Multiple ambulances sat outside of Starfleet Headquarters, all the paramedics either checking the surviving victims or packing body bags. Luna sat in the back of the ambulance, watching the body bags roll out, knowing any one of them could have been Pike.

She took a deep gulp, thinking back on her last conversation with him. He wondered if he knew how thankful she was to him. Instead of spending their last moments together telling him that, she was just acting like a brat. He had given her a dream career. If it wasn't for him captaining the Enterprise last year, her and Jim might have not happened a second time. If it wasn't for him, Luna and Jim wouldn't have even happened the first time. He was Jim's sole reason for joining, and if it wasn't for that, their relationship wouldn't have blossomed into what it is now.

She looked over to Jim who was sitting in an ambulance diagonal from her. He had been so quiet since the attack, but she couldn't blame him. Not with the way they lost someone major in their lives.

Jim had looked up at her after a few moments of her staring. As he looked at her, he thought back to his anger with John Harrison. Anything could have happened in that conference room. Luna, Spock, or himself could have died. He took a deep gulp while staring at her, promising he wasn't going to let her be in any danger like that again.

"Luna!" They both turned away from each other to see a few members of the Enterprise trying to push their way past the police. "For the last damn time," and that was Bones. "I don't care about protocol; my daughter was in there, and I need to know if she's okay!"

Luna got off of the ambulance, immediately trying to be stopped by a paramedic. "Dad!" She screamed out.

Jim got off of his ambulance as well, immediately being stopped. "Bones!" Jim yelled out.

Bones finally got tired of being stopped, deciding to punch one of the police officers before making a run towards Luna's ambulance. Luna wiggled her way out of the medic's grip just in time to jump into her father's arms. The medics and police officers didn't want to push any further, knowing a father almost lost his daughter. There was no way they were going to get in the middle of their reunion.

Bones had never hugged his daughter tighter than in that moment. He never wanted to let go. As he thought about his ride to Headquarters, he was shaking from fear that something had happened to Jim and Luna. Now, as he held his daughter, it almost felt unreal.

Bones pulled away from her, placing his hands on her cheeks as he looked her over. "Are you okay?"

"Dad," Luna sighed out, finding tears beginning to brim her eyes. This was the first time she was able to cry about what had happened. "Pike is dead."

He pulled her back into another hug, pulling her into his chest by her head while her arms wrapped his inner shoulder blades. All Luna could do was cry into his chest, and all Bones could do was hold her. Jim watched, still standing up from the ambulance. Jim knew this was the only way she was going to actually express her emotions. If she had her father comforting her. Jim gulped, feeling semi responsible. If things would have gone to plan on Nibiru, Pike wouldn't be dead. Sure, this all would have happened, but they probably wouldn't have lost Pike. There was no way Jim was letting John Harrison take anything else way from him and Luna.

Jim simply sat on his bed like a zombie. Luna was straightening out a few things on his suit while he continued to sit. The whole night was full of restless sleep, crying, and pondering life. It was hard for them both, but Luna was going to be as strong as she could manage to be for Jim. Pike was way more important to Jim, and Jim was always expected to be the strong one. He needed a break from all of that, and he needed time to be emotionally vulnerable around the one person he could be.

Just as Luna finished getting Jim ready, their eyes met. Jim felt so much love for her in that moment. That's when he was reminded that anything could happen at any moment. Jim opened his mouth to finally say those words that had been burning on his lips for what seemed like years. Luna could feel it too. She felt like this was it. This was the moment Jim had been talking about. They could finally say it and be done with all of this back and forth…but then Jim's communicator went off, and the moment was just ripped away from them before it could even happen.

Luna coughed, breaking away from Jim to go put the last of her makeup on while Jim looking down, thinking about what almost happened. He took a deep breath, wishing their opportunity could just happen all ready. His communicator beeped again, leaving Jim with no choice but answering it. He pressed the talk button, not feeling like introducing himself in the usual greeting. "Yeah?"

"Commander," That was Spock. "Mr. Scott has found something in the wreckage of Harrison's ship." Luna hurried out of the bathroom, ears alerted on what else Spock had to say. "He has asked to see the three of us right away." They didn't need any clarification on who the third person was.

