DISCLAIMER: The Star Trek characters
are the property of Paramount Studios, Inc and Viacom. The story contents are
the creation and property of Djinn and are copyright (c) 2010 by Djinn. This
story is Rated R.
Everything Old is New Again
by
Djinn
Chapel
glanced at the viewport as she walked into sickbay, expecting to still see the
blue of V'ger, but it was gone and had been for
several days. She sensed rather than
heard someone coming up behind her. Could guess who it was.
"Doctor
Chapel." Spock's expression was
set, firm, just this side of unfriendly.
She
sighed. She knew what was coming. Had known it was coming ever since she'd
squeaked hello to him on the bridge.
"In
here," she said, leading him to her office. As the door opened, she noticed her chair was
turned, its back to the door. She
thought she saw it moving slightly, then it was still. "Perhaps another
office."
"This
will do. I have ascertained by the tone
of your greeting to me that you wish to continue your attempts to woo me."
"Actually,
that was more just surprise."
She
thought she heard a muffled sound, like laughter being bit back.
Spock
didn't appear to notice it, but then he seemed pretty intent on his "Shut
Chapel Down" mission. "Nevertheless, I feel it prudent to
inform you that I continue to be uninterested in pursuing a relationship with
you."
"Good
to know."
"You
have in the past, ignored such warnings and I --"
The
chair spun around and Jim stood up.
"Jesus God, Spock. She got
it the first time."
Spock
actually turned pale.
"Now,
could you get the hell out so someone who is interested in her can spend some
time with her?"
She
tried not to let any surprise show on her face.
"Jim,
I am sorry. I did not realize. Doctor...my apologies." Spock was practically falling over himself
trying to get out of the office.
"Not
a problem." As soon as Spock was
gone, she turned to Jim.
"Interested in me?"
"Well,
he really ticked me off. Jesus, you were
just surprised to see him. Weren't
you?"
"More
or less. There may have been a tiny bit of residual
interest buried in the shock."
"Yeah,
well I get that. That's why I'm here, in
fact." He leaned, somewhat gingerly
she thought, against her desk.
"Note to self: Do not engage
in angry break-up sex with ex-wife unless shots are up to date."
"I
told you she was a slut."
"And
you were right." He motioned with
his head toward the door.
"Please. Hurry?"
She
hurried, got the hypo she needed and brought it back, slamming it a little
harder than necessary against his neck.
"You should feel relief immediately. Wait six hours before engaging in angry
break-up sex--or any other kind."
"Ow. You mad at me or
at Spock?"
"Maybe
I'm mad at Lori."
"Well,
who's not?" He rubbed at his neck. "You two never did get on."
And
they'd had plenty of times to try. Jim
had invited her to a lot of parties once Chapel started dating his friend Jay. Jay, who was also a friend
of Lori's. Jay who'd ended up
giving Chapel the same infection Jim had.
"How
is Admiral Slutface?"
"She's
just going by Lori these days." He
grinned, then it faded. "Oh, you know, she's her normal
self. It's not that I want to get back
with her. It's more the idea of failing
at this that sticks in my craw."
"Well,
having failed at it continually, I can certainly commiserate."
"Yeah,
that was a stellar moment just now with Spock.
V'ger may have made him more emotional, but
he's still lacking in the sensitivity department."
"Oh,
I don't know. He did do this in private,
not in the middle of sickbay."
"True." He smiled gently at her. "I'm sorry I was here for that."
"I'm
not. At least he left." She patted him on the shoulder, then sat down.
"You doing anything tonight?"
"Eating. Sleeping."
"Well,
you want to do at least one of those things with me?"
She
looked up, met his eyes, saw amusement, compassion, and some glint of
delightful mischief. "You really
want to make him think that we're together."
He
shrugged. "Maybe I could just use
the company."
"For
eating or for sleeping?"
She knew she was blushing when she asked.
"Whichever
appeals."
She
took a long breath. "I think
dinner's the safer option."
"Dinner
it is." He got up and walked to the
door, then turned back. "Wear
something sexy."
"I
don't own anything sexy."
"Yeah,
you do. Did you bring that red blouse? The one with the plunging
neckline?"
"You
know my wardrobe?"
