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Leonard had to glance between his communicator and the address on the building several times to assure himself he was at the location Boyce told him about. The outside looked, well, unkempt. Like a dive bar’s dive bar type of unkempt. Supposedly this was the best whisky bar in town, and Boyce assured him that not only would he find good drinks, but he’d also find himself with good company, but this? This looked about as high class as his life was.
It had been a year and a half since he first stepped on that shuttle in Riverside and headed to the academy, and he was still fighting a hefty legal battle over the custody of his daughter. Mixing frequent cross country trips, when he already hated flying, with classes—which were tedious as all hell—and surgeries, it didn’t leave much of a chance to relax.
Boyce, who was the head of the medical side of the academy and his advisor, threatened to suspend him from rotations if he didn’t take the entirety of winter break to relax. His threat was not without reward, however. Boyce promised him a full bottle of a twenty year old Scotch whiskey, to be enjoyed throughout the break at this specific bar, and that was a hell of an incentive.
Biting the bullet, Leonard opened up the door, walked into an equally unkempt hallway, and followed the signs pointing up the stairs to another door. When he walked through this door, however, it became clear that this was the complete opposite of a dive bar’s dive bar. Leonard felt immediately underdressed, but looked around to see a variety of people, mostly men, clad in anything from jeans and a tee to an officer’s uniform.
One man at the bar, who was dressed like he was—jeans, a button-up part way unbuttoned, and a leather jacket—caught Leonard’s eye. Well, he was headed that way anyway so having eye candy nearby worked out nicely. He probably wouldn’t say anything, but he could at least sneak a few glances now and again. Whiskey with a view was also nicer than whiskey without one, after all.
Leonard did his best not to check him out so soon after scanning and once he got to the bar, with one stool between them, he made a show of taking off his coat and leaning over to place it on the hook that was tucked under the bar top. Then he stretched—just in case a certain someone was watching—and sat down. He knew he was good looking, his ex didn’t ruin that part of his self esteem. Just… everything else, really.
“You’re a new face,” the bartender said casually while wiping the top down for Leonard. “What’s your poison?”
“I have a bottle under the name McCoy,” Leonard said. “Two fingers, with stones if you have ‘em, with ice if you don’t.” The bartender nodded and went to get his order. Using this as an opportunity to spin to face the open room, Leonard turned the chair toward the stranger—only to find him one seat closer. His foot slipped off the rung and he nearly slid off the seat in surprise. Of course this handsome stranger saw it all.
“You know you didn’t have to put on a show to get my attention, McCoy, though I appreciated it.” The stranger’s tone was playful, but it held an edge that Leonard couldn’t quite pin down. The confidence, though, that was something else. It wasn’t like Jim’s brash and untested confidence that was mostly arrogance, this was a different level. He spoke and Leonard wanted to listen. “You alright there?”
Leonard cursed again when he realized he was staring, probably with his mouth open, and not responding. To be fair, this man was incredibly good looking in addition to having a voice that made Leonard’s stomach twirl. Dark brown hair with distinguished streaks of gray at the temples, painfully blue eyes, and just the right amount of weathering on his face. This was a man . Who just lifted an eyebrow at him. “Sorry, I, ah, they don’t make men like you where I’m from, I’m a little thrown off.”
The stranger chuckled and turned fully toward Leonard. “Oh? Now I’m curious to know where you’re from and how they make their men.”
“Georgia, though I spent a fair number of years at Ole Miss.” The bartender set the drink down in front of Leonard, which he turned toward before glancing over to the stranger’s glass that was a half sip away from empty. “Want a refill?” He nodded and the bartender was on it without Leonard even asking.
“So how do they make men in Georgia and Mississippi?” the stranger asked as he leaned closer to Leonard.
Leonard felt his cheeks heat as those piercing blue eyes shot through him, as if they could see everything about him. “Passive. Everything is a game of show, like I did. They don’t… It’s never… I’ve never…”
“Ah, would you prefer the more subtle approach?” The stranger backed away and turned toward the bar as the bartender came back with another glass.
