Soul Dreamer Part 1/4
Title: Soul Dreamer
Artist: squarededdie
Author: sunryder
Rating (both art/fic): G/PG-13 (curse words)
Genre/Pairing: Action, Gen
Word Count: 18,290
Warnings: The occasional curse word
Fic Summary: They were supposed to be on shore leave, so explain how Spock ended up mentally adopted a kid and Jim was making nice with Godzilla.
Link to Art: http://squarededdie.livejournal.com/1495.html
A/N: My first Reverse Big Bang Fic!!! Be so proud! Even if you have no desire to read the fic, go LOOK AT THE ART! It's brilliant and stunning, and deserves all the love you can send it!
ETA: All links should be fixed. My apologies for posting at 2 am my time while on cold medicine.
1 | 2 | 3 | 4
Prologue:
She was cold.
They’d caged her in a box of ice, so she supposed that cold was the only way to be. Her world was one of fire and warmth, but they’d packaged her in ice and told her that they needed her, and she would be happy on the other side.
But it was still so cold. He had to come for her, to save her from the cold.
She was waiting.
#######
They'd come to Cestus III for shore leave. Well, the crew was supposed to get shore leave while Jim and Spock were supposed to make nice with the unpleasant locals on behalf of the colony. The Admiralty said the mission would only take a couple of hours and then Jim could join the rest of his crew sandsurfing and shopping. All Jim needed to do was stand there with his Constitution Class starship in the background and tell the locals to stop pestering ships as they left the colony.
But as Jim sprinted through the back alleys of Cestus III chasing down one of the Federation's most wanted, he thought to himself that he really should've known it was all gonna go to hell the moment Archer told him they were giving Jim a break.
In Archer's defense the whole thing had started out fine. Jim and Spock had made nice with the board of governors, listening to their overblown complaints about how the natives of this galaxy had the audacity to believe that they had the right to be upset about a Federation colony turning up in their space and bringing in outsiders. Jim kept his mouth shut through the whole interview and was impressed that without stooping to show any expression Spock managed to look at them like they were all idiots.
The board of governors had sent Jim and Spock to a tiny transporter station near the rough and tumble edge of the city with instructions that one of the foreign representatives would be beaming in to chat about the problem. At least, they were pretty sure that's what he was coming in for since communication with these ‘savages’ was sketchy at best.
On their hike to the meeting place Jim had ranted, rather enthusiastically, about what kind of stupid these men had to be to think calling in the negotiator to a place like this was the best plan, and that for all any of them knew the locals could be beaming in with a strike team. Spock listened patiently, like he always did, nodding along and offering supplementary evidence to aide Jim in his rants. So really, in the grand scheme of Jim’s captaincy it hadn’t been too bad of a morning.
Jim and Spock arrived at the scene fifteen minutes early with their phasers drawn, but those extra precautions hadn't been enough to stop the meeting that preceded them.
The transport station was riddled with tight corridors and pathetic lighting, so when Jim and Spock stepped around a corner into the white glow of the transporter room itself they were both shocked. The landing platform was humming with the only real power in the building, and illuminated in its harsh light was a human decked out in the dress uniform of a Starfleet captain wrapped in a discussion with a hulking great lizard.
For half a second Kirk thought that Starfleet had gotten their wires crossed and they'd sent two ships out here to solve the same problem, but then Spock turned his phaser on the pair and given Spock's eidetic memory Jim was inclined to trust his judgment.
Jim got so far as to shout "Stop!" when the lizard thing roared, grabbing the large silver crate that had been resting between them like it weighed nothing and then dashing out of the room. The fake captain followed the lizard's lead and ran for it himself, only taking the entirely opposite door instead. Jim went after the captain, some small part of his brain admitting that while he could take the human, Jim would probably end up as yellow shirted goo if he went after the lizard. He shouted over his shoulder, "Spock, you get that one I’ll get this one!"
Spock was off like a shot, but not fast enough that Jim didn't hear him call, "That was imprecise, Jim!"
