Water Under The Bridge

Posted on Fri Feb 22nd, 2019 @ 12:15am by Ensign Andrew Gervais & Commodore Jason Myers

Mission: https://wellington.pegasusfleet.site/index.php/sim/missions/id/5
Location: Commodore's Suite
Timeline: August 11, 2399

Captain's Log, August 11, 2399: I have ordered us back to New Earth to resume leave, having recovered our staff and prepared the final reports to Starfleet Command regarding the incident with Shalti. The stowaway has been granted a transfer to our world, which I'm sure Temporal Affairs will be utterly delighted by. We should be arriving in a few hours.

Andrew had just said goodbye to the alternate Paul a few hours before. On his way out, "Paul 2.0" had given him a copy of the 'real' Paul's final log entry. He hadn't listened to it yet... Partly out of fear, perhaps a bit out of sorrow. At any rate, there would be a bit of time for him.. Preferably when he could allow himself to be reduced to a wreck. There had been a hug, a kiss, and that was it. He hoped the other Paul would be more fortunate than the one in this reality. And the emptiness that had gone away for a few days, now resumed.

He took his seat in the Commodore's suite, pulling up the information that had been sent in that needed to be filtered and prioritized. Mission reports, briefings, all the stuff the Commodore needed to basically do his job. He started looking and let out a heavy sigh. He wasn't into it today. He had to be and he knew it... But he wasn't into it. He stood up from his desk, and looked outside as the ship jumped to warp. While this occurred, Jason walked into the room.

One didn't need to be a Betazoid or gifted with any superhuman abilities to know what was on Andrew's mind. Jason knew all too well. It had been him, once. He knew it as soon as he noticed Andrew never heard the door open to greet him as he always did. Jason had something concealed in his right hand, though it wasnt known what yet.

As Jason walked closer, Andrew heard someone else. He swallowed back the sorrow he was feeling and turned around. "Sorry. I didn't hear you come in, sir." he said

"It's fine." Jason replied. "You have a lot on your mind, no doubt."

Andrew nodded, paused a bit before looking back at his superior officer. "Sir, I know what you're going to say about what happened with the other Paul and I. And you're right. It was foolish, and it was stupid. And I'm sorry but.. I don't have an explanation. I wanted to find a way to cope and that Paul offered it. I know I shouldn't have risked tampering with his timeline, and I don't think I did, but... If you're going to let me have it, just let me have it, I guess."

Jason looked back at him a bit perplexed, and a bit amused. With a wry grin to show he wasn't entirely serious, he looked at Gervais. "Rather presumptuous for an Ensign to tell a Commodore what he thinks the Commodore is thinking, isn't it?" he said, adding a chuckle before pausing and letting out a sigh. "I'd have done the same, to be honest with you. Of course I'll deny it if you ever tell anyone I said that. But I'd have done the same. If I thought there was a way to ease my pain by seeing if Sean was alive in another world and we could resume our friendship, I'd have done it in a heartbeat. At least at your age. Maybe not so much today... The present Captain would have relieved me of duty had I taken the Yorkshire into that." he added.

"So you understand..." Andrew said

"Of course I do." Jason replied. "Losing someone we care about does thing to us. We become irrational, prone to doing anything we can to try and hang on but usually it's almost fruitless. And then you see that person again and feel the void can be filled..." He paused a moment, to look at the window "Except it can't. But you realized there was too much to give up here... And that it was a bad idea."

"The trade-offs just weren't worth it." Andrew replied. "But I do miss him. He gave me something that the Paul in our universe said in his last log. I've been kind of afraid to listen to it."

"Aww don't be afraid. Load it up." Jason said as he gestured to the chip on Andrew's desk. Andrew complied, took a deep breath, and braced himself.

The screen suddenly displayed Paul's face... "Thank god Andrew was off the ship already with the new Commodore on board because he'd have been in there with the Captain. And I'd be writing an entirely different log right now. You know... All this time out here and I've never really entertained the concept of death. I mean yeah, I know it's possible. But I guess I've never worried about it. And all of this... Seeing what I saw today, watching my commanding officers be blown up? It makes me appreciate Andrew even more. It makes me want to just be with him even closer. When this is all over, him and I are stopping at New Earth and renting a holodeck... We'll go to that spot on Mars we always loved and just look up at everything... If something ever happened to me? I hope he'd never forget me, but I also hope he'd carry on. That he'd do the best he could and never stop enjoying life. I hope he wouldn't become sad and so caught up in his grief he forgets that all of this is actually wonderful. I mean... We're the farthest out we've ever been exploring... Voyager took 7 years to get home and we can do it in 3 weeks. There's a lot for him to still live for, and I hope I'm there to share it with him for a long time to come, but man... If I wasn't? I hope he'd never lose sight of that."

Andrew closed his eyes to try and hold back how he was feeling at that moment. "I'd have liked that. What he suggested."

"He's right, you know." Jason replied. "I know it'll take time, but... He'd want you to be happy."

"Yeah..." Andrew said, feeling comforted and yet saddened. "Not sure how to accomplish that yet. But.. at least I'm not hurling myself into a war zone, so.. Yay."

"There is that." Jason said. "And that will come with time. But probably holing yourself up in your quarters isn't going to do a lot."

"No... perhaps not." Andrew said.

"What I can promise you, Lieutenant... Is that everything is going to be okay. Eventually. It won't always be like this."

"I hope you're right." Gervais said sadly. "This helplessness is really starting to just.. drive me insane." he added before his eyes popped back up at Jason. "Wait... Did you just call me Lieutenant?"

"Well.. Lieutenant Junior Grade, but... I'm sure you get the gist of it." Jason added with a smirk as he put a small box on Andrew's desk. "Congratulations. You've earned it."

Andrew was, for lack of a better word, gobsmacked. "I..uhhh... thank you, sir." he said. "Wow."

"It sort of was about time. I mean.. you just turned 24 what... A month ago?"

"Yeah about that. Maybe 5 weeks." Andrew said, a bit excited as he put the hollow pip on. "Uniform seems a bit heavier now." he said with a laugh

Jason laughed.. "Wait until you're wearing mine. You'll feel like you're trapped underneath a Galaxy Class." he said... "What's on the go?"

Gervais pulled up the console, not thinking about his sorrow for a moment. "You have a briefing with Rear Admiral Parker at 0800 followed by a mission briefing with the CO's aboard the USS Niagara and the USS Antioch..." he paused for a moment, continuing with the itinerary...

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======END MISSION========

Commodore Jason Myers
Task Force Commanding Officer
Starfleet Command

Lieutenant (JG) Andrew Gervais
Adjutant to the TFCO
Starfleet Command