McCoy hadn't slept that night, so when he entered his department the following morning, his mood was not very peaceful, the rage in him searching for blood. Too bad that a monthly check-up of the whole crew started today. It meant a lot of opportunities to make a lot of people uncomfortable. Not like he cared. Today he would make God himself uncomfortable.

The cause of his today's ill temper was sleeping with a light smile on her lips. It made him even more furious, but this was not a time to throw a tantrum. He needed to finish organizing his staff's work before the check-up started.

One of the nurses bumped into him and he swore, making the nurse wince. Oh, it was going to be a long day.

To his surprise, the check-up went perfectly smooth. It was probably because everyone sensed his readiness to go on a rampage and didn't give him a reason to do it. It was extremely annoying, he had to admit, not being able to release his anger, and the more he kept it to himself, the bigger the explosion was going to be. He was even worried if he'd kill someone eventually.

It was a new nurse who they'd picked up in Yorktown, Catto, who finally let him lose his temper. The woman made a mistake in arranging the crew's profiles according to the alphabetical order at the very end of McCoy's shift. And now he was shouting at her, inwardly feeling a little bit relieved.

"How is it possible to be so goddamn stupid?" he yelled, "Can't you read? C goes before d, not vice versa. Do I have to check on everything in here?" he threw his hands in exasperation, "I've got five hundred people to check on, so I have a job to do without correcting your stupid mistakes. So do me a fucking favor and try not to screw up every damn thing I'm ordering you to do!"

He stormed to his office, panting slightly. The outburst helped to ease the tightness in his chest a little, but it wasn't enough. Lee's behavior today was annoying to no end. She was ignoring him the whole day, driving him insane with every minute he was deprived of her smiles and touches. That damn Klingon spy.

The next thing he knew was the girl standing in front of him. He didn't notice how she'd come in, so she took him by surprise.

"What do you think you're doing?" she hissed, "Are you out of your fucking mind? Why did you do this to her?"

McCoy blinked. He'd never seen her angry. Apparently, the wicked part of her was showing its new facet. She looked quite intimidating and exceptionally hot in this new mode, and this last part maddened him even more.

"And what do you think you are doing?!" he yelled, "It's none of your goddamn business! You're not the one in charge here, but I am, so I do what I see fit. And you have absolutely no right to come here and judge me like this. You may drive my whole department crazy, you may do whatever you please with this damn health of yours, but you will not tell me how to run my sickbay. So fuck off and go to your fucking bed!"

She narrowed her eyes, and his instinct told him that he'd just done a huge, enormous mistake.

"Are you done?" she asked calmly.

"Yes. Now get lost."

She didn't reply. Instead, she shoved him hard. He didn't expect it, so he fell in a chair that luckily wasn't far behind him. She put one of her knees between his legs and set her hands on both sides of his head, effectively pinning him in place.

He noticed blackness under her eyes like she hadn't had enough sleep. She also looked paler than usual, but he was too mad to point it out.

"And now you are going to listen to what I have to say, Leonard McCoy," she was saying inches apart from his face, "What you've just done is cruel and completely unacceptable. This stupid mistake was nothing, it wasn't important, and your head nurse would have corrected it if you hadn't poked your nose into this."

He tried to object, but she silenced him by putting her hand on his mouth. Oh, this small, soft hand.

"Catto is a good nurse," the girl continued, "She knows her job. She is smart and kind and hard-working. And you've just made her cry."

Lee closed her eyes for a second and took a deep breath.

"I did say that you're sexy when you're angry and I meant it. Personally, I find you screaming like a little girl in the middle of her tantrum exceptionally hot. But I guess few people share my opinion. And while I don't care if you are shouting at me, some people may be actually scared to death by your dramatics."

The girl sighed and kneeled in front of him. She rested her hands on his thighs and the anger in him immediately vanished, a white-hot desire came to its place. She was practically between his legs, for christsake, and looked up at him without her previous cold rage. Lee smiled, and it took every bit of his self-control not to take her head, kiss her hard, shove her at his desk and make her scream too, but for a very different reason.

