#mckirkfuture

Sirens don’t work like most predatory creatures roaming space. They don’t attack humans or other aliens outright, instead they’re much more like vultures. Waiting for others to attack, and then picking off the scraps. Luring doesn’t work so well when nobody hears you through the thick walls of space ships. With humans in Klingon territory, that’s usually very easy dinner. Humans in their own, not so much. And sometimes, when hunger strikes enough, sirens will attack those smaller supply shuttles.

Jim is part of the group that attacks two small shuttles on their way to bigger ships, like the Enterprise. Jim’s seen it pass multiple times. The lights, the speed, the pure size of it magnificent. But these vessels won’t ever make it there, because his family is breaking the shuttles apart and dragging victims outside.

He doesn’t usually think twice about it, until now. His eyes find Leonard immediately, when the hole in the shuttle drags his body outside and tumbling into outer space. Jim is quick to get to him, but something stops him from his usual habit. Leonard looks at him, eyes dark and angry - not even necessarily terrified. Just intimidatingly mad, and somehow, Jim feels like he needs to keep this man alive. He doesn’t know why yet, but it’s a gut feeling. And so he reaches out, cupping Leonard’s cheeks, and he leans in to kiss him.

“What. The fuck?!” Is the first thing Leonard shouts at him, and Jim smiles fondly at him. “I saved your life,” he says. “Like hell you did,” Leonard says, and Jim tries to stifle a laugh at how helplessly the other floats without Jim holding on to him. Humans are weird that way. “Why can I breathe here?” “The same way fish breathe in water,” Jim explains. “… No,” Leonard replies. “Yes,” Jim says. “I’m going to die here,” Leonard mutters to himself. Around them, nothing but some debris from the shuttle, and otherwise a whole lot of nothing. “You’re not going to die here,” Jim promises. “And if I die,” Leonard continues, blatantly ignoring Jim, “so will hundreds of others. I can’t believe this. Fucking space.” “Wait, what are you talking about?” Jim asks. “I’m a doctor, damn it, I was traveling to a ship that would take me to a planet suffering a bad epidemic.” “Well,” Jim says slowly, “shit.”

Leonard’s arms are strong around Jim’s shoulders as Jim swims - or flies, however you’d call it - through space. It’s not unpleasant, but the odd feeling in Jim’s stomach is guilt, and maybe the excitement of having something to do other than simply surviving. If he can get Leonard to that nearby ship, then maybe he could still save all those people. And if that meant never seeing this man again, not having him as his own, then so be it.

They do get Leonard back on a ship, but not the way Jim had intended. Leonard uses his comms to signal the ship, and to beam just himself aboard. But when he mentions Jim’s a siren, Jim gets beamed on board, too. The sudden surge of oxygen around them makes him gasp for air, though his body is quick to adapt to it. What he’s not adapting to, though, is the force pushing him down to the ground, arms quickly tied behind his back. “Wait,” he hears Leonard call out, “Jim’s not harmful. Let him go.” But they don’t, and Jim’s knocked unconscious.

He wakes up in a small room with zero gravity and little oxygen, more accomodating than the ship itself, but it’s still a prison. Theres even a guard in front of the glass window, doing his best to ignore Jim when the other knocks on the glass. “Please,” Jim says, “I just wanted to help. Let me go.” “I cannae,” the guard says, a weird accent Jim can barely understand, “we have our orders.” “I will die in here,” Jim says. “No you won’t, the captain’s delivering you to the collector.” “The what?” “It’s like a zoo,” the guard explains, though that doesn’t really explain anything to Jim at all.

“Leonard,” Jim says when the doctor comes to see him. “Are you okay?” Leonard asks, but Jim shakes his head. “No, Leonard, I don’t want to be here.” “I know,” Leonard says, “I’m sorry. I’ll see what I can do for you.”

Jim doesn’t know how long he’s been there. Must be a while, because every time Leonard visits him he’s wearing a different outfit. He does his best to try and persuade the captain of the scavenger ship to let Jim go, but apparently Jim is worth some good money. At least the guard, Scotty, is nice. Gives him most of the meat on his plate and chats to him about building things. More ships, and stuff like that. Jim is still miserable, but in the presence of these two men, a little less so.

“How are you doing?” Leonard asks, “are you holding up alright?” “No,” Jim says, “Scotty explained to me what a zoo is. I don’t want to be put on display, Leonard. I don’t… This is what I get from saving your ass. I should’ve just eaten you.” “Why didn’t you?” Leonard asks, and Jim shrugs. Hesitates, before he answers. “You were beautiful.” Leonard looks at him blankly for a few seconds, then; “What?”. “I thought you were beautiful,” Jim says, “eating you would’ve been a waste.” Leonard sighs, quiet for the longest time, and then he bangs his fist against the glass dividing them, hard enough to make Jim jump. “Damn it,” Leonard curses, “fine. Ima smuggle you out of here.”

The roles are reversed, now. Jim’s arms are tightly around Leonard’s shoulders as the other carries him through narrow corridors. Scotty helps them, for no reason other than the goodness of his heart. Also partially because their plan is to escape in a small cargo ship, and Scotty wants to fly it. Doesn’t really like his job here, anyway, he says. And thankfully, Scotty knows just which corridors to take, who to avoid, and how to get to the docking station relatively unseen.

