Hello, all! I've taken a long break from Fanfic to figure out exactly what i want to write, and this is the result of that. I can't exactly promise regular updates, as i'm scatterbrained and all that, but i'll do my best if this story catches on. Let me know what you think of it!
Disclaimer: I don't own Star Trek. Obviously.
Captain James T. Kirk of the starship Enterprise wasn't the best at keeping up with paperwork, to no one's surprise. Therefore, it was hardly a shock when Spock found him in the Captain's Ready Room, piles and piles of undone paperwork all on individual PADDS piled in front of him.
"Captain, I must say-"Spock started, before Kirk stopped him with a groan.
"I know, I know, lots to do, more crap to sign, less action to get to in this quadrant of space. Tell me something I don't know, man." Kirk laid his head down in a particularly messy pile of PADDS and scratched the back of his head with the stylus he'd been using to sign the interminable paperwork.
"I have come to inform you that we received an acceptance for the request you filed with the captain of the U.S.S. Hashimoto. Captain Gerron has agreed to trade Ensign Rathers for Ensign Rachel McCoy." Spock replied, studiously ignoring his captain's theatrics "She is transferring into the Engineering department, for Gamma Shift. I have already signed it, as has Mr. Scott." Spock continued, placing the single slim PADD in front of the Captain.
"Rache is coming aboard? Why didn't you open with that, Spock? That's the best news I've heard all day!" Hurriedly, he scratched a barely legible signature at the bottom. "I've got to tell Bones, he's gonna be so psyched!" Kirk hailed the doctor, ordering him to the Ready Room on the double.
"One other thing, Captain. I would prefer to accompany you when you accept Ensign McCoy on board." Kirk glanced up at Spock, grin starting to form.
"You hold a flame for Bones' niece? I bet Uhura isn't too happy about that at all, Spock." Kirk joked, smile growing wider when Spock grimaced, an expression that was nearly undetectable, unless you spent the last few years in close quarters with him like Kirk had.
"No, Captain. We attended many of the same functions as ambassador's children together, and I merely wish to welcome an old … friend to the crew."
"Flawlessly logical as always, Spock. When can we expect her?" Kirk asked, still obviously excited about the whole concept, not worrying about Spock's personal motivations.
"She is set to arrive on the next transport in three days. Will that be all, Captain?" Spock took the PADD and left the Ready room when the captain waved at him, just as the doctor went in to receive the news.
Bones was ecstatic of course. He hadn't seen his niece in over a year, as ship to ship calls were expensive and they never seemed to be in the same sector at the same time. McCoy stayed in the ready room for the next three hours, reminiscing about Kirk's misadventures trying to woo Rachel into a date, and other goings on from when the three of them had been at the academy together. He finally left Jim to his ever expanding stack of paperwork, and prepared for her arrival.
THREE DAYS LATER
"Psst, Hikaru." Chekov tried to get his friend's attention as Spock, McCoy, and the Captain left the bridge to welcome their newest crewmember.
"Yeah dude, what's up?" The pilot replied, not taking his eyes off of the hand held game that he played anytime he wasn't being scrutinized by Spock or the Captain.
"Who are zey going to meet? Isn't it just an ensign? Why are zey all going to greet her?" Pavel asked. Last time an ensign had beamed aboard the ship, only his new department head went to greet him, and as far as the navigator knew, that was basic protocol.
"You mean you don't know?" Sulu asked, turning to face Pavel. At Chekov's negative head shake, Sulu continued, "The new Ensign is McCoy's niece, and a personal friend of Spock's from childhood so it's wild that they even waited this long to get her on board. She was a year behind us at the academy, so she graduated after the Nero thing. Don't know why they didn't ask for her then, but I just work here. Rumor is she's gorgeous though."
