Love at first sight. That moment when your eyes meet from across the room and everything stops. When you have your first conversation and it's like you're the only two people in the room. No one else matters. First kisses and stolen moments in the corridors. Sneaking out and spending long nights together, huddled under blankets or watching the stars. Holding hands under the table and sending smiles when no one it watching. The butterflies that flutter in your bellies when the others name is brought up in conversation or when you see each other after a long day apart. That's how Pavel Chekov and Alice Cardinelli would describe their first meeting and their relationship to those around them, years from now, after everything they've witnessed and experienced.

They met on a Tuesday. Or at least what Pavel thought was a Tuesday. Days didn't matter in space. Not when you traveled amongst the stars and lived off military time. For a while, he kept track of the days since the left Earth. But now, several months later, it didn't matter. It was useless to give each day a name, when it never mattered.

It was a distress call from a ship that had been attacked. Several crewmembers had boarded a shuttle- the only survivors- and left their ship behind as it blew into a million pieces. Pavel was leaving the cafeteria and heading up to his quarters when he heard the page in the corridors.

"This is Jim Kirk. We are expecting an arrival down in the shuttle dock. Please stay alert for further notice. Kirk out,"

Curious, Pavel made his way at to the turbo lift and took it down to the shuttle dock. Stepping out, he saw the small waiting party -which only consisted of Jim and Bones- waiting for the arriving shuttle. Jim turned to greet the newcomer when he frowned.

"Chekov, what are you doing down here?" he asked.

"You said a shuttle vas coming, no?" he asked, fidgeting in his place.

Jim nodded, "Yes, but aren't off duty? Don't you want to catch up on some sleep?" he asked.

Pavel shook his head, "No sir. I'm weary curious as to the vhat is coming. Besides, vhat if they speak Russian?"

Jim chuckled, "Alright. Come on, they should be here within ten minutes," he said, patting the young man on the shoulder.

The small group made their way to the shuttle dock, and watched through the window as the doors slowly opened. A few minutes later, a small moving speck could be seen with the naked eye, as the shuttle approached the ship.

"What do we know about this shuttle?" Bones asked, watching as it moved closer and closer.

"Distress call was picked up three hours ago. Something attacked their ship and only four shuttles managed to leave- three where destroyed but this one managed to escape. Not sure on all the other details, but they'll come out once we get these people onboard and checked over," Jim said, as the shuttle made it's way in, landing slowly.

They met with security and waited as the shuttle door flipped up, allowing the first person to vacate.

"Is this really the U.S.S Enterprise?" the man asked, as he clutched his arm to his chest.

Jim nodded, "Yes, this is. Who are you and from what ship are you from?" he asked.

The man let out a sob of relief, "I'm Ensign Richard Jones, from the U.S.S Dragonfly,"

Bones nodded, "How many do you have aboard? And who else requires medical attention?" he asked, taking note of his injuries.

"We have seven including myself. Several burns and broken bones, not sure how serious though. Our CMO was killed during the attack," Richard said.

"Okay, lets get everyone off the shuttle and down to sick-bay. Then we need to report this to Admiral Pike and figure out what the hell happened, "Jim said.

Richard nodded and turned around to speak to the people inside the shuttle. A few seconds later, several men stumbled and limped out. Bones cursed and quickly paged for more hands and stretchers, as the injured poured out. The last to step off the shuttle was a young woman, her uniform stained heavily with blood. As everyone moved about, she stood by the entrance of the shuttle, watching with nervous eyes, as her people moved.

Pavel caught sight of her and immediately felt his heart stop. She was unlike any other girl he'd seen. Her chestnut locks were pulled back into a messy ponytail, and she looked lost and broken. He slowly made his way over to her, drawn to her like a moth to a flame.

The young woman could see someone approaching her from the corner of her eye, and she quickly turned her head to look. The young man stopped mid-step and stared at her. She was taken back at how young he was and how nervous he appeared. He had the curliest hair she'd ever seen on a boy, curlier than hers, and the widest eyes. She stayed still as he started walking again, watching as he moved closer and closer until he was a few inches away from her.

"Are you.. hurt?" he asked, nodding to the bloodstained tunic she wore.

She shook her head, "N-no," she whimpered, as her eyes filled with tears.

Immediately, the young man became nervous as the first set of tears fell, and he carefully led her away from the shuttle.

"No no. Don't cry, Miss. Ewerything vill be alright," he said, as he reached into one of the med-packs for something to wipe her tears away.

Grabbing a handful of gauze pads, he handed them over to her. She took them from his trembling hands and swiped away the tears.

"T-thanks," she sniffed, as she tried to calm down.

"Vhat is your name?" he asked, as she cleared her throat.

"Alice Cardinelli,"

Pavel gave her a small smile and nodded, "Pretty name, yes?" he asked.

Alice managed to laugh for the first time in twelve hours and nodded, "If you think so," she said, blushing slightly.

"I'm Pavel Andreievich Ckekov," he quickly shot out, before blushing as well.

"I'm gonna have to get you to write that down.." she said, smiling.

Pavel rubbed the back of his neck and laughed, "You can call me Pavel. Eweryone calls me Chekov.. but that makes me sound old, no?"

Alice nodded, "I will call you Pavel," she confirmed.

Suddenly Bones shouted across the noise, "Chekov, we're heading to sick-bay. Bring your new friend with you!" he barked, as he and the others shuffled stretchers supplies towards the turbo lifts.

Pavel turned to Alice and nodded, "Come, I take you," he said, offering his arm out to her.

Alice wrapped her arm around his and he led her towards the lift, walking past Jim and one of the security guards. They both watched as the young Ensign and girl made their way into the lift, as Pavel spoke softly to the girl.

"Well, there's something you don't see everyday," Jim said, as the doors closed on them.

He then excused himself and waited for the next lift, determined to get answers as to what the hell was going on.