Fic: Hiding in Plain Sight - Part One

[nikki4noo]

“You know, ‘Bones’, we really ought to stop meeting like this,” Jim said as he bent McCoy further forward to snap on the handcuffs.

McCoy turned his head to glare at Jim. Jim’s hands stilled just above the metal cuffs. He could feel the fine blend of the light wool of McCoy’s suit under his fingers.

“It’s McCoy, kid,” he growled at Jim.

Jim patted McCoy on the shoulder before walking around him so that they were standing face to face. He took out his little notebook from the inside pocket of his jacket, clicked his pen open and started to write down McCoy’s name.

“That’s right, Leonard H. McCoy. Hey, what’s the H stand for anyway?” Jim asked.

“Look it up, sunshine,” Leonard replied sardonically, although Jim noted the slight smirk on the man’s face.

“‘Sunshine’. ‘Kid’. You know you really should just pick one nickname and stick with it,” Jim advised. “That’s why I like ‘Bones’. Much better than Leonard.”

“Are you disparaging the name my mother chose for me?” Leonard drawled.

“You southern boys sure do like to talk fancy. This is the 90’s, man, these days I think you are supposed to say ‘yo mama’,” Jim smiled widely.

“Yeah, well, you ain’t from around here either,” Leonard replied as he glanced around the warehouse.

Plain clothes Federal Agents wandered amongst the local San Fran cops and the mostly Russian ex-pats that they were arresting. Some had already been carted off. Others were causing disturbances with loud protestations about their innocence or yelling at their comrades in quick-fire Russian. Leonard and Jim were a ways off from the others.

Leonard had been heading towards a back office when Jim and his partner had burst through the office door, guns drawn, and blocked his way. Although Jim’s gun was now holstered under his black suit. His long fingers were gripping tight on his little notepad, all the better for him to jot down notes.

Leonard leaned slightly forward to see what he was writing. He knew a small smattering of Russian and from what he could see, Jim was accurately transcribing some of the comments being thrown back and forth between the others.

Jim snapped the black case of the notebook closed.

“Nosy bastard, aren’t you?” Jim said.

One of Leonard’s eyebrows twitched up in response, but he held his tongue for the moment.

“Sulu,” Jim yelled towards his partner, “taking this one back for questioning. Olsen can give you a lift back when you have finished here.”

“Captain’s on his way, Jim,” Sulu said as he walked over towards the two of them. “You should wait.”

“Nah, got some stuff here that I think we need exploring, tell Pike I’ll see him later once I get Curly onto it,” Jim grabbed hold of Leonard’s arm and tugged to make him walk with him.

Leonard heard the slap of frustration, that he deduced came from Sulu hitting his thighs, as they walked away from him and towards the open doorway. He had to squint his eyes to adjust to the bright sunlight coming in.

“Not one for following the rules are you?” Leonard asked as Jim guided him through the doorway.

“You’re one to talk. I’m not the one who was just arrested with a bunch of Russian mafia guys,” Jim said as he pulled a set of keys out of his pocket and tossing them around in his hand until he found the one for his car.

Jim unlocked the passenger side door to the dark green sedan that just screamed ‘look at me I’m an undercover police car’ to Leonard. It was too clean, had no markings on it anywhere and had a distinct lack of stickers.

“Now, no throwing accusations around. Those are legitimate businessmen in there,” Leonard said as Jim opened the back door to the car and put his hand on Leonard’s head. “Just like you Feds to accuse people with different accents.”

Jim just shook his head at the protestations and pushed gently to direct Leonard to get into the back of the car.

“So says the guy who is wearing a suit worth at least $500. Yeah, real legitimate,” Jim said.

“What, you aren’t going to buckle me in?” Leonard responded. “I’ve heard about your driving!”

“Fine!” Jim snapped as he leaned back into the car to pull the belt over and buckle it in.

He turned to find hazel eyes contemplating him seriously. They were close enough that Jim could see the small freckles dotting Leonard’s face and hidden by his stubble if you were standing a normal distance away from him. There was one bigger mole just up from his lip that Jim found intriguing.

“All secured tight, sir?” Leonard drawled at him quietly, investing a hint of mockery into the ‘sir’.

“Sir? I like that. It’s nice when gangsters know their place,” Jim responded, still not moving out of the car.

“Oh, I ain’t a gangster, kid,” Leonard smiled slyly at him.

Jim could have sworn that Leonard’s eye-line had dropped to stare at his lips. He took a deep breath in as silence spread between them.

“So, heard about my driving have you? What else have you heard?” Jim asked.

Leonard just snorted in response. “Fishing for compliments are ya? We gonna sit here all day or you going to do some of that driving?”

Jim opened his mouth to respond to the comments and then thought better of it. He snapped his mouth shut, nodded once at Leonard and got back out of the car, making sure the child lock was in place before closing the door and heading around to the drivers side.

