CHAPTER 1: THE ENGINEER
Hello again! It's been a while since I've done a fic, and this will be my first multi-chapter one. There will be 6 parts and I'll probably post one chapter per week.
I've always adored the character of Bones/Doctor Leonard McCoy. His cynical sarcasm lifts my spirits and mirrors my own worldview. He can be grumpy, but underneath he's a southern gentleman, a genius doctor, a brave man, and a real softy. A man after my own heart!
Feel free to comment or send questions. No flames please. Other than that, let me know what you think! :D
Starfleet Academy
"I should get paid if I'm going to have to babysit you." Bones grumbled halfheartedly as he struggled to keep up with his energetic friend.
They'd just completed Starfleet Academy's two week orientation process. And on their first afternoon off Jim decided to drag him out of his nice warm dorm, through campus to some unknown destination.
"C'mon, old man! At least we're not cooped up indoors anymore." said Jim with one of his crazy grins.
"It's raining." Bones deadpanned, not amused.
Jim waved his hand. "What's a little rain? Maybe it'll perk you up a bit."
Bones rolled his eyes. "Will you at least tell me where we're going?"
"We're going to see someone."
The doctor stopped short. "Who? I swear, Jim, if you're going to see that girl Daphne, or Dora, or whatever her name was… I did NOT sign up to be your chaperone!"
"Her name is Dani, and no. We're not going to see her. Besides," he smirked. "I don't need a chaperone when I go see Dani."
"Gross."
"Jealous?"
"Not in the slightest."
"Liar."
"Not. Is it Louisa Colbert from Administration?"
Jim scoffed. "That was weeks ago!"
"That was last week!"
"Whatever. She got Pulled."
Bones blinked. "To who?"
"Remember Frank from Space History 101?"
"Him? Really?"
Jim laughed. "I know, right?"
The doctor snorted and avoided a gush of water coming from a broken gutter.
At some point in a woman's life she was "Pulled" to her soulmate. It could happen at any point in her life, but generally happened before the age of thirty. There were a variety of ways it could manifest. A com number popping into their head. Seeing a vision of the person. Being physically and irresistibly pulled to the person. Hearing the person's voice in their head. Their soulmate's name suddenly appearing on their skin. And many more.
When the two people finally made contact, there was a Settling (or some called it a Spark) that took place to confirm the connection. Sometimes it was a tingle or a warm sensation. Butterflies in the stomach, uncontrollable shaking, electric sparks, and a floaty feeling were also possible. Mates recited the first half of the binding vows at this point. Even with all this, the law said that a telepath had to confirm the validity of the Pull in order for it to be considered official. The second part of the bond would be cemented when they said the second part of the binding vows at their wedding.
From then on the bond between the mates would only strengthen over time. It could grow infinitely depending on the couple. Some couples developed the ability to sense the other's emotions, pain, or even thoughts. Though communicating coherently and intentionally via telepathy was rare unless their species was already predisposed to it.
The doctor hesitated for a moment until his curiosity overcame his uneasiness.
"What was the Pull?"
Jim's brow wrinkled. "I've heard a couple of different stories. Someone said that his com number appeared on her wrist and she called him over and over until his com started to heat up and he finally answered it right in the middle of class. Apparently the professor wasn't too happy about it. But another group said that it was a temporary telepathic link while he was taking an important placement test. She heard him furiously trying to decide if the answer was A or D and she ran halfway across campus to tell him that the answer was actually B!"
The two men laughed.
Bones shook his head. "Still, Frank. I hope he grows up in a hurry."
Jim nodded. "He hasn't been to a party since. I saw him in the library the other day filling out internship applications."
The doctor raised his eyebrows. "Wow. Well good for him."
The rain was letting up, but the cold wind was getting stronger.
"Now for the love of God, tell me where we're going!" he growled, frustrated, as he tugged his collar up against the stinging drops..
"We're going to see an engineer."
"Really?" Bones smirked. "I didn't think you got along with technology too much at the moment. This morning you had an argument with the coffee pot."
