The Ballad of Jim and Bones - Chapter 1
Title: The Ballad of Jim and Bones (1/5) (AO3)
Series: Star Trek AOS
Author:neko-fish
Beta:castofone
Pairings: Jim/Bones, slight Spock/Uhura
Rating: PG-13
Summary: It was the summer of 1985 when young Jim Kirk's life changed forever. After tumbling down a hill, deep in the woods, he ended up receiving help from the most unlikely figure. Little did he know that the group of people he encountered in the forest that year would teach him about the best and the worst aspects of life, human nature, and himself...
Warnings: AU, my first Star Trek fic.. Highlight for more -> past character death, ghost-ish story, the 1890s, and my crappy summary...
Chapter 1:
The first time he met them, Jim had been a mere child at the time.
It was summer vacation time and his family had just arrived at the small town where their summer cabin was. Every year, it was the same thing, but he didn’t mind. For one thing, it meant he got to spend time with his mother (and usually his stepfather too), busy with her job as she was, and for another, it meant getting away from Uncle Frank. Over an hour away from town, the cabin was tiny and felt isolated from the world, surrounded by wilderness on every side as far as the eye could see. The best part was that it was one of the few places where he was allowed to go off and explore anywhere he wanted on his own on the simple condition that he made it back in time for dinner.
On that particular afternoon, the sun was bright and the sky was free of clouds. He let his legs decide his destination and found himself running up the hill as fast as could go, passing all the trees and shrubbery. Although he’d been running around the woods around the cabin ever since he’d been old enough to be out on his own, he’d never seen this particular hill before. Feeling nothing but exhilaration and excitement at the prospect of exploring uncharted territory, he forged ahead. His lungs were burning for air as the top came into view, but the idea of making it all the way up without stopping made him grin stupidly and ignore the protest in his chest.
Shooting past the peak, he expected the hill to plateau out. But instead, the hill dropped downwards so sharply that he went flying for a moment or two. Legs no longer in control, he began tumbling down the hill, the world spinning around him as he went.
He had no idea when or where he stopped rolling, all he knew was that the world was still whirling around him and his lungs were still angry at him for his earlier accomplishment which didn’t seem quite as impressive now that he was lying on the ground, writhing in pain. Groaning, he waited for the world to settle down and the pain set in as he continued wheezing for air. Tears were pricking at his eyes, partly from the waves of pain crashing against him and partly from the burning in his throat. He would’ve cried and wailed, but there was no one around to hear it so he refrained, not wanting to emotionally exhaust himself needlessly.
Then unexpectedly, a figure appeared and hovered above him, voice thick with concern, “My god, kid! You just came barrelling out of nowhere! Are you alright? Stop wheezing like that, it’s not going to help anyone. Just calm down and take deep breaths. Come on now, one breath at a time. Breathe in and out. That’s good. In and out.”
After taking a couple deep breaths, the burning protest in his lungs finally stopped enough for his brain to focus again. Sitting up, he winced at all the scratches and cuts he was now covered in. Sure, he had worse before, but it still hurt. Flexing his scratched up hands, his eyes began watering again. “Ow...”
The stranger stood up and huffed crossly, in a typical adult tone, “Ow is right. Are you out of your inchoate mind? Wait, don’t answer that. No sane person would’ve thrown themselves down a hill like that. Look at yourself, you’re a mess! But on the bright side, it doesn’t look like anything’s broken. Do have a death wish, kid!?”
Now that he was able to think straight, he could hear a distinct southern accent in the other’s voice. Looking up, he saw a gruff looking man with dark brown hair and hazel eyes, wearing an old looking shirt not unlike the ones he saw a couple times in museums. He would’ve felt more intimidated if his intelligence hadn’t just been questioned, causing him to scowl, “If you must know, I didn’t throw myself down on purpose. It was an accident. I was running up the hill and didn’t know it’d suddenly end like that. Who are you anyways, mister?”
The question made the man pause. Then, in a calmer tone, the brunet answered, “McCoy, Leonard McCoy. You can just call me Leonard if you want. So can you get up, kid?”
“My name’s not kid! It’s James Tiberius Kirk, though most people just call me Jim. I’m staying in a cabin nearby for the summer with my mom and stepdad. And for your information, I’m already 11 years old!” He replied with an indignant frown and pushed himself up, straightening his back as if to make a point.
The man made a noise that was somewhere between a scoff and a brief chuckle, not that either of those was the response Jim was hoping for. “Sure, kid. Hey, see that tree over there? Go grab a couple leaves, get a rock and mash them until they turn into pulp, and then rub it on your cuts. It’ll speed up the healing process and work as an antiseptic and stop them from getting infected by germs and god knows what else.”
