As the meeting progressed, Jenny saw more and more Home Worlders gathering outside, curiously peering in through the glass, and sensed Calmara at her side getting a little uneasy.

"Should we be worried about the growing crowd outside?" she asked the president, who, in turn, looked at The Objector, as Jenny secretly thought of him, since pronouncing any of the Home Worlders' names was still impossible for her.

Raising the equivalent of an eyebrow, the president silently passed the question on to her colleague.

"No, it's only a peaceful "beware-of-space-demons' protest," The Objector confidently shook his head. "I told you, everything's under control. They just want to have a closer look at the aliens, that's all."

"Do they have a spokesperson or something like that?" Kirk wanted to know. "Why don't we invite them in and talk to them? Answer any questions, dispel any doubts they might have?"

"That would be wonderful!" the president enthused, and The Objector nodded in agreement. "You wouldn't mind?"

"Not at all," the captain smiled. "We'd like to meet them."

The Objector swiftly swam outside, briefly talked to someone in the crowd, and then returned with two rather grim looking males. The way to tell males and females of the species apart, Jenny had discovered, was not by size or features, but by colour. Whereas Calmara and the other females had a slightly purplish hue, the males had a tint to them that ranged from grey to green.

The two males hadn't said anything yet, but the way they looked around the table seemed rather hostile, despite The Objector's assurances to the contrary. They were glaring at Calmara particularly, as if she'd actually brought the devil home, and Jenny smiled to see McCoy, who was seated on Calmara's other side, protectively move closer to her. So very typical of him. Once you were in his good books, the doctor would unfailingly watch over you.

Not allowing the friendly atmosphere of the meeting to dissipate, Kirk floated over to the newcomers, approaching them with open arms, palms upturned in a deliberately non-hostile manner, and motioned for them to join the meeting at the table. After exchanging a few words, so low the translator didn't pick up on them, the two hesitatingly took the empty seats next to Spock.

Waiting for the president to make the introductions, the captain then launched into an abridged version of the speech he'd given Calmara aboard the Enterprise. The two newcomers seemed to gradually relax, obviously finding the aliens sufficiently non-demonic, and listened attentively when Kirk, with Spock and Scotty's help, started to explain how they intended to save Home World from the impending meteorite hit.

By the time the Enterprise crew were running low on oxygen and had to get back to the ship, Jenny felt that the captain had managed to instil a certain level of trust even into the objectors. Kirk had this special brand of charm that made people of all species like and trust him – well, except for the Klingons, maybe – and she admired him for it. More than once, she'd even seen Spock throw him an approving, almost fond glance, and she observed the captain closely, whenever she had the chance to see him in action, trying to learn as much from him as she could. Like probably every other young officer on the Enterprise, one day, she wanted to be just like him.

-x-x-x-x-x-

McCoy couldn't help himself. He'd been a little apprehensive throughout the meeting, and highly doubted that Jim had really won the objectors over with his outgoing personality and detailed explanations. So, even though everybody's words of farewell had been very cordial, the doctor found himself relieved to be back on the Enterprise, at a safe distance from the objectors. Especially since, out of the corner of his eye, he believed to have seen some rather threatening gestures coming from the crowd, when they'd got back in the shuttle. Clearly, still not everybody was happy accepting help from aliens.

The first thing to do after stepping out of the uncomfortable and hot space/diving suit was to take a shower. In McCoy's case, just to save time, of course, that meant taking a shower together with Hope, and he loved it. To leave everything behind and simply enjoy the feeling of her skin against his, if only for a couple of minutes, was hugely restorative. He certainly wouldn't have minded a little more time to themselves, but Jim needed Hope to monitor communications with Home World, while Spock and Scotty got to work, putting their plan regarding the meteorite into action. And for Hope, just like for him, duty always came first.

So the doctor contented himself with tenderly running his hands over Hope's delightful body, routinely checking the by now barely visible scar on her back, gently tracing it with his fingers while indulging in a deep kiss. He loved how familiar they'd become with each other, and yet couldn't imagine ever losing that feeling of excitement at being so close to her, no matter how intimately they knew each other. Being with her was this unique blend of incredibly exciting and unbelievably soothing. Amazingly, both at the same time.

By the time they stepped out of the shower, McCoy felt so relaxed that his earlier sense of foreboding had completely evaporated, and he was quite convinced that, for once, everything was going to be all right. Watching Hope briskly get dressed and then sweep out of his quarters with another brief kiss and a beaming smile full of promises for later, his whole body was tingling with love and happiness. And taking his time to get dressed himself, he flopped down on his bed and let a feeling of warmth engulf him, as it hit him once again how much his life had changed since Hope's return to the Enterprise.

Even though, at times, they barely saw each other, just knowing that she was there, sneaking in a tender kiss or a few words of encouragement, was enough. Who'd have thought that being in a relationship could be so empowering, and so pleasant. Not suffocating or depressing at all. Of course, he could easily do without all the scares and worrying she put him through. But then, she had to do her job. Just like Jim and Spock did, both of whom he held personally accountable for almost every single grey hair on his head, long before Hope had appeared on the scene.

