Title: Recapture (9/9)
Author: klmeri
Fandom: Star Trek TOS
Pairing: Kirk/Spock/McCoy
Summary: An innocuous tour lands Kirk, Spock, and McCoy in deadly territory.
Previous Parts: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8
Or read on AO3

Parts Eight and Nine have been posted together. Please make sure you have read Part Eight first!

Part Nine

Jim was not surprised to find Roraqk waiting to join them on the turbolift. He knew as soon as they made the call to the bridge that Roraqk would use the opportunity to reassert his command.

Jim said, “We placed a call into Medical. They’ll meet us in Engineering.”

Roraqk’s medical officer had given a terse acknowledgement of the location they relayed and clicked off the line before Jim could speak to Bones. That didn’t sit right with him but he didn’t have the time to worry about it.

Had Essler released the container around the Orb? Wouldn’t he know better? That was what frightened Jim.

“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s move,” growled Roraqk.

Jim, Spock, Roraqk and his Chief of Security boarded the lift.

“How did you find it?” Roraqk wanted to know.

“Essler did.”

Roraqk gave a half-snort. “So, the squirt came through after all.”

Jim glanced sidelong at the captain. “He thought you would be angry with him.”

“I’m considering it.”

“He’s not seasoned, Roraqk, and he’s excitable. I think you were premature in making him your second-in-command. I won’t disagree that he has the potential, but he needs more experience.”

“I had my reasons.” Roraqk regarded Kirk with slit eyes. “Why does it matter to you?”

It shouldn’t, but when Jim saw Essler, he thought of himself as a young whippersnapper of an officer: ready for adventure and immature enough to believe wisdom was inherent, not earned, when it came to the captain’s chair. It wasn’t something he liked to admit but at Essler’s age, he had been far from ready to take command. Training under the right leadership had shown him that.

Roraqk was not the right captain for Essler. Jim knew he wasn’t either. An idol didn’t always make the perfect mentor. He was certain, however, that there had to be a good fit out there. All that remained was where?

Jim sighed through his nose and answered the question by saying, “I only wanted to offer my opinion.”

“Next time, Kirk, don’t share it.”

Jim looked to Spock. There were some people in the galaxy, they both knew, who weren’t worth the argument.

The turbolift delivered them to the Engineering Deck, and Roraqk took the lead. It took their group only a few twists and turns to find the correct sector.

Roraqk drew to a stop just outside an archway and pointed out an area to the right. “Beyond that wall is Engine 1. For your own safety, stay out of there.”

“Where are your engineers, the Yar?” Spock questioned.

Roraqk said cryptically, “You won’t see them unless they want to see you, Mr. Spock.” He strode through the archway to the left, roaring the name “ESSLER!” as he went.

Essler came hurrying out of a tiny, dark room, saying, “My comm died!” but stopped abruptly when he saw the towering bulk of his former captain.

“Essler,” Jim called, sliding around Roraqk, “where is it?”

“In the control room, Captain. I think one of the Yar brought it down here, but they ran off before I could ask them any questions.” Essler made excited motions with his hands. “It’s a box with strange symbols. I really think we have it!”

“You didn’t open the box?” Jim asked sharply.

“No,” Essler assured him. “I couldn’t figure out how to open it.”

Relief washed through Jim.

Roraqk made a signal to the Chief of Security, who started forward.

“Wait,” Jim tried to delay them, “we need to wait for Medical.”

“It needs to be transferred with care,” Spock added. “If the box is inadvertently opened—”

“The Prophet’s Tear was discovered on my vessel, and that makes it my responsibility,” Roraqk said. “I will be the one to hand it over. You two can leave now, and take your doctor with you. Despite the trouble you’ve caused me these last few days, I promise to put in a word with the charter to refund for your money. Everybody wins.”

Jim had straightened halfway through Roraqk’s speech. “How did you know it’s a Prophet’s Tear?”

Roraqk narrowed his eyes. “You said that’s what it was.”

“I didn’t—did I, Spock?”

“No, Jim. At no time in the presence of Captain Roraqk did you mention the specifics of the object we were searching for.”

“Kirk,” Roraqk said, “I’m warning you and your Vulcan to stay out of this.”

Essler moved in between them. “You can’t threaten Captain Kirk!”

Roraqk held out a hand to his other officer. “Your phaser, Lieutenant.”

