A/N: Here is the thing, guys: this is my first fanfic EVER. I usually just let stories live in my head and die after a while, but this one just didn't let me sleep until I write it down. So here we are.

I'd like to give a special thanks to JularaVon who agreed to betaread the story. You are awesome!

And another important note: the rating is M for multiple reasons, gore and violence including. So proceed with caution.

But enough rambling. Let's see what I've got for you.

The bar was noisy, lights - dim and the music - muffled. Jim's mood was, as usual, cheerful, and his friend's attitude, as usual, grumpy.

"Come on, Bones!" Jim exclaimed, "It's gonna be so much fun!"

"Like hell it is," McCoy retorted, "It's gonna be a disaster, as always. And I'll have to patch you up again."

"Why do you have to be so pessimistic all the time?"

"And why do you have to be so reckless all the time?"

"It's not all the time," Jim objected, "At least seventy percent of my awesome adventures occur not because of me."

McCoy glared at his whiskey. There was no way in talking Jim out of this mission. The doctor might as well prepare himself for a two months journey to the faraway planet that the Federation would add to its long list of happy colonies. Jim volunteered to do the politics and therefore was going to drag them all into this uncharted territory. That new planet was pretty promising from the point of view of his current research, he had to admit. So maybe it would be at least an interesting disaster.

"Where's everybody?" McCoy asked, changing the topic. He didn't want to think about two months in space without single shore leave. Three years of their five-year mission, and he still enjoyed the solid ground much more than the endless void of the universe.

Jim was just about to make some inappropriate joke about the things that Spock, Uhura, Sulu, Scotty, and Chekov might be doing together when a vacant place in front of them was taken with a loud "thump."

A young woman in her middle twenties with a clear annoyance on her face scowled at the duo.

"You are Starfleet, aren't you?" she half-asked, half-stated, "And you save lives?"

"That we do," Jim beamed at her, "What service can two eager officers provide for ma'am?"

"You can save my life," she said categorically, "And buy me a drink."

Jim's smile became even wider.

"What does ma'am prefer?"

"Whiskey would be nice."

Jim waved at the bartender and McCoy took his time to study their new company.

The girl was small. He didn't see her standing, but his guess was that she would hardly reach his shoulder in the upright position. The bar's lights didn't reveal much, but even in this semi-dark room, her hair seemed like a sun, possessing an astonishing shade of ginger. It wasn't the only color there, though. At her right side, she had a strand of gray hair which was obviously not a result of some style experiments. What had happened, McCoy wondered, to put so much gray at once at this girl's head?

The head, by the way, had quite a pretty face with intent green eyes and red tempting lips. She was pale, but then again, it may be the faint lights. Also, their new acquaintance was very, extremely slim, and the doctor in him wished to buy her a decent meal instead of alcohol. He shook his head. If the girl preferred whiskey to a steak, it wasn't his business.

Lifting his eyes from exploring her not very beefy arms clad in black gloves, McCoy saw her looking at him too. She regarded him with an unreadable expression, obviously not listening to what Jim was saying to her. A spark of amusement blinked in her eyes when she was studying him, fearlessly meeting the gaze of such an intimidating man that he was, or at least tried to look like. She held his gaze, and he almost felt that he wasn't allowed to turn away just yet.

"So?" Jim was asking while McCoy and the girl were staring at each other. She turned away and the magic disappeared.

"What 'So'?"

"I told you our names and asked what we can call you."

She gave Jim a strange look and for a second McCoy thought that she'd refuse to answer. But the moment passed and with it went away a hint of insecurity in her features.

"I'm Lee," she proclaimed and drank her whiskey in one gulp.

"Haven't we met in the past?" Jim asked, "I believe we have. Your face looks so familiar."

"It must be the lights. I'd remember you if we ever met," she assured, but Jim didn't look convinced. It had to be one of his one-night stands, McCoy thought, someone had to look like the girl. For some reason, the Doctor really hoped that Lee and Jim hadn't been together like this. He shook his head again.

As it turned out, the girl was extremely elusive. Her behavior actually reminded him of Jim when the kid tried to avoid certain questions at all costs.

"This planet is complete shit," she asserted, ignoring Jim's question about her place of origins.

McCoy inwardly agreed. Tari wasn't exactly spectacular, the inhabitants were grim creatures and the city where they were currently spending their shore leave was dark and dirty.

"So why stay here?" McCoy asked, "You are obviously a human, why don't you come back to Earth?"

She shrugged.

"Earth is a piece of shit too."

As the conversation progressed it became evident that the girl was about to reveal absolutely nothing of her personal information. Even two more shots of whiskey didn't help to get her tongue loose.

She definitely knew who they were. It wasn't a surprise, giving the number of times they'd managed to save millions of lives, but this being a celebrity made McCoy rather uncomfortable, especially when she decided to call them Jim and Leo. He hadn't heard anyone calling him that for ages. This was unusual and a little bit unsettling.

Finally, the rest of their supposed party entered the bar. Lee spotted them first.

"Your friends arrived," she declared in her assertive way of speaking, "I guess it's my cue to leave."

She was right behind them in a second, standing between their seats.

