Five Times Bones Had to Haul Jamie Kirk around and One Time He Didn't Gripe About It

was a gloomy January night as Leonard returned to his apartment after a long day of classes and and hospital shift. He was exhausted, but in good spirits as he'd ended it on a high note and managed to save a life that looked to be slipping away. The only thing he could really grumble about was the rain streaming down on him. Fine time to forget an umbrella! His comm went off as he neared the building he lived in and He reluctantly answered it, hoping it wasn't another emergency.

"Hello?" He answered, trying to find a small bit of shelter from the rain.

"McCoy, this is Pike. I wondered if you'd seen Jamie Kirk this evening. She's not answering her comm and I'm starting to get concerned."

This made Leonard frown.

"No, I haven't, but I just got off work, Sir. I can check her usual hang out spots and report back if you'd like. Is it urgent?"

"Not on my end," the captain replied. "But it's her birthday and I worry a lot about her today. I'd be grateful if you'd keep an eye out."

Her birthday. Leonard kicked himself for having forgotten. Of course, she'd want to go off the grid for awhile.

"She probably left it in her room, but I promise I'll be on the look out, Sir. I don't like the idea of her disappearing in this state any more than you do. I'll check back when I've found her or reached wits end."

"Thanks, McCoy. It means a lot." The captain sounded very grateful and Leonard signed off to begin his search for Kirk. Turned out he didn't hunt long, he spotted a bedraggled looking figure slumped on a bench in front of the dorm across from theirs.

Worried that she'd been mugged, he raced over to investigate. Sure enough, it was Jamie, dressed in civvies and looking decidedly out of it. A quick check told him she was plastered drunk rather than hurt and he tried to get her to rouse a bit.

"Hey, Kirk! Wakey-wakey! You'll be sore in the morning if you spend the night on this hard bench. Dammit, woman, how much did you drink?" He'd seen her tipsy before, but never this hammered. Alcohol poisoning was a definite possibility.

Her eyes cracked open and she looked at him with a loopy smile.

"Jussshht enough, Bonesssshy," She slurred. "Can't feel any paiinnnnn..."

"You will in the morning, kid. C'mon," he urged gently, trying to ease her up carefully.

"Noooooo," she whined. "Feel sshhick, Bones. Gonna barf."

"Go right ahead," he urged, moving out of the way, though still supporting her. "Get that poison out of your system. I've got a nice detox hypo waiting for you once we get back inside."

She proceeded to violently lose the contents of her stomach all over the ground as he held her hair back. By the time she was done, there were tears running down her face and she was completely limp against him.

"All right, kid. Let's get you inside out of the rain. I've got some nice hypos for you. Can you stand?"

"Legsssh are jelly," she giggled tearfully after swaying alarmingly in her attempts. That decided it. He swept her up in his arms and headed to their dorm, rain still dribbling down.

"Ohhh, Bonessssy," she exclaimed drunkenly. "My knight in shhhiiiinning armor."

"You're ridiculous when you're drunk, you know that?" He asked fondly, looking down at her drenched figure.

"And you're hot when you're wet," she responded, with another lopsided smile.

"Yep, definitely bedtime for you, kid," Leonard declared firmly, ignoring her drunken flirting and striding on through the doors of their dorm, finally out of the rain.

was known to be one of the hardest workers in every class she took, including hand to hand. Some days, though, that zeal came back to bite her like it did the spring day when Leonard was summoned to the training gym to assist an injured cadet in one of Pike's classes.

He didn't know what he'd been expecting, but he sure wasn't thinking it would be Jamie. She had impeccable technique, as she'd demonstrated many times.

However, when he arrived, the dejected cadet sitting with her leg stuck out in front of her was indeed Ms. Kirk.

"What happened?" He asked Pike, who'd apparently just dismissed the rest of the group and was holding an ice pack on her ankle, which appeared to be swelling.

"Got jerked around wrong during a fight, due to her sparring partner's poor technique. Shook her up pretty good." The captain answered.

"Where's it hurt, Jamie?" Leonard asked, kneeling beside her.

"Here," She said sadly, pointing to the inside of her lower ankle. "It was so stupid. I had him, too."

Some scanning and careful prodding later, he'd determined that she had a bad sprain.

