#montgomeryscottxreader

“He had to take sudden leave for… reasons, and this is his replacement.  Get up here Scotty!” Jim yelled and you continued to look at him incredulously.

You heard heavy footsteps climb the metal stairs and saw this new man emerge from behind Jim.  

“Aye, Jim, I’m in the middle of re-calibrating the central system, whichever lunatic was here last converted the quantum regulator so it only picks up certain wave lengths…” The man started, his hands waving wildly and his thick accent made it hard to understand him, you assumed Scottish.

“The ship only needs to read the wave lengths that it could actually come across.  The settings before were set to pick up literally any wavelength, and it was using way too much power.” You interrupted, spinning on the man, your hackles raised at the newcomer.

“Well what if ye come across IgT-3 wavelength?  Huh?  How are ya gonna go about picking tha’ up?” The man started, stepping towards you.

“Well since that wavelength doESN’T EVEN EXIST ANYMORE, I can say we’re pretty safe.” You snapped, your hands tightening into fists.

“It’s a wavelength, lass, not a damn unicorn!” The man argued and you were about to rip into him when Jim stepped in between you two.

“Alright!  That’s enough, you two, you’re going to have to be working together, so you better cut it out!” Jim yelled, but he had a weirdly pleased look on his face.

Jim turned and stepped to the side, indicating to the yelling Scottish man, “Y/N, this is Montgomery Scott, our new chief of engineering.  And Scotty,” Jim gestures to you now, “This is Lieutenant Y/N, who was Bobby’s right hand down here for the past two years.”

You reluctantly nodded at Scotty, the defensiveness you felt from before fleeing from you as you took in the older man.  He had wispy red-brown hair, brown eyes, and a furrow to his brow that looked like it was permanently part of his face.  Overall, he was quite handsome if not soft-looking, like a little bear cub, and you cursed yourself for thinking so as you had just screamed at him.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I do have to get back to running this ship.” Jim said, “Can I trust you guys not to kill each other for at least the rest of your shifts?”

Jim didn’t even let you or Scotty respond before he clapped his hands together, “Good!”

You scowled at Jim as he walked out and he looked back, giving you a wink before disappearing behind the automated doors.  

Turning now to Scotty, who was looking at you like you had a third eye, you gave him a weak smile.

“Guess we’re going to be spending a lot of time together.” You shrugged.

“I guess so.” Scotty stuffed his hands into his pockets and swung on his heels.

“We don’t need the EL4-R wavelength detector either.” You said, meeting his eyes with a flash of amusement.

“Well ye better have a good explanation for tha’, lass, because I am pretty stubborn.” Scotty gave you a smirk before turning and walking down the metal stairs, you quickly following behind him, beginning to heatedly defend the system you and Bobby had worked so hard to develop.  

“What are you staring at me for?  Am I doing something ‘wrong’ again?” You growled as you turned to Scotty and straightened out your shirt, throwing on your worst glare.

It was a week into working with Scotty and things were not going well.

“You’d be much better off making those changes from th’outside, using the computer, rather than crawling up in there, ye might get stuck.” Scotty noted, crossing his arms over his chest and raising an eyebrow as he took in your grease-covered appearance.

“You calling me fat, Mr. Scott?” You leered, pulling off your gloves slowly.

“N-no, not at all, I jus’…” He sputtered, clearly taken aback by the question.

“I went in because a belt was loose, and that is not something you can fix from the outside.” You explained, your voice threaded with bitterness, and stalked back to your workstation, Scotty right on your heels.

“Lass, if we’re going to work together you’re gonna have t’stop being so… SO…” Scotty ranted and you spun on him, fury filling your veins.

“What?!  Stop being so what, Mr. Scott?”

“SO DAMN INSUFFERABLE!” Scotty exploded, his arms flailing and his stance became defensive.

“Mr. Scott, this is my ship, and it has been my ship for the past two years, so if I seem insufferable, it’s because you are on MY turf, trying to change the things that I programmed MYSELF.  It borders on insulting.”

“Lassie, half of the things yer able to program on this ship wouldn’t even be here if it weren’t for me.”

“Well I’m sorry your such a traditionalist, then, because TIMES CHANGE, OLD MAN!” You didn’t mean to call him old, but the insult just slipped out and you tried to apologize immediately, “I-I, didn’t mean that, I’m sor-”

“Get out.” Those two words made you snap your mouth shut with a click of teeth.  

You looked up to see Scotty’s expression was impassive and unreadable, his stance straight an unforgiving as he spoke, "Your shift is done for today.  You are dismissed.“

“I-I…” You were speechless, you never expected him to get this angry.

But as you met his eyes and saw how serious he was, your anger was renewed. You weren’t going to let him treat you like a child, and if he wanted you to leave, so be it.  You stalked passed him, grabbed your jacket, and you left, fairly sure that steam was coming out of your ears.

“Jim, he is intolerable, impossible, I-I can’t work with him.” You seethed, nearly crushing the glass that you held between your fingers.

“You and him are exactly the same.” Jim chuckled, nursing his own drink, and you wanted to wipe the smile off his face.

“We are not.  You can’t tell me I am half that stubborn."

"If anything you are double as stubborn as he is.  Try to get past that, you guys have so much in common that you should be inseparable.”

You snorted, “Inseparable.  HA.  Jim, I can barely get through a work day without that man berating me for pressing a key on the keyboard.  I can’t wait to leave my shift everyday, just to get away from him.”

Jim shook his head, still smiling that knowing smile he seemed to always wear, his blue eyes sparkling as he looked to you, “Just consider this one thing.  On your evening off, away from the ever-insufferable Scotty, you have not stopped talking about him.  What does that say?”

You rolled your eyes as Jim stood, patted you on the shoulder, and left.  

Was Jim right?  You seemed to always be talking about him, most of the time complaining, and your thoughts nearly always roaming to his red-brown hair and kind eyes.  

No.  You shook your head, dispelling the thoughts.  When Bobby was back, everything would return to normal.  Everything that had been turned upside down would right itself.  Right?

Even though your blood still boiled at the thought of your last encounter with Scotty, where he dismissed you from your shift early, you decided to apologize.

So, the next day, at the start of your shift, you went off to find Scotty, who was at his workstation.

“Uh, Mr. Scott?” You mumbled and toed at the foot of his desk where Scotty sat, entrenched in a conversation with Keenser.  

When his eyes fell to you, you swear his expression held disappointment, and you pushed down the rush of anger that it elicited.  

“imsrryfryellngatyouysterdy.” You sputtered, feeling the red flush of embarrassment hit your cheeks.  

“Sorry, I dinnae pick that up, a little slower?” Scotty insisted and you glowered.

“I’m sorry for yelling at you yesterday, alright?” You crossed your arms over your chest and dug your toe into the floor.

“Thanks, lass,” Scotty exhaled, his tone much softer than before, “and ’m sorry fer yellin’ at ya as well.”