Which is how Jim found himself darting through side streets that he was almost positive shouldn't be so grubby in so new a colony. The man was ducking down alleys that Jim would've passed off as cracks, slipping through holes in fences, and almost diving through a broken window to get away. The man knew the city, Jim had to give him that, and Jim almost lost him more than once. If Jim didn't have his own background in avoiding capture by authority figures he probably wouldn't have had the sixth sense of when to turn to stay on his tail. Jim almost respected the guy for being able to lead him on a chase like this for so long, but then the man cut through a courtyard, turning back to check on Jim’s progress and the bright light of the afternoon cast his features into perfect clarity and Jim put on an extra burst of speed.
The man had chopped his hair to Starfleet regulation and had dyed his graying temples a rich brown to make him look younger, but it was still Harry Mudd, one of Starfleet’s most wanted.
In the wake of the Kelvin the Federation had tightened their borders, making it difficult for small time smugglers and conmen to make the sort of living they'd been used to. The Federation had thought their measures would stop that sort of crime and instead they'd forced men who would've been content running small jobs into bigger game. Mudd had started out as a no name conman, and now was one of the galaxy's most notorious drug smugglers. And Jim was hunting him alone through the streets of a colony at the ass end of space.
Damn Admiralty and their cakewalk missions.
Mudd cut through another alleyway and into a door that he meant to lock behind him, just to slow Jim down a little. It was a risk, but Mudd probably figured that at this point risks were the only thing that was going to get Jim off his tail. Jim heard the slow lock of the door’s elderly system start to engage, but Jim turned his phaser on the mechanism before it could react. The door heated almost instantly in response to the fire of the phaser and Mudd yelped as the hand he still had on the other side of the door took the burn. Jim tapped the opening switch and pointed his phaser at the pained man lurching to get away.
"I'm really fine with stunning you." Jim said. When Mudd tried to lunge out the door Jim continued, "Actually, I'd be tickled pink to shoot you down where you stand and call it a weapons malfunction, so keep right on trying to run."
Mudd collapsed against the wall with a snarl, clutching his blistered hand to his chest. "What kind of Federation golden boy would shoot and unarmed man?"
"I've known good people who died to the drugs you peddle. The way I see it, you stopped being a man a long time ago and devolved into scum."
Mudd snorted, "I'm exactly what your Federation made me, boy."
"Of course you are. 'Cause no one's responsible for their own actions."
Mudd just grunted while Jim placed a call to the Enterprise.
"Chekov here, Keptin."
"Oh you have got to be kidding me," Mudd grumbled. "I've been caught by the good ship lollipop."
Jim gave Mudd a savage grin in response and said, "Excellent. Ensign can you lock on to my signal and send me a security detail? I seem to have caught myself a conman and I'd prefer to have someone watching him while he's on my ship."
Jim had to hand it to the little Russian that he didn't even pause at Jim's announcement. "Wonderful, Keptin. I will inform security and hawe the team beam down momentarily."
Jim ended the call with a grin and a, "Kirk out," keeping his phaser trained on Mudd.
Mudd thunked his head against the wall and asked, "Is there a reason you haven't just stunned me so I can be unconscious until I've been to see a regenerator?"
"Trust me, it's an act of mercy leaving you to face my Doc with your wits about you. If I dropped you on one of his tables unable to defend yourself you'd probably wake up in two weeks with half your organs donated to small children."
"When you put it that way it sounds like you'd be doing the world a favor by phasering me, and I think you'd be doing me a favor, so explain to me why I'm still conscious?"
Jim stepped further inside to prevent anyone from sneaking up behind in and lounged against the doorway with his phaser still ready. "Well, I thought that while we had this time alone together I'd ask you what in the hell you were doing with Godzilla."
Mudd smirked at the 20th century reference and replied, "It was a business arrangement."
"Really? 'Cause, you know that big, shiny metal crate Godzilla ran off with? You know the one I mean? About yea big," Jim gestured with his free hand, miming the size of the box, and trying to rile Mudd.
"Yeah, boy," Mudd snapped, "I know the one you mean."
"Well, that crate is a modified organic storage container, the sort used to carry plant starts on deep space missions. Only, yours was big enough to fit a sapling rather than a seedling. Makes me wonder what sort of organic life a drug trafficker was trying to trade."
