Fic: A Hard Act To Follow (A Fic Remix!) Part 1
Title: A Hard Act to Follow (A Fic Remix!)
Author: linelenagain
Original Fic and Author: Disappearing Act by skyblue_reverie
Wordcount: ~11k
Rating: R
Summary: A remix of Disappearing Act by skyblue_reverie. You'll want to read that one first. This is my take on it: 5 ways it could have happened, and 1 way it did.
Notes: I spent a while thinking about how I wanted to remix this. I had a few ideas, and I was really torn between them, so I thought 'why not just do 'em all?' This is that: the same story, five times, told in Mirror-verse, crack, genderswap, smut, angst, and finally a point of view switch for the finale. Any of the parts should stand alone, in the event that you want to skip some, but I hope you'll give them all a chance - they work better together.
The dialogue in the last section is lifted straight from the original fic, with the exception of Bones' little speech towards the end.
I would also like to profusely thank pixelmayhem who, as always, was an enormous help with this. Couldn't do it without you, bb!
I am so grateful to skyblue_reverie for allowing me to play with her wonderful fic. It has been one of my favorites since she wrote it, and if you haven't read it before, or if you have and haven't left feedback, I highly, highly encourage you to do so. Thank you, bb. <3
---
Kirk was missing. This was extremely troubling for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was that McCoy’s uncanny ability to locate the man, no matter how obscure his hiding spot, seemed to be failing him.
The first time Kirk had gone to ground, after a fight in the combat training room that lead to the death of two cadets, McCoy had discovered him in the Ancient Volumes section of the library. Since then, he’d found the man in dozens of other places, including the shuttle simulator, a dormant agony booth and, one memorable night, the roof of the women’s dormitory.
The first few times, Kirk had snarled at him, accusing McCoy of implanting him with a tracking device on one of the many occasions McCoy had patched him up. Though he’d considered that at the beginning of their unlikely alliance, it had proved unnecessary. He’d developed a remarkable sense of the other man in their three years as roommates, and the last thing he wanted was to put their himself at risk by shattering Kirk’s wary trust. Though, he reflected as he checked another of Kirk’s empty bolt-holes, he may have to reconsider that.
He needed Kirk. The man had proven extraordinarily talented at keeping himself and the people around him alive. McCoy had never heard of a cadet graduating from the Academy with as many enemies as Kirk seemed to have collected over the course of his training. And to not only have survived, but be promoted immediately to captaincy? Unprecedented. But that was Kirk, one of a kind.
With that thought, everything fell into place and he knew where Kirk was hiding. He turned towards the auditorium, careful to keep his pace slow and measured. It was unwise to be seen running, it made people think of giving chase.
As he suspected, the lights were dimmed, but on, and the door was open. McCoy would almost have thought he was expected, if not for the fact that Kirk had been avoiding him, keeping clear of his usual places and not returning to their shared dormitory in favor of the officer’s quarters to which he was now entitled.
He had only seen the man once since their return to Earth - three days ago on this very stage, where Kirk had been awarded a medal for services to the Empire. The entire audience had stood in salute, while he and McCoy had locked eyes over a sea of raised fists. McCoy had spent the past three nights trying to decipher Kirk’s expression at that moment.
“Ah,” he said quietly, eyeing a figure in a darkened corner. “There you are, Jim.” He kept his voice nonchalant - Kirk was liable to attack if startled, McCoy had the scars to prove that.
Kirk just stood there, face to the wall, gripping hard at the back of an empty chair.
“Are you injured?” McCoy asked, assessing Kirk’s hunched shoulders and slightly trembling arms.
“Fuck off,” Kirk snarled at him, but the tone was wrong, harsh but almost desperate, and McCoy stiffened with sudden understanding, and fear.
He was a medic, he’d seen tears before - but never from Kirk. No matter how badly the man had been beaten, in defiance of any and all pain, Kirk had never so much as bitten his lip, not so much as whimpered.
He’ll kill me for seeing this, McCoy was absolutely certain. But Kirk made no move, just tightened his fingers around the edge of the chair, knuckles white. McCoy eyed the knife at Kirk’s belt, bright and sharp, the handle worn from the friction of Kirk’s work-roughened palm.
He felt a sudden, mad impulse to reach out, to turn Kirk towards him and look him in the eye and see, and to let Kirk know that he’d been seen. Instead, he turned to the front of the room, neither facing Kirk nor turning away from him, and brought his hands together behind his back.
He stood that way in silence for a long time, listening to Kirk’s ragged breathing, eyes locked on the Imperial flag hanging above the stage. Time passed and he did not measure it, just waited quietly between Kirk and the door.
Finally, Kirk straightened, taking a gasping breath and running an unsteady hand through his hair. He turned to McCoy.
“You’d think,” he said, viciously, “that you’d show your captain a little more obedience.”
McCoy kept his eyes pointed forward. “I haven’t signed onto your crew, yet. I’ve had other offers.”
“You will,” Kirk replied evenly, as if there were no question of the outcome. “Why did you bring me on board the Enterprise?”
“Why did you rescue Pike?” McCoy asked. “Anyone else would have left him. You had a lot to gain from his death.”
Kirk shrugged. “I got what I wanted anyway. And now he owes me a favor.”
McCoy turned to him, tipping his head. He mind flashed to the unlocked door of the auditorium, and the determination on Kirk’s face when he’d beamed back with Pike hanging from his arms. “I don’t think so, Jim.”
“You think too much,” Kirk growled, his hand ghosting over the dagger. “Why did you sneak me aboard?”
McCoy said nothing, just looked at Kirk. Stared for a long moment at the man he’d orbited for three years, patched up and talked down and searched out since they’d met. The only man McCoy would ever trust to keep him alive amidst the danger of space.
He brought a fist to his chest; an echo of the ceremony held in this room three nights ago. But instead of extending his arm to finish the gesture, he tapped the spot over his heart once, twice. Eyes locked on Kirk’s, he raised his fist and brought it back to his chest a final time before dropping it to his side, completing a salute first seen millennia ago and rarely since, intended not for commanding officers, but kings.
Kirk’s brow rose in surprise, or speculation. Closing his eyes, McCoy bowed his head. He waited, neck exposed, nerves exposed, the acid in his stomach churning with an emotion he could not name but was neither fear nor anticipation. His meaning was unmistakable: my life for you.
“I know where my loyalties lie,” McCoy said, his tone slow and measured. “I’m at your disposal.” He hesitated, then swallowed. “Captain.”
