The Jim and Bones Show III: Hitting the Road

Space-Age Scribe

Jim Kirk has worked hard to get where he is in life; sometimes, too hard. When Jim's TV tour across America starts taking its toll, Nyota and Sulu decide that it's time to call in reinforcements. The result: "Damn it, Jim! I'm a doctor, not a baby-sitter for overgrown infants!"

Background: This is a sequel to the first two stories in the Jim and Bones Show series. If you haven't read them, here's a summary: Jim's an up-and-coming chef with his own TV show. Spock, Nyota, and Scotty are part of the TV crew while Sulu is his agent. Jim meets Leonard McCoy when the doctor is forced to do a nutrition segment on his show. They've been annoying (read; watching out for) each other ever since.

Author's note: Sorry it's been far longer than promised for me to post the next installment of the Jim and Bones Show. All I can plead is life insanity this year: moving partway across the country, a job that took me on the road for weeks at a time (usually without internet access), and lots to do. The story isn't complete yet, but after a bit of impatient poking from a couple of readers, I figured I'd better get it posted. Consider it my holiday gift to you.

Warnings: A couple of naughty words from the boys, as usual. Honestly, what are they like?

Disclaimer: Not mine, nor will they ever be. Thanks to TPTB for letting me take them out for a spin.

~o~O~o~

Nyota Uhura slowly made her way from the group's table in the corner to the bar. It was her round; she knew what everyone else wanted, but she was feeling adventurous in her own selections tonight.

After ordering her drinks, a voice to her left said, "That's a lot of drinks for one girl." Ah, she was wondering where he had wandered off to.

Nyota rolled her eyes and tried to ignore Jim Kirk as he moved to stand beside her. He did this, sometimes, when they were out. It was an inside joke referring back to their first meeting in a bar in Providence when he was at culinary school and she was in media studies at Brown University.

"Does this mean you want a shot of Jack?" she asked with a sigh.

"Yup, and one for you. Your shot's on me," he said, grinning. They both burst out laughing.

As they waited at the bar, Nyota suddenly yelped as a hand grabbed her bottom. She turned an accusing eye toward Jim, but immediately realized that his attention was focused on the drunk guy and his friends who were standing behind her.

"Hey there, sweetheart," the lead guy said, winking in what he obviously thought was seductive. "What's a pretty little thing like you doing here?"

Jim groaned under his breath at the bad pick-up line while Nyota gave the man a blank stare and turned back to the bar. Drunk Guy obviously didn't take the hint.

"Seriously, I'd tap that," he said loudly to his friends. Nyota felt Jim stiffen next to her.

"Guys, she's got a boyfriend," he told them. "Leave her alone."

"Are you her boyfriend, Pretty Boy?" one of the assholes bravely asked. Nyota was getting a bad feeling about this.

"No, but I'm sure he would appreciate it if you'd leave her alone, as would she," Jim said. He sounded patient, but Nyota knew him well enough to hear the tightness in his voice.

"Jim, it's okay," she muttered under her breath.

"No, it's not," he whispered back.

"Look, asshole, there are four of us and one of you. What are you going to do about it?" Drunk Guy #2 asked.

Jim turned to them. "Fine, get a couple more guys and then it'll be a fair fight," he said, clapping the lead drunk guy on the shoulder.

Nyota closed her eyes and exhaled. This was not going to end well. "Jim. Let. It. Go," she muttered through clenched teeth.

"Maybe you should head back to the table," he told her quietly. "I'll grab the drinks."

However, when he turned back to look behind them, Drunk Guy #1 let loose with a right hook that sent Jim slamming back into the bar.

"Guys, knock it off!" she said loudly, but it was too late. Jim's instincts had kicked in and his fists were already flying. He dropped two of the drunk men with punches before the other two rushed him.

Nyota didn't dare get in the middle of the melee, but thankfully her other companions had already seen what was happening and had rushed forward.

Despite his slender frame, Spock was strong and managed to pull one of the men off of Jim while Sulu wrestled the last man into a hold so he would quit fighting. Spock and Nyota briefly exchanged a look. "We must get him out of here now before he is recognized," Spock said softly. Nodding in agreement, Nyota immediately grabbed Jim's arm and began dragging him toward the exit, stopping only to snag a handful of napkins from a dispenser on a table. Scotty met them by the door with an armload of jackets and her purse.

Within moments, the entire group was assembled outside the bar in downtown Dallas. Nyota shoved some napkins into Jim's hand and began dragging him down the sidewalk by the arm. The sooner they put space between themselves and the bar, the better.

A couple of blocks later, Jim had managed to cram some napkins into his bloody nose and Nyota was still towing him along at a furious pace. Wanting to slow down for a moment, he yanked his arm out of her grasp and planted his feet on the sidewalk.

"What the hell?" he asked.

Nyota turned to him, jaw clenched and arms crossed tightly over her chest. She and Jim ignored the rest of the group as they finally caught up to the pair. "What the hell were you thinking, Kirk? Do you realize how much trouble you could have gotten into? This isn't like when we were students. Now, someone could recognize you!" she snarled.

"That guy was groping you!" Jim shouted. "Was I just supposed to stand there and let him?"

"I can take care of myself, Jim," she said angrily.

"Well, I'm sorry for caring," he snarled back, pushing past her to stomp off toward their hotel.

Nyota pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed, anger draining away at the hurt in Jim's voice. After sharing a quick glance with Spock and Scotty, Sulu moved past her to follow Jim down the street. Spock halted next to Nyota, not touching but merely lending support through his presence. Scotty hung slightly back for a moment. "Here, Love. You'll get cold," he said gently, handing her first her coat and then her purse.

"Thanks," she murmured quietly, not really looking either man in the eye. With a nod, Scotty walked away, leaving Nyota and Spock standing in the middle of the sidewalk.

"Was I wrong?" she asked quietly.

"Despite appearances, I do believe you did the right thing," Spock said. "You were correct that his increasing popularity from his cooking show means someone might recognize him when he is out in public. Bad behavior could have consequences for his career."

