Hello again! I did promise a faster update schedule, and I hope I delivered - this chapter and the previous have been quite filler-y, I think, because we all deserve some good old fashioned romance after the number of chapters I made you wait. Back to regularly scheduled action - with intermittent fluff - from next time. Thank you for sticking with this story and let me know what you think! LLAP xx

P.S. has anyone else heard the rumours that we may be getting a new film in this rebooted universe? I for one CANNOT WAIT!

Forty Four

"So," began Julia, unceremoniously dumping a pile of PADDs onto Leonard's desk without warning. "I've forged your signature on three of these, but you should probably read them anyway. Two of these are research for your vaccine project, and the last one is stock information that you need to forward to Commander Spock."

Leonard gave the precariously balanced pile of PADDs a wary look. "Thanks. Should I ask how long it took you to do all this?"

"Probably not," said Julia. She sank into the chair opposite his desk and pointed to the uneaten apple sitting on it between them. "Lunch or dinner?"

"Help yourself," he said, going back to his computer. "I'm not eatin' dinner at my desk again."

"You've been leaving Sickbay at suspiciously normal times lately," said Julia, picking up the apple and taking a bite. She chewed thoughtfully, then swallowed and asked, "Any reason why?"

Leonard shrugged, carefully avoiding her eye as he continued to read the screen in front of him. "Less to do than usual."

"Maybe for you. I'm still sitting here three hours after my shift ends every day, and I'm the newly-wed."

Leonard sighed and shut his computer off, realising he wasn't going to get any more work done that night. "You askin' for a raise, or time off?"

"Since you haven't taken advantage of either of those things in months, I know better than to take it up with you," Julia said, laughing. She took another bite of the apple. "But I am curious why you've suddenly stopped being a workaholic."

"Aren't you the one always tellin' me to get out of Sickbay?" asked Leonard, instead of answering her question. "I'm just takin' your advice."

Julia shook her head. "No. You never take my advice. That's why I've been spiking your coffee once a month so you get some sleep every few weeks. At this rate, I won't even have to do it anymore."

Leonard groaned and rubbed a hand over his face tiredly. "I'm gonna ignore that confession," he said slowly. "And I'm leavin' now, unless you have somethin' you'd like me to do."

"Nah, I'm on my way out too," said Julia. But she didn't move, so Leonard stood up, gathering up two of the PADDs to take back to his quarters. As he checked to make sure the computer screen was really off, Julia suddenly asked, "Do you like music? Modern stuff, that is. You know, rock, pop, country?"

Leonard gave her a wry smile. "What, I'm from Georgia so I must like country music?"

Julia didn't smile back. "So, yes or no?"

"I don't have time to listen to any kind of music," he said. "Why?"

"I was just wondering. Hannity's quarters are in the corridor over from yours and she swears she heard music coming from someone's room the last few nights, and she recognised the song. I thought it might be you."

Leonard froze for a fraction of a second; it was too short for Julia to notice, but he studiously began avoiding her eye again as he pretended to adjust his sleeves. "You and I both know I only go back to my quarters to shower and sleep," he said, fighting to keep his tone casual. "It was probably someone else."

"You're right," Julia smiled and shrugged. "Anyway, don't let me keep you. Night, chief."

Leonard nodded back and exited his office, giving M'Benga a wave on his way out of Sickbay. The hallways of the Enterprise were relatively deserted and he only encountered a few yawning officers on his way to his quarters. Once he got to his door, he paused for a second, testing a theory. His suspicions were confirmed when he heard soft sounds coming from inside, the kind that he never heard when he was in there alone. Groaning, he inputted his code into the control panel and the doors opened, the music piercing the silence of the corridor for half a second before he stepped inside, and the doors closed behind him with a familiar mechanical whirr.

Inside his quarters, nothing looked overtly different; his coffee mug from that morning was still sitting on the counter, along with the PADD he'd forgotten to take with him, and the medical textbook he'd been skimming the night before was still lying on the coffee table, open on the same page. But there were a pair of unfamiliar high-heeled shoes in the corner by the bedroom door, a lab-coat tossed over the back of the armchair that was too small to be his, and the replicator was humming as it constructed dinner for two, something Leonard was sure it had never done until two weeks ago, when Victoria had first spent the night.

