Hello again. So this story I wrote for the Swan Queen Big Bang. So it's been up on AO3 for like a month now and I'm just getting around to posting it over here. If it seems familiar that's why. Also in that vein over on AO3 Zinko has created some fucking awesome fanart that I'm still internally screaming over and you guys should go check it out. It's linked to this story over there so it's easy to find. And with that, complete story time.

Regina stared out the ship's front window, looking out at the far points of light, hundreds of stars and perhaps some galaxies shining. Close to her home world, she thought the stars always shined brighter, but perhaps that was just her own imagining and maybe a bit of familiarity. She had learned how to pilot her first ship in this system, had begun her trek up the command ladder to where she was today. A lingering fondness was natural.

"Captain, Lieutenant Commander Arenndale called up from the engine room. She says everything is charged and ready to jump," Commander Sherwood said.

Regina turned to look at the tanned woman. She nodded, indicating she had heard before considering her words. "Calculate the jump vectors then, Commander."

"Already done, ma'am. Everything is set up to jump at your command."

Regina took one last look out at the stars that were familiar to her. As soon as they jumped they would be light years behind them. She took a deep breath. She had joined Interstellar Directive for the adventure, but that adventure had been dampened for the last twenty or so years by the guilt of leaving Henry at home. This was her first long range mission in years. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach.

Henry was with her this time, probably still down in the bowels of the ship getting acquainted with his crewmates. Regina's heart twisted at the thought. Her little boy all grown up and a full-fledged Ensign. She never thought she would see the day.

"Well then, shall we?" She drawled, cocking an eyebrow.

The Commander nodded, returned to her station, punched in a few numbers, tapped on her coms to link to the Lieutenant Commander down in the engine room. Within a few seconds Regina could feel the engines vibrating the whole ship, powering up for the jump.

"Hyper jump will commence in T-minus sixty seconds. All personnel are advised to find a secure place to sit for their safety," a robotic voice chimed through the ship.

Regina returned to her station and strapped in. Jumps usually were fairly smooth, but sometimes when they went south, they went south in a big way. It was best to always be prepared in their line of work.

"T-minus thirty seconds."

Henry was probably jumping in his seat right about now about to experience his first real jump. The academy had taught him all about what went on and what it should feel like, but the real thing was completely different. Regina smiled at the image of Henry in her head, grinning widely with that look in his eyes he always had when he was excited, eyes crinkled in a way that mirrored hers so thoroughly that she couldn't deny the boy was hers through and through.

"Ten seconds."

"Well, this should be interesting," A voice said to Regina's right as a body flopped down in the chair right behind.

Regina looked over at Mal and stared. "And just where have you been Commander?"

Mal shrugged. "Around. Lily and I were talking about the new ships they brought on for this mission. She doesn't think they'll fly well and from what I've seen of them I have to agree with her."

Regina nodded at that. The things were overbalanced, built completely for power and nothing else. Fighter ships needed to be a harmonious mix of power, speed, and finesse in order to work properly. She understood the need for such powerful ships where they were going, but Interstellar Directive had really missed the mark in the designs.

"We'll just put them in the back if they are needed. Their new missiles are sensitive enough they won't hit our other ships." She'd already thought ahead when she'd seen the new things, knowing that it'd be a problem.

"Should we put the newbies in them or the more experienced fighters?" Mal asked.

The ship shot into hyper drive and for a second Regina's breath lodged in her throat. She never had gotten used to the feeling, even when she had been on a ship years ago that had jumped often. When the ship stabilized again she took a deep breath and shook off the weirdness.

"One minute until we hit our target, Captain," Marian said from her station.

Regina nodded once and turned back to Mal to resume their conversation. "Putting them in the new machines would keep them in the back and out of the way of most of the action, but at the same time if anyone came around in a pinscher maneuver they would be on the front line in ships not built for fighting. More experienced pilots could probably handle that, but I'm not so sure about the newbies."

Mal considered that for a moment. "But they would have the most training on them, especially the new grads, the academy would have made sure of that."

Regina tilted her head from side to side. "That is true, but I would feel better if they were in the middle of the formations we send out. They are not on either side and at risk of facing off against hostiles without a buffer, but they are still getting the experience of being out in the field."

"What if they think they're being babied and try to break ranks? It would cause more trouble than it would be worth, especially in the middle of a bigger conflict."

Regina arched an eyebrow, putting a great deal of menace in the expression. "Then they are disobeying direct orders from their superiors and they will no more see the inside of a cockpit again than I will ever see the Orgin. Being a pilot is a privilege, not a right. There are plenty of other jobs on this ship, including a great deal of janitorial duties."

Mal snorted. "Fair enough." She ran her hand through her blonde curls. "The Border isn't a place to be an idiot."

