He's my Best Friend
Title: He's My Best Friend
Summary: Filled for this prompt on the st_xi_kink_meme: http://community.livejournal.com/st_xi_kink_meme/15838.html?thread=15338462#t1533842
Pairing: McCoy/Kirk Friendship
Rating: PG
Warning: Violence
“I am going to kill that god damned hobgoblin,” McCoy hissed to himself as he rushed from Sickbay to the transporter room. He had just received a distress signal from the transporter room; apparently Jim had been attacked by some type of creature on the planet. The last he had heard from Spock was that the creature that had attacked the Captain - a Shatarr, was it? - was highly poisonous.
McCoy exited the turbo-lift and rounded the corner to the transporter room, only to see chaos. The first thing he noticed was one of the Transporter crewmen, Kyle he believed, was in the corridor, his hand clenched around a bleeding arm, slumped against the wall. There were a few Vulcans knelt around him, calmly observing the wound, and muttering amongst themselves.
“My God, what the hell happened?” McCoy snapped as one of his medical staff rushed to Kyle’s side. He saw Spock in the transporter room, talking to two other Vulcans. He rushed into the room and immediately noticed the entire room looked like a tornado had run rampant inside. Crewmen were sprawled on the floor, consoles were sparking, and the Vulcans looked concerned, even for Vulcans. And Jim was nowhere to be seen.
“Spock, where is Jim?” McCoy snapped, directing his attention to the first officer. Spock abruptly stopped his conversation with the Vulcans and made his way to the Doctor.
“Doctor we have a severe problem,” the Vulcan started, his hand folded behind his back in a nervous gesture. McCoy glared at the Vulcan, silently seething.
“Where is Jim?” he stated again, his teeth clenched and his eyes hard. Spock shifted in a way that was almost nervous.
“He is on the ship; however he is infected with the poison of the Shatarr. In Vulcans, the victim only has about an hour to find an antidote. However, this is the first human that has been infected with the poison…it appears to have a…interesting effect in humans to say the least Doctor.”
“What the hell does that mean Spock?” McCoy said, not fully understanding why this hobgoblin was still not telling him where Jim was. Seeing the Doctor was not pleased with him, he decided to continue.
“The Captain passed out while on the planet’s surface. We assumed it was an effect from the poison. When stationed him in a medical camp close to the beaming lift while we seeked a healer to retrieve the antidote. On our way back we received a transmission that the Captain had awoken and had become incredibly violent. By the time we reached the beaming lift, the Captain’s appearance had altered…”
“Altered to what?” McCoy snapped, his eyes never straying from the tricorder where he had been entering everything into the computer, trying to get an accurate readout on Jim’s current condition since he couldn’t examine the patient right away.
“It appears as if he has begun a transformation into a Shatarr.” He watched the Doctor’s fingers hesitate over the tricorder, taking in his words.
“And what exactly is a Shatarr, Mr. Spock?” McCoy questioned, his eyebrows furrowed. Spock reached to one of the consoles and retrieved a PADD. With a series of flicks, Spock pulled up an image of a long scaly creature with a thick graceful body, almost like a cheetah, and a long, thick tail and a stubby beak. On the back feet were two black hooves, while the front feet only had three clawed toes. There were two long pointed ears on either side of the head, steaming from the corner of the small yellow, dime sized eyes that were set close to the mouth. Sharp little fangs poked out from under the curved lip.
“…and you think Jim is turning into this?” McCoy said his eyes still on the PADD.
“Affirmative Doctor.” When he was beamed aboard, which was rather difficult due to the Captain’s violent thrashing, the Captain’s teeth had elongated, along with his nails. His eyes had also shifted color, and his speed and agility had increased incredibly.”
“How did this happen?” McCoy asked. It wasn’t everyday an animal held a poison that could alter someone’s DNA. If anything, Jim was more prone to die from it than everyone else because he seemed to be allergic to everything in the damn universe.
