Welcome to chapter 14! My momentum has certainly slowed, but the good news is that at this point I already have a lot of chapter 15 written! I'll try to get that posted in the next couple of weeks. Anyway, I appreciate all of the comments I have received on this story! I have enjoyed writing it and so it means a lot that you guys are enjoying the gang as well! Anyway, I will stop rambling on here and let you get back into it! Enjoy!

"Alright, last up we have Gray and Hall." Ash says and Simmons looks at me. I smile reassuringly. I move into the ring and I can tell that Hall is nervous. "You know what I expect from both of you. I don't care what happened then, what's important is now."

"Yes, sir." I say as I fall into my favored stance, my voice is still a little hoarse. Hall readies himself and we look to Ash who nods. I attack and it quickly becomes the sort of thing where he is just blocking. "Hall, don't do that to yourself."

"I'm sorry your brother is psychotic." He says and then I decide to do something that I really never wanted to have to do in a classroom setting. I switch to tactics that will piss him off and it starts working quickly. He throws his first actual punch and I drop and sweep his feet out from under him. I go in to subdue him and he kicks me across the ring, right in the stomach. I cough but keep moving as he comes back at me. He grabs me by the shoulders and that pisses me off. I jump and kick him square in the chest with both feet. He falls backwards and I bring the motion around and land in a crouch before I take him to the ground. We grapple for a moment before he shoves me away again. I'm not going to beat him like I did before. I'm backing away from him as I plan my next move.

"This isn't a dance recital, Gray." Ash says and I spring forward and plant my hand as I swing my body around like a pendulum and land a solid kick to his ribs. He manages to take me to the ground this time, I'm pinned down pretty good, but I don't give up fighting. He's pinning my arms. I am able to bring my legs in and I push off of his thighs into a backwards roll. He stays on me, but at least we're on our feet again. I weave out of the way of a solid punch and I throw a mean uppercut. His head whips back and he looks dazed, but he grabs me by the shoulders and he headbutts me. He looks satisfied with himself until he realizes that I'm pretty much unphased. I need to end this. He throws a kick, but I catch his foot and twist his leg around. He falls on his face. I leap onto his back and get him into a blood choke. "Three seconds, Hall." He taps and I release him. I keep my eyes on him as he lays there for a moment.

"Hall." I say as I walk over, holding my hand out to him. He looks up at me and he seems to contemplate it, but then he takes my hand and allows me to help him up. "Good fight." I hold out my fist.

"Good fight." He says as he fist bumps me. "How do you get on the carotid literally every single time no matter where you're coming from?"

"Well, when your predominant style of fighting is trying to knock someone out so you don't have to fight. Also, I'm a nurse and I date a doctor." I say with a shrug and then I go back over to my group. Ash makes eye contact with me and he nods towards the door to the classroom. I see Leonard and Jim.

"We're going to take a five-minute break, then we'll run some drills." Ash says and I playfully jab at Simmons as I normally do before I go over a step out into the hall.

"How can I help you gentlemen?" I ask as I place a hand on my hip. Leonard doesn't even try to hide the fact that he's looking me over for injuries. "Aren't you supposed to be in the clinic?"

"Fairchild owed me a favor. I had a feeling." He says and Jim just shrugs and hands me a bottle of water.

"Personally, I was against spying on you while you're in class." He says and I smile as I drink deeply. "But damn that uppercut was nasty."

"I put a little stank on it." I shrug. "Last time I dazed him with a knee to the chin, so I don't feel like the uppercut was as impressive."

"Impressive." Leonard scoffs and then his eyebrows furrow. "Darlin', hold out your hand." I give him a look but hold out my hand. It's not shaking. I close my eyes and smile.

"Oh, I've gotta go. See you later, Ol." Jim says as he kisses my cheek and darts off. I watch after him for a moment before I turn to Leonard who shrugs.

"Anyway, I told you Ash wasn't a total lunatic." I say as I hug him. "He genuinely is a good teacher."

"I don't like his methods." He says and I look up at him and stand up on my toes. He leans in the rest of the way and I kiss him.

"Since you're not working in the clinic today, do you want to walk me back to my room after class?" I ask and he raises his eyebrows.

"Darlin', it would be my pleasure." He says and I smile before I press one more kiss to his lips and head back in.

"The two of you warm my cold, dead heart." Simmons says and I roll my eyes at him as I roll my shoulders. "Especially when you jump into his arms and do the foot pop thing."

"Shut your mouth before I shut it for you." I say as I smack his arm. "And I do not jump into his arms."

"You have though." Daniels says and I shoot him a look. "Juarez pointed out the foot pop. The way he picks you up like it's nothing?"

"Well she does weigh basically nothing." Simmons says and I put my hands on my hips. "It's gotten better."

"It has. I'm fighting for one-twenty-five now." I say, but then I shake my head. "I thought the two of you were my only friends who weren't obsessed with my relationship."

"It's not their fault you guys are easily the cutest couple on campus." Diaz says from where she's laying on the floor. "And I have seen the foot pop." She says and I shoot her a look. "I'm glad at least one of us is seeing action." I don't have to see myself to know that my face is bright red. She gets a good laugh out of that. "Is he that good in bed?"

"I am done talking to all three of you." I say as I turn away from them and take a drink of water before I toss the bottle on my pile of stuff.

