Bones followed Pavel back near the Saloon. Pavel looked at it with dismay, remembering the events that had unfolded the night before. Bones looked at the same saloon and saw something more than just a brawl that happened last night. Something much more.
When they arrived at Pavel's house, Bones took notice in the winsome exterior, which was far more evolved than all the rest of the houses in the town. Bones guessed that he must have some real money to afford something so big.
"I hope you do not mind a beeg mess. My father left for the station after our fight and I left vith you. So neither of us had time to cleen up." Pavel apologized in advanced.
"It's alright kid. I just want some food. I don't really care what the house looks like." Bones told Pavel. The young boy smiled and opened the rather shiny brown door with a gold handle. They were certainly rich.
As Bones stepped inside, he saw the trail of destruction inside. He thought that it might have been nothing. Maybe a few papers here and there. Possibly a broken lamp? But there was much more than just a broken lamp. Desks were turned over. A cushion from a couch was laying in the middle of the floor. The tools near a fireplace was splayed all over the hallway. Their rug lay in ruins. A set of what looked to be delicate and rare china had been splattered straight onto the ground, leaving a circular design of blue and white glass all over the floor. What really troubled Bones was the picture frame he saw on the floor. It seemed to be a family portrait, drawn and painted in. He noticed Chekov, young and smiling, a bright spark in his eyes, wearing a mustard yellow shirt. Then there was his father, grey haired and not so grumpy in that picture. His arm was around a woman with golden hair, just like Pavel. Bright blue eyes and a kind, heartwarming smile. Her delicate hand was resting on Pavel's shoulder. That picture had been torn off the wall and stomped on, the parchment; ripped.
"Damn kid. Are you sure it was just a "little" fight?" Bones asked, his head turning every which way.
"Yes. I eem sure." He nodded, ignoring everything and walking straight through the house. Bones looked up as they walked through a tall archway, painted a dull baby blue. He knew that Pavel was in a sort of emotional turbulence, because who wouldn't? After your mother has died, your father doesn't care about your well being. And you were almost killed the night before.
"Listen, kid…I'm sure everything is going to be okay—" Bones started to try to say something nice to Pavel, but was interrupted by him.
"I eem fine! Do not vorry! I veel be fine!" He lashed out, his blue eyes starting to seem more menacing than sweet and innocent.
Bones put his hands up in defense, saying, "Hey, hey! Okay kid, I believe you. I was just wondering." So there was something wrong. No one would lash out and yell if they were fine.
While they were standing, Bones noticed that he was considerably dirty, covering with things that he didn't even remember. Wiping a hand on his forehead, he looked at it, seeing more dirt on his hand than before he wiped his face. He had just washed his face yesterday in the well.
"Say kid. Before I chow down, is there a place I can take a quick wash?" Bones asked, staring at his hands and nails, now realizing the amount of dirt stuck underneath them.
"Uh…not close sir. I heeve a shower upstairs. If you would like to use zat one." Pavel shrugged, pointing upstairs. Bones looked up at the ceiling then looked at Pavel. The uncomfortability level of being naked and taking a shower while Pavel was still in the house would skyrocket. But Bones desperately wanted to become clean again.
"Goddamit…uh, sure. I'll use it." Bones huffed, not collapsing under his fear. Pavel nodded his head once and began to move out of the room.
"Just follow me. I veel show you were to go." He instructed. Bones listened and trudged behind a very energetic Pavel Chekov. They walked around the house, until finally reaching the stairs. Bones had never heard of stairs that were place in the back of a home. It was a strange phenomenon.
Pavel quickly strode up the stairs, two by two, going plenty fast than Bones was. Bones was still tired and hungry which didn't make him a very happy man to be around. But he needed to get this dirt off of him, so that he could present himself to the town in a formal matter so that they would think less of him as a hooligan stranger who wandered in on a horse and more of a regular fellow. The less attention the better and easier for ransacking the place.
