There were people back at the Academy and in Iowa would have burst out laughing at the notion that James Kirk was a good, compassionate person. That image was his own doing, something he'd worked into place, for as he'd told Sylar: It's easier to act like a jackass and a moron than to show that you're easily hurt or that you understand things a lot better than people would ever think of giving you credit for. But, life wasn't easy and wasn't always going to go his way. He'd been jolted pretty hard into that realization that he needed to stop acting like that reckless kid that drove a priceless antique car into a canyon when Nero imploded Vulcan.

Leap without looking, but take a good look around when you land. So far, things looked pretty good from where he was sitting.

"Wow," he said for her instead, unable to stop grinning like an idiot. "We're going to end up abusing that word."