DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fiction using characters from the Star Trek universe. I do not claim any ownership over them or any of the many Trek universes. This work is solely for entertainment purposes and is not considered canon (not by a long shot).

Jim stared down at his comm. He'd just had a frustrating but hopefully productive conversation with his former chief engineer, Montgomery Scott. Scotty's resignation still stung – Jim hoped after this mission he'd be able to persuade the man to rejoin the crew of the Enterprise. With a sigh, he headed for the bridge.

"Are you out of your corn-fed mind?" Bones snapped. "You're not actually going to listen to this guy, are you? He killed Pike and he almost killed you. Now you think it's a good idea to just pop open a torpedo because he dared you to?!"

Jim listened to his omega rant – Bones' scent was back to normal now but Jim couldn't forget the spike he'd picked up on during the brig interrogation.

"Why did he save our lives, Bones?" Jim asked quietly.

"The doctor does have a point, Captain," Spock said.

Bones frowned. "Don't agree with me, Spock, it makes me very uncomfortable."

"Perhaps you too should learn to govern your emotions, Doctor," Spock said reasonably. "In this situation, logic dictates ..."

Bones' eyes darkened with anger. Jim almost laughed – he'd teased about it before, but watched his mate go into 'protective omega' mode was little short of awesome. In this case, he was worried about the entire crew.

"Logic? There's a maniac trying to make us blow up our own damn ship and -"

"That's not it, Bones!" Jim said, exasperated. "I don't know why he surrendered, but that's not it."

Leonard pursed his lips. Jim's mind was made up if his scent was anything to go by. A moment later, the captain confirmed it.

"Look, we're going to open a torpedo – the question is how," Jim said.

Bones looked up. "Jim, without Mr. Scott on board, who exactly is qualified to just pop open a four-ton stick of dynamite?"

"The admiral's daughter appeared to have interest in the torpedoes and she is a weapon's specialist. Perhaps she could be of some use," Spock offered.

Jim and Bones looked over with the same confused expression. Jim blinked. "Admiral's daughter? What admiral's daughter?"

"Carol Marcus. Your new science officer concealed her identity to board the ship."

Jim frowned. "And when were you going to tell me that?" He was really getting tired of surprises today.

"When it became relevant ... as it just did," Spock replied.

Bones could have sworn the Vulcan looked ... smug.

Jim had never seen anyone with more frenetic energy than Carol Marcus. She matched him stride for stride as they walked to the shuttle bay.

"Are the torpedoes in the weapons bay?" She asked.

"Loaded and ready to fire," Jim replied. "What are they?"

Carol frowned. "I don't know, that's why I forged my transfer onto your ship to find out why." The beta turned suddenly. "I do apologize for that ... I'm sorry if I caused you any problems."

Jim read the same body language that he'd seen on the shuttle previously. Carol was focused on the task at hand, but she was also working another possible angle. Jim mentally kicked himself. He'd hated the sick feeling in his gut when he'd picked up on Bones' attraction to Harrison. He could only imagine how unhappy Bones' had been on the transfer flight from Earth when he'd been deliberately responding to had been nothing more than petulant anger.

Bones is right ... I am five some days, Jim thought ruefully.

"Let's just deal with one issue at a time, Dr. Marcus ... the torpedoes?" Jim said with an easy smile. He carefully restrained his response to her pheromones by concentrating on his bond. He felt a familiar calmness settle in him that he hadn't felt since they'd arrived back on Earth after Nibiru. Which, of course, made him feel worse about the way he'd been treating his mate. Carol was still explaining her reasoning for coming on board and Jim forced himself to listen.

"My father gave me access to every program he oversaw, then I heard he was developing these prototype torpedoes. When I went to confront him about it, he wouldn't even see me. That's when I discovered the torpedoes had disappeared from all official records."

"He gave them to me," Jim mused.

"You're much more clever than your reputation suggests, Captain Kirk," Carol said with a smile.

"I have a reputation?" Jim asked as he followed her into the shuttle.

"Yes, you do. I'm a friend of Christine Chapel's."

Jim racked his mind for anything that might help him figure out who that was but nothing came to him. Bones probably knew – he knew most of Jim's past liaisons better than the alpha himself did. He decided to play along and see if he could glean information.

"Christine, yes ... how is she?"

