Work Text:
"You had no right." Her voice is low. Dangerously low. He's heard her speak like this before and, usually, he knows it's his signal to back off.
Today, though, he doesn't feel like it. Today, he needs a good fight.
"I'm the captain. I have every right." His words are on the edge of being snappy, but he holds it back just a touch; one last opportunity for Una to back down.
Predictably, she doesn't.
"And as captain, your prerogative is to remain on the bridge during a crisis and delegate work to qualified individuals, which I am." She takes a step forward, planting her hands on his desk and leaning just over the edge.
He clenches his jaw for a second. "I also have the right to-"
"Chris, I don't care!" she bites out. "Going into the line of fire was stupid, selfish, and against protocol and you know it. You could have been killed."
"And so could you." His words drop like a stone. "Kat died and that could have been you and-" his words lose their edge and start to tumble as his posture begins to crumble. "Kat died and I feel guilty about- about that but you want to know what the worst part is? All I can think about is how close we were to that being you." He puts his head in his hands.
Una sinks into the chair across from him. "Chris, I..." for once, she doesn't know what to say. Instead, she picks her chair up, moving it around the desk and settles it next to him, pulling him into a tight hug.
Una feels him shudder as he pulls her close. It feels so good to be holding him in her arms, and she lingers there much longer than she normally would. Eventually she feels him relax his embrace and she does the same, but as she pulls away and sits back in her chair, his hands slide down her arms until they reach her hands. He takes ahold of them, holding both in his tight enough to communicate how much he needs her to stay, but gently enough to feel almost like reverence.
He's still leaning toward her slightly in his chair, almost hunched, as if a heavy weight is pressing him down. Chris rests their hands on Una's legs, just above her knees, and sighs.
Una squeezes his hands, drawing his gaze up into hers.
"That was almost you too."
His face changes to look almost surprised. "What?"
She swallows. "You were there with Kat. I know how much you probably didn't want to leave her in there alone." His gaze has grown more intense and she finds she can't maintain eye contact anymore. She looks at their joined hands instead. "I don't want to lose you either, Chris. You mean too much."
He can't find any words to say. The implication of her words are clear. It's the closest they've come to talking about what the Talosians revealed almost four years ago and he can hardly believe she's finally (in a somewhat vague way) acknowledging it.
Afraid that she will pull away, he squeezes her hands. "I guess we're a little codependent, huh?"
She snorts. "You would be lost without me, Captain."
The half smile he bore turns into a more tender look. "Yes, Number One. I most certainly would be."