October 2255

It had been a month since the semester had started and Arianne was already feeling at home, as the Academy grounds were familiar to her. Being a both a cadet and a Starfleet officer was a little hard to juggle at times, yet she welcome the challenge and met it with finesse.

Despite Command being her main track, Arianne had also elected to take a few medical classes to become knowledgeable in the field should it ever be needed. Jim had declared her to be crazy, saying that she would burn out, but Arianne knew that she would not only survive, but thrive.

Because of the high stress involved in the sudden adjustment, Leonard's detox had taken nearly two weeks and it had taken another week for Dr. Puri to get him strong enough to eat real food.

Leonard had been so sick from the whole process that he had not wanted to talk to anyone, even Jim, about it. Therefore, at his request, Dr. Puri had put him in a quarantine room to recover.

Now, however, that Leonard was feeling better, he had been moved to a private room to finish out his return to health until such time as he could be transported to Jim's dormitory by a Security escort. Dr. Puri had also allowed Arianne to begin the doctor on her therapeutic track.

Arianne had hastily crafted and implemented the therapeutic track after the earthquake, as the many survivors had various degrees of PTSD that ranged from mild anxiety to suicide attempts.

Although her treatment plan wasn't foolproof, as a few had been too far gone emotionally and had killed themselves by subtle means, the majority of her patients had responded well to it.

Since the plan was stressful on her as well, Arianne had gone to classes and then back to her dorm, whom she shared with her old friend, Nyota, and an Orion named Gaila, for an early night.

Now, while it was still dark and all was quiet, Arianne was dressed in her cadet pants, boots, and the blue shirt that she used when meeting with clients. That was the luxury of her dual role as cadet and Ensign, she could dress however she wanted so that the client would feel comfortable with her.

Not that Leonard McCoy was a normal client by any means, Arianne knew, as she jogged down the path away from the dorms. He was both a mess and a mystery at the same time, which was rare.

Feeling sharp pains in her leg and stomach, Arianne slowed to a walk, but kept moving.

Dr. Puri had encouraged her to do strenuous physical exercise whenever possible, yet if her leg or stomach began to hurt, he had told her to ease up on the intensity, as long-term damage could be caused that would impact her internally if she didn't do otherwise.

Suddenly, there was a shout and Arianne saw a small hovercar land in the middle of a grassy space that was near the middle of campus. She watched as one of the doors opened.

Curiosity getting the better of her, Arianne quietly moved towards where the car was parked just in time to see a body be thrown out of it and on to the grass, "You had better keep in line next time, Kirk," a gravelly voice hissed. "Hopefully, we won't have to settle you down again."

Arianne silently watched as the car sped off into the air. She looked down and was horrified to see the body emitting groans and trying to move. Who had done this and who was hurt?"

"Are you okay?" Arianne asked as she placed a hand on the person's head and immediately felt blood. "What happened?"

Even though his brain was fuzzy and he was battling the effects of an unknown hypospray, Jim groaned, "A-Arianne, is that you?" he asked in a shaky voice. "W-Where am I?"

"Jim, what happened?" Arianne asked as she pulled her communicator from her belt and switched it on to the direct channel to Starfleet Medical, "Ensign Pike to Doctor Puri, do you read me?"

There was a moment of static, "Loud and clear, Ensign Pike, go ahead," the voice of Dr. Puri replied in a tone that indicated concern. "What is your emergency and location?"

"A-Arianne, I'm so sleepy," Jim moaned in a slurred voice. "I hurt...It's so cold."

"Requesting emergency transport for myself and Cadet Kirk to Starfleet Medical right NOW," Arianne replied, knowing that she had to get Jim to Starfleet Medical right away.

"Hang on, I'll lock on your signals," the voice of Dr. Puri replied. "Keep him awake."

There was more static and Arianne took hold of Jim's hand, "Jim, stay with me, all right?" she said in a gentle tone. "Doctor Puri, energize!"

As the two dematerialized, Jim mumbled something incoherent and passed into unconsciousness.

"Kirk's LUCKY to even be alive right now," Dr. Puri ranted as he and Arianne watched Jim lay on a surgical biobed, mumbling incoherently as several nurses prepped him for emergency surgery.

