A/N: It's almost done ... thank you so much to all my readers for all the reviews and views - you're all the best.

The decontamination process had taken far longer in McCoy's mind than he'd imagined it would. He directed the removal of his mate's body and followed the repulsor lift gurney back to the med bay with its white-shrouded form. He felt his eyes sting when the crew they passed stopped whatever task they were engaged in and came to solemn attention at the sides of the corridors.

See, kid? You were meant for that chair ... they all knew it, just like Pike did. Like I did, Bones thought.

Before leaving engineering, Uhura laid her hand on Bones' arm and looked at him with tear-filled eyes. He'd put his hand over hers with a quick squeeze.

"Go on," Leonard said hoarsely. "They'll need you on the bridge."

"Len ..."

McCoy shook his head. "We have our duties, Nyota... we have to do them or else he ... he died for nothing."

Uhura raised up and gently pressed her lips against his cheek. If she tasted the salt of fresh tears, Uhura did not say anything.

Now, standing in sickbay, looking down at the body bag containing his mate, his alpha and his captain – Leonard was dry-eyed and numb. He slowly unzipped the bag, laying the flaps back, exposing the pale features. McCoy gently ran his fingertips over a few small cuts on Jim's face.

Gonna have to regen those before ... Leonard's brain refused to finish the thought.

He could barely scent his mate – the pheromones that made Jim stand out like a beacon to Leonard were already fading. McCoy wondered how long it would be before he could no longer recall Jim's smell. He gave a heavy sigh and stroked the line of his alpha's jawline.

Scotty stood behind the doctor with a somber face. He remembered the day Jim and Leonard announced they'd mated ... neither one of them could stop smiling. Scotty wondered if McCoy would ever smile again after this.

Leonard reached to the bond out of habit and winced when he touched nothing. McCoy had worked his way to the bottom of several bottles the last time he lost his alpha. Even now, despite Jim's command, Leonard found himself wanting to curl up in a corner with whatever would bring oblivion the fastest. The doctor stepped back and regarded the still form.

"Said you didn't believe in the no-win situation, Jim ... but you left me in one," McCoy murmured.

'Live, omega' ... Jim's final command as an alpha to his omega reverberated in McCoy's mind. Leonard didn't know if the compel would fade with time or not but for now it was unavoidable.

Leonard slowly walked to his lab station and sat down heavily. He knew what needed to be done – the procedure for preparation of deceased crewmembers was rolling through his head even now along with all the associate regulations. He'd unfortunately had plenty of practice of late. But even the duties of CMO couldn't stave off the creeping lethargy in his mind and spirit. He leaned his forehead on his hand.

Why did you leave me, kid? McCoy whimpered mentally, his eyes stinging with yet more tears.

Scotty watched Leonard's hand stray to his collar – the public indication that he'd been claimed by an alpha. Montgomery Scott had always been grateful of his beta status … the idea of wearing something that marked you as 'belonging' to another seemed distasteful. But between Jim and Leonard there had been something more … looking at the doctor now, Scotty had the impression that he was gazing at a man torn in half. He walked over to Leonard when he realized that the omega wasn't touching the collar out of habit … he was actually trying to take it off.

"Len … what are you doing?" Scotty asked, distressed.

"Taking this fucking thing off … obviously don't need it anymore," McCoy snapped.

Scotty pulled McCoy's hands down. There was no resistance. "I know you don't want to do that now … you're hurting is all."

Leonard's shoulders slumped. He sighed heavily. "God, Scotty … it's like a goddamn nightmare and I'm never going to wake up."

"You're not alone, Len. We're all going to miss the lad," Scotty replied softly.

McCoy looked up and his expression was shattered but he nodded. He opened his mouth to say something else when his attention was drawn to a sound. Surrounded by broken glass and scattered instruments, the tribble he'd injected earlier with Khan's platelets was cooing softly. Leonard stared in disbelief at the furry little creature. A monitor began to beep and he looked up, barely daring to hope. The data made his heart pound. Turning around, he barked, "Get me a cryo tube now!"

I swear to all that's holy, kid … you and your goddamn fucking no-win situation better come through now, McCoy thought darkly.

As the cryo tube containing one of Khan's crew was placed on the bed beside Jim, Leonard forgot his grief and fell into complete 'doctor' mode. He issued orders to his staff while his brain whirred with procedures and what he was going to need to try the Hail Mary he had in mind.

"Get this guy out of the cryo tube," McCoy said, indicating Khan's man. "Be damn sure to keep him in an induced coma … we're gonna put Kirk in. It's the only chance to preserve his brain functions."

Carol, limping on her cast-encased leg, looked at Leonard. "How much of Khan's blood is left?"

McCoy stuttered to a stop. "None." He raced for the console. "Enterprise to Spock! Spock!"

