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Being a member of the Enterprise crew means a lot of things, it’s a sense of responsibility, you’re maturing and your life completely changes. It also means that you have a new family, other than the one you have on Earth. You’re with them 24 hours and 7 days a week, there’s up’s and down’s and you’re all here for one purpose: exploring the galaxy to seek out new discoveries. And since the crew is always together, relationships are forming, whatever if they are platonic or romantic.
Nyota Uhura can be a prime example of that. At Starfleet Academy, she met the Vulcan Spock while she was a student of his and fell in love with him, they entered the Enterprise together, had up’s and down’s like any kind of couple and today they’re still very much in love, even though Spock is very protective and reserved about their relationship but she loves him no matter.
It was early morning in the starship, if we can say morning as the color of the night sky would never change, the young woman was slowly awake by the sounds of people already talking loud. Turning her head to the left side, she doesn’t see Spock, as he sleeps only a couple hours before he goes to work again. She stretch her arms before getting out of the bed. After a quick shower, time to do her daily yoga routine, a way for Nyota to be less anxious every day. She puts her uniform and boots on before she realizes something.
It’s currently freezing in the Enterprise and she can’t find her jacket.
She looks everywhere and anywhere, from her closet to her own office to under her bed, it is simply not there.
"Damn it." She mutters to herself.
Nyota leaves the bedroom and goes to search her beloved jacket. At many times, she would rubs her arms to warm up herself as the ship would get a little colder. She lands in the kitchen to see Montgomery Scott drinking his morning coffee and his sidekick Keenser playing with some technology stuff.
"Aye! Good mornin' Uhura! If you wanna take know where Spock is, he’s wi' Mr. Sulu." Scotty says before taking a sip of his coffee.
"Good morning, actually I was looking for something else." Uhura was looking all over the kitchen.
"What’s that? Cannae I help?"
"I’m looking for my jacket, do you know where it is?"
"Um… guid question." He starts to think. "Did ye wear it yesterday?"
"Yeah I wore it just last night!" Nyota scratches her head while thinking of the place she could’ve left her jacket.
"Honestly, ye need tae stoap leavin' yer stuff everywhere or every mornin' we'll hae tae get oot o' oor rooms jist so that ye need tae search and find!" Scotty was nicely mocking her before taking another sip.
Nyota didn’t listen to him and continued to think. And then, an illumination.
"I know!" Uhura’s sudden revelation scared Scotty who dropped a little bit of coffee on his uniform.
"Shite! Bloody hell!" Poor Scotty.
"It’s in Iris’ room, we stayed a bit late last night and I simply forgot it there. Sorry by the way Scotty." Nyota rushes to her friend’s room.
"Eh… it’s nae bother." Scotty said as he was wiping his uniform.
Nyota was being careful in her steps as she knew her friend was still asleep and only has to woke up in an hour.
There she is, in front of her friend’s sliding door, ready to execute a tiny mission: to not wake her friend because sleep is precious to her. She starts to gently slide the door, trying to not make sounds, but as she moves her head inside of the room, a shocking image came to her.
Iris Pike was sleeping peacefully in the arms of none other than Leonard McCoy. Bones. Iris. Together. In the same bed. Bones was shirtless while Iris was wearing a large t-shirt.
Nyota immediately gets her head out of the room before covering her mouth with her hand, definitely not mentally ready for what she just saw. She couldn’t stop whispering "what the fuck" at least 20-25 times. Does Jim knows his best friend is in a secret relationship with her best friend? Does everyone in the Enterprise knows except her? Tough to answer.
The young woman collects her thoughts. She’s here for her jacket because it’s freezing in the starship and she hates when it’s freaking cold. She takes a deep breath, thinking how she can take her jacket back without waking them up. It was time.
Nyota opens a little bit more the door before coming inside and close the door to avoid any sounds.