You met his eyes now, and saw not a look of disgust or frustration, but one a lot more gentle, one that made you feel at ease, and you didn’t even realize you were staring until Keenser cleared his throat.

“Uh, alright… Truce?” You held your hand out over the desk to Scotty.

Scotty’s mouth tilted into a smile, “Truce.” He shook your hand, his palm warm and dry, “And stop calling me, Mr. Scott, it makes me feel old.”

And that was that.  

You quickly fell into a routine with the older man, which consisted of him questioning your and Bobby’s decision about something in the engineering room, and you retorting easily about why it was that way.  Eventually, after many a heated argument, you adjusted the systems to Scotty’s liking, and it actually made the ship run smoother, to your continual surprise.  

One evening you had been in such a heated discussion about quantum loop generators that you didn’t even realize your shift was over.  

“But what if you adjusted the equation like… this.” You wrote a few symbols on the paper that was stretched out on the table in front of you.

“No, no, that would change this later.” Scotty pointed out something, ripping the pencil from your hand and scribbling on the paper.

“Well now I can’t even read that, who taught you to write, a 4 year old?” You teased, laughing loudly.

“Hey, lass, I’ve seen your workstation, you are not allowed to tell me that I’m messy.” Scotty jabbed, a grin teasing at his lips.

“That’s not fair!” You gasped in mock horror and pushed at his arm playfully.

“What’s not fair is not being able to find anything when ya need it.“

“You’re an asshole.”

Scotty smiled over at you now, and your heart skipped a beat.  He had a really nice smile.  

You leaned back in your chair and stretched your arms above your head, cracking your back a few times.  You still felt Scotty’s gaze on you, and you nearly blushed at the attention.  Glancing at your watch, you groaned.

“It’s almost midnight!  Our shift’s been over for nearly 4 hours, what in the world are we still doing here?” You yawned but didn’t move from your chair.

“Guess we really got into our discussion.” Scotty suggested and as he turned his chair his knee bumped into yours, but he quickly pulled it away.

“Yeah, I guess.  It’s so nice to finally find someone who I can discuss these things in detail with.  None of my friends care about this stuff that much, they all think it’s really nerdy.” You played with the ends of your hair as you spoke.

“It is nerdy.” Scotty laughed, “But I agree.  You really know yer stuff.  Though since we are both so stubborn it can get pretty heated sometimes."

"I am not stubborn!” You defended.

“Now you’re bein’ stubborn about bein’ stubborn.” Scotty said, “That’s a new low.”

You stuck your tongue out at him and stood up, placing a hand on his shoulder and putting your face close to his ear, “Goodnight, ya big meanie."

Scotty’s cheeks tinged red as your breath caressed his ear, and before you could think too much about it you were sliding out the door, feeling Scotty’s gaze of disbelief on your back.

That was the last time you talked to Scotty before you saw him in the medbay with a tube down his throat.

On your shift the day after you had stayed up far too late with Scotty, you were informed that he would be going on an away mission to assist in repairing a ship, and you were to stay behind and be the acting chief of engineering.

“Not that I don’t basically run this ship on my own anyway.” You snorted to yourself as you snapped your com shut, thinking that if Scotty was here he would have shook his head and gave you one of his teasing smiles.  

Thinking of that put a smile on your face as you began your shift, excited to be in charge.  

The next two days left you less excited to be in charge, as you quickly missed Scotty’s witty banter and your heated debates about the details of the ship.  

You were lounging around Scotty’s workbench on the third day that he was gone, the ship running smoothly, and you had everyone kept busy making sure it stayed that way.  

Then, out of the corner of your eye, a piece of paper, tucked into the drawer of the very messy workstation.  But that wasn’t what caught your attention, it was your name, written in the corner of the paper in Scotty’s barely legible script.  You couldn’t help your curiosity as you reached for it, quickly glancing around the room, as if Scotty was going to suddenly show up and berate you for snooping.  

The paper itself looked like it had been through the washing machine, crumpled and stained, maybe at on point a page of a note book, torn out.  The words were written in pencil, and you were right, it was your name written in the corner.  

Dear Y/N,

You are one of the most infuriating, stubborn, quick-witted people I have ever met.  I don’t know how we made it through the first week of working together.  I thought one of us was going to kill the other.

But once you got your head out of your ass.  Once we started to get along, we were actually able to work together, and were finally able to put both of our big brains together and get stuff done.  

You snorted as you read on:

And I’m sorry for yelling at you.  I know I already told you that, but I really am.  I am especially sorry for dismissing you that first week.  I know you probably don’t care that much but I regret pulling rank and turning on you like that.  I just couldn’t stand you looking at me with such hatred and contempt, like I was just some stiff old guy that was getting in your way. It nearly killed me.  

Because if you looked at me like that, I would never stand a chance.  

Because I am enthralled by you.  

You stopped breathing.

Which is why I am writing all this stuff down rather than saying it to your face. But you’ll never read this because I would probably die of embarrassment. Because when I look at you, my brain goes haywire.  I lose all ability to coherently form a sentence.  Maybe that’s why I tease you so much, because anything else would come out as gibberish and you would think me a mad old fool.

It scares me, the way I feel about you, it makes me want to turn and run. Because I don’t deserve someone as fierce and intelligent and beautiful as you.  But sometimes, the way you smile at me, it gives me hope, like you might harbour feelings for me too, but it’s only fleeting, and the next moment you are yelling at me or teasing me or nearly zapping me with a live wire.

So, if you ever do read this, just know that I loved you from the moment I laid eyes on you.  And every moment since.  

Yours, Montgomery

You were an idiot.

The overhead com system sounded: Dr. McCoy to the medbay, immediately.

Your heart dropped in your chest. For some reason you knew exactly what the call was for.  And you were on your feet and dashing down the hallway before you could stop yourself, stuffing the letter into your pocket.

Skidding into the medbay, you were met with a cacophony of chaos, people running around everywhere, yelling, and machines were beeping and you could see flashes of injuries from the people lying on the biobeds.  Your heart was racing in your chest as you looked for, and dreading finding, the familiar red shirt and whispy brown hair that belonged to Scotty.  

A biobed slammed into your elbow and careened by, being pushed by a group of nurses, the red shirt making you take a second look, but it wasn’t Scotty.  

Suddenly, a flash of familiar command gold appeared in the medbay and you stalked right up to him.

“Jim, what happened?” You demanded almost breathlessly.

“Away mission gone wrong, the building that they were in was invaded, there were a lot of… casualties.” Jim explained, his eyes barely meeting yours and he began to stalk past you but you grabbed his arm.

“Scotty.” You dug your fingers into his arm and he looked back at you, recognizing the look of desperation,  "where’s Scotty?“

He looked at you with sympathy, "We’ll find him, Y/N.  I promise.”

