#spock looks like he just discovered what legs are and is trying to figure out how to walk

[beeparonis]

One thing I love about watching Star Trek is how absolutely none of them know how to stand. They all look so so awkward. I see them walk and I'm like "these people have never set foot on the ground ever." And I love it. I love every second of it.

[hailbop1701]

Chapter Two: A Pale Horse

Chapter two is here guys! I'm so excited to see what you all think! Things are starting to heat up and they discover who Bones really is. Each chapter is going to be darker than the last so it's all down hill from here. I just want to say a big "THANK YOU!" to my wonderful beta @dw-writes you my dear are amazing and I truly appreciate you taking the time to do this for me.

- H ❤🖖

“Welcome to HELL,” Kirk whispered, a deep frown marring his face. As soon as McCoy drew his phaser Jim did the same.

“Bones…”

McCoy gritted his teeth; if his own personal ‘Red Alert’ wasn’t flashing before, it sure as hell was now. “We need to go,” McCoy said with finality, his searching eyes darting around the area.

Lieutenant Beckworth appeared on his other side, phaser raised, following McCoy’s movements. The three Ensigns behind them warily followed suit, raising their phasers much more slowly and unsure.

“Sir?” Ensign Bitar asked, perplexed. McCoy could smell the excitement and adrenaline pouring out of her. Kirk glanced over his shoulder at the young woman, giving her a little smile that looked more like a grimace.

“Don’t worry, Ms. Bitar, Bones is just being paranoid, as usual,” he offered in a teasing manner, trying to keep his people calm.

Leonard snorted humorlessly at his best friend’s words. “Oh yeah, the obvious sign in front of us has nothing to do with my paranoia, Captain,” he muttered dryly as they moved forward through the long entrance. ‘An Atrium,’ he observed as he took in every possible exit and vantage point.

‘Cameras; we’re being watched,’ McCoy took a deep steadying breath. Wrinkling his nose in distaste, he felt his stomach do a flip at the familiar smell: death and decay mixed with blood. “Jim I know you think I’m being paranoid here but we really need to go I’m not fucking kidding this time.”

Kirk looked at the CMO with pursed lips and careful eyes, after a second he nodded. “Okay Bones, we’ll go back and regroup.” The Captain pulled out his communicator and flipped it open. The thing chirped as he worked the dial. “Kirk to Enterprise. Come in Enterprise,” there was nothing but static.

Leonard cursed again under his breath.

“Oh no,” Ensign Lawrence squeaked, cringing at the glare Bitar gave him that clearly said, ‘Grow a pair’

A low amused feminine chuckle echoed throughout the room, it came from everywhere and nowhere. The giant screen that hung crookedly on the wall beside them buzzed and flickered to life. A figure sat lazily in a Captain’s chair; the image was too dark to see them clearly, but the silhouette made it clear that it was a woman.

“Jim!” McCoy hissed suddenly as the Captain moved steadily closer to the screen a good twenty feet away. Kirk held up his hand to reassure McCoy that he was alright and kept walking. Growling, Leonard strode purposely after him with his phaser at the ready.

Beckworth and his little gaggle turned so that their backs were covered. “I have a bad feeling about this, LT.” Lawrence hissed his voice pitching slightly.

“Shut it, Gabe,” Bitar growled out keeping her voice low.

“Both of you, can it!” Beckworth barked, not taking his eyes off the darkened corners of the room. Lawrence hummed nervously but kept a steady hand with his phaser as he scanned the room for any threats.

Chekov crept next to McCoy, his tool kit gently slapping against his hip, the strap digging uncomfortably against the kid’s neck. He had his phaser raised slightly but kept it pointed at the ground as Kirk walked ahead of him.

“Damn kids,” McCoy hissed. The nervous and foreboding energy crackling around him made his hair stand on end and his teeth itch. He split his senses apart: he kept his eyes on Kirk and the room before him, while he listened to what was behind him: Beckworth’s steady breaths, Lawrence’s hitched nervous gait, Bitar’s grinding teeth, she was gripping and regripping her phaser, and then, there was Chekov - the kid was mumbling in Russian, doing his best to keep calm. McCoy’s brow furrowed a little at his words, ‘Something about different plants and how to identify poisonous flora...he was reciting a botany textbook,’ he thought, a brief flash of amusement and approval coursed through him. ‘Whatever works kiddo,’ he thought as he watched Kirk come to an abrupt stop, staring up at the screen with wide eyes.

Following his gaze, McCoy couldn’t help but snort and roll his eyes. Kirk was practically salivating and Leonard had a strong urge to smack the man upside the head to get him to focus on the problem at hand. He didn’t but he really should’ve.

A beautiful Orion woman grinned wickedly down at them. She sat sprawled on what had to be a pilfered captain’s chair leaving nothing to the imagination; her curves were captured perfectly in the armor she wore. A phaser dangled from her fingers and rested on her inner thigh. The come hither look she shot him caused McCoy to raise an eyebrow, sure he loved a beautiful woman like the next guy. Most men (and in large cases women) would have been attracted to her. But he could only feel annoyance and disappointment. He could see under the beauty, down to her core. There was nothing there but a cold empty space, like a black hole but more crazy and sadistic.

Internally he practically sees Reaper poke and prod at the back of his mind wanting to take the reins on this one. Things weren’t right and Doctor Leonard McCoy wasn’t needed right now. Everything here already smelt dead and the away team was in way over their heads, if the warning bells in his head were anything to go by.

McCoy relaxed into a better stance and held himself like he used to, he practically melted into John Grimm again. His eyes were a touch colder, his walk more sure and graceful. Moving forward automatically Reaper stood slightly in front of Kirk and Chekov like an unmovable shield.

The scowl on his face became more and more pronounced the longer he and the woman stared at one another. Kirk looked back and forth between Reaper and the Orion woman, totally confused and in mild offense. She wasn’t interested in the starship captain what-so-fucking-ever.

The Orion chuckled again upon seeing Reaper’s darkening face. She leaned forward so she was in the light. Her face was as pleasant as the forests on Dakala; beautiful and completely deadly.* She was the hunter and they were the prey; they were right where she wanted them. She grinned wickedly before sighing, sounding almost bored. She looked at her phaser casually before she started speaking, her voice light and airy like a calm summer morning. “Your Earth history has a story. A story of four horsemen and one of them was death,” she drawled, amused by the tale she spun for them. Like a spider playing with her caught flies, the woman kept going, “He rode upon a pale horse bringing the peace and silence of death to all who oppose him,” she disappeared and the image of Enterprise filled the screen, pale in the light of the stars. Jim stiffened, an angry glint flashed in his ocean eyes before the look of shock and disbelief filled them.

Reaper felt the floor disappear beneath him; the air in his lungs left as if Sarge had come back and punched him in the stomach. The next set of images were all too familiar, they were of him but from so long ago.

“RRTS Unit Six: Full name Johnathan Leonard Grimm - Call-ID ‘Reaper’ - born October, 21st, 2017,” Kirk whipped his head around confusion coloring his face. The picture on the screen showed John in full gear, hair buzzed down, jaw set, and eyes void of emotion. The perfect soldier. “Bones? ” Jim’s voice was hushed so the others couldn’t hear him. Though they were looking at the screen with their own confused expressions. Jim sounded shaky and unnerved, no doubt he was being plagued by memories of Kahn.

John took a deep breath and turned his dark hazel eyes onto his best friend. “Sorry kid,” was all he could muster at the moment his usual southern drawl gone. He sounded almost defeated, he never wanted Jim to find out like this. Hell, he didn’t want the kid to find out at all if he could help it.

A flash of multiple emotions shot through Jim’s eyes before settling on a blank expression that would make a Vulcan proud.

The screen split down the middle showing two different starship bridges. One belonging to the Orion bitch (who was enjoying the drama unfolding in front of her immensely) and the bridge of the Enterprise. His crew, his friends, stared back at them - him - in shock, horror, and hurt confusion. All except for Spock of course he was doing his insufferable Sphynx impression again. Though his eyes spoke volumes; fascination, anger, and pity?

The Orion leaned forward licking her lips,

“I’ve caught myself a Reaper” she giggled almost bouncing up and down in her seat. John growled low, almost baring his teeth, but she seemed to love that.

“What do you want?” Kirk bellowed, throwing his hands up in the air, the phaser hand flying wildly. John tilted his head just enough to avoid being cuffed.

“A game Captain! It’s quite simple really; all you need to do for the sake of yourselves and your crew is to survive!” her voice was sickly sweet and patronizing like she was explaining to a five-year-old how to play a quick game of poker.

‘Yeah, she’s fucking insane,’ John thought dryly with no amusement.

Kirk glowered at the woman, “You seem to know who we are but we have no damn clue about you, so tell me before I come up with something unpleasant,”

The Orion smirked and leaned back. Crossing her legs she pouted for a second in thought, she was weighing the pros and cons of having her name out there it seems. After a moment of deliberation, she waved a hand at the muffled warning coming from the background. “Call me Veera.” Veera’s eyes slid from Kirk over to John again, a predatory stare if there ever was one. Sighing he stepped forward so he was a few feet in front of the group “I’m sure you have almost everything figured out, don’t you John?” she murmured knowingly.

Reaper’s jaw clenched at the use of his birth name, “I imagine you blocked us off, no transporter, no direct contact with the Enterprise. Other than what you got set up and I reckon that you put more than just us through this little game of yours. How many are watching Veera?” he let his southern drawl color his voice again.

The woman clapped slowly at his little assessment, she nodded her head approvingly “I activated a jamming device just after you teleported onboard, the holovid the Enterprise and my little collection of misfits are being streamed, is through the station itself. And yes you’re right, you’re not the only ones to play. I had to test and test and test before I could let you find me!”

“The missing ships,” Jim hissed in realization, his fists clenched and he visibly shook with anger.

Veera shrugged nonchalantly, “They were such a bore! They lost way too easily but I suppose it gave us more time to play around with that serum of yours. You do remember C-24 right, John?”

Reaper almost choked at her words, the horror on his face was abundantly clear for everyone who had eyes on him. They were either grinning madly or filled with dread and concern. He did his best to calm his breathing, the panic attack that had been looming in the back of his mind was bubbling to the surface.

Jim may have been angry at him and wanted answers but he still stepped closer holding a hand out just above John’s shoulder, “Bones breathe,”

Veera mockingly pouted, “Those memories of yours must be awful, I’ve read every report the - oh what were they called - the UAC had on you, and honey it was delicious. How many did you kill to keep your blood away from them? How many did you slaughter when you found your sister and her family slaughtered in their beds?”

There were several gasps from spectators. John’s blood boiled and he burned like he was being raked over hot coals. Jim’s jaw dropped and his eyes grew sad before he covered it up again knowing that he hated pity. He didn’t dare look at the others or at the Enterprise crew, their emotions were clear by the tense silence. Veera giggled again, her white teeth glowed in the dim light of her ship as she grinned madly.

Reaper’s hands clenched into fists, his whole body shaking, something must have flashed in his eyes because Jim stepped away from him, motioning for the others to do the same. Veera chuckled darkly and tilted her head as she listened to someone off-screen.

She hummed excitedly “I’ve left you a little something to help you, and you’re going to need it, John. These creatures are much more different from what you remember. They will infect anyone and every one good or bad and they are oh so hungry,” And with that, the screen faded to black.

John sucked in a breath pushing back whatever he was feeling into a box and locked it away. ‘Grieve for this life later, you have a job to do’ he thought sadly. His eyes scanned the room and immediately found a crate lying off to the side on an information desk. Striding over to it John quickly tore open the lid sending it sailing across the room. Someone cursed behind him in surprise, he ignored the small group as he looked through the crate of supplies.

“You’re actually trusting that crazy bitch? What if she rigged the stuff?” Lawrence asked incredulously.

