A/N: I want to thank everyone who reviewed since my last chapter. You made me keep going when things weren't wanting to work out. As always thanks to Bookdragon01 for beta-ing this so quickly.
Finally I only own the ones you don't recognize. All our favorites still belong to Roddenbury, Abrams, and company; unfortunately.
Sorry about the typos, I some how ended up doing my final edits on an older copy. No clue why I didn't notice other than I was trying to make dinner as well as edit and load at the same time. This one's now right.
The next morning McCoy woke early and spent a few minutes just watching Joanna sleep. She was curled around the bear he'd given her for her first birthday and had kicked the covers most of the way off, but to have her sleeping peacefully across the room after everything that had happened was a miracle to him. He quietly got up and quickly gathered his things so hopefully he could beat most of the group into the shower. He took one last look at Joanna and hoped that she wouldn't disappear this morning before he left, pulling the door softly shut behind him.
Ten minutes later he opened the door, chuckling at a comment from Uhura about Scotty's snoring to find Joanna's bed empty and no sign of her. He dropped his shower things on the table by the door, reminding himself to breathe as he began his own search starting with the closet. Not too surprisingly there was nothing there but his dress uniform and the dress that Winona had gotten her in Riverside. With a sigh he looked around the room trying to figure out where Joanna might have hidden this time. Remembering that Jim had found her under her bed, McCoy decided to check there next- no Joanna, just her battered bear laying half under the edge of the frame like it had fallen out of bed. That just left his bed.
As he knelt down to look the door opened, "Whatcha lookin' for Daddy?" Joanna asked, making him jump and just catch the top of his head on the frame. Joanna smiled as he swore under his breath, rubbing the injury.
"It's not funny, Jo," McCoy grumbled gently touching the slight swelling. "I thought you'd disappeared again."
"No, Daddy, I just had to use the bathroom and since you were in the one next door, I used the one by Uncle Jim and Mr. Spock's room. I'm sorry I worried you," she explained looking worried as she moved to stand beside him. "Want me to get ya somethin' for your head?"
"There's a bottle labeled 'Acetaminophen' in my medical bag. Don't bother the small yellow one labeled 'Jim' it's in the main one," he said getting up and picking up the stuff he dropped. As he set the bag of toiletries and his pajamas on the bed Joanna joined him, handing him the bottle. "Jo, I'm not mad at ya. It just scared me a bit when I came back and y'all weren't here," McCoy assured her, giving her a hug. "You better get dressed, if you're gonna help make breakfast," he reminded her, and watched his daughter rush for her duffle to find some clothes for breakfast.
"Excuse me, Daddy. Can ya tell Nana I'll be down in a minute?" she asked pointedly holding her clothes, waiting for him to leave.
"Sure will, Jo. See ya down stairs," McCoy said as he left. He managed not to chuckle at her expression until he was on the staircase. He flipped on his PADD and started scanning the news articles as he followed the faint scent of coffee towards the kitchen to take his pill and help with breakfast himself.
The sound of quiet voices reached McCoy just before he stepped into the room. Looking up he was slightly surprised to see that the early risers were Winona and Pike. Something about the sight of the two of them sharing an early morning cup of coffee made him pause a moment. It wasn't the sight of Winona that surprised him, he'd seen her in her robe often enough during their stay with her, it was the sight of Pike in a pair of pajama pants and an ancient Academy t-shirt that gave him pause. He'd never seen the man in anything other than a uniform, PT clothes, or medical gown. "Mornin'," he murmured as he made a bee line for the coffeepot, trying not to feel like he'd interrupted something important.
"Morning, Leonard. How was your night?" Winona asked with a smile as Bones finished filling his mug and turned around, leaning back against the counter.
"Slept alright, but gave myself a headache this morning with some help from Jo," he replied and popped two pills into his mouth before taking a sip of coffee.
"What happened?" Pike asked looking concerned.
"I came back from the shower and she wasn't in the room and the first thing I thought was that she disappeared again. I managed to brain myself on my bed frame when Jo came back in and surprised me," McCoy grumbled rubbing the top of his head gently. "It's not bad but it hurt like hell for a couple minutes," he admitted with a shrug.
