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Title: Variations on a Theme (Science versus Romance) 5/5
Series: Star Trek Star Trek Starrrr Treekkkkk...Reboot verse, specifically.
Rating: PG/PG-13ish. There's swearing, but other than that it's okay.
Summary: The Enterprise comes down with a bug. Jim decides to show Bones that they're meant to be. These two things are related.
Pairings: Jim/Bones, Spock/Uhura, mentions of previous Jim/Rand and Jim/Chekov (YOU READ THAT RIGHT)
Disclaimers: Totally do not own anyone in this. It's purely for entertainment value, so please JJ Abrams and Paramount and people who handle Gene Roddenberry's estate, please be nice.
Notes: For the purposes of this fanfic, replicator technology exists. I suggest if that's going to bug you a lot that you shouldn't read it. Also, this is a romantic-comedy/crackfic that somehow evolved into sixty-three pages of I don't even know what.
When last we left off, the crew of the Enterprise was still nuts, Scotty Chekov and Spock had found the person responsible for the whole mess, Harry Mudd was caught and unhappy about it, Bones was a complete idiot and Jim was mad. Let's see how they all wrap things up.
After cleaning up the mess from dinner, Jim Kirk realized he had several options facing him in order to vent his frustrations.
The first was getting hammered. The tried and true method of drinking away his pain had worked on many birthdays and bad occasions. Unfortunately, it was out of the question as he needed to be up for a mission first thing in the morning. Besides, it was no fun to do alone.
The second was sex. Well, there was only one person he was interested in doing that with and clearly that wasn't going to happen. Not only did making time with a random crew member not appeal to him, all it would do is prove somebody right. Needless to say, he was in absolutely no mood for that.
The third was an oldie, but a goodie. At this time of night, the main gym should be practically deserted. That was perfect as he didn't really feel like dealing with people at all. He quickly changed into a pair of track pants and a Starfleet Academy t-shirt and made his way out the door.
If he was going to be this angry, he might as well be productive and try to break his old mile time.
The unfortunate thing about the ship's layout was that the new roller rink was not too far from the gym and that meant possibly running into people who were having fun. He was really not in the mood to make smalltalk.
Fate was not kind to him as the first people he saw were Sulu and Uhura. They had stepped out of the rink for a break, both of them laughing at something. He tried to quicken his pace so they wouldn't notice him.
“Captain, hey!” Sulu suddenly shouted. Terrific.
He stopped and turned to nod at them. “Sulu. Uhura.”
“I figured you had plans, we weren't expecting to see you here.” Uhura smirked. “Hey how's the reading coming?”
“Not now, Lieutenant,” he snapped. The look on her face quickly soured and he cringed. “That is, I'll be finished when we beam down. See you both tomorrow.” Without another word, he took back off for the gym.
“What was that about?” Uhura finally asked.
Sulu watched the captain go with a frown. He was pretty sure there was only one person that could have put Kirk in such a state, but he wanted to find him to be sure. “Hey Nyota, do you mind if I take off? There's something I think I need to take care of.”
She shook her head. “No go on, they're about to announce the winners of the Limbo contest anyways. I'll just see you when we beam down.” She turned and went back inside as Sulu began to make his way to the turbo lift.
He'd start out with sick bay.
-----
Some time later, Leonard found himself alone on the observation deck. He sat in what he had somehow started referring to as his and Jim's spot and looked up into space.
It was funny, he had always avoided the observation decks before. It was much easier for him to rationalize being on a spaceship when he couldn't, you know, see space being all around him. The aviaphobia hadn't disappeared because he got a job, after all. He took anti-anxiety medicine to regulate the panic attacks and avoided looking out into the black at all costs. Simple, but effective.
Now he found he couldn't stay away from this part of the ship. He wasn't obtuse enough to not know the reason why, but right now that fact was making him feel terrible.
He and Jim had rarely fought in all of the time that they had known one another. Truthfully, he had never met anyone he was so naturally in sync with; where he was cold, Jim was hot and instead of it causing conflict, they balanced each other perfectly. After everything he'd been through, he really needed that balance.
As much as he bitched about Jim, having him around made it easier to breathe in many ways.
Which is why he found himself so scared; he needed Jim in his life and if they dated and it all fell apart, he wouldn't have that anymore.
He would lose everything.
Really, it was better that Jim had called it off. This way, they each only got a little hurt now. In a few days, everything would probably be fine with no lasting harm to their friendship.
Right?
He was so lost in his thoughts, he almost didn't hear the other person come onto the deck and sit down next to him. When he finally glanced up, he saw Lieutenant Sulu sitting indian-style. The pilot smiled at him.
“Rough night?”
Bones snorted.
Sulu merely nodded in reply. They stayed silent for a time like that and just watched the streaks of stars go by. The company wasn't unwelcome, they were friends after all. He knew at least he hadn't completely ruined that relationship.
Dammit, Jim. He sighed, causing the other man to glance at him sideways.
“You know, my parents. They almost didn't get married.” Sulu began. “My mom had a fiance before my dad, you see, and it ended really badly. He cheated on her and she was devastated.” He paused before continuing.
“Well, then she met my father, and he knew from the moment he set eyes on her that she was the one. So he did everything you could name to get her attention, but she wasn't having any of it. She was scared. I mean, if she had been hurt so badly once why wouldn't it happen again, right?”
He never took his eyes off the stars, even once Bones started staring at him.
“Eventually, Mom realized that she had a big choice to make. She could live in fear, not get hurt, not take a chance, and be alone...or she could let her walls down and maybe have it all. That just because dad had the same taste in women as her ex, it didn't make him the same person and that things could in fact be different. Maybe even wonderful.”
McCoy found himself hanging on to every word.
“Sometimes you have to let go, in order to know what's right.” Sulu continued. “Well, since I exist and my folks are about to celebrate their thirtieth anniversary, I think it's obvious how the story ends.”
There was a long, comfortable silence.
“Sulu,” the doctor began. “I don't know...I mean...thanks.”
“For what?” Sulu raised an eyebrow. “I was just talking about my parents.” The lieutenant stood, brushing non-existent dust off of his pants. “Have a good night, doc. See you when we beam down.” He made his way out the door and Bones sat alone once again with his thoughts.
