A/N: Apologies for the delay! I have a litany of excuses which include my stupid job, leaving my stupid job, moving to Colorado, and having computer chaos which led to a new laptop.

This chapter is a bit of character intro and its shorter than I intended, but I'm happy with it. We have the first of many meetings and the introduction of an important character in the story Head Nurse Amira Nazir. Hope you enjoy!

Also – thanks for the review, faves, and follows!

Disclaimer – I don't own Star Trek…I do own Olivia and Amira.

Chapter One – Shuttles and Meetings

Three hours after soaking in the San Francisco sunrise, Olivia found herself standing in the massive hangar that housed the entire operation necessary to get a crew of 600 hundred plus onto a starship. She knew that crewmembers had been flooding in for days, beginning with the loading crew and low level personnel. Various check-in points scattered through the hangar, each representing major departments. Sucking in a tight breath, Olivia started towards the sciences division check-in. She tried to avoid shoving her hands in the pockets of the god-awful Starfleet issue flight suits.

A Starfleet commander stood at the check-in point with a large screen. Olivia's heart thudded a little harder as she approached and the back of her neck grew hot. Absently, she wondered if her nerves reflected in her grey eyes. The commander, wearing stark black looked up as Olivia stopped before her. She was a short woman, hair pulled back into a severe bun at the back of her head.

"Name?"

"Doctor Olivia, uhm, Lieutenant Olivia Margot Lane," she said, stumbling over the words.

If the commander noticed Olivia's apparently inability to string a sentence together, she said nothing. "Lieutenant Olivia Margot Lane, M.D. Looks like you're assigned to medical division in medical and anatomic pathology. You are also to also serve as the ship's coroner, correct?"

Olivia rocked back on her heels. She did not miss the now-familiar expression that flickered across the commander's face. The word 'coroner' didn't exactly inspire fascination or adulation, but rather inspired a variation of awkward responses that included the shifty glance she'd just received. "That's me," she said.

"Place your hand on the screen for identification," said the commander, gesturing with her stylus to the screen next to her. Olivia stepped forward, feeling jumpy. Her palms had been clammy since she locked the door of her temporary quarters to head to the hangar. The last thing she wanted was for that to show up on the screen, but thankfully it didn't. Instead the scanner read her palm, positively identifying her. The commander nodded. "Welcome to the Enterprise crew Lieutenant Lane. You're slated for shuttle 17. Once you've boarded the Enterprise report to medical for your first shift."

"Yes ma'am," said Olivia and turned on heel, departing so the next in line could step forward. It took her several minutes to find shuttle 17. Swallowing hard, Olivia swept her curls behind her shoulders and gripped the rail, walking up the stairs to board. Olivia was strongly reminded of the first day of school as she ducked into the shuttle and found a smattering of other crewmembers, scattered across the various seats. Wringing her hands, Olivia filed into the shuttle and found an empty row near the middle

Sitting in the window seat, Olivia could see the chaos unfolding in the hangar. A few shuttles took off for the docking station where the Enterprise awaited them. She tried to settle back into her seat and relax but her entire body still hummed with nervous energy. "Is anyone sitting here?"

A voice interrupted her reverie. The strong accent surprised her and Olivia started, turning to see a man standing at the entrance to the row. "No, it's all yours," she said, trying to drum up a smile.

"Cheers," he said and sat down next to her. Olivia decided she liked his kind brown eyes and easy manner as he completely relaxed into his seat. She glanced at him once more before starting to look away, but couldn't help but look back to check his department. He caught her looking and he chuckled. "Montgomery Scott," he said and held out a hand.

"Olivia Lane," she replied and took his hand.

"You look nervous," he said and she pushed her hair out of her face again.

Olivia wrinkled her nose in displeasure. "Is it that obvious?"

"Just a wee bit," he admitted. Dropping her head back, Olivia tried to compose herself. "First time serving aboard a starship?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Well no. What I mean is I served three years on a science vessel, but never a starship. A crew of eighty is a lot different than one this big, so it's all practically new to me." Immediately, Olivia wanted to clap a hand over her mouth to stop her rambling. Over the course of her life, she'd been told how terribly awkward she was with strangers, and it appeared that Montgomery Scott was no different. Olivia's proclivity to ramble when she was nervous only magnified tenfold when dealing with unfamiliar people and territory. This only fell into the top fifty reasons why she was better suited for life behind a microscope, she thought.

