Three

The Party

Three years later – Shore-leave on the Yorktown base

"You sure you're okay with this, Tori?" asked Sulu uneasily as he watched his sister-in-law bustle around the kitchen. "You really don't have to –"

"Don't be silly," Victoria gave him a look from behind her cookbook, which she was consulting. "You haven't seen Ben and Demora in such a long time, and I know your crew-mates would appreciate human contact that isn't confined to a starship."

"Yeah, but you're doing too much," persisted Sulu. "They don't need this much attention, Tori."

"I know," she waved him off. "But you want to help?" he nodded, seeming relieved. "Great, you can look after stuff while I head to the docking-bay and check on a new shipment coming in."

Sulu nodded again, taking Victoria's spot in the middle of the kitchen and eyeing the many pots and pans bubbling over the stove happily with an uneasy look. Victoria ignored his obvious discomfort, threw off her apron and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek before darting out of the room, yelling out to Ben that she would be home later. As the door kicked shut behind her, Sulu sighed heavily.

He loved Victoria, he really did. She was more than either him or Ben deserved; after all, she had picked up her life and transferred to Yorktown to be with Ben over a year ago when he had expressed concerns over managing work and his daughter alone. While Sulu was glad he had ended up bringing Victoria with him, he pitied the woman. She split her time between home, Demora and work, never pausing long enough to think about what exactly she was working for. She barely had friends – Katie was still in San Francisco, and though she exchanged regular emails with himself and Jim Kirk, he knew she had no one else who cared about her. There was no boyfriend either: Ben had asked her in front of him once, and she had laughed, as if the question itself was ridiculous.

"Anyone here?" Ben poked his head into the kitchen. He saw his husband inside and smiled, but then noticed Sulu's expression. "What is it?"

"Worried about Tori," shrugged Sulu. Ben sighed, clearly needing no more explanation to understand what he meant. "She should go on an assignment, Ben."

"I've told her she's welcome to go when she wants, but she keeps putting it off," said Ben exasperatedly. "I think it has something to do with dad."

Sulu frowned. "But she gets along with Patrick."

"She hasn't seen him since before we left Earth," admitted Ben. "When he came to the house to say goodbye, she was out running errands. I don't think she saw him after that."

That was odd. It was impossible not to get along with Victoria – she had a knack for making people feel at ease, though after knowing her for years Sulu was aware that her skill lay in the fact that she never opened up to anyone enough for them to have a problem with her. "And what about Marissa?" he asked. His mother-in-law was always kind to Victoria.

"You know what she's like about mom," Ben sighed. "They get along, but she's not her mom the same way dad's my dad. Did she say something to you, though?" he asked worriedly. "I keep telling her, Hikaru, that if she needs to go back home she should, but she's convinced herself she can't leave Demora and me alone."

"You should convince her that she can," said Sulu, but shook his head at his husband's look of confusion. "No, not right now. Though, you could start by checking the oven," he glanced at it uneasily. "Should it be making that noise?"

Ben chuckled and went towards it, adjusting the knobs and shaking his head. "Pilot of the Federation flagship, but he's scared of ovens."

Sulu rolled his eyes. "Replicators work just fine."

"Don't let Tori hear you say that. We've only got one, and she hates using it."

"Of course she does. Tori is from the twentieth century."

Ben chuckled and straightened up, reaching out a hand for his husband. "And we wouldn't have her any other way."

Sulu grasped his hand back, smiling fondly. "No, we wouldn't."

!

"Right, send that over to the shipment heading to New Vulcan and get me the Orion ambassador's information so I can send in my report," Victoria nodded to the ensign listening to her instructions, who hurried away to complete his tasks. Once she had finished, she adjusted her headset and connected back to the line running from Earth, continuing to tap away on her PADD furiously. The ensuing conversation coming from her earpiece made her frown. "What? No, Commander, I've got it under control here, we're having issues because we've got – no sir, I understand… Yes, sir… No, sir… Yes, sir."

