AN: Apparently, when I read prompts at 2 in the morning, I end up doing one of those 5+1 things. This story can be read as either platonic or romantic.
One
"Get in your own bed, Jim," Leonard grumbled.
How the hell did he end up with this kid, again? Oh, that's right; he's a glutton for punishment. To be fair, he did puke all over Jim in the shuttle on their way to the academy, so when Captain Pike decided to put them together in the same room, Leonard didn't have it in him to argue. Six months later, he was now regretting that choice.
"Nope," his roommate said with a chuckle and snuggled closer. "It's cold."
"Then get another blanket or something," the doctor said.
"Body heat is the best way to stay warm. And you're comfy," Jim said as he pressed his face against Leonard's back.
"Go sleep with one of your many girlfriends."
"Hey, I'm a flirt, not a slut. I only date one person at a time."
"Doesn't change my point. Find someone else's bed to climb into."
"Don't want to," the blonde chuckled. "Go back to sleep, Bones."
Two
"Don't leave," Jim rasped from the bio-bed. The only thing worse than his roommate being annoying was when the overly energetic 24-year-old was so sick that he couldn't actually move.
"You should be asleep, kid," Leonard said.
"Can't. I hate hospitals."
"They're not that bad."
"You have seen my medical records, right?"
Jim's stepdad used to beat the crap out of him and his older brother whenever their mother went off planet. For years, both Kirk boys spent more time in the hospital than they spent in school. The fact that the medical staff never noticed still perplexes Leonard. Once their mother figured out what was going on, she divorced the jackass and had him prosecuted but the damage was already done. He was sure, beyond any doubt, that their friendship was the only reason Jim let Leonard treat him.
"You still have to sleep. I can sit with you for a little while but I'm supposed to be working," the southerner told his friend.
"Then don't worry about it," Jim said with a croak. "I'll deal."
"No, you don't worry about it," Leonard said, shaking his head as he sat in the chair next to Jim's bed. The kid was the most self-sacrificing idiot he's ever met. Though, growing up in the shadow of a man who got himself killed for 800 plus people would do that to a person. "Now, sleep."
"You'll be here?"
"I'll be here."
Three
"How long have you been up?" Jim asked when he walked into the medbay after they took down the Narada. The ship was limping home on impulse, which meant it would be a while before anyone got any real rest.
"I have no idea," Leonard answered his friend and the Enterprise's acting captain with a sigh.
"Thirty-eight hours," Jim said. "You've been awake for just over thirty-eight hours."
"Didn't know you were keeping track," the doctor scoffed as he wrapped some engineer's arm.
"You have to sleep, Bones."
"Me? When's the last time you got some rest?"
"I have work to do and I gave up the captain's quarters. They're not mine anyway and Pike's in here," Jim said as he ran a hand through his hair. The doctor looked at the slightly younger man, he could see the wariness written all over him, despite how well he hides it from everyone else.
"So, you need to get some rest too," Leonard said before he gave the redshirt in front of him some instructions and sent her on her way. Jim had that sheepish look on his face, the one he gets when he knows he's in trouble. As the acting CMO, Leonard could just order him to get some sleep.
"Look, we both need to rest. So, I'll just sleep when you sleep," the acting captain said quietly. Leonard knew from experience that Jim could stay awake for days if he had to. What's more, Jim knew that Leonard knew.
"Fine, I'll go to bed," the southerner grumbled.
"Great," Jim said with a bright smile. Leonard really should've known that he was being set up. "We're in Puri's room. If you're not there in twenty minutes, I'm stealing all the covers."
Four
"Go to sleep, Jim," Leonard said with a sigh. He's been trying to sleep for an hour but Jim's muttering and shifting and fidgeting kept him awake.
"I can't. I mean, I know I should because we leave tomorrow but I can't get my mind to settle," the youngest captain in the fleet said. Leonard could hear the near panic in his friend's voice. Jim was terrified, and rightly so. He went from almost getting kicked out of Starfleet to its poster child in three days. The months leading up to the departure only added to Jim's stress since he had to put together a ship and crew with a ton of people watching his every move and waiting for him to screw up.
"It's gonna be okay," Leonard said. "You just gotta rest. If you're tired tomorrow, everyone will notice."
"I know that, it's not helping."