Answer me …. Answer me … Leonard frowned and then it occurred to him … Spock wanted Khan dead as much as McCoy did. He'd been lost in his sorrow but he'd still heard Spock's scream. Vulcans were peaceful and logical now, but once upon a time, they'd been a violent people. And Leonard had seen Spock's temper – he could only imagine how devastating his grief-driven rage would be.

"Activate the cryogenic sequence," McCoy ordered Carol Marcus. He glanced down at his mate's face as the frost began to form on the interior of the tube.

You won't let me come to you, Jim … so I'm bringing you back to me, Leonard thought. He placed his palm briefly on the tube before running back to the comm panel.

"McCoy to bridge, I can't reach Spock! I need Khan alive. You get that son of a bitch back on board right now!" McCoy took a deep breath and ran his fingers over his collar. "I think he can save Kirk."

Leonard looked up when Spock and Uhura coalesced in his sickbay with Khan at their feet. Uhura had smiled at him in her lovely, gentle way. Spock, looking a great deal the worse for wear, cleared his throat and said blandly, "Khan Noonen Singh, doctor … as requested."

McCoy had swallowed every smart-assed response that bubbled up in that instant – and there were several. Instead, he schooled his features into something resembling a blank expression and replied as unemotionally as he could, "Thank you for your assistance in this matter, Mr. Spock. I greatly appreciate your extraordinary effort."

The Vulcan's eyebrow disappeared into his hairline, he arched it so high. He suddenly understood why his occasional shifts in expected behavior left the doctor uneasy. Spock did not ponder it overlong … he simply nodded and limped to a nearby biobed to have his own injuries attended. McCoy turned away and ordered Khan brought to a bed. He had double restraints put in place and he administered a paralytic to keep his limbs still … just in case. Khan regained consciousness as Leonard finished drawing the blood he would need to replicate Khan's platelets. He looked at McCoy and smiled.

"Ah, the gentle doctor," Khan said softly.

Leonard met the man's eyes but did not respond. He handed the vials to Carol Marcus to begin separating the plasma.

"We both know I had to act according to my nature, doctor," Khan explained. "Your captain knew I would do whatever was necessary to protect my family."

McCoy inhaled deeply and glared at Khan. "My mate is the only reason your family is alive – if he was, oh I don't know, like you, he would have fired those torpedoes at Qo'noS without a second thought and been done with you."

Khan's eyes widened - he looked confused and hopeful at the same time. Leonard frowned and then he realized … Khan thought his crew was dead.

"That's right, you arrogant fuck ... Spock played you. Good thing Vulcans believe in the preservation of life ... or else my medical bay wouldn't have seventy-two frozen supermen safely resting in it," McCoy said.

Khan regarded the omega steadily. His eyes drifted down to the restraints and his inability to move arms or legs. "You have me at a disadvantage, Doctor. Perhaps you are considering taking your vengeance?"

McCoy frowned. "I didn't have to let you wake up at all, Khan. Jim wanted you to answer for what you did and by God, I want that too." Leonard swallowed hard, struggling to keep his emotions in check. "You took my mate – you took everything from me. And not just me - you and Marcus ended so many innocent lives between you ... he got his but give me one good reason I should let you live. Because yeah, right now all I want to do is fucking rip your throat out."

"That is why you will not, McCoy. Your pain allows you to understand exactly why I committed the acts I did ... to save those I love from men like Alexander Marcus," Khan said simply. "Tell me, doctor – if you had known how things would end for your captain, what would you have done?"

McCoy looked down at the man and did not answer. The rational side of his mind would never consider slaughtering thousands for the sake of one man. The other side ... the side that could not bear life without its alpha ... Leonard did not want to consider what that part of him was capable of in defense of his mate. He reached for a hypo and injected Khan with the paralytic's counter and released the restraints. Khan sat up slowly, rubbing feeling back into his arms.

"Are we not being overly trusting, Doctor?"

"Perhaps. I don't forgive you for what you did – I never will ... but you're right. I do understand the motivation behind it." McCoy said. He looked Khan directly in the eyes. "Don't confuse my empathy with weakness, Khan. You can kill me, but I promise you I won't make it easy and I will take you with me. After all, who better than a gentle doctor to know exactly how to end a life?"

Khan closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them again. "When I said that you would want for nothing as my omega, I did not lie. I had a mate once – a normal, non-augmented human woman - an omega, like you. She was weaker than the women of my kind, but oh so beautiful. Intelligent and brave – defiant to the end. She believed in our cause with all her heart because she loved me. When we were forced into exile, she was killed. You remind me of her a great deal, Doctor McCoy."

