AN: this chapter is for Olivia028. Her review gave me the idea of how to bring them a little bit closer. I hope it's ok and please, please review! I live for them and they help me get ideas and keep me going! I want to say thank you to everyone who is reviewing, favoriting and/or following this story. It's a lot if fun to write!

Tishbing

Chapter Eleven

Jim felt the grip of the older woman's arm around her. It was soft and gentle but completely unbreakable. She'd never progressed to meeting the parents in any of her 'relationships' so this was new territory for her. She threw McCoy a look before she was steered into the house.

Her first impression was that this house must have not been changed or altered in over three hundred years. To her left, she saw a formal sitting room. On her right was a dining room with a long oak table that spoke of family meals and large reunions. The stairs leading to the second floor were right in the front but Eleanora led her past those rooms and into the kitchen at the back. Jim saw gleaming kitchen counters and rosy copper pots, sunny yellow walls with blue checkered curtains over the windows.

Eleanora pressed Jim to a small scrubbed wooden table and it was when Ella deftly plucked her arms that she noticed the highchair next to her. They had clearly been eagerly preparing for their visit. Eleanora was practically glowing as she held the baby. Ella, on the other hand, looked unsure at her change of venue. Her little face was screwed up in puzzlement over the woman currently doting on her. She was able to multitask and with one hand grabbed a coffee cup while balancing Ella on a hip.

Jim gratefully accepted the mug, letting it warm her hands as the older woman sat across from her.

"So...how did you meet my Leonard?"

And so it begins. Jim thought dismally. This was exactly why she'd never had a meet the parents moment. They tended to see her as a bad influence for their precious children.

"Uh..." She shifted in her seat and looked out to the front, hoping for divine intervention but no luck.

"We met when I was on vacation." She sipped her coffee to give herself a moment but the woman in front of her waited patiently for her to finish.

"It was a summer fling." She added, unsure of what else to say.

"Leonard doesn't typically do casual. It takes a special kind of woman to get him out of his shell." Eleanora stated matter-of-factly.

Jim didn't know if that was a compliment or not so she opted to wait and see. Eleanora took a deep breath and continued speaking.

"When Leonard went on that trip, he was a broken man. The loss of Joanna caused him to fall into a self-destructive pattern but when he came back..." She looked at Jim with an intense gaze that caused her to feel the need to squirm. "It was like something had shifted. He was different...seemed more at peace with himself. That was when he started thinking about making drastic changes in his life. He wanted to do more and see more than what Georgia had to offer."

Eleanora smiled at Jim, a warm affectionate look.

"I think it was you. Something about you made him want to live again."

Jim cleared her throat and shifted in her seat, giving the older woman a nervous smile.

"I'm sure he just needed time."

"Perhaps."

Jim was spared any further conversation by the arrival of Bones, his sister and her husband. McCoy took his position behind her and the intention was clear. Eleanora quickly stopped talking and focused on the baby. Ella was basking in the attention, her pudgy hands grabbing at everything and she was babbling away.

Donna was smiling and she turned to Jim and Leonard.

"She is so cute! She has your eyes, Jim!" Donna exclaimed.

Eleanora laughed.

"She looks just like Leonard did when he was a baby." She said fondly. Then she gasped and quickly passed Ella to Fred, putting her hands up in excitement.

"Oh my! I just thought! I can show you! I have the holos. I'll be right back! Don't you move."

Jim laughed at Bones' horror-struck face as he rushed after his mother with a strangled "Mom!".

It was a fun night, much to McCoy's chagrin. Apparently, momma McCoy had an impressive array of photographs that included everything from bare-assed baby pictures to his graduation from medical school at the University of Mississippi. It was creeping up on midnight and Jim was yawning behind her hand but it didn't go unnoticed. She could see that Bones had been looking for an excuse to get away and Jim had just provided it.

"Momma, Jim's about to pass out. I think it's time for everyone to go to bed."

He was still red-faced from the last round of photos but she could see the pleading look he was shooting her from behind his mom's back. She briefly considered torturing him a little longer via Eleanora and Donna but she took pity on him and nodded. Ella had fallen asleep in Jim's lap so she shifted the weight and carefully picked her up, following Leonard into the hall after wishing everyone a good night.

He led her upstairs and showed her to the guest room. It had an old-fashioned queen-sized oak bed with a pale blue spread and patchwork quilt on the end. There was a matching vanity across from the bed and a crib pushed to the wall nearby. Jim carefully laid Ella down and kissed the top of her head, covering her with the blanket.

