#not his fault spock heard him screaming from outside of his quarters

[branwenjade]

Spock not realizing that it's not smart to try and wake Jim up when he's having a nightmare and having to go to sickbay to get his broken nose set.

[medicatemedrmccoy]

Let the games begin - Ch. 3

Photo created and gifted by the marvelous: @wonders-of-the-enterprise

Today were taking it back to the Enterprise to see how Jim and Leonard are coping. You get three guesses and the first two don’t count :)

2,364 word(s) of angsty, sad goodness.

Chapter 1 - Chapter 2

I think I have decided on around 7 chapters. SO, if you wanted to be tagged for the rest, yay! just shoot me a message. If you don’t want to be tagged, then shoot me a message and I will try to keep my tears to a minimum, and go to my room until further notice. Be gentle. I am a delicate flower.

Special thanks to: @outside-the-government for encouraging me to write again, and for being my beta and idea bouncer. Also @imoutofmyvulcanmind for being an idea bouncer, yay!

Tags: @star-trekkin-across-theuniverse @feelmyroarrrr @fandomheadrush @yourtropegirl @bkwrm523 @trekkimagines201 @arrowsshootyouforwards @captian-hannah-kirk @hellhoundsandunicorns @kaitymccoy123 @starmission @kilismaiden @malindacath @starr-trekkk

Jim sat in his Captain’s chair, wound up tight, barely hearing all the commotion around him. He had all the crew looking and listening to anything and everything that could possible give him a hint or a clue as to where you and Jo had been taken.

“Were being hailed Captain” Uhura exclaimed as she punched away at a few buttons.

“On screen” Jim ordered, tearing his face away from his hands to glace up.

The face of the Romulan who took you captive filled the screen. Jims eyes narrowed with anger.

“Greetings, Captain Kirk. So nice to finally meet you.” Ajek said, giving Jim a smirk.

“Where is my sister?” Jim asked frostily, gritting his teeth.

“Ah, straight to the point I see. Well, no need to leave you suffering. Your sister is suffering plenty enough for you both.” Ajek said as his face disappeared from the screen and video of everything you’ve been through so far began to flash on the screen.

From Kujeth cracking you in the head, to being roughly examined, to being chained up in the middle of the forest, to you attacking the man, to running from the wolves, to you finally flinging yourself and Jo over the cliff. The video feed cut out and Ajek’s face came back on screen.

Jim didn’t realize he had stopped breathing and his fingers were dug into the chair so deep, that they started to leave marks. His lungs were screaming for oxygen as he struggled to take in breaths, trying not to make it obvious. He had to keep it together.

“As you can see Captain, she is still alive, at least I assume. That tumble off the cliff did look like a long way down” Ajek sneered, trying his best to dig into Jim.

“Who the hell are you and why are you doing this to my sister?” Jim eyed him, barely keeping himself contained.

“Your sister asked the same thing, Captain. I’ll save you the agony of waiting and get on with it. My name is Ajek, but you might be more familiar with my father… Nero.” Ajek finished, reveling in the hushed silence that fell across the bridge.

There was a pregnant pause before Jim leapt up from his chair, yelling.

“You sick son of a bitch! This is about revenge isn’t it?! We offered your father help and he refused! It wasn’t our fault he chose to die rather than swallow his pride. My sister has nothing to do with his decision or his death” Jim spat venomously, hands resting on the back of his chair for support, chest heaving after his outburst.

“Captain…” Spock said quietly, coming in slowly to Jim’s side.

That was all he needed to say to get Jim to realize that he needed to calm down. Jim came back over and sat down in his chair heavily, still trying to catch his breath.

“That doesn’t change the fact that you let him die, Captain. He’s still dead because of you, is he not? You took away everything from me on that ship. Now I have everything important to you!” Ajek sneered “You will watch her suffer until the end. I don’t know about you, but I’m looking forward to it. Until next time, Captain.” Ajek’s face disappeared as the video cut off suddenly.

The bridge was grave silent as they either continued to stare at the screen or stare at the Captain waiting for instructions. Jim sat there staring at the screen before he snapped out of it.

“Trace that call, run algorithms on it, do whatever you need to do. I don’t care what it takes, you find out where that came from. That’s an order”

The bridge came to life with a bunch of “yes Captains, right away Captains” as people returned to their stations.

Jim was still planted firmly in his seat, trying his hardest to keep it all under control, failing miserably. He didn’t even notice when Spock came to stand beside him.

