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merryfortune · 7 years

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On Changing Tides

@seasaltmemories wrote a Serena meta and it gave me some ideas. So I wrote this last night at midnight instead of doing my assignment. I don’t know when i’ll post this on ao3 because I have a rule that I have to update PBL after every 4 new/updated fics.

Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc V

Ship: Serenadeshipping (Serena/Yuzu)

Alternate Universe - Pirates

Synopsis: Serena is a traitor to Admiral Akaba Leo’s Navy. But she’d rather be lawless than without morals so she’s joined the infamous Lancer Pirates to pursue adventure, justice, and romance.

Words: 2, 172

Warnings: Blood, swearing, light medical procedure, injury, possible gore, violence, that sort of thing

Corruption festered beneath the names of nobility and justice. It was like a terrible rot beneath the facade of brilliant flower. With a blade at her command, Serena shall cut it all away or else dishonour shall be the death of her. She refuses to fight for it any longer. Not now, not when she’s seen the people she had hurt in the flesh and fury.

Fleet Captain Yuri approached Serena. He scowled. His cutlass was drawn as was a cruel smile and deviant eyes.

‘Now, now, Serena. Surely you understand still that we are of the most gallant goals.’ he said.

He reached out with his blade. The upward tip of his cutlass poked upon Serena’s breast lightly. He disgusted her and she had no problems letting him now. Her face soured. She lifted her chin and looked down upon him. Her free hand turned to a fist. She raised her own cutlass.

‘Duel me.’ she snarled.

‘Come now, surely we can settle this civilly.’

‘You haven’t a pleasant bone in your body. You and I both know you wouldn’t hesitate to cut my tongue out of my mouth it meant you didn’t have to listen to the truth!’ Serena spat.

His eyes fluttered closed; he tutted: ‘After all these years…’ he lamented. ‘I still can’t fool you. And yet? You are Admiral Akaba’s favourite soldier.’

‘Tell him to stick it where the sun don’t shine!’ barked Serena. ‘Now, duel me!’

He sighed and discarded his scarlet cape. He smiled sinisterly; his eyes gleamed with bloodlust.

‘Very well, if you insist.’

Serena steeled her resolve. She remembered the stories of civilians and pirates had given her. True, consistent accounts of the atrocities the Navy had committed under the evil ambition of Akaba Leo. She would avenge them. It was her duty to restore order and enforce justice. She would no longer be part of a system that desecrates the very morals she had brought into her life; even if it meant becoming lawless for it was better to be lawless than without moral.

Yuri surged forth first. His slashes were precise and deadly. But he had sparred Serena many times. She knew his pattern. He knew hers. She parried his blade and ducked beneath it; surprising him with an uppercut.

He stumbled backwards. He thought he knew her patterns.

Serena spun on her heel and this time landed a strike with her blade. She swept in for a kick and got him across his ribs. He held onto himself and sputtered. Spittle flecked his mouth. He glared at her.

‘You lowly, conniving, bitch!’ he cursed.

He charged forth. He was lost in rage. He raised his blade high and it cut on sunlight. It glinted. With a harsh strike, he ravaged what was beneath which happened to be Serena’s shoulder. His cutlass slid through her surgically but left much destruction. Serena howled in pain as fabric and skin tore. Blood spurted. Yuri relished it.

‘That’s what you get for using dirty tactics.’ he snarled. He looked down on Serena as she collapsed.

She numbly clamped her hand over her injury. Blood stained her hands.

‘You bastard! I won’t forgive you!’ Serena yelled.

‘Please, you won’t get the time in Hell, traitor.’ Yuri replied; his voice was low.

He propped up Serena’s chin with his bloodied cutlass. He smiled. He savoured the terror that shaped Serena’s faces; the way her lips quivered and her arms shook. The way her eyes widened before him like he was some destructive force of nature.

‘I believe you may want to reconsider that.’

A new, cold voice descended on the pair of them. Yuri straightened up; he felt his back brush against the mouth of a gun.

‘Akaba Reiji… I’d know that voice anywhere. The prodigal son returns.’ Yuri drawled playfully. He sighed, shrugged.

‘You leave my crewman alone or else you’ll be the one in Hell.’ Reiji warned. He took his revolver off safety.

