Title: Lucky in Love on the Starship Enterprise (1/3)
Author: klmeri
Fandom: Star Trek AOS
Pairing: pre-Kirk/Spock/McCoy
Summary: Joanna McCoy visits her father while the Enterprise is docked near Earth. Her mission: to improve his love life.
A/N: Thanks to those of you who stood up for me against that meanie, RL Work. With February coming to an end, I am finally able to return to the fandom!
PS – Joanna has been on my mind lately: how she might have felt about her father at a young age, some of the things she might have done, her view of Leonard’s ‘family’ on the Enterprise, etc. Then I realized what a funny McSpirk story I could make out of that. So, enjoy!
Read here or at AO3

Part One

The ship’s corridors are quiet, nearly empty except for a few housekeeping staff and the occasional engineer. The final party of ‘Fleet officers have departed to the nearby space station. From there they will disperse to various locations across Earth—or even a little farther out in the solar system—until such time as the starship is ready to return to space flight. The few who remain behind are integral to the re-fitting, or they have made it clear that they are at home nowhere else but the Enterprise.

“Captain Jim!”

A young girl with a wide grin belts down a stretch of corridor towards one of her favorite people, her ponytail of brown hair streaming out behind her like a starboard flag. She ignores her father’s warning of “Slow down, Jo!” and reaches her destination with a skid of sneakers across the spotless floor. There, she snaps to attention like a solider greeting her general, offering the most proper of salutes.

James Kirk’s return salute is sloppy, a touch of defiance left over from his pre-Academy days. His “At ease, Lieutenant” is full of affection.

Joanna McCoy’s eyes gleam as she says to her approaching father, “I made Lieutenant!”

“Because you’re a stellar officer, JoJo. One of my best. Keep up the good work, and I’ll promote you to Commander in no time,” Jim promises.

Leonard lays a hand on his daughter’s shoulder, rolling his eyes at the pair. “She’s eleven, Jim.”

Jim and Joanna ignore him.

“Where’s my station, sir?” the child wants to know. She cranes her neck around Jim as if already anticipating the trip to the Bridge.

Jim places a hand on her free shoulder and says, “First things first. How would you like a tour of my starship?”

Leonard turns his gaze heavenward once again but makes no comment. Clearly he knows better than to point out that she would remember her first tour.

Joanna bounces up and down on the balls of her feet. “Absolutely, Captain Jim!”

Leonard drops his hand away and allows Jim to steer Joanna to a turbolift. He doesn’t follow them, saying instead, “I’ll be in Sickbay. Have her back by lunch, Jim. Oh and skip the Jefferies Tubes this time, will ya?”

Jim leans down to whisper something in Leonard’s daughter’s ear. She laughs.

Leonard crosses his arms and shakes his head until the man and child disappear from sight.

~~~

Joanna McCoy, like her dad, is very intelligent but prone to impatience with topics that do not interest her. When Jim starts in with an innocuous question about her schooling as they descend toward Engineering, Joanna cuts him off with “Dad already grilled me about school.”

“Oh,” the man says, pausing slightly. “Did he also ask you who your friends are at your new school?”

The girl glances sideways at the man and asks suspiciously, “Why?”

Jim reaches out to tweak the end of her nose. “‘Cause I’m terrible at schoolwork but I’m good at punching bullies.”

Joanna huffs. “I know how to handle bullies.” She thinks on that for another second. “I like biting them better.”

“Whatever works.”

“Dad says violence is not the answer.”

“Your dad’s not wrong.”

“Then why did you say that?”

“Because, right or wrong, I would still defend your honor.” He smiles, leaning over to whisper, “And so would Bones.”

Joanna smiles at that. Bones is a funny nickname for a person. The first time Joanna had heard Jim say it, she thought her father might have turned into a skeleton since she last saw him (which, at the time, she thought he would’ve deserved for leaving her behind). He certainly didn’t like it when she tried out the nickname herself, calling him Bones. Jim had told her later, “Your name for him is special enough. Nobody gets to call him Dad but you.”

Sometimes Captain Jim makes a whole lot of sense.

Right now, he wants her approval and she is happy to give it to him. She says, “Okay.” Then she tacks on primly, “But for the record, I can take of myself. Plus, nobody’s mean to me at school because they know I can get your autograph.”

“Ah, thanks. Now I understand.” Jim lifts a hand like he has an invisible pen. “Where do I sign?”

Joanna knocks her shoulder into his arm. “You’re funny, Captain Jim. I’m glad my daddy takes care of you.”

Jim’s hand drops to the top of her head. “So am I, kiddo—so am I.”

