Fic: Standby (Slash, Star Trek XI, Kirk/McCoy, PG-13, 1/4)
Ah, this has been hiding in my hard drive for a while as I kept tweaking, rewriting. For those who have read it on the st_xi_kink, you'll notice it is slighter different, hopefully more fleshed out.
Title: Standby
Author: d8rkmessngr
Fandom: Star Trek: Reboot'verse
Pairing: Kirk/McCoy
Rating: PG-13, angst, h/c, first time
Words: 23,000+, complete (yup, you read right!), betaed by iceiwynd
Summary: He was glad Bones was dating again. He was. Really. But what Jim thought was good for Bones turned out to be oh, so wrong for Jim.
Warnings: implied past abuse, attempted non-con, sap (lol)
Author's Notes: This was a prompt from st_xi_kink:
During their academy time, Bones doesn't really date. After a year or two, Bones finally gets a boyfriend - a very hot boyfriend. Jim is very surprised, mostly at how much he immediately hates the guy. He tries to be a good friend and like the dude, takes him drinking, etc. Inside, he is coming to terms with the fact that he is pissed as hell that Bones is dating anyone but him.
The first moment that boyfriend dude and Jim are alone? Boyfriend is all over Jim. Jim rejects him, which pisses boyfriend off. He threatens to tell McCoy that Jim seduced him if Jim doesn't have sex with him. Jim still rejects him and, not knowing what to do, bolts. He avoids Bones for a few days, assuming that Bones will believe boyfriend dude and be pissed at him.
Finally, the truth comes out, Jim makes his move on Bones, and they have happy, you're-all-mine sex.
Bonus if Bones never really doubted Jim and was suspicious of boyfriend dude as soon as he accused Jim.
"...so this guy here turns around, reaches over and bam! Hyposprays the Andorian. The blue guy's antennae twitches and then he drops to the floor!"
Hyposprays don't go bam, Jim thought as he drained his bottle of beer. The music in the bar was actually too loud for his tastes this time, but he didn't pick the place for once. It was too mainstream, too popular with cadets; a place he and Bones would never had normally gone to.
"That's not the sound a hypospray makes," Bones grumbled but his mouth quirked at the storyteller and he chuckled deep in his throat. Something funny twisted in Jim's insides and he grabbed the Cardassian Sunrise to try and drown it. The sour taste of cold alcohol mixed begrudgingly in his stomach. Great.
Blue eyes, sun streaked blond hair, the athletically built third year cadet flashed Bones a shit-eating grin before leaning in and-whoa!
Bones rolled his eyes but returned the kiss with a nip of teeth before he gave the guy a gentle push back with a hand, like pushing back a big dog from bowling him over.
"You're scaring the kid, Adam," Bones laughed throatily, sounding like a complete stranger to Jim. He shot Jim an embarrassed grin across the table. Jim smirked faintly, but said nothing.
Adam gave Jim a passing glance, his eyes crinkling, his mouth curled up to a smug smile as if he knew no one else knew. "Nah, he's probably taking notes." Adam snickered when Bones sputtered into his drink.
"Or just reviewing notes," Jim drawled and felt a wiggle of satisfaction when Bones coughed into a fist, his eyes wider.
"God damn it, Jim!" Bones managed as Adam pounded his back helpfully. Adam gave Jim a grin that Jim didn't feel like giving back, but he did anyway because he hadn't seen Bones smiling this much in the eight months they knew each other so far. Well, he did tell Bones repeatedly he needed to get laid, but geez, Jim wasn't expecting him.
"I guess everyone weren't kidding about you being a manwhore, Jimmy," Adam chuckled as he swung his beer bottle towards Jim for a toast.
It wasn't anything new, nothing that hadn't been tossed out at him before from many faces, but somehow it left a bitter taste in his mouth when Adam said it in front of Bones. And Bones probably didn't like the reminder of who his classmate was because Bones pulled back, the smile pretty much gone from his face.
"Not something I would toast to, Adam," Bones muttered, reaching over to lower his arm.
"I would," Jim quipped.
Before Adam's bottle dropped, Jim shrugged one shoulder, pushed back the lump in his throat and reached over to lightly clink the amber bottle with his drink. He drained the rest of his Sunrise in a single gulp and damn if that didn't make his eyes burn. It was the drink that made his eyes water, his throat clench. Jim grabbed his last beer and tipped it towards Adam again then to Bones.
Bones grimaced and he twisted around to stand.
"Need another drink," Bones muttered and gave Adam another kiss on the mouth, Jim a halfhearted slap to the back of his head before he disappeared into the crowds writhing to the loud twenty-third century's answer to hiphop.
"Get m-us another one too!" Jim hollered behind a cupped hand over his mouth as he gestured with an empty bottle in his other hand. Bones verified these orders received with a hand gesture rude enough to probably destroy three planetary truces. Jim smirked and dropped back into his seat. Adam mirrored him, nodding and smiling to those who walked by and smiled hello. Adam eyed some, winked at others and Jim grimaced as he finished his beer because he could remember nights when he had dragged Bones to other loud and crowded places where he did the same. Only he preferred townies and not cadets. Too much of a chance of trouble following him back to the Academy.
Jim watched the dancing, too tired to try and think up conversation with Adam. There was only so much polite banter he could make with a guy he really didn’t care to talk to for the past three weeks. Jim rolled the now empty beer bottle between his hands as he stared into the crowd, trying to pinpoint Bones. He watched the dark head weave around the crowd, pulling further away and somehow, it made his insides knot and his chest ache.
The squeak of leather to his left was his only warning. Jim blinked and Adam, with that crooked lazy smirk of his was just there, his hip pressing hot next to his.
"So," Adam purred and Jim felt a large hand slide slowly around his upper thigh, down to cup his groin with a hard squeeze, hard enough to hurt. Adam leaned forward, his breath hovering over his mouth and Jim could smell the tang of whatever pissy-ass fruity drink Adam had. Another hand slithered behind his back, edging along the waistband of his jeans.
Oh no fucking way.
Jim could see his reflection in Adam's eyes as they darkened. They looked like the sky before a storm approached.
"So," Jim just said evenly and reached down a hand and pulled Adam's away, out of sight under the table. But then Adam narrowed his eyes and using his other arm, yanked Jim closer until Jim was halfway on his lap. Jim grimaced when he recognized a classmate from Advanced Transporter Programming frowning at them. He was leaving with group of friends, all cadets (just his luck). Jim gave the guy a nod even as he fidgeted away from Adam and smiled to show nothing was wrong but Jim was ignored as they walked past their table.
"Maybe I should see if Bones is back there having our drinks," Jim said stiffly and he made to rise.
"Or," Adam said in a deep voice, his hand back on his left thigh. His fingers dug deep into Jim's leg with surprising strength and pinned him back down on his seat. Jim looked sharply at Adam.
"You can stay and show me how much of a manwhore you really are," Adam breathed next to Jim's ear and his fingers flexed, digging deep enough to draw blood.
There were two responses Jim usually relied on when faced with a hand touching him where it shouldn't. As a child, there was nothing he could do about it, because doing anything more than agree meant him running into "another door" or "falling down the stairs".
Jim had always been such a clumsy and graceless child.
If the owner of the hand was pretty, an encouraging smile usually got that hand off and that meant Jim could decide where he wanted that hand to go next. If the owner of the hand was a stranger who thought seeing Jim smile was an invitation to shove anything into Jim, Jim decided where his hand would go; i.e.: across a jaw, into the solar plexus or if he was being a real son-of-a-bitch, a good grab of whatever hurts the most, which usually lies between the legs.
Adam, unfortunately, was pretty but he was also not a stranger. Both of Jim's options were no longer options but definitely not a situation Jim couldn't handle. Sure, he failed his first Kobayashi Maru, but this wasn’t a no-win situation.
Jim smiled tightly, the opposite of Adam's hungry one. He wondered if he himself ever looked like that (he hoped not, it left an oily film on his skin) and he clasped Adam's wrist with a strong grip, over the sleeve. Jim learned at a very young age that skin doesn't bruise as easily that way but it can still hurt.
"I don't think so," Jim said evenly as he removed the hand. His eyes narrowed at the flicker of something that twisted the normally jovial face to something less...jovial. But it was gone so quickly Jim shook his head. Damn bar lights were giving him a headache. Everything felt surreal.
"Sure I can't convince you?" Adam's voice dripped with invitation.
Jim rolled his eyes. Adam had been friendlier the past few weeks. Jim had hoped it was because he was warming up to him. Jim really tried to include Adam into a routine that both he and Bones had enjoyed when there weren't any classes. If Bones didn't look so relieved they were getting along, Jim wouldn't have bothered.
"Bathroom's in the back. I think we can be pretty good."
...This was not what Jim was aiming for.
Adam slid back to his seat, his knees slightly apart and he slumped back, echoing eerily like how Jim used to hog up the sofa in Bones's room when they used to hang out pissed drunk in the med dorms.
Used to.
"I don't think you should be having this conversation with me," Jim commented, his tone even and flat. Maybe Bones should order some coffee for Adam instead. He glanced over to the bar in the back. He could make out Bones still trying to get a bartender's attention. Jim turned back to Adam, an eyebrow arched. "I don't think," Jim said slowly as he nodded towards Bones's direction, "you should be coming on to me like that." Adam's eyes hardened and his knowing smirk faltered. Jim flashed a full-toothed grin at Adam.
