Kagome: AND I'm back? Didja miss me? Huh didja? Lol no really I just put the prologue up your not allowed to miss me yet! XD Really though, this chapter? I'm soooo frickin excited, Veronica and Pavel are gonna meet! (I could have stretched the meeting out, but I missed my sexy Russian too much… anyway, just a l'il bit of fluff in here, but it was enough to make me happy, and there's much MUCH more to come, so just sit tight.

LET IT BEGIN!

Chapter 1

Veronica was bouncing. She couldn't help it, really. Up and down, up and down, nervously attempting to waste all the manic energy coursing through her young body. Here was the day! Somehow, she managed to tap her feet as she was bouncing, impatient as hell to just get going! Why? Why couldn't they just let her on the damn shuttle! She needed to be strapped down or she was seriously going to explode.

Her gaze swept over everything and anything in an attempt to distract herself. Shuttles flew overhead, landing and taking off in a choreographed plan, smooth as a seal covered in Crisco. Officers and ensigns scurried around, already boarding the shuttles that launched one by one to the unseen starship orbiting earth.

Veronica glared at them. Lucky bastards.

She sighed and spared a glance for the small crowd of new officers surrounding her. With a pang, she realized she was easily the youngest there, maybe three years between her and the youngest. She blew her bangs off her forehead with a huff, black curls fluttering before settling back exactly where they had been in the first place. She peeked over the shoulder of the woman in front of her. They were still trying to figure out why the shuttle wasn't working!

With a groan, she shoved her way past the woman and strode through the group. She growled as the man bent over the access panel gave her a look.

"I'm sorry miss, but you're just going to have to wai-"

She rolled her eyes and shoved him out of the way.

"Move it or lose it rookie." She snapped.

With a single look at the access panel, she sighed again and yanked out the precision laser that has been holding her messy tangle of a bun in place. With a toss of her head, her curls settled into place on her back. She pressed the button to activate the laser and zapped the loose circuit that has been disrupting the power flow. She held the wires in place while the metal cooled, then slammed the panel door shut. The man, who had been watching her with a snobbish silence, spoke up:

"Beyond you as well-" he glanced at the single gold bar on her collar, "Lieutenant? I've been working on it for twenty minutes already, so if you'll just step back wi-"

"I waited twenty minutes extra for something as stupid as that?" Veronica shrieked. With a huff turned and glared at the man.

He turned and gave her a look of exaggerated patience.

"Miss, if you weren't able to fix it either, then there's no reason to yell at me." He said.

Veronica pounded her fist into the side of the shuttle, then crossed her arms and smirked, not bothering to look behind her as the shuttle whirred to life and slid open it's door.

The idiot blinked. With a giggle she stepped smartly past him and walked into the shuttle.

Ten minutes later they landed in the docking bay of the U.S.S. Enterprise, and Veronica shot off out the door immediately. Green eyes went huge as she took in the shiny metal and bright lights of her new home.

Slowly, boots thumping on the metal floor, she spun in a circle. So this was Scotty's silver lady. Machines were everywhere. She nearly drooled as she took in the airlock mechanism, the replicator, the wires that crisscrossed every inch of the ceiling, feeding into the lights and alarm systems.

And it was all hers to play with.

"It's beautiful…" she whispered.

"Aye, that it is lassie!" said a loud voice behind her. She whipped around, then laughed and threw her arms around the man's neck.

"Scotty!" She shrieked, then froze, "I-I mean um…sir, reporting for duty sir!"

She leaped back away from him and performed an incredibly sloppy salute, somehow managing to almost fall over and whack herself in the forehead in the same moment. She rubbed her now sore temple.

"Owie…"

Scotty roared with laughter and clapped her on the back.

"Don worry about it lass, for you I'll make an exception!" he managed through guffaws.

Veronica relaxed and grinned. "My professors at the academy would kill me if they saw all the protocol I didn't follow today! The assholes that were trying to fix the shuttle had no idea what they were doing!"

Scotty smiled at her fondly, "I hope you showed them a thing or two!"

"Damn skippy! They didn't know whether to worship me or hate my guts!" she crowed.

Scotty grinned and held out his arm. "Shall I show you my mistress then? You can choose your quarters later."

Veronica's eyes shone. "Yes sir!"

~x~*~X*X~*~x~

Three hours later Veronica officially knew everything there was about the Enterprise. From the Jeffries Tubes to the nacelles to the dillithium chambers in engineering, to the big screen and the pilot/navigation stations on the bridge, Scotty had left no stone unturned as he showed her his 'mistress.'

She had had no idea that so many toys existed.

