Charlie quickly found herself sucked into a discussion on strategy. They were no longer pursuing the fleet and instead were pursuing the Romulan ship alone.

"And just how do you intend to go undetected?" she asked.

Chekov quickly gave a solution. "If we get warp factor four then we can hide behind one of Saturn's moons, say Titan, and be completely inwisible to the Romulan ship."

"Aye, it may work!" Scott assured them.

"Hold on," McCoy demanded. "Just how old are you, kid?"

"Sewenteen, sir," Chekov replied, as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

"Great, we're listening to a seventeen-year-old!"

"We should listen to him," Charlie said. "I'm not completely sure about the physics of it, but Chekov would not be on this ship if he were not a very capable Starfleet cadet. And Mr. Scott agrees with him, to boot. Logically, as Spock would say, we should listen to his idea."

"You should listen to Dr. Jacobs." Spock was up to his old habits again, but this time Charlie actually found him on her side – a strange reversal of luck. "The cadet's plan can work. I'll beam aboard the Romulan ship and take back the black hold device."

"I'm going with you." They all stared at Kirk as if he were crazy.

"I would cite regulation, but I know you will simply ignore it." That about summed up James Kirk in a nutshell.

After Kirk and Spock had left the ship, everyone on the bridge looked at each other. "So…" Charlie said. "Does anyone know who's in charge now, because I certainly don't."

They all looked at each other before McCoy finally spoke up. "I think it's me but I think Kirk also gave Sulu and order to fire if he had a tactical advantage, which might make him captain. Jim never really specified."

"Alright then, Captain, I think you better keep your ass on this bridge."

McCoy looked at Charlie and saw a twinkle in her brown eyes, as if she liked calling him 'captain'.

Waiting was one of the most difficult parts: not knowing whether Spock and Kirk would live or whether their plan would work. She had to admit that Sulu was an excellent navigator, easily defending Spock as he headed straight for the Romulan ship. They would be beamed aboard soon, if they were alive.

She and McCoy looked at each other, knowing that they had the exact same idea. They both ran to the pad, hoping they would see at least two figures standing on it but they were surprised with three.

"Jim!"

"Dr. McCoy, I think Captain Pike is in need of medical assistance."

He nodded and supported Pike's weight as Charlie analyzed the condition of their captain. As he was laid down in one of the very few free beds in the med bay and began injecting him with all manner of different concoctions in a hope that she could have him on his feet as soon as possible.

"You were right, Dr. Jacobs," he said with a smile. "I think you are very useful when acting as a doctor rather than being assigned a combat position. You should still get that combat training, though. I think you could be pretty impressive within only a few weeks."

She returned his smile. "Thank you, Captain Pike. I appreciate your confidence in me."

He looked at her very seriously. "I don't think I have ever met a single decent Starfleet officer who didn't have one or two enormous screw-ups under their belt, Dr. Jacobs. Besides, yours is hardly noteworthy. One day you may hear the story of what happened to me two weeks before I officially became a Starfleet captain. I can tell you right now that you will be thankful for that night rather than the embarrassment that I endured."

Before Charlie could respond she heard McCoy calling her over to help with a patient. As they worked together on a blood transfusion, she couldn't help but think to herself that she could so easily get used to working with McCoy. In fact, if she were ever to be assigned to another starship, she would probably feel a little strange without the doctor who was so in sync with her.

Just after they had finished the blood transfusion, the ship rocked, causing Charlie to faceplant the floor, breaking her nose in the process. McCoy quickly helped her up, noticing the blood spurting from her face. As they tried to prevent another mess in the once-pristine med bay, Charlie noticed that the rocking didn't stop and cracking sounds could be heard throughout the ship. "What the hell is going on?" she asked.

"Hell if I know, I'm a doctor not an omniscient. All I know is that your nose is broken."

"I'm quite aware of that fact, Dr. McCoy."

