Summary: A tie-in to another piece of mine, "Music of a Dream," which used the music from Inception as prompts. This is really just an expansion of the short drabble in that.
Word count: 733
Rating: K+
Note: This is completely unbeta'd
The room was white, almost like the walls of sickbay. Of course, he had spent enough time in there to know that this white was a shade lighter than his beloved medical area. Upon seeing this white, he wondered if he had died. But, how could he be dead, if he were still consciously thinking? He decided to test the limits of this plane of reality. So, from his pocket, he drew a special, old-fashioned pen that he kept with him in the physical world. The pen was broken in his real world.
He was able to draw on his hand in the realm he currently resided. Well, he was either dead, or in the between area he figured.
Having nothing better to do, he wandered through the empty plain. There was no echo of footsteps, nor rustle of clothing as he walked through the white room. There was only a strange, consistent silence, that begged to be broken. This soundless, viewless world had him, just him. Or so it seemed.
A ghost had joined him sometime in the white room. Well, it wasn't really a ghost, he thought. It was too corporeal and too brimming with a life that should have been, but had gone by.
"You aren't suppose to be here, yet," the ghost with blue eyes said. The CMO raised an eyebrow,
"And you know this how?"
"Lets just say I know you very well. And stop hanging out with the hobgoblin, lord knows how much trouble he'll get you in one day."
It was then that McCoy truly saw this ghost. The one that dress so similar to him, that looked familiar, though he had never seen him in his life.
"You know Spock?" he asked. The ghost grinned,
"Of course I do. I know Scotty, Uhura, Chekov, Sulu, Chapel, and I dare you to name one person who doesn't know Jim."
"You worked on the Enterprise then?"
" 'Worked on?' I practically lived in it. That was my home, they are my family."
"Were. You mean were."
"No, I mean are. When you die, you see everyone you love again." The ghost circled around the good doctor, with an approving grin.
"Then, who were you?"
"Isn't it obvious? I'm you, or, who you would have been, if the timeline hadn't been all screwed up and if we had the same eye color this time around. Yes, before you say anything, I do know about that black hole event thing. The Spock from my reality explained it all when he joined the rest of us. Surprisingly, you retain memories too when you die. Death is no more different than living, except on a different level," the alternate-CMO said, with a simple shrug, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Bones's mouth stood agate for but a moment, before he extended his hand and formally greeted himself.
"So, am I dead?" he asked. He earned a good-natured chuckle,
"Nah, you're between life and death though. You're not suppose to be here yet, I'm sure I said that. I need you to do me a favor right now, alright? I need you to live. I need you to listen pass the silence and hear life. My crew is calling me to rejoin them. You have to rejoin yours."
"How do I listen pass silence?"
"Just close your eyes and do what I say. God, don't tell me you'll question everything I say like my Jim did."
Bones grinned at his alternate self. He knew he should have been the man standing across from him, but he also knew that he had to forge a new path now. He closed his eyes and listened. The quiet turned into a hum. Then a buzz. Then a tone. Then…a voice.
"Bones. Bones, please, you've got to wake up. It's time to wake up. You've got to, or they're going to pull the life support. Bones, come on!"
"Captain…yelling will not do much good. I cannot reach him in his mind. Something prevents me from that."
It was his Jim, and his Spock. He wanted to call out, to shout, he was there. He was alive! He had to force himself to wake up. To open his eyes.
"Hey," he heard his ghost's voice, "don't get into too much trouble. I don't want to see you here again before it's your time."
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