"Ready to spend the next five years in space?"

Leo looked at Pike and shrugged. "I could take it or leave it to be honest with you but anyone who spends five minutes with Jim knows that exploring the stars is where she's meant to be. I go where she goes."

Pike smiled, "Exactly what a guy wants to hear from his daughter's husband."

Leo couldn't help but smile, "I'll try to remember that when Jo gets older."

Pike laughed and looked at him, "I could tell you about being on a ship that long or being a good officer but everyone has probably beat me to the punch." Leonard nodded, he's been getting advice all over the place. Pike continued, "I am gonna give you a piece of advice Leo: your most important job is to take care of your CO."

He looked at his father-in-law, "Sir?"

"What Jim needs, what she's always needed, is someone who isn't afraid to tell her the truth. Granted, you won't understand a lot of what she does as your CO but it'll usually be alright. However, there will come times when you have to call her out. In those moments where you think she needs to stop, not when you're scared but when you're sure that she needs to think through something a bit more, tell her. She might not be happy about it but she loves and respects you too much to ignore your feelings. Being the captain of a ship for long tours is the hardest job in the fleet. You aren't just a commander, your almost like a parent, everyone relies on you for something and it can be isolating. Her job is to look after everyone but your job is to look after Jim. There are gonna be hard days and times when it feels like you're all gonna die but don't let that turn you into people you aren't. Don't let the bad things you see define who you are," Pike told him.

Leonard nodded, "Yes, sir."

Leonard didn't recognize a lot of the people on the shuttle, at least he was sitting with Chekov and Carol; Doctor Marcus was one of the new officers going on this mission. Almost a fourth of the crew had to be replaced thanks to Harrison and Admiral Marcus. The biggest –but not really- surprise was that George was going with them. There were a bunch of civilian jobs on the ship and he took a spot as a research biologist. Jim teased him for a week since she didn't know if he was going for her or for Mitchell. She took to calling him 'Doctor Mitchell' when nobody was paying attention. He usually laughed it off but the last time she said it, he just looked at her then Gary before whispering 'not yet, but one day.' Leonard couldn't help but laugh at the looks on Jim and Gary's faces, priceless. Guess another wedding was on the horizon.

Leo got to the ship and went to change his uniform. He wasn't surprised to find Jim in their quarters, "Hey, darlin'. You alright?" She nodded but he knew better, "Jim, talk to me."

His wife looked at him, "I'm a little stressed. Okay, I'm a lot stressed." She started rambling about how she felt like she failed the last time they were in the black and how five years was a long time and she wondered how was she gonna keep everyone safe. Leo tried to keep up but she slipped into another language so he did the only thing he could think of, he kissed her and Jim melted in his arms. "Bones, what are you doing?"

Leonard chuckled as he ran his hands along her thighs and under that damn uniform dress, "I'm helping my wife relax before she walks onto the bridge in a ball of nerves." He pressed kisses along her jaw as he slowly slid the sexy little black boy shorts off her body.

She looked at him and smirked, "I see where you're going with this, Doctor." Leo chuckled and, without stepping away from her, quickly kicked off his boots, pulled his jumpsuit off, followed by his black undershirt and his boxer briefs, Jim pushed him onto the bed and straddled him.

"God, darlin'," he groaned when she slid onto him. His hands tightened on her hips as they moved together. He let her set the pace and enjoyed the feeling of her wrapped around him. "You know, I love this uniform."

Jim chuckled, "Oh… really?" He nodded, there was something about Jim dressed in her command gold uniform dress that made him want to devour her. "Len…" she was so close. Leonard took control as Jim's rhythm faltered, moving them faster. He reached up and pulled her down to kiss her. She tightened around him and fell apart, taking him with her.

"Feel better, darlin'?"

She nodded against his shoulder, "Yea."

Leonard smiled, "Good." They laid there for a moment before Jim hopped up.

"I better get moving." She checked her hair and almost ran out the door.

"Jim."

She turned and looked at him, "Yea?"

"Missing something?" he asked as he picked up her boy shorts off the floor. "I don't know how I'd feel if you gave everyone that much of a view."

Jim looked at him and laughed, "Oh my God. Can you imagine Chekov and Sulu's faces?" He nodded as she grabbed the small article of clothing and quickly pulled it on. "You might want to take a shower and get dressed. I'm gonna check on Sam and then I'll see you on the bridge." She gave him a kiss before leaving their quarters.

"God, I love that woman."

He managed to beat Jim to the bridge but only by a few minutes. How Chekov knew she was there, he still hasn't figured out, "Captain on the bridge."

Jim and George stepped off the turbolift together and the older Kirk looked around, "So this is where the magic happens? Nice."

Jim rolled her eyes and looked at Sulu, who was in the command chair, "Having fun in the chair, Mister Sulu?"

The helmsman chuckled, "Well, Captain does have a nice ring to it. The chair's all yours, ma'am."

George shook his head and looked at her, "You got 'em all wrapped around your finger, don't you?"

"Like you aren't wrapped around her finger, too," Leonard teased his brother-in-law.

Jim shook her head at them, "I can't help it if people recognize my awesomeness." She hit the comm to Engineering, "Scotty, my brilliant and amazing chief engineer, how we doin'?"

Scotty played along with her, "Well, my beautiful and badass captain, we are ready for a very long journey. Our new core is purring like a kitten."

Jim chuckled, "Excellent." Most people would be worried about her relationship with Scotty but it was so sibling-like that he didn't waste his energy. She looked at him, "Oh, Bonesy. Don't tell me that you're worried. It's gonna be fun."

He shook his head, "You know, you're the only reason I agreed to this. Five years in space. God help me."

George laughed, "See, wrapped around her finger."

Leo nudged his brother-in-law, "Watch it, Sammy."

"Men. You realize that you're all very lucky. It's good to have a family," Carol told them. Leonard knew that she wasn't going to get over what her father did for a while but if anyone could understand living in their father's shadow, it was Jim and George.

Jim looked at the other blonde, "I'm glad you could be a part of the family, Carol." They all knew that Jim meant every word of that. If he thought about it, they were all Jim's family. Yes, she had Pike, George and him but looking at Kevin, Mitchell, Spock, Scotty, Sulu, Chekov, Uhura and Carol, he could see that together, there was nothing that they couldn't do. They were a family, a team.

He was so angry at the universe when Jocelyn cheated on him, divorced him and took his daughter away, he never thought that he'd be here. He never thought he'd be happy again. His dislike of being in space aside, he was happy. He looked over at his wife and smiled as she joked with George and Sulu. Jim caught him looking and winked at him before she looked at her first officer.

"What do you think, Spock? Where should we go?" Jim asked.

Spock looked at her, "As a mission of this duration has never been attempted, I defer to your good judgment, Captain."

Jim smiled, "Bones, any ideas?"

He shook his head, "You'll find some trouble for us to get into." Everyone on the bridge laughed, it was the truth.

Jim shook her head, "Alright, let's do this. Mister Sulu, take us out."

The tall officer nodded, "Aye, Captain."

AN: Sorry it took me so long, my husband came home from a nine month deployment this week, so I've been... busy. Yea, I'll go with busy. This is the last chapter but don't rule out a sequel... or the story from another point of view.

Thank you all for reading the craziness that bounces around in my head. Love ya. AJ