Archive of Our Own ^beta

'How I Spent My School Vacation' . . . .

In her bedroom of her suite at the Fontana Institute, Joanna McCoy scowled at the six words she had typed that were followed by an expanse of blank space on the PADD display in front of her. Of all the stupid assignments to get on their very first day back in class. Everyone in her literature class had to submit a story, an essay or at least a list of what they had done while they were away from school. Fine. Her instructor wanted a list? She could give him a list.

Flopping back onto her bed, she decided a list of the basic things they did each day would work. She couldn't give any details, of course. Her brother had already had a long talk with her about discretion just last year. She still felt slightly guilty about that school counselor, but she had to admit that Uncle Jim was right. If the man hadn't been so nosy to start with, he'd still be around. It was still a shame though. He'd been pretty nice. Which was why he got to die quickly. Bones was very thoughtful about things like that.

Smiling at the thought of her brother, Joanna sat her PADD down on her desk and went to get herself some juice. It was really nice that both her brother and uncle had managed to get a whole ten days away from the Enterprise so that they could spend her entire break with her. That had never happened before. Why, most of her teachers had never even met Bones before.  That had proved to be a little bit of a problem on that first day. For the teachers. Of course, next time that her family came to visit, the teachers would know not to get Bones upset. Or Uncle Jim either, for that matter.

Settling back into a chair with both juice and a snack on the table in front of her, Joanna picked her PADD back up and, after thinking about it for another minute or two, she began her first entry.

~Day One - My big brother Bones and Uncle Jim picked me up from the Institute along with my nanny, Miss Rashea. All four of us went out for dinner together, then Bones and I watched a movie back in his hotel room.~

The school had made all of the students stand outside in neat lines while they were waiting to be picked up. Joanna was well aware of the rules. Technically, she was supposed to remain where she was in line until she was given permission to leave by the Headmaster. None of that mattered when she caught a glimpse of McCoy coming toward them. All the instructions they'd been given flew right out of her head.

Before she even knew consciously that she was going to do it, Joanna darted out of her place in line and was ran straight to him. They'd had video chats while he'd been away, of course, but this was the first time they had been able to see each other face to face for almost two years. McCoy dropped down to his knees, holding her close as Joanna tried very hard to act grown up and not cry. At least until she felt a warm drop fall to her shoulder and discovered that her brother was crying. That shocked her and confirmed a suspicion she had had since their last video chat - something awful had happened to her brother during those two years they were away. McCoy didn't tend to get emotional. At least not in public around people he didn't know. She hugged him back tightly as he got himself back under control and finally managed to speak.

"You've grown so much while I've been gone, Jo. I knew you had, but actually seeing you in person -"

Whatever else McCoy had been about to say was drowned out as Headmaster Hennig's voice rang out. Joanna cringed. She didn't want to get disciplined in front of her brother.

"Miss McCoy! What do you think you are doing? Get back in line this instant!"

Joanna started to obey automatically, but Bones tightened his grip on her just enough to give her the message to stay where she was as he got back up. Joanna felt another hand on her and knew even before she looked that Kirk had joined them while she and her brother had been hugging.

"Stay with me, Jo-Jo. I think Bones is going to have a little chat with the Headmaster."

McCoy stalked over to the Headmaster, not stopping until he was almost nose to nose with the man.

"So, mister, I don't believe we've ever met before or you wouldn't have just had the gall to yell at my Jo for coming over to see me. I've been out in the black and not seen her for almost two years. You think I appreciate you yelling at her for running over to meet me after all that time?"

The Headmaster held his ground, but he was finding that meeting McCoy's eyes was highly uncomfortable. He was used to intimidating his small pupils - he wasn't used to being intimidated himself.

"Let's both be reasonable, Mister McCoy."

"DOCTOR McCoy."

"Yes, of course - Doctor McCoy. Surely you realize that we have to maintain discipline here at the school."

"On the last day? There aren't any classes going on. I see a bunch of kids being forced to line up like they're ready for an inspection by a damn Admiral. All these kids aren't standing for an inspection though, are they? Nope - they're just waiting for their families to get here to pick them up. Now as far as being reasonable goes, doesn't it stand to reason that if I or any of the other adults had wanted our kids at a military school, we would have sent them off to the Banzai Institute or any number of other military based schools? I chose the Fontana Institute because your representatives assured me that Jo would receive individualized one-on-one instruction that was geared to her talents."

"I can assure you on that point, Doctor McCoy. Your daughter has received the finest -"

The growl grew more pronounced in McCoy's voice as he snapped back.

"Individualized, my ass. You don't even know our father is dead. I'm her brother and you being totally ignorant of that little fact means you don't even know the basics in her file, let alone the specifics."

Going silent, the only continuing sign of his agitation was McCoy's fiddling with the ring on his left pinky finger. Finally, he offered the Headmaster his right hand.

"I'm willing to forego reporting you to Starfleet as being unaccommodating to active duty personnel on leave - this time. I best not find it happening again though."

The headmaster took the offered hand, which time McCoy clapped his left hand against Hennig's upper right arm.

"Now, I have a limited amount of leave time from the Enterprise, so Jo and I are going to get her bags and leave. Excuse us."

On hearing what ship McCoy was from, the Headmaster's skin tone turned to the color of old oatmeal. You didn't have to be Starfleet to know the reputation of the ISS Enterprise and her crew.

Joanna couldn't hear what was being said between them, but it was almost like her brother was getting taller as the Headmaster was shrinking. Whatever was said, once it was over, at least she didn't have to go stand back in line. Instead, Bones came back over and smiled at her, taking hold of one of her hands as Uncle Jim took the other. Then the three of them went together to the room that she shared with her nanny. Miss Rashea was pleased to see them both, but motioned McCoy to the side. The two of them clasped hands, eyes meeting in a total silence that puzzled Joanna until it occurred to her that they were talking mentally. Kirk distracted her by asking her to tell him about what had been going on at the school since their last video chat.

A few minutes later, McCoy came over with a smile, but Joanna could see by the look in his eyes that there was a problem. It was the same look he'd had when he'd found out about that counselor last year.

"Jo honey, why don't you help Miss Rashea finish packing your bags? Your Uncle Jim and I have a little bit of business we need to take care of here before we leave, but it won't take us long at all."

As the two of them left the room, Kirk turned to McCoy and flashed his barracuda grin.

"Rashea gave you the heads up on who needs to be dealt with?"

"Yep. And where we're likely to find them."

"Let's do this then. Anyone that's stupid enough to think about touching a 'Fleet kid shouldn't be working in a school anyway."

"My thought is that they're too stupid to live. Period."

"We can correct that problem."

Joanna looked up with a smile when Kirk and McCoy came back into the room about a half hour later. The two of them were smiling a lot, so they must have been able to let McCoy work off some of his tension. Joanna just hoped it wasn't a teacher she liked that they worked it out on.

"Sure you don't want to come with us to Georgia? We've got plenty of room and you'd certainly be welcome."

Smiling, Rashea shook her head at McCoy's invitation.

"I appreciate the offer, but I have some old friends that I'm going to be meeting up with in a couple of days."

Kirk moved closer and wrapped an arm around her.

"What a shame. You need to at least have dinner with us before we head off.

That she agreed to and, since the two bags were packed and ready to go, McCoy took one and Kirk grabbed the other. They walked out side by side with Joanna skipping between them and Rashea following behind. As they passed by them on the way to the gate, Joanna gave a wave to her remaining classmates as well as to the Headmaster. She couldn't help but notice that he was awfully pale. She considered that as they exited the school grounds.

"Bones?"

"Yeah, Jo?"

"You poisoned him, didn't you?"

"Sure did, baby girl."

Kirk became very attentive at that.

"You did? I didn't notice a thing. How?"

McCoy chuckled and lifted his left hand.

"My mother's ring. It only fits on my little finger, but I didn't want to have it adjusted. It's a family heirloom. When I was messing with it, I twisted the front side to the palm side so it would activate when I clapped my hand against his upper arm."

"Is it fatal?"

"Not necessarily. Might not be if he has the common sense to get himself to treatment in time, but I don't credit him with much in the way of common sense."

Joanna just started skipping again as she made her final comment on it.

"Oh. Well, if he doesn't make it, I hope the next Headmaster will be nicer."

Kirk laughed the rest of the way to the vehicle as he tossed the bag he was carrying into the trunk area before taking the other one from McCoy and tossing it in as well. The restaurant they chose was one that Rashea recommended which had a nice mix of different Terran styles as well as a few off-world dishes. McCoy just chuckled as he looked over the menu while Kirk scanned over the restaurant.

"You know, I'd about be willing to eat anything so long as it didn't come out of a replicator."

That being said, he and Kirk still scanned everything that came to the table. Kirk was pleased when everything turned out to be clean. He was relaxed enough after taking care of business at the school that he really didn't care to go after anyone else that evening. Besides, if the smile on Rashea's face meant what it usually did, Kirk had far better things to do for the rest of the night.

The meal passed pleasantly with Rashea filling them in on interesting tidbits of things that had been happening on Earth. McCoy didn't miss the looks between Kirk and Rashea, so he decided it would be best to exit with Joanna after dessert was finished.

"Jim, Rashea - the trip's worn me to a frazzle, so I think Jo and I will head on to our room. No need for the two of you to rush the evening on our account. I'll see you in the morning, Jim."

"Right, Bones. What time are we leaving in the morning?"

"Whenever we feel like it, Jim. This is our vacation, so as far as I'm concerned, rushing is off the agenda."

Chuckling, Kirk gave McCoy a slap to the shoulder as he moved around to give Joanna a kiss on the top of her head.

"Try and keep Bones out of trouble for me, Jo-Jo."

Giggling, she nodded as she got up and moved to give Kirk a tight hug.

"I will, Uncle Jim. Will we see you tomorrow, Miss Rashea?"

"Probably not, Miss Jo. But I'll see you when you come back to school."

Joanna moved over to give the Betazoid woman a quick hug before rejoining her brother. She didn't say anything else until they were out of the restaurant, but then she looked up at McCoy.

"They're going to have sex, aren't they?"

Looking down at his little sister, McCoy didn't see any point of denying it.

"Knowing both your Uncle Jim and Rashea? Yeah, I'd say the odds are pretty good, kiddo.  Sex something that interests you now?"

Wrinkling her nose slightly, Joanna shook her head.

"No, but we covered reproduction in biology this year.  I see where that stuff is necessary, but well . . ."

McCoy gave a slight snort.

"If there's one thing I don't think you have to worry about Uncle Jim doing, it's reproducing."

Stopping, Joanna gave her brother a puzzled look.

"What other reason is there for having sex?"

Firmly shaking his head, McCoy signaled for Joanna to catch up with him.

"This isn't a conversation that we're going to have on the street, Jo. Hell, I don't know if it's a conversation we're going to have until you're older. Still -"

They walked in silence for awhile as McCoy thought. Sure, Joanna was still young, but considering one of the staff that he and Jim dealt with at the school, she needed to be more familiar with some facts for her own protection. Finally, he gave a nod.

"Tell you what, kiddo. How about we invite Aunt Ny and Aunt Gaila for a sleepover after the barbeque and you gals can have a girl talk?"

The skipping from Joanna and the huge smile answered that question.

"I always like spending time with them. Do you think Aunt Ny would take me shopping for the clothes I need to replace?"

"That's right. I'd forgotten that Rashea said you'd outgrown some of your favorite things. Well, knowing those two aunts of yours, I'd say shopping is a distinct possibility. There are some nice stores around Atlanta that the three of you could head to and make a day out of it."

"I'd like that a lot. Bones? Could we please get a vid to watch at the hotel? I'm really not sleepy yet."

