Charlie and her mother were staring daggers at one another while Mr. Jacobs continued eating – this was nothing new to him – and Leonard fidgeted nervously in his chair.
"I still can't believe you waited an entire year to tell us, Charlene."
"Well, mother, I wasn't aware that it was vital for me to share every detail of my romantic life with you." Mrs. Jacobs continued complaining while Charlie sipped wine in an attempt to prevent herself from snapping.
"Is it always like this?" Leonard asked Mr. Jacobs.
"Pretty much. They've never gotten along terribly well. Honestly, I was a little relieved when Charlene went to college because I didn't have to endure dinners like this nearly as often."
"How long does this usually go on?"
"Usually the entire dinner. My wife may make an exception this time since we haven't seen Charlene in so long but I'm not getting my hopes up. It's best not to get involved, so at least you have that much sense. Ryan always tried to mediate and that never ended well for anyone – least of all him." Leonard hated it whenever Ryan was brought up, but he realized that Mr. Jacobs was trying to give him a compliment so he chose to simply accept it.
The two men had been ignoring Charlie and Mrs. Jacobs for a while now, so they were surprised when they heard Charlie choke on her drink. "What? Why the hell are you asking that question?"
"I think it's legitimate! What do you plan to do about marriage? I mean, how is that going to work while you're running amuck in Starfleet?" Leonard also made a choking sound after hearing that question and a deep red color spread through his face.
Charlie took on a very serious look and deadpanned, "I have no intentions of ever getting married and I intend to leave you without a single grandchild." Though she clearly wasn't serious, the comment still irritated her mother.
"Leonard, I think we're in for a long night," Mr. Jacobs sighed.
Weeks had passed since the Khan incident, he and his crew locked away where they could do no harm, but Enterprise was still very much out of commission so it would be a while before Leonard would be off-planet. In fact, a lot of Starfleet's activities had been put on temporary hiatus until the Khan debacle was sorted out and headquarters were repaired.
So, given there was nothing particularly exciting going on in their lives for a moment, Charlie was surprised to see a very distraught Leonard entering their apartment. She raised a questioning eyebrow.
"Apparently Starfleet has chosen Enterprise for the five-year mission," he informed her, his voice numb.
"What?" This ruined all of their plans. Charlie and Leonard had only just been making plans on how they would adjust to working on two different Starships and now this? How would they make this work when Leonard wouldn't be back on Earth for another five years? Besides, her transfer had already gone through.
"We're going on the five year mission." He slowly sat down in a chair, trying to process their new situation. "I don't know what we should do about it."
The rest of the night was spent in relative silence as each contemplated what the five-year mission would mean for them. This same silence lasted into the next morning. It became so unbearable that Charlie left the apart and began walking aimlessly. Unsurprisingly, her 'aimless' walking became very deliberate; by the time she had come out of her stupor, she was at Starfleet Headquarters, the reconstruction of multiple buildings going on around her.
She didn't know why she continued walking, but she ended up running into someone she had not expected to see: Captain Ortiz.
"Ah, Dr. Jacobs," she said pleasantly. "I'm glad that I found you. I am pleased to inform you that your transfer to the U.S.S. Archer has been terminated."
"Why are you pleased about it?" Charlie asked, dumbfounded, before quickly adding, "Ma'am."
"I heard about Enterprise receiving the five-year mission and I knew that you wouldn't want to miss that opportunity. It also isn't any secret that the crew of Enterprise is a close-knit one. I imagine you're friends with a number of the crew."
"Yes," she replied quietly.
"So, with that in mind, I terminated your transfer. Captain Kirk should be receiving notice of the termination shortly. Once he has been informed, he will decided whether or not to invite you back to Enterprise – not that we all don't know what his decision will be. And, assuming I know anything about Kirk, he will probably be so excited that he heads straight to your residence."
Captain Ortiz may have been more strict than Kirk, but Charlie knew now that she could be every bit as kind as the captain of Enterprise. "Thank you, Captain Ortiz."
For the first time since the two women had met, Ortiz cracked a small smile. "No need. I understand what it means to be attached to one's crew. Don't think that Kirk is the only person whose crew is their family. It's been a pleasure meeting you Dr. Jacobs and I look forward to hearing about the exploits of Enterprise on its five-year mission."
Charlie smiled back, scarcely believing how lucky she had been to receive the understanding of Ortiz.
Once she was back at the apartment, she was trying to decide the best way to tell Leonard when her answer came crashing through the door with a bottle of vodka. "Bones! I hear the traitor has changed her mind. She's lucky I chose to return her to her position," he added – only half teasing.
"What are you talking about, moron?"