He thought more about the last few months and...Jim hadn't so much as flirted with anyone else the past few days. It had been two months since Jim had needed to be hospitalized. It had taken three dates before he had even tried to kiss him.
How could he have not seen it sooner? No wonder he had been so upset when Leonard had called him a flake. He was trying so hard and it had been thrown back in his face.
It also stood to reason that since he and Jim had stayed close through everything else they had been through, that their friendship was in fact strong enough to survive starting a romantic relationship. It would also stand to reason that, provided Jim had not changed his mind in a few hours and he was given a chance to apologize before getting shot with a phaser, that they could survive this. Slowly, a plan began to form.
Now the only question was...how to execute it?
-----
The next morning, Jim Kirk had decided he was sick of the engineering bay. At that moment in time, he was honestly sick of a lot of things.
He certainly was in no mood to beam down to the planet and play nice with the people of Spira, but he didn't really have a say in that. The dossier mentioned that the Spirans were very celebratory of their emotions and were somewhat distrustful of stoic people as a result. So he couldn't really send Spock in his place this time, as much as he wanted to.
The usual suspects were standing in front of the ship's main computer, looking oddly pleased with themselves. He took his place next to Spock. “Well?”
“Captain, there may be a way to reset the programming directives to what they were before Mr. Mudd implanted his directives,” his first officer said. He knew Spock well enough to know that he was proud.
“Finally some good news.” Kirk sighed. “How, by just wishing it gone?”
“Unfortunately, no.” Spock raised an eyebrow. “We have attempted that several times and all that resulted was the condition masking itself in another section of the ship's operating code.”
Kirk clucked his tongue. “Clever girl.” Harry preened. He quickly stopped once Kirk glared at him. “All right then, how do we get rid of this?”
“It will involve a complete restore of the ship's main computer and the only person with clearance high enough to carry this out is you. It will need to be restored to the last update in software from our repairs at starbase three. As the ship is not due for another update for several months, there is no other version of software to override this.”
“I don't understand what you're asking me to do.”
“Crash the computer, captain.” Chekov smiled. “Crash it and tell it to restart.”
Yikes. “Won't the engines fail if I do that?”
“No, they run on a separate system that requires specific manual overrides.” Scotty was grateful for all of the fail safes installed in Federation ships. “All of the other systems including life support will shut down for the two minutes it takes to reboot, however.”
“Well, we can live without the gravity. We have an air supply of longer than two minutes right?”
Scotty did some quick math. “Provided no one on board is a chain smoker, about thirty minutes worth.”
“Any patients on life support in sick bay?”
Spock was able to answer this one. “None, captain.”
“Okay then. Chekov, make a ship wide announcement about the systems going down please.” The ensign scrambled to the nearest commlink to do as he was told. “I have to crash this computer. How to do that?”
“Captain, a suggestion?”
“Sure, Spock.”
“If you were to wish for something the ship cannot provide, I believe the computer would cease functioning.”
Kirk rolled his eyes. “Spock, the ship has provided in no order a water park, a pony, a roller rink, and go karts. At this point what could I possibly ask for that it won't make?”
Spock considered for a moment. “Perhaps something intangible?”
Intangible...Kirk was struck with sudden inspiration. “I've got it.” He went up to the mainframe. “Computer, I wish for more wishes.”
The computer ran for a moment before stopping. Repeat, please.
“I said, I wish for more wishes.” Kirk repeated.
The computer ran for another moment. Cannot complete function.
“But I wish for you to. I wish for more wishes.”
There is no limit on the amount of wishes one can make. Cannot complete function.
“It's the only thing I want. I wish for more wishes, computer, and that's an order.” Kirk couldn't help but smile. Maybe Bones was right and he was secretly five. However brief it was, the thought of the doctor was enough to change his smile into a grimace.
The computer ran for another moment or two when suddenly it shut down. “Computer, override command seven-bravo-six-whiskey-tango-eight stardate twenty-two five-nine-three ten.”
The room went dark and the men all began to float as the artificial gravity went down. They stayed silent, each of them hoping it would work. At the two minute point exactly, the lights all came back on one at a time. The gravity then stabilized and they all unfortunately landed rather harshly on the floor.
“That always was my least favorite part of the simulators,” Kirk muttered. “Did it work?”
“Let's test it,” Scotty rubbed his hands together. “Computer, I wish for a ham sandwich.”
Nothing happened.
Scotty let out a loud whoop and grabbed Chekov. The two of them started dancing the polka around the engineering room. In spite of himself, Kirk smiled at the pair.
“Finally I can have break! Finally this is over!” Chekov sang as they whirled around the room.
Spock raised an eyebrow. “Mr. Chekov, we transport down to the surface of Spira in two hours. If you recall, both yourself and Mr. Scott are in the landing party.”
The dancing abruptly stopped.
Chekov looked like someone had kicked him. “But...”
“It is routine fact-finding that should be over relatively early. Provided Captain Kirk finds it acceptable, I am authorizing you both for two days of personal leave once we have completed our mission.” Kirk nodded in approval; it was the absolute least they could do.
Scotty and Chekov looked at each other. After a moment, Chekov started jumping up and down and pumping his fists in the air.
“Break Spring woo!”
Scotty was slightly more subdued. “Thank you Captain. Between that and the water park, you've been awesome.” The two promptly resumed dancing.
At the words “water park,” Spock gave the captain a look. Kirk shrugged.
“Well if that's all Spock, Harry can go to the brig now.”
Harry had been sneaking to the door when he heard his name. “Blast.”
Taking his cue, Cupcake came into the room and grabbed Harry by the arm. His security team quickly escorted Mudd to the brig, where he was going to stay until he could be turned over to the proper authorities.
“Captain,” Spock seemed oddly hesitant. “May I have a moment of your time?”
“Whatever.” He moved out of the way of the celebration and stood to the side. Spock soon was right in front of him.
Spock hesitated. “Lieutenant Uhura mentioned her conversation with you last evening. Is everything all right?”
He always was bad at hiding how he felt. “No Spock, it's not.”
Somehow, the Vulcan seemed more serious than usual. “Does this have something to do with Doctor McCoy?”