“Captain” Spock began cautiously. He placed a hand on Jim’s shoulder lightly. So lightly that if Jim wasn’t seeing it, he wouldn’t have realized it was there. Jim sat there, staring at the screen where you and Jo were seconds before, barely able to breathe, his mind reeling.

“We will find them, Jim”. Spock promised quietly, staring at his friend in concern.

“You have the conn, mister Spock.” Jim said quickly as he shot up out of his chair and made his way off the bridge.

Leonard. He needed to find Leonard.

Jim had been searching and trying to comm Leonard for an hour to no avail, giving him the time to cool off before he had this talk with him.

“Where the hell are you, Bones?” Jim muttered to himself. Suddenly he had an epiphany. Jim about faced and headed quickly down the hall. He stopped abruptly and punched in the code on the keypad.

As the door to your quarters opened, Jim could see Leonard sitting at the kitchen counter, staring at a tumbler filled to the brim with bourbon.

Jim made his way inside and approached Leonard. “Jesus Bones, how much have you had?” Jim asked eyeing the empty bottles on top of the counter.

“Not nearly enough.” Leonard mumbled, slurring his words, his drawl out in full force.

“Well I think you’ve had enough for now.” Jim said softly as he moved the glass and pitcher slightly out of Leonards reach. Leonard made no movement to protest, only staring at the now vacant spot the pitcher previously occupied.

“Talk to me Bones, what’s on your mind?” Jim asked sincerely, trying to get his friend to look at him.

“You don’t wanna know Jim.” Leonard replied, refusing to look Jim in the face.

“Sure I do. Let it all out, It’ll be good for you.” Jim told him. Leonard said nothing at first and only steeled his gaze at the counter.

“Where the fuck do I start, Jim? I just lost my daughter, she wasn’t even here 12 hours and she gets kidnapped! What kind of father lets that happen?! God dammit, Jocelyn is going to kill me, Jim!” Leonard yelled, then paused for a moment and continued in a hushed cracking voice “Joce is never going to let me see my little girl ever again, Jim.” Leonard finally finished, slouching his shoulders forward in defeat.

“Like hell you won’t, Bones. Joce will have to get through me and Y/N first if she even thinks about taking Jo away from you” Jim said threateningly “Y/N would murder her, she already hates her guts anyway. That would just give her a good excuse”

“What about Y/N, Jim?” Leonard asked quietly, changing the subject. Jim sighed and rubbed his face with his hands.

“Despite my obvious calm, cool, and collected exterior, I’m about to lose my fucking mind Bones. Were all each others got and I swear to God, if they hurt her or Jo…” Jim trailed off, taking Leonards grim demeanor into consideration.

“Bones, if anyone can protect Jo, its Y/N. You should be glad that she’s with her” Jim said, changing directions.

“Why is that, Jim?” Leonard asked, still looking the complete opposite of glad. Jim sat down next to Leonard, not looking forward to this conversation.

“I know I’ve told you some of our past, but never any details” Jim started, wringing his hands slightly.

“Details of what?” Leonard asked, finally looking over to Jim, knowing where this was probably headed.

“Tarsus IV.” Jim said quietly “this is going to require a lot of alcohol...” he trailed off as he made to grab  Leonards full tumbler. Leonard sat in silence as Jim drained the glass in a few long pulls. He sat the glass down softly and refilled it, placing it back in front of Leonard. Leonard ignored it, giving Jim his full attention.

“You know the surface details, all the stuff in the news and the articles. What you don’t know is the lengths we had to go to to survive. Jim said as he began to stare at the place Leonard was staring at previously, trying not to concentrate too much on what he was saying.

“They had put us all in a group, all the children. The ones who were too young to be of any good, just a waste of resources. They led us out into the woods, and we knew what was coming. We had heard the previous screams and gunfire, despite them trying to keep us separated in a building. As they led us out into the woods, Y/N and I made a break for it, a few of the other kids followed our lead. Thankfully it was getting dark so it was hard to see, but still some of us didn’t make it” Jim closed his eyes trying to keep it together, taking a breath before he continued.

“We were out there for two months, give or take. Y/N was the only girl and the youngest to make it in our little group of eight. She had to work twice as hard for everything, fighting, hunting, climbing, getting enough to eat, you name it”

Leonard was completely silent, eyes wide, barely daring himself to breathe. Jim and Y/N never talked about Tarsus IV, and here Jim was, spilling his guts, trying to make him feel better. He felt a twinge of guilt but decided to ignore it. He wanted to know, he needed to know.

