Harrison gave them some coordinates and told her to examine the torpedoes. Part of her didn't want to listen to him but there was another part of her that was curious. Bones and Spock objected –she expected nothing less- and then Spock dropped the bomb that their new weapons expert, Doctor Wallace, was actually Doctor Carol Marcus. The Admiral's daughter, who happened to have her own suspicions about the torpedoes, so she snuck on the ship to examine them. That sealed the deal for Jamie.

"Captain on the bridge," Sulu announced as she walked onto the bridge.

"Mister Sulu, have Doctors Marcus and McCoy landed on the planetoid yet?" she asked.

He nodded, "Yes, ma'am. They're moving the torpedo into position now."

Jamie took a breath as she stood next to him, "Good. Anything from the Klingons?"

"Not yet," Sulu shook his head, "but if we're stuck here much longer, they will find us."

"Lieutenant Uhura, did you let Starfleet know we have Harrison in custody?" she asked the communications officer.

Uhura nodded, "Yes, ma'am."

"Hello! Keptin, can you hear me?" Chekov said over the ship's comm system from Engineering.

She hit the comm, "Mister Chekov, give me some good news."

"We found the leak, ma'am, but the damage is substantial! We are working on it," the young genius told her. That made sense.

"Any idea what caused it?" Jamie already knew what his answer would be but she needed to hear it anyway.

"No, ma'am, but I accept full responsibility," Chekov told her. Jamie and Sulu shared a look.

"Something tells me it wasn't your fault. Stay on it," she ordered before cutting the communication. Jamie was starting to think that this whole thing was a set up, that Marcus sent them out here to get killed.

"Captain, the shuttle is standing by," Sulu told her. Jamie gave Uhura a look and the communications officer opened a channel so that they could hear Bones and Carol.

"Bones, thanks for helping out. Doctor Marcus asked for the steadiest hands on the ship," Jamie couldn't help but tease him just a little bit.

"You know, when I dreamed about being stuck on a deserted planet with a gorgeous woman, there was no torpedo," her best friend grumbled.

"Doctor McCoy, may I remind you, you are not there to flirt," she chuckled.

"So, how can these legendary hands help you Doctor Marcus?" he did it just to spite her. Everyone on the bridge chuckled.

"Bones," Jamie said. She was gonna kick him.

Carol took over the conversation, "To understand how powerful these weapons are we need to open the warhead. To do that, we need to access the fuel compartment. Unfortunately for us, the warheads on these weapons are live."

"Sweetheart, I once a performed an emergency C-section on a pregnant Gorn. Octuplets. Let me tell you, those little bastards bite. I think I can work some magic on your missile," Bones told the other officer. Jamie and Sulu looked at each other; Bones flirting was not something that most of the crew was used to. Jamie has seen it a bunch of times, hell, she's flirted with him before.

"Doctor McCoy, there's a bundle of fiber optic-cables against the inner casing," Carol responded to Bones' statement professionally. "You'll need to cut the twenty-third wire down. Whatever you do, do not touch anything else. Do you understand?"

Serious Bones returned, "Right. The thought never crossed my mind."

"Doctor McCoy, wait for my word," Carol's voice returned. "I'm re-routing the detonation processor. Are you ready?"

"And raring," he answered. Carol uttered 'good luck.' A few seconds later, there was a scream.

"Ma'am, the torpedo just armed itself," Sulu looked at her.

Darwin, who was sitting in for Chekov put a clock on the viewscreen, "The warhead's gonna detonate in thirty seconds!"

Jamie heard Bones ask, "What the hell happened?! I can't get my arm out!"

"Get a lock on their signal, beam them back right now," Jamie ordered, despite the feeling in her chest like she couldn't breath.

"The transporter cannot differentiate between Doctor McCoy and the torpedo. We cannot beam back one without the other," Spock said, killing her hope a little.

"Doctor Marcus, can you disarm it?" Breathe, Jamie, breathe.