Though he heard of people grinding medicine out of plants decades ago, he was pretty sure that no one practiced medicine like that anymore. The idea of making his own ointment might’ve sounded new and exciting, but for all he knew, the man was crazy. He eyed the stranger skeptically, “And just how do you know if these leaves will help? What are you, a doctor?”
Leonard’s eyebrow twitched in response, “I used to be one.”
Jim took a moment to study the other for a moment before shrugging. More or less convinced by the man’s words, he walked over and grabbed a handful of leaves. Then sitting down, he put the leaves on a stone nearby and grabbed a smaller rock to begin pounding them. As he did so, he continued talking, “So what do you mean used to be? With the way you said it, it sounds like you’re not one right now. Why’d you stop? Were you no good at your job? Is that why you’re hiding in the woods?”
The man chuckled and shook his head. “Children, they’ll never change... If you must know, kid, I was very good at my job. I’d prescribe you other ointments but we don’t exactly have access to them around here, so these leaves are the next best thing. And I’m not hiding, I live here.” He crouched down to take a closer look at Jim’s handiwork, “That’s it. Just keep at it a little longer and it should be good.”
He huffed impatiently, “Why can’t you do this? My hands are sore and I bet you’d be faster at it.”
“I would, but I’m afraid I can’t.”
“Why can’t you? I thought you said you were a good doctor?” He frowned, trying to goad Leonard into doing his bidding. When he didn’t get an immediate answer, he stopped and announced loudly, “I’m not going to grind these up unless you tell me! We have Polysporin back at the cabin.”
“I was a good doctor. And what the hell’s Polysporin?” Leonard rubbed the back of his neck, clearly trying to come up with a decent explanation. “Look, kid, I’d like to help you, but I just can’t touch things the way you do. It’d probably be easier for me to demonstrate what I mean. Here, watch.” He reached out for the rock only to have his hand pass through the rock and Jim’s hand.
Giving a start, he could only stare at the man with widened eyes, “Are you a ghost?”
“No, not exactly. Now before you get too scared and run off, you better keep grinding those leaves. I’ll haunt you or something if you don’t apply it to your cuts like I told you to,” the man growled his threat light-heartedly. The doctor-like tone and the southern drawl undermined any fright Jim might’ve felt.
“I wasn’t scared! You just surprised me, that’s all! Besides, your hand passed through everything just now, so it’s not like you’d be able to hurt me or anything.” Slowly, he resumed his task. “So what do you mean you’re not exactly a ghost? You have to be something.”
The man shrugged unhelpfully. “Maybe I’ll show you after you finish up here. That looks pretty good. Now just apply it to your cuts. It might sting a little but that’ll go away pretty quickly.”
Blue eyes widened as Jim let out an immediate protest. “You never said it’d sting!”
“Yeah, well, it’s better than letting those cuts get infected.” Large hazel eyes watched him seriously as Leonard began talking about the horrors of untreated wounds. “If you develop gangrene, within days, your limbs will start festering and swelling and brown fluid will start oozing out from underneath your skin. Then they’ll start turning into different shades of brown then green until you finally have to saw it off completely just to stop the infection from spreading to your organs. It happens, trust me.”
He wrinkled his nose in disgust at the over descriptive images. “That’s really gross.”
The man nodded in agreement. “You bet it is. It’s even worse seeing it in real life.”
“I don’t doubt that. But I don’t think it’d happen to me.”
Like all children, he thought himself as invincible.
Deciding to take a different approach, the brunet stood there, arms crossed, unwilling to budge on the subject. “Well, fine. But I’m not going to show you how I am only ‘sorta a ghost’ until you do as I say. This is for your own good, kid.”
Tempted as he was to simply throw everything down and run, curiosity quickly won over.
“Fine, I’ll do it! But I won’t be happy doing it!”
Reluctantly, he rubbed the ointment over all the cuts the not-quite-a-ghost pointed out, whining at the sharp stinging sensation to which Leonard simply replied with “You’ll live, Jimboy. A little suffering’s good for the soul.”
When he was finally finished, he wiped his hands on his pants and crossed his arms, sticking his chest out triumphantly. “There! All done! Are you happy? Now will you show me what you meant? I’ll keep following you around everywhere if I have to!”
The brunet raised a brow in surprise. “You’re really planning on following me into the woods?”
Suddenly fearful that the man was going back on his word, he quickly asked, “Yeah, why not?”
“Hasn’t your mama ever told you not to follow strangers?”
He rolled his eyes. “Oh. Sure she has, but you’re not a stranger anymore and you can’t even touch me. Besides, you promised! You gave your word so you can’t go back on it now.”
Leonard heaved an exaggeratedly loud sigh though his eyes reflected nothing but amusement. Waving his hand, he gestured for Jim to follow. “Fine, I guess you have a point there. A deal’s a deal and you upheld your end of the bargain so I’ll uphold mine. Come along then, kid.”
