Disclaimer: not mine

It was Chris. Jim frowned, concerned and a little worried. He and Chris talked regularly of course, but the encryption on this call was more indicative of a high priority mission alert from Starfleet Command. If it was a mission, first of all Jon should be the one calling; but it should have also come through official channels, not to Jim's quarters.

Putting the confusion aside, he smiled when the screen cleared to show Chris.

Chris' expression, however, was grim, and Jim's smile dropped immediately. "Have you heard yet?" the Admiral asked, forgoing any conventional greeting.

Jim frowned, confused. "Heard what?"

Chris slumped slightly in his seat, grimness giving away to worry. "Damn it," he muttered.

Jim's own feelings were growing more alarmed by the second. "Chris, what's going on?"

Chris looked up and grimaced. "Jim, there was a prison break a couple weeks ago. On Elba II."

Jim's face paled rapidly. "There's only one reason you'd be calling me like this," he said shakily, the question implied even if he didn't speak it aloud.

Chris nodded, wishing he didn't have to be the one to deliver this news. "Yeah, Jim. Kodos escaped. The Yorktown is heading up the search and investigation, but it looks like he faked an illness and took out a couple of guards. He posed as one of them to get to the shuttles and managed to get off planet before they locked the facility down."

"What about tracking systems on the shuttle?" Jim asked. Any vessel registered to a prison planet would have navigation tracking, mostly for this exact purpose.

Chris shook his head. "We tracked it to a nearby planet, where we found the remains of the shuttle. He burned it, and managed to get off the planet another way. We're still looking, but I wanted to call you to make sure you were aware. I'm sure Jon's going to contact you soon."

Jim didn't look pleased to have been left in the dark for the last couple of weeks, but he knew Starfleet wasn't concerned with his feelings. There were lots of moving parts at play, and Jon couldn't always let him know right away, despite the fact that, in this specific situation, he really should have been informed right away.

Behind him Carol moved, coming to stand at rest next to Jim's chair at the console. Her arm snaked around his shoulders in silent support.

Light years away, Chris blinked, startled, as he saw the arm move; he knew it was probably Carol – it would make sense, considering they shared living quarters – but what caught his attention wasn't the fact that there was someone else in the room. It was the shiny ring glinting in the light from a very important finger.

Jim looked up at Carol, grateful for the support, before Chris managed to find his voice.

"Jim?" He waited for the Captain to turn back to the computer. "Not to pry or anything, but that's a very significant finger to be wearing a diamond ring on. Does that mean what I think it means?"

Jim looked at Carol's hand, and then his expression cleared in understanding. "Yeah," he coughed, clearing his throat. "Um, we're engaged."

Chris beamed. "That's wonderful, congratulations you two. I'm assuming you were going to let me know at some point, right? How long?"

Jim rolled his eyes. "Your call kind of interrupted the tail end of my proposal, Chris. Thanks for that, by the way. And yes, I was going to let you know."

Chris smiled apologetically. "Sorry. Didn't mean to sound accusing. I really am happy for you. Any thoughts on when the big day will be?"

Jim had to stop himself from rolling his eyes again. "It's been five minutes, Chris. I promise we won't get married without you."

Chris actually did look relieved. "Again, sorry. I should go, and Jim?" He waited until the younger man returned his attention to the screen and the Admiral on the other end of the call. "Don't be too hard on Jon, when he calls you. He's got a tough job, lots going on. You know he didn't mean to offend or hurt you by not telling you right away."

Jim nodded shortly. "I know. I wish they had told me when it happened, but it's not Starfleet's job to make me happy. Don't worry, Chris, I get it."

Chris smiled reassuringly. "He's going to tell you. Well, I guess he doesn't have to anymore, but I expect he'll call you anyway." Jim grimaced but didn't reply. Chris sighed ruefully. "Oh by the way, while I've got you I wanted to congratulate you on the Klingon peace treaty job too. Jon told me you're heading up the team."

