AN: I watched this movie again last night and got a bee on my bonnet. This was the result. I will update as inspired. Follows the 2009 Star Trek movie, with a few amendments, from both McCoy and Anaya's POV. Hope you enjoy.

SHOOT FOR THE STARS

Koi No Yokan (Japanese): The sense upon first meeting a person that the two of you are going to fall into love.

Cadet Anaya Lee adjusted her uniform and shifted nervously from foot to foot as the new recruits started to enter the shuttle. Shoot for the stars. She thought she might be sick with excitement, wished she had gone to the bathroom before they started to board. As she stepped up into the dark, monochrome interior of the shuttle that would transport them to the Academy, she turned left, looking for relief.

The door to the bathroom was locked when she reached it. With a sigh, Anaya stepped aside, leaned against the wall and waited. Several cadets pushed past her in the tight confines of the ship, and she blew out a frustrated breath, knocked on the door to the lavatory.

"Hey, what's taking so long?"

"Quit botherin' a man when he's doin' his business!" The reply was short, and Anaya bristled under the dismissal.

"Ma'am," the soft voice of the Academy Officer filtered through Anaya's thoughts, she looked up to see dark eyes peering at her. "You're going to have to take a seat, cadet. We're preparing for take off."

"But I…" Anaya gestured to the locked door, and shifted to her left foot, sighed.

"We'll be at the Academy shortly," the officer said kindly, and she nodded. Anaya supposed that discomfort would be something she'd have to get used to from this point forward. She steeled herself, stubbornly telling her body to suck it up and walked down the short aisle to where there were a couple of free seats. Another cadet glanced up at her in disinterest, but Anaya noted the way he looked sideways at her when she took the seat two down from him.

She casually spied on the cadet from the corner of her eye, noting the wide shoulders, self-assured manner in which he sat, his keen observation of everyone around him. His face showed signs of having been involved in a struggle, and she wondered if that air of superiority lent itself to conflict on a regular basis. She'd seen it before, with her brother, a rising star within the Federation Council. Their father was so proud, and nothing she'd done had compared, even when she outshone her brother at every turn. When Jeremy had chosen a lesser candidate to head up his security council over her, stating he didn't want to appear to show favouritism, Anaya had concluded that the planet simply wasn't big enough for the two of them. She enlisted in Starfleet a week later.

"Sir, you need a doctor," the words were rushed, and a scuffle sounded from the direction she'd come from. Anaya looked up to see the same Officer from earlier escorting a very flustered, and angry looking cadet from the direction she had come. She recognised the southern accent from the bathroom, almost immediately a smile pricked at the corners of her mouth.

"Look, I told you, I don't need a doctor, dammit, I am a doctor," the man said, he wrenched his arm away from the officer and straightened his shoulders.

"You need to get back to your seat," she insisted.

"I had one, the bathroom…" The two spoke at once: the officer telling the cadet to sit down, ushering him to the free chair beside Anaya, while the blustery doctor continued his rant. "...with no windows…"

"Now!" Ordered the officer. Anaya watched the face of the overly anxious recruit and frowned. His dark eyes flashed with fire, the set of his mouth determined, he caught her gaze, held it for a few seconds before he turned back to the Officer who was a good head shorter than him, but holding her own.

"I suffer from aviophobia. It means fear of dying in something that flies." She didn't give an inch.

"Sir, for your own safety, sit down. Or else I'll make you sit down." The terse voice was another order. Anaya watched as he shared an unspoken communication with the officer, nodded in resignation and the flopped into the seat next to her.

"Thank you," said the officer, the cadet barely acknowledged her, ran a hand across his face as she turned on her heel and walked away. Beside her, the doctor started to strap himself into the seat, caught her watching him.

"This is Captain Pike, we've been cleared for take off." The Captain's voice echoed through the shuttle as brown eyes met hers.

"I may throw up on you," he warned, leaning in to her slightly. She could almost feel the fear rippling off him in waves.

"I think these things are pretty safe," said the cadet on the other side of him. The doctor turned and scowled.

"Don't pander to me, kid. One tiny crack in the hull and our blood boils in thirteen seconds. A solar flare might pop up, cook us in our seats. And wait til you're sitting pretty with a case of Andorian shingles. See if you're still so relaxed when your eyeballs are bleeding. Space is disease and danger, wrapped up in darkness and silence." Anaya marvelled at the words that flowed from him, wondered why on Earth he had signed up for this if he was so afraid to take his feet off the ground. She opened her mouth, put all the sarcasm she could muster into her next sentence.

