“Ouch.” Trommler said as he winced at what he was hearing his husband retell him while laying across their king size bed. “You actually told her off for not giving you a question. That’s harsh Ollie, even for you.”

Rolling his eyes, Campbell had his back to his husband as he pulled over a black t-shirt over his chest. The two of them were currently relaxing in their quarters while off duty and Campbell had shared with his other half how his day had gone since his meeting with Commodore Paulsen. “It wasn’t harsh.” He said, defending his actions earlier on in the day when meeting his new chief engineer. “As her commanding officer, if I ask you if you have any questions it’s a simple response: yes or no. If it’s the former, then ask me. I don’t need to hear how well you plan to be great at your new job.”

“Damn, what side of the bed did you wake up on this morning?” Trommler asked as he continued to throw a soccer ball in the air and catch it with his left hand. “I’ve never known you to be that harsh while on duty.”

Sitting on the edge of their bed, Campbell pulled his trainers out of the draw under the bed and started to put them on. “I suppose I was a bit harsh, it’s just everything that has happened today has pissed me off so much, Fynn.”

“Yeah, but do you want your new officers to respect you or fear you?” Trommler questioned as he continued throwing the ball up. “I mean, I get you need to have a strong formality in the chain of command but that’s not the type of ship you and Rohan have spent the past year or so building.”

“And that’s the problem there.” Campbell complained, “I don’t have Rohan here anymore. Instead Starfleet ships him and several others off without my consent and I get given only a few replacements. We’ve finally got Endeavour in a good place and they rip it apart.”

Placing the ball down beside him on the bed, Trommler shuffled over and wrapped his arms around his husband. “Someone needs a hug from a bad day?”

Appreciating the gesture, Campbell squeezed Trommler’s hands. “Thanks Fynn, it’s just frustrating.”

“And I suppose your new MACO detachment commander can’t make it up to you?” Trommler said in a low and almost seductive tone as he leant in closer to Campbell’s left ear.

Leaning away from his husband’s advancements, Campbell looked at him and responded. “Acting detachment commander.” He reminded him. “You never know, the good major may return or General Casey may assign someone else.”

“Highly unlikely on the former with what she was telling me before she left earlier. This new position on Vega is going to keep her busy and at the moment there’s not enough senior officers to fill in on the various ships that units are assigned to.” Trommler said, giving up trying to flirt and make his other half feel less tense. 

“And General Casey has no issues with you serving under me in this new role?” Campbell questioned, referring to the man who led the MACOs. 

“No, as long as you have no problems with me going into dangerous situations.” Trommler answered honestly. “No special treatment, just like before.”

Chuckling slightly as he tied his shoelaces, Campbell snorted a bit. “Don’t worry, I won’t be doing any of that.”

“Not on duty any way.” Trommler said with a wink. “Now are we going to the gym or are we just going to sit here longer? Don’t we have that informal gathering in a few hours?”

“Okay, stop moaning.” Campbell grumbled back at his husband as he finished putting his last shoe on and stood up. Taking Trommler’s hand into his eyes as they left their quarters, Campbell wondered if his husband’s words about how he treated his new engineer and armoury officer were warranted. 

“So, you didn’t say anything about Commander Leonov. What’s she like?” Trommler probed as they walked down the corridor.

“Not sure on her,” Campbell answered before adding “yet” at the end. 

“How come?” Trommler asked as they turned into a corridor. “Was she not friendly?”

“She was civil,” Campbell replied. “I suppose I need to see her in action more to make a real judgement.”

“That doesn’t sound good.” Trommler stated. “You didn’t do the whole ‘be my Number One’ routine on her?”

Chuckling slightly, Campbell grinned at his husband as his answer.

“Oh, you’re a bad, bad man.” Trommler laughed slightly as he looked at his husband.

“In the service of a vengeful enemy, apparently.” Campbell said as he led them down towards the gym. “Now, are you going to let me beat you in this one on one session or will I need to find a different outlet for my frustration?”

“Depends on what type of outlet you’re looking to use and abuse me in!” Trommler remarked as they finally walked into the lift that would take them from deck five to deck three.

“Damn, we should have stayed in then!” Campbell countered back as the door started to close behind him.

“Sir,” came a familiar shout from down the corridor. “Sir, wait a second please!” 

Turning around, Campbell placed his hand on the door to stop it from closing and saw his yeoman approaching them quickly. “No running in the halls, Romeo.”

Knight stopped as he approached the captain and his husband, almost out of breath and looked worried. “Pardon sir? What was that?”

“Ignore him, Romeo. The captain is being grumpy that we’re going off to do some weight lifting and sparring in the gym and he may be beaten by our new MACO leader.” Trommler said smugly. 

Knight looked confused further, “Oh, so you know about the transfer?” He asked Campbell and Trommler.

“Transfer?” Campbell repeated. “What are you talking about Romeo?”

Passing the tablet in his hand towards his superior. “This just came in, a last minute transfer and I had to get Doctor Wishmore to approve it as I couldn’t find you and Commodore Paulsen said it was urgent and-”

“Slow down Romeo.” Campbell said as he took the tablet and read it. “What do you mean about a transfer? The commodore didn’t say a word about any transfer to me in regards to a MACO leader. She said Fynn would have to take over.”

“Apparently the medical transfer papers were delayed, or something like that but a Major Caiden is about to board the ship from Poseidon. The commodore hadn’t told you about it as it looked like Starfleet Medical hadn’t processed her medical report from MACO Headquarters, some sort of admin muck up from what I can tell.” Knight explained. He looked at Trommler. “Sorry sir, but you’re not leading the unit.”

“Well that’s some sort of relief, I suppose.” Trommler remarked before looking at his husband who appeared to be reading the new major’s service record. A shocked expression appeared across Campbell’s face. “What’s wrong Ollie?”

“No wonder there was a delay in the transfer taking place and that the commodore hadn’t told me anything. The orders come from Division Fourteen.” Campbell said. “Earth’s specialist in dealing with mysterious science- or medical-related problems.”

Trommler and Knight just looked at one another before looking at the captain, all of them just wondering who was about to join them from such a place.