The Ballad of James and Leonard - Chapter 8
Title:The Ballad of James and Leonard (8/9)
Series: Star Trek AOS
Author:neko-fish
Beta:castofone
Pairings: James/Leonard, Spock/Uhura
Rating: NC-17
Summary: In 1893, a blue-eyed stranger barged into McCoy's clinic with a woman in his arms, desperate for help. For Leonard, there was just no going back after that. (The prequel/sequel of 'The Ballad of Jim and Bones' but works as a standalone.)
Warnings: 1890s AU, highlight for more -> character death, racism, mentions of sex, alcohol, swearing, and again, my crappy summary...
Chapter 1// Chapter 2// Chapter 3// Chapter 4// Chapter 5// Chapter 6// Chapter 7
Chapter 8:
Snow started falling in mid-November, giving them no choice but to stay put at Scotty’s place, a plot of land on the outskirts of town. The inventor’s house was actually quite big after clearing out a couple piles of metal and junk.
It was a quiet day, and unable to be productive with all the snow, the group decided to have a snowball fight. Although James had begged him to join in the fun, Leonard opted to watch from the doorsteps with Uhura while the others played in the snow.
On the way out to join the others, James looked at the two of them, bundled up in blankets and grinned triumphantly. “And this is exactly the reason why I didn’t propose going up to Canada.” He accepted the offered flask and took a sip. “Thanks. Are you sure you don’t want to play with us? The exercise will probably warm you up.”
The doctor scoffed and took his drink back. “I’m absolutely positive. Don’t come crying to me when your toes get so frostbitten that they need to be amputated.”
“What are you talking about? You’re the only person I’d go crying to in that situation. When it comes to amputating limbs and digits, you’re the best sawbones around, Leonard.”
“Sweet talking thing, aren’t you?” Rolling his eyes, Leonard waved the blond off. “Go and play already, you infant. Didn’t you say you needed to teach Spock the rules to snowball fighting?”
James perked up. “Oh, that’s right! I did, didn’t I? I guess I should probably get to it. Well, it doesn’t matter since we’re going to be on the same team after our practice round. Scotty said he’d take us all on. I think he’s up to something, but you two will make sure everything stays fair, won’t you?”
Leonard snorted. “Fairness is a very subjective thing, James.”
The blond patted his arm and smiled. “I trust your judgment. Anyways, I better get going before Spock changes his mind and finds the whole thing too illogical for him to participate in.”
After they were left alone, Uhura turned to him and asked, “Do you and James ever get into arguments, Leonard?”
He blinked at the suddenness of the question. “Arguments? All the time. Just this morning we were arguing about playing in the snow and how I didn’t want to catch pneumonia. I don’t know how they can just run around in the snow like that. Bunch of crazy idiots.”
She chuckled and shook her head. “No, not like that. I meant arguments about important things - serious things.”
Leonard raised a brow and stole a glance at James who was still explaining the rules to Spock who simply crossed his arms and looked unimpressed. “Serious things, hmm? Occasionally, yes.”
“How do you deal with it? How do you reconcile? Please impart a little of your wisdom to me.”
The brunet looked up at the sky, trying to remember the part that came before the make-up sex. He began slowly, “Well, I think it helps that we both think that if it’s something important, then it can’t be ignored or it’ll just fester over time. If you leave it, you’ll go home one day and find a nude diplomat in your bed, but I digress.
“I don’t think James and I do anything particularly special when it comes to solving problems. All we do is lay all our cards on the table and discuss the issue honestly - and more often than not, it involves yelling. Sometimes one of us realizes we’re wrong, and other times, we compromise. I don’t think there’s any other way around it. Did that help at all?”
Uhura nodded thoughtfully. “It did. I’ll try that. Thank you, Leonard.”
“Anytime, darlin’. If you need someone to talk to, you can always come find me or James.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, though I doubt I’ll be looking to James for advice anytime soon - it’d make him too happy and I’d never hear the end of it.” Then after a moment, she continued, “You know, I never got to hear your side of the story.”
Leonard blinked. “My side of the story? What do you mean?”
“I mean, I’ve heard James’ and Spock’s rendition of your time together before I met the three of you, but I’ve never heard yours. Whenever we stop at a town, you’re normally too busy helping out at clinics and hospitals for me to ask. So I’ll ask you now. I’m sure it’s going be very different from James’ version. You’re an absolute saint in his version.”
He rolled his eyes, unsurprised. “With the way he exaggerates, you’d think I’d be able to cure a rainy day. I can tell you right now that my version of the story probably isn’t going to be nearly as detailed as his. I’m a doctor, not a storyteller.”
Just then, Keenser’s excited barking could be heard and Scotty appeared with a machine they had never seen before. Within moments, it sent the other team running as it began pelting snow at an alarming rate. The Scotsman was clearly enjoying himself as the others complained from afar.
The doctor watched in amusement and shook his head. “I’m so glad I didn’t let James talk me into this one. Do you think we should stop Scotty?”
Uhura shook her head, not looking particularly worried. “It’s just a game. I’m sure the boys will be able to handle themselves for a little while. I want to hear the story.”
“Alright then.” Thinking back, he began, “So I guess this goes back to Atlanta, I was working at this little clinic…”
By the time he recalled the time when James decided that it’d be a good idea to wait for the singer in her dressing room, Uhura was doubled over in laughter. “That sounds exactly like something he would do! When I saw the three of you, I thought you were inept robbers.”
Leonard couldn’t help but chuckle himself. “That wouldn’t have been too far from the truth.”
By that time, the snowball fight had ended and Scotty’s machine idle and tipped over while its creator stood next to it, buried waist deep in snow. James and his team were covered in snow and clearly exhausted but that didn’t stop them from piling more snow onto Scotty in triumph.
