"Tested out of Intro to Strategic Theory, Combatives I and II, and Intro to Weapons and Defensive systems," Captain Pike looked up from his PADD. "Impressive."

Alice recognized the tone in his voice, "But?"

"But you opted not to take the test in History of the Federation, Intro to Warp Physics, and Ethics."

She crossed her legs impatiently, forgoing the professional posture required when in uniform. "And?"

"And for someone who wanted to, and I quote, get this shit over with as quickly as possible, I thought you would attempt to test out of all of your classes." He glared at her, trying to see through Alice's walls and figure out what she was doing.

"I figured it would be best to have a few classes with my peers before showing them all up," Alice shrugged.

"You're lying."

Alice met Captain Pike's stare for a few seconds before smiling softly. She was honestly surprised that it had taken him two weeks after classes had started up before finally cornering her and having this conversation. He was always inserting himself into almost every aspect of her life when he knew he could when she would let him. But, he would always give up if she didn't show any sign of dropping monosyllabic or evasive answers.

"You know, you didn't have to call me into your office to talk to me?"

"Really?" Pike asked in disbelief. "You don't answer when I try to get ahold of you on your comm. You actively avoid me on campus. How exactly am I supposed to talk to you?"

"Talking to you would look like you're playing favoritism towards me," Alice offered, calmly.

"That's cute," he said, shaking his head.

Alice chuckled softly. Ruffling him up was always enjoyable. He could command an entire flagship with a level head, but he always became so flustered when it came to her. It became a bit of a game, and she would tease him slightly, but she never kept it up very long. That would be cruel.

"What do you want to know?" she asked, holding out her hands as an invitation to begin his interrogation.

"Have you made any friends?"

Alice could help but laugh, "I'm not 12 years old coming back from my first day at a new school."

"I know," he said, massaging his brow.

"I didn't test out of those classes because I share them with a couple of people I met," she admitted, to appease his curiosity and prevent him from continuing to make himself look like a fool.

"They got names?"

She frowned playfully. "Did this suddenly turn into an interrogation?"

Pike sighed loudly in frustration, "Alice…I'm trying here. Help me out."

"One of 'em's McCoy."

"The doctor?"

"You've heard of him?"

Pike scoffed. "Everyone's heard of him. One of the biggest catches for Starfleet after our first Vulcan science officer. Everyone also knows he sets the galactic record for the worst bedside manner of any doctor."

"That sounds like him," Alice said with a smirk. "The other one is Kirk."

"Kirk? Jim Kirk?"

"Yes." She looked up at him. "No. Don't even bother asking. I wouldn't let you show me any favoritism, I won't spy on him for you."

"It wouldn't be spying…" But Pike stopped when Alice raised her eyebrow accusingly. "Is he doing well?"

"I imagine you have access to his records, Captain Pike." Alice reserved using his rank only when she needed to make a point and show her extreme displeasure in whatever he had done or said to her.

"That's not what I'm asking."

Alice cast her gaze to the side, weighing her options. "He's doing alright," she offered. "Could be doing better if half of the campus population didn't gawk at him because of who his father was or if the other half didn't behave antagonistically towards him because of the reputation he got from that bar fight the day before he enlisted." She looked back at him, the glacier blue of her eyes intimidating, the green calm, and the gold threatening. "Is that good enough?"

"Yes," Pike said, relaxing back in his chair. "Thank you."

"Anything else?" Alice asked as she rose to her feet.

"Yes, actually," he answered, retrieving something from his desk. "The Academy is hosting a gala for donors and alumni." He handed her the invite.

"No," Alice said before he was even able to get the question out.

"If I have to go, you have to go." Pike held up his hands defensively in response to her glare. "I hate these events as much as you do."

Alice rolled her eyes. "When is it?"

"In two weeks," he said, not bothering to hide his smug smile in victory. "Information is on the invitation. You can bring a date if you'd like."

"Because that worked so well last time," Alice mumbled before leaving the office, closing the door softly behind her.

