A/N: WOW. Thanks so much for all the kind reviews and to everyone who put this fic on Alert. I was ecstatic at the positive response to this fic and can't wait to hear what everyone thinks of this chap. Thanks again, and enjoy! - pj

Jo hadn't gone into this whole thing unprepared. Not…entirely. She had never planned on ending up in the brig, but she had never really meant to be a Yeoman either. She'd just thought she'd get stuck in her quarters for a while. She really had expected 'Uncle' Jim to drop her off at the nearest star base. Then she could hitch a ride on the next available cargo ship and after that…the stars were the limit.

Instead she found herself staring at the ceiling of a 10x10 cell, her only companion being an extremely non-talkative security officer with a penchant for dirty looks.

"How about Shannon?"

Another glare.

"What?" she asked, sounding as innocent as she possibly could, "that's a boy's name too." The man turned his dark look back to his console and she sat up on her metal bench, pulling off her uncomfortable Kshanti necklace. It was wild and loud, which was why she wore it, but the little spikes and sharp edges made it uncomfortable, and possibly dangerous, to wear.

"You know if you would just tell me your name I wouldn't have to guess."

The security guard was saved from having to make a comment, not that he would have, when the doors to the brig slid open and a tall, lanky figure strode through.

She knew who he was, of course, there weren't very many Vulcans around anymore, and only one that served aboard the enterprise. That and the fact that she'd met him once. At a crew picnic a year ago when the Enterprise crew was planet-side and her father had miraculously invited her to intend.

"Mr. Spock. Nice to see you again," she said brightly. She actually could use a little company right now, Security Officer NoName wasn't very entertaining.

"And you as well, Yeoman McCoy."

Jo wrinkled her nose, "it's Jo. I'm not overly fond of titles."

Spock tilted his head to one side, "it is an honor to be bestowed a title in Starfleet."

"One I didn't ask for," she responded evenly.

"Ensign Daniels, I believe it is time for your scheduled 15 minute respite," Spock kept his eyes on the girl as he spoke to the man at the console.

The young man seemed hesitant as he stood, "But sir-"

Spock spared a glance in his direction and it was enough to convince the man to obey.

"Aye sir."

A smirk caught Jo's lips, "See ya' later Danny."

The man's step hitched and his back stiffened but he didn't turn around and continued on his course for the doors.

"The Captain sending his underlings to do his dirty work now?" Jo asked, standing and moving to look at the glowing red box on the wall, wondering what it did and if it would be a bad idea to pick at it with one of the spikes from her necklace.

"On the contrary," Spock began, taking a small step forward, his hands clasped calmly behind his back, "I am here of my own volition. Also, the brig meets all sanitary standards expected of a Starfleet vessel."

In spite of herself, Jo smiled, but she didn't correct his mistaken understanding of what she'd said.

"Then what do you want?" She sat back down and leaned against the wall, resting her head in the corner and allowing her eyes to fall shut.

"I was…curious about your behavior on the bridge."

She opened one eye, the suspicion now unmasked in her voice. "What about it?"

"You acted as if you did not wish to be here."

"I don't."

"You would rather be in a Juvenile Rehabilitation Center?"

"No I…" she breathed out hard and sat forward, "I just don't like being told what to do. I was told I had to come here. I was made Yeoman because it's supposed to teach me responsibility and teamwork and a whole shipload of crap that I don't care about or want any part of."

"I see," Spock looked thoughtful for a moment, "then your rebellious behavior on the bridge was really just an attempt to take charge of a situation that was out of your control. And by allowing yourself to be put in the brig, you gained said control because it was not the original option put before you."

She licked her lips, her muscles twitching with the effort to remain still, "to put it eloquently, yeah."

"But the outcome was undesirable."

"Oh I don't know, it's kind of cozy down here," she smiled bitterly, "temperature control, all the glowing white light I want and Danny and I have finished a couple of challenging Sudoku puzzles together."

