"It must be bad if you're calling me this early," Leonard mumbled into his phone.

"Don't take Joanna to school, just drop her off at the farm," Jim said, sounding more tired than he felt.

"What happened?" he asked, suddenly more alert.

"You know Elizabeth Dehner?"

"The school nurse?" Leonard asked. He met her once and found her to be pleasant despite the fact that she was clearly overworked.

"That's her. The principal found her body this morning in her office at the school. Safe to say, classes are cancelled for the day. They're coming up with something for tomorrow but I don't know what it is yet. The messages for the other parents are nice and diplomatic but I figured you'd want the truth."

"Damn," Leonard sighed. "You okay? You need anything?"

"Coffee or sleep. Neither of which I'll get any time soon. I'm still at the scene," she paused for a long moment. "Why Beth?" Leonard could hear the heartbreak in her voice.

"Is it the same as Janet?"

"More or less. Beth's in her clothes from Friday. I'm guessing he showed up before the building was closed for the weekend. Had her here for a whole day before he killed her."

"Then, I don't think it's about her. Like you said before, maybe it's about him," he said.

"Doesn't actually make me feel better. This guy apparently has a thing for blonde, blue eyed women, which means I fit the victimology… unless…" The idea that this guy could go after her actually scared the crap out of Leonard. She was all alone in that house and, given her schedule, she could be out there for days without anyone noticing. Well, almost anyone; he'd notice and so would her brother.

"Unless what?" Leonard sighed.

"Janet was a teacher and Beth was the school nurse," Jim paused. "Maybe he's looking for someone specific. Has to be. Thanks for the help, Bonesy. You're the best."

"No..." he said as the line went dead, "problem."

"How'd I know that you would still be here?" Leonard asked when he walked into Jim's office at just after eleven. His last patient was at ten and he didn't have another until two, so he decided to spend his lunch checking on Jim and found her right where he thought she'd be. "You're working nights, you should be at home and in bed."

"Too much to do," she said before pointing to his cup. "Is that coffee?"

"No, it's green tea. Here," he handed her the cup. "You should probably go home. You have to sleep at some point, Jim."

"I can just sleep in here," Jim said before taking a sip from his travel mug. Leonard was trying to cut back on coffee, that's the only reason he was drinking tea in the first place. Jim didn't seem to care. Caffeine is caffeine. "I've been looking though all the old records from the school."

"You think this guy was a student or a teacher?"

"Anything's possible. Spock is writing a program to help me narrow it down. Two schools within thirty-five minutes of each other is not a coincidence and given Jan and Beth's ages, that list isn't gonna be too long. Though it will include just about everyone I know."

"What's a Spock?"

Jim laughed, "I told you about my friend Spock. He teaches computer sciences up at U of I. He's named after some famous doctor or something like that. Miss Uhura's fiancé."

"I remember. I would like to meet the man who was lucky enough to land Miss Uhura," Leonard said. He was genuinely curious about the person his daughter's amazing teacher was going to marry.

"Then say hi," Jim smiled at something behind him. Leonard turned around and found himself looking up the other man. With straight black hair that was combed neatly out of his face and piercing dark brown eyes, Spock wasn't what he imagined based on the name and profession. He half expected a sweater vest and a pocket protector. "Doctor Leonard McCoy, this is Doctor Spock Grayson."

"Doctor," Spock nodded.

"Doctor," Leonard smiled as he offered his hand, the other man just raised an eyebrow. Jim snickered from her desk.

"You may call me Spock," the other man told him before walking over to Jim and handed her a USB. "I have altered the search perimeters that you gave me but the change was negligible."

"Every little bit helps," she nodded. "Anything I should know?"

"No. You are adept in your computer abilities. You will not find difficulty using the program. You may, however, find the results to be difficult as you are acquainted with a large percentage of people in the area," Spock said. Leonard raised an eyebrow but Jim shook her head.

"I know but it's a chance I gotta take. Thanks for helping with this," Jim smiled.

"Your thanks are unnecessary, Jim," Spock said. "Elizabeth and Janet did not deserve the fate that was ultimately bestowed upon them. I will do what is needed to help you find the person responsible."

"How's Ny?"

"She and Elizabeth were close. She does not exhibit any outward distress, however, her eyes... I see pain in them. I do not know how to fix it," Spock said.

"Just be there. Let her cry on you if she needs to," Jim smiled. "And let me know if you guys need anything."

"And you shall endeavor to do the same," Spock told her.

"I'm fine," she chuckled.

"You are not," both men said together.

"Okay. That's creepy as hell," she said. "Spock, go home and be with Ny."

"Of course, Jim. Doctor," the professor said before leaving the office.

"He's an odd duck. What's the deal?" Leonard asked.

"He's a genius with Asperger's," Jim sighed. "He's probably the smartest person I've ever met. He got his first doctorate before most people get their driver's licenses. He was working on some research in San Francisco when he met Ny out at UC Berkeley. When she decided to move here, he came with her. He takes some getting used to but nobody messes with him. Nyota's wrath isn't worth it."

"I'll bet," he chuckled.

"Can't really bother him when I'm around either, I've tazed people for less. Scotty's just as protective too. Oddly enough, they're really good friends."

