<div align="center"><strong>-=Dani, in the cargo bay, waiting for the crew to gather for a debriefing before disembarking=-</strong></div><br/>Returning Si's smile with a small one of her own, Dani was about to protest that he shouldn't go to too much trouble, but she knew it was pointless.  He had already said he would do it, and in her experience once Si had made up his mind, there was no changing it.  The arrival of Mae and Vincent effectively ended the conversation, but not before Si made a joke about not taking any more orders.  Dani chuckled softly, so softly if the older man hadn't been in contact with her and been able to to feel the vibrations the small laugh caused, he likely would not have noticed it.  Dani appreciated his understated sense of humour, and often found amusement in it where she was certain the others were left unaware that he had made a quip at all.<br/><br/>Glancing up at the young couple still standing on the stairs, Dani almost flinched as Simeon made comment to Vincent about keeping an eye on Mae.  She may not say much, but Dani observed the crew's behaviour almost constantly, and she knew without a doubt that Mae resented any insinuation that she couldn't look after herself, even if it was coming from a place of concern for her welfare. Although on this occasion, she seemed more than happy to be under the watchful eye of her co-pilot, and Dani suppressed a smile of pleasure at seeing the two young people so obviously infatuated with each other, even if they themselves couldn't see it.  Now, if only Mae could manage to get through an entire conversation with Vince without some comically bad luck befalling her, they might actually have a chance at what would undoubtedly be a very sweet romance.  Assuming, of course, the Captain kept his hands, and opinions!, to himself.<br/><br/>Dani frowned at Griff as he passed by the two pilots, swatting Mae and teasing Vince, making what she saw as a slight to the younger man's manhood.  She was closer to the Captain than anyone else on the ship, but that didn't mean she approved of his philandering ways.  Griff was like a prairie dog. He'd rut nearly anything if it stood still long enough. But Mae, in Dani's opinion, was off limits.  Not only was she barely a woman, but she was slowly becoming something of a little sister to Dani, and the medic certainly did not appreciate Griff toying with the girls affections. Especially when Mae and Vince were obviously teetering on the edge of becoming something of an item.  Dani determined that if Griff kept it up, she'd certainly be having words with him about it.  Everyone thought her fragile, but when it came to the wellbeing of her crew, Dani had the steely determination of a mother bear protecting her cubs.  Although, to her surprise, Vincent was giving as good as he got, which pleased Dani.  Griff needed to know that just because Mae was his pilot, that didn't give him the right to bed the child at his leisure!<br/><br/>Si's comment, and the arrival of Sasha with their single passenger, seemed to bring the matter to a close however, as the older lady helped herself to a decent grope of Vincent's behind.  His reaction lead Dani to believe that the elderly woman still had some strength in her, and she couldn't help but laugh audibly as Sasha palmed the woman off onto Griff.  The look on his face was priceless, as was the sight of almost malicious amusement on Sasha's.  It was very nearly a look of revenge, and Dani wondered what may have gone on upstairs, but pushed the irrelevant thought aside.  Griff and Sasha were nothing if not professional, and if there was any sort of problem between them, they would get it worked out sooner or later.<br/><br/>Nodding as Sasha warned her about the cleaning crew, Dani was partly pleased, partly mortified, to learn that Hayes would be remaining on board.  As part of the crew, Hayes was every bit as much worthy of Dani's concern as everyone else, but truth be told, Dani avoided their engineer as much as possible, not wanting to risk being on the receiving end of  the temperamental woman's wrath. They had little cause to run into one another, however, so there'd never been anything remotely resembling a problem between them. And though Dani had tended many a wound that the engineer managed to acquire banging around The Gamble's aging engine, the infirmary was Dani's work space, and Hayes respected that as much as Dani respected that the engine room was the domain of the engineer.<br/><br/>The assignments handed out, Sasha opened the cargo bay doors to reveal the not unwelcome form of Lex, the gentle Companion that Dani was still getting to know. She smiled a welcome towards him, but whether or not Lex caught it in the onslaught of Mae's enthusiastic hello, Dani couldn't tell.  He was accompanied by a man Dani had never seen before, and she unconsiously shrank into Si. She wasn't good with strangers, especially of the male variety, and despite the fact that this must be the new member of the crew Griff had mentioned, Dani wasn't about to trust him verbatim.  She was suddenly very pleased that Hayes was staying on board, and possibly Lex too.  Perhaps Lex could keep her company while she supervised the cleaning crew in the cargo bay.  She knew that there was more to the slightly built man than met the eye, although whether or not he would be any sort of a match for the huge, as yet unnamed man next to him remained to be seen.  Dani gulped, but tried to steel herself for the introduction that was no doubt coming, hoping that perhaps Griff would take their new crew member with him, rather than leaving him to his own devices while the ship was mostly deserted.