Her Brooding Surgeon

by Little-Firestar84

Back on Earth after years, Jim Kirk has the best idea: crushing his cousine's wedding with the help of his best friend, Bones! Another bonus? Bones get to be the date of Jim's little sister- Sam. She's always adored Bones as a teen, but she's always been just a "nothing special kid" for him. But she is a woman now, on a mission- will the old sparkle ignite into flames, or fizzle?

A few notes before reading:
1. Sam was, in the original series, presumibly, Jim's twin - as George Samuel "Sam" Kirk was played for his whole life (two scenes, I think) by none other then William Shattner himself, with a different wig and mustaches. The first draft of the rebooted Star Trek franchise had "Sam" (with no George) being Kirk's step-brother, but by the final draft the whole thing had been cut off.
2. Altough in TOG Bones' ex-wife was called Jocelyn (in some media) and with her he had a daughter, Joanna, in the Star Trek spin-off comic book by IDW for the new universe she was called "Pamela", and I've decided to go with that.
3. I know there are some tropes here. Trust me, I'm well aware. But, I love my romance novels. Cut me some slack, will you?

---

Starfleet Academy, 2255

He was late - of course Jim was late, McCoy shouldn't have been surprised. His best friend was always late, either because he couldn't get to care or because there was something – or rather, someone – better to spend his time with. Still, considering that it had been Jim himself insisting to meet, begging for help on some of shared classes, McCoy would have expected at least the decency of a call, or even just a note, if Jim knew he was to spend his day with a pretty girl.

McCoy groaned, scratching the back of his head, ready to turn on his heels when, in the distance, he finally saw the object and cause of his frustration. He lifted an eyebrow, eyeing his friend suspiciously, because yes, Jim was indeed with a girl – but she was a little too young and too much on the shy side to be one of the cadet's usual conquests.

Crossing his arms over his chest and tapping his feet on the concrete, McCoy waited for Kirk and his conquest to join him, as they slowly walked in his general direction. Jim seemed pretty cheerful and smug – his usual self, in short – and completely at ease, while the girl, who didn't even look like she was of legal age, kept her eyes firmly on the ground, ready to jump at anything. She had huge old-fashioned glasses, clothes at least a couple of sizes too big, flats, plain spent brown hair in a messy ponytail.

He sighed, almost sorry for her. The girl didn't know what kind of troubles she had gotten herself into. Jim was, well, he was dangerous even for experienced and glamourous women, but this girl – this child – looked like just nothing special. She was probably just the flavor of the week: Jim would have gotten back to his womanizing ways in a few days, and she would have ended up with a broken heart, best case scenario.

"Bones, look what I've got here!" Jim shouted, but McCoy didn't move; he just shook his head, trying to show his annoyance for his friend's unfortunate behavior, and his disrespect of the female population in general (when it came to relationships) – an oddity, considering that Jim would have killed anyone showing such disrespects to either his mother or his step-sister.

"Bones," Jim patted the young girl on the shoulder, like to encourage her to show herself; still, she kept her head low, and the nicest blush graced her cheeks. It was the only note of color on her features – now that she was facing him, McCoy could see that she wasn't wearing any make-up – something else that further differenced her from Jim's usual conquests.

"Bones, Samantha Davis. Sam, Leonard McCoy. Don't call him Bones- only I can do that."

Ah, the famous Samantha - the step-sister Jim had acquired when his mother had remarried a widower with a child. It explained why the sudden change in taste – still, McCoy hadn't expected a young woman, rather, from Jim's words, a baby girl, and although a bit childish, Samantha had all the makings of someone who was going to be a fine lady. She would have made someone's fine wife for sure – she wasn't in his league, but he could picture her, married to a geek and raising a small army, playing the stay-at-home wife.

McCoy grunted something between clenched teeth, and nodded, as to show that he had understood who he was talking to, and that he was fine meeting her; the girl blushed even more, and looked smaller, if it was even possible, as the rude acknowledgement was the major attention she had ever received from a man in her short life.

Giving her a second look, McCoy imagined that it was actually possible he was right, and that the girl had been a wall-flower her whole life, Jim the only man who had even remotely flattered her – because McCoy had heard Jim, and Samantha had, somehow, her (step)brother wrapped around her little finger – so much so that, when he talked about her with people, he often dropped the step prefix altogether, hinting at a relation – and an affection – far deeper than what usually lie between people in similar situations who didn't even got to share the same last name.

Samantha lifted her gaze from the ground, and their eyes met. She swallowed, biting her lips, turning as red as the blood running in her veins. McCoy closed his eyes a second and grunted, remembering that he was, after all, well known for his awful bedside manners, and that he wasn't interested in girls.

Because he had had just the worst taste when it came to women, as attested by Pamela dearest, but he wasn't an idiot. He knew that women liked him – liked his body, liked how broken he was and how he needed their tender touches, their soothing words to heal and mend his broken heart.

Samantha, apparently, wasn't any different – and the fact that there was nothing womanly about her, that she was just a child and way too young for him made no difference.

Damn it to hell- another bloody girl with the bloody Florence Nightingale effect. And it had to be his best friend's little sister - his only friend. Those he was about to navigate in, they were dangerous waters, He had to be careful, if he didn't want to lose the little life had left him with.

"Thinking about joining Starfleet?" McCoy asked her, lifting an eyebrow, quizzically. Not that he was really interested in knowing if she intended to follow into the family's footsteps, but he guessed he owed Jim at least some small talk with the girl.

Jim actually glared at him – as if he had just said something awful or incredibly stupid. Just because Jim had joined Starfleet on a dare, just because Samantha's father was blue collar, it didn't mean she didn't want to emulate her brother, or have her own dreams. At the end of the day, she was her own person with her own opinions, and who were them to stop the girl, just because she looked like a little scared rabbit and the universe was filled with horrors ready to kill little naive and unexperienced girls like her?

"So, Bones, I know we were supposed to get ready for that exam- but what do you say we show my sis around? Not sure when mum will talk Frank into letting Sam drop by again."

Samantha looked at him with big eyes, a sea of green and grey he risked getting swallowed by. He gulped, blushing a little for reason unknown, and looked away quickly - little girls had no business wanting to hang around with him, after all, and Samantha's eyes were just too hopeful, too dreamy. She was a kid who wanted to play with fire, and the sooner she learnt her lessons, the better it would have been.

He saw, with the corner of his eye, a girl he used to know – another one of those Florence Nightingale kind, and chuckled shamelessly, eyeing her and her forms lasciviously: Dana Del Rey was all curves, heavy make-up and revealing clothes, and knew how to get any man to do her bidding – in short, a siren, just like Pamela had been back when they had met many years before.

She also happened to be Samantha's complete opposite – which was what he needed the most. Because space and the world were filled with things that could hurt, and like someone had once said, and how he firmly believed, love was just an illusion, and happily ever after worked only in fairytales, and the sooner Samantha learnt it, the better. Because one broken heart now was better than turning into… into him, in the emptiness that filled his soul, his time.

"Another time, maybe."

He left and walked in direction of Dana, and when he reached the glamorous woman, he put an arm around her shoulders, scooping her closer. They walked side by side, but he didn't pay attention to what she was saying. McCoy just looked in front of himself, and refused to turn back.

He had a feel that, had his eyes met Samantha's, his heart would have broken too – and this time, beyond repair.

---

San Francisco, 2267.

"You have to get yourself a man, Sam, or I swear to God, I'll hire you an escort. And for the last time, Jim doesn't count. He is your brother, and he is already supposed to attend anyway."

Sam just winced at her best friend's bluntness, and rested her chin on her joined hands, elbows on the table of their favorite café in town. There wasn't really anything she could say to make her case.

"I did have a man for this wedding, remember?" Sam lifted a perfect eyebrow, annoyed beyond reason to have to admit that Jan was right. Her friend was supposed to her partner in crime, after all. For years, the girls had helped each other out, completing one another: Sam would help with classes and homework, Jan, instead, would show her roommate what it meant to have a good time and leave her comfort zone.

"Yes, yes, I know. It's just so awful that your cousin stole your boyfriend, but, honey, it happened over a year ago. You have to accept that they are getting married. I'm saying this for your own good: you have to move on, girl."

Sam sighed. She really hated to admit it, but she knew that Jan was right. There was little to no use in crying over spilled milk. Mark had made his choice, he had found someone else to love, and it was about time she started acting like the adult she was and move on with her life. It didn't matter if their families and their friends knew she had been the one to introduce the lovebirds at a family dinner, if anyone would have laughed at her back, the girl that one year before had been arranging this very wedding for herself.

As she had learnt at seventeen, men were no good for, and with, her. She didn't need them anyway. She had a job as a xeno-botanist that she loved, peers that respected her and valued her opinions and her work, and close family ready to stand next to her, no matter what. Even Jim, who had always acted like an older brother even if they didn't share an ounce of blood.

She was a practical person, after all. Her heart wasn't broken, and if she had to tell the truth, her cousin and Mark made a beautiful couple, an happy one. Not that she hadn't been happy with mark herself, but, together, they had just gotten through the motions. Even when she had first accepted his proposal was because the timing was right, and marriage was the logical next step in their relationship.

So, no, she wasn't broken-hearted.

Her wounded pride, though, was a whole other matter.

"Anyway, even if there's nothing I'd love more than showing some stud off, I'm kind of coming up empty in the romance department at the moment."

Jan produced like from thin air a file, and started working on her already perfectly manicured hands; she lifted a brown eyebrow, clicking her tongue against her palate. "Hang on. Are you saying you haven't dated anyone in one whole year? Like, for real?"