The call ended abruptly, and she groaned. Making a mental note to get something for her headache, she turned to another ensign who was standing by and clearly waiting for her to be finished before approaching. "What is it?" she asked, rather snappishly.

The younger woman balked. "Checklist for the USS Enterprise's medical department."

"Give it here," without waiting, Victoria snatched the PADD and read through it quickly, her frown getting deeper. "Why the hell do they need so many hyposprays? Actually, wait, don't answer that," she typed in her authorization code and handed the PADD back to the ensign. "I've okayed it but I want a full report on what they're being used on, we don't have an endless supply and the damn Enterprise isn't the only ship docking here."

"You're giving Bones more paperwork? I knew there was a reason I loved you."

The ensign looked equally amused and horrified, as if the very idea of the handsome blonde captain chatting up her superior was foreign to her. To her surprise, Victoria did not immediately bite the man's head off. Instead, she smiled and held out her arms, laughing softly.

"What are you doing hanging around here?" demanded Victoria when Jim was done kissing both her cheeks and winking at the ensign behind her. Rolling her eyes, she shooed the younger woman away and raised an eyebrow at the blonde captain. "I thought you were coming over for dinner tonight."

"I am, but Scotty sent a message that he wanted to run something by me about the ship before we left," explained Jim, linking arms with Victoria and dragging her off in the direction of the Enterprise without waiting for her response. "I left Bones there to argue with him. I heard some officers talking about how Dr. More was back and they needed to get the shipment checked before they loaded it up, so I came to fall at your feet like a true romantic."

Victoria gave him a sideway look. "I'm not letting you smuggle alcohol onto your ship."

Jim gave her an innocent smile. "Why would you think I was –"

"Because you're you," snorted Victoria. Nevertheless, she squeezed his arm. "How have you been?"

"Great," he said faux-happily. Victoria stopped, pulling Jim to a stop with her. ignoring his sound of protest, she placed her hands on his shoulders and took a good look at him. It was hard for Jim Kirk to fool her; his voice lacked the usual enthusiasm, his eyes had bags under them, and there was something off about his smile. Even his posture was all wrong; that annoying swagger was there, but it looked forced instead of natural. Still, he looked happy to see her, though obviously keen to avoid her commenting on his behaviour. "I forgot you were at Yorktown until Bones mentioned seeing you the day we docked."

"I would have tried to find you, but I had just run a double shift and I wanted to go home," said Victoria apologetically. She wouldn't interrogate him, at least not now. The only reason Jim loved her as much as she did was because she knew when to keep her mouth shut, and there was no point giving him a hard time about something she could tell he was already torn up about. But, when she realized what he had said, she frowned. "Wait, you forgot?"

Jim smiled sheepishly. "Your last email said you were working as a shipment supervisor. I thought it was a joke."

"It wasn't," Victoria nudged him playfully. "I'm biding my time, Kirk. I'll get on a ship soon enough."

"If I didn't know better, Tori, I'd say you're afraid of flying," teased Jim. "You wouldn't join my ship because it'd be a demotion, but you're here yelling at ensigns and making checklists."

"The amount of satisfaction you get from yelling at unqualified and inept young kids is endless, Jim," said Victoria solemnly as they neared the Enterprise.

"Then I don't get why Bones likes yelling at me so much."

"Honey, you deserve everything he throws at you."

"He threw a whiskey bottle at me once."

"Did he hit you?"

"No, he missed."

"Damn it. I would have thought –"

"Goddamn it, man, I'm a doctor not an engineer!"

Jim winced. "And there's my cue."

"Is that Dr. McCoy?" asked Victoria amusedly.

"Yeah, and he's pissed," Jim sighed, grabbed on a random pole hanging from the ship – clearly, the repairs were going to take a while – and swung himself up into the open shaft from where Victoria could hear voices. "Bones?" Jim called out. In response, there was a loud clang, and Victoria winced. The next moment she heard someone shouting, and a balding man with a red face and grease-stains on his shirt dropped to the ground at Victoria's feet, groaning and rubbing his arm. The sleeve of his shirt was smoking.