Beckworth appraised Reaper with a new outlook before shaking his head, “Nah she wants him to play too much. Wants to draw out the game not shorten it,”

John pulled out four tac vests with a grumble, looking over at Kirk he shook his head, “Get that neon sign off,” he indicated to his command gold. Jim wasn’t entirely sure what he was more surprised by the order itself or that he automatically followed it without question. “You too kid,” John mumbled, shooting Chekov an apologetic look. The young Russian scrambled in setting his things down so he could yank off his overshirt.

“Damn I’m happy I wore pants for this shit,” Bitar grumbled as she and two others from security shucked their colored shirts. Reaper huffed a humorless laugh, walking over to Jim he helped the captain into the vest securing it before moving on to Chekov. Freezing for a moment John cocked his head to the side, he could hear pounding footsteps and inhuman screams; they were getting closer by the second. Cursing he pulled off his blue shirt, tossing it to the side. He grabbed a kit belt from the crate and swung it around his hips. Tucking his phaser away for later John pulled out a few old-fashioned projectile weapons.

Shaking his head John loaded the belt with everything he could fit. Lieutenant Beckworth was working on doing the same thing. Checking over a replicated desert eagle Reaper glanced over his shoulder before hurrying in his movements.

“You know something we don’t, again?” Jim asked ice coating his tone. John in his hurried movements almost forgot how pissed off Kirk still was. The man hid it well. The others froze but John kept going letting the coldness waft over him.

“They’re coming and we really shouldn’t be here when they do,” was all he said clipping a couple of grenades to his belt.

“Vhose coming?” Chekov asked quietly it was the first time in while the kid spoke, his voice was cautious, fear only just breaking the surface.

Reaper’s forehead scrunched a memory floating to the surface. “Well the first time I faced these things, a man from my unit called them demons. He was the god fearin’ type,” he muttered in explanation. That made Kirk grimace and Chekov wince as if he regretted asking. John shoved a second knife into his boot and clipped another to his belt on his hip. The last thing he pulled from the crate made him pause and mutter a string of curses under his breath. In his hands sat an old, yet new rifle.

“Damn,” he shook his head ruefully hating the fact that he missed its weight in his hands.

“Old friend?” Jim asked sourly making John wince ever so slightly.

“You could say that,” he mumbled.

John placed his finger over the scanner and felt as his chest tightened as it rang out, “Former RRTS member verified, Call sign ‘Reaper,’”

He looked over at Jim who held another rifle in his hands, something newer and sleeker. They watched each other carefully, a silent conversation taking place between them.

“We’ll talk about this later,”

Reaper whipped his head around seconds before a door on the other end of the atrium burst open with a shattering crash. The others jumped in surprise,

“Move!” John shouted, pushing them ahead. They ran the length of the Atrium toward a set of glass doors that led to the rest of the station.

“What the fuck are those?” Kirk shouted looking over his shoulder briefly as he ran with John just behind him and Chekov urging them forward.

“As I said, demons!” was all John shouted pushing the two bridge officers through the sliding open glass doors.

John whipped around and fired his rifle. In quick accurate bursts, the screaming creatures fell; he stayed long enough for the others to rush past him before flying through the doors himself. John elbowed the door controls causing the red lights to flare, heavy metal blast doors slammed home just as the demons crashed into the glass.

Jim looked up from his bent position, “What the hell were those?” he asked panting.

Reaper grimaced. “Those were- they were people once before they got infected with a compound called C-24. It’s basically - it’s an extra chromosome essentially,” he groaned at more than one confused face. Running a hand through his hair John moved forward further into what looked to be one of the main shopping areas. ‘Damn malls,’ he thought with a grumble.

“But you were injected by this C-24 da?” Chekov curiously asked, trying to keep the hint of wariness from his voice. John flinched but nodded at the young navigator, “Back when it was first discovered C-24 chose who became a monster or who became - eh superhuman I guess. Healing is fifty percent quicker, strength, moving faster, and unfortunately, aging is...slow,”

John stopped eyeing the vast area critically, “This version of C-24 is twisted beyond comprehension and that’s saying something,” he whispered and gestured for the others to keep quiet as well. John looked to the side allowing one of his ears to face the shopping center.

Taking a deep breath he filtered the sounds around him, he ignored the erratic heartbeats of the team behind him, and the crunch of glass under their boots as they shifted and walked. The faint sound of sleepy growls and snorts made John purse his lips, it was pretty far off to immediately worry about. ‘Best to keep an eye out anyway,’ he thought biting the inside of his cheek.

“Superhuman, does that mean hearing as well?” Bitar asked incredulously catching onto what John was doing.

The man looked at her a bit sheepishly, he opened his mouth to respond but the Captain interrupted with: “Wait a minute super hearing? Does that mean during the academy…”

John chuckled dryly “Oh yeah, every time. Why do you think I started carrying earbuds with me everywhere I damn went?”

Kirk blanched looking mortified “So you- oh no,” he whispered mostly to himself before laughing nervously at John’s little crooked smirk.

Reaper jerked his head in the direction of the railway system. “Come on Dynamo,” he snorted, making Kirk go completely red in the face out of embarrassment. Lawrence and Chekov snorted covering their laughter with little coughs.

“So I’m guessing you hear all the gossip, McCoy?” Beckworth asked amused, both Chekov and Lawrence became quiet.

John rolled his eyes calling the tram, “Yeah, not very creative if I’m going to be completely honest,”

Jim choked on a laugh remembering what they called McCoy on the ship and in the academy, “Some of those nicknames aren’t legal on most planets I think,” he pointed out smirking. John just scowled at his best friend - well, hopefully, they were still best friends anyway. He didn’t really want to think about that right now, the thought that he might have to leave the Enterprise hurt enough as it was.

----------oOo----------

The tram hummed and slid to an easy stop, moving in front of the group John readied his weapon and listened. No movement, no snarling, and no stench of death, they were clear. The doors hissed open just as he lowered his rifle to point at the ground. The only thing John could smell was faint traces of blood and dry air.

“Clear,” Beckworth confirmed coming up to stand beside him.

John had to silently applaud the man, he stepped up without hesitation. He wasn’t deterred by what they were up against nor was he rattled by the revelation of who “Leonard McCoy” really was. He had a job to do, and he was going to damn well do it. John nodded to Henry as he entered the tram, double and triple-checking to make sure it was safe for the others. Bitar and Lawrence followed suit while Beckworth stuck with the Captain and Chekov. They were the most important of the away team, that didn’t change.

Chekov scurried over to the tram controls and grimaced. The conductor's seat was smeared with blood; enough blood to convince the young navigator that whoever worked here was surely dead. Pavel jumped when a hand gently landed on his shoulder.

“You okay kid?” John asked softly, his eyes showed so many emotions but the ones that stuck out to Chekov the most was- understanding, pain, grief, and steely determination.

Swallowing hard Pavel squared his shoulders and nodded, “Da, I’m alright,” he whispered. John looked at him for a long few seconds before nodding and squeezing his shoulder.

“Bring up a map of the base if ya can. We need to see what we’re working with and the best way to get out,” John said letting his southern twang color his voice, it had its desired effect as Chekov relaxed further. The kid hummed as he worked at the console, muttering to himself about equations and formulas. John drifted back to where the rest of the away team sat. They were in a heated discussion about their plan of action. John leaned against one of the handrails silently listening to the debate. Jim was in charge of course, but the young Captain valued the opinions of his crew.

“We need to take down the jammer so we can beam the hell out of here,” Ensign Bitar said, arms crossed, the girl was terrified. John was rather impressed at how well she was hiding it.

Lawrence sat hunched over in one of the plastic seats head in his hands. He was continuously pulling at his hair. “How are we going to do that when we don’t know where the hell it is?” he groaned tilting his head up at the young woman. Bitar scowled at him but otherwise said nothing. Beckworth leaned back with a heavy sigh, he looked to be deep in thought. John’s gaze moved to Kirk, the kid was pacing back and forth muttering under his breath. Jim was working on a plan, and just because it was him it was going to be crazy.

Growling in frustration Jim stopped in front of John, “Got any ideas?” he asked bitingly.

John chewed on the inside of his cheek, “Chekov is working on getting us a map, so we know what we’re dealing with. I think our best bet is to either make our way to the base's bridge or to engineering.” he said with a shrug. Kirk opened his mouth but snapped it shut again,

“The bridge will give us all the information that we need. It being a starbase means it will also be connected to operations.” Jim mused running a hand through his hair. John nodded slowly,

“Genesis is also connected to Marcus and Section 31 so along the way we’ll most likely find a lot of classified information. You being Captain of the fleet’s flagship also means that you’re would technically be under orders to retrieve all classified data and bring it back to HQ,” John let the unsaid “Including me,” hang in the air. The silence was almost deafening. Bitar looked down at her feet, Lawrence bit his nails nervously, and Beckworth frowned but ready to do whatever his Captain asked of him. Jim’s jaw clenched and he shook his head in denial,

“You got that map, Chekov?” John asked without having to turn to see the navigator enter the room.

Pavel sniffed, clearing his throat, “Da, I have the map of the station. I was also able to determine which areas are safe and which are breached.” Chekov handed the PADD over to John who gave the young man a tight smile of thanks.

He showed the device to Jim who began to swipe through it for a clear path to the station's bridge. “Shit,” he muttered, brows furrowed in frustration. The only clear path to the bridge was through what would most likely be the most populated areas.

John growled and cursed colorfully under his breath, in all honesty, he wasn’t surprised. “You don’t look, surprised Doctor,” Beckworth noted gruffly. All eyes snapped to the Enterprises CMO.

The man gave a shrug and spoke without looking up from the PADD in his hands. “Veera is a psychopath, an extremely smart one at that. She wouldn’t have let us near Genesis if this place wasn’t ready for us. She would have planned all of this to the very last detail,” He took and held up the PADD showing the map and raised an eyebrow at everyone, “This will give her audience somethin’ to watch. Chekov how easy was it to get this map?”

The navigator shifted uneasily, “I didn’t have to do anything, it was already downloaded onto the PADD,” he whispered, eyes wide.

“In order to win the game, we have to play the game,” Kirk muttered, taking the PADD back from John. The ex-marine scowled at the thought, he knew Jim was right but that didn’t mean he had to like it. Kirk looked at him grimly, “Looks like you have to put on a show Bones.”

John’s scowl deepened, he looked up at the obvious camera in the corner of the tram car. Flipping it off, John quickly pulled his handgun and shot the offending piece of tech. The rest of the group yelled covering their ears against the crack of the gunshot. Placing his sidearm back John snorted, “I’m just a regular ol’ show pony,”

Tags:

Everything: @thottiewithashotgun, @lauraaan182, @writerdee1701,@stileslover13-blog, @cowenby2, @bluesclues-1234

Hollow Castle: @chook007, @lauranthalasah

[cywscross]

From @lightveils on Twitter (free to use wherever!). I’ve been meaning to do this for a while. I definitely have enough fics to fill it lol~

-0-

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A Steter fic loosely based on Phantom of the Opera

~

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FREE SPACE:

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A Fic That Made You Gasp Out Loud (kind of? it was suspenseful):

Sanctuary by DiscontentedWinter (Teen Wolf | Peter x Stiles | E)

The Hale Wolf Sanctuary isn’t just for wolves.

It turns out it’s for Stilinskis as well.

A Fic You Found At The Right Time:

slow increments by Areiton (Teen Wolf | Peter x Stiles)

Peter is enigmatic, egotistical, sometimes barely sane. He's sharp and cutting and takes more time to care for the pack than anyone.And sometimes, John catches him watching Stiles.

A Fic That You Would Read Fic Of:

if you try to break me, you will bleed by Dialux (Game of Thrones | Jon x Sansa | T)

It had been a slash across her chest from a White Walker’s sword that finally ended her life. Sansa’d landed in a puddle of her own blood, and she’d died quickly, quietly.

