ken_ichijouji (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ken_ichijouji) wrote2009-12-17 11:10 pm
ken_ichijouji) wrote2009-12-17 11:10 pm
Entry tags:
Fic: Stop (The Love You Save) Chapter Six: McCoy
Title: Stop (The Love You Save)
Series: Star Trek reboot
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: All roads lead to Kirk/Bones, but there is Spock/Uhura, some slight Scotty/Uhura, and as always Sulu/Awesome.
So how exactly did each of our favorite seven crew members celebrate their first birthday during the start of the five year mission? In no order, we have a rager, a quiet dinner, a pub crawl, a surprise party, a formal event, a restaurant booked in San Francisco, and a special visitor. This also answers the question...how exactly did Jim fall in love with his best friend?
This is a prequel to “Variations on a Theme (Science versus Romance.)" It starts five weeks after the five year mission began and ends a month before "Variations."
Yes, this fic is named after the Jackson Five song. The Jackson Five were awesome, and I will love them until the day I die.
Relevant to this chapter: Remember how I said the theme of “Variations on a Theme” was McCoy being dumb and how this fic's theme is Jim needing to grow up? Well, here you go.
It had begun ten days ago, seemingly innocuously enough, and it had only gotten worse as time had progressed.
“Christine!” Leonard McCoy suddenly shouted. “I need those requisition forms on my desk yesterday! What are you, on vacation or something? Where the hell are they?”
Christine Chapel nearly dropped the PADD in her hands, sheerly out of being startled.
Not again.
She then rolled her eyes before turning to face him.
Sure, the Chief Medical Officer was known for for his somewhat...cantankerous nature, but he didn't usually shout at people unless the Captain was bleeding out on his operating table. This would normally be a cause for concern, but she was a little too annoyed as it had been happening damn near constantly lately. “The requisition forms that are due two weeks from now?”
“We'll be in deeper space at that point!” Leonard was glaring at her. “I need to get them in now if I want those supplies by the time we're at Starbase Thirteen.” The tone of his voice was along the lines of what are you, new? and it made her back stiffen and her eyes narrow.
“Fine.” She sat the PADD down and clenched her fists. “Anything else?”
“Oh I'm sure I'll come up with something in a few minutes.” And with that, he stalked off back into his office, Nurse Quinn catching sight of him and abruptly running in the opposite direction before he could see her. Chris was fairly certain that if the doors on the Enterprise could slam, his would have.
She took a deep, cleansing breath, held it in for five seconds, then exhaled. A hand fell on her shoulder and she looked up into the face of Geoffrey M'Benga.
“He's been like that to everyone.” Geoff shrugged. “Especially me. I think he's just not sleeping well or something.”
“Or something is right.” She put her hands on her hips. “I'm frankly losing my patience with it. He actually made Yeoman Barrows cry yesterday when she came in for an ibuprofen hypo.”
Geoff looked mildly confused. “But Yeoman Barrows always cries...”
Chris hated to admit it, but there was something to that. She had seen it firsthand at Spock's birthday party. “The point being, it's unprofessional. Suppose he loses it like that in the middle of a surgery?”
“He loses it like that in surgery all the time and still performs brilliantly,” Geoff pointed out. “But I can see what you mean. People assisting him could end up walking out at this rate.” He ran his hands through his hair. “He has been really overboard lately. Maybe if we talk to him...”
She shook her head. “No that won't work. You know how he gets about personal things.” She thought for a moment. “No, I think we need to go to a higher authority on this. You're on Gamma shift tomorrow, right?”
Sensing where she was going with this, Geoff merely replied with “Yeah.”
“Perfect, I work Beta.” Chris stared at the shut door of the CMO's office thoughtfully for a moment before finally continuing with, “You and I have a date on the Bridge at 1000.”
-----
The next evening, Captain James T. Kirk found himself standing in front of the closed door of his best friend's office. He tilted his head to one side and thought for a moment before finally pushing the entry bell.
“Go away,” came the reply.
“Bones, it's me,” Jim sighed. “We both know I'm coming in one way or another, so just save me the trouble, yeah?”
There was a pause for about a full minute before the door finally slid open and a tired and somewhat broken-looking McCoy stood on the other side. “What?”
For a moment, Jim was caught up in the irrational urge to reach out to Bones and...he wasn't really sure what else, but he wanted to make that sad look go away very badly. He mentally shook himself and finally brushed past him into the office. “Well hi, it's nice to see you too, especially since I haven't in like five days.”
