Not Mine, Never Mine, Usual Disclaimers

Nyota had spent the next few nights emptying the bottle, trying to focus on Spock, all the while ending up thinking of Nate. The night she ran out of liquor before it even hit the bottom mark, she decided that it was about time that she spoke to someone, hopefully before she became a functioning alcoholic. Abandoning her untouched drink, she headed for the door and ran into Spock. The conversation was brief and left her feeling... something over the thought of Spock entering Kirk's quarters in a familiar, almost casual way. Casting the thought aside for the moment, she waited several minutes until she was sure that Spock wouldn't encounter her again, before leaving her quarters. Partway down the corridor, she encountered Sulu, partly carrying, partly dragging, one passed out navigator.

Sulu looked up at her and blushed, 'damn, I thought no-one would catch me ever.'

Nyota looked between the two men, 'need some help?'

'Nah, I've got it, once Pavel's out, he sleeps like a rock, damn annoying when he falls asleep in my quarters, makes me drag his sorry ass into his own bed.'

'What were you doing in your quarters at this time?'

'Playing Monopoly.'

Nyota watched Sulu drag Chekov into a nearby room, catching the way Sulu brushed his hand across his friend's forehead, leaving the communications officer wondering just what the hell was going on between the pair.

Once down in engineering, Nyota didn't even have to look for Scotty before he called out to her, 'I wasna expectin' ta see ya down 'ere in hell so soon lass.'

Waiting until they were both in his office before she asked her question, 'Hell?'

'No matter wat ya set the controls to, itsa always warm down 'ere, besides, when it goes wrong, itsa here it gets fixed, or needs ta be fixed.'

'I guess the stories really are true then, it really is a whole different world down here,' she teased.

The Scotsman cocked his head at her, 'no more so than anay other department, we're justa bit more removed so itsa more noticeable.'

Thinking about it, Nyota realised that he was right, every department, bridge, sickbay, engineering, science labs etc, all had their unique mannerisms.

'So wha' brings ya down 'ere.'

'Every time I try to imagine Spock, I see Nate.'

'Nate is...'

'My first boyfriend. We broke up, after I went a little crazy at him for being friends with this girl he had known since he was two.'

Scotty looked a little shocked.

'We started high school the same year, I didn't really know him, he didn't know me, we went out a couple of times, then she came along and every time I saw him, I would scream, yell, be a bitch to him. But then he stopped hanging out with her and everything went back to the way it was before, then I found out that they were still friends and I lost it I said to him "clearly you aren't the person I thought you were" he said "then clearly you don't know me" and that was it.'

The Scotsman blinked at her before bursting into laughter, 'ay lass, canna ya see? Spock and Nate are tha same.'

Nyota was dumbfounded for a moment, before realising that he was right, she had been doing the same thing to Spock as she had done to Nate all those years ago.

'Wait... does that mean I see Kirk as a potential romantic threat?'

'I mean, ya fell in love with tha idea of a man, not tha man himself. Wen someone came anda challenged tha view ya tried to force them back ta yer view of them.'

Nyota groaned and covered her face with her hands, 'what the hell am I supposed to do now?'

'Work out who he really is, not who ya think he is, anda see if ya still love 'im.'

'Thanks Scotty, you're a good friend.'

'I take it tha bottle I gave ya didn't help?'

'It made me think of Nate, and let me know that I do have someone to talk to, someone I don't have to poach away from Kirk,' smiling she leant back in her chair, 'so tell me about more about the goings on in hell, and her demonic over lords.'

'That bow before tha puppy king.'

Nyota laughed like she hadn't in a long time.