“Well I might not look like a bumbling idiot if we both played passively.” Leonard laughed wryly and took a sip of his whiskey, holding it on his tongue while he let the flavors wash over him. He whistled in admiration after he finally swallowed. “Haven’t had a whiskey this smooth since I graduated.”
“Which bottle is that?”
“All I know, and all I need to know, is that it’s a twenty year old Scotch whiskey.” Leonard held the glass up toward the lights and twirled it to see the fine caramel coloring.
“Would you like to try fifty?” the stranger asked slyly, still facing toward the bar and not directly at Leonard.
“There is no way you’re fifty,” Leonard deadpanned.
“I meant the Scotch, but thank you.”
Leonard hid behind his whiskey glass for a second before taking a larger sip of it. “Sorry, I’m new at this. Feel like a newborn colt learnin’ to walk.” The last part was mumbled, but he knew that it wouldn’t go unnoticed.
The stranger chuckled and turned toward Leonard again, though his eyes were less intent this time. “Your accent slipped out a bit on that one.” He took a sip of his drink. “I like it.”
Leonard’s mouth went dry so he wet it with another sip. He cleared his throat and turned his stool to face the other man. Time to put his big boy pants on. “Before I forget my manners again, I’d like to introduce myself properly.” He stuck out his hand. “Dr. Leonard McCoy.”
Those blue eyes flicked down to Leonard’s hand before he met it with his own in a firm grip. “Pike, Christopher Pike. You can call me Chris.” Stranger no more, although Leonard had a nagging feeling that he’d heard the name before. “So you’re a doctor, eh? On call?”
Leonard nodded. “Kinda. I’m the backup’s backup an’ that’s why I can’t take you up on your offer. Can’t have more than I can burn off in an hour.”
“That’s a pity, though that gives me a great excuse to invite you out again when you’re not on call.”
Leonard nearly spit out the sip he just took, and Chris probably planned it. He swallowed and swiped his lips with his thumb before licking it idly and drying it off on the napkin. That was, apparently, provocative without intent based on how Chris’s eyes dilated and his lips parted. Leonard felt a blush rise over his cheeks and he looked away shyly. “Sure you don’t want to find out where this night goes first?”
Chris smirked and leaned forward to casually brush his hand over Leonard’s. “Oh, I think this night is going quite well.”
“I wasn’t kidding when I said I’ve never done this before,” Leonard blurted out. “I married my high school sweetheart an’ we divorced a year and a half ago. This is, uh, the first time I’ve been out with intentions.”
“Divorce is rough, it took me three years to get out again. I’m actually quite impressed that you made it out in one,” Chris said as he gave another appraising look.
They commiserated over the hardships of divorce while they slowly sipped their drinks. It was good that they had stones instead of ice, because otherwise they’d be drinking watery whiskey with how much they were talking. When the drinks were finished, Leonard switched to a Shirley Temple and Chris ordered a Jack and coke. They talked everything from their relationships—Chris thought it was especially amusing that Joss ended up with Leonard’s first and only boyfriend, the same boy she stole Leonard from in high school—and the pressures of their jobs, though it was two hours of talking before Leonard realized he didn’t actually know what Chris did.
“So what do you do? ‘Scuze my manners for not asking you before, that was rude of me.” Leonard scratched at his chin, which was already starting to grow some whiskers. He knew he could take the beard suppressors, but he hated interfering with nature when he had a perfectly good straight razor at home.
“Right now I’m just a glorified paper pusher, but in two and a half years?” Chris looked up toward the ceiling to his right and lifted a glass. “I finally get my ship. The prettiest, fastest, best one in the ‘fleet.”
“Holy shit you’re a captain! You’re Captain Pike!” Leonard’s jaw dropped and he knew he was staring but he couldn’t help it.
Chris just leaned back—as prideful as Jim would, only he actually pulled it off—and held his hands up. “You got me.”
