1. Chapter 1

**So, here is the second story in the Romulan War Stories, which is based around the retaking of the first Starbase taken by the Romulans. Thanks, as usual, to Anna and Icka, and to Brankel1 for reviewing all my updates and making my day pretty much every time.**

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_**June 5th, 2156**_

The briefing room was filled to the rafters, and the Captains' Table was set only for four. He knew that Erika was coming, but the other two were mysteries. He assumed one was set for Roy Dunsel, Captain of the third NX-class ship. He assumed that this would be the official revelation of who had been granted the command of their fourth sibling, Discovery. There had been plenty of speculation, but none of it had been conclusive, and for the first time since flight school he had refused a bet in the pool that was running. He grinned as Erika left her crew and came to stand beside him at the table, gently nudging him with her elbow. He was about to retort when the door behind the main table opened, and the 5 Fleet Admirals filed out of the anteroom.

"Settle down. Be seated." The large number of officers from the 4 NX crews who had come to see the Captains' being given the orders sat down, he stayed standing, as did those who had joined him at the Captains' table. "This is the official war briefing for the NX-Class ships. Admirals' in attendance, Samuel Gardner, James Black, Warren Kelley, Jessica Palmer and William Lloyd. Captains' in attendance, Jonathan Archer, Enterprise, Erika Hernandez, Columbia, Roy Dunsel, Challenger and Luke Curtis, Discovery." They all nodded to one another officially.

Jon snuck a look to Erika, who was simply dwarfed by the three taller captains, a second later they were allowed to sit down, after adding their thumbprints to the PADD that stated they were the officers in attendance.

"Following the commissioning of Challenger and Discovery, it has been decided that the two most experienced crews, those of Enterprise and Columbia, will be assigned to the front line duty. This will include Captain Archer being promoted to Commodore of the Fleet. Captain Hernandez, you will be his right hand." Jon looked down to her briefly, they shared a brief smile, knowing they were in this together. He doubted the look was missed by the crews of their ships, but hopefully it went over the heads of the others. Most in this room wouldn't know the history between the first two captains, and the first two ships, either. "Following the completion of the refit of Columbia, both Captains will be given classified orders that will not be discussed in this chamber."

"Aye sir." Erika said, while Jon just nodded his agreement, he was far more interested to hear what Challenger and Discovery were going to be assigned. Sam had given he and Erika a hint of what would have been in line for them two weeks earlier, straight after the declaration of the war, and he hadn't exactly been surprised that Sam's initial idea had been exactly what was happening.

"Captain Dunsel. Your crew will be given a convoy assignment to the Onias sector. I do not need to tell you how desperately these supplies are needed by Earth and Starfleet to ensure the protection of our planet." Jon took a second to study Dunsel in more detail, he mostly knew him by reputation. He was a beast of a man. Tall and bulky, easily twice his size. He wouldn't want to be going up against him in any kind of fight, that was true, and he was glad that they were on the same side. By the same token he looked to the Captain the other side of Erika, one he had never met before, nor had he heard of him. That wasn't necessarily surprising, but first impressions made him think that he had been an engineer, fitting for the captain of a ship called Discovery. "Captain Curtis. Discovery has been tasked with assisting our allies, the Andorians, in shoring up their defence. They are still suffering after the brief wars with both Tellar and Vulcan, it has been agreed by the coalition that your crew will assist with the developments, and with the defence of Andoria."

Calm fell on the room after a few seconds of chatter, but rather than Black resuming speaking, Sam Gardner took over the end of the address. "I do not need to tell anyone in this room how difficult the next few months will be, War is never easy, nor will it be one that we are particularly prepared for, but as a planet, as a society, Earth is stronger than the sum of her parts, and together we will stand through this, and prove to those who doubt us that we can withstand this invasion. Dismissed." Everyone began moving at once, and the cacophony was such that Jon almost missed his name being called out. "Captains Archer and Hernandez, a moment of your time."

"Admiral." He shared another look with Erika, feeling a little like they were being held back at the end of school for bad behaviour. Judging by the slightly guilty look on Erika's face, her thoughts were somewhere in the same area.

Gardner walked over and dropped his voice to an almost imperceptible level. "You remember what I said on the first."

"Of course."

"That stands. Black will call you in for a full briefing in the morning. but I can tell you that you'll be headed out that way by next week." The three looked between each other, and Jon seriously doubted that the 4 month refit to Columbia would actually be over by that point. Last he had seen, Columbia was still rather banged up.

"Are you expecting that will be an easy engagement?" He asked sarcastically, both Erika and Sam gave him a reproachful look, and he immediately felt bad for what he'd said. He wasn't going to take it back though.

"Far from it, but you two have been out there the longest, and you have good instincts. So you need to use your judgement. Dismissed." They both turned and walked away, he almost ran up the steps, but slowed so that he didn't leave Erika way behind.

"Were you expecting a promotion?" She asked as they reached the top of the stairs, the corridor already empty, meaning that he dared place his hand on the small of her back, just as he always did when they walked together.

"No. Were you expecting me to get one?" He teased, but he could tell by the look on her face she was worried about something. He had an idea what it was, but he wasn't sure if he should address it directly or not.

"I thought it might have been on the cards."

"You know that this time I'm not letting it change anything between us."

Her face told him that was exactly what she'd been briefly worried about. "It's still inappropriate for me to be with a superior officer."

"But this time I don't give a damn." He told her, and he really didn't. He wasn't letting her get away this time. They were older now, and it wouldn't really matter. They would be serving as colleagues, away from the Admirals. If he needed her, he needed her, and rank was not going to keep him from the best source of support he had.

"Seems like something stupid to be worrying about when we're about to go to war anyway." She shook her head, and looked up at him just a little sadly.

