Title: Ordinary Boy [1/?]

Author: drpepperupper

Fandom: Peter Pan / Star Trek xi crossover

Characters & Pairings: Kirk/McCoy, Joanna, the whole Enterprise crew

Rating: R, just to be safe

Warnings: Swearing

Notes: So, I don't know if this idea has been done before. I caught myself thinking about Jim Kirk and how be belonged in the stars and my mind automatically jumped to Peter Pan with Neverland and the second star to the right and straight on 'til morning. And... Well, this is what I've come up with so far. So, I hope you enjoy this weird piece my mind has conjured up.

Not for the first time, Leonard McCoy found that it was surprisingly hard to walk in a straight line while a six-and-a-half-year-old, pink-clad, thumb sucking little girl wrapped herself around his left leg.

It was also insanely hard to haul his duffle bag over his shoulder and drag her pink Barbie doll suitcase along behind him as he wobbled towards the car. "Jo..." He groaned, shaking the leg with the little girl draped around it, as it was already falling asleep due to her little arms stopping his circulation. "Joanna, c'mon. Let go of my leg," he stopped wobbling and stooped down to haul his daughter up into his arms.

She squeaked and threw her arms around his neck, burying her pretty little face in his shoulder. "I don't wanna go, daddy!" She wailed into his ear, adding to what was already starting to become a whopping headache. Len flinched and dropped the bags he was hauling to wrap both arms around little Joanna McCoy. He stroked her dark hair and shushed her gently.

"I know, sweetheart," he said quietly, "but we have to go." She sniffled and drew back a little to look Len in the face. His heart broke right in two when he saw the tears welling up in those beautiful, clear blue eyes. Her small body shivered with repressed sobs and Len didn't think he could feel any worse than he already did. "Hey, hey..." He whispered, leaning forward to kiss the tears off of her face, rubbing the back of her neck to calm her down. "It's gonna be okay, JoJo. I promise."

The universe hated the McCoy name, Len was sure of it. He didn't know what he'd done to make any deity angry at his family, but he'd obviously done something. Leonard's world had gone to hell just three years ago and he still didn't know why. His daddy had gotten sick and died, his wife decided that she was too good for him and their daughter and had taken everything when she left. Really... Nothing was going right. He got fired from his job and he was having a hell of a time trying to find a new one.

He'd tried almost every hospital that was hiring. He made call after call, did interview after interview but nothing had come through. It was even harder when he had to go home and explain to Joanna that daddy didn't get the job, time after time. He hated to have to put on a fake smile and hug her and say that everything was going to be okay when he really didn't think it was going to be.

Their only break came in the chance meeting with Captain Christopher Pike. He'd been doing some recruit work, since Starfleet was low on doctors, at the hospital where Len had applied for a job and had gone in for an interview on the same day. Pike had taken one misstep and had tripped on his way out the door, twisting his ankle and breaking it cleanly just as Len was stepping into the hospital. Of course, being a fully qualified doctor, he'd patched Pike up (Starfleet Captains made the worst patients; they constantly wanted to be on the move. They were always wriggling), using the hospital's equipment. He had been so efficient and professional that Captain Pike had asked his name.

Len was pleasantly surprised to find that Pike actually knew who he was and was impressed with his work.

That night, he went home to Joanna with the news that daddy was going to have a job.

The problem was that Joanna had an irrational fear of flying, and they were going to Starfleet. The place operated in space. Which meant flying, unless Len was lucky enough to get a planet-side assignment. With his recent no-win streak, he very seriously doubted that he'd have such luck. However, as Chrisopher Pike had assured him, he had four years to debate his options but he had a week to decide if he wanted to get on that shuttle or not.

So, despite Joanna's protests and pouting and crying, there they were; loading up the car for the trek to Riverside, Iowa. Len wanted his baby girl to be happy and if that meant hours and hours in the car instead of a quick shuttle ride to Iowa, then he would drive to the end of the world. Sure, Len wasn't happy about leaving his hometown in Georgia either but it was worse when he had to watch her freckled face crumple in the window's reflection as he drove away.

So, at great personal blows to his dignity, Len slid in his daughter's favorite CD and began singing Puff the Magic Dragon obscenely loudly, deliberately out of tune, and while making silly expressions at Joanna's quickly brightening face in the rearview mirror.