"Not that I'm not flattered, but Bones might not be too happy if he hears-"
"That you came on to me?"
Jim's smile faded but then returned sharper, more brittle.
"I think you should stop drinking, because your memory's starting to get shot. I'm buzzed but I can still remember that you came on to me." Jim glared as Adam shuffled back closer again.
"And who do you think Leonard will believe?" Adam breathed close to his face. Blue eyes glazed and darkened as they crawled over Jim's body. "His boyfriend? Or a guy like you?"
Jim narrowed his eyes.
Adam's hand crept back over to his upper thigh. Adam's smile was sure, almost feral and it distorted his face. Youth warped and suddenly Adam looked older, more calculating, demon-like under the pulsating reds and blues the bar lights were flashing above them.
Then, just as quickly, when the rotating colors switched from red to blue, Adam's face smoothed out to that lazy, careless grin again. Smug bastard.
"You wanna try telling him? Go ahead." Adam's fingers kneaded Jim's thigh under the table and Jim's skin crawled. "Ruin the one good thing he's got after so long. Even if he forgives you despite who… well…" Adam sneered. "Who you are, he's going to look at you with doubt after that, because you destroyed this for him."
"Might as well have some fun," Adam whispered into Jim's ear. "Not like someone like you hasn’t taken it up in the ass in a place like this before." Adam's thumb pressed into his inner thigh. "I saw how you've been watching me. I know what guys like you want, Jim."
Jim's lips curled back and he leaned in close enough that their noses touched. Adam smirked, parted his mouth and inched closer when Jim hissed.
"It'll be pretty hard to jerk off if both of your hands are broken," Jim sneered.
The touch on his leg thankfully retreated and Adam glowered at Jim. Somehow, Adam looked insulted more that there was possibly someone out there who wouldn't gladly take him up on his offer.
Jim caught movement approaching their table out of the corner of his eye. Adam did as well because in a blink he was back by his seat, grinning up, warm and glad when Bones eased into his seat next to Adam with a drink tray.
"So what I miss?" Bones asked with a crooked grin as he grabbed his usual: bourbon with no ice.
Jim ignored the smug look he could feel pointed his way. He reached over, took his beer and nearly dropped it when he felt a socked foot pressed into his inner thigh. Geez. Jim very calmly reached under the table with his other hand and pinched a nerve just under the Achilles' tendon. Hard. He hid his smirk behind his beer when Adam jerked. Jim scowled though when Bones accepted Adam's explanation of a cramp easily enough.
"What took you so long anyway?" Adam asked, moving to the next topic with an ease that annoyed Jim. If he tried it, Bones would have seen through it and called Jim on it.
"Whole bar was mobbed with panting, drunk, grabby, horny kids over there, trying to get me to buy them a drink," Bones grumbled.
"Oh," Adam snickered as his eyes slid towards Jim's way, "you didn't tell us your friends were coming too, Jim."
Jim smiled tightly and tried to not think about how much his chest ached when Bones rolled his eyes. Jim took a long draw of beer, enough so his head floated, his body numbed and the knot in his chest dulled.
"Jim?" Bones frowned mildly when Jim stood.
"Going to say hello?" Adam quipped, his eyes on him as he draped an arm around Bones's shoulders. It wasn't pushed away.
"Sure," Jim said, shrugging, his throat working, "why the fuck not?" He waved off Bones's frown with a smirk that hurt on his face. "Don't wait up."
"What else is new?" Bones joked, his smile easy even as he lightly punched Jim's arm.
Jim scoffed but didn't reply. He turned around, got as far back to the bar until he knew he was hidden in the crowd.
And slipped out the back.
Jim should have skipped Transporter Programming class that morning.
News travelled fast in a Starfleet Academy. It’d probably reached god damn Iowa by now about James T. Kirk molesting his friend's boyfriend. There was no point in trying to clarify it was the other way around. Why? If it was that easy then to believe he broke his arm tripping on the ground, it was just that much easier for people to believe he was groping Bones's boyfriend while he was away. No point. Fucking waste of oxygen to try.
But if his shoulder got bumped one more time...
He didn't need another reprimand though. Not after working so hard to convince the instructors to let him skip the prerequisite entry level of this subject. He aced the first term of Transporter Programming and was now doing well in this third year course. Jim was still determined to do this in three years. He just wished everyone-student and faculty-didn't look so surprised. Except Bones. He just told Jim this meant Jim was tutoring him for when he had to take it next term. But that was before Adam.
From his seat, not getting up even though the class was dismissed, Jim eyed the cadets filing out, pretending not to eye him. Hm. Interesting. Half of them looked disgusted, the other half leered.
It didn't help that most of these people knew Adam. Third-years tended to gravitate towards each other like cluster stars as they steered towards their final year. Jim recognized some of them from the bar last night, a few 'Adam groupies' who had collected around him in the dining hall. Like some clique in high school. Something Bones usually had no patience for.
When the lecture hall was finally emptied, Jim eased out of his seat and trotted down towards the exit but a shadow crossed the doorway, blocking his escape.
"Next class here won't start for another ten minutes," Jim called out. He set his jaw when he saw that the shadow didn't move.
"I think that gives us plenty of time." The shadows slithered back when Adam stepped into the dim lighting of the lecture hall. Back in his cadet uniform, the pips on his collar proudly indicating his third year status, Adam looked more polished and like a Starfleet poster child with his blond hair slicked back, clean-shaven, clear blue eyes and white teeth.
Jim scoffed. "Well, I'll leave you and your right hand alone then..." Jim stopped short at the doorway when Adam wouldn't budge.
"You know, Leonard was a little disappointed you didn't stay last night." Adam rested his left shoulder against the door, just shy of the sensors to keep the doors shut.
"You should have stayed. I think we could have convinced him into a threesome." Adam grinned toothily and Jim wanted to gag.
"Two for the price of one. Give me a chance to see what's got Leonard so obsessed."
Jim rolled his eyes, unsure what Adam was babbling about and seriously, he didn't care.
"Sorry, I'm a strictly one-on-one kinda guy," Jim quipped.
Adam stalked over and stood eye to eye with Jim.
"Not what I hear." Adam's eyes drifted down Jim's body, his lips curved and he hummed his approval. "Not what I'm told." Adam tilted his head. "And I've been told a lot, farm boy."
Jim narrowed his eyes. "Maybe you should ask Leonard to check your ears."
"Why? He was the one who told me."
Ice clawed at his insides. Still, Jim kept the smirk on his face. Bones wouldn't do that. In fact, Bones used to get pissed off when Jim laughingly repeated the shit he used to hear about himself.
Adam was apparently hoping for a different reaction and getting just the disinterested smirk tossed back at him twisted his normally handsome features. He growled, his right hand whipping out to grab Jim by the left arm, twisting it behind Jim and slamming him to the wall.
Jim grunted as he found his cheek smashed up against the wall and-you got to be kidding-something hot and hard rubbing frantically against his ass.
"I don't know why you're playing hard to get now," Adam hissed from behind as he pressed closer and Jim's shoulder burned from the strain. "Especially after all those weeks flirting and hanging around with us like some love sick-"
"What?" Jim ground out, his disbelief muffled against the flat surface. Great, this is what he gets trying to be a nice guy before. "You are fucking stup-forget this."
Jim slipped a hand under him, between his chest and the wall, pushed off the wall, felt his shoulder pop as he twisted around and jammed a knee up that obscene bulge he felt rutting him before.
There was a mean line of satisfaction to see Adam stagger back, eyes watering, his hands cupped between his legs.
It was a cheap shot, not something he would teach in his Hand to Hand combat course, but hey, whatever worked.
"You," Jim huffed, "have a problem and I suggest you sort it out before Bones find out."
Adam straightened-with some difficulty, Jim noted with a smirk-and he wiped his upper lip with the back of his sleeve.
"Find out what?" Adam gasped but he looked smug as he gestured wildly behind him. "Empty. Your word against mine." Adam huffed, too winded to laugh. "Half the campus is waiting to see when you’ll jump me."
Jim shrugged. "That's just half," he snorted.
"Which half you think Leonard will believe?"
Jim stared at the door, his jaw clenching.
"Being a slut is a hard habit to break," Adam taunted. "The stuff Leonard used to tell me..."
Jim's teeth clicked angrily. He glanced over his shoulder and Adam tensed, his fists up.
Jim's hard look melted into a smirk.
"Might want to get some ice for that," Jim drawled and nodded towards Adam, who was still protectively covering himself. "Although the swelling might finally get it to normal size with the rest of us." He strode towards the door. If Adam said anything, it was cut off by the door sliding shut behind him.
Jim leaned against the wall by the door and exhaled slowly. He straightened his uniform with one hand. His left shoulder throbbed. Damn it.
"Geez, Kirk, you couldn't wait until after classes?" a cadet muttered loudly as he walked by with a group of other cadets. Someone said something else and a few disgusted glares were tossed his way.
Jim, chest heaving, set his mouth. Another deep breath, his mouth reshaped to a lazy and uncaring smile. He stepped away from the support of the wall and, using his right hand to support his aching left arm, Jim walked down the hall in the opposite direction.
It wasn't until after his third class did Jim realize that the ache on his left shoulder wasn't going away like he figured. He couldn't even shrug now. The throbbing was distracting and took too much of Jim's concentration to focus on it than on that blank look he was wearing all day.
