Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Captain’s Log, Captain Stede Bonnet. Stardate 4518.05.

Things have been going so swimmingly since we came across the U.S.S. Queen Anne and her crew. Captain Edward Teach is every bit the brilliant Captain I’ve always heard of, and our crews are combining well.

Well…as well as can be expected. My people positive management style might be a little new to those used to following the Starfleet regulations by the book, but they’ll come around. The two crews are still working out who will go where, as most of the positions are now duplicated. Most are affable and willing to train replacements, either to seek a posting elsewhere in the ship or co-performing their duties as Ed and I have.

Oh, it’s so wonderful having a co-captain! Especially one as experienced as Ed. I mean Captain Teach. I must ask Lucius again how formal these logs have to be… I’m forever mixing my ship and personal logs. Ah well, it’s all the same to me as I have nothing in my personal log that couldn’t go in the official Revenge log for Starfleet. Though Lucius does give me the side-eye sometimes when I hand him my padd after completing an entry on the bridge. That’s why I’ve switched to doing my logs in my quarters.

Anyway…where was I?

Oh yes! Crew matters.

Commander Izzy Hands, head of Queen Anne’s security, is a bit of a thorn in my side. He’s the only one who seems so against this crew merger. But Ed seems to trust him so I’m trying to like him.

I better go attend to my duties now, a Captain’s work is never done!

Computer, until next time! Ah... I mean end entry.

Captain’s Personal Log, Captain Edward Teach. Stardate 4519.01.

Two chandeliers in his personal quarters. Chandeliers?! On a starship…

An electric fireplace in engineering, right across from the warp core!

He’s a lunatic.

I like it.

Computer, end entry.

Personal Log, Ensign Lucius Spriggs, Yeoman. Stardate 4519.10.

I don’t know why I ever thought joining Starfleet was a good idea… all we ever do is get shot at by phasers or trapped in alternate realities. We’re millions of miles away from home…but maybe that’s a good thing. Beats arranged marriage on Betazed any day…

Let’s hope we get some shore leave soon. I could use three weeks on Riza…

You know who else could use three weeks on Riza? My insufferable co-Captains. One of these days I’m going to lock them in the turbolift and just see what happens.

[sigh]

What’s the point of being able to read thoughts and feelings when everyone else is too dense to act on them? Now there’s double the number of people’s incessant internal droning to tune out since the Queen Anne crew came aboard. Though they do offer some entertaining diversions…

[door chime]

Speaking of! That will be Fang now.

[loudly] Come!

[laughing] End entry.

~

Act 1: Shore leave

The lights on the controls blinked merrily up at Captain Stede Bonnet of the U.S.S. Revenge. As he gazed down at his bridge and his crew, he felt a swell of pride. Not bad for his first real foray into space; the crew was coming along nicely, especially with the assistance from the much more experienced U.S.S. Queen Anne officers.

Any minute now, Ed would come sauntering onto the bridge and take his now-usual place by Stede’s side at the captain’s chair, peering over his shoulder at reports and readings. When it wasn’t Ed’s turn in the chair, more often than not he would be bouncing from station to station, never staying still for very long, giving his brilliant opinion wherever needed.

True enough, Captain Edward Teach walked onto the bridge moments later holding a replicated cup of tea. He wore command yellow and it looked good on him, the gold contrasting nicely with the silver streaks in his long hair. Stede had opted for the less common (but still regulation!) green wrap-around shirt.

Stede looked up at Ed as he approached. “Seven sugars?” he asked.

“Wouldn’t be the same with six.” Ed answered back with a grin, leaning casually against the back of the command chair. “So how’s it looking out there?”

Commander Buttons and Lieutenant Commander Oluwande Boodhari were at the controls below them. Head of Security Izzy Hands was at the tactical viewer next to the science officers on one side of the circular bridge while security officers Ivans and Fane were in discussion with the Weapons Array Officer on the other.

“Looking fine, sailing smooth, Captain,” Olu piped up. “Location, within sensor range of Starbase Deep Space K-7 and it’s neighbouring planet St. Augustine, one parsec from the closest Klingon outpost.”

“Close enough to smell ‘em,” muttered Buttons.

“Iz, keep an eye out, will you?” Ed turned to the weapons officers. “Lieutenant Commander Feeney, let’s keep our phasers disarmed but ready. Things are peaceful with the Klingons right now, we don’t want to get caught up in a conflict.”

That was Captain Teach for you. A man so clever he cheated on the Kobayashi Maru exam and got away with it, earning the nickname Blackbeard for his less than legal ways.

Stede beamed at him.

“Isn’t the crew getting along so nicely? I think everything’s going great, don’t you?”

Ed grinned and opened his mouth to respond but seemed to notice something across the room and closed his mouth again.

Stede followed his gaze and saw Izzy Hands glaring phasers at him from his station.

Ed opened his mouth again and started drumming his fingers on the ringed railing which divided the bridge.“It’s going great, yeah, but maybe the crew is getting a little…bored?”

Stede frowned.

Not meeting Stede’s eyes, Ed turned to look out the view screen. “Apart from that brief encounter with the Romulans, there hasn’t been much action.” Taking a deep breath, Ed seemed to steel himself then said, “Even me…I’m just not meant for sitting idle.”

Stede felt an uneasiness creep up slowly from his belly button.

Ed glanced at him quickly then away again.

“Maybe… maybe when we get to Deep Space K-7 I should-“

“Shore leave!” Stede shouted, jumping out of chair, the uneasiness having been instantly transformed into panic. I must not let Ed finish that sentence. He began pacing the length the bridge. The turbo lift doors opened and Yeoman Spriggs appeared with several padds in his arms.

“Lucius! Assemble a research party in the conference room! We need to learn everything about St. Augustine, its environment, stats and suitability for recreation!”

Stede completed a full lap of the bridge while Ed looked on, bemused. The crew perked up at the talk of shore leave.

“Lt. Commander Jimenez is from Deep Space K-7, you should consult with them,” Olu suggested.

“Is that right Jim? Fantastic!” Stede clapped his hands together as Jim protested from their tactical station at the front of the ship. “When did I ever say that?” they said, shooting Olu a look.

“Right!” Stede clapped his hands again. “Conference room- let’s start planning our next deeply cool, memorable adventure!”

~

Captain Ed Teach, Stede, Spriggs, Jimenez and two of the Revenge’s science officers - French and that Swedish guy - as well as Ed’s reluctant head of security, Izzy Hands, filed into the conference room.

Ed moved to take his customary seat next to Stede at the head of the table. Ignoring Izzy’s irritated look from the back of the room, he gripped the chair-back in his left hand and swung his left leg over the breadth of the chair, sitting down in one smooth motion. Ed snuck a side glance at Stede who looked suitably impressed. That maneuver never fails…

Stede cleared his throat. “Okay! Let’s hear everything we know about St. Augustine. Lieutenant Commander Jimenez?”  He turned expectantly to his taciturn tactical officer.

“There’s nothing there and nothing to see. No reason to go there." They made a motion to stand up but Stede cut them off.

“Nonsense! I hear it’s absolutely lovely this time of year.” He turned to his science crew. “Lt. Commander French, what have you found out?” Frenchie, a young man of considerable intelligence, intergalactic relations-savvy and with a spectacular head of hair, got up and walked over to the display screen. Tapping a few simple buttons, he displayed a model of the planet and the orbiting Deep Space K-7 space station.

“St. Augustine is uniquely suited for shore leave because of its Class M status, moderate temperatures and the length of its day. Most land masses are near the equator, so it’s consistently pleasant with plenty of ocean front space for relaxing. There isn’t much vegetation because the soils, while mineral rich, are a little too acidic. So, we may have to bring our own shade structures.”

Ed snuck another look at Stede to see he was furrowing his brow in attention, deep in concentration planning a holiday for his crew.

Frenchie continued. “The Augustinian waters are of course, home to the rare, Sainted Mermaids who mate for life, but only after the mature age of 260.”

“Is that so? I’ve never heard of them!” Stede exclaimed with avid interest.

“I don’t think that’s true? Actually?” piped up the other science officer, whose name Ed had never learned but whom everyone just called 'The Swede'.

“Yeah, sorry to disappoint mate,” Ed agreed gently, “don’t think that’s a thing.”

“Well... maybe it could be!” said Stede, rushing to Frenchie’s defense. “That’s what this is all about, isn’t it?” Stede looked at each member of the table in turn. “Finding new life?”

Frenchie nodded vigorously, Yeoman Spriggs raised his eyebrows and Jimenez and Izzy rolled their eyes. Ed couldn’t help smiling as he felt a rush of fondness towards this silly man. Nobody was doing it like Stede.

Remembering himself, Ed turned to Izzy. “What’s the political situation like, Commander?”

“It’s bad,” Izzy stated tersely with his usual straightforwardness that could rival a Vulcan’s (without any of the emotional control).

“St. Augustine has been part of disputed territory for more than 50 years. 23 years ago, the Klingons and the Federation fought a long and inconclusive battle at Donatu V. The result was the Jenkins Peace Treaty. Whichever party can develop St. Augustine’s resources the most efficiently will be granted the planet.”

“And to the victor, go the spoils…” Ed mused, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

Ed’s thoughts (and the briefing) were interrupted by a comm from the speaker on the wall.

“Ivans to Captain Teach. Sorry to interrupt boss but we’ve got trouble, we’ve just received a Code One alert from K-7.”

“Code One!” Stede exclaimed. “That’s-“

“An attack,” Ed finished. Not just any attack, but a life or death attack on a federation territory, an SOS.

“Oh! Oh!” Stede stood up and started pacing the room. “Okay, so we need to head into warp, ready the phasers…” He stopped briefly at his chair, sat down and then instantly stood up again. Stede turned to Ed a little frantically. “What else?”

“I don’t know mate…do you think you’re ready for this?” Ed asked, not unkindly. “This is kind of out of your league, I could easily run point on this one.”

