M-CLASS-005968

"Keep running!" Kirk shouted as he sprinted full tilt across the uneven land.

"I am running!" came the panting reply of his Commander from behind him.

"Not fast enough!" Kirk stopped, his boots skidding through the dirt as he grabbed Dollinger's hand. "Come on!" he shouted as the pair set off again, the people of M-CLASS-005968 hot on their tails. Dollinger pulled her hand back roughly and picked up her own pace, the Captain may have thought she was going too slowly but she was simply keeping an eye on him. How would it of looked if she'd just run away from her Captain? Yeah, not great.

"I can see the shuttle, keep going!" Dollinger risked peering over her shoulder, she could see the anger in the villager's eyes. "Definitely keep going!" Kirk got to the shuttle first, opening the door and jumping in closely followed by Dollinger who all but threw herself in. Picking herself up off the metal grate floor they both sat themselves in the cockpit and started tapping away at such a ferocious speed that Kirk laughed out loud at the ridiculousness of it all. Peeling away from the planet and out of the atmosphere neither Kirk nor Dollinger could feel like they could relax until they were met by the starry night of space. When they'd both sat back in their seats and Kirk had laughed some more they focussed on their next task.

"How far from the Enterprise are we?" Kirk asked.

"Five hours," Dollinger answered as she dialled in the coordinates.

"Great, gives us enough time to get our story straight." Trying not to roll her eyes Dollinger sat back again and eyed her Captain suspiciously.

"Story?" she asked and Kirk confidently stared at her straight back.

"I don't know about you Commander, but I could do without the judgemental gaze of Mister Spock." Kirk dipped his head and looked up at her through his lashes. He knew Dollinger to be a smart cookie and would get his insinuation easily enough, that if they told the truth, Spock would without doubt report it immediately and they'd both get hauled in by Starfleet.

"Aye Captain," was Dollinger's reply which told him she was on the same page and wouldn't be causing any trouble, which she never did. She watched as he stood up and went to the back of the shuttle, stretching his arms above his head he yawned inelegantly before turning to see that Dollinger was watching him.

"I'm going to get some sleep, you take first shift." With a two finger salute Kirk lay down on the bench and brought his arms up and behind his head. After a couple of adjustments to his position he let out a sigh and closed his eyes, all the while Dollinger watching on.

"Aye Captain," she answered as she turned back round to her console.

"Captain?" shaking his shoulder gently Dollinger peered down at the sleeping beauty and smirked. "Captain Kirk, Sir?" Still nothing. She'd had enough, giving his arm a pretty decent shove she tried again. "Sir!" she all but shouted and then had to take a step back as Kirk jumped up from the bench bleary eyed and instinctively started making a run for it. He only made it two steps before he realised that he wasn't in a stranger's apartment sleeping with their partner but on the shuttle with Commander Dollinger.

"Jesus Dollinger, you couldn't have woke me up with the smell of fresh coffee or something?" Dollinger didn't bother to respond, instead she took his place on the bench, positioned her arms behind her head as he had done and closed her eyes.

"Your shift Captain," she said with her eyes still closed and was asleep before she heard Kirk walk away.

The smell of fresh hot coffee woke Dollinger from a pretty decent kip, opening her eyes she saw Kirk sat at the front of the shuttle sipping on a cup. Standing and stretching she made her way over, seeing that it had only been an hour and they still had two to go. Sitting in the chair next to him she gave him a quick smile.

"Fancy a cup?" Kirk asked, raising his own at her.

"I'm good, thanks." She answered as she carried out diagnostics.

"You don't drink coffee?" he asked surprised.

"I do drink coffee," Dollinger answered leaving Kirk confused (which wasn't difficult).

"Then why aren't you having a cup?" Kirk turned so that he was facing her.

"I don't want one?" she told him quizzically. Kirk turned back to face his console, taking a long loud slurp of coffee he looked at her again.