And then he was gone, into the chaos, and you were left frozen in the middle of it, feeling more alone, more helpless, than you had ever felt before.  

When you realized you were more in the way than anything in the medbay, you retreated back to the engineering room, pulling the letter out of your pocket and reading it over and over, your trembling fingers nearly tearing the worn paper.  You fought an internal battle with yourself, forcing yourself not to cry because if you did, you were going to turn into a sniveling mess, no use to anyone, and you were supposed to be in charge.  

But worry made ice flow through your veins and you couldn’t focus on anything, even when Keenser came by and tugged on your sleeve.  

When your com beeped, you swear you took a breath for the first time in 20 minutes.  

“Y/N here.” You trembled.

“We found him.” It was Jim’s voice, and though you should be elated at his words, his somber tone made fresh tears prick at your eyes.

“I’ll be right there."

Snapping the com shut, you forced your stiff limbs to move from their perched position on the stool and you made your way to the medbay for the second time that day.  

"What happened?” You squeaked when you were met with an impenetrable wall of Jim Kirk on your way into the medbay.

“We don’t know 100%.  He lost a lot of blood.  Bones is working on him now.” Jim explained.

“Is he going to be okay?” You stammered, a tear sneaking its way down your cheek and you wiped it away quickly.  

Jim met your gaze firmly, his hand squeezing your forearm once, “They don’t know yet.” His voice was quiet, and you knew he was worried as well.

“He has to be okay, Jim.” You whispered, pleading with the somber captain.  

And then a change in Jim’s expression, barely noticable, a raise in an eyebrow, his mouth falling open a millimeter more, and it was like he knew.  The expression was a mirror and made you realize you cared for Scotty much more than you’d like to admit.  More than you even realized.  

Jim gave you a knowing nod and placed his hand on your shoulder, giving it a quick squeeze before he disappeared out the medbay doors.  

And once again you were alone.  And once again you didn’t know if your heart was going to be ripped out of your chest.

Eventually they let you in to see him, after Dr. McCoy had deemed him stable enough.

It was nearly a week after the accident, and you had been forced back to the engineering room, trying to keep the ship afloat while you felt like you were drowning.  You didn’t know if you’d ever felt so worried in your entire life, to the point where you were questioning if you should even be worried, as you had only known Scotty for a few weeks before the accident.  

But it was like a disease, like he had become implanted into your brain, and you heard him and saw him wherever you went.  If you were fixing something, you knew exactly how he would tell you you were doing it wrong.  If you were lying in your bed, staring at the ceiling in an feeble attempt to sleep, you heard his laugh or the lilt of his accent, shooting back a sarcastic comment at something you said.

Dr. McCoy threatened to keep you in the medbay as a patient, commenting on how often you were in there, checking up on Scotty, but you knew he noticed your dark rimmed eyes and the few pounds you’d shed at the lack of appetite.  

Then, one day, he agreed it was time you could go in.  Your breath instantly caught in your chest and you nearly cried at the relief of being able to see Scotty after a week of torture.  

He looked awful.  

He was tucked into the biobed, the white sheets accentuating just how grey his skin looked, how dark the circles were under his eyes.  There was a bandage over a cut on his forehead, and a splint on his left wrist, a machine hovering over it that you recognized as a bone regenerator.  Another, similar machine was working on his right leg, which was wrapped in a thick white bandage.  He had many wires and tubes coming out of him that were connected to several machines, including one that was down his throat, which you recognized as a ventilator.  

“He’s getting better, despite what he looks like.” Dr. McCoy’s gentle voice sounded from behind you, and he stepped into the room.

“He looks like crap.” You let out a watery laugh, finally letting the tears that you had held in for so long find their way down your cheeks.  

“Yeah well, he’s a fighter.” A strong hand came down on your shoulder, making you release a little sob, “He’s going to be fine, Y/N.” Dr. McCoy’s thumb stroked lines into your shoulder.

“Yeah, kid, you worry too much.” A new voice sounded and a flash of command gold came into view.  Jim.

When he saw your tear-stained face he offered a weak smile before stepping forward and wrapping his arms around you, Dr. McCoy’s hand falling away as you nearly fell into Jim’s embrace, finally letting yourself feel all the emotions you kept at bay the entire week.

Jim held you for what felt like hours, stroking your back and whispering soft encouragements into your ear.  

“That stupid idiot, coming into my engineering room, turning everything upside down, and then going and nearly getting himself killed.” You griped, taking shaky breaths from your spot against Jim’s chest.

“I don’t think the engineering room is the only thing he’s turned upside down.” Jim noted as he pushed you away, tucking a few locks of hair behind your ear before tapping your chin with his finger.

Looking up at Jim, he gave you a soft mischievous smile, and it made you blush, “Shut up.” You sniffed and pushed him away playfully, making him laugh softly.

Then you turned to Scotty, approaching him achingly, but you didn’t cry anymore, he was alive.  

You reached out and grabbed Scotty’s hand, stroking your thumb over the warm skin, watching the way his chest rose and fell in even breaths thanks to the ventilator.  

Dr. McCoy said he was getting better, it would just take some time.  And you realized, for Montgomery Scott, you had all the time in the world.

“You look like crap.” A voice naggled at you, rousing you from your sleep, but you didn’t open your eyes or lift your head, assuming it was Jim coming to say hi.

That was until a set of fingers tightened on yours, making your eyes fly open and your head pop up.

“Scotty?” You breathed, squinting in the bright lights of the room to see Scotty with his head propped up and his eyes open, a small smile on his mouth.

“Have you eaten anything recently, lass, you look worn down to the bone.” Scotty worried, his hand releasing yours to brush across your cheek softly, making your breath catch and tears prick at your eyes.

“You can’t say much, you don’t look so good yourself.” You joked with a watery laugh.

Scotty dropped his hand back to the bed, this time not touching yours.  He furrowed his brow as he looked at you, “Shouldn’t you be running our ship?"

You huffed a laugh, feeling a warmth in your chest when he called it ‘our’ ship as he usually referred to it as 'his’ ship.

"Yeah, well my shift doesn’t start until…” You checked your watch, your shift started 20 minutes ago, “now, but I left Riley in charge.”

“Riley?  Really?  He doesn’t know a plasma chamber from a 10 volt battery.  I’m surprised we’re still flying.” Scotty joked, but his face fell when he saw your expression.

“Now, lass, don’t cry, it was just a joke, Riley’ll get better one day, we’ll teach him, you and I.” Scotty’s fingers reached up to touch your cheek again, but you pulled back, wiping at them yourself.

“I better get going.” You croaked, standing, trying to ignore the hurt look on Scotty’s face, “I wouldn’t want Riley getting the port defragmenter confused with quad-core compressor."

Then you turned and left, despite Scotty’s protests, a million unsaid words on your lips, your heart aching to stay with him, but you forced your feet forward, to get back to work.  