“I don’t know, Captain, I think Captain Bonnet has proved himself up to the challenge,” spoke a whispery voice at the back of the room. Ed turned to Izzy with a questioning look, but his face was unreadable.

“Well!” Stede grinned, evidently surprised. “Thank you, Commander. You hear that Lucius- we’ve got a battle on our hands!”

“Places! Places, people, we need...” Stede excitedly hurried out of the room exclaiming orders as he went.

The rest of the crew hurried out leaving just Ed and Izzy.

Izzy, his friend, right hand man, and lately, a pain in his rear end. They stared at each other from opposite ends of the oblong conference table.

“What are you playing at mate? We both know he’s not ready for this.”

“That’s right, I do know that. And so do you,” Izzy growled. “He’s not ready for any. Of. This.” He jabbed his finger towards Ed with every word. Ed flinched but said nothing.

Izzy stood up abruptly. Pushing back his chair and crossing the room he said, “The sooner he makes a fool of himself and we have to cut in, the sooner he’ll realize he should turn in his comm badge and crawl back to whatever cushy colony he came from.”

Making it to the door Izzy paused and turned back for one last parting shot.

“You’ve gotten used to him following you around like some kind of Alfa177 canine. But he’s not your pet doggy, he’s a joke. And it’s time for him to go home.”

The door slid open and shut with a soft swoosh and Ed was alone.

Chapter Text

Weapon’s Array Officer’s Log, Lieutenant John Feeney. Stardate 4526.

We arrived at Starbase Deep Space K-7 ready for a fight only to find no invading ships whatsoever. Total false alarm. Disappointing. Now the Captains say we have to go on shore leave after all. What do you even do on holiday? Maybe I can find a quiet place to blow something up. 

End entry.

Act 2: Space Seed

Stede usually enjoyed beaming down to a new place, that familiar tingling feeling tickling the ends of his fingers and the romantic thought that just as he materialized, for a moment, he was part of the universe, part of those stars he sailed through.

But not today.

Today Stede materialized onto Starbase K-7’s transporter deck with irritation, and the only tingling feeling was simmering resentment that his time had been wasted.

Ed materialized next to him and they set off to get to the bottom of this apparently fake distress call. They hadn’t gotten two steps into the hallway before they were met by a tall man with dark hair and palms already out in a placating gesture.

“Captain Bonnet, I’m the station manager Hornberry. I apologize for-“

“I demand an explanation!” Stede cut off with a scowl.

“I know, I apologize. There is no attack but-“

“Well, that’s not bloody good enough, is it mate?” Ed growled, a hint of the Blackbeard spirit showing through. “You heard the man, we need an explanation as to why you issued a Code One alert when there was no emergency.”

Stede felt bolstered by Ed’s support.

“Look, I was ordered by my superior, I’ll explain everything in my office.”

Ed and Stede followed Hornberry a short distance to a modest office with shag carpeting and a globular light fixture hanging from the ceiling. Stede strode into the room ready to let this superior have it, only to stop mid-stride with his mouth open.

Standing in the middle of the room, with his hands behind his back and smug look on his face stood Nigel Badminton. Stede barely registered a second man standing by the wall, with salt and pepper hair and a chagrined expression.

Nigel Badminton. One of his childhood tormentors. Here.

“Why it is true!” Nigel exclaimed with something bordering on glee. “Baby Bonnet does fancy himself a Starfleet Captain now!”

Stede winced and attempted a smile.

“Ah. Nigel…it’s been a long time.” 30 years wasn’t long enough.

“That’s Undersecretary Badminton to you, Bonnet. I heard some ridiculous rumor that you had up and joined Starfleet and it appears to be true!” Nigel sauntered over to an egg-shaped swivel chair and lounged into it, laughing loudly.

Why couldn’t Stede say anything? Even after all these years and all he’d been through, he still felt as small as he did at ten years old, tied to a holographic rowboat, forced to row for hours in the local holo recreation centre while boys threw rocks at him. They claimed it was all in good fun and the rocks were holographic anyway, so what did it matter?

It mattered to Stede.

Stede felt a hand on his arm for a brief moment. He looked up to see Ed glaring at Nigel.

“Look, this is all very well to catch up, but we were summoned here under false pretenses. A Code One alert is no laughing matter, it’s a matter of life and death!”

“Ah, but it is!” said Nigel, straightening up in his chair. “No doubt even you are aware of the political situation here. The Jenkins Treaty is set to come into effect shortly and whoever can best harness the planet’s resources will receive the territory. I have reason to believe the Klingons may be plotting to sabotage the Federation’s best chance.”

 “And what is that, pray tell?” asked Ed wryly.

“Quadrotiticale.”

Stede found his voice. “Oh! A triticale? A genetic hybrid of wheat and rye?” he asked excitedly. Botany was one of his extracurriculars at the academy.  “Is it related to the common rye, Secale cereale that’s…”  Stede trailed off seeing Badminton smirk.

Stede cursed inwardly. How could he forget himself and let his interests show like that? Rookie mistake. He’d gotten comfortable not having to curb his enthusiasm and let his true colours show. Not having to guard himself against sharing pieces of his heart lest they be used as weapons against him by his bullies.

Standing up, Nigel pulled a single shaft of wheat-like grain out of his jacket pocket and held it up between two fingers. “This, gentlemen,  is the only grain that will grow on St. Augustine and the key to successful colonization.” He passed it to Ed who looked at it with mild interest.

“It is of particular high yield and hardiness, and able to grow in the acidic soils of this and many other planets. This could be the biggest innovation in food security since the invention of the replicator! We have several tons of it stored here on the station. I have reason to believe the Klingons will do something to destroy it.”

“On what evidence?” Stede asked.

“What evidence do I need? They are Klingons,” Badminton sneered. The salt and pepper gentleman looked uncomfortable.

“Now look here-” Stede protested. “We are in the early days of peace with the Klingons. And yes, there are a few territory disputes left over, but the Klingons are as invested in this new alliance as the Federation is. They wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize that.”

“I’m inclined to agree,” said Ed, placing the grain sample on the station manager’s desk. “What does this all have to do with the U.S.S. Revenge anyway? Why the Code One?”

“You must assign your crew to guard this station at all times!” Badminton answered.

“A Code One? To guard grain?” Stede was incredulous. “Oh, come on!”

“It is of absolute importance that this grain be protected!” Badminton retorted. “I don’t expect someone like you to be aware of the political implications here. But if this grain is tampered with in any way, it could mean the failure of this project, it could even mean a return to war!” Badminton yelled. “My aide Wellington can show you to the grain storage area so you can begin your protection detail.”

Ed put both his hands up. “Look. Do I agree that this grain could be a game changer? Yes. Defense against food scarcity is important-“ Badminton started to smirk again. “But,” His smirk faltered. “Do we need the entire crew at your disposal? No.” Ed finished.

Nigel looked furious and opened his mouth to protest but Ed cut him off with a look. “We’ll leave two guards here, that’s it. Two guards in rotating shifts while the rest of the crew goes down to shore leave on the planet.”

Shore leave? So Ed was getting interested in it! Could this work?

“We’re leaving, come on.” Grabbing Stede’s forearm he wheeled them out of the office and back towards the transporter pad.

Ed shifted his arm to clasp Stede’s hand as they hurried along. Stede felt buoyed by it and steadied. Like a child holding a precious balloon so it wouldn’t fly away.

“Thanks for sticking up for me back there.”

“Hm?” Ed looked back at Stede.

“No bother, that guy is a dick, and a racist to boot.” Ed grinned. “We’ll send over two red shirts once we’re back on our ship.”

Our ship…

“Well… thank you all the same,” Stede said shyly.

Ed seemed to notice that he was still holding Stede’s hand. He let go abruptly and scratched his nose.

“Right. Well. Let’s get back, shall we?”

Tapping his comm badge Ed said, “Two to beam up.”

Ed and Stede locked eyes as they dematerialized into the transporter beam. Stede felt a little warm. Ah, the familiar transporter tingle… yes, that’s what that must be.

And just for a moment, they were one with the universe. 

Chapter Text

Lieutenant Commander Fane’s Personal Log. Stardate 4526.01

Ivans and I just got back from shore leave at the K-7 bar, you know, just talking about Captain. Ivans said this is the most open he’s ever seen Ed, and I agree. Joining the crew of the Revenge has done him some good. Maybe he’ll lighten up enough to finally let me have a pet aboard ship!

And I’ve found the most perfect little guy…I’ve named him Fang Jr. I got him off a rare goods dealer on the station, named Calico Jack. He tried to sell me some spican flame gems but I only had eyes for Fang Jr.!

He’s a delightful little ball of fluff called a Tribble, so soft and coos like a dove. Got ‘im for a great price too! Calico Jack said they’re really easy to take care of, no fussy diets, they eat practically anything! I’m going to go introduce little Fangie to the rest of the crew! End entry!

Act 3: The Man Trap

Beaming back onto the enterprise, Ed and Stede were immediately met by Stede’s Yeoman, Spriggs, in the transporter room.

“Captain, I’ve got Starfleet headquarters on subspace for you.”

“Ugh! Never a moment’s peace!” Stede huffed, putting his hands on his hips. “When is a Captain supposed to get any shore leave planning done around here? This better be important.”

Ed smiled to himself. He’s cute when he’s mad.

The thought came unbidden before he could stop himself.

He had to stop getting attached.

It was like Izzy had been saying for weeks, there was no future here. It’s not like they could serve at the same time, on the same ship, for much longer, without one of them taking a demotion. And despite briefly pondering retirement in the past, Ed didn’t want to give all this up. Lately, being Captain had been fun and exciting again.

Lucius twisted his hands nervously. “It did seem quite urgent, an Admiral Badminton?”

Badminton? How many of these clowns are there?

