Disclaimer: Star Trek: 2009 isn't mine and never will be. Unfortunately.


It was just a training simulation. Just a goddamned training simulation.

Yet as the phaser fire rained, Bones couldn't deny the adrenaline pumping through his veins. It was nearly impossible to keep his mind on the objective at hand when the simulation around him resembled a nighttime war zone. Comrades were nothing more than running shadows. Random faces and silhouettes were lit up by the glow of phaser fire before they were cast in darkness again.

His boots pounded against the dirt as he ran for cover. The phaser fire was growing closer. Set to stun, it wasn't meant to cause permanent damage. But the doctor in him automatically saw danger where the simulation creators had not. It was in the rock a stunned cadet hit their head on as they fell. It was in the dust kicked into a stunned windpipe by an unobservant passerby. It was in one bad fall, one misjudged step…

An explosion near Bones threw him off balance. He hit the dirt like they'd been trained to do, even with panicked shouts for help coming from every direction. He couldn't save anyone if he couldn't save himself first.

Objective: make it safely back to the ship. There was no real ship of course. The so-called hanger threshold simply marked the boundary of the simulation. Pass through it and find yourself under fluorescent lights in a training facility.

Bones couldn't see the marked trail from his position on the ground. There was dirt in his eyes, and probably all over his face too. Muscles that he didn't know he had ached and throbbed. Sweat beaded his upper lip.

Well. He couldn't stay on the ground forever.

Steeling himself against the beam of a phaser, he leapt to his feet and began sprinting in the general direction of the ship. Lungs burning, eyes watering from the rising cloud of ash, he made it perhaps twenty yards before someone tackled him.

Talk about whiplash.

Bones grunted in pain as they hit the dirt, the weight on top of him shifting. A voice yelled into his ear, "Stay down, Bones! Two seconds later and you would've been out of the game. Pay attention next time."

"Get off me," he snapped in response, ignoring the grateful realization that he wasn't stunned. He'd need to repeat the entire simulation if he failed, and getting stunned would not help his chances of passing.

Jim shifted to lay on his stomach beside him. The kid was smiling. Unbelievable. A simulated mission coming apart at the seams and he was enjoying himself.

"Are we having fun yet?" he shouted over a distant blast. "Don't worry about it. We just need to cross into the forest. The ship is beyond the river banks. We can pick up stragglers along the way. On my count. One…"

Damn, the kid talked fast.

"Two…"

They should think about this first. Really lay out their options.

"Three!"

Jim grabbed his shirt and hauled them to their feet. Then he led the way, weaving between boulders and brush. The forest wasn't too far, perhaps 100 meters, but visibility was decreasing and the intensity of the attack had increased. Where the hell was everyone?

"Are you sure this is the right way?" Bones yelled.

"Trust me!"

Having little choice in the matter, Bones was obliged to follow the kid at a breakneck pace. He stumbled a few times as the terrain grew less predictable. If he thought it was difficult to see anything on the battlefield, it became all but impossible once they entered the forest. He held both hands out in front of him to keep from running headlong into a tree.

His fingertips brushed Jim's cadet jacket several times. Tree branches whipped at his face and he growled in frustration. Who created this simulation? No danger his ass.

"Get down," Jim suddenly whispered over his shoulder, squatting just ahead. Bones tried to glimpse what made the kid so jumpy before he squatted as well, but there was nothing out of the ordinary.

"Look." The kid leaned back and pointed at something just ahead. "Stunned cadet, two o'clock."

Bones stomach dropped.

"Now, I ask you, Bones," Jim whispered calmly. "Why would a stunned cadet be this far from the war zone?"

It wasn't a question. Not really. And no sooner had he finished speaking before a deafening explosion preceded a disorienting flash of light.

Ambush.

"Go!" Bones yelled, shoving Jim in the general direction of the ship. Instead of going with the momentum, however, Jim dove sideways toward the stunned cadet. Rustling branches gave warning that the enemy was moving in fast.

Jim hauled the man over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. He was quick about it, but that might not be enough to save them. A brief delay was still a delay.

"Are you crazy?" Bones shouted. He let loose a string of curses as they began to run again. Alien voices were getting closer. A phaser fired behind them, both lighting their way and revealing their position.

Jim panted ahead, probably flying high as a kite on a fresh surge of adrenaline. The stunned cadet over his shoulders wasn't a large man, but he wasn't exactly a shrimp either. Bones was ready to whip out a tricorder the second they crossed the hanger threshold.

The ship wasn't far ahead. He could see it through the brush. Their only problem was finding the bridge to cross the river. There was no way they could they swim across in the dark.

"Keep moving," Bones barked. It was probably unnecessary, but it made him feel like he had control over the situation.

They followed the river banks for what felt like forever. Silhouettes of other cadets just ahead appeared to be crossing the bridge. Jim bee lined right for them, yelling, "We've got a man down over here!"

Two cadets stopped to help, running toward them. The others never looked back.

Nearby fire was much too close for comfort, beams hitting a tree mere yards away. Jim was stumbling under the weight of his burden, but the other cadets gently lifted the man from his shoulders. Their faces were full of fear and determination. When they finally had a secure hold on the stunned cadet, they marched across the bridge for the ship.

Bones grabbed Jim's arm to steady him. "Let's get the hell out of here. Can you run?"

Instead of wasting his breath with an answer, Jim forged ahead, his eyes glued to the ship. Bones was right beside him. Their boots thudded on the planks of the bridge, both of them panting with exhaustion. No amount of time in the gym could have prepared them for the adrenaline roller coaster that used the body's reserves too quickly.

There was alien shouting behind them.

The world slowed.

