Chapter 7 – Afer-tor
A/N: This is what happens when my mother nags and begs me to put up the next chapter, so, uh, I'll just leave this here, and...find a rock to hide under, or something...
And the wind will rise up to fill my sail; so you can doubt, and you can hate; but I know no matter what it takes, I'm coming home; tell the world I'm coming home, let the rain wash away all the pain of yesterday; I know my kingdom awaits and they've forgiven my mistakes.
What McCoy and Spock had stumbled into looked suspiciously like a hospital room from a rundown 21st century building and left alone to be forgotten about.
There were tiles missing from the flooring, and holes in the roof; the lights were giving off a dimmed yellow shade of colour that bathed the whole room in showing the peeling drywall and plaster.
There was only one occupant in the room, on a bed that was better suited for the scrap yard. That one occupant was not moving besides the subtle forced-through-pain breathing the body forced itself to make; his eyes closed, his arm hooked up to an old I.V stand that was feeding him some kind of faint purple coloured liquid.
For all intense and purposes, the occupant should not have been alive at all, having 'died' over a year ago.
"…Jim..!"
Spock's cry brought McCoy out of his staring contest with the room, and he soon rounded on the suddenly even more distressed Vulcan as it was.
Eggshells, his brain reminded him, as he caught the Vulcan as he stepped closer.
"Spock," McCoy called.
Spock looked devastated, and hadn't even noticed the room, nor cared for the dangers.
"Spock…!" McCoy called again more alarmed as yet again the Vulcan seemed not to hear him, but finally and painfully Spock looked to McCoy as he stood in front of him. "I need you to listen to what I say, very carefully, understand?" McCoy started, full on alarmed and worried Spock would not listen. Spock nodded, "I need you not to touch him," Spock blinked. "I don't know what's going on here, nor what's in the drip, for all we know touching could hurt him."
Spock reacted in such a way, McCoy would have thought he would have gotten whiplash; Spock literally straightened up, and his hands immediately went to hold each other behind his back, almost as if he did not trust them to be in front of him.
McCoy eyed him. "Alright…?" Spock nodded in such a distressed way; McCoy couldn't help be concerned, and almost relieved that Amanda and Sarek were still outside. "I'm going to see to him now, okay?" He started, treating Spock like he would himself if he found Joanna in such a state; Spock nodded and with one wary eye still on the Vulcan he went to check the damage, knowing very well he would have a third and fourth shadow belonging to said distressed Vulcan. Damn eggshells.
McCoy immediately knew Jim (Jim! It was Jim!) was in the state he was, because of whatever the purple liquid was in the drop drip was doing to his body, and he had really hoped it wouldn't be what he really didn't want it to be.
He stepped closer to the old I.V stand to the bag of liquid that was being released at an obnoxious rate into his friend he thought (and believed) to be dead. He turned the bag around to see its name and he felt his blood run cold at its name.
It was very much his worst fear.
And he was very much glad Spock was able to listen to him.
"Son of a…" McCoy almost swore then checked the machinery to see if it held backups of previous use time and dosage.
"McCoy…?" Spock spoke from where he had planted himself once he heard the doctor tell him to stay, only speaking once he was overwhelmed when McCoy had not elaborated why he cursed.
McCoy looked almost spooked, and Spock repeated his question, which made McCoy look to him.
"It's not right," McCoy almost spat out verminously, then went back to working on the machine, eggshells be damned.
"What is not right?" Spock asked with a frown, not fully understanding McCoy at the moment. "Our situation, or what led us to this situation?"
"All of the above, and so much more; I'll let you deal with whoever is behind this, I'll damn well try and kill them." McCoy responded pulling out specs carefully from the machine.
"What are you doing?" Spock answered, not understanding why McCoy was still on the machine.
McCoy gave a tense look to Spock then pointed to the purple liquid. "See this?"
Spock frowned. "My ocular functions are not impaired, I can see it."
McCoy rolled his eyes. "This stuff is called cruciamen-verum, and by the looks of it, by its color and how long it's been running, it's gonna get messy." McCoy said while dropping the machine's specs to ruffle through his med-bag.
Spock continued frowning. "From the words—"
"What it damn well means is someone has drugged Jim up, hooked him up to this because they wanted him to literally tell them the truth, and when he didn't he suffered." McCoy ranted, still ruffling.
Spock violently flinched, and carefully looked at his T'hy'la, there were no wounds; but that did not mean he was not carrying any in his mind.
"Is he in pain?" Spock asked fearful of the answer.