"Y/N, Scotty’s asking for you again.” Jim’s voice came through the com you held up to your ear.

“Tell him I’m busy.” You called into the com as you wiped some grease off your brow.

“He’s very… insistent.  Why don’t you just come down here?” Jim questioned, sounding very exasperated.  

“Because I’m busy, Jim.” You retorted and snapped the com shut quickly, turning back to you work.

You hadn’t gone to see Scotty since he first woke up, so afraid of spilling your feelings or doing something stupid that you couldn’t bring up the courage to face him again.  So you threw yourself into your work.  A proper excuse if there ever was one.  

“Lass?” You were torso deep in an overhead boiler system and you banged your forehead at the sudden voice.  

You withdrew your upper body and rubbed at your forehead, looking around for the source of the voice.

It was Scotty.

“What are you doing here?  You’re supposed to be in bed.” You chided, but your voice held more malice than you had wished.

“You wouldn’t come see me, so I took matters into me own hands.” Scotty sounded upset, but you couldn’t bring yourself to meet his eyes.  

From where you were watching his knees you could see that he was leaning heavily on a crutch, and his balance was unsteady.

“I’ve been busy, Scotty, the ship doesn’t run itself.” You started putting your tools away, which was difficult with your shaking hands.

“You seemed alright to let Riley run things around here before, why not again?” Scotty argued, and you heard him take a couple of steps closer with his crutch.

“Because you were right, he is an incompetent asshole."

"What’s the real reason why you ignored my calls?”

“I told you already.  I was busy.” You stuffed a wrench in the toolbox.

“I don’t buy it, lass.”

“Well you should, 'cause it’s the truth.” A screwdriver.

“You’ve never lied to me before, what’s going on with you?”

“Nothing.” A small hammer.

“It’s obviously not nothing, you can tell me, Y/N, whatever it is, I won’t be mad-.”

“I READ THE LETTER.” You slammed the toolbox lid closed with a loud clank.

You were practically seething now, holding onto the toolbox for support, your shoulders heaving with each breath, your eyes watery.

“Where did you even find that?” Scotty breathed, knowing you were seconds from breaking down.

“I found it in your desk.  I…I don’t know if you meant for me to ever see it, but I did.  I’m sorry I snooped.” You stumbled over your words, heaving the heavy toolbox off the desk and turning to walk away.

“Y/N, wait.” Scotty called and you froze in your tracks, the toolbox swinging slightly in your hands, “before ya leave, all mad and upset and whatever else you’re feeling, I need you to know one thing.”

You were pretty sure you weren’t breathing at this point, and you turned your head sideways to indicate to him that you were listening.

“I meant every word.” Scotty stated, and you nearly dropped the toolbox.  

It took every bit of strength inside of you to put one foot in front of the other and walk away.  

It had been two weeks since the crash, and Scotty hadn’t come to see you, and you hadn’t gone to see him since you told him about the letter.  He was finally released from the medbay, but not cleared to work yet, that started tomorrow, so you thought you’d best find him before you had your first shift together.

You found him heading into his quarters.

“Hey.” You said, your hands nearly shaking from nervousness as you wrung them, “Can we talk?”

Scotty pursed his lips, his eyes meeting yours fleetingly before gesturing you to go into his quarters.  When the door slid closed behind you, you almost stopped breathing, and you turned slowly to face him.

“Listen, Scotty…” You started, having practiced the speech that you would give him over and over the past two weeks.

“No, you listen.” He interrupted, his eyes boring into yours, “You were never supposed to see that letter.”

“I know…”

“Lassie, will ye shut up for a minute, I’m tryna tell you something important.” Scotty snapped and you gulped, staying silent so he could continue.

“From day one you have been nothin’ but a pain in my hide, a misplaced cog in a sea of gears, a nuisance t’say the least.  But after the first time you nearly tore my head off over the tiniest string of programming, I knew you were something special.  And then I was done for, lass.  I wrote that letter because I couldn’t keep all my feelings inside, I needed to get them out, and maybe then I could go back to hating you, but I never stood a chance, ya see.  I never stood a chance because every time you waltzed through those doors, with your big brain and… and that look of determination on your face, every time you looked at me, I fell further.”

He took a breath, you had stopped breathing.

“And then I go and get hurt and who is at my bedside?  You.  So you cannae blame me if I thought for a wee second that you might actually may have returned those feelings.  I poured my heart into that letter and you basically told me it meant nothing t’you.  What am I suppos’ to think abou’ that?” Scotty’s tone was a mix of frustration and desperation, and his eyes raked your face as if searching for something.

“You’re supposed to think I’m an idiot.” You blurted, and his mouth pressed into a tight line, his eyes falling to the floor.

“Which I’m pretty sure you do.  And I’m pretty sure I am.  But you have to know why I reacted the way I did because I can’t stand the thought of you hating me, Scotty.  I just can’t.” You shook your head, emotions flying through you at the speed of light, barely controllable.

“Nobody has ever said anything like that about me before.  And it scared the hell out of me, Scotty.  The things you wrote… I-I never thought anyone would ever write such beautiful words about me.  Especially not you.”

You paused, wringing your hands in front of you tightly, your eyes now falling away from him.

“I tried to force myself to hate you, tried to tell myself that you were just something in the way of me becoming chief of engineering one day.  Because that would have been easier than feeling the way I do about you.”

Scotty’s eyes flicked up and you met his gaze, his mouth fell open, “And how’s tha-”

“You almost died.” You looked at him desperately now, tears perched on your lids, and you wanted to reach for him so bad, but you were still scared.

“You almost died and I thought my heart was going to grind to a halt like a C3 engine with no pipe oil.  And that’s when I realized how I felt.  That’s when I realized I wanted you looking over my shoulder and criticizing every thing I do, I wanted to hear your insane yelling when something wasn’t working like we wanted it.  We should be a team. We are the exact same, you and I.  We should be inseparable. And I’m sorry it took me so long to figure that out, but here I am, now, all figured out.”

You shrugged your shoulders, your hands tucked into your pockets, feeling  like he could see each and every emotion written on your skin, like it was that easy to express all the things you wanted to.  You were surprised to find a look of confusion on his face.

His brows furrowed more than you’d ever seen them furrow, and his gaze was hard, distant,  "I need some time to think.“ The words fell out of his mouth and suddenly you were staring at his back.

"Scotty, wait…”

And he was gone.

“Scotty?” You called into the near-empty engineering room.

It was the next day, Scotty’s first shift back, and having just arrived for yours, you had come in expecting a quiet, somber Scotty, but you couldn’t actually find him.

“Up here, lass.” You heard from above you and looked around until you spotted him, sitting on one of the metal bridges that criss-crossed the engineering room, his legs dangling and his arms resting on the railing.

You scooted up the stairs and strode over, Scotty not having moved an inch, not even turning to look at you, and you sat down beside him, dangling your legs over the edge as well and resting your forehead against the metal bar.

