A/N: Well, here's the next part. I can't tell you how much I'm really having fun writing this. Enjoy!

Roaming the aisle named 'historical advances of medicine', Jordan searched for a book that she needed to start her research paper on common surgical practices adapted to the 23rd century. Locating her book, she stared up at the fourth shelf, which sat extremely high, too high for her petite stature. She took a deep breath, grumbling in the process, and lifted herself on the tips of her toes, extending her hand as high as she could, her fingers barely grazing the shelf.

In her peripheral vision, she caught sight of her brother walking toward her, a book of his own in hand. She continued to try and reach the shelf, groaning as she attempted to elongate herself more.

When she felt him stand next to her, she brought herself down to her heels and harrumphed. "Guess what?"

"Do I want to know?" Jim asked cannily.

Jordan raised an eyebrow but smiled triumphantly. "I have a date."

"Wow," he said, his eyebrows raising in surprise and smiled as a light laugh escaped his lips. "Did good old Bones finally ask you?"

"What?!" she squeaked, bringing her hand up and slapping him on his chest. "No Jim! It's a guy from my engineering class."

Jim hummed. "That's just too bad."

"Leonard and I are friends, that's all," she explained as she ventured back to attempting to grab the book on the top shelf, leaning her front against the bookcase to give her some leverage. She groaned in frustration, then letting out a whimper as she fell back on her heels. Jim reached up and grabbed the book with ease, and held it out to her with a smile. She took it rather quickly, hugging it to her chest, and stepped closer to her brother, lifting herself on her toes once again, and placed a small kiss on his cheek in appreciation.

She rewarded him with a toothy smile and sighed. "Listen, Leonard's not interested in me that way at all, and neither am I."

Jim shook his head and laughed. "You're my sister. He's my best friend. You two are peas of the same pod."

Jordan pursed her lips in irritation, taking her hand and smacking him behind his head. Jim winced as he rubbed his head frantically to ease the sudden pain.

"You're a fucking asshole. I tell you I have a date and you turn around with this shit. I don't even know why I bother telling you stuff." She was more irritated with the fact that Jim could see right through her.

"Oh come on sis. He's calmer around you, and you light up like a blazing star around him. Wait, where are you going?"

Jordan took a step away from him, a deep frown on her face. "Stop being a matchmaker, James Tiberius, and stay out of my love life."

She turned on her heel and walked away, not before she caught a quick glance of Leonard at the other end of the room, staring right back at her.

——

Leonard, for all intents and purposes, was really trying to study. He had been sitting in the library for forty-five minutes, working tirelessly on a research paper that he had merely scratched the surface of, when he caught a whiff of lavenders. He inhaled deeply, the scent all too familiar, and it was light, very very distant, but there was no mistaking that it was present.

His research paper forgotten, he lifted his head, his eyes roaming the area in front of him, when he saw her at the other end of the room, standing at the corner of the 'historical advances of medicine' aisle, reaching up to grab a large book from the top shelf. Jim was next to her, his lips moving in deep conversation, then laughing when she got frustrated and slapped his chest. Leonard couldn't help but to watch her, the way she stretched to reach back up to grab the book, standing on her tippy toes to elongate herself. She was irritated with Jim as he continued to talk to her, until he reached up himself and grabbed the book she was trying to take hold of. He handed her the book, which she took from him quickly, lifted herself on her toes once more, and placed a kiss on her brother's cheek.

It was the smile she gave Jim afterwards that had Leonard melting in his seat. It was vibrant, toothy, enough to knock a man to his knees. Jim shook his head at her, saying something that caught Jordan off guard completely, which earned him another smack, this time over his head, her face bright red with a deep scowl as she responded to him in what looked like some very colorful phrases. His eyes followed her as she turned on her heel and trekked to an empty table, pulling the chair out to sit down gracefully, and diligently opening her book to start her own study session. Her hair was in a slight disarray as she carded the fingers of one hand through the unruly waves as the other took to notating in a notebook to her side, her eyes roaming the pages carefully as she read.

Lordy, she was beautiful.

"You're staring at her."

Somehow, Leonard managed to completely ignore his surroundings, enough to not hear Jim sneak up next to him, standing there to regard him with playful eyes. Leonard swallowed dryly, pursing his lips tight as he gave Jim the stink eye.

"What the hell are you yappin' about?"

"Well, I know you've been sitting here for a while, and you haven't looked at that book for at least five minutes," Jim said matter-of-factly as he pulled out the chair next to Leonard and sat down. "She's my sister, Bones. I see everything."

Feeling like he was caught with his hand in the proverbial cookie jar, Leonard grunted and turned back to the book in front of him. "You need to get your eyes checked."

