The music in the bar was very loud as the officers entered the building. Kirk signaled that he was going to look for a table as the rest went to the bar. They were celebrating a safe return to Earth for all of the Enterprise crew. He watched those at the bar wait for their drink orders to be filled. He smirked to himself as he saw Charlie innocently flirting with the bartender and her surprised look when she was given more change than expected. She smiled to herself and led the rest of the officers to find Kirk. He raised a hand as he sat at a large table in the middle of the busy bar. She nodded and smiled upon seeing him.
Kirk pulled out the chair next to him as Charlie neared the table. She sat down next to him and placed a beer in front of him. She winked at him before turning her attention back to the group. He smirked.
"Is this your free beer?" Kirk asked her. Charlie chuckled.
"Saw that, did you?" she asked. "I guess. I mean I'm not sure what was free. Yours or mine. But what's stopped you from taking free stuff before?"
"Nothing," he answered.
"Exactly."
The group chatted and joked with each other as they hung out at the bar. Stories were told of various degrees of embarrassment. One such story was told by Scotty that left Charlie very red in the face and with Kirk smirking at her. So it was safe to say that Kirk was more than a bit annoyed when he caught the same guy hitting on Charlie as she made her way to the bar for the third time.
Kirk had enough drinking experience with Charlie to know that she could hold her Russian vodka well, but if she had even a couple of beers, she would become very easily agitated if someone was annoying her. He wasn't surprised to see her right hand clenched into a fist. He knew that she knew better than to start a fight now that she was an officer with Starfleet, but he also knew that because she couldn't hit the guy, she would let her mouth loose on him.
And that's what Kirk reasoned must have happened as he watched Charlie finish saying what she was saying to the guy. The guy's face took on a murderous look as Charlie looked up to him, daring him to do something. Unfortunately, the guy reacted and backhanded Charlie in the face. The sound of the smack was audible to the crew even above the loud music. The chatter around the bar stopped and everyone fell silent. Most were in shock that what they had just witnessed even happened.
Charlie still had her face turned from the force of the blow. Kirk watched as her eyes changed from dazed to lethal in the span of two seconds. He watched as she clenched her hand into a fist and cocked back her arm. The speed with which she hit the guy coupled with the fact that, while she didn't look it, Charlie was very strong, caused the guy to go careening to the floor, holding onto his nose that was spouting blood.
Charlie stood over him and waited for him to look at her.
"Get up," she said in a dangerously low voice. While Kirk couldn't see the left side of her face, he was pretty sure that the red welt was rapidly turning blue and purple in a bruise. "Get. Up."
She moved from standing over the guy to waiting for him to stand up. The entire bar was watching what was happening. The entirety of the Enterprise crew was standing at the table, unable to decide whether or not to step in. The guy slowly stood, still wiping at his bleeding nose. The second he was standing and facing Charlie again, she threw another punch at him, this time hitting him in the jaw. He didn't go sprawling onto the floor again, but the hit did knock him back. She went to push him away from her as he went back to confront her, but he threw his arm into her left arm, causing her to stop. Kirk remembered that her left arm was still healing and that knock from the guy's arm was enough to cause another break for the already injured arm. The wrap on her arm was concealed in her jacket sleeve.
Kirk found himself automatically walking around the table to go to the bar as he saw one of the guy's friends coming toward the fight. Luckily, Kirk and the friend had the same idea. Kirk stepped in between Charlie and her opponent and faced her. He took her into an embrace that didn't hurt her arm but was enough to let her know to stop.
"Come on," he whispered to her. "Let's not get your other arm broken." He walked her backwards away from the bar and out of the building. He could tell that she was still fuming and that she was glaring daggers back into the bar. Once outside, she wrenched herself out of Kirk's grasp and kept walking for a bit in the parking lot as Kirk stopped and watched her. Once calmed down, she turned back to him, clutching her arm to her chest.
"Can we go?" Charlie asked. Kirk nodded.
"Yeah," he said. "I'll go get everyone else."
"No," she said. "Can you and I go? Everyone else should stay." Kirk looked at her and nodded again.
"Sure," he said. "You want me to get Chekov?" Charlie shook her head in the negative. "I'll go let them know that we're leaving. Stay here and don't hit anyone else." She nodded and watched him disappear into the bar for a minute.
As she stood outside, Charlie gently took her arm from her chest and applied pressure with her other hand to various spots on her arm. When she hit a spot that made her hiss breath through her teeth she stopped. She barely felt Kirk grab her left hand gently after he'd returned from inside. He checked out her arm without taking her jacket off.