By the time they fly out, they’ve shot a few people, but no one rang that alarm. Not yet, but Scotty suspects they will, soon, and he sets course to hide the ship amidst a meteor shower. “Are you nuts?” Jim overhears Leonard yell at Scotty. “They won’t look for us here,” Scotty says. “Because we’ll fucking die,” Leonard counters. “I know how to fly a shuttle, doctor! We won’t crash.” Though he’s barely finished his sentence when they do hit a rock nearby. “Starting now,” Scotty finishes his sentence.

Passengers AU, with some necessary changes to make it less cringe (can’t say I enjoyed it a lot, but… McKirk, ok)

Being abruptly woken up is terrifying. Jim is disoriented; struggling to breathe properly and have his eyes adjust to the light around him. “Welcome, Jim Kirk,” the hologram of a woman rings in his ears, “we hope you’ve slept well. When you’re ready, please find your room on the upper decks. A crew member will be there to assist you, if necessary.” Jim barely takes any of that in. He’s finally awake, though it feels like he went to sleep only a few minutes ago. He steps out of his cryobed and looks around; the other passengers still seemingly asleep, but he doesn’t think about it and instead finds his way to his room. It’s huge, luxurious, with a kingsize bed bigger than he’s ever seen. He’s definitely not complaining, and resists the urge for an immediate nap after having been asleep for so long already. So rather, he showers and gets dressed into something comfortable, then makes his way to the bar.

“Where is everybody?” he asks the bartender. “Around, surely,” the bartender replies, “whiskey?” “Yes, please,” Jim says, looking around curiously. When the bartender serves him his drink, Jim takes an eager sip. He’s neither hungry nor thirsty, yet it feels like he hasn’t eaten in years. Which, technically, is true. “So how long until we arrive?” Jim asks curiously. “Oh, 90 years, 2 weeks, and 3 days,” the bartender replies. Jim sips his drink, again, and only then realizes what the bartender is saying. “What?” “90 years, 2 weeks-” “No, I heard,” Jim says, “but what?”

Initially, being alone isn’t so bad. Jim gets to explore the areas of the ship that are otherwise off limits even to gold members such as himself. But after a few days, it gets boring. The only one he can talk to is his bartender, Scotty, and Scotty’s a robot. After weeks, or months (who knows at this point?), Jim stops caring about his appearance, because he’s alone, anyway. Often walking around naked or in pajamas because it’s comfortable. Often eating in Scotty’s presence so that he has someone to talk to. Stops shaving until he’s got a decent beard. But then, when he wanders around aimlessly in his pajamas, Jim suddenly becomes very aware of a continuous banging on one of the crew doors. And when he peaks through the small window, there’s another guy there. Awake. “Holy shit,” Jim mutters to himself, then tries to open the door from the outside, but to no avail. Not without any proper tools, anyway. So he breaks into the engineering rooms, finding whatever tools he deems useful, and after hours, the door finally breaks. “Oh, thank God,” he hears the other man say, and Jim finds himself pulled into a brief hug, “I thought I was going to starve to death.” “Are you okay?” “No,” the other says, “I woke up way too early. The door to the rest of the ship was locked, I had to live on whatever emergency rations were stashed here just in case, and I ran out nearly 4 days ago.” “Jesus,” Jim says, grabbing the stranger’s arm, “let me take you the canteen, then.”

Leonard McCoy, or Bones, is fascinating. A doctor, whose cryobed somehow also malfunctioned, a month or so after Jim’s did. Jim makes sure he’s properly fed, and then just doesn’t leave the guy alone, because Jim’s attention starved. No matter how much he likes Scotty, it doesn’t beat a real human being. And after Bones has showered and slept, and eaten properly, he looks damn handsome, too. Jim starts making an effort again, and takes Bones out on the ship to explore it together. Bones loves the swimming pool and the cinema, and, of course, the bar. He spends a lot of time in the med bay, too, catching up on crew profiles and any recent Earth studies they’ve received.

Jim is just completely smitten and doesn’t even know what to do with himself around Bones. Normally, flirting isn’t such a problem, but he feels a bit rusty after so long. So rather, he decides to take him on some romantic date idea. “C'mon,” he says, dragging Bones out of his research on how to put both of them back to sleep. That can wait, after all. He takes Bones to a special airlock, pointing at the astronaut suits. “They have these specially build, with a safety cord,” Jim says, “I went floating outside once to check it out.” “Are you insane?” Bones replies, and that’s… not quite what Jim was expecting. “It’s safe, Bones.” “You’re floating. In space. In a suit with limited oxygen,” Bones stresses, “only connected to the ship with a measly safety cord? Are you crazy?” “I thought it’d be fun,” Jim says. “That’s your definition of fun?!”

