Thank you all so much for your time and reviews! It means a lot to me :D Also, yes Bones is supposed to be like a friend who wants more than a friendship. I know a few people were puzzled by that. So to put it in the plainest terms, he really likes Jim but does not know if he should pursue her.

Rated M, for later chapters (there will be a lemon eventually I swear). I own nothing.

Please enjoy!

A round of applause for my beta Love2catnap for all the hoops I put her through :P

OoOoOo

"What have you done to the Captain?" Jim blinked into the harsh brown eyes of Uhura.

"Well 'hello' to you to," she retorted, with amusement.

The linguist rolled her eyes and slammed a hand down on a nearby medical bed. Jim had been sitting, quite peacefully, reading her latest schematics on a PADD. The Vulcan Captain had been extremely kind, and changed the language to standard, so that Jim could actually read what she was putting in. She had been surprised, and very happy, to receive such a thoughtful piece of familiarity. The soft ghost of a smile overtook her features at the expectant look in the Vulcan's eyes when she had taken it from him.

Jim knew the signs when she was falling for someone. She had maturely analyzed why she liked the Vulcan so much. So far, besides his good looks, he had brains, and she had the sneaking suspicion he had a sense of humor behind that logical façade. However, she was still drooling over the good looks part.

Vulcan Captain's made her think of things she had only ever seen on the Xindi home world. The engineer grinned internally at a few particular fantasies, before the irate huff of her friend pulled her from her more wanton thoughts.

Her blue eyes flickered over to Captain Scott who appeared to be in the middle of a joke. Jim shot a confused look to Uhura. "I didn't do anything," she stated defensively. "He looks just fine."

The linguist's face contorted into near wrath. "Not our captain," the vocal woman hissed. "The Captain."

The blonde stared at her fellow terran in a trenchant manner. "I'm not following you."

"The Vulcan Captain," Uhura stressed, short of patience.

"Oh…that Captain?"

"Yes, that Captain."

Jim shrugged nonchalantly. "No idea."

"Don't give me that," Uhura bit out foully. "Something is going on between you two."

A confused look plastered over Jim's features. "You mean besides working on the ship?"

"James," The warning was apparent in her tone, as she stretched out the syllables.

"What?" The engineer drew her PADD closer, toward her in a protective manner. "I honestly have no idea what you are talking about."

Brown eyes glared at her from a normally sweet face. Jim was terrified Uhura was going to attack her over some imagined thing that she had no idea about. She skittishly looked up at the other woman, and tried to discreetly continue working on her plans.

"Something isn't right here," the linguist insisted stubbornly. "Captain Spock has asked after your health twice in the time we have been here."

Ok, now she was seriously confused. "Wait, because he has asked if I'm alright….that means something's wrong?"

"He's a Vulcan," Uhura stated matter-of-factly.

Jim snorted in amusement. "Yeah, I saw that," her words contumelious.

"No, Jim. He's a Vulcan," Uhura reiterated.

"…And?" Her blonde eyebrows rose out of an inability to comprehend.

"They don't just ask after someone's health. It's not logical."

The engineer groaned. "Don't say the 'L' word," she groused lightly.

The linguist slapped her hand on the medical bed again. "This is serious Jim! Do you hear me?"

"Uhura," Jim said caustically. "You're screaming at me. Of course I hear you."

Her statement caused the other woman to deflate slightly. Her brown eyes were no longer hard but shinned with concern, and Jim didn't understand why she would be worried. They were Vulcans. Jim acquainted them to be as dangerous as a clock.

"I'm sorry. It's just this whole thing with the Romulan's, and now a Vulcan is showing an abnormal amount of interest in you…" Her face held a pinched expression. "It worries me."

'Wait a minute.' Jim's brain processed through the words. Her normally fast mind had been forced to reboot as quickly as it could, to catch the one sliver of Nyota's words that had stuck out like a sore thumb.

"What do you mean an 'abnormal' amount of interest?" The engineer laid down her PADD on the medical bed, and turned her full attention toward her friend.

Not that she cared, or anything absurd like that.

Uhura took on the same air of superiority she always acquired when informing Jim about other cultures. The engineer was used to it by now, and fought to keep from rolling her eyes. It was a very close call though.

"I told you once already," Jim did not correct her that the words 'told,' and 'screamed at', were not synonymous, "Vulcans are a very private race that value logic over all things."

