The table Jim slammed into was hard against his back. He grunted loudly and Leonard pulled away leaving Jim with kiss swollen lips and an aching back.

"You okay?" Leonard asked with worried eyes. Jim chuckled grabbing at the older man's collar to bring him back into his arms. "I'm a tough guy, remember?"

"You're a child," Leonard said voice like gravel as he brought his lips back down against Jim's. He licked the seam of the blond's plump lips before diving back into his warm mouth. Jim, for his part, surrendered his tongue and wrapped his arms around Leonard's broad shoulders, hugging him close. Swiftly Leonard slid his warm hands under Jim's t-shirt and rubbed circles on his back barely catching the skin with his nails. Jim shivered before placing his hands on the kitchen table behind him and hiking up to sit and allow Leonard to settle between his legs. Leonard gasped scratching Jim's back making the younger man moan. Leonard detached from Jim's lips only to make his way down his throat licking and sucking at every inch of skin he could get his mouth on. Jim felt his eyes roll to the back on his head as Leonard hit a spot that drove him crazy. He was just about to grab at Leonard jeans when a knock sounded loudly at the door causing Jim to jump.

Leonard took one final suck on Jim's tanned collarbone then stepped away grinning like a fool. "That must be dinner."

"Ignore it," Jim whispered trying to bring the man back into his space gripping him with his strong legs. Leonard laughed shaking his head but pecked him on the mouth one more time.

"Gotta feed my little ball player. Don't want coach thinking I'm starvin' ya." He detatched himself from Jim's legs then walked away leaving Jim sitting on Leonard's expensive wooden table and feeling debauched.

While Leonard answered the door and payed for the pizza Jim got his first real look at the penthouse apartment Leonard owned. It was nice, of course, with steel kitchen supplies and sleek countertops. Everything was clean in the way that screamed professional cleaning crew but the place also just smelled like Leonard. From what he could see of the living room it looked nice with a big television and two leather couches. There were doors off to either side of Jim, probably a bedroom or two. Wall to ceiling windows surrounded the kitchen into the living room showing off the beautiful city underneath that was just starting to turn on lights and the sun sunk from view. The place was large and nice but also comfortable and Jim liked that part the most.

By the time Leonard came back into the kitchen holding a box of pizza Jim had already scoured the place for plates but found none and settled for stealing a beer from the refrigerator and sipping on it. Leonard looked at him and rolled his eyes before opening a cabinet Jim had already checked and grabbed two plates.

"Let's watch a movie and eat?" He asked to which Jim nodded. "Grab me a beer too."

An hour later the movie they were watching was just getting into the clichéd climax and the pizza was just about done. The two had spoken some to each other but not much as they watched and ate and drank two beers a piece. After placing both empty plates on the table in front of them Leonard leaned back grabbing to hold Jim's hand. Jim felt his face flush. It had been a long time since someone had held his hand so innocently. Jim settled himself to lean heavily against Leonard's shoulder snuggling close. He felt content as the movie went on. His eyes started getting heavier and heavier until he let them slowly close just for a second...

"Jim... Jim..." a soft sound awoke him with a pat to the back on his arm. Jim opened his eyes confused and bleary eyed for a second before remembering he was in Leonard's apartment and they were on a date and he'd... he'd just fallen asleep.

"Oh my god!" Jim jumped away from Leonard instantly awake. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry I felt asleep didn't I? Fuck."

He went to stand up but Leonard grabbed onto his shoulders bringing him back down. The older men was laughing looking sleepy himself, "It okay, I fel asleep too. Must be the late games. If only there was some pitcher who would clean it up in less than eleven innings."

Jim piffed at Leonard settling back down. "You know it's not as easy as it looks."

"Even a child can throw a ball, Jim.'

"Not in the Majors!" Jim squawked back defensively. "And I've got some tricks up my sleeve, just gotta get Scotty to trust me enough to use 'em."

"Whatever you say, Rookie," Leonard sighed as he stood up. "Stay the night?"

Jim looked at the digital clock under Leonard television reading the late - or should he say early morning time. Well, he figured, it wouldn't make much sense driving home now.

"I'd like that."