So, that didn’t work as expected. Jim is a little disappointed Bones doesn’t even want to try it out; and instead has to listen to the other list the dangers of space for what feels like hours. No matter, though, because when they arrive in the bar, Bones’ mood is considerably better. And afterwards, Jim walks him back to his room. He’s never actually been there, and when he does, he knows why. The crew cabins are considerably smaller, and Bones’ room contains at least 4 beds where otherwise other crew members would have slept. “Why are you staying here, man?” Jim asks, “you can have whatever room you want. Come check out mine, maybe it’ll change your mind.” And so he brings Bones to his room. His spacious, split level room with his own bar and cleaning robot. Despite that, though, it’s still incredibly messy, and he can feel Bones’ eyes judge him while Jim hastily cleans up some of his clothes from the floor. “Why do you even need all this space?” Bones asks, and Jim shrugs. “Y'know, to impress a handsome guest coming over,” he says. Bones’ expression softens, and Jim instantly feels more relaxed knowing Bones hasn’t rejected that comment. “Yeah? You always leave your room so messy for your handsome guests to see?” Bones asks, and Jim shrugs lightly. “Only you.” “Oh, I feel so special,” Bones replies. “You should be, because you are,” Jim says. And that works. Because Bones leans in to kiss him, and it’s the most wonderful thing in the world. Or, the second most wonderful thing, because Bones’ hands sneaking under his shirt while they find their way to Jim’s bed is even better.

Things get so much better from then on. Because no one is around, that means no one stops them from having sex pretty much anywhere. Jim falls rapidly more in love with this grumpy doctor. But then the ship malfunctions. Apparently, being hit by a meteoroid caused the ship to malfunction, waking Jim and Bones up sooner than expected, and the ship continues to shut down in several places. Lights flicker repeatedly, and after a blaring alarm, they find out the engine is close to overheating.

Consulting the engineering manuals, they find out there’s a safety latch outside the ship that can help the engine from overheating, but that requires actually going out there. Bones is already panicking about that before Jim suggests putting on the suit and going out there. The prospect of the whole ship potentially overheating and blowing up is enough of a reason for Bones to let Jim go outside, but only barely so.

“Are you okay?” Bones asks into the communication system when he hears Jim struggling outside. “Yeah, zero gravity’s a little difficult to work with,” Jim replies, “the latch is stuck.” “I’m near the engine room,” Bones says, “it doesn’t look good, Jim.” “Way to put more pressure on me. I’m trying my best here,” Jim replies. “Try harder,” Bones says, and Jim huffs. He tugs and pulls at that stupid latch, until it finally opens - and the sudden blast of hot air shooting outside sweeps Jim off his feet. The cord keeping him attached to the ship tightens around his waist, and then snaps. “Bones,” Jim calls out while he’s spinning uncontrollably through space, “Bones, I’m in trouble.” “You did it!” Bones calls out. “Bones,” Jim stresses, “the cord broke, I can’t get back.” “What?” “I can’t get back inside.” “Are you joking?” Bones says. Jim’s quietly panicking, though he tries not to make it sound like he is. “It’s okay,” he says, “I’m almost out of oxygen, I can’t get back. It won’t take long-” “Shut up,” Bones replies, “you’re gonna get back to the ship, okay?” Jim nods, though of course, Bones can’t see that. “Just know that if I can’t– I mean, Bones, you should know–” “Save it,” Bones replies, “no need to mention it. Just get back to the damn ship.” It gets harder to breathe rather quickly, and the constant tumbling around is dizzying, so it doesn’t take long for Jim to just pass out completely.

Jim must be dead. Has to be, right? His suit ran out of oxygen. His cord broke. He has to be dead. But when he opens his eyes, he’s back inside the ship. Bones is asleep on a chair next to his bed, though when Jim grunts, Bones instantly wakes up. “How did I get here?” Jim asks, sitting up straight with Bones’ help, who checks out his eyes, takes his temperature - but most importantly, kisses him breathless for a while. “Did you float out into space to save me?” Jim asks, and Bones shrugs. “t Was no big deal. I save your stupid ass all the time.” Jim laughs, cupping Bones’ cheeks and kissing him again. “I love you,” he says. Because it’s true. It’s not because he was on the brink of death. It’s because Bones is the most wonderful human being he’s ever met.

“These bio beds,” Bones says, “they have the ability to freeze you and put you back to sleep.” “Seriously?” Jim asks, and Bones nods. “I can put us back under, Jim.” “Both of us, are you sure?” Jim asks carefully, and Bones nods. “I can put us back to sleep, and we should wake up just before our arrival,” Bones says, and so Jim smiles. “Okay,” he says. He watches Bones as he initializes the program on two medical beds (– after all, there would be more than one bed on a ship with over 5000 passengers). Once he’s done, Jim leans in to kiss him. “See you in 89 years?” he asks, and Bones laughs. “Yes, see you soon,” he says, before Jim nods back to sleep in his new bed.