"Don't see why not, Jo. So long as you let this old man get some rest."

When he said that, his tone had Joanna carefully looking at her brother again.

"Bones? Something really bad happened while you were gone this time, didn't it?"

"That obvious, is it?"

He gave her hand a light squeeze as a soft sigh escaped.

"Yeah. Yeah, it did, Jo. Maybe we'll talk about it later, but right now? I would sort of like to forget about it for a little while, okay?"

Joanna worried her lower lip for a moment, then gave his hand a return squeeze before speaking.

"Can I ask one just question before we forget about it?"

"Sure, baby girl. What is it?"

"You and Uncle Jim. You're both okay, right?"

McCoy thought back to their troubles: with Khan, Admiral Marcus, Jim saving the Enterprise at great cost to himself and his own bout with a deadly disease. Then he smirked a little. All that and here they were - still around to tell the tale. He gave Joanna's hand a light squeeze.

"Yeah, Jo. I won't lie to you - it was a really rough time, but it's over. Me and Uncle Jim? We're doing just fine."

~Day Two - We went to our family home in Georgia. Bones said I was old enough for my own horse and I got to pick one out. We spent most of the afternoon riding.~

Kirk was waiting for them downstairs the next morning and Joanna got a hopeless case of the giggles at the size of the breakfast he got for himself. As he looked from Joanna to McCoy, McCoy just shrugged.

"She's figured out what you and Rashea get up to when you're by yourselves. She just can't figure out why you'd want to do it if you aren't wanting kids."

Kirk sputtered into his orange juice on that last line (the timing being deliberate on McCoy's part).

"Don't worry, Jim - I'm going to be asking Gaila and Uhura to hang around after the barbeque and explain a few things."

Instead of seeming reassured, Kirk seemed more concerned.

"Uhm - isn't Jo-Jo still a little young for life according to our Gaila?"

"Yeah, but that's why I'm asking Uhura to be there as well. I'm counting on her to keep it age-appropriate."

That seemed to satisfy Kirk's concerns and he dove back into his breakfast.

When they finally got underway, Joanna was impatient the entire ride to Georgia. She had always wanted to go there before, but whenever she'd asked, McCoy would tell her that there were still some pests in the area that needed to be exterminated before it would be safe for her to visit. Apparently, whatever he had done to get rid of the pests had worked and so she was finally going to get to see their family home.

More importantly, she was going to get to see the horses that McCoy kept there. She'd seen images of McCoy's horse, a large black Quarter Horse stallion he called Caesar. Kirk also had a horse that he kept there, a chestnut Arabian stallion. He'd named it Sparkle - apparently just to annoy McCoy. She heard her brother fuss about it again on their way to the barn.

"Jim, no self-respecting stallion should be named Sparkle. And certainly not that half-crazy piece of horseflesh."

"Sparkle's not half-crazy, he's just spirited."

"There's a difference between spirited and plain loco, Jim. But have at it. You two were made for each other. That reminds me. Jo, you think you're old enough to learn to ride?"

Dancing in place, Joanna agreed wholeheartedly that she was old enough. McCoy chuckled and led her over to the stalls.

"We'll let you pick out one that will be trained for you but you'll do your initial learning on one of these two. Ginger here is a nicely little Arabian mare and the black and white pinto gelding is Storm. They're both still lively, but they're experienced and won't spook while you're getting your seat."

Biting her lower lip as she debated, Joanna rubbed Ginger's nose and then Storm's. When Storm nudged against her to encourage more rubbing, her mind was made up.

Watching the pair from the sidelines, Kirk reflected that very few on the Enterprise would ever believe that the man being so patient with his young sister and the horses as being the same man that had made more than one admiral quake with fear. Yet, there he was, showing Joanna everything from how to clean the horse's hooves to how to make sure the saddle was on correctly. Storm stood calmly through all the lessons - this wasn't his first go-around with a new rider.

Kirk automatically reached for his knife when an unknown voice rang out.

"Mister Len?"

"In the barn, Beckett."

He calmed down when McCoy didn't seem worried, but Kirk kept his hand near his blade anyway as the man walked up. McCoy didn't even look up from where Joanna was studying the different parts of the saddle as he spoke.

"Give a call to the brood farm. I want to look at their selection of yearlings. Think you're up to training another for a beginner?"

"Sure thing, Mister Len. When did you want to go?"

"Say three hours. Jo's going to want a little time riding Storm before we get her first horse for her."

"I'll see to it."

The man exited, giving Kirk a measured look on the way by that Kirk returned. After he had left the barn, Kirk turned his attention back to McCoy and Joanna.

"Hey, Bones, has that guy worked for you long?"

After helping Joanna get into the saddle, McCoy shrugged.

"Not really, Jim. His father worked for my father from when I was a tyke up to five years back when he passed away. His son started working here during that mess with Jocelyn so, in a nutshell, haven't really dealt with him much, but I know his family pretty well. Why?"

Kirk looked back the way the man had left again.

"Don't know. Maybe nothing. I just have an odd feeling about him."

McCoy's gaze also went to the barn entrance. He'd been teamed with Kirk for nearly Joanna's whole life. He'd learned to trust Kirk's instincts regarding people in that time.

"We'll keep an eye on him then. A close one."

When he saw Joanna's face get a worried expression, McCoy gave her a small smile and patted Storm's neck.

"You just sit there and get used to the feel of Storm under you while Uncle Jim and I mount up."

For the next hour, Joanna blissfully forgot everything except the pleasure of riding Storm with McCoy riding to her right and Kirk to her left. The well-trained Pinto went through his paces smoothly as McCoy instructed her how to go through the different gaits - walk to a trot to a canter to a gallop and back down again. It seemed to her that the time flew by and that almost no time had passed before McCoy was directing them back to the barn to unsaddle and curry the horses.

"Couldn't we ride just a little longer, Bones?"

"Maybe later, Jo. We'll see if you're still up to it when we get back. You aren't used to this yet, so you're going to start feeling a tad sore in spots you aren't used to being sore. Besides, we've got an appointment to find a horse for you, remember?"

In the excitement of learning to ride, Joanna actually had forgotten, but now that she had been reminded, she was more anxious than ever for a chance to see the different horses and get one of her own.

"How will I know which one is right, Bones?"

"If there are a lot of yearlings for you to choose from, Uncle Jim and I will help you narrow down the selection, Jo. But I'm going to let you make the final pick."

Thinking back to their first meeting when McCoy couldn't even afford a decent set of clothing, Kirk was pleased McCoy was now back to a place where he could not only keep Joanna in a good school, but could afford to spoil her some as well.

He shook his head at himself then. Bones had seen him dead and he had seen Bones dead. For some reason, that had balanced a scale somewhere in Kirk's mind. He no longer thought of what he was getting out of a deal - at least not where McCoy was concerned. So far as he could tell, McCoy never had kept that strict of a balance sheet. Oh, he expected things in return, but he hardly ever specified what those expectations were. Often he would go ahead and do something for someone else without ensuring that he would receive proper payment for his services first.

A chuckle escaped Kirk then. Well, as much as McCoy's hypos were feared, the vast majority of folks would be very leery of making McCoy angry at them. Finishing getting ready, he headed outside to join the two McCoys. He and McCoy were both, of course, thoroughly armed.

When they arrived at the horse breeder, McCoy noticed there was tension hanging in the air. He exchanged a quick glance and nod with Kirk and then proceeded to act as if he wasn't aware that anything might be out of sorts. It wasn't really hard acting that way either - he had his hands full with trying to keep the excited seven year old by his side. There were a full half-dozen handsome yearlings and she was trying to look at all of them at once. Kirk was pretending to be as interested in the yearlings as she was, but his attention was on their surroundings.

From the beginning, McCoy was pretty sure which one Joanna would end up going with. One of the horses was a young Arabian-mix with a striking golden dappled Palomino coloration. In fact, very striking. Why hadn't a looker like that one already been snapped up? Horses with rare colorations were normally claimed even before they were weaned - unless something was wrong with them. He took a long hard look at the other five yearlings, which were all either brown or gray. That, plus the smaller than expected number of horses to choose from, spiked McCoy's suspicions further. It was as if the other horses had been deliberately picked in order to make the Palomino stand out even more.

Then he heard Joanna catch her breath and followed her eyes with a sense of relief. She wasn't looking anywhere near that Palomino. She was focused on a sturdy-looking little Morgan that was a pale dapple gray with a silvery-white mane and tail. When Joanna reached up and clutched his hand, McCoy knew that the other horses had already ceased to exist for her. Bless her contrary little McCoy heart.

"That's the one, Bones. Please? I love him."

"Tell you what - let's go get a better look at him, Jo."

The handler had already started to automatically go to bring the Palomino forward when McCoy corrected him and pointed out the Morgan. The momentary look of panic on the man's face was all the confirmation McCoy needed that there was something unsavory going on. He needed to find out what and intended to do that immediately. Before there was time to get rid of any evidence.

"Jim? Come over here. Stay by Jo and her horse, would you?"

The handler actually tried to move between McCoy and the Palomino. There were some muttered protests, but no-one stepped in to help the man as he dropped to the dirt, bleeding. Kirk let out a low whistle - McCoy was rarely angry enough to spill blood without use of a scalpel and it was even rarer that he did it with his fists.

Reaching the horse, McCoy examined it closely. Even knowing that he was looking for something, it took him a few minutes to find what that something was : a pocket of a jelly-like substance under the horse's skin. He stood there idly patting the animal as he began speaking to Kirk.

"Jim, did you know that there are all sorts of ways to get a drug to slowly release into a body?"

The implication of that question hit Kirk immediately and he turned his glower toward the breeder - who was starting to sweat despite the comfortable temperature of the day.

"If you were to take a sample of this to our labs on the Enterprise, what do you think you would find, Lieutenant Commander McCoy?"

"I highly suspect that I'd find this horse is being given a mild sedative, Captain Kirk. Which means this animal is most likely an ill-tempered brute that will act out once all the drugs clear its system."

"I wonder if the breeder knows the penalties on the books for attempting to sell defective goods to Imperial Starfleet personnel?"

"Ah yes, that's right. The Emperor instituted some mighty stiff penalties after some officers were deliberately defrauded a few years back. If I recall correctly, the penalty can go all the way up to summary execution if it can be proved the action was malicious."

Reaching into his ever-present med-kit, McCoy pulled out what was necessary for taking a sample. Once the jelly-like substance was in a vial, McCoy moved closer to the breeder.

"So I came here to trade fairly and squarely for a horse for my little sister and you try to pawn off a dangerous animal to me by drugging it enough so that it would appear docile until I got it home. Now I don't know if you were after getting me hurt or my baby sister hurt – but either way, it really pisses me off. Now, we can settle this between us and I'll pretend to believe that this was all the handler's doing and you had no involvement. Or we can test this sample and then booth your handler until he spills everything. Your call."

In the end, Joanna got her horse, the handler had a sudden heart attack and the owner of the breeding farm counted himself lucky that all the incident cost him was the price of a yearling and an employee. Of course, he had no idea that McCoy had left a little surprise behind. He had inherited Puri's wide collection of bacteria and viruses. The breeder and his household might survive the bout of dysentery that would hit in a few days, but they would be guaranteed a miserable time for at least a week.

"What about Beckett, Bones?"

"We'll take care of that loose end after Jo's vacation is over."

"Sounds good."

That said, Kirk headed over to admire Joanna's horse and give it a pat.

"So, Jo-Jo, what are you going to name him?"

McCoy chimed in before she could answer with a few words of caution.

