Welcome to the last chapter. Thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far, to guest(s) as well whom I wish I could answer to. But I see every one of your reviews!

No, this is the right one, and yes, the beginning sounds familiar. Hope you enjoy!

And now the conclusion:

It was a quiet day on the ship. They were en route to an M-class planet where most of the crew would take shore leave, even if some of them had tried to resist.

Captain Spock looked around the bridge from his temporary position in command. The bridge crew consisted of just him, Commander Chekov, the new helmsman, and Commander Uhura. They had already left a portion of the crew at the planet some weeks ago to begin their shore leave, including Commander Sulu. The Enterprise was cruising languidly along to join them after having finished a short side-mission, and they did not expect any incidents.

"All engines stop!"

A notion of something unspeakable had crept from his subconscious.

"Where, and when, are we?"

He had died. He remembered dying in this chair, and darkness enveloping him. But what had followed was a swirling fog of light that no humanoid mind could comprehend.

"Sir, coordinates and stardate are identical to those before we entered the anomaly," Mr Chekov said.

"Can we plot a course around it?"

"Yes, sir, I have it on sensors, and I also have a full map of the anomaly's internal structure. Our flight recorder's log from inside the anomaly was apparently preserved." The young navigator paused while reading out his sensor data. "And, sir?"

"Yes, Mr Chekov?"

"It seems the anomaly has been compromised. It doesn't register as strongly on sensors as when we were caught."

"Deploy automatic warning beacons nonetheless, please, loaded with all the information we have collected, and your newest data."

"Aye, sir."

"Commander Uhura?" Spock swivelled around, facing the communications officer.

She shook her head, with a tentative smile quivering around her mouth. "No report of damages or casualties, sir. All hands accounted for." She paused as she listened to the comm-chatter, and then her eyes lit up and she beamed radiantly at Spock. "The Captain is on his way now."

Seconds later, the door of the lift opened. Captain Kirk and Dr McCoy entered the bridge. Spock stood up, relinquishing command to Jim.

"Spock! How are we here? What did you do?" His eyes shimmered in amazement at the miracle his executive officer had apparently managed.

"You'll have to ask the Commander." Spock nodded towards Dr Chapel who had just stormed onto the bridge from the other turbolift.

"You…" Jim gaped at Christine, who only returned his perplexed look.

"I…I think I got us out," she stammered, as the realisation of what had happened took hold, even though she did not understand why it had happened. "I tried to fly out the way we had come. And it didn't work. I was trapped, and you were all dead. Then…I initiated self-destruct and…something happened…and I was back where I had been before the thing sucked us in. It's as if time just turned back."

"It did," Spock interjected. He was sitting at his usual post at the science console, poring over their newest data. "The flight recorder's dates are in the future, and I think we all remember dying." Uncomfortable nods answered all round, and he continued. "According to Mr Chekov's newest sensor readings, the anomaly has been compromised. We seem to be dealing with a spatial anomaly that has folded space-time, trapping us inside and rendering the space and time it inhabited unstable. When you destroyed the ship, Doctor, the massive antimatter explosion further injured the already vulnerable space-time, to the extent that it literally turned back."

McCoy frowned at Spock. He didn't quite understand what had happened, but he had understood as much as that his colleague had exploded the ship and set them free by some reaction of the anomalous space. "You ripped the anomaly a new one, Christine," he chuckled and grinned over at her.

"Crude, but accurate," Spock sighed. "Doctor Chapel's explosion led to a space-time reaction that turned back our time, and left the anomaly compromised."

Christine wrung her hands awkwardly as she felt all eyes on her. 'Doctor Chapel's explosion' weren't exactly words she had ever thought to hear.

Captain Kirk stood up and walked over to her, where he rested his hands on the bannister to look up at her.

"Well done, Commander," he said, putting an emphasis on every word. "You saved us all."

Christine smiled at him with shining eyes. "Why, thank you, Captain," she murmured. "But I was lucky, too. I didn't know all this then. I didn't know it was a temporal anomaly. I tried to get us out, but it didn't work." She paused and looked around at each of them there on the bridge. "Oh, it was terrible, with all of you dead. I couldn't follow your order, Spock."

Spock met her glance from the other side of the bridge and inclined his head with a shrug. "But you did."

Christine looked back at Kirk. "I knew I couldn't survive, either way, so I…"

"So, you faced the inevitable. Like a true starship commander."

"I…why…" She hadn't even thought of it like that. But she knew Kirk understood as she smiled tentatively and nodded back at him. "Thank you, Captain."

Some hours later, in his quarters, Kirk was reviewing the flight recorder's log, not for the first time since leaving the bridge this afternoon.

Just to be safe, he had ordered a course towards their original destination with decreased velocity, delaying their arrival until the next day. When he had found himself alone in his cabin, at last, he had accessed the ship's recordings of their anomalous future, had listened to Spock's log, pored over the sensor data, and watched the tragedy unfold itself on the interior visual. Immediately afterwards, in a matter of urgent and official business, he had contacted the authorities at Starfleet Command, and had spent half an hour or so in a video meeting. After the frequency had closed, he contacted some people on the ship and gave them all the same instructions. Then, he spent some time fiddling with the food synthesizer. When he was pleased with the results, he went back to watching the tape.

