Jim awoke back on Tarsus IV locked in a cell, he was a kid again. How could that be possible? Everything had felt so real…. fuck, the so called "scientists" must have given him a hallucinogenic drug, of course he wasn't the captain of Starfleet's flagship he was just a pathetic kid and bones….. Bones must have been a figmentation of his imagination, his need for someone to rescue him. He thrashed at the chains bounding his hands and feet together and screamed at the top of his lungs, making a guard slam his cell door open.
"Shut the fuck up!"
The guard slapped him across the face, splitting his lip open, before kicking him in the stomach. He spat on the guard's shoes in return.
"You little shit. I'm gonna make sure you're next!"
He picked Jim up by his collar and dragged him out of his cell, he kicked as hard as he could in protest but the guard simply slammed him into wall of the cell lined corridor.
"If you don't stop resisting I'm gonna break those precious little legs of yours, not that you're gonna need them anytime soon" The guard smirked as Jim gave up. He yanked him towards a door at the end of the hallway and swung it open to reveal a medical bed in the middle of room, Jim's eyes went wide with fear, he didn't want to be here he had to get away, he pulled the guard's arm down with his chains and bit him as hard as he could.
The guard struck his face in rage and sent him flying, before roughly pulling him up by his hair and throwing him onto the bed. Before Jim could regain his senses the guard was already tying him down to bed.
"LET ME GO!"
"Jim"
"Not gonna happen, the bosses wanna have fun today and I think you are the perfect candidate"
Another guard came into the room and started holding him down, he struggled as hard as he could but he couldn't break the grasp the guard had on him.
"FUCKING LET ME GO"
"Jim wake up"
The guard started shaking him and his voice became distorted.
"Jim! Wake up!"
The world around him disappeared and he was left facing Bones, who was gripping him tightly as he gasped for air, tears were streaming down his face.
"B-Bones?"
"Shhh It's okay, you were having a nightmare"
He let himself be pulled into an embrace, Bones rubbed his back soothingly as he sobbed onto his shoulder. He was glad Bones was real, because he didn't know what he would do without him. After a few moments he had calmed down and pulled away, ashamed of his display of weakness.
"Want to tell me about it?"
He hesitated, rubbing the blanket between his forefinger and thumb, reassuring himself that it had just been a dream.
"I was back on tarsus IV…."
He had never told Bones about what he experienced on Tarsus IV, but everyone knew about the massacre and the horrors of the event. Bones looked at him with sad knowing eyes.
"It's okay, I just have these dreams sometimes…. I'm sure my fever isn't helping"
Bones nodded in agreement, not pushing him to talk about it any further. "Speaking of which, how are you feeling?"
"My ribs still kinda ache, but I don't feel as weak as before" He let out a sigh, he did feel weak mentally though.
"Good, I was thinking of going out while there's still daylight and seeing what I can scavenge from the crash, maybe find the emergency beacon. But I need to know you are going to be okay if I leave you, I'll give you another hypo for the pain before I go"
Jim suddenly remembered the words bones had whispered into his ear the night before. He wanted bones to stay, it was still cold outside and he would miss the man's warmth beside him, but if they were going to survive then they needed to get in contact with somebody, they couldn't stay here forever after all.
"I'll be fine Bones, Promise" He gave him his best grin to try and reassure him.
Bones gave him a doubtful look "Jim I…. Nevermind now isn't the time"
Jim cocked his head to the side, he was curious about what Bones had wanted to say.
"Just for the love of god stay here, I'll be back in a couple of hours and don't forget to eat something" Bones pulled back the blanket and got to work gathering up the supplies he would need and pulled on his boots that he had abandoned earlier to get into bed. Once he was done packing he grabbed a hypo from the medkit and knelt down to administer it to Jim.
Jim tilted his neck to make it easier for him and only slightly flinched as the hypo hissed. Bones gently rubbed his finger over the entry site before shoving a ration bar into his hand.
"and if I don't come back, DO NOT come looking for me. Stay right here where enterprise can find you."
"But you will come back, right?" Jim grew anxious at the thought of Bones not returning.
"I don't know what's out there Jim, but I'll try my best. Can't leave an idiot like you alone out here by yourself can I? Wouldn't be able to call myself a good friend or doctor if I did"
He grabbed Bone's hand as he turned to leave "Bones….. just be careful. If anything looks risky then don't do it"
Bones let out a small laugh "Do you know how many times I've told you that? Don't worry about me, I'll be back before you know it"
Hearing that comforted him a little bit, he let go of Bone's hand and laid down again, wrapping himself in the blanket.
