Past (Stardate 2256)
Adea exhaled shakily, nervously adjusting her scarf against the wind. She stared back at the closed door, swallowing as she reached forward slowly, ringing the doorbell. She crossed her arms as she stared blankly at the ground, her heartbeat deafening as a flurry of movement echoed behind the door. The faint glimmer of hope in her chest faded as the door opened, McCoy's cold, distant glare cutting like a knife.
"What do you want?" He spat coldly.
Adea inhaled sharply, fumbling with the hem of her jacket as her throat ran dry.
"Can I talk to you, Lee?" she asked quietly.
"You're doing that now, aren't you?" he mused sarcastically, crossing his arms as he leaned against the doorframe.
"Can I come in?" Adea asked quietly.
"Don't you have a sister to visit?" McCoy retorted.
"I-I wanted to talk to you," Adea mumbled, breathing shakily.
"About what exactly?" McCoy mused dryly, raising his eyebrows, "Planning to leave for an assignment without so much as mentioning it?"
"I wasn't going to leave without-"
"Or lying about your sister?" McCoy continued, his voice raising, "Imagine the crew learning that time-bomb of a secret halfway through a five year mission. Space is hell enough, without half the crew hating me."
"It's not like that-"
"Or that everything between us never fucking existed?" He pressed on, stepping towards her, "Those were your exact words, right?"
"Lee, that's not wh-"
"So what? Did you forget something in the apartment?" McCoy spat.
"Lee, will you please listen to me," Adea urged, raising her arms in exasperation, "I didn't want to lose you-"
"Well that worked out well for you, Cadet Uhura," McCoy sighed.
"Lee, please, let me talk," Adea pleaded, "It's more complicated than that."
"I don't think it's very complicated at all," McCoy retorted, "You got bored-"
"No, I didn't," Adea replied, tears blurring her eyes.
"-then just decided to fuck off without giving a damn," McCoy continued.
"Lee, it's not like that," Adea urged.
"-forget everything, like it never happened" McCoy pressed on.
"Please, Lee, will you listen!" Adea snapped, a hot tear burning its way down her face.
"What is there to listen to?" McCoy shouted back.
"Lee, I didn't want to lose you!" Adea replied, wiping hastily at her face, "That's why I lied, why I didn't want to find out if this was serious, why I didn't tell you about Nyota. I-I panicked. I didn't want you to get hurt."
"In what universe did you think this wouldn't hurt?" McCoy snapped back.
"Lee, please. There was someone else," Adea started, her stomach twisting as she stared up at him, "Adam. I-I knew him since high school and he was at the Academy- "
"And let me guess, you fucked him too and didn't give a shit about what happened to him either," McCoy drawled harshly.
Adea stared back at McCoy in shocked silence, a sinking guilt constricting her chest as his words echoed in her head. She glanced away quickly, staring hard at the ground as tear fell onto the concrete beside her foot. Her words caught in her throat as she met his gaze again, unsure where to begin. Or if he'd even believe her at this point.
"Lee, please," Adea stuttered quietly.
"I don't have time for your sorry excuses," McCoy interrupted coldly, stepping back into his apartment.
And with a loud clack, Adea found herself facing the same closed door she'd arrived at.
Present (Stardate 2258) - Adea's Cabin
Adea leaned forward against the desk, her fingers pausing over the keyboard as her phone chimed. She glanced down frowning, waving a finger across the screen.
Carol (1:27): A, what's wrong?
Adea drummed her fingers against the desk, exhaling slowly as she typed a response with her free hand.
Adea (1:28): Why do you always think something's wrong?
Adea turned back to her PADD screen, typing the end of her sentence in the report. Since this afternoon, all she'd wanted to do was be left alone. It was bad enough she'd had her EV suit fitting scheduled after her medical exam. She'd had to wait another two hours before she could return to the people-less silence of her own room. She frowned as another notification chimed, appearing on her screen.
Carol (1:30): That's not a response….
Adea (1:35): I'm writing preliminary report for Ujaar…..which I can't do with your notifications every few seconds. Why are you awake anyways?
Carol (1:37): Why are you still awake?
Adea massaged her temples, leaning back in her chair as a knock sounded through the room. She groaned loudly, stretching her arms over her head as she stood. She tossed her phone onto her bed, huffing loudly as she flung open her door.
"What the hell, Carol, I said I-" Adea started.
She fell silent as her she recognized McCoy, a cold weight building in her chest as her eyes trailed from his unusually disheveled hair to the painfully familiar grey of his shirt.
"Adi," he breathed, taking a hesitant step towards her as he ran a nervous hand through his hair.
"What do you want, Lee?" Adea mused miserably, crossing her arms as she stood firmly in the doorway, "It's past 1am."
"I,uh, saw you were still updating the report log," he offered nervously, dragging his attention away from the sheer tank top she now wore, "I figured you were up."
"So, what? You wanted to help? You should go," Adi sighed coldly, moving to shut her door as McCoy blocked it with his hand.
"Adi, wait!" McCoy spoke up, promptly moving his hand from her door as she glared up at him, "I wanted to talk to you."
"What is there to say, Lee?" Adea frowned, moving to close the door again, "I said I-"
"I was divorced before I met you, Adi," McCoy stated abruptly, "Well before I met you."
Adea hesitated, her hand on the door as she glanced up at him.