Deciding that enough was enough, the doctor stood up with his blanket still wrapped around him and began making his way over to stop the men from completely burying the engineer in snow.
“Leonard,” Uhura called out.
He turned around and blinked. “Yes?”
“While I’m not fond of being in agreement with James, I’m glad he found you and convinced you to leave Georgia and go on this adventure. You do him a world of good. His eyes don’t have that jaded look in them anymore.”
The brunet smiled. “So you’ve noticed it too. I figured if anyone was to notice, it’d be you.”
The singer gave a small nod. “Confidence suits him - don’t tell him I said so though.”
Leonard laughed. “Your secret’s safe with me, darlin’. And just for the record, I think so too.” Then he made his way over to the group and called out, “Alright, that’s enough, you damn infants! If you keep him buried like that any longer, I’m actually going to have to saw off his legs!”
The men looked over at him and stopped. Sulu and Chekov ran off to the side to start their own snowball fight while Spock wandered back to the house where Uhura was sitting. James bounced over to him like an excited dog and grinned. “Did you see how amazing that was, Leonard? Please tell me you saw it! Scotty had no idea what hit him!”
“Yes, yes, you’re a genius tactician. Good job. Hold this.” Handing the blond the flask, he helped pull the half-frozen engineer out of the snow.
Scotty laughed and brushed himself off. “Thank you, doctor. I guess it’s my loss this time. That was a good game though. Come on, Keenser, let’s go see if we have enough wood to last us the night.”
The dog barked and followed his owner towards the wood shed.
Turning back to the blond, Leonard crossed his arms. “That was some crazy stunt you pulled back there, James. I didn’t think it’d work, but I guess I was wrong.”
James took a swig from the flask. “No such thing as a no-win scenario.”
The doctor rolled his eyes affectionately. “No such thing indeed. My god, man, just look at you. There’s enough snow on you to build a snowman.”
“It was for stealth!”
Dusting off as much snow as he could off the blond, Leonard let out a huff. “Yeah, well, you don’t need to be stealthy anymore, so unless you’re planning on playing with Sulu and Chekov some more, go inside and change.”
“Whatever you say, doc.” James’ smile widened. “Oh, and guess what we just won from Scotty?”
Leonard had a sneaking suspicion that it wouldn’t be a good thing. “What?”
“Unlimited access to his special little homebrew.”
Hazel eyes widened. “Dammit, James! You’ll probably die from drinking that stuff!”
Despite his initial protests, Leonard wound up drinking just as much of the stuff as everyone else if not more. The only person who seemed relatively unaffected by Scotty’s lethally potent concoction was Spock - although the Vulcan did have a hard time walking in a straight line while carrying the sleeping Uhura up the stairs to their room.
Bleary eyed, the doctor looked around and found Sulu and Chekov passed out and using Scotty’s torso as their pillow. At their feet lay Keenser whose stomach must’ve been made from steel because the dog lapped up just as much alcohol as anyone there and was still alive. The Scotsman was on his back and snoring loudly and occasionally mumbling numbers in his sleep. Next to Leonard, James had an arm around his waist and was muttering incoherencies into his neck.
“Come on, Just James. Sleep time,” he slurred and gave the blonde’s should a shake.
James nodded groggily and the two of them managed to get onto their feet albeit very unsteadily. “Leonard, my tongue’s numb. Is that supposed to happen? I don’t think that’s supposed to happen.”
The brunet rolled his eyes. “No. But mine is too. That’s probably because Scotty put fire into his moonshine. I don’t know how he did it, but he’s an engineer so anything’s possible. Fucking fire, I swear it. That’s why I told you not to drink so much.”
“But you drank just as much as I did!” the blond complained.
“Shut your face, I did not!”
James grinned stupidly. “I missed you, Doctor Angry-Drunk-Doctor.”
The doctor snorted. “You said doctor twice, dumbass.”
The two of them stumbled around until they reached the staircase and James started laughing. “Hey, it’s your stairs again! That reminds me of your broken bed - I miss your broken bed. It was so comfortable. Do you think your broken bed’s upstairs, Leonard?”
Leonard furrowed his eyebrows in thought. “No. How can it be? We’re at Scotty’s, not Atlanta.”
“Oh, okay. Do we really have to climb all the way up the stairs then?” Sitting down on one of the steps with a pout, he pulled the brunet down by the waist to join him. “If your broken bed isn’t upstairs, I don’t want to go. It’s too much work. And I promised Christine I won’t wrestle stairs anymore.”
The brunet let out a snort of laughter. “Yeah. Don’t want Christine laughing at me again. Wouldn’t even stab me with a scalpel when I asked her to. What are you doing, Just James?”
Hands cupping Leonard’s face, James grinned drunkenly. “Love it when you call me that. I’ll worship you right here, Leonard. Can I? Please let me.”
Ignoring the words, the doctor leaned into the blond’s touch until they were awkwardly sprawled on the staircase. They ended up falling asleep like that.
No one woke up before noon the next day.
--
It took nearly two days to completely get over their hangovers and three for the soreness in Leonard’s back to go away. Then a couple days after that, Uhura and Spock announced something that made the doctor do a spit-take.
“We decided to get married.”
There was a mixture of reactions across the room. While most of them were pleasantly surprised by the news, Leonard was sure that James’ shocked expression mirrored his own. And it wasn’t from the engagement, it was because Spock added, “James, we would be honoured if you would officiate the wedding.”
Uhura smiled sweetly at the doctor. “And Leonard, you’re as close to a father figure as I’ve ever had. Would you do me the honour of giving me away?”
The two of them stood there for a full minute before speaking up in unison, “Yes. Of course! Oh my god, congratulations, you two!”
James grinned and pulled Spock into a hug, earning him the most baffled expression anyone had ever seen the Vulcan make.
