Last chapter, sorry it took so long. I got lazy.

Christine carefully folded the expensive party dress that Ilori* had bought her for her birthday. It had taken the beautiful communications officer weeks to convince her to actually wear the outlandishly short bit of silk and chiffon and now she placed it back in it's embossed, gold leaf decorated box and tipped the whole thing into the recycler slot. Better to forget.

Doctor McCoy's face had turned about seven different shades of purple when M'benga had given him the medical report that morning. It might've been comical if it had been under different circumstances. It had taken all the Captain's diplomatic skills to keep the Doctor from storming the brig.

Christine had been released that same morning with no ill effects from the medication Leila had slipped her and the Captain had given her the day off.

That had been eight hours ago. She didn't dare venture out into the corridor, where she might meet a crew member from the night before. Someone who'd seen her with crewman Daniels, apparently drunk, making a total fool of herself. Word would have gotten around the ship. The embarrassment, she felt, was the hardest to bear.

She flopped down on her bed, exhaling in frustration. She was climbing the walls. Couldn't leave, couldn't stay, couldn't remember. There was a gaping hole in her recollection of the night before that started at the bar, with her fingers curled around her empty glass and ended with her waking in sickbay to the sounds of Dr McCoy's rage drifting from his office to her bed.

M'Benga had given her the short version while he checked her readings. She'd found out the details later from Mr Spock when he'd come by before her release.

"You'll be relieved to hear that both Crewman Daniels and Dr Kalomi are being brought up on formal charges". He'd told Christine, who was still reeling from the shock of the betrayal. She'd only nodded dumbly.

"I thought she was finally warming up to me". Christine said. "I thought she was shy because she didn't know anybody". She herself remembered feeling that way during her first days on board the Enterprise.

Spock was all too familiar with Leila's manipulative ways, having been a victim of them once himself. "I am sure she wanted it to appear that way." He replied.

"I never did anything to her. I was never anything but nice to her, and I thought I could trust her. Why would she do this?" A hint of anger was creeping into her voice.

"I once had cause to ask myself that same question," Spock said flatly. "There is no logical answer".

"I'm sorry." Christine said suddenly, prompting him to raise an eyebrow questioningly.

"What for?" He asked.

She looked away while she answered. "I know you were closer to her. This must have been harder for you than for me. And I know you must be worried about what's going to happen to her".

"Worry is a human emotion". He said, typically Spock-like. His tone immediately softened and his next comment , startled her. "We were never as close as she might have you believe, and I admit I was more concerned about your well being than her's".

She'd looked at him, her eyes full of tentative surprise. She'd heard the rumours about them during the Omicron Yeti incident and inferred a certain amount from Leila's attitude towards him during the past week. Was he saying that it was all untrue? Did she dare to hope?

"You shouldn't believe everything you hear." He continued, "And I can assure you that my relationship with her, as it was, is over. I hope you will be willing to testify when the time comes". He stood abruptly. "I will send the details to your private terminal later today. Is there anything else you require?"

She would have liked to have continued their conversation, he had seemed to be working up to a point, but she knew he was needed on the bridge, so she simply said, "No. I can manage". She watched him leave, not missing his momentary pause at the door when he turned back to glance at her.

She hadn't stopped thinking about it since. Turning his words over in her mind. Did he mean what she thought he meant? Or had she just wanted to hear it?

She glanced at her chrono and realized that he was off duty as of half an hour ago. He must've had time to send her the details of the case. She activated her private terminal, wincing a little when her wrist twinged unexpectedly. Breaking Daniel's nose had been one part of the night that she did remember, but she hadn't braced her wrist properly when she had. She couldn't help smiling a little at the thought.

Two new messages showed on her screen, both of them from the Commander. She opened the first one and scrolled through it quickly. It was indeed the information package she'd been expecting but she found that she couldn't concentrate.

He'd probably just been expressing concern for a fellow officer. Most likely exacerbated by the guilt he felt regarding his relationship with Leila. She sighed deeply, closing the communique. It wasn't a happy thought but at least if she kept her hopes down it would protect her from getting her heart broken again.

This whole thing would blow over eventually, once the case was settled. She would remain on board the ship, Spock would deal with these events however he saw fit, and their relationship would remain exactly as it was before. Colleagues, and nothing more.

It was really just a coincidence she reasoned, opening Spock's second message. He had just been delivering a lab report when he'd walked in on Crewman Daniels. It could have been anyone. And anyone else would have done taken the same initiative in that situation. It was pure luck that he'd known Leila well enough to catch her out so quickly. And for that she was thankful.

Really when she thought about it, he was-

Her train of thought abruptly cut off when she registered his message. She read the single line of text again to be absolutely certain. It read:

Would you care to join me for dinner tonight?

The End.

Alright sorry for the abrupt ending. This was kind of a clumsy first attempt. I swear someday I will write an honest to god SCH, but it has to be perfect so give me time. Any advice from you known SCH'ers would be much appreciated.

* see premises of my fiction on my profile for explanation.