The Security Chief handed it over and asked, “Should I retrieve the Orb now, Captain?”

“Go for it,” replied Roraqk.

Essler’s eyes widened. “Why do you need a phaser?”

“Spock,” Jim said in warning, seeing where this was headed.

They all heard the click of boot heels that proceeded a newcomer to their little party.

As the man came into view of the archway, Roraqk said, “You’re late.”

Jim paled, realizing that the newcomer wasn’t accompanied by Leonard.

Spock questioned sharply, “Where is Dr. McCoy?”

“Alive,” said the man who walked past them, dismissing them as quickly as he glanced in their direction. He held up a large case to Roraqk. “It’s the best we’ve got.”

“I don’t care if you stick the damn thing in your pocket. Just don’t lose it, or none of us get paid.”

“What’s going on?” Essler demanded.

“We’ve been betrayed,” Jim said softly. “Which faction paid you to retrieve the missing Orb, Roraqk?”

“I didn’t ask. I just follow orders from the higher-ups like every other starship captain who earns a wage.”

Essler shook his head. “But it can’t be… My mission was to find it!”

Roraqk snorted. “Squirt, you let it go missing the first place.”

“No, I didn’t! I switched the passenger bags so I could collect it later.” He said to Jim, “I didn’t know it was going to end up in your room. I’m sorry, Jim.”

“Did you intend to hurt anyone in order to complete your mission, Essler?” Jim asked him.

“No, sir.”

“Then I can forgive you.” Jim looked hard at Roraqk. “But I have no sympathy for you, mister. I think I seesee how this goes… You knew that if the Orb went missing, the ones who stole it from Bajor would tear this ship apart looking for it. That’s why you brought Essler onboard. He would take the Orb, and then he would be the decoy while you stole it from him and turned it over for a profit.”

“I can’t deny that,” Roraqk said.

“However the murders were not planned,” Spock surmised. “You did not anticipate that someone else on the ship would have a different agenda—or a vengeance to satisfy.”

“There’s always an unknown in this universe, Mr. Spock.” Roraqk shifted his weight. “Unfortunately, you do know how this is going to end. I told you to walk away. You should have listened to me.”

Jim stepped up to the other captain. “Roraqk, you don’t have to do this. If you return the Orb to where it came from, you’ve committed no crime. You have the killer in custody.”

“She is the Captain’s woman,” Roraqk said in a softer tone. “That makes her my responsibility too.”

Jim didn’t know what to say to that.

“You’ve got morals, Kirk, and I’m not going to fault you for them. But I have my own code to live by, and right now it’s telling me that I can do something for Pieta that you never did. Now, move to the wall. You too, Vulcan. Don’t try anything. Essler, come over here. You found the Prophet’s Tear. I’ll reward you for that.”

To Jim’s dismay, Essler shook his head.

“Essler,” Jim barked, as if he were speaking to one of his own lieutenants, “do as he says.”

“No, sir, I won’t.”