"To be fair, the guy was drunk and hassling me," Nyota said. "I'm sure he wouldn't have stopped me from walking away, though. The other guy threw the first punch, but Jim was egging him on."

"Normally I would credit this to male bravado, but you know James T. Kirk even better than I. He is fiercely protective of those about whom he cares," Spock said. "I am sorry that I was not there, but it does give me some comfort to know that others look out for you, as well."

Nyota glared at him for a moment before her expression softened. Normally she would snap at anyone who suggested she was any less capable for being a woman, but she knew that ever since his mother's death, Spock had held on more tightly those close to him.

She sighed and slid her hand through Spock's elbow. "We should get back. Tomorrow is going to be a long day."

Spock nodded and together they walked the few blocks back to the hotel in which their group was staying. Tomorrow was the taping of the next episode of Jim's cooking show, and early the morning after they would fly to Chicago for yet another.

"Do not worry, Nyota," Spock said as they approached the front door of the hotel. "Jim will soon calm down. He would not hold a grudge against you."

"You're right," she said, smiling slightly. However, she knew Jim's outburst would bother her tonight. Hopefully it would all be water under the bridge by tomorrow morning.

~o~O~o~

The next day Jim carried on as though nothing had happened. The taping went smoothly, although Nyota felt as though there was a certain spark missing from Jim's delivery. He looked tired.

Sulu drove the group back to their hotel in the rental SUV after the show. Normally full of energy from the adrenaline after a show, Jim fell asleep against one of the side windows. The rest of the group was happy to let him rest while they quietly rehashed the taping. Nyota was feeling generous enough not to mention the drool that Jim wiped on the back of his hand when he awoke as they pulled into the hotel parking lot.

"Where do you guys want to go for dinner?" Sulu asked as they walked toward the hotel lobby.

"I don't care. I'm starving. I'd be happy with a nice sandwich or two," Scotty said. Everyone else rolled their eyes. Despite having worked on a cooking show for a couple of years now, the man would still eat anything.

The group continued to discuss their options but Jim broke away from the group. "I'll just get something on my own. Catch you guys later. Five-thirty tomorrow morning, right?"

Nyota nodded and bit her lip as she watched him walk away. His shoulders were a bit more slumped than usual and the Jim Kirk spark she was accustomed to seeing still hadn't returned despite the relief of another show finished.

Jim seemed edgy, like he wasn't quite comfortable in his skin. She had seen him like this before, but up until this point in their relationship she had never spent this much time with him in one go. Usually Jim could just go home and do what he needed to do. After traveling together for a few weeks, he probably just needed some time away from the rest of them.

She turned back from contemplating Jim's departure to find the others watching her. Spock informed her that they had selected a restaurant just down the street, so together they headed out to dinner.

~o~O~o~

"He's not in his room. Maybe he's gone out to work off some steam," Sulu said, waggling his eyebrows as the group reconvened in the hotel bar after dinner.

Spock quickly texted Jim, asking him if he would like to join them at the bar. A minute later, Jim's reply came through: No thanks, kind of busy right now. See you tomorrow at o'dark-hundred.

Sulu and Scotty snorted, but a raised eyebrow from Spock meant they kept their speculation to themselves. "I just hope it's not another bar fight," Nyota muttered. Jim had calmed down and grown up quite a lot since his angry student days, but Nyota knew there were dark moments in Jim's past that affected him all the same.

Nyota and Spock stopped by Jim's room one more time before they turned in for the night, but there was still no answer. Jim had texted to say he was alive and well, so both tried to push down any worry. Jim was a grown man and could take care of himself.

Morning rolled around far too early for anyone's liking. At 5:28 a.m., Jim stumbled into the lobby dragging his luggage behind him, yawning and pawing at his eyes as he attempted to function.

Nyota glanced at him as she checked them out of the hotel and wrinkled her nose. She was pretty sure Jim was wearing the same clothes as yesterday.

"Have a good night last night, Kirk?" Sulu asked, amused, as Nyota rejoined the group. Jim merely ran his hand through his hair and grunted.

"Don't encourage him," she warned Sulu as they waited for Scotty to make an appearance. "He might give us details."

While they waited for the Scotsman, who swore he'd be 'down in a bloody minute, ya mad bastards!', Nyota checked over the bill so any errors could be corrected before they departed. Idly, she noted that there weren't any premium cable charges on Jim's room, which was fortunate as she would hate to have an awkward conversation with him about reimbursing the company credit card for porn.

Scotty came flying out of the elevator a moment later, trying to shrug on his coat while dragging his luggage, carrying his phone in his teeth and muttering about the barbarity of the hour. After a few moments of juggling and Nyota gingerly taking Scotty's phone (and discreetly wiping her hand on her skirt), the group was on their way to the airport.

Jim began to show signs of life once they had checked in for their flight. "I e-mailed you and Hikaru a couple of things I was working on last night. I was kind of tired, so do you mind having a look over them before I send them in?"

"Of course," Nyota said as she put her carry-on bag on the belt for the scanner.

Twenty minutes later found the group heading toward their gate for their flight to Chicago. They dumped their carry-on luggage beside some chairs, and then Sulu and Scotty headed off to scrounge for caffeine for the group. Jim collapsed into a chair. Nyota frowned as she noticed slight tremors shaking his frame. Knowing she was the only one of the group who could get away with it, she gently lay a hand on Jim's forehead to check his temperature.

"Are you feeling alright?" she asked quietly. She could see a sliver of blue in Jim's eyes as he cracked them open.

"Mm-hmm," he murmured. "Jus' tir'd."

She thought back to the hotel bill. There hadn't been any porn on it, but there also hadn't been any room service. "Did you eat dinner last night?" she asked.

Jim stopped to think for a moment, then shook his head. "Guess I forgot. I was working in the business center at the hotel."

Nyota sighed to herself. More than once she had seen Jim work and party himself into the ground in an attempt to excel at everything. She just hoped things would hold together until the tour was finished.

