Jamie spent her shift thinking about her new passenger. She wondered what went on behind that ferocious expression. He had been kept in an Orion "pleasure" house for a significant amount of time and hadn't broken, at least not yet, but there were definitely cracks. She knew one could only hold the memories at bay for so long before they took control. After being rescued from Tarsus IV, she'd chosen to not deal with what happened, shutting out everyone including the counsellors.

She sighed and called Starfleet, informing them of their guest and asking if Bones's mom could be notified safely without the crazy ex finding out.

"This Jocelyn is a piece of work," she told Admiral Pike, "after they divorced she tried to have him killed, but the hit men decided to sell him to some Orions instead. So he spent two years in one of their filthy houses, being forced to service clients. I'm guessing they had to drug him, because he's not the type to willingly go along with that." Pike grimaced.

"That's horrible. I knew his ex was a little unhinged when I recruited him, but when he went AWOL, I certainly didn't suspect her having a hand in it."

Jamie gaped. "He's a member of Starfleet?"

"Yep," Pike confirmed. "Started your last year. I'm surprised you never ran into each other, considering how often you ended up in Medical. He probably would have been a CMO by now, he's that gifted."

"Wow!" Was all the Captain could say in response. "Is it okay if he stays on board for awhile? We're not near a Starbase and I really don't know if he's ready to be subjected to a bunch of questioning just yet."

"He can stay," the admiral assented, "but I'll need to talk to him personally. See if he can identify the attackers or if he even wants to still be in Starfleet after this. He knows me, Jamie. I won't pump him for details he's not willing to give."

Jamie thought about it and agreed to put the doctor in touch as soon as she could. When she went to lunch in the mess hall, she spotted Leonard sitting with Scotty at the table, apparently being entertained by the engineer's crazy stories. Jamie smiled at the sight. If anyone could help Leonard feel at home, it was Scotty, all right. She took her tray over to their table and sat down across from the doctor.

"Spreading wild tales about us, Scotty?" She asked the engineer.

"Oh you know it, Captain!" He replied cheerfully. "Leonard should be fully informed of the crazy on board. This ship is very exciting."

Jamie laughed. She looked at Leonard, and he was even smiling. What a nice smile, she thought. Good for Scotty. He could tell all the wildly exaggerated stories he wanted if he brought that dimpled grin to Bones's face. She listened to another story of Keenser's misadventures in the Jeffries tubes while she polished off her food and then spoke up.

"Would you like me to take you on a tour of my beautiful ship, Bones? I'll be off shift in a couple hours and I can show you around this place if you'd like. We're really not that bad."

Bones thought about it for a minute and nodded. "Might as well. Do me good to see civilized life again. All I did on that rock planet was haul rock to build the huts for the Dwerms. Very simple species, they are."

No wonder his muscles were so developed, thought Jamie, then blushed when she realized she was staring at said biceps. She put on a bright smile to disguise her reaction.

"Okay then! I'll see you at 4! Be prepared to be amazed, Bones! Our silver lady is the finest in the fleet."

"That she is, Captain. The very finest!" Scotty enthused. They both watched her practically dance away.

Precisely on time, Jamie met Bones outside his room and began the walk to the turbo lift. "We'll start with the bridge and work down," she told him. "I have a feeling you'll like our Medbay, Doctor. Admiral Pike told me you're fleet, too. He thought you'd be a great CMO."

"Yeah, well, that was before," Bones said, looking away. "You told him what happened?"

"Yes," confirmed Jamie, "he was relieved to hear you're alive. It seems we were both recruited by the same guy."

They exited the lift and headed toward the bridge. "He's getting in touch with your mom and going to check on the whereabouts of your ex. He'd like to talk to you, soon, though." Bones only grunted, and she decided not to press just yet.

Over the course of the evening, she took him over the whole ship, from the bridge, to the rec rooms and observation decks, then the science labs and finally, Medbay. Jamie watched carefully to see his reaction when they stepped into the pristine environment currently ruled by Dr. M'Benga.