~~~

“Mr. Spock! Mr. Spock!”

Ponytail flying, Joanna hurries to catch up to a tall, familiar figure before the next turn of a corridor. Luckily, calling his name has the effect of causing him to stop and wait for her.

“Welcome aboard, Miss McCoy,” Commander Spock greets her, raising one hand and spreading his fingers in the salutation of his people while tucking a data padd against his side with his other hand.

Joanna imitates the gesture. “Live long and prosper!”

“You have been practicing,” the Vulcan notes with approval.

“Yes, sir,” she says proudly. “I’m a natural now. I made Daddy practice too but he still can’t do it right.” Her eyes twinkle as she goes on to add, “You’ll just have to forgive him for his shortcomings.”

“I always do,” is the officer’s smooth reply.

“I won’t tell Bones you said that,” Joanna’s escort remarks as he comes abreast of the pair. He glances from Spock to the child and back again. “How’s your schedule looking today, Commander?”

Spock hardly blinks an eye. “There are no pressing matters I must attend to, Captain.”

Jim grins. “Excellent! JoJo, any ideas?”

“Yes!” she cries, bouncing in place. “Mr. Spock, can you take me to see the roses, please? And the ‘Man-Eaters’!”

“Certainly.” Spock hands Jim his data padd. “Although, I must point out that our labs currently contain no flora which would consume a humanoid—” He gives a brief pause. “—not entirely. Captain, if you would return this report to my office, I will accompany Miss McCoy to the Botanical sector. Also, I have forwarded a copy to your personal computer. It requires your review and signature. I highlighted the relevant sections but recommend that you read it in its entirety before offering your approval.”

“Wonderful,” Jim says. “Paperwork on vacation. Thanks, Spock.”

“You are most welcome.”

If Joanna had to guess, she would say that Mr. Spock understands that Jim is not actually thanking him. It seems there are some things he has also improved upon since their previous encounter.

That’s a good sign to her way of thinking.

Jim walks away, playing up his dejection, and Mr. Spock pays him no mind. “Shall we proceed?” he asks Joanna.

She gives a firm nod, along with “Lead the way, Mr. Spock!”

~~~

Lying on her belly in the middle of a Jeffries tube, Joanna watches her latest companion stick a device into the opening of a small side shaft and make a tapping noise with an instrument in his opposite hand.

She props her head up on her fists and asks, “How come you’re not on leave, Mr. Scott?”

Mr. Scott (or Scotty, as dubbed by Captain Jim) lifts his eyebrows at her question. “I am on leave, lass!”

She wrinkles her nose. “But you’re working.”

He shakes his tool at her. “Well now, what may be work to you is fun for me!”

“But you can have fun on Earth or the station like everybody else. My dad says only a fool passes up a chance to take a break from his work.”

The Chief of Engineer snorts. “He said that, did he? Well, your dad wasn’t talking about me, Joanna. That’s for certain!”

“What’s that mean?”

Scotty looks like he might explain but then turns his head away and scoots farther into the shaft.

Joanna tugs on his sleeve. “Mr. Scott. What’s that mean?”

“Nothing, lass, really. Don’t mind me, and hand me that wee wrench. I think I figured out the problem with the control circuit. A good whack ought to fix it!”

Joanna picks the first ‘wee’ tool she sees. “This one?”

“Aye, that’ll do.”

She waits until he is focused on his work again. “Mr. Scott?”

“Hm?”

“Do you think Dad was talking about Mr. Spock?”

There comes a bang and a curse from inside the shaft.

“I think he was talking about Mr. Spock,” Joanna decides. “Hey, I know that word. It’s Klingon for—”

Scotty reappears quickly. “It means flowers!”

She purses her mouth. “No it doesn’t.”

“And sunshine! And puppies,” the engineer tosses in desperately. “Dinnae repeat that word to your dad, Joanna, please.”

Mr. Scott is so amusing. “All right,” she assures him. “I won’t.” Her fingers might be crossed behind her back.

His relief shows plainly on his face. “Thank the stars.” He peers at her for a moment longer. “Lass, when’d the Capt’n say he was coming back for you?”

“I dunno.”

“Isn’t it your bedtime?”

Mr. Scott is also funny in the head. “It’s the middle of the day, sir.”

“Oh.”

“Can we talk about Mr. Spock and my dad now?”

“Why would we do that?”

She lowers her voice conspiratorially. “‘Cause I think they like each other.” She blinks. “Do you have to use the bathroom?”

“What?”

“You look like you have to use the bathroom.”

“You know what?” Scotty says, pulling himself back into the main tube. “That’s a grand idea. Let’s head back! I, er, have some important things to take care of.”

She doesn’t understand his reaction and just shrugs, picking herself up. “Okay.”

She follows him back the way they came, waiting a minute or so before she says, “Mr. Scott?”

“Aye, lass?”

“I also know that you like Miss Uhura.”

Joanna picks up her pace because Mr. Scott’s shuffle becomes more hurried.

“I figured that out last time I was here. I figured out lots of things. And now I’m back.” She pats his red-sleeved arm. “Don’t worry. I came with a plan.”

Scotty stops moving at that and turns around to stare at her. “A plan?” he echoes dubiously.

The girl-child beams. “Uh-huh. My dad says we’re all family, but I just gotta make certain.”

“Lass…” But Scotty shakes his head. “Never mind. I don’t think I want to know.”

Joanna reaches out and takes his hand, squeezing it. “Like I said, don’t worry.” She points ahead of them. “Is it that way?”

Her friend sighs. “Aye.”

“…Mr. Scott?” Joanna says for the third time after a brief silence. “You won’t tell Dad I’ve been in the Jefferies Tubes, will you?”

For some odd reason, her companion closes his eyes and murmurs something about a certain ‘bloody capt’n’ and death wishes. Joanna is content not to ask for the details (this time) and occupies herself by humming a popular tune.

Eventually Mr. Scott starts to hum too.

They walk on.