Bones sighed. “Why are you here, Jim?”
“I'd kind of like to know why my CMO has decided to play verbal target practice with my medical staff for almost two weeks.” Jim crossed his arms. “And why he's been hiding in his office or his quarters for things like his meals and downtime.”
“I don't know what you're talking about.”
Jim added cocking his head to one side and raising both of his eyebrows to the crossed arms. It was his don't bullshit me, I know you because I am you, Bones, so answer the fucking question look.
Which, for the record, Bones hated because he never won against that look.
Ever.
The doctor sighed and walked to his desk. He opened one of the drawers and took out a PADD. A file was quickly pulled up and, without so much as a look directly at Jim's face, he handed it over. Jim held the PADD out a little from his face and read silently for a moment.
“This is a denied request for leave.” He finally looked up, to where his friend was still looking down at the floor. Something about that made him hurt, but he had more important things to worry about at the moment. “If you wanted a vacation, Bones, all you had to do...”
“It wasn't for an extended leave. Just three days while we're near Cerebus.”
Cerebus?
Wait.
“You wanted to go see Jo?”
Leonard's silence spoke volumes.
“Bones.” Jim put the PADD on the desk and placed his hand on his friend's shoulder. “Why didn't you just tell me? I would've...”
“Would've what?” Bones finally looked at him then and the sheer upset and frustration there made Jim ache inside, probably from sympathy. “There's nothing you can do for me here short of begging Pike for a favor. I can't , and more importantly, won't ask that of you.” He sighed. “I tried, they said no. I'll just...call her, I suppose, on Friday.”
Friday, which also happened to be Bones's thirty-second birthday.
Jim was suddenly filled with a rage that he hadn't felt in years.
How the hell dare they?
The entire time they had been at the Academy, Bones had been forced to settle for seeing his only child during breaks when the ex-wife would permit it. Now his daughter was studying abroad on Cerebus, where his ship was going to be very close to on his birthday and they wouldn't even grant a stop over or an hour for lunch? If he didn't see her this weekend he might not get another chance for a completely indeterminate period of time!
This was beyond unacceptable.
Jim suddenly knew two things.
The first was that Starfleet was going to get an earful in a very short amount of time.
The second was that he was going to do whatever it took in order to get Bones his birthday wish.
He thought for a moment, before finally saying “Okay.” Jim exhaled sharply. While he was here, he did have one thing to attend to. He had made a promise, after all. “Can you stop yelling at your staff? I mean, they have nothing to do with this.”
Bones winced. “Geoff and Christine?”
“Geoff and Chris, yeah.” Jim nodded. “Aside from being worried, they're reaching the end of their ropes. Just...do me a solid and be a bit nicer to them?”
“Yeah, I'll apologize.” The doctor rubbed one of his hands down his face. “I really would like to be left alone now, though, Jim.”
He didn't really want to leave him alone, but he needed to get back to the bridge before the shift change and Uhura and Sulu disappeared. “Sure Bones.” He placed his hand on his shoulder for a second, before regretfully taking it back away. “I'll get out of your way.”
With that he took his leave of the medical wing and headed back to the turbolift.
Pike had told him once to call him if he ever needed anything while out in space, and if ever there was a time to cash in on that it was now. He probably needed Komack and Barnett for this too, while he was thinking about it. Aside from keeping the cadet crew in tact, Jim had asked for surprisingly little when he had been given his command. He figured asking for a couple of things now wouldn't be out of bounds.
The lift doors opened to the bridge and he stepped onto it. He dimly heard Hannity say “Captain on the Bridge” before he stopped in front of his chair. Spock began to get up but he gestured at him to stay seated.
“Sulu. Uhura,” he barked. “Ready Room. Now.” He promptly spun on his heel and headed back to the turbolift, hearing the two of them getting up behind him. They followed him closely and then they rode the lift down to the next deck together in silence.
Jim exited the lift first, walking hurriedly to the room in question. Sulu and Uhura exchanged a glance before running after him. Once inside, he shut the door and locked it using his override.
“Okay. What I tell you both stays between the three of us.”
The lieutenants nodded.
