Leonard woke with a start when the arm around his waist tightened. Unlike every other time he's woken like this in the last few months, it wasn't in his head. The body that was pressed against his side was warm, soft and very real. He blinked his eyes open and looked down at the woman in is arms, Jim's face pressed against his shoulder. She was more relaxed than he's ever seen her and he could help but take satisfaction in the fact that he had something to do with it.

"Go back to sleep," Jim rasped. He was right, her voice was almost gone.

"How am I supposed to do that when I have you in my bed?" he asked with a smile.

"How are you not worn out?" she said with a low, throaty chuckle. "Oh, great. I'm losing my voice."

"Not gonna apologize for it, darlin," Leonard smiled. She raised an eyebrow. "Okay, I might if it gets any worse but I did warn you."

"Time?"

"Almost ten."

"Jo?" Jim asked.

"Are you trying to kick me out of my own bed?" he asked.

"No. If you don't get her, Sam will bring her. I doubt you want to tell him how we spent half of the last seven hours," she fought the words out.

"Do you ever stop talking?" Leonard asked. Jim shook her head. "Figured. I do not want to have that conversation. That said, I'm not gonna pretend it didn't happen either. If he has to take me behind the barn and give me some scary talk with his shotgun, so be it." Jim let go of the breath she was holding. "He scares 'em off, huh?"

Jim pointed at herself, "Me."

"If you're trying to tell me that you scare people off more than your brother, I don't see how," he smiled. Jim nodded. "You're not scary." She gave him a look and he chuckled. "You're not. At least, not to me." Jim raised an eyebrow. "You're tough as hell and a bit exasperating sometimes and I never want to be on the receiving end of your fury but I'm not scared of you."

"Good to know."

"You're just you, darlin'. The good, the bad and everything in the middle."

"Stop being sweet. It's really weird," she groaned.

"Hey, I'm sweet."

"Cantankerous and short tempered."

"Sex can make a nice man out the meanest," Leonard laughed.

"I feel like I've heard that before," Jim whispered.

"A Saturday Night Live digital short," he told her. "You hungry?" She gave him a shrug. "How about you take a shower while I make breakfast?" Jim shook her head, pointed at him, then at herself, then at his bathroom. "You wanna shower together?" She wiggled her eyebrows at him. "I like that idea better too."

"Look what the cat dragged in," Arlene smiled when Jim and Leonard walked into the house through the back door just after lunch. "Georgie told me what happened. You okay?" Jim pouted.

"She lost her voice," Leonard answered for Jim, who smiled at him in thanks. She made a motion with her hand. "She wants to know where everybody is."

"Kids are in the living room. Georgie's outside somewhere," Arlene told her. Jim kissed her sister-in-law on the cheek before venturing further into the house. "Is she really okay?"

"You mean other than the fact that the motor mouth can't talk?" he asked. Arlene nodded. "She's got some cuts and bruises but I cleaned 'em up. She's pissed that someone was in her house and she needs a new back door. She's also worried that this isn't the end of it, as well she should be. Other than that, she's okay."

"Okay," Arlene sighed. "If something happened to that girl, it would kill George. Not that it wouldn't hurt all of us but I honestly think Jim's death would actually kill my husband. Chris too."

"I've noticed that she has that effect on people," Leonard chuckled.

"She has that effect on you too," Arlene smiled. "I can't wait until Georgie figures that out."

"Figures what out?"

"You've been Kirked."

"'Kirked'? Sounds contagious," he smiled. "You want help with those?"

"Sure. You can dry," she smiled and tossed him the dish towel. Leonard shrugged off his jacket and hung it on the chair before standing next to Jim's sister-in-law. "When we were kids, Gaila called it the 'Jimmy and Georgie Effect.' When we were in high school, it morphed to being 'Kirked'. You look like me in all my prom pictures and wedding pictures and pictures right after Peter was born. Completely and utterly at the mercy of the Kirk charm. Kirked."

"It's not…"

"It's that obvious. Doesn't help that Jim smells like your soap."

"I guess I'll have to have that uncomfortable conversation with her brother sooner rather than later," he sighed as he dried the plates she handed him. He was trying and failing not to think of just how Jim ended up smelling like him.

"George has only had to give the shovel talk once and it wasn't that bad. Chris' talk is another story; I know that one from personal experience. My talk goes like this; Jim's as much my sister as Gaila is. Hurt her and I'll hurt you," Arlene told him with a bright smile that betrayed her icy tone.

His eyes widened before he nodded, "Understood, Misses Kirk."

"Good, she likes you too much for us to actually do anything to you, anyway."

"You think?"

"She won't say it but that girl is crazy about you, she's just stubborn as all hell. Gets it from Winona. Thanksgiving with those two is always interesting. You'll see," she smiled. Leonard and Joanna were invited to spend Thanksgiving with the Kirks, Averys and the Sheriff's Department. He didn't know how that worked just yet but he'll find out in a few days.

"She's not the only stubborn one," Leonard chuckled.

"Oh, I know. Gaila's had you pegged since you got here."

"No kidding," George chuckled as he walked into the house. "Jim here?"

"Yep," Jim said with a wince as she walked into the room.

"Stop trying to talk, Jim," Leonard told her.

"I'll make you some tea but you should listen to our friendly neighborhood medical professional," Arlene smiled.

"Heard you need a new door," her brother said. "Do you want me to fix it or are you gonna do it yourself?" Jim looked at her brother and sighed.