You observed the engineering room spread out in front of you, taking in all the intricacies and details of the room, feeling a sense of pride wash over you as you knew every last inch of it.

“She really is beautiful, isn’t she?” You commented.

“That she is.” Scotty breathed, but he still didn’t look at you.

“You okay?” You kicked his dangling foot gently and slid a little closer, so your leg just barely brushed his.

“I think so.” He responded and tapped his toe against yours.

He sighed and pulled back from the railing like he was going to get up to leave.

“We both got our chance to walk away from each other, how about we stay put for a minute?” You asked quickly, letting out a sigh of relief when he settled back into his spot.  

Scotty’s eyes met yours now and he pursed his lips, his stare sending a sparkle of electricity through you, “Alright.”

He regarded you a moment more before turning his eyes back to the room. You could tell he was fighting an internal battle, and it sent a pang of hurt through your chest at the fact that you were the cause.

“I’m sorry, Scotty, for everything.” You felt tears press at your eyes and your breath caught in your chest.  The words were not as easy to say as you thought.

“You have nothing t’a be sorry abou’.” He breathed, turning his head slightly to look at you.

“But I do.  I messed up.  I messed it all up and if I could go back I would, I… I would… I…” You started to cry as your emotions rose to the surface and slid down your cheeks in big, heavy drops, and your face fell into your hands.

“Don’t cry, Y/N,” Scotty soothed and he turned his body towards you, your knees pressing together, “You dinnae mess anything up.” He stroked a hand through your hair, once, as if he was unsure of the action.

“But if I hadn’t read the letter…” You peeked through your fingers at him.

“If you hadn’t read the letter, you would never know what I feel for you, because I either would be too damn scared to tell ya, or I would have tried and gotten all my words jumbled up and you would have told Dr. McCoy to throw me in the psych ward.”

You huffed a laugh despite your tears, and looked up to see Scotty’s soft smile, nearly falling apart as you did.  

“So I didn’t screw this up?” You knitted your brow and pressed your lips together, dropping your hands back to your lap.

“Nae, you did give me a run for my money, though,” Scotty shook his head and smiled as he turned back towards the engineering room, your legs still pressed together, “I thought for sure I’d come to work today and see a notice that you’d transferred to another ship, leave me behind.”

“Never.” You stated, and caught his eye for a brief moment before you joined him in looking out over the engineering room again.

You stayed like that for a while, just touching and breathing, looking out into the room, in both of your favourite places in the world.  Every second that you were suspended there next to him was like an eternity, and you never wanted it to end.  You realized, in a moment of clarity, how much you admired this man, how much you loved him.  

“Scotty, I…” You started, but were cut off when he took your hand.

This simple act had shut off your brain and made you melt as he entwined his fingers in yours, resting your connected hands on his thigh gently, a million unsaid words in one small gesture.

You drew closer to him, leaning your shoulder into his, and he seemed to relax into the contact. You couldn’t help but smile at the intimacy and the feelings that rushed through your body, the emotions that thrummed under your skin.

You stroked your thumb once across the back of his hand, and you felt him twitch instinctively, and he turned his head towards you.  A smile waited for him on your lips when he met your gaze.

His face was so close to yours that you could feel his breath on your face, and your heart rammed inside your chest at your closeness, at the anticipation. Meeting his whiskey brown eyes one last time, you were grateful that you didn’t have to move very far to press your lips to his.

You kissed him softly, reveling in the feeling of his lips on yours, and pulled away far too soon for your liking, wanting to gauge his reaction. His breathing was rapid and warm on your face, his hand in a tight grip around yours, and you met his eyes again, trying to let him know without words how much you loved him.

But it was when he leaned in, touched his lips to yours, that you finally let yourself go, let yourself be free from the tension that you had been submersed in these past few weeks.  You leaned into the warmth of his lips, his hand coming up and brushing across your cheek before hooking around the back of your head to deepen the kiss.  

And just like that you saw your whole future ahead of you.  Because the way he was kissing you, the way he was holding you, like you would break, like you were as fragile as a crystal glass, made you realize how much you couldn’t stand a future without him.  

You pulled back from the kiss, taking in deep breaths and you saw Scotty’s hesitation at your sudden movement, so you reached up and pulled his forehead back to yours.  

“MontgomeryScottIloveyousomuch.” You exhaled, barely able to contain your emotions, and you felt your hand start to shake as you stroked the back of his hair gently.

His eyes softened, mere inches from yours, and his hand that was still entwined with yours tightened even more.  He licked his lips and flicked his eyes back and forth between yours, but you kept your gaze on his, incessant and forceful, yet full of love.

“Montgomery Scott,” You whispered, slower now, “I love you.”

He responded by releasing your hand and bringing both of his up to cup either side of your face, his eyes regarding you under furrowed brows.  He looked curious, as if this whole “love” thing was a new discovery for him, and you felt tears almost perk on your eyelids when he started to stroke the skin of your cheeks with his thumbs.    

“Lass, you know I love you too, right?” He breathed and you felt your heart skip a beat.

“Well, technically you never actually said it, but…” You tilted your head playfully, a smile tipping up the ends of your mouth.  

Scotty smiled now, a welcome sight if there ever was one, and it made you smile back.  You closed the gap between you and him and pressed your lips to his, needing the contact, needing the electricity that it sent down your spine.  

You had no idea how long you stayed like up there, on the ledge, but you could say with 100% certainty that you wished you never had to come down.

All crew to report to the mess hall.

“Lassie, we really should… mhm.. go.” Scotty said across your lips, and you pulled him tighter against you, digging your hands into his hair.

“You really want to go, now?” You raised your eyebrow and pulled back, Scotty’s lips barely an inch from yours, both breathing hard, his eyes filled with longing.

As a response, he covered your mouth with his firmly, pressing your back against the wall, drawing you deeper into an electric kiss.  

All crew to report to the mess hall.

“Damnit.” You grumbled and broke the kiss, heat curling over your body, sparks spreading over your skin where Scotty dragged his hands along your sides.  

Scotty, the usually composed one, looked as dizzy as you felt from that kiss, and he kept you pressed against the wall.

“As much as I would love to stay here and continue our… activities… we better go.” You pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth, and he tried to chase your lips with his.  

“No, no, Mr. Scott, duty calls.” You pressed a finger to his lips and he shook his head at you, giving your sides a squeeze.

“I told you not to call me that.” Scotty growled, low and gravely, eliciting another shot of heat low in your belly.

“What’re you gonna do?  Punish me?” You smirked playfully, drawing your tongue over your teeth, and Scotty shook his head and suddenly snapped your hands up and pinned them against the wall, before diving into another heated kiss.

Last Call: All crew report to the mess hall.

“Alright, we better go.” Scotty breathed along your cheek, and released your hands.

