The Stars Above Us

Chapter 21

"Oh my God. Don't answer that," she said. "Don't say anything. I don't even know why I said anything. That was way outta left field and I shouldn't have… Can we pretend that I didn't just ask you that? Pretty please, with a cherry on top?"

"No, we can't," Bones said with a smile.

"This is why I should've let them put us in separate rooms," Jim muttered to herself.

"So you could avoid me for the next week and end up having to talk to me about it anyway? Too late for that, darlin'," he chuckled.

She looked at him, "Are you laughing at me?"

"A little," Bones shrugged. "You're cute when you're freaking out over something that, frankly, isn't that that big of a deal."

"Not that big of a deal, Bones? I just asked you to marry me," Jim huffed.

"No, you didn't. You asked me if I would ever want to get married. The questions are similar but not the same," he smiled. Bones ran a hand through his hair and took a deep breath. "To be honest…"

Whatever Bones was about to say was cut off by the ship's Red Alert going off. 'Seriously?' Jim asked herself. Part of her was happy, she wasn't sure if she even wanted to know what he was gonna say, the other part of her was upset that she didn't get an answer to the question that's been on her brain all day.

Bones gave her a quick kiss, "We'll talk about this later. I love you."

"Love you too," she sighed before they left their quarters and went in different directions, Jim to the bridge and Bones to medical.

Two days. She hasn't seen Bones in almost two whole days. It wouldn't be that big of a deal if not for the fact that they share quarters. He's been in there at least once to change his uniform but it was sometime after Jim stopped by to get a few hours of sleep. If she didn't know any better, she's think he was avoiding her. He wasn't.

The Constitution diverted from their scan of the Briar Patch to help a civilian ship that had mechanical problems near Nausicaa. A bit too close to the anarchic planet to seek help from them but also too far away from anything else. The Federation ship ended up beaming over four dozen people before it exploded. Eighteen of them were in medical for one thing or another under CMO, Doctor Christina Velasquez, and Bones' care. The others were Lieutenant Borrik, the Chief Communications Officer, and Jim's responsibility. Usually, it would be the Chief of Security's job, and Gaynor was begrudgingly keeping track of their guests, but there was some cultural thing in play were the women weren't allowed to talk to men and Jim offered to help with the non-medical stuff.

"Hi," Bones said when Jim stepped into their quarters.

"Hi," she sighed. "Were you waiting on me?" It was like one in the morning on the ship's clock.

"Yep," he smiled. "I was planning to make a stop on the bridge for Alpha shift if I didn't see you tonight."

"Would've been a bad idea," Jim said.

"No kidding. I'd have to explain to the captain why I was there. I'd also have to hope you were actually on the bridge and not with our guests. I'm guessing that's where you've been."

"You're half right. I was in a meeting with the civilian ship's captain and ours. The plan is to take them back to Sol with us and let them sort themselves out from there. Then I was in engineering," she smiled as she headed for the bedroom area of "I'm gonna go take a shower. I'm wiped."

"The answer is yes, by the way. I've thought about it. A lot." Jim stopped dead in her tracks and turned around to find that Bones wasn't in the desk chair where he was when she came in. He was in front of her on one knee.

"Don't you dare," Jim whispered. She was tired and she needed a shower and he was not doing this to her right now.

"Too late," he chuckled. "I've been trying to come up with the right thing to say for weeks. Just don't laugh at me."

"Why would I…?" she asked quietly. "Weeks?" Jim only brought it up two days ago.

Bones nodded. "'An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force'."

"Newton's first law. What does that have to do with anything?"

"Object in motion," Bones pointed to himself. "Unbalanced force," he pointed at her. Jim couldn't help the smile that crossed her lips. "I thought I got enough of a push when my parents died, then I crashed into you. For a long time I couldn't figure it out. How we became friends or why we stayed friends. When Tarsus happened, it was like someone was tap-dancing on my heart. That's when I knew that I couldn't live without you. I knew I would do anything to make sure you were okay. It only got worse at Ole Miss…"

"Bones," she whispered.

"I can't breathe without you, darlin'. I don't want to. Here I am on a starship out in the middle of wherever we are despite how much I hate space because it's where you are," he said. "I… Jim, I love you with all my heart. I always will. I was gonna wait to do this but I can't wait anymore. So, Jamison Tabitha Kirk-Pike, will you marry me?"

