Jim was awoken from a deep slumber by a shrill beeping sound echoing loudly through his quarters. Blinking away the remnants of sleep, he threw the blanket off his feet, ignoring the mumbled curse coming from the other side of the bed. He stood up, wobbling slightly. In the dark, he managed to make it over to the intercom without stumbling into anything and pressed a thumb to the control button.

"Kirk."

"Captain, we've received a communication from the Eridani system. They are requesting a Federation mediator to settle a land dispute between the planet's two largest cities. As we are the closest ship, Starfleet Command has ordered us to the planet to oversee negotiations. We will reach the planet within three hours."

"Well, Spock, since I'm not really known for being levelheaded in tense situations, I think I can leave this in your capable hands for now." Jim smirked at the comm, not caring that his first officer couldn't see him.

"Your faith in my abilities is gratifying, Captain, but Starfleet regulation states that on goodwill missions, captains are required to-"

"Okay," He said, cutting the Vulcan off quickly, "I get it. No need to quote regs at me. I'll be down to the bridge in a minute."

Taking his finger off the comm, Kirk shuffled back over to the bed and flopped back down on the mattress, throwing an arm over his face with a heavy sigh.

"You're the one who made that green blooded bastard first officer, so I wouldn't go complaining about it now."

Kirk turned his head to glare at Bones but found he didn't have the energy to put any heat behind it. The first few months of their new mission on board the Enterprise had been ridiculously exhausting, as they all adjusted to the rigors of space travel. On top of taking part in peace talks or making first contact, Jim had spent most of his time approving system upgrades, going over the ship's supply inventory by department, and overseeing Scotty's overhaul to the transporter bay, which is the reason why he hadn't the energy to snark at McCoy.

"All I'm saying is, with as much as he expounds logic, you'd think he'd err on the side of caution and go by himself."

"You just don't want to go planetside with Spock and be bored out of your skull while people argue over imminent domain."

"Oh, you just know me so well, don't you doctor?"

Bones rolled over and planted a kiss on Jim's lips. "I had better, considering how much of your shit I've put up with over the years."

"Nag, nag, nag." Jim kissed him back softly, though his intent was clear. "I can think of better things for you to be doing before we get to Eridani."

Bones raised an eyebrow and stared down at Jim. "You look more ready for sleep, not sex."

"Awake, asleep, still a willing participant." Jim waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

McCoy snorted and shifted onto his back. "Well, forgive me if I prefer my bed partners to not be in the middle of a REM cycle while I'm screwing them."

Find a previously undiscovered well of motivation, Jim replied by shifting up to straddle his lovers hips. "I'm awake and I want you." He demanded. He reached an exploring hand down between them, earning him a shiver as desire washed over his lover.

"I can see that much." Bones' breath caught in his throat. Jim gave up the teasing in favor of a firm grip and long, slow strokes, a wicked grin on his face. "But maybe just one more hint would help."

Rolling off Bones with a satisfied groan, Jim flopped back onto the bed, chest heaving as he tried to catch his breath.

"Guess you were right, doc. It is more fun when I'm awake."

The bed started to shake once more beneath them as Bones went from panting heavily to howling with laughter.

Kneeling down in the back of the medbay, Bones was making sure the stocked medical supplies matched the monthly inventory reports, mentally cursing his decision to do this by himself, instead of tasking one of the nurses with the tedious job. He was glad, however, that Jim had decided not to oversee the process, as he had done with the other sections, and had left him the hell alone. The last thing he needed was Jim rooting through all his supplies like a particularly deficient child if he got bored. Groaning, he threw the padd down onto one of the empty biobeds and pressed his fingers to his eyes.

Deciding that this could wait until tomorrow, he ordered the computer to dim the lights and was walking out the door to head down to the mess for some dinner when a call came in over the comm.

"Bridge to Sickbay, Captain Kirk and Spock are transporting to the ship with three injured Eridians."

He didn't know whether to be surprised Jim wasn't injured himself for once -with as much as he loved to run that mouth of his- or if he should curse Uhura for ruining his dinner plans.

"Acknowledged. Med teams will be ready to receive all the injured."

Figuring neither of his options would be productive, he went about ordering the doctors and nurses to prepare for their incoming patients, setting up the med tables with all the equipment he thought they would need. He'd just finished lining up the hyposprays when the doors swished open. Jim and Spock entered quickly, each of them assisting a wounded individual with a third man limping in behind them.

