Chapter 3: Welcome to the Family

Isara

At least I had finally found the med bay.

I was sitting in the corner like a punished child while Bones finished typing his request. He was sending a message back to Starfleet to tell them that I was on board the Enterprise and didn't know that my assignment had been changed, and to request that I be reassigned to work under him.

I watched his face while he typed. There had been no smile, no laughter, not even a hug or a "How have you been?" since I had seen him again. He seemed to be avoiding my gaze, too. Had something happened to him since I had last seen him, or had he simply moved on from our friendship? Perhaps more importantly, why on Earth should I care? We had been friends, it had been fun, he had moved on and I should too. That was it.

Bones

Two years earlier

Of course he would have to apologize for Kirk. There were no two ways about it. That med student, Isara, didn't deserve the ridicule that Kirk had directed at her, and that wasn't even including the "Is that a euphemism?" comment that he had just heard about. Just thinking about it made him mortified on Kirk's behalf. What possessed that damn kid to say things like that was anyone's guess, but at least he could do something about it. Isara was nice, they had a few of the same classes, and he was going to apologize.

He had never realized how intimidating the women's barracks looked. He tried to swallow, but it was hard with his throat so dry and his neck craned back to see the top of the towering building. After a moment of hesitation he mentally shook himself and marched in.

Why was the building intimidating? He decided to make a list to keep himself from chickening out and leaving. One: it was unfamiliar. No girlfriends for him- his ex-wife had been all the "romance" he needed for a long time- so he had never been here before. Two: he might run into someone he knew, though he hadn't recognized any of the nameplates so far. He glanced at the closest one. Ongafleur? What kind of name was that? If he did meet someone he knew, he came to number three: how would he explain his presence if he was asked? He was apologizing to some random girl that he barely knew because his idiot friend had treated her the way he treated everyone? When he put it like that, maybe it would be better if he just left and said something if he happened to see her later…

He was so busy worrying that he hadn't realized that he had reached Isara's easily-recognizable door and knocked until it began to creak slowly open. A pair of worried eyes appeared in the crack between the door and the frame, and he immediately made up his mind. If Kirk- or anybody, for that matter- had made her that wary of opening her door, then he was going to make an effort to right what had been said.

She was kind of pretty, now that he saw her up close. Her hair was dark and long, and it contrasted nicely with her very pale skin. Her eyes were rimmed with dark lashes, and the irises were big and green and liquid-looking. There were a few freckles dusted lightly across her cheekbones and the bridge of her nose. Her lips weren't full, but they were pink and looked soft… He snapped his eyes back up to hers.

"Hey, Jones. I just wanted to say sorry for Kirk. I know he's an ass. He knows he's an ass. I don't know why he needed to make that point to you; I'm just sorry about it. I'll make sure he leaves you alone." He stopped to breathe and realized how stupid that had sounded. Great. Now she was looking at him, confused and suspicious, and he decided that it would be better to walk away before he said anything that he would really regret.

He could feel her watching him still as he strode down the hallway. No. Don't even think about it. She was reallypretty. No. Stop it. He directed his angry thoughts towards the person who had inadvertently put him in this situation and imagined yelling at Kirk, which made him feel better. It usually did.

He thought back to what he had actually said. Maybe he should go back and add something- something to justify his visit, something to explain why she was different from all the other girls that Kirk had annoyed.

Then, just as soon as he had left, he was back. He added his best southern gentleman air as he said, "Oh, and… good for you, standing up to him like that. God knows where we'd be if he always got everything he wanted." Ok, that was good enough. He grinned, pleased with himself for rectifying the situation and gratified that the beginnings of a smile were dancing around the edges of her mouth. Then, before he knew it, she had wrapped him in a close hug that felt amazing. He closed his eyes for a moment and sighed imperceptibly. This girl was going to be trouble for him.

"Damn it Jim, I'm a doctor, not your PR department!" The young man sitting on the cot on the other side of the room jumped at the sound.

"Jesus, Bones, what did I do?" he whined.

The doctor thumped his heavy book bag onto the floor. "I just had to go apologize to that Isara girl because you were such a bonehead!"

To his surprise, Jim grinned happily. "Sorry, you had to do what?"

"Don't try and trick me into saying something I don't mean. You should have apologized to her, not me." He pointed an angry finger and punctuated this speech with jabs.

"Apologize for what? And why did you feel so strongly that you needed to go talk to her?" Jim stood and advanced towards him, and McCoy probably would have been flustered if he hadn't been so angry.

"I have a shift until midnight. Don't wait up," he growled as he snatched up his book bag. The strap broke and spilled medical equipment and electronics all over the floor. "If you laugh," he warned the silently chuckling Jim as he bent to retrieve his supplies, "I'm going to lock you out of the dorm for a week."

Jim gave him a pointed look and he sighed. It's not like the kid would mind sleeping somewhere else. He gathered an armful of supplies and tried to exit the room with his dignity intact.

Two years later

He steadfastly refused to glance at her. She was sitting there, in his med bay, on the Enterprise, but he was not going to look. He certainly wasn't going to grab her and hug her and tell her how much he had missed her.

She deserved someone else. Someone younger. Someone less bitter. Someone who hadn't already been married and divorced. Someone who hadn't just had their commanding officer die. Someone who wasn't such a coward that he refused to write to his friend because he didn't want the pain of thinking about her when she wasn't there.

