Aviophobia (Leonard McCoy)

29. Yorktown

As Kate and Leonard stepped onto the bridge of the Enterprise, they heard a low whistle and Checkov saying, "That is impressive."  Kate looked ahead of them and saw Yorktown.  It really was incredible what technology allowed them to do.

Scotty nodded his head in agreement with Checkov and said, "Aye, she is a beauty, isn't she?"

Clearly one person on the crew of the Enterprise did not agree, as Leonard said from beside her, "What a damn monstrosity.  Couldn't we just rent some space on a planet?"

Spock, as logical as always, replied, though Leonard had not been asking him, "Showing geographical favoritism among the inductive Federation worlds could cause diplomatic tensions."

Kate placed her hand in Leonard's and squeezed softly as he replied, "You don't think that looks tense?  Looks like a damn snowball in space, just waiting to break."

Kate couldn't deny that the space station made her feel a little tense too, but it was at least going to feel like being on solid ground once they actually landed there, so she would welcome being on the space station.  Jim came up on the other side of Leonard and clapped on his shoulder as he said, "That's the spirit, Bones," then continued on to give orders to the crew as they were coming to land at the space station.

Kate softly pushed her elbow into his side as she said quietly enough that only he would hear her, "You know it's going to be alright, Len.  It always is."

Leonard shook his head and said, "Don't say things like that, darlin'.  Those are always famous last words."

Kate laughed softly from beside him and replied, "Well, famous last words or not, we're at least going to get some alone time off of this ship.  That's got to at least make you feel better."

Leonard, for the first time since looking at Yorktown, turned toward her and smiled a genuine smile  before saying, "Darlin', that's the only thing making this stop at Yorktown good for me."

Kate smiled back, then felt her stomach drop as she thought about telling him that she was pregnant.  After such a rocky start to actually getting into a relationship, she was nervous about how he would react to such big, life-changing, and, frankly, unexpected news.  But she had to push those thoughts behind her.  This wasn't a problem that would simply go away by not bringing it up.

As they got closer to docking, Jim turned around to the nonessential crew on the bridge and said, "You all are dismissed to your quarters to pack up your personal belongings for our stay at Yorktown.  Thank you all, for all you do."

Leonard nodded his head toward the lift and said, "Ready to go?"

Kate looked toward Jim and said, "I'll be right behind you, babe.  I just want to talk to Jim real quick."

Leonard nodded and kissed her softly on the temple before saying, "Don't keep me waiting too long."

Kate felt her stomach flutter again.  It surprised her that she still wasn't use to his public displays of affection after all these years, but she was so glad he wasn't ashamed to show their closest friends how much he was in love with her.  It always made her feel loved, wanted, appreciated, and treasured.  However, as she caught Nyota's eye, she couldn't help but feel bad.

Nyota had told Kate that Spock broke up with her a few days ago, and she could tell her best friend was having a hard time with it.  So, in spite of having promised Leonard that she wouldn't take long, she went over to Nyota before going to see Jim and asked, "You holding up okay, Ny?"

Nyota sighed and shook her head softly before admitting, "No, I'm not.  I just wish he had given me a reason."

Kate fumed again as she thought of how Spock hadn't even explained himself to Nyota, and shook her head as she replied, "After all the time you two have spent together, you deserved so much more than what he did."