A/N: For those of you who are all about the Kirk/Spock, I must beg your indulgence for a couple of chapters.

For those of you who are all about the McCoy/Uhura – here you go. :-)

And to my anonymous reviewers – thanks so much for taking the time to let me know what you think of the story. Please know that I'd respond to you if I could. Genclay, you get a hug all of your own. :-)

But this nonsense isn't what you want to read, is it?

I thought not.

...

The father of a daughter is nothing but a high-class hostage.

~Garrison Keillor

...

"You mean, he wasn't with you?" Christine had sounded genuinely shocked. "But, Ny... when Leonard said something had come up to cancel movie night, I just naturally figured it had been something with you."

"No, Chris – not me. He told me... he said something had come up in Sickbay."

And Christine's face had reflected the worry that was tightening Nyota's throat. "He... Leonard lied? To both of us? Oh, Nyota... something's gotta be going on, I just know it – but, how are we going to...?"

"I'm going to call Jim; he'll know."

"But, Ny – it's after midnight. Don't you think–"

"I think if anyone can tell us what's going on with Leonard McCoy, it's Jim Kirk. And if it's important – and I'm afraid it is, Chris – then Jim isn't going to care if I wake him up."

Moreover, if Nyota's suspicions were correct, she wasn't going to be waking him up, anyway – though she wasn't going to share that theory with Christine.

She knew that Jim and Spock thought they were being very circumspect about their collaboration on whatever semi-secret project they'd developed – but she'd certainly noticed. The two of them had rarely been out of one another's company this past week or so, and were nearly always in the middle of intense (and nearly incomprehensible) conversation about... something they weren't mentioning to anyone else.

And... was she the only one who saw the way the two of them looked at one another? Well, of course she knew she wasn't – Pavel had been on and on about it for ages, and had begun making noises about locking the Captain and his First into a supply closet until they admitted that what they felt for one another was more than simply friendship. Hikaru had firmly put the kibosh on that whole idea, thank goodness.

Jim and Spock were two of the most brilliant men Nyota had ever met – so how they could be so obtuse about something that was so obvious to those closest to them was a little bewildering.

But that was the least of her concerns tonight; something was the matter with Len, and she needed to get to the bottom of it. So she'd commed Jim – who, as she'd suspected, hadn't been asleep after all – and explained the situation.

"Jim, he doesn't lie. You know he doesn't. And now he won't answer when I call him on his comm, even though I know he's in his quarters. And... I thought maybe you'd be able to tell me what's going on."

There had been the briefest of pauses before she heard Jim exclaim,

"Shit, shit, shit!"

"Jim – what?" She couldn't see Jim's face, but the sound of his voice warned her that whatever he'd realized, it wasn't good.

"Today – well, yesterday, now – was Joanna's birthday. She turned six." Jim sighed gustily. "Her birthday's always tough for him, especially when he can't see her. But – if he ended up canceling everybody's plans at the last minute... well, I can only think that something beyond that must have gone wrong."

Another silence, another sigh. "Thanks, though, Nyota. I'll go down there now and see what's going on with him."

"Wait, Jim." Nyota caught him before he could sign off. "I'll go."

"But, he needs..."

"Jim." How could she explain this? She probably couldn't – but she'd have to trust Jim to understand.

"I know I'm not his best friend – but I think I can handle this." She paused, briefly. "Let me do this? Please?"

Silence for a moment, and she knew Jim was struggling with the idea.

"...Okay, Nyota. But – when you can, let me know..."

Jim sounded resigned – and more than a little disgusted with himself. This was going to be nearly as tough for him as it was for Len, she suspected – he was obviously feeling guilty as hell for not having been there when his best friend had needed him – but that wasn't her concern tonight.

"I will, Jim. Thanks." The intercom clicked off, and she was out of her own quarters, heading for Len's, before she could give it another thought – leaving Christine still perched on Nyota's bed, staring after her in wordless amazement.

She'd only made it about halfway down the corridor toward the lift when she ran into Scotty – though what he was doing out and about at such an hour was anybody's guess. Not that she really cared just now.

He, however, seemed more than a bit curious to be running into her. "Lass, you're out wanderin' late. Is somethin' the matter?"

Not until she noticed his appraising gaze sweep quickly over her did Nyota stop to consider her somewhat... unusual attire. She'd bolted out of her quarters in flannel boxers, an ancient, oversized t-shirt that she'd stolen from Hikaru ages ago, and fluffy purple socks.

