Musings and What Else Could Possibly Go Wrong Part One
This is the first chapter to my Star Trek Big Bang that I did. It's McCoy/Chapel with appearances by his wife, Joanna, and the rest of the cast.
Because when Leonard McCoy said his wife took the who planet in the divorce he meant it.
There were lots of things they didn’t tell you in med school orientation. Some things were common sense, like 'don’t go to class drunk', and some would have been helpful, like 'you should really do something else'. Anything else. And that was how Leonard McCoy had found himself in the library going over his pharmacology notes. It was almost like medicine had its own language that should be classified separately from Standard.
He didn’t blink when a voice interrupted his wondering what dosage to prescribe and then benefits of similar drugs. “Can I sit here? I really need to study and my roommate is going to drive me insane.”
He nodded his head; he wasn’t expecting anyone and as long as she could keep her mouth shut and study silently the two of them would get along fine. “Going to drive me to drink is the appropriate saying.”
He was rewarded by laughter. “I don’t drink.” He shrugged and soon the two of them were enveloped in silence, just what Len was hoping for. By the time he was ready to go, the librarian was telling him that he had to leave because it was two in the morning. He managed to nod his head, not sure how much of his work had actually sunk into his brain, and began to collect his things when he realized his studying partner was still there as well.
“Can I walk you to your…wherever you’re staying?” he asked her, his accent becoming rather thick, as it did when he was tired. His mama had taught him to be polite to ladies, and he didn’t want anything to happen to her this late at night. She looked to be a tiny thing, and heels were not an ideal running shoe.
“Residence,” she supplied, nodding her head as she finished shoving all of her things into the bag she had brought with her. “Sure, that would be nice.” She slung the bag over her shoulder while Len picked up his. The two of them exited the library; she had obviously decided that he wasn’t any threat and linked her arm with his. Once they had turned down a street she dropped her arm from his. “Sorry,” she apologized, looking at him. “I saw my ex, and…”
“No problem.” It was fine, really; he had his share of crazy exes and understood what she was going through somewhat.
“So, what part of the Old South are you from?” she asked as they continued to walk.
“Georgia,” he answered; might as well make some small talk as they walked. “Is it very far?” Not that he minded, seeing as he was sharing a house with some other first year med students and it was in the same direction.
“Not very,” she supplied, “five, ten minutes tops, I promise. Georgia. I love the peaches, though I’ve only had a few when we went there once…I don’t remember why exactly. I’m from New Orleans.”
“Really?” He said trying to hide the surprise in his voice but from the look she gave him, he didn’t do a good job. “It’s just…” he stammered, trying to find the words so as to not offend her, “you don’t sound like it,” he finished lamely.
She laughed. “I know, I kind of try hard not to. Not that there’s anything wrong with the South, but it makes me homesick sometimes.” She suddenly stopped and smiled at him. “Thank you very much for walking me home. I’m Christine, by the way.”
She held out her hand to him and he accepted it. “Leonard, and no problem.” He backtracked and turned down a street before reaching his house. He was dead tired, but Len couldn’t help but think of Christine before falling asleep.
It was a few more weeks until he saw her again. This time it was she who was sitting at a table alone and he who needed somewhere to study. She was very useful as a study partner and therefore he should go see if she would let him join her. Or that was what he tried to tell himself. He wasn’t just going to sit with her to walk her home again.
“Can I sit here, Christine?” he asked quietly, standing beside her. She looked up, startled, before recognizing him and nodding her head. He sat down beside her rather then across the table, and began to study some of his more pressing material (the anatomy of the human body today, because for some reason not everyone who attended med school took anatomy in undergraduate school). They were quiet for a few hours before she broke the silence, tentatively.
“Leonard.” Her voice pulled him out of the structure of the brain, and he looked at her. “I was wondering if you wanted to take a break. We’ve been at this for four hours already.”
“That sounds fine.” Len had to admit, none of his work was making sense to him right now. The two of them began to talk a bit about their lives. She was in her third year of a nursing degree; he was in his first year as a med student. They talked for half an hour until she decided that was enough and they went back to studying. He began to notice that he looked for her more and more every time he entered the library, in the halls on his way to class and most certainly in the hospital. He mostly saw her in the library and it became an unspoken agreement that they could sit together. They eventually exchanged contact information and for some odd reason Len could never find the right time to ask her out.
They became good friends and even though they were both very busy with school and completing their degrees they always found time (often while they were studying) to complain about what they were being asked to do.