"He must be pretty good if you won't say anything." She says and I shoot her a pleading look. "Gray, we are all adults here."

"Except Daniels looks like a giggling twelve-year-old-boy." I say as I jerk my thumb in his direction. "I don't need to talk about my sex life in class. And unless you want to ask him yourself, that doesn't mean ambush me after class either."

"That's an interesting thought." She says and I sigh heavily. "Outside of classes, the only entertainment I get is Giggle Pets. I need adult conversations to survive."

"Then I will personally pay for a news subscription for you." I say and she laughs again. "Honestly, Diaz. You're killin' me today. But also, I should say, I love children and if you ever need a mommy's night out, I would be more than happy to look after your angel. All children love me."

"I'll keep that in mind." She says and I smile. We all converge on Ash as the five minutes is up. The rest of the class flies by and once we are dismissed, I gather up my things and run for the door.

"Gray!" Diaz calls as menacingly as she can through her laughter. Leonard pushes off from where he's leaned against the wall and I grab him by the hand and try to tug him into a run. "Ha! Confusion wins, so we were having a pretty interesting conversation…"

"Iris, please." I say, pleading with her, hoping that my use of her first name will work as an emotional appeal. "I offered to watch your little angel for you. Go out and chase your own dreams." She doubles over laughing at that.

"Calm down, Gray. I'm kidding. It's very nice to see you, Dr. McCoy. You might want to check her heart." She says and he raises an eyebrow at me. "She'll say we were being crass."

"I'm sorry, directly asking me if my boyfriend is good in bed is a little crass." I say and Leonard laughs.

"Well, am I?" He asks and I look up at him with raised eyebrows. I put my face in my hands, even though there is no hiding how red my face is. I'm okay with talking to him about sex. I honestly don't know why I get so freaked out.

"Nope. You're terrible. Goodbye to everyone. I'm going to die in a hole." I finally say and I turn on my heel and walk away. Diaz is laughing harder. I'm not angry, just embarrassed.

"Darlin', wait up!" Leonard calls, he's trying not to sound so amused. "I'm not gonna let ya die in some hole." He catches up to me. He puts his arm around my shoulders and he kisses the top of my head. "People wouldn't tease ya as much if your reaction wasn't so cute."

"You're banned from coming to my combat classes." I say and he at least tries to disguise his laugh as a cough. So I guess I can forgive him.

"So you were kidding, right?" He asks and I look up at him and shrug. "Darlin', I thought that…" He reads my expression before he narrows his eyes at me. "Alright, I deserved that."

"Mhm." I say as I pull on my jacket. I see through the clear front doors that it's raining. "Good thing I was planning on taking a shower anyway." I say as I at least zip up the jacket, even though it won't do anything to keep me dry.

"I knew I should've checked to see if you had your rain jacket with you." He says with a shake of his head as he goes to take off his own jacket.

"No, I'm not going to let you be nice. Not since you made fun of me." I stick my tongue out at him before I take off running into the rain.

"Damn it, Ollie!" He calls after me, still amused. He catches up with me at least. "You're gonna catch a cold."

"I will be fine, we're already more than half-way there." I say and then I push my hair out of my face. "This really came out of nowhere."

"Well it's spring, it'll do that." He says and we lapse into silence. We reach the dorm and once we're on the lift, I let out a little laugh. I'm dripping. We arrive at my room and I press in my code before we go inside.

"Computer, any messages?" I ask as I start peeling off my soaking wet clothes. I start the shower.

"You have one audio clip from Troian Sullivan." The computer responds and then it begins playback. "Hey Ollie, I'm going to be gone again this weekend. I promise we will have a girl's night soon. Things are just a little crazy right now. I love you and don't forget to eat on Saturday. I know you did last weekend and I know McCowboy is probably there with you right now giving you that look. Don't do anything I wouldn't do. Bye!"

"You're really going to give me that look when I'm most of the way undressed in front of you?" I ask my boyfriend as I stand before him in my sports bra and underwear. "Because I'm a grown woman, I can take a shower by myse-" I don't get to finish the thought.

"Admiral Sullivan, you asked to see me?" I ask as I stand at the doorway to his office. He's almost never here, so it's kind of odd to see him. I'm not entirely upset to see him, but after AC 305, I am ready to go back to my room and take a long, hot shower. As things are, though, I'm here in uniform.

"Yes, please come in. Close the door behind you." He says and I do as I'm asked and take the seat he gestures to me. "It's been a long time since we've had an actual chat."

"So is this an Admiral Sullivan and Cadet Gray chat or a Trevor and Olivia chat?" I ask and he chuckles.

"I thought I told you to call me Dad." He says and I smile. "Troian told me that she's told you the most vague version of what happened to her, so I thought I would fill in some of the gaps and her absence might make more sense. She's alright with it."

"Okay…" I say slowly. I mean, her absence has been felt by me quite a bit in the past few weeks. She's gone every weekend and most nights.

"Troian was almost ten years old, she was taken by an organization who takes children and trains them from a young age to be assassins. They then sell them off to the highest bidder once they reach adulthood. She was severely abused to a point where she effectively split her own mind." He stops and takes a moment. "One is the Troian you know and the other is referred to as The Apex, because, as I'm sure you can imagine, she is very good at what she does. When she was twenty, we were able to mount a successful rescue and we thought that we had taken the organization down, but we've recently discovered that they're making a resurgence."

