Reckless


Authors
kingxlink
Published
2 years, 8 months ago
Stats
863 1

"I mean, there was reckless, sure, I was reckless, but this was just plain stupid!"

Pritchard has been up all night...and might be suffering from a caffeine overdose. She gets caught by Bones, admonished, and has her Captain called to take her home. But the way she looks at him...he almost thinks she planned it.

Jim Kirk/Noa Pritchard [Prirk]

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Author's Notes

This is an older fic, written some odd years ago, and technically unfinished. At some point, I was going to write a NSFW scene between Kirk and Pritch to finish it out. Idk, lemme know if you're interested in that continuation?

If it weren’t for Bones, I don’t think I would’ve noticed how bad she was getting until it was too late. Sometimes I don’t pay enough attention to others, sure, but that woman was one hell of an actress, and I swear it would be her downfall.

I didn’t hear the story until later that day, but according to Bones, the girl looked like hell when he found her. It was pure chance that let him spot her leaving Star Fleet Academy’s library, an overstuffed binder held protectively against her chest, deep bags under her eyes, and a plastic bag dangling from her fingertips. The contents of the bag: six cans of her favorite energy drink, all of them empty. She’d consumed nearly a thousand milligrams of caffeine in one night, and honestly, I still can’t believe she didn’t at least start puking at the desk she’d been glued to.

As far as anyone could tell, if Bones hadn’t pulled her into the infirmary to make sure she wasn’t on the verge of an overdose, she would’ve continued the day with who-even-knows how many more drinks. The girl had no concern for herself! I mean, there was reckless, sure, was reckless, but this was just plain stupid!

I was more than ready to tell her so when I walked into the infirmary, having been dragged out of bed by Bones’ agitated phone call. When I finally caught sight of her, sitting on the edge of a bed, I could see why he was concerned. I watched her for a minute, noting the way her foot kept tapping against the tile floor, how her eyes kept darting all over the room as if she was trying to take it all in at once, and how her hands shook so badly that the tremors extended all the way up her freckled forearms. Her face was flushed as if with a fever, and I wasn’t sure if I was more worried or angry.

Before I could even get to her, Bones appeared from behind a curtain partition. He grabbed my arm and dragged me in the opposite direction, as if he knew how badly I wanted to shout at that redheaded brat.

“I don’t know what she’s thinking.” Bones’ grumbling echoed my thoughts. “She worked eight hours straight yesterday and spent the whole of last night helping a complete stranger with some damned paperwork.”

I blinked several times, trying to process what he was muttering. “She was…helping a stranger?” There was no way. A member on my crew had tried to give herself a heart attack over a stranger’s paperwork?

Bones grumbled again, and I heard a few choice words in there that I chose to ignore. “She could’ve killed herself. Her heart rate is up, she hasn’t slept in at least twenty-four hours, but, and I quote, she ‘can’t remember exactly how long it’s been.’ I’m just glad I caught her in time…” He sighed, glancing back at her once we were out of earshot.

She didn’t appear to be paying attention to us specifically, but her head was on a swivel, and she kept a very close watch of the entirety of her surroundings. For all I knew, she could still hear us all the way across the room.

“She was about to drive home.” Bones told me, running a hand through his already messy hair in frustration. “If Noa got behind the wheel right now, I can guarantee you she’d end up ramming somebody if she didn’t drive herself into a tree.”

Now it was my turn to sigh. “I take it that’s why you called me?” I asked, though I knew the answer already.

“Just keep an eye on her. Get her home, get her in bed, make sure she’s asleep before you go…and don’t let her near anything dangerous.” He gave me this look when he said the words ‘in bed’ as if to say ‘don’t you dare.’ I fought the urge to laugh, but I didn’t say anything about it. Better not make a promise I might or might not keep.

After all, Pritch and I had spent the last few months flirting, and I won’t lie; I’ve had my fair share of less than appropriate thoughts about her. So far, neither of us had made a real move, but…my previously quiet and standoffish Ensign had become incredibly friendly lately. Even if I played nice, I couldn’t guarantee she would.

“I’ve got this, Bones.” I said. I looked back at Noa again, and found her eyes locked on me. They were as grey as storm clouds, and at first I thought she might be irritated that she’d been assigned a baby sitter, but…one corner of her mouth lifted up in her usual playful smirk, and when my eyes caught her, the little minx winked at me. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think she had planned this.