"It's not stupid, Rike." He fought the urge to kiss her, knowing that would probably go against the discipline they had spent the last two weeks developing. When in public, even if nobody was around, they were being as professional as they could be. Small gestures that meant a lot to them had become the norm. He smiled as she reached for his arm and squeezed. "I have to get back to Enterprise." He muttered, hating to leave her right now, but they both needed to check in now they had the basics of their orders.

"I'll call you tonight." She smiled, hooking her little finger around his in a momentary show of solidarity. He couldn't imagine anything more fitting for them right now. He also hadn't been surprised that she would bring up the issue of his promotion, considering that was what had lead to their first break up. Right now though, they both knew that it wasn't time to focus on that, it was time to focus on the war, and keeping Earth as in tact as it possibly could be. He wouldn't allow the Romulans to destroy the way of life on Earth, nor would he allow them to dominate the spaceways. One way or another he would stop them, and he knew that was going to be easier said than done. With Erika and the others by his side, he knew they could do it, and it would be the last thing many of them would do. But it would be worth it. He knew it would be worth it.


	2. Chapter 2

**_2156 - June_**

He hated giving bad news. He'd given the news to Erika privately, an hour earlier when she had first arrived on _Enterprise_ for the briefing. He had seen her tears, and the fight she'd been having with herself since. She'd turned away when he had given the news to the others, and he wasn't necessarily surprised, he knew that she was going to struggle with this. Captain James Hemmingsen of the _Massachusetts_ was the first one to process the information enough to ask a question. "Wait, so _Challenger_ won't be joining us?"

He shook his head, walking around the table and making contact with as many people as he could. Pausing a second longer to put a hand on Erika's shoulder and bring her back to the meeting. "Unless she turns up out of the blue, no. She hasn't been heard from in a few days."

"Well, shit." Was the colourful description of what they were all thinking by Captain Layla Carpenter of the _Ontario_. She looked around the room at everyone staring at her and shrugged. "What, you're all thinking it, I just said it."

Jon narrowed his eyes to the youngest captain in the room, who immediately stopped and focused her attention on him, a little reluctantly. He encompassed everyone in his next statement, knowing already the plan he wanted to start with. "We need to talk about this sensor data from outside of Andorian space. There are sensor ghosts that we can't get a clear read on." He began, and almost immediately he saw Erika and a couple of the others catch on to his meaning, before he had a chance to speak again Clyde Parker of the _Constellation_ spoke.

"We should take a few ships ahead for a looksee." His Manchester accent sharpening with excitement.

Jon looked around and he saw the obvious flaws dawning on a few places, aside from the two NX class ships, only two of the other ships had been refitted with warp 5 reactors. Even as it was dawning on the faces of others, he saw Captain Presley of the _Venture_ thinking aloud. "There are only four ships that can do Warp 5. Including mine."

"I'll take _Columbia_." Erika said, he thought at first he was the only one who heard the finality in her voice, but judging by the looks a few of the others were giving her, they had caught it too. He couldn't send _Columbia_ to any sort of engagement, not when there was too much riding on the success of the battle that he was slowly leading his fleet too.

"You will not, we need you here." He said, he saw her eyes snap up to his, and he felt the battle of wills that was about to begin. He hoped that, at least, they could keep it professional up until a point.

"Jon, we need to see what we're going in to, and _Columbia_ is less valuable than _Enterprise_." She argued, and he refused to accept that. Every ship was equally important, but some ships had been built for this kind of mission, the heavy cruisers of the NX-class were not them.

"Now you know that isn't true, every ship is valuable, this would be a recon mission. _Hubble_ and _Venture_ would be better suited to that, they can look like cargo ships if needed, _Columbia_ can't."

Erika shook her head, and he could tell she wasn't going to be dissuaded as easily as he had hoped she would be. "Exactly. We need to show our teeth."

"You're being ridiculous." The words slipped out before he could stop himself, and he saw the fire that lit in Erika's eyes.

"I'm being forward thinking." She growled, leaning against the table they had gathered around and fixing him with a withering glare.

Jonathan was suddenly keenly aware of the eyes of their fellow captains' studying them. While he was certain most of them at least knew of the past relationship he had with Erika, he didn't feel that they needed to see how personal this argument was probably going to get. He already knew what was playing on her mind, he could see it, and he could sense it. "Follow me." He ordered, glad that, for once, she accepted that without comment. He pulled her into an unused storage area a few metres down the corridor, stopping and looking at her for a brief moment before leaning against a console and dropping his hands, waiting to hear her argument. He could see it building behind her eyes, and a few seconds later she started pacing.

"Look, Jonathan. I know that you think we need both _Enterprise_ and _Columbia_ to be the ones holding the initial line when we arrive with the fleet, but I think you're wrong. We need to show the Romulans that they can't play with us. That we have ships everywhere, and that would look better if the attack happened in stages." Her plan would be solid, if they knew exactly what they were going into, if they knew exactly how many ships they would be up against in a week when they arrived at Berengaria and learnt what was happening.

"But this isn't the attack, Erika. This isn't the battle. This is a possible recon mission."

"I still think _Columbia_ is best suited to it."

He shook his head, he still wouldn't order her to do this, not when there were ships that were better suited. If she was right, if _Columbia_ was the best ship, his personal feelings for her wouldn't have mattered. Right now though, it seemed more like she was jumping in with her eyes closed, and that worried him, because it wasn't like her. "I don't, and I wouldn't think _Enterprise_ was either." He reached out for her hand, wanting to pull her closer to him, she shook him off, standing as far away from him as she could in the small space. "You're not normally so sanguine about volunteering your ship for something this dangerous, what's really going on in that mind of yours."

"Jonathan, don't get inside my head." She shook her head and turned away from him, and that was the confirmation he needed. He'd been right all along.

"This is about _Challenger_ isn't it. You think that should have been you."

"It should have been." She almost shouted, spinning on her heel. He saw the trembling of her balled fists, and for a second he was unsure if she was angry at him, or if she was angry at the situation she had been thrust into.