He looked up, and almost had to turn away from Kirk’s gaze. His eyes, too fierce and vivid, almost burned as they looked McCoy up and down, seizing on him and sizing him up. The corner of Kirk’s mouth quirked disconcertingly; this was not the arrogant smirk or maniacal grin McCoy was accustomed to seeing on that face.
“I have no intention of disposing of you in the foreseeable future, Commander,” Kirk said, and a breath McCoy didn’t know he’d been holding rushed out of him. He did not flinch, and he didn’t shudder, but Kirk noticed his relief and looked pointedly away. “If I hadn’t had myself so thoroughly checked over, I really would believe you’d fitted me with a tracking unit.”
“I ought to.” McCoy took a deep breath, then another. “If you’re ready to leave,” he said, steady and himself again, eyes flicking towards the door, “we can get dinner. I’ll buy you a whore.”
Kirk shrugged. “Tomorrow, maybe. Tonight I have you.” His lip curled into a sneer. “I’ll have your things brought to my quarters. The dormitory is beneath you.” He turned, moving towards the exit with his usual imperious stride.
McCoy followed more sedately. Apt, he thought to himself with wry amusement, watching the back of the man to whom he’d just committed the rest of his life.
---
It took him a few hours to find Jim - he was in none of the usual hiding places, and Bones had been forced to check them all. (He hoped he’d never again have to explain to Uhura that there was a legitimate reason he was crawling around under her roommate’s bed.)
But after he’d looked there, and beneath the dumpster behind Jim’s favorite bar, and in the Military History section in the basement of the Academy library, he realized that he was going to have to try and get inside Jim’s head, a terrifying prospect.
He had to try and think like Jim. That was a challenge; since he’d spent the day searching, he didn’t have time to get completely wasted, and he wasn’t quite prepared to ram his head repeatedly into a wall. Drawing on his vast knowledge of James Tiberius Kirk, he closed his eyes and tried to think Jim-thoughts.
Sex. Sex involved being naked. Naked meant taking off the clothes you were wearing. Today Jim was wearing his red cadet uniform. There had been a lot of cadets at Jim’s ceremony three days ago. The ceremony had been in the auditorium.
Bones’ head snapped up. “To the auditorium!” he cried, pointing a finger towards the sky.
“Umm...okay?” said a passing cadet, looking at him strangely and shuffling into line behind him.
“Not you,” Bones frowned at him.
“Well fine.” The cadet huffed, walking off. Bones shrugged.
“To the auditorium!” he repeated, just as decisively.
The door to the auditorium was locked. Bones frowned at it, knowing that a small thing like breaking and entering wasn’t enough to deter Jim, and fully prepared to be annoyed should his follow-up burgling prove fruitless.
He managed to crawl in through a partially opened window in the costume room, cushioning his fall on a pile of dresses from the Starfleet Academy Players’ recent production of the Pirates of Penzance.
After disentangling himself from the grip of a lacy peach confection that reminded him of his Aunt Esther, he headed for the main seating area. Sure enough, he spotted a lone figure concealed in the shadows at the back of the room.
It was Jim, sitting on the floor with his arms wrapped around his legs, head leaning against his knees. “Ah,” Bones said, just then noticing the lace bonnet clinging to his shoulder. He threw it across the room and continued on, with unwavering dignity. “There you are, Jim.”
Jim said nothing, just tucked his face tighter against his arms.
“Jim?” Bones asked, moving closer. He sat down next to Jim, noticing for the first time that Jim was trembling. “Jim?” he repeated. “You okay?”
Jim emitted a choking noise, and his shoulders began to shake. Bones hesitated, reaching out slowly to put a hand on Jim’s back when-
Jim collapsed in a fit of maniacal laughter, raising his head and dropping his arms to pound a fist against the ground. Tears streamed down his face as he cackled, and Bones yanked his hand back with a mix of confusion, relief, and annoyance.
“Christ, Jim! What is so funny?” Bones snapped, crossing his arms.
“My life!” Jim gasped. “Oh god, my life is ridiculous. One day I’m hanging out at my local bar, content in the knowledge that I’ve finally succeeded in my lifelong goal of fully squandering my potential, and the next I’m in Starfleet, wearing a uniform someone designed for the sole purpose of making us all look like we’re choking to death.”
Bones started to protest, then closed his mouth and pulled lightly at his collar. He shrugged. “So?”
Jim chuckled. “So? So then I try to make a point by passing an un-passable test, and it almost costs me my entire career. I mean, let’s be honest - did they really imagine I thought I’d gotten away with something? Seriously. Did they picture me up in my dormitory, rubbing my hands together and muttering ‘they’ll never suspect a thing!’? What the fuck?”
Bones bit his lip. “You make a good point.”
“And then,” Jim said, wiping a tear from his eye. “Then you, being all awesome and my total BFF for life, sneak me aboard the Enterprise. For which I have yet to thank you, by the way.”
“Figured if I was doomed to die in space, the world would be safer if you went with me. Can’t leave you running around loose with no one to watch you,” Bones reached out to ruffle Jim’s hair, only managing to muss it slightly before the other man ducked out of the way, slapping at his hands.
“And I appreciate that,” Jim said, as if he weren’t currently having the girly-est of slapfights. “But then the method you chose made me swell pretty much everywhere except the one place it would have been appreciated. Did you fucking engineer that shit? Don’t answer that.”
Bones winked at him.
“Ignoring you, la la la,” Jim covered his ears. “So after all that, Pike fucking promotes me to first officer! I hope you scanned his brain, because I’m pretty sure stowing away on the flagship does not put one high on the short list for promotion. And then, as soon as the old man’s back is turned, Spock maroons me on an ice planet! What is with that guy? He couldn’t put me in the fucking brig? Jesus.”
“You were being kind of annoying,” Bones conceded. Jim did not dignify that with an acknowledgement.
“And who do I meet on the ice planet? My best friend Spock! Only older and a lot more hands-on. Then Old Spock pretty much orders me to go back to the ship and be a total dick! That’s how I personally get to save the universe - by acting like a douche.”
“He knew your skill-set and he went with it.”
“You’re still my BFF, but I kind of hate you right now. Anyway. Guess who else happens to be on the ice planet? The one guy in the universe capable of bending the laws of physics to get us back on the ship! Only he fucks up and lands himself in the one conceivable place on the entire 800 person spacecraft where he could possibly drown! Old Spock must have fucking hated Old Scotty back in the other universe, because I swear to god he arranged it. I saw him smirking as he beamed us out, the fucker.”