Jim raised an eyebrow, as Carol let out a soft gasp and looked at Jim confusedly. Jim raised an eyebrow. "I thought they were keeping it quiet."

Chris shrugged, but looked apologetic that he had spoken in front of Carol, who had no idea what was going on. "They are," he promised, "The Yorktown got tapped to head up planning for the talks they're working on. They told me about your job, so that we could organize the talks around it. I expect we'll probably be communicating a lot more regularly once your meetings with the Klingons get underway."

Jim nodded. "We have to have a peace treaty in the works before you guys can actually schedule the rest of it. This could all blow up in our faces."

"It won't," Chris promised. "You're good at what you do, Jim, and the Klingons actually want to negotiate. I know you understand the significance of this."

Jim rubbed a hand tiredly across his face. "I do," he acknowledged. "It's crazy and unreal, and part of me still can't believe it, but I get how historical this is."

Chris nodded. "Well, now I should really get going. You two take care, and again, congratulations. Let us worry about Kodos, you just focus on the Klingons and your mission. Stay safe out there, yeah?"

Jim smiled weakly. "You too. Talk later?"

"Definitely," Chris smiled and signed off.

Jim let the computer console go black, before he sighed and turned to look at Carol. "What you just heard is incredibly classified."

Carol nodded quickly, sitting back down on the couch. "I understand," she promised. "I won't tell anyone."

Jim smiled, though there was a tightness around his eyes that showed his unease to the woman who had been by his side for the last five years.

Carol bit her lip. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Jim shook his head immediately. "I'm fine." Carol definitely didn't believe him, but he didn't give her a chance to say anything else. "I'm not really feeling up for dinner in the mess tonight, care to replicate something incredibly unhealthy and celebrate our recent relationship status change?"

He grinned suggestively. Carol knew what he was doing, but also knew better than to call him on it. So she just nodded in response, smiling and letting him lead her to the replicator where he selected fish and chips for both of them, knowing that it was her favorite comfort meal. A slice of four layer chocolate cake the size of his head followed.

He set the cake aside for the moment, and handed her a plate of fish and chips. The two settled onto the floor in front of the couch and dug in. "You know, when I first bought the ring, I thought about how I could give it to you," he admitted. He gestured to the cake with a fry in his hand. "I almost put it in a cake to give to you for dessert, but then I thought that would be way too twenty-first century crappy romantic comedy movie. Every way I could think to do it just sounded cheesier than the one before it."

Carol laughed lightly. "Well, I won't say it was perfect the way it happened, but I am glad that we worked it out and that you asked. At least it was memorable."

Jim grimaced. "Not sure that's the kind of memorable I was going for."

Carol put her plate down and rested a hand on his knee. "No regrets, Jim. I love the ring, I love you, and I am thrilled to become your wife."

Jim leaned forward and captured her lips with his own. The two plates were cast aside carelessly, as he shifted, pushing her down to the floor. Carol forgot about dinner, she forgot about dessert. The only thing that mattered to her was the man who was doing his level best to make sure she even forgot her own name.

It could have been five minutes or five years, but eventually Jim pulled back. His pupils were dilated and there was a lustful look in his eyes that told Carol he was about three seconds away from ripping her clothes off right there. "Bedroom?" she asked breathlessly.

Jim blinked and swallowed, before nodding quickly and pulling her up off the floor. The two were tripping over their own feet and giggling like teenagers as they made their way into the bedroom.

XXX

Jim was clearly on edge the next day. When he and Carol woke up, there was no mention of what they had learned from Chris. Carol wanted to get her fiancé to talk, but she knew him well enough to know how to handle situations like this. She would have to force the situation eventually, but he wouldn't be receptive for at least another day or two.

