Author's Note: It was recently brought to my attention that the pairings I have listed in the summary don't show a lot. I wanted to make it clear that these pairings happen within the story, they may or may not change. Also, this story is told from the perspective of one person at a time. Mostly it's been Pavel, but now there will be others, mostly Leonard's. I hope this clears things up.

Disclaimer: I own none of the Star Trek characters.

Chapter 13

With a satisfied sigh, Leonard closed his suitcase. He had packed all of his personal things: civilian clothes, picture frames, and the couple books that he always kept on him because they helped him work through the hard times of his life. The books weren't anything special, but they had things written in them that encouraged him to do better, to fight for what he believed in. If only he had them when his marriage fell apart.

That aside, Leonard was ready for his leave. Being one of the only people to never really take a vacation, the doctor had racked up at least two months worth of personal time. That time he was using to go be there for Pavel. A trial date had been set and Leonard would be damned if he didn't try to make it there in time. All he had to do was get off at the station the Enterprise was stopping at in a few hours and catch either the first or second shuttle heading to Victoria Six. If there were no complications then he would get there about three days before the trail. Then, after the trial, they would pack up and head to Earth.

With a smile that was more feral than happy, Leonard picked up his suitcase and brought it to his office with him. He had to be on duty before they docked, so he had decided to save himself a trip and bring the luggage with him to work. Besides, there was a picture he wanted from there.

He was just down the hall from medbay when he was stopped by one of the three people he absolutely hated on this God forsaken ship.

"Doctor McCoy, might I enquire where you are going?" Spock asked in his Vulcan way.

"No, you may not ask," Leonard replied stiffly. He was already in hot water with Kirk, he didn't need the hobgoblin giving him grief too.

The Vulcan gave him a blank look, which was how his face always appeared. "Your suitcase indicates that you are planning on leaving."

"Mind your own business, Commander," the full human snarled.

"I am merely stating an observation, Doctor. It is illogical that it would invoke such a response." Damn green blooded bastard.

"In all honesty, Commander; I don't find your observation skills to be as skilled as you claim them to be." A raised eyebrow that meant he was intrigued. "After all, if you were that good, you could tell that I'm tired of everyone putting their noses into my personal life," the doctor griped.

Silence reigned between the two as the Vulcan seemed to process what Leonard had said to him.

"I apologize, I did not intend for to offend," Spock finally spoke.

"Apology accepted," Leonard replied even though he really didn't want to. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm due on shift soon." He made it about five steps past the Vulcan before he was called back again.

"What now?"

"Nyota has expressed an interest in celebrating the date we began our relationship. I have heard that it is customary to give gifts on such occasions. Would you know of a place where I might procure such an item?"

That was probably the most Leonard had even heard the Vulcan say. Normally he would have made a joke about it, but all he could feel was rage. So Spock never broke up with her when he was with Pavel. The green blooded bastard! Celebrating an anniversary was something the Southern man knew Pavel would have loved doing. Spock should have done things like that with Pavel!

"I suggest you ask someone else," he said with gritted teeth, "I haven't been in a relationship in a long time."

"A logical assessment." With that he turned away and stormed to medbay. How he wanted to kill the Vulcan!

Luckily he made it to medbay where he was greeted by Nurse Chapel who was sending some stupid engineer on his way.

"You look ready to kill," she commented as she set the biobed for a sterilizing cycle. With a growl Leonard went to his office and set down his suitcase. He quickly took the photo of him and his little girl and put it in the suitcase.

"I swear if Spock, Kirk, or Uhura try to stop me from leaving I'm going to kill them. On that note, you're in charge while I'm gone," the man growled.

"I'll do my best while you're gone." She walked past him to place a PADD on his desk. "By the way, I can totally help you hide a body if you need to."

A smirk graced his lips as he signed the PADD and joined her in the main room. "Trust me, if I ever need to hide a body, you'll be the first to know."

"So you think you can get there in time?" Christine asked. She was smart, he would give her that; she brought it up when there were no patients around.

"As long as I catch either the first or second shuttle I can," he responded as he leaned against the wall next to his office door.

"Give my support?" she asked.

"I'll give everyone's support, but I'll make sure that yours is the most memorable."

"Next to yours of course."

"Naturally."

They smiled at each other. This topic was always talked about in the vaguest of terms. One could never know who was listening. So far, the gossip mill was surprisingly low on rumor material on Leonard; the only one being that he was in an intimate relationship with Christine, which was not true. As such, there were too many times where the CMO found an ensign trying to over hear something or get him to admit to some random thing that they could then spread around the ship. The gossip mill had finally stopped talking about Pavel too, so there was a greater need to protect him so that he wasn't dragged back into it. So those on the young Russian's side talked in either vague terms or in a code that every supporter understood.

How they hadn't been caught by Uhura, the one who knew all the rumors that were circulating, Leonard would never know, but he was extremely grateful all the same.