6.
Jim showed up at his small apartment in the medical school dorm that Friday evening. "What are you doing here, Jim?" Leonard asked, surprised. "Is something wrong?"
"Nothing. Just stopping by," he said, with a shy smile.
"You could have called me beforehand, you know," he grumbled, not sure how to react. Jim was his patient, at most a fellow cadet with whom he had a passing acquaintance.
"You didn't give me your comm number," he grinned.
"But you just happen to know where I live, right? And I'll bet you checked first to see that I'm off shift."
Jim smirked but didn't deny it. Stepping inside, he began wandering around the room, eyes wide. "Wow, they let the med students live like human beings. You have a single, Bones."
"That's because I'm an adult, with a desirable profession, Jim," he said. "I didn't piss away my youth."
"And your own bathroom…"
"Which I didn't invite you to see!" he called after him, exasperated.
"…and a couch and a kitchen," Jim continued, voice muffled as he investigated the refrigerator. "What have you got to eat?"
"For God's sake, come back here and pretend to be civilized. And stop acting like a waif who doesn't get fed regularly."
Jim reemerged from the kitchen, crunching an apple. He slipped into the chair next to Leonard's desk and began flipping through the medical journals that were scattered over it. Leonard watched him, not sure whether to be annoyed or amused.
"Wow, have you read this article on Deltan pheromones?" he asked. "Deltans are pretty amazing, hairless and totally hot. They consider humans to be sexually immature as a species."
"Were you their test subject?" Leonard asked. "Because I think I see their point."
Jim looked wounded. "I'm serious. Listen to this: 'Deltan pheromones use a complex system of olfactory chemoreceptors that in humans has been known to cause—'"
"Jim, are you planning on hooking up with a Deltan tonight? If you are, I can see how this information might be relevant, but otherwise…"
"I'm just inquisitive," he said, throwing the PADD back onto the desk. "I like to learn new stuff. Come on, let's go out. It's been a month and I finally got paid. It's also the first night I'm allowed off Academy grounds. Town liberty."
Leonard realized that as a doctor, his Academy experience was a lot different from that of most first-years. He'd already been off grounds several times, and no one had expressed any interest in restricting his freedom of movement. In fact, his plans for the evening had included relaxing in his apartment, with a good drink and a holovid. "Jim, I'm pretty beat, and I wasn't planning on going out tonight." He smiled gently, to soften his words. "Aren't there some first-year command-track types that you can hang out with?"
Jim's face closed down, a look Leonard was becoming familiar with. "Sure. Yeah, don't want to bother you. There's a group going out, it's just… They're a little young, you know?" He looked up at Leonard shyly. "They just out of high school. I don't think most of them have even lived on their own before…"
Leonard's smile faded. He'd been so buried in his own sense of feeling old and out of place that it hadn't occurred to him that Jim might be feeling something similar. The kid had obviously been on his own for a long time, and if the marks on his body were any indication, it hadn't been an easy road.
Suddenly, the fact that Jim had come to seek him out didn't seem so strange anymore. Have a heart, he told himself. Maybe two's company.
"Well, at least they finished high school, moron. Sounds like they're way ahead of you."
Jim laughed. "Depends how you look at it. I'm a quick learner, and my courses are pretty easy. But they're way ahead on saluting and snapping to attention, at least. I'm not so good at that." His voice trailed off and his good humor seemed to weaken momentarily, but then he caught Leonard's eye and grinned. "Come on, Bones, let's go out. Uh...." he hesitated. "I suppose you'll want to change first."
Leonard was still wearing his cadet reds, as was Jim. "That's how you're dressed to go out?"
"Gotta stay in uniform at all times, even on liberty. 'Sides, I haven't had a chance to buy any new clothes yet…" Leonard raised an eyebrow. He knew that Jim had arrived in San Francisco without any possessions, but he'd assumed that he would have them sent to him. He wondered, for the first time, where Jim's family was, and why he didn't seem to have anyone looking out for him.
"Well," Leonard drawled, "I've been drawing a lot of shifts at the E.R. lately. I think the only clean clothes I've got are my uniforms. I'll just go like this."
"Great!" Jim beamed at him. "Easier to pick up girls or whatever, they really go for a guy in uniform. Oh, just so you know," he said, giving Leonard an embarrassed glance, "I have a one o'clock curfew."
"What happens if you're late? Turn into a pumpkin?"
"Of course not." Jim shook his head. "I just don't want to be late, that's all."