Yuri sneered. ‘When one falls, one falls far.’

‘I am proud to call myself the latest recruit!’ Serena yelled.

She pulled herself to her feet even though she was in shambles. Her grip on her cutlass was loose but it would not take much feat to slash open Yuri’s smug little face. She threw back her sword-arm and lashed forth. Her blade ate into the side of Yuri’s face. He screamed and screamed. Reiji pulled back; readjusted his glasses then called out to the remainder of the crew.

Yuzu came back first. She plodded along in rags and smiles.

‘What on Earth…?’ she howled.

‘You can take care of Serena, as our resident medic. I need to attend to the others. Are they well?’ Reiji asked.

‘Y-Yeah, you can count on me, Reiji. They’re alive. Don’t you worry.’

‘Good. We can’t risk losing numbers. Not when our mission is becoming so critical.’ Reiji continued and he strode off. He readjusted the safety of his revolver and strapped it to his thigh.

Yuzu crept forward. Serena scrambled to her weak legs once more. She was puffed up and proud like the cat that got the cream.

‘Well aren’t you a sight for sore eyes, sweetness?’ flirted Serena.

She had to be delirious.

Yuzu swallowed at the sight of blood. Not just Serena’s, she suspected as she saw the other body – Fleet Captain Yuri’s – twitch as he tried to keep his face whole rather than like the pages of a flayed book.

Yuzu swung her brown bag around from off her back. She riffled through it and Serena trudged towards her.

‘You don’t have to be strong for me, Serena. I’m the doctor.’ Yuzu tittered.

‘I just want to get away from that motherfucker before he decides we can keep going pound for pound of flesh.’ Serena laughed through her agony.

She powered onwards. Yuzu scampered behind her. Together, the women collapsed outside the Captain’s Quarters of this naval ship. They would be safe here. The remainders of the crew had subjugated the rest of the team Fleet Captain Yuri had brought on his personal ship, Starve Venom. Further down the deck, they heard Yugo teasing the marine grunts they had captured. That had to be a good sign; or a beg for disaster. They could hear Reiji counting heads and making orders; no doubt telling Yuto and Shun to ransack the Marine’s supplies.

‘C’mon, Serena, let me have a look.’ Yuzu cooed.

Serena hesitantly let go of her wound. It was deep and Yuzu sighed.

‘You just had to piss him off, didn’t you?’

‘Fuck yeah I did!’ Serena boasted. She reverted back to her usual self before being consumed by the pain. She groaned as she brought her arms back to her side stiffly; her eyes wide and teeth gritted.

‘Don’t move your arms!’ Yuzu scolded.

It took five or so minutes but soon, Serena was back in working order or somewhere close. She was hopped up on pain killers, a little bit of opium, and a fair few windings of bandages. She’d be good to fight soon again, or at least until Yuzu can get Serena onto her medical table where she can get proper attention.

Serena’s eyes were dreamy which was definitely the result of pain killers. ‘Thanks, sweetness.’ She smiled smugly. ‘C’mon, lemme give you a little bit of sugar.’

‘I also accept dessert.’ Yuzu teased.

She flushed a little bit when Serena pecked her cheek.

‘I’d literally kill ten thousand people for you.’ Serena said in a serious, gravelly voice. Serena clasped onto Yuzu’s hands for maximum effect. Their gaze held for an unusually long time.

‘I am well aware.’ Yuzu replied.

‘I literally love you. I’m glad we met. I’m glad I’m one of the Lancer Pirates.’ Serena continued.

‘You are literally high right now.’

‘Fuck yeah I am. Being around you puts me on cloud nine.’ Serena flirted.

‘We’ll see.’ Yuzu replied cynically.

From further down the deck, people started to yell at them. Things were getting too cushy between them; they were risking Yuri’s revival at this point and a resurrected Yuri would be demon spawn to deal with so it was time for the Lancer Pirates to make their great and theatrical escapes. Like they always did. They had become known for it at this point.

Yuzu shouted back at her comrades who jeered at her in good nature back. She got up. She flattened her skirt and Serena copied; brushing her hands over her brown-red, once white, trousers. Serena hooked her good arm over Yuzu.

‘Carry me.’ Serena whined.

