help, I needed to be somewhere that I felt… I needed to see for certain that you were all right, especially considering some of your cryptic remarks earlier."

Despite Seth's penchant for pushing her buttons, T.J. still trusted him, and she still cared about him. The amount she cared and the fact that he was one of the only people she trusted should have been more alarming, but concern for her father overrode all other anxieties. She felt slightly more at ease since entering the safety of Seth's quarters. T.J. had never been in his rooms before, and she briefly wondered if her decision was a misstep or an invasion of his privacy.

The sleeping area was in a slight state of disarray: the bed unmade and laundry littering the floor. The area by the desk was surprisingly well-kept, though T.J. wondered how often he used it. She was surprised to note a handful of old texts displayed on a nearby shelf, in similar condition to those she owned and treasured. There were no holoframes, no awards displayed, no personal photos or trinkets.

"How safe is your compupad?" Seth wondered

T.J. shook her head as if to clear it. "Pardon?"

"Do you have any firewalls, malware protection, passcodes, or…?"

"Of course! I devised my own encryption algorithm to keep everything secure."

Seth let a flash of a proud smile slip before saying, "Good. Tell me where I went wrong with mine." He picked up his own compupad from the small coffee table and tossed it to her. She fumbled with the device before clutching it protectively to her chest...which Seth tried to convince himself he was definitely not looking at.

"I don't understand—"

"Maybe something went wrong on your dad's end." Seth began pacing about the room, pretending he was definitely not distracted by the way James Davenport's daughter looked in a form-fitting cocktail dress.

"Seth, what is going on?" T.J.'s voice wavered as she dropped all illusions of formality. She sought him out to question him, but not as his supervisor.

He stopped to look at her and was pained to see her expression of worry. He lowered his voice and explained, "James and I discuss some sensitive information during our calls. It's possible someone hacked them."

"That is patently absurd!"

Seth scrubbed his hands down his face. "This is bad." He swore as he paced back and forth, unsure of what to do next.

T.J. was unused to seeing Seth this distressed, which did nothing to quell her nerves. "What sort of sensitive information?" she asked, turning her attention to his compupad. She set about typing with shaking hands.

"I can't tell you," came Seth's mumbled reply.

After a moment of weighted silence, T.J. declared, "I don't think you need to." Deeply troubled, she scanned through his files as previously-hidden documents populated his directory. "I cracked your encryption."

"You did what?! How?" Seth hurried to her side and grabbed for the device, but she quickly stashed it in her purse. "I need that back!"

She took a deep breath as a wave of dizziness washed over her, and she pondered the implications of what appeared to be a betrayal of trust. "Why do you have my custom code on your compupad?"

"What?!"

"Where you went wrong with your encryption was stealing my homebrewed code to protect your files and then giving me your compupad," T.J. reiterated, shaking. "How the hell did you get your hands on my work?"

"Your dad," Seth said through a sigh of realization. "Did he have access to your code?"

"In a fashion: he had access to me. Father upgraded his device some time ago and requested that I secure it. But it must have been—"

"Mine." Seth seethed, "I am going to give him hell for involving you in this after everything I've been doing at his insistence to—"

"What precisely is this?" T.J. dared to take a step closer as she gave in to her curiosity. "I noticed a great deal of information pertaining to the Proxima colony in your files. What business do you have there?"

Seth sank down onto the couch, defeated. "It's research for him. For your dad."

"Father requested I keep him abreast of any changes in Starcademy's admissions process, specifically with regards to students from Proxima," she confessed. "He claims it is of the utmost importance but refuses to explain precisely why. Do you know what he is looking for?"

It sounded like an apology when he told her once again, "I don't have the answers you want."

T.J. thought back to their earlier discussion. Seth was in some sort of trouble, and now her father was missing after requesting information about the Andromedans. And her conversation with Radu had not left her with a good feeling about the consequences of being an Andromedan sympathizer. She found herself sinking down on the couch next to Seth, staring blankly at the far wall in a daze.