“Fine by me,” Roraqk agreed mildly, and shot the man.

~~~

Well, it could have been worse, decided Leonard. Instead of burnt fingertips, he could have electrocuted himself. Imagine explaining that to Jim and Spock.

Calling up the bridge, he had been informed everyone took a trip to Engineering.

Leonard looked up at the sign on the wall and frowned. Heck, he was in Engineering so where was everybody? The area was ominously deserted, and dimly lit to boot. It was as if his remark about a horror sideshow had finally come true.

The hairs on the back of Leonard’s neck stood up as he moved farther along the open floor space. He heard the low hum of what had to be an engine, but it was fainter than that of the warp core that powered a constitution-class starship.

“Jim?” he called out.

Suddenly he had the eerie sensation of someone standing behind him. Leonard turned around but found no one there. His unease doubled.

“…Spock?”

The floor dropped off ahead not unlike the edge of a cliff, but one that had a precautionary railing. Below was a large pit. It was so dark on the lower level that no matter how far Leonard leaned over the railing, he could not make out more than shadows.

Who could possibly work in an environment like this? he had to wonder.

Leonard crossed a gangway that bridged the distance to the opposite side and descended a set of stairs into the darkness. The air of the room seemed thicker here, almost like the humidity of Georgia. He knew then that he was extremely close to the compartment that would house the core of the engine.

From the corner of his eye, he thought he saw movement in one of the deeper shadows—but once again nothing was there when he turned in that direction.

What was it that Spock had said about the Yar? That they were reclusive? One thing was obvious: nobody from the upper decks of the ship was here except him.

It seemed almost silly to offer a greeting. Leonard did it anyway.

When no one responded, he said more firmly, “My name is Leonard McCoy—Doctor Leonard McCoy. Is there someone here with me?”

He heard a clicking noise to his right.

Then it came from his left, followed immediately by clicking at a different pitch up ahead.

It wasn’t machinery, he realized quickly. The sounds he was hearing were akin to bird calling, a kind of communication that he couldn’t understand and, perhaps, not even fully register with his human ears. The Yar were speaking to each other.

Crap. Did they speak Standard? He wished he had thought to bring a universal translator.

“I can’t see you,” he told them. “Could one of you come forward?”

Something scuttled across the gangway overhead. It moved too fast for Leonard to see it.

He sighed and crossed his arms. “Listen, if y’all are tryin’ to spook me, it’s not going to work. I’m not here to give you trouble. I just want to know where my team is!”

He felt a tug on his pants leg.

Looking down, he was faced with one of the smallest humanoid creatures he had ever seen. It had arms longer than its legs and a tiny heart-shaped, pale face with deep-set eyes and a snub nose. It wore the jumpsuit of a ship’s engineer.

“Pleased to meet you,” Leonard said. “Do you have a name?”

It click-whistled at him.

“Sorry but I didn’t catch that. Can you understand me?”

The engineer nodded.

“Thank god,” said Leonard. “Have you seen another human and a Vulcan?”

The Yar shook his head.

“Damn! Where have they gone? I know I’m in Engineering!”

Again, the Yar shook his head. He pointed to a distant wall.

“This isn’t Engineering?”

When his companion nodded, Leonard was thoroughly confused.

The Yar made a motion for Leonard to follow him. They went over to the wall, and immediately, Leonard saw what the Yar had been pointing at. The sign read Engine Room 2.

He was on the wrong side of the ship! Jim and Spock were in trouble, and here he was on the wrong side!

Leonard hurried back to the stairs.

He didn’t reach it before a handful of Yar, all looking like exact replicas of the first one, appeared out of various nooks and crannies and blocked his path. As a unit, they pointed in another direction.

“I don’t have time for this!” he told them. It would take him several minutes at least to get to a turbolift, then he had to go to an upper deck, cross it, and take another lift down again.

They kept pointing.

When the first Yar tugged again on his pants, Leonard swallowed his frustration. “What is it?”

The Yar wanted Leonard to follow him again and seemed determined to make Leonard do it.

Leonard finally caved. They approached an alcove, where the Yar jumped up to a ledge with several of his look-alikes. Working together, they opened a hatch.

Leonard eyed the narrow opening dubiously. “So this is how you get from one engine to the other without being seen by the rest of the crew.” He hesitated. “Is it going to be faster than my other option?”

Collectively the Yar nodded.

The tube certainly didn’t look big enough for a grown man. “Are you sure?”

The Yar’s answer was to crowd behind Leonard and shove him forward at the opening with their tiny hands. How they managed to cram him in and shut the hatch on him when he was ten times their size, he would never be able to figure out.

Inside the tube there was no light to guide Leonard. He gave a perfunctory kick to the locked hatch and began to crawl forward, muttering, “I can’t believe I’m doing this. I’m a doctor, not a pint-sized engineer!”

How far did this tube go? What if he got stuck?

As his thoughts took a very unpleasant turn, Leonard started to sweat and feel queasy. He wasn’t claustrophobic in most circumstances, but this present situation might just become the exception. He would never, ever crawl through something this small again.

His knees and elbows ached badly by the time he thought he must be halfway through.

“Worst vacation ever,” he grumbled to himself. This was worse than that time with the white rabbit and the knight on horseback who stabbed him.

He complained to his heart’s content, and loudly too, knowing that if he stopped, he would then begin to panic. The air in the tube was stale, and that was hardly conducive for stalling hyperventilation.

At last, his knuckles connected with something hard and cold in front of him. He groped at it and recognized the inner wheel he had to turn to open the hatch door from the inside. With relief, Leonard did exactly that.

~~~

The scene wasn’t pretty: Essler was down, alive but unconscious, and Jim was furious. Roraqk had him pinned in place, though, with the phaser pointed at Spock’s chest and not his own.

