Holy crap, this chapter is at least double the length of the others. Not even kidding. I was going to split it, but I couldn't find a good place. And I did promise you a Chekov-filled chapter, and there is only a small section in which he doesn't appear. Seriously, very small. You won't even notice.

And we've reached another milestone. This is the first story of mine to get over 100 reviews!!!!! You have no idea how excited I was when I saw that. I Literally screamed, and scared the dog so bad that she came tearing into the room, thinking I was being attacked. It was intense. So anyway, here's the conclusion of this little arc. I have no idea what to write next. Honestly, give me ideas, or else this is pretty much the end.

Natalia was furious. It was a suicide mission, one that even Captain Kirk couldn't get himself out of. She could not believe that he had volunteered.

Sending command of her section to Sulu and snarling something to him, she followed Chekov to the lift, fuming. He allowed her to step in, though when the doors closed his blue eyes turned to ice.

"You will not talk me out of this." He said stiffly.

Natalia was torn on whether she should hit him or hold him. She finally slipped her hand into his, her other tangling in his hair. "Please, Pasha." She sighed, moving closer to him, pulling his face closer so that their noses were touching. "I know you are still angry, but please, don't use that anger against me now. You won't leave that planet alive. We both know it." She was fighting tears, but his eyes stayed glazed over and angry. "I can't lose you. I can't."

"Should I believe that?" He asked. He had not raised his hands to hold her. "After what you said this morning, after all you have said, I should believe you now?"

"I was angry, you were angry, we both said stupid things." She couldn't understand why he was taking their little argument from this morning to heart. Honestly, she didn't care if he never remembered another breakfast date ever again. She just couldn't let him leave the ship. "I love you. You know that."

"But is it enough?" He asked, and now his eyes were sad. He captured her in his arms, and there was a note of desperation in his voice. "Is that enough to fight against fate?"

"What are you talking about?" She asked, her eyes searching his. "Why are we fighting against fate?"

"Fate is putting me down on that planet right now." He said softly, and she shivered. She knew, in that instant, that he would not return. The tears sprang forward, and she kissed him roughly, not wanting to believe it. He returned the gesture just as fervently, his hands gripping her tight enough to give her bruises. They both knew, though, that this was the last time.

He left. She stayed in the transporter room, and her tears started anew at the first sounds of phasers. She heard Kirk report in a shaky voice that Chekov was down. Soon, they were beamed back to the Enterprise, and when Bones announced the time of death, Natalia finally lost it.

"Jesus, no!" She yelled, moving across the small room and reaching for him. Someone caught her around the middle trying to both restrain her and comfort her.

"I'm sorry, Nata." Her heart broke at the nickname that he had given to her, spoken by a man she didn't love. "I'm sorry. There's nothing that can be done."

"No, he can't be!" She wasn't sure which language she was using, but it didn't matter. "No, please Pasha, come back." She collapsed against the strong body that held her, her tears hot against her skin. "He can't be. He can't! He promised me…"

Natalia did not remember falling asleep, but she would never forget how she woke up. In her dream, she was fighting against Kirk to throw herself towards the body, determined to know he was alive.

In reality, she was doing quite a bit of damage to Dr. McCoy.

"Dammit, Flores, shut up!" He hissed, sending a glance behind him to Kirk, who nodded once before returning his gaze to the long hallway.

"Dr. McCoy?" Natalia's eyes snapped open, and she could not think of a time she was more grateful to see the irritable man, hypospray and all. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

"Don't give me lip, Flores." He retorted, running the tricorder around her, his scowl deepening with every new readout. "You are in far worse condition than you let on, something I am not thanking you for."

"Then get me the hell out of here." She snapped, for once equally as cranky. She did not enjoy being woken up at all, but especially from one of the worst dreams of her life.

"Show me you can stand up, first." He stood, holding out his hands. She took them and struggled to her feet, but made it. She swayed for a moment, but found that she was capable of moving on her own. McCoy kept a hand hovering at her back in case she started to topple, and walked with her out of the cell, positioning them between Kirk and Spock, who both had hand phasers. Natalia almost asked where Spock had gotten one, but McCoy shot her a look that would have made even Kirk shut it. The odd group roamed the halls silently, and it took Natalia nearly the whole trip to realize that they were headed right back to the control room where she had spent most of the day before.

