Author's Note: I own nothing but the plot and my OC.

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Enjoy~

"Scotty," said Jim, "How long do you think it'll take to fix everything?"

"I'd say at least two weeks." Scotty replied. "No promises though."

"Scotty we don't have two weeks."

"It's not like fixin this shit is easy. I've only got a few bloody people who can fix this fucking ship. There's only so much time in a goddamn day Jim," Scotty yelled.

Jim ran a hand through his hair before looking back to the screen at Scotty, "You really don't have enough people?"

"Well, there is a certain Science Officer who would make this process a lot fucking faster."

"Are you referring to Lieutenant Latimer?" Spock inquired, sticking his head over Jim's shoulder.

"That I am."

"Izanna? How could she help?" Jim asked.

"She is a Science Officer but has invented quite a few things that have revolutionized the engineering of starships. She'd have an advanced understanding of how the ship works and would be able to help Mr. Scott complete repairs much faster," Spock said.

"Why is she a Science Officer then?" said Kirk.

"I asked her that and she said her first love is science. Engineering is a bloody science," Scotty scoffed.

"I do believe it's because engineering doesn't hold the same challenge for her as the sciences she studies," said Spock.

"She's yours for the duration of the repairs Scotty," said Jim. "Get it done in a week."

"I said no promises," Scotty snorted, turning off the com.

Kirk sighed, "Spock. Go find Lieutenant Latimer and get her started on the repairs."

"Of course," Spock said, heading for the turbolift.

oOOOo

Nyota set her food tray down across from Izanna, sitting with an overly dramatic sigh and pointed look at her friend.

Izanna smiled, "What's the problem today?"

"I heard repairs are going to take close to two weeks and it's not like the planet we're orbiting we can just go down and do whatever."

"Is your best friend not enough entertainment for two weeks?" Izanna said, covering her heart with a hand in mock offense.

"You are enough entertainment for several life times. Mostly for everyone else."

"What do you mean, 'for everyone else.'?"

Nyota reached out and put a hand over one of Izanna's, "Izzy, sweetie, I love you but, you severely lack a brain to mouth filter and embarrass yourself a lot. Normally that's a best friend's job but you do just fine without me."

"I do not," She scuffed, crossing her arms and turning away.

"Your cheeks puff out a bit when you do that and it's adorable," Nyota smirked. She stood up and reached over the table to grab one of Izanna's cheeks. "Just look at how cute you are and how big you haven't gotten."

Izanna slapped her hand away, "I am a being of pure terror and you should fear me."

"Oh yeah, all five feet of you. I'm terrified."

Izanna pointed a fork at her friend, "Good." She went to go take a bite of her food only to look back up at Nyota. "And I have too gotten bigger."

"You haven't grown since we were fourteen." Nyota huffed.

"That wasn't that long ago." Izanna said softly.

"That was ten years ago." Nyota exclaimed.

"If I may inquire," Spock interrupted, having silently walked up behind Nyota, "What was ten years ago?"

"Her last growth spurt. And it wasn't even really a spurt, it was an inch; more of a stutter. " said Nyota. Izanna suck her tongue out, making Nyota chuckle while the side of Spock's mouth tilted up in mild amusement. "Did you need something, dear?"

"I'm actually here for Lieutenant Latimer," Spock said.

Izanna scrunched up her face in disgust, "I don't like it when you call me that. It means you're here for official businessy stuffs."

Spock gave her a small, forced smile, "I am. You are to help Mr. Scott finish repairs for the ship."

"Why is it always me?" Izanna groaned at the ceiling. "When do I start?"

"Immediately," Spock replied. Izanna proceeded to make a bunch of noises and rest her head on the table. "What was that?"

Nyota chuckled, "Disgruntled human noises." Spock just lightly shook his head and left for the bridge. "Looks like your week is gonna be full of fun."

Izanna lifted her head, "Because spending my week with a grumpy Scotsman is exactly my idea of fun."

"You don't seem to mind when it's a grumpy doctor," Nyota teased.

"Shut up," Izanna hissed, her face turning red.

The grumpy doctor Nyota was referring to would be the Chief Medical Officer. Izanna had formed a sort of friendship with the doctor over the past few months since starting work aboard the Enterprise. She had quickly gained a reputation of being a walking disaster, often getting hurt and having to go to the sickbay at least once a week. By pure coincidence McCoy was generally the one working when she went to the sickbay though the gossip around the ship would say otherwise. The gruff doctor had quickly gotten her to open up to him and she had managed to get him to warm up to her. She loved being able to get him to smile even in his grumpiest of moods and had developed a rather large crush on him.

