Warning: mentions (very brief) of child abuse - I apologise if this goes against what other people think happened, and I will try to be as sensitive as possible.

Twenty Two

Leonard McCoy stomped past his nurses and headed for the exit to sickbay, barking at M'Benga that he was in charge. The other doctor raised a hand lazily, not even looking up from the report he was reading. Nurse Riley threw him a curious look from her post by the door, but didn't try to stop him. He really wasn't in the mood to leave anyone else in charge of his patients that day, but Jim hadn't left him much choice. When McCoy hadn't gone to see him for 'lunch' as he'd asked, Jim had locked him out of his computer system and demanded he come see him if he wanted the command overridden.

He couldn't chalk up his bad temper to just Jim though. If he was being honest with himself, McCoy hadn't been in a good mood for a few days now. He told himself it was because he was overworked and stressed and just hating space in general, as usual, but it felt… different, this time.

He also told himself it had nothing to do with the way he'd spoken to Victoria More a few days ago.

In retrospect, it had been her own fault. It was common knowledge on the Enterprise that you didn't mess with McCoy when the ship was in ruins, crew members were injured or Jim's life was in danger. If it was a mix of two or more things, then you simply avoided medbay unless you were dying and there was no other doctor available. Someone should have told Victoria that – Jim had once joked that they ought to put it in the ship's manual: When Not to Talk to Doctor McCoy. At the time, McCoy had been pissed, but now he almost wishes they had done it. To say he regretted talking to her like that was an understatement. She may have been doing something he disagreed with, but Jim did that on a daily basis and McCoy had never attacked him like that. He knew he had been too harsh on her, and he had a feeling all Jim was about to do was make him feel worse about it. Despite himself, his mind drifted back to that day.

"Dr. McCoy?" a soft voice called out. McCoy looked up from his PADD, too tired to snap but not tired enough that the scowl on his face was any less dark than it usually was. He could feel mild irritation creep up on him when he saw who was standing at his office door.

"What is it?" he asked roughly.

Victoria bit her lip and entered his office without invitation, allowing the doors to slide shut behind her. McCoy almost felt sorry for her then – she looked terrible, and she was rubbing her arm in an absent way, which made him suspect that her dislocated shoulder was giving her some trouble. He almost offered her a hypospray, but resisted the urge. Standing close to her in those damn tunnels and while he had been fixing her injuries had been bad enough, he didn't need to find excuses to make a fool out of himself again. Instead, he inputted a dose of painkillers into her patient records as he waited for her to speak. Nurse Riley would administer them when she saw her leave sickbay.

"I was wondering if I could talk to you," she said finally. Despite how nervous she looked, her voice was calm and even. As if she had done nothing wrong, and this was a follow-up discussion after he had given her a flu shot.

And that just annoyed McCoy even more.

"Sorry, I'm busy," he said shortly. "If you have a medical emergency, Nurse Riley or Dr. M'Benga will take care of it."

Victoria folded her arms across her chest, her mouth tightening slightly. "You didn't push me over to either of them when my shoulder was dislocated and my knee was killing me."

"I was close by and they were both busy," he said immediately, and then cursed himself for sounding so defensive.

As if sensing his inner debate, Victoria's eyes narrowed. "Bullshit. At least admit you did it because I'm your patient, and you feel responsible for me."

"And how'd you repay that gesture?" he sneered.

She faltered. "I can explain, I –"

"What part of "stay out of my way" did you not get?" demanded McCoy. "Christ, Victoria, I get that you're on the run or some shit like that, but I think I was pretty clear when I said I don't care. You almost got me court marshalled!"

"It wouldn't have come to that," said Victoria, fighting to keep her voice even. "I would never let it come to that, and I can explain why –"

"I don't want to hear it!" he snapped. "Jim knows, doesn't he? Look where that got him – stuck in sickbay because he had to run around those damn tunnels tryin' to save you!"

"That isn't on me!" she shot back, her voice slightly louder than normal. "Don't make this about anyone else, because I had nothing to do with how many patients you lost, Leonard. If anything, I saved more than one person!"

Despite her angry expression, McCoy saw the hint of uncertainty in her face, and he pounced on it. Anything to get her out of his office, so he could stop feeling this curious mix of anger and confusion and something else he didn't want to think about until he'd had some sleep.

