As if Talia wasn't already in a state of shock, the chaos that suddenly surrounded her and Leonard as the pair walked into the med bay did nothing to calm her state of mind. The sounds of scanners beeping, nurses and doctors screaming, and patients groaning in pain was enough to send Talia into a panic attack. Noticing her distressed state, Leonard moved through the med bay faster in search for an open exam bed. Unable to find one unoccupied at the moment, Leonard turned to move towards his office, being sure to keep Tali close to him as he did so. The instant that the couple had stepped through the doors, Talia fell to the ground and allowed herself to come completely undone. Leonard was quick to fall beside her and enveloped her into his arms. He chose not to speak, knowing that all Tali needed right now was to grieve openly. Talia would never let herself breakdown in front of a crowd, but behind closed doors, she was a lot more emotional than most people would expect. As Talia's breathing began to slow, Leonard took the opportunity to speak softly to the woman in his arms.
"Hey darlin. I know that there's nothing I can say right now to make you feel better. But whatever you need from me, I'm here. I'm right here, alright, I'm not going anywhere. We can sit in here as long as you need to, okay? We can sleep here tonight if you want, I don't care. Whatever you need right now, I'm here. I'm here, Tali."
Talia didn't respond with any words. To acknowledge that she had heard and understood him, Talia curled more so into Leonard's side and nodded her head slightly against his chest as he pulled her in closer and placed soft kisses now and again atop her head. After about an hour, Talia fell asleep in Leonard's arms, and true to his word, Leonard never left her side.
Leonard wasn't sure how much time had passed when the door to his office suddenly slid open, revealing Nurse Chapel in an exhausted state. She went to speak but stopped as Leonard motioned to Talia in his arms. Understanding his meaning, Christine lowered herself to their level so as not to disturb Talia too terribly.
"How bad was it, Christine?"
"Honestly, not as bad as it looked. Four major injuries in recovery, only two dead. Everyone else was fine. Your girl did a good job. There were over twenty officers in the room tonight. She and her team did one hell of a job."
"That's good. Although I'm not sure Tali will see it that way."
"No loss is easy. But she saved a lot of lives tonight. It'll pass." Leonard nodded in agreement, but knowing Tali's stubbornness, he knew it would take quite a bit of time before her guilt from tonight passed.
"Thanks Christine."
"Of course. Make sure you get some sleep too, Doc."
"Yeah, I will. Have a good night, Christine." As Nurse Chapel exited the office, Leonard turned his attention back to Talia in his arms. If someone had told Leonard almost four years ago that he'd be so sickeningly in love with a woman who loved him just as much, he'd have laughed in their face. Leonard wasn't quite sure when or how, but somewhere along the line, Tali had completely shattered all of Leonard's walls and taught him how to trust again. How to believe in love again. The call he received tonight about the attack on the council meeting had put everything into perspective for him. Just the thought of losing Tali absolutely destroyed him. He couldn't even imagine what it would be like to have actually lost her tonight.
In the midst of his thoughts, Anatalia had begun to stir slightly which Leonard took as a good time to suggest a change in location.
"Hey darlin. The med bay is all cleared out now. You want to switch over to an exam bed for the night?" Unfortunately, the question only seemed to send Talia into a panic as tears began to well up in her eyes again and she grasped Leonard more firmly.
"No. No, I can't go out there tonight. Please Leonard, don't make me go out there."
"Okay. Okay, hey, don't worry. We don't have to, I promise. I can make up my couch here in the office."
"Will you stay with me?"
"Of course. I told you I'm not going anywhere. I've got everything we need in here. Why don't you settle on the couch, and I'll grab the blankets and a pillow." Talia did as Leonard requested and moved to the couch at the side of his office while Leonard shuffled through some drawers for the bed linens.
"All I could find was this half pillow and thin blanket. I guess I don't keep this place stocked as well as I used to."
"Why's that?"
"Well, I guess because I'm too busy working at night when I'm on shift and I prefer to spend my nights at home now instead of the office. You know, since I have a reason to come home at night now." Even in her tired state, Talia showed a small smile at Leonard's sweet words.
"I love you too, Len."
"Here. Also, I know you may not want to hear this right now, but I do still need to do an incident exam."
"Leonard, you promised I wouldn't have to go out there."
"I know, I know. I was just going to say I can bring in my stuff and do it in here. I'll only be gone for a minute. I just know I'll sleep a lot better if I know for certain that you really are okay."
"Okay. I suppose that's fair. Go ahead. I'll be right here when you get back."
"Thanks, darlin. Two minutes tops." Leonard placed a quick kiss to Ana's lips before exiting his office and leaving Talia alone for just a minute. Talia allowed herself to lean back against the couch while willing herself to stay awake so that Leonard could perform his exams when he returned. Tonight had been far more than Talia had bargained for and the mental and emotional exhaustion from the night's events had yet to wear off. But being in Leonard's presence brought Talia more comfort than she could have possibly imagined. She was still somewhat surprised by how long the pair of them had been together. Leonard had told her from the beginning that he couldn't guarantee anything, but over the past year, Talia had started to feel more and more confident that they really were going to be together indefinitely. And nights like tonight only further confirmed to Talia just how much she loved Leonard McCoy. If anything were to happen to them now, Talia couldn't imagine how she would go on without Leonard in her life.