She opened her mouth a few times, not sure what to say and Jim was sure she probably looked like a fish. "I... Yes."

Bones was on his feet in a millisecond, his arms around her and his lips against hers. Jim kissed him back with everything she had. When they pulled away, she couldn't help but laugh a little.

"I've been going crazy for two days thinking I shot myself in the foot," Jim said, tears rolling down her face.

"I figured as much, i***t. You should've known better," Bones chuckled.

"How the hell was I supposed to know you were gonna ask?"

It's been mentioned a bunch of times, usually as a joke, in the last four and a half years but she never really thought about it until recently. While they've been old enough for a while, most nineteen and twenty -almost twenty and twenty one- year olds aren't rushing off to get married. Then again, her mother was a few months younger than Jim is now when she and George got hitched.

"Because you've seen the box with the ring in it a million times," he told her.

"I what?" Jim wasn't sure what surprised her more, the fact that there was a ring or that she somehow saw the box already. Bones took her hand and pulled her into their bedroom, opened the compartment where his clothes were stored and pulled out a small blue box. "Oh my God."

"You wear my clothes when you're off duty all the time and never even noticed," Bones said with a smile as he opened the box and took out a silver ring with a square deep blue turquoise stone that Jim's seen a bunch of holos.

"That's my mother's engagement ring. How the hell did you…? Dad."

"I had a very uncomfortable conversation with him before we left Earth. He told me the story about helping George find this ring for your mother." Winona had two rings, the gold and onyx one that she always wore, even after George died, and this one that Jim thought was lost in the fire. Bones slid the ring on her finger, "Perfect fit."

"We're engaged," she whispered.

"We are," Bones said, his eyes on hers.

"I love you."

He smiled, "I love you too."

"I can't believe that you knew about this. I should hit you the next time I see you," she said to the other man she loved more than anything over vid-comm.

"I might let you. Lemme see," her dad said with a big smile.

"You sound like such a girl," Jim said, holding up her hand.

"Hey, my kid is getting married, I'm allowed. It looks good on you. I'm glad he picked that one over the other one."

"Me too, that thing is huge. You know, most dads would freak out about this," she reminded him.

"I'm not most dads. For starters, I already love that kid. Then, there's the fact that he asked me. Not to mention that I know that he'd die for you in a heartbeat. Overall, I don't really have anything to freak out about," he smiled. "Unless you want to have some huge wedding."

"Uh… no. That's not gonna happen," Jim shook her head. "Combined, we have more fingers than we have friends and family. Besides, the press'll go nuts if they even hear about the Kelvin Baby getting married. We decided that we're not even gonna set a date. When we can get you, Pip and Gramps in the same place, we'll do it. That's the mandatory list, anyone else will just be extra."

"Awww, look at you, already making decisions as part of a unit," her dad teased.

"Shut up before I start talking about you and Pippa," Jim said.

"Don't know what you're talking about," he told her.

"Why are you blushing?"

Her dad chuckled, "I'm not. Pip and I have been friends for a very long time it's…"

"Complicated. I'm not buying it," she said.

"I went on a date with Robbins," he sighed. "More than one, actually."

"You're not an i***t. So why on God's green Earth would you do something like that?" Jim asked.

"You said that you like Number One," he reminded her.

"As your first officer, not as a potential step-mom," she sighed. "What's Pippa think?"

"She's supportive," her dad said.

"You know what? I was wrong, you are an i***t," Jim said. "That woman loves you."

"I love her too, she's one of my best…"

"No, dad. She loves you. Not in the 'friends' category either. For some reason, everyone in the quadrant knows that but you," she told him. "I bet Robbins does too. What's more, you love Pip and you just don't realize it."

"No way. I think you rattled your head a few too many times, kiddo," her dad chuckled.

"Ask Gramps. We had a long conversation about it a few weeks ago," Jim said.

"You did not," he said. Jim just looked at him. "You did."

"Seriously, dad, you need to really think about it. I gotta go. I'm supposed to have dinner with Bones, Mitch and Borrik," she smiled. "Tell everyone we said hi."

"Can do. Love you, Misses Bones," he chuckled.

"I love you too, dad," Jim laughed. "Kirk out."

