[NVC Day 30] -- [Return to the Enterprise] -- [Open Post!]

[kirktastic]

(OOC: This is an OPEN POST for anyone who desires it to bring themselves up to the Enterprise. Feel free to use it like a party post if needed, but this is an official/IC post!)

Exactly one month after they had arrived on Sha'Kwai, they were leaving. Early in the morning, Jim and Bones pulled themselves out of sweaty sheets and apart from each other, little marks that could all be hidden beneath their uniforms littering their bodies. The shower, the last time they would have unending hot water for a long while, got put through its paces just as much. Jim hoped that the little squeak in the door wouldn't be noticed from where he had been holding onto it while Bones was sucking him off.

Clean, in pressed uniforms, and feeling decent, the two of them and all of their stuff beamed back up to the Enterprise.

There was no change in the gravity and only a minimal change in temperature when they reformed, and Jim was pleased. Over three weeks, it had been decided, the gravity would be lightened back to normal and the temperature lowered until it was back to normal regulations. It would be easier on everyone's bodies that way. Jim had every plan to work to make sure that the muscle he had gained while on Sha'Kwai stayed on his body - damn his abs looked good. Bones seemed to approve too.

Once he had gone through the ship, checking in to make sure everything was set, he sent out the notice to the entire crew.

Captain Kirk to crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise,

The Enterprise is ready to set sail again. Begin returning to the ship immediately. The ship will be leaving space dock tonight at 17:00 precisely, so you will be required to be on ship by then. If there are any concerns or issues, please send a message directly to me. All crew will be accounted for upon transport, and you will be given your room assignments and schedules that have been provided by your supervisor.

Please be advised that there have been changes in room and ship layout, and along with this message you have been provided maps with keyed changes to the ship's layout. Be familiar with them as soon as possible. If there are any troubles with rooming assignments, please direct your messages to the ship's new quartermaster, Lt. Commander Aurelan Jira. Attached is the new crew roster as well.

If you are new to the Enterprise or otherwise require: you will report immediately to sickbay after transport. There will be people bringing baggage to your new room assignment if it is required. There are no exceptions with this mandatory check up from the CMO, Doctor Leonard McCoy.

We'll be heading straight to Starbase 69 to drop off those that require transport there. It will be a sad goodbye to the people that have arrived from other universes and have decided to remain there, and I give a nod towards Christine 'Tina' Chapel and wish her good luck, but as it stands, they are only beginning their own adventures.

I'm looking forward to our future adventures together,

Captain James T. Kirk.

Attached File: ship_layout_2259111.im, crew_roster_2259111.dc

Comments

[kirktastic.livejournal.com]

"You just got a little spooked." Jim sat on the edge of his desk, watching Bones carefully. "Look, just apologize to her and tell her you were having a bad day and she'll understand. Sometimes people have a shitty day."

[dctr-mccoy.livejournal.com]

He nodded, chuckling bitterly. "Yeah. I'll do that later," he said, sort of meaning it. "Christ, what am I gonna do about Joanna? Can't just let her run into her like that..."

Jim looked worried. Shit. "Look, I'm sorry to come bother you like this," Bones said, finishing his drink and putting the glass down. "I didn't mean to-"

[kirktastic.livejournal.com]

"I'm your friend, your captain, and your boyfriend," Jim touched Bones' hand. "If you can't come to me, I'd be worried." He gave a weak smile, squeezing the hand in his. "Just go talk to Joanna, tell her at least."

[dctr-mccoy.livejournal.com]

Bones flipped his hand and touched their fingers together, shaking his head. "I think she's still mad at me." Using his free hand, Bones rubbed the back of his neck, feeling achy in that spot now. Tension. "Fuck, I better go find her."

He looked over at Jim. Friend, captain, boyfriend... hell of a lot more than that. He tried to give a weak smile, but couldn't think of anything else to say, so he just reached out and cupped his cheek with one hand.

[kirktastic.livejournal.com]

"Joanna's mad at you?" Jim frowned, leaning into the touch on his cheek. "Shit, why?" He hadn't even known about that. Why hadn't Bones told him? Well, maybe he shouldn't be totally surprised..

[dctr-mccoy.livejournal.com]

Fuck. "Yeah, we had a fight down on the planet. It's nothin', but..."

Truth was, it wasn't nothing. It was a pretty big fight, and Bones was still hurt and angry by all of it. "Still, I gotta let her know 'bout this." Another conversation he didn't want to have.

Bones was tired. It had been a long day, getting everything ready to go. "You gonna be here long?"

[kirktastic.livejournal.com]

"Nah, I'm pretty much done today," Jim caught Bones eyes and gave him a look. "But I'm not done until you tell me what you two fought about."

[dctr-mccoy.livejournal.com]

"Don't," Bones said quietly. Bones could twist the truth around, if he needed to, but not with Jim... he couldn't look into Jim's eyes and fake it.

Damned inconvenient, too. "Can we talk 'bout it later?" he asked. Maybe Jim would forget. Last thing Bones wanted was Jim angry at Joanna.

[kirktastic.livejournal.com]

"No. We're going to talk about it now. How easy is that?" He gave Bones a look, focused. "Talk to me, Bones."