"Anybody ever told you Dollinger that you scare people?" Kirk gibed.

"Can't say that they have Sir," Dollinger answered, not looking away from her console and knowing perfectly well what Kirk was up to.

"Huh?" Kirk uttered, "That's surprising!"

"Is it?" she asked, sounding altogether disinterested.

"Yeah, I mean, I would have thought by now that somebody would have told you that you're terrifying?" Kirk widened his eyes comically before crossing his legs.

"They haven't," Dollinger was trying to keep calm, she'd learnt over the years to count to ten in her head whenever she was stuck in small talk with the Captain.

"Really?" Dollinger figured he was being rhetorical so said nothing in the hope that he'd get bored. "You don't think you can be quite… gauche at times?" Wow, he was really going for it this time wasn't he?

"Gauche Sir?" she asked, trying not to laugh.

"Yeah, it means…"

"I know what it means Sir," she interrupted him. "I just didn't expect you to be the type of person to use a word like that?" Kirk scoffed in response.

"And what kind of word is that Commander?" she had two options she thought to herself.

"A big one?" she'd gone for the second option, it was perhaps a mistake! Kirk laughed and swung his arm over the back of his chair.

"I know big words!" he said, feeling like he sounded like a toddler. "What I mean to say is that I'm not a total Neanderthal."

"Of course not Sir," Dollinger smiled sweetly at him as Kirk made a mental note never to try and use a word he'd overheard Uhura use again. About half an hour of silence followed after, in which Kirk made three more coffees and Dollinger sat at the controls ignoring his incessant finger tapping.

"Where's home Commander?" Kirk finally queried when the silence was too much for him to take.

"Here and there," she answered. "You?" she had to throw him at least one bone.

"Riverside, Washington County, Iowa." Kirk replied proudly. Another awkward silence fell upon them, awkward for Kirk at least. "Any siblings?"

"Nope," Dollinger answered slowly, shaking her head and cracking her neck at the same time. She couldn't even be bothered to ask the question back.

"I really feel like we're getting to know one another Dollinger!" Kirk muttered and she couldn't help but laugh out loud at his sarcastic tone. Kirk felt like he'd cracked a nut and grinned. "Can I call you Doll?"

"No!" Oh crap he'd blown it!

"I'm going to call you Doll," he doubled down.

"Don't," she'd lost her patience.

"I think I will…?" Kirk got back up and wandered to the back of the shuttle leaving Dollinger to heave a heavy sigh and get up herself. Going to stand next to him she crossed her arms and looked at him feigning interest.

"Do you have any siblings…? Sir?" she ground out.

Gotcha!

"Why, yes I do, thank you for asking Commander…"

As the shuttle docked both Kirk and Dollinger stepped off together, upon seeing Spock waiting for them Kirk swore under his breath.

"Remember what I said Doll yeah? We didn't steal the statue." He said without moving his lips leaving him to sound like a ventriloquist's dummy.

"We?" Dollinger looked at him sternly.

"I, I didn't steal any statues, in fact, there were no statues of any kind on the planet." He whispered out of the corner of his mouth as they continued to walk toward Mister Spock.

"If you don't call me Doll again," she told him and Kirk stopped in his tracks.

"What?" Looking at her incredulously he couldn't help but grin at her widely. Dollinger just looked at him nonplussed. "Are you threatening me Commander?" he asked with mock offence. Taking the smallest step towards him she watched as he gulped loudly. She had him.

"I would never threaten you Captain," she told him smoothly. "I think this is blackmail isn't it?" with the smallest of winks Dollinger made her way over to Spock and turning back to Kirk caught his attention. "I'll have my report on your desk by the end of the day, Captain Kirk." She told him pointedly and Kirk gulped again.

"Thank you Commander Doll…"

Don't do it!

"…inger," he added.

Smart move.

With a two fingered salute Dollinger left the shuttle bay smirking, life was never boring was it?

The End