~~~

Joanna’s father is drumming his fingers on his desktop and frowning at his computer screen.

“Dad, do you miss Mom?”

He casts a surprised glance at Joanna. “Why do you ask, Jo?”

She swings her legs despite that she is now tall enough for her feet to reach the floor when she sits down.

“Just wonderin’.” She tilts her head in a very Spock-like fashion. “Do you miss her?”

Leonard sighs and straightens in his chair. “I’ll always miss your mother.”

“Even though she made you leave?”

“It wasn’t like that,” her father counters quickly. “Our divorce was a mutual decision, Jo.”

“But you still had to leave.”

He looks away. “She wanted to raise you.”

To this day, Joanna still doesn’t quite understand why she couldn’t live with him instead—why he didn’t get a place of his own. But when she considers her surroundings, she thinks it is a good thing that he joined Starfleet. Visiting him on a starship is far better than going to some boring old apartment on Earth.

She had even been impressed with the Academy dorms.

“Joanna?”

Joanna starts, realizing she had not heard her father calling her name. She meets his eyes.

“Sweetheart, is there something you want to talk about?”

“No. I’m okay.”

“You sure?”

Joanna nods. “Positive.”

He doesn’t look convinced. “You know can tell me anything, even if you think it will make me upset.”

“Dad, really. I was only wondering if you were lonely sometimes.”

An answer doesn’t come right away.

Kicking her heel against her chair leg, she surmises, “So you are lonely.” When he still doesn’t reply, she adds slyly, “And now you’re upset.”

That breaks the mood. Leonard huffs. “Some days I wonder where you get your sass from.”

Joanna responds promptly with “Mr. Spock.”

Her father’s mouth opens and closes for a long time, until at last he says, “You know that’s not possible.”

“Is this a nature versus nurture argument?”

He flushes red. “You’ve only met Spock twice!” Then he rubs a hand over his face, muttering, “My god…”

“I like him, Daddy.”

“Jo, let’s not talk about Mr. Spock.”

“What about Captain Jim?”

“I don’t know how Jim fits into this conversation, but I’m sure that I don’t want to know.”

Joanna folds her hands in her lap like the doctors do in holovids. “Then I guess we need to talk about why you’re lonely.”

“Enough.” Her father’s voice changes tone, warning her.

“Daddy, it’s perfectly okay for you to date. Maybe I didn’t like the idea before, but I was really little then. I’m grown up now.”

“Grown up,” the man across from her repeats. He shakes his head and switches off his computer. “Daughter mine, only one of us here is an adult and it’s not the one who thinks she is the cutest.” He comes to his feet. “C’mon, I’ll take you to the rec room. I should have known Sickbay would be too boring for you.”