"It feels broken again," Kirk said. Charlie nodded, gritting her teeth in pain. "I told Bones I'd take care of you when we got back."
"Thanks," she said. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her car keys. She handed them over to Kirk without a word and they walked to her car.
Once back at the Academy, Charlie followed Kirk to the medical ward and into an examination room. Charlie cocked her head as she watched Kirk go about the proper procedure for a broken arm. He helped her ease off her jacket so as not to hurt her arm and to preserve her favorite jacket. Kirk gently unwrapped the bandages and damaged splint that covered her arm. He had her lie down on her back as he set her arm. After she wiped the tears that had escaped her eyes from the setting of the arm, Kirk let her relax for a bit after he fastened a splint to her arm. After she was ready, he slowly helped her sit up again and then began to wrap her arm.
"Thank you," Kirk heard Charlie say. He looked up from her arm to see her watching him.
"You're welcome," he replied. He finished wrapping her arm and went to turn away from Charlie. She reached out her good arm and pulled on his sleeve to get him to face her again. He turned back around and found himself very close to her. He noticed that her mouth was open as if she were about to say something.
"Are you and Chekov dating?" he asked before she could get any words out of her mouth.
"He's just a friend," she responded. Kirk nodded with a slight smile at that important bit of information. He slowly inched his lips closer to hers. He rubbed his nose against hers just before his lips reached hers, causing both of them to smile. And then before he knew it, his lips were on hers. He delighted in the pleasure of hearing a moan escape her. He put a hand on her neck just below her ear as they both went to deepen the kiss. After a few moments, they pulled back, both breathing heavily.
"Should we go to my room?" Kirk asked, still having trouble finding his breath.
"As much as I would like to," Charlie began. "I don't think it's a good idea with my arm and all." Kirk let out a deep sigh.
"That's right," he said. "How long do we have to wait?"
"About six weeks," Charlie answered.
"Shit."
"I know."
"And we're keeping this from the crew?" Kirk asked.
"Yeah," Charlie said, nodding. "That would probably be best for now." Kirk nodded, agreeing.
"Can I walk you to your room?" Kirk asked. Charlie smiled at him.
"I would love that," she said. Kirk helped her off the exam table and out the door. As they walked down the corridors, miraculously avoiding other officers and students, Kirk enjoyed the simple gesture of holding Charlie's hand. He hadn't let go of it since he helped her off the table.
Kirk sighed as they stopped in front of Charlie's room. She waved her hand over the sensor to open the door. She turned back to Kirk.
"Thanks again for fixing my arm," she told him. He wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed her.
"Thanks for kicking that guy's ass," he told her. She laughed a little before Kirk kissed her again. He would pull away and then dip back down for another kiss. He did this several times before giving her one long kiss and finally pulling away.
"Good night," he said.
"Good night," she repeated before kissing him again and then swiftly turning into her room, leaving him waiting and standing there dazed.
It would probably be the first time that one could say that Kirk practically skipped down the hallway to his room.
And despite the injuries suffered that night, Charlie wore a slight smile the entire time she got ready for bed.
Over the next couple of days, the crew noticed nothing different in the way Kirk and Charlie interacted with one another. Kirk still dropped by the hangar to see how the repairs were going with the Enterprise. He would talk with Scotty and Charlie as they went over plans for the ship. They were standing over the plans for the warp core reactor and trying to figure out what needed to be done with it.
Charlie had her data pad out and was making calculations to the plans to see if they worked. She would redraw parts of the reactor with her pen and then would show the adjustments to Scotty. Kirk marveled at watching them work together. They seemed to complete each other's sentences and pushed each other forward with ideas. She and Scotty would discuss relativistic mechanics and theoretical physics as they talked about the core reactor.
"Is there anything we can do to improve it while we're repairing it?" Kirk asked. Scotty and Charlie looked at one another.
"We'd been talking about that while we were planning the trap," Charlie said. "We figured that the ship would sustain some damage and we were kind of hoping it would hit the reactor."
"We want to build new cores and an entirely new reactor," Scotty said enthusiastically. Kirk looked at both of them.
"Can you do that?" he asked. Both scoffed and laughed.
"Yeah," Scotty said. "Otherwise we wouldn't have bothered asking."
"What do you need?" Kirk asked, putting his hands on his hips and showing he was game for the new addition to the ship.
