My fic from the recent Bonus Round at Ship Wars
Title: Together, We Wait
Author: near_family
Rating: PG
Characters/Pairings: McCoy, Uhura, Kirk/McCoy, Spock/Uhura
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek or anything affiliated with it. This was done for fun, not profit.
Author's note: This was done for the Bonus Round: Welcome Back. Don't ever Leave again. at Ship Wars.
Summary: Leonard and Nyota find it difficult to sleep when Jim and Spock are away.
The longer missions are the hardest.
Leonard doesn't sleep well when Jim's away. The bed is too big and too cold when he's in it alone. His dreams are exhausting cycles of Med-bay swimming in blood and endless, cold corridors with windows looking out into the dark of space, glass cracking as he tries to catch up to the echo of footsteps running ahead.
It's worse than normal this time. The away team is operating undercover in comm silence, trying to sniff out spies and contacts for the klingons on Vegna Prime. No one can say how long they'll be gone, won't even throw out an estimate. Even Sulu can't be persuaded to talk about it.
It's been over a week and the corridors are empty tonight, the silence so consuming he can't even hear himself think. The cracks on the windows spell out his greatest fears, death, abandonment, left alone without even knowing why. He runs and runs until the walls disappear and he's falling through space, battered by a freezing, burning wind.
He comes awake with a start.
“Shhh, relax. It's just me.” Nyota murmurs, sliding into bed beside him and replacing the blankets.
“You alright, darlin'?” He pushing himself up on one arm so he can see her face. Her eyes will tell him if something's wrong even if she won't say it.
“I'm no better than you are.” She looks Leonard straight in the eye, daring him to argue. There's nothing he can say to that, he knows the stress has been showing. But he huffs and rolls his eyes, just to keep up appearances.
“We'll call this a medical intervention then.” He mutters, tucking her head under his chin. “For sleep deprivation.”
Nyota hums in amusement and relaxes against his side. Leonard tries to settle back down into sleep but he really can't keep his mouth shut to save his life.
“The sweater, really?”
“Shut up. You're wearing Jim's gym shirt.”
“At least mine doesn't itch.”
“At least mine doesn't stink.”
“Touché.”
The corridor comes back eventually, but it's warm now and he isn't alone.
*
A few days later Leonard is standing on a hill. It's alien and the colors are unsettling but he's not too worried. He's watching the tree line, waiting for a group of travelers to arrive at the meadow. He's not sure where they're from or who they are but he knows someone important is coming with them.
Everything is bathed in sunlight, it's sometime around noon even though the sky is black and filled with stars, pulling at him. The ground is so small and the blackness is so big but he's not afraid. He's holding a warm hand in his own and he can feel the silky ribbons wrapped around their wrists in intricate knots, weighting them down like an anchor.
They're blue and gold.
They wait and wait, just staring at the tree line until the hill starts to move. The peak is rising and the ground is moving and their hands come apart, the ribbons flying wildly as they fall away.
Leonard comes awake to the sensation of someone gently, but unrelentingly, prying his fingers up from where he's holding on to Nyota by Spock's sweater.
“Let go, Bones.” Jim breaths into Leonard's ear, sounding amused. “We're back. I'm back.”
His grip loosens and Nyota's warmth leaves the bed. She sighs contentedly somewhere above him and off to the side. Quiet footsteps head away, toward the door.
“See you on Alpha.”
“Indeed.”
The door hisses open and then shut again as another body climbs into bed next to him. Hard instead of soft, insistent instead of pliant and very, very welcome.
“It's a good thing our rooms are right next to each other,” Jim chuckles. “Because Spock was starting to freak.”
“It's his own fault. And yours.” Leonard mutters against Jim's neck. “Don't stay away so long again.”
“I can't promise anything.” Jim says, stroking down Leonard's back. “But hey, at least now you can have a slumber party.”
Leonard bites him, just hard enough to sting, then kisses the mark. They settle after that. He's almost drifted off when Jim speaks again.
“My old gym shirt? Really?”
