Raxsah: Dear my dear friend Jeck. I miss you. Bring your ass home and come play in the bouncy house at my college with me. You shall lose your pants and we will party with all the hotties on campus, male and female!
Jeck: Dear my dear friend dear Raxsah dear hi, OMG HI! What are you doing here? It's great to talk to you via internet again! You should come to college with me and SAVE ME FROM MY ROOMMATES CRACK ADDICTED FRIENDS! And we shall find you an easily corruptible man. :3
Raxsah: Jeck, you're not supposed to use my real name on . Just be happy I changed it. Welcome back our dearies! Did you miss us? We're relatively on time this week.
Jeck: Whoops, I did, didn't I. My bad. I'm sick as a dog, cut me some slack. At least I didn't call you like Shay nay nay or something. And yes, we have returned. Updating Sunday might become a regular thing for us.
Raxsah: Yeah, especially since it's the only time both of us are free. Jeck's just lucky I finished my English essay before she IMed me. Anyway, we know a couple of people were upset with last chapter… or at least confused to what the hell we were thinking. Which is quite a common question asked… at least in my case.
Jeck: People don't ask me anymore. Most of them don't want to know what I was thinking. And also, just a warning out there, we are not responsible for angst related heart failures (just so you know X-PANIC).
Raxsah: Yeah, I'm pretty sure we have a disclaimer somewhere around here about that… if not we should get one. Lol… I'm watching my dog run in circles trying to chase her tail. It is quite amusing.
Jeck: I just kicked some bitch out of my room for using all of my roommate's printer ink. Damn, she says she wants to print out one thing, but one thing is like 20 pages long. Bitch… anyway, we should get on to the story soon.
Raxsah: Yes, because, believe it or not, they are here for the story. Enjoy!

Chapter 19: Funhouse

The next morning, Claire slowly regained consciousness from sleep. She didn't want to open her eyes just yet as she cuddled closer to the source of warmth next to her. Was it all a dream? The warmth next to her moved, and she came to the sudden realization that she was naked, and so was the warmth next to her.

She sat up quickly, taking her sheets with her in order to cover some vital body parts. Her eyes scanned the room, taking in the pile of clothes not far from her, and the disheveled sleeping bag that no longer held Alex in it. Her head whipped around and looked down next to her, her eyes going wide upon seeing a very naked Alex sleeping next to her.

"Shit," she hissed, practically falling out of the bed. The moment she hit the ground, Alex shot up and looked around. His eyes landed on Claire, and memories of the previous night resurfaced.

"Holy shit," he muttered. She quickly placed a long tee-shirt over herself, and took a few steps away from the bed.

"Oh my god, Alex, I'm so sorry!" she said, tears coming back to her eyes. He placed his face in his hands and tried to sort out his thoughts. Claire watched him carefully, her grey eyes tracing over the room.

"Fuck…" he muttered. Claire sat at her desk chair, making sure that she didn't give him a show, despite the face he probably saw everything.

"I'm so, so, so sorry," she mumbled.

"It's not your fault, Claire… it takes two to have sex," he said. She frowned and covered her mouth with her hands.

"But… I started it, I shouldn't have started it. All of it was so unplanned, it happened so fast. God, I'm sorry," she muttered.

"It wasn't that fast… but yeah, it was fast." After a moment, his head shot up and he began searching the room.

"What are you looking for?" she asked.

"I'm looking for a condom wrapper, I don't remember using one. Shit!" he hissed. He rolled out of bed and quickly slipped on his sweatpants.

"Alex, I'm on a birth control shot, there is nothing to worry about. It doesn't run out for another couple of months," she said. He gave a sigh of relief and sat on the bed. After another moment he looked up.

"What am I going to tell Liam?" Claire felt her heart sink as she realized that not only did she just have sex with Alex, she had betrayed her best friend.

"Jesus… this situation can't get any worse," she muttered.

"That's not true… you could be pregnant," he said. She glared at him.

"Thanks Alex." He nodded and paused.

"And you could still have a boyfriend. That could've made it worse too." Claire picked up one of her boots sitting on the ground and chucked it across the room. Alex didn't even duck as the boot flew over the other end of the bed.

"I hate you," she snapped. Alex nodded and gave her a small smile.

"That's not what you were saying last night," he stated. Claire folded her arms and leaned back in her chair, her eyes focus on the ceiling.

"Jokes aside, I feel horrible…" she mumbled. Alex nodded and looked down at the ground, running a hand through his short hair.

"I don't know what I'm going to tell Liam…" he said, mostly to himself. Claire looked across the room and really took a look at Alex. He was hurting now too. Just like her. And it was all her fault.

"The truth is probably a good start," she offered. Alex nodded and placed his face in his hands.

"I know I'm supposed to be here for you and I fucked up big time. I'm so sorry, Claire," he told her, but he couldn't look her in the eyes. Against her better judgment, Claire stood up and crossed the room to take a seat next to Alex. The shock had worn off and now the guilt was settling in, but Claire didn't really think it would ruin their friendship. They were friends before anything else.

"You know, it's funny. Back when we first started working on the Enterprise, you would've killed to sleep with me," she mused. Alex chuckled slightly, but he was still tearing himself up inside.

"That was before Liam. I never felt this way about anyone, man or woman, before. And now I screwed it up…" she nodded.

"I know the feeling," she muttered. He shot her a sympathetic look.

"We're both really bad when it comes to the relationship department… aren't we?" he asked.

"I think that's the understatement of the year…"

Claire walked down the hallway, a cup of coffee in one hand, and a chart in the other. Alex had left not to long ago, and she decided it was finally time to make her way to work. She continued to read over her chart, only looking up when she heard a strand of high pitched giggles. When she did, she wished she hadn't. In front of her stood Sophie Rogers, and her former boyfriend. Both of them were in the middle of a heated lip lock. Jim stopped and looked up, his eyes resting on her before he pulled away from Sophie. Sophie turned pale and looked at Claire.

"Doctor Conaway…" she said. Claire looked back down at her chart and walked past them.

"Claire…" she heard Jim say, but she ignored them and walked to the medical station. She could hear what sounded like an argument coming from the back room and looked back down at her chart.

"What's going on with everyone today?" Nurse Chapel asked. Claire shrugged but didn't speak.

"Claire." She looked over and quickly looked back at her chart.

"Can I help you, Captain?" she asked. He sighed.

"Look, it's not what you think. She's just a stress reliever," Jim said. Claire looked at him, her grey eyes turning deathly cold.

"So you're just using her? Was that supposed to make me feel better? Jesus," she snapped.

"Claire, I don't want things to be so strained between us," he said.

"Maybe you shouldn't be sleeping with other doctors then. It's only been a week, Jim," she said. Nurse Chapel took a look at the two of them before picking up her things and leaving the two of them alone.

"Can't we be friends?" he asked. She sighed, and before she could reply, the door to the back room swung open.

"Liam, wait!" Alex called. Liam ignored him and walked up to Claire.

"How could you? How could you!" he screamed. Claire flinched.

"I'm so sorry-"

"No your not! If you were sorry you wouldn't have fucked my boyfriend in the first place!" Liam hissed. Jim's eyes went wide.

"You had sex with Alex?" he asked. Liam turned toward him.

"You shut up! If it wasn't for you, none of this would've happened." Before Jim could speak, Claire took a step forward.

"Liam, it was an accident. It just sort of… happened," she said. Liam paused before smacking the drink out of her hand, causing a good bit of it to spill on her.

"You, Claire Conaway, are a whore!" he shouted. Claire flinched and looked down, not bothering to deny it. The room was deathly silent before Liam walked past them and stormed out of sickbay. Everyone in the room turned to Claire, and she felt her cheeks heat up in shame.

"Claire." She didn't care, who said he name, or what they wanted, she just wanted to get as far away from the group as possible. She turned toward the door and all but ran out of sickbay, not paying attention to where she was going. She turned the corner and almost collided with someone, only to stop short and look up.

"Claire?" His grey eyes were full of worry, and regret.

"Ryan…" she muttered, her voice was all but broken, and she felt as though she was going to collapse.

"I'm sorry for what I did. You didn't deserve it. You did your best with Colleen, and I should've known that. You needed me and I was too involved with myself to care. I'm sorry, can you forgive me?" he paused as his eyes scanned over her face.

"Claire, why are you crying?" he asked. She said nothing as she felt the tears pour down her cheeks. Her brothers words seemed to pierce right through her chest, and the more he apologized, the more she realized she missed him.

She said nothing more as she stepped forward and wrapped his arms around his middle and buried her face in his chest. He paused for a moment before wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close. She was sobbing heavily and she was shaking in his arms. In the back of her mind, she made a note of the fact she had cried more the past couple of weeks, than she had the past five years of her life.

"Ryan, I'm so sorry… I'm so sorry. I'm a horrible person. I'm so sorry," she cried into his chest. Ryan said nothing as he pulled his sister close, a few tears of his own making their way d

own his face.

"Don't be sorry, Claire. I should have never flipped out at you," he whispered to her, trying to hold back his own tears. Claire buried her face closer to his chest, enjoying the calming effect that being closer to her brother brought.

"It doesn't matter. Just as long as you're here now…" She said breathlessly into his chest. Ryan nodded, still trying and failing at holding his own tears back. Jim and Alex looked out at them from sickbay doors, but Ryan glared at them. Alex nodded and left, but Jim wouldn't move.

"How dare you try to comfort her after what you did to her in sickbay?" Jim hissed, moving closer to the siblings. Ryan lightly kissed his sister on the top of her head and moved her so she was out of his way.

"What I did? You dumped her after avoiding her. I heard all about it. You think you're a better man? You didn't even try to make things work. Your biggest problem was not being able to kill a man. Hypocritical much?" Ryan snapped.

"I won't let you hurt your sister again. She may not be my girlfriend anymore, but she's a member of my crew and I won't let anything happen to her!" Jim countered, but Ryan scoffed.

"She can fight her own battles. It took me long enough to realize it, but she's strong. And she doesn't need you. You seem to care more about her as a crew member than you ever did as her boyfriend. And I fucked up big time, but I won't let my sister suffer," Ryan told him, but his words were not just to the captain as Ryan turned to look at Claire. She was watching the display between the two men, but she didn't seem all there. After everything that had happened in the past ten minutes, Ryan wasn't surprised.

"Sir, we just bordered a Starfleet shuttle craft. There were a handful of rouge Starfleet members on the shuttle. What should we do?" Nuhir asked as Riley stared aimlessly through the clear window in the front of his ship. All the stars seemed to sparkle at him, causing the empty feeling in his chest explode with anger. He slammed his hand down.

"I don't care. Kill them," Riley snapped, too preoccupied with his own thoughts. Nuhir nodded and prepared to leave, but Tre'gok turned around in his chair to face Nuhir and Riley.

"Sir, wouldn't it be a better idea to see if they'll join our crew and help us destroy the Enterprise. We lost a lot of men in our last encounter with them," Tre'gok stated. Nuhir stopped and turned to face Riley as well.

"He has a point. We're drastically low on men right now. It wouldn't hurt and if they refuse, then we can kill them," Nuhir offered. Riley sat in silence for a moment, trying to balance his thoughts between his late wife and the current situation.