"You do have answers, but they are ones that would upset me," she surmised aloud. Her gaze drifted to the door's access crystal as she asked again, "Why do you insist upon locking every door behind me?"

"Your dad asked me to look after you. I thought the request was just out of fatherly concern at first."

"All your hovering… This whole time you've been communicating with Father… Both of you have been withholding information… And he used my—"

"Genius."

The compliment was veiled in a mix of admiration and remorse that brought tears to T.J.'s eyes. "No. This... What is this? This cannot... This isn't…" She continued muttering to herself, growing more claustrophobic by the second as she batted Seth away and lept from the sofa. "Computer, unlock door," she ordered, feeling some sense of relief when the controls lit green and pinged in response.

"Computer, lock door!" Seth commanded, hurrying after her, relieved when the controls beeped flatly, and the console light flickered from green back to red.

"You cannot trap me in here!" T.J. protested as she tried to catch her breath, on the verge of an anxiety attack. "Computer, unlock door!"

Seth braced her by her shoulders and attempted to lead her away as gently as possible, but he had the suspicion he'd soon receive a knee to the groin if he wasn't careful. They continued barking conflicting orders at the system, and it alternated beeping and pinging in response.

"T.J., stop it!" She flinched at his tone, and her reaction made him uneasy. More gently, he added, "We'll break the mechanism, and then we'll be stuck in here."

She'd stopped fighting him the instant her name left his lips. The sound of her own rapid heartbeat was suddenly a welcome distraction from the way his eyes bore into hers. Neither spoke for a long moment. She was the one who finally broke the silence, and her own voice was foreign to her when she weakly requested, "Please let me go."

His shoulders sagged and his gaze softened. Even as he stepped back, he found himself saying, "I can't."

"I need to find Father," she insisted again, even though this time she made no move to leave.

"I know. I want to find him too. But we can't go storming the proverbial castle. I know you; when you're on a mission, you don't operate under the radar. We need to be quiet about this and come up with a strategy."

"And are you capable of operating under the radar?" T.J. challenged him.

"It's better that people are paying attention to me and not to you. If anyone finds out that you're the one who encrypted these files—or if they learn the extent of your programming abilities—there could be an even bigger target on your back, and I don't want that to happen."

"This makes no sense. Why would Father use my work to encrypt classified documents without my consent? " T.J, took a deep breath and found it didn't have any calming effect whatsoever. She opened her purse and removed Seth's compupad, turning it over in her still-shaking hands. He made no move to grab for it. She locked eyes with him, and seeing his determination, worry, and a glimmer of something else seemed to make her difficult decision that much easier. It was a possible life and death decision, and one she couldn't undo once she made it. She took another breath and found herself saying, "I want to know everything."

Seth raised his eyebrows at her. "You don't know what you're asking."

"I think I do. I think I am asking you to share sensitive information that has been a weight on your shoulders for quite some time. Earlier you mentioned the big picture, a slightly smaller picture, and what you referred to as Mission Attention To Detail—"

"You remember that?"

"I need to know the truth. The universe has already determined that what I want is irrelevant. I have inadvertently become involved in whatever danger you've been dancing around, therefore I need to be properly informed if I am to find Father and help you with the Big Picture, Slightly Smaller Picture, and Mission Attention To Detail. Agreed?"

He shook his head at her. "You don't even know the kind of trouble I'm in, and you still want to help?"

"Yes." Her reply was immediate, even as she nervously bit her lip, second guessing her instincts. She took another deep breath and gave the matter another moment of consideration before repeating her answer.

For as long as Seth had known James, he still didn't know him well enough to predict exactly what he'd planned to do after coming clean to his daughter. But before he went off the grid, James had intended to tell T.J. everything, and he'd determined their discussion needed to happen that night. As much as Seth hated the position he was in, he knew both determined Davenports were right: T.J. needed to know as much as possible, whether to offer assistance or to better protect herself.

"Okay. Let's sit down," he offered gently, directing her back toward the sofa.

