Fic: A Christmas Wish [PG]
Title: A Christmas Wish
Author: mach1n3
Fandom: Star Trek
Word Count: 1,017
Rating: PG
Paring: None
Disclaimer: As much as I want to hug them and squeeze them...I can't call them mine.
Summary: After being gone for only a few months McCoy makes the trip back to Georgia for Christmas.
A/N: Yes, it's not yet December here. This little snippet ate at my brain through most of the morning at work...I blame the bad 'holiday' music.
How was it that one simple sentence - a request, really - could make him feel so elated and yet so grief stricken in all the same moment? To go back to Georgia would mean possibly confronting Tom, and to not…and for as much as he and Jocelyn had fallen apart in those terrible months there was no way that Len could stay away for this.
People were still entering the shuttle as he sat there, eyes shut tight, fists clenched, sweat beading down his brow. Len truly wished he could fish out his flask at that moment. Alas, he had left it in his dorm room lest he smell like a liquor cabinet before the trip was finished. It wasn’t as though the little thing could have made it through baggage at any rate.
“Something to ease your nerves, sir?”
“No, I’m all right, thanks,” it was far from the truth. The give into temptation was there, but he would not give in.
Leonard had received the letter mere weeks before Christmas. Winter break meant that the Academy would be mostly deserted, save for a few off-worlders who didn’t celebrate any of the Terran religious holidays. So asking for time off from Clinical hadn’t been much of an issue. The real problem had come from pulling enough credits to secure a shuttle - thanks in part to his beloved ex. Most of his tuition had been paid for by his long shifts in Medical, and what little that was left over had gone into attempting to enjoy the ‘night life’ with his new friend. Luckily for him, Ryan had offered to drive him to and from the shuttleport and a few other places during his short stay.
As for his new found friend, Jim Kirk had high tailed it from campus to parts unknown almost as soon as break began. Leonard really wouldn’t mind the other man’s company through this shuttle ride; so he in part imagined a small conversation to distract him as the engines warmed and the thrusters engaged. Regardless of what the woman sitting next to him thought about his sanity.
No, Len wouldn’t put another person through his own personal failings - much less Jim. He certainly didn’t feel like they needed to be on display when he set foot back upon his native soil…Something he was sure might happen given the chance and an unsuspecting outsider. And he certainly didn’t need a shield to stand behind, as much as the company would be welcomed.
Hours unraveled to feel like a lifetime, but Leonard made it through the trip physically unscaved. So unlikely was he to ever encounter these people again that his pride didn’t feel too permanently bruised either. It was well past midnight when he stepped from the shuttle and bypassed the baggage terminal. Even if he could stay longer the few possessions - namely clothing - he did own didn’t amount to much more than what his duffle could carry at any rate. Thanks again to the wonderful ex wife.
His cousin hadn’t been waiting with the car for long when Len finally threw his duffle in the back.
“You look well,” the older man had remarked. Leonard thought it was only to exchange pleasantries; he being fairly certain the color hadn’t completely come back to his face and there was likely dampness along his collar.
“Thanks,” Leonard gruffed. He hadn’t meant the words to come out as they had, but it was late and the trip had taxed his nerves.
“I mean it. Before with the divorce…” The man trailed off, his earnestness giving way to uncertainty with what might be considered ‘out of bounds’ with his relation.
Leonard’s shoulders slumped somewhat, an awkward silence widening the gap between cousins and boyhood friends.
“S’okay,” he said after a minute had well passed. It wasn’t alright, not yet, and probably wouldn’t be, but what had been done was done, unable to be unchanged. “It’s late…nearly Christmas, and I’m sure Susanna would give me hell if you couldn’t be roused from bed in the morning.”
The rest of the trip from Atlanta to Athens had been fairly unremarkable. Traffic was scarce at best, than new renditions of the same old holiday songs played in the background, and the rain began a transformation into sleet as Ryan asked about the few months spent abroad.
The old plantation house where Jocelyn lived had been restored and rebuilt since the time of Sherman’s march - Leonard would know, the home had been in his name at one point. At least it hadn’t gone to pot in the time that he had been away. The lights had been left on, a sure sign that she hadn’t reneged on the plans that they’d made. That didn’t mean that she was at all happy to see him; their old spats probably as fresh in her mind as they were in his.
Len bristled in the thought of being given a guest bedroom in his own house - instead opting to rest his weary bones in a well-worn armchair near to a very fragrant Virginia pine.
His eyes hadn’t been closed for what felt like more than a few minutes when the very loud noises of feet flying down stairs woke him abruptly.
That didn’t matter though. The look of his daughter’s face as she stood at the landing looking into the sitting room - at him - was priceless.
“Daddy!” She exclaimed as she propelled herself forward and into his lap - successfully knocking the air from him with an ‘oomph’. “Mama!” Joanna loudly shouting back up towards the stairs, far too close to her father’s ear, “Santa really did get my letter! He brought Daddy home!”
Jocelyn stood near the large opening to the room, watching the scene of exhausted-yet-joyful father and exuberant and equally joyful daughter play out. It had likely vexed her to no end when she had helped Joanna write that letter to Santa weeks ago. Because, as it would seem, the one and only thing on the planet of his that she couldn’t take was a small spot in his daughter’s heart.
---
A/N: For those who didn't know, Tom is Thomas McCoy, father of David... thusly making him Len's grandfather.
A/N2: Ugh. I've been slacking. I've come to realize the last fic I put out (officially) was on October 7th. So sad.
