Chapter 5

McCoy took his breakfast to eat with Spock, that morning despite not knowing whether or not Spock really understood what he said, he had explained to Spock that he was suffering and injury. McCoy sat on the end of his bed eating his own breakfast, Spock sat on the floor picking at his last vegetable.

“I’ll tell you what though, this whole silent thing, is freaking me out. Is it because you got shrunk or are you just stubborn? Can you physically not? Are you shy?” McCoy says, carrying on one of his many rambles. Spock tilts his head.

“That is exactly what I’m talking about” McCoy said picking up his plate, and Spock’s empty bowl “anyway. I’ll see you for lunch I’ll send nurse Chapel in soon.”

McCoy took the bowls over to the door only to become horribly aware that he was being followed. It wasn’t the noise he made, and he didn’t stand too close. It was just, an awareness.

He turned to the boy who stayed silent “and where do you think you’re going?” Spock touched the door with a hand. McCoy sighed he lent down on one knee.

“It’s too dangerous out there for you, the atmosphere, and gravity could hurt you. It’s not that I want to keep you in here. Do you understand?” He asked.

Spock nodded.

“Good” McCoy said, as Spock took a step to the side. McCoy opened the door to let himself out, and Spock ran.

“Spock!”

It wasn’t purely that his vulcan speed would force the adults to run, but the timing of his escape had gone perfectly with the closing of the elevator doors out in the hall. By the time McCoy had put down the bowl and plate, he could see no sign of where Spock had gone. Had he gone in the elevator, or had he run down the hall? For Spock on the other hand it was a different story, he had got himself stuck in an elevator with a very surprised young man. A man with curly hair, and a yellow jumper.

“Hello Mister Spock” Chekov said. Spock looked up at the man, but stayed mostly still.

“Where are you going?” Chekov asked curiously.

Spock did not reply.

“Do you remember me?”

Spock shook his head.

“My name is Chekov. I am going to Sulu’s lab, it has lots of plants like a green house. Would you like to come with me?”

Spock thought for a moment still eyeing Chekov wearily. But he nodded his head, as the lift came to a stop.

“Come on then Mizster Spock.” Chekov said leading him down the hallway.

Sulu’s lab, known to everyone else as the gardening room, or even the plant specimen lab, was a long room, warm and humid, sections were built up high to grow plants. Bush’s and plants full of berries decorated the path as they walked through.

“Sulu? Are you in here?” Chekov called as they got deeper into the room. The view completely blocked by the greenery for tiny Spock.

“Yes? I just had to water my-” Sulu stopped watering a greenish plant with a pink flower. Instead of petals it had five differently sized phalanges and they followed Sulu as he moved, even giving him a friendly nip. 

“Hello Spock” Sulu said putting the watering can down, Spock greeted him with the vulcan salute, which Sulu mimicked back.

“Chekov” Sulu said with wide eyes, and then gestured up with his hands “why is Mister Spock with you?”

“I found him.”

“McCoy’s going to be angry” Sulu said pursing his lips to hide a grin.

“Then the Doctor should have kept a better eye on him.”

Sulu shrugged “well this is a you problem, so I’m going to leave that one to you.”

“In Russia we share each others problems.”

“Get in trouble by yourself, thank you.” Sulu said watching as Spock slowly approached staring at deeply at the pink flower.

“I found him in the elevator” Chekov said “if anything I am hero.”

“Thats one way of phrasing it, kidnapper, could be another.” Sulu said as Spock pointed questionably to the flower.

“Who this? This is Mr Benjamin.” Sulu introduced Spock. Spock reached out his hand, but looked to Sulu before moving to close.

“Yes! Yes you can touch him, he’s very nice.” Sulu said excitedly and stroked the head of the flower. Spock stroked the flower. The flower moved and played with Spock, just as it had been doing with Sulu.

“He is very cute” Chekov said.

“I know, you know I’ve him since he was just a sapling.”

“…I meant Spock. Nothing like when I was a child.” Chekov said.

“Oh.” Sulu said and looked to Chekov “I don’t think I believe that, I’m sure you were just as adorable as you are now.”

“You do not understand” Chekov said “father vould straighten hair and give bowl cut for school photography. I look awful.”

Sulu snorted “no. No. I’m not believing that. A bowl cut?”

“Father vould say bowl cut good, bowl cut inwented in Russia.”

“What do you think Spock? Bowl cut invented in Russia?” Sulu asked.

Spock shook his head, his attention still on the flower.

“Maybe bowl cut was invented on vulcan, right?” Sulu laughed.

“You not know true horrors of bowl cut” Chekov said pointing to Spock “that is short hair and tiny fringe bowl cut leave true trauma.”