"Bring them to me," he demanded after a few minutes. Nuhir nodded and left. No one said a word as they waited for the arrival of the rouge Starfleet members. Tre'gok sat at his post in silence, not wanting to say anything that might offended the captain. After everything that had occurred with Kirk, Riley had been in a horrible mood and had not been afraid to take it out on his own men. Finally after ten minutes, Nuhir reentered the room with six men following behind him. Riley spun in his chair to face the young men.

"Here you are, Captain," Nuhir said, gesturing to the men. Riley nodded.

"I have one simple request. Join us or die," Riley said simply, not bothering to beat around the bush. His main focus was revenge, not these expendable tools called men.

"I don't really think any of us want to die, so we'll join you. What's the plan, sir?" The man standing in front of the other men asked. He appeared to be their mini leader. Riley grinned.

"We'll be attacking the U.S.S. Enterprise. Heard of it?" Riley asked. The head man nodded.

"Heard of it? We had attacked it a few months ago. We've got an old score to settle with Kirk and their chief of security, Ryan Conaway," the man explained. Riley's grin expanded at his statement.

"The Conaway boy? Well, this is perfect then. What's your name?" The leader of the rouge members of Starfleet extended his hand to Riley.

"My name is Griffin." Riley smiled, his teeth actually showing.

"Welcome aboard, Griffin."

Ryan glanced up from his lunch to look at his sister, who was moving a bunch of her food around on her plate. The past few days had been though, for everyone. Ryan had found the strength to pull himself together enough to take care of Claire, which seemed to be a job in itself. He spent meals with her and Anna, and a few nights he spent with Claire, helping her out after her nightmares. Now, he was trying to get her to eat again.

"Claire, it's spaghetti, you love spaghetti," Ryan said. Claire gave a sigh and put her fork down.

"I know, I'm just not hungry," she muttered. Ryan just continued to watch her until Alex sat down.

"Okay, Liam won't even look at me. I said I was sorry, you'd think another dude would be like… whatever, and get over it," Alex said. Claire's face fell and she looked down at her food.

"You cheated on the man, of course he's not just going to get over it," Ryan muttered. Claire just ran a hand through her hair and looked over at Liam's table, where he was sitting with Rupert and Oliver.

"Yeah well… he's not talking to me either," Claire said. Alex sighed and began to devour his food.

"Yeah. Hey, where is Anna?" Alex asked.

"She decided that she was going to head to the gym. She said it was a while since she worked out," Ryan said. Claire looked as though she were concentrating hard on something before she suddenly stood up.

"Hey, where are you going?" Alex asked. Claire paused before shrugging.

"No clue, I'll be back eventually." Ryan just raised an eyebrow before turning to his food.

"You know… I'll never understand her," Alex said.

"I'm not sure anyone does," Ryan replied.

Anna took a deep breath as she kicked the holographic Kilngon in the side. The Klingon lunged toward her and she spun in order to miss him. The hologram shouted and pulled out a knife, reminding her that she had upped the difficulty level. He swung it at her and she kicked it out of his hand, using his own weight against him as he lunged at her. She ten quickly grabbed the dagger and threw it at him, hitting him square in the chest.

"Computer simulation, over," the cool voice of the computer said. Anna gave a few deep breaths before turning to her duffel bag, jumping a bit when she saw Claire standing there.

"Shit, I didn't see you there," Anna said. Claire gave a small smile and handed her a water bottle.

"Sorry, Ryan said you were down here and I wanted to see what it was exactly that you were doing," Claire said.

"Just some basic combat. It's better to pick a fight with a computer than pick a fight with a security officer." Claire nodded and stared at the floor for a moment. Anna grabbed a towel and wiped her face from sweat.

"So… how are you and Ryan?" Claire asked. Anna turned a bit red but shrugged.

"We're… friends. He's still trying to get over Colleen."

"He'll get over it. He's strong," Claire said. Anna nodded and grabbed a hoodie to cover her body.

"How are you holding up?" Anna asked. Claire frowned and continued to stare at the spot on the floor.

"I'm… I'm falling apart," Claire admitted. Anna placed a hand on her shoulder.

"You can pull yourself together. I mean, you and Jim-"

"I don't care about that," Claire snapped. Anna jumped and raised an eyebrow. After a minute Claire took a deep breath. "I mean… I do care about it. But I can't… I can't concentrate on it. One, because I'm just going to hurt even more. And two, I'm so stressed from these nightmares that my mind won't let me think about anything else," Claire said.

"What are you going to do about it?" Anna asked.

"I need you to teach me how to fight," Claire said. Anna raised her eyebrows.

"What? How is that going to help you?" Claire shrugged.

"I figure if I feel like I can protect myself, I can conquer the main part of my dream. The rest is just me trying to deal with Jim," she said. Anna sighed and rubbed the back of her neck.

"I thought you could fight. You were holding your own with Colleen," Anna said.

"I know the basics. I couldn't kick a Romulan's ass though," she admitted.

"Who would you…" Anna trailed off as Claire gave her a look.

"I'm tired of being helpless. I want to be able to protect myself. Please…" Anna gave a heavy sigh and grabbed her duffel bag. She wasn't sure if Claire's plan would work, but she could see that she was dedicated, maybe that was all she needed.

"Okay, meet me here tomorrow morning and 0500 hours. This isn't going to be easy," Anna warned.

"I never said it would be."

Ryan glanced up from his breakfast and work to see an exhausted looking Anna sit across from him. Her dark brown hair was in waves as she began to eat her eggs.

"You alright?" he asked. She shrugged.

"I've been on graveyard shift the past couple of days, and doing that while helping Claire out has been tiring," Anna said. Ryan raised an eyebrow.

"I didn't know you were helping Claire out. What are you guys doing?" Anna shrugged.

"She wanted to know how to defend herself better, so I've been teaching her. Now I'm just having her fight a few simulations and hoping she'll get the hang of it." Ryan raised an eyebrow.

"You sure that's a good idea?" he asked.

"Yeah, it makes her feel more empowered by not relying on others, and it's a good stress reliever. It's sort of like you with your punching bag. I mean, it's not as great as seeing a therapist, but it might help her figure things out." Ryan smiled and reach out, grabbing a hold of her hand. He didn't fail to notice that she was blushing.

"Thank you. You might be right, this might be just what Claire needs." Anna smiled and looked away from his hand.

"Yeah, uh… no problem," she muttered. Ryan turned back to his food as Anna remained frozen with a smile and a blush covering her face.

"So how's she doing?" Ryan asked inquisitively. Anna seemed to snap back to reality at Ryan's words and turned back to her own food.

"Not too bad, actually. She lacks in the physical strength part, so her offense isn't as strong as yours or mine, but her defensive moves and pretty good. It's pretty hard to land a hit on her," Anna told him, proud of her student. As exhausting as it was, it was nice to have a friend and someone who looked up to you. Not to mention she was finally able to talk about her feelings for Ryan to someone.

"That sounds pretty good. You must be an excellent teacher," Ryan told her. Anna's blush increased, but she nodded.

"I hope so. Later tonight, I plan on giving her the last lesson I have planned for her," Anna explained. Ryan's ears perked up.

"Oh really, and what do you have in store for her?" Ryan asked with a playful smirk. Anna merely picked up her finished tray and got up to leave.

"Now that, Mr. Conaway, is a secret," Anna told him with a grin before leaving the table. Ryan chuckled to himself before turning back to his food. After a minute a staring at his waffles, Ryan's smile turned to a frown. He still thought about Colleen when he had moments like this to himself. She was gone and he could accept that, but it was all the things that were never said between them that really bugged him. She lied to him. Their whole relationship was her lying to him, cheating on him, and keeping their baby's real father a secret. Ryan sometimes would find himself imagining the conversation he would have had with her…

"How could you lie to me like that?"

"I'm sorry, Ryan. I just wanted you to be happy…"

"How would that make me happy? You cheated on me and lied about it! The baby isn't even mine!"

"Why does it matter whose the biological father? You would always be his or her real father!"

"Colleen, I just can't do this anymore…"

He just couldn't imagine it any other way. Ryan just couldn't marry her after what she did. And she died his fiancée, not his ex-fiancée. And that just didn't sit right. Oh course Ryan loved her, but he just wouldn't ever be able to look at her the same way again. But now it didn't matter. Ryan took one last look over his shoulder to see Anna retreating form. Maybe there was hope.

"Alright, so just, program the guy from your nightmare and we'll go from there," Anna said. Claire paused an raised an eyebrow.

"Why?" she asked.

"Because I said so. If you can defeat your biggest fear, you can defeat anything. Right now your biggest fear is the guy in your dream," Anna said. Claire nodded and began typing a few things into the computer.

"Is that why you always fight Klingons?" Claire asked. Anna nodded.

"Yeah, ever since that away mission. I still have the scar to prove it," Anna said. Claire nodded and gave a heavy sigh.

"That's him…" she said. Anna took a look at it and frowned.

"You gave him a name," She stated.

"He has a name. He's my greatest fear. Not that I want him to know that," Claire said. Anna chuckled lightly and pushed Claire to the middle of the sparing ring.

"Alright, just remember your defense moves and use his own weight against him. I'm right here if you need the simulation to be turned off, but you need to take care of this yourself." Claire nodded and took a deep breath.

"Okay, I think I'm ready," she said softly. Anna nodded and punched a few keys in on the keyboard. Claire entered the holo-deck, just waiting for the stimulation to start.

"Get ready, Claire. Three… two… one… GO!" Anna's voice continued to echo through the empty room, even as the speaker crackled off. Claire could hear her own heart beating in her ears as she waited. Every night, even now, she still dreamt the same dream. Claire didn't wait long as the familiar form of Nuhir appeared in front of her. His trench coat blew in the non-existing wind and his eyes were cold and taunting.

"Well, if it isn't Claire Conaway. We meet again," he sneered, taking a few steps closer to Claire. Instinctively, Claire took a ready stance, her fists held up as she waited. Nuhir chuckled, sending involuntary shivers down Claire's spine.

"I'm ready for you," Claire snapped, her voice sounding a lot more confident than she felt. All the fears and memories surrounding the Romulan rushed back at her and for a moment, she felt light headed and a little sick. Nuhir smirk was just the same in the hologram version as it was in real life.

"I'll have you screaming for your mother," the hologram of Nuhir snapped back. Claire frozen, his choice of words bringing her back to the moment that she sat helplessly in the cell. Waiting for him to… Without warning, Claire lunged forward and felt her knuckle connect with his jaw. The punch wasn't enough to damage it severely, but it was enough to force the Romulan back a few steps. Taking the opportunity, Claire spun on her heel and landed a kick square in Nuhir chest. He choked on his breath at the impact, but dropped down to his knees, leaned back on his hands, and kicked Claire's knees out. Claire howled out in pain as she tumbled to the ground, but rolled out of the fall into a crouching position. Nuhir jumped towards her with his fists held high, but Claire used a blocking technique that Anna had taught her and kneed Nuhir in the side.

"Good job, Claire. Keep going!" Claire could vaguely hear Anna's voice in the background, but she was too focused on avoiding Nuhir's right hook. It barely missed her face as she dodged out of the way and punched him in the gut, hoping to do some damage. Nuhir grunted, but was otherwise unfazed. He rounded on her and reached out to grab her in a headlock, but she jumped backwards, barely keeping her balance. Anna had told her that the best thing to do was to use your speed to deliver fast unexpected blows. Quickly, Claire darted to Nuhir's side and gave him a quick jab, avoiding his fists again. Without stopping to slow down, Claire used her foot to hook her foot with his and trip him. With one final move, Claire used her knee to pin Nuhir's chest and down used her hands to keep his arms above his head.

