AN: Okay, in a lot of ways I'm ripping story ideas off of certain Star Trek spin-offs, but bare with me.
Chapter One: Skinned Knees and Lost Causes
Chief Medical Officer's Log, Dr. Leonard McCoy, Stardate 5744.7: A week has passed since the crew of the Enterprise along with several hundred other Starfleet and Federation members boarded and joined with the highly advanced Scyran Ship, The Penthesilea. The Scyrans, a humanoid race that the Federation made first contact with seven years ago, built this remarkable vessel seven centuries prior but could never fly it due to a planetary civil war they have been fighting against the other race of the planet, the Pyrons, for nineteen hundred years. The war has left them with not nearly enough people to spare to crew such a ship, which is four times the size of Starfleet's largest ship and hosts technologies the Federation do not have such as replicators, holo-decks, and a cloaking device. Luckily, the Scyrans agreed to let the Federation man their ship with a small population of Scyrans to oversee them. Nearly every major Starfleet Officer aboard this ship has a Scyran counterpart, mine being Dr. Persephone Andromeda. Even the Captain and Mr. Spock share a counterpart in Colonel Minerva Hippolyta, who, despite officially being of the same rank level and command role as the Captain, refers to him and serves as the ship's Chief of Security.
I have still not gotten used to the many incredible changes that have taken place since we left the Enterprise. For one thing, the ship is designed to accommodate the families of the crew, so I am now hearing and seeing children Federation and Scyran alike running down the halls and chattering. Though in some ways it could be seen as a nuisance, I enjoy the presence of the youngsters, who add a more homey feeling to my new environment. Then there are the facilities. All the halls, rooms, and quarters are much, much larger than those of a Federation ship in order to accommodate our Scyran crewmates who have pairs of enormous emerald-colored feathered wings. The technology and facilities are the best I've ever seen and have enabled me to perform tests and operations in a third of the time. Then, of course, there are the Scyrans themselves. A Scyran soldier on-duty has the discipline, resolve, and efficiency of Mr. Spock. They are extremely fast learners and workers who are able to work long, hard hours without tiring and have the utmost respect for the chain of command and protocol. Off-duty, they don all styles and colors of civilian clothes engage in revelry, art, sports, study, food, music, and all manner of fun, call each other "Brother" and "Sister", are extremely affectionate, light-hearted, easy-going, and energetic. They are extremely religious and treat each other like close family. They are hard to dislike for their various charms, but are also extremely intimidating. Their women are taller than the men, and the whole race is much taller than the average human. The women are also stronger, and as a race they have physical strength, agility, speed, and endurance that makes the phrase 'super-human' an understatement. The Scyrans are all extremely attractive and all the adults look to be in their mid-twenties, though they claim to be immortal and the average chronological age of their adults is nineteen hundred Earth years old. They also have expertise in an enormous variety of fields, which they claim is due to their long life-spans allowing them to study numerous things. Despite their intimidating abilities, they are extremely charming and humble, friendly and child-like, but not childish. However, despite their wide-eyed enthusiasm and fun-loving nature, the adults all have a gravity to their eyes that says that they have seen too much to be innocent. They have high sex drives and take on multiple serious long-term lovers of both sexes, and according to them, were blessed by their Goddess of Love to never have to deal with unwanted consequences when it comes to sex. They are striking figures, all of them, tall, beautiful, with their green wings and green and platinum uniforms. When I first saw them, I thought of angels battling against the Devil for Heaven. They seem as intrigued by us as we are by them, which helps ease the tension. But I still cannot get used to them.
In addition to Holodecks, swimming pools, gymnasiums and various other halls, there are several civilian-run places of the ship, bars, restaurants, clubs and mixes of those where the crew mingle, socialize, date, and dance. Revelry seems to be a very important part of their culture and the Federation crew hardly seem to mind, except for perhaps Mr. Spock, but that is hardly surprising. There are also thirteen temples devoted to their Gods and Goddesses and they have clergy members on staff. Now, aboard the Penthesilea, there is more of a sense of family despite the differing races. Seeing the crew with their families, however, intensifies a feeling I've had since I left Earth that I am missing something.
McCoy sprayed the wound on the child's knee with the numbing disinfectant, then placed a purple bandage on it. "There you go, Arsinoe," he said to the Scyran child with a smile on his face, "All better."