"And at what cost? Savin' people doesn't excuse the damage you've done, and the damage you could still do. The ship had orders to leave after a certain amount of time, no matter who was on board, and I know Jim gave those orders because of you. What if we'd have had to leave him? Would you have made us stay?" Victoria's hands clenched into fists at his question. McCoy shook his head. "Even you can't answer that, can you?"

"I wouldn't have –"

"We don't know what you wouldn't or couldn't have done, because nobody knows what the hell they've gotten themselves into while you and Jim are playin' your damn espionage game," said McCoy bitterly. "Now, I ain't gonna turn you in, or say anythin' to Jim about it, even though God knows I should. But you know the kind of damage you can do," he fixed her with a hard look. "Best for everyone if you stay out of the way."

Victoria bit her lip, the sudden anger disappearing as quickly as it had arrived. Without a word, she turned around and exited his office, leaving McCoy with a curious feeling of guilt and relief.

"Bones?"

McCoy looked up quickly, surprised to see himself already standing outside Jim's door. His friend was looking at him curiously, but stepped back and gestured for him to come in without comment.

"Alright, I'm here," he said gruffly. "What do you want, Jim?"

"I want to talk about Tori," said Jim, not bothering to waste time with pleasantries. "I saw her today, and she's been crying. She told me what you said."

McCoy winced. "She did?"

"I knew it!" yelled Jim. McCoy frowned, and the blonde man shook his head. "I knew you were an asshole to her, even though she said you weren't. I told her I –"

"She said what?" interrupted McCoy. The guilt was settling in the pit of his stomach steadily. "She – she said I didn't say anythin'?"

"She said you were the only one willing to tell her the truth on this ship," said Jim, watching him carefully. "Bones, what did you say to her? Did she even tell you why she's here?"

"I don't need to know that, Jim," McCoy shook his head. "I was an asshole to her, okay? If she said I wasn't, she's lyin'."

"What did you say?"

McCoy winced. "You really wanna know?" Jim gave him a look, and he sighed. "Okay, I may have told her you gettin' injured was her fault."

Jim blinked. "Are you crazy? That isn't what happened and you know it."

"You ran into those tunnels after her!"

"After both of you!" corrected Jim, his voice rising in anger. "Damn it, Bones, how many times have I done something reckless for you, or Spock, or Uhura? Why is it so hard to believe I'd do it for Tori? I've known her since I was a kid, and I promised her she'd be safe on my ship! She's the best person you'll ever meet, and she'd never put anyone in danger deliberately."

McCoy bristled. "Look, kid, I know she's like family to you, but this ain't right. She's lyin' about who she is, about her medical records, and she could be lyin' about other stuff too, just to get you to help her."

"Tori wouldn't lie to me," said Jim firmly.

McCoy shook his head in exasperation. "This could be dangerous, Jim. We could be in over our heads."

"You sound like Spock," Jim snorted and picked up his PADD, typing in something and flicking through files. "I get having to explain this stuff to him, Bones, but you actually had a healthy relationship with your parents. Tori's been like a mom and a sister to me ever since I can remember. I owe her way more than just a place to hide out."

"What're you doin'?" McCoy narrowed his eyes as Jim pressed another button on his PADD and the lights dimmed, signalling the beginning of a video stream. When the in-built projector lit up and the wall in front of him was suddenly transformed into a screen, he groaned. "I don't have time for this, Jim."

"Just watch," Jim sat down and flicked through a couple more files. McCoy looked over his shoulder and saw a collection of video clips and pictures, with dates and times instead of file names. Jim opened one which was dated over twenty years ago, and then sat back, gesturing to the screen. "Five minutes, Bones. Please?"

McCoy sighed, but sat back nevertheless. The screen lit up and a video began playing. Despite himself, McCoy smiled. The little boy on the screen looked to be about eight years old, with bright blue eyes and shaggy blonde hair. It was clearly Jim.

He came close to the camera and seemed to fiddle with something for a moment, and suddenly the lens zoomed out, giving a view of an unfamiliar living-room. Amongst the various articles of furniture, McCoy spotted another figure sitting on one of the sofas, reading a book. It wasn't hard to recognize Victoria; she had the same fiery hair, the same green eyes, and the same pale skin. But she was obviously younger, no older than sixteen: the lack of worry lines made that clear.

