Kagome: YO WAZZUP B*TCHES! Lol I'm all inspired now because I just watched the 2009 movie again today! ^ ^ I seriously pissed everyone in the room of with my incessant chatter. And squealing, there was lots of that. (Seriously, can I help it if Spock's ears and Chekovs accent are freaking MADE of adorable? Seriously!) I fell off the coach when Spock kissed Uhura in the turbolift. I always do… Bitch got no right to be lovin on my man…

OH! And by the way I forgot to do the do-not-own- thingy. I still don't get the point though, I mean, I've said it before and I'll damn well say it again. If I owned star trek I wouldn't be writing fanfiction! I would be busy fixing all the wrong done in the original series! Example: that bitch who gets all friendly with Spock in this side of paradise? *cocks imaginary gun and pretends to shoot*

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek! I do not own Spock, or Kirk, or Sulu, OR even Chekov. I do however own Veronica, the idea for this story, and a pair of slippers that look like frogs.

Chapter 2

With a groan, Veronica hauled herself out of the cramped Jeffries Tube she'd occupied for the last hour. A set of frayed wires and melted paneling had kept her hanging upside-down in a shaft for much longer than she'd have liked.

I need to have a word with Scotty about who installed that circuit board. She thought to herself as she straightened her uniform, Hands down the worst job I've ever seen. She didn't pay attention as she wriggled off the lip of the tube, and shrieked as she fell, landing hard on her butt. She muttered curses in several different languages as she picked herself off the floor, and hissed as her knee popped.

"Uuuuuh…." She moaned, "What were you thinking? It's your first day on the Enterprise and you demand that Scotty lets you work… You're an absolute idiot Nic…" A passing yeoman snickered at her, and Veronica shot her a look to melt lead.

"What are you lookin' at?" she grumbled. It was her own fault really she supposed. After the SNAFU on the bridge, she hadn't taken no for an answer when Scotty tried to give her the rest of the day off. How could she possibly sit still and lounge around in her quarters when she had already gotten a taste of what it was like to work on the Enterprise? And so Scotty had laughed and handed her a PADD with a small checklist of repairs, telling her not to worry if she didn't get them all done. So of course she had worked overtime, only pausing to clock out at the end of her shift before heading back to the tubes.

With a happy sigh she pulled the PADD out of the waistband of her uniform and stabbed the check box next to the line 'frayed wiring', maybe a little harder than necessary. She glanced at the clock in the corner of the screen before doing a double-take back at it.

"2030 hours?" she shrieked. She facepalmed and leaned against the wall. Her shift had ended at 1700. A loud grumble from her stomach sent her head snapping up. Food…

She made a beeline for the mess hall.

~x~*~X*X~*~x~

In the mess hall

Chekov sighed, distractedlyrunning a hand through messy brown curls. His best friend sat across from him, casually examining him as he finished his meal. Chekov sighed again, turning to stare out the window they were seated next to, gazing off into space. He couldn't seem to quit thinking about McCoy's sister. Not like, a crush, he told himself, more from a sense of amusement and curiosity. After she had left, everyone on the bridge, the captain especially, had been in decidedly high spirits. Not to mention his console hadn't had a single problem since. He could've done without her, ah, interesting reaction to his accent though. His cheeks still burned when he thought about the kisses, and how the scent of cotton candy had lingered on his sleeve for hours afterwards…. He flushed, unconsciously. Sulu groaned and rolled his eyes.

"Alright Pav," he said with a smirk, "What is it?"

Pavel started. "Vhat do you mean Hikaru?" he said innocently, "Vhat is Vhat?" He smirked softly as Sulu facepalmed.

"Whatever it is that's got you so distracted that you staring off into space like a lovesick girl." Sulu grinned, laughing as Pavel's face flushed in anger.

"I am not a loveseek-" Pavel started, but he broke off, his vision suddenly very focused on something over Sulu's shoulder. Sulu blinked and looked behind him.

"What are you…? Oh." Sulu turned back to his friend, the world's biggest shit-eating grin on his face. Pavel continued to stare as Veronica went to the bar and ordered a drink, and then barreled her way toward the replicator, where she punched keys furiously until there was a veritable mountain of food on her tray. She popped a few grapes in her mouth and chewed thoughtfully, eyes sweeping the room. She suddenly looked very awkward.

Pavel frowned in confusion.

"Vhy does she not…Hey!" he protested, as a cherry tomato bounced off his forehead.

"Ask her to sit here dumbass!" Sulu laughed, jerking his head in her direction. He tilted his head back towards Pavel and gave him a very meaningful look. "You know you waaaaaanna!"

Pavel glared and threw the tomato back at him before raising a hand and waving at Veronica.

"Mees McCoy!" he called, "Mees McCoy!" He felt like an idiot as people turned to look at him, but as Veronica turned to look at him it was worth it. She breathed a visible sigh of relief as she made her way gratefully over to them.