With a hand held out Leonard helped Jim from the couch and led him into the bedroom that Leonard had showed him earlier during his tour of the nice penthouse apartment. The bed was big with a fluffy black comforter and plump pillows that called Jim's name. He didn't realize how exhausted he actually was. The last week facing back to back games in two different cities was really getting to him. Leonard moved over to the dark stained drawers grabbing a t-shirt out and throwing it at Jim who caught it deftly.

"Bathroom's right in there, you can go first. I don't care if you use my toothbrush, I figured if you got anything than I do too by now." He smirked over his shoulder grabbing another raggedy shirt from the drawer. Jim rolled his eyes taking steps towards the bathroom. He finished his business and partook in using Leonard's toothbrush then padded back out to the bedroom. As he entered the room he noticed Leonard had his back to him with his shirt balled in one hand as he played with something on his phone in front of the dresser. Jim took a second to admire the strong broad shoulders of the older man. His skin was smooth if a little freckled. Jim raked his eyes over his back for a long second before finally speaking.

"Bathrooms free."

Leonard turned and Jim's eyes grew comically as he spied the tattoo pained over Leonard's chest right on his heart. Leonard looked down at his own chest as Jim continued to stare then he chuckled opening his arms to give Jim a better look. The younger man took a few steps forward reaching out to touch the lines of ink beautifully etched over Leonard's heart. It was dark and shaded and must've taken hours to get done. Jim placed his hand and the anatomically correct tattoo of ribs caging a heart. Jim could see every small detail. As Leonard breathed the heart moved so lifelike almost as if it were real. The ribs were shaded with their own detail that Jim felt like he was looking right into Leonard's chest.

"Wow," Jim breathed feeling slightly surprised when he felt the tattoo and it was Leonard's smooth warm skin.

"You like it?" Leonard ask softly. Jim looked at him biting his lip red.

"It's beautiful."

Leonard laughed. "Beautiful? C'mon Jim that's kinda emasculating."

Jim threw his head back in a laugh stepping back from Leonard's breathing space. As he made his way to the bed he asked, "What's it for?"

Leonard shrugged going into the bathroom and yelled, "I'm a doctor or at least I was one when I got the tattoo. Bones and hearts and ligaments and arteries always interested me. Thought it was cool when I was younger. My mamma said I was her little sawbones when I graduated from medical school so I got it."

Laying down Jim sighed as his head hit the pillow. It really was as soft as it looked. A word caught Jim's attention. "Sawbones?"

Leonard slid into the bed as if he did so with Jim every night. There was no awkwardness in his movements as he made himself comfortable next to Jim. "Yeah you know, old time doctors who would just cut off whatever didn't work. Fuckin' idiots if you ask me."

Jim maneuvered himself around until his head rested on Leonard's shoulder after he had reached over to switch the lights off. He placed his hand on Leonard's chest to softly trace the detailed tattoo with his finger.

"Sawbones... I like it," he yawned.

"Go to bed kid." Leonard smiled at the blond man in his arms. Jim closed his eyes feeling himself start to fade, exhaustion pulling him under.

"Hmm okay. Goodnight Bones."

Leonard rolled his eyes and shook his head but smiled and held Jim tighter, "Goodnight Rook."


The next practice was a wet one. Rain had poured down right before the team had been scheduled to take the field so instead of playing infield Pike had everyone in the outfield grass. Jim stood in wet cleats with a damp glove feeling miserable trying to breath in the thick post-rainstorm air. After a few minutes he noticed someone singing behind him.

"Spock, is that... are you singing?" Jim caught a ball that had been hit to him towards the dugout where players were practicing bunting before placing his right hand on his hip cocking it to the side. Spock turned to him eyebrow raised then went back to his throw and catch with Sulu on the other end of the field. Jim stood guarding the older man from any balls hit to this side of the grassy outfield. So far he hadn't had to catch very many baseballs before they collided with Spock's head, the batters were good at aiming away from their fellow teammates. Jim liked being in the outfield, shooting the shit with the outfielders and pretending that this was his position. The entire stadium looked different from back here. Less all-consuming and more picturesque.