Excitement swelling in his chest once more, Jim quickly ran to follow the man. As they walked, he couldn’t help but notice that the man, as solid as he seemed, had no shadow, even when sunlight snuck through the trees and directly onto them.
They walked for less than a minute when they stopped in front of a tree. He furrowed his brows in confusion and began looking around. “Is this some kind of trick? What exactly am I supposed to be looking at?”
Standing next to a tall deciduous tree, the man crossed his arms and nodded at it. “Say hello. This is me...in some ways.”
Jim blinked, trying to comprehend the other’s words. “Are you saying that you’re a tree?”
The man tilted his head side to side, trying to decide on an answer. “Yes and no... It’s a little more complicated than that.”
He protested at the vague reply. “You can’t answer like that. I asked you a yes or no question.” Then his eyes lit up, “Oh! Are you a tree fairy?” The idea didn’t sound ridiculous to him at all.
The doctor stared at him incredulously. “A tree fairy? Does it look like I have damn butterfly wings sprouting out my back?”
Jim shrugged, unfazed by the man’s reaction. “Fine, not a fairy then. But you’re attached to the tree, right? So are you the spirit of the tree?”
Leonard blinked and took a long moment to think before answering, “Yeah, sure. That sounds about right, so let’s just go with that answer for now.”
“So if I touch the tree, you’ll feel it? Can you feel this?” He rapped on the trunk of the tree lightly with his fist.
The man eyebrow twitched again, a reaction he found very amusing. “Yes. Stop it.”
Grinning, Jim wrapped his arms around the tree and squeezed as tight as he could. “Can you feel this? You’re really cold!”
Rolling his eyes, the man shook his head in exasperation. “Well, trees aren’t exactly warm blooded things, now are they?”
Then a woman’s voice called out from the woods. “Leonard? Who are you talking to?”
The two of them looked over at the woman approaching them, dressed in a high-collared dress that was slimming around the waist and looked about as old as Leonard’s suit. She had long black hair, neatly tied into a ponytail that swayed to and fro as she walked. Tall and beautiful, she moved with such grace that Jim could only stare. He might’ve only been a child, but he knew how to appreciate beauty and grace when he saw it.
Clearly acquainted with each other, Leonard nodded his greeting, suddenly five times more polite than before. “Hello, Nyota. I was just talking to Jim here. He rolled down the hill over there and roughed himself up pretty good. I just happened to be in the neighbourhood so I decided to check on him in case he broke something. Jim, this is Nyota Uhura. She used to be a singer.”
They were both clearly waiting to see what kind of reaction he’d have. Jim didn’t quite understand it, but decided that there was nothing to lose by being polite. His mother did always tell him that he should be polite to people he didn’t know well. “Hi, my name’s Jim Kirk! It’s nice to meet you, ma’am! I think you have a really pretty name, Miss Uhura!”
Whatever tension that was there a moment ago dissipated with his words.
Leonard snorted in amusement. “Sweet talking thing, ain’t he?”
Ignoring the comment, he continued introducing himself. “I’m staying around here with my family for the summer! I rolled down the hill by accident, but I’m all better now since he,” Jim huffed pointedly at the man, “made me rub stuff all over my cuts. It stung really bad for a bit but it’s okay now.”
The woman curled her lips into the slightest smile. “Once a sawbones, always a sawbones, hmm? It’s nice to meet you, young Jim Kirk. May I ask why you’re hugging Leonard?”
Quickly letting go of the tree, he smiled sheepishly at the woman. “He said he could feel it when I touched the tree so I wanted to see if it was true. By the way, what’s a sawbones?”
Nyota had a serene expression on her face as she explained to him, “It’s another word for surgeon. Leonard has told you, hasn’t he? He used to be a doctor; a very good one at that.”
“He did tell me. I wasn’t sure if he was telling me the truth, but since you’re saying the same thing, I guess it has to be true!” Then he noticed her lack of shadow and asked, “Miss Uhura, are you a tree spirit too? You don’t have a shadow either.”
She blinked, clearly taken aback by the sudden question. “A tree spirit?” Glancing over at Leonard who simply shrugged in response, she nodded slowly. “A tree spirit…I’ve never really thought of it like that. But I suppose that’s a good a way of phrasing it as any.” Then she turned to Leonard with a combination of amusement and bewilderment. “You have a talent for attracting the most…colourful personalities, don’t you?”
“You mean troublemakers. Come on, you can just say it, you know? I guess it comes naturally; must be my excellent bedside manner.”
Jim smiled easily, unfazed by talking to supposed ethereal beings. “So how many of you are there in this forest?”