"Look," she said, softer now, "You have a daughter, right? What would you say if it was her being shouted at? What would you think if she was working her ass off to be useful on a ship like the Enterprise, if she was persistent and talented and just good at her job, but some crazy boss of her yelled at her like you did today? What would you feel if even the slightest mistake of your daughter was met with such disrespect? You've insulted Catto, Leo, in front of your whole staff. Do you even comprehend how it feels to know that the boss you look up to thinks you are stupid and incompetent? You are her commanding officer, so her career, and maybe her life too, depends on your opinion. Your words made her feel absolutely devastated. So what would you say if someone treated your daughter like you treated Catto today?"

He never thought about it. The possibility of his little princess experiencing what his nurses were constantly subjected to made him wince. He'd kill anyone who dared to behave with Joanna like this with his bare hands.

Lee's smile became even wider as she was studying his reaction to her words.

"You are a good man," she went on, "And I know that you didn't actually mean what you'd said. But she doesn't know it. She is new here, am I right?"

He nodded.

"So she hasn't got used to your utterly hot, but extremely terrifying temper just yet. So don't do this to her... to any of them again, okay?"

"And have you got used to my temper?" he asked, the tension in his chest fading bit by bit.

"I'm just not buying any of your bullshit," she smirked and rose to her feet.

His face was right in front of her lower stomach now. He silently ordered his hands to stay where they were and not grab the girl and make her straddle him. He forced himself to look up and wondered if she was aware of the reactions she drove from him.

"You'll apologize to her," Lee stated and he nodded. He couldn't refuse her. Again.

"Good man," she kissed the top of his head and left, making him freeze.

What had just happened? She couldn't just come here, calm him and turn him on at the same time and leave! The girl was definitely a devil. He shook his head, trying to exorcise her from his thoughts. Then he hit the comm.

"Nurse Catto, come to my office now," he ordered.

He received 'Yes, sir,' and leaned back. The girl made him apologize. Unbelievable.

Catto came in, looking scared and pathetic. McCoy thought about Joanna and sighed.

"Take a seat, nurse," he suggested in a low voice, "I need to talk to you."

He explained that the order in the crew's profiles was important because in time of crisis every second mattered, and if something wasn't in its intended place, it may cost someone's life. He explained that being attentive is crucial in their job. Finally, he apologized and dismissed her.

They all would think that he was out of his mind, McCoy decided, recalling Catto's stunned and bewildered expression when she'd heard his 'I'm sorry.' It was so not him. Damn, what had this girl turned him into?

Several hours later he was glaring at the pyramid of PADDs on his desk. The paperwork was killing him. And the fact that all this had to be done until 0800 was killing him even more. He regretted delaying the check-up, but with all the mess that Lee had caused they just hadn't had time for it. They were late by a couple days and the guys from Starfleet Medical were demanding the check-up results more and more persistently. And they had just started, damnit. It would take a week to examine everyone on this ship.

McCoy rubbed his eyes and felt how sleepless last night was catching up with him. But all this shit had to be done, so he set to work. It was boring and monotonous, so he entertained himself by checking on Lee's vitals from time to time. He noted that she'd been sleeping for a while but now was awake, her heartbeat was strong and steady, thank God.

Hours passed by, the pyramid on the desk grew less in size, but he wasn't done yet and it made his head ache. He just wanted to sleep and give his neck a little break from sitting in the same position for a very long time.

Lee collapsed in the chair in front of his desk, startling him.

"What did you say to her?" the girl asked, "she looked like the lightning struck her after she came out."

McCoy studied her warily.

"Not now, girl. I'm busy."

She looked at the desk and frowned.

"Does it have to be done now?"

"Actually, it had to be done yesterday."

She tilted her head.

"Can I help?"

"No, this is what I have to do personally."