Stede’s puffed up indignation deflated in a second “Ah… alright then, please patch it through to my ready room. And Lucius, please check in with Commander Hands on getting two security officers down to the station. As well, the first cohort of crew can beam down for leave. ”

As Lucius hurried off to his duties, Ed followed a now silent Stede into the turbolift. Stede seemed as resigned and pained as he did back in the station manager’s office.

“Bridge,” Stede sighed.

The quiet hum of the turbolift was in contrast to Ed’s internal admonishment.

Don’t get involved, Ed. Don’t get involved, he’s not your pet project. It’s better for everyone if you distance yourself now, while you still can, before it’s too late.

“So… Badminton, eh? Any relation to that imbecile Nigel?” Damn it Ed.

“Ah, yes… Admiral Chauncey Badminton, Nigel’s twin brother.” Stede feigned detachment but Ed could tell there was more there.

Stede was looking resolutely at the wall in front of him.

“Friends of yours?”

“School classmates,” said Stede with a firmness that suggested they were, in fact, very much not friends.

“I take it you weren’t close?”

“They…” Stede opened his mouth and closed it again. He was still not looking at Ed. “They were not the nicest to me in the past.” He looked ashamed. Ed let off a string of internal curses. What did those bastards do to you to make you so dejected? Stede usually seemed so confident and bubbly, striding forward with his ridiculous ways, a smile on his face.

“So… next time we see him, if my phaser accidentally hits Nigel in the face, you’d be cool with that?”

Stede finally looked over at Ed with a small smile. There you are.

“Unfortunately, there are some bigger forces at play here, especially if Admiral Badminton is involved. We’ll have to play nice.”

Ed nudged Stede with his shoulder. “What about set to stun only?”

“You weren’t going to set it to stun?!” Stede laughed. 

“Okay, no phasers, what if I just rough him up a little?”

Stede raised his eyebrow. “What did you have in mind?” he asked, playing along.

Ed moved a little closer into Stede’s space. “Well, I could get up in his business… scare him a little with the old Blackbeard look.”

“Blackbeard look? What’s that?”

Captain lesson time! Ed enjoyed bringing Stede under his wing this way. His willingness to learn, his puppy dog eagerness.

He’s not your pet doggy . Oh, shut up Iz.

“It’s a great trick for staring down an adversary over the view screen, works just as well in person.” Ed moved even closer, backing Stede into the turbo lift wall.

This isn’t getting involved…this is setting Stede up for the future as a solo Captain, that’s it.

 “You put one arm up on the wall, all menacing like this, ” Ed moved his arm up to block Stede in. Stede’s eye’s flicked back and forth between Ed’s arm and his face.

“Then you lock eyes and put everything you aren’t saying in words into one intense look.” Ed turned on the menace, his best glare, put some real heat into it.

But. Ah.

Stede’s eyes were huge.

Ed had never really noticed their colour before. A kind of swirling blue, green and brown. Ed was reminded vaguely of Jupiter’s south pole.

Ed’s gaze was just drifting to Stede’s mouth when the turbolift stopped and the doors opened.

They both jumped.

“Ah, well, interesting uh- lesson, I’ll have to, um, practice that in the mirror,” Stede coughed out.

Ed scratched the back of his head absently. “Yep, that would work.”

“I better get to my ready room, I’ve already kept the Admiral waiting much too late!” He hurried out.

After a beat, Ed followed, to take his place on the bridge in the Captain’s chair.

Much too late was right. Much too late to avoid being seriously into one Captain Stede Bonnet.

~

Stede had been sitting in his ready room for 20 minutes, ears still ringing from the dressing down he got from Chauncey. Apparently, the safety of the Quadrotriticale was somehow Stede’s 'responsibility' as Captain. The U.S.S. Revenge was to provide Nigel with all resources he might need, by order of Admiral Badminton.

To have Starfleet high command involved in this was just a gross example of nepotism, not like that wasn’t par for the course for the Badmintons… Chauncey probably got Nigel his job in the first place.

What a waste of time… as if Stede didn’t have more important things to be doing! Like ensuring this ship was in good order and his crew was enjoying themselves. This bureaucratic nonsense was surely going to bore Ed.

Ed. Who has been so warm and welcoming to Stede and the U.S.S. Revenge. Ed, who was teaching Stede everything he knew about being a Starfleet Captain.

Ed, who had swagger, intelligence and not to mention, quite fit arms. Stede had gotten a good look at them in the turbolift.

He’d also gotten a good look at what were possibly the brownest eyes he’d ever seen. Deep, dark brown, with eyelashes that could rival a baby cow’s. Ed’s eyes had been burning with something that made Stede feel like he was locked in a tractor beam. When those turbolift doors opened, Stede had escaped with a peculiar mix of relief and disappointment.

Stede was still probing that train of thought when the Code Red alert klaxon came on.

Leaping out of his chair, he arrived onto the bridge at the same time that the alert stopped. Ed waved him over.

“It’s all under control, there is a Klingon battle cruiser at the station but there is a low likelihood of attack as the station manager informs me its Captain and First Officer are sitting in his office right now.”

“Do we know them?” Stede asked.

“I’ve heard of them, the leader of the House of J’akki and one her husbands.” A loud clatter from behind them made them turn around.

Jim was picking up some padds that had dropped, their back to the captains.

“At any rate,” Ed continued, turning back to the view screen. “Badminton,” he rolled his eyes, “wants us down there. It seems like the Klingons want shore leave as well but he’s not buying it.”

Stede sighed. Here we go again.

Chapter Text

Commander’s battle ledger. The Great Mistress of the House of J’akki. 10 Jo’vos, 3152.

These Starfleet p'taq, accusing me of wanting to sabotage some grain. As if J’akki has time for that. All I wanted was a little rest and relaxation. Ever since my beloved A’lfeo passed on to Sto’Vo’Kor, I’ve had my hands full dealing with House matters, not to mention the blood of my enemies.

Is it too much to ask for J’akki to get shore leave?

It seems like between the diplomatic efforts of J’akki, the one they call Blackbeard and that new guy, Genital something, I’ve managed to secure shore leave. That Badminton d’blok wasn’t happy, but my spy on the inside will keep me informed of any trouble from him.

 So help me, J’akki and Husbands 1-19 are going to have a sexy bat’leth-filled beach vacation or somebody’s going to get stabbed. 

Yih-Ghom-HAH!

Act 4: The Trouble with Tribbles

Lucius sauntered into the Revenge’s recreation room and flopped dramatically into a lounge chair across from Nurse Peters and Lieutenant Bjornson.

“Ugh! I’ve been on my feet all day, up to the bridge, down to engineering, ferrying messages back and forth, organizing the beam downs, this is way above my job description!” Rolling his head back and forth he said “Pete, babe, rub my feet.”

“I’ll do one better!” he said with a grin, producing a purring fuzz ball from behind his back.

“What is that?”

“It’s a tribble!” Peters grinned. “They’re really soothing. Fang got one on the station and it had babies! Mine’s from the first litter!”

“First litter?” Lucius cocked an eyebrow.

“Yep!” The Swede piped up. “Aren’t they cute? Mine’s from the second litter!”

Lucius looked around and noticed quite a few of the officers in the room had similar creatures. There was also a calm, centered feeling from the entire room. Looking at the tribble on the table nearest him, Lucius watched it produce three babies in the blink of an eye.

“Say, just how many litters are there?”

~

Lieutenant Commander Roche was peering at a blood sample under the microscope when Captain Bonnet walked into the med bay.

“Roach! What do you have for a headache?” Stede asked, rubbing his forehead. “Dealing with the Badmintons’ nonsense all day is giving me a migraine.”

“I’m sure I can find you something in a minute Captain, I’m just a little busy studying these tribbles,” Roche replied, holding a tribble up to extract another blood sample.

Stede seemed to notice for the first time that his Chief Medical Officer’s lab bench was covered in tribbles.

“What are those?”

“Well, they seem to be asexually reproducing creatures with a high metabolism and reproductive rate. Evidently, almost 50% of their metabolism goes towards reproduction. Some of the crew picked them up on the station.”

“Ugh... that damn station again. I’m going to my quarters for a nap, don’t bother me unless it’s an absolute emergency,” Stede waved and walked off without looking back.

“Will do Captain…” Roche trailed off as three new tribbles appeared on his table.

~

Lieutenant Commander Jimenez knew five things for sure:

1. They were the best shot with a phaser in their graduating class at the academy,
2. A rogue Klingon sect called the Siete Gallos destroyed their family’s trading vessel, killing everyone except Jim,
3. The House of J’akki took in a lot of the former members of the Siete Gallo when they were pardoned by the Klingon Chancellor, including J’akki’s most spineless husband G’eraldo,
4. G’eraldo was currently drinking a raktajino in Deep Space K-7’s bar right now and;
5. Jim was going to enjoy this.

From their barstool perch at the side of the bar, Jim could see G’eraldo sitting at a small circular table in the corner sipping his drink. Starfleet and Klingon officers were scattered throughout the bar, though they were giving each other a wide birth.

A sleazy man with chin-length hair and a large mustache was attempting to sell a rabbit-sized furry puffball to the barkeep. 

“Come onnnn, they’re a great investment!”

“I keep telling you Jack, I don’t want any more!” the barkeep said angrily. “The one I bought from you has already had eight grandchildren at this point, and you keep selling them to others, you’ve totally flooded the market!”

“Gotta keep up with demand you know, I give the people what they want,” The mustached man said, turning to wink at Jim.

Gross.

A Klingon officer came up to the bar. “Ale,” he grunted.

The sleazy salesmen, sensing a new mark, sidled over and produced the tribble. The Klingon recoiled as the tribble started making loud trilling noises. “Get that thing away from me!” he growled.

Jim used the commotion to slip away to the back of the room. 

G’eraldo was just enjoying the last drop of his raktajino when the butt of Jim’s phaser pressed into his back.

“Don’t move.”

Craning his neck backwards he noticed Jim. “Well, well, well, as I live and breathe, Lieutenant Commander Jimenez. And where’s your treacherous pal Oluwande?”