Carol was frantic but calm, "I'm trying. I'm trying."

"Jim, get her the hell out of here!" Bones said, still trying to be the gentleman even with his arm in a torpedo. She could, and probably should, beam Carol up but the weapons officer changed her mind.

"No. If you beam me back, he dies! Just let me do it!" Carol told her. Jamie stood between the helmsman and navigator, listening as Bones counted down.

"Ten, nine, eight..."

"Standing by to transport Doctor Marcus on your command, Captain," Sulu informed her.

Bones kept counting, "Four, three..."

They all heard Carol mutter, "Shit!" Then they heard nothing.

"Deactivation successful, Captain," Sulu told her. Jamie knew that much but she needed to know if her best friend was still there.

"Doctor McCoy, are you alright?" Jamie asked. Please, please, please, she can't lose another brother. "Bones?"

"Jim, you're gonna wanna see this." She almost cried at the sound of Bones' voice. Sulu reached over and grabbed her hand, ignoring the fact that they were on the bridge.

"He's okay, Jamie. He's okay," Hikaru whispered. She closed her eyes and took a breath before she nodded.

She was right about Marcus, he was crazy and he was trying to use them and Harrison –no, Khan- to start a war. They were all pawns, Jamie, Khan, the Enterprise. The torpedoes were even full of Khan's crew members. "My crew is my family, Kirk. Is there anything you would not do for your family?" he asked her.

She really didn't want to understand where he was coming from but it was impossible for her not to. There was nothing she wouldn't do for the people on this ship. That was how she found herself in the warp core, trying to fix the misaligned housings as the Enterprise fell out of the sky.

Scotty found a ship at Khan's coordinates and he stopped it from destroying them. She and Khan boarded it to stop Marcus –and rescue Carol- before the lunatic beamed them back in order to kill them. She fixed it, she fixed the ship and crawled back the way she came. Jamie could already feel the radiation destroying her body; Bones wasn't going be able to fix this. She leaned against the glass and registered Spock on the other side, "How's the ship?"

"Out of danger," he told her.

"Good," she sighed.

"You saved the crew," her first officer told her.

"You used what he wanted against him," Jamie chuckled. "That's a nice move."

"It is what you would have done," Spock pointed out. It really was.

"And this... this is what you would have done. It was only logical," she told him. They just looked at each other for a moment; Jamie knew she was dying. "Take care of them. Bones thinks that he doesn't deserve to be happy, but he does. Monty will go nuts if you don't focus his brilliance. Pasha... has to have time to be a kid, because he still is. Kevin has lost so much already, this is gonna break his heart. Nyota is tougher than all of us, but you know that. And Hiri… my Space Ninja, keep an eye on him for me. I didn't get a chance to tell him..." There are so many things that she wanted to tell them all, especially Hikaru but she didn't have the time, or the energy. She took a labored breath, "I'm scared, Spock. Help me not be. How do you choose not to feel?"

"I do not know," he told her, tears running down his face. "Right now, I am failing."

"I want you to know why I couldn't let you die...why I went back for you," she needed to say it. He had to know why.

"Because you are my friend," Spock said, beating her to it. She placed her hand on the glass in the Vulcan salute and Spock did the same.

There are worse ways to go, dying for people you love isn't that bad. There was only one of her and a few hundred of them, it was worth it. Jamie closed her eyes and everything faded out.

She gasped as she woke up and Bones didn't disappoint, "Oh, don't be so melodramatic. You were barely dead. It was the transfusion that really took its toll. You were out cold for two weeks."

"Transfusion?" she asked as she blinked her eyes open.

"Your cells were heavily irradiated. We had no choice." Who would…?

"Khan? You gave me Khan's blood?" Jamie looked at her best friend.

"Once we caught him, I synthesized a serum from his super blood. Tell me, are you feeling uh... homicidal, power-mad, despotic?"

"No more than usual," she scoffed. "How'd you catch him?"

