Hi everyone!

The first thing I want to say is sorry for the late update. I didn't realize that it had been this long. My betea seems to have disappeared, so I've gone this one alone. I hope it's ok. The next update will be much sooner, I promise. I can only apologize again.

Thanks to CaffeineKid, Skatinggirl2011, Yayyou, Blue-Eyed Chica, Darkness Lurks unseen, hulachowdown, LunarEclipse, strange-I-think-not, InTiMaTeLoVeRfOrEvEr and YumKiwiDelicious for their fantastic reviews. Keep it up, guys.

This chapter really moves the plot along and there is a bit of a shocker in it too. Call it my apology for such a late update. I really hope you guys like it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek… but I'm planning on getting my copy on DVD in a few weeks :D

Lizzie realized that she had a distinct spring in her step that morning as she walked to the Bridge. The talk she had had with Uhura that morning had really helped her, yet at the same time, worried her to no end and so slowed her springing step down. She was relieved that now, she and Chekov could be together. They had given into their feelings and were finally together again. Yet two problems still arose. Joe and going home.

She knew that she was going to talk to Joe and admit everything that was going on and how she really felt. She was going to break his heart and it would upset her as well as him. Yet she had thought about this quite a lot, so she felt that she could push that problem to the back of her mind for the time being. The major problem that she encountered, that she had never really thought about throughout this whole situation, was the fact that at some point, she would be sent home.

Her obvious feeling about this was that she did not want to go! She wanted to stay, here, with Chekov, forever and ever. Yet a small part of her knew that going home would be inevitable. They had sent her home last time, so why was this time any different? They felt that she didn't belong here and so she knew that she would be going home soon, no matter how much she would protest.

Nevertheless, that didn't mean she wasn't going to protest. Hell, she would protest all she could! She would find some impossible, non-existent way to stay here and not have to leave. She would ask Jim and the rest of the crew to help her. If she put her mind to it, she knew that she would find an answer to her problem.

But, for just this brief moment, she would put her problems behind her and continue to the Bridge as her usual, cheery self and just think of the amazing moment she had shared with Chekov earlier. It had been wonderful, amazing, perfect. No words could really describe her ecstatic feelings of finally having him back. She found that these happy thoughts spurred her on and made her feet move faster. She knew that the quicker she got to the Bridge, the quicker she would get to see her curly headed Russian.

She had only seen him an hour ago, but that was an hour too long. She wanted to see him every second of everyday and never leave his side. So as she entered the Turbo Lift and set it to her destination, she braced herself for seeing his perfect face. She was also a little down heartened at the fact she would have to brace herself for Jim's endless teasing over the subject, but at that moment, she could take the Captain's silly words. As long as she had Chekov, she didn't care.

The lift finally came to a halt and the doors slid open to reveal the Bridge. It was it's usual self, busy, full, loud, lively. Lizzie smiled as she stepped out of the lift and made her way over to the Captain's chair.

"Morning, Jim," she said in a happy voice.

Kirk turned to face her and she automatically noticed the huge smug smile playing on his lips. "Good morning, Lizzie."

They continued to stare at each other for what seemed like forever, Lizzie with a welcoming smile and Kirk with a smug grin, his eyebrows occasionally wiggling, trying to imply something.

"Fine," Lizzie finally said, tired of the silence and tired of waiting. "Just get it out of the way."

"You love Chekov, you love Chekov!" he sang as he pointed at her and began laughing. Lizzie never realised how much of a child the Captain really could be.

"Yes, I do love him," she said proudly, meaning every word. "And I'm not afraid to admit it. So tease me all you want."

Un-noticed by Lizzie, Chekov couldn't stop beaming over what she had said as he sat at his workstation. She had admitted it to the whole Bridge, despite her circumstances and so he knew that he had to help her. He wanted the whole crew to know how he felt about this woman and he would say exactly what was in his heart. He stood up and turned to face the Captain.

"And I love Lizzie, Keptin, so you can tease all you vant." He stood up and moved over to Lizzie, putting a loving arm around her waist and pulling her to him a little. Lizzie giggled to herself in her head. He was so sweet sometimes.

"I was only joking and having a bit of fun," Kirk told them. "I'm really happy for you guys."

"Thanks, Jim," Lizzie said as she rested her head upon Chekov's shoulder, letting out a deep breath.