Sam pouted, her pride already under her feet. "I've been busy with a new project at work." She tried to justify herself, but Jan's accusing glare stood firmly in place. She remembered how she had first felt when she had meet her roommate, back at the beginning of University, a nothing special.

"It's just that, in my line of work, it's not exactly easy, meeting people our age, or single men in general. And it's not like I can stop the first guy I meet on the street and ask him to pretend to be my boyfriend at a wedding."

Jan sighed. She knew that Sam hadn't been head over heels in love with Mark, but it didn't mean she didn't get to be worried for her best friend. Sam had been very shy back when they had started university, so much so that she had felt invisible at times. Her friend had always felt a bit insecure when it came to romance, and Jan knew that the cruel snickering of some of her relatives would have hurt Sam, no matter what she said or how tough she acted.

"Sam, you need a man."

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Sam grunted, annoyed that Jan kept being right and stating the obvious. She could already feel an headache forming, and no matter how much she hoped it would have vanished just like that, she knew it wasn't going to happen, just like her friend wouldn't have vanished in thin air. An Ambien, an hot, scented bath and chamomile tea would have been her partner for the evening. But only after she and Jim would have finished catching up in person.

Comms were all fine and dandy, and Jim always called her, at least once a week, when he had the chance. Still, she hadn't seen her brother face to face since he had first left Earth abroad the Enterprise, over eight years before. Jim had been back on the planet from over two weeks this time, but between their hectic schedules, it was the first time they had been able to meet up, much to their mother's chagrin.

Sam was about to say something witty, remember Jan of the one night stand she and Jim had shared what felt like a lifetime before, but she was unable to. Jan was staring ahead of her, mouth slightly open in awe and file in mid-air. The scientist shivered, as a bad omen had just stricken upon her.. Tentatively, with shaky fingers and an unsteady heart, she turned to see what Jan had gotten so lost into, and her heart stopped as tears of happiness stung her clear eyes.

It was Jim. Perfect in his captain uniform, he was walking towards her with a steady step and a ready smile on his lips. He was laughing, smiling at the man walking next to him.

Sam whished that the ground would open up underneath her feet, and swallow her whole. She knew that man, she knew him all too well.

Leonard "Bones" McCoy, Jim's best friend, the first man who had made her feel like she was nothing special, not good enough, not for him, not compared to the statuesque beauties he and Jim liked to accompany themselves with back at the time of the Academy.

Since that awful day, when Leonard had managed to make her feel ashamed of herself, they had barely seen each other again; Sam had done her best to avoid any event she knew he would have attended, and, if his glare when they would meet by chance was of any indication, even the handsome doctor had done his best to steer clear of her. Leonard had always seen her as a little kid, a nuisance he wanted to have nothing to do with, and as naïve as she had been twelve years before, she had still understood it.

Yet, she couldn't help but eyeing him up lustily, enjoying the way his uniform fitted him like a glove, showcasing taunt muscles and broad shoulders - much better than what it was already done by the red cadet uniform he used to wear when she had been first introduced to him. He had to be at least forty now, and yet he still owed the darkest set of hair she had ever seen on a man his age, no trace of gray whatsoever. Time had been more than kind with the good doctor: Leonard was even sexier than a decade before.

"Sam, if I were you, I'd rethink the whole thing about inviting a complete stranger to the wedding, and I'd drag that sexy piece of ass to the altar. Like, right now." Jan licked her lips as Sam moaned out loud at the sight, imagining Leonard playing the role of knight in shining armor for her. Apparently, she still day-dreamed about him, even if she hadn't seen him since she was a teenager. But the memory, and Jim's stories about his best friend were enough to make any girl fall in love all over again: there was no doubt in her mind that Leonard was a beautiful specimen of the male population, inside and out. Which meant that she was really, really screwed…

---

Leonard wasn't exactly glad to be walking along the sunny San Francisco streets with his best friend – actually, being there was the last thing he wanted, no matter how much he had always enjoyed Jim's company. He hadn't had a drink with his father in years, and he craved the air back home, the special cooking that he could find only in his hometown, and that no replicator could copy. Something would always be amiss, a special ingredient given by love, passion and jeux de vivre that only a human beating heart could provide.

Only a few more days, and he would be back home, drinking scotch and gossiping with his father about women.

"So, listen, I was thinking…" Jim suddenly stopped, and faced Leonard with an expression that screamed guilt. The young captain clapped, rubbing his hands and not daring to say a sole word.

"No, Jim, no, whatever it is, my answer is no!" Leonard said, firmly He didn't care what it was, or how bad Jim would have felt without the support of his friend. Nothing good had ever came out from that expression – mutiny, death, destruction of Starfleet propriety, and the list could go on and on.

"But you don't even know what I wanted to ask you!" Jim whined, acting like an infant again. Over a decade, and despite the adventures, despite the dangers and the loss and the career, he was still the same man at heart.

"Jim, I don't need to know what you are planning to be absolutely sure that it's a bad idea. I know you. And it's enough to say that it's a bad idea!"

Jim rolled his eyes, huffing, hands in the pockets of his pants. "I have to go to a relative's wedding this weekend, and I'd really like to not be miserable alone." He pouted, as he turned and started to walk towards the fancy café.

Leonard massaged his temple, feeling the vein there pulsing. He had the distinct feeling that he was about to say goodbye to the idea of having drinks with his father in two days. He could have said no to Jim, but his friend was like a dog with a bone, he would have kept asking and pouting and glaring until Leonard would have surrounded. Agreeing now would have saved them both time – and Leonard an headache.

"That's exactly why I came back to Earth with you. So that we could re-play out that classic comedy from the twenty-first century about the two bachelors going to weddings together."

They both grinned and laughed as they strolled with an easy step, so different from what they were used to with life on the Enterprise, where it seemed that, no matter what, they always had to run from something or someone.

Leonard closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, at the top of his lungs, the chilly spring air. It was void of any pollution, fresh with the scent of cherry tree in full bloom: it didn't matter how much he was missing home, San Francisco still held a special place in his heart, and he had to admit that Jim was right – as usual. It was good to be back in a place where he had known happiness and a light heart.

"Look, we're here!" Jim said, lifting his right hand and saluting someone at the café; Leonard stared at his friend quizzically, a little bit surprised, but as soon as he saw the vision waiting for them at one of the tables, he grinned, a little lasciviously, deep down that he had left Jim lead the way. A brunette in a dark blue long sleeved dress, who was cheerfully waving at Jim and calling his name, eating both officers up with her hungry eyes, and a blonde, who somehow seemed familiar, who showed some rocking legs beneath the knee-length soft flowery black dress, and a pretty good rack.

"Jim, you sly dog, you should have told me you had arranged us a blind date. I would have scrubbed up for the ladies…" Leonard chuckled as they approached the table; Jim didn't answer him, though- his long-time friend just lifted an eyebrow, as if Bones had suddenly said something utterly ridiculous.

Then, Jim turned his attention back to the girls, and something that Leonard hadn't anticipated happened: Jim beamed with joy, unable to take his eyes away from the blonde, who looked at the Starfleet captain with utter devotion, glossy eyes.

"Hey kiddo, come here and give me a hug. I missed you!" Leaning over her, Jim hugged the girl with such a strength and intensity that Leonard guessed he didn't have any intention of letting it go of her ever again; he buried his nose in her hair, distractedly disheveling them with one of his hands, while the girl his her face in the crook of Jim's neck, fisting the fabric of his shirt uniform.

Suddenly, Leonard felt like he was intruding, and when he noticed brunette girl wipe her tears, he cleared his voice, hoping to break Jim's spell. For there was no other way to explain what was happening to the Captain. Jim had never acted like that, with any woman, not even Carol Marcus. Jim knew lust and desire when it came to the fair sex, devotion was exclusive of only two women, his mother and his sister.

"Oh, Jim, you idiot, you are making us cry!" Brunette said, blowing her nose soundly, making Blonde and Jim laugh out loud. She handled a tissue to Blondie, still sniffing. "Here. And stop crying – oh, look what you did to Sam's eyes, Jim! Her mascara's all gone… now she looks like a space raccoon!"

Leonard opened his mouth, practically hooked, but when he noticed the error of his way, he forced himself to close his mouth and say something smart, witty. But it was, oh, so hard! He couldn't stop staring at those beautiful lips, lacquered with a dark pink, the same hue of the flowers on her dress, and the beautiful green eyes framed by thick, long lashes - he knew those eyes, he still remembered them, even after all those years, and even if she had changed her hair color, he would have recognized the young woman anywhere, anytime, just staring at the green waters of her irises.

No, it wasn't possible. He had traveled the whole galaxy, and yet he couldn't believe that such a thing could really happen.

"Samantha?!" He exclaimed as he sat at her side, staring at the young woman in disbelief. She smiled – of a sexy and somehow ironic smile, that made something to his insides, and made him swallow and envy Jim's current position in the girl's soft and fragrant arms.

"Sam," she corrected him, purring like a kitty and offering the doctor her hand, as they had never met before. "Sam's fine."

Siren or Beauty would have worked, too, Leonard guessed, unable to take his eyes off of her, or to say something, anything at all, as he took detailed notes of all the changes happened in the creature before him. She was taller, with all the right curves in all the right places, and even her hair – which he used to define "rat tail", were a whole other story, blonde and shoulder length and with soft weaves.