"So she's been trying to take them down." I say and he nods. A chill runs through my body.

"She seems to think that the only way she can do it is by tapping back into The Apex. She has a tremendous amount of control over that." He says and I nod. "I don't want you to be afraid of her."

"I'm not." I say and he smiles. "She's like family to me and I'll do whatever I need to do in order to help her. Even if that means just helping her feel normal when she is here."

"I'll admit I was surprised when she told me about you. As we Sullivans do, I did extensive research." He says and I sigh. "Don't give me that, you shouldn't feel shame for where you came from. Just look at me." I raise an eyebrow. "Like you, I escaped from an incredibly abusive life. We lived that way until I came of age and then I convinced my mother that we could run away. So we did and I decided that we would be Sullivans from then on. Do you know where the name comes from?"

"It's derived from a Gaelic name, isn't it?" I ask and he nods. "You'll have to help me with the rest, I've been practicing my Andorian quite a bit lately."

"It comes from the name Súilleabháin and it means hawk-eyed." He says and I smile. "Hey, it's not worse than Erik Erikson giving himself the last name meaning that he is his own father." I laugh.

"True, but it's kind of cheesy." I say and he chuckles. "Why are you telling me about this?"

"Because, it'll make more sense why I'm so insistent that you are essentially a Sullivan. I vowed to myself that one day I would help women like my mother. I'm not saying you're a charity case, but I want you to know that we will do whatever it takes to protect you." He stares at me with his intent eyes. "The next order of business is a foundation I want to start up. It's going to keep me here on Earth for a while and someday I hope you'll come and run it with me. You have a voice that deserves to be heard." I open my mouth to say I'd rather focus on my career. "Of course, only after you've had your fill of exploration. The spot will always be yours though and when I eventually die, I am leaving it to you."

"I don't know what to say…" I say and he just offers a sort of smile. "When I do decide I need to spend some time on Earth, it will be an honor to work with you."

"Atta girl." He says and then he stands. I stand as well and he comes around the desk and gives me a hug. "I don't worry about you any more than a father normally worries for one of his girls."

"Have you seen my flying knee?" I ask and he laughs and pats me on the back before he steps away.

"Morgan says that you've sailed past his expectations for your fighting." He says and I raise my eyebrows. "He's still going to be just as tough on you, because you can always do better."

"Well, if there's one thing anyone should know about me, it's that fine isn't good enough." I say and he pats me on the shoulder again. "Also, something Troian mentioned to me the last time I saw her," He raises an eyebrow in question. "Just ask Barbara to marry you already. She is head over heels, you're head over heels."

"It's always a pleasure, Olivia." He says as he guides me by the shoulder to the door. I laugh. "I can't believe she put you up to that."

"To be fair, she was just ranting about how you can be such a big baby sometimes." I grin at him and he narrows his eyes at me. "Bye, Dad."

"Bye, Kid." He says and I leave the office. Instead of going to my room, I find myself at the clinic. Leonard looks up as I enter and he raises an eyebrow.

"Two orders of business, first order of business, I need something for these aching bones." I say and he shakes his head as he gets up and grabs a bottle from the cabinet behind them. "Second order of business, Trevor Sullivan just offered me a position heading a foundation for abused families. Well, he said specifically women, but I'm going to recommend expanding it. But, after I 'get my fill of exploration'."

"That's great, Darlin'." He says as he comes over and gives me a couple of pills and a small cup of water. I take them. "I'm assuming that's great? Since you already have ideas for it."

"It is." I say with a smile. "And keeping Harper and Andrew together if she decided she wanted to join Starfleet totally isn't something that came to mind almost instantly." He rolls his eyes. "They work well together." I shrug.

"Is your gut instinct when people are in love, or what?" He asks and I laugh. "What's your gut say about us?"

"I still get butterflies sometimes." I say and he grins. "But only sometimes. You'd better step up your game, McCoy."

"Ooh, McCoy. Someone's in trouble." Dr. Lee says as he returns to his desk. "Olivia, it's always a pleasure."

"Same to you, Dr. Lee." I say and he rolls his eyes. "I call people what they're introduced to me as. I'm supposed to just start calling you Grayson?"

"Yes, as we are friends, you could at least drop the doctor part." He says and I pretend to think about it.

"What if I called you Dr. Grayson?" I ask and he raises an eyebrow at me that causes me to laugh. "I'll think about it. I called my younger cousin Boog until I reconnected with him the semester before last."

"Before she did finally decide to call him Jasper, she'd said that he was Boog until she drew her dying breath." Leonard says and then he shakes his head. "You're really weird."

"Yeah? It's not my fault you fell in love with me." I say and he rolls his eyes. "But I have a date with a skin-melting shower, so I will be going now."

"That's not good for your skin, you know." Leonard says and I shrug. "It dries you out, I thought you cared about that." I open my mouth to say something, but then I just smile.

"Bye, Leonard." I wink at him and then I wave to Dr. Lee before I leave the clinic. I make my way back to my residence hall go to my room, upon entering, I see Pete sitting on the couch. "How did you even get in here?"

"Knowing you like I do? Your code wasn't hard to guess. Then I'm not the sort of guy people ask questions." He shrugs and I shake my head. "I've gotta leave for a while, but I'm gonna come back here."

"I hope it's not anything too ridiculously illegal." I say and he shrugs. "And you'll be careful?"