"Maybe if you're lucky you'll get some mouth to mouth resuscitation," said Nyota, wiggling her eyebrows.

"That was bad and you should feel bad," Izanna said, turning increasing shades of red.

"You're so cute when you blush, it even goes all the way down your chest."

"You're mean and I'm leaving," Izanna said, standing up and going to move away from the table. She suddenly found the floor in her face and the chair she had just emptied half on top of her. She rolled her eyes at her friend's laughter and moved some of her dark brown hair out of her eyes, "Glad to know you take pleasure in my misfortune."

She felt the chair being removed from her legs and two large hands wrapping around her upper arms, lifting her to her feet, speaking in a southern drawl she knew quite well. "Ya know Iza, I have never seen someone be so constantly clumsy before." She smiled, only one person called her by that nickname.

Looking up her eyes connected with the blue eyes of the grumpy doctor whose brow was furrowed but a smile playing on his lips. Turning an impressive shade of red, looking anywhere but his face she tried to mutter out a thanks but, it more came out as a drawn out stutter.

McCoy let go of her and went to step back only to have to grab her again as her left leg gave out under her. "You must have sprained your ankle," He said frowning even more than seemed physically possible. "I'll take you to sickbay and look at it."

Her eyes snapped up to his and she tried extracting herself from his grip. "N-no, Len. Really. It's okay. I'm fine. Completely A-okay," Izanna said, glancing around nervously.

Rolling his eyes he released his grip letting her stand on her own for a moment before grabbing her as her leg gave out again. "Completely A-okay, huh?" He asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"Alright. Proficient B-okay," She paused at the light chuckle she earned from the doctor, a slight smile gracing her lips. "But you don't have to take me, Nyota and I just finished and were leaving."

Nyota gave her friend a wicked smirk, "I'm still eating. Just have him take you," Izanna gaped at Nyota as she threw her under the bus.

"Settled then," Bones said before Izanna could argue anymore. "I'll have to carry you."

"What? Why?" Izanna squeaked.

Bones sighed, "Because you're too short to put your arm around my shoulder without me having to bend way over. It'll be easier just to carry you," Her protests were lost in another squeak as he lifted her up into his arms bridal style and she instinctively threw her arms around his neck, clutching tightly. "Complain or protest and I'll carry you like a sack of potatoes."

She just nodded and loosened her arms as her heart seemed to be trying to beat it's way out of her chest. Taking a deep breath to try and calm herself backfired as she inhaled his scent; he smelt like old whiskey, spicy cologne, and antiseptic. Being up this close she also noticed that he had a light dusting of freckles across his nose and cheekbones. His dark hair was a bit messy and he had a few days worth of unshaven stubble on his face. He looked tired but still stood strong, being able to easily walk with her down the corridor.

They walked in a slightly uncomfortable silence down the corridor, which seemed to get worse as they passed more and more people who would whisper to one another as they passed. A few yards from the turbolift they got stopped by a loud, "Bones", being shouted down the corridor. Bones turned to see the Captain and First Officer walking towards them, his lips pressed into a thin line and he turned back to keep walking. An offended sounding, "Bones", was called down the corridor this time. The Captain had speed up and managed to stop them right before entering the turbolift.

"Bones," Kirk scuffed in a teasing tone, "The whole 'sweep her off her feet' thing doesn't mean to actually sweep her off her feet."

Bones rolled his eyes and adjusted his hold on her, "She sprained her ankle."

"You also look a bit flushed Lieutenant," Spock said, a corner of his mouth twitching up for a moment.

Bones examined her face closely and leaned his head forward to touch his forehead to hers, his piercing gaze settling on her eyes. "You don't feel too warm but you do look flushed. You feeling alright?" He asked concern in his voice.

"I feel fine," Izanna said softly as butterflies fluttered out of control in her stomach. She felt dizzy and excited, smiling softly at him she broke eye contact.

"Ya know Iz," Jim said, "You sure do get hurt a lot. You don't have any ulterior motives for going to the sickbay constantly do you?"

"Yes Captain. I purposefully almost knocked myself unconscious to continue my affair with the office fern, Frank." Izanna said. Bones laughed and her heart tried to jump out of her chest; she grinned widely at him.

