Jenna left the hospital for good within days of that memorable conversation and was escorted to a waiting vehicle by a large entourage of happy friends and family. There were cheers and good wishes for the Captain, who waved and blew kisses back, not once looking back toward the building she'd grown completely sick of. Bones and Winona were beside her, carrying the gifts she'd collected during her stay and the meds she'd need to keep taking to help her immune system. Reaching the car, the passenger door was pulled open for her revealing Chris in the driver's seat, wearing casual clothes and a very cool pair of sunglasses.

"Dang," She said admiringly. "They sent me the hot chauffeur." Even his hair refused to be regulation and was getting wavy the way it did when he grew it out a bit.

"I aim to please, Beautiful," he replied. "We're going to celebrate your grand emancipation in style."

"I like the sound of that," she said. "See you guys later!" She waved to Leonard and Winona, Spock and Uhura, Scotty, and Chekov, who were all there to see her off.

"Remember what I said about physical exertion!" Bones warned, a little too loudly.

"My goodness, Bones!" Jenna said innocently. "What Kind Of Woman do you think I am? We're not rushing off to get it on. We've only had one date!"

Chris laughed until he was red in the face.

"With the way you're lookin' at him, there's no guarantee," her ridiculous friend quipped, a teasing gleam in his eye.

"You're just jealous," she proclaimed. "Go Out and get your own admiral—or Lieutenant, that is."

She was hoping he'd start seeing Carol one of these days. The two of them would be great for each other, but Bones was nervous about it, wanting to give Carol plenty of space while she dealt with what had happened between her and her father.

"What if I already did?" He shot back, closing her door and leaving her staring open mouthed through the window as Chris drove away.

"I swear, if he's been keeping secrets from me, he's getting busted down to regular friend," she said indignantly.

"I think he was too busy meddling in our affairs to mention his own." Chris theorized. "Between him, Phil, and Winona, they were on to me until I finally came to grips with it. My track record in the love department is not exactly stellar, unfortunately, mostly due to my own hang ups."

"I think you're far better at it then you think, Chris," Jen said softly, her eyes looking at him with a worshipful regard. "I've seen the way you treat people you care about. I put you through a lot, and you could have washed your hands of me, but you didn't. I think I fell in love with just the right guy."

He swallowed the lump in his throat and shot a look back at her. She was alive, happy, and healthier than she'd been in a long time, and she loved HIM. Would miracles never cease?

Winona and Phil stood side by side watching the car disappear. Phil was looking proud, if a bit wistful and Winona was already mentally imagining the wedding. She certainly hoped Chris wouldn't influence Jenna to elope. Goodness knows, she wasn't going to miss it.

"Phil, you've done well: I can't thank you enough for what you've done for my daughter." Her voice threatened to crack and she cleared her throat quickly.

"Wasn't me," the Doctor deflected. "Len was the one who saved her life in the first place."

"Oh, but you certainly kept her there and refused to let Chris be an idiot and break her heart with his insistence he wasn't good enough for her. It's about time he finally let someone love him."

"I'm with you on that sentiment," Phil agreed. "One and Cait will want to hear all the details. I trust you'll have a full report ready, Commander?"

Winona's eyes gleamed with mirth.

"Oh, you know I will, Admiral Surgeon General. Most thorough. When I think of how many times they stared longingly at each other and tried to act like it was nothing, Well, it will certainly make for quite a tale."

Phil chuckled, little dreaming that the Commander was now planning the next campaign: getting him and Cait to finally figure things out. Chris wasn't the only Admiral who needed a shove in the right direction.

Meanwhile, Chris and Jenna were watching the sun set across the bay and enjoying each other's company immensely. Jenna was so thankful to be with him and finally done being poked and prodded and treated like the medical marvel she was and Chris was relishing the delight of having her in his arms. He was more relaxed than he'd been in months now that The Khan mess was wrapped up and the augments securely resting in new cryotubes that would hold them until Khan's prison time was up and a new colony was prepared.

If he brushed his lips over Jenna's pulse point a few times, well, she certainly didn't seem to mind and he found it very reassuring.

"Remember that night in the bar when you sat down between me and the guy I was about to flirt with?" She suddenly asked.

"All too clearly." Chris made a face.

"Now that I think about it, that look you shot him was a trifle on the frigid side, wasn't it? You do have a knack for turning up at the perfect moments just when I'm about to make a stupid decision. It's uncanny."

"I've developed built in Kirk radar from knowing you so well," Chris agreed. "Yes, I was unduly irritated by the way he was smiling at you. Seemed a bit smarmy to me."

"Hmm, I like your smile a lot better," she said, tracing the lines along his face fondly. "Do it a lot, please."

He obliged her briefly before he leaned in to kiss those pretty lips. "Gladly, Sweetheart," he whispered. Jenna made a pleased noise and pulled him even closer.