Call Me Maybe

Posted on 05 May 2017 @ 4:05am by Lieutenant David Moreau Jr & Lieutenant Commander Joey Geisler

3,047 words; about a 15 minute read

Mission: The Finnean Crisis
Location: Quarters
Timeline: MD 1 || 1700 Hours

Her first official day back on duty, and it had proven to be quite eventful. Thus far, she'd attended a meeting with Commodore Satié, seen the ship with Harvey from the Lakota as they were pulling into Deep Space 9, taken part in the senior staff briefing, visited sickbay, toured her new department, gotten to know her new home a bit, and attempt to settle in a bit. Of course, that was going to take some time to get done, but she had help for that. Now, it was time for her to relax a bit before her first official day back on duty.

She reached down to pet Pequeno and Rico before she crossed over to the terminal and settled down before turning it on. Since the briefing, Camila had been on her mind quite a bit. The fact her friend didn't return bothered her, but there had to have been a good reason for it, and Joey planned to find out what it was.

Taking a deep breath, the young woman began to compile a message to the former Chief of Security.

Camila,

For the last two months or so, I've been replaying our last encounter over and over in my mind, and it's been driving my crazy. I had no idea it would be the last time we would see one another. I feel horrible, and I am truly sorry for the way I talked to you. I wish now that you would have told me to shut up and mind my damn business, but it's too late for that. Now, I can only hope that you're willing to forgive me. If I don't hear back from you in time, then I'll know.

I'm going to miss you.

- Joey

She took a deep breath and hit send, then settled back with a frown. Never in a million years did she imagine one of her friends would no longer be part of the Black Hawk crew. And now there was the bald Sasquatch of a man who'd taken her place as the head of Security. Time would tell what the deal with him was, but now wasn't the time to focus on David. The crew was a family, and just because Camila didn't return, didn't mean she was no longer part of the family.

It had been a great month on Earth, but Camila's conscious was nagging her incessantly and she reluctantly bid farewell to her family, gathered her violin and a few other possessions and found a ship back to Deep Space Nine. There, she had to wait for a ship going to the Gamma Quadrant and finally made her way to Deep Space Eleven and requested a duty assignment after arrival.

She had pleaded and begged for the chance to help restore what she and her team had destroyed and a chance to work with the officers who were formerly under the illusion of Consortium. She had too much blood on her hands and wanted to make reparations and finally convinced the station commander to give her that chance. For two months she worked around the clock with every department wherever she was needed and finally went back to Security. It was who she was and in her blood and they were in dire need after the Starfleet assault on the base.

Camila had just settled down in her quarters after another grueling day and was reaching for a bottle of Andorian ale when her terminal beeped. "What now?" she wondered wearily as she debated not answering it. Finally, she set the bottle down and activated the terminal to access the message. When she saw it was from Lieutenant Corwin, she nearly deleted it but accessed it instead of read it.

At first she didn't know what to think, then she started to cry as she read it as the memories crashed back down on her like a huge wave. She read it three times as she wiped her eyes and finally got herself under control and thought about what she wanted to say and tapped reply.

Joey,

I forgive you, but I have yet to forgive myself for a lot of the things that happened. I had a lot on my mind and a lot of pressure on my shoulders and knew that I had to make amends however I could. Not to Bast - him and I are over and done with once and for all, and there is no turning back. I have been on Deep Space Eleven for the past two months as part of the crew here and working around the clock to help restore what was destroyed in the battle. I just couldn't bring myself to go back to the Black Hawk's replacement with everything that happened there. I don't regret the friendships that I've made with you and others, but the memories there are still too strong. For now, I'll be on Deep Space Eleven, so if you're ever in the area, look me up.

Camila

PS

There is a package waiting for you in the armory.

Camila read over it again and made a few changes, then pressed send.

Joey made a mental note to go to the armory in the morning, but for now she wanted to see her friend, and thus sent the request to turn the messages into a video transmission. She understood why Camila couldn't return, and didn't hold it against her. In fact, she admired her for wanting to make a difference and help rebuild DS11. Now, though, she waited to see if Camila would answer her request.

Camila accepted the video transmission and pushed a lock of dirty, oily hair out of her eyes. She had dark circles under her eyes and it looked as if she had seen better days. Her face had thinned out and her cheekbones were more pronounced and a haunted look was in her eyes. "Hey," she said with a tired smile. "Glad to see one of us looks good still."