"That one's cute, Bones. You should try hitting on her." They were in a corner booth of an off-campus bar. Jim was on his third beer; Leonard was going more slowly, savoring his bourbon.
"Try it yourself, farm boy. If you've still got the nerve."
"Not me," he said, shaking his head. "Three strikes and I'm out for the night."
"Maybe if you were a little more subtle," Leonard suggested. "'Wanna meet me in the alley?' is a little lacking in romance, Jim. I'm surprised you ever get laid at all."
"I'm persistent."
"So it seems."
"Then show me how to do it, man. If you're such a romantic."
Leonard snorted. "Jim, it's been a fucking long day and I'm tired. I'm not looking for a quick lay."
"Maybe you'll find something that lasts."
"Nothing ever does, kid," he said, feeling the alcohol loosening his tongue. "No such thing as a happy ending. My ex is living proof. Treated her like a princess, at least at the beginning..." Jim was quiet. "But nothing was ever good enough for her." He took a deep breath and a long sip of his drink. "It was an ordinary marriage, I suppose."
"Never seen one up close," Jim said, "Dunno what that really means."
Of course he hadn't. "I guess it means that we started out with good intentions and things went downhill."
Jim nodded. "So what the hell happened, Bones?"
Leonard found him surprisingly easy to talk to. Unlike so many of his colleagues in Atlanta, Jim didn't judge and didn't offer advice. He didn't seem uncomfortable with the pain in Leonard's rough voice or his acerbic comments about his ex. "Yeah, I've been there," Jim said once, making Leonard wonder, again, just what he was hiding about his teenage years.
"Where the hell did you learn those computer skills, kid?" he asked finally, tired of wallowing in his own depressing story.
"I never tell trade secrets."
"Good to know you have a trade, such as it is. Even though half the things you do could get you arrested."
Jim laughed. "I've been arrested, Bones." Leonard raised an eyebrow. "But not for that. Stupid shit, years ago. Stealing, joyriding, stuff like that. I was kind of out of control when I was a kid."
There's another piece to add to the puzzle, he thought, wondering how Jim could reveal such a damning piece of information so nonchalantly. Had a few beers really lowered his inhibitions so much? Or maybe, he thought, after he'd spilled his guts about Jocelyn, Jim felt safe confiding something about his own past.
"Kirk!" a booming voice crowed from across the bar, interrupting them. Finnegan, accompanied by two hulking friends, was striding toward them. "What do you know? It's my favorite plebe!"
Jim cursed under his breath, turning around to glare at him. "Finnegan, I'm on liberty."
"Right you are, cadet. Mind if we join you and your friend?" Although it was phrased as a request, the tone was aggressive. Finnegan leaned over the table, placing himself right in Jim's personal space. Leonard watched Jim struggle to control his reaction, clenching his jaw and taking a deep breath. This isn't going to end well, he thought.
"No thanks," Leonard broke in, before Jim could respond. "We're having a conversation."
Finnegan ignored him. "Move over, cadet."
"Finnegan—" Jim began.
"I said we're not interested in company, hotshot," Leonard said, raising his voice.
Finnegan's eyes never wavered from Jim's face. His tone was icy. "You can call me 'sir,' cadet. And I've made a request."
"With all due respect, sir," Jim said slowly, "I'm off duty."
"Come again, cadet? I don't think I heard you properly."
McCoy tugged on his arm. "Let's go, Jim."
"We're off campus now and I'll move when and if I want to, Finnegan!"
Shit, Leonard thought.
Finnegan was shaking his head. "No salute? Disrespecting an upperclassman? Refusing a polite request?" He made a clucking noise with his tongue. "All right, Kirk, you're on report. Wait for me outside." He smiled pleasantly at Leonard, but his eyes were disturbingly cold. Leonard looked back stonily.
Finnegan turned back to Jim. "I'd like to get to know your friend a little better, I think. He's got a sweet look about him."
"Yeah? Blow me," Leonard said. "Come on, Jim."
"Feisty, aren't you?" Finnegan said to him, grinning. "Out of the booth, Cadet Kirk."
It was clear their evening was over. Leonard climbed out of the booth. He turned toward Jim, hoping to prod him along as quickly as possible, but froze when he saw Jim's expression. His face was absolutely tight with fury.
Jim's fist caught Finnegan squarely on the chin.
Before Leonard could react, Jim was grabbed by Finnegan's two burly friends, each of whom held an arm.