I'm a doctor, damn it, not a clown!

Oh, but it was worth it to see his baby smile.

That same smile faded as the sun went down. Blue eyes that were as bright as any sun began to dim as energetic limbs went lax in the back seat and happy laughter subsided to snores. Len ejected the CD and put on soft music, only for his ears to hear as he drove into the night. He'd lost track of the hours when he was focused on both the road and keeping Joanna happy and distracted. He couldn't help but wonder as he surveyed Jo's sleeping face if he was doing the right thing.

Starfleet was a good starting point, though. All Len wanted to do was to make a new and better life for his daughter. Was that so much to ask? If it caused them both a bit of discomfort... Well, it'd be worth it in the end. It had to be. As much as Len was familiar with bad ideas, he figured Starfleet Academy was a safe bet. It was school (and oh my God, he was going to be old to those fresh-faced cadets even though he was only twenty-nine). How much trouble could he get into there?

He realized his mistake and immediately rapped his knuckles three times on the dashboard. It wasn't wood, but it would have to do.

Even if he'd already got his medical degree, he supposed some more years of school could only help him. He wasn't a bragger, but he was brilliant. He'd gone into medical school early and had graduated in minimal time with great marks. He'd met Jocelyn there (she'd been a few years older than him) and had been eager to get out so that he could have a shot for a life with her.

And oh, he ended up with her, all right. It hadn't been the life he'd wanted, that he'd imagined. She was a perfectly lovely woman, sure, but she was demanding and was very material-oriented and focused on making money. They found out too late that they just couldn't live out their lives with each other. In the divorce, she'd fought for every material thing she could. She'd clawed him for the house and everything in it.

She hadn't fought hard for Joanna.

Len grimaced and took a swig of his now-cold coffee. Joanna was so perfect and brilliant and everything a parent could want in a child. Len had fought tooth and nail to ensure that he had custody of his baby girl. He didn't want Jocelyn and her petty cares to rub off on JoJo. His girl was going to be raised like a Southern lady like his momma and she would care for people, not their possessions if Len had any say in it.

He'd seen how hurt Jo had been when her mother handed her to Len without a fight. Sure, there had been some teary eyes, but Leonard would bet money that she'd moisturized her eyes beforehand with those goddamned eyedrops she insisted on having. To make up for her mother practically abandoning her, Len had worked hard to be the best fucking father in the entire world.

He had an entire box filled with Joanna's art projects, each one painted with some form of 'I LOVE YOU, DADDY' and smiles and hearts and it made his own swell up with pride. His little girl was tough; she wasn't going to let anything bring her down.

Well, except for a shuttle...

Jo had gotten her whole 'irrational fear of flying' thing from her dear old dad. He could, at least, calm himself down and breathe deeply and know that someone who was at least competent was flying the metal death trap, but Joanna was just terrified. Every attempt she made to hide in some cranny had been thwarted by the sharp-eyed flight attendant.

The poor thing would either be shaking in terror the whole time, barely blinking or breathing and she would only calm down when Len would quietly tell her stories that his momma had told him about a boy just a bit older than herself that flew without the shuttle around him. He emphasized how much fun the boy had while flying and he told her his adventures in a far-away place.

Peter Pan had been a story that had gone out of style after Starfleet was established. No doubt countless numbers of children asked their parents about the star that led into the magical place and had been shot down by cruel, harsh reality.

Len kind of hoped his daughter wouldn't have to be subjected to that. He loved her bright enthusiasm, her exuberant imagination and her knack for telling stories. More than one night, she crawl into his bed when they both couldn't sleep and she would ask to tell Len a story and not the other way around. It was only when he would wake up the next morning to find her curled up close to him that he'd realize that he was played and he'd chuckle for a long time after.

He smiled to himself and shook his head, finally pulling into a hotel parking lot just outside of Riverside, Iowa.

He didn't even wake Jo up as he unbuckled her and hauled her up into his arms after he checked in. The only sign of awareness she gave was to snuggle deeper into Len's arms as he fell asleep.

The next morning found the two McCoys, one with a fake optimistic smile on his face (it really didn't suit him; Len was a pessimistic at heart) and one with a carefully resigned-bordering-on-pout expression on her pretty face. They were quite a grim picture as they walked up to the shuttle that promised adventures and new experiences.