I’d love to turn it into a full fic, but I never complete anything in my life, hence the short bullet point stories haha.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 |

Leonard’s head is pounding when he wakes up. Not from alcohol; he doesn’t remember drinking excessively earlier that night. Jim’s presence usually takes away the need to drink a lot. A few beers is enough while they walk, bicker, or just relax together. Though Jim doesn’t drink, and that kind of takes away the pleasure of drinking in company. No, this headache isn’t from drinking. If the blood trickling down from his head to his face is any indication; it definitely wasn’t caused by drinking. Not just that, there’s a faint beeping ringing in his ears, and when he reaches out, he becomes increasingly aware that this isn’t his bedroom. He’s outside, in the park. And there’s a bomb strapped around his neck. “Good evening, agent McCoy,” a voice rings from the phone strapped to the bomb - filming his every second. “Nero,” Leonard says, “I take it you’re no longer in jail.” “Smart. You smart enough to dismantle that bomb, too? Don’t think so. You have 20 minutes, and the world’s watching.” “You know I’m just going to lock you up again,” Leonard says, his fingers reaching out to feel the thing around his neck. “What, from the afterlife? Good luck with that.”

Leonard isn’t calm. He’s anything but. The fact that he’s didn’t wake up in the morning in his bed is concerning enough, let alone the fact that there’s a bomb strapped to his neck, and he has no idea where Jim is. But the world is watching him through that stupid phone that’s filming him. He thought he captured this man before - who traps people into this life-or-death game and has the world watching them, placing bets debating who should be next. Of course, considering Leonard put him behind bars, he would be the first to go after now that Nero’s out. “Bones!” Jim calls out so suddenly Leonard nearly jumps, though his voice is such a relief. “Jim,” Leonard sighs a little breathlessly when the other approaches him, “careful.” “I swear to God, I’m away for one night and you get a bomb strapped to your neck,” Jim says, slowing down once he gets closer to the park bench Leonard’s sitting on, “can’t leave you alone for two seconds. Who’d you piss off this time?” “Nero,” Leonard says, “his real name, it’s all in the files in the precinct. I locked him up before.” “Clearly didn’t do a good job at that,” Jim replies, “let me have a look.” “Jim, you have to get to a safe distance.” “Let me have a look,” Jim repeats. “Jim,” Leonard insists, “I only have two minutes left.” “Exactly,” Jim says, “let me have a look.” 

It doesn’t help that Leonard’s fingers are pretty much shaking by now. He never particularly feared death before, but this is different. It feels like he has someone in his life again - which takes away that otherwise sacrificial behavior he had before. “Jim,” Leonard says when there’s less than 30 seconds left, “you should go.” “No,” Jim says, his fingers still working on the bomb, “it’s you and me, Bones. ‘til the end.”

When Jim pulls the bomb off and stops the timer, Leonard isn’t sure whether to laugh or cry, or both. Jim reaches out and cups Leonard’s cheeks. “Are you okay?” he asks, and Leonard nods. Jim tilts Leonard’s head just lightly, examining the wound on his head. “What took you so long to show up here, huh?” Leonard says, and Jim laughs, leaning in to press a kiss to Leonard’s lips.

Little do they know the consequences of that display of affection, though. It isn’t exactly allowed to be in an actual relationship with androids. But Jim is different. Jim has a soul. It’s consensual, he doesn’t get treated like a second class citizen, Leonard thinks. But he is, and Leonard receives a less-than-friendly talking to about this at work. It’s not that his captain really cares, but the law is the law. To make matters even worse, Jim is quietly doing research with  Leonard on Nero’s whereabouts when a few colleagues pass by and both catch them bad-talking the recorded events of just the day before. Leonard visibly tenses, but Jim rests his hand on Leonard’s shoulder. “Don’t,” he warns him, “not worth it.” “You always let a robot tell you what to do?” one of the agents says, and Leonard grits his teeth. He could have shrugged it off on any other day, but he hasn’t closed an eye last night because he nearly died, and now this guy is giving him shit. So before Jim can stop him, Leonard’s in front of the guy and punches him in the face.

It doesn’t end well. Leonard gets suspended, Jim is permanently reassigned to a different agent. "What is wrong with you?“ Jim insists when he comes home. “Nothing,” Leonard replies. “Bones, your pulse is racing, you’re clearly angry. You punched a fellow cop in the face-” “He was disrespectful to you,” Leonard interrupts. Jim sighs, sitting down next to the other. “You smell like alcohol,” he says, and Leonard shrugs. “Bones,” Jim continues, reaching out to cup Leonard’s cheek and tilting his head to make the other face him, “who cares what the other detectives think? You’re a good agent, you’re wasting your own time and that of potential victims when you’re sitting here doing nothing. I don’t care about being treated like a ‘second class citizen’, I don’t.” “How can you not care?” Leonard asks, and now it’s Jim’s time to shrug. “I don’t know any better.” “That’s just wrong,” Leonard says, and Jim smiles. “That’s coming from the one who told me he’s not attracted to ”robots“ and prefers his partners alive.” Leonard huffs, leaning in to press a gentle kiss to Jim’s lips. A little drunkenly so, but soft none the less. Jim slowly pulls away. “You gonna admit you behave this way because you didn’t close an eye last night? You almost died. Not being able to sleep is normal, just admit you’re scared.” Leonard rolls his eyes at that, pushing Jim further away. “Never.”

