The days dragged by for Chris as he waited for a good word on Jen and tried to keep from going stir crazy. Phil wouldn't let him do much involving Starfleet, other than answer questions from the investigators who were trying to get to the bottom of Marcus's involvement, but finally he relented and gave the okay for a visit to Jenna. It was day ten of her coma and she didn't show signs of waking, but Bones said her brain function was looking much better and he was confident she WOULD wake up eventually. Chris wished he felt that confident as he was wheeled into her room.

Thinking he knew what to expect, it was still extremely unsettling seeing her so still and pale. It was just wrong, especially for someone who was so full of life and energy. He swallowed and gazed at her face. The last words he'd said to her had been "Not Now, Kirk," and it turned out she'd been trying to warn him. He'd recognized that intense look in her eyes that showed her instincts were screaming something was wrong, but he'd silenced her due to the fact he didn't want her to draw any more scrutiny from Marcus, who had proceeded to lie and manipulate her into being his pawn while Chris was incapacitated. Fists clenching, he tried to choke down another surge of rage at the late head of Starfleet and himself.

"Hey, Jen," he whispered, unable to handle the silence around her. "You're missed around here. Please wake up before McCoy works himself into an early grave. Phil is technically your attending right now, but Len still haunts the place. By the way, we have a lot more to discuss. I don't like the way we left things at Daystrom." He swallowed, and whispered the words he knew he'd have to say again: "I should have listened more. I meant it when I said I was proud of you, though."

As if to make sure she really was alive, he tentatively rested a hand on her limp one. Feeling that it was, indeed, warm, he looked to see if she had other injuries. Her face had light bruising and a healed cut on her cheek, but otherwise she looked unscathed.

How the situations had reversed from a year ago, when he'd been in an induced coma after the operation to remove the slug. Jen had been there when he'd woken up, and had seen him at his lowest point, physically and mentally. All his griping and sulking hadn't driven her away.

i"Why are you here, Jen?" He'd mumbled tiredly, exhausted from the physical therapy. "I thought you had a date you were looking forward to?"/i

iJen shrugged, blonde hair spilling over her shoulders instead of its usual neat knot. "He was a prick and insufferable bore, so I left early. Totally different guy than what he seemed to be when he was flirting."/i

i"And I'm in no condition to read him the riot act," Chris had responded, with a ferocious glare at the thought of a man mistreating Jen. Sure, she could handle them just fine, but that wasn't going to stop him from a little concerned outrage. Jen deserved the best, in his opinion./i

iSmiling, Jen leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek./i

i"Don't fret, Admiral," she said in silky smooth tone, slightly emphasizing his new rank. "Bones and I already did that. I won't waste my time with him again. Now, tell me how's the progress towards walking going? Dr. Boyce looked less intimidating today."/i

iBarking out a laugh, he wondered at himself for how much he depended on her visits./i

i"Decent, but they're now working me twice as hard," he admitted. "I think Phil enjoys my misery a little TOO much at times."/i

iJenna nodded knowingly. "Bones learned from the master," she said, blue eyes twinkling at him./i

He tried to pause that memory and focus on those eyes again-No. That was just wrong. She was his protege, his former student, for Pete's sake!

"Don't be a pervert, idiot," he thought to himself. "You're the last thing that woman needs-a crippled, washed up, paper pusher old enough to be her father!"

He didn't know where THOSE thoughts had come from, but they needed to be suppressed immediately.

Switching the direction of his musings, he pondered the good conversations they'd had while Jen had been first learning the ropes of Captainhood, after the stunning decision to give her the ship.

Jen had been alternating back and forth between excitement, fear, and guilt.

"She should be your ship, Chris," she muttered after a particularly trying day. "I didn't want it to happen this way. I was really looking forward to learning the ropes serving under you. Eff Nero."

He couldn't disagree with that sentiment, much as it hurt to be reminded of the sad fact his long anticipated dream had slipped through his fingers just like that.

"If there's anyone who's got the brains and the drive to prove all those doubters-including that annoying inner voice that I've have also had to do battle with-wrong, it's you, Jenna Kirk," he declared, looking her square in the eye. "I know I can trust you with her."

"Thanks, Chris," she sighed. "Today it felt like every single person I met was questioning everything about me. I know they're wrong, but it helps to have you backing me up. I'm just-tired, I guess."

"I'd like to tell you it gets easier, but that would be a lie, Jen. You learn by trial and error, experience, and wise council," he'd told her honestly.

Jen nodded thoughtfully.

"I've got the best wise council I could hope for in you," she told him, Eyes moist even as she smiled affectionately.

Chris's heart was heavy as he wondered if he'd ever get to have another interaction with the whirlwind that was Jenna Kirk.