As Leonard re-entered the room, he silently began to scan Talia, running all of the necessary tests to get her cleared for duty. Talia remained silent and still so that Leonard could finish his work as quickly as possible. She didn't mind though. She enjoyed being able to just sit and admire Leonard in his work environment. She studied every detail of his face and expressions as he worked, and Talia felt herself falling more and more in love with him. Eventually, her heart couldn't take it anymore and Talia grabbed Leonard's hands to stop him from working for a moment, forcing the man to focus on the woman in front of him. Leonard saw tears filling Talia's eyes once again and immediately felt his anxiety spike, scooting himself as close as possible to Talia's figure.
"Hey, what's wrong? I can finish this another time if it's too much right now."
"No. No, it's not that. I just need you to understand how much I love you. I really, really love you, Leonard. I can't imagine not being with you, Leo. I need you to know that." Leonard was seemingly struck silent by Tali's words as he made no move to speak. Really, he made no move at all which was starting to worry Tali more than anything else. Just as Talia was going to try and speak again, Leonard stood from his place in front of her and moved to his desk where he began to rifle through his drawers. Talia wasn't sure what to make of the scene, but she suddenly couldn't think of anything at all as Leonard returned back to his place in front of her... on one knee.
"Marry me."
"What?"
"Marry me. Everything you just said, I feel the exact same way. I could've lost you tonight and the thought of that scared me more than anything else in this world. I'm done being scared and living in the past. Marry me, Tali. Please." If Talia weren't so indescribably happy in this moment, she would have been shocked that this proposal was happening at all. But none of that mattered right now, all that mattered was that Leonard loved her and she loved him, and they were about to commit to each other for the rest of their lives.
"Yes. Yes, a thousand times yes." The smile that erupted on Leonard's face was enough to light up the entire planet. He quickly took the ring from its box and placed it onto Ana's finger which Tali admired profusely. The ring was beautiful, a perfect cushion cut diamond, nothing too big or flashy, but nice enough that Talia could tell he'd definitely spent a pretty penny on it. Talia allowed herself to slide down from the couch onto the floor with Leonard and pulled her now fiancée into a searing kiss. Leonard reciprocated in kind and the pair reveled in the moment of pure happiness, completely contradictory to the sadness that had engulfed the med bay all evening.
"I love you, Tali. I promise, I'm going to love you forever."
"I believe you. I promise to do the same. Forever."
-----
It was nearly a week later when Starfleet had finally gotten a lead on John Harrison. Jim had been running mad since the attack, chomping at the bit for the first opportunity to hunt down Harrison himself. Now he finally had the opportunity. After being cleared for a manhunt of Harrison on Kronos, Jim had immediately reassembled the usual crew of the Enterprise and set them off as soon as possible. Under normal conditions, Talia and Leonard would have said no to the assignment, but everyone felt a very personal connection to tracking down the bastard that had killed Pike.
Leonard and Anatalia had kept their recent engagement under wraps for the time being, wanting to wait until the event could be truly celebrated before sharing the news. Besides, they both knew that this mission was the top priority at the moment. The group was boarding the shuttle to take them to the Enterprise and Leonard was fussing over Jim who had yet to receive his exam after the attack. How he always managed to wiggle his way out of his medical exams was beyond Talia, but nothing stayed past Leonard for long.
Upon boarding the shuttle, Jim had handed her the mission's briefing packet which read 'highly classified' and instructed his CSO not to read it until they boarded the Enterprise. This news did nothing to startle Talia, but Leonard immediately knew that it meant this mission would likely include something very dangerous for his fiancé to get involved in. His fears only heightened as he heard Spock and Jim arguing while trying to run his medical tests on Jim from the seat behind him.
"Wait a minute. We're firing torpedoes at the Klingons?" At this, Anatalia's head shot up from her lap, wondering if she could have possibly just heard Leonard correctly. Now she was more eager than ever to get to the ship so she could read the mission briefing. Anatalia hadn't realized that she had zoned out until an unfamiliar blonde woman came and sat beside her on the shuttle.
"Hi. I'm Science Officer Wallace." Pulling herself from her trance, Talia shook the woman's extended hand and smiled back at the new recruit.
"Commander Tonks. Chief Security Officer."
"A pleasure. I've heard a lot about you commander. You saved a lot of lives last week."
"Thank you. Not my best work, but overall I suppose it could have been worse."
"You're far too hard on yourself. I hear glowing reviews from everyone about you. Youngest CSO in Starfleet history, first assignment was to the Enterprise where you were acting captain for only thirty minutes but managed to corner the Narada into a black hole, and now the woman who saved Admiral Marcus from a rogue Starfleet officer right at Starfleet headquarters. An impressive resume for only three and a half years of service."
"Wow. You've done your research."
"Sorry. If I'm being honest, I'm a big fan of just about everyone on the original Enterprise crew. You're all the best of the best. I'm honored to now be among you all."
"Well, I'm sure you'll fit in just fine. We are always happy to have new recruits joining us for explorations. Although I have a feeling this mission might be a little different."
"Agreed. But an honor nevertheless." As the shuttle bay doors closed, final calls were made over the intercom for everyone to take their seats and buckle up. Talia caught a glimpse of Leonard from the corner of her eye hastily packing his medical bag and making his way over to a seat behind Tali. Despite being in Starfleet for nearly five years now, Leonard still hated flying. For some reason, shuttles seemed to be the worst. Talia could hear Leonard's breathing from behind her as he worked to regulate the heavy breaths forcing themselves from his chest. Doing her best not to draw any attention to the pair of them, Tali moved her hand down to her side and worked it as far back to the seat behind her as the space would allow. Within just a matter of seconds, Leonard's hand was gripping her own, squeezing it gently in thanks as his breathing became more regular and he focused on the feeling of Talia's thumb stroking his knuckles comfortingly.