All Joanna had to say on the matter was, "I may throw up on you, daddy."

Yeah.

They were gonna be fine.

Captain Pike caught Len's eye as they got closer to their impending doom shuttle and nodded. "Glad you could make it, Doctor McCoy," he said and then looked down at Joanna with a raised brow and a little smile quirked the corners of his mouth up. "And you must be Miss Joanna." He held a hand out to her that Joanna took without hesitation while Len grinned with pride. "Nice to meet you, young lady."

"Hi," she answered, voice strong but a pretty blush covered her freckled cheeks.

Len snorted at the captain. "Charmer. Don't be stealin' my girl away from me, Captain Pike." Pike only chuckled at him and motioned for the two to board the shuttle.

"Good luck, doctor."

"Don't let us die on this thing, captain."

"Yessir," the captain answered with a roll of his eyes and a nice, sarcastic bite in his voice. Before Joanna could have any second thoughts about not throwing a fit before getting on the shuttle, Len stooped down and lifted her into his arms. He was aware of the stares from many red-clad cadets. He could see some young men's eyes twitching at the sight of Joanna's pink Barbie suitcase and he could see the simpering looks that some female cadets threw at Joanna as their ovaries exploded with warm and fuzzy feelings and bright colors.

"Wait a few years," he advised one with a roll of his eyes after she'd squeaked to her friend about how cute the pair was.

Yeah, he felt like a fucking old man compared to these baby-faced Starfleet brats. A flight attendant came and relieved him of his bags to put them away with the rest and Joanna wasted no time in bolting for the bathroom and locking herself in in a fit of panic.

A slightly harried looking woman was already pursuing the terrified girl by the time that Len was able to go running towards the bathroom and his little girl. "Ma'am, are you okay in there?" There wasn't much actual concern in the woman's voice but there was a whole world of exhaustion and annoyance. Joanna mumbled something unintelligible and Len groaned internally.

"That's my daughter. She's just afraid of flying. I'll get her out," he explained quickly before turning and speaking to his daughter through the thin door. "JoJo, come out, babe," he coaxed softly while the woman stood just a foot or two behind him, tapping her foot impatiently on the floor.

"But I'm scared," came the tiny, petulant voice and Len felt like calmly bashing his head into the wall. So am I, kiddo, so am I, he thought. He mentally sympathized with her but he put on his 'stern dad' voice.

"Joanna McCoy, the shuttle can't leave while you're in there and not in your seat and we don't want to keep everyone waiting. So come out here right now, young lady," he said and cringed. He hated being the bad guy and he understood why she was scared but he was getting embarrassed from the looks he was getting. Soon enough, the bathroom door opened and Joanna stepped out, bowing her head and pressing her forehead into his abdomen as he patted her head soothingly.

"Does she need a doctor?" Len glared at the impatient woman that he already didn't like as she pushed them almost roughly out towards the main part of the shuttle.

"We don't need a doctor, damn it, I am a doctor!"

"Sir, get back to your seat."

"Look, she suffers from aviophobia. That means fear of dying in something that flies. Cut her a break, woman, she's only five!"



"Six and a half," muttered Jo as she sat down beside the only other person in the shuttle that wasn't wearing red. Len growled at the flight attendant and sat down beside his daughter, snapping her seat belts into place as she leaned over and said to the stranger next to her, "I might throw up on you." 



That's my girl.



"I think these things are pretty safe..." The stranger answered, sounding very obviously both confused and amused. Len was too busy wrestling with his safety belt to look up. Joanna just snorted at him in a way that very clearly said 'Are you an idiot? One tiny crack in the hull and our blood boils in thirteen seconds. Solar flare might crop up, cook us in our seats. Wait until you get a case of Andorian shingles. See if you're still so relaxed when your eyeballs are bleeding!' 



No, wait, that was Len's lecture. 



"Space is bad." That was Joanna's lecture. The stranger just huffed.



"Well, I hate to break this to you, but Starfleet operates in space, little miss." Len finally looked up at the man with whom is daughter was currently conversing with and was thrown for a second. He was young, that was for sure, but he wasn't a fresh-faced cadet. 