"Fine, play oblivious. Hide if it makes you feel better," Jim countered and leaned closer to his roommate, "but I see what's going on."

Leonard turned to him aghast. "Are you high on somethin'?"

"No I'm not, you dumbass. Just don't hide forever. You're running out of time."

"There ain't anythin' to hide. We're friends, that's all," Leonard said warily, and shook his head. "And she's your sister for Christ sakes."

Jim didn't relent, a sly smirk forming on his features as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Because she's my sister is the reason why you need to talk to her. I can't handle the way you two look at each other. It's disgusting."

"You need to stay out of our affairs," Leonard grumbled firmly, closing the book in front of him as he began to collect his belongings and shoved them in his shoulder bag. Jim was reading him like an open book, and he was annoyed that his emotions were so out in the open.

"You like her, very much."

God damn it.

"I shouldn't be having this conversation with you." Leonard stood from his seat and shouldered the strap of his bag. "Are you out of your corn-fed mind?"

Jim's smile widened. "And she likes you."

Leonard's eyes widened while his eyebrows furrowed deeply, a bottomless irritation coursing through him. "Stay out of it Jim!"

And with that, Leonard rushed out of the library, but little did he know that Jim was already formulating a devious plan.

——

The chill that ran through Jordan was light as she opened the door to a small lounge in downtown San Francisco. She had received a message from her brother to meet him there, talking about a good atmosphere and good drinking, and asked her to dress nice for a night of fun. Taking him up on his offer, she pulled out her leather jacket and dressed herself in comfortable civvies before applying some light makeup, and set forth into the night.

Once giving her coat to the hostess and providing Jim's name for the reservation, she ventured into the establishment, taking in the quiet but vibrant environment as she reached a secluded table by a large window. Situating herself in the booth, she ordered two whiskeys on the rocks, which Jim had asked her to order prior to his arrival.

Placing her elbow on the table, she cupped her chin with the palm of her hand, her eyes gazing through the window in awe of the glittering lights. She smiled, appreciating her surroundings, taking in the soft music and muffled conversations around the lounge.

Jordan felt someone standing at the end of the table, and she assumed it was the waitress returning with her drinks, but as she stared through the window, she caught the reflection of the person standing at her side.

Leonard?!

She whipped her head around, her eyes as wide as saucers. He was definitely standing in front of her, dressed in civvies as well, hands in the pockets of his leather jacket, and his hazel eyes reflected the same astonishment she was giving him, and god, her heart was racing as fast as a starship flying on maximum warp.

"Please don't take this the wrong way because I'm happy to see you," Jordan said with a small bashful smile. "But where the hell is my crazy brother?"

Leonard laughed and scratched the back of his head. "I should be askin' you the same thing. He told me to meet him here."

"Oh god," she moaned and gritted her teeth. "He told me the same exact thing."

Leonard clicked his tongue in disapproval, sliding into the booth across from her. "Damn infantile idiot."

Just then, the waitress arrived, placing the two glasses of whiskey on the table, and retreated. Leonard eyed the drinks with a raised eyebrow, and Jordan sighed. "He also asked me to order this. I should've known he was up to something. He's always meddling."

Leonard eyed the drinks once again and reached out to take one in his hand. "Better not waste it then."

Jordan hummed in agreement, reaching for the second drink, and held it in the air. Leonard clinked his glass against hers, and the two sipped a drink. She was beyond upset that her brother was trying to match her with Leonard, even after she specifically told him not to interfere, but she couldn't let that simmer further, not with Leonard sitting across from her, looking at her with an expression of utmost curiosity.

"I'm sorry Len."

"Len?"

"Oh god," she blabbered in embarrassment, and Leonard laughed. It was a deep bellow of a laugh, enough to feel it in her own chest. Jordan blushed a crimson red. "I didn't mean to shorten your name like that. It was something that just came out-"

"My first name's a mouthful, darlin'," he interrupted her with a bright dimpled smile. "I don't mind it if you call me Len."

She nodded, her heart fluttering after seeing that damn dimple, and she rewarded him with a small smile of her own. "Alright then, Len it is."

There was a warmth that radiated through her at the way he put her at ease, subtly revealing how comfortable he felt with letting her call him a nickname just for her use only.

"And you don't need to apologize for anythin'."

"Of course I do. Jim tricked you into coming here. He downright played us both." She felt a little nervous, which was odd given that they've been friendly with each other, but it was mostly on campus grounds. The fact that she was sitting with him in a lounge outside of the Academy and having drinks together just made her insides tumble.

"I'll deal with him later," he grumbled and took a swig of his whiskey. "Besides, we did say that we're friends."

