Ad Astra :: Star Trek Fanfiction Archive ^{Beam me up, Scotty.}

Chapter Text

"Maybe I could be someone who takes chances more often," La'an says, because as much as it sucked in practice, she still likes the idea of being that better version of herself.

"Maybe," Una says, knocking her elbow against La'an's in solidarity. "And as it happens, I might have something that could help with that. Remember Enterprise bingo?"

As if she could forget. It was probably the most fun she's ever had, even including the subsequent dressing-down from Captain Pike (though she thinks the lecture might have hit harder if he hadn't spent most of it looking like he was trying very hard not to laugh).

"I thought we completed Enterprise bingo," she says.

"We did," Una replies. "But that's not the only version out there." She lays a PADD on the bar, pushing it towards La'an so she can see.

There, written in big bold type across the top, are the words FARRAGUT BINGO.

"This isn't the Farragut," La'an points out, to stop herself thinking about where Una must have gotten this list from.

"Really? I hadn't noticed."

La'an gives her a look, and Una shrugs. "So we'll have to make a few tweaks. We should still be able to do most of it." She leans on her elbows, studying La'an. "What do you think? Shall we give it a shot?"

La'an lets her gaze flick down the list, feeling a smile spread across her face. "Absolutely," she says, and downs the rest of her drink in one. "Let's do it."

Their first task, 'Draw a smiley face on the observation deck window', is fairly straightforward, but some of the others aren't so easy. Between their jobs, crew activities, Una's mentoring of Kirk (she doesn't talk about it and La'an doesn't ask), and trying to make sure no one else figures out what they're doing, it takes them several days to get through the first eight items on the list.

"Right," Una says, ticking off 'Hang from the ceiling of a moving turbolift'. "Task Nine is… oh."

La'an moves to look at the PADD, wondering what could be worse than 'Throw confetti out of an airlock'. She had confetti in her boots after that one.

It doesn't take her long to see the problem. According to the list, their next task is 'Kiss in zero gravity'.

"Maybe we could skip that one?" Una asks doubtfully. "It's not like this is official."

"We don't have to," La'an blurts before she can think better of it. "I mean, I'm game if you are."

It's just a little kiss, right? No big deal.

Una studies her for a moment, before turning back to the PADD and looking something up. "It looks like the gravity room in the gym is free."

La'an bites her tongue on an instinctive Right now? and straightens her shoulders. "No time like the present," she says briskly, starting off towards the nearest turbolift. "We might even be able to finish the rest of the list tonight if we hurry."

Una falls into step beside her. "That'd be good," she says. "I think Chris is beginning to get suspicious, and I really don't want to try and explain all this a second time."

The gravity room is a six by six metre square with padded walls, used for acclimation and combat practice. While the gravity on the rest of the ship is set to just below Earth normal, the gravity here can be set anywhere from zero to five g – although anything above three g is limited for safety reasons.

Una locks the door with her command code, then orders the computer to turn off the gravity.

La'an has worked out in zero-g before, but the sudden feeling of weightlessness is difficult for her to get used to. On instinct, she reaches out and grabs Una's wrist, keeping her close as they float up into the air.

Una reaches back, her hand curling around La'an's elbow to pull her closer. She glances around at the walls before looking back at La'an and smiling briefly. "Well, here we are."

Her eyes are dark and warm, and La'an swallows as she realises how close they are. "Here we are," she agrees.

Una leans in, and La'an moves to meet her. Warmth sparks in her chest as their lips brush, her fingers tightening involuntarily on Una's arm.

Una pulls back first, her cheeks faintly pink. "Guess that's one more thing we can cross off the list," she says.

"Guess so," La'an agrees, and Una clears her throat and lets go of La'an's arm.

"I should probably turn the gravity back on."

La'an almost lets it go there, lets Una reset the gravity and move on to Task Ten, but the whole point of this exercise was for her to take more chances, and for better or worse she can't just let this one pass her by.

"Maybe we should try it again," she blurts. "Just to make sure."

"Make sure," Una repeats, her expression unreadable.

La'an shrugs, trying to ignore the way her heart is pounding in her chest. "We want to do this properly, don't we? Dot the i's, cross the t's..."

For a second she thinks she's made a mistake, that it'll be the situation with Kirk all over again, but then Una smiles, slow and soft and intimate. "You have a point," she says as she grabs La'an's arm to pull her closer. "We don't want to settle for half-measures. If we're going to do this, we should make sure we do it right."

They don't make it past Task Nine that night, but neither of them can bring themselves to care.