‘I will, I will. I’d never expect my most critically injured patient to walk herself to our ship.’ Yuzu replied soothingly.

Together they plodded off. They regrouped and everyone was there. Serena smiled and laughed. It was bizarre to see her like that; the smell of pain killers on her solved that mystery. Yuya hefted up Serena from the other side and Mieru fluffed around them, making sure that Serena’s chakras or whatnot were aligned for optimal recovery. She also couldn’t let them risk straining Serena’s legs or sides as they carried her so poorly.

Once more, the Lancer Pirates – a odd motley crew of misfits and never-do-wells – set off on their next voyage; to their next battle be it between themselves over who got seconds or between a shopkeeper and got away with pickpocketing or between themselves and their true enemies. It was a mystery. It was an adventure.

The strong, salty breeze of the distant oceans picked up. Their sails puffed outwards and proudly bore their emblem; the horseback skeleton knight armed with a lance. It felt good to be back.

It had been two weeks since the skirmish on Starve Venom. On their ship, two weeks may as well have been a different life in between the violence and domesticity. Serena had been summoned to Yuzu’s office two hours ago. She swung her legs idly; wondered when she would be permitted to leave. It seemed soon though. Yuzu smiled as she put away her things.

‘So, what’s the verdict, sweetness?’ Serena asked.

‘Here, you deserve it. Don’t tell Sora I stole it though.’ Yuzu said. ‘All good patients get a lollipop from their doctors after a check-up. At least from the city I’m from anyway. They might do it differently in Academia.’

‘They most certainly do.’ Serena replied with a shiver.

She accepted the lollipop. She tore off the plastic and lobbed it at the nearby bin. She popped it in her mouth and was accosted by the intense raspberry tang that burst on her tongue. She cringed. How did Sora eat these?

Yuzu, noting Serena’s expression, shrugged. She guessed what Serena was thinking.

‘We never said he was a good confectioner.’ Yuzu joked. ‘Well… You’re all good to go. For now, if you get into another fight with that prick Yuri, you might end up with a permanently fucked up shoulder. Assuming you live to tell the tale; which I trust you would. But still, be careful. He’s out for blood now, no doubt. You’ve probably left him with a very nasty scar and for a vain man like that, well, that’s a crime punishable by a thousand deaths.’

Yuzu rambled. Serena smiled. She liked to listen to Yuzu’s voice.

‘Do you remember?’ Serena asked, abruptly interrupting Serena who had moved onto lecturing her on the importance of keeping flexible.

‘Remember what?’ Yuzu asked; happily skipping to Serena’s jump of conversation.

‘What I told you after you dosed me with opium?’

‘That you loved me?’ Yuzu replied, simply. ‘It’s fine. Everyone gets high differently. You become a sap, it’s fine. It’s the same for Shun.’

‘I’m glad you remember though.’ Serena said. She stopped swinging her legs and her eyes brightened; became mischievous. She hopped down from Yuzu’s cold, tall bed that she used for general check-ups.

Serena prowled around Yuzu before pouncing on her with a hug. ‘I’m very glad. Because I meant it, sweetness. I really am glad to have met you. To have fallen in love with you.’

‘Oh.’ Yuzu gasped.

Serena pecked Yuzu’s lips. She held onto Yuzu’s shoulder and made a point to remember this moment: what was around them, how it felt, and what it meant. She remembered the Yuzu’s lips were reminiscent of her the fruity, rosy balms she used. She remembered the chill of the office and where the placement of Yuzu’s things were; not just what Reiji had given her so his medical suite could be functional.

‘Now, it’s poker night with the boys.’ Serena continued. ‘It’s time to have a little fun.’

Yuzu placed her hand over Serena’s. ‘Have fun.’

Serena took a breath. This was her life now. And she couldn’t be happier. She was surrounded by love and by friends. She had good food and good laughs. She could want for nothing on this stingy ship. And best of all?

Every day was a new adventure and she couldn’t lap it up enough.

‘Fuck yeah, I will.’