"Sweetheart,
I know much more than that after having watched you bend
over in that blouse." He
laughed. "I was so jealous of Jay
that night."
"So,
you're a boob man."
"Or
just a boob. Depends on who you
ask." He grinned. "I'll see you later."
------------------
She
wore the red blouse, got more than a few interested looks from people they
passed in the corridor.
Jim
was grinning as they walked to the mess.
"This is the life. Having my ship back. Going to dinner with a sexy woman."
"Or
me, anyway." She laughed, to show
him she was kidding--sort of. She had
always been so long and lanky, felt awkward in her body. Roger hadn't helped--his normal type had been
short and curvaceous, and those women had always caught his eye when they were
out, even after they were engaged. It
had hurt; she'd never told him, though.
What would the point have been?
Jay...Jay
had just been for fun. She thought now
that Jay had liked having someone to take to Jim's parties--probably so he
could ditch her and steal away with Lori.
But
Chapel hadn't really cared or noticed.
She'd been enjoying Jim too much to worry that his much less interesting
friend was off helping the hostess start the grill again.
Not
that she'd thought of it in those terms, probably. She'd just had fun with Jim. They laughed a lot together.
"Oh,
look. There's Spock." Jim moved a little closer to her and as they
passed Spock, he put his hand on the small of her back. "Did he notice?"
"Do
you think I have eyes in the back of my head?"
He
pointed to a panel on the ship's wall, a panel that offered a reflection of
everything behind them. "Dipshit."
"Next
time point out the strategically placed non-mirror before we pass him."
"Duly
noted." He put his hand on the small of her back
again; it felt good, very good. Then he
let go of her and moved to a more normal distance. "You're wearing the hell out of that blouse. He gave you a once over, if that makes you
feel better?"
"Really?"
"Yep. Old Spock's a boob man, too, from way
back." He grinned at her, the look
so infectious she knew she was grinning back like a fool. "Here we are," he led her into the
mess.
She
thought there were a lot of looks, for a moment. Then people went back to what they were
doing.
She
was Medical, after all. Not off limits
to the captain if he wanted her. No
wonder Spock believed him. Jim Kirk
might be famous for his "Not in the Nest" policy, but he was also the
master of the technical loophole.
She
suddenly liked the idea of being a technical loophole.
Turning,
she caught him staring at her. At her face, not just at her amply exposed chest. His look was gentle and his smile even more
so.
"I'm
glad you're here," she murmured, moving closer.
"So
am I." He seemed to realize they
were holding up the line, smiled at the crewman behind them and said,
"Sorry."
The
crewman didn't seem to mind. His
attention was focused on her chest.
"Damned
useful shirt, too," Kirk said under his breath as he pushed her ahead of
him in line.
----------------
They
walked around the ship after dinner, talking about the changes in design, the
reasons why. She could tell he was
surprised she knew as much as she did.
Decker had gone on and on about the mods; it
had been his passion--until a certain Deltan had
shown up, anyway.
They
ended up at her quarters. "You want
to come in?" she asked, knowing he'd say no. Wanting him to say no. But also wanting him to know that if he
wanted to say yes in the future, that would be okay, too.
"Better
not." He moved closer, but didn't
lean in to kiss her, just looked at her.
"I really was jealous of Jay, because when I was with you, we had
such fun, and I thought you two must be loving life. But you didn't have fun like that with him,
did you?"
"No."
"I
didn't have fun like that with Lori, either."
"You
had bed-fun with her."
"I
think everyone had bed-fun with her."
He made a half-angry, half-amused face.
"I
didn't."
He
laughed. "Good."
They
stood like that for a long time, staring at each other, then he said, "If
you added up the number of times we hung around each other, do you think you
could get us to a first date?"
"You
want to kiss me, don't you?"
"I
do. And not out
here."
"I
think we might even get to a second date."
She gave him a smile she was sure she'd never given Roger or Jay or
Spock or anyone. Sexy. Confident. And comfortable. So damn comfortable.
Palming
open the door, she took his hand and pulled him in. He had her up against the wall before the
door closed, was kissing her gently but very, very thoroughly. She pressed against him, heard him moan and
laughed softly.
"Bitch,"
he muttered as he pushed her toward the bed and eased her down, following her,
kissing her again, running his hand down her side.