"Camila... have you been sleeping?" Joey asked with a frown at the sight that was displayed before her. She was unable to hide the shock on her face, either. This was the last thing she'd expected to see when the former Chief's face was displayed on the screen. "You've lost weight."

"Not much," Camila responded. "I've been running around the clock since I got here. You're looking good, though. Did you get a tan?"

Joey looked down at her skin, then back to the screen. She didn't feel right talking about herself given the shape her friend was in. "Yes, though I'm sure it'll fade before I know it," she said. "I'd rather talk about you, though. Aside from running around the clock, and being haunted by everything that happened... how are you really?"

"I'm okay," Camila said and looked off camera to the bottle of Andorian ale that was waiting for her. Screw it, she thought and reached over to fill her glass, then took a drink of it. "I'm just tired and busy is all. I hope they gave you the Chief spot now that you'd be the senior Security officer on the new ship."

Corwin arched a brow when she saw Camila pour another glass of blue liquid. She knew it to be one of two things, one of which was easier to come by than the other. Still, she didn't know if she should address it or not. "Actually, no, I'm not. The new Security Chief is a Sasquatch of a man. Big and bald like Walsh is, but a little bigger," she answered. "I've been moved to an entirely different department now. I'm officially in command red as the Chief of Intelligence."

"Intelligence? Wow. I'm impressed," she said as she took another drink of the light blue liquid. "I had no idea that you had any experience in the area outside of doing your Close Protection work. I guess it really paid off for you. Congratulations on being a department head, Joey."

She leaned back in her chair and rubbed her eyes for a moment. "I'm not a chief anymore, but the work I do is rewarding enough. It keeps me busy and I get to work with a lot of different departments and learn new things."

"Thanks," she said with a genuine smile before a frown took its place. "Camila... I understand why you're pushing yourself like you are. We're all a bit haunted by everything that happened, but you can't work yourself to death because of it. And that's exactly what you're going to end up doing. Work a normal shift instead of pushing yourself to near breaking." Yeah, she was really one to talk.

"Sort of like someone else I know," Camila said with a half-smile. "I'll be okay, Joey. Promise. I just haven't had time to do anything other than work. You saw how much damage the Consortium and Starfleet did to the station during the attack. This place is going to be in shambles for another four months at the earliest. We're supposed to get a team of SFE here, but they've been all be called to service on getting ships rebuilt and everything else. A station that can technically support itself can wait." She paused for another drink. "It's no big deal. I owe a lot of people for the price they paid."

"We all do," Joey said. Though, she didn't believe a word Camila just said, she didn't mention it. Picking and choosing one's battles was the name of the game. "Promise me that you'll take a shower and get a good night's sleep tonight. I know you can use it."

"Do I look that bad?" Camila asked as she raised her left arm and sniffed. She made a face and lowered her arm quickly a second later. "Go figure. I smell as bad as you think I look. That's made my day." She tossed the rest of her drink back and flicked the glass somewhere off camera where the sound of it breaking was heard. "So how's things been going? Did you and the Captain have a lot of fun on shore leave?"

"It will get better, Camila. If you let it," the brunette said. It didn't go unnoticed that she'd changed the subject on her again, but this time she opted to let her get away with it. For now. "We did. We went to see my parents first where I was surprised with a baby brother. Seems a bit odd, but he's the cutest thing ever. From there we saw his parents. They are absolutely amazing, and I adore them. Then, we went to Bora Bora until Starfleet decided it was time for us to get back to it."

"A baby brother? That's fantastic!" Camila said, more animated than she had been. "I learned that my little brother is engaged while I was home and I can't wait to have a niece or nephew to spoil. How did your parents take to the Captain?" she asked. "Did they grill him? Bora Bora? Wow! It sounds like you had a lot of fun! That tan really makes you look even better than you did before, too. I'm jealous."

"Congratulations to you, too," Joey said with a bright smile. "My parents love him. He made a great impression, but no, they didn't grill him too much. Bora Bora was my end of shore leave surprise for him. We ended up in a bungalow directly over the ocean, which explains the tan."

"Thanks," Camila said. "I'm glad that they get along with him and that you had such a wonderful time. I went back to Venice and spent time with my family and exploring all my old haunts. It brought back and lot of memories and reminded me of the goals that I had set at the time. They seem a bit childish now and reality is a lot harder than the dreaming of a young girl, but I have a better idea of what I want to do."

"Aside from working yourself to death, what's that?" the taller woman asked.

