Title: Long Day's Journey into Night

Author: Nemo the Everbeing

Chapter 9

Leonard McCoy signed the last of the papers explaining his conduct concerning Lieutenant Stone. Not that he really could, but he had done his best. Starfleet would clear him, of course. He had caught and stopped a serial killer, and that was what was important. The woman lying in a vegetative state in his sickbay, waiting to be dropped off at the nearest Starbase was inconsequential to the brass. Not to him, though. He had done that without intention. He had been unable to stop himself when he should have. The girl had surrendered, and he had crushed her mind beyond any and all recognition.

Two rooms away, he heard Ensign Montoya think that Lieutenant Galt looked wonderful in her uniform.

He shook his head. It had been happening more and more often. He never meant to, but other people's thoughts would suddenly crop up in his head. He couldn't listen. It was unethical, and every time he heard another mind speaking, he feared what he might accidentally do to it.

Stone's mind had been so fragile. When he hit it, it had cracked and shattered without a second's resistance. He hadn't been able to stop himself. It had been a dam breaking, and all the force in his head had pounded forward.

It couldn't happen again, he thought. But how was he supposed to stop something which he didn't know about? If he didn't even know how he'd done it, so what was to stop it from attacking again? Next time, it might not be a serial killer, but some unfortunate crewmember that was in the wrong place at the wrong time and said the wrong thing. Who knew what would set him off?

McCoy felt like a bomb with an uncertain trigger. Cut the wrong wire, and he'd go off, with no more control than the bomb had over its own detonation. He was afraid to leave his quarters, afraid to talk to people, afraid to look them in the eye. He had never felt so afraid, so betrayed by his own body than at that moment.

Three doors to the other side, Lieutenant Cary wondered how he could optimize waste extraction.

"Dammit," McCoy said, pushing Cary from his mind.

"Leonard," Spock said. "We must do something about this."

"Don't you think I've been trying?" he demanded. "I've read everything we have on telepathy, Spock. I still don't know what I've got, and Lieutenant Stone is still a shell without a scrap of consciousness." He pressed a hand across his eyes. "What if I do that to someone who I care about, Spock? What if we're arguing, and I accidentally hurt you?"

"I agree that this is a problem."

"Thank you, Spock, for that brilliant diagnosis." He mentally chided himself for snapping at Spock. It wasn't his bondmate's fault that his mind was going haywire. "Sorry," he muttered.

Spock watched him for a second before coming over to sit behind him on the bed and placing his hands on McCoy's shoulders. You are slipping, Leonard, he thought. A bit more each day.

I know, McCoy thought. I'll resign before it gets too bad.

Spock stilled and McCoy felt his rejection of the idea.

Well, I have to do something, and I'm running out of options. I'm sure there are plenty of planets just waiting for me to hermit on them. McCoy tried and failed to smile.

Spock removed one of his hands and after a second, deposited a padd in McCoy's lap. The doctor picked it up, reading the note.

He turned to Spock and said, "You're taking a leave of absence?"

"We are taking a leave of absence, Leonard."

"Does it involve hermiting?"

Spock arched an eyebrow. "To some extent, I'm sure. However, it more involves Vulcans."

"We're going to Vulcan?" McCoy asked, staring at his bondmate.

"Indeed. If anyone can help you, they can. And I shall be at your side."

"Damn noble of you."

Spock took a breath, and then said, "It is what husbands do."

"What?" McCoy asked.

Spock reached in a pocket of his robe. "Though I had hoped for a more precipitous occasion to do this, one has not presented itself." He held out a ring. "I believe the correct thing to do in this circumstance is to ask if you would care to marry me. You are allowed to decline."

McCoy stared at Spock. Then at the ring. Then at Spock holding the ring. "I thought you didn't believe in human marriage?"

"Someone convinced me that love is compromise, Leonard. I believe that it is time I compromised." He realized only after he had said it that the word 'compromise' still did not seem particularly eager.

It appeared that Leonard noticed, too. "Spock," he said.

"Yes?"

"That was an inelegant proposal."

"I had noticed."

"Yes."

"You had noticed?"

McCoy rolled his eyes. "That too."

Spock cocked his head, and then his eyes widened. "You are saying yes to my proposal?"

"Of course I am!" McCoy exploded. "I wouldn't have pestered you for the last month just to turn you down, you damn fool Vulcan!"

"I see." Spock's mouth tugged into his tiny smile. "I believe this is the correct response."

He pulled McCoy into a kiss. The doctor contemplated the mess he was in. His mind was threatening to shatter at any moment, and he'd just agreed to marry Spock. The Vulcan was right: this was a strange time to spring such a thing on McCoy. The doctor understood, though.

Spock was a being who thrived on logic. It was the core of his existence and the cement that kept him from falling apart. That having been said, there were moments when all logic deserted him.

McCoy could deal with that.

THE END (for a while)

Note: Okay, the line from the beginning became the penultimate line, but I just felt it needed one more thing before the end. Sorry I didn't adhere to the challenge exactly in its guides.