Chapter Twenty Five

"You know, it's been a while since we've had a quiet, romantic evening," Leonard admitted as Emily pressed close to him, arms wrapped around his neck as she smiled back coyly.

After returning from their mission to Nibiru, it was nice to get a break and relax for the evening. Just having a quiet evening to themselves was nice. Especially given their hectic work schedules with Starfleet, and Leonard's shifts at the medical center. She had to admit, just spending the evening together was more than what she could have asked for. The missions they went on aboard the Enterprise had been growing more hectic with each passing week. She knew it was only a matter of time before the stress of their missions began getting the better of them.

"What makes tonight any different from all the other nights?" she asked teasingly, having already guessed what was on his mind.

She had quickly learned that Leonard's idea of a romantic, quiet evening involved old-fashioned romance. From a candlelit dinner, to just about everything else in the book. She wouldn't openly admit that she actually loved it, and she found the whole thing nostalgic. There weren't many men who were capable of pulling that off. To make matters better, they had the evening to themselves without worrying about Jim or the others interfering.

"Well, for one thing, there's no Kirk to interrupt us," he began, and Emily grimaced as she recalled one of their less than stellar evenings. Kirk had stumbled in on them one night, and it had been one of their more embarrassing moments. Embarrassing for Kirk, at least, because they hadn't even reached the bed at that point, and for them, because the look on his face said it all. "For another, I have you."

Emily felt her heart flutter at that; a rush of joy and sheer happiness swept through her as his lips met hers. Leonard had never openly admitted that he loved her out loud. But, she could see it in his eyes. She loved him, and nothing could keep them apart.

Neither of them had discussed what would happen if their relationship was reported. While Spock was fully aware of their relationship, he'd so far made no move to report them. Emily wasn't sure whether or not that was because Uhura had stopped him thus far, using the same excuse that they would have been reported had they been caught, but she knew it was only a matter of time before he pulled off that move. That was why Emily had learned to appreciate what she had. She knew that in the blink of an eye, it could all change.

By the time morning arrived, Emily wasn't in any hurry to get up. She'd buried her face into his arm, using it as a pillow while hearing the com go off more than once. The warmth of his presence next to her was enough to make her wish that the com never went off. He finally let out another groan after hearing the com go off for the umpteenth time, until she was forced to answer it. She was half-tempted to throw the com out the window when she read the message.

"What do they want?" Leonard asked, his voice muffled as his face was buried in a pillow.

"For me to meet at headquarters with Spock and the Captain," she explained after letting out a sigh of frustration. "It seems as if Admiral Pike wanted to speak with us about our last mission."

That was enough for Leonard to lift his head and look at her in concern. The mission in Nibiru hadn't exactly ended in disaster. While it was primarily meant to be an exploration mission, they had saved an entire race. Though, that in itself had required breaking primary directive, which she knew Spock would relentlessly report them on. Unease swept through her as she thought of how Spock would find some way of including those who were involved with the mission on said report.

"That's not going to end well," Leonard guessed after figuring out what was on her mind.

"Leonard, go back to sleep," she told him, knowing that for Leonard, sleeping in was like a gift in itself.

He looked like he was going to argue when he thought better of it. Once Emily had gotten out of bed and changed into her uniform, she left the apartment and reached the lobby, where Jim was waiting.

Since they graduated from the Academy, everyone had gotten apartments close to one another. Jim found one just a couple of rooms away from where Emily and Leonard were currently staying. And there were times when she did truly appreciate having Jim as a neighbor. Though, that didn't mean it also had its drawbacks.

She merely rose an eyebrow after noticing the incredulous look Jim was giving her. Though he knew that they had been seeing each other for nearly three years, that didn't stop him from treating the whole situation immaturely.

"You and Bones sleep well?" he asked with a sly grin.

"I'm not justifying that with an answer," she rolled her eyes before slugging him in the arm after he'd laughed.

…

"I'm telling you, this is why he called," Jim explained as they reached the stairs leading to the Headquarters where Pike had been stationed after he was relieved of his duties as Captain of the USS Enterprise. "I can feel it!"

"Jim, whatever your excitement is about, I doubt it has to do with that," Emily pointed out.

She recalled how shocked Spock had been when Jim sent the Enterprise to rescue him. She highly suspected this had something to do with that, and that Spock had filed a report. Now, her mind was already spinning with ideas of how to explain why they did what they did to Admiral Pike without making things any worse. While he would understand what they did, he still had to take the fact that Jim broke the regulations seriously.

