It was the traditional poker night in the Captains room. They'd decided that it should become traditional after the first year or two of their mission, in which the poker nights had been held weekly.

The poker night itself consisted of the Captain, Spock, Bones, Sulu, Scotty, Chekov and cheap alcohol. This was just the way they liked it, a release from all the tension from the bridge (although Scotty insisted he didn't need a release from engineering because the ship was a beautiful lady) and a time to, as the Captain once called it, 'bond'.

They'd all been settled for half an hour, all of them enjoying each other's company, winning and losing money with the steady flow of the bitter tasting alcohol. This was when the loud banging on the door interrupted their tranquillity.

Each of them looked at one and other, silently wondering who it was at the door seeing as they'd yet to be disturbed on one of their nights.

"Enter," Kirk called out, knocking back the rest of his glass of the secret alcohol. Scotty was yet to tell them what it was.

As soon as the door opened, a woman barged inside, her loud voice cut over them making everyone fall silent.

"I'm sorry it's so late Captain but that creep needs to fucking go," a woman began, her voice loud and fuelled with anger which made all the men (excluding Spock) cringe in their seats. Her mouth snapped shut and a horrified look fell onto her face as she realised this wasn't just the Captain and that he had company.

"Ah shit," she murmured, taking a small step backwards. "I'm really sorry," she mumbled, her cheeks now a bright shade of red.

"It's alright," the Captain smiled, glancing up and down at the woman in front of him, waiting for a name.

"Payne. Amelia Payne sir. I'm your new head cook," she said. Her voice no longer angry but instead quiet, and polite.

It was at this moment that Chekov decided to study the woman who'd been creating the beautiful food. Her brashness had clearly left her and now she looked as if she was trying to make herself look as small as possible to try and disappear. Her dark brown eyes met his for a moment and Chekov was pleased to noticed that it only made the blush covering her freckled cheeks darker.

"So you've been the one making the amazing food on this mission," the Captain smiled, and everyone else around the table beamed up at her as well. They remembered the cook before her, an old man who made the replicator food taste five stars. Whereas everyone agreed that Amelia's food tasted amazing, especially with the varying amount of food she produced, including the Vulcan dishes for Spock, and traditional Russian dishes which Chekov adored.

"I'm glad you think it's amazing Captain, I'm just glad to be here," she bowed her head a bit, letting some of her deep red curls cover her face slightly.

"What are your reasons to come and see the Captain at this hour?" Spock asked, getting directly to the point.

"I, um, don't worry," she said softly. "I apologise for disturbing your evening Captain, Commander."

"Why don't you join us," Kirk grinned before Amelia could step outside. The flirtatious grin barely leaving his face. "I insist. Then you can tell me what's going on."

For a moment Chekov was sure that Amelia would refuse, but with a small shrug to her shoulders she turned back around and smiled at the Captain and took him up on his offer.

"Sit next to Chekov," the Captain grinned. "I'll deal you in."

Chekov smiled sweetly at Amelia once she sat down next to him, a slight blush still on her cheeks.

"Eet is nice to meet you Amelia. Zank you for all the good food," he said, his Russian accent becoming more pronounced the more he drank.

"Aye cheers lassie. You have got a talent for cooking," Scotty smiled at her from the opposite side of the table, pouring her a glass of the unidentified alcohol and sliding it over.

"Indeed I must agree. Your Vulcan soup is almost identical to the ones found on New Vulcan." Spock added and everyone else murmured agreement about the quality of her food.

"Thanks," Amelia said, the blush once again returning to her cheeks before she took a sip of from the glass. Chekov waited for her to pull a face at the sour tasting alcohol but Amelia didn't show a sign of discomfort, which lead him to wish for her Poker face. He was, as they all said, too expressive.

"What game are we playing?" Amelia asked no one in particular as the Captain shuffled the cards. She just hoped someone would answer, even though she had nothing to bet.

"Eet's poker," Chekov turned and said to her, while everyone else struck up their own conversations while they waited for the Captain to finished.

"I can't play poker," Amelia grimaced. "And I have nothing to bet."

"I can teach you," Chekov grinned. He knew somewhat that the alcohol was going to his head but by this point Scotty was almost incoherent where his accent had become to pronounced.

"Aye, let's jus' hope you got a better poker face than the lad, lassie," Scotty grinned, pouring Amelia another glass which she thanked him for.

"And you can bet another portion of your desserts. They're as good as my mother used to make," Bones threw in and the rest of the crew nodded in agreement.

She chewed on the inside of her cheek for a moment, before breaking into a large grin. "Sure, why the hell not. You'll have to give me a Vulcan dessert recipe then Spock."

"Although I do not doubt your skill, Vulcan desserts are exceptionally hard to make," he said, nodding his head in her general direction.

"No harm in trying," Amelia smiled genuinely, and Chekov idly wondered if anyone could say no to the smile on her face.

After a lengthy discussion about the best dessert, and quite a few drinks later, the Captain had finally dealt the cards and Amelia was practically leaning on Chekov as he explained the rules of Poker to her.

"Okay, what cards do I have in my hand?" she asked him quietly, although despite her attempts nearly everyone around the table heard her. "Oh did I not mention, I have BRVO." She said brashly, trying to get it out the way so they wouldn't talk about it, wouldn't start talking slowly as if she was deaf and dumb too.

"What's zat?" Chekov asked her, and although she'd never admit it, his accent sent a little shiver down her spine every time he spoke.

"It's Branch Retinal Vein Occlusion, it's just where," she sighed and tried to piece together the right words. "Today my eyes are blurry and fuzzed so I can't make out the numbers on these cards because they're so small. Tomorrow I could have perfect vision or wake up blind," she shrugged. "It's no big deal."

Amelia didn't know if everyone else around the table could sense that she did not want to talk about it, or if they didn't care, but as soon as she finished everyone just kind of nodded and carried on playing poker.

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The next few hours went past quickly for Chekov as he sat next to Amelia. The game of poker had been abandoned after an hour and they all carried on talking and drinking as per usual.

Chekov learnt a lot of things about Amelia, and couldn't help but to feel a glowing attraction to her. Perhaps it was just the alcohol, or the fact she was the only one on board the ship who didn't still treat him as if he were young. Although that could be because she was just twenty, only a year younger than him.

Amelia was in the middle of telling Chekov a story about how she managed to win a bar fight when she was eighteen when she broke out in a large yawn, apologetically covering her mouth with her hand as she grinned sleepily at him.

"I think, I should go to bed," she grinned. Any anxiety she seemed to have around them earlier, Chekov noticed, was gone. Although they probably had alcohol to thank for that none the less, she did seem to spend the majority of her time talking to him, and he enjoyed it.

"I think I should go to sleep," she said, using Chekovs shoulder to steady herself as she rose from her seat. "Goodnight Chekov."

Hey guys, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, for me it was difficult to write because I have so many chapters planned out except for the first one (I know dumb of me) but I needed to write it and I hope it's okay and things!

So yeah, please review and follow or whatnot and I will update as soon as I can!

Ps. I only own Amelia.

Pps. I hope you're all having a great day/night