Author's Note: This is my first foray into Star Trek fanfic, even though I've been a huge fan for years. It's always seemed a little intimidating, to be honest, because there's so much good stuff out there already. Anyway, I've always adored the Doctor; he's all kinds of fantastic and so much fun. I got the idea for this fic when I recently re-watched the episode "Someone to Watch Over Me", where the Doctor teaches Seven how to date. As cute as it was when he developed feelings for her, I'm an avid fan of Harry/Seven; so I sort of took the idea of that episode and took it in a bit of a different direction with an original character. I hope you like it, and if there's enough response to this I may continue writing one-shots about Alice Monroe and the Doctor.
Disclaimer: Star Trek belongs to Paramount and not to me, sadly. The song that Alice sings is called "Arms" and belongs to Christina Perri.
"You developed the antidote, Lieutenant. You're going to make the presentation. Is that clear?"
"I - yes Captain."
Captain Janeway nods, satisfied. "Good. I know you'll do just fine, Alice."
Unwilling to contradict her captain, Lieutenant Alice Monroe simply nods her head and leaves Janeway's ready room. She keeps her eyes forward as she hurries through the bridge to the turbo lift, successfully getting inside without having anyone speak to her. She instructs it to take her to Deck Five.
Moments later Alice exits the lift and strides into sickbay, nervously biting her bottom lip.
"Please state the nature of the medical - " The Doctor stops mid-sentence when he glances up and sees his assistant. "Ah, Lieutenant Monroe. What did the captain want?"
Alice heaves a deep sigh and flops down into the chair at her research station. The Doctor looks at her with a mixture of curiosity and concern.
"Is something wrong?"
"Captain Janeway insists that I give the presentation of the sharva poison antidote to the Kenvian scientists," Alice answers miserably.
The Doctor raises an eyebrow. "I don't see why this is upsetting you. You've done excellent work and that antidote is going to save countless lives."
Alice leans forward in her seat and meets the eyes of the Doctor, hoping to make her friend understand. "I don't think I can do it. I can't give speeches."
"Why not?"
"I have severe, debilitating stage fright," she says bluntly. "I can't do it."
The Doctor comes over and leans on the desk in front of her. "Has the captain ordered you to give the presentation?"
"Yes," Alice groans, covering her face with her hands. A moment later she feels a hand on her shoulder and raises her head to find the Doctor gazing at her thoughtfully. "What?"
"I believe I can help you prepare."
Alice nearly rolls her eyes. "Weren't you listening? Severe, debilitating stage fright? I can't speak in front of large groups; I get shaky, and sweaty, and nauseated. Sometimes I pass out."
"Be that as it may, you're going to have to try. We have a week before the Kenvians arrive on Voyager. I think that's enough time for me to help you get over the worst of your stage fright."
Alice stares at him disbelievingly. "Are you serious? How exactly do you plan to do that?"
The Doctor smirks good-naturedly. "Step one: Preparation."
...
Several hours later Alice and the Doctor have put together a presentation, complete with a speech and visual aids; the Doctor insists that having the whole thing planned out to the last detail will help Alice relax when she's in front of an audience.
"It's a good speech, but I'm still not sure this is going to keep me from passing out in front of a room full of people," Alice says, placing the data pad containing the presentation on the desk and standing up. She rolls her neck and stretches out her stiff muscles, smiling at the Doctor. "But still, thank you."
He smiles back. "It will help. But this isn't all we're going to do."
"I should have known," Alice says, smirking teasingly; she earns a slight chuckle from the Doctor and her smirk widens into a grin.
"Well then, shall we move onto step two?"
"Can step two wait for a bit? I'm starving. Come with me to the mess hall?"
The Doctor quirks an eyebrow. "You remember that I don't eat, correct?"
Alice blushes slightly; since his activation several years ago the Doctor has become so human that the fact that he's a hologram slips Alice's mind on occasion. She clears her throat. "Of course. But does that mean you can't come keep me company while I eat?"
"No, I suppose it doesn't. Alright, let's go then," the Doctor says as they leave sickbay together. "We can discuss step two over your dinner," he says brightly, making Alice laugh.
It's fairly late to be having supper, and the mess hall is nearly empty when they enter; the only occupants of the room are a couple of ensigns and Neelix, who greets them warmly.
"What can I get for you, Alice? I've got some of my special Talaxian stew left," Neelix offers with a smile.
Alice returns his smile; Neelix is one of those people who can put a smile on just about anyone's face. "That sounds great, Neelix, thanks," she replies.
The Talaxian nods. "Take a seat and I'll bring it right out to you." He hurries off as Alice and the Doctor sit down across from each other at a small table. Moments later Neelix returns with a bowl of hot stew and a mug of lemon tea, which he places in front of Alice.
