Destined | Christopher Pike

Chapter Forty Eight

Emma was numb for a few days following Chris' revelation. She would be fine one second and then the other second she would be on the floor crying. Chris was there for every moment, every step. He had had time to mourn already. She had not. She wasn't angry at Chris. She just didn't want to believe any of it. She didn't want to believe that he had to die. What kind of fate was that? He was one of Starfleet's best Captains. He deserved to retire and have a long life. She laid in beds for days until she decided enough was enough.

She didn't want to spend her entire leave moping around. She wanted to enjoy her time with her husband. She didn't want to focus on the future. She wanted to focus on the time they had currently. They made many promises. Promises to take pictures and videos. Promises that he would write down her favorite recipes down since he wouldn't be there one day to cook for her. She changed her last name to 'Pike,' since one day that would be the only thing she had left of Chris. The most important promise they made was to not talk about his death. They didn't want to dwell on it. There was no point.

Two weeks went by faster than they anticipated. It felt strange stepping back onto the ship after finding everything out. Would Chris die there? Would it be during an altercation with some other species? Would it be during an attack? He wouldn't tell her and she didn't want to know. It was hard to be okay. She wondered if anyone could tell that something had happened between the two of them. She was so deep into her thoughts that she almost ended up running into several people including one very lost looking new crew member.

It wasn't uncommon for there to be new faces on the ships every year. A five year mission was a long commitment. Many of the crew would just sign up for a year. After a year they would decide whether or not they wanted to stay. Emma had signed up for the full five year mission last year when she had graduated from the academy.

"Emma?" A familiar voice asked.

Emma stopped walking when she heard her name. It was a voice that belonged to someone she had not seen in some time. However, she would recognize the Southern drawl anywhere.

"Leonard?" Emma asked confused. She had gone to the academy with Dr. Leonard McCoy and the two of them had grown close. "What are you doing here?"

"There was an opening for a second doctor on the Enterprise, so I thought I would apply. I forgot you were on the ship." He told her.

"Well, welcome aboard. You're going to love it here. I promise. Everyone is great. Do you know where you're going?" She asked.

"I was hoping my first stop would be my room. It seems I'm always having issues trying to find places." He joked.

"And I'm always the one who has to help you find those places. It can be a bit confusing though, so I understand. The Enterprise is lucky to have you."

"Thank you. So, how have you been?" He asked.

The friendly smile on her face faltered a little and she hoped he didn't notice. Up until two weeks ago everything had been perfect. Now everything felt so uncertain. "Umm, I've been good. Pretty busy trying not get eaten by Gorn. I got married actually."

"Wow." Leonard said shocked, but tried to hide his slight disappointment. There was only one person who knew about his little crush on Emma and that was Jim. "Congratulations. Who's the lucky guy?"

"It's Captain Pike, actually."

It didn't take Leonard long to put two and two together. He should have seen it a year ago, the way she was looking at Captain Pike, it was obvious to anyone who knew Emma well. In all of their time at the academy he had never once seen her look at someone that way before. "That's great. I've heard he's a great-"