"So where was she?" Winona asked trying not to laugh at his slightly disgruntled expression.
"She was in the other bathroom up there since I was in the one by our room."
Winona started chuckling as Jim walked in. "What's so funny?" he asked glancing between Bones' slightly grumpier than usual look and Pike grinning and trying not to laugh.
"Oh nothin' much, Kid. Your Mama decided that me brainin' myself because I thought Jo was missin' again was funny," McCoy deadpanned, watching the alarm shoot into Jim's face for a second. "She's fine, Jim. She wasn't in our room when I got back from takin' a shower and I panicked for a second. I was checkin' under my bed when Jo walked in and startled me," he explained before his friend could fly off the handle and organize a search.
"That's good," Jim said pouring himself a cup of coffee. "Not you getting hurt, Bones. So where was she?"
"The bathroom down by your room," Bones replied sitting down at the table with a sigh. "I left her gettin' dressed so she should be down in a couple minutes." He rolled his eyes at the shit eating grin on Jim's face as he sat down next to Winona, knowing that he'd be hearing about this morning for a while.
"You look a bit tired, sir," Bones said trying to get everyone's attention off him.
"I'm fine," Pike replied taking a sip of his coffee. "Just not used to having a roommate anymore."
"He doesn't snore, does he?" Jim asked grinning since Scotty's snoring had prompted Rhymer's swapping rooms and ending up on a pullout in Pike's room.
"No, just the fact of having someone else in the room with me at night," Pike explained. "Ask Bones or Chapel if you don't believe me. If there's noise in the room I might not wake up completely but I don't rest well."
"That's why I had Chapel slippin' you a mild sedative every night comin' back," McCoy added looking smug. Pike looked surprised at the admission but let it slide as Uhura and Joanna came in.
"Morning Joanna, Uhura," Pike greeted them, getting a slight smile out of Joanna as she hurried over to her dad, while Uhura made herself a cup of tea.
Once she had her tea, Uhura took the seat on the other side of Joanna. "So how is your head, Len?" she asked as Spock joined them sliding into the seat next to Uhura.
McCoy rolled his eyes and shot her a slightly dirty look. "Not you too, Uhura. Do I need to send out a memo that I'm fine?" McCoy grumbled at her. "My headache was goin' away nicely till everyone decided to keep carpin' on it, thank you very much."
Spock started to ask what they were talking about when Uhura stopped him by slipping her hand in his under the table. Feeling her amusement and concern through their bond as well as her touch, Spock passed the question to her through it.
'Len couldn't find Joanna this morning after his shower. While he was looking for her under his bed Joanna came in and managed to startled him enough that he bumped his head on the frame,' she explained smiling slightly at Spock.
'I take it that he is physically fine but does not wish to be reminded of his mistake?' Spock asked letting his amusement at McCoy's attitude through their bond.
'Of course,' Uhura replied. 'He's worried enough about what's going to happen today so I wasn't trying to upset him by bringing up his over reacting.'
'His concerns are understandable, K'diwa,' Spock reminded her gently as his own concerns flashed through his mind and the bond to Uhura. 'You know Jim will have enough trouble restraining himself. It might be best if you were to assist Winona in keeping the Captain's mouth shut, before the Doctor shuts it for him.'
'You're right about Jim, Spock. I was only asking because I was concerned. Though it was funny,' Uhura agreed giving Spock another smile.
"Ok, you too what are you talking about over there?" Jim asked, looking back a forth between Spock and Uhura. Jim had been watching avidly as they carried on some kind of silent conversation.
"Nyota was informing me of the events that I missed this morning, Captain," Spock replied with the Vulcan equivalent of a smirk sending a brief glance at McCoy who rolled his eyes and huffed in annoyance.
"She did not wish to further your discomfort by explaining it again and employed one aspect of our bond to relay this morning's events," Spock explained watching McCoy's expression go from mildly annoyed to puzzled and curious as Sulu and Chekov sleepily walked in and made a bee line for the coffee pot.
