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Both the Captain and Bones stood when they entered the briefing room.
"Emmy!" they chorused, before smirking at each other. Emmy could tell by that simple look that they were very competitive with each other, which made her smile.
"Spock, I expected you to be the first one here," the Captain said with a small smile.
"I was collecting Nurse Marshalls," Spock said.
No one had asked him to collect her? She thought that either Bones or the Captain had; if no one had asked him, then why had he come get her?
"Of course, of course," the Captain said, with a smirk tugging at his lips.
"Well please sit Emmy—I do hope I can call you Emmy—Kat and Bones say it so much, it feels strange calling you formally," the Captain said, looking pointedly at Spock, who was now standing beside him.
"Umm…sure. It's fine, Captain Kirk," Emmy said, sitting down across from them.
"Please, when we're alone like this, call me Jim," the Captain—Jim—said with a smile.
She sat across from them and felt like she was going to be judged.
"Emmy, first off, I want to apologize for my crew and their shitty—I mean, their terrible slander against you," Jim said seriously.
"It's fine," Emmy said, knowing that it wasn't, but what else was she supposed to say?
"No, it's not," Jim said, aggravated. "Emmy, just think of this as a meeting between friends. It's totally off the record. Spock, go sit next to Emmy so she doesn't feel like she's being judged," he continued with a smile at Emmy as Spock stood up.
It was as that second she realized that Kat wasn't the only person who had accepted a 'mission', so to speak.
"Emmy, with the whole ship knowing the rumors—again, I apologize—things are going to get bad for you," Jim said seriously.
She nodded, not sure what to say. She'd already realized all of this.
"We've come up with three options. Whichever option you choose, none of them will be held against you in any way," Bones cut in, a little sadly, which confused Emmy.
"I'm the Captain, Bones, I should be telling her," Jim said with a frown that Emmy could see he didn't mean.
"You were taking too long," Bones said with a smirk and a shrug to Emmy as if to say 'what are you gonna do?'
"Well then. As Captain, I order you not to speak during this meeting," Jim said with a laugh.
"You can't do that," Bones said with a frown.
"Yes I can, I'm the Captain, this is my ship," Jim said with big smirk.
"You can't order someone not to talk! What if we get attacked and no one knows but me and I can't tell you because you, the Captain, ordered me not to talk?" Bones questioned triumphantly.
"Doesn't matter! You can still write, can't you?" Jim said, aggravated.
"Are you guys always like this?" Emmy couldn't help but question.
"No!" Jim and Bones answered at the same time, looking at her.
"Yes," Spock answered, a second after them.
It all made Emmy giggle softly to herself, although she suspected that Spock heard, because the tensions that had been radiating off him since he'd sat down seemed to ease just a little bit.
"As I was saying, we've come up with three options," Jim said.
Emmy nodded.
"I'm afraid that even though the people responsible for starting the gossip have been dealt with, it's impossible to actually stop it from continuing. Therefore, if you wish to transfer to another ship, I will give my approval and promise a written recommendation from everyone in this room…yourself excluded, obviously," Jim said with a playful grin, and Spock was back to being tenser than stone next to Emmy.
"Sir—" Emmy started, but was cut off by Jim.
"Jim," he prompted with a laugh.
"Jim, then. Why would Commander Spock write me a recommendation? We've never worked together," Emmy said.
"I see no reason why I would be unable to write recommendation on your overall performance," Spock cut in before Jim could answer.
"Oh. Okay," she said softly.
"Wait, you want to transfer? I only gave you one option you can't pick after only one option!" Jim said, becoming visibly upset.
"That was…that was for Spock, not for you," Emmy said with a little laugh.
"Oh. Well. Then let's continue," Jim said with a embarrassed laugh. "The second option is that you will stay on this ship, continue your duties in sick bay and deal with the gossip, which should only last until something better comes along," Jim said evenly. "If worst comes to worst, I can always stage a really loud, public, dramatic breakup-makeup with Kat to get them off your case."
Emmy nodded, but she wasn't too fond of that option.
"The third option, which I think by far is the best, is that you stay on Enterprise and move to the bridge," Jim said with a big smile.
Emmy could feel her jaw drop. Be on the bridge? With the popular crew?
"We've been thinking of this option for a while. With all the exploring we're going to be doing, we're bound to run in to trouble. We're going to need medical attention on the bridge, so instead of Bones here," Jim said with a slap on Bones' back, "Being around twenty-four-seven, we thought that a nurse to share the shifts would be better," Jim said with a large smile. Emmy could tell which option he wanted her to pick.
