[Jim shoots Spock a wry grin; of course the little Vulcan still found Jim's belief in universe-ending paradoxes to be amusing (in a completely Vulcan non-amusing way, of course). McCoy's last partially-formed inquiry has the captain aborting his next mouthful of food, instead setting his loaded fork back down on his plate. Well this is just delightful lunch conversation, isn't it. He's quiet for a few seconds before he answers.]

Yeah. I did. More showing than telling since it was a meld, though. [He looks up from his food, eyes on Bones, all set to preemptively defend his decision.]

I know it seems pretty heartless, [and here he can't help but think about the aftermath of the meld, of the reaction Spock'd had] but this way there's a chance that Nero won't get nearly as far as he did. If you think about it that way, it seems cruel to not tell him, you know? [His gaze shifts over to Spock, like he's looking for affirmation that he's not a giant asshole.]