It was as Alice was walking out of the Faculty Offices building that she spotted Jim. He looked a little more disheveled than usual, hair slightly messy, uniform a bit askew. And he was limping. Concern urged her forward as a slight jog.

"Jim! Are you alright?" Alice asked, coming up from behind him and placing herself directly in his path. She placed a hand on his shoulder softly to stop him.

"Yeah," Jim said, shrugging her off. "It's just a sprain."

There was no way she was going to buy that lie. "You don't limp that badly on a sprain."

"It's nothing," he waved her off, trying to continue forward; but Alice stopped him again.

"Jim…" She didn't understand why he was clearly avoiding going to Medical, but she could understand the feeling of not wanting to. "I hate doctors and hospitals more than anyone," Alice tried. "But you need to get that looked at."

"Alice, I'm—"

"Leon's working there now," she interrupted, "let him take a look at it."

"Leon?"

"His actual nickname isn't Bones," Alice frowned. "Don't misdirect."

Jim sighed loudly, "You're not going to drop it, are you?"

"No," she shook her head, taking him lightly by the arm, "do you need any help?"

"I'm fine," he repeated, shrugging her off again.

Alice made a disgusted noise as she walked beside him, making it obvious she was going to see him all the way there to make sure he didn't back out. Though, a part of her wish he would so that she wouldn't have to go to the hospital herself. She just kept telling herself it was for Jim the entire way there.

"Sit your ass down!" Leonard snarled, opting for a greeting more suitable to his personality than your standard hello.

It was made clear to Jim and Alice that Doctor McCoy was a lot less patient and understanding than the man Jim had christened Bones.

"I am sat down," Jim whined, quickly throwing himself back down on the bed in the room. He had been getting up to leave after having to wait an agonizing five minutes for Leonard to show, but he didn't feel that mentioning it to Doctor McCoy would be the smartest thing to do, lest he risk increasing the intensity of wrath.

Alice hid her smile behind her hand as she waited patiently in the corner. She was clearly the only reason Jim hadn't bolted out of the hospital after taking just two steps passed the doors. Not that she blamed him of course. Alice had been itching to turn around and head in the complete opposite direction as soon as the massive hospital building had come into view. Inside the building, her skin felt like it was crawling, and she had to actively focus on keeping her breathing steady, keeping herself calm. Babysitting Jim had provided her with a slight distraction from where she was.

This is for Jim. He's injured, she reminded herself.

"What idiotic stunt were you pulling this time?" Doctor McCoy accused as he took a seat at the end of the bed, gingerly easing Jim's shoe and sock off with the careful movements of years of practice. Jim didn't even flinch, though, Alice realized he could just have a damn good poker face.

"And why are you here?" Doctor McCoy added, eyeballing Alice.

"She's the only reason I'm here," Jim sighed, shooting Alice a soft glare of annoyance.

"Then you should be thanking her instead of glaring at her," Doctor McCoy growled. "She shouldn't have had to hold your hand to get you here." He grabbed his tricorder from a nearby tray. "You still haven't answered my first question."

"Stairs man. They're evil."

Alice could tell that it was a lie from where she was standing off to the side, and it surprised her. Jim had been nothing but friendly, albeit annoying at the same time, towards her and Leonard. What didn't make sense was why he would like to them, and why he would lie now and about something so trivial.

But the shrug Jim backed his lie up with made it easy for Doctor McCoy to buy as he gave him a noncommittal noise and nodded faintly. He placed one of his hands softly over the swollen joint while he used the other to press against the ball of his foot. "How does that feel?"

"Fine."

He's lying, she thought, willing for Leonard to hear her.

Doctor McCoy continued with his exam, beginning to gently manipulate Jim's foot, moving it back and forth, side to side. "And now?"

"Okay, I guess," Jim smiled.

He's lying! Alice wanted to shout, but she couldn't bring herself to betray her friend. Certainly not to a doctor. Instead, she just continued to feel guilty as Jim grew pale with the pain, looking as if he were about to be sick.

