A/N: I'm glad everyone still seems to be liking this fic. I'm super excited about getting my ST09 dvds next month. ::sigh:: Chris Pine...Enjoy! - pj
Jo hardly slept that night. Her entire being felt as if it was being ripped in two different directions.
On the one side, she had spent her whole life rebelling against every guiding force she came up against. First her mother, then her teachers and the rules they tried to enforce. The laws of the states in which she lived and now: Starfleet. Really, it was everything she hated. Conformity. Regulations. Expectations. Boundaries.
She bit her right thumbnail as she paced, eying the would-be forcefeild with a suspicious glare every now and then and sometimes sending the on duty security guard a dirty look for good measure. Just to keep him on his toes.
She turned and paced in the other direction, the buckles on her boots jangling loudly.
On the other side, there was a part of her that wanted to please her father. A part she'd spent her life trying to push away, but had never quite succeeded. And, what was more, Jim – Captain – Kirk, a man she respected in spite of herself had dared her to do it.
She took another deep breath and closed her eyes. At this point, she was just stalling. Her decision had been made the moment she heard the Captain's challenge.
---
Kirk surreptitiously clicked the small circular icon in the corner of his PADD and small white numbers flashed 0757am across the bottom of the screen. She still had three minutes. He kept his face angled down as he shifted his eyes over to one side, unsure if his first officer had seen him check the time for the third time in fewer minutes.
"I believe the new Yeoman has made her choice," the Commander stated, his hands clasped in a relaxed pose behind his back. Kirk grit his teeth and signed his DigiSig at the bottom of the PADD with a flourish. Since when did anything ever escape the Vulcan's notice?
"She'll be here." Kirk stated, handing over the PADD and wishing he felt as sure as he sounded. With Jo it could go either way. She could choose to stay in the Brig just to spite him; it would be a very McCoy thing of her to do. But then...she could surprise him just as easily and maybe for the same reason.
Kirk rubbed his hands on his thighs and crossed his legs.
He glanced at a small digital readout on the console beside him as he reached for his coffee.
0800. Damn.
"Alright Mr. Sulu we-"
He was cut off by the sound of the Turbo lift doors opening and, with a strange sense of déjà vu, he turned to look, along with the rest of the bridge crew, as Joanna McCoy stepped out onto the bridge of the Enterprise for the second time in as many days.
But this time was different.
This time she wore a Starfleet uniform, although the wide black bracelet and hoop earrings left a little something to be desired. Her eye makeup was toned down and her hair clipped back so it didn't fall in her face, a marked improvement from the day before.
She took what seemed to be a steadying breath and tugged at the hem of her skirt as she walked across the bridge to stand in front of him.
Jo clenched her teeth, trying hard not to let her discomfort show on her face.
She hated the red of the uniform. She was uncomfortable in the length of the skirt, she felt small and exposed with her hair pulled back and she wasn't used to wearing so little makeup. The boots were militant and understated not to mention quiet. It was 'Starfleet' not 'Joanna' and the combination of it all had her fighting the impulse to crawl back into the Turbo lift.
Jo bit her lip as she looked up at the Captain and swallowed hard. She realized she was the focus of everyone on the Main Bridge as ten sets of eyes bored into her skin. She glanced around, meeting the various gazes staring at her, their expressions ranging the gamut of openly curious to obviously suspicious to waiting-for-the-shit-to-hit-the-fan.
She brought her gaze back to the Captain's and found none of the expected judgment in his eyes, only something akin to amusement and understanding.
She drew her shoulders back and forced herself to stop shifting her feet back and forth and unfurl her fingers from her palms.
"Permission to come aboard, sir."
The corner of Kirk's mouth kicked up and he gave a slight nod, "Permission granted," he looked her over a moment and then said, without looking away, "Mr. Spock, you have the con." Then he stood and walked across the bridge to his ready room, "Yeoman McCoy, a word."
Jo took another deep breath and dutifully marched across the bridge, sliding through the open doors ahead of the captain as he waited, giving a 'get back to work' look to his bridge crew before turning and going in after her.
"This isn't going to become a thing for us, is it?" She said once the door was shut, some of the sarcasm from the previous day seeping into her voice, but there was none of the disdain behind it.
"A thing?" the captain repeated, sitting at his desk and folding his hands to look up at her.
She nodded. "Yeah, you know, asking me to your Ready Room every time I set foot on the bridge?"