With a happy sigh, Veronica leaned back in her chair in the mess hall, thumping down her chocolate milkshake. She twitched as a drop splashed up and landed on the tip of her nose, and Scotty snickered, watching her go cross-eyed. She gripped the edge of the table and turned her head at an absurd angle, struggling to lick the offending liquid from her nose.

"It's cold!" She whined. Finally giving up, she sighed again, rather crossly this time, and swiped the sleeve of her new red engineering uniform across her nose with a growl.

Scotty rolled his eyes and turned away, shoulders still shaking slightly with laughter. Veronica shot him a glare, then rolled her eyes and smiled, giving up.

"So Scotty?" she questioned.

"Aye lassie?"

"When do I get to fix stuff? Can I start today? Huh? Can I can I can I canIcanIcanIcanI-"

Scotty laughed and tossed a balled up napkin at her across the table. "Hold your horse's lass! You'll get your chance!"

Veronica pouted, crossing her arms and sticking her tongue out at him. "Meanie…"

Scotty shook his head, still smiling and looked at her. "Alright lass, I tell you what. The navigator's station has been a bit fritzy lately. Go on up and see what you can do."

"REALLY?"

And suddenly Scotty was alone as she barreled toward the door.

Scotty laughed, and moved to pick up his sandwich.

"She's a good girl that one." He said to himself. And then his hand touched the empty plate.

"Oi! My sandwich!"

On the bridge

Pavel Chekov sighed as once again his station went black. This was the third time today for god's sake!

"Keptin?" He questioned, barely restrained annoyance in his voice.

"Yeah Lieutenant?" The captain answered. He heaves himself up from his captain's chair and takes the few steps to Chekov's station, putting a hand on the back of his chair.

Pavel flopped back and looked over his shoulder pleadingly. "It did it again…" He did the best he could to keep the whine out of his voice; honestly, there was a limit to even how much he could handle.

Kirk sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Seriously?" he moaned, "Why the hell hasn't Scotty sent someone to fix that yet?" He turned to the man in blue on the far side of the bridge.

"Commander Spock?" he calls. Spock looked up.

"Yes Captain?" he answers

"Didn't I tell you to call Scotty about this? It's not like you to forget!" Kirk complains.

Spock raises his eyebrow a bit. "I assure you I did not forget Captain. Mr. Scott was informed approximately 4.3 hours ago of the problem with the lieutenants console."

Kirk sighed and rubbed his temple. They were scheduled to leave space dock in half an hour. How the hell was he supposed to steer a ship without a navigator?

Tapping the insignia on his chest he tilted his head and addressed the ceiling.

"Kirk to Chief Scott" he commanded. The little device beeped cheerily at him.

"Scottyyyyyy…." He whined, ignoring the raised eyebrow Spock shot him across the room, "Where the hell are your people!"

Scotty laughed. "Aye they're comin captain! I think you'll like who I've sent too!"

Kirk smirked, "And who would that b-"

"JIM!"

It was the only warning he got before he was tackled to the ground by a small red blur. In a flash Spock was by his side, yanking the wiggling girl off of him and pinning her arms behind her back.

"Are you uninjured Captain?" he questioned, ignoring the girl who was struggling against his grip.

"Lemme go you big blockhead!" she squealed. Jim sat up, rubbing his head, and then blinked as his gaze landed on her. He blinked again.

"Is that… Nicky!" Jim leapt to his feet, "Let her go Spock, she's fine."

Spock's eyebrows drew together, "Are you entirely certain that that is wise Captain? This girl has just assaulted you."

Jim laughed, "Spock, meet the one and only Veronica McCoy." he said.

Spock's eyes widened a fraction, "Am I to understand that this girl is Doctor McCoy's sister? I was unaware that he had one. I fail to understand how he has not mentioned her until now."

Veronica wrenched away from Spock as his grip loosened, and she shot over and hid behind her Captain.

"Jim!" she grabbed him around the waist from behind, "Call off your doggie!" she said pretending to be terrified. With a sigh Jim pried her arms off of his waist and guided her in front of him.

"Nic, this is Commander Spock, my right hand man." He chided gently. He rolled his eyes as she blanched.

"I'm so sorry Commander!" she panicked, "I-I didn't know you were important! I mean, I didn't know it mattered, I mean, I-I-I… Dammit! It only took me one day to screw up! Big brothers gonna have a field day with this one…" And she sank down in the captain's chair and buried her face in her hands.

Jim smiled and poked her. "Hey Captain, get out of my chair."

With a shriek Veronica leapt up, a stream of random apologies falling from her lips.