He started the car and pulled out from the warehouse lot and headed off towards downtown. As he wove in and out of the traffic trying to find the right lane, moving at the speed that he wanted, he noticed Leonard twitching in his seat.

“Not too tight are they?” he asked as he turned his head to look at Leonard.

“Keep your eyes on the God dammed road!” Leonard complained. “I’m fine. Well, I would be if I wasn’t traveling in this death trap.”

“Okay, okay,” Jim cajoled as he turned back to watch the traffic. He still kept glancing up to check on his passenger, who was looking a little green around the gills.

“I’ve seen you driving so you don’t have a problem with cars,” Jim stated.

“It’s the idiots behind the wheels I don’t trust,” Leonard grumbled as he looked out the side window.

“Control freak, huh?” Jim asked.

Leonard flashed a quick look of annoyance towards Jim, before turning to stare back out the window again.

“And the silent treatment now. That’s ok. When we get back to the office, there is a nice room waiting there just for me and you to have a cozy little chat,” Jim said as he turned onto Golden Gate Avenue.

They drove the rest of the way in silence. Jim pulled into the underground garage and got himself and Leonard out of the car. As the door shut, it reverberated across the cavernous space interrupting the silence. Jim kept his hand on the small of Leonard’s back as they waited for the elevator to arrive. Just below his finger tips were the cuffed hands of Leonard. Jim noted that he had clasped his hands together instead of letting them hang loose like some people did; fingers curled up so that Jim could see his short nails, clean and freshly trimmed.

The ding to announce the arrival of the elevator made Jim jump slightly, but he covered it by gently pushing Leonard to enter it first, once the doors had fully opened. He dropped his hand quickly as soon as Leonard had stepped in and turned around to face the front, head tilted up to stare at a spot where the ceiling met the wall. Jim pressed the button for the 13th floor and then leaned back against the railing. His eye line moved from the door to the side, over to the panel of floor lights, up to the indicator of where they were and anywhere else that was not on the man standing still beside him.

Another ding announced their arrival. Jim had been amazed that they hadn’t stopped at any of the other floors. This had to have been the first time in any of the elevators, since he had been transferred to San Francisco six months ago, that he had a ride from his entry to the floor level he wanted with no interruptions.

The doors opened to reveal the reception area through the glass. Above the reception desk, manned by a young blonde woman, was a logo with the words, “Federal Bureau of Investigation, San Francisco” around the base of it.

Jim grabbed hold of Leonard’s arm and directed him out of the elevator and towards the glass doors. As he paused to pull open the door, he noted that he and Leonard had been moving together easily as they walked. He didn’t have to drag him or fight against him like a normal recalcitrant suspect. It was just another layer in the mystery of ‘Bones’ that Jim was determined to get to the bottom of. It might also have helped that Pike had told him to forget about the doctor, and focus more on other suspects within the group.

“Hey Janice,” Jim said as he entered the reception area. “Is three free?”

Janice nodded at him as she was still engaged on the phone. She reached down and pulled a key out from underneath her desk and held it out for Jim to collect as they walked past. Jim smiled at her as he collected it. He watched as she took the opportunity to check out his suspect. She tilted her head enquiringly at Jim as she assured the person on the other end of the line that she would personally guarantee that they would be called back.

“Thanks and don’t you start,” Jim replied before he tugged gently on Leonard’s arm to direct him towards a corridor that ran parallel to the office space.

They walked down it, turned a corner and came upon a series of rooms with small glass windows in the door at eye level. The name plate indicated Interrogation One on the first door. Jim kept walking until he came upon the third door. He inserted the key and pushed open the door once it was unlocked. He pulled Leonard through the door and directed him towards a chair which would mean the occupant would almost have their back to the door. He pulled it out for Leonard to sit down upon it, the scrape loud against the linoleum.

Leonard raised an eyebrow at Jim as he sat down, but still did not say a word.

“Don’t go nowhere, I’ll be right back,” Jim said as he patted Leonard on the shoulder, ignoring the snort as he walked out of the room, locking the door and heading back along the corridor.

Jim walked quickly towards a far area in the open office space that was marked by various wires and machines being heaped over three desks.

“Hey, Pavel,” Jim greeted the very young looking man sitting behind a particularly large piece of equipment.

“Jim,” Pavel replied in his heavy Russian accent. “Were you not supposed to be at raid?”

Jim ripped out a few of the pages from his notebook and handed them over. “I was there, got someone to talk to though. Thought you might be interested in these. A few of the guys were yelling at each other and I tried to get it as accurately as possible. Pike will wanna know.”

With that, Jim walked back out of the main area and towards the interrogation room. Just before he unlocked and opened the door, he glanced into the room, expecting to see Leonard’s back. The bastard had moved chairs on him and was now facing the doorway.

“Comfortable?” Jim asked as he walked in.

“Could be better,” Leonard responded.