"Rike, you know more than anyone that things don't always happen the way we plan. You were switched from convoy duty for a reason, a good reason." He tried to placate her, but he was almost certain that it wasn't going to work. The fact she had originally been given the mission that looked like it was _Challenger_'s first and last was something that no captain wanted to face.

"That doesn't change the fact that that was supposed to be my mission." She shook her head, this time she just sounded resigned, and a little sad. When he reached for her this time she didn't resist, and allowed him to pull her a few steps forward.

"It also doesn't change the fact that it wasn't. The brass changed your mission profile, and I'm glad they did, because I need my good right hand to be out here with me."

"That's funny, considering you're right handed." She smiled a little, and he grabbed onto the lifeline she had given him. Taking her left hand in his and bringing it to his lips before speaking.

"My good left hand?"

"I'll accept that one."

After a second of looking at her he knew he needed to make his position clear. "I'm not sending _Columbia_. I'm going to send _Hubble_ and _Venture_, if my left hand agrees."

"She's not happy about it, but she'll stop bitching because she knows it's not going to change anything. Come on, let's get back."

She took a few steps away, but he wasn't quite ready for this to be over. He tugged her hand and span her back round. "Hey."

"What?"

"It's sort of hot when you fight with me." He grinned, and he meant it. They had so rarely argued properly over the course of their 16 year relationship that he'd never realised exactly how attractive Erika was when she was riled up about something. "Just not in front of everyone." He finished, needing to make it clear what he meant, just in case.

"I'll remember that." She smiled, standing on her tiptoes to kiss him gently on the cheek before leading the way back to the briefing room. He needed to take a second to put himself back on a level playing field. He knew that he would have taken aside any of the captains who had been disagreeing with him quite so publicly aside, but he hoped that it didn't look as if he had favoured Erika. Right now though, he couldn't care less. He was worried about her, but he also knew that she was a dedicated officer, and while he knew that he couldn't erase the guilt she felt over _Challenger_'s disappearance, he would continue trying to convince her that it wasn't her fault. The war they were fighting had to come first.


	3. Chapter 3

**_2156 - June_**

He sat down at the chair in his ready room, the dim lighting set for the rather more intimate meeting he'd been having. _Hubble_ and _Venture_'s early return scuppering his plans of a lengthy briefing followed by a lengthy dinner meeting in his quarters all but scuppered, not that he was surprised, apparently nothing was going his way right now. "What did you find?" He demanded of the captain who filled his screen.

"A lot of dead air." He stated, and Jonathan wondered if it was just a phrase he didn't understand, until he looked to Erika who seemed as confused as he was.

"What?"

Clyde Parker shook his head then smiled wryly. "They don't have any more ships than we do, but they cottoned on to us pretty quickly, they might be on to us." He warned, but his smile told Jonathan that it wasn't a big worry, it was likely more for caution that he was warning them than anything. Jon had to ask the responsible question.

"It's alright, _Hubble_ and _Venture_ weren't compromised?"

"No, we got away pretty scott-free I think. They bought that we were a mining convoy a little off course. We did some clever sensor jamming inspired by Ensigns Sato and Valerian." Parker smiled, and Jon remembered the pet project the two comm officers had been working on, with Erika's assistance, for the last several weeks. Now that she was a captain, Jon sometimes forgot just how good a comm officer Erika had always been.

"I'll pass the message on." He grinned, trying desperately to avoid looking at Erika, who was mouthing something far ruder than the Mancunian captain needed to know. "Thanks for the update, Clyde, we'll be in touch soon to formulate an actual plan of attack." He closed off the channel and looked to his companion, who finally started behaving herself and turning her attention back to duty. "What do you think?"

"I'm not sure I buy the Romulans only having 10 ships in a critical system, one they know we want back." She said, honestly, and he couldn't disagree with her, he wasn't certain he bought their lack of ships. It didn't seem like them.

He thought a moment about likely tactical situations. "They could have a reserve wing further out than we can scan."

"Or they could be cloaked, as I recall we can't penetrate their cloaks. Just like we can't the Klingons'." Once again, Erika had the perfect point, one he wished he'd seen. Sometimes he wondered why he'd been put in command of this battle wing when Erika was clearly the brains. He just reminded himself to ask for her advice more often.

"You're right. Of course you are."

"There is also always the chance they've seen us coming, and Starbase One isn't as important to them as it is to us. Minimal defences for something they don't mind losing." This time he did disagree with her. At least to her assertion that the planet wasn't important to the Romulans, he was certain it was.

"I think at this stage of the war, neither side wants to concede anything, no. They have Berengaria, they aren't going to let her go easily."

She nodded after a second's consideration. "You're right. Then the question is how do you want to play this?" The question was one he was probably going to spend days second guessing himself, but his instinct was as it always was. What he could see was the important part.

"Straight down the middle. Let's play it in all seriousness, as if the information we've been given is the utter truth. 10 of them, 10 of us. Fair fight." At his words Erika's face soured, and he wondered what she had seen that he hadn't thought of. "You can always speak your mind with me Rike." He prompted, standing up only to lean against the edge of the desk as she only followed his movements with her eyes.

"Only is it? No offense to the intrepid-class captains, their ships are far easier to pick off than _Enterprise_, _Columbia_ or _Discovery_." She said, and he had to agree with her. While the late addition of Discovery to their fleet was a welcome surprise, he worried about the low warp intrepid class ships. Most of the Deadalus class ships were fine, hardy ships with a decent warp rating. The big decisions would be down to the NX captains, and that was himself, Erika, and Luke Curtis.

"We should have got Luke here for this."

"Please, to quote Malcolm, I don't think he can find his head with both hands." Jon had to laugh at hearing her invoke the British insult, he watched her stand up and move to rest in front of him.

"He reached the same rank as us."

