Dealt A Bad Hand

Posted on Tue Feb 12th, 2019 @ 6:21pm by Lieutenant JG Neza Glenn & Lieutenant Steffan Haas

1,391 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Mission 2 - Love ORION Mistaken
Location: Lieutenant Haas’ Quarters
Timeline: 2261.204 1800

Having been surprise by the dinner invitation, Neza had gone straight to her quarters after her bridge shift and changed into something more comfortable. She'd noticed Steffan leave the bridge early, so she couldn't help but wonder what he was up to. Checking herself in her mirror in her quarters, the knee length green dress and heels might have been a bit much, but she wasn't sure exactly what type of dinner she was heading to. Luckily, she didn't have to walk to far in the heels, as their quarters were fairly close together. Once there, she pressed the chime on the door.

Haas had taken the afternoon off to surprise Neza with a nice home cooked meal. He’d been wanting to do it for a while but hadn’t managed to get round to it till today. He wanted to make it as special as he had something he wanted to get off of his chest. The reason why he’d been placed on Legacy in the first place he just hoped Neza would listen and understand. He lit a match to light the sole candle on the table as the door chime went off. “Come in.”

Once she heard the voice, she stepped inside, and instantly smelled something. "Are you cooking for me, Steffan?"

“Of course.” He replied before giving her a tender kiss on the lips. “Please take a seat. Can I get you something to drink?”

Returning the kiss, Neza nodded and sat down, "Whatever goes with whatever smells amazing."

“I have a bottle of Pinot Noir to go with the grilled salmon. I’ll get you a glass.” He said as he moved towards the kitchen area of his quarters. “Good day?” He asked as he poured the wine into the glass.

“More or less. Was surprised when you left the bridge early. Not that you missed anything by any means. Your replacement didn’t even make one report I think.” She watched him and smiled. “What brought a home made dinner on all of a sudden?”

“Hence why I took the time off. I knew it would be quiet.” Haas replied as he moved back to the table and gave Nez the glass. “I thought it was time you should taste my cooking skills.” He said with a smile. “I also want to talk to you about something.”

Taking the glass of wine, Neza took a sip and raised an eyebrow slightly. “You mean beyond what we’ve talked about recently?” She thought back to the other night and wondered what else there was to talk about.

“I want to tell you the real reason why I’m here.” Haas said looking down at the floor. “Admiral Wheeler called me into his office before Legacy launched and gave me an...interesting proposal. He offered to promote me to full Lieutenant and ’looking after me’ in the future if I gave him information which lead to Captain Jackson losing her command. I’m ashamed to say I jumped at the chance. Seemed an easy way to move my career forward. However, since being aboard and despite her unorthodox manner, I have come to like and respect the Captain as much as the rest of the crew. I told Admiral Wheeler so recently and he threatened to have me removed from the ship. Something which won’t be happening as I have evidence of the incriminating conversation. What I want to know is, do I speak to Captain Jackson about this?”

Listening, Neza had known Wheeler was not the nicest Admiral in Starfleet, and had something against Cindy. But..this? She put her hand under his chin and kissed him gently. “I can’t believe he’s making you do this, Stef. But if you’ve come to the conclusion there is nothing to report, I’d tell Cindy. She has a right to know what is going on, why you were placed here in the first place.” She took hold of his hands. “Though I hope she doesn’t make you leave once she finds out.”

“That’s what I’m worried about. I’ve built up a good relationship with her. I don’t want her to think I’ve broken that trust. But you’re right, she does need to know.” He looked down again. “I just don’t want her or you to hate me coz of it.”

“I can go with you if you want me to, Stef. I won’t hate you because of it. I knew there was something bothering you but I didn’t know it was this.” She gave his hands a squeeze. “I love you, remember? Why would I hate you?”

“No, this is my problem. I won’t bring you into this I just wanted your opinion.” Haas said still looking down. “I love you too, I just didn’t want you to hate me to agreeing to do this. It was stupid but when does an opportunity to serve on a ship like this comes up, you have to take it.”

Neza lifted his head up again. “I don’t hate you. No reason to. I might have been angry if I’d found out on my own and you hadn’t told me. But I would never hate you.”

“I hate keeping secrets.” He said simply.

“I’m glad you told me, Steffan. Much as I want to get angry at Wheeler...I won’t...might not be best for a new officer to do that.”

“It won’t do much for your career.” Haas added.

Neza nodded, but still kept tight hold of his hands. “No, it won’t. But, I won’t let him use anything against you, Stef. He doesn’t know who he’s messing with.”

“I was able to make a recording of our last conversation. He knows I have it and it does have some incriminating stuff on there.” Haas said, he wasn’t sure how he was feeling. Glad to get it off of his chest to Neza but at the same time it seemed to make it more stressful knowing she knew.

Moving one hand up to his cheek, she frowned. “Steffan, what’s wrong?”

Tears rolled down his cheeks, “I’ve made a mess of this haven’t I. I’m going to lose my position, a ship I love and more importantly, you.”

“No, you haven’t.” Neza wiped the tears away. “I’m not going to let them take you away from here. You were pushed into something because Wheeler has a stick up his arse. But you’ve turned it around. You have taken things into your own hands.”

“I just really hope the Captain see’s it like that.” He sniffed.

Pulling him close, Neza let him get any emotions out that he needed to. “Hey, I’m sure she will. I think she already knows that he has something out for her. And you taking her side in all of this will just help that much more.”

Steffan calmed himself down, “I’ll go and speak to her in the morning. I need to get this out in the open. She needs to know.”

“I’ll still go with you if you want. I don’t mind.” She pulled back and made sure any stray tears were gone. “You gonna be okay?”

“No.” He replied quietly with a shake of his head. “This is my problem to sort out. I’ll be fine, I didn’t realise how overwhelming it would be to tell you this.” He added with a sniff. “Let’s get this grilled Salmon going shall we?” He said with a weak smile.

Wrapping him in her arms again, she kissed the top of his head. “You had to let it out, and had you not told me, you might not have had the courage to tell Cindy. But if you’re not up for the food right now, we don’t have to.”

“I didn’t scrape together the fresh ingredients for it to got to waste. No, we’re doing this.” He said with a smile.

Letting out a small laugh, Neza pulled back again. “Well then, let me help you get it all set out. It smells amazing as it is.”

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