Alright, I know I'm terrible. I've been INCREDIBLY sick and spent the week on my couch with my head in a bucket. Good news is I got to watch Star Trek'09 to my heart's content and every episode of Bones. This is a fluffy chapter that I needed to write. I simply couldn't move forward without a talk from 'Pop'.

Star Trek is property of its respective owners. I only own Mallory.

35

Medical was running smoothly. The interns and residents were holding their own as far as the smaller injuries that came in while he and the more experienced nurses took over the critical cases. There were more of those than he would have liked. When the ship had compressed in the gravity well, the poor sods in engineering had gotten the worst of it. The first to get hurt and the last to admit it, the red shirts that ran the subdecks were impossible. Leo was well aware that he would eventually have to go down to engineering with a med kit and coax them out of hiding.

Was it really any wonder that engineers annoyed him?

Speaking of annoyances…

Leo sighed and looked up at the chronometer hanging on the wall, blinking the time at him with big, obnoxious digital numbers. He had hoped that Jim and Mal would act like adults and come down to medical of their own free will, but he should have known that wasn't their style. After several hours, most of which was spent wrist deep in Captain Pike's brain tissue, Leo knew he'd have to go and hunt the gruesome twosome down the good old fashioned way with a giant net and a plate of cookies as bait.

He snorted, unable to stop the derisive sound from coming out. He wasn't surprised in the least by Jim. It wasn't in the kid's nature to accept his own limitations. Back at the Academy Leo could always count on Mal to drag Jim, usually kicking and whining, into the infirmary, but if Mal was injured, too… Leo groaned and slumped in his chair. If there was one thing Mal was excellent at, it was disappearing when it suited her.

"What are you moaning about?"

Leo looked up at his priority patient and scowled. Pike was an even worse patient than his daughter, constantly fidgeting and picking at his injuries, he'd nearly undone all of Leo's hard work, scratching at the incision site. The man acted like he was four years old and had only stopped when Leo threatened to put him in the soft restraints.

"It's been too long," Leo answered, his drawl thicker than usual from stress. He sat back in his chair as Pike shifted into a more comfortable position. "Jim and Mal should have come down here by now. If I have to go looking for them…" he left the threat open and folded his arms sulkily.

Pike snorted and ran a finger along the back of his neck. He could still feel the scar, the raised ridge of skin that was all that was left of the parasite that had been burning through his neuro-pathways. The six inch line followed Pike's spine from the base of his skull to the top of his shoulders. "They aren't going to come down here voluntarily, McCoy, you know that." Pike fussed with his various bandages. "Mallory's never liked being doctored. She doesn't like to feel powerless."

He looked up, a sudden wicked glint in his eye that was too familiar for Leo's liking. "So imagine my surprise when she started bragging about her friend the doctor. So smart, so funny... I'm warning you now, McCoy, if you do anything to hurt that girl, you're going to have more than one pissed off human father to deal with. Her entire team will be on you like Vulcans on chocolate, and one of them is a Kzinti. He's very protective of his Goodfellow." Pike laughed at the look on Leo's face. Kzinti were not exactly friendly with the Federation, and the seven foot tall, armored tigers were utterly vicious.

"I know you're a bit old for this talk, McCoy, but that girl means an awful lot to a fair few people. If she's chosen you… well, don't take advantage of that." Pike gave Leo a look that very clearly said 'or else'.

"We haven't… discussed anything yet, sir. It's still new." Leo felt like he was fifteen and getting the dress down from a disapproving father. "But Mal is an adult, and so am I. If we decide that we want to be together, then it will take more than a 'pissed off human father' and a team of telepaths to keep me away from her."

Pike blinked, a slow smile spreading across his face. "Hm." Pike put his arms behind his head and stared up at the ceiling. "That's a good answer, McCoy." Leo rolled his eyes. "But being with a Betazoid… or even a half-Betazoid… it isn't like being a human. It's a challenge, loving someone that knows your every emotion, sometimes before you're aware of them yourself. Not bad, not good, just different."

"Mal and I have always fit together well. It's never mattered what she was," Leo stiffened in his seat, not caring for Pike's interpretation of Mal's abilities.

"Don't get your dander up, McCoy. I'm only pointing out what I've learned after thirty years living with Marlow." A genuine, gentle smile turned up the corners of Pike's mouth when he mentioned his wife. "Loving someone that can feel emotions the way they do… it's freeing. You're required only to be yourself, and they'll love you unconditionally, faults and all. No bravado, no lies, no games. That scares a lot of people, that level of openness. It's one of the reasons I hoped it would be you and not Kirk. That kid wouldn't know what to do with that sort of devotion if it landed in his lap."

Leo was quiet for a long time. "She's my best friend, you know," he said softly. "I… I don't want to push her into something she doesn't want."

"Uh-huh." Pike snickered quietly to himself. "What's in your pocket, McCoy?"

Leo raised an eyebrow. "Beg your pardon, sir?"

Pike propped himself up on his elbows. "Your pocket, McCoy. What's in your pocket?"

Leo had completely forgotten that Mal had slipped something into his pocket before she'd beamed over to the Narada. Eying Pike warily, Leo fished out the scrap of black leather that had been pressing into his hip and flipped it open. Pike nodded when he saw it. "I thought so."

The doctor stared at the badge in his hand. It was small, about the size of his palm and polished to a high shine. Clearly Mal took careful care of it, even though it was never really meant to be seen. The silver sparkled flawlessly, the deep, heavy black stone that made up the sniper scope, radiant. In comparison, the black piece of leather that it was mounted on was scratched and nicked, as abused and mistreated as a sscrap of hide could be.