“And then you saved the universe, I get it, can we go eat? Because seriously, I’ve been looking for you for hours and I want a fucking sandwich.” Bones leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes.
“No! I’m not done. And you know you totally love the next part, where I get choked not once but twice.”
Bones opened his eyes and smiled brilliantly. “I’ll never forget the expression on your face. You looked like an angry squirrel.”
Jim rolled his eyes. “Shut up, you were worried about me. You followed me around for hours afterwards, bitching and stabbing me with hypos. I know that’s how you show your love.”
“I admit nothing,” Bones muttered.
“So then I save the universe by acting like an asshole and getting myself choked - twice. And they give me a fucking medal for it. No medal for the guy who bent time and space to get me back on board. No medal for Spock, who did a total bad-ass-mother-fucking suicide run towards a black hole. But I got a medal for being a dickhead!”
“I always told you that playing your strengths would take you far in life, Jim,” Bones said sagely.
“And then, then, they give me the fucking Enterprise! What the hell were they thinking? I don’t have the experience for that! That’s like giving a guy who just got a political science degree the job of Federation President as a graduation present! Who thought of that? I bet it was Pike, that guy is fucking demented.”
“You’ll probably be great at it,” Bones said, throwing an arm over Jim’s shoulder. “These clusterfucks always seem to work themselves out in your favor.”
Jim relaxed against him. “And then, after all that, after one ridiculous situation followed by another astounding and hilarious coincidence, I run off to think in the one place I know you won’t look. But you do. Because that is my life.”
“Pretty sure that part is my life,” Bones said, dryly. “Why were you hiding from me anyway?”
Jim sighed. “I don’t know why I try to fight it. The universe is conspiring against me. Everywhere I go, there you are. There you were on the shuttle, reeking of booze and ranting about space-madness or something. Why were you even in Riverside? You’re from Georgia!”
Bones shrugged. “It’s kind of a long story.”
“I bet it is,” Jim scoffed. “And then who gets assigned to be my roommate? Mr. Crazy from the shuttle!”
Bones cleared his throat.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Doctor Crazy.”
Bones waved a hand. “Carry on.”
“And who turns out to be all awesome, patching me up all the time and sharing his booze and take-out with me? Who helps me with the Kobayashi Maru all three times even though he thinks I’m being an idiot? Who memorizes my allergy list, which is so long even I can’t even be bothered?”
“Doctor Crazy?” Bones suggested.
“Doctor Crazy!” Jim shouted. “And then, who’s the only person who notices I’ve been on the run for three days, and actually succeeds in tracking me down!” Jim poked his finger into Bones’ chest. “You! Why are you so awesome? Do you have any idea how unfair that is?”
“Unfair!” Bones huffs. “Unfair? What’s unfair is being forced to room with the biggest man-whore in Starfleet!”
“Biggest is right,” Jim said, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.
“What’s unfair,” Bones said, swatting at Jim without pausing his diatribe, “Is having to follow said roommate to seedy bar after seedy bar, watching him get manhandled and beaten to a pulp, and then having to patch him up while he brags about his ‘awesome adventure!’ What’s unfair is having to listen to stories about your erotic exploits while I’m in the midst of the the longest dry-spell in recorded history!”
Jim shuddered.
“But what’s really unfair,” Bones continued, “what really pisses me off, is who do you come back to every night, stinking of the alley behind the bar and generally bleeding from somewhere? Who has to strip you down and shove you in the shower and then drag you into your bed? Who has to sneak you aboard the fucking Enterprise because you thought you were so damn clever and hacked the fucking Kobayashi Maru to prove a point? And who has to do all that while being oh-so-careful never to let on how much all that sucks for him?”
Jim looked at him expectantly.
“This guy!” Bones roared, pointing at his chest. “Doctor Crazy!”
Jim stiffened, pulling away from Bones. “Jeez, I’m really sorry, Bones. I had no idea how much you hated being my roommate. I mean, it makes sense, I know I fuck up a lot-”
Bones sighed. “No, Jim. That’s not why it’s unfair. I like being your roommate. You keep the fridge stocked with booze and slept with the floor monitor so he didn’t write us up for the fire incident. And you went with me to all those fucking shuttle sims and I’m pretty sure I’ve vomited more in your presence than with anyone else in my life.”
“That is also how you show your love,” Jim supplied. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed.”
“That’s the thing, Jim,” Bones gulped nervously. “...It kind of is.”
Jim furrowed his brows in confusion, and then his eyes widened. He collapsed onto Bones’ lap in a fit of laugher, covering his eyes with a hand and pounding a fist into the floor.
Bones reddened. “This is funny to you?”
“Yes!” Jim gasped. “Fuck yes! It happened again!”
“What happened?” Bones growled, pinching Jim’s upper arm. Jim smacked at him.
“I thought the universe was fucking me over,” Jim moved his hand away from his face and gazed up at Bones with a blinding smile. “But it was really giving me something awesome.”
Before Bones could decipher that well enough to respond, Jim launched himself into a seated position straddling his lap. The last thing Bones noticed was a set of crinkly blue eyes approaching him rapidly, and then he had a mouthful of Jim Kirk to deal with and wasn’t that delightful?
Actually, yes. Yes, it was.
Jim pulled away, grinning. Bones pinched him on the arm again, just to remind him that he could. “You better not be fucking with me,” he growled.
“Oh, I intend to do a lot of that,” Jim said, smiling even wider.
“No more screwing around?” Bones asked, warily.
Jim blinked. “Umm, I think I’m going to be a little busy ending your dry spell. Repeatedly, and with vigor.”
Bones sighed. That sounded really, really good. “You know what I mean, Jim.”
“I know,” Jim said, leaning into Bones’ neck and sucking gently. Bones moaned, and Jim pulled back with an extremely satisfied expression. “I don’t think you understand, Bones. The universe wants us to be together. This is fucking destiny, man. I’m not gonna mess with that.”
Bones shrugged, he had better things to do than sift through Jim’s disjointed ramblings for his point. “Whatever. Bottom line: you fuck around, I will chemically castrate you. Don’t think I can’t do it.”
Jim grinned again. “You’re so awesome. Let’s go fuck.” He jumped up without waiting for a response and started towards the door.
Bones stood, trailing behind him and wondering how exactly his life kept taking such bizarre turns. But, he thought to himself, staring at Jim’s perky ass (hugged spectacularly by his cadet uniform, which had probably been designed for just that purpose) if he was doomed to follow this kid across the universe, at least he could appreciate the view.
