Jenna's improvement was slow, but steady, marred only by the occasional nightmare that disrupted her sleep. She wasn't allowed many visitors at a time, so her senior officers paired up and took turns to come see her. Uhura and Spock came the day after Winona arrived, then Chekov and Sulu, and Scotty and Keenser. Jenna made it a point to apologize to her engineer for the way she'd treated him and asked about the progress of the Enterprise.

"It'll be a long time before she's space worthy again, I'm afraid," he sighed. "But these upgrades will make her even better than ever."

"That's very exciting, Scotty," she agreed. "Keep me updated. Keenser, don't let him work himself to death on those ample nacelles. I don't want a worn down Chief Engineer when we leave on the five year mission."

Keenser nodded solemnly and shook her hand. "He won't. I know tricks."

Jen grinned at him. "I knew I could count on you."

Chris was released a week after Jenna's awakening and she cheered for him, but was a little sad not to have him close anymore. Well, Starfleet needed him more than she did, and he'd be a lot happier out of the boring room, so pouting was pointless. Nevertheless, she missed him terribly, and had to scramble to come up with excuses when Winona looked at her worriedly.

It was just her luck that the first visit coincided with her first failed attempt at keeping down solid food.

She'd just finished puking her guts out and crying miserably over her wrecked digestive system, when he showed up. Great. Just great. The one person in the world she wanted to look decent for and she was a gross mess.

"You doing okay, Jen?" He asked, looking at her worriedly. She blinked up dully through her wet eyelashes, whole body aching from the strain of emptying her stomach.

"Not yet," she whispered hoarsely. "Tried to eat and it came right back up. I guess my stomach is still too touchy."

He looked up at Bones, who looked pained himself.

"Thought we'd try something more than broth today. Didn't happen. We'll keep trying, though."

Jen wrinkled her nose. "Don't say that!" She groaned. "I hate throwing up!"

"I know, Jen, but we've got to get your body used to eating again. You're dangerously underweight right now."

"So that's why I look like a skeleton," she snarked. "Please distract me with stories of your wild youth, Chris," she pleaded. "Or tell me what craziness the admiralty's up to now."

"Mostly rooting out Marcus's allies, what's left of them, anyway," he sighed. "Barnett had to stop Komack from turning a questioning into an interrogation. He was really going hard after Carol Marcus, convinced she was in on it."

"Oh, no," Jen breathed, filled with worry for her new friend. "She wasn't involved! I know that for a fact. In fact, she smuggled herself onto the Enterprise to investigate the questionable torpedoes Marcus sent with us. I would have been guilty of manslaughter if she hadn't found the cryotubes. Did you talk to her?"

"Yes. It's plain She's in no condition to be dealing with this on top of all the other trauma she's been through," he replied grimly. "I take it she hasn't been by to see you yet?"

"Only very briefly." Jen said sadly. "Bones, have you heard from Carol recently?"

"She's laying low for the time being, but she's coping," answered the doctor. "She doesn't want to go near the hospital because it would draw the media's attention and that's the last thing you need right now."

"Damn," Jen said. "Figures they'd start hounding her. Send her my well wishes and condolences. Oh, hey, Mom!"

Winona entered the room, carrying a lovely bouquet of yellow flowers of several varieties.

"Hi, Honey. How did the goop eating go?"

Jenna made a face. "Not well. Are those for me?" Her face brightened seeing the burst of color coming toward her.

"They sure are!" Winona confirmed. "From your crew. Uhura intercepted me and asked me to bring them in."

"Oh, they're so gorgeous!" Jen exclaimed, feeling the soft petal of a daffodil. "Just what I needed today. See, Chris, they're even yellow for command gold!"

"Very appropriate," he observed, smiling at her delight.

There was a small card attached to the bouquet, which Jenna detached with some difficulty and perused carefully, tears springing back into her eyes at the thoughtful message written on it.

"I love them all," she sighed. "I'd do it all again, even if I knew I'd stay dead. The one thing Khan was right about was that I WOULD do anything for my space family."

"Lets hope it doesn't come to that, sweetheart," Winona said. "You don't have nine lives, after all."

Chris didn't say anything, but he gave her a look that was a cross between pride and "Don't you even Dare." It was a look she'd received countless times over their acquaintanceship and she almost giggled at seeing it again. Oh, how she loved-She brought those thoughts to a screeching halt.

"I need a bedtime story, Chris. Please?" She batted her eyelashes. "You know how I appreciate your adventures."

"I suppose I could find the time for one of it'll help you, Jen," he said agreeably. "Might bore you right to sleep."

"I doubt that," she laughed.

While The Admiral held the captain spellbound with the tale of the Yorktown's encounter with an invisible race of aliens, Winona drew Leonard outside the room for a moment.

"Doctor McCoy, is there something going on between those two I should know about?" She asked in a low tone. "Chris has NEVER looked like that when talking to a woman unless he's very taken with her."

McCoy looked awkward, and sighed.

"I've been wonderin' the same thing, Commander. She's always happier when he's here and I don't even think she realizes she looks at him like he hung the moon. Chris is harder to read, but you're right, just a minute ago, he let his guard down enough, I could see there was a bit of smitten showing. They're either oblivious, or in denial."

"I was afraid of that," she sighed. "Not that I have anything against Chris, but how could it be a good idea, with such an age gap?"

"I wouldn't worry about it just yet," Leonard comforted. "They might never act on it. Goodness knows, they've both got enough on their plates without starting a romance."

Winona was placated for the time being, but she resolved to watch both of them more closely in the future.