"I need yer help, Leo." The doctor looked at him, "With?" Monty sighed, "I asked Jim to go out with me but I have no idea what to do or where we should go." McCoy chuckled, "You act like you've never been on a date before, Scotty." He looked at Jim's best friend, "I have. I've never been on a date with Jim and I know for a fact that dinner and a movie aren't gonna cut it. I also know that she prefers something casual over some fancy, pretentious thing. You gotta help me out, lad."
The last time Jim went on a date was a particularly interesting conversation. She was still dressed up when she answered the comm and Montgomery could remember every detail like it was yesterday. The way her hair fell in perfect golden curls. The subtle gold eyeshadow drew him to her beautiful blue eyes. That little black dress with the sheer panels on her right shoulder and left side that was just the right mix of conservative and sexy.
The man she went out with was nice enough, a doctor of some kind; he tried to impress her with dinner at this overly fancy restaurant. Of course, Jim would never have picked a place like that because it just wasn't her style. She held her own –like always- but she wasn't comfortable and it was only made worse by the fact that the guy talked about himself the whole night.
Monty tried to convince her –if only for a few minutes- that she had to give the guy a break but she told him that the guy lost the chance when he tried to swallow her face. Montgomery should've known that he was in deep then because all he wanted to do was pound on the guy for touching his girl. The green-eyed monster returned to the cage when Jim told him that the only reason she even went on a date was to get Bones and Gaila off her back about her lacking social life. Because of him.
"You're right; Jim isn't the girl to do fancy for no reason. And while we both know she likes movies, that's kinda lazy for a first date with someone you've known for over a year. My advice, do something fun and unexpected. Make up an adventure, not too much adventure, but do something that shakes you both up. You know, Gaila knows Jim as well as I do and they actually have girl talk. Maybe the two of us can point you in the right direction."
Montgomery took a deep breath. He took McCoy's advice and sought out their Jim's best girl friend. Gaila was more than happy to help him figure out what to do for their date and apparently, she took it upon herself to help Jim 'get ready.' Monty took a deep breath and hit the buzzer to Pike's apartment. Like the last time he was here, a beautiful woman answered the door. Unlike last time, it wasn't the woman he was looking for.
"Monty." He smiled, "Winona." Jim's mother had given him the okay for first names out of uniform. He wasn't surprised to find her here, Pike offered to let her stay when he was still in the hospital. Winona touched his shoulder, "I'll tell the girls you're here." He nodded his thanks and glanced at the captain as he stood just inside the door, "Sir." Pike looked at him, "Don't think that I can't hurt you from this chair, Scott." The engineer nodded, "I would never think that, sir." Pike smirked, "Good. I love that kid and I'll do very unpleasant things to anyone who hurts her. You see what she did to the people who hurt me?"
"Yes, sir." Pike smiled, "I'll make it look like child's play." Montgomery swallowed, "Understood, sir." He looked up when he heard laughter, "Be nice, Chris." Monty smiled at Jim, "He's just doing his job as yer surrogate father, lass. I expected it to be a lot more painful." Jim laughed, her eyes sparkling as she did. "You look beautiful as always." She smiled, "Thank you. You look good too. I'm not under-dressed, am I? I couldn't believe Gaila didn't make me put on a dress."
"Nope, you're perfect." Winona and Gaila both sighed from behind her, "Awe." Pike rolled his eyes, "Are you gonna stand there staring at each other or are you going on a date?" Montgomery smiled, "He has a good point. Shall we?" Jim grabbed her jacket, "Yes, we shall. Bye, guys." She kissed Pike on the top of his head, "Later, cranky." The captain smiled at her, "Have fun, kiddo."
"What is this place?" He smiled at her, "You'll see." They walked hand-in-hand into the dance studio and Jim eyes widened, "No way. How did you…? Bones and Gaila." Montgomery nodded, "I might owe them a few drinks. The instructor smiled at them, "Come on in. You must be Monty and Jim." He smiled, "Aye, that's us."
