Vulcan, Residence of Thevius, 2400 

Thevius sat at his desk, absolutely absorbed in a novel he was reading. A shadow crossed the corner of his vision, making him jump and whip around with a glare. He stared coldly at the Andorian in a Starfleet uniform beside him.

Thevius looked rather cross, folding his arms over his chest, “How did you get in my personal home?” Ashihl smirked and shrugged, “I beamed in, sir.” He offers a PADD to Thevius, “You may wish to read this.”

Thevius snatches the PADD from Ashihl, “You are lucky I did not blast you with a phaser… Not on stun.” He rose from his desk and paced away from the Andorian, holding one hand behind his back as he read from the PADD.

Ashihl watched his commanding officer’s face go from cross to concern rather quickly. Thevius stops beside a large window overlooking the planet Vulcan. It wasn’t his homeworld. His homeworld was destroyed. He claimed through and through that he was nothing but Vulcan, though anyone with a medical tricorder or access to his records would know better. 

Thevius turned, the setting sun casting an orange glow around his silhouette. He harshly demanded as he waved the device around, “Is this true, Ashihl? All of it?!”

Ashihl sighed, shifting his position slightly, tensing, “Yes, sir. It is. Those records and orders are accurate.”

Thevius snarled and hurled the PADD at the Andorian, yelling, “DAMMIT!” Ashihl deftly caught the PADD, far too used to his commanding officer’s bouts of violent rage and emotion. He tucked the device under his arm, clasping his hands behind his back once more as he waited for Thevius to calm down.

The half Vulcan paced aggressively around his personal office, “This puts me in a horrible position, do you know this?! On one side are the people who raised me, whose blood runs in my veins, as much as I deny it. I am a damn Romulan!” He yelled and swore, “And on the other side are the ones I am serving and work for– and the other half of my damn lineage!”

Ashihl nodded slowly, “I am well aware, sir.”

Thevius barked, “Shut up!”

The Andorian pursed his lips, his antennae leaning backwards.

Thevius spun around and kicked his desk over with a rather unhinged scream. Ashihl raised his brows, remaining silent and staying still as papers flung around the office and glass smashed on the stone floor. Ashihl had to admit, he had never seen a fit like this before.

Thevius stood there, fists clenched, chest heaving. After a few minutes, he calmed down and adjusted his robes, moving to sit back in his chair and acting as if he didn’t just destroy his office. He said slyly, “I have an idea. It isn’t ethical. It may not work. It may be plain old suicide. But it is the kind of thing that will get our names and stories taught at the Academy. If word of this plan gets out, we would get decommissioned. Do you understand me, Lieutenant?”

Ashihl tilted his head, his antennae perking forward, “I fully understand sir, and you have my utmost attention. Andorians aren’t the most by the book species.” Thevius smiled, “Neither are Romulans. And if we want an upperhand in this. We need to think like Romulans. Play them at their own game.” 

Thevius leaned back in his chair, trusting the tight security of his estate here on Vulcan. Romulans expect deception. Thevius is no different and cracked down on personal security where other Vulcans viewed it as illogical. “I went right from Romulus to Starfleet. My childhood friend, however, has served over 80 years in the Tal Shiar. He achieved a good rank, his parents were Senators, he married a well decorated Star Navy captain. He only recently achieved the rank of Ensign due to how heavily Starfleet is cracking security on him due to him defecting after 80 or so years. He had power and he walked out on it just after the supernova. They have reason to be suspicious.”

Thevius went to reach for his tea, only to realise he flung it across the room. Heaving a sigh, he stood up and walked to the replicator to get a new one. He spoke as he waited for his tea, “Look up the name Ensign Lihran. Serial number KB-472-461.”

Ashihil whipped out the PADD from under his arm, typing in the number and name, “He is stationed as a power systems engineer at Starbase Four in the Mellstoxx system.”

Thevius sipped his tea and walked closer to Ashihl, “He won’t come willingly. I can tell you that much. He wants nothing to do with the old Romulan government, or the new for that matter. We will have to convince him. Get our ship and crew ready and plot a course for Starbase Four.”

Ashihl saluted smartly, “Yes, sir!” He turned to let himself out of Thevius’s office before beaming up. Thevius had every intention to finish his tea and think of how to convince Lihran to his cause before beaming up.

Thevius turned to stare out the window overlooking the planet he settled on. This really wasn’t his home, or his people. He was not a true Vulcan, no matter how much he lied to convince himself. 

Romulus, 2275 

“It’s my turn to play Captain, Thevius! Come on!” Lihran ran after his friend, jabbing him with a stick he had picked up, “It’s my turn! You promised!”

Thevius grinned, poking Lihran back with his own stick he claimed, teasing him, “I don’t remember that!”

Lihran growled and stamped his foot, “You promised!” Thevius rolls his eyes at the younger child, “Alright, fine. How about…” The boy looked around, thinking of a contest he could win ‘fairly’ to be Captain this time again. Thevius grins, “Oh, I got it! First one to the War Memorial is Captain!”

Lihran tightens his grip on the stick. He whined,  “You’re taller than me! That’s no fair!”

Thevius smirks, “I’ll give you a head start! 1… 2…” Lihran’s eyes widened, turning to take off at a sprint as fast as he can. Thevius fake yawned, waiting till Lihran got a head start before sprinting off madly after the other boy. He leapt around and dodged other Romulans, laughing maniacally. His laughter was cut off abruptly as he ran face first into the backside of an adult and landed heavily on the ground with a cry.

Thevius looked up in abject horror as he realised he ran into the back of a Senator standing in a group of other Senators at a Memorial. The Senator looked rather furious, demanding, “Whose whelp is this!?”

Thevius looked about ready to cry in fear till a female knelt down beside him, pulling the boy into her arms, “This is my son, Senator. I apologise for his antics. The children are our future. He is still very young.” 

Two other Senator’s happened to be Lihran’s parents and they had already wrangled their son. Lihran stood between his parents, gulping nervously. Lihran boldly stepped forward, “Excuse me, Senator, sir?” Lihran’s mother gasped and his father tensed, ready to snatch their child up.

The angry Senator looked over and tersely spoke, “Yes child? Speak.” Lihran swallowed nervously, yet boldly said, “It was my fault, Senator. He let me get a head start in a race and I ran too fast. If I hadn’t ran so fast, he would have ran slower and would have seen you.”

The Senator heaved a sigh, “How old are you, child?”

Lihran replied, “I am six, Senator.” The Senator looked at Thevius silently. Thevius stammered, “Thirteen, Senator.” The Senator closed his eyes for a moment, not wanting to argue with a child’s logic in front of the Senate. He opened his eyes and spoke to Lihran, “You are forgiven. Be more careful.” He looked at Thevius, “You are old enough to know better.”

Thevius scrambled to his feet, stammering,  “Yes, Senator. Sorry Senator!” The Senator waved his hand, “Now go!” The two children scrambled off quickly as both their parents profusely apologised.

Lihran and Thevius rounded a corner and kept running till they got to a park. Thevius flung down onto the grass, gasping for breath, “You’re captain this time. I get Captain next time! I promise! I promise!”

Back to the present… 

Thevius shook his head, coming out of his mind, sipping his now cold tea. He grimaced and turned to recycle what was left and the cup. He murmured to himself, “Looks like I get to be Captain this time, Lihran. I promised. And I got the bigger stick.”