Jim works with agent Sulu now. Leonard’s not very close with him, but Sulu treats Jim with respect and Leonard follows their case from a distance - quietly pleased when they rescue a group of kids being taken hostage. Leonard’s bored out of his mind all by himself, though. He needs to have something to do, and so he goes back looking for Nero. First he just checks those streaming websites he’s used before, and then he gets Spock to try and track him down. “I can help,” Uhura says, and Leonard raises an eyebrow. “Shouldn’t you be with Pike?” “I rather work here,” Uhura replies, before throwing him a sympathetic smile, “I’m sorry you got suspended.” “Yeah, well,” Leonard starts, but in lieu for an actual answer, he just shuts up and glances at the computer screen. Just by touching the tablet, Uhura downloads all of Leonard’s findings to her own hard drive, and Leonard and Spock mostly just quietly wait while she works. “You keeping more pretty ladies in this basement, or what?” Leonard asks, and Spock raises an eyebrow. “Uhura wants to be here. At least I don’t boast my illegal relationship to the public by showing public display of affection while my own potential death is being livestreamed.” “You watched that video, huh?” “Leonard, the whole country’s watched that video.” “Strange,” Uhura says, and that brings both boys’ attention back to her, “I’m tracking all the CCTV in the city, but the only potential match I get is currently in the precinct.” Leonard frowns, instantly reaching out for his jacket. “He’s after Jim.”

He’s not after Jim. Jim’s just an insignificant android, after all. Leonard finds out that, instead, he’s after the whole precinct. By the time he arrives, all the doors of the precinct are locked and barricaded, and all the police men and women are trapped inside with a ticking time bomb. “Jim,” Leonard says through his phone when the other picks up, “what’s happening in there?” “People tried to disable the bomb, but whoever touches it gets electrocuted. I’m not sure what to do, Leonard.” “I’m going to find Nero. In the meantime, try and find a way to disable the electricity. Make sure no one else gets hurt.” “Be careful,” Jim says, and Leonard smiles. “You too.”

He does find Nero nearby. He’s always within earshot of the crime scene and this time isn’t really any different. Leonard struggles to overpower him, but he manages.  A gun pointed to the back of Nero’s head isn’t enough to actually disable the bomb, but after Leonard shoots both his legs and leaves him unable to run, he’s ready to comply. He releases the barricades that keeps his colleagues trapped inside, and it allows them to flee outside while actual bomb disposal experts manage to diffuse the thing.

Jim doesn’t even care about the law when he sees Leonard again. He pulls him into a tight hug, and Leonard is happy to accept that. “You okay?” Leonard asks, reaching out to run his fingers through Jim’s hair, and Jim nods. “I’m fine. Most people are fine. What about Nero?” “He’s going back to prison. For a long time, this time.” Leonard says. 

“You saved a lot of lives today, McCoy,” his captain says, and Leonard shrugs lightly. “Just doing my job.” “No,” she replies, “not your job, because I had to suspend you.” “I understand why you had to,” Leonard says, “I’m not asking for my job back, I just-” “Tough,” she replies, “I expect you in the office on Monday.” She smiles, and so does Leonard. “I’m… assuming I’m going to be assigned an MX, then?” “No, I think Jim’s good for you,” she says, “I won’t say anything if you don’t.”

ALMOST HUMAN AU. 

Part 1 | Part 2 |  Part 3 |

Living with J.I.M. (or just Jim) isn’t even so bad. Initially, Bones insisted Jim charged himself in his own private room, but after a while of them getting increasingly more intimate at home, Bones one day just moves Jim’s charging station to the bedroom. When Jim finds out, he scans Bones’ face curiously, but he’s all too happy to reward his detective boyfriend for that afterwards.

They’re on a case, back with another murder occurring around androids in the sex industry. They find out it’s because some underground clan started combining human DNA with these sex ‘bots, and it makes them go a bit loopy. Murdering and manipulated loopy. After they catch the culprit, the android in question, unaware as she is, has to be shut down. Bones catches Jim’s glance at that, reaching out to rest a hand on his shoulder. “You okay?” he asks. Jim doesn’t immediately respond. He looks at Bones, slowly nodding. “I would like to be there, when she’s shut down. “Are you sure?” “Yes,” Jim replies.

Bones watches Jim quietly talk to the girl - who has absolutely no idea what’s happening to her or why she’s being shut down. “I promise I’ll remember you,” Jim says softly to her, and then he watches the engineer shut her down. Jim seems quite upset over the whole ordeal, and he doesn’t want to go out for a drink. So instead, they sit at home. Jim quietly sits next to Bones on the couch. “Do you want to talk about it?” Bones asks. “I just… what if something happens to me, and you’re gonna have to shut me down?” “That’s not gonna happen,” Bones says. “But what if-” “It’s not gonna happen,” Bones replies firmly. Jim turns to look at him with both fondness and interest in his eyes. “You care about me,” he says, and Bones huffs, resting his hand on Jim’s leg and squeezing it softly. “We all make mistakes.”

