I Gave Her a Kick in the Ass

Posted on Thu Oct 5th, 2017 @ 7:08pm by

Mission: https://wellington.pegasusfleet.site/index.php/sim/missions/id/3
Location: Lawson's Office
Timeline: Current - Immediately after Chain of Command

ON:

"I can't believe it..." Kat was saying as they entered Lawson's office. "There are TWO of them?"

"Obviously," Lawson answered as he headed for his replicator. "Can I get you anything?"

"Is it too early for a shot of whiskey?" she asked with a half grin. "Of course it is," she answered her own question. "So I'll just have a Ginger Ale with a lime wedge," she said as she sat down in one of the chairs in front of his desk.

"I know you and Hawkeye had your differences back on the Pathfinder," he said as he carried the drink over and sat it in front of her. "But that was five years ago. What have you got against her now?"

"Nothing..." Kat said in a matter-of-fact tone. "In fact I actually think she's a pretty good pilot. But things are different now than they were back on the Pathfinder," she added before taking a sip of her drink.

"Oh? How?" he asked.

Kat carefully set her drink back on his desk and steepled her fingers in front of her for a moment. "Back on the Pathfinder, Hawkeye and I were equals. Same rank - Lieutenant, and the same position of fighter pilot. Now she's a flight leader but still a lieutenant while I'm not only her squadron leader but also a lieutenant commander."

"I know all that," he said slowly. "But how does this all fit in to what happened between the two of you the other day?"

"I wanted to see if her attitude had changed since we had left the Pathfinder so I set up a scenario for her. Evidently, according to her own statement, she didn't feel it was challenging enough to suit her so, as I said before, without my permission or even knowledge, she altered the sim. I felt that she was insolent, insubordinate, and needed a good kick in the ass so I gave it to her."

"Anything else?" Lawson asked as he was beginning to see her point.

"Permission to speak freely?"

"Granted..."

"If she came into my squadron thinking things were going to be just like they were on the Pathfinder - or if that's what you or anyone else were thinking - then she is sadly mistaken. As I said, there we were equals. Here I am her immediate superior officer, and as such I don't have the luxury of being buddy-buddy with someone I may one day have to order out on a mission she may not return from. I made that mistake once and it is not something I will ever do again." She fell silent, thinking back to the incident on the Spruance when she was a flight leader.

"I see," Lawson said. "Something you can tell me about?"

After a beat she nodded slowly. "It was two years ago while I was assigned to the Raymond Spruance. I was a lieutenant then and also a flight leader. It involved my wingman Lieutenant Jaxon Rayne. He and I had gotten to be rather...close...at the time." 'Close, hell...' her conscience said to her. 'The guy was sleeping with you, for God's sake'. "I was off flight because the day before I had broken my foot and the CMO had me on restriction. We were patrolling near Ferengi space when we were suddenly jumped by a Ferengi Marauder and, since I was unable to fly I designated him as temporary flight leader and ordered him and the rest of my flight out to attack. Long story short, we won the battle and my flight came back..." She took a deep breath and let it out. "...except for him..." she added quietly. "I won't make the mistake of getting close to one of my pilots again. I...I can't..."

"I'm assuming you got counseling for that afterward, correct?"

"Oh yeah..." she let out a little laugh, but it was a laugh with no humor whatsoever in it. "Spent two months under a counselor's scrutiny every other day. You know how counselors are - they get inside your head and root around, then when they're done, it sometimes leaves you wondering who needed the session most - you or them."

Lawson nodded knowingly but kept silent.

"Upshot of the whole deal was that after the two months, I was pronounced four-oh and restored to flight status. Those two months I spend flying a goddamned desk felt like two years." Her face reddened a bit as she realized how she had just spoken to her commanding officer. "No offense intended, Commander..."

"None taken," he said quickly. "But if you're ultimate goal is to be a CAG, I will warn you - it's almost ALL desk-flying. Now, what do you intend to do about Hawkeye?"

"I intend to give her a chance to prove herself. We'll see if she can back up all that bragging she did to me about her accomplishments before coming here. If she measures up - great. If she doesn't, well we will cross that bridge when we come to it."

"Sounds good to me," he said with a nod.

"I just hope that her sister being here doesn't put more on our plate than we can digest." Kat said as she stood up and prepared to leave. "I hope the sister is not as stubborn and hard-headed as she is."

"I think we will be okay." Lawson answered. "Based on what little I saw and heard from her in the meeting, the sister seems to be pretty level-headed to me."

"I hope so," Kat said before letting a hint of a smile show. "I don't know if I could stand two like Hawkeye."

"I don't think you'll have to. Besides, Gordo will most likely assign her to Del Palo's squadron."

"I appreciate that. Thank you for your time, Commander..." she said as she headed for the door.

OFF:

Commander Harold Lawson
Commander Aerospace Group (CAG)
USS Wellington

LtCommander Katrin "Cobra" Muller
Alpha Squadron Leader
USS Wellington