Arianne nodded, "I don't understand where and how he could have gotten those injuries," she replied in a concerned tone. "I talked with Jim after class yesterday morning, he was planning on spending the weekend in his dorm doing homework...He didn't contact me any more after that."

"Mild concussion, multiple fractures in both ankles, broken ribs, pneumothoraxes in both lungs, a fractured septum, bruises all over his body, and internal bleeding to top it all off," Dr. Puri stated as he quickly changed into surgeon's scrubs. "Cadet Kirk's a brat, but he doesn't deserve this!"

Arianne crossed her arms, "I agree, sir," she replied. "While you and your nursing staff are operating on Jim, I'll be contacting Captain Pike and informing him of the situation. After that, I have an appointment with one of my clients and then classes until noon...I'll collect Jim's homework and bring it to him later...At least we don't have anything but theory until January."

"Even after I'm done operating, I'm keeping Cadet Kirk heavily sedated until you get back," Dr. Puri replied, giving Arianne an anxious look. "Once he's awake, I'm sure Captain Pike will want to question him about what happened and Kirk will be more at ease with you there."

"Did you figure out what he was drugged with?" Arianne asked, as Dr. Puri moved towards the door that would lead to the surgical bay. "I know he was drugged with something powerful..."

Dr. Puri nodded, "It was a high dose of a simple sedative," he explained. "It won't do much harm, it'll just mean less anesthesia during surgery...Anyway, I should get started..."

Arianne nodded and watched as Dr. Puri went into the surgical area, "Oh, Jim, I swear that they will pay for having touched you in the first place," she whispered, turning away from the window.

0545 was too early for any normal person to be up, Leonard thought, as he strode off the turbolift and down the hallway to the room where he would have his second session with Arianne.

Although he had now elected to wear clean Starfleet pajamas and robe, Leonard had wanted to keep his hair and beard the same, as it felt like a shield to his pain-filled heart and mind. He had never met anyone like Arianne before, yet he didn't trust her completely, as she was a counselor.

He had been to see a counselor after each of the traumatic points in his life, yet it didn't help and he felt worse after the only unsuccessful session that he had attended. It was because of the guilt trips that the counselor had laid on him that he had developed a need for alcohol in the first place.

During one of his binges, he had met a man named Christopher Pike, a Starfleet Captain who happened to be scouring the country for people to recruit into a military organization known as Starfleet. Despite being drunk out of his mind, Leonard remembered agreeing to enlist.

However, the night prior to leaving for San Francisco from Riverside, Leonard had been experiencing panic and paranoia about being in a military group. He had impulsively gone to the nearest liquor store and bought over $100 worth of alcohol. On the way back to the hostel where he was staying, he had somehow gotten his hands on some LSD to mix with the alcohol.

If it had actually worked...If I had actually died on that shuttle...

Feeling sudden panic rise in his chest, Leonard placed a fist on his sternum and leaned against the wall to try and calm himself down. He didn't want to have a panic attack while in the session.

The work that Puri collected from his classes, as well as the work in the rehab program, had kept his mind occupied while his body took time to recover. He had not yet been issued a uniform, that would be taken care of when Captain Pike deemed him fit for release to his cadet dorm.

Taking a deep breath, Leonard forced himself to calm down and moved over to the door that led to where Ensign Pike was probably waiting. He took a deep breath and pressed the bell.

"Enter," a tired voice responded.

Letting out a sigh, Leonard stepped forward and, as the door rose, he saw that there was a chair reminiscent to the ones that were usually found in shuttlecrafts in the corner of the room with all of the safety straps hanging loose around it. Arianne was sitting on a couch in the other corner.

"Ah, Leonard, you're early," Arianne said, rising from the couch. "Please, come in."

Leonard entered the room and kept his eyes on the chair, "What's with the chair?" he asked, unable to resist. "It looks like something off of a shuttle."

"Well, since your physical recovery took a little longer than anticipated, I took the time to dig deeper into your records," Arianne explained as she took him by the shoulders and guided him over to the chair. "From what I found, I thought up a little exercise to start off with."

Leonard looked at the chair, "I'm aviaphobic and you want me to sit in that shuttle seat?" he asked, giving Arianne the look of a wounded puppy dog. "Are you crazy?"

