AU: To Boldly Go (open!)

Captain Leonard Collins, the recently promoted Commanding Officer of the Starfleet vessel of the USS Defiant, stepped onto the bridge, hands at his side comfortably. The crew was fantastic - there were few skirmishes, as far as he could tell, and followed orders well. The crew had taken a major blow after a shore leave excursion gone wrong, but they seemed to be recovering well, for the most part... Leonard, too, had some friends die - including his own husband. The Captain was the first to be killed, and if it hadn't been for Leo's quick thinking, many more would have joined the late Captain. For his heroism, Starfleet insisted on promoting the Second Officer and Chief Science Officer to a command position - the Captain. The First Officer, too, had perished in the battle. Although he wasn't fully recovered himself, he continued to push on, for the crew of the Defiant. They were his family.

He sat down in the Captain's chair that he'd dreamed of sitting in, ever since he'd been a young boy. Leo had always looked to the stars, dreaming of joining Starfleet, and boldly going where no man had gone before. Command had given him orders to travel to the Cestus system to assist a starbase down there in need of repairs - and he'd just been informed of it about twenty minutes prior to now. "Navigator-" he didn't know the young Ensign's name yet - "Set a course to the Cestus system." He heard an acknowledgement.

He heard footsteps from someone coming onto the bridge - Leo recognized the person as his First Officer. He'd promoted them for their leadership potential, and for the loyalty that they'd shown to him. "Number One," he greeted them with a small smile. "We're off to the Cestus system, to Cestus V, Command just informed me, Commander...." he trailed.