At this Sulu had doubled up with laughter, Spock stopped stroking the flower as he paid careful attention to the two humans.

“This not funny Sulu, very scarring for me, I not able to show cute childhood photos and win peoples hearts.”

“What on earth going on here” Nurse Chapel her shoes loudly hitting the floor as she marched in, she didn’t shout but her sudden appearance had been enough to make the three of them jump.

“And why haven’t you returned Spock to the medical bay?” She asked walking past Chekov and over to Spock.

“I not know he lost” Chekov said.

“He’s not supposed to be in here it’s too humid. Come on Spock” Nurse Chapel said holding out a hand for him. Spock tugged at Sulu’s trousers hiding behind him.

“Aw I’m sorry Spock, maybe you should go with her.” Sulu said, in return Spock gave him a death glare.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry, you got to.”

Slowly Spock walked out from his hiding place and stood next to Nurse Chapel, her hand still held out.

“You’re holding my hand. You’ve already run away once, and I know it is perfectly acceptable to hold a vulcan child’s hand so come on.”

Slowly he took her hand and walked out of the room, hearing a small call behind them of

“Goodbye commander!”

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

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

No mission, would be a mission on the enterprise if it went smoothly. There were peaceful missions, but if on those occasions they were not asked to eat mystical foods, take part in a complex ritual or marry the beautiful alien child of the worlds leader, and there was by pure luck no allergic reactions, then it was no mission the enterprise had ever experienced. That was on a good mission. Other times the crew would be held hostage, security slaughtered on immediate beam down. That was on a fairly bad mission. Worse ones than that did happen, putting at stake planets and people who hadn’t signed their life over to starfleet. There were no lucky escapes for individuals on the enterprise, regardless of who you were, it would shape you for better or worse.

For Captain Kirk he had this particular mission nailed down to be type A, friendly aliens ready to join the federation, that didn’t have any taste buds. Kirk and his first officer were approaching the minister for their final reports. Spock had been particularly Vulcan recently and it was beginning to grow on his nerves. Not the fact that he was Vulcan, but the fact he reminded him of the fact, like he was brand new to human culture.

Captain Kirk was feeling unusually, illogically, positive about his current mission. So far there hadn’t been a fingerprint out of place, although perhaps a tastebud, as he had discovered in all three of their celebration buffets.

“The fact that aliens often appear similar in features is a scientific improbability. Humans alone have varying taste-buds by culture and diet, hoping for an alien species to have tastes similar to yours-”

“I know, but there’s nothing wrong in hoping that an alien species that looks explicitly like us, will also have their own explicit version of a burger.”

“The chances of that happening are-” Spock began to calculate.

“Don’t give me the chances, I want to have some illogical hope. You know it wouldn’t kill you to tone your vulcan-ness down just a little, I know you’re perfectly capable of it.”

Chapter 2 

The medical bay wash awash with bright white light, shining from every angle in an attempt to blind any stray bacteria. McCoy stood beside nurse Chapel, grinning as they gently chatted about one of the crewman who had just left, it was a slow day and as rarely as they came, each one must be taken and bundled up with care. Today was not to be a slow day. The heavy footsteps of Captain Kirk’s heeled shoes tapped in an unusually rhythmic way as he made his way to the door. He stood in the archway their gazes meeting, he was unusually panicked and McCoy was so surprised by this he did not notice what he was holding.

“Jim? What’s wrong?” his voice gentle but strong carried its way, across the med-bay.

“This - this is whats wrong” he said approaching his hair disheveled, his eyes wide, and he nodded down to the black blanket he held by his chest in his arms. McCoy looked down to the small baby vulcan. He raised a curious eyebrow to Jim.

“Now where the hell did you get that?” McCoy said and then rather quickly “give them here then, you’re holding them all wrong.”

“Spock's quarters.”

“What?!” Mccoy said wide eyed as he took the baby and set them on the closest bed, Chapel quickly at his side, handing him a scanner “are you telling me that hobgoblin had a baby and snuck it aboard without telling anyone?”

Chapel gasped “or maybe he stole it.”

Mccoy gasped “I’ve never even seen him look at a woman, nor any man for too long that he’d be able to-” McCoy began, with Chapel furiously nodding.

“No - no” Kirk said putting his hands up in defeat “I think the baby is Spock.”

Chapter 4

McCoy’s office was at the far end of the med-bay, Captain Kirk quickly paced across to it and had managed to knock upon it once with his fist, and enter before any of the other doctors or nurses had had time to look up and greet him.

“Have you got any-” Kirk began to ask walking into McCoy’s office, practically unannounced.

