A/N: This is set during 1x09 (after Quincy found Rachel but before she came up with the solution) and I apologize (again) for the long wait but I had to rewrite parts to make it fit into canon but at the same time push my AU-storyline. I hope I didn't mess up too bad.

Somewhere in the back of her mind there's a clock ticking, counting down relentlessly, and with every minutes that goes by without her getting closer to the answer that's hovering just beyond her reach, Rachel feels whatever hope she had left slowly slipping away. It's as if she's coming apart at the seams.

God, what has she done? Because of her, because she overestimated her own capabilities, Maya is dead and the remaining five are slowly but surely losing the fight against the virus.

The crew believed in her and she's failed them all. No one said a word but she could read it in their eyes, the barely hidden despair and pain, the knowledge that it's only a matter of time before it's all over.

The worst though had been the look on the captain's face. Rachel had never seen him so broken, so defeated, unable to help his people, to do anything but watch them suffer. Neither her revelation about the virus nor facing off against Ruskov had brought him to his knees – it had been her failure of saving his people from the virus that finally did it.

Her heart chokes her and Rachel lets her head drop back against the wooden crate behind her, closing her burning eyes for a second to fend off the threatening tears but they escape anyway and she can feel them rolling down her cheeks, stinging her skin.

"Quincy, you're wrong. I'm not the best," she whispers bitterly, wiping the tears from her cheeks with the sleeve of her jumper.

"Yes, you are."

Startled, she twists around and her breath catches in her throat as she comes face to face with the last person she expects to see. The captain is standing just a few feet away, leaning against the crate next to the monkey, arms crossed over his chest, his eyes red rimmed but clear as he watches her closely.

"You are the best and you will figure it out."

His voice is rough but without any hint of doubt or uncertainty, and something twists in her chest. How can he still think she's the best, how can he still believe in her, after everything that has happened?

Rachel doesn't realize she's voiced her thoughts out loud until he shakes his head and scrubs his hand over his face and then back, his expression caught somewhere between frustration and disbelief. She can't tell which is winning out but then it doesn't matter anyway because he's already pushing away from the crate and for one terrifying moment she thinks he's going to leave, her questions having finally shattered the false illusions he had about her, but he's moving towards her instead, a slight tension in his jaw that gets more pronounced with every step he takes.

"Do you remember what you told me and the crew? That there's absolutely nothing that will stop you until you find the answer?" Pulling out one of the chairs, he sits down and leans forward, propping his elbows on his knees, and she recognizes the determination etched into the lines of his face. "You never gave up back then until you found a vaccine, despite the many set backs you had."

He gestures at the little monkey. "The little guy there is the proof that it does work. Whatever the reason is why it doesn't work on the six...I know you will figure it out. I know you won't give up until you do. That is why I believe in you."

She knows she should say something, anything, but all she can do is stare at him, her heartbeat echoing in her ears, a white noise that's drowning everything out but his words and their meaning. It had never been about others thinking she's the best. It had always been about someone believing in her, no matter what, and here is the one person she needs to believe in her telling her exactly that with such utter conviction that she knows he's not just saying it to appease her.

The captain sighs, his shoulders slumping, and he looks even more beaten down than before. Rachel realizes he thinks his words have no effect and her lips part but she still can't say anything, all of her words held back by the heart in her throat. He stands up and straightens his uniform, and she knows she has to do something before it's too late.

Her hand shoots up as he steps past her, her fingers gripping a fistful of his sleeve, and he stops dead in his tracks but doesn't look at her.

"Captain..."

Finally, he meets her eyes, but there's something guarded in his exhausted expression, and she scrambles to find the right words but all her supposedly brilliant mind can come up with is a quiet, "Thank you."

It seems to take forever, the seconds stretching on as he silently studies her face, but then he nods, his expression softening, and something tells her he understands what she's trying to say, and it feels as if she can breathe again.

Rachel uncurls her fingers from the fabric of his shirt and as she pulls back, the tips of her fingers brush along the back of his hand. It's nothing more than a brief touch, but just like during the set-up for the trial she's caught off-guard by the unexpected contact and has no time to brace herself, and the sensation winds its way down her neck in a slow shiver.

The captain exhales in a hiss through his teeth and she freezes, arrested in place by the hint of something heated darkening his eyes. A tense silence settles over them as they stare at each other for a few long moments, broken every now and then by the quiet chitter of the monkey, and just when Rachel thinks she can't bear it any longer, the captain moves and steps back, and she forces herself to draw her hand back until it's resting on her knees again, her fingers trembling slightly in spite of her efforts to keep calm.

"I'll see you back in the lap?" He asks in a neutral tone, and she knows, the composed front he presents is only skin-deep – just as her is.

"Of course," she replies in a just as carefully controlled voice, and he inclines his head in acknowledgement before turning around and walking out.

As his footsteps slowly fade away, she rests her head against the crate behind her again and draws in a shaky breath, wondering if it's always going to be like this, the new awareness she has of him taking her by surprise and making it impossible for her to ignore it, no matter how hard she tries. Like water slipping through cracks, their connection always finds a way to sneak past their walls and never fails to remind them that it's still there, still strong.

She sighs and scrubs the backs of her hands over her cheeks where the tear trails are starting to itch. The monkey makes a high-pitched noise, little hands scratching at the walls of his box, and Rachel tilts her head to the side, a wary expression crossing her features.

"You are lucky you're not human and don't have to deal with all—"

The clock in her mind abruptly stops ticking as the connections that had been struggling to form in her brain slowly succeed in joining ends, and just before she loses herself in her mind – already darting here and there and everywhere with renewed energy – she looks down at her hands, rubs her thumb across her still tingling fingertips, and thinks it's a rather ironic twist of fate that their slip-up is the key to solving the problem.

You guys are made of awesome. Your comments and reviews, fav's and kudos, they all helped pushing me to finish this even though I wanted to headdesk several times. xD THANK YOU SO MUCH! ❤