Fandom Star Trek AOS
Character(s)/Pairing(s) James Kirk, Joanna McCoy, Spock; no pairing
Genre Family/General
Rating G
Word Count 588
Disclaimer Star Trek c. Paramount, CBS, NBC, Roddenberry
Summary A young Joanna has run away from home to Starfleet and runs into Spock looking for directions to the medical building.
Warning(s) None
Notes I was trying to think up something involving McCoy and Spock for a loyal reviewer's birthday, but uh…this happened instead. But I will figure out something to write with McCoy and Spock for her birthday, so yeah.

Directions

She was tall for her age with her auburn hair braided in two braids that looked a few days old. Her eyes were a piercing blue and her skin pale. She stared up at him expectantly. "Please," she added her request for directions to the medical building. The young professor considered her. She was a human child, most likely in early elementary. She had large pink duffle slung over her body and her shoes were white and very dusty.

"Is there someone you are looking for?" Spock inquired. The child did not look like she needed medical attention.

"If you don't know where the building is, that's okay," the girl remarked. She moved around him to try to find someone else to ask or maybe one of those campus maps posted around Starfleet Academy.

"I know where the building is," Spock answered and began to follow, keeping a platonic distance so as not to frighten the child. He paused and then stated, "It appears you have been alone for," he could not even begin to estimate a number, "a few days," he finished with the right phrase he thought.

"If you know where the building is, you could say so," the girl pointed out. She looked over at him. Then she tilted her head, studying Spock. "Woah…" she murmured as though she had discovered some secret.

"What?" Spock's ears twitched minutely, self-consciously.

"Wow," the girl moved closer to get a better look. "Your ears…how do you do that?"

"Do what? My ears are what they are because of my DNA," Spock answered. He kept his posture straight and arms at his sides.

"I wish my DNA was cute like that," the girl commented and then looked around. "So where is the medical building again?"

Spock opened his mouth, but before he could comment, there was a shout from a few yards away.

"Joanna!"

The girl froze a little and then she turned to look over her shoulder at the man hurrying over to them. "Uh oh," she murmured. When the man got to them, he looked her over, making sure she was in one piece.

"Where have you been? Your dad just got on a shuttle for Georgia." The tanned man with his hair dyed blonde was barely winded. He was just a bit shorter than Spock was with more mezzomorphic body structure.

"He…?" Joanna frowned. "But how did he know?" She had not thought her mother would even notice her disappearance now that she was busy with Joanna's baby stepbrother. Also, she was amazed her mother had bothered talking to her father after that nasty ordeal of a divorce.

"Your stepdad sent him a message," Kirk answered. "Come on, we got to tell them where you are." He offered her a hand.

Joanna looked up at Spock and then reached out and shook his hand. The half Vulcan remained quiet, suddenly flooded with emotions from her touch from appreciation to trepidation to guilt and a mix of others. "Thanks uh…" she studied him, "Mr. Elf." She let his hand go and then waved and took Kirk's hand.

"Thanks for keeping an eye on her," Kirk said, glancing at Spock briefly before turning to head back the way he had come. "I bet you're hungry," he said once they were a few steps away.

"I am," Joanna admitted and the pair disappeared into the crowd.

Spock watched them leave and then breathed through his nose. He was going to be late to a class he taught now.

The End