Chapter Text
“We called her Kaylee, but we didn't know why,” Bones said, laughing with Jim at the memory.
The command crew was in Jim’s quarters, celebrating the second anniversary of his official captaincy. Jim was on the loveseat with Bones, leaning heavily into his best friend. Although Jim had barely had anything to drink, his happiness was unbridled. It came not from alcohol but from the company and the love they so freely provided.
Except Spock. He didn’t appear to openly disapprove of the celebration but neither was he unbending enough to be a part of it.
“Well,” Bones had said a few minutes earlier. “Don’t let his Vulcan stoicism rain on your parade.”
“Yeah,” Jim agreed, helping Bones bring the drinks out from Jim’s tiny kitchen.
“What was her real name?” Pavel asked. He was sitting on the floor in front of Hiraku’s chair, leaning back on his shins. They looked cozy and comfortable in their own company and that of the rest of the command crew.
“Mehetabell,” Jim said with a laugh.
“No wonder she went by Kaylee,” Nyota agreed with a smile as she elegantly sipped her hot chocolate. But then no one had ever seen her do anything that wasn’t elegant.
“But where did Kaylee come from?” Scotty asked. “That makes no sense.”
“Who knows?” Bones said.
“Jim, didn’t you sleep with her?” Hikaru asked with an inappropriate wink that no one minded.
Jim shrugged, returning Sulu’s wink.
“There can be no doubt that he made inappropriate advances toward her,” Spock said, finally breaking his silence. No one was certain if he was kidding in his own way or if he was really reprimanding Jim for something he may have done before Spock knew him.
“Advances aren’t inappropriate when they are reciprocated,” Nyota responded with a surprising amount of sass.
Jim shrugged that off, taking Bones’ hot chocolate to sip from it.
“Where is she now?” Pavel asked.
“Gaila said she’s on one of the deep space stations,” Uhura said, not certain about the accuracy of the information. But she knew it didn’t really matter to anyone there.
“She was a botanist, wasn’t she?” Jim asked Hikaru with much implied.
“I have no idea,” Hikaru said. “I never met her.”
“Yes you did,” Bones corrected. “When you broke your arm skiing, she was interning in sick bay. You told me she was really cute and asked for her comm code.”
“Hey,” Hikaru protested. “I was high on painkillers.”
“Then you had taken them without authorization,” Bones laughed. “I didn’t give you any.”
“Is that why you broke your arm, Karu? Because you were high,” Pavel asked, looking up at his boyfriend with an expression that said it made no difference. Pavel would love him no matter what.
“No,” Sulu protested. “You gave them to me.”
“Not me,” Bones said, holding up one hand.
“You cannot possibly remember all medical procedures you performed during your time at the Academy,” Spock observed.
“Not all of them. But he broke his arm after Narada,” Bones said.
Spock nodded at that, not needing any reminders as how those months were forever etched in their collective memories. “Indeed.”
“I didn’t know she worked in the sick bay,” Nyota said.
“She seemed a natural but she said her heart was in botany,” Bones said.
“How do you know her real name?” Nyota asked Jim, eyeing him in suspicion now that she’d thought about it.
“She applied for a position on the Enterprise,” he said, seeing the skepticism in the faces of his friends. “Really. Didn’t she, Spock?”
“I do not recall,” Spock claimed, a bare hint of humor in his eyes.
“How many Mehetabells can there possibly be?” Scotty said, peering into his cup.
“Indeed,” Spock said, making the others laugh at them.
“My cup is empty,” Scotty said sadly. “I think that’s a signal for me to be getting on to bed.”
“Yeah,” Pavel said, standing and reaching out a hand for Hikaru. “Thank you for the partying.”
“You’re welcome,” Jim said, speaking with each of them as they left. “Spock still hates me. After all this time,” he complained to Bones when he alone remained.
“No he doesn’t, kid. I’m telling you, what he feels for you ain’t hate,” McCoy said as he often did.
Jim shrugged, tidying up his quarters with his friend’s help before wishing him a good night and seeing him out. He wanted to believe what Bones said but the words did not match with Jim’s experience. With a sigh, he let go of the frustration and allowed sleep to overtake him.