Slight NSFW at the end

~~.O.~~

The burning sensation that ached in Leonard's lungs as they begged for more air to flood them didn't register as he finally made it to the barricade that had been set up around the Science Complex. The lights of the response vehicles raced in chaotic blues and reds across the landscape, occasionally catching Leonard's eyes just right for a split second before they chased after something else as he struggled to choke down his heart that had leaped into his throat. Leonard found it difficult to breathe, but it wasn't the running that had strained his body so much.

Jim was already standing at the barricade, arguing with one of the officials that were lined up against it. There was no question as to how he had managed to pull ahead of Leonard and make it there before him, but Leonard had not been very far behind, desperation and worry fueling him forward at a pace he normally wouldn't have been able to keep.

"Listen, man, my friend was in that building. I just want to know—"

"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to step back!" the officer growled demandingly.

"Her name is Alice Khan," Jim continued, stepping forward instead of backing off. "I just need to know if she's ok."

"I'm not at liberty to discuss information regarding the incident."

"I'm not asking about the incident; I'm asking if my friend is alive!" Jim growled threateningly, his fists clenching tightly as he took up a posture that said he was ready to start throwing punches.

From the gaps in between the officers lined along the perimeter they had created, Leonard caught a glimpse of ebony hair and pale ivory skin. He could breathe again. Alice might have been injured, but at least she was alive.

"Sir, I have been authorized to use force if necessary," the officer warned, tightening his grip on his weapon.

"Good," Leonard sneered. "Then maybe you can use that force and get this damn barricade out of my way." The officer stopped and eyed him suspiciously, and Leonard was thankful that he was still wearing his hospital scrubs. "You have people back there?"

"Uh…yes, sir."

"Well, something tells me they didn't just walk out of a bomb uninjured and don't require any medical attention whatsoever," he continued, berating and mocking tone dripping heavily on his southern accent. "And lucky for you, I'm a doctor. The same doctor that was called to give these people medical attention," he lied. "Now get this damn barricade out of my way."

"Yes, sir," the officer yelped, tail between his legs as he shouldered his weapon and quickly dragging one side out of the way so that Leonard could walk through, an intentional slowness to his movements, giving Jim just enough time to rush past once Leonard had passed the officer, blocking him from closing the area off.

"Hey, you're not authorized to—" But Leonard and Jim were too far away to hear or be caught by the officer as Jim once more raced ahead, beating him to Alice. She was seated in the door of a medical vehicle, staring off into the distance, unaware that Jim was approaching her at record speeds.

"Alice!" Jim hollered, catching her attention. When she saw the speed that he was approaching at, she shrugged off the blanket that was draped loosely over her shoulders. As Jim came to a skidding halt, he pulled her into a fiercely light embrace, one that she surprisingly returned.

Leonard followed closely behind Jim, the relief he felt only momentary when he saw the bright red blood painted in marring streaks against her ivory skin, trailing down from her forehead along the side of her face. Patches of dirt were smudged, and soot and debris rested in her ebony hair. A quiet sense of dread and fear filled him when he realized that he might not have ever been able to marvel at her beauty, hear the music of her voice, or feel the passion of her skin ever again. He had almost lost her, and the pain he felt at that realization was far greater than he anticipated, knocking the wind out of him

"Are you alright?" Jim breathed.

"I'm fine," Alice answered with a smile once Jim had released her. But something written on both their faces must have told her they didn't believe her. "Seriously guys," she tried reassuring them again, "I'm alright."

"Has anyone taken a look at you?" Leonard asked, remaining serious despite the true emotions the burned within him; he only hoped that she knew just how panicked he had been when for all that he knew, she was—

"I sent them away," Alice shrugged. "I'm fine," she reiterated, pulling away from the tentative hand he had reached out to her with.

"Please, Alice," Leonard spoke softly, begging her to let him examine her. For me, his hazel eyes echoed.

The gentle understanding that resonated within the beautiful chaos of Alice's eyes was almost too much for Leonard to hold her gaze, but the quiet smile that she wore was so inviting. "Alright, Doc, tell me what I already know," she said, straightening up her posture as she sat once more in the doorway of the ambulance.

"Thank you," he said, mirroring her smile with one of his own as he grabbed a nearby med-kit that one of the paramedics must have abandoned when Alice's stubborn refusal of treatment must have driven them away.

Leonard first pulled out some gauze, dousing it in an antibacterial solution, so that he could see how bad the wound to her head was. "This might sting a little," he warned her quietly, before scrapping as gently as he could where the source of the blood that trailed across her face was. His eyebrows furrowed deeply. "Or not at all…" he said, his voice betraying his confusion. There wasn't a single mark on her skin where a scrape or gash should have been.

Alice smiled as if she were pleased with herself. "I told you," she hummed.