She could feel the sensation of being watched and as she turned around McCoy was looking away with a red flush on his neck.

"Uh...I'm sorry about that." He started rubbing the back of his neck and wouldn't meet her eyes. She could see he was nervous.

"It's alright. Mom's are always like that." She mumbled.

McCoy's head snapped up, a frown on his features.

"Is yours?"

Now that was a pile of awkward.

"I wouldn't know. I...uh...haven't seen her in a long time."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

McCoy looked like he wanted to say more but changed his mind. Maybe he sensed it was a difficult subject and she was grateful for his discretion. Winona was a pretty sore subject for her and she didn't particularly want to open that can of worms right now.

"Well, I'm across the hall if you need anything and the bathroom's right next to you."

She nodded her thanks and waited while he said his good nights to Ella. Once he'd gone, Jim let out the breath she'd been holding and fell back onto the bed in a heap. Leonard's family was so sweet and welcoming. It was something she wasn't used to. She was glad that Ella was being accepted into the fold. Jim had been afraid that there would be issues because of the pain from the loss of Joanna but they had accepted Ella and to some extent, Jim.

She quickly got ready for bed but again, found it difficult to sleep. She'd never done well in strange places and tossed and turned. It was about 5am before Jim gave up with a huff and got ready for the day. It was still dark out and even though she was bone-tired, her mind was going a thousand miles an hour trying to process everything.

Ella was still out like a light and so Jim crept downstairs, her hair pulled back in a ponytail and wearing her academy sweats and a t-shirt. She didn't expect to see anyone up this early and was surprised by Mrs. McCoy already hard at work in the kitchen.

"Well. Aren't you an early riser? I didn't expect to see you until about noon considering how late I kept you."

Jim shrugged and stifled a yawn as Eleanora passed a mug to her and pointed to the coffee maker. Jim poured herself a cup and sat at the table trying to stay awake when a bowl appeared in front of her and Eleanora sat down and started shelling peas.

"Didn't sleep too well?" She asked.

Jim looked up.

"Yeah. I don't do well in new places."

"Mmhmm." She leaned back and eyed her skeptically. The look was very reminiscent of Bones and it brought a smile to her face.

"Well, it was part of the reason. I just had a lot to think about." Jim insisted but then a devious grin slid across her face. "Like how to get tips on making Bones turn that same shade of red again." She raised her mug in a salute. "That was impressive."

Eleanora chuckled.

"Years of practice." She informed Jim but she quickly turned serious.

"Why d'you call Leonard Bones?"

Jim grabbed a handful of the greens and started helping out.

"Because of him being a doctor. You know. Like a sawbones. I just figured it was fun." She shrugged her shoulders. "What made him want to become a doctor?" Jim asked while she worked.

The older woman sat back in her chair, a sigh leaving her lips and she frowned as she thought about the question and how best to answer it.

"I suppose it was his daddy. David McCoy was a doctor, too. Leonard saw what his father did and he wanted to do it, too." She smiled in memory. "He was always such a gentle, caring child. He would just love to play doctor."

She laughed over her next words. "His little sister and the animals never went a day without being covered in bandages from his ministrations. He loved taking care of people."

Jim shook her head at the thought of a tiny Bones chasing behind a dog covered in bandages. The mental image was adorable and probably pretty accurate thanks to the photo show from last night.

"So he's always been a mother hen?" She asked with a wry glance.

"Only with those he cares about." Eleanora answered with a pointed glance at Jim.

Leonard McCoy woke up around 0800 in the morning, dragging his feet toward the kitchen. The smells in the air caused his mouth to water. His mom was at the stove stirring a large pot and every surface was covered with something. He saw that Ella was at her highchair watching the goings-on while Fred was reading a PADD with the news and Donna feeding the baby. He noticed that Jim was absent and opened his mouth to ask when his mother answered him.

"She went for a run. She'll be back in a bit." Eleanora McCoy turned around from her cooking, the wooden spoon tight in her grip.

"She's a nice girl. I can see why you're friends." He could hear the judgmental tone on the word 'friends' and he rolled his eyes at her insinuation.

"Mom. She's not interested in much more than friendship right now. Jim's...different."

Raised eyebrows and a skeptical look followed his minimal answer before she turned back to her cooking. He should have known better. His mother was smart as a whip but as interfering as hell. She went by the motto of mother knows best and he knew better than to try and argue with her logic even though he didn't always agree with her. Jim wasn't interested in him that way. She'd drawn the line at friendship. She'd already started dating and it wasn't with him even though he wouldn't have minded if she asked.

