DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN ANY RIGHTS TO STAR TREK, NOR DO I OWN ANY OF THEIR CHARACTERS.

Chapter 4

True to Scotty's prognosis, the Enterprise was up and running by the end of day two. At least, the engine room was. The exterior hull still needed some work, in order to prevent any breaches of the internal hull, which meant that Izzy and Scotty had some down time before they were needed again.

"This is so boring," Izzy said, slowly tapping her spoon against her cup. Scotty was sitting across from her in the cafeteria, with his own cup in front of him. "I hate days away from work."

"You deserve a break," Scotty said. "We've been working non-stop since yesterday morning. You've earned some rest."

"It's just always so boring," Izzy said. "I'd rather be working than have a day to myself."

"Ah," Scotty said, nodding slowly. "You're one of those people."

"One of what people?" Izzy asked, narrowing her eyes playfully.

"The workaholics," he said, nudging her equally as playfully.

"I'm not a workaholic," Izzy said. "I just prefer to have something to do." She finished her coffee, and set the cup and spoon in a tub of dirty dishes. "On that note, I'm going to go bother Bones. You enjoy your free day."

"Tell him I said hi," Scotty said, nodding to her before drinking some of his own coffee.

Izzy grabbed an Ensign and, with his help, made her way to the med bay. She thanked the Ensign before making her way into the med bay. She could see Bones through a window, sitting in a small office, surrounded by paperwork, which he was falling asleep on. She quietly snuck up to his doorway, snuck around his desk, and placed a hand on his shoulder, which caused him to jump shamelessly.

"How did you get in here?" he asked, once he calmed down and realized it was her.

"Same as anyone else," Izzy said. "Through the door."

"I didn't see you come in," he said, rubbing some sleep out of his eyes.

"First of all, I can be sneaky," Izzy said. "Second of all, you were half asleep on your papers… what's that all about, anyway?"

"I was busy for a few days," he said. "I couldn't get all of my work done, so I'm doing it now."

"What were you so busy with?" Izzy asked.

"I did have quite a few patients to look after because of the Klingon attack," Bones said defensively.

"Well, judging from your current state, you need a break," Izzy said, grabbing his hand and dragging him from his chair. She may have been smaller than him, but she'd had more physically exerting training than he did, and could do it easily.

"Where are we going?" he asked.

"Like I said, you need a break," Izzy said. "We're getting away from the Enterprise, if only for a couple of hours."

"Alright, already," he said, tugging his arm out of her grasp. "Stop yanking on my arm. I'm following, I'm following."

They left the med bay, and she made him lead her to his room, where she insisted he shower before they leave. She waited outside until he came out, once again in his uniform, as she was in hers.

"Alright, I'm clean," he said as he exited his room. "Now will you tell me where we're going?"

"Can't," she said, grabbing his hand as she led him out of the building. "Don't know where we're going."

"Wait," he said, stopping. "You want to drag me away, but you don't know where we're going?" Izzy sighed.

"This is what we call fun," she said. "It's all about how you get somewhere, rather than where your going." Bones grumbled, but continued on after her. "Besides, once we're out in the black, any adventures that are to be had are bound to be full of danger and deceit. So it's best to get the fun out of the way now."

Bones grumbled again, but allowed her to drag him outside. The sun was climbing the sky, and a soft breeze was more than enough to keep them cool. He wasn't sure how long they walked in a companionable silence, but it wasn't until she stumbled, and he went to catch her, that he realized her hand was still holding his.

"You alright there?" he asked as he helped steady her.

"Uh, yeah," she said quietly, dropping his hand. They continued along the sidewalk until they came to a split, one side continuing with the pavement, the other a barren dirt trail, surrounded by tall, thin blades of grass.

"Which way?" he asked, indicating the two paths. Izzy shook her head.

"Do you honestly have no sense of adventure?" she asked, leading the way down the dirt path. He followed at her sedate pace. "You might want to remember the way back; my memory's not as good as it once was." Bones looked at her, a playful feeling in his heart.

"Senile at… what, twenty-three?" he asked. Izzy shook her head.

"Twenty-six," she said with a sniff. "And I'm not quite senile yet. I just have a bad memory."

"So how do you deal with it?" he asked as they walked slowly down the path.

"Like water off a duck's back," Izzy said simply. "I've got to just shake it off when I mess up, otherwise I'd never get anything done."

"Do you treat everyone else's mistakes with such ease?" Bones asked, stopping to look her in the eye.

"Oh yes," she said. "If I didn't, it wouldn't be quite fair now, would it?"

"You seem pretty big on fairness," he said, still not walking.

"I'm a firm believer in karma, too," she said. "If something happens, then it's what was supposed to happen. If I wasn't meant to have powers, I'd be dead right now. If the Klingons hadn't attacked that transport ship, I'd have never joined Starfleet. So, really, all of the bad things that have happened to me, in the end something good came out of it."

"Well," Bones said, looking at something behind her, his eyes big, "I'm glad you're of that opinion. Maybe you can make something good out of this one."

A question in her eyes, Izzy turned around, to see what he was looking at. Behind her, a giant bear was standing on its hind legs, looking like it was about to roar.

A/N: I'm loving the response I'm getting. I hope you guys liked this one, even if it is a little short… sorry! But I'm still trying to get the hang of this. So, please review and all that yada yada. Seriously, though, those are really helping me form my ideas, so let me know what you think. Thanks for reading!

Live long and prosper.