She was startled he'd given in so easily, and she allowed him to guide her across the room. She was numb: not anxious as she should have been, but not calm. Numb. Preparing herself for any manner of explanations. Shoving aside any sentimentality in preparation to do whatever was needed. It was like she was sleepwalking in an alternate reality or trapped in one of her dreams. Real, but not. She was overcome by a sense of complete and utter wrongness the likes of which she hadn't felt in her entire life. It was like a "choose your own adventure" holonovel, only she had no way of turning back.

Seth cleared his throat as he stared down at his compupad, which T.J. was still holding onto for dear life. "You can read through that for more specifics, but there are some things I think you should hear from me," he told her. "Your dad wanted both of us to talk to you tonight. I'm not sure what he expected the outcome of the conversation to be, but I'm going to be honest with you about everything I know. And if you can fill in some of the blanks with what you know, then maybe we can figure out what happened to him, together."

T.J. found herself nodding as she took a deep breath and braced herself. She met Seth's eyes, and the amount of sorrow she saw jolted something inside her. The numbness was replaced with panic. Her eyes welled with a fresh batch of tears, while his begged her for forgiveness.

"We discussed the xenophobia on the premises earlier," Seth began. "You and I have been fighting against it…" He trailed off, certain that the admiration and—Space help him—adoration he held for her was written all over his face. "It's getting worse though. The headmistress is encouraging it. Members of the school board are encouraging it. And those attitudes—the prejudice and hate—extend beyond the walls of the Starcademy."

"I know." T.J. sighed. "Many STARDOGS who fought in the War still believe Andromedans to be aggressive and dangerous, and they hate that the UPP granted them amnesty and asylum. The Spacenet is inundated with propaganda…"

Seth knew T.J. was well-read, but he needed to start small and work his way up to the bigger picture. "And the Andromedans are sequestered in the Proxima colony. Only...I have intel that the troops sent to help the colonists are actually… There are people in power who are taking steps to…" He was shaking now: a fact he hadn't realized until T.J. rested a hand on his shoulder as if to give him what little emotional strength she had left. "They want the Andromedans gone," he finally choked out, unable to look her in the eyes any longer.

"Gone? No, you cannot possibly mean…"

"I needed proof that the UPP planned to sell weapons to hostile races. That's how I got involved in this whole mess. The space pirate I chased out of UPP territory was a gun runner who was hired by members of the High Council. They're afraid that the Spung will fight to regain ownership of the Andromedans. But if there's nothing to fight over and somewhere else to place the blame…"

"You were trying to prevent genocide," T.J. realized through an astonished breath as the final piece fell into place. "You were trying to prevent our own government from committing genocide."

"Your dad has friends in high places, and he wanted to help me get the proof I was after. Things snowballed from there." Seth took a deep breath and admitted, "Command wanted me out of the way: somewhere they could watch me but keep me isolated. Near as I can figure, they were hoping you'd reform me. They challenged you to whip me into shape, hoping T.J. Davenport—the champion of regulations and procedure—would take the bait."

"Structure and boundaries are supposed to provide security and justice!" T.J. protested. "Frankly, I am offended that anyone believes I would support such a sickening, horrifyingly gross misuse of power!"

"They misunderstood you," Seth agreed. "So did I, in the beginning. But you're safest if others view you as my opposition. Besides, I know you now. You don't issue punishments to keep people down; you challenge people to be better versions of themselves. It's why you're an educator. When you're tough, it's because you care. Everything you do is borne out of kindness and concern. You want to teach your students all you can about the universe within the safety of these walls so that when they go into the unknown to explore and protect the galaxy, they're prepared for anything. Because—"

"The vacuum of space isn't fair," T.J. finished in a whisper. She had never felt so exposed in her entire life. The realization that she'd let her guard down so much around Seth was simultaneously comforting and unsettling: she wasn't one to trust most people, and the fact that he knew her so well triggered a confusing combination of reassurance and alarm.

"The more time I spend with you, the more I understand that what drives us might not be so different," he continued. "And it makes sense, considering we both learned from the best."

