Worth The Pain

The Conversation between Jim and Bones ended up happening under less than ideal circumstances. While negotiating a treaty with a a prospective member of the Federation (they were called Lorps), half the away team was captured by rebels. Jim and his CMO were stunned and chained up in a dungeon deep in the rebel stronghold.

Bones was extremely worried for his friend, who had suffered multiple bloody lacerations on his back under the whips of the aliens. He also had a massive black eye and what the doctor suspected was a broken wrist.

Thankfully the Lorps, even rebellious ones, seemed to revere doctors, so Leonard was mostly unscathed. He hated not being able to help Jim, though, whose back was bleeding freely through his gold shirt. But they were chained to opposite walls, and he could not reach the captain, no matter what he did.

"Jim", he whispered, once they had the cell to themselves "How's the back? Looks like they worked you over good."

"Yep." Jim's voice was tight. "But if I stay still, it's tolerable. Your daughter's going to kill me for getting us into this."

He dropped his head into his hands.

Leonard sighed. "No, she is not. You needed a doctor in the landing party to get their respect. None of us could have known about the rebels. I warned Joanna about the dangers involved when I realized she's dead set on dating you."

Jim looked up, "You've made your opinion clear on that subject. And now that I think about it, I don't blame you. I'm trouble with a capital T. I'll be gray haired while she's in the prime of life, if I even live that long." He rattled his chains despondently. "I know I'm not good enough for her, Bones."

Leonard's heart squeezed at Jim's admission and he knew then that he couldn't resist anymore.

"Jim, I said some pretty harsh things to you that I know aren't true. It's a tough thing for a dad to realize his little girl is all grown up and in love. It means I'm going to have to let her fly away soon and it kind of hurts, proud as I am of her. You aren't nearly as much trouble as you used to be. In fact, I have to admit you've been pretty responsible this whole voyage. Jo seems to really have made an impact on you, unlike anyone you've been with before. And you have seen the fire in her eyes when she was telling me off for making you sad."

He chuckled. "Yep. Positively fierce. Would have made her grandma proud. She's into you, for sure. And I'm not looking forward to facing Carol, either. She goes all iceberg when I've ticked her off. But if you know the right things to say, she'll melt pretty fast." He grinned in a self-satisfied manner.

Jim smiled faintly, hope beginning to spread inside, despite the chains, throbbing back, and aching arm.

"Are you giving me permission, Bones?" he asked, looking at his friend earnestly.

"If you're willing to handle a long-distance relationship with a three year wait, Yes I am. Provided of course, we get out of here alive."

He clanked his shackles for emphasis.

Jim's bruised and bloody face broke into a genuine grin so wide, Leonard thought it would split in two.

"You better believe we will. Spock's looking for us and the other Lorps aren't too happy a doctor was kidnapped. They'll tear this planet apart to find us. I won't make you regret this, Bones."

Given the honest joy on his face, Bones was inclined to believe him.

It turned out Jim's prediction was correct. Five hours into their captivity, Spock, Cupcake, and Uhura arrived with a rescue team of friendly Lorp aliens. Jim and Leonard were released amid much apologies and beamed immediately back to the ship, because the Lorps would not interfere with a doctor's work and were content to finish the negotiating with Spock.

Jim spent the next few hours in sickbay getting his arm regenerated and his wounds tended to, which was by far the worst part. The cuts from the whips burned like fire when Bones cleaned them before he used the regenerator and Jim had to bite his lip to keep from yelping in pain. Finally, Bones released him to his quarters with orders to take the next day off.

He carefully laid down on his stomach and called Joanna. He hoped the good news of Bones' approval would soften the reality of what had happened to him.

"Hey, Jo", he greeted when her lovely face appeared on screen. Like her father, She wasn't fooled for a second.

"Now Jim, what did you get into this time? I see those bruises."

"Um..." Jim squirmed a bit before he admitted the truth.

"Basically we were captured by a group of rebel aliens that didn't want the treaty to go through, they whipped me until Bones shouted at them, then they chained us up in their dungeon until Spock rescued us."

"Are you okay?" Joanna asked scanning him through the screen.

"Yep. Bones took good care of me. But I'm gonna be sleeping on my stomach for a while." He grinned ruefully. "It would've been much worse if their culture didn't respect doctors to the point they threw down their nasty whips when Bones glared at them."

He shuddered, remembering the thwack, thwack, thwack as stroke after stroke fell and ripped his skin open. Joanna looked sick just imagining it.

"That's awful, Jim," she said in a tone of horror. "I wish I could be there to give you plenty of TLC. Stupid aliens. I hope Dad read them the riot act."

"Oh, you bet he did." Jim grinned. "They left us alone after he blasted them with his extensive vocabulary. They didn't understand a word of Standard, but the point got made."

"I imagine it did", Joanna laughed, "Dad's knowledge of expletives is extensive and thorough."

She went quiet for a minute and then asked almost hesitatingly, "Has he relented at all, concerning us?"

"Amazingly, Yes", Jim answered. "We had plenty of time to talk while imprisoned and he admitted his protective dad instincts caused an overreaction that he regrets. He thinks if we're really willing to wait so long for each other, he's willing to okay it." Relief and happiness flooded Joanna's eyes.

"That's wonderful, Jim. No more trying to hide this anymore. It's been hard to keep my feelings for you in a box."

He gave her a tender look that brought out her lovely blush. "I second that emotion, hon. The waiting won't be so hard now."

The conversation then turned to Joanna's day and the much brighter looking future for the two of them. Before they signed off, they shyly told each other for the first time those three little words they had not yet dared to express: "I Love You."