A/N: Here's the next part, I've really enjoyed reading and responding to everyone's reviews and huge thanks to everyone who put this on alert, I hope you guys feel like reviewing this time around. This one's pretty long, but it's some of my favorite scenes so...Enjoy! - pj
---
"Scotty?"
"Aye."
"What's your family like?"
Jo was lying on her back, staring up into the belly of the ship, the warp core. One hand fidgeted with the fabric of her tunic while the other dangled casually into the box of tools between her and the Engineer. Scotty was in much the same position he had been when she met him, waist deep in some machine, which he'd learned was the protoplasma regulation filter, with the occasional curse or grunt punctuating his speech.
"Ah, I have two sisters, and a wee mother who can cook the livin' daylights out of a lamb," he said, his voice muffled and oddly echoed, like he was talking inside of a metal helmet.
"And you're father?" She asked, furrowing her brows when the pulsating lights of the fluctuating dilithium in the core brightened slightly, "okay, I can see it now. The valve's open."
"Good lass," he praised the ship, "micron hammer please, love."
Jo absently handed him the tool and Scotty answered, dropping a handful of metal bolts to the ground beside him.
"I, ah, I don' really know me father."
"I'm sorry," Jo said after a moment her voice soft. She tilted her head. She liked contemplating the warp core from this angle. It was sort of beautiful. Like it was alive, pulsing all around them. "Do you regret that?"
She heard Scotty stop tampering and she swung her eyes over as he pulled his head out to look at her.
"Aye lass, sometimes I do."
She bit her lip and nodded.
"D'ya know what I think?"
Jo frowned slightly, "The ship could break warp seven if the Captain would just give you permission to get that mineral you want from Kiloth?"
"No, well, yes, but-" he sighed, gathering his thoughts, "I think you ought to give your Da a chance. No hear me out," he said quickly, seeing the change in her expression, "he extended his hand to ya', gettin' you on this ship. And you're doing well because of it." She narrowed her eyes, looking for something to deny, "Just, reach back out to him. See what ya' find."
"I'm already having lunch with him once a week, Scotty. I am trying."
"Aye. But could you not try a wee bit harder? I donne' think your favorite tv show counts as deep conversation."
"I haven't seen him since I was ten years old," Jo protested, becoming defenseive, "what do you want me to do? Reveal my darkest secrets? Not gonna happen." She turned away, refusing to allow him to read into her expression.
Scotty sighed, tapping the hammer against his palm lightly, "Time goes by faster in space. Don' miss the chance ye have here and now to mend bridges."
Jo's eyes skittered back over to him and he could see the wheels turning there.
Scotty smiled gently and winked at her before re-immersing himself in the machine, "Now off with ye', the Captain will soon be looking for ya'."
"Yeah yeah," Jo groaned, sitting up. She started toward the turbo lift, Scotty's words floating around in her head.
---
"Am I to understand that the Yeoman still has yet to undergo her required Registration physical?" Spock walked with Uhura on one side of him and McCoy on the other, on their way to begin their shift.
"Look, Spock, I don't tell you how to do your job-"
"Quite inaccurate Dr. McCoy," Spock interrupted, and Uhura hid a smirk as she pressed the button to order the Turbo Lift, "you often come to the bridge with…'suggestions' on how you think-"
"Regardless," McCoy snapped, pinching the bridge of his nose, "you know as well as I do that Jo's Yeomanship is a special case. And you can't force this sort of thing with Jo," he reasoned.
McCoy fully intended to broach the subject of her medical history with Jo one of these days, but was still trying to take into account what Jim had told him. Trying to give her time.
"Listen, I've got all of her medical records and as long as she gets the physical done within her first six months aboard, she'll still be within Regs."
Spock raised an eyebrow but didn't comment further and Uhura smiled fondly, wondering when exactly the Vulcan had begun implying the 'pick your battles' line of thought he used on Jim, with the CMO.
"Anyway, as long as she gets all her vaccines before leaving the ship and doesn't take up something foolish like phaser-play, she'll be fine." McCoy said offhand, and then glanced over when Uhura's steps faltered as they stepped inside the Turbo Lift.