Leaving Spock to watch over their things, Nyota went to the nearest coffee shop to buy a muffin for Jim. After being converted by Jim to the pleasures of good food, it was difficult not to turn up her nose at the overly-sugared, industrially-produced confection.

"You're kidding, right? You can't expect me to eat that," Jim muttered when she presented him with the muffin. Secretly she agreed with him, but Nyota stood firm that he needed to eat something.

Grumbling as he unwrapped the muffin, Jim nibbled a few bites and couldn't help but make a face. "This is vile and I'm eating it under protest," he complained.

"Noted," Nyota said without looking up as she sipped her tea and downloaded Jim's documents to her tablet. As she began to read, her brow scrunched. Beside her, Sulu was reading the same documents on his own device. He looked as concerned as she did.

Jim was usually a decent writer. Sure, having other sets of eyes helped polish his work, but normally he was competent enough that whatever he wrote could be sent off to various editors with the assurance that changes would be minimal. Today, though, the articles looked like monkeys had been dancing on Jim's keyboard. While both articles started out with some coherence, they had quickly descended into chaos.

"Jim," she said, exasperated. "Are you sure that you were sober when you wrote these?"

Jim rolled his head toward Nyota and stared at her blearily. He had given up on the muffin. "What do you mean?" he said, sounding hurt. "I didn't go out last night. I was working on these."

"Okay," Nyota said, turning away and locking eyes with Sulu. With a tip of her head, he nodded and they both got up to throw away their paper cups. They left Scotty playing a game on his phone and Spock sitting primly, going over the day's schedule.

"We need to do something," Nyota told Hikaru quietly. "He's working himself into a breakdown."

Sulu nodded. "No wonder he's tired. Did you see the timestamps on those e-mails? He sent one at 12:30 a.m. and the other at 1:18 a.m. Even if he went to bed right after that, he's got to be exhausted."

"If this has been going on for a while, it would explain why he flew off the handle at the bar the other night. He hasn't gotten into a fight in ages," Nyota added.

They looked at each other for a moment, Sulu worrying his lip. Finally, he said, "I think it's time to call in the big guns."

Nyota thought that was a brilliant plan. "I'm on it as soon as we arrive in Chicago."

~o~O~o~

Dr. Leonard McCoy stifled a yawn as he wandered back into his office. He had been in the O.R. bright and early this morning. After rounds and two successful surgeries today, it was now time for paperwork.

He picked up his cell phone to check for messages. He frowned as he noticed five missed calls from Nyota. Surely that couldn't be good. He was pretty sure all the details of his trip to Atlanta to meet the travelling circus were already sorted. Worry gripped him as dialed her number and waited for her to pick up.

"Leonard," she said, sounding relieved. "How are you?"

"Just fine, Darlin'," he said. "Seeing five missed calls from you has me a bit worried, though."

"Sorry about that," she said. "Everyone's fine. Well, sort of. I wanted to talk to you about Jim."

Leonard groaned. "What's the idiot done now?"

"He got in a bar fight the other night." There was silence at both ends for a while.

Leonard thought he must have misheard. "I'm sorry? What? Is he okay?"

Nyota realized how that must sound to Leonard. "Yes, he's fine. He felt he had to defend my honor and got a punch in the face for it. It didn't cause any real damage, though."

"Okay, that's good," Leonard said, wondering where she was going with this.

Nyota paused for a moment to gather her thoughts. "What has me worried is that he's been putting in appearances all day and then working all night. At best he got four hours of sleep last night, and that's being optimistic. He's in one of his manic moods where he's wearing himself down, Leonard. His next column is barely coherent, he forgot to eat dinner last night, and I'm worried that something's going to give soon."

Leonard's mind immediately began diagnosing and planning a course of action. What Jim really needed was a vacation, but that wasn't possible right this moment. The best they could hope for was for half a day off.

"Is there any way you can cancel some of his appearances so he can sleep in or something?" Leonard asked.

Nyota sighed. "You know he'd be the biggest opponent of that idea. If we did cancel commitments, he'd just use the time to do other work."

"So take away his laptop," Leonard said.

"You're welcome to try – good luck with that. He pitched enough of a fit when I made him eat something this morning."

"Well, it sounds like you need to do something," Leonard said. "God knows the kid won't stop himself until he keels over."

There was a pause on the line. "Actually, I was wondering if you would be willing to come a couple of days early and join us here in Chicago," Nyota said tentatively.

Leonard had figured that maybe she wanted him to call Jim or something. He hadn't expected this. "What?" he asked, just to be sure.

"He listens to you, Leonard, moreso than he does to any of us. Maybe your arrival would finally get him to realize how important it is for him to take care of himself."

Leonard felt his heart stutter in his chest. If he went to Chicago first, that would mean another flight that he hadn't been planning on taking. Shit.

He didn't realize that he was taking short, quick breaths until he heard Nyota's voice calling his name. "Are you okay?" she asked, concerned, as he mumbled a response.

Trying to calm himself, Leonard murmured, "Yeah, just not a big fan of flying. The kid owes me big time."

After agreeing to get back to Nyota, Leonard let out a deep breath and slumped into his desk chair. "Damn it, Jim." His heart was still hammering. Give him life-and-death surgery any day over this.

~o~O~o~

Leonard rapped on the door frame of Pike's office. The doctor motioned him in as he finished up a phone call. "Leonard, what can I do you for?" he asked as he set the phone back in the cradle.

"Just had a call from Jim's crew," he told Pike as he took a seat. "They want me to come out early because the man-child is running himself into the ground. Apparently none of the other idiots are capable of saying no to him."

Pike quirked a smile, reading between the lines. McCoy was worried – that much was easy to see. Pike had quickly come to like Jim Kirk, both because of his generosity to the hospital staff and the effect the younger man had on McCoy's disposition. But goodness knows the doctor hardly ever took time off, even now. He had been more than happy to assist Jim in bringing McCoy's daughter out for his birthday a month or so back, and he figured that the kid was practically family to McCoy now.

"That sounds like a good plan. Go be someone else's pain in the ass for a while," Pike said, turning to input something into the computer.