No use trying to keep a secret from Scotty, she realized – he was as smart as anyone on the ship, and had a love of gossip and intrigue to rival even Pavel's.

Moreover, he was nearly as close to Len as Jim was – the two men having discovered their shared love of well-distilled spirits early on, and having become unlikely friends during the course of many late-night discussions over a particularly good scotch – or bourbon, or Saurian brandy, or... whatever.

"It's Len, Scotty – seems that today was Joanna's birthday, and something went down so that he's basically shut himself into his quarters and won't talk to anybody. I don't know how much good I'm going to do, but I'm..."

She trailed off uncertainly; hell, what good was she going to do? She really had no idea whether he'd even want to see her.

Maybe she should have let Jim go after all...

But Scotty, picking up on her sudden hesitancy, was quick to reassure her. "Nyota, lass, I'm thinkin' you'll do him the world o' good, truly I do. And you needn't be worryin' about what to say to him, honestly, darlin' – he'll be better just by havin' you there with him."

He patted her comfortingly on the shoulder. "I know him well enough to be sure of it." Then the same hand moved to the small of her back, shoving her gently forward. "'Once more unto the breach', as they say, darlin'."

Nyota smiled at that. "Quoting Shakespeare, Scotty – and at this hour of the night? I didn't know you had it in you." Kissing him on the cheek, she turned to head back toward the lift.

"But yes, 'unto the breach' indeed," she remarked over her shoulder as she walked away. "Wish me luck."

"Luck, indeed," Scotty said to himself as he headed down the corridor in the other direction. "You'll not be needin' much o' that, mo gràidh ..."

…

...

Nyota knew better than to push the call button at McCoy's door; fortunately, though, he'd long since given her the code to let herself in on evenings when she'd had to set up for Movie Night before he was done with his shift. With a deep breath and a quickly whispered prayer, she punched in the code, stepping in as soon as the door slid open.

"Well, you're not the one I expected to see at this hour," a voice said from the near-total darkness. She'd never heard that tone of voice from him before – flat, emotionless, without inflection of any kind. She squinted into the dark room, hoping to catch a glimpse of his face.

"Nyota. You didn't have to come." She saw him now, in silhouette, as he unfolded his long, lean frame from a chair in front of his computer monitor.

"You called everything off tonight – and you didn't tell anyone the truth about why. Then you wouldn't answer your comm." Absently, she reached up to twist a long strand of dark hair that had fallen across her shoulder. "I was worried."

"Well, you see I'm fine – so you don't have to worry." He came closer now – but then walked past her as though she wasn't there, heading straight to his door instead. "So now you can leave. It's late, anyway – you should be in bed."

Fine. Two can play at that game, Doctor.

Nyota walked in the opposite direction, plunking herself emphatically down onto the sofa.

"Except I'm here now, and I won't leave. And unless you're going to bodily pick me up and toss me into the corridor, you're going to have to deal with that."

For a long moment, Len looked at her as though he were seriously considering such a course of action. Finally, with a sigh, he let the door whoosh closed, and came back to stand before her. His face was as devoid of emotion as his voice had been a moment ago – until her eyes became more adjusted to the darkness, and she saw that the blank mask was a poor attempt to hide his pain from her.

It was all Nyota could do to keep from going to him and taking him in her arms – but she doubted that such an action would be welcome just now.

"Tell me, Len. What happened with Joanna?"

He started as though she'd slapped him. "What do you know about Joanna?" he growled.

Nyota was taken aback by the suddenly angry tone of his voice, and held up her hands in a gesture of appeasement. "Nothing, Len – only that it was her birthday. I asked Jim, if you're wondering how I knew that. Like I said, I was worried about you. That's all."

"So – Jim actually remembered, did he?" McCoy's tone was derisive. "That's great to hear."

"Len – I know you don't want to hear this right now, but he feels awful." She heard him snort – and she didn't blame him, really. "I had to talk him out of coming down here himself."

He'd wandered back over to the desk where his computer monitor glowed faintly – providing the only light in the room – and lowered himself slowly back into the chair. His voice had lost its tone of sarcasm – he was just quiet.

Too quiet – she could barely hear him, even though there was no other sound in the room. "Why'd you do that, Nyota? What made you come down here instead?"