"Just a couple of things to think about, Jo. Make the name short enough that you can yell it without getting laryngitis. It won't hurt to make sure the name is one you won't be embarrassed to yell out when you turn into a teenager as well."

"Ghost. I think I'll call him Ghost."

Both Kirk and McCoy approved of the name and then they let Ghost into the pasture to get used to his new home while the three of them rode for the rest of the afternoon. So far as Joanna was concerned, it had been a perfect day.

~Day Three - All my aunts and uncles came over to our house for a barbeque. There was tons of food and I got a really nice present from Uncle Pavel.~

Waking up on the third day, Joanna took a deep breath and smelled something wonderfully familiar. Dressing in a rush, she practically flew down the stairs and threw her arms around Janice Rand from behind, startling her.

"I knew that you were here the minute I smelled what was cooking. I was hoping you would come, Miss Janice."

Rand forced a smile on her face. Even if her presence there was due only to Kirk's coercion, she wasn't going to take out her hostilities on a little kid. Especially since her big brother was the type of person that you really, REALLY didn't want to be on the bad side of.

"It's good to see you again too, Joanna. I bet you eat more than one pancake at a time now, don't you?"

Releasing Rand, she bounced around to get a look at what was cooking.

"Sure do. I can eat two at a time and sometimes even three."

Kirk came in next, giving Rand a sharp swat on her rump before reaching over and tugging on one of Joanna's golden brown curls.

"Hey, Jo-Jo. Where's Bones?"

Snatching her hair back, Joanna moved to look for juice in the cooling unit before shrugging.

"Dunno. I peeked in his room on the way by and he was already gone."

Rand checked on the food and answered quietly.

"Doctor McCoy is out in the barn, sir. Breakfast will be ready shortly."

"Good. Jo-Jo, why don't you set the table while I go get Bones? We've got a big day ahead of us."

"Right, Uncle Jim. Will I get to help cook for the party?"

"Sure thing. If you run out of things that you can help Bones with, you can help me at the fire pit. It's going to take a lot of food just to fill up Scotty, and the rest of us will probably want as least a bone to gnaw on."

Laughing at that, Joanna watched as Kirk went outside, then turned in time to catch the glare Rand was giving the door Kirk had left through. Joanna reached into one of the cabinets to pull out the plates. As she started toward the table with them, she spoke to Rand.

"You don't like Uncle Jim very much, do you?"

Turning out a pancake onto the warming plate nearby, Rand answered even though she knew that she shouldn't. Just by letting Joanna see the face she'd made, she knew that she was already on thin ice.

"No. I don't like him at all."

Setting the plates down on the table, Joanna went back for the silverware.

"Why do you work for him if you don't like him?"

In answer, Rand pulled down the neckline of her top just enough to show the necklace that was generally kept hidden by the material.

"Do you know what this is?"

Nodding, Joanna looked at Rand again as if meeting her for the first time.

"It means you belong to someone. Is Uncle Jim the one that owns you? Bones never mentioned that there were slaves on the Enterprise."

The sound of Kirk's voice from the doorway made Rand jump. She had never gotten used to how quietly Kirk and McCoy could move when they wanted to.

"That's because there aren't many of them, Jo-Jo. And all of those brought it on themselves."

Kirk's eyes were stormy as he leaned in the doorway, their focus on Rand.

"Go ahead, Rand. Tell her how you happened to end up belonging to me."

Lowering her head in a mixture of anger and embarrassment, Rand spoke just loudly enough to be heard.

"I was part of a group that attempted to assassinate Captain Kirk."

His trademark smirk firmly in place, Kirk nodded.

"Obviously an unsuccessful attempt. Tell her what happened to your fellow conspirators."

"All of them are dead. Two of them were left in the agony booth until they died. The other one was given to Doctor McCoy."

McCoy laid a hand on Kirk's shoulder as he looked into the kitchen himself.

"Which means that one's dead nowas well, of course."

Joanna stood quietly, her small hands clasped behind her and lips pursed thoughtfully. Finally her eyes looked up at Rand and the older woman shuddered. It was just like being under McCoy's critical gaze. The resemblance was only heightened when the girl finally spoke.

"You didn't choose your sides very wisely, did you? Why did you go against my brother?"

Finding it as impossible to keep meeting the younger McCoy's eyes as she did the elder's, Rand looked toward the ceiling.

"We weren't going against your brother. Just Captain Kirk."

The peal of laughter from the young girl startled Rand enough that she looked down and saw nothing but contempt in those shifting hazel eyes.

"You really aren't terribly bright. Did you really think that Bones would have left you alone if you'd succeeded? If you had managed to kill or even badly hurt Uncle Jim, Bones would have tracked you down and killed each and every one of you, you know."

A chuckle came from McCoy at that.

"That's right, Jo. I would have. And they wouldn't have gotten off as easily as they did either."

Joanna nodded vigorously.

"And if you had managed to kill them both? Well - I won't be seven forever and my memory is excellent."

The deadly serious tone sounded eerie coming out of such a young mouth and Rand shuddered as she took an involuntary step back. Then, like the flipping of a switch, Joanna was back to speaking with a voice that could have come from any normal seven year old girl.

"Can we eat our pancakes now, please?"

Both Kirk and McCoy started laughing at that. Kirk pulled out a chair and held it for her.

"Of course we can, Jo-Jo. Nice job on setting the table, by the way. Juice or milk for you?"

"Milk please, Uncle Jim. When I put syrup on my pancakes, it makes the juice taste too sour."

The three sat down and started eating, looking almost like any normal family enjoying breakfast. But what Rand saw were two adult cobras with a small, but equally deadly, young snake alongside of them. It galled her deep inside that now Joanna was treating her like they were - like she was just another appliance in the kitchen.  Now that the food was cooked and on the table, it was as if Rand ceased to exist until she was needed again.

After breakfast, the home hummed with a flurry of activity. McCoy was taking care of the indoors part of the meal with Joanna's willing help and Rand's resigned acquiescence to do as she was told. Rand knew she'd already earned booth time for her earlier remarks and didn't care to press her luck further. Behind the house, Kirk was getting the ancient fire pit ready that McCoy said had been around even longer than the house.

As was usual when a party of any sort was involved, Scott and Keenser were first to arrive, bringing with them a potent array of spirits to share along with a few bottles of a red juice from a Grazerite fruit that had the fizzy properties of a carbonated beverage. Scott had asked and been told it was one of Joanna's favorite drinks.

Uhura and Gaila arrived next, together with Spock, bringing a selection of desserts with them. Sulu arrived shortly after them with salad and McCoy immediately announced that if the salad started moving around on its own, Sulu would be cut off from the bar. Snickering, Sulu just shook his head.

"As if I'd let any of my babies be put into a salad bowl, Doctor."

Chapel and Moreau arrived, both quietly starting in to work with Rand. Now having more of an idea what to look for, Joanna caught glimpses of necklaces similar to Rand's on both of the women. Filing that bit of knowledge away and making a note to ask her brother about what the stories were there, Joanna grabbed Uhura and Gaila, taking them to the barn to show them Ghost.

Chekov was the last to arrive, getting there just before the eating began. He brought small bouquets of Russian roses for Uhura and Gaila, claiming that the scent of Russian roses were far superior to roses found elsewhere. He also brought a present for Joanna that she opened eagerly and let out an appreciative gasp when she saw the tactical knife inside. The handle, blade and even the sheath were all matte black so that they wouldn't reflect light. Joanna hugged him and extracted a promise from him that he'd show her how to use it after they ate.

It was a very rare time for the crew of the Enterprise, away from the confines of their ship, gathered around a table set outside in the mild fall Georgia sunshine. A stranger passing by would have never have guessed the gathering was the deadliest crew on the most fearsome ship in the entire Imperial fleet. One person who knew very well how deadly they all were arrived just as dessert was beginning to be passed around.

Joanna didn't know what was going on for a second as everyone suddenly got to their feet. Then she turned and saw another familiar figure and got up from the table to run over to the man.

"Uncle Christopher! You made it!"

Pike still walked with a slight limp, but that really didn't bother him - he knew how close he had been twice now to never walking again. Laying a hand on top of the golden brown curls, he smiled down at the girl he considered to practically be his granddaughter.

"Of course I came, Joanna. I haven't been able to see you since Winterfest. The rest of you - at ease. We're out of uniform for the day."

Everyone sat back down as Joanna led Admiral Pike over to the table, insisting that he sit to the other side of her. Soon, she was merrily eating a piece of pie seated between Pike and Chekov. After eating, Scott began pouring drinks and telling tales.

After Scott started dozing off in the warm sunshine, Chekov took Joanna to the side and, under McCoy's watchful eye, began to show her how to use her new blade. With Kirk's permission, Pike claimed Rand and disappeared into the house for an hour.

There was enough food that the leftovers served as supper, after that meal, Chekov, Sulu and Chapel departed. It wasn't much longer before the remainder of the group began to settle down in the old house. After having a long talk with Joanna to catch up on how she was doing in her studies, Pike took Moreau in with him for the night, Uhura and Spock shared a room, Scotty and Keenser were planted in the small downstairs room to avoid having to try and negotiate the stairs with the very drunk Engineer.

Joanna wasn't sure who Rand ended up sleeping with, but Gaila spent the night in Joanna's room and the two of them stayed up, playing with their hair and nails, giggling as if they were the same age until McCoy finally tapped on the door and told them to get some sleep. Much as Joanna wanted to argue, she found she actually was pretty tired. Another giggle escaped as she thought to herself that going back to school would be pretty dull after vacation was over.

~Day Four - Aunt Nyota and Aunt Gaila stayed over. The three of us went to Atlanta together for shopping, lunch and some girl talk.~

The next morning, Joanna woke again to the smell of cooking downstairs, but she didn't hurry downstairs to greet Rand this time. She had inherited her brother's disdain for people that plain old didn't think through their plans. For the first time that she could recall, though, Rand was openly disgruntled as she went about her morning chores. Joanna reflected that Rand was likely to end up spending some time under an agonizer if she didn't straighten out.

Uhura and Gaila soon joined her at the table and all thoughts about Rand were forgotten as they discussed the day to come. Joanna was not anywhere near as excited about this trip as her two aunts were, but she smiled agreeably and nodded a lot. She did need to get new clothes of varying sizes. The Enterprise was going to be gone for up to five whole years and Miss Rashea had already proven that she wasn't much help when it came to shopping for children's clothing.

As soon as she finished eating, Uhura and Gaila had them headed to the shuttle-port to catch the first shuttle to Atlanta. The rest of the morning flew by in a flurry of laughing, trying on clothing and putting a considerable dent into the credit chip that McCoy had given her so that she could replace the clothing she was in the process of outgrowing.

Gaila insisted on paying for all three of them to go to a small spa that she'd researched before the trip, so just before lunch, they spent an hour and a half having their hair done along with getting manicures and pedicures. Joanna insisted on getting her nails all done in a silvery color that reminded her of Ghost.

Uhura had the address for a restaurant she had been wanting to try, so they went there. It was just after the main lunch rush, so they were able to get a table with some privacy.

After they placed their orders, Gaila didn't waste any time getting to her favorite topic: sex.

"Leonard says that you've gotten curious about sex. So tell me, what is it that you've gotten curious about?"

Fidgeting with the straw in her drink, Joanna gave a small shrug.

"We studied reproduction, so I know that's what sex is for. But when I mentioned that to Bones after we were talking about Uncle Jim and Miss Rashea, he said that one thing I didn't have to worry about was Uncle Jim wanting to reproduce with her. What other reason would there be for them having sex?"

Uhura seemed bemused by the question, but Gaila was genuinely angry.

