Description: Isara Jones joined Starfleet for two reasons: she loved being a doctor, and she had a tangled past she wanted to escape. When a chance encounter with Jim Kirk and Leonard McCoy throws her world upside down, she copes the best she can. Soon she's swept up in her adventurous new career, all exciting friends and perilous missions-but at what risk to her own happiness?

A/N: I have done a complete edit of this story since it was first posted! I started writing it about two years ago so obviously my writing style has improved and changed a lot since this. The later chapters may have some passages which are closer to my current voice because I edited them more recently. However, I still think that this is a fun story, and it was the first really long one that I wrote. Whether you're rereading or just seeing this for the first time, I hope that you enjoy reading Isara's story as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please R&R!

The second story is now up and the third installment should begin posting early summer 2015. Just check my author page for updates.

Disclaimer: Obviously the characters and storyline don't belong to me, except Isara Jones and Alanna Hunt.

Prologue: A Bit of a Joke

Isara

It all started out as a bit of a joke: Isara Jones, Starfleet's Official Hugger.

I was in Starfleet academy at the time, training to be a medical officer on one of the shiny new starships. My roommate, Alanna Hunt, was training to be an officer of one of the same. We bonded over the lovely campus and difficult classes, though we were as different as could be; she liked flirting with boys and staying out late, I preferred to study for my rigorous medical exams. We got along well, and our friendship grew for the first few years of our schooling.

In my junior year, Alanna took the Kobyashi Maru test one sunny morning in early August, and I turned up to support her because my classes were all in the afternoon. I watched her face as she watched her simulated crew and the crew of the other ship die a simulated death. She looked terrified, frustrated, resigned and distraught all at once. The teachers were merciless, quickly rotating through the batches of sweating, terrified students to experience the torture.

We marched back across the campus to our barracks, for once glad of the regulation skirts as we laughed at the men sweating in their stiff uniforms. Alanna's laughter seemed forced, and I could tell that the test had really hit her hard. Soon we lapsed into silence as we trudged home.

That evening we sat in our room, Alanna too depressed to go out and me too worried to leave her alone. I lay on my bed with my knees to my chin. Seeing Alanna so distressed was starting to affect me, too.

On a total whim, I stood up, crossed the room, and wrapped her in a brief, firm hug, my wrists crossing between her shoulder blades and our chests pressed together without any other contact. It was the kind of hug that said "I'm sorry, that really was unfair and it wasn't your fault, why don't you cheer up and we can go do something fun." When I pulled away, she was eyeing me a little suspiciously, but her shoulders had relaxed and the corners of her mouth were starting to pull up into a smile.

"Is that something you learn in your medical classes?"

"What?" I stepped back and shuffled the papers on my desk self-consciously. I didn't know what had made me hug her, but I hoped that it wasn't going to get me teased for the rest of the year.

"It's just… I dunno, Isara, this is going to sound really weird, but that was the perfect hug for how I was feeling." Her face broke into a full smile. "That's brilliant! You should be a professional hugger."

I laughed along with her, slightly relieved, and tossed over her coat. "Yeah, I'll keep that in mind as an alternative if I fail all my classes."

We went out for drinks and I promptly forgot the incident.

Two days later the second half of the training captains was taking the test, and, while I didn't know any of them this round, Alanna dragged me along to see what would happen.

"You're too pale, Isara!" I was being chastised as we strolled. "A little blush, a little eyeshadow to make your green eyes more noticeable… you should let me do your makeup sometime!"

"No thanks," I hurriedly interjected. "I'm fine."

She could only bring herself to be silent for a few minutes. "So I hear that Kirk guy is taking it again." She leaned in conspiratorially, her long blonde hair swinging in time with my dark hair.

"Again?" I laughed and swung my arms as I walked, enjoying the first nice day that we had had in weeks. "Masochist."

Alanna looked dubious. "I dunno, Isara, he's pretty sharp. You know who his dad was, right?"

"Of course I do. I just think that he needs to stop riding on his dad's reputation and actually do something to prove himself." My voice had quickly turned clipped and I moved my arms with more force.

"Maybe he'll be the first one to pass the test! Wouldn't it be amazing if we were there to see that?" I shrugged halfheartedly. "Why do you hate him so much?" she asked, eyebrow raised. She looked amused at my anger.

I gaped. "Have you ever run into him when he's drunk? Have you ever run into him at all? He's the biggest womanizer on campus!"

"So?"

I paused, ignoring her, then continued. "He's always feeling people up, it kinda grosses me out. No woman is safe," I added with a dramatic, but still serious, gesture.

"And that's bad… why?" She grinned mischievously.