"What the hell is going on in here?" Jim asked as she walked into the rec room. Mitch and Borrick each had a grip on a very pissed off Bones. He wasn't fighting them, he just stood there and took a deep breath before he looked at her, glared at Gaynor and looked at Jim again. The Chief of Security gave her a look as some of the other officers held him back.

"Nothing, sir," one of the officers in the room said to her.

"I'm a lot of things but an i***t isn't one of them," she told the guy in the red shirt. "What happened, McCoy?"

"Nothing I can repeat," Bones said.

"Go to your quarters and standby. The rest of you, clear out. Gaynor, stand fast." Jim and Gaynor watched everyone leave the room before they looked at each other. "You have something you need to say to me, now's the time."

"I'm good, Kirk," he spat her name at her.

"If you're gonna be an asshole, it's Lieutenant Commander. And you're more transparent than a viewport," she chuckled. "Look, I get it, you don't like me. You seem to think I came in here and took the second officer spot from you. What you don't realize is that I was requested. And it's a good thing too because you have no idea what it takes to be in command. You can't even control your emotions on the ship when you don't get your way, how the hell are you gonna lead anyone?"

"That's not the point," he said. "I worked my ass off for that spot."

"That is the point," Jim told him. "You seem to think that I didn't work for it. That it didn't take a lot of work to get here. That it didn't take a lot of losses to get here."

"Oh please. You expect me to believe that?" Jack growled. "You're a Kirk, all you have to do is show up."

"That's not even remotely true. You don't know what I've fought through to get here. My name has nothing to with my ability to do my job and it sure as hell doesn't keep me or anyone else safe. Do you know what happened on the Farragut? Or the Republic before that?"

"No."

"For twenty-three hours, eighteen minutes and thirty-nine seconds I had the chair on the Farragut. My captain died three feet away from me and I didn't even know if the XO was alive. I spent a whole day terrified that I was actually the captain, more terrified then I was of dying. We lost three hundred and seventeen in total when the dust settled. Are you ready for that? For the lives everyone on this ship to be in your hands? It's the reality of my position. You don't have to like me, you don't even have to respect me, but you will respect the uniform. I earned my stripes with blood, sweat and tears, just like you."

Commander Hirota walked into the room and looked at her, "Everything okay here, Kirk?"

"Yes, sir. Lieutenant Gaynor and I were just setting some things straight," she said. Someone must've told him that something was up. The XO gave Jim and Jack a look before he walked away. Jim was sure she'd have to talk with him about this later.

"You could've told him."

"That you were trying to pick a fight with a senior medical officer who outranks you? At best, you'd get extra duty and tossed to the bottom of the promotions list. I wouldn't tank your career because you pissed off my fiancé. He's a big boy, he can take care of himself," Jim said honestly. Bones doesn't need her to protect him but she'd do it anyway if it became necessary, just like he'd do for her.

"You're serious."

"Yep. I don't know what you said that pissed him off so bad and I don't want to know. Just make sure you never do it again because I won't protect you from him next time," she sighed. "Way I see it, you got two options. You can keep being an asshole who has a tantrum every time I'm mentioned, which gets no one anywhere, or you could suck it up and try to work with me."

Gaynor looked at her for a long moment. "I'll think about it but I'm not promising anything."

"Fair enough."

"He called you a…"

"I don't care, Bones," she cut him off mid-sentence.

"Really?"

"It's either something that's not true or it's something that is. I refuse to be pissed off about lies or rumors and I can't change something that's already happened. Either way, it doesn't matter. You can be pissed for the both of us."

"Why doesn't this bother you?" he asked her.

"Because insults aren't important enough to be upset about." Bones gave her a look. Jim smiled, "'For every minute you remain angry, you give up sixty seconds of peace of mind'."

"Ralph Waldo Emerson. I know that one," he chuckled. "You really don't want to know?"

"I really don't," she said before pressing a kiss at the corner of his mouth. "Thank you for sticking up for me. It's very sweet."

"Yea, well…" Bones smiled.

"It's hot. You all pissed off and ready to defend my honor."

"Hmm, is it?" he asked with a smirk.

"It is," Jim whispered against his neck.

"Well, I am a gentlemen, Miss Kirk."

"Yea… a gentlemen who made me miss dinner," she reminded him.

"I'll make it up to you."

"You bet your ass you will."