So instead she just removed the engagement ring from her finger and threaded it onto a silver chain which she hung around her neck, slipping the ring under her uniform dress. When Jim looked at her questioningly, she shrugged. "Given everything, I thought maybe we should keep this to ourselves for now?" she said in answer to his unspoken question. "It's not that I don't want people to know, but…"

Jim nodded quickly, reaching out to rest his hands on her shoulders. "I get it," he assured her. "And you're right. Things are a little hectic right now. We should tell our friends soon, but until things settle down a little, it's probably better to keep it quiet."

Carol smiled, grateful he understood, and let him lead her out of the room and towards the mess hall for breakfast.

XXX

Everyone could tell something was up with Jim. Carol thought at first it may have just been her because she knew him so well, but she could see the looks various crew members on the Bridge were sharing. It wasn't just the command crew, there were others who seemed to be watching their Captain with far more interest than normal. There was a definite tenseness to his shoulders, and he didn't seem interested in talking with anyone else in the way he normally would during a typical shift.

There were only two hours left in Alpha shift when Uhura notified him to a priority one communication coming in from Admiral Archer. In clipped tones, he told her to transfer it to his ready room and left the Bridge, barely remembering to officially hand the con off to Spock before the door to the room closed.

Uhura and Spock shared a look before Uhura followed the Captain's request. Carol, several seats over, almost managed to contain her flinch. Uhura saw the aborted movement, and made a mental note to ask the Lieutenant what the hell was going on.

As it was a priority one, Uhura couldn't actually monitor the call, so she had no idea what was going on. As the head of Communications, she had that ability for most communications sent and received on the ship – not that she used it very often, she respected people's privacy unless she had reason to monitor their conversations. But a priority one was the highest level of importance for Starfleet Command, and enabled every layer of encryption and security possible. One of those measures was privacy from any monitoring system – such as the one at the Communications station.

Even the soundproof walls, however, couldn't completely mute the muffled sounds of yelling coming from the Captain's ready room.

Everyone on the Bridge stopped what they were doing and turned to look at the closed door in shock. They couldn't make out actual words, but it was clear that Jim was yelling at the exalted Admiral, which worried several lower level crew members, as it was the height of insubordination to act as such to a superior – let alone Admiral Archer. Beyond that, however, they had never heard Jim even raise his voice before. Sure, they'd seen him get stern or obstinate, and he could do professional distance with the best of them, but they had never actually heard him yell.

Spock, Uhura, Sulu, and Chekov were even more concerned, knowing the close relationship between Jim and Archer. This only cemented their belief that something was seriously wrong with their friend.

A light blinked at Uhura's station a few minutes later – Jim ending the transmission from the ready room – and she disconnected the call completely.

It was another five minutes before Jim returned to the Bridge, but he didn't comment on the call. He didn't say anything as he dropped back into his chair.

Sulu turned around hesitantly. "Do we have a mission, sir?" he asked warily, not wanting to set Jim off if he was in the mood to start going off on all his friends today.

Jim shook his head shortly. "Non-mission related call," he replied, and then buried himself in his PADD, focusing intently on reports he needed to sign off on, and ignoring all of the confused looks he knew were being shared around him.

The rest of the shift passed in silence that was only mostly uncomfortable. When Commander Boylston arrived for Beta shift, Jim immediately handed the Bridge over and left, not waiting for anyone else.

Usually, some or all of the command crew would gather together in the mess hall to eat dinner, schedules permitting. However, when Spock, Uhura, Sulu, and Chekov arrived after their shift, Jim was nowhere in sight.

Carol joined them that evening, but April and McCoy had other plans, and Scotty was doing something in Engineering that they were probably better off not knowing about. Kevin usually joined them as well, but he had made plans with a young Ensign in the Communications department, a date that seemed to be going well if the closeness of the two across their table in the corner of the mess hall was any indication when Uhura caught sight of them as she sat down next to Spock.

No one had seen Jim since the end of Alpha shift, and they were all concerned.

"Carol, please," Uhura tried to wheedle some bit of information out of the woman, "something's clearly wrong. Tell us what's going on so that we can help."

