"Spock, you have to ask him," Jim pleaded, feeling his world closing in on itself. "You can't just up and leave. Give him a chance to accept you."

Spock regarded his would-be bondmate with tired brown eyes, "I cannot. It is too soon. He is…Leonard is still fearful."

"But he loves you. He's proven that, hasn't he?" Jim reminded, hands on rigid shoulders. "If you just explained the situation—if you just let me talk to him…"

"No," Spock shook his head. "This is the only way. If I can master the teachings rescued from Gol, undergo the Kohlinar, then I can perhaps mitigate the need to join our minds."

"And purge all emotions while you're at it?" Jim pressed vehemently, "Just forget everything you have with the two of us? You think that will spare either of us any pain? You're not even willing to try!"

"You forget about the consequences if I do not seek Gol," the Vulcan reminded darkly. "You are willing to subject yourself to me in all ways, but can you imagine what will become of Leonard if he is not? It will be tantamount to rape, and you would be a willing party to it? James, could you really stand aside and watch as I forcibly claim him against his will? Watch as he cries in agony? Jim…you cannot." He shook his head, shoulders slumped, "My mind will seek his as well as yours and I…I cannot. I will not be in possession of a conscience that knows the difference."

"You can't just issue a decision like this to me and expect me to just except it and pass it on. You told him he was an equal, that he was a part of this—and now you want to exclude him! You won't even give him a chance to consider? We've still got time—"

"It has already begun," Spock interrupted. Further discussion would acheive nothing. There could be no more delay. "I have already scheduled a transit to New Vulcan. I leave in two days. Before he returns."

"You can't do this to him! You can't do this to us—"

"Kryokah!" Spock shouted, losing his control and rising to his feet, causing his chair to crash over onto the floor. "Now perhaps you understand. Every minute that I delay, it is another minute closer to the Time where I will have no control at all. I do not need to ask Leonard if he is ready, he refuses to meld and what is more, I can feel his hesitancy. Despite that his love is genuine, it is not enough for him to trust either of us implicitly and if I stay, his mistrust will indeed be founded."

"Spock," Jim reached out to his lover, only to have his wrist caught and replaced at his side.

"Please leave me," Spock intoned gravely. "I require meditation."

Leonard McCoy whistled as he made his way down the corridor toward his temporary accommodations. He had just finished rehearsing the demonstration of a new type of hypoinjector with his team. He'd spent the better part of the three months working closely with medical engineers on New Vulcan and Earth to develop a more effective, less painful and quicker release injector. If things went well during the actual demonstration tomorrow, these babies would be in use by the end of the year.

Of course, he couldn't have pulled it off without the support of his two very attractive, very male partners. Spock had assisted him with the project from its conceptualization to writing the final assembly code that would handle the device's functions. The Vulcan had even donated staff and Bones may or may not have used the extra time that additional personnel afforded him, staring at the Commander's backside. God, Jim was rubbing off onhim more and more every day…but to their credit, it was Spock.

A small smile came to his lips as he thought about Jim now…those capable hands that would wake him up with sweet caresses in the morning, bring him lunch when he forgot to make it up to the mess in the afternoon and rub the knots out of his shoulders in the evening after another late shift in sickbay. A year ago, he wouldn't have thought it possible that he could love someone else again after Jocelyn, but…what he had with Spock and Jim was so much more than that. McCoy had been dubious of their 'affair' at first, waiting for the moment when they would tire of him…but it hadn't come yet and he was finally beginning to feel comfortable with the idea that maybe it never would…

He was just entering the main room of his spacious quarters when the comm panel began to chirp. With an annoyed sigh he made his way over to the desk and flopped down into his chair. It was probably one of his assistants wanting to ask him 'one more time' about the order of events for tomorrow's demonstration. He flipped on the switch and immediately started when he recognized the voices and the fact that he was overhearing a conversation he hadn't been invited to.

Still, his ears pricked as he heard Jim plead for Spock to reconsider leaving—leaving?—to share with the doctor whatever it was the two of them were arguing about. The more he overheard, the heavier the knot in his stomach became, twisting and churning…until Spock began to detail just how McCoy himself would be raped, physically and mentally if the Vulcan didn't leave. What the fuck… He was still trying to process it all when Jim began to argue once more and then suddenly Spock yelled—really yelled—and something heavy clattered to the floor.