It wasn’t long before he was looking for excuses to hang out with her, whether to study for some class (it didn’t matter if they had it together or not) or just to have dinner. It was nice to know that he had a friend that he could talk to about almost anything. He found it easy to be around her, and though he did have other friends the two of them were incredibly close. He was, after a few years, beginning to become really comfortable with her and he knew that she was feeling the same; he was the one he talked to when her dates never went the way she wanted. He had never asked her out, mostly because he didn’t know how to without making it awkward between the two of them. He didn’t want to break their friendship up because of a failed relationship, but at the same time he felt that he was best for Chrissy and every time he went to tell her this, his courage failed.
They had been friends for about three years when Chrissy met Roger Korby. Now, Len knew who Korby was; he wouldn’t say that they hated each other but they weren't exactly friends. More like aquaintances if Len had to call them anything. So when Chrissy introduced the two of them just after New Years' for dinner they were very polite and were able to have a nice conversation. Once dinner was done, Len said goodnight, and before he could offer to walk Chrissy home, Roger was already escorting her in that direction. Len went home, trying to make sense of the evening, and was getting ready for bed when he got a call from Chrissy. He answered it and she launched into an interrogation without even a 'hello'.
“What did you think of Roger, Len? Isn’t he sweet? I hope you had a good time at dinner. I wouldn’t have dragged you along with the risk of making you feeling left out, except it was really important that you meet Roger. I know I have dated in the past but I really feel Roger is the one. We’ve been dating since October and it’s been wonderful. I don’t want to rush things but I think this is going to last. Oh, Len, isn’t it wonderful?” Len wasn’t even sure that Chrissy had been breathing as she babbled happily to him. And it was the tone of her voice that told him exactly how he had to respond to her ramblings, even if that wasn’t how he felt. It was what she wanted, and Len suspected needed, to hear.
He took a deep, and what he hoped was also an unnoticed, breath. “Roger’s a nice guy, Chrissy. We had a couple of classes together before so I knew him somewhat. We’ve really never talked a whole lot but his general attitude towards others is pleasant and he seems to treat women the way they deserve. Dinner was very nice, it was sweet of you to invite me along. You didn’t have to do that, Chrissy. I do understand that you wanted me to meet him. I didn’t feel left out or as if I was tagging along.” It was now occurring to Len that he had probably been invited along to a date. “You’ve never sounded this happy discussing men before and that makes me happy for you.”
He only half listened as she babbled on and on about Roger and everything they'd done so far and why Len was only learning about this now. Something about how she wasn’t sure how she felt about Roger, wanted to give it some time and then she had gotten sidetracked because of school. Len nodded and told her he was sympathetic and that he understood. And then Chrissy went back to one of her favourite subjects, setting Len up with one of her friends. He gave her the same answer he always did; no thank you, he just wasn’t interested. And it was true that he had no interest in dating someone at the moment; at least, that was what he was trying to tell himself.
He had been turning down Chrissy's efforts to set him up with one of her nursing friends for years, almost since they had met. At one point she had told Leonard that she knew a few cute male nurses that would be perfect for him if he wanted. Len was so stunned that it took him a few moments to regain enough composure to inform her that he was in fact straight but just didn’t have time for a relationship right now.
Graduation came quicker then Len imagined possible. He had been dragged out by Chrissy, and what the girl wanted she almost always got, mostly because she was more stubborn then the donkey his parents used to have. He tried to tell her that he didn't come to med school to drink or party, and that if he wanted to drink he had a nice bottle of bourbon he could drink with or without her. She had laughed and somehow tricked him into coming out with her. The adorable mid-thigh length dress most certainly did not help matters.
He was having fun, he had to admit. He didn't come to med school to have fun - he was clearly there to get a degree - but tonight he was, though whether it was because what he was doing was fun or whether it was due to the alcohol, Len wasn’t so sure. He had made a few friends; mostly they bonded over classes and complaining about certain professors. One of his closest friends was currently hanging off his arm. She had insisted that he come with her tonight to celebrate the end of the year. She was a few years younger than he was but they had a few of the same classes, she was in nursing, something she insisted was better (and harder) than being a doctor. Right now he didn’t care about arguing with her, and not because Chrissy almost always won. She had told him that she would introduce her roommate to him if he came. Having heard some of the stories that Chrissy told about Jocelyn, he was intrigued, though more so about meeting Chrissy’s best friend than meeting someone who was “completely pretty and has everything - including a planet”. Len had laughed and Chrissy had smirked as if to say, 'I know something you don’t'...which was most likely true.