Sulu laughed. “So when’s the wedding?”
The singer shrugged easily. “Whenever the spring gets here, and I guess we can just have it here. And don’t worry, James, we’ll make sure it happens before deer season.”
James turned to the doctor and pouted. “You told her about the deer?”
The doctor replied lightly, “You told her about the stairs and the bed so I think we’re even.”
“This is all wonderful news, but I’m afraid the state of Oregon won’t acknowledge your marriage, lass,” Scotty pointed out, causing everyone to exchange worried glances with one another.
Uhura shook her head. “That’s fine. The state doesn’t have to approve of it. As long as we know it happened, that’s more than enough for us. The three of you can plan it if you’d like. I think I’d prefer to just sit back and relax anyhow.”
Chekov brightened up. “We can really plan it for you?”
“I’ll start brewing more moonshine!” the Scotsman immediately offered.
Leonard groaned. “Great. The wedding’s going to take place and half of us will probably die from drinking that stuff while the other half won’t remember a damn thing.”
James perked up. “Oh, Uhura?”
The woman raised a brow. She looked almost Vulcan when she did it now. “Yes?”
“You do realize that to officiate your wedding, I’ll need to know your first name.” He grinned widely. “So let’s start over again, shall we?
Uhura frowned at him with mock-irritation. “Arrogant asshole, aren’t you?”
“Only sometimes.” The blond laughed and held out his hand. “Hi there, beautiful. My name is James. Just James.”
Shaking his hand, the singer sighed and rolled her eyes affectionately. “Hello Just James, my name’s Nyota Uhura. But I suppose you can just call me Nyota.”
Later that day, the doctor was sitting in his makeshift room, which was separated from Sulu and Chekov’s only by a line of bookshelves, when James walked in and sat beside him. “Dinner and booze is almost ready, Leonard. What’re you doing up here?”
“Just thinking.”
“You do that a lot, don’t you?” Leaning against him, the blond muttered, “So they’re actually getting married.”
The doctor let out a soft sigh and nodded. “So they actually are. Congrats, James, that was all you. Now you’re a successful matchmaker too.”
James smiled. “I told you I had a good feeling about it.” The two sat around in comfortable silence for a minute before he continued, “You know, when Uhura asked you to give her away, I was thinking about Joanna too.”
The brunet huffed. “I thought this mind reading thing was supposed to be a one-way thing.”
The blond chuckled. “Apparently not. Stop thinking about it, Leonard. Joanna’s only eight right now, you’ve still got a eight - maybe nine years before you have to head back to Georgia to fight off her suitors with a scalpel.”
Hazel eyes narrowed. “Don’t even joke about that. Eight years isn’t a very long time.”
“I know. You’ve already stuck around me for three.”
Leonard’s eyebrows shot upwards. “My god, has it really been three years already?”
“It really has. Don’t worry though, in eight years’ time, I’ll be there to help you dissuade all the unlucky boys who fall for the McCoy charm. You can’t really blame them though. I mean, it can’t be helped. There’s just something irresistible about McCoys.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. I guess I’m just one of the lucky ones. I managed to find a McCoy to latch onto.”
The brunet rolled his eyes. “You do have an awful lot of dumb luck on your side.”
“Can’t argue with you there. And I plan on making the most of it,” was the lazy reply.
The doctor smiled. “And you’ll actually be there eight years from now, Just James?”
James nodded. “Yep. If you’ll still have me, I promise I’ll be there with you. Can’t you just picture it now? Just James and Doctor McCoy riding to the rescue of Joanna - and when that time comes, I’ll be Just James with a capital J.”
Leonard couldn’t recall a time he believed in the promise of ‘forever’ more than that very day.
That night, the group went through more moonshine except this time, no one managed to make it up the stairs.
--
The wedding took place in March with James standing in front of the couple with a happy grin on his lips. “…by the power invested in me by the two of you, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride - on the lips! Don’t give me that look, Spock! Vulcan kisses aren’t romantic at all! Oh my god, just kiss her already!”
Much to Leonard’s surprise and relief, everything went smoothly without any deer-attacks or alcohol-related deaths. He assumed their livers managed to build tolerance to Scotty’s concoction since really, it was a miracle that they survived until spring with the amount of alcohol they ingested over the span of a couple weeks.
It wasn’t until nearly two months later that James decided it was time to leave. Picking the doctor up from the town clinic like he did every day since the snow melted, the two of them started on their walk back to Scotty’s place in comfortable silence.
Leonard only had to glance at him to ask, “Alright, James. Where are we going next?”
Head snapping up, James stared at the brunet in surprise. “It’s really eerie how good you are at reading my mind.”
The doctor grinned smugly. “Can’t help it, James. It’s a natural skill of mine apparently. So are you going to tell me your newest plans or am I supposed to wait for you to announce it to everyone?”
Although the easy grin never faltered, baby blue eyes scanned their surroundings warily. When he was sure that no one was within earshot of them, James replied, “Like I could ever say no to you, Leonard.” Glancing over at the brunet, he continued, “Now that we have everyone, I was actually thinking about where our last stop should be. And I had a lot of things to take into consideration so it took a little longer than I expected.”
Leonard raised a brow. “I figured you’d just throw a dart onto a map and decide that way - or, ‘serendipity’ as you like to call it.”
The blond snorted. “If you’re going to mock me, can’t you at least be subtle about it? Serendipity’s worked out for us so far, hasn’t it? But I’d rather have something more concrete this time because everyone has something they want. We’re not wandering and searching anymore, we have a destination now.”
“A destination, hmm?” he drawled lazily.
James nodded. “It has to be perfect; one that fits everyone’s needs and wants. To be honest, I originally thought I’d just be looking around for a bunch of people to follow me around and location wouldn’t be that big of an issue.”