"Sam? As in, his sister?" Leonard asked again, pointing a finger in Jim's general direction, and she laughed, crystalline, making that weird thing to his insides again.

"I'm not so different…" She bit her lips, blushing, and Leonard looked, confused and in disbelief, at who he assumed was one of Sam's friends- still going by Brunette in his head – who just shrugged her shoulders, like to say, yeah, she doesn't know what she is talking about.

Leonard cleared his throat, mumbling something, hoping with all of his heart that he wouldn't pass for someone far stupider than what he felt at the moment. "So, Sam, Jim tells me you are a botanist?"

She nodded, drinking a sip of water, elegantly seated at the table between her friend and Jim, who was again acting like the cool man he pretended to be with any lady who was unfortunate enough to be called prey by the Starfleet officer.

"Xeno-botanist," she corrected him. "I work in the private sector, but there's a lot of cross-over with Starfleet officers. My company's even thinking about moving to Yorktown in a few years."

Leonard chuckled, with lively eyes, as he lifted his hand to get the attention of a passing waitress, but he was unable to tore his gaze away from the delectable creature sitting opposite to him. "And Jim always said that you would have never gone to space!"

"And you, doctor," She lifted an eyebrow, tapping her fingers against the formic table, her thin silvery bracelets rattling like wind chimes, her soft, musical voice flirty even to his own ears. "Still afraid of space? Or was it just flying?"

Leonard pointed a finger at her, his free hand resting on his right knee; he looked at Sam with a smile, and an enigmatic expression. "You, my dear, are nothing like what I remembered."

Sam blushed, but immediately she regained her ground; Brunette cleared her voice, rolling her eyes, dramatically. "Ehy, is anyone going to introduce me or what?" She demanded. She didn't waiting for a reply, but gave Leonard her hand, which he shook with just the right amount of strength, his fingers long and rough. "Janice Jackson, unstoppable biologist and Sam's BFF. But you, sweet cheek, you can call me Jan."

"Leonard McCoy, Medical Doctor. I've been told that I'm Jim's best friend."

"Ah. Leonard, uh?" Jan rolled his name on her tongue, and lifted an eyebrow, in a knowing way, as she was implying something, and Leonard swallowed, hard, wondering if she knew something, if either Jim or Sam had told this woman something – and what exactly. "So, tell me, Leonard, how do you feel about weddings?"

Sam hissed Jan's name between clenched teeth, her eyes suddenly darkening with strength and rage, and Leonard jumped as a spiked boot hit him in the ankle, probably meant for Jan and what, he guessed, was her big fat mouth.

"Well, you see, I don't know if you are aware, but this weekend? The guys have a wedding, and Sammy here doesn't have a date. And I told her that it's such a pity, because, c'mon, look at her!"

Leonard bit his lips, eyeing Sam. Yep. He had looked at her all right. Plenty. Especially in the last, oh, say, fifteen minutes, as he swore revenge against his past self for having allowed such a beauty to walk past him – how could he have known what those big, beige clothes were hiding?

"Yeah. Jim said something just today - he actually asked me if I was interested in crushing a wedding with him…" he whispered, with that low, rough voice, his thick southern accent that made women tremble.

"Of course he did," Jan continued, looking straight into Jim's eyes. Leonard would have never believed it, had he not been there to witness this strange phenomenon, but his friend, the well-known womanizer, was actually uncomfortable.

Who would have guessed. The good captain and the perky biologist have a past in common, he mused.

"But, the worst part is that Mark - the groom? – he is Sammy's ex. And I told her, she just can't go at this wedding without a fine man, and you, mister Southern Beau? You are just what my good friend needs." She clicked her tongue against the hood of her mouth, her eyes sensual, not letting anything to the imagination.

Sam blushed, and Jim stared at Jan with his eyes as wide and big as a saucer. Silence filled the table, making it unbearable and uncomfortable even for the waitress that was serving Jim and Leonard their drinks.

"Ok." He simply said, like he was accepting to give a look at a picture on a newspaper or water a plant for someone. "I mean, I did pretended to cure Jim to get him on the Enterprise, seems only fitting that I lie to get his sister through a wedding."

As Jim eyed him suspiciously and Sam fell into complete silence, her cheeks the same color as her dark pink lipstick, Jan clapped her hands, cheerful. She was jumping on the spot, looking like a puppy ready to get the most funny and delicious threat known to dog.

"That's wonderful! Now we have just to arrange the last few details to make everyone believe that you, Leonard dear, are head over heels crazy for Sam!"

"Len," he whispered, softly, at Sam's address, looking for her eyes, the same green as the fields he sued to run across as a young kid. "I think, Sam, that at this point you can call me Len."

Sam swallowed, and a drop of sweat run along the column of her neck, disappearing in the valley between her breasts. Leonard followed its path, his mischievous eyes never stopping to devour the delectable young woman right before his eyes. Their eyes met across the table, and just like that day many years before, something happened.

Leonard shook his head, cleared his voice, but he didn't take his eyes away from her – he just looked at her differently. Gone was the teasing smile, replaced instead by something hard and unforgiving. Leonard McCoy was a man of science, after all, and he wasn't going to believe to something as stupid like love at first sight, or soulmates.

He believed in desire – and the biological imperative of reproduction. But those were things he could control, because he had allowed himself to get lost in desire, to mistake lust for love, once already, and he had lost everything to Pamela - he didn't even have an heart to give away any longer, he had been left only with his bones after the divorce.

And, anyway, Sam was Jim's sister, which meant that, didn't matter how desirable she was – the girl was off limits. Because southern gentlemen? They just didn't mess with their best friends' little sisters – unless they wanted to marry them, and marriage was a mistake that Leonard McCoy had no intention of repeating ever again.

---

Sam waited nervously in the lobby of the lodge, sitting in a chaise longue that was as luxurious as uncomfortable, tapping her fingers against the gold arm of the piece of furniture. She had already checked in, like almost her whole family.

Who missed? Jim, of course – who was a big fan of being fashionable late and loved entrances with a passion – and Leonard, who was supposed to drive there with him. Checking her watch for the umpteenth time, Sam huffed nervously, unable to take her eyes away from the sliding doors. It was vital that she found the dynamic duo first. She just couldn't have someone else spotting the two Starfleet officers and ask uncomfortable questions.

They needed to get their stories straight – or maybe, she just could tell Leonard to mind his own business. He's been, well, rather chivalrous accepting to help her out, but was there any real need for this… sham? All right, she was twenty-nine and a spinster, so what?

Right. In the Davis household, being thirty and without child and single is the biggest shame known to man…

As she was lost in her thoughts, Sam heard some muffled giggles coming from a small group of women sat in the lobby like her – bimbos who she knew being the best friends of the dear bride. Sam turned to see what all the commotion was about, and following their gaze, she saw two charming and handsome men with their Starfleet uniform – probably Jim's idea of showing off and trying to get one or two girls in his bed. She loved her brother, she really did, but Jim was the biggest womanizer known to any race in the galaxy.

Sam quickly stood, rearranging the simple white and red polka-dotted dress she had chosen, and waved in her guests' general direction; Leonard saw her, and, smiling charmingly, he took to walk in her direction, duffel bag over his shoulder. Jim was looking at the elevators, though, on the other side of the room – sign that he had probably glimpsed some member of their enlarged family.

"Ehy, Leonard." She blushed, clearing her throat, as she didn't know what to say. Which, truth to be told, she didn't – having someone play-pretend to be her… boyfriend or whatever was kind of new for her. Scratch that: it was new.

"Len," he corrected her. "So, uh, now what? Do I have to check in or…" He asked, suddenly scratching the back of his head, looking for Jim with corner of his eye, and Sam nodded a right, picking at her cuticles nervously.

"Just for the record, you can still make a run for it. I mean it." She tapped nervously against the desk of the concierge. Apparently, nervousness was her new default setting – and the weekend from hell had only just begun.

But, smirking at Sam and looking at her like he was about to eat her up, Leonard shrugged. "Nah. From what Jim tells me, things can only get interesting – pretty sure it beats drinking with my dad and looking out of a window."

"So, uh," Leonard mumbled as they were waiting for his room key; Jim was still where Leonard had left him – in the arms of his mom. The woman was happy, it was clear, but even from afar her glossy eyes were well visible. Jealousy pierced Leonard's heart, mixed with regrets. His own mother wasn't with them any longer, dead before she could know that her son was to fly across the universe. "I read your essay on cellular regeneration in the red orchids on Calder… your friend… Jan, right? She wrote it with you?"

Sam blushed a little, but beamed with joy, glowing as soon as Leonard started to talk her language, she was filled with sudden energy and enthusiasm. "Oh, yes. She gave me an hand – the cellular structure of the flora on the planet is more similar to our own cells than our plants, and the Red Orchid produces an enzyme able to disinfect the wounds and that, at the same time, triggers the self-regeneration process of the tissue, leaving only a minimal quantity of scarring. If we could learn to synthetize it, it'd be of great help in emergency medicine."

Leonard smiled, and it made something to her insides – butterflies she didn't have any reason to have at all. Not with him – and especially not at her ex's wedding. "So," He asked. "What's the story? With us, I mean."

Sam cleared her throat, a bit breathless. "I'd stick with the truth. We met through Jim. You are a decent man and a good friend and you didn't want to see me miserable so you graced me with your company."

Leonard opened his mouth as to speak, but before he could reply, he was cut short by the arrival of an attractive fifty-something woman who was at Jim's arm.

