When Scotty woke up on his birthday, he didn't really mind the fact that no one actually knew. To him it was just another day of the year, after all. There's at least one person -McCoy, probably- that knows the actual date, but it's always so busy even on a slow day that he doesn't expect them to take any mind. Besides, he'd be in the bowels of the ship making improvement anyway; where no one can find him. Well, Keenser would probably follow him and make sure he didn't get himself killed, but other than that he'd be alone. Keenser wasn't much of a talker anyway.

So it was on his birthday that he merely went through his normal routine, minus breakfast since he was running a bit late. He chomped down on the apple he'd managed to snag in his hand as he ran through the halls. Okay, maybe he shouldn't have set his alarm for half and hour later than normal, but it was still his birthday, no matter what he thought of it, and he was entitled to a bit more rest than normal, especially considering he'd barely gotten four hours of sleep in over a week; his baby needed upgrades, after all. Well, maybe not needed, but it gave him something to do on off days.

He walked into his lovely workspace (well, the whole ship was his workspace, but here was just something about the dilithium chambers…), a huge grin lighting up his face. He snatched his tool kit from its customary place on the floor, walking to the control panel with a confident stride. Keenser was already there, sitting up in high places (literally) as he watched his friend come in. Oddly enough, Scotty didn't turn around and tell him to 'get down from there!' and that 'it wasn't a climbing rig' like usual, just got to work with that big grin like he got when he was moderately drunk that didn't quite reach his eyes, but Keenser didn't notice that. Not many people did.

Paying no heed to any sort of safety protocols (he never did) he got straight to work, tinkering and "making improvements" to anything he could get his hands on. McCoy wouldn't have been happy with this, but then, McCoy wasn't there to rant and reprimand, was he? Nope, he sure wasn't. There were few times Scotty was glad for not seeing anyone, his birthday being one of those times, but he was doubly so when it came to McCoy.

He wasn't sure how it happened, he really wasn't, but it happened.

A single crossed wire could really ruin someone's day.

Something happened, though he entirely sure about that either. All he heard was Keener's running footsteps and his voice saying they needed McCoy down there and soon because Scotty was hurt. Again.

D'Arvit, was all Scotty could think, before he felt a sharp pain in his neck and the world went black.

When Scotty woke up for the second time on his birthday, it was painful.

All along his arms and chest felt like it was on fire. Considering he was pretty sure there had been a boom before the hypo(s?), it was almost to be expected. Beside's, he'd had second degree burns before. They hurt like bloody hell, but were never excruciatingly serious. He was honestly surprised McCoy hadn't murdered him as soon as he was dragged through the door. Then again, what was the fun in that? As far as Scotty knew the CMO loved being able to rant about how he "came in at least twice a week with something-or-other" before murder attempts.

He groaned, attempting to sit up on the biobed, but familiar hand pushed him down, eliciting a slight wince.

"You aren't goin' anywhere, Scott," McCoy said above him. "Not until I get you in for the surgery to replace that brain of yours. Honestly, what were you thinking?" The tone was familiar too; reprimanding and more than a bit upset, like the tone one would use to scold an unruly child. It suited the situation just fine, if you asked Scotty, not that anyone would.

"Ah was thinking', Doc, that maybe fate wouldn' take a swing ah me today. Ah honestly don' have a clue what happened." McCoy's eyes narrowed ever so slightly, before rolling.

"You're an idiot, you know that? Gonna be the death of me if Kirk doesn't kill me first." And he continued his angry muttering as he stalked off.

But just before he stepped into his office, he called something over his shoulder, something Scotty was sure he'd have forgotten.

"Happy birthday, you genius-idiot!"

The first of few, but plenty more than expected.

Scotty was able to leave relatively soon after the rant, though was banned from Engineering if he was going to do anything other than file paperwork in his office. It was around lunch at the time, which was good for him. More importantly though, it was Nyota's lunch hour, which, looking up at the clock, he realized he was late for their meeting.

"D'Arvit!" He muttered, running through the various corridors of the Enterprise in an attempt to make it to the mess before his girl (Lord, didn't that just feel good to say!) went back to her position on the Bridge.

He made it. Barley.

His lovely lady (he'd never get tired of calling her that. Ever) was just finishing up when he arrived. He was able to grab something quickly from the replicators (soup and sandwich) and get over to her table.

Nyota tutted him gently. "You're late, Monty." She mock-scolded. Scotty offered an apologetic smile.