She
moaned as he kissed her throat, then moved to her
chest, following the line of her shirt.
He
looked up at her, met her eyes. His eyes
looked black, his pupils were so dilated.
"How far can I go, Doctor?"
She
slid the sides of her blouse slowly, widening the plunge just a bit.
He
kissed everywhere she exposed. She
stopped, and he looked up at her. She
grinned, a mean grin, a wicked one.
He
grinned back the same way, and eased the fabric slowly, given her time to stop
him. She didn't, and he kept going,
until her breasts were uncovered.
She
was breathing hard, felt like a teenager again, in her boyfriend's parents'
hover with her shirt pulled up and his mouth on her--
Oh,
holy God. Her boyfriend had never
touched her like this. She let her head
fall back and gave herself over to Jim's lips and tongue.
Lori
had cheated on this?
---------------
They
lay together, kissing, their clothes still on, all but her top, which had one
sleeve still connected to her wrist, the rest dangling inside out off the bed
as she lay limply, her lips on his the only thing moving.
If
he'd asked or pushed, she wouldn't have stopped him from taking this the rest
of the way.
But
he hadn't asked. Hadn't
pushed. Even though she could
feel how much he wanted her as he lay pressed against her hip. Even though he moaned every time she ran her
hands down his body, occasionally letting them slide over the front of him.
Even
though she was on fire, had pushed her hips up against him when he'd lain over
her, the warm bulk of him holding her down.
"Jim,"
she'd moaned. "Jim, please."
He'd
smiled, his wonderfully gentle smile, and said, "We have time,
Chris."
And
she'd settled right down. They had
time. What a concept.
He
pulled away, nestled in with his head on her shoulder, his arm sprawled over
her belly, just under her breasts.
"Is sleeping okay, after all?
I know you said dinner was safer but...?"
"Mmmmm," was the most articulate answer she could give
him.
He
fell asleep quickly, and she thought she'd be nervous, the way sleeping with
someone new always made her. But she
fell asleep easily and woke to find him spooning her, his leg thrown over hers
in a way that made her smile.
Roger
had never been possessive. Jay,
either. This man...this man made her
feel completely and utterly his, and he hadn't even
taken her yet.
"Good
morning," he murmured, pulling her closer, nuzzling her neck. "Sleep well?"
"Like
a baby."
He
laughed as he said, "Me, too," then he moved
away enough to pull her to her back. He found
her chest again, kissing, licking, sucking.
The
noises she was making could not be called words.
He
slipped his hand under the waistband to her pants, slid down and down and--
"Oh,
God."
"Don't
want you to forget this..." He
kissed her as he touched her, his tongue mimicking the thrust of his fingers,
then the slow swirl as he set her off, as he watched her ride the pleasure out
and float back down.
She
moaned and tried to push him to his back.
His turn.
She would make him feel good.
But
he shook his head. "Tonight,
Chris. Do this to me tonight, all
right?"
She
nodded.
His
smile was indescribable. "I'm going
to be thinking about this all day."
"Me,
too." She realized he had not pulled his hand out,
was, in fact, moving his fingers again, and she murmured, "Oh," as he
kissed her, forcing her back, forcing her to go where he wanted to take her.
Fortunately,
he wanted to take her to heaven.
-------------------
Chapel
found it hard to concentrate, and she knew she was unusually mellow, not rising
to Len's bait as he teased her about something, earning herself a raised
eyebrow and a muttered, "What's gotten into you?"
She
decided not to tell him what had and hadn't gotten into her. By his look, though, her smile gave it away.
"Guess
V'ger brought Christmas early, huh?"
"Uh,
no."
He
gave her another look, his eyes narrowing.
"Not Spock?"
"Not
Spock what?" She was grinning evilly, and she knew it, and
she liked what the look did to him, how it made his eyes scrunch up and his
mouth purse.
"Hmmm. Not Spock.
Then who?"
He leaned in. "I know it
wasn't me. So that leaves...?"
"You
know the crew complement as well as I do."
He
smiled. "Who on this crew could get
you this relaxed?" He started to
grin. "Could it be our little Pavel?"
She
rolled her eyes.
"Sulu?"
She
thought he probably would be good in bed, even if she'd never had the
inclination to pursue that thought. "Nope."