"We need a lab, a bunch of supplies, and a bit more time," Scotty said. Charlie nodded, backing up the chief engineer.
"More time?" Kirk asked. "For what?"
"It's very complicated math," Charlie explained. "And building an entirely new reactor and cores will take a lot of time because of how dangerous it is."
"Dangerous?" Kirk asked. "No. No way. Just fix the reactor and we'll make do with what we have."
"What?" Charlie argued. "Why?" Kirk turned to look at her.
"We just pulled off a very dangerous retreat back to Starfleet that almost got you killed. You have a broken arm and still have a bruise on your face," Kirk said.
"Then keep me away from the bar," Charlie said. "That's where I got those injuries." Scotty began to look back and forth between Kirk and Charlie with a furrowed brow.
"I don't think you're going to be much safer in a lab where something could blow up causing the entire lab to explode and take you along with it," Kirk said, crossing his arms over his chest.
"I really don't feel like you're concerned about me," Scotty interjected.
"Look," Charlie said, both she and Kirk ignoring Scotty. "You have two of the best engineers in the world working for you. Any other captain would be thrilled that we would want to work on improving the warp speed of their ship. Get off whatever high horse you've found yourself on and let us work."
Kirk actually stepped back from Charlie a bit and looked at her. Scotty, who had been standing next to Charlie, took a step to the side in an effort to get slightly away from her.
"Seriously, Jim," Charlie said. "We need to do this in order to get the ship up to speed and be the most advanced ship in the fleet. As the flagship, it deserves that. You know that, Jim."
Kirk sighed and threw up his hands in defeat.
"Fine," he said. "But you and I will go over the specifics needed and take this up with Admiral Pike before you start."
"Fine," Charlie answered.
"Scotty, you keep working on the repairs and Charlie and I will go discuss the needs for the lab," Kirk said. "Is that alright?"
"Fine, Captain," Scotty said. "Charlie knows what we need." Charlie nodded and picked up her data pad and pen before she followed Kirk out of the hangar. Kirk heard Scotty say "Good luck" to her as she left.
Kirk entered a small unused classroom in the Academy and waited for Charlie to get into the room before he shut the door. He was careful to lock it and was glad that the classroom had no windows. Charlie put her data pad and pen on the instructor's table and turned to face Kirk.
"What was that about?" she asked.
"I'm your captain," Kirk answered. "I'm looking out for your well-being."
"Bullshit," Charlie argued. "If it were anyone but me and Scotty, you would have been jumping at the chance to see how fast we could get this ship to go."
"Sure," Kirk admitted. "But it is you and Scotty and that's where my worry comes in."
"You know," Charlie said, her arms crossed and a smile forming over her face. "If I knew that I was going to be fighting with Scotty for your affection, I wouldn't have even begun the fight. Who can resist that Scotsman?"
Kirk smiled. Kirk walked slowly towards the assistant engineer. "You know, it was incredibly sexy watching and listening to you and Scotty talk about the reactor. All of that physics talk and hearing the way you get excited talking about ideas for it, it was really enjoyable for me."
"Really?" Charlie asked disbelievingly as she made a face. Kirk stepped in front of her so she was leaning against the instructor's table and put both of his hands on either side of her. He leaned in.
"It was very sexy," he said before he kissed her softly. He pulled back and just looked at her.
"All I have to do now is steal one of the engineering students' books and read it to you whenever we have a fight about something," Charlie said.
"Nah," Kirk said. "You don't have to steal one of their books, just borrow one from the library. Or talk to Pike. I think he might want you to help out with the engineering class anyway while we're here." Charlie laughed.
"Good to know," she responded. Kirk kissed her softly again and then stepped back.
"Alright," he said. "Show me what you need for this lab." Charlie grinned and picked up her data pad and pen before joining Kirk in standing in front of the instructor's table, looking at the large screen in front of them. She pulled up the plans for the reactor on her pad and they saw them magnified on the screen.
***
Charlie and Chekov found themselves in front of a dilemma. Do they continue playing a very exciting chess game where Charlie finally had the upper hand? Or do they join Sulu and Kirk for a rousing game of laser tag in the simulation room? Neither Sulu nor Kirk had personally invited them. They had just heard about the game from Scotty, bustling through the mess hall to go down and join in on the fun.
"We probably shouldn't," Chekov said. "Your arm is still hurt." Charlie looked down and sighed.
"Yeah," she agreed. "You're probably right. Thanks, Scotty, but we'll stay here so I don't get injured. Have fun though."