It was a hot and muggy day. The tall buildings of San Francisco could barely be seen through the fog that blanketed the city. All of the players wore their dry fit shirts and shorts, no pants in sight. Jim had been standing beside Spock for almost an hour trying to bring him to conversation and when that failed just speaking out loud anything that came to mind. It had earned him a few brow raises, a "Dont worry Jim, you're growin' on him!" yelled from Sulu and even an eye roll from Spock but the black haired man just didn't want to talk with him. That was until Jim had heard a sound fill the afternoon air. It was soft, a deep baritone. It was humming. Spock, Jim realized, was humming.

"I am doing no such thing," Spock dove for a ball Sulu intentionally let fly too far to the left.

"Yes you are! You're totally singing, man." Jim couldn't help himself. Spock? Singing to himself in the outfield? Was this what he did during games when he was too far out to be picked up by the cameras microphone or heard by the dugout? This was priceless.

A ball came bouncing over Jim's way, he retrieved it to throw back.

"If I were singing it would most likely be a song my mother used to sing when I was a child," Spock admitted bending over in a ready stance for Sulu's next throw. That shut Jim right up.

Jim closed his eyes shaking his head and called himself an idiot. At this rate he'd never get the raven haired man to like him much less be friends with him. "Shit, Spock. I'm sorry man. You do you."

The humming-slash-light singing continued and Jim let it lull him into a nice little trance.

That was, until it hit him why the song sounded so familiar.

"Bullshit! You're singing Adele!" He couldn't stop the chortle from escaping his mouth.

Spock grounded a ball, threw it back then took his glove off to wipe his hand on his trousers.

"Spock, you little shit."

"I have no comment on the matter."

Jim thought he saw the tiniest of smirks touch the side of his lips. Spock turned back to his practice and Jim was interrupted by Pike's loud voice, "Pitchers front and center! Everyone else clear it. Squads get ready. Going to get a quick drag and water before we enter inner squad!"

"Looks like we'll have to continue this conversation at a later date," Spock rumbled when Jim took his leave. Jim turned just enough to show Spock his middle finger with a good natured smirk. Spock waved him off as he ran the other direction towards the other outfielders.

Jim jogged over to the gathering pitchers beside the dugout. Kevin Reilly stood among them talking as they waited for their drills to begin. "Ah good Jim's here," he started bumping Mitchell on the shoulder while looking at Jim, "We needed to resume our argument of who is a better athlete me or him?"

Jim rolled his eyes spitting to get some of the moisture out of his mouth from the humid air, "It's not even an argument!"

Kevin leaned against the hip-high fence of the dugout while Jim walked over to him. He flicked Jim's arm in greeting, "Because I am the more athletic one, I know." Kevin then stuck up his arm to flex under his dry fit. Jim sighed dramatically but laughed as the pitchers around him laughed as well.

"I'm sorry," Gary said, "but could you but those twigs away? There's a strong wind coming through and I don't want them to break off." The pitchers howled with laughter as Kevin grabbed his chest in mock hurt and glared at Gary before laughing himself. Soon, after a few more jabs at everyone, Scotty came over to separate the guys for different drills. Jim was told to go back to the bullpen to work on his curve ball.

"My curve is fine, Scotty."

"Are you arguin' with me? Do ya want ta run laps?"

Jim smiled at Scotty patting him on the back, "Now that I think about it, I could make it a little more curvy." Then he ran off before Scotty could say anything else.

By the time practice ended, Jim was covered in sweat but feeling well accomplished as Scotty had come over to give him some tricks to perfect his curve. Walking quickly back into the clubhouse, Jim was thinking about if he could squeeze in a quick run to Leonard's apartment to say hello before going home to get an early night's rest before the game tomorrow. He made his way into the alley and towards the clubhouse alone as everyone else had already called it a day and was most likely showering or eating some of the spread from Uhura in the locker room. Jim starting thinking about Leonard's tattoo again as he turned the corner to open the door into the clubhouse and standing there was just the man that was on his mind.