“Uhura, I need you to get me Starfleet command last week. Tell them it's urgent I speak with Admiral Pike. After that I'll need comms to Barnett requesting a change in course to Cerebus. Make sure these are sent with priority level one, as we have to be there Friday. Sulu, I'm going to need you to get us there as quickly as possible, get with Chekov if you have to on the course we take. Then I'm going to need you to switch shifts with Riley Friday morning so you can take a shuttle down and...”
“Sir?” Uhura was a combination of confused and irritated. Sulu nodded at her encouragingly. “I understand that this is apparently very important, and I'm certainly not implying that we would disobey direct orders, but it would be helpful if you could explain to us exactly what this is regarding.”
He had left that part out, hadn't he?
Jim deflated somewhat. He did need them on his side, after all. “Doctor McCoy's daughter is on Cerebus, so I'm trying to arrange a birthday surprise for him. Hence the time factor.”
The other two looked at each other for a moment before Sulu finally spoke up. “I don't understand why he can't just go see her.”
Jim had been prepared for that question. “Because Starfleet told him no.” He folded his arms behind his back. “So when the mountain can't come to Mohammed, Mohammed must go to the mountain. I don't care what favors I have to call in or what forms or what rules I break. He's going to see his daughter Friday.”
It was after he said them that Jim had realized every word he was saying was true. He would fly the shuttle himself if he had to to get her on board. He would go over Starfleet's heads if necessary, if only to make Bones smile. And he would do it every year if that was what it would take to make him happy.
He felt like he should wonder about that a little more, but he had more important things to do at that moment like securing permission to get a civilian visitor on board his ship while making sure that Bones did not find out about it until the big reveal.
Sulu and Uhura were looking at each other again, a look he had seen them exchange once or twice in the last few months. It was like they were having a conversation about him without speaking and he had to admit, it was a bit unnerving.
“Sure, Captain,” Sulu finally said. “Whatever we have to do, we'll do. And we'll keep it quiet.”
Jim nodded. “Good. Now let's head back so I can compose those messages.” He turned and unlocked the door, making his way out of the room.
Sulu and Uhura held back for a moment, and they exchanged yet another look.
She was proficient in over eighty-seven percent of the languages used by the Federation and the only thing Uhura found she could say was, “Wow.”
They followed him back to work.
-----
The big day finally arrived and Jim found himself pacing on the bridge.
It had taken the permission of five different admirals and a headmaster, but he had finally gotten his course change and visitor allowance. Joanna would only be permitted on the Enterprise for twelve hours before having to be flown back to her school. He had also worked something out with Geoff where he would pull a double-shift in medical so that Bones would have his entire day free to be with her. One of the rec rooms was on standby for them to use all to themselves and he had given Muriel a list of Jo's favorite foods for lunch and dinner.
This, more than anything else had made Jim believe he had the most outstanding crew in the 'fleet. Chekov and Sulu had pulled extra hours to get them there on time, Scotty had worked another of his miracles to help power the shift, and the amount of red tape Uhura and Spock helped him navigate through was absolutely staggering. He had already recommended all of them for commendations, although something told him he was pushing his luck there.
“Sulu to bridge, Lieutenant Sulu to bridge, I've got the package. Requesting permission to dock,” a familiar voice rang out over the commlink. Jim stopped suddenly.
“Kirk to Sulu, come on in,” he managed. “Scotty, you get that?”
“Aye sir,” Scotty's voice rang over the link. “Opening shuttle bay doors now.”
“Perfect.” Chekov and Spock were already down there with him, and undoubtedly Geoff and Christine were on their way. “Hawkins, relieve Lieutenant Uhura. DeSalle, you have the Conn.” With that, the two of them stepped onto the turbo lift and headed down to the shuttle bay, Jim nervously rubbing his left hand with his right.
“Are you all right?” Uhura looked at him.
“Fine.” He wasn't fine, not really. “I just...I really want him to be happy. Today, I mean.”
For some reason, Uhura smiled at him reassuringly. She placed one of her hands on his shoulder. “After all that you've done for him, I don't see how he couldn't be.” She looked somewhat hesitant before continuing. “He's very lucky to have you, you know, someone who will do anything for him.”
He looked at her for a moment and before he could ask her what she meant, they had arrived. The lift door opened and she stepped out. He followed her and took his place next to the rest of the group in the control room, already assembled. Sulu had already finished docking and the bay doors were closing. The shuttle opened and he stepped off first, presumably to help Joanna down.