"Is that the kind of nonsense they're teaching in schools on Earth? That sex isn't for anything but reproduction? Why I ought to-"

Before Gaila could get started on a tirade, Uhura laid a hand on her long-time friend's arm.

"Remember what Leonard said? Age appropriate."

Gaila opened her mouth, shut it, then gave a heartfelt sigh. Running a hand through her red curls, she gave Uhura a plaintive look.

"I'm really not up on Terran standards, Ny. What would Leonard consider to be age appropriate?"

"Don't bring up anything that you wouldn't say if Len was sitting here at the table with us."

Gaila's eyes widened in shock.

"But that's not much. I mean, I'll barely scratch the surface."

"By the time we get back from our next mission, Joanna will probably be ready for the more elaborate version."

Disappointed, Gaila picked up her drink and swirled it around in the glass.

"Oh . . . alright. I guess doing it in stages might work."

As they sipped their drinks, Gaila began to go over what she considered to be basics with the occasional clarifying comments from Uhura. Once their waiter figured out what the topic of conversation at that table was, they found that they didn't have to worry about their drinks staying refilled or asking for more bread - he was never very far away unless he was actively getting something from the kitchen.

Even before they'd finished the salad course, Uhura noticed Joanna's gaze was starting to get a little glassy. Laughing softly, Uhura laid a hand on Gaila's arm to break into what she was saying before turning to Joanna.

"Too much information all at once for you to digest, baby?"

Giving Uhura a sheepish nod, Joanna speared a little more salad.

"You guys have lost me more than a few times. Plus, to be honest? I really don't like boys that way."

When she saw Gaila's expression shift, Joanna hastened to add.

"Girls either, Aunt Gaila. I'm not interested in anybody that way. At least not yet."

Sitting back in her seat, Gaila seemed frankly dumbfounded.

"Wow. You Terrans are really late-bloomers. Oh - not that there's a thing wrong with that. Leonard was a really late bloomer, but wow - he caught on fast."

Uhura rolled her eyes as Joanna winced.

"That was really more than I wanted to know about my brother, Aunt Gaila."

Grabbing a roll, Gaila shook her head.

"Humans. You will discuss fighting, poisonings, stabbings, assassinations and any number of other topics, but bring up sex or some basic toys for self-gratification and everyone starts stuttering or clams up. I just don't get it."

Uhura gave her Orion friend a nudge.

"You know the saying vive la difference."

That got a snort from Gaila.

"That phrase should apply to whether you're currently hot for a guy with tentacles, antennae or a fish tail. Not for sex or no sex."

Fork stopping halfway to her mouth, Joanna stared at Gaila.

"You really have had sex with a guy that had a fish tail, Aunt Gaila?"

For her part, Gaila was chipper about it and didn't seem to notice the incredulous stare.

"Sure did. Well, maybe his tail was more like a dolphin's tail than a fish. Yes, definitely more like a dolphin - no scales. It was alright. I mean, different, of course, but not spectacular. And the fact that the sand got everywhere? That was really a pain."

Joanna wasn't totally sure whether or not her adoptive aunt was kidding or not, so she looked to Uhura, who simply shrugged.

"I put very little past Gaila's libido, Jo. I lost count of the guys that I had to toss out of our room - including your Uncle Jim."

That got a giggle from Joanna.

"I guess that should surprise me, but it really doesn't."

Uhura motioned for a refill of their drinks.

"I've grown to consider it part of his charm - so long as he remembers not to try and aim it my direction."

Munching the last bite of her salad as she thought, Joanna swallowed and continued.

"I think Bones is more worried about someone else liking me that way and me not knowing what to do about it."

"Oh honey, we can teach you all about that. Len sent you to the right pair of girls, right, Gaila?"

"Definitely. If anyone can show you how to hit them where it hurts, it's us."

When the topic shifted to things that made the waiter want to run immediately out and buy a protective cup, he kept a little more distance from the table after he brought them their main courses.

They fell silent for a little while as they ate until Joanna asked another question out of the blue.

"You two were roommates at the Academy. Does that mean the two of you had sex too?"

Uhura choked slightly on the bite of food she'd taken. Gaila, of course, wanted clarification.

"You mean with each other?"

Joanna nodded, keeping a close eye on Uhura in case she needed medical assistance. Gaila waited until Uhura caught her breath before answering further.

"No, we never had. Not that I wouldn't have been all for it, but it's not Ny's thing."

Grabbing her drink to try and soothe her now-aching throat, Uhura muttered.

"How did we get on this subject? Can we please change topics? We did what Len asked - let's all leave it there."

Joanna gave Uhura an innocent look that made her narrow her eyes in suspicion. One thing she knew from association with Doctor McCoy was that when a McCoy actually was innocent, they tended to look puzzled. An 'innocent look'? That was akin to standing on top of a chair and yelling 'I'm up to something'.

"That's fine with me, Aunt Ny. What else would you like to talk about?"

Gaila also knew a fake innocent look when she saw one and broke in before the two of them could get into it and ruin their day out.

"How about we talk about where we're going to shop this afternoon after we finish lunch?"

That brought Joanna up short. She felt like she had already tried on half the clothing in Atlanta.

"Why do we need to do more shopping this afternoon? We've already got the clothes that I needed to get and a few more besides."

Gaila tsked Joanna as if she was ignoring the obvious.

"Clothes yes, but what about shoes? Hats? Accessories? Oh sweetie - we've barely scratched the surface."

Seeing the perplexed look of despair on Joanna's face, Uhura decided to forgive the girl and was sympathetic to her again.

"Sometimes, you're a little too much like your brother. Just think of shopping as being kind of like the sex thing, Jo. You'll learn to appreciate it more as you get older."

It was late by the time they returned to the house and Joanna was so exhausted that McCoy gave up trying to coax her upstairs and picked her up to carry her to bed. As he adjusted the covers over her, she opened one eye a little.

"Bones?"

"Yeah, Jo?"

"What are we going to do tomorrow?"

Chuckling, McCoy turned off the lights.

"I've heard tales of their shopping expeditions before, so Uncle Jim and I figured you might appreciate it if we just packed a picnic lunch and spent a day by the lake."

"That sounds really good. Bones?"

"Now what, Jo?"

"Is sex really like shopping?"

McCoy's eyebrow arched. He was going to have a word with Uhura and find out what was behind that particular question. Still, he had to answer his sister.

"Well, not so that I've noticed, Jo. Then again, I doubt me and Gaila shop in the same sort of places."

That got a giggle out of Joanna and had the added benefit of getting the subject dropped, so he gave her a grin as he left her room.

"See you in the morning, Jo."

"Night, Bones."

~Day Five - We went to the lake to spend the day. We did some fishing, had a picnic and went swimming. I caught the first fish.~

After breakfast, McCoy began working on putting together a lunch for them to take with them while Kirk got the other things together that they were going to need. It was still fairly early in the day when they all mounted up and started on the half-hour ride that would take them to the lake. The bank that they would be sitting on was well-shaded and McCoy remarked that he'd always had good luck fishing there when he hadn't been much older than Joanna.

Kirk set up a small emitter near them that served a dual purpose - it would repel bugs from the area around them as well as alert them if anyone approached them. McCoy pointed out to Joanna that there was a third advantage. The horses could be left to graze freely because they appreciated the 'fly-free zone' so much that if they accidently stepped out of it, they immediately came back.

There was a short debate, but they finally decided to fish first, have lunch, fish a little more and then end their day with a swim before riding back to the house. Kirk and McCoy had a friendly argument over the relative merits of different types of bait and styles of casting followed by additional debating over whose method she was using when Joanna that got the first bite.

"First fish of the day. That means we need to decide. Catch and release or are we having fish for supper?"

"Catching our supper sounds like more work than I want to do, Bones. How about we catch and release and then tonight, I'll take you and Jo-Jo out for a fish dinner. Best of both worlds."

Joanna's head bobbed in agreement

"That sounds good to me too."

Laughing, McCoy unhooked Joanna's catch and lowered it back into the water.

"Didn't particularly want to spend the afternoon gutting and scaling either."

Not worried now whether they spooked the fish or not, the three began chatting. Joanna started telling stories more freely about her classes, teachers and the other students. Whenever she finished a story, Kirk would throw in one of his own about some of the stranger beings and creatures that they had encountered. She was very amused by the story about the tribbles.

"Born pregnant? How is that even possible?"

McCoy reached over and ruffled his sister's curls.

"If I ever figure it out Jo, I'll let you know. They purr kind of like a cat and coo sort of like a bird. I've got one in Sickbay that we keep for breeding when we need test subjects. You can see it for yourself."

It was just as well that they didn't care if they caught fish or not because the squeal of joy that Joanna let out probably scared the fish for miles around.

"I'm going to get to go on the Enterprise? Really?"

"Really. Jim heard the news from Pike just before we left to go fishing. We'll be going onboard tomorrow and spending two days there."

"And that's okay with you guys? I mean, it's kind of like you going back to work."

Kirk lay back on the grass, enjoying the sun.

"It's fine, Jo-Jo. If we didn't want you to see where we work, we wouldn't have bothered to ask Pike for permission to take you up there."

"Besides, I always like the chance to drop in on my medical staff when they aren't expecting me to be around. Gives me a better idea what they're up to."

Kirk sat back up suddenly and announced.

"I'm hungry. Break out the picnic, Bones."

It only took a couple of minutes to get everything ready. Kirk took a big bite out of the chicken that had been left over from the barbeque and gave a contented sigh.

"This is the sort of thing that I'm really going to miss once we're stuck with nothing but replicated food again."

"You don't even get fresh food every now and then?"

Kirk's mouth was full, so McCoy answered for him.

"Only if we've been to a Starbase or a planet where we can get fresh supplies, kid. When you're dealing with a crew as large as we have, there's only so much room to store things."

"What is the food replicated from if it isn't using real food?"

"Almost any organic waste, Jo."

"Organic waste? You mean like . . ."

"Yep."

"Ewwww!"

"That's one of those things that I try not to dwell on while we're on a mission. Pass me another piece of chicken."

"If you told her that in hopes of killing my appetite, it didn't work, Bones."

"I've never found anything yet that would kill your appetite, Jim, so I don't even bother to try anymore. You did a good job with the fire pit. Even if it might take another week or two for your eyebrows to look normal again."

"Totally worth it. Did you pack any of the leftover cake?"

"Yep. Pie, too. Even brought apple slices if you want to feed them to the horses after you're done eating, Jo."

"What? You didn't bring any apple slices for me, Bones? I'm hurt."

"Don't be an infant, Jim. I brought a whole apple for you."

As the two men traded jibes, Joanna still wasn't sure she understood how things were different between the two of them, but they were. Maybe it was just that she was noticing more because she was older, but she didn't think so. It was like they were more at ease with each other. Or maybe more sure of one another. McCoy had admitted that it had been bad, but without giving any details. Still, she was pretty sure whatever that bad thing was, it had involved both of them.

After lunch, they decided to not even pretend to fish. Joanna fed the apple slices to the horses, which wasn't as easy as she thought it would be. Each of the horses seemed to be of the opinion that they should be the only one getting the apples. Caesar was especially demanding until McCoy called over to him.

"Caesar! Back!"

The horse obeyed, but pinned his ears back in annoyance. Feeling sorry for him, Joanna made sure he got the last slice. By the time she finished, McCoy said it had been long enough for them to go in for a swim if they wanted.

She wasn't sure why it surprised her, but Joanna hadn't expected that her brother would be the strongest swimmer among them. Jim could swim and swim well, but McCoy swam with an ease that spoke of long hours in the water. After she gave it a little thought, Joanna realized those long hours had probably been in this very same lake. It was one thing that Kirk had to concede on - if he and McCoy were on land in a fight, Kirk would win. In the water, McCoy would be the victor. Kirk occasionally grumbled that McCoy was built for the water, but it was half-hearted. McCoy enjoyed the water so much that it was hard not to share in his enthusiasm.