“I’m not bored,” she protests as she follows him out of his office.

“If you have time to enjoy the company of a stuffy Vulcan and a six-foot infant, then yes you are desperately bored. I checked with some of the staff a while back. We had a bunch of new game-boards installed recently. Want to play Galaxy Pirates against your old man?”

On one hand, she does like that; on the other, she doesn’t want to concede the conversation. Maybe if she can just get confirmation…

“That game is ancient, Dad. I’ll pick what we play.” Joanna reaches for her father’s hand to stall him for a quick moment. “Hey, can I ask you one more thing?”

He sighs through his nose in his usual way that means ‘I suppose so’.

“Captain Jim and Mr. Spock are good people, right?”

Her father’s gaze sharpens. “Well of course they are.”

Joanna lets go of his hand and gives him a sunny smile. “Then don’t be so shy around them!”

Before he can puzzle out why she would ever think he is shy, his daughter skips ahead to the outer med bay, calling back, “I want to go to the gymnasium instead!”

“The gym? Why?” Leonard questions, hurrying after her. “The rec room is safer.”

“Captain Jim is going to teach me how to throw punches!”

“—What! Now wait a minute!”

With a giggle that might be more of a cackle, she takes off to the nearest turbolift, certain that her father will pursue her.

~~~

Leonard McCoy’s hands slash through the air as heavy emphasis to his lecture. The recipient of said lecture calmly places a hand on one of McCoy’s shoulders despite the menacing air and says something. This seems to infuriate the man all the more.

Joanna scuffs the tip of her shoe against the red mat of the gym floor as she watches the pair. She isn’t the only one interested in the show. Deciding that enough is enough, she turns to her neighbor and says plaintively, “How do I contact Mr. Spock?”

The neighbor blinks at her for a moment, then catches on. “Oh hey,” he says, “that’s a good idea!” He moves away with, she hopes, the purpose of informing the First Officer that his presence is required to break up a spat between the Enterprise’s Captain and CMO.

As her father continues to fuss at Jim, Joanna removes her shoes and begins to turn cartwheels. She gets up to five in a row before she is dizzy enough to fall out of her sixth one and land in a heap on the mat. When she looks up, her father is hurrying towards her.

She jumps up. “I’m fine!” To prove it, the girl does a back flip and lands on her feet with a proud grin.

Jim gives her a thumbs-up from behind Leonard’s back. As though sensing this encouragement, the doctor whirls around to scowl at his captain.

Joanna figures if they start fighting again, that will be for the better. She wants to see Mr. Spock in action.

“Jo!” her father calls sharply as she takes the position for another flip. “Time for dinner!”

Her arms drop to her sides and her bottom lip pushes out in a pout. “But what about my training?”

“There’s going to be no training.” Her father comes abreast of her, looking as stubborn as she does.

Jim joins them. “Bones, it’s a self-defense lesson. You can’t say no.”

“I’ve seen your version of self-defense, Jim. She can learn from Giotto. Him, I trust.”

The look that flashes across Jim’s face has Joanna biting into her bottom lip. “But, Dad,” she says, “you trust Captain Jim.”

Leonard’s mouth thins into a line.

“It’s all right, JoJo,” Jim tells her, although the change in his posture doesn’t convince her of everything being all right. “As long as he agrees that you should learn the basics, your father can pick whomever he likes as the teacher.”

Why did her dad say that? Why is Captain Jim backing down?

The sound of approaching footsteps turns out to be Mr. Spock.

“Miss McCoy, I believe you requested to see me?”

Joanna turns to the Vulcan, her eyes filling with genuine tears. “Mr. Spock,” she says, “make them stop.”

An arrested look comes into Spock’s eyes, but it is quickly becomes replaced by something stronger, like fury.

“Who?” he questions.

“Them.” She indicates Captain Jim and her parent. “They’re fighting like they don’t care about each other—just like my mom and Dad did before they split up,” she adds pitifully.

“Joanna!” her father says, shocked.

Spock walks over to her and, to everyone’s surprise, places a hand on her small shoulder. “I apologize on behalf of Captain Kirk and Dr. McCoy. They should know better than to cause you distress.”

His dark gaze turns on the two men, and he speaks with a voice that is calm but slightly cool. “I suggest that both of you think on why your behavior is inappropriate in the presence of a child. In the meantime, Joanna will accompany me to the Bridge.”

Joanna blinks away her tears. “I’d like that very much, Mr. Spock.” She looks to her father.

He doesn’t say anything, just waves his hand in tacit permission.

Joanna follows Mr. Spock to the opposite side of the gym. When they are in an arm’s length from the exit, she looks back to see what is happening among the two now abnormally quiet men.

Captain Jim has his arms crossed over his chest and is staring at the floor, seemingly in deep thought. Her father’s head is bowed in a way that she has only seen once before, on the day she accused him of selfishly forgetting about her when he joined Starfleet.

Spock touches her shoulder briefly again and urges her, “Come.”

The girl obeys, wondering if she has caused more harm than good without meaning to. She, too, bows her head and walks away.

