Title: The Elder and the Young (4/?)
Author: klmeri
Fandom: Star Trek AOS
Characters: Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Spock!Prime
Summary: Final part of a trilogy; follows The Boy and the Sea Dragon and The Man and the Memory. Jim’s soul is caged, McCoy is dying without a cure, and Spock has hijacked the Enterprise in an attempt to save them both.
Previous Part: 1 | 2 | 3

Part Three was posted yesterday. Be sure that you’ve read it first!

Part Four

Leonard’s memory heals best after a good night’s rest, which makes sense to the doctor because stress does little to aid in recovery. Suffice to say, a good night’s rest comes along very rare these days, and any morning in which McCoy wakes up feeling relaxed is one in which guilt also immediately sets in.

This morning, in particular, he finds himself content to lie in the darkness of his bedroom and drowse. Scenes play through his head like a film, building upon each other. He remembers planning a quiet evening on Jim’s birthday the second year into their mission, desperate to reach the man in pain beneath a stilted smile and forced cheer. Spock had aided McCoy, and much to Jim’s surprise and gratefulness, they filled up that night with companionable conversation, high-quality Saurian brandy, and a long chess game between the Kirk and Spock that McCoy rolled his eyes at but was secretly pleased to watch. It had been the beginning, he knows, of a strong friendship between the three of them.

Leonard opens his eyes and thinks I’m an ass.

The guilt increases two-fold.

No wonder the hobgoblin wants to help me, he realizes. On some level, McCoy had known that Spock wasn’t merely trying to preserve the ship’s Chief Medical Officer. Hadn’t the Vulcan exuded patience, comforted Leonard like an anchor when the man felt completely lost and surrounded by strangers? Spock has his heart in the right place—and that is by the side of a friend in need.

Leonard can rationalize that he shouldn’t chastise himself for a condition that isn’t his fault. He can tell himself at the start of every day that soon the holes in his memory will go away, but the truth is that Leonard simply tired of waiting for it to happen. He has a responsibility not just to this ship, to provide her with a hale and stable CMO, but to those he has called friend in the past. They deserve Leonard McCoy back, that other man who remembers how to draw the line between friendship and professionalism because he can be both.

These days, Leonard is only Doctor McCoy and not Leonard because he feels uncomfortable and vulnerable as such.

If the creature has the power to insinuate itself into a mind, to live in a memory, then it can restore Leonard’s.

Right?

Bad idea, bad idea, he chants, covering his face with his hands.

This is not the first time that Leonard has considered who might have the means to help him. Spock had suggested an “alternative” in the past to aid the amnesiac doctor, is capable of performing a mind-meld and perhaps discovering where those missing bits and pieces are hidden, then coaxing them back into place. Spock is the safer, smarter choice.

Now they know that the sea dragon is attempting plant itself in Leonard’s mind, preparing for take-over of his destiny, no doubt.

Spock, for all his mental and physical Vulcan strength, would be at risk and open to attack if he tried to help Leonard.

Both Spocks.

That leaves the option of continuing to wait or…

He mutters “Goddamn it!” and sits up.

Desperation never leads a man anywhere pleasant. In Leonard’s case, it pushes him toward the computer console across the room. Settling at the desk, Leonard calls up the medical logs of four security officers. He opens one.

Ensign Paul Landers – admitted unconscious… cause unknown… unresponsive to stimuli… full recovery.

The report goes on to detail M’Benga’s treatments, McCoy’s notes added later, and at the end has a copy of the signed medical release for return to duty.

Leonard moves on to the next record, then the last two. They are all victims of the creature. McCoy knows that it already wears one of their faces. Can it be any of them?

There are so many questions and too few answers.

Does Jim now have company in the Abyss? Or has Landers been completely assimilated?

McCoy shuts off the terminal. Find them and you will find it.

Because he is in a hurry and not due for several hours to Sickbay, McCoy was the ill-timing of missing a high-priority communication from Cmd. Spock.

“It is impossible,” states the Acting Captain flatly as he faces his counterpart in the Ready Room.

“It is unlikely, Spock, but not impossible.”

“Then logic dictates that it is also a trap.”

“Indeed,” agrees the other Vulcan. “The lead is both a gift and a snare for Leonard.”