Jim pulled the now vacant chair off to the side and sat down. He extended his legs out in front of himself as he tossed his notepad onto the table.

Leonard lifted up his hands as far as they would go and shook them so that the cuffs rattled against the metal bar of the chair.

“Was that a hint?” Jim asked.

“Well, if you think you can’t handle me un-cuffed, leave ‘em be,” Leonard replied sardonically.

“Oh I can handle you just fine,” Jim said as he stood up and pulled out the keys to the handcuffs. He undid them and took them with him as he walked back to his chair. He then placed them on the table near to his notebook.

“Is that an invitation?” Leonard asked with one raised eyebrow while he stretched his arms out in front of him before rubbing at his wrists.

“So, what’s a nice guy like you doing with a bunch of thugs like those Russians?” Jim asked.

“Kid, if that’s the best you got, I doubt you manage to actually get laid,” Leonard snorted at him.

“I do just fine, thanks,” Jim replied.

“What do you do? Annoy them until they finally give in?” Leonard asked.

“Hey, if it works, don’t diss it man!” Jim smirked back.

“Kid, you have a lot to learn, otherwise you might end up with a Darwin Award,” Leonard shook his head at him. “Especially if you want them to give you the time of day more than once.”

“Yeah, well...” Jim started to say before snapping his mouth shut.

“Cat got your tongue?” Leonard asked.

“Really? Though, whatever,” Jim prevaricated as he waved a hand in the air. “A respectable doctor like you hanging around a warehouse like that?” Jim asked.

“You are one uninformed Fed if you haven’t read my file,” Leonard snorted in reply. “Any doctor worth their salt will go where they’re needed.”

Jim leaned forward in the chair and rested his arms on the table in front of him. “You think we have a file on you?”

Leonard tilted his head to the side as he looked at Jim, not saying a word. The look alone was enough communication.

“So why were you at that warehouse, doctor?” Jim asked.

“Doctor-patient confidentiality,” Leonard replied.

“Those are some mighty interesting patients you have there,” Jim observed.

“If you say so.”

“You know those are some dangerous guys. Don’t you think it would be beneficial to have us in your corner looking out for you?” Jim offered.

“You have been ‘looking out’ for me enough already and if you are supposed to be hiding your interest, you’ve done a damn poor job,” Leonard replied as he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms.

“Noticed me, did you?” Jim smirked at him.

“Kid, I would have to be blind and deaf not to have noticed you tailing me all over this city,” that eyebrow of Leonard’s was moving up again to express so eloquently his disdain for Jim’s tailing skills. “You and that partner of yours, although he does a better job of blending in than you. Mind you, stopping me in the middle of the street to introduce yourself and hand over your card, not really stealthy is it?”

“Well you are an interesting conundrum and I like puzzles,” Jim said. “So interesting that you haven’t lawyered up. Makes me wonder even more.”

“I got no call to lawyer up,” Leonard responded with a little smirk playing around his lips.

“Really?” Jim asked.

“Really,” Leonard replied. “Why would anyone need a lawyer if they ain’t done anything wrong?”

Jim sat back as he laughed at Leonard’s response. “In my experience, there isn’t anyone in this world who hasn’t done something wrong at some stage in their life.”

“Maybe they thought it was right at the time,” Leonard said.

“So, providing medical services for the Russian mob is ‘right’?” Jim pressed.

“I will remember that I do not treat a fever chart, a cancerous growth, but a sick human being, whose illness may affect the person's family and economic stability. My responsibility includes these related problems, if I am to care adequately for the sick,” Leonard quoted at him.

“What is that, the Hippocratic Oath? What about the whole do no harm bit?” Jim responded.

“Primum non nocere isn’t part of the oath,” Leonard responded.

“Alright, what about affecting those people that they beat the crap out of the next day ‘cause you fixed them up?” Jim countered. “What about the victims’ families and their ability to make money?”

“I haven’t seen any of those guys do anything like that. Still, I’m a doctor, I treat everyone. Hell I might even have to treat you one day,” Leonard said.

“I’m not that good with doctors,” Jim stated.

“Color me surprised,” Leonard said.

Jim pulled his notebook back towards himself and flipped it open so he could look at some notes. As he read, Leonard leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms so he could watch Jim do so.

“Not many doctors who live in the Avenues have suits tailor made for them,” Jim observed. “Or choose gangster pin stripe material.”

“Spend a lot of time looking at fashion, do you?” Leonard asked.

“Got to look your best,” Jim said.

“I’m not the only one in this room with a high end suit,” Leonard said, pointedly looking Jim up and down. From his black suit with the uncharacteristic thinner lapels, black tie and down towards the slim fitting black pants.

“Hah! So you admit you wear clothes that don’t match your salary?” Jim tilted his chin up at him and smirked.

“I never said that. Putting words in my mouth, Kirk?” Leonard arched a brow at him again.