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star-trekkin-across-theuniverse · 7 years

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@outside-the-government - Welcome to the fandom! I absolutely ADORE your fic about Leonard rescuing the reader from a crippled starbase. Your writing is incredible! I'm so excited to get to see more from you. I hope I'm one of the lucky ones in your contest, too! I'd love to see a fic featuring Bones and the reader inspired by the quote "only the wounded healer can heal." :)

Word Count: 3361 (WTF?!) Author’s Note: This totally got away from me. I hope you can see the connection to your requested quote - it feels a little tenuous, but it really is there...

You drew in a deep breath before stepping into Medbay. You’d just transferred over from Yorktown, and you were nervous. Doctor McCoy, the CMO, was the most frightening son of a bitch you’d ever had the misfortune to lay eyes on. Everything about him terrified you, from his intense stare to the way he quirked his eyebrow, like everyone in the room was an idiot. You’d only encountered him the one time before, but you weren’t likely to forget it. At least you’d won that battle...

One year prior…

“What the hell kind of sad excuse of a Med Clinic is this?” You heard him muttering under his breath as he looked around, holding a makeshift dressing against his friend’s head. The tall man was easily identifiable as a doctor, even without the telltale Science Blue top. His attitude alone was enough to make you want to choke. The truth of the matter was, it was an exceptional Med Clinic. The best on Yorktown, and second in stats only to the MedBay on the Enterprise. So the condemnation made your hackles rise.

“What seems to be the issue, gentlemen?” You asked as you approached the pair. The doctor was scowling. His friend, a definite hotty in Command Gold, was squinting through a sizeable lump forming around his eye. He had blood seeping from under the compress, and his nose was bleeding. As a quick assessment, you’d guess bar fight.

“The man’s bleeding!” The doctor barked. “Can’t you see that?”

You glanced at the rank stripes around the wrist of the gold uniform and quirked an eyebrow. “Given that you both reek of cheap bourbon, I’m going to suggest that whatever your Captain said, he probably should have been listening instead of talking,” you commented. “Have him take a seat on the biobed on your left, Doctor. Someone will be with you both shortly.”

The doctor assisted his friend over to the biobed and made to assess him. With a few taps on your PADD, you shut the assessment scanner and tricorder functions down. His attitude rubbed you the wrong way, and you weren’t going to have some shore leave asshole violate the sanctity of your Med Clinic. “The damn bed isn’t functional!” He growled, turning around to look for you. You nodded from the desk.

“That is an apt deduction, Doctor. And as I said. Someone will be with you shortly,” you retorted. You sat down to finish charting on the patient you’d just discharged. The captain wasn’t in any imminent danger, and his friend would do well to cool his heels for a bit. You could hear him muttering like an angry muppet from across the clinic, and then he fell silent. Through your lashes, without moving your head, you glanced up and saw him headed your way. You dropped your eyes back to your PADD and continued your charting.

“Now, listen here,” he started. You bit your tongue and fought not to respond. “A quick glance around this place tells me there’s nothing emergent happening. You can damn well page a doctor to deal with my friend. He is the captain -”

“That is exactly my point as well, Doctor, I’m glad you see it my way. There is nothing emergent going on in this clinic. Including your friend. I don’t care if he’s the Admiral of the fucking starbase, he can wait just like every other patient in the clinic,” you interrupted. The doctor’s jaw clenched and his lip curled.

“Where’s your clinic lead, sweetheart? I’d like to have a few words,” he growled, his tone as low and threatening as any you’d ever heard. You raised an eyebrow and rose to your feet, pulling the lab coat you wore over your uniform off. For good measure, you pulled down your sleeves, snapping them neatly as you did so, which drew the doctor’s attention to your wrists.

“Doctor Y/N Y/L/N. I’m afraid Doctor Janzen is off-duty. Bad case of Denobulan Flu. Maybe I can help. I’m the assistant director of medical care for Starbase Yorktown,” you offered. “And you are?”

He blanched. “Doctor Leonard McCoy. Enterprise.”

“Oh!” You laughed. “So this must be the famous Jim Kirk! Of course we should all bow and scrape and jump into service.” You rolled your eyes, but having nothing better to do, headed over to see to Captain Kirk.

“Hi. How can I help you? Usually new crew report to Commander Spock,” the nurse offered as she approached you. You smiled in resignation.

“I, however, am reporting to Doctor McCoy,” you sighed. She smiled and shook her head.