Having lost a leg in an accident, Bones’ synthetic leg doesn’t often calibrate right. When it doesn’t, it causes an annoying dull ache that just kind of stays, and his leg doesn’t always functions so well. For some reason, Bones is also an annoying shit enough so that he never actually fixes it. And so at night, Jim has to listen to Bones grunting under his breath, squeezing the skin of his leg just above his synthetic. It takes a long time before he feels comfortable enough to walk around in just shorts, showing off his synthetic leg. It takes even longer for Bones to be comfortable enough to take it off and let it re-calibrate. It drives Jim nuts, because he’s an android himself, why would he even care about a synthetic leg? “C’m here,” Jim says, after listening to Bones try and stifle his own discomfort. Not just that, the synthetic occasionally beeps and says a: “Calibration Incomplete”. “No,” Bones says, “I’m fine.” “Come. Here,” Jim repeats through gritted teeth, grabbing Bones by his shirt and pulling him in closer, both his hands on both sides of Bones’ leg. “You don’t have to-” “Ssh,” Jim hushes him quiet, “you’re driving me insane.” His fingers dip into Bones’ skin, massaging the sore skin. “You gotta look after yourself, Bones,” Jim says, continuing softly, “your leg needs care, and needs to be charged frequently in order for it to calibrate properly. He explains it for a little while, but when he looks up, Bones has fallen asleep.

Things take a turn for the worse quite suddenly. Bones is in the supermarket to buy food, and mostly to stock up on liquor. Jim is tagging along despite not eating things, because he likes to interact with people, and correct Bones’ unhealthy eating (and drinking) habits. “I’m thinking fries and ribs,” Bones says, and Jim frowns. He doesn’t reply, and Bones mostly ignores it. “D'you want to swing by Spock later? We can see if he has updated charging stations,” Bones suggests, grabbing a small box of coleslaw for good measure. As soon as he turns back to Jim, though, the other looks different. Blue eyes a little darker, and his expression mostly just blank. “Jim?” Bones asks, stunned when the other reaches out for Bones’ throat and throws him backwards against the shelves. “Jim–?!” he asks, but then Jim punches him again. And again. And again. Until finally, Bones reaches out with his good leg, kicking Jim backwards.

“Spock, I need a little help here!” Bones shouts into his phone. “What’s the problem?” Spock asks. “I don’t know- Jim’s malfunctioning,” Bones says, shielding away from Jim trying to attack him or other grocery shoppers. “His system’s been rewritten,” Spock says after a few seconds of silence and Bones hears nothing but the typing on his computer. “Okay, so what do we do?” “Turn him off.” “Okay.” “Permanently.” “What? Spock, no,” Bones says. “Leonard, someone’s accessed his data and is rewriting it as we speak.” “Then stop them,” Bones hisses, “you’re not going to shut down Jim permanently.” “I have to follow protocol,” Spock replies, then he’s silent for a few seconds, “but if you can knock him out, I’ll see what I can do for you to postpone shutting him down.”

Bones does manages. Barely so, and with significant damage done to the grocery store. Jim has a temporary off-switch, like all models, though it’s hard to find and even harder to switch. Bones has to keep Jim trapped to the ground so he can find it. And when he does, and Jim powers down, Bones feels horrible. Not just because of the probable concussion from being hit in the head multiple times, or the possible broken nose, but because he watches the light go out in the eyes of his best friend. It sucks. “C’m here, buddy,” he says, pulling the lifeless body up in his arms, “I’m gonna fix this.”

He watches Spock try for a few days. But every time he turns Jim on, the other seems to be more violent and less responsive to commands. Bones, however, refuses to let him power him down permanently. “Tell me what I can do,” Bones says, “is there another body we can transfer him to? There’s multiple J.I.M.s stored away.” “It’s not the body, it’s the CPU,” Spock says, “if we transfer that, the problem will just happen again but in another body. If we don’t transfer it, you’ll be with a different J.I.M., who has no memories of you, whose synthetic soul might react to things differently. It’s a whole different person, just in the same body.” “Then tell me what I can do,” Bones insists. “I… I guess, if we could track down his maker,” Spock says, running a hand through his hair, “but the one who created these Synthetic Souls, he’s been underground for a long time.” “I’ll find him,” Bones says, grabbing his jacket so that he can get to work immediately. “Leonard,” Spock says, “you and I both know these androids are second class citizens, and they’ll always be treated as such. Loving one, even someone as real as Jim, it’s never going to be accepted. These things are against the law.” Bones narrows his eyes a little, but doesn’t say anything. “All I’m trying to say,” Spock says, “is be careful. Not with falling for an android, but with having other people - the wrong people - find out about that.”

