Hi! I am new to Star Trek-I just saw this movie in January and now I've seen some TOS episodes-so I would appreciate any random Star Trek facts you might give me! I want this to be as accurate as possible.

Thank you very, very much for taking the time to look at this. I hope you love it!

Constructive criticism greatly appreciated.

Disclaimer: I wish I did, but I don't own this.

It's pulling her back even as she fights to free herself. The tension builds and builds as stress rushes through the Enterprise. Fighting and straining, until suddenly… free. The singularity shrinks into the distance as the ship catapults through space.

There's a fierce joy there, a proud and strong (and incredulous) feeling whirling through his chest, as his heart pounds and adrenaline rushes through his veins. It's so powerful that he nearly feels as though he's not quite enough to contain it, as though somehow it'll leak out and flood the air around him. Exhilaration fills him, wildly, and he turns just enough to meet Spock's gaze.

That gaze seems, for that single second, to hold a joy of its own, as the owner offers him the smallest of nods.

Jim turns back to the stars sweeping past and takes in his ship, his Enterprise, and breathes.

"Incoming communication from Starfleet, Captain."

"Divert to main screen."

Within moments, Admiral Jenson comes into focus. The large magnification reveals creases across his face that may or may not have been there before.

He doesn't enjoy seeing Admiral Jenson's surprise that he's the one in The Chair. No, really, he doesn't.

Or maybe just a little.

"Report, James Kirk."

"Sir. Nero's ship has been destroyed by a singularity created by the red matter. In escaping the singularity, the Enterprise has been reduced to warp factor 2. Estimated that we will reach Earth at 17:00. Captain Pike is in recovery in sickbay after torture aboard the Naruda. Condition: stable. Commander Spock has stepped down from Captaincy due to emotional compromise."

"And you, Mr. Kirk?"

"Currently Captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise, sir."

He expects… something. At least something more than Jenson's swallow, or brief widening of eyes: but everything is different now than it was this morning, and the Admiral simply says, "Very well, Captain Kirk. All commanding officers should expect a full debriefing upon arrival at Starfleet," and cuts the link.

They arrive at space dock and board space shuttles to return to Earth's surface. He and the other officers are first and exit the shuttle bay to head to the debriefing rooms—but hit a cluster of reporters shortly thereafter.

The reporters—blasted, insensitive reporters—swarm them as soon as they begin to approach Starfleet Headquarters. Much of the crew—particularly the fellow cadets—is still behind them, on their way to Starfleet Housing.

Cameras flash incessantly.

"How do you explain the actions of—!"

"Mr. Kirk, describe how you took command of the U.S.S.—"

Clearly there's been a press leak.

"Mr. Spock, what do you plan to do now that—"

"Will you continue in Starfleet?"

"Mr. Kirk, considering the death of your father—"

"Would you say that Starfleet is currently weak, Acting Ca—"

The voices cry out simultaneously, fragments of questions rising above the confusing cacophony, all of them exactly the opposite of what any Starfleet member needs right now.

"—half-human, Mr. Spock, surely you must be overwhelmed—"

"If you had been more prepared, could you have saved—"

Jim stares back at the mass of reporters, wondering where the hell security is. Damn the f-ing reporters for this. Don't any of them have hearts?

He steps in front of Spock, whose impassive face manages to resemble that of a deer in headlights (thank goodness the press hasn't noticed), and he calmly, restrainedly (in his opinion) addresses the insensitive, unintelligent, lethal, sorry-excuse-for-human-beings. No, lethal was not a bit much.

He has to take a few moments to prevent himself from shouting.

"In my opinion, all of you are heartless bastards who will soon be removed by security. While we're waiting for them to haul you away… Every single one of us—whom you are currently badgering—has lost someone, or almost everything. In our grief, we will continue fighting and continue living… for our own sakes and for those of us who do not have that choice. We will rise from this stronger than before …for all that we wish this tragedy never occurred.

"No further comment from myself, nor my crew."

Then, with timing that actually suits his purposes, security officers come running and create a path through the crowd while placing the reporters under arrest for trespassing, which is unfortunately all they can be charged with. Spock dazedly steps forward to walk beside him as they traverse a campus that no longer seems quite as lively, nor quite as safe as it did just this morning.

"Please kindly explain how you managed to change from being on probation to being Acting Captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise, Cadet Kirk."