"I made it back to follow you to San Francisco, didn't I?" He asks and I roll my eyes. "I'll lift the ban on telling Josh about me now." I roll my eyes again. "They're gonna get stuck that way, kid."

"Good thing I date a doctor." I say and it's his turn to roll his eyes. "But seriously, I'm collecting a family and I'd like it if they were all safe."

"I know, but sometimes you don't get to make that call. You gotta live with it." He shrugs and walks towards me. "Just because I'm gone, doesn't mean I don't got eyes on you. I also have a friend lookin' after the McCoys, especially the little one. I know Fuckhead is in prison, but I don't trust him." That brings tears to my eyes. "Ah, don't cry. Be a tough guy."

"I'll show you a tough guy." I say as I go over and hug him. He stands there awkwardly for a second before he puts his arms around me. "Also, don't break into my room again. Troian would be incredibly upset."

"Look…there's somethin' you should know about her." He says as he gently pulls me back so that he can look me in the eye.

"She was an assassin? Yeah, I know." I say and he raises his eyebrows. "It wasn't by choice and she controls her darkness. Anything else?"

"I like this new Olivia who surprises me every once in a while." He says and I grin. He steps around me. "I'll let ya know when I'm back in town."

"Take care of yourself." I say and he offers a sort of salute before he leaves. I sigh and take my shower finally. When I deem it impossible to work the tension out of my shoulders, I get out and dress in shorts and a sweatshirt before I comb through my hair and apply product. I sit down on the couch. There really isn't a good way to tell Josh about Pete. I pick up my padd and draft a message, explaining to him the situation. I don't mean to hit send immediately, but muscle memory. My tricorder almost immediately chirps. "This is Gray."

"So…why is that a message and not a face to face thing?" Josh asks and I sigh as I sit back. "Ollie, tell me what's going on."

"I meant to reread that before I sent it to you. I just…I don't know what to say. You know how much of a piece of shit our father is. We have an older brother named Pete who has a questionable job." I say and he laughs. "I mean you said he seemed like an alright guy."

"That's true. And you said he's gone on a job now? Do you know when he'll be back?" He asks and I sigh again.

"Not at all, but he said he would be. So I trust that he will be. I think he was afraid of it being weird with you since we're huggers." I say and he laughs again.

"I can see that. Well…I guess that's kind of cool. Can we meet up for lunch tomorrow to talk more about it?" He asks and I smile to myself.

"Absolutely. I'll see you at noon? I don't have a whole lot of time, but I have at least any hour." I ask as I lay my head back.

"That works for me. I'll see you then, Kiddo." He says and I smile. "You don't mind that I call you that, do you?"

"Joshua, if I minded, you would know. I'll see you tomorrow." I close my tricorder and set it on the coffee table before I go back to my padd and begin working on my assignments.

"Darlin', we need to have a conversation." Leonard says and my heart drops into the pit of my stomach.

"That's only a little less terrifying than 'we need to talk'." I say and he offers a smile that I can't quite place. "Okay…"

"Let's go out for dinner." He says and I nod slowly as I get up and go into my room to change into something that makes me look a little less like a homeless person. I've been on a study binge and that is rarely pretty. The first thing I see in my closet is the dress that Troian got for me when she was in Italy last weekend. I put that on and tame my hair with a couple of well-placed braids and some bobby pins. It's gotten longer again, collarbone length. I add a small amount of makeup to my face before I put on some ankle boots that match well and my favorite leather jacket.

"Ready to go?" I ask as I walk out of my room. He raises his eyebrows as he looks up at me. "What? I've looked homeless for the last few days, it's the least I can do."

"You have not looked homeless." He rolls his eyes as he stands up. "And I shouldn't be so surprised that this is the least. I doubt I've even seen the most you can do." I offer a small smile before we head out. We walk to the Italian place nearby and we don't say anything until we're seated and have ordered.

"So…what do we need to have a conversation about?" I ask as I take a drink of my water. He looks at me and again, I can't quite place the expression. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes, everything is fine." He says, but I don't trust that tone. "Let's have dinner first. How are you feelin' about that certification exam? You sure you really wanna be a nurse? Doctors can be whiney."

"I'm sure." I say with a laugh. "And I feel alright about it. I've been studying and I just have to have faith in myself. I am a competent nurse."

"You're a competent everythin', Darlin'." He says and I smile. "I'm sure you're gonna have the highest score. You usually do."

"That doesn't mean anything." I roll my eyes. "I know the material, but I'm also just a really good test-taker." Our meals arrive and I smile to the server before she leaves. "Uhura has been helping Juarez and I with our studying instead of the linguistics stuff, so that sense of normalcy definitely helps."

"You're gonna be just fine." He reassures me and I smile. We lapse into silence as we eat. As we finish, our server returns to us.

"Did the two of you save room for dessert?" She asks as she gives me a wink. I open my mouth to decline.

"You know what? We never do. Let's get some tiramisu." Leonard says and I look at him. "Does that sound good?"

"Sure." I say and our server smiles as she clears our dishes. "So are you going to make me wait until after dessert to tell me what we need to have a conversation about?"

"No, now's as good a time as any." He says and he reaches into the interior pocket of jacket. "I don't think we should date anymore." The blood drains from my face. "I think we should get married."