Doctor McCoy removed his hands and backed away from Jim, grabbing his PADD from the tray, skimming through Jim's medical file briefly, adding his own notes to it from his examination. "You've had your physical already?"

"Yup."

At least now he's telling the truth. Alice let herself relax a little.

"And your name's Jim Kirk, right?

Jim frowned at him. "Last I checked, yeah. Why?"

"I just wanted to see if you were capable of telling the truth," Doctor McCoy snarled, throwing his PADD on a nearby counter as he glared at Jim. Alice couldn't stop herself from flinching. "Your ankle's broken, meaning if I ask you if it hurts, the correct answer is yes, doctor."

Both Jim and Alice looked at him in near horror as he began to busy himself around the room. Neither of them had seen him so genuinely mad before.

"Your medical file is a complete joke," he continued, "and if the person who conducted your physical had an ounce of professional integrity, they would have flagged it." McCoy then came up beside him and swiftly stabbed him in the neck with a hypo, causing Jim to jump and cry out in surprise. Alice hadn't even seen it coming.

"What was in that?" Jim asked, his voice feathery with something Alice recognized all too readily: panic.

"A painkiller," Doctor McCoy said gruffly. "You're welcome."

Jim's eyes looked panic stricken for a moment before they rolled back and he began to wheeze. Leonard's face dropped as he realized what was happening.

"Jim!" Alice called out, her heart leaping into her throat.

"Son of a bitch!" Leonard lunged for the alarm on the wall before moving towards Jim, catching him before he crashed forward, forcing him backward onto the bed. Several nurses rushed into the room.

"I need an intubation kit now. He's having an allergic reaction." The nurses moved with precision, handing Leonard the medical equipment he required.

"To a painkiller?" Alice asked, her voice wavering. She hadn't even realized she had moved forward until Doctor McCoy stopped her.

"Alice, against the wall, out of the way, do not talk!" Leonard shouted at her, his hazel eye cold and threatening before he returned his attention to Jim.

Alice pressed herself firmly against the wall, praying for it to swallow her whole as her breathing became ragged and her heart rate increased. Fear and panic made her feel so small in the hospital room. I shouldn't have brought him here, she thought irrationally as the walls began to close in on her. She watched on in horror as Leonard had to force a tube down Jim's throat and the nurses injected him with epinephrine.

Weakly, Alice tried to fight off the claustrophobia and terror by lightly tapping her fingers against the wall: thumb, index, middle, ring, pinky, and back again. She didn't realize that she was crying, even as the tears slipped past the hand that was covering her mouth, keeping herself from screaming.

Alice closed her comm. unit before returning back to the room, having successfully explained to their ethics and physical training instructors why Jim, Leonard, or herself wouldn't be attending class or final formation. Both of them had been very adamant that it wasn't an excuse for not attending. However, Alice didn't have the patience to argue with them and instead told them to expect a call from Captain Pike.

The message she sent him afterward had read "Kirk, allergic reaction to painkillers. McCoy, Kirk, and I unable to make class or formation."

And she had received an equally as simple response back. "I'll take care of it." Alice could always count on him.

Leonard was still in the room, standing beside Jim when Alice entered the room. She skirted around him—his threatening glare all too fresh in her mind and all too familiar—to the opposite side of the bed, pulling up one of the chairs with her.

Collapsing into the chair, Alice let out a deep sight, attempting to relax. But she couldn't keep herself from drumming her fingers against the leg she had crossed over the other.

She remained there in silence for what seemed like an eternity in the hospital room with the walls that were far too close, watching Jim as he breathed. Every breath served to alleviate the weight she felt crushing her chest.

"He'll be alright," Leonard finally said, breaking the heavy silence.

Alice merely nodded, her thoughts a jumbled mess. A mess of doubt, anxiety, fear, and mistrust.

