A/N here's the second chapter in the AU... I don't have much to say except to thank everyone who reviewed/favorited/put the story on alert. Your feedback means a lot, so please review this chapter as well!

"C'mon, Bones! It'll be fun." Kirk practically whined.

Dr. Leonard McCoy just stared at him, arms folded against his chest, disapproving look set in his face. "Robbing a bank isn't exactly my definition of fun."

"It's not a done deal or anything," Kirk pleaded. "I'm just saying that it wouldn't hurt to see this team Pike's assembled…"

Bones frowned. "That's another thing. How do you know this guy again?" Knowing perfectly well how, but wanting to make Kirk say it for himself and hopefully realize how ridiculous he was being. Unlikely to succeed, but worth a try.

Kirk waved a hand as if it were no big deal. "He says he knew my dad."

Bones snorted. "Yeah, that's a great reason to trust him." No luck. Bones made a mental note to stop letting his crazy best friend go to bars un-chaperoned. He had an astounding ability to attract trouble.

"Look, there's something about this job, I can feel it! Let's just go see."

How does Jim manage things like this? Leave it to him to go out to earn a few bucks and come back with an offer to lead a bank robbery. Bones sighed; he knew he was going to give in eventually. Might as well get it over with, he thought and raised his hands in defeat. "Fine. You win. We'll meet them. But if it's a setup and we get... I don't know… arrested, I'm blaming you."

The other man seemed to ignore the last part of Bones' words. His face lit up and he was practically beaming. "Great!" he slapped Bones on the back. "Where would you be without me?" he asked.

"I don't know. Happy? Married, normal job…" Bones muttered under his breath.

"Exactly. Normal. Boring."

"Alive and un-imprisoned."

"Tomato tomäto."

Bones grumbled under his breath as he reached over and grabbed Pike's card off the table next to him. He flipped it in his fingers to read the address. He let out a low whistle. "Well, whoever he is, this Pike guy's loaded. Look," he said, handing the card to Kirk. "1080 Palmetto Lane. That's up in the ritzy part of town."

Kirk took the card and really examined it for the first time since Pike had given it to him. "Well, I guess that rules out a police set-up; they could never afford a place like this!" He said, chuckling.

Bones was less impressed. "Don't be so sure about that. Maybe they have something on Pike. He could be working with them for all we know."

Kirk didn't respond, a fact that only added to Bones' annoyance.

"I mean, a guy you've never met approaches you in a bar, while you were illegally gambling I may add, and asks you to rob a bank for him?" Bones said. "Doesn't that seem a little suspicious to you? And the only proof that he gives you to trust him is that he knew your dad?"

Kirk nodded. "Yep." He jumped up, his energy nearly boiling over. "C'mon, grab your coat! It's 2:45, we don't want to be late!"

"No, of course not," Bones grumbled, but grudgingly he got up and followed Kirk to the door. "I've met some of your father's friends," he said. "Didn't like them."

"Pike is different."

Bones turned at the sudden seriousness in Kirk's voice. "Different how?"

Kirk was pulling on his coat, not looking at Bones. "Just different."

Bones knew when pushing his friend wasn't a good idea, so instead he huffed a sigh, reached up, and grabbed his own coat from where it hung behind the door. As he put it on, he glanced at the apartment surrounding them. He and Kirk were roommates, had been for almost three years. They had met through an ad of all things. After Bones' wife divorced him, he'd been forced to get his own place. Unfortunately, he couldn't pay for it on his nonexistent salary, and that was where Kirk had come in. A juvenile delinquent straight off the streets, he had been the only offer Bones' got as a roommate. Luckily, his petty crime more than paid the rent, and much to Bones' amazement, he somehow managed to continuously avoid the police. Against his better judgment, Bones had gotten attached to the kid, and even more than a little involved with his less-than-legal pastimes, which was how he ended up heading off to plan a bank robbery.

"C'mon, Bones!" Kirk called, who was already out the door. "What're you doing?"

"Appreciating my freedom before it gone," he replied, falling easily back into his grumpy self.