He sighed. “It''ll be okay, Spock. I'll live.” He smiled again, but this one he didn't really feel. “We beam down in two hours. Take the time to relax a bit before we have to have our game faces on.” He turned and began to make his way out the door.
“Certainly, Jim. You as well.” With his back turned, the captain missed the frown on his friend's face.
-----
The transporter room was tense as Scotty, Spock, Uhura, and McCoy prepared to beam down. The away team was beaming down in shifts, with the captain, Chekov, and Sulu following them in a few minutes.
McCoy shifted on his pad awkwardly. He had been hoping Jim would be going with him so he could try to catch him before they went on-planet to clear everything up. Not for the first time, it occurred to him that Jim was probably avoiding him. So he just had to make sure he got him in a place he couldn't get away from and if that happened to be during a mission, well so be it.
After his conversation with Sulu, he had finalized his plan of attack for dealing with the Jim situation. The plan went pretty much as follows; corner Jim, apologize, explain, pray he didn't get punched, and apologize more if necessary. Best case scenario would end with them together.
He was also prepared for the worst case scenario, that Jim would not only tell him to go fuck himself but that he would want nothing more to do with him. After all, he had really put himself on the line and Leonard had thrown it back in his face in a spectacular fashion.
But he didn't know until he gave it a shot, and since Jim had put himself out there to make the moves in the first place, the least he could do was return the favor.
He was in the process of running diagnostics on his tricorder when he felt like he was being watched. He hazarded a look up and found that Uhura and Spock were glaring at him. Well, she was glaring. Spock just looked mildly reproachful, but they had known each other long enough for him to realize the Vulcan was just biding his time. Obviously, word had gotten around.
Was it really asking so much that private conversations actually be kept private these days?
“You can stop that now,” he snapped.
The staring continued.
“No really, I get it. You're unhappy with me. Point's been made.”
The staring continued.
“I'm an idiot okay? I know this. And I'll handle it.” He raised his arms in a signal of surrender. “Just stop...stop looking at me. “
Satisfied, Uhura and Spock finally turned away from him. McCoy swore under his breath and the room once again became tensely silent. Ensign Richards looked curiously at her boss.
Scotty gave her an apologetic smile. “Um...energize?”
The transporter lights went up and swirled around the party, and then they were gone.
“Scott to transporter room, we made it okay. We'll call you when it's time for us to return.”
“Acknowledged, transporter room out.” Richards began recalibrating the transporter pad for three when the second team walked in. Chekov looked wired, Sulu neutral, and the captain looked pissed. Richards sighed. Not again.
“Have the others gone ahead?”
“Aye, sir,” she said while finished her task. The captain took his place in the middle, Chekov and Sulu on each side.
“I don't know how you're still upright, Pavel.” Sulu shook his head. “If I were you I'd be unconscious right now.”
Chekov hopped from one foot to the other. “Caffeine still in system. Calculate that I will not crash until Monday.” He suddenly brightened. “We should cliff dive!”
The pilot sighed. The thought of the Russian bouncing off the walls of their shared suite made him nervous. Without even thinking about it, he said “Do me a favor and see McCoy when we get back for a sedative.”
Chekov was about to ask why when the captain suddenly turned and glared at Sulu.
“Last I checked, we're in the middle of a mission. That means no talking about anything not related to the job,” Kirk suddenly barked.
Sulu winced. Obviously, the doctor hadn't come around yet. Chekov just looked at Sulu who gave him a look back that said I'll tell you later.
“Richards, are you waiting for an engraved invitation? Energize already.”
As Richards obliged, she couldn't help but think she wasn't paid enough for this.
-----
The planet was beautiful, Jim decided. It was absolutely beautiful, and its citizens were warm and kind. And it was completely wasted on him in his current emotional state.
As reported in the dossier, the planet was M-Class and had ninety percent of its surface covered by water. The sky was a beautiful bright blue that could put Earth's to shame and it's seas matched. The city they were in, Besaid, had several inns and merchants right on the beach. It would make a wonderful place for shore leave.
After making the usual introductions and passing out the requested supplies, the town's summoner requested that they stay for a celebration in their honor. At first, Kirk had tried to politely decline but the young woman had insisted. His crew for the most part had looked pleased at the prospect, so he quickly acquiesced.
So here he was, watching his crew do their jobs and wishing he could beam back and hide in his room or punch something really hard or something. He wasn't much in a partying mood.
A hand suddenly fell on his shoulder. Assuming it was Sulu he looked up and instead was greeted by the last person he wanted to see. He jerked his shoulder out of the grip and he couldn't help but feel a little better as Bones winced. “Yeah?”
“I have those reports on the outbreak that you wanted.”
“Fine. I'll go over them later.” Kirk watched some children playing some sort of soccer-like game with Chekov. After a fashion he realized that Bones was still standing next to him. “You're dismissed, doctor.”
“There's something else, actually.” The doctor paused for a moment. “Can we talk?”
Jim frowned. “Pretty sure you already said everything that needed to be said.”
“I thought I had.” Bones felt like he sounded pathetic. He also felt like he didn't give a shit if he did or not. “Please, Jim.”
The captain still wouldn't look at him. “Fine. Talk.”
This was it. “You know, you really should have finished my list.”
“What are you talking about?”
He had already pulled the item in question up on his PADD. “Let me see, we already did one through four. Number five is 'I'm a lousy partner'. I am, you know. Not only am I foul tempered but I hide in my work and lash out when things get difficult. I leave my wet towels on the floor after a shower and I'm really bad at showing support. I'm the king of the backhanded compliment.”
The captain sighed in a particularly exasperated manner. “None of that is news.”
Bones scrolled down. “Right. 'Number six, I have issues'.” He smiled. “I do. Not just issues, whole subscriptions. There's a reason why I didn't date at the Academy, Jim, and it's not because of how busy I was. I just wasn't going to take out my hurt and frustration from the divorce on some unsuspecting soul who had the audacity to want to get involved with me. That wouldn't have been fair and I'm smart enough to know better.”
“Is there a point here?” Jim was obviously losing his patience.