Low blow, Camila thought and it showed on her gaunt features. "No," she said out loud. "Although you probably know that better than I do. I want to serve, not send people against others. I want to be one of the ones that's sent out into the field. To take the chances that I couldn't as a Security chief."

"That's admirable, Camila, and I know you can do it," Joey said, immediately regretting the first part of what she said. "I'm sorry. Seeing you like this... it's not something that I'm used to."

"I'll get better," Camila promised, but wondered if she could pay that promise. The lure of the whiskey called to her, but she remembered that she had broken the glass and didn't want to get up to replicate another. "I know I've been pushing myself, but it's something that I have to do right now. It's the only thing that keeps me from being numb."

"Just... please... don't push yourself too hard that you can't come back from it. You have to come to my wedding."

"Your what?" Camila asked, anything else she was going to say lost in the last part of Joey's statement.

"My wedding," Joey repeated for her, but decided to elaborate a bit more. "No date has actually been set, but Harvey and I are going to get married."

"That's great news!" Camila exclaimed. "I'm really happy for you, Joey. You and he make a great couple even though I never really saw you and him together in public much. Well, as public as a ship could allow people to be. Then again, I don't know much about him as he's a private person most of the time."

Joey knew this to be true. "Thank you. Once we know the details, I'll give them to you, and maybe you'll be able to come."

"I hope I'll be able to," Camila said. "But with the way things are here, I don't foresee a leave coming anytime soon to any personnel. We've had a massive influx of new personnel, but that also means a lot of time covering things that they've never experienced before. At the very least, I expect video of it if I can't come."

"I can definitely make that happen," she promised with a smile. "I hope that we can keep in touch, too. It's just not going to be the same without you here."

"That's life in Starfleet," Camila said. "Here today, gone tomorrow. I never expected to be back where I started, but things come full circle."

Joey pondered that last statement, and found herself wondering if there was ever a possibility that Camila could return to the ship. Anything was possible, but that was best left unquestioned for the time being. "Time reveals all," she said.

"That it does," Camila said. "But I think it's time for me to drag my happy behind into the shower. I have to be up at zero four hundred to start another shift. That is, unless I have a reason not to go so soon."

"There's more, but I can't tell anyone just yet. Soon," Joey promised.

Camila gave a laugh. "I see you're already in Spook Mode," she said. "How did you end up there, anyhow?"

"Our current mission, which I can't go into detail about," the brunette answered with a frown. It killed her having to keep secrets from a friend, but the ward room hadn't been locked down for no reason. This was another reason she hated not having Camila back on the ship. This was going to take some serious adjusting on her part.

"Like I said, Spook Mode," Camila said before she shrugged. "I get it. I'm not upset. I just hope you enjoy being a department head as much as I didn't."

"Time will tell," Joey commented. "This is definitely new for me. Being an acting department head was one thing, but this is permanent. Thankfully, my department is small. Including me... there are only ten people in Intelligence. Two officers and eight enlisted."

"There you go, then," Camila said. "It has to be easier than nearly getting killed every time you set foot off the ship. Or in your case, getting killed. I'm glad the team brought you back, though."

Joey tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, thinking back to that day that could have changed everything. She'd spent a lot of time trying not to, but that was a demon she needed to face at some point. "They weren't supposed to. I gave them orders to get to the core, but they didn't listen. I'm actually rather glad they didn't."

"Ohana," Camila said simply. "You taught us that."

"Always," she smiled. Camila would always be Ohana, even if she wasn't on the ship any longer.

"Just don't be a stranger," Camila said. "You know where I'll be if you want to talk."

"You don't be a stranger, either. I'll talk to you soon, I promise. Just... take care of yourself," Joey requested.

"I'll do my best," Camila said as she brushed a oily lock of hair out of her eyes. "You take care of yourself and the Captain, too."

"I'll definitely do my best with that. His protection as far as missions go is out of my hands now, though. That's up to the new Security Chief. Go shower and rest for a bit, and I'll talk to you soon. Be safe, Camila."

"I will," Camila said. "You be safe, too. See you next time."

"You will," Joey said with a smile before she ended the transmission and put the terminal on standby. She sat there for a few minutes staring at the darkened screen, her mind wandering back to the news she'd been given not too long ago. It explained a lot, but now she needed to tell Harvey. Sadly, she had no idea what time he would be home, so that left her with time to kill. She rose to her feet and began unpacking.

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