“To be continued.” You pressed a quick kiss to his lips and took his hand, leading him towards the mess hall.

“Did we miss anything?” You whispered as you drew up next to Jim, Scotty following close behind, hand still connected to yours.  

“Nah, he’s just going on about some new medical procedure.”  Jim whispered and you rolled your eyes, “Should I reprimand you for being late?”

“Probably.” You winked and turned to Dr. McCoy, who stood at the front of the room, already deep into some speech, and you quickly zoned out.  

This was your usual posture during meetings, hands connected, paying some or a little attention to what was being said, mostly happy just to be next to each other.

“Hey.” You hissed, and pulled on your connected hands, Scotty tilting his head down so his head was closer to yours, “I think we forgot to turn off the fragment generator."

"I turned it off, dontcha worry, darling.” Scotty smirked and pulled his head away.

After a few seconds, you pulled on Scotty’s hand again.

“What can I help ya with now, lass.” Scotty said, amusement making the corner of his lips turn up.

“Can we replicate some pizza later?  I’m feeling pizza for dinner.”

“Sure.”

“And can we watch a movie?  I’ll let you pick this time.” You batted your eyelashes up at him.

“You always say that, yet it never happens, now shush.” Scotty teased, tucking your conjoined hands into his pocket, which made you smile.

“You guys make me want to vomit."

You turned, raising your eyebrow curiously to see Jim standing just behind you, a look of disgust on his face.

"You wish you were us.” You teased and Jim huffed, dropping his eyes, but you caught the smile that crept onto his lips.

“… lead by our two best engineers, Scotty and Y/N.  Nice of you to join us.”

You snapped your head forward, locking eyes with Dr. McCoy and pretty much everyone else on the crew who had turned to look at you and Scotty.

“You do agree with the premise of the project, don’t you?” Dr. McCoy looked very unamused.

“Of course, Doc, we’re all for it.” You called and threw up a thumbs up, which elicited a few giggles throughout the crowd.

“Great, so I will see you two in my office after this meeting and we can discuss details.” Dr. McCoy nodded and turned back to the rest of the crew, continuing his speech.

“We are in so much trouble.” You giggled, pressing your cheek into Scotty’s shoulder.

“Yeah, well at least we’re in trouble together.” Scotty squeezed your hand.

You turned back to Dr. McCoy’s speech, resting your head on Scotty’s shoulder, knowing that whatever crazy adventure was ahead of you, you could count on Scotty to be by your side.

-Thanks for reading!  I hope you liked it!-

I’m just going to include my permanent tag list!  Feel free to ignore this post, this is just the entire fic in one place!

Dear Y/N,

You are one of the most infuriating, stubborn, quick-witted people I have ever met.  I don't know how we made it through the first week of working together.  I thought one of us was going to kill the other. 

But once you got your head out of your ass.  Once we started to get along, we were actually able to work together, and were finally able to put both of our big brains together and get stuff done.  

You snorted as you read on:

And I'm sorry for yelling at you.  I know I already told you that, but I really am.  I am especially sorry for dismissing you that first week.  I know you probably don't care that much but I regret pulling rank and turning on you like that.  I just couldn't stand you looking at me with such hatred and contempt, like I was just some stiff old guy that was getting in your way. It nearly killed me.  

Because if you looked at me like that, I would never stand a chance.  

Because I am enthralled by you.  

You stopped breathing. 

Which is why I am writing all this stuff down rather than saying it to your face. But you'll never read this because I would probably die of embarrassment. Because when I look at you, my brain goes haywire.  I lose all ability to coherently form a sentence.  Maybe that's why I tease you so much, because anything else would come out as gibberish and you would think me a mad old fool.

It scares me, the way I feel about you, it makes me want to turn and run. Because I don't deserve someone as fierce and intelligent and beautiful as you.  But sometimes, the way you smile at me, it gives me hope, like you might harbour feelings for me too, but it's only fleeting, and the next moment you are yelling at me or teasing me or nearly zapping me with a live wire. 

So, if you ever do read this, just know that I loved you from the moment I laid eyes on you.  And every moment since.  

Yours, Montgomery

You were an idiot.

The overhead com system sounded: Dr. McCoy to the medbay, immediately.

Your heart dropped in your chest. For some reason you knew exactly what the call was for.  And you were on your feet and dashing down the hallway before you could stop yourself, stuffing the letter into your pocket. 

Skidding into the medbay, you were met with a cacophony of chaos, people running around everywhere, yelling, and machines were beeping and you could see flashes of injuries from the people lying on the biobeds.  Your heart was racing in your chest as you looked for, and dreading finding, the familiar red shirt and whispy brown hair that belonged to Scotty.  

A biobed slammed into your elbow and careened by, being pushed by a group of nurses, the red shirt making you take a second look, but it wasn't Scotty.  

Suddenly, a flash of familiar command gold appeared in the medbay and you stalked right up to him. 

"Jim, what happened?" You demanded almost breathlessly. 

"Away mission gone wrong, the building that they were in was invaded, there were a lot of... casualties." Jim explained, his eyes barely meeting yours and he began to stalk past you but you grabbed his arm. 

"Scotty." You dug your fingers into his arm and he looked back at you, recognizing the look of desperation,  "where's Scotty?"

He looked at you with sympathy, "We'll find him, Y/N.  I promise."

And then he was gone, into the chaos, and you were left frozen in the middle of it, feeling more alone, more helpless, than you had ever felt before.  

When you realized you were more in the way than anything in the medbay, you retreated back to the engineering room, pulling the letter out of your pocket and reading it over and over, your trembling fingers nearly tearing the worn paper.  You fought an internal battle with yourself, forcing yourself not to cry because if you did, you were going to turn into a sniveling mess, no use to anyone, and you were supposed to be in charge.  

But worry made ice flow through your veins and you couldn't focus on anything, even when Keenser came by and tugged on your sleeve.  

When your com beeped, you swear you took a breath for the first time in 20 minutes.  

"Y/N here." You trembled.

"We found him." It was Jim's voice, and though you should be elated at his words, his somber tone made fresh tears prick at your eyes. 

"I'll be right there." 

Snapping the com shut, you forced your stiff limbs to move from their perched position on the stool and you made your way to the medbay for the second time that day.  

"What happened?" You squeaked when you were met with an impenetrable wall of Jim Kirk on your way into the medbay. 

"We don't know 100%.  He lost a lot of blood.  Bones is working on him now." Jim explained. 

"Is he going to be okay?" You stammered, a tear sneaking its way down your cheek and you wiped it away quickly.  

Jim met your gaze firmly, his hand squeezing your forearm once, "They don't know yet." His voice was quiet, and you knew he was worried as well. 

"He has to be okay, Jim." You whispered, pleading with the somber captain.  