The turbo lift door opened and Bones stepped out of it. Shit, he was early! How was he early?
“Uh, hey Bones, what are you doing here?” He went up to his friend and hoped that his face wasn't too nervous.
“I was on my way to lunch when I got a message on my PADD to come here.” The doctor, understandably, was suspicious. “None of you are injured, though, so I don't understand what I'm doing here. Or what any of you are doing here. At all.” It was then that Sulu came through the shuttle bay control room doors, holding them open for something Bones couldn't see. He narrowed his eyes. “What's going...”
“Daddy?”
At this, two things happened.
McCoy froze.
And everyone else began to smile at him.
There she was, honey-blonde hair and hazel eyes in her school uniform with a bag on one shoulder. Joanna McCoy, age eight.
Without knowing he was doing it, Bones had knelt down. His daughter ran at top speed into his open arms, and he closed his eyes and buried his face in her hair.
“Happy Birthday, Daddy!” She hugged him back as hard as she could. “I missed you so much!”
“Me too, baby girl,” he said softly. “Me too.” He started to smile and if he sounded a little choked up, everyone else pretended not to notice.
How could they? More than one or two of them were there themselves.
Finally having confirmed for himself that this was real, Bones opened his eyes and looked up at his friends just in time to see Uhura and Scotty stoically wipe away tears. Reluctantly, he let his daughter go and stood up.
“I...” He cleared his throat and he realized that he was grinning like a fool. There went his reputation. “I honestly don't know what to say.”
“It was the Captain,” Sulu supplied. “We just lent a hand.”
“Yes,” Uhura agreed. “Everything was his doing.”
Jim looked at them confused. Under other circumstances this would have made him feel awesome, but this time he found all he could do was blush. Before he could protest, his best friend stood in front of him.
“I thought I said not to,” he whispered.
Jim shrugged and looked down at the floor. “You...you said you couldn't ask it of me. Not that I wasn't allowed to...” he trailed off as he looked back up.
The look on the doctor's face...it was like swimming in pure joy.
He had never, ever seen his friend look happier in all of the time they had known each other. Something inside of Jim broke and melted at this, knowing that he had a part in causing such happiness in someone else.
In this particular someone else.
It made him feel incredibly light and fairly joyful himself.
“You've got until 2200.” He finally managed to say. “So you should go...you know, go be with her and have fun.”
Bones looked at him again before pulling him into a tight hug. At first, Jim found his back stiffened at the contact but before he knew it, his arms had come up to return the embrace. His mouth had gone dry and his heart was thudding irregularly in his chest. Bones smelled really nice and it felt really good, being in his arms. Almost like he belonged there.
Oh.
Now wait a minute.
Bones let go and Jim unhappily did the same as he pasted a frozen smile onto his face. “Jim, I don't know how I can ever...”
“Just...enjoy the day, okay?” Kirk cut him off. He felt like he couldn't breathe and he really needed Bones to get away from him. “Clock's ticking, so you'd better go!” He shooed him away, and Bones obliged without another word as he went back to Joanna.
“Well baby girl, what would you like to do first?” Bones took his daughter's hand, that same joy-filled expression never leaving his face. Jo beamed up at him.
“I want to see sick bay!”
“Sick bay hm?” Bones led her out of the shuttle bay, Geoff and Christine following not too far behind. “Well the officer's mess is on the way, so how about some lunch first? I think we've got strawberry ice cream today...” The shuttle bay door closed behind them, leaving Scotty and the bridge crew behind. They all turned to look at Jim.
“I think he needs a moment,” Scotty whispered. Sulu nodded as he glanced to a Kirk that was frozen to his spot, a completely terrified look having since replaced the fake smile.
“Spock, why don't you take the conn for a few minutes?”
The Vulcan raised an eyebrow at Sulu. “If we are heading back to the bridge, Captain Kirk should...”
“Spock,” Uhura said gently. “Not now.”
The Vulcan looked down at his lover and to the Captain twice before finally nodding his assent. Chekov looked at Sulu with a confused expression and the pilot made a gesture that clearly meant I'll tell you later. He started to protest, but seeing the stern look on Sulu's face made him change his mind.
With that, the four of them headed out of the shuttle bay and back to the bridge, leaving Jim alone.
His looked down at his hands, which were shaking.
Fuck.
