Corriene had returned to work after a week of suspension, when she had entered Engineering Scotty had given her a wink and Lucignano had given her a scowl. She wasn't effected by the latter, she'd never liked the man. Too much ego and not enough intelligence, he used his overt masculinity to intimidate people, he was an idiot. Getting back to work felt good and she buried herself in it, literally. She had crawled under the warp core for several hours until finally her friend, Crewman Evans popped his head down over the railing.
"Lees!" He shouted.
"What?" Corriene stopped what she was doing and pulled herself out, peering up at Evans she ran her hands over her head trying to neaten her now messy brunette mop.
"Lunch?" The crewman smiled down at her.
"Don't have time." Corriene began to go back under the railing.
"Lees wait!" Rolling her eyes Corriene pulled herself back out.
"What?" She asked exasperatedly.
"Lunch?" He repeated, Corriene swore under her breath but was secretly glad that he had persevered. Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes for a moment Corriene shook her head, still playing hard to get.
"What's the soup?" She asked after a minute. Evans smiled back widely, knowing he had her.
"Plomeek." He answered proudly.
"Damnit, give me a minute." Evans stood back up and crossed his arms, it never failed to work.
"So, what did you do with your time off?" Evans and Corriene walked down the corridor towards the mess hall, he hadn't bothered to tell her that she was covered in soldering dust. There didn't seem to be a day that went by that Corriene didn't leave Engineering looking like she'd been cleaning chimneys all day, what anybody else failed to realise however was that it gave her a perfect excuse to have a shower everyday, sometimes even twice. Showers were her favourite thing in the world and any excuse was warmly welcomed with open arms.
"Nothing."
"Nothing?" Evans looked at her confused. "Come on Lees, you must have got up to something? Don't tell me you sat around in your quarters all day and sulked?" Corriene couldn't make eye contact with him and her brow was thoroughly creased which told Evans that that's exactly what she did. "You need to get a life." He said as he jutted his elbow into her side.
"I have a life!" She replied defensively.
"No you don't." Evans couldn't help but laugh.
"Yes I do!"
"Prove it, what do you get up to on your downtime, besides writing Engineering reports, studying Engineering reports or writing counter reports to the reports you've just read?" Corriene looked at him annoyed. "Don't look at me like I've just shit on your pancakes! Go on, tell me." Corriene began thinking about all the things she got up and that's when she turned a bright shade of red and began walking faster.
"Told you." Evans muttered victoriously.
"I went to lunch with you!" She finally managed to counter, feeling very happy with herself that she had come up with an answer.
"Ha! Only when there's soup on which was once." Corriene was feeling decidedly pissed off and upset, until that point she had seen no issue with how she spent her spare time. Now though, well she felt like the biggest loser ever. Walking into the mess they took their trays and got in line, Corriene had decided she was longer speaking to Evans and Evans was still finding the whole thing incredibly amusing. When the Server saw Corriene was next in line he grabbed a soup bowl and began ladling in the clear broth.
"Hey! What if I don't want soup?" She asked angrily, Evans stepped closer and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Lees, look I'm sorry if I touched a nerve. I was only joking." He whispered to her as the Server looked on in embarrassment.
"I'm sorry, what can I get you?" The Server asked, Corriene began to look at the array of foods on offer and then with her eyes sad and her lips scrunched to one side she whispered her order. "Pardon me? I didn't quite hear you." The man leant forward.
"Soup please." Corriene answered reluctantly. She could have jumped over the counter and smacked the Server there and then the way he looked at her. Taking her soup and tray she didn't wait for Evans as she began walking between the rows of tables looking for an empty space. That's when somebody bumped into her shoulder sending her tray, and soup flying.
"Watch it!" Corriene looked up in horror as the soup landed down her front and the person she'd bumped into gave her another shove. It was Lucignano.
"What's your problem?!" Corriene asked, all fired up. Lucignano stepped closer until he was in her personal space and smiled nastily.
"You. Your're my problem." He was bating her she knew it.