“The Shatarr usually live in burrows in the ground, and when anything happens to walk by the entrance to their homes, they lash out with a quick and poisonous bite. Anything small enough to be food would die in a matter of minutes, and the average Vulcan can last about an hour before dying. While exploring the planet, Jim accidently crossed paths with one of the more populated Shatarr living areas. Thus resulting in the bite.”
“Fantastic,” McCoy muttered, his head now buried in his hand. Suddenly, the quiet Vulcan murmurs around them died as Yeoman Rand burst into the room, Cupcake right behind her, phaser in hand.
“Commander, the computer has located Captain Kirk! He’s in the ships engines! So far it seems he’s attacked twelve other people, seven of which were in engineering. No casualties, although everyone is heavily injured.”
“Right,” Spock answered promptly. “I want all those injured sent to Sickbay for immediate treatment and given the antidote for Shatarr poison to avoid further infection. I need a party to accompany in the retrieval of the Captain. Yeoman, Lieutenant, I want you along with two other members from security. Doctor, please return to Sickbay and see to - “
“Like hell!” McCoy snapped loudly, drawing shocked and startled looks from the disheveled Vulcans. “I’m his best friend, and I’ll be damned if you make me sit on the sidelines!”
Spock stood a moment as if he were contemplating the doctor’s request. All the Vulcans standing in the room were staring at the half-Vulcan, waiting to see how he would react to the resistant. Spock finally nodded.
“That would be logical Doctor. If the Captain becomes hostile, you may be able to assist in keeping him docile.” Spock said. With that, he exited the room, motioning for those he pointed out to follow him.
It took over an hour of searching through ducts and shoots, but finally Spock and McCoy managed to track Jim down to the deep reaches of the Enterprise’s engines.
“The Captain should be close,” Spock stated as he saw the jagged claw marks scaling the walls. “Doctor, perhaps you should not go too far. The Captain’s strength seems to have easily doubled, and it would not be wise to put you in unnecessary danger.”
“Oh please,” McCoy snorted. “You think he’s got strength now? Try dragging him away from a bar after he’s had seventeen shots and the last thing he wants to do is go home and sleep. He could even give you a run for your money Spock.” Spock merely raised an eyebrow at this comment, but chose to ignore it.
Suddenly, from above they heard a loud growling hiss. It was the strangest sound McCoy had ever heard, and when he glanced up, he nearly had a heart attack. Jim was balanced in between two beams, long mutant claws digging into the metal, and his jaw unhinged and wide, baring obnoxiously sharp fangs. His eyes were glazed and completely yellow, and his face was contorted in a completely feral expression.
“Captain,” Rand started gently, trying to step closer and try and coax him down. All she got for her efforts were a loud hiss, a splatter of spittle, and a warning swipe. Spock took a slightly more defensive stance, as if waiting for Jim to lunge at him.
“Captain, it would be…beneficial for you to accompany us back to Sickbay. You are sick and we can - “ Spock was cut off was a loud rumbling growl. Jim lunged at the Vulcan and took a long swipe, but just as quickly as Jim had gotten in Spock’s range, he jumped back and clambered back up the metal pillars.
McCoy watched as each of the party tried to coax Jim down with nice calming tones, but it just seemed to make Jim more violent and hostile. He was beginning to pace irritably. Finally, McCoy snapped.
“God dammit Jim, stop bullshitting around! If we don’t give you that antidote, you’re going to die!”
Everyone had frozen in their spots, staring wide eyed and open mouthed at the Doctor. Even Jim had frozen, poised gracefully between the slim spaces between boilers. He was watching the Doctor closely, his mouth closed as if he were a small child being reprimanded. The doctor had his hands on his hips, and his eyes were narrowed in a glare.
“Get down here Jim. I’m not kidding Jim. Now.” McCoy hissed, pointing at the floor to emphasize the point. For a moment, no one moved, including the feral captain. When no one moved, McCoy took a daring step forward and lifted his finger to point at Jim and then at the floor.