Speaking of… his eyes slid from the replicator to the desk, which was occupied. Suddenly realising she wasn't alone anymore, Victoria turned around in her seat, where she had been working on his computer, and smiled at him.

"Hi," she said. She had been fiddling with one of his pens, twisting it through the loose strands of her hair as she was reading; it fell out of her hands back onto the desk when she saw him. As she turned the computer screen off, the music abruptly stopped as well. "I didn't hear you come in."

"Not surprised," said Leonard. He tossed the PADDs in his hands onto the sofa as he headed to the bedroom, stopping only long enough to kiss Victoria's cheek. "Hey."

Victoria's fingers wrapped around his wrist before he could walk away, tugging him down to her level so she could give him a proper kiss. When she pulled away, Leonard was smiling, and she laughed. "Sorry," she said, not sounding sorry at all. "Go take your shower. Are you hungry?"

"You didn't have to make dinner for me, darlin', I told you."

Victoria wrinkled her nose in annoyance. "We've been over this, Leonard. If you're going to keep bringing me coffee in bed at six in the morning, the least I can do is input a recipe into your replicator. Just say thank you and eat something, please."

"Yes ma'am," he said, grinning at her tone. As she released his wrist, he slipped his fingers through hers and squeezed her hand. "You need to play your music quieter. Julia's noticed."

"Noticed what?" Victoria frowned. "Did someone see me come in here?"

"No, but anyone walkin' down the hall can hear your little concerts," snorted Leonard. "Have you been doin' this every time I'm not here?"

Victoria shrugged. "I guess so. It's how I always work." Leonard gave her an exasperated look, and she folded her arms across her chest defensively. "What? It's an old playlist, and it helps me concentrate. It's not like I rapped I'm sleeping with Leonard McCoy to a techno beat in the hallway."

"We've been over that too," he reminded her. "You wanted to keep it quiet; this is how we keep it quiet. People seein' you coming and going from here and hearin' your music standin' outside my door is going to make them suspicious."

"Why was Julia hovering outside your door anyway?" Victoria scrunched up her nose in confusion. "Her quarters are two decks above."

"It wasn't her," he said. "It was one of your other friends. Hannity."

"Oh," a strange expression crossed Victoria's face at the name, and Leonard was about to ask her if they were even friends, but she had already changed the subject. "Well, fine. I'll get an earpiece from the lab tomorrow."

"It's just to be safe," said Leonard, not liking the way she was suddenly avoiding his eye. "C'mon, you know why we're doin' this. If the next person to get suspicious is Jim, we're in trouble."

Victoria bit her lip. "We should tell him, shouldn't we?"

"If you want to."

She groaned. "Seriously? You're really not going to have an opinion on this? He's your best friend."

Leonard shook his head. "You practically raised him, this one's on you."

Victoria scowled. "Fine. I'll think about it." Standing up, she sidestepped Leonard and walked into the bedroom, making a beeline for the bedside table she had claimed as her own. As he followed her into the room, he frowned when he realised what she was wearing.

"Why're you still in uniform?" he asked curiously.

Victoria picked up her comm and her glasses from the table, shoving the former into her pocket and using the latter to push her hair out of her face. Her eyes, Leonard suddenly realised, weren't green; she hadn't even taken her contacts out. "I'm having drinks with Uhura and the girls tonight, remember?"

Leonard groaned. "Julia too?"

"Of course," said Victoria. She raised her eyebrows. "Is that a problem?"

"If she says anythin' about me, act dumb."

"Okay," said Victoria slowly. "You know, it is possible she isn't actually suspicious just because someone heard music in the hallway."

"Then why's she droppin' so many hints?"

Victoria gave him a withering look. "Honey, she realised you had feelings for me way before you did. She's probably just teasing you. Friends do that, you know. That's exactly why we haven't told Jim yet."

"You don't know Julia," said Leonard, shaking his head. "She's a dog with a bone. I'm tellin' you, if she says something tonight –"

"– should I make a face and squeal in disgust?" interrupted Victoria. She stuck her tongue out and closed one eye, attempting to make an appropriate expression. "How's that? Too high school or is it not immature enough for you?"