As the recording of the bridge played a second time, he leant back in his chair, pleased with the decision he had just made. He watched the bridge crew die, one after the other until only Spock and Dr Chapel were left. A second time, he observed her whispering her bitter-sweet good-bye to him, and was witness to his last command, and her futile escape attempt. He recognised the grim resolve in her eyes as she sat at the science station and supplied the computer with the final codes. All alone on a ship of four hundred and thirty, she had faced death and had brought it about on her own terms, when all attempts at survival had failed. Kobayashi Maru, the no-win scenario. Her solution had been dignified and clean.

The doorbell chimed and Kirk turned off the monitor.

"Come in."

Spock stepped into his quarters, hands clasped behind his back.

"You wanted to see me, Captain?"

Jim pointed at the dark display. "I've watched the flight recorder's log."

"Ah yes. I doubt it was a pleasant sight."

"It's absolutely terrible, Spock." That Vulcan had a talent for understatement.

Jim looked Spock up and down as he stood unscathed in front of him, in striking contrast to the nightmare image his screen had just now displayed. Considering that, he was almost glad he had missed most of the action.

"What did you think of her?" he asked.

"The Doctor? She handled the situation admirably," Spock stated matter-of-factly.

"I'm planning on awarding her a commendation."

Spock's eyebrows rose dramatically.

"You don't agree?" Jim asked.

"I think you will need the approval of Starfleet Command before making that decision."

"I know, but if I got it, would you agree?" Kirk grinned, knowing what he knew. "I'm sure such a fearless acceptance of death could use a reward, not just because it ended up saving us all."

"Not fearless," Spock corrected him. "But she accepted her fear and took control of her fate." A slight smirk danced around the corners of his mouth. "As I said, she handled the situation admirably."

"Well, if the voice of reason agrees, she's gonna get her commendation," Jim teased and stood up.

Spock shook his head imperceptibly. "I don't think so," he said.

Jim stopped in his tracks and looked up at him, slightly confused. "You don't think so, Spock? Didn't you agree that she would deserve it?"

"I do not think she would want it."

"You have me at a disadvantage, Spock. Why are you so sure Dr Chapel would decline a commendation?" He frowned up at Spock, baffled at why he was suddenly so sure about her wishes.

"It would go against her character." Spock sighed as he realised he would have to say more than that to appease Jim. "She's a doctor first, and an officer second. She did not like making that decision today, and she would feel uncomfortable being rewarded for it."

"We seldom like making those decisions. She showed good character in the face of defeat. She turned certain death into her own choice." Jim sounded almost pleading. "It's for her approach to the no-win scenario that I want to award her, not for how it turned out."

"The no-win scenario can only turn out one way, Jim. And cadets do not get medals for inevitably failing that test."

"Yes, but she was never meant to even take that test, especially not like this. She's had to face mortality before, but never like she did on the bridge today."

Spock knit his brow and fixed him with a questioning gaze. "Jim…could it be that you want to award her because she did something you never do?"

"Explain, Spock." This was taking a direction he had not expected.

"You are known for saying you don't believe in no-win scenarios. It makes you one of Starfleet's most valuable Captains." Spock paused, and Jim nodded for him to go on. "You are right when you say she never had to face mortality like today. But that goes for you as well. You never had to face defeat like she had to. In facing the inevitability of death, she did more than you usually do."

Jim slumped back into his seat. Spock was right. Christine Chapel had done something, had been forced to do something, that he had always shied away from.

He shuddered inadvertently as he truly realised how gruesome it must have been to be left all alone and have to face your own mortality after losing all your friends. Of course, he would not want a medal for that.

"Point taken," he mumbled. Then he looked back up at Spock. "Well, good thing you're suddenly an expert on her."

The Vulcan shot him a disapproving glance. "I would not go so far."

"No? Well, how are you so sure what she would want?"

"You had to be there, Jim."

"No, thanks."

After a contemplative pause, he procured the little case with the commendation pip that he had gotten from the synthesizer.

"I guess we won't need this, then." He looked up into Spock's amused expression. "I even got approval from Command."

"I can see that. You would not get approval from Christine, however."

Jim grinned as Spock seemingly slipped up. He hadn't even noticed.

"Christine, huh? Well, if you say so…We can always melt it down into something else. Any ideas, Spock?"

"No. I propose you simply put it into the recycler."

"Of course, how…practical." He smiled at his friend's obliviousness. "Does the voice of reason have anything against a little celebration?"

"You know my opinion on that, Jim," Spock retorted but followed him without complaint as he left his cabin.

As they entered the forward observation lounge some minutes later, their friends were already waiting, with one notable exception. Everything was going according to plan, even to their new plan.

After getting a bottle of champagne from the food synthesizer, Kirk moved to the intercom on the wall and contacted sickbay.

"Kirk to sickbay. Doctor Chapel, please report to the forward observation deck immediately."

After her baffled acknowledgement, they waited, positioning themselves at the old steering wheel.

