Chapter 42
The second the door shut behind him, Spock turned to his eldest boyfriend and quickly took his hand.
'We need to go after him'
'We also need to yell at Pike'
'Which is your preference?'
'Well, to go after that stupid brat obviously, but...'
'But...?'
'... I think you're able to relate to him a hell of a lot easier that I am. You should go and check on him'
And so it was decided.
Standing up, Spock ignored Pike calling after him and headed for the door with a determined stride.
He barely had his hand on the handle before Bones started laying in to the Headmaster and the Vulcan couldn't help but smirk in satisfaction.
He finally found the teenager, rather unsurprisingly, in his and McCoy's own room, curled up underneath the quilt in the middle of the bed.
Spock paused, suddenly unsure.
"May I... join you?"
Jim didn't jump at the voice.
"No".
The Vulcan frowned, calculating the risks before finally coming to a conclusion.
"I do not accept your declination".
The hidden lump in his bed moved slightly, and he could practically hear the boy's smirk when he replied.
"You know what Spock? I thought you might say that".
His boyfriend gave a small smile before walking over, kicking off his shoes, and tugging the large king-sized quilt over his head, crawling around underneath the covers until he finally settled next to the small shivering blonde.
Faces inches apart, Jim gave him a small, almost shy smile, "Hi".
"Hello" Spock replied pleasantly, "Leonard sent me to... 'check' on you, I believe his exact words were".
"Yea, Bones is an old softy like that".
He tilted his head quizzingly at the boy, "The percentage of people who would disagree with that statement is far larger than the ones who wouldn't".
He gave a small smile, "I thought you might say that too. But you and I know better, don't we? You, of all people, should agree".
"Yes, I find that I must. Leonard is... how you humans would say... quite the romantic".
Jim snorted, eyes bright, "Never thought I'd hear those words coming out of your mouth".
Spock smirked back to appease him, but knew they couldn't skirt around the issue any longer.
"Jim... Vulcans are not the best species for being subtle".
"I noticed".
"As a result, I find myself unable to reword this question in order to put it more gently for your human brain to comprehend".
"That sounded like an insult".
He ignored the remark, and instead, caught the blonde's eye so he could look at him directly, "Jim. Who did you kill?"
"My step-father".
The Vulcan blinked.
He hadn't expected to get an answer straight away.
Jim gave a crooked grin, "You weren't expecting it to be that easy, huh?"
"I... admit that your honest answer caught me momentarily off-guard, yes".
He shrugged, "Figured you'd find out eventually. Not like I regret it or anything, I just... don't like talking about him in general".
"Because he... hurt you?"
"Understatement of the year" He muttered, turning to bury his face in the sheets, "Frank and I... well... he was a dick".
"A very accurate description, I'm sure, based on what he did" Spock replied dryly, gaining a winning smile in return, "There we are! And people say Vulcans can't make jokes".
He did not smile back.
"You killed your step father".
"Yes".
"In what degree?"
"Murder-wise or temperature-wise?"
Spock frowned, "I... I do not understand".
"Well, are you asking was it intentional or accidental? Or are you asking how hot it was?"
"... I fail to see what the weather had to do with-"
"I set him on fire".
The Vulcan abruptly stopped.
Jim continued on, unperturbed, but refused to meet his gaze, "My step-father. My mother's husband. I set him on fire. Accidently. That's how he died. He burned to death. Took out the entire house in the explosion, too".
"You... exploded?"
"Technically speaking" He explained, "Not physically, obviously, cause the majority of my body is still here, but power wise? Oh yea. Power wise, I exploded big time".
"And that's what brought you onto Professor Pike's radar" He realised, and Jim nodded, "Exactly... Of course, I wasn't going to make it easy for him, and it took a good few years for him to finally find me, in Las Vegas, no less, but... yea. He knew what happened. And what a whole lot of good that did".
They were interrupted by the sound of the door opening, someone stepping in, and then those same footsteps suddenly coming to a stop at the foot of the bed.
"Should I be jealous?"
Bones.
Jim grinned, tugging down the quilt just enough so he could see the man standing with his arms folded across his chest and a solitary eyebrow raised.
"Jealous? What of?" Spock replied, also sticking the top of his face out of their little cocoon.
Bones gestured at the pair of them, "Well, I mean, I thought we had agreed to get him into bed together. I'm rather offended that you went ahead and started the party without me".
Spock flushed and glared furiously at him, while Jim let out a cute little high-pitched squeak that had the doctor laughing.
"Oh, come off it kid, you know I'm only messing" He replied, toeing off his shoes and throwing his jacket over the back of a nearby chair, "Any chance I could squeeze into this blanket fort with you?"
"Well I don't know" Spock replied, fully intend in getting his revenge, "Jim and I were perfectly happy before you came along. Maybe we should just make you watch".
The man's eyes darkened at the same time his cheeks did, and the Vulcan knew that he had won.
Jim stared at them, gaping, "Now just hang on one bloody minute, what the hell is going on here?"
"Shove over" Bones said gruffly, his voice suddenly hoarse, and he shot a smirking Spock a dirty look as he climbed underneath the blankets.
The Vulcan merely raised a challenging eyebrow in response.
Jim huffed at the pair but did as told, and within minutes he was being sandwiched by his boyfriends underneath the warm quilt.
Sighing, he gave a content smile, eyes closed and unaware of the fond gazes he was getting in return.
Wrapped up in between the pair, Jim never felt safer, and he found himself slowly drifting... drifting... drifting...
Within minutes, he was fast asleep.
Still staring down at the blonde, Spock cleared his throat, "... How did the meeting go?"
"It didn't" Bones replied simply, "I yelled at Pike. He yelled back. I yelled even louder... The rest of the team are on our side. On Jim's side".
"And... the killing Khan part?"
"... It's still undecided" He admitted quietly, "What did you find out here?"
"Frank".
Even hearing the name made them both boil with anger.
"That was who he killed?" McCoy asked, and Spock nodded, glancing up at him, "He lost control of his powers. Metaphorically exploded".
"He burnt him to death?"
"Accidenly, yes" He replied, "... But at the same time, he doesn't regret it".
"Good" the doctor said firmly, "Because hell is the only place that bastard deserves to be".
Settling down next to his boyfriends, Spock wrapped a gentle hand around the younger's waist and stretched the other out to the older mutant, locking hands with him.
"... What do you think is going to happen?"
Bones let out a heavy breath, the weight of the world on his shoulders, and stared down at the peacefully sleeping boy between them, "I don't know, Spock... I honestly just... don't know".