"Seriously? That's how you're going to ask me to marry you?" I ask, trying to keep back the tears that threaten. "Try again."

"Olivia Gray, my best friend and my partner," He gets out of his chair and goes down on one knee. He's holding a small velvet box now. "I've been tryin' to find the right words to ask you this for about two months now, but I haven't been able to come up with anything spectacular. But you encourage me to do things in spite of whatever fears I may have. You keep inspirin' me to be a better man. Every single day I'm reminded why I love you and if you'll have me, I'd love to spend the rest of my life with ya. Will you marry me?" It's oddly quiet in the restaurant now.

"Yes." I say and people start clapping. He slides the ring onto my left-hand ring finger and as he stands, I stand up and kiss him. He wraps his arms around me. "But if you ever scare me like that again…"

"I'm sorry." He says as he squeezes me. "I thought it might be funny to throw in a call back to the early days of our relationship."

"You lose points on the sweet proposal for that one." I say and he laughs as he kisses me again and we sit down. The tiramisu comes out and written on our plates in chocolate is congratulations. "So wow…you really did it."

"What? I said I wanted to marry ya, this is the first step in that." He says and I shake my head. I look at the ring. "Do you like it?"

"No." I say as I look at him with a straight face. "I love it." He narrows his eyes at me. "You deserve that and everything else you're going to get for the rest of our lives."

"That's fair." He allows and I laugh. "I figured you'd say yes, so our friends are waitin' on us at Seb's."

"So this has been the plan all along? Wait until I least expect it?" I ask and he shrugs. I look at my hand again. "I don't like how good you all are at conspiring against me."

"You make it easy when you're on a studyin' binge, Darlin'." He says and I roll my eyes. "You didn't even notice that I was dressed up." We finish with our dessert and pay before we head out and start walking towards the jazz club. "Are you alright? I really didn't mean to scare ya like that."

"My body did the thing where all of my blood started rushing out of my limbs." I say and he puts his arm around me.

"I maybe paused a little too long." He says apologetically. "You're sure you really wanna marry me? We're alone now, you don't have to pretend."

"Leonard." I say as I stop and look up at him, my expression unreadable. "Yes, I want to marry you." I start walking again. "I don't want to make a big fuss, so why don't we talk to your mom about doing it in August? Mostly everyone from your family will be gathered anyway. I don't have a ton of people to invite, but everyone should be fine with coming to Georgia."

"Darlin', I don't think you understand just how happy Momma's gonna be about that." He says and I shrug. We arrive at Seb's and Leonard holds the door open for me. I put on a distraught face as soon as he can't see my face anymore and I walk in. Tro's face drops from happy to ready to kill him in a fraction of a second. Jim also looks confused. "What?"

"I'm just kidding." I grin as I hold up my left hand. Juarez takes my hand and whistles at the ring. Josh places his hands on his shoulders and looks at it as well. "So yeah, I'm engaged." I shrug.

"Of course you would shrug at that." Josh says with a roll of his eyes. "So tell me all about it. Was it romantic? Were there metaphors?"

"Let's not talk about that part." Leonard says as he takes my hand, but Jim stops him and spins me himself.

"No, I want to hear this part. This guy, for the past two months." Jim shakes his head. "He's been driving me nuts. What did he say?"

"Well, he started off by saying that we shouldn't date anymore. There was a pause." I say and Juarez gasps.

"No." Jim groans. "I told you that was probably the worse idea. I can't believe she agreed to marry you."

"You and me both." Leonard says and then Tro hugs me. "I'm gonna be payin' for it for the rest of my life."

"Oh yes you will." I say as I hug Tro, she laughs. "I'm so glad you're here to celebrate this."

"Are you kidding? I wouldn't have missed this for anything." She says as she squeezes. "Excuse us, boys. This is our song." She takes my hand and leads me out onto the dance floor. "I tried to get ahold of Pete, but he's off-world. They said he would contact you soon."

"Of course he is." I say with a roll of my eyes. "Thank you for that…I know how much you don't like what he does."

"It's okay…I know he won't hurt you." She says and I smile as she spins me. "This really is our song now, I expect a special dance at the wedding."

"We can arrange that. We're probably going to do it in August, the big McCoy party." I say and she makes a 'not bad' face. "How much do you think Big Sul will cry when I ask him to walk me down the aisle?"

"Oh God." She says as she looks to the ceiling. "He may not stop crying. Like ever." I laugh. "And I accept my role as maid of honor."

"Good, you didn't have a choice." I say and she grins. "Oh I love that smile so much. You have the best dimples." I pinch her cheeks and she makes a face as she tries to lean back to get away from me. "So where are you at with your heart matters?"

"Oh, it's sweet that you still think I have a heart." She says and I roll my eyes. "It's complicated, Peaches."

"Well it needs to get uncomplicated, you both are miserable." I say and she smiles before she spins me away. Leonard takes me into his arms. "I don't know what it is with them throwing me away."

"Well it was good news for me." He says and I smile up at him. "You should've heard those three."

"Yelling at you over scaring me?" I ask and he rolls his eyes. I laugh. "I'm not emotionally traumatized. You're off the hook."

"I know only part of that is the truth." He says and I shrug innocently. "You do a good job of lookin' innocent."

"It's the eyes." I say and he hums as he leans in and kisses me. "I love you." I place my hand on his cheek and he rests his forehead against mine as we sway to the slow-paced song.