"Ha ha. Hilarious." the younger man grumbled. "In here."
He led them into one of the dorms and took the elevator up to the fourth floor. Jim headed down one hallway and then another, checking the numbers on the doors. Finally he stopped in front of 417.
"Do they know we're coming?" Bones asked, a bit late. Jim had already knocked.
"Nope."
"Brilliant." Bones grumbled.
There was a bang from inside and the sound of muffled cursing. Then the door flew open and a rather grumpy looking young woman stood on one leg. She was leaning against the door jam as she clutched at her other foot, which she'd obviously just stubbed. She already had her mouth open for another curse, but froze when she caught sight of Jim. Her mouth fell open in surprise.
"Hey, Rache! As graceful as ever I see." said Jim with a grin.
The comment seemed to startle the woman out of her stupor. She lunged for Jim and Bones took a hasty step forward, already used to women's affinity for wanting to punch Jim in the face. But instead she threw her arms around his neck in a bear hug. Jim laughed and hugged her back, holding her up off the floor because of their height differences.
"Jim the Daredevil! As I live and breathe! What the HELL are you doing here?!" the woman laughed as she let go.
"I-" Jim started to say, but was interrupted.
"Wait!" The woman seemed to take in his red cadets uniform for the first time. She frowned. "James Tiberius Kirk, did you swipe a uniform just to sneak in here to see me?"
"You've a mighty fine opinion of yourself if you think I came all this way just to see you." Jim joked, earning himself a punch on the arm from her. Bones smirked at that. "As a matter of fact, I signed up."
The woman blinked. "You joined Starfleet?"
"Yep!"
There was a pause as she seemed to process this. Then her eyes narrowed and Bones took an instinctive step away from Jim so as to be out of the line of fire.
"You idiot!" She lunged and caught him in a headlock, causing Jim to squawk indignantly. "I've been at you for years and years to sign up with me! Then I finally give up and leave on my own only for you to show up out of the blue a year later!"
"Ow! Ow! Watch the hair!" Jim struggled, but she merely gave him a noogie that mussed up his hair even more and caused Bones to laugh out loud.
Noticing him for the first time, the woman let go of Jim and turned to face the doctor. She was several inches shorter than his 6'1" frame, but she scrutinized his face with open curiosity before thrusting her hand out for him to shake.
"I'm Rachel Ryanns. Second year Advanced Engineering. An' this lump," she nudged Jim with her toe as he tried to flatten his hair. "Is my crazy cousin."
Bones tried to ignore a small sense of relief as he shook her hand.
"Doctor Leonard McCoy." he said.
"And who's beloved pet did you run over to get stuck babysitting this guy?" she asked.
Bones grinned pointedly at Jim. "See! I told you it was babysitting. I'm gonna have to set an hourly rate."
"Who would pay it?" Jim asked.
The Doctor ticked off on his fingers, "Captain Pike, Professor Jones, that barista you scandalized at the coffee shop yesterday, the dean of the academy-"
"Your mom." Rachel added. "My mom. Heck, even I'd pay you in cookies to keep him from making too big a mess on campus."
They laughed as Jim put a hand over his heart, pretending to look hurt.
"I'm wounded!" he cried.
"Drama queen." snarked Rachel, elbowing him in the gut. Bones caught sight of something on the sleeve of her white shirt as she did so.
"Is that blood?" he asked.
Rachel glanced at her wrist. "Oh, probably. I think I might have caught it on something in the lab."
Bones healer instincts weren't going to let her brush it off. Assuming his doctor persona he took her wrist and gently rolled up the sleeve. It was a graze more than a cut, but it was still several inches long and seemed to have bled a bit before starting to scab.
"What materials were you working with?" he asked, frowning as he examined the depth of the abrasion.
"Mostly boridium power generators. We were given some really busted up ones and are supposed to be diagnosing potential issues and recalibrating them before the assignment date on Wednesday."
