Captain Andrea awoke with a start, instantly recoiling from the lights in her eyes. She blinked a few times and looked around. She was in a comfortable but utilitarian bed in a stark white room, beeping computers off to the side.

Some kind of medical bay? She thought to herself.

The whoosh of a door opening caught Andrea's attention. Through it walked a stern looking woman dressed in a smart military uniform bearing the Starbase insignia and a cascade of medals. Andrea blinked again, not believing her eyes.

"Glad to see you awake Captain," said her ex girlfriend.

"Officer Thorne..." greeted Andrea, hiding her emotions behind formality. "Or is it Commander now?"

"Commander, but I do not require such formality on my station. Elizabeth will do just fine." The medical droid at her side beeped. " It seems you've been cleared. Walk with me."

Still in a daze, Andrea stood up and followed Elizabeth.

"Where are we, anyway?" she asked as the two walked through the sterile grey halls of the space station. "And how did I get here? Last I remember we were making a jump, and..." She shook her head. "Yeah, I got nothing."

"You're at Station 00 in Zeta sector," explained Elizabeth. "We're a research outpost gathering data on certain recently discovered phenomena." Her face softened as she turned to Andrea. "We're a thousand thousand light-years from Starbase territory, Captain. This is no man's land." Ardea balked at the news.

"It was a messy jump," she continued. "Our scanners picked you up soon after you left warp speed, and we were able to dispatch a drone ship to collect you."

"And my crew?"

Elizabeth clicked her tongue. "You're the only survivor Andrea. The jump shields must have malfunctioned."

"I...I don't..."

Elizabeth put a conforting hand on her shoulder. "I know. You're one of Starbase's best. No matter what happened, I know it's not your fault." The Commander pulled the captain close, wrapping her in a hug, and Andrea relented with a soft sob.

Elizabeth continued the tour of the station, Andrea absently following.  The facility was autonomous; drones and automated systems handled the required data recovery and maintenance, with Elizabeth there to oversee the processes. She and Andrea were the only two humans onboard.

"You ever get lonely?" asked Andrea as the two looked out over the nearby gas giant. A spectacular view, but one that made Andrea feel very small.

"You get used to it." Elizabeth sighed. "I've been thinking of you, you know? Our academy days..."

Andrea let out a sharp breath.

"... I had this whole speech planned, you know?" she muttered darkly. "I was going to walk up to you, look you in the eyes and wring you the fuck out; tell you that it didn't matter if I was a woman now, because I'm still more of a man than any chucklefuck you found to replace me."

She slammed a fist against the observation window. "And now here I am, with absolutely nothing to lose and...and..." Andrea inhaled deeply, barely collecting herself. "...and I can't. Because despite how you ripped out my goddamned heart I still love you, like a fucking idiot."

Elizabeth silently looked out the window, letting out a deep sigh before turning to the shorter woman. "You know, the best and worst part of this job is that it gives you a lot of time to self-reflect." She shook her head. "I'm so fucking sorry, Andrea. I abandoned you and..."

"Yeah, you did," snapped Andrea, turning her tear-streaked face upwards. "And what? You decide you weren't so straight after all?"

A heavy silence fell on the pair as realization came crashing down onto the captain.

"...well damn," she muttered, letting out an awkward laugh.

"You're not the only one who changed," said Elizabeth. "I was a scared, stupid girl back then, too obsessed with my career and appearances. But that's no excuse." She brought a hand to Andrea's chin. "I can't undo the pain I caused, but can we... try again? I love you, Andrea."

It took everything Andrea had not to collapse into Elizabeth's arms. She managed a nod, sniffling away the last of her tears.

"...yeah, okay," she murmured. "But let's go slow, okay?"

Elizabeth chuckled. "Of course, dear."

They were in bed together within the hour.

At first things were awkward, as to be expected between ex-lovers reunited. Andrea tried to be the strong, assertive one, but Elizabeth saw through the act. She recognized the soft vulnerable girl Andrea always was at heart and cherished her for it. The two fell deeper in love as the days bled to weeks.

"I have something to tell you, Drea."

Andrea looked up from the bed the two shared to see Elizabeth staring through a window out into space. She stood calm and stoic as ever, but Andrea knew from her tone something was off.

"I know," she replied. Elizabeth whirled around. "I know you're not Elizabeth."

The two starred at each other in silence.

"...but...how?"

 Andrea sighed and slipped out of bed. "Because Elizabeth only knew my dead name, and I never changed it in Starbase's records. But that's what you called me on our first day together, remember?"

Andrea put a hand on Elizabeth's chest as she began to speak and shook her head.

"I wanted to believe you were her. Wanted to believe that when I turned my ship toward a random direction and warped until the fuel ran out that I'd miraculously end up in her arms again. But I knew."

Elizabeth scowled. "...but you went along with it anyway? I don't...?"

Andrea smiled a sad smile. "I graduated from the academy to impress her, but I fucking hated Starbase. A fucked up empire with fucked up morals. I was so tired of being a colonizer, so I just..." she sighed. "I've never felt more loved than I have since being here. No judgement for being trans, no scorn for speaking out against Starbase. No court marshalling for not opening fire on civilians. Just a woman that cared for me without expectation or obligation." Elizabeth was speechless.

YOU WOULD STAY ASLEEP?

Andrea gasped at the voice that suddenly thundered in her skull, then nodded.

"But I want to see you. The real you."

YOU WILL BE AFRAID.

"Maybe," Adrea shrugged. "But I'd like to see whoever's responsible for my happiness, even if I regret it."

The world shattered.

Andrea's eyes opened. The world around her reeked of meat and blood and she found she couldn't move. The broken, scorched remains of her body were stitched together with fleshy tubes and sinew, an external force manually pumping her blood and forcing her lungs to breathe.

HELLO.

Her mind couldn't process the thing before her. It was too vast, too omnipresent, like staring into all the stars at once. It was meat and void and starstuff and metal and bone and

Andrea laughed. Andrea cried.

"I...I love you," she tried to croak through a shattered windpipe.

FEW COME TO THIS PLACE IN THE UNIVERSE. FEWER STILL SURVIVE BEARING WITNESS. I MAKE THEIR PASSING PAINLESS.

Andrea's cracked lips moved wordlessly, professing her mad love silently.

ANOTHER MIND UNRAVELED BY TRUTH, LIKE MANY BEFORE. LET US RETURN TO THE DREAM.

Darkness fell.

Captain Andrea awoke with a start, her screams waking up the woman next to her.

"Another nightmare, love?" asked Elizabeth, pulling her into a hug.

"Y-yeah...just a nightmare..." Andrea snuggled against her lover.

Outside Station 00, two hearts beat as one.