As the sun started sinking, Kirk reluctantly pointed it out.

"We need to head back and get the horses settled before we go out to eat."

McCoy slipped under one last time and then climbed out.

"Every now and again, I forget just how much I miss doing that every day."

"You can't swim on the Enterprise?"

"Oh sure, Jo. There's a pool, but swimming in a pool is a lot different than swimming out here."

Drying her hair with a towel, Joanna paused at a sudden thought.

"What happens to all that water if the ship gets attacked? Wouldn't it slosh everywhere?"

Kirk was already pulling his jeans back on as he fielded that question.

"You know what a red alert is, right, Jo-Jo?"

"Sure. It means that there's an emergency going on and everyone needs to get ready for whatever might happen."

"Right. Well, the ship has routines that it goes through every time a red alert is sounded. One of those routines puts a force field over the pool so that the water stays where it belongs."

"Oh. I guess everything that's on a ship has things like that thought out."

"You're right. A whole lot of planning goes into everything before the first pieces of a starship are ready to be assembled."

Nodding as she pulled her shirt back on, Joanna admitted that made a lot of sense. Storm walked over and nudged her, checking to see if she still had any apple slices hidden away. He found the core of the apple Kirk had eaten instead and quickly lipped it up to eat before the other horses noticed. McCoy was making sure everything else was packed up before redressing himself and Joanna caught Kirk watching him. Then Kirk spotted Joanna watching, giving her a smirk and a wink.

That sort of confirmed a few things in Joanna's mind, but she didn't remark on it as she gave Storm a pat.

"I guess the next time all of us ride here, I'll be riding Ghost."

"Yes, you will. That reminds me. You and Miss Rashea need to come here for your school vacations while we're gone. I'm going to count on you to give me reports whether or not the folks I'm paying to take care of things are doing their jobs."

"I will, Bones. Besides, I don't want to go that long without seeing Ghost. He'd forget me."

"After a while, he won't, Jo. Right now, he's still a youngster."

McCoy got dressed before moving over to out Caesar's bridle back on.

"Everyone ready for the ride back?"

Joanna had to admit needing a little help in getting back on Storm, but Kirk came over and gave her a boost. She hadn't realized how tired she was after the day in the sun. Halfway drowsing in the saddle, she thought about the fish dinner that they were going to have and the pleasure of slipping between cool, clean sheets after they got back. She didn't realize that her head was nodding until Kirk teased her.

"No sleeping in the saddle, Jo-Jo. We're almost back, so how about a little trotting to wake you up? Bet I beat you back - and breaking trot is cheating."

"Maybe for you two."

Saying that, McCoy urged the willing Caesar into a gallop as they exited the tree line into the pasture. Kirk joined Joanna in just taking in the sight for a moment. McCoy looked so natural in the surroundings of his Sickbay that seeing him looking so natural doing anything else always seemed a little strange. Then he gave Joanna a grin.

"Let's go after that big show-off. Come on, Jo-Jo."

Older horse or not, Storm still hadn't forgotten or lost the will to gallop. The sensation was both thrilling and slightly scary, but Joanna gave in to the moment and enjoyed it. And Kirk was right about one thing. It certainly had woken her up.

~Day Six - Admiral Pike granted me permission to spend two days aboard the Enterprise. On the first day, I spent the morning mostly in Sickbay where Bones works. That afternoon, I got to visit Engineering.~

Unlike her brother, who loathed the sensation, Joanna always thrilled to the feeling of a teleport. As she solidified in the Transporter Room between Kirk and McCoy, she beamed over at Scott, who had insisted on handling the controls himself.

"Welcome aboard, lassie. Keep in mind that I'll give you the grand tour of my beauty - the one that most never get to see - whenever you want."

"Thank you, Uncle Scotty. I want to. Maybe after lunch?"

"Aye, that will be fine."

"I'm heading to the Bridge to catch up on a few reports. I'll meet you two in the Officers Mess for lunch."

"Right, Jim. Come on, Jo. I'll show you where I spend most of my time."

The first thing Joanna noticed was the nervous energy that seemed to follow McCoy as they moved through the ship toward Sickbay. She felt a surge of pride at how much her brother's presence was noted by the others. Some seemed to respect him and some seemed to fear him, but absolutely no-one was ignoring him.

That feeling intensified when they entered Sickbay together. She already knew Chapel, but the rest of the medical team were new to her. She took an almost immediate dislike to the newest doctor who had come onboard to replace M'benga, but she had to admit to herself that might be largely because Doctor Harmon so plainly didn't like children of any sort. Joanna also caught the warning look McCoy gave him, after which Harmon spoke politely to her, but avoided her as much as possible.

McCoy gave her the tour personally, demonstrating any of the Sickbay equipment to her that she showed even mild curiosity about before taking her to his office where one of the tribbles - the designated breeding one - resided. Jo looked at it carefully.

"It just looks like a big ball of fur."

"That's a pretty accurate description of one."

"Do they have eyes?"

"Nope. No teeth either. Would you like to hold it?"

"Can I?"

"Sure. Just don't feed it anything. Later on, maybe Jim will let you play with his tribble."

"Uncle Jim has a tribble?"

"Yep. Even named the damn thing Gwen."

McCoy imagined that the look Joanna was giving him was likely similar to the one he'd given Kirk himself.

"He named a tribble Gwen?"

"Just play with this tribble and don't try to hard to figure out why your Uncle Jim does anything. You'll only get a headache."

Scooping the furry creature out of the container it was being kept in, McCoy handed it to Joanna. The tribble responded to her warmth by snuggling close to her and beginning to purr loudly, giving Joanna a case of the giggles. Once she had held it long enough that McCoy had judged its tranquilizing effects should be working on her, he sat on the corner of his desk near her.

"Well, Jo? What do you think of everything so far?"

"It's nice."

"I'm hearing a 'but' in there, baby girl."

Sighing, Joanna swung her legs as one of her hands was automatically stroking the tribble.

"It's just . . . well. . . I don't think I want to be a doctor like you are, Bones."

Chuckling, McCoy leaned back a bit.

"That's what you've been worrying about telling me? That doesn't bother me, kid. The McCoys have produced a doctor every generation. I've already filled that quota, so you can be whatever you damn well want to be, Jo."

"Really?"

The relief on her face was so enormous that it would have been funny if she hadn't been so serious about it.

"Really. Well - you've got too many brains to settle for being something like a Captain's woman. But so long as you don't sell yourself short and you're content? I'll support whatever it is that you want to do."

Getting up out of her chair, Joanna went over to give McCoy a hug. Which proved to be a little awkward to do while holding a tribble.

"We're family, Jo. Speaking of which, looks like it's near time to meet Jim and get something to eat. You hungry?'

"Starving."

"Let's head on to the Mess then. Oh, the tribble has to stay here. You can't let the little devils around food. Besides, Scotty's expecting you after lunch and you'll need your hands free. Did you want me to go with you to Engineering?"

"Only to get me there. I'll make sure I stick close to Uncle Scotty after that."

"If Scotty ever gets distracted - which can happen very easily where he's concerned when he's around his engines - stay close to Keenser. So long as he isn't climbing."

After having learned more about the replicator, Joanna was a bit leery about eating in the Mess until McCoy assured her that while the Enterprise was docked on Earth, all of the crew was being allowed to dine on real food. She and McCoy had only been seated for a couple of minutes when Kirk arrived and sat across from them.

"Well, what do you think of our lady so far, Jo-Jo?"

"I like her, Uncle Jim. I haven't really seen a lot of her yet, but she's so big. I mean, I knew she had to be, but it was hard to picture in my head."

"She needs to be seen to be appreciated. Tell you what - after you finish your tour of Engineering, give me a call and I'd show you around to some of my favorite spots. Then the three of us can meet up again for supper."

Joanna looked to McCoy for approval and he gave her a nod.

"That's fine by me. I've got some boring but necessary requisition forms that I need to get out of the way. That should give me plenty of time to get those knocked out."

"it's settled then. So -"

Commander Mitchell came by the table with his tray, giving a glare toward Joanna as if she were sitting where he had intended to sit. Kirk was beyond tired of his attitude.

"If you can't bring yourself to act civilly around Admiral Pike's guest, I suggest you take a seat at the Ensigns table, Gary."

After Mitchell stalked off, Kirk shook his head.

"I don't know what the deal is with that man half the time. He's acted strangely ever since that incident last year when we ran into that magnetic storm. It's like all his worst personality traits have been amplifying and his best traits getting buried underneath them."

McCoy stirred his coffee as he worded his next question with caution.

"Are you still able to trust him to have your back, Jim?"

"What do you mean still? I've never been able to trust him to have my back. If he thinks he can catch me off-guard, he'll make a play for the chair. Right now though? He's the best option of a very limited selection of candidates."

Remembering the instructions Pike gave her, Joanna remained very quiet, but drank in everything that was being said. A familiar voice rang out then as Scott entered the Mess.

"Well, there's the lass. Give me a few minutes to get a couple of sandwiches and I'll be ready to show you Engineering if you're ready for it."

Scott was cheerfully ignoring Mitchell's glare. The First Officer had already given Scott his opinion regarding a child in a restricted area. Scott had told him in no uncertain terms to bugger off and take the issue up with Admiral Pike if he was so concerned that a wee lass might be a Romulan spy.

Keenser and Joanna hit it off immediately. For one thing, Keenser seemed to enjoy having someone in Engineering that was close to the same height as he was. The afternoon was a delightful rush between Gaila, Scott and Keenser all showing off their favorite things in Engineering to her. Their enthusiasm was contagious and she found herself sharing it. Despite what her brother had said, she wasn't so sure he'd approve if she decided to go into Engineering. She'd heard him refer to Engineers as a whole in less than flattering terms. Still, he did like Gaila and Scott well enough, so there were some exceptions to the 'Engineers are idiots' rule.

Joanna finally decided not to worry about it and just enjoyed herself. After all, even if she tied Chekov's record and entered the Academy when she was fifteen, that was still eight years away. At her request, Scott even agreed to show her the water tube he'd gotten stuck in after he and McCoy first met.

"I know it all sounds funny after the fact, lass, but at the time, I can guarantee it wasn't funny at all."

"I'm glad you came, though. Bones didn't tell me any details, of course, but he said you were the one that saved everyone on the ship."

"It was more of a joint effort than that, but so long as we've lived to each tell our own versions of the story? That's what counts. So, have you got plans for tomorrow?"

"Oh yes. Uncle Jim is going to take me up to the Bridge."

Scott gave a chuckle at that.

"Mitchell is going to love that, he is."

"Does he hate everyone or is he just being a jerk to me?"

Lowering his voice, Scott knelt down to talk.

"Between us? He's one of those officers that can't see where he is because he only looks at where he wants to be. Mitchell is not a bit like the Captain. He would never throw himself into danger to save the ship."

When Scott said that, another puzzle piece clicked into place in Joanna's mind. Kirk had put himself in a bad situation and her brother hadn't been happy about it. She didn't ask any questions because Scott was still talking.

"Man like Mitchell might get a ship one day, but he'll not keep it. No man or woman can run a starship on their own. He's not fearsome enough to make a crew obey him from fear and not personable enough or dynamic enough for a crew to want to follow him."

Giving a slow nod, Joanna added that to the other things she'd heard about Mitchell, then changed the subject.

"I don't know that I'd want to take the Command track. I don't think I have any of that going for me either."