“But instead?”
“But instead, I seem to have found myself a family, Leonard.” Those blue eyes were practically sparkling. “If I don’t find a place that suits everyone then that means I didn’t do my part. I made them all promises. I promised Nyota and Spock a safe place to start a family, Sulu and Chekov a place near water, and Scotty a place large enough for him to build and test his inventions. And as for you,” he smiled, “what would make you happy, doc? What if we name the place Port McCoy?”
The doctor frowned. “What? You’re going to name the damn town after me? Please don’t.”
Blue eyes blinked. “Why not? My old man built my mother a house, so why can’t I one up him and build you a town?”
“Thanks but no thanks. I’m a doctor, not a port. The last thing I want to hear is how people died from scurvy and dysentery after arriving at Port McCoy. I can see them now: people lining up with their teeth falling out and bleeding gums. How’s that for a warm welcome?”
James laughed. “You always say the most romantic things, Leonard. Way to turn my greatest gesture of admiration into an atrocity. So what would you like then?”
Leonard chewed on his lower lip in thought for a moment. “Just give me a clinic and patients and I’ll be peachy keen.”
“You’re too modest. People will come flocking to you for help no matter where you are and you’ll end up helping them whether you have a clinic or not.” Crossing his arms for a moment, James sighed in mock-exasperation. “Since I’m responsible for you, I guess I’ll just have to step in for you. Let’s see…a big clinic with the best equipment, somewhere warm all year round, and close enough to Georgia that Joanna and everyone from Atlanta can visit you.”
The doctor raised a brow. “James….”
The blond shrugged. “You’ll need to rush back to Joanna’s side to defend her honour when the time comes. So let’s head back to the east. What else would make you happy, Leonard? Oh! I can promise you that there’ll be no stairs. How does that sound?”
By then, they had reached Scotty’s place and the brunet pointed out, “You’re forgetting something very important, Just James.”
James frowned, clearly trying to think of the answer. After a minute, he shook his head and conceded, “I give up. What’d I miss? Alcohol? Cobblers? A new bed? Nurses-”
Leonard leaned in and kissed the blond, and then he stepped back to watch James’ reaction.
“Oh.” Widened blue eyes blinked a couple times before he broke into a grin and wrapped his arms around the doctor’s waist, pulling him in close. “Oh, you meant that. I wouldn’t worry about that, Leonard. You’ll have that for as long as you’d like. I promise.”
--
They were passing through Montana when everything went wrong.
It was in a small town that they came across a group of thugs, attacking a man in the middle of the streets. The people who were on the street at the time merely averted their eyes sheepishly and hurried into the nearest store. Although they should’ve noticed and taken it as a sign to take a detour, they were too distracted by what was happening to care.
Leonard and James hopped off their horses and called out to the men, “Hey there, fellas, don’t you think that’s quite enough?”
The whole town suddenly went eerily silent.
One man, probably the leader of the group, looked up and sneered. “What’s it to you?” Then taking a glance at their group, he stood up and narrowed his eyes. “Well, would you look at what we have here?”
James tensed uneasily. “I suggest you boys back off before things get ugly.”
“Oh, is that right?” Gesturing to his men, the group stepped away from the prone man. “That sounds more like a challenge to me. Hey boys, these guys obviously need to be taught a lesson about picking fights with the Romulans.”
Without another word, Leonard ran over to assess the damage. When he determined that none of the man’s injuries were life-threatening, he turned back only to find everyone fighting and they were clearly outnumbered. Frowning, he made his way towards Uhura’s horse where her gun was. On his way there, someone placed a hand on his shoulder. “And where do you think you’re going?”
Pain exploded and for a moment, he could’ve sworn he saw stars dancing across his vision. Scowling, he turned around and returned the favour only to cradle his fist afterwards, cussing loudly. “Jesus, that fucking hurt!”
A moment later, he was tackled to the floor and struggled to free himself from his assailant’s grasp. Leonard could only let out a sharp exhale of relief when James pulled the man off of him with a scowl. “Filthy bastard - you’re not supposed to attack a doctor like that!”
Wasting no time, the brunet got up and continued with his original goal. Finally reaching the horse and the rifle, he cocked it and yelled as loudly as he could, “Stop or I’ll blow your heads off!”
Everyone stopped and stared at him in shock.
Wiping the blood from his nose, the leader of the group detached himself from James and stood back with a scowl. “You’re really going to pull the trigger on your fellow men?”
Leonard rolled his eyes and took aim. “My ‘fellow men’ don’t go around attacking innocent people. Now you and your boys better get going before I show you just how fast a man can die when shot in the right place.”
“Brave one, aren’t you? Fine, we’ll leave for now.” The man straightened his out his jacket and caught his breath. He gestured for his men to gather. “Don’t think this is over though. You have no idea who you’re messing with,” he hissed, sending a glare to James and the doctor.
It wasn’t until after the group had gone that the brunet lowered the gun with a relieved sigh. Assessing the damage done with a quick scan, he asked, “Is everyone alright?”
Catching their breaths, everyone nodded. James glanced over at where the prone man had been a moment ago. “Looks like your patient ran away, Leonard.”
The doctor shook his head. “That’s fine. If he was able to get up and run away then his injuries obviously weren’t that bad. Jesus, just look at how roughed up you kids got.”
James let out a soft laugh. “You should see yourself, doc.”
Just then, one of the townsmen stepped back outside and told them, fear evident in his voice, “You guys need to leave town now - as fast as you can before Nero hears about this. If he catches you here, his gang will burn down the whole town.”
It was a warning, not a threat.
Sensing the seriousness of the situation, James made his way to his horse with a frown on his lips. “Come on guys, let’s get going. You can treat our injuries later, Leonard.”
