Leonard glared at Henley. Due to privacy reasons, the redshirt sat one table away from them, but Leonard had the feeling that the man could still hear every word they were saying. Guessing from Henley's shaking shoulders and the pained facial expression he was showing, the redshirt desperately tried to stifle his laughter. Leonard had to talk with Jim about that.

"What is it?" Granger asked. They finally had agreed that using their first names made more sense, but somehow, they both avoided it.

Leonard nodded in Henley's direction. "That man is utterly annoying."

Hermione grinned and Leonard was relieved that she found him funny rather than a killjoy.

"You get used to him. He always breathes down my neck, and technically, it's his job. He seems like a gossip, though. I fear the minute I'm doing anything of remote interest, the whole ship is going to know it within a few hours."

The she looked at him, and realization dawned in her eyes. "Oh."

"This is a date, is it?" She asked. Leonard internally squirmed. "And you're a well-known person here."

He nodded. Damn, he was awkward.

"I'm sorry if I cause you inconveniences," she said. "I fear… that you are remotely interesting?" This was his time to shine.

"Don't worry, missy. Facing the gossip is a sacrifice I am willing to make if it means that I get to know you better."

Leonard was proud of himself, but then he saw her face turn beet-red and wondered if he had overdone it. Henley, behind her, giggled.

oOoOoOo

And then, suddenly, their talk went from awkward to awesome.

"God, I'm completely unathletic," Hermione laughed. "I tried the treadmill here on the ship, and I nearly died after twenty minutes."

"You know, running after Jim kept me in good shape," Leonard said. "The kid is always running to or from danger, and if you're not fast enough, he either gets him killed or gets you killed."

"I don't think I could keep up with you. I'm glad there are only a few persons the captain drags with him, and I am not one of them. Just imagine; if some weird space alien thingy came running after me! I'd probably just lie down on the floor and pretend I'm dead."

"Doesn't work with all of them."

Granger tried to look disappointed, but then she had to laugh. Leonard felt his heart beat faster. A few of her wild locks had come loose from the knot on her head, and Leonard noticed how they bounced every time she moved her head. She moved her head a lot, and her hands – her whole body spoke as loudly as her words, and he couldn't imagine that there was one lying cell in the whole human oddity that was Hermione Granger.

Leonard came back to his senses when he realized that she had asked him something, and with an expectant look in her eyes awaited his answer.

"What?" He had to ask stupidly.

"You were right," Granger whispered, with a side look at Henley. "This is not really private." A chattering group of scientists passed them, and she waited until they were out of earshot.

Leonard nodded in their direction. "Lunch time. It's not getting any better, I fear. Pretty soon this room will be crowded with people."

She bit her lip, and for the second time Leonard nearly missed what she said because he was so distracted by it.

"I would… like… to meet you, where there are not so many people around," she said hesitantly. Leonard met her brown eyes, and he felt like falling.

"I do not mean to be unthankful, and maybe you can put a good word in for me… But it would be nice if I wasn't watched all the time, especially when meeting with… people. Maybe, as long as I am with you, or other people on the Enterprise Captain Kirk trusts, Henley can make a break?"

"I will speak to him tonight," Leonard promised. Something in the back of his mind tried to tell him that this was unwise, that he didn't know her, that he should end whatever was happening before it was too late, but he didn't listen. It was illogical, and irrational, but in this very moment, Leonard would have promised her everything she was asking for.

oOoOoOo

Leonard spent the rest of the day in a confused haze. He feared that his state of mind compromised his abilities, and subsequently hid in his office to do paperwork. He kind of hated himself for this and was grumpier than usual.

Of course, when he and Jim met up in the captain's office after their shifts had ended, Jim noticed.

"Last time I saw you that grim was yesterday when I broke my thumb. I didn't hurt myself today, so what's troubling you, Bones?"

"I had a date with Granger," Leonard said gravely.

Jim choked on his whiskey. "Why on earth didn't you tell me that you finally made a move?!"

Leonard rolled his eyes but stayed silent.

Jim raised his eyebrows. "And? What happened?"

"Nothing."