"…. Every minute that I delay, it is another minute closer to the Time where I will have no control at all. I do not need to ask Leonard if he is ready, he refuses to meld and what is more, I can feel his hesitancy. Despite that his love is genuine, it is not enough for him to trust either of us implicitly and if I stay, his mistrust will indeed be founded."

Leonard's eyes widened and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. Spock subtly expressed his emotions to he and Jim in the privacy of their quarters, but Bones had never heard the Vulcan yell before. While the content of his lovers' argument had been disturbing enough—he and Spock had discussed deeper melds and Leonard was still on the fence about accepting anything more than a surface connection during sex—but more than anything, it was the tone…Spock sounded so tired…so defeated.

There was a rustling of fabric; Jim's pitiful croaking of Spock's name, followed by Spock's demand to be left alone. The comm then went dead and McCoy switched it off, confused and angry all at once, his mind full of questions. Why was Spock leaving? Why was he losing control? What did any of it have to do with melds? What was Spock not willing to ask him?

Knowing Jim was distressed and not wanting to place his lover in a position between himself and Spock, McCoy called the only other source of information he could think of, and crossed his fingers that a hundred and sixty years had made a difference.

"What do you mean, he's gone missing?" Jim yelled over subspace transmission.

"He was due to give a demonstration yesterday morning," the bedraggled scientist explained, a panelist from the judge's table at the conference Bones had gone off to four days ago, "his team showed up to the auditorium without him, claiming they hadn't seen him since their rehearsal the night befor—"

"I'm his Captain and I've been trying to reach my C-M-O for over thirty-six hours," Jim snapped in frustration, "I've been given the run around by the Starbase staff and the people running this event long enough—if he's been missing since yesterday, why wasn't I contacted immediately? And why am I talking to a panelist rather than the director of the base?"

"I…" the man stuttered, "I don't know. The director came to me this morning and told me to…to…stall."

Stall? Jim was irate, "To what?!"

The scientist swallowed hard, worried eyes looking around before then leaning forward to roughly whisper, "They think your doctor might have been responsible for the theft of a very expensive concept shuttle which was also presented here the other day—"

"You're telling me…what are you telling me?" Jim knew he was gaping like a fish, but he couldn't help it. The very idea of his CMO, of his Bones, stealing a shuttle craft. It was absurd.

"I'm saying no one ran off with your CMO, but your CMO. They have security footage, and as soon as they apprehend him, it's not going to be pretty—"

Jim shook his head and raked his hand over his face, "Alright, I've heard enough. You can tell the director of the base, that I will be raising charges against his establishment for not immediately reporting the prior knowledge of a missing Starfleet Officer to that officer's Commander—Me—and for impeding an investigation regarding fleet personnel and affairs. Also, I want that footage, yesterday. Kirk out."

Great, first Spock decides he's going to leave and then Leonard up and…steals a shuttle? Alone in his ready room, Jim allowed himself the relief and sting that came along with slamming a closed fist onto his desk, "What the fuck is going on?!" One half of his soul was leaving for New Vulcan in seven hours, and for all intents and purposes never coming back, and the other half was out in space playing pirate, or so it seemed. Since when had his life transformed into a twentieth century Spanish soap opera?

"McCoy to Engineer Scott," Bones called through what he thought had to be the receiver. The shuttle he'd 'borrowed' from the starbase was still only a concept model, and sure as hell did come with all the bells and whistles. He wasn't even a pilot, but all he'd had to do was enter in his coordinates and push the 'go' button and he'd been off!

"Doctor McCoy?" Scotty's rough, sleep-ridden voice answered. "What are ye doin' commin' me in me quarters? It's three am…not even half way through Gamma shift…"

"Look, I'll make it up to you—Reuben with extra bacon—just get your ass to the transporter room and particle me over—it's a goddamned medical emergency!"

"Alright, alright," the engineer's voice, now far more awake, popped from the speaker, "Scott out."