The seven-year-old raven-haired girl sniffed and wiped her eyes. "Th-thank you, Dr. McCoy."
"You're welcome, Arsinoe," McCoy replied, "I think you're all set."
"Not quite, Doctor," said a female voice from behind him. He looked over his shoulder to see Nurse Chapel coming closer with something in her hand and a smile on her face. "You forgot the two most important parts."
Before McCoy could inquire as to her meaning, another voice came from the doorway.
"Is Arsinoe Hippolyta alright? Her mother heard she was injured and is concerned."
McCoy looked at Spock in shock. What was he doing here? "It was just a skinned knee and why did you come down and not her?"
"Colonel Minerva was engaged in something she could not pull herself away from. I offered to check for her and bring her daughter to her, if possible."
McCoy was surprised. It was not like Spock to do something like that. He usually seemed uneasy around the children on the ship. "That will be fine, once Nurse Chapel has completed the supposed most important parts of the treatment process."
Nurse Chapel blushed and went over to Arsinoe. She bent over and kissed the child's knee, then handed her a hard candy. "Now, you're all set."
Arsinoe hugged Nurse Chapel, then Bones, who lifted her off the examination table. She ran over to Spock and hugged his leg, much to Christine and Leonard's amusement. "Thank you for checking on me."
Spock shifted uncomfortably and then took the child's hand. "Come along, your mother is worried about you."
McCoy watched Nurse Chapel wistfully as she watched the figures of the Vulcan and the child walking off and holding hands even more wistfully.
"Christine, are you alright?"
She turned to face him, a sad smile adorning her lips. "Dr. MCoy, did you know that I skipped five grade levels when I was a child, have an IQ of 167, was an early acceptance to Harvard University and was valedictorian of my high school, college, and academy classes?"
McCoy was shocked. "No, I did not know that, congratulations."
"When I got my first degree and met Roger the future felt so bright. I'm thirty-one, Dr. McCoy, I thought at this point in my life I'd be a top Ph.D at some Bio-research plant, married with children of my own. When that plan didn't go through I thought perhaps by now I'd have found someone else, become a Doctor, and had a family. That hasn't happened. I've found someone, but they haven't found me. I went from being the most promising up-and-coming bio-researcher in the Federation and a wife to being a Starship Nurse who is in love with a Half-Vulcan who pretends to be full Vulcan. I feel like I've been waiting forever for my life to start and that it's halted here."
McCoy felt his stomach do a flip-flop. At that moment he knew it was finally time, they were alone and it had to be said. He took a deep breath and started telling her everything he had been aching to tell her for five years.
"Christine, you're torturing yourself for no reason. You're too good to be doing what you're doing. Spock won't ever feel the same way, I know I'm hurting you by saying so and trust me, there's nothing I would hate to do more than see you in any sort of pain, but I've watched you do this to yourself for too long and I can't take it anymore. You're too good for Spock simply because he is too stupid to realize how blessed he is to even have you look at him kindly, let alone love him. Yes, your life has had some hiccups, but you could be anything you wanted if you weren't so prone to obsessing over lost causes. Even though you don't realize it, you never needed Roger, you don't need Spock, you don't need any man to help you be everything you should be. But you do deserve one, one that loves you and will be there for you. Christine, I may not be your first choice, but I'm okay with that, and I will love you, be there for you, do anything for you, and worship you for the rest of my life and beyond if you would just finally see clearly, forget about that alien half-breed, and finally realize you have had a man who loves you by your side for years."
She looked horribly conflicted. "Doctor…."
"…. Leonard."
"Leonard…. You're so wonderful, I don't deserve you and I want to be able to happily fling myself into your arms and profess my undying love to you, but… I can't. I just don't know how I feel rght now, I'm so confused."
"That's okay," McCoy said, smirking, "I'm willing to wait for you to figure things out before we get too serious. We can just start out getting coffee together, spending time together outside sick-bay, getting to know each other. I'm not a patient man, but I'm willing to be one for you."
Tears fell from her eyes. "Thank you, Leonard, thank you for understanding!"
"You can repay me by trying and drying those tears. I never want to see you cry again, it pisses me off."
She sniffed, smiled, and laughed. "Alright."