"Guess what, McCoy, you're not in control right now," Arianne stated as she forced Leonard into the chair and quickly strapped him in securely. "Life never allows a person to be in control."

His eyes wide, Leonard gaped at Arianne, "You're insane," he gasped, trying to keep himself from vomiting yesterday's dinner all over the place. "Captain Pike and Doctor Puri-"

"Both of them know what I'm doing with you and trust my judgment," Arianne replied, cutting him off. "You're not officially a cadet until the uniform goes on, which means you aren't in control of whatever happens to you...You lost your freedom when you tried to kill yourself on the shuttle."

Leonard watched in horror as Arianne lowered some armrests and restrained his wrists to them using metallic restraints that were normally used on civilian mental patients to calm them.

Arianne silently noted that Leonard was feeling rather anxious, but she continued, "In fact, I think your ability to choose went out the airlock when you took that first drink of alcohol. You probably had something in your life that didn't work out and you turned to booze to make it go away."

"Stop," Leonard replied, his voice starting to shake, as Arianne had hit an emotional nerve.

Returning to her seat on the couch, Arianne shook her head, "Well, guess what, Doctor, booze only numbs things temporarily," she replied, malice in her voice. "You were one of the best general practitioners and surgeons in Georgia...You got involved with the alcohol and were so wrapped up in alcoholic delusions that you went to Riverside, hopped on the recruit shuttle, and hoped that it would all be over when you mixed it with drugs...Unfortunately, I just happened to be doing rounds on the shuttle and managed to save your life...Why, though, did I bother?"

Leonard was shocked at the fact that Arianne was verbally attacking him and the past he wanted to forget, but remained silent, "I saw the same potential in you that others once saw, that's why I saved your life," she stated. "If you want help, I am here to give it freely...all you have to do is ask...You have burdens that threaten to rip your soul into irreparable pieces of pain."

Feeling panic, Leonard struggled for a moment and stopped, "I euthanized my dying father just before a cure could be found for the illness that was killing him," he confessed, lowering his head and closing his eyes to block out the immense shame and guilt he felt over remembering the past.

Arianne was silent for a moment and let out a sigh, "That's rather devastating, Leonard," she replied in a tender voice. "However, I think you acted out of love, as you didn't want to see your father suffer and you could end the pain for him. It was an act of love, Leonard, nothing else."

Before Leonard could stop himself, he began to sob uncontrollably, "Between that and my divorce, my world crumbled and I was left as nothing," he confessed, annoyed that his many tears were getting into his beard and causing his face to itch. "I figured that if I was nothing, why not just do away with myself and stop wasting matter, time, and space that others used productively?"

Knowing that she couldn't push Leonard too hard in his recovering state, Arianne rose from the couch and moved over to the chair, "I think that's enough for today, Leonard," she said softly.

Overwhelmed that he was finally able to feel some grain of emotion after years of absolute numbness in both mind and body, Leonard continued to sob as Arianne undid the wrist restraints and unbuckled the straps that held him securely to the chair. He then went strangely quiet.

He sobbed for a few more minutes and suddenly felt a straw being placed to his lips, "Drink this," he heard Arianne say. "Drink it slowly."

Leonard opened his eyes and saw that Arianne was holding a bottle of yellowish liquid with a straw in it to his lips, "What's that?" he asked, taking a sip. "It tastes really strange."

"It's orange juice, it will relax you," Arianne calmly replied, not surprised that Leonard couldn't remember what orange juice tasted like, for he had been dependent on alcohol for so long.

After sucking up some more of the juice, Leonard felt himself yawning, "Why am I so tired all of a sudden?" he asked, glaring at Arianne. "I felt just fine before I came here."

"When a person has a major emotional release, it can cause some fatigue," Arianne explained, taking the juice away before Leonard dropped it on the floor. "I'll escort you back to your room so you can get some rest...Once you've rested, we can talk about arranging another session."

Not wanting to know how the counselor knew where he was currently staying within the hospital, Leonard nodded and rose unsteadily from the chair, immediately feeling Arianne grab hold of him.

"Take it easy," Arianne chided as she led him from the room and down the hallway back towards his room. "If you don't want to sleep, maybe do some of your schoolwork."

