A/N – Okay, so here we go! I've been playing around with this story for a long time and decided to give it a whirl. I really want to dig into how these characters have evolved and changed in light of the things they've been through. So although there is a big, arcing plot peppered with smaller events, parts of this story are really going to focus on the relationships between the characters too!

Just a head's up, this is going to be a sloooooow burn between Bones and Olivia, and one with what I hope is a different spin. I hope that you guys like it!

Disclaimer – I don't own Star Trek, I do own Olivia!

Prologue – Fireflies and Coffee

Leonard McCoy liked to think of himself as a man of principle, honor and duty. He took his oaths seriously, in medicine; in Starfleet; even in marriage, despite that being spectacular failure. He was a man of his word, always had been, always would be and any of his friends from school and academy would attest to that. Yet, as he stood on the top balcony of his parents house and drank in the Georgia sunset, he began to wonder if he were capable of going AWOL.

It couldn't be that difficult, he reasoned, swirling the rapidly melting ice cubes around in his bourbon. All he'd have to do is take himself completely off the grid and disappear into a tiny Georgia town and open shop practicing family medicine. He wouldn't mind ridding himself of all the pesky technology. After all, doctors practiced medicine without tricorders and dermal regenerators for hundreds upon hundreds of years, how hard could it be? A tiny part of him had always liked the idea of running a small one-man operation and that part of him grew the older her got.

Maybe he could find an old building, one with actual doors that swung on hinges and had pane glass windows. The romantic side of him thought with longing for a sign to hang above his door and wearing a pair of beat up blue jeans instead of his Starfleet issue uniform. Leo fantasized about waking up to actual sunshine creeping in through his windows, casting beams of warm light over his bed and spending his evenings sitting on a wraparound porch with a glass of cold sweet tea and nothing but fireflies for entertainment. Yeah, that was the life.

Resting his forearms on the railing, he felt his lips draw into a gentle scowl. Of course, there was no way in hell he could ever take himself off the grid. Leo was halfway convinced that Jim Kirk would engage in a march through the south so reminiscent of General Sherman's that the Leo would find a blazing trail all the way to his front door.

Smirking at the thought of Jim Kirk rallying his troops wearing a civil war era uniform, Leo took a steady draw from his drink and forced himself to refocus his attention. Although the rational side of Leo knew that the sunset from Georgia was no different from the sunset anywhere else in the world, he still liked to think different. The sun sank into the tree line behind his parents house, releasing a cacophony of colors bursting outward into the darkness that began to settle over his hometown and parents' house. Like a living painting the colors drew across the sky, accompanied by the dulcet tones is cicadas and crickets coming out from their hiding places. Those fireflies began to appear in the small field that ran behind his family home and he inhaled deep, trying to memorize the scent of honeysuckles and a warmth that was the south all its own.

Tomorrow morning this would all be a sweet memory and he would be on a shuttle bound for San Francisco and then another bound for the Enterprise. After that it would be five achingly long years in space. That meant five years of hurtling through the darkness in a glorified tin can with no set course and no clue what horrors awaited them. Already Leo's skin crawled at the thought of what heinous diseases lurked on yet undiscovered planets and how many different ways the locals of said planets could come up with to try and kill them. He'd tried to convince Jim that as the ship's chief medical officer he was better served staying aboard the ship to handle incoming wounded, but to no avail. Not that he'd expected it to work in the first place.

Five years was an awfully long time and a lot could happen. Leo sipped his drink and relished in the burn that seared down his throat. At least some things were constant. As long as Georgia summers remained constant then Leo could manage the rest.

"One of these days," he muttered to himself and bowed his head in resolve.

If Leo was a man of his word to the rest of the world then surely he could one to himself. So he promised himself right then and there that when he got back to earth that he'd buy his little slice of heaven in the country. A two story house with a wrap around porch and swing just big enough for two in the hopes that one day he'd find someone to share it with. "White washed fences and sweet tea."

X X X

The view of the Golden Gate Bridge from the top of the Marin Headlands always took Olivia's breath away. Fog rose off the bay and the clouds were beginning to clear, making way for a brilliant sunrise. The rays pushed through the last of the cloud cover, forcing spires of light over the city skyline. Shattering on the surface of the bay, the sunlight glittered over the water and shed a beautiful glow on the Golden Gate Bridge. It was a glorious morning, a perfect morning.

From the highest vantage point she could see all of San Francisco, sprawling along the edge of the bay. She sat on a blanket, picking out the familiar buildings and watching the miniscule cars as they crossed the bridge. For a while, Olivia entertained herself by making up the life stories of the drivers, where they were headed to, what they were doing, who they were with. One by one, each tiny car disappeared over the edge, off to wherever it belonged.

Beyond the bridge, she could see the massive Starfleet campus. The last of the construction cranes came down just two weeks ago, in time for the dedication. Olivia remembered standing among the crowd in her dress uniform, listening to the speakers and trying not to think about Alex. Just thinking about Alex tugged at her heartstrings and she pulled a fine chain out from beneath her cream long sleeved shirt. Absently, Olivia toyed with the three rings on the chain, all while watching the sun creep higher and higher into the sky.

"Five years, Alex," she whispered to the air.

Olivia could still hear the warning in her sister's voice. "Are you sure you want to do this Liv? Five years is a long time."

Flopping back on her blanket, Olivia held the rings tight in her palm, pressing it over her chest. "It's all going to be fine," she said into the nothingness. Closing her eyes, she relished in the warmth on her face and the cool wind that swept over the plateau. In the distance she could hear the faintest sounds of a city beginning to wake. But from her place of quiet solace, Olivia heard nothing but the cries of a few errant gulls and felt nothing but the perfectness of the morning that enveloped her.