“Get. Down. Here. Now.”
And suddenly there was a high pitched whine and a scrapping noise as Jim worked his way down through the engines. And suddenly Jim was there on the floor at McCoy’s feet, his whole body lowered to the ground as he slunk forward, still whining.
“Come here you idiot,” McCoy muttered, holding out his hand, expecting Jim to sniff him. He was pleasantly surprised when Jim’s whines turned to deep rumbling purrs as he jumped from the floor and began rubbing his face and side against McCoy’s leg. His head arching into the doctor’s hand. Everyone around them watched with wide eyes as McCoy humored his friend for a few moments by petting him and scratching his back. Finally McCoy straightened and Jim whined.
“Alright let’s go Jim. You’re going to Sickbay.” McCoy said, turning on his heel and began walking out of engineering. No one moved, not even their Captain. When McCoy noticed this, he turned and barked at Jim.
“I said move it, Kirk!”
And suddenly Jim was in motion, scurrying across the floor, his nails clicking loudly, his limbs folding and unfolding gracefully. It took a moment, but everyone else soon followed, almost at a run to keep up. McCoy ignored the looks that they received as they walked down the corridor. Jim would stop and hiss or growl or even curiously sniff or snap at those that passed. McCoy just snapped his fingers and barked a harsh “Jim!” and he was back at his side in a flash.
Once they were in Sickbay, McCoy just pointed at the bed and Jim was there, on his stomach, wagging his imaginary tail, watching as his best friend paced back and forth, talking to one Vulcan and then another. Finally a Vulcan approached him with a hypo spray and Jim hissed warningly and back up on the bed, his jaw unhinging and revealing those sharp fangs. Two other Vulcans grabbed Jim by the shoulders and tried to hold him down while the third held the antidote.
Jim thrashed and growled and clawed at the Vulcans, giving them no opportunity to jab him with the hypo. Finally all the three fell back when Jim roared loudly and sliced a few jagged lines across one Vulcan’s face. When McCoy returned, seeing Jim roaring at anything that came within two feet of him, he immediately knew they would be required to sedate him in order to get the antidote in him. So he grabbed a typical sedative that he knew Jim wouldn’t be allergic to, and attempted to come right up to Jim’s side, but Jim took a wide swing, his claws slicing into McCoy’s arm.
“God dammit Jim!” McCoy growled, resisting the urge to drop the sedative and clutch the wound. Jim seemed shocked at what he had done, but seemed wary of whether or not he should whine for McCoy’s forgiveness, or keep growling at the Vulcan’s surrounding him.
“Don’t move Jim.” McCoy said, stepping up to the bed. Spock reached out, as if to stop the doctor, however he recoiled when Jim growled and swiped at his hand. McCoy stepped up to Jim and pushed him down with one hand, feeling the loud grumbling purr that Jim released. He quickly stuck Jim with the hypo spray, ignoring the fact that the purring had gotten louder.
And once Jim was under, McCoy took the antidote from the Vulcans and gave it to Jim himself.
---
“Bones, tell me I got trashed on Vulcan II and I just got my ass handed to me by several Vulcans. Please. I’m begging you.”
“’Afraid not kid.” McCoy chuckled, checking Jim over with the tricorder. “But you kicked a few Vulcan asses while under the influence of an infection from a Shatarr bite.”
“What the hell is a Shatarr?” Jim groaned as he stroked his now in one piece jaw. McCoy chuckled again and stabbed Jim with a pain reliever. “Never mind kid, just relax. I took care of you.”
Jim smiled at that and curled up slowly in a ball. He reached out and searched for Bones’ hand, and hugged it to his chest and McCoy swore he heard a soft purring noise.
“Thanks Bones. Your ma bes’ ‘riend…” Jim muttered as he faded back into a deep sleep. McCoy sighed and gently ruffled Jim’s hair as he settled in the chair next to bed, preparing to wait until the purring man before him decided to release him.