Aftermath [Open to FITE NITE attendees, mostly for Bones]

[smartass_captain]

He remembers being caged.

Chained up, drugged. Bound to the other captain who couldn't have been more wrong about who he was. He was still funny from his capture, and hungry. Poor circumstances that lead to Jim's survival instincts going into overdrive. Whatever it took to not remember Tarsus IV.

Jim doesn't even remember losing. Just his pulse thundering in his ears and the rattle of the chain. Just getting swept away in a haze of violence and panic that left him mentally shut down. What he had wasn't a fight. Jim Kirk actually enjoys a good fight now and again. This had been something else entirely.

He hadn't been on control. Hadn't even been altogether present.

And now....

Everything hurts, but especially his head. His ears are ringing and it's difficult to keep anything in focus. There are voices, faint and vaguely familiar but Jim can't concentrate on them just yet. All he can manage is to groan and curl up on himself. He's on one of the many Nexus couches in the Plaza, where many of the captured and injured were taken for treatment after people had stormed the Arena to rescue those who had been taken against their will and put a stop to all of this.

Comments

[shetooktheplanet]

The Starfleet chief medical officer known to his friends by his nickname 'Bones', had spent the better part of the day treating the injured; as well as liberally dispensing sarcasm because someone needs to add some levity to the grimness around here. He has to. If he stops to think too deeply on what happened ...

He gets so mad he can't think straight. Then he's no help to anybody.

There were more than a dozen people sprawled out on couches and chairs waiting for treatment in various states of physical trauma. He can help there, sure, but many of these people needed psychological debriefing and counseling more. That's not something he can provide. Or something he would ever want to specialize in.

For all that they know about the body and how to heal it, the mind remains difficult to mend. Long term treatments, lots of trial and error, and in the meantime, you get to watch you patients suffer while you're trying to sort out exactly what's wrong.

And then he sees two people carry his battered best friend and lay him out on a nearby couch. And you'd think with all the people he's seen gravely injured and all the times he's seen Kirk wounded that Dr. McCoy would be used to seeing him like this. Well, he's not ... and it takes every ounce of professionalism he has to finish up with the patient he's with right now before walking away to check on Jim.

"Goddammit, Jim." He says gritting his teeth as he waves the scanning wand over the Captain of the Enterprise. "How did I know you'd be involved in this?"

[smartass_captain]

Who else could have brought Bones to this new and potentially dangerous place off ship? This place with germs and diseases from other worlds where nothing is guaranteed to be the same as it was yesterday and wow--even thinking about the potential for danger in the Nexus is enough to shake anyone.

But Jim's been missing for three days now, only to show up unconscious and battered among the other injured carried from the Arena. His uniform is dirtied and stained with his own blood. And he isn't moving.

Luckily, when Bones gets over there Jim is breathing without difficulty. He stirs at the familiar voice, eyes opening and then wincing at the light. They're out of focus yet, but at least he's awake.

"...'m I on th'ship?"

[shetooktheplanet]

"I made a house call today."

He never makes house calls. Do you even understand how worried angry he needed to be to come down here and find you?!? No. You probably don't. Because you're probably concussed right now.

"Tell me about your pain, first ..." He says. It's of particular to the doctor how that data will compare with what the scanner is picking up. He's gotta figure out how worried angry he needs to be at you. "... location, quality and intensity."

[smartass_captain]

"There's no houses in space....Bones..."

His words are still coming out slurred and confused, but they're full words and he knows who he's speaking to. Of course he knows who he's speaking to. Until very very recently there was no one else that would take care of Jim when things inevitably go wrong.

Even if this time, it legitimately wasn't his fault.

"Shoulder. Chest. M'fuckin head.... and my wrist." It's one of the tree parts answered at least.

[shetooktheplanet]

"Dammit, we're not on the ship, Jim."

It is at this point in the patient's interview that Dr. McCoy needs to remind himself to breathe. He doesn't want a sudden bout of aggitation to raise his blood pressure. That's high enough already without antics like these spiking it.

On the plus side, the locations that Jim is describing his pain coming from check out with what he's picking up on the scanner.

"I'm going to give you something for pain." He says, as Bones starts rummaging through a bag that's on a cross body strap. "What do you remember from before you were brought here?"

Truthfully, he's not necessarily expecting the most coherent answer from his Captain at the moment, but listening to him speak and testing his recall is part of any good medical eval.