"One of the great mysteries of life."
Jim heard the whirr of transporter beams behind him far more quickly than he'd anticipated. It was a sign that the on call security team had probably been geared up and waiting for something like this to happen. Jim's officers swooped in and subdued Mudd before Jim could get any more questions out and Jim hoped Spock was having better luck.
#######
The reptilian humanoid was not fast, nor did he seem particularly clever, but he had enough of a start to wind his way out in front of Spock and get to a main road quickly. While Jim had a deviant youth to rely upon in his hunt, Spock had no such experience, but with his own six sense he managed to follow the reptile through all the turns, even as he lost sight of him.
Spock burst onto the main road and found the reptile commandeering a passing hoodless hovercar with his brute strength. He slammed his massive, scaly fist down on the hood of the car and the driver simply dove from the vehicle and ran screaming down the street. Spock spared a moment to be frustrated with the unnecessary drama of humans, but in that moment the reptile had snuggled the crate into the passenger seat and was flicking the various controls with his claws in an attempt to make the hovercar move.
Spock bolted forward at the same time the reptile discovered the gas pedal, lurching his car forward. The movement was so sudden and unexpectedly successful that the reptile paused in disbelief, giving Spock just enough time to jump on to the back of the vehicle and cling. Spock made use of his Vulcan strength to keep a grip on the seat back before him and ignored the bruises that formed over his ribs and thighs as the reptile sent the hovercar twisting around corners at unsafe speeds.
As Spock knew was statistically bound to happen, the reptile made it a few blocks and then caught the corner of a building, sending the hovercar off into a spiral and tossing Spock onto the pavement. The reptile threw himself from the car and made a dive, not for the wounded Spock, but for the silver crate.
Now that Spock had a clear shot he pulled his phaser and fired a blow at the reptile's back, hoping to knock him unconscious. The blow singed the reptile's clothes but glanced off his hide, doing nothing more than drawing a furious roar and pulling the reptile’s attention away from his goal. The lizard charged at him and Spock remained in place until the reptile had committed himself to a lunge, then Spock dropped to the side and rolled out of the way, throwing himself towards the car and the silver box. Spock jumped into the driver’s seat and attached his comm to the crate and tapped the badge before the reptile could dig his claws into Spock's side, ripping him from the car. He flung Spock onto the ground and then gently checked that all the box’s seals were still in place. The lizard seized the handles to pull the crate free and Spock was overcome with the need to shout, "You cannot take her!"
Spock paused to examine his own mental space to determine where such an impulse had come from, but the lizard clamped his claws around the crate and gave a desperate hiss, "We need her!"
"I don't care what you need her for, you are not meant to take her!"
"You wouldn't even know what to do with her!"
Spock stumbled to his feet, clutching at the puncture wounds in his side, "I don't need to know anything about her, I know enough. She is mine, not yours, and if you take her from me she will never be whole."
The lizard snapped his wide jaws at Spock and groaned, "We need her."
"Tell me why you need her aide and perhaps my ship can be of help."
"What could you possibly do?"
A Spock knew he would, Ensign Chekov adhered to regulations and when he heard nothing but the faint background traces of a fight filter through the signal, he beamed up whatever was attached to the badge. The mild hum of the transporter picked up the crate and carried it away to the ship and Spock replied, "I do not know, but it appears you have no choice but to rely on us."
The reptilian creature puffed out a sigh that sounded more like a hiss and Spock took that as agreement just before the security team beamed down in a desperate panic. Spock stifled a sigh of his own as the security forces took in the sight of him and blanched, all of them obviously more than a little terrified that Jim would put them all on scut duty for not somehow sensing from orbit that Spock was in trouble. Spock found the whole notion ludicrous, but their captain seemed to believe it was plausible and punished accordingly.
"I trust that Doctor M'Benga is still on duty in the sickbay?"
"Of course, sir. It's just..." The officers looked between one another while they secured the reptile (who most certainly couldn't have been secured by human officers if he was not in the mood to cooperate) and replied, "The Captain was in the transporter room when we left."
