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Chapter Ten: Point of No Return
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Bones was not a violent man. Not by a long shot.
In fact, there were only two people in the entire universe who could claim the ability to move him to violence. Thanks to some serious counseling and a bit of quality time with alcohol, his ex-wife had long ago relinquished her right to be one of them.
So now the first was James Tiberius Kirk, that goddamn hot-headed, genius-level, accident-prone Captain who made a daily habit of leaping before he looked. His best friend.
Also included on that list was anyone in the past, present, or future that dared to lay a finger on the former.
Sadly, that list had been too long when Bones met Jim, and it was still growing.
So what could you do when you were a non-violent man moved to violence by both of the two things in your life that had the power to completely undo you?
Bones was still trying to figure that out.
If he ever forgives me for what I just said to him, I'm never letting him off this ship again. Hell, I'm not letting him off the bridge. He can run his damn precious ship from a bubble.
Seeing red as he stormed down the corridors, Bones was glad that the few crew members he passed gave him a wide berth. He couldn't be held responsible for ripping off an unsuspecting crewman's head at this point.
"What's so damn important that it couldn't wait?" He growled as he stepped into the holding area where the prisoners had been secured. "Is his arm falling off?"
"I don't know, sir." One of the younger security officers—Jones. Jensen? Jenkins? Something.—looked pale. "He started convulsing a few minutes ago. We didn't know what to do."
Bones looked unsympathetically down at one of the burlier convicts who lay curled in a heap on the floor of one of the holding cells. He seemed unresponsive.
Bones entertained the idea of leaving him there. After what these bastards had done to Jim, they deserved it as far as Bones was concerned. On the other hand, he would probably have to answer to Marakan prison officials if one of their prisoners died while in Federation custody.
"Have you tried rousing him?" McCoy reluctantly entered his medical override code and watched the translucent blue field disappear from the entryway.
"Not physically." The security officer had his phaser ready, but remained a safe distance from the holding cell. Scotty and another security officer lingered in the doorway, no doubt attracted by the commotion.
Cowards.
Bones knelt by the prisoner and gently rolled him over onto his back. He couldn't help but grimace a little at the sight of a long, thick scar that stretched across the man's face from chin to hairline. It was the kind of wound that had probably never seen a dermal regenerator and maybe that was on purpose, because it made him look damn mean.
Bones glared at a spot on the floor as he systematically checked the man's pulse. Half of his mind was still two decks up, verbally pounding some sense into the biggest trouble-magnet this side of the Laurentian system.
Mostly, he needed to keep himself riled up. He needed to find that same glass-pissing anger he'd felt not ten minutes before, because if he lost it, he'd start to feel guilty. Really guilty.
Hell, he was already feeling guilty.
His hope now was that a little of what he'd said—ranted, yelled—could sink into Jim's thick skull before Bones' internal guilt meter reached critical "blubbering apology" status.
He wasn't going to let it slide, this time. That much he'd already decided. He wasn't going to hole up in medical and run tests and hand out Band-Aids until he got another transmission telling him his best friend was on the brink of death again and if he had a moment, wouldn't he please come up and make the problem go away?
Not anymore. Jim was going to get it through his head this time that the ones who suffered the most when he was bleeding out on the floor were all the people around him: his crew. His friends. Bones.
Without his consent, his mind supplied in heart-wrenching detail the too-fresh image of Jim's boneless form sprawled out on the floor of that dark corridor on the Arabeth, surrounded by armed convicts and a groaning ship on the verge of self-destruction. His eyes closed. His clothes soaked in blood. The doctor had thought his heart was about to stop when he saw him. Scotty had found a way to reverse engineer the jammer Jim had designed (damn that kid was smart when he wanted to be), but Bones had felt instinctively that it was too late.
And it almost was.
McCoy's fingers clenched, and he had to take a moment to breathe.
Maybe if he'd been concentrating a little more on the task at hand he wouldn't have been caught off guard when the convict's brown eyes snapped open and a large hand closed around the Doctor's throat.
.
"Release him." Jim's throat constricted a little as he stared into the eyes of the man who had been torturing him not days prior. Now, the bastard had his arm locked tight around Bone's throat, his arm twisted behind his back.
