Disclaimer: I don't own. I don't profit.

Special thanks to my Beta Notes from the Classroom for all the encouragement she's given in this time (I am pretty tired), and for betaing. Check out her latest (and probably greatest) fic in my faves "What We Think We Know".

The Unexpected

Had Jim expected a thank you? Idle chit chat? Had he dared even imagine...flirting?

Jim stepped off a boulder.

Beside him Janice leaped off the same rock. Without meeting his eye she said, "Make sure when we cross any obstacles that you put a good .75 meters between you and the object. There's a type of venomous lizard that lives in dark crevices here. Its first instinct is to bite when startled, and it is lethal in 3 minutes. I have a kit, but I might not be fast enough to save you."

"Oh," said Jim. "Thanks for the warning. I had no idea Camus II was so dangerous."

"That's why I brought you along," said Janice. "Hiking alone here is suicidal."

Jim did not sigh. Did this woman have no consideration for his fragile ego? He pitied himself for all of thirty seconds, then took a deep breath of non-recycled air. "Thanks for inviting me. I love my ship, but it's really good to get off occasionally and stretch my legs."

And it was.

"It's nice occasionally to get away from the stresses of command," he added. He was off duty, with a beautiful non-crew member, who might not be interested in him but was still interesting, and nice eye candy; he could fuck up and make a fool of himself without lasting repercussions. He almost smiled at the thought.

From the corner of his eye he saw Janice's gaze on him, but when he turned his head she immediately looked away.

"Yes," she said picking up the pace. Jim quickened his strides and was soon too breathless for any idle chit-chat.

When they came to the spot Janice had pointed to on the PADD, his lungs were burning pleasantly and he was just beginning to feel the prickle of sweat in the cool air. They were on a bluff about 2 kilometers from the main camp. Wind ruffled Jim's hair as he turned away from the camp buildings below and instead turned to the bubble gum pink sun. He was light years from Iowa, and the moment was perfect.

He surveyed the top of the bluff. There were some nondescript rocks strewn about. Nothing dramatic like the top of a turret sticking up through the ground, but Janice didn't look disappointed. In fact, at that moment she was using her hands to brush away some small stones from a larger boulder about .5 meters long by .25 meters wide that almost looked like -

"Is that one of the large blocks they used to build their main buildings?" Jim asked.

Brow furrowed in concentration and almost smiling, Janice said, "Yes, I think it is. It's been pretty worn down, but look -" She dug quickly and carefully around the bottom edge, seemed to find what she was looking for, and then dug up some loose earth. "Come here," she said.

Jim came over and looked over her shoulder. As she brushed away the earth with her hands, another flat stone emerged. Kneeling down Jim applied his hands to the same spot. "Let me know if I'm doing it wrong," he said.

Janice looked up and did smile. "You can't do this part wrong."

Before long they'd pulled back the ground enough to see that it was indeed a building block beneath the exposed 'boulder.' Wiping her hands, Janice climbed up onto the first rock and laughed. "This is fantastic!"

Jim stood up and wiped his own hands. He didn't go to the boulder where she was sitting. Instead, he sat down on a boulder a few feet away. It was deliberate. He had too much pride to intrude on her personal space - let Coleman be the one to do that.

After a moment Janice said, "Thank you."

Jim tilted his head.

"For the scans," said Janice. She looked down, "And for everything. Helping me get Coleman out of my office."

Jim shrugged, "It was no problem."

Janice began unpacking her lunch; Jim did the same. To make conversation he said, "So you were on the command track."

Nodding, Janice said, "Yes, but I discovered that wasn't my true calling. I was just doing it to prove something. My real love is archeology and alien civilizations." Unwrapping a protein bar she said, "Up until a little while ago I would have said my time on the command track wasn't wasted. It seemed like a great help when I started leading the research team."

"Up until a while ago?" asked Jim, unwrapping a protein bar of his own.

Janice looked down. "I have trouble with Coleman. He just...doesn't quite cross the line."

"It's hard to have someone dismissed for having an inconvenient 'crush'," Jim said. "And unlike me, you can't have their duties reassigned so they don't come in contact with you often." The camp on Camus II was too small. Everyone was on top of each other.

"Yes," said Janice. She sighed and took a bite of her protein bar.

Jim added, "It's a bad business getting involved with crew members. I don't do it either. It complicates everything."

Janice raised an eyebrow, took a swig of water, and then said, "You know, you don't really fit your reputation."

"My reputation?" said Jim.

"Yes..." said Janice. She looked away.