Kirk laughed. "It's a crappy apartment, not exactly Buckingham Palace."

"Just wait. You'll miss it when you're in a prison cell with a roommate named Bubba."

Pike's place was just as ritzy as Bones had anticipated. Big white columns stretched over the enormous porch holding up what Bones considered an overly pretentious Greek style gable. What possible reason could there be for a house to have this type of architecture? He huffed in annoyance.

"Something wrong?" Kirk asked beside him, irritating grin still plastered across his face. He was much too peppy for someone who was about to plan a bank robbery.

"Looks like a courthouse. I'm appreciating the irony."

Kirk slapped his back again. "Appreciate it inside. We're late."

Bones muttered something that was not meant for the ears of small children.

Kirk leapt up the stairs and grasped the huge knocker on the door. He turned back to his friend. "You comin'?"

Reluctantly Bones trudged after him. By the time he reached the door, Kirk had already knocked. They waited a few seconds and it opened, presenting a man maybe twenty years older than Bones.

"Pike!" Kirk said jovially. "I expected a butler with this kind of bling," he said, pointing at the elaborate brass knocker in the middle of the door.

Pike chuckled. "I'm glad to see you came, Jim. Even if you are late."

Kirk didn't seem phased in the least, and hurriedly followed as Pike motioned them to come in.

Standing in the doorway of what could only be called a foyer, Bones sized the man up. So this was Christopher Pike. Well. At least he seemed more hygienic than some other friends of Kirk's father he had met.

"You must be Dr. McCoy," Pike said, reaching out a hand in greeting. "Jim told me he was bringing you."

Bones shook it. " And you must be Christopher Pike." He hesitated a second before continuing. "I'm a little surprised to see your place. Doesn't seem like someone who already has money would take the risk of robbing a bank just to get more." It may not have been the smartest move to just lay his concerns out on the table, but Bones had never exactly been one for subtlety or mind games.

Pike smiled. "An astute observation, Doctor. For now let's just say that money isn't my only concern in this job."

Bones was surprised that the man had admitted to that much, but he decided to drop his questioning. For then at least.

"So, Pike," Kirk said, getting back in on the conversation. "About this team you mentioned…"

"They're waiting in the parlor."

Parlor. God this place made Bones uncomfortable.

The journey to said parlor did little to put but Bones' mind at ease. Kirk and Pike were engaged in a conversation and talking animatedly, while he was left to brood about the consequences that would undoubtedly come when they reached the parlor and an entire police squadron was set up to arrest them.

To his enormous relief, his fears remained unconfirmed as Pike swung the massive and unnecessarily fancy doors open and there was only a scattering of occupants, none of whom looked particularly intimidating or police-esque.

"Everyone this is James Kirk and Dr. Leonard McCoy. They-" Before Pike could finish his sentence, a woman walked up to Kirk. Bones felt a sinking feeling as he recognized her chocolate skin and the long black hair pulled into a high ponytail on the top of her head.

"Uhura! It's so good to see-" Kirk was interrupted as a slap resonated through the room.

"I see you two have met," Pike commented drily, looking from the fuming woman to the man currently clutching his cheek.

"What-"

Once again Kirk was interrupted. "That was for Gaila." Uhura's glare was terrifying.

"We run in some of the same circles," Bones leaned over and whispered to Pike.

"Ah." The older man nodded in understanding. "That's not a surprise."

Uhura tore her murderous gaze from Kirk. With a flip of her ponytail she turned towards Bones and offered her hand. "Dr. McCoy. It's always a pleasure."

"Likewise," Bones said, trying to keep from laughing.

"What, you don't slap Bones?" Kirk muttered, looking utterly offended

"Dr. McCoy didn't sleep with my best friend and never call her again!" Uhura shouted, once again whirling on Kirk.

He shrunk back, afraid of her wrath, and this time Bones couldn't stop the chuckle from escaping.

Kirk shot him a death glare which was considerably lacking when compared to Uhura's. "Traitor," he mumbled under his breath.

