"Melvil Dewey, you are a thorn in my side," Felicity grumbled as she squinted at the various books stacked on the shelf in front of her. Oddly enough, Felicity was having trouble finding a particular book. The book she was looking for was a biography on Cleopatra VII, the last Queen of Egypt, who in reality was actually Cleopatra VI. As it turns out, the Egyptians had lost count of all the Cleopatras that sat on the Egyptian throne. So, in reality, Cleopatra was actually the sixth to reign. Just like the Egyptians, Felicity was having her own dilemma with numbers. And, it was all because of Melvil Dewey. Melvil Dewey was responsible for developing the Dewey Decimal System, a general knowledge organization tool that is primarily used to classify books. Centuries past its founding, the Dewey Decimal system was still being used. And, as a result of its usage, the system was frustrating Felicity in the meantime.

All Felicity wanted was to read a biography on Cleopatra. Sadly, the Dewey Decimal system was making things difficult for her. Normally, Felicity had no trouble finding the books she wanted from the library. But, tonight she was having issues. After all the times she had looked at the call number for the book from the research database, she had unintentionally memorized it. DT92.7.S35 2010 was the number that she had unwillingly took in. The database had to be lying to her. It stated the book was in stock but yet she had no luck finding the call number on the shelf that matched. After leaving her Egyptology class, Felicity craved to learn more about the woman that ruled a nation, enchanted both Julius Caesar and Marc Antony and made a name for herself in the history books.

Felicity's professor had told her entire class how Cleopatra and Julius Caesar were trapped behind constructed barricades in the city of Alexandria for six months due to the threat imposed by Cleopatra's brother Ptolemy's surrounding armies. Felicity was taken by the fact that Cleopatra was capable of developing an intimate relationship with one of the greatest men the world had ever seen. He conquered lands and vast territories. And, Cleopatra a girl of twenty had been able to conquer him, a man of fifty two. In consequence, Caesar had done so much for her. Julius Caesar eliminated all of her rivals so she could sit on the throne of Egypt. Felicity strongly believed that only a strong and intelligent woman could participate in such a deed. Secretly, Cleopatra was someone Felicity yearned to be. Obviously, Felicity and Cleopatra had contrasting lives. Felicity never ruled a country and would most likely never have the opportunity to. Felicity was just a girl who liked to go to the library although right now she was having no luck in finding a book she wanted. Felicity's eyes became very dry from staring at the shelf for too long. She blinked several times and rubbed them to ease their fatigue. Maybe I should just forget it and leave, she thought. It's getting late anyway.

Suddenly, fed up with her search, Felicity grabbed an armful of books from the shelf in front of her. She came to the conclusion that her biography had to at least be one of the books she had in her arms. Felicity was keen on finding the book even if it meant going through each individual book in the Egyptology section. She'd finally be satisfied when she found it. However, no matter how persistent she was in her search, she needed to keep the books in the same order she found them in. That meant she needed to keep them in the correct order based on Melvil Dewey's system. If Felicity wasn't careful walking back to her desk, all the books could slip out of her hold and fall to the floor. The blunder would make Felicity's night a whole lot worse as she'd be forced to organize them one by one, taking her all night. Felicity walked slowly to her desk. I can make it, Felicity thought, balancing the books in her hands. I'm almost there. All she needed to do was take one more step. One more step to her desk was all she needed. All she needed was…one…more…single…step.

"Felicity!" announced a boyish voice.

And, with that unexpected address, Felicity's collection of books tumbled out of her hands. Presumably, a fine mess of books formed on the library's carpeted floor. "Damn it," Felicity cursed, throwing her head in her hands. In this moment, everything seemed utterly hopeless to her. Hastily, she fell to her knees to gather the books from the ground. The books were now more of a priority than ever. She didn't want a librarian to emerge from behind the shelves and chastise her for her recklessness. Felicity started to reach for the fallen volumes when suddenly another hand appeared before her, grabbing the first book she attempted to reach. Who in the name? Felicity conjectured, moving her eyes to identify the unnamed person.

"Jim?" Felicity said with disbelief, seeing the dirty blonde on the floor in front of her.

"Sorry," Jim said apologetically, reaching quickly for the fallen books. "I didn't mean to scare you."

Felicity avoided his eyes, "You didn't scare me." Felicity denied the idea that she was scared. She didn't want to lose her resolve, no matter how little of it she had. "You just surprised me that's all, "she insisted, tucking in an escaped strand of hair from her ponytail.

Jim raised a lone eyebrow at her. He knew very well that he did more than "surprise her." The books on the floor told Jim everything he needed to know. If she was trying to lie, Felicity wasn't doing a very good job of it. He took a guess that she didn't lie very much.

"Okay," he said, giving her some leniency. He continued to collect Felicity's fallen books, "If you say I surprised you then I surprised you." He then gathered the books in his arms effortlessly. He did not struggle in placing them on the table the same way Felicity did. He had no trouble at all.

