"Who are you to say what harm was done?"

Bones shook his head as he walked down the hallway. That psychotic girl's words were banging around his head and increasing the migraine that had been hovering in the back of his thoughts since this whole disaster had begun. Clearly that child had been seriously ill in the head and under some frightening delusions. Obviously the shock of her father being in danger had been intense.

But none of that excused her words. None.

And if the Doctor was going to be totally honest with himself, the look on the Captain's face as Kodos had taken that hit for him was worrying. Dammit, Jim didn't need this; was bad enough that he'd been forced to relive a horror that no child should have to go through but to not even have the closure of seeing the man responsible go to prison and pay for it…

He stepped through the door of his quarters and managed to hide any surprise he felt upon seeing Jim seated on his bed and staring thoughtfully into space. Instead the doctor walked over and sat next to him, pulling the bottle off the bedside table and looking it over. "Brought out the good stuff huh?"

Jim just sat there quietly so Bones uncapped the bottle and took a swig. "How are you feeling? And it's okay if you don't know."

The young captain stirred slightly and blindly held out a hand for the bottle. "…I honestly don't feel anything…"

"You're in shock." Bones watched his commanding officer down some of the drink and resisted the urge to start hovering. He knew that'd do more harm than good. "After everything that's happened it makes sense that you'd—dammit, Jim." He turned the other man's face towards him and examined the slight bruising on his cheekbone. "What happened?"

"Kevin was having some trouble handling his pain." Jim chuckled. "If it helped to yell at me for stopping him from killing Kodos and to take a swing at me, well, then no real harm done." He took another drink. "He's not to get in trouble for this, understand?"

Bones nodded and accepted the drink, looking at his young friend cautiously. "Jim…"

"I pitied him." The captain was staring at nothing again. "For a second back there… I pitied the man who…" Jim rubbed at his eyes. "I'm a damn mess."

Bones put a hand on his shoulder comfortingly and tried to think of something to say. He was saved from that as the door to his rooms opened again and they both looked up to see Spock standing in the doorway. For a split second they thought there was a small bit of embarrassment on his face but then it was gone and the Vulcan merely folded his hands behind his back and raised an eyebrow. "I am not interrupting?"

There was only one reason for Spock to come to Bones' room; to find Jim. And since the ship was running smoothly, Lenore was in a holding cell and they were en-route to the nearest starbase, there was only one reason for him to be looking for the captain.

Bones smiled broadly and even Jim managed a little upturn of his mouth. The Vulcan pointedly ignored their smiles and instead took them as a sign that his presence was not unwelcome. "Everything is running smoothly captain."

"Thank you Mister Spock." Rubbing his face again, Jim leaned back on the bed. "I'm glad something is."

Bones wasn't sure how to answer the unspoken question on the commander's face and sighed heavily as he turned toward the captain. "Jim, maybe you should get some sleep."

"I'm too wired." Jim laughed hollowly, an arm over his eyes and blocking them from view. "You're right though. I should move on; I mean, this is just another of many incidents, right? I'll get over it."

Spock and Bones exchanged a glance. The country doctor wasn't sure if it was just the booze talking or if he should be a little concerned. "Jimmy, I want you to look at me."

There was a long moment where the two older men believed he might not react. Then, slowly, Jim sat up and shifted to face the doctor. Taking a deep breath Bones put a hand on each of his shoulders. "Jim…This is not just another incident. This is not something you should just ignore and pretend never happened. This is nothing you deserve and I swear to you, I'm not gonna let you wallow in this. I refuse to, dammit. So you are going to tell me the whole story and see me every night for the next week for some mandatory therapy sessions; you and Lieutenant Reilly both. Do not make me make it an official order."

The young captain laughed and rubbed at his face. "…I am incredibly lucky to have you looking out for me-both of you…" He lowered his head, resting it on his knees. "It's much more than I deserve."

"No." Spock stepped forward. "You deserve much more than you have ever been given."

Jim's eyes widened and Bones praised the Lord that even a Vulcan could say the right thing on occasion. The Captain sat there for a long silent moment, before scooting closer to Bones and making room for his first officer on the bed. "I was twelve when I first got to Tarsus…"

They sat there for hours, listening to the man talk and if at one point Jim had broken down and sobbed onto Bones' shoulder until he could gather himself, no one outside of that room would ever know. Finally the events of the last few days had caught up to the young captain and he drifted off into a slightly medicated slumber.

Doctor and Commander stood in the doorway, watching their friend sleep; unwilling to move him to his own quarters. Bones sighed heavily. "He's internalized all that for far too long. Damn fool…"

Spock was silent. With another heavy sigh, the doctor brushed past him. "Better go talk to Reilly."

The Vulcan waited until Bones was out of sight before re-entering the room and sitting at the man's desk. His dark eyes never left his best friend as he started his silent vigil with one soft line.

"Thus conscience does make cowards of us all."

There you go, a second chapter. This was a little harder but I hope it was as good. The quote at the end is part of Hamlet's famous 'To Be or Not To Be' speech and sort of jumped out at me. I sincerely hope you liked this and please leave me feedback.