Sure, Jim and Luna had enough money to get their own place by now, but they liked living with Bones. Luna hadn't known anything else, and Jim wanted her to be comfortable. When they decided to get married, they would move out, but for right now, they liked all living together. The only real change was that they got somewhere bigger, and they all chipped in for rent now.

Jim was holding Luna while they laid in bed. It was one of those early mornings where the two couldn't sleep well, but still wanted to stay in bed a little longer. Jim was rubbing her bare shoulder while looking at her face, her eyes just blinking slow.

Jim knew there was a rift between them right now. She couldn't look at him for too long before turning away. Sex had seemed to become more of a chore than an activity they both enjoyed. Their relationship was suffering right now, and even if he knew they loved each other, and they were destined to be together, this was an alternate timeline. Anything could happen. "Luna," he whispered, scared that she was drifting off to sleep again. She picked her head up to him, meeting his eyes. "Can I ask you a question?"

"What's up?"

Jim opened his mouth, before realizing he had no idea how to phrase this. "Um," Luna leaned forward, waiting for his question, but Jim was just frozen. "I was gonna ask you what you wanted to do for your birthday." Luna sighed, really hoping he was going to ask her about their relationship, and maybe they would be able to fix it. "It's coming up, and I thought maybe you would want to do something special."

She shook her head at him, not really able to come up with anything. "It's just twenty-six. We don't have to do anything special."

"Oh, come on," Jim laughed out while pulling her closer to him. "It's your birthday, and you're the best thing that's ever happened to me."

Luna waited for more, maybe he would say it now. "And?" She prompted.

"And…" This was it. This was the root of all their problems. Neither had said the "L" word. Not since they had gotten back together almost a year ago. Jim saw it as they had their whole lives because he knew what was going to happen. Luna didn't know what to think of it. Jim didn't want to say it first, and Luna didn't want to say it first. It was like they were both battling and holding out to see who would say it first. "You mean the world to me."

Luna was getting so irritated. Why the hell didn't he just say it? They had said it before? Why was he holding out for so long? "And?"

"I…" Jim just couldn't say it. He didn't know why. He loved Luna. He knew he did, but for some reason when it came to actually saying it, he just couldn't. He didn't know if it was because they were both competing or if it was because he was scared of their first go at being a couple, but he knew this was affecting their relationship the hardest. "Adore you."

Luna let out a loud sigh before rolling away from him. "That's not what I'm looking for."

"Oh, come on, Luna."

She rolled back to look at him, becoming flustered. "Why? Why can't you say it?"

"Because…" Jim didn't even know what to say to her. "Girls get scared when you say it."

Her eyes darted back and forth to both of his eyes, not believing that was the excuse he was giving her. "We've said it before!"

"It should come naturally!" Jim argued right back at her. "And it just hasn't come back naturally again yet!"

"We've had plenty of opportunities to say it again."

"Yeah," Jim scoffed, getting mad all over again. "'We'. You could have easily said it too, but you didn't."

"Oh no," Luna spoke while moving to sit up on the bed, getting mad all over again. "I tried to say it when we got back on earth after Nero, but you stopped me, putting the ball back in your court."

"So, what? It's my problem now?" Luna's mouth dropped at that as she forcefully threw the blanket off of her and got out of the bed. "I didn't mean it like that." Jim called after her while throwing the blanket off of him as well. "You know I didn't mean it like that."

The two stood in front of the bed, Jim with his hands on her elbows to stop her from leaving. "Luna," he whispered in that helpless voice Luna couldn't help but pay attention to. She looked up into his eyes, that familiar clash of ocean blue and almond brown happening again. "I've only been in love once before." Luna had to fight a smile because she knew he was talking about her, but honestly that felt like a lifetime ago. "If I say it now, right now, it's forced, and it's not going to be as meaningful as I want it be. This is gonna be the 'I love you' that dictates the rest of our lives, and I want it to be special." Luna had to tear her eyes away from his because she felt like she was going to cry. "Hey," he whispered again, grabbing her chin with thumb and index finger to make their eyes meet again. "But I will say it, and just because I haven't said it, that doesn't mean I don't feel it."

Luna shook her head, finding so many things wrong with that sentence. "You used like three negatives in there and lost me."

Jim smiled, knowing they weren't at the best place they could be, but they were just a little better. He gave her a strong kiss, and the two ended up falling back into the bed, Jim climbing on top of her. Luna began to laugh feeling like this would end up being the best sex they had in a long time. That was until both of their phones rang at the same time.

They both shared an annoyed look, knowing it could be a number of things, but if both of their phones went off at the same time, it was most likely work. With a sigh, they both broke away, going to their separate nightstands. It was a message from Pike. He wanted to see both of them in a few hours. Both of them as well as Spock. They both turned to each other, eyebrows furrowed, not sure what this meant.

