It was another normal day on the Enterprise, which meant that Scotty had just stopped a warp-core implosion, Kirk was dictating his log entry on how he'd dealt with an alien who thought she was Thor, God of Thunder, and Chekov was gossiping with Sulu about whether Spock and Uhura were going to get married in the spring.
Spock took up position beside the captain's chair and stood at attention, silently calling attention to the fact that he had something to discuss with the captain. Jim reached an appropriate cliffhanger and waved the yeoman with the recorder off. "I'll be here if you need anything else," she said, eyes tracing over him.
"That is the nature of the yeoman's duties," Spock said, before stepping in front of Jim. "Captain, is the log correct in showing you changed the duty roster to relieve Lieutenant Gaila last night?
"Yeah, she couldn't go on-duty, something big came up." Jim paused appropriately, before sidling forward in his chair.
"Something big came up."
"Is the object to which you're referring to your penis?"
"I'm not telling."
Spock held himself even stiffer, as if trying to make up for Jim's lax discipline. "Captain, need I remind you that Starfleet regulation 122B/F specifically prohibits ranking officers from—"
"I know, I know," Jim said with his face buried in his hand, "having any fun."
"Actually, it is regulation 466C/Ψ which prohibits Frequent Unreported Negotiations—"
He was interrupted by a sound like a foghorn being violated. It went
vworp.
"What is that, mauve alert?" Jim asked Spock, not recognizing the alarm.
"I do not believe it is ours."
A tall blue box materialized on the bridge, between the consoles. Jim automatically leaned to the side to see past it to the viewscreen. He refocused on the TARDIS in time to see Donna Noble and the Doctor emerge, lost in conversation.
"Oi! A lottery ticket?" Donna demanded, giving the Doctor some shoves as he walked out of the TARDIS. "Are you pulling my leg? 'Sorry about the brain damage, ol' chum, here's some pence'? It's not even original."
"I did fix you," he pointed out, meagerly.
"Amy brought me back, with those wizard remembering powers of her." She poked him in the chest. "You ran around like a Chihuahua and felt sorry for yourself."
The Doctor spun away from her, looking round the bridge. "To business! Alright, who did it, which one of you fouled up a perfectly good timeline?"
Bones, who had finished up a nasty argument with Spock over alcohol consumption earlier that day, coughed and jerked a thumb at the Vulcan.
"You!" The Doctor circled around to Spock, ending up leaning over the captain's chair at him (much to Jim's consternation). "You're the one who's going to change the timeline, only you did, so now you won't, but you would've!"
"If you're referring to the incident with the
Narada,
discussion of those events is prohibited by the Temporal Prime Directive," Spock said coolly.
"Oh, how convenient! Because of almost you, all of time and space is going wibbly wobbly!"
Jim gave up on the Doctor acknowledging him. He stood up and pointedly ignored the Doctor in turn. "Guys, would anyone care to guess why a man in a bowtie is cussing me out on the bridge of my own spaceship?"
"He is the Doctor," Spock said, to which the Doctor puffed out his chest a little. "A renegade Time Lord of exceptional age and knowledge who amuses himself by traveling the space-time continuum, helping those in need."
"Space-time continuum, is that what you call it?" Donna piped up, from near the turbolift where she had a nice view of the captain's ass. "That's rubbish."
"Section four of the Temporal Prime Directive deals with the Doctor. It reads, in its entirety, 'Do as he says.'"
The Doctor turned from side to side, smirking. "And the bowtie is because bowties are cool. Alright, little ones, listen closely. Here's how I'm going to save all your lives. All of time and space has a booboo and I'm recommending a heavy dose of Vitamin Tachyon. That'll keep all the Reapers, Vortisaurs, Hunters, and Chronovores from being a bother. But we need an extra-special kind of tachyon, so you're going to have to fly past a black hole, towing the TARDIS behind. I'll be inside, but poke out a bit to grab a jarful. It'll be extraordinarily dangerous, so Donna, you'd best wait here."
The Doctor was preparing to run to his next destination (he liked running) when Spock spoke up.
