Other People's Sandboxes

Title: Glances
Fandom: Final Fantasy XII
Characters: Fran, Balthier/Penelo
Word Count: 465
Rating: G
Notes: Written for dagas_isa's 2010 fandom_stocking
----

It was a quiet, subtle thing. Anyone who didn't know Balthier well would have missed it - no, they wouldn't have looked for it in the first place. Anyone who didn't know him well would never expect subtlety from a man who seemed to live his life on the outside of his skin.

Fran knew him well. Knew him better than he knew himself, most of the time. She knew he was interested in the girl from the moment he dropped her his handkerchief. The bouncing pigtails, the brash determination, the steel look in her eye - Fran knew they were all like catnip to Balthier. He always was a sucker for the underdog.

At first, Fran was worried. It wouldn't have been the first time that she had needed to protect her partner from starry-eyed girls. But as circumstances dictated that they travel and live together, and days turned into weeks, Fran realized that Penelo was in no danger of being taken advantage of. She watched with with curiosity and then outright amusement as the girl very carefully set out to seduce her partner. The air of innocence was precisely calculated, the amount of attention paid was carefully balanced, until Balthier was neatly wrapped around a small, dagger-wielding hand.

Several late-night conversations convinced Fran that she had nothing to worry about. Penelo saw the sky pirate clearly, and had no illusions about what she was getting into. Fran grew to admire the bouncy, determined girl who had a core of steel under that cheerful demeanor. Although she knew Penelo and Balthier would do what they wanted anyway, she nonetheless gave them both her blessing, which seemed to please them.

It was a relationship conducted in glances and brief touches. Only rarely, Fran knew, were they able to slip away and spend any time alone together. Fran amused herself by trying gague how much the other party members knew. Vaan, she knew, was clueless, too wrapped up in his own dream of becoming a sky pirate to see what was going on with those around him. Equally clueless was Ashe, consumed by her drive to retake her throne. Basch might have guessed, but he thought first of Ashe and the rest of them came in a distant second.

No, the one who surprised her was Larsa. One brief shared glance with the young prince told Fran all that she needed to know. Fortunately, he was as amused by the situation as Fran was. So with Fran looking out for her partner and Larsa keeping watch for his adopted big sister, Balthier and Penelo continued merrily on their way, never knowing their backs were watched. Afterall, they were not the only ones who could communicate volumes of meaning in the slightest glance.

Title: Honor and Duty
Characters: Uhura, Scotty, & co.
Rating: G
Word Count: 300
Prompt: "they go rogue when Starfleet refuses to save Jim"
Written the daily theme of “Bonds” on comment_fic.
----

“Officially, I have to tell you not to give chase. It has been 48 hours and Starfleet considers Captian James T. Kirk to be Missing In Action,” Admiral Pike said sorrowfully. “They need you to let this go.” He was a decorate admiral, one of Starfleet’s most highly respected officers. He would not flinch at the stony glare that Nyota Uhura was giving him. He would not. Well, not much anyway.

“With all due respect, sir, our captain is missing, our first officer is in a coma, and Starfleet wants us to let. it. go.?” Uhura asked from between clenched teeth.

“As I said, officially that’s what I have to tell you.”

“And unofficially, sir?” the communications officer asked without inflection.

“Unofficially, don’t get caught, Lieutenant. I am issuing the stand-down order for the Enterprise, Starbase 6 is expecting you to dock for general maintenance in 3 days time. I’m afraid I can’t give you any more than that to play with. If you can’t get him back within that time, I can’t know where you are or what you’re doing.”

For the first time since the conversation started, Uhura’s stance relaxed slightly and her eyes softened. “We’ll bring him home, sir. Don’t worry.”

With a nod, the view screen went blank, and Uhura turned to Scotty. “Well, Commander Scott, since you’re now the one in charge of the ship, it’s your decision.”

The engineer shifted uncomfortably in his seat on the bridge. By unspoken agreement, no one sat in the captain’s chair. “Aye. It’s not really a decision now, is it? Mr. Chekov, start recalibrating the sensors to find the Bird of Prey’s signature. Mr. Sulu, set course for that damned ship’s last known coordinates. We’re bringing our captain home.”

Title: Purity
Character(s): Winona Kirk
Rating: G
Word Count: 320
Prompt: "she's gotta break out of here"
Written the daily theme of "hopes and fears" on comment_fic.
Remixed into Old Home Ground (The Now and Then Remix) by BrighteyedJill for RemixRedux9
----

The air is refreshing and pure, filtered three times a day. The grass is green. Smells of earth and crops and baking bread, good clean smells all of them, assault her nose.

