Disclaimer: See Chapter 1. Thank you to Fameanon for helping me write this.

Shija had just finished her morning rounds with Hester and Strom when she returned to her office to complete her reports. She hadn't been working five minutes before she heard approaching footsteps which stopped outside her closed door. If this was Travers with more idle chatter about whatever sport he had watched over the weekend, she was going to scream.

But when the visitor knocked and she called for them to enter, she wished it would have been Travers. The reality was much worse.

A middle-aged Vulcan man about Sopek's height stared down at her, his grey eyes glimmering in a way that made her feel uncomfortable.

"Greetings, T'Sai Shija," the man said in a deep, gravely tone that was far too smug for her liking. "Your father has sent me to you for your consideration as a potential mate. I have won three Christopher Pike Medals for Valor in my time with Starfleet and was a key component in several victories over the Dominion. I anticipate reaching admiral within the next five years."

He rattled all of this information off as if he expected her to immediately praise his accomplishments. She frowned, about to reply, but he continued.

"I realize your humanity is an encumbrance, but bonding with me would ensure your Vulcan heritage would come to the forefront and your disciplines would be easier to manage. Furthermore, regarding any sexual need you may have, I would be more than willing to accommodate you."

Strom had been getting ready to fetch himself lunch when he saw an impressive-looking Vulcan man enter Shija's office. He stopped and waited to hear what was going on, and as the man opened his mouth, the impressive look was diminished by how he spoke. He looked to see the reaction of his nurse and saw she was rather stuck in place. It was then that Strom decided to act, not only for Shija, but for his friend Sopek, who he knew was pursuing an arranged marriage.

Strom stepped out, flexing his jaw muscles, and he approached the unknown war hero. "Excuse me, this is an inappropriate time and place to approach my nurse. It is completely illogical to interrupt her while performing duties that may determine life or death." He stepped between the man and Shija. "If you wish to speak with her you may go to the cafeteria and wait." Strom let anger flash over his eyes.

"Are you supposed to be a rival?" the male asked, placing his hands behind his back with his head cocked to the side. He seemed unperturbed at the prospect of challenging the doctor.

"Of course not," Strom scoffed. "I am, however, her boss. As you understand it, her captain. Imagine for a moment," he growled, his voice deepening in his irritation, "if you were standing on the bridge of your ship and in the middle of battle with the Borg, and some animal-brained intruder stood before your tactical officer and declared Koon-ut-so'lik." His blue eyes narrowed. "This is essentially what you have done, as Nurse Shija and I are consulting on a life or death case." He stepped forward and pointed toward the door. "Go and wait, or I will have you ejected by security, captain."

The officer could tell by the flex of the man's face he was very serious, and he had made an error. Shija's father had made it seem that she was a secretary with minimal duties, but it was clear now that she was much more than that. "I will await her in the cafeteria," he purred evenly, and he bowed his head to them before slipping out the door.

Strom waited until the man was gone before turning to Shija. "You may see him at your leisure, but I will want all the documentation done before you go."

"That documentation is going to take me…" Shija caught on to what Strom was saying; the large amount of work was to cover her if she didn't want to go. "Of course," she answered, and hid a grin as she made to sit down.

Strom nodded and went back to his office to put in a communication to his friend.

…

Sopek finished the assigned training before anyone else in the class, and was dismissed by the instructor to spend the rest of the day how he saw fit. He had almost reached his aircar when Strom came through on the comm.

"Another male has declared himself to Shija as a potential mate. She did not seem to be agreeable to him though. Still, it would be best if you came in person."

Sopek did not even wait for Strom to finish before he was in the aircar and headed to the hospital. He rushed past the secretaries and nurses and marched straight to Shija's office.

He found her placidly reviewing her paperwork as she did each day, and he took a deep breath to calm himself.

She looked up at him and smiled slightly. "Hello, Sopek. Please, feel free to linger as long as you like. The longer you're here, the longer that idiot in the cafeteria will have to wait for me to reject him."

Sopek sat down in front of her desk. "Oh…I did not realize you had a potential mate here. Could you tell me more about that?"

She rolled her eyes. "War hero, admiral soon, won't hold my inferior blood against me, will take care of my demanding sexual needs."

Sopek's hands balled into a tight fist, even as he maintained apparent composure. "Interesting," he said thinly.

"No, trust me, no." Shija sighed. "I've heard all my life about my so-called inferior blood, and it makes me wonder how my mom and grandma navigated on Vulcan without becoming lunatics."

