Kelly had spent the last few hours with the Olympia's security staff. Oh, Darulio must have known something was up when Ed had Isaac drive him back, and he definitely would have known something was wrong when he ended up in the high-security shuttlebay with a hazmat team ready to lock him up.

It felt like an overreaction, but Alara insisted. Isaac and Bortus backed her on it, and the whole thing was just embarrassing, especially having to sit through several hours of briefing the Olympia's security team. The diplomatic parties also had their two credits (and more) to add to the pile.

After reviewing the tapes of the secure lab, though? Kelly was pissed. And that's why she volunteered to be the one to tell Darulio just what kind of trouble he was in. Besides, better it come from her than Alara. Or worse, Ed.

She spent the ride down focusing on the security tape and ignoring the pounding in her head. She did her best not to think about what happened with her and Darulio – that wasn't important. She consented. Ed didn't. Claire and Yaphit got caught in the crossfire. That was the important part. There wasn't a crime as far as her contact with him was concerned. Besides, she worked her way up the ranks through security. She handled tough cases before.

Darulio looked up, ready for an argument, but sagged in relief when he saw who it was. "Oh. Kelly. Good to see you. Look, this is a little much, don't you think? I know Captain Mercer is -"

"Shut it."

"Excuse me?"

"Shut up. I just came down from explaining all of this to the investigative team and your embassy, and reviewing the security footage from the Orville's analysis lab."

"Kelly, you -?" He rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on. I expected Captain Mercer to be irrational about all this, but not you."

Face to face with him, it was hard to stay angry. Kelly knew she was still shaking off the pheromone cocktail that made the lizard part of her brain want to drop the forcefield and act out a bad porno script. That, and maybe she cared for him once...maybe. She was the big girl. She was the one in full control of what happened. Ed, Claire, Yaphit – not so much.

"We set up a security feed in that lab just in case our guests tried anything stupid." She folded her arms. "I didn't want to believe what I saw. You really are a slimeball."

"What you think you saw," he said. "Look, you're upset. Calm down. I never hurt you. And really, you have no place being jealous. You had fun, Ed had fun..."

The memory of their last encounter played behind her eyes. No, he didn't have to hold her down. No, she was completely convinced at the time. And he was good...very good. But it quickly turned to disgust. She took a deep breath and focused – duty first.

"The charge is sabotage."

"Sabotage?"

"Three counts," she said. "Compromising officers of a Union vessel. Last time this law got used when was some idiot on the Monroe spiked the replicated coffee pattern with LSD. Captain swore he saw gremlins on the nacelles. Almost ran the ship into a planet."

"That's fascinating, but I don't see what it has to do with what happened."

"You failed to disclose you were in heat. You admitted to being in heat only after Lieutenant Kitan had you cornered. Funny – the Olympia's doctor confirmed that Xelayans would probably have a resistance to your 'love touch.'"

An eyebrow ridge went up. "Love touch?"

"Ed's term. Not mine."

"But what motive would I have for sabotaging the ship? Come on."

"You might have a case for accidental damage when it comes to dosing Lieutenant Yaphit and Doctor Finn. But I saw the tape. There was no way what you did to Ed wasn't deliberate."

Darulio shook his head. "I didn't intend any harm to them. I was there to do my work."

"Exactly. When Ed confronted you, you knew you were in trouble. He was in the middle of ordering you off the ship. You knew that it would be a setback for your career and a personal embarrassment if he took you off the analysis. So you club him over the head and drag him off."

"I did no such thing. Look, I know you still care about him."

"It's right there on the tape. I watched it a dozen times with the investigators to make sure I wasn't just seeing things. You distract him, ask for a handshake, and used your pheromones as a weapon. I'm his XO, Darulio. It's my job to take a bullet for him if necessary. And I didn't protect him from you. That's on me. And because he wasn't in any shape to conduct the negotiations over Lapolbius, the warring factions had a skirmish that left about five hundred on each side dead and almost got us blown to bits."

"Nurse Park and your security chief still used my gift to make the leaders stand down."

"Yes, after they got the permission of the other members of their delegation, who recognized that it was the only way to save their lives. And even then, ship security kept the chemically-induced lovebirds in separate rooms afterward. They were pissed when they came to."