The incident Izanna had mentioned happened a week ago when she had made her way out of a turbolift and onto the bridge, forgetting about the small step around the central part of the room. Missing the step she fell but, she managed to catch herself, with her head, on the corner, of a control board. Apparently she somehow convinced everyone on the bridge that she could in fact, walk to the sickbay herself, not that she remembers doing this. The next thing she remembers is sitting in Bones office with him dabbing antiseptic on a small cut she had gotten and him lecturing her. Having gotten a major concussion he had made her stay with him until an officer in her department, wondering where she was, came to get her. The few hours with the doctor had kept a smile on her face all week.

Kirk just chuckled, "And here are thought you were gonna tell me it's the skeleton. Start on repairs when your randevu is done and try not to hurt yourself anymore."

"I promise nothing," she replied, glaring at the Captain and his not so subtle implication.

Spock and Kirk said their goodbyes and left, Kirk pausing for a moment to wiggle his eyebrows at Izanna and wink. She turned to look at Bones who raised an eyebrow, she just gave him a small smile and removed an arm to push the button to the turbolift. Walking in Bones said for it to take them down to the sickbay. The turbolift took off immediately, going down a ways only to suddenly come to a shuddering stop and sending them both crashing to the floor. Izanna let out a yelp as she ended up sprawled atop Bones while he picked a few choice words.

Bones groaned under her, "You alright?"

Izanna let out a small mhmm from where her face was pressed into Bones chest and turned her head to speak, "Just got my ankle jarred and my nose got slammed into your chest. You?"

One of his hands reached down to give her hip a light squeeze, "I'm fine. Can you get up on your own?" Her heart seemed to stop for a moment, this day was going to be fatal if things like this kept happening.

"Enough so you can get up," she said, sitting up and rolling up off of him. "Help me up?

"Yeah, sure," he replied, helping Izanna to her feet.

"Open control panel," she said. When nothing happened she let out a frustrated grumble and pulled out her com. Opening it she called Scotty.

There was a bit of static before Scotty's voice came through, "Izzy? That you?"

"That it would be," Izanna said.

"Where the bloody hell are you? You should have been down here by now."

"About that, funny story..."

"What the hell did you do?" Scotty asked.

"Why do you assume I did something?"

"Well there was that time you turn Pike's skin pink for a week and hacked into the High Council on Vulcans' computer system just to prove a point," Scotty said. "And that's just the things you did on purpose.

"You hacked into the Vulcan's computer system?" Bones exclaimed in exasperation.

"They can't prove that was me," she rebuttled.

"Dammit woman, that's not the point," Bones said.

"Who's with you?" Scotty asked.

"Can't you just check the camera?" she said

"That's bloody broken too."

"Fucking fantastic, another damn thing to fix. I'm with Len. I sprained my ankle and he was helping me to the sickbay when the turbolift we're on came to a sudden stop. I tried to get the panel open but it seems the controls here aren't working right, I'm going to need you to open it or move the turbolift."

"Len? As in McCoy? The doctor you refer to as Dr. McGrumpybutt? That doctor?" Scotty teased.

"Just get the damn panel open," Izanna said and turning to look at Bones who was giving her a questioning look. "It's an affectionate nickname I promise."

"Said with nothing but love," said Scotty in a sing-song voice.

"The panel Scotty," Izanna said.

"You wanna explain?" Bones asked, turning her and forcing her to face him.

"I know you're just gruff but you just seem always quite grumpy whenever I come into the sickbay, especially as of late," Izanna muttered at her feet.

Bones sighed heavily and used his free hand to rubbed the back of his neck, "I only get to see you when you're in my sickbay and hurt, that'd make anyone grumpy only seeing a friend when they're hurt."

Izanna knew that even if he did have feelings for her there's no way he'd just casually mention it considering almost no one does that but, it didn't stop her heart from giving a painful pang and plummeting into her stomach. She gave an unconvincing and short laugh, "Yeah, I guess it would."

The silence that followed was awkward as neither knew what to say, they were saved by Scotty coming through the com a minute later. "So..." Scotty started, "We have a problem."

"What kind of problem?" She asked.

"I can't move the lift or open the bloody fucking panel. It's going to take me at least six hours to fix shit on my end, then you're on you're own. Ironically you picked the only damn lift that's damaged which, with your luck really isn't that ironic or surprising."

"Thanks Scotty," she replied dryly.

"Shut up and be glad you have company. I'll inform Jim about this goddamn situation," Scotty said.

"Have fun with that," Izanna said. There was a tense silence before she spoke, "We should sit. I'm sure you don't want to hold me up for several hours."

