.o0o.

For once, a mission had gone smoothly. Scotty and Sulu infiltrated Ninyal's palace, only to find Ninyal dead and the palace full of chaos. It was unfortunate for the Bloringdians, but it make their job of finding Ninyal's daughter, turning off the generator and beaming back about much easier.

"Two hours, Bones. Two hours. I told you were not to treat anyone for a week." There was no harshness in Kirk's voice this time but Bones still jumped. He turned to scowl at Kirk, who took that as a good sign.

"I'm not treating her." Bones explained, "I'm just observing. Besides, I'm the only one she even recognizes." Bones looked back at Kirk. "And you really need to get some sleep."

Kirk gave him a lopsided grin. "She's sleeping, come on. I want to show you something."

Bones stood, but he didn't follow. He folded his arms over his chest.

"I promise I will be asleep in bed in a half an hour. Okay?"

Bones nodded and followed Kirk out the door. "Sorry I blew a fuse earlier. I just feel like somebody opened my head with a rusty can-opener and decided to make scrambled eggs out of my brain."

"Sounds like you should be sleeping, too."

"I will." Bones promised. "I just wanted to check in on the girl. What's going to happen to her?"

"The Constellation is due for some repairs back on Earth. They're going take her there where her grandparents are eagerly awaiting their grandchild. She'll be in good hands."

Bones nodded slowly. "I don't suppose we could take her."

Kirk shook his head. "Sorry. A bunch of miners have died on Janus VI. They want us to investigate."

"And what about Bloringdia?" Bones asked as they entered the turbolift.

"I've recommended Yoramyn as a contact, but the brass want to wait until this uprising has cooled down so the treaty will stick. Whoever takes over Ninyal's territory might throw it out the window. In any case, we probably won't be the ones to sign the final deal." The doors peeled open and the duo walk onto the bridge. "On screen." Kirk demands.

He watched as Bones' face splits into a smile. "Gesull! You're alive!" He greets enthusiastically.

"I am glad to see that you have made it safely back to your ship." The Bloringdian on the viewscreen returns.

"We couldn't have done it without you."

"Your captain informs me that you must leave Bloringdia very shortly, but I believe you would like to know that the prophecy is coming true. Once our shields were lowered, all the other cities lowered their shields as well. It seems that just one voice can make a bigger difference than any of us had imagined. Already Unferun are walking freely as they please and when their masters demand something of them, they demand something else in return." Gesull turned to look off the screen for a second before rising to his feet. "I must go. There is much work to be done. I do hope you will come back to see how much we have learned."

"I will certainly try." Bones responded, "Best of luck to you, my friend."

"May peace surround you, Bones." The viewscreen went blank.

Kirk clapped a hand on Bones' shoulder. "You seem to have made quite the impression with that one."

Bones chuckled. "I think he left a bigger impression on me."

"Chekov, plot a course for Janus VI."

"Aye, sir."

"Tis a shame we couldn't get that mining treaty." Scotty said wistfully. "All those dilithium crystals just sitting there unused."

"Slavery, kidnapping, and memory erasing? I'm rather glad we're leaving." Kirk chuckled, then yawned.

"Aye, but it's such a shame to go away empty handed, is all."

"Well, I wouldn't say empty handed." Bones jumped in, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "They were handing those things out like they were going out of style. Ninyal kept giving me them whenever I'd visit. I swear I have a whole crate in my quarters on top of the boxes he sent up as payment. Not sure what he thought a Healer could do with those."

Scotty wrapped an arm over the doctor's shoulders and steered him into the turbolift. "You know, I might be able to help you out with them."

Kirk just shook his head. His family was home and safe; it was time for him to sleep. "Sulu, you have the conn. I'm going to spend the next four days in bed."

"Aye, sir."

Kirk had almost made it to the refuge of the turbolift when Spock of all people interrupted him, "Captain, may I have a word with you in private?"

TBC in Dependency: Secrets

.o0o.

A/N: Okay, so the ending kind of sucked. But, don't think of it as an ending, think of it as a new beginning! 'Secrets' is not so much a slash story, as it is a pre-slash story. It's not really all that high in the romance department, either. 'Secrets' will also have a sequel.

Here's a little tidbit from the sequel:

"Captain." Spock continued, folding his hands behind his back, "I request that Dr. McCoy accompany me to Vulcan."

Kirk turned sharply. His mental strange meter was soaring into the WTF section. "Why?"

"It's personal."

"You've already asked him?"

"Yes."

"And he agreed?" Kirk was baffled.

'Secrets' is currently up and available. Check it out through the author link.