Hannah avoided Kirk the best she could. Which given they were trapped on a relatively small space ship was not particularly successful. It also wasn't helped by McCoy, who had reached the stage of boredom that he wanted to watch some drama unfold. They had begun their return trip to Yorktown, and so that meant no more planet visits- and thereby no change of scenery for McCoy. There had also been a record length of time between dramatic malfunctions of equipment, so the Med Bay had been relatively quiet. That was truly surprising, a whole week had passed with no console exploding, no dramatic fires in implausible places. Hell, Kirk hadn't even tried to get himself killed in a stupidly bizarre way in a concerningly long time. McCoy was almost worried his friend had matured, and decided to start following the rules. There was just the odd illness for McCoy to treat. It almost made him miss the days where he had to think of new ways to Stop Jim Doing The Thing, so instead he simply irritated Hannah with an abundance of metaphors.
"Kirk, get down here. You're gonna want to see this," McCoy insisted into his comm badge. Kirk's groan was audible throughout the whole of the Med Bay.
"Last time you said that, there were people in torpedoes. Is this worse or better?" Hannah heard Kirk respond. At the sound of his voice, Hannah panicked. She was not prepared to deal with Kirk right now. He would try to talk to her, see if she was okay. Ugh, he'd probably be understanding about it too, and that was not what she wanted. So she did the only thing she could think to do. She hid in an air vent out of pure spite and fear.
Kirk walked into Med Bay, and crossed his arms. Looking over at McCoy, who sat at his desk tapping away at a PADD.
"What am I supposed to be looking at, Bones?" He drawled, refusing to move any closer to the CMO, purely out of spite. After all, this was the third time today McCoy had called him to Med Bay for unnecessary reasons. McCoy looked up at him, and then returned to typing.
"Give me a minute," He held a hand up to the Captain. Kirk looked at it with such bewilderment that McCoy could barely keep a straight face.
"No," Kirk spoke sharply, raising an eyebrow at his friend. "Show me, and let me get back to the bridge." McCoy relinquished his attempts to drag out Kirk's visit and stood up, moving around his desk and towards the Captain. He gestured Kirk over towards the Medical Beds, and began to speak:
"When I first called you down I was going to show you a bacterium I found which produces the exact proteins needed to make the perfect scotch," he started, stopping at the wall. He then grinned at Kirk, and yanked the cover off the air vent. "Then Hannah heard me, and decided to hide in an air vent, and I thought that was funnier." Kirk rolled his eyes, and crouched down to get a better look.
"There is no one in there," He looked up to the CMO and raised an eyebrow. McCoy grinned wider.
"Oh yes there is. Hannah, I can see your shoes, you're not very well hidden," McCoy mocked. Then he paused, and moved to the sides slightly. Frowning, he spoke again. "Computer, locate Hannah,"
"Ensign Hannah is in Med Bay," The computer and Hannah chorused, slightly out of sync. McCoy wheeled around and stared at the young woman. She winked, and jumped on to the med bed next to him, crossing her legs and stretching her shoeless-toes.
"A, I'm an Ensign? Exciting. And B, ohh McCoy, you didn't think I'd stay in the air vent when I noticed you watching me? Nah, Mumma McCoy, I went for a walk." She paused, tilted her head, and then amended. "Well, a crawl, really. Hello, Captain, Goodbye, Captain." Hannah pointed to the door. Kirk straightened up, and took the air vent cover back off McCoy, swiftly refitting it. Hannah's arm remained outstretched, a finger pointed to the door. Kirk looked at the pointed finger, and then sat down on the bed next to her.
"No," He insisted. Hannah immediately hopped back off the bed.
"In that case, McCoy I am suddenly very ill. I can treat myself, but it is highly contagious so I'm confining myself to quarters," She strode towards the door, and with a look back to Kirk, so pointed and implaceably blank that it wounded him. Hannah did not fake a cough, but literally said the words 'cough, cough' before turning back around, and twiddled her fingers over her shoulder.
"Toodles, Mumma McCoy!" She chirped, cheeriness faked into her voice to such an extent that it sickened even her.
McCoy turned to face Kirk, and now it was his turn to raise the eyebrow.
"What did you do?" He asked, sitting down next to his friend. Kirk sighed, and ran a hand through his hair.
"Nothing. I think," Kirk frowned. "I don't know," genuine puzzlement furrowed his brow, and he stood up. Tugging down on his shirt to straighten it, he turned away from the CMO.
"Did you accidentally insult her?" McCoy offered. His eyes widened. "Did she you and Spock being adorable and get jealous?" He looked at the Captain eagerly, the usual weary expression gone from his face. Kirk's frown grew, and he walked towards the door, dismissing McCoy's retort with a wave of his hand. He strode out of the Med Bay, leaving McCoy alone to laugh to himself. McCoy wandered back towards his desk, but barely reached it before Kirk's head reappeared at the door into Med Bay.
"You don't genuinely think it was the Spock thing, do you?" Kirk asked, causing only a laugh from McCoy. "Bones, you're an ass," Kirk grumbled, leaving the Med Bay for the last time. McCoy laughed, and with a shake of his head, spoke through to comms to Hannah.
"You can come back now, Kirk is gone."
"Don't wanna."
"You have to. I'm your superior officer, Ensign Hannah," McCoy grinned. Oh, he loved pulling rank.