"But you look horrible. You need rest."

He scowled at her.

"Thanks for the advice. But I really need you to stop interrupting my work."

He shouldn't have said that. It made her wicked side come to the light.

"Okay," she replied with a mad grin.

The next second she was in front of him, snatching a PADD out of his hands.

"What the fuck?" he hissed.

Her grin became even madder. She whirled his chair around, so he couldn't see his desk, and leaned down to face him.

"Will ten minutes make a difference?" she asked.

He made an attempt to get back to his previous position, but she grabbed his shoulders with an unexpected force and didn't let him escape.

"Let me go, girl, I'm not kidding. I really am busy," he glared at her.

"Will ten minutes make a difference?" she repeated.

He intensified his glare, but it was a vain attempt. She was long immune to his best intimidating tactics. So he let her take over once again.

"No," he admitted.

"Good. Now order a privacy mode."

He stared at her in shock.

"What?"

She rolled her eyes.

"I wanna make you relax a little so that you won't doze off right on these things. And my relaxation technique needs us not to be interrupted."

He gaped at her, his brain was refusing to believe his ears. Was she suggesting what he thought she was suggesting?

She laughed at him.

"Don't look at me like that. I'm just going to give you a massage. So, privacy mode?"

He weakly obeyed, both relieved and disappointed. But what was he thinking, anyway? Would she ever want to kneel in front of him like she did earlier, put her hands on his thighs and... No, don't go there.

In the meantime, she positioned herself behind him and whispered "Close your eyes. It will take only ten minutes and then I'll let you work. Promise."

And she let her hands roam. She started with his sore neck and a moan escaped his mouth before he could suppress it.

"Do you like it?" she murmured.

He couldn't see her, but he heard a smile in her voice.

"Yeah... This is... Ugh," Damn, he forgot how words should sound.

"Good?" she suggested, pressing her thumb just in the right place.

"God yes."

He never realized how tense he was until the girl made the tension go away. Her hands pushed, pressed and moved in ways that made him lose his mind. What else could she do with such talented hands? He tried to be silent, he really did, but sometimes it was impossible to be quiet. It was too good. She was too good. Spy or no spy, she was too good for him.

Her hands left his back and proceeded to his head. She started fussing with his hair, and it earned her another moan. Well, if playing with the devil was like this, he wouldn't mind going to hell.

Her moves became slower, and now she was just caressing him. It all ended way too soon.
"I'm done," she quietly said and he opened his eyes.

She stood in front of him with a strange expression on her face. She was slim and pale, wore a patient's robe that was a little bit big for her, her ginger hair was a mess, and she didn't wear any makeup, but for him now there was no woman in the whole universe more beautiful and desired than her.

He could take her now, he knew it. A woman didn't just give a massage to a man she didn't want at least a little. And Lee wanted him a lot, he was sure of it. Damn, he wanted her too, if tightness in his pants was any indication. But he really shouldn't do it. 'Be careful,' Jim told him.

Fucking her would definitely not be considered being careful.

"Thanks," he said in a hoarse, shaky voice.

She sighed and shook her head.

"You are welcome. Feeling better now?"

"Yeah, I can go back to work now, I guess."

"Yeah," she stepped back, "Mind if I stay here?"

"No, if you don't sit in my chair," he smiled, but felt that the smile was not very sincere.

"Sure," she took her PADD that she'd probably carried here earlier and stared at it blankly.

McCoy looked at his PADDs too. He didn't want to sleep anymore, but now there were so many other things that he wanted, and he didn't know what distracted him more.

Just forget it, he told himself. It was nice, but now it was gone. He'd never have a right to call this young crazy beauty his girl. McCoy knew his way with women and he knew how spectacular he usually screwed everything up with them. The girl liked him, but she didn't know him. When she knew, she'd leave, just like Jocelyn had left.

This was for the sake of them both, McCoy thought. So he gritted his teeth and switched on the next PADD.