"Your feelings aside, I consider it highly unlikely that we will be selected for the new program," Spock agreed with her, for once.

"Why else would Pike want to see us?" Jim asked after rolling his eyes at their lack of enthusiasm, "Forget about seniority, they gave us the newest ship in the fleet. Who else are they gonna send out?"

"I can think of numerous possibilities," Spock replied.

"I can list them all, if you'd like," Emily added with a knowing smirk.

"Come on, a five-year mission, Spock! That's deep space, that's uncharted territories! Think how incredible that's gonna be."

Emily only rolled her eyes at that, knowing full well that some people wouldn't be too thrilled with the idea. She flicked him across the ear when he flirted with the two young Cadets who walked past them, rolling their eyes when Jim had scoffed at her. Some things never changed. Jim's behavior towards women was one of them. Which was why Emily would constantly flick him across the ear when he tried flirting in front of her. Between that and the way he handled her relationship with Leonard, it was almost impossible to take Jim seriously at times.

Once they had reached Pike's office, though, Jim's enthusiasm was short-lived. Emily frowned as she caught the look in Pike's eyes as he stared at what appeared to be reports. She had known that Spock would file a report. Of course, he would; he was a walking rule-book with little-to-know idea that rules were made to be mended.

"Uneventful," Pike began in an icy tone.

"Admiral?" Jim frowned after realizing this wasn't what he thought it would be.

"That's the way you describe the survey in Nibiru in your Captain's Log," Pike explained, looking up at him.

"Ah, yes, sir. I didn't wanna waste your time going over the details," Jim replied, looking slightly uncomfortable at being put on the spotlight, again.

"Yeah. Tell me more about this volcano," Pike went on, clearly wanting more than just an excuse from Jim. Emily frowned as she wondered why Pike had included her in this meeting, considering she had nothing to do with the Captain's 'reckless' decisions… well, almost nothing. "Data says it was highly volatile, if it were to erupt, it would wipe out the planet."

"Well, let's hope it doesn't, sir."

"Something tells me it won't."

Pike frowned as he leaned forward and eyed Jim with the classic, 'I know you did something wrong', look. Emily grimaced as she realized all-too-soon that Spock had filed a report. She should have known that he would do something like that after they managed to rescue him from a volcano.

"I think the data might have been off, sir," Emily tried putting in helpfully. "Anything that volatile can die down at times, and it didn't look like it was going to erupt."

"Or maybe it didn't erupt, because Mr. Spock detonated a cold fusion device inside it, that you designed," Pike snapped, turning his gaze to Emily before looking back at Jim, "right after a civilization that's barely invented the wheel, happens to see a Starship rising out of their ocean!" He paused, and Emily found herself flinching at the tone in his voice, "That is pretty much how you describe it, is it not?"

"Admiral—"

"You filed a report?" Jim glared at Spock accusingly.

"That surprises you?" Emily retorted with a roll of her eyes.

She really wasn't all that surprised he had filed a report. In fact, she'd been anticipating it. She just wished that Spock hadn't included her in the report, because, Pike's eyes were narrowed at both her and Jim. Pike was not the type of man she would want to piss off. His calm, cool demeanor was just a ploy. She knew when he was disappointed in someone; the steely look in his gray eyes made it obvious as he looked between all three of them.

"I incorrectly assumed that you would be truthful in your Captain's Log," Spock defended himself.

"Yeah, I would have been if I didn't have to save your life," Jim scoffed.

"A fact for which I am immeasurably grateful and the very reason I felt it necessary to take responsibility for the actions taken by—"

"Spock, just stop. Please," Emily sighed with a shake of her head.

Between Spock constantly contradicting her decisions, and everything else, she was really getting tired of the arguments that went on between the two. She knew Jim would try and argue with whatever reasoning Spock used for filing his report. The worst part was, Spock didn't even seem to understand why they rescued him in the first place. Leaving him behind when they had the resources to rescue him had been out of the question.

"Responsibility?" Jim scoffed once again, "Yeah. That'd be so noble, Pointy, if you weren't also throwing me under the bus."

"Pointy?" Spock frowned, clueless to the fact that Jim was referring to his ears, "Is that a derogative reference?"

"Gentleman," Pike began, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration when he caught the look in Emily's eyes. "Are they always like this?"

"Worse," she muttered.

She'd gotten used to the banter that constantly went on between them, but it had also given her some major headaches. It only got worse when Leonard was involved with their arguments. He hated Spock's need to point out the logical side of things. It often got the point where Emily just left the bridge or medbay to avoid being dragged into it, which she usually was when Leonard got involved. While she tried making peace between all three of them, it was obvious that the need to prove themselves would get the better of them.