And then a change in Jim's expression, barely noticable, a raise in an eyebrow, his mouth falling open a millimeter more, and it was like he knew.  The expression was a mirror and made you realize you cared for Scotty much more than you'd like to admit.  More than you even realized.  

Jim gave you a knowing nod and placed his hand on your shoulder, giving it a quick squeeze before he disappeared out the medbay doors.  

And once again you were alone.  And once again you didn't know if your heart was going to be ripped out of your chest. 

Eventually they let you in to see him, after Dr. McCoy had deemed him stable enough. 

It was nearly a week after the accident, and you had been forced back to the engineering room, trying to keep the ship afloat while you felt like you were drowning.  You didn't know if you'd ever felt so worried in your entire life, to the point where you were questioning if you should even be worried, as you had only known Scotty for a few weeks before the accident.  

But it was like a disease, like he had become implanted into your brain, and you heard him and saw him wherever you went.  If you were fixing something, you knew exactly how he would tell you you were doing it wrong.  If you were lying in your bed, staring at the ceiling in an feeble attempt to sleep, you heard his laugh or the lilt of his accent, shooting back a sarcastic comment at something you said.

Dr. McCoy threatened to keep you in the medbay as a patient, commenting on how often you were in there, checking up on Scotty, but you knew he noticed your dark rimmed eyes and the few pounds you'd shed at the lack of appetite.  

Then, one day, he agreed it was time you could go in.  Your breath instantly caught in your chest and you nearly cried at the relief of being able to see Scotty after a week of torture.  

He looked awful.  

He was tucked into the biobed, the white sheets accentuating just how grey his skin looked, how dark the circles were under his eyes.  There was a bandage over a cut on his forehead, and a splint on his left wrist, a machine hovering over it that you recognized as a bone regenerator.  Another, similar machine was working on his right leg, which was wrapped in a thick white bandage.  He had many wires and tubes coming out of him that were connected to several machines, including one that was down his throat, which you recognized as a ventilator.  

"He's getting better, despite what he looks like." Dr. McCoy's gentle voice sounded from behind you, and he stepped into the room.

"He looks like crap." You let out a watery laugh, finally letting the tears that you had held in for so long find their way down your cheeks.  

"Yeah well, he's a fighter." A strong hand came down on your shoulder, making you release a little sob, "He's going to be fine, Y/N." Dr. McCoy's thumb stroked lines into your shoulder.

"Yeah, kid, you worry too much." A new voice sounded and a flash of command gold came into view.  Jim.

When he saw your tear-stained face he offered a weak smile before stepping forward and wrapping his arms around you, Dr. McCoy's hand falling away as you nearly fell into Jim's embrace, finally letting yourself feel all the emotions you kept at bay the entire week.

Jim held you for what felt like hours, stroking your back and whispering soft encouragements into your ear.  

"That stupid idiot, coming into my engineering room, turning everything upside down, and then going and nearly getting himself killed." You griped, taking shaky breaths from your spot against Jim's chest.

"I don't think the engineering room is the only thing he's turned upside down." Jim noted as he pushed you away, tucking a few locks of hair behind your ear before tapping your chin with his finger. 

Looking up at Jim, he gave you a soft mischievous smile, and it made you blush, "Shut up." You sniffed and pushed him away playfully, making him laugh softly. 

Then you turned to Scotty, approaching him achingly, but you didn't cry anymore, he was alive.  

You reached out and grabbed Scotty's hand, stroking your thumb over the warm skin, watching the way his chest rose and fell in even breaths thanks to the ventilator.  

Dr. McCoy said he was getting better, it would just take some time.  And you realized, for Montgomery Scott, you had all the time in the world. 

-Thanks for reading!  I hope you liked it!-

I don’t know why I keep writing Scotty writing love letters to people, but I just feel like he wouldn’t be able to vocalize his feelings well (or just spit them out all at once) so he would want to write them down. 

-Permanent tag list (let me know if you want to be added/removed): @feelmyroarrrr @jefferson-in-the-tardis@anyakinamidala@digitalmoonhowell @trekken81@fandomheadrush@kirkaholic123 @im-the-nerdiest-of-them-a11 @pinkamour1588 @to-pick-ourselves-up-7 @starmission @curiosity-killed-the-speedster

You heard heavy footsteps climb the metal stairs and saw this new man emerge from behind Jim.  

“Aye, Jim, I’m in the middle of re-calibrating the central system, whichever lunatic was here last converted the quantum regulator so it only picks up certain wave lengths…” The man started, his hands waving wildly and his thick accent made it hard to understand him, you assumed Scottish.

“The ship only needs to read the wave lengths that it could actually come across.  The settings before were set to pick up literally any wavelength, and it was using way too much power.” You interrupted, spinning on the man, your hackles raised at the newcomer. 

“Well what if ye come across IgT-3 wavelength?  Huh?  How are ya gonna go about picking tha’ up?” The man started, stepping towards you. 

“Well since that wavelength doESN’T EVEN EXIST ANYMORE, I can say we’re pretty safe.” You snapped, your hands tightening into fists. 

“It’s a wavelength, lass, not a damn unicorn!” The man argued and you were about to rip into him when Jim stepped in between you two. 

“Alright!  That’s enough, you two, you’re going to have to be working together, so you better cut it out!” Jim yelled, but he had a weirdly pleased look on his face. 

Jim turned and stepped to the side, indicating to the yelling Scottish man, “Y/N, this is Montgomery Scott, our new chief of engineering.  And Scotty,” Jim gestures to you now, “This is Lieutenant Y/N, who was Bobby’s right hand down here for the past two years.”

You reluctantly nodded at Scotty, the defensiveness you felt from before fleeing from you as you took in the older man.  He had wispy red-brown hair, brown eyes, and a furrow to his brow that looked like it was permanently part of his face.  Overall, he was quite handsome if not soft-looking, like a little bear cub, and you cursed yourself for thinking so as you had just screamed at him.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I do have to get back to running this ship.” Jim said, “Can I trust you guys not to kill each other for at least the rest of your shifts?”

Jim didn’t even let you or Scotty respond before he clapped his hands together, “Good!”

You scowled at Jim as he walked out and he looked back, giving you a wink before disappearing behind the automated doors.  

Turning now to Scotty, who was looking at you like you had a third eye, you gave him a weak smile. 

“Guess we’re going to be spending a lot of time together.” You shrugged. 

“I guess so.” Scotty stuffed his hands into his pockets and swung on his heels. 

“We don’t need the EL4-R wavelength detector either.” You said, meeting his eyes with a flash of amusement. 

“Well ye better have a good explanation for tha’, lass, because I am pretty stubborn.” Scotty gave you a smirk before turning and walking down the metal stairs, you quickly following behind him, beginning to heatedly defend the system you and Bobby had worked so hard to develop.  

“What are you staring at me for?  Am I doing something ‘wrong’ again?” You growled as you turned to Scotty and straightened out your shirt, throwing on your worst glare. 