"That's something I have to see." Scotty is crazy and messy. Spock seems too organized and proper to be friends with Scotty.

"You will. Gaila's birthday is next month. Arlene and Ny put something together."

"I wasn't invited," he told her.

"Uh, this is me inviting you. Just don't tell Gaila about it, supposed to be a surprise," Jim smiled, then yawned.

"I won't. You need to go home right now and get some sleep."

"You're worse than Sam."

"Don't make me call him and tell on you."

"You wouldn't," she said.

Leonard pulled his phone out of his pocket, "You sure about that?" Jim glared at him but she didn't say anything. "That's what I thought. You were supposed to be off almost six hours ago and you have to be back in six hours. Go home, get some sleep, take a shower, get something to eat and come back with your brain firing on all cylinders. Or, I will sedate you."

"You do know that I could just shoot you."

"Then you'd be stuck explaining to the sheriff why you shot Riverside's newest doctor and you'd have to do the paperwork," he pointed out.

"Might be worth it," Jim smiled.

"You wanna try your luck?" Leonard asked. She didn't say anything, she just glared at him. "Thought so. Go home."

"I hate you sometimes."

"No you don't. You think I'm awesome."

Leonard hadn't intended on going to Elizabeth Dehner's funeral, however, his daughter asked him to take her. When Thursday rolled around, he put on his suit and took his daughter to the church where, it turns out, the whole school and most of the town were. They signed the registry before Leonard looked around for a seat.

"You're with us, lad," Scotty said just as he grabbed Leonard's arm.

"Us?" the southerner looked at the crazy man.

"Me, Spock, Nyota, Gaila… a few other people. Come on," the Scot told him as he pulled Leonard -and Joanna- towards a pew. "Look who I found."

"Miss Uhura, I'm sorry about your friend," Joanna said before any of them could say anything. Then his little girl walked over and gave her teacher a big hug.

"Are you sure she's only eight?" came Jim's voice from behind him.

"I'm sure," he said, turning to look at her. "You okay?"

"That a real question?" she asked. Jim was investigating the murders of two people she knew. One was a friend and the other was a relative, both taking their toll on her.

"I suppose not," Leonard sighed. "You know that if you need anything…"

"The only thing I need is to catch this guy," she smiled.

"I'm sure that'll make us all happy," the Asian guy next to her said. Leonard raised an eyebrow.

"Doctor Leonard McCoy, Deputy Hikaru Sulu... err I guess should I say Sergeant Sulu now," Jim said, introducing the two men.

"Not yet," Sulu said. "Giotto has to retire first."

"Yea, I know. I'm the one who did the paperwork," she smiled.

"You're the one who was out of town?" Leonard asked. Jim had given him a list -all be it verbally- of every sworn officer in the sheriff's department and their handful of administrative personnel. Sulu was the only deputy Leonard hadn't met.

"Yep. Training in Virginia," Sulu nodded. "Came home to this mess."

"I would've gladly traded you, dude," Jim sighed. She was exhausted and Leonard knew it wasn't going to let up any time soon.

"You working today?" the southerner asked, his voice dropping to a whisper as Pastor Martin took his place at the pulpit.

"I'm on duty right now but Chris has me off tomorrow and the day after. Why?" she asked, leaning closer.

"I'll tell you later, just don't make any plans for tomorrow."

"You know, if I was a bad guy, I probably could've killed you by now," Leonard said from his spot laying on Jim's bed.

"If you weren't you, I would've shot you already," she mumbled. "There's a gun pointed at your head and you didn't know it." She pulled the weapon from under her pillow and sat it on the nightstand. "I heard your car when you drove up. Since you're the one always harping about my sleeping habits, this must be important. What do you want?"

"You to get up so we can leave," he told her.

"Leave?"

"We're going on a trip."

"Ha, that's funny." When he didn't say anything, she let out a groan. "Why?" Jim asked, her blue eyes opening as she did.

"Because you need a break and I figure the only way to get you one is to get you out of here. So, we're going for a drive. We'll do a bunch of random bullshit and come back tonight."

"This sounds like a trip you take your girlfriend on," she mumbled and pulled the pillow over her head. "Go get one of those and leave me alone."

"I don't have a girlfriend, I have you," Leonard said, pulling the pillow off her head and leaning closer to insure that she was listening. "You need to get away from this place. Who knows, maybe some clarity will help with your case. I learned in med school that sometimes your best course of action is to take a step back and reexamine. You aren't doing that. So, I've decided to make you."

"It's Friday. Don't you have a job and a daughter to worry about, why are you bothering me?" Jim pouted.

"Boyce and M'Benga have the office handled and your brother has Jo covered. You're stuck with me. Now, stop pouting and get up," he told her.

"I really hate you sometimes. I thought you were a doctor, not a travel agent," she grumbled as she tossed the blankets off and got out of the bed. He smiled and she just looked at him. "And now I sound like you. Great."

"Do I really do that scowl thing you just did?"

"All the fuckin' time."

"Huh, that is scary," Leonard smiled.

"I should've shot you. I still might," Jim chuckled.

"No you won't. Get a move on, I made coffee and I doubt you want to drink it cold."

"You're a pain in the ass, Bones, you know that?"

"Takes one to know one, darlin'."