She had introduced Len to Jocelyn at the start of the night and she had seemed nice. Even Len had to admit it wasn’t a tragedy that he had two beautiful women hanging off him. He was finally graduating from 'Ole Miss with a medical doctorate. He was officially a doctor, a fact that Chrissy had pointed out earlier when she had introduced him to Jocelyn as 'Doctor Leonard McCoy'. And now the three of them, and half of his graduating class, were celebrating their victory. He was sure that today was the day that he was going to ask Chrissy out. He had been working in the hospital for a little bit, but today was the day of their graduation, and it was special. Jocelyn went off to get them some more shots and Len decided that if he didn’t ask now, he never would.
“Chrissy, can I ask you something?” he asked, his voice cracking.
“Of course, Len.” She smiled and then waved to someone behind him. “Roger’s coming. Oh, that reminds me! When we were on our way here, Roger asked me if I would move in with him. I know he’s been asking for a while and I finally decided that since I’m done with my nursing degree, and I want to go back to school and get my Master's1, it would be a perfect opportunity.” Len felt his courage fail once more. Last he knew, the two of them were fighting, but it seemed as if that was all over now. Which meant he couldn’t possibly tell her that he thought Roger was wrong for her and that he was right. Roger smiled at him and moved to stand beside Chrissy, quickly putting his arm around her waist. Len felt his heart break, and his stomach get that sick sinking feeling, the way it did whenever Roger was around. “What did you want to ask me?”
“Are you going to be okay if I were to leave? I know you were looking forward to this but I’m not feeling well,” he thought up lamely.
She frowned at him. “But we’ve only been here an hour; tonight is suppose to be about celebrating your becoming a doctor.”
He almost felt bad. Chrissy had been talking about this for weeks. “I’m really sorry, Chris, I have a headache.”
She gave him a sad smile and nodded her head before reaching up and kissing him on the cheek. “Feel better tomorrow.”
He watched her walk off, laughing still hanging off Roger. Len didn’t like the name but he felt like he had to know it so that he could ignore conversation about the man. He was working on his fourth, possibly his fifth, drink, when Chrissy’s roommate sat down beside him.
“I’m Jocelyn, Chrissy’s roommate. I thought you went home with a headache?” she asked, but Len was sober enough to see that she knew something was up.
“Leonard McCoy.” He introduced himself, even though he was sure Jocelyn remembered his name.
“I remember Chrissy introducing us. Can I get you a drink?” He could hear his accent become quite heavy, which he knew was the alcohol's doing. His accent always seemed to get thicker the more he drank.
“Sure, whatever you’re having is fine.” She smiled and Len forced himself to smile back. He ordered her drink, and then they had a few more; he knew that he would need a hypospray in the morning but at this point he didn’t care. Jocelyn was listening to him talk about his relationship with Chrissy, how they were just friends but he wanted more, and how she had met Roger. Jocelyn was sympathetic as she explained how she came to get away from her family and that she was from Suthlood. Len was vaguely aware of the planet; Jocelyn had explained how it was once an Earth colony that had adopted their own set of rules and were no longer governed by Earth laws. It was a monarchy of sorts. The people had mines and farms for exports. When he left the bar at two in the morning he had Jocelyn’s number and had decided that maybe it was time to get over Christine Chapel after all.
And that was the reason Len gave when he called Jocelyn up a few days later, though she seemed delighted rather then offended that he was ready to get over Chrissy. Jocelyn was more than eager to help and the two of them dated for a few months. Sometimes they double-dated when Chrissy dragged them along with her and Roger. He found that those dates were easier to get though than he had expected. What bothered Len, if he was being honest with himself (which he didn’t allow often), was the fact that Christine (as he had taken to calling her, as 'Chrissy' reminded him too strongly of what could never be his) was perfectly happy for him.
It didn’t surprise him when Jocelyn called. They talked almost every day or got together for lunch. “Hi, Joce.” He didn’t bother to tell her that she had woken him up because he had just finished working nights. That would make her feel terrible, and he didn’t want that.
“Can I move in with you?” That really woke him up. Sure, he knew that Jocelyn wasn’t one to beat around the bush, but that was super blunt. Jocelyn must have realized it too because she continued, “Remember when Roger asked Chrissy to move in with her, and she said yes, and Roger told her he had to buy a house first for the two of them?” She didn’t wait to hear if he did remember or not. “Well, he finally did buy a house and I can’t afford the rent all by myself. I want to finish school before I go back home, so could I move in with you? I can help you out and everything, I promise.”
“Just bring your stuff over when you can. I’ll leave the front door unlocked and I’ll have a key made for you.” She squealed 'thank-you's at him before hanging up. Len fell asleep before he could really contemplate what he had done.