McCoy pulled out a hypo, and quickly scanned the ingredients, he still by instinct kept them all on to avoid Jim's allergies. "Not when I give him this, you," McCoy looked from his hypo to Spock, who blinked. "See if you can find some more bags, I'm going to need them."
Spock knew better then to question McCoy, so he nodded and set out to pull the room apart (doors and shelving in them, as well as cabinets) to find them, ignoring when he heard the hiss of the hypo-spray being used and the sub-sequential yelp of pain from his T'hy'la.
On the second last cabinet he near on pulled the door of his hinges. "I have found only three."
McCoy huffed. "That'll have to be enough; damn this is gonna get tricky."
Spock gingerly picked up the bags and forced his attention back on McCoy, "How so…?"
"Cruciamen-verum is a…homemade…torture drug, it is illegal to make and administer." McCoy said, trying to be careful. He very much saw Spock flinch. "Give those here, I'm going to need them so we can wean him off, he's been on it for as long as this machine remembers; so I can say right from the start." McCoy continued.
Spock wasted no time giving the bags over. "How will he be once he is off it?"
McCoy sighed. "Your guess is as good as mine."
Spock and McCoy turned to see Amanda stifling a muffled distressed yelp from behind her hands as once she came into the room and saw its contents; Spock could very well see the starting of her tears.
The eggshells were on her now, McCoy figured, Spock now had a reason for channeling whatever they all needed to by cautious over, but Amanda did not.
Amanda looked too shocked to move.
Sarek took one step into the room, reprised the situation; then said, "I will find the nearest exit," And walked off.
"Mother," Spock started, not quite sure how to comfort her, when the scenario did not comfort him at all.
Amanda looked to Spock, fearful for his reply. "Will he be okay?" She asked, tears now rolling down her face.
Spock looked to McCoy who nodded.
Amanda gave a little whimper then retreated after Sarek.
Spock let himself look again to Jim.
His face ashen, as he had not had direct sunlight in perhaps since he 'died', Spock was quite sure he would give all of himself just to see Jim's blue eyes open and smile jubilantly at him once more.
Jim did not look in pain, though Spock could consider that because of McCoy's hypo.
"How is he now?" Spock asked, still looking and categorizing Jim.
"I've put him to sleep; he won't feel pain: though maybe you can use your voodoo hobgoblin power's to attest to that." McCoy suggested.
Spock didn't spear the minute to glare at McCoy, instead wary. "You said touching would hurt him."
McCoy rolled his eyes. "And I'm pretty sure I just said he can no longer feel pain for at least two hours, was the longest duration hypo I have on me that he isn't allergic too." McCoy grumbled.
Spock was a little afraid that what he would feel in Jim's consciousness, wouldn't be Jim at all; either the year of constant pain or the drug he was forced on could very well change a person: he had hoped very much his T'hy'la was strong enough, and no matter whoever was on the other side of the link, he would still very much be his Jim.
Jim's mind was lulled, either due to the pain relieving hypo McCoy used or the drug pulsating in Jim's system, however, Spock's mind very much still knew Jim's, and his bond would have solidified further from himself to Jim had Spock allowed it to, but he was very much perturbed at this. Spock had never been this close, nor melded with Jim when he was unconscious or in a heavy drug-induced state before, so he could not tell where Jim in his mind actually was, nor had Jim's mind like usual jumped up to meet Spock's consciousness. It very much worried Spock when he could not find his T'hy'la by the skim of their meld; as going any deeper would be invasive and he was very much not inclined to do such.
"His mind is lulled," Spock reported back.
McCoy nodded. "The hypo I gave will do that. While you were doing your voodoo, I found this." McCoy said from the other side of the room, he had pulled the remaining door that Spock hadn't gotten to destroying in his search, he had found a corridor.
Spock looked cautiously from Jim to McCoy; he did not want to leave Jim.
"I'll stay with Jim if you want to check what's down there." McCoy reassured.
Spock gave a quick nod and rushed off, determined to get the corridor's secrets out as soon as possible. It might prove to hold documents that had information on who exactly had been holding Jim here before they made themselves scarce.
The corridor had doors coming of it, the corridor itself led nowhere.
Spock looked in every one; they held all the same furniture as they were all office cubicles; trashed and unused.
Except for the last one Spock checked; which was not destroyed and held a functioning olden computer.
Coming around the olden Terran computer Spock noticed it was still on and functioning, however it was password protected and Spock didn't have time to bypass it.