“Dammit Jim, no I haven’t created a miracle cure, or even figured out how the Notmarsian’s drug works, it’s barely been a day would a little patience kill you?” McCoy groused. Kirk sat on the chair opposite McCoy.

“So how is he?”

“I’m sorry Jim, but I’ve got to be honest with you” Mccoy said sitting up and looking Jim in the eye. Kirk sat bolt up right.

“What is it?” 

“It’s Spock. He’s - he’s pretty cute.”

Chapter 3 

Captain Kirk had called together a meeting for the chief of staff, and bridge crew. He briskly entered the room, the rest of the staff except for McCoy already sitting calmly and waiting. He sat at the far end of the table, and took a breath.

“By now you’ve already heard that Mr Spock has been taken ill. What you do not know is the circumstances of that illness, and I feel that to find a cure and fully understand what is going on, you must know. So I’m going to let McCoy explain the circumstances of that illness to you.”

“Why have I got to explain it?” McCoy said, a small vulcan toddler in his arms, and nurse Chapel by his side. The others cooed at him at the surprise.

Chapter 9

It smelt like swimming pools, packed and empty at the time, the air conditioning the was the only thing keeping things together. Spock stood beside the captains chair, unbeknown to him much like his older self did.

“Are you just….gazing at the stars?” Jim asks his chin resting on his hand as he stared intensely at him, like a fool might stare at a kitten.

“What else would I do?” Spock asked.

“Oh I don’t know” he said, deciding that this was what Spock did most of the time. He always thought he was thinking, doing some math or some science - but maybe not, maybe he really was just staring out the window. Chekov looked over the back of his shoulder and scratched his head, a paranoid itch going down his arm.

“Don’t you have hobbies? Something you can be doing? Reading maybe?” Chekov suggested. 

“I’ve tried to read.” Spock said.

“What do you read, history?” Uhura asked.

“Terran classics, ‘Lord of the rings’, ;Alice in wonderland’ ’50 shades of grey’ ‘Jurassic park’. Although I was somewhat prompted to read jurassic park…”

“I’ve got a few classics you might like” Kirk suggested.

“No thanks. Everytime I open a book and begin reading them I remember I’ve already read them.” Spock said.

“Oh. So what are you going to do with your time then?”

Spock shrugged “I dunno.”

Kirk grinned his cheeks raising to his eyes “well I’m sure we’ll find something for you. It won’t do to have you stand here all the time, though I don’t mind, I think Chekov does.”

“Sir, please” Chekov said turning in his chair “I am just nervous, when Spock is older he will recount Thursday, and he will say chekov, you hit the button to slowly, chekov you tapped your foot too much, Chekov you’ve were navigating us in the wrong direction and corrected without telling anyone in hope no one would notice, chekov your uniform is crinkled when you sit on it.”

“Hmm” Captain Kirk nodded “Sulu are we on the right course?”

“Errrr” Sulu said, his eyes spinning from the Chekov to the Captain, he hits a few buttons on the console “of course, Sir.”

“You two aren’t filling me with confidence today.”

“It is like examiners day, I will loose points because I sweat” Chekov said.

“Hmmm” Kirk said. 

“I could give you some books to read. They wouldn’t be classics, but they would be written in this decade. It’s logical to read them because you can see how modern humans talk and interact with eachother, and compare the changing of the genres.”

“I suppose” Spock nodded.

“Or you could just read them because they’re fun” Chekov said.

“No. I need a purpose to read them.” Spock said firmly

“Oh? And what purpose did you have to read lord of the rings?” Kirk asked.

“History.” Spock said. Sulu glanced back to Spock and then to Chekov.

“That was my favourite time in history” Sulu said.

“Yes I was fond of the orcs” Chekov said.

“I feel like a hobbit myself.” Sulu said.

“It’s a shame they went extinct.” Chekov said and Sulu giggled.

“Mr Spock, perhaps you are related to Legolass.” Chekov suggested.

“Captain. These men are idiots. This is a new level of illogic I have not seen before, and I find myself unsure whether this ship will survive for twenty eight days in space.”

“Spock, don’t be mean, not everyone knows their books as well as me, or you apparently, nerd.” Kirk said light heartedly.

“What?” Spock asked sharply.

“Would you like to educate Sulu and Checkov on why ‘Lord Of The Rings’ is historic?” Kirk suggested.

“Lord Of The Rings is symbolism for the second world war.” Spock said.

“Oh” Sulu rolled his eyes “good guys vs bad guys, I guess I should have seen that coming “isn’t… that every war to someone?”

“I love reading for symbolism.” Chekov joked.