Uhura | Sulu
Series: Star Trek reboot
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: All roads lead to Kirk/Bones, but there is Spock/Uhura, some slight Scotty/Uhura, and as always Sulu/Awesome.
So how exactly did each of our favorite seven crew members celebrate their first birthday during the start of the five year mission? In no order, we have a rager, a quiet dinner, a pub crawl, a surprise party, a formal event, a restaurant booked in San Francisco, and a special visitor. This also answers the question...how exactly did Jim fall in love with his best friend?
This is a prequel to “Variations on a Theme (Science versus Romance.)" It starts five weeks after the five year mission began and ends a month before "Variations."
Yes, this fic is named after the Jackson Five song. The Jackson Five were awesome, and I will love them until the day I die.
Relevant to this chapter: Remember how I said the theme of “Variations on a Theme” was McCoy being dumb and how this fic's theme is Jim needing to grow up? Well, here you go.
It had begun ten days ago, seemingly innocuously enough, and it had only gotten worse as time had progressed.
“Christine!” Leonard McCoy suddenly shouted. “I need those requisition forms on my desk yesterday! What are you, on vacation or something? Where the hell are they?”
Christine Chapel nearly dropped the PADD in her hands, sheerly out of being startled.
Not again.
She then rolled her eyes before turning to face him.
Sure, the Chief Medical Officer was known for for his somewhat...cantankerous nature, but he didn't usually shout at people unless the Captain was bleeding out on his operating table. This would normally be a cause for concern, but she was a little too annoyed as it had been happening damn near constantly lately. “The requisition forms that are due two weeks from now?”
“We'll be in deeper space at that point!” Leonard was glaring at her. “I need to get them in now if I want those supplies by the time we're at Starbase Thirteen.” The tone of his voice was along the lines of what are you, new? and it made her back stiffen and her eyes narrow.
“Fine.” She sat the PADD down and clenched her fists. “Anything else?”
“Oh I'm sure I'll come up with something in a few minutes.” And with that, he stalked off back into his office, Nurse Quinn catching sight of him and abruptly running in the opposite direction before he could see her. Chris was fairly certain that if the doors on the Enterprise could slam, his would have.
She took a deep, cleansing breath, held it in for five seconds, then exhaled. A hand fell on her shoulder and she looked up into the face of Geoffrey M'Benga.
“He's been like that to everyone.” Geoff shrugged. “Especially me. I think he's just not sleeping well or something.”
“Or something is right.” She put her hands on her hips. “I'm frankly losing my patience with it. He actually made Yeoman Barrows cry yesterday when she came in for an ibuprofen hypo.”
Geoff looked mildly confused. “But Yeoman Barrows always cries...”
Chris hated to admit it, but there was something to that. She had seen it firsthand at Spock's birthday party. “The point being, it's unprofessional. Suppose he loses it like that in the middle of a surgery?”
“He loses it like that in surgery all the time and still performs brilliantly,” Geoff pointed out. “But I can see what you mean. People assisting him could end up walking out at this rate.” He ran his hands through his hair. “He has been really overboard lately. Maybe if we talk to him...”
She shook her head. “No that won't work. You know how he gets about personal things.” She thought for a moment. “No, I think we need to go to a higher authority on this. You're on Gamma shift tomorrow, right?”
Sensing where she was going with this, Geoff merely replied with “Yeah.”
“Perfect, I work Beta.” Chris stared at the shut door of the CMO's office thoughtfully for a moment before finally continuing with, “You and I have a date on the Bridge at 1000.”
The next evening, Captain James T. Kirk found himself standing in front of the closed door of his best friend's office. He tilted his head to one side and thought for a moment before finally pushing the entry bell.
“Go away,” came the reply.
“Bones, it's me,” Jim sighed. “We both know I'm coming in one way or another, so just save me the trouble, yeah?”
There was a pause for about a full minute before the door finally slid open and a tired and somewhat broken-looking McCoy stood on the other side. “What?”
For a moment, Jim was caught up in the irrational urge to reach out to Bones and...he wasn't really sure what else, but he wanted to make that sad look go away very badly. He mentally shook himself and finally brushed past him into the office. “Well hi, it's nice to see you too, especially since I haven't in like five days.”
Bones sighed. “Why are you here, Jim?”
“I'd kind of like to know why my CMO has decided to play verbal target practice with my medical staff for almost two weeks.” Jim crossed his arms. “And why he's been hiding in his office or his quarters for things like his meals and downtime.”
