Neither Jim nor Spock had told me what happened during the chunk of time between my racing to Sickbay for stimulants to revive the exhausted crew (the stimulants helped the sickness wear off) and returning to the bridge to find the two of them avoiding each others' gazes. A difficult undertaking considering that they could hardly keep their eyes off of each other.

One would be staring at the other when the other looked over. Eyes would lock then they'd both look away quickly, Spock blushing greener and Jim grinning. Usually Jim was the one to give in and let his gaze wander back to Spock, but then Spock would feel his eyes on him and the whole cycle would start again.

It was only slightly nauseating.

Even when he wasn't looking at Jim, Spock's normal expressionless façade was entirely betrayed by the light but constant blush that crept up from under the black collar of his uniform and reached all the way into his finely combed black hair and to the tips of his pointy ears.

Looking at the blue of his uniform made me shiver slightly. I realized I would never be able to truly separate the color blue from the picture of Jim and Spock doing unmentionable things. Oh god… every time I looked in the mirror I would see my eyes. My blue eyes that matched Spock's blue uniform as Jim so cleverly pointed out. Then there was my own blue uniform. Jesus Christ, Jim. He had to go and leave me with no choice but gouging my own eyes out.

As far as my actual feelings on the matter went, I wasn't really against them being together. I didn't want any visuals, but... It was just a bit… I mean it was Jim. Every mission we go on seems to require that he seduce and consequently make out with/feel up some lovely woman. It is a bit absurd actually, but that's just how it is. I didn't want to have to calm down a jealous Vulcan. And our captain has a bad habit of getting his shirt ripped apart. I didn't want to half to deal with a lust-crazed Vulcan, either. Yet it seems, as one of the two people that he actually considers his friends, the responsibility would logically fall to me.

As the doors swished shut behind me, Jim noticed my presence on the bridge and let out an excited "Bones!". The Captain eased himself from his chair, the exertion eliciting a wince that was not lost on me.

Goddammit. He'd been fine when I left him an hour ago. He couldn't stay out of harms way for a minute, could he?

"Jim, are you injured?" I asked slowly, letting the threat go unvoiced but apparent in my tone. The threat was something along the lines of 'if you're hurt again, so help me Hippocrates, I will stab you with so many hypos you will never leave my sickbay again.'

Jim was well aware of this threat.

My harmless question left him grinning from ear to ear. The rest of the bridge crew was watching with slight interest. As far as they could tell, this was just another instance of the captain being scolded by his doctor. Spock though was turned away, full attention on his station despite the fact that nothing even vaguely scientific was happening. "Do you really want to know," he asked cheekily. I gave him an appraising glare and noticed the bruises beginning to form around his wrists.

I knew I would regret pursuing this, but as a doctor I had to be sure. "Jim… what are those marks on your wrists?" From the corner of my eye I could see Spock stiffen and his ears flush a tad bit darker.

He was to blame.

I turned even greener than him and for the second time this week I, for lack of a better word, fainted on the bridge.

//-//-//

I woke up in one of my own bio-beds, the drab colors of Sickbay surrounding me and the grim visage of the ship's science officer alarmingly close. I heard a mangled shriek, a quiet, muffled one thank god, escape me as I retreated as far into the surface of the bed as I could.

"Jesus Christ, Spock!" I muttered, regaining my composure somewhat. "You scared the hell outta me." He was sitting on the edge of my bed, which seemed uncomfortable for him. I would have to remember to request chairs to go next to the beds.

"I apologize, Doctor. Intimidation was not my intention."

"Of course not…" I muttered sarcastically. It was his damn fault I was in here like this. Scaring me to death with his and Jim's… now his superior strength was giving me an entirely new reason to have to worry about Jim. And I already worried about him plenty. I'm his doctor not his mother, dammit!

It seemed that Spock was back to his usual unfriendliness. "So no more 'Leonard?'" Sure Spock and I argued a lot, and sure he still valued reason over emotion which meant we'd continue to argue a lot, but I had begun to consider the logical bastard my friend.