Minutes later, Christine stormed in and immediately stopped at the scene presenting itself.

"Don't be shy, Doctor," Kirk beckoned her and pressed a flute of champagne into her hand. "We all owe our lives to your commitment to self-determination. You did very well today. It can't have been easy."

"Thank you, Captain. It wasn't, and I was very lucky in the end. We all were."

Jim smirked at her reticence to accept the laurels. It seemed strangely familiar. "I know, Christine. We're still glad you saved the day, even though you didn't know it."

"Why, thank you, Captain. I'm glad, too."

She smirked back at him, and he noticed how her eyes flickered to Spock for just an instant. He couldn't blame her, he had seen the recording and heard what they had said.

Kirk raised his glass. "To self-determination, and dumb luck."

As his toast was answered all around, he suddenly felt glad Spock had discouraged him from following his original plan. They had all suffered today, and Christine's gruesome choice had been the last tragedy in a line of losses.

Some minutes later, he managed to catch her alone for a moment.

"I would have even given you a commendation," he said.

"Captain!" she exclaimed, her eyes wide with shock. "I couldn't have accepted it!"

"I know. Spock told me."

He grinned as her expression changed from shock to confusion.

"Spock? He told you? Why, what did he say?"

Jim sipped on his champagne before answering, knowing full well this would be a source of teasing later.

"He said 'It would go against her character.' and that you are a doctor first, an officer second. He seemed very sure that you would decline a commendation."

"Why yes, he's not wrong…", Christine stammered and fell silent as she looked at their friends mingling nearby.

"Would you have accepted if I had said it was for saving our lives as a consequence of your choice?"

He thought that by now he knew what her answer would be, but he wanted to hear it from her own lips.

"No," she said, shaking her head decisively. "Not if it was pure luck, and for the price of watching the people I love die. If you think I deserve a commendation, many members of the crew deserve one as well." She paused for a moment and continued pensively. "If I was in the same situation again, I would probably make the same choice. But I'm not proud of it. My mission is life. I will make those grim choices if needs be, but I would not want special recognition."

Kirk smiled softly. Maybe they were more alike than he had thought. He laughed at himself for even considering giving her a commendation.

"I thought I had underestimated you when I realised you had saved the day," he admitted. "Perhaps I underestimated you even more."

He winked at her and left, joining McCoy and Scotty some steps away.

Spock stepped around the steering wheel and stood next to her. For a moment, they both gazed out at the stars in companionable silence. Then, Christine could not contain herself any longer.

"So, you're a judge of character now?"

"Naturally. As the first officer of this vessel, it is my duty to…," Spock began, trying an unfazed approach to her deep-digging question. But she interrupted him.

"Sure, it's your duty to know your crew. But how did you guess that I wouldn't accept a commendation?"

Spock pressed his lips together and shrugged. "I did not need to guess. You told me."

"I told you?" That was news to her. In any case, she didn't know what he was referring to. "I told you many things, Spock. You'll have to elaborate."

Spock took a sip of his champagne and began to explain. "When I handed over command to you, you said 'But I'm a doctor!'. You did not say you couldn't take over the ship, you merely see your strength, your identity, elsewhere." He stopped, waiting for Christine's reaction.

She nodded. So far, he was right, even if this was a rather broad interpretation of her instinctive exclamation.

When he continued, his voice had adopted a tinge of careful deliberation, as if he did not want to say too much.

"Second, you would have felt the cost was too great. It did not matter if Jim gave you a commendation for how you accepted defeat or for saving our lives. The losses that precipitated your situation meant too much to you." He looked directly at her and raised an eyebrow. "You told me. It was the last thing you said to me."

"That's not exactly what I said," she mumbled and felt the need to avert her eyes.

Suddenly, the things she had said seemed silly. Spock was alive and well and words she had whispered to a dying man felt weirdly intimate now, had she all but told him she loved him.

"It was implied," he persisted.

Her eyes shot back up at him before she realised he was still talking about her reasons for not accepting a commendation.

"I know exactly what you said," he murmured. He answered her befuddled look with a mellow gaze. "And you know what I said."

"I do," she whispered.

For a moment, they returned to their stargazing, both their thoughts on the bridge of the Enterprise, battle-torn and dying.

But it did not seem as scary now. They were alive, all of them, the stars were back, the ship was safe, and she wouldn't have to take anyone's corpse to Vulcan.

"Are you alright now?" she asked, turning to Spock. She knew the time in the anomaly had been hard on him as well, but there had been no time to care for him, not until it had been too late.

He nodded minutely. "You?"

She nodded as well, then looked around at their motley crew of friends.

"This is nice, we should do it more often." She gestured around them and rolled her eyes at Spock who was making excessive use of his critical eyebrow today.

"I know, I know. Social gatherings are not logical," she teased as she prepared to rejoin the group. Spock wasn't moving yet.

"Come on, mingle. That's an order." She grinned up at his exasperated face as she pulled him along at the wrist.

"Aye, Captain Chapel."

The End.

Thank you for reading, everyone, and thank you as well to the people who reviewed. This was one of my favourite stories to create. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it.

Did it end how you expected? Feel free to tell me what you thought!