Disclaimer: Paramount.

Like I said, soon! Thanks to a couple of late night scribbling sessions (why must the muse always come at ten o'clock? She has no sense of convenience…) I have two lovely chapters to post. Short, I admit it, but that's why there's two of them. Enjoy!

Chapter Sixteen

The Sickbay doors hissed open to admit one person. Those few medical personnel who weren't at lunch took note and paid attention. It hadn't taken long to realize that any time Jim Kirk walked into Sickbay, there was bound to be excitement.

McCoy rolled his eyes on seeing him. "You. Again."

Kirk grinned. "Me. Again."

"Don't you have anything better to do?"

Kirk shook his head. "Not a thing. Besides, I was in the neighborhood, and I enjoy dropping by."

"I'm glad someone enjoys this," McCoy muttered, oblivious to the fact that most of his staff was enjoying it quite a bit.

"I must say, you've certainly got a knack for friendly greetings," Kirk observed, claiming the nearest seat."

"I'm friendly to people I'm interested in being friends with," McCoy snapped.

Kirk laid a hand over his heart. "I'm hurt. Deeply."

McCoy stared at him. "You attacked our ship and took over. And now you want to just up and declare friends?"

Kirk considered, then nodded. "Yes." He shrugged. "Or at least carry on a polite conversation."

McCoy sighed. "Polite. Fine. How are you?"

"Fine, thank you. And you?"

"Just dandy," McCoy said sourly. "Aside from a persistent annoyance."

Kirk took that in good humor. "So do you mean me, or Spock?"

McCoy scowled.  "Make that two annoyances."

Kirk shook his head. "I'm still not seeing your problem with Spock."

"I thought you wanted the conversation to be polite," McCoy said dryly. "Better change the subject."

"Alright. How's work?"

"Busy. Always. You?"

"Pursuing a major interest right now. If it pays off, I don't expect to ever work again."

McCoy chose not to respond to that. He cast about for another topic. "So…how's the family?"

Kirk blinked. "Do I look like I have a family? Because if so, I need to work on my image."

McCoy shrugged. "It's the usual question, right along with 'how's the weather,' and there's no weather in space. Didn't really think it would go anywhere, but thought I'd ask."

"Oh. Well, no family. You got a family?"

McCoy hesitated, then nodded. "Yeah. A daughter."

"Really?"

"Joanna. She's back on Earth."

"You from Earth, then?" Kirk asked. It actually wasn't necessarily a given. These days, there were enough colonies that you never knew.

McCoy nodded. "Yes. Georgia."

Sickbay in general was becoming bored at this point. An amicable conversation wasn't quite what they'd been hoping for.

It was here that McCoy had a thought. The conversation so far had been, frankly, pointless, and pursued only because past experience told him an attempt to throw Kirk out wouldn't succeed. But maybe he could turn this to an advantage. After all, it couldn't possibly hurt to know more about Jim Kirk.

"So…where are you from?" McCoy asked casually.

Sickbay in general perked up.

Kirk grinned. "You'd be surprised."

"Maybe not," McCoy countered.

"Take a guess," Kirk invited.

"Alaren?" McCoy suggested, naming the planet with the second-worst reputation in that section of the galaxy.

"Alaren?" Kirk shook his head. "Not exactly."

"Rigel?" Rigel had the worst.

"Rigel?" Kirk laughed suddenly. "Oh, I get it. You're gonna trace all my problems back to my childhood. You're figuring I'm from some slum on Rigel. Started as a pickpocket at six, moved up to petty theft by ten. Got into drugs, gangs and felonies at eighteen, and left the planet fleeing a murder charge at twenty-one." He grinned at the admittedly taken-aback McCoy. "Well? Am I close?"

"Fairly," McCoy admitted. "Was I?"

"Light years off. Y'know where I'm from? Born and raised in?"

"Where?"

"Iowa."

McCoy's eyebrows rose. "Iowa?"

"Good old American heartland," Kirk said with exaggerated whimsy. "The small town of Riverside, Iowa. Farm country. A dog, a tree house, and a pond out back."

"You were right," McCoy murmured. "I'm surprised."

"Y'know what I was doing at ten? I was a boy scout."

"You were a boy scout?"

"You should see the knots I can tie."

McCoy shook his head, incredulous. "So what were you doing at eighteen?"

"At eighteen?" Kirk grew a little more solemn. "You really wouldn't believe what I was doing at eighteen," he said quietly.

"Grand larceny?" McCoy suggested.

Kirk half-smiled. "When I was eighteen, I was in San Francisco. Starfleet Academy. Second-year cadet."

McCoy really didn't believe it. "You were in Starfleet Academy? Mr. 'To hell with Starfleet' Kirk? You're joking me."

Kirk shook his head. "I don't joke about Starfleet. They aren't funny."

"Okay, fine. Assuming you didn't pull the whole thing out of a hat, what's a boy scout from Iowa who went to Starfleet Academy doing running a lot of petty raiders, who probably did grow up on Rigel? What are you doing out here?"

Kirk looked away. "I wanted to travel the stars," he said slowly, and for a moment McCoy honestly thought he'd get a real answer. But then Kirk looked back, and McCoy knew he wouldn't, not today. The bitter cynic who didn't give a damn about the Federation or anyone in it was back. "But Starfleet wouldn't let me do it their way. So I figured, they don't want me, I don't need them. I can get around the galaxy my own way. And I've done pretty damn good."

There were no comebacks to that, and McCoy didn't try to make one.

After a moment Kirk rose to his feet. "Well, I gotta get going. Stuff to do." He headed for the door. "See you around, Bones."

"I keep telling you," McCoy called after him, "it's Dr. McCoy."

"I know."

~~~***~~~

I'll reply here, and then let you go on to the next chapter I think. Unless you want to review first. : )

Njong: The answers to every one of your questions will be revealed. Just not for awhile. But by the end of the story, every issue will be addressed. Except perhaps whether you'll ever shut up, lol. But that's okay, I don't mind. Long reviews are fun!

Bug: The risks speech has turned up…just not in its entirety. I'm trying to keep away from the screwball comedy, though obviously there is some humor.

Mzsnaz: Wow, you seem happy. Good, I love happy reviewers!

RadarPLO: An interesting question. Will the Enterprise crew start to like Kirk, despite his pirate status? We shall see.

Mimi6: Clearly, they found out his past. How you predicted that I don't know.

Whatshername: Yes, of course, the eyebrow. It's ALL about the eyebrow, lol. And, well, we'll see about the name…

Unrealistic: Your brother likes my fic? He reads my fic? He doesn't review…bad him. More to the point, I'm glad you like my fic. And if you love frequent updates, you can be very happy. : )

Silverfang: Busy and lazy…boy, have I been there. Glad to see ya though! And yeah…couldn't resist that line.

'Tis all. On to the next one!