“I'm getting to it.” He scrolled down. “Number seven is the most important one...'Jim's all I've got'.” The captain finally turned to face him, surprise all over his features. “I lost a lot more than my marriage, Jim, I also lost my best friend. I still can't even have a conversation with Jocelyn and it's been over four years. I ran away to Starfleet of all places, the whole thing fucked me up so badly, but then I met you and things were a lot better. The thought of us ending up like me and Jocelyn...it terrifies me. It terrifies me because I know it'd probably be my own fault and I can't go through that again. I can't lose you.”
The look on Jim's face was almost as if he was trying not to get his hopes up. Satisfied he wasn't being told to shove it, the doctor put his PADD away and kept going.
“I know I said some awful shit, even for me, and I'm sorry for that. And I see now how much you've been really trying and I'm sorry I didn't take you seriously.” He looked down for a moment before continuing. “I'm not saying that this will be easy. You're a reckless moron who gets choked more often than he eats breakfast and I'm a country boy that needs airsickness bags and “medicinal” bourbon in order to do his job. We both drink more than is healthy, you hog the blankets when you sleep and I drop the ball when it comes to remembering to do things like eat dinner. We both work too much, and on top of it our jobs are extremely dangerous and frustrating more than is reasonable. Everyone we're on this insane joyride with is constantly in our business and borderline crazy.”
“Bones...” Jim tried to interrupt.
“I'm not finished,” he barked. “God help me, you've been there more for me than anyone else in my life. I feel more right than not for having you around. You listen to me, you take care of me, you keep me honest, and you...you actually make me happy, Jim. The more I think about it, the more I see you were right and it'd be idiotic for us to not try. So, if you haven't changed your mind...I'd like to give it a go, for real this time.”
Throughout everything the doctor said, Jim's smile got bigger and brighter until it almost hurt to look at. Bones found he couldn't help but smile back knowing that he was the reason for it. “Yeah?”
Bones nodded. “Yeah,” he repeated. He took a step toward Jim, bringing him close enough to touch. For another long moment they looked at each other, contemplating the reality of the encounter and what it meant for their future.
Jim grabbed his face with both of his hands and kissed him. It was equal give and take, slow and perfect, and not unlike they were the only two people in the galaxy.
That right there...that was what made it all worthwhile.
“IT'S ABOUT TIME!”
Well, for a moment anyways.
The exclamation was followed by someone starting a slow clap. The clapping quickly turned into a full-blown round of applause and then there was more cat-calling. Jim started to chuckle, ducking his head down into Leonard's shoulder.
“This is unbelievable,” the doctor muttered as he blushed. The chuckling quickly became laughter and Bones somehow managed with his arms full of shaking starship captain to look completely irritated.
Sulu and Uhura were responsible for the applause while Chekov was jumping up and down; the three of them had matching grins on their faces. Spock merely nodded in approval. Scotty, of course, was alternating between the shouting and whistling.
“I'm going to kill them.”
“Oh whatever, they're happy for us.” Jim moved so they were facing each other. “You should be happy too.”
“I am but dammit, I feel like I'm on display.”
“Well, you should have thought of that before you gave me that beautiful speech in front of the entire landing party and the town's populace.”
Bones opened his mouth to retort, then closed it quickly. “I hate it when you're right.”
“Oh please, don't stop on our account,” Uhura called. “We've all earned this after your idiotic behavior this morning.”
“I'll show you idiotic mmmph!” The doctor was cut off by the captain kissing him once more. The Spirans had joined in this time as the cheering began again in earnest.
This time, they didn't stop.
Epilogue
Several days later, Chekov, Sulu, Scotty, and Uhura found themselves relaxing by drifting down the lazy river together.
The water park was still going strong, much to Spock's chagrin. Although he couldn't really argue as productivity risen significantly as a result of its continued existence; he just pointedly did not go onto the deck after what happened the last time.
“Townspeople on Spira taught me new game,” Chekov stared up at the window and watched the planet's atmosphere swirl above them. “Think we could play here?”
“Probably not a good idea,” Sulu sighed. “The slides don't look that sturdy. We'd also have to flood the place and I'm pretty sure Kirk'd frown on that.” The ensign pouted and splashed his friend. No one on this ship was any fun.
“The captain and the doctor seem very happy.” Scotty adjusted his sunglasses and took a sip of his umbrella drink. “It's a little unsettling, isn't it?”
“You know, I have to say,” Uhura began, “I'm relieved that Leonard finally came to his senses; it really seemed like it was touch-and-go for a while. I wonder what changed his mind.”
“I may have given him a push.”
His friends all looked at Sulu in surprise.
“You, Hikaru?” Uhura rearranged herself so she was drifting backwards in order to get a good look at him. “How?”
“I ran into McCoy and he was obviously distressed,” he shrugged. “So I told him about how my parents nearly didn't get married because my mom had been hurt by some other guy.”
The other three were silent.
“Wait, didn't your parents have an arranged marriage?”
Sulu's grin turned wicked. “They don't need to know that, now do they?”
“You really lied to the doctor?” Chekov's eyes were huge.
“No.” Sulu shrugged. “Well, okay, yeah I did. But I didn't really have a choice, we all know he wouldn't have listened otherwise. It doesn't count if it's for a good cause.”
“Is that a fact?”
Sulu slowly turned to look up at the sound of the familiar voice.
That was definitely the doctor standing on the edge of the water with the captain right behind him. Kirk's eyebrow was raised and McCoy just looked...well he looked like he usually did.
Which is to say, annoyed.
Sulu's cohorts were all silent, the traitors. Finally, he slid off his inner tube and met the doctor's gaze head-on.
“I should run, shouldn't I?”
“Two minute head start,” Bones replied.
“Right.” He climbed out of the water and, ignoring the whistles from the life guards, immediately ran for the door without stopping.
“Two minute head start?” Jim obviously found the whole thing entertaining. “You're getting soft in your old age.”
Bones rolled his eyes. “Don't you have a diplomat to piss off or something?”
Jim put a hand on his shoulder and jumped into the water. He then climbed into Sulu's now empty inner tube. Why waste it? “Go easy on him. It sounds like we owe him one.”
“Go easy? Now who's getting soft?” Bones walked to the door with a fond smile. Lucky for him, Sulu didn't stop to dry off and had left a trail.