"Oh, come on, if you start like that, you have to finish," said Jim, guessing what she might say.

Janice looked away. "Well, you know, the brash cadet who got his captaincy from a publicity stunt."

"That part is true," said Jim.

Janice looked at him, eyes wide.

Shrugging, Jim said, "I was not qualified to be captain. It was a publicity stunt. I was supposed to make the people of Earth feel safer doing much publicized feel-good milk runs. But, some of the milk runs didn't go as expected..."

"You've accomplished a lot as captain," said Janice. "I have heard things -"

There were a lot of things the Enterprise crew had accomplished. A lot of those things Jim wasn't allowed to talk about. Instead he said, "I have the best crew in the fleet."

Janice smiled. "And that doesn't fit the rumor of an ego as large as the galaxy."

Laughing, Jim said, "As big as a galaxy; come on! The size of a small solar system, maybe…"

Janice laughed softly.

Jim winked, "Okay, maybe a large solar system."

She laughed a little louder and Jim smiled. He was enjoying the conversation. He liked her before but liked her even more now that she showed she had the guts to talk about his 'reputation.' "Okay," he said, "What else do they say about me?"

Janice tilted her head. "They say that you're a womanizer."

Jim's smile vanished. "Okay, that isn't funny. I don't like the word 'womanizer.' It implies someone who takes shameless advantage of women. I don't like it. It's true, I do enjoy the company of women - and all that implies, but I do not take advantage of that company. Or at least, only so much as they take advantage of me."

"You've had a few affairs that have been quite public -"

"If you're talking about the Romulan ambassador, it was all in the line of duty, well, mostly. And the story about the Trill Admiral is completely made up."

Blinking, Janice said, "Really?"

Jim sighed. "Yes, sadly. We are good friends, though."

"So," said Janice, "not a womanizer then, but perhaps a playboy."

"Playboy?" said Jim taking a bite of his protein bar.

"Lots of women, but nothing underhanded. It's probably a sensible arrangement. You are a captain. Relations with crew members are difficult - and your mission has you gone for months at a time. Not the most optimal conditions for a long term relationship."

"No," said Jim, "it's not."

"I'm in a similar situation," said Janice.

Trying not to look like his ears had just perked up, Jim said, "I don't know if I like the word playboy, though."

"But I like playboys," Janice said. "They aren't hurt that I can't commit. As long as they are honest and don't make any insincere promises of babies and marriage, they make wonderful..." she tilted her head and looked at the ground. "Company."

"Janice," said Jim with a smile, "I will never promise you babies or marriage."

Janice looked up at him and laughed.

Jim grinned. This was way better than flirting. He really liked this woman.

x x x x

They didn't have sex on the bluff. They did make out like teenagers, though. And they continued to make out along the trail to camp - carefully out of the range of venomous lizards. Consequently it was almost dusk when Jim dropped her and his PADDs off at her office.

They didn't have sex there either. But they wound up on the floor under Janice's desk laughing in various stages of undress. Jim was nibbling on her chin when his comm alarm chimed.

"Crap," he said. "My off duty time is ending. I have to round up Spock and Uhura for a briefing on today's findings."

Kissing his cheek, Janice said, "I understand - as long as I get to see you every day until you leave."

Jim pushed his lips against hers and kissed her deeply. Pulling back, he said, "I will find some way to make it so."

His comm alarm chimed again.

"Go, go!" said Janice with a smile, pushing him away with her hands. Jim stumbled awkwardly to his feet and pulled her up next to him. He kissed her again with a smile. She pushed at him and slapped him gently. "No man of mine, no matter how temporary, is a slacker. Attend to duty, Captain!"

"Yes, ma'am," said Jim stepping back with a smile.

A few kisses later he was out the door and off to find Uhura and Spock. Uhura's comm placed her closer, in the new room that was just discovered. That was odd, but he made his way there anyway.

In the evening darkness he could see light spilling out of the chamber. Walking in he called, "Uhura -" The room appeared empty. Throughout the room at various angles were walls like two way honeycombs. Within the honeycomb walls were seemingly decorative crystals as long as his hand and a few fingers' breadth wide. His lieutenant could be behind one.

"Uhura?" Jim said again, this time louder. He entered her comm number. From around one of the strange barriers he heard her comm chime. Walking around the honeycomb he saw it beneath a workbench. Kneeling down, Jim picked it up. It wasn't like Uhura to forget anything...

Standing up he turned around and found himself face to face with Dr. Coleman. The man smiled and moved something in his hand. Jim's world went black.

A/N:

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