"Are you alright?" asked Victoria worriedly. She knelt down by his side, gingerly checking him for bruises, but he waved her off, rubbing his head and sitting up with a wince. She recognized him immediately from the wedding. "Mr. Scott?"

"Aye, who're you?" he squinted up at her, his thick Scottish accent confusing her for a moment.

"Victoria More," she introduced herself quickly. "I'm Sulu's –"

But Scotty was already waving her off. "Yes, yes, I remember ye, Dr. More. Best meatpies I've ever had in me life," Victoria laughed. "How're you doin', lassie?"

"Better than you, clearly," Victoria held out a hand and helped him to his feet. "Everything alright?"

"Fine, fine," he waved away her concern. "McCoy isn't the best assistant."

"That's because my training involves fixing people, not scraps of junk!"

Victoria let out a soft laugh as Leonard McCoy jumped down from the same opening the engineer had fallen from, though his landing was much more graceful. He threw the Scotsman a dirty look. "And who the hell told you it would be a good idea to throw a wrench at me?"

"Hello, Doctor," interrupted Victoria smoothly. She slid in front of Scotty, giving him a conspiratorial smile when he looked relieved at her intervention. McCoy looked taken aback by her presence; he clearly had not heard her before. Victoria kept smiling and held out a hand. "Nice to see you again."

"Yeah, you too, Doc," replied McCoy, grasping her hand and offering her a small smile. The abbreviation threw Victoria off for a moment, giving McCoy enough time to step around her, though his light, almost friendly touch on her arm as he made his way towards Scotty told her that he was not trying to be rude. "I'm not gonna hit you, Scotty!" he snapped as the engineer attempted to cringe away. "You've burned your damn arm, let me take a look."

"I haven't, McCoy, for Christ's sake I've had worse!"

"Everything alright?" Kirk's head poked down from the hatch, and he raised an eyebrow at McCoy and Scotty's bickering, and Victoria's slightly confused stance next to them. "Bones, leave the man alone!" swinging down, he grabbed Victoria's hand and stepped between his other two friends, effectively ending their argument. "Let's go. We're having dinner at Sulu's, remember?"

"Dinner?" Victoria could have sworn Scotty's ears perked up. "We are?"

Jim ran a hand through his hair exasperatedly. "Sulu told us about it the day we docked, Scotty."

"Yeah, I bet he was too busy trying to get access to the base's technical files to listen," snorted McCoy, though there was no bite in his voice.

Scotty looked surprised. "How'd you know about that?"

"If you want access, Mr. Scott, I could help you," piped up Victoria. The three men jumped, as if they had forgotten she was there. She quirked an eyebrow at their confused looks. "I work here, remember?"

"You do?" asked McCoy in surprise, at the same time as Scotty began to demand to know what kind of access she meant.

"I handle shipments and restocks for science departments on docked ships," Victoria answered McCoy first, before turning to Scotty and offering him her PADD. "You're welcome to look through whatever I have access to, Mr. Scott. Off the record, of course. I don't know if it'll be interesting from an engineer's perspective."

"Yorktown is an engineer's dream," said Scotty, accepting the PADD eagerly. His fingers danced across the screen. "The info ain't goin' nowhere except my head, lassie, don' you worry 'bout that."

"Like a kid with candy," muttered Jim. Scotty's attention was too focused on the device in his hands to steer through the crowds on his own; Jim placed a hand on his shoulder and guided him towards the exit, leaving Victoria to walk with McCoy a few steps behind them.

They exchanged looks of bemusement, and it was suddenly as if they were at Hikaru's wedding all over again. Victoria smiled. "How have you been, Dr. McCoy?"