---
Leah McCoy sighed, running a hand through her disheveled hair. She was tired, she was rumpled, and she’d wasted an entire day searching for Jane, who was still nowhere to be found. It had been a warm day, but the evening was cooling rapidly, and Leah regretted letting Jane talk her into the uniform dress, rather than the more practical pants towards which she’d been leaning.
Though she could probably find Jane if she kept searching (she had an uncanny knack for knowing just what was going on in that woman’s head) she wasn’t about to waste even more time and energy to avoid admitting defeat.
Flipping open her comm, she hit a few buttons. As expected, it routed her directly to the message server.
“Jane,” she drawled, “message me and let me know where you are. Or hand to god, woman, I will replace your contraceptive boosters with pre-natals. I hope you like changing diapers.” These were the moments she was glad she had one of the older-model comm devices, the newer, one-piece units didn’t slam shut with such a satisfying click.
The reply came within a minute: I’m in the auditorium, and I want to be alone. Leah frowned at the tiny screen. Well, she thought, stalking off in the direction of the auditorium, wasn’t that too fucking bad?
She didn’t see Jane at first, but just as she was reaching for her comm, prepared to unleash a torrent of malevolence strong enough to bleach hair, she spotted her. Jane sat in a shadowy corner, shoulders hunched and arms wrapped around her shins.
“Ah, there you are Jane.” Leah smiled at her, relieved and indulgent. “Drama queen.”
She expected a response from Jane, a smile, or some witty barb, but the woman just stared straight ahead, as if she hadn’t even noticed Leah was there.
“Hey,” Leah said, walking over and crouching in front of her friend. “What’s wrong?”
Jane tipped her head forward, her long hair falling over her face like a curtain. “Fuck off, Bones.”
“Oh, honey,” Leah said, sadly. “Don’t do that.” Reaching forward, she brushed the hair out of Jane’s eyes, tucking it gently behind her ears. “It’s just me. You know you don’t have to hide from me.” Shifting positions, she sat next to her friend, throwing an arm around Jane’s shoulders. “What’s bothering you?”
Jane squeezed her eyes shut, and quickly brought her hands up to cover her face. Just as fast, Leah wrapped her other arm around the woman, pulling Jane down against her shoulder. “Jane, Jane, it’s not so bad. I promise, whatever it is can’t be this bad. I’ll fix it, I swear, just tell me what’s wrong, please?”
A soft cry escaped Jane as she shook her head, and then it was as if a dam had burst. She collapsed, sobbing and clinging as if Leah were the only thing holding her to the ground.
They stayed like that for a few minutes, Leah rubbed slow circles over Jane’s back, trying to soothe her with gentle, hushing noises. “There, there, darlin’. It’s all right. Whatever it is, we’ll take care of it together, okay? You and me. But you just cry it out now, sweetheart, just let it all out. We’ve got all the time in the world. You’ll tell me when you’re ready.”
“I’m-” Jane gasped, clearly struggling to speak around her harsh breathing. “I’m - gonna - miss you.”
“Miss me?” Leah said, mystified. “What the hell are you talking about?”
Jane looked up, sobbing under control now, but eyes still shiny with tears. “You hate space,” she whispered, as if that were any kind of explanation.
“I hate to be the one to tell you this,” Leah said, smiling a little as she ran a hand over Jane’s damp cheek, “but Starfleet operates in space.”
Jane sighed, wrapping her arms around Leah and closing her eyes. “But you don’t have to. I heard the good news - they want you to lead a surgical team at Starfleet Medical. And - and I’m really happy for you,” she said, starting to sniffle again.
“Jane,” Leah murmured, carding her fingers through the tangles in Jane’s long hair. “I already turned that down.”
Jane looked up. “What? Why? You could stay on earth, you could-”
“No,” Leah said firmly, tracing a thumb across Jane’s hairline. “I couldn’t.”
“It’d be a really good career move,” Jane said, her expression inscrutable.
“I’m holding out for better,” Leah winked. “Word is there’s an opening for the CMO position on the flagship.”
Jane finally smiled a little. “I can put in a good word for you. I have an in with the captain.” She leaned against Leah’s shoulder, then took a deep breath. “I’m in love with you too, Bones.”
Leah froze. “I - you - what?”
Laughing, Jane tilted her head up to smile at Leah’s shocked expression. “I love you, too.”
“And what makes you so damn sure I’m in love with you?” Leah said sharply, with a hint of panic.
“Umm, maybe the fact that you spent our entire first year at the Academy bitching about the dangers of space, and how our blood would boil out our ears or something the second we got up there? And now you’re turning down a cushy planetside job to go live in space with me? That was a pretty big clue.”
“Oh, of course it’s all about you,” Leah said. “You don’t know. Maybe I have a thing for Chekov, she’s very sweet and-”
And that was as far as she got before Jane kissed her. It was soft, and sweet, and a little too wet - the tears still clinging to Jane’s cheeks were warm and damp under Leah’s hands. Jane’s fingers tangled in Leah’s hair as the kiss deepened, and the soft, keening sounds she made were something Leah intended to remember all her life.
Eventually, Jane pulled away, grinning. “I wouldn’t have thought you had it in you, Bones,” Jane said. “Sleeping your way to the top?”
“Yeah, well,” Leah said, trying and failing to suppress a smile. “Chief Medical Officer is a very prestigious position.”
They laughed, and then suddenly the mood shifted. The smile fell from Jane’s face, and her eyes darkened, suddenly serious. “Don’t leave me, okay?” she asked, and Leah shivered at the vulnerability in her expression. It sent a warm feeling straight through her chest, knowing that only she was allowed to see Jane open and exposed like this, but it was a responsibility, too - and Leah had to decide right then whether or not she was willing to bear it.
“I won’t,” she whispered, taking Jane’s hand and lacing their fingers together. “How could you think I ever would?”
Jane nuzzled against her before jumping to her feet and pulling Leah up by their joined hands. “Come on,” she grinned. “Let’s get out of here.”
“You realize,” Leah said dryly, getting to her feet. “This means you’re going to have to give up on your quest to sleep with Uhura?”
“But Bones, he’s so hot,” Jane smirked. Leah yanked a lock of her hair. “Hey!”
“Hey yourself.” Leah rolled her eyes. Though she’d never been one to put stock in things like fate, watching Jane smooth her hair over the shoulder of a uniform dress that was almost the same color gold, it was easy to believe that the universe had taken a particular interest in the life of this woman, had marked her from birth for a singular destiny.
To hell with that, Leah thought as Jane dragged her towards the door. Jane Kirk may have been born to captain the Enterprise, but no matter where the universe lead her, CMO McCoy would be following right behind.