Jim stood in front of the Academy medical center, lingering at the front steps, trying to remember if Bones had class or a hospital rotation today. He rubbed a thumb lightly over a spot where his shoulder joint met his collarbone. If it would stop flaring like a plasma burn for just one second, maybe he’d be able to remember.
Finally, Jim decided it wasn't worth the chance of possibly running into Bones (and running the risk he open his mouth and say something that would fuck everything up). He turned on his heels.
"Ah, ah, ah! Wrong way, Jim, my boy!" An arm hooked loosely around his neck from behind, jerking him back. Jim reacted but at the glint of brown and green blinking at him, Jim pulled his punch back and staggered.
"You're lucky I didn't follow through," Jim panted before his arm dropped. "What are you doing here?" As soon as the question was out though, Jim inwardly grimaced.
Bones favored the question with an arched eyebrow. "What am I doing here?" He huffed and grasped Jim's right elbow with a determined grip. "Come on, kid, the hospital's this way."
Jim dug in his heels. "What? Wait..."
"Your shoulder's bothering you, right?" Bones said, not turning around; otherwise, he would have seen Jim's eyes narrow.
"How do you know about that?" Jim demanded. He tugged but couldn't get his arm back. Bones wrapped both arms around his good arm and was determined to use it like a leash, forcing Jim to follow; that is, unless Jim wanted to lose that arm.
"Adam told me about you two." Bones jerked when Jim dug his heels in. He looked over his shoulder at Jim with a mild frown.
"Adam?" There was a funny taste in his mouth.
Another eye roll. "You know, the next time you two are going to wrestle it out in the gym, use gear, okay?"
A little stunned although it could be that the throbbing had crawled up to his neck now, Jim numbly followed until they reached the general treatment area where Bones helped out in. Jim stared at the back of his friend's neck.
"Bones, actually, I-"
"Found him?"
Jim bit back the snarl when he saw Adam limp out from behind a privacy screen. Adam smirked, his eyes doing that damn scan up and down his body again.
"Still walking?" Jim drawled as Bones led him to an empty cot, next to Adam's unfortunately. Adam's eyes slitted but his face smoothed out as soon as Bones nudged him towards the biobeds.
"No thanks to you," Adam quipped as he hopped on the bed to Jim's right. He grinned at Bones, a hand lightly brushing against Bones's back as he passed and Jim felt an urge to go over there and punch him.
Bones grunted as he waved a tricorder towards Adam. "You're lucky you just pulled a muscle," Bones chided as he pressed a hypospray to Adam's neck. "Jim's an assistant instructor for Advanced Hand to Hand."
Adam grimaced, rubbing his neck as he looked over to Jim, his eyes narrowing.
"Your boy plays rough, Leonard," Adam joked. He lightly tapped a fist on his right thigh. There was a glimpse of teeth as the corner of his mouth twitched.
"I'll just have to be more careful next time."
Jim sat on the cot, making a point to stare at the wall and the illustrated crosscut hologram of an Andorian male. Gross. He could hear Bones and Adam through the privacy screen that stood between them. Murmuring, chuckling, the shadows merged and then separated occasionally out of the corner of his eye. Jim kept his eyes forward, his jaw set. He wanted to say something, to march up in there and say...
Say what?
With a scoff, Jim rubbed a thumb over his shoulder again. Nothing he said was going to be worth shit. Never was. It didn't matter if he was ten or twenty-three.
"Okay, your turn," Bones declared. He darted quickly to block the opening, his arms spread apart. "Where do you think you're going?"
Jim glowered but he wasn't in the mood to fight. Not with Bones. Not over Adam. He shrugged (tried) and hopped back on the bed. Jim checked to his right but there was no shadow.
"Wanted to get a better scan of that groin muscle he pulled. Make sure it's just that," Bones murmured as he unhooked Jim's cadet uniform jacket, his eyes crinkled to reflect the frown when he saw the shoulder. Bones made an annoyed sound against his teeth.
"Dammit. And you were going to duck out from coming here?" Bones scowled but his hands were careful when they cupped the swollen round joint of Jim's shoulder.
"It's not dislocated," Jim mumbled as he warily eyed the hypospray Bones had clipped to a belt. "I know what a dislocated shoulder feels like."
"Yea?" Bones said, distracted as he pointed the tricorder towards the inflamed shoulder. "Get a lot of those, huh?"
Jim's eyes clouded. "All my life."
"What?" Bones looked at him strangely.
"Nothing." Jim tested rotating his shoulder and he hissed. Sure enough, Bones frowned at him.
"I said it wasn't dislocated, Jim, but if you keep pushing it, it will be."
No, Jim thought bleakly. Not the left one. The right one, however, popped easily though. He bared his teeth at his friend.
"Can I get a sling?"
Bones snorted. "I can reduce this easily enough. You won't need a sling."
"Yeah, but looking like a wounded-Dammit, Bones!" Jim jumped. He didn't even see the hypospray coming.
Bones grinned, unapologetic, as he discarded the nozzle head with a quick flick of his wrist into a nearby bin. He pressed gently at the shoulder again and harrumphed.
"Swelling should go down in a few minutes."
Jim grumbled as he eased back into his uniform.
"Next time, watch it with Adam," Bones advised. "Not everything's a bar brawl, okay?"
Jim bit back a scoff. For some reason, Bones's remark stung. He kept his eyes on the fasteners of his jacket.
"Hey, Bones?" Jim said quietly after a few beats.
"Hm?" Bones mumbled as he cleared his medical kit, ever mindful of cleaning up after himself. Just like his Bones; always a doctor.
Jim paused, his fingers halfway up his jacket.
His?
"Jim?"
"Uh...nothing...just..." Jim tentatively shrugged. He was glad his shoulder felt looser now. "It's been a few weeks with you and Adam, huh?"
To Jim's surprise, Bones's ears pinked. The older man coughed and he was suddenly fascinated with his tricorder.
"Yeah, I guess." Bones crooked a grin at him. "Guess that was a surprise for you. Shouldn't have wasted all your time trying to pick up girls for me, kid."
Jim laughed, but it felt funny in his throat. "Man, if I knew it was the wrong set of chromosomes, I would have asked you out mys-" Jim stopped short.
"Yeah, well, luckily for you, I met Adam. You can keep the girls." For some reason, Bones looked weary, how he used to look every time he finished talking with his little girl (when that ex of his let them talk, that is). Jim wondered if Adam was there now when Bones called. Jim used to sit in the back, not listening to the conversation, but ready to pour a bourbon when Bones was done.
"Yeah...Lucky," Jim finished awkwardly. His legs swung over the edge of the cot. "Hey, Bones...he's a good guy, right? I mean, you two are...I mean..." Jim groaned inwardly. He could feel a flush coming up his neck, hidden by the collar.
"Aw, what is this?" Bones dropped an arm across Jim's shoulders, careful not to put all his weight on the left. "I'm touched. Maybe I should have let you meet Adam first to get your blessing?"
Or not at all, Jim thought sourly. He frowned to himself. What is up with that? Jim bumped his right shoulder against Bones.
"You could probably do better," Jim snorted. "Didn't think he was your type, Bones."
Bones, for some reason, deflated and sighed. "Me neither."
Jim's brow knitted together. "Huh?" He tilted his head up at Bones.
Bones stared at Jim for a long time. His throat worked, an odd expression crossing his face before his arm dropped from Jim's shoulders. Bones cleared his throat.
"We're heading out to this place tonight." Bones huffed as he gave Jim's shoulder one last scan. "Blue Cat or something."
Jim made a face. "Doesn't that place play that old fashioned squawky music you like to listen to?" Jim peered up at Bones with a look.
"You suggested it, didn't you?"
Bones took a playful swipe at Jim's head. He missed. "It's called jazz and yes, I suggested it. We're meeting at 1900."
"I don't know..." Jim was surprised to find himself not saying no immediately.
Judging Bones's raised eyebrow, he was, too. Jim eased off the cot, walking backwards towards the opening. Jim quirked a smile at Bones.
"Maybe I'll see you guys there, okay?"
"Just can't stay away from me, can you?"
Adam's arm dropped over his shoulders from behind and if it weren't for Bones, Jim would have whipped around and broken that arm off.
Adam poked his head out from behind the screen. "All done," he told Bones. "I'm all yours, you lucky bastard."
Jim looked over sideways. His teeth flashed.
"How's the swelling?" Jim fought back a snicker when Adam's mouth thinned. Jim grimaced when Adam's hand curled tighter over his shoulder.
"Watch that shoulder," Bones warned, his voice a little sharp. "I just injected 50cc of cordatazine into his deltoid muscle."
One more squeeze, claws digging deep enough the room dimmed and Adam let go, his face perfectly chagrin.
"Sorry."
"Yeah, sure," Jim mumbled and unclenched his fist before he did something stupid. Ignoring Adam, Jim gave Bones a curt nod.
"See you later, all right?" Bones nodded back as Adam sauntered up to drape an arm across Bones's shoulders now.
Jim forced himself to grin, said nothing else and left, his thumb absently rubbing his left shoulder socket that began throbbing again.
This is the typical shit Bones likes, Jim decided as he took a long guzzle of beer. The music was the deep throated tones of whatever instruments being synthesized, fake non-carcinogenic smoke was pumped into the room for 'effect' but the drinks were cheap and it was amusing whenever Bones closed his eyes in appreciation of one riff, like savoring non-replicated wine, like those expensive twenty-second century vintage shit. Bones was funny that way; he acts pretty old for a not that old kind of guy.
Marriage and divorce probably does that to people, Jim decided before he took another drink.