"Come on, tell me about it! Does she hate you, now that you finally spoke with each other?"

"No!" Leonard exclaimed. "I mean except the fact that she only went on a date with me because she owed me a favor, everything was fine. But I can't concentrate on my work like this! This is unbearable!"

Jim's previously concerned face lightened up and he laughed.

"The burdens of love! Oh, poor Bones. It's never right with you, is it?"

Leonard harrumphed. On the one hand, he wanted to hit Jim, but on the other hand, he wondered if his problems were really that silly. There was silence, and it became apparent that Leonard didn't want to reveal anymore, so eventually Jim just sighed and let it be.

"Concerning Miss Granger, you won't believe what she sent me yesterday," he changed topic.

Leonard's head perked up. "What?"

"An application for long-distance, online academical training in the field of physical engineering and warp technology. Combined with an internship on the Enterprise."

Leonard needed a moment to process that. "WHAT?"

Jim let out an exasperated laugh. "Hell, I don't know what to do with that woman either. One day she's arrested, suddenly she develops the means for time travelling, and the next day she wants to become a warp core engineer!"

"Isn't that… kind of impossible?" Leonard asked. "You spend years learning at Starfleet academy before you even set one foot on a starship. And she wants to go down to Engineering and just start working?"

Jim shook his head. "Maybe I shouldn't be surprised anymore, but she has it all worked out. She even sent me a time table! The second round of Starfleet first and second year final exams is next week, for those who didn't pass them the first time. She wants to take them to determine her state of knowledge. According to what she wrote me, she is pretty confident to pass all of the first year and some of the second year exams due to her academical background. She then wants to continue with online courses and also learn to apply her knowledge. However, I am not sure how to think about the fact that she wants to use the Enterprise as her training field."

Leonard downed his drink. It was always just a little bit too much with that woman – one moment he thought he could deal with her, the next moment she did something completely unexpected.

"Well, I don't see how this could work out. Is working on a starship without proper education even legal? Is what she wants to do legal?"

"Yes," the captain affirmed. "In special cases. And with all those important documents they gave her on Brisbane 21, it could happen that they classify her as a special case."

"And… does Scotty know about it?" Leonard asked.

Jim laughed again.

"Well, you wouldn't believe it. It seems Granger spent a lot of time in Engineering, and I don't know what she did, but she won him over. He was the one who helped her with the application. I really don't know if I should be mad or amazed. I guess I am both?"

Leonard shook his head.

"So… what do you want to do?" He asked. His mind raced.

"I will give her every permission she needs," Captain Kirk said.

"Why?"

"Well, I want to see how she's doing. If she fails all the exams, it will be a lesson. And if she's good enough to pass the exams, and win Scotty over, I want to see where this leads to. I have still the question if she's bold or just stupid. Only one way to find out."

oOoOoOo

AN: To all who took the time to review: Thank you!

i love new toys

kossboss

makrosa

Gifty

peachx89

Emma3milkan

jellybean

magandakoi

PappyOldGuy

craaazyaboutMalfoy

skywillow

Sagitarscorpion1 Haha that's definitely one way I can imagine Kirk reacting!

Guest I'm sorry, but to be honest I'm kind of merging all the Star Trek timelines together. So on the one hand, I kind of imagine Kirk, Bones, Scotty and Spock looking like in the 2009 installments, but as you've read there's also the incident with the Tribbles, originating from my love for ToS. I would recommend for the readers to just imagine the versions of the characters they like best.

jlove34 such a short feedback, but such a welcome one. Thanks!

camath

Via

GoDrinkPinesol624 Soon...

Daisx-ST-Fan Spock is tricky. I've read many fanfictions where I thought that Spock isn't quite on point, and I guess I'm one of those myself now. At least I try. As for the length - I know the chapters are short, but I'm struggling to write anything at all at the moment due to a lot of personal things. But I do hope that people have fun reading the story, and that's all that matters.

Yukatana

artemisgirl

Dream of the Night

carryon oh boy, makes me almost feel bad.

Pygmy Hippo

Follow54

LeonaMasha Enjoy!

Guest