"You are not talking about work, are you?" Wynona asked out loud, smiling happy, as she joined them. She gave Leonard a quick kiss on the cheek – she was already well familiar with him already. "So, I made sure that you guys were as far away as possible from Frank's aunt. I wouldn't put past her to try to sneak into your rooms to grab a feel."

"Aunt Trish?" Jim asked, lifting an eyebrow with a slightly disgusted and scared expression, making Leonard laugh behind his teeth.

His mother nodded. "Yes. I don't know if you guys know, but she as quite the appetite for young men, single, married, engaged, it doesn't matter." Wynona sighed, rolling her eyes in mock drama. "Your aunt, Dee-Dee? She is hysterical. Apparently, they are having a crisis over the cake, or whatever." Wynona checked her watch, and her eyes turned huge, as she was having a panic attack of her own, as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing – anyone who would have seen her exaggerated behavior would have thought the world was about to end. "All right, it's getting late, we've got brunch in an hour. Go to your room and freshen out, you two change out of your uniform into something more casual. Go, go, go!"

---

When someone knocked at her door an hour later, Sam opened the door, and swooned at the sight of Leonard; he had changed, losing his uniform, going for a grey fitted t-shirt and jeans. His hair were still going into every direction, but Sam didn't mind- it made him look sexy and dangerous at the same time. Very… eatable.

"Sure this is all right? I brought a suit if you want me to change…"

"No, it's fine," she said, honestly.

Leonard looked her over, eyeing her form appreciatively, the way the loose knee-length dress danced around her legs, bouncing against her skin.

"Nice." He simply said, grinning like the Cheshire cat, making Sam's toes curl in her low-heeled shoes. "You know, you look like the kind of girl a man would bring home."

His words gave her a little jolt, awakening those damn butterflies she had felt that very first day too, but Sam did her best to hide her reaction, and lead the way out.

As they waited for the elevator, Leonard crossed his arms, back against the wall, and studied Sam with a lifted eyebrow. "To touch, or not to touch, that is the question…" he wonder out loud. He was looking at her as he was trying to figure something out. It made her nervous, like she only thing she could do, and wanted to do, was looking at the floor.

"We don't have… I mean, we can really say we are just friends. I'm sure people would…" But her words we cut short, when Leonard cupped her face in his hands, and, leaning in, brushed his mouth against hers, in a brief, hungry and unexpected contact. Heat exploded in Sam, and she tried to get closer to Leonard – tried to get to touch his lips again – but he just smiled at her, enigmatic, his thumbs caressing her soft, pale skin.

"Just in case anyone asks us to kiss." He smiled at her, amused, with lively eyes. Sam pouted, ready to ask for another session of kissing practice, but the elevator door opened, revealing as the sole occupant Aunt Trish – the man-eater, who looked happily and lustful at the couple.

"Well, hello, gorgeous, you must be Samantha's new beau. My niece is very fond of me, and she just adores to share." She liked her lips, making sure that her intentions were clear. Sam almost laughed as she saw Leonard swallowing hard, breaking in a cold sweat as he took a few steps back.

Trish was her father's younger sister, a busty blonde bombshell who dressed like a teenager and wore jewelry worth of Tiffany, a kind gift of her five late husbands. Rumor had it she was looking either for a boy-toy or husband number six. She loved men, lacked boundaries, and was the life of the party.

Sam absolutely loved her. She was her favorite aunt.

"You must be Trish. It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am."

Leonard offered her his hands, regaining some composure, but Trish laughed, and took him by surprise by crush-hugging him, laughing as it was the funniest thing she had ever done in her whole life. Just for good measure, she made sure that the poor man's head was buried between her ample breasts, and as much as Sam wanted to look away, she couldn't – like it was an horror scene or an accident. At some point, Leonard seemed to have regained his footing, but before he could step away from the matron, she planted a kiss on his mouth.

"Are you sure you don't want to share, honey?" Trish pouted, but in answer, Sam linked her arm to Leonard's, laughing – a laughter that didn't stop until Trish wasn't back in her room, and they were in the elevator.

"We tried to warn you." She chuckled, shamelessly.

"Your family is crazy," Leonard shook his head, shivering visibly. "Is it why you needed a date? Because no sane person could survive the experience?"

Sam's eyes took a dreamy expression, as she was lost in the memories. She smiled a little, leaning against the cabin. "My family's not that bad. I mean, you know Jim and mum – they are my favorite people in the world. Besides, they just like to meddle. They are old-fashioned, and they seem to think that because I'm thirty and a woman, I should naturally be married with a couple of kids. You'd think that having a brilliant career and friends and a social life would be enough, but it's not." She smiled. "naturally, though, you'd never hear my mum telling Jim that he should hurry up and get married and have a bunch of kids, because he is a man and gets special treatment."

Leonard sighed, his eyes semi-closed as his mind went back in time. "If it can be of any help, even if I'm a man, my father still laments the lack of a decent daughter-in-law and grandchildren." He moved next to her. "Sometimes I think that Id' like that. But I'm not sure it's worth the risk. Finding the right woman, it's not so simple, and I've been burned pretty badly once already."

He settled his gaze on her, and he looked at her with a knowing expression, a small smile. Sam swallowed hard, unable to take her eyes away from him. She opened her mouth, and was about to say something, when the doors slid open before them, revealing a dining room filled to the brim.

Sam swallowed hard, and stood, still, to the spot. She had believed she was strong enough, but she wasn't sure any longer. It was one thing to think about her relatives knowing she had been left at the altar, another was being under their scrutiny, actually hearing their not-so-whispered comments,

"Sam?"

She looked up, and he kissed her, and she just felt, lost in the sensual movement of his mouth against hers. He held her with confidence, and yet carefully, as he was scared she would slip through his fingers. One hand run through her soft blonde hair, the other was on the small of her back, his fingertips lightly skimming over her ass, and even through the fabric, Sam could feel his sheer want.

Leonard touched her lower lip with his tongue, and Sam surrounded, parting her lips. He lost no time in claiming her, deepening the kiss, as her arms wrapped around his neck.

She was being swept away, ready to surrender her whole body to him, but Leonard drew back, smiling a little to her. "Better?" He asked.

She blinked, pouting a little. Of course he had done that just to distract her. Leonard had never been interested in her. Just because she had changed- she had grown up – it didn't mean anything.

She bit her tongue, mortified, when she realized she had spoken out loud, but by then, Leonard was looking at her, hungry and needy, running his thumb over her kiss-swollen mouth, and he shook his head.

"I wanted to," he barely admitted, as it was painful to accept even for himself. "I kissed you, because I wanted to."

---

As she walked through the opulent room, Sam inhaled deeply the aroma that filled the air – so much so that her eyes were getting misty. The florists had been already put to work, and they had arranged ribbons and flowers and lace everywhere. Samantha was a botanist – she loved plants, but it was a bit too much, a bit too extravagant in her opinion.

At her side, Leonard groaned; his mood changed in the blink of an eye, and the man who had dreamily kissed her minutes before was now brooding.

"Len?" She tentatively called him, by the nickname he had been insisting she used. Her small hand went to his arm, gripping his bicep. The breath died in his throat, and he started at the young open-mouthed, when her big eyes looking at him, worried, filled with something he couldn't just accept.

She didn't say a word, but, instead, she choose to give him time to clear his head, find the right words on his own. Leonard bit his lips, shaking his head lightly, and he made a small smile – something that, he knew, had to look like a grimace.

"I'm sorry. I was just thinking that this remembers me of my own wedding." He admitted.

"Oh." Sam blushed, suddenly ashamed she had dragged him into that. She knew – she had known for years – that Leonard's hart had been broken by his ex-wife, someone he had loved with all of himself. He had felt so alone, so broken, that he had decided to leave the planet, even it meant facing his biggest fears.

She sobbed once, lightly, moved by how good and decent he just was. Leonard tried his best to look crude, short and blunt, but when he cared, and when he loved, he did so with a full heart, giving all of himself away. He loved so much his best friend that he had even accepted to spend the weekend with them at a wedding, even if he had known that it would have eventually brought back painful memories.

Sam's grip on his shoulder got stronger, and she opened her mouth as to say something, but she was cut short by someone calling her name out loud, next to them – a petite woman who would have been at her best in a fairytale book, playing the role of the fairy princess. Her presence made Sam jump out her skin, and the woman took away her hand from his arm, as if suddenly burned.

"Jessica…" Sam hugged the fairy-looking woman, lightly, but with a grimace. The other woman – a little younger than Sam – hugged her back, and sobbed, wetting the shoulder strap of Sam's cocktail dress.

"Oh, Sam, I'm so sorry, I know how hard this must be for you. Just know much I appreciate the fact that you are here."

Tightening her teeth, Sam squeezed Jessica's shoulders. "Oh, it's not hard at all, honey. I've had nearly an year to get used to the idea of not marrying Mark…"

Jessica sighed, but it was heavily dramatic, like a theater performer. Her eyes were filled with pity, and even Leonard's blood boiled in his vein, rage taking over. Sam was smart, funny, beautiful and had a full life – if this mark person had left her, he was the one who was had to be pitied.

"Still," Jessica's eyes and evil smirk stopped on Leonard, giving him a once-over evaluating the man as he was a piece of meat at the market. "It can't be nice… aunt Winnie even had to buy you a date…"

Leonard lifted an eyebrow, chuckling. "Oh my, I haven't been informed at all!" He mumbled something, then he acted like he had had a sudden realization. "but now that I think about it, I believe it may actually be Jim the one who did the deed."