She scoffed again, and he made a mental note to probe more what her issues were with Captain Curtis. "Through luck and timing. Luke is a follower, not a leader. This is on us."

He was saved from replying again by the call over the comm system. He rested one hand on Erika's hip even as he reached back to press the contact on the wall. "Bridge to Captain Archer."

"Go ahead Hoshi."

He locked eyes with Erika as they listened to the response from the comm specialist. "There's a fleet of ships approaching. You might want to take this call."

"Captain Hernandez and I will be there in a second." He said, then thought about Erika's ship, sharing a quick look with her he gave the orders he knew she was dying to give. "Tell Columbia to disengage and wait for our signal" The sigh of relief from Erika in that moment was proof enough that they still worked on the same level. He led her out onto the bridge and was shocked by the sight on the screen. "Well, shit. They say space is so big." He grinned, and suddenly felt like Starfleets' chances in the coming battle had improved exponentially.


	4. Chapter 4

_**June 2156**_

Jon felt his jaw drop as he looked to the screen, he stood to one side of his command chair, looking around showed him that most of his senior staff were as surprised as he was to see the man on the screen as he was. "Well, it has been a long time." He said, a smile growing on his face.

"Only 15 months Pinkskin." The dour commander deadpanned. Was that really all it had been since Orion? It felt like so much longer. One look round meant he caught the ends of what had clearly been a grimace on Erika's face, he knew why, and he didn't blame her. He wouldn't want to be reminded of that either.

"Feels like longer, you remember Captain Hernandez?" He waved a hand in direction of her, as she'd taken a position on the other side of his command chair.

"Oh, Captain Hernandez, we've not been formally introduced, not while you were conscious at least. I am Commander Shran."

"Pleasure." Erika muttered, but Jon wasn't sure it was loud enough to be picked up by the comm system. Instead he squared his shoulders, knowing what he needed to ask now, it was time they got down to business.

"Why are you here, Shran?"

"I know where you're heading, I'm here to help."

"I thought the Andorian government made itself very clear, this is Earth's war." Erika's statement was exactly what he had just been thinking. They governments of the coalition had made it clear, the war was Earths alone. He remembered reading in one of the press digests that Shran had been highly critical of that decision on Andoria, and apparently now he was going to reap the rewards of that decision. If Shran was here, either he'd left the Imperial Guard, or Andoria's position had changed. Jon couldn't help but think it was most likely the former.

"It is, but there are still certain obligations I feel that the Andorian Government is forgetting. Including an obligation to help a friend."

At Shran's salute in his direction, he shared a look at Erika, and again knew they were thinking the same thing. "Maybe you should come aboard and we can talk about it."

"We'll dock in five minutes." Shran said, nodding at them both as he closed the channel.

Erika's face told him the story of her position long before she opened her mouth to speak. "I'm not sure how I feel about this." Jon just inclined his head toward the turbolift, but paused the lift almost the moment it started moving, leaving the two of them alone. He needed to let Erika know that he trusted Shran, and he had a good reason for her to trust him too.

"Erika, he helped me rescue you from the Orions. Without him, we'd never have found you." He said it quietly, despite the turbolift probably being one of the safest places on the ship for them to have a private discussion, aside from his ready room and his quarters.

"I know that, I read the reports. I'm just not comfortable knowing that he saw me in that state."

He pulled his face, confused as to what she meant. Plenty of people had seen her in those days, and she hadn't mistrusted any of them. "So did everyone on both _Enterprise_ and _Columbia_?"

"Not the same, you're Starfleet." She shook her head, then reached for his hand, squeezing it gently. "I'm being ridiculous. It's alright, I'll get over it."

"As far as I'm concerned, he's the reason you're still alive. I'll owe him for eternity for that. If he wants to help us, I'm not going to turn him away. God knows Starfleet needs all the help it can get right now."

"I know you're right." She leant forward and pressed the contact to get the lift moving again before continuing to speak. "I just hope you know that I'm not going to be nice to him just because he saved my life."

"You can be nice?" He teased, stealing a quick kiss before the doors opened onto the busy E deck.

Apparently, Erika didn't feel as much need to be discreet as he did, stepping up beside him and whispering in his ear. "You know damn well I can be nice. Otherwise what we were doing in your ready room before we were so rudely interrupted by Clyde would not have been happening." He lead her into the briefing room and tried to shake the mental images she'd left him with with those words. She was right, of course, and that made it even hard to shake it from his mind.

"You may have a point." He muttered, conceding her point as the doors opened and a MACO escorted Shran into the room then withdrew.

"Pinkskin!"

"Can you not just call me Jonathan, Shran?" He smiled, reaching for the Andorian's arm in their equivalent of a handshake. He smiled as Shran turned towards Erika, studying her for a moment before he replied to Jon.

"I prefer the nickname. Captain Hernandez, it's nice to finally see your eyes."

Jon could still see the stress that had added itself to Erika's face since Shran's arrival, but he was glad to see that she at least hid her discomfort well. "It's nice to finally meet the man I've been told was so instrumental in my rescue."

"I was just paying back a favour. Are you two still?" Shran asked, making it very clear what he meant.

Erika's jaw dropped, and she looked back towards Jon. "Wait he knows about that?"

"Rike, everyone who was on _Enterprise_ when you were unconscious knows about that, and I'm willing to bet most who were on _Columbia_ knew too." He defended, and he almost laughed as Erika raised a hand to her forehead and gently massaged her temples.

"Well... No wonder Sam Gardner looked like he was about to have a heart attack when we called him together last week."

"Yeah." He grinned then turned back to Shran "so, why are you really here?"

"As I said on the comm, I'm here to pledge my forces to your cause."

"Do you have the blessing of your government?" He asked, needing to know which of the earlier options Shran had taken.

"We're free to take what assignment we want."

"You're deserters?" Erika asked in a level voice, clearly doing the same as Jon, trying to get the truth from him.

