'Babe, you never know who is listening,' Kirk replied as he looked deep into Carol Marcus' bi-coloured eyes; they were showing signs of fatigue but were delighted nonetheless to see him. 'How come you're still in your office?'

'Working late to make sure we have time when you guys dock tomorrow. I made a reservation at one of the restaurants on the satellite. It's not as big and fancy as Tantalus but it's still large enough here that we can be lost in the crowd.'

'Perfect. What are you working on so late?'

'Updates to the anti-gravity magnetic systems for self-propulsion mechanical engineering suits, so that minimal exterior repairs can be done to Star-Fleet ships, well specifically low-capacity shuttles for the larger vessels that…' Carol trailed off, noticing the glassy, tuned-out look in Kirk's eyes. 'What am I even saying it for when you're not listening.'

'No, I am listening,' Kirk reassured her, flashing a quick grin, 'just letting myself get a little bit lost in your voice. Hearing your tech-speak gets me all…anxious.'

'Patience, it's not even twenty-four hours before the Enterprise will be docked here.'

'Which is still too far away. I've missed you a lot lately, especially since Bones and Christine have gotten together and you can always when they've spent the night together because he gets this dumb goofy grin on his face.'

'Interesting you're chiding him, because I recall after we first got together you had the same look on your face every time you woke me up in rather interesting fashion.'

'Yeah, but I mean, I'm me, I had a rep for being a-'

'Sucker for the ladies?'

'Well, yeah and Bones is Bones, always grumpy about something. Seeing him actually happy for reasons other than needling Spock over technicalities of Fleet code is…well, it takes a little getting used to.'

'Alright, that I will give you,' Carol agreed, studying the wrinkle of his nose as he feigned horror then laughed, letting his chuckles be the much needed balm at the end of a trying day. 'I recall when I got Christine to fess up to her crush on him shortly after New Year's that I couldn't stop grinning about it and she was almost as merciless in her teasing to me as I was to her.'

'Wait, wait, her teasing you?' Kirk's easy mood powered up. 'You didn't tell her about…that we're us?'

'Oh no, no, we are just as under the radar as we want to be. I meant that she was giving me shit about behaving like a mother watching her little girl go on her first date.'

'Yeah, you're good at that kind of thing.' Though he was alone, Kirk leaned in towards the screen and whispered, 'Will we have time to…?'

'You are on shore leave for seven days starting tomorrow, even captains need a break,' Carol reminded him in her trademark way that made Kirk feel a little less tense about the whole arrangement. 'Besides, if you are desperately needed, that's what your communicator is for, yes?'

'That sensible brain is why I love you. Well, amongst your very attractive other features,' he added, making Carol's cheeks flush.

'And that ego is something I've learned to love about you.'

'Ego? What ego? I'm the salt of the earth, a corn-fed Iowa farm boy. No humbler gentleman than that on or off planet.'

'That one,' she replied, then tapped her hand against her breasts. 'That's why I keep you close to my heart.'

'Same goes, Carrie.' It was a pet name he'd given her in the heat of an argument that had given way to him telling her that he loved her, the first time he'd ever said it and genuinely meant to a woman that wasn't his mother or a trusted friend. 'Think maybe once you're home, we might-'

Bridge to Captain Kirk, came Uhura's voice through the comm in his desk panel, and Kirk hit the button. 'Lieutenant, what can I help you with?'

'There is a communication coming through from the governor's mansion from Syzonna, marked priority one, sir.'

'Very well, Uhura. I'll take it in approximately three minutes.'

'Aye, sir.'

Kirk tapped the button, then turned back to Carol with an apologetic sigh. 'Duty calls yet again. I'll see you soon.'

'Sooner than it seems. I love you.'

'Love you too, Doctor.'


One more hour, Carol thought as she checked her Pacific-standard clock she knew was synced to the hours on board the Enterprise as per Kirk's mandate. One more hour to finish writing up her report on the next steps for the anti-gravity magnetic systems tests they were running. Then it would be home to her quarters for a nice refreshing sonic shower, maybe multitask it with her VR goggles set to the old Amazonian rainforest lagoon she favoured for detoxing from a long day.

Then she'd surprise her man by meeting him at the captain's quarters that had been slated for his stay on the satellite while the rest of the crew prepared themselves for a whole two weeks of rest and relaxation. Maybe she'd wear the green Tyrollean silk tunic he'd sent her from when the ship stopped at the Tantalus system for their previous-

'Doctor Marcus?'

Carol rolled her eyes, annoyed at having her thoughts interrupted. She pressed the button to acknowledge the receptionist cadet's page. 'Yes, Zoe, how can I help you?'

'There is a John Keating here to see you, but he isn't on your appointment list, can I send him back?'