After nearly pleading with Bones to let the two out of the house, they had finally made it to Starfleet HQ. The three ran to Scotty who was holding a large weapon in the middle of the courtyard. "Captain!" Scotty yelled out to them, making them run faster. Once they had finally reached Scotty, he began talking quickly. "I found this in the crashed jumpship, sir. This is how the bastard got away."

"What do you mean?" Jim asked, shaking his head while Scotty handed him the piece of technology, everything Scotty said foreign to him.

"It's a portable transwarp beaming device."

Luna turned to look at Spock before staring at Scotty again. "Well, can you figure out where he went?"

Scotty turned to Luna, taking a deep sigh. "I already did. And you're not gonna like it." He clicked a button on the beaming device, showing the latitude and longitude to where he went. They each let out a deep sigh, each knowing where that was, and why John Harrison picked to go there. "He's gone to the one place we...just can't go."

Luna then picked her head up in thought. "Admiral Marcus."

They all turned to her, confused at what she was saying. "What do you mean?" Jim asked her.

"He's the one person who can get us on a trip to capture John Harrison with Starfleet protection."

"How do you know he'll say yes?" Spock asked, confused at how she had just come up with this plan out of nowhere."

"Christopher Pike is Marcus' protégé." Luna told him with a shrug. Jim felt a large gulp go down his throat at the mention of Pike before Luna turned back to him. "If there's anyone who's more furious and broken by Pike's death than us, it's Admiral Marcus."

Jim thought over what she said for a minute, staring at her the entire time. If this was true, and they went after Harrison, they would be starting a war. He didn't want Luna to be any part of them waging it. "Spock and I will go. You two, work on prepping the crew."

"Aye, sir." Scotty immediately responded, but Luna didn't like the sound of that.

Jim turned away, and began walking toward the Headquarters entrance. "Jim!" Luna yelled after him, but he didn't turn around. It was like he was on a death mission. "Jim!" She called again, a little louder this time.

Jim turned around quickly to look at her, stopping Spock at the look of Luna having to catch her balance from Jim's quick movements. "What, Luna?" She blinked a couple of times, never really hearing this tone from him. It was like he was annoyed with her, and not in the playful way. "You told me what to do, and I'm doing it. Thank you, but I can take it from here."

"Jim," Luna began cautiously, afraid of what was going to set off his temper. "You are too hell bent on revenge right now. Just take a moment, and think – "

"I'm not going to take a moment and think!" Luna jumped back a little at his outburst. "Because I know going after John Harrison is the only way to end this. The only way to make sure Starfleet is safe." He threw his hands in the air, obviously upset with her. "Isn't that what you told me to do?" Luna thought it was so silly, but she could feel tears brim to her eyes at the way he was talking to her. It wasn't like he was screaming, but he had never talked to her like she was a nuisance before. "And I need you to do your job."

Luna took a deep gulp before nodding to Jim. "Yes, captain." The words had barely any sound to them. It was mostly just the sound of Luna holding back her tears. Jim did feel a little guilty for what he had said to her, but this was the only way he was going to make sure she was safe. He had to go after John Harrison. There was no other option. But what if going after him completely destroyed their already fragile relationship?

Jim nodded to her like a captain would nod to his second officer, and then turned around to continue to the front doors. Spock stood there for a moment, looking at Luna, but she just watched Jim as he stormed off. After a few moments, Spock followed Jim, but he kept looking back to Luna as a few tears fell down her face.

Once Jim was in the building, Luna turned around, more tears now falling down her face. Scotty moved towards her, putting his hands on her shoulders while facing her, trying to look her in the eye, but she kept looking down. "Hey," Scotty whispered to her.

That's when she didn't want to hold it in anymore. She threw her arms around his neck and cried into his shoulders. Scotty began to rub her back before placing his chin on top of her head. He hated when she cried, and lately, most of her crying was from Jim. "I know." He whispered to her, continuing to rub her back in small, comforting circles. "The captain can be an asshole sometimes."

That time, Luna laughed, but she just couldn't stop the tears running down her cheeks. "Hey," Scotty spoke again, pulling away from her so he could meet her eyes. They were already puffy and bloodshot as she sniffled, and tried to wipe away her tears. "We have all day to prepare the crew. Why don't we go get some coffee?"

Luna nodded, using her sleeve this time to wipe away her tears. "Come on," Scotty told her while wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "I'm buying."

