Following their engagement with what remained of the Dominion’s Lost Fleet at Farpoint, Challenger Squadron returned to Starbase Bravo for repairs. The Higgs, already hastily repaired after encountering three Jem’Hadar fighters, took a further beating and had to be towed home by the Challenger.

It would take months to repair the Higgs fully, so Fourth Fleet Command assigned the Intrepid-class USS Toronto to replace the Higgs on Challenger Squadron and added the Rhode Island-class USS Endurance. They also offered the crew a chance to transfer to new billets.

Alexander Mitchell was not a man usually given to self-doubt, but his experience on the Higgs caused doubt to creep into his thinking. It wasn’t his skills as a pilot that he was doubting, he was one of the best pilots in the fleet and would put that to the test anytime, but it was his abilities as a commander.

His last conversation with Captain Matheson weighed heavily on his mind more than a week after her death. Her accusation that his loyalty lay with Forrester and not the Higgs haunted his dreams, and it had also started consuming his waking moments.

She didn’t trust you, a voice in the darkest recesses of Mitchell’s mind taunted. None of them did. They all thought Matheson picked you to be her XO because Forrester told her to. They don’t think you’ve earned it; they don’t think you’re ready.

“They’re wrong,” Mitchell announced to the darkened room, causing the body beside him to stir briefly. His companion’s name escaped him, though he knew it began with a K. Mitchell gently climbed out of bed and padded into the next room to let the other man sleep.

Tom Forrester had nothing to do with Matheson’s choice. She saw potential in Mitchell and decided to take a chance on him.

And you let her down. She lost trust in you.

That hurt the most, not that she’d questioned his loyalty, but that he’d let her down.

It’s time to step out from Forrester’s shadow.

As much as he hated to admit it, he couldn’t remain under Forrester’s command any longer. If he was going to be sure he was being promoted based solely on his merits, he needed to transfer out of Challenger Squadron.

He loved Thomas Forrester like a brother, but it was time to make a fresh start.

The familiar tingle of the transport process mixed with a heavy sense of dread as Mitchell materialised in one of the Challenger’s transporter rooms the following evening. Two hours earlier, he’d received a message from Forrester that read, ‘Join me for Dinner’. They’d been friends long enough that Mitchell could read between the lines; this wasn’t a request but an instruction.

“Brace yourself,” That was the muttered welcome from Matthias Bentley as he ushered Mitchell into the Captain’s Quarters. In the background, he could hear the rhythmic sound of Forrester’s knife striking his chopping board.

Sure enough, Forrester was working hard in the kitchen while gently playing music set a relaxed mood. Mitchell, however, felt anything but relaxed.  “AJ!” Forrester’s enthusiastic greeting set him more on edge. “Come in! Come in and tell me why I had to learn of your transfer request from the Chief of Staff.”

“Because it’s his job?” Mitchell weakly joked as he flopped down on the couch, looking anywhere but at his best friend.

The sound of chopping stopped. “Don’t get cute with me, AJ. Answer my question.”

“I didn’t tell you,” Mitchell sighed, “because you’d have asked me why.”

“What the hell’s that supposed to mean?” Forrester asked.

Bentley handed Mitchell a glass of wine and sat on the couch beside them. Both of them were useless in the kitchen, so Forrester preferred to do all the cooking, not that either would complain.

There was no easy way to say what was needed, so Mitchell just said it. “I need to step out from underneath your shadow, Tom.” Mitchell finally met his best friend’s gaze.

“My shadow?” Forrester still looked confused.

He held Forrester’s gaze and nodded slowly. “Yeah.” He took a deep breath before continuing, “As long as I serve in your Squadron, I’m gonna be in your shadow.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Forrester waved a hand dismissively. “You are not in my shadow.”

Mitchell knew they would have very different perspectives on this, that convincing his best friend would be an uphill struggle. “Yes, I am,” Mitchell shot back. “As long as I remain under your command, people will think that my promotions have more to do with your patronage than my abilities,” his chest tightened, “and that my loyalty is to you and not them.”

“No one could doubt your loyalty to the Higgs,” Forrester resumed chopping his vegetables.

“Matheson did.”

That stopped Forrester mid-chop. Mitchell could feel Forrester looking at him as he stared into his wine.

“She was wrong,” Forrester said as he resumed his chopping.

As much as he wanted to believe that, Mitchell disagreed. “Was she?” Mitchell asked. “I’m closer to you than my own brother, Tom. I think she was right.”

“Well, if you don’t want to stay on the Higgs, there are alternatives,” Forrester told him. “Theo Dalton is taking command of the Endurance, so I need a Senior Officer of the Watch. It’s a step back from where you were, but after a few years in that role, you’ll have your pick of XO assignments.”

A snort escaped Mitchell’s nostrils. “You haven’t been listening to anything I’ve said.”

“Of course I have,” Forrester replied defensively.

“No, you’ve heard me but haven’t been listening,” Mitchell told him. “I need to step out of your sphere of influence.”

“I’m not letting you transfer out of the Squadron,” Forrester announced.

“Why not?”

“Because I won’t lose you again,” Forrester shot back hotly, slamming his knife on the counter. His head dropped, and he took a deep breath before speaking again, “When the Hypatia disappeared, I lost more than my best friend; I lost the only family I had.” When he looked up, Mitchell could see unshed tears glistening in his eyes. “Thanks to some cosmic miracle, I got you back. Then you go off to the Higgs, and you almost get yourself killed in less than three months.”

Mitchell knew the past decade had been challenging for his friends and family, made all the more difficult because although ten years had passed for them, no time at all had passed for him. The experience had been challenging for him too. He’d missed so much of the lives of his loved ones; his sister’s marriage, his baby brother was now older than him, and the death of his grandparents. But even if he remained on the Challenger, Forrester wouldn’t be able to protect him from the dangers of the galaxy.

“Has he tried wrapping you in cotton wool too?” Mitchell asked with a glance in Bentley’s direction.

Bentley took a long sip of his wine. “He tried.”

“Is it so wrong that I want to protect the people I love?” Forrester’s words stunned Mitchell into momentary silence. “What?” He asked as Mitchell looked at him dumbstruck. “Do I have something on my face?”

It was another few seconds before the power of speech returned to Mitchell. “I’ve just never known you to toss around the L-word quite so casually.” He glanced again at Bentley. “You’ve done a good job with him.”

“He’s a work in progress.”

“Bite me,” Forrester shot back as he picked up his knife.

Mitchell screwed up his nose, “No thanks.”

“Maybe later,” Bentley said at the same time.

They’d drifted off the topic, and Mitchell wanted to resolve this before they sat down to eat, though it would be a while before that happened, judging by the amount of work Forrester still had to do before their dinner was ready. “So, you gonna keep fighting me, or will you let me go?”

“Matty said you wouldn’t listen to me,” Forrester grumbled as he reached behind him with his free hand and produced a PADD, which he handed to Mitchell. “There aren’t many open XO billets at the moment, so this is the best I could do.”

Mitchell read through the orders on the PADD. “Chief Flight Controller and Second Officer on the Audacious.”

“She’s a Reliant-class starship due to make her way to the Deneb Sector. She’ll arrive the day after tomorrow,” Forrester informed him as he scooped up the carrots he’d been chopping and dumped them into a pot.

This would allow him to keep doing a job that he loved and knew he was good at while learning the ropes of command and figuring out if that was his future or if being a pilot was where he wanted to stay. “Thanks for this.”

“Alright, enough of that,” Forrester said with a dismissive wave. “I have a lot of work still to do, so why don’t you guys go relax and let me get on.”

Mitchell gave him a mock salute, “Aye, Captain.”