Jim pulled an impatient and irritated face. "What I'm saying, Bones, is that your girlfriend is officially back on Enterprise thanks to my forgiving nature."
Leonard spun his head towards Charlie, sending the very clear message that she needed to explain. "I wasn't aware that I was back on Enterprise until this morning. Jim must have been informed of the cancelled transfer while I was walking back here."
"Which is why we need to celebrate!" Jim cried as he began pouring shots.
Leonard was completely ignoring him, though, and instead chose to pull Charlie into an absolutely suffocating hug. He had been absolutely clueless as to what they would do and it seemed as if all of his life's problems had been solved in that instant.
"There is one problem, though," Jim said very seriously, eliciting terrified looks from the other two. "We have a shortage on rooms so it may be necessary for a few people to double-up. As punishment for even considering leaving Enterprise, you'll have to be one of the people to double-up, Charlie. I know it will be so difficult for you to find a volunteer," he added dramatically.
They rolled their eyes as Kirk nearly finished the bottle all by himself.
"I should probably make sure he doesn't do something monumentally stupid on the way home," Leonard groaned irritably.
Charlie nodded, happy that she would have a moment to think things over. She had always put her career first but now things were different; maybe her mother hadn't been crazy to ask about marriage. After all, because Charlie had just set back her career by at least five years so she and Leonard could be together – a sacrifice she would not have been willing to make with just anyone. Then Charlie remembered that all of her friends were on Enterprise and realized that she hadn't just done this for Leonard, though he had played a large role in her decision, she had also done this for the other people she cared about. Upon that realization, she became permanently confident in her decision to return to Enterprise.
When Leonard came back, he wrapped his arms around her again and kissed the top of her head. "I know how much the Archer meant to you but I can't even begin to tell you how happy I am that you chose to stay."
"Given the circumstances, it was the right decision. But when we get back, you better bet your ass that I'm going to become a chief medical officer whether it's aboard Enterprise or another Federation ship."
He smiled. "I would be surprised if you didn't." His face fell. "I know that this is hard for you. Are you going to be okay?"
"Of course. I'll be spending the next five years discovering new worlds with my closest friends; I don't think that sounds too bad, do you? Honestly, I'm more worried about you. How are you going to cope with living in space for the next five years? Do you intend to constantly take medication for motion sickness?"
He rolled his eyes in mock irritation but nothing could possibly have dampened Leonard's mood that day.
It had been quite a while since Enterprise had been destroyed and Charlie and Leonard were leaving their apartment for the last time, taking only their most precious belongings with them on the mission. To Charlie, it didn't feel as if she was leaving everything behind, though. It felt as if she was going home. Her familiar blue uniform, the familiar ship and its familiar faces would always be her natural habitat – more than any apartment or house could ever compete with.
Jim had wanted Charlie's return to be a surprise to everyone, so she humored him. But she hadn't been happy she had humored him until she saw the look of surprise on Nyota's face. A tight hug ensued as explanations were given. Even Spock's face almost looked surprised.
"Charlie? It's so good to see you." Spock's outburst had by no means been over-the-top but by Vulcan standards he may as well have broken out into a jig – this fact emphasized by the slight green tint that traveled through his face. "Sick bay would have had a difficult transition if it had new assistant chief medical officer. You have saved us a lot of trouble by returning and the ship will run all the better for it," he quickly added, trying to hide the fact that he might actually have feelings of friendship for another person.
Spock quickly walked away, clearly embarrassed by the encounter, which made Charlie smile: she was definitely home.
On the bridge, she was welcomed by Scotty, Sulu, Chekov and most of all by Jim. But there was one face on the bridge that she was not quite used to seeing there. Carol Marcus walked slightly awkwardly towards the captain's chair. "Dr. Marcus," Jim chirped. "Welcome to the family."
"It's good to have a family, sir," she replied.
Charlie had to agree. Although they would all undoubtedly go their separate ways at some point, for the time being she would be sure to enjoy the time she had with the other crew members of the U.S.S. Enterprise.
A/N: Okay, so I debated quite a bit on what to do with this chapter and with the story in general. So, I have decided to temporarily label this story as complete until the new Star Trek movie comes out in 2016. Yes, I know that is a long time to wait but I really want to see what they choose to do with the alternate timeline particularly where Kirk and Marcus are concerned. I'm not sure how closely their relationship, and what ensues afterwards, is going to mirror the original timeline. Therefore, I choose to wait. What I may end up doing is writing Charlie's story from the original timeline, giving a completely different story on how she and McCoy meet. I definitely intend to publish another Star Trek story soon, whether or not McCoy is in it. So if you're interested, keep an eye out around the New Year which is when I'm hoping to publish. Thank you all for reading and I apologize for the short and somewhat abrupt ending.