This is story number two in this fandom for me. No Slash, and just a little Spock/Uhura. Enjoy!
In which Bones has a reunion with a special someone, and the Enterprise crew has a bonding moment.
Sally, Leanord McCoy thought as he burst into his old dorm room at Starfleet headquarters. Oh, Sally, how I have missed you.
His eyes remained focused on the foot of his bed as he crossed the room in two long strides and dropped to his knees next to his girl. He reached out his hands, smiling as he felt the firm leather of the guitar case. His fingers found the buckles and he carefully popped it open, pulling out one of his most prized possessions.
Sally was his girl, he thought as he stared at the beautiful 2010 Gibson Hummingbird acoustic guitar. She was centuries old, handed down in his family through the generations, restored countless times, but always well taken care of. He smiled as ran his hands over the smoothly polished wood and carefully plucked a string on the neck. In the rush to leave Starfleet for emergency duty, he had been forced to leave the old girl behind. He had missed her in the long and grief stricken nights. A shadow crossed his face as he thought of all his classmates, the Vulcans, and everyone who had been affected by the Narada tragedy.
His hands remained poised over the guitar, as he sat, lost in thought. He was startled out of his mournful reverie by his pager, beeping incessantly. He was being called back to the Enterprise, back to his duty. He smiled, feeling a little heartened in that this time, when he was rushed off to space, Sally would be going with him.
-8-8-8-
It was nighttime on the Enterprise, at least for the Alpha shift. Captain James T. Kirk strode the halls of Starfleet's beautiful flagship lost in thought, sleep escaping him for the evening. They were three days out into their first voyage under him as the Official Captain, and he had been restless and distracted. It had cost so much for him to be where he was. Billions of lives, both on Vulcan and in Starfleet lost. Gone. Snuffed out.
The thought made him sick. He sighed as he continued to pace the near empty halls. He knew his crew was still grieving, mourning their lost classmates and friends. He knew Spock, his First Officer, the Vulcan who was quickly becoming a friend, still felt the searing pain of the loss of his mother and his planet. He had experienced it in the mind meld with the future Spock, and the echoes of that pain still stabbed at his consciousness. Yep, he thought as his feet continued to carry him through the pristine halls, no sleep for the captain tonight.
Suddenly he stopped short, turning his head to the source of a strange sound. Was that music? He turned to his left down a hallway, his footsteps carrying him towards the source of the musical lilt. As the sound grew louder he realized he was hearing the strange haunting tones of an acoustic guitar. He stopped, listening closer for a minute, and wondering who in the world managed to sneak a guitar onto an active Federation ship.
Whoever was playing the music was good. The gentle melodies of the guitar spoke very clearly of grief and loss. The soft mournful tune seemed to be an expression of the grief he was feeling himself. He started forward again, he feet carrying him towards the source of the sound, feeling the irresistible pull of curiosity mixed with a need to hear the music better.
He pushed open the door to the small lounge at the end of the hall and stopped short in shock. Bones was there, sitting in a chair in the center of the room, his fingers gently playing and plucking at the strings of a beautiful acoustic guitar. He was surrounded by people. Many from the Alpha Shift were there, sitting, listening quietly. Sulu sat on the floor the left of Bones, his knees drawn up to his chest and his eyes absolutely focused on the guitar. Chekov was in a chair next to Sulu, his hunched forward, his elbows resting on his knees and his eyes on the floor. A female communications officer he could not name was standing behind Chekov with a medical tech named Jessica Thompson. Both were watching Bones with silent tears streaming down their cheeks. And then Kirk's eyes found Spock and Uhura. Spock was sitting in chair a little to the right of Bones, his back ramrod straight, his impassive gazed completely focused on the doctor. Uruha was holding onto Spock's arm, leaning forward towards Bones, silent tears streaming down her dark cheeks.
Bones' eyes were closed, his head bent as he played. Kirk moved forward into the room, seeing an empty chair next to Spock, his eyes never leaving his best friend. They had been inseparable for three years, and yet Jim had never known that Bones even had a guitar let alone that he could play like this. He quietly took the seat next to Spock, laying his hand on the Vulcan's shoulder as he sat.
They were there for hours, just listening.