Wade had spent the last couple of days going through a number of personnel files as well as some updates he received from the Admiral. The folks that had chosen not to sign up for Blackwatch had required others to replace them to ensure the ship had a full complement of teams. And while not all teams had the same strengths, which was to be expected, Wade still wanted to ensure teams were staffed for different types of missions they would run across. One that was still flagged on his list happened to be Vigil. As such, he’d requested Oksana meet him in one of the briefing rooms for Blackwatch.

In truth he wanted to get accustomed to using the space as well as take advantage of the larger display screens to review personnel records and performance reviews. It also gave him a chance to give the woman further input on her team and have a say, especially since she was the one going into the field with them, not him.

He was not left alone in the room long. At the scheduled time, the doors opened and Oksana stepped into the room. Her blue eyes lifted from the PADD in her hand and locked onto him where he stood. For just a moment, her expression held an intensity that was softened by the amiable smile that appeared on her face.

“Good afternoon, Captain,” she greeted as she walked into the room. The door closed with a quiet hiss behind her and a soft click signaled it had locked once again.

He gave a smile when she entered. “Lieutenant. I’m glad you’re here. I have been going over quite a few things and Blackwatch teams have been going through restructuring. Some team leads I haven’t given much of a choice but considering your experience, leadership, and role on the ship in its entirety, I’d be failing if I didn’t have you as part of the conversation when it came to Vigil.” He took note of his cup being empty and walked over to the replicator for more water.

“Care for something to drink?”

Her eyes moved down to the cup in his hand, then back up to his face. “Skipping out on coffee? Still haven’t found a blend you like?”

There was something mildly teasing in her voice as she moved to the table and to the seat next to where she assumed he would be sitting. “Water is fine, thank you.”

“Trying to cut back for the moment, I had four mugs of it already this morning. It leads to a lot of bathroom breaks when I’m trying to get through all of this.” He replicated two cups of water and brought one over to the woman, handing it to her. Wade wasn’t sure if it was the difference in light or time for both of them to get caught up on rest after getting into the rotation of things on the ship, but Oksana looked quite beautiful in that moment. Between how her hair was and the crispness of her uniform, it caused the Captain to allow his gazer to linger a moment longer than usual.

“Have a seat, I think we should discuss who all is on your team and its overall focus. I have a feeling you won’t mind, but I figured we’d build it around what you’re best at. Collecting and retrieving intelligence. Which could also mean sitting and waiting.” He knew it wasn’t always the most comfortable thing to be sitting in an unfriendly area and just waiting, but there were times that called for just that.

Oksana slid into the chair and took her water from his hands. The smile on her face became more subdued, but didn’t diminish completely. “Yes, I was rather good at that, let’s hope I still am.”

It was a joke; though she had been injured and mistakes had been made during the operation, they had done what they had been sent there to do. It certainly hadn’t been the fault of her team that things hadn’t gone the way Starfleet had wanted them to go. She was good at what she did. “I assume you have some thoughts?”

The grin returned at her comment “I would hope so, if not we’re both out of the job”. Wade sifted through a stack and pulled out a few PADDs. “Nitro for certain would remain with you, mainly because he can fight well in a pinch, but also with his explosives background he can provide defensive options other than just a phaser and if need be, ensure systems or the like are completely destroyed when you leave. Damona because everyone needs a medic and if the team faces an extended assignment, I’d rather you have someone that can stabilize an injury and keep folks in the fight instead of only quick treatment and a medevac being needed.”

Stopping to take a sip of water, he looked at 2 other PADDs and slid them over “Two I’m not sure about however would be Firefly and Prophet. Thing is, the kid is a hell of a recon specialist and I almost feel like he’d be better off on a team looking for a more dynamic approach in their missions if you catch my drift.”

Oksana listened with quiet attentiveness. Her eyes lingered on his face for the most part, but drifted about every now and then so she wasn’t maintaining the naturally intense eye contact her eyes seemed to give the entire time. When he paused, she didn’t answer for a beat as she was considering what he had said, then finally she nodded. “My chief concern with Nitro will be his ability to sit and wait quietly; it is something I intend to test. Damona is hesitant to learn a bit more combat which would be useful to her, but she will do it. She seems a solid medic from what her evaluation has told me.”