To Part Two
Author: linelenagain
Original Fic and Author: Disappearing Act by skyblue_reverie
Wordcount: ~11k
Rating: R
Summary: A remix of Disappearing Act by skyblue_reverie. You'll want to read that one first. This is my take on it: 5 ways it could have happened, and 1 way it did.
Notes: I spent a while thinking about how I wanted to remix this. I had a few ideas, and I was really torn between them, so I thought 'why not just do 'em all?' This is that: the same story, five times, told in Mirror-verse, crack, genderswap, smut, angst, and finally a point of view switch for the finale. Any of the parts should stand alone, in the event that you want to skip some, but I hope you'll give them all a chance - they work better together.
The dialogue in the last section is lifted straight from the original fic, with the exception of Bones' little speech towards the end.
I would also like to profusely thank pixelmayhem who, as always, was an enormous help with this. Couldn't do it without you, bb!
I am so grateful to skyblue_reverie for allowing me to play with her wonderful fic. It has been one of my favorites since she wrote it, and if you haven't read it before, or if you have and haven't left feedback, I highly, highly encourage you to do so. Thank you, bb. <3
---
Kirk was missing. This was extremely troubling for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was that McCoy’s uncanny ability to locate the man, no matter how obscure his hiding spot, seemed to be failing him.
The first time Kirk had gone to ground, after a fight in the combat training room that lead to the death of two cadets, McCoy had discovered him in the Ancient Volumes section of the library. Since then, he’d found the man in dozens of other places, including the shuttle simulator, a dormant agony booth and, one memorable night, the roof of the women’s dormitory.
The first few times, Kirk had snarled at him, accusing McCoy of implanting him with a tracking device on one of the many occasions McCoy had patched him up. Though he’d considered that at the beginning of their unlikely alliance, it had proved unnecessary. He’d developed a remarkable sense of the other man in their three years as roommates, and the last thing he wanted was to put their himself at risk by shattering Kirk’s wary trust. Though, he reflected as he checked another of Kirk’s empty bolt-holes, he may have to reconsider that.
He needed Kirk. The man had proven extraordinarily talented at keeping himself and the people around him alive. McCoy had never heard of a cadet graduating from the Academy with as many enemies as Kirk seemed to have collected over the course of his training. And to not only have survived, but be promoted immediately to captaincy? Unprecedented. But that was Kirk, one of a kind.
With that thought, everything fell into place and he knew where Kirk was hiding. He turned towards the auditorium, careful to keep his pace slow and measured. It was unwise to be seen running, it made people think of giving chase.
As he suspected, the lights were dimmed, but on, and the door was open. McCoy would almost have thought he was expected, if not for the fact that Kirk had been avoiding him, keeping clear of his usual places and not returning to their shared dormitory in favor of the officer’s quarters to which he was now entitled.
He had only seen the man once since their return to Earth - three days ago on this very stage, where Kirk had been awarded a medal for services to the Empire. The entire audience had stood in salute, while he and McCoy had locked eyes over a sea of raised fists. McCoy had spent the past three nights trying to decipher Kirk’s expression at that moment.
“Ah,” he said quietly, eyeing a figure in a darkened corner. “There you are, Jim.” He kept his voice nonchalant - Kirk was liable to attack if startled, McCoy had the scars to prove that.
Kirk just stood there, face to the wall, gripping hard at the back of an empty chair.
“Are you injured?” McCoy asked, assessing Kirk’s hunched shoulders and slightly trembling arms.
“Fuck off,” Kirk snarled at him, but the tone was wrong, harsh but almost desperate, and McCoy stiffened with sudden understanding, and fear.
He was a medic, he’d seen tears before - but never from Kirk. No matter how badly the man had been beaten, in defiance of any and all pain, Kirk had never so much as bitten his lip, not so much as whimpered.
He’ll kill me for seeing this, McCoy was absolutely certain. But Kirk made no move, just tightened his fingers around the edge of the chair, knuckles white. McCoy eyed the knife at Kirk’s belt, bright and sharp, the handle worn from the friction of Kirk’s work-roughened palm.
He felt a sudden, mad impulse to reach out, to turn Kirk towards him and look him in the eye and see, and to let Kirk know that he’d been seen. Instead, he turned to the front of the room, neither facing Kirk nor turning away from him, and brought his hands together behind his back.
He stood that way in silence for a long time, listening to Kirk’s ragged breathing, eyes locked on the Imperial flag hanging above the stage. Time passed and he did not measure it, just waited quietly between Kirk and the door.
Finally, Kirk straightened, taking a gasping breath and running an unsteady hand through his hair. He turned to McCoy.
“You’d think,” he said, viciously, “that you’d show your captain a little more obedience.”
McCoy kept his eyes pointed forward. “I haven’t signed onto your crew, yet. I’ve had other offers.”
“You will,” Kirk replied evenly, as if there were no question of the outcome. “Why did you bring me on board the Enterprise?”
“Why did you rescue Pike?” McCoy asked. “Anyone else would have left him. You had a lot to gain from his death.”
Kirk shrugged. “I got what I wanted anyway. And now he owes me a favor.”
McCoy turned to him, tipping his head. He mind flashed to the unlocked door of the auditorium, and the determination on Kirk’s face when he’d beamed back with Pike hanging from his arms. “I don’t think so, Jim.”
“You think too much,” Kirk growled, his hand ghosting over the dagger. “Why did you sneak me aboard?”
McCoy said nothing, just looked at Kirk. Stared for a long moment at the man he’d orbited for three years, patched up and talked down and searched out since they’d met. The only man McCoy would ever trust to keep him alive amidst the danger of space.
He brought a fist to his chest; an echo of the ceremony held in this room three nights ago. But instead of extending his arm to finish the gesture, he tapped the spot over his heart once, twice. Eyes locked on Kirk’s, he raised his fist and brought it back to his chest a final time before dropping it to his side, completing a salute first seen millennia ago and rarely since, intended not for commanding officers, but kings.
Kirk’s brow rose in surprise, or speculation. Closing his eyes, McCoy bowed his head. He waited, neck exposed, nerves exposed, the acid in his stomach churning with an emotion he could not name but was neither fear nor anticipation. His meaning was unmistakable: my life for you.
“I know where my loyalties lie,” McCoy said, his tone slow and measured. “I’m at your disposal.” He hesitated, then swallowed. “Captain.”
