( closed ) can't survive a life that's without you

[sickbays]

Who: jim kirk, spock, leonard mccoy
When: end of august
Where: medbay
What: the trio wake from cryo a little worse for wear & with three years of new memories
Warnings: nudity, blood, descriptions of injuries, & spoilers for beyond

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ot3

[sickbays]

[ He could feel his body breaking down, his molecules scattering, pulling across the planes of Altamid, then reconfiguring to the sound of a shrill, incessant beeping. His chest heaves in terror. He couldn't place the noise, nor the sight of the stark white cryo pod. The memory's too distant in his mind, too inconsequential in comparison to what he'd just witnessed.

Spock — he heaves himself out of his pod — he had to find him. He had to make sure — he reaches for purchase against the opening, his body nearly doubling over with nausea as he does so. The doctor grits his teeth and splays one of his broad hands across his abdomen as he recovers from the sensation.

He curses at himself and tries again, his bare feet slapping wetly against the cold tiles of the cryochamber room floor. His eyes darting across the room and landing on the other pods, which beep and open slowly to release their occupants. ]

they have the best adventures

[caelus]

[ Fear and panic are the two most prominent emotions in Jim Kirk's mind when a shrill beeping comes to his senses. He had been falling. No, he'd been being pulled into the vacuum of space after only just activating the emergency construction hatch for the air systems of the Yorktown. Edison had only just been sucked out into space with the weapon, and Jim had tried to hold on to the egress hatch.

When his grip had slipped he'd screamed, knowing despite saving everyone on that base that this was it. He and Bones had only just done their personal celebration of his birthday, but here he was, about to bite the dust before he even technically hit 30. When his eyes opened, he looked around wildly, palms of his hands finding glass, and the scream of fear choked off in his throat.

He had no idea where he was, what was going on, his fingers scrabbled for purchase and the remnants of an older nightmare were brought to mind when he realized it was a cryotube. It took a few tries, mind still reeling as to what exactly was going on, before he managed to get it open, or it finally did on its own. He's not sure which, not that it matters.

Only he literally went flying, from excess momentum, out of the pod, and tumbled across the floor completely naked. His bangs fell into his face as he groaned in pain, face bruised and stinging, arms protesting from the scraping against the deck, and he worked on pushing himself to his feet. What the---no, where the hell?!

Through still blurred vision, he saw a shape moving not far from what looked like another pod, and shoved himself the rest of the way to his feet. He'd know that man anywhere. ]

Bones! What---[ He squeezed his eyes shut tight, trying to get his bearings, and still dizzy from what had been happening only moments before for him. Altamid. Losing the Enterprise. Krall. The Franklin. ]

You ok? Where's Spock?

kirkles

[sickbays]

[ Once they've got Spock settled into one of the medical beds, his wound cleaned and dressed, a blanket tucked over his bare form, Bones turns his attention to Jim. To the nick he has bleeding down the side of his face, the bruises that were beginning to bloom across his body. He strides over without preamble, the towel he'd grabbed earlier draped low across his waist. There hadn't been time for him to toss any clothes on, and with the curtain partitioned around the bed, and the familiarity between the three of them, Bones couldn't find it in him to care.

There are more important things. He takes the younger man's chin his fingers, examining the injury with a knitted brow, ]

What did you do? [ He grumbles, in that concerned way of his, ] Pick a fight with a bulldozer?

[caelus]

[ By the time they've got Spock stabilized and settled comfortably, the godsend of an adrenaline induced autopilot is starting to wear off for Jim. He's starting to become very painfully aware of the walking bruise he's slowly turned into over the course of the last two days. Was it just two days? God, it felt like more.

He'd been Bones' roommate in the Academy and there isn't a lot of privacy issues left between them. He'd been so concerned with Spock and helping Bones get him stable that he hadn't thought of covering up. He sure as hell isn't thinking of it now. His hands are shaking, body starting in with a fine tremble that is only going to get worse from there.

He doesn't even realize he's zoned out a bit until his best friend is right there, taking his chin in his hands, and he grins like the sun just came out from behind the clouds after a storm. ]

Bones!

[ Not exuberant like it might usually be. Exhausted, though. Definitely relieved and happy as well. Jim winces slightly as he hits a tender spot. Funny. His whole face is one of those. Maybe the rest of him too.

His head ducks down into Bones' hands as he pulls in a shaky breath, and then just moves to wrap his arms around the other man. He doesn't care that his best friend is barely covered up and he isn't at all. He's fighting back the stinging in his eyes, and the tightness in his throat. Fighting back the near overwhelming sense of fear that threatens to boil back up when he thinks about the fact that he likely isn't going to get this whenever he goes back to where they are from.

That this is it. This is it.