Leonard shrugged again. “Oh, there’s probably a good number of us, I’d say.” Then he frowned, “You better not go around town blabbing about us though. We enjoy our privacy here. Having groups of people wandering around looking for ‘tree spirits’ wouldn’t exactly be ideal for us - on the assumption that they believe you, of course. Imagine if someone decided to come in with an axe and chop us down or something.”
Jim nodded, eyes wide at the thought of them being chopped down. Solemnly, he promised, “I swear on my life that I won’t tell anyone about you guys, Bones!”
The woman raised a brow and curled her lips upwards in amusement once more. “Bones?”
Pleased with himself, he grinned. “Yeah! He’s a sawbones, right? I’ll just call him ‘Bones’ for short; it sounds better than calling him ‘Leonard’ anyways!”
The man’s eyebrow shot up (he was beginning to suspect that it was a tree spirit thing) and scowled. “What’s wrong with the name Leonard? And ‘Bones’ of all things? Dammit, Jim, you can’t just go around assigning me nicknames!”
He jutted his lower lip out stubbornly. “Yes, I can!”
Leonard sighed in defeat. “What about ‘Miss Uhura’ then? Why don’t you give her a nice nickname too?”
“My mom said that it’s not proper and girls will misunderstand if you call them anything but their names.”
Nyota nodded in agreement, shooting the doctor a triumphant look. “Your mama’s a smart woman then.”
Snorting, the brunet rolled his eyes though there was no animosity in his voice. “Unbelievable. I can’t believe we just met and you two are teaming up against me already. You’re going to make all my leaves fall out early.”
“Oh please, Leonard. You exaggerate. If you hair hasn’t turned white after all those years, I think your leaves will be just fine. Until winter anyways.”
--
After awhile, Bones tilted his head up and glanced at the sky. “It looks like the sun’s going to set soon. You’d best be on your way home, kid. Wouldn’t want you to get lost out here in the woods or anything now. Do you know how to make your way back home on your own?”
Blue eyes followed the man’s gaze and realized that he was right, but he was reluctant to leave his new friends behind. “I’ll find my way back just fine. I know these woods pretty well.” Then frowning, he asked seriously, “If I come back tomorrow, you guys will still be here, right?”
The brunet snorted at his question. “We won’t be going anywhere anytime soon, kid. Just make sure you don’t come tumbling down the hill again.”
Grinning toothily now, he dipped his head in agreement. “I promise I won’t! I’ll see you tomorrow then! Bye, Miss Uhura and Bones!”
He waved, turned towards the hill and began running back the way he came. From behind him, he could hear Leonard calling after him, “Dammit, Jim! Didn’t you learn your lesson about running up hills the first time!?”
--
On his way back, he created makeshift landmarks from fallen branches and rocks on the ground to make sure that he’d be able to find his way back tomorrow. He didn’t want to scratch marks onto trees like he used to anymore, just in case there was a person residing in it.
When he got back to the cabin, his mother nearly put him under house arrest for the rest of summer when she saw all the cuts and bruises he acquired. With her constant absence due to her job, she never had the chance to pay as close attention to him as most other mothers. As a result, whenever she saw him injured, she tended to overreact.
Ruefully, he tried his best to downplay what happened, “I didn’t see the thing sticking out of the ground and tripped, that’s all, mom. It’s really not that bad! I swear!”
She looked skeptical, her eyes intelligent and sharp, much like Uhura’s had been. He could practically see the cogs in her mind turning, considering alternative things for him to do during the summer. Jim must have looked horrified because his stepfather stepped in, much to his relief. “Accidents happen, Winona. I’m sure he’s had worse. Besides, boys will be boys. He’s still young, those scratches will probably be gone by tomorrow.”
Jim mouthed ‘Thanks, Chris’ silently to him.
Christopher Pike was a friend of his father’s from the army and married his mother a few years after his father’s death. He’d always been there after his mother received the news, had always helped them through problems, and he’d never tried to replace George Kirk for which he was sure his mother was grateful for. Even now, the two adults would occasionally reminisce fondly about their fallen friend and husband.
His mother gave him a final look over before asking, “Are you sure you don’t need to see a doctor, Jim?”
Quickly, he shook his head. “Nope! I’m fine! I don’t need to see no sawbones!”
His stepfather let out a snort of laughter. “Did you just say sawbones? Jesus, have you been hanging out with old timers or something, Jim?”
Jim stood there, wondering just how old those two had been. Surely they couldn’t have been much older than thirty years old. But then again, he couldn’t be sure whether or not tree spirits aged at all. So he shrugged unhelpfully. “They were older than me, that’s for sure.”
That night, he dreamt of a comforting fire, soft murmurs all around him, and warm hazel eyes.
--
A/N: First Star Trek fic (because Jim and Bones wouldn't get out of my brain)! Not much to say. Many thanks tocastofonefor beta-ing this fic! And thanks for reading and hope you enjoy!