Back to Chapter 7
Back to Chapter 9 & Epilogue
Series: Star Trek AOS
Author:neko-fish
Beta:castofone
Pairings: James/Leonard, Spock/Uhura
Rating: NC-17
Summary: In 1893, a blue-eyed stranger barged into McCoy's clinic with a woman in his arms, desperate for help. For Leonard, there was just no going back after that. (The prequel/sequel of 'The Ballad of Jim and Bones' but works as a standalone.)
Warnings: 1890s AU, highlight for more -> character death, racism, mentions of sex, alcohol, swearing, and again, my crappy summary...
Chapter 1// Chapter 2// Chapter 3// Chapter 4// Chapter 5// Chapter 6// Chapter 7
Chapter 8:
Snow started falling in mid-November, giving them no choice but to stay put at Scotty’s place, a plot of land on the outskirts of town. The inventor’s house was actually quite big after clearing out a couple piles of metal and junk.
It was a quiet day, and unable to be productive with all the snow, the group decided to have a snowball fight. Although James had begged him to join in the fun, Leonard opted to watch from the doorsteps with Uhura while the others played in the snow.
On the way out to join the others, James looked at the two of them, bundled up in blankets and grinned triumphantly. “And this is exactly the reason why I didn’t propose going up to Canada.” He accepted the offered flask and took a sip. “Thanks. Are you sure you don’t want to play with us? The exercise will probably warm you up.”
The doctor scoffed and took his drink back. “I’m absolutely positive. Don’t come crying to me when your toes get so frostbitten that they need to be amputated.”
“What are you talking about? You’re the only person I’d go crying to in that situation. When it comes to amputating limbs and digits, you’re the best sawbones around, Leonard.”
“Sweet talking thing, aren’t you?” Rolling his eyes, Leonard waved the blond off. “Go and play already, you infant. Didn’t you say you needed to teach Spock the rules to snowball fighting?”
James perked up. “Oh, that’s right! I did, didn’t I? I guess I should probably get to it. Well, it doesn’t matter since we’re going to be on the same team after our practice round. Scotty said he’d take us all on. I think he’s up to something, but you two will make sure everything stays fair, won’t you?”
Leonard snorted. “Fairness is a very subjective thing, James.”
The blond patted his arm and smiled. “I trust your judgment. Anyways, I better get going before Spock changes his mind and finds the whole thing too illogical for him to participate in.”
After they were left alone, Uhura turned to him and asked, “Do you and James ever get into arguments, Leonard?”
He blinked at the suddenness of the question. “Arguments? All the time. Just this morning we were arguing about playing in the snow and how I didn’t want to catch pneumonia. I don’t know how they can just run around in the snow like that. Bunch of crazy idiots.”
She chuckled and shook her head. “No, not like that. I meant arguments about important things - serious things.”
Leonard raised a brow and stole a glance at James who was still explaining the rules to Spock who simply crossed his arms and looked unimpressed. “Serious things, hmm? Occasionally, yes.”
“How do you deal with it? How do you reconcile? Please impart a little of your wisdom to me.”
The brunet looked up at the sky, trying to remember the part that came before the make-up sex. He began slowly, “Well, I think it helps that we both think that if it’s something important, then it can’t be ignored or it’ll just fester over time. If you leave it, you’ll go home one day and find a nude diplomat in your bed, but I digress.
“I don’t think James and I do anything particularly special when it comes to solving problems. All we do is lay all our cards on the table and discuss the issue honestly - and more often than not, it involves yelling. Sometimes one of us realizes we’re wrong, and other times, we compromise. I don’t think there’s any other way around it. Did that help at all?”
Uhura nodded thoughtfully. “It did. I’ll try that. Thank you, Leonard.”
“Anytime, darlin’. If you need someone to talk to, you can always come find me or James.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, though I doubt I’ll be looking to James for advice anytime soon - it’d make him too happy and I’d never hear the end of it.” Then after a moment, she continued, “You know, I never got to hear your side of the story.”
Leonard blinked. “My side of the story? What do you mean?”
“I mean, I’ve heard James’ and Spock’s rendition of your time together before I met the three of you, but I’ve never heard yours. Whenever we stop at a town, you’re normally too busy helping out at clinics and hospitals for me to ask. So I’ll ask you now. I’m sure it’s going be very different from James’ version. You’re an absolute saint in his version.”
He rolled his eyes, unsurprised. “With the way he exaggerates, you’d think I’d be able to cure a rainy day. I can tell you right now that my version of the story probably isn’t going to be nearly as detailed as his. I’m a doctor, not a storyteller.”
Just then, Keenser’s excited barking could be heard and Scotty appeared with a machine they had never seen before. Within moments, it sent the other team running as it began pelting snow at an alarming rate. The Scotsman was clearly enjoying himself as the others complained from afar.
The doctor watched in amusement and shook his head. “I’m so glad I didn’t let James talk me into this one. Do you think we should stop Scotty?”
Uhura shook her head, not looking particularly worried. “It’s just a game. I’m sure the boys will be able to handle themselves for a little while. I want to hear the story.”
“Alright then.” Thinking back, he began, “So I guess this goes back to Atlanta, I was working at this little clinic…”
By the time he recalled the time when James decided that it’d be a good idea to wait for the singer in her dressing room, Uhura was doubled over in laughter. “That sounds exactly like something he would do! When I saw the three of you, I thought you were inept robbers.”
Leonard couldn’t help but chuckle himself. “That wouldn’t have been too far from the truth.”
By that time, the snowball fight had ended and Scotty’s machine idle and tipped over while its creator stood next to it, buried waist deep in snow. James and his team were covered in snow and clearly exhausted but that didn’t stop them from piling more snow onto Scotty in triumph.