“I do read symbolism in books” Kirk said offended “thats enough talking I’m sure you should be paying more attention to the ship.”

Chekov gave a hearty chuckle “of course Sir.”

Kirk spoke to Spock quietly after that. Quiet whispers about ‘Lord Of The Rings’ and favourite characters. 

“Captain” Officer Finnegan said approaching him from the lift with a paid “is it wise to have Commander Spock? He is a child.”

“He’s not working as the Commander right now” Kirk said with a smile.

“I don’t think the bridge is the safest place for a vulcan.” Finnegan said his eyes glancing over the tiny vulcan.

“Finnegan” Kirk said sitting up “it’s a quiet day, it is perfectly safe for him to be here.”

“I don’t think it is-”

“I will leave then.” Spock said taking a step back from the captain.

“Spock you don’t need to do that.” Kirk said “Finnegan who the fuck even are you? God this writers so lazy summoning up villains just to move the plot on, and make you say oof.”

“It’s fine. I’m well adapted to telling when I’m not wanted, I’m sure I can find something else to do.” Spock said and turned on his foot, walking past Finnegan with a breeze that even with his small height seemed intimidating.

“Spock come back. Come on” Kirk called.

“No” Spock said almost huffed as he entered the lift.

Spock was an adventurer. In the days before he’d go to the mountains, to walk deep into the desert finding what he could to survive with I-Chaya in tow. Today he wandered the halls of a starship. He started where he would always begin, at the bottom of the mountain. So the lift took him to the bottom of the ship.

He snuck out the lift into a hallway of pipes, where his ears stung from loud shouting humans. No one noticed him as he stayed close the side of the walls. The crew in engineering was different from anywhere else on the ship. Hands on and intelligent thinkers, tinkers and inventors, it was officially professional work, but the lack of professionalism they had would not be seen nor put up with else where on the ship.

Knowing that if he were spotted he would be made to leave, Spock ran and crouched, hiding behind pipes and boxes. Some meters from him Spock spotted a group of humans leaning over an upside down box that they were using like a table. They were smoking, and fans drifted the fumes away from themselves. A red shirt leant with cigarette in hand as he looked bright eyed at the other four around him.

“So I said to him, maybe if you had the surgery on your eyes and not you dick, we wouldn’t even be having this problem.”

His sentence ended with hearty laughter from the others, the sense of the joke, the story, a glimpse of documentation escaping the sense of Spock. 

There were boxes piled high in the corner of the room. There were boxes piled high in most places, but the pile in the corner caught Spock’s eyes. The boxes left little more than a meter between themselves and the roof, but on the roof, was a vent. Perfect to climb into. Dangerous to climb into. The perfect challenge. So Spock ducked and rolled to the boxes, and began his climb. He did it slowly and he did it carefully but that wasn’t the hard part. Spock laid flat on the top of the boxes, he had perfect sight over the people. Groups and couples that walked, carrying tools and scanners, tapping at pipes and - Spock squinted. One man was placing duct tape around a leaking water pipe. Spock sighed shaking his head. He should probably mention how bad that is - when he’s older. That can’t be proper procedure. When he was certain no one was looking Spock began to undo the screw’s from the vent by twisting them with his hand. When all the screws were undone he carefully and quietly pulled down the vent grid and put it on top of the boxes. He climbed into the vent.

No matter how quietly Spock tried to crawl he was sure he was making a racket. He was sure every time he moved his arm forwards the metal clinked and banged. He was sure a knee forwards sent a shuddering though the whole of the ship. After spending ten minutes slowly climbing forwards Spock rolled on to his back and rubbed at his head. He was sure when he came out where-ever that be, there would be a group of people waiting to question him. To ask him what he thought he was doing. Why he had opened the vent. What the purpose of doing so was. This was why Spock had stopped. What was his explanation? He had not words he could say to those people. To the Captain, to McCoy. After a while, Spock rolled back around and made his way forth deciding to keep a vow of silence when they found him, because they would. He was certain.

The vent ended at a grid looking in to a dark room. It wasn’t fully dark, there were large windows that looked out in to space, and space lit his way. It took a while for Spock to realise why he couldn’t see anything in the room. There was nothing in the room. Spock slipped his fingers through the holes of the vent to unscrew it. But his fingers, from this side, weren’t long enough. He was stuck. He took a deep breath, and carefully turned himself around. Laying on his back with his feet facing the vent he gave it a few solid kicks. At the fifth kick the vent flew off the wall. Spock escaped. Walking over to the vent Spock picked it up. The screws were still firmly attached to the vent as was a small portion of the wall around the screws. Sighing Spock stood on the middle of the vent attempting to straighten out the mess he had made. The vent actually straightened enough to be passable so he carefully balanced it back on the wall. He took a few steps back examining the vent carefully. No one should notice unless they got close.