"No!" The growl in Shran's voice shocked Jon, but he had to give Erika credit, she didn't even flinch, nor did she step back when Shran moved forward, almost toe to toe with her. "We have our honour."

"You sound like a Klingon, Shran." She replied, not taking a step away. Jon couldn't help but admire her, he doubted he could stand toe-to-toe with Shran for that long without blinking.

After a second Shran stepped away and turned to pace, meaning only Jon caught the small sigh of relief Erika let out. "So be it, Klingons are good warriors. You need our ships."

"You can't deny that Jon, we were just speaking about this." She said in his direction, clearly deciding that whatever she'd seen in Shran's eyes in those moments made him trustworthy.

"You're both right, I'm wary about using Andorian ships without your governments backing though. It could open a lot of problems for us all."

"I will be joining you in this fight regardless, Pinkskin. The Romulans have taken too many Andorian lives already, our government claims this is Earths war. I disagree. They brought us into it by using the Aenar for their ships. I owe them something." Shran's impassioned speech certainly struck a chord with Jon, he looked over to Erika, and saw a similar decision forming on her face. He had always been able to read her, and in this situation it came in handy.

"Alright, Shran. You've convinced us. Let us review some things, I'll invite you when we have a plan. You have to understand this though, I'm in charge here."

"Of course. I'll return to my ship." Shran said, nodding to them both before he stepped out. Jon started to pace, hoping that the movement would help him. After a second he stopped, only realising he was stopped in front of her when she put her hand on his chest.

"We do need him Jonathan."

"That's what worries me Erika." He muttered, smiling as she brought a hand to his cheek. "Shran might have an idea, you should go back to _Columbia_, I'll call you later to go over this plan."

"You're right." She looked around them both before she stepped up and kissed him the hardest he could remember. He wrapped his arms around her in response and returned the kiss with as much ferocity as she showed, then as she stepped back he gave her a questioning look. "What was that for?"

"I know you, and I know how close we are to Berengaria. If I go back to _Columbia_ now we won't have time for another in person meeting before the battle. I'm giving you a very quick incentive to make it through." She smiled and took a few steps away. He couldn't let her leave on that thought, so he pulled her back to him again and kissed her again. Hoping that the incentive worked both ways.

As she left he sat back against the table, his mind going immediately back to the coming battle, and the strategy he needed to decide on. The addition of Shran's 6 ships was something that was going to push the odds in their favour, even with the Intrepid class ships that Erika doubted. He mentally planned out the plan, before setting off to put it on paper, ready to send to the others. The battle was only a day away.


	5. Chapter 5

There were some moments when as a captain you felt utterly useless, and this was most definitely one of them. She was stood in the middle of the Bridge, hoping that she would see some sort of tactical advantage on the viewscreen that hadn't already been discussed and dismissed by her staff. "Where are we standing now?" She demanded, turning toward the right hand side of the bridge, hoping that Kiona would be able to give her a clear picture of what was going on with the ship.

"Polarisation is at 46%, phase cannons are beginning to burn out." Was the dire report given. Erika sighed, and suddenly she knew that that was one of the worst reports that could have been given.

"Torpedoes." The shake of the head from the tactical officer told the captain all she needed to know. _Columbia_ was going to lose her weapons any minute, and that would be a very bad thing for all involved. "Kalil, how is the fleet holding up?" She turned to the science console, knowing that he would have the best information about the way the fleet was.

He looked down at his console, and she saw the same grim acceptance fill his face as he read off the number of ships that had fallen in this one battle. "Half of Shran's ships are gone. We've lost _Shenandoah_, _Valiant_, _Venture_... and _Discovery_." The last was delivered with a note of surprise. _Discovery_ was an NX class starship, and while she and Luke Curtis had never necessarily seen eye to eye, and she had been concerned about his inclusion in the fleet, never had she thought _Discovery_ would fall on her first engagement.

"What?" She had to ask, she had to be certain.

"There is a mayday, but they have launched their log buoy and escape pods." The sudden light that filled the screen, and the gentle headshake from Kalil told her that _Discovery_ was lost.

"Try and pick them up while not exposing us too much, Reiko, we need your skill for this." She gave the orders to the two of them, stopping a second behind the helm to put a hand on Reiko's shoulder.

"If Kalil tells me where to go, I can get them." Reiko confirmed, and a second later Erika caught eyes with her XO, the one person on the bridge who seemed to understand that the loss of _Discovery_ was going to make everything harder for _Enterprise_ and _Columbia_.

"Veronica, get down to the armory, see if you can give them a hand down there. Kiona, I want as many good shots from the phase cannons as you can give me, angle down towards that ship there." She pointed at the screen even as she heard Kalil and Reiko collecting the escape pods from their lost sibling.

"Lock, firing. Got them!" Kiona's joy only lasted a second as three more blasts hit _Columbia_'s hull. Erika found herself flung to the floor, but she crawled up, ignoring the cut on her forehead. "Captain?"

"I'm fine, Kiona, keep firing. Where the hell are those shots coming from?" She was glad that her crew took the question as being rhetorical, she didn't really want the answer, she just wanted to make sure there wasn't another enemy that had escaped their notice.

Everything seemed to be calming as they chased the Romulan ship alongside their sister ship. The moment she slid into her chair she heard a call from engineering, a note of panic in Stewart River's voice. "Engineering to Bridge. Evacuate D deck. There is an EPS overload and not much we can do about it."

"Thanks, Stewart. You heard him Kalil. Sound the evac on D." She looked at the readouts of the battle around them. Only _Enterprise_, _Columbia_ and _Kumari_ were in any state to still be fighting, but the Romulans were down to only two ships. The odds considerably higher than she had expected them to be.

Another call with escalating controlled panic swept through the bridge. Whatever was happening down there was enough to cause the young chief engineer to really worry about what was happening to his ship. "Bridge! The cascade is growing. I need to shut down the entire grid."

