The Stars Above Us

Chapter 20

Jim really hates medical. There was just something about this place that unnerves her. Maybe it was the way the medics treated her after Tarsus or something she picked up from her dad, she doesn't really know. Sadly, her orders were to get checked over and get some sleep. After a long conversation, it was decided to evac the Farragut's crew to the Hood and tow the damaged ship to the starbase. It would still take them two and a half days but that was better than nothing.

Jim sat on the bio bed and played with the hem of her gold shirt while she waited for the unlucky person that got stuck giving her an exam. That's when she looked up and caught a glimpse of Bones heading in her direction.

He had ditched his blue uniform tunic since the last time she saw him and pushed up the sleeves to his black undershirt. His hair was a mess but he otherwise looked good, like really good. Calm, confident, determined. Bones was still very much the white-knuckled boy who hated space but he was also evolving right before her eyes. If Jim didn't know that he was still a few months from having his MD, she never would've guessed. And if the way Griffin talked to him was any indication, Bones was already viewed as an equal.

"I'll try to make this painless, I know how much you hate sickbay," he said as he sat his PADD and tricorder on the bed next to her.

"I don't mind too much. You're in here and it's the first real break I've had since this whole thing started," she chuckled as he took her hand, his fingers touching her wrist and his eyes on her chest. Anyone else would take that the wrong way but Jim knew that Bones liked to check vitals without the tricorder as much as he could.

"Your pulse is a little faster than I'd like," Bones said as he checked her eyes.

"You're touching me," Jim said with a wink. It was the truth, her heart still does that fluttery thing, she can't help it.

"You're a brat."

"You like it."

"Maybe," he smiled. "How do you feel?" She opened her mouth but he cut her off. "I should rephrase that. What doesn't hurt?"

"My hair and my toes," she said. "I'll save us some both some time. I'm exhausted. I haven't had real food in days. I banged my side when we evacuated the secondary hull and it's bruised something fierce. I also have a migraine the size of a small nebula."

"Did Jamison T. Kirk just offer up medical information?" Bones asked. "Usually you fight with me."

"I'm too tired to fight with you," she mumbled.

"I know, darlin'," he whispered as he ran the tricorder over her to see just what he was dealing with. "Your whole system is outta whack. You have a mild case of hypoglycemia… low blood sugar. That plus the electrolyte and vitamin deficiencies are making your migraine worse. It's what you get for not eating." He lifted the side of her shirts. "It's not too bad. I've seen you get worse bruises working out with your dad."

"He's gonna flip," Jim sighed.

"He knows you're okay. I already talked to him. I told him you'd comm after you got some rest," Bones said. "He's proud of you. So am I."

"I don't know why. I didn't do anything special," she shrugged.

"Are you kidding? You saved your crew."

"I did my job," Jim said. "We all did."

"That's not what I heard. Injured officers talk, darlin'," he said. Jim gave him a look and, being the genius he is, Bones dropped the subject. "I'm gonna gave you a mild painkiller. Should help with your side and your migraine. Get something to eat and go to bed. I'll come check on you when I get a chance."

"I should probably find out where my room is," she winced as he hyposprayed her in the neck.

"Deck six, section two, room two-D-one-one-two," Bones said. Jim raised an eyebrow. "It's my room, I have no idea where they actually put you. Passcode is the same as the one we had in Mississippi." She smiled that he still used their mix of parental birthdays. Jim had switched to using his birthday years ago, her birthday is public record so using it is a bad idea.

"Thanks, Bones," she sighed.

"You're welcome. Now, get outta sickbay before I find a reason to keep you."

"That sounds interesting," Jim teased. Bones gave her a look and she chuckled. "I'm going. I'm going."

"Do you know why you're here, Lieutenant?" Admiral Oryss th'qelass, the Chief of Starfleet Operations, asked her. Being called to see the person in charge of fleet ops was either really good or really bad.

"No, sir," she replied to the tall Andorian officer.

"I read the reports from the Farragut and the Hood. Do you want to know what the general consensus is?" the admiral asked her.

"I have an idea, sir," Jim said.

"All but one report calls you a hero. Yours," he told her. "Captain Chenowyth, in particular, is rather impressed by you. He said, and I quote, 'Lieutenant Kirk is a fine young officer who performed with uncommon bravery. I recommend that she be meritoriously promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander.' There's more, of course. Not to mention similar sentiments from Captain Harrari, Doctors Moran, Chin and Griffin, and Commodore Pierce at Starbase Sixteen."

Jim didn't say anything. In all fairness, she didn't know what to say. As far as she's concerned, she didn't do anything heroic. She just saved the people she could save. Jim honestly didn't see what all the fuss was about, anyone with half a brain would've done what she did.

"I performed my duties to the best of my ability, sir," she finally said.

"And then some according to your own report," he picked up a PADD. "You laid down the facts and you give credit to those around you but your actions were still heroic. So," he looked at her, "I'm inclined to agree with Chenowyth and the others. Effective immediately, I hereby promote you to the rank of Lieutenant Commander and enter a commendation for valor into your service record. You did an outstanding job, Miss Kirk, and I have a feeling that this is just the beginning."