Luna didn't really want to talk. She was too burnt out. With everything that had happened last night, and now this with Jim. She felt like she had aged ten years overnight. As she gripped her coffee cup with both hands, all she could continue to think about was her interaction with Jim, and how their relationship had literally gotten worse overnight. "Screw the captain." Scotty finally spoke up. Luna looked up at him, her eyebrows furrowing since it was so random. "You know, if he wants to treat you like that, then he…" Scotty looked like he was really trying to come up with an insult for him. "Piss off."

Luna sighed before leaning back into the sofa in the coffee shop, taking a moment to let her body truly sink into the cushioning. "I just don't know what to do anymore."

Scotty began to shift uncomfortably, wondering what was going to happen to the ship with their relationship the way it was. "How do you think this mission is going to go?" Luna looked up at Scotty, waiting for more clarification. "Do you think people are going to get hurt?"

Luna took a deep sigh, thinking over it before finally answering. "Yeah, I think a lot of people are going to get hurt, especially with Jim's 'shoot first, ask questions later' attitude." Scotty opened his mouth to talk again, but Luna was just flowing with grievances. "Scotty, if things continue the way they're going with Jim, none of us are going to be happy."

Scotty furrowed his eyebrows. Yes, Jim and Luna pissed each other off quite a lot, but Scotty was feeling like it was all boiling down to something bigger, and he had no idea what it would erupt into. "So, what are you going to do about that?"

Luna looked off to the left, not really wanting to meet Scotty's eyes when she said this. "If nothing changes when we come back from the mission…I'm going to have to break up with him."

Scotty's eyes grew wide at what she had said. He had no idea it had gotten this bad. Sure, they argued a hell of a lot more than they used to, but they loved each other. No matter what, they had always loved each other. "But…" Scotty didn't even know how to form this sentence. "You…love him…don't you?"

Luna gulped before nodding in agreement. "That's what makes this so hard." She took a deep breath, trying to keep herself from crying, but Scotty didn't care if she cried. She was his best friend, and always would be. He reached across the table to grab her hand that was lying on the table, trying to let her know that no matter what she decided, he was going to be right there for her. "Scotty, sometimes love just isn't enough."

Scotty looked up at her, sighing. He knew that if this was what she thought was best for her, she was going to do it. He was going to be there for her, though. He offered her a small smile, which she gave back. As long as Scotty didn't leave, Luna would be able to get through this mission.

The crew all got together shortly after Jim was able to convince Admiral Marcus to let them go after John Harrison. When Jim arrived at the shuttle hanger, he saw Luna as she was making sure the second to last shuttle took off perfectly. He took a deep breath, knowing he had really screwed up earlier.

He took a deep gulp before walking up to her, knowing he had to give her some sort of apology. "Hey."

Luna turned around with a gasp, really not hearing him approaching her. She was way too lost in her own thoughts. She was standing in front of her current boyfriend which in a few days, could end up being her ex-boyfriend. "Hey."

Jim looked so awkward and nervous, and so did Luna, mostly because they almost forgot how to talk to each other. "I just want to apologize to how bossy I had been earlier today. I shouldn't have raised my voice at you."

Luna offered him a small smile, but there was no emotion behind it. Jim knew she was just trying to be polite, and that her smile meant nothing. "It's okay. You were distressed, and I didn't take it personally."

Now Jim gave the small smile that meant nothing. "Thank you for getting the entire crew together, I really do appreciate it."

"Anytime, Captain." Jim didn't know if that or the small smile hurt more.

Jim looked right in her eyes, and he felt like the only way he was going to be able to save this relationship is if he just went ahead and said it. He opened his mouth, wanting to apologize for all the stupid stuff he had said and done, and he wanted to finally tell her what he had wanted to tell her from the first time he saw her face. "Jim!" Jim shut his eyes, knowing that was Bones' voice, and of course, he was the one to ruin this. Bones turned him around by yanking on his shoulder as Luna gave her father a deep sigh from pulling them away from the first moment they had in a long time. "Where were you?"

"For what?" Jim asked, signaling for Luna to walk in front of them so they could all board on the last shuttle.

"Your medical exam." Bones turned to look at the back of his daughter's head. "You too, young lady." Luna decided not to turn around since she would just end up rolling her eyes at him, and she didn't have the attitude right now to deal with banter. "Ten hours ago, you two were in a damn firefight. Now it's my duty as ship's – "

They all stopped when they made it to the steps of the shuttle, Jim turning so he could face him as Luna began climbing up the stairs. "We're fine, Bones."

