Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek or any of its characters.
"Counsellor Lat'toy, I'd like to speak with you." came the muffled voice of Lieutenant Uhura from the other side of the door.
Ellara jolted up, snapped out of her bubble that she had placed herself in while solving a puzzle. Her entire office floor was covered in tiny mismatched pieces, with one giant mural coming together in the center. All of the furniture had been pushed back, giving her just enough room. "Just a second!" she called back, suddenly feeling guilty for her actions.
Ellara glanced around worriedly as she tried to figure out a way to hide her work. Her eyes landed on a blanket conveniently placed on her couch, and it was as though a lightbulb went off in her head. She grabbed it and threw it over the scattered pieces. It wasn't necessarily completely camouflaged, but she could come up with another excuse while she explained. Taking a seat at her desk, Ellara calmly called out, "Come in."
The door opened, and immediately, Ellara saw the raised eyebrow of the Lieutenant. "Working on a puzzle?" she asked, picking up a stray piece.
Ellara cursed under her breath, disappointed with herself for not checking more thoroughly. "You caught me." she groaned, running a hand through her cropped hair. "I spend most of my time doing things like this." She took a breath, standing up. "I mean, it's not like there's anything else to do. I've already seen every crew member to just let them know I exist and see if there are any people who might need immediate attention, and no one else seems to need my help."
Without meaning to, she had begun to ramble, but noticing the very unenthused expression on her friend's' face, she stopped. "Sorry. Uh, what was it you needed help with?" asked Ellara.
At this, Uhura glanced away, looking for a place to sit. Ellara spotted a chair that was unused, and gestured towards it while saying, "Please, have a seat."
Once the two were in a more comfortable position facing each other, Uhura began to speak. "It's Jim. I'm worried about him. He keeps pulling one reckless stunt after another, and he won't stop placing his life on the line!"
The sound of Uhura's frustration struck a familiar chord in Ellara. After all, that was the spark that burned out her's and Spock's relationship. This would mean that the situation had to be handled with the utmost caution. Ellara could tell that Uhura and Jim worked well together, so it would not do well to set them on the path of destruction. "Nyota, what is Jim's job?" she asked calmly.
Uhura took a moment to think, wondering if it was a trick question. "He's Captain of a starship." she said cautiously.
"And what does that job entail?"
"Taking care of the crew, directing the ship, things like that."
Ellara nodded, glad to see that they were on a good start. "And what is our fine Captain's most dominant trait?"
"He's… He can be fairly heroic and stupidly brave."
"Exactly!" exclaimed Ellara. "It's a part of who he is. He always wants to save the damsel in distress, whether it's a planet or a literal damsel. Jim Kirk considers himself a hero, and he probably always will. You can't change that. You can, of course, ask him to try and be a bit safer when he goes on away missions, but trying to change his core being will not end well. For the both of you."
Ellara stood up, seeing that the meeting was drawing to a close. "I recommend that you talk to him about it as soon as possible. Make him listen to what you have to say, and figure out a solution."
The Lieutenant nodded, starting to walk off. "And Uhura?" she called out. The woman turned around. "Try not to put it off."
Nyota smiled and nodded, but stopped just before stepping out. "You know…" she began, staring down the Counsellor. "Sometimes when you talk, I almost feel like I'm talking with Commander Spock." Ellara raised an eyebrow in curiosity, causing Nyota to smirk. "You two are very similar. I could see that being a thing. See you tomorrow."
Watching Uhura's retreating form, Ellara blinked in confusion several times. What was that all about, she thought, uncovering her puzzle. Spock and I? No way. Not at all. No siree.
"Did it work?" said the Captain as soon as Uhura joined him in his quarters.
She nodded enthusiastically, a large grin spread across her face. "She was so confused, she's definitely going to start over-analyzing everything."
"You know, I would never have thought you would be a little bit of a matchmaker," said Kirk, smiling at his girlfriend.
Nyota chuckled, looking down at their intertwined hands. "A little bit?"
Jim rolled his eyes, finally looking into her own. "Ok, a lot. But good job. I couldn't have come up with the idea to confuse Spock and Ellara into a relationship. After thinking about it, though, yeah. Yeah, it'll definitely work."
The two giggled together before sitting down to eat a nice, romantic meal.
It was five days later, and Ellara was still working on the puzzle. She was, however, once again interrupted. Although this time, it was by her comm unit beeping incessantly. "Counsellor Lat'toy." she replied rather sharply.
"Ellara, get your striped ass down here. I have about five patients who are freakin' out, and it'd be too risky to give them something to knock 'em out." came the gruff voice of one Leonard McCoy.
Turning her head away, Ellara let out a sigh, before answering with a "Be right there" and flipping her comm shut.
She cast a longing look at her puzzle before standing up and walking out of her office.
