Shelley sat down on the bed in her room on New Vulcan. Her face twisted up. "God, I'm such an idiot." In her enthusiasm of engineering, she had high fived Silak, the Vulcan aide. She closed her eyes and still could see his wide eyed look of shock. He had turned moss green immediately afterwards and Sandra had chosen to walk up, arm in arm with Chekov.

Well at least one of them had a good time.

To be honest, she did have a good time with Silak. It was a very precise tour of the Vulcan High Council. She could tell he was passionate about his work. His voice and facial expressions didn't give that away. But Shelley saw the way his eyes seemed to sparkle. They sat down to lunch and he discussed his goals in being the aide to the ambassador. He asked her about her work and she gladly began to talk about the engineering hell that Scotty often put her through. He watched her as she expressed everything. At one point, she even thought that his lip quirked at her enthusiasm.

She turned her face into the pillow. There's no way he would talk to her now. She just did the Vulcan equivalent of kicking him in the balls. She cursed herself at being too enthusiastic.

The console of the room blipped, calling for her attention. She pulled herself off the bed and walked over, activating it. Shelley was surprised to see a video call request from Silak. She opened the channel to see his stoic face staring back. "Mr. Silak!"

He cleared his throat. "Lt. Young, there is a lecture at the Vulcan Science Academy tomorrow night. It is upon the subject of engineering from our past in comparison to how it could be bettered in our present. It would be pleasing to have your company during the lecture and perhaps dinner beforehand."

Shock froze her speaking skills for a bit. "But...I practically kicked you in the balls!" she blurted. Immediately, her hands slapped over her mouth. Way to go, Shelley. How's the taste of your foot?

His expression didn't change. "I surmised that you did not do so with intention. I had asked the ambassador about the exchange. He has explained that such a reaction is human." He paused. "As my studies have been in human culture, it would be logical to spend as much time as possible interacting with one."

She took in the information. Oh. So she was to be a subject to be studied. "I'll check to see if Dr. Linh and Chekov are busy to join you tomorrow night."

"My preference would be only yourself." Silak replied. "I find you...fascinating. You express things so readily. And yet you seem to be at homeostasis when speaking of engineering. If it is of your preference for the doctor and ensign to accompany us--"

"No, no!" She sat down again, blushing at cutting him off. "I would love to accompany you to dinner and the lecture."

"I am pleased. I will arrive tomorrow evening at 1800." He paused. "Should you find yourself otherwise preoccupied for that evening, do not hesitate to inform me at the ambassador's offices."

She smiled. "Ok. Good night, Mr. Silak." She turned off the console and settled into bed.

Sandra was brushing her hair when the chine at her door rang out. She closed the robe that was provided and tied the knot. "Come in!" The doors slid open and Pavel walked in. "Pavel! Is there something wrong?"

He sat down on the edge of the bed, next to her. "Dr. Sandy..." He was still dressed in Starfleet gold. He stood up and paced the room, running a hand through his curls and muttered in Russian. Finally, he looked at her. "Goodnight, Dr. Sandy." And just like that, he left again.

Sandra blinked. Then she resumed getting ready for bed. She knew that he had only grown attached to her because she didn't brush him off as a kid. He was a brilliant young man. Animated. They got all sorts of stares during lunch.

She laid her head down to sleep. "At least he got it out of his system."

By the time they had to leave New Vulcan, Sandra noticed that Shelley was practically beaming. They walked towards the beam site. "So...does this mean that you'll be fielding more waves from New Vulcan?"

Shelley only grinned mysteriously. "We'll just wait and see." Sandra smiled back.

She looked over at Pavel. He stared at the ground. He hadn't spoken to her since that night. Which she thought was fine as Lt. Uhura had decided to spend time with her. But Pavel didn't even look at her. He didn't wave at her or smile when she saw him. Barely even said hi.

New Vulcan disappeared before her eyes and the Transporter room reappeared. Immediately, the navigator bolted out of the room. She blinked. "I'll be in my offices." she told Shelley as she walked off.

But the engineer was already off to where she was needed. Sandra only shook her head and entered her offices. Back to the grind.

Sandra balanced her stylus on her nose. It had been a few months since New Vulcan. Pavel had stopped coming by her offices. She still saw patients. Still fielded calls late at night about the captain's nightmares of frosted, sugared, sweets. Things were back to normal. She would get reports from Shelley about New Vulcan. Well...about Silak, of course. It was to be a long distance relationship. But both parties were willing to try. She was a Starfleet engineer and he was an ambassador's aide.

She stood up. Maybe a walk would be good. She bumped into a red shirted lieutenant who was on his way to sick bay. He swayed on his feet a bit. She held out her hands and steadied him. "Are you ok?" she asked. His pupils seemed dialated.

"Y'know, doc...you're pretty hot. I bet you could read every dirty thought that goes on on this ship." He giggled. She held onto him and led him to sick bay. "We LOVE you down in engineering. Especially because you come visit. You care about us."

