The location of the laughter was easy to pinpoint as its origin was from a small glow - caused by a fresh fire illuminating its way through the fog, several humanoid silhouettes visible.
"Pavel, honey, who's that?" A harsh, nasally voice broke the atmosphere as you passed the small group of people sat by the fire, and a hand tipped with long, chipped nails crept its way over Chekov's shoulder. The hand belonged to a girl a few inches taller than you with dirty blonde hair and blue eyes,
"Oh, yes, zis is my old friend, _(y/n)." Old friend? Was that all you ever were to him? Ouch, "_(y/n), zis is Grace... She's my girlfriend." Oh. Your mind seemed to stop functioning momentarily, save for a memory that was replaying over and over in your mind,
"I'll wait for you, promise." He hadn't waited. He'd accepted you were dead for Christ's sake. You had tried to convince yourself that there was no way he was alive, you'd told him you thought the same; but you were lying to him and yourself. You didn't want to be upset, you didn't want to feel like somebody had stuck a pin in your arm and all of the air was escaping, leaving you feeling deflated. You didn't want to feel numb, but you did,
"It's lovely to meet you… You're lucky to have such a great guy." You offered up a smile but it didn't reach your eyes, and this girl was cottoning on to the way you felt like a snake striking out at its prey. Quickly; maliciously and without mercy,
"So you're the _(y/n)? Pavel's mentioned you a few times. And oh, I know. He's just wonderful." Chekov mumbled something about being right back, patting your arm as he left, "I don't know what I'd do without him. He gives me a reason to keep fighting every day." She inspected her mostly broken nails idly, as if this were casual conversation. She hadn't even known you for two minutes and she was already playing the protective bitchy girlfriend card, but the way she glared at you - like you were the enemy - made you think she knew exactly who you were to Pavel just a few years back. But she had said you were the _(y/n), so he'd obviously talked about you enough to make you a memorable character. You were unaware of the footsteps until you could sense a presence behind you, a large hand now splayed on the small of your back, and not Chekov's,
"I hate to interrupt but I need to steal _(y/n) for a while. And you should be on patrol, if I'm not mistaken." Bones' voice muttered sternly and dangerously close to your ear even though the dialogue was directed to Grace. A shiver descended your spine, and you hoped that Bones hadn't felt it. Grace huffed and stood,
"I was just taking a quick break Dr McCoy, and you know how long those patrols can be." She replied, but there was something all too flirtatious about the way she said it, too. She turned on her heel, hips swaying as she disappeared into the fog. You didn't like her, not one bit,
"Now, as I said, you're gonna need to come with me." His tone softened and he steered you away from the fire and the other people that you hadn't even introduced yourself to, "You'll have to ignore her, she's just a grade A bitch." He hissed, hand still lightly pressed against your back to guide you through the fog,
"Anyway, over here is where you'll be sleepin', for now."
Stepping into the thin, yellowed tent, it was like an enormous weight had been lifted from your shoulders - or more realistically, your lungs. The air was clear and for the first time in a while you could actually make out the things in front of you. Bones walked ahead and lifted a ragged blanket from a messy bundle in the corner, spreading it out on the floor about three metres from the other ones,
"Well, this is the medic's quarters." He began to arrange the blankets into a bed, brushing collected dirt away from the floor and sighed as he turned around, to see you still stood in the doorway, "Well come on in darlin', you're lettin' the good air out." You took a seat on the messy bundle of blankets and brushed through your hair with your hands; wincing as thick layers of dust and ash cascaded onto your already filthy clothes,
"Medic's Quarters? I thought there was only one medic?"
"Well, two now. Welcome to your temporary home. Temporary because in a few weeks we need to pack up and move - scouts won't leave this area alone for long and we can't risk being discovered." You paused and took in the room for the first time. You could barely even call it a room; in fact, it couldn't even pass for a tent. It was some old yellow tarpaulin, propped up by thin wooden poles and draped over the ground. The floor was dust and rocks and didn't appeal to you for sleeping on any more than the outside did. The only real upside to the shelter was that it clipped shut; some privacy at last, it would be nice to escape to during a random thunderstorm (they were common occurrences nowadays). There was a chipped wooden box at the other end of the room that was just small enough to carry under your arm, if you tried really hard. You couldn't help noticing the distinct lack of beds,
"So, where do you sleep?" The silence had become almost painful, and you tried your best to break it,
"Well, you're sat on it." He gestured to where you were sitting, and upon instinct you jumped to your feet and apologised,
"Hey, don't need to worry." A smirk appeared on his face, and he raised an eyebrow, "When I met you, I didn't mean that whole 'superior officer' thing. You can sit on my damn bed if you want. OH, uh, by that of course I mean, well, when I'm not here I suppose you can… God, that sounded so much better in my head."