Carol bit her lip, looking down. She was no longer interested in the meal in front of her, and glad that she had only chosen a salad, rather than something heavier. "I shouldn't say anything," she said quietly, not looking up.

Sulu frowned. "We're all friends, Carol. We just want to help however we can."

Carol shook her head quickly. "It's not that I don't think you should be told, Hikaru, but I can't tell you. Jim doesn't want me to. And I'm not entirely certain it isn't classified anyway."

Uhura pursed her lips, considering. "Is there anything you can tell us?"

Carol sighed, spearing a few leaves of lettuce on her fork and holding it up, though she made no effort to put the food in her mouth. "There was a prison break," she conceded finally. "It has Jim and the Admirals concerned."

"Prison break?" Chekov wondered. "Why would that make Jim act like this? Was it someone he knew?"

Carol tried to hide her flinch, but she knew she was unsuccessful.

Sulu narrowed his gaze. "Just where was this prison break?" he asked pointedly.

Carol slumped in her seat, defeated. Her fork dropped onto her plate and she wrung her hands together, gaze fixed on them and not on any of the friends surrounding her. "Elba II," she whispered finally.

The name sounded slightly familiar, but none of them could place it, until Spock chimed in, voice bland and neutral, "If I am not mistaken, that would be the prison planet where the criminal Kodos was remanded to upon sentencing."

There was a muffled gasp from Chekov, before Sulu rested a hand on his shoulder and squeezed reassuringly. Uhura looked pained, but understanding.

Carol just nodded, still not looking up. A few tears gathered at the corners of her eyes but she refused to let them fall. "He escaped a few weeks ago. Admiral Pike called him last night to find out if he had been told. I'm fairly certain that call from Admiral Archer today was to do that. Pike probably told him Jim already knew. Jim wasn't thrilled to be kept in the dark, but he did tell Pike he understood why."

"That was a very loud conversation for someone who understands," Sulu observed.

Carol finally looked up, glaring at the pilot. "There's a difference between understanding and being angry," she shot back. "I think he's allowed to be both, don't you?"

Sulu nodded quickly. "I didn't say he didn't," he tried to pacify the Brit. "Sorry, that probably came off as more insensitive than I meant it to. I was just surprised. Jim's not the type to lose his temper."

Carol didn't reply, but she nodded and lost some of the hostility in her gaze.

"Why would they tell Pike and not Jim?" Chekov asked. His voice was quiet and strained, and despite Sulu's comforting, didn't look much better.

Carol sighed. "The Yorktown is heading up the investigation and search. Pike promised to keep Jim informed, and I'm sure he'll let us know if anything develops."

She gathered up her mostly uneaten salad, and slid out of the booth. "I'm going to head out. Please let Jim come to you though. I know he's acting off, but he's dealing with it. The last thing he needs is you treating him differently."

She waited for their nods, before heading to the waste receptacles to dispose of her trash and then back to her and Jim's quarters.

XXX

Jim was alone in his and Carol's room when McCoy stopped by. In answer to the Captain's unasked question about what he was doing, the doctor replied, "April and Joanna are having a girls night in, so I'm alone and not allowed in my own room for at least the next few hours." He looked a little disgruntled at being kicked out of his own quarters, but it was mostly for show. "April's going to ask her to be maid of honor. And I've been hearing some interesting things about you through the grapevine today. Thought it'd be a good bet you'd be here, not in the mess." He dropped onto the couch gracelessly, and grabbed a taco off of Jim's plate. Jim made a face, but didn't protest.

"Damn, have I really been that bad?" he asked, mostly rhetorically.

McCoy shrugged. "Enough that people have noticed. So what's up? And don't try to say nothing."

Jim made a face, turning his attention to the half-eaten dinner in his lap. He really wasn't that hungry.

