"McCoy- -uh...both of you- -U.S.S Enterprise." The commander assigning us to our ships orders, frowning to make sure he'd read that right before continuing down the list. I grin at Bones. He smirks back. I take his hand and chuckle excitedly. This is amazing! I can only hope this is over quickly, so Bones and I can get to our honeymoon.
"He didn't read my name." Kirk mumbles. I roll my eyes.
"Jim, you just got out of a hearing to discuss you cheating on the Kobayashi Maru and you're wondering why you aren't picked for the mission?" I mumble, arms crossed, even as Kirk strides over to the commander, Bones and I right behind him.
"Commander, sir, you didn't call my name." He asks, not replying to me. I roll my eyes again. "Kirk, James T?" He presses. The commander taps a few keys and turns to him, and I swear there's a smirk on his face.
"Kirk, you're on Academic Suspension, which means you're grounded until the Academy Board rules otherwise." I sigh. That sucks.
"We'll be back before you know it." I mumble, not knowing what else to say.
"Yeah, and the Board'll rule in your favor...most likely." Bones adds then takes my hand, sighing. "Look, Jim, we gotta go." I clap my friend's shoulder. I can tell the happy, nonchalant set to his shoulders was absolutely fake and that jealousy and hurt were center-stage. Hurt that he was left behind (and probably left over from Spock's biting remarks about the taboo of Kirk's past) and jealousy at us going and him staying (not that I blame him).
"Yeah, yeah. You go, be safe." He says, shaking Bones' hand and hugging me. "Have fun, too, you guys. Screw each other for me, okay?" I grimace.
"You're almost 25, Kirk. That's so gross. See yah soon." I smirk nonetheless and side-hug Leonard as we turn and walk away, my heart sinking further with each step we took away from our friend. It takes all of ten steps for us to halt, Leonard to remove himself from my embrace, sigh, roll his eyes and turn around.
"Dammit!" He groans under his breath. I chuckle.
"That didn't take long." I muse. He doesn't reply, hooking his hand around Jim's arm.
"Come with me." He whispers, already leading Jim away. Jim looks pleasantly surprised, but willing to roll with it.
"Bones, where are we going?" Jim asks. I come to Jim's other side and grab his other arm.
"Shh! Just follow our lead!" I hiss.
"Kinda hard not to when your- -Ow!" Jim barks when Bones pinches his shoulder hard.
"Shh!" We enter the side medical supply closet and close the door.
"What are you doing?!" Jim presses.
"I'm doing you a favor. Couldn't just leave you there, looking all pathetic. Take a seat." Bones replies, grabbing a- -oh, wow, he's ticked at Jim! Melvaran Mud Flea vaccine? Ouch. "I'm giving you a vaccine against viral infection from Melvaran Mud Fleas." He explains, injecting it without another word.
"Ow! What for?" Jim asks, grimacing when the hypospray does it's work.
"To give you the symptoms." Jim continues to grimace.
"What are you talking about?" JIm snaps, rolling his neck. I swear Leonard has a smug look on his face as he puts the hypospray and the antidotes in a travel pack he slings over his shoulder.
"You're going to start losing vision in your left eye." Jim starts to reel a little on the cot, blinking.
"Yeah, I already have."
"Oh, and you're gonna get a really bad headache and a flop sweat." Jim grimaces (probably due to the sudden migraine) as we pull him up, supporting him with our shoulders.
"You're welcome." I chirp." Jim groans.
"You call this a favor?" He grumbles.
"Yeah. You owe me one." Leonard replies as we drag him out.
=#=#=#=#=
"Kirk, James T." The commander at the door of the shuttle reads. "He is not cleared for duty aboard the Enterprise."
"Medical Code states that the treatment and transport of a patient is to be determined at the discretion of the attending physician, which is me, with Doctor McCoy here assisting me." The man frowns. "So we're taking Mr. Kirk aboard, or would you like to explain to Captain Pike why the Enterprise warped into a crisis without two of its senior medical officers?" The man deflates as Kirk starts panting.
"As you were." He says. My husband merely scoffs.
"As you were." He snaps. We then stumble onto the Gillian, the shuttle taking us to the Enterprise. I sit just behind Leonard, where I could watch both my boys and enjoy the view all at once. Kirk is indeed sweating, panting and generally looking very miserable.
"I might throw up on you. Either of you." He growls. I laugh at the flip of positions from when we first met Jim.
"It's not even a five minute flight, Jim. You're fine."
"Jim, Winnie, look at this." Bones interjects. "Jim, look!" He presses.
"What?" Jim snaps as we lean over and I gasp. "Whoa…"
"Oh, my fricking- -that's amazing!" I squeak excitedly. How else could one describe the docking station just up ahead?
"Wow…" Kirk breathes, still looking quite sick, but also as awestruck as we were. The shuttle then makes a series of maneuvers to dock with the Enterprise and we disembark, Kirk looking worse and worse by the second, so Leonard and I drag him through the crowds toward medbay.