Spock just sighed.
Part 2
Artist: squarededdie
Author: sunryder
Rating (both art/fic): G/PG-13 (curse words)
Genre/Pairing: Action, Gen
Word Count: 18,290
Warnings: The occasional curse word
Fic Summary: They were supposed to be on shore leave, so explain how Spock ended up mentally adopted a kid and Jim was making nice with Godzilla.
Link to Art: http://squarededdie.livejournal.com/1495.html
A/N: My first Reverse Big Bang Fic!!! Be so proud! Even if you have no desire to read the fic, go LOOK AT THE ART! It's brilliant and stunning, and deserves all the love you can send it!
ETA: All links should be fixed. My apologies for posting at 2 am my time while on cold medicine.
1 | 2 | 3 | 4
Prologue:
She was cold.
They’d caged her in a box of ice, so she supposed that cold was the only way to be. Her world was one of fire and warmth, but they’d packaged her in ice and told her that they needed her, and she would be happy on the other side.
But it was still so cold. He had to come for her, to save her from the cold.
She was waiting.
#######
They'd come to Cestus III for shore leave. Well, the crew was supposed to get shore leave while Jim and Spock were supposed to make nice with the unpleasant locals on behalf of the colony. The Admiralty said the mission would only take a couple of hours and then Jim could join the rest of his crew sandsurfing and shopping. All Jim needed to do was stand there with his Constitution Class starship in the background and tell the locals to stop pestering ships as they left the colony.
But as Jim sprinted through the back alleys of Cestus III chasing down one of the Federation's most wanted, he thought to himself that he really should've known it was all gonna go to hell the moment Archer told him they were giving Jim a break.
In Archer's defense the whole thing had started out fine. Jim and Spock had made nice with the board of governors, listening to their overblown complaints about how the natives of this galaxy had the audacity to believe that they had the right to be upset about a Federation colony turning up in their space and bringing in outsiders. Jim kept his mouth shut through the whole interview and was impressed that without stooping to show any expression Spock managed to look at them like they were all idiots.
The board of governors had sent Jim and Spock to a tiny transporter station near the rough and tumble edge of the city with instructions that one of the foreign representatives would be beaming in to chat about the problem. At least, they were pretty sure that's what he was coming in for since communication with these ‘savages’ was sketchy at best.
On their hike to the meeting place Jim had ranted, rather enthusiastically, about what kind of stupid these men had to be to think calling in the negotiator to a place like this was the best plan, and that for all any of them knew the locals could be beaming in with a strike team. Spock listened patiently, like he always did, nodding along and offering supplementary evidence to aide Jim in his rants. So really, in the grand scheme of Jim’s captaincy it hadn’t been too bad of a morning.
Jim and Spock arrived at the scene fifteen minutes early with their phasers drawn, but those extra precautions hadn't been enough to stop the meeting that preceded them.
The transport station was riddled with tight corridors and pathetic lighting, so when Jim and Spock stepped around a corner into the white glow of the transporter room itself they were both shocked. The landing platform was humming with the only real power in the building, and illuminated in its harsh light was a human decked out in the dress uniform of a Starfleet captain wrapped in a discussion with a hulking great lizard.
For half a second Kirk thought that Starfleet had gotten their wires crossed and they'd sent two ships out here to solve the same problem, but then Spock turned his phaser on the pair and given Spock's eidetic memory Jim was inclined to trust his judgment.
Jim got so far as to shout "Stop!" when the lizard thing roared, grabbing the large silver crate that had been resting between them like it weighed nothing and then dashing out of the room. The fake captain followed the lizard's lead and ran for it himself, only taking the entirely opposite door instead. Jim went after the captain, some small part of his brain admitting that while he could take the human, Jim would probably end up as yellow shirted goo if he went after the lizard. He shouted over his shoulder, "Spock, you get that one I’ll get this one!"
Spock was off like a shot, but not fast enough that Jim didn't hear him call, "That was imprecise, Jim!"