The three were dressed in their "land" uniforms as everyone usually referred to them, just outside of Starfleet HQ, walking with Jim in the middle, Spock on his left, and Luna on his right. "I'm telling you guys, this is why he called. I can feel it." Luna didn't think that's what was happening. Luna felt like something was wrong, and maybe someone let it slip that they didn't stay with the Prime Directive, but who knew? Jim could be right.

"Your feeling aside," Spock began, making Luna roll her eyes, she still wasn't happy with him wanting the crew to just leave him in the volcano, and she knew Uhura was furious about it. She talked with her on the phone about it for hours. "I consider it highly unlikely that we will be selected for the new program."

"Why else would Pike want to see us?" Luna turned to look at Jim with a slight smile on her face. She loved Jim's optimism, but sometimes, she felt like he was just setting himself up to get hurt. How many times did she have to take care of him because his optimism got too strong? "Forget about seniority. They gave us the newest ship in the fleet. I mean, who else are they gonna send out?"

"I can think of numerous possibilities." Spock told him.

Luna sighed. And Jim and Spock were just at opposite ends of the extreme. Jim was too excited and Spock was too...under excited. "Jim, just try to go in there with an open mind. You don't know what this meeting is going to entail."

He hurried in front of them, beginning to walk backwards with a large smile on his face. "A five-year mission, guys!" Luna had to smile at him, but she didn't want to get his hopes up. "That's deep space! That's uncharted territory! Think how incredible that's gonna be." That's when Jim noticed two women coming out of headquarters. "Hey ladies." Luna's eyes immediately grew wide as he used his flirty smile on them. "Jim Kirk."

Luna moved forward, hitting his shoulder as hard as she possibly could, making Jim curse in pain. "Are you out of your goddamn mind? I'll cut you."

"It was a joke." He whined out while holding onto his shoulder. "I'm trying to loosen you up."

Luna gave him a deep glare, but Jim just continued to smile at her. "I could think of other ways to loosen me up that doesn't involve flirting with everything that has a pulse."

When they got to the doors, Jim let Spock go in first, but waited for Luna, giving her a quick kiss before letting her walk in. "Kiss ass." She mumbled just loud enough for him to hear while he walked in after her.

The three made it up to Pike's office, and there was no wait, they went right in which was weird because usually Pike's schedule was always packed, and usually meetings were always overrunning the other. The three were standing in front of his desk while he was going over their reports for their most recent mission. That's when Luna felt the knots in her stomach.

"'Uneventful.'"

Jim and Luna shared a quick, confused glance before looking back to Pike. "Admiral?" Jim asked for clarification.

"It's the way you described the survey of Nibiru in your captain's log."

"Yes, sir," Jim told him with a respectful nod, but this didn't help Luna's worries. "I didn't want to waste your time going over the details."

"Tell me more about this volcano." He barely let Jim finish his sentence, and Luna knew the man well enough to know when he was pissed. That's when he set his eyes on Luna. "Ms. McCoy, you went over the data yourself, didn't you?"

Luna gulped before answering, "Yes, sir."

"Yes," he spoke while looking through the files again. "Your data says it was highly volatile. If it were to erupt, it would wipe out the planet."

"Let's hope it doesn't, sir." Jim jumped in, wanting to defend Luna, but she was afraid he was going to make it worse.

"Something tells me it won't."

"Well, sir," Jim jumped in again. "Volatile is all relative. Maybe Ms. McCoy's data was off."

Pike then looked back to Luna. "Really Mr. Kirk?" Jim simply nodded. "Because I remember you recommending her research specifically for the Enterprise's next mission." Jim opened his mouth to protest, but Pike began talking again instead. "Or maybe it didn't erupt because Mr. Spock detonated a cold fusion device inside it right after a civilization that's barely invented the wheel happened to see a starship rising out of their ocean!" He turned to look at Spock after, Luna dropping her jaw, realizing the one who let it slip was him. "That is pretty much how you describe it, is it not?"

"Admiral – "

Luna's head immediately turned to Spock with anger on her face. "You filed a report?"

"Why didn't you tell me?" Jim immediately asked right after her.

"I incorrectly assumed that you would be truthful in your captain's log."

Luna let out a long, angry sigh, only imagining what was going to happen to the three of them now. "Yeah," Jim scoffed, becoming just as frustrated as Luna now. "I would have been if I didn't have to save your life."

"A fact for which I am immeasurably grateful and the very reason I felt it necessary to take responsibility for the actions – "

"Take responsibility, yeah." Luna scoffed at him, turning so she would be able to face him instead of Pike. "That'd be so noble, Pointy, if you weren't also throwing us under the bus."