"That is human sarcasm, is it not? I have become quite familiar with it through my dealings with Dr. McCoy."

Spock noticed a slight change in the girl's expression with the mention of the CMO, but it seemed she was determined not to express herself any further. He studied her for a few moments more. She stared back at him unblinkingly.

"I win," she said after a moment.

"I beg your pardon?"

She smiled a cockeyed grin, "you blinked first."

Spock raised an eyebrow and silently came to the conclusion that this particular human was even more illogical than most of whom he had encountered. He found that was both unexpected and troubling.

He nodded, remembering his original reason for coming to the Brig.

"I thank you for the clarification," Spock turned to leave.

"Anytime," Jo grumbled, moving to lie back down. She listened as Spock's boots clicked across the floor for a few steps and then tensed when they suddenly stopped.

"Yeoman McCoy."

She sighed and bit back a curse, "yeah Spock?" she asked, one arm flung haphazardly across her eyes.

"Commander," he corrected evenly, "might I make a suggestion?"

"You might, Commander."

"The Captain's history is public record available to you should you request it. I think you might find its contents…stimulating."

Joanna frowned and sat up to look at him but Spock was already gone.

---

Jim stepped into sickbay somewhat cautiously. He didn't really like to come down here. Not only was it the one place on the ship where his orders weren't automatically followed without question but it was also a fact that he'd never been there when something good was happening. In fact, wasn't sickbay where you were supposed to go after something very bad had happened? And people wondered why he avoided the place like the Sarcovi Plague.

"Nurse Chapel," he said, catching the woman's attention as she passed by him, a MediPad in each hand, "you seen Bones?"

She paused and glanced at him distractedly, "he's in his office, sir."

Jim nodded and crossed the room to the sliding glass door on the far side. The door didn't swish open when he approached so he pressed his finger to the chime and waited. A moment later a locking mechanism disengaged and he stepped into the spacious CMO office. McCoy had crammed the space with antique medical books, PADDs and a comfortable couch very well suited for sleeping. He was currently sitting behind his desk staring at a computer screen.

"Permission to enter?" He asked, a tentative amount of teasing in his voice.

McCoy glanced up at him but returned his eyes to the computer screen immediately, "As you're so fond of reminding everyone, 'it's your ship'."

Kirk dropped the half-grin and clasped his hands behind his back, "Okay. You're pissed. I get it."

"Pissed?" Bones looked up at him, incredulous blue eyes flashing, "I'm way past pissed Jim. The whole point of bringing Joey here was so that she wouldn't end up in a Juvenile Correctional Facility. So the first thing you do when she comes aboard is send her to the brig? My god man does that actually make sense to you?"

"Hey, it wasn't exactly my first choice, okay? You think I like seeing her behind a forcefeild like some ferengi smuggler?" Jim demanded. Of course he didn't. Jo was Bones' daughter, he'd known her since…well, since before the attitude got out of hand and she realized her father was as imperfect as the rest of the universe.

Jim took a deep breath and forced his voice to drop a few octaves, "Look, you and I both know that she doesn't want this out of her life. But she needed a reality check and I prefer she get it from me than some Earth judge who doesn't know her and doesn't care what happens to her. Wouldn't you?"

Bones looked up and saw the sincerity in his young friend's eyes. Finally, he nodded, though he couldn't help hoping this wasn't another one of Jim's plans famous plans where the rulebook goes out the window along with just about everything else.

---

Joanna paced the length of the small cubicle she'd called 'her own' in the brig. She chewed her right thumbnail absently as she waited for her visitor to arrive. A few feet away on the padded metal bench lay two data pads containing everything available in the ships library that she could find relating to 'James T Kirk, Captain, NCC-1701 Enterprise'.

Some of it she'd already known, most of it though, she hadn't.

She jerked her head up when she heard the doors swish open and turned to face the man who approached.

"Yeoman," Kirk greeted, nodding his head and clasping his hands behind his back in a way that reminded her of Spock, "you requested to meet with me."