The amber bottle Jim held with a fist did nothing to block Adam's gaze on him, staring at Jim as he swallowed now with Bones gone from the table. It didn't take a genius to know what Adam was thinking, staring unabashed at Jim's long throat as he drank. He should have volunteered to get the drinks instead but the idea of leaving Bones with a bastard like Adam made his insides knot.
Jim deliberately twisted around in his seat, pointedly showing his back towards Bones and Adam's chairs, to talk to another patron in the next table. Not of his usual tastes, but she appreciated the attention even if they both knew the flirting wasn't going to go beyond the bar.
Bones returned with the drinks and Jim could hear the pair talking, kidding, almost-Jim thought with a pang-like how he and Bones used to.
The phrase 'used to' left such a bad taste in Jim's mouth, he finished the rest of his beer in a single gulp.
The conversation kept going behind Jim and sounded so normal, so ordinary, Jim glanced back over his shoulder to see if he was on the wrong table. He darted a quick smile when Bones paused questioningly at Jim, one dark eyebrow arched in a "What?" at him. But then Adam leaned in, said something and Bones snorted, giving Adam an eye roll. Jim smiled faintly, his throat tight and turned back to the girl-Mary? Marie?
A chair scraped noisily across the floor and Adam's hot breath burned his cheek.
"Having fun?" Adam winked at Mary/Marie who giggled in return. "Mind we borrow our friend here?" Adam draped an arm over Jim. Unseen, under the table, his hand ghosted the curve of his ass. Jim grit his teeth, his hands holding his beer and how easy would it be to swing it right now? Jim smiled, or grimaced, and swiveled back around to the two.
"Too boring for you?" Bones joked as he tipped his shot glass back. He didn't react to the fact Adam's arm was still around Jim's shoulder but at least turned around, his other arm was back on the table.
"I think the people here are too sober," Adam joked and he squeezed Jim's shoulder (the fucker clawed the bad one again) before pulling away.
Bones frowned mildly, his eyes on Jim and Jim fought the urge to fidget and just reached for a new beer. Bones knew who he was before, knew what people often said. Jim gave himself a mental shrug and made a mock salute towards his friend.
Bones opened his mouth to say something when his communicator twilled. "Great," he muttered as he flipped it open and listened intently to the medical alert. His annoyance quickly morphed to a tight-lipped nod and a terse promise he would be there in ten minutes.
"Two shuttles collided midair," Bones bit out. He shook his head at them when they both rose as well. "No. Stay. They're only calling back all available medical to triage, nothing you two can do." Bones eyed the table of drinks with regret.
Jim averted his eyes when Adam pulled Bones in for a hard kiss and a whispered promise of "I'll wait up." Jim nodded to Bones, his eyes glued to him as Bones waded through the crowds with a quick, purposeful stride.
A hand curled around his thigh. Jim jerked.
"Guess it's just you and me now, farm boy."
Jim's mouth twisted. "Nope. Just you." He finished his beer and gave Adam another mock salute. "I'll tell the barkeep you're taking the tab. Thanks." There was no reason for him to stay now.
Adam scowled after Jim as Jim maneuvered around towards the exit.
Even if the smoke was faked, it was still a relief to get out of there. Jim took a deep breath in front of the bar, scrubbed his face with both hands and shook his head vigorously. He didn't need this. Bones was off doing doctor things. Maybe it was time to find his own bar. Like before. Jim's gotten drunk alone before. No big deal. It wasn't. Never was.
Jim stuck his hands in his jeans' pockets, marveling over the fact that his civvies actually felt odd on his skin now instead of the cadet uniform. Huh. Go figure.
The bar at the end of the alley by the Blue Cat sounded loud even from here and beckoned with the gaudy promises of one night stands and people who really don't care who Jim Kirk might be. Hell, they'll probably welcome people like him.
Shrugging, his feet leaden, Jim slipped into the long alley, his eyes fixed on the holo-sign and the few red uniformed cadets lingering outside. Idiots to be in their gear, as if the uniform will guarantee a good night.
Footfall.
Jim didn't pause, pretended he didn't hear it but slowed his steps as if checking for the time. He bunched his fists, thumbs tucked in, like he often advised the class he assisted teaching, ready to swing-whoever he was, he picked the wrong guy to mug tonight-and swung towards the fast approaching shadow.
It ducked, like it knew what was coming but before Jim could register the implication, the shadow reappeared behind him, clamped on to his left arm and gave it a violent wrench back.
Shit, that hurt. Jim growled under his breath, twisted to swing out with his right leg but it was deftly blocked with a standard Starfleet response: a fist to the back of the knee, a punch to the back of his head that sent his forehead snapping forward and left him temporarily blinking watering eyes.
Jim grabbed blindly at whatever he could and found a fistful of sweater or jacket, who the hell cared, he just gripped the leverage hard, planted a knee to a solid chest, ready to throw the guy when a textbook kick slammed into his hip and vibrated shocks up his spine. Fuck!
Blood roared in his ears when Jim was slammed back first to the alley wall and his head went thwack on brick. Dots flooded in front of him so Jim couldn't see the shadow pressing onto him and smashing his mouth over his.
Jim hissed into the mouth as it bit hard on his lower lip, drawing blood and a tongue darted in demanding and tasting like bitter whiskey. Jim snarled as he felt something hot, hard, humping his hip even as that unwelcomed mouth swallowed his outrage.
Someone at the end of the alley shouted something like "Get a fucking room, Kirk!" before their footsteps faded away. A chuckle rumbled against him and the rutting renewed furiously, scrubbing Jim against the brick wall, large hands around his throat and the left arm he was sure was definitely dislocated now.
Jim pulled a fist back and slammed it on the nearest thing he could reach: an ear. There was a grunt, a stagger back that was enough to see a face finally, but not enough to break free.
"You!" Jim snarled at Adam before his shoulders were gripped, his left screaming in agony as a thumb dug into the socket and he was slammed back onto the wall again once, twice. At the third time, Jim tasted blood (he bit his tongue) in his mouth and his limbs quivered as his back groaned from the abuse.
"Time to stop playing hard to get," Adam hissed as he fumbled open Jim's jeans.
There was a vague fuzzy overlap of an older guy's face over Adam, a rough voice that spoke at the same time.
"...enough teasing..."
"Did I not tell you to not talk back?"
"...see what got him so fixated on you. Taste that ass that he wanted to taste..."
"You think she cares? She loves the damn stars more than us! I said shut up or I'll make you shut up!"
Fingers fumbled, someone's panting, a weight pinned him to the wall. There was a sharp bite on his throat and he smelled his own blood. His ribs creaked.
"...know you want it. Everyone knows. Pretty, cocky, whor..."
"I told you not to talk to her! Who's going to believe a screw up like you? Your own mother can't look at you!"
"...gonna be real good...just like you wanted...just like we both wanted..."
"You're only making it worse for yourself hiding! Get out here now! Now!"
Jim's eyes snapped open and Frank's face splintered, leaving behind Adam's contorted, flushed face inches from his as he grinded against Jim, grimy hands trying to shove his jeans down lower.
With a hiss, Jim snapped his head forward and slammed it on Adam's nose, hard enough Jim thought he blacked out.
"Son of a..." Adam dropped to the ground, his hands clasped over his nose, his jeans down around his hips.
"First thing," Jim grated out. "You leave the Academy. On your own before I-"
"Before you what?" Adam glowered up at him from behind a bleeding, messy nose. "Before you tell them how we groped around in some shitty alley? How James Kirk dicked around with his friend's-" Adam laughed nasally. He staggered to his feet, swaying as he wiped under his nose. The red blood that streamed down his chin made him look pathetic.
"That's what I'm going to tell them," Adam wheezed. "That we got all nice and fucked because you just couldn't keep it in the pants again." Adam swiped at his upper lip and spat to the floor. "You think it was bad before, that half thinking you're a-" Adam coughed and sneered. "Wait until tomorrow. I'll have the whole campus thinking you're a fucking sl-"
Jim swung. Adam never finished and dropped.
"Like I care," Jim hissed to the crumpled figure on the ground. He staggered backwards, his right arm gripping his left and he steered for the direction of the Blue Cat. At the end of it, still under the shadows of the narrow corridor, Jim spit the blood clean from his mouth and with shaky hands, tried to tuck his shirt back into his jeans. Damn it, the button was gone.
Footfall.
Jim closed his eyes, his lips pulled back in disgust. "Adam, you-"
"Adam?"
The hoarse voice threw ice down Jim's back. Jim lifted his eyes at the person that stood three steps from the alley.
Bones stared at Jim, more specifically at his jeans barely hanging off his hips, his mouth slightly open. Jim's eyes slid away.
"Hey," Adam rasped. Standing behind Jim, he made a show of straightening his clothes as he sidled up to Jim. "Leonard...hey...we can explain..."
Bones kept staring at Jim. He cleared his throat but no words would come out.
Jim didn't want to hear it. He couldn't. Nor did he want to see what he knew would be on Bones's face. Jim raised his chin up, his eyes past Bones's ear and he elbowed past him, ducking a hand he could feel reaching out to grab him. Jim wasn't in the mood for another beating. Tomorrow. He'll deal with this shit tomorrow.
Jim could hear his name faint in the distance but he didn't turn around. As soon as he ducked into a corner, Jim didn't care if his head pounded, his mouth full of bile, his chest so tight he could hardly breathe. Jim did what always helped him before.