Spock stood close at his shoulder, looking deceptively relaxed as he watched and waited for the escapee to make a wrong move. Thank goodness someone was on the ball today.
"Well haven't you healed up nicely." Ahmrak grinned devilishly from behind Bone's shoulder. "How's the hand, Captain?"
Jim's left hand flexed automatically; he could still feel the pull of new flesh and remember the sting of tortured nerve endings. Thankfully, the wound had been fully treated by the time he'd woken up. Bones knew he didn't handle immobility well.
Speaking of.
Jim's eyes flickered hesitantly, meeting McCoy's eyes for only a fraction of an instant. The Doctor looked even angrier than he had been earlier, which was expected considering he was being held hostage by a maddened psychopath. But he wouldn't meet Jim's eyes; wouldn't acknowledge anything that had passed between them less than an hour before. It made Jim's stomach clench.
The truth was, he was never really sure how to act after a fight with Bones. He could never tell if he needed to give him his space, confront him on the subject, or simply pack up and move on. Half of him truly believed the day would come when Bones would want him to do just that: Jim just hoped that day was not today.
It really didn't help that now he had to figure out what to do to get his friend out of a potentially life-threatening situation.
"I take it you want my ship? You're getting a little redundant." Jim swallowed his uneasiness, trying not to let his mind and body remember everything this man had put him through because fear was really not going to help him out here.
"I knew you were the smart one." Ahmrak grinned. "My demands are really quite simple. All I want is for you to release my men, sequester yourselves in the same holding deck where you so thoughtlessly restrained them, and hand over the bridge." The convict's muscled arm tightened around Bones' throat; the doctor made a noise of pain. "And in return, I won't break your Chief Medical Officer's neck."
Jim clenched his jaw painfully.
"You don't know how to care about people; you don't know how to be a goddamn adult."
Jim mind raced; he tried desperately to come up with a way to prove Bones wrong; to prove he could be a Captain and an adult and prove that he would give his life for his crew.
The problem was, he wasn't really seeing a scenario where somebody didn't get hurt. Maybe he could make sure that the someone getting hurt wasn't anyone he cared about. Meaning, everyone on his ship except himself.
"Very well." Jim nodded, swallowing. "My first officer will see to the preparations. I ask only that you take me as your hostage instead of my Medical Officer."
"Jim!" Bones growled.
"A glutton for pain, are we?" Ahmrak laughed. "The thing is, that after what you pulled back on my ship I'm not sure if I can trust you anymore, Captain."
"You think me untrustworthy because I did everything in my power to ensure my crew's safety?" Jim bit out. "They are my primary concern. I will willingly become your hostage if it will place them out of harm's way."
"Goddamn it Jim, don't—!"
Jim had to resist the urge to rush the convict when he tightened his grip again, effectively choking Bones' protests.
"And once we've made the trade, you'll hand over your ship?"
Jim nodded.
Like hell I will.
"Well then, you can start by handing over your weapon, Captain: and have your men drop theirs."
Chest tight, Jim did as he was told. He tried not to let his dismay show as Ahmrak's grip tightened around Jim's phaser, effectively making him five times the threat he had been moments before.
As he stepped back, away from Ahmrak, towards Spock and the rest of his crew (the incident had drawn an even larger crowd, why didn't they just get out of there?), he dropped his hand to his side. He stepped back discreetly and let his fingers brush against Spock's for the briefest of moments.
He wasn't sure how the whole Vulcan mind-meld thing worked, but if the startled glance he caught from the Vulcan out of the corner of his eye was any indication, his first officer had caught his gist.
Keep them safe. He willed.
"Now, let him go." Jim tried to sound authoritative as he stared down the man he was quickly learning to hate. It was funny how he could stare death unflinchingly in the eye when it was his ass on the line: When it was Bones', he was thoroughly terrified.
There's a very good chance I could die today. He thought to himself distantly as Ahmrak pushed Bones away. The Doctor stumbled, gagging, but Jim walked towards the convict to take his place before his friend could stop him.
That is, if he still wanted to.
Jim waited until Ahmrak's strong grip closed around his arm. Waited until he felt the phaser press against his lower back.
He locked eyes with Bones, smiling inwardly at the familiar, furious look on his face. He hoped he would see it again.
No turning back.