"Jessica, this is Lieutenant Commander Leonard McCoy – he serves under Jim and he is his oldest friend."

"Still." Jessica looked sympathetic, bit the pity, it seemed it didn't want to leave her features. It was really sad- because she would have looked nicer otherwise.

She nodded, looking rather smug and proud of herself, and walked in direction of a small group people, all young women who looked like brainless bimbos, all accompanying strongmen who, from the look of things, were probably under steroids.

Sam wondered if there was any wall around available for her to pound her head against. She felt miserable, miserable and annoyed and ready to just scream and shout and let it all out. Sure, she would have made a scene, but maybe, just maybe, her people would have stopped gossiping about her love life.

Leonard chuckled, but he did so a bit darkly. "Don't take it the wrong way, but your family's crazy. You are smart, with a great job and easy on the eye. If and when you'll decide to get married, it'll be up to you. And for the record, Mark is an idiot for picking Jessica over you."

Sam blinked, and Leonard smiled, tilting the head to the side, putting his arm around her waist and leading her to the party. "I never thought I would have said it, not even in a million of years, but, I think that, besides us, Jim may actually be the sanest person in the room."

---

It was already the afternoon when Leonard was moving together with Sam in a slow dance, contemplating how, apparently, her whole family felt the need to gossip about her and remember the young woman how she used to look like until a few years before, how her ex was marrying into the family, and how was it possible that she had a date? She sure had to be broken-hearted over Mark!

Frankly, he didn't get what the fuss was all about. All right, he probably wasn't the most sensitive person in the room – his bedside manners were something that Jim still lectured him about – but he really didn't have any idea what was their problem.

She was smart and well-respected in her field, and she had grown into a beautiful woman. He loved nothing more than dancing with her – her breasts nestling against his chest and his left hand resting on her hip.

She just… she fitted him, there was no better way to say it. As her light flowery perfume hit his nostrils, Leonard's mind was filled with images that had no business being there – dark bedrooms and tangled silky sheets and moaning naked, sweating bodies.

He wanted to do the right thing, he really did. She was his best friend's sister – and Jim also happened to be his boss. She was wounded, despite not wanting to admit it. He didn't have anything to offer any longer, however material or emotional it might have been. Soon he would have left for another 5-years mission.

But… they were there together, in that moment, and she was in his arms. And he had accepted to be her protector for the duration of the wedding, her shield, but maybe his role could be more than just that. Maybe he could instill confidence back into her. Show her how irresistible she was.

He guided her to a large pillar on the edge of the dance floor, and when he imagined that they had enough privacy, he bent down and kissed her. Sam's lips parted, welcoming his mouth, and Leonard moved his tongue against hers – her taste of sweet wine and vanilla invading his mouth. She wrapped her arms around his neck, closing the distance between their bodies. She felt his erection, and purred, the sound reverberating through Leonard's chest.

Reluctantly, he left the welcoming inferno of her lips, but he soon started kissing her neck, her collarbone. "We shouldn't… This is such a bad, bad idea…." She murmured.

He straightened and looked into those beautiful clear eyes that more than once had tempted him. "This is just a weekend, Len. And… I don't do one-night stands."

She was blushing, and looked ravished. Leonard put his hands on her shoulders, and squeezing them, he kissed her again, nipping at her lower lip, but he soon stepped back, when he sensed someone approaching.

It was Wynona – Jim and Sam's mother.

"Here you are, honey! I just wanted to tell you that we've been cleared to leave whenever we want. Can you believe how quickly it went? We're almost halfway through this hell! I swear to God that I'll never help your aunt with a wedding again!"

Leonard could agree with her. Opulent weddings were nightmares, and transformed even the most ethereal of creatures into the stuff nightmares were made of. Even after all those years, Pamela's image in the months before the ceremony was as clear as day in his mind. He doubted that he would have ever decided to get married again, but he knew that, had it happened, he would have done his best to talk his bride-to-be into eloping.

"I think we'll come with you." She quickly told her mother, unable to meet Leonard's eyes, as if something had come undone. They rode the elevator together, and got out on the same floor, Leonard walking her towards her door.

He kissed her, lightly, resting his forehead against hers, their fingers interlaced. "Give me a chance." He smiled, hopeful. "When this is over and we go back to San Francisco… let me take you out. In a more normal setting."

She pulled the key out of her pursue and nodded, opening the door. "Okay. I'll see you later, then."

He kissed her again, pushing her inside. "Okay."

---

Sam bit her fingernail as she floated into the room. She could hardly believe it was happening. A smart, charming, handsome man was really interested in her – one she had lusted after over a decade before, dizzy with the euphoria of first love.

She had just stepped out of her heels when she heard knocking at the door, and a muffled, soft voice spoke her name. Butterflies danced in her stomach, and worry engulfed her heart: she was more than happy and delighted that seduction was on the menu, but she doubted that climbing in bed with Leonard so soon was a good idea.

She pulled the door open, ready to tell him what was on her mind, but the eyes she met didn't belong to the handsome Starfleet doctor, but her ex-fiancé, tripping over himself.

"Mark, are you drunk?"

"Maybe." He giggled, staying in front of her, his eyes hopeful." Do you think it's a mistake? What if I don't love Jess enough?" He reached for her arm. "Remember how great we used to be?"

"Matter of fact, I don't."

Her gave a sloppy smile. "I know you miss me…" he grinned, going to work on his tie, but Sam stilled him, with a panicky expression.

"No! I just… have to take care of something in the bathroom, but, you leave that to me, all right?"

He plopped down on the bed, door still unlocked, just nodding, and Sam ducked into the bathroom, using the internal phone to dial Leonard's room; when he picked up, she didn't even gave him time to let a word out. "Mark is here and he wants to have with me and I really need help into getting him out of my room because I don't want to make a scene!"

Leonard arrived before Sam had walked out of the bathroom, and he shook his head at the groom.

"Sorry man, you had your chance and you walked away. She's taken now."

Mark stood, grunted something incompressible, then he made it to the still open door. "Don't let it happen again." Leonard said, patting him on the shoulder.

"Thanks for the saving." She told him. Leonard didn't reply, but Sam felt his gaze on her, and knew that what they had felt in the ballroom still stood: he wanted her, but Leonard would have never tried to force his hand with her.

And, he would have been smart. They didn't know each other. It was an emotional situation. Sex was a stranger was bound to be a big mistake. She would regretted it in the morning.

And yet, she closed the distance between them. Leonard pulled her against him, wrapped his arms around her and kissed her deeply. His hands were everywhere, she was arching into his touch, feeling his arousal through layers of fabric.

He slipped the dress down her body. Never stopping kissing her, then he cupped her breasts in his hands, brushing the hard nipples through the pink lace of her strapless bra. "Oh, Sam, you feel so good…."

Leonard made quick work of the lingerie, he tossed his aside then he resumed kissing her. just there where his fingers had been until a second before, feasting on her body, making her tremble.

He backed her towards the bed, and when she hit the mattress, she stood before him in just her panties, looking at Leonard taking his clothes off, feeling beautiful and desirable like she had never felt before.

"You are making me crazy," he whispered, his accent thick, hard, as she touched his smooth sex, throbbing with desire. Sam went to move faster, at a steadier pace, but Leonard pushed her hand away. "Keep this up, and it will over before it could began."

He eased her onto the bed, lowering her panties, and they kissed again. He slipped one ginger into her swollen core, his thumb pressing hard on her clit, making her pant and moan in no time at all, her fingers running through his short hair. He added a second finger, and curved them up inside of her. Leonard was touching Sam just like she liked- just like she wanted – as if he had been reading her mind, or had been with her countless other times before.

Her skin was hot, her legs open wide for this intrusion, shaking, begging for more. Her muscles clenched in anticipation, and Sam could barely believe she could come this fast. He bit her left nipple, and the contact made her explode, crying out her orgasm.

Before she could fully comprehend what was happening, Leonard kneeled between her legs, pushing his way inside her core, and braced himself above her.

He was shaking, and he was looking at her with huge eye, filled with a desire, a need and wonder and an affection she couldn't quite fathom.

He pushed into her, then withdrew. "You were so sexy. I could feel your orgasm around my fingers… and I couldn't get enough of that. It was… wow. Incredible."

She wrapper her legs around his waist, kept him in place as she whispered in his hear, "Don't hold back." And started moving her hips in time with his. His gaze kept falling on her breasts, and she cupped them between her hands, squeezing them together, rolling the hard nub with her indexes.

Her groaned, filling her with his warm seed, and collapsed on top of Sam, kissing the top of her head.

He laughed, the sound filling her with joy, reverberating through her very soul. "I should have stuck with Jim a lot sooner."

And he kissed her, fully on the lips.

---

They spent what felt like a lifetime in her room, even showering together and feeling first-hand what a fun and pleasurable experience it could be. When they had stepped out of the steamy bathroom, a glance at the clock had revealed how late it was, and it made Sam groan in pain.

"As much as I'd never leave this bed, I have to get dressed." She told Leonard. "The rehearsal is in two hours and there's dinner at nine."

"Does it mean that I'll get to see you with a dress and in heels again?" He asked, lifting an eyebrow. Sam laughed, pressing her mouth to his naked shoulder.

They were still laughing and lazily kissing when someone knocked on her door.

"Sam? Are you still in there?"

Sam winced. "Jim!" She grabbed Leonard's clothes and pushed them in his arms, then she started looking around for an escape route for her lover. The bathroom? It was a good idea, but what if Jim asked if he could use it? Had she said no, it would have been suspect…

"Quick! Under the bed!" She hissed at low voice, as Leonard looked at her, stunned.

