"What happened?" Chris urgently asked of Phil Boyce who was watching Winona and McCoy trying to soothe a distraught Jenna. She was curled into a ball on the bed, shaking and trembling.

"Nightmare." Phil said grimly. "Whatever it was sent her into a full blown panic attack. She's been trying to say your name, so we sent for you. She won't let anyone get near enough for a sedative, so you're our best hope to calm her down.

Chris nodded and made his way toward the patient. Winona looked up and nodded at him, pain in her eyes.

"She dreamed you died," Jenna's Mom whispered. "You need to convince her otherwise because she's inconsolable right now."

"Jen." He spoke her name as clearly as possible. The trembling slowed a bit. "Jenna Kirk, this is Chris. I'm really here, hon. Please try to calm down, won't you, Captain?"

The ball of Kirk loosened and Jenna cracked one eye open, peering around. He came closer and stood right in front of her.

"Chris..." she croaked, stretching out a thin arm. "I'm so glad to see you. It was awful."

"So I heard. But it was not true. I'm very much alive and kicking, like the ornery old mule I am."

He clasped her hand in his and moved her fingers to his pulse point so she could feel for herself.

Jenna took a shaky breath and finally seemed satisfied, but she didn't let go of his hand.

"Please don't ever leave me." She whispered, a look in those blue eyes that about did him in. "I need you."

He swallowed hard, willing himself not to read too much into that statement. If she meant it, he was going to have a hard time keeping up the whole denial of his actual feelings. It certainly didn't sound at all like "I need you as a father figure", but that could just be his imagination.

"M'sorry I'm always such a wreck when you show up," she murmured, after a few quiet moments. "It's getting annoying. I'm supposed to be a strong Captain, not melting down left and right. S'bad for morale."

"Jenna Kirk, it takes an incredibly strong person to do what you did," he told her firmly. "I have had more than my own share of breakdowns, believe me. It goes with the territory. Now, will you let the doctor give you something to help you feel better?"

"Okay, But I'm not letting go of you. Part of me is still afraid you'll vanish into thin air."

He nodded at Phil, who cautiously approached with a hypo.

"Good, good, Jenna. That's much better," he soothed, quickly checking her vitals. "I'm going to give you a hypo to help you rest. You won't get nightmares with this, I promise."

"Okay," Jenna said hesitantly and turned her head to give access to her neck. With a quick hiss, it was done and Boyce was praising her.

"Why do you never take it so well for me?" McCoy grumbled playfully, crossing his arms and looking decidedly jealous.

"Because, he doesn't try to stab me like you do, Bones," Jenna said sleepily. "You really have a few things to learn about bedside manner."

Everyone but McCoy laughed. Jenna's toying with the Doctor by avoiding checkups and getting the man very annoyed with her was well known to them.

"And that's the Thanks I get for saving your life? Ungrateful Infant!" McCoy snorted, trying to hide his own amusement.

"Oh, I'm very grateful. I just don't want you to get a swollen head," she responded.

"Swollen Head! Like you're one to talk, Miss Captain Ego!"

Chris watched them banter back and forth, throwing out snide remarks and loving insults. The two of them made quite a duo, and were fiercely loyal to each other. People thought they did it because of sexual tension, but he was pretty sure it was more the deep friendship between them. Well, he selfishly hoped it was friendship, he thought guiltily.

He stayed at Jenna's bedside until she dropped off to sleep, hoping she'd finally get some uninterrupted sleep.

"How's she doing overall?" He asked Phil quietly.

"Slower than we'd like," his friend admitted. "Especially since you've been absent lately. I think she responds well to your visits."

"I wish I could make them more frequent," Chris replied, apologetically. "We're swamped at HQ right now dealing with this mess."

He looked over at Jenna's sleeping form and again felt that yearning tug to gather her up and hold her close, barring all the nightmares from disturbing her.

Winona saw the expression on his face before he could compose himself. Pulling the sheets up over Jenna's shoulders, she approached him with a knowing look.

"It's a hard thing, loving a Kirk. They do the most ridiculous self-sacrificing things and end up hurt a lot. It's worth it."

"That's quite an assumption to make," he said evenly. "Of course I'm concerned for Jenna. Lots of people are."

Perhaps he should have actually looked at her when he said that. As it was, Winona was unconvinced.

"Not the way I just saw you look at her. Not even Leonard looks at her like that. Don't try to fool me Chris. I know you too well."

"It wouldn't be a good idea, and I could never burden her with this," he said firmly. "She's way out of my league. The chances of her having feelings for someone like me are slim to none."

"You used that excuse to avoid your feelings for One and totally missed out. Don't think I don't have you pegged by now, Christopher."

Winona poked him in the chest for emphasis.

"Why do you think Jenna was so horror stricken at the thought of your death? Why do you think she calmed down with you around? Why do you think she wouldn't let go of your hand? Just think about it, Chris."

His mouth opened and closed, but nothing came out. Finally, he shook his head and headed toward the door.

"Let me know if this happens again. I'll try to stop by tomorrow evening. Thanks, Leonard, Phil."

The two doctors nodded and watched him go, looking at each other ruefully.

"I get the sense he's got issues in the whole "Love" department," McCoy observed.

"That's putting it mildly," Phil and Winona said together. "He May be one of the legends of the Fleet, but he somehow thinks he doesn't deserve love," Winona added.

McCoy winced. He understood that all too well, having been through a divorce that destroyed his self-worth and left him very cynical in the matter of romance.

"If anyone can change his mind, I'd say it's definitely Jenna T. Kirk." He proclaimed. "If she decides to go for him, well, it's pretty much a done deal. We know how she feels about no-win scenarios."

"More power to her, then," Phil agreed. "Someone has to knock some sense into that man's head sooner or later."