And then she’d awoken with a gasp, trembling, in a bed that had burned under Theon’s betrayal.

A Fic That Made You Laugh Out Loud:

The Path towards Unwilling Godhood by Sky_King (Bleach | Kisuke x Ichigo | G)

Ichigo has never had the most normal life, and this latest chapter of it is no different.

"I'm not a god!"

A Fic With A Line (Or Two) That You’ve Memorized By Heart:

Atlas by distractedKat (Star Trek | Spock x Jim | T)

Between what was and what will be stands James Tiberius Kirk, in all his fractured patchwork glory. Because saving the Federation was only the beginning.

A Fic That Gave You Butterflies:

The Rest of Our Lives by mia6363 (Teen Wolf | Peter x Stiles | T)

“I don’t know, as a kid I watched a lot of movies, you know? And at first I figured like… I’d be on some great adventure that would take me away from it all, you know? Like Indiana Jones comes around and is all, ‘Hey Stiles, buddy, come with me we’ve got to go save the world.’ Then… you and… everything happened… then I just… I figured I’d die before I was eighteen.”

A Fic That Embodies Something You Value In Life:

The Boy Sleuth by Shey (Teen Wolf | Peter x Stiles | T)

Stiles is eight when he discovers a box of his mom’s old Nancy Drew Mysteries in the back of the guest bedroom closet.

A Favourite AU:

Love What is Behind You by KouriArashi (Teen Wolf | Peter x Stiles | M)

Basically what it says on the label. Hunger Games type fusion. Stiles doing way better than anyone anticipates. Peter finds him intriguing. Ruthless, devious assholes working together to ruin bad guys, as the Steter ship is meant to be.

A Fic You Stayed Up Too Late To Finish Reading:

Of Dwobbits, Dragons and Dwarves by ISeeFire (The Hobbit | Fem!Bilbo x Fili | T)

Bilba has been a slave her entire life. All she knows of the outside world is what she sees from time to time outside the gates of Moria and the stories her mother used to tell her. Stories of a place called the Shire where her mother once lived and a placed called Erebor where, as far as she knows, her father still lives. Stories of dragons a thousand times larger, and more intelligent, than the beasts the orcs rode and of a strange concept called freedom where one was allowed to live as they wished with no one to tell them what they could, or could not do.

The stories meant little to Bilba. The only future she had was to live, and die, as a slave as countless number had before her.

And then the orcs dragged an injured female firedrake through the gates, her rider screaming obscenities behind her as he fought to reach her side...and everything changed.

A Fic That Made You Feel Seen (another self-rec lol):

i am addicted to death (so remind me what it’s like to live) by cywscross (Teen Wolf | Peter x Stiles | T)

Stiles is sixteen years old. He has already died seventy-eight times.

[tgai-spock]

Chapter 8

Spock sat opposite Kirk, beside McCoy, joined by Scotty. Kirk was eating a sandwich, the contents of which are irrelevant, and close to what the food pretended to resemble, that but the slight aftertaste of cardboard, which for anyone not working on a starship, would be immediately recognisable. Spock ate a small bowl of twisted pasta covered in a green pesto sauce, this too was irrelevant.

The eating was silent. There were questions wanting to be asked. Like an apple tree with fruit, ready for picking, if you could collect a ladder high enough, the tree might think that the pickers were giving them attention, crawling over their branches for apples. But in the end all the pickers want of an apple tree is the fruit, without it, they will leave, and the tree will enter winter and the leaves from branches will fall, and the tree will hope, she survives this winter alone. McCoy was not a fruit picker. McCoy was a doctor.

“What do you dream of?” McCoy asked.

“If I do not mediate for long enough I dream of dragons.”

“Are they good dragons, or bad dragons?” Kirk asked.

“A dragon has no knowledge of good or bad. A dragon is only hungry, and the only food I carry in my dreams are upon my bones.”

“Well. I can see why vulcans don’t dream now.” McCoy said “I’m going to be honest with you Spock, that wasn’t such a secret to me, I’ve seen the odd rare mumble your give in your sleep.”

“I still dream as an adult?”

“At the very least a little” McCoy said “only when you’re injured though, and not had time to mediate.”

* * *

The screaming began four thirty in the morning. It started with a sniffle, the tiniest of whimpers. You know that noise those sad dogs make? How it almost sounds like a mechanical ding, and you’d near enough throw yourself from the closest cliff if it would mean that puppy would never make another cry like that again? That was the whimper.

Around Spock’s eyes was dark green skin, and small cuts battered his arms and face. He was breathing fast his hands around his knees.

“Spock, Spock” McCoy said rushing to him and pulling him into a hug “it’s me. It’s Doctor McCoy. You’re okay now.”

McCoy held him close his face pressed into his jumper as the small figure shook from fear. McCoy could use all the knowledge he had on children having nightmares, but he knew it wouldn’t work for this. McCoy tried several times to prise Spock’s arms away, only so he could treat Spock’s wounds but his grip was just too strong. In the end it was the nurses who healed his cuts. By the time the cuts where healed the bruises had healed themselves leaving only the scars across his body, and shivering form.

“What are we going to do?” Nurse Chapel asked “maybe we should just put him to sleep.” 

“Put him to sleep?” McCoy began defensively.

“Unconscious until he’s older.” McCoy’s hand stroked Spock’s black hair.

“No.” McCoy said sitting on the med bay “he’ll just have nightmares.”

“I didn't think vulcans dreamt.” Nurse Chapel said.

“He’s five and half human. I’ll just wait with him. Nurse you may go back to bed if you wish.”

Nurse Chapel petted the top of Spock’s flinching head “sorry. Okay. Don’t you forget to get some rest too.”

“It’s the only thing I will be doing.”

* * *

“Morning sleepy Bones.” Kirk whispered, sitting on the chair by the edge of the bed. One of McCoy’s eyes opened alarmed as he saw him.

“Jim.” McCoy greeted.

“You know I just thought you should know” Kirk said pointing from him to the sleeping boy “you look adorable.”

“It’s not funny. Look at this” McCoy said gently moving his sleeping head so he could see the scars, but there was nothing there anymore. Every small cut, every tiny bruise, gone.

“Was it bad?” Kirk asked.

“I mean, considering it could have been worse, I suppose not. But he’s a baby, it’s just sad to see him so distressed. I was not prepared for this at all. I could strangle whoever did this to him.” Kirk was silent for a while as he chewed the inside of his cheek.

“He should be fine by now right?”

“Fine? I mean he’s fine when he’s older, sure, but for him, in his time line, this only happened a few weeks ago, Or months. Maybe a year fuck it, if I know.”

“Vulcans recover quickly though, right?”

“I’m not waking him up.” McCoy said, and he didn’t. When the time came, that he needed to use the toilet, and he needed to move and walk, he did so leaving Spock quietly sleeping on the bed.

After he woke, from another nap wiping he saw Spock sitting on the edge of the bed. McCoy’s blue jumper was wrinkled with salt and snot which he pulled off throwing on to the floor, leaving only his black one on.

“Spock? You okay kiddo?”

“I am adequate. Thank you Doctor McCoy. I apologise for disturbing your plans.”

“Oh, thats fine Spock. You’re my patient. I would do anything for you.” McCoy yawned, swinging his legs down from on top the bed so he sat like Spock.

“I take it you finally saw a healer? I mean, in your other timeline.” McCoy asked.

“My brother Sybok helped me.” Spock said.

“Oh.” McCoy said curiously “how was that? Did he perform some sort of meld and fix your cuts?”

“No, he just talked.” Spock said slowly swinging his legs back and forth.

“Is your brother human?” McCoy asked.

“No?” Spock said confused.

“It’s just I didn’t know you had one, so he’s a full vulcan?” 

“I am the only half vulcan. I have.. also only just discovered I have a older brother. He came out of the mountains.”

“He came out of the mountains?” 

Spock slowly nodded his head “he was raised by them. He told me I shouldn’t let fear control me. Fear’s got other stuff to do.”

“I will have to ask an older you about this” McCoy sighed a whisper “raised by the mountains sure?”

“He was raised by mountains!”

“Okay, okay” McCoy said putting up his hands in defeat.

“Do you want me to stay, its fine-”

“You may leave Doctor” Spock said.

“Okay. Okay.” McCoy said standing he rested a hand on Spock’s shoulder before embracing him. Spock froze up like a stiff cardboard block.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m giving you a hug.”

“I don’t want a hug”

“I know kid. I know.” McCoy said and patted his head “if you need me at all, at anytime, I don’t care if it’s in an hour, if your ten or forty eight. Just call me.”

“I don’t need you.” Spock said firmly as though he was trying to stop a dog following him.

“I’ll go. I’ll go” McCoy said and left, without defeat.

[Chapter 1] [Chapter 2]        [Chapter 3] [Chapter 4]        [Chapter 5]

[Chapter 6]     [Chapter 7]       [Chapter 8]   [chapter 9]   [Chapter 10]

[Chapter 12]

Tumblr’s trying to add a word limit >:(

Luckily this websites so shittly made I can easily avoid it by lmao. I can’t believe it.

[star-trekkin-across-theuniverse]

Five Minute Ficlet

“What do you mean, you don’t know where the maintenance hatch is? I thought you were some sort of engineering savant?” You glared at the red shirt in front of you. He’d had a name, earlier in the evening, when he was handsome, and articulate, and saying all the right things. And then the shit had hit the fan, figuratively, and not literally, thank god. And you discovered he was not who he said he was. And in your panic and disgust, his name had left you.

It wasn’t shore leave, per se. You were at Starbase 24, and mostly just stopped for a couple of days while Doctor McCoy offered his expertise on an outbreak of some skin disease that you thought had been eradicated in the late 21st Century, and Scotty did a little maintenance. Impetigo, Bones had relayed, and advised Enterprise staff to stay clear of the MedBay as it was largely antibiotic resistant. Scotty was just trying to break the laws of physics with his damn warp drive in his spare time.

You were off-duty. It was beautifully unexpected, and Starbase 24 had an awesome little cabaret that you loved. And sure, most of the people were from the ship, but you’d barely met a quarter of the crew yet. So when Red Shirt had started flirting, you had been intrigued. He said he was one of Scotty’s right hand men. 

He’d lied.

He was actually a green behind the ears security ensign who was a crack shot with a phaser but otherwise was still a novice at everything. Which you’d learned when he’d picked a fight with a Klingon emissary in the cabaret.

You’d wound up pinned against him in a partially collapsed J-tube. You were starting to feel panicky, he smelled a lot like stale garlic and cheap booze and he had just admitted he’d never spent much time in the J-tubes.

“Lean back. I don’t care what you think this is, it’s not romantic, and I’m finding a way out of here,” you snapped, pushing against him. He leaned back as far as he could, leaving you just enough space to get your foot on the lowest rung of the ladder. You reached above your head, grabbing a higher rung, and leveraging yourself as much as you could in the close confines, you pulled with your arms, and pushed with your leg to get off the floor. Your other foot found the next rung and you pulled yourself up again, stopping to catch your breath. Red Shirt’s face was uncomfortably close to your thighs and you couldn’t help but think that had the night gone differently, you might still be in a similar position, making a massive mistake. Thank whatever for small mercies.

You continued slowly making your way up the ladder until you were finally free of the crushed portion of the tube. As you paused, you heard the chirp of your communicator. It startled you and you answered the call.

“Kirk to Y/L/N, please respond.”

“I’m a little indisposed right now, sir,” You replied.

“Bones needs you in MedBay, immediately,” he retorted.

“Well, I’m in a J-tube right now, and I can’t go down, and so far, I haven’t found a maintenance hatch to get out, sir. If you can tell me exactly how I can get there, I’d be happy to make my way,” you snapped. The was a extended pause.