And yet, her companion took it all in stride. He stretched his arms out in front of him and cracked his knuckles before crossing them loosely over his chest. "Try being stranded on an ice planet for a few years, now that is a miserable situation."

Olivia pulled a sympathetic face; she hated being cold. "I think I'll pass. What put landed you there?"

Montgomery grinned and a nostalgic light flickered into his brown eyes. "It's a long story, but it boils down to a failed transporter equation and a lost dog."

This explanation didn't help Olivia in the slightest, but she decided not to push the issue further. After all, she'd only met the man moments before, she wasn't exactly in a position to ask a million questions. He contented himself to watch other crewmembers trickle in, saying hello to some the women and men as they passed. It struck Olivia that he was likely a veteran to the Enterprise. Spots on the ship were limited in the lead up to its departure and rumor had it that Captain Kirk liked to keep as much of the same crew as he could and his crew felt the same about serving under his command.

At length, Scotty grew tired of people watching and returned his attention Olivia. "You're in sciences, doing what exactly?" He looked pointedly at the blue triangles at her shoulders.

"Medical and anatomical pathology," she replied drumming her fingers on her knee. "That, and I'm serving as the ship's medical examiner. What about you?"

"Chief Engineering Officer," he replied. Olivia's jaw dropped as she realized she was sitting next to the Montgomery Scott, the man who pioneered transwarp beaming. He had literally changed the face of space travel. It then occurred to Olivia that she was gaping and then she shut her mouth while her cheeks flushed. "I know, I know. It's hard to believe a man of my handsome stature is confined to the bowels of the ship, but there you are."

Olivia smiled, shook her head, and tried to recover. "I'm sure you do the job with distinction."

"That I do, lassie. That I do."

The remainder of Olivia's shuttle boarded and the door shut. She watched as a tall man ducked down and then took a seat near the front of the shuttle with a beautiful middle eastern woman. All of her attention fell on the man, a face she knew from medical journals and from the roster of her own department. "Doctor McCoy, your new commanding officer, I believe," noted Scotty.

"Yeah," she said slowly and in surprise. Doctor McCoy looked even younger in person than he did in photographs but the serious expression that marred his otherwise handsome features remained the same. Among the elite of his class, McCoy was a year behind Olivia but completed academy a year ahead of schedule upon his astronomic promotion to chief medical officer of the Enterprise. Only the other night Olivia had practically devoured his latest publication on the dangers of using beta blockers to treat certain symptoms of interstellar anxiety disorders and phobias. Working under his command had been one of the new perks of Olivia's transfer, McCoy was considered the best among the best.

"Don't let his tough act fool you though, underneath good doctor has a heart of gold."

Olivia arched a brow at Mr. Scott's comment, but was saved from further response when the shuttled departed. Instead they both turned their faces out of the windows, watching as San Francisco grew smaller and smaller until it disappeared entirely. "Five years in space," she whispered.

"I hope we both know what we got ourselves into," muttered Mr. Scott. Olivia could only nod in reply.

X X X

Leo needed to find a way to tell his Head Nurse to stop intimidating him without actually saying it. Just sitting next to her caused him a certain measure of discomfort that perhaps she'd notice he'd missed a spot shaving or that his grey flight suit was slightly wrinkled. Nurse Amira Nazir wore her pitch black hair pulled back into a tight, elegant bun and sat ramrod straight. Every detail of her appearance was absolutely perfect, from the shape of her eyebrows to the pristine fit of her jumpsuit.

Nurse Nazir's impeccable attention to detail was why he'd accepted her as his Head Nurse upon the departure of Christine Chapel. She had taken the wonderful foundation laid by Nurse Chapel and completely transformed his medical bay into a well-oiled machine. Currently, she sat next to him, PADD in her capable hands taking down his list of pre-departure orders.

"Make sure that all of the nurses have been updated on triage and emergency protocols. Some of our new transfers are coming from older ships that don't have the same equipment or come from smaller ships where emergency protocol is different. Also, I want to meet with all of the ship's attending physicians before their first shifts end, if I can't remember their names at least I will have seen their faces." Leo rattled off his instructions as the shuttle craft drew closer to the Enterprise. Discussing the medical bay and everything that needed to be done on the outset of departure kept Leo's mind off the fact that he was strapped into a flying death tube. Sometimes he couldn't decide which he hated more: transporters or shuttles. Then he got on a shuttle and felt it rattle around, reminding him that if he was going to die via a transporter it would at least be quick.