Onwards to Chapter 2
Series: Star Trek AOS
Author:neko-fish
Beta:castofone
Pairings: Jim/Bones, slight Spock/Uhura
Rating: PG-13
Summary: It was the summer of 1985 when young Jim Kirk's life changed forever. After tumbling down a hill, deep in the woods, he ended up receiving help from the most unlikely figure. Little did he know that the group of people he encountered in the forest that year would teach him about the best and the worst aspects of life, human nature, and himself...
Warnings: AU, my first Star Trek fic.. Highlight for more -> past character death, ghost-ish story, the 1890s, and my crappy summary...
Chapter 1:
The first time he met them, Jim had been a mere child at the time.
It was summer vacation time and his family had just arrived at the small town where their summer cabin was. Every year, it was the same thing, but he didn’t mind. For one thing, it meant he got to spend time with his mother (and usually his stepfather too), busy with her job as she was, and for another, it meant getting away from Uncle Frank. Over an hour away from town, the cabin was tiny and felt isolated from the world, surrounded by wilderness on every side as far as the eye could see. The best part was that it was one of the few places where he was allowed to go off and explore anywhere he wanted on his own on the simple condition that he made it back in time for dinner.
On that particular afternoon, the sun was bright and the sky was free of clouds. He let his legs decide his destination and found himself running up the hill as fast as could go, passing all the trees and shrubbery. Although he’d been running around the woods around the cabin ever since he’d been old enough to be out on his own, he’d never seen this particular hill before. Feeling nothing but exhilaration and excitement at the prospect of exploring uncharted territory, he forged ahead. His lungs were burning for air as the top came into view, but the idea of making it all the way up without stopping made him grin stupidly and ignore the protest in his chest.
Shooting past the peak, he expected the hill to plateau out. But instead, the hill dropped downwards so sharply that he went flying for a moment or two. Legs no longer in control, he began tumbling down the hill, the world spinning around him as he went.
He had no idea when or where he stopped rolling, all he knew was that the world was still whirling around him and his lungs were still angry at him for his earlier accomplishment which didn’t seem quite as impressive now that he was lying on the ground, writhing in pain. Groaning, he waited for the world to settle down and the pain set in as he continued wheezing for air. Tears were pricking at his eyes, partly from the waves of pain crashing against him and partly from the burning in his throat. He would’ve cried and wailed, but there was no one around to hear it so he refrained, not wanting to emotionally exhaust himself needlessly.
Then unexpectedly, a figure appeared and hovered above him, voice thick with concern, “My god, kid! You just came barrelling out of nowhere! Are you alright? Stop wheezing like that, it’s not going to help anyone. Just calm down and take deep breaths. Come on now, one breath at a time. Breathe in and out. That’s good. In and out.”
After taking a couple deep breaths, the burning protest in his lungs finally stopped enough for his brain to focus again. Sitting up, he winced at all the scratches and cuts he was now covered in. Sure, he had worse before, but it still hurt. Flexing his scratched up hands, his eyes began watering again. “Ow...”
The stranger stood up and huffed crossly, in a typical adult tone, “Ow is right. Are you out of your inchoate mind? Wait, don’t answer that. No sane person would’ve thrown themselves down a hill like that. Look at yourself, you’re a mess! But on the bright side, it doesn’t look like anything’s broken. Do have a death wish, kid!?”
Now that he was able to think straight, he could hear a distinct southern accent in the other’s voice. Looking up, he saw a gruff looking man with dark brown hair and hazel eyes, wearing an old looking shirt not unlike the ones he saw a couple times in museums. He would’ve felt more intimidated if his intelligence hadn’t just been questioned, causing him to scowl, “If you must know, I didn’t throw myself down on purpose. It was an accident. I was running up the hill and didn’t know it’d suddenly end like that. Who are you anyways, mister?”
The question made the man pause. Then, in a calmer tone, the brunet answered, “McCoy, Leonard McCoy. You can just call me Leonard if you want. So can you get up, kid?”
“My name’s not kid! It’s James Tiberius Kirk, though most people just call me Jim. I’m staying in a cabin nearby for the summer with my mom and stepdad. And for your information, I’m already 11 years old!” He replied with an indignant frown and pushed himself up, straightening his back as if to make a point.
The man made a noise that was somewhere between a scoff and a brief chuckle, not that either of those was the response Jim was hoping for. “Sure, kid. Hey, see that tree over there? Go grab a couple leaves, get a rock and mash them until they turn into pulp, and then rub it on your cuts. It’ll speed up the healing process and work as an antiseptic and stop them from getting infected by germs and god knows what else.”
