Bonus rec!...because on reflection I'm not sure my other rec was actually already posted here or not. >.<

Title: Second Chances (aka Kitten!Chekov and His Good Deeds Quest)
Fandom: Star Trek XI
Pairing: Chekov/Scotty
Categories: Romance, Angst, Drama, Fluff, Crack, Established Relationship
Length: Medium
Warnings: Kind of but not really character death..?

Author on LJ: dirty_smudge
Website: n/a


Review:
When Pavel Chekov dies too soon, Q takes it upon himself to get involved, resulting in the entire crew of the Enterprise (Spock included) to suddenly have a soft spot for kittens.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that st_xi_kink meme is still going strong, with prompts being responded to left and right and more coming every day. Second Chances is one such prompt-fill and a glorious one to boot. Interlaced with a healthy dose of humor and a good amount of angst, this story was unexpectedly serious even while keeping true to its crack-y premise. A feat, in and of itself, when one considers that within the first few paragraphs of the story, Q is already reeking havoc and turning Chekov into a cute-as-a-button kitten, who is, as it turns out, a kitten on a mission.

Even at the cutest of moments in this story, I was delighted to find that the author didn’t sweep Chekov’s “death” under the rug and instead dealt with it as it came, with all the people in his life given a chance to grieve. Healing doesn’t start in a day and though the great majority of this fic has Chekov being a kitten, it doesn’t detract from that reality. Scotty’s grief was, as one would expect, especially poignant in the story and made you hurt for him, even if you knew everything was likely to turn out all right in the end.

Ultimately, even if the story isn’t perfectly perfect (what story is?), I found myself immersed in it, cheering on kitten!Chekov, loving Q’s interfering behind, grieving with Scotty, wanting time with the kitten along with Kirk and adoring Spock for giving kitten!Chekov a Vulcan kiss.

Second Chances