In fact, this kid looked like a brick wall had taken personal offense to the stranger's face and had rammed itself into him a few times. 



That didn't take away from the fact that he was a good lookin' young man. He had eyes like Joanna's, a light blue, but his was like crystalline blue, whereas Joanna's could be compared to the deep, clear water that one would find off the coast of Hawaii or some Caribbean island. 



Len nodded with his daughter. "Space is disease and danger wrapped in darkness and silence." The man looked between Joanna and Len and nodded to himself. He pointed to Len, his eyes still trained on Jo.



"That your dad?"



"You betcha." 



"Huh." The man pursed his lips and assessed Joanna a few moments longer until he nodded. "And who are you, young lady?" Before Len could warn her not to tell the strange man anything, answered.

"Joanna McCoy. Who are you?" She studied him as closely as he'd studied her and apparently that pleased him because he stretched himself out a little, practically preening under the calculating gaze of the six year old girl. 



"Name's Kirk. Jim Kirk." Joanna stuck her small hand out promptly and nodded.



"Nice ta' meet'cha, Mister Jim." He solemnly took her hand and shook it, but his eyes were bright and he looked like he was about to throw his head back and shout to the heavens. Joanna let go and moved into Len a bit and smiled a little up at him.



"Likewise, Miss Joanna." It was only then that the stranger–Kirk. Jim Kirk moved his gaze from Joanna to Len, taking in Len's frown and tense posture. "As long as we're all introducing ourselves..." 



Len had half a mind to pick up Joanna and move to a different seat. He could tell that this Jim fellow was no good, from his bright blue eyes to his blood spattered shirt. "Leonard McCoy." Before Jim Kirk could comment, Captain Pike's voice came over the comm. 



"We're just getting ready to take off. Stay in your seats until I say it's safe to get up and go to the bathroom. The flight will take approximately five hours. Pike out." Len groaned as Joanna froze. Five hours. How was he supposed to tell one story for five hours to make Joanna stay calm? 



"Daddy..." There it was, that first note of panic in Joanna's voice that made Len's heart clench. He reached for his daughter as best as he could, shifted as close as possible to her and put his arms around her protectively. 



"Just close your eyes, JoJo. You'll be fine." For his little girl, he could overlook the fact that he himself had aviophobia. For his little girl, he could be strong. Jim Kirk watched Len with rapt attention, drinking in every movement that Joanna made and obviously was listening to every word Len said to comfort her as the shuttle took off. 



It was only when the shuttle leveled out that Len felt it was okay to let go a little bit. He could practically feel Joanna's terror thrumming through her veins as she struggled against her seat belt. Len grabbed her hands in one of his while Jim leered at a pretty girl across the way as she ignored him.

"Daddy, I'm scared," Jo whimpered, eyes wide open as she watched the sky pass outside of the window. Len knew she was mentally going over the probability of that window shattering and piercing her skin and killing them all. 



Show time. 



"Jo, look close out the window. You see those stars out there? They're real hard to see, since it's light out, but if you squint you'll see 'em," he started, pointing out the window and directing her gaze. He smiled to himself when he saw her squint her eyes to the point where they were nearly closed, suitably distracted. He pretended not to notice Jim Kirk pretending not to watch them. 



"Yeah, I see 'em!" 



"Remember how that story you like goes? Second star to the right and straight on 'til morning?" Jim Kirk stopped pretending to ignore them and turned his head to look at the two McCoys straight on, curiosity burning brightly in the too-blue eyes.



"Daddy, that's the story I tell you." Her tone of voice clearly said duh, dad. 



"Well, guess what, kiddo? That'll be the first place we go when we get out into space. I promise!"

Jo gasped and turned to him, eyes wide. "You'd take me to Neverland?" 



"If that's where you wanna go, baby girl, than yeah. Definitely," he said as he nodded. If it were any other time, he'd feel bad about lying so bluntly to his little girl, but drastic times called for drastic measures.

He was about to launch into yet another story about her favorite hero, Peter Pan, when Jim interrupted.



"You wouldn't want to go there, Miss Joanna." 



Jo looked taken aback. "Why not?" Len knew very well that Joanna wanted nothing more than to never grow up, fly and fight pirates.



