Title: The Tower (#12, The Drabble Bin)
Author: klmeri
Fandom: Star Trek AOS, Star Trek Into Darkness
Characters: Kirk
Summary: Jim meets an old friend who understands him all too well.
Previous Drabbles: The Old Four | Those Neighborhood Hoodlums | Trapped | A Cage of His Own | Of Perky Starfleet Bottoms | An Hour Past | War of the Bots | The Best Substitute | Surprise Meeting | Little Help | Dreaming

Jim saw the tower at the edge of the cliff. It looked harmless enough, its old stones dreaming under the fading sun. He went to stand beside it and watched birds white as foam soar and dive into the waves. Below the cliff seals lay scattered, contented to warm their dark, spotted bellies on the sand until the light was gone.

A feeling came to him; he imagined it emanated from the world itself. There was peace to be found here if he chose to stay. He wondered if he should.

His heart wavered, and the apparition came.

Jim named it, too cocooned by the tranquil atmosphere to be shocked. “Gary.”

“Hello, Jim.”

Gary Mitchell, three years dead, stepped out of the tower’s shadow. He lifted his face to the sun. The wind playfully tossed his earth-brown hair.

“How long has it been?”

“Since Delta Vega,” Jim reminded him.

“A long time, then. Another lifetime. I had wondered if I was dreaming when I found myself here.” Gary turned clear eyes to his old friend. “But you’re here too.”

“You want to know why,” Jim guessed, watching the sky change colors at the horizon. “I don’t have that answer.”

“Did you die, like me?”

Jim started to shake his head but stopped. “I have, actually. Did. But then I lived again. That’s not it.”

“Are you sure?”

Jim was. “Yes.”

“Oh,” Gary said. “I guess I can’t expect you to know why I’m here then.”

“Don’t you?”

Gary slid his palm across the rough stone wall. “As a lingering guilt, I suppose. You know, you should have let me go, Jim. All these years… what have I gained you?”

“There is no gain, Gary. You’re just the memory of a price I paid. I thought being a captain meant I had the power to save everyone. I couldn’t save you. I wanted to, but I couldn’t.”

“The universe doesn’t work that way.”

“No,” Jim agreed, “it doesn’t. It’s the ficklest friend a man will ever have. Gary, do you think you could…?”

“Leave?”

“Just for now.” He closed his eyes. “I want to enjoy this while I can.”

He heard the sound of the sea. He heard the birds cry and the wind as it rushed along the rocks. Gary was gone, because they had been friends before they had been enemies and that mattered most. Memories weren’t always burdens. Sometimes, like this one, they could be kind.

Jim took a step from the tower to the edge of the cliff. Then lifting his arms, he dreamed he could fly, and did.

-Fini

Brother

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