He ran and didn't fucking look back.
Part Two
Author's Acknowledgment: Thank you, iceiwynd for beta-ing this again and again and again…LOL
Title: Standby
Author: d8rkmessngr
Fandom: Star Trek: Reboot'verse
Pairing: Kirk/McCoy
Rating: PG-13, angst, h/c, first time
Words: 23,000+, complete (yup, you read right!), betaed by iceiwynd
Summary: He was glad Bones was dating again. He was. Really. But what Jim thought was good for Bones turned out to be oh, so wrong for Jim.
Warnings: implied past abuse, attempted non-con, sap (lol)
Author's Notes: This was a prompt from st_xi_kink:
During their academy time, Bones doesn't really date. After a year or two, Bones finally gets a boyfriend - a very hot boyfriend. Jim is very surprised, mostly at how much he immediately hates the guy. He tries to be a good friend and like the dude, takes him drinking, etc. Inside, he is coming to terms with the fact that he is pissed as hell that Bones is dating anyone but him.
The first moment that boyfriend dude and Jim are alone? Boyfriend is all over Jim. Jim rejects him, which pisses boyfriend off. He threatens to tell McCoy that Jim seduced him if Jim doesn't have sex with him. Jim still rejects him and, not knowing what to do, bolts. He avoids Bones for a few days, assuming that Bones will believe boyfriend dude and be pissed at him.
Finally, the truth comes out, Jim makes his move on Bones, and they have happy, you're-all-mine sex.
Bonus if Bones never really doubted Jim and was suspicious of boyfriend dude as soon as he accused Jim.
"...so this guy here turns around, reaches over and bam! Hyposprays the Andorian. The blue guy's antennae twitches and then he drops to the floor!"
Hyposprays don't go bam, Jim thought as he drained his bottle of beer. The music in the bar was actually too loud for his tastes this time, but he didn't pick the place for once. It was too mainstream, too popular with cadets; a place he and Bones would never had normally gone to.
"That's not the sound a hypospray makes," Bones grumbled but his mouth quirked at the storyteller and he chuckled deep in his throat. Something funny twisted in Jim's insides and he grabbed the Cardassian Sunrise to try and drown it. The sour taste of cold alcohol mixed begrudgingly in his stomach. Great.
Blue eyes, sun streaked blond hair, the athletically built third year cadet flashed Bones a shit-eating grin before leaning in and-whoa!
Bones rolled his eyes but returned the kiss with a nip of teeth before he gave the guy a gentle push back with a hand, like pushing back a big dog from bowling him over.
"You're scaring the kid, Adam," Bones laughed throatily, sounding like a complete stranger to Jim. He shot Jim an embarrassed grin across the table. Jim smirked faintly, but said nothing.
Adam gave Jim a passing glance, his eyes crinkling, his mouth curled up to a smug smile as if he knew no one else knew. "Nah, he's probably taking notes." Adam snickered when Bones sputtered into his drink.
"Or just reviewing notes," Jim drawled and felt a wiggle of satisfaction when Bones coughed into a fist, his eyes wider.
"God damn it, Jim!" Bones managed as Adam pounded his back helpfully. Adam gave Jim a grin that Jim didn't feel like giving back, but he did anyway because he hadn't seen Bones smiling this much in the eight months they knew each other so far. Well, he did tell Bones repeatedly he needed to get laid, but geez, Jim wasn't expecting him.
"I guess everyone weren't kidding about you being a manwhore, Jimmy," Adam chuckled as he swung his beer bottle towards Jim for a toast.
It wasn't anything new, nothing that hadn't been tossed out at him before from many faces, but somehow it left a bitter taste in his mouth when Adam said it in front of Bones. And Bones probably didn't like the reminder of who his classmate was because Bones pulled back, the smile pretty much gone from his face.
"Not something I would toast to, Adam," Bones muttered, reaching over to lower his arm.
"I would," Jim quipped.
Before Adam's bottle dropped, Jim shrugged one shoulder, pushed back the lump in his throat and reached over to lightly clink the amber bottle with his drink. He drained the rest of his Sunrise in a single gulp and damn if that didn't make his eyes burn. It was the drink that made his eyes water, his throat clench. Jim grabbed his last beer and tipped it towards Adam again then to Bones.
Bones grimaced and he twisted around to stand.
"Need another drink," Bones muttered and gave Adam another kiss on the mouth, Jim a halfhearted slap to the back of his head before he disappeared into the crowds writhing to the loud twenty-third century's answer to hiphop.
"Get m-us another one too!" Jim hollered behind a cupped hand over his mouth as he gestured with an empty bottle in his other hand. Bones verified these orders received with a hand gesture rude enough to probably destroy three planetary truces. Jim smirked and dropped back into his seat. Adam mirrored him, nodding and smiling to those who walked by and smiled hello. Adam eyed some, winked at others and Jim grimaced as he finished his beer because he could remember nights when he had dragged Bones to other loud and crowded places where he did the same. Only he preferred townies and not cadets. Too much of a chance of trouble following him back to the Academy.
Jim watched the dancing, too tired to try and think up conversation with Adam. There was only so much polite banter he could make with a guy he really didn’t care to talk to for the past three weeks. Jim rolled the now empty beer bottle between his hands as he stared into the crowd, trying to pinpoint Bones. He watched the dark head weave around the crowd, pulling further away and somehow, it made his insides knot and his chest ache.
The squeak of leather to his left was his only warning. Jim blinked and Adam, with that crooked lazy smirk of his was just there, his hip pressing hot next to his.
"So," Adam purred and Jim felt a large hand slide slowly around his upper thigh, down to cup his groin with a hard squeeze, hard enough to hurt. Adam leaned forward, his breath hovering over his mouth and Jim could smell the tang of whatever pissy-ass fruity drink Adam had. Another hand slithered behind his back, edging along the waistband of his jeans.
Oh no fucking way.
Jim could see his reflection in Adam's eyes as they darkened. They looked like the sky before a storm approached.
"So," Jim just said evenly and reached down a hand and pulled Adam's away, out of sight under the table. But then Adam narrowed his eyes and using his other arm, yanked Jim closer until Jim was halfway on his lap. Jim grimaced when he recognized a classmate from Advanced Transporter Programming frowning at them. He was leaving with group of friends, all cadets (just his luck). Jim gave the guy a nod even as he fidgeted away from Adam and smiled to show nothing was wrong but Jim was ignored as they walked past their table.
"Maybe I should see if Bones is back there having our drinks," Jim said stiffly and he made to rise.
"Or," Adam said in a deep voice, his hand back on his left thigh. His fingers dug deep into Jim's leg with surprising strength and pinned him back down on his seat. Jim looked sharply at Adam.
"You can stay and show me how much of a manwhore you really are," Adam breathed next to Jim's ear and his fingers flexed, digging deep enough to draw blood.
There were two responses Jim usually relied on when faced with a hand touching him where it shouldn't. As a child, there was nothing he could do about it, because doing anything more than agree meant him running into "another door" or "falling down the stairs".
Jim had always been such a clumsy and graceless child.
If the owner of the hand was pretty, an encouraging smile usually got that hand off and that meant Jim could decide where he wanted that hand to go next. If the owner of the hand was a stranger who thought seeing Jim smile was an invitation to shove anything into Jim, Jim decided where his hand would go; i.e.: across a jaw, into the solar plexus or if he was being a real son-of-a-bitch, a good grab of whatever hurts the most, which usually lies between the legs.
Adam, unfortunately, was pretty but he was also not a stranger. Both of Jim's options were no longer options but definitely not a situation Jim couldn't handle. Sure, he failed his first Kobayashi Maru, but this wasn’t a no-win situation.
Jim smiled tightly, the opposite of Adam's hungry one. He wondered if he himself ever looked like that (he hoped not, it left an oily film on his skin) and he clasped Adam's wrist with a strong grip, over the sleeve. Jim learned at a very young age that skin doesn't bruise as easily that way but it can still hurt.
"I don't think so," Jim said evenly as he removed the hand. His eyes narrowed at the flicker of something that twisted the normally jovial face to something less...jovial. But it was gone so quickly Jim shook his head. Damn bar lights were giving him a headache. Everything felt surreal.
"Sure I can't convince you?" Adam's voice dripped with invitation.
Jim rolled his eyes. Adam had been friendlier the past few weeks. Jim had hoped it was because he was warming up to him. Jim really tried to include Adam into a routine that both he and Bones had enjoyed when there weren't any classes. If Bones didn't look so relieved they were getting along, Jim wouldn't have bothered.
"Bathroom's in the back. I think we can be pretty good."
...This was not what Jim was aiming for.
Adam slid back to his seat, his knees slightly apart and he slumped back, echoing eerily like how Jim used to hog up the sofa in Bones's room when they used to hang out pissed drunk in the med dorms.
Used to.
"I don't think you should be having this conversation with me," Jim commented, his tone even and flat. Maybe Bones should order some coffee for Adam instead. He glanced over to the bar in the back. He could make out Bones still trying to get a bartender's attention. Jim turned back to Adam, an eyebrow arched. "I don't think," Jim said slowly as he nodded towards Bones's direction, "you should be coming on to me like that." Adam's eyes hardened and his knowing smirk faltered. Jim flashed a full-toothed grin at Adam.
"Not that I'm not flattered, but Bones might not be too happy if he hears-"
"That you came on to me?"
Jim's smile faded but then returned sharper, more brittle.