Ten minutes later, Bones was face to face with a rumpled Scotty, eyeing him dubiously from behind the controls of the transporter room. "I won' tell the Capt'n if you answer me one question."

McCoy stepped off the pad, feeling far less panicked than he had since he'd talked to old man Selik almost two days ago. Spock was planning to leave in a shuttle in three hours to rendezvous with a Vulcan transport that wasn't going to be there—the doctor had seen to that. Deciding that for now, he still wanted to maintain his element of surprise, Bones nodded at the quirky engineer, "Ask away, but make it quick."

"How in the hell did ye manage to avoid bein' picked up by the Enterprise's sensors?" Scotty approached. "What is that out there?"

McCoy smiled devilishly, throwing and arm around the Lieutenant's shoulders, "That, my friend, is the latest in shuttle engineering. A Boeing-MacCaber original concept bus."

"Con—concept?" Scotty squeaked, then swallowed, "as in…not yet on the market?"

"That's right…" McCoy gave the engineer a side glance. "Y'know…someone's gonna have to have to tow her in for me…I'm a just a country doctor after all..."

"Oh, aye…" Scotty nodded with mock seriousness, "don't you worry about a thing doctor. I'm sure me an' Keenser can handle it for ya."

McCoy grinned, "Give me about twenty minutes before you start." He headed for the door, and then turned back, "Oh, and don't scratch the paint, she ain't mine." With that, he was gone.

Spock inhaled deeply, his control already starting to slip as Pon Farr began its initial encroachment. Memories of nights spent in his lover's arms, of his mind entangled with Jim's and grazing against Leonard's…of the desire…He angrily pushed his things into his travel case. It could not be. All of this time…for it to happen again so soon was unthinkable. The light mind touch with a second lover repeatedly…only Leonard and Jim were very different people with a separate set of capabilities and insecurities. Unfortunately, those insecurities were harder to overcome in the doctor.

Leonard had gradually eased into the idea and habit of being an active member of their romantic relationship. Only now, and it was not his fault, Spock's mind was only two-thirds whole and after a year of desire and wanting and caution…it had finally coalesced into this. If they had never approached Leonard, never discovered the true nature of their need for him, perhaps a completed bond between he and Jim would be sufficient, but now his mind was familiar with not only Jim's mind, but also Leonard's. It had been reaching out to form the same nascent link it already shared with one of them, only to have it repeatedly denied.

Spock had known that he could not force the issue with the doctor. He understood the human's apprehension in regards to that level of intimacy, and so he continued to present the façade that melds were not crucial to their relationship, had instructed Jim not to interfere, as he had believed that he'd have time. Spock had hoped that he could slowly introduce Leonard to deeper mental contact gradually and that eventually he would consent to the link. Unfortunately, the irregularities of his biology caused by his human blood were once again interfering with his carefully laid plans.

He would not force Leonard and neither would he use guilt to achieve what his mind and body needed. Jim had come to him willingly, had shared himself openly and completely. Spock had been spared the blood fever and had been able to prevent a full bond, forming a nascent link instead. He regretted that decision now, having thought at the time that he would like to give Jim an option should he reconsider his actions and want 'out' as humans said. If he had formed the bond…they would not have Leonard, and while the thought of that scenario caused a pang in Spock's side, it was better than the idea of what was now to come, which was still preferable to forcibly slaking his desires.

His door slid open from behind him and Spock let out a shaky sigh, refusing to turn around, "Jim, please—"

"Where the hell do you think you're goin?" Leonard's voice boomed across the space of his quarters and Spock whirled, eyes wide.

"You are not supposed to be here," Spock managed an even voice, though he was thoroughly shaken by the man's sudden appearance.

"Yeah, well you aren't supposed to be runnin' out on me," Bones' throat tightened as he spoke the words out loud. He'd been left before, and hadn't fought it. Well, not this time God damn it. Spock didn't get to leave him or Jim without a proper damn fight.

"I am not…I will return in three months' time," Spock fought the urge to comfort Leonard physically, seeing the pain written in his stare.

"No, half of you will return in three months, half of who you are is going to get purged in the sands of New Vulcan, isn't it?" McCoy took a few dangerous steps forward.

