All This Buzzing In My Head
Title: All This Buzzing In My Head
Fandom: Star Trek XI.
Characters: Bones, Uhura, slight Bones/Uhura.
Rating: PG.
Word Count: 572.
Spoilers: None, really.
Summary: McCoy paces the halls at night when he can’t sleep.
Author's Note: For radiocakes, the one who mentioned the pairing to me and thus planted the seed in my head. Thanks to hobbit_hunter for reading over it for me.
McCoy paces the halls at night when he can’t sleep. It’s easier to let his feet wander aimlessly than to even think about letting his mind roam freely, to pull up memories that he’d buried long ago.
But with the quiet humming of the ship around him, and with everyone else asleep in their quarters, he finds it hard to escape his own thoughts. They bounce around in his head, deadly and sharp and ready to cause him as much physical pain as they would mental. He used to drink when he felt this way, guzzled Whiskey like it was water and he was a dying man in the desert.
They don’t have any drinks on board and he’s silently grateful but, at the same time, unhappy about that fact.
He finds himself on the bridge of the ship and suddenly he’s not alone. He hears breathing nearby and, for a brief moment, confuses it with the hum of the ship. Then he sees movement, a head moving to look towards another section of the sky, and he nearly turns around and leaves.
“Lieutenant Uhura?”
She turns, her hair falling over her shoulder; he’s never seen her with it down while she was out of her uniform.
“Doctor McCoy,” she stands and turns to face him. “I was just -“
He holds up a hand to stop her, offers a brief smile. “Doesn’t matter. I like to enjoy the silence, too.”
She smiles and sits back down, gestures towards the seat beside her. McCoy pauses for a moment before walking over and sitting beside her. They’re silent as the sky passes the windows of the ship, each lost in their own thoughts.
“Do you miss it?” she asks and her voice is so soft, he worries he’s imagined it.
He glances at her from the corner of his eye, “Miss what?”
“Home.”
He looks back towards the sky, his hand flexing against his leg. The words get lodged in his throat for a moment and he’s dying to tell her everything -I miss her, miss my daughter; I’d trade it all in an instant if I could have her back. Instead, he lets out a heavy breath.
“Sometimes,” he says finally, careful to keep his voice low. “This ship and those on it have become a different home, though. Not the same - never will be - but it’s a good home.”
She nods and turns her head slightly. He swears he sees tears on her fingertips when she pulls her hand from her face, but he doesn’t comment.
They sit in silence together for a few minutes and, eventually, his hand finds its way to hers. Their fingers lace together easily and she looks at him for a moment. He offers a comforting smile, as if offering to help keep her together for a little while, and she leans over to place a gentle kiss on his cheek.
In the morning, they won’t discuss anything that happened. They will go back to casually passing one another in the hallway, in the bridge, in the infirmary. They won’t share secret glances or passionate kisses in private areas. They’ll be Doctor McCoy and Lieutenant Uhura again, two people who really don’t have a large part in the other’s life.
But for a few hours, with their hands clasped and her body curled against his, they’re together and it’s enough to keep them from falling apart.
Fandom: Star Trek XI.
Characters: Bones, Uhura, slight Bones/Uhura.
Rating: PG.
Word Count: 572.
Spoilers: None, really.
Summary: McCoy paces the halls at night when he can’t sleep.
Author's Note: For radiocakes, the one who mentioned the pairing to me and thus planted the seed in my head. Thanks to hobbit_hunter for reading over it for me.
McCoy paces the halls at night when he can’t sleep. It’s easier to let his feet wander aimlessly than to even think about letting his mind roam freely, to pull up memories that he’d buried long ago.
But with the quiet humming of the ship around him, and with everyone else asleep in their quarters, he finds it hard to escape his own thoughts. They bounce around in his head, deadly and sharp and ready to cause him as much physical pain as they would mental. He used to drink when he felt this way, guzzled Whiskey like it was water and he was a dying man in the desert.
They don’t have any drinks on board and he’s silently grateful but, at the same time, unhappy about that fact.
He finds himself on the bridge of the ship and suddenly he’s not alone. He hears breathing nearby and, for a brief moment, confuses it with the hum of the ship. Then he sees movement, a head moving to look towards another section of the sky, and he nearly turns around and leaves.
“Lieutenant Uhura?”
She turns, her hair falling over her shoulder; he’s never seen her with it down while she was out of her uniform.
“Doctor McCoy,” she stands and turns to face him. “I was just -“
He holds up a hand to stop her, offers a brief smile. “Doesn’t matter. I like to enjoy the silence, too.”
She smiles and sits back down, gestures towards the seat beside her. McCoy pauses for a moment before walking over and sitting beside her. They’re silent as the sky passes the windows of the ship, each lost in their own thoughts.
“Do you miss it?” she asks and her voice is so soft, he worries he’s imagined it.
He glances at her from the corner of his eye, “Miss what?”
“Home.”
He looks back towards the sky, his hand flexing against his leg. The words get lodged in his throat for a moment and he’s dying to tell her everything -I miss her, miss my daughter; I’d trade it all in an instant if I could have her back. Instead, he lets out a heavy breath.
“Sometimes,” he says finally, careful to keep his voice low. “This ship and those on it have become a different home, though. Not the same - never will be - but it’s a good home.”
She nods and turns her head slightly. He swears he sees tears on her fingertips when she pulls her hand from her face, but he doesn’t comment.
They sit in silence together for a few minutes and, eventually, his hand finds its way to hers. Their fingers lace together easily and she looks at him for a moment. He offers a comforting smile, as if offering to help keep her together for a little while, and she leans over to place a gentle kiss on his cheek.
In the morning, they won’t discuss anything that happened. They will go back to casually passing one another in the hallway, in the bridge, in the infirmary. They won’t share secret glances or passionate kisses in private areas. They’ll be Doctor McCoy and Lieutenant Uhura again, two people who really don’t have a large part in the other’s life.
But for a few hours, with their hands clasped and her body curled against his, they’re together and it’s enough to keep them from falling apart.