“I don't know what you're talking about.”
Jim added cocking his head to one side and raising both of his eyebrows to the crossed arms. It was his don't bullshit me, I know you because I am you, Bones, so answer the fucking question look.
Which, for the record, Bones hated because he never won against that look.
Ever.
The doctor sighed and walked to his desk. He opened one of the drawers and took out a PADD. A file was quickly pulled up and, without so much as a look directly at Jim's face, he handed it over. Jim held the PADD out a little from his face and read silently for a moment.
“This is a denied request for leave.” He finally looked up, to where his friend was still looking down at the floor. Something about that made him hurt, but he had more important things to worry about at the moment. “If you wanted a vacation, Bones, all you had to do...”
“It wasn't for an extended leave. Just three days while we're near Cerebus.”
Cerebus?
Wait.
“You wanted to go see Jo?”
Leonard's silence spoke volumes.
“Bones.” Jim put the PADD on the desk and placed his hand on his friend's shoulder. “Why didn't you just tell me? I would've...”
“Would've what?” Bones finally looked at him then and the sheer upset and frustration there made Jim ache inside, probably from sympathy. “There's nothing you can do for me here short of begging Pike for a favor. I can't , and more importantly, won't ask that of you.” He sighed. “I tried, they said no. I'll just...call her, I suppose, on Friday.”
Friday, which also happened to be Bones's thirty-second birthday.
Jim was suddenly filled with a rage that he hadn't felt in years.
How the hell dare they?
The entire time they had been at the Academy, Bones had been forced to settle for seeing his only child during breaks when the ex-wife would permit it. Now his daughter was studying abroad on Cerebus, where his ship was going to be very close to on his birthday and they wouldn't even grant a stop over or an hour for lunch? If he didn't see her this weekend he might not get another chance for a completely indeterminate period of time!
This was beyond unacceptable.
Jim suddenly knew two things.
The first was that Starfleet was going to get an earful in a very short amount of time.
The second was that he was going to do whatever it took in order to get Bones his birthday wish.
He thought for a moment, before finally saying “Okay.” Jim exhaled sharply. While he was here, he did have one thing to attend to. He had made a promise, after all. “Can you stop yelling at your staff? I mean, they have nothing to do with this.”
Bones winced. “Geoff and Christine?”
“Geoff and Chris, yeah.” Jim nodded. “Aside from being worried, they're reaching the end of their ropes. Just...do me a solid and be a bit nicer to them?”
“Yeah, I'll apologize.” The doctor rubbed one of his hands down his face. “I really would like to be left alone now, though, Jim.”
He didn't really want to leave him alone, but he needed to get back to the bridge before the shift change and Uhura and Sulu disappeared. “Sure Bones.” He placed his hand on his shoulder for a second, before regretfully taking it back away. “I'll get out of your way.”
With that he took his leave of the medical wing and headed back to the turbolift.
Pike had told him once to call him if he ever needed anything while out in space, and if ever there was a time to cash in on that it was now. He probably needed Komack and Barnett for this too, while he was thinking about it. Aside from keeping the cadet crew in tact, Jim had asked for surprisingly little when he had been given his command. He figured asking for a couple of things now wouldn't be out of bounds.
The lift doors opened to the bridge and he stepped onto it. He dimly heard Hannity say “Captain on the Bridge” before he stopped in front of his chair. Spock began to get up but he gestured at him to stay seated.
“Sulu. Uhura,” he barked. “Ready Room. Now.” He promptly spun on his heel and headed back to the turbolift, hearing the two of them getting up behind him. They followed him closely and then they rode the lift down to the next deck together in silence.
Jim exited the lift first, walking hurriedly to the room in question. Sulu and Uhura exchanged a glance before running after him. Once inside, he shut the door and locked it using his override.
“Okay. What I tell you both stays between the three of us.”
The lieutenants nodded.
“Uhura, I need you to get me Starfleet command last week. Tell them it's urgent I speak with Admiral Pike. After that I'll need comms to Barnett requesting a change in course to Cerebus. Make sure these are sent with priority level one, as we have to be there Friday. Sulu, I'm going to need you to get us there as quickly as possible, get with Chekov if you have to on the course we take. Then I'm going to need you to switch shifts with Riley Friday morning so you can take a shuttle down and...”