"Of course I am! You two deserve to be happy. But as much as I'm happy for you," Kirk began, "I have a ship to run and I'm going to struggle without a Navigator." He gave Chekov a long hard stare.

"Oh!" Chekov quickly realised. He wasn't at his workstation when he needed to be. He gave Lizzie a quick kiss on the cheek before letting her go and running back to his seat by Mr Sulu. He began his work straight away.

Lizzie watched him as he did so and it caused her to tilt her head to the side a little and smile. She loved how involved with his work he was. He had always been like that, even throughout the first time she was in the future. He would always give 100% and work his hardest. She wondered if he could be anymore perfect. She was ripped from her daydream by a cough from the Captain.

She turned to look at him and found he was just smiling at her as he sat down in his chair. She was glad that the crew were happy for them, but she knew they were all secretly thinking one thing. What about Joe? What about Joe? What about Joe? She let out a deep sigh at the thought of this. She would need to contact him, and soon.

"You ok?" Kirk asked her, noticing how her face had grown a little sadder.

Lizzie looked at him and smiled. "Jim, I'm perfect."

"Good," he grinned. He was glad that she was happy for once. He knew how much she had gone through in the past few weeks. Being kidnapped, sent 250 years into the future and being heavily tortured by Klngons for five days was not exactly his idea of fun. After her trauma, he was glad to finally see her smiling about something and if that something was Chekov, then he would encourage it all he could. Just as Lizzie suspected, he was wondering about her fiancée, but he just wanted her to be happy, so he knew that they would jump that hurdle when they came to it.

"Captain!" Sulu suddenly shouted from his workstation. Both Kirk and Lizzie looked up at him as he spoke.

"What is it Mr Sulu?" Kirk enquired, concerned over Sulu's worried tone of voice.

"Chekov and I are both detecting a Klingon vessel up ahead."

"You have to be kidding?" Kirk said to himself. After what happened with Lizzie, Klingons were his least favourite creatures in the universe. He would be happy if he never saw one ever again, but obviously, fate was not on his side. He let out a deep sigh of frustration, knowing he would have to talk to the creatures he hated so much.

Lizzie, on the other hand, froze at Sulu's words and her whole body began to shake in fear. They were here for her, she knew it. They had come to finish the job and make her suffer more. Her eyes widened as she remembered all that she had been through with the Klingons and even more panic shot through her body.

Kirk, noticing her shaking form, grabbed her hand and squeezed it gently in reassurance.

"It's ok," he gently told her. "You're safe aboard the Enterprise now. We won't let them hurt you. I promise."

"Ok," she merely whispered, slightly assured by Kirk's words, yet paranoia and worry still ran through her. She could not shake her memories of the last encounter she had had with the Klingons. She knew she was safe, but she still worried.

Kirk let go of her hand before standing up from his seat and moving closer to the large window at the front of the Bridge.

"Uhura, hail them please," he said, not at all in the mood for talking to Klingons.

"Yes sir," she said as Spock rose from his seat and stood next to the Captain, ready to confront the Klingons too.

"I hope they are just passing through," Kirk said to the Vulcan.

"As do I, Captain, as do I," Spock replied.

Uhura finally hailed the Klingon vessel and the inhabitants of the ship came upon the big screen at the front of the ship. Kirk became tense as soon as he saw who the Klingon was. He recognised him straight away and when he turned to look at Lizzie, he noticed that she recognised him too.

"How the hell did you get out of prison, L'lah?" Kirk said, recognising him as the Klingon who kidnapped Lizzie.

"Well, Captain Kirk, the prisons upon Camor V aren't exactly the most secure. Escape was fairly easy, as was attaining our ship."

Kirk held his fists tightly in anger as the Klingon said this. He was both annoyed and angry that the Klingon's escape had been so easy. He wondered if perhaps there was a reason why their two ships had met once again. If they wanted Lizzie, there was no way that they were having her. He promised her she would be safe.

"You kidnapped an innocent citizen, tortured her, then escaped prison, L'lah. As Captain of this vessel, I have the authority to place your ship and your crew under arrest." He quickly gave a nod to Uhura; a nod that she knew meant that she was to contact Starfleet. She quickly set to work. He noticed Spock's eyebrows had furrowed as he looked at the screen. Kirk quickly looked where Spock was looking and found that L'lah had begun to laugh. The Captain looked at him as if he were mad.

