Vacation

Part I - Prologue and Day One

'How I Spent My School Vacation' . . . .

In her bedroom of her suite at the Fontana Institute, Joanna McCoy scowled at the six words she had typed that were followed by an expanse of blank space on the PADD display in front of her. Of all the stupid assignments to get on their very first day back in class. Everyone in her literature class had to submit a story, an essay or at least a list of what they had done while they were away from school. Fine. Her instructor wanted a list? She could give him a list.

Flopping back onto her bed, she decided a list of the basic things they did each day would work. She couldn't give any details, of course. Her brother had already had a long talk with her about discretion just last year. She still felt slightly guilty about that school counselor, but she had to admit that Uncle Jim was right. If the man hadn't been so nosy to start with, he'd still be around. It was still a shame though. He'd been pretty nice. Which was why he got to die quickly. Bones was very thoughtful about things like that.

Smiling at the thought of her brother, Joanna sat her PADD down on her desk and went to get herself some juice. It was really nice that both her brother and uncle had managed to get a whole ten days away from the Enterprise so that they could spend her entire break with her. That had never happened before. Why, most of her teachers had never even met Bones before. That had proved to be a little bit of a problem on that first day. For the teachers. Of course, next time that her family came to visit, the teachers would know not to get Bones upset. Or Uncle Jim either, for that matter.

Settling back into a chair with both juice and a snack on the table in front of her, Joanna picked her PADD back up and, after thinking about it for another minute or two, she began her first entry.

~Day One - My big brother Bones and Uncle Jim picked me up from the Institute along with my nanny, Miss Rashea. All four of us went out for dinner together, then Bones and I watched a movie back in his hotel room.~

The school had made all of the students stand outside in neat lines while they were waiting to be picked up. Joanna was well aware of the rules. Technically, she was supposed to remain where she was in line until she was given permission to leave by the Headmaster. None of that mattered when she caught a glimpse of McCoy coming toward them. All the instructions they'd been given flew right out of her head.

Before she even knew consciously that she was going to do it, Joanna darted out of her place in line and was ran straight to him. They'd had video chats while he'd been away, of course, but this was the first time they had been able to see each other face to face for almost two years. McCoy dropped down to his knees, holding her close as Joanna tried very hard to act grown up and not cry. At least until she felt a warm drop fall to her shoulder and discovered that her brother was crying. That shocked her and confirmed a suspicion she had had since their last video chat - something awful had happened to her brother during those two years they were away. McCoy didn't tend to get emotional. At least not in public around people he didn't know. She hugged him back tightly as he got himself back under control and finally managed to speak.

"You've grown so much while I've been gone, Jo. I knew you had, but actually seeing you in person -"

Whatever else McCoy had been about to say was drowned out as Headmaster Hennig's voice rang out. Joanna cringed. She didn't want to get disciplined in front of her brother.

"Miss McCoy! What do you think you are doing? Get back in line this instant!"

Joanna started to obey automatically, but Bones tightened his grip on her just enough to give her the message to stay where she was as he got back up. Joanna felt another hand on her and knew even before she looked that Kirk had joined them while she and her brother had been hugging.

"Stay with me, Jo-Jo. I think Bones is going to have a little chat with the Headmaster."

McCoy stalked over to the Headmaster, not stopping until he was almost nose to nose with the man.

"So, mister, I don't believe we've ever met before or you wouldn't have just had the gall to yell at my Jo for coming over to see me. I've been out in the black and not seen her for almost two years. You think I appreciate you yelling at her for running over to meet me after all that time?"

The Headmaster held his ground, but he was finding that meeting McCoy's eyes was highly uncomfortable. He was used to intimidating his small pupils - he wasn't used to being intimidated himself.

"Let's both be reasonable, Mister McCoy."

"DOCTOR McCoy."

"Yes, of course - Doctor McCoy. Surely you realize that we have to maintain discipline here at the school."

"On the last day? There aren't any classes going on. I see a bunch of kids being forced to line up like they're ready for an inspection by a damn Admiral. All these kids aren't standing for an inspection though, are they? Nope - they're just waiting for their families to get here to pick them up. Now as far as being reasonable goes, doesn't it stand to reason that if I or any of the other adults had wanted our kids at a military school, we would have sent them off to the Banzai Institute or any number of other military based schools? I chose the Fontana Institute because your representatives assured me that Jo would receive individualized one-on-one instruction that was geared to her talents."

