Bones sighed. Again.

It had been a tense few weeks aboard the Enterprise. The entire bridge crew tiptoed between Jim and Bones. The medical bay crew quickly rallied around their newest nurse, Jo, and shot the captain looks that said they knew everything. Jim did his best to ignore the hostility, but the whole mess left an ache in his chest.

Jim turned in his chair and extended his hands. "Okay, Bones. You have the floor. I heard you the first time but I guess you're going to keep dramatically sighing until someone asks what's wrong?" He pressed his fingertips together. "I'm all ears."

"Why's my daughter in such a huff?" Bones crossed his arms, planted on his usual haunt on the bridge. His normal glare had a different flavor. "I feel like it has something to do with you. She ain't never that fit to be tied."

"What's that even mean? No," Jim rolled his eyes. "You know what, I don't want to know." He pressed his knuckles into his eyes. "Just say it, Bones. Say it and get it over with. I can't handle this for much longer." He ran a hand through his hair. It was true. Bones was never warm and cuddly, but his utter iciness had truly terrified him. Spock was a friend, of course, but being half Vulcan had its limitations on a human friendship. When Spock got to him, there had always been Bones and Bones hadn't been there.

"I told you to stay away from my daughter, Jim." His voice wasn't much more than a vicious snarl. "This is going to be a long three years if you keep-"

"I am! I did!"

Bones raised an eyebrow. "Then why's she cussin' your name up and down? Nothing ruffles her feathers. Why're you so different?"

"I blew her off because you told me to!" He threw his hands up. "I can't win here, Bones. If I have to go three years with a McCoy mad at me, I'm gonna shoot myself into space. It'd be a more peaceful death than the one you'll give me here, I'm sure. Or Jo."

"You blew her off." Bones pursed his lips and glared. "My little girl."

Jim nodded eagerly. "Yeah, Bones. You told me to." By now he was aware that everyone on the bridge was listening to the confrontation. "Let's take a walk, hmm? Mr. Sulu, you have command."

"Aye, sir." Sulu slid into the captain seat, face as indifferent as always. Jim was glad for that. The rest of the crew could be neck deep in drama, but Mr. Sulu would be easily floating atop, utterly unaffected.

Jim and Bones walked nowhere in particular in silence, each man sullenly staring down at the ground. Their relationship, work and personal, had always been functional with a dash of unhealthiness, but it was how they operated and it worked. One shore leave threatened to unravel all of their history, shared trauma, missions, everything. All those nights drinking to forget, or celebrate. Every heartfelt word. Every hilarious prank. Well, Jim thought they were hilarious. Bones? Not so much.

"Listen," Jim sighed. "If I would have known she was your daughter I would have stayed away. Far away. You know that. I wouldn't risk the good thing we've got going on here."

Bones huffed in return.

"What's that? What's that mean?" Jim snapped. "You've gotta talk to me. You have to tell me what you want. I haven't seen her. I haven't talked to her."

With another heavy, irritated sigh, Bones stopped and finally looked up at him. "I don't like it. I don't like any guy my daughter hangs around. I don't like that we're all stuck together. I don't like that she's not my little girl anymore. I don't like that she's on this bucket of nails hurtling through space. She was doing fine. I didn't even know she applied for StarFleet until Dr. Greenberg handed me the new recruits." He pursed his lips and stared at Jim with the same expression he saved for very serious contemplative moments. "I don't like it, Jim."

Jim nodded. "I get it. I mean, I don't have kids so I only get it so far, but I get it." He reached out and clapped Bones on the shoulder. "You can rest easy. I can't take it back, but I can tell you I won't be seeing Jo again. Time heals all wounds, right, Doc?"

Bones nodded. "Right." He took a deep breath and offered another intense glare. This one was slightly less gruff than the daggers he'd been shooting Jim the past month. "Sorry," he grumbled before heading back toward the med bay. He paused and looked back after a few paces. "Meet me for dinner. Seven."

And just like that, things seemed to be going back to normal.

But really, they hadn't. Starving, Jim rolled into the cafeteria after his shift and settled at his usual table. He considered starting to eat without Bones, but didn't want to push his luck. Instead, he scanned the empty caf. There was never a time when there wasn't someone there, getting off of a shift or popping in for a snack, but the early evening after the dinner rush was usually pretty dead.

A nurse entered, blue uniform catching the corner of his eye. Jim paid little attention until the blue drew nearer and addressed him.

"Look who it is," a southern drawl purred.

Jim blinked. "Jo. I'm meeting Bones here. You might want to-"

"I'm supposed to be meeting him here." She raised an eyebrow and plopped down into the chair opposite the captain. "Daddy done set us up."

"No." Jim looked around. "No, no. He doesn't get to do this. First he said to leave you alone and now he's sending us on a blind date? No, no, no." His communicator was out before he'd even finished speaking. "Bones," he barked. "Bones, you talk to me right now."

"It's rude to be on your comm during a date," Bones replied sharply. "Don't you disrespect her, Jim, I-"

Jim flipped the comm off and pursed his lips. "Okay. This is weird, right? Super weird."

Chuckling, Jo shook her head. "Typical Daddy." Then she paused thoughtfully. "I'm thinking I replicate myself something spicy. You like Tex Mex, Iowa?" She rose from the table and headed for the machine.

"Iowa?" Jim chuckled. "That's Captain."

Jo shot him a look over her shoulder that indicated it was certainly not Captain.

"Iowa it is," he muttered, suddenly aware he was very much in over his head. Two McCoys on the Enterprise? He was doomed.