"Really? That easily?" McCoy said. He realized a small part of him had been hoping that work would prevent him from having to go to Chicago and take the extra flight.

"That easily," Pike confirmed. "You have surgery tomorrow morning, but after that there's nothing we can't handle."

Leonard stood, head still reeling from these developments. "Thanks," he said.

"No problem. Say hi to the kid for me once he gets his head screwed on straight," Pike said. "Oh, and McCoy?"

"Yeah?" Leonard said, turning around in the doorway.

"Stop by the hospital pharmacy on your way out tonight. There will be something waiting for you there."

The knot in Leonard's stomach loosened slightly. "Thanks," he said, genuine feeling behind his words.

~o~O~o~

The following evening Leonard stumbled off the airplane at Chicago O'Hare. Bless their hearts, Nyota had booked him onto a direct flight and Pike's gift at the pharmacy had been several tablets of Lozapram. Screw splitting the pills. Leonard had taken the entire 25 mg dose and had felt pretty mellowed out for being on a plane for several hours. He would rather have had a sedative to knock him out, but he knew he couldn't afford to be groggy once he landed. As usual, it was all Jim's fault.

He doubly blessed Nyota when he walked through the doors to the baggage claim and saw her waiting for him with a large cup of coffee. She handed it to him without a word.

"A woman after my own heart," he sighed, giving her a quick hug. "How are you doing, Darlin'?"

Nyota hugged him back fondly. "I should be asking you that. Was the flight okay?"

"I survived," Leonard said honestly.

"Thanks for coming early," Nyota said earnestly. "I feel like we've neglected Jim because we didn't realize how bad things were getting until a couple of days ago."

Leonard shrugged as he watched the carousel for his bag. "He's brilliant and he's good at hiding what he doesn't want others to see. He would've made a good actor. I'm glad you called."

Finally snagging his bag, Leonard followed Nyota out of the building. Their conversation paused until they were in the rental car and had exited the parking ramp.

"How much do you know about Jim's background?" Nyota asked, breaking the silence.

Leonard thought for a moment. Despite never shutting up, Jim actually said very little about his personal life. He knew the kid had been in Iowa for most of his misspent youth, but he had never asked why Jim had left – wanting to leave Iowa seemed self-explanatory to Leonard. He listened when Jim truly talked, but he didn't want to push the kid to disclose things he didn't want to.

"I get the feeling he's never had much support," he finally answered.

Nyota nodded. "All these years he and I have known each other, and I still know as much about him as you do. I remember his first job out of culinary school was at Narada under Chef Nero. All the recent culinary grads coveted that job, but Jim was really unhappy there. He was expected to be by-the-book and wasn't allowed to use any of his own creativity."

Leonard snorted. Knowing his friend, he could only imagine how well that had worked out.

"When Jim started Enterprise, he had nothing but his talent," Nyota continued. "He put that restaurant together on a shoestring. That's where I met Gaila; we both showed up to help him paint the space. Since then, he has built it into one of the best restaurants in the country. It doesn't hurt that he's good-looking and has a great presence on TV, but if he couldn't cook it wouldn't be the success that it is today."

"But he doesn't always believe that, does he? He doesn't think he's enough of a success," Leonard asked, thinking about how often self-doubt plagued Jim.

Nyota shook her head sadly. "That's why I called you. Yeah, the rest of us have all known Jim for years and been with him through the entire ascent of his career, but sometimes I think that in the back of his mind he wonders whether we do it because we have something to gain from him.

"Spock, Scotty and I get paid to make a TV show because of him. Sulu gets a commission whenever he books Jim somewhere. You, though – you didn't even want to be on the show in the first place, and you have a career that has nothing to do with cooking or television. Between you and me, I think you're the only person he truly believes is with him because you want to be and not because you want something from him."

Nyota's words made sense to Leonard, but he found that they also made him sad. Jim was a talented, amazing man and the best friend a guy could ask for. The chef was surrounded by good people and good fortune, but Leonard knew that deep down Jim had a difficult time accepting that good things could happen to him, much like Leonard himself.

"I have gotten a lot of good food out of the deal," Leonard said wryly.

Nyota smiled. "That's just one of the ways Jim looks after his people. He's deeply protective of those he cares about," she said, echoing Spock's words of a few days earlier.

They fell into a comfortable silence. Leonard stared out the window, thinking. If Jim hadn't been able to channel his intelligence and boundless energy into a career, Leonard shuddered to think about the path Jim's life would have taken, especially given the propensity the younger man had for finding trouble.

Assuming that Jim wouldn't mind letting Leonard sleep on the second bed in his room for a night or two, Leonard and Nyota headed to the room she shared with Spock to eat take-away while they waited for the rest of the crew to return.

"The episode went well today, but he's still missing that spark," Nyota commented as she pulled the lid off of her teriyaki chicken. Nyota had left for the airport right after the taping had finished, knowing that Spock and Scotty were more than capable of overseeing the meet-and-greet afterward and closing down the studio. Jim and his crew had received a couple of invitations from local chefs to eat at their restaurants, but Nyota was hoping the boys had simply grabbed some food on the way back to the hotel rather than networking as Jim had suggested they should.

Leonard eyed his burger. "If the kid's as exhausted as you say, it's no wonder," he said. "Even he has to sleep sometime."

Nyota sighed. "Yeah, it's been a lesson in planning for Hikaru and me, too. We've never done anything like this before. Everything sounds great on paper, but day after day of travel and appearances gets old quickly."

They had arrived in Chicago the previous morning. Spock and Scotty had gone to check out the studio space and oversee the unpacking of the set, while Jim, Nyota and Sulu had immediately launched into a new round of local and regional talk shows and a guest appearance on another cooking show. This morning Jim had given a talk at a culinary school before heading to the studio for the taping. He hadn't had time to properly prepare for the episode, but his crew had been proud and amused to watch him charm his way through it nonetheless.

Leonard and Nyota had just finished their meals and were sitting back to wait when they heard a phone ring and Sulu's voice in the hallway. Together they got up and went through the connecting door into Jim's room, flicking on the lights as they went.