A second later he disappeared and she was left alone in the ring. She was practically out of breath, but a new sense of pride seemed to fill her as she realized what she had done. She stood up and couldn't help the smile that came to her lips. The door opened and Anna came running into the cell, practically tackling the blonde to the ground.

"You did it! You said you couldn't fight, but you did it!" Anna said. Claire laughed and the two of them continued to cheer.

"You think I'm as good as the people in security?" Claire asked. Anna gave her a face and ruffled the girls hair.

"No, but you can hold your own. The security guys spent four years fighting people three times their own size." Claire shrugged.

"Who cares, I beat him! I actually beat him!" Anna laughed and hugged her.

"Yes, you did. A few more months of keeping your shape up, and practicing, you might even be able to take on me," Anna said.

"You kidding? I'll work out, but I'm going back to surgery. No offense, but this fighting stuff isn't my thing. I just like the fact that I have a fighting chance against Nuhir. This was fun though, even though I had to spend hours hearing about how excellent my brother was," Claire said, grabbing her water bottle. Anna turned a light pink and sighed.

"Sorry, I guess I get a little carried away," Anna said. Claire shrugged.

"I don't really care. Once Ryan get's out of his funk he'll be all over you," Claire said. Anna nodded and looked into Claire's eyes. They were still a little dull, but there seemed to be a small spark behind them that she couldn't explain.

"Looks like you're getting out of your funk too…" Claire paused and shrugged.

"Maybe. You coming to eat with Alex, Ryan, and I?" Anna shrugged.

"I think I'm going to do some practicing of my own. I'll see you tomorrow at breakfast though," Anna said. Claire nodded.

"Alright, have fun," Claire said, grabbing her things and heading out of the training room.

"Later," Anna muttered. The door slide shut and Anna turned around to the control panel to set up her own stimulation. Just before she entered the holo-deck, the door opened again.

"Forget something, Claire?" Anna asked without turning around. She heard a masculine chuckle and turned to face the voice.

"We don't look that much alike, do we?" Ryan asked. Anna shook her head with a smile.

"You do a bit, it's kind of scary. I just figured since-"

"Claire just left?" Ryan interjected. Anna nodded.

"Yeah, she just finished her last stimulation," Anna explained. Ryan nodded.

"How'd she do?" He inquired.

"Not too bad. Hopefully the nightmares won't be as so bad now," Anna added, wishfully. Ryan sighed, remembering the nights he stayed up helping her calm down. The dreams didn't really seem to be getting better with time, but hopefully Anna's lesson helps.

"Hopefully. What are you up to? I was going to ask you to accompany me to dinner." Ryan offered, gesturing to the door.

"I was just going to get one last session in before dinner," she told him, scratching her head nervously. She did want to go with him to dinner. Hell, she didn't mind going back to his room with him. However, she needed her stress reliever for the day as well.

"Oh. Well, would you like to spar instead of using this hunk of junk?" Ryan asked, patting the control panel for the holo-deck. Anna merely raised an eyebrow.

"Hunk of junk?" Ryan smiled and crossed his arms, leaning as the low-laying panel.

"Are you kidding me? I built my own holo-deck back home at the age of eleven and it was way better than this one," he bragged, as if building such a thing was as easy and making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

"Of course you're not bragging or anything," Anna added, giving Ryan a playful smirk. Ryan just shrugged.

"Of course not!" She chuckled and shrugged.

"Alright, if you think you can take me," she said confidently. Ryan simply walked over and slipped off his uniform shirt, causing Anna to suck in a breath. All the hours spent in the gym were really helping him in the muscle department. She shook her head to get rid of her thoughts and took her own shirt off, leaving her in nothing but shorts and a sports bra. Ryan let his eyes selfishly take in her Carmel colored skin before standing across from her, ready to spar.

"I'll go easy on you," he said. Anna scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"I'm going to kick you ass regardless," she snapped. Before Ryan could reply, she swung a punch at him. He quickly moved out of the way and brought his stance back up. He wasn't about to hit her, but he'd deflect her hits all he could. Anna whirled around and went to kick him in the side, only to have him grab her ankle and spin her to the side. She recovered and hit his side with her elbow. He almost fell to his knees from the blow, but was recovering quickly. Anna smirked and went to put him in a headlock, only to have him grab her wrists and pulling her against him, her back to his chest. She was positive even he could feel the heat radiating from her cheeks as her felt his muscles tense around her.

"Not pulling any punches, are you?" he asked, his breath tickling her ear. A shiver raked through her body and she quickly pulled herself out of the grip and kneed him away from her.

"You're holding back," she said.

"I'm not about to punch you in the face," he said. She rolled her eyes and went to kick him once more. He deflected the kick and continued to hold a defensive stance.

"Come on, Ryan. One hit, I doubt you'll land one on me," she said, taunting him. Ryan paused then shrugged.

"Suit yourself," he said. Anna went to punch him once more, but he simply darted away from it. He then threw a punch her way, planning on making contact with her shoulder. Instead, she grabbed his arm and attempted to bring him to the ground. Ryan, however, reached out and pulled her feet out from under her, causing her to fall on the ground next to him. Before she could get to her feet, he rolled on top of her and pinned her to the ground, his waist touching hers, and his face inches away from hers.

"I think I win," he whispered. Anna nodded, but said nothing as she tried to regain her breath. With every intake of air, her chest brushed against his. She forced herself to hold back a moan as she noticed the hungry look in Ryan's eyes as he stared down at her, waiting for her to say something.

"Fine. But I want a rematch," she demanded. Ryan raised an eyebrow as he tried to regain his own breath, but didn't move from his position above her.

"Like right now?" He asked between breathes. Anna nodded.

"You were holding back and it's hardly fair for me to hit a man whose fighting like a lady," Anna said with a chuckle. Ryan shook his head.

"No, I think kicking your ass once a day is good enough for me. However, I believe you owe me a prize," he told her. Anna scoffed at him, still very aware how close their half naked bodies were. She kept fighting the urge to lean up and capture his lips, but shook those thoughts away. They were just sparring.

"A prize for what?" She asked. Ryan smiled down at her.

"A prize for winning, of course," he explained to her. Anna rolled her eyes.

"We didn't agree to this. Besides, I have nothing to give you," she counter. Ryan shook his head slightly as he leaned down until he was nose to nose with Anna. She felt her breathing catch in her throat as his eye became half-lidded.

"I can think of one thing…" He trailed off, his gentle grey eyes searching her face for any signs of disgust or fear. When he saw none, he slowly closed the gap between them. Her breath seemed to leave her the moment she felt his lips on hers. Her heart was practically pounding out of her chest, and her skin was on fire. The feeling of his soft lips moving slowly against hers was the only thing on her mind as she eagerly kissed back.

Ryan let go of her wrists and let one arm support his weight, so he wasn't suffocating her. His free hand traveled down her arm and ran through her thick dark hair before traveling down and tracing her sides. The feeling of her muscles clenching under his touch almost made him groan, instead he deepened the kiss by tentatively letting his tongue invade her mouth.

At this movement she did groan, and ached her back slightly, causing him to give a small moan of his own. Anna let her own hands tangle in his dirty blonde hair, and she tried to pull him as close as possible. He snaked and arm around her back and pulled her frame closer to his. After a moment for their tongues battling for dominance, Ryan pulled away to catch his breath. Anna also took her own deep breath, but kept her eyes closed. This had to be a dream.

"Ryan…" she breathed. He sighed let his eyes gaze of her face.

"Next time, I'm definitely not holding back." Anna's eyes opened and she was met with his smoldering grey eyes.

"I…" Anna couldn't find the words to express what she was thinking, she simply was struck by his gaze.

"I'm sorry I didn't do that a long time ago," he told her, his thumb tracing her jaw. Finally Anna found the words to speak.

"You'll have time to make it up to me later," she said in a slightly seductive tone. Ryan rested his forehead against hers and smiled.

"Oh, I plan on it."

"Okay, where the heck is Ryan?" Claire demanded as she dropped her tray on the table. Alex paid no attention to her as he continued to stare longingly to the other side of the room where Liam was eating his dinner while talking to Rupert. Claire glared at Alex for a whole five minutes before the brunette turned to look at her. His gaze never wavered once from Liam's form, his eyes sad and filled with remorse. Claire felt horrible for what had happened, but there was nothing to be done except mass amounts of apologizing. On both their parts.

"What?" He asked innocently. She merely smiled back and shook her head.

"I was just trying to see how long it took before you realized what I was doing," she told him with a childlike grin. Alex gave her a half-smile and shook his head.

"I'm sorry. I'm kind of out of it today…" He trailed off and gave Liam a broken hearted glance. Claire sighed.

"I'm in a good-ish mood right now. Can we have happy talk and discuss where the hell my brother is?" Claire demanded. Alex nodded.

"I ran into him on my way here. He said he was going to walk Anna to dinner and meet up with us here," he explained. Claire rolled her eyes.

"Why do I have the feeling that they're having sex on the holo-deck floor?" She mumbled to herself. Alex raised an eyebrow.

"Jeez, he moves fast," he muttered.

"His girlfriend was a whore, I'm not sure it's that difficult to move on from that," Claire said. Alex shrugged.

"I guess not, I wouldn't know." Claire shrugged and began eating her dinner. She paused when she got a glance of Jim and Sophie currently eating together. It was quite apparent that Jim's group was not a fan of her, and she was intruding. The sight made her shake her head, while also have a small pang in her chest. She glanced back up at Alex, who was looking back at Liam.

"Jesus, we're a mess," she muttered. Alex scoffed.

"Understatement of the year. At this rate, I'm going to need to go to therapy soon. The gym is just not covering it," he muttered.

"Seems to be working wonders for me. I think I'm almost over everything. Well, except for sleeping with you, that'll take a while," she muttered.

"Thanks, I'm sorry it was so traumatizing for you. You seemed to be enjoying it while it was happening," Alex snapped. Claire shrugged.

"I'm not saying it was bad… just… not the best I've had. You're too used to fucking guys, you can't be that rough with chicks, unless they like it like that." Alex shot her a look and practically slammed his head on the table.

"I'm not fucking anyone until I can fuck Liam. I love him," Alex cried.

"I miss him too," Claire muttered.

"I've practically begged him, but he still won't talk to me. I don't know what to do," Alex mumbled. Claire paused for a minute before standing up. She didn't spare Alex another glance as she walked up to the table Liam was sitting at, and cleared her throat. Liam looked up and raised an eyebrow.

"Claire?" he asked, his tone slightly condescending.

"I'm a whore, I am well aware, and everyone in sickbay is aware. But I swear to God Liam, I did not mean to hurt you. What happened between me and Alex was a mistake, and we both know it is. I was hurt and fragile, and I grabbed onto the nearest person I could. I'm pretty sure I would've fucked Rupert, and he's a whore too." Rupert raised an eyebrow.

"Hey!" Claire shot him a look.

"Not talking to you!" She turned back to Liam and sighed. "I'm not asking you to forgive me, nor Alex. I just want you to know that I'm sorry and I'm not going to beg you to forgive me. If you really want to, you will. I mean, it's be cool if you did, but I'd understand if you didn't. I just need to find a fashion sense." Liam was silent as she spoke and looked down when she was finished.