"Do you know where Father is?" T.J. asked with pleading eyes.

"He told me he was on his way here, and he wanted to talk to you. No one knew I was communicating with him. At least I didn't think they did. I didn't want anyone knowing I had two determined Davenports on my side this whole time. While your dad was helping me look for answers, he asked me to protect you. So all the stupid things I did were meant to be distractions. I was trying to steer you away from the truth because—

"If I knew anything remotely related to the classified information you were after, I would be a target." T.J. shuddered. "Like you? Like Father?"

"We don't want anything happening to you. Especially since it's become clear that influential Andromedan allies are being...silenced."

Seth expected her to sob, or to jump up and pace the floor while muttering in denial, or to lash out at him. But he worried he'd broken her as he watched any spark of emotion, understanding, or recognition fade from her eyes.

This was not how her night was supposed to be. This was not how her life was supposed to be. "This is insane," she finally whispered. An opinion. "I had theatre tickets for tonight." A fact. "You were one of the STARDOGS' most decorated officers, and you're here. You weren't… They didn't… If those in power care so much about what you know, why are you still here, Seth?" A question.

Why was he still at the Starcademy? Why was he even still alive? He'd been wondering the same thing himself for the better part of the last three years, but hearing it—along with his first name—come from T.J., specifically, made his head and heart ache.

"I don't know." He hung his head. "I have theories. Each one sounds more far-fetched than the last. And I don't like any of them."

"They need you for something," she surmised with a shudder.

To test T.J. To test James. Potentially to silence all of them.

Seth didn't know whether he should be grateful or terrified when he saw the fire return to T.J.'s eyes. She turned her attention to his compupad and set about scrolling through several files before rummaging through her purse, removing her own device, and working on both simultaneously.

"What are you doing?" he asked, staring at her in awe.

"I am making copies of your files."

"But if anyone finds out that you have them—"

"We are already involved," she debated, and she faltered as she heard the words spoken aloud. Recovering quickly, she added, "Consider me to be your backup" and winced as that declaration seemed to echo about the room as well.

"You have my back?"

"Something like that, yes," T.J. agreed.

"I did so much work to keep you from all of this," Seth lamented.

"How long did you believe that would last?" she rejoined. "You were wrong before: the headmistress and members of the school board do know me. I have been standing up for you and Radu, despite the public disagreements you and I share. And recent gossip indicates that students and staff believe our arguments to be more…personal than professional or political in nature."

Seth scrubbed his hands down his face as he remembered the exchange between Catalina and Bova earlier, and he wondered how many people were participating in their two betting pools.

T.J. continued, "Given the polarizing political landscape, they believe I am either an Andromedan sympathizer or secretly working in cahoots with the miserable cow of a headmistress. But I believe Radu was bait for both of us, you were bait for Father, and eventually I suppose we both served as bait for each other. We were all pawns."

"So why are we still here?"

T.J. paused when she noticed a previously-hidden file tagged "Ellison Band" staring up at her from Seth's compupad. With trembling hands, she followed the file path back to a subfolder tagged with Harlan's name. One more step back in the directory, and she saw the names of the rest of Seth's students: Catalina, Rosie, Bova, and Radu. The device slipped from her fingers as she took a deep breath and leaned back into the cushions with one hand covering her mouth in shock and the other reaching for Seth. When she looked at him again, the guilt and shame overtaking his entire being was staggering.

T.J. squeezed his hand, hoping that one or both of them would find some sort of strength. James would have been the one to talk them both down. In his absence, one of them would have to prompt the other to continue.

"Your students?" T.J. inquired, her voice strained. "Please, no. Tell me they are not involved."

"Their families are," Seth answered sullenly. "The kids are just—"

"Don't!" T.J. snapped. "These children are not just anything." She leapt from her seat only to stumble to lean against the nearest wall, lightheaded and nauseous. She registered Seth's presence next to her as she struggled to catch her breath. "Don't touch me!" she barked, swatting him away as she attempted to ward off intrusive thoughts and an impending panic attack.

