A Star Trek Fiction
"The shattering of a heart when being broken is the loudest quiet ever."
Break but Shatter
if i stay will you retrieve me?Leonard doesn't return to the house until early the next morning. Only hoping that Frank is asleep or it'll mean the end of both of Jim and himself.
Bones reaches the house and doesn't bother knocking, simply opens the unlocked door, "Well that's convenient." He remarks gruffly before continuing inside the darkened home.
The house is old styled, much like his mother's in Georgia so he easily avoids the squeaky floorboards and ventures further inside. He feels his stomach churn, he's uneasy. The blackness of the house seems to swallow him whole as he approaches one of the many rooms down the hall.
The brunette opens the door, letting the rank of alcohol wash over him. The smell reminds him of the days he'd come home to his dorm room to find Jim washed up on his couch, covered in his own blood and vomit, half the time usually struggling to breathe.
His heart thumps in his chest, making him remember that he's holding his breath. Bones releases it shakily and comes forward, moving his gaze from the floor to the bed located in the corner of the room.
There's someone sleeping in the bed.
Leonard comes closer to the bed, but his heart sinks, the man is far too large to be Jim. Must be Frank. Bones sighs and starts to step away when there's a sudden moan from the corner of the room. The Doctor nearly jumps and sprints to the door, but he steadies himself and turns toward the source.
"…ones' is that you…?" The voice rasps slowly.
His heart stops beating and the oxygen in his lungs is pushed out forcefully so he doesn't pass out, "Jim."
Bones rushes to his best friend's side, careful not to wake Frank from his slumber, "Jim what happened?"
Jim peels his eyes open and gazes into Bones' pleading stare, "Frank."
Leonard blinks away the tears. Jim's voice had came out as a choked sob and now the Doctor is breaking under the pain and guilt. But he must be strong, for Jim.
Bones pauses; taking in the fact that Jim isn't wearing any clothes and is huddled up in the dark corner of a room. He stands up, brushing Jim's golden hair back, ignoring the blond's startling flinch, before retrieving a blanket to drape it around his best friend.
The blond takes the soft blanket greedily, his body still trembling feverishly.
"Alright, c'mon Jim, let's get you outta here." Bones declares quietly and pulls Jim up onto his wobbly feet.
The blond instantly hisses out in pain and Leonard wraps him up in his arms before he hits the wooden floor. Bones looks at Jim who clutches the blanket close to his naked body.
"It's alright, we'll go to the couch and I'll grab you some clothes." Leonard whispers to the blond; Jim just nods his head and lets the Doctor lead him out of the room and to the worn couch.
The blond plops down heavily and holds down the rising sobs in his chest, but he can't stop the tears from slipping.
"Hey-hey it's alright Jim, it's going to be alright." Bones tries anxiously to comfort his dear friend.
The bond just wipes away the tears with the edge of the blanket and stays on the couch as Bones retrieves some clothes for him to wear. Leonard reappears after several long moments, carrying some pants, socks, underwear, and a plaid button up.
Bones offers his shaken friend a smile as he crouches beside him and peels the blanket from his shivering body. Instantly he earns a heartbreaking response from Jim. The blond immediately reaches for the blanket and when Bones tosses it aside Jim starts to cry again.
"Jim, look at me. It's okay; it's going to be okay…it has to be." Leonard murmurs softly, grabbing the sides of Jim's face and pressing his forehead to Jim's sweaty one.
The frantic blond almost snags away but he remains there, completely tense, "Jim, you have to trust me." Bones mutters hopelessly and Jim sighs, feeling vulnerable and exposed.
"That's a good boy." Leonard smiles after peeling apart, wiping away the silent tears on the blond's face before pulling Jim onto his feet to dress him.
Jim let's Bones help him with his undergarments, it's not like Bones hasn't seen it before anyways. The Doctor then proceeds to yank on some pants and socks, careful not to further injure Jim's busted left knee. He also plays it safe coming around to Jim's right arm, which is obviously sprained.
Once done, Bones takes Jim's good arm and slings it around his shoulders and begins to lead him away.
"Where do you think you're going?" Frank's voice howls from behind them, causing Bones to cringe and Jim to hang his head shamefully.
"Leaving, what does it look like asshole?" Bones grounds out sharply, releasing his grip on Jim to let him slump against the wall before turning to face Frank.
Leonard shudders the second he sees the man. Frank seems to be twice as large since the last time he saw him and in his giant hands he holds a decent sized whiskey bottle.
"You watch your tone with me Doctor. You might wanna leave before I break something. That something being your pretty face." Frank snarls, now standing over him, his grip tightening on the empty bottle.
Bones holds his ground firmly, trying to not shiver underneath the man's deathly shadow, "Not without Jim."
Frank snorts, "Doctor please, leave while you still can."
"Only if Jim comes with me." Bones replies, gazing into Frank's soulless eyes.
"Bones!" Jim's sharp cry gets both of their attentions.
Frank just watches as Bones rushes to the blond's side, "Jim what's wrong?" Bones asks him, grasping onto Jim's trembling hand.
"Can't…breathe." Jim rasps shakily, his chest heaving up and down in attempt to bring in more oxygen.
"Frank turn on the lights and bring me a blanket." Bones orders, helping Jim sit more upright, "It's okay Jim, you're safe here, just breathe for me kid."
"B-Bones." Jim whispers weakly, cold sweat building up on his skin and his breath coming out in short gasps.
"Breathe. In and out. In and out." Leonard commands gently, stroking the blond's hair back before looking over his shoulder at Frank, "Damn it man, turn on the lights and bring me a blanket!"
Frank finally snaps into action and does as he's told, flipping on the lights and handing McCoy a blanket, "Thank you." Bones mutters, snatching the blanket from Frank's grasp.
"Here you go Jim." Bones tells him, wrapping the blanket around his friend's body
Leonard remains there, stroking Jim's hair until his breathing steadies and eventually falling asleep against the wall. Bones sighs and gets to his feet, looking over at Frank who sits upon the couch silently.
"He's coming with me." Leonard informs Frank and the man's eyes shoot up to glare at him, "No, that won't be necessary."
"If he doesn't come with me I'm reporting this."
Frank grins at him, "Go ahead, the only thing they're going to find is you breaking in and entering."
"How are you supposed to explain his injuries?" Bones blurts out, taking a side glance at Jim.
"He got into a bar fight during the funeral." Frank replies dryly.
"Like that'd believe that horseshit." Leonard argues, crossing his arms defensively.
Frank gets to his feet, "Look, I don't wanna get you more involved than you already are. So I'm gonna ask you one more time: leave McCoy or Jim will suffer for it."
Bones looks once more at the still form of Jim's body slumped against the wall; he looks hardly a man, let alone a Captain of a starship. His gaze then finds its way back to Frank, now realizing why Jim is so scared of the man.
How did he let Jim go to the funeral alone? Of course he'd run into Frank there, Leonard should have known. And now he wished that this was the end of all his mistakes, but it isn't.
Leonard McCoy left that household without Jim in his arms. He left his friend with his abuser once more. Frank is stronger than him and Bones will need backup to retrieve his Captain and he has just the person on his mind. And when he returns with the help from Spock, he'll get Jim back, but little did he know that by the time he does, it'll be too late.
Note: Next chapter is going to be pretty big so it'll take me sometime to finish, just a heads up that's all. Thanks for reading!