"I'm not going to hide under the bed like I did something wrong! We are all adults here and I think!"

"Len, we've got saying back home," she showed a finger in his face, hissing at low voice. "If your best friend messes with your little sister, he has to marry her. And considering that marriage is hardly in the cards for us, I wouldn't want to see that pretty face of your ruined by my brother's punches, or hear that you've been stationed in some far and forgotten corner of the Galaxy."

"I'll be quiet." He said, ducking under the bed. Sam tossed her towel on the bed, then slipped in a robe and opened her room.

"Ehy Jim."

"Have I mentioned how much I hate this thing? Promise me that you'll go for something simpler when you'll get married. I swear that I'd never get mad if you were to elope instead of having me officiating the ceremony."

Jim collapsed on a chair, and rubbed his temples. "You aunt made a move on Mark's father, Mark is missing, Jessica and her mum are hysterical and they are taking it on our mum who turns to me for advice, and everybody seems to think that, just because now I'm a captain, I must know how to lead in a crisis. I mean, why can't they keep hating me like they used to when I was a teenager?" He sighed, heavily. "Trust me, Sam-even Borgs are no comparison with your family."

Sam sighed, rolling her eyes, and went to sit on the bed, her hands in her lap. "Mark came here a few hours ago. Said he wanted to have sex with me one last time before marrying the girl he wanted."

Jim just leaned his head back against the chair. "I really, really want to go and fight the Borgs right now…" then, he opened his eyes, and stood, quickly. "Okay, let's postpone the nervous breakdown. I'll try to calm mum down, so that she could talk with at least your aunt. You used to know Mark – any idea where he could be?"

The young woman sighed, heavily. "I can try to find him. I'll lecture him, talk sense into that thick skull of his."

"Good. Good. One less thing for me to do." Jim turned towards his sister, his lips in a tight line. He was looking at her as if he was about to say something, but was struggling to find the right words. Then, he stood, and put, delicately, an hand on her shoulder, squeezing it.

"Sam… you are not hurting, are you? If you don't want to do this… if you still feel something for him… I'll understand."

Sam thought about the delicious man hiding underneath her bed – man who listened to her and whoa actually liked what she had to say, who made her feel brilliant and sexy and funny. No- she didn't feel anything for mark any longer.

She shook her head. "Good," Jim answered, tenderly kissing her hair. "Ok, let's divide and conquer."

When Jim left, Leonard came out of his hiding place under the bed. He took her hand in his own, and kissed her fingertips, one by one. "Want some help looking for the groom?"

She nodded. "I'll look inside, and you can check the grounds."

"Just let me put on some jeans and a t-shirt."

She clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth. "You know, you do look good in jeans and T-shirt, Lieutenant Commander."

He smiled, "No, you look good on me."

He kissed her, and then left. She stood there, wearing nothing but a robe, thinking that this was probably the best wedding ever.

---

An half hour later, Sam was making her way through the kitchen, trying to find a trace of either he aunt or Mark – the ex-fiancé everyone seemed to think she was still in love with. Even Jim was scared that her heart could still be broken.

But, the fact was, if she thought about the man who had his under her bed… if her mind went back to that sizzling sensation she had felt so many years before, when her eyes had met Leonard's, she wanted to ask herself if she had truly ever been in love with Mark, or if she had just settled down for lack of something different- someone better who was emotionally unavailable.

She didn't want to accept it, she just couldn't be in love with Leonard. Yes, he was everything she had always wanted for herself, but she barely knew him, even if, at times, she thought he knew everyone aboard the Enterprise better than some of her own friends. The whole crew was at the center of Jim's conversation when he called home, but Spock and Leonard had a special place in her brother's heart. They were his friends, his confidents, his advisors, and Leonard had been filling those roles for far longer than the half Vulcan did.

The world stood still: it was crazy, but she was pretty sure that she was falling for Leonard. How could she not, when he was everything she wanted in a man, when their chemistry in bed was amazing and he made her feel like a goddess?

As she quickly left the kitchen and went looking for Mark in the foyer, she started tormenting her fingers, an awful habit from her more insecure youth she had never truly lost. Jim would have never allowed Leonard to be her date if he had been in a serious relationship, but for all she knew, he had a string of women lined up, waiting for their turn to sample his talents in the bedroom. She didn't know how he felt, and asking him was out of the question.

What was she, crazy? She was strong and independent. She wasn't the kind of girl who send men to the hills talking marriage on their second date.

Looking around, she sighed.

Maybe she was just seeing that wasn't there. maybe she was wrong- and it was just a great smile and wonderful sex.

---

Leonard found the missing groom outside, sleeping on a bench, still half-drunk. He shook Mark's shoulder a couple of times, until the groom didn't blink up at him.

"Ehy. You are here for my wedding, aren't you?" Mark said, his voice hoarse. "Crap, I miss Jess so, so much. Have you met her? She is so great…"

"Yes, which is why you are going to marry her tomorrow."

Mark, slowly, sat on the bench. "Yeah. She is wonderful, but she is driving me crazy with this whole wedding. But, the idea of not marrying her, it hurts so much I can't breathe."

Leonard sat next to him. They were both looking in the distance, at the beautiful landscape before them – a nature that for centuries had risked being lost but that humanity had been able to preserve at the end.

His mind was traveling dangerous waters. He knew all too well what mark was feeling. Many years before, as a young man – far younger than Mark was – he had gone walked the same path. Asked himself the same questions. And the result, had been that he had been left with only one choice: leaving it all behind.

"Listen, man, I know how you feel. Really. But you are just nervous. It's normal. You just need to focus on what you love about Jessica. Think back about when you proposed. What you felt. What you wanted in that moment. Remember that and go get your girl." Leonard patted him on the shoulder, a bit awkwardly.

"Now you go back to your room, get an ibuprofen with a lot of water, shower, shave, and get a lot of coffee. Then, when you'll be presentable again, you go find your girlfriend and you tell how much you love her and you'll go through with the rehearsal and the dinner. Now, what are you supposed to do?" He asked, helping mark to his feet.

"pill, water, shower, shaving, coffee, Jess, rehearsal, dinner. Got it." Mark nodded. "Sam's lucky to have you. So, you are, what, a shrink? You give some good advice. Have I told you how lucky Sam is to have you? She deserves it."

"Mark, Sam's not on your to-do list. And she isn't your any longer." Leonard squeezed Mark's shoulder, hard, sighing, tired of having to deal with infants the whole time – he had the sudden impression that a pediatrician would have been around more mature patients. "And anyway, I'm a surgeon."

Leonard stood where he was as he looked at Mark retreating to the lobby of the hotel, hoping that the crisis were over for the weekend.

---

As they walked towards the room where the rehearsal would be held, Leonard's hand on the small of her back, Sam couldn't take her eyes off of Leonard. He was wearing a white shirt and what looked like tailored pants, and he looked good enough to eat.

Or maybe, she admitted to herself, blushing, she was just hungry in general, and not just for him: she hadn't had a lot for brunch, given the peer pressure of her family, and then she and Leonard had been busy doing far more interesting things than eating.

She was a smart woman, and yet, she was falling for this man, hard. She couldn't have any of it, not when she barely knew him. But, what was she supposed to do? They were always with other people, and had they even had been alone, what was the requisite question? She wasn't sure that a tell me about yourself, like it was some school paper, would have done the trick.

They reached the open door, and heard people inside talking, but, instead of taking those final two steps, Leonard stood still. "I wanted to be a pro basketball player."

"What?" She asked, blinking a few times.

"When I was a kid. I wanted to be a pro basketball player. It always made people laugh, don't ask me why." He chuckled a little. "I like relaxing vacations, either back home or in San Francisco, and I still think that space is disease and danger wrapped in silence and darkness." His hand gently squeezed her side, the other went to her face, and cupped her cheek. "Tell me something. Anything."

"Um, trashy romance novels are my guilty pleasure, and this is the closest thing to a vacation that I've had in a few years."

"When I was a kid, I fell off of a tree and my dad splintered it because we were in the woods."

"I've got a tattoo on the back of my neck."

"Yep, I noticed earlier." He hummed, looking at her with appreciation. "Ursa Minor, if I still remember my constellations well enough." She nodded, smiling, and Leonard grabbed her in his arms and spun her around, making her giggle as she secured her arms around his neck.

"I should have listened to Jim and started sticking around a lot sooner. Wait when he hears that I want to date his little sister!"

Her heart pounded in her chest, and the breath died in her throat. Was it possible that Leonard was as crazy of her as she was of him? Could she be that lucky? She opened her mouth, but a voice spoke her name – one of Jessica's bridesmaids, asking her to hurry.

As Leonard sat in the back of the room, Sam raised her chin and strode towards the make-shift altar purposefully… and then had the brilliant idea of falling over an handbag, twisting her ankle. Everybody gathered around her, hovering, asking question, when all she wanted was to disappear.

Leonard reached her first, helping her into a chair. "Where does it hurt?" he asked, rubbing her leg up and down.

"It's nothing." She pouted, wanting to push everyone away. Jessica was starting to look at her as she wanted her dead for having stolen the spotlight to the bride.

"It's swelling- I think a sprain?" he lifted the hem of her skirt a little, cupping her knee. "You need to put some ice on this. Some Ibuprofen to help with the pain. Keep it elevated. If it's not better in a couple of days, we'll do an X-Ray, but my guess is that you'll be fine." Sam bit her lips, looking at Leonard with dreamy eyes. She even had her own doctor who took care of her! "Trying to get out of walking down the aisle?"