Deciding that enough was enough, the doctor stood up with his blanket still wrapped around him and began making his way over to stop the men from completely burying the engineer in snow.
“Leonard,” Uhura called out.
He turned around and blinked. “Yes?”
“While I’m not fond of being in agreement with James, I’m glad he found you and convinced you to leave Georgia and go on this adventure. You do him a world of good. His eyes don’t have that jaded look in them anymore.”
The brunet smiled. “So you’ve noticed it too. I figured if anyone was to notice, it’d be you.”
The singer gave a small nod. “Confidence suits him - don’t tell him I said so though.”
Leonard laughed. “Your secret’s safe with me, darlin’. And just for the record, I think so too.” Then he made his way over to the group and called out, “Alright, that’s enough, you damn infants! If you keep him buried like that any longer, I’m actually going to have to saw off his legs!”
The men looked over at him and stopped. Sulu and Chekov ran off to the side to start their own snowball fight while Spock wandered back to the house where Uhura was sitting. James bounced over to him like an excited dog and grinned. “Did you see how amazing that was, Leonard? Please tell me you saw it! Scotty had no idea what hit him!”
“Yes, yes, you’re a genius tactician. Good job. Hold this.” Handing the blond the flask, he helped pull the half-frozen engineer out of the snow.
Scotty laughed and brushed himself off. “Thank you, doctor. I guess it’s my loss this time. That was a good game though. Come on, Keenser, let’s go see if we have enough wood to last us the night.”
The dog barked and followed his owner towards the wood shed.
Turning back to the blond, Leonard crossed his arms. “That was some crazy stunt you pulled back there, James. I didn’t think it’d work, but I guess I was wrong.”
James took a swig from the flask. “No such thing as a no-win scenario.”
The doctor rolled his eyes affectionately. “No such thing indeed. My god, man, just look at you. There’s enough snow on you to build a snowman.”
“It was for stealth!”
Dusting off as much snow as he could off the blond, Leonard let out a huff. “Yeah, well, you don’t need to be stealthy anymore, so unless you’re planning on playing with Sulu and Chekov some more, go inside and change.”
“Whatever you say, doc.” James’ smile widened. “Oh, and guess what we just won from Scotty?”
Leonard had a sneaking suspicion that it wouldn’t be a good thing. “What?”
“Unlimited access to his special little homebrew.”
Hazel eyes widened. “Dammit, James! You’ll probably die from drinking that stuff!”
Despite his initial protests, Leonard wound up drinking just as much of the stuff as everyone else if not more. The only person who seemed relatively unaffected by Scotty’s lethally potent concoction was Spock - although the Vulcan did have a hard time walking in a straight line while carrying the sleeping Uhura up the stairs to their room.
Bleary eyed, the doctor looked around and found Sulu and Chekov passed out and using Scotty’s torso as their pillow. At their feet lay Keenser whose stomach must’ve been made from steel because the dog lapped up just as much alcohol as anyone there and was still alive. The Scotsman was on his back and snoring loudly and occasionally mumbling numbers in his sleep. Next to Leonard, James had an arm around his waist and was muttering incoherencies into his neck.
“Come on, Just James. Sleep time,” he slurred and gave the blonde’s should a shake.
James nodded groggily and the two of them managed to get onto their feet albeit very unsteadily. “Leonard, my tongue’s numb. Is that supposed to happen? I don’t think that’s supposed to happen.”
The brunet rolled his eyes. “No. But mine is too. That’s probably because Scotty put fire into his moonshine. I don’t know how he did it, but he’s an engineer so anything’s possible. Fucking fire, I swear it. That’s why I told you not to drink so much.”
“But you drank just as much as I did!” the blond complained.
“Shut your face, I did not!”
James grinned stupidly. “I missed you, Doctor Angry-Drunk-Doctor.”
The doctor snorted. “You said doctor twice, dumbass.”
The two of them stumbled around until they reached the staircase and James started laughing. “Hey, it’s your stairs again! That reminds me of your broken bed - I miss your broken bed. It was so comfortable. Do you think your broken bed’s upstairs, Leonard?”
Leonard furrowed his eyebrows in thought. “No. How can it be? We’re at Scotty’s, not Atlanta.”
“Oh, okay. Do we really have to climb all the way up the stairs then?” Sitting down on one of the steps with a pout, he pulled the brunet down by the waist to join him. “If your broken bed isn’t upstairs, I don’t want to go. It’s too much work. And I promised Christine I won’t wrestle stairs anymore.”
The brunet let out a snort of laughter. “Yeah. Don’t want Christine laughing at me again. Wouldn’t even stab me with a scalpel when I asked her to. What are you doing, Just James?”
Hands cupping Leonard’s face, James grinned drunkenly. “Love it when you call me that. I’ll worship you right here, Leonard. Can I? Please let me.”
Ignoring the words, the doctor leaned into the blond’s touch until they were awkwardly sprawled on the staircase. They ended up falling asleep like that.
No one woke up before noon the next day.
--
It took nearly two days to completely get over their hangovers and three for the soreness in Leonard’s back to go away. Then a couple days after that, Uhura and Spock announced something that made the doctor do a spit-take.
“We decided to get married.”
There was a mixture of reactions across the room. While most of them were pleasantly surprised by the news, Leonard was sure that James’ shocked expression mirrored his own. And it wasn’t from the engagement, it was because Spock added, “James, we would be honoured if you would officiate the wedding.”
Uhura smiled sweetly at the doctor. “And Leonard, you’re as close to a father figure as I’ve ever had. Would you do me the honour of giving me away?”
The two of them stood there for a full minute before speaking up in unison, “Yes. Of course! Oh my god, congratulations, you two!”
James grinned and pulled Spock into a hug, earning him the most baffled expression anyone had ever seen the Vulcan make.