She gave him a long hard look, momentarily debating her approach, before taking a small step forward, her lips pursed in a thin line.

"Did you bring me here so you could 'save me' the way Admiral Pike once saved you?" She shot off her first question with all the fire and brimstone he'd come to expect of a McCoy, her tone and red-faced enthusiasm telling him he ought to choose his words carefully.

"No," he responded, almost too quickly and her eyes narrowed microscopically, "it's why I allowed you to come on board."

"Then why? You're the Captain of Starfleet's flagship and I'm a juvenile delinquent from a wealthy Earth family. Why would you 'allow me' on your ship," she asked, her tone only slightly less scathing than before.

Kirk licked his lips and set his jaw with determination, "because Bones asked me to."

Immediately the scowl fell off her face and her blue eyes widened, her arms dropping with shock. She hadn't expected that.

She didn't answer, so he continued.

"He cares about you, Jo. He always has," he knew she didn't believe it, so he didn't wait for her to answer. Instead he gave her a look that she almost would have called mischievous, and took a few steps forward crossing the threshold into the cell without so much as a nod to the security guard for him to let the force field down.

Immediately Jo's brows knit in confusion, "what the-"

Jim bent to pick up one of the data pads and glanced through its contents, "been reading up on your new Captain, eh?" he smiled a crooked grin at her and then dropped the PADD back onto the bench, "I've been reading up on you too. School records. Teacher's notes. Arresting officer's reports," she rolled her eyes at the last one, but he continued, "they all said pretty much the same thing."

She crossed her arms, attitude back in place, and gave him a challenging look, "and what was that?"

For a moment he was struck by her. By the easy bravado she exuded. The pretense of calm and casual rebellion that was just that, a pretence. A front. He recognized it. Knew it all too well. Wondered what had happened to this girl to make her think that was the only way she would survive.

"That you're a smart kid. Capable of great things but," he paused, but she admirably kept her face neutral, "that you've got an attitude problem and no interests in changing so that your life doesn't end up a complete waste."

Jo clicked her jaw shut and tightened her fingers around her arms, crossed over her chest. That part stung a bit.

"So?"

"You ever play truth or dare?"

Jo frowned, taken off guard by the question, "yeah. A few times."

"Well?" he asked expectantly.

"Well what?"

"Truth or dare?"

She snorted, "seriously? How old are-"

"Truth. Or. Dare." The seriousness of his tone belied his childish words and Jo stared at him.

"Dare."

He almost smiled, "I had a feeling you might say that." Then he dipped his chin and narrowed his piercing blue eyes at the girl, "I dare you to prove them wrong."

Jo tilted her head slightly, "I don't understand."

Kirk turned to walk toward the entrance again, "Why didn't you leave?"

He turned back to her when she didn't answer and gestured at the opening, "the forcefeild was never up, I made sure of that," Jo sent a quick glance at the Security Guard, but he pretended not to be listening, "so why didn't you just go?"

Jo shrugged one shoulder, "I thought..." she shrugged again, "I thought I couldn't."

He nodded, "You thought you didn't have a choice. You thought that this," he motioned around the cell, "was all you had, all you'd been given to work with and you were willing to stay here. To let this invisible wall stop you from going and doing and being what you wanted," he let his arms drop back to his sides and took a small step toward her, "Don't let that forcefeild be a metaphor for the rest of your life, Joanna. Prove them wrong, make something of yourself. Do better than that…I dare you."

He walked out of the cell and gave her a grave look, "you have one night to decide if you're going to spend the next 364 days here or up there," he pointed toward the ceiling where the Bridge sat fourteen decks above them, "At 0800 tomorrow your shift starts on the Bridge. At the same time, this forcefeild is going to go up. Permanently." He tilted his head slightly to one side, "Which side of it you're on when it does is up to you."

And with that, for the second time that day, Joanna was left with her mind spinning, staring at someone's back as they sauntered out of the Brig.

TBC