Work Text:
Eva Stratt is convinced she is going insane.
Under her direction, the Petrova Task Force was going exceptionally well, given the circumstances. Things weren't without their hiccups, but she kept things moving in a productive direction that she was certain the Hail Mary would meet the launch window. There were variables that threatened to throw things off course, but none that she didn't have contingency plans premade for.
The other person keeping the ship afloat aside from her in the areas that she could not properly oversee with as much professional knowledge was their science division— Dr. Ryland Grace. After all, she was a history major and the molecular biology aspect of astrophage was far out of her field of study. She made a controversial judgment call in selecting the scientist to lead the study and application of astrophage, but he had worked out wonderfully. If not for her ability to pick those she deemed the best fit for the job, Eva was certain the project would never have gotten off the ground at the rate it had.
The two had become nigh inseparable in their months of planning. Meetings would call for strategic planning and hard calls as well as input from a science expert to ensure they remained on the right track, meaning Stratt and Grace would almost always both be in attendance, side by side. Their offices remained close by to one another for ease of access, and Stratt was able to oversee the developments from the science team whenever she was able.
It was through this constant proximity to one another that Stratt had developed a little problem. These types of problems normally could fly under the radar for her, but keeping her attention fully on her work was crucial, so she was being forced to deal with it before it got any worse.
Ryland Grace works around many people. The science team was forced to be close-knit and understand how to properly work with one another to maximize efficiency on the project, which meant long hours together. Grace had taken this in stride, his natural affinity for teaching on display while he thrived in the lab.
The problem did not involve Grace's teaching abilities— he did his job excellently— but one of his subjects. Many scientists filtered in and out of the project, biologists flying in from all over the world to aid in the project. One of which had flown under the radar of Stratt when she arrived, it had quickly grown into a thorn in her side.
This biologist, Freya Jung, did not stand out from the others. Though on the younger side, she remains no less qualified. She had just been… friendly.
One night of overtime had turned into ten, and Stratt sits in her office staring through the glass at the two huddled over some lab equipment. Grace is expressive as always, returning any question given with minutes of explanations and hypotheses of his own. About ten minutes before, Jung had asked a question that sent Grace down a rabbit hole that Stratt was certain wouldn't end any time soon. Her office's soundproofing didn't tune out the frequency of her scientist and his brilliant mind.
She sat at her desk, finished with both the work she had planned on completing and the random tasks that popped up in the meantime. She needed to return to her quarters to get what little rest she was allowed, but she was preoccupied staring at the scientists at work.
More than anything, she was staring at the way Jung took up Grace's personal space. She leaned into him, their shoulders barely centimeters apart. Every time Grace cracked one of his usual classroom quips, her hand consistently landed somewhere on Grace's arm, leg, or shoulder as she leaned into him laughing. No part of her behavior was subtle or professional.
Just as she was getting lost in the memory, her attention is grasped. Jung was reaching out for a slide, accidentally brushing overtop of Grace's as she quickly pulls away, averting her gaze with a smile. Stratt can feel the scientist's heartbeat rising through the glass wall as she takes a breath to steady herself. This is juvenile.
Stratt rises to her feet, taking long strides through her office before reaching the door and opening it. The sound alone catches the two scientists off guard, both of them startling and turning to face her.
"Turning in for the night?" Grace asks before Stratt can find her words.
With a steadying breath, Stratt nods. "Yes, and I suggest you do the same," Her stare shifts to Jung, "Efficiency is exceptionally important in this project over fickle matters."
Turning to the clock, Grace's arms outstretch wide as he yawns, nodding. "I didn't even realize how late it is."
"I appreciate your concern, though I'm certain Dr. Grace and I know our limits," Jung cuts in, her tone suddenly far more professional.
Stratt's brow raises, holding eye contact with Jung before turning back to Grace. "Yes, and I'm certain you understand the time frame we are on. Now, Dr. Grace and I have important matters to discuss."
Stratt takes a breath as she starts for the door towards her quarters, and she knows from the shuffling behind her that Grace is following. There's a soft murmur of a goodbye before he turns the corner and catches up to Stratt as she continues down the long hallway.