Sulu laughed. “So when’s the wedding?”
The singer shrugged easily. “Whenever the spring gets here, and I guess we can just have it here. And don’t worry, James, we’ll make sure it happens before deer season.”
James turned to the doctor and pouted. “You told her about the deer?”
The doctor replied lightly, “You told her about the stairs and the bed so I think we’re even.”
“This is all wonderful news, but I’m afraid the state of Oregon won’t acknowledge your marriage, lass,” Scotty pointed out, causing everyone to exchange worried glances with one another.
Uhura shook her head. “That’s fine. The state doesn’t have to approve of it. As long as we know it happened, that’s more than enough for us. The three of you can plan it if you’d like. I think I’d prefer to just sit back and relax anyhow.”
Chekov brightened up. “We can really plan it for you?”
“I’ll start brewing more moonshine!” the Scotsman immediately offered.
Leonard groaned. “Great. The wedding’s going to take place and half of us will probably die from drinking that stuff while the other half won’t remember a damn thing.”
James perked up. “Oh, Uhura?”
The woman raised a brow. She looked almost Vulcan when she did it now. “Yes?”
“You do realize that to officiate your wedding, I’ll need to know your first name.” He grinned widely. “So let’s start over again, shall we?
Uhura frowned at him with mock-irritation. “Arrogant asshole, aren’t you?”
“Only sometimes.” The blond laughed and held out his hand. “Hi there, beautiful. My name is James. Just James.”
Shaking his hand, the singer sighed and rolled her eyes affectionately. “Hello Just James, my name’s Nyota Uhura. But I suppose you can just call me Nyota.”
Later that day, the doctor was sitting in his makeshift room, which was separated from Sulu and Chekov’s only by a line of bookshelves, when James walked in and sat beside him. “Dinner and booze is almost ready, Leonard. What’re you doing up here?”
“Just thinking.”
“You do that a lot, don’t you?” Leaning against him, the blond muttered, “So they’re actually getting married.”
The doctor let out a soft sigh and nodded. “So they actually are. Congrats, James, that was all you. Now you’re a successful matchmaker too.”
James smiled. “I told you I had a good feeling about it.” The two sat around in comfortable silence for a minute before he continued, “You know, when Uhura asked you to give her away, I was thinking about Joanna too.”
The brunet huffed. “I thought this mind reading thing was supposed to be a one-way thing.”
The blond chuckled. “Apparently not. Stop thinking about it, Leonard. Joanna’s only eight right now, you’ve still got a eight - maybe nine years before you have to head back to Georgia to fight off her suitors with a scalpel.”
Hazel eyes narrowed. “Don’t even joke about that. Eight years isn’t a very long time.”
“I know. You’ve already stuck around me for three.”
Leonard’s eyebrows shot upwards. “My god, has it really been three years already?”
“It really has. Don’t worry though, in eight years’ time, I’ll be there to help you dissuade all the unlucky boys who fall for the McCoy charm. You can’t really blame them though. I mean, it can’t be helped. There’s just something irresistible about McCoys.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. I guess I’m just one of the lucky ones. I managed to find a McCoy to latch onto.”
The brunet rolled his eyes. “You do have an awful lot of dumb luck on your side.”
“Can’t argue with you there. And I plan on making the most of it,” was the lazy reply.
The doctor smiled. “And you’ll actually be there eight years from now, Just James?”
James nodded. “Yep. If you’ll still have me, I promise I’ll be there with you. Can’t you just picture it now? Just James and Doctor McCoy riding to the rescue of Joanna - and when that time comes, I’ll be Just James with a capital J.”
Leonard couldn’t recall a time he believed in the promise of ‘forever’ more than that very day.
That night, the group went through more moonshine except this time, no one managed to make it up the stairs.
--
The wedding took place in March with James standing in front of the couple with a happy grin on his lips. “…by the power invested in me by the two of you, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride - on the lips! Don’t give me that look, Spock! Vulcan kisses aren’t romantic at all! Oh my god, just kiss her already!”
Much to Leonard’s surprise and relief, everything went smoothly without any deer-attacks or alcohol-related deaths. He assumed their livers managed to build tolerance to Scotty’s concoction since really, it was a miracle that they survived until spring with the amount of alcohol they ingested over the span of a couple weeks.
It wasn’t until nearly two months later that James decided it was time to leave. Picking the doctor up from the town clinic like he did every day since the snow melted, the two of them started on their walk back to Scotty’s place in comfortable silence.
Leonard only had to glance at him to ask, “Alright, James. Where are we going next?”
Head snapping up, James stared at the brunet in surprise. “It’s really eerie how good you are at reading my mind.”
The doctor grinned smugly. “Can’t help it, James. It’s a natural skill of mine apparently. So are you going to tell me your newest plans or am I supposed to wait for you to announce it to everyone?”
Although the easy grin never faltered, baby blue eyes scanned their surroundings warily. When he was sure that no one was within earshot of them, James replied, “Like I could ever say no to you, Leonard.” Glancing over at the brunet, he continued, “Now that we have everyone, I was actually thinking about where our last stop should be. And I had a lot of things to take into consideration so it took a little longer than I expected.”
Leonard raised a brow. “I figured you’d just throw a dart onto a map and decide that way - or, ‘serendipity’ as you like to call it.”
The blond snorted. “If you’re going to mock me, can’t you at least be subtle about it? Serendipity’s worked out for us so far, hasn’t it? But I’d rather have something more concrete this time because everyone has something they want. We’re not wandering and searching anymore, we have a destination now.”
“A destination, hmm?” he drawled lazily.
James nodded. “It has to be perfect; one that fits everyone’s needs and wants. To be honest, I originally thought I’d just be looking around for a bunch of people to follow me around and location wouldn’t be that big of an issue.”