"Tori!" Jim looked like he was about to cry. "It's not working!"

"Hmm?" Victoria looked up from the book, right at the camera. She frowned at the device. "What's wrong, Jim?"

"The camera isn't working," Jim folded his arms across his chest. "I can't fix it!"

Without missing a beat, Victoria tossed her book onto the floor and came closer, crawling towards where Jim was sitting on the floor, pouting. Smiling, she picked him up and gave him a smacking kiss on his cheek, causing him to giggle. "Why isn't it working, honey?" she asked. "Your mom said all we had to do was record and them mail her the tapes."

"She said the light had to be green," Jim pointed to the camera accusingly. "It's red!"

"Green is to make sure the camera is on, and red means it's recording, Jim," explained Victoria patiently. She wrapped her arms around the little boy's middle and pulled him onto her lap. "We can record it together. What do you want to say to mom, huh?"

"I miss you and I love you," recited Jim dutifully, looking at the camera seriously. Behind him, Victoria bit her lip to avoid smiling.

"And?" she prompted.

"And Tori is amazing and I don't want her to go to college!"

Victoria laughed. "How about I take you with me?"

"Promise?" Jim sounded perfectly serious.

Victoria tickled his sides, making him shriek with laughter. "Focus, smarty-pants. What did you do in school this week?"

"We painted and we read books, and Mrs. McIntyre sent me to the other classroom to read with the big kids because she said I knew too much," answered Jim. Then, he frowned and looked up at Victoria in confusion. "Is that a bad thing, Tori?"

"No, honey, there's nothing wrong with that," assured Victoria. "She just didn't want you to get bored learning stuff you already knew. You're a very smart boy."

"But Uncle Rupert said being sent out of class is bad," Jim's eyes suddenly filled with tears. "He said he'd hit me if it happened again."

Victoria's eyes glinted, and she threw a dirty look at the camera. "Uncle Rupert won't touch you, Jim," she said evenly. The hint of steel in her voice was unmistakable. "Mom won't let him, okay?"

"You said that last time," Jim's voice was small.

Victoria cuddled him closer to her chest, pressing a kiss to the top of his head. "Why don't you stay here for the night, huh?" she asked, the fake cheer in her voice obvious to anyone who wasn't Jim. "We can have a slumber party and watch movies and eat candy!"

"Uncle Rupert said –"

"I'll make Mrs. Cope ask him," interrupted Victoria. "Do you want to stay, Jim?"

"Yes," Jim threw his arms around Victoria and gave her a hug, burying his face into her shoulder. Despite his muffled tone, his words were clear. "Love you, Tori."

"Love you too, honey. Run upstairs and find Mrs. Cope," Victoria pulled back and smiled. "She can ask Uncle Rupert and I'll make us some popcorn, okay?"

"Okay!" Jim grinned and jumped up. He began calling for someone as he ran up the stairs, and Victoria watched him leave until his voice faded away. The soft smile on her face vanished and was replaced by a look of worry as she turned back to the camera.

"Winona, please tell Rupert to stop scaring Jim like that," she said, her voice hushed. "He's just a kid, and he's terrified of doing anything wrong in case he gets hit. Mrs. Cope says he doesn't smile unless she's there, and I know he doesn't feel safe unless I'm around. I know he's your brother, but Jim is your son," she sounded like she was about to cry. "I'll mail the tape myself so Jim doesn't see this, but please do something about him. And I –" she cut herself off abruptly, turning around to see who was descending the stairs. It was a middle-aged woman with a kind face. "Mrs. Cope?"

"Jim told me he's staying," said Mrs. Cope. She didn't notice the camera. "Rupert's been acting up again?"

"I don't know, but Jim wanted to stay," Victoria shrugged. "Can you just tell him not to expect him for dinner?"

"I'll go over, but I don't think he's in," the older woman sighed. "I'll leave a note, and I've got Jim's bed ready in your room. Lock the door behind me, Tori."