"Claire… I just…" Claire nodded.

"Yeah, I figured as much. Right, well I'm going to head back over to my table with your ex," Claire told him and turned to leave, but Liam grabbed her hand. Claire paused and turned back around to see tears welling up in his eyes.

"Can we talk about this somewhere else?" He asked in a weak voice. Not knowing what else to say, Claire nodded. Without a word to Rupert, Liam rose from the table and led Claire through the many halls of the Enterprise. After a few minutes, she realized that he was leading them to sickbay. Despite how much they all hated it, it's where they spent most of their time and it was the only place that felt like home to all of them, even if they hated to admit it. Finally, they arrived in sickbay and Liam lead her over to an empty patient room. Claire slowly closed the door behind them and turned around to Liam.

"I love you, Liam, but I'm not that much of a whore," she said, trying to break the silence. Liam rubbed away a few tears rolling down his face and gave a throaty chuckle.

"I miss him. I can't believe what he did… what you did… I've never hurt like this before. Everyone thought it wasn't going to last because perhaps Alex was really straight or that I was too much of a man-whore. I guess the Alex part is true…" Claire shook her head and sat opposite to her gay friend.

"He didn't sleep with me because he wanted a woman or he didn't love you anymore. He did it because we couldn't control ourselves. And I know for a fact that Alex still loves you with all his heart and would do anything to get you back," Claire told him, trying to stick up for Alex. At this point, he was probably hurting just as much as she was, if not more. Liam just shook his head.

"I can't, Claire. I don't know. I mean, if Colleen was still here, how easily would Ryan forgive her," Liam said, trying to find an example to show his feelings. Claire sighed.

"Okay, well here's the difference between Colleen and Alex. Alex was honest with you. He didn't wait to tell you and he's not lying to you about it. Colleen was prepared to continue to live her whole life with the lie of her cheating. You have to give Alex credit for that," Claire told him. The fact that he would even compare Alex to the whore bothered her to no end.

"He still did it." Claire ran a hand through her hair and took a step toward him.

"Look, I want you to forgive him, but I can't make you. I can ask you to forgive me. I know I was wrong, and saying that I was in a bad place would be an excuse. Please, I can't stand everyone being at odds. I just became friends with my brother again, and I want to be friends with you too." Liam was silent as he thought it over.

"I just… I need a bit more time. I want to forgive you, I really do… but… I can't right now," he said. Claire nodded.

"Fair enough."

Ryan sat down at his desk and picked up another folder. Despite the amount of work on his desk, he couldn't bring himself to feel upset about it. He had just made out with the sexiest girl in security. He still smiled at the thought and began to work. His door beeped and he didn't bother looking up.

"Come in," he said. The door opened and he heard the person walked in. After a minute of silence, he looked up and almost snarled.

"Ryan, I just…" Rupert trailed off. Ryan stood up and glared at him.

"What do you want?" Ryan snapped.

"I want to apologize," Rupert said.

"A little late, aren't you?" Ryan hissed. Rupert took a step forward.

"Look dude, I tried to get her to tell you. I knew it was a mistake the moment it happened. We both were drunk and it just happened. Please, man… you have to believe me," Rupert stated. Ryan clenched his fists.

"You should've told me, regardless of what she said. You knew better and still fucked me over. Damnit, Rupert…"

"I know, alight. I fucked up bad, but I'd like us to get over it. Because believe it or not, you were my best friend." The two men stood in silence as the heat of the argument suspended over their heads. Finally, Ryan broke the silence.

"I can't do this, Rupert. Next to Colleen, you've hurt me the most. I trusted you and you betrayed my trust. How long would your lie have lasted if Colleen hadn't died? Would our child be in it's teenage years before I found out I wasn't it's real father? You can't just say sorry and expect to me to forgive you!" Ryan snapped, slamming his folder down on the table. Rupert flinched and nodded.

"I understand, but-" Rupert tried.

"No Rupert, you don't understand. Don't even pretend you do," Ryan snapped, not even letting him finish. Rupert hung his head in shame as Ryan's cold stare made his heart drop. Rupert sighed before looking up into Ryan's eyes.

"I'll make this up, somehow. I'll win back your trust. We were too damn good of friends to let this go," Rupert told him, his stare determined and focused. Ryan shook his head.

"I don't care what you do," he stated simply in a dry voice. After a moment Rupert turned around and left the office, leaving Ryan alone to steam.

Anna gave a sigh as she sat down across from Claire. Of course last night she had finally gotten what she had been wishing for, and she was over thinking it. Maybe he was just using her? Did he like her, or was he just looking for a quick lay? She shook the thoughts from her head and began to eat her breakfast. She looked up from her pancakes to Claire's fruit salad and watched as the blonde held up a kiwi.

"I hate this crap," she muttered. Anna shrugged.

"At least you are eating," she pointed out. Claire nodded.

"Yeah, last night's nightmare wasn't too bad. I didn't wake up screaming. Definitely brings back an appetite," Claire said, putting the kiwi in a napkin and stabbing a grape with her fork.

"You're still having them?" Claire nodded absentmindedly and popped the grape in her mouth.

"So, what's up with you and Ryan?" She asked. Anna's cheeks turned a light pink and she shrugged.

"I'm not quite sure. I don't know if he's using me or he actually likes me…" Anna said softly. Claire shrugged and took a sip of her coffee.

"Just ask him. He's pretty straight forward if you just talk to him," Claire told her.

"He could also lie." Claire let our a small snort and shook her head.

"Oh no, Ryan doesn't lie. He might not tell you everything, but he doesn't lie. It's a little scary," Claire said. Anna pushed her tray forward and crossed her arms.

"Maybe I should. I'd hate to be used and loosed." Claire nodded and looked up.

"Here's your chance," she said. Before Anna could reply, Claire grabbed her things and left, leaving someone to drop their tray in her place.

"Hey, where is she going?" Ryan asked. Anna glared at his sister and turned back to her food.

"Loser…" she muttered. Ryan turned around to follow her gaze and saw Claire wave from the table she was now sitting at. He waved back and turned back to Anna.

"Do I want to know?" He asked. Anna just shook her head and smiled.

"Probably not. So how's life?" She asked, taking a bite out of her food. Ryan shrugged as he looked down on his tray.

"Life was great until I had a run in with Rupert last night," he admitted as he began to push the eggs on his tray around with his fork. Anna raised an eyebrow.

"Is he okay?" She asked, unsure of how to handle the situation. Ryan's gaze intensified into a glare.

"Do I look like I care?" He snapped. Anna glared back at him.

"I just meant if you smashed his face in or not," she told him, angry at his sudden mood swing. Ryan scratched the back of his head.

"I'm sorry. No, I was a good boy," he said with a half-hearted smile. He realized his fault the moment Anna replied and scolded himself for it. The whole situation left a bad taste in his mouth.

"Good. Are you two going to make up?" Anna inquired, her tone still harsh. She just wanted to spend a peaceful breakfast with her crush, but of course all the crap from Colleen still managed to find a way to piss off Ryan, even now over a month later.

"He seems pretty determined, but I really don't care. It still hurts…" He trailed off as he appeared to slip deep in though.

"Well yeah. And it's probably going to for a long time, but you can't keep snapping at me about it. Or blame Claire. Or never forgive Rupert. Just move on with your life!" Ryan shot her a look.

"Easy for you to say, you're not going through the same pain as I am!" he snapped. Anna gripped her fork.

"Fine, I'm not. Jesus, Ryan… you don't have to bite my head off," Anna said. Ryan sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"I don't mean too… it's just… hard," he mumbled. She shrugged.

"Life's hard, it's always going to be. Sometimes you just got to suck up and deal," she said, her tone a bit harsher than intended. He nodded and they sat in silence. Anna took the silence as a time to think things over. If he was still in pain over Colleen, what did last night mean to him? The more she thought about it, the more she felt as if it was meant to be a one time thing. Maybe he really was using her. She looked to be turning into the rebound girl.

"So… are you going to the hologram simulation tonight?" Ryan asked, his cheeks turning the lightest shade of pink. He previous thoughts came to mind, and she shook her head.

"No. I have graveyard shift tonight," she said. Ryan furrowed his eyebrows.

"I don't remember assigning you graveyard shift," he muttered.

"No, but I traded shifts with Kevin, Kevin Fisher. His wife, Samantha, has a doctors appointment, he wanted to be there with her," Anna said. Ryan nodded.

"Oh, is she sick or something?" Anna shook her head.

"No… it's a different type of appointment."

"What type of appointment would he need to be there for?" Anna sighed and crossed her arms.

"It's an ultrasound… Samantha is pregnant." Ryan's face fell and he continued to move his food around on his plate.

"Oh… I see," he muttered. After another moment Anna put her fork down.

"Hey, about last night…" Ryan looked up, his eyes meeting hers.

"Yeah… um…" Anna sighed.

"Look, I just, I don't want to be a rebound girl. I know you're hurting with Colleen and, you did love her, I understand that. I really like you, but you're kind of a mess. I know you're pulling yourself together and I totally get that but-"

"You're talking too fast, Anna… I'm pretty sure you even threw a couple of Spanish words in there," Ryan said. Anna sighed and calmed herself down.

"I don't want to be used." Ryan's eyes met hers and they sat in silence for a long moment. Tentatively, Ryan reached forward and took her hand in his.

"I don't want to use you. I liked you before Colleen died, I just… I'm acting on it now. I can understand if you are frustrated, but I'm trying. It's just… hard." Anna smiled and gave his hand a gentle squeeze.

"I like you too. We'll figure it out, together." Ryan smiled and kissed the top of her hand.

"I hope so…"

"Here… you have an appointment with Samantha Fisher, and then doctor McCoy asked if you would give one of the new doctors a lesson in stitching. Apparently one of them is falling a bit behind on their surgical skills. You just need to set them up on the simulator, and over see them," Nurse Chapel said. Claire grabbed the files and looked them over.

"I guess they don't teach it like they used to. Which doctor?" Claire asked.

"Uh, Doctor Rogers." Claire put the folder down and shot a look at Nurse Chapel.

"You've got to be kidding me. Can't Alex teach her?" Nurse Chapel shook her head.

"No, Alex isn't on shift, he took the day off. He's pulling regular and graveyard shift tomorrow." Claire sighed and ran a hand over her face.

"Dear lord… shoot me." Before Nurse Chapel could reply, the sound of a high pitched squeal entered the room and Claire glanced over by the door. She gave a sigh as she saw Jim quickly give a wink in Sophie's direction. Sophie giggled and walked up to the medical station, just as Nurse Chapel left. Claire gave a sigh and grabbed Samantha Fisher's file, making sure that she took note of important allergies and medical history.

"He's crazy… you know…" Sophie said. Claire looked up and raised an eyebrow.

"Huh?" Sophie smiled.

"Jimmy. I mean, he's hot to start with, but the things he can do with that body, it's amazing. You know, that one thing he does with his tongue. God, it's amazing!" Sophie said. Claire scoffed and crossed her arms before speaking.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't under the impression that we were friends," Claire said, rather coldly. Sophie raised an eyebrow.