"That was a mistake, Kirk," Finnegan said, standing up and rubbing his jaw. "I'm not allowed to hit a cadet while I'm on duty, so…" He swung his fist into Jim's abdomen, forcing a grunt of pain out of him. "Lucky we're all on liberty, isn't it?"
"You're an idiot," Leonard told him. "With a big fucking mouth that doesn't know when to shut the hell up."
Finnegan and his friends were vicious and swift. By the time the bartender had called campus security, they were long gone, leaving Jim groaning on the floor. He'd managed to drag Jim out of the bar, staggering and bleeding, and flag a taxi. He decided to bring Jim to his apartment, rather than directly back to his dorm; he was clearly going to be in deep trouble, whether he arrived now or in an hour. Leonard wanted to clean him up and fix the damage as best he could before sending him off to his fate, and if the injuries were worse than he suspected, the Academy clinic was nearby.
"Sit down. Not on the bed, asshole, on the couch. And don't bleed on the rug," he growled, rummaging in the bathroom for his medkit.
"Dunno why you're so mad," Jim mumbled.
"Oh, you don't know, do you?" Leonard slammed the kit down beside him. "Maybe it's because you act like a sixteen-year-old hothead without a survival instinct. What the hell's the matter with you?" He grabbed the scanner and began moving it slowly over Jim's torso.
"Fucker shouldn't have brought you into it. What was I supposed to do, sit there and let him insult you?"
"Yes!" Leonard yelled. "What do you think I am, a fucking damsel in distress? You don't need to rescue me, you arrogant jackass! Save your heroics for somebody else."
"Ow!" Jim hissed, flinching away from the antiseptic wipe that Leonard was touching to his cheekbone.
Leonard pressed down harder. "Serves you right. What the hell were you doing, throwing a punch because they were acting like assholes? You should be in pain."
"Your bedside manner sucks."
"Sue me. You choose me as your primary physician, remember?" He pressed a sterile bandage over a deep cut on his forearm that travelled from elbow to wrist. "Hold that. Don't you know to stay away from broken glass?"
"Stay away? He swiped at me with a broken beer bottle! That's a dangerous weapon!"
"So move out of range next time, genius," Leonard hissed, probing carefully at his cheekbone, ignoring Jim's grunt of pain. It was bruised and badly scraped, but thankfully not fractured. "That Finnegan's going to grind your ass into the pavement."
Jim's shoulders slumped. "Don't remind me, Bones. I'm going to spend the next two weeks walking the training fields half the night."
"What does that mean?"
He gave a bitter laugh. "Better not to know. You're safe from all that, with your luxury apartment and your VIP treatment. No dorm officer for you, and no disciplinary measures to correct your fucking attitude."
He examined Jim's knuckles, which were scraped raw and bleeding, and frowned.
"What's the matter, Bones? They're not broken." He made a fist. "Fuck, that burns."
"Lay your hand flat. They're not fractured, but I need to clean and seal the abrasions. I've got a portable dermal regenerator here, which should be enough for that."
"So what's the problem?"
Leonard sighed. "Jim, repairing that cut on your arm requires a local anesthetic. But you're allergic to the two drugs I've got in my kit. I don't even have an antibiotic cream that you can use, although that can wait until morning."
Jim waved his uninjured hand in dismissal, looking resigned. "Doesn't matter, Bones. Not your fault. Just patch me up however you can. I've got to get back to the dorm, it's almost one."
"I'm your doctor; I'll comm him with a medical excuse. Let's walk over to the clinic. It's only a few minutes from here, and it's got all the equipment that I need."
"No! I don't want to make things worse than they already are. Fix it here. It's nothing, Bones."
Leonard shook his head. "This isn't right. I don't care if he is your dorm dictator—"
"Dorm officer."
"Whatever. He's dangerous, and he's trying to provoke you, and you're an idiot if you can't see that! He's just looking for an excuse to exert his so-called authority, and you'd better stop stepping into every trap he lays."
"You don't understand, Bones," Jim said, shaking his head.
"Guess I don't," Leonard muttered. "For the last time, are you coming with me to the clinic or not?"
"Not. Go ahead and fix it without the anesthetic. Believe me," he said, eyes darkening, "I've had worse."
Leonard glanced down at his hand, remembering the broken metacarpals and phalanges he'd seen during Jim's exam, and wondered again where he'd acquired those injuries. He didn't ask; Jim clearly had enough to deal with at the moment, without delving into his past tonight.
"Hold still, then, Jim," he said, picking up the hand gently. The anger had dissipated, replaced by a growing concern. "I'll be as quick as I can."