"We have matters to discuss?" Grace adjusts his glasses as he reaches her.
Stratt's focus remains ahead of her. "We do. Regarding professionalism."
"Professionalism? About someone on the team— or do you mean me? I thought you liked my style of teaching."
In a sudden diversion from her routine route back to her quarters, Stratt hangs a left through a large door toward a platform on the side of the ship that overlooks the water. Grace maintains pace with her. "Dr. Grace, are we in secondary school?"
"No."
"Correct. Why are you allowing the lab to become one?"
"I'm— am I?"
When they reach the railing that overlooks the ocean, Stratt turns and meets Grace's eyes. There's a vulnerability and confusion in his expression that melts away the sharp edges of her frustration. "There is no harm in friendly relationships in the task force so long as it doesn't interfere with productivity in your work. Am I wrong to see productivity declining when you and Dr. Jung work together?"
This question seems to throw Grace for a loop, his mouth opening to respond before it closes once more, pausing. Stratt can see the gears turning in his mind, watching as his confusion becomes realization. Quietly over the sound of the tide colliding with the side of the boat, Grace mutters, "Oh."
Stratt tilts her head and purses her lips, a gesture she copied form the many times Grace had done the same in the past. "Dr. Grace." Her voice softens.
Grace seems to come out of his thoughts, nodding. "Right, yeah, I see what you're getting at. I swear I didn't see it, not my intention at all," Grace waves a hand out to dismiss any notion of reciprocation, "I don't— uh, want to cross any professional lines. Not that I would if she wasn't my coworker." He clears his throat.
"Good." Stratt takes another deep breath, feeling her mood begin to lift. "I would advise you to establish a boundary with Dr. Jung before it progresses any further."
"Yes, ma'am." Grace raises his hand to give a short salute, his tense posture beginning to soften as he softly laughs. "How didn't I see that?"
"Your smarts lie in the laboratory. I didn't choose you for your ability to read people."
"Right, that's your specialty."
Stratt shrugs. "I don't need to read people that closely. I just need them to follow orders."
"And that you are good at."
A small smile forms on the corners of Stratt's lips. Any annoyance polluting her mind is overshadowed by the man in the cardigan standing beside her. She sees the way he fidgets with the miniature crocheted Earth in his pocket, his lips pursing as his mind churns.
The silence that falls over them is broken when Stratt hears a soft snicker. "You don't read people well and you're the first one to bring up Jung and I."
A jolt shoots through Stratt, her ears immediately burning. "It's my job to oversee the productivity of our science team."
"It's your job to keep the entire project from falling apart," Grace corrects, "You have much bigger things to worry about. It's my job to oversee the science team. That's what Science Lead is, right?"
Stratt shoots a glare at Grace. "What are you getting at, Dr. Grace?"
Grace shrugs. "Nothing, just that you might have been…" His voice trails off for a moment, and a pointed look from Stratt forces the word out of him. "Jealous?"
Stratt stares at him incredulously.
"Dr. Grace—"
"That's not a bad thing!"
"Are you questioning my ability to remain focused on the project?"
"Absolutely not—"
"Then let me ask again, what are you getting at?"
Grace's posture shrinks, sheepishly staring out on the horizon. "Nothing."
Stratt sighs. "I'm not part of your secondary school laboratory, Dr. Grace."
"Yes, ma'am."
A chill runs through the air, and Stratt checks her watch. With a breath, her annoyance at her scientist begins to dissipate once more. "Get some rest, Dr. Grace. It's your birthday."
Grace's face flashes with surprise, checking the watch on his own wrist. From the look of it, a present from one of his junior high students. He laughs, shaking his head. "I forgot. Another day in paradise, right?"
"I wouldn't call this paradise."
"Yeah, that was a— nevermind," Grace waves a hand as he starts for the door. "Thank you, Stratt."
Stratt feels a warmth in her chest, and she nods at him with a smile. "You're welcome."
As the man disappears back into the confines of the ship, Stratt leans her weight onto her arms against the railing. She blinks away the questions in her mind with a deep breath, exhaustion beginning to set into her body. As she turns around and passes through the doorway, she is plagued with the word jealous.