“Sir?” Uhura was a combination of confused and irritated. Sulu nodded at her encouragingly. “I understand that this is apparently very important, and I'm certainly not implying that we would disobey direct orders, but it would be helpful if you could explain to us exactly what this is regarding.”
He had left that part out, hadn't he?
Jim deflated somewhat. He did need them on his side, after all. “Doctor McCoy's daughter is on Cerebus, so I'm trying to arrange a birthday surprise for him. Hence the time factor.”
The other two looked at each other for a moment before Sulu finally spoke up. “I don't understand why he can't just go see her.”
Jim had been prepared for that question. “Because Starfleet told him no.” He folded his arms behind his back. “So when the mountain can't come to Mohammed, Mohammed must go to the mountain. I don't care what favors I have to call in or what forms or what rules I break. He's going to see his daughter Friday.”
It was after he said them that Jim had realized every word he was saying was true. He would fly the shuttle himself if he had to to get her on board. He would go over Starfleet's heads if necessary, if only to make Bones smile. And he would do it every year if that was what it would take to make him happy.
He felt like he should wonder about that a little more, but he had more important things to do at that moment like securing permission to get a civilian visitor on board his ship while making sure that Bones did not find out about it until the big reveal.
Sulu and Uhura were looking at each other again, a look he had seen them exchange once or twice in the last few months. It was like they were having a conversation about him without speaking and he had to admit, it was a bit unnerving.
“Sure, Captain,” Sulu finally said. “Whatever we have to do, we'll do. And we'll keep it quiet.”
Jim nodded. “Good. Now let's head back so I can compose those messages.” He turned and unlocked the door, making his way out of the room.
Sulu and Uhura held back for a moment, and they exchanged yet another look.
She was proficient in over eighty-seven percent of the languages used by the Federation and the only thing Uhura found she could say was, “Wow.”
They followed him back to work.
The big day finally arrived and Jim found himself pacing on the bridge.
It had taken the permission of five different admirals and a headmaster, but he had finally gotten his course change and visitor allowance. Joanna would only be permitted on the Enterprise for twelve hours before having to be flown back to her school. He had also worked something out with Geoff where he would pull a double-shift in medical so that Bones would have his entire day free to be with her. One of the rec rooms was on standby for them to use all to themselves and he had given Muriel a list of Jo's favorite foods for lunch and dinner.
This, more than anything else had made Jim believe he had the most outstanding crew in the 'fleet. Chekov and Sulu had pulled extra hours to get them there on time, Scotty had worked another of his miracles to help power the shift, and the amount of red tape Uhura and Spock helped him navigate through was absolutely staggering. He had already recommended all of them for commendations, although something told him he was pushing his luck there.
“Sulu to bridge, Lieutenant Sulu to bridge, I've got the package. Requesting permission to dock,” a familiar voice rang out over the commlink. Jim stopped suddenly.
“Kirk to Sulu, come on in,” he managed. “Scotty, you get that?”
“Aye sir,” Scotty's voice rang over the link. “Opening shuttle bay doors now.”
“Perfect.” Chekov and Spock were already down there with him, and undoubtedly Geoff and Christine were on their way. “Hawkins, relieve Lieutenant Uhura. DeSalle, you have the Conn.” With that, the two of them stepped onto the turbo lift and headed down to the shuttle bay, Jim nervously rubbing his left hand with his right.
“Are you all right?” Uhura looked at him.
“Fine.” He wasn't fine, not really. “I just...I really want him to be happy. Today, I mean.”
For some reason, Uhura smiled at him reassuringly. She placed one of her hands on his shoulder. “After all that you've done for him, I don't see how he couldn't be.” She looked somewhat hesitant before continuing. “He's very lucky to have you, you know, someone who will do anything for him.”
He looked at her for a moment and before he could ask her what she meant, they had arrived. The lift door opened and she stepped out. He followed her and took his place next to the rest of the group in the control room, already assembled. Sulu had already finished docking and the bay doors were closing. The shuttle opened and he stepped off first, presumably to help Joanna down.
The turbo lift door opened and Bones stepped out of it. Shit, he was early! How was he early?
“Uh, hey Bones, what are you doing here?” He went up to his friend and hoped that his face wasn't too nervous.
“I was on my way to lunch when I got a message on my PADD to come here.” The doctor, understandably, was suspicious. “None of you are injured, though, so I don't understand what I'm doing here. Or what any of you are doing here. At all.” It was then that Sulu came through the shuttle bay control room doors, holding them open for something Bones couldn't see. He narrowed his eyes. “What's going...”