"Captain, there is no way to undo the recent work without the proper authorization code."

"Pavel." She had stopped moving when she heard his voice, and it took a good push from McCoy to make her move now. She took three steps forward, putting her in front of the Captain and Commander, and he suddenly was in her view, seated in the very chair she had been not twelve hours ago. Her heart quickened at the sight of him, though she also kept enough sense about her to run an examination of his current state. He looked tired, his eyes heavy with the need to sleep, but other than that seemed perfectly fine. She knew she looked far from fine, but didn't care. He was alive, despite the evils that had plagued her subconscious. His words had suddenly sunk into her brain, and she even dared a smile.

"Of course you can't get in." She even managed an eye roll, ignoring McCoy's grumbling protests as she crossed the rest of the distance on her own. She came up behind him, leaning over his shoulder and encircling him in arms as she unencrypted the safety net she had used to make sure the enemy wouldn't be able to use their new technology. "You honestly think I would just leave it all out for them to use whenever possible?" She raised an eyebrow, almost daring him to argue. She hit the final command, and the entire room blinked into operation, screens lighting up from every direction. "You're in." She said simply, straightening up.

Spock was staring at her in mild disbelief. "You did not inform me of that, Ms. Flores."

"You didn't exactly inform me that you were pulling the shields offline, Mr. Spock." She said. He nodded once, as though to say "Touché." She turned back to the screen, watching Chekov's slim fingers fly through a series of commands. "You're destroying it?" She asked, a note of pain in her voice.

"It is the only way to be sure they don't use it against us." Kirk said from behind her. "You really want them to keep this?"

"No." Natalia pouted slightly. "But no offense, sir, I worked my ass off on that." She raised her head, looking around. "Shouldn't someone be chasing after us right now?"

"Guess how many crew members there on this craft." Kirk was smirking again.

"At least two." Natalia muttered, more to herself. She bit her lip as she watched Chekov work, thinking. "I would say twelve at max. There certainly isn't a lot of room on here, but there should at least be a skeleton night crew."

"You were closer with the first number." Kirk said. "There are four crew members on this ship."

"Four?" Natalia's jaw dropped. "No wonder they needed Spock and me. That's pathetic."

"We found them all sleeping in the crew quarters, and Bonesy gave them each a hypo of sedative to make sure they stayed that way." Kirk was exceedingly pleased. "By the time they wake up, they'll be headed to Federation court on piracy charges, at the very least."

"What, kidnap of a Starfleet officer isn't a crime anymore?" Natalia grumbled, her hand shooting down and catching Chekov's. "Don't do that."

"Why not?" He asked, though he curled his fingers around hers.

"It's a trap." She used her other hand to change the command. "I didn't want anyone having too easy a time getting into this thing, so I put in a few false trails. That one would actually send up a red alert, which would be very bad."

"If this isn't your ship, why'd you make it so damn hard to destroy?" McCoy asked.

"Habit." Natalia shrugged. "It's one of the first things they teach you at the Academy, and I was working so fast I didn't even try to go against my instinct."

"She is right." Chekov said, joining her still solo hand in typing in orders to disable and disintegrate. Their other hands remained joined on the frame of the touch screen. "The Enterprise's system has several false leads that if followed would send a message directly to the bridge that there was someone attempting to destroy the system."

"You just didn't know because it's never happened." Natalia added. The three senior officers were all in some sort of amazement, though not over the same thing. Kirk was baffled that there were aspects of his ship he hadn't discovered yet. McCoy was stunned that Natalia was still functioning, despite the several infections her body was battling. Spock was astounded by the way the pair of teenagers worked together. He saw how one would start the command, and the other would finish, without even a glance to communicate that it was needed. Their motions never hitched, and their hands never ran into each other. It was amazing to watch.

Finally, after a few more minutes of silence, Natalia smiled widely. "There." She said, lifting her hand from the screen. "We're done. Everything is just as I found it."

"You're sure?" Kirk asked, and she nodded. He flashed a smile. "The wonder twins strike again." He said as he pulled out his communicator, seeming very pleased. "Scotty, get us out of here."

"Already on it, sir." He said. "Transport in three…two…one."