"Well… I just-"

"Listen, the fact that you are fucking my ex-boyfriend doesn't make us friends. It makes me think that you're stupider than I thought you were. If I was the longest relationship he's ever had, and he picked you up not even a week after we broke up, what does that say about you? Really, honey… get out of it before you get yourself hurt," Claire said. Her words were cold and she was well aware how harsh she was. Sophie just stared at the doctor, her eyebrows matted in confusion. After another minute, Claire closed the file on Samantha Fisher and began walking away. She stopped to turn around and face Sophie.

"Oh, and that thing he does with his tongue. I taught him that," Claire said, turning toward Liam. Liam just shook his head.

"That was… cold." Claire shrugged and opened the file back up.

"She's stupid. It's never going to last," Claire said. Liam shrugged.

"Still, no one said anything to you when you were dating him," Liam reminded her. The statement caused Claire to sigh and sit on 'their' medical bed. Liam sighed and walked over, standing next to the bed and watching her try and bury herself in her chart.

"Claire… you should apologize," Liam said softly. Claire pressed her lips together and sighed.

"I'm not going to. She should know better. We broke up barely a month ago, and she just goes and does the nasty with him? Come on! Does she have no respect for the girl code?" Liam sighed and sat next to her. After their talk, he had thought long and hard about what Claire said, and though he probably would always hold it against her for sleeping with Alex, he missed her too much to care. Maybe soon they could go back fully to the way things were. Until then, he was going to grin and bear it.

"I mean, it's almost whorish to go after another girls man after they just broke up."

"Except, Kirk isn't your man," Liam pointed out. Claire paused and nodded.

"Yeah… but I just…" She trailed off and ran a hand over her face.

"You're still in love with him," He stated. She frowned and nodded slowly. She looked at him, her grey eyes filled with sadness.

"I'm still in love with him," she agreed. Liam placed a comforting hand on Claire's shoulder and pulled her into a hug. Claire said nothing as they sat in peace. A few minutes later, Sophie approached the two doctors.

"Dr. Conaway, Samantha Fisher is here to see you. And Liam, some man named Oliver is asking for you," Sophie told them before walking away. Claire furrowed her eyebrows.

"How come she calls me Dr. Conaway and calls you Liam?" Claire mumbled as they rose to her feet. Liam shrugged.

"Maybe because she's dating your ex-boyfriend, remember? And I'm the nice doctor that all the interns get along with," Liam told her with a smile. Claire rolled her eyes and gave him a pleading look.

"If you're the intern pal, then why don't you teach Sophie how to stitch correctly," she suggest. Liam shook his head.

"Um, no. Sorry. That's your job. Besides, Oliver is here to see me," he told her as he moved towards the entrance to sickbay. A disheveled looking Oliver stood in the doorway, his hair a mess and his uniform looking very dirty. Claire peeked into the other room.

"Actually, I think I'd rather take Sophie over Oliver and his Mr. Ruffles any day," she added as she grabbed Samantha's chart and headed over to meet with the pregnant women and her husband. Liam straightened out his shirt as he approached Oliver.

"Hey buddy, how you been?" Liam asked with a forced smile as Oliver's face lit up.

"I'm so glad I found you! Rupert said you probably wouldn't want to talk to me, but I'm okay now. Counseling and meds. Lots of it. I'm almost a fully functioning person now!" Oliver declared. Liam pressed his lips together and nodded.

"Clearly. So what can I do for you, Oliver?" Liam asked, grabbing a random patient chart to pretend that he was very busy. Oliver didn't seem to notice as he held up his index finger.

"One. It's been one year since all the shit on the Berlin went down. Mr. Ruffles has been keeping track. We're on good terms now. A lot can happen in a year. Like the she-bitch, Colleen," Oliver declared. Liam raised an eyebrow.

"I thought you had a thing for her?" He asked. Oliver shrugged.

"With the knockers she had… oh wait, you're a penis lover. Never mind. Anyway, Mr. Ruffles suggested that we have a party!" Oliver explained.

"Oliver, has your consular talked to you about Mr. Ruffles?" Liam asked in a cautious tone of voice. No one ever really knew what might set Oliver off, but he wasn't going to chance it.

"She told me to make up with him and to stop getting into fights with him. She threw the term schizophrenic around a lot, but Mr. Ruffles told me that's another word for awesome. Anyway, PARTY! You, me, Rupert, and Ryan. Colleen would have been invited, but Satan called her home early," Oliver said with a smile.

"Sounds like a sausage fest to me. But, I suppose… good luck with getting Ryan and Rupert to get along," Liam said.

"No fear, Mr. Ruffles shall talk to them. They were such good friends before the she-devil came into play. Now it's just us guys. Karma has stabilized the universe once more," Oliver said, a peaceful look on his face. Liam just blinked a few times at the man before pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Right… well, I suppose I'll join. When is it?" Liam asked.

"Tomorrow night, on deck five. Don't be late, and no dates or chicks or anything, just us guys," Oliver said.

"Sure, no problem," Liam replied, checking over the chart once more.

"Dude, this is going to be such a schizophrenic party! I'm excited!" Liam just pressed his lips together to keep himself from laughing.

"Yeah, uh… you know, I think I need to talk to Claire about… um, doctor stuff. I'll see you tomorrow, Oliver," Liam said. Oliver smiled and continued to stare at him. Liam looked on the counter, where a small group of vitamins prescribed to Samantha Fisher were, and grabbed them before walking over to the curtain where Claire was. He opened it and stepped in, making sure Oliver saw him.

"So… is the baby okay?" A woman asked. Liam glanced at her and her husband, who were looking at Claire expectantly. Both of them looked at Liam when he walked in, and he looked to Claire.

"Here, some vitamins for your patient." Claire raised an eyebrow and grabbed them before turning back to the woman, who looked quite pregnant, even in Liam's eyes.

"Mr. and Mrs. Fisher, your baby seems quite healthy. However, I would urge you, seeing as you are almost six months into the pregnancy, to think about transferring to earth, or a space station until it is born. I have your vitamins here, and I'll monitor your baby weekly to make sure everything is progressing fine. If you were to go into labor onboard the Enterprise, I'll be available to deliver it." Kevin Fisher smiled and shook her hand.

"Thank you, Doctor Conaway, we appreciate it," he said. Claire nodded and went to leave, but Liam stopped her.

"Wait, the doors didn't open," he whispered. Claire raised an eyebrow.

"Are you on drugs?" she asked.

"Oliver is here, and I have the distinct feeling that he won't leave me alone," Liam hissed. Claire rolled her eyes and tuned toward the Fishers.

"I apologize, we'll just be a second," she said.

"Of course," Samantha said, looking at the two with a amused expression. Claire peaked out of the curtain and rolled her eyes.

"He's not even here. Come on, for that you're helping me teach doctor slut how to stitch," Claire snapped. Liam looked around, not seeing the man in sight anywhere, then turned to Claire.

"I swear he was here!" Claire paused an raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe you should be the one taking drugs," she said.

"Good friend Ryan!" Ryan looked up from his paperwork to see Oliver stroll into the security deck. Anna looked up from her desk and raised an eyebrow.

"Hey Oliver. What can I help you with?" Ryan asked, shoving his paperwork to the side. He was surprised to see the young man and more surprised to see Oliver's messy attire. The last he had heard, Rupert had forced his friend to see a counselor. Apparently, the counselor wasn't working.

"I have come to invite you to a bros only party in celebration of being off that damned Berlin for over a year!" Oliver declared, jumping up and down in front of Ryan's desk. Ryan ran a hand through his hair and watched Oliver's behavior.

"Sure, that sounds great. So who else is invited?" He asked. Oliver clapped his hands excitedly.

"You, me, Mr. Ruffles, the gay one, and the British one," Oliver told him. Ryan raised an eyebrow as a displeased look crossed his face.

"The British one? Rupert?" Ryan asked, trying to hold back a snarl. Anna appeared behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder. Oliver watched the display and smiled.

"You replaced knockers fast," Oliver stated. Anna raised an eyebrow.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked, a bit of her Hispanic accent showing through.

"Nothing, just that you have a nice rack…" She crossed her arms and shot him a look. She kept her mouth shut, since Ryan stood up to address the man.

"Oliver, I appreciate the offer, but I just… being around Rupert would not be a good idea," he said.

"Come on, we all got through the Berlin together. You guys can get through this together. Not to mention he helped you through the whole thing with you and what's his face… Griffin? Yeah, him. Mr. Ruffles thinks that you should just realized that people make mistakes and Rupert is sorry. I think you should listen to Mr. Ruffles…" Ryan sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"I don't know… maybe. I'll have to think it over," he said. Oliver nodded.

"Okay, well… when you figure it out, just let me or Mr. Ruffles know. Bye Ryan! Bye new knockers!" Anna shot him a look as he left, then turned toward Ryan.

"Who the hell is Mr. Ruffles?" she asked.

"You know… I'm not sure. Could be a panda for all I know," Ryan said. Anna shook her head and grabbed a couple of files off of his desk.

"Well, I think you should go. It's up to you, but Rupert was your best friend, and Oliver… or Mr. Ruffles, was right. People do make mistakes," she said. Ryan sighed and nodded.

"I know, I know…" He muttered. She gave him a small smile and kissed his cheek.

"I need to go back to work. Are you going to head to dinner?" she asked. Ryan looked over his desk to see that most of his work was done for the day.

"Yeah, I think so. I think Claire is working a bit late today, so it'll probably just be me and Alex until you get there," Ryan told her, standing up from his desk. Anna nodded and turned to head back to her desk, but Ryan grabbed her arm and pulled her close for a hug.

"Oliver was right, you do have a nice rack," he whispered in her ear. Anna turned around and gave him a light slap on the chest before turning to go back to work. Ryan started chuckling as he walked out of the security deck.

"Evening, Alex," Ryan said as he dropped his tray on the table and fully took in the sad sight of Alex Chambers. His hair was greasy, probably meaning he hadn't showered in awhile. His clothes were wrinkled, probably meaning he hadn't bothered to change in a few days. Black bags hung under his eyes, showing that he hadn't sleep for awhile.

"It's evening already?" He asked in a airy voice. His eyes were dull as he stared down at the steak on his plate.

"Dude, you need to clean yourself up. This is just… sad," Ryan said. Alex sighed and ran a hand over his face.

"Easy for you to say, you didn't cheat on the best thing that's happened to you," Alex muttered. Ryan frowned and took a bite of his dinner.

"Look, I'm sure Liam will eventually forgive you. He forgave Claire, eventually he is going to forgive you," Ryan said.

"Yeah, but Claire wasn't dating Liam. God, I'm so stupid," Alex muttered.

"Well, if you want him to forgive you, you have to start by cleaning yourself up. No offense dude, but you smell…" Alex sighed.

"You're probably right," he said. Ryan nodded and watched at Jim walked in, with Sophie walking behind him, crying her eyes out.

"What do you think that's about?" Ryan asked. Alex turned toward them and sighed.

"Broke up with her, about time too…" Alex said. Ryan shook his head and turned back to his food. Eventually he looked up and pressed his lips together.

"So… Oliver thinks that I should just forgive Rupert so we can be friends again," Ryan said. Alex shrugged.

"Why not, you guys seemed like good enough friends." Ryan took a sip of his water and shrugged.

"We were, but he slept with Colleen, now things are different," he said. Alex took a bite of his steak.

"Liam and Claire are friends, she slept with me, and they are still friends." Ryan paused and thought it over.