She rose from her perch on the sofa, moving to stand behind him. "Honestly, Len? Until I got down here, I wasn't really sure why it was so important to me to be the one to come and check on you." She put her hands on his shoulders; he stiffened, but didn't shake her hands away.

"But... I get it... now. Yes, I was worried. Then, when I talked to Jim – and I knew that you were going through... I didn't know exactly what... but you were going through it alone – I couldn't stand it, Len."

He started to answer her – but she pressed firmly down on his shoulders as if to stop his words, and went on.

"I realized that... dammit, Len, I don't want you going through things alone. Not anything – not ever. And if something's happened to hurt you..." She took a deep breath. "Well, I don't want it to be Jim Kirk who makes it better. I want it to be me."

For once, she took his silence as encouragement – if he'd thought she was full of shit, he'd have said so right then and there.

"So, I guess it's selfishness on my part, Len – that's what made me come down here." Nyota leaned down then, placing her forehead into the thick softness of his dark hair – her own hair falling around them both like a silken black curtain. "Does that answer your question?"

He said nothing at all for a long time – for so long that she wondered if he ever intended to talk to her at all. Then he reached up and took one of her hands as it lay on his shoulder.

"It wasn't that big of a deal – it honestly wasn't. I mean – she's six. She hasn't seen me for more than a week at a time since before she was old enough to walk. Hell, I'm not real to her; I'm not really her Daddy. I'm just some fella who shows up on her vid screen sometimes, and who sends presents at Christmas and her birthday. And that's my own doing; I know that. Jo-Jo's in Louisiana, and I'm in – well, whatever the hell part of space this tin can happens to be flying through at any given moment."

He moved his hand from hers to rub it wearily over his face, his voice dropping to barely more than a whisper. "She's six. She doesn't know."

Nyota realized that she needed to be quiet now, and let Len say – well, whatever he needed to say. After all, she'd come down here to be there for him – she didn't necessarily need to know what had happened earlier to upset him so badly.

Not that she didn't really, really want to know...

Without comment, Len reached to click a button on his console that started a video playing. It was clear almost immediately that he was replaying his conversation with Joanna earlier in the day.

He spoke first. "Hi there, Princess – happy birthday!"

God – the love in his voice. Nyota felt her throat getting tight. No. You're not going to cry, girl.

"Hey, Daddy!" A little voice piped up then, and Nyota looked up again to see –

Good Lord. If Len had been born a girl...

She hadn't seen any photos of Jo-Jo since she was a toddler, but... wow. There was Len's thick, dark hair, those huge hazel eyes... and the brilliant, heart-stopping smile that didn't show up nearly often enough on this beautiful little girl's father.

Yes, there were a few differences – Joanna had a little dimple in her cheek like her mother's, and she definitely had the delicate bone structure and petite frame that she'd noticed in the few photos she'd seen of Jocelyn. Joanna was tiny, even for a six-year-old.

"How's Daddy's best girl doin'? You havin' a good day so far, sweetheart?"

"Yeah, Daddy! Grammie made me a big ol' cake – I don't get to eat it yet until my party, though. It's chocolate, and it's got pink flowers on it, and it's real pretty. And Grampa says I get a big surprise from him later – and I don't know what it is."

Len laughed. "That's why it's called a surprise, darlin'. You're not supposed to know what it is."

There was a brief pause, and Joanna had looked backward over her shoulder as though to check on what else was going on around her. Len spoke up again.

"So, baby – did my presents for you get there all right? Did you get a chance to open them up?"

She rolled her eyes at him, just a little. "Yeah, Daddy. But how come you sent me more princess vids? I watched those when I was a baby. I'm a big girl now. And the dress is kinda cool – but I don't play dress-up anymore. I'm six, Daddy."

At that point, another voice – a woman, sounding scandalized, could be heard in the background.

"Joanna Eleanora McCoy – don't you ever speak that way to your father! He went to so much trouble to find you those beautiful gifts – you tell him thank you right now, young lady, and you mean it!"

Joanna looked chastised, embarrassed – and, Nyota thought, more than a little bit pissed off. Her father's daughter in more ways than one. "Yes, Mama," Joanna replied quietly.

Wait – that was Jocelyn who'd jumped to Len's defense so quickly? Well, if that weren't a small miracle, in and of itself.