Shaking his head, Leonard continued to wipe away the rest of the blood, cleaning up the red that tarnished her elegant skin. "Your file said that your cells were highly regenerative. I had no idea just how much…"

"Do you want me to tell you my other injuries that are already healed so that you can check them anyways?" Alice asked teasingly, a raised eyebrow adding to the mischievous gleam in her eyes.

"That'd be nice actually, yeah," Leonard teased back, a smirk of his own tugging at his lips. He found himself in a sort of euphoria. The terror of nearly losing her transforming happiness as he was simply celebrating the fact that she was still here, alive, despite what could have been a worse reality.

"I sprained my wrist when I threw myself on the ground," she said, offering her right arm to him casually. Alice then turned her attention to Jim as Leonard went about testing the joint and muscles cautiously. "You're being uncharacteristically silent, Jim," she said playfully, nudging him with her foot.

"That's because you're talking enough for me," he teased half-heartedly.

"Adrenaline," Alice and Leonard quickly explained at the same time.

"Well, that was weird," Jim said, making a funny face. Leonard rolled his eyes as he reached for the tricorder and began to scan Alice, receiving soft laughter at his reaction to Jim.

"Hey, Bones, you think if we injected some of Alice blood into me it would fix my immunity?" He was still avoiding a giving a real answer to Alice's question.

"Yeah, or it could kill you," Leonard answered gruffly, moving on from the scan and to checking Alice for a concussion, asking her to look over his shoulder wordlessly by pointing. "Or because her cells regenerate so fast, it could shorten your lifespan exponentially." Follow, he mouthed moving his finger side to side as he watched her intense eyes respond the stimuli.

"That's no fun," Jim pouted jokingly.

"You didn't answer my question, Jim," Alice said, chastising him.

He cast his gaze to the ground before finally answering. "I'm the reason Bones wasn't here to walk you home," he admitted with a sad shrug. "If I hadn't picked a damn fight with Cupcake again-"

"Stop," Alice interrupted him. "This wasn't your fault."

"If I hadn't held Bones up-"

"Did you plant the bomb?"

"...No."

"Then it wasn't your fault," she told him, her voice finishing whatever argument Jim might want to continue.

"You're right," Jim agreed, a mischievous smirk on his face. "It's Bones' fault for moving so slow," he added, earning a soft chuckle from Alice.

Leonard simply rolled his eyes at that, though, having finished looking her over. It seemed that she was right, she was fine. However, he would prefer to be on the safe side and give her an injection of both vitamins and standard antibiotics in case she got something in her open wound before it healed. Alice's augmentations might make her seemingly invincible, but Leonard didn't want to take that chance with her.

"Alice," he said gently, "I would like to give you two hypospray injections. One for vitamins to build up immunity and another with standard antibiotics, if that's alright."

The smile that she had faded slightly and Leonard could tell that she was forcing herself to keep it by the way she tensed up at the word injections. He had a feeling that she would respond that way, given her history. It's the reason he gave Alice the option of saying no, whereas he would have just done it to Jim without giving any warning.

Those chaotic eyes of hers, icy blue with pale green and gold searched his face for her answer as if he could tell her what was best for her; but the truth of the matter was that Leonard didn't know. While he would have liked to give her the hypos, she might very well not need them; and the trauma of an injection might not be worth it.

"Alright," she finally said, though her body remained tense. "Go ahead. Just let me know when, ok?"

"Of course, sweetheart." Leonard then shot a quick glance over to Jim, which he thankfully picked up on as Leonard grabbed the hypos he needed. Alice reached out for Jim's hand, taking hold of it as if she needed it. Leonard placed the end of the hypo to her neck. Using his other hand to hold her steady, he trailed his thumb rhythmically down the side of her neck as he tried to calm her down.

"Ready?" he asked her gently. At her nod, "In 3…2…1…" Alice jumped as though he had just stabbed her, even though the hyposprays were supposed to be painless. "One more," he said, much in the same way he would a frightened child. "3…2…1…" She jumped quite a bit less than the first time but relaxed a great deal once he pulled the hypo away from her skin.

"Ow," Jim groaned once Alice released his hand. "Damn near broke my hand."

"Sorry," Alice said quietly, an apologetic smile on her lips.

"No it's—it's fine. No bit deal, really. I don't mind," he quickly rambled, correcting himself once he realized what he had said.

"So, am I good to leave?" she asked, turning her attention back to Leonard.

"I'll clear you medically," Leonard said, glancing around at the barricade that was still in effect, keeping people out, yet keeping them in. "But something tells me that it's not up to me whether or not you can leave."

"You two can go ahead and leave," Alice said. "We have class tomorrow, and you don't need to stay here."

"The hell we don't," Jim said. "We're not just gonna leave you here…alone." He gave her one of his beaming smiles. "Bones and I'll keep you company, make sure you don't go and try to blow yourself up again."

