It took Nyota three hours to get the full story out of Andrea, as she sobbed and hiccupped throughout it. Afterwards, she gave the girl a hypo for her migraine, tucked her in, and left the room quietly as she fell asleep. As she walked down the hallway, she felt the anger rise within. She wanted to knock some sense into the doctor, and yell at him for being so stupid. Andrea was a young woman, with no experience with boys, let alone men. For eighteen years, the only man in her life was her father. As far as she knew, there was no mother figure in Andrea's life to guide her through an issue like this.

"How is she?"

Nyota stopped and looked over towards the living room. Christopher sat on the sofa, a untouched cup of coffee on the table in front of him. Nyota walked over to the other sofa and sat down, resting her hands on her lap.

"She's sleeping. I gave her something for her migraine," she said.

Christopher nodded, "What did she say?" he asked.

Nyota sighed, "They were in the park, talking. Leo mentioned that he couldn't wait to go back on the ship with her. Andrea panicked and told him that she wasn't going back, and he freaked. He yelled at her and told her she was "fucking foolish"- sorry Sir- and demanded to know if there was somebody else," she said.

Christopher covered his face with his hands, shaking his head. "Goddamn it" he muttered.

"She said that Leo accused her of seeing Jim on the side. Thought that was the reason why she wasn't going back,"

Christopher let out a bitter laugh, "He knows that nothing is going on between those too. I told him that I would be dead, before those two started any relationship that went beyond friendship," he said.

Nyota nodded, "I know, Sir. In the time that I've known Andrea, her relationship with Jim is strictly a sibling one. She makes sure that he makes it through a day in one entire piece, and he makes sure that she knows how to defend herself. Which is something Andrea used last night against Leo," she said.

Christopher quickly looked at her, alarmed. "Did he hit her?" he nearly shouted.

"No! No, not at all! When he asked if she was sleeping with Jim, she slapped him. Really hard. Then she ran from the park all the way back here," Nyota answered.

"Well, it seems that Kirk is good to have around then," he quipped, rubbing a hand across his face.

Nyota smiled softly and stood up, "I should get going, I have to head into town for some things," she said.

Christopher nodded, "Thank you, Nyota. You've been a great friend to Andrea and it means a lot that you came here today. I'm not sure what I can do to help her with this," he said.

She smiled at him, "Just be her father, Sir. Be the shoulder that she can cry on and the ear that she can vent into. You've done a great job raising her and you can help her get through this," she said.

Heading to the door, she scooped up her purse. She stopped by the door and turned around, her hand resting on the doorknob.

"She loves him. Despite this entire thing, she loves him. I think she's always loved him. But she's scared and heartbroken by the accusations," she said, before opening the door and stepping out.

Two hours later, Christopher was sitting in his office, going through PADD's on the Enterprise's repairs and the incoming lists of new cadets.

"Admiral Pike, Doctor McCoy is here like you asked," the intercom on his desk informed.

"Thank you, Elizabeth. You can send him right in," Christopher said, as he read through the repair list.

A few seconds later, his office door swished open and he looked up. Leo slowly walked into the room, looking awful. He was paler than usual with dark circles under his eyes. It was obvious that he was severely hung-over.

Christopher placed the PADD down and took his glasses off, "Please sit, McCoy," he said.

Leo nodded and sat in the chair across from his desk, his hands grasping the arms tightly. They both looked at each other in total silence, and a growing tension between the two.

"Alright let's just cut to the chase. What the hell were you thinking, breaking into my house this morning, manhandling my daughter and screaming at her?" he asked.

Leo squeezed his eyes shut, "Sir.. I-" he started, but Christopher cut him off.

"I gave you permission to date my daughter. Not accuse her of sleeping with the Captain of your ship- and your best friend might I add- while breaking my trust. I trusted you with her to make her happy. Not break her fucking heart!" he shouted.

"I'm sorry, Sir. I- Her announcement was very unexpected.." he said, realizing his own excuse was ridiculous.

"So you accuse her of seeing someone else? Of sleeping with someone else?" Christopher snapped.

Leo looked down at his lap, ashamed. He knew what he did was wrong. Practically had his ear chewed off, as Jim shouted at him. He also had the black eye to prove it, which would show everyone what an asshole he was.

"If I wasn't in this goddamn chair, I would've kicked your ass from here to the next galaxy. But I guess someone beat me to that," Christopher said, taking note of the bruise.

"I panicked. All I could think about was my ex-wife and how she left," Leo said, looking up at Christopher. "I don't know how to survive without Andrea. Never planned on finding someone here at the Academy. But now that I did, I don't know what to do," he said.

Christopher looked at him for a moment, "Did you mean it?" he asked.

Leo frowned, "Mean what?" he asked.

"Did you mean it when you said you loved her?"

Leo nodded, "I do. With all my heart, Sir," he said.

Christopher sighed, "I should have you thrown out of the Academy. But I can't send my best ship up without their CMO. You're lucky I like you, McCoy," he said.

"Thank you, Sir," Leo said, relaxing just a bit.

"Don't thank me, Leo. You have a lot of explaining to do, and I'm not sure when Andrea will want to speak to you. But I swear to god, if you hurt her again… I will have you removed from Enterprise and thrown out of the Academy," he warned.

Leo nodded, "I know. And I want to make it right with Andrea. I don't want to end things like this. We're supposed to get our assignments next week and I don't want to end up leaving for five years with us not speakin' to each other," he said.

Christopher sighed, "Well luckily you still have time. I got another report from the shipyard. They're still repairing the bridge and waiting for parts for Scotty to install. You'll be. Expected leave is now two months from today. God help us if it's pushed back to early next year, " he said.

Leo nodded, "When do you think I should talk to her? I don't want to-"

"Look needy? Desperate?" Christopher asked.

Leo looked away, "I would give her a few days. But knowing Andrea, she'll probably Comm you and demand to meet and probably yell back at you," he said, shrugging.

Leo ran a hand through his hair, "Goddamn I fucked up," he said, letting out a sigh.

"Yes. Yes you did, but you can fix it. Just give her time. And don't even doubt her, Leo. She would never do what you accused her of. And with Jim? Of all the people you accused her of seeing him? I would've killed him before he got the chance to put his hands on her," he said, making a face.

"I know. As soon as I said it, I knew it wasn't true. I was just so upset and angry, that there was no control over what I said,"

Christopher nodded, "I know. But it doesn't make it right," he quipped.

"You're not the first to tell me that,"

Sitting back in his chair, Christopher pointed to the black eye. "Did she give you that?" he asked.

Leo shook his head, "No, I got that from Jim. Andrea gave me a good whack across the face though. Didn't think someone that small could hit so hard," he said.

Christopher chuckled, "I can see plenty of medical visits in your future if you keep acting out of line," he said.

"God help me," Leo said, before sinking lower into the chair.