"We need to get you changed." McCoy tells Jim.
"And give you the antidote." I add.
"I don't feel right." Jim complains. "I feel like I'm leaking." I nod.
"That's the flop sweat. We'll take care of that." It's then that I notice Spock in the distance. Bones does, too.
"Hell!" He curses. "It's that pointy-eared bastard." He explains, taking the long way around the very large piece of equipment (should know what it's called, but I don't. Turbolift, maybe?) in the center of the entrance area. Then we pause, parking our best friend behind a terminal as I grab an undershirt and uniform pants. Jim puts them on without question and we continue. By the time we get into the turbolift, I hear Pike's voice on the intercom, telling all decks to prepare for our departure. The turbolift then stops and we get off.
"Where are we?" Jim asks.
"Medbay." I reply. "And it is a beauty!" I chirp, gazing around at all the advanced medicinal equipment and nearly drooling.
"This isn't worth it." JIm moans as we drag him toward a cot.
"You'll thank us later. Just hang on." I reply, rolling my eyes.
"Besides," Leo continues, "a little suffering is good for the soul." Leo then sees a nurse pass by and smiles.
"Hi. How are yah?" He greets.
"No flirting til we've got you recovered." I order sternly.
"Now come here." Leo barks, sitting our friend on a cot.
"My mouth is itchy." Jim complains. "Is that normal?" I nod.
"Yep."
"Those symptoms won't last long." Bones promises. "We're gonna give you a mild sedative." He explains. Jim grimaces.
"I wish I didn't know you two." He groans.
"Then you'd still be stuck on Earth rather than here on the Enterprise. Now hold still." I retort as Leo grabs the sedative.
"Exactly. Don't be such an infant." Leo admonishes, sticking Jim with the sedative. Jim cries out in pain for a second.
"How long is it supposed to…" His eyes then roll up and he collapses. I scoff.
"Unbelieveable." Leonard mumbles. I chuckle.
"Yep. Now that that's out of the way, let's get dressed for duty."
=#=#=#=#=
Once we're dressed, checked in and our inter-flight tasks completed, about half an hour or more later, I was handed a data PADD to give to Captain Pike.
"Dr. McCoy, please keep an eye on our patient. I need to give the Captain this PADD." I call. Leonard waves me on as he completes his own tasks. I try not to skip up to the turbolift in elation that I was on the Enterprise, the best ship in the fleet! And with my husband, at that! I get my grin back to professional levels as the lift stops. I exit and present the PADD to my father-in-law.
"Captain. Good to see you."
"Likewise, Winnie." He greets. "I mean, Doctor McCoy." He corrects, smiling. I grin back.
"Here's the report from Medbay. All is well and we're ready for new patients if necessary."
"Thank you. Please report back to Medbay and await further instructions." I nod.
"Yessir." I reply and take the lift back to Medbay. Jim's still out cold, but at least the sweat's stopped. "Hey there." I greet Bones, side-hugging him. He grins, but ends the hug.
"You know no one here knows we're married, right?" I roll my eyes.
"They'll figure it out. My new last name is kind of a dead giveaway...unless you think I could pass as your sister." He scoffs. My auburn hair and neon green eyes were a dead giveaway that I was not related to Leonard at all.
"Good point." From there, it's pretty boring, with no patients to treat and all tasks completed. "Hey, wanna grab a bite?" I ask nonchalantly nearly twenty minutes of boredom later. "We got plenty of time before we arrive at Vulcan." Bones nods.
"I'll grab us some grub if you watch the dead man on the cot." He teases. I nod, grinning.
"Will do! Thanks, Doctor." I reply and McCoy leaves. I sigh happily and go to review some emergency procedures and familiarizing myself with the ship's layout. Within ten minutes, Bones was back with a plate of shrimp and grits for him and chicken tenders and wrinkle-cut fries for me. He knew, after a few years' practice, just what I really liked and what I'd rather not eat.
"Thanks, B- -doctor." I thank him and dig in, moaning in pleasure at the taste of the still warm food. "Dang, this is good." I mumble, mouth full. He nods, returning a smile.
"Dear God." A nurse teases from nearby. "The infamous Dr. McCoy, smiling?" I roll my eyes.
"Yeah, he can smile." Leo scowls.
"Only for certain people." He adds. The nurse sniffs and walks away. I sigh.
"That didn't take long." I muse sourly, taking another bite of chicken. We quickly wrapped up the meal and returned the utensils and platters to the mess hall and returned to check on Jim, finding him still out. Scoffing at the powerlessness Jim had against sedatives (and storing that mental note away for future reference and amusement), we go about our duties and tune out a few murmurs here and there.
Then, the ship-wide broadcast channel opens and a young russian boy appears on the vidscreens all around medbay.
"May I have your attention, please?" He begins politely. "At 2200 hours, telemetry detected an anomaly in the Neutral Zone; what appeared to be a lightning storm in space." I frown.
