A/N: Second chapter of Leonard. Bonesy, Bonesy - one gotta love you.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, Bones and Jim are property of Paramount and part of this fanfic had been insired by a ST XI kink meme prompt (you will be notified, don't worry). But if you have any free Pikes or Spock Primes, feel free to send them over!

1. When Loosers Meet Winners

He seriously hoped his absence in one of the seats will go unnoticed. After all, with so many cadets, it will surely be easy to miss one guy in civilian clothing who wasn't supposed be there before. It was slightly after eight when he got dragged from the restroom where he locked himself in, so he wouldn't see outside. No one seemed to bother that aviaphobia is aviaphobia and it won't let you go just because you got yourself recruited into Starfleet. And no, he really didn't need doctor – he was a doctor himself, damit, thank you very much!

After he was pushed in one of the seats and almost forcibly strapped in, he heard quiet: "You alright, man?"

Without looking anywhere he just blurted "I may throw up on you."

Soft chuckle, followed by pained hiss was his only answer. Turning around after the sound, he saw a young man with several bruises, black eye and split lip, making Leonard's doctor side to surface. He seemed to be favouring his right side, gritting his teeth slightly as he turned to face him. He also had the bluest eyes he has ever seen, but in his rant about space being darkness filled with diseases and falling space shuttles he preferred not to really notice. Not only was he at the worst possible place right now, oh no. Add to that, his wife just got whole planet from him in divorce, leaving him just his bones.

When the kid heard that, he just gave him a small smile and held his hand to him. "Jim Kirk. And you are?"

The whole trip became much more bearable with the kid next to him. Jim talked to him about everything and nothing at the same time, keeping his attention kept on himself, not leaving him a moment to ponder that around the shuttle, it's the disease filled dark space, forcing him to keep looking at him with the way he talked and gesticulated. When they were leaving the shuttle to take care of the late recruitment related things (lots of stuff about entrance exams, physical and the rest of joys about being late to sign up), he wondered if he'll see the kid again. It still came as a bit of surprise to find out whom he got as a roommate.

"Hey there, Bones! Fancy seeing ya again!"

And he just knew he was doomed. He might have grumbled about having Leonard as his name and stuff that stupid moniker where sun does not shine, you idiot, but ever since then, he always heard Jim talking about him calling him Bones. And when no one else could hear it, Bones became Bonesy.

Soon after their fashionably late join-the-Starfleet Jim got to be rather infamous for being cheeky and arrogant, uncaring for anyone amongst the other cadets. That didn't sit well with Leonard; unlike all those gossipers he heard Jim talking to his only interested family member, someone of name Frank, and heard the worry and insecurity in the voice of his roommate. He knew better than those campus idiots.

They liked to call his friend – yes, damit, friend – a manwhore who spends most of his time by chasing skirts, sleeping his way around the campus, drinking and fighting. He knew for sure that his roommate may have spent some of the nights away – but he also spent one hell of a time in library or back in their room, helping him, Leonard, to revise for tests in subjects which were a bit over his head, sacrificing his free time and sleep for his benefit, patiently going over the difficult passages over and over, until it finally clicked together in Leonard's brain.

It was the kid who made him to call Jocelyn and ask to talk to Joanna, and to keep trying, if his ex says no. He commed his ex mostly to get Jim off his back with that (he made Jim swear that if it explodes in their faces, he will leave him the hell alone about the issue). To his surprise, he was allowed to speak to Joanna for almost an hour.

Twice a week.

That was after he had to run off for taking a glass of water and when he returned, he found Jim sitting in front of the terminal, using all of his flashy-boy charm on his ex-wife - and surprisingly, it worked, earning him the extra time with his daughter. Seriously, who would have thought that James T. Kirk will get Jocelyn I-will-get-the-planet-in-divorce Treadway to eat from his palm like that?

Jim even charmed himself into his ex-wife's good graces well enough to be allowed to take his Joanna for a visit to the Academy. He had to swear several kinds of oaths, put his credit chip as a pledge that Joanna will return safely – he even asked Pike to speak on his behalf with ex-Mrs McCoy, so he could give Leonard the biggest birthday surprise of his life (not that he learnt about it at the time. But that didn't matter. As much as he never cared much about celebrating the day he was born, this certainly was worth a celebration).

He knew that his fellow medics call him "that grumpy bastard" behind his back. It wasn't as if he cared too much. Others were welcomed to think whatever they wanted – as long as he got his work done and patient saved, he couldn't care less. He would rather be called successful grumpy bastard than unsuccessful miss sunshine (yes, every time he heard "that grumpy bastard got it right" whispered behind his back, he was so tempted to make one of the Jim-like gestures – point his finger at the speaker and sing-song "loosers will loose!"). His patients also recognized this in him, and although they sometimes complained about his supposedly non-existent bedside manner (well, it did exist - but when most of the injuries he treated were caused by carelessness, he was a bit of a grumpy bastard, alright), they still asked for him, if it really mattered.

Jim was one his regular patients. That kid had been allergic to more things he ever thought possible, and before the medics in Starfleet Medical finally realized that, Jim ended there with anaphylactic shock to something (be it food or some poorly thought-through vaccine) way too many times to his liking. So they agreed on listing him as his primary physician (as well as one of his emergency contacts), which probably saved Jim's life more than once.

The kid definitely grew up on him during the years spend at Academy. He saw how he was able to get himself drunk senseless and beaten in a pulp for no obvious reason. He saw Jim being all arrogant and cocky to the faces of those he didn't like (like the guy whom he tended to call 'Cupcake' for some reason). He had been there when one young girl had been beaten around by someone who obviously fancied being her boyfriend (the girl obviously didn't dare to tell him otherwise). Jim very quickly showed him that women are not to be treated that way – and then even accompanied the girl home, to make sure nothing happened to her. Yeah, Jim Kirk could be a knight in shining armour, when he chose to.

And the guy also didn't believe in no-win scenarios. He even managed to pass a bit of that belief on him. He didn't manage to find the cure in time to safe his father? He still managed to find it soon enough that countless other families won't suffer through the same fate. His wife divorced him, getting the whole planet in divorce. Oh, c'mon, it wasn't that bad, the kid told him.

"Believe me, Bones, that she divorced you just shows she's a bit poor in spirit. 'Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth,'" he quoted. Leonard winced, the quote didn't quite suit the situation, but Jim was saying more: "She may easily get the whole planet – but man, you've got the space. And me, of course. So you see – a win-win situation," he finished with grin, making Leonard roll his eyes. And, of course, the fact that he hadn't seen Joanna for several months, before Jim's dare and wasn't able to hug his little girl until Jim dared himself into Jocelyn's house and sight.

Everything was possible, if you were willing to play by "all or nothing" rules when it was needed.