Before Jim could respond, the door to the room opened forcefully and Special Agent in Charge, Captain Christopher Pike entered. He shut the door and stalked over towards Jim, the expression on his face enough to show that he wasn’t happy.

“Special Agent James Kirk, meet Special Agent Leonard McCoy,” Pike introduced before Jim could offer an explanation for the situation.

Jim had half stood out of his chair at Pike’s entrance but he stopped in shock at what the captain had revealed. Jim’s mouth was partly open, he had been ready to speak but now nothing came out .

“Told ya I didn’t need no lawyer, kid,” Leonard drawled at him, entirely too smugly for Jim’s liking.

Jim snapped his mouth shut and turned to glare at Leonard.

“This interview is over as of now, Kirk. Apologies, McCoy. There are some of the ‘comrades’ around though,” Pike pointed out to Leonard.

“One question, captain,” Jim said holding up a finger to stop Leonard from standing up and leaving the room. “Don’t you think this was information I should have been told, like, maybe, I don’t know, at the start of this investigation?” Jim accused.

“I told you, Kirk, to not focus on the doctor, but you didn’t listen,” Pike calmly replied.

“Yeah, but, you didn’t tell me why,” Jim said.

Pike just glared at his subordinate. “Mr. Kirk, when I give you an order I expect it to be followed through, understood?”

“Yes, sir,” Jim said, although his tone was more resigned than respectful.

“You’ve got your hands full with this one,” Leonard observed towards Pike.

“Hey!” Jim protested. “I was just doing my job.”

Leonard crossed his arms as he leaned his hip against the table. “From what I hear tell, your idea of ‘doing your job’ is a loose definition to what everyone else thinks it means.”

“You sure are hearing a lot about me,” Jim replied.

“I wouldn’t presume it was a good hearing if I was you, kid,” Leonard said.

“Would you stop with the ‘kid’,” Jim complained.

Pike interrupted. “If you two are quite finished? Kirk, you have a report to get on my desk ASAP and no,” here Pike held up a hand, “you will not get Sulu to do it instead.” He pointed a finger at Jim, “Report. You. My desk,” the finger was now pointing back at himself as he finished his order.

“Fine,” Jim mumbled as he headed towards the door.

“He did us a favor though, sir,” Leonard said which had Jim stopping and turning back.

“How so, McCoy?” Pike asked.

“They still don’t fully trust me, but being arrested kinda gives me some credibility. Especially in a raid with them. I reckon they might just open up a little more,” Leonard explained.

“Possibly,” Pike conceded as he nodded at Leonard. “Kirk, get! And no mentioning this to any of the others.”

Jim snapped off a salute and then left the room.

“He’s...” Leonard paused as he contemplated the right words to describe Jim.

Pike just smiled and waited for Leonard to continue.

“Unique,” he eventually decided upon.

“I do seem to know how to find them,” Pike mused.

Leonard glared at Pike, “Get him at his lowest point too?”

“Something like that, Dr. McCoy,” Pike warned with his tone that that was the end of that conversation. “So no news for me at all?”

“Nope, although something seems to be building at the moment. We’ll see what your little raid creates,” Leonard replied.

“Fine, but report in as soon as you hear anything, as we agreed. Game face time, I’ll escort you back out,” Pike said as he walked over to the door and opened it.

Leonard exited the room and out into the corridor. He walked back along it and slipping back into his role, once Pike indicated which way to head. As they reached the reception area, Leonard made sure that he didn’t look back towards the office space; that he was focused on exiting out of the area. The receptionist was still on the phone, her headset perched carefully so that it didn’t obstruct her impressive hair-do. Leonard noted her sharp eyes following his and Captain Pike’s movements.

“My apologies, Doctor McCoy, that you were caught up in this situation. I hope that you have no hard feelings towards the Bureau?” Pike asked as he held out his hand towards Leonard.

“Certainly not, Captain, Pike, wasn’t it?” Leonard responded as he shook his hand. “We are all just doing our jobs. Although you might want to have some words with that overeager agent of yours.”

“Yes, Pike, and again sorry for any inconvenience,” the hand shake over, Pike dropped his arm to his side and nodded his farewell at Leonard.

Leonard turned and walked out of the reception area. As he stood waiting in front of the elevator, he could see the reflection of the area behind him in the shine of the steel doors. Pike was now leaning towards the receptionist, Janice, Leonard remembered, having a conversation. Further back, he wasn’t sure if it was his imagination that conjured up a tall, lean, blond man in a black suit standing up so he could see over the other cubicles and towards the reception area and possibly Leonard himself.

The elevator arrived and the reflection was gone as the doors opened. He stepped inside the elevator and out of sight of prying eyes.

Once outside the tall building, he headed over towards a pay phone that he saw on the other side of the avenue. He called a cab and waited for it by leaning up against one of the pillars of the office building behind him and, if his eye line kept being drawn towards the building on the other side of the road, setting sunlight glistening off the window frontage of it, he wasn’t going to tell anyone. He also made sure that he hadn’t been counting the floors until he got to 13 every time his gaze was drawn back to the building.