"As much as I enjoy holding you, I don't believe I have the muscle strength or endurance to keep you up for hours," He said while helping her sit up against a wall and sitting next to her. Izanna's head whipped to look at him and she felt him tense beside her as he realized what he had said. She swore she saw a light blush cross his cheeks before one of his hands ran down his face, stopping over his cheeks and he cleared his throat to speak, "Dammit. Help. I meant help."

Izanna gave an unconvincing, "Of course." and let silence fall between them.

Taking deep breaths to help with her anxiety, her heart finally seemed to be going into a normal calm beat. Which didn't last very long when Bones broke the silence, "Since we're stuck here you should let me look at your ankle," he said.

Her heart sped up like a rocket and a blush coloring her cheeks again, silently cursing herself for letting just a few words from him affect her so much. She glanced at him before turning and backing up intending to take off her boot, his hands pushed hers away for him to do it. She hissed as he eased her boot off, his eyes flicker briefly to her face before continuing and taking her sock off with the same care. He rolled up her pant leg at bit, exchanging her foot between hands to turn and examine.

Izanna had been surprised the first time the gruff doctor had treat a wound on her, not knowing him at the time she had thought him grumpy and a bit short. He had surprised her with how gentle his hands were, his touch barely there and only pressing down when needed. He was always like that, his words could be like a whip as he was lecturing you while treating a wound but his hands would treat her like a glass orb. She figured he was like that with everyone but his gentleness never failed to make her smile.

She always examined him while he worked, finding little habits in his work. He always pushed his sleeves up to his elbows and she would watch the way his forearms flexed as his hands went to work. The blue uniform shirt he wore wasn't form fitting but it wasn't lose either, showing he had a good amount of muscle in his upper arms and chest; his pants were the same, just showing the faint outline of his body. His face would go into a mask of concentration which made him look a bit grumpy and annoyed, he wore that face often when working and it was no wonder he had a reputation of being a grumpy doctor. Izanna would chastise herself for staring too much but, didn't everyone stare at their doctors a bit while being examined.

"Well," Bones said, still holding on to her leg, "You sprained it pretty good this time. It's not just swollen it's purple too. You're going to need to stay off it for a few days."

Izanna sighed in frustration and flopped back to lay on the ground and she heard the doctor chuckle. "Glad to know you find me being crippled amusing." She said, sitting up on her elbows. He just flashed her a smile before rolling her pant leg up and putting her sock back on, forgoing the boot.

Putting her foot gently on the ground he leaned back into the wall and tipped his head back, closing his eyes with a soft sigh. Izanna moved back to her position next to him, unconsciously putting herself closer than they had been originally; their shoulders just lightly touching. They sat like that for awhile, the silence comfortable and soothing. So soothing it seemed to have put Bones to sleep, Izanna only noticing when he tilted toward her, his head coming to a stop on her shoulder.

Figuring that couldn't be comfortable with his neck at that angle she moved him from her shoulder to her lap which was harder than she thought it would be. She was glad to have chosen to sit on his left side so his head would be resting on her uninjured leg. Only minutes had passed when Bones turned in his sleep and buried his face in her hip; one arm coming around behind her lower back, his hand gripping her hip; and the other came up beneath her thigh, his hand grabbing tightly there as well.

Her cheeks were covered with a blush as she put her hand to her mouth to stifle her laughter, finding it amusing at how adorable the gruff man was being. She sat there for a few minutes debating whether she should close her eyes to get some sleep as she absentmindedly ran a hand through his hair. This earned her a low grumble and his arms wrapped tighter around her, pressing himself in close. Smiling, she continued running her hands through his hair and his grip loosened some as he relaxed into her touch.

They stayed like that, Izanna petting him, switching arms every now and then as they got tired. She had a hand in his hair when he rolled onto his back and slowly started waking up. She paused her movements continuing when he made a noise of objection at her stopping. His eyes opened a few minutes later and he squinted until they adjusted to the light.

"You're quite the cuddler," said Izanna in a soft, light voice. "I thought you might drag me to the ground with you to use me as a teddy bear or pillow."

He seemed to come completely awake at her comment and sat up stiffly, letting out a low groan as his muscle stretched out. Rubbing the back of his neck he shot her a glance and muttered a sorry.

"It's okay. You looked pretty tired as it was, not like we have much else to do anyway." She said.

"How long was I out?" Bones asked, voice still rough with sleep.

"An hour I think," she replied, trying to ignore how utterly sexy his voice was right now.