Natalia smiled at the bands of white light appeared, more than ready to go home.

Exhaustion finally hit her like the proverbial ton of bricks as soon as she materialized on the pad of the USS Enterprise. She swayed, reaching out for help. McCoy was there immediately, his relief short-lived as he began barking orders and complaints.

"Flores, you're going to sick bay whether you want to or not. I don't know if you realize this, but that cell of yours was breeding ground for bacteria and filth, all of which has now settled into that nasty cut on your leg."

"It's not like I had a choice, Bones." She rolled her eyes, and the action made her dizzy.

"Just shut your trap and let me do my job." He muttered, finally giving up on having her walk and motioning for Spock to come forward. He did, and scooped her up before she had time to protest. That didn't mean she didn't, though.

"Argh, you know how much I hate this." She struggled weakly against his hold on her, though he paid her no mind. "I'm not just some sack of potatoes you can throw over you shoulder and haul around, you know. I'm a person, with some shred of dignity left."

"You've got about a shred of life left, too, now can it." McCoy was scanning every inch of her, pinpointing the problem areas and identifying all the underlying causes. "Set her there, Spock." She was set down on a biobed, and she squirmed immediately. "Stay still and it won't hurt." The doctor's voice was slightly less gruff as he noticed her discomfort. The new tone didn't last, though. "And what are you doing here?"

Natalia fought to keep her eyes open, and was rewarded with the sight of Chekov standing next to her bed, watching her. He raised his gaze to look at McCoy, an eyebrow raised in an obvious manner. "I am staying with her." He said.

McCoy thought about arguing, but eventually decided against it. He shook his head instead. "You damn kids are a pain in the ass." He muttered, going back to his assessment of Natalia.

She wiggled her hand slightly, and he smiled, taking it in his own. Something was making her very sleepy, and as she started to drift off, she felt his lips against her fingertips, a gesture so uniquely him that she could not mistake it.

***

She sighed, leaning against the door that separated the two of them. The more she sat there, the more her nerve slipped away, until she was silently cursing Jim Kirk to the depths of whatever planet's hell was the most dreadful. Sure, it had seemed like a good idea at the time. Let him plan this whole party in the first place, since he's the only one who really wanted it, and then the night of just follow his orders. That's what she did, day in and day out, so it shouldn't have been that difficult.

Then again, Captain Kirk had never ordered her to wear a dress before.

It wasn't just a dress, either. She wore a dress every single day, for crying out loud! She knew how to retain her dignity while wearing a dress.

The issue was the dress Jim had picked out. Yes, she had trust him and Uhura to decide even what she should wear to this event, and had clearly placed that trust in the wrong hands. Sure, they had consulted her every step of the way, and yes, she had given the final okay to the construction she was currently wearing. But for some reason, wearing this dress in front of Kirk, Uhura, and Spock (who had tagged along simply because Uhura was there), was much different from wearing it in front of her boyfriend.

He was waiting, just on the other side of the door. He hadn't been impressed with Jim's demand that they wear semi-formal civilian attire. It reminded him of what he had to wear for his sister's wedding, which had occurred on the hottest day Russia had seen in decades, outside on a large meadow with no breeze to speak of. It was about that point in his train of thought that Jim interrupted and reminded him that everyone would be in civilian clothes, including the birthday girl.

He had only seen her a few times out of uniform, though that was more than anyone else. But still, none of those had been occasions that required any actual dressing up. So it was with intrigue and a hint of trepidation that he sat on the edge of her bed just now, waiting for her to come out of the bathroom.

"Nata?" He called through the door, beginning to worry. "Lyubimy, what's wrong?"

She sighed, staring herself down in the mirror. "I look stupid." She grumbled, pulling her hair up into a quick twist. It made her look a little more put together, but she couldn't help but nitpick at her reflection.

"You look beautiful." He said through the door.

"How would you know?" She snapped. There was a pause where he thought of several answers, none of which she seemed in the mood to hear.

"Let me in." He said softly. She paused, and against her better judgment, responded.

"It's open."