"Yes, Mrs. Cope," Victoria kept her eyes fixed on a point above the camera, waiting until the woman left. When she was gone, she turned back to the camera. "Also, I know you aren't coming for Jim's birthday again, so I invited a bunch of his friends over to my house for the day next week. I'm not going to be able to spend much money, but at least he'll get some presents and I'll make him a cake. Rupert is going out of town anyway, so I thought it would be a nice surprise for Jim. Anyway, see you soon."

Jim ended the video and pulled up another one onto the screen without waiting for McCoy's reaction. It was in the same house, only the camera was now in Victoria's hands, focused on her face as she concentrated on doing something. She fiddled with it for a second, then smiled brightly.

"It's working now!" she cheered. Setting it down on a flat surface, she backed away and Jim appeared by her side. "How's that?"

"It only works when you're around," Jim folded his arms across his chest stubbornly.

"Don't sulk," she reprimanded lightly. She sat back down on the floor and pulled Jim down next to her. "Now, give me a kiss."

"Tori," Jim rolled his eyes. "I'm too old for that now."

"No, you're not," Victoria didn't seem bothered in the least. Without batting an eyelid, she messed up Jim's hair. "You're going to give me as many hugs and kisses as I want until you're forty, Jim Kirk."

"Fine," Jim allowed Victoria to cuddle him for a few more seconds, and the abruptly stood up. "Okay, I'm ready to talk to Mom now."

"Okay," said Victoria cheerfully. "I'll go make us a snack. Remember to tell Mom how well you did on your spelling test this week."

"I will," Jim nodded, and Victoria dropped a quick kiss onto the top of his head before disappearing from the frame. Jim watched her leave, and as soon as the sound of a door clicking shut was heard, he turned his eyes immediately back to the camera.

"Hi, Mom," he said, waving. He wrinkled his nose. "This is weird. Tori says it's easier than calling you because I can talk more here, but I hope you call me soon too, 'cause I really want you to be there when I tell Uncle Rupert that I don't want to live with him anymore. I already asked Mr. More and Mrs. Cope if I can stay here," he added hastily. "They said they don't care since I'm here all the time anyway, but Uncle Rupert is always saying I need to be at his house more because of the stipend you send. I tried looking up what that word meant, but Tori wouldn't let me," he frowned. "Can't you send it to him anyway without me there? I don't wanna stay with him, I told you he's mean and he hits me, and I know you said that he doesn't mean it and he doesn't hit me that hard, but he does! See?" and he stood up and lifted his shirt, showing an ugly purple bruise against his ribs. Next he turned to show the clear finger marks on his forearm, and a bruised knee that was obviously from falling down. Or being pushed. Jim sat back down in front of the camera. "Tori would never hit me, Mom, and Mr. More isn't very friendly and he smiles less than Uncle Rupert but he doesn't hit Tori either. I heard Mrs. Cope telling the lady across the street that he thinks it's a disgusting thing to do to a kid. So I've decided I'm going to leave," he nodded firmly. "That way Uncle Rupert won't have to see me all the time and Tori can help me with my homework all the time and Mrs. Cope will make me roast beef every week, and Mr. More only said I need to keep doing well in school. So I wanted you to know so you can help me when I have to tell Uncle Rupert. So, call me soon, please," he added, his voice and face hopeful. "I don't wanna tell him alone, Mom. He scares me, and he –" abruptly, he stopped talking as the door opened again.

"Jim?" it was Mrs. Cope again. "Honey, Victoria says she's ready to help you with your homework, and the tape can't be too long or else it'll take ages to upload to your Mom. So finish up quickly and come upstairs, okay?"

"Okay, Mrs. Cope," Jim smiled toothily at her. His two front teeth were missing.

Jim paused the video suddenly, and McCoy was left staring at the picture of a young Jim Kirk, his eyes full of hope and mischief. As light as Jim was now, he'd never seen him look like this before.

And now he knew why.

Jim threw McCoy a look. "Need to see any more, Bones?"

"Dammit, Jim," McCoy ran a hand through his hair. "You never said –"

"- that my uncle was abusive and my mom did nothing about it?" Jim snorted. "Even I didn't know that was bad until I realized that, no matter how shitty Tori's father was, he never laid a hand on either of us. The man's an asshole, but he wouldn't let Rupert touch me, and he told their housekeeper to keep me out of there. Tori did it herself when he wasn't around, and Rupert was too scared of her dad to try anything with her."