"Scotty said about six hours right? So, round' four and a half hours left."

"Give or take."

Bones groaned, "And what are we suppose to do for nearly five hours?"

"Meticulously inspect the walls?"

"There are things in here far more interesting than the walls," he said, some else underlying in his voice.

Izanna blushed and looked away from him, ignoring that voice in her head telling her what was he was implying. "The ceiling?"

He snorted and turned to rest his back against the wall again before replying, "Yes, because the box we're stuck in is far more interesting than the living creature next to me," sarcasm lacing his voice.

"Must not be a very interesting creature then," she mumbled back.

The doctor frowned at her comment, "Hey, look at me." He wait until she had looked at him with her soft brown eyes, fidgeting slightly. Taking a deep breath he continued, "I wouldn't waste my time if you weren't interesting."

Izanna smiled widely and quickly looked away, another blush forming on her cheeks. "Thanks," she softly said.

Bones hummed in reply and allowed a silence to settle between them. Broken in a few minutes when Izanna asked him a question, "What is interesting about me?"

"I'd have an easier time with what isn't interesting about you, nothing," he muttered under his breath, forgetting with Izanna being so close she would hear every word.

"Do-do you really mean that?" she asked in a breathless whisper.

Pink bloomed across the doctor's face as he scrambled for a reply. "Like I already said, I wouldn't waste my time if you weren't interesting," he said, folding his arms and looking away from her.

She leaned in close and he could feel her chest pressing into his upper arm, almost completely missing what she was saying when her breath hit his neck. "But that doesn't mean everything about me is interesting."

"I never said that," he quickly defended.

"No, but you said that-"

He cut her off, "I'm aware of what I said."

She moved back into her previous position and muttered to herself, "I'd beg to differ."

Bones whipped his head to look at her, "I'm sorry, what was that?"

"N-nothing," she replied, scooting away.

"I don't think so," he said, voice dark and teasing. He moved with her, making sure their shoulders stayed in contact.

"You think wrong," Izanna boldly stated.

"I do?"

"You do," she said, voice wavering as she scooted herself into the corner.

She tried to move to the other wall but Bones was faster and moved in front of her, placing his hands on either side of her and effectively caging her. "Are you sure?" he asked, voice dropping lower.

"Y-y-yes?" she squeaked out.

Bones tutted and replied in a teasing tone, "Your funeral."

He moved his hand onto her sides and started to tickle her. Izanna let out a squeal of surprise followed quickly by uncontrollable laughter. Bones smiled as the woman squirmed and tried to escape, she almost succeeded in doing so until he pressed his lower half between her legs, cutting off any chance of escape. Izanna noticed the change in position and tried to keep from bucking her hips and much to her embarrassment, could not; luckily he seemed to concerned with keeping her pinned to notice.

"S-st-stop!" she finally gasped out in between laughs.

"You want me to stop?" Bones asked, voice filled with amusement.

"Yes!"

"And what do we say?"

"Please!"

"Please what?"

"Please stop!"

"Please stop what?" he asked in an unconvincing innocent voice.

"Oh god!" she gasped, leaning her head against the corner. "Please stop tickling me."

Bones chuckled and relented, hands coming to a stop on her waist. Her chest was heaving as she caught her breath and occasionally let out a shaky laugh. Lifting her head up she looked up at Bones, who was now mostly above her after she slid a ways down the wall during her plight. She looked away, her already red face concealing whatever blush may have painted her face. Swallowing thickly she looked back at him, unable to keep her eyes away even though she wanted to look away.

He leaned his head down towards her slowly, giving her time to protest if she wanted. Izanna clutched squeezed his biceps, vaguely wondering when she had grabbed him and quickly shook of the thought as he stopped, his face less than an inch away from her. Wondering if he was waiting for her to close the gap and just as she was doing so, a voice resounded around the lift.

"I got the com working." Scotty's voice said. They both froze, too startled to say anything. "And," Scotty started up again, drawing out the word, "I got the cameras working but I can always turn them back off. If you'd like."

Bones mutter a, dammit Scotty, under his breath and lifted himself off of Izanna. She quickly sat up and leaned against the wall, refusing to look at him.

"No," she said, voice wavering. Whether from exhaustion or something else she wasn't quite sure, "We just got into a tickle war is all."

Scotty laughed, "And Spock likes to wear tutus and prance about the ship."

"How'd you find out about the tutu thing? Nyota said she only told me," Izanna said.