"I think you should stop drinking, because your memory's starting to get shot. I'm buzzed but I can still remember that you came on to me." Jim glared as Adam shuffled back closer again.
"And who do you think Leonard will believe?" Adam breathed close to his face. Blue eyes glazed and darkened as they crawled over Jim's body. "His boyfriend? Or a guy like you?"
Jim narrowed his eyes.
Adam's hand crept back over to his upper thigh. Adam's smile was sure, almost feral and it distorted his face. Youth warped and suddenly Adam looked older, more calculating, demon-like under the pulsating reds and blues the bar lights were flashing above them.
Then, just as quickly, when the rotating colors switched from red to blue, Adam's face smoothed out to that lazy, careless grin again. Smug bastard.
"You wanna try telling him? Go ahead." Adam's fingers kneaded Jim's thigh under the table and Jim's skin crawled. "Ruin the one good thing he's got after so long. Even if he forgives you despite who… well…" Adam sneered. "Who you are, he's going to look at you with doubt after that, because you destroyed this for him."
"Might as well have some fun," Adam whispered into Jim's ear. "Not like someone like you hasn’t taken it up in the ass in a place like this before." Adam's thumb pressed into his inner thigh. "I saw how you've been watching me. I know what guys like you want, Jim."
Jim's lips curled back and he leaned in close enough that their noses touched. Adam smirked, parted his mouth and inched closer when Jim hissed.
"It'll be pretty hard to jerk off if both of your hands are broken," Jim sneered.
The touch on his leg thankfully retreated and Adam glowered at Jim. Somehow, Adam looked insulted more that there was possibly someone out there who wouldn't gladly take him up on his offer.
Jim caught movement approaching their table out of the corner of his eye. Adam did as well because in a blink he was back by his seat, grinning up, warm and glad when Bones eased into his seat next to Adam with a drink tray.
"So what I miss?" Bones asked with a crooked grin as he grabbed his usual: bourbon with no ice.
Jim ignored the smug look he could feel pointed his way. He reached over, took his beer and nearly dropped it when he felt a socked foot pressed into his inner thigh. Geez. Jim very calmly reached under the table with his other hand and pinched a nerve just under the Achilles' tendon. Hard. He hid his smirk behind his beer when Adam jerked. Jim scowled though when Bones accepted Adam's explanation of a cramp easily enough.
"What took you so long anyway?" Adam asked, moving to the next topic with an ease that annoyed Jim. If he tried it, Bones would have seen through it and called Jim on it.
"Whole bar was mobbed with panting, drunk, grabby, horny kids over there, trying to get me to buy them a drink," Bones grumbled.
"Oh," Adam snickered as his eyes slid towards Jim's way, "you didn't tell us your friends were coming too, Jim."
Jim smiled tightly and tried to not think about how much his chest ached when Bones rolled his eyes. Jim took a long draw of beer, enough so his head floated, his body numbed and the knot in his chest dulled.
"Jim?" Bones frowned mildly when Jim stood.
"Going to say hello?" Adam quipped, his eyes on him as he draped an arm around Bones's shoulders. It wasn't pushed away.
"Sure," Jim said, shrugging, his throat working, "why the fuck not?" He waved off Bones's frown with a smirk that hurt on his face. "Don't wait up."
"What else is new?" Bones joked, his smile easy even as he lightly punched Jim's arm.
Jim scoffed but didn't reply. He turned around, got as far back to the bar until he knew he was hidden in the crowd.
And slipped out the back.
Jim should have skipped Transporter Programming class that morning.
News travelled fast in a Starfleet Academy. It’d probably reached god damn Iowa by now about James T. Kirk molesting his friend's boyfriend. There was no point in trying to clarify it was the other way around. Why? If it was that easy then to believe he broke his arm tripping on the ground, it was just that much easier for people to believe he was groping Bones's boyfriend while he was away. No point. Fucking waste of oxygen to try.
But if his shoulder got bumped one more time...
He didn't need another reprimand though. Not after working so hard to convince the instructors to let him skip the prerequisite entry level of this subject. He aced the first term of Transporter Programming and was now doing well in this third year course. Jim was still determined to do this in three years. He just wished everyone-student and faculty-didn't look so surprised. Except Bones. He just told Jim this meant Jim was tutoring him for when he had to take it next term. But that was before Adam.
From his seat, not getting up even though the class was dismissed, Jim eyed the cadets filing out, pretending not to eye him. Hm. Interesting. Half of them looked disgusted, the other half leered.
It didn't help that most of these people knew Adam. Third-years tended to gravitate towards each other like cluster stars as they steered towards their final year. Jim recognized some of them from the bar last night, a few 'Adam groupies' who had collected around him in the dining hall. Like some clique in high school. Something Bones usually had no patience for.
When the lecture hall was finally emptied, Jim eased out of his seat and trotted down towards the exit but a shadow crossed the doorway, blocking his escape.
"Next class here won't start for another ten minutes," Jim called out. He set his jaw when he saw that the shadow didn't move.
"I think that gives us plenty of time." The shadows slithered back when Adam stepped into the dim lighting of the lecture hall. Back in his cadet uniform, the pips on his collar proudly indicating his third year status, Adam looked more polished and like a Starfleet poster child with his blond hair slicked back, clean-shaven, clear blue eyes and white teeth.
Jim scoffed. "Well, I'll leave you and your right hand alone then..." Jim stopped short at the doorway when Adam wouldn't budge.
"You know, Leonard was a little disappointed you didn't stay last night." Adam rested his left shoulder against the door, just shy of the sensors to keep the doors shut.
"You should have stayed. I think we could have convinced him into a threesome." Adam grinned toothily and Jim wanted to gag.
"Two for the price of one. Give me a chance to see what's got Leonard so obsessed."
Jim rolled his eyes, unsure what Adam was babbling about and seriously, he didn't care.
"Sorry, I'm a strictly one-on-one kinda guy," Jim quipped.
Adam stalked over and stood eye to eye with Jim.
"Not what I hear." Adam's eyes drifted down Jim's body, his lips curved and he hummed his approval. "Not what I'm told." Adam tilted his head. "And I've been told a lot, farm boy."
Jim narrowed his eyes. "Maybe you should ask Leonard to check your ears."
"Why? He was the one who told me."
Ice clawed at his insides. Still, Jim kept the smirk on his face. Bones wouldn't do that. In fact, Bones used to get pissed off when Jim laughingly repeated the shit he used to hear about himself.
Adam was apparently hoping for a different reaction and getting just the disinterested smirk tossed back at him twisted his normally handsome features. He growled, his right hand whipping out to grab Jim by the left arm, twisting it behind Jim and slamming him to the wall.
Jim grunted as he found his cheek smashed up against the wall and-you got to be kidding-something hot and hard rubbing frantically against his ass.
"I don't know why you're playing hard to get now," Adam hissed from behind as he pressed closer and Jim's shoulder burned from the strain. "Especially after all those weeks flirting and hanging around with us like some love sick-"
"What?" Jim ground out, his disbelief muffled against the flat surface. Great, this is what he gets trying to be a nice guy before. "You are fucking stup-forget this."
Jim slipped a hand under him, between his chest and the wall, pushed off the wall, felt his shoulder pop as he twisted around and jammed a knee up that obscene bulge he felt rutting him before.
There was a mean line of satisfaction to see Adam stagger back, eyes watering, his hands cupped between his legs.
It was a cheap shot, not something he would teach in his Hand to Hand combat course, but hey, whatever worked.
"You," Jim huffed, "have a problem and I suggest you sort it out before Bones find out."
Adam straightened-with some difficulty, Jim noted with a smirk-and he wiped his upper lip with the back of his sleeve.
"Find out what?" Adam gasped but he looked smug as he gestured wildly behind him. "Empty. Your word against mine." Adam huffed, too winded to laugh. "Half the campus is waiting to see when you’ll jump me."
Jim shrugged. "That's just half," he snorted.
"Which half you think Leonard will believe?"
Jim stared at the door, his jaw clenching.
"Being a slut is a hard habit to break," Adam taunted. "The stuff Leonard used to tell me..."
Jim's teeth clicked angrily. He glanced over his shoulder and Adam tensed, his fists up.
Jim's hard look melted into a smirk.
"Might want to get some ice for that," Jim drawled and nodded towards Adam, who was still protectively covering himself. "Although the swelling might finally get it to normal size with the rest of us." He strode towards the door. If Adam said anything, it was cut off by the door sliding shut behind him.
Jim leaned against the wall by the door and exhaled slowly. He straightened his uniform with one hand. His left shoulder throbbed. Damn it.
"Geez, Kirk, you couldn't wait until after classes?" a cadet muttered loudly as he walked by with a group of other cadets. Someone said something else and a few disgusted glares were tossed his way.
Jim, chest heaving, set his mouth. Another deep breath, his mouth reshaped to a lazy and uncaring smile. He stepped away from the support of the wall and, using his right hand to support his aching left arm, Jim walked down the hall in the opposite direction.
It wasn't until after his third class did Jim realize that the ache on his left shoulder wasn't going away like he figured. He couldn't even shrug now. The throbbing was distracting and took too much of Jim's concentration to focus on it than on that blank look he was wearing all day.
Jim stood in front of the Academy medical center, lingering at the front steps, trying to remember if Bones had class or a hospital rotation today. He rubbed a thumb lightly over a spot where his shoulder joint met his collarbone. If it would stop flaring like a plasma burn for just one second, maybe he’d be able to remember.