Leonard glared at her, but remained silent as they entered the large room that Dr. Puri had assigned him during his recovery. Arianne was impressed by the neatness of the room: the corner biobed was neatly made and a stack of PADD's was on the desk against the other wall. The chair was pushed into the desk and the desk lamp was the only light on in the room.

"Captain Pike personally conducts daily inspections of my room and warned me that if I was sloppy, I would have to scrub the entire floor with a toothbrush," Leonard stated, knowing that Arianne was trying her best not to comment on the neatness of the room.

Arianne nodded, "Is there anything else I can do for you, Leonard, before I leave?" she asked, silently hoping that he didn't need anything so that she could first check on how Jim's surgeries were going and then go into town and deal with the incident that had taken place earlier.

"No, thanks for the session, it helped," Leonard replied, avoiding her inquisitive gaze.

Knowing that she couldn't press Leonard too hard quite yet, Arianne nodded and left the room in absolute silence. As the door closed, Leonard wandered over to his desk and gazed at his work.

Exhaustion filled every fibre of his being, yet he had to get his work done so he wouldn't fail.

Suddenly hearing the sounds of footsteps moving across the floor, Jim opened his eyes and realized that he was laying on his back and unable to move his legs.

"M-My legs," Jim whimpered, wondering if he had gotten into a fight the night before and ended up suffering paralyzing injuries that would put him on a shuttle back to Iowa. "W-Where am I?"

Arianne, who had been reading a PADD about Command Protocols for class, suddenly noticed him awake and rose from the stool beside his bed, "Jim, it's okay," she said, taking one of his hands in her own. "I found you beaten up and sedated on the grounds early this morning."

Jim was silent for a moment, staring at Arianne as he tried to remember what had happened to him after he left class, "Oh no, they grabbed me from the path and sedated me, didn't they?" he asked, a sudden fear in his tired voice. "How did they find me on Earth? It's so big..."

"I don't know how they found you," Arianne replied, gently massaging Jim's hand to keep him calm and relaxed until Dr. Puri got back from rounds. "I will handle it, though, Jim. I promise you."

Despite feeling sudden pain, Jim groaned, "No, Arianne, you can't go confront them by yourself," he gasped, remembering what they were capable of. "They'll kill you or do worse, you know they are just as bad as Kodos...You need to stay on campus, where it's safe."

"Tarsus was a long time ago, Jim, and we both got through it," Arianne stated. "I thought you had died when Kodos imprisoned you for stealing...He knocked me out for fighting and the next thing I knew, I was on a ship in space with my father holding my hand, saying it was all going to be okay."

Jim blinked, "Why can't I feel my legs?" he asked. "Did they paralyze me or something?"

"Section 31 or the Tarsian Order aren't known for paralyzing anyone," Arianne explained, her voice stern. "Their intent is only to make life a living nightmare for survivors and threats...Anyway, your legs are in stasis because both of your ankles have multiple fractures and you have a catheter in you so that you don't need to use the bathroom at all...That's all I'm going to tell you, as you need to stay as calm as possible for when Doctor Puri arrives to talk to you."

Jim hissed, suddenly feeling pain in both his head and chest, "Oww, everything hurts," he moaned, closing his eyes to try and block out the pain. "Give me some pain meds, Arianne."

"I can't give you anything, Jim, Doctor Puri is in charge of your care," Arianne retorted, continuing to massage Jim's hand. "Hopefully, he'll be here in a few minutes..."

Suddenly, the door to the surgical recovery bay slid open and Dr. Puri, who had not only done rounds, but also changed back into the standard medical uniform, entered the room.

"Hey, Doctor Puri, I feel terrible," Jim moaned. "Can I have some stuff for the pain?"

Dr. Puri pulled a medical tricorder from his pants pocket and scanned Jim with it, "I want to wait until the anesthesia's out of your system before I give you anything else," he replied in a monotone voice. "For starters, Cadet Kirk, I would really like to know the source of your injuries..."

Jim tensed up, "I don't exactly remember, sir," he replied, fear in his voice.

"Well, that's not surprising since you have a mild concussion," Dr. Puri replied, ignoring the fact that Arianne was giving Jim a strange look. "Ensign Pike, could you keep Cadet Kirk company while I go inform Captain Pike that he's up and ready for questioning?"