He finally gave in and shot a glance at her out of the corner of his eye. She looked downcast, and he knew that it was probably because of his lack of a warm greeting. He hated himself for making her look like that. Now I'm no better than Jim- afraid to open the door or afraid to open her heart, what's the difference?

He had thought that she would have forgotten him by now. That was his other motive for not contacting her- he wanted her to be able to move on, get a boyfriend, find some real friends and never have to deal with him again. If she moved on, then he would be able to, too. Eventually. Maybe. No, but at least he would feel all right about her end of things.

He tapped the "send" icon on his computer, then turned to face her. "Starfleet should receive that message immediately. I'm sure they'll fix their error." He could feel how stiff and formal his voice sounded, and was glad that he was saved from continuing when Kirk made a ship-wide announcement. His voice rang out through the ship, explaining Pike's death, their destination, and why it was necessary for him to lead a small landing party to Kronos rather than utilizing their missiles. He finished with "Let's go get this son of a bitch."

Isara rolled her eyes in a fairly obvious attempt to hide her nervousness. "Professional as always." He suddenly remembered her past encounters with Kirk, and was disappointed in himself for not thinking of that before.

"You're probably pretty disappointed to end up on the Enterprise." She raised an eyebrow, and he clarified. "You know, because you hate Jim- Captain Kirk- so much."

She shrugged. "I don't hate him. He got under my skin, I kinda overreacted. I mean, he's still a jerk," she smiled briefly, "but it's not important to me anymore." She glanced at him, her expression guarded. "I also thought that it might be nice to see you again. It's been a while." A pause, then "I missed you."

That was all he could take. He was so, so glad to see her again, and he had missed her beyond measure. Instead of saying all this, he just stood and smiled, offering her a hand. She used it to pull herself to her feet and right into a hug.

This might have been the tightest he had even been hugged by her. In fact, she was squeezing the breath out of him, but he didn't really notice because she left him breathless anyway. He could feel her thumb moving in small circles on his right shoulder blade. He turned his head so that he was smiling into her hair. "I missed you, too." He said it so quietly that she probably couldn't hear the exact words, but he knew that she got the idea.

Isara

Unless I was really going crazy, that hug went way past friendship. I decided to assume that I wasn't going crazy and respond in kind. After all, if I was mistaken, he was the one who started it.

After a few seconds standing like that, he pulled away as nurses started to trickle into the med bay. He gestured me out into the corridor and we headed towards the bridge.

"I need to formally introduce you to Jim. Since you went through full medical officer training, you're higher ranked than the nurses. In fact, you're a little above every other medical officer besides me. The Captain has made it clear that he wants to be introduced to all senior members of medical, engineering, and security." We were standing in the elevator now, the smooth white walls glowing softly as we whooshed upwards. Within seconds the doors had slid open with a pneumatic shhhhht and I stepped onto the bridge for the first time.

Everyone here obviously knew what they were doing. No one stood idly, but instead spoke into headsets, slid levers and pressed buttons, or, in the case of Captain Kirk, gave precise orders. There was very little visible on the large viewscreen besides the blurred streaks of stars that indicated that we were at warp.

Bones grabbed my arm and tugged me to the side as a woman with high green bone crests instead of hair stepped out of the elevator behind me holding an electronic clipboard. There was a certain amount of bustle and noise, but it was the sound of many people all performing their individual tasks in perfect synchronization.

"Jim, we've got a new senior medical officer." I came back to focus on Kirk standing right in front of me. "I think you two have met. Jim, Dr. Isara Jones. Isara, Captain Kirk."

Kirk actually paled, which inspired me to be bold and hold out my hand first. "Pleasure," I said with a brilliant grin. Kirk, to cover his initial surprise, smiled right back. Then he turned to Bones.

"You just broke two major rules."

"Captain?"

"One: never work with someone whose name rhymes with yours. Bones and Jones. Do you know how much teasing you're going to get? Two: " Kirk continued as Bones sighed. "Two, no girlfriends on board."

I chose that moment to interject, though Bones still tried to get in a strained "She's not my-" over my words.

"So you do remember me then, Kirk?"

"Yeah, it's Captain Kirk now." He grinned, then jumped topics completely and left me behind. "You have big shoes to fill, Dr. Jones."

I raised an eyebrow. "I know, Dr. McCoy is one of the best."

"True, but I meant all of the other Dr. Joneses that have come before you." My confusion must have shown because he clarified, "You know, like Indiana Jones?"

I rolled my eyes, enjoying our banter a little. Maybe this meant that we could at least tolerate each other's company. "Of course, Kirk. Captain.

"Be careful how you address me, Dr. Jones. I'm above you now."

I saw the opportunity and couldn't help myself. "Is that a euphemism?" I immediately worried that I had gone too far. Kirk looked as though I had slapped him, his mouth open in a tiny "O" and his eyes bugging out. Bones worriedly looked back and forth between us.

Kirk lost it and snorted. I chuckled too, and even Bones cracked a smile.

"Welcome to the family, Dr. Jones. I think you'll be ok here." He put out a hand to rest on my shoulder and I smiled widely.

"Proud to be here, even if the Captain is-" My witty response was interrupted when the ship gave a gigantic shudder and bounced me into the wall. Again.

A man that I was pretty sure was called Mr. Sulu said "Sir, we've dropped out of warp."