"Nyota, are you well?" Spock asked, a note of concern in his voice that her sharp ears only barely detected.
She smiled and then chuckled nervously, making Spock frown.
"I, uh, I yes, of course. I just…forgot…something," she smiled again at Spock and touched his hand briefly before getting off as the lift doors opened on the G Deck, which was certainly not the bridge where she was due in just a few minutes.
McCoy frowned as he watched her go, "what is that all about?"
Spock stared after her, his head tilted in puzzlement, "I am not sure."
---
Jo stared down at her food, some sort of stew that smelled heavenly and looked…well it smelled good anyway.
"Jo? You alright?" McCoy asked, glancing up from his steak, "you've been pretty quiet."
Jo shrugged, "fine. Just…nothing to say, I guess." She shrugged again and looked down. Truth be told she had plenty of things floating around in her head she could say. She just wasn't sure she should, or even if they were things her father would care to hear about.
"How's the hand?"
She looked down at her fully healed hand and flexed it, "Great. I beat Sulu today."
McCoy nodded, his eyebrows up in interest, "that's good."
She nodded and went back to her food.
"And Scotty?"
"What about him?"
McCoy sipped his beer, "he mentioned you stop by Engineering almost every morning to talk to him. I thought you didn't like Engineering." He saw Jo's mouth twitch slightly in a would-be smile.
"I don't go to see Scotty. I go to see her. Enterprise," she got a dreamy look on her face that McCoy recognized, he'd seen it on the eccentric engineer's face enough to know it with his eyes closed, "she's beautiful, you know? And Engineering is like…like her heart. It's amazing down there. Complex and elegant and alive...beautiful," she suddenly seemed to remember herself and dropped her gaze shyly, finally setting to work on her stew to keep her mouth busy.
"And the smell of dilithium?" He asked, almost laughing at the memory of a grade school Jo wrinkling her nose at the smell of dilithium on his brother –in-law's clothes after a required Essential Engineering training course at the academy.
Jo shrugged, "he's the most normal person down there."
Then McCoy had to laugh, "that does not inspire confidence, Jo."
Jo shrugged, chuckling lightly, "I mean, they're great and all. Smart as hell but…yeah. Weird. One of them will only use a tool if it 'smells' right." She smiled, thoughts of engineering bringing back the memory of Scotty's words from a few days before.
"Dad?"
He looked up, surprised by the suddenly serious look on her face, "yeah?"
"I-I want you to know something," she dropped her spoon and pulled both her hands into her lap, clasping them tightly, "with Mom's," she cleared her throat, "Mom's boyfriends. And husbands. I never um…" she paused and looked up, seeing her father had his full attention on her, and she tried to force her tongue to cooperate.
"They weren't you," she said finally, "and that meant they were never good enough for me," she finished abruptly and nodded to punctuate the confession. Seemingly embarrassed by the admission, she excused herself and left quickly, dropping her tray in the waste recycler as she walked out.
McCoy couldn't even move to stare after her, his steak and everything else around him, forgotten. After several minutes he reached for his beer, sipping it slowly. It was as close and Jo had come to saying she loved him since the day he'd moved out.
They weren't you.
For a long time after that he sat in the Mess hall, sipping beer and staring at the stars.
And that meant they were never good enough for me.
---
Uhura walked out of the bathroom and shuddered. How was it that such an advanced civilization had such a poor sense of toileting hygiene? She wiped her freshly washed hands on her skirt a few times as she maneuvered her way back out into the main room.
The brief stop off at Yorn Six was unscheduled but very much appreciated. The Captain knew his crew was weary after almost six weeks cooped up on the ship and, according to him, a mini-shore leave was in order.
And he was Captain after all, so who was Uhura to complain?
The place she, Sulu, Christine and Chekov had decided to go was some sort of cross between a bar and bakery, highly recommended on some of the more 'unofficial' channels. She'd been a little disappointed to find that Spock wouldn't come with, but he was intent on visiting the Museum of Rare Mineral History on the western continent and the place held absolutely no appeal for her so they went their separate ways.
They'd met up with Jo and Bones in the corridor on the way to the transporter room and invited them along for the outing. Bones declined almost as eagerly as Jo accepted.