The next time Stratt finds herself in the lab, a familiar green feeling bares its fangs.
There has been exhaustion plaguing her from a week and a half of travel, meetings, and directorial decisions being made to keep the world from collapsing in on itself. When she needed the quiet comfort of her office in the lab, she was gracefully given a chance. Even if there was more to come in the morning, she would have a night to work at her own pace, alone.
It was never that easy.
Stratt's first task is to get through a mountain of written communications that had been slowly building over the past week of nonstop moving. She's dealt with worse.
Just as she starts parsing through the first letter on her desk, her attention is immediately stolen by an all-too familiar sight. Dr. Jung practically surgically attached to Dr. Grace, whose kindness seems unending.
As she stares, Stratt sees Grace for the position he's in. His smile is wide, his gestures large and expressive, but something is missing. There's a look in his eyes that Stratt is certain she sees every time they speak that is lacking in his expression. There's a wall up to Jung, the same wall that he puts up for anyone he doesn't know. Good. Not too comfortable.
Stratt lets out a long sigh before she returns to the letter, allowing her mind to do away with the memory of Jung and Grace. She cannot let her petty grievances interfere with work of this importance.
As she works through each letter and email, the same feeling gnaws at the back of her mind. Her gaze flickers up from her computer to the two scientists, and nothing improves for the better. She can see the intrigue and adoration in Jung's eyes, understanding implicitly the lack of malice in her approach. There's nothing wrong with what she's doing, barring interfering with the productivity on astrophage research.
Though, the longer she sees them together, the more Stratt is certain she can't stomach it.
Maybe after months of grueling work to save the world, she'd gone insane. Maybe she was allowed to, after giving her entire livelihood to the project. So long as the work got done, she can be a little jealous.
She hated to admit that Ryland had been right, a realization that gave her pause. She usually liked when he was right, as it meant progress towards the project. But when he was right about her, something she didn't like to admit, she finds it immensely frustrating.
Eva takes another deep breath through her nose and out through her mouth. Whatever this jealousy is stemming from, she had to deal with it before it interfered with her productivity further. She couldn't let feelings get in the way of her work.
Stratt stands to her feet and walks to the door.
"Are the two of you working on anything mission critical?" Stratt leans against the doorframe, arms crossed as she asks.
Much like the last time, Grace and Jung both turn to face her. Grace chimes in. "No, just reviewing the work we did today."
"Right. You can wrap up for the night," Stratt straightens her posture, "Once you're finished, I would like to speak with you, Dr. Grace. Thank you for your work today, Dr. Jung."
She isn't blind to the look exchanged between the two scientists, but turns back into her office undisturbed. The door shuts behind her, and she finds herself back at her desk and working to respond to another email.
The gap between interactions isn't long, a few minutes of which Stratt can hear words being exchanged through the door. Inevitably, the office door opens and a taller male figure enters her peripheral vision.
"Dr. Grace, please, take a seat. I'll be with you in a minute," Stratt says like clockwork, a phrase etched into her vocabulary from years of use.
Grace enters as quietly as he is physically capable of, slightly stumbling over an invisible obstacle and softly chuckling under his breath as he sits down into the chair across from the director. Stratt feels a slight stir inside herself, pushing past it to finish proofreading her correspondence with a world leader before clicking 'send'.
Stratt looks up from her laptop and immediately recognizes the subtle uncertainty masked under Grace's patient smile. She can see the way he slightly sways and fidgets with his hands under the desk.
"So, what did I do to get sent to the principal's office today?" Grace breaks the silence the moment he deems appropriate.
Stratt cocks one of her brows, a small smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. "You're in no trouble, Dr. Grace. I wanted to address a matter that feels pressing to both of us."
"Right. Okay. Go ahead."
There's a brief moment before Stratt speaks, finding it within herself to make such an admission. But her necessity to save the world overrides her youthful embarrassment rising in her chest.
