The bad news: I am terrible at keeping this up once school starts (and I heartily apologize!).
The good news: We're almost finished!(Or this could be bad news, I don't know.)

Disclaimer: I own nothing Star Trek.


{December 2264}

The hospital won't let Scotty or Chekov in for two weeks as they run tests on Sulu, and even En'Faiz can't beg them otherwise. "It's agonizing," Chekov complains to Scotty as he paces. Scotty doesn't disagree with him; he only raises a beer bottle before taking another sip.

The only news they get these days comes from Maiko, who dutifully calls every evening to tell them what's going on. "They think he's going to make a full recovery," she says at the end of the first week, her voice thick with tears. "It's a miracle, they're saying."

Scotty whoops when a dazed Chekov hangs up. "Well, if anyone is in the field of performing bloody miracles, that would be us!"

Chekov thinks of all the crazy stunts they've pulled off over the last few years, and can't help but privately agree. He goes to bed feeling empty – but the kind of good empty, the kind that one only feels when a weight has been rolled away from their shoulders.

Kirk comes to see him in one of his dreams, leaning against the wall: "Told you it was going to work out," he says, smiling. "I don't believe in no-win scenarios, and you don't either."

Chekov only smiles back.

Finally, the hospital calls to let Chekov and Scotty know that they can finally come back in. "You think we should get him flowers?" Scotty asks as he grabs his jacket from the coat rack.

"Nah. He was barely dead." Chekov grins. "Besides, how do you think he'd react to a bouquet of flowers?"

"He'd probably dissect them and start reciting everything he knew about them. Let's not."

They get him a card instead.

En'Faiz is waiting for them outside in the second waiting room, arms crossed. "Took you long enough," he rumbles.

"What, were you timing us?" Scotty asks indignantly.

"We stopped by to get a card," Chekov explains diplomatically. "Have you been in to see him yet?"

"I have." But En'Faiz makes no further elaboration.

"And…" Scotty prompts.

"And nothing, Mr. Scott. Captain Sulu is recovering about as well as I have been hoping for." En'Faiz makes a slight bow. "I must return to Starfleet. Mr. Chekov, I presume that with Captain Sulu's recovery, you will take up your post as Starfleet instructor?"

Chekov hesitates. "Can I talk to you about that later?"

An eyebrow is raised, but En'Faiz makes no remark. "Very well, Mr. Chekov. You know where to find me."

"What's that about?" Scotty asks once En'Faiz is through the door. "Not getting cold feet, are ya?"

"It's something I need to discuss with you and Sulu eventually," Chekov says.

"Whoa, wait. What would have happened if Sulu hadn't woken up?"

"Then this wouldn't be a point of discussion," Chekov shrugs. "But it is, so – trust me on this, okay, Scotty?"

A door opens down the hall and Maiko emerges from it. "Oh, hello," she says cheerfully when she sees Scotty and Chekov walking towards her. "Good, you're here. He's been asking for you for two weeks."

"Nurses wouldn't let us in," Chekov says. "They said they were running tests and would only let family members in to see him."

"Oh, they ran tests on him, alright," Maiko says. "I think my brother has seen more hyposprays than he's wanted to in his whole life."

Chekov remembers Bones jabbing Sulu with a hypospray after a particularly dumb stunt, and can't help but grin. "So… can we go in and see him?" he asks.

"Yeah, for sure. I'm just headed out to go get some lunch."

When they get in, Sulu is dozing lightly, but he jerks awake when Scotty closes the door behind him. "Hey," he says, but it comes out as more of a whisper. "Long time no see."

"If you didn't look like you were going to die at any moment, I'd yell at you, Hikaru Sulu," Scotty says sharply. "That was the stupidest thing you've ever done."

"And here I thought I was going to get a warm welcome. Why did I expect any different?" But there's a half-smile on Sulu's face.

"Don't worry," Chekov quips, taking a seat. "I won't yell at you."

"Thank you, Pavel."

"Until later."

Sulu wheezes a sound that sounds vaguely like a laugh. "Fair enough."

There's a long silence before Sulu breaks it. "No one will tell me anything concrete. Did my crew make it?"

"You think that would be the first thing they'd tell you," Scotty says.