The fact that she couldn't understand he was worried for her was somehow more annoying than her mocking tone. "You think it's funny?" he demanded.

"Yes," said Victoria simply. Ignoring his glare, she kissed his cheek and made to leave the room, but he blocked her path, grabbing her arm and holding her in place. "What?" she asked. "Should I tell her I think boys have cooties too?"

"Shut up," said Leonard. He ignored her offended look at his words and tucked her loose hair behind her ear, stroking her cheek with the back of his hand. She rested her cheek against his knuckles and smiled up at him, but she looked tired, as if this was a conversation she didn't want to have because she already knew what the outcome would be, and she didn't like it. He frowned at that thought. Was it possible that she thought he didn't want people to know about her, arguably the best thing that had happened to him since he'd stepped foot onto the Enterprise? He needed her to understand that the very idea of her feeling anything for him had been an irrational fantasy; the fact that it was real was still hard for him to believe.

"I'm not doin' this for me," he said, and Victoria raised her eyebrows questioningly. "Trust me, darlin', if it was up to me, everyone in Starfleet would know about us."

She laughed at that, and the slight tension in her posture evaporated, as if she had needed to hear him say something along those lines; but why would she? Leonard didn't understand how she didn't just know it. "I understand," Victoria said. "I know you're only doing this for me. But you're better at secrets than I am."

"No one's better at secrets than you."

"Those are different," she smiled. "Trust me, this is the first time I've had a secret I'm dying to tell people about."

Leonard chuckled. "What kind of people?" he asked, eager to keep to a subject that make her smile. "Suddenly dyin' to have that conversation with Jim?"

"Of course not. I meant the girls," she said, and Leonard's eyebrows shot up in surprise. Victoria groaned. "Oh, please, you can't not know about this. If I have to listen to Hannity get drunk and go on about your accent and the things your steady hands could do in the bedroom one more time, I'm going to punch her. Or shoot her."

Well, that explains it. No wonder the mention of Hannity had irritated her. Leonard bit the inside of his cheek so he wouldn't laugh, even though Victoria looked more offended at the thought of Hannity's drunken statements than anything he'd said to her in the last few minutes. But he had a feeling laughing at her now would only make things worse. He was tempted to ask whether she'd participated in those conversations before they had gotten together; judging by the annoyed look on her face, however, he decided not to do that either. "Believe it or not, darlin', I didn't know about that," he said instead. "So that's what this is about? You want to tell your friends I ain't as good in bed as they think?"

"Stop fishing for a compliment," she rolled her eyes. "I know it's stupid, and childish, and I know I shouldn't do anything to make them suspicious, but that doesn't mean I don't secretly wish Hannity would suspect something just so she stops talking about you."

Leonard hummed thoughtfully, even as a slightly mischievous idea struck him. "Maybe I can help with that," he said, and Victoria quirked up an eyebrow curiously. He only hesitated for a second, conscious that on any other day he'd have dismissed his idea completely; they weren't sixteen years old, and Victoria was a grown woman who wouldn't do something stupid just because she was feeling a little territorial. But she was still pouting, and it made the sensible side of his brain take a backseat, because her mouth was entirely too close, and entirely too tempting.

Smirking, he gently pushed her back until she took a few steps, the back of her knees hitting the side of his bed. Leonard saw her lips twitch reluctantly, and he took advantage of her amusement and pushed her a little harder, and she yelped as she fell back onto the bed. At the last minute, her fingers closed around the collar of his shirt, pulling him down with her. Leonard managed to avoid falling on top of her, but Victoria still hadn't let go of his shirt, so he was forced to brace his arm by her head to avoid putting all his weight on her. But Victoria didn't notice; she was laughing.

"This isn't going to help with anything except make me late," she giggled, letting go of his shirt to wrap her arms around his neck. "You better not be trying to get me to cancel my plans."

"Not at all," promised Leonard. Ignoring her mouth, and the way she was biting her lower lip as she looked up at him, he ducked his head and nuzzled her neck. "But if you're gonna act like a teenager, darlin', so am I."