"I love you too." He says and I lay my head against his chest and just enjoy the feeling of being in his arms.

"What?" I ask, my eyebrows furrowing together. For whatever reason, I'm having trouble processing the information that was just presented to me. Leonard puts his arm around me.

"Long story short, Marcus is dead." Trevor says as he reads over the document on his padd. "He was killed by two other prisoners during their recreational period."

"I can't believe it." I say and really I don't. "And they're sure that it was actually him?" Trevor looks at me in question. "Look, it may make me sound more than a little paranoid, but I don't think that he and his psychotic family are above faking his death to try and drag me back there. That town is like a damn cult."

"Well I can assure you, I'll have my own people look into it. In the meantime, just try to relax. I wanted you to know what was going on." He says and I nod. "Be vigilant, but I know you always are."

"Always." I agree and then I take a breath. "I just…It doesn't feel like it's over by a long shot."

"And that's normal. You've been fightin' it for so long." Leonard says and I look up at him. "However, if he isn't dead, then we'll face whatever happens next head on together. You're not in this alone."

"He's right." Trevor says and I look at him. "I'm sorry that I cut you off before you could say your thing. I just wanted to make sure we didn't get sidetracked and run out of time. I do have another appointment soon."

"No, it's fine." I say with a shake of my head. "I was just going to ask you if you would walk me down the aisle." He stares at me and blinks for a moment. "I don't know, it might be dumb. I've considered a few different people, but the only person who felt just right was you."

"It would be my honor." He says and I smile as I stand up and hold out my arms. He comes around the desk and squeezes me tight. "Now, if you'll excuse me." He clears his throat. "Don't you have wedding dress shopping to do?"

"Don't remind me." I say with a groan. "Your girlfriend has sent me some horrifying options."

"That's Babs for ya." He laughs. "She is very interested in the high fashion aspect of things, but I'm sure you'll be fine."

"Yeah." I say as I roll my eyes and step away. "Keep me updated on what you find concerning Marcus' death, please." He nods. "Alright, we'll leave you to your next appointment then." Leonard stands and we exit the office. "You should kidnap me so I can't go dress shopping."

"Well what're you gonna where to the wedding?" He asks and I shrug. "As much as I do enjoy the shorts equivalent of our favorite jeans, I think the event calls for a little somethin' more. And if I have to wear nice clothes, so do you."

"Relax, I'm not going to let you look like a big dork alone." I say and he narrows his eyes at me. "And are you saying you wouldn't marry me if I didn't look my best?"

"Well that's not what I was-" He starts and then he narrows his eyes at me again. "I know what you're doin'."

"You're just so fun to get riled up." I say with a smile. "And I get to do that for the rest of my life."

"I'm glad you're excited for that part at least." He says with a roll of his eyes. He's leading me somewhere now.

"So I thought we were going back to my room to go over some things about the wedding." I say and he shrugs.

"I thought it'd be more fun if we went somewhere else to do that." He says and I give him a skeptical look. "I said I wouldn't lie to ya about it, Sullivan wanted me to get ya to the shop. There's a surprise waiting for you there."

"Yeah, it's called a Barbara and it's evil." I say and he tries his best not to look amused. "I understand that some women are empowered by wearing bold clothing. I am not one of those women."

"I know this and you know this. I also know that you're not gonna let anyone push ya around into wearin' somethin' you won't be comfortable in." He says as he stops and places his hands on my shoulders. "And no matter what, you're gonna be beautiful and I'm gonna cry like a little baby."

"I know you will." I say as I smile sweetly at him. "I think that will be the moment where you will finally see the best that I can do."

"You can hype it up all ya want, I'm still not gonna be ready for it." He says and I smile. "Come on, Sullivan was bein' pushy." He takes my hand and we start walking again. We reach the edge of campus and there is a car waiting for me. The driver is standing beside the back passenger door.

"Ms. Gray? Ms. Sullivan requested that you change into these clothes." He says as he holds up a garment bag. "There is a partition for your convenience."

"Well, if I'm not back in…six hours, come looking for me." I say as I turn to Leonard who isn't hiding his amusement. I stand up on my toes and kiss him.

"You'll be fine. I'll see you later." He says and I shake my head as I go and take the garment bag from the driver.

"Thank you." I say, climbing in as he opens the door for me. Once I'm inside, he closes the door. The windows are tinted so that no one can see through and the partition is already up. I shake my head, but hang the garment bag from one of the hooks beside the door and unzip it. It's a dress…nothing horrible. I remove my uniform and put it on as well as the wedges from the shoe box sitting on the seat. I neatly fold my uniform before I fix my hair and sit back. We arrive at the dress shop and the driver opens the door for me. I climb out and see Tro waiting for me.

"Not bad." She says as she nods appreciatively. "I figured it would take him at least twenty minutes to get you to agree to get into the car."

"He sweet talked me." I say and she shakes her head. "So everyone is already here?" I ask and she nods. "Well, let's get this over with."

"Don't sound so much like I'm taking you in there to be waterboarded." She says as she throws an arm around my shoulders and leads the way inside. I'm surprised when I see both Lucille and Harper.

"Olivia." Lucille says as she walks over and takes my face in her hands. "Always so much more lovely every time I see you."

"You're just saying that because I agreed to marry Leonard." I say and she pulls me into a hug. "And what are you doing here? I thought this was your weekend on call?"