Leo brushed his fingers over the scope in the middle of the familiar Federation logo and picked nervously at the leather case in his hands, aware of Pike's scrutiny, and his fingers touched over something that was neither fabric, nor metal. A small, white corner poked out from behind the badge and Leo tugged at it, easing it out from the snug hiding place.

A folded square of old Kodak photo paper fell into his outstretched hand. Leo was almost hesitant to look, unsure if Mal meant for him to find it or if it was in someway private. Leo's hands hovered over the neatly folded square, uncertain. He didn't think he could handle anymore Mal sized surprises…

"Take a look, McCoy." Pike was grinning ear to ear.

It was… a picture.

In fact, he noted with a sigh of relief, it was a picture of Mal, Jim, and himself from their first year at the Academy. Mal stood between them, her arms slung around their necks, her lazy smile in place, her blue eyes brilliant, reflecting the flash. Jim had opted not to give his usual shit-eating grin and had instead planted a kiss on Mal's cheek, smirk visible. Leo just held on, eyebrow popped up in disapproval, but unable to keep his own smile at bay, his forehead pressed to Mal's temple affectionately.

He couldn't remember the picture being taken, what they had been doing, if they were even sober or not, but the looks on their faces… there was such genuine happiness there, each captured in still-frame exactly as they were. Mal, holding them together with mischief in her smile and delight in her eyes. Jim, throwing around his lips and his laughter freely. And Leo… hesitant to give in to their enthusiasm, but unable to resist it.

One picture summed up their entire friendship.

Leo couldn't help but grin. He tried to flatten the picture out, but the creases were permanent, the edges turned up. Lazily he drew his finger over the three smiling faces.

"That's how I knew it was going to be one of you," Pike said, sitting up with a wince. "That picture. It's been tucked behind the shield for three years. That badge," he said seriously, all traces of his smile gone, "is Mal's proudest possession. It's proof of the good she's done, and will continue to do, and today she left it to you for safe keeping, McCoy. If you aren't willing to love that girl whole heartedly, then you let her go. She doesn't deserve an ailing heart. She deserves to be happy."

Leo didn't say anything. He simply nodded. After a few moments of silence, Leo slapped Pike's hand away from his neck. "Quit picking."

"Alright, here's the plan." Mal peeped through the med-bay door and quickly ducked out of sight again before she was spotted. "You go in and distract Leo, I'll grab a medkit, and we'll just lock ourselves in sickbay until I've patched us and he calms down."

Mal peeked around the doorframe again, her eyes glued to the broad back of Leonard McCoy as he leaned over her father, the two of them speaking quickly and quietly.

Leo looked… incredible. She'd never understood the saying 'a sight for sore eyes' but the meaning struck her at that moment. Seeing him, commanding and capable, his strong form outlined by the overhead lights… it was like a salve on her soul. Seeing him… it just made things better in a way she couldn't explain.

Complete.

Jim grinned mischievously but Mal missed it, engrossed in her own thoughts. "Good plan, Mal. I just want to change one thing."

Mal tore her eyes away from Leo to look up at Jim. "What?"

"Yo, Bones!"

Jim shouted and Mal was caught, standing in the door. Mentally, Mal sent Jim a kick in the ass but he only saluted her cheerfully as he skirted around her and bolted into the sickbay, locking the door behind him.

I will get you for this, Kirk, she told him angrily. Jim appeared in the window and stuck out his tongue. He immediately ducked and Mal realized, with trepidation, that there was a familiar cache of emotion behind her. Straightening herself out to the best of her ability, Mal turned to face the owner of those nervous purples and concerned greens. "Hey, cowboy." Her own voice came out a nervous chitter and Mal wanted to smack herself for being so unbearably pathetic around Leonard McCoy.

Leo seemed frozen to the spot. His eyes moved over her slowly, missing nothing as they worked their way down and back up again. Mal squirmed uncomfortably under his inspection. "Leo…"

His hazel eyes flashed to her face and Mal wished she had just stayed silent. He approached her slowly, his jaw a bit slack as he took in the extent of her injuries. She could feel fear rolling off of him, with a hint of panic and disbelief thrown in for flavor. "Goddamn…" he muttered. "Mal, how…" he couldn't seem to find the words. Slowly he mapped out the trail of bruises up and down her arms, noting that they perfectly matched fingers digging into the pale flesh. He saw her wince when he felt carefully along her dislocated shoulder. Frowning, he followed the popped joint along to the broken collarbone. His practiced fingers moved over the lump of bone and Mal hissed through her teeth when pain lanced through her chest.

Only one small whimper broke free when Leo's cool, rough finger traced along her cheekbone, and up around her eye orbit. His path led him behind her ear and down her neck, hovering just over the broken collarbone.

"Tell me Jim killed the son of a bitch that did this to you," he growled, fire in his eyes. "Tell me he's gone so I don't have to turn this goddamn tin can around…"

Mal nervously put her hand up over her face. "The Narada was sucked into a black hole, Leo. If a Romulan managed to survive a disrupter blast, a four-story drop, and that anomaly, I'd say just let him live."

Leo growled and pulled her hand away from her face. "You are not funny," he said. His hand slipped to her back and he steered her toward the sickbay where Jim was watching them carefully. "You're hurt, and you purposefully avoided coming down here. You know better, Mal. You," he growled, "are as bad as him." Leo pointed to Jim and used the EMCs to open the locked door.

Jim scrambled back as Leo tucked Mal against his chest, mindful of her shoulder, his eyes dangerous. "Jim, I understand that you have no concept of self-preservation but in the future, if Mal has a bone sticking out of her chest, SUCK IT UP AND GET HER DOWN HERE!"

The door slid shut behind the doctor and the remainder of his shouts were muffled. Pike snickered from his biobed.

He approved.

Reviews are love...

Coming up: Eddy, Price, and some MaLeo love.