"What does that –" Victoria started to ask, but he cut her off quickly, giving in to temptation and capturing her mouth in a hard kiss. He could taste the chocolate he'd seen lying half-eaten on her desk on her tongue, and it made his pulse quicken, because it never got old to see just how comfortable she was in his space, around him. For a woman who was constantly on edge out of necessity, it still floored him that she seemed to put aside all her fears when she was with him; even as he broke the kiss, her name, her real name, slipped from his lips, and she smiled as her arms tightened around his neck, pulling him back in.

Momentarily forgetting why he'd even kissed her in the first place, Leonard let her control the kiss, his free hand slowly inching its way under her shirt until it came into contact with her bare skin. Victoria's teeth grazed his lower lip slightly harder than usual at his touch, and it jolted him back to the present, reminding him that she needed to leave soon, and he had had a plan. Smirking against her lips, he hooked a finger into the neckline of her shirt to pull it down. Victoria was too distracted to notice, so when he trailed his lips across her jaw and down her neck, landing on a spot that was easily hidden by her shirt, she gasped in surprise. Ignoring it, Leonard nipped at her skin playfully, and he felt her fingers snake through his hair, tugging it lightly. Wondering how much she'd let him get away with, he sucked on the spot, slightly harder. Instead of pushing him away, Victoria hissed, arching her neck. Grinning against her skin, he traced his lips along her neck and across her jaw until he reached her mouth, suddenly hungry for that specific taste of chocolate again.

"I'm going to be late," whispered Victoria, in between kisses. "They're going to start looking for me."

"Let 'em," said Leonard dismissively. He returned to the spot on Victoria's neck that was already, to his satisfaction, slightly darker than the rest of her skin, and continued to give it more attention. Her hands in his hair tightened, and he was suddenly possessed with the overwhelming urge to ignore all obligations – her evening with her friends, his pending paperwork – and spend the entire night getting lost in the taste of her skin and the sounds she made when he touched her.

Leonard did manage to tear himself away from her, after what felt like hours, but only because her comm, which was still in her pocket, chirped loudly. The noise reminded them that she had somewhere to be, and they couldn't get carried away, no matter how much they both wanted to. When he finally broke the kiss and rolled onto his side, away from her, Victoria pinched his arm.

"I hate you," she hissed, sounding out of breath. "How am I supposed to leave now like nothing happened?"

"That's the point," he said smugly. "I'm just makin' sure you keep coming back." His fingers traced the outline of the mark against her shirt. "At least you'll have somethin' to show off now in case Hannity talks about my hands again, huh?"

"As if I can show that to anyone," she muttered, but she was smiling. "And that so was not the reason you decided to act like a teenager."

"You started it."

"I did," admitted Victoria. "Well done for teaching me a lesson."

Leonard grinned, turning his head to press a kiss to her shoulder. "You need to go," he reminded her.

"What are you doing while I'm gone?" she asked curiously, turning on her side so she could see his face. "Or are you just excited to get rid of me for a night?"

He snorted. Pressing a hand against her lower back, he pulled her back into his chest, causing her to laugh. "I've got work to do, but we stay like this much longer and I ain't lettin' you go."

Victoria smiled, brushing his cheek with the tips of her fingers. "You're sweet," she whispered. "Wait up for me?"

Leonard smiled. "I will. Have fun, darlin'."

Victoria grunted and finally sat up, running her fingers through her hair to make sure it hadn't gotten too messy. Her glasses had fallen off her head at some point, and Leonard handed them back to her as she stood up. Reclining on his elbows, he watched her quickly check her face in the mirror, winking at him when she caught his reflection staring at her. Satisfied with what she saw, Victoria turned around and blew him a kiss, and then rushed out the door.