"You won't be doing any sparring for a few weeks, Kirk," he told her. "These things need proper rest to heal. How about we get you to the trainer's room and I'll wrap it up nicely for ya?"

"Okay," she huffed. "But won't it set me back in my class?"

"Are you kidding me?" Pike huffed. "You're practically a TA The way you've mastered this. I'm pretty sure you'll pass easily once you're healed up."

"I'd sure hope so." She sighed. "Help me up, Bones?"

Between the two of them, Leonard and Pike helped Jamie up and supported her as she hopped on one leg to the training room.

"You're the best, Bones," She gritted out. "When I'm Captain, I'm claiming you as my CMO."

"You May have a fight on your hands," Pike said mildly. "He's gonna be a hot commodity once you graduate."

"Ha! I saw him first, though," Jamie bragged. "I understand his quirks and foibles and aviophobia better than those other captains."

"Ah, But while you're still a lieutenant, there's nothing to prevent one from swooping in, Kirk," Pike reminded her smugly.

"Ahem!" Leonard cut in. "I'm right here, you know. Flattered as I am that you both want me, I might take a long term ground posting, you ever thought of that?"

"No, because I know you won't stand the thought of me being off in space risking life, limb, and bleeding eyeballs without you to patch me up," Jamie declared confidently as she was helped onto a table. "I know you too well, Bonesy dear."

"I told you not to call me that," he grumbled, knowing that she was right and deeply regretting it.

3."Doctor McCoy, please report to the bridge," Sulu's voice declared. Leonard sighed and wondered just what was wrong now. His hands were full with wounded crew and monitoring Captain Pike to make sure his condition remained stable. He'd removed the slug, but the majority of the repair work would have to wait until they returned to earth, being far too delicate a procedure to undertake in a badly damaged, overrun medbay. With a sigh, he picked up a kit and answered the comm.

"What happened, Lieutenant?" He asked.

"It's acting Captain Kirk, Doctor," the helmsman replied. "She's fallen unconscious."

Leonard swore under his breath. He'd been begging her to get down and let herself get taken care of, but other than getting her cracked ribs seen to, she hadn't been back in three days. He should have been more firm and now she'd worked until she'd dropped. Some doctor he was.

"Something wrong, McCoy?" Pike asked tiredly from his bed.

"Your young protege passed out on the bridge," he replied in an annoyed tone. "I'm going up there to take a look and drag her down here by any means necessary. She can't avoid me forever."

Pike sighed. "She was always too stubborn for her own good. Takes one to know one," he smiled ruefully. "Go bring our delinquent back here. Sulu can handle the conn for awhile."

Leonard nodded. "Be back in a few."

He marched into the bridge to see Jamie starting to stir. Kneeling beside her prone form, he ran the tricorder over her and was very unhappy with what he saw: she was dehydrated, hypoglycemic, and clearly trying to function on inadequate sleep.

"Bones," Jamie whispered, eyelids fluttering open. "Why are you up here?"

"Because you're a stubborn idiot who pushed yourself too far," he said grimly. "You fainted on the bridge!"

A tinge of color returned to her face as she looked around and saw the concerned faces watching her.

"Oops. Sorry guys," she told them. "I'll be alright, I promise. Just need a quick nap and a bite to eat."

"I'm afraid you won't be allowed back here for at least 24 hours until your body has had time to recover properly. You need far more than a "quick nap", Kirk," he told her sternly.

"But, Bones, I'm needed here!" She protested. "You've got far more urgent cases to deal with anyway."

He was unmoved. "Sulu will be fine. We're out of danger and they're sending escort ships. I'm declaring you unfit for duty in this condition and Pike supports me. Now come on, off the bridge with you, or I carry you off."

Jamie glowered. "You're mean, Bones."

"Just heartless," he said, with an eye roll as he helped her up and swiftly wrapped an arm around her as she swayed. "Let's go."

"Fine," she huffed weakly. "Sulu, you have the conn."

With that, Jamie was hauled down to sickbay and given fluid, nourishment and rest, peppering Leonard with questions the whole time and fretting about Chris.

"You sleep a whole eight hours, I'll let you see him," he promised finally. "And no sneaking out in the middle, either!"

"Really, Bones?" Jamie looked very hopeful at the prospect and he cracked a half smile.