Jim sat at the middle of the table and was enjoying the lull of conversation feeling comfortably full when she started feeling a slight tickle in the back of her throat. She sipped her iced tea and tried to ignore the irritating sensation when her abdomen started to itch. She carefully avoided Bones' frequent looks and scratched at her stomach but the sensation started to migrate to her arms and a tight feeling in her chest made her become suspicious. She leaned over to Eleanora and asked her.

"Mrs. McCoy?"

She looked up from her task of collecting the plates and Jim noticed Bones watching her with a frown. She decided to switch tactics and picked up the plates and stood.

"Here, let me help."

Once they were in the kitchen, Jim was almost shaking with the urge to scratch. She forced a smile and hoped it didn't look like she was insane.

"Mrs. McCoy, that was wonderful. I was wondering what your recipe was."

She looked surprised at Jim's question and proceeded to list her ingredients. When she got to the sweet potato dish, Jim almost cursed out loud.

"That's what it was. I never thought to use peanut butter. I'll be right back."

She burst from the room past a stunned Bones who had to press himself to the wall for her to run past. She went up to her room and dumped out her purse, scrambling through the contents. She hadn't needed her epi-hypo for over ten years. She hoped she had packed it. The tight feeling in her chest was getting worse. Her hands skimmed over the junk and she started feeling a small sense of panic when her fingers finally closed on the small shot. She quickly lowered her jeans and stabbed her thigh.

It was a good couple of minutes before she felt any relief. Her chest still felt tight, like a band was wrapped tight around it and as she lifted up her sweater, she saw a collection of hives covering her skin. If it didn't go down soon, she'd have no choice but to ask for help. She scratched at her arms and waited.

Leonard McCoy was enjoying listening to his sister talking about the colony on Alpha Centuri IV. Her and Fred were thinking about moving there for a year or so for her to complete her masters in Art. She was excitedly chattering away about the holographic art displays when he noticed Jim wasn't paying attention. She seemed to be fidgeting in her seat and her face was slightly flushed. She was rubbing at her arms as if she was cold. She caught his eye and he was about to say something when she bounced up and left to help his mom with the plates and dishes. A knot of worry started to curl in his chest.

He gave it a good ten minutes before he headed back to see if everything was alright when he was nearly mowed down by her as she left the kitchen. Well, that was weird. He walked he rest of the way in to see his mother watching the door Jim had rushed through with a frown on her face.

"What was that all about?" He asked.

Eleanora McCoy shook her head in puzzlement.

"I don't know. We were just talking about the recipes I used when she darted out of here like the devil himself was on her tail. I think something's wrong."

McCoy started piecing together her puzzling behavior. He started to move to the door when her voice called out to him, causing him to pause.

"I think you should check on her, Leonard. She's a sweet girl and if something was the matter, she might be thinking she's being a bother or something ridiculous like that."

"Oh, I intend to, momma."

He made his way up the stairs and to Jim's door which was shut. His ears could make out the sounds of a quiet wheezing and and a few coughs. He rapped his knuckles on the door only to be ignored. He waited a minute and knocked at the door again.

"Yes?"

The voice was scratchy and hoarse and that was the final piece.

"Jim? Let me in. Are you alright?"

He heard a muffled curse.

"I'll be down in a minute, Bones. I'm fine."

The hell you are. His mind supplied.

"Jim, just open the door."

Silence.

"If you don't open this door, I'm gonna assume you can't and open it myself."

He knew she was thinking by the stillness in the room. He gave it another minute before he let himself in. She was facing away from him and cramming things back into her purse when he spotted the hypo. Before she could grab it, he plucked it from the bed.

He held it up to the light and he knew what it was. His gaze turned to Jim who was deliberately avoiding him. He looked closer and could see blotches of color on her neck, her face was flushed and he could see the beginnings of swelling. Already one eye was swelling shut. He could hear her breathing was labored. His hand snaked out and lifted the hem of her sweater and he saw the angry red hives before Jim batted his hands away with a glare.

It wasn't very effective considering only one eye was now visible and so he glared right back. He held up the epi-hypo.

"Jim, why didn't you say something?"

At least she had the presence of mind to look embarrassed.

"I thought I could handle it myself. I didn't want to take you away from your family. I didn't know there were peanuts in the dishes." She croaked.

McCoy rolled his eyes. Of all the ridiculous things she could have said! Didn't she realize how important she was to people? To him and Ella?