Before I could respond (or maybe roll my eyes, or even slap her), the cadet in question strolled past, trailing Leonard McCoy. McCoy was just ahead of me in med training, and one of the top in our classes. He was young, tall, and a little bit handsome. He could have had better friends than Kirk, but I heard that they met when they were both enlisting. Not that I was interested or anything.

Kirk interrupted the apparent argument that the two were having- it sounded like McCoy was with me on the subject of the test- to catcall me and Alanna. She blushed and waved, but I gave him my best fiery glare and turned up my nose. That had the opposite effect than what I wanted.

"Whoa there, what was that for?" Kirk stopped, much to the chagrin of McCoy, and swaggered over to me. I thought about how ridiculous he looked but didn't respond. "Apparently you're too good for a lowly cadet, Miss Doctor. You should talk to McCoy here sometime, I'm sure he could relate." I was confused until I realized my pin had the medical insignia on it. Just like it always did. I gathered myself and straightened my posture.

"Look Kirk, if you're going to take the Kobyashi Maru test again, you're obviously not that bright." McCoy snickered and Alanna looked horrified, but Kirk just smiled nonchalantly. My temper flared as my stomach twisted. "Maybe I'm not being clear." I took an aggressive step forward, causing him to stumble backwards. "BACK OFF!" Without waiting for any reaction, I grabbed Alanna's wrist and tugged her off towards the building.

"We'll see about that test!" the fading call drifted forward to me, barely audible over McCoy's now hearty laughter.

When we were safely inside, Alanna turned to watch me sitting hunched over and fuming. It took her a while, but she finally put the pieces together. In her best "deep" voice, she offered her analysis. "You've been hurt bad, Isara." When I didn't contradict her, she nodded sagely. "Boyfriend?" I shrugged. "Abusive?"

I knew she would keep prying until she found out, so I gave in with a sigh. "No, just… messy. Jimmy. I wanted to break up, he wouldn't leave me alone. Ever. It was a little scary. I had to join Starfleet to get away in the end. I mean, I love it here, but that's why I came originally." I sighed again. "I kind of have… affection issues now. I mean, friends are great-" I gave her a quick smile- "but when guys like Kirk come up and are all in my face, I just get this sick feeling in the pit of my stomach." This was more than I had told anyone here, and I immediately regretted it. "Just… forget it. I don't want to talk about it."

She leaned over and gave me a hug, but it was awkward, all elbows sticking out, and it shouted "I'm sorry, but I don't really understand and yes I'd love to just forget about it." I sighed and tried to smile anyway.

"Kirk, James T.!" I watched the young cadet swagger- did he ever walk normally?- down into the simulation cockpit. We couldn't hear what he was saying, but Lieutenant Uhura was clearly agitated. Professor Spock looked down on all of it, a rare frown settling heavily on his features. It was clear that the simulation was not going as planned, though Kirk, munching away on his apple, seemed unfazed. Suddenly, without warning, all of the lights went out in the training center, save emergency lighting. When the system rebooted, I could see from the screen in the cockpit that something was different.

My mind was racing. The little cheat! When so many people had taken that test and failed, why did he have to go and make a big splash by just running a little computer program? That was what must have happened, after all. Anyone could have beaten it like that. I wasn't even in Captains' training, and I could have done that. The line of cadets waiting to take the test gasped and then started whispering. Their murmured accusations sounded like the buzz of a hornet's nest. One person somewhere in the audience clapped loudly, once, twice, three times, and was quickly hushed.

My annoyance reached a crescendo as Kirk spun around in his Captain's chair, his mouth still full of apple and a stupid grin spread across his face, looked right at me, and winked.

Alanna somehow kept me from ranting all the way back to our barracks by engaging me in a sympathy party for the other cadets that we were walking with. It was then that she brought it up.

"Hey, if you're feeling really down, Isara gives the best hugs this side of the mountains." I stared at her, astounded that she would bring up such an inconsequential bit of information for teasing when there were much more important things to be derisive about. One person in particular, who shall remain unnamed but whose initials are J.T.K.

"Really?" one of the other girls looked dubious. "Is she…?"

I started, waving my hands as if to clear the air. "No, no! Just, Alanna was kind of down after her test, I gave her a hug and she said it was exactly what she needed, and then she cheered up. That's all." I glared at Alanna, trying to convey one big sarcastic THANKS as loudly as possible while remaining silent.

There was a long, awkward silence as everyone gave it some thought. "Well, I don't know about you lot, but I could do with a hug." Another girl stepped forward despondently. "I mean, I didn't even get to take the test! I just…" she trailed off, her lip trembling. "I mean, it's hard enough for women to become captains without that idiot jumping in there and…" she trailed off again.

I followed my impulse with slightly more hesitation this time, but stepped forward and hugged her all the same. It was a slightly longer hug, just a little closer, than the one that I had given Alanna. My arms wrapped all the way around her without trapping her and my fingers splayed soothingly on her back. This one said, "I may not know you but I'm in the same boat, being a woman doctor is hard, too, but shh, it will be ok, Kirk is just a big idiot and you're better than him anyway."