Jim should've gone home but she found herself sitting at the memorial wall. All this talk of heroes and promotions pissed her off and this seemed to be the only place where it wasn't a topic of discussion. She gets why it was happening, even if she didn't like the idea of earning her rank on the blood of her shipmates. She spent her life around great officers but she never saw herself as one. Maybe it's humility, maybe it's something else. In either case, she didn't like it. It all seemed a bit wrong to her.

The way Jim saw it, she was just lucky. She should've died on Tarsus, on the Republic and on the Farragut. Somehow, she seemed to be turning survival into an art form. Do A, don't do B, plan for C, shake once and live through whatever bullshit was going on that day.

If it wasn't for her dad, she'd be losing her mind. He explained his similar feelings from his meritorious promotions. The regrets, the sadness, the guilt. He didn't like being rewarded for not dying any more than she did.

"If you got any advice, now would be a good time, dad," she muttered to George. He wasn't there and he couldn't do anything but it never hurt to ask for a little divine intervention.

"Well look at you, darlin'," Bones said when he spotted her standing outside the nursery in her dress grays. She decided that a visit to the hospital might make her feel better.

"Please don't tell me you like this uniform all of a sudden," she chuckled.

"Not usually but you look good in it. How'd your meetings go?" he asked after giving her a quick kiss.

"Just peachy. They're scuttling the Farragut and reassigning what's left of the crew," Jim said. "Oh, me and Chenowyth both got promoted."

"Not surprised," Bones said as he smiled at the babies on the other side of the glass. Jim gave him a look. "I'm not. You had to know it was coming."

"Doesn't mean I have to like it. Three quarters of the crew died."

He chuckled, "Doesn't change the fact that you saved the rest, Jim."

"That doesn't make me a hero. It makes me a good officer," she pointed out.

"When you look at me, what do you see?" Bones asked her.

"What?"

"Just, for shits and giggles, what do you see?" he asked again. "And skip over the part about me being hot because I already know that."

"Honestly, brilliance. You're so… there's no way to describe it but I'm in awe of you," she told him. She wasn't gonna tell him about the rumor she heard about Griffin recommending him for a promotion when he graduates. Jim knew that it was probably gonna happen but she didn't want to tell him in case it didn't.

"You want to know what I think about myself?" Bones asked. She nodded, curious where he was going with this. "I'm not where I should be yet. I worry about getting things right, even when I know them. I'm worried that I'm not anywhere near good enough for you…" Jim made a move to argue with him. "Don't. I already know what you're gonna say. My point is, I don't see what you see. Just like you don't see what the rest of us see. You might not think that you're a hero but you are."

"So are you," Jim said. "I saw you on the ship."

"I just did my job," he said. "Oh, I see your point. I guess there is a solution."

"What's that?"

"We get into a whole bunch of trouble," Bones chuckled.

"No. We'll just have to get used to it," she said.

"That too."

"Doctor Leonard H. McCoy," she said it again just to feel it roll off her tongue.

"Stop it. It's not that big of a deal," Bones said but Jim wasn't having it. Especially with that smile on his face.

"You're a doctor. An actual doctor. That's huge, Bonesy." It was official. Bones took his last test, did his last student shift in the hospital and got his degree. Bones was now a real, honest to God medical doctor.

"I'm just glad to be done with school. There's no need to make this big…"

"Too late. I'm gonna make a big deal out of it because you're awesome and amazing and the whole universe should know it," she told him.

"Jim," he groaned. "Please."

"Fine but we're going out for dinner tonight to celebrate," Jim said.

"No, we're not. I would like to keep it simple if that's okay with you," he told her. She stared at him for a long moment. His classmates were excited about getting their MDs but he didn't seem to be. Jim thought about it for a long minute before she realized what was wrong.

"You wish they were here." It wasn't a question, she knew Bones. He missed his parents and all the excitement was just a reminder that they were gone.

"Yea," Bones sighed. "I always imagined spending this day with my dad. That disarming smile he always had and way his hugs always made me feel like I could do anything. He'd probably make some comment about joining the family business and making plans for our own practice together. I can even imagine it. Me and him taking care of everyone from old ladies to little kids. My mom running the office. You stopping by to bring us lunch. I know, it's crazy…"

"The warp core," she whispered. He raised an eyebrow and Jim smiled. "According to dad, I would sit at my mother's feet and just watch as she worked on stuff. I don't remember a lot about Winona but I do remember that she used to hum all the time. Whenever the warp core kicks in… I can almost hear her. The first time it happened, it hit me like a ton of bricks and I burst into tears. Luckily, I was just a kid so nobody thought anything of it. Now, it's a welcome feeling, like someone's looking out for me. Wanting them here isn't crazy. As a matter of fact, missing our parents is probably the most normal thing about either of us."

"Never thought I'd hear us and normal in the same sentence." The sarcasm was clear as a bell.