"I'll join you later, guys. Thanks for the drinks," were her final words. Then she gave them both a small kiss on the cheek and vanished.

A strange warmth washed over him. How much time passed since someone young and beautiful kissed him? He couldn't even remember when his last casual affair had occurred. He must have been alone for a very long period by now, only that might explain the warmth and even slightest arousal that the proximity to this girl had caused. Or it might be his whiskey. Yeah, it was only his whiskey.

Spock, Uhura, Sulu, Scotty, and Chekov greeted them and he caught himself regretting his friends being here and the girl being somewhere in a different place. Yes, she did promise to come back, but it might be just words and she might be having fun with some guy of her age right now. No need to think about her again.

The night went on, but McCoy stopped paying attention to the conversation a long time ago. On the contrary to his earlier resolution, he could not just throw Lee away from his head. He thought about her extreme slimness and about the apparent lack of vitamins in her organism. He thought about her gray hair and about the mental state that caused this color to appear at her head. He just thought about her and this fact alone worried him immensely.

At this very moment, the object of his thoughts dropped on his lap.

Lee seemed to be more wasted and less reserved now, her I-take-no-bullshit attitude gone.

"Hi again," she beamed, holding him tightly. He automatically held her back, laying his hand on her too slender waist.

"Watch it, girl, I am not a couch" McCoy grumbled, accurately applying a look of annoyance on his face.

"Oh my God, this accent of yours is the sexiest thing I have ever heard," Lee stated, looking pointedly at him.

He felt his face burn.

"What?" he gaped at her, trying to look scandalized, not embarrassed.

"And you are so sexy when you're angry, has anyone ever told you that?" she added and gave him a look that sent a shiver down his spine.

"You are absolutely wasted," he finally managed to reply, pushing her slightly off of his lap.

"No, I'm just in love," was her response.

She backed up her admission with a hard kiss that took him completely off guard.

Her lips were warm and soft. They moved just in the right way to start a fire inside him that might successfully burn him alive, and for a brief moment, he desperately wanted to kiss her back.

But he was a goddamn officer of goddamn Starfleet. And it meant that he presumably shouldn't make out in front of his colleagues with a girl he barely knew. So he abruptly moved her away, trying to get her off of him.

"What the hell are you doing?" he hissed, struggling to make her change her position.

"No!" she cried out, holding him even tighter, "I don't wanna go away!"

"Probably we should call for security," Spock calmly suggested from his place across the table. McCoy glared at him, stopping his wrestling with the girl. She wasted no time and readjusted her position on him, clinging to him even tighter.

The others looked at him bewilderingly, and Jim was clearly amused. Damnit.

"No, I can handle this," McCoy barked, and the girl laughed at his words.

"You can handle me, that's an invitation."

She was smiling wickedly and it strangely made him want to kiss her even more.

But he might have looked furious because she immediately added

"Alright, alright! If I promise to behave, will you allow me to stay?"

He surprised himself by saying "I'll consider it."

"Oh, thank God," she breathed and hugged him again, hiding her face in his shoulder. He resisted the urge to hold her back.

"Well, everyone, this is Lee," Jim announced, obviously having fun with his friend's awkward situation, "She is a nice person, as you can see."

"Aye, definitely nice," Scotty said with a silly grin.

McCoy considered refusing the Chief Engineer anti-hangover hypo the next time Scott shows up at his sickbay after a night with his favorite scotch.

Speaking of the booze. He gave up on removing the girl from his lap and reached for his forgotten drink.

She chose this time to lean dangerously back.

"Doctor, watch out!" Chekov shouted and McCoy managed to catch her just a second before she collapsed on the floor.

"Oh hey," she smiled dreamily at him, "You didn't let me fall."

"Yeah, I didn't," he muttered, looking down at her. Lee's eyes were absurdly sober and so piercing that he felt himself shivering not for the first time tonight.

"And you won't?" It was almost a plea on the edge of desperation.

"No, I won't let you fall," he assured her and sensed that the promise wasn't just about her physical state.

Lee nodded and rested her head on his shoulder again, one arm around his neck, the other - on his chest, and went absolutely still.

Uhura and Spock studied her warily, but the girl seemed to freeze at her current position, and the officers resumed their talk, accurately avoiding topics that strangers shouldn't overhear.

McCoy tried to participate (it was easier now, when she was there, in his arms, not with some drunken bastard), but most of his attention was ultimately focused on the girl.

At some point, she decided that being quiet is not an option anymore and started small circular motions on his chest with her hand, murmuring some old Earth song about demons into his neck.

When she did it for the first time, he froze. Her touches were gentle and so maddening that he had to restrain himself from reacting and doing something utterly foolish.

The girl shifted a little, and he had to suppress a gasp when she hit some sensitive parts of his body. Fuck. He could order himself to behave, but he couldn't stop his body from responding to her delicate strokes.

She sang, and her breath was caressing his skin, daring him once again to be silent. God, this was torture. How long would he last if she didn't stop?

She finished the song and sighed. McCoy suddenly became very aware of the fact that he was holding her in a manner he'd held his daughter while trying to coax her to sleep. In a sense, the girl did remind him of Joanna: Lee was small like a kid.

