This chapter is for all the ladies out there who end up in a primarily male environment on a daily basis. We love you, boys, but sometimes it really is difficult not to start smashing skulls. You have to feel sorry for Nyota. Except, you know, getting to work with people that look like Jim and Spock and Bones everyday. And the fact that she, too, is asthetically perfect. Is anyone sensing a theme here? StarFleet only employ pretty people.

Anyway, this is the last chapter before the sequel. Since this has kind of grown a life of its own and this particular story started off as just a series of disjointed one shots I thought I'd quite while I was ahead. So keep your eyes open for more soon.

Chapter Word Count: 1850

Total Word Count: 8048 (I think...)

5. Nyota

It had been a long shift. A very long shift. Technically it was the same length of shift as it normally was. The problem was that, normally, there was at least one other person on the bridge that wasn't insane.

Not that Spock or Pavel or Hikaru or Jim were insane. Except… they were. She was surrounded by imbeciles. Male imbeciles completely blind to the affection they held for each other. Normally Pavel and Hikaru were alright. It had been a rocky start, their relationship, what with Pavel's youth, but as soon as the young man had turned eighteen everything had sorted itself out and smoothed in a gentle partnership. Nyota wasn't close enough to either of them to know any details, but she had eyes. She knew the courtesy they showed one another, the way they worked together with complete trust.

Today - well, today Hikaru was shut off. He had sat rigidly in his chair the entire shift. And not the rigid of a sore backside that Nyota had come to recognise from him or Pavel. This was entirely different. He had been giving Pavel the 'silent treatment' for a solid eight hours and the poor boy had got more and more frantic as the shift went on, apparently completely unaware of what he'd done wrong.

Still, she supposed their drama, at least, would sort itself out sooner rather than later. The same could not be said for the other two males on the bridge command crew. It was painfully obvious that their Captain was head-over-heels, totally irreversibly in love with his First Officer. If you couldn't tell just from the way he acted around Spock - standing or sitting straighter, always leaning closer than he did with anyone else and the long, lingering stares - then the fact that Jim hadn't got laid in the last three months was a pretty clear indicator.

Nyota had a certain fondness for her Captain. He was a play boy and proud of it, of course. But he was also a family man. As soon as she had seen him during their first, unofficial mission, to save Earth she had seen it. If that weren't clear enough, his reaction to when Leonard's ex-wife tried to get a restraining order against him from seeing his daughter spelled it out loud and clear. Jim had received the notice through official channels whilst on the bridge, and regulations be damned, he had vid-called Jocelyn right then and there and told her what-for. Leonard had been furious of course, until he'd found out that his best friend had just won him an extra three 'visiting' hours each week. It didn't sound like much, but Nyota knew how much Leonard adored his daughter and that Jim would risk his career for him… well, it said a lot.

Which was why, when she had seen him gradually falling in love with Spock and the number of people he slept with rapidly decreasing, she had stepped back with grace. She still loved Spock, of course, but he knew, just as she did, that their love for one another was much better platonic than sexual. She had been his rock when he needed it most, and he would be forever grateful for that. But knowing the Captain and his happy-go-lucky attitude and the way he, without realising it in himself, was committing to Spock, well her love for him was nothing compared to that.

Spock adored the Captain too, of course. Nyota wasn't sure whether it was love or not, it was difficult enough being able to discern Spock's regard for Jim without trying to work out whether it was as a friend or something more. What she did know was that he tried to impress the Captain, just as Jim tried to impress him. She was quite certain he stated regulations so religiously only to prove to Jim that he knew it. She was also well aware that their little chess matches were the highlights of both of their weeks.

It was kind of sweet. All this love. But it was sickening, too. Not least because Nyota was well aware that the Enterprise had one of the handsomest bridge crews in the 'Fleet, and yet she wasn't involved with any of them. She was still single and they were all gay. Or rather, not so much 'gay' as just off the market. But not in any way that was making any of them happy at the moment. It was unfair and irritating. She wished very much that she could just smash their heads together and tell them to go get happy.

Perhaps she ought to see if the Enterprise had cleaning closets or some such that she could trick them into going into and just lock them in for a couple of hours. She was pretty certain the beta shift bridge crew wouldn't mind a few extra hours if it meant Jim and Spock got together. In fact, they'd probably be a little too happy if they knew that plan and might try to film the encounter. Huh. Perhaps another plan might be more successful.

Needless to say, Nyota was all too relieved when her shift ended and she raced down to the engineering levels to see if Scotty was open to a little bit of flirting. Her original impression of Scotty had been that he was a foul-mouthed, uncouth Scot. And, while that opinion was now more firmly set than before, she'd also come to know him well enough to see all of his more endearing qualities too. Nyota had come to appreciate those qualities quite a bit recently as the 'mooning' of Jim and Spock had got worse and worse.

"Sorry, lassie," he said when she asked. Should have figured really. "I dinnae hae time at talk at the mo'. I spen' all af'ernoon on a wild goose chase. I hae a few mo'e systems tha' need boosting."

Nyota pouted, leaning her hip against the station Scotty was working on, trying to get his full attention. "Please, Montgomery?" she pleaded, hoping the use of his first name might work.

