Fit as a Fiddle

Posted on 05 Mar 2019 @ 4:02am by Lieutenant Pippa Faust & Captain Abigail Rhodes

Mission: Prologue
Location: Sickbay

ON:

Abby made a "huh" sound as she recognized another name on the latest list of assignees.  Starfleet, in their infinite wisdom, didn't update her list when officers were assigned.  Rather, when they appeared on DS13.  There was something about odd things happening during months-long transfers that made them a little cautious about confirming orders.  Still, recognizing a second name was unexpected.  The odds of that happening out of thousands of ships and millions of personnel was astronomical.

"Computer, locate Lieutenant Faust," she asked.

After an acknowledgement beep, "Lieutenant Pippa Faust is in Sickbay."

"Of course she is", Abby commented to herself with a smile. "Some things never change."  Deciding to nip two birds in one bud (to butcher a metaphor or two), she stood form her desk and made her way down two decks to Sickbay.

Pippa tugged at her earlobe as she stood in the middle of Sickbay and squinted her eyes at the state of the place. Was it a mess? To the average person, not at all, but there were just little things that just... weren't... right in her eyes. This was one thing that always stressed her about the idea of new assignments -- getting everything in order when first arriving. Though she did have to concede that in this case it was both infinitely better and more terrifying at the same time. This time it was her space, she was CMO, so she didn't have to cater to the needs of anyone else in a higher position and she could make things how she wished, but at the same time, she was also the one in charge and everything that went wrong in that space was at least partially her fault.

It was all alright though, she decided, nodding resolutely to herself. She could make this work. She would just need to make a few tweaks here and there. 

Abby leaned against the door with her arms crossed, grinning at Pippa's unsaid complaint.  "You know," she said to the empty air, "you're the first to have the place.  We barely walked through in spacedock.  I think most of the machinery still has plastic on."

"Yes, I know that," Pippa said, so distracted mentally cataloguing the abundance of miniscule changes she was going to need to do to make Sickbay just right that she didn't even turn to acknowledge the person speaking. "There are just... little things."

A moment ticked by.

Another.

And then suddenly the cadence and color of the voice registered with her flighty brain. Rich, fortifying maroon with spikes of mauve had flashed in the empty space before her eyes. She knew those colors. 

Pippa whipped around and grinned. "Abby!" she exclaimed before quickly correcting herself. "Sorry - I mean, Captain."

Abby chuckled and handwaved away the drop of protocol.  "I am happy to see you too, Pippa.  Or should I say, Doctor." Abby's grin only widened.

Pippa laughed and shook her head before sucking in an excited breath. "So! Thoughts? Feelings? How are we doing? How are we feeling about having our own command?"

Abby pushed herself off the door jamb and stepped into the room.  Her grin softened and her hands clasped and unclasped as she attempted to find words to describe her complicated felings.  "Excited, terrified, but mostly excited.  My ship, my missions, and an unexplored frontier.  A scientist's dream."

"It's going to be amazing," Pippa stated, leaving no room for argument. "You're going to be amazing, and I'm so glad I've been given the opportunity to join you on this adventure." And she truly was. She had spent enough time with Abby on the USS Farragut to have gotten to know the woman pretty well and Pippa completely believed that if anyone deserved her own command, it was Abby. Then to be stationed aboard the very same ship, well, she couldn't have asked for anything better!

"Thanks, Pippa.  Your support means a lot."  Abby glanced around the space, recalling the Farragut's much more expansive sickbay deisgned to support ten times the ship compliment.  "What about you?  The M&M is a lot smaller than the Farragut was."

Pippa looked around as well and then breathed out a happy, "I like it." It was smaller, yes, and it wasn't perfect yet, but it was comfortable and the hum was nice. She nodded resolutely. "It has a personality, which isn't something one can usually say about a sickbay. This one is special. I think we'll get along just fine."  

"Excellent.  I'm glad you like it."  Abby walked over to one of the biobeds and wiped some imaginary dust from its surface.  "As you know, all crew should have an intake physical at each new post.  I think a Captain should be first," she added a grin, "Unless you're not ready for work yet."

"Pfft!" Pippa laughed. "Of course I'm ready. I'm always ready." She walked over and patted the bed. "Up, please," she said as she grabbed her medical tricorder off of the nearby equipment tray table. 

Abby did as bid; in this room Dr. Faust was the boss.  She hopped up onto the surface, gently crossing her ankles.  "Good, because we are rapidly getting crewed up, so I imagine you'll become busy pretty quickly."

"Thank goodness," Pippa replied semi-distractedly as she started scanning Abby. "I've never been one for being idle. It gives me too much time to think." She puffed out another laugh, this time at her own expense. "Though this time around, beyond being in charge here, Gethen is with me, finally. I'm looking forward to getting to actually spend time with my husband for once."

"Ah, good," Abby said, "I had hoped Starfleet would acquiesce.  I recognized how rough it was, being apart, and I maaay have pulled a string or two."  Her own marriage ended in tradgedy that nearly broke her, and she didn't want to see anyone else go through that.  A long distance relationship was on another level, but the separation stress was still there.

Pippa's eyes widened and she paused mid-scan to look directly at Abby. "Did you really?" she asked, surprised, touched, and overjoyed all at once. It had been such a struggle for her and Gethen to be separated. It had never been what they had wanted and it had gotten to a point right before their reassigment to the Mark Miller that Gethen had been suggesting that Pippa retire early just so they could be together. Pippa had been strongly considering it, too, even though the idea of giving up her career broke her heart.

Abby smiled, but it was a different smile than before.  "Your pain was getting too close to my pain, and I just couldn't have that."  Her head dropped a little with a resurgence of memory, but the feeling passed with a slow breath.

Brow furrowing just so, Pippa reached out and squeezed Abby's forearm. "Thank you for what you did," she said genuinely, her voice gentle. "It means the world to us."

"It was the least I could do," Abby said with a small smile.  "Now, can we get on with the physical before we turn into a blubbering mess?"  Abby attempted a bit of levity in the question.

Pippa laughed softly and nodded, sounding just a bit weepy. "Probably wise," she chimed before returning to the scan. After another half a minute or so, she nodded again and returned the hand sensor to the cradle and flipped the tricorder closed. "You are as fit as the proverbial fiddle."

"Excellent," Abby said before hopping off the biobed.  "Not that it was a surprise or anything."

"Of course not," Pippa replied, a cheeky grin slipping across her lips. "I'd say you are officially ready. Good luck, Captain."

Abby nodded with a grin, "Thank you, Doctor.  We both have duties to return to, so I suppose we should get back to them.  We'll have to grab an adult beverage at a later date."  She waved as she exited sickbay on her way back to the ready room and what meeting she had next.


OFF:

Captain Abigail Rhodes
Commanding Officer
USS Mark Miller

&

Doctor Pippa Faust
Chief Medical Officer
USS Mark Miller