They held onto each other for balance in the ensuing chaos, each catching the other on more than one occasion. Clearly something was wrong with the ship but most of the time the bridge didn't see fit to inform the med bay of what was going on – even on a normal starship that followed protocol. All they could do was hope that Kirk managed to pull something out of his ass which wasn't entirely unlikely due to his seemingly superhuman ability to accomplish such a feat on a regular basis.

Once the rocking stopped, neither of them was particularly interested in learning what had happened and instead check on all of their patients: a few had fallen just as Charlie had.

Charlie stared at her nose in the mirror, preparing herself to set it. She did the deed, causing a jolt of pain to go through her face and tried to ensure that her nose would stay set while removing the blood. "You still haven't taken care of that?"

She turned to so McCoy staring at her. "Patients come first," she reminded him. He grumbled before trying to check the damage himself, irritating her. "Should we work together in the future, you should know that I prefer to take care of minor injuries myself."

"You don't think we'll be assigned to the same ship?" he asked.

"It's very possible we'll be assigned to different ships, as disappointing as that would be."

McCoy perked up a little. She had said she would be disappointed never to work with him again. "So you would be disappointed?"

"Yes," replied. "We work very well together when you aren't trying to fix my injuries that I can easily see to myself. I like working with you." She felt herself flush as little bit, saying that. For the first time – at least while she was sober – Charlie felt like she might want to kiss him.

"I like working with you, too," he replied awkwardly.

"Bones!"

McCoy came out of the stupor he had been sitting in for quite some time. "What, Jim?"

"I'm sure you've heard that Captain Pike is retiring?"

"Everyone knows that."

"Well, do you also know who's relieving him?" Kirk asked, waggling his eyebrows up and down.

"You've got to be kidding me," McCoy asked with utter disbelief.

"That doesn't sound like the nice kind of disbelief, Bones. Do you doubt my abilities as a Starfleet captain?" he asked with mock hurt in his voice.

"Congratulations on being one lucky bastard," he grumbled.

"Luck had nothing to do with it!" Kirk declared indignantly. "Anyway, what has your panties in a twist? You're acting more like a curmudgeon than usual, which is saying something."

"It's nothing."

"Ahhh," Kirk said. "You're talking about that doctor that you're so into." The delight of embarrassing his friend was alight in his eyes.

"You're lucky she believed me when I told her you were lying."

"Why would that make you lucky? If you had told her you thought she was hot then you could be having sex with her right now instead of moping."

"The kiss meant nothing to her, she was drunk. But that's not the only thing. We got along really well on the Enterprise and made a damn good team. I was making progress on actually getting her to like me when I was reminded that we would probably be assigned to different ships. I was this close, Jim. And, by the way, I am not only interested because I think she's attractive."

"Jesus, Bones, maybe this would work better if you weren't so uptight about it. Did you ever consider that? Women are not nearly as complicated as everyone says they are. All you have to do is get some flowers, tell her she's pretty, and say you want to go on a date with her. That, my friend, is the first equation in the formula for hot sex."

"Is that all you think about with woman?"

Kirk shrugged. "Anyway, I will tell you that there are ways to figure out if a woman likes you apart from just asking her. If you want to know, then you can just ask one of her friends. I get the feeling that she doesn't get out much – especially if you're into her – so her friends will probably jump at the opportunity to set her up on a date. Besides, she might really want to go out with someone to get over that Ryan guy she punched. Man, that was hilarious," he sighed, remembering everything that had happened that night.

"I don't want to be a rebound and which friends should I ask? Uhura? I'm sure she'll be really forthcoming with information," he said sarcastically.

"Sitting and moping isn't going to get you anywhere," Kirk told him seriously. "Just do it."

Charlie was walking out of her favorite coffee shop when she nearly ran into Commander Spock. She froze, expecting some sort of lecture or interrogation from him as was his customary form of communication with her.

"Dr. Jacobs, I'm glad I've found you."

"You're glad to find me?" she asked incredulously.