A huge smile spread across your face and you laughed. The sensation was alien to you now, and it was painful and arduous; there was no real cause to laugh nowadays and the air hadn't done your respiratory system a huge favour. Your uncomfortably loud almost bark of a laugh made Bones smile wider, and for a few seconds the rest of the world melted into the background as you just stood, enveloped in the unfamiliar feeling of happiness,
"Oh, I have something for you! Close your eyes." He began rooting around in the small wooden box, and you leaned on your tiptoes to peek over his shoulder, "Hey, I said close 'em. I don't have to let you stay in here, ya know." His stern tone of voice had returned, as if the fleeting euphoria had completely passed him by, and he hadn't seen joy in years. "Ah, it's still in good condition. Hold out your hands."
Without hesitation they shot out in front of you, coming into contact with a silky, cold fabric. "It belonged to an old Science officer we had; her name was Carol Marcus." You opened your eyes to see a dark blue Science operations dress, complete with insignia. It was clean; much cleaner than what the other officers were wearing,
"What happened to her?" something about it gave you shivers and Bones' expression changed from that stern look he always seemed to wear to a pained one. It made you all the more uncomfortable that, that expression looked natural,
"She was beamed aboard Khan's ship by her father. He was killed, and then Khan snapped her neck before we even had the chance to beam her back." Your stomach churned. So many wasted lives since that day. You stared at the dead woman's dress, running your fingers over the fabric. It made you shift uneasily and you glanced at Bones,
"You want me to wear a dead woman's dress?"
"Uhura has a 'spare nothing' policy, sorry darlin'. If we had anything else I'd give it to ya." He shrugged sympathetically. You nodded, looking back down at the dress, "Anyway. Put it on; I'm excited to see how you would've looked working on the ship." He clapped his hands together and sat down; brushing some of the day's dirt and grime from his face,
"Well, uh… Do you want to leave, so I can get changed, or...?" He covered his eyes with his hands and tutted,
"I won't look, I swear. Just go ahead."
You wanted to protest and get him to turn around at least, but you just wanted these rags off. You slowly tore the filthy clothes from your body - they almost seemed fused to you considering you'd worn them for well over two weeks. You brushed away any dirt or dust, wanting to keep this dress as immaculate as you could for as long as possible. You slipped into the dress, just the feeling of the new material was alien to you and oddly enough the dress was sized perfectly. It came to halfway down your thighs, and just sat tight enough to show off every curve you had, but not be uncomfortable,
"Ya decent yet sweetheart? Hands are gettin' kinda tired."
"Yeah, uh, I think so."
"What d'ya mean, 'I think s-" McCoy never finished his sentence as he lowered his hands and stared in awe for a few moments. His eyebrows rose ever so slightly and you could see the Adam's apple in his throat moving as he swallowed,
"I'm glad it fits, I, uh, need to speak to Scotty. I'll see you later."
McCoy left without another word, leaving you standing there with a light blush across your cheeks and nose. He was glad it fit, but did it look okay? There were no mirrors so you'd just have to hope that you looked decent. Not a minute after Bones had left, the tent entrance was thrown open to reveal Uhura and luckily she wasn't looking as pissed as she did earlier,
"Oh. Hello, Uhura." You greeted her with a polite wave, and she nodded at you before glancing over her shoulder, "Um, are we going to be joined or…?" Your voice trailed off as she shut the tent behind her, and took a few steps forward,
"No, but I'll be taking you to meet the rest of us shortly." She answered, looking up at you as she brushed down her dress and folded both hands behind her back. She swallowed, clearing her throat, "I just wanted to make it clear that if you are to stay, you're gonna have to be able to haul your own weight, and then some. Commander Spock has advised it best to keep you; we need all the help we can get, and if what McCoy said about you being almost on the other side of the hunting district, then I admit you are of use." You nodded. You'd been saving your own skin ever since you hit the ground running three years ago, so you were pretty sure you could continue doing so but among civilisation, "Also, we have a round the clock patrol on the perimeter of the camp which most of us partake in, and you will also be expected to. Your shift will be from 0200 to 0600, so don't let me catch you falling asleep on the job." She smiled faintly at you, and your shoulders relaxed as apparently you'd be unconsciously tense, "But… That's not wholly why I'm letting you stay." She confessed and shifted her weight slightly,
"What do you mean?" You inquired, and she smiled at you,
"Honestly? It's McCoy." Bones? What the hell did that mean? You frowned at her, and she continued, "Back there when I first met you, and when I bumped into him outside just a minute ago… There's a light in his eyes, and one I haven't seen for a very long time." She explained and you could feel the heat creeping up your neck and across your cheeks again, "Not since Kirk, anyway." Woah. Wait a moment. Since Kirk? That would have to mean…