Jim sighed, she knew that already. It had been obvious from the first three minutes she had stepped aboard this vessel.

The linguist prattled on. "So after you kissed him, he should have logically carried on like nothing happened, which he did. But he shouldn't come to collect you every morning to go the work on your core thing."

"Warp core," Jim corrected with a flush high on her cheeks. She had yet to live down the whole 'made out with our rescuer' thing.

"Right. Warp core. Anyway, you know where you are going by now, so escorting you shouldn't be necessary. Vulcans hate anything that doesn't make sense, or fritters away valuable time. Therefore, logically, he should be attending to his duties instead of wasting his time with you."

"Thanks Nyota," Jim scoffed.

"Oh, you know what I meant," she said, brushing aside the smart remark as if it had never occurred. "He also has made it a point to protect you from the Romulan."

"Maelrok," Jim corrected again.

Uhura gave her a withering stare, and Jim just smiled brightly at the sight of it. "That's really annoying, you know that right?"

A cheeky grin adorned her features. "I was aware."

Jim watched the linguist think for a moment. "As I was saying, it is abnormal that the Captain is taking such a large and noticeable interest in keeping you safe. Even if you are the greatest engineer since the creation of the damn core, for a Vulcan he is acting oddly…watchful…around you."

"Watchful?" Jim asked nonplussed. "Have you met a Vulcan? All they do is watch things, and say 'illogical' this, and 'indeed' that." A small smirk cracked her lips, and she watched Nyota fight a grin.

'Come to think of it, he had been rather short with the second engineer,'she mused lightly. Jim believed it was because they were federation allies, that Captain Spock was so concerned; or, as concerned as a Vulcan could be, at any rate. All dark, broody, and….

Better not go there.

Either way, it was really nothing, and she was convinced that Uhura was overreacting. Even though Jim was nowhere near as accurate at quoting percentages as their pointy-eared friends, she figured the likelihood of the Vulcan Captain wanting anything other than just a warp core upgrade, was somewhere around a snowball's chance in hell. Give or take a few degrees. She could not blame the linguist though. She found nearly being destroyed, by an overly amorous Romulan, tended to make a person just a wee bit paranoid.

Jim shook her head at looked at Uhura with a charming smile. "There's nothing going on Nyota. You are just imagining it."

The other terran female clearly did not agree. "Just be careful, ok, Jim? I don't want another alien chasing after you."

Jim wouldn't mind the Vulcan chasing after her. Her mind shifted to a more adult scenario that involved her, a Vulcan, and the mature version of 'tag'. She was curious how that would work with a touch telepath. Hm…

She snatched up her PADD again, and became to punch in equations viciously. Her shoulders hunched in a defensive gesture, studiously ignoring her companion.

"He is oddly attractive though," Uhura added with a grin in Jim's direction.

Jim made a noise in the back of her throat. 'He's not oddly attractive, he is freaking gorgeous,' she whimpered in her head. Part of her was upset that she was attracted to a less expressive form of Romulan. There were boundaries she felt she was crossing with lusting after the Vulcan Captain.

"Jim? Are you blushing?" The incredulity in the other woman's tone was obvious.

"No."

OoOoOo

Spock noted that the terran female James was avoiding his gaze. He reflected over his past interactions with her, and found nothing out of the human norm. His dark eyes watched her fidget, as they stood alone on the turbolift. He was aware that her heart rate had sped up when the doors closed, and he pondered for a brief moment if she was among the beings that became upset in small spaces. However, the increased rate had also been evident to his ears when he had arrived at the Medical bay at 07:00 hours exactly.

Spock had been slightly amused that the human 'Bones' looked furious at his return. The Vulcan had not found it necessary to greet said human with anything other than a curt nod. His eyes betrayed his superior attitude at James forcing the medical officer to stay put. He had been mildly curious when James was quiet the entire trip through the hallway. It was his observation that she enjoyed conversing very much.

The turbolift was large enough to accommodate them with ease. The Vulcan custom of keeping personal space intact was evident in all parts of the ships craftsmanship, and therefore, they were not enclosed too closely to one another. It allotted him ample space to discern the reason for her silence. Her sapphire eyes peeked at him from her lashes, and Spock met her gaze unwavering.

He watched with fascination as her cheeks tinted a rosy hue, and her heart rate increased yet again.

