Hannity Grayson stood in the doorway of her office as she shut out the lights and locked the door. Being a doctor had its perks. She got to be around different races and humans and she made many friends.

She walked from her office in Starfleet's Medical Ward. As a commander, she had the responsibility some people would dread. She was in charge of her subordinate doctors and nurses. That was the head part. She was younger than most, the tender age of twenty-eight. Many people underestimated her, especially about the part where she said she held a black belt in judo. She was slow to anger and almost always wore a mile that made her inhumanly blue eyes sparkle.

Her heart beat was normal as she moved about the rough parts of San Francisco. She had lived her entire adult life in the city, knowing it like the back of her hand. Not much scared her because of it. She had lived on a different planet during her childhood so when she had the chance to leave she jumped at it. She had left home after becoming an adult and never looked back. Of course she still talked to her family, especially her mother. Her life of freedom made her not want to go back to the life where her sex was the one with the least amount of power.

Riding up to the top floor of the Mega Tower, she looked at the city below her. Neon lights specified the bars, restaurants on every corner, and endless entertainment that would undoubtedly be sought after work. There was something new going on every night.

She slid her I.D. card into the slot and waited as the tumblers turned. The door slid open and she stepped in, pausing long enough to listen to the tumblers lock back into place. She walked through the living room as she flipped through her mail. There was a new letter from her father. She made a mental note to read that later. The other two were from doctors in New York and Minnesota. Those could wait as well.

"Jim, what are you doing here?" she asked as she passed by her kitchen to her room (the doctor's uniform being too much for her to handle). Even though the apartment building was virtually new with the latest replicator technology, she preferred the old time appliances such as stoves, ovens, and refrigerators.

James Tiberius Kirk stood in that very kitchen making pancakes. Picture it. The captain of the Starship Enterprise making pancakes in an outdated kitchen. It was a sight to see. He was dressed in faded jeans that had seen better days and a t-shirt. Pancake batter was smeared all over his face as if he had wiped his hands across it. He had a huge stack beside him already, which meant he'd been there for a little bit. "Hey, Hannity."

"What are you doing here?" Hannity scooted around him for a drink then leaned against the counter to watch him.

Jim stuffed a piece of pancake in his mouth as he flipped another in the skillet. "I'm on shore leave while we get our new orders."

"So you came here?"

"You should have taken my key away."

"I did."

"I meant the spare I made."

"If I had known about it, I would have. Why are you making pancakes?"

"It's all I could find in your cabinet. Seriously, Anni. You're a doctor and yet you can't buy normal food?"

"I ran out last night. I was going grocery shopping tonight but now that you are here, there really is no point. You will be going to the bar later I assume."

He pointed the spatula at her and closed one eye. "You would be right."

"Do me a favor. Do not bring any girls back here. I just got the Cardassian Wine stains out of the floor."

Jim smiled. "You got it. Are you hungry?" She shook her head, honestly afraid of tasting his food. "Bones said he'd drop by later. His ex-wife is letting him see his daughter."

"He has missed her."

"Yep. She's a teenager now. I have a feeling she's going to be a handful until we get ready to leave."

"You are really one to talk, Jim." He flashed his million dollar smile as he turned off the stovetop. "How long are you here?"

"The higher-ups say a week but I know better than that. We'll be out of here in three days." He looked up when she was suddenly quiet. "What? Are you ready to get rid of me that fast?"

"It is not that."

"Come on, Hannity. I know you better than that."

"Do not concern yourself with it."

Jim stared at her as if he didn't believe her, which was smart of him. They had known each other since his days at Starfleet. Hannity had been a lieutenant while he and Bones been cadets. There had been plenty of nights where they had sat in this very apartment and discussed random subjects. What Jim didn't know was that when he fell asleep, Hannity and Bones would sit up to all hours of the morning and talk about medicine. They had all become very close in those three years. In the year Bones and Jim had been gone, Hannity had made herself a reputation as the best doctor in Starfleet. So for Jim to still be able to read her like a book after a year was a miracle.

But the man didn't listen with his ears. He listened with his eyes. He took in every little movement and stored it all away for a later time when he could access it and evaluate it. That was what he was doing now. He was watching her body language. He would have had something if she refused to look him in the eye, but Hannity had a firm belief that someone could bluff their way out of anything by just keeping eye contact.

After trying for a few moments, Jim finally sighed. "Fine. Don't tell me. But I will find out."