Though he heard of people grinding medicine out of plants decades ago, he was pretty sure that no one practiced medicine like that anymore. The idea of making his own ointment might’ve sounded new and exciting, but for all he knew, the man was crazy. He eyed the stranger skeptically, “And just how do you know if these leaves will help? What are you, a doctor?”
Leonard’s eyebrow twitched in response, “I used to be one.”
Jim took a moment to study the other for a moment before shrugging. More or less convinced by the man’s words, he walked over and grabbed a handful of leaves. Then sitting down, he put the leaves on a stone nearby and grabbed a smaller rock to begin pounding them. As he did so, he continued talking, “So what do you mean used to be? With the way you said it, it sounds like you’re not one right now. Why’d you stop? Were you no good at your job? Is that why you’re hiding in the woods?”
The man chuckled and shook his head. “Children, they’ll never change... If you must know, kid, I was very good at my job. I’d prescribe you other ointments but we don’t exactly have access to them around here, so these leaves are the next best thing. And I’m not hiding, I live here.” He crouched down to take a closer look at Jim’s handiwork, “That’s it. Just keep at it a little longer and it should be good.”
He huffed impatiently, “Why can’t you do this? My hands are sore and I bet you’d be faster at it.”
“I would, but I’m afraid I can’t.”
“Why can’t you? I thought you said you were a good doctor?” He frowned, trying to goad Leonard into doing his bidding. When he didn’t get an immediate answer, he stopped and announced loudly, “I’m not going to grind these up unless you tell me! We have Polysporin back at the cabin.”
“I was a good doctor. And what the hell’s Polysporin?” Leonard rubbed the back of his neck, clearly trying to come up with a decent explanation. “Look, kid, I’d like to help you, but I just can’t touch things the way you do. It’d probably be easier for me to demonstrate what I mean. Here, watch.” He reached out for the rock only to have his hand pass through the rock and Jim’s hand.
Giving a start, he could only stare at the man with widened eyes, “Are you a ghost?”
“No, not exactly. Now before you get too scared and run off, you better keep grinding those leaves. I’ll haunt you or something if you don’t apply it to your cuts like I told you to,” the man growled his threat light-heartedly. The doctor-like tone and the southern drawl undermined any fright Jim might’ve felt.
“I wasn’t scared! You just surprised me, that’s all! Besides, your hand passed through everything just now, so it’s not like you’d be able to hurt me or anything.” Slowly, he resumed his task. “So what do you mean you’re not exactly a ghost? You have to be something.”
The man shrugged unhelpfully. “Maybe I’ll show you after you finish up here. That looks pretty good. Now just apply it to your cuts. It might sting a little but that’ll go away pretty quickly.”
Blue eyes widened as Jim let out an immediate protest. “You never said it’d sting!”
“Yeah, well, it’s better than letting those cuts get infected.” Large hazel eyes watched him seriously as Leonard began talking about the horrors of untreated wounds. “If you develop gangrene, within days, your limbs will start festering and swelling and brown fluid will start oozing out from underneath your skin. Then they’ll start turning into different shades of brown then green until you finally have to saw it off completely just to stop the infection from spreading to your organs. It happens, trust me.”
He wrinkled his nose in disgust at the over descriptive images. “That’s really gross.”
The man nodded in agreement. “You bet it is. It’s even worse seeing it in real life.”
“I don’t doubt that. But I don’t think it’d happen to me.”
Like all children, he thought himself as invincible.
Deciding to take a different approach, the brunet stood there, arms crossed, unwilling to budge on the subject. “Well, fine. But I’m not going to show you how I am only ‘sorta a ghost’ until you do as I say. This is for your own good, kid.”
Tempted as he was to simply throw everything down and run, curiosity quickly won over.
“Fine, I’ll do it! But I won’t be happy doing it!”
Reluctantly, he rubbed the ointment over all the cuts the not-quite-a-ghost pointed out, whining at the sharp stinging sensation to which Leonard simply replied with “You’ll live, Jimboy. A little suffering’s good for the soul.”
When he was finally finished, he wiped his hands on his pants and crossed his arms, sticking his chest out triumphantly. “There! All done! Are you happy? Now will you show me what you meant? I’ll keep following you around everywhere if I have to!”
The brunet raised a brow in surprise. “You’re really planning on following me into the woods?”
Suddenly fearful that the man was going back on his word, he quickly asked, “Yeah, why not?”
“Hasn’t your mama ever told you not to follow strangers?”
He rolled his eyes. “Oh. Sure she has, but you’re not a stranger anymore and you can’t even touch me. Besides, you promised! You gave your word so you can’t go back on it now.”
Leonard heaved an exaggeratedly loud sigh though his eyes reflected nothing but amusement. Waving his hand, he gestured for Jim to follow. “Fine, I guess you have a point there. A deal’s a deal and you upheld your end of the bargain so I’ll uphold mine. Come along then, kid.”
