As the end of Khan's trial neared, Jenna didn't see Chris much at all, but she was now kept much too busy with rehab and and getting back on her feet. As Chris had warned her, it was hard, painful, frustrating and left her in tears multiple times, but she could feel her strength returning and knew it was worth it. Bones and Phil were very encouraging and didn't let her consider giving up, for which she was very thankful the day she was able to walk across the room unassisted.

Winona had tears in her eyes as her daughter walked toward her, determined if a bit unsteady.

"I feel like a toddler again," Jenna panted, making an annoyed face at her own slow pace. "I can't wait to be able to really get around."

"You're getting there," Phil said, looking pleased at her efforts. "Soon you'll be racing around like a dervish and driving us all wild: Command types usually do."

"I take it you speak from your vast experience with a certain stubborn Admiral?" She returned, with an interested gleam in her eyes.

"Him and many others. You should really ask him about the incident on the swamp planetoid of MT107. He was laid up for weeks. Bellyached the whole time."

"Oh, I certainly will," Jenna agreed readily. "Speaking Of Chris, do either of you know why he's acting so weird around me lately? One minute, he's all concern and super attentive, the next, he suddenly acts all stiff and distant and reacts like I've burned him by being in the vicinity. It's really strange."

"It might be the stress of the investigation and trial," Winona suggested. "He might be just worn out from that."

"If That was the case this would have started weeks ago. It's only been ten days of his erratic behavior," Jenna pointed out. "What say you, Doc? You know him better than any of us."

"It's not my place to tell," Boyce sighed. "Chris is working through some things he's got to deal with in his own time. I've tried to get him to see reason, but he's not ready yet. None of it is your fault, though, Jen, and he certainly isn't mad at you. Occasionally irritated yes, mad, never."

"That's only when I break the Prime Directive and try to lie about it," Jen said ruefully, never forgetting how upset he'd been when he'd called her out on it. Seeing as how she wasn't getting any more information out of Phil, she reluctantly let the conversation turn back to her continued therapy schedule, hoping that she'd get to welcome Chris from her feet the next time he Came.

What even Phil didn't know was that Chris's off behavior had been precipitated by his viewing of the security tapes from the Enterprise, including Jenna's thought to be last conversation with Spock as she was dying. It had upset him more than he thought possible, the feeble smile she gave the Vulcan when he admitted they were friends ruined his composure and he sat staring blankly at the console for a long time afterward.

"I'm such an idiot," he muttered to himself, the day he finally allowed himself to admit why she affected him so much. "Dammit, Phil was right. I'm in love with that crazy woman. Now what do I do?"

Unfortunately, this caused him to be more self conscious when he was around Jenna and led to the confusing body language as he was torn between wanting to be as close as possible and avoiding coming on too strong or looking like a creepy old man. Perhaps a little communication could have cleared this up, but Chris was still trapped by his fear of confessing his love. He buried himself deep in work to put it off as long as possible, hoping if he ignored the whole thing, it would just go away.

As often happens, this method of coping failed miserably and Phil threatened to declare him unfit for duty if he didn't take a break.

"Chris, please just talk to her," The exasperated surgeon general exhorted, the same afternoon he'd had to dodge Jen's questions "She's starting to notice you're acting strange and is drawing the wrong conclusions. There's only so long I can cover for you until she confronts you herself."

"I know," the admiral groaned. "There's nothing else to do. What if she's grossed out, though? I'm not exactly a spring chicken anymore."

"Trust me," Phil said kindly and meaningfully, "there's no chance of her being repulsed. Now, get going. She's expecting you."

Now admirals don't usually skulk, but Chris practically tiptoed to Jen's room like a misbehaving schoolboy fearful of being caught. This was it. McCoy gave him a funny look as they passed, probably wondering what in the world was going on. If the man only knew, Chris thought. Well, he probably did.

Jen was sitting up reading when he Came in. The usual smile lit up her face when he Came in And she beckoned him in to his usual seat.

"Well, hey there. I thought you were busy doing important Admiral stuff. You never come at this time of day."

"My meddling Doctor friend decided I was overdoing it and made me remove myself from the active investigation," Chris admitted in a disgruntled tone.

"Good for him," Jen said unsympathetically. "I was really starting to worry about you. You looked way too stressed."

Chris shot her a betrayed look. "You too? I thought you of all people would understand my plight."

"I do, but I also want you healthy, Chris," she told him gently. "I've missed you. The few times you've been here, you've had your mind on other things and it was obvious. I think they'll be able to get by without you now that the biggest part is over."

"Maybe," He said somewhat doubtfully, knowing Komack and Nogura too well to completely believe that. "Oh well. What's done is done. I have been negligent of my favorite captain lately. I've come to put an end to that and explain my recent behavior."

Jen perked up. "I knew there was something going on! C'mon, spill it. I promise to not judge you."

He smiled nervously and rubbed the back of his neck as he faced the moment of truth.

"Well, i May have watched some of the security tape from the Enterprise which was more than a little enlightening and very disturbing at the same time."

Jen grimaced. "Yeah. I'm not really proud of my actions there: forcing Scotty to resign and then almost committing murder myself. Thank goodness for Spock talking me out of it."

"That wasn't what threw me, though, Jen," he admitted. "I...saw the tape from engineering."

"Oh," she said quietly, twisting the sheets in her hands. "So you saw my ugly demise?"

"More like selfless sacrifice," he reminded her. "Couldn't be more proud of you, even though it just about destroyed me to watch. I'm glad Spock was there for you."

"So am I," she admitted. "Despite our earlier disagreements, he really is the perfect first officer and...friend. But that's not what you're getting at, is it?"

"No," he said, plowing ahead determinedly, looking her straight in the eye. "Jen, I've been in denial for a long time and knowing what happened forced me to face the facts: I can't stand the thought of ever losing you for good. You've unknowingly run off with my heart, Jen and I finally realized it. That's what's thrown me for a loop."

Jen's bright blue eyes had grown round and misty as he spoke and her reaction was far from what he'd expected, but yet fit with what Winona and Phil had been trying to tell him. She reached over and took hold of his hand, smooth on top of rough, and said softly, "I'll be sure to take good care of your heart, Chris. Will you take care of mine? It's been yours for awhile now."

"You mean?..." he started, looking at her intensely.

"Yep," she finished, smiling brightly. "Did you see what I tried to do to Khan, when I thought he'd murdered you?"

"Uhura told me," he said. "But there are other reasons you could have been compromised, so I didn't take particular note of it. The last thing I'd want to do is assume something like that. You might have been repulsed by the idea."

"Repulsed? By you?" Jen exclaimed. "Are you aware of how many cadets longed to be in your classes? Or shamelessly ogled you? Or how we used to inwardly swoon over you? I still do, by the way."

She added a wink and a smirk and Chris turned red.

"It's the uniform," he muttered, remembering the flocks of giggling cadets that used to annoy him so much.

"Maybe for them. Not for me," Jen declared. "I think you're awesome no matter what you wear. So, we're clear on the whole "I love you, you love me" thing? If not, I'll gladly do more convincing."

He smiled at her and squeezed her hand. "If I'm thinking what you're thinking, I'm definitely not averse to some more...persuasion."

Jenna giggled happily at the change in his voice and leaned forward to meet his kiss. Bones would be insufferable about this tomorrow, but who cared?