“Don’t worry. Everyone thinks Bones is a bear but he’s the sweetest man alive,” she reassured you. “Of course, I never said that.”

“Oh, this is a bear I’ve tangled with before,” you laughed in response. “I’m a little concerned he’ll remember.”

“Y/L/N! It’s about damn time!” You heard the familiar bark from the office at the back of the MedBay. “Report for duty!”

You made your way back to the office and stepped inside the door, spine rigid with nervousness. You held out the PADD with your reassignment orders. “Doctor McCoy, I think you’ll find my orders to -”

“I requested you, you know,” he interrupted, snatching the PADD from your hand and signing off on the transfer orders. “After the shit I went through thanks to your report, when I saw your demotion on record, I decided I just had to have you here. Says in your personnel file you’re a little light on emergency experience. You’ll be running away teams for the next few weeks.”

“However you see fit to utilize my abilities, Doctor McCoy,” you replied. You weren’t about to offer that you’d taken a voluntary demotion in order to get away from Yorktown after the messy separation from your ex. It was kind of difficult to get away from someone when they were also your boss. You’d made the classic mistake of falling in love with your commanding officer. By accepting the position on the Enterprise, you were guaranteeing you wouldn’t make the same mistake a second time. And make no mistake, you accepted the position on the Enterprise. Starfleet Command owed you right of first refusal on your new posting.

“Go ahead and get settled in your quarters,” he ordered. “And be back bright and early for Alpha.”

The man hated you, you realized. You’d realized it the moment you stepped into his MedBay, but it became more and more apparent with every away team assignment. The operations department crew all seemed to live by the idea that even the safest planets should result in mass casualties. No one could fault your triage skills, and even McCoy wasn’t complaining about how weighed down with supplies you were when you left on away missions. Even by his standards, it seemed, things were getting ridiculous. But this time was worse. This time you returned alone save one heavily injured ensign. Scotty had teleported you while you did compressions, trying to save the kid. He wasn’t much older than your nephew. You didn’t realize you’d appeared on the transport pad, and you absolutely didn’t hear when McCoy ordered you to be relieved. You didn’t notice until another pair of strong, confident hands laid over yours. You looked up, and met McCoy’s hazel eyes with your own.

“Y/L/N, you’re relieved,” he murmured. It might have been the first gentle thing you’d ever heard him say. You pulled your hands back and allowed him to continue resuscitating the kid, adding hypos on his orders. He finally pulled back and shook his head. “Someone mark the time for me.”

You felt your eyes fill with tears and blinked, face flushing in embarrassment. The ensign wasn’t the first patient you’d lost. You knew he wouldn’t be the last. But the past weeks had been so frustrating, and you felt like you had more in the loss column than in the wins. Without waiting to be dismissed, you pushed yourself to your feet and started off the transport pad. You dropped the empty hypo in your hand as you walked down the steps, unwilling to make eye contact with anyone lest you break and begin to sob.

Once in your quarters, you dropped onto your bed and just lay there, staring at the ceiling, numb to the reality that you were caked in grime, filth and blood. With the ensign’s death, it made you the only survivor of the ambush and you’d got away relatively unscathed. Which meant every single one of them had died to protect you. It was almost too much. You rolled to the side of the bed and dragged yourself to the shower, picking your dress away from your skin, the sound of wet release slurping and snapping as you tugged. You dropped the uniform directly into the garbage, and let your bra and underwear drop into the can as well. The shower was the perfect temperature, and you stood under the hot spray, willing the water pressure to blast away the last of the grime. You didn’t realize you were light-headed until you swayed into the wall, and the last thing you recalled was reaching for your comm in confusion.

The steady beep of the heart monitor was the only noise you heard. You opened your eyes and looked around, surprised to find yourself in a seclusion room in MedBay. You squinted against the harsh light and rubbed your eyes, yawning, and then stretching before rolling onto your side. There was a pinch at your hip and you eased yourself down onto your back again, grimacing.

“Sleeping beauty,” McCoy commented as he walked in the room. “Deigned to rejoin the land of the living?”

“What happened?” You mouth was dry, making your voice raspy and quiet.