"Sorry. Bit of an accident down by the Dilithium chambers. Again." A light pink spread across his cheeks as he took a large bite from his BLT.

A roll of the eyes and a light smack on the head. "You're an idiot," she laughed, and Scotty was quick to join.

"Tha's the same thing the good doctor said." He chuckled, taking another bite.

Uhura looked up, just over his head (not hard, by the way, considering she was taller), before her eyes widened and she stood up hurriedly, grabbing her plate as she started rushing off. Scotty quickly figured out that she was probably going to be late for her shift soon.

She went around to his side of the table, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Gotta go," she paused briefly. "Happy birthday, love. See you tonight." She winked, running off and out the doors of the mess, and Scotty couldn't help but be confused.

He'd never told her his birthday.

He let it go, for now. Woman always had their ways, as he'd learned. Like how Uhura just knew that he was a Hitchhiker's fan (Hitchhiker's being an absolutely ancient sci-fi book series) and had gotten him a scale replica of the Heart of Gold that had been used for the slightly-less-ancient-than-the-books movie for their one-month anniversary. Or how she knew about his DVD collection and got him Sherlock Holmes one and two original copies from the twenty-first century. He'd never mentioned Hitchhiker's or the collection before receiving the gifts.

Yes, women just knew. And now he had something to look forward to that night. Vaguely, as he walked out of the mess, he wondered if she knew about his rare alcohol collection too. Probably.

Completely and utterly bored, Scotty made his way to rec-room seven (because six was just plain creepy the way no one ever went there). It was the only one with a pool table, and one of two that had an old baby grand piano in the corner. It usually had at least ten other people, half of which likely playing pool, no matter what time of "day" or "night", which meant it was good if you liked playing poker too. It was also one of the few places Scotty would even consider going other than his room, the mess, and Engineering.

Kirk was already there along with Sulu and Chekov, playing was looked to be blackjack at one of the many tables. Scott smiled. Even if the day had started off bad (i.e. running late and having something explode in his face), it seemed to be continuously getting better.

He sat down with a cocky grin on his face and his eyes shinning. Ironically enough, someone was playing "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling" one the baby grand.

"Room for one more?" He asked, just as Sulu was shuffling the old deck.

Kirk grinned. "Always."

"You wanna deal?" Sulu asked, holding out the deck.

"Eldest deals." Kirk agreed, and Scotty took the cards with a mock-glare.

"I'm only a wee bit older than ye, Cap'n." Scott said with a roll of the eyes, dealing the cards to their respective players.

Kirk responded with an eye roll of his own. "You're thirty-four. Nine years." He said pointedly.

"I though it vas zirty-five." Chekov said, looking slightly puzzled.

It seemed like everyone was playing "Guess the Scot's age" suddenly, which seemed almost confirmed when Sulu said, "No, thirty-seven, isn't it?"

Scotty face-palmed. "Yer all wrong. I turned thirty-six today. Now can we play please?"

Obviously that was no longer going to happen, considering what he'd just said.

"You turned zirty-six today?" Chekov questioned. "Vhy didn't you mention eet?"

Scotty stared up at the ceiling with a small groan. He should have known he wouldn't be able to just sit down and play poker, her really should have. "Ah just never made a big deal about it. Can we play please?" And the subject was dropped on its skull, completely forgotten.

By the end of the seventh game, it was nearly eight o'clock and Chekov had already left.

Scotty looked up at the time before putting his cards back in the deck. "Sorry guys, but I gotta go. Ny gets off soon, and I wanna be waitin' fer her." Kirk nodded in understanding as his friend left.

"Alright. Happy birthday, Scott."

"And many more." Sulu added, toasting with an imaginary glass.

Scotty laughed, making his way for the door. "Hopefully. I think McCoy's still a wee bit ticked at me, so as long as I avoid Sickbay…" He trailed off, as though scheming, leaving his poker buddies to fill I the blanks. The pianos melody followed him, a mid-beat tune that he would have loved to join in on if he'd had his bagpipes with him, and he couldn't help but think that his birthday had turned out pretty well despite the bad start.

A/N: I think this is the longest one-shot I've ever done. o_o No, seriously, it is. Wow.

I hope everyone liked it! I've spent two weeks obsessing over how to do it just right and I think I got it! Hopefully. (And no, not much time was spent of editing, so I apologise for typos and such.)

Anywhooo! Hope you enjoyed my two-week-long, insomnia inducing struggle. ;)