"That'll leave us defenceless!" She shouted back, horrified at the thought of being attacked during the downtime.

"It's either that or we explode."

"Do it. Sidra, send a shortwave to _Enterprise_, tell them that we're out of this fight for now. Kiona, use the time to recharge the plating. There is no guarantee that _Kumari_ and _Enterprise_ will get them before we're back online. Reiko, pull us out of the direct fight, if possible collect a couple more escape pods." She hit the contact on her chair. "Stewart, how long."

"I'm powering down the system now. Give me 2 or 3 minutes, then we should be back online." The confidence in the engineers voice was at least a welcome relief, he knew he could do this, and that was what she needed.

"Good, I'm counting on that." She sat back as all went dark around her, she was glad that the screen was on a different system, she watched the battle from her centre seat, praying for the first time in years that _Enterprise_ made it through. She counted the seconds until the lights flickered back up. "OK. Sidra, Kalil, full damage reports, I didn't feel any hits while we were down but that doesn't mean there weren't any. Kiona, weapons and plating. Reiko, take us back in." She shook her head as she gave the orders and hoped beyond all hope that either the last Romulan ship would withdraw, or they'd lose more soldiers today. She wondered, briefly, how many had been lost overall, on both sides. There was never a good day to die. Not when there were so many who weren't going to make it home to their families. As _Columbia_ charged back into the fray, she wondered how many of those going home in caskets would be members of her crew.


	6. Chapter 6

**_2156 - June_**

Shutting herself away wasn't the answer, she knew that, but she still couldn't bring herself to leave her ready room unless she was called. Not today at least. She'd given the order to start shuttling people back and forth to Enterprise and the other intact coalition ships. _Columbia_, surprisingly, was in the best shape of them all, despite taking yet another high casualty load.

Every time she closed her eyes the faces of those she'd lost in this battle floated just behind her eyes. She could see them as clearly as she could see anything, and that terrified her in way. The worries of the next few weeks would be to get all the ships, and all the crews, home. _Columbia_ had lost half her crew, more were still in critical condition, but they had help. The crew of _Discovery_, those who had made it to the escape pods before she was destroyed at least.

The door chime wasn't something she'd been expecting, and she wasn't sure she could face more bad news, or another lecture about how she needed to show her face to the crew. She just stared at the door as the chime went again. She was hoping that whoever was there would go away, until she heard a call. "Dammit, Erika. I know you're in there." There was simply only one person who would say that, and he was probably the one person she could face seeing right now.

"Fine, come in then." She said, standing up as she did, not sure if she wanted to greet him standing, or if she just needed the movement to disturb her from her extremely maudlin thoughts. The second she saw him though, and saw he was alone, her wall broken down. The worry, and the pain of the last few days, and not knowing whether he was alive until this moment had her closing the distance between them and wrapping her arms around him.

"Rike, hey. Hey come on." He muttered, holding her equally as tightly. For some reason it seemed easier to keep holding him than to face the fact she would have to let go of him eventually. "I spoke to Kalil briefly on my way in here, seems _Columbia_ herself stood up to the challenge." He moved them towards the sofa she had, and sat her down, kissing the top of her head as he did.

"She did well, we still took heavy casualties." She tried to keep the bitterness out of her voice.

"I heard, as the ranking officer I'm going to hold a memorial on _Enterprise_. Transmit it to all the ships." He took hold of her hand and looked at her seriously. She took the minute to study him. He looked as tired and broken as she felt. "I came to ask you to stand up there with me." He kept his eyes on her, and she understood what he was saying. He needed her to be there with him.

She lifted a palm to his cheek and leant up to kiss him gently, just needing that one second to remind herself that he truly was alright, and he was sat there with her. "That would be good," she nodded, "how did _Enterprise_ hold up?"

"We're still repairing our warp drive, but we should be able to maintain 1.5 by the end of the week." He smiled a little, clearly not enjoying _Enterprise _being without her engine. Not that she could blame him, she was never especially happy when _Columbia_ was broken. He shook his head a second later and his voice turned far more businesslike. "Did you submit your battle reports?"

"Yes Captain, I did." He just looked at her, and after a second she shook her head and squeezed his hand gently, realising she had snapped her response rather than answering as she usually would. "Sorry, I'm just defensive." She whispered, shaking her head again as she did and trying to take a deep breath.

He smiled and stood up, holding a hand out for her to take. "I understand, are you coming over for the memorial?" He asked, she just looked up at him, not sure if she was stalling for time, or if she just wanted a few more minutes alone with him. Even if they were being professional, mostly.

"Should I stay with _Columbia_?" She asked, a slight teasing smirk on her face. She smiled as he crouched down in front of her, bringing himself to her level.

"Rike, I need you to be with me, please? " He pulled a face that she couldn't quite read, but she could tell that his plea was both teasing and serious. Reinforcing her earlier impression that he really did need her.

This time she did stand up, slipping her hand into his as she turned toward the door. "That's something I don't hear out of you all that often."

"What?" He asked, his arm tugging her back in front of him, a curious look on his face. She lifted herself onto her tiptoes and gave him the lightest of kisses before pulling back with a smile.

"That you need me."

He shook his head, chuckling at that. "Most of the time I don't need to say it." He started, she held her hand up as the chime for the comm system drew her attention.

"_Sickbay to Captain Hernandez_"

"Go ahead Johanna." Erika still had a hint of a laugh in her voice. Though she was certain that whatever update Johanna had for her, she wasn't going to be laughing at the end of this. It was almost certainly going to be bad news.

"_Erika. We just lost Veronica._"

"Pardon?" She asked, shock settling in almost right away. That couldn't be right.