"T.J., please let me—"

"This is all your fault!" T.J. cried. "You are the reason Father is missing! You are the reason I am being targeted! You are the reason the students' lives are in danger! Have you any idea how stupid you were to play right into the hands of the people you were trying to avoid?! You put all of us at risk! You put the lives of innocent children at risk!"

"I know that! I don't need you to tell me how badly I fucked up because I know all that, and I hate myself for it!" he fired back, advancing toward her. "Is that what you want me to say? That being anywhere near me is a death sentence, and that your Davenport determination must be a hereditary defect detrimental to your survival? Fine! Now go ahead and rub even more salt in the wound with your insight, tell me how much you hate me, and lecture me about what I should have done differently to create the parallel universe where everyone lives happily ever after!"

He'd only seen the look of horror and anguish on her face once before, and he hoped he'd never see it again. It chilled him to the bone.

She grew unsteady on her feet, and she wasn't sure if she was going to faint or be sick as the room tilted sideways. She collapsed: her determined expression shattered, leaving one of terror as a choked sob escaped, and he caught her before she hit the ground.

"I've got you," he told her as he wrapped his arms around her.

They'd been in this position once before, and the circumstances had been vastly different: He'd done this to her this time.

"I can't," she wheezed, "I can't breathe."

"I'm sorry. I've got you."

"Get off!"

He allowed her to shove him away. The momentum caused her to stumble backward, against the door as her knees buckled. He wound up sprawled on his back in the middle of the room, nearly hitting his head on the table on his way down. He sat up with a groan and watched tears leak from her eyes as she took ragged uneven breaths, leaving him unable to do anything other than honor her wishes by giving her space and bearing witness to her struggle.

"I've failed so many people." The anguish in his voice conveyed that he knew very well how dire the situation had become. "I've failed the kids. I've failed your dad. I've failed you. And I hate myself enough for all of you, ten times over. I'm so, so sorry. You all deserve so much better, and I'm sorry I can't be that for any of you. I'm trying. I swear, every decision I've made in recent memory was intended to protect the wellbeing of others. I knew it was a no-win for me, but I never meant to drag anyone else down in the process.

T.J. trembled as she looked at the red light next to the door. He'd tried to protect her. He'd tried to protect them all. He was still trying to juggle the Big Picture, Slightly Smaller Picture and Mission Attention To Detail in spite of everything.

He knew how much trouble they were in. He knew he couldn't do anything to fix it. He knew there was nothing he could do in three weeks that would end with everyone alive and well. He knew he was fighting a losing battle.

"You've always locked every door behind me," T.J. choked out. "Always."

When she looked up again, he was extending his hands to help her up. She took a shaky breath before reaching up to meet him.

He helped her over to the sofa, and she stumbled the entire way and lost one of her shoes in the process. She continued softly crying as she curled up on her side, barely registering the glass of water being set on the table across from her, next to the two compupads, and Seth sitting on the floor, staring down at the carpet.

"I don't hate you," she murmured, once she had regulated her breathing.

"Yeah, you do. I've come to terms with it. It's fine."

"No, I don't. I could never. Never."

"Where were you gonna go?" he wondered. "When you kept running to the door, where were you going?"

"I don't know," T.J. admitted. "I could take the kids and go somewhere. Anywhere."

"Sounds like one of my half baked plans," Seth teased, attempting to lighten the mood.

"It sounds better than staying here."

"Except for the kidnapping part, maybe?"

T.J. narrowed her eyes. "Since when are you the logical one of the two of us, hmm?" She sighed. "I wish I could talk to Father."

"So do I."

"I would have been outspoken about inclusivity at the school, whether or not you were assigned to teach at the Starcademy. I would have unwittingly made Father a person of interest by asking him for help, and the students would have been targeted anyway. I'm sorry I blamed you."

"'S okay."