"I didn't," he smirked before looking over his shoulder. Spock stepped closer.

"You saved my life," Jamie smiled.

Bones rolled his eyes, "Uhura and I had something to do with it, you know."

"You saved my life, Captain and the lives of many oth..."

Jamie cut him off, "Spock, just...thank you."

"You are welcome, Jim," he said with a small smile.

"Bones," she looked around the room as they helped her sit up, "I heard Hikaru… was I dreaming that?"

"No, you weren't dreaming," her best friend chuckled. "He went downstairs for coffee. He's been here more than me. Are you two a couple or something?"

"Who?" Sulu walked into the room.

"You," Bones moved so that he could see her; the lieutenant looked like he was gonna cry.

"I'm fine, Hiri," Jamie tried to tell him but he just gave her a look.

"I don't know about you but I don't define comas as being fine," Hikaru told her.

"Yea, well, I've had worse," she smiled. "I heard you talking to me. In Japanese? And someone in Russian?"

Bones and Spock left the room as Hikaru stepped closer, he smiled, "I was reading. So, were Pavel, Spock, Kevin and Nyota. I know you like classic literature and my dad's poetry… doc thought it was a good idea so we passed it around, reading it in different languages. Dad was here too, he'll be glad to know you're alright."

"And you?"

He took her hand and smiled, "I'm relieved and happy and a whole bunch of other things that I can't put into words at the moment. I'll admit that I was not fun to be around the first couple days. None of us were, really, but we knew that we had to take care of the crew and the Enterprise. You'll be proud when you see everything they managed to do. No complaints, no arguments, they're all amazing."

"That's good but it's not what I meant, Hiri," she whispered.

He took a breath, "When they ran onto the bridge, Uhura had tears running down her face and Spock was like a madman. I knew something happened to you before anyone was brave enough to say the words. My heart… my heart broke when Uhura told us what happened. I almost went after Khan myself but I was needed on the bridge and I knew that's where you would want me, so that's where I stayed. I'm just glad you're here. Don't do that to me again."

"You know I can't promise that," Jamie sighed. "It was me for all of you. I'd do it again in a heartbeat."

"I need you to do me a favor, then."

"Name it."

"Don't tell doc you said that and behave while you're here. We all know you hate hospitals but McCoy has been working himself into the ground to keep you alive, don't give him a hard time," he told her as he sat on the bed and leaned over to kiss her forehead.

"Can do."

He gave her a look, "You're tired."

She chuckled, "You would think being unconscious for two weeks would help. Wanna read some more, I like your voice?"

He smiled and grabbed the PADD, "As you wish, milady."

Tomorrow couldn't come soon enough, Bones kept her for another week and tomorrow was the last day before he let her go home. It wasn't all bad, she had a steady stream of visitors. The brass wasn't exactly pleasant but Jamie made it through alright; Spock gave her a warning before they showed up. She looked outside at some point, the city was a mess.

"Hey, beautiful." She looked up from the PADD that she shouldn't be reading and smiled.

"Hey, Space Ninja. What's up?"

"I'm springing ya," he smiled. "Doc gave me the all clear. Go change."

Jamie caught the bag he tossed at her and jumped up to get out of her hospital gear. She didn't know why Bones let her out early and she didn't care. Apparently, a side effect of super blood was being restless. They avoided leaving through the front of the building and they were covert in sneaking out the side and into a hovercar. Sulu got her home while keeping her away from the press and paparazzi.

"Home, sweet home," he joked as they entered the apartment.

"Nope, Enterprise is home but she's hurting."

Scotty gave her the rundown… after he yelled at her for doing something so stupid, scaring the shit out of him and making him cry. Pasha and Kevin gave her the riot act too; she was so proud. Her apartment was mostly how she left it with the exception of being cleaner, fresh food in the fridge and three, big footlockers.