Bones continued to let Luna walk up the steps, but he stopped Jim by grabbing his shoulder again. "The hell you are." He growled at him, and for a moment, Jim knew he could let his guard down. He could actually convey to someone that everything was falling apart around him, but he wasn't going to let that come in front of him stopping John Harrison.

Jim picked up his steely expression again before answering him. "I'm fine." Jim walked into the ship, noticing Luna sitting by herself on the second row of seats. He took a deep breath, knowing she could have sat in the first set. She knew he had to sit in the first row, and the reason she sat in the second row meant that she was still upset about earlier. You had to be brain dead not to know that, though. Jim took a sigh, sitting in the first row with an empty seat between him and Spock. "Status report, Mr. Spock."

"The Enterprise should be ready for launch by the time we arrive."

"Good. Good."

Luna leaned forward, handing him her PADD. "Before we go on this mission, Starfleet wants us all to sign a liability contract. You're the last one who needs to sign." Jim took it from her, beginning to look through it. "It basically just says if we get taken, caught, or killed, it's not Starfleet's problem."

Jim took another large sigh before just scrolling to the bottom of the document to sign. "I can imagine that this didn't go well with some of the crew."

"Of course, it didn't." Luna scoffed while he handed her PADD back. "And Scotty needs to speak with you when we get on board."

He half turned around to look at her. "About what?"

Luna scoffed again before sitting back in her chair. "I don't know, he kept rambling, but he's pissed."

Jim turned his head back to the front, taking another deep sigh, feeling like all these problems were just arising out of nowhere. "Excellent." He sighed out, obviously annoyed with the situation.

"Captain." Spock spoke up as Bones began to lean towards Jim with his medical equipment. Luna furrowed her eyebrow at him, knowing he was going to get caught. "Thank you for requesting my reinstatement."

Jim gave him a small smile, happy that Spock actually thanked him with no other gains up his sleeve. He really appreciated it. "You're welcome.

"As I am again your First Officer," That's when Jim realized he wasn't saying it out of his gratitude, it was because he wanted to say something about the mission. "It is now my duty to strongly object to our mission parameters."

Jim gave him an annoyed smile while nodding, and looking back to his own PADD. "Of course, it is."

"I mean," Luna spoke up while Bones continued to check his vitals with his various pieces of equipment. "He is kind of right. We are completely abandoning the justice system."

Jim slowly turned around to look at her, his eyes wide from annoyance. "It was your idea to go to Marcus."

She sighed while shaking her head. "Yeah, I thought we were going to capture him, and bring him in front of a court. I didn't know we were going to kill him."

Jim let out a large sigh before turning back to the front while leaning himself into his seat at an attempt to calm down. "There is no Starfleet regulation that condemns a man to die without a trial, something you and Admiral Marcus are forgetting." Spock talking wasn't helping him calm down. "Also, preemptively firing torpedoes at the Klingon homeworld goes against – "

Jim turned to look at him, annoyed. He knew this wasn't the best option, but this was the only way they were going to stop John Harrison. "You yourself said the area's uninhabited. There's only gonna be one casualty. And in case you weren't listening, and didn't read what Ms. McCoy made you sign, our orders have nothing to do with Starfleet regulation."

"Wait a minute." Bones whispered before taking his equipment away from Jim's head. "We're firing torpedoes at the Klingons?!"

Luna began to move forward, sensing this situation needed some diffusing. "Regulations aside, this action is morally wrong." Spock continued, ignoring what Bones had to say.

"Regulations aside, pulling your ass out of a volcano was morally right." There was silence between the four, no one knowing what to say for a moment. "And I didn't win any points for that."

"Jim," Luna whispered, placing her hand on Jim's shoulder, rubbing it slightly. "Calm down."

He turned to look at her, becoming more angered than before. "I'm not gonna take ethics lessons from a robot!"

"Reverting to name-calling suggests that you are defensive and therefore find my opinion valid."

"Spock," Luna spoke in a warning tone, feeling like she was dealing with children at this point. "Don't start."