Perhaps he should have acted a little more deferential when entering the debriefing room. Because apparently after a devastating crisis, formality still mattered. Perhaps it grounded the Admiralty. He, on the other hand, had never really felt the need for it, not to this degree.

Jim and Spock (who glances at him with an ever-so-slightly raised eyebrow) stand with their hands clasped behind their back in parade rest.

"With respect, I believe that it would be best to explain the events of the last eight hours in full."

After not even a beat, "I agree with Kirk's logic. It would be most efficient for all involved parties to explain the matter once, in its entirety."

He hadn't expected that either.

. . .

About two hours later, he stumbles to the Starfleet Hospital to check on Pike's condition—finds that he and Spock had walked there at the same time, but hadn't consciously noticed each other—gets kicked out of the hospital, and finally collapses into his bed in his room.

Two days later, he is called to the assembly room (empty but for the Admiralty) for the completion of his academic hearing.

He and Spock again stand at their podiums but this time, their anger is absent. This is simply a formality.

"I do not believe in no-win scenarios. With respect, the test does not even let you rescue the Kobayashi Maru at the expense of the ship. There is no way to prevent total loss, total failure. It does not teach cadets to keep calm in the face of total fear. It forces them to believe it is possible to fail. It is indeed possible to fail, but not inevitable. We should not be teaching inevitability. With respect, that is why I instigated the subroutine. I honestly did not believe you meant for it to be a no-win scenario. I thought the objective was to beat the test… So I did."

Just because this is a formality doesn't mean he can't give his opinion. It's also not as though he has any hope of remaining Captain of the Enterprise, so he doesn't have much to lose.

"With respect, I believe this hearing is unnecessary for the same reasons I outlined to you this morning. Furthermore, I move to drop all charges against Cadet James T. Kirk."

He probably should have anticipated that.

Some of the Admiralty exchange dissatisfied glances.

"Commander Spock, that is entirely unnecessary. As I am sure you are aware, we were going to find Cadet Kirk Not Guilty."

"And yet it is illogical to continue the trial when we are all aware of this fact. Especially since I, the accuser, find the situation no longer relevant in the face of recent circumstances."

They again exchange glances, this time less dissatisfied.

"All in favor of dropping the charges against Cadet Kirk?"

After a chorus of Ayes, "All charges dropped. Court dismissed."

Jim nods his thanks to Spock—who says he can't communicate subtly?—and turns to walk back to his room, where books (on his padd) and assignments await. After a crisis, people try to return to normal as much as possible, which means the Senior Class will continue to attend their classes until graduation even though in some cases they are less necessary than before (and even though Starfleet ranks are thin).

As he reaches the doors, "And Cadet?" reaches his back. He turns around. "We thank you for your service."

It's a nice gesture. If only they would consider giving him the Enterprise. It's still worth something though, even something large, to a guy who grew up hearing so much about his father, yet so little about himself.

. . .

It's hard to believe that they've fallen back into the swing of classes. It's taken a month, but they've adjusted back to the rhythm of things as much as possible. It's a new rhythm that is filled with more urgency than it used to be. Before, the classes were the things that mattered. Now, it's Starfleet's depleted ranks. They've already proved themselves to an extent; now this is about shows of Starfleet strength, and graduating their seniors early out of desire for more personnel is a weakness Starfleet will not reveal. They need to be stronger than ever before, more skilled than ever before.

Since he has an overloaded schedule (You don't get to graduate as a Captain in three years without a certain dose of lunacy… and yet people always thought he was out partying when he was really attending additional advanced classes or studying in the library), he is running around now more than ever before. There are fewer tutors for underclassmen, fewer instructors, fewer assistants, fewer tech people, fewer everything. Now he's everywhere at once, running around from dawn 'till dusk, evading McCoy for fear of forced sleep, and unofficially repairing things and teaching students.

He avoids his newfound celebrity status at nearly all costs and mostly sticks to quiet, secluded places in his free time. He ignored the newspaper headlines as much as he could until he thought the press had tired of the story (he can just imagine it: "The Kelvin's Son: The Boy Lives up to his Father's Name" and "Child of the Kelvin Hero Saves Earth!").

He goes to the gym and throws himself around, ignoring his body's protests, every so often to relieve stress. Jim and Bones still goof around, but now it has a different tone. Before, (that's how everyone refers to it, as Before) they were stupid. They did stupid things because they were fun, and because sometimes they were angry and it seemed to help. But things are more serious now.