With that, Khan's hand snapped out and fisted in Leonard's shirt, pulling him against the alpha. The kiss was devouring, insistent, and more sensual than any kiss Leonard had experienced up until that point in his life. It should have been enough to drive the doctor to his knees in willing submission. Instead, he felt nothing but a low burn of anger. McCoy pulled back slowly, cleared his throat and regarded the amused alpha with a deep scowl. Then his fist slammed out into Khan's jaw, rocking the alpha back where he sat and successfully splitting his lower lip. Leaning in, Leonard growled, "Not even if you were the last fucking alpha in the universe, Khan."

Khan met McCoy's eyes and chuckled ruefully as he thumbed blood from the already healing tear. His expression shifted to something Leonard didn't recognize at first, and then he realized it was defeat. "Let me go back into suspension - I do not belong in this time, perhaps not in any time." Khan looked toward Jim's cryo tube and then back to the doctor with something like regret. "At the very least, I will have new fodder for my dreams while I sleep – you are quite the beguiling omega, Doctor McCoy."

Leonard snorted. "Glad I could help." His face became serious. "Are you sure you want to go back into cryo? I doubt Starfleet will be inclined to ever let you wake up."

"I wish to be with my family, doctor. And Starfleet will not exist forever … perhaps the next time we awaken, the universe will need us again."

For once, McCoy did not feel wrong about giving Khan what he wanted.

Jim heard voices … faint echoes of his life … his mother and father on the day he was born … Pike in the bar … Bones saying 'yes' … then he was awake. He looked around confused and he registered an alarm from somewhere.

McCoy's heart was in a vise of some sort. It was the only explanation for the pressure in his chest. Looking at the brilliant blue eyes Leonard thought he would never see again, all he wanted to do was pull his mate into his arms and never let go. Instead, he forced his features into a calm façade and looked down at Jim while running he scanner down his torso.

"Oh don't be so melodramatic. You were barely dead." Leonard glanced at a readout to gather himself. "It was the transfusion that really took its toll. You were out cold for two weeks."

"Transfusion?" Jim asked weakly.

"Your cells were heavily irradiated. We had no choice." Bones made a quick entry on Jim's chart. He didn't think he'd heard anything sweeter than his mate's voice, even as harsh from disuse as it was.

"Khan?"

"Once we caught him, I synthesized a serum from his super blood," Leonard explained. He looked over at Jim with a faint smile. "Tell me, are you feeling homicidal? Power mad? Despotic?"

"No more than usual," Jim said softly. "How'd you catch him?"

"I didn't," Leonard said. He moved away to allow another face to appear. Spock.

"You saved my life," Jim said to the Vulcan.

"Uhura and I had something to do with it too, you know," Leonard groused from the other side of the bed. Jim huffed a laugh.

"You saved my life, Captain. And the lives …" Spock began.

Jim sighed. "Spock … just — thank you."

"You are welcome, Jim."

Later that evening, after a battery of tests that left Jim exhausted, he looked idly around the room. He saw a small go-bag open with clothes. From the angle of his bed, he could just see the bathroom sink. A toothbrush and what looked like a comb sat on the edge. He frowned when his mate entered and began changing into his sleep pants and a t-shirt.

"Bones ... are you staying here?"

"Where else would I be, kid?" Leonard replied. He enjoyed the flutter in his stomach at hearing the familiar nickname again.

"Bones ..." Jim protested softly.

"What? I was supposed to go stay in a plush hotel room while you languished here alone?" McCoy retorted. "I've got a camp bed, pillow and a blanket. I've been just fine for the past few weeks."

Jim chuckled. "I don't think I languished, Bones. I was unconscious." The look on Leonard's face stopped his laughter. "Bones?"

Leonard stood looking down at his feet facing away from Jim. He clenched his hands into fists. He spoke to the far wall instead of looking at his mate. "You died, Jim. You died and there wasn't a goddamn thing I could do about it."

"Bones, I'm so-"

Jim never finished his sentence because quite suddenly he had an armful of McCoy. His mate had climbed onto the bed and was straddling him, holding his weight off Jim. Leaning down, Leonard kissed Jim deeply. He felt a swell of tenderness flood over him and wished Jim was strong enough for more – but that could wait.

Jim raised his hand and cupped the back of Leonard's neck. His fingers moved over the collar eliciting a shiver from his mate. Jim smiled and looked into hazel eyes to see himself reflected back.

"Missed you, kid. Try not to do that again," Bones said softly.

"I'll do my best, Bones. It was lonely without you."

Leonard pressed another soft kiss to Jim's mouth before getting ready for bed. When he came back, he eased Jim over and slid in beside him, spooning behind his mate and supporting his weight. If Jim noticed a soft hitching of Leonard's chest that sounded suspiciously like crying, he didn't say anything. He simply laced his fingers into the hand pressed against his torso and leaned into the curve of his mate's body. When he felt McCoy relax, Jim stayed awake to listen to his breathing. He smiled in the darkness and finally managed to sleep.