She has now a clear vision of them. Iris’ head delicately laying in Bones’ chest while his arms were wrapping her body. It was Nyota’s confirmation that it was serious between them. She starts walking in small steps, a big gap between her legs, carefully putting her feet on the ground. She’s aiming for Iris’ office, cause that’s when they were together last night, talking about everyday life in the Enterprise.
Nyota was next to Iris’ closet when all of the sudden, she hears her friend waking up. Panicked, Nyota hides behind the closet, hoping to not get caught.
Iris was woken up by a sound. Is someone there? Maybe, maybe not, maybe it was just her. She looks around but nothing.
"What’s the matter sweetheart?" The soft but still tired voice of Bones interrupted her thoughts.
"I think I heard something."
"Probably the junior cadets who can’t stop talking in the morning for no god damn reason." The sweetness in his voice was hiding his much known annoyance.
Nyota who was still behind her closet felt her heart beating very fast, all she wants to do is grab that fucking jacket and get out of here.
"You know how they are." Iris let a soft chuckle before looking tenderly at her boyfriend and going back to his soft arms. "Sorry for waking you up."
"It’s okay darlin'." His arms went back to wrap her body against his before he softly kissed the top of her head and the lovers went back to sleep.
Nyota let a soft sign of relief. She goes inside of her friend’s office only to see her jacket on the chair. She quickly puts it on her before leaving the place. Now it was time to leave. She walks in small steps, looking at the couple every second to see if she doesn’t wake them. Now arriving at the door, she slowly open the door, hoping that one or two officers were not next to the room. Thankfully, no one was there, so she steps outside and carefully closes the door, with the couple still sleeping. Mission accomplished. Now she quickly runs to tell Jim everything.
The captain was at the bridge talking with officers when he saw his friend walking extremely fast with a certain look of shock on her face.
"Hello Uhur-" Kirk’s greetings was suddenly interrupted by Nyota grabbing his arm and pulling him full force.
"Come with me RIGHT NOW!"
Jim was completely confused by her attitude. Did he upset her? Did something wrong happened with Spock? He had no idea.
"Jeez what’s going on Uhura? You’re hurting me a bit!"
"Sorry but this is urgent!" Nyota started to panic.
"What happened ? Was there a threat ? Are you okay ?" Jim started to panic too.
"I’m fine, there’s nothing wrong, it’s just that I… witnessed something."
"What ? Tell me !"
Nyota takes once again a deep breath.
"I saw Bones in Iris’ bed, they were asleep together and they were extremely close."
She saw Jim’s eyes getting bigger and bigger, like if he was going to explode.
"WHA-" Jim was suddenly cut by Uhura’s hand on his mouth.
"Shh! Don’t be loud, everyone could hear us!"
"What the literal fuck!" Kirk was mid whispering mid screaming. "Bones! The grumpy guy who’s pissed off all day every day? He’s with Iris?"
"It’s definitely serious."
"Were they… you know ?" He glanced a curious look at his friend.
"Ew no Jim!" Says Nyota before punching Jim in the arm because he’s just so damn silly.
"Okay okay sorry!" Jim quick apologizes. "Gosh I wouldn’t thought about it."
"Me too." Nyota crossed her arms against her chest. "Listen, this has to stay between us."
"Yeah no one has to know about this."
"Aboaht vhat?" A soft voice echoed between Jim and Nyota, strong Russian accent suddenly appearing, scaring them both.
"Jesus fu- Mr. Chekov!" Apparently there’s a rule in the Enterprise that says that no one can swear in front of Pavel or he will start swearing too and it’s not a good look.
"Hey um.. we were talking about something." Nyota hoped that Chekov didn’t heard their conversation.
"I hearrrd something about Doctorrr McCoy and Doctorrr Pike." The thing about Pavel is that he has puppy eyes, something no one can resist.
Kirk and Uhura looked at each other, knowing they can’t hide from the Russian navigator.
"Well… both doctors are in a secret relationship and Uhura was the first to found out." Jim broke the news to a very happy Chekov.