Alice's smile at his statement faded a little as she frowned slightly, questioningly. "How did you two get past the barricade, anyway?"

Though it didn't quite seem possible, Jim's smile grew. "It was great really. Bones conned our way in."

"You're kidding?"

"No!" he exclaimed, "he's a regular conman, suave accent, and everything."

Leonard scoffed in amusement, lightly shaking his head as Jim quickly recounted his con, adding quite a few embellishments to the story for Alice's benefit; but he couldn't help but smile as she laughed softly at either Jim's performance or the story. She made it easy for him to no longer feel the panic and fear that had gripped so tightly earlier. Easy to forget, but it wasn't forgotten. The moments Leonard had believed that Alice was dead had been the most painful in his life, surpassing every other instance of anguish and desperation before them.

Captain Pike had arrived as quickly as he could once he heard the bomb go off. A barricade was put into place under his supervision, medical personnel arrived on site, even though one refused treatment, and both Cadet Khan and Commander Spock had been properly questioned, giving detailed accounts of the events. All that remained was documenting their statements, determining what truly happened through a thorough investigation, and constructing an appropriate explanation to release to the public.

It was going to be a long night, and on top of it all, Jim Kirk and Leonard McCoy had somehow managed to slip past one of the officers and make it past the barricade.

Pike was on his way to intercept them and drag them back behind the barricade when something stopped him. Kirk had rushed forward ahead of McCoy, and wrapped Alice in a tight hug, something that would have thrown her into hysteria any other time. But instead of knocking him to the ground in a panic, Alice reciprocated the gesture, allowing Kirk to touch her without any forewarning.

"Fascinating," came a steely voice from beside him. The Vulcan was watching with the same intensity as Pike was. Both of them knew Alice's history and had witnessed her episodes firsthand on multiple occasions. That one didn't occur now was nothing short of a miracle.

"I've seen her break arms over less," Pike added in agreement.

Spock seemed to consider this for a moment before continuing. "It appears she was correct in this instance."

Pike waited a moment, expecting more, but when it became clear he wasn't continuing, "You care to elaborate, Spock?"

"My apologies, Captain," the Vulcan said in stifled annoyance, "I was referring to the occurrence in which Alice disclosed that she had a support system in place and that she needed to continue with her studies at the Academy." Spock finally turned from the scene and to Pike. "It appears she was correct, and with this new knowledge I believe that, despite your concern for her as your daughter, it would be in Ms. Khan's best interests to remain within Starfleet despite the stress it might cause her."

"Is that your official stance, Commander?" Pike challenged. "You were both just caught up in an explosion."

"And yet she remains calm and in complete control despite extreme stressors." Spock raised an eyebrow. "It is my official recommendation that Alice Khan remains within Starfleet. As she put it, she needs it. There is no other explanation for her…improvement."

Pike wasn't sure if he was ready to believe that. He had pushed her into the Vulcan Academy and into Starfleet Academy hoping that it might help her. He wasn't quite sure that it was the best decision yet. One thing he was certain about, though, was that Alice was certainly smiling more than she ever had.

Alice's soft ebony hair tickled Leonard as her head rested on his chest, her breathing deep and rhythmic as it flowed across his skin, a gentle breeze to remind him that she was really here. There was a sweet scent of some combination of flowers and fruit that wafted around him from the conditioner she had used last night, its presence just as soothing as the warmth of her body pressed against his, the arm he had wrapped around her keeping her in place.

He had almost lost her, and he didn't even know what she was to him yet.

There was her smile, always quiet even at its brightest moments and highly infections, something that Leonard found himself longing to catch a glimpse of or to cause. Her laughter was always so gentle, never deterring from the moment or taking away from the joy he felt when he heard it pouring from her lips. The same succulent lips that would part for her melodic voice to speak a soft-spoken lullaby of words. Leonard could listen to her for hours on end if she ever had the desire to ramble, but often times she would need prompting, her endearing quiet nature adding a sophisticated subtly to her ethereal beauty.

And he had almost lost her.

Leonard stroked his thumb along Alice's back, a comforting technique that he used for himself to quiet the reverberations of panic from the night before, when for all he knew she was—

Alice stirred within his arms, nodding her head faintly as she trailed the hand that had been resting on his chest upwards and then downward, stroking him gently as she slowly came to her senses. "Something's on your mind," she breathed, sleep slurring her words together. "You never wake up before me."

Leonard chuckled softly, "Well, good morning to you too," he said, his voice low and quiet, appropriate for the morning as he planted a soft kiss on her forehead.

He could feel her smile against him, her long eyelashes tickling him as she tried to blink the sleep out of them. "Good morning," she hummed as she nestled herself further into him.