Bones motioned to the beds as he moved to the one actually able to walk. The Eridians were humanoids, with china white skin and green hair so deep it looked almost black under the bright overhead light. Mentally going over what he knew about the species' anatomy and medical profiles, he quickly determined that the limping man was in no immediate danger and left him to the nurses before moving on to the woman Spock had laid out on the biobed.

Going over her body with the tricorder scanner, his readout informed him that she had a concussion and major swelling in her abdomen. As he walked over to the trays to select the correct sprays, he threw a glare in Jim's direction.

"Do I even want to know what you did this time?"

"For once, Doctor McCoy, the captain's actions are not to blame for this incident. One of the citizens of Cephei disagreed with our assessment of the land situation and pulled a smuggled weapon on the members of the summit. Luckily, these were the only people he managed to injure before he was subdued."

"You should have been there, Bones, Spock just calmly walked up to him and did that nerve thing and he was out like a light. It's incredible, seeing it done from the other side!"

Shaking his head, knowing Jim was still a little amped from the adrenaline rush and prone to theatrics because of it, Bones swiped up the sprays, quickly glancing over at the Vulcan. If he hadn't known better, Spock appeared extremely pleased of the captain's view of his actions. Turning his attentions back to the task at hand, Bones moved toward the bed to inject the sprays into the woman before her internal organs ruptured. Satisfied she would live until they could properly tend to her injuries, Bones finished with her and he rushed over to the last bed, where the man was sitting, a large bleeding phaser wound on his back.

He was trying to hide pained sobs unsuccessfully as the other doctors held him steady. Bones stood in front of him, running the scanner over his body. He had just completed his scans when the man decided it was a good time to vomit blood all over Bones and pass out. Coming out in a fine mist, the expectorant landed on his face and chest.

Blinking stupidly, he took a step back, staring down at himself as Jim raced to his side. He vaguely heard Jim calling his name before his good sense came back to him. Rushing over to the tray, Bones grabbed a hypospray loaded with an antibiotic prophylaxis and injected himself with it quickly. He then peeled off his blue medical tunic and black undershirt, shoving them both down an incinerating tube violently.

Stepping over to one of the cabinets, he hastily reached up for a sanitizing spray and cloth. Spritzing himself liberally with the foul smelling concoction, Bones used the rag to wipe the blood off his face and arms as thoroughly as he could. He hustled over to a supply cabinet to grab a spare tunic, which he pulled it down over his head. From the point of contact to ridding himself of the biological contaminant, it all took place in the span of thirty seconds.

Returning to the biobed, McCoy looked down at the man, pressing two fingers to his neck before peering up at the two men watching him warily. "He's dead." Picking the scanner up, he perused the display, his brow furrowing in dismay.

"What the hell, Bones?! Are you going to be okay?"

"Fairly certain I will be, yeah. That inoculation should have killed any blood-borne illness he may have had and the sanitizer kills any living viral or bacterial organisms... but the scanner is telling me that his blood was already dead." Bones walked over to the display screen, uploading the information for Spock and Jim to see. A large image of the platelets popped up.

"I'm not real familiar with Eridians but their cell production works on the same line as ours. However, this readout says that the blood pumping through his veins was old, older than it should be for him to be walking around... it's like his body wasn't producing new platelets."

"Bones, you should scan yourself and go through a proper decon just to be safe. It could have gotten into your eyes or mouth."

"This looks more like a hereditary disease than a communicable one, so there's no telling if the decon would work. There are no signs of a virus in his blood system and blood diseases are usually something you're born with."

Waving the scanner over his face, he pressed a few buttons on the tricorder, paling considerably as his eyes flickered over the readout.

"That's not possible! Where the hell is the virus and how is it reacting this fast?"

Jim, who was now beyond scared, pressed a button on the display screen, which brought up the new readings. McCoy was more paranoid about diseases that most shut-ins, but his lover was secure in the knowledge that he was smarter than most of the doctors in the 'Fleet. If he was confused and worried, then whatever had happened to the Eridian was really bad. Jim turned his head to the screen, where healthy red cells were starting to show signs of slowing down.

"What's going on, Bones? You said that spray would kill anything he had!"