"That one is your stuff from the ship. Engineering made us all clear everything out; don't worry, I packed your stuff myself and brought it here… so some random officer wasn't snooping through your life. The other two are Pike's stuff. Spock made sure that all of his belongings were packed with care. The big stuff is in storage," Hikaru told her. Jamie nodded as she ran her fingers over the Admiral's name and the tag designating her as the owner of his worldly possessions. "He loved you, you know that, right?"

"I loved him," she said with a nod. "He was the only parent I ever really had. I saw him… when I was in my coma."

"Wanna talk about it?" he stood behind her and put his hands on her shoulders.

She turned and looked up at him, "I don't know what to do… how to do this. How do I wrap my head around the fact that he died and I died but I'm not dead anymore and he still is…?" She felt the tears fall down her face but she didn't care.

Jamie didn't get a chance to process any of this, she was running at full speed since Daystrom. Then she died. The official story was just a coma but she died and her friends fought like hell to bring her back. She saw the numbers; there were thousands dead on the ground and almost a hundred lost on the Enterprise.

She rested her head on Hikaru's shoulder as he ran his hand up and down her back, "It just sucks, Hiri."

"Yea, it does but I can't even pretend that I'm not happy that you're here... I... I love you," he whispered.

She looked up at him, "I love you too, I should've said it before... but I'm stubborn."

He chuckled, "I know."

Even when he was pissed at her, Pike was still on her side. He was the father that she didn't have growing up. Going to the private memorial for him was… difficult. A lot of the crew went with her and she was grateful for it. Barnett gave Chris' flag to Jamie, "He'd want you to have it." She nodded and accepted it, what else was she going to do.

Jamie held it to her chest and sat there long after everything was over. The crazy thing was that her crew, her family, sat with her the whole time.

"When I first met Pike, I was three sheets to the wind and he gave this speech about rising above and blah blah blah. All I kept thinking was that he was crazy for trying to recruit me. Second best thing that ever happened to me," Bones told them.

"I blew my first impression with that damn external inertial dampener," Sulu chuckled. "Never thought I'd live that down. Crazy part is that… that mistake saved our asses. Well, that and Jamie."

"He was my dad," Jamie whispered. "He was my dad and he died in Spock's arms."

They all looked at her and Spock spoke, "He was proud of you, Jim. He wanted you to be safe, happy and loved, if you remember nothing else, remember that." They all knew that Spock mind melded with Pike, he didn't talk about what he saw until now. Jamie took comfort in the idea that George, Sam, Chris and even Spock's mom were all keeping an eye on them.

She smiled, "I know."

"If McCoy asks, we took the hiking trail. He'll kill me if he finds out that I took you rock climbing."

Jamie chuckled, "My lips are sealed, Hiri. Bones is hypo crazy."

"Yes he is," Hikaru smiled. "It's a little freighting." She shook her head and kept climbing.

Bones was being his usual overprotective self but Jamie was done sitting around. Sulu asked her out and she –obviously- said yes. Since she's spent the last month cooped up, he opted for something a little more up her alley. Actual, outdoors rock climbing was a pretty cool date.

Jamie loved the fact that Hikaru was almost as crazy as she was, it meant she didn't have to talk him into stuff because he jumped at the chance. They were in Yosemite National Park climbing El Capitan. They weren't going for the record, just the view. They could've gone up the trail, it was safer than climbing, but they both shuddered at the idea of going up the easy way.

"Check out that view," she smiled as they got to the top and looked over the park. Jamie reached over and took Hikaru's hand. "Thanks for bringing me here."

"You're welcome."

There was something on his mind and she was dying to know what it was, "Spill."

"I almost forgot how good you are at reading people," he smiled. "I should've asked you this sooner. If the last month and a half taught me anything, it's that I don't want to have regrets. I almost lost you once. Will you be my girlfriend?"

"You want me to be your girlfriend?" Jamie asked with a touch of disbelief.

