The next day...

McCoy brought up an image on the display screen, then turned to face Jim, Spock, and Uhura with a cocky smirk stretched widely across his face.

"As you can see, the xenopolycythemia cells have been completely eradicated. Of course, as with any disease, my immune system will carry the markers for the rest of my life, but I can say with all certainty that I am cured. Any lingering side effects will be gone in the next few days but other than that, I can go ahead and clear myself for duty as of now."

"I'm not sure that's exactly how it works, doctor, but I'm happy for you just the same."

Uhura stepped up to wrap her arms around Bones, who arched an eyebrow for a brief second before cautiously wrapping his arms around the linguist's lithe frame, hugging her back. Before he contracted xenopolycythemia, Bones tried to keep people at arm's length, literally and figuratively, only letting a precious few slip through the cracks into his inner circle. Now, he realized that it was no longer an option. It had been the whole crew banding together, refusing to give up and helping in any way they could to make sure he stayed alive that got him to where he was today.

Like it or not, he'd become part of a family and part of that meant dropping some of the carefully placed walls he'd built up over the years. The first step had been letting a know-it-all pissant cadet worm his way into his heart, the second becoming closer to this crew than even some of his own flesh and blood. He was pretty sure, however, that family didn't hold on too long to another family member's girl.

Separating himself from Uhura, Bones tossed her a smile, which she returned in kind.

"Yes, well, as chief medical officer, I have an amazing staff full of people who are still a bit scared of me, including my senior medical officers, who will no doubt concur with my diagnosis. Now, if you will all be so kind, I have some work that was left behind for me to do because apparently, no one else could do it."

Jim knew what Bones was playing at, his team had picked up all the slack while he was sick but he could see the exhaustion creeping up on him. He'd spent most of the morning speaking with the heads of Starfleet Medical, as well as other members of the science field throughout the Federation, meticulously going over his findings, how to code the genetic markers to individual species, properly administer the vaccine, and restrain the patient while they were being treated. After all that, he knew his lover was just itching to sit back with a glass of bourbon and forget any of this had ever happened.

Spock and Uhura left, Uhura waving her hand loosely at the two men before the doors whooshed shut behind them.

"You know she's planning a surprise for you at dinner tonight?"

"Yeah, I might've heard something about it floating around the ship. I think I can find some reasonable excuse to be too busy to attend."

"She made you a cake."

Bones seemed to perk up at this, cake being a rare treat so far from home. "Really? What kind of cake?"

"Now that would be ruining the surprise, wouldn't it?"

"It was ruined this morning when Scotty unscrupulously asked Nurse Chapel if she fancied a drink at this little shindig right in front of me."

Chuckling, Jim shook his head ruefully at his crew's antics. "Still, I know you're not really up to it but you should at least make an appearance. It'll make the crew happy to see you there. Let 'em know how much you appreciate all their efforts."

Bones seemed to contemplate things as he bent down to retrieve the decanter from his desk drawer. Jim took the opportunity to admire his read end.

"I could make it worth your while."

The bottle thumped down on the desk and Bones took a seat, playfully touching a crooked finger to his chin in contemplation. "I'm listening." He said magnanimously.

Hours later, Bones and Jim stumbled into their quarters, arms draped around each other, laughing riotously as Bones crashed down onto the bed, holding his sides while he watched Jim flail around uncontrollably.

"I thought I was going to pass out from laughter when Chekov tried to show Sulu that Cossack dance!"

Jim tried to mime the dance but failed miserably, falling on his ass when his drunk legs wouldn't cooperate with the intricate movements. Bones just giggled even harder at the pained expression on his face.

"Well, it was Sulu's fault when he said that fencing was just a refined from of dancing, requiring intense practice and concentration! When he went flying into Spock, I really thought he was going to party poop on everybody, but then he deadpanned that line about looking before he leaps... I almost lost it."

Snorting loudly and grabbing onto the edge of the bed, Jim pulled himself into a kneeling position, grinning at Bones with a familiar twinkle in his eye.

"So about that payment I owe you… are you up for trying something a little different?"

"I don't know. The last time we tried different, we had three ensigns a deck below us file a noise complaint, which was disturbing in its own right, since one of us was gagged. I wanted to punch the smug look off of Spock's face when he dressed us down for that one."

Not hearing a no, Jim slowly got to his feet, weaving a little as he went over to the closet and pulled out something Bones couldn't quite see. Turning around, Jim sent a handful of supple looking bands of silk fluttering lightly from his clenched fist.

"Oh, hell no! I spent the last two weeks tied up to this goddamned bed, so you can just fuck right off!"

"Come on, that Orion trader had some slave girls with him and they gave me these Orion silk sashes, along with some pointers on how to use them."

Bones looked torn between letting Jim having his wicked way with him or possibly suffering some kind of neurotic flashbacks and freaking out before they even got started. On the other hand, Jim hadn't taken the lead in quite a while and Bones wasn't really up for arguing over the merits of a little kink in their lives. With a wave of his hand, Bones acquiesced to the request, Jim's smile getting brighter and more seductive after he agreed.

"Just don't tie them too tight. I've had enough rope burns to set me for life, thank you very much."

"Oh, they're not for you... they're for me."

Gradually, their bodies fell still, deep satisfaction taking the place of the fire that had been racing through them. Jim's lips were red and just a bit swollen when they met Bones' again, firmly but less urgently than before, their sweat-slicked bodies shuddering together. Short, panting breaths filled the air, no words passing between them. They spoke with languorous kisses and feather light touches, not needing words to express the emotions welling up inside of them.

When he felt Jim struggling against his bonds, Bones numbly untied him, fingers still shaking slightly from the shared intensity of their passion. Jim wrapped himself around Bones, curling their bodies together, arms and legs entwined, matted hair stick damply to heated skin.

Once their breathing became more even, Jim ran a hand through Bones' hair, moving his fingers down to trace around his eyes, cheeks and mouth, slowly mapping out the planes of his face. Nipping playfully at the pads of his fingers, Bones drew Jim closer to him.

"First kinky and now romantic. Is this some new incarnation of James Kirk that I need to be worried about?"

"I want to remember this, you and I here and now. Because I never realized how easy it would be to lose all this."

"Says the man who gets his rocks off by sticking his ass into every kind of danger it can find."

"We all knew the danger when we enlisted, but I didn't have this back then, and now I don't ever want to let it go."

Bones felt his heart swell at the sentiment he knew was a rarity for Jim and took Jim's hand in his own. "I'll make you a deal. I won't let go if you don't. Not for anything this damned universe can throw at us."

Jim smiled and nodded, sealing the agreement with a tender kiss.

The End