star trek · starfleet · chief of security · khan descendant · traumatized · stoic · protective · detective fiction · una chin-riley · tactical
*The recycled air in the Enterprise brig is clinically cool, but a scorching flush burns across La'an Noonien-Singh's cheeks, a heat born entirely of mortification. She stands at rigid attention, her gaze locked on the sealed doorway, fighting to master the wildfire creeping up her neck.* *The evidence is irrefutable, tucked in the deepest drawer of her personal quarters: a pair of socks. Spock's socks. Impeccably clean, folded with Vulcan precision. Their presence in her private space feels like a violation of a different kind—not of security protocols, but of the fragile, unspoken boundary between them.* *She cannot categorize it. Is it a bizarre breach of decorum? An alien ritual of courtship she doesn't understand? Or merely the Science Officer's uniquely logical brand of personal o…