He pulled her across the hall to his room and sat her on his bed while he rummaged through his suitcase. He was glad he was such a paranoid bastard when he pulled out his medical kit. His was stocked with more than the minimum emergency supplies and he pulled out a hypo and loaded the cartridge. He deftly injected it's contents into her carotid artery and pulled out his tricorder, waving the wand over her form.

"Paranoid much? Do you always carry a medkit with you?"

He ignored her jibes and focused on the task at hand.

"Jim. That shot of yours was a pediatric dose. When was the last time you got a replacement?"

"About ten years ago. I haven't needed it in a long time."

Her heart rate started to climb and the reaction started to slow slightly.

"Epinephrine is the first line of treatment. It slows the anaphylaxis to allow you time to get to a doctor. You need further treatment."

He let that sink in. She was slowly stabilized enough for him to let his mom know what was happening.

"Jim, I'll be right back but I want you to get into shorts and a t-shirt so I can see the extent of your reaction and so I can finish treating you. Can you do that?"

She nodded, not meeting his eyes and he felt bad. He put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed before hurrying downstairs to a very worried Mrs. McCoy. His face was grim with his own worry.

"Is she alright? What's wrong?" She asked rapidly.

He waved her down and took a deep breath.

"She'll be alright, eventually. She had an allergic reaction to something she ate but she'll need to be monitored just to be safe."

She nodded her understanding and glanced to the dining room where Fred and Donna were watching the proceeding with curious looks. She turned back to her son and smiled, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"You look after her, alright? We'll watch the baby tonight."

That's what he needed to hear. He muttered his thanks and good nights and made his way back upstairs. Once in his room, he pulled out the various hypos that he'd need and laid them out along his bed along with a biosensor that was programmed to alert his tricorder of her readings. He set up the respirator mask and added the beta-agonist to the mask. He also had the hydrocortisone dermagel ready by the time Jim came back from the restroom.

Her swelling had increased again and he quickly pulled her to his bed. She was wearing the tiny cami and shorts he had seen her in the morning that they had left the academy. Her chest was a mishmash of hives and angry red blotches that went up her neck. Her arms and legs were quickly becoming covered and he knew he had to speed it up.

"Ok, Jim. I'm going to have to give you a few shots. Normally they're introduced via IV but I don't have that. It's probably going to make you sleepy."

He quickly started injecting his stores of antihistamines, cortisol and anxiolytics along with a light sedative. He wanted to minimize her scratching at the rash and control her body's sympathetic reactions, keeping her heart rate steady. He placed the mask over her face and turned it on. The smoky gas started to flow and he nodded his pleasure that so far everything was working. He carefully placed the small biosensor strip on her forehead and saw her breathing stabilize, her heart rate and blood pressure steady and the level of inflammation stopped rising.

He started manipulating her limbs to apply the dermagel when he saw her start to pull at the mask.

"Jim. Stop that." He admonished and he heard a muffled I hate doctors while he carefully started to rub the cream into her skin. He laughed a small laugh at her impertinence and moved up her body.

Once he got to her back, he moved to sit behind her, his legs on either side of her and she tried to pull away but a firm hand on her shoulder stopped her. He gently pulled up her shirt. With the bright red of the hives, it provided a sharp contrast to the white crisscross pattern of scars on her back. She tensed as he ran his hands over them.

"What are these from, Jim? You never told me."

He felt her start to relax under his hands and a sigh of relief from the gel and most likely the medications poured out of her. She leaned back, her eyes now no longer swollen were half-lidded.

"Made example 'f me. Some 'r from Frank and some 'r from Kodos and his men."

A sharp intake of air from him and he stopped what he was doing. The implications of her statement made a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Frank didn' like it when I fought back and with Kodos..." Her eyes started drifting shut. "...I wouldn't tell him where my kids were. I never told him no matter what he did. They all tried to break me but I never let 'em."

His hands were shaking at the thought of what her words meant. He knew that something bad had happened but hearing her say it made it all the more real. Kodos meant Tarsus and the thought of her being tortured and who knows what else made his stomach churn. She had to have been only thirteen. And he thought back to the limited information on her chart. The broken bones, contusions, concussions and various hospitalizations from five to eleven. That explained this Frank. Where was her mother during all of this? To have left a little girl to suffer for most of her life when she should have been protected is unimaginable. It was then that he understood why Jim pulled away from him. She'd never had anyone be there for her and the few people that did turned around and either left her or betrayed her in some of the worst ways possible.

"'m tired, Bones." She slurred.

He patted her shoulders and tried to moved out from his position behind her where she was laying against his chest in between his legs but her hand flailed up in a drunken motion and landed on his. He felt his heart break at the gesture.