Sopek blinked. "If you like, I can dismiss him for you."

"No, thank you. That is tempting, but I need to do this myself."

Sopek waited for another hour for her to finish, but she assured him that it would take quite a long time to complete her tasks.

"I promise I'll let you know when I go reject him, Sopek. I would appreciate some backup in case he gets...feisty."

"You will do that, and myself and Strom will be at hand should you require us," he promised, and he left her office to speak with Strom.

…

Solok sat in the cafeteria, patiently waiting for his prize to appear when he saw another Vulcan enter; the captain rose and went to greet him. "Dr. Koss, what are you doing here? Last I had heard, you were stationed on Vulcan."

The middle-aged Vulcan raised the ta'al to him. "I am here to inspect a female to be a potential mate."

Hester perked up as she passed them with her tray, listening to their conversation – which they made no effort to keep private – and sat one table away so she could hear them better.

"That is why I am here," Sopek replied. "Shija is to be my mate."

"Ah, yes, her father sent me as well. It is impressive her father has been able to procure a war hero and a published doctor for his child who is partially…well, inferior." Koss gave Solok a thoughtful gaze.

"It does seem like a waste of talents, but I have been assured she has her doctorate and is highly skilled. She will be able to stay home and raise the children without the feeling of significant loss of an important career."

"That is true, and her father is going to take over for V'Las when he dies, which I can imagine will be soon. The minister is very elderly. The family, for all its diluted blood, is influential indeed." He cleared his throat. "I am also here to meet another doctor about experimentation."

"I find that to be a novel idea, entering into experiments with a human?"

"His work entails items of interest, but I will see if any of it seems worthy. If you have come to see about Shija, why are you here?" Koss asked, motioning to the cafeteria.

"Her employer takes exception to Shija being distracted from her duties. I do not think he has designs on her, but he is correct – she needs to continue to work. I did not think our meeting would require much time, as I did not know you were also in the running." Solok sighed slightly. "I have been instructed to wait here."

"Then I will wait with you. I would be interested in hearing of your trails as you are a noted war hero," Koss replied smoothly. "If you will also allow me to speak on my own merits."

Hester hurried out of the cafeteria, giving the two Vulcans a wide berth before booking it to Shija's office.

"Hey, Shija, not to be the bearer of bad news or anything, but you've got more problems than Tweedle Dumb out there."

Shija looked up from her work and frowned, and Hester gave her a slight smirk. "Some Vulcan doctor has joined your suitor in the cafeteria. He's looking forward to you giving up your dead-end career and pushing out some babies for him. You'd stay home to raise them, of course. Perhaps you can put that doctorate to good use and homeschool the little hellions."

The nurse put her head in her hands, and even though Shija typically kept her expressions fairly neutral, even Hester could tell she was steaming.

…

Strom agreed to fetch food while Sopek waited for Shija to leave, but he thought he might check in on his assistant and see if he could fetch her lunch so she did not have to face the captain early.

He drew close to her office and heard voices through the door, which was ajar.

"-I mean, so you're this big shot in the IME and you think any woman would just beg to be your wife? I don't care what experiments you're working on, doctor, your attitude is insufferable and your manners are lacking."

Hester's voice drifted out of the office like a noxious fume, and he paused, his stomach sinking in an unexplainable bout of disappointment. He suppressed a wave of hurt and took a step back from the door.

Sopek saw the hurt in Strom's eyes and moved toward the door just in time to hear Dr. Cardwell speak again. "And even worse is that war hero snob of a Vulcan, but they seem to get along just fine. I think they should save the gene pool and marry each other."

Sopek turned and looked at Strom, eyes wide, but said nothing as he shut the door.

…

Shija approached the two Vulcan males sitting together at the table. They did not stand when she arrived, but she raised the ta'al to both of them.

"I'll make this quick since it's been a long day, and we have a long surgery tomorrow so I need to get home and rest. No," Shija said, glancing at both of them. "No, no, and no." She nodded to Solok. "It was…agreeable to meet you but no." She turned to the doctor. "I don't care to meet you, it is illogical to meet you because also no." She raised a haphazard ta'al and turned around without another word.

"I didn't know she would be rude," Koss said, looking back at Solok. "No matter, I must get with the human doctor who is researching Vulcan psionic healing methods." He raised the ta'al and left Solok alone, and after several minutes alone, the captain stood from the table and left with a confused look on his face.