The Long Silence [for losthunter]

[boldygoing]

Jim had been looking forward to getting drinks with Hunter after the end of the Nibiru mission.

Sure, it didn't exactly go according to plan, but when does it ever? And with the news of a five-year mission in the works, not yet assigned to a ship, he's pretty excited that the Enterprise might have a shot at the most prestigious and ambitious assignment Starfleet has ever offered. No crew is more prepared, he feels. And getting to explore uncharted territory every day for five years is a dream come true.

But that's before he gets called into Pike's office and busted back to fucking cadet.

Before the admiral tells him that the Enterprise is no longer Jim's.

Before Pike tracks him down in a dive bar, spiraling into the black hole of his own thoughts, consuming everything except the horrible, sinking feeling in his gut that somehow he's done everything horribly wrong, and the admiral tells him that he's not out of the running just yet.

He's not captain anymore. But Commander Kirk is the first officer of the Enterprise now, and as awful as it is that Spock has been reassigned, it's a rope thrown to a drowning man.

He's not okay. But maybe eventually he will be. And he barely has time to process any of this before the call comes in, that there's an emergency session called at Headquarters. Something like that is never, ever good news. And no matter what it's about, Jim has the distinct feeling that he's not going to be able to get around to having drinks with Hunter tonight.

He hurries to get into his gray dress uniform, and fires off a quick text message to the now-familiar number. Need raincheck. Emergency @ HQ.

Surely he'll have the time to reschedule later, once the crisis is over.

Comments

[boldygoing]

Jim, of course, doesn't move or reply. But he feels warm - perhaps a degree or two too warm - under Hunter's touch, and the rhythmic thrum of his heartbeat through the bed's sensors doesn't falter, steady and regular.

Spock would consider offering him the chance to be alone, but as Hunter is still something of an unknown to him, he's reluctant to do so. And besides... he isn't the biggest fan of walking off and leaving Jim behind, either. It's illogical, but his own responses these last few days have had little to do with logic.

[losthunter]

Hunter continues his gentle touch on Jim's hand, even with the slight warmth of Jim's body. He kneels down beside the bed, sliding his arm up a little further up Jim's, very aware not to disturb any IV lines.

"I was able to complete a little more of my clay model of your ship."

He realizes that it is quite possible that the Enterprise is damaged too. Just like the other ship that he crashed.

He turns his head to Spock. "You must have been there with him. And I know you can't tell me anything. But I'm sorry, for whatever you had to experience."

[boldygoing]

"As am I." Spock found the entire experience deeply disturbing from beginning to end, and it is not yet over. He stands there, hands still clasped behind his back, assured at least that Jim is doing better.

He can't tell Hunter how bad it really was. The captain's death is highly classified, as is the medical miracle that Doctor McCoy was forced to perform to bring him back. He must continue to use the cover story that has been established, both to protect the doctor from the fallout of literally raising a man from the dead, and to protect the captain from those who might seek to experiment on him further.

Fortunately, the cover story is still truth, just lacking important details. "He put his own life at risk to save the ship and the crew," Spock says quietly. "He conducted himself with honor and selflessness."

[losthunter]

"That sounds like him." Hunter runs his fingers up Jim's arm. It is hard, seeing him in such a fragile sight. Being so afraid to touch anything else but that arm, because he doesn't want to interfere with the oxygen or stabilization fields.

He knows that visiting hours are likely limited, but really is not wanting to leave Jim's side right now. He is going to find a way to make this work, so he can continue to visit Jim as much as possible.

"You are such a good captain." He whispers up to Jim.

[boldygoing]

There's a faint hum from the door as someone activates the decontamination beam, and another man steps into the room. He's wearing the same type of white uniform as the rest of the staff, but his dark hair is rumpled like he hasn't slept in days, scruffy stubble on his chin. He falters momentarily when he sees Hunter, a stranger he doesn't recognize, and draws in a breath to demand who the hell he is before he sees Spock, who is clearly allowing this unknown person to access the captain.

Most of the fight goes out of him, assured that if Hunter was any danger to their injured commanding officer, Spock would absolutely not just be standing there. But he's also under a great deal of stress, and his tone is perhaps a little brusque when he asks, "Who are you?"

[losthunter]

Hunter jumps a little at the brusque tone. He turns to regard the man in the white uniform. While Jim has told him about 'Bones', there was no real detail that he was a doctor. And thus no connections are made.

"I'm Hunter." He answers with his name. "I'm a friend of Jim."

They are a little more than just friends. But he doesn't need to explain that.

[boldygoing]

The doctor frowns deeply, tempted to ask why the hell it took him so long to come visit, then. But with the crashed Vengeance taking up half of the city and the absolute mess that it has created in the media, perhaps it isn't surprising that not everyone has seen the reports that the Enterprise was involved. So he just nods a little.

He's wary of strangers in the CCU, but if Spock is willing to vouch for him, that's good enough for McCoy. "I'm Doctor Leonard McCoy, Chief Medical Officer of the Enterprise." As he speaks, he moves to Jim's bedside, tired but practiced eyes scanning over the readouts on the wall, though he still takes Jim's other hand in his, manually checking his pulse. "You want a chair?"

[losthunter]

Hunter blinks a little up at the other man. He can see a wide range of emotions on his face. And is still connecting the dots in his head to who the man is, to the 'Bones' that Jim has referred to a couple of times. Those connections are not quite made, just yet.