"Of that I have no doubt."

There was a knock at the door. "It seems Bones is here." He trotted to the door with the plate in his hand, fork sticking out of his mouth. She heard the tumblers unlock. "Hey, Bones! Come on in."

"Jim, did you let yourself in again? And why are you walking around with a fork sticking out of your mouth? If you fell, it would go straight down your throat." She heard Bones scold in his usual gruff manner. There were footsteps back to the kitchen. Dr. Leonard McCoy walked in wearing faded jeans and a gray sweater. His dark hair had been trimmed and his face sported a little stubble. "Hey, Anni."

"It has been a while, Bones." She replied as she slid into a stool from the perch she had taken on the counter. It had been to make sure Jim had made a mess on the stovetop, which surprisingly he hadn't.

"This is my daughter Joanna McCoy." She came up to Bones' chest and had a wealth of caramel hair. Her eyes were her father's, though.

"Welcome, Joanna. I am Hannity Grayson."

Joanna scowled, which was to be expected. "Dad, you didn't say anything about coming to your friend's house."

Hannity smiled at the girl's boredom. She had been that way with her father when she was Joanna's age. She guessed the girl to be about thirteen. At that age, Hannity and her father had been at odds about her joining Starfleet at such a young age. In the end she had won the argument and left for earth immediately. She had never gone back. She had not seen her father in twelve years, not even when her mother had died.

"Cool! You have the new dance game!" Joanna suddenly burst out.

Hannity looked over at Jim. The younger man shrugged guiltily. She closed her eyes and shook her head. He would never change. Joanna was playing the game with as much fervor as she had when she first found out about the computer games she could pull up. There had been countless times when she and Jim had stayed awake playing them. Bones would lie on the couch and complain but her never made a move to stop them from doing as they wished.

"You know, I was wondering what would happen if you had fun." Bones said as he leaned back in the chair. His southern drawl was adamant in his relaxed state.

"Bones, I am a doctor on Earth. I have no time for fun." She replied as she swirled her drink for a few moments before meeting the skeptical eyes of her colleague.

"That's what Bones said when we were on the Enterprise." Jim added as he stuffed his face. He shoved his plate in his friend's face. "Try one."

Bones shrugged away from it and rightly so. "Why?"

"I made them."

"Then no. definitely no."

Hannity stared at the two men as they bickered. It was a common thing the two did when they weren't drunk. When they were, Hannity was the one always on speed dial in case the two idiots acted out. Which they always did when they went to a bar. Jim especially. He had no way to control his tongue when he was drunk. He always started fights and got pummeled in the process. It was Hannity's job to patch the boys up.

"Come on, Bones. You never taste anything I cook."

"Because you can't cook to save your life. The only way you lived through the Academy without starving was because Hannity not only let you live here but she also cooked for you."

There was a knock at the door. Hannity got up from the couch and went to the door. After flipping the switch for it to unlock, it slid open. A young man in cadet red's stood at attention before her.

"At ease, cadet." She said. He settled with a padd at his side. "What can I do for you?"

He held out the padd to her. "Here are your new orders. Report at 0800 in three days."

"Understood. Dismissed." She closed the door after he walked away, waiting once again for the tumblers to fall into place.

"What's it say?" Jim asked. He had a bad habit of being nosy. There was also the habit of him reading over people's shoulder when the urge to be nosy arose.

"I have been reassigned from the Academy clinic." She replied as she quickly scanned the information.

"To where?"

"The Enterprise. I am to be under the command of Captain James T. Kirk and Chief Medical Officer Leonard H. McCoy. I leave with you in three days."

They all looked at each other. They had joked when the boys had been in the academy had fun it might be for the three of them to run a starship together. Jim had always had been in trouble with the admirals so he had been on probation, making it hard for him to act up. Until he cheated on the Kobayashi Maru. Hannity had laughed so hard she cried, even at his hearing. Then Bones had helped him stow away on the Enterprise during its first mission. The events after that were irrelevant. Jim became a hero and that made everyone who heard about the young captain want to serve under him.

Jim finally broke the silence. "I told you the new orders would be given almost too soon. We've only been here a week and now we get new orders."

Bones shrugged. "It's what it is."

Hannity didn't pay her friends any attention. She had been transferred from the place she felt the safest. This wasn't any good and she had a feeling it must be a ploy of the academy to see how she acted in space.

What is Starfleet really up to? She thought.