"Now, here's the thing – I like this woman – a lot. Try not to get in the way, okay?" McCoy gave Jim what he hoped was his most stern look.
"Wait, you're actually admitting interest in a member of the opposite sex? I gotta meet this girl," Jim perked up significantly and dropped his legs from where they'd been crossed on the coffee table. He stood up quickly, brilliant blue eyes shining. McCoy groaned; he knew he shoulda commed Sabine and told her to meet him at the library once he'd realized Jim was at the apartment and wasn't leaving. But it was too late now – she was on her way.
McCoy had spent the afternoon cleaning their apartment and had run out to grab some drinks and snacks for the study session he and Sabine had planned. When he'd gotten back, there was Jim, sprawled out on the couch, already leaving his crap all over the place. McCoy wanted to howl in frustration. Jim's study date had fallen through (study date, his ass) and now he couldn't get rid of the kid. This was not how he wanted to introduce Sabine to Jim. Come to think of it, he didn't want to introduce them at all. But he supposed this was bound to happen sooner or later.
"Tell me more about this lady who's got you cleaning up our apartment," Jim teased. This was like Christmas to him. Imagine, Bones dating! He could not wait to see what kind of woman would turn his best friend's head.
"Listen here," McCoy snarled, turning suddenly to his roommate and pointing a finger at him. "You're gonna meet her in about 5 minutes. And so help me, if you say one wrong thing –"
"Relax, Bones. I know how to behave." This prompted a huff of exasperation from the poor doctor.
"So this explains why you've been gone so much lately, huh?" Jim had been wondering where his drinking buddy was disappearing to the past month and a half.
"No, I've been gone because I work at the clinic and attend classes – something you should think about, you know." McCoy didn't want to admit that Jim was partially right – he had been spending a lot of time at Sabine's dorm lately. Never overnight stays, but what little free time he had, he spent mostly with her. He gathered up all of Jim's debris and tossed it into the other cadet's messy room.
"You always found time to visit the bars with me in the past…," Jim responded, ignoring his friend's remarks about his less than stellar class attendance record.
"It's been a busy semester," McCoy muttered.
"I'll say," Jim retorted with glee. "Is she cute?"
"Shut it," was the growled response.
And before McCoy had a chance to issue another threat to Jim, there was a knock on the door. Jim made a beeline to answer and it was only because McCoy was closer that he got to the door first. But just to be sure, he gave Jim a hearty push into the armchair on his way.
"Stay!" he commanded the younger cadet, like Jim was a golden retriever.
"You've got it so bad," Jim teased, while untangling himself from the heap he'd landed in when McCoy shoved him.
"I will hurt you," McCoy seethed quietly to him, while grabbing the door. Jim laughed in response and McCoy let his guest in.
"Hey….so it's not just you and me here right now," McCoy said to Sabine softly, blocking her from fully entering the apartment.
"Oh?" she replied. She'd never been in the McCoy/Kirk apartment when Jim was there. Her eyes lit up. "Does this mean I get to meet the infamous Jim Kirk?" She made her signature twisted half-smile and moved to push past McCoy. He rolled his eyes and got out of her way. At this point, there was no stopping this meeting. That train had left the station and was operating without brakes. He mentally girded his loins.
"So, you must be….," Jim fell silent as he approached Sabine. He looked briefly at McCoy with something akin to approval and then focused his attentions back to Sabine. "…the woman who's attempting to tame Bones," he said appreciatively.
"You make that sound like quite a task – what if he is the one taming me?" she responded, arching an eyebrow. "I am Sabine Latour. You must be Jim Kirk."
"In the flesh. Whatever Bones has told you, don't believe it. Unless it was good." Jim gave her one of his signature smiles and McCoy rolled his eyes.
"What good could I possibly say about you?" McCoy grumbled.
"He's just grumpy because he thinks I'm gonna interrupt your…," Jim paused and grinned lasciviously, "…study time. But don't worry. You won't notice me. It'll be like I'm not even here."
Sabine laughed as she removed her coat and handed it to McCoy, along with a bag of treats she had brought along as well – they certainly wouldn't go hungry while studying. She turned back to face Jim, her eyes sparkling as much as his.
"I do not believe that for a second."
"She's a smart one, Jim." McCoy couldn't help if a bit of pride entered his voice.
"And we are here to study," she said to Jim. "Nothing else." She set her PADD down on the table, where McCoy had his PADD set up for studying.