He supported her as she stood, then he bent over, gathered her in his arms and picked her up, making her shriek.

"Len! What do you think you are doing!"

"But taking you to your room, of course."

"Oh, that's so romantic…" Wynona sniffed a little, glassy eyes at the sight of her girl in the arms of a decent man. Even Jim was smirking, looking like the proverbial cat that got the canary – like he had envisioned this very scene unfolding right before his eyes when he had proposed to his friend to crash a wedding together.

"No, it's not romantic mum! And I'm not a cat or a kid! Len, put me down, now!"

He walked easily through the room, people gathering around them as if they were looking at a movie. "I'm your acting doctor now, and I'm ordering you to go and get some rest. You need to take care of your injury."

"Don't worry about the rehearsal, honey! You just have to walk down the aisle with flowers in your hands! It's not hard at all! Leonard, would you be a doll and take care of my baby?"

"Oh, I plan to," he promised, as they stepped into the elevator.

---

"All better?" Leonard asked her half an hour later. Sam was laying on her bed, leg propped on a couple of pillows and ice in place. She was blushing, biting her lips in a way that made the young doctor groan with desire.

"I'm not in pain," she admitted. "I'm just embarrassed. I can't believe I did that…" She sighed. Everyone had been checking on her - minus Jess and mark, of course. The lovely bride probably thought that she had fallen on purpose to either ruin the big day or get Mark back.

"You're too distracting for your own good." She admitted with some levity.

As he heard so, Leonard suffocated a laugh of his own, burying his head on Sam's shoulder. "Well, can't say I don't get you. I've spent the whole day thinking about covering you in champagne and licking you dry, inch by agonizing inch…" he sighed. "Too bad we'll have to wait to try that out."

Leonard kissed her, slowly and carefully, like he was discovering each every nook and cranny of her body for the first time anew.

As Sam wrapped her arms around his neck, allowing the Starfleet doctor to deepen the kiss, she hoped that her family was done checking up on her.

---

The next morning, Leonard eased himself out of Sam's bed. She was still asleep, her blonde hair like an halo on the pillowcase. Being the good doctor that he was, he carefully lifted the sheet, checking on her leg – the swelling had considerably diminished, just like he had suspected right from the start.

His gaze lingered on her painted toenails – dark pink. Somehow, it wasn't as childish as he had often believed. It was rather… erotic instead. At least, on Sam.

He resisted the temptation to skim over her soft skin. He wanted her – but more than that, he wanted to be with her - around her. It was something he couldn't quite explain. It was something he wasn't supposed to feel again any longer, and even if he did, he couldn't understand how it could have happened so quickly, in the span of a weekend. It just didn't make any sense, at all.

He had barely opened the door to go to his room and get a change of clothes when Jess practically broke in, sobbing hysterically, and jumping into Sam's bed, waking her up.

"He doesn't want to marry me!" she sobbed, burying her face into Sam's neck as she was a child.

"Now, now, I'm sure Mark is just being emotional. He loves you dearly and today he'll walk down the aisle…" Sam bit her lips, awkwardly patting her relative on the shoulder while Leonard rolled his eyes.

"You are just being jealous because I'm marrying Mark and you're here with Jim's friend!"

Leonard pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling an headache coming, and counted to ten to clear his mind and avoid making a scene.

He did count to ten. He really did. It just didn't work.

"For God's sake, your problems with your fiancé have nothing to do with Sam! Mark is in love with you, and Sam has moved on! If you expect your marriage to work out, grown up and act like an adult for once!"

"I hate you!" Jess sniffed, running out of the room. "Don't bother coming to my wedding!"

Leonard was about to close the door and kiss Sam when it was Wynona's time to break in, uninvited. "Was that Jess running out of your room? Well, I can tell my sister-in-law that we've found at least half of the lovely couple. Apparently Mark's second-guessing like, everything." The woman blinked as she noticed for the first time Leonard in her daughter's room – wearing the same clothes as he did the night before. "Morning, Leonard."

"Ma'am."

"A word to the wise, young man." She patted him on the cheek, smiling absently. "Never have daughters. And you, get up – your ankle's not broken, which means you have no excuses."

---

Shortly before the ceremony, Sam was sitting on the outside patio of the hotel, sighing, and hoping that everything would work out well- she needed it, if not only for her mental sanity. She was wearing one of her cute dresses – cute, but not really suited for the mountains.

She hugged herself and shivered, and the breath caught in her throat when someone draped their jacket over her shoulders – the scent was unmistakable, she would have recognized Leonard's cologne everywhere. It was the same kind he had used even when they had first met.

"If we're lucky," she started. "Jess and Mark are somewhere having make-up sex and dealing with their problems before getting married."

They were facing each other, Leonard's gaze like a laser on her. She couldn't think properly when he looked at her – it was just too much. She swallowed, hard, and tried to divert his attention.

"So, out of general curiosity, how where you when you were a kid?" She suddenly asked.

"I liked the outdoors. And I couldn't stand the idea of becoming a doctor. I also wanted to travel in space, if you can believe it. I always tried to talk my dad into going to the moon for the summer."

"Really? And then what happened?" She asked, chuckling.

"I fell from a tree." He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I was kind of wild. I was in this park with my dad, and I fell from the tree. Decided I would stay put as long as I lived."

"And then you went and joined Starfleet…" she teased a bit. "The year we met, when you were oh so charming."

One corner of his mouth turned up, but Sam saw something flicker into Leonard's eyes – regret, maybe? She couldn't say for sure. "I should have listened to my instinct. And Jim."

She laughed. "Oh, please. You weren't interested in me!"

But Leonard shook his head, and she could see he was being honest – it was written all over his chiseled features. "There was a spark, and… it terrified me. Because, I wasn't supposed to… like anyone else, after Pam, And, you were so young. Had we met only a couple of years later, but… back then…"

Sam nodded. She had been wondering about that, too, herself. Would a couple of years have made a difference? In college, she was… older, nicer, wiser.

"I think," Leonard said, as she relaxed in his arms, "that I would have been still impressed." He kissed her, quickly, sweetly, once. "How's your knee?"

"Good. A little stiff, but I'm fine." Warmth spread through her, making Sam want to confess that she thought she was falling for him. But it wasn't an option. She didn't want to freak him out, scare him away.

"So, how's living on the Enterprise?" She asked, and Leonard laughed.

"Jim doesn't tell you enough?"

Sam just rolled her eyes, a bit dramatically. "Jim talks about the Enterprise all the time. But he is kind of biased. He is... a daredevil, for lack of a better word."

"Things are definitely different from when we first took her off. It's not the fact that it's physically another ship – people's different. Everyone's getting married and having kids in the crew. Next year, Starfleet's thinking about boarding civilian personnel and the crew families – another five to eight years apart would be really hard, especially for the kids. They are still in the beginning of the process, but the New Enterprise, she's gonna be like a city… there are gonna be classes, and nurseries, and libraries and movie theatres and literally anything you could think of."

Something fluttered in his eyes, and his smile was genuine. His eyes, they seemed almost… hopeful. They had a dreamy quality about them, in that moment, and Sam didn't dare to meet his gaze, fearing that what she was keeping secret would be revealed.

Leonard wetted his lips, and stood in silence for what seemed the longest time; then, swallowing hard, he broke the ice, his fingertips on her wrist, right on her pulse-point. "You know, a long time ago I asked you if you wanted to join Starfleet just like Jim, but I don't think you actually answered me."

"I would be lying if I were to tell you that the thought never crossed my mind." She lifted her eyes to the sky, and took a big breath. "But, I don't know. Maybe I never had the proper occasion. Maybe I thought mum would have freaked out too much with both her kids in space."

"I never asked you – what's your deal with Jim and Wynona? Don't get me wrong – Jim's very lovable, but I never understood how you two could be so close, even if…"

"Even if we're not siblings at all?" She cut him short. She sighed, suddenly a bit sad. "I lost my mother – my biological mother," she explained, "shortly after I was born. I don't remember her at all. Wynona married dad when I was, like, two years old. She is my mum. And Jim… he's my brother. Even if we have different surnames. We've never cared. We're family, and that's all that matters."

Silence engulfed suddenly the two of them, as a light breeze raised between the mountains. Sam leaned down, and took a small pink flower, inhaling its sweet scent.

"So, would you do that, now, joining Starfleet, leaving Earth?" He asked her, not meeting her eyes, looking at the ground. But Sam's eyes were on him. Leonard was a temptation she couldn't ignore – and worse than that, everything in her screamed that he was worth it – worth the wait, the heartache, the leap. He could be her one and only. He had to be.

She had worked hard, accomplished anything she had set her mind to. But love had always escaped her: his gaze had never left Sam's memory, that jolt of energy, that spark, had been with her for all that time.

Maybe, it was time to do something about it.

Maybe, it was time to work hard and get the man she had always wanted – for as long as they had together.

"I don't think I want to lose you." Leonard said, as reading her mind.

"And I don't want to be lost," she admitted. "I loved having you around, Len. And I never thought I would get involved with someone so quickly, but…"

Something came undone in Leonard as he heard the word, and he lifted his eyes, looking for Sam's crystal orbs. He opened his mouth as to speak, but was stopped by Wynona's cheerful voice, calling for her kid.