Sulu gave a celebratory whoop out in the hallway as someone fiddled with the door. Before either of them could move forward to open the door from the inside, it opened a crack. Through it, they could hear Sulu saying Jim's name, sounding first excited, then concerned.

"Jim, what's going on?" he asked, starting to sound worried as the door finally swung open. Jim stumbled inside, not noticing that the lights were on and he was being watched.

Without hesitation, Leonard rushed forward as he eyed Jim's condition. Jim was hyperventilating, his skin pale and clammy. He was also sweating and held a hand to his chest.

''What happened?" the doctor demanded, looking behind Jim at Sulu.

Sulu threw up his hands and shook his head frantically. "I don't know. He was fine a minute ago."

"Did he eat something he's allergic to?" Leonard asked, although he was pretty sure of the answer. Jim's airway didn't appear to be compromised, and there was no swelling or rash.

He tried to lead Jim over to the bed, but the younger man's legs gave out partway there. Together, Leonard and Sulu helped Jim make a controlled landing on the floor. Taking Jim's face into his hands, Leonard made sure he made eye contact with him before asking, "Jim, does your chest hurt?"

"Can't … breathe..." Jim panted.

"I know, but do you have any shooting pains?" Leonard asked.

Jim shook his head no. With that, Leonard gently pushed Jim's head forward between his knees. Keeping a steady hand on the back of Jim's neck, Leonard quietly coaxed him to take deep breaths.

Looking up, he remembered that the Hikaru and Nyota were still in the room. "Looks like a panic attack," he told them quietly. He wasn't surprised. Jim always pushed himself to be better, but if he was as exhausted and stressed as the others suggested, his defenses would be hanging by a thread.

The others still looked slightly panicked. They needed a distraction, Leonard decided, and could make themselves useful at the same time. "Sulu, go get him a glass of water. Nyota, can you check the closet and see if there are any extra blankets?" he directed them. Both leaped into action, and within moments there was a blanket draped over Jim's shoulders and Sulu knelt on the other side of Jim with water in hand.

Gradually, Jim's breathing began to hitch and slow down. He still trembled slightly, but eventually he gripped the blanket more tightly around himself. "That's it, kid. Keep breathing, nice and deep," Leonard coached him, absently running a hand up and down Jim's back.

Once Jim seemed to have his reactions more under control, Leonard took the plastic cup from Sulu and held it out to Jim. "Here," he said, "drink some of this." Jim's hand shook slightly as he held the water and took small sips.

"Thanks," Jim whispered.

"Think you can get up now?" Leonard asked him when he handed the water back to Sulu. Jim looked like he was ready to fall over. The sooner they got the man into bed, the better.

With Leonard's hand on one elbow and Sulu and Nyota hovering on the other side, Jim got to his feet shakily. The doctor led him over to the bed closest to the window and sat Jim down. "Don't fall off," he ordered as he went to grab the medical kit he had packed. "Did you eat dinner?" he asked as he dug through the kit.

Sulu nodded. "Yeah, we grabbed burgers after the show."

Leonard knelt down in front of Jim, figuring it was as good a time as any to get to the heart of the matter. "So, what got you so worked up?"

He could feel Jim tense up under his touch, but it was Sulu who answered excitedly. "I just got a call a little while ago. Enterprise has just been awarded a Michelin star!"

Nyota bounced on her toes and clapped her hands excitedly while Leonard slapped Jim's shoulder in congratulations. However, Jim looked less than enthused and hunched his shoulders farther. He was still shaking.

They were all confused. Jim had mentioned to all of them at one point or another how someday he hoped to receive a star because it would be 'the awesomest thing ever'. He would finally feel like he had arrived. Instead, he was sitting on the floor of a hotel room, trying not to lose what little dinner he had eaten.

The way Jim dipped his head, Leonard could tell he didn't want to talk about it right now. The panic attack had probably drained him, and Leonard knew how much the kid hated having his defenses lowered. They would talk later, after the chef had gotten some sleep.

"Why don't you go get ready for bed?" Nyota suggested, picking up on the same cues as Leonard. To everyone's surprise, Jim quietly nodded his agreement and rose from the bed to walk stiffly to his suitcase.

Everyone else filed though the connecting door into Spock and Nyota's room to give Jim some privacy. Leonard grabbed his own luggage and tossed it onto the other bed in Jim's room while the younger man was in the bathroom.

Jim came out dressed in sleep pants and a t-shirt, absently rubbing at his hair as he dumped his laundry on top of his suitcase and wandered over to sit on his bed.

Leonard reached into his med kit and grabbed a couple of pills. "Here," he said, holding them out to Jim with his glass of water. "Take these."

Jim looked at them suspiciously for a moment. "What are they?" he asked warily.

Leonard sighed, exasperated. "They're vitamins, you idiot. One look and it's easy to see that you haven't been taking care of yourself. You look like crap."

Jim quirked a small smile and swallowed the pills. He sat staring into space for a minute, then suddenly straightened. "Bones!"

"Yeah?" Leonard drawled.

Jim looked at him as though for the first time. "You're here!"

Leonard snorted. "Wow, they weren't kidding when they called you a genius, were they?" He could hear snickers coming from the other room.

"Shut up. You know what I mean," Jim said, looking slightly embarrassed that it had taken this long to notice his friend's presence. It had simply become natural that when he needed help, Bones was at his side. "When did you get here?"

"Lucky for you it was before you nearly did a faceplant on the floor," Leonard said, dropping the sarcasm. "Someone needs to look after your sorry hide." Okay, maybe there was still sarcasm, but it was affectionate sarcasm.

Jim opened his mouth to say something, but a big yawn escaped instead.

Leonard chuckled and walked around Jim to yank down the sheets on his bed. Whoever had made this thing must have had a previous career in the military.

Jim was obviously drooping now and didn't complain as Leonard helped him into bed. His eyes shut as soon as his head hit the pillow, then suddenly shot open again.

"Did you drug me?" he asked suspiciously.

