Hello!

A huge thanks to Valkerie, Venetiangrl92, mstef, InTiMaTeLoVeRfOrEvEr and lindsaybaird for the lovely reviews.

Ok, on with the next chapter and the aftermath of Joe's discovery…

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

"What the hell is going on here?" Joe shouted in an irate voice, his fists tight and his face turning somewhat red with anger.

Chekov immediately withdrew his arms from Lizzie's body at the sound of the man's aggressive attitude, and let them drop effortlessly to his side. Lizzie, on the other hand, just stood there, gazing at her fiancée, fear in her heart and guilt filling her body.

This was not what she wanted to happen. In fact, this was the last thing on her list of things to happen. She had it all pictured out. She would sit him down and tell him sensitively. She would have told him her side of the story and done it in a much easier and kinder way.

But no.

He had to walk in at the most awkward moment. He had to wait until she was in her other lover's arms. He had to wait until he was kissing her and loving her and doing all the things to her that Joe himself should be doing. This was not what she wanted at all. This was going all wrong and she hated herself for it.

"Joe," she began. "Let me explain. Please."

"Who the hell is he?" Joe shouted, pointing an accusing finger in Chekov's direction. The Russian navigator took a step forward.

"Joe, if ve can explain," he began, but he was abruptly cut off.

"SHUT THE HELL UP!" Joe yelled in anger. Chekov automatically shut his mouth tightly. Joe turned back to Lizzie, his voice much calmer now. "Lizzie, who is he?"

Lizzie, upset at seeing Joe act so untowardly at Chekov took a brave step forward. "Joe, leave Pavel alone."

"Pavel?" Joe asked in a distasteful tone. "What the hell were you doing with him?"

"Joe, sit down and I can explain," Lizzie said softly, gesturing to the sofa.

"I SAID WHAT WERE YOU DOING WITH HIM?" Joe shouted angrily.

Lizzie could in no way blame her fiancée for his temper, but there were better options here than to just shout… yet even so, Lizzie chose to use this aggressive option herself.

"I WAS KISSING HIM, OK?"

"W-why were you kissing him?" Joe asked, Lizzie's shouting startling him into a much quieter mood.

Lizzie took a deep breath and said the one thing she knew she had to in that moment - the truth.

"Because I love him," she whispered, tears prickling her eyes.

There. She had said it. It was now finally out in the open, and it was if a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders, her whole body and spirit feeling miraculously lighter. The secret of her affections for Chekov had been locked up in secret for so long that, along with guilt and sadness, Lizzie also felt a great relief in getting her confession off her chest.

"You… love him?" Joe asked, his whole body changing. He seemed wearied, the shock of Lizzie's words taking its toll on his stressed out body.

Lizzie just nodded as tears managed to escape her eyes. "I'm so sorry," she whispered.

Joe then turned to Chekov, his eyes on fire. This man, a man who he barely knew had taken Lizzie's heart from him… and Joe wanted blood.

"Why you son of a bitch," he yelled before he leapt at Chekov, his fists tight. He swung a punch, hitting Chekov squarely in the cheek, sending him flying backwards.

"JOE!" Lizzie cried in fear, trying to stop the fight going any further. Neither man was listening to her.

No sooner did Chekov find his feet again did Chekov retaliate, swinging his own punch back. He hit Joe, causing him to fall briskly to the floor. Chekov did not spend all these years in Starfleet without learning to fight and protect himself.

"Pavel, stop," Lizzie cried, but again, her pleas were ignored as Joe got to his feet and the two men began sizing each other up.

The two men began their attacks again.

Lizzie could not have been more grateful in that moment when she saw who walked past her room. Kirk and Bones were walking down the corridor, spotting the fight from her open door.

"Woah, what the heck's going on?" Jim said, confusion etched on both his and the doctor's face.

"Jim, stop them," Lizzie said.

No sooner did the Captain and doctor men see a punch swung did they run into the room and pry the two angry men apart. Bones grabbed Joe and pulled him back whilst Kirk managed to restrain the young Russian. Both fighters were breathing heavily, the energy of the encounter tiring them both out.

"What was that about?" Kirk said, automatically going into Captain Mode. A fight had broken out on his ship and he wanted to know why.

"Him," Joe said, nodding his head in Chekov's direction.

"What about him?"

"Joe knows, Jim," Lizzie said, getting straight to the point. "He saw us together and now he knows." Lizzie felt weak emotionally, especially after seeing the two most important men in her life beat the hell out of each other, but she knew it could not be left like this. She had to talk to Joe, she had to discuss everything with him… for both their sakes.

"I need to talk to Joe," she said. "Alone."

"Vhat?" Chekov exclaimed, trying to break free of Kirk's grip. However, it was too strong and he remained just where he was.

"Are you sure, Lizzie?" Kirk checked. "I don't want him lashing out at you."

"He won't," Lizzie replied confidently.

"Of course I won't," Joe said in an offended tone. "I would never lay a violent finger on her."

Kirk took a moment to think before he spoke. "Fine, but the second he does something, I'll be straight in here and I'll beat the shit out of him without a second thought."

Lizzie agreed to this, touched by her friend's concern. Kirk managed to lead a concerned Chekov out of Lizzie's quarters. Bones let Joe go and the three of them left, leaving Lizzie and Joe finally alone.

A heavy silence hung in the room for what felt like a lifetime. There was plenty to say, but neither could speak, too many thoughts whizzing around both of their minds.