"If I kan be honest with you Kaptin, I always knew therrre was something verrry special between them, I mean, Doctorrr Pike is one of the few perrrsons Doctorrr McCoy is always nice to." Another thing about Pavel, he would always found out things about members of the Enterprise.
"Who are the other persons Doctor McCoy is nice to?" Jim was actually dying to know that.
"Me, Mrrr. Sulu and Uhurrra."
"Son of a bitch." Jim says it quietly so that the young man couldn’t hear it.
"It’s a secret Pavel, only between us, you can’t tell anyone about it." Nyota warns him but knows that Pavel is very trustworthy so no problem.
"Обещаю, заберу эту тайну в могилу.* You have my worrrd !"
An hour after, the new couple finally woke up. Iris truly felt at peace, laying in the arms of not only an extremely smart, but also very handsome and surprisingly sweet man. She wished she could stay like this forever with him.
"Did you sleep well?" The brunette tenderly rubs his cheek, looking at him like if he was the most precious thing in the universe.
"Well there was a beautiful woman in my arms so my night was excellent." Bones’ answer immediately made them both laugh.
"By the way, what was with the sound that you heard ?"
"I swear Leo I really heard something like if someone was in the room!"
"I believe you." The Doctor planted a soft kiss on her lips.
"I’m gonna go take a shower." Iris gets out of the bed before Bones holds her hand back.
"Can I join ?" He lets his classic grin.
"In your dreams Bones. Also you have to go back to your room before someone suspects anything." Iris leaned over him, kissing him this time with a little bit more of passion. "I love you Leonard."
His eyes were practically shining. He never felt this kind of love before. "I love you too Iris."
Bones stayed a few minutes in the bed while Iris was taking her shower.
The day went on like any other day in the Enterprise, exploration, threat of attack, searching, you know the thing.
It was the start of the evening, pretty calm, no problems to report, the crew could finally rest.
"This day was pure boggin, cannae believe I made it through this chaos" Scotty only had one thought in his mind: sleep.
"Like any other day Scotty and it’s not going to stop." Kirk says before taking a bit of his food.
Hikaru Sulu makes his way towards the kitchen with a broad smile on his face.
"What’s that smile for Sulu ?" Asked a very curious Uhura.
"Uh… nothing." He tries his best to hide the excitement he feels inside.
"Ah ken that look, dinnae lie tae us Mr. Sulu! Gie us the scoop!"
Hikaru was officially stuck.
"Let’s say I unintentionally spied on the Captain earlier today and I apologize."
Then Jim, Nyota and Pavel were looking at each other, completely screwed.
"What do you mean Mr. Sulu ?"
"Well I heard a conversation about Doctor McCoy and Doctor Pike…"
"Shit we’re screwed." Nyota was facepalming HARD.
"Whit aboot? Ah dinnae unnerstaund." Scotty was completely confused.
"Heard they were apparently dating." Points out the pilot.
"They’re actually dating Mr. Sulu." Reveals the captain.
"WHIT? And naebody telt me aboot this?" The engineer was baffled.
"Well I was the first to discover their relationship and it happened this morning!" Poor Nyota, trying to justify her discovery of this morning.
"BUT YE STILL COULD’VE TELT ME!"
The secret was spilling inside of the ship, Jim knew it was too late, most importantly, he also knew that a specific someone can’t know anything about this.
"We can’t let Spock know about this."
"Why?" Asked the now sleepy Russian navigator.
"Vulcans don’t lie, honesty is an important value in their society." Obviously the one person who knows everything about Vulcans is the one and only Nyota Uhura.
"So he’s dobbin’?*" Scotty was completely lost in the plot.
"We… can say that, yes." Answered the captain.
The next day, Jim was at the bridge, looking at one particular planet they were about to explore today, a planet whose creatures has rare DNA and that Iris had to study. Spock then enters the bridge.
"Permission to come aboard captain?"
"Permission granted Mr. Spock."
"Captain, since we are both alone, I personally wanted to have a conversation with you."