Leonard laughed and lifted his Shirley Temple, “To the Enterprise, then.” Chris joined in the toast and they resumed their friendly banter. Well, the banter was friendly, but their bodies were moving closer with each volley and eventually Chris’s hand found Leonard’s knee and then his hip, and then they were finding a cab together. They held hands the entire way, being respectful of the driver, and it wasn’t until they were walking up to Chris’s beautiful house that they spoke again. Which was mostly just Leonard panicking.
“Hey, hey, it’s OK, Len. It’s OK,” Chris said calmly. He talked to Leonard like he was a spooked horse and it caught him off guard, which ultimately did the job nicely. “Let’s just be dumb teenagers tonight. Put some music on, makeout on the couch with our clothes on. Only neither of our parents are here to interrupt us.” He said that last part with a leer that had Leonard grinning, too.
They did exactly what Chris said. Leonard was pinned underneath and they were dry humping each other while playing tonsil hockey to some classic rock that predated both of them. While their shirts eventually found the floor, Leonard had no intention of removing anything below the belt and Chris made no moves to venture down south more than hiking Leonard's leg up now and again. Unfortunately, it’d been so long since he’d last had sex, and probably…he couldn’t even remember how long since he last masturbated, that he really was about to pull a teenage stunt.
“Shit, Chris, stop, for a sec, please.” Chris stopped and moved back to leave space for Jesus and Leonard tipped his head back in order to catch his breath and steady his body. Chris took that as an invitation and started nibbling and sucking at Leonard's neck and throat, earning a hearty groan. And then he heard his communicator buzzing from his jacket on the floor and he groaned for an entirely different reason. “Of-fuckin’-course they’d call me in.”
Chris kissed along Leonard’s collarbone. “How do you know it’s the hospital?”
“Muted all non-hospital, non-lawyer communications before I got to the bar.” Leonard reluctantly tapped out and gave Chris one more kiss before awkwardly readjusting himself and walking over to grab his communicator. His jeans were uncomfortable and he hoped he had at least ten minutes for an ice cold shower before he had to go. “Holy shit.” Leonard’s eyebrow shot up and he scrolled through the message again to make sure he read it correctly. “Hot damn!”
“Care to explain, Len?” Chris asked from the couch, still mostly leaning over where Leonard was just sitting.
“I finally get to implement some of the techniques I devised in my doctoral thesis! Others have used it, but I’ve never gotten the chance—til now!” Leonard was grinning ear to ear and it took him a second to remember that this was a life on the other end with the potential for serious brain damage from a catastrophic incident in—oh shit, he was going to space. And it looked like that wasn’t the only patient he’d be getting. His smile turned to a frown and he could feel his brows scrunching. “Sorry, I gotta go, like, twenty minutes ago.”
“I have a private transport pad if you’d like to use it,” Chris offered.
“Those things freak me out but it’d be helpful, I need to get to the port. They’re shippin’ me off for a bit, I probably shouldn’t have said what I said so please forget about it.” Leonard worried about breaching protocol, he’d never been in this wide of a network before and this was the first major medical emergency he’d faced. He knew the basic laws, but he was still learning Starfleet’s. This emergency was probably a higher level clearance than he’d ever seen before, and will likely not see again for a long time. Sure, Chris was a captain, but…
“Len, let’s get your things and get you on the transport. I have clearance for pretty much everything captain and lower, so you’re fine.” Chris put his hands on Leonard’s shoulders and straightened him up, giving him another once over. “Go be a hot doctor and give me a chime when you’re back, we’ll get that 50 year. Hell, give me a chime and beam right back here and we can continue where we left off. Either way, I want to see you again.”
“Yeah, yeah I want to see you again, too.” Leonard gave a lopsided smile before reaching out to grab Chris’s face and smash their lips together one last time. “Been the best night in a long time, thank you.” But that’s all they had time for because Chris was practically dragging him over to the transporter and once Leonard had his jacket held awkwardly in front of his dying boner, he was in the transport bay and ushered to a shuttle. He was given scrubs, a hypo of stimulants, and a PADD full of gruesome detail of what appeared to be the aftermath of an accident in engineering that the captain—his primary patient—was a part of.
Leonard worked for thirty-eight hours straight and didn’t lose a single patient.