At the threshold, Victoria hesitated, automatically hovering in the open doorway for a few seconds before making sure the coast was clear and leaving his quarters. She had developed the habit after the first night she'd stayed in Leonard's quarters and had to rush back to her own to get ready for her shift. That problem had been solved by transporting an extra uniform and half her bathroom products into Leonard's bedroom the next day; she hadn't asked before doing it, and he hadn't blinked at their arrival. It was one of the things she liked about him. When he had told her he wanted this, in between drawn out kisses that still made her toes curl every time she remembered that night, he had meant he wanted all of it, from the way she hogged the covers at night to the fact that he often forced her to get some sleep, because he was an early riser and she was a night owl. No matter how many times she asked him if the light of the PADD was bothering him when she read late into the night as he slept next to her, he never uttered a word of complaint. It was almost enough to make her believe that he genuinely didn't mind having her around all the time at all.

Victoria was still smiling at that thought when she walked into the mess hall, too distracted to realise that it was much, much louder inside than it normally was. Even though there were only the usual three women inside, her smile quickly slipped off her face when she realised something was very wrong. Her entrance made no difference, however; Uhura and Hannity continued to scream at each other.

"I can't believe you're lecturing me on inappropriate relationships after what you did with Spock at the Academy!" yelled Hannity, and Victoria's eyebrows shot up. "Who are you to judge me anyway?"

"I'm not judging you!" snapped Uhura. "I'm telling you to stop being stupid."

"Not all of us can make mistakes and still be called geniuses afterwards!"

"My relationship isn't a mistake! And yours isn't even a real relationship!"

"Well, I never asked you to define what a real relationship is!"

Uhura took a step closer to Hannity, her hands curled into fists, and Victoria's eyes widened in panic. She was about to step forward as well and attempt to break up whatever fight she had just walked in on, but someone grabbed her hand and pulled her back. To her surprise, it was Julia.

"Just trust me," she whispered. "It's best to let them work it out on their own."

"Did I miss something?" asked Victoria worriedly. "Shouldn't we try to help?"

Julia sighed. "They've had this fight before, and they always make up. But this time I think Uhura's taken it too far."

Victoria opened her mouth to ask exactly what was going on, but suddenly a figure brushed past them, and the mess hall doors opened as one of the women stormed out of the room. As the doors shut behind Hannity, Uhura ran a hand through her hair tiredly and took a deep breath. Wordlessly, Julia walked up to her and handed her a glass that Victoria realised she had been holding all along. Without waiting for her to drink it, Julia walked past Victoria towards the doors, throwing her an apologetic smile as she followed Hannity out. Silence fell after her exist, and Uhura finally turned around and gave Victoria a tired smile.

"I'm sorry," she said, sinking down into a chair. "I think Julia just stuck you with me because I was too harsh on Hannity, so she's definitely on her side."

"I'm not sure what happened, so I can't judge," said Victoria slowly. "You want to fill me in?"

"She's still sleeping with Jim," snorted Uhura. "Can you believe that?"

"Who? Hannity?" Uhura nodded, and Victoria frowned. "Well, it's weird for me to accept Jim is sleeping with anyone except the stuffed bear I got him when he was seven but I don't think there's anything specifically wrong with it. Is there?"

Uhura sighed. "No, there isn't, except Jim should know better. Hell, Hannity should know better."

"Know better about what?" asked Victoria. Uhura bit her lip and sipped her drink, staring at the floor determinedly. "I'm going to need more information if you want me to take your side, Nyota."

Uhura laughed mirthlessly. "There are no sides, Tori. No offense, I know you love him and all, but Jim's still really immature. He makes it incredibly difficult to care about him sometimes. He's also really self-destructive, and it's a miracle so many women are willing to put up with him. Hannity may think he's different now, after everything that happened on Yorktown, but he isn't. He's struggling, just like the rest of us, and he won't admit it. Do you know how difficult it is, to want to help someone who refuses to even acknowledge something is wrong?"

Completely taken aback by the trajectory of the conversation, Victoria merely shrugged helplessly. Uhura gave her a triumphant look and got up to go to the but Victoria felt the sudden urge to speak; Uhura's reaction was too visceral for the issue to be as impersonal as she was claiming it to be. The only explanation she could come up with made her swallow thickly. "Uhura, I'm only going to ask you this once. You don't… like Jim… do you?"

Uhura blinked up at her in confusion. "Of course I like him. What do you mean?"