"Ohmigosh Jim I'm so- GAH! I mean Captain I'm so sorry Captain I didn't mean to sit in your chair don't kill me please and oh my god donttellboneshe'llhypospraymeintonextWEEK!"

By the end of her mini-breakdown Jim was in hysterics. He held his stomach with one hand and clutched at the arm of the captains chair with the other as he struggle to breath.

Spock looked on disapprovingly.

"Captain," he said, "I fail to see any humor in this situation. Lieutenant McCoy's concerns are very real and her apologies entirely in order."

Jim finally managed to stop laughing, and he wiped his eyes as he dragged himself into his chair.

"Spock, with Veronica it's perfectly alright." he gasped, out of breath. Spock raised a disapproving eyebrow.

"Captain she is a Starfleet officer. You cannot coddle her because of any personal relationships you may have." He reprimanded.

Veronica stared at her feet miserably. What a great fucking first day… she thought.

The pair of legs in the chair next to her swiveled into view, and she looked up into the warm smile of a bout about her age. He looked as though he was having a very hard time holding back laughter.

"It's perfectly alright you know miss. On my first day, the keptin made me read the shipvide announcements. My accent vas even vorse then than it is now, and the whole ship got to here that one..." He said.

Veronica stared at him, eyes sweeping from head to toe. Curly brown hair, the kind that mother despaired of on school picture day, big blues eyes, which right now were positively sparkling with humor. A cute boyish face, just nearly finished growing out of its baby fat. Gold uniform. One bar on his collar. A lieutenant then… Navigators chair. Slightly scuffed standard issue boots. He couldn't be more than a year or two older than her.

She looked back into his eyes. "Were there lots of 'v's' in it?" she dared to ask. He laughed, and turned slightly pink.

"Da, and two sewen's in the access code. I had to say it tvice." He admitted. He nodded over towards Jim and Spock, who were still bickering like an old married couple, having completely forgotten about the subject of their argument. "Don't vorry about the Keptin and the Commander; they do this all the time. I think they actually enjoy it."

She smiled then, and stuck out her hand. "I'm not surprised. Me and Ji- the Captain used to argue like that for hours. Of course it mostly involved dirty jokes… My names Veronica McCoy. Nice to meet you."

Boy grinned, taking her hand and giving it a squeeze. "I'm Pavel Chekov, the nawigator. Nice to meet you Weronica."

Veronica froze, eyes locked on his just staring at him.

"Oh. My. God." She monotone. Chekov looked panicked.

"Vhat? Hawe I said somethink wrong?"

Veronica just continued to stare.

"Oh. My. God. THE WAY YOU SAY MY NAME IS SO CUTE!" she shouted the last part, very effectively drawing the attention of the entire bridge just in time for them to see her throw her arms around Chekov's neck.

"Say it again say it again say it again!" she cheered.

"Vhat? Weronica?" poor Chekov looked absolutely floored, and he flailed and stood up in an attempt to get his balance. Veronica just held on tighter and laughed and laughed and laughed. Finally she took a step back and kissed him on both cheeks.

"You sir, have just made my whole week!" and she continued hugging him.

Chekov was still struggling to get his bearings, and the kisses had more or less shot the rest of his composure all to hell. His entire face was a brilliant red, and he kept moving his arm like he had no idea what to do with them. He looked pleadingly at his captain over Veronica's shoulder.

And suddenly everyone on the bridge (except Spock of course) was laughing, bent over holding their stomachs tearing up laughter. The kind that makes you feel good for the whole rest of the day.

And that's how Scotty found them when he came stomping out of the turbolift, eyes blazing in sandwichy righteousness his eyes cast about for the perpetrator.

"Alright lassie, what did ya do with my sandwi- What the bloody hell's goin on here?" he shouted. Veronica yanked her arms off of Chekov and spun to face him, struggling to compose her face into something resembling innocence.

"I…" she tried, "I… um… Pavel did it sir!" she pointed at the still very shell-shocked Russian.

"Vhat?" Chekov cried pathetically, "Vhat did I do now?" The Scott stared at him, anger rapidly fading into puzzled amusement.

"Ah, Lad? You've got kiss-marks on your cheeks."

"NO!" Chekov screeched. Turning a shade of red previously reached only by very ripe tomatoes, he rubbed furiously at the glittery pale pink offenders on his face. Veronica giggled nervously.

"Hehheh… so chief? What brings you up here? I was just getting ready to fix the navigation console… yeah…" she looked at Jim. "That was what I was doing right?"

Surprisingly, it was Spock who came to her rescue. "Indeed you were Miss McCoy. So if you would be so kind as to begin?" Veronica nodded vigorously and dived under Chekov's station. "Mr. Scott, please return to the engine room and commence preparations for departure." Spock finished. And without another word he turned back to his screen on the far side of the room. Scotty stood there for a moment before turning back to the turbolift.