“You’re making a mistake,” Jim told Roraqk.

“I know what I’m doing.”

“Really?” taunted Jim. “Is that why you stunned Essler instead of killing him?”

“Jim,” Spock said in a tone that meant don’t antagonize the one holding the phaser.

Roraqk countered, “Do you want me to kill him, Captain?” He aimed the phaser at the young man instead of Spock.

Jim bit his tongue. “No,” he conceded. “I would rather that you didn’t kill anybody.”

“Yet I cannot trust you to forget anything that you have seen or learned today.”

“Roraqk, this is wrong and you know it. You’re better than this.”

“I should be better, but here I am in command of a two-bit cruiser, spending most of my time placating rich fools and whiny brats. I’m paid a pittance for my services, and I’m never thanked. You don’t understand. I’ll make enough money from this that I can quit and find something more honorable.” Roraqk’s jaw twitched. “But why am I explaining this to you? You’re the great Captain Kirk! You were never overlooked because you didn’t conform to the standard.”

Roraqk didn’t know the half of it. Jim had never tried to conform in his life. He thought he could say something more, something that would change Roraqk’s mind, but just then the security officer came out of the control room, carrying in his hands a small black box.

Just looking at it, knowing what it held, Jim’s heart rate picked up.

The doctor popped the lid on the containment unit and said, “Put it in.”

“Be careful,” Jim warned them. “If you let the virus out, it won’t matter who shoots whom. We’re all be infected.”

“Virus?” Roraqk said sharply, for the first time seeming to be caught off guard.

The doctor lifted his head and glared at Jim.

Jim looked between Roraqk and his medical officer. “Didn’t he tell you?”

“What’s this about a virus?”

“The Prophet’s Tear,” Spock informed Roraqk, “is in actuality an object of unknown origins on which micro-organisms, also of unknown origins, have thrived for many thousands of years. Bajor is one of the oldest civilizations in the Alpha Quadrant—and they claim that they have been predominately plagued by a sickness which they cannot treat. The Federation offered to help them after contact was made, and in doing so discovered that almost all of the Orbs are carriers of the virus. It spreads by physical contact with any surface, whether it is living flesh or inert material and once in a suitable host, infects the brain stem, leading to hallucinations, loss of motor function and eventually brain death. I estimate that once released, it would consume this ship and everyone aboard within twenty-four hours, unless you took extreme measures to quarantine every sector of the ship and left the infected to suffer without aid.”

Looking horrified, the Chief of Security shoved the box at the doctor and backed up several steps. The man didn’t seem to know what to do with his hands.

Roraqk, too, had taken several steps away from the box. He accused the doctor, “You said there wasn’t a reason to be concerned—that Kirk and his men were being dramatic!”

“Don’t be a coward, Roraqk,” the other man said, holding up their prize. “We don’t have to touch the Orb, just turn it over to the Bajorans who want it!” He ran his hand across the smooth surface of the top. “It’s locked up tighter than a—”

The box clicked.

Everyone froze, unable to tear their eyes away from it as its exterior shimmered and the very top of it rose a few millimeters, then shifted sideways. The box was not quite open but no longer sealed.

The doctor went white as a sheet and swayed on his feet. Roraqk and his Chief of Security fled. Jim latched onto the back of Spock’s tunic and gave him a backwards jerk, along with the order “Outside, now, Commander!” Not once taking his eyes off of the container, he looped his arms under Essler’s and began to drag the body of the young man clear of the room.

“Don’t move,” he tossed out to the terrified man holding the box, adding, “Spock, catch Roraqk. We need him to engage the quarantine.”

“Jim…”

“Now, Spock!”

Spock didn’t leave until Jim was just outside of the archway. Jim propped Essler up against a wall.

“Help me,” croaked the doctor.

Jim lied, “It’s not open yet.”

The doctor nodded shakily. “I—I can put it in the container.”

“No,” Jim said. “Don’t jar it.”

“Then what should I do!” wailed the man.

“Stay still,” he repeated. “I have an idea.” And he did. It would still require the quarantine, though. What was taking Spock so long?

They could have stayed like that for an indeterminate amount of time, he and the other man, staring at each other, if it hadn’t been for something neither of them expected:

A round door popped open about a meter above the floor on the far wall beside the control room, and Jim’s missing partner, Leonard, stuck his head out.