“Yet we must go,” Spock replies succinctly and with gravity.

There are few words that the elder can voice which will assuage their collective fear for what is to come. They seek the Fabrini and, as they both suspect, the location of the asteroid ship has “landed in their laps.” Spock is reminded too sharply of his own Leonard McCoy, who had a fondness for such colloquiums.

This alternative version of himself, changed by harsh and unforgiving circumstances of this universe, had called Spock to the Bridge. Upon entering the Bridge and receiving many curious looks, he had greeted each crew member in turn, much to their surprise. Pavel Chekov, so young, did not protest when Spock requested his seat to observe the phenomenon at the navigation panel. “Fascinating,” had been his murmur and the word had subsequently startled Sulu at the next console. But, unfortunately, that fascination was also mixed with apprehension.

The map insistently lingers on a particular section of space that cannot be coincidence; the charted area falls within suitable range of the projected course of the ship Yonada. Someone aids the Enterprise in its quest for the Fabrini. There is, logically as the Acting Captain stated, only one who would have the capacity to do so.

Leonard McCoy will have his cure, and the being, manipulating the situation to its own end, will have Leonard McCoy in return.

The Spock of this universe strides to the door. “I must return to Bridge and reset our course.”

“Yes.” He calls, “Spock.”

The other halts, facing away but listening nonetheless.

“You should consider initiating a meeting with the principal officers of this ship.” He adds, “If your camaraderie with these individuals follows the experience of my own, their loyalty and advice are equally trustworthy and, perhaps, necessary for a favorable outcome.”

“I will, as you request, consider that possibility.”

Spock, the Vulcan also called Selek, remains hopeful that the possibility shall come to pass.

Damn it, where are you?

Leonard scours the breakfast crowd of the mess hall, does not see any of his queries, and goes down to the recreational section of the ship. No lone or suspicious-looking security officers.

Where the fuck are you!

He looks down at the information on his PADD. Right. Check personal quarters next.

The ensign who opens the door and finds Doctor McCoy does not hide his surprise. He, in fact, blurts out, “Oh Gods! I knew I shouldn’t take slept with that-“

“Nevermind that, man,” interrupts the impatient doctor. “I’m not here for you. Do you room with Lieutenant Quan?”

“Yes, Sir, but he’s not here, Sir.”

“Mmm,” mumbles the doctor. “Will maybe you can answer a question for me. I—” Leonard decides it’s better to lie than say need to know if he’s really your roomie and not a soul-sucking monster. “—am following up with Quan after his visit in the med bay.”

The ensign nods. “How can I help?”

“Has your roommate’s behavior seemed altered in any way since that time?”

The blinking ensign looks like he has to think hard on his answer. “Yes—and no. I mean, he’s been a bit slower than usual but still the same old ball-busting Quan. I guess he hasn’t gone to Sickbay for his headaches?” It’s a question rather a statement.

“No. So you tell Quan that if he thinks martyrdom is better than a simple prescription for pain medication, then there’s a club solely for his type of people. They’re called idiots.”

“Yes, Sir!” snaps the young man.

Leonard moves onto the next listed room. He hasn’t any luckier there either, except to learn that Ensign Jase also has headaches with the tenacity of a battle cruiser. He tells the man to get his sick ass to Sickbay for treatment. By then, crewmen are shooting him strange looks, no doubt wondering why the Chief Medical Officer is prowling the lower decks and making house calls. Some of them, he suspects, lock their doors or run in the other direction at the sight of him.

When the start of his shift is close, McCoy has to abandon his search. What he doesn’t expect is to find, upon entering the medical bay, is the creature waiting for him in one of the examination rooms.

It smiles, amused, with a face that isn’t Paul Landers’ and says, “Doctor, I am aware that the date of our appointment has not yet arrived. However, I believe that you require a… preliminary examination. Am I not correct?”

As a reply, Leonard turns around and closes the door of the small room for privacy.

Next Part

Related Posts:

• The Elder and the Young (12/12) – from February 24, 2011
• The Elder and the Young (11/12) – from February 23, 2011
• The Elder and the Young (10/11) – from February 21, 2011
• The Elder and the Young (9/11) – from February 11, 2011
• The Elder and the Young (8/?) – from February 7, 2011