"I wasn't asking for your opinion." Jim snapped again. That's also when he noticed that medical equipment was lying on his cheek. He took a deep sigh, not even looking back at him. "Bones, get that thing off my face." Bones rolled his eyes before doing what he said.

"Captain, our mission could start a war with the Klingons and it is, by its very definition, immoral." Luna watched Jim and Spock, coming to the conclusion that she was actually leaning toward what Spock was saying. Were they really willing to start a war to capture one criminal? "Perhaps you should take the requisite time to arrive at this conclusion for yourself."

Jim looked like he was fuming, finding himself opening his mouth, but then getting interrupted. "Captain Kirk." The four of them looked to the woman standing in front of them. She had blonde hair cut into a bob, bright blue eyes, and she was wearing a grey and blue suit. "Science Officer Wallace. I've been assigned to the Enterprise by Admiral Marcus." She also had an accent. Everyone, but Spock's, eyes were on her. She was beautiful, but the accent really sent her over the top. Luna was even finding herself mesmerized by her. "These are my transfer orders." She told Jim while handing over her PADD.

Jim took the PADD, but Luna and Bones kept staring. When Luna finally looked away, she noticed her father's eyes were still fixed on her. She quickly looked back and forth at the two, an idea poking at her head while a smile grew on her face. "You requested an additional science officer, Captain?" Spock finally asked, tearing Luna out of her thoughts."

"I wish I had." Jim mumbled before looking back down at the PADD. Luna got up, and moved to the seat in between Jim and Spock so she would be able to read over it as well. "'Lieutenant Carol Wallace.'" Luna began reading off aloud. "'Doctorate in applied physics, specializing in advanced weaponry.'"

"Impressive credentials." Jim spoke, meeting eyes with Luna as she nodded.

"Thank you." Carol immediately smiled to.

"But redundant now that I am back aboard the Enterprise." Luna and Jim shared a devious look. They still wanted to get back at Spock, and Luna was working on a plan associated with her father. It might have been redundant, but it would be a whole lot of fun.

Jim handed the PADD back to Carol while both Jim and Luna turned back to her with big smiles on their faces. She almost jumped at the sudden movement and the devious smiles. It was like they had a conversation in their minds. "And yet, the more the merrier." Jim finally spoke.

Luna gave her a big smile, pointing to the seat she was just sitting in with her father. "Have a seat, Doctor."

Carol was feeling a little uneasy about what the two were planning, but she gave them a polite smile and nod anyway. "Thank you."

Once she sat down next to Bones, Luna turned around, giving her that same big smile from earlier. She reached her hand out, really hoping that if she was going to try to set this up that Carol was going to be a nice person. "Lieutenant Commander McCoy, but you can call me Luna."

Jim's eyes drifted to Luna while she was turned completely around, a small smirk growing on his face, knowing exactly what she was doing. "And this is Bones." Luna spoke while turning her head to look at her father. "He's the Chief Medical Officer."

Carol turned to look at him, giving him a smile while Bones just continued to watch his daughter with a confused look on his face. "That's impressive." Carol told him with a nod. "Congratulations."

Bones just gave her a charming smile that Carol blushed to. Luna got an even bigger smile on her face while she just shrugged. "Hopefully you two are going to be great friends."

Luna turned back to the front, not giving any more explanation, and not wanting to cut into their time of the first conversation they would have together. When she went back to sitting in the front, Jim pushed his fist out, trying to avoid looking at her, knowing that would tip Bones off even more. Without looking to Jim, she brought her first to his, the two tapping knuckles at what they had accomplished. Bones needed someone, and who better than a super-hot science officer who randomly got reassigned to the Enterprise?

MisfitCarter: Lol, honestly me too. I was crying because why would they do that to my man Pike? That's why I love writing and reading OCs, there's just so much more to it if that makes sense. Thank you for your review, love, and I'll keep my tissues close too.

Love. Fiction. 2017: I think I could feel everyone's heart break at the same time lol. Thank you for your review, love!

Who's trash for not updating like I said I would? I'm trash. No, but school started this week and I was like shit, I told them I would probably update once a week. I also feel like this chapter is kind of boring too, but hopefully next update will be more exciting. Hopefully 1-2 weeks is a better time estimate especially since my dumb self decided to take a whole lot of English based courses, but hey, what else am I supposed to do as an English major? I hope you all like this chapter, and please remember to review! See ya next time, Trekkies!