"That's between you two." Jim crossed his arms and leaned against the entry-way to the dining nook, thoroughly enjoying the chance to spar with a beautiful woman.
"Mmm, maybe it concerns you too. Maybe we will wait till you are gone and then do unspeakable things in your bedroom." McCoy let out an unexpected laugh at that. He had to hand it to Sabine – she gave as good as she got.
"Oh, I like this one, Bones. I like her a lot."
"You should. You hit on me my first night on campus," Sabine retorted.
"I think I remember that. It was at O'Shae's, wasn't it?"
"It was! I am surprised you remember." She cocked her head to the side, intrigued that Jim Kirk would remember such a fleeting encounter from over a year ago.
"I never forget a beautiful face."
McCoy rolled his eyes. Jim was laying it on thick.
"Does that really work on other girls?" she asked, unimpressed.
"The Jim Kirk charm seemed to work on your friend, if I recall," Jim said nonchalantly, as if she hadn't just insulted him. Instead, he flashed her a megawatt grin.
"Oh là. You are incorrigible," Sabine shook her head at him, smiling at the same time.
"Well, now that we've all met, how 'bout you show us just how invisible you can be?" McCoy said pointedly to Jim.
"Okay, okay. It was a pleasure meeting you, Sabine. Hope I get to see a lot more of you around here," Jim gave another grin that would have seemed lecherous on any other guy and reached out to shake Sabine's hand. She hesitated before placing her gloved hand in his.
"Have a good night, Jim," she responded, pulling her hand away from his after they had shook hands. If he noticed her gloves, he didn't let on. Of course, it was winter so maybe he thought she just hadn't finished unbundling from the walk over.
"Can I get you something to drink?" McCoy asked Sabine as she sat down.
"Sure. Water would be great."
"No coffee?"
"Not yet. We have a long night ahead – I will wait till I really need it."
"Be right back," he told her and he left the nook to grab drinks from the kitchen. On his way, he made eye contact with Jim, who had resumed his couch sprawl. Jim gave him a thumbs up and he snorted in response. Jim took that as an invitation to spring off the couch and join McCoy in the kitchen.
"Remember, you promised to behave," McCoy said softly yet ominously to his roommate.
"Yeah, well, I can't help it if she wants to play. She's really something, Bones." Jim kept his voice low as well.
"You do anything to cause trouble tonight and I swear, you'll wake up with no eyebrows," McCoy had often threatened to shave Jim's eyebrows in his sleep but it hadn't actually happened yet.
"Hey, I don't want to mess this up. I want her to come back. Maybe bring some of her friends….."
"Over my dead body," McCoy growled, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge for Sabine and then grabbing a cup to pour himself some coffee.
"I'm kidding, Bones. I'm kidding. But I do like her. And if her friends want to come by…"
McCoy groaned in response.
"You're an idiot. Now leave us alone. We're studying for block exams – it's important," he added, knowing Kirk had no idea what block exams were.
"Gotcha. I'll be as quiet as a mouse. You'll forget I'm around," Jim smiled as he sauntered back to the couch and laid down on it.
While Jim wasn't quite as inconspicuous as McCoy would have liked, he did an admirable job keeping quiet, only socializing with the couple when they would take breaks from their studies. It was obvious that Jim and Sabine would get along just fine and though McCoy would rather be hogtied and drug down the street by wild horses than admit it, he was pleased that his roommate approved of his girlfriend. Not that Jim Kirk was especially discerning when it came to pretty women, but McCoy noticed that Jim was going out of his way to behave, even ignoring the glove issue, which he was certain his roommate would pester him about at some point.
Around 4am, Sabine began to pack her stuff up, saying she needed to get back to her dorm for a few hours of sleep.
"You know, you could stay here tonight," McCoy gestured to the now-empty couch that Jim had abandoned for his bed around 2am. "I can sleep there and you can take my bed."
"Oh…I should not," she said softly. "But thank you for the offer."
"You sure?" McCoy had noticed that Sabine never wanted him to spend the night with her. He understood when the only place to sleep was her rather tiny bed – the temptation to be intimate was exacerbated by close quarters. He'd even understood when she'd left his place the other night because he hadn't been quite sure what time Jim might finally stagger back. But Jim knew about her now and he was offering to stay in a completely separate room.
"Yes. I….I do not sleep very well," she hesitated for a moment before continuing. "I have nightmares frequently and they trigger my telekinesis."
McCoy stared at his girlfriend for a moment before answering. He believed what she was saying and was surprised she was being so forthright with him. He took her hand in his own and sat down next to her, leading her to stop packing her bag and sit as well.
