AN: I really do need to stop starting new fics when I've barely started another one... But this just wouldn't leave me alone! I had to write. I HAD TO, DAMNIT! (Too much? :P)

Disclaimer(and it's the only one I'm writing): I OWN NOTHING. NOTHING IS MINE. THIS ALL BELONGS TO THE WONDERFUL CREATORS OF STAR TREK!

Enjoy!

Jim Kirk didn't know what he'd been thinking. The Enterprise had returned to Earth a fortnight after the Nero incident, with the necessary repairs being made to get them home safely and as fast as possible.

When they'd returned, everyone on the ship had been given a month of shore leave and were told that they had to attend a compulsory counselling session. Said session was the only thing Jim actually had planned for the next four weeks he had off, excluding the short meeting with a couple of the admirals during which he was told that he would be keeping command of the Enterprise for the foreseeable future.

So when Bones asked him if he wanted to go back to Georgia with him to meet Joanna, Jim had said 'Sure! Why not?'.

But now, as he waited for Bones to meet him with the hovercar, he was kicking himself for his earlier carelessness. Because, Romulans, he could take. An angry Spock, he could deal with. Grumpy Bones... on a good day. But going to meet his best friend's six year old daughter?

That was another matter entirely.

"Jim, don't be such an infant," Bones grumbled as they approached Jocelyn's front door, "She is a six year old girl! What's the worst that can happen?!"

Jim glared at his friend, "I might accidentally corrupt her innocent mind and then you'll kill me?!" he offered.

"You're being pathetic," Bones said firmly, "Besides, I've already told her that you're coming. Do you really want to disappoint her?" Jim sighed.

"The things I do for you..." he muttered as Bones knocked. The doctor decided against telling his friend that it was his decision to come along; it would only give Jim an excuse to make a break for it as soon as the door started opening.

Jocelyn smiled as she opened the door; during his time at the academy, Bones had made a real effort to sort things out between him and his ex-wife (which involved him being the bigger person and not pointing out that it was really Jocelyn who was being unfair). They now had a grudging truce that wasn't quite a friendship but didn't make them enemies, per se.

"It's good to see you again, Leonard," she said before turning to Jim, "And you must be-"

"Uncle Jim!" Jocelyn was interrupted by Joanna's excited squeal, and Jim was caught completely offguard by the six year old her ran into him, wrapping her arms around his waist.

"Woah," Jim chuckled, "Hey, Joanna." The little girl looked up at him, a bright smile on her face.

"What, daddy doesn't get a hug too?" Bones asked, acting hurt. Joanna immediately released Jim and threw herself at her father, who scooped her up effortlessly into his arms, "It's good to see you too, baby girl," he said as she planted a kiss on his cheek.

"Did you stop the bad people, daddy?" she asked, "Mommy said when it was on TV that the bad guys were trying to destroy Earth, but you were up their stopping them. Is that true?"

"I was helping," he corrected her, "Jim played the hero. But shhh," he said, looking around conspiratorially, "Don't tell him I said that. He'll get a big head."

"Wow, thanks, Bones," Jim laughed, "And if you didn't want to me to get such a big head then you shouldn't have smuggled me on board in the first place!" Joanna gasped.

"You smuggled Uncle Jim onto the Enterprise?!" she asked, completely scandalised, "Daddy! That's against the rules!"

"I know, I know, Jo," Bones said, "I'm sorry." Joanna nodded, a look on her face that clearly said 'you should be'. Jim smiled at the scene; Bones was completely different around his little girl. The complete opposite of his usual, grumpy self. Joanna squirmed in her father's arms and Bones placed her down onto the floor. She immediately moved back to Jim and took his hand in hers.

"Play with me?" she asked quietly.

"What do you want to play?" Jim asked, crouching down so that she was a little bit taller than him.

Joanna shrugged, "What do you want to play?" Jim considered for a moment; the last time he'd had to entertain any child was on Tarsus IV, and he was pretty sure Joanna didn't want to taught how to scale cliffs and hide from members of the army. Then he was struck by a stroke of pure genius (if he did say so himself).

