Hello all!! This is my first venture into the world of Star Trek so please be gentle with this fic!! I'm nervous O.o Lol, I've never seen any of the original series but I fell in love with the movie and wanted to write something based off the movie. This takes place right after Nero is defeated :D Hope you enjoy!!

I own nothing!!

"Hm." Was all I allowed at the moment, turning my back to the door and looking down. The front of my shirt was stained with blood, completely destroyed by now, but the worst seemed to be over by now. Captain Pike was on the other side of the room in critical yet stable condition along with a few other members of the crew who had managed to get knocked around during the altercation. Spock had come of his own free will, sitting silently as I examined him. His usual neat, sharp appearance was slightly disheveled and he had a few bruises that were beginning to appear beneath his pale skin but he appeared none worse for wear. Jim was an entirely different story; as expected he tried every excuse possible in order to avoid coming down. In the end I gave him two options: either he came down willingly and let me examine him or I would go up to the bridge and do it in front of the entire crew. He had muttered a few very nasty words and tried to bargain, charm, and even order his way out of it but to no avail; I refused to change my ultimatum.

When he walked in, it took me several minutes resist the urge to smack him in the back of the head. It was almost like a paternal instinct: the desire to hug and throttle your children at the same time. Jim was covered from head to toe in every shape, size and color or bruise imaginable. Small cuts marred his face, there was still dried blood under his nose (which was more than likely broken) and a vicious, deep bruise had begun to form around his throat; I vaguely wondered how many times he'd been nearly strangled in the past twenty-four hours. He was limping, holding one side as if the ribs had been bruised, and grinning like an idiot. I wanted to hit him again.

"You know you always wanted a little adventure." He grinned as I pushed him onto the examination table, wincing beneath the grin.

"That wasn't an adventure," I muttered, waving the scanner in front of him briefly and reading the results. "That was damn near suicide." Bruised ribs, broken nose (I knew that), concussion, along with several other more minor injuries. Nothing too life-threatening, which I was grateful for, but knowing Jim he wasn't going to do anything the easy way. The kid could be missing a limb and he'd still be reluctant to admit he was injured.

"Would you stop that?" He waved his hand at the scanner and scowled. "I'm fine."

I had been expecting that but it still irritated me. "Yeah, you're fine alright. Nearly getting killed in biggest implosion this side of the galaxy is fine." I rolled my eyes and sighed heavily, grabbing a renegade cotton ball from the drawer next to me. "That was reckless, irresponsible, and completely stupid." I grumbled under my breath as I scrubbed dried blood from one of the many new cuts Jim had sustained. Sometimes I think it's physically impossible for him to go an entire week without some kind of injury.

The younger man winced faintly and flashed his characteristic grin. "Oh, come on Bones. It wasn't that bad."

"Not that-?!" I sputtered, looking at the ship's new captain incredulously. "Not that bad?! Jim, a root canal is 'not that bad', getting trampled by a horse is 'not that bad', getting set on fire and then being doused with kerosene is 'not that bad'. That," I said, pointing to one of the portholes that allowed a clear view of the yawning openness of space. The space that had nearly claimed all of us not an hour before. "That was bad. That was almost a catastrophe." I sighed and shook my head, dropping the cotton ball into a nearby trash can. "I swear, sometimes it seems like you just want to get yourself killed…"

Jim simply chuckled and shook his head. "Not now. I'm the Acting Captain now (Good God, he liked saying that), I can't go getting myself killed."

"Yeah? Well keep up the way you've been going and you're career might be over faster than you think." I snapped, not liking how rude it sounded but unable to control it. I couldn't help it, Jim had become like family to me over the past few years and to see him put his life on the line so recklessly really grated on my nerves.

The younger man looked down for a second, a half-smile still resting on his face. He looked like he wanted to say something else but a violent tremor suddenly raced through his body. Jim clasped his hands quickly, keeping them in his lap and looking down. He was laughing softly but the sound was forced, a show. "God, I don't know what the hell's wrong with me." He laughed but his voice sounded smaller than I'd ever heard it.

I turned to face him fully and frowned. He was trembling all over, his shoulders actually shaking with the force of the movement. His face was pale, deep circles forming beneath his eyes and making the bruises appear much darker. Right now, he looked like a child who'd just been scolded: ashamed, slightly frightened and all together closing in on himself. This was not the Jim Kirk I knew and sometimes regretted knowing. "Jim?" I asked carefully, taking a step toward him and placing a hand on his shoulder gently.

The younger man looked up at me then, his blue eyes filled with some kind of emotion I couldn't place right away. "Can I really do this Bones?" He asked suddenly, his voice filled with uncertainty. "All of this…?" He indicated the room with a sweep of his eyes and then looked back at me hopefully, as if I would have the answer in front of him. "I mean what if I…if I hadn't…" The words stopped as the trembling increased.

I blinked, unsure of what to say for a moment. In the few years I had known James Tiberius Kirk, I had never once seen him look so…lost. He was confused, unsure of himself, and showing a side of himself that he's never shown to anyone. I almost felt embarrassed for being to one to see him so vulnerable. Finally, I was pulled out of my reverie and sighed, sitting on the table next to him. "Yes, Jim. You can do this." I put as much force into my words as I could, hoping it would be enough to make him believe it himself. "This is big, Jim." I continued, looking around the room as he had done. "Bigger than anything any of us have ever done…but if there's anyone who can pull this off, who can captain this ship, it's you." I meant every word. True, Jim bugged the hell out of me sometimes and there had been several times at the academy when I had wanted nothing more than to stab him with a hypo and knock his ass out for a few hours, but I couldn't name one person off the top of my head who could do half of what Jim had done in less than forty-eight hours. He was bold, smart, and all together entirely too cocky but that's what made him perfect for a job like this. Jim Kirk had never been meant for anything less.

"You've got a lot in front of you." I said, lowering my voice a little so as not to disturb the other patients in the sick bay. "More than even you thought possible, but I have no doubt that you can do this. None whatsoever."

Jim smiled then, not the cocky smirk he used to get a girl to fall into bed with him, but a real smile. He looked years younger, the relief clearly evident on his face, and he let out a breath that neither of us realized he'd been holding. "Thanks Bones…" He said finally, his voice full of gratitude. He grinned again and shook his head. "I don't know why I can't stop shaking though…"

It was my turn to smile and I shook my head slowly. "It's just the adrenaline wearing off…" I reassured him, keeping my hand on his shoulder just in case. I half expected him to move away from the touch (he's still a little gun shy around me for stabbing him with all the hypos) but he stayed where he was. After a few minutes, the shaking began to subside and he relaxed, taking a slow, deep breath that turned into a sigh.

"Better go back up to Bridge and make sure we're still on course." He said, as quickly as his injuries would allow him to. "This ship won't fly itself." He flashed me his trademark smile and started back toward to the door.

"Don't do anything those ribs!" I called after him, standing and making my way over to a small drawer filled with extra clothes. Doctor or not, I was tired of smelling like blood.

"Hey Bones?"

I turned and looked to see Jim pausing by the door. "Yeah?"

He smiled and winked. "Thanks."

I returned the gesture and turned back to the drawer as the door slipped closed behind him. "Anytime kid."

So how was it?? Good? Bad? Please let me know!! :D