"Hey!" Jim greeted happily. If Leonard looked a bit nervous, Jim didn't notice. He was too busy wanting to get out of his wet clothes and into some dry ones. Leonard opened his mouth to say something but Jim cut him off thinking he was just going to invite him to come over to his apartment after practice as he had done a few times before. "Hold on, I'll just be a minute and we can head out. Don't worry, I'll hurry!"

"Jim-" was all Leonard could get out before Jim disappeared quickly into the teams club house. Leonard felt sick to his stomach as he rubbed his forehead. "Fuck, fuck, fuck…"

Leonard opened up the door and fast-walked inside feeling dread bubble up into his throat. He turned the corner seeing Jim's back ramrod straight as he stood just inside the clubhouse. Every player in the room was silent as they stared up at the multiple television screens showing Sports Center Live. Leonard came up behind Jim seeing his shoulders start to shake as his eyes stayed glued, just as everyone's were, to the screens. Leonard swallowed already having heard the news.

"This is honestly quite shocking, don't you agree Dan?" came a fine-pressed anchor woman who stood behind the desk with Sports Center written in big bold letters across the front. She was pretty but wore too much make-up. The man across from her nodded in his sports coat.

"It is one of the biggest trades of the season," the man commented. "The Romulans has fired their manager not hours ago and has already brought up their minor league manager Nero Varner which, as you know Janette, just isn't done at this level of baseball. Decisions like this usually take months to go through, not hours. And on top of that the Las Vegas Vengeance has completed a trade with Romulans as they have sent Ayel over to the desert in exchange they've gotten John Harrison. How could Vengeance give up an overall first round pick for a-a-an underachieving outfielder?"

"Now I will say that there has been rumors of a possible change of staff for the Romulans as their past three seasons have been less than ideal with only making it to the first round of the playoff's two seasons ago," commented the woman. "This is huge for Romulus. I mean a trade like this and bringing up one of the most controversial coaches this late in the season could either mean a much needed break for the struggling organization or it could create more problems. As we know both Nero and John Harrison are both quite successful in their respective roles however they are also both known agitators."

The man nodded shuffling his papers, Leonard looked at Jim who had gone white. His forehead was wet with sweat even in the cool room. "We all know the problems Harrison has had with Vengeance and their team manager Alexander Marcus and it is easy to see how that drama has affected his playing career as his batting average has gone down through the course of the last two seasons. Janette, because I know you covered the story a few seasons ago, can you speak on Nero and the challenges he's faced with both the league and other players?"

"Sure Dan," the woman turned so she faced the camera fully. Behind her footage played and suddenly Leonard saw a still picture of Jim standing on a pitching mound on the large flat screen television. Jim looked younger and wore a different jersey on his back as an umpire, Nero and the Iowa City coach stood around him. The picture started playing footage from the game as the woman spoke. "We all remember the infamous confrontation during the game between Iowa City and the Miner's a few years ago where Nero got into a scuffle with known bad boy Iowa City Pitcher Jim Kirk after accusing him of cheating and-"

Leonard didn't hear anything else as suddenly Jim sprang away from him kicking off his cleats, peeling off his shirt and leaving them where they lay. He grabbed his bag, shoes and a t-shirt and was off. The few guys left in the room watched him go, silently. The door slammed behind Jim as he left the clubhouse. The noise made Leonard jump. The sports broadcast finished the video with Jim, nose bloodied, being escorted off the field then it went to commercial. Leonard looked at the closed door for only a second before rushing towards it, down the hallway and out into the stadium. He knew the Romulans had been planning on firing their coach and bringing up Nero for a while but he had thought they had more time.

He saw Jim's back as he turned the corner.

"Jim!" he yelled jogging over to the younger man but Jim didn't stop, he kept walking out of the stadium and into the sidewalk that wrapped around the stadium. Rain started falling from the sky dripping on both of them. Jim had managed to wrestle on his shirt but was still shoeless and didn't seem to care. As Leonard grew closer he grabbed ahold of his arm. "Jim."

"Leave me alone, Bones," Jim shrugged out of the man's hand. "I don't want to talk."

"An you don't have to," Leonard placated feeling rain drip into his mouth and his shirt start to stick to his back as the rain grew harder. "Is your car around-"

"I walked," Jim didn't turn around or look up from the spot he was staring at on the cement ground. Leonard licked his lips. It started to pour thick globs of rain drenching the both of them.