"I can assure you on that point, Doctor McCoy. Your daughter has received the finest -"

The growl grew more pronounced in McCoy's voice as he snapped back.

"Individualized, my ass. You don't even know our father is dead. I'm her brother and you being totally ignorant of that little fact means you don't even know the basics in her file, let alone the specifics."

Going silent, the only continuing sign of his agitation was McCoy's fiddling with the ring on his left pinky finger. Finally, he offered the Headmaster his right hand.

"I'm willing to forego reporting you to Starfleet as being unaccommodating to active duty personnel on leave - this time. I best not find it happening again though."

The headmaster took the offered hand, which time McCoy clapped his left hand against Hennig's upper right arm.

"Now, I have a limited amount of leave time from the Enterprise, so Jo and I are going to get her bags and leave. Excuse us."

On hearing what ship McCoy was from, the Headmaster's skin tone turned to the color of old oatmeal. You didn't have to be Starfleet to know the reputation of the ISS Enterprise and her crew.

Joanna couldn't hear what was being said between them, but it was almost like her brother was getting taller as the Headmaster was shrinking. Whatever was said, once it was over, at least she didn't have to go stand back in line. Instead, Bones came back over and smiled at her, taking hold of one of her hands as Uncle Jim took the other. Then the three of them went together to the room that she shared with her nanny. Miss Rashea was pleased to see them both, but motioned McCoy to the side. The two of them clasped hands, eyes meeting in a total silence that puzzled Joanna until it occurred to her that they were talking mentally. Kirk distracted her by asking her to tell him about what had been going on at the school since their last video chat.

A few minutes later, McCoy came over with a smile, but Joanna could see by the look in his eyes that there was a problem. It was the same look he'd had when he'd found out about that counselor last year.

"Jo honey, why don't you help Miss Rashea finish packing your bags? Your Uncle Jim and I have a little bit of business we need to take care of here before we leave, but it won't take us long at all."

As the two of them left the room, Kirk turned to McCoy and flashed his barracuda grin.

"Rashea gave you the heads up on who needs to be dealt with?"

"Yep. And where we're likely to find them."

"Let's do this then. Anyone that's stupid enough to think about touching a 'Fleet kid shouldn't be working in a school anyway."

"My thought is that they're too stupid to live. Period."

"We can correct that problem."

Joanna looked up with a smile when Kirk and McCoy came back into the room about a half hour later. The two of them were smiling a lot, so they must have been able to let McCoy work off some of his tension. Joanna just hoped it wasn't a teacher she liked that they worked it out on.

"Sure you don't want to come with us to Georgia? We've got plenty of room and you'd certainly be welcome."

Smiling, Rashea shook her head at McCoy's invitation.

"I appreciate the offer, but I have some old friends that I'm going to be meeting up with in a couple of days."

Kirk moved closer and wrapped an arm around her.

"What a shame. You need to at least have dinner with us before we head off.

That she agreed to and, since the two bags were packed and ready to go, McCoy took one and Kirk grabbed the other. They walked out side by side with Joanna skipping between them and Rashea following behind. As they passed by them on the way to the gate, Joanna gave a wave to her remaining classmates as well as to the Headmaster. She couldn't help but notice that he was awfully pale. She considered that as they exited the school grounds.

"Bones?"

"Yeah, Jo?"

"You poisoned him, didn't you?"

"Sure did, baby girl."

Kirk became very attentive at that.

"You did? I didn't notice a thing. How?"

McCoy chuckled and lifted his left hand.

"My mother's ring. It only fits on my little finger, but I didn't want to have it adjusted. It's a family heirloom. When I was messing with it, I twisted the front side to the palm side so it would activate when I clapped my hand against his upper arm."

"Is it fatal?"

"Not necessarily. Might not be if he has the common sense to get himself to treatment in time, but I don't credit him with much in the way of common sense."

Joanna just started skipping again as she made her final comment on it.

"Oh. Well, if he doesn't make it, I hope the next Headmaster will be nicer."

Kirk laughed the rest of the way to the vehicle as he tossed the bag he was carrying into the trunk area before taking the other one from McCoy and tossing it in as well. The restaurant they chose was one that Rashea recommended which had a nice mix of different Terran styles as well as a few off-world dishes. McCoy just chuckled as he looked over the menu while Kirk scanned over the restaurant.