The warm flood spread from her belly through her heart and into her fingertips, and Carol was glad she wasn't in a glass-walled office like some of her coworkers. The smile in her voice was easy to read as she replied smoothly, 'Yes, of course I'll meet with Mister Keating, thank you.'

Saving her work on her unit, as Carol knew she'd get no more done now for the evening, she pulled the delicate braided chain from beneath her uniform and let it sit out for him to see. When the knock at her door sounded, she picked up the printout on her desk and pretended to be reading it as she intoned lightly, 'Come in.'

'Hard at work as ever.'

Carol glanced up, set aside the printout as she watched Kirk secure the door behind him and thought of the old screen-show from which he'd derived his name. Oh captain my captain indeed, she mused, watching the way his toned body moved with the graceful athleticism of a swimmer preparing to race. Still, rather than greeting him with the gooey tenderness that was all but melting her insides upon seeing him in person, she went with feigned irritation at his charming antics

'You know, one of these days, using that ridiculous pseudonym is going to backfire on you, Mister Kirk,' she informed him, which made Kirk laugh.

'God I love it when you discipline me like that, Doctor Marcus,' he told her, pulling her in for a tight embrace and lingering kiss that was a preview of things to come that night. He held her tight, inhaling the warm vanilla sugar scent of her skin; when it coupled with her voice he thought of the last time they'd been together. A whole week of shore leave first spent Vegas for just a day, followed up with a whole week in Fiji of sun, beach sex and enough coconut rum to sink a Klingon warbird.

He felt her wriggle against him, saw the pouty insult on her face. 'What?'

'You should know by now when I'm talking to you like that, it's not Doctor Marcus.' Carol held up the delicate ring on the chain she always wore without fail and waved it under his nose. 'It's Missus Kirk.'

'Well I figured telling your receptionist that your husband was here might cause more questions than either of us wanted right now,' Kirk replied with a proud smug grin on his face; it never got old, he thought, referring to himself as her husband, nor hearing her refer to herself as Missus Kirk. Sitting down on the edge of her desk, he lifted her hand to his lips. 'How come you're not really wearing it?'

'See your own previous answer. Besides, out here, it is rather an obvious statement since a lot of people who call Tarsus home are of a very libertarian mindset. Share and share alike, and all that shit.'

'I don't share,' Kirk pointed out.

'Neither do I,' Carol reminded him, and tucked her ring back beneath her top, patted where it rested between her breasts. 'Besides, this way I'm literally keeping you close to my heart.'

'Now that I believe.' Kirk winked at her, making her grin, then made a show of looking around. 'How sturdy is the lock on that door?'

'Patience, my love.' Carol moved so that she could hooked her arms around Kirk's neck and draw him in for another smouldering kiss. 'We've waited nearly six months for this little reunion, a few more hours won't hurt. But I must tell you I wasn't expecting you until later so our dinner reservation isn't until twenty-thirty.'

'Perfect. Plenty of time to…catch up,' he replied with such a look on his face that Carol was surprised her panties didn't simply burst into flames. 'We could catch up twice if we're quick about it.'

'You are going to your captain's quarters, I'm going to mine, then we are meeting up for dinner…with Christine and Bones,' she finished lamely, and saw the look on his face go from lascivious to tormented in a heartbeat.

'We're- you- you made dinner reservations tonight with Christine and Bones? I thought you said they didn't know about us!'

'They don't,' Carol reassured him, then twisted her fingers together as she wound through her explanation. 'I told Christine I'd like to catch up with her and Bones and if they didn't mind, I'd be inviting you along so they wouldn't feel like I was a third rail to their date-night. And I was also thinking it might be nice to tell one of my oldest friends in Star Fleet that you and I are actually a couple.'

'Christine doesn't handle being lied to very well. It was a gamble even to pull off her surprise birthday party back on our visit to the Tantalus satellite,' Kirk reminded her, then frowned in thought. 'Are we going to tell her in public so that she can't blow her stack in front of other people, especially considering how her current boy-toy was trying to put the moves on you when you were helping us out during the whole Khan crisis?'

'Bones is a gentleman and as I recall Christine wasn't even on board the Enterprise at that point so being jealous of Bones' attempts at flirting would be stupid and that is something my friend most definitely is not.'

'Agreed.'

'On top of which, I want to give Christine her birthday gift since I missed it being all the way over here in the Tarsus system,' Carol reminded him as she secured and powered down her desk unit, then put the necessary files in her bag before taking Kirk's hand and giving it a squeeze. 'It sounds like a hell of a party I missed. Wanna catch me up on the missing details?'

'Like what?'

'Well, Christine told me that you were turning on your charm-' she gave him a light poke in the chest '-around Bones' teenage daughter?'

At this, Kirk rolled his eyes. 'Okay, why don't I walk you home and tell you the real story about that?'

'An excellent idea.'