"Let me give you a ride home," Leonard said. Jim turned to him, eyes bigger and more filled with a mixture of anger and sadness than he had ever seen.

"Bones-"

"Don't be an idiot," Leonard had to yell over the rain. "If you walk home in this you're going to get sick and what is that going to mean for our games this week or-"

"Fine!" Jim yelled back crossing his arms with his shoes still in one hand. "Take me home, I don't care just get me the fuck out of here."

Leonard led them both to an overhang and pulled out his cell phone. He could feel Jim shaking and didn't think it was from the rain. It only took a few minutes for his driver to pull around with his car. Jim didn't say a word as they waited or even as he slid in the car. Leonard didn't say anything about how they were both dripping all over his expensive leather seats. Jim stared out the side window until they pulled up to his apartment building. He went to open the door and get out when Leonard put a hand on his shoulder stopping him.

"Jim," he began. "Listen I-I… I'm sorry."

"You knew."

Leonard nodded. Jim lay back against the seat looking tired and small. Rain pelted the top of the car. The driver, one that Leonard had known for a long time and trusted deeply, busied himself up front pretending not to be listening. Leonard took hold of Jim's slack hand and was only a little surprised when Jim didn't automatically take his hand back.

"Pike and I heard through our channels that the Romulans were having some problems and they were thinking about bringing Nero up but it wasn't supposed to be for a month or so. We've been trying to figure out how to tell you. I'm sorry Jim."

"It's not your fault," Jim said dully, tears gathering in his eyes. He gave a pitying laugh. "It's actually my fault."

"Now don't start with that you know-"

"Bones," Jim interrupted shaking his head and closing his eyes. A tear fell down his still rain soaked face. His voice sounded weak, "I think I need to go lay down."

Leonard nodded in understanding, "Do you want me to come up with you?"

Jim's eyes practically screamed yes so Leonard was surprised when Jim whispered, "No."

Before he could say anything more Jim had the door open and was saying goodbye over his shoulder, closing the car door behind him. Leonard watched as he made his way through the rain and up the steps to his apartment building. Jim didn't even look back when he went inside.

"Home, sir?" asked Leonard's driver. Leonard sighed loudly rubbing his hands roughly through his hair. He was about to say yes when he looked down to see Jim's shoes still on the floor of his car. It only took a few seconds to decide and Leonard was grabbing the shoes, opening the door and said, "If I'm not back in fifteen minutes you can head home, Jacob."

Running through the rain and up the steps, Leonard made his way inside. After a quick talk with the woman at the front desk in the lobby he got Jim's room number and was over to the elevator and headed up to his floor. It took a few minutes of counting off room numbers until he finally found Jim's apartment. He tried the handle sending up a silent thank you when he found that it was unlocked. He made his way inside barely noticing the clean apartment and headed right towards where he assumed Jim's bedroom was. Sure enough as he entered the room he saw a lump covered in blankets laying in the large bed. Leonard toed off his shoes and shed his jacket before silently slipping into the bed.

"Bones," Jim sniffled obviously crying as Leonard put his arms around him and brought him close. They were both still damp from the rain. "What am I going to do?"

Leonard forced the younger man to turn and maneuvered him onto his chest. He reached under his shirt to rub soothing circles into his back.

"I don't know." He admitted. Jim rubbed his head back and forth. He choked out a sob. Leonard grabbed Jim's chin lghtly and forced him to look at him. "But whatever happens we are going to go through it together. I'm not going anywhere, I promise. I'm right here. Okay?"

Jim looked at him, really truly looked at him for a moment. He nodded once then twice and said, "Yeah… okay."

"Relax, kid. I got ya," he pulled Jim impossibly closer trying to make the younger man feel his love and affection through his touch. "You're gonna be okay and everything is gonna work out fine but for now just relax."

Jim nodded feeling drained and closed his eyes. The warmth radiating from Leonard stopped the chill that had taken root deep inside his chest.

"Thanks, Bones."

Leonard didn't say anything as he continued rubbing Jim's back and thinking about where they were going to go from here.