Chapter 1: Take My Hand

Christine was frantic, her hair was pulling itself from its strict bun, her eyes were wide with unrestrained panic and her hands were covered in sticky blood.

"Doctor McCoy! Doctor Mc..McCoy!" Leonard McCoy had never seen Christine so panicked. By no means was Christine Chapel a flighty woman, she had a strict demeanour that was only amplified by her bun and self presentation. She was the one thing he could count on to keep a relatively stable sickbay, what with all the green-horned cadets running around like headless chickens. But this Christine he was not used to seeing.

The panicked woman grasped the white door frame leaving bloody smudges across the painted metal. "It's Lizzy." No two words could of spurned the grumpy doctor from his paper strewn, coffee fragranced office faster than those.

Elizabeth, 'call me Lizzy', Hayes was both the bane and highlight of the sullen doctors life. She was a veritable bouncing ball of untainted kinetic energy. She quite literally bounced off things...constantly. He'd first met her through Jim Kirk, the unrepentant playboy six years his junior who he'd been saddled rooming with. All in all Kirk wasn't so bad, true nine nights out of ten he was bringing some girl back, he'd had so many that Leonard no longer kept track of their names, and was the reason why he took the graveyard shift more often than not. But Kirk was a good friend, at least he kept his mind off rather depressing things.

Lizzy had been one of Kirks discoveries. Apparently she was the room mate of the girl of the day and a whizz at engineering. Having several personal projects approved by the engineering academy board. It was with no shame either, that with her large doe eyes, long brown locks, Texan twang and short stature Kirk had set off in pursuit. But that pursuit had been cut short on the meeting with the wrong end of a plasma torch. That was the day both he and Kirk had learnt not to interrupt and engineer with a working tool in their hands. The burn had been nasty, it was a miracle he hadn't lost an eye, or a finger, or an arm.

Lizzy had dragged the injured Kirk by his foot all the way to the sickbay, rather a triumph due to their seven inch height difference. It would have been amusing to see the small woman try and bodily pull Kirk through the shutting sickbay doors, had it not been for the pitiful moaning from Kirk and the terrified look on Lizzy's face. Later, of course, he had learnt that she was less terrified for Kirk and more terrified of sickbay. But either way it was not the time for laughter.

After that he'd noticed Lizzy appearing more often in sickbay. Apparently she was somewhat of a regular customer. She was always very flighty around the doctors and more than stubborn when it came to seeking or receiving treatment. Jim had once carried her in, delusional from severe fever preventing her threats of breaking his nose and running for the hills from ever coming to fruition.

After noticing her familiar form and temperament cluttering his sickbay on regular occasions, and after having several doctors and nurses refuse to treat the stubborn and unruly engineer. McCoy had taken it on himself to deal with her. After numerous veiled threats from both parties they had come to a compromise under the stern glare of one Christine Chapel. Lizzy Hayes would go to medbay as soon as she was injured rather than exacerbating it with a prolonged stubborn delay and Leonard McCoy would be the one treating her, and that was to be that.

Over the course of the two years that they had known each other doctor and engineer became as close as any friends could be. When they weren't in their differing lectures they were found together, berating Kirk on his laxing attitude with both work and women, studying, or more oft than not at the quiet local bar that served quality whiskey and liqueurs.

So it was those two words that struck a cord of fear in McCoys hardened heart. Being notoriously accident prone, and handling dangerously unstable projects on a daily basis, Lizzy was a walking funeral waiting to happen.

In a flurry of scatter paper and spilled coffee Leonard McCoy shot from his desk with a speed he would deny ever having. Christine following closely on his heels, he burst into sickbay with the ferocity of an angered tiger. Eyes glancing round wildly they landed on a sight he'd never expected to see.

POP!

"Surprise!" Lizzy was perfectly fine, legs swinging off the edge of a biobed. Clasped between her forefinger and thumb of her left hand was a party-popper. Leonards expression went from panicked to furious as the rainbow knot of crepe paper strings tumbled down his face. But Lizzy expression remained as happy as it began. "Its your birthday as of one minute ago, happy birthday doctor." In a feat that denied the physics of nature her grin got even larger.