"You need the sleep, you idiot," Leonard said without remorse.

"You're a drugging meanie," Jim murmured, nearly asleep.

"And you're an infantile, overtired asshole," McCoy answered fondly.

Within moments Jim's breathing had evened out and his features finally relaxed in sleep. Shaking his head, Leonard shut off the lamp next to Jim's bed and muttered, "Unbelievable."

He wandered over to the peanut gallery that stood clustered around the doorway. He could see the relief on their faces as their friend finally got the rest he needed.

"I am not sure that was entirely legal," Spock said, hands clasped behind his back. Leonard opened his mouth to defend himself from the philosophy major who was always going on about logic, but Spock cut him off. "However, I do believe it was necessary."

Leonard rolled his eyes. "Gee, thanks." It's not as though he were the person around here with a medical degree or anything.

"We're supposed to fly out tomorrow late morning, but I hate to start dragging Kirk around again when he's finally settled down," Nyota said. "Let me see what I can do."

"I'd appreciate that, darlin'," Leonard said.

After Nyota crossed the room to sit on one of the beds with her files while she made the call, Leonard spoke quietly with Spock and Sulu.

"So what was it that set Jim off tonight?" he asked.

Sulu shrugged. "He was tired and a bit crabby today, but he was fine until the Michelin star phone call. I got it in the elevator on the way up."

Spock cocked an eyebrow. "That is curious as Jim has often expressed that he would see such an award as a great accomplishment."

Sulu held up his hands in surrender. "I know, right? I'm still not sure why he reacted the way he did."

"Well, if he's really exhausted and at the end of his tether like you guys said, maybe this was just the final straw," Leonard said. "That sleeping pill I gave him was very mild and shouldn't have worked that quickly; his body was exhausted, but he needed to relax. You know Jim – he never does things the easy way."

The other two nodded with an understanding gained only through painful experience.

It was nearly half an hour later when Nyota dropped her cell phone onto the bed and sighed, flopping back onto the bedspread. "I couldn't reschedule all of us, so Spock, Scotty, and I will go ahead as planned while you three will fly to Atlanta on Wednesday instead. Oh, and Leonard? You guys are on a direct flight."

"Nyota, if you weren't dating Spock I would kiss you right now," Leonard told her, amping up his southern accent. He often wondered which computer store she had found Spock in, but he would never say so to her face. Somehow, she and the robot worked well together.

Nyota's smile brightened at his comment, and Leonard was pretty sure Spock straightened slightly in annoyance. He smirked; hassling Spock never got old.

"I'll cancel all of his appointments tomorrow and reschedule what I can," Sulu reported, already tapping away at his phone.

"Thanks for doing this, all of you," Leonard said, addressing the entire room. He knew that even this simple change in plan had created a lot more work for the rest of them, but he didn't feel too guilty since it was Jim's health at stake.

Spock nodded solemnly. "We do work with Jim, but he is also our friend. We do want the best for him, both personally and professionally."

"We don't mind, really," Nyota agreed. "To be honest, I think you've got the toughest job, Leonard. Getting Jim to see reason and take care of himself – well, I've been trying for years, for all the good it has done."

"He's an idiot with genius-level intelligence," Leonard said fondly as he glanced into the adjoining room at the topic of their conversation. Jim was sleeping peacefully curled up on his right side. "But he's our idiot."

He snorted and turned back to the others. "Look at us: an entire team assembled to wrangle one idiot."

~o~O~o~

The following morning found Leonard sleeping in until nearly nine thanks to the time difference. He had seen off the half of the group departing that morning and had grabbed a nice cup of coffee from a coffee shop down the block, slipping the 'Do Not Disturb' sign on the door handle as he left so that Jim could continue sleeping. Now, he sat in a chair by the window of their hotel room nursing his coffee and tucking into a novel he'd been meaning to read for a while.

When Jo was a baby, Leonard sometimes had trouble sleeping because he constantly wondered whether she was still breathing. Between him and Jocelyn, they were always getting out of bed to check on her despite having a baby monitor. He certainly didn't have that problem with Jim. There was no question the man was breathing the entire night – loudly.

Jim finally showed signs of consciousness at about 10:30, more than thirteen hours after he had originally gone to bed. Slowly making his way toward wakefulness with lots of yawning and stretching and grumbling, he nearly jumped when he heard Leonard's, "Mornin', Sunshine."

"Bones!" he said, rolling over to face the doctor. He scrunched up a pillow under his head, in no hurry to move from the comfort of his bed. "You really are here."

"Feelin' a bit better?" Leonard asked, scrutinizing Jim. He already had better color than he had the night before although he still looked groggy.

Jim scrubbed a hand over his face. "Yeah," he mumbled through a yawn. "Still kinda tired, though."

"Not surprising considerin' how run down you are," Leonard said without his usual snark. "The tour is almost over, and then you can really rest."

Jim's shoulders hunched slightly. The movement did not go unnoticed by Leonard. "What is it, Jim?"

Suddenly the chef found the bed linens very interesting. He poked at the corner of his pillow for a moment before sighing. Leonard sat patiently, letting Jim take his time.

"Once the tour is over, I have so much to do. There will be more episodes of the show to film, there are columns and blogs to write, my publisher is after me to get the cookbook done soon even though I'm still not happy with it, and then we've got to revamp the menu at Enterprise and I've got to spend more time in the kitchen there. I can't let the restaurant suffer because I'm too busy being a TV personality," he admitted.

"Is it possible to maybe get rid of some of your commitments, like the writing?" Leonard asked.

"I can't," Jim said with absolute certainty.

"Jim," Leonard said in exasperation. He had long ago figured out that his friend was nearly obsessed with proving himself to be better – at everything. "You can't keep carrying on like this. You're always working and you're not giving your mind and body a chance to relax and recharge. That's not healthy." He ignored the voice in his head that pointed out that regularly taking extra shifts at the hospital and counting bourbon as one of his closest friends wasn't healthy either.

