It's Not You, It's the Chain of Command

Posted on 03 Aug 2025 @ 10:08pm by Captain Sabrina Corbin & Lieutenant Alexander Powell

1,269 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Assignment: Arawyn
Location: USS Arawyn
Timeline: 242508.03 (Before the JL with Corbin & Holt)

=/\= Captain’s Quarters =/\=

Sabrina rose early. She’d already carved out time for a play session with the kitten, who’d been fed, issued a stern warning to behave, and left lounging smugly in a sunbeam. Once groomed and uniformed, she tapped into the terminal to check her messages.

An auto-reply to her senior staff meeting request caught her eye, her head tilting with mild confusion.

“Oh, bloody hell, Rek,” she muttered. “Let’s not get started off like this.”

Rek, her nickname for him, had stuck years ago, long before either of them wore much gold on their collars.

She queried the computer for his current location and smiled at the reply. One, it would be good to see him again; two tours and over a decade of camaraderie earned that much. Two, she needed to lay out expectations. Skipping her senior officer briefing wasn’t going to become a habit.

=/\= Junior Officers’ Mess =/\=

It was early, but breakfast was in full swing. The moment she stepped inside, quiet conversations dimmed, chairs shifted, and the ripple of her presence moved through the room like a breeze before a storm.

“At ease, please. Carry on. It’s good to see you all.”

She caught sight of him and pivoted toward the replicators to grab a coffee, black, hot, and bracing. One sip down, she crossed the room and dropped into the seat across from him.

“Rek,” she said simply, the name alone holding layers of amusement, warning, and familiarity.

She didn’t elaborate, letting the pause hang, to see how he'd fill it.

“Sabrina!” he exclaimed pleasantly. “While I wasn’t expecting you for breakfast—” which was evident by the audacious bloody mary he not-so-discreetly slid to the side “—however, I’m SO glad you’re here. I didn’t wanna bother you while you were doing the whole Admirals-and-Captain stuff… bring it in!” The recently-promoted Lieutenant had a penchant for self-sabotage, and a habit of hiding when he felt out of sorts.
He rose and embraced her in a brief hug; returning to his seat he asked: “So, how does the 4th pip feel? Are you liking everybody you've met so far?”

It was good to see him, even better to get a hug. Sabrina had not missed the bloody mary, but was putting that card up her sleeve.

Reflexively he recovered his beverage and took a sip. Technically he was off duty, because apparently as a department head he could write his own schedule. Opportunity and anxiety met, fell in love, and had a baby when he read over Sabby’s itinerary. Chances were she was here because he’d gotten cozy working Gamma shift for the past week and forseeable future.

Sabrina’s soft blue eyes looked over her friend; she already knew he was triggered. She was giving him an opportunity here that he may not have received elsewhere. Corbin didn’t want to doubt this decision; she wanted to work with him through it.

Corbin spoke in a hushed tone, aware of several pairs of ears in range, knowing quiet and discreet was not always Rek’s MO. “The pip is heavy, I’m still getting used to it.”
She glanced around the junior officer mess hall, stopped at his drink for a moment, and then met his eyes. “You’re hiding here. Why?”

“I’m not hiding, I’m drinking,” he amended.

"I've observed that much Alex," Sabrina said dryly. She glanced around again, trying to gather just how many ears were leaning into the conversation of the Captain and one of her senior officers in the junior's mess. "I am in the next hour about to meet my XO. I don't know her, you don't know her. " Sabrina was serious when she said, 'I'm not in that position anymore, Rek. She is your direct supervisor, and you will need to impress her."

Corbin sighed and patted her soft brown hair down flat in an unnecessary move for grooming, but it was an anxiety release. "You're a senior officer now. You still want this right?"

"I'm not hiding," he repeated, taking another, tenative sip. "I--I'm.... Like, someone's gotta be on the Bridge at night time. I'm not gonna let you down, Sabby. I'm trying to make it easy for you. Can you imagine how impressed she'll be when, like, it's fuck-all in the morning and she didn't have to work Gamma shift? You're welcome," he concluded with a flamboyant gesture.

Tragically, Rek was comfortable in the Jr Officer's mess because he still thought of himself as such. He was comfortable having a drink after shift with his old friend and mentor. He was probably the most comfortable person in the room at the time. As much as Sabrina's eyes darted around the room, hushed as her tone was, the increasing yet deafening quiet that surrounded their table...

"Of course I wanna do it; I just don't wanna fuck it up."

She found herself sighing again after wincing at his cursing; it wasn't something she had ever gotten used to.

"This is a lot before breakfast. I'm barely awake."

Sabrina found a smile, though, saying warmly, "Listen. I will let you work that out with Commander Holt. There are two things I'm going to ask right now. One, you are a member of my senior staff, and whether or not you've been up all night, you will attend my briefings. Two, I’d prefer you find a way to express your apprehension without sounding like a Shakespearean crisis in boots."

She grabbed his hand, squeezing it with affection. There was a deep love for Alexander Powell that she had trouble explaining outwardly. He was dramatic, flamboyant, loud, and sometimes reckless, all things Sabrina did not possess. "You can always come talk to me; we will work through things together. If you're going to drink after shift, let's not do it here?"

His body language eased as he squeezed her hand back in return. "Yeah, I know. Something a little closer to the window next time?" he quipped.

As they rose Alex released a heavy sigh. He could tell that his behavior had caused Sabrina concern, but that was the thing about her: she cared about her people. "Alright, so, if I'm gonna be your plus-one I should probably go find something to wear... and readjust the duty roster? Alpha shifts, perhaps?"

Corbin chuckled at his window comment, "Talk to Commander Holt about shifts. I would imagine that in order to make some briefings and maintain a decent sleep schedule, your shifts may float around, still need an experienced officer at the conn in the dead hours."

She started to walk them to the doors, offering something she hoped would pick him up. "I have noticed your touches here already. I'm getting near constant updates of all those remaining last-minute installs and refits getting done. I'm excited to get this beautiful creature back into the stars. A little jealous you've already been here for that."

"I learned from the best," he replied. "I gotta go let Lt Beaverhausen know he's workin' a double today. Apparently I've got a date with the Captain. See you upstairs?"

"Your date, huh?" She smirked, "You have changed so much in the couple of months since I've seen you." Corbin gave him a wink before getting back to her boss mode persona that she wasn't sure either of them was quite used to yet, even if she was his XO for some years. "I'll see you this afternoon, Lieutenant."

Lieutenant Alexander Powell
Chief Operations Officer

Captain Sabrina Corbin
Commanding Officer

 

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