"You do not understand!" Spock barked in a near shout, "Neither of you can comprehend—"

"Mind rape," Leonard continued as if Spock's outburst hadn't even happened. "That's what you think it'll be with me, Spock?" He wiggled his fingers at his forehead, "You think I can't handle having you hanging around up here?"

"It is not what you want," the Vulcan quietly said, his gaze diverted to the floor.

McCoy's heart clenched. He'd been a damned fool, thinking this had something to do with him—of course it did, but it was pretty clear Spock had his own insecurities where Leonard was concerned. "How would you know that?" he prodded, slowly continuing his approach. "You never asked. You never told me how important it was to you, hell you didn't even let Jim talk to me about the link the two of you have, how was I supposed to know—"

"Jim had no right to contact you—"

"I didn't," Jim's pissed off tenor drew both their gazes back to the door. "And don't ask me how he found out, because I don't know." He then turned his full wrath upon McCoy, "What I really want to know is what the hell you think you've been doing for the last forty-eight hours, you crazy son of bitch! You stole a god damned concept shuttle!"

"I left a note!" Bones exclaimed heatedly. "Besides, it's in good hands. I let Scotty watch it!"

"Christ! Do you have any idea what the brass is going to have to say about this when they find out?" Jim had stored up a good amount of frustration, and with Spock leaving and his case open on the bed in plain view; his own control had reached its limits days ago. "I've been worried sick! The star base wants to have you arrested, wants me to turn you over on sight—"

Both of Spock's brows were in his hairline. This is the first he'd heard of any of this, "My apologies, but there appears to be many facets of this conversation of which I am unaware."

"Just…shut it, for a minute," Bones griped at Jim as he turned to Spock. "I may have accidentally overheard you and Jim's conversation a couple days ago, someone must have pushed the callback button, I don't know but I'm damn glad it happened—anyway, I might have borrowed a shuttle from the base to get here before you went and did something stupid—like run off to New Vulcan to become a goddamned nun!"

On a roll, the doctor closed the distance between himself and Spock, or well, Spock's luggage and pushed it off the bed. He felt an admittedly twisted sense of glee at the sound of it clunking to the floor and the sight of all its contents spilling out, "Speaking of which, you can forget it. I've already contacted New Vulcan and informed them that your transport is no longer needed. Ain't nobody goin' anywhere."

The next thing Leonard knew, Jim's arms were wrapped around him from behind, and McCoy could feel him shaking with adrenaline against his back, "Oh my God, thank you." The things Jim must have been shouldering on his own the past week… McCoy swore silently he'd make it right, here and now.

He looked up to see Spock staring at him as though he had lost his mind, and he had broken several federation laws just to get here, so maybe he had…a little bit. Still, who the hell could blame him with these two as lovers? Why not drive it home? He gently shrugged out of Jim's embrace, turned and forcibly pushed him onto the bed. He sternly met shocked blue eyes, "Stay."

"As for you," he turned back to Spock, "I've been left in the dust before, and it took me some years to realize it…but a lot of that pain is my own damned fault. I didn't fight it…and maybe part of me knew I didn't want to fight it…but this," he motioned between the three of them, "this is something I would go to war for, because it's worth it," he reached up and ran his fingers over where he knew Spock's meld points were, "you're worth it," he then reached out with his free hand and grasped one of Jim's, "we're worth it. I can't just sit back and let you throw it away."

"Leonard," Spock breathed, his brows furrowing in pain as his carefully constructed walls caved to the doctor's siren call, that open hand against his face.

"It's alright, darlin', I'm here," Leonard soothed as the Vulcan bodily attacked him, hands in his hair, lips and tongue on his neck, his jaw, his ears. "Jim," he looked over his shoulder somewhat at a loss, his stance faltering under Spock's weight, "you've done this once before, right?"

"Yeah," Jim smiled back at him dreamily, "it'll be fine. This is just prelude..."

XXXEight Days LaterXXX

"Ah shit…" Bones' eyes rolled up under his lids as his head fell back, his body on fire, his mind tingling with a trifecta of sensation—his, Jim's, Spock's…God, Spock's mind right now was like a sauna of lust and desire. He wrapped his hands around the back of Spock's head as he thrust his hips forward, fucking into the Vulcan's hot, open mouth. One strong hand was gripping Leonard's ass while the other played at his entrance, circling and prodding teasingly.