Without waiting for an answer, Dr. Puri turned and left the room, "I don't want to talk to Captain Pike about what happened," Jim hissed. "He can't do anything about it anyway...Besides, I don't remember everything, just bits and pieces...I was under heavy sedation for most of it."

"Jim, I promise that everything will be okay," Arianne whispered, gently smoothing his rumpled hair back out of his face so that it wouldn't stick to the bandage on his forehead. "I'll dig into my stash of old fashioned combat stuff that I keep under my bed before I go downtown."

Jim let out a small chuckle, "I can't figure out how you smuggled that stuff to the Academy without anyone knowing about it," he said. "Just don't wait until after dark if you HAVE to go, okay?"

"I'll be back on campus and in my dorm before dark," Arianne promised. "Just be nice when Captain Pike comes to talk and don't fight Doctor Puri if he wants to keep you here for a while."

Jim nodded, "I'll behave if you will," he replied, a yawn in his voice. "I'm so tired..."

"Go to sleep, Jim," Arianne gently chided, mussing his hair. "I'll be back tomorrow."

As Jim allowed his eyes to close, the last thing he saw was Arianne walk out of the room.

The sound of a hover-gurney being transported down the hallway caused Leonard to lift his head from the desk. He cursed silently, realizing that he had fallen asleep writing essays.

Pushing the PADD's to a corner of the desk, he rose and moved over to his bed.

Even though there was still a lot of work left to be done, Leonard knew that he would be better at completing it after having a sleep. The session had completely drained him of energy.

He had just gotten into bed and was prepared to fall asleep when the door suddenly opened and lights flooded the room, "Settle down, Cadet Kirk," Leonard heard the voice of Captain Pike say as a hover-gurney was brought into the room and settled in an unoccupied corner of the room.

"...need something for the pain," Leonard heard Jim mumble in a groggy tone. "Screw Puri.."

As the accompanying nurses locked the gurney into place, Captain Pike wandered over to Leonard's bed, "How are you feeling, Cadet McCoy?" he asked, seeing the fatigue in Leonard's eyes and wondering if the young man had managed to overexert himself somehow.

"The combination of this morning's session and doing essays for classes kinda made me a little tired," Leonard admitted, forcing himself to look Pike in the eyes. "I was about to get a nap in..."

Chris nodded, "Well, after you get some sleep, I have an additional assignment for you," he explained, gesturing over to where Jim now lay, whimpering incoherently. "Since you appear to be both physically and mentally healthy, I think we should put your medical skills to good use."

"Get away from me," Leonard heard Jim hiss at one of the nurses. "Get me some pain stuff..."

The nurses ignored Jim's hissing and quickly finished securing the bed to the wall. They gave Captain Pike a look of impatience and left the room in absolute silence.

Rolling his eyes, Leonard sighed and, getting up from his bed, he wandered over to Jim's bedside and put a hand on Jim's arm, "Hey kid," he said in a monotone voice. "How are you feeling?"

"Bones," Jim rasped, surprised that Leonard was still alive. "You're alive..."

Leonard sighed, "Yeah, kid, I'm alive." he replied. "Why are you being mean to the nurses?"

"I hurt all over and they're not doing anything about it," Jim snapped groggily. "My legs are in STASIS, Bones, they don't trust that I'm not going to go AWOL with two broken ankles."

Despite wanting to lecture the kid about the fact that doctors knew best, Leonard instead found himself placing a gentle hand on Jim's arm, "Jim, what exactly happened to you?" he asked, seeing if a touch of compassion would break the kid's poorly put on brave facade.

"I don't know," Jim replied. "I was walking back to my dorm after class and the next thing I know, I'm here and it's nearly two days later...I have no idea how I ended up in the hospital."

From the doorway, Chris raised an eyebrow. Given how hard Puri said that Cadet Kirk had been hit in the head and face, he wasn't surprised that there was still some memory loss.

"Well, I'm sure I'm not the first to tell you that you sound tired," Leonard stated, a no-nonsense tone in his voice. "I'm sure Puri won't mind if you go to sleep for a little while. You may be the son of the almighty George Kirk, but you are human and even humans need breaks once in a while."

