Star Trek fic: Blind Dating, PG McCoy/Kirk 2/3
From Part 1
“They won’t let me be on a starship.”
McCoy knew this was coming, how could he not? But he went still as he put down his medical bag and then screwed up his courage before he turned to look at the small, hunched figure on the couch. His sharp eyes noted and dismissed the expensive bottle of Scotch on the coffee table, open but still mostly full. Jim was slightly drunk, but he’d waited until Jo went to sleep, so he wasn’t beyond reason. “They told you?”
It was the wrong thing to say, he realized, and Jim jumped to his feet in outrage. “You knew? Did they tell you? How could you not tell me?”
McCoy waved him down before remembering Kirk couldn’t see him. Sometimes the kid was so good at acting as if he could see that the man he’d been rooming with for almost three years forgot. Walking over, he reminded his friend that there was a sleeping child upstairs. “Damn it Jim, of course no one told me. I would have said something if I knew anything for sure. But seriously man, you had to have had some idea. There has never been a blind…”
“I was going to be the first,” Kirk said desperately. “I’m so good at spatial recognition. I would need a couple of days and then I could get all around a ship on my own.”
McCoy sighed. “I know that, and you could get a con that could be designed for your use. I know, Jim. And you’d be a wonderful captain one day because your mind strategizes like none other I’ve seen. But Jim, what about the other people? How would you navigate around them? How would you avoid the emergencies that spring up, how would you evacuate?”
“I’d find a way,” Jim responded stubbornly, swiping at tears that had started falling down his face with no little shame.
His friend’s heart twisted, and he reached out and held him. “I’m so sorry, Jim.”
“It’s not your fault,” Kirk responded grudgingly, and then his face went awry again. “God, it was all a waste, wasn’t it? I had this stupid dream, and for three years I’ve been working at it, and it’s been hard. And every day, every single day, someone has told me that I would never do it, and I’ve thought- I’ll show them. I’ll show them all. Only the joke’s on me, because they were all right. And I’ve just been wasting my time.” This time, when McCoy reached for him, Jim sprung to his feet and unerringly ran to the door. Though the doctor chased him a little way, calling his name, Kirk outpaced him quickly and disappeared. If Jo hadn’t been asleep, McCoy would have looked for him longer. As it was, his only option was to return home and wait to see what shape Jim came home in.
*
“Daddy?” His little girl’s voice woke him up, and he sat up with a groan. “What time is it?”
Jo looked at him solemnly. “I don’t know, but someone keeps calling.” As she said it, McCoy could hear the beeping of an incoming communication. He looked around the room, remembered what had happened, and his blood ran cold.
“Jo, go upstairs. Now.” His tone was so stern and foreboding that the girl didn’t argue or question him; she scampered up the stairs immediately. Walking to the wall communications console, McCoy pretended his heart wasn’t in his throat and answered. “McCoy here.”
As soon as the video feed came on, and he saw the uniforms and backdrop of Starfleet medical, McCoy felt his knees wobble. “Dr. McCoy, we have you down as Cadet Kirk’s emergency contact…”
*
Jim hated returning to consciousness; it always hurt. Swallowing back the nausea, he blinked his eyes open only to be faced by the everpresent darkness. Still, he could feel someone’s face, inches above his own. “Whoa, give a man some space,” he groaned.
“Oh you’ll be lucky if you’re allowed to have any space for the next decade of your life, you little idiot,” McCoy threatened, and Kirk might have laughed at the diatribe that was obviously just getting started if he hadn’t heard the worry and panic lurking in his best friend’s voice.
“Bones,” he said quietly, “I wasn’t being stupid. Okay, I was, but I wasn’t trying to kill myself. This was an accident. I wouldn’t do that to you, or to Jo.”
McCoy spluttered, caught off guard. “Well, see it doesn’t happen again.”
*
“What are you doing?” The voice coming from right behind him made him jump.
But it took more than that to really catch Kirk off guard, so he responded with his usual insouciant wit. “What does it look like I’m doing?”
“Throwing darts at… are those pictures on paper?” Paper was expensive; a little too expensive to waste on dart games.
“They are paper copies of famous blind people through the ages. I had Jo put them up, point me in the general direction, and when I’m done throwing all these darts I’m going to call her in and ask what I’m going to be doing for the rest of my life.” It was as if the night he’d imploded had occurred years ago, not last week, because though the bruises were still dark and vivid, Jim had regained his former positive attitude.
“Well, right now it looks like you’re heading off to be a universe-wide famous harpist. Do you even know how to play the harp?”
Kirk shrugged. “I can learn. And I’ll be fabulous. When was the last time I wasn’t fabulous at something.” McCoy couldn’t remember, which just made that question all the more annoying.
