Chapter 2

"Hey, angel face, who's tall, dark and brooding sitting with our Cadet Hotty?"

Harley followed Ricky's pointing finger to see the cadet who had been with the gorgeous Orion (was there any other kind? She'd give a day's tips to meet a gorgeous male Orion) conversing with an older cadet. "Don't know. They haven't come to the counter to get anything yet."

Almost as if he'd read her mind, the older man slid his chair back and meandered over to the counter, smiling warmly at every woman he encountered. Ricky openly checked him out from head to toe, and then leisurely skimmed his eyes back up again to land on the cadet's flabbergasted expression.

"Aren't you just a little over-the-hill for that uniform, cadet?" Ricky winked at the man and Haley watched the cadet's eyebrows dip into a frown over his hazel eyes.

She saw how ill-at-ease the man was and elbowed Ricky away from the counter. "Don't pay attention to him. His tongue engages long before his brain. What can I get for you?"

The uncertainty drained from his face and he gave her a warm grin. "Well," his eyes drifted down to her name tag, "Ms. Harley, I'd like two black coffees, large, and a blueberry muffin."

"Sure." Harley turned to fill his order, glaring meaningfully at Ricky. She knew her friend would never push himself at someone who was clearly not interested, but he did love to tease.

"Bones! Grab another muffin for me, will ya?" Cadet Hotty called to his friend.

Harley raised an eyebrow at the man, "Bones? Is that a foreign name?"

He chuckled and his lips spread in a wide grin. "No, a nick-name. I'm a doctor." He scooped up the tray with their order and headed back to his friend.

"Ricky, I'm taking my break now," Harley called out. She dug under the counter and pulled out her PADD with her English 101 text on it and chose a table in the corner. Her first exam was coming up in two days and she planned on acing it.

Cadet Hotty and Bones were seated two tables away and Harley's natural curiosity kept her from blocking out their conversation. She watched from under her eyelashes as "Bones" pulled a silver flask out from his jacket pocket and poured some dark amber liquid into his coffee.

"Bones, we have class in less than an hour! Didn't you get enough of that stuff last night?"

"Little hair-of-the-dog. An old southern hangover cure." He held the flask out to his friend, "You look as though you could use some of Dr. McCoy's magic bullet, Jim."

Harley gave up any pretense at studying as she openly watched the two men. Jim. Now she could stop calling him Cadet Hotty. He could be Cadet Hot Jim. Oh, that just lit a fire in her innards.

Jim hesitated a fraction of a second, then nodded his acceptance and Bones poured a large dollop into his coffee. "I guess a little Irish coffee with my muffin won't hurt – much."

Jim pulled a piece off the muffin and stuffed it into his mouth. As he chewed he looked back into McCoy's face. "So, Len, what are you going to do about Joanna?"

Harley sat up a bit as she saw all the color drain from the doctor's face. I wonder who Joanna is? He looks as if he could use a good woman to curb that early morning drinking.

McCoy kept his eyes on his coffee, "There's nothing I can do, Jim. Her mother took all possibility of a relationship out of my hands. I'm legally forbidden from seeing her for the next twelve years." He closed his eyes and drained the mug in one gulp.

"Bones, you have to do something. It's not right that she should be without the father who loves her."

Both men raised their eyes, and blue met hazel over the table. They held each other's gaze for a few seconds and Harley felt that she'd missed a whole conversation as those seconds passed.

"That's why I joined Starfleet, Jim. I couldn't practice medicine anywhere on the planet and not try to see my daughter. But if I tried, her mother would have me jailed, so…"

"But," Jim interrupted, "I know what it's like to grow up without a father. I would never leave a kid of mine alone." He picked at the crumbs on his plate. "I couldn't do that to someone I loved."

McCoy slammed his fist down on his table and Harley's PADD clattered as it hit the floor.

"Don't you think that tears me up every time I think of her? She's only six, Jim. Just a baby." He dragged both hands down his face. "I don't know if she'll have any good memories of me in twelve years when I'm allowed to have contact with her again. Her mother will probably poison her mind against me." His shoulders heaved as he sucked in a deep breath and took drag on the flask – without the coffee.

Jim's arm reached across the table to clasp his friend on the shoulder. "She'll want to know you, Len. She'll ask other people about you and find out what a good man you are. She'll come looking for you." He pulled his hand back as the older man visibly relaxed. "I know I'd move heaven and earth – and a couple of galaxies – if I could meet my father for just a few minutes."

The two men sat quietly for a few seconds while Harley pondered their conversation. She felt a bit like a voyeur, but that curiosity about people was also why she was pursuing a career in xenoanthropology.

The men stood and Bones tossed a few coins on the table as they drifted toward the door.

"Ya know, Jim, I think tonight would be a great night to see something of San Francisco besides the academy campus. You up for some fun?"

Jim punched his friend in the arm. "Fun? Always, Bones, always."