[smartass_captain]

"Wh're not?"

That's impossible. Bones is here. They can't be anywhere else other than the ship, because that's the only place Bones is. Ever. Though wherever he is seems to be a lot more comfortable than the biobeds in medbay.

"Wen' t'ge a drink? Someth'n drugged me. Lost con..co...passed out. Woke up in'a cell. Chained t'the wall." A surprisingly astute answer, if not the most enunciated. Jim's blue eyes are starting to focus a bit, but he keeps wincing and shutting his eyes.

[shetooktheplanet]

Maybe. Maybe, if he was dealing with someone who didn't routinely annoy him as much as this man did, he would have explained what the name of the medication he was about to administer, some of the effects and let his patient a chance to give their blessing or objection.

Since it's Jim, the dial of the injectible gets twisted to the dose the doctor wants to give and the Captain gets jabbed roughly into a muscular point between the neck and the shoulder.

"It should take effect in about two minutes."

The news that Jim has no idea who grabbed him is a little bit concerning, but it's not the first time he's heard that story today from the people seeking treatment.

[smartass_captain]

"FFFFUCK! Bones!"

That has Jim's attention. He jolts upright, hand slapping itself on his neck as soon as the doctor is pulling away. It's not that he doesn't trust the doctor, because Jim does, with his life. And Bones is his medical proxy--has saved his life already more times than Jim can remember.

"Yanno I hate it when y'do that!" Jim can't be that hurt if he's whining like the infant Bones claims he is.

[shetooktheplanet]

"Oh, excellent." The Doctor drawls as he disengages the needle. "The usual response to pain is present. That means at least some of your neurosystems are working normally."

Yes, that was a veiled insult about your whining, Jim. And your brain.

"So you were having a drink and the next thing you know, you woke up in that place where they made everyone fight? Do I have that right? You always end up in a fight, so, I merely wonder if you got in front of an audience this time."

[conjuredskies]

Felix favored the whole rescue effort, in principle. In practice he was only concerned with one very specific part of it. Still, the storming of the arena made it easy to recruit help getting Jim out here, just as Ice Bear's advice had helped him slip back to find the captain in the first place.

Getting Jim out was the easy part. Felix isn't sure what to do next. The bruises, the blunt force injuries, that's all simple to his mind. Blows to the head call for more caution, and worse, he just doesn't know what those space weapons do to the body. The signs of electrical shock aren't there, or else they're too subtle for his inexperienced eye.

What he suspects already, as he kneels beside the semi-conscious captain, is that he's not carrying anything strong enough for this. And there's only so much he dares try to heal right now. Not if it matters.

"Jim?" he asks, trying to speak as clearly as possible. Calmly. To pretend he's back in his lessons. "Can you hear me?"

Please tell me.

[smartass_captain]

It's warm.

The first sensation that comes back to Jim aside from pain. There's a familiar sound that he can't make out, but it makes him feel warm. Safer. He tries to speak, to ask it to stay or to help him. He's not sure which.

All that comes out of his mouth is a groan. Blue eyes flit open slightly but they're out of focus and they shut almost immediately.

He's alive. And reacting. That's got to be something, right?

[conjuredskies]

It's not much to take comfort from, but Felix is grasping at what he can right now. He swallows, then closes his eyes while he lifts a hand to Jim's head, fingertips - and magic - probing for any clear skull fractures.

He knows that's not an assurance of anything - he's heard stories he's trying not to dwell on right now, of people the healers cleared only for them to die of brain swellings or- well, something after - but he'll take what he can get. Good enough to know what kind of damage hasn't been done.

Besides, he needs a minute to think about how he'll even get Jim to swallow a potion like this.

[smartass_captain]

There are some sensations Jim will never misplace.

The jolt of connecting with a Vulcan's touch-telepathy, the drawl of a Southern accent covering desperate panic. The tingling warmth of Tamrielic healing magic at work is quickly becoming another.

"...'ey Feeelix." Jim's words are slurring slightly, but he quirks his lips up in a weak attempt at the beginnings of a smile.

[conjuredskies]

He doesn't know how hard he's failing to stay calm until he hears that voice. Until he feels his gut unclench suddenly, the relief itself painful. His fingers curl over Jim's temple of their own accord, turning the probing touch into a fond caress.