The End
Chapter Four
Series: Star Trek Star Trek Starrrr Treekkkkk...Reboot verse, specifically.
Rating: PG/PG-13ish. There's swearing, but other than that it's okay.
Summary: The Enterprise comes down with a bug. Jim decides to show Bones that they're meant to be. These two things are related.
Pairings: Jim/Bones, Spock/Uhura, mentions of previous Jim/Rand and Jim/Chekov (YOU READ THAT RIGHT)
Disclaimers: Totally do not own anyone in this. It's purely for entertainment value, so please JJ Abrams and Paramount and people who handle Gene Roddenberry's estate, please be nice.
Notes: For the purposes of this fanfic, replicator technology exists. I suggest if that's going to bug you a lot that you shouldn't read it. Also, this is a romantic-comedy/crackfic that somehow evolved into sixty-three pages of I don't even know what.
When last we left off, the crew of the Enterprise was still nuts, Scotty Chekov and Spock had found the person responsible for the whole mess, Harry Mudd was caught and unhappy about it, Bones was a complete idiot and Jim was mad. Let's see how they all wrap things up.
After cleaning up the mess from dinner, Jim Kirk realized he had several options facing him in order to vent his frustrations.
The first was getting hammered. The tried and true method of drinking away his pain had worked on many birthdays and bad occasions. Unfortunately, it was out of the question as he needed to be up for a mission first thing in the morning. Besides, it was no fun to do alone.
The second was sex. Well, there was only one person he was interested in doing that with and clearly that wasn't going to happen. Not only did making time with a random crew member not appeal to him, all it would do is prove somebody right. Needless to say, he was in absolutely no mood for that.
The third was an oldie, but a goodie. At this time of night, the main gym should be practically deserted. That was perfect as he didn't really feel like dealing with people at all. He quickly changed into a pair of track pants and a Starfleet Academy t-shirt and made his way out the door.
If he was going to be this angry, he might as well be productive and try to break his old mile time.
The unfortunate thing about the ship's layout was that the new roller rink was not too far from the gym and that meant possibly running into people who were having fun. He was really not in the mood to make smalltalk.
Fate was not kind to him as the first people he saw were Sulu and Uhura. They had stepped out of the rink for a break, both of them laughing at something. He tried to quicken his pace so they wouldn't notice him.
“Captain, hey!” Sulu suddenly shouted. Terrific.
He stopped and turned to nod at them. “Sulu. Uhura.”
“I figured you had plans, we weren't expecting to see you here.” Uhura smirked. “Hey how's the reading coming?”
“Not now, Lieutenant,” he snapped. The look on her face quickly soured and he cringed. “That is, I'll be finished when we beam down. See you both tomorrow.” Without another word, he took back off for the gym.
“What was that about?” Uhura finally asked.
Sulu watched the captain go with a frown. He was pretty sure there was only one person that could have put Kirk in such a state, but he wanted to find him to be sure. “Hey Nyota, do you mind if I take off? There's something I think I need to take care of.”
She shook her head. “No go on, they're about to announce the winners of the Limbo contest anyways. I'll just see you when we beam down.” She turned and went back inside as Sulu began to make his way to the turbo lift.
He'd start out with sick bay.
Some time later, Leonard found himself alone on the observation deck. He sat in what he had somehow started referring to as his and Jim's spot and looked up into space.
It was funny, he had always avoided the observation decks before. It was much easier for him to rationalize being on a spaceship when he couldn't, you know, see space being all around him. The aviaphobia hadn't disappeared because he got a job, after all. He took anti-anxiety medicine to regulate the panic attacks and avoided looking out into the black at all costs. Simple, but effective.
Now he found he couldn't stay away from this part of the ship. He wasn't obtuse enough to not know the reason why, but right now that fact was making him feel terrible.
He and Jim had rarely fought in all of the time that they had known one another. Truthfully, he had never met anyone he was so naturally in sync with; where he was cold, Jim was hot and instead of it causing conflict, they balanced each other perfectly. After everything he'd been through, he really needed that balance.
As much as he bitched about Jim, having him around made it easier to breathe in many ways.
Which is why he found himself so scared; he needed Jim in his life and if they dated and it all fell apart, he wouldn't have that anymore.
He would lose everything.
Really, it was better that Jim had called it off. This way, they each only got a little hurt now. In a few days, everything would probably be fine with no lasting harm to their friendship.
Right?
He was so lost in his thoughts, he almost didn't hear the other person come onto the deck and sit down next to him. When he finally glanced up, he saw Lieutenant Sulu sitting indian-style. The pilot smiled at him.
“Rough night?”
Bones snorted.
Sulu merely nodded in reply. They stayed silent for a time like that and just watched the streaks of stars go by. The company wasn't unwelcome, they were friends after all. He knew at least he hadn't completely ruined that relationship.
Dammit, Jim. He sighed, causing the other man to glance at him sideways.
“You know, my parents. They almost didn't get married.” Sulu began. “My mom had a fiance before my dad, you see, and it ended really badly. He cheated on her and she was devastated.” He paused before continuing.
“Well, then she met my father, and he knew from the moment he set eyes on her that she was the one. So he did everything you could name to get her attention, but she wasn't having any of it. She was scared. I mean, if she had been hurt so badly once why wouldn't it happen again, right?”
He never took his eyes off the stars, even once Bones started staring at him.
“Eventually, Mom realized that she had a big choice to make. She could live in fear, not get hurt, not take a chance, and be alone...or she could let her walls down and maybe have it all. That just because dad had the same taste in women as her ex, it didn't make him the same person and that things could in fact be different. Maybe even wonderful.”
McCoy found himself hanging on to every word.
“Sometimes you have to let go, in order to know what's right.” Sulu continued. “Well, since I exist and my folks are about to celebrate their thirtieth anniversary, I think it's obvious how the story ends.”
There was a long, comfortable silence.
“Sulu,” the doctor began. “I don't know...I mean...thanks.”
“For what?” Sulu raised an eyebrow. “I was just talking about my parents.” The lieutenant stood, brushing non-existent dust off of his pants. “Have a good night, doc. See you when we beam down.” He made his way out the door and Bones sat alone once again with his thoughts.