His gaze took in her form, which was modestly concealed in a spare uniform. There was an unusual tightening in his chest at the sight. And a strong sense of fondness whispered in his thoughts. It had not escaped his attention that her eyes had yet to leave his face.

The doors of the lift slipped open with a pressurized 'whoosh', and Spock inclined his head to tell the human to move forward. He observed that she jerked forward slightly, before stepping out into the hallway.

"Are you disturbed by my presence?" The Vulcan inquired neutrally.

James' eyes widened notably. "Wh-what?"

"Are you disturbed by my presence?" he inquired again.

"No…no, I'm not disturbed by you," the female answered in a pitch higher than her standard speaking voice.

Spock was also intrigued by her sudden interest in the hall floor.

"Indeed? Your mannerisms would suggest that you are," he searched for the human vernacular, "Uncomfortable."

A sharp bark of laughter bubbled out of her mouth before she looked further down the hall. "I'm not uncomfortable," She replied meeting his gaze for the first time since they had begun conversing.

"I believe you are lying," Spock intoned blandly.

She shook her head minutely. "I'm not lying," she half-squeaked.

He could hear her heart as it skipped a beat, and he placed his hands behind his back as a show of patience. "You are lying."

Spock heard her breath catch in her throat as he leaned slightly closer to James. He was struck by how expressive the human face actually was. He could see the emotions of surprise, confusion, amusement, and worry as they danced across face.

"Uh…" Her eyes darted away from him. "Is that Ravest?"

Spock moved his gaze down the hall to see the second engineer walking toward them. "You are referring to Second Engineer Ra'Vesti?"

"Yeah…him. I'd know that guy anywhere." The terran female moved forward down the hall to greet the other Vulcan.

Spock narrowed his gaze at Ra'Vesti, solely out of scientific consideration why the human would know him 'anywhere'. He pondered, quite studiously, what precisely the engineer might have done to garner the female's attentions.

The Second Engineer stopped five feet from James, and nodded respectfully. "Chief Engineer Kirk," he greeted blandly.

"Second Engineer Ravest!" She called with a slight edge to the greeting.

Spock leaned forward, his face was close enough to her ear that he felt her stiffen at the heat coming off of his body in waves. "I believe you mean Second Engineer Ra'Vesti."

She swallowed and her sapphire eyes shifted to him for a moment. Spock watched the other Vulcan stiffen in reaction to his close proximity with the female.

"That's what I meant. Thank you," She murmured softly.

"Thanks are illogical," Spock stated automatically.

Whatever had befallen the human was cleared with his statement. The flush on her cheeks ebbed quickly and her heart rate slowed to normal. In his opinion it was a most disappointing occurrence, though he had not understood why he was disappointed.

James smiled at the engineer. "How is the warp core doing?"

"I do not understand your inquiry. You are under the impression that the warp core has changed?" The stoic engineer asked with disbelief stamped around his eyes

The human glowered softly. "No, it is a turn of phrase."

Ra'Vesti stood before them staring blankly.

"A hyperbole," James tried again, and Spock noted Ra'Vesti's enlightenment.

"The readings are unchanged."

"Ah. That's good." The human supplied before trailing off to stare at the other engineer silently.

"As you were Second Engineer," the Captain greeted coolly, and the other male nodded before departing for the turbolift they had just departed from.

James gave him a look that he could not decipher before she started down the way again. "Well, we had better hurry."

Spock raised a brow at her change of pace. "You wish to arrive 2.378 minutes prior to the designated time?"

"Oh, you know…crazy Romulan on our heels and what not," she stated cheerily.

The Vulcan could not attest to the mental behavior of the Romulan Sub-commander, and therefore could not agree with her diagnosis of 'crazy'. He also recalled that she was not in possession of a valid medical license, and therefore could not appropriately discern the Romulan's mental state either.

Spock decided to let the previous matter slide for the moment. The human was obviously not amicable to the idea of discussing her level of comfort with him as of yet.

"If you are not adverse to the action," Spock began neutrally, "Perhaps you would dine with me at 18:00 hours?"

Her hesitation showed on her face as she looked at him. "I'm… not certain-"

"If you are neither disturbed, nor uncomfortable in my presence, then logically my inquiry should be received positively."

James blinked at him, and he watched her lips twitch in amusement. "That is indeed logical," she replied, far more at ease than she had been previously, "But I have to wash my hair."

