DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN IT!
Chapter Six
Two weeks later, and Izzy still didn't have an answer to her question. They'd been in the black for about a week, and she still couldn't understand how Bones seemed to understand her so well. She was in her quarters, contemplating that very fact when a wave came in. A pale, dark-haired, Amazonian beauty appeared on the screen in academy Reds.
"Rayne!" Izzy shouted, tossing her PADD onto the bed and moving over to the screen. She stopped short when she saw the Reds. "What are you doing in those?"
"I'll be watching the firsties for cheating," Rayne said, rolling her eyes.
"You'd think, with an ability like yours, they'd put you to work with something a little… more," Izzy said.
"Yeah, well," Rayne said. "You can't cheat when your deep in the black and the engines are overloading."
"How did you hear about that?" Izzy asked.
"After everything we went through together," Rayne said, "your mind is rather like a tuning fork. I just have to open up to pick up the vibes. That and Admiral Pike told me."
"You sneak you," Izzy said, laughing silently as she shook a finger at the screen.
"You really are like a tuning fork," Rayne said. "So what is this I keep picking up about a doctor?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Izzy said steadfastly.
"That's bull and you know it, Izzy," Rayne said. "You know exactly what I'm talking about. Don't even try to lie to me. You know I know better, even if you are lightyears away. Or when you're not. And bears are not in season, for the record."
"You're rambling again, Rayne," Izzy said.
"Yes, well," Rayne said. "We all have our own little quirks. Now tell me about this doctor." Izzy sighed.
"You remember those guys at the academy, the cute ones that we never thought were worth it?" she asked.
"Ah, yes," Rayne said, nodding. "We always said that they wouldn't understand our quirks. Why?"
"Because he's about thirty times better than those guys," Izzy said. "And he understands some of my quirks… the ones he knows about, at least."
"Wait a second," Rayne said. "You're the only one of us out there in the black, and your Chief Medical Officer doesn't even know about all of your quirks?"
"How did you know he was the CMO?" Izzy asked.
"I checked in on you and yours," was Rayne's reply. "I do have a pretty high clearance level."
"That's just because they couldn't keep you out if they wanted to."
"You didn't answer my question," Rayne said. "How does he not know about all of your quirks?"
"He knows about almost all of them," Izzy said, looking away from the screen. "Just… not the big one."
"The big one?" Rayne asked. "Which one was the big one?"
"You know," Izzy said. "The one that kept me locked up in our room for an entire month out of every year."
"Of all your quirks, how does he not know about that one?" Rayne asked, her eyebrows to her hairline.
"The reality of it is on an extremely high clearance," Izzy said with a shrug. "I had it penned down as dracorian mumps, a painful, yet non-communicable, disease." Rayne shook her head.
"I don't know why you refuse to be honest about that one," Rayne said. "Like the rest, it's not like it's something you can help."
"Do you realize how many people are sick and twisted enough to take advantage of the situation?" Izzy asked, astonished that her best friend, who was just as paranoid as she was, hadn't thought of such a thing. It was Rayne's turn to sigh.
"I suppose you're right," she said. "Though I doubt your doctor friend would let anyone on the Enterprise take advantage of you the way the Klingons did."
Izzy growled at the mention of those incidents, even if the mention was made only in passing, before comprehending the rest of what the other young woman had said.
"What makes you think Bones and I are friends?" Izzy asked, wondering what gave her away.
"First of all, you're something of a tuning fork, remember?" Rayne said, tapping her temple. "Then there's the fact that he knows about and accepts the quirks that he knows about. And it was cemented by the fact that you just called him by a nickname. If you weren't friends, you'd have called him 'Dr. McCoy.' Before I forget to ask you, shouldn't your big quirk be kicking in soon?"
"Any day now," Izzy said with a frustrated sigh. "I've already been given a leave of absence from my work, and I'm confined to my quarters until this 'outbreak' passes."
"That sucks," Rayne said before glancing away from the screen. "Hey, I have to go meet with a couple of the teachers. Wave you later?"
"I'll be here for at least another month or so," Izzy said. "Any communication would be helpful."
Rayne nodded, and the screen went blank. With another sigh, Izzy grabbed her PADD back up, running through a few pages of engineering jargon.
Another week passed before anyone decided to actually go to her quarters to check up on her. She'd gotten plenty of waves, but she'd kept the well-wishers away up until now. By this point, her 'quirk' had hit her hard, and she'd worked herself up to an awful frenzy. There was a buzz at her door, and she had to concentrate hard on controlling herself and keeping her voice as close to normal as possible.
"Who is it?" she asked, unable to keep the hoarseness from her voice.
"It's Bones," came the voice from the other side, though she only paid enough attention to notice was male. She rushed to the door, opened it, grabbed the front of his shirt, her eyes wild, and pulled him into the room, closing the door behind him. As the door closed, she placed a wet kiss on his mouth.
He responded immediately, as any man would when a woman he was secretly attracted to threw herself at him, and wrapped her up in his arms, kissing her back with all of his might. But kissing him wasn't enough. When she began trying to rip his clothes off, he realized something was wrong with her.
"What are you doing?" he asked, using all of his strength to hold her at arm's length.
"Come on, Bones," she said breathlessly. "You know you want it as much as I do."
"Something's not right," he said, backing up towards the door. He felt his back press up against the door, and opened it, took another step back, and closed it in her face. He turned around, slumped back against the door, and let out a breath.
"Well, at least you're not in flames," came the drawl of an unwelcome voice from down the hall. He looked up to see Jim taking in the rags that, up until about a half of a minute ago, had been his shirt.
"I don't know what's wrong with her," Bones said, "but it sure as hell isn't dracorian mumps."
Jim smirked. "What happened?" he asked as the other man led him down the hall.
"I went to make sure she was alright, and she tried to jump my bones!"
"And that's bad because?" Jim asked, drawing the last word out.
"Because that's not like her, damn it!" Bones said angrily. Jim chuckled quietly as they headed back to Bones's quarters. Once there, Jim sat on the sofa while Bones changed into a shirt that wasn't shredded.
"So what are you gonna do about it?" Jim asked, once Bones was situated.
"Her friend… what did she say her name was?" Bones asked.
"Which friend?"
"The one that helped her at the academy."
"Started with an R," Jim said. "Was it Rayne?"
"That's it!" Bones said. "Maybe she'll know what's going on."
He sent her a wave, and the party in question answered almost immediately.
"Dr. McCoy, Captain Kirk," said the woman. "Is everything alright?"
"What makes you think something's wrong?" Jim asked with a smirk.
"The only reason I can think of that you'd be trying to reach me this time of year would be Izzy," Rayne said. "Let me reiterate. What happened this time?"
"She tried to jump me in her quarters," Bones said, keeping the red from rising to his cheeks with a practiced control. Rayne sighed.
"I probably shouldn't tell you this," she began.
"Let me guess," Bones said. "Another one of her quirks?" Rayne nodded solemnly.
"But this one wasn't caused by the Klingons," she said. "It's one straight from her powers. She's gone into heat."
A/N: Well I didn't see that one coming. Seriously. I was just typing the Rayne/Izzy convo when it hit me. And I totally made up the dracorian mumps, by the way. Hope you liked it. But I can't tell if you did or not if you don't review, so let me know! And if you didn't like it, please tell me what I'm doing wrong. Constructive criticism is always welcome, not to mention extremely helpful as I bumble my way through this.
As always, Live long and prosper.