"We had it narrowed down to three nurses. You've been in the running the whole time, so it's not like you'd be pushing anyone out. If you choose this option, you and one other nurse will be rotating shifts to make it all work. If it seems like we need to add another nurse, we will. But I think this is the best option," Bones said softly.
"The bridge has already been briefed on what's happened, so they know the truth. Well, at least as much as can be discussed," Jim said pointedly, letting Emmy know that the incident hadn't been fully revealed.
"Scotty has already started working on your station. Don't think we're doing this just for you. If you decide to transfer, a rotation of nurses will still be placed on the bridge. We're just giving you first crack at it," Bones said with a smile.
"It would be most efficient to have medical personnel on the bridge," Spock said, void of emotion as usual.
Emmy's mind was racing. It seemed that they all, even Spock, in his own way, wanted her to stay on Enterprise.
"Let's say hypothetically that I take the third option and I'm on the bridge. What if it didn't work out? Would I still be able to get an approved transfer and at least a recommendation from Bones?" Emmy asked quietly.
"Screw hypothetically, if you choose the third option and for some reason it doesn't work out," Jim said, looking pointedly at Spock, "Then I promise you an approved transfer and a recommendation from all the senior officers in this room," he finished with a smile.
Emmy nodded, thinking to herself. It couldn't hurt to try. If it didn't work, she could probably get on any starship with all their recommendations.
"Okay, I've decided that I'll go for option three," Emmy said, feeling like she was one some sort of twisted game show.
"Yes I win!" Jim said, jumping up.
"Good choice," Bones said with a smile.
Emmy nodded to them. Spock remained silent.
"Great! Then in celebration of your decision, all of you are invited to the Captains quarters for dinner, along with Kat and possibly Scotty if I can get him out of engineering and I won't take no for an answer!" Jim singsonged, a big smile on his face as he stood, along with Bones and Spock.
Emmy stood with them and followed them to the door, Bones and Jim in front of her and Spock behind. She stopped suddenly when she felt Spock's hand on her left shoulder, right were her bite mark was. She turned to face him.
"I believe you have made the most logical decision," Spock said quietly.
"Thank you," Emmy said, not sure what else to say.
"I feel I should apologize for any upset that my presence has made in your life of late," Spock said slowly, as though he were unsure of his words.
"Spock, you didn't put the drug in your drink. You came to my room to check on my well being…sort of…and you didn't invite Bones there. None of this is your fault," Emmy said with courage she didn't know she had.
"Regardless, your life has been upset, and I am sorry for that," Spock said quietly.
"I accept your apology, but you didn't need to give it. You didn't start the rumors, and you couldn't have stopped them. It's just something I'm going to have to deal with," Emmy said softly.
"I regret that you have to deal with them," Spock said, his thumb moving slightly on her shoulder, almost like a caress on her bite mark. Emmy shivered, and she watched Spock's eyes darken.
"It's fine. In a few weeks, a month at most, everyone will have forgotten about it all…" Emmy trailed off, finding it hard to concentrate with his hand so close. He stepped closer to Emmy, she found it harder to breathe. Being this close to him caused her mind to flash back to the incident and the night they'd kissed.
"Are you guys coming…" Jim trailed off when he saw how close they were. "Um, I'm planning on making an announcement, sorry guys," Jim said, regret in his voice.
Spock stepped back and suddenly he was the cold, cool, emotionless Vulcan once again. The mood had broken. Emmy sighed sadly before heading out the doors onto the bridge.
"Attention all! I'd like to introduce the newest member of our bridge team, Nurse Emmy Marshalls," Jim said brightly. "Nurse Marshalls will be joining us starting tomorrow morning. She'll be stationed at the science station along with Commander Spock until Scotty is done with her new station," Jim said causing, Emmy to freeze. Jim hadn't mentioned that.
"I know you'll all welcome her into the family, or you'll have to deal with Bones…and Spock," Jim said with a joking laugh, causing everyone on the bridge to laugh lightly, knowing the truth.
"Okay, everyone back to work," Jim said before sitting in the Captain's chair.
"Come on, I'll walk you back," Bones said, placing a hand on her back and leading her out of the bridge.
"Nurse Marshalls, your shift starts at eight-hundred tomorrow. I will be by to collect you at oh-seven-fifty," Spock said quietly.
"I think she can find her way to the bridge," Bones said with a smirk.
"Regardless, I will be by. Unless you object?" Spock questioned, looking at her directly for the first time.
"No, it's fine…I'll see you tonight in the Captain's quarters," Emmy replied.
Spock just nodded in response before moving to the science station, while Bones lead Emmy off the bridge. He just laughed softly to himself.