"I trust this personal disagreement will not affect you two working together," Pike said, eyebrows raised.

Uhura turned to him. "Not at all. I'm a professional."

"It's nice to know someone here is," Bones muttered, looking at his best friend.

"What? I'm unprofessional? She slapped me!" Kirk said, once again seeming incredibly offended.

"Perhaps it'd be best if we moved on," Pike suggested. "As you undoubtedly know, Uhura is a very competent actress, so she will be handling the casing as well as any potential… role playing the job may require."

"Actress my ass. Con-artist is more like it," Kirk muttered under his breath. Everyone else was content to ignore him.

"In addition to Ms. Uhura, we have Montgomery Scott our ballistics expert." He gestured to a man who was possibly the most Scottish looking person Bones had ever seen, even with the lack of a kilt and bagpipes.

"Call me Scotty," he said, reaching a hand out to both Bones and Kirk in turn, a smile stretching across his face. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna slap ya," he said, amusement in his eyes as he warmly shook hands with Kirk.

Kirk grumbled something under his breath, which was, once again, ignored.

"So, Mr. Scott will be in charge of weapons, explosives, and any other devices of a more volatile nature that we may have a need for."

The Scotsman nodded in acknowledgment.

Pike moved on to the next person, a younger man who looked like he could be of Japanese or maybe Korean descent. "This is Hikaru Sulu. He's the best getaway driver you could hope for and an expert in combat fighting.

"It's nice to meet you both," Sulu said, shaking Kirk and Bones' hands.

"What kind of combat style are you trained in?" Bones asked.

Sulu smiled. "I'm a master fencer." He chuckled at the other man's surprised and vaguely worried expression. "Don't worry, I'm also good with a gun and even know some hand-to-hand combat, so I'm far from useless. Even without a saber."

"I'm more concerned with how a getaway driver becomes the best," Kirk said, smirking. "Is there some sort of driving test specifically designed for avoiding cops? Did you score the highest?"

Surprisingly, the man in front of him seemed to consider the question seriously. "Well I'm not sure if you'd count two years as a professional driver for action movies a 'driving test specifically designed for avoiding cops,' but if so, yes I scored the highest." A small smile at Kirk's surprised expression proved that the man had accomplished what he meant to. "And I can assure you that I'm just as adept at driving as I am at swordplay."

Bones chucked and turned back to Pike, and the two men beside him still waiting to be introduced. Well men may have been an exaggeration; one of them didn't look like he could be more than sixteen.

"This is Pavel Chekov," Pike said, motioning to the kid.

Clearly Russian, he still had the wide-eyed innocence of someone in grade school. That coupled with his curly red hair, the kid looked like he should be in biology class somewhere, not planning a bank robbery.

"How old are you?" Bones asked warily as he shook Chekov's hand.

"Sewenteen, sir," he answered, his voice hard to understand behind the thick accent.

Bones turned incredulously to Kirk. "He's seventeen, Jim!" he turned back to Pike. "You can't expect us to rob a bank with a seventeen year old!"

Before Chekov could begin to defend himself, Pike stepped in. "I wouldn't have brought Mr. Chekov here if I didn't believe that he was anything less than the most competent person in his field."

Something seemed so wrong about the much older man addressing the kid as 'Mr.' "I don't care if he's the damn king of whatever-the-hell he does!" Bones said. "He's seventeen! On top of bank-robbery we'll get charged with endangering a minor!"

"C'mon, Bones, have a little faith," Kirk sad, coming up behind his friend and shaking the kid's hand as well. "Who says we're going to be charged with anything?"

Bones ignored his way-too-dismissive best friend and looked back at the now incredibly nervous-looking seventeen year old. "Do you even have a checking account?" When the kid didn't answer he turned around the room. "None of you have a problem with this? Uhura?"

Uhura shrugged. "As far as I'm concerned seventeen is enough to make his own decisions. As long as he's the best I don't really care," she paused. "Besides, I was about his age when I started."