“Jim!” Leonard cried happily, spotting him right away.

Jim choked out, “Bones.”

The plan he had just concocted flew out of his head, and before he was aware of moving, he was back inside, crossing the room, past a trembling person and a deadly Orb.

Leonard had dragged himself out of the hole in the wall, which turned out to be some kind of tunnel, by the time Jim had made it to his side.

Jim didn’t give Leonard much time to orient himself. He simply started hauling Leonard back the way he had come.

“Jim, hey, wait a minute, what’s going on?”

Spock reappeared at the archway with a conscious but cursing Roraqk in a two-handed grip. The Vulcan didn’t look pleased to find Jim and Leonard were both inside the room.

“Wait!” cried the person Jim was making sure to give him a wide berth.

That plea, of course, brought Leonard up short.

Jim reeled Leonard backward when Leonard started towards the other man. “Don’t!” he said with urgency. “Bones, we can’t stay in here.”

Leonard gave him a look of incomprehension.

Spock said something to Roraqk, released the captain, and shockingly Roraqk did not immediately run away. Jim had no doubt that Spock had just made some very polite but very serious remark to Roraqk that couldn’t quite be labeled a threat but that was nothing less than a very frightening promise. Jim had seen Spock’s father, Sarek, do that once to a belligerent colleague and wisely decided never to cross the Vulcan. It looked as though the trait had been passed down from father to son.

Spock joined them in a matter of seconds. He said without preamble, “Every moment we linger here is a moment that brings us to a point from which we cannot return. Leonard, I will physically remove you if I must.”

“Don’t you dare, Spock. It’s obvious that this man’s sick!”

It was the wrong time to say within the hearing of a person who thought he might have a fatal infection.

The doctor started weeping—and the box slid sideways in his hands.

Jim couldn’t think past the terror of having that box open with Leonard and Spock next to him. He reacted as he had in so many situations in the past: he simply did what he knew he had to.

But Spock was faster. The Vulcan shoved Leonard into him with a cry of “Go! Quickly!” and he threw himself at the box.

Horrified, Jim watched Spock catch it, but it was too late. The lid had come more than part of the way open.

Leonard looked and sounded equally horrified as he cried Spock’s name, finally understanding what it was that had been in the desperate doctor’s hands—and now was in Spock’s.

Spock lifted his head, met Jim’s eyes, and said again, “Go.”

For once, Jim found himself following an order instead of giving it. It was accompanied by the worst pain he could imagine.

~~~

Leonard experienced a moment of unbridled rage as Jim pinned his arms and dragged him away from Spock. That box was death. They had to get that box away from Spock!

“Jim, you’d better let go of me this instant,” he said in his most sinister tone.

Jim didn’t reply, just nearly crushed Leonard’s ribs in the effort to move him over to where Roraqk stood and another man, Essler, leaned against the wall in an unconscious state.

Spock was cradling the box against his chest like he was afraid that he might drop it, despite the lid being ajar. As they all watched him, he backed up to the perimeter of the control room, putting as much as space between him and the rest of them as the floor plan allowed. Then Spock stopped and looked at Jim and Leonard, just looked at them, and ever-so-gently closed them off from the bond that connected them to each other.

That broke Leonard’s anger and brought his fear rushing back in.

Spock watched him like he understood.

Leonard had seen resignation in the eyes of every patient who had to accept that his life was ending. Seeing it in Spock’s eyes now made him sick.

Spock turned his gaze on Jim, then, and Leonard didn’t need words to recognize what passed between them.

Jim spoke in the roughest voice Leonard had ever heard from him when he said Roraqk’s name, but it was as if Jim couldn’t finish what he had to say.

Spock’s eyes finally left Leonard and Jim and found Roraqk. “Captain,” the Vulcan said, “please activate the ship’s quarantine protocol now.”

Leonard felt intense pain, magnified threefold.

Something like pity flashed through Roraqk’s eyes. He hailed the ship’s computer, and the quarantine was engaged.

Jim had never asked to register the change of command with the computer, Leonard realized in that moment, which should have been the first thing that he did. But by not doing so, Jim had given Roraqk the power to save them all because Leonard didn’t know, can’t imagine how, Jim would have done it and ever forgiven himself afterwards.

When the energy field snapped in place over the archway, officially separating them from Spock, Jim’s control broke.

Leonard was too numb to feel Jim release him. He only knew Jim was gone when he heard Roraqk cry out. He turned, feeling so sluggish, so unbalanced, saw blood on Jim’s fist and devastation on his face.

Too late, Leonard registered Roraqk’s intent to hit back when the massive captain bared his teeth.

With no care for the strength that his bulk granted him, Roraqk’s fist smashed into Jim’s chin, and Jim flew backwards. They all heard the crack of his head connecting with the metal wall.

“Jim!”

When Jim dropped to his knees, Leonard went with him, caught him, and thought that in less than a minute he had just lost both his partners.