“Scotty says 13 more rungs and there’s a hatch, which will put you on level 18. MedBay is on 22.” His response was terse and you sighed, continuing up the ladder. Your glutes and thighs were burning by the time you got to the hatch. Which, appropriately, was jammed.

“Y/L/N to Scotty. This hatch isn’t opening,” you called. There was a long pause followed by some unintelligible crackling from Scotty’s end. 

“It does appear to be jammed. Hold tight, hen, I’ve got you,” Scotty’s voice reassured you. Which was good because the next thing you knew you were being transported back onto the Enterprise.

You looked at Scotty from the transporter pad, in astonishment. “This hardly gets me to MedBay, Scotty,” you laughed. He shook his head.

“Oh ye of little faith,” he chided as the gold bands enveloped you and you reappeared in the middle of MedBay. Bones walked right into you.

“Goddamn it! How many times have I told Scotty that that damn machine is dangerous and shouldn’t be used just for convenience?” He barked, handing you a PADD and pressing a hypo to your neck. You flinched at the small bite of pain. “That’s the vaccine against this disease. Now I need you to start giving the antibiotic, as ordered on that PADD. I’m going to go see if Spock has figured out how to aerosolize the inoculation yet.”

You snapped into work mode, and following the directions laid out by Doctor McCoy, began administering the antibiotics. Two at a time, then a fifteen minute wait, then a third. You were very nearly done the second round when he reappeared at your side, snapping a mask over your face as you worked. You barely broke pace, working through the vaccinations assembly line style. Doctor McCoy saw there was some sort of plan to what you were doing, and just stood back, monitoring the patients for reactions.

Finally you were finished and you looked up, noticing he also had a mask on. You offered the PADD back to him after confirming the last antibiotic given.

“Spock recommended we return to the Enterprise for decontamination,” he said. “The doctors here have everything well in hand now. Thank you, Lieutenant. I couldn’t have done it without you.” He gestured for you to go through the door ahead of him.

“I should probably thank you, it saved me from spending another minute trapped in that J-tube,” you laughed.

“Yeah, how did that happen? You didn’t happen to be involved in Ensign Malloway’s incident with the -”

“Let’s just say I was in the cabaret and wound up in the splash zone,” you cut him off.

“That’s a story I need to hear. Nightcap? I have a nice Scotch stashed,” he offered.

“Well, had I known you were a Scotch man, I might not have been in the cabaret looking to make a mistake with an ensign,” you laughed, winking.

“Had I known you were looking to make a mistake, I would have let you know sooner,” he smiled, placing his hand at the small of your back. “I might just be your favourite one yet.”

[diannaphantomfiction]

Karivarry LifeSwap AU Writing Prompts. Prompt 9/15: These Are My Partners

THERE IS NOW A LIST OF CHARACTERS: HERE

Prompt requested by an anonymous @mewwitch. Here’s the Prompt:

If you are still taking prompts for the lifeswapAU, how about their first meetings with each other? Or maybe the first time they introduced each other as romantic partners?

Barry hopped off the couch with a skip in his step. Lazy nights in were a rare occurrence and lazy night in with both his partners were even rarer. Had they had to call the Chinese place again because Kara had severely underestimate how much food Oliver would eat today? Yes. Did they scare the poor family that runs the restaurant by just how much they ordered? Probably. But they were cuddled up together on their couch, eating, and watching Star Trek (made hilarious by Oliver whispering ‘gay’ whenever Spock and Kirk were on screen together) with their phones turned off.

So, when Barry opened the door, he was expecting food.

“Diana?”

Diana Prince, better known as Wonder Woman was standing at his door, looking as frazzled as she got. She easily towered over Barry at 6’5”, and her muscles made it clear that she was nearly as strong as Clark. She was wearing a pair of leggings, a plain t-shirt, and her long black hair was wrangled into a bun instead of it’s usual low ponytail. Diana was leaning against a suitcase and holding a large purse.

She smiled at him. “Hello, Bar-El. I hope I’m not intruding, but you didn’t pick up your phone.”

“Of course not,” Barry stepped forward and gave her a quick hug. “Is everything alright?”

“Yes. My flight to Gotham was late so I missed my layover and I’m stuck until tomorrow and I was hoping you’d let me borrow your couch?”

Barry smiles. “Of course! But, I’m not alone tonight…”

Diana’s smile widened. “Your famous partners?”

Barry blushed. “Yeah. Would you like to meet them?”

“I would love to.”

Barry stepped aside to let her in and walked with her to the living area. “Guys, this is Diana, she’s an old family friend. Diana, this is my boyfriend, Oliver, and my girlfriend, Kara.”

Diana shook both their hands. “It’s a pleasure to meet you both. I’ve heard a lot about you from Barry.”

“Good things I hope,” Kara said with a smile.

Diana gave Barry a very familiar, very smug, and very calculating. “Oh, it’s rarely anything but.”

Barry blinked. Well, he did not like the look of this. At all.

Kara was on edge, Oliver was sure that if he wasn’t holding her hand, she would have attacked someone and jumped out a window by now. She didn’t like locks. Or bars. Or pat downs. Or people that had a largely group us vs them mentality. Basically, prisons in general. They made her twitchy and when Kara got twitchy, she got violent. Barry was doing better at least, even if he kept looking at the guards nervously. Barry, who was bulletproof.

“You guys really don’t have to be nervous.” Oliver smiled and squeezed Kara’s hand. “Everyone here knows me. As long as you don’t do anything stupid no one is going to say or do anything.”

“I don’t like it here,” Kara mumbled, looking very seriously at the window of the waiting room.

“Kara…” Oliver said with clear warning in his voice.

“Queen, West, Danvers-Grant!”

Oliver tugged Kara up and they went through the regular pat down procedure before being led to the women’s visiting room. It was...easier to deal with then the men’s where you had to speak to the person you were visiting through glass and a recording phone. There was no touching. On the women’s side, the visiting room was as dull and drab as you could imagine, with metal tables and benches bolted to the floor. Oliver could hug her when at the beginning and end of the visit, but quickly and if a guard didn’t like the look of something, he could end the visit early.

Getting Barry and Kara on his mother’s visiting list was an experience. Oh, Barry was easy enough. He was a good kid, stellar record, adopted out of foster care, successful in therapy, no criminal record, he’d easily passed all the checks. Kara was more difficult. She’d never actually been convicted or sent to trial over anything, but it was pretty well known that she had “fits of instability,” a term that Oliver hated. Kara was perfectly stable, but the rule had changed for her. Everything “unstable” about Kara made perfect sense if you understood her. For instance, she was currently stressed out because she’d been chained and caged in makeshift prisons before where guards had abused her to the extreme. They almost denied her entry, until Oliver promised he’d take responsibility for anything that happened. He hadn’t told Kara that bit.  

“You’re doing great, Kara.” He whispered as they sat down. She was currently glaring at the guard that had yelled something about ‘Little Ollie getting a girl’ and ignoring both him and Barry.

Then, the door opened and the prisoners started to file in. Oliver watched as the women’s faces lit up as they saw their families and walked over to tables as fast as they could without getting yelled at. His mother entered about halfway through the group and Oliver immediately let go of Kara’s hand and rose to his feet.  He took a few steps forward to meet her halfway and wrapped his arms around her tightly.

“Hey Mom.”

Moria smiled and cling back just as tightly. “Hello Oliver.”

Oliver pulled back, going to sit between Barry and Kara as Moria sat down across from them. “Mom, this is Barry and Kara, my romantic partners.”

Moria rose her eyebrows sky high, “When you said you wanted to introduce me to your partners, I figured it would have more to do with...your work.”

“Oh! That’s how we met.” Barry spoke up, “Through work.”

Realization dawned on her face. “Well. I apparently owe Brianna a Snickers bar.”

Kara leaned forward and for the first time, didn’t look nervous by the very nature of the building they were in. “Ms. Queen. I understand this relationship seems abnormal, even strange perhaps, but Barry and I love Oliver very much. We would give anything to see him happy and what we’ve discovered is that the three of us are happiest together.”

Moria stared down Kara for a couple seconds before her face softened. “Well, what sort of mother would I be if I denied my son that sort of happiness? Now, why don’t you two tell me about yourselves?”

Kara patted Mike on the shoulder as she headed off the mat. “That’s enough for today. You’re doing really well, Mike. Ted would be proud.”

Mike smiled. “Thanks.”

Kara nodded and started her her cool down stretches. Mike really was doing well, he still had a long way until he was even on the same level as Lena, but he was getting along with the team (mostly) and learning his limits and how to push them safely. Who knows? soon, she may let him go out on real missions.

She turned back to Mike, who was getting water, “Don’t forget to stretch. And don’t spend to much time lifting weights. Remember…”

“I know, I know.” Mike rolled his eyes. “Balance.”

“Good man.” Kara smiled and headed out to the main area. Winn, loud as ever, was talking to someone, though Kara couldn’t see who yet. Lena was leaning up against one o the desks, laughing happily along with Winn and…

“Barry! Oliver! What are you doing here? Is everything alright?” Kara’s mind was reeling, thinking up everything that could go wrong in her brain. The list wasn’t exactly short either. There were speedsters and various aliens, not to mention all the other trouble these two got into.

“We just had some free time and wanted to surprise you.” Oliver said, moving to her side to kiss her cheek.

Barry waved from his cross-legged perch on one of the desks. “We brought pie!”

“How many pieces did you eat?”

“...We brought three pies!”

Kara let a smile tug at the corners of her lips. “That sounds more realistic.”

Winn spoke around a mouthful of pie. “It is awesome pie!”

Barry sits up a little straighter. “It’s Ma Kent’s recipe! She taught me how to make it when I first came to Earth. I already make a pie for Team Flash once a month, I can make one for you guys too.”

“That is the greatest gift you could ever give us.”

Lena rolled her eyes. “No it’s not. Don’t listen to him.”

Winn nodded furiously as soon as Lena turned in another direction, causing Barry and Oliver to stifle laughs and Kara to smirk.

“Sure, Winn. I’ll make you guys a pie.”

“YES!”

“Did you guys forget to introduce me to team members?”

Everyone turned to see Mike walking up, a towel wrapped around his neck and a water bottle in his hand. Kara had forgotten about Mike. She had been trying not to overwhelm him, Barry and Oliver were overwhelming. Their lives were overwhelming. Their villains were overwhelming. Kara loved them, but sometimes one of them would say something and she would just stare because it was that unbelievable.

“Uh no. Barry and Oliver have their own teams. Barry, Oliver, this is Mike, he’s the new Wildcat. In training.”

Barry smiled and waved from his perch as Mike looked them over.

“Uh, wait… Superboy… and the Flash? We knew Superboy and the Flash?”

Barry and Winn start to snicker and Oliver smiled.

Lena covered her mouth to hold back a laugh. “Oh, Mike… we more more than know them…”

“...What?”

Kara sighed and ran a hand down down her face. “They’re my boyfriends. I am dating Oliver and Barry. Yes, both of them. Yes, they are also dating each other. No, it is not confusing. We loved each other very much and I know about seventy ways to kill you without weapons.”

Mike blinked. “...What?”

Everyone burst out laughing. Oliver took Kara’s hand and kissed her knuckles. “Great mentee you’ve got their.”

“He’s not usually this speechless.”

[dailyironfamily]

day 26 - sci-fi au

Day twenty-six of the November Fic Challenge is a sci-fi AU! Except I took the easy way and made it a Star Trek AU. Thankfully you don’t need to know anything about Star Trek except what Vulcans are to read this because it’s mostly just relationship drama. You know, the good part of Star Trek.

“Hey, Stark! Your girlfriend’s here to see you!”

Puzzled, Tony crawls out from underneath a control panel to see who Ensign Parker is talking about, because unless something happened he wasn’t aware of, he doesn’t have a girlfriend. Lieutenant T’Pos is standing at attention near the entrance to Engineering, and he sighs and picks himself off the floor, dusting off his uniform as he makes his way over to her.