“Well, if you can quite give up the harp dream, I have another option for you.”
Kirk paused, and turned, listening.
McCoy shifted, afraid this would be the complicated part. “I mentioned, that night, that I had had an inkling that the starship might not work out for you. I knew you had your heart set on it, so I didn’t say anything, but I’ve been thinking about other options.”
“Oh?” Jim had stiffened a little at the mention of that night, but remained attentive. Bones had never let him down yet.
“Well, I’ve been working on something with Captain Pike, the last few years. You know Pike, right? The starship captain who suffered spinal damage”-
Kirk waved him on, impatiently. “Yes, of course I do. We see each other at the weekly “Starfleet with special disabilities” club meetings.”
“Don’t be snide,” McCoy said, and had the satisfaction of seeing Jim flush with guilt. “He’s a good man who lost the use of his legs while saving a lot of people. Anyway, he doesn’t want to retire, and considering what an amazing captain he was, Starfleet doesn’t want him to either. So we, as in Starfleet medical, Science and a bunch of aliens including the Vulcans, have been working on outfitting a base for people with disabilities. If it works, we will start inputting some changes on other bases as well.”
“So what, an entire base full of…”
“No!” McCoy sighed. “It’s still mostly going to be a base for people who aren’t, who don’t… Basically, you and Pike are the only ones we have so far who have requested high-level positions, command positions, since we began this program, so you may be the only ones. Look, I’ve been working on it with them, and one of my conditions for this was that we try to find a place for you/ You don’t have to do it- there’s no obligation, but you will be serving in an advisory position and sort of an unofficial second leader when he goes out on the command ship attached to the base. One word of warning though- the guy who designed the test is his first officer, and he will be continuing his job as Science officer on the base. He doesn’t like you because of the test, and now he’s probably going to be pissed that you are usurping his first officer command privileges. And um, I don’t know if this will affect your decision, but Jo and I will be stationed there as well.”
Kirk sat down in shock. “Wow.”
“You don’t have to make a decision immediately.”
“Bones, my latest options were taking a stupid, clerical position at the Academy or becoming a concert harpist! And then you come in and offer me this incredible opportunity to do something as close to what I want to do as is humanly possible. And to do it with you and Jo by my side. I don’t need time, I’m going to say yes. But I… no one’s ever…”
“Oh shut up, Jim.”
Part 3
“They won’t let me be on a starship.”
McCoy knew this was coming, how could he not? But he went still as he put down his medical bag and then screwed up his courage before he turned to look at the small, hunched figure on the couch. His sharp eyes noted and dismissed the expensive bottle of Scotch on the coffee table, open but still mostly full. Jim was slightly drunk, but he’d waited until Jo went to sleep, so he wasn’t beyond reason. “They told you?”
It was the wrong thing to say, he realized, and Jim jumped to his feet in outrage. “You knew? Did they tell you? How could you not tell me?”
McCoy waved him down before remembering Kirk couldn’t see him. Sometimes the kid was so good at acting as if he could see that the man he’d been rooming with for almost three years forgot. Walking over, he reminded his friend that there was a sleeping child upstairs. “Damn it Jim, of course no one told me. I would have said something if I knew anything for sure. But seriously man, you had to have had some idea. There has never been a blind…”
“I was going to be the first,” Kirk said desperately. “I’m so good at spatial recognition. I would need a couple of days and then I could get all around a ship on my own.”
McCoy sighed. “I know that, and you could get a con that could be designed for your use. I know, Jim. And you’d be a wonderful captain one day because your mind strategizes like none other I’ve seen. But Jim, what about the other people? How would you navigate around them? How would you avoid the emergencies that spring up, how would you evacuate?”
“I’d find a way,” Jim responded stubbornly, swiping at tears that had started falling down his face with no little shame.
His friend’s heart twisted, and he reached out and held him. “I’m so sorry, Jim.”
“It’s not your fault,” Kirk responded grudgingly, and then his face went awry again. “God, it was all a waste, wasn’t it? I had this stupid dream, and for three years I’ve been working at it, and it’s been hard. And every day, every single day, someone has told me that I would never do it, and I’ve thought- I’ll show them. I’ll show them all. Only the joke’s on me, because they were all right. And I’ve just been wasting my time.” This time, when McCoy reached for him, Jim sprung to his feet and unerringly ran to the door. Though the doctor chased him a little way, calling his name, Kirk outpaced him quickly and disappeared. If Jo hadn’t been asleep, McCoy would have looked for him longer. As it was, his only option was to return home and wait to see what shape Jim came home in.
*
“Daddy?” His little girl’s voice woke him up, and he sat up with a groan. “What time is it?”