"Lieutenant Chekov?" she said hesitantly, reaching the table, "Can I sit here? It horrible standing there, like being the new kid in middle school all over again!" Sulu laughed, and gestured to the empty chair next to Pavel.

"Sit down already, before Pavel here spontaneously combusts!" he said. Pavel sat straight up in his seat, flushing to the roots of his hair.

"Hikaru!"

Veronica giggled at his half-strangled squeak of a voice, setting down her tray and sitting. Sulu grinned at his best friend smugly.

"Is something wrong Pav?" he wheedled. Pavel made a choking sound, and Veronica slapped a hand over her mouth, trying not to laugh. Poor Chekov was looking so embarrassed already. In fact if looks could kill, Sulu would have been a small pile of ash on the ground.

Pavel finally looked back toward Veronica and huffed slightly, noticing her shoulders shaking.

"I'm sorry!" she managed to squeak, "I don't mean to laugh!" Pavel rolled his eyes and groaned.

"Vhy me…"

Sulu and Veronica looked at each other for a few seconds. Then burst into hysterics. Pavel mimed banging his head against the table as they clutched their sides, practically falling out of their seats. It just made them laugh harder.

"I-I'm s-s-sorry Pav!" Sulu tried, "R-really!"

Pavel might have believed him. If he hadn't still been laughing.

Veronica was the first to recover, wiping her eyes and attempting to gain some semblance of composure. Sulu took another minute, since every time he looked at Pavel's stony face he fell apart all over again. Finally though, he subsided into small hiccups. Stretching his hand across the table, he grinned at Veronica.

"I'm Hikaru Sulu. Nice to meet you!" he said with a charming smile. She laughed and grinned at him.

"Nice to meet you Mr. Su-"

"Nope, call me Hikaru. You're too much fun to be so formal, I can tell that already." Sulu cut her off. Veronica flashed him the dazzling smile she had shown Pavel on the bridge earlier, and he blinked, momentarily stunned. She didn't appear to notice, and he quickly pulled himself together and focused back on what she was saying.

"I'm Veronica McCoy," she introduced herself, "Y'know, Leonard McCoy's sister?" she paused long enough for Sulu to nod, and continued, "For god's sake, don't call me that though, the only one who does is my mother…" she paused again to roll her eyes. "Call me Nic or Nicky okay?"

Sulu smiled warmly, "Alright, Nicky it is."

Pavel cleared his throat.

"Karu, how iz it that you've known her for five meenuts and already you are all over her?" he said.

Sulu smirked at him, "Why Pavel, are you jealous? Don't worry, I prefer mine a little older." They looked at each other steadily for a few moments before breaking into wide smiles. Pavel shook his head and leaned back in his chair, looking at Veronica.

"Call me Pavel day? Not Chekov. Mr. Chekov is my father." He said. Veronica grinned.

"Alright," she laughed. "Oh, but you aren't allowed to call me anything other than Veronica." She said sternly. Pavel looked confused, and more than a little hurt.

"But, Vhy?"

"Because hearing you say 'Weronica' is so damn cute!"

Sulu roared with laughter at the look on Pavel's face.

~x~*~X*X~*~x~

They got on amazingly after that, sitting there and talking for two hours. Nic found herself just chattering away with them, as if she'd known them her whole life. It was a great feeling, to just simply be liked. It was like being in kindergarten again, she thought. That way that a child could just walk up to you, you didn't even need to know their name really, and suddenly you were building castles in the sandbox or throwing a ball around, as if they were your best friend, and you hadn't just met five minutes ago.

It would be nice if the whole universe were like that…. She reflected, as she laughed at Pavel spitting water over the table at something Hikaru had just said. I wish it wasn't so complicated. No superiors and subordinates… Hell, I can't sit with my brother and a guy I've know my whole life, just because their my superior officers… Yeah, not calling Leo 'Big Brother' or 'Bones' was going to be a hard habit to break. (She had taken avidly to Jim's nickname.)

She was jerked unceremoniously back to the present as a grape bounced off of her nose.

"Hey Nicky, are you in there?" Hikaru called. Nic started and blinked rapidly.

"Uh….Huh?"

Hikaru laughed. He seemed to do that a lot she noticed.

"Glad you could join us." Pavel said with a smile. "Vhat ve said VAS, ve are headed to the rec room to spar a leetle, and vould you like to come veeth?"

Nic looked at him, "Spar?"

Pavel nodded vigerously. "Da. Hikaru is teaching me. Maybe he could show you a leetle as well?" he looked over at Hikaru, who nodded encouragingly.

"Why not? Heck, a few more and I could start my own class!" The pilot said with a smile. Nic though it over.