Excitement swelling in his chest once more, Jim quickly ran to follow the man. As they walked, he couldn’t help but notice that the man, as solid as he seemed, had no shadow, even when sunlight snuck through the trees and directly onto them.
They walked for less than a minute when they stopped in front of a tree. He furrowed his brows in confusion and began looking around. “Is this some kind of trick? What exactly am I supposed to be looking at?”
Standing next to a tall deciduous tree, the man crossed his arms and nodded at it. “Say hello. This is me...in some ways.”
Jim blinked, trying to comprehend the other’s words. “Are you saying that you’re a tree?”
The man tilted his head side to side, trying to decide on an answer. “Yes and no... It’s a little more complicated than that.”
He protested at the vague reply. “You can’t answer like that. I asked you a yes or no question.” Then his eyes lit up, “Oh! Are you a tree fairy?” The idea didn’t sound ridiculous to him at all.
The doctor stared at him incredulously. “A tree fairy? Does it look like I have damn butterfly wings sprouting out my back?”
Jim shrugged, unfazed by the man’s reaction. “Fine, not a fairy then. But you’re attached to the tree, right? So are you the spirit of the tree?”
Leonard blinked and took a long moment to think before answering, “Yeah, sure. That sounds about right, so let’s just go with that answer for now.”
“So if I touch the tree, you’ll feel it? Can you feel this?” He rapped on the trunk of the tree lightly with his fist.
The man eyebrow twitched again, a reaction he found very amusing. “Yes. Stop it.”
Grinning, Jim wrapped his arms around the tree and squeezed as tight as he could. “Can you feel this? You’re really cold!”
Rolling his eyes, the man shook his head in exasperation. “Well, trees aren’t exactly warm blooded things, now are they?”
Then a woman’s voice called out from the woods. “Leonard? Who are you talking to?”
The two of them looked over at the woman approaching them, dressed in a high-collared dress that was slimming around the waist and looked about as old as Leonard’s suit. She had long black hair, neatly tied into a ponytail that swayed to and fro as she walked. Tall and beautiful, she moved with such grace that Jim could only stare. He might’ve only been a child, but he knew how to appreciate beauty and grace when he saw it.
Clearly acquainted with each other, Leonard nodded his greeting, suddenly five times more polite than before. “Hello, Nyota. I was just talking to Jim here. He rolled down the hill over there and roughed himself up pretty good. I just happened to be in the neighbourhood so I decided to check on him in case he broke something. Jim, this is Nyota Uhura. She used to be a singer.”
They were both clearly waiting to see what kind of reaction he’d have. Jim didn’t quite understand it, but decided that there was nothing to lose by being polite. His mother did always tell him that he should be polite to people he didn’t know well. “Hi, my name’s Jim Kirk! It’s nice to meet you, ma’am! I think you have a really pretty name, Miss Uhura!”
Whatever tension that was there a moment ago dissipated with his words.
Leonard snorted in amusement. “Sweet talking thing, ain’t he?”
Ignoring the comment, he continued introducing himself. “I’m staying around here with my family for the summer! I rolled down the hill by accident, but I’m all better now since he,” Jim huffed pointedly at the man, “made me rub stuff all over my cuts. It stung really bad for a bit but it’s okay now.”
The woman curled her lips into the slightest smile. “Once a sawbones, always a sawbones, hmm? It’s nice to meet you, young Jim Kirk. May I ask why you’re hugging Leonard?”
Quickly letting go of the tree, he smiled sheepishly at the woman. “He said he could feel it when I touched the tree so I wanted to see if it was true. By the way, what’s a sawbones?”
Nyota had a serene expression on her face as she explained to him, “It’s another word for surgeon. Leonard has told you, hasn’t he? He used to be a doctor; a very good one at that.”
“He did tell me. I wasn’t sure if he was telling me the truth, but since you’re saying the same thing, I guess it has to be true!” Then he noticed her lack of shadow and asked, “Miss Uhura, are you a tree spirit too? You don’t have a shadow either.”
She blinked, clearly taken aback by the sudden question. “A tree spirit?” Glancing over at Leonard who simply shrugged in response, she nodded slowly. “A tree spirit…I’ve never really thought of it like that. But I suppose that’s a good a way of phrasing it as any.” Then she turned to Leonard with a combination of amusement and bewilderment. “You have a talent for attracting the most…colourful personalities, don’t you?”
“You mean troublemakers. Come on, you can just say it, you know? I guess it comes naturally; must be my excellent bedside manner.”
Jim smiled easily, unfazed by talking to supposed ethereal beings. “So how many of you are there in this forest?”
