"I can't believe you talked me into this," he grumbled.
Jamie just chuckled at Bones as they made their way down Chestnut Street with her Tellarite buddy, Glorak. The trio was heading to the new holo-karaoke bar called The Delta Quadrant; Cadets Mitchell, Kelso, Gaila and Uhura were already there.
"Come on Bones, one of us has to do something fun on their birthday. Since nothing can make mine not suck, fun times must be had on yours. Besides I like making Uhura uneasy," she told him.
Bones' birthday was only a few weeks after Jamie's on January 20th; since her birthday was universally a bad day, she decided to unofficially adopt his. He rolled his eyes and grumbled something that she couldn't understand.
"Good God man!" Jamie laughed as Bones almost got knocked over by a small woman carrying a very large, very live lobster.
"Oh, we should have sea food for dinner tomorrow," Jamie suggested knowing full well what his answer would be.
Glorak looked at her, "your ocean produces some odd creatures."
"Don't get him started, Bones hates the ocean more than he hates space," Jamie warned Glorak.
The Tellarite looked at her best friend in surprise, "You don't like space?"
Jamie chuckled, "His exact words were 'Space is disease and danger, wrapped in darkness and silence.' I should get a tattoo that says that."
"If you hate space, why would you join Starfleet?" Glorak asked.
Bones rolled his eyes, "For the people."
Jamie couldn't help but laugh, "You are not a people person, doc." Bones smirked but didn't respond. They got the bar and quickly located their friends, Gary was singing a song, Kelso was talking to one of their classmates named Braxim and the girls were at the table next them.
"Standard rules of engagement," Glorak said from next to her.
Jamie nodded, "Yep, Mister Glorak. Rendezvous here at 2145." They all agreed and went in different directions; Bones to the bar, Glorak to some of his other friends and Jamie to Gaila and Uhura. "Hello, Gaila. And girl who won't tell me her first name."
Gaila sent Jamie a huge smile while Uhura rolled her eyes, "Kirk."
To everyone else, Jamie and Uhura looked like they hated each other; the truth was that they just liked to keep each other on their toes. The two women were at the top of the class and as much as the linguist wanted to believe that Jamie was only there on her good looks and last name, her grade point average and involvement in the xenolinguistics club silenced the budding communications officer. Jamie chatted with them before an arm dropped over her shoulder.
"What's cooking, good looking?" Gary Mitchell was in the class of '57, but he hung out with their group sometimes, she didn't hold it against him, the guy was a damn good kisser.
"Hey, Mitch," she said with a smile. Jamie and Gary met in a class, Bones didn't like him but she didn't like all the girls he brought home so they were even. Jamie and Gary talked for a while before Jamie noticed the look on Uhura's face. She moved to speak but before she could say anything, Gaila started talking and Jamie couldn't make out any of it. "How drunk is she?" Jamie asked Uhura.
"Very. She had a bad day. Think you can help me get her back to campus?"
Jamie nodded and stopped the cocktail server from giving Gaila another drink; she slid it to Braxim. The only Xanno cadet at the Academy offered to help take the Orion cadet back to her dorm. Jamie nodded "Lemme grab Bones and Glorak." The Tellarite was quick to accompany her, Bones put up a little resistance.
"In the middle of somethin' Jim," Bones said, his accent on full display for the two girls at the bar.
The doctor always gave off the impression that he didn't like people but when he wanted to, he could turn on the charm. At the moment, he was chatting up a cute blonde and her friend. He told Jamie that she didn't need his help when she explained what was going on, so she appealed to his caretaker side.
"Bones, she might need a doctor and Uhura actually asked for my help," Jamie pleaded.
He apologized to the girls for his "friend who can't function without him" and went with Jamie to meet the others near the bathroom. Kelso, Braxim and Glorak were talking to each other and Gary was leaning against the wall.
"She didn't come out here did she?" They all looked up at Uhura and answered in the negative; Jamie followed Uhura into the bathroom to find that the window was open. When the girls returned, it was like the whole group went into tactical mode. They all left the bar.
"How far can she go?" Glorak asked.
Jamie, Bones, Uhura and Gary all looked at each other, "Far!" The group split up; Bones, Kelso and Uhura went one way, Gary and Glorak went in another and Jamie and Braxim in a third direction.
"I like nights like this," Braxim said to her, the night was foggy yet beautiful. Braxim was an imposing figure, as were the rest of his race, he was also a fun guy who liked being around people; Jamie liked his attitude towards the universe. She smiled at him and kept walking. They took turns going into the businesses that they passed.
"Your turn, Brax. I'm going to keep looking." Braxim nodded.
"Don't get too far ahead of me, Kirk," he told her as he ducked into a shop to see if the Orion went inside. Jamie moved along, soon she heard Gaila singing.
"Hey, Gaila," Jamie called as she followed the sound into an alley behind some classic-style houses. The singing suddenly stopped, Jamie heard Gaila gasping and a metallic voice speaking. She got closer and could see her friend and a big shadowy figure; it had Gaila by the throat. "Hey! Hey you!" She ran up to them shouting in -what Bones calls- her 'command voice.' She could hear Gaila groan; Jamie made a move to kick the creature, even though she was sure her shot would connect, she hit air. The next thing she knew, it had a hand wrapped around her neck. Jamie couldn't move or breathe, she vaguely remembers Braxim showing up before she passed out.
AN: This chapter is an adaptation of the Starfleet Academy novel The Delta Anomaly, I changed some stuff though.