Bones gave a light chuckle as Scotty replied, "The only people you're bloody fooling are yourselves. I should be done sooner than I expected, I'd say three hours."

"That makes it only an hour less than the time you originally said," Bones scuffed.

"And that's bloody fucking better isn't it? You want alone time with the damn woman ask her out." There was a pause as they heard a muffled voice. "Izzy, Uhura says you two are going to have a long talk after all this."

Izanna groaned, "That doesn't sound good."

"She sounded really fucking amused if that makes you feel better. I'm going back to work and I strongly suggest doing something else. I spy or something," Scotty said before ending the call with an audible click.

Izanna glance at Bones before letting a small smile cross her face. "Hey Len?"

Bones smiled back with a hopeful glint in his eyes, "Yeah?"

"I spy-" she started, only to be cut off.

"Dammit woman," he said with a sigh, leaning his head back against the wall. The smile stayed on his face as he watched the woman dissolve into a fit of giggles, even if he did roll his eyes and huff about her silliness.

They passed the time switching between silence and talking about whatever came to mind. Izanna immensely enjoyed this, being able to relax and be herself around him. She loved the smile that never fell from his lips during this time, he was still his gruff self but it was nice to seem him smiling. He through his head back in a deep laugh at something she had said and she was quite proud of herself for it. It was then she realized she was falling very hard for this man.

They were sitting in silence for a few minutes when Bones broke it, "Hey Iza?"

"Yeah?" she asked, looking over at him. He was nervously fiddling with his hand and not quite looking her in the eye.

He took a deep breath and went to speak when Scotty's voice came through the com earlier than expected. "Eh! Still alive in there?" he asked.

Bones let out what sounded like a low growl, Izanna titled her head at him and gave him a questioning look which Bones pretended not to see. "That we are, and I see you got one panel open." she said.

"Shit. Just one? I thought I got'em all."

"Just one. Can you guess which one it is?"

There was a pause before Scotty answered, "It's the highest one isn't it?"

"Yep."

"Ah well, just have Bones lift ya up. You're bloody well smart enough to get the lift up and running fairly quick."

"I'll be down to help once I'm released from the sickbay."

Scotty snorted, "Guess I'll see ya tomorrow then."

Izanna just rolled her eyes and bid him a goodbye. "Think you can lift me up for a bit?" she asked Bones, scooting them both in front of the panel.

"I think I can manage," he replied cheekily.

Waiting until she shifted her weight to her right foot, he bent and wrapped his arms around her upper thighs. He only had to hold her for a few minutes till the lower panels came out. Izanna quickly set to work, with some of the panels being low enough that Bones only had to hold her up some of the time. It didn't go unnoticed by her that he observed her while she worked and wondered if he had noticed when she observed him.

Another hour and a half later and Izanna was closing the panels. Smiling, she pivoted in Bones grip and almost fell into him, bringing up her hands on his chest to catch herself. "Care to do the honors?" she asked.

"Sure," he said. He wrapped his an arm around her waist and pulled her into his chest. Chuckling lightly at the small squeak Izanna had let out at suddenly being pulled into his chest, he told the lift to take them to the sickbay.

The turbolift shuddered and then descended, quickly taking them to their destination. When they got close to the stop the lift gave that same sudden lurch as before, sending them both crashing to the floor again. Bones ended up slamming Izanna into the floor, unable to catch his weight on time.

"Fuck. My head." Izanna curse, voice cracking with pain.

Bones scrambled off of her as the doors opened with a whoosh and he quickly scooped her up, trying his best not to jar her. She let out a small whimper and stuck her head between her hands. He walked as quickly as he could without causing more harm, arriving at the sickbay in less that five minutes.

Taking her into one of the rooms he gently laid her on the bed. "Iza. Can you open your eyes for me?" he asked as softly as possible. She opened them and he quickly flashed a light in her eyes causing her to hiss and close her eyes again. "Sorry. Your concussion has gotten worse. I'll give you something for the pain, wrap your ankle then leave you to sleep for a bit."

She made a noise of acknowledgement and he left to grab painkillers and a bandage for her ankle. When he came back she was on her side facing away from the door, acting quickly he stuck the hypo to her neck and pressed the button to trigger it. She yelped in surprise and rolled onto her back, muttering some choice words under her breath.