"After giving it some thought, it occurred to me that you were right," Stratt folds her hands on the desk in front of her, "I can see now that jealousy has clouded my judgment and this behavior is unprofessional for someone in my position. So long as you and Dr. Jung do not cross professional lines or allow this to interfere with your productivity on the project, I have no authority to condemn it. "
The expression Stratt reads on Grace's face is nothing short of incredulous. He opens his mouth to speak once, shuts it, and sits pensively for a few moments before trying again. "Wow. Okay. I didn't expect that," He clears his throat, "You do have the authority to condemn it, frankly, you have the authority to do whatever you freakin' please."
"That's true."
"Secondly, again, I have no intentions on doing anything with Dr. Jung. She's great and all, a real smart cookie, but not really what I'm looking for. I talked to her earlier today and she knows where I stand on that."
Stratt blinks, processing. "Alright."
"We're not involved in that way, so you have nothing to worry about," Grace continues, "Though, am I allowed to say 'told you so?'"
"No."
"Right. Theoretically, though, I did say that this was h—"
"Dr. Grace."
Grace erupts into a small fit of quiet laughter, shaking his head before coming back to his senses. "I just don't know why you thought I was attracted to Jung."
"She—" Stratt recognizes the green feeling creeping up inside her, stopping short before it spews out. "Dr. Jung has been beneficial to the project, although it has been obvious that she favors working with you especially. You simply haven't rejected those blatant advances."
Grace tilts his head ever so slightly, shrugging. "I can see your point. I just never pinned you for being the jealous type, Stratt."
"I'm not." Stratt quickly snaps back.
There's a moment that Grace holds Stratt's stare, raising his brows with a small, smug smile. "Of course you're not."
For someone with the world in her hands, Stratt feels impossibly small when put in the spotlight like this. "It's unimportant now, if it's over."
Another lull falls in the conversation, and Stratt is once again faced with her logic. The ever cool-headed, stone-faced leader of the most important scientific project the world has ever known got caught up wide the love life of her lead scientist. What was she thinking?
"So, am I done being in the hot seat now?" Grace leans back in his chair, breaking Stratt's concentration.
Blinking out of a short haze, Stratt collects herself and nods. "If you would like to return to your quarters for the night, you are free to do so. Thank you for your time, Dr. Grace."
"Thank you for having me," Grace stands from the chair, pushing it back in politely. He begins his walk to the office door, stopping a few feet short. "I can't wait to hear the questions from the team."
Stratt had looked down at a paper on her desk, her gaze flitting back up. "What do you mean?"
"We're all stuck on a big boat together for months, word travels faster than a high school cafeteria. They all have their own theories, and this is sure to spark a debate."
"Theories on..?"
"Romance and relationships amongst us."
A curiosity sparks within Stratt, and she's unable to stop herself from asking. "What is the leading theory as of now?"
Grace's shoulders become slightly smaller, shifting the weight between his legs. "I'm not really sure."
"Dr. Grace."
"I don't—"
"That's an order."
Grace sighs, looking at the floor like a guilty dog. "That you and I are, well, in some way together. Hooking up, secretly married, that sort of thing."
Stratt expects disgust followed by dismissal, but can only find a satisfied smile on her face. "That is all. Thank you, Dr. Grace."
As prompted, Grace steps and opens the door, standing in the doorway. "Goodnight, Stratt."
"Goodnight."
When the office door clicks shut, Stratt allows herself to sink her weight back into the swivel chair. In the past, she learned the best way to regulate her emotions was to start with laying out the facts, and work through what they mean for her. She sits and muses.
-
Dr. Grace and Dr. Jung are not having any sort of work affair. Dr. Jung's feelings remain unconfirmed, but Dr. Grace holds no romantic or sexual attraction towards her. Boundaries were established between the two, and so this no longer remains a concern.
This much was easy enough to digest. Stratt moves on.
-
The idea of Dr. Jung and Dr. Grace engaging in relations of any kind was an unpleasant enough thought to disrupt my work. The idea of the team theorizing about relations between Dr. Grace and I was not as surprising nor offensive as it might be with anyone else.
Stratt sits on this thought for a while. It runs through her mind over and over, seeing the jealousy she felt and the smile that crept onto her lips when she understood the team's reading of her relationship with her lead scientist. The conclusive thought is obvious, but she holds it away from her mind until she's certain that she is right.
-
I have feelings for Dr. Ryland Grace.