“Shut. Up.”
*
Fic Master List
*
Author: near_family
Rating: PG
Characters/Pairings: McCoy, Uhura, Kirk/McCoy, Spock/Uhura
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek or anything affiliated with it. This was done for fun, not profit.
Author's note: This was done for the Bonus Round: Welcome Back. Don't ever Leave again. at Ship Wars.
Summary: Leonard and Nyota find it difficult to sleep when Jim and Spock are away.
The longer missions are the hardest.
Leonard doesn't sleep well when Jim's away. The bed is too big and too cold when he's in it alone. His dreams are exhausting cycles of Med-bay swimming in blood and endless, cold corridors with windows looking out into the dark of space, glass cracking as he tries to catch up to the echo of footsteps running ahead.
It's worse than normal this time. The away team is operating undercover in comm silence, trying to sniff out spies and contacts for the klingons on Vegna Prime. No one can say how long they'll be gone, won't even throw out an estimate. Even Sulu can't be persuaded to talk about it.
It's been over a week and the corridors are empty tonight, the silence so consuming he can't even hear himself think. The cracks on the windows spell out his greatest fears, death, abandonment, left alone without even knowing why. He runs and runs until the walls disappear and he's falling through space, battered by a freezing, burning wind.
He comes awake with a start.
“Shhh, relax. It's just me.” Nyota murmurs, sliding into bed beside him and replacing the blankets.
“You alright, darlin'?” He pushing himself up on one arm so he can see her face. Her eyes will tell him if something's wrong even if she won't say it.
“I'm no better than you are.” She looks Leonard straight in the eye, daring him to argue. There's nothing he can say to that, he knows the stress has been showing. But he huffs and rolls his eyes, just to keep up appearances.
“We'll call this a medical intervention then.” He mutters, tucking her head under his chin. “For sleep deprivation.”
Nyota hums in amusement and relaxes against his side. Leonard tries to settle back down into sleep but he really can't keep his mouth shut to save his life.
“The sweater, really?”
“Shut up. You're wearing Jim's gym shirt.”
“At least mine doesn't itch.”
“At least mine doesn't stink.”
“Touché.”
The corridor comes back eventually, but it's warm now and he isn't alone.
*
A few days later Leonard is standing on a hill. It's alien and the colors are unsettling but he's not too worried. He's watching the tree line, waiting for a group of travelers to arrive at the meadow. He's not sure where they're from or who they are but he knows someone important is coming with them.
Everything is bathed in sunlight, it's sometime around noon even though the sky is black and filled with stars, pulling at him. The ground is so small and the blackness is so big but he's not afraid. He's holding a warm hand in his own and he can feel the silky ribbons wrapped around their wrists in intricate knots, weighting them down like an anchor.
They're blue and gold.
They wait and wait, just staring at the tree line until the hill starts to move. The peak is rising and the ground is moving and their hands come apart, the ribbons flying wildly as they fall away.
Leonard comes awake to the sensation of someone gently, but unrelentingly, prying his fingers up from where he's holding on to Nyota by Spock's sweater.
“Let go, Bones.” Jim breaths into Leonard's ear, sounding amused. “We're back. I'm back.”
His grip loosens and Nyota's warmth leaves the bed. She sighs contentedly somewhere above him and off to the side. Quiet footsteps head away, toward the door.
“See you on Alpha.”
“Indeed.”
The door hisses open and then shut again as another body climbs into bed next to him. Hard instead of soft, insistent instead of pliant and very, very welcome.
“It's a good thing our rooms are right next to each other,” Jim chuckles. “Because Spock was starting to freak.”
“It's his own fault. And yours.” Leonard mutters against Jim's neck. “Don't stay away so long again.”
“I can't promise anything.” Jim says, stroking down Leonard's back. “But hey, at least now you can have a slumber party.”
Leonard bites him, just hard enough to sting, then kisses the mark. They settle after that. He's almost drifted off when Jim speaks again.
“My old gym shirt? Really?”
“Shut. Up.”
*
Fic Master List
*