"I guess you're right," he muttered. A tray was set down next to Ryan and he smiled up at Anna.

"Right about what?" She asked, sitting down and taking a bite of her quesadilla.

"Alex said that I should forgive Rupert, I think he's right." Anna stopped and shot him a glare.

"I've been telling you the same thing for weeks, and now you listen?" she asked. Ryan frowned.

"I'm sorry… it just sort of… came to me," he said. Anna rolled her eyes and put a bit of hot sauce on her food.

"Whatever. I'm not even going to bother trying to figure you out anymore," she said, defeated. Ryan sighed and he snaked an arm around her waist.

"You were right," he stated simply. Anna stopped what she was doing to look at him.

"Well… yeah, I mean. Yeah." She didn't know what else to say. Ryan smiled.

"Claire always told me that telling a woman that she was right would fix anything," he stated. Alex snorted into his food while Anna furrowed her eyebrows.

"And here I thought it came from the goodness of your heart. I see I was wrong about that," she snapped, but it was in a playful tone. Ryan just smiled and kissed her cheek, ending the argument.

"Claire!" Liam came back from dinner with a smile plastered across his face. Claire looked up from shutting down the simulation station.

"What's up?" She asked as Liam paused to catch his breath.

"Jim… broke… up… whore…" He sputtered, trying to form a complete sentence. Claire raised an eyebrow.

"Take a deep breath and try again," she instructed him. Liam nodded and complied. After a moment, he tried again.

"Jim broke up with the whore at dinner. She's balling her eyes out right now," Liam told her excitedly. Claire folded her arms.

"And why do I care again?" Liam frowned.

"So you can go after him… right?" he asked. She rolled her eyes and finished shutting down the simulation and walked over to the medical station.

"No, not right." Liam raised an eyebrow.

"Not right," he repeated.

"Not right. After what he said to me, it's obvious he wants nothing more to do with me romantically. He want's to be friends," Claire said, grabbed a charts and looking it over.

"But… I thought you loved him," Liam muttered.

"You love Alex, but you aren't with him," she pointed out. Liam frowned and sat down on the counter, next to where Claire was standing.

"What if he came running in here begging for you to come back?" he asked.

"He won't."

"What if he did?"

"But he won't," Claire said, slamming the chart on the counter.

"You would forgive him," Liam said. Claire glared at the man and began walking away. "Claire, I'm sorry!"

"No, this is ridiculous! You weren't there when he said all those things to me. Calling me a liability and saying that if it wasn't for me he wouldn't be dealing with all that bull-shit. Fuck him, he's an ass…" Liam paused and looked into her eyes.

"You still love him…" he stated. Claire frowned and ran a hand through her hair.

"So what… he obviously stopped loving me a long time ago." Liam frowned and watched as she quickly went to check on another patient, leaving him and the argument alone.

"So… are you going?" Claire asked the next morning. Ryan sighed and shrugged.

"I don't know…" he said. Claire bit into her apple and thought it over.

"I think you should. It's been some time, we need him to start sitting here," Claire said. Ryan pushed away his breakfast and watched his sister.

"Why?" he asked. She shrugged.

"Because, it's fun talking to him sometimes. He's a pig, and is probably going to go to hell… but he's fun to talk to," Claire said. Ryan shook his head.

"Well… we'll see. I have a few hours to decide still," he said.

"Unless Mr. Ruffles comes and tries to eat you, of course," Claire chuckled. Ryan nodded.

"Do you even know what Mr. Ruffles is?" He asked.

"I always thought of him as a ferret with a pair of glasses and a little blue vest," she told him with a smile. Ryan shrugged.

"Perhaps. I was thinking something like a space cowboy or something," Ryan told her with a dreamy look on his face. Claire shook her head.

"No way he'd be something as cool as that. I'm sticking with a ferret thing. You should ask him at the party tonight," Claire suggested. Ryan nodded.

"Yeah, I probably should," he mused.

"So, you're going?" she asked. He sighed and shrugged.

"I guess so, I'm tired of all the tension on this ship," he said. She nodded and took another bite of her apple.

"Tell me about it. Though, if you and Rupert make up, then we just have to wait for Alex and Liam to get back together," she said. He nodded and watched her carefully.

"What about Jim?" he asked. She furrowed her eyebrows.

"What about him?" she asked, her tone harsher than she wanted to admit.

"Are you going to talk to him?" She sighed and took another bite of her apple.

"Nope. Why? Are you going to try and convince me that I should go back to him?" He shook his head.

"I want you to do what you think it right. In my opinion, he's not worth your time. You should find someone else," he said. She sighed.

"Yeah, but we all don't have our own personal Anna to fall back on," she pointed out. He paused and raised an eyebrow.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She frowned.

"I'm not insulting you or Anna, I wanted you guys together since the beginning. I'm just saying, you always had feelings with Anna, so you just… it's easier for you to move on. I don't have anyone else who I have feelings for. It's always been just Jim," she said. Ryan frowned and gave a heavy sigh.

"Well, maybe you should start looking somewhere else," he said. She shrugged and stood up.

"I gotta go, work and all," she said. He nodded and looked down at his food. She paused and pressed her lips together. "Hey… I didn't mean to offend you-"

"You didn't. Don't worry, Claire," he said. She nodded and kissed his cheek.

"See you later," she said, turning around and walking off.

Jim Kirk gave a sigh as he began his daily paper-work. He was so used to putting it all off until the deadline, but as of recently, he had taken to actually doing it when he had to. He supposed it was easier to bury himself in his work, rather than admit that he had made a horrible mistake and deal with the pain.

He gave a sigh as he picked up another stack of incoming messages. It was his job to give the okay, after security gave clearance that they were safe. He never had to do this until the whole thing with Riley, which caused Starfleet to put up a whole new set of regulations. Normally he would push most of it off to Spock, or even Chekov, but out of boredom, he decided to actually sign off on them. Of course, he did not actually read the message, he could if he really wanted to, but he didn't bother.

He paused before looking at them and took a glance at the golden trinket on his desk. He did not yet know why he tortured himself with keeping it out in the open. Every time his gaze landed on it he was reminded of the night she gave it to him. His heart ached upon the memory. He gave a sigh and placed a file over the pocket watch and went back to his work. He went through twenty files before one caught his interest.

To: Claire Conaway

From: Adrienne Conaway

His mind seemed to stop upon seeing it. He knew for a fact that Claire and her mother were not on good terms, so it struck him as a surprise to see her mother sending her mail. He let his head rest on his knuckles and looked at the message. He curiosity was beginning to get the better of him, even though he knew he had no right to be curious. Claire was no longer his girlfriend, but that didn't stop him from caring.

He had tried to distract himself, even going so far as to try and go after another girl. Sophie was a nice girl, she was determined, and she was fun, sexually at least. However, she was not Claire. Her being nice only went so far, and her determination rarely went further than how much time she could spend with him. As for how fun she was, it only fun for a while. He knew he had to end the short fling when he called out Claire's name in the middle of their fun.

Sophie, being the naïve girl that she was, ignored it and tried to continue the relationship. Jim couldn't. He knew that it was more than wrong to continue to see a girl, when he had a different one on his mind. So he ended it, and decided it was best just to focus on work. Since it seemed like the only girl on his mind for a while, would be the only girl he let go.

He gave a heavy sigh as he looked back to the file. He could open it without her ever knowing, but then he would know. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. As long as he didn't say anything to her, she never had to know. It's not like he would be in a position to talk to her anytime soon. He gave a sigh and opened up the file.

Claire,

Your father and I were quite disappointed when we heard your relationship with Captain Kirk had reached it's end. We had hoped you would have been able to keep at least one relationship with a respectable man. Of course, we expected that such a thing would occur, so thankfully, we have a solution for you.

In about six months time, you shall turn twenty-four, far past the right age to take a husband. We understand that you need time to go through your rebellion, and that you must experience Starfleet until your rebellious streak is through. However, when you have finished your streak, we have a suitor for you.

Troy Brooks, a fine young man. He is the same age as you, a few months younger, but he is a good man. He is currently traveling to a space station in order to procure business for his father. I have received word that you shall reach the same station at the same time, and have cleverly set a meeting between the two of you.

Claire, I must urge you that you are the sole benefactor in the will of your father and I. However, you shall not received a single penny of such dowry, until a ring is on your finger, and a grandchild in my arms. So, please, meet with this man, and try not to screw up your chance. Of course, once you decide you wish to marry him, your father and I have a lovely home for you not far from Troy's work. Of course, you will be expected to drop out of Starfleet, but that is a matter for later. Please try and make this work.

As always, Your mother

Jim practically slammed the message down on his desk as he finished reading it. That devil woman was going to take Claire away. No, that man was going to take her away. Take her away from the Enterprise, from Ryan, from him. He gave a heavy sigh as he tried to collect his thoughts.

He could not try and let this effect him. He had initially broken up with her. Of course, she had kissed that doctor, but he could've easily forgiven her for that. Especially in the state she was in. He was more mad at himself more than anything. He had let his pain and anger at Riley get the better of him, and instead of blaming himself, he blamed Claire. So, instead of trying to help her, and work through everything, he had hurt her even more.

Perhaps it was better this way. Maybe she could find someone else and be happy. She wouldn't have to worry about being kidnapped by his enemies, nor the man choosing between his ship and her. She would have a man who would love her more and more everyday, and be there for her when she was broken. God, he wanted to be that man. He wanted to be able to choose her over everything else, to love her more and more everyday like he had the past six months, and to be there and fix her up when she was broken. Yet, he gave up the chance.

"Captain, your presences is requested on the bridge," a voice called. He snapped out of his thought process and gave a sigh.

"I'll be right there," he said, putting his paper work down and leaving the room.

Ryan ran a hand through his hair as he waited for the lift to reach deck 5. He had only been there once or twice, but understood that it was supposedly like a bar. A few people were regulars, but most people waited till shore leave to get drunk. With reluctance, Ryan stepped out of the lift as it stopped on his floor. Mechanically, he navigated his ways through the halls until he stopped outside the doorway to deck 5.

"Glad to see you could make it." Ryan whirled around and came face to face with the last person he'd wanted to talk to that night.

"I'm not here for you," he stated, walking into the bar area where the others were waiting. Rupert sighed and followed.

"Well, it's not my party. It was Oliver's idea," Rupert said, mostly just stating random facts. He was hoping that maybe Ryan was here to make peace, but he was obviously wrong. Ryan ignored the hurt in the British man's voice as he approached the table where Liam and Oliver were seated.

"YOU BOTH MADE IT! Well, I expected Rupert to. I would've sucked on his big toe until he did. But Ryan, you never told Mr. Ruffles if you were coming or not, so I wasn't sure," Oliver explained as he gestured for the two men to sit down. Immediately, shots were brought to the table.

"Thank god for alcohol," Liam muttered, taking a shot and throwing it back without a second though. Ryan also threw one back, trying to forget about the fact that he was sitting next to his ex-best friend.

"Wow… you guys must be thirsty," Oliver said. Rupert sighed and took a shot as well. After a minute of silence, Rupert cleared his throat.

"So… one year, huh?" he asked. Oliver nodded.

"Pretty much, I mean… I might be off by a month or so, but I think I'm pretty close. Right?" Ryan shrugged.

"I guess, I try to block out a lot of those memories," He admitted. Liam frowned and nodded.

