The Stars Above Us

Chapter 15

"Whatcha doin'?" Bones asked as he rested his head on her shoulder and tried reading the PADD in her hands.

"Reading. Risa was officially inducted into the Federation today," she told him. "We lost contact with the Friendship One space probe in the Delta Quadrant. And my dad says hi."

"All very interestin', darlin'," he took the PADD from her hands. "But we have somewhere to be."

Jim looked up at him, "Do we?"

"Yep," Bones tugged her out of the chair.

"Where are we going?" Jim asked as she rested her arms around his shoulders.

"Not tellin'," he whispered against her lips before giving her a soft kiss. "Takes all the fun out of it."

"You do realize that you're gonna have to tell me eventually?"

He chuckled, "I do, but not right this second."

"Smartass," she muttered.

"You like it. Come on," Bones said.

"I should probably change," Jim said, glancing down at the Ole Miss t-shirt she stole from Bones and her jeans.

"Nope. You're prefect. Let's go." Jim was curious to see what he was up to so she didn't fight when he pulled her out of the apartment.

A quick drive later, she looked and took a few deep breaths. "What are we doing here?"

"We are going to pick our own apples," Bones smiled. An apple farm was not even on the list of ideas that she ran though her head on the drive over. Since Bones was still very much a country boy, she should've known better. "Then, we're gonna go home and I'm gonna teach you how to make the McCoy apple pie."

"You're giving me the super-secret McCoy family apple pie recipe?" She looked at him. Jim almost made a quip about saving it for his first born but she stopped herself. That was not a conversation they were having for the next decade… at least.

"I'm the last McCoy so I can give it to anyone I want," he shrugged. "Besides, you're my family. I'm sure the secret will be safe with you."

Jim leaned up on her tiptoes and pressed a lingering kiss against his lips. "I'll guard it with my life."

"You better. Come on, darlin', let's get us some apples." Bones grabbed Jim's hand and they were off.

"What now?" she asked.

"Now we wait, darlin'," Bones chuckled as he wiped his hands off on a towel. "It's only gonna take forty-five minutes."

After spending a few hours picking apples, picking out a couple small pumpkins and goofing off like most fifteen and sixteen year olds, they stopped by the market for other ingredients before going home to try Jim's luck at making a pie from scratch.

"Sounds boring," Jim muttered as she looked through the window on the oven.

"That's because you're not supposed to watch the pie bake and you know it," he sighed before wrapping an arm around her and pulling her out of the kitchen. Jim squirmed when his fingers glided over her side as they sat on the couch. "Somebody is ticklish."

"You know that already," she huffed. "Don't even think about it."

"Too late," Bones smirked before he started tickling her sides. He always went right for the sides.

"Bones, stop," Jim laughed. "Please, Bones."

"Nope."

She tried to squirm and wiggle away from him but Bones knows all her tricks and he had her pinned between himself and the couch before she could do anything about it. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you want to look at it, her whole body chose that moment to become hyper-aware of him. Jim let out a groan or a moan, she's not entirely sure which, and Bones froze.

"Oh, crap. I'm not hurting you, am I, darlin'?" he asked, lifting her shirt a little to see her sides. Of course, now his hands were on her skin. Not that they've never been, because they're curious and teenagers and a little s****l exploration never killed anyone, it just wasn't helping in this moment.

"I'm okay," she squeaked out. 'Nice going, Jim,' she thought to herself. 'There's no way he's gonna believe that.'

"Are you sure?" Bones asked as he watched her face. "I keep forgetting that I'm a little stronger than you now thanks to that stupid growth spurt."

"It wasn't stupid. I'm fine, Bonesy."

"Your mouth says you're fine, your face says you're not," he said. "Tell me what's wrong."

"Nothing's wrong. My brain just went all lusty, that's it," Jim said just above a whisper.

He smiled that sexy smile at her and Jim was thankful for the couch under her because her knees went weak. "Really?"

"Yes, really. Can you get off of me, now?"

"Do you really want me to?" Bones whispered, his hands resting on her waist.

"No," Jim said before she could stop herself. She took a deep breath and figured that she might as well tell him. "I think…" she paused. "I know that I'm ready." He stared at her. After a few minutes she touched his face. "Bones. It's okay if you're not. I'm just telling you how I feel."

"I…" he smiled. "Me too. Have been for a little while."

"You didn't say anything." Jim lightly punched him in the arm.

