Aviophobia (Leonard McCoy)

18. You Are Not There to Flirt

They walked in silence toward the lift, and Kate felt butterflies forming in her stomach.  She didn't really want to be in the lift alone with him, but she knew it wouldn't be a long ride, so she knew she could survive it.  Even if it made her uncomfortable.

The doors opened and Leonard motioned in front of him and politely said, "After you," so she entered and Leonard followed closely behind her.

They settled in beside each other as the doors closed and their short ride to the brig's level began, but Kate could feel the tension around them.  She tried to focus on the doors in front of her, but all she could think about was the man beside her and what had almost happened between them not too long ago.  Thinking about what happened at the bar and what could have happened after, she felt her face heating up and hoped desperately that Leonard wasn't looking at her.

It was too much to hope for, though, as she heard him ask, "You good, Kate?  You look nervous."

Thank God that's what he thought it was.  She was going to be able to lie and cover this up, so she replied softly, "We're about to go see the man that killed Chris.  Of course I'm nervous."

She felt her heart stop as Leonard pushed the stop button and grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her to face him.  She didn't want to look at him, but couldn't deny it when he said, "Look at me, Kate."

She looked up slowly and saw sympathy in his eyes.  He squeezed her shoulders softly before dropping his arms and saying, "You don't have to come if this is too much for you.  I can get what we need.  You don't have to."

Kate shook her head before saying, "No, I need to see him.  I don't know why I need to, but I do."

Leonard watched her for a moment before saying, "If it ever gets too much for you while we're in there, just go.  I'll explain it to Jim."

Kate nodded and looked down at her feet again, not able to handle the way that Leonard was looking at her or the way that he was acting so caring right now.  He seemed to get the message and pressed the button for the lift to begin again, but they still hadn't turned away from each other.  She managed to look up at him one more time, only to see that he was still looking at her.

He opened his mouth and said softly, "Kate," just as the lift doors opened and Jim was standing right there.  She saw Leonard deflate a little and she felt disappointed as well.  It seemed like he was about to tell her something important, and now he probably was never going to.

She exited the lift and greeted Jim with a small smile, and Jim explained to both of them quickly what had happened.  Apparently, Harrison helped rescue them from the Klingons they had encountered on the planet.  When it seemed like he was about attack them too, he asked about how many torpedoes there were, then surrendered himself.  Things didn't add up.  Harrison was able to single-handedly take on and defeat the Klingons they were up against, but he surrendered himself all because of torpedoes.

Leonard seemed confused as well and asked, "Why the hell did he surrender?"

Jim shrugged and shook his head before saying, "I don't know, but he took out a squad of Klingons single-handedly.  I want to know how."

Kate  nodded and asked, "That's what you've got us here for?"

Jim nodded and explained, "He looks human, but no human should be able to do that.  Can you guys run some tests and figure out what he is?"

Kate nodded once in reply and said, "No problem, we'll get it done for you."

Then Jim led them into the brig and Kate saw the man standing behind the force field and was caught off guard by how normal he looked.  He didn't look as strong and as powerful as the man that Jim had described in the story, and it certainly didn't seem like he would be able to take out a single Klingon, much less a squad of them.