Which is how Jim found himself darting through side streets that he was almost positive shouldn't be so grubby in so new a colony. The man was ducking down alleys that Jim would've passed off as cracks, slipping through holes in fences, and almost diving through a broken window to get away. The man knew the city, Jim had to give him that, and Jim almost lost him more than once. If Jim didn't have his own background in avoiding capture by authority figures he probably wouldn't have had the sixth sense of when to turn to stay on his tail. Jim almost respected the guy for being able to lead him on a chase like this for so long, but then the man cut through a courtyard, turning back to check on Jim’s progress and the bright light of the afternoon cast his features into perfect clarity and Jim put on an extra burst of speed.
The man had chopped his hair to Starfleet regulation and had dyed his graying temples a rich brown to make him look younger, but it was still Harry Mudd, one of Starfleet’s most wanted.
In the wake of the Kelvin the Federation had tightened their borders, making it difficult for small time smugglers and conmen to make the sort of living they'd been used to. The Federation had thought their measures would stop that sort of crime and instead they'd forced men who would've been content running small jobs into bigger game. Mudd had started out as a no name conman, and now was one of the galaxy's most notorious drug smugglers. And Jim was hunting him alone through the streets of a colony at the ass end of space.
Damn Admiralty and their cakewalk missions.
Mudd cut through another alleyway and into a door that he meant to lock behind him, just to slow Jim down a little. It was a risk, but Mudd probably figured that at this point risks were the only thing that was going to get Jim off his tail. Jim heard the slow lock of the door’s elderly system start to engage, but Jim turned his phaser on the mechanism before it could react. The door heated almost instantly in response to the fire of the phaser and Mudd yelped as the hand he still had on the other side of the door took the burn. Jim tapped the opening switch and pointed his phaser at the pained man lurching to get away.
"I'm really fine with stunning you." Jim said. When Mudd tried to lunge out the door Jim continued, "Actually, I'd be tickled pink to shoot you down where you stand and call it a weapons malfunction, so keep right on trying to run."
Mudd collapsed against the wall with a snarl, clutching his blistered hand to his chest. "What kind of Federation golden boy would shoot and unarmed man?"
"I've known good people who died to the drugs you peddle. The way I see it, you stopped being a man a long time ago and devolved into scum."
Mudd snorted, "I'm exactly what your Federation made me, boy."
"Of course you are. 'Cause no one's responsible for their own actions."
Mudd just grunted while Jim placed a call to the Enterprise.
"Chekov here, Keptin."
"Oh you have got to be kidding me," Mudd grumbled. "I've been caught by the good ship lollipop."
Jim gave Mudd a savage grin in response and said, "Excellent. Ensign can you lock on to my signal and send me a security detail? I seem to have caught myself a conman and I'd prefer to have someone watching him while he's on my ship."
Jim had to hand it to the little Russian that he didn't even pause at Jim's announcement. "Wonderful, Keptin. I will inform security and hawe the team beam down momentarily."
Jim ended the call with a grin and a, "Kirk out," keeping his phaser trained on Mudd.
Mudd thunked his head against the wall and asked, "Is there a reason you haven't just stunned me so I can be unconscious until I've been to see a regenerator?"
"Trust me, it's an act of mercy leaving you to face my Doc with your wits about you. If I dropped you on one of his tables unable to defend yourself you'd probably wake up in two weeks with half your organs donated to small children."
"When you put it that way it sounds like you'd be doing the world a favor by phasering me, and I think you'd be doing me a favor, so explain to me why I'm still conscious?"
Jim stepped further inside to prevent anyone from sneaking up behind in and lounged against the doorway with his phaser still ready. "Well, I thought that while we had this time alone together I'd ask you what in the hell you were doing with Godzilla."
Mudd smirked at the 20th century reference and replied, "It was a business arrangement."
"Really? 'Cause, you know that big, shiny metal crate Godzilla ran off with? You know the one I mean? About yea big," Jim gestured with his free hand, miming the size of the box, and trying to rile Mudd.
"Yeah, boy," Mudd snapped, "I know the one you mean."
"Well, that crate is a modified organic storage container, the sort used to carry plant starts on deep space missions. Only, yours was big enough to fit a sapling rather than a seedling. Makes me wonder what sort of organic life a drug trafficker was trying to trade."