"So when you say it triggers the telekinesis…?" he prompted her.
"I get upset when I have nightmares and I make things around me levitate… sometimes I accidentally break things."
"Things like?"
"Anything that is not bolted to the floor."
"So…. furniture?"
"Yes," she said uncomfortably. He whistled.
"Is that how you ended up with one of the coveted single rooms?"
"Yes," she repeated, looking forlorn. "I broke the nose of my friend Maria one night because a chair hit her while I was sleeping. I felt so awful when I realized what I had done."
"Oh, darlin'." McCoy didn't know what else to say. He caressed her cheek.
"You did not realize what you were getting into when you decided to date me. I feel awful. We cannot have sex and we cannot even sleep – just sleep! – with each other."
"I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Still hoping the whole sex thing isn't permanently off the table."
She smiled at him. "Me too. But in the meantime, I am also working on a remedy for my sleep-related issues."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yes. Up to now, my only recourse has been sleeping aids but I do not want to be reliant on outside factors to get good sleep. So I am working with some of the science and medical faculty to study what triggers me and how to circumvent my telekinesis…and maybe even stop the nightmares."
Sabine was proud of herself for being able to tell Leo about her sleep issues and even more relieved that she hadn't needed to lie to him. While it was true that she was working with faculty members to figure out how to prevent her sleep episodes, she omitted to mention that Section 31 was also involved. At this point, Sabine no longer had qualms about omissions. Anything she could share with Leo was a victory in her book.
"These nightmares…what are they about?"
A shadow crossed her face.
"They vary. I do not always remember them."
"This might sound weird but… Do they ever involve you walking hand in hand with someone else… like maybe me… by a river in a city?"
McCoy had been wanting to tell Sabine about the eerie dreams which left him feeling so tense and agitated. This seemed like a good opportunity to do so, though even he wasn't sure why he asked her if she was having the same dreams he was. Maybe it had something to do with how connected to her he felt when he'd wake up. He had frequently rolled over upon waking, expecting to see her next to him. And his agitation stemmed, in part, from worrying about whether she was safe.
The color drained from Sabine's face. McCoy had never seen her so pale and so alarmed.
"What are you talking about?" Her voice was wobbly.
"I don't know. I just…I've had these dreams lately…where I'm walking with you…and we're next to a river, on a stone precipice of some sort – next to a road, maybe? It's in a city somewhere, but no city I've ever seen. It's an old place, like from a different era. That's all I really remember. But it always leaves me feeling anxious when I wake up."
"Fils de pute," she gasped softly. McCoy didn't understand the exact words she had uttered but her tone told him enough.
"What? What is it? What's wrong?"
"Nothing. Everything is fine. I need to get home. It is late." She stood and started moving erratically around the room.
"Well, let me walk you back."
"No, please. It is five minutes from here. I will be fine. I need to clear my head anyway." Sabine was throwing her things into her bag, grabbing her coat, a frantic ball of nervous energy.
"Hey, stop," McCoy grabbed her by her arms and turned her towards him. "What the hell is going on?"
"I cannot say. I do not know. Please, let me go." She begged him with tears in her eyes and he was helpless to resist her entreaty.
"Well, fine, but I'm walking you to your dorm. No objections!" He said as she opened her mouth to protest. Upon seeing the determination in his eyes, she closed her mouth and quietly finished gathering her things. He could tell she was making great attempts to appear calm.
The walk to her dorm was silent. McCoy still had no idea what in damnation had happened. Something about his dreams had violently upset Sabine.
When they got to the door of her dorm building, she turned to him. "I am so sorry for my reaction earlier."
"Are you okay? What was it about my dreams that's got you so wound-up?"
"They are the same dreams I have. I do not know how that is possible." Her voice was low and the haunted look in her eyes sent a chill through McCoy. He opened his mouth to ask more questions but she stopped him by holding her hand over his mouth.
"Please, no more tonight. We both need to sleep before the exams start. Surely the dreams are just a weird coincidence." But everything about how she was acting said otherwise.
"Okay, darlin'," he sighed, feeling once more that she wasn't telling him the whole truth. "Take care tonight. I'll see you in the morning."
"Thank you," she whispered. They kissed but McCoy was only half-attentive, his mind racing about what had happened in the last half hour. He decided to do some research on shared dreams after block exams were over. He didn't want to ask Sabine if she'd be okay with it – clearly she wasn't sharing everything she knew with him so he'd figure it out on his own.