The 50th Night

“Thank G-d, Jim!” was the first thing Kirk heard when he awoke. Bones was standing over him in what could be nothing other than a hospital bed. Despite the doctor’s plain relief, Jim found himself being submerged under a heavy current of panic and anger. When he tried to sit up, Bones firmly pushed him back, “There’s no way in hell you’re allowed to even sit up at this point.”

“But my crew, my ship! Bones, I /have/ to check on them!”

“Like hell! Besides, the hobgoblin has taken care of both.” Bones rolled his eyes.

“How is Spock? And what happened to Khan?”

“Fine, a bit high-strung at the moment.” McCoy paused, swallowing, “After… the radiation got you, Spock went after Khan and – with Uhura’s… help – recaptured him. We made a serum from his blood that helped you and that tribble I’d injected earlier and froze him once more. Khan and his crew are being heavily guarded.”

“Khan and I should be dead.” Kirk muttered, shifting in the biobed.

“Yeah, but you’re not. Now stop squirming, it’s screwing up the tricorder.” Bones scolded. Kirk crossed his arms and gave a pout but didn’t move further except for life necessities. Bones hummed at the information the medical scanner and nodded, “Seems Khan’s blood hasn’t done any damage. How do you feel?”

“Like I’ve pissed Spock off again.” Kirk chuckled wearily.

“That bad, huh?” The doctor gave a tiny smile.

“Definitely.”

“Well then, you should get to sleep.”

“But Bones!”

“Jim.” McCoy warned.

“I’m fine.” Jim said with exasperation, “You’re not my mom.”

“Get some rest or I’m gonna sedate you.” Bones crossed his arms.

“Seriously?” Kirk sighed. Bones raised a brow, heading for his IV. The Captain twitched, “Okay, okay, I’ll try to go to sleep!”

[|]

Kirk ran down the corridors of the Enterprise, feeling as though they were ever expanding as he tried to get to the engine room. His mind ran in further circles than his feet did, scared for his best friend’s life. He quickly slid down the ladder and raced to where Bones and Scotty were standing. Jim tried to rush past them.

“No! You’ll flood the whole compartment!” Bones said, he and Scotty restraining Kirk’s arms.

“He’ll die.” Jim felt himself say, struggling with the men.

“Sir, he’s dead already.” Scotty said, a tinge of sadness echoing in his tone. Kirk’s eyes widened at Scotty, his struggle stopping. His heart plummeted and he looked at Bones.

The doctor shook his head, “It’s too late.”

They let go of him and he shakily walked up to the glass, his hands pressing against the cold material. His lips moved of their own accord but voice refused him to say, “Spock.”

Jim jabbed the conn just outside the door, his voice cracking, “Spock!”

The half-Vulcan slowly, painfully brought himself to his feet, straightened his tunic and walked over to the communicator, bumping his nose into the glass before looking at Kirk.

“Ship… out of danger?” Came Spock’s raspy voice.

Kirk stared, almost unable to comprehend, “Yes.”

Spock nodded, “Don’t grieve, Admiral. It is logical. The needs of the many, outweigh-“

Jim felt himself go hollow as Spock failed to continue his sentence, “The needs of the few.”

“Or the one.” The half-Vulcan nodded more. Spock’s knees began to give out, “I never took the /Kobayashi Maru/ test… Until now. What do you think of my solution?”

“Spock-“ Jim began, tears evident in his voice. Spock slid to a sitting position, Kirk moving with him, barely a second of delay between their actions.

“I have been… and always shall be… your friend.” Spock rasped, taking off his radiation glove and placing a Ta’al upon the glass before Jim, “Live long… and prosper.”

Nearly shaking, Jim placed his own Ta’al to mirror Spock’s. And watched his best friend’s life disperse. Sorrow shredded through him, “N-no.”

[|]

“SPOCK!” Jim cried out, bolting upright with eyes wide in panic.

“Captain?” Came the mildly startled voice of his First Officer. Kirk’s eyes focused on reality and the half-Vulcan sitting near his biobed. Spock raised an eyebrow, his face clear of emotion.

Kirk frowned, taking in his surroundings and ignoring his outburst, “Where am I?”

“A hospital a little ways away from Star Fleet Academy, Captain.” Spock answered, something bothering him in the back of his mind. Wouldn’t Dr. McCoy have told him that yesterday? Spock stood, “If you’ll excuse me a moment?”

Jim gave a tiny nod, still frowning. Spock quietly exited the room and pulled out his comm. The Commander made a quick call to Dr. McCoy before returning to the room. There was very little different from the room than all other hospital rooms. In particular, the only differences were the patient – whom technically should not even be breathing – and the lack of any doctor or nurse. It appeared that the doctor had confidence that Spock would be capable of taking care of whatever minor problems arose. Also, the Captain was trying to move about on his own. And failing.

Spock moved swiftly, pressing a hand to Kirk’s chest and pushing him firmly back onto the biobed, “Captain, you should not be sitting up quite so soon.”

“I’m fine, Spock.” Jim insisted through a wince. A Vulcan brow rose, unimpressed. The human pushed the hand away, “I can take care of myself.”

“I have numerous occurrences that I can site in which you’ve proven the exact opposite. And I’m certain Dr. McCoy has even more.”

“Even more what?” The doctor asked as he entered the room.

“Even more examples of how wonderfully responsible and capable I am.” The Captain shot Dr. McCoy a charming smile.

Dr. McCoy snorted, “Like hell.”

“I concur, Doctor.” Spock nodded.

Kirk pouted, “Oh c’mon, I just wanna check on my ship!”

“The Enterprise is currently docked outside the city, being repaired and refitted for whomever shall take captaincy of her after Star Fleet has finished their investigation on the Khan incident.” The half-Vulcan said. The doctor gave him a look. Spock raised a brow.

“Besides, yesterday I told you that Spock had taken care of handling the ship and the crew.” Dr. McCoy said.

“You did? I was awake yesterday?” The Captain blinked.

“Yes.” Was the drawn out reply from the CMO, “How’re you feeling?”

“Like I’ve been run over.” Kirk murmured honestly, “And I had a pretty weird dream.”

“Oh?” Dr. McCoy asked, running a tricorder over him.

Jim nodded, “Yeah, it was basically a rerun of what happened after I fixed the warp core except… it was Spock in my place.”

‘There is a way to defeat Khan, but it will come at a great cost.’ Echoed in Spock’s mind.