Disclaimer: I don't own or profit from Star Trek

I was visited by the plot dragon this morning, so this is her fault. I blame it on the rebel Anton Yelchin tries to be

Thank you to T'Prime and my imouto-chan for the encouragement! I have borrowed the angst from GothicCheshire.

Lonely Hours

Hikaru Sulu exited his quarters, turned to the cabin adjacent to his own, ready to collect Pavel Chekov for their routine morning walk to the bridge for Alpha shift, as he had done every day since they were assigned to the Enterprise. He politely nodded to the unusual collection of crewmembers in the hallway. As the crowd parted for the higher ranking officer, they finally granted him the sight of a young Ensign from Engineering, who had resorted to screaming, and seemingly unfazed Russian. Her arms were flailing in the air, her body rigid. Sulu rolled his eyes he knew exactly what this was - yet another morning-after argument pinning a half clad Chekov against the wall. He was really going to have to discuss this self degrading habit with the Navigator. Sulu could understand why no one could turn down the offer to share his bed, but Chekov was ruining himself and his reputation. His once bright eyes were dull, his skin no longer shone, his enthusiasm curbed. It broke the older man's heart to watch the kid self-destruct.

Ensign Adder, Sulu believed was her name, did not notice his arrival or that anyone else even existed in the passage at that moment; her fierce eyes were only focused on her soon-to-be ex-lover. "What do you mean it was just for one night? That is not the sweet little words you were spouting in TenForward!" She was in his face, or as close as her shorter stature would allow. Her uniform was crumbled; it was obviously the one that had been on his floor the entire night. Her hair and eyes were dark, a trait that Chekov seemed to look for in his one-night stands. However for all his intelligence, the teen had not learned the delicate art of slipping away before his bed partners awoke and simply leaving them a message explaining how he was so sorry to take advantage of her 'wounded heart' or some crap. Chekov was too honest for his own good. Sulu sighed, leaning against the door frame watching the drama unfold in the middle of the hall. Had it not been such an open wound for him, he might have enjoyed the show, but as it was, this only served to feed the flames that licked his heavy heart.

Chekov, to his credit, was just standing calmly taking her abuse as he had done for the countless others before her, and would no doubt do again for the countless after her. He was in his pants and boots, his black and gold shirts clutched in his hand with his slightly wet hair spiked up. Sulu couldn't keep up with the number of women Chekov had taken to bed only to dump them in the morning, usually their arguments spilling over into the hall. "It vas just sex, Alicia, nothing more. I do not tink it vould be a good idea if ve saw each other again." He merely shrugged, nodding to Sulu. This was an all too often occurrence for the blonde, he didn't realize how absurd the whole situation was for everyone else, how embarrassing it should have been for him. Even Jim Kirk had the decency to stop this behavior now that he was part of the Command Crew for the Enterprise.

Then, the spit-fire slapped him hard across the face. Sulu tensed at the resounding smack. "You are nothing but a man-whore who can't even speak Standard properly!" She screamed once more before turning and plowing into Sulu full steam ahead. She didn't bother with apologies but kept running, her shoulders shaking with her sobs.

Sighing, Hikaru stepped closer to his best friend. "Dude, get dressed we've got shift in ten minutes." It hurt the older man to know how carelessly Chekov gave away his affection to anyone with a pretty face, but he would be damned if he let it show.

Running his fingers through his still damp messy curls, Chekov nodded. "It does not get easier." Pulling on the shirts without bothering to return to his room, Chekov flexed his jaw. He nodded at the taller man and they left their doorways.

They walked down the hall in silence, each lost to his thoughts. Sulu was glad that these arguments hurt his friend, because that proved he was still a person who had a heart and thought about others, not just himself. As the turbo lift opened, Sulu ushered Chekov in first before slowly following. "Pav, we need to talk." Sulu ordered the lift to the bridge. He had taken Chekov under his wing, dared to care about him, and now he really needed to bring the younger man back to reality, make him see the err of his ways. "You can't keep going around sleeping with half the women on the ship. It's not healthy nor is it right." He took a deep breath, this was the first time they had spoken of Chekov's sleeping arrangements. Chekov was staring away from him, his shoulders slumped in defeat. "Why do you do it, Pav?" He whispered into the empty space between them, his own pain echoing in his soft voice.

Turning to face the pilot, Chekov looked him straight in the eye. "It keeps my mind off ze one I can't hawe. It fills ze lonely hours betveen shifts." He looked haunted and much older than his nineteen years.

But before Sulu could ask any other questions, the door opened and Chekov shot out of the lift. Sulu silently cursed himself for not stopping the lift and taking the time to talk about what was really going on behind those hazel eyes. It was going to be a long shift.

A/N: Thanks for reading!

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