The door swished open, and there were two distinct footsteps before she heard a gasp. She looked down, her bare feet squirming anxiously. She was sure he was now staring at her in horror. She felt uncomfortable, and younger than ever. The dress was so sophisticated, and even though she was now officially an adult, she didn't feel any more mature. She looked up into the mirror, and saw a little girl playing dress up.

He saw anything but. The plum silk was hugging her body, creating a dark silhouette against the pure whiteness of the bathroom. She had swept up her dark hair, leaving her full lips and bright eyes to take the spotlight. It was teasing him, to watch her. Every small step she took in her bare feet made her hips sway slightly under the light fabric, his eyes drawn by the movement. She bit her lip with frustration and worry, and he longed to stop the abuse. He couldn't understand how she kept her lips so soft and luscious while abusing them so. She adjusted the thick straps, and his eyes were drawn to her shoulders and neck, bare and open for him to run his fingertips over, which he promptly did, gently running his fingers down the full length of her bare arms.

"What are you thinking?" She asked, for once unable to read his expression. She was still clearly worried, though the sharp intake of breath at his touch was a good sign.

"I'm thinking you look beautiful." He said, pressing his lips gently against the spot where her neck and shoulders met. He had both of his hands at her hips, which had been tantalizing him since she had first seen in the plum silk. She smiled, suddenly very aware of why he had been so silent. His lips moved down across her shoulder, his fingers making swirls against her abdomen. She let the sensations wash over her, determined not to move. She closed her eyes and let her head fall back slowly, hitting his shoulder. His swirls hitched higher, across her stomach and over her ribs. She felt her back arching, and she was unable to explain how the simplest of gestures was sending shivers down her spine.

His lips were moving back up shoulders now, up her neck, stopping just under her jaw. He hesitated, just slightly, before twisting her hips to turn her around. She was suddenly facing him, and could no longer deny the deep-rooted desire burning in his normally adorable eyes. He pulled her into his arms, lifting her clear off the ground and laying her down on her own bed, his eyes never leaving hers. As their lips found each other, she felt the heat between them burn hotter, her breathing becoming more labored with every second he caressed her. She pulled him closer, her hands tangled in his curls as she traced the outline of his mouth with her tongue. He longed to touch the skin under the light fabric, and he felt the depth of his desire for her.

She found herself wishing, quite suddenly, that he was anything but a perfect Russian gentleman. A gentleman wouldn't be so controlled, wouldn't wait for her permission. She wanted him now, and yet, she didn't know how to let him know. Any other man would have gotten the hint by now, would have gotten rid of the now unnecessary dress with one quick movement. And yet, despite the fact that she had moved her hands under his shirt, tearing it off with the shortest separation of their lips, he was waiting, patiently waiting, for her to let him know.

So she did. Removing her hands from him, she reached behind her, quickly unzipping the dress. He froze as he realized what she was doing. She placed her hands at her sides, her dark eyes searching for his. When he looked at her, there was only question there. She nodded slowly, and sat up, taking his hands and placing them on her shoulders. He nodded once, and with a quick flick of the wrist, both straps were gone, taking the rest of the garment with it. He pulled out the clip holding her hair up, letting the dark waves cascade over them. Pushing her slowly down, he let his lips wander down her neck, even beyond her collarbone, though now he kept one hand entwined with hers.

Unlike her last dream, she did not want to wake up from this one. The only thing that did bring her back to consciousness was her favorite sound in the world, and the tingling brought on by lips against her skin.

"Nata." He said softly, speaking against her palm. "Natalia, please. Dr. McCoy said if you don't wake up soon, he'll wake you up, and apparently you hurt him last time that happened." She smiled, opening her eyes and finding Chekov next to her, his bright eyes amused by what must have been Kirk's favorite story of the day.

"Was the Captain pleased with that?" She asked softly, holding on to the warm feeling left over from her dream. It had really happened, and yet her subconscious loved to revisit it every now and then.

"Extremely." He said, leaning down and kissing her lips softly. She deepened the kiss, running a hand through his curls. He pulled away far too early, though, and rolled his eyes. "Dr. McCoy is coming." He clarified, and sure enough, Natalia could hear his grumbling approaching quickly.

"Good, you're awake." He said, already pulling out equipment. "Can you sit up?" She did so, and he nodded. "Now, name, rank, serial number."

"Ensign Natalia Carmina Flores." She rattled off her number, raising an eyebrow.

