Come Here Often?

Chapter 1

It had been a long first day of classes for this year, and Leonard McCoy had an hour before his practicum began at Starfleet Hospital. He sought respite in one of his favorite places in San Fransisco—an overlook of the Bay. It was the closest to nature he could get in the midst of all the studying about space, alien diseases, and preparing for life aboard a starship. He would never admit it to anyone, even the man who'd become his best friend, Jim Kirk—but he still wondered if he was making a foolish decision joining Starfleet. He found the idea of space quite mortifying, but much like other things in his life, he'd have to pull up his bootstraps and charge ahead into the unknown. San Fransisco and Starfleet Academy was about as far as one could get from his home in Georgia, and his only sense of peace seemed to come when he came here and looked out over the water.

"Do you ever feel that in the pursuit of the stars, maybe we've lost our love of the land we have right under us? The beauty of nature that's right in front of us?" a feminine voice spoke from beside him.

He turned his head to examine the woman. She wore a Starfleet cadet uniform, just as he did, and now looked out over the bay as wistfully as he imagined he'd been moments before. Her long brunette hair, with its loose curls, was pulled back in a ponytail. After a brief moment of observation, he spoke. "Yes, I do feel that way—quite often, in fact. Nice to hear I'm not alone."

"Not if you feel that way, you're certainly not alone." She looked out over the water and sighed. "I miss home," she finally spoke again and her tone was as sad as her words implied.

"Where's home?"

"North Carolina—the mountains of North Carolina. It's so different here. I'm thrilled to be in Starfleet, but sometimes I miss those mountains so bad I want to pack up and run home."

He was taken aback by the sympathetic feelings coming from a stranger who had no idea what he'd been thinking before she spoke up. "We were near neighbors then. I'm from Georgia."

Though he wasn't looking directly at her now, still enjoying the view of the bay, he saw her smile out the corner of his eye. "I guess we were, huh?" She turned towards him so he followed suit, then she held her hand out. "Jessica Patton."

He shook her hand. "Leonard McCoy. Nice to meet you, Miss Patton."

"Nice to meet you too. Please, call me Jessica. Not to sound too cheesy, but—you come here often?"

He smirked. "I try to get out here once a week. Still working out this semester's schedule. Looks like this might be my only free chance. An hour between class and practicum at the hospital."

"Ah, so medical then?"

He nodded. "I'm a doctor, yes. You?"

"Operations & Engineering—specializing in all things computers."

"That sounds like a nightmare."

"Hmm, well, so does handling a case of Andronesian encephalitis, so I suppose it's all a matter of skill and preference."

'Yeah, I suppose it is," he said with a slight smile. "So, to borrow the same cheesy line—what about you, you come here often? I don't remember seeing you before."

"I do, as often as I can. Less lately since I'm double-specializing and taking extra classes to try and finish up early."

"Why the rush?"

She turned back to look out at the view for a few more moments before speaking. "I shouldn't say. I've just met you and I'd hate to think you'd walk away from our first meeting thinking terribly of me.."

"I can't imagine that as a possibility. You seem like a perfectly charming woman with a good head on her shoulders. What could you possibly say that would cause me to think terribly of you, darlin'?"

He could tell she was lost in thought for a moment as she gazed out over the water as the sun began to set. "I'm running away, Doctor McCoy," she spoke quietly, and with a tremble in her voice that gave him pause.

"From what?"

She sighed. "I'm a widow. So, while I miss home terribly, I'm terrified to go back because everywhere I look there are memories of him."

Bones blinked. She didn't seem old enough to be a widow. He wanted to ask her what had happened, but also felt it was none of his business. "I'm very sorry for your loss."

"Thanks." After a moment, she shook herself from her own introspection and glanced back up at him. "And you, Doctor McCoy? What has a man who also seems so tied to land to run away to the stars?"

"Call me Leonard. Divorce. Wife took everything."

She nodded in understanding and after a few moments of quiet glanced down at the smartwatch on her wrist and sighed. "Well, it was a pleasure to meet you... Leonard. Time for me to get to my next class."

"Nice to meet you, too. Maybe I'll see you out here again sometime."

She smiled and looked his way. "Yeah... maybe."

**********

The next week, at the same time, Leonard McCoy came back to the Bay Overlook and smiled when he saw her standing there as he approached. "I wondered if I'd find you here again."

She turned towards him, a smile already on her face. "Hello, Leonard."

"Hello, Jessica. How was your weekend?"

"I was in the lab all weekend testing a theory on how to debug an issue in some testing software. I barely had enough time to eat and sleep."

"No rest for the weary, eh?"

She shook her head. "Not at all. How about you? Good weekend?"

"Alright. I had an extra shift at the hospital, and my friend Jim conned me into going to a bar with him Saturday night. It was a nightmare."

"I probably shouldn't make such judgment calls, but even after the short time I've interacted with you—you don't seem like the type to enjoy the bar scene."

"Precisely, darlin'. I like a good bottle of whiskey as much as the next Georgia boy—but the loud noise and all that desperation in the air are enough to make me want to take a long walk off a short pier."

She chuckled. "Why'd you let him convince you to go, then?"

"You've never met Jim Kirk. He's very convincing."

"Oh no, you're friends with the Jim Kirk?"

Leonard groaned. "Oh great—I should have known—to which part of his reputation are you privy to?"

"His desperation after losing the Kobiyashi Maru simulation is well known amongst the Engineering Department at the Academy."

"Oh, that."

"Is there some other part of his reputation you assumed I knew about?"

"Jim is—quite the ladies man."

"Oh, I see. And you thought perhaps I had fallen prey to his charms? Rest assured, Leonard, I don't tend to spend time in the circles of ladies who would fall prey to those sorts of charms—and I don't tend to be attracted to that type of man."

"I apologize for the assumption. I should have known better—I had a good feeling about you when we first met."

She mirrored his smile and they fell into companionable silence as they watched the sun begin to set and said quick goodbyes before heading their separate ways yet again.