"Get out of my way." She whispered back and began to walk round him but he stepped right when she did, blocking her way. By this point the whole mess hall had stopped what they were doing and were watching the altercation.
"Or what? You'll fire me? Go against my orders? You've got some nerve you know that? I don't know what you've done, or who you've done to get this far but I've got to say I'm a little impressed." He was sniggering as he spoke and Corriene was doing everything in her power not to retaliate.
"Hey! Is there a problem here?" Both of them turned to see Kirk striding towards them, Corriene immediately felt mortified and dropped her head, staring at the floor.
"No problem Sir, just a little accident." Lucignano replied sweetly.
"Lees, do we have a problem?" Kirk had come to a stop in front of the pair looking between them and the soup still dripping down Corriene's front.
"No Captain." She answered, briefly looking up and making eye contact. Kirk didn't look convinced, seeing something in her face that told him there definitely was a problem.
"Alright then, Lees, go and get cleaned up."
"Aye Sir." As Kirk turned away Lucignano leant towards her once again.
"Now it all makes sense, you're fucking the Captain." That was it, Corriene didn't hear or see anything else from the moment she heard his words. Her arm flew back and with all of the strength she punched the sonofabitch square in the nose. A clattering of trays, plates and cutlery could be heard across the room as Lucignano's body flew through the air and landed on the floor. Clutching at his nose and blood pouring down his cheeks he looked at her in astonishment. Corriene couldn't believe her eyes, the man was twice her size. She'd sucker punched him and dropped him, in front of the entire mess hall!
"You Bitch!" He shouted and began scrambling to his feet but before he could get to her Kirk was between the two of them and Evans had grabbed hold of Corriene shoulders.
"Crewman, get her out of here now!" Kirk was pointing at Evans who just nodded and began dragging Corriene away. Turning to Lucignano Kirk took in his bloody nose. "You, get yourself to sickbay and sort out that face. I'll be seeing you later."
"But Captain..."
"No Lieutenant Commander, that's an order!" Kirk was angry and everybody could tell. As he watched the man walk away he looked to McCoy who was now standing next to him.
"What the hell was that all about?" McCoy asked not even trying to keep the amusement from his tone.
"No idea." Kirk waved a hand in front of him as he spoke and began walking out of the mess, McCoy following after.
"Who was that anyway, the Southpaw?" Kirk sighed heavily and considered whether or not to tell his friend.
"That was the Engineer I was talking about." He offered.
"Lucignano? What about him?" McCoy asked confused.
"No Bones, not him, her. Lees. Corriene Lees." McCoy considered Kirk's words for a moment and then the pieces fell into place.
"That's not the woman is it? When you said 'There's this woman' you didn't mean her did you?" Kirk couldn't answer but one look told McCoy everything he needed to know.
"Damnit Jim!"
Corriene sat in Kirk's office and ready room staring at the floor, the overwhelming smell of soup invading her senses. By this point it had gone cold and was drying out, leaving dull green patches across the front of her tunic. She'd been sat there for twenty minutes, giving her plenty of time to go through all four stages of reaction to the altercation in the mess hall. She'd been angry, remorseful, embarrassed and then straight back to angry again. So when Kirk walked in and looked at her the first thing he noticed wasn't the soup but the deep scowl spread across her features. As soon as Corriene had heard the door swoosh open she'd leapt to her feet and stood to attention.
"Captain Kirk Sir, please let me start by…" Corriene's voice was tight and loud.
"Sit down Lees and be quiet." Kirk interrupted, taking a seat himself behind his desk. Picking up one of the discarded PADDs on his desk he ignored her pained expression and brought one finger to his lips as if deep in concentration while reading the report in front of him. He was making her wait, letting her sit there and stew. At least she had the good sense of being quiet he thought to himself. "You've just returned to duty Lieutenant, after a week's suspension is that correct?" Kirk made sure she knew not to say or do anything else other than answer his question. Through tightened lips she answered yes. "And you decided the best way to curry favour with your new shift crew and restore your reputation was to knock out a superior officer?" He watched as the scowl turned into a grimace.