"You want me to give you something?"
"I'm not that desperate."
"You wanna sleep over here?" the doctor offered. Deny it as he might, they both sleep better when they sleep in the same bed.
"I don't wanna impose," Jim muttered.
"That's hilarious, kid," Leonard laughed. "Get over here."
"You sure?"
"I offered, didn't I? Come on."
Jim scrambled off his bed and into Leonard's. "You know you're like the best best friend ever, right?"
"Yea. Now, go to sleep."
Five
"What do we have here?" Leonard muttered to himself as he looked at the group.
It started with a mission that unsurprisingly went sideways and Spock got hurt, like really hurt. Doing surgery on a Vulcan was hard enough without the extra people in the room. So, in order to do his job, he had to kick Jim, the rest of the senior staff and the landing party out of the medbay. Leonard assumed that they would find something to do with themselves other than wait around. So, imagine his surprise when he stepped into the corridor outside medical and found a dozen sleeping Starfleet officers at his feet.
Jim was against the wall with his legs out in front of him. Uhura was using Jim's legs as a pillow and his gold shirt was draped over her legs, keeping her warm and maintaining her modesty. Chekov was leaning against Jim's shoulder, his hand clasp tightly in Sulu's. The helmsmen was leaning against the wall in much the same manner as Jim. Leonard didn't know the guy with his head on Sulu's legs, or the girl next to him. Hell, other than one of his medics, he didn't really recognize anyone else. Sometimes, he wonders how the hell Jim knows everyone's name, not to mention stuff about them and their families.
"They've been like this since you kicked them out," Nurse Pierce said from behind him. "Uhura didn't want to leave, the captain said he'd stay with her and it caused a domino effect. Mister Scott would be here too but he has the con. Should we wake them up?"
"No," Leonard said before he walked over and sat next to Jim and Uhura, placing a hand on Uhura's shoulder.
"Is he okay?" the communication's officer asked quietly.
"I've done all I could do. He's in his healing trance now, so all we can do is wait," he told her. She reached up and held his hand. "Go back to sleep."
"You're staying, right?" Jim asked without opening his eyes.
"Yea, I'm staying," Leonard said, leaning against the wall. He didn't even realize how tired he was until he was drifting off.
Plus One
"I know that you can hear me, kid. Hell, even when you're pretending to ignore me, I know you're listening. Ya gotta wake up. Ya hear me? You have to wake up," Leonard said to the still form on the bio-bed.
"You are aware that he will only do that which he wishes to do. And it will only be done when he wishes to do it," Spock said from the other side of the room. The crew had been taking turns watching over their comatose captain, Spock was there almost as much as Leonard was.
"Well, I'm hoping that for once in his life he'll just do what I'm telling him to do," the doctor sighed.
"He would not be James T. Kirk if he did," the half-Vulcan said.
Pike dying was bad enough. The fact that Admiral Marcus was a traitor that wanted to kill them was worse. Harrison being some genetically augmented human named Khan who literally knocked the Enterprise out of the sky was just plain terrifying. Jim going into the warp core without any protective gear and being brought in to the medbay in a body bag was something that Leonard will never have words for.
Some of the crew thought Jim looked like he was sleeping when Scotty brought the captain to him but Leonard's slept next to Jim so many times in four years that he knew better. Even in his sleep, there was life. The way his hands would hold onto Leonard's shirt. The way Jim managed to tangle their legs together. The way Jim would steal the covers. The way Jim would press his face between Leonard's shoulder blades. Or when Jim muttered about 'my Bones' being the best. No, when they brought him to the medbay, Jim was lifeless.
Leonard should've let it go, he really should have, but he couldn't. He didn't realize until they got the ship into spacedock and Jim into the ICU at Medical Headquarters with Khan's blood running through his veins why it was so important. Leonard felt like something had been staring him in the face for years and he needed Jim to figure it out. He needed Jim to bicker with him. To tell him to sleep. He needed Jim to do insane stuff. Needed Jim to look at him with that smile that makes stars look dim by comparison. He just needed Jim.
"Nyota wondered when you would figure it out," Spock said without looking up from the PADD in his hands.
"I…" Before Leonard could deny what was probably written all over his face, the readouts from the bio-bed changed. "He's coming around. Looks like he listened to me after all."