But the girl in his arms wasn't a kid. She was a grown-up woman that constantly prompted not very innocent reactions from him. So he probably shouldn't hold her like this.

He felt stupid. He wasn't a teenager, not even close. He shouldn't have reacted like this on some drunken woman who decided to throw herself at him. And he definitely shouldn't think about the amazing feeling of her lips kissing him and how wonderful it would be to just turn her a little, lean down and experience this again.

"Just leave me somewhere on the chair," she suddenly said in a low voice, raising her head and looking at him.

"What are you talking about?" he asked just as quietly so that they would be the only ones who'd hear it.

"I mean when I pass out. Just leave me there. Don't worry, I'll be fine."

His breath hitched. What made her think she'd be fine alone and asleep in some shitty bar in the middle of the night? She had to be in this position before, he concluded, someone had left her like this in the past. He didn't like this conviction at all.

"If you feel like passing out, you should probably call it a night. Let's get you an uber and take you home," he suggested.

"Nah. Don't have one."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't have home," she clarified, "I've just got here and haven't stayed anywhere yet. I'll do it after I sleep."

Damnit. What was he supposed to do with her? He couldn't just leave her, not when he knew she had nowhere to go.

"Are you mad?" she asked before he came up with something to reply.

"Why should I be mad?"

Her lips slightly twitched.

"I kissed you. You didn't want it. I'm sorry I did it. It made you uncomfortable."

He opened his mouth to respond but she wasn't finished yet.

"You know, there were, of course, things that I wanted more than that. I wanted food, water, sleep..." She trailed off. "But all this physiological stuff aside, kissing you back then was on the top of things I have ever wanted."

This confession made him dizzy. What the hell was going on with him today? He must have drunk too much whiskey. He should stop doing that.

"Don't apologize, girl," he managed to respond when his voice came back to him, "Truth be told, it was kinda nice."

Her face lightened.

"Really?"

"Yes, really."

He smiled at her and she bit her lip.

"We can do it again," she suggested earnestly.

Air left his lungs and didn't return at the mere thought of this idea. When she voiced this possibility to feel her lips on his again, he decided that kissing her is near the top of his most-wanted-things list too. God, he wanted to kiss her so badly.

"No," he said, "We can't."

Her face fell.

"You don't want it?"

"I can't, girl."

"Why?"

"Because we are sitting in front of people I'm working with. And I'm sure as hell that there is a regulation existing somewhere that forbids Starfleet officers to kiss women they hardly know."

She frowned.

"Still, you didn't answer my question. Do you want it or not?"

He closed his eyes and allowed himself a deep breath. Then he looked at the others. They were discussing God knows what and didn't pay attention to him and his unexpected acquaintance. But he didn't doubt that if he actually kissed her, it wouldn't go unnoticed. Lee waited for his reply with a pleading expression in her green eyes that reminded him of fresh forest grass, intent and so intense. And he gave in to these eyes.

"Yes, I want it," he admitted.

Pure and absolute joy spread across her face.

"So let's do it!" she whispered enthusiastically, "I'll cover you, they won't see a thing."

She leaned closer, completely hiding his face with her body from the rest of the group before he could even react. Damn, she was fast in making decisions.

"Just kiss me back," she murmured against his lips and closed the distance.

The world around them ceased to exist. She wasn't as persistent as during their first kiss, taking her time and savoring every move they made. She was gentle and passionate, moving slow and deepening the kiss with every second. He lost himself immediately and soon was kissing her back hungrily, not satisfied with the pace she'd chosen. She quickly responded with all her body, feverishly exploring his mouth with her tongue. If it was indeed possible to start a fire with such simple interaction, the fire that they had built would have made the whole city burn to the ground.

He didn't care about the others anymore. He didn't care about regulations. All that mattered was the girl in his arms who was clutching at him for dear life. He caressed her cheeks, earning himself a muffled moan and fought back his own groan. Her skin under his palm was soft and warm, and... red alerts inside him suddenly burst into a frenzy. She was too warm, terribly hot, in fact. He jerked away, panting.

"Good God, girl, you are hot!" he exclaimed.

She opened her eyes, looking extremely bemused.

"You think?"

"No, I mean you've got a fever! Oh, damnit."

He lifted his eyes and met Jim's puzzled look. No, not now. He didn't have time for explaining anything yet.

His tricorder, which he always took with him wherever he went, was in motion already.

The readings made him wince. How didn't he notice? The girl was practically emitting heat, even through her clothes.

"Jim, she has 104 degrees temperature. She needs medical attention now."

"This is ridiculous. I feel fine," Lee stated from her now almost horizontal position.

Jim looked at him and he knew what his friend was thinking. They could call the local medics and let them deal with it. They could, but it was not going to happen.

"Come on, then," Jim said, standing, "Let's take her to the Enterprise."

"I'm fine," Lee insisted, trying to sit straight and move away from him.

But before McCoy had time to protest, she closed her eyes and fainted. Oh fuck.

He was on his feet right away, carrying her outside, Jim right behind him.

Well, at least this time it wasn't Jim who'd been hurt, McCoy thought absent-mindedly. Yay.