"I was younger," said the last un-introduced person in the room. He stepped up to Bones and reached out a hand. "Spock. It's nice to meet you."

"Just Spock?" Bones asked, momentarily distracted from his future criminal record in regards to Chekov. "Is that a first name or a last name?"

There was no change in the man's stoic expression. "Last. I doubt you could pronounce my first name. For your purposes, Spock will do."

"Nice ears," Kirk smirked as he took the man's hand after Bones.

For once, Bones had to agree with Kirk. Spock had some of the strangest features he had ever seen. Aspects of his face, his eyebrows, his ears looked distinctly foreign, his ears such an odd shape they were almost pointed. He had dark black hair hanging in a bowl cut halfway down his forehead. Usually a comical look, it somehow fit with his strange face and emotionless expression.

When Spock displayed no reaction to Kirk's taunt, Pike stepped forward. "Mr. Spock is a tech genius. His skills will be invaluable."

"A genius, huh?" Kirk asked, still holding Spock's hand.

Once again the man showed no reaction.

"And regarding Mr. Chekov's skills, he is the most talented pickpocket I have ever met, " Pike said.

Kirk turned back to the kid. "So you're a thief?"

The still terrified Russian nodded, eyes wide.

When it was clear that he wasn't going to speak on his own behalf, Pike continued. "I ran into Mr. Chekov in Moscow where he managed to lift my wallet without me noticing." He slapped Chekov's back good-naturedly. "Unfortunately for him, I happened to check my pocket a few steps up and realized what had happened. Since he was the only shady looking kid around I figured it must've been him."

Kirk snickered. "So great at picking pockets, but not so great at blending in?"

Chekov looked up at Kirk sheepishly and shrugged.

Pike laughed. "You should've seen the look on his face when I confronted him and instead of calling the police offered him a job."

"Yeah, but did ya keep the wallet?" Scotty asked from behind Pike, wrinkles crinkling around his eyes as his mouth drew back in a grin.

Kirk looked Chekov over, a teasing smile still on his face. "Still, is stealing a wallet off Pike here really that impressive?" He turned to Pike. "I mean who's to say that you just aren't that great at observing your surroundings?"

Pike chuckled, but it was the pointy-eared man, Spock, who answered. "I would check your pockets if I were you, Mr. Kirk."

Bones' eyebrows raised in surprise. His best friend may have been an idiot, but one thing in Kirk's favor was that playing him wasn't easy.

Kirk patted down his pockets, and sure enough seemed to be short a wallet.

Chekov handed it back, the same sheepish expression on his face. "Sorry, sir. Force of habit."

"How-" Kirk started, but was cut off by Spock.

"When you shook his hand. You were distracted talking to Dr. McCoy and it was an easy matter for Mr. Chekov to reach into your pocket and pull out the wallet without you noticing it."

Bones winced on his friend's behalf. Kirk wasn't exactly fond of looking stupid; he had an infuriating need to be the smartest person in the room (made no less infuriating by the fact that he often was).

Kirk turned to Spock. "Observant bastard, aren't you?" He took a step towards the man.

Spock's face remained unchanged. He gave nothing away. "More observant than you, apparently."

Thankfully Pike intervened before Kirk could get slapped for a second time that day. The strange man seemed perfectly calm, but Jim had an amazing talent for getting under people's skin. Bones was convinced that if he met the pope he would get the man to break at least three commandments.

"I think that's enough for one day," Pike said, stepping in between the two men.

Kirk was still valiantly glaring at Spock around Pike's head, and Bones had a sinking feeling. I can just tell that this is going to be so much fun, he thought sarcastically. Well. At least he had seen Uhura slap Kirk. The thought comforted him as, for the thousandth time that day, he began mentally organizing his prison cell.

A/N So there you have it! Interesting dynamics and stuff... If you have any comments or suggestions or constructive criticisms please please review!

I know I wasn't exactly super prompt with this update, and unfortunately it will probably only get worse in a few weeks cause school is starting, but hopefully you won't have to wait too long for chapter 3!