"Jim." He lets out a rush of breath. "I'm so glad you're awake. Just, um- just keep still. I'm trying to work out-" how bad it is, "what I need to do."

What he can do. He sighs. "This really wasn't your cleverest idea."

[smartass_captain]

Jim doesn't rightly know where he is right now, but having Felix use his healing on Jim means that something happened. Well, the fight happened. He remembers that. Going out to face Han Solo. It's kind of a blur after that.

A lot of unpleasantness surfaced. Jim knows he shut down a bit after that. One blue eye cracks open and tries to lock onto Felix. It's still bleary, but he's able to focus his eyes.

"Wha'...part? Din' choose t'fight..." Unless he means losing. In which case no, that wasn't super clever.

[conjuredskies]

The words are slurred, rough with pain, but Felix catches them and pauses.

"You didn't?" Maybe this isn't the time to make Jim explain, but he can't keep himself from asking. "It looked... I mean... Someone forced you?" His eyes narrow at the thought, mouth twitching with the first spark of deep displeasure.

[smartass_captain]

"Drugged me." Jim shifts, trying to sit up and meeting nothing but a full body soreness that comes from being stunned. He groans some intelligible swears and decides that wherever he is is probably good enough for right this second.

"Woke up in'a cell...." His words are coming easier the more awake he becomes. "Got cuffed to Solo and drug out t'fight."

[conjuredskies]

"I said to keep still," Felix reminds him urgently, hand moving to catch his shoulder. As for the rest... well. Now he can't be quite so angry at Solo, if the pair of them were kidnapped in the first place. But he has a whole new set of people to bear a grudge against.

"If it's any comfort, the arena was getting thoroughly trashed when we left... and at least they don't seem to have cracked your head open. And you're focusing... Do you feel sick? Can you tell?"

[smartass_captain]

Who.

Jim sees what was done there. Again, head injuries, it takes him a second. Then he's chuckling, waving his hand dismissively since he has already regretted shaking his head once.

"No one important, that's for sure. The only other people I've ever cared about are people I couldn't have. I'd just...be missing you and not realizing it." Jim flits his gaze up to Felix's then.

"I don't want to know who you'd be doing without me, either. But you'd be taking a trade-down. I've seen the locals in Tamriel."

[conjuredskies]

Damnit, Jim. Just because your head is swimming doesn't mean you have to make Felix's stomach do acrobatics. There's a hint of pleased color to his face as he catches Jim's hand, curling his fingers over the captain's and pressing a kiss to his palm.

"They're not all mountain cutthroats with skulls full of troll dung. But there isn't a fair trade for you anywhere. Not in all the worlds." He can be as honest as he likes right now. Jim's in no state to dissuade him. "How does your head feel now?"

[smartass_captain]

If people are saying 'dammit, Jim' he must be more or less fine.

He smirks at the affection clearly just enjoying the attention for what it is. It helps after everything he's been through in the last few days. Jim raises his shoulders in a weak shrug, but there's more life to his eyes than there had been before.

"Not as pounding as it was a few minutes ago, that's for sure. How are you holding up?"

[conjuredskies]

"Running out of strength to heal you." From his face, it's worth it to know Jim's safe. It would be even better if he could heal all the captain's injuries, if he were strong and skilled enough to ease that pain away completely...

So maybe Stratos is onto something with all those lessons.

"I can go fetch a potion for you," he offers. The waning adrenaline and energy loss are starting to sink in. He'll be yawning in a few minutes, most likely.

[smartass_captain]

"C'mere."

Jim tugs at Felix's arm to pull the other onto the couch with him. It's a bit snug fitting two grown men on there, but Jim's no opposed to getting close. Jim's never opposed to getting close when it's Felix they're talking about.

"Take a nap. I'm not goin' anywhere for a while."

[conjuredskies]

He's caught mid-yawn and in no position to resist the tug. Even if he wanted to. He does prop himself on his elbow and try to give Jim a serious look, but it's exponentially harder when they're close enough he can feel the lingering roughness of Jim's breath, the tension in his muscles. Hard to argue in favor of moving an inch farther from him.

He tries. "You should see a real healer. Make sure you're... seen to. Properly." What if he did something wrong? And Jim must still be pretty sore...

[smartass_captain]

((Speaking of being seen to properly, come meet Bones ))