"Zis is ze washroom." Pavel said it plain as day, as they reach the second floor, walking across the hall, opening the door and strutting in. Bones hesitated for a moment, but then continued on and followed Pavel inside the washroom.
"Ziz is where you…ah take showers." Pavel pointed to the long, metal tubed object standing in the room. He had seen these before. Pavel and his father had the newer version though. "I ah…assume that…er, you know how to vork it?" Pavel asked, shifting from foot to foot.
"Yeah. I've got it. Thanks." Bones nodded stiffly as he shuffled past Pavel, forcing him out of the small room. There was silence and an exchange of a few too many nods and short waves before Bones finally shut the door, letting out a deep breath.
Staring at the shower, Bones began to quickly undress, getting rid of every single dirty garment he had on. As he took everything off, he realized that his clothes were basically deteriorating into dirt. He needed new clothes. Sighing, Bones stripped off the last of his clothes, catching a quick glance of himself in the mirror. Despite being older than Chekov, Bones was still pretty fit and cut for his winked at his mirror self and then rushed to the shower, hurrying to turn it on and get inside.
Bones fiddled with the handle, twisting them back and forth until he was able to find the perfect temperature for his skin. Which was usually freezing cold since he was out in the godddamn heat all day long. So when the water felt like the freezing icebergs in Antarctica, Bones leaped in.
Sticking his head underneath the stream of relaxing water, he could feel all the dirt just coming right off his skin. Water dripped off his nose, mouth, arms…everywhere and it felt wonderful. "Oh god yes." Bones muttered to himself, wiping his face with his hands. The tension on his muscles just melted away, the ache in his legs seemed to disappear. The feeling was amazing. Bones opened his mouth and let cold water stream in. A grin formed as he drank the cool water and felt it rushing through his system. Everything felt wonderful and somewhat…magical. This water just cleansing his body of not just dirt, but worries.
"Excuse me—" Bones heard Pavel's voice as it stopped short. Snapping his head forward, he caught sight of the kid standing there, outwardly stunned and shocked. Bones wasn't sure what to do, so the first thing he did was cover up anything that shouldn't have been seen by Pavel.
"What do you want kid?" Bones snapped, quite embarrassed.
"Ah…I vas just wondering if…you uh…needed clothes?" Pavel tried to avert his eyes from the handsome Leonard McCoy, but it was nearly impossible. The man was strong and the muscles in his arm showed by a light bulge. His chest was profound and although slightly flat with no dimension, Pavel could barely see lines running over his stomach, showing him that Leonard McCoy was a very strong man. But what caught Pavel way off guard, was the way Leonard's long hair stuck to his face, giving him a sweet, kind look about him. That behind the muscle and toughness, he was just another young man.
"Yeah. I need clothes." Bones nodded, turning his front away from Pavel.
"Uh, I vill see to it zat you …er, get some!" Pavel struggled insanely with his words, hurrying out of the washroom, slamming the door behind him. Bones relaxed and turned back to his original position, thinking. If that would have been anyone else…Bones would have seen to it that the person would have been escorted out and properly blinded or shot dead. But if someone were to see the interaction, they would have guessed that Bones was highly uncomfortable in that situation, but to be honest with himself, Bones actually felt…fine. Which is what worried him.
He finished up washing his body, before stepping back out of the shower, shutting off the water. He quickly grabbed a large towel and wrapped it around his waist, securing it before stepping outside the room. As water dripped from his body, he stepped out of the room and looked all around for Pavel…or clothes.
"Hey kid! Where are those clothes?!" Bones yelled throughout the house.
"Ah! I've got zem!" Pavel popped out of a room across the hall, holding a bundle of clothes. He ran across the hall, meeting up with Bones handing him the outfit. Pavel tried as hard as he could to maintain eye contact with Bones and not elsewhere.
"Thanks." Bones roughly took the clothes and walked quickly back to the washroom, closing the door.
