Bones stared down at the half-broken body lying on the medical bed.  Bruises covered Jim Kirk’s face, marring the sheer prettiness of it, but that wasn’t what disturbed Bones.  No, what disturbed Bones were the rest of Jim’s injuries.

It had taken two days for the Enterprise to find their Away Team after they had been kidnapped while on the surface of a supposedly abandoned planet.  The second Away Team, led by Spock, had found the ambush site, but tracking the kidnappers had taken time.  Jim and Sulu were the only two of the six members to make it out alive.

Alive, but only time would tell if they were in one piece.  Sulu’s injuries were less life-threatening than Jim’s, so Bones could only presume that Jim had identified himself – or their kidnappers had known – as the captain.  Sulu also had only been beaten, not subject to the other indignities Jim had been.  Sulu was released from Sick Bay earlier in the day while Jim still lay unconscious.

Bones had tried to remain impassive and impersonal when treating Jim, but it was damned difficult to have any sort of professional distance when your lover looked three-quarters dead.  Spock had assured him that the violations of Jim’s mind hadn’t damaged anything – beyond what was already damaged given they were talking about Jim Kirk – but that was little comfort when Jim was still unconscious.  Bones was, in some ways, more worried about the after-effects of the physical abuse Jim had suffered.  Would he still want to be touched?

He ghosted his knuckles over the purpled skin of Jim’s cheek, careful not to use pressure.  “Wake up, you bastard,” he hissed.  “Wake up so I can kill you for nearly getting yourself killed.  Again.”

One corner of Jim’s mouth turned up slightly.  “Love you, too, Bones.”