Title: The Elder and the Young (9/11)
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 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8

Part Nine

It is a general consensus that the correct serum to cure xenopolycythemia should not be produced for McCoy until the danger has passed; that is, until the creature, now angry and lying in wait on the starship, is dealt with in one way or another.

Jim votes for obliterating it. No one gainsays the Captain, or feels particularly unhappy about that idea. Even Leonard is beyond the fair-trial stage and firmly in favor of getting rid of the monster. The Enterprise may have her Captain back, but so long as the enemy still lives, everyone is certain that the ship and its crew will never be safe.

Leonard settles on the edge of Jim’s biobed and greets his friend. “How’s the pain level?”

“Better,” answers Kirk without opening his eyes.

McCoy sighs. “I know you’re pissed at me, Jim—”

“I’m not pissed,” Jim tells him flatly, then opens his eyes. “I want to be angry at you, Bones, but I just… can’t.” His friend echoes Leonard’s sigh. “You did not less than I’d expect of you, despite how much I hate the idea of what it would have cost.” With a grimace, the man levers his body into a sitting position.

McCoy lifts the hypospray wrapped in his hand, previously hidden from sight of a prone Kirk. He lightly tilts the patient’s head to the side and depresses the pain killers into the exposed neck. Jim does not protest, which tells the doctor how badly he needs relief.

Jim rubs at the injection site and offers McCoy a small smile.

Leonard knows this man too well. “You are pissed, aren’t you? At yourself.”

Kirk looks sheepish for a moment before his voice hints at an inner turmoil. “You were targeted because of me.”

Leonard, fists clenching, stands up and paces away before turning back to stare into the pale face of James T. Kirk. “Are you going to blame yourself for my disease too?”

Jim is taken aback by the bitterness in the doctor’s voice. “Bones…”

“No, Jim—just, not again. How many times do I have to preach before you believe my words? It’s not your fault. Not unless you were holding up a God-damn sign that says Ready to be terrorized! Evil SOBs stop by! The universe loves to send every insane, nasty, or purely crack-headed sadist into our path on a regular basis. So we—you, me, and the whole damn ship—do the best we can to fucking survive. You with me so far, Jimmy?”

“Is there a way to convince you to shut up?”

He snorts. “You need to listen to what I’ve been telling you for years.” Sitting down again, he leans in with a softer tone. “You’re a good man and a great Captain; but more than that, you’re family to me, kid. I know you—and I know you wouldn’t wish anything bad on this ship or this crew. It just happens.”

Jim’s eyes glint with emotion but the man manages to joke lightly with “Karma, Bones?”

He takes Jim’s hand and squeezes it. “Maybe. Doesn’t matter though.” He says, holding Kirk’s gaze, “You tried to save us. You couldn’t have known what that bastard had planned. I won’t fault you for what you did, just like you know you can’t fuss at me for my choice.”

“Spock would, though.”

“Spock’s still in his learnin’ years,” quips the doctor. Then more quietly, “He’s been afraid, and that makes even a tightly controlled Vulcan act in irrational ways.” He releases his grip on Jim’s hand. “We were pretty much convinced that we’d never get you back.”

“Then why did you make the deal?”

“Desperation? Betting on a margin of hope? I think you know why. I couldn’t have chosen otherwise and lived with the knowledge that I didn’t fight for you until my last breath.”

They share a moment of silent understanding and respect. Then Kirk bats his eyelashes and says, simultaneous laughter and gratitude readable in his body language, “Aw, Bones, you love me!”

Leonard responds as Jim expects, with a roll of his eyes. It is a variation on a familiar banter between them—Kirk’s teasing and McCoy’s sharp wit; Leonard feels unnaturally giddy that they are both alive and together to pick at one another.

He is happy to play his part. “Be sure to spread the word. Oh wait, that’s right.” As if by magic, the doctor produces another loaded hypospray and twirls it between his fingers. “If you did… a certain Captain shall mysteriously contract a nasty case of that Deltan flu floating around. I hear the symptoms are vastly unpleasant, Jim-boy—boils and the like.” Leonard H. McCoy re-pockets his biological warfare (which is actually another shot of pain medication) and smirks. “Sleep with one eye open, kid. There’s a boogey-man hereabouts.”

Settling back down, Jim Kirk’s reply is much too serious. “I will, Bones.”

So shall Leonard.

There are people waiting for McCoy outside of the medical bay. Sulu steps forward at the sight of the doctor and hails him.

“Sulu,” the Chief Medical Officer says shortly. The man nods to Chekov and Scotty standing behind the officer. “What can I do for you?”

Hikaru checks for other possible attentive parties before voicing his question. “Is it true—the Captain’s back?”

Something flashes through McCoy’s eyes but it is gone too quickly for Sulu to make sense of it.