“I’m more interested in knowing where your pals are,” retorted Jim, pressing the phaser further into his back. “Where are the rest of the Siete Gallos?”

Jim could still hear the trilling of the tribble at the bar. Its alarm-like noise matching the pace of their pulse. “Tell me or I shoot.”

“You’re not going to shoot me, you’re a Starfleet officer,” G’eraldo sneered.

“Oh yeah? Just try me.”

Jim felt something in the small of their back, remarkably like their own phaser.

“Okay, I will,” said a rich female voice.

The Mistress of the Great Klingon House of J’akki circled around Jim to sit opposite G’eraldo, weapon trained at Jim the whole time. She was wearing a voluptuous red cloak with enough folds to match her forehead ridges.

“Hi J’akki,” said Jim with a smile.

“I don’t know why you’re smiling, after what you did to my favourite husband,” growled J’akki.

Jim kept the phaser firmly on G’eraldo. “I’m smiling because I’m going to round up all of the Siete Gallos and bring them to justice. A’lfeo was an accident but oops, I might just have another accident right now if you don’t tell me how to track down the others.”

There was a large crash behind them, and several things happened at once.

 Jim whipped around automatically to see that the Klingon at the bar had backed up into a nearby table of Starfleet officers and knocked it over.

J’akki took aim and fired.

G’eraldo slumped to the table with a phaser burn straight through his chest.

Jim blinked, holding their phaser up to the empty air.

“Huh. Didn’t see that coming.”

Angry voices filled the bar.

J’akki smiled, reached out and plucked Jim’s phaser out of their hands. She then tossed away Jim’s and her own phaser.

“Now we fight like true warriors!” she bellowed, launching herself at Jim.

~

A dozen bruised and bloodied Starfleet officers stood ramrod straight, hands behind their back, in the Revenge assembly room. Commander Israel Hands strode back and forth in front of them with a thunderous scowl, dangerously quiet.

What a sloppy and ridiculous crew. Once again, it’s Izzy’s turn to clean up the mess.

“What in the blazes were you thinking!” he suddenly yelled out, still pacing the line. “Starting a childish brawl. This is not the caliber of officer that is expected on Blackbeard’s ship!”

“Well, it’s not Blackbeard’s ship, is it?”

Izzy whipped around to see Jimenez with a black eye, split lip stretched in a grin.

Izzy walked back and stopped in front of Jimenez.

“Jim’s right actually,” he started in a quiet voice before barking out, “because if this was the Queen Anne, YOU’D ALL BE IN THE BRIG BY NOW!” Each word yelled brought a puff of air that made Jim’s hair blow.

“And stop looking so self-satisfied Lieutenant Commander.” Izzy turned away and started pacing again. “We just made peace with the Klingons and here you are starting bar fights? The political situation is critical right now! One false move and we’re thrown back in war!”

Trust Bonnet’s crew to start a galactic incident.

“I’ve been instructed by Captain Teach to cancel all shore leave and confine the offending parties to quarters for a week.”

A few audible groans were cut short by a sharp glare from Izzy.

“So if we’re confined to quarters, can we still go to the recreation room?” asked an ensign at the end of the row.

Izzy just stared. “You don’t. Get fun. When you’re confined to quarters! Dismissed!”

The crew filed out dejectedly just as Edward came into the room.

“There you are, Iz!”

Clapping his hand on Izzy’s back he said excitedly, “I’ve been meaning to ask you a security question, do you think Stede and I can take shore leave at the same time? You’ll take the con right?”

Izzy shrugged Ed off.

“Shore leave’s cancelled,” he replied through gritted teeth.

“What, since when? I didn’t order that.”

“No, I did,” he spat out. “To clean up the mess you refuse to deal with.”

“Ah Iz, I wished you’d quit doing that.” Ed shook his head.

 Izzy couldn’t hold it back anymore, weeks of frustration boiling over.

“I had to! Stupid freaking Bonnet’s stupid freaking crew started a fight with the Klingons on the station! Me and the boys managed to break it up, but it could have been a lot worse. And once again I had to clean up the mess while you were off doing who knows what with that imbecile Bonnet.”

“Careful Iz…” Ed growled.

“You be careful! Get it together or I’m out of here!”

 Izzy flipped him the double bird and stalked out of the room.

“Get out of my way!” he bellowed at the packed corridor full of Starfleet officers holding cooing fuzzy animals. The officers startled and scattered out of the way like waves at the bow of a ship.

All the years… all these years he had been by Ed’s side and now some greenhorn fresh in command is going to supplant him? Twist his boss’ brain around, butter him up and turn him against Izzy?

Worst of all is that Ed didn’t seem to care at all… didn’t seem to notice all the efforts Izzy put in on his behalf.

Never noticed that he was right there, by his side.

Izzy fumed all the way to the bridge, passing clumps of fuzz piled in corners and on computer stations.

“Where did all these bloody hairballs come from? No pets on the ship!”

Just another mess for me to clean up.

Chapter Text

Secured subspace transmission – decoded.

We both know what’s going to happen, what should happen. We need to be prepared, send reinforcements as soon as possible. Any ship that’s in the area. Watch for my signal. You’ll know when it’s time.

Act 5: The Enemy Within

Ting. A door chime woke Stede from his nap. Pulling his fluffy pink face mask off his head he called out a groggy, “Yes?”

“It’s me, open up.”

Ed!

“Of course, come on in!” Stede was instantly awake now, throwing back the covers, grabbing his robe and hurrying to the door beaming, “You know my door is always open!”

Ed entered, looking serious.

“Stede mate, we’ve got a bit of problem.” 

“Why what’s going on?” Stede tied the sash on his robe decisively, Starfleet captain mode activating. Could be the Klingons again, or the Romulans, something wrong with the ship… Stede flipped through the possibilities in his mind.

“Have you tried using the replicator?”

“No, why?”

Ed gestured to the replicator in Stede’s kitchenette area as if to say, 'go ahead'.

“Okay…” Stede walked over to the replicator, a bit confused but trusting that Ed was building up to something.

“Coffee. Hot; Toast. With Marmalade.” Stede spoke clearly at the machine.

A brief moment and something materialized, a cup and a plate but where there should be a deep rich coffee there was a cup of tribbles and where there should be perfectly golden toast with marmalade, there was a plate… filled with tribbles.

“My marmalade…”

“Yep,” said Ed, popping the ‘p’. “We’re all out of marmalade. These tribble things have gotten into the entire food synthesizing network. They’ve eaten everything. All they do is eat, reproduce, and spread. In fact, they’re in almost every system of the ship.”

“Engineering?” asked Stede, almost afraid of the answer.

“Engineering, the bridge, they’ve even gotten into the ventilation system,” Ed answered gravely. 

“The ventilation system? Are they going to get into life support next? How could I let this happen? Oh God, my ship is over-run and what was I doing? Taking a nap?” Stede staggered back to his bed and sunk onto it, putting his head in his hands. “I’m not a Captain, I’m an idiot.”

“Hey, don’t talk like that.” Ed was by his side in an instant, his hand on Stede’s shoulder. “These things happen, it could have happened to anyone.”

Stede lifted his head up, embarrassed to feel the prickle of tears in his eyes. “Not to you! This never would have happened to you if you were in charge.”

Ed frowned.

“Look man, we’re both in charge, co-captains remember? This happened on my watch too,” he said softly.

Ed didn’t get it, how could he? He was such a different caliber of officer than Stede. So much command experience, out here in the furthest reaches of space. While Stede…

“I don’t deserve to be here, Ed.”

“What do you mean? You went through the academy like everybody else, you earned your command like everyone else.”

But Stede wasn’t like everyone else, he never had been. He’d known it since he was a child dodging holographic rocks from Badminton and his cronies. Not quite suited somehow to be part of their world, despite being born into it.

And how he desperately wanted to be part of something, part of anything. Starfleet seemed like an amazing escape, every day an adventure. He entered at such a late age though… he needed a little help getting into the academy.

“I’m pretty sure I’ve only gotten as far as I have with my career because of my family connections,” Stede said sadly.

“I’m no better than Nigel, getting some cushy job because his brother’s an admiral. My father owns one of the largest dilithium mines in the quadrant.” Dilithium… the essential component of the warp core matrix, what the entire Starfleet fleet ran on, the only true valuable commodity left.

“I’ve always felt like I was let into the academy and given a command so soon after graduating because the Federation was trying to butter up my father. Not that it would have mattered, my father hates me.” Stede laughed bitterly.  “I shouldn’t be here, I’m not good enough.”

Stede felt a warm hand on his. Ed was looking at him kindly.

“You know, most hotshot academy grads I know are dead.” Ed’s thumb rubbed back and forth along Stede’s hand. “They tear through the Academy all gung-ho to go out and explore and end up putting their feet directly into some death goo on their first mission.”

“There’s nothing wrong with a little self-doubt, keeps you alert,” Ed continued. “But just know that you do deserve to be here, you’re kind, brave, bold, you’ve gotten us out many dangerous situations safely and you’re always looking out for the crew… and for me.” Ed smiled. “I think you’re a great captain.”

Stede felt that balloon secure feeling again. Buoyed, floating up and up but never lost.

Ed gave Stede’s hand two squeezes and let go.

“Now what are we going to do about these tribbles then?”

Stede sniffed and cleared his throat. “Okay so they’re in the replicators, engineering, ventilation system…” he trailed off as a sudden thought gripping him. “Ed! The ventilation systems, they’re Starfleet standard right?”

“Yes, standard across most ships and space stations…” Ed stilled, his expression matching what Stede was sure his must look like. “If the tribbles are on the station and the station’s ventilation system is just as easy to get into…”

“They could travel throughout the whole station easily,” Stede finished. “ And these things eat anything. Which means-"

“The grain!” they both said at the same time.

~

Rushing down the station corridor Stede, Ed and Frenchie passed the station manager’s office where Nigel was speaking to his aide.

“What’s this then?” asked Badminton sharply.