The cab finally arrived and Leonard gave the address for where he had parked his car that morning. He was glad that he hadn’t parked it in the warehouse lot as he was sure that every vehicle in there had been impounded by the Feds. His little habit of parking a bit away had finally come in handy.

Sure enough, his car was still parked where he left it. He paid the cab driver and pulled his keys out of his inside jacket pocket. He got into his car as quickly as possible as the light from the nearby street light was not enough to clearly illuminate inside. As he got in, he took a quick glance into the back seat, a habit that he had from God knows where. Nothing suspicious there, so he relocked the door from the inside and then started up the car, pulled out and headed to his apartment.

As he turned off the car and the lights, he noted the lack of lights from the upstairs apartment. A blessing that his upstairs neighbors were out for the evening. They weren’t the quietest pair in existence and Leonard had resorted to turning up the TV or the stereo in order to try and pretend that they didn’t exist.

He locked the car and headed over towards the front door of his ground floor apartment. He pushed it open, hand on the elaborate brass door knocker that seemed so out of place with the rest of the building. Definitely not Art Deco style, it was more old school Victoriana. After closing the door, he tossed his keys onto the side table by it, and then started to shrug out of his jacket. He didn’t turn on the lights, instead he walked, by memory, towards the kitchen area and the bottle of bourbon he had stashed there. He reached for the light switch for the hallway with one hand, but before he could flick it on, the lamp beside his chair in the living room turned on.

He spun around in shock to find a man sitting in the chair, one arm stretched up where he had turned on the lamp.

“Fuck! Vasily, you just scared the shit outta me,” Leonard said as clutched the jacket to his chest.

“I am sorry for that, Leonard,” Vasily said in his heavy Russian accent. “You should be more alert.”

“Yeah, well, I’m getting a whole lotta apologies today,” Leonard grumbled.

Vasily did not reply but his expression told Leonard in no uncertain terms that he needed to explain that further.

“You and the Feds,” Leonard said as he lowered his hands back to his sides. He was still clutching the jacket tightly in his hand though, putting creases in the fine wool where there should be none.

“Ah, yes, the Feds,” Vasily murmured. “I trust they did not inconvenience you too much?”

“Getting arrested is never an inconvenience,” Leonard replied acerbically.

“I always suspect that you are a little, how you say? Sarcastic? When you speak thus,” Vasily warned.

“Look, I didn’t sign up to go around getting arrested here, Vasily, so I’m a little upset about the situation. Would really like to just sit back in my chair with a glass of bourbon and try and forget about the day,” Leonard sort of attempted to apologize for the tone that came so naturally to him. “You didn’t hire me for sweet talking.”

“My recollection of our first acquaintance, there was no ‘signing up’ involved,” Vasily said. “So, how was your тень? I heard that you left in his company for the Federal Offices.”

“Yeah, I got to visit and see what pretty little rooms they have,” Leonard admitted, ignoring the nickname of ‘Shadow’ that the Russians had bestowed on Kirk.

“What did Special Agent Kirk have to say to you?” Vasily asked.

“Mainly wanted to know what I was doing working for you. I done told him that a doctor treats whoever needs treating,” Leonard replied.

“Good. Good. Anything else тень offered?” Vasily pushed.

“Told me that I should look to them to watch my back and not you,” Leonard added.

“Ahh, me specifically?” Vasily asked.

“Nah, just Russians in general, didn’t say any names. I wasn’t in there too long before the Captain came in and let me go. I’m not of much interest to them I gather,” Leonard said.

“Interesting,” Vasily mused. “I think you are of much interest to Agent Kirk, but he is new in this town and distracted easily by a pretty face.”

Leonard’s eyes narrowed at the description of Kirk and also of himself, but he refrained from commenting.

“I shall think on this matter. It could be useful. Come see me tomorrow afternoon. I shall offer you good vodka and we shall discuss my decision and how you can be of further service to me,” Vasily said as he stood up from the chair.

Leonard stayed in place by the entrance to the hallway as Vasily headed towards the front door. Once the door had clicked shut behind Vasily, Leonard sagged in relief against the door frame. All the tension at Vasily’s presence ebbing out from him.

“Well, fuck,” Leonard said. “That ain’t good.”

***

Jim’s afternoon and evening was about comparable to Leonard’s. It started badly when he connected his toes solidly with his desk. His highly polished black shoes were no protection for him. The fact that the end result was his own fault for kicking the desk is something he attempted to ignore.

“I take it it didn’t go well?” Sulu asked as he leaned back in his chair to watch Jim.

“It went fine,” Jim snapped as he sank down into his own office chair.

“Looks like it,” Sulu commented in reply.

Jim pulled the keyboard towards himself with a not too gentle maneuver, next he moved the mouse with a viciousness that spoke eloquently of his annoyance at something. All the while this was happening, Sulu continued to lean back in his chair and rock gently as he watched him.