After a moment Spock blushed ever so slightly. It was small, but I was beginning to notice his barely noticeable reactions. "I apologize for my previous lack of formality. I should not have presumed so much familiarity with you."

I sighed and sat up. "C'mon Spock. Do you have to be such an damn idiot?" This earned me a quirk of his eyebrow and the smallest hint of a smile. I groaned and regretted the question that had formed in my mind. "So how are things with Jim?" Did I really want to know?

I did. I had never seen Jim this invested in a relationship.

I had to admit I was curious.

Spock actually smiled at that. A real, legitimate, human smile. "Very much preferable to the former state of our relationship." Though slightly impressed that I had made him smile, I groaned again. "I fail to see why you find the idea of romantic relations between the captain and myself so unsatisfactory."

"I just don't want to think about what you did when I left." I muttered, closing my eyes. Unfortunately, closing my eyes meant that my imagination would have to replace what I had been looking at. And, of course, my mind was on a particular track at that moment. Properly nauseated, I reopened my eyes in order to dispel the picture of the naked half Vulcan's grip on my captain's wrists and… other parts.

Spock was looking at me with thinly veiled amusement.

"Jim and I merely followed your suggestion and engaged in a game of chess." At my skeptical look, he elaborated. "Granted, it was… far more stimulating than any match I had ever taken part in, but Jim assured me we were playing with previously established rules."

I shuddered, trying to shake away any lingering thoughts that could possibly form another evil mental picture. I really didn't want to know what rules they were playing by. I decided to distract myself by yelling, hopefully drowning out my unwanted thoughts.

"What the hell am I still doing in bed? I'm a doctor, not a pillow! I have a whole damned medical team to be running!" Uhg. Damn Jim and Spock and their damned- Oh god. Now I'd be referring to them as 'Jim and Spock.' They were like a… couple or something. I groaned audibly. That was somehow stranger than the idea of them having sex. It wasn't that I was under the impression that Jim wanted sex, or at least only wanted sex, I just hadn't really put it together until now.

"Doct-Leonard, are you in pain?" Spock's dark, questioning gaze met my scowling one.

"Yes, Spock. And it's your goddamned fault." I slid off the bed and stepped into my office for a moment expecting him to be gone when I returned, but no. After getting myself a drink (just water as I was probably still on duty – what time was it anyhow? Had I been asleep for long? Had Spock been watching me sleep for long? I never thought I'd ask myself that…) I came back and he was still sitting there with his usual Vulcan rigidity although he looked almost… indecisive? "Spock? Is there something you wanted from me?" I frowned. That had sounded like I didn't want him here.

Great. Now I was worrying about his damned feelings.

"Indeed." He didn't speak further, apparently in need of some prodding.

"Well, what is it?" I folded my arms across my chest and leaned back against one of the bio-beds.

"I may be putting Jim's life in danger by asking you this - however, I believe he was exaggerating your propensity for causing him harm."

"…What exactly did he say I'd do?"

"When I expressed my desire to breach this subject with you, Jim began repeating 'Bones is going to murder me' with varying degrees of volume and inflection. Then, in an apparent attempt to distract me from the idea, he-"

"I think that's enough information," I coughed. I didn't want to hear about Jim's damned methods of distraction. "Just ask me whatever you want."

"And you won't harm Jim?"

"I'll try my best." It was really the most I could promise.

Author's Note: Sorry for the delay with this chapter! and sorry it's kinda filler and a bit unpolished.

this will actually be a 6 chapter story... and i promise Bone's will have some form of a mental breakdown in the final chapter!

i was thinking about doing a oneshot of Jim and Spock's chess game alluded to in this chapter. the one in which Jim ends up ravished ;D is that something anyone [besides me] would like me to write?

ummmm so yea! lemme know what you think!

oh and special thanks to JessFantasy16 for her thalianess! ahg!! i miss you!!!

Update: I just made a livejournal [it's my homepage now on my profile] and don't know what i'm doing and have no friends yet so.... be my friend!!!! :)