"I do not understand. How will the cleansing of your hair negate the fact that humans require more frequent nutrition?" The Vulcan asked scientifically. However, he understood that James was providing him what his mother had termed an 'excuse'.

"Well, it doesn't," James conceded slowly. "However, I know that Vulcans have a heightened sense of smell, and I wouldn't want to offend your delicate olfactory senses."

Logical…

But highly unnecessary because she smelled more than adequate to him every time he was near her.

"Then I can postpone our meeting until 18:45," Spock offered blandly. "That should give you sufficient time to complete your cleansing rituals."

There were several terran heartbeats worth of silence as he stared at her intently.

"Uh…sure?" James replied more of a question than an answer, but Spock understood her acceptance of his offer.

"Very well, I shall pick you up from the Engineering bay, and I shall return you to the Medical Bay, where you may make yourself ready. We shall eat directly after."

They continued down the hall to the Engineering bay in absolute silence. Spock was aware that James was moving 27.658% faster than normal. He would contemplate how to approach her sudden change in demeanor during his spare time before their shared meal.

OoOoOo

Bidding Spock farewell, Jim stepped inside the Engineering bay. Her thoughts shifted faster than a deal at her local Iowa grocery facility as she contemplated what had just happened. 'What the hell did happen anyway?'

Jim had given Spock an attempt at a brush-off, and it was the one time the literal Vulcan actually argued back with her. Her blue eyes craned over to see her tools exactly where she had left them. In fact everything else appeared to be in its proper place, except for her scattered thoughts and emotions. A tiny laugh escaped her when she thought back to Uhura's words earlier.

'Just my luck, now I have two males that don't understand when I am telling them 'no',' she thought with vast amusement.

However, there was a difference with Spock, and Jim was wise enough to understand that. So what if she couldn't pick up a language to save her life like Nyota, or heal a person like Bones; she knew herself and her limitations. And that meant knowing when she was getting dangerously close to playing in a certain area she shouldn't, one such an area being with the stoic Vulcan Captain with the expressive eyes.

But… Tap-dancing fusion coils! She was a professional. Granted she didn't always act like one, and she often got into confrontations because of it. And yet, all of her friends said she was loyal to a fault, and extremely comforting to have around.

The engineer sighed to herself. Now she sounded like a golden-retriever. It was just a tad intimidating to the woman that she was surrounded by beings that only thought of logic, and how to be verbose asses without sounding like it. It was also generally understood that she knew next to nothing, with the exception of Uhura's lengthy speeches, about Vulcans. She knew squat about their culture, but she knew not to touch them…now.

This was really hard because those pointed ears looked interesting, and she had always been a tactile person. If she was drunk there were occasions where she was too tactile. She winced at a few embarrassing memories.

Her thoughts focused on the behavior of the Vulcan crew, for they did not act like it was a strange thing, their Captain walking her to engineering every morning. So she was just being silly. No evidence showed any problems with that train of thought. The Vulcans all acted, what Jim would deem, completely normal. There was nothing out of the ordinary occurring her. Maelrok had just set her mind to paranoia was all…Right?

Then why was she so disappointed?

Jim contemplated the feeling sadly before striding off to actually do some work. Her latest schematics had a threefold increase over her last plans. Though getting the materials carried the possibility of being tough. She was certain that a few of the items could be replicated. If all went according to plan, which she was keenly aware it almost never did, she would be finished in six days. Well ahead of her 14 day window. 'Take that Vulcans,' she gloated in her thoughts.

Jim worked methodically. Her movements were filled with years of experience in mechanics, and her own free time spent creating various parts. Ironically, growing up in Iowa had helped her gain half of her skills. That included bar fighting, and a near impossible tolerance for alcohol. There really was not terribly much to do in farming communities besides that honestly.

Jim thought it added to her character quite nicely.

It had surprised her how simple the answer to the alteration was. All she needed was to create a lattice-style interchange with the dylithium crystals, with plasma-injectors, that would heat up the plasma as it circulated around the core. This would cut down on her unused potential energy, and allow her to nearly make her goal of 215%. In theory, that is. She was nearly giddy with the chance to try it out.

She set about preparing a frame to house her crystallized dylithium lattice structure. Jim was unaware of time, and space outside of her creation. If anyone had attempted to speak with her, she would not have heard them. This was far too vital. Her uterus was on the line this time.