"No, it isn't." T.J. sat up, and the expression on her face was one of heartache, concern, and compassion. "You have spent the better part of the last three years protecting us here at the academy. Even when you didn't know me that well, and even when we fought, you upheld your duty of care. And even before that, while you were serving in the STARDOGS and protecting our home, you sensed something was wrong and you could have chosen to ignore it. But you didn't. You constantly sacrifice your time, reputation, career, and welfare for what you believe is right. You've devoted your life to selfless causes. You've risked your life for them countless times over."

"If I'm gonna go down, I'm for going down fighting for something worthwhile." He shrugged. "I'm just doing the best I can."

"Well, then," T.J. wiped her eyes and regained her composure, "I suppose I should do the same. What was your plan? I assume you and Father had one?"

"If your dad did, he didn't give me specifics. Just try to gather enough evidence to crack this conspiracy wide open and then get you outta this place."

"I cannot and will not abandon these children."

"I know. And believe me, I didn't want it to come down to me dragging you out of here kicking and screaming. I know how much the students mean to you."

"Do you?" The retort was automatic, and T.J. took a breath and hung her head as Seth studied her with concern. "I want to make a positive impact on their lives," she said, unable to keep the defeat from her voice. "I want all of the students to have bright futures and to be prepared for whatever life throws at them, even if I am ill-prepared myself, even if I overstay my welcome here, even if it is to my own detriment. Goodness, I do not think any amount of training could have prepared me for this." She chuckled bitterly, gesturing toward the compupads.

Seth perked up. "Training?

She narrowed her eyes. "What are you thinking?"

He rubbed the back of his neck and looked away, somewhat afraid of T.J.'s reaction when he explained, "Your plan before technically could work. There are a couple things that sound above-board and would get us outta here. Of course someone like the vice principal would need to sign off on them…"

"Like what?"

"Reinstating field training for my class." He looked up at her again to gauge her reaction. For as terrible as his poker face was these days, hers more than made up for it. He continued, "There's a small ship still docked that we were supposed to take—"

"You cannot be serious."

"You got a better idea?"

"Well, not at the moment. But I cannot think of a worse one either." She paused, horrified by the next thought that came to her, "You don't suppose someone would have tried to sabotage the children's training, do you?"

"It isn't out of the realm of possibility," Seth answered cautiously. "There's a precedent for it, in a way: Cat's parents died on their way to a UPP summit. There was an engine malfunction on their shuttle like the news reported, but they left out the fact that some of the components had been tampered with." He gestured toward the coffee table where the compupads were resting. "Details are on there."

T.J.'s heart sank as she made the connection. "Oh, that poor girl." She stared at the devices, afraid to take a closer look at the students' files. "But now we are here," she said instead. "Most of the staff is still on the premises, but after the senior cadets return from their field training and the semester ends, we will be in an empty facility, for the most part."

"We'll have a skeleton crew of a B Team keeping the lights on while the rest of the kids and instructors are away and summer school is in session," Seth agreed, slowly.

"But we will still be here: the two of us and your class." Her eyes widened at the additional implications. "The Starcademy will be poised to be a literal testing ground for... We cannot stay here. It isn't safe. We cannot just—"

She was interrupted, not by Seth, but by a soft knock at the door. They both froze.

"Just act like everything is fine," Seth advised, cringing as he heard his own advice.

"Yes, another great plan." T.J. huffed at him and whispered harshly, "I wonder what sort of nonsense people will say about us now."

He rolled his eyes. "People already say nonsense about us, and it's trivial compared to—"

"The Big Picture, I am aware. Though your missions of varying sizes seem to intersect in more ways than you initially thought."

"Yeah, I know." With sarcasm that rivaled Bova's, he added, "I can draw you a Venn diagram later."

T.J. wiped her eyes and shook her head to get back on track as the knock came again. "Who would possibly be at your door this late in the evening?"

"Other than you? Only one way to find out." Seth registered T.J. gawping in his periphery as he quietly made his way back to the entrance, squinting at the small monitor next to the door to see who was on the other side. "Shit."