Bones picked up her leg, shucked off her sock, and rolled up her pant leg. While he was carefully wrapping her ankle it occurred to him that he had left her boot in the turbolift, sighing he hoped it would still be there when he was done. Izanna's body had gone slack, he had forgotten about her hypersensitivity to narcotics and gave her a full dose instead of a half dose; she was going to be sleeping a lot over the next twenty-four hours. Setting her leg down he propped a pillow under it and grabbed a blanket to cover her with. Pausing by her head as he finished pulling the blanket over her he smoothed some of the hair back from her forehead and lightly pressed his lips there.

He quickly straighten and left, turning the light off as he shut the door behind him. Not knowing that Izanna had not quite succumbed to sleep yet and had left her there to wonder if she had imagined that or not. Before she could decided darkness overcame her and she fell into unconsciousness.

oOOOo

Izanna woke early the next day, her hypersensitivity to the drug keeping her asleep longer than normal. She woke up feeling like she had gotten hit by a truck, her head was pounding and her limbs weren't wanting to cooperate. Slowing opening her eyes she turned her head to look for someone, Nyota was sitting in the chair beside her bed with Spock at her side. Izanna tried to say something but it came out as a hoarse whine. Nyota's eyes snapped to her friend's and she quickly assured her she'd get some water while Spock said he would go and get Dr. McCoy.

Nyota helped her to sit up and drink some water, movement slowly returning to her limbs. Bones walked in the door and Izanna smiled at him, "Bastard." she said jokingly. Her voice was still somewhat hoarse and she drank more water.

"How are you feeling?" Bones asked, pulling up a stool next to her.

"My heads pounding, I'm sore, tired, crabby, and kinda hungry. Otherwise I'm pretty good." she replied.

"Well, you did sleep through the rest of the day. Get some food and some rest. Stay off that foot and try not to jar your head." he said, his tone making it clear she was not to argue.

"I didn't think we were in the lift that long." she muttered. "You gonna be carrying me again?"

"No, I'll be." Nyota said a bit too harshly and lifted Izanna into her arms. Izanna wrapped her arms around Nyota's neck. "Spock will you grab her boots?"

"Of course. I could also carry her if you'd like." Spock said.

"No, I'll do it." Nyota said curtly.

"Len?" Izanna said, Bones replied with a mhm and she continued. "Get some rest too. You look like you haven't slept."

"I will." Bones promised.

Izanna stayed in silence during the walk to her quarters, letting Nyota fume a bit before talking to her. Coming to the keypad of her quarters, she leaned over and entered her code. Nyota carefully place her on the bed and went shuffling about the room, straightening things here and there. Spock had set her boots down by her bed and quietly left as Nyota finished straightening out everything in Izanna's small quarters.

"You're mad at me." Izanna stated.

Nyota sighed and sat down next to her. "More annoyed than anything. You constantly somehow end up in weird situations and get hurt. It's hard to handle all the time," said Nyota.

"You know you don't always have to come to my rescue," Izanna said.

"Yes I do." Nyota patted her head and got up. "I'll go get you some food. Rest," she commanded as she left.

"Nyota?" she called. Her friend turned and she continued, "I think... I think Len kissed my forehead before I passed out. Why would he do that?" Nyota just rolled her eyes and repeated her command then swiftly left.

Izanna sighed and pulled the blankets up to her chin, snuggling in deep. When Nyota got back she found Izanna asleep, setting the food down on the nightstand she turned and left, shutting off the light as she did.

oOOOo

Izanna awoke in the early evening and ate the food Nyota had left for her. Now currently struggling to get off her blue uniform shirt off, she already gotten her pants off but her arms were bent oddly and constricted, the shirt covering her face. She sighed and sat up from where she had been squirming around on her bed, sitting on the side opposite of the door hoping to be able to get to the com and call Nyota to help her.

She heard the door to her quarters opened with a whoosh. "Nyota, sweetheart," she called. "I needed help."

There was a pause before Nyota came to stand in front of her and starting to pull. A few well placed tugs and her shirt came off. Izanna let out a sigh of relief and closed her eyes, rolling her shoulder and neck. "Than-" Izanna said looking up only to abruptly stop as her eyes meet blue ones.

Letting out a loud squeak she scrambled for a blanket, pulling it over her. "Wh-what are you doing in here? Why didn't you say it was you?"

"Nyota gave me your room code to come check on you since she was too busy to do it herself." Bones said, crossing his arms and taking a step back letting his eyes briefly run down her body, his cheeks tinting a light pink. "And I didn't tell you it was me because knowing you you would have wrenched your arm out of it's socket or something else freaking out like you just did. " She opened and shut her mouth a few times, not sure what to say to say even if she could say something.