He sees Chekov sometimes, and Sulu, and even Nyota (finally, she let him call her that). They eat together but they're all busy, so that's mostly the extent of it. Still, after being through the fire together, it's enough to keep them close. They see Scotty sometimes, but he's usually working on the Enterprise, or nestled somewhere working on crazy theories. She—The Enterprise—hasn't left space dock yet. Spock has thrown himself into work, and really, why should Jim expect to see him? He had never seen him before the Kobayashi Maru, so why should he expect to now? Why should he… worry about him, and wish that he could intentionally run into him? They've commed each other back and forth a few times, at least.

He visits Pike when he can.

He and Bones are walking to their respective classes one day (a week before graduation) when he freezes. A woman, blond, beautiful, with both laughing lines around her eyes and sad creases by her mouth, is standing in his path. A woman who was devastated once, and who couldn't quite deal with losing her husband and space at the same time, so she remained in Starfleet but didn't bring her son with her… for fear that he would die too. Or maybe it was because she couldn't look at him without seeing George. He always knew that she loved him and Sam, but he always knew that he caused her pain. He always knew that people looked at him and saw his father's sacrifice, and he didn't think that when they looked at him they ever thought they saw a boy who could ever be as great a man as his father.

"Mom?" he asks, and now it's Bones' turn to freeze.

"Hi Jim." She murmurs hesitantly, and then, "they said that you'd walk this way."

Well that raises a whole slew of questions. Such as, if they knew she was here, why did nobody warn him? And who did she talk to? And really, why no warning?

"Why are you here?

"Why now, without a com or anything at all for ages—"no, he doesn't know the exact amount of time since any communication has passed between them. It's not as though he… counts or anything. It's not as though he'll let her know that he keeps track… if he kept track"—without telling me, just showing up in the middle of the day—in the middle of classes!—without any contact at all, not even when you might have been shocked into it by certain the narrowly escaped destruction of Earth—Why?"

She has tears in her eyes now and that's not fair (what right does she have to tears right now? After all these years?) and Bones is looking back and forth between them and they'll be late for class and he does not want to deal with this right now, of all times.

"I wasn't on-planet before."

"That fails to explain the com question. And many others for that matter."

Bones begins to back away uncomfortably. "Maybe… I should… go," but Jim stops him with a Look. It's not a glare, but it carries certain threats with it. For instance, if you leave me alone with my mother, So help me, I swear I will... (how does it finish? Hide your hyposprays for a month? That could work nicely).

"Listen, I really need to get to class. We're already going to be late as it is—"

"Jim, you really can be late for class every once in a while, you know. Especially for your own mother, right? And I wouldn't have expected you to be so concerned about that…"

"It's different now than when you were here! Don't you get it? Everything is different now! And what do you mean, you wouldn't expect me to be so concerned?"

"Well just that, just that—"

"I'm sorry, but I can't deal with this right now."

"But—"

"I have class to attend, other classes to instruct, students to tutor, and things to fix. And are you here now because you care about me, or because you feel some sort of obligation to thank me for the death of the Kelvin's killer?"

"That's not fair."

Jim swallows and takes a metaphorical step back. "I'm sorry. And there are a great many things in this universe that aren't fair. We can talk later if you're still here."

"Jim—"

"It would seem that you are causing the Cadet a large degree of distress." (Jim spins around in disbelief) "As it is only a week before finals, and the honored cadet has informed you that he is unable to adequately conduct a conversation or a reunion with you at this time, it would be logical to acquiesce to his request that you talk to each other later today. Furthermore, if you have ignored your son for years and have left him feeling as though he is only a reminder of your lost husband to you, you should not have expected him to greet you with, as they say, open arms, upon your reappearance in his life."

Shock and disbelief and gratitude.

"Spock…"

The man simply raises an eyebrow.

"How long have you been listening?"

"Vulcans have very sensitive hearing. I heard you from a distance and interrupted once I was here. I will lead your mother to a place where she can spend the night, should she wish it. If you resume your walk to class, you will only be approximately 5 minutes and 26 seconds late."

Jim simply stares for a few moments. "You call that approximate? And you know where I'm going?"

"6 minutes and 3 seconds."

The eyebrow rises further. His mother opens and closes her mouth, appearing as though she is about to reenter the conversation.