It was a short walk to the med bay, and she entered 'helpful mother' mode as soon as she walked through the doors. Nurses and doctors were running around everywhere, and patients occupied many cots. Some were moaning in pain and others were completely knocked out. She saw a sheet covering one bed, with a crying alien woman kneeling beside. She hadn't seen her before, so Ellara assumed that they had picked her and the person on the bed up during the latest away mission. Spotting the Doctor running a hand through his hair, Ellara walked to him, surveying the room. "What happened?" she asked quietly, almost too scared to ask.
"Klingons." was all he said before rushing off to the aid of a patient.
Ellara walked around, soothing various crew members and pacifying them, even managing to lull a few to sleep. She was holding the hand of a human Ensign when Kirk walked in, practically carrying his First Officer.
The Captain was a little worse for wear, with various cuts and scrapes littering his face. However, the First Officer was the one in serious need of help, if the extensive amounts of green blood covering the Captain's side wasn't obvious enough. He was groaning in pain, almost unconscious, and there was a wound in his chest that was glistening a dark green.
"Bones!" called Jim, passing spock over to the medical officer. "He needs help."
McCoy nodded and dragged off Spock to a side room, while Jim collapsed into a stiff chair. Ellara grabbed an ice pack from a nearby table and brought it over to him, crouching down to be eye level.
She held it up to his cheek, keeping it there while Jim melted in his seat. "Captain." she asked quietly, not sure if she wanted to know the answer to the question she was about to ask.
"Hmm?" he mumbled, sluggishly opening on eye partway.
"What happened?" was her only response.
"We were supposed to get an introduction to the planet from the scientist over there," he gestured towards the crying woman from earlier, "but the Klingons showed up. My guess is that she had some information about some illegal business in the area, and they were worried she was going to spill. We weren't doing too bad at fighting them off, but her husband-" Jim winced as he shifted in his chair. "He jumped in front of a phaser blast and saved her. Spock got hit trying to get her to safety."
Ellara glanced down in worry, wondering why she felt like there was a vice-like grip on her heart. Was this… concern? For the life of the ship's First Officer? That's what it seemed to be. But it made no sense- they were barely friends. Well, she enjoyed his company, and they never seemed to run out of things to talk about, and sometimes when the light shone on him just right, she could see his long, brown eyelash- Oh my god I like him.
Ellara practically forced the ice pack into Jim's hand before standing up with a jolt. She began to pace back and forth, shaking her head and muttering things to herself. Hidden behind his hand was the small smirk of her Captain, glad to know his and Nyota's plan had worked.
The pacing continued for a good five minutes, only being interrupted once Doctor McCoy walked out of the room currently occupying Ellara's favourite Vulcan. "How is he?" she asked almost immediately.
"Stable." he replied gruffly. "Damn hobgoblin barely avoided a shot to the heart."
Ellara practically threw herself backwards into a chair. "Oh thank the ancestors." she breathed out, clutching a hand to her chest.
Bones raised and eyebrow before approaching his friend. "Hey Jim, it looks like there's a bit of face on your bruise." he said, the corner of his mouth lifting up for a half-second.
"Ha ha, very funny, Bones." shot back Jim. "Do you have anything to help?"
"Well, there's always my fist that'll get rid of it."
Jim shot Bones an exasperated look, knowing the Leonard knew that that was not what he meant.
Rolling his eyes, he pulled out a tube from his pocket, saying, "But I have this bruise cream that should help."
While the two bickered back and forth, Ellara approached Spock's cot. He had been wheeled out, and now lay unconscious on it. There were a few spots of green on the sheet from some blood that had bled through, but he otherwise looked unharmed. He seemed peaceful, in fact. As though all of his worries had evaporated into thin air.
Ellara sighed as she sat down. What do I do now? she thought. He's my commanding officer, and a- well, not close, but a friend. How do I deal with this? We were finally getting close. Oh jesus, and he's Uhura's ex boyfriend. Groaning, Ellara's head fell into her hands. This would not be very pretty.
"You should've seen her!" cackled Jim, plopping a grape into his mouth.
"How much does she like him, do you think?" asked Uhura, smiling.
He looked away, thinking. How much could Ellara like Spock? "Well, when she found out what happened, she started pacing like crazy, then she practically pounced Bones for information, and then she immediately sat down next to Spock and just sort of… stared, I think."
Uhura replied enthusiastically. "A lot, then. I wonder what she's going to do next." she murmured the last part, looking down.
"I guess we'll just have to wait and see." said the blond man with slight arrogance.
"Guess so."
Ooh la la, chapter nineteen! This one is just shy of 2k, but I feel like it packs a lot of info! I'm sorry I'm a horrible person haha. But yay! Ellara likes Spock! And Uhura and Jim are huge meddlers! Because why not! I'm honestly extremely excited now, because I get to finally start writing the romance. Aw yis! A huge thanks btw to my beta reader, TransformersGeek, because tbh I couldn't do it without her. Also, if any of you guys would like to see pictures of Ellara and Lywa, I drew them and posted them on my Instagram art page, /artgirl00123 , without the /, of course. Unless, of course, you have your own headcanons of what they look like and would rather not. Haha, but if you would, you can find them there.
booklover1898: That's great to hear!
- fangirl0012345
Updated November 30th, 2016.