He thought more about the last few months and...Jim hadn't so much as flirted with anyone else the past few days. It had been two months since Jim had needed to be hospitalized. It had taken three dates before he had even tried to kiss him.
How could he have not seen it sooner? No wonder he had been so upset when Leonard had called him a flake. He was trying so hard and it had been thrown back in his face.
It also stood to reason that since he and Jim had stayed close through everything else they had been through, that their friendship was in fact strong enough to survive starting a romantic relationship. It would also stand to reason that, provided Jim had not changed his mind in a few hours and he was given a chance to apologize before getting shot with a phaser, that they could survive this. Slowly, a plan began to form.
Now the only question was...how to execute it?
The next morning, Jim Kirk had decided he was sick of the engineering bay. At that moment in time, he was honestly sick of a lot of things.
He certainly was in no mood to beam down to the planet and play nice with the people of Spira, but he didn't really have a say in that. The dossier mentioned that the Spirans were very celebratory of their emotions and were somewhat distrustful of stoic people as a result. So he couldn't really send Spock in his place this time, as much as he wanted to.
The usual suspects were standing in front of the ship's main computer, looking oddly pleased with themselves. He took his place next to Spock. “Well?”
“Captain, there may be a way to reset the programming directives to what they were before Mr. Mudd implanted his directives,” his first officer said. He knew Spock well enough to know that he was proud.
“Finally some good news.” Kirk sighed. “How, by just wishing it gone?”
“Unfortunately, no.” Spock raised an eyebrow. “We have attempted that several times and all that resulted was the condition masking itself in another section of the ship's operating code.”
Kirk clucked his tongue. “Clever girl.” Harry preened. He quickly stopped once Kirk glared at him. “All right then, how do we get rid of this?”
“It will involve a complete restore of the ship's main computer and the only person with clearance high enough to carry this out is you. It will need to be restored to the last update in software from our repairs at starbase three. As the ship is not due for another update for several months, there is no other version of software to override this.”
“I don't understand what you're asking me to do.”
“Crash the computer, captain.” Chekov smiled. “Crash it and tell it to restart.”
Yikes. “Won't the engines fail if I do that?”
“No, they run on a separate system that requires specific manual overrides.” Scotty was grateful for all of the fail safes installed in Federation ships. “All of the other systems including life support will shut down for the two minutes it takes to reboot, however.”
“Well, we can live without the gravity. We have an air supply of longer than two minutes right?”
Scotty did some quick math. “Provided no one on board is a chain smoker, about thirty minutes worth.”
“Any patients on life support in sick bay?”
Spock was able to answer this one. “None, captain.”
“Okay then. Chekov, make a ship wide announcement about the systems going down please.” The ensign scrambled to the nearest commlink to do as he was told. “I have to crash this computer. How to do that?”
“Captain, a suggestion?”
“Sure, Spock.”
“If you were to wish for something the ship cannot provide, I believe the computer would cease functioning.”
Kirk rolled his eyes. “Spock, the ship has provided in no order a water park, a pony, a roller rink, and go karts. At this point what could I possibly ask for that it won't make?”
Spock considered for a moment. “Perhaps something intangible?”
Intangible...Kirk was struck with sudden inspiration. “I've got it.” He went up to the mainframe. “Computer, I wish for more wishes.”
The computer ran for a moment before stopping. Repeat, please.
“I said, I wish for more wishes.” Kirk repeated.
The computer ran for another moment. Cannot complete function.
“But I wish for you to. I wish for more wishes.”
There is no limit on the amount of wishes one can make. Cannot complete function.
“It's the only thing I want. I wish for more wishes, computer, and that's an order.” Kirk couldn't help but smile. Maybe Bones was right and he was secretly five. However brief it was, the thought of the doctor was enough to change his smile into a grimace.
The computer ran for another moment or two when suddenly it shut down. “Computer, override command seven-bravo-six-whiskey-tango-eight stardate twenty-two five-nine-three ten.”
The room went dark and the men all began to float as the artificial gravity went down. They stayed silent, each of them hoping it would work. At the two minute point exactly, the lights all came back on one at a time. The gravity then stabilized and they all unfortunately landed rather harshly on the floor.
“That always was my least favorite part of the simulators,” Kirk muttered. “Did it work?”
“Let's test it,” Scotty rubbed his hands together. “Computer, I wish for a ham sandwich.”
Nothing happened.
Scotty let out a loud whoop and grabbed Chekov. The two of them started dancing the polka around the engineering room. In spite of himself, Kirk smiled at the pair.
“Finally I can have break! Finally this is over!” Chekov sang as they whirled around the room.
Spock raised an eyebrow. “Mr. Chekov, we transport down to the surface of Spira in two hours. If you recall, both yourself and Mr. Scott are in the landing party.”
The dancing abruptly stopped.
Chekov looked like someone had kicked him. “But...”
“It is routine fact-finding that should be over relatively early. Provided Captain Kirk finds it acceptable, I am authorizing you both for two days of personal leave once we have completed our mission.” Kirk nodded in approval; it was the absolute least they could do.
Scotty and Chekov looked at each other. After a moment, Chekov started jumping up and down and pumping his fists in the air.
“Break Spring woo!”
Scotty was slightly more subdued. “Thank you Captain. Between that and the water park, you've been awesome.” The two promptly resumed dancing.
At the words “water park,” Spock gave the captain a look. Kirk shrugged.
“Well if that's all Spock, Harry can go to the brig now.”
Harry had been sneaking to the door when he heard his name. “Blast.”
Taking his cue, Cupcake came into the room and grabbed Harry by the arm. His security team quickly escorted Mudd to the brig, where he was going to stay until he could be turned over to the proper authorities.
“Captain,” Spock seemed oddly hesitant. “May I have a moment of your time?”
“Whatever.” He moved out of the way of the celebration and stood to the side. Spock soon was right in front of him.
Spock hesitated. “Lieutenant Uhura mentioned her conversation with you last evening. Is everything all right?”
He always was bad at hiding how he felt. “No Spock, it's not.”
Somehow, the Vulcan seemed more serious than usual. “Does this have something to do with Doctor McCoy?”