McCoy waited patiently, knowing that he would get better results that way. He went to the replicator and got himself some dinner, before returning to the couch and digging in. He was nearly done when Jim finally spoke, voice soft as he hesitantly told his best friend what he had learned from Chris the night before.

McCoy listened in growing horror, and when Jim fell silent, he let out a low growl. "Shit," he muttered. "What can I do?"

Jim shrugged. "Chris is handling it. I'm just trying not to think about it." He grimaced. "I kind of went off on Jon earlier today. That's probably what you've been hearing about." He looked up, and McCoy nodded. There had been a few rumors circulating about a yelling match between Jim and the Admiral behind closed doors. He thought it had probably been exaggerated at least a little.

"So… not handling it so much?" he asked lightly. Jim glared at him, but after a moment, he slumped slightly and nodded, looking down.

"Mostly I just hate that he waited almost three weeks to tell me." Jim's expression was pained and his voice sounded lost. "I thought I could trust him to tell me things like this. I thought he trusted me."

"I'm sure he does, Jim," McCoy had to be the voice of reason, though he was feeling pretty miffed at the Admiral as well, just for how he had made his best friend feel. Because he had made his best friend start doubting himself. "It's probably got the Admiralty pretty busy. Maybe he just hasn't had the time?"

Jim rolled his eyes, but nodded. "Yeah, I know," he agreed, sounding defeated. "And I get it, I do. I just hate that I had to find out from Chris, and that was only because he wanted to know if I had been told yet." He shook himself off and set his uneaten meal aside, picking up his PADD instead. "Anyway, I'll try not to let it show tomorrow. Chances of us actually running into him are pretty limited." He rolled his eyes and muttered, "Chances of the Yorktown finding him even if they're looking aren't much better."

McCoy hated it, but he did think Jim had a point. It was a pretty big universe out there. Knowing that Jim was done talking about this, he set his own clean plate aside and pulled a PADD out of his bag, focusing on the reports from his department that he needed to read and sign off on, before they would be sent to Jim.

The two worked in silence for a while, but it was comfortable. They had spent many evenings like this in the past, sometimes joined by Carol and April doing their own work.

It was nearly time for McCoy to leave if he wanted to make it back to his room at a decent hour to actually get some sleep, when the Captain finally broke the silence.

"Carol and I fixed things."

McCoy looked up, startled. He smiled lightly, and set his PADD down. "That's good," he replied. "So no more pining like a lost puppy?"

Jim looked over and glared. "I don't pine," he retorted. McCoy just kept smiling. Jim's glare intensified. "I don't," he insisted, and then turned his gaze back to his PADD, sulking lightly. McCoy chuckled. Annoyed, Jim rolled his eyes. "I actually proposed again."

McCoy raised an eyebrow, smile disappearing. He didn't speak though, and Jim looked up again. This time, he was the one smiling. "Don't worry, she said yes this time."

The doctor let out a breath of air and smiled again. "That's great, Jim. Congratulations."

Jim's own smile widened. "Thanks. We're keeping it quiet for now. The whole prison break, and… other things," he stopped himself from mentioning the Klingon peace treaty, "it's just not the right time to officially announce it. We're going to tell our friends, but we want to keep it out of the rumor mill for now."

McCoy frowned at the stumble, but he nodded readily. "I won't say anything," he promised.

"Thanks."

The doctor put his PADD away and stood up, groaning as a few joints popped back into place. "I should get going. Don't beat yourself up about Kodos, and seriously Jim, I'm so happy for you and Carol. I'll see you tomorrow?"

Jim nodded quickly. "Yeah. Now go get some sleep old man," he grinned.

McCoy growled. "I'm not old."

Jim just kept grinning. "When you groan when you stand up, I think that's a qualifier for old."

McCoy huffed, but didn't deign to respond, and just made for the door. It swished shut to the sound of Jim laughing, and as annoyed as he was at the comment, McCoy still smiled. At least Jim was feeling better, even if it was at his expense.

Please review!