"_I'm sorry, Erika. I'll give you the full report soon._" The line was closed, and suddenly it was as if everything span around her. She felt Jon's arms, and she was suddenly glad it had only been the two of them as her whole mind shut down. She had just been speaking to Veronica a few hours earlier, joking about how she would be back on duty just as soon as the burns healed. They'd both known that wasn't going to happen, but Erika hadn't expected to lose her friend quite so quickly. Jonathan led her back to the sofa, sitting her down and then crouching to the side of her.

"Maybe you had best stay with _Columbia_ now." He said, clearly referencing the service they'd been going to. She nodded, still not really seeing anything. She wiped her eyes, hoping that it didn't look already like she was crying. She had other priorities.

"I need to tell my crew."

"Rike. Take a minute for yourself, you just lost your best friend. Yes she was your XO and your subordinate, but you've been friends for 10 years." He told her, his hand making soothing circles on her back, trying to calm her in the way he was best at doing, by being there. He knew her well enough to know that she would push him away if he tried to do anything more.

"I don't want to believe it, Jonathan." She muttered, still looking at the floor, not sure whether she was saying the right thing or not.

"I know." He just wrapped his arms around her again. Kissing the top of her head as she tried to gather her thoughts into what she was going to say to her crew. There was no time to mourn now, she had too many other things to do. He was right, she needed to stay with _Columbia_ now. There were things she needed to focus on, and maybe she should only focus on the job from now on, this was a war, and she was going to lose crew, she knew that, but she couldn't get close to them when she knew there was a chance they wouldn't make it out alive.


	7. Chapter 7

**_2156 - July_**

Erika found herself stalking down to the cargo bay that contained the makeshift caskets of the officers who had died and just sitting beside Veronica's. Talking to her as if she'd sit up and answer. In the last few weeks of slow warp journey, making jumps one or two days at a time while the fleet tried to hold itself together. Whenever she couldn't sleep, or was having trouble settling or thinking she'd make this journey to sit all but alone in a room full of the dead.

It was one such visit where she realised that she was being watched, it didn't take long for her to figure out who it was, and she was almost certain he knew the first question she would ask too, it was the first question she had asked every day for the last month. He had been the one witness to her private psychological battles over the last 2 years. He and Veronica had been her rocks, after both her captivity by the Orions and losing so many crew almost a year earlier. The question that was on her mind though, was not for her ship, not for her crew.

"Have you heard from _Challenger_?" She heard the bitterness and guilt in her own voice, even as Jonathan's footsteps brought him to her, he sat on the other end of the reinforced cargo container she had pulled up beside Veronica's casket, and took her hand. It was the tiniest hint of comfort, but it was exactly what she needed to force her back to the present.

"Not yet. I keep contacting Gardner and asking him, but he's giving me the run around." Jonathan sighed, and she could hear the frustration in his voice. With the loss of _Discovery_ and the possible loss of _Challenger_ they were feeling once again as if it was the two of them against the galaxy. Shran's fleet had been the turning point at Starbase One, and she worried that maybe, next time, Shran wouldn't be there to help. More than that, she worried about what could have happened to _Challenger._ A fate that could have so easily have been hers, a fate that by rights was hers.

"Yeah, me too. Jon, that could have been _Columbia_." She needed to point that out to him, despite the fact she knew he worried about that too, a week earlier she had fallen asleep on _Enterprise_ during a briefing, and had awoken to him recording his log. She had stayed still, listening to him chronicle his worries, and his secret relief that _Columbia_ had still been in dock undergoing repairs.

"You don't know that." He tried to reassure her, but she wasn't ready to be reassured, she wasn't ready to be comforted. In less than a month Starfleet had lost more than 200 skilled and dedicated officers. The number was boggling, and she knew that that was what happened in wars, but regardless, she didn't want to think about it. Instead she stood up and stalked away from him, and from the remains of the friend who's advice she most needed right now. Walking away from the two people she had trusted implicitly. Eventually she span on her heel, noticing that Jonathan hadn't made a move to follow her. He probably knew she needed to blow off steam, and he was the best person for her to do that with.

"_Challenger_ took our mission, it's been two months since anyone heard from them Jon, what do you think the odds are?" His piercing stare made her feel as if he could see through her soul, and he knew exactly what she was thinking, exactly what she was worrying about. He finally got up, and moved toward her, but still keeping his distance, she stopped pacing, her hands on her hips, challenging him to say something positive, to tell her that things could still be worse.

"I admit, they don't look good." He finally admitted, catching up to her and putting his hands on her shoulders, that miniscule movement enough to force her to breathe again, to force her to look up to him. Even with his admittance that she was right, it didn't look good for _Challenger_, she couldn't help but reply sarcastically.

"That's an understatement."

"Erika, you'd have done things differently than Roy, you can't know that this is what would have happened to you. You'd probably have been here anyway." He looked down at her, and she felt the truth of his words, he truly believed what he was telling her. He was convinced that had _Columbia_ gone there she would have avoided whatever had happened to _Challenger_. She would have brought her crew home. She wanted to believe that down.

"We would have missed Starbase One." She whispered, her eyes settling back on the caskets around her, particularly on Veronica's. "Veronica would still be alive."

"Again, you don't know that. Rike, come on. You know better than anyone that sometimes things don't entirely go as we plan. We'll be back at Jupiter in the morning, how about we have a late breakfast together and try and get an update on _Challenger_. Gardner might be more receptive if we ask together?" He ducked down, forcing her to maintain eye contact with her. Instead of continuing to avoid him, she wrapped her arms around him and leant against his chest.

"That would be nice." She admitted, hearing his heart beating, and breathing in the familiar scent that calmed her nerves more than she could have ever imagined. Their embrace was necessarily brief, even though they were in private they knew that at any time someone could walk in.

"I need to get back to _Enterprise_. Promise me you'll get some sleep." He pulled back, looking at her with a level of concern. She didn't remember telling him that she'd been battling her insomnia again, but he had known anyway. It was no wonder this man had known where to find her.