"Ah- it's getting late. I think I should go and get ready." Sam, said, standing up. She was wearing red sneakers with her dress – a particular mix that made him see stars, simply adorable and that would have worked only on Jim's little sister.

He surrounded her to her duties, nodding his acknowledgement, knowing that he to had to get ready – and had a lot to think about.

He went into his room, and changed into the dark tailored suit he'd brought along, then he went to the lobby, where Jim had agreed to meet him – he spotted his good friend as soon as he walked in.

Jim was still wearing his uniform.

"Seriously, Jim? Don't you own a suit of your own?"

"Actually, I don't. I went from leather jacket to Starfleet uniform in a week." He shrugged. "Any idea if the wedding is still happening?"

It was Leonard's time to shrug. "Apparently, the bride and the groom to be may or may not be having make-up sex right now, his dad's been caught cheating, and your aunt is a man-eater?"

"Yeah. I knew I should have had another scotch…" Jim sighed, laughing lightly – with his "family it was business as usual. He lead them away, towards the bar, and ordered their usual, two glasses of well-aged scotch. Suddenly, he turned serious, changing his whole demeanor, his look grave on Leonard's eyes. "So, I seem to understand that you've enjoyed your time with Sam…"

Leonard nodded, looking suddenly younger. He knew that he was navigating dangerous waters- Jim was a friend and his boss, and Sam's brother, but it was going to be worth it. "I really like her company, Jim."

Leonard waited for a blow that never came, and Jim just sighed. "Just don't hurt her. If you don't know what you want, don't start anything with her."

"Jim… I don't plan on hurting her."

"You never do, Bones, and yet you hurt them anyway. You get involved until a certain degree and then you back off. I'm not saying you were wrong – I know Pamela left certain scars – but this is Samantha. You are my best friend, Bones. But I'm also your boss – and she is my sister. You know whose side I'd be on, right?"

The bartender served them their drinks, and Leonard started to think, deeply. Jim was right: he had a pattern. After Pamela, he would get involved with women only up to a certain point. When it was time to get serious, he had always backed away. He had never been able to see himself getting old at someone's side – not even with Pam.

But now, it was different.

Suddenly, the thought of the next fifty years of his life at Sam's side, laughing and teasing and discussing science, was appealing, to say the least. He would be challenged by her curious and inquisitive mind, and he would keep her safe- protect her, always, no matter what.

"Don't take this the wrong way, all right? I love you like a brother, Bones, and if you and Sam could get together and be happy, I'd be thrilled. But I don't want to see my sister hurt, and she had had the hugest crush on you for the longest time. Be careful with her, okay?"

Leonard nodded. "I would do anything to avoid hurting her."

"Good," Jim patted him on the shoulder, soundly. "Just remember that."

---

Despite the drama, the ceremony went off smoothly – everyone sighed when the bride danced with her father, the food was perfect and the cake was a work of art.

Leonard held Sam closer as they danced to the slow song. "Would you be mad if I were to ask you how much longer we have to stay?"

"Another thirty minutes." She grinned at him. "I already asked my mum... Thirty minutes, and then we're free."

He smiled, burying his nose in her blonde hair. "Good- your room or mine?"

She titled her head as to consider his question. She seemed to be considering so much more than just that, and the breath dies in Leonard's throat, as he wondered if she would have followed him at all.

Her lips curled in the sweetest, sexiest smile he had ever seen on a woman. "Yours – it's gonna be harder finding us there."

Leonard pouted with fake indignation. "I feel used – like you want me just for my body and to escape your family." He laughed. "And yet, I don't mind at all."

She laughed, too, burying her head in the crook of his neck, and the sound reverberated through his whole being.

It was right.

She was right – the right one. And this time for real. It was nothing like with Pam. She'd been fun to be around, but she'd just get bored listening to him, wasn't even a tiny bit curious about what he did. At the end of the day, with his first wife, he had mistaken lust for love, and had given free rein to his body instead of his soul and his heart.

He remembered Jim's words. He had to be careful, but he knew what he wanted – Sam, as long as she was going to have him – and he needed to make sure that Sam knew where he stood. That he was serious, and that he wasn't playing any games.

Jess suddenly came up and tapped Sam on the shoulder; she was smiling, but she seemed rather sad, too – regretful, even, maybe sorry. "Ehy, I'm going to throw you the bouquet, just to let you know." Jess sniffed a little. "I'm so sorry for everything that happened with Mark. But I love you, Sammy, and I want you to be happy."

"Oh, Jess, I love you too!"

Jess released Sam, and turned to face Leonard. "And thanks to you, Leonard, for coming to my wedding. But you better be careful with Sam – I know I've gone a little crazy with this whole wedding, but I love her, and if you'll ever hurt her…."

Giggling, Jess grabbed Sam's arm, and dragged her away, to join all the other unmarried ladies present at the wedding, who thought they had a chance of getting the bouquet.

"Are you all right?" Kim asked him, flask in hand, as they watched the scene unfolding right before their eyes – it looked straight from a horror movie, in Jim's opinion, a nightmare for any single man hoping into a one night stand.

"I'm fine." Leonard sighed. He watched Sam and the other ladies. Even Jess thought he wasn't serious. And what if Sam thought the same? He couldn't have any of that. He had to rectify the situation.

Now.

"Don't let Jess throw the bouquet." Leonard turned, facing Jim, his hands on his good friend's shoulders.

"What?"

"She's going to do it any second now. I need you to get them to delay."

"And how do you think I should do that, uh?"

"Jim, I know you'll think of something." Leonard looked at his friend, hopeful, and yet, desperate – like whatever he was going to do, his whole life, his future, would depend on it. "Just make sure Jess doesn't do anything until I'm back."

With a smile as bright as the sun, he headed for the door.

---

"But I want to throw the bouquet! I need this stupid thing to be done and dealt with!" Jess pouted, stomping around.

"Just five more minutes, honey." Wynona said, sweetly. She was getting an even bigger headache, and it was all because of Jim. Her son had always made troubles, why would he be now any different, just because he was an adult and a captain in the Starfleet? "Right, Jim?"

"Yep. Absolutely, mum." Or at least, he hoped. He needed Leonard to get back and get back now. He had made all kind of excuses, and he was running out of ideas – and Jess and his mum were running out of patience.

"Fine – but no longer than that. Then I'll throw the bouquet and the hell with consequences!"

"Samantha?" Sam turned when she heard someone calling out her name, and met Leonard's eyes. Stunned, she walked towards him across the dancefloor, her heart pounding in her chest as tears burned her eyes.

She loved him. She had been in love with him since their eyes had met for the first time many years before. Leonard McCoy was her one and only – and he had always been.

"Hi." He said. Guests gathered around them, and people didn't even pretend to not pay attention to what was happening. Even Jess was curious.

"I know this is fast and a bit crazy, but, Samantha Davies, you're the most amazing woman I've ever met. You're the one I've been waiting for. And… I love you." He said, staring at her.

Everything stopped as she felt like floating. She couldn't hear anything – just his voice.

"I fell for you, Sam. And, I know you'l probably have to think about it, but… give me a chance, will you?" Leonard went to bend on one knee, and produced from his pocket a small ring – it was clearly handmade, done just in that moment. It was done of the small pink flowers that filled the grass beds surrounding the hotel. "I would have given you a promise ring, but there's not a jewelry around and I had to improvise…" he admitted, sheepish.

"It's perfect." If it was a dream, Sam didn't want to wake up- ever. She could hardly believe that she was so much in love – and that he loved her back, with as much intensity as she did.

"Yes. Yes!"

The room erupted in cheers and applauses, and Leonard stood. He took her in his arms, and kissed her, one, two, so many time she lost count.

"I love you," he whispered.

"I love you too." He put the ring on her finger, and she looked at the item, adoringly – as it was something precious, made of gold and diamonds and exotic stones.

"I'll get you a real one, soon."

She laughed. "No- this is perfect. Just like you, Len."

He kissed her again. "No, I'm not perfect - but I'm lucky. Very much so."

Sam hugged him, and over Leonard's broad shoulders, she saw her mum and Jim – Wynona was crying, and Jim looked very smug and satisfied. Like this had been his plan all along. Even Jess was cheering on her, waving her bouquet.

Leonard drew back slightly. "Just for the record, when we'll marry, we'll elope."

She laughed. "You read my mind, Len."

---

Eight months after Leonard's heartfelt confession, he was walking down the aisle for the second time.

At the end, they hadn't eloped – but not because they didn't want to. They had decided to go against their desires, and satisfy Wynona, who wanted nothing more than see her only daughter in a white dress. Still, it was a small affair, with just their closest friends and family gathered there.

They were in quite a hurry, after all – the Enterprise would be leaving in just a few weeks for her next mission, and Starfleet had assured them that there would have been a place for Sam aboard, like for all the other spouses. That she was a brilliant xeno-botanist and would be performing cutting-edge research for them, was just an added bonus.

Spock had been Leonard's best-man, while Sam had had Jess as maid of honor; in their mind, the couple hadn't had a single doubt about Jim's role: as a captain, he was allowed to marry people – so, despite a Damn it, man, I'm a captain, not a priest, he had been more than happy to oblige.

And besides, he knew he just had to marry them.

It had been his plan all along, after all. Since that day so many years before. Because he loved too much his little sister to allow some random stranger to get his claws on her. She deserved the best – and there was no one better than his best friend. It had taken a little longer than anticipated, but it had worked out, in the end. They had understood that they were perfect together when the time had been right.

But they didn't need to know any of that.

They would have been fine, thinking that thy had done everything on their own volition.