~~~

Joanna’s excitement at being on the Bridge, however empty and still it is because of the scheduled re-fit, becomes subdued as time passes. Even sitting in the Captain’s chair loses most of its thrill. Neither her father nor Captain Jim appear in the adjoining turbolift, only the odd officer with an engineering tricorder in his hand who never lingers. She did not know the Bridge could feel so lonely.

Slouching down as she has seen Captain Jim sit, Joanna runs her fingers over the control pad installed into one of the chair’s arms. She doesn’t realize Mr. Spock has left the upper deck until she sees the shadow of him standing beside her.

“You are troubled,” he remarks.

“I thought my dad and Jim really liked each other,” she confesses. “I didn’t mean for them to say hurtful things.”

If the Vulcan guesses that this is her confession of intentionally creating the opportunity for Leonard and Jim to fight, he does not indicate so. He tells her instead, “Individuals in a close relationship can often be at odds. I am told one is naturally more irritating as a friend than as a stranger.”

“Daddy told you that.”

“Affirmative.”

“So you’re saying it’s normal. I shouldn’t worry.”

“Affirmative. The captain and the doctor will reconcile.” Mr. Spock sounds certain of the outcome.

Joanna wiggles upright. “Mr. Spock, can I ask you a question? I’m curious about something.”

“If I can address the subject of your curiosity, I will do so.”

“Who do you like better: my dad or Captain Jim?” She adds quickly, “I promise I won’t get mad if you say Captain Jim. I know Dad can be mean sometimes.”

“Your father is one of the kindest people I know. I find it ironic, of course, that he prefers for others to view him as precisely the opposite.”

Joanna suppresses a smile. “I dunno… He picks at you a lot. Doesn’t that make you mad?”

“During the first year of our acquaintance, I was baffled by your father’s constant need to engage in confrontation with me. In time it became clear that he took pleasure—quite perversely, I might add—from the arguments. His tactics were not meant to cause harm, only to force interaction. In hindsight, I see that I was foreign to your father in much of what I did and said, as he had had no direct experience with Vulcans before we met. Therefore, he sought to further his understanding by an unusual means, which I mistook for hostility. Any misunderstandings have been resolved, and since then our conversations have been quite stimulating, on many levels.”

“Why, thanks, Spock,” comes a drawl from behind them. “I’ll make a note to call you ‘an emotionless, coldblooded hobgoblin’ more often.”

Joanna turns around in her chair in delight, having not noticed her father’s arrival with her attention on Mr. Spock. “Dad!”

Jim slides around Leonard, briefly clapping a hand to the doctor’s shoulder as he steps down to join Joanna and his Vulcan First. “How do you like the chair, Lieutenant McCoy?”

Joanna lifts her chin in challenge. “That’s Captain McCoy to you, sir.”

“Ah, a self-promotion?” Jim surmises, hardly sounding surprised.

“You bet!” She grins, then holds out a hand so that her index finger hovers over a red button on the chair arm. “Hey, what’s this do, Captain Jim?”

“Don’t touch that, Jo!” her father warns her.

“If you don’t press it, you’ll never find out,” Jim replies, his blue eyes twinkling.

“Jim! For god’s sake, don’t encourage her!”

With his hands clasped behind his back and appearing as placid as ever, Spock returns to his station.

Joanna cries, “I love you, Mr. Spock!”

Then she gleefully presses the button.

Next Part

Related Posts:

• Lucky in Love on the Starship Enterprise (5/5) – from March 26, 2015
• Lucky in Love on the Starship Enterprise (4/5) – from March 18, 2015
• Lucky in Love on the Starship Enterprise (3/4) – from March 16, 2015
• Lucky in Love on the Starship Enterprise (2/4) – from March 11, 2015
• I Have To Share This Comment – from February 26, 2015

00