"Yeah, after what happened, it's been hard to really think about it. Especially after all the friends we lost," Liam said. Oliver shrugged.

"Dom was an asshole, Harry and Paul were jerks, and Griffin betrayed us all. What friends did we lose?" He inquired. Rupert just shrugged and headed over to the bar for a stronger drink. Ryan's eyes got cloudy as his brief happy memories from the Berlin rushed back to him.

"We had some good times with them all though, even if they were all douche bags," Liam replied, trying to defend their old friends. All of what he had said was true, but they had all shared happier times. Rupert and Dom used to be best friends back on the Berlin while they worked in engineering. Harry and Paul might not have been the smartest best friends around, but they always managed to put a smile on Liam's face. And Griffin had been there for Ryan as well. But now, Paul was dead. Harry and Dom escaped with Griffin as their leader. And most importantly, they lost Colleen. Oliver stuck his tongue out.

"Dom treated me like crap while those two brutes you called best friends shamelessly picked on you. That's why we're here in celebration. Celebration of being done with them al. Especially knockers," Oliver stated as he gestured to the food on the table. "I make rum cupcakes and a brandy cake for the occasion. Dig in!" Ryan's face grew stone cold at Oliver's words. True, the boy wasn't all there, but he had no right.

"Excuse me? What did you just say about my ex-fiancée?" He snapped, his eyes like two bullets penetrating Oliver's skull. Liam placed a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to calm him down.

"Don't Ryan…" Liam warned. Rupert returned to the table just as Oliver buried his face into a cupcake.

"You heard me. Colleen was no good for us!" He said with his mouth full. Rupert paled as he glanced at the fuming Ryan. This wasn't good.

"She was my fucking fiancée! You have no right to talk about her like that! You didn't even know her!" Liam sighed, obviously he wasn't helping. Rupert took a step forward and watched them carefully.

"She was a whore. I mean, she went to Rupert, begging him to do her, and then said that she wasn't sure about things with you. Sounds like a whore to Mr. Ruffles," Oliver said. Ryan went to raise a fist, but Rupert reached out and grabbed a hold of his arm.

"Take a deep breath, he doesn't know what he's saying," he said. Normally, Ryan would've punched the British man in the face, but he was too angry with the crazy man in front of him to care.

"I know what I'm saying! I saw her give you a bottle of brandy, then drink the whole thing with you, then tell you she was in a dry spell with Ryan. You said that was a shame and she practically threw herself on you. That might have been because she was piss drunk though!" Oliver said. Ryan clenched his fists, the mans words hitting him hard. After a minute he turned around and went back to the bar, Rupert right behind him.

"Ryan…" he said quietly. Ryan placed his face in his heads, ignoring Rupert's presence. But Rupert didn't move.

"That was a bit much, even for Oliver. I don't know what's gotten into him… probably all the alcohol. Listen, please don't be upset any longer. You have Anna now and you seem like you're moving on. I hate to say it because I know you loved her, but she was bad news, man," Rupert tried, but his words only seemed to make Ryan feel worse.

"I'm tired of feeling this way, Rupert. This… anger and hurt because she lied to me and planned on never telling me. The longing because I miss her so much and I wish she were still here. And the joy from knowing that because she's gone, I finally have a chance to be with Anna. And the guilt I have from feeling that way. I am sick of it!" Ryan snarled bitterly.

"Then why are you still holding onto all of it. You have Anna and she makes you happy. Colleen was always kind of a whore, but you changed her. And she loved you. But part of her could never break the lying. The sleeping with me thing? It was just as much my fault as hers and I take full responsibility since she's no longer with us. But at least she loved you," Rupert tried again. This time, Ryan's shoulders slumped as he ran both hands through his hair, his elbows still firmly planted on the table. Before Rupert stood a broken and confused man. His heart had been played with and his trust broken. What was there for him to do?

"Because I don't know how to let it all go. How do you get over something like this?" Ryan whispered, his voice filled with the pain of everything. Rupert took a seat next to Ryan and placed his arm around his shoulder, pulling the younger man closer to him.

"As stupid as it sounds, perhaps you should try writing down all the things you need to say to Colleen and leave it by her grave. Get it all off your chest, you know? Perhaps she's in heaven, watching down as you grieve. Perhaps not. Either way, I think she'd want you to be happy and move on." Ryan glanced back at him, his eyes much softer than they had been in a while.

"Look, Rupert… I don't know if I could ever forgive you completely. I want to forgive you though, I'm going to try. As gay as it sounds, I've missed talking to you man…" Rupert smirked and shrugged.

"Well, that's what I'm here for… Ryanna." Ryan laughed and nudged him.

"Thanks, Rupette." Before Either of them could say another word, Liam walked up and glared at them.

"You two, are to never leave me alone with that man, ever. I don't know who Mr. Ruffles is, but if he tells me that I need to change my style, I'm going to kill him," Liam snapped.

"I think he's a panda," Rupert said.

"I think he's a space cowboy. Claire said he was a ferret," Ryan said. Liam raised an eyebrow.

"A ferret?" he asked.

"Yeah, with a blue vest and glasses," Ryan replied. All three men began to laugh as the image flooded their minds.

"Wow… I think I'm going to picture him as a ferret now," Liam laughed. Rupert rolled his eyes, looking at Oliver, who was laying on the table and talking to himself wildly.

"I think we should ask the nice cafeteria lady out, Mr. Ruffles. Oh, is she? She can bring her girlfriend, I shall just watch." Rupert looked back to Ryan.

"If I ever get that crazy, just shoot me," he said.

"You should've asked me a month ago, I would've done it regardless," Ryan muttered. Rupert paled, but chuckled when Ryan laughed.

"Dude…" Liam muttered.

"Couldn't help it, he walked into that one." Rupert smiled and crossed his arms.

"Careful, or I'll sick the ferret on you," he warned. Ryan chuckled as Liam just shook his head, his own smile forming.

"Well, let's head back to the table. We said we'd be here so we might as well do something productive," he insisted. Ryan raised an eyebrow.

"What, baby-sitting Oliver?" He asked.

"No, drinking lots and lots of strong alcohol," Liam corrected him. They continued chuckling as they sat back down at the table with Oliver. His big blue eyes shined with mischievous intent, but they clearly showed his remorse.

"Mr. Ruffles told me how what I said was wrong, so I take back what I said. Well, most of it. Knockers is still better off out of the picture," Oliver told him, his eyes beaming with pride in himself. Ryan wanted to remain angry at the crazed man, but a part of him agreed with what he was saying. He was better off without Colleen in the end.

"It's alright, buddy. Let's just have a good time."

"So everything went well then?" Claire asked as she walked with Ryan over to the table. He'd been busy during breakfast, nursing his hangover and doing some last minute scheduling for the security department. But here they were at lunch, ready to spend some time together.

"Pretty fun, actually. Rupert and I made up and we had a pretty good night getting shit-faced," he explained as they approached their usual table. Alex was already there, his back to them. He was hunched over his tray, his shoulders shaking slightly.

"Well that's good to hear. I figured you two would. Oh god… is Alex crying again? I can't take much more of this…" Claire mumbled as they took a seat on either side of the young doctor. They were surprised to see Alex was not crying, but instead shoving his face full of pudding.

"Aren't you allergic?" Ryan asked, appalled at Alex's hungry craze. Claire was not pleased.

"Yes, he is. Do you have a death wish, moron? Stop!" She told him, trying to take the pudding away, but Alex merely leaned back from the table and out of Claire's reach.

"I'm eating my pain, leave me alone," he said through a mouthful of pudding. A small bead of pudding flew out of his mouth and landed on Claire's hand. She pulled back her hand and scrunched her nose, as Alex leaned a bit too far back and fell off his seat.

"Alex, that's disgusting. Not only do I have your nasty pudding germs on me, but it's like… that and spit," she muttered. Alex just groaned and sat back up on the bench.

"I don't care. Pudding is the only thing that comforts me," he muttered, practically inhaling another pudding cup. He paused to cough and Claire shook her head.

"I told you, you're allergic! You need to stop before…" she trailed off when he pulled out a hypo spray and injected himself with it, causing the small swelling in his throat to disappear and he was back to normal. Claire raised an eyebrow and pressed her lips together.

"What the hell did he just do?" Rupert asked, sitting across from Ryan.

"He injected himself with insulin, so he could eat pudding," Claire muttered.

"Pretty genius, right?" Alex asked.

"Yeah, genius with a capital, 'J'! You dumb ass…" Claire muttered. Ryan shook his head and continued to eat his lunch. Alex looked at the last three pudding cups and sighed.

"I'm so full…" he muttered.

"You should probably stop eating then," Ryan pointed out.

"I can't… I'm so depressed." Before anyone else could say anything, Commander Spock walked up to them and stared at Alex. There was a silence between them before Ryan spoke.

"Is there something wrong, Commander?" he asked.

"Are you going to finish those?" Spock asked, pointing to the pudding cups. Alex glared at him,

"Get your own!" Alex snapped.

"I would, but it would seem that you have taken the last of the pudding available. Since you said you were full, I would like the leftovers," Spock said. Claire couldn't help the snort that made it's way through her nose. Rupert and Ryan shot her a look, but she just stared at her food.

"You want my sloppy seconds?" Alex asked, his tone bordering on the nasty side. Claire couldn't help the laugh as she burst out in laughter. Ryan joined her and even Rupert had a smile. Spock didn't seem amused.

"I believe that was what you humans call a dirty joke. As I recall, a normal human response would be "that is what the female said"," Spock said, his eyes not wavering from the pudding cups sitting on the table. Ryan and Claire seemed to laugh harder as Rupert joined in their laughter. However, Alex was not amused.

"You can have one, but first you need to tell me the best way to get over heartbreak," Alex told him, snatching one of the pudding cups off his tray and holding it out to the Vulcan. Spock stared at the small cup before looking up at Alex and then back down at the cup.

"Everyone has their own methods, I suppose. Jim likes to bury himself in his work, like he is doing now with his heartbreak from the Conaway girl. Dr. McCoy likes to drink as a solution to his problems. Perhaps your way is eating until you are so large that your ex no longer finds you attractive and you have no choice, but to move on. I will take your pudding now, Dr. Chambers." Alex was so appalled at Spock's words that he said nothing as Spock took the pudding cup and walked away. Alex's hand never moved even long after the Vulcan had left.

There was a silence at the table before everyone but Alex broke out into laughter. Alex let his hand drop and looked down at himself, trying to see if he was gaining weight. Rupert was the first to sober, but Ryan soon followed. Claire, however, continued to giggle until Alex nudged her.

"Shut up, it's not funny. I'm going to get fat!" he said.

"You're not going to get fat, you haven't eaten that much pudding," Ryan said.

"Besides, the insulin would probably cause you a horrible bodily reaction before you got fat," Claire told him.

"Great… just great… I'm going to work." Alex stood up and left the table, not bothering to take his tray up. Claire rolled her eyes and continued eating her lunch.

"So…" Claire looked up to see both men looking at her.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"No comment about what Spock said about Kirk?" Rupert asked. Claire frowned and shrugged.

"He's jackass," she said. Ryan wanted to say more, but didn't. Instead, he focused on Anna walking in and sitting down.

"Hmm, I saw Alex storm out of here. Any reason why he was practically running to the gym?" Anna asked. Claire took a bite of her food and smirked.