No, that it wasn't. The edge of the United Systems had always been wild and rife with unruly hostile species looking for resources or just for a fight, but her orders rang in her head. "Keep order by any means necessary," the Admiral of the Fleet had told her. Normal Border orders were to patrol and stop conflict when necessary. These orders had Regina on edge. Something was stirring, but the Admiral hadn't seen fit to tell her what exactly. Her knee jiggled just the slightest bit. Those orders and an entirely new crew, assembled from other ships for this mission, or top graduates from the academy. The best of the best, she had noted going through their files before she had boarded her ship, The Rocinante. It all added up to something not being quite right.

"Get one of the deck commanders to find someone who's flown those monstrosities to give their input on the beasts. Perhaps they aren't as a bad as we think."

"Uh huh, right, but I will get on that."

The ship jerked to a stop and Mal huffed out a cloud of smoke through her nostrils. Regina looked at her annoyed as a few other officers coughed, waving the smoke away. Mal just shrugged.

"Involuntary reaction," she said, but the smirk gave her away. There had been no need for the plume of smoke to be that big just out of a bit of shock and Mal knew that Regina knew it.

"Refrain from your more Draconian tendencies if you please. I would prefer the rest of us to be able to breathe on the bridge."

Mal mock saluted. "Of course, Captain."

"Get on with it now that we're out of hyper drive."

Mal unstrapped herself and hopped up. "Be back later then," she said as she disappeared.

"Call down to the engine room, Commander Sherwood."

"Already done, Captain, Lieutenant Commander Arenndale says the engines are holding steadying at 500 Kelvin and are ready for whatever you have in mind."

Regina squinted at that information. "Is she sure she took the measurements right?" After a jump like that engines should run around twice that. She was already prepared to go to half power to allow them to cool off before setting the patrol the perimeter.

"I asked her that as well. She assured me that she was right and the engines were indeed that temperature." The woman shrugged, a few pieces of her hair coming loose out of the regulation bun and curling gently around her deep tan face. "I double checked on the ship's mainframe. She is right unless something is malfunctioning, but there are no error reports."

Regina hummed. "Well then." She turned to the other side of the cabin. "Lieutenant Fa guide us into the prescribed patrol path then if you would."

The Asian woman nodded her head and took to her station, pushing a series of buttons quickly and the ship started to hum under their feet once more.

Regina tapped her ear and activated her comm link. "Commander Dracon."

"Yes, Captain? You realize you haven't let enough time elapse for me to get to the fly bay, let alone actually ask anyone any questions, right?"

She glared out of the front windows as the stars shifted them around them. "Yes, I am well aware, Commander. My call was not about that matter, but another one."

"Oh, well then, continue Captain."

Regina pinched the bridge of her nose. If Mal was anyone else she would have already written them up for insubordination, but since she was her best friend she got away with a great deal more than she should. No one else was stupid enough to risk it so far and so she would let it stand.

"What do you know about Lieutenant Commander Arenndale?"

"Not much, from what I've overheard she's a wizard with engines, but that's all I really know. Anastasia might know more."

"Who?"

"Commander Rouge, the one in charge of personnel and quarters on the ship."

Regina nodded remembering the woman Mal was talking about. Seven new commanders in her command, all but twoi89 of them new on top of an almost new crew. Her head was buzzing with new names. But the small blonde with a rather high pitched voice was distinctive.

"I'll call her then. I don't remember the Lieutenant Commander's file saying anything about keeping an engine 500 Kelvin below what it should be. I need to make sure she isn't crippling our ship."

Mal whistled sharply. "Good idea, do that, I'll go talk to the flight deck people."

Regina clicked off the comm link and then clicked it on again. "Commander Rouge."

"Yes, Captain?" The woman's nasally voice came through loud and clear.

"Lieutenant Commander Arenndale, what do you know of her?"

There was a pause for just a second. "Ah, the engine prodigy, yes?"

"Is she?"

The Commander hummed. "Yes, engine specialist isn't quite a strong enough description for her, but that is all her file says. I haven't personally worked on a ship with her, but the crew who has before have been talking about her in light of the jump. Since we are moving once more at full speed, I take it the rumors were correct?"

"So it seems. Anything else that you know of her?"

"She asked to be bunked near Chief Warrant Officer Five Emma Swan. From what I was told she's not the girl's mother, but she might as well be."

"Chief Warrant Officer Swan…" she trailed off. The name struck a bell as one of the ones she had tried to memorize. "The chief of the flight deck?"

"Yes, that would be the one."

She was the one that she had commanded to personally fix Henry's fighter whenever he came back in from a mission then. Regina had the distinct impression that the woman had been rolling her eyes at Regina, even through the comm link. The woman could think what she wanted as long as she did her job and kept her little boy as safe as possible.

"I see. Did you grant that request?"

"There was no reason not to, so yes."

"Thank you for your input, Commander. If you could send me anything you can find about the Lieutenant Commander and Officer Swan, by end of day. I need to know what is going on, on my ship and that most certainly includes person who can keep the engine cooler than should be possible."

"I'll pull everything I can and send it by day's end. You already have their personnel files, yes?"

"I do, so anything in those is not necessary."

