The anger in Christine's voice reverberated in Spock's ears as he replayed her com yet again. His memory of the previous night was coming together bit by bit like a jigsaw puzzle and it was forming a most unpleasant picture. They had been drinking Romulan ale in the Officer's lounge; male bonding had been the term Dr. McCoy used. He had taken pleasure in the way they accepted him, as though he'd never left them, as though he'd never tried to purge the feelings he'd harbored for them on the burning sands of Gol. He had not fought to push the emotion aside as he would have done in the past but had allowed it to fly free.

What followed, however, was a tangled blur. Christine, the others had expressed admiration for Christine, more than admiration he recalled glumly. He had experienced an unfamiliar emotion that he understood to be jealousy and had struck Lt. Chekov .

He was unsure of how he could possibly face her after what they'd done. How could he make her understand when he himself didn't understand?

Kneeling before the shrine of the ancestors he cleared his mind and asked for their help.

"Come" Christine Chapel responded to the chime on the door of her private office. Looking up from the paddchart she added "Unless you have more flowers then turn around now."

The grey steel door made a soft swooshing sound as it parted and the dark haired doctor found herself staring into the anxious hazel eyes of Admiral James T Kirk.

Her normally friendly blue eyes narrowed and sapphire morphed into durasteel. "Admiral,"she nodded stiffly, her voice cool and Kirk suddenly felt like a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.

"May I?" he asked glancing toward the chair across from her desk.

"Of course, sir." She responded curtly and he couldn't help hearing the light glaze of sarcasm on the word 'sir'.

He waited for her to sit before seating himself across the desk. It was becoming clear that she had no intention of making this easy for him. Glancing nervously about her office he noticed the half dozen vases of flowers covering ever horizontal surface. It had the unsettling effect of making the small space seem like a funeral parlor. Somehow it was strangely appropriate given the circumstances.

"Chris," he began sheepishly.

"You can save the Iowa farm boy smile. I've destroyed the coms, so you're off the hook."

Kirk swallowed hard and felt a hard knot forming in the pit of his stomach.

"I'm …"

"An ass? A sexist pig? A sack of …"

"Sorry, I'm sorry Chris. We had too much to drink; it just all got out of hand."

"I know," she sighed, "That's why I destroyed the coms instead of forwarding them to Fleet."

"Spock…"

"Oh yes, thank you so much; that was just the big red cherry on top of this hot fudge cluster…"

"It wasn't his fault."

"I don't care whose fault it was. Do you people have any idea what that first tour of duty was like for me? No of course you don't. I had a PhD in Biochemsistry and Xenobiology, but to you I was just a glorified shuttle hostess fluffing pillows and passing out pudding. But it was my job so I did it and I did it well."

"You were a compassionate caring nurse, Chr… doctor."

"Oh, yes caring." She responded icily. "I had the bad luck to fall in love with your damn Vulcan First Officer. You and Leonard had a field day with that; hell the whole crew had a great laugh at my expense. Oh there goes Nurse Chapel with a bowl of soup for Mr. Spock, isn't that hilarious? Yeah, foolish me taking a bowl of soup to a crewmember who hadn't eaten in four days. I was doing my damned job." She rose abruptly from the chair and turned away from him her arms crossed defensively across her chest.

"Do you know how hard it was to finish a five year medical degree in two years? And, I might add, at the top of my class? Did you think I got this posting because Will Decker wanted to 'pet my tribbles' or "breach my warp core"?

"You've fucked half the sentient beings in the quadrant and you're still the grinning golden boy. I brought a patient a bowl of soup five years ago and I'm still a laughingstock." she tuned back to face him. He had expected anger in her blue eyes but there was none.

"I do understand how hard you worked to get here, and I understand that sometimes I can be a real horse's ass. You're a valuable member of my crew, Chris and I intend to do whatever it takes to earn back your loyalty and respect."

"Well you can start by getting all these flowers out my office. I'm a doctor, damn it, not a florist."

Kirk risked a light chuckle at the obvious reference to her crotchety boss. "I'll send a yeoman down to take care of it stat. What about these?" he asked picking up the basket of plant material.

"Touch those and die." she said snatching the basket from him. "Those are some of Sulu's cocoa pods from the hydroponic lab."

"I've never known Hikaru to part with even one of those before." Kirk remarked.

"He was the first one to come and apologize this morning. I think he was afraid that I would tell Jan. Then Pavel came with the daisies which, according to him are a Russian flower and a hairline fracture to the mandible, and then Scotty showed up with the orchids."

"What about you and Len?"

"We'll be okay," she laughed, "he's taking all of my 'on calls' for the next month."

"And us?"

"We'll be ok too."

"Has Spock…" he stopped suddenly fearful he'd crossed a line by mentioning the Vulcan.

"Has Spock what?"

"Been down here to talk about last night?"