Looking around again he saw a pin board that had sheets of flex paper pinned to it.
Spock felt himself growl as he saw every page held the late Admiral Marcus' signature; he pulled down every single of them, not caring that the tacks flew everywhere to read what the papers said.
Orders from Marcus dating back the previous year, depicting orders to get information out of Jim by any means necessary; Spock would not destroy the papers in his hands but he very much wanted to, as anger made its presence known.
Spock very much hightailed out of the room and back to his T'hy'la's presence.
McCoy looked up when he saw Spock come back in the room while stilling a hovering medical wand over Jim, and noticed the papers. "You're back. You're parents found the exit, and I'm pretty sure your mother is the scariest human I know; she called Starfleet and chewed them out, then your father chewed them out! They're on their way now, and we can leave, if you can get Jim." McCoy announced, tucking his wand back into his med-bag with one hand and the other reaching for the I.V bags poll.
Spock nodded and moved towards Jim as McCoy removed the sheets and froze in sync with Spock. "…And you're gonna have to remove…them…too…" McCoy muttered; pointing to the olden Terran handcuffs, then took the papers from Spock.
Spock broke all four restraints gently and easily, then when McCoy nodded, gathered Jim tightly to himself and lifted him off the bed and close to his chest while McCoy took hold of the I.V poll that was attached to Jim.
"I want to never come back here again." McCoy burst out as they left the room.
"Spock…!" Amanda cried coming up to them from the other direction of the corridor, she looked very much pained. "I'll take you to the exit; from there Starfleet said they can beam us directly to their hospital." Amanda continued.
"And they can't now?" McCoy huffed.
"Signal interference, or something." Amanda replied, looking confused.
Within five minutes they were out the exit, with Sarek and a swarm of sirens and Starfleet officers, then from one extreme to another they were gone from the loud noises and into the calm noises of an inside hospital.
"Come on; let's get him a room before more shit hits the fan." McCoy muttered, leading the way to the nearest nurse, then the nearest medical room.
Shit, apparently did hit the fan. But when, Spock wasn't exactly sure, nor could he bring himself to remember.
He had his T'hy'la back. It had been a couple of days since Spock first heard Jim cry out, and he was glad that he was in the too familiar medical room, the white walls better than the dull yellow walls he had found Jim in. Though, sometimes, Spock was scarce to believe that if should he close his eyes for a too long of a period of time, his T'hy'la would simple vanish and leave him again. Spock gave Jim a once over again, stopping his mind from consciously reaching out to Jim's comatose one; Spock would have liked nothing more than to wrap himself around whatever consciousness he could find within Jim and never let it go for the longest time. Spock had yet again found him-self reluctant to leave Jim's side, while Amanda smiled warmly at him when he mentioned it, and McCoy threw up his arms in frustration and the reprimand to him to not make himself ill as well.
McCoy had explained (once he was sure Spock had calmed down enough to have the conversation; Spock was sure he spoke to Amanda first and asked about eggshells), the reason for the extra purple fluid bags that was still flowing into Jim's body through the drip line. The illegal truth-or-hurt drug, if used for a long duration of time, would make the person it was used on being dependent on said drug; and the only way to relieve Jim of the dependency would to be slowly reducing the high amount by decreasing the amount as fast as Jim's body would allow.
Spock had his fill of Starfleet and he could literally hear Jim's complete and total laugh at them. He had made sure the computer he had found in the lone corridor was to be hacked and searched of its contents; Starfleet and what was left of the higher Admirals were furious to find out more evidence towards Marcus being an instigator by the evidence they already had, half who had been talking to Spock were almost half glad the man was not on Earth no longer as they were sure if he were Spock would be inclined to find him and possibly kill the man. The Federation was still trying to access the computer in case they should find another person on the inside working for Marcus to keep Jim under, they were sure if they were found on Earth by the Vulcan he would surely have every right to kill them, and they wouldn't stop him.
He was inclined to believe Pike would be on his side, on whichever side Jim was on. Amanda had told him one time she had come in, that the man had been totally furious with all of the Admirals having that much leeway in what they did in their spare time.
Every time Amanda came in to visit (sometimes with Sarek (who seemed to take up the tirade of meeting with Starfleet and continue chewing them out when he saw fit), or by herself), both whom she recognized as her sons, she came in with a sadden gaze that never seemed to dissipate over the course of her stay, no matter how long she stayed.
