fic: Taking Hostages (full version)
Title: Taking Hostages
Author: bandearg_rois
Pairing/Characters: Kirk/McCoy, Spock/Uhura, brief mentions of another relationship.
Word Count: 1376
Warnings: None, beyond smoking.
Summary: They met at a party, but it wasn't an accident.
Author's Notes: Okay, so this is an enlarged version of the first comment fic for my DEA series, started on jim_and_bones a few months ago. I've added a scene and also added details. This was un-betaed because I'm lazy and/or silly and started revamping after my normal betas were well abed.
“Geoff, can you come close?” he asked, lifting his arms and stepping away. The surgery was a success, the first of its kind to be completed, and he was definitely glad, but right now, he wanted these gloves off and to scrub out. Christine was still in the theater, assisting Geoff, so some random nurse helped him get the gloves and the gown off. He was pretty sure that he had blood on his scrubs underneath, but he couldn't be bothered to care as he scrubbed his arms and then pulled on his lab coat to go talk to the girl's family.
About an hour later, he made his way past 'his' nurse's station, stopping to talk to Nyota, the receptionist on duty. She, of course, invited him to a party that night, and he was pretty sure it was because of the surgery, but also because she'd been trying to set him up with two of her friends that she'd met through her boyfriend. The only issue he had with that was that they were already together, and she was trying to get him to be a third spoke, as it were. Neither of them were unattractive, though the younger one was really young, like 19 or something.
But he was forced to say yes by the look on her face, which was somewhere between wheedling and 'I know where you live, and I know secret death techniques'. He just nodded, sighed, and walked onto his rounds. Time enough to worry about his personal issues after he checked on all of his patients so that he could get the fuck out of the place.
But finally, finally, he clocked out and changed back into his jeans and t-shirt before heading home to find the damn suit Nyota had forced him to get a few months before. Once he was dressed and finally ready, he headed for her house, already feeling the weight of too many people he didn't know at a party thrown for him. It wasn't as bad as all that, he knew; Spock's coworkers that made it were always good conversationalists, even if they didn't really have much in common to talk about, and the food was bound to be great..
An hour in, and he was already hiding on the front porch, though hiding wasn't really the word for it, since he was in full view of the people that were still showing up, after late shifts at work or travel. He'd managed to commandeer a corner of the railing, away from the door, and was itching to remove his tie. The thing was growing more uncomfortable by the moment, and he was always one for comfort.
His internal bitching was interrupted by bright laughter from the curb, and he looked to see a blond man with a camera taking random pictures of the front of the house, making him hide his face in self-preservation. When the man reached the front door, Spock was waiting.
“Jim,” he said, and somehow Len thought that was the same as a tight hug from the reticent man.
“Spock! How's Uhura?”
“She is well.” Len either made a movement, or Spock was watching him more closely than usual, because soon enough he was waved over. “This is Dr. Leonard McCoy, the guest of honor for tonight's party and one of Nyota's friends.”
“Hi, Leonard!” The man's grin was infectious, and Len found himself smiling in return.
“Hi, yourself, Jim. Call me, Len.” Jim was apparently a very tactile person, since he found himself grabbed by the arm and dragged into the house with no never-mind as to his own personal feelings. “Hey, now, I was doing just fine out on the porch,” he protested weakly, easily being overridden by the vivacious blond.
“Ny!” Jim called, still holding onto him. “You seem to have lost your guest of honor! Good thing I was here or he'd have been lost forever!”
“Hello, Jim, I see you've met Len,” Nyota said, as if this exchange was normal, and who knew, maybe it was. They hugged and then she danced off to another guest, amusement plain on her face at his predicament. He vowed to make her work an extra shift as he was dragged in the direction of the kitchen.
“So, Len, what kind of surgeon are you?” Jim asked as he rooted around the table for something edible, which was slim pickings.
“Orthopedics and Neuropathy. What're you drinking?” At Jim's inelegant shrug, he felt he should warn him. “If you want soda, all she's got left is Coke Zero.” At his nod, Len handed him one and then leaned back against the counter. “So, what do you do?”
“I actually work with Spock at the Department. Accounting.”
“Sounds like a laugh riot,” he said dryly, obviously startling another laugh out of Jim.
“Sure is. Hey, you wanna get out of here? Get some coffee or something?”
“You've been here less than ten minutes!” he exclaimed, wondering how in the hell Jim is going to be able to pull off leaving one of Nyota's parties early. More importantly, he wondered how he would make it out early.
“And we're both bored out of our gourds. Let's go do something more fun!” And Jim set the can down and reached for his arm again, dragging him toward the front door.