Hannah slinked into the Mess Hall, looking around suspiciously for Kirk. Seeing he wasn't there, she sighed, relief pouring through her as she moved towards the sole thing getting her through this week; the prospect of more coffee. And bacon. She was craving a good bacon roll, with the nice white rolls, with the flour dusting on top- oh and the melted butter that practically seeped through the roll on to her fingers as she ate it. Though she knew the replicators couldn't make a roll quite as perfect as the rolls from the bakery down the street from her, she was still going to eat the hell out of some bacon and no one could stop her. Hannah grinned at the thought of the bacon, and spoke her instructions to the replicator, the coffee first. Coffee was very important. It was how she survived the constant humiliation she inflicted upon herself. Oh, god, that interaction with Kirk was almost worse than the guilt tripping she got from Liam every day. She grabbed the coffee and bacon roll, and slid into the nearest seat, greedily gulping the coffee.
"We'll be back at Yorktown in two days," A voice spoke from behind her. Kirk. "Just, if you wanted to know,"
"Okay." Hannah did not look up from her coffee, instead taking an unnecessarily large bite of her roll to give an excuse for not replying. Kirk moved around the table, and sat in the chair next to her, pulling it closer to her.
"Hannah, look, I don't know what I said or did-"
-"Nothing. You didn't do anything wrong. Just, I did something abnormal and weird and I am not okay with talking to you about Liam and Aimee and everything that happened, but it isn't something which can be simply ignored," Hannah interrupted, looking at Kirk. Her mouth closed and formed a single, flat line. "I know I am being rude, but I can't do this. Not right now," Kirk frowned at her.
"That is…" he began, looking away from her, as if hunting for the words in the air. "Incredibly selfish. But okay. If you want space," The words were not guilt-tripping, yet they evoked such a deep and cutting feeling in Hannah's stomach, that she almost called Kirk back when he stood, turned and walked away from her. Almost. Hannah watched the Captain walk away from her, and her heart panged with a feeling she could not place. She looked back down at her bacon sandwich, which suddenly didn't seem so appealing anymore.
"Fuck," She muttered, before stalking out of the Mess Hall, purposefully, pedantically leaving her half-full mug, and barely touched bacon roll behind. She faltered in her step, and then returned for the bacon sandwich. She might love Kirk, but she wasn't going to leave behind her bacon snadwich for him. She was lovesick, not stupid.
Kirk returned to his room after a particularly long day on the bridge, expecting nothing more than to fall into his bed. His eyes were bleary with the tiredness that came from an entire day of dealing with Spock, and reading dozens upon dozen of reports. His shoulders drooped with exhaustion, and his spine formed a slight curve as he staggered towards his room. Except his room wasn't empty. Stood in the middle of his room, mid way through turning to face the door, froze Hannah. She smiled weakly at the Captain, and explained simply;
"I was getting weird looks stood in the hall, and I didn't know how long you'd be?" She bit down on the inside of her lip, looking hopefully at Kirk. He didn't speak, merely walked over to a cupboard and pulled out a bottle of amber liquid and two glasses. Hannah faltered, then continued, twisting her hands together in front of her stomach. "I- I wanted to say sorry. For being incredibly selfish."
"You don't need to," Kirk dismissed her half-apology. Hannah dropped her hands and began speaking faster, more curtly.
"Well, of course I don't have to. A forced apology isn't an apology, it's just garbled words-" She cut herself off abruptly, and then restarted. "I mean it, Jim. I was being nothing more than a stupid, selfish brat. I thought you'd judge me- For how I acted- and that scared me. So I panicked," She sank on to the arm of the chair nearest her. She gazed down at the floor, refusing to meet Kirk's gaze, and so missed the sympathy that rolled off of Kirk. She also didn't notice him moving towards her, until he held the glass out in front of her nose. Hannah gratefully took the glass and smiled up at Kirk.
"Well, I accept your apology?" Kirk suggested with a smile, raising the glass to his lips. Hannah mimicked his action, saluting him with the glass before drinking from it. "I don't blame you for being hostile, and selfish." Hannah laughed, and looked away awkwardly.
"Forgive me?" She raised an eyebrow hopefully, tilting her head and looking up at him. Kirk tilted his head in the opposite direction, and pretended to muse it over. He leant to her, and lightly kissed her, before pulling away. Hannah followed his head back as he pulled away from her, and he grinned at her.
"I could do with some persuasion," Kirk teased. Hannah closed her eyes, and grinned a grin that expressed self-deprecating amusement and affection towards Kirk. She placed an arm over his shoulder, her forearm resting on his shoulder and glass tilting away from him behind his head. Hannah cupped his chin in her free hand, and slid it around to the back of his head, kissing him back.
Hannah lounged in Kirk's bed, looking up at him from her position lying on his chest. She trailed a spiral pattern along his bare forearm, drawing his attention to her. Their gazes met and Hannah smiled, continuing to trace spirals on him. Kirk brushed Hannah's hair back off her face, and smiled at her, trailing a thumb lightly down her cheek. Hannah lifted her hand to Kirk's face and brushed his forehead, the gentle touch almost tickling Kirk. He grasped her hand, and lightly pressed his lips to it.
"You're cute," Hannah murmured to him. Kirk grinned at her, and kissed her hand again.
"I know," He smirked. Hannah sat upright, and took her hand back, leaning on the bed either side of his head. She raised an eyebrow at him, leaning over him, her hair falling over her right shoulder in a cascade of brown curls.
"Did you just Han Solo me?" She asked, incredulously. Kirk glanced away from her, then back to her.
"I don't know what that means," He stage whispered at her. Hannah merely laughed, and leant down to kiss Kirk. Unfortunately, her hair decided to land on his face, so instead Kirk ended up spluttering and coughing in an attempt to get rid of her hair. Hannah pulled it back quickly, and swiftly wrapped it up into a bun. "That was attractive," Kirk laughed, before looking up at Hannah and faltering. Hannah grinned and burst out into hysterics, the bun on her head bouncing with each pearl of laughter that spilled from her.