"That's...as good of an outcome as can happen."

"No. Because of your sabotage, the birthing vessel is going to have to be re-tested by an actual neutral party. The peace talks are back to square zero, but both sides are at least leaving the planet alone for now. That's probably going to last all of five minutes. Do you have even the slightest -"

Darulio sighed. "No. I am not at fault. They would have gone to war anyway. Kelly, you have to tell them this was all a misunderstanding and a tragic mistake."

Kelly fought down an urge to back away. Was it? Maybe there was a good argument that those two "ass in ambassadors" wouldn't have listened to any reason, even if Ed wasn't acting like a giddy schoolgirl. Maybe it was all just a tragic mess...

Maybe.

Maybe she just wanted a roll in the hay with him for old time's sake and had a moment of weakness. but not Ed. She knew Ed's type – girls and guys. Darulio didn't fit either bill, and the tape didn't lie.

"Doesn't excuse what you did, especially when people got killed."

Darulio straightened and walked up to the edge of the field, still looking impossibly calm and serene. "Think of what you're doing. The charges are not going to stick. My embassy will back me. This is going to get out and be all over the Union fleet. You, your captain, and your ship are going to be laughingstocks, your name and reputation dragged through the mud. That, and any defense team is going to use our tangled history to make this look like a lovers' squabble gone wrong. You are going to come out of this way, way worse than I will, and all for nothing."

"So what do you want me to do?"

"Just...say you're sorry. Go up to the investigation team and tell them that I had no idea I was in heat. Tell them that your admittedly mixed emotions and my pheromones left you confused. Tell them there was no way this could have been prevented. The sooner we can agree on the story, the sooner we can get on with our lives, and you'll never have to deal with me again."

"You mean lie for you. Take the fall—again."

"This is the only way for us all to come out with any dignity." Did Darulio actually raise his voice? "I don't have any shame about my sex life, but I realize humans have far more taboos and shame surrounding the subject."

Shame. Just hearing that word...

She was back in the lab. She remembered looking him in the eye. She told him that she and Ed were trying to build a professional relationship. She told him that she wanted to keep things with them professional. And then he…

Just a hair out of place, he said. And just a little touch against her cheek. Just like he did to Ed on the security tape.

It was like getting sick with a bad case of Martian flu – her face felt hot, her stomach twisted. Her knees locked to keep her standing.

That selfish prick. It was easier to believe she made the choice freely. It was easier to blame herself. She wanted to think of herself as stronger than that. After all, she stared down those theocratic nuts on that bioship and mouthed off to them through several hours of torture. She was the one who had a knock-down fistfight with that time-traveling thief. She wasn't supposed to be the one that got overpowered. But the shame quickly took a left turn and the hot sickness became rage. She knew that his balls weren't made of brass, but it certainly took some of those to try and pull this stunt from inside a cell.

"No."

"No?"

"You aren't used to hearing that, are you? I let you walk and there's going to be a next time; some other ship, some other person. And they'd value their dignity enough to take you up on the deal. That next time, the next person? That's when it's going to be my fault. If there's one thing I learned from Ed? Dignity is overrated, especially if it prevents you from doing the right thing. No. I'm not going to lie for you."

Dignity may have been overrated, but it didn't mean she wasn't going to try and salvage what was left of her own. She walked out with as much as she had left.

She wasn't sure if it was easier or harder to get in the elevator, since Ed was waiting.

"Was watching on the closed circuit. You okay?"

She tried to play it off. "I'm a big girl."

"Yeah, I know. You pressing charges, too?"

She nodded. "I...I just had to be sure. It could have been anyone. Any ship. And we...we probably weren't the only ones. I put guys like him away when I was security chief on the Challenger. Never thought I'd be..."

"I know. For what it's worth? Claire's also testifying. Yaphit, too. We're all behind you on this."

"Thanks."

It was still pretty likely that Darulio was right – the sabotage charges wouldn't stick, he'd walk, she and Ed would have their names dragged through the mud, again. She would have to stare down a whole courtroom and admit what happened…

She stretched her hand, which had cramped up from being in a fist too long. And out of habit – just habit – she squeezed his hand.

It felt better than it should when he squeezed it back.