“Daddy?”
At this, two things happened.
McCoy froze.
And everyone else began to smile at him.
There she was, honey-blonde hair and hazel eyes in her school uniform with a bag on one shoulder. Joanna McCoy, age eight.
Without knowing he was doing it, Bones had knelt down. His daughter ran at top speed into his open arms, and he closed his eyes and buried his face in her hair.
“Happy Birthday, Daddy!” She hugged him back as hard as she could. “I missed you so much!”
“Me too, baby girl,” he said softly. “Me too.” He started to smile and if he sounded a little choked up, everyone else pretended not to notice.
How could they? More than one or two of them were there themselves.
Finally having confirmed for himself that this was real, Bones opened his eyes and looked up at his friends just in time to see Uhura and Scotty stoically wipe away tears. Reluctantly, he let his daughter go and stood up.
“I...” He cleared his throat and he realized that he was grinning like a fool. There went his reputation. “I honestly don't know what to say.”
“It was the Captain,” Sulu supplied. “We just lent a hand.”
“Yes,” Uhura agreed. “Everything was his doing.”
Jim looked at them confused. Under other circumstances this would have made him feel awesome, but this time he found all he could do was blush. Before he could protest, his best friend stood in front of him.
“I thought I said not to,” he whispered.
Jim shrugged and looked down at the floor. “You...you said you couldn't ask it of me. Not that I wasn't allowed to...” he trailed off as he looked back up.
The look on the doctor's face...it was like swimming in pure joy.
He had never, ever seen his friend look happier in all of the time they had known each other. Something inside of Jim broke and melted at this, knowing that he had a part in causing such happiness in someone else.
In this particular someone else.
It made him feel incredibly light and fairly joyful himself.
“You've got until 2200.” He finally managed to say. “So you should go...you know, go be with her and have fun.”
Bones looked at him again before pulling him into a tight hug. At first, Jim found his back stiffened at the contact but before he knew it, his arms had come up to return the embrace. His mouth had gone dry and his heart was thudding irregularly in his chest. Bones smelled really nice and it felt really good, being in his arms. Almost like he belonged there.
Oh.
Now wait a minute.
Bones let go and Jim unhappily did the same as he pasted a frozen smile onto his face. “Jim, I don't know how I can ever...”
“Just...enjoy the day, okay?” Kirk cut him off. He felt like he couldn't breathe and he really needed Bones to get away from him. “Clock's ticking, so you'd better go!” He shooed him away, and Bones obliged without another word as he went back to Joanna.
“Well baby girl, what would you like to do first?” Bones took his daughter's hand, that same joy-filled expression never leaving his face. Jo beamed up at him.
“I want to see sick bay!”
“Sick bay hm?” Bones led her out of the shuttle bay, Geoff and Christine following not too far behind. “Well the officer's mess is on the way, so how about some lunch first? I think we've got strawberry ice cream today...” The shuttle bay door closed behind them, leaving Scotty and the bridge crew behind. They all turned to look at Jim.
“I think he needs a moment,” Scotty whispered. Sulu nodded as he glanced to a Kirk that was frozen to his spot, a completely terrified look having since replaced the fake smile.
“Spock, why don't you take the conn for a few minutes?”
The Vulcan raised an eyebrow at Sulu. “If we are heading back to the bridge, Captain Kirk should...”
“Spock,” Uhura said gently. “Not now.”
The Vulcan looked down at his lover and to the Captain twice before finally nodding his assent. Chekov looked at Sulu with a confused expression and the pilot made a gesture that clearly meant I'll tell you later. He started to protest, but seeing the stern look on Sulu's face made him change his mind.
With that, the four of them headed out of the shuttle bay and back to the bridge, leaving Jim alone.
His looked down at his hands, which were shaking.
Fuck.
Uhura | Sulu
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Thank you for reading and taking the time to comment!
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I VERY RARELY GET TEARY BECAUSE MY HEART IS A ROCK BUT I DID.
DGKJNDKG
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No but seriously I'm glad you found it touching. <3
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And oh, Jim.
*hugs*
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I do appreciate you reading and commenting however. Thank you for taking the time.
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Thanks for reading!
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Jim is so wonderfully clueless... i am floored by how consistently good this is...
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