"Thank you, Daddy, for the presents. They're very nice."

"Joss." Len's voice sounded strained. "She's just little. You don't have to make her say..."

"Leonard." Now Jocelyn herself came into view. Damn, those photos don't lie – she's gorgeous. "You went to all that effort to find those wonderful movies, and that beautiful little dress – all especially to remind her of the special times the two of you've had together watching some of those vids and reading fairy tales. I know what kind of time that had to have taken – and how much trouble it is to get stuff from where you are to where we are."

Jocelyn shook her head then, and a wisp of dark auburn hair fell unheeded across her forehead. "She might be just little, Leonard – but you don't want me to raise our daughter to be ungrateful – or disrespectful – do you? If the situation had been reversed just now, you'd never have let her speak to me that way, and you know it."

Len had sighed then. "I know, Joss – and I'm not criticizing you. You and Mark are doing a wonderful job of raising Jo, and you know how grateful I am to you both for it..."

"Leonard. You're still her father. You're always her father. You and I – well, we didn't work out, and... I'm not proud of who I was or how I acted then, but God knows you can't go back and change the past. But," Jocelyn sighed, "I'll always be glad we had Joanna, you and I – and we're always her parents, no matter what else happens."

Len hadn't said anything in response – maybe he didn't know what to say, Nyota reflected.

Meanwhile, Joanna had waited quietly through her parents' conversation, but now she was starting to fidget. "Mama, do I have to stay here and talk? I wanna go see Grampa's surprise now."

Jocelyn's voice held a note of false cheer. "Don't you want to stay for a minute and talk to Daddy? You haven't had a chance to talk to him in a long time – you can tell him about how school is going, and find out how things are going out in space with Daddy and your crazy Uncle Jim."

Joanna looked dubious, and Nyota could hear the pain in Len's voice as he'd replied. "No, Joss – let her go see her surprise. We can talk some other time, Princess."

"'Kay, Daddy – talk to you later – love you!" And Joanna was gone in a flash of party dress and pigtails.

"Leonard, I'm sorry." Jocelyn sounded sincerely regretful. "I guess I should have known better than to schedule the call so close to her party. You know she worships you – she always talks about you to her friends, and she's so proud of –"

"Please, Joss. Not now, okay? It's all right, really. Like I said, we'll talk some other time when I can get a link scheduled."

Nyota could hear his voice starting to sound suspiciously tight. "You... you give her a hug for me, willya? And... maybe you wouldn't mind finding her a present that she'd actually like, and giving it to her for me? You can just take it out of my account, whatever it ends up costing you – I don't much care."

"Leonard, I..."

"Talk to you later, Joss. Give my regards to your Mom and Dad and Mark – and y'all have fun at the party, okay?"

End transmission – and the blue Starfleet logo reappeared on Len's computer screen. He reached up again with both hands to take Nyota's, where they still rested on his shoulders.

"It's just... that was the first time she didn't wanna talk to me. I know I shouldn't care – 'cause it sure as hell won't be the last time – but..."

He swallowed hard. "She was – she was my little princess, Nyota. She's my whole world – always has been, from the day she was born. Now it's like I don't really even know her anymore; she's growing up without me, and pretty soon I'm just gonna be a name to her – some fella in a picture in her room – if I'm not already. I'm..."

His hands moved again, reaching up to cover his face. "I know... it's stupid, and I'm overreacting. I really do know. But..."

Damn – there wasn't much more of this Nyota was going to be able to take without doing something, but she didn't know what the hell she could do.

But in a sudden flash of inspiration, she realized that of course she did.

Taking him utterly by surprise, she reached down to spin Len's chair so that he was facing her. The lost, heartbroken expression on his face as he looked up at her almost undid her completely – but without giving herself the time to think about it, Nyota deposited herself firmly on Len's lap, wrapping her arms around his neck and drawing him close to her in a gentle embrace.

"It's not stupid," she whispered, her fingers absently stroking through his hair. "And even if you know it's just because she's a little girl who's acting like a little girl, and you know in your heart that she really does love you just as much as she ever has, well... it had to be just devastating. I mean, you're her Daddy, and to... well, I can't even imagine how much it must have hurt. Damn, babe, it's all I can do not to cry my heart out right now – and it didn't even happen to me."

There was a long, long silence, as both of them were lost to their own thoughts. Nyota didn't really know how much time had passed as they sat there together that way.