"They said something about not stressing me with unnecessary information. But let's face it, I've watched the news for two weeks, that's stressful enough."

"Your whole crew made it," Chekov says. "Every one of them."

"Good." Sulu breathes out this word, his eyes fluttering shut. Chekov experiences a few moments of terror when he imagines Sulu hanging on for this long before dying in these insignificant lulls.

"You used my equation," he says just to shatter the silence. "From the Enterprise."

"It was worth a shot," Sulu says without his eyes opening. "That equation saved them all, it seems. Thanks."

He doesn't say what Chekov is secretly thinking: that equation is a symbol of how I tried to save my first crew, and failed.

Scotty clears his throat. "Well. You've missed some pretty important things in the time that you've been dead, Hikaru."

"Yeah? Like what?"

"Like the fact that Pavel here got the job at Starfleet," Scotty says, clapping Chekov's shoulder.

"You got it?" A smile drifts across Sulu's face. "That's awesome, Pavel. Knew you could do it."

"I'm not taking it," Chekov blurts.

"What?" Scotty and Sulu ask at the same time.

"I don't belong in a classroom," Chekov says, staring at his shoelaces. "I don't belong here."

"Yeah, but-" Scotty begins.

"No, no, listen." Chekov takes a deep breath. "If there's anything this last year has taught me, it's that I've been avoiding the problem."

The other two just watch him carefully.

"For people like us," Chekov says, "we belong up in the stars. Exploring. Doing things that we love. So I'm going to reapply to Starfleet. See if maybe they'll give me my old job back…" He trails off. "And if not, then I'll keep going. As long as I have you two to support me – because you're family."

He sees it dawn in Sulu's eyes, and knows that of course Sulu would understand better than anyone else. "You want to get back on a ship."

Chekov only nods.

"I don't see anything wrong with that," Sulu says, his eyes fixed on Chekov's.

"I do," Scotty says flatly. "No offense, Pavel, but can this be the shock talking? Your best friend just came back to life, and maybe it's understandable that you want to protect him because he's an idiot. I get it, lad. But are you sure you're ready for this?"

"As long as I have the both of you there," Chekov says quietly.

Scotty eyes him. "Look," he says, voice softening, "I'm not saying that you shouldn't do it. I'm all for you getting back on the ship, lad. It's just – I want you to do it for yourself. Not because you think it might bring back James Kirk and everyone else. Things won't be the same up there."

Chekov is ready with his answer – he's thought about this for nights on end before coming to his decision. "Nothing I ever do will bring them back, Scotty. I've come to terms with that. This is for happiness, for my own good. That's where I belong and you know it."

Scotty takes a deep breath before letting it out through his nose. "Well, I guess I can't stop you."

"You can join me," Chekov offers.

That gets Scotty's attention. "Say that again?"

"We could work on the same ship again," Chekov says. "You love engineering, Scotty. You took apart my clock just to see what modifications you could make to it."

Scotty considers this for a moment. "So you're suggesting that all three of us get back on a ship?"

Chekov simply nods. "It's a suggestion."

"You're not even well enough to do that," Scotty appeals to Sulu.

Sulu only shrugs. "En'Faiz said I could get back to work once I'm fully healed."

Scotty stares at the pair of them.

"What do you think?" Chekov prompts.

Scotty opens his mouth before he closes it again. "I think-"

Chekov and Sulu wait for his answer.

"I think you're both bloody insane," Scotty finally exclaims. "Bloody crazy, the lot of you-"

Chekov doesn't know why, but he begins laughing really hard, the kind of laughter that starts from somewhere warm and slips out without warning; the kind of laughter that linger on the lips of survivors after they've been rescued from the mouth of the storm. Scotty and Sulu begin to laugh, too, the former chortling and the latter softly chuckling so not to rip his stitches.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Chekov thinks he sees Bones, Spock, Uhura and Kirk leaning against the wall, smiling proudly at him. But when he turns his head, they are no longer there. He waits for the twinge that reminds him of how much he misses them; but it no longer twinges painfully, only a soft throb, and it is then that he realizes how much he's grown since a year and a half ago.

Maybe, he thinks, maybe things would turn out for the best after all.

Almost there - I can see the finish line. Thank you all for supporting, reviewing and favouriting!

Much love,
ohlookrandom