"Just making sure you haven't lost your memory or anything." He shrugged. "Pretty name." He mumbled more to himself. She raised an eyebrow at Chekov, who shrugged, clearly not knowing where that came from either.

"Doctor, are you okay?" Natalia finally asked, shocked that he had not only complimented her, but was not bitching her out.

"I'm fine." He snapped, and for a moment he was back to normal. He shook his head, and gave her a look that could almost be described as tender. Almost. "You just had me worried, kid. Try not to get yourself into that state again, okay?"

"What was wrong?" Natalia asked. "I felt fine until I got back here."

"You were far from fine." He motioned down to her leg. "The wound that pulled you out of beaming in the first place was created with some kind of projectile that contained a compound that repressed your immune system, effectively telling your body not to heal. It spread through the rest of your system, so any other damage done would also hang around for a quite a while. I suspect that's why your captors went easy on you, considering you were a prisoner. They knew that you wouldn't bounce back."

"But why didn't she feel it, Doctor?" Chekov asked.

"Willpower, I guess." He shrugged. "You were too focused on getting out and giving us as much help as you could. Any pain or discomfort was pushed to the side." There was a glint of admiration in his eyes. "You're pretty tough. Much tougher than anyone would expect."

"Thanks, Bones." She smiled lightly, taking his compliment. It would probably be a while until she heard another one from him.

As though hearing her thoughts, he scowled, looking down at his charts and shaking his head. "There's no reason to keep you here, though I don't want you running around for a while. You're technically healed, but you still need rest. I'm giving you three days off, and if Jim has an issue with that you tell him to come talk to me about it. I'll stick a hypo so far up his ass he'll need three days just to get it out." With that image firmly in their heads, he left, going to terrorize some of the nurses that he heard chattering about something decidedly not medical related.

"He is very visual, isn't he?" Chekov said, an odd expression on his face.

"Yeah, you could say that." Natalia nodded, but swung her legs off the bed, smiling up at him. "So, when does Captain Kirk expect you back up on the bridge?"

"Not until tomorrow morning." He caught her wicked grin and returned it. "Why?"

"I had my favorite dream again." She softly, capturing a single curly between her fingers. "And I really didn't want it to end."

Ever watchful, Chekov made sure that the halls were empty before he pulled her into his arms, his lips crashing against hers. It took what little sense of decency she had left to pull away, slipping two fingers against his lips, her eyes meeting his smoldering gaze.

"Wait." She was practically giggling, something only he could make her do. "We can't get caught." She said softly, leading him towards the lift. He followed, careful not to let the gap between them get too wide. The doors closed, and he set his lips against her neck, softly inhaling her scent as he nuzzled her.

"I don't know if I will be able to let you leave again." He admitted gently.

"You don't have to for now." She said, not wanting to think ahead any farther than the trek to her quarters. "Please don't. Not now."

He trailed a hand down her back, and shivered, feeling it through her uniform. "I won't." He said, breaking away as the doors opened. He took her hand, and after the short walk down the hall, she opened the door, pulling him inside.

His lips were against hers, though she could feel something bubbling under his strong façade, something tinged with desperation. She took a half-step back, remaining in his arms but looking up at him, worried. He shook his head, curls bouncing, and pulled her back to him, burying his face in her hair.

"I can't let you go." He murmured, running his hands over her back. "You have no idea what I went through, and I don't want you to know. Just promise, you will not do that to me again."

"I can't." She said softly. "I can't promise anything. You knew this could happen. We both did."

"I know." He sighed. "It is out of our control. I know, Nata."

"Don't think of it now." She repeated, pulling his face to hers. "Right now, I just need you. Three days is far too long."

"Five." He corrected. "You were in sickbay for two resting."

"Wow." She muttered. "Were you there the whole time?"

"Most of it." He shrugged. "Dr. McCoy sent me away to get some sleep, but I couldn't. I didn't want to leave you for a moment."

"I'm glad you didn't." She kissed him softly, savoring his taste. He picked her up, carrying her to the bed. She smiled, slipping her hands up his shirt and tugging it off. "Don 't leave me now."

"I wouldn't dream of it." He smiled, and she practically purred, pulling him back to her lips.