Tracking down his maker takes long. Too long, Bones thinks, and every day he’s worried Jim’s not going to wake up the same again. But Bones finds him. Christopher Pike; a retired robotics engineer and inventor, who has distanced himself to be almost completely off grid. The only reason Bones finds him is because he runs into Uhura; another android, but one who feels oddly similar to Jim in behavior. It doesn’t take him long to figure out that a synthetic soul is behind that, and so he tracks her down until she leads him straight to the older man. “Pike,” Bones says once he finds the other in his own backyard, “I need your help.” “Haven’t heard that name in a while,” Pike replies. “One of the androids at the precinct has been hacked. We suspect his synthetic soul-” Pike huffs at that. “Those bland MX androids don’t have synthetic souls, boy. They’re sheep. Just following orders.” “I’m talking about J.I.M.,” Bones replies, slowly sinking down in a garden chair next to Pike. “Jim,” Pike repeats slowly, “they were all turned off.” “We turned one back on,” Bones says, “he’s a police officer now. No longer a tool for the sex- and espionage industry. He saved a lot of lives.” “I always told them Jim was designed for more than just pleasure,” Pike says. “Can you help him?” Bones presses gently. “J.I.M.s were turned off for a reason, son,” Pike replies, “their synthetic souls… flawed. Couldn’t handle consciousness, love, and devotion. Turned most of them mad, and vulnerable to those wanting to take advantage. It’s probably best if he stays turned off.” “Please,” Bones says, “I tracked you down because you’re the only chance he’s got. He’s my best friend.”

Pike works tirelessly on rebooting Jim. Bones stays by his side all that time, assisting where necessary. So does Spock, and Uhura helps, too. The two of them seem to take an odd liking for each other. Finally, the next time Jim opens his eyes, they look normal. He stares up at the ceiling, mildly confused and taking his time to register his location. “What are we doing in Spock’s lab?” he asks, slowly sitting up straight, “I thought we were going for fries and ribs?” He’s silenced by Bones, who pulls him into a breathtaking hug - one that would’ve been painful if Jim was actually alive and breathing. “Hey, what happened?” Jim asks, gently patting Bones’ shoulder. “Does he not remember anything?” Bones asks when he pulls away. Pike shakes his head. “Had to erase it all. You know, to leave no corrupt data behind.” “Who’s this?” Jim asks. “Jim, this is Pike,” Bones says, “your maker.”

Jim watches Bones and Spock, both talking to Uhura while enjoying a steaming cup of coffee. They’ve given Jim some distance to talk to Pike, though Jim can’t help but sense Bones’ glances towards him a lot. “Thank you,” Jim says, after having been made aware of the situation, “I appreciate you helping me.” “Don’t worry about it,” Pike says, “how are you feeling, kid?” “Fine,” Jim says, “but I’ve been wondering-” “If it’s all real?” Pike asks, “that annoying sense of right and wrong, doubt and hesitation, maybe love for others?” “Yes,” Jim says, a bit stunned. “That’s why we call it a soul, Jim,” Pike replies, “everything you’re feeling, no matter how frustrating or confusing it may seem. It’s you. I created it, but it’s not me who decides which path you take, who you choose to be with, or what your opinion is about things. Everything you feel, it’s all you.”

For @conduitstr; happy birthday, girl!  ❤️ ✨

The moment the old steam train stops in the station, Jim is quick to hop out. He doesn’t carry any luggage with him, he doesn’t plan to stay long. Just a quick look around the town; see if any of it is worth his time and his money. It smells like dry grass, grease, and the perfumes of different people mix together as other visitors depart the train now, too. Okay, Jim thinks to himself, time to go exploring.

Leaving the station, he arrives at the main street. It's really a dirt road, old wooden and stone houses on either side of it. People walk by; some in awe of their surroundings, others walk around like they don't know any better. It doesn't take him long to find the local saloon. There's piano music to lift up the atmosphere. People are sitting, chatting, playing card games together, or being approached by the local host girls. Jim, too, is approached by one. "Hey, handsome," she says, and Jim's lips curl into a smile when she reaches out to touch his arm, "how about you and I go and have some fun upstairs?" Tempting. Very tempting. But Jim shakes his head nonetheless. "No, thank you. Perhaps later," he replies, and then buys a glass of bourbon at the bar.

He's quietly chatting to the bartender, trying to figure out more about this town. After a couple minutes, though, there’s commotion outside, so Jim goes to check it out. A group of bandits has arrived and are actively creating havoc. Jim has to duck besides liquor filled barrels to avoid bullets flying his way. The same girl who tried to get him upstairs before tries to duck, too, but she gets shot before she gets the chance to. Jim forgets all about his own safety, jumping up to drag her to safety instead. “Are you okay? Where are you hurt?” he asks, though the red stain on her dress is indication enough. “I need… I need a doctor,” she breathes, looking at Jim through tear stained eyes, and Jim nods. “Of course.”

They have to wait until the shooting is over, and by then, Jim worries it’s too late for her. He’s used his knife to break open one of the barrels, and uses the clear liquid to clean up the wound in her side the best he can, while simultaneously trying to keep her quiet. Then, he carries her to the doctor’s office. It’s small and it’s dusty – fairly sure it doesn’t fit the health regulations. It’s also busy, all the wounded who are still alive are all sitting on available chairs or lying on the floor while a single guy works to fix them all. “Doctor?” Jim says, “I need a doctor.” “Get in line,” the guy replies. “Please,” Jim stresses, and the guy sighs. “Put her down, I’ll be right there.”