"Is this about the mission on Potentia? Because I truly and I mean it, truly believe we can study those DNAs that Doctor Pike talked about."
"I also believe in this theory but this is not what I want our conversation to be about."
This is weird.
"Oh. Okay tell me."
"I have heard conversations between junior cadets in the Enterprise about what you humans call a « rumor » which involves Doctor McCoy and Doctor Pike."
Oh no, this is a nightmare. Did Chekov accidentally told Spock about them?
"Oh. Really? What’s this rumor about?" Jim played it cool but he was PANICKING inside.
"That both doctors are involved in a romantic relationship."
"Doctor McCoy? Being in a relationship?" Kirk tried to let a little laugh to hide his involvement in the secret. "Impossible, he’s stuck in the med bay all the time, he’s got no time for a girl!"
Spock could sense that Kirk was hiding something and he’s very not very good at it.
"Captain, may I ask if you ever heard something about this so called rumor?"
Jim’s heart started to beat extremely fast, he thinks that Spock heard it, I mean with those ears… anyway.
"No, not at all. And I know him too well, relationships are not his thing. As for Doctor Pike, she’s a very hardworking woman who’s taking her job seriously." Jim’s voice was shaking a bit.
"Are you sure?" Jim could feel that Spock was kind of teasing him about how bad he is at hiding things. Suddenly Jim gets loose.
"Fuck it, they’re dating."
"Did you just say-" Spock was shook at the use of profanity.
"Uhura was the one who found out about them, she told me about it and then Mr. Chekov, Mr. Sulu and Mr. Scott got somehow involved."
"And why you didn’t informed me?"
Jim DEFINITELY didn’t wanted to tell Spock that he’s not trustworthy of keeping secrets.
"Because… let’s say that you’re too honest."
"Honesty is one of the most important aspects of Vulcan-"
"We don’t trust you with keeping secrets, that’s it!"
"You know deep well that Vulcans can’t lie Captain."
"Yeah but I’m talking to the half human in you, I know lying is bad, I lied so many times I can’t remember the exact number but this time it’s for them, I want them to tell us, we don’t want to ruin the surprise. Promise me you’ll keep the secret." Spock simply nods, Jim was still scared as hell.
After a successful mission in Potentia, the crew were celebrating in the kitchen, Scotty and Chekov were drinking scotch and vodka, Kirk and Sulu were talking about today’s mission and Spock and Uhura were drinking while watching the sky through the window. Iris arrives, all smiling, happy that her work made this mission successful.
"There you are! Without you, it wouldn’t have been possible." Jim raises his glass for her.
"Don’t say that Jim, we all made it possible." Iris was always intimidated by the praises, mostly because she had a whole team full of talented and smart people but would always have the acclaim and never them, which she thought it was pretty unfair.
"Whaur’s Dr. McCoy ?" Suddenly asked Scotty with Hikaru side eyeing him.
"Oh… maybe he’s still in the med bay, I don’t know." In reality, they were in his office making out, simple as that.
Jim and Chekov were looking at each other, fully knowing that she was lying.
"Come join us!" Nyota gives a glass of champagne to her friend.
Then comes Bones.
"You’re late as always." Jim says while sipping his drink.
"Shut up." Bones’ grumpy side comes back.
Iris and Bones tried so hard to not look at each other to not raise any suspicions but it was very difficult.
But Spock sees everything, never doubt a Vulcan. Ever.
The crew then groups together for a random small talk.
"Gosh I just reminded myself that you forgot your jacket in my office two days ago but you got it back when I saw you." Iris suddenly realizes.
"It was that baltic on that ship, it mind me o' ma days in Delta Vega, never again!" Just the thought of his days here, Scotty got chills.
"Yeah I took it back while you were sleeping, I didn’t want to bother you." After saying this, Nyota realizes that she made a HUGE mistake.
Jim gulped very loudly, Scotty choked on his drink, Chekov said something in Russian and Sulu was drinking, pretending this never happened.
"What’s going on? You guys okay?" Iris and Bones had no idea about what was going on.