She had the sneaking suspicion that Maelrok would want children…possibly many.

Curse her childbearing hips!

She was also aware of the pair of Vulcan eyes watching her, not quite subtlety. Jim had noticed the increased interest in her construction from the Second Engineer for a few days now. She had seen him doing his needed work as well, but the way in which he glanced covetously at what was taking form beneath her hands had her highly amused. Specifically, when he wandered around behind her to get a better look for the third time today.

Jim suppressed a grin as she turned to see said engineer behind her. "Would you like a closer look?"

He appeared hesitant, and Jim wondered at the cause. However, his stoic face revealed nothing. "I admit that I wish to… inspect your design."

'That must be Vulcan for 'I am curious what you are doing',' she thought wryly.

Jim kneeled down next to the framework to grant him a better view of the skeletal version of her plasma injection system. His dark eyes widened briefly at already complex mechanism.

"I admit it is far more thought out than I would have previously anticipated," the Ra'Vesti stated tonelessly.

'Ah, backwards compliments, my favorite kind, really,' Jim mused to herself. She wondered if all Vulcans were as forthcoming with their praise as the Second Engineer. However, she did appreciate anyone else that appreciated warp cores.

Her Captain, Montgomery Scott, had been worried that she was overly attached to warp cores. Jim had laughed in his face. To her, there was no such thing as being 'overly attached' to a warp core. They were the wave of the future, and she shouldn't have to mention what an incredible advantage they would be in exploring near-infinite space.

There were moments where she worried if her unusual way of thinking, and her unique ability to problem solve, alienated her from the others. And yet, she would not have it any other way. This was her passion. Warp technology was without a doubt the essence to survival. James T. Kirk could be described as many things, but she was always a survivor.

Her thoughts turned back to the first day she'd met her fellow crewmembers in the cramped assignment station off of the Starfleet base. She had been a bit put off by Bones and his eloquent need to tell her about the 300 or so different diseases that would most likely kill them while they journeyed to the USS Enterprise. Bones had made her laugh so hard after she had requested eight symptoms of each disease in alphabetical order, and he had done it.

She had known Nyota already from their one mutual class in the academy. And she could never have forgotten the legendary Captain Montgomery Scott, who had done so poorly on his transporter test, that he had beamed an Admiral's dog to some destination unknown. Jim had heard that story from her fellow classmates, and at first she had not believed it. Captain Scott later told her it was all abysmally true, and she had laughed until she cried.

Jim began to notice a pattern in her choice of companions, and friends. They had to make her laugh to find some purchase in her heart. Well, if that were true, then…

"Chief Engineer Kirk?" A deep voice inquired right next to her.

Jim jumped, startled by how close the Vulcan Captain seemed. She blinked up into a neutral face that stared at her passively. 'Uh….hello, when did you get here Mr. Vulcan?'

In her surprise her she pricked her finger on a piece of crystal. "Ow! Fuck," she hissed in pain.

She saw his eyebrow arch at her vulgarity, and she found it funny that he should be upset when she was the one that had been spooked.

"Are you injured?" Spock asked unaffected.

Jim gave him a wobbly grin. "No, I'm fine." Her gaze landed on the droplet of blood that welled to the top of her skin. She stuck it in her mouth out of habit, for it was not a lot of blood, and to soothe the irritation with her tongue.

Her sapphire eyes caught the dark flush that spread over the Captain's features. "Captain Spock?"

Granted it had sounded slightly muffled, from her finger still being in her mouth. She also noted that the other Vulcans in the room were either flushing, or looking at her with disgust.

Oh crap. This was another social taboo, wasn't it?

'Where is Uhura when I need her?' Jim gingerly removed her injured finger from her mouth. She moved quietly away from her work. The Vulcan's eyes seemed weird all of a sudden. Jim raised a brow in confusion. "Uh….is it time to go?" She looked around the room for the clock, which displayed proudly, that it was in fact past time to leave.

'Whoops,' she thought with embarrassment.

She gave Spock a sheepish grin. "I lose track of time sometimes. I hope you weren't waiting too long." A brilliant smile accompanied her words.

A nod of acknowledgement was given after her words. "If you are ready to proceed?"

"Oh, right," she chuckled at her own lack of manners.

The engineer couldn't help but notice his cheeks were still tinted a dark green.