The work is slow and frustrating, and so Jim decides to help out. He uses alcohol, gently cleaning the wounds of the men and women who are hurt. He doesn’t really know how to bandage them up properly, but he does his best – messy as it looks. “Thanks,” the guy says, and Jim shrugs lightly. “It’s fine. Does this happen a lot?” “More often than I care to admit,” he replies, “I’d treat you to a glass of strong liquor, but you used most of it on the wounds of these people.”

Life here is just hard, it seems. The doctor works through the night while Jim sleeps in the local inn. Come morning, it’s mostly curiosity who brings him back. Leonard looks exhausted, perhaps a little frustrated. “Are you okay?” Jim asks. “I’m out of supplies,” Leonard says, “last night, I’ve been raided. Stole most of my bandages and medicine. I’m thinking about going on a supply run to the next town, but the road is long and dangerous.” “I’ll join you,” Jim shrugs. “Really?” “Sure, sounds fun,” Jim replies. “I’ll pay you,” Leonard says, and Jim simply shrugs to that. It’s not like he genuinely needs the money.

They leave after Leonard gets someone to look after the office while he’s out. Jim’s never been on a horse before, but the horse seems to immediately listen to whatever’s on Jim’s mind, and the start of the journey is pretty harmless. Leonard talks a little about his life. About how he lost his wife and kids to raiders when he lived on a small farm outside the town. How his parents were taken by a deadly illness that made him become a doctor. He speaks with such hurt in his voice, that Jim wonders why anyone would want to live in these outback towns. Sounds like it sucks.

They stop an hour before sunset, near a small river. Good, too, because Jim’s legs hurt, and his feet feel a little unstable after riding for so long. He ties the horses to a tree and searches for firewood while Leonard returns just before sunset with two dead rabbits. “You’re a doctor and a skilled hunter, you’re pretty good with your hands, huh?” Jim comments, and Leonard shoots him a small grin. “You haven’t seen anything yet.”

They eat dinner, which is surprisingly good. It gets cold at night, so Jim is glad for the fire to keep them warm. They talk more while overlooking a sky full of stars; large mountains looming in the distance. The gentle stream of the water is soothing to Jim’s ears, and he finds himself just dozing off to sleep. The same thing happens the day after. They spend time together, and Jim grows rapidly closer to this handsome doctor, who stitches him up when Jim guides his horse through a bigger river and hurts his foot through a sharp rock that hits him through the sole of his boot. They run into a lone woman who cries for help because her family’s hurt in her farmhouse, and so Leonard decides to take a detour from his own quest to help them. They save a family’s life (or Leonard does, mostly), and Jim feels pretty awesome about that.

“How much further, Bones?” Jim asks, and Leonard raises an eyebrow. “Bones?” “Seems a fitting nickname,” Jim says, “for all the patching up you do.” “We should be there in the afternoon,” Leonard replies. Jim watches the other’s back figure as he rides in front of him. It’s a good sight.

But it’s almost as if Leonard registers that feeling, or something. Because they arrive and get Leonard’s supplies, but come nightfall on their way back, Jim finds Leonard sitting closer to him than usual. Leonard teaches him how to hunt. Standing behind him with his arms around Jim’s shoulders, hands on Jim’s to make sure he aims properly. Really, it just makes Jim more distracted. When they get raided on the road, Leonard actively stands in front of Jim to try and protect him, though they make it out alright. Just with a few supplies less, because Leonard patches up the cut in Jim’s hand. “I wanted to thank you,” Leonard says, “for coming with me. In these lands, it’s hard to tell apart friend or foe. You’ve been good to me.” Jim smiles at that, reaching out to keep the other’s hand on his own a little longer. “Just a friend?” he asks with a smile, growing even wider when Leonard leans in to kiss him.

It just feels too good to be true. And it is. Because they get back to the town a few days later, and Jim feels oddly intimate to this man and just wants to be in his presence all the time. But he doesn’t get that lucky. They make it to the doctor’s office, and Bones gets to work immediately. But while he’s at work, a civilian comes in and demands he gives up some supplies. Jim gets up to help Leonard when the doctor refuses, but before Jim knows it, Leonard gets shot. Just like that. There’s a commotion while people flee, but Jim rushes towards the doctor instead. He kneels down next to him, grabbing his hand quickly. “Bones, please, tell me what I can do to help you,” he says, reaching out with his free hand to grab a hold of supplies. But there’s blood everywhere. “It’s okay,” Leonard breathes heavy, fingers tight in Jim’s grip, though rapidly weakening.

Leonard dies seconds later. Jim is devastated; staying by Leonard’s side for what feels like hours. In reality, though, it’s no more than twenty minutes before the men in the hazmat-like suits show up. They have to pry Leonard from his hands. They have to convince him it’s okay, because they’re going to fix up the broken skin tissue. They’re going to reset Leonard’s data. And they’re going to roll him back out. Leonard’s going to be okay.

“Do they suffer?” Jim asks, once he’s back in the real world. It feels surreal not to be in the wild west anymore. “They think they do,” his spokesperson says, “they think they feel pain. They feel terror, fear for their lives. They feel the pain from their written backstory, most of them tragic. Like Leonard and his wife and kids. It gives them character. Makes guests and potential buyers such as yourself more engaged.” Jim frowns at that, because somehow, that just seems wrong.