Felicity sulked on the floor. She resented how easy it was for him to carry all of her books when she had every bit of trouble. Damn his long arms, she mused before picking herself off the floor. She rubbed her bare knees, realizing they ached from their clash with the carpet. If she had worn pants instead of a skirt her knees would have fared better from her tumble to the floor. There was a risk in wearing skirts.

"Cleopatra huh?" Jim asked, holding up a single book.

Felicity huffed and walked over to Jim, taking the book from his hands the same way she would take a toy from a misbehaving child. She hadn't forgotten about him "surprising her" and making her drop all her books. Felicity glanced at the book she confiscated from Jim, coincidently it was the biography she had a difficult time searching for. She bit the inside of her cheek, Why were things so easy for him while they were more than difficult for her? She rolled her eyes and put her biography to the side. Why was he in the library anyway?

"Jim," An irritated Felicity said, "is there something I can help you with?"

"Uh," he began to rub the back of his neck with his hand. "Well…actually there is something I wanted to ask you," he said, biting his bottom lip.

Felicity's irritation lessened as she noticed Jim's reluctant manner. He was acting differently than his usual cocky self. He wasn't smiling or smirking. His expression was almost dejected just like it was hours ago. Something was definitely wrong. Felicity immediately remembered what occurred in Astronomy class. Something had troubled him then.

"All right," she said in a calm manner, "what is it?"

He began to shuffle his feet, "I need help."

Help? Felicity wondered, folding her arms and observing him closely, "With what exactly?"

He pulled his uniform collar, it was beginning to irritate the skin on his neck. She could tell that he was struggling to tell her what he wanted. She could have walked away and ignored him as he was taking longer than necessary to tell her what was on his mind. But, she didn't walk away. She wasn't cruel that way. Her father taught her better than to be cruel when someone was attempting to open up to her.

"You remember how DePree mentioned my father in class today?"

"Yes…," she said. She remembered how DePree mentioned George Kirk for only a brief moment while the entire class looked at Jim as if he was the newest exhibit on display at the San Francisco Zoo. Felicity knew his father was a sensitive topic for him. She didn't think he would ever want to discuss it with anyone, let alone her.

Jim turned to look at the surrounding bookshelves with hands in pockets, "I wanted to do research."

Her brown eyes looked at him warmly, "On what?"

Jim hesitated in answering her question. He sighed, feeling as though he'd finally be able to get something off of his chest. He looked at her apprehensively, "The day he died."

Oh, Felicity thought to herself. No wonder he was being so reluctant in speaking to her. Just like her mother was a tender topic for Felicity, George Kirk was a tender topic for Jim. She needed to take his request for help seriously, but, at the same time, she was flattered he felt comfortable enough to talk to her about something so delicate. Felicity would do everything she could to help him. Jim didn't even need to ask twice.

Felicity gave him a reassuring and soft smile, "I can definitely help you, Jim. I actually know exactly where to look."

Felicity brought Jim up to the third level of the library. After spending a majority of her childhood on the academy grounds, Felicity knew exactly where to look for information regarding past Starfleet missions. And, that particular information was on the third floor in a large circular shaped room with shelves of Starfleet records inserted within the white walls. She was always curious about what her father and others experienced during their five year mission. Going to the third floor allowed her to understand the obstacles her father faced while in deep confines of space. She hoped to be closer to her father as a result.

"If you want to know anything about past Starfleet missions this is the place to go. This room has everything ranging from Captain's Logs, Ship Schematics, Officer Dissertations, firsthand accounts of first contact, discoveries of new planets and etcetera. But, this is relatively small compared to all the data that is still classified. Starfleet is very picky about which information gets out to the public so adversaries of the Federation cannot use it against us. Which is a bit sad because top secret information tends to always be more interesting. Anyways, if you want to get certain information about a mission it is always good to know the star date, ship name, and ship captain and any key officers involved. Knowing that information will make your search a lot easier."

Felicity walked over to the center of the room where a large touch table computer was situated. Her fingers worked their way on the computer screen, a beeping noise accompanied Felicity's movements. She logged in relevant data for her search, "So for the incident with the U.S.S. Kelvin, the key words we need are 'star date 2233', obviously the ship is the 'U.S.S. Kelvin', and if my memory serves me right the Captain was 'Robau' and of course George Kirk served as first officer." As a result of Felicity entering in the pertinent information, a panel on the wall opened revealing a shelf loaded with mini compact discs, physical folders and various other materials. Felicity was relieved her search was successful. It fared a lot better than what she attempted to do earlier that night. "There. That's the one you want."

Felicity turned to Jim, seeing him staring at her with both of his eyebrows raised. She realized she may have thrown information at him rather than actually help, "Sorry," she quickly said, feeling her cheeks flush. Honestly, she had practically just given him a lecture on how to search for archival materials. She may have just given him more information than he knew what do with. "I understand if me babbling on and on about this stuff is a bit overwhelming…" she tucked another loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"Actually," he began, blinking several times to relieve his shock, "it's more impressive than overwhelming," he finished with a chuckle.