A couple of clicks of the mouse and Jim had opened up a blank report template. He started to enter the details, a scowl upon his face and the corner of his eye still on the open doorway to the reception area.

He was only partway through entering the basic time, date and location data when there was movement at the reception area. It had him standing up quickly and oblivious to the curiosity of the others around him. He could partially make out Leonard McCoy standing opposite Captain Pike. They appeared to shake hands and then McCoy was walking out of the office and waiting for the elevator to arrive. Meanwhile Pike was talking to Janice while Jim was still standing and watching McCoy. As the doors to the elevator opened, Pike turned his head and looked into the bull pen and directly at Jim, who with a pout, sat back down in his chair and returned to working on his report.

“Real fine,” Sulu drawled.

Jim picked up the yellow stress ball on his desk and chucked it at Sulu, scoring a direct hit on the chest.

Sulu laughed as he managed to catch it on the rebound. “So the good doctor was helpful?” Sulu pressed.

“Pike let him go,” Jim replied as he kept typing up the report in the dry, matter of fact language that was a must for them.

“Why?” Sulu asked as he tossed the ball from hand to hand.

“Dunno,” Jim replied again as noncommittally as he could.

“That’s weird,” Sulu said.

Jim reached over quickly and snatched the ball away from Sulu as he tossed it. He put it back on his desk and returned to typing.

After a short period, where he could feel Sulu’s eyes on him all the while, he turned to ask him a question. “Where’s Olsen?”

“He, Hannity and Burly are processing a couple of perps that have outstanding parole violations. Liaising with State, might have to pass ‘em over, but trying to see what we can get out of them first. That’s the thing with the Russians. Collar a couple and the next day more arrive on a boat you had no idea about,” Sulu was back to leaning in his chair.

“Wouldn’t have happened in Iowa,” Jim observed.

“Nothing happened in Iowa that wasn’t instigated by you, I am sure,” Pike interrupted. “How is that report coming?”

“Nearly finished,” Jim said as he turned to face Pike, who was standing at the side of Sulu’s desk.

Sulu appeared to be in two minds as to whether he should turn to face Pike or stay where he was and just twist his head to look at his boss. It seemed he decided to hedge his bets and half twist toward Pike, his eyes flicking back and forth slightly nervously between Jim and Pike.

“Sulu told me you had something you had to bring back early to Chekov. That you just couldn’t wait for my appearance,” Pike said.

“There sounded like some code being discussed, so I noted it down and brought it back for Pavel to work his magic on. It seemed to be something that might be useful for when we were questioning the suspects, sir,” Jim explained.

“Hmm,” Pike responded noncommittally. “Working hard, Agent Sulu?” Pike asked.

“Yes, Sir,” Sulu responded as he leaned forward to make his computer screen wake up from the sleep it had gone to while he had watched Jim.

“Good, I expect your report on my desk at the same time as Kirk’s,” Pike said before walking off towards his corner office.

“Don’t look at me,” Jim offered with a smirk towards his partner.

The pair of them worked in silence as they both hurried to finish off their reports. Jim waited until Sulu had finished his and they then sent them off, almost in tandem, to Pike’s email. They then printed them out, signed them and Jim managed to get Sulu to head to Pike’s office to hand them in. There might have been a promise of alcohol or other incentives involved. Even though they were up with all of the latest technology, like having a broadband connection in the office while the rest of the country was still making do with 56kb, paper still ruled their lives.

The rest of the afternoon passed quickly but routinely, the sun setting outside as Jim bid farewell to Sulu, who was chatting with Pavel at his desk. He waved at Janice, who was still at her place in reception, as he joined other workmates waiting for the elevator. Once out of the building, it was his turn to join the myriad of government employees leaving the office towers to head to San Fran’s public transport system to carry them home. Jim stayed standing up against a pole on the bus instead of sitting down in one of the few empty spaces available. He preferred to observe on the short trip to his apartment.

He got off at his stop and walked the remaining couple of blocks to his apartment. He stopped along the way at the local deli to pick up some groceries for the evening and, loaded down with two plastic bags, he walked around the corner and then up the steps to his apartment building.

Once outside his own door, he juggled the bags so he could get his keys out of his pocket. Before he could put it in the lock he had to move closer, as his next door neighbor was walking down the corridor. She was pulling a rolling trolley behind her that had a little squeak on one of its wheels with every rotation it made.

“Evening, Mrs. M,” Jim said to the woman.

A grunt was his only acknowledgment as she walked past. Like all the other times, not a thank you was offered to him for moving out of her way.

Jim put his key in the lock and turning it, he opened the door.

“Hey, Bob, I’m home,” he greeted as he shut the door behind himself and set the chain in place.