"The cells and platelets, but there aren't any being produced. Humans should produce over two hundred billion a day. This is telling me that the whole process is being slowed considerably. That's not possible."

"Xenopolycythemia."

Three sets of eyes turned to the man with the limp sitting on the bed. Spock arched a single brow and took a step towards the Eridian. "That shouldn't be possible. That disease is so rare that statistically, transmission rates are astronomically improbable, even with blood-fluid transference."

"That is true, but Tau was in the final stage of his disease, when the illness was extremely contagious and at its peak virility. In the final stages, the disease cannot be predicted, even by the most prominent medical minds in the quadrant. Tau shouldn't even have been at the summit but as the foremost geologist in Gliese, his insight was requested by the committee overseeing the negotiations." He touched a hand to his chest. "You have my deepest apologies for this unfortunate occurrence."

Bones waved a hand between the two of them to get their attention. "Would one of you like to explain what the hell xenopolycythemia is exactly?"

Spock folded his hands behind his back and turned to face McCoy.

"It is a blood disease for which there is no known cure. Many have tried and failed to synthesize a vaccine for many years. It causes all cell production in the body to cease, essentially choking all life-sustaining functions of oxygen and nutrients. The average life expectancy for someone carrying the disease is estimated to be one year, if that."

McCoy stood there, flummoxed. Without a word, he spun around on his heel, speeding out of sickbay. Jim tossed a concerned look to Spock and rushed out after him. He didn't have to go far, since Bones was leaning up against the wall a few paces outside the door. Silently, he stood in front of the doctor, waiting for him to speak first.

"I knew it. I always said that space is a disease riddled vacuum and I just had to go and contract one that has no fucking cure!"

He slammed a fist into the metal wall and Jim couldn't help but flinch. Bones had never gotten this angry, not even when they fought, but given the circumstances, it was understandable. If it had been him, he'd be raging, too. Not caring if any crew members saw them, Jim stepped closer to McCoy and took his face into his hands, forcing the older man to look at him.

"I know you're upset and you have every right to be, but I am not going to let you die from something we can't even see and that means not letting you feel sorry for yourself. You're a doctor, and a damn good one. You know that fighting is the best mental placebo a patient can have. If anyone can figure this out, it's you. And if anyone can pull a miracle out of their ass, it's me. I'll do whatever it takes to save you, Bones. But you can't give up."

"Right, I'm going to find a cure for a disease because you're ordering me to."

"Hey, I am the captain and you have to follow direct orders."

Bones snorted derisively. "You do realize that as the chief medical officer, I have the power to overrule even you. Captain."

"Okay, then as your boyfriend, I'm asking you."

Jim pulled Bones closer and pressed a kiss to his forehead.

"Now get back in there and get all the information from that guy that you can. There has to be something in the database about this if Spock has heard of it."

Bones nodded and placed a hand over Jim's in a conciliatory gesture before heading back into sickbay. Spock and the Eridian both turned to look at the two men as they entered.

"Doctor, I think that Ara and I may have found something."

Ara limped over to the display screen and brought up a star chart.

"Eridani only achieved status as a Federation ally a decade ago and our technology is not as advanced as you Terrans, or most of the Federation. When Tau first became infected and fell ill, we contacted other allied planets in the hopes of finding what had caused his sickness, and perhaps even a cure, somewhere in their vast databanks. It took several months to diagnose, as almost all had never even heard of it and those that had told us there was no vaccine, once it was discovered what he was sick with. However, we heard a rumor from Andorian traders that there was a race of people known as the Fabrini who had devised a cure.

"Unfortunately, the Fabrini died out long, long ago and any known vaccine was lost. They told us how to reach the Fabrina system but it was at the far edges of the Alpha quadrant and we had no means of getting there before Tau succumbed to the illness. But you might be able to."

Ara brought up an image of the Fabrina system and pointed to it on the star chart.

Processing the information, Spock tilted his head as he reached a conclusion and glanced at Jim. "Captain, we would be able to travel there in a matter of weeks. If there is even the remotest of possibilities that we could find a vaccine, it is worth looking into. We could not only save Doctor McCoy's life, but those of any individuals who develop symptoms in the future."

In Jim's mind, there wasn't even the option of not going. Any glimmer of hope was better than the alternative. Walking over to the comm, he hailed the bridge.

"Mr. Sulu, would you please plot a course for the Fabrina system."

"Aye, captain."