"Nyota!" he warned. "Stop it. I hae to get these sorted."

Knowing that she'd disappointed him in some way, she straightened and sighed, genuinely disappointed. "Sorry, Scotty," she apologised softly, starting to leave.

"Nyota," he called before she'd left and she turned to smile half heartedly at him. "Dinner tonight?" He paused, frowned to himself, then clarified, "With me?"

Nyota's insincere smile bloomed into a full, authenticly happy one. "I'd like that," she told him.

"20.00 hours then," he said, turning back to his equipment. "I'll pick ye up from yer room."

As she walked away Nyota sincerely hoped that the smile she was wearing didn't look as gooey as it felt. Humming happily to herself, mood significantly improved, she decided that she'd walk back to her room. There was no rush and maybe she'd run into someone she could have a nice chat with. As luck would have it, whilst climbing the stairs to Deck 4 the most delicious waft of smell met her nose and her hum turned into a quiet moan of appreciation.

Giving up the rest of the trip to her rooms as a lost cause, she followed her nose to find the source of the smell.

"Shit, shit, shit!" a voice cussed loudly and a loud clang followed by hissing sounded out.

"Are you alright?" Nyota asked, pushing the door open.

She was greeted with the source of the smell and a short dark-haired young man clutching his wrist.

"No. Shit. I think I burnt it," the stranger said. "Sorry, I don't normally swear this much, but Merlin this hurts!"

Ignoring the declaration of 'Merlin' - there were all sorts aboard starships - Nyota grasped at his arm saying, "here, let me." She straightened the curled fingers of his fist and brushed her thumb over the burnt skin, causing the young man to wince. "You better take this up to Leonard," she said. "You burnt it quite badly. Just try and make sure it doesn't touch anything - burns get infected easily."

The stranger grunted in acknowledgement, shrugging his shoulders. His face brightened perceptibly at the mention of Leonard and she rolled her eyes - they were all lovestruck fools on this ship, it seemed. Not that she could begrudge the snarly doctor a little happiness. He deserved it, from what little Nyota had seen and heard of his ex-wife.

"What were you doing, if you don't mind my asking?" she asked, taking in all the cooking equipment.

"Cooking," he replied simply, then beamed. "Your replicated food really is quite awful and Mr Spock said that it was 'acceptable' if I were to make use of my time in this manner. 'Course, that was after I told him that I'd be interested in trying out different alien culture's traditional foods and would he be so kind as to lend me a Vulcan recipe book?"

Nyota chuckled and, after making sure there was nothing that couldn't be left for a couple of hours, started to lead him towards the turbo lift. "Sounds like Spock. I'm Nyota Uhura, by the way, Communications Officer."

"Harry Potter, Chef," he returned, green eyes glinting mischievously. "I think I've met all the other Officers now, although I don't know if the Captain counts, since he was unconscious at the time."

She considered asking for the specifics but, to be honest, Jim ended up unconscious at some point during most of the missions they went on, so it didn't really matter. "That sounds like him, too," she replied.

"Poor Miss Nyota, surrounded by male colleagues. However do you survive?" he teased.

"Thank you!" she cried out, ignoring his laugh. "Blind idiots, the lot of them. Oh, they're all geniuses when it comes to navigating or stategy, but when it comes to each other? Pah!" She threw her hands in the air grandly, enjoying the chance to be melodramatic.

Harry sighed heavily in an equally over-done way. "I'm afraid, my dear, that it does not get any better. Boys will be boys. Just as girls will be girls," he added with a wink.

The turbo lift stopped and he stepped out, bowing lowly to her.

"Thank you my fair heroine," he said.

Nyota couldn't help but giggle at his show. "Fare thee well, handsome sir," she shot back with a cheeky curtsey as the doors shut between them, cutting off his laugh.

Mad. Complete madness. She giggled again lightly. Just what she'd needed, a little bit of lighthearted fun. Nyota thought about that a moment, then realised that she hadn't actually discovered the cause of the wonderful smell. She smiled secretly to herself, heading back to her quarters. Well, she'd have to resolve that. Maybe this Harry would be just the relief she needed from the testosterone-, possessiveness-fueled atmosphere she suddenly found herself thrust into.

Enough of thoughts like that, though. She had a date with Scotty to look forward to. Yes, the day was certainly starting to look up.

Fin... for now ;)

AN: And that, I think, rounds this off quite nicely. Because yes, that burnt wrist is the burnt wrist that Leonard's looking at in Jim's chapter. Yay! I prefer to have most, if not all, of a story written before I start posting it, so it might be a while before the sequel is posted. I ask you just to be patient. It is one of two long stories that I now have in the works. The other is a Tin Man/Harry Potter crossover. So if you guys like Tin Man, I hope you're gonna love this! If you haven't seen Tin Man - why not? Watch it!

Thank you, everyone who's read this far, most especially to everyone who's taken the time to write a review. There's nothing quite like knowing that someone can put a little time into thanking you for something you've put a fair bit of your time into. It makes me feel all warm inside. Or that could be my cup of tea... ;)

Keep an eye out for the sequel, thank you and farewell!

Love, Yellow
xx

PS. Yes. I love dramatic exits... :D