“We need access to the grain storage compartments, Nigel, it’s an emergency,” Stede called out, still running.

“Absolutely not!” Badminton yelled, puffing up his chest. “Those compartments must only be accessed by top personnel. Only myself and Wellington have the key. I haven’t met this one before,” he said looking at Frenchie. “Your guards can continue to patrol but they will not open the compartments and risk damaging the supply! I know Captain Teach over there is not used to following the rules but I would have thought you would be sensible, Bonnet.”

Stede stopped and whipped around. He was suddenly unafraid of this man, this pompous blowhard. This worm who wasn’t even worthy of breathing the same air as any of Stede’s crew . “Don’t be a fool Nigel, give us access to the compartments right now, we have reason to believe the grain might actually be in danger from pests. Lieutenant Commander French is here as my head of science to corroborate this.”

Nigel’s mouth gaped open. “Well, in that case, what are you standing around here for idiot, let’s go!”

Stede rolled his eyes but gestured at Badminton and Wellington to lead the way.

Entering the storage area Badminton punched in the access code the compartment effortlessly. Stede could hear the hiss of the lock releasing on the hatch.

Stede reached up and pulled opened the storage hatch.

It was a mistake.

A shower of tribbles rained down on him.

Thousands of tribbles were pouring out onto the station’s floor like sand out of an hourglass. There were only a few kernels left of Badminton’s precious grain amongst all the tribbles upon tribbles.

After all that fuss, the Code One alert, the patrols, Badminton’s posturing, they’d eaten it all.  Stede couldn’t decide if he should be laughing or screaming at the ridiculousness of it all. After his recent emotional rollercoaster, he might be doing both soon.

Frenchie picked one up off the pile and ran his tricorder over it. “Dead. They’re dead Captain.” Frenchie looked over at Stede, now up to his waist in tribbles. “The strange thing is, despite having eaten all the grain, based on these readings, they appear to have died of starvation.”

“What a waste…” Stede moaned, trying to pick his way out of the tribble pile. “More importantly, how on earth am I going to get all this tribble fur out of my uniform?”

“Your uniform!? That’s what you’re concerned about?!” exploded Badminton.

“Now see h-“ Stede started, looking over to Ed for back-up only to see Ed’s face pale, an expression of revulsion on it.

Badminton kept bellowing.

“This is all your fault Bonnet!” He was gesticulating wildly. “You failed to adequately protect the grain and now it’s ruined! This is a disaster! The Klingons must have sabotaged it as I suspected!” Badminton’s face was turning quite purple now, but Stede only had eyes for Ed who was clenching his fists and appeared to be breathing heavily.

“I want a board of inquiry against you and your ridiculous crew! Years of effort wasted! Grain spoiled! Right under Captain Baby Bonnet’s watchful EYE!” Stede barely winced. Ed was closing his eyes now, chest heaving.  

“This was supposed to be the Federation’s miracle grain! Starfleet’s key to a colony on St. Augustine, replicator free! An end to suffering and starvation! And it’s all your fault because YOU DID NOTHING!”

A strangled sound came out of Ed and he ran from the room.

“Ed!” Stede called after him, still trying to extricate himself from tribbles.

“Don’t you try and weasel your way out of responsibility Bonnet! I’ll-"

“Enough!” yelled Stede. “Frenchie, get a sample of these tribbles and the grain to Roach immediately.”

“Nigel,” he said turning to Badminton. “We’ll deal with this so-called inquiry later, I have business to attend to.” With that he left an apoplectic Nigel Badminton gaping like a fish amongst tribble corpses and ran out into the corridor. He could just see Edward beaming out at the end of the hall.

Stede didn’t know what was wrong, but he knew he had to be there for Ed, like Ed was for him. He couldn’t let Ed be alone, not when he was in so much distress. Not alone…never again to be alone.

~

He was alone. Alone now waiting in the replicator line. He’d rather be here than be at home, rather be here to be useful. To bring home something back to eat. His Dad would like that.

The revolution is successful. But survival depends on drastic measures.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. He was alone, his parents weren’t home when he got there. Chaos in the street.

Your continued existence represents a threat to the well-being of society.

He ran when he heard the voice. So alone. A voice…

“Ed!”

A voice to protect.

Your lives mean slow death to the more valued members of the colony.

No…a voice to control.

He saw him. He heard him. He remembered. He would never forget those words.

Therefore, I have no alternative-

He was alone, they were all gone…Alone.

“Ed!”

No one.

“Edward!”

Someone.

Manual override accepted. A cool computer voice. The floor was cool too. Ed could feel the cold tiles of the sonic shower now.

“Ed! Edward!” He could feel the silk of the robe in his hands, still warm from when Stede wore it. And he could hear the sound of Stede’s voice.

Stede was here, by his side. Stede was crouched down next to him on the tile floor.

“Ed, what’s the matter, what’s wrong?”

What’s the matter? What’s wrong? What was wrong with him was something deep down in his core.

Ed was sitting in Stede’s bathroom, holding his knees up to his chest in an upright fetal position, Stede’s silk robe tear-stained and gripped in his fingers. Stede was looking at him, worry all over that expressive face of his.

Ed found his voice. “You told me about your family…”

One breath.

Two breaths.

“Did I ever tell you where I grew up?” Ed asked thickly.

“N-no,” Stede answered.

“Tarsus Four.”

“Tarsus Fou- oh.” Stede opened and closed his mouth. “I see.” His brows were furrowed, and those eyes were focused right on Ed like beams of light in the darkness.

Ed took a shaky breath.

“There was hardly any food… some kind of fungus wiped out the majority of the colony’s food supplies. The governor, Kodos-“ Ed spat out the name. “-put half the population to death.” Ed couldn’t look at Stede now; he buried his head into his lap. I couldn’t do anything.

“They died quickly, without pain. But they died. I- I couldn’t do anything…” Not then.

Ed felt a hand on his knee.

“Ed, you were just a ki-“

“I killed him.”

There it was. Edward Teach, the decorated Starfleet officer, was a murderer.

“Who?” Stede asked, confusion evident in his voice. “Who did you kill?”

“Kodos!” Ed yelled into his knees. “Kodos, The Executioner! I killed him.” Ed whipped his head up, expecting to see disgust, fear or disappointment on Stede’s face.

But he only saw sadness and maybe a bit of pity.

“Ed, you can’t have killed Kodos,” Stede said gently. “He killed himself on Tarsus Four, they found his charred body.”

“No…” Ed cried, shaking his head back and forth. Stede wasn’t getting it.

“I killed him. I know it was him. He was older but I’d recognize that face- that voice anywhere.” Therefore, I have no alternative but to sentence you to death.

“Kodos faked his death. I discovered him, twenty years later, acting in a travelling Shakespeare company…” Ed’s voice was quiet now, he could barely even hear himself, but he had to keep going. Had to get it out. The darkest part of him.

“I conspired to invite the company aboard the ship.” Ed closed his eyes. He could still picture it. Waiting backstage with a phaser, abandoning it in the ensuing struggle, for some stage rope…

“I killed him. Starfleet never knew. There was no trial…no evidence besides what I knew in my heart- that this man caused the death of 4000 people… of my parents…my friends…my neighbours.” 

Your execution is so ordered, signed Kodos, Governor of Tarsus Four.

He was frail, elderly. No longer the larger-than-life figure of Ed’s youth. “He must have had a heart attack while we were struggling…They found his body sometime later, it was written off as natural causes…H-he had a d-daughter.” Ed balled his fists into his eyes now. Even with them closed, he could never stop seeing the look of anguish on her face. 

“No one ever knew, and I never confessed.”

“Oh,” said Stede.

One breath.

Two breaths.

“S-so there you have it. I’m not a good person Stede.” There, that was finally it. The moment when he’d probably lost Stede for good.

Ed opened his eyes.

Stede was looking straight at him, his brow still furrowed but his mouth set in that adorable stubborn way it could be. What right do you have to look adorable, here at the confession of my worst sin?

Stede was still touching his leg. 

“Ed. You’re one hundred percent sure that it was Kodos?” Stede asked fervently.

“Yes… I’m one hundred percent sure.”

Stede sighed and nodded to himself.

“Ed. Kodos the Executioner abused his power, separated families, chose who would live and who would die. He killed 4000 people needlessly and put you through hell. If he was here right now, I’m not sure I wouldn’t kill him myself.” Stede’s eyes were burning into him.

Who is this man?

“But all of that doesn’t matter.” Stede moved his hand to Ed’s shoulder. “I don’t care what you did in the past. To me you’ll always be just as you are-my friend.”

“R-really?” After that? After sharing the worst thing he’d ever done?

Ed’s face was very wet, he was just realizing.

Stede’s was shining like the sun after the rain, like the supernova they witnessed together from the observation deck of the ship.

“Listen- if you want, we can forget all about it, pretend it never happened. Or I can go with you to the ship’s counsellor, and we can talk it through together, like you talk things through for me.”  Stede’s hand gave his shoulder a warm squeeze. Ed felt himself rest his head on top of Stede’s hand.

“I think I might like that.”

Could it be like this? Could someone see him for who he was? Who he is?

Ed and Stede stayed like that for some time; Stede’s hand on Ed’s shoulder and Ed resting on it. If Stede rotated his hand just a little he would be cupping Ed’s cheek…

After some time, Ed lifted his head and cleared his throat.

“Thanks,” he barked out gruffly. “I think I’m okay now.”

Stede’s answering smile could put the transporter beam to shame. Ed did feel a bit like he had been blown apart into a million tiny pieces and put back together again in an instant.

“Good!” exclaimed Stede, standing up stiffly with a gleam in his eye. “Because I’ve been thinking, and I’d really like to see what our dear doctor has to say about that grain.”