“Get back to work, Ensign!” he shouts to Parker, who laughs and leans in closer to Ensign Leeds presumably to gossip and not to get back to work.

“Do you need assistance controlling your subordinates, Lieutenant Stark?” the Vulcan standing by the door asks in lieu of a greeting. She doesn’t smile when she sees him, but that’s to be expected.

“I’ve told you a thousand times, Lieutenant, you can call me Tony when I’m off duty.”

“And yet it seems like you are never off duty, sir. Hence why I came looking for you here, instead of your quarters or the mess hall.”

Tony sighs and says, “Right, well, what can I do for you, Pepper?”

Her expression doesn’t change save for the slight furrow of her brow that always appears whenever someone uses that nickname for her. “I was hoping you could help me with a...personal problem.”

Tony blinks in surprise. Pepper never spoke about personal anythings with him, or anyone else, he imagines. “Sure, uh, let’s go somewhere a little more private?”

“Here is adequate,” she says, but lets Tony usher her out of engineering and into a corridor with less people.

“Is something wrong?” he asks once they’re alone.

“Quite the contrary. I require your assistance courting a friend of yours.”

“Courting, like―you want to date?” Tony can’t hide the shock from his voice. He’s known Pepper since they both started on the USS Resilient at the same time all those years ago, and she’d never shown any interest in being romantic with anyone. Much to his disappointment.

“That would be the human word for it, yes. I was hoping you could give me some advice on courting Lieutenant Rhodes.”

That was an even deeper blow than the first. Vulcan-human pairs weren’t absolutely unheard of, and everyone in Starfleet knew of Commander Spock. But Tony had always consoled himself with the assumption that she wasn’t interested in humans, and that was why she hadn’t shown any interest in him. Apparently, she just wasn’t interested in him, period.

“Oh! Yeah, sure,” he says after an awkward pause, realizing she’s waiting for a response. “Rhodey’s amazing, you have great taste. I’m sure he’ll say yes.”

“Lieutenant Rhodes is an excellent helmsman, and very handsome,” she agrees with a nod. “Though I do not think you can guarantee his answer will be a positive one.”

“Nah, come on, you’re amazing too,” Tony says, smile slightly strained. “You’d be perfect together.”

“Thank you, Lieu―Tony,” she corrects herself, giving him a slight bow. “You are an ‘amazing’ person as well.”

Hardly, Tony thinks to himself, but out loud he just says, “You’re off duty now, right? Let’s go get drinks and gossip about Rhodey. We’ll have a plan whipped up in no time.”

Tony spends the evening telling Pepper about the kinds of things Rhodey likes and traditional human methods of courting. She listens to a list of gifts that are considered romantic, a look of consternation on her face.

“Would it not be easier just to tell him my feelings?” she asks when he’s done listing things off.

“Sure, if you want to come on too strong,” he says. “You’ve got to scope him out first, see if he’s interested.”

Pepper continues to frown. “Wouldn’t discovering his interest also be easier if I asked?”

“And scare him off? You guys live on the same ship, Pep, if you make things awkward you can’t just avoid him.”

“I would not just avoid him,” she protests, but she seems to consider his words anyway. “All right. I’ll will test the proverbial waters with some of these methods you’ve explained. Thank you, Tony. I do appreciate the help.”

Tony tries to smile, and knocks back the rest of his drink. “Of course. It’s no problem.”

A couple days later, Rhodey comes up to him as he’s heading back to his room after his shift and says,

“Hey, Tony! You’ve got to come see this.”

Curious, Tony follows him down the hall to his quarters instead, and when Rhodey keys open the door, a startled laugh escapes him. The room is filled with flowers of all colors, on the desk and the shelves and the bed, even some on the floor. Rhodey steps through them to pick up something else from his desk, showing it to Tony.

From a secret admirer, it says, and Tony has to stifle another laugh. Oh no, he hadn’t realized Pepper would go for the most dramatic possible option when he was giving her suggestions.

“Rhodey, you handsome bastard,” he says, punching him lightly in the arm.

“Do you...I mean, any guesses who it’s from?” Rhodey asks him, looking oddly expectant. Why would he assume Tony knew? Aside from the fact that Tony actually does know who his secret admirer is, but Rhodey doesn’t know that.

Tony shrugs and plays dumb. “No clue. Has anyone been trying to get cozy with you lately?”

Rhodey sets the card back down on the desk with a frown. “Not that I’ve noticed.”

Hmm, that’s no good. He’d have to try and get Pepper to ask Rhodey to dinner or something. Even just to grab a cup of coffee.

“I’ll keep an ear out for any gossip,” Tony promises, then lights up as if suddenly thinking up a brilliant idea, “Hey, why don’t you ask Lieutenant T’Pos if she’s heard anything?”

“Is this an ear joke? Because that’s not very nice.”

“What? No! I mean, she’s in communications, you know how those people love to gossip. Maybe she heard something.”

“Pepper doesn’t seem like the gossipy type,” Rhodey says, skeptical.

“Oh, trust me, there’s more there than meets the eye,” Tony says. “It wouldn’t hurt to ask.”

Rhodey doesn’t look entirely convinced, but finally he nods. “Okay, I’ll try. Thanks, Tones.”

“Anytime,” Tony replies, and it almost sounds entirely sincere.

“So when I said replicate him some flowers, I didn’t mean every flower in the database,” Tony tells Pepper the next time he sees her, the two of them alone in an elevator.

“You did not specify which kinds he liked,” Pepper answers, looking at him like it’s entirely his fault. “So I thought, better safe than sorry, as they say.”

“Luckily, I think he found it kind of charming. Maybe just reel it back a little next time?”

She looks thoughtful, then nods. The elevator slides to a stop, and Tony adds quickly before the doors open and he walks out,

“Oh, and I told him to ask you if you heard any related gossip, ask him to get coffee if he does!”

“So Pepper doesn’t know anything about the flowers,” Rhodey tells him that evening. Tony looks up from the datapad he’s reading and tries not to sound too excited as he says,

“Oh? That’s unfortunate.”

“She was really insistent about me drinking coffee, though,” Rhodes says, frowning slightly. “So I gave in and had a cup and she just sort of watched me drink it.”

Tony wants to groan and put his head on the table. He clearly should have been more specific in his instructions. “Probably a Vulcan thing,” he says instead with a shrug.

“Maybe.” Rhodey pushes his food around his plate with his fork, silent for a moment. “Hey, are you sure you don’t know who put those flowers in my room?”

Tony tries not to sound too nervous as he says, “Um, yeah. Why do you ask?”

Rhodey shrugs, setting his fork down. “I just thought, maybe it’s someone in our friend circle?”

Tony stares back down at his datapad so his face doesn’t give anything away. “Oh, maybe. Who do you think it is?” Rhodey doesn’t answer for a long moment, and Tony finally looks up to see what the problem is, but Rhodey’s just staring at him. “Jim? You okay?”

Rhodey finally looks away, breaking his gaze. “Sorry. No, I’ve got no idea. That’s why I’m asking.”

Tony smiles encouragingly, nudging Rhodey’s leg under the table with his foot. “Hey, we’ll figure it out! They’re probably a super babe but are really shy.”

Rhodey laughs and shakes his head, expression brightening a little. “Sure, Tony. You keep telling me that.”

This time Tony tracks down Pepper after her shift is done so they can talk.

“You’re only going to hear me say this once, but you were right and I was wrong.”

Pepper tilts her head slightly. “Why would you only say it once when it is true more often than that?”

“Nope, don’t distract me right now. Flowers and coffee dates aren’t going to work. You should just ask him directly.”

“Would this not be off-putting for a human?” she asks.

Tony sighs. “I think my brilliant plan’s just making Rhodey anxious. I should’ve known, he’s not good with surprises.”

Pepper doesn’t say anything and her expression doesn’t change, and Tony eyes her warily. He nearly jumps, startled, when she finally does speak. “I appreciate the honesty. I will go ask him now.”

“What, now, like, right now?” She’s already turning to walk down the corridor, and Tony follows after her.

“I believe he will be in his quarters at this time,” she says, unperturbed. “Would you please come with me?”

The last thing Tony wants to see is his best friend hooking up with his crush, but Pepper looks expectantly at him, and he just nods and keeps following her.

“Maybe you should slow down, think this out,” he tries as they make their way to the proper deck. “Don’t rush into things.”

“It was your advice that I be direct.”

“Yeah, but my advice has been pretty bad so far.”

“I trust you, Lieutenant. Your advice has come from a place of caring.”

That flusters Tony long enough that he has nothing else to say until they come to a stop in front of Rhodey’s door. Pepper doesn’t hesitate to knock.

When Rhodey answers the door it’s clear he’d been sleeping very recently, but he looks at the pair of them in surprise. “Tony? Lieutenant T’Pos?”

“May we enter?” Pepper asks, and Rhodey looks over at Tony, confused.

Tony just shrugs, but Rhodey steps back and lets them into his room. The place is still full of the flowers Pepper had snuck in, but the bed and desk chair had been cleared.

“Is something wrong?” Rhodey asks once everyone’s in. Tony leans back against the closed door, feeling awkward.

Pepper, however, seems to feel no such thing, because she gestures at the edge of Rhodey’s bed. “Please, sit. I have a question to ask.”

Slowly, Rhodey sits and waits. Pepper clears her throat, fiddling with the cuff of her uniform for a moment.

“I like you very much, James. I had hoped to use human methods of courtship to make that clear, but I’m afraid I did not understand as much as I’d hoped.”

“Oh, the flowers...” He glances around the room, then over at Tony, glaring. “You knew who did it.”

Tony winces. “I couldn’t just blab. She came to me in confidence.”

“I appreciate the help Tony provided, but I feel I must be more transparent,” Pepper admits. “Would you be interested in fostering a relationship of that sort?”

Rhodey doesn’t say anything for a long, painful moment. Tony forces himself to stay silent and not interrupt. Finally, Rhodey responds with an answer Tony wouldn’t have expected in a thousand years.

“You’re wonderful, Pepper. I mean it. But I have a confession too.” He takes a deep breath and looks over at Tony. “I’d kind of hoped the flowers were from you.”

“Me?” Tony squeaks, flabbergasted. “You―you like me?”

“Since the Academy,” Rhodey says.

“Well, this is awkward,” Pepper says after another moment of silence. “I was always under the impression that Lieutenant Stark had some sort of crush on me.”

Tony silently prays for an asteroid to hit the ship and put him out of his misery right now.

“You knew?” Rhodey asks her, eyebrows raised, because of course Tony had never shut up about Pepper around him, and oh god, he’d kept talking about his crush on another person while his best friend was pining for him. For years!

“For some time now,” Pepper says. “I was under the impression it was a human faux pas to bring it up in conversation.”

Tony buries his face in his hands. What a disaster.

“I can’t believe you tried to get him to help you woo someone else when you knew he liked you!” Rhodey says, standing at last.

“I assumed since he did not bring it up, it was not serious.”

“Can we please stop talking about me like I’m not here!” Tony interrupts, straightening up. The other two stop arguing, and Tony sighs and rubs the bridge of his nose. “What now?”

Nobody answers for a moment, then Pepper says,

“We can try this arrangement.” The two men look at her, and she gestures between the three of them, drawing a triangle. “I would not be opposed.”

Rhodey and Tony look at each other, startled. “What, like a ménage à trois?” Tony asks.

“I do not know what that is, but it sounds more agreeable than the three of us going our separate ways unsatisfied.”

“You seriously think that could work?” Rhodey glances between the two of them, but he’s not dismissing the idea outright, to Tony’s surprise.

Then again, Tony’s kind of surprised he’s not dismissing the idea either. It’s got a kind of appeal to it, the more he thinks about it. Rhodey’s been his best friend for years, and they’ve always stuck together and had each other’s backs. Kissing him doesn’t sound like a terrible idea too.