Leonard shrugged again. “Oh, there’s probably a good number of us, I’d say.” Then he frowned, “You better not go around town blabbing about us though. We enjoy our privacy here. Having groups of people wandering around looking for ‘tree spirits’ wouldn’t exactly be ideal for us - on the assumption that they believe you, of course. Imagine if someone decided to come in with an axe and chop us down or something.”
Jim nodded, eyes wide at the thought of them being chopped down. Solemnly, he promised, “I swear on my life that I won’t tell anyone about you guys, Bones!”
The woman raised a brow and curled her lips upwards in amusement once more. “Bones?”
Pleased with himself, he grinned. “Yeah! He’s a sawbones, right? I’ll just call him ‘Bones’ for short; it sounds better than calling him ‘Leonard’ anyways!”
The man’s eyebrow shot up (he was beginning to suspect that it was a tree spirit thing) and scowled. “What’s wrong with the name Leonard? And ‘Bones’ of all things? Dammit, Jim, you can’t just go around assigning me nicknames!”
He jutted his lower lip out stubbornly. “Yes, I can!”
Leonard sighed in defeat. “What about ‘Miss Uhura’ then? Why don’t you give her a nice nickname too?”
“My mom said that it’s not proper and girls will misunderstand if you call them anything but their names.”
Nyota nodded in agreement, shooting the doctor a triumphant look. “Your mama’s a smart woman then.”
Snorting, the brunet rolled his eyes though there was no animosity in his voice. “Unbelievable. I can’t believe we just met and you two are teaming up against me already. You’re going to make all my leaves fall out early.”
“Oh please, Leonard. You exaggerate. If you hair hasn’t turned white after all those years, I think your leaves will be just fine. Until winter anyways.”
--
After awhile, Bones tilted his head up and glanced at the sky. “It looks like the sun’s going to set soon. You’d best be on your way home, kid. Wouldn’t want you to get lost out here in the woods or anything now. Do you know how to make your way back home on your own?”
Blue eyes followed the man’s gaze and realized that he was right, but he was reluctant to leave his new friends behind. “I’ll find my way back just fine. I know these woods pretty well.” Then frowning, he asked seriously, “If I come back tomorrow, you guys will still be here, right?”
The brunet snorted at his question. “We won’t be going anywhere anytime soon, kid. Just make sure you don’t come tumbling down the hill again.”
Grinning toothily now, he dipped his head in agreement. “I promise I won’t! I’ll see you tomorrow then! Bye, Miss Uhura and Bones!”
He waved, turned towards the hill and began running back the way he came. From behind him, he could hear Leonard calling after him, “Dammit, Jim! Didn’t you learn your lesson about running up hills the first time!?”
--
On his way back, he created makeshift landmarks from fallen branches and rocks on the ground to make sure that he’d be able to find his way back tomorrow. He didn’t want to scratch marks onto trees like he used to anymore, just in case there was a person residing in it.
When he got back to the cabin, his mother nearly put him under house arrest for the rest of summer when she saw all the cuts and bruises he acquired. With her constant absence due to her job, she never had the chance to pay as close attention to him as most other mothers. As a result, whenever she saw him injured, she tended to overreact.
Ruefully, he tried his best to downplay what happened, “I didn’t see the thing sticking out of the ground and tripped, that’s all, mom. It’s really not that bad! I swear!”
She looked skeptical, her eyes intelligent and sharp, much like Uhura’s had been. He could practically see the cogs in her mind turning, considering alternative things for him to do during the summer. Jim must have looked horrified because his stepfather stepped in, much to his relief. “Accidents happen, Winona. I’m sure he’s had worse. Besides, boys will be boys. He’s still young, those scratches will probably be gone by tomorrow.”
Jim mouthed ‘Thanks, Chris’ silently to him.
Christopher Pike was a friend of his father’s from the army and married his mother a few years after his father’s death. He’d always been there after his mother received the news, had always helped them through problems, and he’d never tried to replace George Kirk for which he was sure his mother was grateful for. Even now, the two adults would occasionally reminisce fondly about their fallen friend and husband.
His mother gave him a final look over before asking, “Are you sure you don’t need to see a doctor, Jim?”
Quickly, he shook his head. “Nope! I’m fine! I don’t need to see no sawbones!”
His stepfather let out a snort of laughter. “Did you just say sawbones? Jesus, have you been hanging out with old timers or something, Jim?”
Jim stood there, wondering just how old those two had been. Surely they couldn’t have been much older than thirty years old. But then again, he couldn’t be sure whether or not tree spirits aged at all. So he shrugged unhelpfully. “They were older than me, that’s for sure.”
That night, he dreamt of a comforting fire, soft murmurs all around him, and warm hazel eyes.
--
A/N: First Star Trek fic (because Jim and Bones wouldn't get out of my brain)! Not much to say. Many thanks tocastofonefor beta-ing this fic! And thanks for reading and hope you enjoy!
Onwards to Chapter 2