Lizzie seemed stumped for words, the previous events taking her breath away. Every girl always dreams of two amazing guys fighting over her for her affections, but when it actually came to it, Lizzie realized that is wasn't all it was cracked up to be. It wasn't amazing and exciting and romantic. It was frightening, it was horrible, it was her worst nightmare.

It was one of the most terrible things she had seen in all her life. Watching them both beat the life out of each other, just for her… It made her sick to the stomach and she hated herself for letting it come to that. This was all her fault, yet Joe and Pavel seemed to be the people paying the price for that.

Lizzie moved and quietly sat down upon her sofa, waiting to see what Joe did. Letting out a breath, he followed her lead and sat at her side. It seemed he had fianlly calmed down.

"Do you hate me?" Lizzie finally said, the silence becoming too much for her to take.

"I could never hate you," Joe replied, looking into space. "No matter what you do to me."

"You should hate me," Lizzie said. "If I were you, I would absolutely despise me."

"You'd think I would, but I don't," Joe said. Lizzie was grateful that he had managed to calm down now. His angrier side seemed to have disappeared and his more rational one had arrived.

Lizzie then took Joe's hand in hers and turned to face him. "I'm sorry," she whispered again. "I am so so sorry."

"Why did you do it?" Joe asked. Tears filled his eyes as he looked at her and it tore Lizzie apart. It was all her fault that this man was in this condition. She knew how much of a bad person she was.

"It wasn't malicious, Joe. I didn't do it on purpose, I promise," Lizzie quickly said, defending herself.

"Still doesn't deny the fact that you did it," Joe said, his spirit completely deflated.

"This isn't just some fling I had whilst you were gone," Lizzie began. "This is something that has been going on for years." Joe looked at her with his eyebrows furrowed as Lizzie quickly realized how bad her statement sounded. But that wasn't Joe's concern,

"How can it have been going on for years? Lizzie… we're 250 years in the future."

"This isn't my first time here," Lizzie explained. "This kinda happened to me 4 years ago, I was 18 at the time."

"And… you came back?"

"Believe me, nobody was as surprised at this fact as I was," she added.

"But how?"

Lizzie shrugged. "I don't know."

Joe ran his hands through his hair. "This is madness. And you know this guy, Pavel, from before?"

Lizzie nodded. "We were together and then I was forced back to our own time. We never exactly broke things off, so when I came back here, it just sort of… carried on from before."

"Did it not occur to you that I was back home, waiting for you?" Joe asked, his pride hurt. Had she ever loved him? All the time the two of them were together, she had been in love with a guy from the future.

Lizzie wiped her tears on the back of her hand. "I'm a monster, I know I am."

Joe sighed. "No, no you're not."

"How can you say that after what I've put you through," Lizzie said, looking at the man before her. "I was with you, yet I loved him the whole time!"

The words hit Joe hard, but he kept up his façade.

"I suppose that's why I hit him," he observed.

"There was no need to hit him."

"What?" Joe exclaimed. "There was every need to hit him."

"Why?" Lizzie said. "What did hitting him possibly achieve?"

"It gave me satisfaction and made me feel a hell of a lot better."

"But look what it did to me?" Lizzie said, her body fatigued and her eyes red and puffy. Lizzie knew she was being selfish. She had essentially cheated on Joe, yet she screamed at him for hitting Pavel. The guilt just got a little stronger.

Joe was silent for the longest time, focusing on a point on the wall in front of him. He had a great deal to think about after all.

His Lizzie, the Lizzie who he loved and adored, the Lizzie who he wanted to marry… she did not want him, she wanted another. This fact alone hurt him, but the fact that her heart had belonged elsewhere the whole time really tore him up. He should hate her. He should want to shout at her and cry at her and scream at her. He should despise her and want to make her pay for the betrayal she had committed.

But he didn't.

He loved her far too much for that.

Yes, she had hurt him. Yes, she had broken his heart. Yes, she was in the wrong here and not him, but he could not find the strength to hate her. It was true that he was angry, just as any man would be, but he did not hate her.

"Do you love him like you said?" he finally spoke up.

"Yes," Lizzie murmured. "With all my heart."

He looked at her then, his emotions in check and his face composed. "Then there's nothing I can do. I've lost you to him… well I never had you, but still. There's no chance I can ever have you now, Lizzie."

"I am so sorry, Joe," Lizzie whispered again before leaning forward and encasing Joe in her arms. He returned the hug, knowing that this would probably be the last intimate contact he would ever have with her.

"Did you ever love me?" he asked, dying to know the answer.

"Yes, I did," Lizzie answered back. "I did love you, of course I did."

This allowed Joe to feel remotely better. At least the last few years had not been a complete lie. At least he'd had her love for most of it.

"And there's no chance I can get you back?" he asked, a glimmer of hope in his words. Lizzie shook her head and he knew then that it was over. Lizzie had left him. He knew this true and well.

"I didn't mean to hurt you," Lizzie told him as she held him tighter.

"I know," Joe replied. "You'd never mean to, just I wouldn't mean to hurt you."

"C-Can you forgive m-me?" Lizzie asked, fresh tears breaking through.

"You know I will," Joe replied. "I love you too much not to."

The relief in Lizzie's heart was beginning to outweigh the guilt, if only a little. It was all out in the open now and Joe did not seem as angry. He was hurt, but he had forgiven her and that was all she could ask for.

"Thank you, Joe."

"What for?" he pondered.

"Everything."

"Everything what?"

"Just everything," she replied, meaning those words with every sincerity. "And I mean that from the bottom of my heart."