"Hmmm."
Jim
walked in and the way he walked up, the lack of distance between them, had Len
shaking his head. "From
the fry pan to the fire, my darlin'."
Jim
gave him a look and Len smiled.
"Did
you need something, Captain?" She
didn't mean for the question to come out sleazy. It did anyway.
Len
rolled his eyes and walked away.
Jim
looked like he wanted to behave, but his eyes held the same devilish merriment
as when they'd seen Spock in the corridor the night before.
"Come
on, let's see how your umm condition is doing," she said, picking up a
scanner they didn't need and leading him into her office.
He
hit the privacy lock, then grabbed her and kissed her as soon as the door
closed. When he finally let her go, he
said, "I feel like I'm on intoxicants." He pushed her against the wall, stroked back
her hair. "You. The ship. My friends."
She
scanned him just in case--God knew they'd had enough outside influences on
their first voyage. But he was
just...happy.
"You
were miserable on Earth. You were
miserable at the end with Lori. You
missed Spock. You missed Len. You missed this ship and your crew and
space." She kissed him gently. "And now you have it all
back." Showing him the readings,
she said, "See. That's just one hundred
percent human happiness."
"Well,
I could be a little happier." He
grinned again, a grin heavily slanted toward the wicked side of the scale, and
walked to her chair. Before he could do
more, her chime sounded. "Crap, I
thought I hit the privacy shield."
She
glanced at her door. "I'm not sure
what you hit but it wasn't that. Just
hang tight, I'll see who this is."
He
rotated the chair around, slid down a bit, and she opened the door, intent on
pushing whoever it was out of viewing range.
It
was Spock. He did his best impression of
a mountain and would not be pushed.
"Doctor, may I speak to you?"
He
had her inside the office before she could say no.
"I
regret my behavior yesterday. V'ger has left me emotional, and I did not stop to think that
you might be involved with someone."
Jim
coughed softly.
"Who
is, of course, sitting in your chair. Again." Spock blushed this time instead of turning
pale.
"We
haven't played chess yet, Spock."
Jim turned around slowly.
"Soon, all right?"
She
gave Spock her best "No offense taken" smile. Jim gave him an even better "God, I'm
glad to see you even if you are getting in the way of me being orally pleasured
by my very new girlfriend" smile. Spock
managed to stay relatively expressionless.
Then he turned and fled.
Jim
got up. "Okay, prudence is getting
the better of passion. Who knows who
will interrupt us next?" He pulled
her to him, kissed her heartily. "I
hope you ate a big lunch. I'm not much
in the mood for dinner."
"No?"
"Well,
I have some things to snack on in my quarters if you get hungry." He looked down, a frown growing. "I meant food actually, not him."
She
laughed. "I promise not to devour
you."
"Well..." Then he laughed, the open, happy sound of it
making her feel light inside. He kissed
her one more time and left.
She
smiled like a giddy teenager through the rest of her shift.
--------------
"So
where are these snacks you promised?"
Chapel smiled as Jim gave her a once-over, and
then another, and then another.
"What? You don't remember
this shirt?"
It
was sheer black, cut low, fastened all the way down, and clung to her in all
the right places. She'd bought it for
Jay but never had the chance to wear it.
She was glad of that now.
"Come
in. You and your shirt
that I will soon be ripping off you." He stepped aside, let her in and then locked
the door. "Doctor."
"Captain." She met his eyes, then let her gaze slowly
ramble down his body, stopping at one particular point.
He
actually moaned.
"You've
been waiting for something, I think."
"I
have." He moved farther into his
quarters, smiled when she pushed him against his desk. "Hmm, what do you have in mind?"
She
slowly began to undo his pants.
"I'm
beginning to get the idea."
Parts
of him were definitely ahead of him in that department.
She
pushed him up onto his desk, was happy to find the chair the perfect height for
what she had in mind. She looked up at
him, smiled as he stroked her hair.
"I really, really like you."
His
smile was beautiful. "I really,
really like you, too."
She
waited to see if he'd push her down--she hated that.
He
didn't. He waited, too. Smiling, eyes half closed. She leaned down and kissed his thigh, then
moved to parts more interesting.