It was a week into working with Scotty and things were not going well.

“You’d be much better off making those changes from th’outside, using the computer, rather than crawling up in there, ye might get stuck.” Scotty noted, crossing his arms over his chest and raising an eyebrow as he took in your grease-covered appearance. 

“You calling me fat, Mr. Scott?” You leered, pulling off your gloves slowly. 

“N-no, not at all, I jus’…” He sputtered, clearly taken aback by the question. 

“I went in because a belt was loose, and that is not something you can fix from the outside.” You explained, your voice threaded with bitterness, and stalked back to your workstation, Scotty right on your heels. 

“Lass, if we’re going to work together you’re gonna have t’stop being so… SO…” Scotty ranted and you spun on him, fury filling your veins. 

“What?!  Stop being so what, Mr. Scott?”

“SO DAMN INSUFFERABLE!” Scotty exploded, his arms flailing and his stance became defensive. 

“Mr. Scott, this is my ship, and it has been my ship for the past two years, so if I seem insufferable, it’s because you are on MY turf, trying to change the things that I programmed MYSELF.  It borders on insulting.”

“Lassie, half of the things yer able to program on this ship wouldn’t even be here if it weren’t for me.”

“Well I’m sorry your such a traditionalist, then, because TIMES CHANGE, OLD MAN!” You didn’t mean to call him old, but the insult just slipped out and you tried to apologize immediately, “I-I, didn’t mean that, I’m sor-”

“Get out.” Those two words made you snap your mouth shut with a click of teeth.  

You looked up to see Scotty’s expression was impassive and unreadable, his stance straight an unforgiving as he spoke, "Your shift is done for today.  You are dismissed.“

"I-I…” You were speechless, you never expected him to get this angry.

But as you met his eyes and saw how serious he was, your anger was renewed. You weren’t going to let him treat you like a child, and if he wanted you to leave, so be it.  You stalked passed him, grabbed your jacket, and you left, fairly sure that steam was coming out of your ears.

“Jim, he is intolerable, impossible, I-I can’t work with him.” You seethed, nearly crushing the glass that you held between your fingers. 

“You and him are exactly the same.” Jim chuckled, nursing his own drink, and you wanted to wipe the smile off his face. 

“We are not.  You can’t tell me I am half that stubborn." 

"If anything you are double as stubborn as he is.  Try to get past that, you guys have so much in common that you should be inseparable.”

You snorted, “Inseparable.  HA.  Jim, I can barely get through a work day without that man berating me for pressing a key on the keyboard.  I can’t wait to leave my shift everyday, just to get away from him.”

Jim shook his head, still smiling that knowing smile he seemed to always wear, his blue eyes sparkling as he looked to you, “Just consider this one thing.  On your evening off, away from the ever-insufferable Scotty, you have not stopped talking about him.  What does that say?”

You rolled your eyes as Jim stood, patted you on the shoulder, and left.  

Was Jim right?  You seemed to always be talking about him, most of the time complaining, and your thoughts nearly always roaming to his red-brown hair and kind eyes.  

No.  You shook your head, dispelling the thoughts.  When Bobby was back, everything would return to normal.  Everything that had been turned upside down would right itself.  Right?

-Thanks for reading!  I hope you liked it!-

Permanent Tag list (let me know if you want to be added/removed):  @feelmyroarrrr @jefferson-in-the-tardis@anyakinamidala@digitalmoonhowell @trekken81@fandomheadrush@kirkaholic123 @im-the-nerdiest-of-them-a11

"Riley?  Really?  He doesn't know a plasma chamber from a 10 volt battery.  I'm surprised we're still flying." Scotty joked, but his face fell when he saw your expression. 

"Now, lass, don't cry, it was just a joke, Riley'll get better one day, we'll teach him, you and I." Scotty's fingers reached up to touch your cheek again, but you pulled back, wiping at them yourself. 

"I better get going." You croaked, standing, trying to ignore the hurt look on Scotty's face, "I wouldn't want Riley getting the port defragmenter confused with quad-core compressor." 

Then you turned and left, despite Scotty's protests, a million unsaid words on your lips, your heart aching to stay with him, but you forced your feet forward, to get back to work.  

"Y/N, Scotty's asking for you again." Jim's voice came through the com you held up to your ear. 

"Tell him I'm busy." You called into the com as you wiped some grease off your brow. 

"He's very... insistent.  Why don't you just come down here?" Jim questioned, sounding very exasperated.  

"Because I'm busy, Jim." You retorted and snapped the com shut quickly, turning back to you work.

You hadn't gone to see Scotty since he first woke up, so afraid of spilling your feelings or doing something stupid that you couldn't bring up the courage to face him again.  So you threw yourself into your work.  A proper excuse if there ever was one.  

"Lass?" You were torso deep in an overhead boiler system and you banged your forehead at the sudden voice.  

You withdrew your upper body and rubbed at your forehead, looking around for the source of the voice. 

It was Scotty. 

"What are you doing here?  You're supposed to be in bed." You chided, but your voice held more malice than you had wished. 

"You wouldn't come see me, so I took matters into me own hands." Scotty sounded upset, but you couldn't bring yourself to meet his eyes.  

From where you were watching his knees you could see that he was leaning heavily on a crutch, and his balance was unsteady. 

"I've been busy, Scotty, the ship doesn't run itself." You started putting your tools away, which was difficult with your shaking hands. 

"You seemed alright to let Riley run things around here before, why not again?" Scotty argued, and you heard him take a couple of steps closer with his crutch. 

"Because you were right, he is an incompetent asshole." 

"What's the real reason why you ignored my calls?"

"I told you already.  I was busy." You stuffed a wrench in the toolbox. 

"I don't buy it, lass."

"Well you should, 'cause it's the truth." A screwdriver. 

"You've never lied to me before, what's going on with you?"

"Nothing." A small hammer. 

"It's obviously not nothing, you can tell me, Y/N, whatever it is, I won't be mad-."

"I READ THE LETTER." You slammed the toolbox lid closed with a loud clank. 

You were practically seething now, holding onto the toolbox for support, your shoulders heaving with each breath, your eyes watery. 

"Where did you even find that?" Scotty breathed, knowing you were seconds from breaking down. 

"I found it in your desk.  I...I don't know if you meant for me to ever see it, but I did.  I'm sorry I snooped." You stumbled over your words, heaving the heavy toolbox off the desk and turning to walk away. 

"Y/N, wait." Scotty called and you froze in your tracks, the toolbox swinging slightly in your hands, "before ya leave, all mad and upset and whatever else you're feeling, I need you to know one thing."

You were pretty sure you weren't breathing at this point, and you turned your head sideways to indicate to him that you were listening. 

"I meant every word." Scotty stated, and you nearly dropped the toolbox.  

It took every bit of strength inside of you to put one foot in front of the other and walk away.  

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