"You and I are talking later," he says over his shoulder (calling is unnecessary with Vulcan hearing) as he breaks into an almost run.

Bones follows him, shaking his head.

Distantly he hears Spock address his mother before they're too far apart.

"Mrs. Kirk, would you be agreeable to spending the night in Starfleet housing?"

"I would be agreeable to you leading me to my son!"

After a pause, "That will not currently be possible."

. . .

Jim goes through his day in a bit of a shocked daze.

During lunch Nyota, Chekov, and Sulu exchange worried looks. "Keptain?" (Chekov still calls him Captain. It usually makes him smile). They look to Bones for explanation, but he offers them none.

"It's nothing guys. I've had an… interesting day."

"Interesting, my a—"

"Interesting, Bones."

"If you say so," Bones mutters.

When Jim leaves, he finally offers, "It's nothing. Just my mother," and leaves Bones to explain the barest hints of the story.

That night, he has an awkward dinner with his mother. It isn't really something that he has time for because as they approach finals, everything gets a bit more frantic, but he sits through it with some semblance of grace.

"Jim, you have to know that I didn't leave because of you."

He simply looks at her and waits.

"Well, not exactly."

(and waits)

"But I'm here now! And—"

"And you won't admit that you left because you couldn't bear looking at me? You still can't face it! And when you look at me now, I wonder who you see." He isn't trying to make her cry, or even to make her feel guilty (she should feel guilty though). It's just something that he needs to say. There's a lot more that he needs to say, but he probably won't. Won't say it.

"I-I see you, Jim."

"You see me." He mutters, shaking his head. "You never saw me." Why does he feel trapped? "After everything that's happened, are you sure that the reason you're here now isn't because you feel obligated, and because I've done something that reminds you of him?"

"You do. You always have."

"That's my point."

"I don't understand."

"You don't understand my point because you've never understood me. You have never looked at me without seeing George. And you've never looked past that image to see me, your son, as my own person. As me. Do you have any idea how tiring that is? Everybody does it. But don't you think that, if one person didn't, it should have been you? And even now, I'll bet you're here not because of me, but because you feel guilty. You're here because you feel as though you should be—progress—but not because you want to be."

"I'm trying Jim. I'm… sorry. I am sorry. I know that's not good enough, but I'm trying."

"I hope you succeed."

Jim knows he is being bitter and unyielding. He isn't trying to be. But he is too accustomed to people leaving to welcome her back into his life… a life that she's never truly been in. Perhaps he wants her to prove to him that she wants to be part of his life; perhaps he isn't strong enough to trust her without putting up walls for her to break through.

She rallies bravely. "How many years have you been in Starfleet?" It's something she should know, but she doesn't know it, and… admitted to not knowing it.

"Three."

He likes seeing her surprise, because it could one day build into respect and pride.

It's a start.

. . .

That night he coms Spock and collapses into bed without waiting for a response. When McCoy enters the room (ready to threaten him into sleep), he finds Jim fast asleep, too exhausted to even stir.

. . .

Light streams through the open window and into his eyes. He stirs blearily, looks at the clock, and jumps out of bed. Of course he felt wonderful upon waking: his alarm never went off, traitorous clock—traitorous McCoy, more likely.

He flies through the shower, brushes his teeth, grabs a sorry excuse for breakfast (consisting of a meal bar from the closet), and has just put on his uniform when the door signals that someone is waiting outside.

He finds a messenger—a messenger?—upon opening the door. He's not that late that they need to send someone!

"Cadet Kirk. You are requested in Admiral Pike's office."

"Yes, sir."

His office? On a weekday, during classes, during finals?

He runs (but pauses outside the door to regain composure).

"You requested me, sir?"

Pike raises his eyebrow at him (he and Spock are startlingly similar at times. Until the comparison ends. Because really, you can't compare—tangent. Right. Focusing). "Jim, you've been running yourself ragged."

"I've been doing nothing that anybody else isn't doing."

"Not when you put everybody else, together, no. But when you look at them individually…"

Well, when you put it that way…

"I try. You know that."

Pike smiles, with that fatherly glint in his eye. "I do. McCoy told me that he turned off your alarm by the way, after yesterday's distressing events for you. Your instructors are not expecting you today, and goodness knows you don't actually need to attend those classes because you already know everything in them."

Jim takes a seat in his wooden chair by the window and struggles to be mad at Bones. And fails.