It was odd sharing with someone, but Joce did her best not to intrude. She promised that it would not be permanent; he told her that she could take her time and that it didn’t matter to him. In truth, he liked having her around. It took his mind off Christine and gave him something to look forward to. She began planning little dates to thank him for his hospitality. He felt comfortable around her and she never pressured him into anything. Joce never threw herself at him, either.
So after coming home one night from the hospital just wanting to sleep, he was surprised when Jocelyn told him upfront that they were going to a bar and he had no say in this. He would have protested but she had a look in her eyes that said 'you’re going whether you like it or not'. So he let her drag him out to the nearest bar and buy his first drink. He bought the second round and when he was on his third she pulled out an opened envelope. Envelopes were rare; almost everything was sent over comms and PADDS, and they were generally reserved for important personal invitations to events like weddings.
She wordlessly handed him the envelope and he opened it to find that it did indeed contain an invitation to an engagement. Chrissy’s engagement. He couldn’t read the entire thing; he felt like he might vomit. He looked at Joce, who smiled at him; it was full of pity and she ordered him another drink. Len figured he might need it or he might do something stupid. He and Jocelyn stayed at the bar for a few hours and it occurred to Len somewhere in his brain that Joce had stopped drinking a few rounds ago, but he was sure she was drunk. They left the bar, the engagement notice forgotten, literally left on the bar under a lot of whiskey glasses. It would eventually dawn on Len that he might be asked to be in the wedding party but after that Len was sure he couldn’t stand seeing Chrissy engaged, let alone married to, someone else.
They made it home and Len wasn’t sure what possessed him. He was sure it had something to do with the notice. He kissed Joce, one thing led to another and before he knew it they had made their way up to his bedroom. He just hoped that he said the right name; most of it was a blur to him.
And that was when and how he committed mistake number one. He saw Jocelyn a few more times after he slept with her. He would never forget the night that she came to him and delivered news that would alter his world. She had phoned him ahead of time to let him know that she would be coming over and to make sure he would be home. She didn’t waste any time - if Jocelyn had something to say, she would say it.
“Leonard, I’m pregnant with your child.” He had just let her into his apartment, and she had wasted no time in making apparent the reason for her visit. Before Len could tell her what he thought she continued, “Where I’m from it is unacceptable to have a child out of wedlock, and I am not abandoning this child.” She spoke with a stubborn look on her face and Len knew what she wasn’t saying. Which, in a way, was fine with him.
He was raised to respect women and he knew what he had to do. He took Jocelyn’s hand in his and smiled softly. “Joce, I know these aren't the circumstances you wanted, and I’m sorry for that, but these are our circumstances. I want to marry you. I was thinking that one day this might happen differently, but I promise to love you and our child.”
Jocelyn smiled back. “You'll have to come and live with me on my planet. Don't worry, you can still practice your medicine.” Leonard found himself smiling back. Maybe this wouldn’t be so awful after all. They went out ring shopping after the (kind of) proposal. Both of them agreed that if they were going to tell their families then an engagement ring was definitely needed. Len had his grandmother’s old ring but part of him wanted to keep it; it didn’t seem right for Jocelyn. Besides, he knew she would want something a bit more modern, and the ring had been passed down in his family to the oldest grandson for generations. He knew Joce would love shopping for her own ring and it wasn't like anything about their relationship or their engagement was in any way conventional.
Jocelyn would arrange a call and inform her parents that night. Then they could visit Len’s parents in Georgia to tell them about the wedding and that they would be moving to a different planet. Len wasn’t sure how he felt about leaving Earth (leaving would require either a transport or a shuttle ride, and neither were favourable in Len’s eyes). Telling Jocelyn’s parents that night went rather easily. They of course left out the fact that she was pregnant, though Len realized it wouldn’t be covered up easily. Joce said she had a plan for that, and all Len had to do was go along with it. Her parents welcomed him rather warmly into their family and were happy to hear Jocelyn was finally coming home.
Len quickly called his parents to let them know he had the weekend off and he was finally bringing Jocelyn home to meet them. His mother was delighted and said that there would be a feast waiting for them when they arrived. Packing was simple; Jocelyn had most of it in hand. The shuttle ride to his parents' from Mississippi wasn’t long, and Len found he was fine with Jocelyn as a distraction. The weekend with his parents was nice, and they seemed to take rather well to Jocelyn. Of course the announcement that they were engaged was a shock, but thankfully his parents didn’t ask too many questions.
