A/N: Am I breaking my new rule about waiting to post until a story is finished? Well, I make the rules so I have no clue. Technically this story is going to be more of a collection of one-shots, so each chapter is its own "completed" story. For now. Idk. We'll see if it stays that way. Besides, I've missed posting, I've always wanted to do an ABC story, and maybe this'll give me a kick in the butt to finish that long project. Enjoy!

Addiction

Since McCoy trusted his head nurse, he believed that somehow, after every Starbase supply transfer, they got shorted on their quota for keflavin. After the first inventory discrepancy, the pair was forced to come to the conclusion that someone had screwed up the shipment, but after the second and third mishaps their theory took on a more sinister shape.

It was at the point that Dr. McCoy decided to oversee the supply haul personally. They loaded everything into Sickbay right away, inventoried carefully, and found that they had the exact amounts of every medication they had requisitioned. The storage facilities of Sickbay were sealed under the codes used only by the doctors on board and Nurse Chapel, and everyone called it a night.

Of course, prone to fitful sleep habits, McCoy found himself lying wide awake in bed at 2 in the morning and, in a strange compulsion, rose and trotted to Sickbay.

The lights were dim, and as there were no patients at the moment the gamma crew shift was particularly skeletal. McCoy encountered no one as he traipsed through his office and the labs. After checking some of the private wards, he passed by the storage units and saw that the sealed door was stopped partially open. His eyebrows rose. Upon closer inspection, the transparent aluminum comprising the window had been shattered. Someone had broken it, reached inside to deactivate the lock, and heaved the sliding door open just enough to squeeze through.

McCoy's initial instinct was to get angry, because the storage facility had delicate temperature controls inside for those medications that required it. However, his gut told him that there was a greater reason behind this vandalism, and he slowly made his way inside.

He stepped quietly through the shelves and containers of Sickbay's inventory and approached a rustling sound at the back. Pausing around the last shelf, McCoy shook his head. He knew where they were. He peeked around to get a look at the culprit.

Orderly Jared Hodgson was rifling through the keflavin. McCoy studied him for a while. Hodgson looked almost panicked, stuffing keflavin into his pockets in such a frenzy that most pill bottles fell on the floor, leaving him to scramble around picking them up. His eyes were wide, his breath quickened, and there was a sheen of sweat on his forehead. McCoy shook his head again.

"We were delayed getting to Starbase 7, weren't we?"

Hodgson whirled to see the doctor leaning against the shelf he had just stepped around. The motion led him to drop some more pill bottles. McCoy raised an eyebrow.

"Everything alright, son?" he asked compassionately.

Hodgson's eyes flickered over the area as if seeking an escape route. McCoy reappraised the situation. If the keflavin started going missing since Starbase 4, and assuming Hodgson was taking them regularly, then…

"I can help you with the detox." McCoy took a step forward.

"No!" Hodgson shouted. He grasped the keflavin firmly. "Just let me out of here."

McCoy frowned. Now that he was properly in front of the orderly he could see his eyes. There was a slight glaze over them. If the man was in withdrawal due to a delay in stealing his next batch then…

Why wait, McCoy? He could almost smack himself.

"We can leave together," he said. "And I'll help you in Sickbay."

"You'll detox me," Hodgson retorted.

"That is the idea, yes." He took another step forward.

"Stay back!" Hodgson yelled.

"I just want to help you."

"I don't want your help!"

"And you think keflavin can?"

Hodgson actually growled at him. Now that the high was setting in, he took a step forward as well. "Get out of my way, Doctor."

"I can't let you leave with all those pills." McCoy knew he could let the man retreat to his quarters and then simply call Security to seize him and the contraband, but he liked Jared enough that he didn't want to see his career in Starfleet go the way of a dishonorable discharge. Jared just needed help kicking a habit, and McCoy hoped that this could be resolved within Sickbay's internal business.

"I'm not leaving them!" he snarled.

Of course, the orderly McCoy knew was currently shanghaied by an angry drug addict.

"I don't want to call Security," McCoy coaxed. Yet. "But if you don't put those down-"

Without warning Hodgson charged him.

Brilliant, McCoy, he thought as he caught an armful of sweaty paranoia. You're as forward-thinking as ever.

He managed to jab Hodgson right in his diaphragm before he got taken to the ground, but the orderly barely noticed. McCoy cursed as he landed. He didn't know how much keflavin he'd taken, but if it was enough he could probably stab Hodgson with a knife and the man wouldn't feel it.

Powered by adrenaline, Hodgson rebounded from the tackle quickly and surged to move past McCoy. The doctor latched on to his ankles and managed to make them both stumble.

"C'mon, Jared!" McCoy said through gritted teeth.

He couldn't hope to hold Hodgson - instantly, the man was a writhing mess of flailing limbs. One blow glanced off of McCoy's jaw, making his teeth click shut.

They grappled for a moment more on the floor until McCoy noticed that he was back between Hodgson and the door. He suddenly broke away from the fight and sprinted towards Sickbay. He could hear Hodgson rushing to his feet close behind him.

McCoy rounded the corner swiftly and dove towards his office. He knew, he KNEW he hadn't unpacked his gear from the last landing party, and…

Hodgson rounded the same corner just as McCoy stepped back out of his office and stunned him.

McCoy dropped his arm holding the phaser as Jared crumpled. He released a long breath as the chase and scuffle caught up to him. Composing himself, he set the phaser down and bent to move Hodgson towards the nearest biobed.

"Seriously, kid," he muttered. "You may have damn near overdosed."

Staying away from hypos (until the sensors could tell him just how much medication was running through the kid's system) McCoy set about tending him, restraining him, and restocking the keflavin. He needed to comm M'Benga… he'd given the gamma shift Doctor the night off since there wasn't much happening, but it was nearing 4 in the morning and Leonard had just remembered that he was supposed to be in bed.

Besides, someone needed to fill out a requisition form to Engineering to get somebody to fix the storage door… and McCoy wasn't going to shake off this incident if he couldn't shake off the paperwork that came with it.