"Really. Now go to sleep before I sedate you."

"Night, Bonesy," She said with a yawn and finally closed her eyes. Len's heart squeezed a little, seeing her looking peaceful at last. He prayed that would last the whole night.

Kirk was breathing again, but she didn't feel like she was really living, so weighed down with grief, guilt and physical weariness. She was stuck in a hospital unable to do much more than Simple therapy and sleep. Leonard was severely concerned about her and saddened by the continual dark circles under her reddened eyes. The loss of Chris Pike and the tragedy in San Francisco had taken a heavy toll on her and he didn't know how to help her beyond making sure she was eating and taking her meds. She seemed to have shut him out entirely, which hurt even more. Jamie treated him like he was just another doctor and not her long time best friend, which mystified him. He didn't know what to do to help matters so he tried to just do his job and be there when she was ready.

In the end, it was a starry sky that did the trick. Jamie was lying in bed listlessly pretending to read while Leonard gave her her evening hypo. She barely even flinched which worried him more because it was another sign she was not herself.

"I wish I could see the stars, Bones," She said softly and plaintively. "I miss them a lot. He loved them too."

He didn't have to guess to know who Jamie was referring to.

"Yeah, he did. But I might have a way to get you out to see some."

"Oh?" She asked, showing a spark of interest for the first time since she'd woken up.

"Yeah. There's a big rehab room on the next floor with floor to ceiling windows. Great view. I can probably find a hover chair around here somewhere."

"Really? You'd do that, Bones?" She asked, peeking up even more.

"Course I would, Jamie. I'll have to wrap you up like a mummy to keep you from catching cold, but I don't see why you shouldn't have a little break from this room."

Her blue eyes lit up and she clapped her hands in delight.

"Thanks, Bones. You're the best!" His heart lurched and a lump formed in his throat at the sight of her beautiful smile: something he hadn't seen for a long time.

He made her put on a sweater and wrapped her up securely before going to find a hover chair. Jamie was sitting up, looking eager when he returned with her conveyance.

"Here ya go, Jame. Hopefully, we'll have you up and walking one of these days, but In the meantime, we've got technology to help. I'm gonna hoist you in now, okay?"

"Okay," She assented and he gathered the Kirk bundle up, trying not to be alarmed at how easy it was.

"You're so strong, Bones," Jamie commented airily as she was hoisted and carried over to the waiting hoverchair. "Even under those scrubs, you can see those glorious muscles flexing."

"Ya tryin' to butter me up, woman?" He asked gruffly, settling her in the chair. "Because it ain't gonna work and you're still getting all your hypos."

"Aw, Bones. It was an honest compliment," she soothed playfully. Not every nice thing I say to you has ulterior motives."

His eyebrow went up. "That's news to me."

She snorted with amusement. She tended to lay on the sweet talk when she was either trying to get out of a physical or anything medical related or trying to get into his pants.

"Oh, Bonesy. You're so cynical. I really do appreciate you, you know."

"Thanks, Jamie," he said affectionately, barely avoiding the "darlin" that wanted to come out. He hadn't realized just how much he needed her until he'd lost her. Now it was a waiting game for the right moment to tell her.

The journey up a floor was uneventful and Jamie was soon parked by the window, staring up in wonder at the starry sky.

"It's beautiful, Bones. Did I ever tell you about the time Chris took a group of us cadets stargazing?"

"Don't recall if you did," he answered, unable to take his eyes off of her.

"Well, we had just finished the survival training course at Vulcan's Forge and the night after, he took us up to see the stars and pointed out what the Vulcan constellations were and the stories behind their names. It was amazing. I'll never forget that night. He taught me so much, Bones."

Her voice was wistful, but Leonard didn't speak, merely squeezed her hand in support. If she was finally opening up about Pike, he was in no way going to wreck the moment.

"I gave him so much grief, and he still kept right on believing me, pushing me to do better. Even after Nibiru, he fought to get me as his first officer rather than have me sent back to the academy. I wish I'd told him how much he meant to me, Bones. Now it's too late."

Jamie's blue eyes were filled with pain and regret as she gazed up at the night sky.