"Yea. I love you, you love me. I don't see why not. I know it won't be easy because you're my CO but you're kinda already are my girl, so…"

Jamie's chest did a little flip-flop; he wanted her. She shouldn't be that surprised, they've spent the last year dancing around this subject; a couple but not quite. He was asking the question that they've been avoiding.

She stepped into his arms and pressed a soft kiss to his lips, "I'd like that."

"Hiri and Captain Kirk, sittin' in a tree, K. I. S. S. I. N. G. First comes love, then comes marriage, then a baby in a baby carriage," Jamie and Hikaru laughed at his sister. The pair told their family and friends that they were a couple –no one was surprised- but they didn't tell Starfleet. It would come out eventually; they planned to worry about it then.

"Yuki, you do realize that they both outrank you, sweetie?" Yoshiko Sulu, Hikaru's mother, informed his sister.

"They wouldn't use their ranks for evil… would you?"

Jamie shook her head at the youngest Sulu's question, "Nope. I'm not that kind of officer. You're just poking fun at your brother, not a big deal. And for the thousandth time, it's just Jamie."

Yuki smiled at her mother, "See mom. No big deal." Hirkaru's parents invited them all over for a 'You saved the world... again' cookout. The whole crew were all given temporary duty assignments while the Enterprise was in the dock at Starbase One, so it was a welcome break.

Jamie, Uhura, Sulu and Spock were all assigned to the academy teaching classes or overseeing practical application courses. Bones was working at Starfleet Medical HQ. Carol and Kevin were assisting the research department. Scotty and Chekov –with input from Jamie and Spock- were fixing the ship. They were due to go back into the black and the Sulu's thought they could use some relaxation.

"There will always be those who mean to do us harm. To stop them, we risk awakening the same evil within ourselves. Our first instinct is to seek revenge when those we love are taken from us. But that's not who we are. We are here today to rechristen the USS Enterprise, and to honor those who lost their lives, nearly one year ago. When Christopher Pike first gave me his ship he had me recite the Captain's oath. Words I didn't appreciate at the time. Now I see them as a call for us to remember who we once were, and who we must be again. Those words; Space, the final frontier. These are the voyages of Starship Enterprise. Her ongoing mission, to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilization. To boldly go where no one has gone before."

She was so nervous about giving this speech but Hiri and Bones told her that it was good. The looks that the crew gave her while she spoke told Jamie that she did a good job. She couldn't believe that it was a year already. So much had happened, some of it good, some of it bad. She was ready to begin the next phase of her life, to see the universe that Pike always told her about with the people she loved the most.

"It's hard to get out of it once you got a taste. Isn't that right, Mister Sulu?" Jamie asked as she walked onto the bridge.

"You have no idea... Well, maybe you do," Hikaru said with a bright smile as he stood from the chair. "Besides, 'Captain Sulu' does have a nice ring to it."

"It does sound nice," she nodded, "maybe one day." Sulu caught the double meaning in her statement.

He winked and stepped aside, "The chair is yours, Captain."

Jamie sat down and hit the comm, "How's our core, Scotty?"

"Purring like a kitten, Captain. She's ready for a long journey," the engineer chuckled.

"Excellent," she smiled before hitting the communication and glancing at her best friend. "Come on, Bones. Don't be grumpy, this is gonna be fun."

"You always say that," Bones shook his head. "Five years in space. God help me." Jamie rolled her eyes.

"Doctor Marcus," Jamie smiled at the other woman. "I'm glad you could be a part of the family."

"It's nice to have a family," the weapons expert told her with a smile. Jamie had to agree, it wasn't normal but these people were her family.

Jamie stood next to her Vulcan brother and looked at him, "Spock, where should we go?"

They looked out the viewscreen at the vastness of space, "As a mission of this duration has never been attempted, I defer to your good judgment, Captain." Jamie chuckled; all it took was her dying.

She sat down in her chair, "Mister Sulu, take us out."

Hikaru smiled, "Aye, Captain."

This was gonna be fun.

This story has a sequel 'Just Call Me the Dread Pirate Roberts'