"The strength of time," is his immediate and easy answer. "We've had a lot of that, five years of it, and through that, there's only been one time we've truly been at odds with each other." Without waiting for her inevitable protest at even the slightest mention of their disagreement over the Borg, which he really can't blame her for, he plows on. "Even then, we patched up our differences and moved onward. No matter where we are or what's happening to us, we are a team, like the hands on an old clock. We move together, as they do, and we've endured the test of time. I don't want that to be ruined here, especially not by something out of our control."

He loves her. They both know it, and even though they also both know that she can't give him what he really wants, or isn't ready to, the important thing is that they stand together as a command team. They may only have two crewmembers here besides themselves, but even if it were just the two of them, they would need to be united. It's how they have always worked and they do better as individuals if their relationship isn't tarnished. Moving beyond what happened under the mistletoe might be more difficult for him, but he knows what he has to do, for the sake of the crew and for her.

He would do anything for her. And maybe that wolf hallucination was right about a few other things, too. Thanks, Q.