Jim took a deep breath, turned, and swung.
He felt the familiar burn in his side that he expected, but was still enough to take the breath right out of his lungs.
Thank god for adrenaline.
He grappled Ahmrak to the ground, noise roaring in his ears. Anger, fear, and hyper-active nerves gave him super-human strength because he could not, would not let this man win. He would not hand over his ship. He knew he was bleeding, could feel the unnatural warmth in his side; the pull of damaged tendons and torn flesh. He remembered being bound, powerless, while this man tortured him. And he couldn't stop himself. His fist came down, again and again.
But then Bones was there, and Spock was there, and Scotty—and it seemed like his whole crew was there at his side, pulling Ahmrak away, the phaser sliding out of reach.
"It's ok Jim, It's ok."
Jim was being pulled back tight against a warm chest and he was still fighting and ranting, because all he could see were those dark, sneering eyes that were hell-bent on taking his ship and his crew and making him hurt—
A soft hiss sounded in his ear, and he jerked wildly as he felt some sort of drug enter his blood stream.
"Shh." Bones' voice was in his ear; he recognized it now. Bones was ok. "Stop fighting. It's ok." The voice mumbled, "It's gonna be ok."
And Jim's eyes slipped shut, because it was. It was going to be ok.
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Wha? Another chapter that ends with Jim passing out? Yeah. I'm so mean. So there will be one or two more chapters, depending on how wordy I feel. :] Probably two, because I don't like the idea of having only eleven chapters. OCD, yes.
Keep those reviews coming! They make me so happy. 3
Romanse: Thank you so much! And yes, I was very confused about Chekov/Uhura's duties on board the ship. It's been years since I've watched the original story: I only had Chekov do most of the communicating, etc. because I wanted him to have more of the lime light as a character and because he was in charge of the ship during a crisis. Figured he needed a little screen time. :) I promise I'll sort it out in future stories!
Krishnaa: Thank you again, so glad you're enjoying it. Fear not, there will be no slash in my stories! Not my cup o' tea.
Coltdancer: So much love for your reviews. They make me all warm and fuzzy inside. And then to get three in a row? Well it just doesn't get any better than that. :3 As you can see, I have continued on with the original plot, with two more chapters on the way to tie up all those loose ends.
LyradanaGreetsTheWind: Your wish is my command: two more chapters to come! So glad you're sticking around. :)
Elfsong: It's true, poor Jim tries so hard but he just ends up making people miserable when he's miserable! Maybe someday he'll learn. Thanks for reading!
Spinalcracker: Hurray! I'll have to come up with some more stories, quick!
Zhen123: Bah, thank you so much! I hope to continue to entertain you with this story and others for as long as you'll keep reading. :)
Dustykingdom: Ah, thank you! Fear not, I have another story in the works. I hope you'll read that one, too! No, this isn't my first circus, lol. I used to write lots and lots of LotR fanfiction. About seven years ago. :P This is my first ST fic, however, and my first since I passed age 20 haha. Thank you so much for reading!
Moviesaremagic: Thanks! I like writing argument scenes for some reason; they're so angsty and emotional. :3 I'm so mean, hahaha.
Sublime Rubbish: Yay, so happy you like it. Thank you! I'm definitely planning for Spock to be a much bigger part of Jim's life and develop into a good friend in later stories. I guess that means you'll have to stick around and keep reading. ;)
Squigglytext: Fear not, Jim and Bones will kiss and make up! (figuratively speaking only, lol). I just needed to throw a little conflict in there at the worst possible moment to spice things up. ;) Thank you so much, and I hope you keep reading!
Lynaeve: Absolutely, many more stories to come! If all goes well, that is. :) I hope you'll stick around and keep reading; thank you so much for your support!
Val1313: Thank you! And yes, I had to throw in a little emotional angst there. ;) Gotta have it! Thank you for continuing to read and review; I hope you'll stick around for the next story!
TipsyTippyToes: Well that's what I'm here for. :3 Thank you for all your awesome reviews through the story so far, I hope you'll stick around for the next one!
Shameless Spocker" 3 Thank you so much, I'm so glad you're enjoying it that much. The Academy fic is next! Hopefully you shouldn't have to wait too long after the end of this story to see it. :)
Love you all!