"How dare you...I thought...I thought...damn you women!" Leonard ran a hand through his hair, messing it from its usual appearance. Glancing at the clock he realised she was, in fact correct, it was his birthday. His snarl deepened. There was an unofficial rule that Leonard McCoy did not celebrate his birthday. At least not in the usual manner. It was the one day a year that Jim didn't bring a girl back, where Jim didn't come in their dormitory at all, least he want a glass thrown at his face.

Why? Well because his ex harpy wife had divorced him on his birthday, rubbing salt into the already festering wound of having your life and livelihood torn away from you.

So why Lizzy thought she could be the exception to that rule...

"Get out" With his fingers pinching the bridge of his nose the words came out in a whisper. With his hand in the way he didn't see the look shared between Christine and Lizzy. A look that said 'told you he would do this' and 'I'm not giving up yet'.

"Nope." Lizzy popped the 'p' like a bubble gum bubble and before he could shout a protest she bolted towards him and dragged him from sickbay, taking time to wave at the startled doctor she'd almost flattened.

Said doctor, doctor Viola Hart gave Christine a confused look with wide startled eyes. "What going on with them?" Having been coerced into taking over McCoy's graveyard shift by the ever persistent duo of Hayes and Chapel she'd expected McCoy to at least be some fraction of happy. But the man she'd just watched being dragged like a petulant toddler, was anything but.

Christine just shrugged, internally praying that Lizzy knew what she was doing.

~oOo~

Lizzy had been working, for the past few seconds, with the fact that Leonard was too stunned to protest her manhandling. But one can only keep him stunned so long. Just a few feet further...just a little further.

"Ow!" Lizzy had gone from moving to stationary in a spectacular impersonation of a terra-bound flounder. With a face full of bland grey academy carpet, Lizzy rolled over to stare a Leonard. "Leo don't be a stubborn ass okay, just trust me." She brought a hand up to touch her nose which was thumping with a blunt pain. "Plus I think my fish impression broke my nose." Smiling sheepishly she wiped away a trickle of blood.

Leonard sighed and mused his hair again. Closing his eye momentarily he tempered the reply that was biting the tip of his tongue. "Fine, but no partying, and no more surprises. If Jim jumps out of the woodwork I'll sedate the both of you."

Grinning Lizzy pushed herself to her feet and pinching the bridge of her nose to sedate the flow, bounded the few feet left to the door of the room he and Jim shared. With practiced nimble fingers she entered the code that Leonard would swear he had never told her and disappeared inside. A few seconds of hesitation and McCoy slipped in behind her.

The room was cleaner than he remembered it being that afternoon, the small table was decorated with a considerable library of whiskeys that clustered like lambs about a sapphire blue bottle. He couldn't contain the eyebrow raise. Romulan ale. Where did she get that from?

"Seeing as you're usual celebration is to drink yourself into a stupor with whatever mediocre alcohol you boys have collected, I see no reason to deviate from tradition." She sent him a smirk, still holding her nose so it was a little overshadowed but he got the picture. "But first, nose please."

Leonard let out a chuckle, her whole speech had been impeded by her firm grip on the bridge of her nose. With two quick strides he was pulling away her fingers and prodding her proboscis. "It's not broken Liz." He put in another firm prod, trying not to take her wince as revenge for his earlier heart attack. "Just bruised, broken vessels. It should stop bleeding soon." Handing her a tissue he flopped onto his bed.

With a grimace, Lizzy set about cleaning the blood from her face one handed while popping the cap on the Romulan ale. Obviously they were starting off with the small stuff. This woman was a walking wonder. Far beyond the norm for accident proneness when working with plasma torches she could easily open a bottle surrounded by a dozen others, while cleaning her face, without even a clink of glass on glass. Contradiction in human form.

Though she was making a hash of her face.

The bed dipped as Lizzy flopped down beside him with two shimmering blue glasses, gleaming of illegality. Noticing Leonards stare she spoke. "What?"

"Give me the tissue Liz, your worse than a child."

"Ffft" Swatting his hands away she pushed the glass into them.

"Happy Birthday Leo." With a clink the illegal blue was replaced with air and two satisfied sighs. Maybe this birthday wouldn't be so bad after all.

~oOo~

The inner ramblings of a tired mind. Hope you enjoyed this, my first fanfic for Star Trek alternate reality. Based off the amount of interest expressed in the story I will continue it.

I really would appreciate the reviews, as this is my first story!

Disclaimer: All the characters but my own belong to the creators of Star Trek. I'm just borrowing them.