~~~

Nearly a week later, aboard the Enterprise…

It’s the Captain!

Sweeter words Leonard had rarely heard. He brushed back the curl of hair lying against his patient’s forehead and said, “It’s about time you were up.”

He couldn’t make himself sound nearly as stern as he ought be—probably because he was much too relieved to see awareness in the man’s eyes.

Jim blinked and gave him a small frown. “I’m on the Enterprise?” The frown deepened when Jim realized how rough he sounded.

Leonard saw the moment that Jim remembered what had happened. He pushed back on Jim’s chest the moment Jim started to sit.

“Spock—” Jim started to say.

“Is fine,” Leonard finished.

Jim looked at him with disbelief.

“He’s fine,” Leonard repeated. “Jim, it’s okay, lay back down.”

Jim slowly settled.

Some of his staff were watching. Despite that, Leonard almost leaned down to kiss his captain. No, better not, he reminded himself.

He felt a tingle of amusement that didn’t belong to him. Leonard glanced over his shoulder in time to see the med bay door admit a newcomer to the crowd.

“Spock?” Jim called, his voice cracking, obviously not needing to see around Leonard to know who that person was.

The amusement faded and was replaced by relief, which Spock carried in his eyes as he approached them. He didn’t alter the formal way he carried himself, but Leonard had the sense that Spock was wishing he could take Jim into his arms.

Weren’t they a pair?

“I’m confused,” Jim said in a small voice.

“We’ll explain,” Leonard promised him.

As Spock finished crossing the recovery bay, a murmur went through Leonard’s staff—and they slowly began to disperse, filtering out in pairs, looking like they just remembered several other places they needed to be.

Tickled by that, Leonard took advantage of the opportunity for privacy. He slid his hand that had been lingering over Jim’s pulse into Jim’s. Jim responded by curling his fingers around it. They were slightly cool from having, at some point, been twitched out from under the thermal blanket during sleep.

“I remember,” Jim began, “but then I… I don’t…”

“You’ve been unconscious for four days. I was beginning to think I would have to slap you awake like I do a certain Vulcan.”

Jim’s hand automatically sought out his jaw.

Leonard sighed. “Jim,” he complained, “what have I told you about picking fights with brutes who are bigger than you?”

“I didn’t think.”

“Evidently,” murmured Spock.

Jim reached for Spock’s hand. Spock let him have it. “I’m glad that you’re all right, but how are you all right?”

Leonard gave some of his focus to rubbing warmth back into Jim’s fingers while Spock took his turn explaining.

“The isolation field did in fact prevent the spread of the virus, but interestingly by the time I had figured out how to reactivate the closing sequence of the box and the period of decontamination was complete, the virus had already encompassed every surface of the room. I would extrapolate that it reproduces at a rate of—”

“Spock,” Leonard interrupted, “Jim isn’t going to find that fascinating at all.”

“Ah.”

Leonard rolled his eyes.

“What are you saying?” Jim looked between them. “The decontamination worked?”

“Yes and no,” Leonard replied. “The area was cleared but both Spock and—” Leonard dropped his eyes for a moment. “—that fool of a doctor were already infected as hosts. He died, but Spock didn’t.” Leonard didn’t see a need to mention that the death had been gruesome.

The skin around Jim’s eyes tightened but he only said, “I thought you said that Spock was infected.”

“Well, sort of infected. More like working rigorously to neutralize the infection. True fact, Jim: Vulcans apparently have superhuman antibodies.”

“Super-Vulcan, Doctor.”

Jim choked.

Leonard rolled his eyeseyes again and continued on. “The good news is that we now have an excellent lead on a vaccination. The bad news is that you, Jim Kirk, gave me gray hairs that I didn’t need!”