"You're still a wee slip of a girl, so don't base your future on that, lass. Besides, you're already a dynamo. I think it is part of the McCoy blood. Your brother can be like a force of nature when he has his mind set."

Kirk walked in and caught the last part of what Scott said. He agreed with that sentiment wholeheartedly.

"Ready for the tour of the rest of the ship that I promised you, Jo-Jo?"

"I sure am. Thank you very much, Uncle Scotty. I really like Engineering. I haven't decided if I want to train to be an Engineer or not yet, but it's still on my list of maybes."

"Remember that there's no rush yet. One day, it will hit you clear as a bell what you want. Until then, no harm to be had in learning a little bit of everything."

As she left at Kirk's side, Joanna reflected that Scott had given her a very good piece of advice.

~Day Seven - My second day on the Enterprise. I got to go on the Bridge with Uncle Jim. Science Officer Spock showed me the Science labs.~

As the turbolift doors opened to let Captain Kirk and Joanna onto the Bridge, Spock frowned but didn't comment. A child on the Bridge of an Imperial starship was highly irregular, but he was fully aware that Admiral Pike had probably been the one to authorize it. That meant bringing up regulations would not only be of no use, but the only purpose that it would serve would be to annoy Kirk. It had taken time, but the years had taught Spock that being on Kirk's good side was far more advantageous than opposing him was.

Spock's theory about Kirk's reaction was soon proven right when First Officer Mitchell complained and demanded that Joanna be removed from the Bridge immediately. As expected, Kirk informed Mitchell that Pike had authorized the visit. Less expected was Kirk punching Mitchell in the jaw and ordering him off the Bridge.

Once Mitchell had stormed into the turbolift, Kirk settled into the Captain's chair as Chekov invited Joanna over to view the Helm. At first, Spock was studiously ignoring the interactions between Joanna and the rest of the Bridge crew until he began to hear her talking about the system controls. She wasn't simply parroting back what she'd been told, but she was remarking on their functions as well as asking questions that a certain degree of understanding would have been necessary in order for her to have formulated them.

Bending back over the display at his station, Spock really wasn't paying any attention to the data there as he thought back to when he had first confronted then-Cadet McCoy and discovered the amount of knowledge of Vulcan that McCoy had both gleaned and retained from his visits with T'Pau even though he had only been around six years old at the time. Joanna was now a year older than her brother had been then. Obviously, she had inherited more than simply the McCoy eyes and temperament.

The girl eventually worked her way around to Spock's station, at first doing nothing but standing there quietly, watching him. Finally, he took his eyes off his screen and looked at her.

"Is there something with which I can be of assistance to you, Miss McCoy?"

"Maybe. You're the Science Officer, aren't you?"

"I am."

"Could you show me the science labs then? I asked Bones, but he said he considered the main labs to be your domain and he didn't want to step on your ears."

She paused briefly, then spoke again.

"I think maybe he might have meant to say toes."

"No, Miss McCoy. I believe the Doctor said what he intended to"

Even with him half-turned away, Spock could tell that Kirk was smirking. Well, he supposed it did serve him right considering how he had phrased his question to the child.

"I am not certain that the Captain can spare me from the Bridge at this time."

As feared, Kirk didn't back him on that hope.

"Nonsense, Mister Spock. We're in dock, after all. Go right ahead."

Spock managed to keep the disgruntled tone out of his voice as he straightened up.

"Very well then. Come along, Miss McCoy."

Skipping next to him to Spock's chagrin, Joanna entered the turbolift with Spock and waited until he called out the destination to the computer before piping up herself.

"Computer - voice code authorization Alpha-Pike-Alpha. Full stop."

~Acknowledged~

Spock wasn't sure which surprised him the most - that the child tried to override his turbolift command or that she succeeded. Joanna just returned his look with a smile.

"Uncle Christopher wanted me to have a talk with you in private and suggested that he had always found a turbolift guaranteed a certain degree of privacy."

"Admiral Pike provided you with an override code to the turbolift?"

"Sure did. If you don't believe me, try to restart it."

"Computer - restart turbolift at my command."

~Command denied. Superior override in place.~

Looking back down at the girl, curiosity began to overcome Spock's annoyance.

"Very well. It does indeed appear that Admiral Pike has provided you with an override, therefore I must extrapolate that he had a reason for doing so. Please continue."

"Alright. Remember though, this is from Uncle Christopher. I'm only the chosen messenger."

"Understood."

Joanna cleared her throat and began what was obviously a practiced recital.

"Mister Spock, whether it has occurred to you or not, an opportunity is before you that someone else will grab if you do not. You have a chance to become a full working component of what was termed the "Unholy Alliance" back during Kirk and McCoy's Academy days. You have the necessary intellect and hunger for power that will mix well with those two if you will get off your high horse and remove your Vulcan head from your human ass."

A slight giggle escaped the child after that sentence and it took her a moment to recompose herself and continue.

"Extend an olive branch, Spock. Look over what Joanna has for you. If you disagree, give it back to her and, when she returns it to me, I'll know your answer and initiate the steps to transfer you to a different ship."

Looking pleased with herself over remembering and relaying the message, Joanna pulled a data chip from one of her pockets and offered it to Spock. Taking it from her, Spock nodded to her.

"I thank you. I take it Doctor McCoy knows nothing of this?"

"No. Uncle Christopher was very specific that only you be told and that after I gave you the chip, I was to forget about the message I told you."

"So you will not be informing either your brother or uncle of this?"

Joanna blinked her eyes, looking innocent as a newborn sehlat.

"About what? Oh - Computer - voice code authorization Alpha-Pike-Alpha. Resume turbolift functions."

~Acknowledged.~

As soon as the turbolift was in motion again, the child beside Spock morphed back into the same chattering girl as before. Despite himself, Spock was impressed.

"I'm looking forward to seeing the labs. I haven't decided yet what I want my specialty to be when I join Starfleet. I'm not really cut out to be a doctor like Bones is, you know."

"No, I was not aware of that, Miss McCoy."

"That's why I want to look over all the departments. I figure that one of them will interest me more than the others do. I already like research."

As they entered the Science lab, Spock called over one of the junior officers.

"Ensign Ducane, you will show Miss McCoy the experiment that you are currently overseeing and answer any questions she may have regarding it. Miss McCoy, I will return to you shortly after I take care of some business."

Giving a glance to the hand that she knew held the data chip, Joanna nodded and followed Ensign Ducane. Spock then stepped into his office, moving to the computer panel to insert the chip. Moving to the screen, he noted that the data was centered on the success rate of the ISS Enterprise while under the command of Kirk, comparing it to every other vessel in the Fleet. In financial gain, new territories and every other indicator of success, the ISS Enterprise outdid them all - in every single category. He noted that one of the files was a message from Admiral Pike and, after reading over the other data, Spock opened it.

~You are a facts man, Spock. Whatever your personal opinions are of Kirk and McCoy as a team, you cannot deny the numbers. The partnership works and works well, but it could be better. Kirk has expressed his frustration to me that he isn't able to utilize your skills more fully. That holdup is due to the nature of your relationship with Doctor McCoy. If you extend a genuine olive branch to McCoy, he will accept it for Kirk's sake if for no other reason. You must admit that you were the one that escalated the situation from the verbal to the physical which is why McCoy will not make the first move. It will need to be you.~

~Before you make your decision, remember that you once told me that one thing you admired in me was my ability to spot untapped potential. The Enterprise is already ahead of the rest of the fleet, but unless I am very much mistaken, the three of you working in tandem would not just lead the pack, you would eclipse it. Kirk is not happy with his current First Officer. With the right steps, you can replace Mitchell and retake the position I removed you from. You don't have to prove that you like McCoy - you merely have to show that you can work with him. Obey orders. Be the right hand that a decent First is supposed to be to their Captain.~

Sitting back, Spock considered Pike's words and weighed them against what he himself had seen. Doctor McCoy never flinched from giving his opinion to Captain Kirk regardless of how he thought Kirk might take it. However, if facing off against someone not of the Enterprise crew, McCoy presented a unified front with him, regardless of his personal opinion of Kirk's actions. He extrapolated from how their adversaries reacted to that to how much more effective the appearance would be to outsiders if he were equally supportive of Kirk publically as McCoy was. By any measure, the three of them would appear to be formidable together whether in terms of personal abilities, force of personality or sheer willpower.

Spock glanced at the data for the Enterprise again. Yes, he could accept Pike's offer and transfer to another ship, but he would be accepting an inferior ship. If he could take back the First Officer position, he would be exactly where he wanted to be. Exactly where he had been before he had gone against Pike's wishes. Yes. He had to admit it. He had made the first move against McCoy. But what sort of olive branch would be acceptable?

A masculine shriek of combined pain and anger snapped Spock from his thoughts and he was at the scene of the incident so quickly that some of the science staff would have sworn he must have teleported there. Ducane was standing holding onto his arm to stem the bleeding while Joanna stood nearby with the blade in her hand that Spock recognized as being her gift from Chekov. The blood gleamed dully on the surface of the black metal. Ensign Ducane spit out.

"That little bitch cut me!"

Acknowledging Spock's presence without taking her eyes off of Ducane, Joanna made her own response.

"I don't like being touched."

Considering the number of times that he had seen her be touched by others, Spock understood that she was not referring merely to the touch, but to the type of touch. Before Ducane knew what was coming, Spock applied the Vulcan nerve pinch to the man, picking the Ensign up and easily positioning over his shoulder before speaking to Joanna.

"Miss McCoy, if you would be so kind as to lead the way to Sickbay?"

A wicked smile that he would normally have associated with the far older Uhura formed on the girl's face and she skipped ahead as she did as Spock requested, bloody blade still in one hand. As the Sickbay doors opened to admit them, McCoy took in the sight of Joanna with her blade and then Spock following with the Ensign over his shoulder. Eyes narrowing, McCoy came over, looking from Joanna to Spock.

"What the hell is going on here?"

Spock spoke first and Joanna politely refrained from interrupting him.

"Miss McCoy had requested to see the Science labs. I had requested for Ensign Ducane to answer her questions on a current experiment while I went to my office to attend to some urgent business. I regret that in my absence, the Ensign went beyond the bounds of acceptable behavior. It was my thought that perhaps you would prefer to be the one to fully explain to him the error of his ways."

Spock then met McCoy's eyes directly.

"I wish to apologize. Both for my lapse of judgment today and for my previous interactions with you. After giving the matter due consideration, I find that I have been responsible for the tensions between us. As we are both senior members of the Science Department, I would prefer to alter that state of affairs."

McCoy remained very quiet for a full minute before speaking.

"Man's dripping blood on your uniform. Deposit him over there before he ruins it. Chapel!"

"Yes, Doctor?"

"Make the Ensign uncomfortable, will you? I'll get around to him later."

"Should I tend to his wound?"

"Doesn't appear to be anything that will be fatal any time soon. Leave it be. Joanna Eleanor McCoy!"

Spock saw the girl practically snap to attention at her brother's tone, but also noted she was puzzled about what he seemed to be angry about.

"I know damn well that Chekov taught you to take better care of that blade than that. Clean the blood off of it right now, young lady."

She blushed, obviously embarrassed to be caught having not tended to such a basic step. Stepping into McCoy's office, Joanna began to take care of the problem while still trying to keep an eye on McCoy and Spock.

When Spock came back over from handing Ducane over to Chapel, McCoy considered the Vulcan again.

"Apology accepted. All holds are off though if you stick me in another damn escape pod again."

"Understood, Doctor. Might I ask you a question?"

"Don't see why not, but let's do this in my office."