"I lied for the sake of the surprise." Harper says as she gives me a hug. "Talking three times a week isn't enough for me. Andy's a little jealous."

"They learn to get over it." Tro says and then she shakes her head. "So everyone else is here too. Babs, Elizabeth, and Abby. They're already looking at dresses."

"Lovely." I say as I make a face. "Well, let's join them." The four of us make our way further into the parlor and Babs lets out an excited noise as she sees me.

"Olivia! We're having so much fun. Here, this is my best friend Fiona and this is her shop." She says and I smile.

"Oh my goodness, dressing you for this wedding is going to be so much fun. I already have a million ideas." The woman says and I successfully keep myself from sighing heavily.

"I love that everyone has so many creative ideas, but I have a pretty good idea of what I want for myself." I say and Lucille takes my hand and gives it a squeeze. I realize that they're shaking. The last time I was in a wedding dress shop was not a good time. Between my mom, Marcus' mom, and Marcus… "So let's get started."

"Right, of course." Fiona says as she pulls out a padd. "What is it you're looking for, Darling?"

"I'll know her when I see her." I say and then we're looking through the wedding dresses. After I pick out a few, I start trying on the various picks. In spite of my nervousness, I have a wonderful time. We save the ones that I picked for last. It's as Fiona is adjusting the dress with clips so that it looks how it will when it's been tailored to fit me specifically that I realize that I am wearing the dress that I want. I feel the tears welling up in my eyes as I walk over to the podium and step up onto it.

"Oh baby girl." Elizabeth says as she puts a hand over her mouth. "I got chills when I saw you in that."

"Yeah." I say as I look at my reflection. I turn to look at my crowd. "What do you guys think?"

"Well there's already a tear rolling down that pretty cheek of yours, so of course that's the one." Abby says and I wipe my eyes. My eyes fall on Lucille who has tears in her eyes.

"How do you feel in it?" Tro asks as she walks over and observes me from all angles. "He's going to be like a moth to a flame." This is said right behind me.

"Shut up." I say as I look at my reflection over my shoulder. She's right though. Harper snickers.

"As if he isn't anyway. You're not givin' that poor man a chance, are you?" She asks and I smooth the dress and turn to them again.

"He already warned me he was going to cry like a little baby. Those are his exact words." I say and that brings a big smile to Lucille's face. "This is the one. Are we going to be able to get it in time?" I look to Fiona.

"You're at the top of my list. Don't you worry about a thing." She says as she waves away my worries. The logistics are taken care of and then Abby and Elizabeth have to leave us. As much as the afternoon has already been, it's a whirlwind. I hadn't even realized that it was dinner time.

"And now, to surprise McCowboy." Tro says as we enter a restaurant with Barbara, Lucille, Harper. I raise an eyebrow at her. "I just told him there was a surprise for you, I didn't tell him what it was." She strolls confidently past the host podium and to a more secluded part of the restaurant. I see Leonard, Jim, and Trevor seated at a table.

"Momma?" Leonard asks with a raised eyebrow as he stands up. He smiles as he walks over and gives her a hug. "And it's good to see you too, Harper. You need to have a talk with that brother of mine. I swear, he complains about you and Ollie more than anything now."

"Troian said they get used to it eventually." She says with a shrug and he rolls his eyes. I laugh.

"Did you find something?" Jim asks as he rests his chin in his hand. I put on a remorseful expression. "Yikes, no luck?"

"No, there was luck." I say and then I look to Leonard. "You shouldn't even wear socks." He laughs.

"Noted." He says as he pulls out a chair for both his mother and I. Harper has already taken her seat. "And you actually like it?"

"There were manly, Ollie tears." Babs says and that makes me laugh. "Of course she looked gorgeous in everything she tried on."

"That goes without sayin'." He agrees and I shake my head. "You're beautiful, get over it."

"I do actually like my dress. Fiona is a very talented designer." I say and Trevor nods his agreement. "All this talk of weddings, really gets you thinking, doesn't it Dad?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about." He says as he takes a drink of his whiskey. Tro snickers.

"Weddings, Dad, I know you're getting old, but come on." She says and he shoots her a look.

"I don't think we've met before, Jim Kirk." Jim says as he shakes Harper's hand. It's not his flirtatious introduction, but it's still Jim Kirk.

"Harper Holloway." She says with a brief smile before she looks over at me. The server comes and we order. "So what are you thinking for the bridesmaids?"

"You know? I was thinking of going with a rustic look for the bridesmaids. Potato sacks and lace ribbon." I say with a nod and Babs gapes at me before she clears her throat and takes a drink from her wine glass.

"I'm sure that we can come up with something that will look nice and goes along with your vision." She says and I lock eyes with Tro.

"She's kidding, Babs." She says and the woman lets out a breath. "This is how she copes with attention being on her."

"Is it?" I ask as I think about it. "I guess." I shrug and then I shake my head. "Didn't we decide peach and navy?" I look to Leonard who nods. It made me happy that he did actually contribute to the conversation about our wedding colors.

"I'm just excited to get an entire summer with you." Lucille puts a hand over mine. It's true, I'll be headed to Georgia in a week to help plan everything. "And then my oldest son three weeks less than a whole summer."

"Momma, I tried to get out of it, but I'm actually a pretty good doctor." He says and I smile at him.