"Fuck, that's hot," Jim's moan drew his attention and McCoy looked down to watch as Spock rode the Captain's cock, his eyes closed reverently as he rolled his hips slowly back and forth, all the while moving his lips up and down over the doctor's shaft.

Bones had thought this Pon Farr thing was all about being claimed by the Vulcan…he hadn't realized that Spock would alternate between fits of domination and submission, wanting to be plundered as often as he wanted to plunder. He still wasn't in any kind of possession of logic, but it was the third day and he was starting to come around, mindless rutting becoming more focused and more sensual with every repetition—and they repeated it often.

He and Jim alternated turns cleaning up and regenerating the minor scratches and bruises they acquired whenever Spock got a little too rough with either of them; or if they got a little too rough with him-apparently the healing trance wasn't the only time Vulcans needed a little manhandling. Of course, there was no actual hitting, but grabbing and pulling, biting and scratching-a bit of a departure from their usual, softer loving...kinky-ass hobgoblins. It was always the quiet ones.

Then, there was the link, which Spock had forged between them before really entering the fever. So, even though Spock couldn't yet verbally articulate anything beyond a grunt or moan, the bond they all now shared allowed for a second level of perception that he was still very much in awe over. Instinctively, they could sense one another's fatigue, pain, pleasure and even their surface emotions and respond accordingly. They'd barely had cause to communicate with words at all when they were in close contact as they were now, except maybe to cry out their pleasure.

And it was pleasurable. He felt Spock release his member with a swift, parting lick over the tip and he allowed himself to be turned before coming to his knees in front of Spock, straddling Jim's torso. He bent forward and rested his weight on his forearms on either side of the blonde's face, their lips colliding naturally, tongues sliding together as Spock licked across his hole.

"Ah!" Leonard moaned, as Jim added to his arousal by stroking his length in time with every up thrust of those amazingly tanned hips, driving his organ in and out of Spock's body from below. His chin met his chest as he looked down through the space between their bodies to see Jim's hand moving over his own shaft, but beyond that, glimpses of Jim's cock disappearing and reappearing behind Spock's heavy, low-hanging testicles and hard, bouncing sex. He licked his lips, "Fuck…"

"I know right," Jim panted, his eyebrows knit as if he were straining to hold back, and he probably was. Damn…McCoy couldn't help but admire his blue-eyed bombshell. Jim only wore that intense expression in two ways, one was facing down Klingons and the other was when either he or Spock (or both) were fucking his day lights out.

The thought made him smirk in triumph, "You're enjoying this entirely too much."

Jim chuckled breathlessly, "Are you kidding? You realize—Ah..ah—now that we've all bonded this probably isn't going to happen…for…another…OH!..seven years!"

Leonard closed his eyes and rolled his back encouragingly toward the three fingers now sliding into his well-worked hole, "You make a fine point."

Jim smiled rogueishly and pulled his head down with his free hand to kiss Leonard wildly, apparently past the point of words. It was cut short, however, when Spock tugged him backward, hands pulling his torso up until he was kneeling with his back against the Vulcan's chest. Jim's hand found his cock again, and the doctor was guided down slowly onto the flared, leaking heat of Spock's organ. "OH!" he shouted loudly as the Vulcan tore into him, bouncing up into his hole and down onto Jim's cock.

Jim's hand dropped from Leonard's member as he propped himself up on his forearms to get a better view, his blue eyes almost black with dilation. Bones couldn't look anymore without losing it and so he laid his head back onto Spock's shoulder, exhaling sharply when the Vulcan's teeth sank into the sensitive skin of his neck. His cock was bouncing up and down in the free air, hard as a rock and throbbing for want of contact as Spock held his body in place, spearing into him with abandon. The friction against his prostate was intermittent and uncoordinated, but so intense that he feared cardiac arrest if it were constant.

The closer they came to climax, the more active the bond became…their minds swimming together, a mix of moans and sensation, scattered pieces of thoughts and dwindling coherency. He could feel the slide of their psyches colliding as poignantly as could feel Spock's shaft stretching and stroking the sensitive muscles of his entrance, over and over.