"Neverland is for children that won't be missed by anyone. That's why they can stay there forever, because if there's no one to miss them, there's no reason to go back." Jim nodded sagely, whispering like he knew a big secret. "I'd bet your daddy would miss you a whole lot if you went there. You'd miss him, too. Wouldn't be worth it." There was something behind the bright eyes, and enigmatic smile that Len couldn't figure out even as he studied Jim carefully.



Jo was about to protest again when they heard a shout from the front of the shuttle. Len craned his neck around and was just able to see a cadet collapse to the ground and he swore loudly.



"Daddy!" Joanna exclaimed, berating him for his use of language.

The harried flight attendant rushed to the cadet and then looked up. "Is anyone here a doctor?" Len caught her eye and saw the glint of recognition. "You! Can you help?" He would, but Joanna was gripping his arm and pleading with her eyes for him not to leave her and he was torn between his daughter and his job. 



"I..."



"I'll watch your kid," Jim Kirk supplied helpfully from across Joanna. Len studied him for a second and then nodded. They were in a crowded shuttle, this Jim Kirk couldn't really hurt his daughter there.



"JoJo, why don't you tell Mister Jim some of your stories?" He suggested and was pleased when Joanna turned around and began launching into an Epic about Peter Pan and space pirates and flying without shuttles and having a grand old time. Jim was smiling and there was a glint in his eye that Len didn't really have time to interpret because he was getting out of his seat and rushing towards the fallen cadet.



After a drink of water and a stim hypo, the kid was good as new. Apparently, he'd had a bottle crashed over his head and hadn't gotten it checked out.



Idiot. 



By the time he got back, Joanna was still telling a story, but Jim was also contributing to it, adding little details and dialogue (even adding funny voices that made Joanna giggle) and Len was just sitting down when Jo asked Jim how he knew the story. Jim just shrugged and smiled enigmatically. "Heard some stories from my mom a while back." 



They got into which one of them got to be Peter Pan (Jim eventually won that one; he was a boy, after all) and Joanna got to be the first lost girl. Len was affectionately dubbed a pirate.



For some reason, Jo didn't point out that her stories about Peter Pan were made up in her mind and not part of the original story, but Len was too annoyed to call her out on it. Instead, he didn't interrupt them, closed his eyes and drifted off before Jim and Joanna could think of a pirate name for him.



He dreamed of flying and winking stars in the black ocean that was space.





By the time he woke up, Jo was asleep and Jim was staring out of the window, a faraway look in his eyes. He turned when Len stirred and grinned, looking positively wicked as all his white teeth gnashed at him. "Hey, Bones." 



"Bones?" 



"Your pirate name. It fits you. I like it." 



Leonard groaned. "You named me?" Jim nodded enthusiastically. What I wouldn't give for some whiskey right now, thought Len as he brought a hand up to run through his hair. 



"Does that mean I get to keep you?" 



"I don't think so, kid." 



They lapsed into silence as Len looked down at Joanna and stroked her hair softly. She hummed happily in her sleep and smiled a little. Jim, apparently, wasn't the kind of person that could keep his mouth shut, because not five minutes later, he was back with a question. "If she hates space so much, why are you going into Starfleet?" 



Len shrugged. "Got nowhere else to go, really. Starfleet's something to do until I get back on my feet." He smiled down at Jo again, then. "The ex-wife can have the whole damn planet, but she can't take my baby girl from me." He looked at Jim and tilted his head to the side. "You don't look like you belong here, either. Why're you here?" 



Jim just shrugged. "Thought it was time to go home." 



Before Len could ask what the hell he meant, Captain Pike announced that they were going to be landing and, miraculously, Joanna slept through it. It was only when he'd gotten his room assignment around and armful of Joanna McCoy that Jim Kirk left. Before he did, however, he wrote Len's dorm room down on a slip of paper with a nod. When Leonard asked what he was doing, Jim only grinned and replied that he would need to know where to go to get a good bedtime story. 



Then, with a firm slap on Len's back, Jim Kirk was gone with a, "See you, Bones!" thrown over his shoulder while Leonard stared after him, one eyebrow rising slowly off of his forehead as he watched the blond haired, blue eyed whirlwind leave. 



Len could only shake his head and wonder what the hell he'd gotten himself into.