Facial Hair
by Starsinger
McCoy goes back to Georgia for three weeks and returns with something different. Inspired by something that Karl Urban sported for several pictures and interviews and DAMN he looks good with it! lol Yeah, got a soft spot for the Kiwi. Think it's his native accent. I'm from Texas, so his southern American accent didn't do much for me. Don't own any of them.
For three weeks after Kirk was released from Starfleet Medical care, McCoy disappeared. No one, except Kirk, knew where he was, and Kirk conspired to keep it that way. "Hey, it's his leave, and he's welcome to it," Kirk responded. "Only reason I know where he is, is that he doesn't trust me as far he as he could throw me not to do something wrong. He calls at least once a day."
What Kirk failed to mention was that it was Joanna, McCoy's daughter, who insisted on talking to Uncle Jim once a day. He was her favorite person to listen to a bed time story. He put in sound effects and lit up the screen like no one else could. Unfortunately, he was so busy with cadets and updating Starfleet security protocols, that he couldn't get down there himself. Who else would be better to write the system security than the best hacker in Starfleet? Of course he got Chekov involved.
Of course McCoy couldn't deny Joanna anything. She had him wrapped around her little finger. Jocelyn found that not having to spend money on daycare or a babysitter a nice change and allowed him as much time as he wanted with the little girl. So, when Joanna asked him to grow a beard, he hesitated. Jocelyn said, "You can always shave it off when you get back to San Francisco."
Faced with that inescapable fact, and that he didn't have a girlfriend who would object to a three day growth of beard, he stopped shaving. After Jim got a good laugh, he dared Jim to do it too. Jim was just as susceptible to Joanna's grey eyes and McCoy was, and gave in. Chris' only request was that he kept it trimmed, he was just as much in love with the little girl as they were. He just couldn't grow a beard. Somehow, Spock was talked into a goatee.
So, the crew of the Enterprise was treated to the sight of two of the three members of the senior staff sprouting facial hair. Carol and Nyota found it funny. Archer did find it amusing, and Barnett shook his head along with Komack. For Kirk it worked well as a disguised. For a week and a half no one recognized him when he stepped outside the Academy gates. Unfortunately, his blue eyes eventually gave him away.
One day McCoy took Joanna to the zoo. After two weeks he had a respectable growth, enough so that he was trimming it every couple of days. His mother, at whose house he was staying, was amused as well. "Looks good on you," she commented as he headed out the door for the zoo. He grinned back at her. The zoo had a new baby Asian Elephant who was three weeks old at the time of their visit. Joanna laughed at the shy calf stayed under her mother most of the time she was out. Even at 350 pounds, she was cute. Joanna laughed at the antics of the elephants. Her favorites, however, were the otters. She laughed as they chittered away and swam through the water near them. Joanna loved the attention. She ran her fingers through her father's beard and he smiled at her.
When McCoy actually returned to San Francisco, he was startled to find Spock and Jim with facial hair. Jim he could expect, but Spock with a goatee? Go figure. All this for one little girl.
In case you're wondering what Spock would be doing with a goatee, the picture for the story comes from the original series episode "Mirror, Mirror" which introduced the idea of alternate universes into the Star Trek Continuum. Which, of course, made the last two Star Trek movies even feasible. Have fun, oh, and please review!