AN: I know I have three stories going but I couldn't get the idea for this to go away, so I'm sharing.

"These things are pretty safe to sit in. I doubt we're even going anywhere, everything looks like it's icing over," the girl in the seat next to him said.

It didn't really matter to Leonard, he hates to fly. At the moment, they weren't even moving, so maybe she had a point. They were in Dallas-Fort Worth at four thirty in the morning, in the middle of what looked to be the beginning of an ice storm. Leonard was regretting not spending the extra cash to fly non-stop.

"I have aviophobia," he told her.

"A fear of dying in something that flies. You do know that you're in an airplane, right?" she teased. At least, he thought she was teasing.

"I'm quite aware of that. I don't have much choice, my car is in California already," Leonard said to the woman.

She smiled, "Moving to the west coast. What do you do?" He gave her a look and found a pair of gorgeous blue eyes staring at him. Long blonde hair, pouty pink lips; this girl had gorgeous everything.

"I'm a doctor. Trauma surgeon. I'm supposed to start at San Fran General in a few days, if we get there."

"With Doctor Philip Boyce?" the girl asked him. How the hell would she know that?

"Yes. How do you…?" he began to ask. She showed him her phone. On the screen was a picture of Boyce with an arm around a handsome man and the girl sitting next to Leonard on this plane. "You know my new boss?"

"Yep, I'm his adoptive step-daughter. It's a really long story. You must be the medical genius he snagged from Atlanta… nice accent. I'm Jim," she said as the flight attendants got on the intercom to announce that their flight was not leaving and they all had to get off the plane. Jim chuckled, "Told ya. We'd be better off driving it."

"Can we do that?" Leonard asked her.

"I can do anything I want if I put enough effort into it. Interstates are usually clear in crappy weather. I can take I-40 west, it's a little over seventeen hundred miles," she paused, "twenty-five hours of drive time. Even if I make a lot of stops, I could be in California before this airport gets any planes in the air. And I can rent a car from my phone." As if to prove her point, Jim started typing on the small device and had a car reserved before the door to the plane opened. "Wanna come with me, we're going to the same place?"

"Might as well." It's not like he had any better options. "I'm Leonard, by the way. Leonard McCoy."

"So, what's your story?" she asked.

"What makes you think I have a story?" Leonard countered.

Jim chuckled, "Everybody has a story, doc. I happen to know that my step-dad had to beg you to take the job at The General. So, what's the story?"

"My ex-wife cheated, left and took everything including my job and my daughter," he told her. "I worked in the same practice as her father. He took my side in the divorce because what she did was fucked up but I couldn't stay. She showed up at the practice and the hospital every day and caused problems. As soon as I was unemployed, she petitioned for custody."

"That's fucked up," Jim said as she changed lanes. "How's your kid doing with all this?"

"Joanna. She's is nine and she's smarter than my ex thinks. There's nothing she can do and it bothers her but she knows her mother is full of shit. My sister is gonna bring her out to visit after I get settled," he told her.

"Ahh… she's one of those kids," Jim said.

Leonard looked at the woman in the driver's seat. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I bet the teachers can't even keep up with her. 'Too smart for her own good.' They tell you that a lot. Don't they?"

"Yeah. You were one of those kids, weren't you?" he asked with a smirk.

"You have no idea," she said with a chuckle.

"So, tell me. You wanna know all about my life. What about you? What's your story?" Leonard asked.

"I'm just a typical genius with dead parents. If I were a comic book character, I'd be Batman or Iron Man… except, you know, prettier," she told him.

"And without the multimillion dollar company," he added.

"Actually, I almost have that one down." She glanced at him and chuckled, "You ever hear of Enterprise Global?"

"It's a computer company, right?"

"Cybersecurity and unified threat management. Right now we're working mainly with companies but we're also developing software for private use." The way she said it, it was like the most normal thing for a woman in her twenties to talk about.

"So, you work for them?" he asked.

"No, my best friend and I own it." Did she just say she owned what is quickly becoming a multinational tech company?

"You're like twenty-two… twenty-three," he said.

Jim smiled, "Twenty-seven but thanks for the compliment. I'm like a girl version of Zuckerberg, you know, the Facebook guy. I told you, I'm a genius. Me and Spock, my best friend, put the company together before we got our master's degrees from MIT almost seven years ago. I used the money from my parent's life insurance and he used some money from his dad and the rest is history. We worked outta this tiny apartment when we started but we doubled our initial investment after the second year, paid ourselves back and slowly expanded into what we are now. It's hard work but we love it."

"So, you're rich? Why were you flying in coach? And why the hell are you driving with me instead of being in a private jet?" he asked. "Don't answer any of that, I don't have a filter."

"It's okay. Yes, I guess I'm rich. I don't have a jet because I think it's a waste and I'm not the type to just throw money at stuff. I have my dream home, a nice car and a motorcycle. I don't really need anything else, I'm a simple person. I was in coach because I traded my first class ticket on an earlier flight with a solider on his way home from Afghanistan, yesterday. Guess it's a good thing too, I would hate for that guy to be stuck at DFW after everything he's done for our country."

"That's really sweet," Leonard told her.

She shrugged, "My dads were all in the military. My biological dad, George, and my adoptive dad, Chris, were in the Army together and became best friends. Phil was in the Navy. If I can do something to help someone else, I do."

"Which explains why I'm in the car with you." Jim nodded at his observation. "So what does Chris do?" he was curious.

"He's the head of operations for a private military contractor," she said. "Pain in my ass but he's my dad and I love him."

"You mind if I ask you something personal?" She shrugged and Leonard took that as his permission. "What happened to your family?"

Jim sighed, "I don't talk about it a lot. Maybe I'll tell you one day."

"You think we're gonna be friends after this?" Leonard liked the idea of being friends with this girl. Hell, he wouldn't mind being more than friends. As his mama would say, she's got moxy. His mama would also be planning the wedding already.

"Road trips breed friendship," Jim told him. "Besides, other than Phil, I'll be the only person you know in San Francisco. Somebody has to make sure you don't work yourself to death."