Jim smiled. “You were worried about me.”

Leonard looked sardonic. “When I am ever not in a position that requires me to worry about you?”

Then he sobered. “You cracked our skull, you crazy fool. That old rust bucket of a ship had only half of the equipment I needed to keep your swollen brain from killing you.”

Between not knowing what the virus was doing to Spock and thinking that Jim might die from his own stupidity, Leonard had been absolutely terrified.

Jim lifted Leonard’s hand and kissed the back of it. “Poor Bones,” he said with sincerity. “Forgive me?”

“Against my better judgment—always.” He looked to Spock, who had drifted away to stand on the opposite side of Jim’s biobed. “But Spock might not.”

Spock cocked one of his eyebrows.

“Somebody has to be tough on him,” Leonard added.

“It would be futile to expect our captain to change when he is already comfortable with himself.”

“Are you implying that I have flaws, Mr. Spock?” said captain questioned.

“You are human,” Spock replied with a twinkle in his dark eyes to match Jim’s.

“Bones,” Jim wanted to know, “will an alarm go off if I get out of this bed? One of my officers is being insubordinate and needs a lesson.”

“Stay put,” Leonard warned him, finally able to sound stern. “And don’t worry about Spock, I’ll take care of him.”

Jim relaxed back into his pillow. “You’re about as frightening as a wet kitten. I’m afraid Spock isn’t going to take you seriously.”

Leonard sputtered.

Then he remembered that he was still massaging Jim’s hand and flung it away with exaggerated disgust.

“Watch him,” he told Spock. “I’ve got to find the most invasive medical tool we own.”

Jim’s eyes may have widened for a moment but his expression quickly turned wicked. “Breaking your own rule, Bones? I thought intimate activities had to be confined to quarters… not that I’m complaining.”

Leonard threw up his hands and stalked away.

He heard Jim chuckle, then Jim’s face became serious and he said something to Spock.

Probably he was asking about the rest: Roraqk, Essler, Pieta.

Leonard was glad that they couldn’t see him lose his grin. Jim will hate to learn that they could only get Roraqk on charges of assault, especially after Roraqk had cooperated during the quarantine and high-tailed his ship to the starbase as quickly as possible for aid. Obviously the glamour of a large payoff didn’t compare to the idea of dying from a disease.

Pieta… Leonard didn’t want to think about Pieta. He knew for a fact that Roraqk had somehow smuggled her off the ship before they brought him up on charges. She was a loose end, one that Leonard felt he would always be wary of.

But Jim would like that Essler had not been charged, despite how puzzling it was that the young man had disappeared once Leonard refused him entry to Jim’s treatment room while they awaited transfer to the Enterprise. Oddly enough, Leonard suspected they would see Essler again someday—and that would definitely be a Jim-problem, not a Leonard-problem or a Spock problem.

Leonard turned a corner and bumped into Chapel. “Oh, there you are,” he said, hoping he didn’t appear too flustered. “Do we have the latest readings on—”

She handed a data padd to him before he could finish his question.

“I performed the preliminary checks. I’m not the doctor in charge here, of course, but my professional opinion is that it would be okay to release the Captain to his quarters for the remainder of his recovery period.”

Leonard trusted her professional opinion as much as his own. He doubted he would come to a different conclusion. “That’s good,” he said, scrolling through medical scores.

“Oh, I know.” Christine gave him a light pat on the shoulder and a secretive smile. “Just don’t wear him out too quickly, sir.”

Leonard’s head shot up but the nurse was already walking away.

She did stop halfway along the hall, though, and turn back for a short moment, saying, “Also, Mr. Scott says he will be glad to take care of the conn a while longer. Mr. Spock need not make other arrangements.”

Leonard managed a strangled thanks.

Nobody questioned why the CMO was hiding his face behind a padd as he hurried back to the Captain and First Officer. In fact, any by-standers had been trained well enough not to question these things as long as their superiors remained blissfully happy.

The End

Thanks to everyone who followed along with this story and to everyone who waited patiently for its completion! I daresay our Triumvirate will thoroughly vet their next vacation destination. XD

Related Posts:

• Recapture (8/9) – from November 14, 2014
• Recapture (7/8) – from October 28, 2014
• Recapture (6/8) – from October 14, 2014
• Recapture (5/8) – from October 2, 2014
• Recapture (4/?) – from September 22, 2014

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