"I can't believe you think that Captain Kirk was the better Captain!" Eddie blurted out in frustration.

"He was the original. He set the standard. Anyone else that came after him was just trying to fill his big shoes," Jamie defended.

"Oh, come on! Kirk was more interested in goofing off with the ladies than he was in commanding the ship. But Picard—see, he had a good head on his shoulders. He was smart. And WISE. His crew respected him. AND, he was a very good negotiator." Eddie rambled on.

"He was bald!"

Eddie smacked him in the arm. "What's that got to do with it?"

"I'm just saying…" Jamie smiled.

It took them a little longer than usual to arrive at Eddie's apartment building with her walking the way she was, but Jamie didn't mind. He loved sparring with her over their favorite movies or TV shows, or discussing random facts about everyday life. They always had something to talk about. And it gave him more time to spend alone with her, off duty. He was learning more about her all the time, discovering her likes and dislikes. His sister Erin had been right in calling him out on it. He enjoyed Eddie's company and couldn't seem to get enough.

They stopped right at the bottom of the stairs to the main entrance. Eddie looked down. She put one foot up on the first step but then thought better of it. She knew there was no muscle left in her leg to be able to push off and bring her other foot up. Jamie saw her hesitate.

"Oh. Stairs. I don't think I can do stairs. Got no muscles left," she crinkled her nose at him, almost apologetically.

"Here, let me help," Jamie replied. He wrapped an arm around her waist, and she did the same to him. She could feel him boost her up a little with each stair they took, one at a time, until they made it to the top. Then they just stood there. Neither of them wanted to let go of each other.

Eddie turned into him to face him. She wrapped her other arm around him and he automatically followed suit. Here they were again, in the same position as before; in each other's arms.

They stared into each other's eyes, both knowing that they shouldn't be having these feelings, that they were on the verge of crossing that line, but the temptation was getting to be too much. They leaned into each other and allowed their foreheads to touch. They were quiet, both contemplating whether or not they should kiss, each one knowing that they wanted to badly.

"Jamie…I-"

"Eddie, we shouldn't," he cut her off, but made no attempt to move other than to hold her even tighter. They were gently swaying now in their embrace.

Eddie brought her head down and moved her lips over his cheek, stopping right at the side of his mouth. "We could…"she whispered against his skin.

The feel of her lips so close to his made him shiver in anticipation.

"We could…" he moved his head a little to the side so that her lips were on the corner of his mouth. "But…"

Their lips met softly, barely touching with the sensation like the wisp of a feather.

"But…what?" she breathed into him.

"We can't have both," he admitted, pulling back a little, knowing she would understand he meant that their Partnership was at stake.

"Who says? No one needs to know…" she tempted him, drawing him back in.

He smiled against her lips, knowing that four people in his life had already suspected. "It's getting very difficult for me to hide my feelings for you."

"And which feelings are those?" she asked as she looked up into his eyes.

He met her gaze. "I'm in love with you."

Her heart flip-flopped. "Jamie…I love you, too."

Their lips finally crashed into each other, releasing the passion that had been held back for so long.

When it got to the point where she just wanted to take him upstairs and rip his clothes off, she broke apart first and buried her face in his chest and held him tight. He kissed the top of her head and then rested his chin there. She fit perfectly underneath him.

"What are we going to do?" she asked, her voice muffled against his jacket.

He rubbed circles on her back with the palm of his hand, wondering the same thing.

"I want you in my life, Eddie. We'll figure it out," was the only answer he had for now. He didn't want to let her go, but it was getting very late, and he knew she must be exhausted. "Hey, you need your rest, and I have early shift, so…"

"Yeah, I know." She let go of him and he slowly released her. "Jamie?"

"Yeah?"

"You know, we've been feeling this way about each other for a while now, and our Partnership has been really good. Why do we have to-?"

"Let's not worry about it for now, okay? Let's get through this week and see how it goes, take things day by day?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Okay."

He ran his fingers affectionately through her hair. "You want me to come over and see how you're doing after I'm done with tour tomorrow?"

She smiled and gave him one more kiss. "See you tomorrow."

He watched her limp and waddle towards the door.

"Hey Girl!" he yelled.

She turned around, waiting for the punch line.

"I'll bring you some ribs from Anton's and massage your feet for you."

"Hot Damn. Now THAT's the one!"

~fin~