"A warning to the people,

The good and the evil,

This is war.

To the soldier, the civilian,

The martyr, the victim,

This is war."

Bones

The first sight Bones saw when he woke up was Jim Kirk. He wasn't about to complain about that, but he could complain about the fact that Jim Kirk was asleep. Jim's feet were on the empty space on the side of Bones' bed. He was leaning back into one of the med bay chairs, arms loosely crossed over his chest. Given the state of him, Bones wasn't sure how he had managed to get the nurses to let him leave whatever bed he had been in. He was healing, sure, he looked better than he had, but he still looked like hell. Bones wouldn't be surprised if Jim wasn't actually supposed to be over here, but there was the fact that Jim probably still couldn't walk on his own because of his knees. Jim's knees were tightly wrapped in bandages, but he could still see the edges of the dark bruising peeking out from under the bandages. He would be pissed at whoever let him get up, but he knew Jim better than that, and knew that it was more than likely helping him or letting him fall flat on his face. He would much rather not have the latter happen, so maybe it was a good thing Jim had ended up over here.

He had no intention of waking the Captain up, he had no idea how long it had been since Jim had gotten real sleep, but he did on accident. He tried to shift to ease what felt like pressure on his stomach, and nudged Jim's foot in the process. Jim's head flew up from the back of the chair, his eyes wide. There was a brief moment of panic in his eyes, and Bones had to wonder if Jim thought for that brief moment that they were still with the Klingons. But the panic faded to utter relief as he looked down to Bones. "Hey, you're awake!" Jim's voice was coming back, but was still on the scratchy side of things. Even still, he sounded like a child that had just been led into a candy store. "You should be in bed," Bones grumbled.

"Seriously, Bones? I haven't been able to talk to you for nearly two days and that's the first thing you say to me? Such an ass." Jim grinned despite himself, a genuine grin that Bones hadn't seen since they were exploring the planet before shit hit the fan. Had he really been out for two days? Why in the hell-... His last few moments of consciousness hit him like a frieght train. He hadn't even realized what was happening, not at first. Just confusion at watching Spock's face seem to drop as he looked at him. Then he looked down and there it was… Everything started to blur after that point.

"Bones? Bones, hey!" Jim was snapping in front of his face, trying to get his attention. Bones met his gaze, and saw the concern in his eyes. He must have zoned out. "Bones, are you okay?" Bones nodded in response, grabbing onto Jim's wrist and pulling himself up to sit. It hurt like hell, but laying down wasn't all that comfortable either. Besides, if the nurses were letting Jim get out of bed, he could sit up, damn it. He let go of Jim's wrist and swatted his hand away. "Get your hand out of my face," he grumbled.

"Hey, it came in… handy didn't it?" Jim grinned again, and Bones rolled his eyes. Typical Jim acting like they hadn't just been tortured for… how long had they even been in there? He looked at Jim. "How long were we there, Jim?" Jim's face fell, and he leaned into the chair again. "Do we have to talk about this now?"

"You and I both know we'll have to at some point."

"That's at some point, Bones, not now."

They stared at each other for a long moment, seemingly arguing silently. Jim sighed and gave in. "Eighteen hours. Roughly. I asked Spock earlier."

"So the pointy eared bastard has been here."

"Yeah, he's been here. A lot of people have. Mostly Spock and Sulu. Scotty and Chekov are a close second, though. Uhura left right before you woke up."

"What else has the hobgoblin said?"

"Not much. He doesn't seem to talk about it either."

It was then that Bones realized that what had happened had affected everyone on the ship, not just he and Jim. They were stuck on the ship until they could figure out what was going on, probably not even knowing if they were alive. It had been bad enough for Bones not knowing what was going on with Jim, but the crew had to worry about both of them. The crew of the Enterprise was a close one, and Bones knew that this probably weighed on all of them. For whatever reason, this knowledge only put more weight on Bones' shoulders.

"Bones, are you sure you're okay?" he could feel Jim's eyes on him, but couldn't look up to meet them. The back of his throat burned. He felt Jim's hand settle on his arm. Bones blinked hard, trying to push back the pressure behind his eyes. Not now, damn it he thought. Crying in front of Jim would be bad enough, let alone falling apart in front of his medical staff. He was fine now, he was on the Enterprise, he had Jim. They were fine. He just had to calm the hell down. He took in a deep breath and blinked hard one last time before looking up to meet Jim's gaze. "I'm fine," he said, sounding more confident than he felt. He could tell Jim didn't believe him, but he nodded and pulled his hand from Bones' arm anyway. Bones watched as he did so, and noticed something he hadn't before.