"And that aspect would be?" McCoy asked intrigued in spite of his worries about the trial.
"You are already aware that we can tell the others emotional state. Touch, coupled with our current bond, allows us to converse in a way similar to a meld though less formal in nature. To converse this way will most likely require physical contact even after we complete our bond, though that remains to be determined," Spock explained, effectively distracting McCoy as Martin and Carrannelli entered followed by Christine, Scotty and Rhymer.
"You can talk to each other like you did me, Mr. Spock?" Joanna asked softly. "But you didn't touch her face."
"Physical contact is not always needed to perform a meld, Joanna. Touch is used to amplify the connection, and to assist in retaining the perspective of the one performing it," Spock explained simply.
"Though we are touching," Uhura added shifting so the Joanna could see their clasped hands making the girl truly smile again.
"So what are you talking about?" Sulu asked as the rest joined them at the table.
"And vhat is zhe plan for breakfast?" Chekov added as his stomach growled causing a wave of snickers around the table and making him blush.
"It'll have to be something fairly quick, Winona. We need to leave here by 0800 and it's 0700 now," Pike reminded her as she started to reply.
"I know that, Chris, calm down," Winona replied standing up. "I was going to suggest French toast again if no one has any objections?"
"Sounds good, Mom," Jim said standing up and heading for the fridge. "I'll get the eggs."
"Ok, Jim, grab the bacon too, please. Let's get this show on the road. The sooner we get done the quicker we can get going and not have a worry wart Admiral breathing down our necks," Winona remarked shooting Pike a knowing look as she took the eggs and started cracking them into a large, shallow dish.
"What are you talking about, Winona?" Pike asked sitting back in his chair.
"First year Federation History 101 final exam, Commander Baylis' class?" she prompted sighing at his still blank look. "You woke me up at 0530 for a class that didn't start till 0900 all because you were panicked that we'd be one second late,"* she reminded him and had the pleasure of watching a slight flush cross his face.
"I'd forgotten about that. Definitely not one of my brighter moves, huh?" Pike admitted sheepishly as the others chuckled; it wasn't every day that you saw a Starfleet Admiral embarrassed over an incident that happened over thirty years earlier.
"Definitely not, Chris. The only good thing was that we ran into George on the way and he gave me that apple or I would probably have killed you for making me miss breakfast," Winona reminded him, smiling at the memory, as she finished mixing the batter.
Once everyone was finished cleaning up, Martin placed a dry erase sheet on the table to go over the finalized security formation they'd be using in case they ran into the media or other trouble. Pike wasn't thrilled that he was stuck in the center of the group because of his wheel chair. At least Martin had agreed to allow him what Giotto called a 'stunner', a phaser that was permanently set on a low stun, and was one of his old friend's favorite weapons for melee sims. According to Martin's plan, they'd be forming a basic bull's eye defense if they had any trouble, with Pike and Joanna at the center. As soon as everyone had looked the diagram over for their positions, they hurried upstairs to get dressed for the hearing.
Joanna quietly slipped her hand into her dad's as they reached the top of the stairs; she was scared of going to court since the last time she was there she'd essentially lost her dad. McCoy gently squeezed her hand and smiled at her as they stopped just inside the door to their room. He was remembering what happened five years ago too, but this time he knew would be different.
"Shh, Jo, everythin' will be fine, Darlin'," McCoy murmured letting her burrow into his chest as he nudged the door shut with his foot. "I'm not gonna let you go back, neither's anyone else." He tightened his arms around her as he felt her breath hitch and her arms tighten around his waist.
"I know, Daddy. But I can't stop r'memberin' the last time," Joanna replied, her voice muffled by his shirt.
"Jo, I need ya to calm down for me. No matter what happens this week, remember it's not just me fightin' this this time. I know Rhymer's got a few tricks up his sleeve to even things up," Bones said softly gently tipping Joanna's face up so she was looking at him. "Spock said he'd teach you a meditation trick that his Mama used to use, before we left. That should help you if you need it. And all you have to do is ask and you can leave the court room for a while, alright?" he reminded her watching her expression shift from fear to curiosity at Spock's offer.