“But instead?”
“But instead, I seem to have found myself a family, Leonard.” Those blue eyes were practically sparkling. “If I don’t find a place that suits everyone then that means I didn’t do my part. I made them all promises. I promised Nyota and Spock a safe place to start a family, Sulu and Chekov a place near water, and Scotty a place large enough for him to build and test his inventions. And as for you,” he smiled, “what would make you happy, doc? What if we name the place Port McCoy?”
The doctor frowned. “What? You’re going to name the damn town after me? Please don’t.”
Blue eyes blinked. “Why not? My old man built my mother a house, so why can’t I one up him and build you a town?”
“Thanks but no thanks. I’m a doctor, not a port. The last thing I want to hear is how people died from scurvy and dysentery after arriving at Port McCoy. I can see them now: people lining up with their teeth falling out and bleeding gums. How’s that for a warm welcome?”
James laughed. “You always say the most romantic things, Leonard. Way to turn my greatest gesture of admiration into an atrocity. So what would you like then?”
Leonard chewed on his lower lip in thought for a moment. “Just give me a clinic and patients and I’ll be peachy keen.”
“You’re too modest. People will come flocking to you for help no matter where you are and you’ll end up helping them whether you have a clinic or not.” Crossing his arms for a moment, James sighed in mock-exasperation. “Since I’m responsible for you, I guess I’ll just have to step in for you. Let’s see…a big clinic with the best equipment, somewhere warm all year round, and close enough to Georgia that Joanna and everyone from Atlanta can visit you.”
The doctor raised a brow. “James….”
The blond shrugged. “You’ll need to rush back to Joanna’s side to defend her honour when the time comes. So let’s head back to the east. What else would make you happy, Leonard? Oh! I can promise you that there’ll be no stairs. How does that sound?”
By then, they had reached Scotty’s place and the brunet pointed out, “You’re forgetting something very important, Just James.”
James frowned, clearly trying to think of the answer. After a minute, he shook his head and conceded, “I give up. What’d I miss? Alcohol? Cobblers? A new bed? Nurses-”
Leonard leaned in and kissed the blond, and then he stepped back to watch James’ reaction.
“Oh.” Widened blue eyes blinked a couple times before he broke into a grin and wrapped his arms around the doctor’s waist, pulling him in close. “Oh, you meant that. I wouldn’t worry about that, Leonard. You’ll have that for as long as you’d like. I promise.”
--
They were passing through Montana when everything went wrong.
It was in a small town that they came across a group of thugs, attacking a man in the middle of the streets. The people who were on the street at the time merely averted their eyes sheepishly and hurried into the nearest store. Although they should’ve noticed and taken it as a sign to take a detour, they were too distracted by what was happening to care.
Leonard and James hopped off their horses and called out to the men, “Hey there, fellas, don’t you think that’s quite enough?”
The whole town suddenly went eerily silent.
One man, probably the leader of the group, looked up and sneered. “What’s it to you?” Then taking a glance at their group, he stood up and narrowed his eyes. “Well, would you look at what we have here?”
James tensed uneasily. “I suggest you boys back off before things get ugly.”
“Oh, is that right?” Gesturing to his men, the group stepped away from the prone man. “That sounds more like a challenge to me. Hey boys, these guys obviously need to be taught a lesson about picking fights with the Romulans.”
Without another word, Leonard ran over to assess the damage. When he determined that none of the man’s injuries were life-threatening, he turned back only to find everyone fighting and they were clearly outnumbered. Frowning, he made his way towards Uhura’s horse where her gun was. On his way there, someone placed a hand on his shoulder. “And where do you think you’re going?”
Pain exploded and for a moment, he could’ve sworn he saw stars dancing across his vision. Scowling, he turned around and returned the favour only to cradle his fist afterwards, cussing loudly. “Jesus, that fucking hurt!”
A moment later, he was tackled to the floor and struggled to free himself from his assailant’s grasp. Leonard could only let out a sharp exhale of relief when James pulled the man off of him with a scowl. “Filthy bastard - you’re not supposed to attack a doctor like that!”
Wasting no time, the brunet got up and continued with his original goal. Finally reaching the horse and the rifle, he cocked it and yelled as loudly as he could, “Stop or I’ll blow your heads off!”
Everyone stopped and stared at him in shock.
Wiping the blood from his nose, the leader of the group detached himself from James and stood back with a scowl. “You’re really going to pull the trigger on your fellow men?”
Leonard rolled his eyes and took aim. “My ‘fellow men’ don’t go around attacking innocent people. Now you and your boys better get going before I show you just how fast a man can die when shot in the right place.”
“Brave one, aren’t you? Fine, we’ll leave for now.” The man straightened his out his jacket and caught his breath. He gestured for his men to gather. “Don’t think this is over though. You have no idea who you’re messing with,” he hissed, sending a glare to James and the doctor.
It wasn’t until after the group had gone that the brunet lowered the gun with a relieved sigh. Assessing the damage done with a quick scan, he asked, “Is everyone alright?”
Catching their breaths, everyone nodded. James glanced over at where the prone man had been a moment ago. “Looks like your patient ran away, Leonard.”
The doctor shook his head. “That’s fine. If he was able to get up and run away then his injuries obviously weren’t that bad. Jesus, just look at how roughed up you kids got.”
James let out a soft laugh. “You should see yourself, doc.”
Just then, one of the townsmen stepped back outside and told them, fear evident in his voice, “You guys need to leave town now - as fast as you can before Nero hears about this. If he catches you here, his gang will burn down the whole town.”
It was a warning, not a threat.
Sensing the seriousness of the situation, James made his way to his horse with a frown on his lips. “Come on guys, let’s get going. You can treat our injuries later, Leonard.”
Back to Chapter 7
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