Chapter Text

Chief Medical Officer’s Log, Stardate 4526.03

Quadrotriticale spectral analysis results:

Percentage of repeat sequences: 91.6%

Percentage of TEs: 45%

Percentage of transposons: 20%

Illegitimate recombination occurrence: 85%

Nested insertions: 75%

Internal deletions: 99%

Foreign DNA detected: N

Foreign RNA detected: Y

RND analysis: single stranded

Viral detection: Y

Viral analysis: rod-shaped, likely transmitted via a zoosporic protozoa.

Further action: histological analysis using gram staining.

Act 6: Bread and Circuses

Ed and Stede rushed into sick bay to see Lieutenant Commander Roche cutting a sandwich on his lab bench using a laser scalpel.

“Captains! Just in time, I made lunch!” he exclaimed, looking up. At their incredulous looks he shrugged his shoulders and said, “What? Knives are knives.”

“At any rate- we haven’t got time for that today Roach!” said Stede approaching the bench. “What was the result of the tests on the tribbles and the grain? I trust Frenchie got you enough of a sample?”

Putting down the laser, Roach picked up a nearby padd.

“Oh, he got enough alright.” The Revenge’s Chief Medical Officer angled his padd towards them and Ed could see long lines of DNA sequence scrolling across the screen.

“Is that the Quadrotriticale genome? How interesting!” Stede exclaimed. “It’s so long, just like wheat. You know modern durum wheat has a genome four times the size of its ancient counterpart’s due to selective breeding. I read...”

Stede prattled on about wheat genetics, the reflective surfaces of the sick bay making light bounce off his golden hair. His crow’s feet crinkled around his eyes as he smiled at Roach. Ed felt a bit like he was flying, up and up, closer to some magnificent star. Up this close, Stede was almost blinding.

Ed was brought down to earth by Roach saying, “Yes, what makes this sample interesting is that there was foreign genetic material present, a virus that infected the grain. Once eaten, the virus caused malabsorption in the tribbles. Simply put, they couldn’t digest any nutrients from the grain and starved to death.”

Stede glanced at Ed and Ed held his gaze. Stede’s Jupiter eyes softened, and Ed could tell Stede got his unspoken message. I’m okay. I know you’ve got me.

“The virus was transported onto the grain via a small microorganism, a common vector back on Earth that affects cereal grains.” Roach continued, holding up a pinkish stained microscope slide up to the light.

“On Earth?” Ed asked, peering over Stede’s shoulder to look at the padd more fully. “Are you saying this virus could be of Earth origin?”

Roach put the slide down and placed his hands on his hips.

“Not could be. Is. I’m 99% sure this is of Earth origin or at least from a federation colony.”

“There’s no chance it could be Klingon or Romulan?” Ed asked quickly.

“We don’t know a lot about the Romulan or Klingon home worlds but the chances of them evolving an exactly identical organism are slim.”

Stede pursed his lips. “How and why would an Earth plant virus make it into grain on a deep space station? Was Badminton right, is this sabotage?”

Ed scratched his chin, the gears in his mind turning.

“Yeoman Spriggs to Captains.” said the speaker on the wall.

“Go ahead Lucius.” Stede called out.

“Captains! You better get down to the bridge, a dozen Starfleet vessels just came out of warp and Captain Teach, you’ve got a call on subspace from headquarters.”

Ed and Stede looked at each other, surprised. “I thought we were the only Starfleet vessel close by.” Stede asked, confused. The gears turned a little faster.

“Boy, hail the ships and ask them who sent for them and when.” Ed asked urgently.

“Oh-okay just a second.” A moment while Ed waited on bated breath and Stede raised an eyebrow at Ed. He held his hand up in a placating “I’m working on a theory” gesture. Stede nodded and smiled.

“Captains.” Lucius’ voice came through after a few short minutes. “These ships were all ordered here by Admiral Badminton, they got the notice three days ago. It was an urgent communiqué, to arrive prepared for war with the Klingons.”

“Three days ago!?” Stede exclaimed. “But the grain was only discovered to be affected today.”

The gears locked into place and Ed could see the whole picture of what machine was being built now.

“Lucius, patch that call from Starfleet over to my quarters and tell the ships outside to stand down. As the Revenge is on official protection duty for the station, they may listen to us. Oh, and hail the Klingon ship and ask the captain to meet us on the station.” Ed turned to Stede and grabbed his shoulders.

“Stede. Gather a few security officers and meet me at the turbolift.”

Stede nodded, his mouth set.

Ed grinned. “It’s time to have a little talk with those responsible.”

~

Stede hurried into the turbolift, slower than he thought he would be reaching the transporter room. He’d gotten tied up a little longer than expected on the bridge, explaining the situation to security before he’d had to do a little back and forth with the Starfleet ships that had suddenly appeared. It took a little convincing but once the first ship agreed to stand down and wait, the rest followed suit. The thing was, Stede didn’t really have any idea what it was exactly that they were waiting for. Ed hadn’t given much context before he ran off to answer his comm.

Stede tapped his foot absentmindedly as his thoughts wandered to Ed. Was he already waiting for him down at transporters? What was his comm about? Was he feeling better from before? He seemed okay now and back in his usual brilliant spirits…

Stede’s whirring brain was interrupted by a different sound, the woosh of the doors opening and the man himself entering.

“Ed!” Stede smiled.

Ed entered and leaned against the back wall of the turbolift, arms crossed, looking pensive. He had a little wrinkle in between his eyebrows that Stede felt a sudden urge to smooth out.

“What did Starfleet want?” Stede asked, trying to catch his eye. “How did the call go?”

“Hm? Oh, I explained the situation to them and what we’re going to do about it.” Ed answered not looking at Stede. A few beats passed while Stede waited for further explanation that evidently was not going to come.

“And…?” Stede finally prompted.

“And?”

“And what is it we are going to do exactly? You haven’t let me in on what you figured out back there in the sick bay.”

At this Ed finally looked at Stede, frowning.

“Look mate, if this goes wrong and my theory isn’t correct, it’ll be me in trouble with the top brass, it’s nothing you need to concern yourself with.”

Stede felt a little taken aback. Ed’s energy was so different compared to usual. He was like a statue, exuding none of his normal warmth. Stede couldn’t help a small voice from creeping in, the voice he usually smacked down, the voice that had been almost silent ever since he met Ed, the voice that said, it’s you, you’re doing something wrong again Stede.

Stede squeezed his fists. No, try again Stede, it will be okay, just keep talking it through.

Ed had returned to avoiding his gaze so Stede was able to study him a bit more. He didn’t seem mad, maybe a little stressed or upset about something? That was certainly understandable given the situation and the day they’d both had.

Stede cleared his throat.

“Did they…have anything else they wanted to talk to you about? There must have been a reason for their call?”

Ed bit his lip then said quietly, “The Queen Anne is ready, she’s fully repaired and Starfleet is expecting the crew to return to the ship as soon as we can.”

Oh.

“Oh.” said Stede.

“Yeah.” said Ed.

So this was it. The thing Stede had been avoiding for weeks now, what he had tried to stave off with adventures and shore leave…Ed was really going. Stede felt his heart drop into his shoes. Ed was really going to leave.

Stede was embarrassed to feel the prickle of tears in his eyes for the second time today. Don’t do this Stede Bonnet. If you’re really his friend, you’ll support him in his goals and dreams. He’s a captain just like you.  What, did you think this would last forever?

Stede cleared his throat again. Not looking at Ed he put on his best cheerful voice. “Oh, wow that’s great news isn’t it, Ed? You’ll have your ship back again!” Okay, not bad, didn’t sound too false. Now smile and look him in the eye.

“I bet the crew is going to be really excited to return to their ship and-“ Stede stopped talking as soon as he looked at Ed.

Ed’s face was absolutely stricken, cycling through a torrent of emotions Stede couldn’t even begin to untangle. When he noticed Stede looking at him, the storm closed up, leaving nothing but a blank canvas of expression in its wake.

“Yes, I reckon they will be. We’ll be heading as soon as we wrap things up here at the station.” Ed said gruffly. This whole conversation had started off wrong and was now rapidly spiraling away from Stede.

“Wait Ed, do you-“

Stede was interrupted by the turbolift arriving at the floor. The doors opened to show Izzy Hands, Security Officers Ivans and Fane standing on the transporter pad, securing phasers to holsters.

Ed stalked out and took his place on the transporter. “Energize” he said, not waiting for Stede.

As his and other officers’ forms dematerialized into the pattern stream, Stede was left standing on his ship alone wondering, not for the first time in his life, what exactly just happened.

~

Ed materialized on to the station, taking a moment to collect himself on the pretense of checking his phaser. Izzy glanced over at him with a raised eyebrow and said, “Blackbeard, are you with us?”

Ed cleared his throat. “Don’t worry boys, I’m with you. Let’s get this done and finally get back to the Queen Anne.”

Izzy grinned while Fang and Ivans exchanged looks.

This is where he belonged, back with the old crew, putting the screws to some villain, ready to handle whatever comes his way. So why did he feel like he just swallowed a bag of rocks? Something hard and heavy was sitting in his gut.

 Stede was so ready to let him go, he just cut him loose, just like that. Ed felt weighed down and deflated, pierced through the heart, an old balloon stuck in a tree. He doesn’t feel the same way about you as you do about him. You’ve been reading into this from the beginning.

A second later Stede appeared on the transport pad.

Ed looked up and said in his best detached voice, “Alright, we’re all here, do as I tell you and be prepared for anything. Phasers set on stun.”

“Sure thing boss!” piped up Ivans.

Stede seemed like he was trying to say something to him so Ed walked off the platform and started heading confidently towards the station manager’s office. He couldn’t handle any more platitudes or best wishes right now. Let him deal with that later once he’d built his protections back up.

For now, Ed did what he did best, funnel his emotions into his work. Put a little extra stank on the ole Blackbeard glare.

He arrived at the station manager’s officer in a fine fury, the boys and Stede trailing in his wake, all with phasers out.