"You should have said something," was all McCoy could say. He felt faintly sick. "Christ, Jim, what else did he do to you?"

Jim shrugged. "Just enough to scare me, but not enough that anyone would find out. It isn't important anymore. But Tori is important. Obviously, I didn't end up moving in with them," he gestured to the screen. "My mom never called, and I chickened out of telling Rupert I wanted to leave. I was always with the Mores anyway, so it really wouldn't have been that big of a shift, but I was restless after Tori left for college. The icing on the cake was when I got arrested," he snorted.

McCoy paled. "D-did Rupert do somethin' to you after that?"

Jim shook his head. "No, but Tori finally found out about this tape the day I got arrested. She called my mom to ask her what she should do and my mom told her that she should have known something was up because of what I had said about Rupert. That's why Tori stayed with me while I did my community service, and that's how she got Rupert to get me off the hook. She threatened to use the tape and get him arrested for child abuse," Jim looked oddly proud as he said that. "Rupert was dumb enough to think she could do it, even though it was so old nothing would have happened.

"But she was so guilty that summer, Bones. She kept saying she should have seen how bad it got, that she should have done something about it. But she was a kid too, and I never blamed her. She had already practically raised me, she never got to do normal things on weekends because she always had to look after me, and it didn't stop even when I got older. She came back every summer, every Christmas, and the only reason I stuck around in Iowa was because of her, because I knew no matter how far away she went she'd always come back for me. I owe her so much, Bones," Jim turned to his friend, his tone desperate. "I know you think this is a bad idea, and I won't betray her trust and tell you exactly why it isn't, but this isn't on her. She wanted my help, and I couldn't say no. I won't say no to Tori, Bones."

McCoy shook his head slowly. "I don't know what to say, Jim."

"Look, if you can just move past the fact that she lied about who she was and could have gotten you in trouble, I promise you, you'll feel just the way I do," said Jim earnestly. "She didn't want you to know because it would be dangerous, Bones, because you have a daughter and she knows the more people know, the more they'll be in danger. You know how easy it would have been for her if you, her doctor, knew she was here, right? And you two were almost friends, weren't you?" he added hopefully. "I know you liked her. She's an amazing person. Will you give her a chance now?"

"Jim, I can't just –"

"Please, Bones," something in the younger man's tone made McCoy pause. "I've never asked you to do anything easier. Just make things right with her, okay? I can't – I don't like to see her so upset."

McCoy sighed. "I'll talk to her," he said grudgingly. "But I want to know everything before I pass judgement. Just because she's a good person, doesn't mean this ain't a bad decision."

Jim smiled a little. "That sounds fair. But you'll apologize to her too, right?"

"Yeah," said McCoy reluctantly. "Bad decision or not, what I said to her wasn't right."

Jim chuckled. "Apologizing to Victoria is the easiest thing in the world. She can't stay mad at anyone no matter how hard she tries."

"She's got the easy job, then," muttered McCoy. "I gotta go now," he added louder, standing up as Jim turned the lights back on. "But, uh," awkwardly, he rested a hand on his friend's shoulder. "If you need to talk –"

"I don't need a therapist, Bones," said Jim, rolling his eyes. "It was a long time ago."

"Well, I am a qualified counsellor," said McCoy pointedly. "But no, kid. I meant, if you do need to talk, I've got a bottle of bourbon stashed somewhere that I could crack open if you wanted."

Jim laughed. "You shouldn't be telling me that."

"You sayin' you ain't got some around this ship too?" McCoy raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe," Jim's eyes twinkled impishly. "I may take you up on your offer, though. I don't like dipping into my stash unless I can help it."

"Glad I offered," said McCoy dryly. "Now, let me into my damn computer system so I can get some work done."

"Yes, sir," Jim gave him a mocking salute, and McCoy rolled his eyes. His friend's laughter followed him out the door as he headed back to sickbay, the feeling of guilt growing heavier in his stomach with every step as Victoria More's laughing face flashed in front of his eyes again, her arms wrapped around a much younger and much happier Jim Kirk.