"That's right," she agreed, "and we said that we didn't know a lot about each other."

"I'm all for twenty questions if you are."

It was an open invitation, she surmised, and it bubbled the curiosity in her. She set her glass on the table and crossed her arms, setting them on the surface. "Why did you enlist in Starfleet?"

Leonard paused for a moment, his jaw clenching, his eyes hardening slightly as he collected his thoughts. She could tell it was a difficult subject to touch base with, and she was about to tell him not to worry when he cleared his throat.

"The divorce," he stated simply, eyeing the glass in his hand and let out a deep sigh. "There was nothin' left for me back home in Georgia. She took everything and the damn planet with her."

It was a touchy subject indeed. "It must've been awful."

"We were young and real stupid, and it's in the past now," he said with a mild shrug, and a slow but feathery smile formed on his lips. "That's how I got that damn nickname. I met your brother on that shuttle when I enlisted and I said 'all I've got left were my bones.' It stuck to him like molasses."

Jordan let out a small giggle, the thought of Jim sitting in the transport, high on a hangover while listening to Leonard rant about his shortcomings. She remembered the day he arrived at the Academy, which was a few days after she had already settled in, telling her the story of how drunk he was and making a new friend on the shuttle. Lost in her own thoughts, she didn't realize that Leonard was watching her inquisitively, his eyes outlining her face like a soft caress of subtle fingers.

"Jim told me you always wanted to study medicine."

Jordan took a large swig of her whiskey and glanced out the window. "Mom was always off-planet and we were left under the care of our uncle, and Jim was finding himself in a lot of sticky situations and ending up hurt. He was rebellious, still is, and I patched him up one too many times. It became a passion, like my tinkering with mechanics, but practicing medicine was a true calling for me."

She turned her gaze back to him, his eyes still fixed on her with interest, and she smiled. "What about you?"

"Well, my pa was a doctor, his pa was, and so on and so forth. I just followed the legacy," he said warily with a shrug of shoulders. He averted his eyes, as if shielding himself, and finished his whiskey. "Did you always want to join Starfleet?"

There was a certain asperity to his words that caught Jordan's attention, the way his southern accent grew heavy and had stiffened once again, this time at the mention of his father, how easily he changed the conversation, an invisible wall pulled up to block any further questioning by the stern look on his face. Another touchy subject.

"My great-grandfather was the first to join Starfleet, becoming a historian and he served on the USS Pioneer," Jordan explained, raising up her glass in hand as the waitress passed the table, signaling for another drink. "It trickled from there. I guess I'm following a legacy too."

"You know, maybe Jim's crazy meddlin' to get us here wasn't such a bad idea," he mused lightly. "We should do this more often. You ain't as bad as him."

"And you're not annoying, Len," she countered as she took the glass of whiskey the waitress brought over and took a swig. "Not anymore at least. You can actually make me laugh."

"Well now, that's new," he blew out with a chuckle, a blush creeping on the tips of his ears. "I tend to make people run in the opposite direction."

Jordan shook her head. "At first, that's all I wanted to do, but I just realized what you're doing."

"What's that?"

"You're protecting yourself."

Leonard just stared at her, his eyebrows raising a fraction, his hazel eyes flashing with something between astonishment and bewilderment.

Jordan smiled at his reaction and leaned forward. "You're doing it right now. You have this invisible shield wrapped tight around you, and you fight tooth and nail to not let anyone in. It's a miracle that Jim got through it."

Leonard downed his second glass and huffed. "Jim is just a leech that stuck to me, but you're different."

"Len, I know you have your reasons to be like you are, and I respect that without a doubt," she said, bringing her hands down softly to lay flat on the table. She tilted her head slightly, her blue eyes calm and appreciative. "And the fact that you opened up and said some things that are extremely personal for you tells me that you trusted me enough to talk about it."

"That's what friends do," he murmured, placing his hand on the table, the tips of his fingers grazing the top of hers in a wispy touch.

She felt a flutter in her chest blossom at the sudden contact as she considered the man sitting across from her, really consider him, her own words bringing him into a different perspective. Her eyes outlined his features like a pencil flowing delicately against paper, and the sudden craving to lift her hand and intertwine her fingers in his was overwhelming.

Somehow, 'friend' didn't seem right in that exact moment.

And judging by the way he was looking at her, right at her with those expressive hazel eyes, like there was no other being worthy of his attention, he was feeling the same way too.

No, 'friend' was not enough.

It was at that very moment that she just knew, her feelings coming apart at the seams like a raging river on high tide in the middle of a violent thunderstorm, and her heart burst at her newfound revelation.

Jim was right about everything.