"I know, I know. I just didn't know how to bring it up."

"Since when are you coy? You could've even went with 'Hey, Jim, let's do the horizontal mambo'," she chuckled.

"Only you would say something like that. Most girls would hate it," Bones pointed out with a laugh.

"Have I ever been like most girls?"

"Never. It's one of the many reasons why I love you," he told her.

"So…"

"So…"

"Yea."

"Yep."

"We have a pie in the oven," she reminded him. "Wanna fool around until it's done?"

"Uh… yes, please."

"What are you smiling about?" Bones whispered against her shoulder.

"You. What else?" she whispered back.

To say they had an interesting evening would be a major understatement. Losing your virginity is not all picture perfect like the stupid movies make it seem. But their first time was perfectly them, sweet and shy and awkward and silly and a tiny bit painful but in a good way. Jim was just grateful that her boyfriend aced his anatomy classes. He busted out some stuff that a virgin just shouldn't know.

The second time was much better. Not as shy, not as awkward, just as sweet.

"What about me?" he asked.

"Oh, you know. Just how much I love you."

"That's it, huh?" Bones chuckled. "I love you more."

"Nope, not possible," she smiled.

"Very possible and true."

"We're gonna argue about this all night, aren't we?" Jim chuckled.

"You can just admit I'm right."

"Never," she said. "We could call it a tie."

"I'm listening. Name your terms," he said as he propped himself up in his elbow.

"You love me a lot," Jim said and Bones nodded. "I love you a lot. So, I say we both win."

"Hmm," Bones sighed. "You're quite the negotiator, Miss Kirk."

"Only when something's important, Mister McCoy," she smiled. "Thoughts."

"I love you and you love me, there's no way we could ever lose."

Jim doesn't like being called to Commander Irvine's office at random. It's never happened to her before but it was usually something bad. Jim couldn't come up with anything she's done wrong. Her platoon was above standard when she turned it over in September and took up the company commander position, it was now March. Her grade point average put her second among the graduate students. And since she spent all her free time with Bones, she couldn't have gotten herself into any trouble.

She took a breath and accepted the fact that she was going in blind when Irvine's yeoman told her to go into the office.

"Lieutenant Kirk reporting as ordered, ma'am," Jim said when she walked into the office. It wasn't mandated for her to report while out of uniform but Jim had a certain respect for the officer in front of her, so she did it anyway.

"Have a seat, Kirk," Irvine sighed. Jim sat down and waited. "Three days ago, there was an attack on the USS Yorktown. Your father was injured."

"Is he okay?" Jim barely managed to ask.

"I don't know. The ship will be back in our sector in nineteen hours. I will have you excused from classes so that you can be in San Francisco when they get there," Irvine told her. "If you need anything, all you have to do is ask."

"McCoy," Jim whispered. He's gonna b***h and moan about why space is dangerous but it'll be just what she's needs. "He'll need to be excused too, ma'am."

"Can do," Irvine told her. "I hope your dad's okay."

"Me too."

Jim raised an eyebrow at Doctor Romero's explanation of what was wrong with her dad. She understood parts of it thanks to her emergency medical class but that was only half of it. "Can you repeat that in Standard or English or Vulcan? I'll even take Andorian."

"The creatures they encountered forcefully probed your dad's mind, causing a traumatic brain injury. Right now, his brain and body are working to repair the damage, that's why he's in a coma. They won't know how severe the damage is until he wakes up," Bones translated the medical talk for her. Doctor Romero looked at him and Bones shrugged. "Working on my MD at Ole Miss."

"Ever consider Starfleet?" the doctor asked. Was this guy seriously trying to recruit Bones right now? She opened her mouth to speak but she didn't get the chance.

"They're in ROTC," Charlie said from his spot on Jim's other side. "What's the plan for Christopher?"

"Right now the only thing we can do is wait. His primary physician will be able to give you the details," Romero told him.

"Can we see him?" she asked.

"You and the chief can but your friend will have to stay out here," the doctor said, giving Bones a look.

"He's my husband," Jim said, they were old enough that it was possible. She knew her grandfather wouldn't say anything and, miraculously, Bones didn't either.

"Oh. Okay," Romero said before he pointed them in the right direction.

Jim, Bones and Charlie made their way to her dad's hospital room. He was pale and thin and it made Jim want to curl up in a ball and cry.