"Peachy," said McCoy sarcastically. He gave her a wary glance as soon as he spoke, as if he expected her to be offended by his tone. Victoria merely smiled. He shrugged. "Still alive so I guess that's worth something. And yourself?"

"Peachy," said Victoria teasingly. McCoy grunted out a laugh, sidestepping a group of technicians arguing loudly in jargon that went over Victoria's head completely. She was pleasantly surprised when she felt his hand touch her lower back, steering her away from the rowdy men and placing himself between them and her. How very old-fashioned, she thought in amusement.

"Alright, I set myself up for that," said McCoy, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Any reason you opted out of working on a starship for becoming an administrator?" again, he watched her warily. Did people often take offense at what he said? Victoria wondered at his careful tone.

She shrugged, not perturbed in the slightest. "Yorktown is quiet."

McCoy waited for a moment, then snorted when he realized that was her only justification. "Darlin', if quiet is what you're going for, then inviting the crew back to your house is a big mistake."

She turned pink at the endearment – her last interaction with the man over three years ago had informed her of his penchant for using the word, but she had almost forgotten about it. Victoria flicked a loose strand of her out of her eyes and shrugged, hoping he hadn't noticed her blush. "I'm sure Mr. Spock will be more than willing to keep them in line," she said diplomatically. "Besides, I haven't seen adults that I'm not related to or working with in some way in a very long time."

"Yeah?" McCoy seemed amused. "You still on baby duty? The kid's almost eight now."

Victoria was impressed he remembered. "The same age your daughter was when I met her, I believe," her eyes twinkled, and she was pleased to see the slight frown lines that lingered across McCoy's forehead vanish at the mention of Joanna. "How is she?"

"She's good. Boarding school in Cerberus," McCoy smiled fondly, but his expression was slightly forced.

Victoria raised her eyebrows. "Is it a punishment?"

McCoy winced. "No, but she doesn't like it there."

Then why send her? "I went to boarding-school too, it can be hard," Victoria said sympathetically. "Does she spend the holidays at home?"

"She wants to. Her mom isn't the best at figuring out what –" he cut himself off, face turning slightly red from embarrassment. "Sorry, I'm just ramblin' now."

"That's quite alright," though she had no idea why he was apologizing, to ease some of his awkwardness Victoria looked ahead. She kept her eyes fixed on Jim's blonde head as he, strangely enough, seemed to be going in the same direction she had parked her car in. It seemed like she would be driving them home. "I actually enjoyed my own time away, though. In my experience, it helps to leave a problematic parent behind," she gave him a small smile. "And I don't think you're the problem, Doctor."

McCoy held her gaze for a moment. "Leonard," he said finally. Victoria quirked an eyebrow. He raised one of his own. "It's my name. You've been calling me doctor since we met."

"That was over three years ago," reminded Victoria.

"Three years is enough time to switch to first names," snorted McCoy. "Jim gave me a nickname a day after meeting me."

Victoria laughed. "Leonard," she agreed. Did she imagine the way his lips twitched when she said his name? Probably. "I suppose it's only fair you get to call me Victoria now."

McCoy shrugged. "Oh, I ain't the kind of man who asks that sort of thing."

Oh, so he did have a sense of humour. "I didn't think you were," she laughed, and nudged his arm with the corner of her elbow – she barely reached his shoulder, even in her workwear high heels. "I'm only joking. Please, do call me Victoria."

"Not Tori?"

It took her a moment to realize he was still teasing her. He was looking straight ahead, and she realized that was probably a good thing, since he was practically leading them now; she had lost sight of Jim ages ago. Victoria almost clapped her hands in delight, but refrained from embarrassing him with her enthusiasm.

However, she could not resist the urge to tease right back. "I don't like you quite that much yet, Leonard."

"You wait until the night is over, darlin'," his lazy drawl combined with the Southern accent caused her to giggle like a teenager. "After a few hours of Jim, I might be the only one you still like."

Victoria did not argue with him.