A/N: Hey! So, this is my first Star Trek fic so I apologize for any mistakes or if characters are OOC. This is my first Star Trek fic so please be nice!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

It all happened so fast, one minute he was running down the pathway, not paying attention to where he was going; All he knew was that he needed to get away from all the stress and upset.

The next minute, he was laying sprawled, face down on the concrete, his whole body hurting and shaking with barely suppressed sobs. His hands and face stung as hot tears ran down in rivulets, making him cry even harder. Why was everything going so wrong today?

Suddenly, he felt a gentle hand on his back and heard the familiar voice gently say, "Oh, Pavel, you just don't seem to ever have it easy do you kid?"

Pavel felt someone gently help him to roll onto his back and suddenly, he was face to face with Captain James T. Kirk, his friend and surrogate older brother.

Now that the shock of the fall had worn off, the pain hit Pavel full force and he began to sob even harder than before.

Sighing, Jim slid his hands under the teens arms and helped him into a sitting position, immediately drawing the boy against his chest.

"It's alright, Pasha," Jim murmured quietly, "I gotcha, you're gonna be fine."

"E-eet h-hurts!" Pavel sobbed, by now having given up trying to be a brave soldier. Right now he was just a kid who was hurting in too many ways to count; a kid who just needed the comfort and reassurance that only his "big brother" could provide.

Sensing this, Jim drew the boy tighter against his chest and kissed the top of his head, "I know it hurts, Pasha," he consoled as he stood up still holding the seventeen-year-old. Jim silently cursed as he remembered that Dr. McCoy was back in Georgia for the next week.

"Of all the weeks for Bones to be gone, it has to be this one," Jim thought, "luckily i've picked up a few things from him and the kid doesn't seem to have any major injuries."

"Don't worry kid," Jim said quietly, rocking Pavel slightly in an attempt to soothe him, "We're gonna get you back the apartment, and cleaned up. You'll feel way better after that, I promise."

The walk back to the apartment was almost silent, Pavel was still crying quietly, although he had calmed significantly from when Jim first found him. As he continued to walk, it occurred to Jim, how small and light Pavel was. He was much smaller and frailer than other boys his age. Jim made a mental note to talk to Bones about that when the other man returned.

Once they entered the apartment Jim immediately walked into the bathroom and grabbed the first aid kit. After that, he gently set the young teenager on the bathroom counter and checked over his injuries.

Pavel had a split lip along with some pretty nasty scrapes on his face and arms. The palms of the boy's hands were scraped raw and still weeping blood. However, the injury that really caught Jim's attention was the huge scrape on Pavel's knee.

The teen's entire kneecap was a bloody mess, it looked as if the skin around the wound had been either torn or completely scraped off. All of the wounds still had dirt trapped inside them.

Getting the abrasions clean was the Jim's main priority, although he absolutely dreaded causing his little brother any more pain. Steeling himself, Jim took a cloth and poured antiseptic on to it, gently beginning to wipe at the scrape on Pavel's knee.

Pavel let out a small scream and jerked his leg away.

"I know it hurts, Pasha," Kirk said gently as the boy began to cry again, "But we need to get this cleaned up so that it won't get infected."

"I know, but e-eet hurts wery badly!" Pavel sobbed.

"How about we try water instead," Jim suggested, rubbing a comforting hand on the boy's uninjured knee "it'll probably hurt less."

"O-okay," Pavel said, his voice trembling.

As Kirk continued to clean the scrapes, he tried to console Pavel as best he could by offering words of encouragement and praise. By the time he was done, they were both exhausted.

Jim sighed, now came the hardest part. Pavel had three small rocks trapped under the skin on his hand, the stones had to come out or the boy would get an infection.

"Nyet!" Pavel screamed, as he jerked his hand back and cradled it against his chest. "Please Keptain! I don't vant to hurt anymore!" By now the boy was near hysterical, his small frame racking with sobs.

Knowing that Pavel wasn't just talking about the physical pain, Jim took the sobbing teen in his arms and lifted him off of the counter. Holding the boy close to his chest as he paced slowly around the room. In that moment, it hit him just how young Pavel Chekov really was.

At seventeen the kid may have looked and acted like an adult on the outside, but inside, he had the emotional maturity of a child just entering their teens. Pavel was good at acting mature beyond his years but there were some times when the boy's younger side really showed.

Of course, no one could blame him, at seventeen, Pavel had been exposed to more hurt and trauma than most would encounter in an entire lifetime. Of course there was going to be a breaking point and that point had been reached today.

"It okay, buddy," Jim murmured, rubbing a comforting hand down the boy's back, "I know you're hurting. All of this it's hit ya hard, huh?"

Pavel nodded, continuing to cry.

It took some time but the teen finally calmed down enough so they could finish the unpleasant task.

Later that night, after getting Pavel settled into bed, Jim stood by the window of the apartment, staring out at the lights of the city.

In that moment, Jim knew for certain that everything was gonna be alright.