"It's my job, Lieutenant." she replied. "McCoy! Got one for you!"

A curtain was pulled back and Sandra was shocked to find the doctor laying on a biobed. His face was wrenched in sadness. "Took the whole damn planet." he muttered. "She took Jo." He curled up on his side. "She took my baby girl away from me!"

Sandra's eyes widened. She pulled a nurse over. "Nurse Thompson, what's going on?"

The nurse set his mouth in a thin line. "Some kind of intoxication got into the air filters. Chapel is working on a vaccine. Goldberg is down too." There was a clank that drew their attention. "Doctor!"

McCoy waved off Thompson. "Know what I'm doin." He hefted the hypospray to his own neck and administered the drug. He shook his head. He looked like he sobered up. "Ok, I'm taking this to Chapel. It sobers you up temporarily." With that, he slightly stumbled over towards his offices.

Thompson helped Sandra relieve the lieutenant. She followed McCoy into his offices. "What the hell's going on, McCoy?"

"Get the hell out of my sick bay!" he roared.

She scrambled out, more than a little affronted. Spock entered the sick bay as she exited. She looked around carefully. Everyone was giggling or stumbling. Some were crying. "Intoxication..." Sandra's eyes widened in realization. "These people are drunk!" A few others swayed past her. "Pavel..."

Sandra broke out into a run towards the bridge. She passed Sulu brandishing a foil at those who passed by, challenging them to a duel. She slowed her pace. Why was she running again? She was standing at the turbolift. Sulu was still trying to get people to fence. His cries of "En guard!" echoed down the hall.

Pavel had been instructed by the captain to go to his quarters and stay there while they figured out the ailment that seemed to have broken out in engineering and was spreading through the ship. From the short clip of video feed that he saw, it was no true affliction. Just looked like they were having a good time. With Scotty singing as well as Uncle Piotr after a few bottles of vodka.

Commander Spock had already left and Sulu had already left. This left Uhura to monitor frequencies and Pavel to go to his rooms like a child. His face twisted into a frown. He was 19 now, why did everyone think he was still a child?

The doors slid open to the chaos that had taken over the decks. Dr. Sandy was frozen in place, watching Sulu charge down the hall. "Dr. Sandy!" came his surprised gasp.

She turned to him. He had managed to avoid her since his botched attempt on New Vulcan. He had made a fool of himself and didn't even bother to go through with the plan he had. After the date, he wanted to tell her that he cared for her but he just couldn't bring himself to say it. So he left her and managed to try to avoid her on the ship.

A blush crept onto her cheeks. "Pavel..." she breathed. To his surprise, she walked over and threw her arms around him.

"Dr. Sandy, you are sick. I'll take you to sick bay." He tried to pull her body away from him, ignoring how good it felt.

"No, I want to stay with you." she pleaded. She looked at him in wonder. "Your mind...you speak it so easily. Not like so many other humans." She placed her hand on his chest. "Don't say you don't want me. I can read your mind."

Pavel gulped. "Dr. Sandy, I do not think you are yourself. I will take you to your rooms. You can sleep it off there." He pushed at her and she didn't budge. He swept her up into his arms and she wrapped her arms around his neck easily.

"Pavel..." she breathed against his neck. He began a brisk walk, ignoring her. He had been doing so for months. A little bit more wouldn't be that hard, right? He keyed in his override to her rooms and placed her on her bed. "Pavel, stay with me. I've missed you."

Since when did Sandy keep her room unbearably hot? Pavel swallowed. She was practically mewling at him. "Dr. Sandy, you are sick. Dr. McCoy will make you better when he gets the vaccine." he replied, desperately trying to not give into the urge to tell her everything.

He looked down at her. Her eyes were glassy. Her lips were open and seemed so very inviting. "Pavel..."

He stood up ad away from her. "I...I have to go." Her hand clamped down on his. "Dr. Sandy..."

"Just call me Sandy. We can pretend I'm a human girl." She sat up and continued to stare at him. "Please stay."

His head was swimming. "You said you did not want to be involved with officers on the U.S.S. Enterprise. That we were all crazy."

"Yes."

He sat down and faced her again. "Do you even know who I am right now?" he asked carefully. Pavel could almost feel his shield slipping. "I do not want to be here if--"

She placed her fingers on his lips. Then she reached to cup his cheek. "Ensign Pavel Andreievich Chekov." she whispered. "I am aware of who you are and what I am doing." She wrapped her arms around him again and pulled herself closer to him. "Pavel. Pavel. Pavel."

He gulped again and attempted to steel his nerves. "Dr. Sandy..." He peeled her away from his person and made sure she was laying down. "Dr. Sandy, you are sick." He stood up and made a hasty exit.

"Pavel! Wait!" she called out. He closed the doors and locked them, programming them to only open again to the CMO.

He sighed heavily and leaned against the coolness of the ship.