Winona can’t stand it. The sheer wholesomeness of it all makes her skin crawl, and she stomps one foot angrily on the grass. Behind her, the Iowa farm house glows with a soft light, a beacon in the darkness. Resolutely, she turns away from it and looks up again.

The velvety blackness is dotted with hundreds of pinpricks of light, and Winona knows each one by name. Both the Starfleet designations and the older, fanciful names given to the constellations.

The sky no longer holds the same kind of dread it did before. She can finally look up again without her stomach and heart clenching painfully. She takes a deep breath of the night air and longs for the slightly stale, slightly metallic taste of a starship.

A shriek from the house, followed closely by a crash, jolts her out of her contemplation, and Winona turns to find what disaster her two hellions have created this time.

It is not until hours later, when both boys are tucked into their beds, that her thoughts return to the sky. Before she can hesitate, before she can second- third- or fourth-guess herself, she heads to the comm link and punches in a once familiar code.

Moments later, the red and gold of an Admiralty uniform fill the screen.

“Winona? Is everything alright? I didn’t expect to hear from you.” Didn’t expect you to come back to us, is the unspoken thought.

Winona takes a deep breath of the too-clean air and lets it back out again, sending with it all of her fear and guilt.

“I know, Admiral, but I need to get out of here. It’s killing me, being grounded like this. I need to come back.”

M is for Memory
Characters: McCoy
Word Count: 225
Rating: G
----

It takes him all four years of med school before he can approach a terminal patient without his hands shaking.
It takes him another forty before he forgives himself.

It takes a year at the Academy for him to stop seeing Jocelyn in every glimpse of curly, auburn hair.
It takes two before he stops wishing it was her.

It takes a year and a half out in the black before he stops subconsciously expecting every shake and rattle of the ship to mean their imminent death.
It takes a lifetime and he's never comfortable on a shuttle.

It takes the full five years for him to catalog every allergy that Jim Kirk has.
It takes him another five to come up with a universal vaccine that the captain isn't also allergic to.

It takes him two years of retirement before he admits that he's bored out of his cotton-pickin' mind.
It takes him less than ten minutes of thought before accepting a teaching position at the Academy.

It takes twenty-seven hours of labor before he can successfully delivery Joanna's baby.
It takes less than a second for him to remember what to do with a new born in his arms.

And as he falls in love with his granddaughter, Leonard McCoy thinks for the first time that the memories might just be worth it.

H is for Harrowing
Characters: Janice Rand, Jim Kirk
Word Count: 300
Rating: G
----

Jim and Janice sit back to back in the warm sun, gulping down air as their lungs valiantly try to take in enough oxygen.

"Well that was certainly bracing," Jim says between gasps.

"That's not the word I'd use for it," Janice retorts, wondering if her chest will ever stop feeling like it's on fire.

"Invigorating? Exciting? Heart-pounding?"

"I was thinking more along the lines of terrifying, harrowing, and exhausting."

"Spoilsport," Jim says, and Janice can just imagine his lower lip pouting out. "We won, didn't we?"

"We did," she concedes. "But Captain?"

"Hmm?"

"I am never ever agreeing to do another Yeoman/Captain Amazing Race with you. I don't care how much money we just raised for Vulcan orphans. I'll just write them a damned check."

"Awww. But Janny," Jim whines. He's the only one who can get away with calling her that without getting a kick in the balls for his trouble. "Next year they're holding it on Nimbus III. It'll be great!"

Janice twists around so that she can look back over her shoulder and peers at him incredulously. "Captain, you're aware that Nimbus III is over 80% desert, and is such a harsh environment that even Vulcans have a hard time living there?"

Her reasonable, rational, logical arguments have no effect, and Jim simply turns up the puppy-dog eyes another notch. Janice can feel her resolve crumbling.

"We'll have to ask Commander Spock for training tips. I know he lead a few cadet groups through the Forge. He'll know what we need to do."

Jim beams at her, and despite herself, Janice smiles back.

"Pike and Colt won this three years in a row. Think we can beat them?"

Janice merely laughs and shakes her head in disbelief. Arguing with Jim Kirk is an exercise in futility.