The smoothness of Alice's skin against his fingers as Leonard continued to drag them across her back in a lulling motion was reassuring as the pair remained laying in the bed, both awake, both enjoying the serenity of the other's presence, yet doing so in silence. Leonard found himself staring at the ceiling his mind a rush of thoughts, always getting scattered with every stroke of his hand brushing against the electricity that coated her body.

"A penny for your thoughts?" Alice sang sweetly, using an old proverb as she tried to tease at what was bothering him again.

But Leonard didn't know if he should tell her. He was the one who wasn't ready after all. If he told her this, confessed this weakness she was to him because of the way he felt about her…would she think less of him since it took a bomb for him to be able to admit it to himself and to her?

"I almost lost you," Leonard admitted, the words getting caught in his throat as they were much harder to say than he realized.

"You almost did," Alice agreed, nodding softly against him, her hand trailing up his chest, her delicate fingers stroking him reassuringly along his neck, down along his collarbone, and then back again. "Tell me about it?"

Leonard frowned, faltering for a moment as he struggled to allow himself to open up to her. "There was a moment after the explosion when I recognized the building where I knew you were dead…and in that moment, I didn't know how to handle it. If I could handle it," he managed to say solemnly, pulling her closer to him. "I just stood there, unable to do anything except know that you were dead."

"But you didn't stay there," Alice commented, steering the conversation a little.

"No, uh, Jim snapped me out of it," he confessed, an embarrassed smile tugging at his lips. "Damn near dragged me behind him as he sprinted out of the hospital."

"You ran all the way to the Science Complex from the hospital?" she asked in genuine curiosity.

"Mhmm."

"What were you thinking about as you ran?"

It took him a moment to answer. "I was begging, praying that you weren't in that building, that you weren't hurt," he swallowed hard. "Because if you were, it was my fault. I shouldn't have been late."

"Leon—"

"I shouldn't have been late," he repeated quieter.

Alice propped herself up so that she could look at him, her intensely beautiful eyes locking with his own. "And I forgive you, even if there is nothing to forgive you for. You shouldn't blame yourself for this. There are some things you can't control."

Her smile was intoxicating as Leonard tenderly brushed some of the loose strands of hair that had fallen across her face aside, tucking them behind her ear before he caressed her face, his thumb tracing the line of her cheekbone delicately. He then gently pulled her towards him, enveloping her soft lips in his own, savoring every moment of her presence.

"I care about you, Alice," he breathed in open honesty as their lips parted, his hand remaining where it was, fingertips snaked carefully within her ebony hair.

Such warmth and happiness radiated within the depths of Alice's chaos-ridden eyes as her quiet smile brightened her features, enhancing her elegance. "And I care about you."

"This isn't just casual sex anymore," Leonard told her. "Not for me."

"Then it isn't just casual sex for me either," Alice agreed, letting him set the terms of the relationship as she had when she first gave him the option of it being more.

And for some reason, the idea of it being more made him a little nervous. He had screwed up his previous relationship so marvelously, he was afraid he might do the same thing here; and he didn't want that to happen. The way he felt about Alice, the way he felt with Alice, it was unlike anything he had ever been a part of; and Leonard didn't want this to be a mistake that would—

The mischievous gold flickered dangerously in Alice's eyes as she tore the blankets off of them, moving them out of the way as she straddled him, taking his hand and placing both of them right where she wanted them: on either cheek. Alice then grinded against him, dragging herself agonizingly slowly across his increasing firmness, the heat and proximity of her naked body driving him mad as her entrance scraped just within reach, teasing him.

Alice pitched forward her breath a seductive kiss as she nibbled the bottom of his earlobe playfully. "Of course, that doesn't mean casual sex is off the table, does it?"

Leonard growled at how alluringly infuriating she was before he gripped her by the waist, thrusting hard as he daggered Alice down onto him, driving a startled moan out of her which he stifled as he leaned forward, one hand bracing her back, the other holding him in a sitting position, capturing her lips for his own. Then, in one quick motion, Leonard flipped them both over, Alice landing softly on her back, his separation from her only momentary as he drove back into her, firmly placed on top of her.

"No, it isn't," he whispered gruffly against her lips, the soft giggles that escaped between her moans like sweet music, urging him further and further.

~~.O.~~

Alright guys here is another chapter!

Enjoy, you fanfic addicts you, and please tell me what you think. :) I love your feedback and it is always so encouraging.

As always, thank you for reading!

Actually, one more thing. I am considering opening up a request for NSFW. Full NSFW. I may be willing to dedicate a part of a chapter, or maybe a full chapter to it if it is something a majority of you lovely followers want. You can tell me either in review or private message format.

I am not saying that it will be in the next couple of chapters, but if I do get positive feedback on the potential of future NSFW, I will consider throwing it in there.

So, please let me know you love me ;) and if you would like some sexy time.