"Will do, Captain."

Regina clicked off her comm link again. She turned to Commander Sherwood. "This Lieutenant Commander is under your command, yes?"

The woman nodded. "Yes, but I know about as much as you do. She wasn't on any of the other ships I served on."

Regina hummed, indicating she had heard. "As Commander of the science division, any theories to how she did it?"

"Not one. The chemical processes involved in hyper drive propulsion should only work at a thousand k. As much energy as needs to be freed would need the high temperatures to drive the reaction as fast as needed."

"Well then." Regina ran her hand through her hair. A day into their new mission and already there were interesting occurrences. She could do without that. Boring in their jobs was a very good thing.

She went and sat down in her seat again. "Lieutenant Fa, are we on path?"

"Yes, Captain. We've just merged with the plotted course."

"Good." She hit the announcement button, turning the comm links of everyone in the ship on at once. "The ship is now on course. Everyone that was bunked for the jump, man your stations as normal. I expect nothing but the best from this crew and welcome to the start of our new mission." She clicked off again.

Regina spat out a rapid fire list of directions. With the engine situation dealt with until she had more information, the commands she had to issue were clear. This type of mission she had done a thousand times and they never changed. She relaxed back into her seat at the familiarity. If everything went her way this anomaly with the engine would be the only interesting thing on this trip and they would return to Noir Seven in a year's time no worse for the wear.

She chuckled once to herself humorlessly. Missions never actually went like that out here, but she could dream.

Regina flipped through the file of Lieutenant Commander Ingrid Arenndale reading everything over again once she handed off the command to Lieutenant Nova for the night. There were accolades in the file for how well the woman kept her engine room running. There was not an explanation of exactly how she managed to keep the engine under temperature, but with all the awards, it did not seem to be an odd thing anymore. She truly was the engine prodigy that Commander Rouge said she was. Well, that would probably be useful for later, but she had not appreciated the slight heart attack in the interim.

She massaged her temples. Whole new crews were a pain to deal with, but they were rather a reality in her world before this. She had gone on short missions after Henry was born so she could spend as much time at home as possible. The crew turn overs on those missions had been high, with people moving on to more exciting things or retiring from active duty at the end of every tour. The ships had been smaller, though, so getting a feel of the crew had been easier. With ten thousand people on board Regina had only bothered to read the files of the officers and the warrant officers and even then she had skimmed them at best. It was going to be a long process getting to know everyone well enough to make the ship run like a well-oiled machine. They did have a year, but out here they needed to be fully functioning quickly.

She shut the file on Ingrid and moved on to the one of Emma Swan. Now her file was much more interesting. There were a great many incidents of discipline in her early career, but yet her advancement was still steady even with those blemishes on her record. If Ingrid was Emma's mother then she had passed down whatever affinity she had for engines to Emma when she had raised her. Emma had brought back ships that should have been unsalvageable and made them work better than they had before. She had made the rank of Chief Warrant Officer Five before the age of thirty-five, which was almost unheard of. Her skills had rocketed her up the chain of command faster than normal, it seemed. Regina had contacted her to fix Henry's ship because she was the Chief of the flight deck, not because she had remembered this particular fact about the woman.

Regina tapped a few pieces of paper against her lip. At thirty-three she had been a Lieutenant Commander on a tiny repair ship for most of the year. It had been uneventful, but she had gotten to be home for Christmas and Henry's twelfth birthday. She would have never dreamed of being so high up the ranks at that age. Then again when she had been promoted at thirty-eight to Captain it had been almost unheard of as well. Now at forty-two she was young for a Captain of such a large ship, but no one did a double take.

She put down Emma Swan's file and sat back. They were different beasts, her and this Emma Swan. Regina had nothing but commendations on her record. There wasn't even a hint of a fight on there, not she hadn't had confrontations, but she had solved them in much quieter ways. She didn't like to remember many of her mother's teachings, but some lessons had served her well at least. Still, her and Emma had advanced through the ranks more quickly than expected. She knew what that was like, everyone doubting that someone so young should have command over them.

Regina shook herself. There was no need for thoughts like that. She had earned her place. She would have to see if Emma Swan had really put in the work to her rank as the mission went on. From the little eye rolling episode when she had commanded the woman to look after Henry's ship, she thought perhaps not. But butting heads with hot shot officers was nothing new for her and so if Emma Swan wanted to go that route with her she was very able to play that game.

She shut Emma's file and pushed everything to the side. Anastasia had come through on her promise to find all information on the two people she had asked about. She would have to thank her in the morning. A little kindness went a long way sometimes in creating a cohesive command community. But for now she was tired and she had to be up very early for her next shift. She should sleep while she could because who knew what the next day would bring.

She changed into the simple cotton standard issue pj pants and top before slipping under the covers. She wondered how Henry's first day on the ship had gone. She would find him in the morning in the mess and talk to him for a few minutes. She blinked her eyes shut and felt sleep pulling at her. She let the current take her away and she was sleeping within seconds.