Bones laid the clothes out, hurrying to get dressed. His stomach felt like it was being ripped apart by his own intestines. He was hungry. He shrugged on the underpants and then got to work on the real clothes.
First he pulled on a button up, white shirt and long sleeve that were deemed too big for him. Then he grasped for a brown-gray vest that was also button up. There was a scarf just laying next to the pile of clothes, but he dismissed it. He replaced the scarf with his black bandana, tying it around his neck. Finally, he was able to pull on a pair of tan pants and clasped his own holster around the belt loops, sticking his Revolver into the slot.
He stepped in front of the mirror to look at himself. Bones was very different. He seemed more proper and bona fide than before. Maybe it was because he was cleaned up. But pushing that thought out of his head, he left the washroom, hurrying downstairs. His stomach began to rumbled loudly, causing Bones actual pain.
"Hey kid! Where are you!?" Bones called out.
"Right here sir." Pavel popped out from another adjoining room in the downstairs hallway. Bones jumped in surprise. That kid had just been upstairs.
"Okay…Now, you can take me to the grub." Bones nodded. Pavel smiled widely and walked ahead of Bones, leading him back through the house and into a kitchen.
"Seet." Pavel pointed to a chair at the head of a very clean, new table. It stretched farther than his living room and was wider than the couch. Bones nodded and took a seat, finding that his chair was rather uncomfortable, giving him back pains.
"So what have you got kid?" He asked roughly, wanting to close his eyes and just go back to sleep.
"Ve have got…porridge…oatmeal…apples. Ve have run out of a lot of zings. My dad still has to go to ze store. He vil be leaving sometime today." Pavel sighed, looking longily at the door. Bones noticed the look and realized something.
"Hey, where is that grumpy bastard anyways?" Bones asked. He had not heard any racket from any of the multidude of rooms at all. It had been eerily silent.
"Vone, he ees not a bastard. He had a muther and father. Two, he ees out at ze jail station down ze street." Pavel explained. Bones nodded, looking around the room as the noise fell and the room became quiet. Pavel stood near the chair, glancing back and forth at Leonard McCoy. Bones sat there, staring straight ahead, hands clasped together out on the table.
"I think I'll just take an apple." Bones muttered. Pavel jumped at his voice and stepped away.
"Ah! Uh, yees sir. I vill be back." Pavel hurried and rushed out the room. Bones tried to keep from turning his head and looking at Pavel slightly with a raised eyebrow, as he left. He couldn't help but wonder…that boy was for some reason…perfect. Even in sagging clothes and ruined jeans…that kid was attention catching. But then again…something was wrong with Bones. Something had been wrong with him ever since he arrived here in this goddamn town. Maybe…he just needed to be around women for a chance. He had been deprived of the estrogen he loved so dearly. Or, what he thought he loved. At the moment, Bones wasn't sure anymore.
"I've got ze apple! Here!" Pavel announced as he entered the room, carrying a bright red apple. Bones looked at it and felt his stomach rumble loudly. Oh god yes, come to daddy. Pavel tossed it in the air and across the room, Bones reaching a hand up, catching it with his right hand, bringing to down to the table.
"Thanks…Pavel." Bones was able to spurt out the kid's name out, feeling satisfied that he could finally say it. There was still odd tension between the two ever since Pavel had walked in on Bones.
"Yes, nice catch." Pavel nodded and sat down at the table next to Bones. Bones tried to ignore the feeling of being watched while he pulled out a blade and started to skin the apple slowly. "Do you not eat ze skin?" Pavel asked. Bones made a muffled laughed, smiling a little bigger than his half smirk.
"Not a lot of people eat the apple with the skin on." Bones smiled and put down the knife, looking at Pavel. "You see kid, when you bite into one of these suckers, the skins get stuck in your teeth. Then you've got this painful thing in your mouth that feels like your teeth are being pushed together against their will. The only way to get it out is to get something think and tough and slide it in between their teeth." Bones picked up the knife again and resumed peeling the apple.