“Yes.”

Pavel slides into the conversation. “You are certain it is the Keptin and not the imposter?”

Doctor McCoy huffs at them. “I think I’d know when I’ve got a real Kirk in my Sickbay and not a doppelganger. He’s the real deal, I promise.” The man mumbles something like “—already got the nurses restocking the emergency supplies—kid’s going to do something foolish, I know it—”

Then McCoy remembers he isn’t alone. “I know you want to see him for yourselves, but let’s not cause a stir. We’re in a… delicate situation right now.”

“Aye, that’s an understatement,” inputs the Scottish engineer. “We’ve got a devil loose on the ship.”

“But this devil was already here, Mr. Scott,” says Chekov. “How is it different now?”

McCoy’s voice is as grim as Sulu as has ever heard it (and the young man recalls just about every time the CMO has had to announce a terrifying prognosis for an officer injured by enemy fire or in a hostile fight). “Now this thing has little to lose by going after us—because we took its leverage.”

“The Captain,” Sulu supplies softly.

The doctor nods. “Spock and—” McCoy almost says something but seems to correct himself. “—Selek want to reconvene for a briefing after the next shift. Can you come?”

“Try and stop us, Doctor,” Scotty remarks with a cheeky grin.

Leonard McCoy’s shoulders noticeably relax. “That’s good. Great, in fact. I need to grab a few things from my quarters and then get back to Jim. He’ll be ready for the meeting.”

Sulu closes his eyes, feeling an unease melt away (a feeling he thought would never leave him). Their Captain will step in and lead them again—and that alone is enough to ensure a victory in the battle to come.

He’s tired—beyond tired. Leonard calls for the lights to engage in his quarters and rolls his shoulders. He needs his notes from the initial days of orbiting the planet where Jim and Spock were stranded, when the enemy (shit, enemies, he remembers) had first appeared and boarded the ship under the guise of a friend.

His wrist aches in memory and the hairs on the back of his neck rise in response.

Quit with the jumpiness, McCoy, he chastises. His mind will sense the creature in every shadow and in every dark-eyed officer if he lets the fear win. That simply cannot happen because Doctor McCoy must have his wits in place; otherwise, he will make a grave mistake that will end terribly for them all.

He spends the next few minutes digging through the archive of an old PADD to find the outline of events he had jotted down as they occurred. There are, of course, more extensive details when Medical was involved, including official reports, but the side project he had designated (Find Jim & Spock/Avoid LIZARD-thing is its title in bold letters) is merely a series of sporadic notes. After that—his accident and subsequent amnesia—Leonard has only memory to go on… and none of those memories are pleasant.

Except Spock.

McCoy chuckles.

If McCoy were a lesser man, he would tease his Vulcan friend about taking such good care of him. On the other hand, Spock was a genuinely wonderful friend when Leonard needed someone most. He supposes that he can forgo poking at the Vulcan for displaying a softer side.

That won’t preclude Leonard from thinking of it at inappropriate moments and grinning like a loon at the First Officer.

It’s comforting to know that there are people in his life who will help him even when a happy outcome seems impossible. And Leonard McCoy would not trade that knowledge for all the Saurian brandy in the galaxy.

As he tucks one or two PADDs into his medical bag, a voice whispers McCoy is a fool.

Leonard stiffens and half-turns, suddenly terrified of who he will find behind him.

No one is there. Yet…

For his foolishness and his crime, McCoy will pay.

He flings the bag strap over his shoulder and backs toward the door. “Stay away from me.”

Who will pay the debt first for McCoy?

“Stay away from my friends!”

The door senses him and beeps softly. Leonard hears the sliding of the door, feels the cold air of the corridor on his back. Unseen eyes are on him, watching, assessing for weakness, and making his skin crawl. He pivots to leap to safety and is shocked to find himself caught up in the arms of a Vulcan.

Spock carefully turns them and sets Leonard into the corridor. The door to McCoy’s quarters slides closed, a backdrop for the tilt of Spock’s head and the lift of his eyebrows.

“It is unwise to walk this ship alone, Doctor McCoy.”

Leonard lets out of a whoosh of air from his lungs. “Yeah. I figured that out.”

After a moment of pause, the Vulcan says, “I will escort you to the medical bay.”

For once, the man does not argue. “Thanks.”

McCoy glances over his shoulder as they walk to the turbolift, adjusting the strap of his bag. There is rage drifting through the hall, an almost full-bodied taste to his senses; alongside the rage is a hint of amusement.

Yes, danger is present—and it wants McCoy to know that it is waiting to hurt him.

Are y’all ready? Two parts left.

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 (8/?) – from February 7, 2011
• The Elder and the Young (7/?) – from February 1, 2011