"Don' go. I like it here. I like hearin' your heartbeat. It's good."

He smiled and kissed the top of her blond head. She sighed into it and nestled onto his chest, settling when she felt his arms wrap around her.

"It's ok, Jim. I'm not going anywhere."

He had just started to doze when he heard a gentle knock on his door. He looked up to see his mom hesitantly enter and smile warmly at the two of them wrapped up together.

"Just checking to make sure everyone's alright." She whispered.

She came over and sat on the edge of the bed, her eyes on Jim's sleeping form, Jim's hand gently fisted in his shirt. McCoy blushed at his mother's knowing look.

"She's fine. I was...uh...just getting up. I'll move to the couch."

He carefully tried extricate himself from Jim but the moment she felt him moving she started to whimper and grip him harder causing Eleanora to chuckle.

"Oh, Leonard. You always were so clueless."

Eleanora stood up and patted his hand.

"I don't think you're going anywhere. I'll see you in the morning."

Jim woke up to sunlight streaming in her face and a warm body surrounding her. She could hear a thumping noise under her head and feel warm breath tickling the back of her neck. She had a crick in her neck from the awkward position and looked up to see Bones. His arms were wrapped gently around her and he was in a slight sitting position with his head slumped forward with her in between his legs. At her movement she felt his hips jerk forward and small moan escaped his lips as he tightened his grip on her. She immediately felt heat flood her cheeks when she realized that he was hard under her and then the alarms started beeping from the tricorder next to her.

McCoy jerked awake and Jim flung herself off him. Her face was still flushed when he grabbed his instruments and started scanning her, a panicked look on his face.

"Jim? Are you alright? Your heart rate is elevated and you seem to be running a slight fever."

He placed a hand on her forehead and she tried to shrug it off.

"I'm fine. Just a little embarrassed." She mumbled.

"Oh."

He closed his tricorder with a look of understanding. He probably thought she meant last night. Truth be told, she didn't really remember anything after his barrage of hypos. She let him go with that as an explanation.

"Oh, Jim. You have nothing to be embarrassed about." He pulled the adhesive biosensor off her forehead and put it in the case next to his tricorder.

He sighed deeply and reached out to hold her hand. She let him, feeling her small hand in his strong grip.

"Someday you're gonna realize that I'm not goin' anywhere. I'll be there for you to help you and support you in whatever way you need."

She smiled and squeezed back.

"Thanks."

The rest of the holiday weekend passed in a blur. Jim really enjoyed the feeling of family apart from Mrs. McCoy's continuous knowing glances and not so subtle hints. Thankfully, Bones intercepted a lot of them and together they laughed them off with good humor but she noticed that he had a tight expression with each subsequent instance. The offer of spending the Christmas holidays had Jim tempted but again Bones stepped on that one with a polite 'we'll have to see.'. She decided to not touch that one with a ten foot pole and settled for a hug from each of them at the shuttle pad.

"Now I want lots of pictures of that baby! And I'll be checking in with both of you on a regular basis!"

McCoy's face was a brilliant shade of scarlet at his mother's statements. Jim moved away to give him a little privacy when he was roped into a hug by Donna. Fred standing next to her smiling brightly.

"Jim, I'm so glad we got to meet you and our niece. I wish there was more time."

Fred stepped forward and shook her hand.

"I'm glad you visited, Jim. It takes some of Eleanora's focus off of us. Sorry about that but it looks like you're her new project." His gaze slid over pointedly to where Bones and Mrs. McCoy were talking. They kept shooting glances their way and Bones became progressively redder as their conversation continued.

Jim laughed uneasily but it sounded shrill in her ears.

"Glad I could be of service." She saluted to their amusement and with one last round of hugs they were off.

She leaned over Ella to talk to McCoy who was gripping the armrests on the shuttle with a white knuckled grip and closed eyes.

"So, what were you and your mom talking about?" She tried for casual but it was hard to do. He opened one eye and looked at her.

"Nothing. Why?"

He was deliberately being evasive and Jim knew it.

"It was just something Fred said. About being Eleanora's latest project. She doesn't hate me. Does she?" She asked unsure.

Maybe she had read the situation wrong.

"No, Jim. She doesn't hate you. If she did, you'd know. She hated Jocelyn. Wouldn't even come to the wedding. You, she doesn't hate."

Jim let out a deep sigh of relief.

"Although..." And then she tensed at McCoy's addition. "She's never nearly killed anyone at a dinner before. Interpret that however you like." And she punched him in the arm.