They sat in relative silence for the next fifteen or so minutes, the only noises being the beeps of the multiple consoles and Scotty's flirting with the various yeomen that wandered in with reports to sign. Finally, as Alpha shift was almost over, The Captain, Spock, the doctor, and their new crew mate came through the turbolift doors, all but Spock laughing uproariously about something. Even Spock managed a small smile, his tall frame concealing the smaller Ensign behind him. Finally, Spock stepped to his own station, and she was revealed to the bridge crew. The jaw of every man, excluding the three that brought her up to the bridge, dropped. She was stunning. Long, raven black hair, caught in a sleek ponytail, slid down her neck and disappeared behind her red clad shoulders. Her eyes were a silvery blue that were as deep and as wonderful as the lake that Pavel had visited back in San Francisco during his academy days. She was smiling, her plump red lips curving up at the corners as if she had a delicious secret. A shiver went through Pavel. "What would those lips feel like pressed against my lips, or my neck? Or-"he cut the thought off, trying to take his eyes off the vision in front of him.
All male eyes were still trained on the Woman, as McCoy bent to her and whispered in her ear. "Oh, sorry, everyone! I hadn't realized I was projecting." She said, a blush spilling across the caramel skin of her cheekbones. Suddenly, something happened, releasing the men of the spell that had been over them. Spock and McCoy, it seemed, were the only men who had been unaffected. The first officer turned from his station to face the bridge crew, who were once again taking their seats. "Ensign McCoy has an ability that comes from her species, one that allows her the ability to use pheromones to change human behavior. She has undergone training to subdue this, and this will be the only mishap regarding it, I am sure."
"Rachel!" Uhura squealed, enveloping the other woman in a hug. They immediately began chattering in a language that Pavel didn't recognize. Suddenly, he was tugged into a seat by Hikaru, who had an amused, teasing smile splayed across the bottom half of his face. "Well, well, well, look who has a crush on a certain Doctor's Niece." He teased the blushing Russian as they set up their consoles for the next shift. "Not that I blame you. Most of the men on board are probably gonna try to charm her into a date in the next few days. You should get while the getting's good, Pavel" Chekov scoffed, plugging in the auto route he had set up for Beta shift. They'd had to divert to pick up Ensign McCoy from her last ship, and he'd had to rewrite the course around it. He and Sulu waited for the Turbolift to come back up after it deposited the first round of officers, and headed to the mess hall with the rest of the bridge crew.
Upon entering the officer's mess, he realized there were more people at the table where the Alpha shift bridge crew sat. She was there. Sitting on one side of her at the long rectangular table was her Uncle, and on her other side was the captain, smiling widely and whispering something in her ear. She smiled at Kirk, and Pavel felt an unexpected surge of jealously flash through him. He shook his head, trying to dislodge the unfamiliar feeling, and gathered his food.
Once he had made his way to the table, he was faced with the problem of finding a place to sit at the now crowded table. A year into their five year mission, the crew rarely had new faces to acquaint themselves with, and none of the other newer faces had been quite this beautiful. It seemed that every male crewmember had jockeyed for a place near her, all trying to ignore the fact that her uncle sat right in front of her. Finally he found a seat two spots down and across from the lovely Ensign, trying to ignore the laughter and the banter that was aimed towards the laughing woman. He snuck another glance at her. Her maddeningly plump lips curved into a wide smile, a flash of white teeth appearing between them. Pavel sucked in a breath, not expecting the sudden tightness in his lungs. Doctor McCoy glanced over at him, raising an eyebrow. Pavel quickly returned his attention to his food, hiding his blush from the older man.
One by one, the other crew members went about their business as Pavel slowly ate his dinner, soon leaving him alone with the still chatting Doctor and Ensign. Try as he might, he couldn't block out the smattering of conversation that wafted down the table.
"Well, the first stop on the tour is gonna have to be Med Bay, since they just paged me. And Chekov there can join us, can't you, kid?" Bones called to him good naturedly. Pavel blushed again, trying to come up with an explanation that would take him away from the beautiful woman. Rachel smacked the doctor's arm suddenly, forehead furrowed.
"Oh, Leo, leave him alone! You don't have to come with us, I'm sure you have much better things to do than show me around. Leo just likes to stick his nose into things, I'm sorry." She directed the apology at Pavel, scarlet rushing up her neck. She looked sweet, innocent even. That must be what all women on the bridge laughed about when he blushed on duty, usually because Doctor McCoy or the Captain said something relating to his girl preferences. Last time they said something about his constant lack of a dance partner at ship parties, he'd had the distinct feeling that they were going to set him up with some unsuspecting woman soon. But surely they wouldn't set him up with the Doctor's- damn, he missed something while lost in his thoughts.