"Huh?" Something about that rang through my head like warning bells, familiar and chilling. But I couldn't remember what exactly was so unsettling. Leo frowns.
"Lightning storm? In space?" Leo asks, coming automatically to stand beside me with his arm around my hips. I shrug.
"Dunno."
"Soon after, Starfleet received a distress call from the Wulcan High Command that their planet was experiencing seismic actiwity." The kid's russian accent, while adorable, only made it that much harder to process what he was saying.
"Now I'm really confused." I groan.
"Our mission is to assess the condition of Wulcan and to assist in ewacuations if necessary. We should be arriving at Wulcan within three minutes. Sank you for your time." I shake my head.
"What'd you- -" Before I can finish, Jim suddenly sits bolt upright, panting heavily.
"Lightning storm!" He cries, fear and horror in his bright blue eyes. Bones glances over.
"Jim, you're awake." He muses. "How d'you feel?" I am more focused, however, on the sheer panic-stricken look on Jim's face as he groans under the headache and other symptoms. "Good God, man." Bones cries, looking at the- -
"Whoa!" I squeak. "I don't- -that's not good!" Jim then frowns.
"What?"
"Your hands!" I retort. The squeak of terror JIm gives off makes this whole escapade worth it as Jim brings his hands up in plain view.
"What the hell is this?!" He demands. Bones begins running over to the cabinet of medicine and draws out the antidote.
"A reaction to the vaccine! Dammit!" He growls, more at himself than Jim. "Nurse Chapel, I need 50 CCs of Cortisol."
"Yessir." She replies, handing him the hypospray. I then turn to see Jim pulling up the inter-ship broadcast that Russian kid sent out, fingers almost too fat for the screen.
"Jim, sit down!" I bark. He shakes his head.
"No!" I grab his arm, but he resists.
"Hold still! We need to- -hey!" I protest as Jim pulls away from me to grab Bones' face.
"We need to stop the ship." He says.
"What?!" I snap. "Why?!"
"No time, we gotta go!" Jim cries as he takes off running.
"Ah, frick!" I curse. "Jim, we gotta keep your heart rate low! Stop running!" I order, but Jim ignores me.
"Jim, she's not kidding! We need to keep your heart rate down!" Bones adds. Finally, our runaway patient stops at a computer station.
"Computer, locate crewmember Uhura!" He orders.
"You know, I haven't seen a reaction this bad since medical school." Bones muses worriedly.
"I kn- -Jim, stop running!" I scream as Jim takes off yet again.
"We're flying into a trap!" He calls back.
"What?!" I snap. How in the hell could that boy know just from that broadcast?! He just keeps running, however, so I have no choice but to chase after him.
"Dammit, Jim, stay still!" Bones orders angrily, jabbing Jim with the hypospray.
"Agh!" Jim cries. "Stoppit!" He orders.
"It's to stop the reaction." I explain. "Now, stop running- -Jim!" He runs about twenty feet and stops, tapping a pretty African-American woman's shoulder, presumably this Uhura person he had the computer locate.
"Uhura!" He calls to get her attention. "Uhura- -
"Kirk, what are you doing here?" She asks as she stands up.
"The transmission from the Klingon prison planet." Jim says, avoiding her question. "What exactly- -"
"Oh, my God!" She squeaks. "What's wrong with your hands?!"
"Reaction." I explain as Leonard comes up behind Jim, scanning him to see which antidote to give him.
"It's- -look, who is responsible for the Klingon attack?" Jim presses. Uhura frowns.
"What?"
"And wath teh ship Womulan?" Jim asks, voice slurry and not clear all of a sudden.
"Frick!" I curse, knowing what it means.
"Was the ship what?" Uhura asks.
"Whath happening to my mouth?" Jim asks. Bones looks up from the results of the scan.
"You've got numb tongue?" He asks rhetorically.
"Numb tongue?" Jim parrots. Bones nods.
"I can fix that." He then sets the med kit down to get the injection ready.
"Was the ship what?" Uhura asks again.
"Womulan." Jim repeats.
"What?" Uhura asks, grimacing in annoyance. "I…"
"Womulan!" Jim repeats again urgently.
"Romulan?" She finally guesses. Jim nods."Yes?"
"Yeth!" Jim repeats.
"Yes!" Uhura assures him, just as Bones injects the antidote into him.
"Agh! Dammit!" He then takes off again.
"Kirk, you need to stop!" I protest on deaf ears as we (yet again) take off after him.
"What's going on?" Uhura asks.
"JIm thinks we're flying into a trap or something- -I don't know; I don't think he's thinking straight." I briefly explain as we run after Kirk.
"Jim, come back!" Bones calls.
"Kirk!" Uhura calls, just as Jim enters the bridge. No, no, no! So much for smuggling him aboard. Couldn't even last two hours without him drawing attention to himself.
As Bones said earlier…'unbelieveable'.