Jim flinched at the mention of his dead father, but said nothing, "Right now, kid, you look like absolute crap," Leonard continued, taking note of the bruises and bandages that decorated Jim's face, making his only recognizable features his blue eyes. "Let yourself fall asleep already."

"I have a concussion, I have to be woken up every two hours for the next 24 hours," Jim retorted, trying to sound annoyed. "It doesn't exactly make me want to go to sleep only to be poked awake by some nosy nurse two hours later. It's been like that ever since I woke up here...It sucks."

Leonard was silent for a moment, "If I can get access to some proper medical supplies, maybe I should be the one to wake you every two hours," he commented. "I know I'm not officially off probation yet, but I am a medical doctor and if something happens, I'll be able to help you."

"Pike or Puri won't let you," Jim groggily replied, fighting sleep.

Knowing that Jim was on the verge of falling asleep, Leonard crossed his arms, "I'll be up working on stuff for my classes anyway, Jim," he stated. "Just relax and let your body recover."

Jim's reply was a soft snore, indicating that he had fallen asleep, "Nicely done, Doctor McCoy," Chris commented, moving over to stand next to Leonard. "He woke up around two and demanded to be allowed to go back to his dorm. The stasis field is the only thing keeping him in bed."

"I know I shouldn't have offered to be Jim's doctor-," Leonard began, suddenly cut off as Chris raised a hand to silence him.

"Since you'll be up anyway, I think we should go talk with Doctor Puri about how you seem to be the only one who can get Cadet Kirk to behave himself," Chris stated. "He's in his office."

Realizing that he was now stuck as Jim's doctor until most likely until the day he died, Leonard nodded and turning away from Jim, he silently followed the impressed Captain from the room.

As the sun began to set, Arianne and a cadet named Kevin Riley stepped out of a hovercab in front of a seedy-looking club in the civilian underworld of San Francisco.

Both were dressed in black jeans, boots, t-shirts, leather gloves, and black hoodies with sunglasses over their eyes so that they wouldn't be recognized. In their gloved hands, Arianne and Kevin looked determined, as if it would hide the fear that was collecting inside of them.

"We shouldn't be here," Kevin whispered, as he followed Arianne to the entrance.

Arianne glared at Kevin, "Refer to me as Arrow once we're inside," she hissed. "You and I both know that this is the only way for justice to be served. Nobody will be killed, so quit worrying."

Kevin nodded, "I'll let you do the talking," he replied. "Things will go better if you do it."

In silence, the two entered the club and were relieved that it was still empty. They made their way to a booth in the back, where a robust looking man sat, sipping on a tall drink.

"Do you still go by Lucas Reed on Earth?" Arianne said, moving into the view of the man sitting at the table. "I figured that you wouldn't go by the name you used when helping Kodos come to the decision to kill all those people on Tarsus...Even now you shouldn't go by that name."

Shaken, the man set his drink on the table, "What do you want, Arrow?" he asked, suddenly recognizing the voice that belonged to one of the black-clad figures before him.

"I want to know why you and your buddies from Section 31 felt it appropriate to attack Jim Kirk last night and leave him for dead on the Academy campus," Arianne hissed in a malicious voice that was very unlike her personality. "You know you're not allowed on Starfleet property."

The man scoffed, "Jimmy Kirk was a little twerp who deserved what he got from Kodos," he snapped, rising from the table. "If you hadn't been beamed away, I assure you, Arrow, that Section 31 would have given you your due...Kodos certainly would have liked to see you suffer."

Suddenly, Arianne lunged forward and decked the man, sending him to the floor, "Let me make myself clear, Reed," she hissed, stepping away. "If you EVER even think about trying to go after Jimmy again, I promise that I will kill you and not feel any remorse for it. Are we clear?"

"You killed enough of the guards without remorse just to escape execution, Arrow" the man snapped, seething with humiliation as Kevin pulled some rope from his pocket and began to him up in an impenetrable rope cage. "All the while, I just thought you were a little girl who was just on a school trip with her French classmates...Section 31 was very impressed when you managed to not only save yourself, but all of your traveling companions from execution."

