When All Else Fails
Nyota Uhura was not one to throw herself at any man. In fact men chased her! Now it seemed for some reason that she could not explain even to herself, she could not get Leonard McCoy out of her mind. Truth be told she had been attracted to him since she had been aboard the Enterprise. She had never acted on it, just admired him from afar.
Things had changed, however, when the crew had become affected by the spores on Omicron Seti III and she had sabotaged the communications systems. She had beamed down to the planet and found Dr. McCoy sipping on a drink. He then stared, openly admiring her.
He had insisted on escorting her around the compound telling her that she would love it there and had linked his arm in hers. "You know lieutenant," he said openly admiring her under the affects of the spores which had removed his inhibitions "You are one beautiful woman. You've got curves in all the right places. I can't stand a skinny woman."
His southern drawl had gotten deeper and with his inhibitions gone, he said whatever was on his mind. "This place is paradise and you, my dear are like Eve. I'd love to see you in a fig leaf."
Nyota blushed and laughed as McCoy's face turned red after his own admission.
Even though he was more vocal than usual, there was still a shyness about him that she found endearing. He smiled at her as they walked along holding her hand in his.
"You're very sweet, doctor." she replied.
He stopped walking and turned and looked at her, his blue eyes searching her face. She thought for sure that he was going to kiss her, then it happened. Someone jumped him from behind. Fights were breaking out everywhere. Everyone was attacking everyone else and then she realized that the effects of the spores had left them.
They had regained their senses and beamed back aboard the Enterprise. She returned to her console and began repairing the damage she had done, but she hadn't forgotten what transpired between her and the doctor. She wanted to talk to him about it, but she couldn't get up the nerve. He didn't approach her and only smiled at her and looked away whenever he came in contact with her.
She had gone to him for several minor complaints after their encounter and while he had cursed and argued with the rest of his staff, he was always the southern gentlemen when it came to her. He gave her his signature grin and she had even noticed that he would give her the once over a couple of times when he thought she wasn't looking, but he never brought up what happened on the planet. She knew he found her attractive, but he never said anything or made any type of advances towards her. He acted like nothing had ever happened, like it had been some sort of dream.
Nyota wondered why he was reluctant to approach her when they both knew that he was attracted to her. True, he was older than she was, but not that much older. She had heard that he had gone through a bad divorce, which may be the reason he was not interested in any women on the Enterprise or anywhere else. He spent most of his free time with the captain or arguing with Spock. Most of the time the three of them would be together when they were off duty.
There were times, however rare, that she would run into him purely by accident. They had ended up on the turbo lift together just a few days ago and she felt like a nervous school girl. His big blue eyes roamed over her as he politely spoke and called her darling. He was headed to the bridge to see the captain and she noticed that he had on his short sleeved uniform shirt which revealed his hairy arms. She loved hairy men and wondered if his chest was also hairy.
It had been six months since the incident on the Omicron Seti III and she wondered what she could do to get his attention. She didn't want to fake an illness. She didn't need anything new on her permanent record. Besides, he would most likely see through it anyway. Whenever he was in the cafeteria, he was usually with the captain or Spock or both. She couldn't just show up at his quarters...that was a bit too much!
She continued to try to figure something out as she hungrily watched him whenever he came to the bridge. Once Spock caught her staring at him and she quickly looked away and focused on her console hoping that he wouldn't say anything to Leonard McCoy. He merely raised an eyebrow and turned back to his work.
She finally got a chance to interact with the good doctor after the ordeal with Khan. She had been roughed up a bit in front of the crew when the captain had been placed in the decompression chamber. She saw McCoy watching her being slapped as a gun was being pointed to his head. She was grateful when the captain was able to regain control of the Enterprise and Khan was shipped off.
Doctor McCoy had sought her out later that same day and asked her to report to Sick Bay so that he could check her out and make sure that she was alright.
Her heart was beating fast as he took her in one of the examining rooms. She smiled at Christine Chapel who stood by him.
"I just want to make sure you're alright." he said running the tricorder over her. He looked at the bruise on her face where she had been hit.
"We can take care of that" he said touching the bruise.
"Thank you, doctor" she replied not knowing what else to say at the moment.
"How are you feeling?" he asked. His eyes were full of concern and she tried not to stare at him too hard with Christine in the room. She looked at her and then at McCoy and didn't reply.
McCoy picked up on her cue and put the tricorder down and turned to Christine.
"Can you leave us alone for a moment?"
"Yes doctor" she replied and walked out.
He turned back to her. "Now, what's wrong? I know that what you've been through was an ordeal. It's over now, darling."
Nyota loved the way he said darling with his southern accent. She wondered if he would call her darling in a moment of passion. Would he say it the same? She quickly returned her train of thought back to the matter at hand. He was staring at her waiting for her to say something.
"I'm fine." Nyota said feeling silly. What was she going to say? I'd like to jump your bones, Bones? I want us to pick up where we left off when we were on the planet? Damn! He was watching her closely waiting for her response.
"Perhaps you need a couple of days off" he ventured wondering what was going through that beautiful head of hers.
Nyota's eyes widened in surprise. She didn't need a couple of days off! She was perfectly fine! The bruise wasn't that bad!
"That's not necessary, doctor" she protested.
He covered her hand with his. It was warm and she couldn't help herself, she took his hand in hers, glad to have a reason to touch him again. She thought about him holding her hand as they walked along when they were both under the influence of the spores. He stared at her, surprised at her gesture. She quickly let go of his hand, embarrassed.
"Darling, you've been through an ordeal." he said smiling. "We all have. I am sure that the captain would give you a day or two off." He was still watching her closely and she allowed her gaze to go from his eyes to his lips. She wondered what it would be like to kiss him.
"Doctor McCoy..." her voice trailed off. What was she going to say? He was standing close enough that she could smell his cologne. His chin had the beginnings of stubble and she looked up and saw those mesmerizing blue eyes watching her.
"Yes, Lieutenant" he answered wondering what was bothering her.
"You have the most incredible blue eyes I've ever seen." she said before she could think. He looked totally taken aback and she quickly tried to do damage control. He must think that she was a real nut case! She had to get out of there before she humiliated herself further!
"I've got to go. Don't worry about me Dr. McCoy, I'm fine." she practically jumped off the table and hurried out of the Sick Bay before she could make a total fool of herself.
She ignored him as he called after her. She did not look back, but quickly ran to the turbolift.