Finally, Jim decided it wasn't worth the chance of possibly running into Bones (and running the risk he open his mouth and say something that would fuck everything up). He turned on his heels.
"Ah, ah, ah! Wrong way, Jim, my boy!" An arm hooked loosely around his neck from behind, jerking him back. Jim reacted but at the glint of brown and green blinking at him, Jim pulled his punch back and staggered.
"You're lucky I didn't follow through," Jim panted before his arm dropped. "What are you doing here?" As soon as the question was out though, Jim inwardly grimaced.
Bones favored the question with an arched eyebrow. "What am I doing here?" He huffed and grasped Jim's right elbow with a determined grip. "Come on, kid, the hospital's this way."
Jim dug in his heels. "What? Wait..."
"Your shoulder's bothering you, right?" Bones said, not turning around; otherwise, he would have seen Jim's eyes narrow.
"How do you know about that?" Jim demanded. He tugged but couldn't get his arm back. Bones wrapped both arms around his good arm and was determined to use it like a leash, forcing Jim to follow; that is, unless Jim wanted to lose that arm.
"Adam told me about you two." Bones jerked when Jim dug his heels in. He looked over his shoulder at Jim with a mild frown.
"Adam?" There was a funny taste in his mouth.
Another eye roll. "You know, the next time you two are going to wrestle it out in the gym, use gear, okay?"
A little stunned although it could be that the throbbing had crawled up to his neck now, Jim numbly followed until they reached the general treatment area where Bones helped out in. Jim stared at the back of his friend's neck.
"Bones, actually, I-"
"Found him?"
Jim bit back the snarl when he saw Adam limp out from behind a privacy screen. Adam smirked, his eyes doing that damn scan up and down his body again.
"Still walking?" Jim drawled as Bones led him to an empty cot, next to Adam's unfortunately. Adam's eyes slitted but his face smoothed out as soon as Bones nudged him towards the biobeds.
"No thanks to you," Adam quipped as he hopped on the bed to Jim's right. He grinned at Bones, a hand lightly brushing against Bones's back as he passed and Jim felt an urge to go over there and punch him.
Bones grunted as he waved a tricorder towards Adam. "You're lucky you just pulled a muscle," Bones chided as he pressed a hypospray to Adam's neck. "Jim's an assistant instructor for Advanced Hand to Hand."
Adam grimaced, rubbing his neck as he looked over to Jim, his eyes narrowing.
"Your boy plays rough, Leonard," Adam joked. He lightly tapped a fist on his right thigh. There was a glimpse of teeth as the corner of his mouth twitched.
"I'll just have to be more careful next time."
Jim sat on the cot, making a point to stare at the wall and the illustrated crosscut hologram of an Andorian male. Gross. He could hear Bones and Adam through the privacy screen that stood between them. Murmuring, chuckling, the shadows merged and then separated occasionally out of the corner of his eye. Jim kept his eyes forward, his jaw set. He wanted to say something, to march up in there and say...
Say what?
With a scoff, Jim rubbed a thumb over his shoulder again. Nothing he said was going to be worth shit. Never was. It didn't matter if he was ten or twenty-three.
"Okay, your turn," Bones declared. He darted quickly to block the opening, his arms spread apart. "Where do you think you're going?"
Jim glowered but he wasn't in the mood to fight. Not with Bones. Not over Adam. He shrugged (tried) and hopped back on the bed. Jim checked to his right but there was no shadow.
"Wanted to get a better scan of that groin muscle he pulled. Make sure it's just that," Bones murmured as he unhooked Jim's cadet uniform jacket, his eyes crinkled to reflect the frown when he saw the shoulder. Bones made an annoyed sound against his teeth.
"Dammit. And you were going to duck out from coming here?" Bones scowled but his hands were careful when they cupped the swollen round joint of Jim's shoulder.
"It's not dislocated," Jim mumbled as he warily eyed the hypospray Bones had clipped to a belt. "I know what a dislocated shoulder feels like."
"Yea?" Bones said, distracted as he pointed the tricorder towards the inflamed shoulder. "Get a lot of those, huh?"
Jim's eyes clouded. "All my life."
"What?" Bones looked at him strangely.
"Nothing." Jim tested rotating his shoulder and he hissed. Sure enough, Bones frowned at him.
"I said it wasn't dislocated, Jim, but if you keep pushing it, it will be."
No, Jim thought bleakly. Not the left one. The right one, however, popped easily though. He bared his teeth at his friend.
"Can I get a sling?"
Bones snorted. "I can reduce this easily enough. You won't need a sling."
"Yeah, but looking like a wounded-Dammit, Bones!" Jim jumped. He didn't even see the hypospray coming.
Bones grinned, unapologetic, as he discarded the nozzle head with a quick flick of his wrist into a nearby bin. He pressed gently at the shoulder again and harrumphed.
"Swelling should go down in a few minutes."
Jim grumbled as he eased back into his uniform.
"Next time, watch it with Adam," Bones advised. "Not everything's a bar brawl, okay?"
Jim bit back a scoff. For some reason, Bones's remark stung. He kept his eyes on the fasteners of his jacket.
"Hey, Bones?" Jim said quietly after a few beats.
"Hm?" Bones mumbled as he cleared his medical kit, ever mindful of cleaning up after himself. Just like his Bones; always a doctor.
Jim paused, his fingers halfway up his jacket.
His?
"Jim?"
"Uh...nothing...just..." Jim tentatively shrugged. He was glad his shoulder felt looser now. "It's been a few weeks with you and Adam, huh?"
To Jim's surprise, Bones's ears pinked. The older man coughed and he was suddenly fascinated with his tricorder.
"Yeah, I guess." Bones crooked a grin at him. "Guess that was a surprise for you. Shouldn't have wasted all your time trying to pick up girls for me, kid."
Jim laughed, but it felt funny in his throat. "Man, if I knew it was the wrong set of chromosomes, I would have asked you out mys-" Jim stopped short.
"Yeah, well, luckily for you, I met Adam. You can keep the girls." For some reason, Bones looked weary, how he used to look every time he finished talking with his little girl (when that ex of his let them talk, that is). Jim wondered if Adam was there now when Bones called. Jim used to sit in the back, not listening to the conversation, but ready to pour a bourbon when Bones was done.
"Yeah...Lucky," Jim finished awkwardly. His legs swung over the edge of the cot. "Hey, Bones...he's a good guy, right? I mean, you two are...I mean..." Jim groaned inwardly. He could feel a flush coming up his neck, hidden by the collar.
"Aw, what is this?" Bones dropped an arm across Jim's shoulders, careful not to put all his weight on the left. "I'm touched. Maybe I should have let you meet Adam first to get your blessing?"
Or not at all, Jim thought sourly. He frowned to himself. What is up with that? Jim bumped his right shoulder against Bones.
"You could probably do better," Jim snorted. "Didn't think he was your type, Bones."
Bones, for some reason, deflated and sighed. "Me neither."
Jim's brow knitted together. "Huh?" He tilted his head up at Bones.
Bones stared at Jim for a long time. His throat worked, an odd expression crossing his face before his arm dropped from Jim's shoulders. Bones cleared his throat.
"We're heading out to this place tonight." Bones huffed as he gave Jim's shoulder one last scan. "Blue Cat or something."
Jim made a face. "Doesn't that place play that old fashioned squawky music you like to listen to?" Jim peered up at Bones with a look.
"You suggested it, didn't you?"
Bones took a playful swipe at Jim's head. He missed. "It's called jazz and yes, I suggested it. We're meeting at 1900."
"I don't know..." Jim was surprised to find himself not saying no immediately.
Judging Bones's raised eyebrow, he was, too. Jim eased off the cot, walking backwards towards the opening. Jim quirked a smile at Bones.
"Maybe I'll see you guys there, okay?"
"Just can't stay away from me, can you?"
Adam's arm dropped over his shoulders from behind and if it weren't for Bones, Jim would have whipped around and broken that arm off.
Adam poked his head out from behind the screen. "All done," he told Bones. "I'm all yours, you lucky bastard."
Jim looked over sideways. His teeth flashed.
"How's the swelling?" Jim fought back a snicker when Adam's mouth thinned. Jim grimaced when Adam's hand curled tighter over his shoulder.
"Watch that shoulder," Bones warned, his voice a little sharp. "I just injected 50cc of cordatazine into his deltoid muscle."
One more squeeze, claws digging deep enough the room dimmed and Adam let go, his face perfectly chagrin.
"Sorry."
"Yeah, sure," Jim mumbled and unclenched his fist before he did something stupid. Ignoring Adam, Jim gave Bones a curt nod.
"See you later, all right?" Bones nodded back as Adam sauntered up to drape an arm across Bones's shoulders now.
Jim forced himself to grin, said nothing else and left, his thumb absently rubbing his left shoulder socket that began throbbing again.
This is the typical shit Bones likes, Jim decided as he took a long guzzle of beer. The music was the deep throated tones of whatever instruments being synthesized, fake non-carcinogenic smoke was pumped into the room for 'effect' but the drinks were cheap and it was amusing whenever Bones closed his eyes in appreciation of one riff, like savoring non-replicated wine, like those expensive twenty-second century vintage shit. Bones was funny that way; he acts pretty old for a not that old kind of guy.
Marriage and divorce probably does that to people, Jim decided before he took another drink.