"Much better now, she transferred to the outer frontier to be a nurse," Carol said.

"Um, that's good," Jim replied.

"You have no idea who I'm talking about, do you?" Carol said with a faint grin.

Jim blinked. Enough of this.

"I've been sort of busy the past year or so ... why are we in here, Dr. Marcus?" Jim glanced around the shuttle interior.

"Is this shuttle prepped to fly?"

Jim frowned. "Of course it is."

"Would you please turn around?" Carol asked as she drew out a small case.

"Why?"

"Just turn around."

Jim did so, not understanding what was going on and feeling distinctly uneasy about that. He heard Carol moving behind him and she continued to talk.

"It's too dangerous to try and open one of these torpedoes on the Enterprise but there is a nearby planetoid. I can open one up there but I will need some help," Carol said.

Jim scented a sudden spike from the beta and sighed to himself. Damn it.

Turning, he found Carol standing in a black bra and panties. There was a time when that would have definitely drawn a different response from him. Right now it only annoyed him that she was being so bold. Carol looked affronted.

"Turn around ... now," Carol ordered.

Save me from bossy betas, Jim thought as he turned around. Carol's body language and scent were telling him he'd better make his position clear.

"Dr. Marcus ... I have a mate – you've met Dr. McCoy."

"Yes ... I wondered. You weren't exactly acting the part on the transfer," Carol said smoothly. "In fact, your scent said something entirely different."

Jim turned at that, not caring if the beta was dressed or not – although he was grateful she was. "Dr. Marcus, my relationship with my mate is my own business. You should understand this much, though – I am absolutely devoted to him and it will be a very cold day in hell before I relinquish my claim."

"Of course, Captain." Carol said.

Jim wondered why the hell he'd let this annoying woman on board.

"Mr. Sulu! Have Doctors Marcus and McCoy landed on the planetoid yet?" Kirk asked as he walked onto the bridge.

"Yes, sir," Sulu replied. "They're moving the torpedo into position now."

"Good," Jim said. "Any activity from the Klingons?"

"Not yet," Sulu replied. "But if we stay here much longer they will find us."

"Lieutenant Uhura, did you let Starfleet know we have Harrison in custody?"

"Yes, captain. No response yet."

Jim stood at the view screen and tried to picture his mate down on the surface. He frowned. Something wasn't right about this situation nor about the lack of response from Starfleet. His thoughts were interrupted by Chekov over the comm-link.

"Engineering to Bridge … hello, captain, can you hear me?" Chekov asked.

Jim pressed the comm. "Mr. Chekov, give me some good news."

"We found the leak, sir, but the damage is substantial. We are working on it." Chekov reported.

"Any idea what caused it?" Jim moved back to his captain's chair.

"No sir … but I accept full responsibility," Chekov said earnestly.

Jim's mouth quirked then his expression was serious again. "Something tells me it wasn't your fault. Stay on it."

Sulu glanced over his shoulder. "Shuttle is standing by, sir."

Jim inhaled deeply. His little interlude with Carol Marcus was still bothering him. What was happening between himself and Bones? In the rational part of his mind, Jim knew that Harrison's particularly strong pheromones had triggered Bones physical response. The not-so-rational part, however, kept asking him why had Bones not backed off the minute he felt himself losing control. But then again, why had Jim allowed himself to be drawn into an attraction trap of his own with Marcus on the shuttle to the Enterprise? Back and forth the thoughts drifted through his head, none of them comforting. Jim pushed the doubts to the back of his mind and opened the line to Bones down on the planetoid.

"Bones, thanks for helping out," Jim said with a faint smile. "Dr. Marcus asked for the steadiest hands on the ship."

He'd hated asking his mate to help the woman but her expertise was exactly what they needed right now ... and personal experience notwithstanding, Jim knew Bones could work miracles with his hands under the worst conditions.

Bones picked up an equipment box and walked out of the shuttle before replying to his captain. Leonard was tired. He didn't know what was happening between himself and his mate. Everything they did seemed to set the other one off. After the moment in Jim's ready room, Bones had believed they were working back toward equal footing. Then Harrison had nearly thrown Jim into a rage and now McCoy was stuck on a rock in space with a woman who had rather obvious designs on his mate. Leonard decided he wasn't above a little light teasing to get back at his mate.