The woman instructed them to take off their shoes and jackets like everyone else. "You're awesome, you know that?" He chuckled, "You might want to hold off until you see me dance." Jim smiled, "You can't be that bad. I've been trying to get Bones to come to a Bollywood class with me forever." He smiled, "Well, I wanted ot go for something you haven't done yet. It just so happens that it's something I haven't done either. I'm pretty sure that I'm gonna embarrass myself."
"Don't worry, I'll help you. And if that doesn't work, we'll just be embarrassing together." He nodded as the instructor got started. The moves weren't overly difficult and Jim was having a blast, which was the whole point. Montgomery was just glad that he wasn't the worst dancer of the bunch.
"Admit it that was fun." Montgomery nodded, "Only because I was too busy watching you." She gave him a bright smile, "Charmer." He chuckled, "Only when I'm with you, lass." Jim stepped closer to him, "That so?" He would've nodded but she kissed him before he could. The last time she kissed him, he didn't have a chance to do anything, he wasn't letting that happen again. Montgomery pulled her closer with one hand on the small of her back and the other at the nape of her neck, then he deepened it. His brain almost short-circuited when she moaned.
When they broke apart to breathe, she looked up at him, "You've been holding out on me." He chuckled, "In all fairness, the last time you kissed me was a drive-by." Jim chuckled, "True." Montgomery didn't want to move but they were standing on the sidewalk in the middle of San Francisco, "Ya hungry?" She nodded, "A little." He smiled, "How does a burger and a milkshake sound?" Jim smiled, "Like heaven." They weren't far from their favorite burger place, so they decided to walk.
By some miracle, nobody bothered them as they sat next to each other in one of the booths, talking about everything they could think of over burgers, fries and chocolate milkshakes. "I'm glad they didn't leave the wee one out there. I think they might shut the Delta Vega outpost down." Jim nodded, "God I hope so. I looked the place up. Did you know that it used to be manned by a hundred or so people until the climate took a nose dive?" He chuckled, "Yea. Keenser was still there back then."
"Alright, you're two of my favorites and I love ya, but I gotta kick you out. Welcome back by the way, she was miserable without you," the owner, Carl, told them. Monty looked around and realized that the place was empty, save the three of them and one of the waiters. "Is it bad that I didn't notice that earlier?" Jim sighed in relief that he didn't touch what Carl said. She looked around, "I noticed but only because I'm hardwired that way." He nodded before looking at Carl, "What do I owe ya?" The man shook his head, "Nothing. You kids saved the world, free food is the least I could do. I do have a favor to ask, though."
Jim looked at the man as they pulled on their jackets, "Name it." He smiled, "A holo and an autograph?" She smiled, "Sure." He handed her a marker and she signed one of the restaurant's t-shirts. Carl looked at him, "You too." Montgomery chuckled, "I'm just the engineer." Jim nudged him, "You're the badass engineer who saved our lives." Since she put it that way, he smiled and signed the shirt next to Jim's name, "You know, other than Commander Spock, the others come here all the time."
"I know," Carl told them before the waiter, Johnny, took a holo of the three of them. The kid looked at Jim and she offered to take one with him so he could show off to his friends. His smile was almost as bright as hers. They headed back to Pike's after that. He looked at her, "You probably made tha lad's year." Jim sighed, "I'm never gonna get used to stuff like that. I don't like the attention." He smiled, "Too bad. You have my attention all the time." She shook her head, "I better not. There are more important things than me."
"Like you being miserable without me?" Jim smiled, "I knew you weren't gonna let that go." He chuckled, "It's not like I didn't already know. I missed you too. You have no idea how much I missed you. The good thing is that we're together right now, for however long that lasts. I made the mistake of not telling you how I felt before. I'm not doing that again." She sighed, "Think we can save the confessions for next time, this is me. Well, Pike's but you get the…" Monty pressed his lips against hers, cutting her off. He wasn't trying to be rude, he just needed to kiss her. She pulled him as close as they could get without being indecent.
He rested his forehead against hers, "I should go before we give Pike's neighbors a show." Jim nodded, "I don't want you to go." Montgomery smiled, "Neither do I, but I'm a gentleman. I'll comm you tomorrow." He gave her a quick kiss, "Goodnight, lass." She smiled, "Night, Monty."