"You owe me a sandwich lass!" he called over his shoulder. With a grin and a shake of his head, the captain turned back to Chekov.

"You missed a spot Pavel!" he called.

Chekov growled and resumed his attempt as getting off the lipgloss.

"Vhy do girls insist on veering dis sticky goo on their lips?" he complained. Veronica peeked at him from under the navigation board.

"Well, that particular goo tastes like cotton candy." She explained, as if that would make everything perfectly obvious.

Chekov groaned and collapsed into his chair, spinning it slowly.

"Ah of course. It's all so clear to me now." He looked down at her and smiled. She rewarded his teasing with a brilliant sunbeam of a smile in return and disappeared back into the circuit board.

Chekov's heart stopped. She had a smile even prettier than Nyota's. A few seconds later she popped back out again.

"Who the hell wired this monstrosity? There's like, a gazillion more wires than there needs to be!" she whined. She looked at Chekov, then at Jim. Jim grinned and held up three fingers, then two, then one…

Across the room Commander Spock turned to face her.

"A 'Gazillion' is not a viable mathematical term lieutenant. Furthermore I highly doubt that however many excessive wires you perceive it to represent, are actually present in the console." He chastised.

Chekov, Jim, and Veronica burst out laughing.

Spock raised the eyebrow of doom. "I fail to see what exactly was humorous about my previous statement."

Jim just laughed and waved his hand at Spock to go back to work. Veronica turned to Chekov.

"You may want to back up. I'm going to have to completely rewire this thing." She warned.

Chekov looked confused. "Vhy vould I need to back up for zhat?" he asked. Veronica was about to answer when Spock cut her off.

"Lieutenant, is such action necessary? We are scheduled to embark in 15.7 minutes, and for a new graduate such as yourself, a lengthy operation like a total rewire would take approximately 32.4."

Veronica blinked at him comically, and then grinned. "Are you really that precise? 15.7 minutes?"

"Always."

"Then time me!" she challenged. And off she went. Chekov bent down to see what she was doing, and recoiled as she threw a handful of wires in his face.

"Hey!" he protested. Jim laughed. "She did warn you y'know."

Spock was staring at Veronica with a very fixed expression, watching as more and more wires were tossed at Chekov. Maybe five minutes passed as Chekov tried to detangle himself, and then Veronica started pulling wire off of him and dragging it back under the console. There was a spark or two, and more than once an "Ouch! You little bastard!" but less than ten minutes later, there was a scraping sound, and then a bang as she shut the access panel.

"Time!" Veronica called.

Spock blinked. Jim watched him carefully as his friends' eyebrows made a weird little twitch.

"You cannot possibly be finished." The Vulcan deadpanned, getting up and walking over to the station. Veronica tried to scrabble her way out from under the screen, and froze as a long ripping sound echoed through the bridge. She sighed and disappeared back. A second later she came out, grumbling as Chekov helped her to her feet. Chekov tried not to smile at the huge rip down the back of her uniform.

Veronica turned around for a few seconds, like a dog chasing her tail, as she tried to see the ripped, then shrugged and yanked the shirt over her head. Chekov made a little sound like 'eechk' and turned away. She smiled and balled her shirt up, tucking it under her arm.

"What Chekov, am I that ugly? Or immodest? Yeesh." She teased. Chekov turned back tentatively, and sighed with relief to see she had a black tanktop on underneath.

He grinned at her. "Considering the marwelous first impression I just got of you, I question the modesty." Veronica laughed and smacked his arm. She looked at Spock.

"So what's my time?" she wheedled.

Spock gave her as close to a glare as a Vulcan can give. "13.4 minutes."

Chekov blinked, "You mean you are done?" He plopped himself down in the chair and attempted to reboot the console. "Um… it is not-"

THUNK! Veronica slammed her fist down on the console, and with a beep the console rebooted. Chekov stared. Spock stared. Jim laughed.

"Did I fail to mention who exactly this is? Jim said with a grin, "This is Veronica McCoy, age 17, top graduate of this year's engineering class at the academy. She's going to be our new third in engineering. Chekov, you can finally stop being the baby!"

Chekov blinked and looked at her. "You are sewenteen?" he questioned.

"Yeah, for the next three months." she replied, "What are you?"

Chekov grinned, "I am eighteen. Two months ago."

Veronica fist-pumped the air, "Whooo! I'm not completely unheard-of!" she cheered. And she hugged him again.

~x~*~X*X~*~x~