The rooming situation had been a little awkward at first, with this being McCoy's first co-ed rooming situation excluding the years he was married, but they got used to each other. She got used to his study habits, he got used to her unexpected neatness. They each got used to each other's strange hours, McCoy's from a part time job at the campus clinic, Jim's from bar hopping.
Jim was finally completely enjoying herself. She was top in all her classes, finally seemed to fit in with a particular group of cadets who, like herself, were in the command track with engineering focus. She also had found a somewhat constant companion in McCoy. They ate together, had three classes together, and they studied together. Yes, Jim Kirk was studying.
One night, six months into the Academy, cemented their friendship. Somehow, Jim had managed to convince McCoy to join her on one of her typical Saturday nights. She introduced him to her favorite bartenders, by name, no less. To McCoy's surprise, her attention seemed to be focused solely on him. She even attempted to play wingman, pointing out several women that she thought would fit his "type".
Two bars in, McCoy bowed out, citing upcoming exams and a clinic shift the next day. Jim's smile and eyes dimmed. "Look, Jim, you'll have much more fun without a boring and grumpy old man. Go on without me." With a pat on the shoulder, he left.
He made it back to their dorm and took a shower to rid himself of the smoke and alcohol smell. He looked at a clock, and satisfied that there were still a couple of hours left for studying, curled up in a small arm chair with a PADD. An hour in, his comm beeped. Thinking it was Jim, he ignored it. In the middle of the night, who else would it be.
Fifteen minutes later, the comm beeped again. McCoy sighed, put down his PADD, and grabbed the comm. "McCoy here."
"You Doctor McCoy?" a gruff voice said.
"What are you doing callin' me at 2 in the morning? People sleep at this time."
"I got a girl here. Says she knows ya. She's hurt real bad, got in a fight, I dunno. You gotta come get 'er."
McCoy ran a hand through his hair. He'd heard of some of Jim's antics, but none had ever escalated this bad. "Where is she?"
"At Glass's."
"Ok. I'll be there in about ten minutes. Can you stay with her?" he asked, hearing a beep signifying the call had been terminated. "Dammit."
He all but ran to the bar, and saw the bar was practically empty, save for a woman passed out at a table in the back. McCoy made his way to the bartender. "What happened?"
She looked up from the bar, and shrugged. "Don't know. She was flirting with this guy, he got a little fresh, I guess. It just exploded from there."
McCoy was stunned. "And no one did anything?"
"She broke his wrist. We figured she could handle herself."
"Thanks."
McCoy made his way to the table and sat down beside her. From what little he could see of her face, Jim had a broken nose plus a bruised or fractured eye socket. If he ever found out who could hit a woman like this, he'd kill them. Softly, he brushed the hair from her face and whispered her name. "Jim, it's time to go."
Jim began to stir and blinked stupidly for a moment until she recognized the face beside her. Her eyes got wide and she looked at her lap. She murmured a small greeting.
"Hey yourself. What say you we go home?"
When she nodded, he wrapped her arm around his neck and his arm around her waist. He nodded at the bartender, and they slowly walked back to campus. The cold air helped to sober Jim up, and she became aware of the situation.
"You didn't have to come get me, but thanks."
"Yes I did. What was I going to do, leave you there to be accosted by some other bastard?"
"I can handle myself."
He snorted. "I can see that."
They walked the rest of the way to the dorm in silence. When they got to their room, McCoy grabbed a medical kit from under his bed and led her to the bathroom. When she protested, he forced her to sit on the side of the tub. "Shut up, Kirk. I gotta reset your nose, 'cause it's a full break this time, and your eye socket looks fractured. Not to mention the cuts that need to be cleaned."
"It's fine, Bones. Just set the nose and leave me be."
He froze and his eyes grew big. Shit, did she just say that out loud? She did. Shit.
"Bones?"
Jim attempted to shrug it off. "Yeah, it's a nickname. Bones."
"One offhanded comment about a divorce and I'm branded Bones?"
"Huh? No, it's short for Sawbones? You know, the old slang for doctor? You're old fashioned and made me think of it."
McCoy slowly returned to prepping a scanner. He shrugged and scanned her face. "Damn. He really worked you over. Fractured eye socket, like I thought." He moved the scanner to her hands. Right wrist sprained, bruised knuckles. "A cracked rib, too."
"Just set the nose. The rest'll be fine. I've had worse." She tried to stand and he forced her to sit again.
"No, dammit. You're lucky he didn't break a rib. Or worse. What the hell happened?"
He went to work on healing the fractures above her eye as she began her story. It seemed after he left, she went to Glass's and began to drink heavily, when a man in his thirties came up and sat next to her. They flirted, he grabbed her ass, and she slapped him. He back handed her, and she fought back. "By the time they separated us, I had twisted his wrist and I guess it snapped. They sat me at that table, and the next thing I remember is you sitting beside me." She looked up at him and thanked him again.
He turned off the dermal regenerator and met her eyes. Blue met hazel and it seemed, for Kirk at least, that the world had slowed. She felt safe, completely safe, for the first time in her life. McCoy put a hand on her shoulder.
"You can always call me to come get you, you know that right?"
Kirk swallowed. "I don't need a hero, Bones."
"That's not what I meant. You're the only person I can halfway stand. If something happens to you, what am I supposed to do?"
Jim didn't know what to say. His eyes were still on her, and she almost forgot to breathe, thinking he might kiss her. Then McCoy slapped her shoulder, and the moment ended. She had to still be drunk.