"Yes Doctor McCoy. Would you also like to address the nursing staff?" Nurse Nazir enquired as she finished entering the last of his orders on her PADD.

"No, I'll leave that to you, but remind all of them to be aware of their shift hours. The last thing I need is Starfleet Medical accusing me of working my staff too hard." Nurse Nazir finally broke her iron façade and politely raised her hand to cover the fact that her lips twitched in a smile. Leo found his seemingly permanent grimace deepen. "Keep that up and I'll blame you for it."

Leo's mild threat had absolutely zero impact on his head nurse. After spending all of the last two years under his command she'd learned when he was and wasn't being serious. "I'll remind them and continue to conduct bi-weekly log checks."

Satisfied, Leo tried to loosen up and relax into his seat but to no avail. "You will also need to meet each of your medical science officers and begin approving final research proposals."

He knew he'd been forgetting something. A five year mission meant a greater number of science officers and Jim unceremoniously put him in charge of medical research. "I'll make a point to check in during the first couple of weeks. Is there anyone else on the medical staff I should look in on?"

Nurse Nazir zipped through a few screens on her PADD, her heavy brows knitted together in concentration. "The ship's psychiatrists, there are five of them. Then there's your pharmacists, also five in total. There are also two pathologists, Doctor Graham Alvarez and Doctor Olivia Lane, both specializing in medical and anatomical pathology. Ah, it also appears that Doctor Lane has a secondary specialty in forensic pathology and is serving as the ship's medical examiner."

Now there was a job Leo didn't envy for the world. Much as he was loathe to admit it sometimes, Leo far preferred his patients alive and had never had much of a stomach for cutting open the dead. He would happily pass that baton off to Lieutenant Lane, although he certainly hoped he'd never need those services. "Send a message for her to meet me at some point before her first shift ends as well," he rattled off and then sighed.

When had the practice of medicine become so administrative for Leo? There was a time when he could be a doctor without having to worry about someone else's research project or nurse schedules. Most days he didn't mind the title of chief medical officer and all that came with it, but there were definitely moments where he severely regretted not finding a patch of country land and saying to hell with his medical degree. At least that way he could get the peace and quiet he always seemed to lack on the Enterprise.

"Yes, Doctor McCoy," said Nurse Nazir, taking his latest command and waiting patiently for the remainder. But Leo was out of orders for the moment. There was still plenty to do in the coming days. The start of a long voyage was always chaos of medical.

The shuttle entered the loading bay of the Enterprise and a sense of finality fell on his shoulders. This was it. There was no turning back now. He still couldn't entirely believe that Jim managed to con him into spending five full years in space. That was five years of his life he wasn't getting back.

Nurse Nazir continued to annotate his orders, muttering under her breath to herself as she did so. Leo could see that the wore the earrings the nursing staff gave her for her birthday two years ago. Deciding that he'd badgered her enough for the foreseeable future, he instead focused on the sounds of the shuttle reaching its dock and the moorings reaching out to attach it to the ship. At length the shuttle door opened so the crew could disembark.

Rising to his feet, Leo fought the urge to stretch his arms over his head. Already he could feel the strange effects that space had on the human body. The Enterprise successfully countered most adverse effects of interstellar travel, but Leo could always tell the difference between the space and solid earth beneath his feet. Turning to collect the PADD he'd carried on board, Leo saw Scotty's familiar face. The engineer was in conversation with a woman with curly dark brown hair.

"Doctor McCoy?" Nurse Nazir's voice pulled him back to attention and he followed her out of the shuttle.

Loathe as he was to admit it, the Enterprise was basically a second home to him now and there were paths Leo knew on the ship as well as the back of his hand. All around him the ship was a blur of motion. Faces whizzed in and out of focus as he and Nazir took the most direct route to medical. He was ready to change out of that godforsaken jump suit and to settle into his familiar role. At least once he reached the medical bay he could slip into doctor mode for the final fitness for duty scans for the last of the crew for a reprieve from administration, no matter how brief it might be.

X X X

Scotty was kind enough to show Olivia to the turbo lift that would carry her to the sixth deck and the med bay. As he guided her out of the shuttle bay and into one of the main concourses of the ship, he explained the layout of the Enterprise and tried to refresh her memory of the deck numbering system as best he could in their limited time. Olivia's head spun as she tried to keep up with the information. The Newton was incomparably, hilariously smaller than the Enterprise and she already knew her first few weeks would be mostly spend trying to navigate the ship's endless series of hallways, lifts, and staircases.