McCoy didn't shoo Joanna out, but he did secure the door to his office and activate the sound dampeners.

"Ask away, Mister Spock."

"What is your opinion of Gary Mitchell?"

"Can't stand the son of a bitch. He's too eager for a Captain's chair. No, let me rephrase that. he's too damn eager for Jim's chair."

Pausing, Spock measured his next words carefully.

"You are aware that I am never likely to be granted the position of Captain permanently in Starfleet?"

McCoy gave a slow nod to that.

"No offense, but they wouldn't trust you with a human ship and the Vulcans wouldn't allow you to command one of theirs because of the bloodline bit."

"No offense taken, Doctor, as you have stated the facts quite correctly. This no longer bothers me as it once did. I did much meditation on the subject and have concluded that I would not care for the position of Captain even if it were an available option for me - I am far too interested in scientific research to want to give that up. That means that the highest position that I would care to reach and maintain is that of First Officer. Naturally, I want the Captain I serve under to be the best in the Fleet."

"Naturally. And at this point in time, that Captain is James T. Kirk."

"Agreed, Doctor."

"Mitchell's not going to step to the side willingly."

"I do not expect that he will. But should you and I come to an agreement that Commander Mitchell's position as First Officer is not beneficial to either the ship or the Captain, I do not foresee his willingness to be an insurmountable obstacle."

"Can't see any flaws in that logic, Mister Spock. But one condition. Not while Jo is still onboard."

"Agreed, Doctor."

Humming softly to herself, Joanna smiled. Her Uncle Christopher was going to be so pleased.

~Day Eight - We visited the Starfleet Academy and I got to see the memorial that was dedicated to the fight that saved Earth from the Romulan Nero. I'm looking forward to attending the Academy when I'm older - I already have my sponsors for it. I wish I could be the youngest cadet to attend there, but while I know that I'm smart, I also know I'm not super-smart like Pavel is, so I guess his record is safe for a little while longer.~

Admiral Pike met the trio at the entrance to the Academy, immediately taking over escorting Joanna. McCoy didn't mind. He knew Pike wouldn't allow anything to happen to Joanna or Pike would be taking the risk of alienating the only remaining doctor he trusted to treat him.

For her part, Joanna's eyes were huge as she tried to look at everything at once. They visited the site where some of the remains of the giant drilling probe that nearly destroyed Earth rested. It was now part of a tribute to both the actions that saved the planet and to the billions who died before the probe was stopped. The large front section had a depiction of the Enterprise carved into the stone and a full list of the crew that had been aboard when Nero had been defeated. The lower part listed the crew members who had died during the struggle. Joanna didn't fully understand why Uncle Christopher walked up to the monument and ran his fingers across one name in particular, but she glanced at the name of Rajinder Puri and reminded herself to ask about him later.

Craning her head, she spotted the names of James T. Kirk and Leonard H. McCoy without a great deal of difficulty. Their names were both prominently displayed near the top beside the titles 'Acting Captain' and 'Acting CMO'. The sides of the memorial had many, many more names. The majority of what had been the student body at the Academy when the threat to Vulcan was first responded to.

The back of the memorial was the largest of the stone slabs. The top of it had a depiction of the planet Vulcan and name after name filled the rest of it in tiny script.

"That's only a small fraction of the ones that died, Joanna. Those are just the names of those who had family survive that requested their names to be added to the carvings. Around six billion died along with their planet and there were only about ten thousand survivors."

Joanna's mouth dropped open as that number sank in. Six billion was a number she really couldn't visualize, but ten thousand?

"But, Bones told me that the little town we're from only has about six thousand people in it. You mean that less than two towns worth of people survived out of a whole planet full?"

"That's right. That's all that were left."

They left the memorial behind, but Joanna remained quiet and somber. Kirk started talking to her to try and lighten her mood.

"So, I know you still have a couple of years to decide, Jo-Jo, but have you figured out yet which track you want to take?"

"Not yet, Uncle Jim. I only know which two I don't want to take."

"Well, that's narrowing it down. Which two are off your list?"

"I don't want Security and I don't want Medical."

Kirk cut his eyes to look at McCoy to see if he seemed to be alright with Medical being out. When it appeared that the doctor was fine with it, Kirk relaxed again.

"That works. I mean, multiple Doctor McCoys could get to be really confusing."

Giggling at that, Joanna noticed a group of cadets headed into a building.

"What's going on there?"

Pike consulted his PADD.

"There's a lecture on intra-species communications about to start."

"Really? Could I go to it?"

McCoy winced and so did Kirk.

"I lived through that boring lecture once, kid. Sitting through it again? I'd rather not."

Giving an indulgent smile, Pike looked down at Joanna and could tell that what she really wanted was to be able to speak with him.

"I'm supposed to monitor a certain percentage of these, so if you really want to go, I'll make it one of my monitoring sessions, Joanna."

"I'd like that - thank you, Uncle Christopher."

Pike gave glance to Kirk and McCoy.

"I'm guessing the two of you can find some way to entertain yourselves for the next hour and a half?"

Kirk gave him a sly grin.

"I think we can manage, sir. We'll meet you back here after the lecture ends."

Once inside the lecture hall, Pike took Joanna into the balcony area where they could hear, but still be able to talk.

"Do you have a report for me, young lady?"

"Yes, Uncle Christopher. Bones and Mister Spock have reached what Mister Spock referred to as an 'understanding' between them. Mister Spock wants to have the First Officer slot back."

"Excellent. I suppose that means I should compose a speech to give at Mitchell's memorial service."

Scrunching her nose slightly, Joanna shook her head.

"I'm glad that I probably won't have to attend that. I don't think I'm a good enough at pretending to act like I'll be sad when he's gone. I don't like him at all."

"Are you sure you're only seven?"

"I go to classes with what Uncle Jim calls a bunch of baby Einsteins. I act as much like seven as they do."

"Fair enough, I suppose. So tell me, what common ground did your brother and Spock find?"

"They both think Uncle Jim is the best Captain currently in the Fleet and neither of them like Mitchell."

"Hm. In that case, I definitely need to work on that speech sooner than later."

Joanna shifted in her seat and pretended to give her attention to the lecture while she worked up her nerve for the question she wanted to ask.

"Uncle Christopher, who was Rajinder Puri?"

At the question, Pike drew a deep breath and closed his eyes. For a minute, Joanna though he was going to ignore her question, but he let out a sigh and began speaking.

"Doctor Puri was my CMO. The two of us were . . . very close."

Joanna bit her lower lip briefly.

"Close like Uncle Jim and Bones are close?"

"Maybe closer."

It was hard for Joanna to imagine two people being any closer than Kirk and McCoy were now, but she decided it would be rude to say that, so she nodded. The silence lasted for a few minutes before she spoke again.

"Something really bad happened on the Enterprise since they were home last, didn't it?"

Instead of immediately answering, Pike asked a question of his own and Joanna knew that was never a good sign.

"Has your brother talked to you about any of it?"

"I asked him if he and Uncle Jim were okay and he said they were. I don't think he was lying, but it feels like there was a whole lot more he didn't say."

"I frankly don't know all of the details myself, Joanna, but as I understand it, James was very badly injured. Leonard was able to pull him through, but it was apparently a very close thing."

Leaning back in his chair, Pike spoke again, as much to himself as to Joanna.

"There was another odd thing. One of the research doctors at Medical demanded a current physical on McCoy and seemed both surprised and disappointed that he passed it."

Frown growing the more he thought about that, Pike got out of his chair and went to the back of the room to access the computer there.

"Computer voice recognition."

~Recognition complete - Admiral Christopher Pike attached to Imperial Starfleet Training Command.~

"I want a full breakdown on the tests that were run in conjunction with the physical of Leonard Horatio McCoy as ordered by Doctor Chancellor of Imperial Starfleet Medical Research."

~Working. All standard tests run. In addition, multiple tests were run for the detection of the condition known as xenopolycythemia.~

"I've never even heard of that. What is the rate of occurrence on that condition?"

~Recorded instances of the condition occur in approximately one person out of every million.~

"That's an awfully rare condition to be running multiple tests for. How many tests were run for that condition in total?"

~Five.~

"Computer - lock that information under my authority."

~Affirmative. Testing data on Leonard Horatio McCoy is now sealed.~

"Download the details of the condition to my personal PADD."

~Download complete.~

Moving back to sit next to Joanna again, Pike had a smile on his face. Doctor Chancellor really should have been prudent enough to wipe the records of those extra tests. One test might have been standard and even two might have been able to have been explained away, but five? Five indicated even to a non-medical man like Pike that Chancellor was rerunning the tests because he wasn't getting a result that he expected.

Reading the download as the lecture continued, Pike's face hardened to a mask. Fatal in one year's time. No known remedies. Anyone diagnosed with the condition was to be turned over to the Imperial Starfleet Medical Research Center as that their deaths would further the search for a cure.

Feeling the change of mood, Joanna stayed very quiet the rest of the day and went to her room to read without protest when Pike indicated he wanted to have a talk with Kirk and McCoy. Shortly after that, she was munching on some of her favorite takeout food and watching a movie while the three men left to attend to a little business.

When they came back about two hours later, they all seemed to be in a very good mood - McCoy even more than the others.

"Time to pack up and head back for Georgia, baby girl. We need to give you some more time with Ghost before school starts back up."

As they were leaving, Joanna heard a news report about some sort of laboratory accident on the Academy grounds that had left a doctor dead. She pretended not to notice that her brother started whistling to himself after that.

~Day Nine - We spent the day back at our home in Georgia. I had more lessons on how to properly care for Ghost and then had more riding lessons on Storm.~

Joanna ended up sleeping late and McCoy decided that since it was near the end of her vacation, she could just sleep until she woke up on her own. It was the warm morning sun hitting her pillow that finally began to rouse her. That and the voices of Kirk and McCoy outside.

Going to her window, Joanna opened it wide and leaned on the window sill to watch them. They were both on their horses and from the look of it, just getting back from taking them for a ride. That made her frown. Just how late was it anyway? She gasped slightly when she saw her clock. McCoy rarely let her sleep in past seven and it was nearly nine.

By the time she got herself dressed and ready to go downstairs, it was nine and her stomach was grumbling about not having had breakfast yet. She grabbed an apple and headed outside to where the two men had dismounted.. They had removed the bits from the horses' mouths and the animals were taking turns drinking. Kirk spotted her approaching first.

"Jo-Jo's either finally awake or that zombie apocalypse they've been talking about for decades has finally started."

"You think you're funny, Uncle Jim, but you are really, really not."

Kirk burst out laughing.

"She's even starting to sound like you, Bones. Now I know what you looked like when you were seven - well, if you'd been a girl. And had slightly lighter hair."

"Your Uncle Jim is losing it, Jo. Watch that apple."

"Why do I need - hey!"

Caesar pulled his muzzle back, placidly munching on the apple that he had neatly stolen out of Joanna's hand.

Chuckling, McCoy gave a pat to the neck of his horse'

"I tried to warn you. Caesar here likes the taste of apples as much as Jim does."

"Nonsense, Bones. No-one likes apples as much as I do. Come on, Jo-Jo. Help us get the horses out to the pasture and we'll all go attack the kitchen."

While Kirk and McCoy took the riding gear off their horses, Joanna led Ginger, Storm and Ghost out to the gate one at a time. Ghost was the hardest to lead because he kept dancing around with all the energy of the very young practically vibrating in him. As soon as he was in the pasture, he began running around, jumping and kicking just because he could. The older horses just eyed him as if Ghost was only a little less annoying than a fly before turning their own energies toward grazing.

Heading toward the house, Kirk laughed.

"Ghost is like a teenager invading an old folks home."