"Starfleet's mandate is to explore and observe, not to interfere," he continued after shaking his head, knowing that she had to have remarkable patience for dealing with the two of them.

"Had the mission gone according to plan, Admiral, the indigenous species would never have been aware of our interference," Spock quipped.

"Had you listened to our advice, we wouldn't have had to rescue you in the first place," Emily cut in, narrowing her eyes.

"That's a technicality," Pike pointed out.

"I am Vulcan, sir. We embrace technicality," Spock remarked, at least having the decency to defend her explanation.

"You giving me attitude, Spock?" Pike rose an eyebrow.

"I'm expressing multiple attitudes simultaneously, sir. To which are you referring?"

"Out," he pointed to the door, "You're dismissed." He waited until the Vulcan had left, hesitating for a few moments before leaving, shutting the door behind him. "Do you have any idea what a pain in the ass you are?" he added, looking at Jim pointedly.

"I think so, sir," Jim replied, still trying to keep a straight face after that argument.

"At any rate, I am proud of you two." Both Emily and Jim stiffened in surprise at that. "Using the cooling device to render the volcano… that was clever."

"A trick I learned from a movie," she explained with a shrug.

Okay, that wasn't entirely true. It was actually thanks to the help of Scotty that they had finished the device before the volcano erupted. And neither of them would have really thought it up had they not gone on a mad-science banter. Scotty always seemed to have an appreciation for them, especially after having a few drinks at the local bar where they discussed how the device would work.

"And, if you're going to blame anyone for this, it's my fault," Jim added. "Emily had nothing to do with this."

"Nope. According to the report, you and Hayes had a say in the matter," Pike shook his head. "So, tell me what you did wrong? What's the lesson to be learned here?" he asked, hoping that Kirk would at least answer him honestly.

"Never trust a Vulcan," Jim muttered.

Emily nearly smirked in amusement as she realized just how true that was. As much as she hated to admit it, Emily still couldn't bring herself to trust Spock. His threat towards the fact that she wasn't from this world had only added to the list of reasons she had not to trust him entirely.

"Oh, see. You can't even answer the question," Pike snapped, "You lied! On an official report, you lied. You think the rules don't apply to you cause you disagree with them."

"That's why you talked me into signing up in the first place, that's why you gave me your ship," Kirk retorted

Emily suddenly found herself wishing that a hole would open up and swallow her. She was beginning to regret answering her com this morning. At least at that point in the day, she had been happily sleeping and wrapped up in the idea of how much spending the evening with Leonard meant to her.

"I gave you my ship because I saw greatness in you. And now I see you haven't got an ounce of humility."

"Sir, what were we supposed to do, let Spock die?" Emily deadpanned, knowing she would probably regret asking the question as Pike narrowed his eyes at her.

"You're missing the point," he retorted.

"I don't think we are, sir! What would you have done?" Jim snapped.

"I wouldn't have risked my first officer's life in the first place. You were supposed to survey a planet, not alter its destiny!" Emily couldn't help but flinch at that. She wouldn't have let all those people die, like the victims of the attack on Vulcan. Pike must have known that, too. "You violated a dozen Starfleet regulations and almost got everyone under your command killed."

"Except I didn't! You know how many crew I've lost since I took captainship?"

"That's your problem!"

"Not one!"

"You think you're infallible! You think you can't make a mistake, it's a pattern with you! The rules are for other people."

"Some should be," Kirk muttered under his breath.

You're crossing the line, Emily thought as she closed her eyes, willing for Jim to at least realize that Pike made some sense. She hated admitting that Pike did have a valid point. And Jim's need to prove himself was going to get him into serious trouble. While she sided with him in rescuing Spock and saving the people of Nibiru, she did oppose the idea of arguing with Pike.

"And what's worse is you're using blind luck to justify you're playing God!" Pike shook his head and leaned against the back of his chair. "I am proud of the both of you. You've surpassed my expectations at the Academy, in more ways than one. But, given the circumstances, this has been brought to Admiral Marcus' attention. He convened a special tribunal to which I was not invited. You understand what Starfleet regulations mandate be done at this point?"

Emily frowned at that, already having an idea of where Pike was getting at. A special tribunal arranged by Marcus most likely meant that they were being reassigned ships, as well as sent to the Academy. That was the worst likely scenario running through her mind.

"They've taken the Enterprise away from you. They're sending you back to the Academy," Pike finished as if he'd read her thoughts.