"I do have something that should compensate your day yesterday though," Pike grins. Pike rarely grins.

"Starfleet has given me permission to notify you of your assignment post graduation…"

The moment Pike pauses for stretches out as hope swells within him. If the news will make up for yesterday, where will he be, what ship? Not the Enterprise, surely? He hasn't allowed himself to hope for that, not consciously.

"You're to be captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise, Jim."

He gasps, and his eyes widen and he swallows (some sort of reflex) and he doesn't believe, but he still beams back at Pike. "What?"

Pike smiles indulgently and leans forward to clap him on the shoulder. "You're the Captain of the Enterprise. And I want you to know that I'm proud of you Jim, and that your father would be too—That your father is proud of you too. And I get to tell you now because—well, because I couldn't keep it from you much longer—but also because you need to choose your crew, dependent on their acceptance, of course."

He can't talk, he can hardly breathe, and he just grins at Pike in disbelief and his eyes shine and this time, his happiness positively floods the room.

It's delightful.

"So, Chekov…"

"Yes, Keptain?"

"How would you like to serve aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise as Navigator?" he asks, and waits.

"I would like that wery much, Keptain, but I doubt they will put me there, and you would not be there and… And you will be, won't you! That is why you are asking! I would like it wery wery much!"

. . .

"Nyota!" He calls as he runs to catch up with her.

"I'm sorry Jim, but I'm very busy right now and—"

"And you don't have time to discuss the possibility of serving as Communications Officer aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise?"

"Well of course, I'd love to, but," she says, then glances at him, at his growing smile, and halts. "You're captain?"

"Yes."

"And they're letting you pick the crew?"

"Yes!" (Trying for nonchalance would be quite impossible.)

"They're mad. But yes. Of course yes!"

. . .

"Oh Scotty!"

"Hi Jim! Have you come to help with these repairs?"

"Nope. I am here to ask if you'll be serving as Chief Engineer for the Enterprise."

"Well you know I want to, she's a beauty, but I was hoping to be placed with you. You know, bonds of being rescued by you and so on and so forth."

"Well then you're going to be very, very pleased."

"You cannae mean—"

"You're looking at the Captain!"

. . .

"Sulu, how would you like to be the Enterprise's pilot?"

"I'd love to!"

Jim squints at him. "You knew already, didn't you?

"Chekov let it slip."

He can't help but grin anyway. He's glad they're close.

. . .

"Hi Bones!"

"You're not mad at me about the alarm clock?"

"…No."

"Well I'm glad you're finally seeing sense. How late did you sleep?"

"Bones, how would you like to be Chief Medical Officer of the Enterprise?"

"Jim, they're not going to give it to you. They should, but they won't—"

"Mhmm."

"They did, didn't they?"

"They did indeed, Bones."

"Good God. I'll never see the end of patching you up. You're going to be the death of me, you know that? They're insane. Insane, I tell you."

. . .

He contacts every single member of the Enterprise's crew. He sends the ones he doesn't know a general message, but makes it sound personal (tries to, anyway. He doesn't have that much time before he needs to inform Starfleet of his crew).

Then he goes to Spock's quarters after looking up their location in the database and summons the courage to knock. He knew the others would say yes. This is the hard one because he can't imagine anyone else as his first officer.

He knocks on the door. The door opens almost instantly.

"I was wondering how long it would take you."

"To come here?"

"To knock."

"Hmph. May I come in?"

Spock simply steps slightly backwards and shifts his eyebrow in response.

Jim steps inside and finds the apartment sweltering.

"Computer, lower temperature ten degrees."

"That's unnecessary," Jim protests, but is simply met with the raised eyebrow. It's a very versatile eyebrow.

"Thank you for saving me the other day," he says uneasily.

"Jim, you thanked me for that in your message to me earlier. I think I know the reason for your lack of response to my subsequent message. Why are you here?"

"I've come to ask you to be my first officer aboard the Enterprise." After a pause, he continues, "You don't look very surprised."

"As a Vulcan—"

"Yes, I know that, Spock. But I mean that you appeared as though you already knew I'd be given the Enterprise."

"It was logical."

"Well will you? Be my first officer?"

Spock clasps his hands behind his back and glances at his feet for a second. Just a second, but long enough to break eye-contact.