"A pretty good doctor who's too good to help plan his own wedding." She says and Jim shakes his head sadly.

"It's a shame you used your last favor on stalking Ollie's combat class." He says and she raises her eyebrows.

"It was a whole thing." I say, trying to wave it away. "He had a hunch about me facing this guy who had a problem with me and he was worried."

"A problem? Sweetheart, who could possibly have a problem with you?" She asks, turning to me and I sigh lightly.

"Well...it all started last spring. This guy was going on about how there was no way a woman could be better than him and it made me mad, so I showed him that it was possible. Then a couple of weeks before you guys visited with Joanna, we were sparring and I won, but then he got angry and attacked me." I try to downplay it. "But everything is fine now."

"Well that is not fine. Why on Earth was he allowed to remain in the same class as you?" She asks, angry on my behalf.

"Because Olivia Gray is a saint." Trevor says with a shake of his head. "I wanted to ship him off to an outpost on the border of the neutral zone."

"Except he is talented and I don't think that should be wasted because he can't control his temper. Which he is learning, by the way, my brother Pete scared him so bad after that he didn't even want to look at me when Ash had us spar that day. I had to make him angry to get him to spar me." I say with a shake of my head. "But really I did him a favor. It would have been worse for him had he refused to fight me."

"It would have. Ash's principles are simple. You don't start a fight, but you certainly don't back down from them." Trevor says with a shake of his head. "He was a regular instructor back in my academy days."

"I've been under his tutelage for a total of three months in my life and they have been the most intense months of my life." I say with a shake of my head.

"Blew out her voice day one of takin' over one of her classes." Leonard says and Lucille raises her eyebrows. "That's what I said. We've seen more cadets from his class than I've seen from Groff in the two years we've been here."

"I don't know, I kind of like his style. He doesn't focus on just the physical aspect of overtaking an opponent. Anyone can learn to throw a punch, it takes something else to make sure you come out on top when it comes to it." Tro says thoughtfully. "He put some edge back onto Ollie's style which is what it needed. I have no doubts she can take care of herself now."

"If it comes to it. I'd still rather talk it out." I say and she shrugs. "Why are we even talking about this?"

"Because Bones stalked you." Jim reminds me and I shake my head. "And then Diaz, oh man. I heard about that." I know my face is turning red. "Aw, Ollie."

"Quit picking on her, Kirk." Trevor and Tro say at the same time. I look at Leonard and raise my eyebrows.

"What about Diaz?" Harper asks and I look at her with pleading eyes. "Well now I have to know."

"Well," I clear my throat, since apparently it won't be dropped. "Ms. Diaz is a single mother to a lovely little angel by the name of Rosa and so she doesn't get out much. So she would occasionally attempt to live vicariously through me because it amused her."

"Couldn't have said it better myself, Darlin'." Leonard says, amused. "Diaz is a little crass, Momma, and Ollie gets real embarrassed which makes it worse for her because she's so cute when she's flustered."

"I am reporting you along with Daniels, Simmons, and Diaz for harassment." I mutter as I sink in my seat. Lucille chuckles as she gives my hand a squeeze. "Admiral, can I submit a formal complaint to you right now?"

"It's all in good fun, Ollie, but McCoy, a word of advice, you probably shouldn't tease your fiancée like that. It'll get you in trouble." Trevor says and I nod.

"This boy will always be in trouble. He's just like his daddy. Worse than his brother is even." Lucille says and Harper shakes her head.

"I don't know, Andy is pretty ornery. But I do sort of like the thing where they can't tell us no." She says and I laugh. "Oh come on, tell me you haven't used that to your advantage."

"She typically doesn't have to." Leonard says with a sigh. "She has a way of raisin' good points that I can't argue with. Even as her doctor. You'd think I'd win some of those arguments, but no, she claims I'm bein' more of a boyfriend than a doctor and threatens to go over my head to my superior."

"Well, don't be unreasonably protective and I won't have to use that promise." I say simply. "I listen to you when it really counts."

"Lucky for me or else I might lose my mind." He says and I wink at him. He rolls his eyes. "You think you're so cute."

"Yeah, I do." I say sweetly. "So Jim, I heard that you were going to be an assistant instructor on an advanced combat course next semester."

"Eh, you know." He shrugs. "It's really not that big of a deal." I raise an eyebrow at him. "What? It's not."

"It shows how you've grown, James. I'm proud of you." I say sincerely. "Since apparently Leonard and I are your parents."

"That was once, I was drunk and you made me go to bed." He says and that has Lucille laughing. "Everyone thinks she's so sweet."

"I'm sweet…I just also know how to get things done. I've watched Pete throw rowdy drunk kids out of Scully's more times than I can remember. If he hadn't known who I was, I probably would have been one of them." I say and Harper raises an eyebrow.

"You? A rowdy drunk? Now I don't believe that at all." She says and Leonard shakes his head.

"Before the bartender put an end to it, they had Tequila Tuesdays where she would teach the 'fresh blood' how to do tequila shots." He says and Jim looks at me with a twisted sort of amazement.

"No way." He says and I shrug. "How any self-respecting small-town kid didn't know how to do a tequila shot, I'll never know. But Ollie from Scully's must have been something else."

"There are some stories I will never tell. Twenty-one and most of twenty-two were rough." I say with a shake of my head. "I'm much happier now."