"To tell you the truth Iris, Nyota and the rest of the crew are aware of your relationship with Doctor McCoy." If there’s one thing you have to keep in your mind, never, ever tell your secrets, even your darkest ones, to Spock.
The room was silent, everybody was looking at each other, except Spock, who was kind of proud of himself but didn’t show it.
"SPOCK!" Jim yelled at him. "WHAT THE HELL?!"
"It is my responsibility to be-"
"Who cares Spock, you promised me to keep it secret!"
"Everyone shut up here! When and how did you knew?" Bones was not pissed but PISSED.
"What the hell is going on here?" Iris couldn’t believe it.
"Iris I’m so sorry but when I went to your room to take my jacket back, I saw you and Bones asleep together!" Nervously admits the young woman.
"Nyota!" Bones was even more pissed now.
"That’s the sound I heard in the morning I knew I was not crazy!"
"I’m gettin’ oot o’ here." Scotty wanted to leave the table but got dragged back by Jim.
"This secret was supposed to stay between Jim and I but the crew got involved!"
"Oh yeah? Well maybe don’t tell Jim anything because he can’t keep a secret for fuck’s sake!" Bones didn’t care a bit that Chekov was there and could hear him swearing like a sailor.
"Me? Not keeping a secret? Go tell Spock who can hear any conversation on this damn ship and can’t keep a secret for his damn life!" It was really unfair for Jim that his best friend could thought that he was snitching.
"I prefer not being involved in this conflict." And Spock leaves, just like that.
"Listen, we wanted to keep the secret so that you could tell us by your own and yeah, we could’ve totally pretend to not know about it but we’re truly happy for you, we’re sorry that this got blown out of proportion." Jim felt really bad about this and for scared of losing his friendship with both Bones and Iris.
"It’s fine guys, thank you for being honest." Iris looked at Bones, looking for an answer.
"Yeah um… we just wanted to take time before telling you but I guess gossips are rapidly spreading in the Enterprise." Iris didn’t noticed that Bones was holding her hand the entire time he was talking.
A lot of apologies, hugs and congratulations later, the crew goes to their respective beds, after a big day.
Bones was walking to his room when he saw Iris standing against the wall, next to the door.
"What can I do for you miss Pike?" He leaned against the door, to make himself look cool in front of his girlfriend.
"I just need to be with my boyfriend tonight, so if I can sleep in his bed, next to him, it would be great."
Iris’ eyes were telling something to Bones, that she wasn’t feeling okay.
"I know this look. Tell me what’s wrong." Her boyfriend asked while putting a stray of her hair against her ear.
"Now that everyone knows about our relationship, I have this gut feeling that some people, not our friends and I trust them wholeheartedly, but some people in the ship are going to criticize us, saying that I’m only with you because you’re the Captain’s best friend and you’re the Chief Medical Officer and-" Her voice started to tremble, unable to contain her emotions.
Bones gently grabbed her face with his hands, very soft hands and looked at her with all the love he can express to her.
"I don’t want to hear you saying something like this ever again. I love you more than anything, I would sacrifice anything so that I can be with you and only you, you’re the only person who matters in this damn universe. You’re not alone, you have me and Jim, Nyota, Scotty, Chekov, Sulu, hell even Spock. And if anyone dares to say something nasty about you, I promise that they will go through me. Do you understand me?" Bones’ voice was so incredibly soft, it gave Iris all the confidence that she desperately needed. Her eyes were full of tears.
"I understand…" Iris was smiling again, there was the power of Leonard McCoy.
Bones kissed her like it was the last time, she was everything to him and he doesn’t want to let go of her.
Iris broke the kiss so that she could hug him, feeling his strong arms tightly around her, smelling his cologne that she absolutely loves, her arms wrapping his shoulders softly, wishing this moment would last forever.
"I love you Iris."
"I love you too Leo."
Hand to hand, they went to bed and slept peacefully, not worrying about anything, it was just the two of them.