"Captain, I can only apologise for my behaviour and ask that you take into account my spotless record up until these two incidents." She shifted uncomfortably in her seat as she spoke.
"What I choose to take into account is no concern of yours Lieutenant." Kirk answered quickly.
"Aye Sir." Her eyes kept darting from his face to the floor to the ceiling, they sparkled blue and reminded him of the lakes in Iowa.
"You are right however, that your record up until now has been exemplary, contrary to your Academy report." Kirk knew by her reaction that he had her; she was intrigued but also ever so slightly annoyed.
As ever, it was written all over her face.
"Your Instructors Lieutenant, they all found you argumentative, combatant…"
"I never questioned the superiority of an Instructor Captain…" Corriene interjected and looked up at him quickly.
"That, right there Lees, that's what they and I are talking about!" Kirk stood and walked round the desk, coming to rest against the conference table on the other side of the room. "You've always stuck to the rules, you wouldn't have risen through the ranks had you not but your style of communication Lees, the way you talk to people. You're not in the private sector anymore."
"I'm fully aware of that Captain…" Corriene had turned in her chair to speak to him.
"Are you? Are you really? Because ending up brawling with someone you have a problem with in the mess hall isn't exactly Officer behaviour."
"I don't have a problem with the Lieutenant Commander." Corriene answered.
"You've got a funny way of showing it!" Kirk watched as her face fell, suddenly appearing upset. He thought maybe he'd gone too far but knew it wasn't that, she could take a slap on the wrist very easily he knew that much. "You were out of line Lees." He summarised.
"So was he." Corriene couldn't help but mumble.
"What was that?" Corriene shook her head, dismissing his question. "Lees, did Lieutenant Commander Lucignano say something to you because if he did then I can't condone your behaviour but I can understand why you may have reacted the way you did." Kirk desperately wanted to know what she had just whispered, he'd known from the start there was something else. As soon as he had seen the pair squaring off against one another in the mess hall he could see the look of spite on Lucignano's face. When he had spoken to him about the flawed analysis report, pointing out that Lees had been right and he wrong he knew the type of man Lucignano was. Ego and misplaced pride, a toxic combination. A part of him felt guilty then, thinking perhaps that maybe he'd added fuel to the fire by speaking so highly of Lees in front of Lucignano. Still, he himself had learnt to play by the rules (even in his mind he could hear Bones scoffing at the very thought), Corriene Lees was no different.
"Nothing Sir." Kirk exhaled slowly.
"Lees, what did he say?" He wasn't necessarily ordering her to tell him but he hoped that his tone of voice relayed the fact that he'd be pissed off if she didn't. He could see it written all over her face before she even muttered a word, from the way she kept hastily licking her lips to her eyes going wide, she wasn't going to tell him.
"Nothing Captain." She answered steadfastly. In that moment he respected her for taking it on the chin, but he also knew it was a stupid mistake to cover for the likes of Lucignano.
"If that's the way you want to play this Lees go ahead, you're making a mistake." Kirk turned away and went back round his desk, sitting and crossing his arms. Corriene wanted to answer back but bit her tongue, rising out of her chair she stood to attention once again.
"Permission to be excused Captain?" Kirk watched as she stood uncomfortably, looking at the soup down her front he fought the urge to smirk.
"Get out of my sight Lees." He answered quickly, nodding Corriene practically ran to the door. "Oh and Lees." He shouted after her.
"Yes Captain?" Corriene asked, her brow knitting in confusion and her hand running through her messy mop of hair.
"If you find yourself stood in front of me again, for whatever reason, you might as well pack your bags right then and there because I'll be throwing you the hell off my ship do you understand?" He eyed her goadingly but there was also a twinkle in his eye, a look that told her to get a grip, clean up her act. She was getting a second chance.
"Crystal Captain." She replied and then left him staring after her.
Thank you for reading and letting me know what you think, I'm glad you're enjoying it and I hope you continue to enjoy! There's plenty more to come. LLAP ;-) XOXO