"-boy needs to get out more, and you need a friend, Rache." Bones said, looking at Pavel with a sort of fatherly affection.
"I have friends, Leo. I have Nyota and Spock and Jimmy. And don't you start with calling Spock names again, because it's-"
"Alright, Rache. Jeeze, let's just go. You coming?" Bones asking asked Pavel, a wide smile still cracking his face. Pavel thought about it a moment. The longer he spent with this gorgeous woman, the more likely he was to make a fool out of himself. On the other hand, he wanted to spend more time with her. A lot more time, and this seemed like a golden opportunity.
"Da, I mean yes, I will come." Pavel said, standing up and grabbing his tray. He'd always respected the doctor, and if the doctor wanted him to join them, he would. Besides, it was only for a short trip to the Med Bay, then Pavel could give some excuse about a report, and go back to his quarters to try and forget the beautiful Ensign and her compelling smile.
"Great!" McCoy replied, grabbing his and his niece's trays and heading towards the bussing station. "So, Rache, after we leave the Med bay, what do you feel like seeing first? The observation deck? The arboretum? Or maybe I could show you one of the rec rooms, they have a few great pool tables. You still remember how to play, right?" Bones teased, throwing their trays in the bins and looping his arm with hers. Rachel glanced back at Pavel, motioning him forward shyly and looping her other arm with his.
Pavel felt his heart beat faster, and his heart constrict "Stop it." He snapped at himself, "It's not like that, she's only trying to include you." They walked down the arm, all three arm in arm. "So, what was it like on ze other ship, Ms. McCoy?" He asked Rachel, who turned her head and narrowed her eyes at him playfully. "Don't you dare call me that! That makes me sound a hundred years old. Its Rachel, or Rache, whatever you like best. The Hashimoto was a Medical ship, and it was dead boring. I actually moved down in rank just to get here, I was assistant to the Chief Engineer on the 'Moto." Rachel said sighing. "They finally have enough people trained up to replace the ones lost in the Nero incident, so people like me were finally able to get into the spots that we wanted in the first place. There were three people on my ship who wanted aboard the Enterprise, but I had seniority, and I have a sneaking suspicion the Captain requested me. After all, someone has to make sure that Jimmy and the good doctor here aren't tearing around the universe, causing trouble and not apologizing." Rachel dug into McCoy's ribs with her elbow, and smiled.
"Hey, I'll have you know that I was a perfect citizen before I met Kirk!" Bones groused, sending a sideways glance at Pavel as he laughed. "What, Lieutenant, you have something to add?" The doctor said, grinning.
"Did zey find someone to take over for you zhere, or are zey waiting for ze next class of ensigns in a few months?" Pavel asked, ignoring Doctor McCoy and maneuvering them around an oncoming cart. Quietly, Bones dropped Rachel's arm and fell a few feet back. They continued walking, neither noticing that the doctor was several feet behind them.
"Well, they transferred over Ensign Rathers, and he'll probably be taking over a lot of my duties there. It's not a big ship, and the engines aren't anything impressive. I'm sure they'll be fine. But that's enough about me. What do you do? Nav or pilot?"
"I am ze Alpha shift Navigator. I am also trained in transporter operations and all engineering processes. When Mister Scott was… off ze Enterprise, I was acting head of Engineering. So recently I have only been on ze bridge or in ze engineering lab, working on ze thrusters. Zey have been reacting to somezing in zis area of space. I can use an extra set of hands if you would like. Do you know what hours zey have assigned you in ze engineering lab?
"Well, I'll mostly be there at night, and there'll be a few others with me. So, no thrusters for me, probably fixing broken engine parts and the like." Rachel replied, sighing. The two chatted on for the next few moments, oblivious to the looks that Doctor McCoy was shooting at them from behind. In no time, they arrived at the door to the Med Bay.
"Alright kids, lemme check on this bunch real quick and we'll get on our way." A few minutes later, he reemerged, grim. "Well, looks like you're gonna have to be the tour guide, Chekov. Try not to get lost. Have fun Rache, and if you need me, you know where to find me." The doctor turned and walked back into the Med Bay, barking orders and curses at the Nurses and Doctors in his direct line of vision.