"Sheriff had Hendorff nail it shut," Leonard answered for her. "She has some delusion that she's gonna go over there and fix it herself." Jim glared at him as Leonard and George shared a look. Jim shook her head.

"Too late," George chuckled. "You in, Doc?"

Leonard shrugged, "Sure, why not?"

"She's okay, man. Other than the whole voice thing," George said as Leonard glared at her kitchen. Not that the kitchen did anything to her, the memory was just too fresh.

"If she wasn't, would she actually tell us?" Leonard asked. Jim's brother shrugged but didn't say anything. "They didn't do some CSI type stuff in here?" Someone cleaned up the glass and the blood was gone. The only evidence that something happened was the cracked door frame and the bullet holes in the door.

"Knowing Chris, he probably did it himself," George said. "Small department and the last sheriff was an ass. Jim, Chris, Hikaru and, to a lesser extent, Gary, are the only ones with any formal forensics training. Everyone else is kinda just learning as they go. Chris'll get 'em all some real training eventually but they have to go one at a time and it has to be worked around stuff. Not enough people to do more than that."

"I'll admit; that takes some getting used to. I mean, Atlanta has a pretty decent sized police department."

"That's what Jim said when she did her training. There were more people in the classes than we had in the whole department. Can you hold this?"

"Yea," Leonard nodded and held the door while George unscrewed the last hinge holding it up. Leonard leaned the door against the wall. "This isn't as heavy as it looks."

"Would you believe me if I told you that Jim and Arlene put this door in themselves?"

"Yes. They're both tougher than they look and Gaila said Jim's handy like that."

"Chris' fault. When she worked at the jail, he taught her a bunch of stuff to occupy her time."

"So she wouldn't get into trouble," Leonard said.

George nodded, "We used to wish our mom had married him instead of Frank. Now, we're kinda glad she didn't."

"Why?" the southerner asked. George gave him a look. "I know about your step-dad."

"Good, she told you. Anyway, I'm glad that mom and Chris aren't together because we wouldn't be who we are if it wasn't for what happened with Frank. I also doubt Chris would still be in our lives. I know it's sounds crazy."

"It's not crazy. For instance, if my wife hadn't cheated on me, I wouldn't be here and I don't know how I feel about the possibility of never meeting all of you. Even Scotty."

"He's crazy," George chuckled.

"Yea but Jim says he's a good person and I can trust him," Leonard shrugged as George pried the old frame from the wall.

"He is that. Speak of the devil," the tall blonde said. The two men watched as an SUV pulled up and Scotty hopped out with a teenager, who Leonard assumed was Pavel Chekov based on Jim's description of him. "What are you doing here?"

"I heard about what happened to the lass, came to check on her. She okay?" Scotty asked.

"She's fine. She's over at my house. The good doctor and I are just fixing her door," George smiled.

"Do they know who it was?" the teen asked with a thick Russian accent. Definitely Pavel.

"They have an idea but no positive ID," George said and Leonard couldn't look at him. "You know who it is, don't you?"

"I don't. Whoever this guy is, he better hope like hell that I never do. If Jim doesn't kill him, I might," Leonard said. They all gave him a look. "I was here. I was out front and I almost left her here. If she hadn't forgotten her phone in my car…"

"You can't blame yourself, Doctor," Pavel said. "The man is obviously after something but you stopped him from hurting Jim."

"Yea, man. My sister is as tough as they come but the story I got from Pike is that you're the reason she's still breathing. It's not your fault or hers," George smiled.

"I swore an oath to heal people but I've never wanted to break it so much in my life," Leonard chuckled.

"Jim has that effect on people," Scotty smiled.

Leonard nodded, "I guess she does."

"She fell asleep," Joanna whispered when the guys got back to George and Arlene's. Jim was sleeping on the couch, her head on Jo's legs. "I don't think I've ever seen Miss Jim so…"

"Calm," Pavel said.

"Still," Scotty supplied.

"Quiet," Leonard and George said at the same time.

"I was actually gonna go with relaxed," Joanna chuckled, one of her hands playing with Jim's hair. "Though, she has been really quiet now that you mention it. What happened?"

"Bad guy tried to choke her. It made her throat sore and messed with her voice," Leonard told his daughter. "Hey," he looked at Arlene, "you got a warm compress." He didn't like the color of Jim's neck.

"Yea," Arlene nodded and left the room.

"You like Aunt Jim," Peter said. They all looked at him. "You do."

"Might. That okay with you?" Leonard asked.

"You're nice so it's okay. If you're not nice than we're gonna have a big problem," the kid told him, his arms crossed over his chest. "I know the sheriff's phone number by heart."

"I understand, Mister Kirk," Leonard nodded.

"The lad is a wee bit scary," Scotty chuckled.

"Taught him well," Jim squeaked out and her eyes went wide. "Ow."

"Don't talk. You'll just do more damage," Leonard told her as Arlene handed him a warm compress. "Here." He put the cloth on her neck. "Leave that there for a while. I should call Pike because I don't think you're going to work tomorrow." She glared at him. "I know you wanna catch this guy but you could do permanent damage to your vocal chords if you don't rest your voice. I'm sure the sheriff can come up with something but I seriously doubt he'll let you patrol and if you can't even answer the phone, there's no point in going into the office." Jim raised an eyebrow. "I don't care if you're pissed off. Deal with it."

"Would you look at that, someone else who speaks fluent 'Jim'," George chuckled. The woman in question looked at her brother. "I know. We'll talk about when Leonard says you can talk." She glared at them.

"Liar," Leonard chuckled. "You couldn't hate us if your life depended on it."