"Admiral Pike," Jim spoke up, turning to look at him again, despite all of their arguing. "Lieutenant Commander McCoy was just following my instructions. She did nothing wrong."

"'Pointy'?" Spock quoted back form what Luna had said. "Is that a derogatory reference to – "

"Officers." Pike spoke, making them all go quiet, and stand at attention in front of him again while he got up from his chair. "Starfleet's mandate is to explore and observe, not to interfere."

"Had the mission gone according to plan, Admiral…"

"You idiot," Luna mumbled under her breath. "You're only going to make it worse."

"the indigenous species would never have been aware of our interference." Spock continued talking right over her, something he had gotten very good at since meeting both her and Jim.

"That's a technicality." Pike spat it out at Luna the most which she slightly rolled her eyes to.

Pike looked like he was about to snap on her if Spock wouldn't have spoke again. "I am Vulcan, sir. We embrace technicality."

"Are you giving me attitude, Spock?"

"I'm expressing multiple attitudes simultaneously, sir. To which are you referring?"

"Oh my god." Both Jim and Luna sighed out at the same time.

"Out." Pike commanded, his eyes going over to Luna as well. "You're dismissed, Commander; and Lieutenant Commander, we will have words later."

Jim gave her a panicked stare, trying to tell her that he would try to work on her punishment with the Admiral. Spock walked out first, and Luna followed, nearly slamming the door after them. Pike began to grind his teeth at that action, knowing no amount of trouble she was in would stop that annoyed attitude. He almost forgot how southern she was. "Admiral, again, Lieutenant Commander McCoy was just following my instructions, she had nothing to do with this."

Pike said nothing, he just went to look out the window of his office, and Jim didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing regarding Luna's case. "You have any idea what a pain in the ass you are?"

Jim sighed before nodding. "I think so, sir."

"So, tell me what you did wrong." His voice was even harsher than before. "What's the lesson to be learned here?"

Jim paused for a moment, only thinking of one thing he learned. "Never trust a Vulcan."

"Now, see, you can't even answer the question." He turned his head to Jim, his eyes shooting him daggers. "You lied. On an official report, you lied. You think the rules don't apply to you because you disagree with them."

"That's why you talked me into signing up in the first place." Jim brought up to him calmly. "It's why you gave me your ship."

"I gave you my ship because I saw a greatness in you." His voice shifted from angry to somewhat sad. "And now, I see you haven't got an ounce of humility."

Jim slowly turned to look at him, wanting to meet his eyes for this. "What was I supposed to do, let Spock die?"

"You're missing the point."

"I don't think I am, sir." Jim argued right back. "What would you have done?"

"I wouldn't have risked my First Officer's life in the first place!" Jim let out a long, loud sigh, his eyes darting away from Pike's, not finding anything wrong with what he did despite Pike's words. "You were supposed to survey a planet, not alter its destiny! You violated a dozen Starfleet regulations and almost got everyone under your command, including your girlfriend I might add, killed."

The fact that he brought Luna into this made Jim even angrier. "Except I didn't!" He finally exploded in an Admiral's face. "You know how many crew members I've lost? Not one!"

"That's your problem, you think you're infallible!"

"Not one!" Jim continued despite Pike cutting him off.

"You think you can't make a mistake." Jim looked away from him again, shaking his head at what he was saying to him. "It's a pattern with you! The rules are for other people!"

"Some should be." He told him with a shrug, but that was just making Pike even more angry.

"And what's worse is you using blind luck to justify you playing God!" The two simply stared at each other for a moment, giving each other the chance to calm down. "Given the circumstances, this has been brought to Admiral Marcus's attention. He convened a special tribunal, to which I was not invited. You understand what Starfleet regulations mandate be done at this point?" Jim's eyes darted back and forth at Pike's, becoming scared for what was going to happen to him. "They've taken the Enterprise away from you." Jim's face fell, that revelation nearly stunning him. He couldn't do anything in the moment but stare at Pike. "They're sending you back to the Academy."

Jim felt like the rug had just been ripped out from under him, and he didn't know what to do about any of it. "Admiral, listen – "

"No, I'm not going to listen." What scared Jim the most was how calmly he spoke back to him. "Why should I listen?"

"I can justify – "

"I'm not going to listen." The two then began talking over each other, trying to get their points across.

"I understand regulation – "

"You don't listen to anybody but yourself!"