The room he had discovered was dark, and empty. It was some sort of unused, perhaps even forgotten observation deck. Could things be forgotten on a spaceship? The door showed the most sign of life, and that door had spider cobwebs across it. How? They must have sneaked on by sitting on someones shoulder. There was also a bench against it and some other planks of wood. The entire place was empty. There were other vents but they didn’t really take Spock’s attention. Spock walked up to the window and sat staring cross legged out across the stars. He wasn’t sure what he would be doing for the next few days, but at least he had found this. He laid down on his side, one elbow beneath his head. It wasn’t quiet, wherever he was, he was too close to the engine room still. But it wasn’t a horrible racket he could hear, it was just a gentle purr.

Spock woke some time later, and he turned over on his other side as he watched the door shake. A crowbar shot through the centre of the door. Spock sat crossed legged silently watching the feat as fingers slipped between the door pulling it opened. There stood the Captain, McCoy, Finnegan and Uhura.

“Spock!” McCoy was the first to push himself through he door “what are you doing here?”

He ran forth, making Spock flinch slightly as he ran a scanner over Spock. Spock looked carefully at McCoy wondering if he should keep his vow of silence as the Captain rushed over.

“Is he okay?” Kirk asked crouching.

“According to this he is perfectly fine.” McCoy said standing up.

“Spock, what are you doing here?” Uhura asked concernedly.

“I didn’t even know this room existed. On my ship as well.” Kirk said looking around the room.

“Was it because of Finnegan?” Uhura whispered.

“Yeah Spock” Finnegan said in a carefree attitude “I’m sorry if like I upset.”

“I’m vulcan. You did not upset me.” Spock said standing up, as he decided he didn’t like the attention he was getting. He literally hadn’t spared a second thought to Finnegan.

“Wait, Spock where do you think you’re going?” Uhura asked “you can’t just go off by yourself.”

“Spock, I thought you had gone back to McCoy, do you realise what the ships been like since we discovered you missing? This past hour has been chaos looking for you.” Kirk said. Spock looked at the people surrounding him. His way was thoroughly blocked. The vent Spock had propped up fell on to the floor with a bang, cascading dust surrounded it as the humans jumped to look at it. They turned back to Spock, looking for an explanation as he finished a yawn.

“Oops?”

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

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

[Chapter 12]

----

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 >:(

Chapter 6

For McCoy, each morning was a morning to hold his breath, and hope. He knew each new day Spock was forced to grow, faster than biology would normally allow, was a new chance he might not wake. To be as optimistic as Jim was a gift. Life had never been lucky for McCoy and he had learnt from experience not to hope for much. He wasn’t a pessimist, he was a realist, and he had lost count of the men and women who had died in his arms, no matter how much he liked them. Jim, whilst experiencing the worst had somehow managed to come out of the universe as an optimist, a feeling of ‘if this hasn’t killed me yet, I can’t imagine it ever will’ but ones own fate with the universe, was always down to the singular individual. If he ever stopped to look and think logically, he’d see a trail of blood behind him. Not that he could have done anything to stop it, but that didn’t stop it being there.

He tried to hope in the morning, each day he would not hear from the nurse, and that was a good sign, yet his anxious belly would not let him rest until he had come eye to eye with the little vulcan. It was not to make a mockery of Spock, not fully, it was an attempt to stop the anxiety and swap it with hope or joy. To try and change each morning, McCoy would pick out a new slightly bigger outfit for Spock to wear the night before. Originally he had chosen garish bright colours but even the small vulcan would not have it, he complained it hurt his eyes. So he always chose black trainers and black jeans, but he really put thought into his jumpers. Ones with cats on, ones with ducks on, ones with emoji’s sticking out their tongues. Okay, it was a little to humiliate him, but it was mostly to help him manage his anxiety.

McCoy was humming happily as he walked into Spock’s room that day, where he was wearing a polka dot shirt.

“Good morning Spock.” McCoy said and a breeze ran past him.

“Good morning Doctor.” Spock said already out the room.

“Ah hold on a moment!” McCoy said turning round and  grabbing ahold of the back of Spock’s collar where he’d just got past the doorway “and where do you think you’re going?”

Spock looked up with his big dark eyes “out.”      

“What- no. No. We need to do your exams. You remember what I explained yesterday?”

“I am six I have no exams due.”

“GET In the Medical Bay.” McCoy said guiding Spock back in the door he had left.