"You know, when I dreamt about being stuck on a deserted planet with a gorgeous woman, there was no torpedo!"Bones snarked. He knew Jim's possessive instinct would be flaring after that comment.

"Dr. McCoy," Jim said steadily. "May I remind you that you are not there to flirt."

Bones grinned. Bulls-eye. "So how can these legendary hands help you, Dr. Marcus?"

"Bones ..." Jim growled.

Bones knew exactly how to rile him up sometimes but Jim could feel the humor through their bond and he relaxed.

Carol set her equipment down. "To understand how powerful these weapons are, we need to open the warhead. To do that, we need to access the fuel compartment." She began attaching scanners to the device. "Unfortunately for us, the warheads on these weapons are live."

Bones rolled his eyes at the doctor's attempt to 'warn' him of the danger. It wasn't as though he hadn't already reviewed the data she'd managed to glean so far. Bones had no intention of going out in a blaze of glory from a random wire cut.

"Sweetheart," Bones began.

Jim's jaw clenched at the endearment. His omega was pushing his sense of humor a bit today.

Bones continued. "I once did an emergency C-section on a pregnant Gorn. Octuplets. Let me tell you those little bastards can bite. I think I'll be able to work some magic on your missile."

Sulu glanced back at the captain with an amused grin. Jim looked fondly exasperated at his mate's antics. Sulu decided then and there he wanted what the captain and the doctor had between them.

"Doctor McCoy," Carol's voice came primly over the comm. "There's a bundle of fiber optic cables against the inner casing. You'll need to cut the 23rd wire down. Whatever you do, do not touch anything else. Do you understand?"

"Right," Bones replied. "The thought never crossed my mind." Leonard took the cutter and slid his hand into the console.

Carol adjusted her scanner. "Dr. McCoy, wait for my word. I'm rerouting the detonation processor."

Jim fought the urge to grip the arms of his captain's chair. The bond between them was silent but deliberately so – Bones had to concentrate and Jim wasn't about to distract him.

"Are you ready?" Dr. Marcus asked.

"And raring," was Bones' reply.

"Good luck," Carol said.

The next sound that came across the comm made Jim's heart slam against his ribcage. Bones' cried out in pain and Sulu's console began alarming.

"Sir, the torpedo just armed itself — the warhead will detonate in 30 seconds, sir!"

"What the hell happened?" Bones yelled. "I can't get my arm out!"

Jim was white-knuckling the chair now. Turning, he barked at Spock. "Target their signal. Beam them back right now!"

"Captain, the transporter cannot differentiate between Dr. McCoy and the torpedo. We cannot beam back one without the other." Spock said, standing beside Jim.

Bones ...

"Dr. Marcus, can you disarm it?" Jim growled. If this woman was the reason he lost his mate, Jim knew he would never forgive himself ... or her.

"I'm trying," Carol said her voice tense. "I'm trying."

"Jim! Get her the hell out of here!" Bones demanded.

Jim ...

"No! If you beam me back, he dies! Just let me do it!" Carol cried.

Jim swallowed as a flood of emotion — fear, but mostly love — hit the bond. And a typical stern insistence only Bones was capable of – even now, the omega wanted others safe.

Bones ...

Bones began a verbal countdown trying to force Jim into beaming Carol to safety. "Ten. Nine …"

Jim ...

"Standing by to transport Dr. Marcus on your order, sir," Sulu said.

Jim looked at the helmsman and then back at the screen. He knew the order he had to give — the one that would cost him everything – the order that would condemn Bones to die.

My mate ...

"Eight. Seven. Six. Five …" Bones kept counting aloud.

My mate ...

"Four. Three —" Bones broke off counting as Carol tore the control module out of the missile and the door slid open, releasing Bones to fall back against the ground.

"Deactivation successful, Captain," Spock said.

Jim sagged forward against the helm. He took a long and very shaky breath before speaking again.

"Dr. McCoy, are you alright?" Jim asked tensely.

Bones was staring down at the torpedo in shock. Dr. Marcus was beside him with an equal look. Jim swallowed when no response came to his hail.

"Bones!" Jim pushed all the desperate fear he was feeling into the bond.

"Jim?" McCoy said hoarsely, rubbing his arm and sending back calm assurance that he was alright. "You're gonna want to see this."