Bones frowned. "Did you wash this afterwards?"
"I washed my hands, but I was in a hurry to submit my notes for the day. I was just finishing that up when you knocked."
Leonard picked a tiny piece of debris out of the wound and carefully wiped away a smudge of grease. "If you're wearing rolled up or short sleeves you need to wash all the way up your arms. I see this isn't a one time thing either." he scolded, pointing to several other scars littering her fingers, hand, and arm. "Being danger prone apparently runs in the family." He complained. "You're in Starfleet now. You won't last a month in space with all of those alien diseases and germs if you don't follow basic hygienic practices. Or you'll get an infection from a graze like this and wash out before you even step foot on a starship."
"Ouch, Bones. Way to give a girl a bad first impression." Jim said with a wince.
The doctor opened his mouth to snap back but was interrupted.
"No, no. He's right." Both men blinked at her. "I know I need to be more careful. Bad habits are hard to break." She traced an old scar with a fingertip. "I just get so zoned into a project that I usually forget to eat, let alone do first aid. But I've dreamed about being a Starfleet Engineer since I was a kid. I don't want to miss out on that because I was too scatterbrained to take care of myself."
Bones raised an eyebrow approvingly. It looked like the female cousin was much more responsible and reasonable than her male counterpart. On top of that, she didn't seem at all put off by his grumpy snappishness.
"Since you've waited this long to clean it, I'd recommend a trip to the nurse just to make sure nothing got in there in the meantime."
Jim rolled his eyes. "Stop pestering her! You're-"
Rachel reached up and grabbed him by the ear turning his sentence into a squawk.
"You need to be more respectful to your elders." she chastised.
"First of all, that hurts! Second, you're only six months older than me!" complained her victim.
Bones tilted his head back and laughed til' his eyes watered. Wiping the moisture away he grinned at the engineer.
"I like you."
She smiled, letting go of Jim's ear. "Mutual. So what do you think? Between us do you think we can keep this reckless goof alive til he graduates?"
Leonard chuckled as Jim rubbed his bright red ear looking disgruntled.
"It'll take a miracle, darlin'. But we'll see."
Rachel's cheeks flushed a bit before turning back to her cousin.
"So besides ruining the few hours of peace and quiet I get in this madhouse, what're you doin' here?"
Jim pouted. "I just wanted to say hi, let you know I was here, and see if you wanted to get lunch with us this weekend."
"What time?"
"Maybe about eleven on Saturday."
Rachel tapped at the watch-like gadget strapped to her left wrist. A holographic calendar appeared.
"Sure. My study group doesn't meet until three. So that'll be fine. Meet me at the west end of campus by the art sculpture. There's a great Bajoran cafe just a few blocks away."
"Great! We'll see ya then." said Jim giving her a quick peck on the temple. "C'mon, Bones. All this talk of food has made me hungry."
The doctor rolled his eyes. "Of course it has." He turned back to Rachel. "Well, it was nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too." she said before turning back to her door.
Bones started to go after Jim, then stopped. He cleared his throat.
"Don't you have somewhere…"
"Easy, Doc." Rachel said, leaning around the doorway and pulling out a pair of boots. "I'm headed off to the nurse. I just didn't want to walk through puddles in my socks."
Bones chuckled as she hopped up and down on one foot, trying to get the shoe on. He finally offered her an arm and she leaned against it gratefully. Her footwear sorted, she straightened up, and gave a salute.
"Request permission to follow doctor's orders, sir!"
Leonard laughed. "Granted. But don't you need a coat?"
Rachel waved a hand. "I don't get cold easy. See ya later, doc." She flashed him a brilliant smile and headed off down the hallway.
Bones felt his heart give a kick and his own smile slowly melted off his face. He watched the long end of her ponytail swish back and forth across her back until she was out of sight around the corner.
"I am so screwed." he mumbled.
His thoughts were interrupted by a loud, obnoxious voice.
"Earth to Bones! C'mon! There's a giant pile of chicken wings with my name on them!"