“And boy did she ever. The first month was hard, we barely had enough to eat, almost froze to death multiple nights, or almost eaten by predators. The other kids would pick fights with Y/N over food, sleeping space, anything and everything. Even though it sucked, it ended up helping us, by the end of the first month, Y/N could outfight any of the others, hunt better than any of them, and climb trees faster than anyone. That’s when we decided to go off on our own, and spent the last month just the two of us. Y/N kept us both alive for the most part, Bones” Jim paused, staring vaguely in the distance, as if in another place.

“Jim...” Leonard said softly, trying to bring Jim back to himself.

“Sorry Bones, that’s enough of that” Jim said crisply, making it clear that the subject was closed “so Bones, if anyone can take care of Jojo, and keep her safe, its Y/N. She would do anything for that little girl” Jim finished, grabbing Leonard’s ignored glass and downing it in one long pull.

“I know, that’s what I’m afraid of Jim.”  Leonard replied softly, picking at the edge of a mat on the counter.

“What do you mean?” Jim looked up at Bones confused, sitting the glass down softly.

For a moment Leonard didn’t answer. When he finally went to speak, his lips parted but no words came out.

“Spit it out, Bones” Jim encouraged.

Leonard sucked in a deep, jagged breath. “I love her, Jim” Leonard finally spat out, looking Jim in the eyes.

“YOU WHAT!?” Jim’s eyes went wide in shock, practically leaping out of his chair.

“I love her, Jim.” Leonard repeated, the words tumbling out more freely this time.

“HOW, WHEN, WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME?!” Jim proceeded to flip out, trying to think back and figure out when this all started and how the hell he seemed to miss it.

“Jim, calm down, please.” Leonard asked softly. Jim placed his hands on the back of the chair and lowered his forehead to rest on the edge of it.

“You love my sister?” Jim suddenly calm, lifting his head and slowly allowing a glare to overcome his eyes.

“Yes Jim, I do. I have for a while, mostly since working together in med bay. There’s just something about her, Jim. She’s like my rock. She keeps me calm, cool and collected when all I want to do is freak out. She makes me feel more like myself when I’m with her, more than I have in years. I don’t know what I’d do without her. I don’t know what I’ll do if we can’t get her back Jim, or Jo. I can’t lose them… My baby girl... I can’t…” Leonard confessed as a tear fell down his cheek, giving him the most heartbreaking look that Jim had ever seen on his face.

Any anger that he had for his best friend falling in love with his sister, immediately dissolved. If anyone deserved his sister, hell, it was Leonard. Jim poured Leonard another glass and handed it to him. Leonard took this one without question and quickly downed it.

“We’re going to get them back, Bones. I swear to you, we’re going to get them back” Jim said resolved “The whole crew is working on it. We all want them back”. Leonard just sat there and wiped his cheek with his hand.

“Alright, Bones. I’m cutting you off for the night” Jim said as he took the tumbler from Leonards hand.

“I know, you’re right, Jim” Leonard said defeated, not even arguing with Jim.

“Want me to walk you to your quarters?” Jim asked, moving to help Leonard stand.

“No” Leonard said quickly “I’d like to stay here”

Not having the heart to refuse his friend, Jim just nodded in agreement. “Alright Bones, go get some rest. I’m going back to the bridge to see if anyone has found anything yet.”

Leonard only nodded in reply as Jim clasped his hand on his shoulder and gave it a slight squeeze.

“Hang in there Bones.” Jim said softly as he turned to leave and headed back to the bridge.

As the doors swished closed quietly, Leonard let out a large sigh and took a look around your empty quarters. Tears prickled at his eyes once more as he ran his hand over the back of the couch, where you all sat barely two days prior.

Leonard lowered his head in silent defeat as he rubbed his face with his hands as he staggered into your bedroom, maybe he did have enough he thought, as he leaned against the door frame for support. He slowly made his way over and crawled into your bed. He traced his hand over the sheets where you usually lay, still ruffled slightly from where you had slept last before leaving the ship.

Leonard looked over to your end table and saw Joanna’s favorite teddy bear that he got her for her fourth birthday sticking out of her backpack. He reached out for it and took it in his hands, looking into the teddy bears eyes for a few moments. He then placed his hand on the teddy bear’s head, feeling its softness, and closed his eyes. He pulled it close to him, squeezing it tightly, as the tears finally began to fall and soak into its soft fur. He buried his head in your pillow and inhaled deeply, letting your soft scent calm his frazzled and bourbon soaked mind as he slowly drifted off into a restless sleep.