InsaneJournal

Christine was no stranger to time travel. She’d been in the middle of it before and she’d seen what it could do. At least then, she’d been in her own time, her own world and this was…..well it was a mess. She’d found herself on a planet called Corellia and the situation there was not good. Apparently there was a transport headed for another place called Coruscant and things there were supposed to be a little better so she took the transport heading there and now she had hunted down the apartment she’d be staying in. According to what she’d been told she’d be sharing it with Jim, McCoy, and Spock which didn’t bother her in the least. It was almost like being back on the Enterprise.

She opened the door and walked in, but no one was in the living room. “Hey,” she called. “Is anyone home? Apparently I’ve been sent her to keep you boys out of trouble.”

McCoy didn’t like the idea of Jim and Spock being on Corellia. They both seemed to have a knack for finding trouble, even if you wouldn’t expect it from Spock. The greenblooded moron had a tendency to put a lot of things before his own sense of self- preservation, such that it was. Not to mention, the last he’d seen the Vulcan, he had been recovering from a serious injury and McCoy was egotistical enough to believe no one could treat his crew as skillfully as he could.

Knowing Christine was here had cheered him a little, at least, despite the growing worries about the climate they found themselves in. It had been years since he’d last seen her and he’d missed his friend and colleague. If she was here on Coruscant, that was even better.

“In here,” he called from his room as he walked out in the direction of her voice. There was a rare grin on his face, even as he shook his head at her teasing. “Maybe you were sent to keep those other two idiots out of trouble, you mean,” he joked back. “I could use some help with that. You’d be amazed what they manage to get into.”

She laughed, happy to see him again. “No, I can imagine they get into quite a lot. They had the chance to come here but they stayed. I’m sure they’re right in the thick of it.” Christine rolled her eyes and then smiled at McCoy. “Damn it’s been too long. Three years our time, who knows how long in this place. How are you doing? I know how much you love time travel.”

“Dumbasses,” he grumbled. Anyone who knew him well would know he was more worried than annoyed. They'd lost Jim once and nearly lost Spock before the time jump, thanks to his stupid choice to save that damn cat. Its owner had proved grateful, but he thought it was still an unnecessary risk.

“Not too long here,” he admitted, even if that didn't factor in the time jump. “It's hard to keep track with them dumping us in the future, but I'd say I've been here a few weeks, if that long. It's not so bad, I guess. ‘Least we’re not in space.” Yes, he realized Starfleet operated in space, but that didn't mean he had to like it. Leonard McCoy was a man who would much rather have the solidity of a planet beneath his boots, even an unfamiliar one like Coruscant.

He moved forward to hug her, his embrace warmer than his words. Christine knew him well enough to read between the lines anyway. Probably well enough to know how happy he was to see her even when he didn't come out and say it.

Christine returned his hug, holding on tightly. “I have missed you, you grumpy old goat,” she said even though he really wasn’t that much older than she was. When she stepped back, she smiled. “So what is going on here? I get that we’re supposed to change things but from what I’ve seen, it’s a big fat mess and I am not sure how we can fix it. Also, how did we get elected to do it anyway?” Corellia had been a nightmare and coming to Coruscant had been a no-brainer. At least this city was more organized even if it there were obviously some things here that needed fixing too.

Bones grinned at that, he knew it was a term of endearment. “I've missed you, too, Christine,” he admitted grudgingly.

When she stepped back to question him about the situation, their mission here, he shrugged. “To be honest, I'm not sure. No one has been real forthcoming on what we’re supposed to be doing here,” he drawled. “We’re caught in the middle of some kind of civil war, half of us dumped on opposite sides. The Corellians seem to have the worst of it and the people here on Coruscant seem to think Jacen’s some kinda hero. Jim’s trying to see what he can find out over there, but our captors haven't been really chatty about why we’re here.”

“Well at least we’re not completely out of our element since we’re on another planet.” Christine sat down and looked up at McCoy. “Jacen? He’s the guy who sent the transport to bring those of us who wanted to come to Coruscant. I saw a little bit about him on the video screen on the transport. He really likes himself, doesn’t he?”

“He was one of the good guys, before. Now.. I’m not sure. You were on Corellia, you probably know better than me what it’s like over there. I don’t really know what to think.” He shook his head. The last thing he wanted was to be fighting in someone else’s war. He wanted to help the people here, but he didn’t know how. He supposed they’d have to wait for order from Jim. He and Spock were looking for answers and he’d just have to hope they managed to stay out of trouble.

Probably not likely, knowing those two. They were going to be the death of him, yet.

“We haven’t been here very long, either, if it makes you feel better. They just brought us forward in time, so I know about as much as you do about what’s going on now.”

“Corellia is a huge mess. Refugees, fighting, it’s a nightmare. And Jacen seems hell bent on destroying it for some reason,” she shook her head. “This is ridiculous, we have no business being here, we’ve got enough of our own things to deal with at home. I don’t know how this…...thing…..has the right to take us away from our homes and put us in this place.” Her frustration was evident in her voice. “So we just sit here until this TARA tells us what to do?”

McCoy studied her for a moment before shaking his head. “No. We go out and get a drink and catch up. There’s not much we can do about the war right now. Jim and Spock are doing some investigating on Corellia and in the meantime you and I have some catching up to do.”

He held out his arm to her, then, flashed her a grin that he knew damn well could be charming even if he didn’t have Jim’s reputation, and nodded towards the door. “Assuming Coruscant hasn’t changed too much, I kinda know my way around. Let me give you the tour. We’ll start with this great Cantina I know...”