He
was very loud. She hoped his quarters
were soundproofed. As soon as she was
done and he'd caught his breath, he grabbed her shoulders, pulled her out of
the chair, and kissed her. "I more
than like you, Chris."
"I
just went down on you, Jim. You have to
wait at least half an hour after an orgasm before you can tell me something
like that. It's a girl law." She laughed and nuzzled his ear. "I more than like you,
too."
"Well
since I haven't had a chance to have my way with you yet, I'm going to take
that as gospel." He pushed her to
the bed, and took his time getting her shirt off, then her pants. Then he reached over and set his chrono.
"What
are you doing?"
"In
half an hour I'm going to say it again.
I'm just afraid I'll get distracted and miss my window." He winked at her and then headed for parts
south.
Once
again, she prayed for soundproofing. He
didn't give her time to come down, was inside her, moving hard and fast and
kissing her the same way. He had her
coming again before he finally let go.
They
lay together, breathing hard, touching still, little
strokes, then more, then he moved to kiss her again.
He
had to reset the chrono four times before he could finally
murmur, "You're wonderful, Chris.
I've had a crush on your for months.
But this...this isn't just a crush."
"No." She kissed him gently, feeling spent and
totally at home in his arms. "It's
not just a crush."
They
overslept the next day; she woke with a start to find him snoring gently beside
her, arms wrapped tightly, chrono blissfully still.
"Jim.
Jim, wake up."
He
moaned, then looked at the chrono. "Shit." He got up, pulled her out of bed after
him. "Damn thirty-minute
rule," he said as he followed her into the shower, keeping it all business
as they washed up.
"I
formally rescind that rule. We'll only
use the chrono for wake-up calls from here on
out." She smiled--it didn't feel
wrong to say that. It didn't feel wrong
to make plans or be happy.
He
smiled, too. "Sounds
good."
He
kissed her before they left his quarters, murmured, "I'll see you
tonight," as he hurried to the lift and she went to her quarters to finish
getting ready.
She
managed to get to sickbay only a few minutes late.
"Nice
of you to join us, Christine."
Len winked at her.
"Sorry." But her smile probably said she was anything
but.
"Monthly
report needs your additions. It's in
your queue."
"Right." She worked on it quickly, got up to get a padd, checked some facts on it.
A
cough sounded at the door. She turned,
saw Spock. He almost smiled at her as he
walked over to her chair and turned it around.
"No
Jim."
"No,
but I had to check. You understand, of
course."
She
nodded and found herself grinning like an idiot at him.
"You
are happy."
"I
am."
"So
is he. I wanted to say...I wanted to say
that I am glad."
She
walked back to her chair, stopping to touch his arm, not surprised that for
once he didn't flinch away. "I'm
glad you're glad."
"Jim
has been lonely. As I know you have
been. It is good that you are
together."
"I'm
happy you approve." She went back
to her report.
He
watched her for a moment, then he got up. "I will leave you to your work."
She
looked up at him. "He wasn't
kidding about the chess, you know. He's
missed you."
"As
I have missed him." He took a
deep breath. "I imagine he will be
somewhat engaged for a time."
"He
will be very engaged for a time, buster."
She grinned, wondered how he'd take the teasing.
His
expression lightened. "Of
course. I stand
corrected." He leaned in, touched
her cheek softly. "I was not
unmoved by you."
"Now
you tell me?"
"There
is a small part of me that is jealous."
"Thank
you."
"You
are welcome." He left her, back
straight.
Len
walked in. "Revolving
door today, Christine." He
glanced at the report on her screen.
"You ever going to get that done?"
"Yes. If I didn't have to correct your grammar, I'd
be done already."
He
clutched at his heart as if shot. "Oh, low blow, little lady. That means our Scrabble game is back
on." He winked. "When you can tear yourself away from
Jim, that is."
"Oh,
I imagine I'll have time for you eventually." She reached out, grabbed his hand as he
turned to go. "I missed you. So did Jim."
He
looked touched, then he smiled, the old half-mocking
smile of old. "Everybody and their
dog missed me, darlin'. Who in their right mind wouldn't miss
me?" He winked at her again, then left. A moment
later, he popped his head in the door. "Oh and Christine?"
She
turned.
"I
missed you, too."
FIN