"I know there's a snowball's chance in hell you even want to talk to me after how I treated you this afternoon," he continued, the emotion straining in his voice, "But I owe you an explanation and an apology."
"Can I talk to you, Adi?" he concluded quietly, his voice urgent, "Please."
Adea hesitated for moment before relenting wordlessly, gesturing him into her room. She yanked a sweatshirt on, pulling it as low as she could over her shorts as she took a seat on her bed. McCoy entered slowly, glancing quickly around the room before sitting down besides her. He exhaled loudly, his brow wrinkling as he began talking.
"I got married when I was twenty-two," he started slowly, staring down at his hands, "We studied together during my Bachelor's studies, and we got married right before I started med school."
McCoy exhaled slowly, his eyes distant.
"Then one day six years later, she left me for someone else. Filed for divorce a month later," McCoy continued, "She took everything we had together in the process. The apartment we shared was hers to begin with, so she kept that and almost everything in it. Most of my friends at the time were our mutual ones from school, so in the fallout of everything that followed, I lost most of them too. I had nothing and noone so I left and joined Starfleet."
"Lee, I had no idea," Adea replied quietly.
"How could you have known, Adi?" He responded, the pained look in his green eyes softening as he glanced up at her, "Why I would care so much that you would want to leave? Or that you're Nyota's sister? There are few things in this world I hate more than talking about being divorced, but I know why you asked today."
He paused, trailing off as he inhaled slowly.
"I never should have yelled at you like that," McCoy sighed sadly, staring back at Adea, "And for taking my anger about this out on 's no excuse, and I am so sorry, Adi."
"Thank you for telling me," Adea replied softly, reaching forward to place her hand over his.
McCoy's mouth twitched upwards in a smirk, his thumb brushing over the back of her hand.
"While I'm at it," he continued, "I should probably apologize for being a jerk to you since your boarded the Enterprise."
"Just a jerk?" Adea questioned, "I don't suppose that meeting in the Admiral's office counts too?"
"Is complete asshole better?" McCoy smirked.
"Depends," Adea sighed, raising her eyebrows innocently,"Are lab reports due Wednesdays or Thursdays now?"
"You have jokes?" McCoy mused.
"They come out from time to time," Adea shrugged.
"Probably for the best," McCoy murmured, "Your jokes are terrible."
Adea feigned a frown as McCoy raised his brows in amusement, smiling as he glanced down at their hands. He looked up slowly, a confused look of surprise briefly flickering in his eyes before he met hers. Adea stared back at him in confusion as he opened his mouth to speak, hesitating for a moment before closing it again. She swallowed nervously, her confusion beginning to give way to a familiar pang in her chest.
"I, uh, don't think I will get much more work done now," she admitted abruptly, a slight blush rising to her cheeks as she stood.
"Yeah, of course," McCoy replied quickly, standing, "I'll let you sleep."
She hesitated for a moment before reaching forward, wrapping her arms around his waist in hug. McCoy exhaled slowly, wrapping his arms around her shoulders as he rested his chin on her head. His lips brushed her hair as he kissed the top of her head softly, reaching up slowly to brush her cheek with his thumb. He leaned back slowly, his hands trailing down her arms as he watched her silently, his mouth twitching up in a smirk.
"Good night, Adi," he sighed softly, his hands leaving her arms as he turned towards the door.
"Good night, Lee," she replied quietly, her voice catching in her throat as he disappeared through her door.
Adea walked back slowly towards her bed, collapsing onto it. She stared up the ceiling, exhaling steadily as she ignored the tingle buzzing her chest. So he didn't hate her. What she would have given to know that information two years ago. Now it just made her feel...She frowned, rubbing the back of her hand as if it would get rid of the sensation of his thumb against her skin.
It didn't matter what she felt. A relationship would never work out between them without a high chance of it imploding again. Then where would they be? Broken hearted and stuck on the same ship together? Even if it did work, it was ticking time bomb. Sneaking around in secret on a small ship? Hiding their emotions to the entire crew? Ignoring the age gap between a young lieutenant in her twenties and a divorced doctor in his thirties? Adea huffed, letting her arms fall to her side, hating herself as thought back to the feeling of her cheek against his chest moments ago.
And God forbid if her sister ever learned about the two of them.
Misplaced concern had let Nyota to intervene in Adea's relationship with Adam, but that concern would come nowhere close Nyota's wrath if she ever found out one of her crewmates was screwing his baby sister. As a student, no less. Adea rubbed her eyes, frowning as she stared up at her ceiling. No. She had to get a hold of herself.
She'd fallen for McCoy too, and she'd be damned if he would be the one to pay for her choices.
If only she could have done the same for Adam.
A (Long-Overdue) Confession Time:
1. One of the reasons I chose rewrite the original 6 chapters was to give more background to the character's and their motivations. So, building upon the original apology scene which some of you may remember - Enjoy this new chapter!
2. You may be asking yourself - why does Adea care so much about herself and McCoy when Spock and Uhura exists? Well that is an excellent question. As mentioned (and coming in the next chapter) they are not the best of friends and are barely on speaking terms. So at this point in the story, Adea does not know about their relationship. Will she ever find out? Well! Wouldn't you like to know ;)
3. Season 2 trailer of the Boys is out. *sigh* dark alternative universe (British?) McCoy. Until then, I will be rewinding and replaying the first two minutes of Karl Urban in S01E04
4. Read, review, follow, favorite! I like to hear what you think :)
Live long and Prosper - Case H.