Leonard watched her carefully, critical eyes studying her behavior. "Alice, I'm sorry for yelling at you earlier."

"It's fine, Doctor McCoy," she said flatly. "You were doing your job, and I was in the way." Alice didn't look at him.

"I had no right to speak to you that way, sweetheart—"

The fierce glacier blue of her eyes mimicked the glare Leonard had given her earlier, but the green and gold only added to the intensity as she locked her gaze onto his, challenging him.

And he backed down.

Never trust a doctor, she thought bitterly, old anger and pain resurfacing.

But as she observed Leonard remaining closely beside Jim, checking his vitals on the monitor every few minutes like clockwork, Alice felt bad for how she had just treated him.

"Remind me to stop trying to help people," she looked up at him, the ice of her eyes melting into innocence.

"What do you mean?" Leonard crossed his arms, leaning against an adjacent wall.

"I dragged him here," she shrugged.

"He had a broken ankle," he argued, frowning slightly.

"I could have just told you about it and had you check up on him after ethics."

"Alice," he shook his head. "You did the right thing. And this isn't your fault."

Alice smiled weakly. "I guess I'm just a sucker for blame, then."

Leonard looked as if he was going to continue the conversation, but someone entering the room interrupted him.

Captain Pike stood in the doorway, eyes firmly fixed on Jim.

"You!" Leonard snarled. "You want to get me Kirk's real medical file and not this fictional crap that no doctor in their right mind would have signed off on?"

"I can't," Pike said stiffly, his eyes flickered to Alice, but she wasn't going to come to his aid. Not this time.

"And why the hell not!?"

"It's classified, Doctor McCoy."

"Classified!" he roared, surging forward to stop Pike from entering the room further. "I've seen his blood workup. An allergy to common painkillers should have been noted in his medical history, but surprise, surprise, it's missing. As is everything else about Jim Kirk! According to this medical file of his, he just sprang up, healthy at twenty-two with no previous medical history! The Federation must have a damn good magician up their sleeve for that kind of magical bullshit."

"Will he be okay?" Pike asked, completely ignoring Leonard's rant.

Leonard narrowed his eyes, his jaw set firmly, and his face twisted in a threatening sneer. A beat of silence perforated the air before he finally answered. "He's recovering just fine. I treated his anaphylaxis and fixed his ankle. I'm going to keep him overnight for observation, but after that, I'll have him released."

"Thank you, Doctor McCoy," Pike said. He gave a slight nod to Alice before leaving.

Alice found the behavior from Captain Pike…odd. He was never this closed off, and he almost never used the "classified" excuse unless it was for a damn good reason for it. Usually, he used it for her and not against her.

Leonard sighed loudly once the door was shut, running his hand through his hair, tussling it into a slight mess. "Damnit, Jim," he hissed.

Alice came to stand beside him, a tentative hand reaching hesitantly out to him, resting lightly on his shoulder.

"It wasn't your fault, Leon," she said gingerly, trying his own line against him in timid playfulness.

He pulled away from her, shaking his head. "Standard procedure is to ask the patient if their allergic to any medication." Leonard dropped his arms in frustration. "And I didn't, because he's Jim, and annoying, and I didn't have the patience." He became unearthly still before he finally lashed out, "God dammit!" he shouted, kicking a nearby tray, sending medical supplies scattering.

This time, however, Alice didn't flinch away from him.

With more confidence, Alice reached out to him for a second time, pulling on his arm slightly so that he would be more inclined to turn and face her.

Alice flashed him an innocent smile. "It wasn't your fault, sweetheart," she said playfully.

Leonard scoffed softly. "Remind me to stop trying to help people."

"And rid the galaxy of such an incredible doctor, renowned for his bedside manner?" Alice asked, continuing to try and lift his mood even slightly. "Never."

Leonard's soft, albeit slightly bitter, laughter was enough for Alice to forget she was in a hospital for just a few seconds, a miracle of medicine in its own right.

~~.O.~~

And another chapter bites the dust! :)

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Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it!