"How about I tell you the story of how your dad smuggled me onto the Enterprise?" Joanna smiled widely, nodding enthusiastically at the idea. Jim grinned, "Lead the way." He said, and she pulled him into the house.

"Jim Kirk, if you corrupt my daughter I will hypo you into oblivion!" Bones called after him, trying his very hardest to sound menacing.

"And you said I was being pathetic!" accompanied with a chuckle was Jim's only response.

Joanna was having such a good time listening to Jim tell her stories of his and Bones time at the academy and on the Enterprise that Jocelyn suggested that Bones and Jim stay for dinner. The two men agreed immediately; it was hard to say no to Joanna when she was looking up at them with puppy-dog eyes.

After they'd eaten a meal of roast chicken with vegetables (something that Bones agreed was hard for Jim to be allergic to), Bones disappeared to read Joanna a bedtime story. He would come back to Georgia a few weeks later, just before he left on the Enterprise, to see his daughter again. Jim felt slightly guilty for stealing Joanna away from him.

"Jim?" he was stood leaning on the kitchen counter, deep in thought, when Jocelyn's voice interrupted his concentration. He looked up and she smiled, "I just wanted to say thank you," she said.

"For what?" Jim asked.

"For keeping Joanna company," she shrugged, "There were a few things I had to sort out with Leonard, so she would have been a bit left out. You're her secondary hero, you know that?" Jim smiled slightly.

"I'm glad," he said, "If I'm honest... coming here today scared the crap out of me, right until she gave me that hug. It... Reminded me of the important things in life, you know?" Jocelyn nodded understandingly.

"Well, I'm grateful," she said, "And it's nice that she's got another person to look up to. I've been working a lot recently, so... she needs her Uncle Jim to think about. Leonard's great, but... he's her dad. One day she's going to need someone she can go to when he has to be the responsible parent." Jim just nodded, not saying anything, but inside he felt an overwhelming feeling of gratitude to Jocelyn, and, more importantly, to Joanna.

Because Jocelyn was right when she said that Joanna needed an uncle like Jim, related or not. But Jim needed her as well. She was his reason to come back to Earth, to not forget his roots and where he came from.

Bones joined Jim and Jocelyn in the kitchen and he smiled slightly, "Jo's asking for you," he told Jim who smiled back.

Making his way up the stairs, the house was quiet, the only the sounds being Bones and Jocelyn's conversation downstairs. Jim pushed the door to Joanna's room open quietly, and the little girl looked up sleepily, "Uncle Jim!" she smiled, before yawning widely.

"Hey, Jo," he replied, going to sit on the bed next to her, "You should be asleep."

"I wanted to say bye," she said, laying back down on her pillow, "Daddy said you're going on another adventure soon, so I won't see you for a long time." Jim smiled almost sadly.

"That's right, kiddo," he said quietly, "But I'll come back afterwards. We might even have to stop some more bad guys. Think of all the stories I'll have to tell you then!"

"You promise you'll come back?" she asked, her eyes wide, "Pinky promise?"

Jim wrapped his little finger around hers, "I pinky promise." Joanna smiled, her eyes fluttering shut before flickering open again.

"Do you think, one day, you could take me on your starship?" she asked. Jim grinned.

"Sure, kiddo," he told her, "One day, when you're a bit older. You'll love the Enterprise." Joanna smiled.

"I know," she said, shutting her eyes, "'Night, Uncle Jim."

"Night, Jo," he replied, leaving her room with a contented sigh. Looking in at the little girl lying fast asleep in bed, Jim really couldn't work out what he'd been scared of.

Voila! Pretty please let me know what you thought of this! I'm debating between leaving it as a one-shot or turning it into a fic... or a collection of Jim and Joanna one-shots... If you could let me know what you think I should do, I'd be eternally grateful ^-^

I apologise for any typos (I find proof reading rather tedious, so I rarely do it properly). Reviews, favourites and follows are my best friends, so drop me a comment if you want to make my day! I hope you enjoyed and thank you very much for reading! :)