Pavel stared in wonder at the peeled skin that slowly grew longer, conforming to its own shape once it left the apple. Once Bones was done peeling it, Pavel picked the long, red string up and stared at it, running his fingers along the smooth front and rough back. Bones watched as the young kid played with the skin and he began to smile again. Stress had melted away and he was no longer thinking about robbing the bank or burning the town or shooting the happily annoying Jim Kirk. Bones just stared at Pavel as he inspected the skin.
"So…vat are we doing today?" Pavel set down the apple skin and looked kindly at Bones, who was biting down into the fresh apple. Bones moved his eyes sideways to look at Pavel, nodded, waiting to swallow his food before he spoke.
"Yeah. We are doing things today. Not sure what, but…uhh yes." Bones began to speak awkwardly. There were a couple ideas just sitting in his mind, but he wasn't sure how to approach them. He had never tried training anyone…at all. Bones looked up at Pavel. "Hey, is there anything…that you'd want to do?"
Pavel nodded quickly as if he'd been expecting that question. "I vant to learn how to use fist to fist combat."
Bones sighed, "Kid, that's not the first thing you want to start off with. Okay, how about…this." Bones reached towards his back, grasping his Revolver handle, pulling it out of the holster and setting the weapon on the table.
Pavel stared wide eyed at the large gun. Compared to a shotgun, it was smaller. But it wasn't the smallest gun Pavel had ever seen. He stared keenly at the gun. The handle was made of a carved, white stone looking material with silver sides climbing all over the barrel. The base of the gun was made of wood.
"Eet ees beautiful." Pavel whispered to himself and Bones.
"It's my baby. Though I haven't got a name for her yet. But beyond that, she's a good shot. I was thinking we could start that. You have any guns?" Bones laid out a half thought plan before Pavel.
"Ah…no sir. I do not." Pavel shook his head. Bones sighed and leaned forward on the table, looking straight into Pavel's eyes.
"Listen kid, if we're going to be working together…or whatever we're going to call this…training, you need to—you have to…dammit kid, just don't call me sir." Bones became flustered with his words as Pavel returned the stare that he was giving the kid. His eyes were too deep and emotional. Something that Bones hadn't had since he was a child.
"Uh, alrvighty…Leonard." Pavel nodded, calling Bones by his first name. Bones felt uncomfortable hearing his real name for the first time in a long while. Usually people just called him Bones and that was it.
"Okay…now. Do you have anywhere to shoot? A gun range?" Bones kept moving with the plan. Pavel looked out the window and thought hard.
"We do not. But…we have hay bales meters away from the town. Are those…usable?" Pavel turned to Bones, asking, his eyebrows creased with confusion.
"Yeah. I guess we could use those. Do you think that the town will bother us shooting their hay bales?" Bones asked, taking into account the noise of the guns.
"Ah…I do not think they vill mind. I've heard gunshots before coming from the gun shop." Pavel shrugged. Bones titled his head quickly and shrugged giving a motion of not caring. He really didn't care at all. If those annoying bastards came around asking why they were shooting barrels of hay, Bones would not hesitate to shoot one of them.
"Alright then…Pavel. Let's go. When I go…" Bones hesitated to finished his sentence. What he was about to say would surely make him sound weak… and like a wuss. "When I go, I don't want you to get hurt or killed." He quickly rushed the words out of his mouth. Pavel's eyes lit up, straightening up his posture when Bones said that.
"Why?" Pavel implored, hoping that there would be more coming out of this than just…a friendly meaning.
"Because kid, I hate seeing people…pushed around. Someone needs to take a stand." Bones grumbled as he stood up, grabbing his gun off the table. Pavel stood up with him, smiling widely.
"I zink zat you weel be a good teacher. After you leave, I weel be able to save myself." Pavel nodded.