And he, too, had to do his job, which, ironically, was to worry. Besides taking care of everyone. And, more often than he cared to think about, that involved him getting into dangerous situations as well. Come to think of it, Hope seemed to have accepted that fact without complaint. Maybe it was her sweet, utter trust in his abilities as a doctor, that kept her from being concerned for him. Or maybe she did get scared, but was just better at not letting it show. Whatever, he was incredibly grateful to have her in his life. End of story.

You're one lucky bastard, he grinned at his reflexion, as he slipped on a clean medic tunic and quickly combed his hair in front of the mirror.

And he was. He was well aware of that. In Hope, he'd probably found the one woman in the whole universe who'd happily put up with him.

'Happily' being the operative word here, he chuckled to himself, because that was certainly the most prominent difference, setting Hope apart from everyone he'd been with before.

He had a gazillion flaws, and that was just counting the ones he knew of, constant worrying and a proneness to being overprotective ranking way up high among them. But stifling as she might often find his tendency to overdo it, Hope certainly loved him enough to put up with it. Besides, due to her past and circumstances, he knew that deep down, despite being the strong and capable Starfleet officer she was, Hope enjoyed, even craved being protected and cared for.

Making his way towards sickbay, looking at the familiar surroundings of what had been his home for years, it struck him that, before he'd met Hope, he hadn't even realised how lonely he was. He just hadn't known any different, feeling content with his life, glad to have escaped the hell that his marriage had turned out to be, saddened only by being deprived of a life with Joanna, of seeing her grow up.

Now, he couldn't imagine a life without Hope anymore. Even if they couldn't be together, if their careers separated them again, she'd always be with him in his heart. He'd do everything in his power to make – and keep – her happy, and, strangely enough, that didn't feel like 'having to work for it' at all. He'd really have to stop worrying about things going wrong and just have faith in the strength of their love.

-x-x-x-x-x-

Meanwhile, oblivious to all the loving thoughts coming her way, Jenny was busy keeping up with communicating the procedures currently going on on the Enterprise to Home World.

Spock was calmly making calculation after calculation, while Sulu and Chekov had ample opportunity to prove their respective navigational and aiming skills, and Scotty, decidedly less calmly, was running back and forth between the bridge and engineering, more or less constantly on the brink of a heart attack. All the while Kirk was sitting in his command chair, closely watching the screen and attentively listening to his crew, trying to stay on top of things, as laser and tractor beams worked in tandem to sever the loose piece of rock from the rest of Home World's moon and send it on its way to outer space.

A cheer went around the bridge, when the mission had been accomplished, and Jenny smiled at hearing similar sounds coming through Uhura's open channel from Home World. The president expressed her sincere gratitude on behalf of her planet, and invited the captain and his officers back to the capital to celebrate and start on more detailed negotiations regarding their potential joining the Federation.

Since none of the landing party had suffered any ill-effects during their first visit to the underwater world, there was no need for McCoy to join them this time, and Jenny could only imagine his relief at not having to force himself into his diving gear again. Judging from the cheerful smile on his face as he waved them off in the transporter room, he didn't even seem uneasy with letting her go on her own anymore, which Jenny noted with a pleased smile.

Progress! she thought fondly, as the transporter room of the Enterprise faded around her.

-x-x-x-x-x-

The city looked even more beautiful this time, festively decorated with a million multi-coloured lights, the joy and relief everyone felt almost tangible. There was a big parade in honour of the Enterprise crew, and singing and dancing throughout the capital, as well as probably every other settlement on the planet.

After the festivities, the president guided them back into the grand chamber for another meeting. A whole team of engineers was already waiting there for Scotty, to share everything about their teleportation system, and Jenny could see the chief's beaming smile even through his helmet. Scotty was most definitely in engineering heaven.

At the other end of the long table, the president had gathered some of the representatives from their first visit, and asked Kirk and Spock to explain the conditions and procedures of joining the Federation, eager to learn more about the individual members of this alliance, and readily agreeing to welcome a delegation of diplomats at the soonest possible date.

Since the translators didn't need a lot of adjustment anymore, Jenny could finally enjoy some not disaster-related conversation with Calmara, happy to find out as much as possible about this new world and its inhabitants. By the time the meeting came to an end, she genuinely felt she'd made a new friend, and was looking forward to staying in touch with this brave and interesting alien.

This time, the president opted to come with them in the shuttle, deeming it only right to give their saviours a befitting farewell. So she, Calmara, The Objector – which he really wasn't anymore, and one of 'Scotty's engineers' accompanied the Enterprise crew to the shore, even slipping on spacesuits to see them off on dry land.

Jenny and the others had already taken their beam-up positions, and Kirk was just saying a few final words of thanks for the Home Worlders' hospitality, when another spacesuit-clad alien tore out of the water, seemingly appearing out of nowhere.

He was screaming something that the translator interpreted as, "Demons! Go back to where you came from!" and pointing some sort of weapon at the landing party.

Through her shock at the sudden turn of events, Jenny heard Kirk give a hurried command for immediate beam-up, and the last thing she saw before the transporter beam took her away, was the horrible sight of Calmara throwing herself in the line of fire, and dark blue blood starting to spread inside her spacesuit as she crumbled to the ground.