“In the chaos of the firefight, your adrenal response kicked in and refused to acknowledge you’d been wounded. You -”

“No,” you interrupted. “I never felt anything. I was too busy trying to save someone. Anyone.”

“I wouldn’t normally recommend challenging death by using the Hippocratic Oath, but it seems to have served you well in this particular instance, Y/L/N.” The smile he gave you changed his entire countenance, and for the first time since you’d met, he looked on you with affection reflected in his warm hazel eyes. You looked away and took a deep breath, taking in the private bay you’d been tucked into. There was bouquet of flowers made of surgical tape attached to tongue depressors in a disposable urinal on your bedside table. You looked back to Doctor McCoy, a question in your eyes.

“That’d be Chapel. She misses you,” he offered. You looked down at your hands. Your nails were jagged.

“How long have I been -”

“Little less than a week. It’s hard work rebuilding the liver. I felt it better to keep you sedated.” He was speaking so gently you nearly didn’t recognize him.

“So my liver?”

“The phaser shot cooked the right lobe, gallbladder, common bile duct. M’Benga excised the damaged portions and then put you under regeneration. You no longer have your gallbladder though,” he nodded.

“And I’ll be back to work?”

“If you can get up today and go for a short walk, I’ll see about light duties in three or four.” He was tapping away on his PADD as he answered, and you knew he was working out a return to work schedule. “Yeah, that should work. I’m going to keep you on Alpha. As your attending, I want to be able to keep an eye on you. Light duties, four hours or less a day for a week, then we’ll reassess.”

“Okay.” You struggled to push yourself up in the bed, and without a word, he rose and slipped an arm under your armpit and boosted you. “Thanks.”

“Get some rest. I’ll have some clear fluids brought it. If you tolerate that, we’ll move to something more substantial.” He tucked his PADD under his arm and left the room.

You’d been back on your feet for a few days, and even the short shifts McCoy had given you were exhausting you. You were determined not to show how spent you were as you left MedBay. You didn’t want him cutting you back or worse, putting you back on rest. You stepped out into the hall, and waited until the doors slid shut behind you before slumping against a wall to catch your breath. In that moment of weakness, Jim came around the corner. Unlike McCoy, Jim had never held your previous encounter against you, and thought you were a great addition to the medical staff. Even when McCoy was dressing you down, Jim was arguing on your behalf.

“You look worn out, Y/N. Still not quite there?” He asked, linking his elbow with yours and starting your toward your quarters.

“Please don’t tell McCoy,” you asked. “I’m sure he’s just looking for a reason to dump me on the nearest Starbase for disability leave.”

“Why do you say that?” Jim’s eyebrow quirk was nowhere near as intimidating as McCoy’s, but it was still enough to make you uncomfortable.

“He hates me, Jim. He’s made it clear a million -”

“Bones doesn’t hate you,” Jim interrupted. “He finds you maddening. Probably because you dare to stand up to him when he’s ranting. No one’s really ever done that. I mean, except me.”

“I don’t know, Jim. He’s never given me any reason to think he feels anything other than contempt -”

“Give him a chance. He made a snap decision about you a long time ago that I’m sure he regrets now,” Jim broke in again as he turned you toward your door. “Trust me, Y/N. He’s my best friend. I think I know him better than you. Now get some rest. I’ll keep quiet until I get worried.”

“Thanks, Jim,” you nodded, and stepped into your room. You dropped to your bed and took a long nap.

“Y/N! Big plans for shore leave?” McCoy asked as you came on duty. You’d finally made it back to full shifts right as the captain announced a short shore leave on Yorktown. You’d immediately volunteered for the watch, desperately wanting to avoid an encounter with the ex. You’d had to admit to Jim exactly why you wanted to sacrifice leave when you were finally well enough to enjoy it, but once he’d heard your reasons, he’d approved the request.

“I’m on watch,” you admitted. You moved toward the replicator.

“There’s a coffee waiting at your desk,” McCoy offered. You stopped, glanced at him in question, and redirected yourself toward the large cup. There was still steam coming off it.

“Who do I need to thank?” You asked.

“You’re welcome,” he offered.

“Why, Doctor McCoy, I think you might have gone soft,” you dared to tease. He smirked.