Title: Emergency Recall
Characters: McCoy/Chapel
Rating: PG
Word Count: 423
Notes: Written as comment fic in mccoy_chapel
----

"Oh god. I thought I'd never get out of there," she murmured against his lips.

His chuckle reverberated through her as his lips crushed against hers. "That bad?"

She broke away from the kiss and banged her head lightly against his chest. "You have no idea. I adore Gaila, but god. She was determined to give Ny the 'perfect' hen night. She must have gone through every brides maid handbook written in the last three centuries, and pulled out every. single. game or activity she could find."

"Quizzes? Advice? Drinking games? Making a fake bouquet out of all the ribbons from the presents?"

Christine looked up into her lover's face and blinked in astonishment. "Do I want to know how you know about all of that stuff?"

"I have a female cousin who's my age. We grew up more as twins than cousins. I was the one she called when half her bridal party was on the verge of alcohol poisoning after her hen night. I got to hear all about it."

"You never cease to surprise me. And I think I would like this cousin of yours."

Leonard winced slightly but did not lose the smile on his face. "Yeah, somehow I think you and Trish would get along just fine. Maybe the next time we're back on Earth. . ."

"So how was your night? Do we need to give Pike a heads up about any interstellar incidents?"

"Actually, it was one of the tamest nights out that Jim Kirk has ever planned. I was amazed. It was actually almost . . . pleasant."

"I'm sorry I dragged you away from it then."

"Don't be," he said, and kissed her again. "I'll take a night with you over steaks, cigars and strippers any time."

She pulled back again in astonishment. "You mean he actually got Spock to agree to strippers? How. . . illogical."

"Never under estimate Jim's persuasive powers. Especially when he trots out those baby blue eyes. Even the damned Vulcan can't resist."

"But - " She was cut off by a forceful kiss.

"Enough talking. I kept picturing you dancing up there, and I've been squirming in my seat for the last hour."

"Remind me to thank Geoff," she said several hours later, "for arranging those emergency recall notices for both of us."

"Already got him a bottle of that brandy he likes," Leonard said sleepily.

Christine snuggled up against his side, content that tonight at least, they would likely be able to share a bed without interruption.

Written for the prompt "Remus/Tonks early in their aquaintance, prior to the whole, 'too old, too poor' stuff. Just hangin' at Grimmauld Place."

--

"Oh I don't know, Padfoot, I think it gives me a distinguished air."

"Distinguished is not the word I would have chosen, Moony. Tell him, Dora."

Tonks looked up from her magazine at the sound of her cousin's voice. When Moody had told her he had some people he wanted her to meet earlier in the summer, being reintroduced to her supposedly mass-murdering cousin was not what she had expected. But after all the shouting and explanations had finished, she was thrilled to reconnect with Sirius. She had vague memories of him visiting when she was younger, always having time or a sweet for her.

"Tell who what, Siri?"

"Tell this idiot," he gestured to Remus who had followed him into the room, "that the - the - thing - on his upper lip cannot be considered a mustache and certainly doesn't make him look distinguished!"

Tonks giggled and unabashedly studied Remus, who colored slightly under her frank gaze. "I think it's kind of cute," she replied.

"Bah!" Sirius exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air. "Betrayed! Betrayed by my own kin, I tell you!" he cried, and threw himself in an armchair in a way that would have made his mother scream like a banshee.

"Thank you, Tonks. I always knew you had better taste than the mutt," Remus replied politely as sat down next to her in a far more controlled manner.

"Hey, now! I'm not sure that can be considered a compliment!" she complained with a sparkle in her eyes.

"True. It doesn't take much to achieve that, does it?"

"Oi! You don't have to talk about me like I'm not here you know!" Sirius pouted.

"Oh go chase your tail, Siri!" Tonks admonished. Practically before she finished speaking, she found herself being mercilessly attacked by a very wet dog's tongue while Remus slid to the floor in helpless laughter.

Fandom: Star Trek Reboot
Characters: girl!Spock/Pike
Written for medie 's 2009 fandom_stocking

The sound of swearing floated in from the other room, and Spock resisted the urge to sigh. To do so would be illogical, of course, as it would change nothing, but it was in times like these that she finally understood her mother's predilection for the act. Instead, she set aside the PADD she was reading and proceeded through the open door.

"You do realize," she said as she entered, "that the energy you spend on invectives could more constructively be spent on completing the exercises that the doctor has set forth for you?"