When I pulled away, she looked a little dazed. "Wow, that was… that was actually really amazing. How did you learn to do that?"

I shrugged, self-conscious again now that I wasn't under the influence of my apparently-excellent hugging instinct. "I just kind of… knew. I hadn't paid any attention to it before, but I guess I'm just good at reading emotions." I stood thoughtfully for a moment. "Maybe I have a natural instinct, enhanced by the psychology training I'm doing in med…"

I ended up hugging every girl in the group that we were with, and all of them agreed that it was "exactly what they needed" and I was an "amazing hugger." By the end of the evening, when we were all a bit tipsy from a conciliatory night out, I was declared Starfleet's "Official Hugger."

That was the first time that it really stuck. After that, friends would come to me when they were breaking up, moving, getting promoted or demoted, anxious about a test or a date, or really anything that shook them. Men and women came to me for hugs. Soon they started bringing friends, and the friends started bringing friends, and then for my birthday Alanna gave me an official-looking sign to put on our door that said "Isara Jones: Official Hugger. Best hugs this side of the mountains."

Of course that led to bad things, too. Once I answered a knock to see none other than James Kirk standing there, grinning wickedly and probably quite drunk. He pointed to the sign.

"Is that a euphemism?"

He walked around campus with a door-shaped mark on his face for a very long time after that. Shortly afterwards, I answered another knock, a little more cautiously, to find McCoy looking anxious about being found in the women's barracks.

"Hey, Jones. I just wanted to say sorry for Kirk. I know he's an ass. He knows he's an ass. I don't know why he needed to make that point to you; I'm just sorry about it. I'll make sure he leaves you alone." All that in one breath, and no chance for me to reply before he had hurriedly loped down the hallway to the stairs. I stood there for a moment, wondering what on earth could have made that man sound like an anxious schoolboy. He was nice enough, and I supposed that his behavior could be explained by his genuine concern about Kirk's behavior.

The, just as soon as he had left, he was back, this time saying, "Oh, and… good for you, standing up to him like that. God knows where we'd be if he always got everything he wanted." This was accompanied by an honest grin, which I returned. Then I followed my impulse, which I was becoming used to doing.

This hug was quick but close, my head all the way forward to look back over his shoulder. It said, "Thanks so much, I needed that. Friends?" I could see in his eyes that that was acceptable, so, still grinning, I said "First hug is free of charge."

His eyes widened and his tone turned accusing. "You actually charge people for hugs?"

I laughed. It felt good, like the bad feeling that Kirk had caused in the bottom of my stomach was lightening. "Of course not, don't be an idiot. They're not that amazing."

"Oh, I dunno, that was pretty good." My grin widened as his faded and he realized the possible interpretation of his words. "You know, in a… friends… kind of way… you know?" He saw me laughing and shrugged. "You're just going to watch me dig myself into a hole, aren't you?"

"Yep." I beamed even wider before giving him a light punch on the shoulder. "It's ok, though. I get that a lot. Must be magic." There was a companionable pause until I realized that Alanna was eavesdropping from behind the door. I rolled my eyes. "Thanks for coming, that was nice to hear. I'm glad that all of the upperclassmen aren't total jerks."

"Aren't you an upperclassman?" He raised his eyebrows at me.

"Oh yeah…" my expression turned thoughtful. "I keep forgetting that I skipped a year a while back."

"Really?" His eyebrows raised even higher.

"No, idiot! Do you honestly think that Starfleet would let anyone get away with that? I'm just not used to being an upperclassman, that's all. I honestly forget how old I am sometimes, I think all of these med classes might have pushed my basic information out of my head." I could still feel Alanna's eyes on me, and decided to do something about it. "You ought to know at this point that my roommate is hiding behind the door because she probably thinks you're my boyfriend."

"Do not!" Alanna stepped into view, her face flushed as she hastily readjusted her skirt. "Isara has been through a lot, I just want to make sure you weren't here to harass her." I stared at her, and she shrugged before adding, "…and I thought he was your boyfriend." McCoy looked taken aback, I was simply exasperated, and Alanna watched the scene unfold triumphantly.

We all ended up sharing a laugh at the absurdity of the situation. I felt good, happier than I had in a while, as I looked at my two new allies. Ok, maybe Alanna had always been an ally, and I had just never realized the depth of her loyalty. And McCoy was definitely… nice. Whoever he chose to hang out with. The two of them made the rest of that year a lot more bearable, and it was all thanks to that stupid joke about hugging.

If I had known then how long that name would stick and what it would come to mean to me, I might not have thought of it as a joke, but that's all it was at the time.