“Hey, if anyone can figure out how to make it work, we can,” Tony says with a grin. He goes over and takes a flower from the desk, handing it to Rhodey. “These were half from me anyway, it was my idea.”

Rhodey laughs and takes the flower from him. “They’re lovely,” he tells him, then hands the same flower to Pepper. “And I’d love to try fostering a relationship of that sort.”

Pepper takes the flower more carefully, spinning the stem between her fingers. “That sounds...awesome,” she says, testing the unfamiliar word, and Tony and Rhodey laugh.

Whatever the future has in store, they’ll boldly go toward it together.

[dreamthinkimagine]

Mind-Meld

For the Anon who asked for this! Thanks for the prompt and I hope you like it!

“You have to do a mind-meld, Spock,” Leonard “Bones” McCoy said to the Vulcan First Officer. Below them, laying on the bio-bed, was an unconscious Jim Kirk.

“Doctor, it would be more wise to inject the Captain with-”

“I know, but we’re all out. Gonna get some more on our next stop, but I don’t wanna wait that long. Now, if your Vulcan-mind-reading can make someone forget something, make them think like you, transfer information, and maybe even restore memory, not to mention that his mind can’t even affect yours in his state, then a mind-meld is worth a shot.”

“Very well,” Spock said and knelt down. He placed his hands on Jim’s forehead and chin.

“Well?” McCoy waited for an answer, but wouldn’t get one.

As Spock traveled to Jim’s ventrolateral preoptic nucleus, one of more parts of a human brain that helps control sleeping and waking, not only could he hear McCoy’s ‘Answer me you pointed-eared Vulcan’, he discovered some information about his friend.

Apparently, Jim had a secret love for the classic game, “Bingo”, craved cheese and crackers when he was frustrated, had a twentieth century photo album with photos of him and every single person on the ship, was quite insecure, very ticklish and - Spock couldn’t focus too much on it now, even though he already saw what it was, because he was there. Jim’s ventrolateral preoptic nucleus. He placed his hands on it and said, “Wake up. You are waking up, James Kirk.”

In the Sickbay, McCoy was about to yell at Spock again for not answering him, when Jim’s eyes opened. Spock was, once again, in the Sickbay.

“Bones,” Jim said. “What happened?”

“You were training with a crewman. When you got to combat...you lost.” When Bones cleared Jim to go, Spock decided to discuss what he saw with the doctor. Spock whispered it into his non-pointed ear and Bones couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face and the mischievous twinkle in his eye.

“Really?”

“You have heard me correctly, Doctor.” Seeing the doctor was satisfied, Spock left.

Since Spock assumed that everyone else would have the same reaction as Bones, he told everyone he saw for the rest of the day; and they all had the exact same reaction. Additionally, he figured Jim might like if they knew.

***

When Jim stepped out of his Quarters the next morning, Scotty, who was passing by, gave him a tweak on the side. Jim straightened out and squeaked.

“Mornin’, Captain!” He poked his ribs and Jim’s arm shot up to protect himself and he giggled. He straightened himself out again and lowered his voice.

“Scotty, what are you doing?” Scotty shrugged.

“Just thought you’d like a laugh, Captain.” Note to self, Kirk thought. Have McCoy check Scotty. He continued down the hall and onto the Bridge.

Anyone who passed him on the Bridge made sure to give him a quick tickle. Sulu went after his ribs. Chekov poked at his collarbones. Uhura scratched his neck. Yeoman Rand attacked his underarms when he went to give her back the PADD she needed him to sign. Even Spock squeezed his knees and eventually directly above them.

What’s going on? Kirk thought to himself. Why is everybody tickling me?

“Sickbay to Bridge.” Kirk pushed the button on the arm of his chair.

“Kirk here.”

“Captain, Scotty’s fine, and I want to see you in Sickbay.”

“Why?”

“To check you after your incident yesterday.” After an injury, or in Kirk’s case, a knock-out, Bones always checked up on it for a few days after they’d been allowed to leave Sickbay. Just to be on the safe side.  

“Spock, you have the Comm,” Kirk said as he got up and walked into the turbolift. As he walked to Sickbay, everyone who passed him was sure to poke, prod and/or scratch at ticklish spots; and each time Jim squrimed and laughed and giggled. Or if someone got a very sensitive spot, they earned themselves a squeal.

“Was that you squealin’?” Bones asked as Jim entered. The look in Jim’s eyes told the doctor all he needed to know. Jim sat down on the biobed and Bones scanned him, making sure everything was all still working fine - which everything was. Once he was done, and he didn’t tell Jim that he was done, he had him lay down.

“I gotta check your stomach.” Before Jim could question, he was thrown into a world of laughter as Bones “checked” his belly. He folded in on himself and tried to use his arms and legs to shield himself as he laughed, but it did no good. A squeeze here, a scratch there. A giggle here, some panicked laughter there. He decided that Jim had had enough and stopped. For now. Jim laid on the bed panting and curled up.

“Why,” Jim asked as he began to catch his breath. “Is everybody tickling me?”

“Spock told us.”

“What?”

“Found out you were ticklish while mind-melding with you yesterday to wake you up.” Jim got up and headed for the door, but he stopped and turned around. His face was made up with mischief. “I gotta get some revenge on him. Then, you.” When he was out the door, Bones made a mental list of places to avoid for the next few days.

***

Shifts ended before Jim got back to the Bridge. People saw the difference in him from earlier - now he hungered for revenge. No one dared touch him now, lest he tickle them to the ground, or insanity; whichever came first.  

“Spock,” Jim greeted. “We need to have a meeting for our upcoming mission. We’re going to the conference room.”

“Who else is required to attend, Captain?”

“No one else. Let’s go.”

“Captain, I have a short business to attend to. May I meet you there?” It was hard, but Kirk allowed it. He wanted revenge, but whatever Spock had to do might be important. And his crew and ship came first.

***

“Well, before we begin,” Kirk said once Spock arrived and sat down. “I really would like to thank you for yesterday. For bringing me back.”

“Of course, Captain.”

“Next time, though, please don’t go rummaging through my personal information and then telling everyone about it. Now, let’s begin.” Jim lunged and tackled the half-Vulcan.

As Spock tried to figure out his friend’s illogic, he felt a scratching sensation on his stomach. He sat up and raised an eyebrow. Kirk noticed this and moved to his sides. Nothing. He tried his neck. Nada. Ribs? Nope. Knees? Zilch. He even slipped his fingers under Spock’s arms. No. No reaction.

“You’re not ticklish?”

“Negative, Jim.” Jim could have sworn that he saw Spock smirk at him. With that, Spock pounced and scratched at his ribs.

“Hahahahahaha!”

“Jim, when I explored your mind, I discovered another piece of information which I decided not to inform the crew, except Dr. McCoy, as I figured you may be embarrassed. You enjoy being tickled.” There was no use in denying it at this point. ‘A logical choice,’ Spock would have said. Jim, through his laughter, nodded.

Suddenly, Spock switched to his neck, causing giggles to flow out of Jim’s mouth and Spock was basking in the sound. It must have been so difficult being a Starship Captain, he needed laughter. Spock’s eyes brightened at the sight of his best friend’s happiness.

“If my memory serves correctly, another spot humans tend to be sensitive is here.” Spock shoved his hands under Jim’s arms and Jim started to buck.

“HAhahahahaha!! Spohohock!” When he lowered his hands to just under the armpits, Jim howled.

“Is there any place you are most susceptible?” Spock asked and moved to Jim’s thighs. Jim was too busy laughing to answer, when he completely froze and gasped. When he looked at his hand, he realized he had placed it on Jim’s left hip. He looked at Jim’s face. A wide smile took place on it, causing his eyes to crinkle. Spock could tell that Jim was purely happy, so he began to kneed Jim’s hips.

“NAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”

“Are you having, what humans call, ‘fun’, Jim?” If Jim didn’t like it, Spock would stop. He was just trying to be a good friend. He saw that Jim liked it. It made him happy and lifted his stress off of his shoulders for a little while. If Jim didn’t like it, it would only add to his stress.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!” Jim nodded. Spock could tell that Jim didn’t have a care weighing him down right now, so kept it up for another minute. When Jim started to have trouble breathing, Spock stopped and helped him up.

“Thanks,” Jim said once he caught his breath.

“Anytime, Captain. Stress is most illogical.”

“How did you know -?”

“You are a Starship Captain. One can assume that the position invokes great stress upon those who command.”

“You’re a good friend, Mr. Spock.”

“As are you, Jim.”

“Good night.”

“Good night.” On that note, they parted their separate ways, ready for some rest.

When Jim got back to his Quarters, he found a few things laid out nicely on his bed. A “Bingo” board with a coupon labeled: “One Free Bingo Game”. There were boxes of crackers and a wheel of Vulcan cheese. A photograph of Jim and Spock after their first mission that was taken by - well, Jim didn’t know that. Or how Spock got it. Then here were two versions of the same list : ”Reasons why Jim Kirk is Just as Good as Everyone Else”. One was in alphabetical order and the other was in order of importance. The last thing was a note. It read: “Thought you could use these. - Spock”.

He smiled as he drifted to sleep and got Bones back the next day, only to be attacked again by the crew two hours later. And as he laughed, he knew that today was a good day.

[kinkykinard]

Taking Care of Business

Fandom: Star Trek (AOS/TOS) Pairing:  None. Prompt: Requested by Anon - I wish you would write a fic where… the reader is Bones’ infant daughter and their adventures with the space family.  Word Count: 2336. Warnings: childhood shenanigans. Rating: All ages. Author’s Note: My second kid!reader fic.  The pet name Chekov uses, Сладкая (pr. sladkaya), is Russian for sweetie.  In conferring with Anon, I discovered that they meant toddler rather than infant, so I’ve taken the liberty to make the reader five years old.  I hope you guys enjoy it!

Taking Care of Business It had taken Leonard a little bit of convincing to get Jim to put in a good word with Starfleet in his favor; he’d wanted to bring you aboard the Enterprise for a month-long tour out in deep space while Jocelyn dealt with some family drama back on Earth. Eventually Jim had agreed and he’d really gone to bat for your dad, ultimately convincing Starfleet that they should allow it.  Of course, he’d had to promise them that you wouldn’t interfere with the doctor’s work, but once the reassurances had been made, they’d agreed. Now, you’re a member of the crew.  As a welcome aboard, some of the CMO’s nurses had gotten you a tiny purple uniform dress with a Starfleet badge with a heart cut into it on it and you’ve worn it every day.  You’ve become a part of the family already, though you’ve only been on board for a few days, and the entire crew adores you. You giggle as you sit on your uncle Jim’s lap with him bouncing you on his knee.  He’s sitting in his big important chair on the bridge and he’s told you that you’re in charge for the day.  Being the captain is a pretty big responsibility for a five-year old, but you’ve got this.