Scotty nodded and scampered off out of the mess hall, shouting to everyone about the game. Chekov turned from watching Scotty to Charlie.
"Do you feel bad about not being able to play?" he asked. Charlie shrugged.
"I'd rather not get another lecture from McCoy," Charlie said. "I'll just ask for details later. You know they'll be wanting to give full recounts of every embarrassing moment." Chekov laughed.
"Are you going to get a personal recount from Kirk tonight?" Chekov asked with a smirk. Charlie narrowed her eyes at him.
"You know," she said. "When I told you about that it was in the strictest confidence, as you're my best friend and all."
"I know," Chekov said. "No one else knows?"
"I don't think so," Charlie said. "I think Scotty may suspect something and I'm sure Spock just knows. That guy knows everything. But other than that it's just you."
"I'm flattered," Chekov said, putting a hand to his heart.
"Good," Charlie said. She looked at her pieces and made a bold and daring move. She surveyed the board and her eyes went wide. She broke into a grin and looked up at Chekov. "Checkmate."
Chekov couldn't believe his eyes as he looked at the board. Charlie watched his eyes scan back and forth over the board for a few moments before he looked up at her and shrugged.
"You win," he said. Charlie smiled widely and clapped for herself before marking the win on her side of the tally chart. She still had a long way to go on the chart in order to catch up to Chekov.
Charlie was still glowing from her win when she bumped into Kirk on the way to her room. He was on the way to his as well.
"Guess what," Charlie prompted him. Kirk smiled at her. The grin she was wearing was infectious.
"What?" he asked.
"I beat Chekov at chess today," she announced proudly. Kirk grinned at her and kissed her.
"That is fantastic," Kirk said. "Legitimately, right? No cheating?"
"I wouldn't be so proud of it if it wasn't legitimate," Charlie said. Kirk nodded.
"That's true," he said. "Want me to tell you about the laser tag game?"
"How about over breakfast tomorrow?" Charlie suggested. "It'll give us an excuse to sit together."
"I like how you think," Kirk said.
***
Charlie walked down the hall of the officers' quarters at the Starfleet Academy. She stopped before the door labeled "Captain James T. Kirk" and sighed. She raised a fist and knocked twice. Her left hand and arm was still wrapped from having been broken – again. After a while without an answer, Charlie considered knocking again but turned to leave instead. That was when she heard the door open. She turned and saw Kirk was standing in the doorway, shirtless and rubbing sleep out of his eyes.
"Sorry I woke you," she said. "I just wanted to let you know that I'm on my way home."
"You're leaving early," he said. "Did you really think that we were going to let you go visit your family and not take any of us with you?"
"Yes," Charlie answered after a brief pause. Kirk laughed and shook his head at her.
"You're not getting away that easy," he said. "Especially after they helped us get back here and defeat the Klingon ship. We want to thank them in person."
"Who's we?" she asked.
"Me, Chekov, Scotty, Bones, and Sulu," Kirk said. "Spock and Uhura will join later."
"I'll have to warn them," Charlie said. "I told them I was the only one visiting."
"That's too bad," Kirk said. "Because just before I started to take this nap that you woke me from, I had a lovely conversation with your mom. She's excited to meet all of us and have us stay with them for a bit."
"I hate you," Charlie said without the emotion behind it. Kirk laughed and she shook her head at him as she started to walk away. She turned for a second. "Tell everyone who's going to meet in the garage in an hour."
Kirk smiled and nodded. Charlie shook her head and turned back around, mumbling to herself as she kept walking down the hall. Kirk scratched at his stomach and went back into his room to start packing.
An hour later Charlie found herself leaning back against the car she had won in the bar. The keys dangled from her finger as she crossed her arms over her chest, waiting. She watched as Chekov, Kirk, Sulu, Bones, and Scotty walked into the garage together, each carrying their Federation issued duffel bags.
"We've got to get a move on if we're going to make it before dark," Charlie told them as everyone paired off. "Who's driving? Me, Chekov, and Kirk?"
"That sounds about right," Scotty concurred. Scotty went with Charlie and they got into her car. Sulu and Chekov took the next car with the young Russian looking excited about being able to drive the fast car. Kirk got in the last car with Bones right beside him. Charlie put on a pair of sunglasses as Scotty turned up the music in the car. All three cars pulled out of the garage and onto the streets of the Presidio in San Francisco. They turned through the streets of the Presidio before going through the city to get onto the main highway to the desert, leaving the Academy and Starfleet behind.