"I believe that is the customary phrase humans use when they've been looking for someone." Charlie nodded, dazed. "I have come to address a matter which requires attention. I meant it when I informed Dr. McCoy that you were correct on the bridge. However, I was not only referring to the fact that you supported Ensign Chekov's plan. You also stated that Ensign Chekov would not be on the Enterprise if he were not qualified. That statement was true, and remains true, for all crewman aboard the Enterprise. I have come to express my regrets that I passed judgment on your abilities based on your activities on a single evening, even if the activities warranted regret."

Charlie couldn't believe it. He was apologizing?

"Furthermore, I would like to inform you that you performed admirably on that mission. You more than exceeded what was expected of your position, saving the lives of sixty-seven Vulcans who would not have otherwise lived. I appreciate the fact that you kept the directive of the mission in mind while others forgot it in the panic."

"Thank you," she stuttered, still in disbelief that the Vulcan had actually said something nice to her – at least, nice for a Vulcan.

"I hope we may work together in the near future, Dr. Jacobs. You would be very useful to have on a ship."

As Spock walked off – undoubtedly to do something important – Charlie realized that her mouth was a little agape. She had to have imagined it. But she didn't think she had.

McCoy walked grudgingly onto the bridge. Time for yet another trip into space – not the final frontier, but probably his final resting place. Space was dangerous enough on its own, but now he had Kirk as a captain and that could easily spell trouble. Jim had gotten them into tight situations more than once in the time they had known each other. He was, after all, anything but a cautious man.

Spock walked onto the bridge and Kirk gave the position of being first officer aboard the ship. That wasn't altogether surprising, but the next person to walk onto the bridge was. It was Charlie.

"Captain, you asked me to come to the bridge?" she asked, glancing at McCoy.

"Yes, Dr. Jacobs. I just wanted to welcome you to the Enterprise and express how honored I am that you would accept my request to be stationed on this ship."

"I appreciated the request to serve on such a prestigious ship," she replied.

"Requesting her was an excellent idea, Captain," Spock said. "Dr. Jacobs is a very competent officer."

She walked over to McCoy and smiled. "Do you still hate space?" she asked.

"Not quite as much as I did before."

McCoy was heading home after a very long mission aboard the Enterprise when he was suddenly confronted someone wearing an operations red uniform. "Uhura?" he asked, dumbfounded.

"Just ask her out," she replied angrily. "I saw you two on that mission but you're both just too stupid to say anything. She likes to, too, you idiot now go and ask her before I smack you for your stupidity."

At that, she turned his shoulders in the direction of Charlie's apartment and shoved him. "Her room number is 253."

He was still in his Starfleet uniform so he ran to his own apartment first to quickly change. He found himself standing in front of the door, incapable of knocking out of nervousness. Eventually, he gave three quiet knocks to the door.

After a moment, the door opened to Charlie. Her hair wasn't pulled back so it was frizzing and appeared completely beyond help. She also stood not in the uniforms he had grown accustomed to seeing her in, but in a pair of sweatpants and an oversized t-shirt. She had clearly been planning on going to bed. Shit.

"Leonard," she said with surprise. She also appeared a little embarrassed to be seen in her pajamas.

"If you're busy I can do this another time." Lies. He would never get the courage to do this again.

"No, uh, come in," she said awkwardly.

Her apartment was in complete disarray – likely due to the neglect it was receiving because of Charlie's frequent missions aboard the Enterprise. "Sorry about the mess."

"I didn't even notice. Charlie, I was thinking about how well we work together in the med bay and an idea crossed my mind: maybe we would work together elsewhere, too? So…would you like to go on a…night…meeting." Night meeting? What the hell was a night meeting?

"If you're asking me on a date your answer is yes. Is that what a night meeting is?" she teased.

He couldn't believe it had been that easy. It seemed that everything Jim said wasn't complete and utter bullshit after all. "You don't think it will be awkward or inappropriate since we work together?"

"No to both of those. Besides, I know a few other people on the ship who are dating and they seem to handle it pretty well." She looked him up and down. "No flowers?" she teased again.

"I don't believe in bribing women."

"Ever the gentleman." She stood on her toes then and kissed him. "I swear I'm sober this time."

I will be continuing this with Star Trek: Into Darkness, so there is more fun to be had with McCoy and Charlie.