Jocelyn wanted to leave for her planet soon. so Len had to quit his job, which was easy enough as he knew that he could always come back and practise medicine. Plus, Jocelyn had told him that he was welcome to practise on her planet. They were an Earth colony given their own planet status less then a hundred years ago, allowed to govern themselves as they saw fit. Len tried not to think about the three-hour shuttle flight and everything that could go wrong. His nerves dissipated once he could see the planet out of his window. He did have to admit that it was beautiful with its two suns and tall buildings that seemed to reach the sky. When they landed they were greeted just by her parents, which Jocelyn seemed to be relieved by. There were hugs and kisses as well as warm greetings and another short ride to their home. It was a mansion. Her parents were trying to explain the history of the planet but Joce stopped them, saying the history lesson could wait.
Once they arrived, their things were brought up to a huge room that had been Jocelyn’s when she lived with her parents. It had been redecorated to suit her current taste. “I’m so sorry about my parents. They’re just really excited to have you in our family,” she was saying as she unpacked a few of their things.
“And are they still going to welcome me when they find out you're pregnant way too soon after our wedding?” he deadpanned. It had been stressing him out since they had gotten engaged.
“I’m only a month pregnant. It's fine,” Jocelyn said, smiling as if to reassure him. “There are drugs that can be used to prolong my pregnancy if needed.” She put up a hand to stop the argument she knew was coming. “We are engaged and sharing a room. In two or three months I tell them I’m pregnant. I can hide it until then. My parents will be a little upset but we’re already engaged and there'll be no ‘they only got married because she’s pregnant’.”
The only fault Len could find in that entire statement was, “We did get engaged because you became pregnant.” He was exasperated, not wanting his child to be subjected to the drugs Jocelyn was talking about, though he knew that they were safe and had been around for a while. That didn’t mean he wanted to use them.
Jocelyn gave him a stern look. “Look, Len,” she sounded exasperated, “I don’t like the idea any more than you do, but I don’t see any other alternative. Perhaps you’ll understand once you know more about the history of this planet. I have one of my old history textbooks somewhere that should explain things. And please, Len, whatever you do, don’t overreact.” The last part was odd but Len nodded his head in agreement as Jocelyn handed him the textbook. “I’ll answer any questions, and you will have questions, once you’re done with the entire history.” With that she left the room, leaving Len alone with just his thoughts, two suitcases that still had to be unpacked and the history book.
He picked it up and sat down on the bed with it. He opened it up to the table of contents and scanned it quickly before he found what he wanted and turned to that page.
A brief history of our beloved planet Suthlood.
Suthlood began as an Earth colony on 41026.7, founded by families from Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Texas and Mississippi. These families were proud of their heritage and wanted to preserve it for their children. Most of the families could trace their line back to the Civil War which had occurred between the Northern and Southern states of America in (date). The families decided that they would need a form of government and took this as an opportunity to mend the flaws of their government on Earth. They were given permission to establish a space colony. The first thing they had to do was decide how they wanted to rule their colony. Secondly, the people voted on the matter of who would be allowed to settle there. They didn’t want people that wouldn’t adhere to their rules. The second issue was the easiest solved. Potential settlers would have to believe in the new ideologies and preferably claim southern American heritage, but in the end, it would be up to the discretion of the leader. This led back to their first predicament; how were they going to govern themselves?
The colony naturally ended up with a diversity in wealth, or class, as they preferred to think of it. The power would lay where it belonged, with the upper class; socialites, the rich, lawyers, doctors etc. The working classes would be in charge of shops and trades, the remainder labourers. Over time this idea became a very pronounced system that is still in place today. At first it started with one of the founding families who were both of the upper class and able to gain the trust of the people. Their leadership was informal and not acknowledged until 41117.8. Overtime they became the governing force behind Suthlood with ruler ship being past down to the eldest regardless of gender, they oldest could be passed over in favour of another child, if and only if, the current head of state did not agree with their marriage.
In the beginning only people from the original colony members could be eligible for ruling and if someone married outside of them they were no longer eligible. This rule was later amended on 41341.5 as it was seen as barbaric and was done to quash any talk of a rebellion.
That was all the reading that Len needed to do. He was able to gather what was going on. It didn’t take a genius to piece it all together. Piece together what Jocelyn was, or rather how important she was to the planet. Bones was realizing the implications of what was really going on but he knew that it would be good for him to get away and involved in something else because even after all this time Chrissy still crossed his mind sometimes. But with this, it could be the new life he needed.
His world finally seemed to be falling into place. He was going to have a wife and a daughter. It all seemed perfect, a new life and a chance to start over. It was what he needed. All he needed now was to move forward.