Then, suddenly, she felt him shaking beneath her – oh, God, if he cries, I know I will – but then he looked up, and to her astonishment, he had the beginnings of a smile on his face. And – could it possibly be? Yes – he was laughing, just a little.

"Okay, I give up. What the hell could possibly be funny right now?"

Now he really did laugh – a quiet, wonderful sound. "I was just thinking – this sure as hell isn't how Jim woulda handled this situation." He smirked wryly at her, and she realized belatedly that in their current position, perched on his lap as she was, Nyota pretty much had her chest stuck right in his face.

He didn't seem to mind – and was, in fact, evidently enjoying the view.

"Galileo Academy?" he asked bemusedly.

Where the hell had that come from?

"What? Oh – the shirt. It's where 'Ru went to high school – I sort of permanently borrowed it from him. I've got a thing for sleeping in big t-shirts."

Though he wasn't looking up just now, she could hear the smile in his voice as he answered. "Yeah, I'd gathered that."

Now, she didn't need to know that he'd never forgotten the evening he'd come to talk to her when she'd just come out of the shower with her hair still in a towel, dressed in baggy pajamas and looking like...

...Like every fantasy he'd had since, that's how she'd looked. His eyes traveled down now, along the length of those gorgeous legs – and he silently thanked God for whatever had possessed her to wear shorts tonight – but that wasn't what he was looking for.

Yep – there they were. Purple.

His sudden smile as he looked back up at her nearly took her breath away. "You've got a thing for the big t-shirts – and the goofy socks."

Nyota squeaked with surprise then as he suddenly got up out of the chair, taking her with him as though she weighed nothing at all, and deposited her neatly back onto the couch.

"And how the hell you can manage to cheer me up by just being here – well, I don't really know how you do it, but darlin', you do. Maybe I needed somebody else to feel sorry for me besides just myself – or to tell me that I'm not nuts for feelin' so awful about it – but... damn, woman. You just walked in here and... and made me feel human again."

For the first time since she'd come into his quarters, Nyota took a moment to look – really look – at Len... and swallowed hard. Because... damn. He was in an ancient t-shirt of his own – Ole Miss? Really? – and soft, well-worn plaid pajama pants. He was barefoot – and why the hell is that hot? No telling, but it was – just like the stubble that was starting to grow along that gorgeous jawline of his.

Len might be the only guy Nyota had ever known that looked – hell, he looked amazing – in semi-ratty pajamas, with his hair messed up (though she'd done that, truth be told) and needing a shave.

She realized she was staring – and blushed, just a little. "I make you feel human?" She smiled warmly up at him. "Oh, honey – you're human, all right."

And his laughter, just at that moment, was possibly the most wonderful thing she'd ever heard.

He stopped for a moment, and looked just a little uncertain. "You've been great, Nyota – honestly you have, and I can't thank you enough. But I know it's late, and you'd probably like to get back to your quarters and go to sleep... yeah?"

Something was happening here; she didn't know quite why, but she knew her answer was going to be important.

"Actually, Doctor McCoy, I believe you owe me a movie – seeing as how you canceled Movie Night on all of us earlier." She smiled again, mischievously. "We're not on duty in the morning – so I think it's about time you pay up."

His smile was like a light in the dark room – she'd said the right thing, and she was so glad. "So, Lieutenant – what do you want to watch?"

"Well, I'd say in honor of our favorite little princess, we put on 'Beauty and the Beast' – what do you say to that?"

"I say, I'll find the vid if you'll get the popcorn."

...

...

Well. This chapter isn't over – not by rather a long shot – but rather than wait longer to post, or to have a Monster Chapter from Hell, I figured I'd stop this one here.

More Bones & Nyota to come shortly...

And I know I don't have to mention the review business – so I won't – but here's what I do want to say: I'm well aware – and highly appreciative – of the amazing (insightful, literate, brilliant, awesome) readers and reviewers that I do have. I know I'm never going to be one of the FanFic Goddesses who gets bajillions of reviews – and that's all right with me. For those of you who do read – and especially those who review – I love reading what you write, I get all happy when you "favorite," and I'm tickled when you put my work on "alert." Thanks for reading, and for your continued interest.

You people ROCK, and I love you all.

Oh, and... T'Key'la, honey? Happy birthday. :-)