She grins up at him. "Thank you, Neelix. How is it you always seem to know what I want to drink without me telling you?"
Neelix chuckles and clasps her shoulder. "It's a gift."
"Would you like to join us?" Alice asks.
He shakes his head. "Not right now, I've still got to prepare some things for breakfast tomorrow."
"Okay. Well, thanks. This smells delicious. See you later."
Alice looks back at the Doctor as Neelix bustles off into the kitchen. Scooping up a spoonful of stew, her curiosity gets the better of her.
"Alright, so what's step two?"
"Ah yes," says the Doctor, leaning towards her. "You need to get used to performing."
At the word 'performing' Alice nearly drops her spoon. "What?" she squeaks. "Performing is something I am most definitely not comfortable with."
"That's exactly the point," the Doctor replies. "You need to get out of your comfort zone. Don't worry, it will just be in front of me at first."
Alice stares at him with wide eyes for a moment before she resumes eating. "What exactly are you going to make me do?"
"First you'll be reciting your speech for me. Then I'll see where we should take things from there." He glances at the time as she finishes her meal. "This will have to wait for tomorrow, however. It's grown rather late."
The pair of them stand and leave the mess hall, bidding each other goodnight before going their separate ways.
...
The next morning, Alice makes her way down to sickbay with a nervous knot in her stomach; doing her presentation for the Doctor won't be so bad, but his words from last night keep ringing in her head.
Then I'll see where we should take things from there.
She can't imagine what that might mean, but she's almost certain she's not going to like it.
The Doctor greets her with a wide smile as she enters sickbay; Alice glances around and sees all the empty biobeds, and her faint hope of escaping the oncoming lesson with some sort of medical emergency vanishes entirely. She sighs inwardly and returns the Doctor's smile with a nervous one.
"Good morning, Lieutenant," the Doctor says brightly. "Ready to dazzle me with your presentation?"
"I doubt there'll be any dazzling," Alice replies. "Can we just get started?"
"Ah, eager to begin. That's a good sign."
"Eager to be finished, actually," Alice corrects him. The Doctor shoots her a slight glare as he sits down. She makes to sit down as well when the Doctor stops her.
"No, no, no," he says. "The speaker must be on her feet."
Alice stifles a groan and takes up a position in front of her one-man audience, holding the data pad with her speech on it in front of her. Looking at her expectantly, the Doctor gives her an encouraging nod; Alice begins speaking.
Half an hour later Alice wraps up her speech; the Doctor applauds and she blushes, lowering her eyes to the floor. A moment later the Doctor's feet appear in her field of vision.
"That wasn't bad at all," he says. Alice raises her gaze to find him smiling at her. "A little rushed, perhaps, but that will get better with practice."
Alice clears her throat awkwardly. "Uh, thanks Doctor. Did you want me to try it again?"
"Not right now. I have something else in mind to get you to loosen up a little. Come with me." He picks up his mobile emitter and attaches it to his sleeve, leaving sickbay with Alice trailing behind him.
She raises an eyebrow when they stop outside the holodeck. "What are we doing here?"
"You'll see," says the Doctor. "Computer, run holoprogram Doctor-twelve."
The cool voice of the ship's computer issues from the wall. "Program in progress. You may enter when ready."
The door to the holodeck slides open and Alice follows the Doctor inside. When she sees what's inside she stops dead, shaking her head with wide eyes.
"Oh no. No, no, no, no, no."
The Doctor turns to face her, nodding. "Yes, Lieutenant. You'll be just fine. Come on." He puts his hand on the small of her back and steers her into the middle of the room.
Alice swallows hard around the sudden lump in her throat as she comes to stand in front of an early-twentieth century microphone. She looks up at the Doctor, a questioning look in her eyes.
"You once told me that you enjoy singing in your quarters," he says.
Alice's eyebrows shoot up. "I'm surprised you remembered that. But I don't sing in front of anyone," she mutters embarrassedly.
"It's just me," the Doctor states. "And to make it easier on you, we'll sing together at first."
Alice just stares at him, her mouth slightly open.
The Doctor clasps his hand on her shoulder, squeezing it comfortingly. "You'll be fine. Please, just give it a try."
Sighing, Alice nods, finding she can't say no to such an earnest request and knowing that he's trying to help her. "Okay," she whispers.
"Excellent," the Doctor says. "Computer, play Come Fly with Me, music only."
The opening strains of the song begin playing and Alice swallows nervously. The Doctor begins to sing, but Alice can't seem to find her voice. He looks pointedly at her.
"Computer, pause music. Lieutenant, the point of this exercise is to get you to sing, not for you to simply stand there and listen to me."