[dctr-mccoy.livejournal.com]

"... I don't want you to be mad at her." Bones could be mad, because whatever happened, he still loved her, even if he didn't know how to show it. But the last thing he wanted was Jim to go down at yell at her. He'd already done a lot of that. And despite what she said, Joanna was still fucking fragile.

"Look, she messed up, and I yelled at her. We're both stubborn mules, I don't know how to deal with her and things are still so fucked up between us." He shook his head and then looked up at Jim, that damned look. "And I don't want you to hate her for this. It's bad enough she thinks I hate her."

[kirktastic.livejournal.com]

"So, you're not going to tell me?" His tone changed to something darker. "We tell each other everything, and you can't trust me with this?" He didn't mean it, but it didn't sound like that. He sounded damn serious, but he knew Bones would respond to it instead of this bullshit.

[dctr-mccoy.livejournal.com]

Bones sighed. "I trust you, Jim. You know that..." He sat down, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. Even so, it was a while before he spoke, trying to calm himself down too. It still made him angry, so angry that this all might have been prevented.

Jim might not have been raped hurt. "She knew about it. The Pon Farr..." He took a long breath and let it out slow. "She knew it was coming and she didn't tell me."

[kirktastic.livejournal.com]

Jim felt his stomach clench up violently at the words came out of Bones' mouth. Whatever he thought it was going to be, that wasn't it. Jim found himself sitting down very hard on the other chair, breathing out.

"...What?"

[dctr-mccoy.livejournal.com]

"She thought..." Bones' fingers were twisting in his lap, "I don't know, I guess she thought we were ready. Or that it wasn't her place to tell us. Fuck, I don't know," he said, getting mad again, his voice growing quiet.

"Anyway," he said, obvious he was keeping a tight rein on his voice. "We fought. I yelled. She got hurt, and we haven't spoken since."

[kirktastic.livejournal.com]

Jim's lips tightened until they were thin, white lines. He let out a breath, feeling a burst of anger he wasn't expecting. "I'm done here. Quarters." He pushed out of the seat and walked towards the doors.

He would speak with Joanna later, when he had calmed down.

[dctr-mccoy.livejournal.com]

Fuck, this is exactly why he hadn't wanted to tell him this - that look on his face. "Jim, let me handle this, okay?" he said, stopping Jim and grabbing his shoulders.

He looked Jim in the eyes. "This is my family, and I want to take care of it."

[kirktastic.livejournal.com]

"Bullshit! She isn't your family, your family is back on Earth right now! She is under MY command and she could have gotten us in even more danger than we were in! I have ever right to step in and handle this!"

[dctr-mccoy.livejournal.com]

"I'm gonna disagree with you about the family part, Jim. She's a McCoy, which means she's mine just as much as my little one back on Earth."

He squeezed Jim's shoulder, eyes locked on the pulse point on Jim's throat, his voice low and gravelly. "Just like you, you're my family. And yeah, you got a right to talk to her, do whatever you need to do. But I'm asking you, please - let me do this. I need to take care of things between us first." Bones had no doubt that Jim was going to let her have it, for what happened to him more than anything else, and it killed him inside.

[kirktastic.livejournal.com]

"She could have kept him from hurting you," Jim whispered, his eyes squeezing shut. "She could have kept all of this from happening but instead of telling us something important. I trust my crew to tell me shit like this! Even more so if you think she's family, I would fucking hope..."

He gave a sharp shake of his head. Family... family was a fucked up thing.

[dctr-mccoy.livejournal.com]

"She didn't think, Jim. She thought it would be different, something good, something we all wanted." He kept his voice low, like it was all still a secret he didn't want spoken aloud. One finger as he pushed a piece of hair over Jim's ear. "She doesn't know what happened, only that it wasn't good."

He closed his eyes, pushing the memories of that day. "She doesn't know, Jim. I don't want her to know."

[kirktastic.livejournal.com]

"I-- shit, Bones. Shit." He touched Bones' hand then moved away, trying to think. trying to make sense of it all. "If she knew about it, if she knew it wasn't good, what would possess her not to say something...!"

[dctr-mccoy.livejournal.com]

"I don't know, Jim," he said, frustrated, as Jim stepped away. "I don't understand, I don't get it, but... it's too late now. It happened and we got hurt and-" his voice stopped for a moment before he continued. "She knows she fucked up, and I just want to stop fighting with her."

He walked over to where Jim had moved, stood behind him. One arm slid around Jim's waist and he inhaled, breathing him in, talking into his hair. "Just want to just get off this fucking planet and get moving, get past it all."

[kirktastic.livejournal.com]

Jim slid his hand over Bones', closing his eyes. "Can we do that, if we're bringing it right along with us on this ship?" Spock was only a few decks away, like picking up the whole opera and putting it on a moving platform.

He leaned back into Bones' body, content to feel the warmth and weight of him. Long as they had each other.

[dctr-mccoy.livejournal.com]

"Yeah," Bones said, "I know we can." It was all going to be okay, he told himself that all the time. It was the only way to get past it all.

"Let's go home," he said, whispering into Jim's temple. That suite of rooms on deck five and the man in his arms was all he needed tonight.

Everything else faded away.