Unsurprisingly, when they got to the planet Christine met up with some 'alien mega hottie' and promised to give Uhura all the juicy details later, like it or not, and disappeared. Even so, the four of them had been having a pretty good time, sharing jokes and stories of past missions and their Captain's wild antics.
But when Uhura returned to where she'd left the small group after her bathroom break, she frowned at the two unexpectedly empty stools.
"Sulu," she said, once she was close enough to be heard over the live band. But the young man's back was to her, leaning against the bar talking to some blonde, leggy Caitian who was purring sweet nothings in his ear.
"Hikaru," she hissed, and accompanied it with a smack on the shoulder to get his attention.
"What?" he asked, annoyed.
"Where are they?" she asked, eyebrows raised.
"Where are wh-" he glanced down at the two empty seats where he could have sworn Chekov and Jo had been seated not two seconds ago, "I don't know, they probably went to the bathroom."
"I just came from the bathroom, Sulu." She spied the two empty glasses on the bar, "and what is this? You let them drink?" she accused disbelievingly.
"I didn't let them do anything, alright?" Sulu insisted, "they're adults."
Uhura scoffed, "no, they are not. Chekov barely fits the bill and Jo isn't even on the menu!" Uhura stopped, shaking her head and beating down the sinking in her stomach that said something about this would end up on her permanent record.
She reached out to sample the blue remnants of a drink in one of the glasses, her eyes widened when the tangy, sweet taste melted against her tongue and then made her want to gag.
"Oh. My God."
Sulu, who had been distracted by his furry friend walking away, her tale wrapped seductively around his leg the entire time, irritably brought his attention back to his crewmate, "what?"
"This is Romulan Ale, Sulu," her tone was now not so much accusatory as bordering on hysterical.
Sulu's eyes widened by he attempted valiantly to play it cool, "so?"
"So? Hikaru Sulu you know as well as I do that a single sip of this stuff could give Scotty a run for his money. It's almost 250 proof!"
Sulu frowned, "is that even possible?"
"Why don't you drink a few bottles and find out," she challenged, raising an eyebrow. Sulu clicked his mouth shut and Uhura shook her head again, "and now the two hormonal teenagers have taken off with enough of it running through their systems to make their heads explode tomorrow."
"Or if it doesn't they'll wish it would." Sulu could feel Uhura's glare on his skin and shut his mouth again.
Uhura stopped pacing to take a deep breath and pinched the bridge of her nose. She looked up and tried to get a view of someone, preferably the missing Ensign and Yeoman, but the club was dimly lit and a haze of smoke and noise surrounded them.
"Look we have to find them."
"Why? They're probably just dancing, having a little fun. It's what we're here for, isn't it?" Sulu justified, sipping his Bud Classic.
Uhura narrowed her eyes and stepped a little bit closer, "think about it Sulu. Chekov, who blushes every time Jo comes into a room and Jo, who has no self control to speak of, are hopped up on Romulan Ale and loose in this bar. You really think they're dancing?" Seeing she had his attention, she continued, "and if they aren't do you really want to be the one to explain that situation to arguably the grumpiest CMO in the fleet?"
"You're overreacting," Sulu tried, though his tone was unconvincing. Another glare from Uhura coupled with the image of McCoy even hearing a rumour of Jo in the state she was undoubtedly in (he'd had Romulan Ale before. This was not going to be pretty no matter how it went down) made up his mind.
"You're right. Let's find them."
---
Soft.
Strong. Wet.
Hot.
Skin. Hard.
Need. Lust. Want.
Soft.
Jo pulled back, her lips swollen and her hair disheveled, and stared into the glazed, intense eyes blue eyes of the Russian.
"Vat?" Chekov whispered, his cheeks flushed and skin glowing.
Her breath came in heaving gasps and she ran her hands though his golden curls, "I feel like my brain is on fire."
He laughed and her heart stumbled, "you too?"
She grinned. One of her legs was wrapped around his waist and she could have sworn Chekov had been wearing a gold tunic before, but couldn't get her mind to follow the train of thought long enough to care. She liked his black undershirt better anyway.