Suddenly, Spock's hands dropped from Leonard's thighs, leaving his ass spread and unmoving against the Vulcan's still thrusting cock. He fell forward onto his palms and moved his legs so he was squatting now instead of leaning. Oh yeah…much better…With his hands no longer anchored to Spock's thighs for support, he could control the angle of penetration and set up a rythm and, finally, give his own erection some attention.

"Shit, Bones…" Jim rasped after a few minutes, licking his lips as he watched the doctor maneuver himself over Spock. It was like watching an Orion Opera. "Both hands," he instructed, "rub your sack too."

Bones complied, their eyes locked as Spock reached up to tweak his nipples, "Yes…" the Vulcan breathed, his first intelligible word in days. Leonard and Jim shared a moment of surprise, but when no other words were forthcoming, they once again focused on helping Spock, and each other, find pleasure.

"Slower," Jim slurred, eyes locked onto Bones' hands, "rub 'em... slower...yeah...like that...S'good isn't it?"

"Ah…" he groaned, frustrated, but slowed down all the same, "Yeah…it's good…too good."

"Mmmm...now…stroke you cock…" Jim watched with his mouth open, breath panting, as Bones began to slowly pull on his shaft, up and down, his ass coming down to meet Spock's thrusts while his other hand slowly rolled his testicles over and over.

"That's good…" Jim's hips started bucking up faster and faster, causing Spock's pace to quicken as well. McCoy bit his bottom lip and closed his eyes as Spock hit is prostate dead on. Jim watched in fascination, "OH…Oh, I'm gonna cum…"

The constant friction against his prostate that Bones had been fearing earlier suddenly became a reality as Spock slammed down onto Jim's cock, rolling his hips over and over, Jim convulsing in orgasm beneath them, his head thrown back and mouth open, voice shouting.

Leonard's hips were seized, forcing him back onto his knees before Spock started pulling him back and forth, piercing his body in rapid succession. When Spock exploded inside of him, hot fluid erupting against those overworked nerves, it sent him over the edge and suddenly he was drowning in sensations, most of them his own, but also those of his lovers.

Leonard's cock felt like it was wrapped in liquid warmth, sliding in and out and at the same time he could see himself coming, his cock hanging untouched over Jim's abdomen, pulsing but unable to produce so much as one more drop of semen, Spock's head bent onto his shoulder from behind as those hips continued to drive forward in desperation, the Vulcan riding his orgasm until it was over.

When Spock had finally withdrawn and collapsed onto the bed behind him, Bones and Jim went about cleaning up and rearranging their exhausted Vulcan into a more comfortable position and then heading for the shower.

"He said a word today," Bone yawned before stretching his sore muscles and following his lover into the stall.

Jim smiled tiredly, "I noticed." Then, abruptly, he was being embraced again. Leonard's body was exhausted and unprepared for the happy assault, and so they tumbled ungracefully to the floor of the stall. "M'sorry," Jim chuckled. "I'm just so damned grateful that you came back when you did."

Bones stretched his legs out and pulled Jim against his back, letting the hot water rush over their tired limbs. "I'm just glad you sat on that comm panel."

"Me too," Jim chuckled, "the Universe was on our side."

"Mmm," McCoy couldn't have agreed more. He pecked Jim on the temple, "Love you."

"Talihk nush-vah," Jim replied sleepily.

"You butchered that…"

"Fuck you…you butchered my bank account—"

"I told you I'd pay the fine—"

"And when were you planning to do that? Before or after you finished paying off the shuttle you just leased…"

Bones sighed in defeat, "How about a good old fashioned barter?"

Jim lazily twisted his head back to stare at him, "What kind of barter?"

Bone's quirked a mischievous eyebrow, "If you forgive my debt…I'll let you top me in the driver's seat when this is all over."

That devil may care smile spread its way over Jim's face, "Three cheers for Pirate Bones!"

McCoy chuckled, thinking of the news headings his shuttle-boosting had caused, Pirate Leonard H. 'Bones' McCoy being one of them. He buried his nose in Jim's neck and growled, "Aaarrgg!"