Badminton and his Aide Wellington were on one side of the room while at the station manager’s desk, an elegant Klingon was sitting relaxed, one leg up on her knee, a red cape sprawled over the back of the egg-shaped chair. The station manager Hornberry was wearing a path in the shag carpet, nervously pacing back and forth. A pile of tribbles was softly cooing in the far corner of the room.

“Finally!” Hornberry exclaimed at the same time as Nigel and the Klingon both started to speak.

“Are you here to apprehend these villainous-“

“Look J’akki doesn’t have all day-“

Ed gave a look to Ivans and Fang and they quickly spread out, aiming a phaser at each group, Izzy flanked the door with his arms crossed.

“What is the meaning of this?” demanded Badminton.

“The meaning of this- Nigel” Ed growled, “is we’ll finally end this nonsense and get the truth out there. About the grain, about the sabotage, about everything.”

“Well good!” Badminton puffed up. “These duplicitous Klingons-“

“Shut up Nigel.” said a voice behind Ed. Ed glanced behind him to see Stede’s eyes blazing at Badminton. “Captain Teach is speaking right now, and for once in your life, you’ll just be quiet and listen.”

Badminton shut his mouth with snap, looking a bit poleaxed.

Stede…

Ed turned to the Klingon who had her hand on a dagger at her waist.

“Captain Edward Teach, pleased to make your acquaintance. And you are?”

She looked at him for a moment before removing her hand from her dagger. “You have the pleasure of addressing the Great Mistress of the House of J’akki.”

Ed nodded his head to her. “Your first mate wasn’t able to make it today?”

“He’s dead.” The Great Mistress of the House of J’akki grinned, showing all of her pointy teeth. “But don’t you worry, as J’akki has another 18 mates to spare.” She laughed to herself at some private joke.

Satisfied he had the room’s attention and their begrudging trust for the moment, Ed turned to face the group, his hands relaxed at his sides.

“I’ve gathered you all here today to talk about lies, manipulation, abuse of power, politics and sabotage.” Ed peered up at the light fixture, its globes interconnected, yet individually hung from the ceiling.

 “78 hours ago, the U.S.S. Revenge received a Code One alert from Starbase Deep Space K-7 from one Nigel Badminton.” Ed’s eyes dropped down to Badminton. “He claimed the Klingons” a glance at J’akki, “were planning to sabotage grain stored here on this station, grain that the federation was hoping would establish their ability to colonize the planet St. Augustine below and therefore secure it over the Klingons in the Jenkins Treaty dispute.”

“Less than 12 hours ago, Captain Bonnet,” here Ed risked a glance at Stede to see him looking encouragingly at Ed, “myself, Badminton and his aide discovered the entire supply had been eaten by tribbles.”

“Proof!” It seems like Badminton was unable to keep silent any longer. He stepped forward gesticulating. “That’s proof that the Klingons must have placed them in the storage container, to eat the supply!”

J’akki snarled and Ed held up his hand again.

“Lieutenant Commander Fane, could you go pick up one of the creatures in question and hand it to Mr. Badminton?”

“Sure, Boss!” piped up Fang. He scooped up one of the tribbles in the corner and brought it over to Nigel.

Badminton stared at the tribble as Fang plopped it cooing into his arms.

“What am I supposed to do with this?”

After a beat of watching Badminton carefully, Ed asked “Would you give it to your aide please?”.

Wellington started backing up as Badminton turned to hand over the tribble. It’s soft cooing suddenly turned into loud screeching sounds. Wellington cringed as the tribble was thrust into his arms, its noise quite loud now in the room.

Holding it as far away from himself as possible Wellington looked desperately at Fang. “Please sir, I hate these things, can you take it back?” Fang took it back willingly, looking a little affronted that someone wouldn’t share his love of all things soft and cuddly. The tribble’s noise abruptly stopped as Fang petted it slowly.

Ed nodded. “Thanks mate, now if you could bring it over to Mistress J’akki, that’d be great.”

Fang took a step towards the Klingon and she sprang out of the chair, dagger out.

“You bring that thing one step closer to me and you’ll lose your nose.” J’akki growled.

Fang looked hesitantly at Ed.

“That’s fine, thank you Lieutenant Commander, you can put the tribble away now.”  Ed said. “You see, I had a talk with some of our federation officers who got into a tussle with your fine Klingon officers on the station Mistress.” J’akki pursed her lips, still on edge, dagger pointed out.

“And do you want to know what I learned Nigel?” Ed mused.  Badminton looked wary.

“I learned that Klingons hate tribbles and the feeling is mutual.”

“Ghay'cha'” J’akki growled. “Those wretched creatures cause destruction wherever they go, their hunger is unsatiable. The Klingon Empire won’t rest until every last one of them is destroyed.”

Ed tapped his chin. “So you see, a Klingon wouldn’t go anywhere near a tribble in order to enact sabotage. Even if they would,” at this J’akki spat on the ground,  “the tribble would make a loud klaxon that our security officers would have heard from the hallway. So, the Klingons couldn’t possibly have sabotaged the grain in this way.”

“Well, they didn’t really need to anyway, did they?” Izzy remarked from the door. “Those puff balls are quite capable of getting into the vents wherever they need to go.”

Ed nodded. “That’s right Iz, but the tribbles really aren’t important, the actual sabotage happened before the tribbles ever came onto the scene.”

“The grain!” Stede exclaimed. “The grain was poisoned to begin with, our Chief Medical Officer discovered it was contaminated with a virus that causes malabsorption leading to death.” He looked at Ed, eyes shining with the eagerness of Watson discovering a clue for Sherlock. Stop that now…. Stop being adorable. It’s only going to make it harder for me to leave.

“Yes, exactly Captain Bonnet.” With effort, Ed removed his eyes from Stede to look at Badminton.

“Someone poisoned the grain before the Klingons, tribbles or even the Revenge ever arrived on this station.”

Badminton’s eyes narrowed.

“Tell me Nigel” Ed mused. “Who had access to the grain storage compartment?”

Badminton’s eyes flicked rapidly throughout the room. “Surely you’re not suggest-“

“It was high security was it not? Just you and your aide, Wellington, was it?” Ed turned rapidly to catch Wellington inching his way closer to the door with a dismayed look on his face.

“Wellington! How could you?! The betrayal!” Badminton shouted theatrically, doing his own backing up towards the door.

“I don’t think it was Wellington.” Ed said confidently, giving a subtle nod to Ivans and Fang. They turned their phasers on Nigel.

“No, I don’t think it was Wellington as the grain was poisoned with a virus only found on Earth and its colonies… and your aide isn’t from Earth, are you?” The salt and pepper haired aide jumped like a startled rabbit and fled across the room to stand at J’akki’s side.

Nigel froze looking between the two and Ed. “What do you mean, not from Earth?” His eyes moved around the room before settling on the tribble still cooing in Fang’s arms. “Wait a minute… those infernal creatures…they don’t like Klingons…and when I passed one to Wellington…”  

“Yes, that was a surprise to me as well, though I bet it comes as more of a shock to you eh, Badminton?” Ed remarked grinning.

“He’s a Klingon!” Stede exclaimed. “Is he one of your crew?” he asked J’akki.

“Yeah.” She deadpanned.

“Did he have reconstructive surgery to look like a human?”

“Yeah.”

“Why’s he called Wellington?”

“I dunno.”

Badminton seemed to come back to life. “Wellington! The betrayal! How could you?”

J’akki rolled her eyes and spun her knife on her finger. “You said that already.”

“Spies! Sabotage!” Badminton was squeaking now, his face blotchy. “Why isn’t anyone doing anything!? Grab him!” he cried, attempting to shake Ivans but flinched when Ivans’ phaser landed solidly on his chest. Fang kept advanced closer to Ivans to back him up.

Way to go boys. Ed’s team really was the best of the best, he hadn’t truly appreciated that in years, bored as he was with Starfleet and his life in general. But soon he would go back to them full time and away from…

Stede spoke up.

“So Mistress of the House of J’akki, you had a spy placed on this station, but you didn’t have anything to do with the grain sabotage?”

J’akki spit her distaste for this line of questioning onto the shag carpet. “Kesh! My agent was placed with the human only a few months ago, he knows nothing of Earth besides what he has been taught. J’akki only wanted to keep an eye on things, not to do something dishonourable such as this. The way of the Klingon is through face to face battle, not poison. The Klingon Empire has committed to this peace and the House of J’akki is prepared to honour it.”

“You don’t really belie-“ Badminton choked out.

“Shut up Nigel.” Stede said again firmly, his eyes flashing like a disrupter pistol. A pretty good Blackbeard look if I do say so myself. Ed smiled at him proudly before he could help himself.

Stede caught his eye and broke into a wide smile, an expression in his eyes Ed couldn’t place, something like relief.

Ed wrenched his eyes away to look sternly at Badminton. Time to wrap up this mess.

 “Here are the facts.” Ed put out his index finger. “One, the grain storage compartment was only accessible by Nigel Badminton and Mr. Wellington here.”

“Two,” he stuck out a second finger and advanced a step towards Badminton. “The grain was poisoned with a virus that only someone who had been to Earth and come to think of it, would probably have needed high connections to be able to get access to this specialized virus.”

“Three” Ed advanced another few steps, Nigel was sweating, his eyes darting around the room wildly again, phasers firmly locked onto him.

“We know of one person in this room who fits these categories of having access to the grain as well as having high connections.”

Ed stopped just behind Ivans and Fang.

“You have a brother don’t you Nigel?”

Nigel sputtered.

“Wh-what’s that-“

“Yes, a one Admiral Chauncy Badminton I believe.” Ed interrupted. “The very same Admiral Badminton that sent a host of Starfleet vessels to this location to prepare for potential war with the Klingons three days ago, before anyone knew the grain was sabotaged.”

Nigel was silent.

“But you knew, didn’t you? You knew exactly what had happened to the grain because you poisoned it yourself! You poisoned the grain to blame it on the Klingons so you could ignite the flames of war again!”