Victoria grimaced. "Look, I know the heart wants what it wants and all, but you're in a relationship. And I may not have been Spock's biggest fan in the past, but he's grown on me and he doesn't deserve to be treated like this. Also, Jim's a hot mess, so please don't fall into the trap of thinking you can fix him, or whatever, because a smart girl like you should not be –"

"Oh, you mean that kind of like!" said Uhura, realisation dawning on her face. Immediately, she scrunched up her nose in horror. "Oh, no. Me and Kirk? Hell no! Never!"

"Oh, thank goodness," Victoria heaved a sigh of relief. "I'm sorry, I am not equipped to deal with that level of drama tonight."

"Please, don't even joke," Uhura mimed gagging, and Victoria laughed. "Kirk's a great captain, and a great friend, but I'm perfectly happy with Spock."

"Why in the world are you so upset about Hannity then?"

"Because," Uhura stressed. "Jim should know better than to string her along. Even if he's told her it isn't serious, she thinks it is, and he knows that. But Jim doesn't understand that kind of love. Well, we all thought he did, but turns out it's too much for his brain to handle even on a good day."

"Oh!" Victoria's eyes widened. "You're talking about Carol, aren't you?"

Uhura froze. "He told you about her?" she demanded.

"Not exactly," admitted Victoria. She recounted the story of Jim's birthday, when he'd turned up drunk at her door and she'd seen all the calls to Carol on his comm – she neglected to mention Leonard's arrival, and Jim falling asleep in her bed. Uhura got up and started pacing as she spoke, only stopping long enough to get Victoria drink from the replicator as well. When Victoria was done, Uhura's annoyed expression had softened into something that looked like pity.

"Oh," she said softly. "I – I didn't realise he was…" she trailed off.

"Upset?" guessed Victoria. Despite Uhura's obvious regret, she still felt the need to defend Jim further. "I've known Jim since he was a toddler, Nyota. He puts on a big show, but he has a big heart, and frankly it's been broken so many times I'm always surprised that he's even capable of love. But you know how dedicated he is to his friends, and his crew. All I know about Carol is that she didn't stay on with the Enterprise for this mission, and I know Jim well enough to guess that he took it personally. Am I right?"

"Yeah," Uhura sighed. "She and I were… friends, I guess? You know the senior crew is mostly male-dominated, different species or not. It was nice to have another woman around, and Jim really did like her. Well, likes her, I suppose," she looked chagrined. "I didn't realise he was hurting, Tori, I swear. I just thought he was being himself again."

"I believe you," assured Victoria. "Maybe when we go back to Earth, they'll reconnect. You never know, do you?"

"I guess not," sighed Uhura. Victoria was about to ask her for more details about Carol, her curiosity piqued again, but the doors to the mess hall opening interrupted her, and Julia came in. Notably, she was alone.

"Let me guess," said Uhura, as the nurse got herself a drink and pulled up a chair next to her. "She hates me, and I'm not forgiven?"

"She knows you mean well, but she hates feeling like you're judging her every time she wants to talk about her love life," said Julia, sounding as though she was reciting a script from memory. She gave Victoria an apologetic look. "Sorry, Tori. Things get messy when your dating pool includes your boss, I guess."

"In that case, here's to not dating your boss," chuckled Victoria, holding up her half-empty glass. Uhura smiled reluctantly, which Julia laughed and clinked her glass against both of theirs.

"It's days like these I'm glad I'm married," said Julia, sipping her drink. "But I have to say I miss dating."

"I don't," snorted Uhura. "My dates were dinner in Spock's office from the academy cafeteria, or the library."

"I don't remember the last time I went on a date," said Victoria honestly. "I was never any good at it anyway, at least when I was at the academy. I think I always picked the wrong guys."

"Sometimes the wrong guy ends up being the right one," smiled Uhura.

"She dated her professor and is still dating him, she's the only one who gets to say that," snorted Julia. "I'm with you, Tori. I was crap at picking the right guys in the academy. I wouldn't even go out with John until all my friends had met him and told me I was an idiot for saying no."

"Oh, yeah," Uhura giggled. "And didn't McCoy threaten to beat him up when he brought you lunch at the hospital?"