Chekov's warm fingers massaged the skin at her waist, his hand easily reaching it with her leg at this angle, her pathetic excuse for a skirt riding up generously. Her stomach was doing flip flops while the pulsating lights and music and heat of the club tangled around them and Chekov's arms were so damn distracting.
She attacked his lips again.
Pull. Bite. Feel.
Need.
Risk. Grab. Take. Touch.
Scent. Taste.
Mine.
"Oh my God!"
Jo heard the voice somewhere behind her but it was far away and sounded upset so she certainly didn't want to stop what she was doing, what he was doing, to find out what it meant.
A moment later though, she felt a cold hand wrap around her arm and she was pulled back, away from Chekov's lean, deceivingly muscular body
She pouted, "what's going on?"
She could see Sulu had much the same hold on Chekov that Uhura had on her.
"We're taking you back to the ship. Right now."
"But I don't-"
"Uhura to the Enterprise, four to beam up."
As the noise and smoke of the club dissolved into a shimmer of light she heard Sulu's voice.
"Wasn't she wearing boots before?"
---
The transporter room was bright and cold and quiet compared to the club and the recycled air burned Jo's lungs.
"Ugh," she groaned, stumbling back off the rounded pad, "I want to go back."
Uhura rolled her eyes and to her chagrin could see Chekov having much the same reaction.
"C'mon Buddy," Sulu swung one of the younger man's arms up over his shoulder to lead him from the room, "lets get you to bed."
Jo was squinting and her blue eyes rolled around in her head, tracking the walls of the room as if they were spinning around her.
"Trippy."
Uhura sighed, reaching out to grasp her arm again, "c'mon." Uhura lead the way out, leaving explicit instructions with the ensign at the console that she was not to repeat any of what she just saw to anyone.
It wouldn't stop the news turned gossip from spreading, on a ship Enterprise's size, nothing could. But it would at least slow it down.
By the time they made it to O deck Chekov had left off English to babble mindlessly in Russian, his eyes closed and resting his head against Sulu's shoulder as he tried to carry both their weights down the corridor.
Jo seemed to be suffering the opposite effects of coming down off the alcoholic high. She squinted against every light, her lips pursed and jaw clenched against a throbbing ache in her eyeballs.
"Oh, I'm really starting to regret that bet."
Uhura frowned and glanced over, "what bet?"
Jo sighed, her head lolling to one side and she winced, "the one that said I could drink an entire mug of Ale before Andy."
Uhura's nostril's flared as she forced herself to take a deep breath, "of course. Of course this your doing."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Jo asked, though the affront in her voice might have sounded more convincing without the hint of whining behind it.
"Nothing."
Jo frowned and took to grumbling, growling or cursing any and everything that caused her pain.
"Really? The computer voice?" Uhura shook her head, leading the Yeoman into her quarters, "you're starting to sound like your father."
"Say that again and I'll punch you straight in the nose Leut…Leyu…Uhura." Jo slurred, taking great issue with the word Lieutenant before finally giving up.
Uhura paused, but decided the girl was probably too drunk to realize what she'd just said.
"Fine. Just-" She grunted as she lowered or, more accurately, dropped Jo onto the couch and the girl landed with a groan. The door chimed and Jo cursed.
Loudly.
"Lay here."
"Like I would willingly go anywhere else," Jo mumbled, throwing an arm over her eyes as Uhura jogged across the room to answer the door.
"Sulu, what the hell are you doing?" she poked her head out to see that the hallway was empty, "you have to stay with him."
Sulu looked pained, "but he's singing," he lowered his voice and his expression changed into something that could only be described as pathetic, "opera."
Uhura almost smiled, but quelled the impulse and pointed back down the hall toward Chekov's quarters, "Go. For all our sakes."
When he left she turned around, dismayed to find Jo no longer on the couch. "Jo I thought I told you to-"
In that moment the distinct sound of someone emptying the contents of their stomach into a toilet reached her ears and Uhura closed her eyes and groaned.
"Just how I wanted to spend my vacation," she sighed, running her hands over her face as she made her way toward the bathroom, "hold on Jo, I'm coming."
TBC