Chapter 4:
They day Sulu beat up a crew member who had insulted Chekov was the day Chekov knew once and for all Sulu was the one for him.
A young crew member who Chekov had never seen before, or had but didn't remember, had punched him on the side of the face. The blow was hard enough to bring tears to his eyes and make him fall over backwards, his eyes wild with terror.
But somewhere along the line Sulu had appeared without any one noticing his entrance or presence; but it did seem that he had witnessed the punch that the young man had landed on Chekov's face.
"Apologise to him." Sulu said dryly, drawing the attention of everyone in the room.
"Why should I? Everything that I said was true." The young man sneered.
"I said apologies to him." Sulu repeated, emphasising every word, his temper wearing thin. Chekov could have sworn that he could have cut the tension in the room with a knife as he sat on the floor, eyes still wide and hand on his cheek which was going a purple/blue colour.
" No." The younger man continued to smile arrogantly at him.
Bad move.
Faster than the young man could blink, Sulu had swung a powerful punch at him, connecting with his nose and producing a crunching sound that filled the room; that as well as a lot of blood.
The younger man staggered backward, stunned and pain flooding his system. Chekov moved out of his way and darted past Sulu and out of the room, his hand still held to his cheek.
Sulu glared at the young man, sending a clear message that more pain would be going his way if he touched Chekov again before turning on his heels and following Chekov's exit.
"Sulu?" Chekov asked as Sulu marched past in search of him.
"I'll tell McCoy later why he got a pissed off crew member with a broken nose and a bad attitude go to him." Sulu replied dryly. The punch did feel good, but with his temper blazing inside him he could have inflicted much more damage than that, and walking at a brisk speed he was fighting to control it again once more so he wouldn't go and punch someone in the corridor who he perceived to have looked at Chekov oddly.
"You did not hawe to do that." Chekov told Sulu while he was struggling to keep up. "Vhat if you get into trouble with the keptain?"
"No one should ever talk to you like that Pavel." Sulu replied. "If the captain has a problem with my methods, then he can take it up with me personally; but until then I shall not have anyone treat you like that and get away with it without paying."
"But I do not vant you to get into trouble because of me."
Sulu stopped and looked at him. "Pavel - he had no right!" he told him. "I will have no one talk to you like that."
Chekov remained silent for several seconds looking at Sulu before saying, "no one ewer cared enough about me to defend me."
"I wouldn't get into a fight for just anyone." Sulu told him, smiling. "I would go to hell and back for you, and I wouldn't think twice about it."