"You think that threat will scare us?" the Klingon mocked. "We have come here for the girl, Captain Kirk. Let us have her and we shall be on our way."

Lizzie whimpered as L'lah said this. Her biggest fear had been confirmed. They really were here for her. Chekov automatically stood up from his seat and ran over to her, holding her in his arms. He noticed that she was visibly shaking with fear. He gave her a gentle squeeze letting her know he was here.

"She isn't going anywhere," Kirk challenged.

"I think you shall quickly change your mind when you see who we have," the Klingon said. The whole Bridge suddenly had confused looks upon their faces. What could the Klingons possibly mean? Who would they have that could possibly make them hand over Lizzie?

The Klingon quickly moved to the side and gestured to the person he was talking about. The man was on his knees, bound and gagged, two Klingons either side of him, making sure he did not attempt to escape. He clearly had a few bruises. The Klingons had not been gentle with him.

The Bridge looked at the man with pity because of his situation, but also confusion as no one knew who he was. No one except one person.

Lizzie's eyes widened and she froze as she saw the man before her. She knew exactly who it was and she could not help but scream his name.

"JOE!"

She freed herself from a shocked Chekov's arms and quickly ran to stand beside Kirk. The whole Bridge was in shock now.

"Lizzie?" Joe asked on the screen. "Lizzie? Baby, where are you?"

"Shut up!" one the Klingons said, hitting him over the head. Lizzie winced as he did this.

"What the hell do you want with him?" she shouted, her tear-filled eyes looking at his weak figure.

Why on Earth did they have Joe? How did they get him? She couldn't believe it. He hadn't done anything. He knew nothing of the future or Lizzie's past adventures. He was an even more innocent party than she was, but now, he was here, 250 years in the future, battered and bruised, being held hostage by sinister Klingons. She knew that the tears would fall at any given moment.

L'lah kept silent, yet a smug grin played on his lips.

"She asked you a question," Kirk said between gritted teeth.

"We propose an exchange," L'lah began. "We shall give you the boy, if you give us the girl."

"Over my dead body," Kirk said, insulted by such a request.

"We accept your offer," Spock suddenly interjected. The whole Bridge gasped and all eyes centred on the Vulcan.

"Spock, what the hell are you doing?" Kirk whispered urgently in Spock's ear, so that L'lah would not know what was being said.

"Captain, instead of transporting Miss Woods over to the Klingon vessel, we shall transport a rescue team. From there, we shall rescue Miss Woods' fiancée, bring him back to the Enterprise and place the vessel under Starfleet arrest."

"Why didn't I think of that?" Kirk whispered back, happy with the Vulcan's plan. He moved back to look at the screen. "We accept your offer. The girl shall be transported immediately."

"What?!" Lizzie screamed in fear. The Bridge shared her feelings. Kirk looked at her and winked without L'lah seeing. Lizzie immediately calmed down knowing that the wink had indicated that everything would be ok and that Kirk had a plan.

"We shall transport her immediately. Kirk out," The line went dead and the Klingon disappeared from the screen. It turned back into a window.

"Jim, you have to save him," Lizzie said, grabbing his arm. "You have to."

"Don't worry Lizzie, we'll get him back."

"Ok," she said quietly as Kirk and Spock moved past her and headed to the lift.

"Sulu, you have the con," Kirk said, his voice full of authority. He gave Lizzie a reassuring smile as he stepped in the lift, the doors closing behind him, sending Spock and Kirk to the Transporter Room.

Lizzie let out a deep sigh. She couldn't believe that the Klingons had Joe, here, in the future. To say that she was worried and scared was an understatement. Even though the romantic feelings she had harboured for him were gone, Joe was still one of her closest friends and she cared for him deeply. Why did bad things always happen to her?

She was broken from her thoughts when she felt a warm hand wrap around her own. She looked up and saw Chekov's sweet and innocent face giving her a smile. She smiled back and moved to rest her head on his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and rubbed her arms gently. She listened to his heartbeat, hoping it would calm her down.

"Do not vorry, Lizzie," he whispered to her. "Zhey vill get him back."

"I hope so, Pavel," she told him. "I hope so."