"Oh yeah, that's definitely gonna happen. I'm expecting him right after Santa Claus and the tooth fairy. Now if you don't mind Admiral I have actual work to do, so I must respectfully request you to get the heck out of my office."

Spock arose from the mediation stone with a sigh of frustration. Five hours and he was no closer to understanding what had happened than he was when he opened Christine's com. It would be so easy to lay the blame on the alcohol, but he must accept the responsibility for the consumption of the alcohol and accept the consequences of his actions. It was the only honorable path. He didn't know how he would find the courage to face Christine Chapel, but he would face her.

…

"Come." Christine called out in response to her door chime. Hopefully it was the yeoman Kirk had promised coming to clear out the vases of flowers.

She looked up to see a clearly uncomfortable Vulcan standing in her doorway.

"Are you alright?" she asked gently despite the anger she was still feeling. Rising up from the desk, she took a medical tricorder from the shelf behind her and held it toward him.

"I am fine, as least physically," he sighed and shook his head softly, "Regrettably I cannot say as much for my dignity."

"Would you like to sit down?" she asked nodding toward the empty chair.

"I was not sure that I would be welcome here," he regarded her carefully for a moment. "You are still angry."

"It will pass, hopefully before any of you come in for your next physical."

"Ah, you are using humor to defuse the anger."

"Am I?" she smiled.

"I can not change what has happened; I can only say I am shamed by my behavior. It was inexcusable to speak in such a way to a person whom I hold in the very highest regard. I shall endeavor to make certain it will not happen again."

She bit her lips together tightly and nodded her head. "I don't believe Admiral Kirk will be hosting anymore parties for a while."

"I would say the likeliness of that action would be point oh…"

Christine held her hand up to stop him and laughed heartily. "I wish I could have seen the look on Jim's face when he found out they'd spaced his whole stash."

"I can not imagine that he was pleased."

"Oh I'm sure he wasn't." her gaze shifted down to the chartpadd she'd been working on for a moment, then raised her blue eyes to meet his. "I appreciate you coming," she said and stood and offering him her hand.

He hesitated a moment before tentatively reaching out and taking her hand.

"Are you ready for dinner?"

"Dinner?"

"Did we not agree to have dinner together tonight in the Officer's Dining Room."

"Yeah… I don't….I don't think that's such a good idea."

"Eating dinner is not a good idea?"

"The two of us eating dinner together isn't a good idea."

"Explain."

"It could give people the wrong idea."

He raised a curious eyebrow. "Specify."

"When humans…" she sighed, "people might think we're…"

"Hungry?" he said with the barest trace of a smile.

"Dating."

"Would it disturb you if people were to think that?"

"Wouldn't it disturb you?"

"Vulcans are not as public in their mating rituals as humans, but if I am to enter into courtship of a human female it is logical that I adapt myself to the rituals of human mating."

"Whoa, how did we get from dinner to mating?"

"It is the logical progression Christine."

"Logical?" she fumbled for the medical tricorder quickly booting it up and scanning him. "Like, every seven years kind of logical?"

"Really, Christine," he said snatching the tricorder from her hand and setting it down on the desk. "It is not the Pon Farr." He reached out and examined one of the peach roses in the vase on her desk, tenderly fingering one of the delicate petals. "Perhaps I have waited too long to declare myself?" he said shifting his gaze to the flowers throughout the cabin. "You prefer the attentions of another?" he involuntarily rubbed the knuckles of his right hand.

Christine's eyes widened. "You hit Chekov didn't you?"

"Yes," he responded slumping slightly into the chair as a fresh wave of embarrassment swept over him.

"I do not prefer the attentions of another."

"Then you will have dinner with me?"

"Perhaps," she smiled as she stood and removed her labcoat. He stood as she moved around the desk to join him. She leaned in close to him, though she was almost certain he would back away. Instead he drew even closer, they were scant inches apart.

"I just want to make sure…you know there is more involved than getting the "shuttle pod" into the docking station?"

The Vulcan raised an elegant eyebrow and nodded. "I am quite aware that there are certain protocols and procedures necessary to the proper preparation of the docking station and its environs that are essential to the creation of a satisfactory docking experience."

Christine threw her head back and laughed. "Satisfactory docking experience… we better be talking about the same thing."

Spock gently pushed her back against the wall and captured her lips in soft lingering kiss, as he pressed the length of his body against her sending a shockwave of intense desire through both of them.

"Is my meaning clear now?" It was his voice, but she realized it was coming from her mind.

"Yeah," she sighed as they broke the kiss, "Pretty clear. Perhaps we should have dinner in my cabin?"

"Agreeable, however my quarters are closer." he whispered his voice raspy with desire.

"Logical."

Leonard McCoy watched as the Vulcan and his ACMO hurriedly left Sickbay and in hand, and Christine's melodic laugher rang through the outer office. There were precious few things in the universe that he considered to be worth six cases of Romulan ale, he mused as the steel door slid shut, but he was certain he'd just seen one of them.

"