He eventually pulls back, knowing Bones is going to want to get a better look at him still. ]

It was Edison. During the attack on Yorktown. You and Spock were, uh---[ Unless Jim is after they are. God, he---he hopes not. And if he is, he very sincerely hates time travel with every fiber of his being or whatever the hell all of this is. ]

[sickbays]

[ Bones has a few of his own — tender spots, contusions, the laceration on his head that he suffered during the crash on Altamid. And others, like his scraped knuckles, from dragging Spock around as they tried to meet up with any surviving members of the crew.

He still wasn't even sure they had, yet. And that's probably one of the most troubling thoughts, right now, because he doesn't even know if everyone's alright. He didn't know if his best friend was, not until he saw him climb out of his cryo-pod and drop unceremoniously to the floor. It's a relief to see him again, in one piece, beaten to near-pulp but not broken.

The doctor wraps his arms around the other man, grunting softly and raking his hand through Jim's sticky mop. ]

What are you talkin' about, Jim? [ He asks after they pull away, his expression wrinkling with confusion. ] Who the hell is Edison?

[caelus]

[ Jim will insist on Bones letting him help whenever he's done with him. He knows how he is, if he tries to force it now, he'll get all of nowhere really fast. He's exhausted, adrenaline going through him and leaving him with the beginnings of the physical crash from it. His hands are trembling.

He hisses softly when his hands go through his hair. There doesn't seem to be an inch of him that doesn't hurt in some way.

He looks confused at Bones for all of a handful of seconds before his brain catches up to him. It must be similar to the same thing that had Bones here for three months when Jim and Spock had only just arrived by their reckoning. ]

God, Edison. He's Krall. He's the Captain of the USS Franklin that was classified as lost almost a century ago. He and his two surviving people, along with the drones, they'rethe ones that attacked us. Attacked Yorktown.

[sickbays]

[ He should rest is what he should do, once Bones gets him fixed up. The doctor can still go a while, or at least force himself to, through pure, bullheaded determination.

He mutters a sheepish apology, when he hears that hiss, and his fingers tangle out of Jim's hair almost immediately before they separate. It still doesn't make a whole lot of sense, what Jim is telling him about Edison. It's just creating more questions than it answers, questions that Bones looks like he wants to ask, but given his best friend's exhaustion, doesn't feel would be appropriate.

They're an entire universe away from that now, anyway, so there's not as if there's anything he or any of them can do. He still looks concerned, though. ]

He's attackin' Yorktown? [ Had attacked Yorktown? The way Jim said it made it sound like it already happened. A beat of silence follows his question, as he contemplates that thought, then follows it up with another. ] Jim — what were you sayin' that Spock and I were doin'?

[caelus]

[ He'll rest when Bones is good too. He's not going to do anything else before that.

Jim mutters a soft it's ok when he draws back at the hiss. ]

Yeah, he is. Or he was. He had this weapon he was trying to get into the air distribution system, but I went after him. [ It dawns on him that Bones is confused because likely this hasn't happened for him yet. He reminds himself yet again of how much he fervently despises time travel in any form. It hardly seems that bad a thing to say as to whether or not they stop him. ] We stopped him.

You and Spock were in one of the drone ships, helping us find a way to destroy the swarm.

[ He offers a shaky grin and adamantly refuses to let it die out before it reaches his eyes. Because he may be dead the second he steps back through the Ingress, but here and now he is very much alive, so are his friends, and they beat the odds again. Jim is secure in knowing that at least. ] We beat him though.

[sickbays]

[ He doesn't have the full picture yet, of what happened between him getting beamed out of the canyon and whatever point in time Jim was taken from, but the answers he gets are reassuring. Krall — Edison had been stopped. Spock is safe, he was safe. Jim was banged up but otherwise alright.

That's really all that's important. They can fill in the rest of the blanks later, once they've had a bit of rest. Bones has to put up a fuss about that last bit, though, about him and Spock being back in one of those ships. ]

Are you shittin' me? [ He mutters, harshly, glaring at Jim before throwing one across his shoulder at the Vulcan. Because just knows the hobgoblin had a hand in that decision, even if Jim hadn't given any indication otherwise. ]

Do you realize that's how Spock got that hole in his side? [ Because he didn't have a decent pilot with him. Because Bones shouldn't have been in the cockpit in the first place. He put Spock's life at risk. The doctor clamps up a bit at the thought, his shoulders heaving slightly with a put-on huff. ]

[caelus]

[ Bones might not have the full picture, but Jim has enough of one to at least ease some of the tension in his best friend's frame. There's always too much of that, more than Jim would ever like, but he takes it as it comes. He doesn't push for Bones to be anything more than he already is. ]

Come on, when do I ever mess with you like that? [ A little bit of humor injected at an inopportune moment? Always. He can't help the rusty chuckle at the glare his best friend gives both himself and Spock's sleeping form. ]

Yeah, I know, but Spock wanted to go it on his own, and still injured. This was the best option. [ A beat as he reaches up and grasps at Bones's forearm just because he can. ] It was a good idea.

[ He's glad that Bones and Spock are together, right now, considering what will likely be happening to him when they eventually get back home. They're going to need each other. ]