.o0o.

"I don't even know how you are considering this. Eldrith assaulted one of my officers."

"Which is why we're going to take every precaution in these negotiations. No one down on the planet, none of them onto the Enterprise. They still have technologies that would be very beneficial to Starfleet in these challenging times. We can't leave any stone unturned when we're facing war with the Romulans and the Klingons." It was Komack's orders lately. The Admiralty seemed to have splintered but until there was a change in the regulations, he was still bound by them to follow Komack's orders. "Besides, Dr. McCoy would want access to their medical advances as well."

Still, Kirk couldn't help but bite back, "And what are we trading? Our conscience?"

"That's enough, Captain. Either you do the task you've been assigned or I bring you up on charges of mutiny. You've already delayed four days."

Sensing that his command was in danger and he'd pressed his luck as far as it would go, Kirk straightened his back and quickly adopted formal military position. "Yes, Sir."

Seemingly satisfied, Komack grunted and cancelled the transmission.

Kirk leaned against the wall for a moment to collect his thoughts before returning to the bridge. He needed to maintain a mask of control; his crew couldn't see how close to collapse that Starfleet really was. He stopped short upon seeing Spock in his normal station. "Spock?"

"Captain."

"You still have more leave."

"I am no longer in need of it." And the Vulcan's words couldn't be anything other than the truth. The violent, irrational expressions and behavior was completely gone, replaced by the normal peaceful calmness his First Officer bore.

Still, Spock was prone to stretching the truth, or at least having wildly different definitions of key terms such as 'fine'. "Dr. McCoy cleared you for duty?"

"I was cleared for duty by Dr. M'Benga as per regulation."

Kirk wanted to confirm that Bones had also agreed with this assessment, but he didn't push the matter. He wanted to see his other friend personally anyway. "McCoy is still on leave?"

"For now. He is being assessed by Dr. M'Benga at the moment."

Kirk was pretty surprised that Spock would have passed through his assessment faster than Bones. Spock would never hurt the doctor while he was in his right mind, but the Vulcan hadn't been in his right mind; he'd been erratic and uncontrollable. Still, if Bones had been injured, Spock would not be on the Bridge, right? "I'm going to go check on him."

"I shall accompany you." Spock stood abruptly and followed him onto the turbolift. Kirk snuck a few glances at his companion on the silent trip to the Sickbay, attempting to gauge exactly how fit he was. He looked well enough, but Spock nearly always looked impeccable, regardless of what was going on around or inside of him.

When they reached the Sickbay, it was abundantly clear where McCoy was, if not for it being the only bed with a curtain drawn around it, then for the distinct, sharp whispers coming from behind the curtain. "I don't like what you're implying."

"I'm not implying anything!" M'Benga's voice became a little bit louder and it was clear from his tone that he was growing agitated. Bones had a tendency to bring that out in people. "I'm saying outright that I have to document this. You know the regulations. Any appearance or indication of physical or emotional abuse discovered during a physical must be documented. I can't ignore this; I wouldn't be doing my job."

"You studied on Vulcan and you know Spock personally. There is no abuse, and I'll be damned if I let you write that in my file."

"I'm not saying-"

Kirk threw back the curtains, because really he and Spock had open access to McCoy's medical file anyway, and stopped short of the reprimand he was about to give M'Benga for even suggesting Spock would hurt Bones. Because one glance at Bones' uncovered chest and he had to acknowledge that it did look bad. Bones was layered in bruises, front to back. He hadn't thought about it, but Spock had so little control over himself while under the influence of Pon Farr, it made sense that he wouldn't have been able to keep his superhuman strength in check.

Bones was glaring at him for the interruption but didn't bother to pull a shirt back on. Instead, he crossed his arms over his chest. "As Chief Medical Officer, I'll be taking over my own care. Unless you'd like to challenge my ability to proceed with self-care."

M'Benga threw up his hands. "Fine. I'm signing it over to you." He scribbled his name down on the PADD and pushed it into Bones' hands. He then nodded to the Captain and stalked off, avoiding Spock entirely.

"He does have a point." Kirk says hesitantly, again glancing towards Spock who had yet to move a muscle since coming upon the scene.

Bones grunted. "No. He doesn't. Spock wasn't himself and had no intention of causing injury. And as far as injuries go, I got off pretty light. Nothing is broken, nothing is permanent. Documenting a suspicion of abuse would serve no purpose and put Spock in a bad position."

"What are you injuries?" Kirk demanded.

McCoy rolled his eyes and rattled off in a professional tone, "Multiple contusions on my shoulders, neck, hips, thighs, and ankles. Abrasions on my wrists." Kirk eyeballed some of the 'contusions' around Bones' neck and decided that they were definitely hickeys. He resisted the urge to giggle like a schoolboy because the image of Spock giving a hickey to anyone was too funny for words.

Bones was ignoring them as he ran a regen over his wrists where the skin had been rubbed away and looked raw and tender. "And?" Kirk prompted.

"And slight tearing." McCoy wasn't willing to look at either of them, and there was no doubt where the tearing was located.

Kirk took a step closer. "Bones. How ARE you?"

Bones glanced up at Spock. "Spock didn't do anything I didn't want him to."

"And Eldrith?"

Bones shrugged. "I honestly don't remember a thing. I was drugged, remember?"

"That's not an answer."

Pulling on his uniform shirt, McCoy began running the device over his neck. Spock leaned forward, possibly the first movement from him since he stopped beside the Captain by the biobed. He rested a hand on Bones' shoulder in a way that reminded Kirk of himself and stayed still for several long minutes. Kirk figured they were carrying on some conversation and started plucking imaginary lint from his shirt.

Finally, they separated and Kirk took his opportunity. "Bones?"

"I'm not good, but I'll be fine."

"We're going to have to continue trade with them."

Spock turned to him quickly, as if to ask him if he was serious and deciding it was un-Vulcan, but Bones didn't seem to react at first, then, "Their work on medicinal treatments for radiation is pretty spectacular. See if you can't get ahold of some of that."

"Bones, I'm not going to let you bury this. You were almost raped."

"What do you want me to say, Jim? I'm angry at Eldrith, sure, but I'm furious at Eltasat because I thought I could trust him, one doctor to another. I thought he was a good man stuck in a bad position just trying to save his people, but he sold me out as soon as he thought I was some gifted telepath."

"I'm sorry." Kirk didn't know what else to say. He should have been there to protect Bones and he wasn't. He shouldn't have left him on that planet with just Scotty. Maybe he should have pulled him from active duty like Nogura had insisted.

.o0o.

A/N: Sorry it took so long. Stupid reality.