Kevin quickly finished the rope cage, "Do you want to do anything else to him, Arrow?" he asked, deepening his voice so not to be recognized. "There's still a little time."

Arianne reared back and decked the tied up man in the face once more, "I think we're done," she replied softly, glaring at the man with malice in her eyes. "Stay away from Jimmy, Reed, or I will be back and will carry out my promise to do away with you so fast you won't see it coming."

Swearing under his breath as he struggled to get free, Reed watched as the two figures silently left the bar. A moment later, he heard the roar of a hover-taxi pulling away from the curb.

Wrenching one of his hands from the ropes, Reed managed to extract a strange looking communicator from his pocket, "Reed here," he reported. "They've resurfaced from the past."

"...Take no action yet," a voice crackled. "Only gather information on them...for the moment."

Feeling less pain than he did the day before, Jim opened his eyes and found that despite there being two beds and a desk in the room, he was completely alone.

"Bones?" Jim groaned, trying to wake up. "Bones, where are you?"

Hearing no reply, Jim sighed and wiped a strand of sweat from under his eyes. He had suffered a small nightmare that was a combination of past memories that he had tried desperately to forget.

The night had gone reasonably well, Leonard had woken him every two hours and done standard checks on him before allowing him to go back to sleep. Since the man had been given special instruction and permission to do hands-on medical work, Bones had been doing a good job.

However, from what he had heard through nurse chatter, Jim knew that Leonard would probably be allowed to take on a normal cadet schedule and live in the dorms pretty soon. Once the good doctor was living cadet life to the fullest, he would probably forget about everything else.

Suddenly, the door slid open and footsteps entered the room, "Jim, are you awake?" the gentle voice of Arianne asked. "I told you that I'd be back in the morning."

There was a grunt and a small light over Jim's bed flickered on, illuminating the recovering cadet in a small pool of light, "Doctor Puri let me bring you your breakfast," Arianne continued as she moved over to the bed and placed a tray on the portable table, "A bowl of sugar free oatmeal with a spoon in it, three slices of whole wheat toast with no butter and a small glass of soy milk with a straw in it...I sent a list of foods that I know you're allergic to to the hospital cafeteria yesterday before I went downtown so that you wouldn't get sick."

"Did you go down there by yourself?" Jim asked, suddenly remembering that Arianne had promised that she would take care of things. "My blood pressure was through the roof all last night, I was worried about you...I was threatened with about five different medications for it."

Arianne sighed and took Jim's hand, "No, I got Riley to go with me and we wore disguises," she replied. "I also used my pseudo name...Reed is still a double-agent, he's so pathetic."

"You didn't kill Reed, did you?" Jim asked, worried that it had gone terribly wrong.

"No, I only punched him in the face a couple of times and Riley tied him up in a rope cage," Arianne reported, taking a seat on the stool that was next to Jim's bed. "By now, he's probably out and whining to his buddies at Sector 31 and the Tarsian Order about what happened."

Jim sighed, "Just be careful," he replied. "Stay on campus, they're not allowed here."

"Jim, you wouldn't be in this hospital bed right now if they followed rules," Arianne retorted with a sigh. "Anyway, I have orders from Doctor Puri to get you eating breakfast, so let's begin."

Arianne picked up the spoon from the oatmeal, "If you want to talk during breakfast, Jim, that's just fine as long as you eat everything," she explained. "Ready to let me feed you?"

Jim nodded and allowed Arianne to feed him, as she would treat him with the utmost dignity.

After all, they were friends and she had risked her life to see that he would be safe from now on.

Having just been in Captain Pike's office to be measured for a cadet uniform, provided with a student identification chip, and a pass card to the dormitory that he and Jim would be sharing, Leonard strode down the hallway towards Jim's hospital room to see how his 'patient' was faring.

"...That oatmeal reminded me so much of the crap we had to eat on Tarsus," Leonard suddenly heard Jim's voice filter through the door. "...at least the toast was good..."

There was a chuckle, "...Maybe if you behave yourself, Puri will release you to your dorm for more rest," the voice of Arianne replied. "Even after you ARE out of the hospital, you do realize that you won't be able to go to classes without a hoverchair and possibly an escort...Maybe you should just rest in your dorm for a few days after your release..."