Bones ventured a glance behind them, horrified to see the glow of pointing phases. Then beams were flying. He threw himself to the side to avoid being hit, tackling Jim in the process. There was a grunt of surprise and pain in his ear before they hit the water. Icy river water closed over his head before he had time to draw a breath.

Shock drove the breath from him like a punch to the gut. He was tumbling in the depths of the river, unsure which way was up. The glow of flying beams should have guided him to the surface, but the water was too murky to see much of anything.

Don't breathe.

He went limp, hoping that natural forces would cause him to float. Wait for it, wait for it… there. He drifted to the left. Arms and legs flailing, he swam for the surface of the river.

Air. He needed air.

When he broke the surface, it was like being reborn. He gasped and sputtered, gulping down air. A relived, semi-hysterical laugh escaped when he realized the enemy was nowhere to be seen. The river banks were dark.

They made it. They-

Bones whipped his head around. "Kid!"

No answer.

Shit.

"Kid, can you hear me? Kid!"

Only the sound of water lapping against the banks answered him. Bones took a deep breath and dove under the water, his hands blindly clawing for a cadet jacket, skin, hair, anything. The river wasn't so deep that Jim would've sank beyond his reach.

His lungs burned by the time he came up for air. He dove again. And again. Medical alarm bells were going off in his head. Three minutes without air. Epinephrine in his bag. Stunned persons can't breathe by expanding their rib cages. The kid would know to wait. He would know-

Bones suddenly felt fabric beneath his fingertips. He reached further and closed his fists around it, dragging whatever it was to the surface of the river. One of his arms wrapped around Jim's waist.

The second they reached the surface, Bones nearly sank under the extra weight. His legs kicked harder, but it did little good. One of his hands shoved Jim's head against his shoulder so it wouldn't flop forward. He turned so that he was on his back and lead the way to the river banks. Limbs growing heavy, heart pounding something fierce, it was all he could do to keep from shouting curse after curse. No point in giving away their position.

His boots found mud as they neared the banks. The moment he could stand firm, he turned his attention to Jim. They had to get out of the water and back to the ship as quickly as possible. But dead overrode the diagnosis of hypothermia in his book.

"Kid," he whispered urgently, easily cradling a buoyant Jim in his arms. He felt for a pulse, his head hanging with relief when he found one. Thank God. Bones lowered his ear to the kid's nose and mouth. Respirations were faster than normal, but that was understandable, considering how shallow they were.

A wave of fury began to take hold of him as he carried Jim out of the water and up the river banks. Even the mud sucking at his boots wasn't enough to slow his pace. Someone was going to get an earful. They were going to listen to his medical opinion and they were going to mellow out the goddamn dangerous elements of the simulation.

He crossed the bridge without incident and marched through the ship's hanger.

Warmth replaced the cold air of the night. White light blinded him, and this time he allowed himself to curse. His clothes automatically dried, but Jim remained stunned in his arms, eyes closed, unmoving.

"Where's the damn infirmary?" he growled at the board of instructors. They sat in a line behind a long table, eyes glued to the monitors that compiled and organized the simulation data.

For how they didn't respond, they might have been statues. Useless.

He was about to repeat his question with a more colorful vocabulary when a blond cadet hurried toward him from a nearby corridor. "Over here," she ushered. "This way."

"Who the hell are you?" he gruffly asked, following her lead after a dirty glance at the instructors.

"Christine Chapel," she replied tersely. "Nurse."

They turned the corner. A makeshift triage had been set up just outside the entrance to the simulation. Good God. The lack of order. A triage center belonged where the casualties would be arriving, not where healthy men left. And there seemed to be little organization for the severity of each patient.

Muttering under his breath, Bones lowered the kid onto the last cot and promptly rolled up his sleeves. "If you check his vitals for me, I can see to the other patients."

Chapel looked unsure. "I can't authorize that, really, I'm only a student-"

"Look," he cut in, trying to keep his patience in check. "These cadets were injured during a supposedly safe training simulation, they're unorganized, and they aren't being tended to by a doctor. Either do your job and help me or get the hell out of the way."

He didn't wait for her response before he strode to the monitor above Jim's cot. His fingers danced across the screen, eyes flickering down to the kid's face. Of all the idiotic, foolhardy moves, Jim had rescued that stunned cadet before he could be captured and instantly fail the simulation. If they'd run directly for the ship, they never would have been caught in the line of phaser fire.

"You're a selfless moron," he informed him.

The monitor displayed vitals. Incredibly, there was no water in the lungs, no serious injuries, and nothing that required treatment. He'd be exhausted as hell, but a day of rest would fix that.

With a sigh of relief, Bones reluctantly admitted that he should see to the other cadets. The kid would be fine. They might need his help. But something in him didn't want to leave. He wanted to stay here, provide some comfort or something until he woke up.

"Doctor," Nurse Chapel called. "We may have a case of mild aspiration over here."

Bones felt his shoulders slump just a bit. Before he walked away, he gently squeezed the kid's arm and said something he'd never said before. Perhaps something with more meaning behind it than he'd originally intended.

"Damn it, Jim."


Author's Note 02/07/13:

Where has my writing muse gone? Two things: One, I've moved on to the fandom Supernatural. Which is really awesome, even if the first six or seven episodes leave something to be desired. There are eight seasons and counting, people. Two, I'll be back to finish these Star Trek: 2009 fics when the second movie comes out this Spring. Inspiration reignite.

Until then, if you love the bromance between Bones and Jim, I highly recommend exploring the one between brothers Sam and Dean. Supernatural is the second largest fandom under TV, making it ideal for an unending supply of hurt/comfort between bros. See you this Spring...