To say the Enterprise also housed a veritable sea of crewmembers was a solid understatement. Turning in a slow circle, she tried to make heads or tails of the flow of traffic. Primary colored uniforms blended and blurred together in all directions, creating the illusion of green, orange, and purple. Blinking hard, Olivia trailed a little ways behind Scotty, open-mouthed in her shock.

"Oi! Keep up, then!" Scotty called for her and she came back to, finding the man waiting for her at an intersection of travel. "Your lift is straight ahead, first one on the right. If yeh need anything lass I'm always somewhere around down here," he gestured generally to the chaotic belly of the ship where they stood.

Despite her nerves, Olivia smiled, grateful for another friendly face in the waves of unfamiliar. "Thanks," she said breathlessly.

Scotty tipped his head genially to her and then disappeared in the crowd. Olivia started down the thoroughfare towards the lift. Ever since she'd accepted her commission with the Enterprise Olivia had been dreaming of what her labs would look like. The position of ship's pathologist wasn't exactly a groundbreaking job, but she hadn't taken it to spend her time running tests on blood and tissue samples taken from sick crewmembers. No, she'd taken it for the research opportunities, for the chance to find, categorize and test new pathogens. While some cowered in fear at the prospects of the unknown and deep space, Olivia found herself eager to explore the possibilities of new diseases and more importantly, the opportunity to develop new methods of treatment and cures.

To do that her labs would have to be state of the art and that drew her in like a moth to a flame. That thought alone spurred her forward and onto the first lift to the right. As she stepped on, several other crewmembers crowded in with her, talking rapidly and excitedly about the mission. Pressed towards the back, she stood on the tips of her toes to make sure that Deck Six had been selected and satisfied that it had been, she tried to make herself as small as possible.

At the very front of the crowded lift, Doctor McCoy stood head and shoulders above the rest. Still in conversation with his companion, Olivia found herself totally fascinated by the CMO, the youngest in Starfleet history. The rumors that surrounded some of the crew of the Enterprise had become close to lore in certain Starfleet circles. Doctor McCoy was no exception to the stories. He'd allegedly almost single-handedly run the medical bay after three doctors died during the Nero incident, had nearly gotten himself blown up trying to disarm a photon torpedo, and kept the medical bay together when all hell broke loose during Khan. Olivia had heard his medical achievements included the identification and cataloguing of no less than six new tropical airborne pathogens, assisted in the containment and treatment of a small village on a survey planet, and most recently, had brought Captain Kirk back from the dead using a miracle cure that had subsequently been locked down.

He seemed more legend than man in the stories told by cadets and officers alike. But now that Olivia could see Doctor McCoy in person she found herself staring at a mere mortal, just like every other occupant in the lift. McCoy tugged uncomfortably at the collar of his flight suit and when he turned his head to talk, she could see the dark circles that clunk to the underside of his too serious eyes. Flush and visibly uncomfortable with being trapped on a lift with so many people, Olivia watched as he practically jumped off the lift when the doors opened on Deck Six.

She joined the fray with several others, following the general flow of traffic down the hall. Olivia didn't pay much attention to the bells and whistles in the pristine medial bay. Face-to-face patient treatment had never been her speed. Instead, Olivia followed the same layout as all other medical bays on Starfleet ships. Sure enough, she found a small communal changing room with lockers assigned to each medical officer. Tucked away in a corner was hers. Olivia quickly changed into her blue minidress, eager to report to her post in pathology.

Once she'd pulled on her white lab coat, Olivia left the changing room, pausing to stand aside while a small group of nurses entered. They were deep in gossip and Olivia only caught snatches of their conversation. Something about "Kirk" a "Betazoid" and a "drink in the face" was followed by a storm of giggling. Absently Olivia wondered if they were talking about Captain Kirk, her new captain, but she found she didn't really care. Instead, she continued down a vaguely familiar hall until she found the labs and offices marked pathology.

The doors slid open and Olivia walked into heaven.

A/N: Olivia meets Scotty! I hope it was organic and natural enough…I don't want to stray too far into "Olivia meets [blank], [blank] automatically loves Olivia and they are best friends forever and ever!" Friendships take time…Olivia's should not be an exception to the rule.

Anyway I'd love to hear your thoughts, questions, predictions, etc! Much love – Brose.