Len wasn't sure why he wanted to quote Humphrey Bogart from Casablanca, but the thought was there as he followed Jim down the front steps and out of the party, both of them laughing at something neither of them could name.
~*~
The next morning he walked into work smiling, which must have scared the shit out of all of his nurses and other staff. The only ones that seemed immune were Christine and Nyota, both of whom gave him indulgent looks. He made a point of being extra irritable whenever he was in contact with the two of them, to make them laugh harder; neither of them got enough humor in their life.
“Len, can I talk to you a moment?” Nyota asked him, sometime in the afternoon, when his nicotine cravings, the ones that he was always trying to ignore, got the worst. This was a good day, and he shouldn't have needed the rush from it, but here he was on the roof. She'd come to find him it seemed, and since he hadn't been called, it wasn't anything to do with the hospital.
“Sure, Ny,” he said, motioning her over and offering one of his deathsticks to her. She accepted easily, lighting up and looking out over the skyline with him.
“So, you met Jim Kirk last night,” she said conversationally, and Len grinned wryly. The wonan was the worst hard-ass in the building, but also its best gossip, and he could tell she was fishing from a mile away.
“I did. Saved me from stormin' outta your house like I did that one time,” he said, the gruff in his voice more of habit than actual ire.
“So?” she finally asked, when his cigarette was little more than a stub.
“He was nice. We went to Maria's Diner and had coffee and pie. Got his number. Is that what you wanted to know?”
“Are you going to use it?” she asked knowingly, and he shook his head, laughing and thinking about lighting up again.
“I don't know. I mean, he's handsome, we had a good time, don't think I'll mind too much seeing him again.”
“Did you give him your number?” she asked, and just then, a text came in on his phone.
So, how would you like to hit the batting cages after you get off work? - JTK
“Is that from him?” she asked, and he nodded absently.
“Yeah. How does he know I play baseball?”
“I certainly didn't tell him. Maybe Spock did; the two of them are thick as thieves most of the time.”
“So Spock set us up?”
“Seems so. Are you gonna go?” she asked, trying to read the text. He prudently turned the screen away and replied with a simple 'sure' and what time he got off work.
“Guess so,” he said, flicking his dead butt into the can and smiling at her. “Tell Spock thanks?”
“Will do. See you inside.” And as he walked down the access stairs, he started whistling. Maybe Jim would be a nice change; after all, he wasn't doing anything else.
~*~
Author: bandearg_rois
Pairing/Characters: Kirk/McCoy, Spock/Uhura, brief mentions of another relationship.
Word Count: 1376
Warnings: None, beyond smoking.
Summary: They met at a party, but it wasn't an accident.
Author's Notes: Okay, so this is an enlarged version of the first comment fic for my DEA series, started on jim_and_bones a few months ago. I've added a scene and also added details. This was un-betaed because I'm lazy and/or silly and started revamping after my normal betas were well abed.
“Geoff, can you come close?” he asked, lifting his arms and stepping away. The surgery was a success, the first of its kind to be completed, and he was definitely glad, but right now, he wanted these gloves off and to scrub out. Christine was still in the theater, assisting Geoff, so some random nurse helped him get the gloves and the gown off. He was pretty sure that he had blood on his scrubs underneath, but he couldn't be bothered to care as he scrubbed his arms and then pulled on his lab coat to go talk to the girl's family.
About an hour later, he made his way past 'his' nurse's station, stopping to talk to Nyota, the receptionist on duty. She, of course, invited him to a party that night, and he was pretty sure it was because of the surgery, but also because she'd been trying to set him up with two of her friends that she'd met through her boyfriend. The only issue he had with that was that they were already together, and she was trying to get him to be a third spoke, as it were. Neither of them were unattractive, though the younger one was really young, like 19 or something.
But he was forced to say yes by the look on her face, which was somewhere between wheedling and 'I know where you live, and I know secret death techniques'. He just nodded, sighed, and walked onto his rounds. Time enough to worry about his personal issues after he checked on all of his patients so that he could get the fuck out of the place.
But finally, finally, he clocked out and changed back into his jeans and t-shirt before heading home to find the damn suit Nyota had forced him to get a few months before. Once he was dressed and finally ready, he headed for her house, already feeling the weight of too many people he didn't know at a party thrown for him. It wasn't as bad as all that, he knew; Spock's coworkers that made it were always good conversationalists, even if they didn't really have much in common to talk about, and the food was bound to be great..
An hour in, and he was already hiding on the front porch, though hiding wasn't really the word for it, since he was in full view of the people that were still showing up, after late shifts at work or travel. He'd managed to commandeer a corner of the railing, away from the door, and was itching to remove his tie. The thing was growing more uncomfortable by the moment, and he was always one for comfort.