"The tachyons you refer to would be gamma-tachyons, correct?"
"Yes, that's right, but I still haven't forgiven you for all the causality."
"Gamma-tachyons can be generated by the simple expenditure of injecting focused protons into the warp core's dilithium matrix. To do it safely and correctly will require a great deal of focus. I suggest we begin immediately."
Donna was still eyeing Jim's ass. In her defense, he had had his pants tailored. "Can I still stay on the ship?"
"Yes, yes, of course..." The Doctor fobbed her off to fix Spock with a glare. "That won't be as exciting as being dragged through a black hole, you know."
"It will be safer, and more efficient," Spock corrected.
"But also boring." The Doctor dashed over to put an arm around Jim's shoulder and a hand on his chest. To Donna's ire, he blocked her view. "Come on, Jimmy, Jimbo, Jimboree... you're Captain Kirk! Flying through space, punching out aliens, saving the day, getting the girl. Not that I approve of all that, but it seems to work for you. Don't tell me you have something better to do!"
Donna peeled him off the captain, taking a much closer look at Jim's square jaw and piercing blue eyes. Leaning back against the captain's chair, she thrust out her chest. The Doctor rolled his eyes. Spock raised an eyebrow.
"Getting the girl, eh? There any girl in specific you 'get'?" Donna asked, realizing just then that her blouse was too buttoned up too tight and fixing the situation.
"It varies." Jim finally tore his eyes off her (quite spectacular) breasts. "Spock, that whole time-travel thing sounds important. You'd better get on it. Doc, help him out. I'll find Ms..."
"Noble. Donna Noble."
"Someplace to stay. We wouldn't want her to tell all her chrononaut friends that the 23rd century is lacking in hospitality."
***
The room was the size of a hotel suite, with furniture that looked sumptuously comfortable. One wall was dominated by a pane of black glass that could only be the future equivalent of an HDTV and the rest were covered by posters displaying classic cars (some which flew) and rock bands (some not human). Donna grinned, recognizing the Beastie Boys. "You future people sure know how to make a gal feel at home."
"Actually, this would be... my room," Jim said, and when Donna looked at him he had a boyish grin in place, defusing any suspicions by fully admitting to them. "But your room would be a lot like it."
"And where would one sleep in my room?"
Jim showed her through one of those swooshy doors that was starting to bug her and into a bedroom with a very nice bed. It looked softer than anything on Earth, but still firm, a little like dolphin skin but colored with the same iridescence as a pearl. Donna sat down on it. It smudged under her before firming up to provide a very flush seat.
"Oof! Bet you never want to get out of this thing."
Jim sat down beside her, taking the little wiggle of the mattress in stride. His boyish grin grew just the right amount more manly. "Depends on the company."
Donna licked her lips in that way that tended to signal 'if I'm this nice to my lips, imagine how I'd be to your penis.' But then she froze, tongue in the corner of her mouth, looking like she was following instructions at a dentist's office. A thought had struck her. "Oi! I know what you're doing!"
"I wasn't too subtle? That's sometimes a problem for me."
"Not that, future boy! You were gonna seduce me and then, once I'm all after-glowed out, you were gonna pump me for information about the future!"
Jim huffed a laugh. "Trust me, Donna, the last reason I'd want to pump you is for information."
"Don't kid a kidder, sparky! Guys like you only want to get with girls like me so you can sacrifice me to giant spiders, or because some insane computer thought we'd make a good couple, or..."
"Donna." Jim spoke firmly, in a voice that was hard not to think of as a captain's voice, and he accentuated the statement by setting his hand on her thigh in a gesture that was both friendly and verging on the sexual. "It's the 23rd century. I realize in your own time, there are people who wouldn't consider you beautiful, but they're cavemen."
"Really." Donna crossed her legs, one over the other, so Jim had to move his hand. But when she continued, it was in a soft voice. "And how am I so beautiful?"
"Your face, for one. It would be cliché to talk about your eyes, but they are beautiful." He moved closer, stopping when his hip was against the foot she had on her thigh. "And you have very expressive features. I like that in a woman."