"A chair would be good." His knees are protesting a little already.

[boldygoing]

"Spock, make yourself useful, would you?" McCoy's southern accent becomes a bit thicker when he's stressed, but the Vulcan seems used to it, retreating to retrieve a sanitized chair to place near the side of the bed. It's not the most comfortable chair in the world, but it's better than nothing, perhaps a universal experience shared between hospitals of all sorts of eras.

The doctor adjusts something with the IV, swapping out an emptied container of medication for a full one. "Jim's gonna need all the friends he has," he says gruffly, and he can't resist trying to straighten the captain's hair a little, messy and uncombed, his hands gentle.

[losthunter]

Once the chair is brought over to him, Hunter adjusts himself onto the seat, before returning his hand onto Jim's arm. The chair reminds him of all those uncomfortable chairs in all those specialist offices. He shivers.

He watches the doctor adjust the IV, and then smiles softly at how he straightens the captain's hair a little.

"He calls you 'Bones', doesn't he?"

[boldygoing]

McCoy rolls his eyes a little, but beneath the grouchiness there's a fondness in his eyes. "To the point where sometimes I think he forgets I have a name," he confirms.

And then, because he's a doctor and he knows to look for these things, he says, "Sorry about the chair, but it's all we've got. CCU's not meant for lots of visitors at once. Not that it's stopped half the crew from checking up on our captain here." He doesn't sound annoyed by that, though. It's been nice to have the company, especially on the bad days whenever the enormity of what happened to Jim hits him hard.

[losthunter]

"Well, it seems to fits nicely in with some of the stories he has told." Hunter smiles a little fondly at the sleeping form of Jim.

"It's alright."

"Hear that Jim? You have so many people just waiting for you to open your eyes." He doesn't seem to mind talking to someone who can't talk back right now.

[boldygoing]

McCoy doesn't mind either. If the circumstances weren't so dire, it'd almost be a nice change of pace to have Jim unable to interrupt him. "Oh, sure. The crew, the admirals, the media... can't hide from 'em forever, Jim." The doctor looks over at Hunter. "They still camping out the front entrance?"

[losthunter]

"The media? Yah they are..." Hunter frowns deeply. He is reminded so much of his father and his lust to get the byline first.

[boldygoing]

"Bunch of vultures," McCoy mutters, busying himself with checking Jim's vitals again, closely examining one of the fluctuating readouts on the biodisplay. "They were trying to sneak in for three days before we got them banned from hospital grounds. You'd think the ship buried in Presidio Heights would be more interesting than one starship captain, no matter how famous he is."

[losthunter]

Hunter flinches slightly. There was a time when he was so proud to be the son of a media mogul. He used to eat up the media attention on him.

How things have changed.

"They just want the best-looking starship captain to make their bottom line. All of them waiting for a photo opp..."

[boldygoing]

"Indeed," Spock agrees, speaking up for the first time in several minutes. "It is greatly disrespectful, both to the captain, and to the others who have lost their lives."

"Yeah, well, that's the news for you," McCoy grumbles. He looks down at the comatose captain, a sad sort of look on his face. "Don't you worry about that though, Jim. Spock's taking care of writing the letters for you."

[losthunter]

Hunter frowns deeply again. There is a small 'dad' voice in the back of his head that goes through the spiel of rationalizing the need of his job.

But sitting here, seeing Jim in such a fragile state, Hunter would be one of the first people to violently escort any media people out of the room, if they dared to make an appearance.

"Letters?"

[boldygoing]

"It is traditionally a starship captain's duty to compose individual missives to the families of fallen crewmen," Spock explains. "As I understand it, the practice is meant to help ease the emotional pain of loss."

[losthunter]

"Oh..." Hunter lowers his eyes. The realization that there are so many families and friends who are hurting right now. Who are mourning.

"Will there be a memorial ceremony of some type?"

[boldygoing]

"Eventually," Spock answers. "It is... there have been multiple incidents that invite emotional recognition. There has been a candlelight vigil for the civilian casualties every night in Golden Gate Park. A more formalized ceremony for Starfleet personnel is tentatively scheduled to take place in three days, encompassing both the lives lost on the Enterprise and the attack on the Daystrom Conference Room."

"Jim's not gonna like missing it," McCoy adds, lightly patting the back of the captain's hand.

[losthunter]

"Maybe there is something I could do to help? If you have photos of the crew who lost their lives, it wouldn't take me long to create stylized portraits of them."

Especially if Jim is going to miss the ceremony, Hunter wants to show his support somehow. These are all people that were important to Jim. Enough that he risked his own life to save others.

[boldygoing]

Spock and McCoy share a brief look. "Would you be able to do ninety-six in three days?" McCoy asks. "I think Jim would appreciate the gesture; I just don't have a clue how long that'd take."

[losthunter]

"I make portraits for a living. When I am at art and trade fairs, I typically can do one in 10 minutes. It is a long enough sitting for a client, who wants to visit at the other booths."

"I could get it done." He shrugs lightly.

[boldygoing]

"Perhaps ninety-seven, then," Spock suggests, and McCoy looks blank for a moment before realization seems to strike.

"Oh. Yeah. Ninety-seven would do it," the doctor agrees, and gives Hunter a somewhat solemn look. "One of the admirals killed at Daystrom was really important to Jim."