Alice bites her bottom lip and lowers her eyes. "I know. Sorry," she mumbles.
The Doctor sighs. "Would it help if we did not look at each other?"
"It might."
"Let's try that then." The Doctor turns away from Alice and she follows suit, staring at the wall of the holodeck. "Computer, restart music."
Come Fly with Me starts from the top again, and this time Alice forces herself to imagine that she's alone in her quarters; she shuts her eyes and begins singing softly, her words nearly drowned out by the Doctor's confident voice. After a few moments, she grows more comfortable and sings a little louder.
By the time the song ends, their two voices are mingling harmoniously. The music fades out and Alice opens her eyes; turning around she finds the Doctor gazing at her with a soft smile on his face.
"You have a very lovely voice, Alice," he says. She feels her face grow hot and knows she must be bright red.
"Thank you, Doctor."
"You really should let people hear it."
Alice shakes her head. "Oh no, I couldn't do that. Just singing with you in the room was hard enough."
The Doctor shrugs. "Alright, I won't force you to show off your talent to the rest of the crew. Would you be willing to try again, this time facing me?"
"I - " Alice stops; she had been about to refuse on instinct, but decides to at least try. "Okay."
He claps his hands once. "Excellent! Computer, restart Come Fly with Me."
They begin to sing together once more; Alice's voice wavers nervously at first and she keeps her gaze fixed on the Doctor's kneecap, but she's doing better than she would have imagined ten minutes ago. The Doctor claps his hands again as the song ends.
"Wonderful! You're doing very well. Feeling a little more comfortable now?"
Raising her eyes to meet his, Alice nods. "A little."
"Now, there's one more thing I'd like to try here," says the Doctor. "You can, of course, refuse if it's too much for today."
"What is it?" Alice asks cautiously.
"I'd like you to choose a song and sing it by yourself."
Alice's eyes widen. "Seriously?"
The Doctor nods. "Yes, seriously. Would you like to try?"
No, I would not like to try, Alice thinks. But she looks up at the Doctor, who has been so patient with her, and she nods.
"Alright. Pick something and sing for me."
Not trusting her vocal cords to work properly yet, Alice moves to the keypad and keys in a few commands to bring up one of her favourite old songs. A melody from Earth's twenty-first century begins to play as she returns to the center of the room. Alice closes her eyes and begins to sing quietly.
"I never thought that you would be the one to hold my heart
But you came around and you knocked me off the ground from the start
You put your arms around me
And I believe that it's easier for you to let me go
You put your arms around me and I'm home."
She sings the majority of the song with her eyes closed, opening them as she nears the end. Finally, she manages to raise her gaze to the Doctor's face. He is listening intently, his expression inscrutable.
"I hope that you see right through my walls
I hope that you catch me, 'cause I'm already falling
I'll never let a love get so close
You put your arms around me and I'm home
You put your arms around me and I'm home."
The last notes of the song fade out and Alice feels herself blushing again, but manages to maintain eye contact with the Doctor.
It is a moment before he breaks the silence. "Alice, that was beautiful."
At his sincere words she lowers her gaze again, thoroughly embarrassed at the praise. Her cheeks are burning hotter than ever. A few seconds later she is surprised to feel his hand on her chin, gently making her look up. Their eyes lock for a long moment before Alice clears her throat awkwardly and breaks eye contact; her stomach is fluttering, whether with residual nerves or something else she's not sure.
"Well," the Doctor says briskly. "We should probably return to our duties. Computer, end program."
A few beeps issue from over their heads as the holodeck returns to its natural state, and the two of them head back to sickbay to get some work done.
...
By the end of the week, Alice is feeling significantly better about her upcoming presentation; still not fantastic, of course, but better. She's now fairly confident that at least she'll be able to get through it without losing consciousness.
Even so, on the night before the scheduled conference, Alice has trouble sleeping. After tossing and turning for several hours she gives up; getting out of bed, she changes from her pajamas into a pair of yoga pants and a comfortable t-shirt, slips on a pair of sandals, and leaves her quarters.
She wanders through the ship's corridors, silent and empty this late at night. Everyone is either sleeping or on the night watch; Alice briefly considers heading to the bridge but decides against it, opting to go to sickbay instead.
Sickbay is, unsurprisingly, deserted when she gets there. She enters and sits down at her research station, pulling up a few files and flipping through them; nothing captures her interest, however, and she leans back with a sigh.
"Computer, activate EMH."
"Please state the nature of - "
"It's just me, Doc," Alice cuts him off. "No medical emergency."
"Lieutenant," he says, crossing over to her. "What are you doing here this late?"
Alice shrugs. "I couldn't sleep. I can't stop thinking about tomorrow and it's got my stomach in knots."