Kirk chucked lightly and shook his head, "no, no thing." He was still smiling as he looked up at her and noted with interest that, though she was attempting to project the same disinterested bravado from the day before, it was all an act. She shifted on her feet and her hands were balled into tight fists, she was nervous and uncertain and he wasn't sure why.
"I guess you made your decision," he said, though it was a statement that clearly begged for an answer.
She glanced down at herself in her red uniform and shrugged, "looks that way," she said, trying to sound nonchalant.
"Why?"
She drug her eyes, which had been wandering about the room, back to him, "what?"
Kirk didn't move, his voice remaining stern and allowed none of his compassion for the girl to show through, "Why did you choose to come to my bridge today?"
She frowned at him, studying him carefully. If this was a trick question she wanted to know about it. But she saw no amusement, nothing untrustworthy in his eyes. Only sincere interest and patience.
She bit her lip. She wanted to say something sarcastic along the lines of 'it's as good a place as any and the seats are more comfortable here than in the Brig' or maybe just laugh out loud because 'had he really given her a choice in the matter?'
She shrugged again, unsure of what to say, "It was the bridge or the brig."
He dipped his chin, "that's the only reason?"
She could tell that wasn't what he wanted to hear, but didn't open her mouth to change it. She wasn't sure she was ready to reveal the true reasons. Wasn't sure she could tell him, out loud, that a small part of her wanted to make her father proud for once. That she really did want to prove her eighth grade teacher wrong when he'd said she should marry rich because it was the only shot she was ever going to get. Part of her just wanted to see something new, try something different. And another part saw how much his crew looked up to and respected him and wanted to be a part of that.
But she couldn't bring herself to say any of it.
He stared at her, waiting, for several moments before he sat back from his desk with a sigh, clearly disappointed.
"Okay, then, that'll have to do," he paused, giving her a long look, "I hope that's enough."
Jo shrugged again and dropped her gaze, forcing her feet to remain motionless on the ground.
The sound of a whistle filled the room and then, "Lieutenant, would you join me in my ready room, please?"
Jo turned to look at the door but Jim called her attention back.
"Yeoman?"
"Huh?" she answered, and then, at seeing his look, amended, "I mean, yes Captain?"
"Better," Kirk nodded with a smile and then pointed at her bracelets and rings, "those aren't exactly Starfleet Issue."
She glanced down and then moved to clasp her hands behind her back, her smile somewhere between 'been-caught-red-handed' and 'please-don't-be-mad'.
"Baby steps, sir."
Kirk raised an eyebrow in a way that showed he'd probably been hanging out with Spock too long and stood as the doors to his Ready Room swished open, "I'll let it slide today, but tomorrow I'll be expecting you to be up to all of Starfleet's Uniform standards."
"Well that's kind of hard to do when you don't know what they are."
"That, Yeoman, is what these are for," he came around his desk and took a pair of PADDs from Lieutenant Uhura, "this one was made up by my previous Yeoman, it details the specifics of your assignment here and any tips she might have thought fit to leave for you." Jo took the proffered object, "and this one details all the Starfleet Rules and Regs you'll be expected to abide by during your time aboard my ship."
Jo took the second PADD and quickly began scrolling through its contents, "Jim there's almost thirty-six pages of content here," she protested immediately and then, at his look added, "sir."
"Yeah," Jim nodded, returning to his desk, "I only had Uhura include the important ones."
Jo gave him a disbelieving look and then a slightly more horrified look to the PADD, "that's a lot of rules," she mumbled dejectedly.
Kirk hid a smile at her comment and cleared his throat, "You're excused from the bridge today. Go back to your quarters and study the contents of these two PADDs to the best of your ability," he gestured toward the other occupant of the room, "Lieutenant Uhura has been taking care of Yeoman responsibilities in the interim and will be stopping by your quarters after her shift today to clarify any questions you might have-"
"Captain," Uhura cut in, breaking her stoic demeanor with the vehement protest, but stopped herself short, as if suddenly remembering there was a junior crewmate in the room.
"Is that a problem, Lieutenant?" Kirk asked in a tone that indicated it better not be.
Uhura retracted the small step she'd taken forward and forced her arms to relax at her sides, holding her head high.
"No sir, any plans I may or may not have had can easily be rescheduled," she said, her voice remaining even. But Jo was standing close enough to her to see the muscles of her jaw twitch and had a sneaking suspicion there had definitely been plans set for that night.
Great. I'm just making friends left and right aboard this ship.
TBC