"Well I hate to break this to you, sunshine, but Starfleet operates in Space."

The doctor paused, Anaya noted the amused expression on their companion's face as the frightened cadet turned his attention back to her. "Yeah well, I got nowhere else to go," came the reply as he reached into his pocket, pulled out a small silver flask. His voice sounded like honey, smooth and sweet, and then there was the eyes. She could get lost in them. Anaya shook her head, chastised herself internally as he held the flask between nimble fingers. "The ex-wife took the whole damn planet in the divorce. All I got left is my bones." She smirked as he took a swig from the flask, offered it to her. Anaya shook her head, eyes dropped to his lips as he shrugged and turned to the man on the other side of him. This time his offer was accepted, and their companion nodded first at Anaya, and then the doctor.

"Jim Kirk," he said, holding the flask in an introductory gesture.

"McCoy," said the man beside her. "Leonard McCoy." He turned back to the cadet beside him, looking inquisitive, eyes studying her face in such a way that Anaya felt like he was reading her soul. "And you are?" She pushed her attraction to this stranger behind a mask, and tilted her head to the side.

"Lee," she replied.

"Just Lee?"

"That'll do, sunshine," she said with a smile. She couldn't give in to it that easily. She knew how it went, the ease with which young cadets could fall into the excitement of their upcoming adventures. The adrenaline, combined with fear, was a powerful recipe for an attraction that would otherwise have gone unawakened.

The corners of McCoy's mouth upturned and his eyes softened slightly as he silently acknowledged the challenge. "Oh this is gonna be one of those things now, ain't it? You're gonna label me with a nickname based on one event where I am perfectly justified in my reasoning about how we're all going to meet our demise?"

Anaya grinned, and quoted one of her favourite lines. "No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new doorway for the human spirit." It had always inspired her to be optimistic in the face of failure, to push for her dreams. It lifted her spirits when she was feeling down.

McCoy's face turned from slight irritation to intrigue. "Helen Keller, I'm impressed," he said. "Well, two can play at that game. 'Stretching his hand up to reach the stars, too often man forgets the flowers at his feet.' Jeremy Bentham," he finished with a wave of his hand over his boots, a sparkle in his eyes, directly challenging her. Anaya thought for a moment, eyes locked with McCoy's as the engines of the shuttle powered up, revealed a hint of fear to her.

"'No one regards what is before his feet; we all gaze at the stars.' Quintus Ennius," she countered, sought to distract him from the takeoff. There was a clunking as the landing gears disengaged, and then they started to lift. McCoy grabbed her hand, squeezed it tightly in his own. He fought to push the irrational fear behind those dark eyes, his hand the only give away that anything was wrong: she squeezed back and his eyes softened in silent gratitude.

"'Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground'," he said softly. Anaya raised her eyebrow, recognised the source.

"Theodore Roosevelt. Good one," she said. But she could do better. "'Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars.' Casey Kasem."

The ship had started to move, but to Leonard McCoy, he barely even noticed anymore as he stared into deep blue eyes. He sifted through his years of English literature classes, to come up with a witty reply to the casual banter he'd unexpectedly encountered. His fingers held firm to the soft hand in his own, and he found himself wish for a longer shuttle ride to the Academy.

"'And he that strives to touch the stars, oft stumbles at a straw.'" That one had been Edmund Spenser, he wondered if she knew it. Lee smiled at him and Leonard felt his heart skip a beat. He frowned slightly at the reaction.

"'Sometimes we fall, sometimes we stumble, but we can't stay down," Lee replied. "'We can't allow life to beat us down. Everything happens for a reason, and it builds character in us, and it tells us what we are about and how strong we really are when we didn't think we could be that strong.'" Leonard had never heard the quote, wondered if it was hers or belonged to another.

He already liked this cadet, found himself quickly attracted to her smart replies that matched his own. Well that's inconvenient, he thought, his mind fell to darker things, like Jocelyn and his daughter whom he hadn't seen in three months. Lee seemed to notice the change in his mood, and he watched her pull behind a friendly, but distant mask. The captain announced that they were docking over the PA system, and he held his breath at the repeat clunking of the landing gear meeting with the hangar.