He sighed. “It''ll be okay, Spock. I'll live.” He smiled again, but this one he didn't really feel. “We beam down in two hours. Take the time to relax a bit before we have to have our game faces on.” He turned and began to make his way out the door.
“Certainly, Jim. You as well.” With his back turned, the captain missed the frown on his friend's face.
The transporter room was tense as Scotty, Spock, Uhura, and McCoy prepared to beam down. The away team was beaming down in shifts, with the captain, Chekov, and Sulu following them in a few minutes.
McCoy shifted on his pad awkwardly. He had been hoping Jim would be going with him so he could try to catch him before they went on-planet to clear everything up. Not for the first time, it occurred to him that Jim was probably avoiding him. So he just had to make sure he got him in a place he couldn't get away from and if that happened to be during a mission, well so be it.
After his conversation with Sulu, he had finalized his plan of attack for dealing with the Jim situation. The plan went pretty much as follows; corner Jim, apologize, explain, pray he didn't get punched, and apologize more if necessary. Best case scenario would end with them together.
He was also prepared for the worst case scenario, that Jim would not only tell him to go fuck himself but that he would want nothing more to do with him. After all, he had really put himself on the line and Leonard had thrown it back in his face in a spectacular fashion.
But he didn't know until he gave it a shot, and since Jim had put himself out there to make the moves in the first place, the least he could do was return the favor.
He was in the process of running diagnostics on his tricorder when he felt like he was being watched. He hazarded a look up and found that Uhura and Spock were glaring at him. Well, she was glaring. Spock just looked mildly reproachful, but they had known each other long enough for him to realize the Vulcan was just biding his time. Obviously, word had gotten around.
Was it really asking so much that private conversations actually be kept private these days?
“You can stop that now,” he snapped.
The staring continued.
“No really, I get it. You're unhappy with me. Point's been made.”
The staring continued.
“I'm an idiot okay? I know this. And I'll handle it.” He raised his arms in a signal of surrender. “Just stop...stop looking at me. “
Satisfied, Uhura and Spock finally turned away from him. McCoy swore under his breath and the room once again became tensely silent. Ensign Richards looked curiously at her boss.
Scotty gave her an apologetic smile. “Um...energize?”
The transporter lights went up and swirled around the party, and then they were gone.
“Scott to transporter room, we made it okay. We'll call you when it's time for us to return.”
“Acknowledged, transporter room out.” Richards began recalibrating the transporter pad for three when the second team walked in. Chekov looked wired, Sulu neutral, and the captain looked pissed. Richards sighed. Not again.
“Have the others gone ahead?”
“Aye, sir,” she said while finished her task. The captain took his place in the middle, Chekov and Sulu on each side.
“I don't know how you're still upright, Pavel.” Sulu shook his head. “If I were you I'd be unconscious right now.”
Chekov hopped from one foot to the other. “Caffeine still in system. Calculate that I will not crash until Monday.” He suddenly brightened. “We should cliff dive!”
The pilot sighed. The thought of the Russian bouncing off the walls of their shared suite made him nervous. Without even thinking about it, he said “Do me a favor and see McCoy when we get back for a sedative.”
Chekov was about to ask why when the captain suddenly turned and glared at Sulu.
“Last I checked, we're in the middle of a mission. That means no talking about anything not related to the job,” Kirk suddenly barked.
Sulu winced. Obviously, the doctor hadn't come around yet. Chekov just looked at Sulu who gave him a look back that said I'll tell you later.
“Richards, are you waiting for an engraved invitation? Energize already.”
As Richards obliged, she couldn't help but think she wasn't paid enough for this.
The planet was beautiful, Jim decided. It was absolutely beautiful, and its citizens were warm and kind. And it was completely wasted on him in his current emotional state.
As reported in the dossier, the planet was M-Class and had ninety percent of its surface covered by water. The sky was a beautiful bright blue that could put Earth's to shame and it's seas matched. The city they were in, Besaid, had several inns and merchants right on the beach. It would make a wonderful place for shore leave.
After making the usual introductions and passing out the requested supplies, the town's summoner requested that they stay for a celebration in their honor. At first, Kirk had tried to politely decline but the young woman had insisted. His crew for the most part had looked pleased at the prospect, so he quickly acquiesced.
So here he was, watching his crew do their jobs and wishing he could beam back and hide in his room or punch something really hard or something. He wasn't much in a partying mood.
A hand suddenly fell on his shoulder. Assuming it was Sulu he looked up and instead was greeted by the last person he wanted to see. He jerked his shoulder out of the grip and he couldn't help but feel a little better as Bones winced. “Yeah?”
“I have those reports on the outbreak that you wanted.”
“Fine. I'll go over them later.” Kirk watched some children playing some sort of soccer-like game with Chekov. After a fashion he realized that Bones was still standing next to him. “You're dismissed, doctor.”
“There's something else, actually.” The doctor paused for a moment. “Can we talk?”
Jim frowned. “Pretty sure you already said everything that needed to be said.”
“I thought I had.” Bones felt like he sounded pathetic. He also felt like he didn't give a shit if he did or not. “Please, Jim.”
The captain still wouldn't look at him. “Fine. Talk.”
This was it. “You know, you really should have finished my list.”
“What are you talking about?”
He had already pulled the item in question up on his PADD. “Let me see, we already did one through four. Number five is 'I'm a lousy partner'. I am, you know. Not only am I foul tempered but I hide in my work and lash out when things get difficult. I leave my wet towels on the floor after a shower and I'm really bad at showing support. I'm the king of the backhanded compliment.”
The captain sighed in a particularly exasperated manner. “None of that is news.”
Bones scrolled down. “Right. 'Number six, I have issues'.” He smiled. “I do. Not just issues, whole subscriptions. There's a reason why I didn't date at the Academy, Jim, and it's not because of how busy I was. I just wasn't going to take out my hurt and frustration from the divorce on some unsuspecting soul who had the audacity to want to get involved with me. That wouldn't have been fair and I'm smart enough to know better.”
“Is there a point here?” Jim was obviously losing his patience.