"Ok, Daddy. I love you," she almost whispered hugging him again before bouncing onto her toes to kiss him.
"I love you too, Darlin'," McCoy murmured returning her hug and placing an extra kiss on her forehead. "Better hurry and get your dress and head over so the ladies can make sure you're put together right," he reminded her as he reached in the closet for his dress uniform, giving it a sour look as he laid it carefully on his bed.
"I'll see you in a bit, Daddy," Joanna said as she paused in the doorway.
"I'll be waitin' at t he foot of the stairs for ya," her Dad assured her as she smiled and closed the door behind her.
Jim finished getting his dress shirt to tuck smoothly into his trousers and turned to pick up his jacket when he noticed that his PADD was blinking that he had a new message. Curious, he picked it up, and was surprised to find that it was from Scotty. Not sure if he should be worried or not, he opened it hoping that it wasn't one of Scotty's slightly crazy schemes to up the power to one of the ships systems; those tended to not end well at least a third of the time, according to Spock's calculations. What he found when the message opened however was in a way more surprising. He slowly sat on the edge of his bed, a bemused smile on his face as he read through the separate messages from the others. All were belated 'thank you's for his various anonymous gifts. The one that made him chuckle though was Cupcake's. Evidently his mom had found the gloves Jim had made him when she was helping Martin pack after leave, and almost refused to let him pack them because they were so well made and she didn't want him to chance ruining them on a mission. Still chuckling at the mental picture Jim quickly wrote and sent a reply to everyone and headed downstairs feeling a bit more optimistic that everything would work out.
McCoy smiled slightly leaning against the living room doorway as he watched Spock calmly go through the meditation with Joanna one last time. His daughter was sitting on a chair in the living room and Spock was once again perched on one of the foot stools facing her. From what he could tell there were several similarities between what Spock was teaching her and the methods he'd been taught for helping a patient deal with panic attacks.
Filing that information away for later he couldn't help but be thankful for the ladies' help that morning with Joanna's hair. Someone, he figured Uhura, had done a reverse French braid in her hair, and he recognized the small pearl studs she was wearing as a pair Christine often wore in the Medbay. The dress Winona had bought her while they were in Riverside was a dark green sundress with a light weight, lighter green sweater over it and McCoy was surprised at how much it made Joanna look like a young lady all of a sudden. Jim clapping a hand on his shoulder pulled him out of his thoughts abruptly.
"She sure looks like you, Bones," Jim remarked quietly watching as she and Spock both stood, walking towards the rest of them.
"Thanks, Jim," Bones replied dryly letting Jim see his eye roll at the obviousness of his comment.
Jim smirked at him a moment before turning serious, "Are you ready?"
"No but I'll be fine once things get goin'," Bones replied with a sigh. "You should know that by now, Kid," he added as Joanna joined them. "Looked like you were doin' pretty good, Jo."
"Thanks, Daddy. Mr. Spock said I was a quick learner," Joanna answered quietly, as McCoy wrapped his arm around her shoulders, letting her snuggle into his side.
"Ok, people, let's get moving," Pike announced walking out of the library and scowling at his wheelchair before grumpily dropping into it.
"Hold on, Chris," Winona said as he started to roll towards the door. "We need to get these coats in the rack or you'll all be out of uniform when we get there," she reminded him with a chuckle at the dirty look he shot her as she finished zipping up the garment bag hanging on the library door.
"I got that, Mom," Jim told her, crossing the foyer to lift the bag down from the door and fold it in half.
"Thanks, Jim," Winona replied taking it from him and slipping it carefully into the carrier on the back of Pike's chair. "Now we're ready to go, Chris," she announced, mimicking his tone and making the others chuckle as they followed her and Pike out the door.
Lewis followed them as far as the porch calling "good bye" as they climbed in the van and left. Then he headed back in the house, locking the door behind him as he headed to the security room to keep an eye on things until the others got back.