His internal bitching was interrupted by bright laughter from the curb, and he looked to see a blond man with a camera taking random pictures of the front of the house, making him hide his face in self-preservation. When the man reached the front door, Spock was waiting.
“Jim,” he said, and somehow Len thought that was the same as a tight hug from the reticent man.
“Spock! How's Uhura?”
“She is well.” Len either made a movement, or Spock was watching him more closely than usual, because soon enough he was waved over. “This is Dr. Leonard McCoy, the guest of honor for tonight's party and one of Nyota's friends.”
“Hi, Leonard!” The man's grin was infectious, and Len found himself smiling in return.
“Hi, yourself, Jim. Call me, Len.” Jim was apparently a very tactile person, since he found himself grabbed by the arm and dragged into the house with no never-mind as to his own personal feelings. “Hey, now, I was doing just fine out on the porch,” he protested weakly, easily being overridden by the vivacious blond.
“Ny!” Jim called, still holding onto him. “You seem to have lost your guest of honor! Good thing I was here or he'd have been lost forever!”
“Hello, Jim, I see you've met Len,” Nyota said, as if this exchange was normal, and who knew, maybe it was. They hugged and then she danced off to another guest, amusement plain on her face at his predicament. He vowed to make her work an extra shift as he was dragged in the direction of the kitchen.
“So, Len, what kind of surgeon are you?” Jim asked as he rooted around the table for something edible, which was slim pickings.
“Orthopedics and Neuropathy. What're you drinking?” At Jim's inelegant shrug, he felt he should warn him. “If you want soda, all she's got left is Coke Zero.” At his nod, Len handed him one and then leaned back against the counter. “So, what do you do?”
“I actually work with Spock at the Department. Accounting.”
“Sounds like a laugh riot,” he said dryly, obviously startling another laugh out of Jim.
“Sure is. Hey, you wanna get out of here? Get some coffee or something?”
“You've been here less than ten minutes!” he exclaimed, wondering how in the hell Jim is going to be able to pull off leaving one of Nyota's parties early. More importantly, he wondered how he would make it out early.
“And we're both bored out of our gourds. Let's go do something more fun!” And Jim set the can down and reached for his arm again, dragging him toward the front door.
Len wasn't sure why he wanted to quote Humphrey Bogart from Casablanca, but the thought was there as he followed Jim down the front steps and out of the party, both of them laughing at something neither of them could name.
~*~
The next morning he walked into work smiling, which must have scared the shit out of all of his nurses and other staff. The only ones that seemed immune were Christine and Nyota, both of whom gave him indulgent looks. He made a point of being extra irritable whenever he was in contact with the two of them, to make them laugh harder; neither of them got enough humor in their life.
“Len, can I talk to you a moment?” Nyota asked him, sometime in the afternoon, when his nicotine cravings, the ones that he was always trying to ignore, got the worst. This was a good day, and he shouldn't have needed the rush from it, but here he was on the roof. She'd come to find him it seemed, and since he hadn't been called, it wasn't anything to do with the hospital.
“Sure, Ny,” he said, motioning her over and offering one of his deathsticks to her. She accepted easily, lighting up and looking out over the skyline with him.
“So, you met Jim Kirk last night,” she said conversationally, and Len grinned wryly. The wonan was the worst hard-ass in the building, but also its best gossip, and he could tell she was fishing from a mile away.
“I did. Saved me from stormin' outta your house like I did that one time,” he said, the gruff in his voice more of habit than actual ire.
“So?” she finally asked, when his cigarette was little more than a stub.
“He was nice. We went to Maria's Diner and had coffee and pie. Got his number. Is that what you wanted to know?”
“Are you going to use it?” she asked knowingly, and he shook his head, laughing and thinking about lighting up again.
“I don't know. I mean, he's handsome, we had a good time, don't think I'll mind too much seeing him again.”
“Did you give him your number?” she asked, and just then, a text came in on his phone.
So, how would you like to hit the batting cages after you get off work? - JTK
“Is that from him?” she asked, and he nodded absently.
“Yeah. How does he know I play baseball?”
“I certainly didn't tell him. Maybe Spock did; the two of them are thick as thieves most of the time.”
“So Spock set us up?”
“Seems so. Are you gonna go?” she asked, trying to read the text. He prudently turned the screen away and replied with a simple 'sure' and what time he got off work.
“Guess so,” he said, flicking his dead butt into the can and smiling at her. “Tell Spock thanks?”
“Will do. See you inside.” And as he walked down the access stairs, he started whistling. Maybe Jim would be a nice change; after all, he wasn't doing anything else.
~*~