He looked up, and almost had to turn away from Kirk’s gaze. His eyes, too fierce and vivid, almost burned as they looked McCoy up and down, seizing on him and sizing him up. The corner of Kirk’s mouth quirked disconcertingly; this was not the arrogant smirk or maniacal grin McCoy was accustomed to seeing on that face.
“I have no intention of disposing of you in the foreseeable future, Commander,” Kirk said, and a breath McCoy didn’t know he’d been holding rushed out of him. He did not flinch, and he didn’t shudder, but Kirk noticed his relief and looked pointedly away. “If I hadn’t had myself so thoroughly checked over, I really would believe you’d fitted me with a tracking unit.”
“I ought to.” McCoy took a deep breath, then another. “If you’re ready to leave,” he said, steady and himself again, eyes flicking towards the door, “we can get dinner. I’ll buy you a whore.”
Kirk shrugged. “Tomorrow, maybe. Tonight I have you.” His lip curled into a sneer. “I’ll have your things brought to my quarters. The dormitory is beneath you.” He turned, moving towards the exit with his usual imperious stride.
McCoy followed more sedately. Apt, he thought to himself with wry amusement, watching the back of the man to whom he’d just committed the rest of his life.
---
It took him a few hours to find Jim - he was in none of the usual hiding places, and Bones had been forced to check them all. (He hoped he’d never again have to explain to Uhura that there was a legitimate reason he was crawling around under her roommate’s bed.)
But after he’d looked there, and beneath the dumpster behind Jim’s favorite bar, and in the Military History section in the basement of the Academy library, he realized that he was going to have to try and get inside Jim’s head, a terrifying prospect.
He had to try and think like Jim. That was a challenge; since he’d spent the day searching, he didn’t have time to get completely wasted, and he wasn’t quite prepared to ram his head repeatedly into a wall. Drawing on his vast knowledge of James Tiberius Kirk, he closed his eyes and tried to think Jim-thoughts.
Sex. Sex involved being naked. Naked meant taking off the clothes you were wearing. Today Jim was wearing his red cadet uniform. There had been a lot of cadets at Jim’s ceremony three days ago. The ceremony had been in the auditorium.
Bones’ head snapped up. “To the auditorium!” he cried, pointing a finger towards the sky.
“Umm...okay?” said a passing cadet, looking at him strangely and shuffling into line behind him.
“Not you,” Bones frowned at him.
“Well fine.” The cadet huffed, walking off. Bones shrugged.
“To the auditorium!” he repeated, just as decisively.
The door to the auditorium was locked. Bones frowned at it, knowing that a small thing like breaking and entering wasn’t enough to deter Jim, and fully prepared to be annoyed should his follow-up burgling prove fruitless.
He managed to crawl in through a partially opened window in the costume room, cushioning his fall on a pile of dresses from the Starfleet Academy Players’ recent production of the Pirates of Penzance.
After disentangling himself from the grip of a lacy peach confection that reminded him of his Aunt Esther, he headed for the main seating area. Sure enough, he spotted a lone figure concealed in the shadows at the back of the room.
It was Jim, sitting on the floor with his arms wrapped around his legs, head leaning against his knees. “Ah,” Bones said, just then noticing the lace bonnet clinging to his shoulder. He threw it across the room and continued on, with unwavering dignity. “There you are, Jim.”
Jim said nothing, just tucked his face tighter against his arms.
“Jim?” Bones asked, moving closer. He sat down next to Jim, noticing for the first time that Jim was trembling. “Jim?” he repeated. “You okay?”
Jim emitted a choking noise, and his shoulders began to shake. Bones hesitated, reaching out slowly to put a hand on Jim’s back when-
Jim collapsed in a fit of maniacal laughter, raising his head and dropping his arms to pound a fist against the ground. Tears streamed down his face as he cackled, and Bones yanked his hand back with a mix of confusion, relief, and annoyance.
“Christ, Jim! What is so funny?” Bones snapped, crossing his arms.
“My life!” Jim gasped. “Oh god, my life is ridiculous. One day I’m hanging out at my local bar, content in the knowledge that I’ve finally succeeded in my lifelong goal of fully squandering my potential, and the next I’m in Starfleet, wearing a uniform someone designed for the sole purpose of making us all look like we’re choking to death.”
Bones started to protest, then closed his mouth and pulled lightly at his collar. He shrugged. “So?”
Jim chuckled. “So? So then I try to make a point by passing an un-passable test, and it almost costs me my entire career. I mean, let’s be honest - did they really imagine I thought I’d gotten away with something? Seriously. Did they picture me up in my dormitory, rubbing my hands together and muttering ‘they’ll never suspect a thing!’? What the fuck?”
Bones bit his lip. “You make a good point.”
“And then,” Jim said, wiping a tear from his eye. “Then you, being all awesome and my total BFF for life, sneak me aboard the Enterprise. For which I have yet to thank you, by the way.”
“Figured if I was doomed to die in space, the world would be safer if you went with me. Can’t leave you running around loose with no one to watch you,” Bones reached out to ruffle Jim’s hair, only managing to muss it slightly before the other man ducked out of the way, slapping at his hands.
“And I appreciate that,” Jim said, as if he weren’t currently having the girly-est of slapfights. “But then the method you chose made me swell pretty much everywhere except the one place it would have been appreciated. Did you fucking engineer that shit? Don’t answer that.”
Bones winked at him.
“Ignoring you, la la la,” Jim covered his ears. “So after all that, Pike fucking promotes me to first officer! I hope you scanned his brain, because I’m pretty sure stowing away on the flagship does not put one high on the short list for promotion. And then, as soon as the old man’s back is turned, Spock maroons me on an ice planet! What is with that guy? He couldn’t put me in the fucking brig? Jesus.”
“You were being kind of annoying,” Bones conceded. Jim did not dignify that with an acknowledgement.
“And who do I meet on the ice planet? My best friend Spock! Only older and a lot more hands-on. Then Old Spock pretty much orders me to go back to the ship and be a total dick! That’s how I personally get to save the universe - by acting like a douche.”
“He knew your skill-set and he went with it.”
“You’re still my BFF, but I kind of hate you right now. Anyway. Guess who else happens to be on the ice planet? The one guy in the universe capable of bending the laws of physics to get us back on the ship! Only he fucks up and lands himself in the one conceivable place on the entire 800 person spacecraft where he could possibly drown! Old Spock must have fucking hated Old Scotty back in the other universe, because I swear to god he arranged it. I saw him smirking as he beamed us out, the fucker.”
“And then you saved the universe, I get it, can we go eat? Because seriously, I’ve been looking for you for hours and I want a fucking sandwich.” Bones leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes.