He walked the short passageway and into his compact kitchen area. Placing his purchases on the island bench, he started putting everything away. Left on the bench was a small can of high market cat food that promised something ridiculous. Jim was not inclined to believe it but he still bought the food anyway. He also left out a single serve of lasagna that was the local deli’s specialty. He thought about getting the oven ready for the lasagna, but decided against eating just yet. Instead he put the lasagna in the fridge and headed to his bedroom to change into his jogging gear.

He neatly hung up his suit and put the other items in the laundry basket. Bob hadn’t appeared in the apartment by the time he had finished changing, so he left the can of food on the bench, so that if Bob appeared while he was gone he might be inclined to stick around. Just before heading out he checked his messages on his phone in the hallway. The tinny feminine voice announced that he had no new messages.

“Love you too, Mom, “ he said quietly to the machine, not surprised that he hadn’t heard from her again.

He undid the chain, unlocked his door and headed out for his nightly jog. The cool of the evening had set in, so he started at a brisk pace to blow out any cobwebs and once he felt a bit warmer he settled into his normal rhythm. While running over his chosen path through the neighborhood, he allowed his mind to drift back to the days events.

Someone had once told Jim that, ‘the day I see a jogger smiling is the day I take up jogging.’ Anyone crossing paths with him as he jogged along, scowl etched into his forehead, would have agreed fully with that statement.

Jim turned back into his street and slowed his pace until he was walking the final steps to his apartment block. He used the steps to stretch out and once he started to feel the cool of the evening air on his sweat soaked skin, he headed into the building. He pulled his key out of the hiding spot in his shoe in order to unlock the door to his apartment again. Once inside, he locked it behind himself and tossed the key onto the glass bowl on the side table. It chinked loudly as the metal hit the glass and there was a replying meow from the kitchen area. Bob was ‘home’.

Jim smiled as he exited the short hallway into his open plan area to discover the cat sitting next to the can of cat food.

Bob stood as he entered the room, tail swishing in the air and giving a plaintive meow before turning in a circle and batting at the can.

Jim laughed at his antics, used to them by now. “Where were you earlier, buddy?”

Bob, as always, didn’t answer him but let him know in no uncertain terms that it was food time. Jim moved over to his cupboards and opened up the door of one and pulled out the small saucer that was now designated as ‘Bob’s’. He dished up the cat’s dinner, batting away each paw that tried to get at the food before it could be placed on the floor. In the battle of Bob versus Jim, Jim managed to out score him once again and get the food onto the saucer and then onto the floor before Bob could get to it. Jim stood back for a minute to watch the cat wolfing down the food.

“I don’t know where you get that appetite from. I bet I’m not the only one that feeds you,” Jim said as he watched him.

Next, Jim turned back to his oven, turning it on to the right temperature and remembering to set the timer this time. Overcooked lasagna is not appetizing was a lesson he had well learned. He took the lasagna out of the fridge and put it into the oven to cook before heading to his room, stripping off his sweaty running clothes as he moved across the space in his apartment.

Once he was naked and his clothes put away in the laundry hamper, he headed into the bathroom and turned on the shower. He made sure that the temperature was not too warm so as to work away at the lactic acid build up in his muscles.

He stood under the spray for a moment, just closing his eyes as he tilted his head up and allowing the water to flow over his face, into his hair and down his body. He tried to allow his mind to go blank but there were too many questions from the day still sneaking back into the forefront of his mind. The run hadn’t helped and now it seemed the shower wasn’t going to work either, so Jim gave in and started to fully go back over the day’s events.

Jim reached over for the soap and started to lather up his body as he considered the conundrum of Leonard ‘Bones’ McCoy. It was a habit of his to nickname certain people; mostly to annoy them. Leonard was such a stodgy name and McCoy had never really looked like a Leonard to him from the start. When one of Pavel’s reports came to him and Sulu with a Russian codename in it, Jim was intrigued at the translation of “it saw the bones”. Pavel was confused about who or what they were referring to. It was only once after they had commenced some monitoring of associates did Jim realize that the Russians were all being treated by the same doctor at a small private practice. увидел косточки was the Russian variation on the old term ‘sawbones’ and Jim literally did a little dance of glee when he realized it, much to Sulu’s disgust at his dancing abilities.

Once their findings were put to Pike, after observing the doctor for a while as a person of interest, Jim had been more than a little annoyed to be told that the doctor wasn’t of great interest to the investigation and to drop it. Jim knew he had issues with following orders. Almost every yearly evaluation took pains to mention that. Who was he kidding; they all had mentioned it, including his entry documentation. He stuck his tongue out at all the metaphorical past superiors who felt the need to put in writing that he had ‘issues with authority’.

He jumped in surprise and dropped the soap when there was a loud meow and batting at the glass door to the shower.

“Shit, Bob!” He exclaimed as he bent over to pick up the soap and get back to the serious business of soaping up his body and working out all the kinks in his muscles. “You’ve been fed, what do you want now?