This was her favorite place on earth, maybe even in the universe. It was the place where Alex took her on their first date and the place they escaped to on their rare free Saturday mornings. Alex proposed to her in almost the exact spot where she lay. Olivia came here to grieve him after he died. It was their place and the last place she wanted to be before leaving earth for five years.

"Liv, please reconsider this," her sister had begged when Olivia put in a request and application to join the Enterprise crew. Annette pulled every trick in the book to convince Olivia to stay, from her famous guilt trips to outright begging, but Olivia would not be swayed. "I can't explain it, but I know that I need to do this, I need to go,"she'd responded to her sister's pleading.

"I need to get away," murmured Olivia.

The sound of footfall on the loose gravel behind Olivia pulled her out of her reverie. Sitting up, she turned around to find a familiar figure. "I thought I'd find you here," said Carol Marcus, squinting in the morning sun. She held a large bag in one hand and looked well equipped for the chilly morning in a bright red jacket and compression running tights. A smile tugged at the corners of Olivia's mouth.

"Four years as roommates taught you a lot about me," she said and scooted over, patting a spot on the blanket next to her. Carol's lips pulled into a white smile and she trudged the last few steps to the blanket. "Do you come bearing gifts?"

Kneeling on the blanket, Carol pushed a lock of her hair behind her ear and nodded. "As a matter of fact I do," she said and opened the bag to reveal an entire spread of their San Francisco favorites. "Let's see we have coffee from Market Street Beanhouse, citrus chocolate chip scones from Blue Bridge Bakery, and last but not least breakfast burritos from Manny's."

"See, this is why we're friends," said Olivia as she opened the jug of coffee and poured it into the two cups Carol brought. "You just implicitly understand my need for caffeine, chocolate, and the best Mexican food in the city."

Carol doled out the breakfast burritos and Olivia bit into hers, savoring the last taste of non-replicated food they'd have for the foreseeable future. Both women drank in the silence, and Olivia appreciated that she and Carol didn't have to exchange words to have a conversation. They'd found themselves in this familiar place often since Carol survived Khan's attack on the Enterprise and Olivia lost her husband in the aftermath. Olivia drank her coffee, letting the warm liquid wash down her throat while she watched a ferry inch along the bay. "I'm glad you're going to be with us, with me. After this last year, I could definitely use another familiar face."

"Me too," she murmured, picking at the foil wrapper from her breakfast burrito. "Especially considering I don't know anyone else," she muttered under her breath.

Olivia didn't even have to look at Carol to know that she was rolling her eyes. "You're about to board a starship with roughly six hundred crew members, odds are you know at least a couple of them."

It was Olivia's turn to roll her eyes. She wadded up her burrito wrapper and pushed it in the bag. "You know what I mean, Carol. I'm good with microscopes and tissue samples, people escape me."

Carol absently tapped one of her manicured fingers on the lid of her coffee cup, turning her head to fix Olivia with a kind expression. "Just wait until you meet our first officer. Besides, you do perfectly well with people, you just haven't had a ton of practice this past year."

That was the understatement of the year, thought Olivia. After Khan attacked Olivia was rushed home only to find San Francisco in shambles and her husband lost beneath the rubble. Once the initial shock wore off, Olivia returned to duty aboard the Newton, allowing herself to retreat behind her microscopes and lab equipment. If not for her commanding officer practically forcing her to apply for the vacant pathology spot on the Enterprise Olivia would never have left the comfort of the Newton. "It's different," she said at last, unable to look at Carol. "Sometimes I wake up and it's like I'm this completely different person. Like the Olivia from Academy who loved to play drinking games with you at parties and would sneak out with Alex at two in the morning died with him."

Carol's hand came to rest on Olivia's shoulder, squeezing it gently. "I know."

The emphatic tone of Carol's voice pulled Olivia back into reality. "God, I'm sorry, of course you know exactly what this feels like. I mean you lost your dad, I was on a science vessel halfway across the Alpha quadrant and you were actually living it."

"The different being Alex was an innocent life," Carol noted.

Both women fell silent for a long time. Olivia refilled her coffee and tried to imagine what her life would be like if Alex were still alive. "We are so depressing."

At long last Carol laughed, followed by Olivia. Their mixed laughter echoed across the plateau and Olivia's head fell on Carol's shoulder. Carol dropped her head on top of Olivia's and she soaked in the comfort. In just a few hours they would both be aboard the Enterprise, separated off into their different departments. But, for the moment Olivia could relish in the simplicity of their friendship, as strong as it had been since their first day at the academy. "I'm nervous."

"I am too," admitted Carol. "But it's going to be fine, you know that, right? I mean, if you and I can survive this past year we can get through anything."

"It's been a hell of a year," said Olivia.

Carol kept her gaze forward, staring out over the bay. Absently Olivia wondered what life would be like to be in one of those tiny cars, going to a regular day job. "You're probably right. I mean, I'm the daughter of a mass murderer and you lost the love of your life. Things can't possibly get any worse than that."

Olivia shook her head and fished the scones out of the wax paper bag. "Well, for you at least," she replied and pushed her fingers through her tumbling curls of dark chocolate hair. Carol let out a shocked half-laugh and pushed Olivia's shoulder, sending the girl teetering sideways. "Too soon?"

A/N – so there's the prologue to introduce three of the story's major players. I fully intend to explore the relationships between many of the main characters in this universe. The next chapter will feature the Enterprise and some first meetings.

Reviews are love! - Brose