Bones quirked an eyebrow and a sudden smirk spreading across his face. Taking a step forward in her space he leaned towards her, setting his hands on either side of her. Izanna's eyes widened and her face turned red, breath catching in her throat. His face was close enough that all she had to do was lean forward and his lips would touch hers.

Bringing his lips a hair's width from her ear he whispered, "You should probably go take your shower." He turned and sat down beside her, proceeding to take off his boots. "Don't let my presence stop you, considering all the trouble you went to getting out towels."

Izanna let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding, getting up she kept the blanket clutched to her and tried not to full out sprint into the bathroom. She could feel his eyes on her as she entered the bathroom and refused to look back, shutting the door with more force than she intended. After she got out of the shower she took some extra time towel drying her hair and dressing in her shorts and overly large pajama shirt in an attempt to settle her nerves.

Bones seemed to be asleep when she left the bathroom, his arms crossed over his chest which was rising and falling with his deep breaths. She walked to the other side of her bed, she sat and slowly reached out an arm to touch him. He didn't move and she deemed it okay to lay down next to him. She must have laid slightly to close because when her head came to rest on the bed he instantly rolled over to face her and pulled her into him. She was stuck using his arm as a pillow, her face being pressed into his chest, the other arm wrapped around her waist and a leg shoved between hers; attempting to squirm out of his grip only made it worse. She had been kidding when she teased him about being a cuddler but the accusation seemed to be spot on.

Debating with herself for awhile as to whether to wake him or not, she decided on the first and lightly shook his shoulder. "Len?" she asked quietly.

"Yes?" came his immediate reply.

She tensed up in his arms,"Have you been awake this entire time?"

"More like dozing on and off," he said.

"And?"

"And what?"

"And an explanation would be nice," she huffed, somewhat relaxing.

"I'm sure it would be," he replied.

"Len."

"Don't play dumb, you're a genius."

"With engineering and science, yes. With people? No."

"Take an educated guess."

Izanna rolled her eyes and scooted back enough to look up at his face. His eyes were open and on her, she couldn't hold his gaze for long and returned to looking at his chest. "I have no idea," she mumbled.

"You're frustrating, did you know that?"

"It's all I aspire to be."

He ignored her last comment and continued, "You just don't want to say it."

"Why don't you just tell me?"

"Maybe I want to hear you say it."

"Well, maybe I wanna hear you say it."

"God dammit woman, you're so stubborn."

"You're stubborn too."

"Now you're just repeating me."

"Maybe you're repeating me."

"We're getting nowhere fast with this."

"Stop repeating me and maybe we'll get nowhere rather slowly."

She felt his chest shake as he tried to hold back his chuckle. "You're really bad at comebacks," he said.

"I'll come on your back," she replied quickly. There was a moment of silence before she tried to backtrack, "No wait."

Bones burst out laughing and rolled onto his back as Izanna's face altered between varying shades of red.

Regaining some of her composer she sat up and turned to face him, resting her hand next to him and leaning over him a little, trying to look stern as she looked down at him. "That's not what I meant," she said.

"Too late," he said, calming down. He reached up and put a hand on her cheek, rubbing his thumb back and forth. "You're adorable when flustered."

She gaped at him, fishing around for words. "I do-don't... am not ..."

He smiled up at her, his eyes softening. "Like that," he said, it coming out more like a breath than a statement.

His smile stopped her heart; it was really lopsided and made his eyes squint a bunch, she absolutely loved it. Leaning into his hand she suddenly blurted out, "Ireallylikeyou," all in one fast almost ununderstandable word.

Somehow that impossible sweet, lopsided smile got even bigger and his eyes softened more. "I know," he said.

"Wait. What?"

"Uhura may have told me more than just the code to your room."

Izanna pursed her lips, "Excuse me while I go commit a murder."

She went to get off the bed when Bones put his hand behind her neck and started pulling her down. "It can wait," he said. Sitting up the rest of the way he closed the distance between their lips.

Seemingly unable to hold herself up Izanna gripped the front of his shirt and closed her eyes, using him to hold herself up. The kiss was soft, sweet, and filled with underlying passion. Bones broke the kiss drawing a grumble from Izanna as she moved forward to try and continue it.

"Eager are we?" he chuckled.

Smiling she pulled back and looked at him. "So, this means you like me too?" she asked shyly.

"Nope. This is all an extremely elaborate dream," he muttered sarcastically.

"Len!"

"Yes. I like you too," he said, pulling her down for another kiss and whispering into her lips, "I like you a lot."