Luckily Jim chose to play nicely and didn't outwardly support Leonard's conscience on the subject. Instead, he shook his head resolutely. "I have to do this stuff. If I don't, someone else will. It gets my name out there." The 'I have prove to everyone that I deserve to be the best' was left unsaid.

Now last night made sense to Leonard. "The whole Michelin star thing was kind of the last straw, wasn't it?"

Looking chagrined, Jim nodded. "I'm sorry about that. It's just … with everything going on, I was already feeling overwhelmed and then Sulu got that call. It's the most amazing thing ever to happen in my career, but it was just too … overwhelming."

It was no mystery to Leonard how Jim was feeling if the normally-erudite man was repeating words. Jim felt like he was in over his head. Right now, he needed a friend more than a doctor, although he could use a bit of doctoring, too.

"Right, get out of bed and get showered. I'm starving and there's a diner down the street," Leonard said.

Jim nodded, then shot out of bed when he saw the time. "Crap! What time is our flight?"

Leonard kicked back in his chair. "Relax. It's not today. After you went down for the count last night, Nyota changed our flights so we don't leave until tomorrow. Today we can just hang out and rest or whatever you want to do."

Jim honestly looked lost at the thought of not having a day packed to the brim. Leonard took charge. "Go. Shower. Then we'll eat. Then, once we're full of greasy food and caffeine, we'll plot a course of action. Sulu's still here, too. I think he's meeting up with a friend of his from college right now, but we'll bring him in on it later."

Grinning, Jim said, "Bones, you make it sound like we're in an action thriller or something! I'll play the dashing hero and you can be my grumpy sidekick. Hey, you can even play a doctor since you know how to say all of those big words!"

"Dammit, Jim! I'm a doctor, not a grumpy sidekick!" Leonard said, pinning Jim with a glare and throwing an empty plastic cup at him. The effect was somewhat ruined when the cup failed to display any aerodynamic properties whatsoever.

With the first real laugh Leonard had seen from him in a while, Jim grabbed some clothes out of his suitcase and headed to the bathroom.

Soon, although perhaps not soon enough for Leonard's stomach, they made their way down the street. The diner was one of those places that tried to look retro but was all shiny and modern. However, the food was typical diner food, and there was lots of it. Leonard was happy to see Jim wolfing down his breakfast. Honestly, for a person who was at the center of the world of fine dining, Jim seriously lacked table manners sometimes. Still, he wasn't going to look a gifthorse in the mouth if the man was actually fuelling his body for a change.

Jim was, unsurprisingly, the first to finish. After charming the waitress with one of his patented smiles, she refilled their coffee cups. Leonard took a deep breath. Now was as good a time as any. "So, Kid, let's sort out your life."

Jim huffed a laugh, but Leonard could tell he was still stressed. Jim didn't look up, instead concentrating on stirring a spoon through his black coffee.

"I'm actually freaking the hell out right now," Jim finally admitted. Leonard could see a slight tremor in Jim's hands.

"Yeah, if you look at everything together, it's overwhelming," Leonard said. "That's why you've got to break down the problem into smaller pieces. First of all, why does the Michelin star have you so worked up?"

Jim looked out the window at the grey Chicago day and chewed his lower lip as he thought. "I think there was a big part of me that always thought it would be something to shoot for but never attain. Now that I've got it, I'm in a battle not to lose it. I don't spend enough time in the kitchen these days."

"Or you could end up earning more stars some day," Leonard pointed out.

"Bones, do you realize how many people wait for you to fail with these things? It's like having a target painted on your back. As soon as someone in the culinary world reaches glorious heights, the vultures await their fall," Jim said, sounding upset.

Leonard thought that sounded a tad bit dramatic, but he wasn't going to trivialize Jim's worries. "Well, there's not much you can do about it except keep cooking, right? Let the vultures waste their time and energy speculating while you get on with your life. What will happen will happen. Just keep doing what you do best."

"What, prance around on television and smile my winning smile?" Jim asked sardonically.

"No, keep rocking the culinary world and sharing your love of food with people everywhere," Leonard said earnestly.

Jim contemplated that for a moment. Leonard hoped his friend took his words to heart, so he didn't complain when Jim said, "Thanks, Bonesy." It might also have explained his moment of weakness when he agreed to look over the manuscript of Jim's cookbook.

Over more refills of coffee, Jim and Leonard went through the list of things on Jim's mind, Jim listing tasks while Leonard interpreted the unspoken anxiety behind them and did his best to alleviate it.

An hour later, Jim's life was slightly more under control (although Leonard had a feeling Jim couldn't survive without some chaos in his life) and the chef and doctor finally left the diner to meet Sulu in order to wander around Chicago before an early dinner at a steak house Jim had been invited to by the head chef. Leonard had to admit that it was a different experience dining as a VIP, and Jim seemed to revel in it. As the restaurant began to fill for the evening, they said their good-byes and headed back to the hotel. The day out seemed to have done Jim some good, although Leonard could see that he was still on edge.

Back in the hotel room, Jim immediately flipped open his laptop and dove into his e-mails. As much as he wanted to chastise the younger man, Leonard bit his tongue and let him get on with it. Knowing Jim, not working would make him even more anxious. They would have to work on that; Leonard was well-aware of the irony of the sentiment.

Instead, Leonard brewed himself a cup of semi-decent hotel coffee and settled into a chair to read his novel. He made sure to rest his feet on Jim's bed. Jim gave him a suitably disgruntled look, which brightened up Leonard's evening considerably.

An hour or so later, Sulu strolled into the room. "Here, catch," Sulu said to Leonard; the doctor instinctually put out his hands but then snatched them back when he saw what he was supposed to catch.

"Good god, man! I coulda thrown out my back with that thing," he said in awe as he and Sulu stood beside his bed looking down at the ream of paper that was a draft of Jim's cookbook. "This couldn't have waited until we got to Atlanta so - oh, I don't know - I didn't have to carry this on a plane tomorrow?"

"Nah, where's the fun in that?" Sulu asked unrepentantly.

"It's huge," Leonard said.

"That's what she said," Sulu replied before tossing a purple gel pen on top of the pile. "Enjoy!"