The amber bottle Jim held with a fist did nothing to block Adam's gaze on him, staring at Jim as he swallowed now with Bones gone from the table. It didn't take a genius to know what Adam was thinking, staring unabashed at Jim's long throat as he drank. He should have volunteered to get the drinks instead but the idea of leaving Bones with a bastard like Adam made his insides knot.
Jim deliberately twisted around in his seat, pointedly showing his back towards Bones and Adam's chairs, to talk to another patron in the next table. Not of his usual tastes, but she appreciated the attention even if they both knew the flirting wasn't going to go beyond the bar.
Bones returned with the drinks and Jim could hear the pair talking, kidding, almost-Jim thought with a pang-like how he and Bones used to.
The phrase 'used to' left such a bad taste in Jim's mouth, he finished the rest of his beer in a single gulp.
The conversation kept going behind Jim and sounded so normal, so ordinary, Jim glanced back over his shoulder to see if he was on the wrong table. He darted a quick smile when Bones paused questioningly at Jim, one dark eyebrow arched in a "What?" at him. But then Adam leaned in, said something and Bones snorted, giving Adam an eye roll. Jim smiled faintly, his throat tight and turned back to the girl-Mary? Marie?
A chair scraped noisily across the floor and Adam's hot breath burned his cheek.
"Having fun?" Adam winked at Mary/Marie who giggled in return. "Mind we borrow our friend here?" Adam draped an arm over Jim. Unseen, under the table, his hand ghosted the curve of his ass. Jim grit his teeth, his hands holding his beer and how easy would it be to swing it right now? Jim smiled, or grimaced, and swiveled back around to the two.
"Too boring for you?" Bones joked as he tipped his shot glass back. He didn't react to the fact Adam's arm was still around Jim's shoulder but at least turned around, his other arm was back on the table.
"I think the people here are too sober," Adam joked and he squeezed Jim's shoulder (the fucker clawed the bad one again) before pulling away.
Bones frowned mildly, his eyes on Jim and Jim fought the urge to fidget and just reached for a new beer. Bones knew who he was before, knew what people often said. Jim gave himself a mental shrug and made a mock salute towards his friend.
Bones opened his mouth to say something when his communicator twilled. "Great," he muttered as he flipped it open and listened intently to the medical alert. His annoyance quickly morphed to a tight-lipped nod and a terse promise he would be there in ten minutes.
"Two shuttles collided midair," Bones bit out. He shook his head at them when they both rose as well. "No. Stay. They're only calling back all available medical to triage, nothing you two can do." Bones eyed the table of drinks with regret.
Jim averted his eyes when Adam pulled Bones in for a hard kiss and a whispered promise of "I'll wait up." Jim nodded to Bones, his eyes glued to him as Bones waded through the crowds with a quick, purposeful stride.
A hand curled around his thigh. Jim jerked.
"Guess it's just you and me now, farm boy."
Jim's mouth twisted. "Nope. Just you." He finished his beer and gave Adam another mock salute. "I'll tell the barkeep you're taking the tab. Thanks." There was no reason for him to stay now.
Adam scowled after Jim as Jim maneuvered around towards the exit.
Even if the smoke was faked, it was still a relief to get out of there. Jim took a deep breath in front of the bar, scrubbed his face with both hands and shook his head vigorously. He didn't need this. Bones was off doing doctor things. Maybe it was time to find his own bar. Like before. Jim's gotten drunk alone before. No big deal. It wasn't. Never was.
Jim stuck his hands in his jeans' pockets, marveling over the fact that his civvies actually felt odd on his skin now instead of the cadet uniform. Huh. Go figure.
The bar at the end of the alley by the Blue Cat sounded loud even from here and beckoned with the gaudy promises of one night stands and people who really don't care who Jim Kirk might be. Hell, they'll probably welcome people like him.
Shrugging, his feet leaden, Jim slipped into the long alley, his eyes fixed on the holo-sign and the few red uniformed cadets lingering outside. Idiots to be in their gear, as if the uniform will guarantee a good night.
Footfall.
Jim didn't pause, pretended he didn't hear it but slowed his steps as if checking for the time. He bunched his fists, thumbs tucked in, like he often advised the class he assisted teaching, ready to swing-whoever he was, he picked the wrong guy to mug tonight-and swung towards the fast approaching shadow.
It ducked, like it knew what was coming but before Jim could register the implication, the shadow reappeared behind him, clamped on to his left arm and gave it a violent wrench back.
Shit, that hurt. Jim growled under his breath, twisted to swing out with his right leg but it was deftly blocked with a standard Starfleet response: a fist to the back of the knee, a punch to the back of his head that sent his forehead snapping forward and left him temporarily blinking watering eyes.
Jim grabbed blindly at whatever he could and found a fistful of sweater or jacket, who the hell cared, he just gripped the leverage hard, planted a knee to a solid chest, ready to throw the guy when a textbook kick slammed into his hip and vibrated shocks up his spine. Fuck!
Blood roared in his ears when Jim was slammed back first to the alley wall and his head went thwack on brick. Dots flooded in front of him so Jim couldn't see the shadow pressing onto him and smashing his mouth over his.
Jim hissed into the mouth as it bit hard on his lower lip, drawing blood and a tongue darted in demanding and tasting like bitter whiskey. Jim snarled as he felt something hot, hard, humping his hip even as that unwelcomed mouth swallowed his outrage.
Someone at the end of the alley shouted something like "Get a fucking room, Kirk!" before their footsteps faded away. A chuckle rumbled against him and the rutting renewed furiously, scrubbing Jim against the brick wall, large hands around his throat and the left arm he was sure was definitely dislocated now.
Jim pulled a fist back and slammed it on the nearest thing he could reach: an ear. There was a grunt, a stagger back that was enough to see a face finally, but not enough to break free.
"You!" Jim snarled at Adam before his shoulders were gripped, his left screaming in agony as a thumb dug into the socket and he was slammed back onto the wall again once, twice. At the third time, Jim tasted blood (he bit his tongue) in his mouth and his limbs quivered as his back groaned from the abuse.
"Time to stop playing hard to get," Adam hissed as he fumbled open Jim's jeans.
There was a vague fuzzy overlap of an older guy's face over Adam, a rough voice that spoke at the same time.
"...enough teasing..."
"Did I not tell you to not talk back?"
"...see what got him so fixated on you. Taste that ass that he wanted to taste..."
"You think she cares? She loves the damn stars more than us! I said shut up or I'll make you shut up!"
Fingers fumbled, someone's panting, a weight pinned him to the wall. There was a sharp bite on his throat and he smelled his own blood. His ribs creaked.
"...know you want it. Everyone knows. Pretty, cocky, whor..."
"I told you not to talk to her! Who's going to believe a screw up like you? Your own mother can't look at you!"
"...gonna be real good...just like you wanted...just like we both wanted..."
"You're only making it worse for yourself hiding! Get out here now! Now!"
Jim's eyes snapped open and Frank's face splintered, leaving behind Adam's contorted, flushed face inches from his as he grinded against Jim, grimy hands trying to shove his jeans down lower.
With a hiss, Jim snapped his head forward and slammed it on Adam's nose, hard enough Jim thought he blacked out.
"Son of a..." Adam dropped to the ground, his hands clasped over his nose, his jeans down around his hips.
"First thing," Jim grated out. "You leave the Academy. On your own before I-"
"Before you what?" Adam glowered up at him from behind a bleeding, messy nose. "Before you tell them how we groped around in some shitty alley? How James Kirk dicked around with his friend's-" Adam laughed nasally. He staggered to his feet, swaying as he wiped under his nose. The red blood that streamed down his chin made him look pathetic.
"That's what I'm going to tell them," Adam wheezed. "That we got all nice and fucked because you just couldn't keep it in the pants again." Adam swiped at his upper lip and spat to the floor. "You think it was bad before, that half thinking you're a-" Adam coughed and sneered. "Wait until tomorrow. I'll have the whole campus thinking you're a fucking sl-"
Jim swung. Adam never finished and dropped.
"Like I care," Jim hissed to the crumpled figure on the ground. He staggered backwards, his right arm gripping his left and he steered for the direction of the Blue Cat. At the end of it, still under the shadows of the narrow corridor, Jim spit the blood clean from his mouth and with shaky hands, tried to tuck his shirt back into his jeans. Damn it, the button was gone.
Footfall.
Jim closed his eyes, his lips pulled back in disgust. "Adam, you-"
"Adam?"
The hoarse voice threw ice down Jim's back. Jim lifted his eyes at the person that stood three steps from the alley.
Bones stared at Jim, more specifically at his jeans barely hanging off his hips, his mouth slightly open. Jim's eyes slid away.
"Hey," Adam rasped. Standing behind Jim, he made a show of straightening his clothes as he sidled up to Jim. "Leonard...hey...we can explain..."
Bones kept staring at Jim. He cleared his throat but no words would come out.
Jim didn't want to hear it. He couldn't. Nor did he want to see what he knew would be on Bones's face. Jim raised his chin up, his eyes past Bones's ear and he elbowed past him, ducking a hand he could feel reaching out to grab him. Jim wasn't in the mood for another beating. Tomorrow. He'll deal with this shit tomorrow.
Jim could hear his name faint in the distance but he didn't turn around. As soon as he ducked into a corner, Jim didn't care if his head pounded, his mouth full of bile, his chest so tight he could hardly breathe. Jim did what always helped him before.
He ran and didn't fucking look back.
Part Two
Author's Acknowledgment: Thank you, iceiwynd for beta-ing this again and again and again…LOL