"I cannot answer you. I am not decided as to whether I will continue in Starfleet. Despite the use of logic, I find myself uncertain of which choice will be the most beneficial to my race. It is logical that I resign from Starfleet and—"

Some of Jim's joy crashes a little bit.

"But then why have you not already resigned? You've thrown yourself into your work! You've shown no indication of… of resigning."

"I would, of course, wait until your class graduates so that my resignation does not further deplete Starfleet's ranks."

God, it's logical. Freaking logical.

"I could try to convince you to stay with Starfleet Spock, but… it's your decision and I won't make you feel… guilty for it. I know you're about to remind me that you do not feel emotion, but… Well, we won't go there. But I want you Spock. If you decide to stay, I want you with me."

He leaves with disappointment, the image of Spock's solemn nod staying with him for the rest of the day. If only Spock could know about other Spock. Can't he be a little selfish if there are two of him?

But Spock doesn't know that and it would be harmful if he did.

Even so, he can't help but think that Spock shouldn't have to lose his planet, and then his position at Starfleet only a month later. He shouldn't have to make such a sacrifice.

Graduation is inspiring and exhilarating.

He hadn't known that they would commend him, or publicly announce him as the Enterprise's captain. Bones needs to hit him before he breaks out of his stunned daze when they call his name, and he simply stands and drinks in the applause after relieving Admiral Pike.

He's never felt this way before.

Even though he doesn't have his First Officer yet.

Bones observes him as they pack up their things.

"You know that you need a first officer, right?"

"Spock will be."

This doesn't appear to satisfy Bones. "But if he doesn't…"

"Spock will be my first officer as long as he chooses to remain in Starfleet. And I'm pretty sure he will."

Bones allows a pile of clothes to drop to the floor. "If he chooses…?" he asks with that threatening tone of his (the one that's only a little short of a growl).

"…He's considering resigning from Starfleet to help rebuild his race."

"Jim!"

Oh. That was why he failed to mention that piece of information to Bones. Yep, that was definitely why he didn't tell Bones.

"He'll come. He has to."

He loves it when Bones decides to temporarily give up on talking sense into him.

"And if he doesn't?"

"…We'll deal with it."

Why does Bones always shake his head at him?

Safe in his certainty that Spock will appear, he joyfully greets his ship, his Enterprise. She's a beauty.

This might be better than anything else he's ever felt in his life.

His crew begins to board as he triple checks everything. There's nothing out of order, nothing out of place, nothing broken, nothing outdated. He's going to keep it that way.

. . .

He enters the bridge to find his command crew back where they belong, and on a much happier day than the one they last spent here. It's thrilling and exhilarating. He still can't believe this is his.

"Maneuvering thrusters and impulse engines at your command, sir," Sulu informs him.

Then Chekov tells him, "Weapons systems and shields on standby," while tapping on his screen.

"Dock control reports ready, Captain." Uhura pauses right before saying Captain. It sounds so official.

This will be fun. There a just a couple things left… Ah. His gaze alights on Bones (who looks rather anxious).

"Bones! Buckle up." He says, clapping his friend on the shoulder (the Captain can do things like that as he pleases).

The comlink beeps as he calls to check on Scotty: "Scotty, how we doing?"

"Dilithium chamber's at maximum, Captain."

Perfect.

Except for one not-so-small, very important thing. Or person, rather.

"Mr. Sulu, prepare to engage thrusters," he orders reluctantly. They need to wait a bit longer…

But then he hears the turbo lift door open and, startled, disbelieving, spins in his chair to find Spock.

"Permission to come aboard, Captain."

He sort of loves the fact that his first officer asked that question, because it has to be a joke. Or if not a joke outright, it must be playful, certainly.

"Permission granted." Permission granted a great many times, Spock, you last-minute—

"As you have yet to select a first officer, respectfully I would like to submit my candidacy. Should you desire, I can provide character references."

He's kidding right? There eyes meet each other with a certain degree of intensity.

"It would be my honor, Commander."

They're standing close, by Vulcan terms, now and he can see the shine in Spock's eyes. He catches the barely perceptible nod and goodness knows Jim's happiness must be visible to nearly everyone, let alone a perceptive man who is also a touch-telepath. He sits back down in his chair (his chair!), eminently satisfied.

"Maneuvering thrusters, Mr. Sulu."

"Thrusters on standby."

"Take us out."

"Aye-aye, Captain."

And they've gone.