Leonard groaned inwardly. He had promised his friend he would help him, and he wanted to do anything he could to help lighten his friend's burden. Jim said the cookbook was pretty much done but it was dull. He swore something was missing that would make it stand out from the hundreds of other cookbooks on the market. Apparently plastering Jim's smiling face all over the cover wasn't enough. Leonard would do his best to find that missing something, but it wouldn't be easy. Dammit, he was a medical doctor, not a cookbook doctor.

Sighing, he sat down and started paging through. He couldn't let Jim down now.

~o~O~o~

Around 9 p.m. Leonard got ready for bed, hoping Jim would take the hint. Instead, Jim barely looked up and said, "Feel free to turn off the light. I don't need it to work."

"Nope," Leonard said matter-of-factly. He knew for a fact Jim would work through the night if he let him, so he was putting the kibosh on things now. "Shut down the laptop, Jim. The light from those things will mess with your sleep patterns."

Jim opened his mouth to complain but Leonard was a father and knew how to give a look. "Now, Jim. Don't make me come over there."

Jim obviously believed Leonard would come over there and shut the laptop himself because a minute later the computer was powering down. About two seconds after that: "Bones, I'm bored."

"Read a book or something. Relax before bed and you'll have an easier time falling asleep," the doctor replied without looking up from his novel.

There was a put-upon sigh. A moment later, Leonard found himself staring at the bedspread through his suddenly-empty hands as a certain brat snatched away his book. Leonard was about to say rude things when he realized that Jim probably hadn't brought anything else to read. Anything to get the kid to sleep - it was worse than getting Joanna to go to bed when she was a toddler. While Jim started in on his stolen novel, Leonard picked up the purple pen and the introduction to Jim's cookbook. First things first, he drew a hand with middle finger extended for Jim's later reading pleasure.

~o~O~o~

To Leonard's amazement and consternation, Jim accepted a mild sleeping pill. This, in turn, helped the chef to actually get a full-night's sleep before they had to get up at an only mildly-uncivilized hour the next morning for their flight to Atlanta.

While passing through the airport, the splash of headlines and gaudy colors of the magazines on display at the front of a kiosk caught Leonard's eye, causing him to pull up short. While he normally wouldn't give these rags a second glance, this time he grabbed it off the rack with a triumphant grin. "Why Jim," he drawled. "You didn't mention you were all over People magazine."

Jim turned back, wide-eyed. Sure enough, his blue-eyed visage was staring back at him from the top right corner of the cover. "Uh, I didn't realize it'd be on the cover. The interview was only a quick one."

"That's what she said," Sulu muttered loud enough for both of his traveling companions to hear.

"What's next? One of the year's most eligible bachelors?" Leonard asked, reveling in Jim's discomfort.

"Please don't buy one. This is so embarrassing," Jim muttered, keeping his voice down so none of the travelers walking by would hear them.

Taking pity on Jim, Leonard put the magazine back. His mom and Jo would want copies, so they could pick up one for him at the same time. Sulu, though, had no problem with annoying Jim. "It's part of my job to keep track of these things," he said airily, grabbing a couple of copies and handing them to the older man behind the cash register.

Embarrassed, Jim turned and began walking. "I hate you both and we have a plane to catch. I hope you both miss it."

McCoy and Sulu were only a few feet behind Jim but didn't hassle him any more, especially once Sulu slipped the offending reading material into his carry-on bag. It wouldn't do for Jim to be recognized now - it might make them late for their flight.

Once onboard, Leonard refused the window seat, figuring he didn't need a clear view of his impending doom when things went wrong. Jim, of course, loved to fly and was watching raptly out the window as the ground crew prepared the plane. Meanwhile, Leonard fumbled through his carry-on to find the pills.

Eventually Jim tore himself away from the window and watched Leonard as he took his tablet and sat back, gripping the arms of the seat. "Wow, Bones. You really don't like to fly, do you?" Jim asked softly, with more compassion than Leonard was expecting.

While Sulu busied himself with some paperwork (or pretended to in order to give Leonard a modicum of privacy - either way the doctor wasn't going to complain), Jim leaned in and started speaking quietly to Leonard about anything that crossed his mind.

Even with the anti-anxiety medication, Leonard still found his heart leaping into his throat as the force of the plane speeding down the runway for take-of pressed him back in his seat. However, he couldn't dwell on it for long because suddenly there was an annoying poking of his left should that Just. Wouldn't. Stop.

"What?" he managed to bark out, although he wasn't fooling anyone.

"Bones, you weren't listening to me," Jim said. "I asked you a question. Who would win in a fight: Thor or Superman? It's a tough question. I mean, they're both aliens."

"Really, Jim?" Leonard said incredulously.

"That's not an acceptable answer," the young chef said.

Leonard finally managed to get his brain to focus on Jim's stupid question, and all of the stupid questions the kid came up with after that. He'd never figured out exactly how Jim's mind worked, and he probably never would. Still, Jim looked pretty satisfied at Leonard's surprised face as they landed in Atlanta, the doctor too distracted by the conversation to notice the passage of the flight.

"Thanks," Leonard muttered quietly as they gathered up their things.

"No problem, Bonesy," Jim said just as quietly, giving Leonard's shoulder a squeeze as they filed off the plane. For as much as the chef could act like a child, Leonard was reminded that Jim was a remarkably astute adult when he wanted to be. Somehow, that made Jim's stream of distracting questions all the more touching.

Twenty minutes later, the three men had gathered their luggage and keys to a rental car and were heading out the terminal doors to catch the bus to the car rental lot when a couple of quick flashes of light caught their attention.

"Hey, Jim, how does it feel to have a Michelin star?" someone shouted. Leonard felt Jim freeze beside him and looked up to find a small group of photographers huddled together near the doors.

They were paparazzi.

Perfect, because this day just couldn't get any better.

TBC

* If anyone is interested in reading a humorous account of Michelin stars and the team of Michelin inspectors, check out the relevant chapter in Peter Mayle's book 'Bon Appetit'.