"Jim, what the hell happened to your hand?"

Jim's hand, the one that hadn't just been pulled from Bones' arm, was wrapped tightly. Two of his fingers were wrapped just as well, and Bones could tell they were splinted inside the wrapping. He vaguely remembered Jim having a bloody hand, but he didn't know why or how it had happened. Jim looked down at his hand, seemingly examining it himself. He looked back to Bones with a wry smile. "That is another story for another time."

….

Spock

Spock should have been reboarding the Enterprise, but found himself wandering around Yorktown instead. He had just finished a meeting with the Federation officials who were actually in Yorktown. He was hoping they would give Jim and Doctor McCoy time to heal before they presented what they had been through to Starfleet, but apparently the officials didn't see it that way. They wanted the Enterprise to return to Earth as soon as possible, and for Doctor McCoy and Jim to report to Starfleet headquarters. There was a high risk for war with the Klingons, Spock knew that. But Jim and Doctor McCoy deserved more than a couple of days. Jim couldn't even walk on his own, and Spock didn't know whether or not Doctor McCoy was even awake. Jim had had a little time to process things, but Doctor McCoy would have next to none. They were being forced to process what had happened in front of who knew how many strangers. It just didn't seem right. This was only made worse by the fact that Spock most likely wouldn't be allowed to attend. He couldn't even be there for his friends. It was, as McCoy would say; horse shit.

Kirk

Jim and Bones had resorted to something close to silence. If anything was said, it was usually Bones complaining about the fact that Jim was being allowed to have coffee and all he could have was water and crackers. They didn't really need to talk, they were sitting next to each other and that was enough. Jim let his coffee cup warm his hand, watching Bones push his straw around in his water. Jim had admittedly been on the lonely side without Bones the past couple days. Several members of the crew had visited several times (Spock held the record at seven, Sulu wasn't far behind at six), but Jim couldn't help but feel alone. The crew couldn't really understand what had happened, and Bones could. Not to mention that Bones was the one who knew Jim best. Spock wasn't far behind him, granted, but Bones was Bones. Bones was the best friend Jim had ever had. Their…. adventure…. had made him realize how much he really didn't want to be without Bones. Even it was only for a couple days.

Bones was opening his mouth to say something when Jim heard Spock's footsteps behind him. He stopped at Jim's side, and Jim looked up to him. "Hey, Spock."

"Captain. Doctor McCoy, I'm pleased to see you're awake."

Bones nodded, watching Spock, still pushing around his straw. "Thanks, hobgoblin."

"I still do not understand why-"

Jim held his hand up. "Just forget it, Spock. Anything new?" Jim saw Spock shift on his feet. Jim sent a quick glance at Bones, who seemed to have caught it as well, and was looking at Jim slightly uneasily. "What, Spock?" Jim asked, looking back to him." Spock took a deep breath before beginning. "Captain, we're returning to Earth."

"What?! Why?! That'll put us behind even more on the mission!"

"I am well aware, Captain. But the Federation officials think it would be best for us to return to Earth and for you and Doctor McCoy to report to Starfleet headquarters."

"Report to headquarters for what?"

"So that you and Doctor McCoy can present your case, and give them the opportunity to decide if it is worthy to declare war on the Klingons."

Jim's stomach flipped, and he looked to Bones. Bones didn't even look at him, instead staring down into his glass of water. A war with the Klingons over them? What they had experienced was a living hell, but they were two people. A war would mean the lives of thousands. Jim didn't want that, not over he and Bones. And they were alive weren't they? A couple weeks, they would be basically back to normal. And besides, hadn't his crew killed some of the Klingons that were their captors? Why weren't the Klingons declaring war on them? The crew of the Enterprise had killed Klingon officers. Jim and Bones had lived. The Klingons that were dead were rightfully such, but that didn't mean the Klingons saw it that way. They may celebrate death in battle, but Jim wasn't sure how they would take somewhere close to a dozen of their officers being killed.

"I tried to convince them otherwise, but they see this plan as best. I am sorry, Jim, Leonard." Spock continued, his hands folded behind his back. Only then did Bones glance up, only briefly, and nodded. "Thanks for trying, Spock."

A/N: I am so sorry for the wait! I got stuck with writer's block about half way through this chapter, not to mention a lot going on with my marching band this week. The next chapter should be up must faster. If not, I apologize in advance. I love hearing from you guys, so remember to leave a review or favorite/follow! Thanks again for all the love 3