T.J. grabbed both compupads in a panic. When she turned back to Seth, he was frowning but waving her over. She glanced down at the screen to find Radu fidgeting and trembling in the otherwise empty hallway.

"Computer, unlock door!" T.J. commanded, slamming her hand on the override controls for good measure. The doors parted, and she gasped at the state of her student on the other side of the threshold: bruised and bloodied and crying.

"Miss Davenport?" The young Andromedan furrowed his brow and hissed in pain as he placed a hand to a gash on his forehead. "You, um, said to-to find you or Commander Goddard if I was bullied?" Radu stammered. "I-I'm sorry. I know it's late, and I'm breaking the rules by being up past Lights Out, but…uh…"

"No need to apologize," Seth answered as he ushered the student inside, firmly adding, "Computer, lock door," again once it slid shut behind him.

"What happened?" T.J. asked gently, as Seth demanded, "Who did this to you?" The questions made Radu all the more flustered, and T.J. shot Seth a pointed look that told him the boy should not be treated like the one on trial. Seth caught on, and he visibly relaxed in an attempt to make his charge feel more comfortable

T.J. swallowed the lump in her throat, and her voice was shaky when she said, "We should escort him to the Medical Wing and file a report."

Seth shook his head sadly. "I don't know if that'll do any good."

"I beg your pardon?! If this happened to anyone else—"

"I, uh, I'll heal quickly," Radu explained.

"Andromedans are quite...resilient," Seth offered gently in agreement.

"Besides, the last time I was in the medical wing, it, uh, it seemed like no one knew what to do with me."

The implications were a lot to process at once, and T.J. wanted nothing more than to give the boy a hug and some guarantee that everything would be all right. She found herself apologizing instead.

"It's not your fault. You're trying to help." He was puzzled as to what social situation he'd just interrupted, and he observed innocently, "You're dressed up."

T.J. caught Seth giving her another once-over, and she chose to ignore it. "I assume you have a first aid kit somewhere?" she said to him, instead.

While Seth headed in the direction of the en suite, T.J. guided Radu to the couch, offering, "I was supposed to be at the theatre tonight."

"With Commander Goddard?"

T.J.'s eyes went wide and Seth fumbled with the small med kit, spilling the majority of its contents as he returned.

"No. Not with Commander Goddard," T.J. clarified, slightly exasperated, glaring at the man who was busy collecting bandages and antiseptic swabs from the floor. She tried to shake the thought of how endearing he looked when he was flustered.

"Sorry. I just… I've heard…

The medical supplies clattered to the floor again as Seth turned to meet T.J.'s eyes. This time, his dumbfounded look was definitely not endearing: the expression he wore was one of panic. T.J. grew pale, suddenly realizing, "I suppose you have heard many things, through no fault of your own."

The silence that fell over the room was only broken by Radu's small hisses of discomfort as T.J. worked to clean his wounds. Seth observed the scene: T.J.'s brow was slightly furrowed in concentration, but her gaze somehow remained soft.

"Do you have medical training, Miss Davenport?" Radu asked, and it was a question also on Seth's mind once the student mentioned the possibility.

T.J. lowered her gaze to the floor, and her voice was soft as she answered, "Nothing extensive. I suppose I just…"

She was nurturing, Seth realized, and this was a side that she rarely presented to the students or staff. Perhaps this is who she really was when she wasn't forced to wear a mask of authority as a professional administrator, and when she wasn't frustrated by his antics or the students' disrespect. Seth pondered this and attempted to reconcile this version of T.J. Davenport with the version he knew and with the version James spoke of so often. He wondered if this was the version that existed prior to T.J.'s promotion—he hadn't known her back then, but he knew she taught at the Starcademy before becoming Assistant Principal.

Maybe they weren't so different, Seth mused. He knew he'd grown bitter during his time in the service, and exponentially so since he'd been demoted. He briefly wondered what it would have been like if T.J. had served as a medical officer or science officer and they had met while deployed…or if she had been a member of his crew…or if they had been close enough in age to attend the Starcademy together…

"Space help me," he muttered, placing his head in his hands.