Pavel turned to Rachel and motioned for them to walk down the corridor to a nearby bank of turbolifts. The two spent the next thirty minutes going over the bare bones of the ship, Pavel showing her the smaller mess room, the rec rooms, and main Engineering. Finally, she turned to him and smiled.
"Look. I know you got roped into this, and I'm sure that you have better stuff to do, so I can just go back to my quarters. Leo can show me around tomorrow." Rachel said, turning to look at him.
Pavel blushed again. "Well, if you'd like, I can give you a short tour of ze engineering deck, and help you find ze quarters you haf been assigned. Zere is also a holofilm showing tonight, or games in the rec room."
"Tonight I may just want to sleep. It's been a stressful few days. Do you mind walking me to my quarters, Lieutenant, or have I monopolized your time enough for today?" She asked, a shy smile slowly forming.
"I will walk you, if that's what you want. I am not sure where zey are, however. Do we need to go by personnel?" He asked, his ears pinking at when she smiled at him.
"Actually, that's probably a good idea. I have no clue what deck my room is even on, let alone my room number or roommate's name." Rachel replied, linking her arm with Pavel's again as he lead her down the corridor towards the turbolift.
"I doubt zey would assign you to ze senior officer's deck, Doctor's niece or not. Maybe to one of ze rooms on deck 12." Pavel replied, stepping into the turbolift and ordering it towards the personnel office.
"I hope they didn't assign me anywhere important, not yet at least. I plan on moving up the ranks the way everyone else does. The Captain and I may be old friends, but I don't want that to affect the way others think of me." Rachel said, eyes downcast.
"I am sure zat no one will zink differently of you because of your friendships, or your last name." Pavel replied, nudging her lightly with his elbow. She nudged him back, her ears tinged scarlet. The turbolift ground to a halt, and the two stepped out onto the brightly lit deck. The ambled into the personnel office, finally dropping arms once in front of the surly officer behind the deck.
"Yes Mr. Chekov? Can I help you with something sir?" Ensign Mateso said, hardly looking up from his screen.
"We're looking for Ensign McCoy's quarter assignment." Pavel explained, rolling his eyes at Mateso's attitude.
"Deck 12, Room 3C 45, next to Janice Rand and Marlena Makenna. Will there be anything else, sir?" Mateso replied robotically.
"No Ensign, zat is all." Pavel led the still silent Rachel out of the office, then turned to her. She was choking back laughter, which she let loose the second the door closed.
"What a rude man!" she chuckled, walking back to the turbolift with Chekov trailing behind her.
"He does seem like ze wrong kind of officer for Personnel, doesn't he? Maybe he would be better for Maintenance." Pavel joked, catching up to her and winking at her.
They rode the Turbolift in silence, Pavel looking at her out of the corner of his eye and looking away when she glanced at him. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence, just a nervous one, and neither of them knew how to break it.
The turbolift stopped at her deck, and the two of them exited and walked quietly down the corridor towards Rachel's quarters. They stopped in front of her door, and he tried not to look as she put her access code into the pad by the door.
"I had a good time, Lieutenant." Rachel started, then corrected herself. "Pavel, I mean. Do you think I could impose on you again soon? Maybe just the two of us?"
"I am free two days from now, at 2100. Mebby we could have a late dinner?" Pavel asked quickly, hardly daring to hope that she'd say yes. She was gorgeous, intelligent, and single, and that sort of thing never worked out for him. For a second, he was reminded terribly of Irina, before he shook his head. She was answering him, a small smile playing on her red lips.
"That sounds perfect. I have a bottle of Indaran ale, if you'd like to try it." Rachel replied, ducking her head down to hind the blush spilling out over her cheeks. He reddened as well, before nodding at her, voice only cracking slightly as he confirmed the date and time. She giggled again, before she took his hand and looked him straight in the eye.
"It was nice to meet you, Pavel." Rachel said earnestly, with a warm smile before turning and walking into her room, letting the door shut behind her. Pavel continued to stand there for a moment longer, staring at the spot that she had been standing in. he blinked twice, then took a few steps down the hall before thrusting a fist into the air and whooping. He had a date with a beautiful woman, and he accomplished it all on his own, no interference, not even a kind word from the captain. Pavel thought that he could hardly wait for two days to be over, and went to the rec room walking on air.