A half smile formed on her lips relieved she hadn't embarrassed herself too much. She was also happy that he hadn't thought badly of her. "Okay," she said, bringing her attention back to the shelf that revealed itself from the wall. She rubbed her hands together, "Where to start?"

She walked to the shelf and tapped her chin, What is the best source of information I can get my hands on? There was so much information here. She doubted Jim had all the time in the world to go through everything and neither did she.

Felicity went to a box on the shelf labeled "S.S." for secondary sources. The box held physical documents and recordings that presented an analysis of the event that occurred in 2233 on the U.S.S. Kelvin. Jim wanted an explanation of what happened that day, Felicity needed to grab the best source of information that could do the job. Felicity flipped through the files with her fingers. She then caught a glimpse of gold initials engraved on the top of a black manila folder. The initials were "C.P.", evidently Felicity knew exactly who "C.P." was. She paused for a moment before alerting Jim of what she found. In her opinion, her father's dissertation on the U.S.S. Kelvin was truly one of the best things her father had actually written. He was very thorough about what had occurred that day even pulling in flight recordings to support his analysis. But, she was reluctant to hand it off to Jim. She was afraid that she was making her connection to Christopher Pike quite obvious, especially if she began to toot her father's own horn. How egotistical would that make her look?

"Did you find something?" Jim said, with a hopeful expression.

"Uh…" Felicity said, looking back and forth between Jim and what she found in the box. Despite her hesitancy, she had to do what was right. Jim wanted answers. And, she could give them to him. She needed to push her selfishness to the side.

"I think this will give you everything you want to know," she said, handing Jim, her father's dissertation.

"Thanks," Jim retrieved the folder from Felicity. Upon retrieving it, he flipped through the pages, seeing a familiar name appear on the title page. He laughed, of course it just had to be him.

"What's so funny?" Felicity inquired, concerned as to why Jim was so amused. That wasn't the reaction she was expecting to get.

"Nothing," he said with a half-smile. "Pike was actually the person that persuaded me to enlist. He even mentioned his dissertation during our conversation. I guess its only fate that I read it too."

You could say that, Felicity thought. These past few days, fate seemed to hover around Felicity like a rain cloud. And, she was without an umbrella. "Anyways it's actually a very good read," Felicity went on to say.

"You've read it?"

"Yup," Felicity said, biting the inside of her cheek. "I've looked at it a couple of times."

"A couple of times" was an understatement. She had read her father's dissertation almost twenty times front and back. She had difficulty putting it down when her father first published it. Felicity was the definition of a doting daughter.

"Pike was able to go into depth about what happened January 3, 2233. He includes the schematics of the U.S.S. Kelvin showcasing the areas that were most damaged during the attack. He also lists the names of the entire crew as well as any other passengers that were on at the time of destruction. Pike even goes out of his way to list…your name Jim."

Jim paused, only now grasping the full significance of what he was about to read. He was getting the answers he so desperately wanted. His mouth formed into a small smile. "Thanks, Felicity," he said sincerely.

His smile made her heart flutter, she was glad she had made him happy. "You're welcome."

A small silence came between them before Jim had decided to say his farewell for the night, "Well, I guess I will be seeing you in Astronomy." He gave her smile before turning to make his way out of the room.

She gripped the locket of her mother's necklace, watching him walk away, "See you too, Jim."

At first, using the name he wanted her to use for him was strange. Now, it seemed anything but strange. It felt natural for her to direct him as "Jim" rather than "Kirk." She didn't think there relationship would ever be so casual.

Felicity was checking to see if everything was in order on the shelf that came out of the white wall. Felicity hadn't realized that Kirk was still in the room until she saw him out of the corner of her eye, standing at the door and tapping his foot.

"Are you having trouble with something?" she joked, pressing "close" on the computer screen to enable the shelf to go back into the wall.

"Uh…yeah…" he said, pushing his hands into the door several times.

"What seems to be the problem, Jim?" she asked, eyes still locked on the computer screen, checking to see what other shelves could be of any further interest to her.

After a rocky start, Felicity felt her night ended on a high note. She didn't think she would have any further problems for the rest of the night. Which is why what Jim said to her next was more than an unexpected surprise.

"Felicity, the door is locked."

*A/N*

Again just wanted to say thanks for reading. I really appreciate all of the positive comments I have received especially from readers who have been in consistent in leaving a comment for my story. To name a few of those lovely readers, they are: TheUltimateBibliophile, ImsebastianstanButter, The Lupine Sojourner, NoVacancyMind, JaneyKatherineHummingbird, and Frosted Dreams 1234.

Thanks again for the reads, the follows and the favorites!

I wish you all a Happy New Year!

Sincerely,

Angela

*UPDATED AUTHORS NOTE on 1/22/2018*

Hello everyone! I just wanted to update my readers on the status of this story and of myself. A week ago, I began school again so unfortunately I will be lackluster in updates for quite some time as I have a lot on my plate thanks to course assignments and a busy class schedule. I'm still working and writing this story so please don't fret that I have lost interest in updating. I'm just trapped in my school life just like Felicity and Jim are trapped in the library and like them I'm trying to find the best way out.

Thanks,

Angela