"Hello, Captain," called a cheerful voice, "what brings you down here willingly?"

"A guest, Geoff!" she replied excitedly. "We picked him up on our last mission and I'm giving him the grand tour. Meet Doctor Leonard McCoy!" But M'Benga was already moving forward. He grabbed Leonard and gave him a bear hug.

"Len!" He cried, "Where have you been? I thought you'd dropped off the face of the earth!" Bones looked first stunned, then overjoyed.

"Geoff! You got your dream assignment! CMO of the Enterprise, who'd have thought?"

They gave each other a backslapping hug, then stepped back and started chatting away like old friends. They must have known each other at the academy. Jamie was glad that Bones had an old buddy on the ship. That might help him loosen up a little.

"So where've you been for three years?" asked Geoff genially, when they had moved into his office. "You missed out on saving the world." Bones got that wary, self-loathing look again.

"It's a long story, Geoff. Let's just say it involves Kidnappers, Orions and being taken against my will on a regular basis."

Jamie was surprised he said that much. Horror washed over the other doctor's face when he realized what McCoy referred to.

"How long?" he asked quietly.

"Two years." Jamie could only imagine the memories that we're going through his mind just then. "Then I got sold to these Dwerm people and and spent another year doing nothing but manual labor. Yesterday they decided I would make a fine present for your captain here." He nodded at Jamie. "So here I am."

Their eyes met, and for a second Jamie saw the deep gratitude in them. She gave him a smile that said "you're welcome."

M'Benga tried to keep up the conversation, worried for his friend, but Bones didn't want to talk much after that, so they bid the Medbay farewell and returned to the observation deck.

"Well, what do you think? Isn't she great?" Jamie asked, breaking the silence as they stared at the stars.

"Pretty nice toy you've got, Captain. Takes a lot of work and determination to become the fleets youngest captain. I'm pretty sure I remember Pike alternating between bragging about you and wanting to bang his head against the wall," his lip quirked upward.

"Yep. I have him plenty of trouble." Jamie smiled fondly. "But before I was a starship captain, I was a genius level repeat offender, trying to drink and sex and fight away the memories of my own personal hell. Ever hear of Tarsus IV?"

He made a face. "Complete and utter tragedy that got swept under the rug. I saw holos of some of the survivors, then nothing at all. I used to wonder what happened to them." Leonard sounded thoughtful.

Jamie took a breath and plunged on. "One of them is standing right here," she said quietly. He froze, staring a hole through her.

"You were one of those starved kids?" he whispered in disbelief.

"Yes," she sighed. "I got caught by Kodos near the end and he had some pretty awful plans for me, but was going to wait until I turned 15 to carry them out. Like that made it any less wrong," She snorted derisively. He kept me tied up and enjoyed the occasional leer and grope, but wouldn't let anyone else touch me. One night, one of his men got horny and decided to just go for it. I wasn't strong enough to fight him, being weakened from the hunger, so I just squeezed my eyes shut and hoped to die." She shuddered. "In the morning, Kodos saw the blood and marks on me and lost it. He brutally killed the man in front of all his troops. I ended up being rescued five weeks later."

Leonard's hands were balled into trembling fists and his breathing was harsh. "Fourteen! He let out a string of curses. "That's vile! The lowlife scum!" He turned to look at her, eyes blazing. "Why are you telling me this? I've only known you a day. That's not something you share with a stranger."

"It's because I already consider you a friend Bones," Jamie replied, laying a calming hand in his shoulder. "I want you to know I understand. You won't have to pretend everything's all right around me. And you'll have a willing ear when you're ready to talk about it."

He stiffened and turned away. "I'm going to bed. Got some thinking to do. Thanks for the tour, Captain."

Jamie wasn't surprised at the rebuff. After all, she herself was an expert at them. The man was clearly still raw, being only a year removed from his nightmarish existence. She sat in the dark and hoped she hadn't ruined any chance for befriending him.