“I mean, I’ve had a shit day. Started off really well with a raid on those Russians I was telling you about. The Romanians haven’t turned up yet, though. Managed to nab the good doctor in the raid too. He does wear suits that his salary should not be able to afford. Real fine they are. Anyway,” Jim said as he continued to talk to the cat that was apparently patiently sitting on the bathroom mat watching the outline of him through the shower door.

“Pike ruined all my fun. Decided not to tell me that we had an inside man on the job, I mean what the fuck is up with that? Way to go, boss! Then the bastard wouldn’t tell me anything when I had him in the cuffs. He’s good. I know why he had the smirk on his face now. Bones knew exactly what was going on and thought it was great fun.”

Jim put the soap back on the holder as he returned to rubbing his hands over his body as he continued to talk to the cat. His hands started to migrate to one area in particular but he seemed to be unaware of them actually doing so.

“Bastard was laughing at me. Pike’s told me to back off, but I don’t trust the guy. Even Pavel couldn’t get to the files on the system and if that little hacker can’t, well, I might have to see if I can get Scotty to have a look instead. For an Interpol agent he sure is willing to bend the rules. Why did Pike let us do the raid then, if he knew he had McCoy on the inside and we were likely to arrest him too? I mean, it worked out awesomely in the end, arresting him. No wonder he knew what to do when I had the handcuffs out.”

Jim looked down towards where he knew the cat was sitting, “You should have seen him Bob, just blinked once when Sulu and I were coming at him, guns drawn. Then he puts his hands up in the air and calmly turns around. I’ve never had a perp be so cool about it. Even those that have long rap sheets always protest. Not Bones. You should have heard him, Bob. ‘Agent’, he said to me cool as a cucumber in that genteel Southern accent of his as I snapped on the cuffs. Like he was greeting me over some iced tea or whatever shit they do back home. He stood perfectly still while I had patted him down for weapons - Aw fuck!” Jim cried as he realised that he was hard. Hard and jacking himself off with Bob as a witness.

“Bob, scoot!” Jim said as he made a shooing motion with his hands towards the bathroom door. This was probably hindered by the fact that the glass of his shower was frosted and Bob couldn’t see clearly but also mostly hindered by him trying to order a cat around. Jim opened up the shower door to find the cat sitting on the bathmat comfortably.

“Out,” Jim ordered again and received a basilisk stare for his troubles. Bob seemed to be untroubled by the water splashing out from the shower and onto the floor around him.

“You’re gonna make me, aren’t you?” Jim said as he contemplated the cat and then his erection.

He bent over quickly and picked up Bob, who started to protest at being manhandled by a wet man. Jim stepped out of the shower and before Bob could fully react and bring his claws into play, he had taken two steps across the bathroom and tossed Bob out the door so that he would land on his bed. Jim quickly shut the bathroom door and stepped back as fast as he could into the shower and closed the door on the mess the little trip had made.

Jim silently cursed himself. He appeared to be one of those guys that he had routinely had a dig about. Those that got excited by their line of work. He loved his job, when it wasn’t the boring ass sitting around moments that seemed to get longer and longer each time. But getting hard over arresting a guy, who then wasn’t the guy you thought he was, yeah, his life had taken a weird turn today.

Jim Kirk wasn’t a guy to waste a perfectly good hard on though.

He took himself back in hand and dredged up the memory of beers at Sulu’s place the other night, the tv on and the pair of them attempting to indoctrinate Pavel into the wonder that was red swimsuits and tans. Bouncing, bountiful breasts filled his mind as he slicked his hand up and down his cock. The day had been too eventful, and interspersed with his fantasy of Pamela Anderson running towards him on a beach was the image of McCoy lounging back in the chair in the interrogation room as he waited for him, hands still bound behind him in the handcuffs, but that look of complete and utter calm that he had. Jim tried to bring back the image of breasts held just barely in by wet, red lycra, but Bones kept invading, smirk on his face as he watched Jim walk towards him. His hand moved faster and faster as he could feel his orgasm build, his breathing getting more ragged as he willed himself over the edge.

“Fuck! Bones,” Jim exhaled roughly as he came. His eyes closing as he felt himself ejaculate, his dick throbbing in his hand, his hips thrusting in time with the pulses. He opened his eyes as he felt his breathing start to return to normal. It was in time to see the last of his come wash away down the drain. He splashed water onto the shower screen, just in case there was any left.

“Well that was weird,” Jim said as he let go of his dick.

His puzzling thoughts were interrupted by the ding of the timer. Jim swore again as he turned off the water and grabbed his towel. He ignored the already wet floor and dried himself off roughly before wrapping the towel around his waist and heading to the kitchen to check his dinner.

There was no sign of Bob anywhere in the apartment. Jim figured that he was being punished for excluding him from the bathroom. He resigned himself to spending the rest of the evening in his own company. He headed back to his room to finish drying himself off and dressing before eating his dinner.

Part two this way