“No! I’m not done. And you know you totally love the next part, where I get choked not once but twice.”
Bones opened his eyes and smiled brilliantly. “I’ll never forget the expression on your face. You looked like an angry squirrel.”
Jim rolled his eyes. “Shut up, you were worried about me. You followed me around for hours afterwards, bitching and stabbing me with hypos. I know that’s how you show your love.”
“I admit nothing,” Bones muttered.
“So then I save the universe by acting like an asshole and getting myself choked - twice. And they give me a fucking medal for it. No medal for the guy who bent time and space to get me back on board. No medal for Spock, who did a total bad-ass-mother-fucking suicide run towards a black hole. But I got a medal for being a dickhead!”
“I always told you that playing your strengths would take you far in life, Jim,” Bones said sagely.
“And then, then, they give me the fucking Enterprise! What the hell were they thinking? I don’t have the experience for that! That’s like giving a guy who just got a political science degree the job of Federation President as a graduation present! Who thought of that? I bet it was Pike, that guy is fucking demented.”
“You’ll probably be great at it,” Bones said, throwing an arm over Jim’s shoulder. “These clusterfucks always seem to work themselves out in your favor.”
Jim relaxed against him. “And then, after all that, after one ridiculous situation followed by another astounding and hilarious coincidence, I run off to think in the one place I know you won’t look. But you do. Because that is my life.”
“Pretty sure that part is my life,” Bones said, dryly. “Why were you hiding from me anyway?”
Jim sighed. “I don’t know why I try to fight it. The universe is conspiring against me. Everywhere I go, there you are. There you were on the shuttle, reeking of booze and ranting about space-madness or something. Why were you even in Riverside? You’re from Georgia!”
Bones shrugged. “It’s kind of a long story.”
“I bet it is,” Jim scoffed. “And then who gets assigned to be my roommate? Mr. Crazy from the shuttle!”
Bones cleared his throat.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Doctor Crazy.”
Bones waved a hand. “Carry on.”
“And who turns out to be all awesome, patching me up all the time and sharing his booze and take-out with me? Who helps me with the Kobayashi Maru all three times even though he thinks I’m being an idiot? Who memorizes my allergy list, which is so long even I can’t even be bothered?”
“Doctor Crazy?” Bones suggested.
“Doctor Crazy!” Jim shouted. “And then, who’s the only person who notices I’ve been on the run for three days, and actually succeeds in tracking me down!” Jim poked his finger into Bones’ chest. “You! Why are you so awesome? Do you have any idea how unfair that is?”
“Unfair!” Bones huffs. “Unfair? What’s unfair is being forced to room with the biggest man-whore in Starfleet!”
“Biggest is right,” Jim said, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.
“What’s unfair,” Bones said, swatting at Jim without pausing his diatribe, “Is having to follow said roommate to seedy bar after seedy bar, watching him get manhandled and beaten to a pulp, and then having to patch him up while he brags about his ‘awesome adventure!’ What’s unfair is having to listen to stories about your erotic exploits while I’m in the midst of the the longest dry-spell in recorded history!”
Jim shuddered.
“But what’s really unfair,” Bones continued, “what really pisses me off, is who do you come back to every night, stinking of the alley behind the bar and generally bleeding from somewhere? Who has to strip you down and shove you in the shower and then drag you into your bed? Who has to sneak you aboard the fucking Enterprise because you thought you were so damn clever and hacked the fucking Kobayashi Maru to prove a point? And who has to do all that while being oh-so-careful never to let on how much all that sucks for him?”
Jim looked at him expectantly.
“This guy!” Bones roared, pointing at his chest. “Doctor Crazy!”
Jim stiffened, pulling away from Bones. “Jeez, I’m really sorry, Bones. I had no idea how much you hated being my roommate. I mean, it makes sense, I know I fuck up a lot-”
Bones sighed. “No, Jim. That’s not why it’s unfair. I like being your roommate. You keep the fridge stocked with booze and slept with the floor monitor so he didn’t write us up for the fire incident. And you went with me to all those fucking shuttle sims and I’m pretty sure I’ve vomited more in your presence than with anyone else in my life.”
“That is also how you show your love,” Jim supplied. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed.”
“That’s the thing, Jim,” Bones gulped nervously. “...It kind of is.”
Jim furrowed his brows in confusion, and then his eyes widened. He collapsed onto Bones’ lap in a fit of laugher, covering his eyes with a hand and pounding a fist into the floor.
Bones reddened. “This is funny to you?”
“Yes!” Jim gasped. “Fuck yes! It happened again!”
“What happened?” Bones growled, pinching Jim’s upper arm. Jim smacked at him.
“I thought the universe was fucking me over,” Jim moved his hand away from his face and gazed up at Bones with a blinding smile. “But it was really giving me something awesome.”
Before Bones could decipher that well enough to respond, Jim launched himself into a seated position straddling his lap. The last thing Bones noticed was a set of crinkly blue eyes approaching him rapidly, and then he had a mouthful of Jim Kirk to deal with and wasn’t that delightful?
Actually, yes. Yes, it was.
Jim pulled away, grinning. Bones pinched him on the arm again, just to remind him that he could. “You better not be fucking with me,” he growled.
“Oh, I intend to do a lot of that,” Jim said, smiling even wider.
“No more screwing around?” Bones asked, warily.
Jim blinked. “Umm, I think I’m going to be a little busy ending your dry spell. Repeatedly, and with vigor.”
Bones sighed. That sounded really, really good. “You know what I mean, Jim.”
“I know,” Jim said, leaning into Bones’ neck and sucking gently. Bones moaned, and Jim pulled back with an extremely satisfied expression. “I don’t think you understand, Bones. The universe wants us to be together. This is fucking destiny, man. I’m not gonna mess with that.”
Bones shrugged, he had better things to do than sift through Jim’s disjointed ramblings for his point. “Whatever. Bottom line: you fuck around, I will chemically castrate you. Don’t think I can’t do it.”
Jim grinned again. “You’re so awesome. Let’s go fuck.” He jumped up without waiting for a response and started towards the door.
Bones stood, trailing behind him and wondering how exactly his life kept taking such bizarre turns. But, he thought to himself, staring at Jim’s perky ass (hugged spectacularly by his cadet uniform, which had probably been designed for just that purpose) if he was doomed to follow this kid across the universe, at least he could appreciate the view.