"Menopause, I think he's having a mood swing," she replied. Anna chuckled and shook her head. She then turned and began to talk to Ryan and Rupert, while Claire let her mind wander to Jim. She was a bit taken aback by Spock's statement. She was also a bit frustrated with him. He had no right to be upset, he broke up with her. Then, to top it off, he went out with Sophie not even three days after the break-up.

"Claire?" A voice said. She jumped a little and looked at the group, who was staring at her.

"What?" She asked.

"You have a message on your data pad," Anna said. Claire looked down, and sure enough, it beeped with a message.

"Oh," Claire muttered. She quickly reached out and grabbed it, making sure she could read it without anyone reading over her shoulder. Ryan simply watched his sisters face change from angry, to frustrated, to shocked. She then dropped her data pad on the table, causing him to move closer to her.

"What is it?" he asked. Claire said nothing as she slid the message over to him and covered her mouth with her hands. Her eyes traveled up and met a familiar pair of blue, though they were not as bright as she remembered them. His face looked tired, and upon meeting her eyes, he seemed to frown even more.

"I can't believe her!" Ryan snapped, causing Claire to look away and looked at the table.

"What's wrong?" Anna asked.

"My mother, that's what's wrong. Of course she has to stick her nose where it doesn't belong. She's setting up Claire with some random dude," Ryan snapped. Anna glanced over at the blonde, but found that she was simply staring at the table.

"Well, are you going to meet him?" Anna asked.

"Of course she isn't," Ryan hissed. Anna shot him a look.

"I was asking, Claire…" Ryan rolled his eyes and waited for his sister to reply. When she didn't he glanced over.

"Claire?" She looked up and noticed everyone was staring at her. She suddenly felt self conscious and shrugged.

"I don't know…" Ryan's eyebrows shot up.

"You don't know? It's a guy mom is setting you up with! How great can he be? You can find someone ten times better." Claire pressed her lips together and sighed.

"Yeah, because the last few guys were excellent picks. I'm not saying I'm marrying the guy, but a night with a respectable guy can't be horrible…" Rupert and Anna just watched Claire and Ryan, both of them waiting for an argument to break out.

"Claire…" Ryan said softly.

"I should get to work, I'll catch up with you guys later…" She got up and made her way out of the dinning hall, leaving the group alone. Ryan gave a sigh as he read over the message once more. After a minute he looked up to Anna and Rupert, who were watching him carefully.

"Did you want one of us to go after her?" Anna asked. Ryan shook his head.

"No… I guess she just needs…" He trailed off and ran a hand through his hair. He looked at Anna, who frowned a bit. "I guess I really don't know what she needs. It was so much easier when she was younger, I just had to get her a ice cream cone and she was fine."

"Well, I'm not so sure it's an ice cream cone she's going to want," Anna said, sparing a glance at the tired captain. Ryan scowled and angrily stabbed his food.

"She doesn't need him. He's only caused her trouble," he snapped. Anna shrugged and looked at Rupert, who simply took a long sip of his tea.

"Men… anyway, welcome back," Anna told him. Rupert nodded to her and rose from the table himself.

"Thank you. One thing that I didn't miss while I was gone was the siblings arguing," Rupert stated before he walked away from the table. Anna nodded as she turned back to her food.

"Claire?" Ryan let his knuckles rap against her door as he waited. He'd spent the whole day overseeing the security department go through their weekly training routine and just thinking about the situation with Claire. And now that he thought about it, he had a lot to say.

"Ryan?" Claire opened the door dressed in her pajamas with a towel wrapped around her head.

"Hey Claire-bear. I know it's a bit late, but I was hoping we could talk for a minute," Ryan asked. Claire motioned for him to enter her room as she pulled the towel off.

"Sure, but don't stay too long. McCoy has me on the early shift tomorrow morning," she explained. Ryan nodded.

"Well I'll make this quick then so you can head to bed. I was kind of acting like a jerk today at lunch. If you want to meet this guy, it's your decision. I don't think it's right of mom to try to set you up with some random guy, but again, it's your decision on whether or not you want to meet him. As your older protective brother though, I'll just be in the area in case he tries something on you and you need help. Not that you would, cause you know, Anna taught you how to kick some major ass, but… sorry, I know I'm rambling on a bit…"

"A bit," she chuckled. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"I just… I don't want this thing with Kirk to cause you to go after some random dude," he said softly. She frowned and shrugged.

"Honestly… I don't know why I'm thinking about it. I'm not going to marry the man, I guess I just want to see what he's like. I know the name sounds familiar, but I can't place it. I guess it's just me being curious," she told him. He nodded and gave her a small smile.

"Alright, I should… I guess I should leave," he said. She gave him a hug and kissed his cheek.

"Thanks, Ryan. Hopefully everything will work out," she said. He sighed.

"I hope so… do you know when you'll be meeting this… guy?" he asked. She nodded.

"He sent me a message not too long ago. The next space station we visit will be the one we meet." Ryan watched his sister's face as she thought it over.

"Are you going to be alright?" he asked softly. She shrugged.

"No clue, I'll let you know when I find out." Ryan nodded and placed a gentle kiss on the crown of Claire's head before exiting her room. As he entered the hallway, he heard a familiar voice screaming down the hallway.

"LIAM! Please just listen to me… I'm so sorry!" Ryan turned away from the direction of his room and choose to follow the sound of Alex's voice. He didn't want things getting ugly.

"No, go away! I listened to you enough the day after you slept with my best friend!" Liam hissed as he approached his room with Alex following close behind him.

"But you forgave her!" Alex countered, trying to think of a reason for his ex-boyfriend to forgive him. Liam shook his head as they stopped in front of his door.

"She was in a bad place and she wasn't cheating on anyone. You betrayed me more than her because I gave you my heart, Alex," Liam said, whirling around to look Alex in the eye. Alex was a tough guy and had never cried in front of anyone before, but he couldn't help a stray tear fall down his cheek.

"And I gave you mine too. Everyday that I'm not with you, my heart breaks a little bit more!" Alex cried out, still struggling to hold his tears back. Liam sighed and turned his back to Alex.

"Perhaps you should have thought about that before you slept with Claire!" Liam snapped as his door slammed shut. Ryan watched from the end of the hall as Alex pressed his forehead against Liam's door and choked back a sob. Ryan slowly approached the heartbroken doctor and wrapped an arm around his shoulder.

"Come on, Alex," he whispered soothingly as he guided him away from Liam's room. Alex nodded as he continued to silently cry. Ryan lead him back down the hall to where his new room was located and tried to get him to go inside.

"I-I can't…" Alex choked out as he clung to Ryan around the waist. Ryan sighed and reluctantly began to head back to his room.

"Fine, you can stay with me for the night," Ryan told him as they headed for the lift.

"T-Thank you…" Alex told him, tightening his grip around Ryan's waist a little. Ryan sighed.

"But don't expect to be hooking up with me in the middle of the night like you did with my sister," Ryan added, his voice a bit cold. Alex nodded.

"Of course…"

And now for the reviews!

nickiR0x
Raxsah: Talk to Jeck about mushy angsty chapters, she's really good at the angst. And the action. And believe us when we say this is not close to the ending. Maybe… halfway through? Maybe… I'm not counting the epilogue though.
Jeck: That's right, enjoy the angst. Embrace it. Raxsah and I were just talking about today how I have the most angsty music between the two of us. I HAVE EMBRACED IT! MAWHAHAHA! Sorry, I'm sick and tired so therefore I'm crazy… don't worry, we've only got about half of it posted right now. We're finishing it up today, and then starting our next project soon. Maybe. I don't know. We're still talking about it. And trust me… we do make it more amazing. :3

X-PANIC
Jeck: Team? Are we Team Liam and Team Alex now? Oh snap… hmmm, I like all the praise. Since people like writers with good modesty, then I should probably say this, "Thank you for your kind words, but there are so many other good writers out there. And there are some pretty good Star Trek stories out there." However, since I'm me… DAMN RIGHT WE ARE! WE'RE FUCKING AMAZING! :3
Raxsah: I call Team Alex, because I like him as a character. That and I based him off a very nice looking doctor on Grey's Anatomy. And it ain't McSteamy! I'm glad you like our stories. Makes me feel good about myself. :D

Yayyou
Raxsah: Alex was originally meant to be simple, but the more we wrote him, the more complicated he got. I hope our other characters have some depth.
Jeck: Thanks. Yeah, we try to give all of our main characters some depth, you know?

Lintered
Jeck: Well thanks. At least we know we can get some day jobs. lol We're merely poor college writers. Just wait, CRACK PAIRINGS AHEAD! JIM AND RYAN ALL THE WAY! No, I'm just kidding though. I know you guys are trying to pick spoilers out of what we say on here (and sometimes I just can't help myself). :3 But just keep reading and I know you'll all be happy.
Raxsah: I'd just like to say that I knew Claire and Alex were going to sleep together since the beginning. I don't know how, I just did. I think everyone sleeps with each other because the writers of this story are slightly sex deprived. Sad ain't it?

SWfangirl21
Jeck: Honestly, I think that's why so many people like our story. I mean, isn't a story that you can relate to better than one you can't. Although I'm not sure how we do it sometimes since it's not a normal thing for us to speed around in a spaceship through shit tons of galaxies and such… we can give you Raxsah's lamp daughter Vanessa to beat Jim up with. :3 You know what the sad part about Ensign Creeper is? Physically, he was modeled after Raxsah's younger brother. Just a fun fact. But her brother is not a creeper. He's probably one of the coolest kids you'll ever meet, actually. Hmmm… I didn't even think about making Claire pregnant. Hmmm… it looks like we'll be updating every Sunday, so you'll have that to look forward to. Enjoy your week, our number one fan!
Raxsah: Let's not mention Vanessa. Kirk is impulsive, and doesn't think before he acts. And Claire needs some time by herself. Like we have said before, we have reasons for everything. Yeah, believe it or not, Ensign Creeper is designed to look just like my brother, but my brother is 100 times cooler, and 1000000 times more innocent and naïve than Creeper is. Riley is… a douche bag. Again, I always knew that Claire and Alex would sleep together, though I never thought about Claire getting pregnant. That would have been a plot twist. Anna is kick ass, gotta love her. Colleen, I'm not sure Ryan would have wanted to raise the baby after finding out that it wasn't his. He's noble, but that's a bit too far. Hopefully we shall see you next week.

Raxsah: Well, I believe that does it for this chapter. Why do I have the feeling we're going to get a ton of hate mail because we broke up Alex and Liam?
Jeck: I EAT HATE MAIL FOR BREAKFAST! Oh wait, I don't eat breakfast because I can't afford it. NEVERMIND! Guess what!
Raxsah: Perks of going to college from home is having your parents buy you bagels, tons of bagels. What?
Jeck: WE FINISHED THE STORY! I miss bagels… I don't think I've had a breakfast item in over a month…
Raxsah: Yes we did finish the story, now we just need to post it. Hahahahaaa. Anyway, hope you all liked this chapter. The new one should be coming soon enough. Hopefully it will be happier than this… is it? Idk. O.o
Jeck: Pfft, I don't know. We haven't established how long the next chappy will be. Fun facts for our readers, this chapter is currently titled "AIM and (Raxsah's real name) can suck my bawls". Just thought you should know. :3 Raxsah loves me. Bitches love me.
Raxsah: Yeah, as if you had any bawls. Anyway, hope to see you all next week!