"Captain Kirk's dead?" You blurted out and she hushed you, ushering you towards the back of the tent,
"But McCoy doesn't know that." She was talking in whispers now, hurried ones, too,
"Why doesn't he know? Isn't that a bit of a big secret to keep from him?" You whispered bitterly, and Uhura looked hurt for a moment,
"Believe me, I know, but before he met Kirk and joined Starfleet he was a complete train wreck, a drunkard wasting his life away." You nodded, but your stomach was still churning away nervously, "All he knows is that Kirk is supposedly hiding. We don't want to keep it from him, but he's valuable to us and we can't afford to lose him. If he knew Kirk was dead…" Her eyebrows were drawn together and she was shaking her head,
"And you want me to keep this from him, too?" You muttered coldly, folding your arms over your chest,
"If you don't, we will lose him." She pleaded and you were reluctant to nod,
"Is everybody aware he's… Y'know…" You trailed off and Uhura shook her head,
"No, only Spock, Sulu, Chekov, Scotty and I are aware he's dead. The rest of them are oblivious and we need to keep it that way." You nodded again and your mind wandered to all of the wanted posters you'd seen of the Captain of the Enterprise's face,
"What about Khan? Does he know?" You asked, still frowning,
"As far as we know, he isn't aware. He still think's Kirk is alive." Uhura murmured. One thing struck you as odd, though; if he was wanted most of all by Khan, and Khan didn't know he was dead, why were there no new shiny posters up and around? There were fresh batches every few months, so old and torn ones were always replaced. Maybe he there was no need for posters,
"Please understand." One of her hands reached out to rest on your crossed arms and you dropped them to your sides, sighing dejectedly,
"Don't worry, I can keep your secret." You said quietly,
"Thank you. Anyway, I'll take you to meet the others now." She gave you a smile, but it was gonna take more than that to lift your mood now.
A few minutes later and Uhura had lead you out of your new sleeping quarters and to a much larger tent which hosted at least thirty people. It was a greenish brown canvas-like material, and part of you wondered how they'd managed to get their hands on a fully intact tent. Didn't they call these things beer tents or something? Maybe it was an army thing. Then again, they were army-ish colours. You glanced around at all of the people and noted that most were seated and talking or carrying things around. The entrance that you'd come in through was in the middle of the tent, and the right end appeared to be filled with beds of sorts, whilst the left end was where Uhura had said we'd find Spock and Co.
She lead you through a few rows of tables which numerous people were seated at and you approached what you figured were kind of the main headquarters. There were stacks of boxes which were unopened and tables with what looked like blueprints and various pieces of equipment strewn across. Clustered around one were four people, all with their backs to you. Two of them you instantly recognised as Scotty and Bones,
"Gentlemen." Uhura cleared her throat and all four turned, and you saw Scotty look at you with a shocked expression,
"Ya weren't kidding, Doctor." He elbowed his stomach and Bones scowled, looking at you for a brief moment but he was quick to avoid your gaze otherwise,
"_(y/n), this is Commander Spock and Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu." You already knew who they were, as with Scotty, but you let the introductions take place anyways,
"It's lovely to meet you, I've already heard good things." Sulu was the first to step forward, offering you his hand with a smirk and you smiled back as you gave your own hand, shaking it. Already heard good things? You glanced at Bones to see he still had his gaze averted, and if you weren't mistaken he was blushing. A moment later you released each other's hands and Sulu took a step back, allowing Spock to step forward and boy had three years changed him. Instead of that neatly kempt hair and small fringe you'd seen in the posters, it was longer and was just about thick enough to hold its own weight and stick upwards in a messy fashion,
"_(y/n), at last I finally meet you." He nodded at you, and you simply continued smiling back, unsure of what to do with yourself,
"Anyway, how about that status report?" Bones seemed to have composed himself and spared a glance your way, but quickly looked back at Spock who still had both hands behind his back,
"Ah, yes. The scouts returned having found nothing of real sustenance, but it was reported that there were copious amounts of alcohol scavenged."
"Oh, for the love of God, please tell me that ya brought back the alcohol." Bones almost seemed to groan, shifting his weight from one foot to the other and folding his arms over his chest,
"I advised against it, as such a large quantity would be a waste of space and-"
"Oh, don't you worry Doctor, I made sure they brought it back with 'em." Scotty interjected with a grin. Bones heaved a sigh of relief and he smiled, slapping Scotty on the back who almost stumbled forward. Scotty scowled at him, but it quickly vanished and was replaced with a grin as Bones announced,
"Well, we'll break into the booze tonight, round the fire. We've got a new crew member, and a reason to celebrate."