"I think he knew, Jamie," Leonard said gently. "The day he had us over to his place for the barbecue, you two were snarking back and forth like no one's business in a kooky uncle and irreverent niece type banter and you were just grinning at him even as you sassed him up and down and he told me later, he lived for those moments. He was so proud of you, Jamie."

Jamie smiled even as tears rolled down her cheeks and took Leonard's hand in hers.

"That means a lot, Bones. Thank you for telling me. I'm gonna miss him so much."

"He was a great man, Jamie," Leonard agreed, trying to put his own thoughts about the late Admiral into words. "Helped turned both our lives around with his persuasive recruiting powers. Amazing leader. Didn't take any crap. Cared about people, not the glory."

"Perfect summary," Jamie said thoughtfully.

A few minutes of comfortable silence went by as they were both lost in their own thoughts. Then she suddenly turned to him, with a new determined light in her eyes.

"You know what? Life is too short for me to hold back any longer. I missed my chance to tell Chris what he meant to me, but I'm not going to miss it with you." Taking a deep breath, she charged ahead boldly.

"Bones, I've been head over heels in love with you for years. I know you thought I just wanted a one night stand when you turned me down all those times, but that's not it. I was just hopelessly afraid of the L word because everyone always leaves, one way or the other, but you've been the one constant and I wonder if maybe there's a chance you feel the same way."

Leonard's heart was pounding as he processes this confession and he looked deeply into Jamie's eyes. She loved him? HIM?

"More like a one hundred percent chance, Jen," he replied slowly. "I think it was the second year at the Academy when I realized it. Just wasn't ready to risk it then. When you died, I realized what a fool I'd been not telling you and I couldn't stand the thought of life without you. Been waiting for you to be ready. I know it's been tough on you emotionally and you needed your space. But yes, I am shamelessly in love with your beautiful, aggravating, reckless genius self."

Slowly, A smile covered Jen's face like he hadn't seen in a long time.

"That's the best news I've heard in a long time. The way you looked at me sometimes made me wonder, but I thought it might just be me imagining things."

He picked up her hand and kissed it, giving her an unmistakable look, which made her blush.

"You sure weren't, Darlin'." He said in a low tone. "I can prove it further, if you like."

"Oh, I like," she said gleefully, snaking an arm around his neck to pull him in for a kiss. Needless to say, they proceeded to thoroughly erase any lingering doubts.

5."Spock to McCoy. We have found the Captain."

Leonard yanked his comm open and hastened to reply to the summons he'd been hoping to get.

"McCoy to Spock, Good. Where and how is she?"

"She was in one of the cells on the right-hand passage, the twenty-second from the entrance, to be precise. She appears to be mostly unharmed, but says her captors gave her an injection that caused her to lose feeling in her legs. Lieutenant Commander Hendorff is removing her arm restraints as we speak."

"We'll be right there. Watch her for any signs of allergic reaction, Spock. McCoy out."

He snapped his comm shut and called to Sulu, who was leading half of the away team, Spock the other half. They'd split up to search the alien lair for Jamie, who'd been captured two days ago.

"They found her, Sulu! She's in a cell in the other passage."

The lieutenant nodded. "Good. We'll head back to the branch point. Keep on the Alert for guards. Phasers ready and set to stun."

They cautiously made their way back through the passage they'd been searching, eyes peeled for the humanoid native guards.

Jamie had been snatched from the first contact away team without warning, all other members ignored and left unharmed. It was a great mystery as to why she'd been taken, but Leonard suspected it had to do with her being the leader. It was one of the frustrating things about dating a captain. They were always getting in trouble.

They emerged into the larger cavern where the passages had split off from and Sulu led them into the tunnel Spock had reported from. They passed quite a few stunned unconscious aliens before they met up with their crew mates, who were headed toward them.

"Jamie!" Leonard whispered urgently, rushing over to the captain, who was currently being carried by Hendorff, aka "Cupcake."

"You alright, Darlin?" He asked, scanning her with the tricorder.

"Other than my non-functioning legs, yeah," she responded. "They wanted a fair maiden for some creepy fertility ritual and they shot me up with something so I couldn't escape."

"Fertility ritual," he repeated, frowning darkly. "I don't think I want to know."

"Yeah, you definitely don't. From what I gather, it was pretty vile. Thank you for saving me from an awful fate."