“Next time I’ll lace it with cascara,” he retorted. “Now tell me, why are you on watch. Jim usually reserves that for crew that have performance concerns. I didn’t submit any concerns.”

“It was a personal request, Doctor McCoy,” you admitted, giving him a look that made it clear you didn’t want to discuss it.

“You know, Y/N, my first name is Leonard. You’re welcome to use it,” he shrugged.

“I’ll take my cues from you, Leonard.” It was the first time he’d ever used your first name.

You were perched on the edge of a table, watching the stars, sipping a glass of bourbon. It was the second night of shore leave and already you were bored to tears and counting the hours to leave being over. The doors slid open, startling you. “I thought you might be lonely. I brought a deck of cards.” It was Leonard.

“Cards?”

“You can play poker?” He asked. “I’m not a big chess fan, and it’s pretty much the only other game on the ship.”

“I can play poker,” you nodded. “Why aren’t you on the base having fun?”

“I had my fun last night. I’m a little behind on some reporting, and figured I’d get an early start on it in the morning,” he shrugged. “You got another one of those?” He nodded toward the glass in your hand. You smiled and nodded.

“Yeah, back in my room. Come on.” You started toward your quarters, and glanced back to see him following, a bemused look on his face.

He was a much better poker player than you were, but he was also a good sport, and kept your spirits up as he trounced you. You couldn’t remember the last time you’d laughed so hard. Emboldened by the drink and the pleasant company, you smiled at him.

“Why the nickname?” You asked.

“What, Bones? That’s all Jim’s doing,” he replied, draining his glass before refilling it. “You can’t drink this all, you’re on duty.”

“I can drink that all, my liver is still recovering,” you countered. “So what’s the story? Why’d he give it to you?”

“We met on the shuttle to the Academy. My wife - my ex-wife - had just cleaned me out in the divorce. I said something about having nothing left but my bones. It stuck,” Leonard admitted. You smiled.

“I know that feeling,” you admitted.

“Pretty thing like you? You’ve never known a day of heartbreak, I bet,” he scoffed. You raised an eyebrow, enjoyed how pronounced his accent got when he was relaxed.

“Remember how excited you were that I’d been demoted?” You asked. He nodded. “Yeah, that was a voluntary demotion to get me out of my assignment. I couldn’t bear to have to work beside him every day.” He sat up and studied your face.

“Not sure what’s worse,” he commented. “Losing an entire planet or losing career trajectory.”

“I’d rather be doing what I’m doing here on the Enterprise,” you admitted. “I like the crew, I like the work. I was a trauma doc before I took the post on Yorktown. This is more my wheelhouse.”

“I can’t imagine not wanting to look across a MedBay at you,” he blurted. You locked gazes with him.

“What?” You flinched, thinking you must have misunderstood him.

“I didn’t realize how much I’d come to depend on your expertise until you nearly died on me,” he quickly covered.

“But you hate me,” you countered, remembering your conversation with Jim.

“You aggravate me because your level of competence is equal to my own. You infuriate me because you question my every decision. The calm way you approach every emergency makes my anxiety explode and I want to shake some sense into you when you act like you aren’t putting your life at risk every time you casually don’t even notice you’ve been injured on an away mission.” The admission poured out of him in a rush. “But I don’t hate you.”

“What?” You were so surprised, you nearly dropped your glass.

“Why do you think M’Benga did the surgery to repair your liver?” He asked, throwing his hands up in frustration. “I couldn’t hold a laser scalpel still enough. I would have carved you up like Jack the Ripper.”

“I don’t underst-”

“I don’t either, but damnit woman, I thought I was dying when I found you bleeding out in your shower,” he interrupted, pushing away from the table. He stood up and turned away from you, running a hand through his hair. And suddenly you realized what he was saying. He turned back to you, and he looked so vulnerable that your heart tightened. “I’m sure I’ve destroyed any chance of -”

You got to your feet and wrapped your arms around his waist, leaning against him. You drank in the scent of him, that had become so familiar over the past months. Bourbon, antiseptic, cinnamon and some unidentifiable scent that was just McCoy. “This could be a huge mistake,” you murmured against his uniform as his arms dropped around you and pulled him just that touch closer.

“I’m sure it is a huge one,” he chuckled. “But it feels okay right now.”

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