“Mr. Chekov,” you say with an excited giggle, repeating the orders Jim is whispering into your ear.  “Starfleet has asked us to pay the Fabrini a visit.  Please set a course for the Fabrina system.” Your Rs are coming out sounding like Ws, but your orders are clear. “Aye, Сладкая,” Mr. Chekov acknowledges.  “Entering the coordinates now.” Jim whispers to you again and you turn to address another officer. “Mr. Sulu,” you command.  “Punch it.” “I don’t know, Y/N,” he says with a frown. “This is a big lever.  I think I might need your help to get us going.” You practically fall off of Jim’s lap in your haste to get to the helm and you can hear him laughing behind you as you toddle over to Sulu’s chair.  He hoists you up onto his lap and keeps you balanced with an arm around your waist as he puts his other hand on the lever.  You reach forward and put your hand over his, your tiny palm barely eclipsing the back of his. “Punch it!”  You repeat, pushing on his hand. You shriek with glee as the lever moves with the both of you pushing it and the ship speeds forward, stars and planets blurring by the panoramic window at the front of the craft.  You bounce on his knee, laughing as he types some commands onto the smart screen built into the console. “Lieutenant McCoy, you’re being hailed,” Uhura calls from her station a moment later. Mr. Sulu sets you down on the ground and you rush over to her, nearly tripping over another officer on your way by.  You bounce up to the screen in front of her, standing on your tip toes so you can see who’s on it. “Hi daddy!”  You burst, waving at him, only the top half of your head visible above her console. “Hey darlin’,” he says.  “Are you behaving for your uncle Jim up there?” “Yeah,” you reply.  “We set course for the Fabona system!” He chuckles at your mispronunciation but nods. “That’s great,” he says with a wink.  “Sounds like you’re doing a great job!  Your uncle Jim might be out of a job if you keep this up.” Uhura laughs and your dad’s eyes flicker to her for a moment, exchanging an amused glance with the Lieutenant before turning his focus back to you. “You make sure Mr. Sulu has the helm and then Mr. Spock is going to bring you down to help me here for a while,” your dad explains.  “We have some patients to see.” You grin and salute him. “Yes sir,” you say seriously.  “McCoy out.” He signs off and as Uhura’s screen returns to a regulation Starfleet background, you giggle and turn away from the comm.  You make your way back over to the captain’s chair just in time to hear the doors to the bridge swish open.  As Mr. Spock walks in, you glance around at the crew assembled on the bridge and put on your best captain face. “Keep us flying, Mr. Sulu,” you instruct. “Captain, you’re in charge now.” The entire crew has to fight a chorus of laughter as you give them their orders, and even Mr. Spock seems mildly amused, though you don’t pick up on the sentiment as you turn to face him. Toddling over to him, you reach up to take his hand.  He’s considerably taller than you, however, so instead he picks you up easily, carrying you off of the bridge. “Where to, Lieutenant McCoy?”  He asks. You run a hand over his chest as he carries you, marveling at how much warmer the Vulcan is than any human who has ever carried you.  Looking up, you grin at the sight of his pointed ears and point to the turbo lift. “Medical,” you assert.  “I’m gonna help my dad!” Mr. Spock inclines his head in a nod of acknowledgement and stoops down so you can press the button for the correct floor. The turbo lift whisks the two of you downward and before long he’s carrying you down the hall and into med bay.  Your head whips around as you enter the facility and you spot your dad, pointing across the way. “There!”  You say quietly, knowing you need to use your inside voice down here. The first officer sets you down and you rush across the floor, heading for your dad, your feet pitter-pattering on the deck plating.  You throw your arms around your dad’s thighs as you near him, clinging to his side. He laughs, setting down the PADD he’s holding, and reaches down to ruffle your hair. “How are things on the bridge?”  He asks you. “Tip-top!”  You reply, pulling away to look up at him.  “Who’s my first patient?” Leonard chuckles and reaches down, picking you up and turning to head for his office. “First we’re having lunch,” he clarifies. “Then Nurse Jones needs a checkup, and she said she wanted to see you specifically, Dr. McCoy.” You bounce excitedly in your dad’s arms at the prospect.  It’s a really quiet day in med bay, and the whole thing had been the nurse’s idea. Leonard was grateful for the offer and he’d readily accepted it.  The nurse didn’t mind at all; she got to keep the most adorable little girl in the world entertained and got to spend more time with one of the most handsome men she’d ever met. You shift around as your dad sets you down in a chair beside his desk, looking at the tray on his desktop.  It has a peanut butter sandwich, a glass of milk, and some apple slices on it and you clap happily as he pushes your chair closer. You immediately dig into the food and eat quickly, giving yourself a case of the hiccups and earning an exasperated laugh from your father. Before long, you’re finished and itching to get to work.  You push the tray away from you and take the old tricorder your dad holds out to you from his hands, pressing some buttons on it, watching various different numbers and letters show up on the screen.  You don’t know what any of them mean, but you’re sure your dad will help you with the piece of tech when you need him to. You look up as the door to his office slides open and Nurse Jones walks in, smiling brightly and waving at you. “Hello, Dr. McCoy,” she greets you, turning her gaze to your dad.  “And you, too, Dr. McCoy.” You beam at her as she comes and sits down in another chair, looking at you as you walk closer to her with the tricorder. The instrument is large and your grip on it is clumsy, so your dad hovers right behind you, helping you support it as you point it at the nurse. “Okay, we’re gonna make you feel all better,” you say seriously.  “We have to check your temp’ature.” “Yes, doctor,” the nurse agrees. You watch as your dad shows you which buttons to press to get the right reading and some numbers flare brightly on the screen. They’re a little above where you’ve learned to count to so far, but you listen to what your dad is softly whispering in your ear and you smile. “It’s normal,” you repeat louder so the nurse can hear.  “No we have to check your heartbeat!” You go through the motions, giggling at the whirring noise the tricorder makes as it works and studying the numbers that pop up on the screen intently.  By the end of the check up, you give the nurse a clean bill of health and send her on her way after she promises to eat all of her vegetables and take her vitamins, which makes your dad really proud; he’s taught you well. “You’re a very good doctor, darlin’,” your dad quips, kissing your forehead.  “Now, do you want to go and try your hand at being an engineer?” Your eyes light up and you nod.  Your dad laughs and stands up, holding a hand out to you.  You take it and follow him back into the main part of the med bay, where you’re greeted by someone your own size. “Y/N, this is Keenser,” your dad introduces you.  “He works with Mr. Scott.  He’s going to take you down to engineering where I hear you’re going to help repair a console.” “Hi Keenser!”  You squeal happily.  “C’mon! Let’s go!  We gotta keep the ship flying!” You kiss your dad goodbye and take Keenser’s hand, following him down the hall, into the turbo lift, and down another long hall.  You finally reach the heart of the engineering department and Keenser leads you over to a console where you see a pair of legs sticking out from under it. “Mr. Scott?”  You ask. There’s a thump, a hiss, and his legs jerk before he slides out from under the console. “Hey lassie,” he says warmly.  “I’m glad you’re here – I can’t seem to be able to figure out this wiring problem.  I need your help.” “Okay!  What seems to be the problem, Mr. Scott?”  You query. “You’ll need to slide in here with me so I can show you,” he says seriously. You’re practically vibrating with excitement as he and Keenser help you onto a creeper and slide you under the console.  Mr. Scott joins you shortly thereafter and adjusts the light so you can see easily without being blinded.  He points up at some wires – color coded for ease of reference – and shows you a few that are cut. “I’ve gotten power back to the main part of the console, but now I can’t remember which of these ends match up,” he explains.  “Do you think you can figure it out, lassie?” You stick your tongue out between your teeth as you think, reaching up to touch the wires.  Mr. Scott had made extra sure the console was not receiving power before you’d arrived and so he’s confident that you won’t get a nasty shock.  You pull on the disconnected ones and bring two ends of a red wire together.  You do the same with a green wire, and again with a gray one.  Mr. Scott puts a pair of safety glasses on you and slips his own on and then solders the wires together before wrapping them up in matching electrical tape to insulate the gaps.  He slides out from under the console a moment later and Keenser pulls on your creeper, withdrawing you, too.  You laugh as you sit up and the oversized safety glasses slip off of your nose, landing in your lap. “Does it work now?!”  You ask. “We’re about to find out,” Mr. Scott replies, standing up and helping you onto your feet, too. He picks you up and holds you in his arms over the console, giving Keenser the signal to route power back to the machine. As soon as the switch is flipped, the console lights up and beeps a couple of times, signaling that it’s online and making you cheer. “You did it, lassie!”  Mr. Scott barks.  “We can warp on another day.” You spend the rest of the afternoon in Mr. Scott’s office with him, playing Go Fish with an old-fashioned deck of cards and drinking soda, which he makes you promise you won’t tell your dad he let you have.  Eventually your dad’s shift ends and he comes down to collect you.  You wave goodnight to Mr. Scott and Keenser as you and your dad make your way off to the mess hall, promising that you’ll be back again soon. Your dad lets you have pizza for dinner, but you have to eat some carrot sticks, too, which aren’t as much fun. Still, you eat them so you’ll grow big and strong, and before long dinner time is over.  You yawn widely as you tell your uncle Jim all about your big day and your dad decides it’s bed time The two of you make your way to his quarters and he makes sure you take a bath and brush your teeth before bed.  Once you’re curled up in your pajamas, he sits on the bed next to you and pulls open a picture book on his PADD.  It’s the story of a little girl just like you who grows up to be a captain, and you’re smiling widely right up until the moment you fall asleep. All night long, you dream of all the adventures you’d had the day before, and of all the new ones you’ll have tomorrow, and even in your sleep you’re excited for another day in space with your Enterprise family.

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[dreamthinkimagine]

Oliver - Chapters 5-8

Some scenery and dialogue are direct from or have been inspired y Star Trek TOS. I do not own Star Trek TOS. The information on carbon fiber was found in an article on Google. No copyright intended. 

WARNING: Death and Depression

Chapter 5

           "Dr. McCoy!" Scotty yelled. He was still trying to get a hold of the ship's surgeon. He'd been trying ever since the reception was interrupted. "Lt. Uhura, you're in charge." Scotty declared standing up.

           "Yes, Sir," she said, and left her post for the big chair.

"Where are you going?" Sulu asked.

           "I'm gettin' The Galileo n' goin' down there after 'em," with that he entered the turbolift. "Floor F." The turbolift moved down until it came to a smooth stop. He stepped out and made his way down the hall.

           He pushed the button on the wall panel and the doors opened exposing The Galileo, one of the Enterprise's shuttlecrafts. He hopped in and closed the door.

           "Alrigh' ol' girl, let's go save the Captain, Mr. Spock and Doctor McCoy." The Galileo started to hover and the big doors at the front of the room opened. It started to move forward with Scotty at the wheel. He flew out into open space determined to find them, and prayed that they were OK.

Chapter 6

           "Is everyone OK?" Bones asked as he got up.

           "I have suffered no significant damage," Spock replied rising from the ground and pulling his Captain up.

           "I'm fine," said Kirk. "Except for my ankle." Bones helped take Jim.

           "So much for a relaxing shore leave," Bones commented

           "Why isn't there a fire?"

           "What'd ya mean, Jim?"

           "That thing was on fire. If it hit the ground, then why isn't anything else burning?"

           "I don't know, unless it landed in..." McCoy slowly raised his head to look at Jim directly.

           "The water..." Jim finished. He turned his head to his right to look at Spock. "What'd you think, Spock?"

           "Considering the size, coordinates and velocity, there would seem to be a fair possibility of the projectile landing in the water."

           "Go to the river," Jim said, and Spock and Bones helped him hop the distance. The sound of running water eventually got louder. Soon enough, the river was in view. "Look!" Jim pointed to the top of the waterfall and there it was, flames out and all. It floated closer and closer to the edge until it went over the edge.

Kirk, Spock and McCoy were soaked.

           "Get it," said Jim.

           Spock and Bones set him down on a near-by boulder. Bones and Spock walked into the river and walked further until they had to swim.

           "I will retrieve it, Doctor," Spock said. "Vulcans are three times stronger than humans."

           "Now wait just one minute, you green blooded-!"

           "Doctor, before you continue, ask yourself this question, 'are you thinking scientifically or emotionally?'” The First Officer swam to shore with the object at hand before Bones could. It was a lot lighter than Spock had predicted and easily brought it to Kirk. That's when The Galileo landed. Its doors opened and out came a very grateful Scotty. Bones swam out of the water and set foot on dry land.

           "Aw, thank Heaven yer all alrigh'. Wet, but alrigh'... What's that?" He asked pointing to the object.

           "That's what we're trying to figure out," Kirk replied.  

           "Well bring it aboard and we'll investigate." Spock lifted the object and took it inside. Jim grabbed onto Bones and Scotty for support.

