Nightmares

by Starsinger

Suggested by a guest who wouldn't give me a name to call them with. Jim is having nightmares, and McCoy knows their cause. He would be calling Pike in to help, but that is no longer an option. So, he calls the one person in the universe who is in a unique position to know exactly where Jim is, Spock Prime. This is in direct reference to both Star Treks II: the Wrath of Khan and III: the Search for Spock, and into XII: Into Darkness. I'm sorry, I'm no longer posting spoiler warnings. The movie has been out for almost two months. If you haven't seen it by now, I'm sorry. Don't own any of them.

He was dying. He crawled through the tunnels, barely succeeded in starting the warp core, and now, he couldn't breathe. He gasped for air, breathing in the poison his lungs no longer able to cope. Fire rippled along every nerve, and he knew that this was something that McCoy couldn't fix. He made it to the door, and looked up to see a blue shirt, but it wasn't Spock, it was Winona, "Look at you, just like your father," she sneered. "Oh, so noble hearted, no wonder I prefer Sam."

Jim sat up gasping for air that was not poisoned. The dream again, "Lights!" The hospital room lit up. Jim swung his legs over the side of the bed and leveraged himself into the wheelchair. He wheeled himself out toward the balcony, there would be no more sleep tonight. The nurses watched him go, there was nothing they could do to help him. Only so much that Psychiatrists could do to help as well. Before the late twentieth century doctors would label this as shell shock, and tell their patients to get over it. By the latter part of that century, they realized it was a very real condition and started treating it as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. They would often be let go from the military and sometimes paid benefits. Jim didn't want to leave Starfleet, he just didn't know what to do.

McCoy soon joined him with a jacket, reminding Jim that it was too cold to be out in just a hospital gown and shorts. "You are wearing shorts under there, right?" Jim just looked at him. "Just asking. Nurses were complaining." McCoy laughed at the look on his face, "Okay, so they were complaining that you started to wear the shorts!"

Jim laughed at McCoy's dry humor, "So, Doc, how do we fix this head case?"

"I have an idea, Jim, let me talk to someone and see if he's agreeable. We'll know in a couple of days if he is." Jim nodded. He was willing to try just about anything at this point.

The next day the whispers started, the distinguished figure swept through the hospital that he had visited before, only the ICU nurses had known about his previous visit. Everyone stopped and stared as a much older version of Spock stepped in front of the nurse's station, "Excuse me, where may I find Dr. Leonard McCoy." One of the orderlies ran for another room.

McCoy emerged holding a cup of coffee in one hand, he smiled, "Ambassador Spock, I'm glad you could come." McCoy glanced around at the nurses who suddenly decided they had to be somewhere else. "This way."

Spock followed the doctor, "He's having nightmares about dying."

McCoy sighed, "Yes, he is. There's nothing we've tried that's actually helping. I understand you went through a similar experience, maybe…"

Spock nodded, "I will do what I can, McCoy." Spock entered the room and quietly closed it behind him, Jim awoke from a troubled nap and smiled with genuine affection at the Vulcan. "It is good to see you too, Jim."

"You're the one Bones called?" Jim asked, clearly puzzled.

"Yes, Jim, in my universe, I was on the other side of the door, not you. I was the one who died. And it was you and your amazing group of friends, who are my friends as well, who pulled me back to life. My wife had something to do with that too, but that's another story."

"Saavik," Jim mused, "you've mentioned her before."

"I miss her very deeply," Spock admitted. "I also entered that warp core chamber knowing I would die. McCoy and Scotty tried their hardest to stop me, and it was McCoy who called you when there was nothing left to do but say good-bye."

"Scotty called you, McCoy knew about it when I landed on his table, at least that's what he told me. Funny thing about being dead, don't remember much." Spock nodded, and then started talking about his own death. Noting how the Enterprise would have been destroyed if it hadn't gotten away from the Reliant in time. "I never realized how much they cared about me until I woke up," Jim muttered.

"It was much the same for me, my friend. My insecurities came from being a half-breed, and being bullied for it. Vulcan children can be just as cruel as humans. You were always the self-confident, self-assured captain I looked up to. At least I thought so until I learned about Tarsus IV," the old man muttered.

"Your Jim was also on Tarsus IV?" Jim blurted out in horror.

"Yes, he was, and he was able to find closure when Kodos died, at the hands of his own daughter, strangely enough. Jim, McCoy asked me to come here and talk because I'm in a unique position to know exactly how you've been feeling, and I will not judge you for it."

Jim's eyes rested on his ancient companion before he talked about his own death. It was slow, and drawn out. "I wasn't blind at the end, but my eyes were going. I could just see Spock on the other side of the door, most of the time he was a blur, but I knew it was him. I'm so grateful that Scotty called him in, I wasn't alone…" Spock watched as his friend broke down and cried. Then, he did a very human thing, something that in his long years living with humans, taught him did a lot of good. He sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled Jim into his arms, letting him cry. Jim clung to him like a child, much like Spock's own children had done when they awoke afraid.

Finally, the tears subsided and Jim's grip grew lax. Spock gently pushed Jim back into the bed as he realized that his friend had fallen asleep. Spock pulled up the sides of the bed and watched him sleep, undisturbed by terrible dreams. McCoy soon stepped in and watched. "I'll stay here with him, Doctor. Hopefully, he won't have any more nightmares. You were right, he did need this."

McCoy nodded and stepped away, heading for his own bed. Jim was in good hands.