“I'm getting to it.” He scrolled down. “Number seven is the most important one...'Jim's all I've got'.” The captain finally turned to face him, surprise all over his features. “I lost a lot more than my marriage, Jim, I also lost my best friend. I still can't even have a conversation with Jocelyn and it's been over four years. I ran away to Starfleet of all places, the whole thing fucked me up so badly, but then I met you and things were a lot better. The thought of us ending up like me and Jocelyn...it terrifies me. It terrifies me because I know it'd probably be my own fault and I can't go through that again. I can't lose you.”
The look on Jim's face was almost as if he was trying not to get his hopes up. Satisfied he wasn't being told to shove it, the doctor put his PADD away and kept going.
“I know I said some awful shit, even for me, and I'm sorry for that. And I see now how much you've been really trying and I'm sorry I didn't take you seriously.” He looked down for a moment before continuing. “I'm not saying that this will be easy. You're a reckless moron who gets choked more often than he eats breakfast and I'm a country boy that needs airsickness bags and “medicinal” bourbon in order to do his job. We both drink more than is healthy, you hog the blankets when you sleep and I drop the ball when it comes to remembering to do things like eat dinner. We both work too much, and on top of it our jobs are extremely dangerous and frustrating more than is reasonable. Everyone we're on this insane joyride with is constantly in our business and borderline crazy.”
“Bones...” Jim tried to interrupt.
“I'm not finished,” he barked. “God help me, you've been there more for me than anyone else in my life. I feel more right than not for having you around. You listen to me, you take care of me, you keep me honest, and you...you actually make me happy, Jim. The more I think about it, the more I see you were right and it'd be idiotic for us to not try. So, if you haven't changed your mind...I'd like to give it a go, for real this time.”
Throughout everything the doctor said, Jim's smile got bigger and brighter until it almost hurt to look at. Bones found he couldn't help but smile back knowing that he was the reason for it. “Yeah?”
Bones nodded. “Yeah,” he repeated. He took a step toward Jim, bringing him close enough to touch. For another long moment they looked at each other, contemplating the reality of the encounter and what it meant for their future.
Jim grabbed his face with both of his hands and kissed him. It was equal give and take, slow and perfect, and not unlike they were the only two people in the galaxy.
That right there...that was what made it all worthwhile.
“IT'S ABOUT TIME!”
Well, for a moment anyways.
The exclamation was followed by someone starting a slow clap. The clapping quickly turned into a full-blown round of applause and then there was more cat-calling. Jim started to chuckle, ducking his head down into Leonard's shoulder.
“This is unbelievable,” the doctor muttered as he blushed. The chuckling quickly became laughter and Bones somehow managed with his arms full of shaking starship captain to look completely irritated.
Sulu and Uhura were responsible for the applause while Chekov was jumping up and down; the three of them had matching grins on their faces. Spock merely nodded in approval. Scotty, of course, was alternating between the shouting and whistling.
“I'm going to kill them.”
“Oh whatever, they're happy for us.” Jim moved so they were facing each other. “You should be happy too.”
“I am but dammit, I feel like I'm on display.”
“Well, you should have thought of that before you gave me that beautiful speech in front of the entire landing party and the town's populace.”
Bones opened his mouth to retort, then closed it quickly. “I hate it when you're right.”
“Oh please, don't stop on our account,” Uhura called. “We've all earned this after your idiotic behavior this morning.”
“I'll show you idiotic mmmph!” The doctor was cut off by the captain kissing him once more. The Spirans had joined in this time as the cheering began again in earnest.
This time, they didn't stop.
Epilogue
Several days later, Chekov, Sulu, Scotty, and Uhura found themselves relaxing by drifting down the lazy river together.
The water park was still going strong, much to Spock's chagrin. Although he couldn't really argue as productivity risen significantly as a result of its continued existence; he just pointedly did not go onto the deck after what happened the last time.
“Townspeople on Spira taught me new game,” Chekov stared up at the window and watched the planet's atmosphere swirl above them. “Think we could play here?”
“Probably not a good idea,” Sulu sighed. “The slides don't look that sturdy. We'd also have to flood the place and I'm pretty sure Kirk'd frown on that.” The ensign pouted and splashed his friend. No one on this ship was any fun.
“The captain and the doctor seem very happy.” Scotty adjusted his sunglasses and took a sip of his umbrella drink. “It's a little unsettling, isn't it?”
“You know, I have to say,” Uhura began, “I'm relieved that Leonard finally came to his senses; it really seemed like it was touch-and-go for a while. I wonder what changed his mind.”
“I may have given him a push.”
His friends all looked at Sulu in surprise.
“You, Hikaru?” Uhura rearranged herself so she was drifting backwards in order to get a good look at him. “How?”
“I ran into McCoy and he was obviously distressed,” he shrugged. “So I told him about how my parents nearly didn't get married because my mom had been hurt by some other guy.”
The other three were silent.
“Wait, didn't your parents have an arranged marriage?”
Sulu's grin turned wicked. “They don't need to know that, now do they?”
“You really lied to the doctor?” Chekov's eyes were huge.
“No.” Sulu shrugged. “Well, okay, yeah I did. But I didn't really have a choice, we all know he wouldn't have listened otherwise. It doesn't count if it's for a good cause.”
“Is that a fact?”
Sulu slowly turned to look up at the sound of the familiar voice.
That was definitely the doctor standing on the edge of the water with the captain right behind him. Kirk's eyebrow was raised and McCoy just looked...well he looked like he usually did.
Which is to say, annoyed.
Sulu's cohorts were all silent, the traitors. Finally, he slid off his inner tube and met the doctor's gaze head-on.
“I should run, shouldn't I?”
“Two minute head start,” Bones replied.
“Right.” He climbed out of the water and, ignoring the whistles from the life guards, immediately ran for the door without stopping.
“Two minute head start?” Jim obviously found the whole thing entertaining. “You're getting soft in your old age.”
Bones rolled his eyes. “Don't you have a diplomat to piss off or something?”
Jim put a hand on his shoulder and jumped into the water. He then climbed into Sulu's now empty inner tube. Why waste it? “Go easy on him. It sounds like we owe him one.”
“Go easy? Now who's getting soft?” Bones walked to the door with a fond smile. Lucky for him, Sulu didn't stop to dry off and had left a trail.
The End
Chapter Four