"...I wish I hadn't eaten so much, Arianne, now I'm sleepy," Leonard heard Jim say in a groggy voice. "I am so TIRED of being cooped up in this hospital without anything to do."

"...I'll talk to Captain Pike and maybe he can send over some of your notes and assignments," the voice of Arianne replied. "As long as you don't overdo it, I think you can do some of the work..."

Leonard heard a yawn, "...For now, however, I think you should go to sleep," he heard Arianne say in an equally tired voice. "I've got a lot to do today, but I'll come see you when I can..."

There was some incoherent mumbling and the door slid open, "Ah, Doctor McCoy," Arianne said as she stepped out into the hall, coming face to face with the doctor. "How are you doing?"

"Captain Pike had me fit for a cadet uniform today and gave me my student identification stuff," Leonard replied, slightly intimidated by the woman in medical blue. "He and Doctor Puri are talking about letting me leave either tomorrow or the day after.."

Noting the less than enthusiastic tone in his voice, Arianne raised an eyebrow, "I thought you would be happy about getting out of rehab prison," she commented, echoing his earlier words.

"Well, I am happy about not having to be in the rehab program anymore," Leonard replied. "I just don't want to leave Jim in the hospital by himself. It kills me to admit it, but I've gotten used to having Jim around and he seems to rely on me to be there for him."

Arianne nodded, but remained silent. The helped becomes the helper she thought happily.

"Doctor Puri also said that now that I'm gonna be discharged, the face-to-face counseling sessions are done, but we can keep in contact by email?" Leonard asked, secretly relieved to not be a patient of this woman any more, as she intimidated the heck out of him by her blunt, yet caring, nature.

"I only do face-to-face sessions with the high risk patients who reside in the hospital or those who still have a high-risk of harming self or others when they are discharged," Arianne explained, not wanting him to know that she had cut down on her work at Starfleet Medical because of the amount of coursework she had coming. "You're no longer at risk for either of those things...I will keep in touch through email, however, and I've already signed you up for a flight simulation course so that you can deal with that aviaphobia...According to Lieutenant Sanchez, you seem to have a problem with flying that needs to be handled accordingly...You'll get emailed about that later."

Leonard held out his hand, "Thanks for saving my life," he said in a gruff tone.

Arianne nodded and shook Leonard's hand, "Good luck to you in the cadet world, Doctor McCoy," she replied, turning away. "I see you making a great name for yourself in Starfleet."

In silence, Arianne walked off down the hallway, as she had to check in with Dr. Puri to give him a report on Jim, after which she had to go to her dorm and change for her class at 0700.

Two days later, Arianne left one of the buildings and her legs shook as she made her way outside. It was annoying that she had just done over 100 push ups for messing up in Quantum Physics.

It was tough without Jim being there, coaching her through it, as she was no good at heavy math.

The fact that she tried her best didn't matter, the instructor expected perfection out of everyone who took his class and if a student got an answer wrong, they would do push ups in the classroom.

Normally, Jim, who was at the top of the class, helped her get through class without having to do a single push up. He knew they were hard on her, so he did the push ups for all her wrong answers.

As she reached the bottom of the stairs, Arianne smoothed down her sweat-covered uniform and that was when she noticed two figures across the green space. One of them had a beard and was dressed in a cadet uniform while the other was wearing hospital pajamas, had his legs covered by a heavy blanket, had tons of drip lines in his hands, and was riding in a hoverchair down the path. His face was still heavily bruised and his nose was still bandaged, but he was actually talking and looking pleasant.

Arianne smiled, although she was concerned and wondered how in the world Dr. McCoy managed to convince Dr. Puri and Captain Pike that Jim was ready to be released from Starfleet Medical.

However, as she was in the role of cadet and not a medical assistant at the moment, what Dr. McCoy and Jim did was none of her concern. Her focus was getting to her next class on time.

Letting out a tired sigh, Arianne gripped the PADD's that she had collected for Jim in one hand and her own work in the other. She was looking forward to visiting Jim later on that evening.

The dual role of cadet and Ensign was tough, yet Arianne knew that she had to endure not only for her father and Jim, who knew she could do it, but also for her sense of self-worth.

Although the past had been hard on her, Arianne had no idea that the future would be harder yet.