"He did!" Julia laughed, and Victoria raised her eyebrows, half amused and half curious. Fortunately, she didn't need to ask, because Julia turned to her and related the story eagerly. "John would bring me lunch every time he was free and I was on the afternoon shift at the academy hospital. Leonard and I usually worked together, frankly because he was so particular he had made every nurse in the ward cry except me. John tried really hard to become friends with him, but I think maybe the second time he showed up Leonard told him to either ask me out or leave me alone because if he strung me along and broke my heart, he'd break his legs."

Uhura dissolved into laughter again, and Victoria laughed with her. In her mind's eye, she could picture Leonard making the threat, utterly reluctant to get involved but completely willing to follow through. It was sweet, how much he cared about his friends; it was even sweeter to realise that he would have never told her this story himself.

"Any man who continues to show up after a doctor tells him he can kill him and make it look like an accident is definitely the one," said Uhura, once their laughter had subsided. Victoria merely smiled and took another sip, not trusting herself to speak.

"I think any man who's willing to make an effort deserves some credit," added Julia, and Victoria tried to ignore the way the nurse's eyes lingered on her. "It doesn't have to be some kind of big gesture, and everyone's different. I know John's still pretty scared of Leonard, but he still showed up for lunch every day. And you can't tell me Spock didn't get into trouble after you guys told everyone you were dating, Nyota."

Uhura shrugged, and Victoria interjected before Julia could say something else that was a little too targeted for comfort. "So what makes someone 'the one'?" she asked, blurting out the first question she could think of. "Frankly, I wouldn't notice the signs if they hit me in the face."

"I think it's the little things," smiled Uhura. "Like, Spock will always make an effort to try the food I like, even though Vulcans are the pickiest eaters in the world. He isn't saving my life every second of every day, though he's done that too, but for a man like Spock, it's tiny things that I normally wouldn't even notice that show me how much he cares."

"John's like that too," said Julia, smiling dreamily. "You'd think being married would make the novelty wear off, but it really doesn't. He always replicates the meal we had on our first date when we have a fight, so I can see he's sorry. Last week he took apart my hairdryer and changed the settings so I could get ready faster, because now we're sharing a bathroom every day and I'm not a morning person at all."

"I think there's also a fine line between a man who wants to protect you, and someone who infantilises you," mused Uhura. "Spock can be guilty of the latter sometimes, but he'll always listen when I object to something he's doing, and I appreciate that. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a man that willing to change his behaviour after a single conversation?"

"Ugh, I know!" groaned Julia. "Do you have any idea how many frogs I had to kiss before John came along? My work schedule is crazy, and it's always been a deal breaker in every relationship I've ever had. Some of them have even told me I'm just a nurse, not a real doctor, so I can't have that much to do anyway," she snorted, while both women made noises of annoyance. "John never even brought it up. In fact, I'm pretty sure he did all my laundry during my last year at the academy while I was sitting for my boards."

"That's sweet," smiled Victoria. "You both sounds really happy."

Uhura threw her a knowing look. "Okay, Tori, out with it. Is there something we should know about? Or someone?"

Victoria shook her head, avoiding Julia's eye as the nurse leaned in, eager to hear her answer. "Oh, I was just curious. I've kissed a lot of frogs too, and I'm actually happy being a loner for a while."

Uhura groaned. "I knew we should've set you up with someone at Julia's wedding!"

"Oh, I don't think Tori needs that much help in the romance department," said Julia slyly. Victoria's eyes finally snapped to hers, but the nurse was giggling in a way that reassured her. She was just tipsy. "You should have seen the way one of John's colleagues was staring at her at the wedding. I think he even wanted to ask her to dance, but she left early. Where did you go anyway?"

Victoria shrugged, hiding her smile behind her glass. "I told you, I like being a loner," she lied easily, and the conversation drifted to other things.

Three hours later, when Victoria returned to Leonard's quarters, the lights were dimmed but the door to the bedroom was still open, the soft light indicating that Leonard had stayed up just as she'd asked. There was a hypospray waiting for her on the coffee table, along with a pair of headphones that were definitely new. There was also a familiar neon-green piece of paper next to the items.

Just making sure you keep coming back. – L