"I'll be waiting" He shot him a playful grin
"Ah! I almost forgot, I found your comm near you after you passed out. It doesn't seem to be working, but maybe you can fix it. I've been unable to contact enterprise through mine"
Bones rummaged through his pocket and pulled out the comm, it looked pretty beaten up. He handed it to Jim, pressing it firmly into his hand.
"If you get it working then check in with me."
"I will"
"Well I better be going now…. again, don't do anything stupid"
Bones seemed hesitant to leave, glancing back before stepping outside. He listened as Bone's footsteps got further and further away, It was only then that he realised just how alone he was, it was eerily quiet on this planet. He instantly started working on fixing the comm, mostly to distract himself, besides it wasn't like he had anything else to do seeing as he promised to stay put. He also secretly really wanted to surprise Bones and have some kind of way to contact him.
The sun had started to set outside by the time he had finished, he proudly flipped the comm open, relieved to hear the familiar comm tone come through. It worked! Realizing that the ration bar was still laying uneaten next to him he snapped it shut and put it aside, although he desperately wanted to try and call Bones, he'd be mad at him if he found out that he hadn't eaten first. He quickly ate the bar and then grabbed his blanket and newly fixed comm, he took them to the shuttle's entrance and pulled back the blanket that had been draped over the entry.
He was amazed to find the world was now covered in a thin layer of snow, with small flakes still softly falling to the ground, it was a strange sight to see tropical jungle plants covered in snow. He shivered and pulled his blanket around his shoulders, his breath was creating small clouds of vapor in the air. He hoped bones was doing okay in this weather, he better check in with him. The comm chirped as he flicked it open.
"Bones this is Jim, can you hear me?"
He was met with a long silence, maybe he hadn't fixed it after all. Or maybe Bones was in trouble? He sprung to his feet ready to go looking for bones. Thankfully he was pulled from his thoughts by a crackling noise coming from the comm.
"I can hear you, sorry my hands were full. I found some useful stuff, I'm on my way back now. Are you alright?"
He let out a sigh of relief as he settled back down again "I'm fine bones. When do you think you'll be back? It looks like it's gonna be dark soon, plus this snow doesn't look like it's going to stop anytime soon"
"I'm pretty close, maybe another 15 minutes"
"I'll keep an eye out for you then, see ya soon"
He snapped the comm shut and pulled the blanket tighter around himself, the temperature was rapidly dropping, the snow had picked up in pace and was becoming reasonably deep. He impatiently scanned the tree line looking for a sign of the other man appearing.
After what felt like forever he saw the familiar blue cladded figure appear in the distance, he was dragging a large metal object along behind him. Jim rushed to put on his boots and ran over to Bones.
"Bones!"
It was as if time stopped as Bones dropped the metal object and suddenly collapsed without warning. Jim managed to catch him in his arms before he hit the ground.
"Bones? Bones! What's wrong?"
He grabbed bone's hand to find it was freezing cold, his cheeks and nose were flushed red, his breathing was labored. He quickly put his hand to Bone's forehead. Fuck. He has a fever. He swiftly lifted him into his arms, ignoring the protest of pain coming from his ribs. He walked as quickly as he could back to the shuttle, the snow preventing him from going any faster.
Once they were back in the shuttle he laid Bones down onto the bed, Jim wrapped him with the blanket that he had been wearing. He removed their boots before laying under the blanket with him, he cuddled tightly against the man, trying to lend him his own warmth.
"Come on Bones, don't die"
What should he do, fuck! Everything was his fault, Bone's must have gotten sick from him and it's his fault they are on this planet and why does everything always have to go wrong!
"Bones can you hear me? You need to tell me what to do, how can I help you!" His voice was trembling.
"J-Jim….."
"What is it? Tell me!"
"R-red hy…."
He instantly rushed to the medkit and pulled out a hypo with red liquid in it. God he hoped this was the one he meant. He put it against Bone's neck and promptly injected him.
"Was that it Bones?"
Bones shook his head in confirmation and took his hand.
"S-stay….."
"Of course I will Bones, just gotta try something first"
He grabbed his comm "Captain to Enterprise, Come in" He wasn't surprised when he was met with silence, but maybe they would be able to trace the signal. He put his comm away and settled back into cuddling against Bones, rubbing one of his hands in his own, trying to bring back warmth.
"I'm so sorry Bones"