Jo looked at him solemnly. “I don’t know, but someone keeps calling.” As she said it, McCoy could hear the beeping of an incoming communication. He looked around the room, remembered what had happened, and his blood ran cold.
“Jo, go upstairs. Now.” His tone was so stern and foreboding that the girl didn’t argue or question him; she scampered up the stairs immediately. Walking to the wall communications console, McCoy pretended his heart wasn’t in his throat and answered. “McCoy here.”
As soon as the video feed came on, and he saw the uniforms and backdrop of Starfleet medical, McCoy felt his knees wobble. “Dr. McCoy, we have you down as Cadet Kirk’s emergency contact…”
*
Jim hated returning to consciousness; it always hurt. Swallowing back the nausea, he blinked his eyes open only to be faced by the everpresent darkness. Still, he could feel someone’s face, inches above his own. “Whoa, give a man some space,” he groaned.
“Oh you’ll be lucky if you’re allowed to have any space for the next decade of your life, you little idiot,” McCoy threatened, and Kirk might have laughed at the diatribe that was obviously just getting started if he hadn’t heard the worry and panic lurking in his best friend’s voice.
“Bones,” he said quietly, “I wasn’t being stupid. Okay, I was, but I wasn’t trying to kill myself. This was an accident. I wouldn’t do that to you, or to Jo.”
McCoy spluttered, caught off guard. “Well, see it doesn’t happen again.”
*
“What are you doing?” The voice coming from right behind him made him jump.
But it took more than that to really catch Kirk off guard, so he responded with his usual insouciant wit. “What does it look like I’m doing?”
“Throwing darts at… are those pictures on paper?” Paper was expensive; a little too expensive to waste on dart games.
“They are paper copies of famous blind people through the ages. I had Jo put them up, point me in the general direction, and when I’m done throwing all these darts I’m going to call her in and ask what I’m going to be doing for the rest of my life.” It was as if the night he’d imploded had occurred years ago, not last week, because though the bruises were still dark and vivid, Jim had regained his former positive attitude.
“Well, right now it looks like you’re heading off to be a universe-wide famous harpist. Do you even know how to play the harp?”
Kirk shrugged. “I can learn. And I’ll be fabulous. When was the last time I wasn’t fabulous at something.” McCoy couldn’t remember, which just made that question all the more annoying.
“Well, if you can quite give up the harp dream, I have another option for you.”
Kirk paused, and turned, listening.
McCoy shifted, afraid this would be the complicated part. “I mentioned, that night, that I had had an inkling that the starship might not work out for you. I knew you had your heart set on it, so I didn’t say anything, but I’ve been thinking about other options.”
“Oh?” Jim had stiffened a little at the mention of that night, but remained attentive. Bones had never let him down yet.
“Well, I’ve been working on something with Captain Pike, the last few years. You know Pike, right? The starship captain who suffered spinal damage”-
Kirk waved him on, impatiently. “Yes, of course I do. We see each other at the weekly “Starfleet with special disabilities” club meetings.”
“Don’t be snide,” McCoy said, and had the satisfaction of seeing Jim flush with guilt. “He’s a good man who lost the use of his legs while saving a lot of people. Anyway, he doesn’t want to retire, and considering what an amazing captain he was, Starfleet doesn’t want him to either. So we, as in Starfleet medical, Science and a bunch of aliens including the Vulcans, have been working on outfitting a base for people with disabilities. If it works, we will start inputting some changes on other bases as well.”
“So what, an entire base full of…”
“No!” McCoy sighed. “It’s still mostly going to be a base for people who aren’t, who don’t… Basically, you and Pike are the only ones we have so far who have requested high-level positions, command positions, since we began this program, so you may be the only ones. Look, I’ve been working on it with them, and one of my conditions for this was that we try to find a place for you/ You don’t have to do it- there’s no obligation, but you will be serving in an advisory position and sort of an unofficial second leader when he goes out on the command ship attached to the base. One word of warning though- the guy who designed the test is his first officer, and he will be continuing his job as Science officer on the base. He doesn’t like you because of the test, and now he’s probably going to be pissed that you are usurping his first officer command privileges. And um, I don’t know if this will affect your decision, but Jo and I will be stationed there as well.”
Kirk sat down in shock. “Wow.”
“You don’t have to make a decision immediately.”
“Bones, my latest options were taking a stupid, clerical position at the Academy or becoming a concert harpist! And then you come in and offer me this incredible opportunity to do something as close to what I want to do as is humanly possible. And to do it with you and Jo by my side. I don’t need time, I’m going to say yes. But I… no one’s ever…”
“Oh shut up, Jim.”
Part 3