"You know, I'd about be willing to eat anything so long as it didn't come out of a replicator."

That being said, he and Kirk still scanned everything that came to the table. Kirk was pleased when everything turned out to be clean. He was relaxed enough after taking care of business at the school that he really didn't care to go after anyone else that evening. Besides, if the smile on Rashea's face meant what it usually did, Kirk had far better things to do for the rest of the night.

The meal passed pleasantly with Rashea filling them in on interesting tidbits of things that had been happening on Earth. McCoy didn't miss the looks between Kirk and Rashea, so he decided it would be best to exit with Joanna after dessert was finished.

"Jim, Rashea - the trip's worn me to a frazzle, so I think Jo and I will head on to our room. No need for the two of you to rush the evening on our account. I'll see you in the morning, Jim."

"Right, Bones. What time are we leaving in the morning?"

"Whenever we feel like it, Jim. This is our vacation, so as far as I'm concerned, rushing is off the agenda."

Chuckling, Kirk gave McCoy a slap to the shoulder as he moved around to give Joanna a kiss on the top of her head.

"Try and keep Bones out of trouble for me, Jo-Jo."

Giggling, she nodded as she got up and moved to give Kirk a tight hug.

"I will, Uncle Jim. Will we see you tomorrow, Miss Rashea?"

"Probably not, Miss Jo. But I'll see you when you come back to school."

Joanna moved over to give the Betazoid woman a quick hug before rejoining her brother. She didn't say anything else until they were out of the restaurant, but then she looked up at McCoy.

"They're going to have sex, aren't they?"

Looking down at his little sister, McCoy didn't see any point of denying it.

"Knowing both your Uncle Jim and Rashea? Yeah, I'd say the odds are pretty good, kiddo. Sex something that interests you now?"

Wrinkling her nose slightly, Joanna shook her head.

"No, but we covered reproduction in biology this year. I see where that stuff is necessary, but well . . ."

McCoy gave a slight snort.

"If there's one thing I don't think you have to worry about Uncle Jim doing, it's reproducing."

Stopping, Joanna gave her borther a puzzled look.

"What other reason is there for having sex?"

Firmly shaking his head, McCoy signaled for Joanna to catch up with him.

"This isn't a conversation that we're going to have on the street, Jo. Hell, I don't know if it's a conversation we're going to have until you're older. Still -"

They walked in silence for awhile as McCoy thought. Sure, Joanna was still young, but considering one of the staff that he and Jim dealt with at the school, she needed to be more familiar with some facts for her own protection. Finally, he gave a nod.

"Tell you what, kiddo. How about we invite Aunt Ny and Aunt Gaila for a sleepover after the barbeque and you gals can have a girl talk?"

The skipping from Joanna and the huge smile answered that question.

"I always like spending time with them. Do you think Aunt Ny would take me shopping for the clothes I need to replace?"

"That's right. I'd forgotten that Rashea said you'd outgrown some of your favorite things. Well, knowing those two aunts of yours, I'd say shopping is a distinct possibility. There are some nice stores around Atlanta that the three of you could head to and make a day out of it."

"I'd like that a lot. Bones? Could we please get a vid to watch at the hotel? I'm really not sleepy yet."

"Don't see why not, Jo. So long as you let this old man get some rest."

When he said that, his tone had Joanna carefully looking at her brother again.

"Bones? Something really bad happened while you were gone this time, didn't it?"

"That obvious, is it?"

He gave her hand a light squeeze as a soft sigh escaped.

"Yeah. Yeah, it did, Jo. Maybe we'll talk about it later, but right now? I would sort of like to forget about it for a little while, okay?"

Joanna worried her lower lip for a moment, then gave his hand a return squeeze before speaking.

"Can I ask one just question before we forget about it?"

"Sure, baby girl. What is it?"

"You and Uncle Jim. You're both okay, right?"

McCoy thought back to their troubles: with Khan, Admiral Marcus, Jim saving the Enterprise at great cost to himself and his own bout with a deadly disease. Then he smirked a little. All that and here they were - still around to tell the tale. He gave Joanna's hand a light squeeze.

"Yeah, Jo. I won't lie to you - it was a really rough time, but it's over. Me and Uncle Jim? We're doing just fine."