"Admiral, listen—"

"No," Pike snapped. "I'm not listening. Why should I listen?" he asked as Kirk continued helplessly defending himself, "You don't listen to anybody but yourself!"

"I understand the regulation, but every decision I've made is my own, don't blame Emily or anyone else."

Emily glanced at Kirk in surprise as she realized he was defending her as well. He knew what losing the Enterprise crew would mean, not only for himself, but for her as well. A lump formed in the back of her throat when she thought of how her life would change if she was reassigned to another ship.

"I can't listen. you don't comply with the rules, you don't take responsibility for anything, and you don't respect the chair. You know why? Because you're not ready for it," Pike told him.

Jim let out a breath at that, looking as if he'd been punched in the gut. Emily held back a sigh as he turned and left. Losing the Enterprise… it pretty much was like a punch in the gut. She hadn't thought of the consequences up until that point. Then again, she knew that violating the regulations had serious consequences. Jim not only violated the regulations by revealing the Enterprise to those aliens, but he also lied on a report.

He could be kicked out of the Fleet for pulling that off, she realized.

"Sir," she began once Jim was gone. "I know that he can be an ass at times, but I really couldn't ask for a better Captain."

And that much was true. Jim had proven himself more times over than she cared to count. After everything that had happened, she had hoped that Spock would at least see that much. They'd begun working together over the last year on the same ship, and while there was always tension between them, he had to have known that Jim would do anything to keep his friends safe and alive.

"I understand that, and I believe it," he sighed after pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. "He needs to learn responsibility before he can assume the role of Captain. The lives of the crew are too important to take that risk." Emily bit back a retort as she realized he had a point. Yes, Jim was reckless and made rash decisions. And yet, he still had the qualities that could put other Captains to shame. But Pike was right about him needing to learn when he could or couldn't violate the rules, and push his luck. "There is also another matter I'd rather not bring up, though it has come to the Council's attention on Commander Spock's report."

The face that he made said it all.

"And what report would that be?" she asked, her tone suddenly icy. Admiral Pike didn't miss that.

"On your relationship status with the Chief Medical Officer," he replied without missing a beat. Emily tensed at that, wishing she could rip the bangs off of Spock's head when she realized what he'd done. Even Pike sounded embarrassed with what had to be said and done about it. "As it stands, it goes against regulations for senior staff to have any relationships with anyone on the same ship."

Damn pointy-eared bastard, she cursed Spock silently. Of course, Spock would find a reason to involve her in this mess. Her fists clenched at the thought of how she would explain what happened to Leonard. He was going to throttle Spock for reporting their relationship, and worst still, she wouldn't have tried stopping him from doing so.

"I understand that, sir," she replied, trying to keep her voice from sounding angrier than she felt.

"As such, you've been reassigned to the USS Explorer," Pike sighed once again. "I know the Enterprise crew has become like family, which makes the change that much more difficult. I am, also aware of how difficult this will be for the two of you."

"They're the only family I know, sir," she reminded him, blatantly pointing out the fact that she wasn't even from this world.

When Pike finally looked at her, she could see understanding within his eyes. He knew full well what that was like, and he knew how painful it would feel to leave them. The fact that she had willingly defended Jim's decision and would do so again took him by surprise. More amazing still was how she managed to adapt to this world with little to no knowledge of it. Befriending a couple of Starfleet outcasts had been one of the best decisions she could have made.

"You woke up without any knowledge to this world…" He paused, and Emily could almost feel his gaze boring into her. "Yet, somehow, you managed to win the heart of an entire crew. Not too many people can admit that."

"Sir, I don't believe I ever had the chance to properly thank you," she suddenly put in after thinking it through. "For giving me a chance, and for believing me. I honestly don't think I would have gotten this far if you hadn't convinced me to join Starfleet."

Admiral Pike blinked in surprise at that. This woman was really a strange one. From the moment he first saw her, he knew that she had a story to tell. Not being from this world might have been a stretch, but she had little to no idea what he was talking about when they first met. She had been torn away from her world, and survived. For that much, she'd made a fine member of Starfleet.

"You are dismissed, Liaison Hayes," he sighed, rubbing his temple as she stood up and did left.

Emily let out a sigh of her own as soon as she was outside the office. Jim was already long-gone, most likely headed straight for the bar to drink away his troubles. She really wasn't sure what would happen now. Everything had gone from bad to worse at that moment, and something told her that things weren't going to get much better.

AN: Thank you Love. Fiction. 2016 for being my most frequent reviewer! I'm glad other people are enjoying this story so far :)