"I'll try" She accepted his kiss, and shook her head as she followed him to the door. "Jon." She said, only a second outside on the corridor. Minutes away from the airlock where their ships were connected, she tried to muster a smile, but she couldn't quite get it, it seemed he knew anyway, he was there and smiling at her. "I am sorry." She admitted, knowing he had lost officers and friends as well.

"I know." He said, pulling her into his arms again, regardless of all the people who could see them. The people who might find out about them. She was glad to be held just another minute longer. It was something she really needed.


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey guys, this is the last chapter in this little story. The next story should be ready to go tomorrow, and that one is called "Shadows and Symbols". Hope you all come back! Thanks for following!**

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_2156 - July_

There weren't that many mornings he got to lay in bed and take in the day. It was even rarer that he wasn't on Enterprise and rarer still that he wasn't alone. He was still slowly coming round when he heard the tell-tale noises of waking from the woman curled up against him. He had always appreciated the way Erika slept. It complimented his own, as so many of their actions did. It was also far more innocent and carefree than he ever saw her when she was awake. He was still studying her when her dark eyes met his. He burst out laughing as she stretched out then leant up, kissing his cheek. "This is going to be a great day."

"Rike?" He asked, still not feeling any great urge to move at all.

"I just have a feeling it's going to be a good day." She muttered, settling against him again.

"Could that be because we're waking up to natural sunlight, a day of rest before we're both back on our ships and no need to go to headquarters for anything?" He brushed her hair off her forehead, enjoying the chance to just watch her for a few minutes. This was a truly rare moment, he couldn't remember the last time they'd spent time together where nobody was going to be urgently calling one or the other of them to the bridge, or to some sort of briefing. If he could spend the entire day here with her, listening to her talk, he would. She had expressed the night before how she still missed Veronica, and how she wasn't sure how _Columbia_ would be without the enigmatic XO.

Erika's smile this morning, however, seemed the brightest it had been in a while. Since the last time they'd woken together in this bed, actually. "That's probably part of it." She admitted, and it was obvious she was mentally planning her day. He hoped it didn't require moving. "I really need to start looking for a new apartment."

He shook his head and wrapped an arm around her, gently stroking her hair. "No you don't. Move in here."

"What?" She rolled over, looking at him seriously.

"Aside from the fact that I want to be with you when we're both home, there is no point in you having to pay a mortgage on somewhere you're never going to stay. Why don't you and I just share this place. We're not going to be home together a lot over the next few years anyway."

"Well, isn't that romantic." She shook her head a little, sitting up and looking down at him. He felt utterly exposed at the slightly disappointed look she was giving him.

"Rike, you know what I mean." He said, not sure whether he was asking or telling, hoping that it came across as whichever one she wanted.

A grin crept up her cheeks and suddenly he wondered if she was winding him up. "No, I don't. It got lost in the word vomit."

"Live with me. That's what I'm asking. Please?"

"OK. Since you asked so nice. Do you want some breakfast?"

"If you're making some. Put on the news while you do."

He propped himself up on the bed, looking at the screen that was on the edge of the table. The obvious sights of a planet after a disaster was the first thing he saw, his eyes were glued to the screen as the newsreader continued. "_Yesterday's news has stunned members of the coalition and others alike. With more than 10,000 already confirmed dead rumours are circulating-_"

"Erika." He started, but he didn't need to say anything more than her name to know that she was right there watching it too.

"Oh, I'm watching."

"_Admiral Black has agreed with a security council that sending a ship would be-_"

At those words they both made a grab for their uniforms. "We'd best go to work. So much for a calm day together. I really needed this too." Erika shook her head as she carried the uniform back to the bedroom from where they'd left it in the living room the night before.

"I know, Rike. I know. I did too." He sighed, pulling her to him and kissing her as hard as he could, all the while reaching behind him and searching for his blues. "We knew this was a probability when we got back together." He muttered, handing her a shoe as he did, then kissing her again before pulling away.

"I know, but I still regret when it happens." He heard the sadness in her voice, and he didn't blame her for feeling that way. They got dressed in near silence, both engrossed in the thought of what their crews and ships were likely to be asked to do.

"Let's go see what the brass need us to do, and hope that we have some new crew waiting for us." As they walked out of the door he couldn't resist teasing her one last time, knowing that they needed to switch to being serious captains' again as soon as they left the building."I thought you said it was going to be a good day?"

"I will beat you." She said, completely deadpan.

"You say that twice a week." He smiled, wondering if he'd need to duck.

"This time I mean it." She growled, slipping her hand into his as they left the building.

The quick walk to the nearby headquarters passed in silence, once they entered the grounds he gave Erika's hand a final squeeze before dropping it. Mentally making the switch. The second they stepped through the door he saw Admiral Garner, clearly on his way to or from one of the various meetings Jon was certain would be taking over headquarters after such an event. "Jon, Erika, we were just about to call for you."

"How bad is it?" Jon asked, feeling Erika stop behind him, placing her hand on his back to slow her own momentum.

"Bad, Coridan has asked for our help in investigating it."

"When is _Enterprise_ going." He asked, ignoring the light pinch Erika gave him, standing slightly out of the eyeline of the Admiral. He had known she wouldn't be happy at his assumption _Enterprise_ would be sent, and was sure she could make some good arguments as to why _Enterprise_ would be needed on the front. He still had to say it.

"Hold your horses Commodore, we don't know what's happening yet. Now you're both here though I'll take you through to the meeting." Jon shared a look with Erika, and he could see in her face she agreed with him. This couldn't have come at a worse time for Starfleet or the fledgling coalition. If the Romulans were attacking unaligned and non-combatant worlds, how long before they hit Rigel X or Nicaustra III? How long before they managed to cut off Starfleet's supply lines enough to threaten the war efforts? How long before they won this war?


End file.