"Well, I got no idea who that is, but one thing's for sure. You're stronger than you look…" Leonard squeezed her hand and then released it, letting out the breath he'd been holding.

"So are you, sunshine," Lee's voice was tinged with admiration. He wondered if he'd handled his fears well enough in those moments to not appear weak. As soon as the disembark order was given, Lee was on her feet, moved with the other cadets toward the exit. He was disappointed to see her so eager to go.

"Hey Lee, that's it? You quote poetry at me and then walk away?" McCoy's voice flowed over Anaya, slightly amused, a little disappointed. She grinned to herself, set her face to casually entertained and turned to face him. Anaya stepped aside, allowed people to file past her as she gripped the back of a seat. McCoy stepped into her personal space, looked down as she smirked.

"A flower cannot blossom without sunshine…" she said, her voice faltering. It was the beginning of a quote, but Anaya doubted he would know it. McCoy blinked, thought about his reply, and almost apologetically said, "If you want to see the sunshine, you have to weather the storm."

He was definitely a stormy one, this she could see. Emotion swirled in the depths of those eyes, barely contained, and he didn't make an effort to hide it. Too soon. Too much at stake. Anaya liked what she had seen, their little banter session had told her a lot about how well read he was, and she couldn't deny the attraction that was already building between them. But he was hurting, that was obvious. She had little doubt in her mind that he'd joined Starfleet to escape his past, his ex-wife and the pain that was floating below the surface. Anaya knew she was simply a distraction, and while she'd welcomed flirtation and fun in the past, she was in Starfleet now, and nothing was going to distract her from the future she wanted to build, from proving herself.

"We all have our storms to weather. It's nice to meet you, Leonard McCoy." Leonard saw how she pulled back inside of herself, realised he'd triggered something personal. As Lee turned and walked away, he realised he still didn't know her first name.

"Damn," he muttered, then came to realise he wasn't alone. Kirk stood beside him, and he'd clearly taken in the exchange with great interest.

"Weren't expecting that?" He asked as he tossed a lopsided grin at Leonard.

"No," the harried doctor confessed. "Not at all."

"Well Bones, don't think too hard about it, she's gonna be remembering that very unattractive clinging to her hand for years to come," Kirk said, and Leonard grimaced, first at the nickname - which he suspected was going to stick as well as sunshine was - and secondly at the image of how tightly he'd squeezed Lee's hand, how she hadn't said a word, simply met him in that space and held it.

"Hey, it's a legitimate phobia!" Leonard countered and Kirk chuckled, clapped him on the back with a friendly familiarity.

"Let's go, I need to find a bar. I could use another drink," he said.

"Now you're speaking my language," Leonard laughed. He fell into step behind the younger cadet, and thought about the flask inside his jacket, he suspected he might need to toss it away once they were fully into their training. Starfleet was indeed a space-driven adventure, and he would need to find alternatives to deal with his fears: a way that didn't affect his ability to function at the levels he needed to work. Leonard found his eyes seeking out Lee, recalled the touch of her hand.

The cadets had bottlenecked at the door, and for a split second light hit fiery locks, drew his attention as Lee exited the shuttle ahead of them. His breath caught. "Damn. She had to be a redhead too."

"Sounds like your recipe for suffering," Kirk commented, hearing the softly spoken words.

"They do have a way of finding me…"

Kirk stopped walking, turned to look him thoughtfully in the eyes. "Truth is everybody is going to hurt you: you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for." Leonard found himself with a new respect for the younger man, nodding his approval at the quote.

"Bob Marley. You know he also said: 'I don't know how to live good. I only know how to suffer.'" Kirk's mouth turned up at the side, and the medical side of Leonard started to mentally examine the cuts and bruises on his companion's face as, through a slightly swollen lip, Kirk replied, "Sounds like a man who was often in love."

Leonard paused, looked over at the shuttle exit where he'd last seen Lee, setting his resolve. Damn. He had to focus now, on his future, and the Academy. Jocelyn had gone to great lengths to point out how he was failing in life - his medical degree worthless if he did nothing with it, and he had a daughter to role model for. "Yeah well, I can't afford to lose that game again. I already lost the planet, I can't afford to lose the stars."