"Looks like you'll be fine once this wears off, darlin," he observed with relief. "I'll take her, Hendorff. If we get attacked, they'll need your skills better elsewhere."

"Right." Hendorff nodded and handed Jamie over to Leonard, who took her carefully and began striding towards the exit, Spock nodding at the rest of the team to follow.

Jamie beamed up at him affectionately as they made their way closer to freedom.

"This seems to be a repeated occurrence, Bones: you hauling me around bridal style."

"I can tell you secretly like it, sweetheart," he smirked at her. "Otherwise you'd do a better job of staying out of trouble so there wouldn't be any hauling necessary."

"You got me." She clutched her heart dramatically. "All this time when I've ended up hurt it's just because I've been wanting to be carried in your big strong arms and watch those muscles bulge as you stride along and look sexy. Mmm-MMm!"

She was teasing him and he shook his head at her.

"I don't know what I'm gonna do with you, Jamie-girl," he sighed with mock exasperation.

"Oh, I can think of many things," she said with a wicked grin.

+ 1 Cheers and catcalls rained upon the happy couple as Bones dipped Jamie into the most swoon worthy, toe curling first kiss that most of the small group of select guests had ever seen. Upon return from the five year mission, Jamie had stunned Leonard by proposing marriage, a thing he didn't think she viewed favorably, so had not yet brought up. Once he'd recovered from his shock, though, he'd made it clear he'd be delighted to be her husband and she'd jumped him on the spot.

So, here they were, all dolled up in their finest and standing in front of an Admiral getting hitched. Jamie had asked Boyce to do it, because she'd become rather close to him during her stint in the hospital and their many long talks about Chris, which had done both of them good as they worked through their grief. Leonard was only too happy to to have his mentor perform the ceremony and had donned his dress uniform without a fuss, so thrilled he was to marry Jamie.

She'd swept into the room wearing a flowing pale pink dress and escorted by Uhura.

He gulped. Wow, she was stunning: blonde hair lightly curled and glowing down her back, bright blue eyes beaming at him lovingly as she made her way toward him. He hardly heard a word Phil was saying so absorbed he was in the moment.

Jamie, for her part, could never tire of the sight of her Bones in the dress uniform and loved the way his accent thickened during the vows and how earnest his hazel eyes were. There was no doubt he took this seriously. She tried her best to keep her own voice steady, but couldn't avoid a couple little wavers. It was interesting how the phrase "until death do us part" had acquired such deep meaning for them after all they'd been through. It had tried to separate them once and failed, due to Bones's stubbornness.

It took extreme self-control, but Only once did she let her silly side show, and that was during the ring exchange.

"Legendary ring for a legendary hand," she whispered with a smirk as she slid the gold band on his finger."

The narrowed-eyed look on his face told her she'd be paying for that later, and she had to stifle a giggle. She loved provoking Bones, because, hey, he'd never live down his famous claim. (Which was actually quite accurate, but no one else needed to know that.)

He got her back during the kiss and proceeded to dip her back and render her limp and dazed with his skills.

"Wow, babe," she breathed when they came up for air. "Is that a doctor thing or a southern gentleman thing?"

"Southern gentleman," he said with a wink. "We know how to properly kiss in the south."

"I guess so!" She declared, moving forward to accept the Congratulations of her space family.

There was much laughter and talking and eating and drinking as they celebrated together, but finally they locked eyes and determined to make a break for it.

Bones strode over and put his arm around her where she was talking to Carol.

"Hate to interrupt, but I think it's time to make our exit. What do you say, Darlin?"

Jamie liked that idea very much.

"I'm game, Bones," She said with an eager smile.

So, they made the round of the room and said their goodbyes, warmed by the support given by their friends.

Hand in hand, Jamie and Bones navigated the short journey to their hotel and tried to contain themselves until they made it to their room.

The second Jamie'd got the door opened, she found herself being swept into Bones's arms and carried inside. With a squeal of delight, she clung to him even as he sat down on the bed with her in his lap.

"Oh, Bonesy, you're such a romantic," she sighed.

"Don't go telling anyone else that," he grumbled between kisses. "I have a reputation to maintain."

"Oh, I won't," she assured him. "Cause I want you all to myself. Wifely privileges and all."

She waggled her eyebrows encouragingly and he returned to the kissing with more thoroughness this time.