"I know, right?" Jim chuckled. "How about this, I'll order dinner from that Chinese place you like and we'll watch a bunch of movies on mute and make up our own stories? I'll even let you pick the movies."

"That sounds like my kind of party. Thank you," he smiled.

She gave him a soft kiss, "Anytime, Doctor McCoy."

"God, stop it," Bones chuckled.

"Just you wait until Pippa comms, she's never gonna let you hear the end of it."

"I can't tell if you're excited that we're both on the same ship or if you're excited to be on this ship," Bones whispered as they walked to their new quarters.

"It's the ship," she told him honestly.

He gave her a look, "I think that hurt my feelings, darlin'."

Jim was still feeling a bit guilty over the whole thing with the Farragut. Bones, her dad and everyone else in their small family seemed to understand and left her to sort through her feelings, knowing they were there when she was ready to talk about it. When she was offered shore duty, Jim seriously considered taking it but when the captain of the Constitution personally requested her for the senior staff, the engineer in her couldn't pass that up. Bones being here didn't hurt.

"Oh, please. You know that I love you, but you were assigned to this ship by rotation after I was requested by the captain. Which, I'm pretty sure had something to do with Doctor Marvick. Anyway, the Constitution is the prototype for a new class of cruiser. Most of our missions are gonna be shakedowns to test out new systems and equipment. I'm the Chief Tactical Officer and the Assistant Chief Engineer. Do you know what means?"

"You get to hang out in engineering when you're not on the bridge," Bones chuckled.

"Exactly," Jim smiled. "So, as happy as I am to have you here with me, the both of us being assigned to this ship at the same time is purely coincidence."

"And the whole thing with the quarters?" he asked.

"We're Lieutenant Commanders, Bones. Technically, we both get our own quarters. I simply filed a request for us to share," she said.

Couples –or triads- in the same room was a semi-common practice. It was required that they file the appropriate paperwork with the fleet to recognize their relationship and have the approval of the ship's CO. Newer relationships and those among younger officers –who weren't married- were usually turned down but couples like Jim and Bones, who joined up together and have almost a decade of history, were approved with little to no problem.

"How do you know I wanted to share with you?" Bones asked.

"It's not like we don't already live together," Jim chuckled. "I figured that you wouldn't mind."

"I don't, I'm just messing with you," he smiled.

She shook her head and opened the door, "If you say so… Doctor McCoy."

"There's the hero," Mitchell said from behind here.

"Shhh. Don't do that, please," she said to her friend as he caught up to her in the corridor. There were some people on the ship who knew who she was and what happened on the Farragut but she didn't feel the need to broadcast it to anyone else. "I don't like the attention."

"Fair enough," he smiled. "You get settled alright?"

"Yep. Me and Bones both. I heard about you and Yudrin. Sorry, dude."

"It's okay. We tried, it didn't work. We're mature enough to move on. She's on the Thorne," Gary shrugged. He wanted to appear tough but Jim knew his heart was a little broken.

"I love Yud but it's her loss," Jim smiled.

"Awe, thanks, Jimmy," he chuckled. "Come on, I'll buy you breakfast before our shift."

"Uh huh. More like you're gonna fill me in on all the gossip before we have to be on the bridge. How'd you'd end up on Alpha shift anyway?" she asked.

"You think you're the only badass around here?" Gary asked.

"I know I'm not," Jim said. "I'm just curious."

"It's a long story that ends with me pulling some kick ass maneuvers and getting us away from some Klingons," he smiled. "Nothing special."

"That's what I tell people but it goes in one ear and out the other," she chuckled.

Gary smiled, "Such is the fate of heroes, my friend."

"Honey, I'm home," Jim said when she walked into her and Bones' quarters.

"Hello, dear. How was your day?" he asked, playing along.

"Well, my new boss is nice. I like my workspace and I get to hang out with Mitchell. Oh, and someone already hates me," she chuckled.

"Seriously?"

"Yep. Lieutenant Jack Gaynor. He's the Chief of Security and he was in line to be the second officer…"

Bones nodded, "But Augenthaler appointed you to the position so he's stuck at third officer."

"That's why you're the smart one and I'm the pretty one," she smiled as she dropped into the seat next to him. "How was your day, sweetheart?"

"It was good. Patched up a few engineers and some idiots who hurt themselves sparring, nothing major, darlin'," he smiled. "I know it's just day one but I could get used to this."

"Me too," Jim smiled. "You have dinner yet?"

"Nope, I was waiting for you."

"I feel so special, my love."

"You are special," he said. "Come on. Food awaits."

"Before we go, can I ask you something?"

"You can ask me anything, you know that," Bones said.

Jim smiled, "I uh… I was talking to Mitch about his failed relationship. And I… I had this thought when I was on the bridge and I um…"

"Spit it out, darlin'," he chuckled.

"Would you… This isn't me asking… I think… I know we haven't really talked about it but…" She took a deep breath, "Would you ever want to get married?"