"What kind of sparring? Martial arts? Hand to hand?" she questioned. She cocked her head like a puppy. Pavels eye twitched, and he looked away. Didn't she know how adorable she was when she did that?

Sulu was answering though, and he looked back.

"Fencing."

Nic froze for a second. "Reeeeaally…" she said thoughtfully, "I suppose that would be interesting to learn…."

"Great! Let's go! You comin' Pav?" Hikaru.

"Da."

They got up and walked out of the mess, Nic turning her head slightly away from the two, to hide the evil glint in her eye and her smirk.

~x~*~X*X~*~x~

"So I hold it like this?" Nic questioned, trying not to laugh as she awkwardly shifted her hand on the foil. Hikaru shook his head, holding out his own hand, also holding a foil, to show her.

"No, your thumb goes like this." He corrected patiently. Nic nodded slowly and tried to look like she was trying hard, while Pavel tried not to laugh on the sidelines. Let him laugh. It won't last long. Nic thought smugly.

"That's pretty good. Now… how shall we do this… Let's try just having you come at me, and we can correct the mistakes you make from there." Hikaru smiled at her and sank into a fighting stance.

Nic looked akward, but nodded.

"Alright…" she studied his feet carefully, and acted like she was copying him, "Hey Hikaru, on the off-chance I actually beat you, what do I win?"

Pavel gave in to his laughter as he leaned against the wall, and Hikaru had to choke back a smirk.

"Well since there is literally no chance of that happening… If you win, you can have my katana. I won't deserve to own it if I get beaten by a newbie."

Pavel continues to snort with laughter on the sidelines. Sulu flashes her the cockiest smile she's ever seen on a man, and she grins right back. The katana was in a case next to Pavel, and she had seen it as Hikaru had taken out the foils. It was absolutely beautiful, and better yet, the damn thing was expandable. God only knew how they'd accomplished that.

"Deal."

And in a flash, her hand was perfectly positioned on the rapier, feet spread in a flawless battle stance, and she was lunging at Hikaru. His eyes widened and he barely managed to get his foil up in time to stop a welt from appearing on his cheek. Shock wrote itself plainly across his face at he began to move through stances, Nic whirling and striking like a master. Pavel's jaw dropped as he watched their movements, almost as if they were dancing, the way feet and arms flashed, punctuated only by the silver arcs of their foils while they parried and blocked.

Nic began to laugh as she thrust and parried, body arching in forms as old as war.

Block, strike, parry, stab, stab, parry, lunge, flip, parry, strike, block...

She felt alive, and she could see on Hikaru's face that he did as well. An enormous smile stretched from ear to ear as he matched her blow for blow. He was absolutely masterful, the best challenge she had had in years. It felt so good to have a challenge, for that was certainly what this was. She could feel the strain in her arms, her calves, and sweat beaded on her forehead and back. But still, she could feel that every time their foils met, that he was tiring just as she was. Bit by bit they pushed each other, and she couldn't tell how long they had been fighting, was it minutes? Seconds? Hours? Days? Had there even been a time when she hadn'y been fighting him? It didn't matter, because she was swept up in enjoyment, lost in the thrill of having finally met her match.

She nearly cried the moment she realized it couldn't last much longer. Her arms were nearly shaking, and she was dripping with sweat, but still, Hikaru was in the same condition, and all she had to do was find and opening. Wait… wait… wait… THERE! And before she had even thought of making the motion her body had done it, and the point of her foil was still at last, motionless under Hikaru's chin, pressed against his pulse point.

Something was poking her throat. With wide eyes she followed the trail of Hikaru's hand, over the hilt and down the blade, until the tip of his foil met the hollow of her neck.

She blinked.

They stared at each other in the sudden silence, pouring sweat, their panting the only sound.

And then…

"Vhat the hell Weronica! You said you had newer fenced before!" came the heavily accented yell from the side, and then she and Hikaru were laughing. Bent nearly double, gasping for the breath they didn't have in the first place, and Nic couldn't remember a single day in her life when she had laughed as much as she had today.

~x~*~X*X~*~x~

Kagome: WHOOOOO! SNOW DAY! I may hate pretty much everthing about Iowa, but I gotta say, snow days are damn nice. So stop gloating and SUCK IT florida! I see you there in math class! Where are your beaches now huh?

Okay. anyway, TONS of thanks and cupcakes to Lovebuggy, Thank you SOOOOOOO much! I will most definitely take what you said into account, and attempt to rein my sense of humor in a bit with my superior officers. I've never had someone comments on more than one chapter in my stories before, so again, thank you so much!

And please please please review? I will seriously go back and rewrite an unpublished chapter if someone tells me i'm doing something wrong! Thats the whole point of me being on here, I want to be a better writer! So. See the shiny blue button down there? PUSH the shiny blue button. I don't care if it's a fucking flame, I WANT TO KNOW WHAT YOU GUYS THINK!