Pike had not visited yet, though Spock did not hold it against the man, as he had more than enough on his 'plate', as Spock found out, he had to direct the refitting of the Enterprise, her crew, as well as being its Captain and Acting First Officer, who was going forth between Starfleet and his ship well before he got wind of Jim's retrieval; now he had that plus all his now commitments he held for Jim, Pike had been his mentor when he was a Cadet as well as a surrogate father. Pike seemed to think (and was) doing more good, chewing Starfleet out when Jim's other surrogate father was not.
All in all, Spock could see Starfleet having a lot of teeth marks, and a lot of embarrassed faces looking for another person to blame; most of the blame settled on Marcus who now was looking at being on the penal colony for the rest of his days, much to everyone's delight, including Carol's.
Jim was on his last bag they had and he was still on point one dependency, which not only worried Spock, it worried McCoy, as they had no more bags and every time he tried to stop the flow directly Jim's body would arrest and go into shock. Jim was still comatose, as McCoy didn't feel safe bringing Jim out of it until his body could cope. During the two weeks, Jim had not moved, and it unnerved Spock like nothing other who wanted nothing more than for him to start moving, even for his eyes to move under the lids would have been a welcomed sight.
Jim's mind remained lulled and his consciousness too far to search for then Spock was comfortable with as he was used to Jim's essence to greet him far before his person did; it was the first of many signs Spock knew to raise his mental shields for, he did it unconsciously so much during the last year they were in command together that now he felt saddened at the thought of something so simple having needed to have been done, when now he would give himself for such signs to appear.
When Jim awoke he wasn't quite sure where he was nor where anyone else was, but couldn't quite find himself to become alarmed. The room had changed, which was odd, he could also move his body, which again was odd. Jim opened his eyes to a boat load of pain that he didn't quite know if he vocalized it or not before it was carried away like a breeze.
He frowned, there was something not quite right; no he didn't feel badly drugged or in a world of pain in the first time for the longest time, but there was something holding his right hand.
Jim rolled his head slowly to his right, and he couldn't quite believe what was attached to what was holding his hand. Spock.
It was Spock.
Jim blinked, he could know his head anywhere (as his head was the only thing he could see as he was pretty sure Spock was using his bed as a pillow), it was Spock, and Spock was asleep.
"…Spock…" Jim croaked, having not used his voice after possibly losing it from screaming.
Spock's reaction was immediate, no matter where he was in sleep, at once his head was up, and his eyes were on Jim as wide as he had ever seen them; the hand he held tightened its grip.
Jim, who had had no idea how long Marcus had him, but by the widening of Spock's eyes in shock, he could gather it had been awhile; whether or not it had been too long he couldn't tell.
"…Jim…" Spock breathed, Jim felt himself freeze when his eyes roamed, as if checking his vitals.
Jim could still see the shock lingering, it was as if Spock couldn't quite believe he breathed, which wasn't too far from the truth.
"Spock…?" Jim tried to say but it came out as a strangled croaking noise.
At such noise Spock was up, as if he couldn't stay still and the seat was too far away.
"T'hy'la," Spock announced in a low voice as he touched their foreheads together, his eyes slid shut when he felt Jim's consciousness back where it should be and he could feel Jim frown.
"—still…call me that…?" Jim asked with his limited voice capacity in a low voice. Spock pulled back to look Jim in to his eyes, he himself was now frowning. "Hasn't been….too long…?" Jim continued his voice breaking and insecure.
"Hush, T'hy'la, it will never be too long for me to stop calling you that." Spock replied, returning to holding Jim's forehead with his own.
"…Never…?" Jim asked, reveling in how close Spock was being.
Spock still had hold of his right hand, and he could feel his other hand rest on the side of his face, Spock just nodded. "Never, T'hy'la," Spock promised.
"How…long…?" Jim tried to ask.
Spock could very well feel how tired just speaking was making Jim. "Hush, Jim, you need not be concerned with how long it's been, just know no time is a constraint; t'nash-veh T'hy'la, I will be here in the morning." Spock replied quietly.
Jim whimpered and held Spock's hand tighter. "But, will…I…?" He asked before his blue eyes fell and he was back asleep.
"If I have to stay awake to make sure we both stay here, I will, Jim." He promised, sitting back down, but not letting go of his hand.
Spock smiled a little when even Jim was asleep, he could still feel his essence there beneath his skin, relieved that he could feel such a thing, when in days past he could not.
For the first time in the past year, Spock knew contentment once again just to be in Jim's very company;
in being by Jim's side once more; a place where he would always be, come what may.