"One of the great mysteries of life."
Jim heard the whirr of transporter beams behind him far more quickly than he'd anticipated. It was a sign that the on call security team had probably been geared up and waiting for something like this to happen. Jim's officers swooped in and subdued Mudd before Jim could get any more questions out and Jim hoped Spock was having better luck.
#######
The reptilian humanoid was not fast, nor did he seem particularly clever, but he had enough of a start to wind his way out in front of Spock and get to a main road quickly. While Jim had a deviant youth to rely upon in his hunt, Spock had no such experience, but with his own six sense he managed to follow the reptile through all the turns, even as he lost sight of him.
Spock burst onto the main road and found the reptile commandeering a passing hoodless hovercar with his brute strength. He slammed his massive, scaly fist down on the hood of the car and the driver simply dove from the vehicle and ran screaming down the street. Spock spared a moment to be frustrated with the unnecessary drama of humans, but in that moment the reptile had snuggled the crate into the passenger seat and was flicking the various controls with his claws in an attempt to make the hovercar move.
Spock bolted forward at the same time the reptile discovered the gas pedal, lurching his car forward. The movement was so sudden and unexpectedly successful that the reptile paused in disbelief, giving Spock just enough time to jump on to the back of the vehicle and cling. Spock made use of his Vulcan strength to keep a grip on the seat back before him and ignored the bruises that formed over his ribs and thighs as the reptile sent the hovercar twisting around corners at unsafe speeds.
As Spock knew was statistically bound to happen, the reptile made it a few blocks and then caught the corner of a building, sending the hovercar off into a spiral and tossing Spock onto the pavement. The reptile threw himself from the car and made a dive, not for the wounded Spock, but for the silver crate.
Now that Spock had a clear shot he pulled his phaser and fired a blow at the reptile's back, hoping to knock him unconscious. The blow singed the reptile's clothes but glanced off his hide, doing nothing more than drawing a furious roar and pulling the reptile’s attention away from his goal. The lizard charged at him and Spock remained in place until the reptile had committed himself to a lunge, then Spock dropped to the side and rolled out of the way, throwing himself towards the car and the silver box. Spock jumped into the driver’s seat and attached his comm to the crate and tapped the badge before the reptile could dig his claws into Spock's side, ripping him from the car. He flung Spock onto the ground and then gently checked that all the box’s seals were still in place. The lizard seized the handles to pull the crate free and Spock was overcome with the need to shout, "You cannot take her!"
Spock paused to examine his own mental space to determine where such an impulse had come from, but the lizard clamped his claws around the crate and gave a desperate hiss, "We need her!"
"I don't care what you need her for, you are not meant to take her!"
"You wouldn't even know what to do with her!"
Spock stumbled to his feet, clutching at the puncture wounds in his side, "I don't need to know anything about her, I know enough. She is mine, not yours, and if you take her from me she will never be whole."
The lizard snapped his wide jaws at Spock and groaned, "We need her."
"Tell me why you need her aide and perhaps my ship can be of help."
"What could you possibly do?"
A Spock knew he would, Ensign Chekov adhered to regulations and when he heard nothing but the faint background traces of a fight filter through the signal, he beamed up whatever was attached to the badge. The mild hum of the transporter picked up the crate and carried it away to the ship and Spock replied, "I do not know, but it appears you have no choice but to rely on us."
The reptilian creature puffed out a sigh that sounded more like a hiss and Spock took that as agreement just before the security team beamed down in a desperate panic. Spock stifled a sigh of his own as the security forces took in the sight of him and blanched, all of them obviously more than a little terrified that Jim would put them all on scut duty for not somehow sensing from orbit that Spock was in trouble. Spock found the whole notion ludicrous, but their captain seemed to believe it was plausible and punished accordingly.
"I trust that Doctor M'Benga is still on duty in the sickbay?"
"Of course, sir. It's just..." The officers looked between one another while they secured the reptile (who most certainly couldn't have been secured by human officers if he was not in the mood to cooperate) and replied, "The Captain was in the transporter room when we left."
Spock just sighed.
Part 2