"Don't patronize me kid." Bones snapped towards Pavel, stuffing the gun back into his back holster. "Let's go." Bones waved his hand, heading back through the maze of the large house, luckily finding the door, exiting with Pavel at his heels like a puppy.
As both of them walked together towards the boundaries of the town, Bones heard a commotion arise near the Bank. His blood ran cold and he stopped short. What was it about? Had they found something out?
"Hey kid, can we stroll by the bank?" Bones asked. He knew that going back to the crime scene would be dull of him, but he wanted to know why people were all over the place. Maybe it wasn't even his work.
"Sure." Pavel shrugged, changing the course of their walk. Bones picked up his pace, peering ahead every step of the way. He didn't know what he was expecting to see. The Bank burning? An angry mob awaiting him? What would he find?
As they turned the corner, Bones saw Jim Kirk, Hikaru Sulu and Spock all wandering around the building inspecting it. Bones stopped in his tracks. He shouldn't go back to the crime scene, he shouldn't go back to the crime scene. Bones repeated that to himself over and over. Pavel looked up at Bones, wondering why they had stopped so abruptly.
"Ah, si—Leonard, vhy have we stopped?" Pavel asked, trying to follow Bones' gaze. Bones looked down at Pavel.
"Uh…because, I thought I'd forgotten something. Just keep going. Lead us to the bales." Bones urged Pavel forward and they kept moving.
As Bones passed the Bank, he saw that more than just the Three Amigos were there. The Sheriff was there along with some other townspeople. As they walked past the Bank, the Sheriff spotted both of them and hastily made his way toward the two. Bones tried to pick up speed, but all Pavel did was slow down to meet his dad.
"You two! Hold on for a second here." Sheriff Pike called out. Bones squeezed his eyes shut with annoyance and fear, turning back around.
"Yes? Does there seem to be a problem…Sheriff?" Bones asked. Sheriff Pike glared at Bones, wishing the man dead on the spot.
"Yes. A few people saw a…person, sneaking around the bank last night. I heard that you were out here….Leonard. And did you see anything?" The Sheriff eyed Bones, have a gut feeling that something was off about this man.
"I did not. I went to the Saloon and then back to my little crap shack. That's all." Bones responded, telling the partial truth.
"Uh-huh…very believable. Listen Mr. McCoy, we don't think fondly of people who sneak around at night. Let alone…around our precious Bank. So I suggest that you stay inside when night time comes. I would hate to see you up on that noose by mistake." The Sheriff wanted to pick Bones' brain. Make him squirm. He didn't like this stranger. Not one bit. And if he was hanging around with his son, then there was going to be a bit of a problem between the two.
"Father! Do not heeng Meester McCoy. He has done nozzing wrong!" Pavel cut in. Both Bones and the Sheriff looked at Pavel, each with an amount of interest. Pike wondered why his son would stand up for this stranger whom he had met but a day ago. Bones wondered why Pavel would even bother to save his ass. There would be other people…women, for the small Russian boy. All Bones was doing was helping this kid to defend himself.
"One moment Pavel." Sheriff Pike excused him and Bones, taking Bones aside, hissing at him, "What are you doing with my son?"
"Sir, I think you have the right to know that your son gets beat up…and he doesn't know how to defend himself. I'm going to go teach him that." Bones explained with attitude.
"My son is fine. I don't want you near him." Pike lashed out.
"I'll have you know…last night, your son was almost shot. I had to save his sorry ass before a bastard butchered him like an animal. So I suggest that if you want your son to live to see his own wedding day, then you best believe I'm going to teach him how to defend himself." Bones growled intensely at the Sheriff, not caring if anyone else heard. The Sheriff glared at Bones for a few seconds before speaking.
"Fine. But anymore…beyond this teaching, you're gone. I don't want my son to learn how to kill me…or anyone else. Got that?"
Bones nodded. "Got it."