"Would you like me to give you a sedative?"
Alice shakes her head. "No, thanks. Can we just talk?"
"If you'd like," the Doctor replies, bringing a chair over to sit next to her.
Alice smiles softly at him. "I'd like to thank you for everything you've done for me this past week."
"It was nothing, Lieutenant. I was glad to help."
"It wasn't nothing, Doctor," Alice says, reaching over and covering his hand with hers. "I'd be a complete basket case without you."
The Doctor nods and the two sit in comfortable silence for a long moment, until they are interrupted by an urgent voice over the comm system.
"Bridge to sickbay."
"Sickbay here," answers the Doctor.
"Doctor, Ensign Williams just collapsed."
The Doctor quickly attaches his mobile emitter onto his sleeve as he responds. "I'll be right there."
Alice hurries after him as he strides briskly out of sickbay. "Want me to go with you?"
"No, that's alright Lieutenant," he replies as they enter the turbo lift. "You really should get some sleep. Here," he presses a hypospray into her hand, "take this when you get back to your quarters."
She smiles softly and accepts the hypo. "Thank you, Doctor. See you tomorrow."
He nods and returns her smile as the lift doors open onto the bridge; then he steps out, all business, to tend to Ensign Williams, who is sitting on the floor looking dazed. Alice watches the Doctor kneel over the ensign for a moment before the doors slide shut again.
...
"Oh God, I feel sick."
Alice has spent the last fifteen minutes standing outside the mess hall, watching people file in and sit down. She stopped counting at forty-two, but she estimates there must be over a hundred people in there; her stomach is doing backflips.
She closes her eyes and leans her back against the wall, sliding down it until she's seated on the floor with her knees drawn up in front of her. She's trying to calm her hammering heart when she feels a hand on her knee. Opening her eyes, she sees the Doctor kneeling in front of her.
"Deep breaths, Lieutenant," he says gently.
Alice can tell from the concern on his face that she must look as panicked as she feels; she takes several slow, deep breaths and feels her heart rate slow somewhat. "Right. Okay. I think I might throw up."
"You're not going to throw up. You're going to go in there and give a brilliant presentation. You'll be great." He stands up and offers his hand to her. "Come on."
Sighing, Alice grasps his hand and lets him pull her to her feet. "If you say so," she says disbelievingly.
The Doctor looks at her seriously. "I do say so. I know you can do this, Alice." He surprises her by reaching up and tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear, his fingertips grazing her cheek as he does so; it's an unexpectedly intimate gesture and catches them both off guard. Alice's heart starts pounding wildly in her chest again and she feels her cheeks flush.
"Lieutenant Monroe?" Their heads both snap over to find Commander Chakotay sticking his head out of the mess hall. "We're almost ready for you."
Alice shakes her head to clear it. "I, um, I'll be right there, sir."
Chakotay nods and disappears back into the mess; Alice takes a shaky breath.
"Lieutenant, you'll do just fine. Just remember everything we've done over the past week." The Doctor smiles encouragingly at her. "And if you need to, just ignore everyone else and speak to me; pretend we're back in sickbay."
Alice nods, still incredibly nervous but also determined to get through this; the Doctor has such faith in her and she doesn't want to let him down. "Okay."
They enter the mess hall and the Doctor takes a seat while Alice makes her way to a podium at the front of the room. The room falls silent. Alice feels as if her heart is about to hammer straight through her ribcage and she can't seem to find her voice; her eyes seek out the Doctor's and he gives her a nod and a smile. She calms down somewhat and starts speaking, her gaze never leaving his face.
...
Polite applause fills the mess hall. Alice smiles awkwardly and steps down from the podium, relief flooding through her. As the visiting scientists mingle with the crew Alice weaves her way through the crowd to find the Doctor; he is beaming proudly at her. She grins radiantly and hurries toward him.
Alice flings her arms around the Doctor and hugs him tightly for a moment before she pulls back to find him smiling fondly down at her. "You were wonderful, Alice. I'm so proud of you."
She grins widely. "It's all because of your help. I never could have done it without you, Doctor. Thank you, thank you, thank you!" On impulse she rises onto her toes and kisses him briefly on the lips. The Doctor looks stunned; Alice's cheeks burn bright red.
"I-I'm sorry, Doctor," she stammers. "Um, I didn't - I mean - "
The Doctor seems to recover his composure and shakes his head. "No need to apologize, Lieutenant. It's... quite alright." He gives his head a slight shake and takes her hand. "Now, let's go see what Mr. Neelix has to help you celebrate your success."
They smile warmly at each other as the Doctor leads Alice across the mess hall, both of them quietly reflecting on that kiss.