“Peace was never going to last!” Badminton spat out suddenly. “How could the Federation ever coincide with such barbar-“

Ed moved like lightning and grabbed Badminton’s face in his one hand, squeezing his cheeks together.

“That’s quite enough of that.” He said quietly and coldly.

“I’m inclined to agree.” Stede said, motioning for Izzy. “Commander Hands, if you could take Nigel into custody, we’ll have to work this out with Starfleet High Command as well as the Jenkins Treaty Commission. The Bozo Twins have caused some damage but hopefully nothing as bad as what they could have done if they were successful.”

Izzy and the boys led a demoralized Badminton out of the room, while J’akki stood up and clasped a hand on Wellington’s shoulder.

“The representatives of the Great House of J’akki will be taking our leave now.” Stede turned and offered his hand out.

“I hope we meet again under better circumstances.”

J’akki looked down at his outstretched hand and smirked, showing sharp teeth.

“We shall see. K'adlo, khi-GOSH.“ With that she turned, and the Klingons left the room.

The station manager slumped into an empty chair with a sigh. “Finally, I just want all of this nonsense to be over. But I still have the tribbles to deal with.”

“My crew can help with that.” Stede interjected. “We’ll be working hard on cleaning up the station and getting the population under control. We can direct them when we get back to the ship.”

“But first.” Ed grinned. “We deal with the trash in our own backyard. Let’s get on subspace to Starfleet.”

Stede flashed an answering grin.

~

Stede sat down on a barstool and ordered a drink while waiting for Ed. They had agreed to meet for a celebratory drink at the station’s bar after a lengthy conversation with Starfleet High Command. The results had been fairly positive despite uncovering duplicity in one of their admirals. On the whole, Starfleet had been quite embarrassed about the whole thing and eager to throw the Badmintons under the bus for the sake of appealing to the Jenkins Treaty commissioners. Stede sipped a creamy tropical synthol drink out of a replicated coconut as he watched the bar fill up with the crews of all the Starfleet vessels that had shown up on Chauncy’s orders, relieved that they weren’t in fact dipping back into war and eager to blow off steam.

Stede could see a glint of light off silver on a salt-pepper head making it’s way through the crowd and felt warmth bloom in his chest. The rest of Ed came into view a second later as he got closer to the bar.

He caught Stede’s eye and smiled but it didn’t reach his eyes. Stede felt a trickle of trepidation like a hiss of water on a campfire.

“Ed!” he exclaimed, trying to stay upbeat. He motioned the stool next to him and half turned to face the bartender. “What can I get for you?”

“Old Fashioned”. Ed said gruffly, swinging himself onto the stool.

“One Old Fashioned please my good man.” Stede repeated to the bartender.

There was a moment of silence where the only sound was the bartender sliding an ice cube into a glass.

Why is this so awkward? You’re the one who’s awkward. Ed is perfect. Ed is always perfect. Can’t argue with you there…

Stede wrestled with his thoughts, fiddling with the straw in his drink for a few seconds. The celebratory air seemed to be deflating from this corner of the room by the second.

“Ed-“

“Stede-“

They both smiled as they realized they had spoken at the same time. Stede motioned for Ed to speak.

“G-good work out there today mate. It was great to see you tell Badminton to shut up.”

“Me? You were the brilliant one! Piecing the whole thing together!” Stede smiled.

“You helped by having that hunch that something was up with the grain!” Ed retorted smiling back.

“We really do make a good team, don’t we?” Stede couldn’t help himself from asking.

Ed’s smile faltered.

“Look Stede I…“

“Yes?” Stede could feel himself leaning towards Ed. Looking into his eyes, trying to find out what this wall was that had suddenly come up between them.

“Stede mate…”

Ed was interrupted by the clunk of glass between them as the bartender placed his drink on the counter with a curt “Old Fashioned.”

Ed nodded his thanks and picked up the toothpick garnish of Vulcan orange peel. With one smooth motion he shoved the toothpick between his teeth and pulled, leaving the toothpick glistening. He chewed and swallowed then grabbed his drink and downed it in two quick gulps.

Stede’s eyes couldn’t help but follow the motion of Ed’s throat as he swallowed.

Ed placed the glass back down on the table then looked at Stede.

“The Queen Anne is ready. I will be departing with the rest of the crew tomorrow at 900 hours.”

“You’re leaving?” Stede tried and failed to keep the disappointment from his voice. After everything they’d been through today, he just didn’t have it in him to play the supportive friend anymore. Ed was leaving and it sucked.

 “I’m the Captain of the Queen Anne Stede, that’s who I am. I was always going to go back to that.”

Stede bit his lip and nodded, not really trusting himself to say anything else. His chest was no longer warm, it felt like his heart had plunged to his toes. His best and maybe first ever real friend was leaving.

 Clearing his throat he managed to find his voice and say, “I’m sure we’ll see each other around, out there.”

“Sure.” Ed said flatly. “It’s a small universe…”

Ed knocked his knuckles absentmindedly on the bar top then abruptly stood up.

“It’s been fun Stede, goodbye.” With that, he turned with a flash of brown eyes and practically ran from the room, dodging rowdy Starfleet officers.

Watching Ed leave, Stede didn’t notice two Starfleet officers joining him at the bar counter until they were right behind him.

“The very man of the hour! Captain Bonnet!” said a jovial blonde man in a gold captain’s uniform. He stuck out his hand and pumped Stede’s arm up and down while smiling broadly. 

“Captain James T. Kirk!” he said grinning. Stede recovered his shock and became an active participant in the handshake.

“Stede Bonnet! It’s an absolute pleasure to meet you sir!”

Kirk let go of his hand and nodded his head towards a Vulcan in science blue standing next to him. “This is my first officer, Spock.”

Stede gestured to the bar stools next to him and they sat down, Kirk scooting his stool over so he and Spock were parallel facing Stede.

“Say, was that your first officer just leaving?” Kirk asked. “I’d’ve liked to have met him too, to hear how you two handled this Jenkins treaty business so brilliantly.”

“That was a Captain Edward Teach I believe, Captain.” prompted Spock, looking at Stede. “Also known as the infamous Blackbeard.”

Kirk let out a slow whistle.

“Ah yes,” said Stede looking down. “He’s my... was my…uh… co-captain.”

Spock’s eyebrow shot up into his bangs and Kirk laughed.

“Co-Captains! Why there’s one we haven’t tried yet. Eh, Spock?” he said, grinning at Spock. “Unless you think our good Dr. McCoy would get jealous?”

“Indeed.” Spock remarked drily. “If it’s all the same to you Captain, I prefer things the way they are.”

“Me too Spock, me too.”

Kirk and Spock looked at each other warmly and Stede felt a strange twist in his gut. His synthol drink must not be sitting well…he never did like replicated pineapple. That must be it…and not a painful jealousy for Kirk and Spock’s easy rapport and comfort around each other.

Stede thought he had that… for the first time in his life he thought he had had that with Edward. But now… he wasn’t so sure.

“Oh, blazes!” Kirk grumbled. “Don’t look now Spock, but my ex-girlfriend just walked in.” Kirk twisted his body to the side, hiding his face behind his hand.

“Why should I avoid looking? Is it that you do not wish me to perceive her or that you do not wish her to perceive me?” Spock asked wryly.

Kirk immediately removed his hand from covering his face and placed it on Spock’s arm. “Spock no, of course not.”

Spock’s look softened.

Kirk smiled fondly. “Why, I want everyone in the universe to see you.” Kirk’s hand moved down Spock’s arm to grasp his hand.

“Actually, it’s more me I don’t want her to see.” Kirk chuckled.

Rising, he let go of Spock’s hand after a squeeze, gave a two finger salute to Stede and said, “I think I’ve just received an urgent comm from my Chief Medical Officer, please excuse me.”

Stede watched him go, smiling to himself.

Turning back to the bar he caught sight of the Vulcan smiling softly too. Stede felt that pain again.

“You-“ Stede started. Closed his mouth. Opened it again. “You… work well together.”

“Is that a question?”

“No, it’s an observation. You must have been serving with him for a long time.”

Spock nodded. “My place is, as it always has been, at his side.”

At his side…

Stede looked down at his drink and fiddled with the replicated umbrella.

“Do you…sorry this is a very personal question…”

“Do not worry, Captain Bonnet. I am Vulcan and not likely to take offense.” Stede glanced up at Spock to find him looking at him calmly. “Ask me anything you wish; I am not hampered by emotional human limitations in conversations.”

Stede took a sip of his drink and started again.

“You…what is he to you?”

“He is T'hy'la.” Spock answered simply.

“T'hy'la? What does that mean?”

“It is difficult to translate but it can mean ‘friend’, ‘brother’, ‘lover’.”

Friend, brother, yes, Stede had felt these things. Ed had been the best friend he’d ever known. The brother he wished he had growing up.

Lover…

A shiver of something unknown, but not unpleasant, passed through him.

“Do you love him?” Stede asked.

Spock looked thoughtful. “What I feel for him is nothing so complex nor so simple as love. It is so much more, so much bigger than the universe, and yet I carry it with me always.”

Stede listened raptly. “What is it like to have a T'hy'la?” Stede’s words now flowing without hesitation. The need to know, the need to find the answer to the question that was beginning to reveal itself.

“It is easy, it is just like breathing.” said Spock. “He understands my idiosyncrasies, appreciates them even. He is by my side. It is his mind to my mind. He breaks the rules that need to be broken and holds fasts to the ones that never should. He is one of the most important people in my life. We are there for each other and the people we care about.”

Stede’s mouth was open, his heart and mind racing. He thought of Ed holding his hand in his quarters, smiling at him on the bridge, laughing with the crew, having his back against the Badmintons, Ed’s eyes and how they blazed in the turbolift, centimetres from his own… how they looked at Stede from his bathroom floor and how Stede vowed in that moment to make sure Ed would never feel that way again.

“Do you have someone like that?” Spock was looking at him.

“I think…I think maybe I do.”

Spock smiled.