Once they were back inside, it finally dawned on Joanna what was missing.

"I didn't see Miss Janice this morning. Why didn't she cook breakfast?"

Kirk exchanged a look with McCoy, who shrugged. Kirk moved to the cooling unit and began rummaging while talking.

"Remember what you said about Rand a few days ago, Jo-Jo?"

"You mean when I told her that she wasn't very bright? What - oh. You don't mean she tried to assassinate you again, Uncle Jim?"

"Yep. Guess she thought we'd been on vacation long enough that I was relaxed and my guard was down."

Joanna's sharp eyes picked up the area of lighter skin tone on part of Kirk's neck and gasped.

"She tried to cut your throat?"

It surprised but pleased Kirk that Joanna had spotted it.

"She didn't manage to do any damage that Bones couldn't repair and she didn't make her first cut deep enough to stop me from taking the blade from her."

Joanna sat down as Kirk came over to the table with milk and cereal as McCoy brought over three bowls.

"So, she's dead then?"

"Oh yes. Very dead. Bones has already shipped her off to the Academy so she can at least be of some use as a cadaver."

"Wow. Is this going to upset Uncle Christopher?"

"I can't imagine he'll lose any sleep over it, Jo-Jo. He was always telling me that I'd been too lenient with her. He'll be thrilled to get to tell me 'told you so'."

"Oh, then I guess that's okay. It's too bad she didn't learn from the first time. She was really good at making pancakes."

She dug into her cereal, then after a few bites, she looked back at Kirk.

"Moreau belongs to you too, doesn't she?"

"Sort of. She has the position of Captain's woman. But I'm afraid I have to warn you about her, Jo-Jo. That woman can't even fix a bowl of cereal."

It almost made Kirk splash the milk out of his bowl when Joanna's eyebrow rose in a perfect imitation of her brother's expressive brows. McCoy knew very well what it was that had Kirk so amused, but he shook his head sadly.

"Like I said earlier, Jo, your Uncle Jim is losing it."

After breakfast, McCoy pulled up a selection of saddles on a computer and the three of them debated the relative merits between the different styles. After much discussion, Joanna decided that she wanted to have Ghost trained for an English saddle instead of a Western. The way McCoy was talking about a new horse trainer and caretaker made Joanna think that Beckett must not know how to train a horse for English saddles.

For Joanna, the rest of the day was a delightful mix of getting to know Ghost better, riding Storm and spending time with her two favorite men. She knew that Kirk wasn't actually related, but she couldn't remember a time in her life that he wasn't involved in it. Joanna had enjoyed everything that they'd done, but she wished there had been more times like this. She kept pushing back the thought that she only had one more day before returning to school.

Seeing that Joanna's thoughts were getting too serious, Kirk gave her a poke.

"Hey, Jo-Jo - would you like to ride Sparkle?"

"Have you lost what I jokingly call your mind, Jim? No way is Jo getting up on that crazy animal of yours."

Kirk was standing next to the watering trough as he argued back to McCoy.

"For the last time, Sparkle isn't crazy, Bones. He's just -"

Hearing his name, Sparkle shoved his muzzle against Kirk to demand attention. And Kirk promptly lost his balance and landed squarely in the water trough. Sputtering, he started to pull himself out without any help from McCoy, who was about to laugh himself sick.

Kirk stood up, a puddle of water forming under him as he gave Joanna a shrug.

"Okay - so maybe he is just a little crazy. Excuse me."

Two seconds later, McCoy's voice rang out when Kirk wrapped him up in an extremely wet bear hug.

"Dammit, Jim!"

As both men went inside to get into dry clothes, Joanna followed at what she hoped was a safe distance. Yes, she was really going to miss this.

~Day Ten - Last Day. Bones and Uncle Jim made sure I had all the supplies I needed for the next semester and then we spent the day together.~

McCoy was determined to get the necessities out of the way first thing so that they could spend the rest of their last day together relaxing.

"How are you with clothing for school, Jo? Did you make a pile of the stuff you've already outgrown or that you're about to outgrow?"

Joanna pointed to the chair by her dresser and the little pile there.

"Between Aunt Uhura and Aunt Gaila, I should be set unless I hit a really big growth spurt."

"It could possibly come earlier, but odds are that you won't hit you're next major growth spurt for another three to five years."

"Puberty, right?"

"Right. Gaila and Uhura talk to you some about that?"

"Yeah. Uhura says that a lot of it won't really make a lot of sense to me until I actually start going through it, but that if I have any questions, I can video chat with them whenever you guys are in range. And I'll have Miss Rashea to answer questions for me as well. I'll be fine. I'm a McCoy too, right?"

Bones gave a slightly sad smile as he pushed some of her curls away from her forehead and kissed it.

"You are most definitely a McCoy. You'll be better than fine. Remember though, anything happens that needs immediate attention, you call Pike."

"I know. He reminded me of that himself. Bones?"

"Yeah, Jo?"

"Do you think you'll be able to trust Spock?"

"Don't you be worrying about me and that hobgoblin. He wants what's best for the Enterprise and I want what's best for Jim. That's the same thing, really, because I'm convinced that whatever fate made it so, there is no man better suited to sit the chair of the Enterprise than James T. Kirk. Together, the three of us are going to tear this universe a new one. And when you're older, you'll be a part of it too."

"Really?"

"Really. Come on. Let's head back down and join Jim.

The day was still young, but the mood was a bit depressed until Kirk insisted that they all go to an old fashioned amusement park that still existed in Florida.

"It will be great! We can eat junk food, ride on stuff. They even preserved some old exhibits where they were imagining a couple of hundred years ago how we'd be living now. It's hilarious. Come on."

Once they arrived, it took some convincing to get McCoy to go on any of the rides until it was pointed out to him that even though the rides were designed to keep their old look, all of the mechanical parts themselves were state-of-the-art. Kirk had also been right about it raising their spirits. Here, everything was geared toward being fun and silly with none of the outside world intruding in. McCoy even called a moratorium on fussing at them about what they were eating. It was only for one day, after all. Plus, it was far more likely that Kirk was going to be the one to end up with a stomach ache than Joanna.

Another thing Kirk insisted on was that they stayed long enough to watch the nightly display of old fashioned pyrotechnic fireworks. After that was over, they headed back for home. Joanna was asleep long before they got there. As he carried her in, McCoy gave Kirk a smile.

"That was a fine idea, Jim. I prefer seeing her laughing to seeing her sniffling and trying not to cry."

"I'm sure we'll still have a little of that tomorrow, Bones, but then it will be mixed in with seeing the kids that she's friends with again. And seeing Rashea."

"Yeah. That woman's been a big help. Don't know how I would have coped without her keeping an eye on Jo for me."

Kirk held the door open as McCoy settled Joanna down into her bed, only bothering to take off her shoes. For several minutes, McCoy stood quietly beside her bed before coming back out to join Kirk.

"You know, Jim? This will be the last time we get to see her as a little girl. When our next mission's over, she's going to be a sassy pre-teen."

"Of course she's going to be sassy, Bones. She's a McCoy. It's in her DNA."

~Day Eleven - We left Georgia really early to come back to school. Bones and Uncle Jim stayed for a little while to meet the new Headmaster before we said our goodbyes.~

Being away for a while was nice, but Joanna was looking forward to getting back to her classes again. It always made McCoy so proud when she did well - and when he was feeling proud, she could generally talk him into almost anything.

She was not really surprised to find that Headmaster Henning had passed away suddenly. He had looked bad on that last day she saw him and as her brother had noted, he probably wasn't bright enough to seek help quickly enough. The new Headmaster, one of the former assistants named Tuccillo, seemed much nicer and even went out of his way to assure McCoy that the school was very supportive of the members of Imperial Starfleet.

Seeing Miss Rashea again was bittersweet. Joanna did really like her, but being back with Miss Rashea meant that her brother was going to be going away again. She had found herself thinking more and more about Pike and when she had the chance, she pulled Kirk to the side.

"Uncle Jim, you guys might not get back to Earth for five years?"

"Afraid not, Jo-Jo. We're going deep space this time. I guess you'll almost be a teenager the next time we see each other face-to-face."

"Can I ask you to do something for me, Uncle Jim?"

"Sure, Jo-Jo. Anything."

She grabbed hold of Kirk and hugged him tightly as she spoke softly in his ear.

"Take care of Bones for me. Take care of him better than Uncle Christopher took care of Doctor Puri."

Pulling back a little, Kirk looked into her eyes - so very much the McCoy eyes.

"How do you know about - never mind. I don't guess it matters. I've got Bones' back and he's got mine, Jo-Jo. We'll come back to you."

"Promise?"

"I'll do my best."

A message alert for her sounded, so Joanna quickly saved the work on her PADD and went to answer it. She was extremely surprised to see the image of Mister Spock appear on her screen.

"Greetings, Miss McCoy. I trust that you are resettling into your school well?"

"Yes, Mister Spock, I am, thank you."

"Your brother expressed to me that you had some concerns over our working relationship. While we are still within communications range, I wished to inform you that the state of cooperation between the position of CMO and First Officer is currently mutually beneficial and in full support of the Captain."

Joanna's youthful face was scrunched in concentration while she translated that. Then she looked back at the screen and smiled.

"Congratulations, Mister Spock."

"Thank you, Miss McCoy. Please extend my regards to your uncle as well as my thanks for his counsel."

"I will. I should be seeing him in a few days."

"Are there any messages you wish to relay before we are out of range?"

"Just tell everyone that I'm settling in alright and I'll be sure to send a message to at least one person onboard every week. Mister Spock?"

"Yes, Miss McCoy?"

"Would you mind if I sent one to you every now and then?"

"Not at all. I would be honored."

"Thank you for letting me know everything is alright, Mister Spock. Have a profitable mission."

"Live well and prosper, Miss McCoy."

Switching the screen back off, Joanna flopped back down on her bed. It was kind of reassuring to know that her brother still didn't believe in procrastinating when there was something needed doing.

Epilogue

A week later, Joanna was dressed very formally and sitting among the group that consisted of other family members of the crew of the Enterprise. She did her best to keep her face somber while pretending to pay close attention to Admiral Pike as he read out his eulogy for Commander Gary Mitchell, lost in the line of duty while in service aboard the ISS Enterprise.

Once the services were over and Mitchell's family had shaken Pike's hand, he came over and offered his hand to Joanna.

"You should be pleased to know that you managed to look as sorrowful as any mourner in the group, young lady."

"That was Miss Rashea's doing. She suggested I wear my shoes that are a little too tight and use them to keep my focus."

They weren't far enough away for Pike to break out in laughter, but he chuckled.

"One of the great truths in life, Joanna. If you can't feel it, fake it."

A slight puzzled expression formed on Joanna's face.

"Aunt Gaila told me that saying had to do with sex."

Pike looked down at her with a look that showed how amused he was.

"My dear girl, where Gaila is concerned? Everything has to do with sex."

Giggling, Joanna nodded.

"Yes, I guess that's true. She also tried to tell me that's how you tell if someone is sincere when they apologize. Aunt Uhura disagreed. Did you know that they weren't ever lovers? I thought that's what having a roommate at the Academy meant. I guess I need to rethink that."

Pike had a hard time keeping a straight face as he imagined the reaction to Joanna asking that question.

"Yes, you probably should. Roommates are assigned at the Academy."

"Where are we going, Uncle Christopher?"

"Out into town to a little place I know. All that public speaking I had to do made my throat dry and nothing makes a little hypocrisy go down smoother than an ice cream sundae."

"Does that mean you have to eat ice cream a lot?"

Chuckling, Pike smiled again.

"Joanna, my dear? You have no idea."