The man in question said nothing but continued to attempt to unbuckle the weights that were attached to his ankles.

Spock again resisted the urge to sigh and knelt down on the floor. She laid her hand over his fumbling ones.

"Chris, stop," she commanded gently, and deftly undid the weights.

Chris Pike breathed a sigh of relief and looked down fondly at the woman sitting in front of him. He cupped a hand on her cheek. "Thank you, love."

"If you would allow me to help you, as Doctor Jones suggested, your progress would be 21% faster," replied Spock, but even as she reprimanded him, she took his other hand in her own.

Chris sighed. "I know, I know. But I need to do this myself, so that I don't feel quite so . . . impotent."

Spock raised one eyebrow. "Have I ever given you any indication that your sexual performance is less than satisfactory?"

"You know very well what I mean," he scowled through his blush.

"I believe a reminder is in order," Spock said as she rose. Her eyes seemed to grow bright, with what might be called (in anyone else) mirth, and she led her husband towards their bedroom.

Fandom: FFX
Characters: Auron-centric
Written for stunt_muppet 's 2009 fandom_stocking

Never a father, but a parent to two teenagers.

The grim-faced guardian shook his head in mild disbelief as he watched the rest of the group make their way down the road, away from the banks of the Moonflow towards the stately trees of Guadosalam.

No, make that three teenagers, he silently amended as bubbling laughter drifted back from the newest guardian. He chuckled quietly to himself. This close to Guadosalam there would be few fiends about, so he let the children have their fun. There would be little enough time for it later.

"Something amusing, Sir Auron?" The black mage had fallen into step with him and was now regarding him with faint curiosity.

"Merely pondering how I seem to have acquired three children. Quite the feat for a former monk."

Lulu smiled faintly and kept walking with him in a companionable silence. He valued her presence on the journey for that reason alone. Khimari was the only other one to not have the need to fill every waking moment with sound.

He returned to his study of the teenagers ahead, while still keeping a wary eye on the bushes on the side of the road. It would not do to be surprised.

Yuna was Braska's daughter and every word, deed and intention proclaimed it. Oh, she inherited more than one green eye from Corrine; Yuna possessed an intuitive understanding of people that Braska never did, as well as an occasional flash of spontaneity and independent thought. He would need to foster that in the coming weeks. But the steely-eyed, relentless drive and unwavering faith? That was Braska all over again.

Tidus was Jecht's son, without a doubt. The boy possessed the same impulsiveness as his father, and occasionally, the same arrogance. Both were tempered somewhat in the son in a way they had not been in the father; Auron would like to think he had something to do with that. After all, he had spent the greater part of the last decade rearing the boy.

But Rikku - there was a child he would be proud to claim for his own. He had only met her father once, when he had accompanied Braska and Corrine. But the girl exhibited as much bravery and determination as he could ever wish for. Her unflagging good spirits lifted them all, even though he made a show of rolling his eyes at her teasing.

In truth, in the short time she had been with them, Rikku had become the second most important person on the Pilgrimage. Tidus still had no idea what was in store for Yuna, and Auron was inclined to keep it that way for the time being. But Rikku - one look in those swirling green eyes had told him she knew exactly what was going on and that she wasn't going to take it lying down.

He was counting on it. No one else stood a chance of swaying Yuna from prescribed course of self-sacrifice. He only hoped the Al-Bhed girl was up to the task.

Another wave of laughter came floating back, followed by Rikku herself, showing off some prize she had unearthed. Auron suppressed a smile. Of course she would be strong enough; he wouldn't have claimed her as his own, otherwise.

Fandom: Harry Potter
Characters: Harry, Hermione, others mentioned
Written for infiniteviking 's 2009 fandom_stocking

Harry bit his lip to keep from laughing and fought valiantly to keep the corners of his mouth from twitching, but he was unable to keep his bright green eyes from dancing madly.

"Harry James Potter, stop that this instant and help us out of this mess!"

The reprimand would have been more effective if the speaker hadn't been bent into a position that a contortionist would have been proud of, and each limb hadn't been a different color. Not being tangled up with a large portion of the residents of Gryffindor tower might have also helped.

"But Hermione," Harry replied with feigned innocence, "you're the one who wanted to play twister. How was I to know that the wizarding version actually turned your hands and feet the colors of the dots?"

Hermione sighed as best she could from under Fred's armpit. "Just find the box and see if there are any instructions for how to undo the enchantment on the board, please?"