---
Leah McCoy sighed, running a hand through her disheveled hair. She was tired, she was rumpled, and she’d wasted an entire day searching for Jane, who was still nowhere to be found. It had been a warm day, but the evening was cooling rapidly, and Leah regretted letting Jane talk her into the uniform dress, rather than the more practical pants towards which she’d been leaning.
Though she could probably find Jane if she kept searching (she had an uncanny knack for knowing just what was going on in that woman’s head) she wasn’t about to waste even more time and energy to avoid admitting defeat.
Flipping open her comm, she hit a few buttons. As expected, it routed her directly to the message server.
“Jane,” she drawled, “message me and let me know where you are. Or hand to god, woman, I will replace your contraceptive boosters with pre-natals. I hope you like changing diapers.” These were the moments she was glad she had one of the older-model comm devices, the newer, one-piece units didn’t slam shut with such a satisfying click.
The reply came within a minute: I’m in the auditorium, and I want to be alone. Leah frowned at the tiny screen. Well, she thought, stalking off in the direction of the auditorium, wasn’t that too fucking bad?
She didn’t see Jane at first, but just as she was reaching for her comm, prepared to unleash a torrent of malevolence strong enough to bleach hair, she spotted her. Jane sat in a shadowy corner, shoulders hunched and arms wrapped around her shins.
“Ah, there you are Jane.” Leah smiled at her, relieved and indulgent. “Drama queen.”
She expected a response from Jane, a smile, or some witty barb, but the woman just stared straight ahead, as if she hadn’t even noticed Leah was there.
“Hey,” Leah said, walking over and crouching in front of her friend. “What’s wrong?”
Jane tipped her head forward, her long hair falling over her face like a curtain. “Fuck off, Bones.”
“Oh, honey,” Leah said, sadly. “Don’t do that.” Reaching forward, she brushed the hair out of Jane’s eyes, tucking it gently behind her ears. “It’s just me. You know you don’t have to hide from me.” Shifting positions, she sat next to her friend, throwing an arm around Jane’s shoulders. “What’s bothering you?”
Jane squeezed her eyes shut, and quickly brought her hands up to cover her face. Just as fast, Leah wrapped her other arm around the woman, pulling Jane down against her shoulder. “Jane, Jane, it’s not so bad. I promise, whatever it is can’t be this bad. I’ll fix it, I swear, just tell me what’s wrong, please?”
A soft cry escaped Jane as she shook her head, and then it was as if a dam had burst. She collapsed, sobbing and clinging as if Leah were the only thing holding her to the ground.
They stayed like that for a few minutes, Leah rubbed slow circles over Jane’s back, trying to soothe her with gentle, hushing noises. “There, there, darlin’. It’s all right. Whatever it is, we’ll take care of it together, okay? You and me. But you just cry it out now, sweetheart, just let it all out. We’ve got all the time in the world. You’ll tell me when you’re ready.”
“I’m-” Jane gasped, clearly struggling to speak around her harsh breathing. “I’m - gonna - miss you.”
“Miss me?” Leah said, mystified. “What the hell are you talking about?”
Jane looked up, sobbing under control now, but eyes still shiny with tears. “You hate space,” she whispered, as if that were any kind of explanation.
“I hate to be the one to tell you this,” Leah said, smiling a little as she ran a hand over Jane’s damp cheek, “but Starfleet operates in space.”
Jane sighed, wrapping her arms around Leah and closing her eyes. “But you don’t have to. I heard the good news - they want you to lead a surgical team at Starfleet Medical. And - and I’m really happy for you,” she said, starting to sniffle again.
“Jane,” Leah murmured, carding her fingers through the tangles in Jane’s long hair. “I already turned that down.”
Jane looked up. “What? Why? You could stay on earth, you could-”
“No,” Leah said firmly, tracing a thumb across Jane’s hairline. “I couldn’t.”
“It’d be a really good career move,” Jane said, her expression inscrutable.
“I’m holding out for better,” Leah winked. “Word is there’s an opening for the CMO position on the flagship.”
Jane finally smiled a little. “I can put in a good word for you. I have an in with the captain.” She leaned against Leah’s shoulder, then took a deep breath. “I’m in love with you too, Bones.”
Leah froze. “I - you - what?”
Laughing, Jane tilted her head up to smile at Leah’s shocked expression. “I love you, too.”
“And what makes you so damn sure I’m in love with you?” Leah said sharply, with a hint of panic.
“Umm, maybe the fact that you spent our entire first year at the Academy bitching about the dangers of space, and how our blood would boil out our ears or something the second we got up there? And now you’re turning down a cushy planetside job to go live in space with me? That was a pretty big clue.”
“Oh, of course it’s all about you,” Leah said. “You don’t know. Maybe I have a thing for Chekov, she’s very sweet and-”
And that was as far as she got before Jane kissed her. It was soft, and sweet, and a little too wet - the tears still clinging to Jane’s cheeks were warm and damp under Leah’s hands. Jane’s fingers tangled in Leah’s hair as the kiss deepened, and the soft, keening sounds she made were something Leah intended to remember all her life.
Eventually, Jane pulled away, grinning. “I wouldn’t have thought you had it in you, Bones,” Jane said. “Sleeping your way to the top?”
“Yeah, well,” Leah said, trying and failing to suppress a smile. “Chief Medical Officer is a very prestigious position.”
They laughed, and then suddenly the mood shifted. The smile fell from Jane’s face, and her eyes darkened, suddenly serious. “Don’t leave me, okay?” she asked, and Leah shivered at the vulnerability in her expression. It sent a warm feeling straight through her chest, knowing that only she was allowed to see Jane open and exposed like this, but it was a responsibility, too - and Leah had to decide right then whether or not she was willing to bear it.
“I won’t,” she whispered, taking Jane’s hand and lacing their fingers together. “How could you think I ever would?”
Jane nuzzled against her before jumping to her feet and pulling Leah up by their joined hands. “Come on,” she grinned. “Let’s get out of here.”
“You realize,” Leah said dryly, getting to her feet. “This means you’re going to have to give up on your quest to sleep with Uhura?”
“But Bones, he’s so hot,” Jane smirked. Leah yanked a lock of her hair. “Hey!”
“Hey yourself.” Leah rolled her eyes. Though she’d never been one to put stock in things like fate, watching Jane smooth her hair over the shoulder of a uniform dress that was almost the same color gold, it was easy to believe that the universe had taken a particular interest in the life of this woman, had marked her from birth for a singular destiny.
To hell with that, Leah thought as Jane dragged her towards the door. Jane Kirk may have been born to captain the Enterprise, but no matter where the universe lead her, CMO McCoy would be following right behind.
To Part Two