"Oh, dad," she whispered. "What did you do to yourself this time?"

"We were bait," came an unfamiliar voice behind them. The woman in the crisp Starfleet uniform with commander's strips had to be her dad's first officer, Eugenie Robbins. "There were some disappearances and we were diverted to investigate. This ship attacked and took the captain hostage. I led the landing party to rescue him but he was a mess when I got there."

"The enemy ship?" Jim asked.

"He ordered us to destroy it before he lost consciousness, so we did," the woman said. Jim was already starting to like her. "You must be Jim. He talks about you a lot. You're prettier in person."

"And you're Number One. Nice to meet you," Jim sighed. "Wish it didn't take my father being comatose for it to happen."

"Yea. Me too," Robbins sighed. "I should go. I was just stopping by to check on him."

"I'm sure my son wouldn't mind if you stayed," Charlie told the officer but Jim knew she wouldn't.

"It's okay, gramps. She's got his crew to take care of," Jim said. Robbins nodded. "We'll let you know if anything changes."

"Thanks. If you guys need anything just let us know. Everyone on the Yorktown is pulling for him," Robbins told them before making her exit.

"She's nice," Bones said.

"She's okay," Jim chuckled. "I'm still holding out hope that dad'll marry Pippa one day."

"That would make us siblings?"

"Not really. Pippa was only your guardian until last year and dad is not my biological dad. Trust me, no one would ever consider us siblings, Bonesy," she said as she sat next to her dad and held his hand.

"Good thing too, wife," Bones said. Jim glanced at her grandfather, who mouthed that he wasn't helping her.

"I had to think fast. You're not in his file so you couldn't even pretend to be my brother. Husband was the second best idea," Jim pointed out. "I just can't wait until he wakes up and someone mentions it."

"He'll kill me," Bones sighed.

Jim chuckled, "He'd have to get through me."

"You look like crap, Jimmy," Chris mumbled.

"Dad," Jim smiled. She sat her PADD down and moved closer. "How you feelin'?"

"I feel like I got hit by a starship. Where's Robbins and my crew? Where are we?" he asked.

He's been out for three days. Jim would've driven herself crazy with worry if it wasn't for the fact that Bones didn't let her. He forced her and Charlie to eat, to sleep, to walk around get some air. She knows he did it because he loves them but that didn't stop her from wanting to do something special for him. She'll have to figure out what.

"They're docked at Starbase One. The commander checks on you a couple times a day. We are at Starfleet Medical Center in San Fran," she said. "You were in a coma. Scared me half to death."

"Sorry, sweetheart. It wasn't my idea," he said just as Pippa walked into the room with Doctor Nance, her dad's primary. Her dad smiled, "Hey, Pip."

"Oh, I see how it is," Jim chuckled. "In a coma for days, nothing anybody could do about it. Pippa gets here and you're wide awake."

"I doubt it has anything to do with me, Jimmy," Pippa said, giving the younger woman a kiss on the top of her head. "I am gonna kick you out though. Nance has to check your dad over and I doubt you want to stay for that. Lenny said he'll meet you down in the courtyard."

"Thanks, Pippa," Jim said before he kissed her dad's cheek. "Grandpa went home to get some sleep but I'll comm him and we'll both be back in a little bit, dad."

"Okay. Love you," he mumbled and Jim was sure he was gonna fall asleep. Bones warned her that even though he was in a coma, he'll still be tired.

"Love you too," she told him before she left the room and made her way through the hospital and outside.

She spotted Bones quickly. He was sitting on a bench with a cup of coffee, looking up at the sky. For a long moment, Jim just watched him, she couldn't help herself. When she walked over, he smiled.

"What's that look all about, darlin'?"

"I think I'm gonna call it the… I'm-gonna-marry-him-one-day look," she told him.

"Hmm. I like that look," Bones said as she sat next to him.

"Dad's awake. Pippa kicked me out." Jim took the cup out of his hands and took a sip. "Since when do you put cream and sugar in your coffee?"

"I don't, it's for you. How's your dad?" He wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Jim leaned into him and sighed.

"He recognized me and Pippa. That's a good sign, right?"

"Yep. I'm sure they'll run a few tests on him but it sounds like he still has his memory," Bones told her.

"Which also means he can tell everyone what happened."

"It might not be pretty," her boyfriend reminded her.

Jim smiled, "I know. I'll be fine as long as you're there."

"Always."