           "Twisted ankle," Bones explained as they got in. They sat him down in front of Bones. Kirk looked over to the object examining it, as Bones wrapped an adhesive wrap around his ankle. Once McCoy was finished, Kirk asked for the object and Spock brought it closer to him.

           Scotty took the pilot's position at the front and took off.  The planet got a little smaller as The Enterprise grew a lot bigger. He noticed something as The Galileo smoothly landed back inside his ship.

           "I don't believe it," Kirk said. "This is from The Exploration."

Chapter 7

           "It is indeed from The Exploration," agreed Spock back in the Sickbay. Bones ordered Jim to rest on a bed while they examine the object. "It appears to be a hand-made escape pod."

           "You think anyone could be in there?" Jim asked. McCoy had no hesitation in attempting to pry it open. Spock, on the other hand, stared at McCoy as he switched a lock and the door slowly opened on its own.

           There was someone inside. He was in a blue uniform (nothing was on his sleeves) with his head down. Doctor McCoy took out his medical scanner and ran it over the person inside. McCoy's eyes widened.

           "You're not gonna believe this, Jim, but ... he's alive!"

           "What?!" exclaimed Kirk.

           "He's in a coma, but he's alive! Spock! Help me get him into a bed!" When they lifted him, they realized how short he was and that he had a backpack on. Kirk, who was sitting on a bed and being the only one who was not lifting him, gently took it off. Spock and McCoy placed him down in the bed next to Kirk "Look!" McCoy exclaimed and instantly set up his ratings.

           Spock and Jim turned their attention to the unconscious man and discovered that it was no man at all, but a boy! The rumored child on The Exploration! "No permanent damage. Only a few broken bones," he took note. He grabbed a stockinet, cast padding and plaster cast and wrapped them around his right arm and left leg. Then he put on a brace on his ribs.    

           "Spock," Kirk said. "What is that escape pod made of?"

           "It appears to be today's carbon fiber, Captain. Fire proof, water proof and extremely strong, but also weighs little, enabling it to protect the being inside upon impact. Logical for use as an escape pod."

           "So you're saying that's how he survived with little damage?"

           "Precisely, Captain."

           "But then, why is he in a coma?"

           "The impact, Captain. The carbon fiber kept him alive, but failed to completely protect him."

           "No brain damage either," McCoy suddenly added. "Lucky, very lucky."

“Mr. Spock, since his brain isn’t damaged, how about a mind meld?” Spock walked to the head of the boy and placed his hands on his head. After a minute, Spock removed his hands. “What is it, Spock?” Jim asked.

“He is dreaming he is still on the ship. He is seeing everyone he has ever known and is constantly thinking about one man and one woman in particular.” Jim decided to start searching the bag. He put his hand up as a signal for Spock and McCoy to stop what they were doing when he found a zipper hidden in its side. He unzipped and pulled out a recorded tape.

           "Spock," he said putting down the bag. "Play this."

           Spock took it from Jim and slid it into the 3-sided computer. When it started there was a man with a woman next to him and in her arms was a sleeping baby wrapped in a blue blanket. The blanket matched the adults' shirts. Their sleeves had designs in them symbolling they were of rank. The man spoke first.

           "I 'm Robert Codmar; Chief Medical Officer of the Starship Exploration." Jim felt bittersweet seeing his dead friend on screen. he wished he could stop time and reminisce about his childhood best friend, but the tape continued.

           "My name is Gianna Codmar; First Science Officer of the Starship Exploration. Robert and I are married and this is our son, Oliver."

           "If you're watching this, it means that our starship has been destroyed and you found our son in one of the escape pods my wife made. It also means my wife and I were unable to escape and are dead."

           "We are begging you, please take care of our baby! Don't let Starfleet know! Just take good care of him, please!" Gianna started to cry. Upon hearing his mother cry, Oliver also began to cry. Gianna rocked her baby, trying to stifle his tears as Robert made a soft shushing sound.

           "It's OK Honey; hopefully no one will ever have to see this," he said gently hugging her and his boy. The tape stopped there.

“Captain,” said Spock, “the man and woman in the tape were the man and woman that he was thinking of.” Kirk reached over and took the boy's hand.

           "Spock, how long ago did The Exploration take off?"

           "Thirteen years ago, Captain."

           "Bones, how old is he?" McCoy pulled out his medical scanner again. He scanned for what felt like ages as its whirring filled up the room.

           "Eleven. He's eleven-years-old."

           "Then Gianna wasn't already pregnant when the Exploration took off. He was born and conceived on that ship."

           "An illegal child, it would be logical to give him to Starfleet."

           "You pointed eared hobgoblin! This has never happened before! Who knows what Starfleet would do?! Besides, we'd have to stop the mission."

           "Not necessarily, Doctor," Spock argued. "We have been in space for approximately twenty-eight-point-three-nine days. The child would be able to survive in a shuttlecraft for that long, under supervision, of someone we can afford to lose, until taken to Starfleet where he or she will reside with him until told to do otherwise by The Federation."

           Jim wasn't sure how to respond to all this. If they took him, it would cause chaos in The Federation, as they'd be searching every ship for children. On the other hand, Spock was right. It would be, as much as Jim hated the word, logical to turn him in, concerning their five-year mission. Although he didn't want to deny Robert and Gianna of their last request either. He needed to think.

           "Mr. Spock, you may report to the Captain's chair for duty." Spock and McCoy stopped their arguing.

           "Yes, Sir," Spock replied after a moment and left.

* * *

           Later on that night, after Jim was asleep, Bones gently took the bag and looked through it. He found two things: a big green book that said, "FAMILY" on the cover in golden letters, and a stuffed lion toy. McCoy took out the stuffed animal and wrapped it in Oliver's arm. He thought he saw the boy smile slightly at this. Bones smiled back and gently tussled his chocolate-brown hair.

           "Goodnight, Oliver," he whispered and quietly crept back to his quarters for some sleep.

Chapter 8

           Days earlier, The Exploration had been a well and healthy ship. It was more than a ship to young Oliver though, it was home. He was born and raised on that ship; he had never even seen earth in person. He came running into the bridge passing the Captain.

           "Hey, Buddy," Captain Neilson, his godfather, said to him. He just turned, smiled and nodded at him.

           "Hey, Mom," Oliver greeted the First Science Officer.

           "Hi, Oliver," replied the brown- haired woman turning around in her chair.

           "Wanna play chess?" He asked eagerly. Gianna frowned.

           "I'm sorry, Honey. I’m too busy right now. How about you go ask your father if he can do something with you."

           "Oh," Oliver sounded disappointed. "Can we play later?"

           "I promise." Oliver lightened up at this and went to the turbolift.

           "Sickbay," he said and it started moving down. He really hoped his dad could do something. He didn't get to spend as much time with his parents as he'd have liked with them being key officers and all; but when he did get to do something with one of them, those moments were some of the happiest of his life.

           The doors slowly opened and he ran down the hall.

           "Hey, Dad!" Oliver said walking into Sickbay.

           "Hey, kiddo! What'cha up to?"

           "Well, Mom's busy so I thought we could do something."

           "Well, I'm free until someone shows up; for once this place is empty. What'cha wanna do? Chess?" It was at that moment the red lights blinked on and off and the "Red Alert" alarm went off. "Oliver, go to your quarters."

           Oliver left and ran for his room. He knew these battles never lasted long and they always won. His ship might be the least famous ship in the galaxy, but his ship could fight. And that, he was proud of.

           Throughout the halls, crewmen were reporting to their battle stations. Oliver just watched them as the doors to his quarters closed behind them. He sat on his bed wondering how long the battle would last. He fell asleep, holding his stuffed lion, Gabriel, in his arms. He'd had the lion since he was a baby and his parents named it Gabriel because it meant "strong."

           He woke again just in time to hear the announcement from Captain Neilson.

           "Attention! This is Captain Neilson." Oliver listened for the word of their victory. "Aliens have boarded this ship, they will destroy it. Many of us are already dead. We will-!"

           There was a loud crunching sound accompanied by his scream. Dead silence followed. Captain Neilson was dead.

           Oliver, afraid, ran to his desk and pulled his backpack off it. He remembered what his parents had always taught him; if the ship was ever going down, to get his backpack. He never knew why though.

           He unzipped it at the bed and stuffed Gabriel in; they never said he couldn't pack anything. When he was about to zip it back up, something caught his eye. A big, green book with the word, "FAMILY," written on its cover in golden lettering. His photo album. He grabbed it and stuffed it in. He put on the bag and ran for the door.

           The halls greeted him with chaos. People were running, screaming, hurt and dying. Not to mention those already dead. He forced his way in, running right; fighting against his crew members.

           "Mom?!" He called. "Dad?!" Nothing except for loudening screams. And that's when he saw it: a huge, scaly, green, monstrous, lizard-like Gorn. Gorns also had ships, so if there was one here, there was more throughout the Exploration. Oliver didn't know the creature he was staring at and didn't care what it was. All he cared about was that it was on his ship. It was killing people. The Gorn stared back at Oliver's eyes and charged.

           "Aaah!" He turned and ran; the Gorn followed behind. His heart raced and his breath became shallow and fast as he dodged his crew members. He panicked and sprinted and panicked some more. He nearly had a heart attack when he felt arms wrap around his torso and pull him into the Sickbay.

           "Oliver!" His mother cried, but he was in his father's grasp.

           "We're getting you outta here! We have to stay and fight."

           "No!" Oliver squirmed. "You can't! You'll die!"

           "We have to Oliver," his mother said.

           "No!" Oliver yelled, being passed to his mother's arms so Robert could prepare a hypo.

           "There's no other way," his father replied calmly.

           "No! We can make it," Oliver cried, angry yet sad tears in his eyes.

           "We're sorry, Oliver," his mother said sadly as his father walked over to him with a hypo in his hand.

           "But it has to be this way," Robert finished and stuck the hypo into Oliver's arm. Oliver screamed in protest, but soon was unconscious. He was like a dead weight in Gianna's arms. The CMO threw the hypospray to the ground and helped his wife pick up their only son, lifting him over his shoulder. They ran out.

           "We have to get to the escape pod! It's in Engineering," she shouted.   They looked at their friends and knew that soon they too would die, but not Oliver; Oliver would survive.

            "We have to get to the escape pod! It's in Engineering," she shouted.  They looked at their friends and knew that soon they too would die, but not Oliver; Oliver would survive. "Robert!" she screamed as a Gorn pulled her into a long, dark hall.        

"Giana!" He yelled getting ready to attack the alien with Oliver on his shoulder.

           "Robert! No! Don’t worry about me! Save Oliver! You hear me?! Save- AAAAAAAAAHHH!!!!" she screamed as the Gorn crushed her. Robert could hear her bones breaking.

“No,” he said as a tear fell down his cheek. “No.” As much as it pained him, he started running again.

           They reached engineering. There was no one in there except for dead bodies. The whole room was destroyed. The Gorns had already been there. He hoped that the escape pod Giana made was OK. He made his way over to the lock on the wall, and punched in the code: five-one-eight-two-zero-one-five.

           A door appeared on the wall at the activation of the code. It slowly opened, revealing an untouched escape pod; big enough for just one person. He flipped the switch by the pod's door and it slid open.

           Robert lowered Oliver inside, sat him up on the seat and buckled him in. He punched in the coordination of the nearest planet. It was only discovered a few months ago, but the atmosphere was breathable and it was out of Gorn territory. He looked at his son and whispered his goodbye.

           He pressed the activation button, closed the door and locked it. The floor beneath the escape pod opened and it fell down a tube that would lead the pod and Oliver into space.

           Robert heard a Gorn come in and turned around to face it. “Do your worst.” The Gorn picked large scraps of metal and threw it right into the matter-anti matter unit.  Oliver was already flying away in his escape pod when The Exploration exploded.