"but every decision I've made – "

"No! I can't listen!" Jim immediately got quiet, feeling like his whole world was crashing down. "They're not holding your Second Officer responsible for flying the ship out of concealment, so Ms. McCoy is safe." Jim let out a little sigh, relieved, but then he realized they wouldn't be on the same ship anymore. Hell, they wouldn't be in the same atmospheres. "But you, don't comply with the rules, you don't take responsibility for anything, and you don't respect the chair. You know why?" Jim looked back up into his eyes, terrified for what he was going to say next. "Because you're not ready for it." Jim couldn't even look him in the eye after that. He just walked out, fighting back tears at the thought of not only losing his position, but also his crew.

Spock hurried after Luna while she just stormed ahead. "Luna!" He tried to call after her, but she just kept walking out the door of headquarters. "Luna! I am not able to run as fast as you in these – "

"Spock!" She screamed at him, turning around so she could look him in the eye. Spock stopped walking, finding himself also stepping back a bit from fear at her raising her voice at him. "Do you even realize what you did back there?!" Spock opened his mouth to answer her, but she just started talking again. "No, you don't because all you run on is logic, and give no thought to emotion or problem solving!"

"I promise you, Ms. McCoy, that was not my – "

"You probably just cost Jim his job!"

Spock stood there, looking at one of his best friends, not sure what to say. She was just so mad at him. He could see the fire in her eyes. It was almost like when he sent Jim off of the Enterprise. That same anger was in her eyes. "God, Spock," She sighed out, Spock looking all over her face, realizing he had really betrayed her. "Do you ever think these things through?"

Spock opened up his mouth, not even really sure how he was going to attempt an apology, when Jim stormed out of the building. "Jim." Luna called out desperately.

He didn't even look at Spock. He just grabbed Luna's arm and began to pull her away from him. "We have to go."

"Jim!" Spock called after him, knowing he had to mend this situation, but he didn't know how. It didn't matter if he even knew because Jim wasn't going to turn around to talk to him.

"Jim," Luna began, trying to look at his face, but his jaw was just rigid as they walked. "What happened?"

"I'll tell you when we get to the car." Luna immediately closed her mouth, but she didn't stop looking at him.

When they got to the car, Luna got in the driver's seat, knowing Jim probably didn't want to drive right now, and she was right. Once the doors closed, they spent some time in the silence. Luna wasn't going to force him to talk about it until he was ready, but she really wanted to know. "They took the Enterprise from me."

Luna turned to look at him, her mouth dropped and her eyes wide. "What?!"

"And they're sending me back to the Academy."

Luna looked away from him for a moment to process before looking back to him, and she could see the tears begin to pool in his eyes. "They can't do that."

"Well, they did." Jim said it with no emotion, and that was so unlike him. He was an emotional person, and he expressed all of them as often as he could. She had rarely seen him like this. He finally turned to look at her, a fresh tear falling down his face. "What am I gonna do?" Luna opened her mouth, wanting to reassure him, but he began talking again. "While you're in space performing your dream job, I'm gonna be down here going through the Academy again."

Luna felt like she was going to cry looking at him. This wasn't fair. Jim had sacrificed so much for Starfleet, and now from one mistake, he wasn't going to be able to do what he was good at. Luna leaned forward, wanting to comfort him. "Jim."

He leaned back into the seat, taking a deep sigh as another tear fell down his cheek. "I just want to go home."

Luna looked at him for a moment, wishing there was something she could do, but she was completely outranked. "Hey," Jim turned to look at her, the sadness still in his eyes. Maybe they could make this whole "I love you" waiting a joke. "I adore you."

Despite Jim's tears, a big smile grew on his face. He leaned forward and kissed her gently, Luna tasting the tears on his lips, but none of that mattered to her. She wanted to focus on making Jim forget about this shitty day, and hopefully making him feel better. When he pulled away, he stared in her eyes for a moment while rubbing her chin softly. "Thanks."

She gave him a tiny peck before slowly turning to the front of the car, taking a deep breath before starting it up, and taking them both home to process this more.

MisfitCarter: I've been good, and that's so sweet that you worried about me. This semester just kicked my ass, and I had to learn roads of a new town. It was bad. I got lost coming back from the mall the other day too. And no, I will not make you wait months this time. Thank you so much, love! (PS: I'm about to answer your PM, I just wanted to get the chapter up first)

rebootfan: Oh no! I hope I can make you fall in love again even if nothing really special happened in this chapter. Thank you, love! It's good to be back, and I'm happy to be talking to you again :)

Love. Fiction. 2017: Yay! I hope you liked this chapter!

Hey, guys, just wanted to let you know if you also read my MCU fanfics then there's a poll on my profile to vote on regarding that series. If you could give a vote, that would be awesome. I know it's Christmas Eve, but I wanted to give you guys this chapter as a Christmas present since you guys came back after me being MIA for a while. Thank you all so much for being the awesome readers you are! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday no matter what you celebrate! Remember to review!