Author: mach1n3
Fandom: Star Trek
Word Count: 1,017
Rating: PG
Paring: None
Disclaimer: As much as I want to hug them and squeeze them...I can't call them mine.
Summary: After being gone for only a few months McCoy makes the trip back to Georgia for Christmas.
A/N: Yes, it's not yet December here. This little snippet ate at my brain through most of the morning at work...I blame the bad 'holiday' music.
How was it that one simple sentence - a request, really - could make him feel so elated and yet so grief stricken in all the same moment? To go back to Georgia would mean possibly confronting Tom, and to not…and for as much as he and Jocelyn had fallen apart in those terrible months there was no way that Len could stay away for this.
People were still entering the shuttle as he sat there, eyes shut tight, fists clenched, sweat beading down his brow. Len truly wished he could fish out his flask at that moment. Alas, he had left it in his dorm room lest he smell like a liquor cabinet before the trip was finished. It wasn’t as though the little thing could have made it through baggage at any rate.
“Something to ease your nerves, sir?”
“No, I’m all right, thanks,” it was far from the truth. The give into temptation was there, but he would not give in.
Leonard had received the letter mere weeks before Christmas. Winter break meant that the Academy would be mostly deserted, save for a few off-worlders who didn’t celebrate any of the Terran religious holidays. So asking for time off from Clinical hadn’t been much of an issue. The real problem had come from pulling enough credits to secure a shuttle - thanks in part to his beloved ex. Most of his tuition had been paid for by his long shifts in Medical, and what little that was left over had gone into attempting to enjoy the ‘night life’ with his new friend. Luckily for him, Ryan had offered to drive him to and from the shuttleport and a few other places during his short stay.
As for his new found friend, Jim Kirk had high tailed it from campus to parts unknown almost as soon as break began. Leonard really wouldn’t mind the other man’s company through this shuttle ride; so he in part imagined a small conversation to distract him as the engines warmed and the thrusters engaged. Regardless of what the woman sitting next to him thought about his sanity.
No, Len wouldn’t put another person through his own personal failings - much less Jim. He certainly didn’t feel like they needed to be on display when he set foot back upon his native soil…Something he was sure might happen given the chance and an unsuspecting outsider. And he certainly didn’t need a shield to stand behind, as much as the company would be welcomed.
Hours unraveled to feel like a lifetime, but Leonard made it through the trip physically unscaved. So unlikely was he to ever encounter these people again that his pride didn’t feel too permanently bruised either. It was well past midnight when he stepped from the shuttle and bypassed the baggage terminal. Even if he could stay longer the few possessions - namely clothing - he did own didn’t amount to much more than what his duffle could carry at any rate. Thanks again to the wonderful ex wife.
His cousin hadn’t been waiting with the car for long when Len finally threw his duffle in the back.
“You look well,” the older man had remarked. Leonard thought it was only to exchange pleasantries; he being fairly certain the color hadn’t completely come back to his face and there was likely dampness along his collar.
“Thanks,” Leonard gruffed. He hadn’t meant the words to come out as they had, but it was late and the trip had taxed his nerves.
“I mean it. Before with the divorce…” The man trailed off, his earnestness giving way to uncertainty with what might be considered ‘out of bounds’ with his relation.
Leonard’s shoulders slumped somewhat, an awkward silence widening the gap between cousins and boyhood friends.
“S’okay,” he said after a minute had well passed. It wasn’t alright, not yet, and probably wouldn’t be, but what had been done was done, unable to be unchanged. “It’s late…nearly Christmas, and I’m sure Susanna would give me hell if you couldn’t be roused from bed in the morning.”
The rest of the trip from Atlanta to Athens had been fairly unremarkable. Traffic was scarce at best, than new renditions of the same old holiday songs played in the background, and the rain began a transformation into sleet as Ryan asked about the few months spent abroad.
The old plantation house where Jocelyn lived had been restored and rebuilt since the time of Sherman’s march - Leonard would know, the home had been in his name at one point. At least it hadn’t gone to pot in the time that he had been away. The lights had been left on, a sure sign that she hadn’t reneged on the plans that they’d made. That didn’t mean that she was at all happy to see him; their old spats probably as fresh in her mind as they were in his.
Len bristled in the thought of being given a guest bedroom in his own house - instead opting to rest his weary bones in a well-worn armchair near to a very fragrant Virginia pine.
His eyes hadn’t been closed for what felt like more than a few minutes when the very loud noises of feet flying down stairs woke him abruptly.
That didn’t matter though. The look of his daughter’s face as she stood at the landing looking into the sitting room - at him - was priceless.
“Daddy!” She exclaimed as she propelled herself forward and into his lap - successfully knocking the air from him with an ‘oomph’. “Mama!” Joanna loudly shouting back up towards the stairs, far too close to her father’s ear, “Santa really did get my letter! He brought Daddy home!”
Jocelyn stood near the large opening to the room, watching the scene of exhausted-yet-joyful father and exuberant and equally joyful daughter play out. It had likely vexed her to no end when she had helped Joanna write that letter to Santa weeks ago. Because, as it would seem, the one and only thing on the planet of his that she couldn’t take was a small spot in his daughter’s heart.
---
A/N: For those who didn't know, Tom is Thomas McCoy, father of David... thusly making him Len's grandfather.
A/N2: Ugh. I've been slacking. I've come to realize the last fic I put out (officially) was on October 7th. So sad.