𝕊𝕥𝕒𝕣 𝕋𝕣𝕖𝕜 𝕆𝕟𝕖𝕤𝕙𝕠𝕥𝕤/𝕀𝕞𝕒𝕘𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕤/ℝ𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕖𝕣 𝕀𝕟𝕤𝕖𝕣𝕥𝕤

I can't leave without you (mckirk)

"Stop it, Trelane! Stop taking advantage of my crew!" Jim said, his gaze setting on Bones, mentally making sure he was alright. 

"Hahaha! But captain, its ever so much fun. You people are people of war and wisdom are you not?" He said, as he finally stopped dancing with a yeoman and making Uhura stop playing the piano. 

"Trelane, just let me and my crew go."

Trelane laughed, seeming more and more like a child. "But.. I, don't want you to. no, no, no. Certainly not. Your far to interesting to let go now." he demanded, smiling as if he won a prize of some sort. "We've had enough of your games, Trelane!" Jim said, his eyes cold and a hard scowl on his face. He flipped out his communicator, opened it and was met with static. Sighing, he glared at Trelane, who was pretending to have a sword fight with an imaginary person as the other crewmen apart from Spock, Bones, and Sulu were occupied with something. 

"Bones, are you alright?" Jim asked, forgetting to not show sentiment or affection for the good doctor. "I'm fine Jim" Bones replied, flashing him a quick smile and giving his hand a quick squeeze, later intertwining their fingers as a sign of friendship, or something more than friendship.

***

"Well, maybe captain, we could come to an arrangement." Jim scowled at this, not liking what might come. For a couple hours Trelane had kept making deals that usually included one or more than one crewman staying behind, or something worse. "What is it now?" Jim replied, not wanting to consider leaving someone behind. Trelane giggled, like a young child would after given a treat. "Well, you see, here's an idea. How about if all of your crew can go back to your ship but only, if you captain, stay behind. " Trelane said, a smile on his face, pointing a sword at Jim's chest. Bones' breath caught in his chest and bit his lip, visibly tensing from the deal Trelane put down. There was a moment of silence where the so called squire of gothos observed the two men, laughing and clapping his hands quietly. 

"Bones."

"No, Jim"

"you have to." Jim said quietly, his eyes reflecting quiet thoughts. I'm sorry. You have to let go.

"I can't. I'm not leaving my best friend and captain behind."

"you have to." Jim repeated softly, as if he was trying to tame a shy animal away from its home. 

"Dammit Jim! I can't!... I can't let go of you." Bones exclaimed, his voice breaking slightly, putting his head in his hands. Jim shook his head, knowing what he had to do. "I order you as your captain, to leave me behind, Bones." Jim ordered,  his voice trying to sound authoritative to not show the pain underneath. 

"Well, sir, I am violating your orders" Bones said, his voice finally cracking, his southern drawl getting thicker.  "Bones.. don't do this.. please." Jim pleaded, staring at his best friend, desperation in his eyes. "Don't you dare, don't you dare act like I can just leave here without you. Don't you fucking dare."  Bones said, his eyes filling up with tears. 

"Hah! I was just going to torture you the old fashioned way, the way that you humans normally do. " Trelane said, smiling excessively, excitement in his voice, interrupting them. "-But, this way of making you torture each other is even better! You, Doctor, you mean something to the captain. Something special."

"Of course he does. He's my best friend and CMO. " Jim said defensively, leaving out some things he knew Trelane would take advantage of to use for his own gain. "Oh okay.. okay.. But, I honestly think it's more than just that. Don't you think?" Jim gulped, knowing what he was going to do was going to hurt. "What? No, all I see when I look at Leonard is my best friend, nothing more. " Jim lied. Bones looked between them, catching on and knowing that he had to painfully play along. Trelane, however, was not stopped by this and pushed a little harder. "Wait. So you don't love each other?" he said playfully, acting innocent and confused. 

"For god's sake! Of course not! How could I, ever, love a womanizing, arrogant, irritating man like Jim Kirk? I would much rather fall in love with a Klingon. " Bones lied, a fake look of disgust on his face. At that instant, both of their hearts shattered from those words, Shock, pain, and hurt flashed through Jim's face before giving Leonard a weak smile, both of them feeling broken on the inside. 

"Huh. I guess I was wrong about you. Thats a pretty painful insult, even though I have no idea what a klingon is. Well, then, your crew can go up and be gone or whatever but you two can stay down here. I still have some experiments I want to try on you both. " Trelane said, pacing around the room excitedly but also rather deep in thought. 

***

"I have decided, that I only, really, need one of you and so, you captain, are going to die." Trelane said, walking confidently towards them. "What?! " Bones cried out, casting a worried look at Jim and instantly looking him over for any symptoms or anything, anything at all. Trelane laughed at his reaction, reveling in the moment. "Oh yes. The captain here, is poisoned. The poison in his system will take place in around 3 minutes so that should be enough time to get your affairs in order. Oh and one last thing, the death will be quick but what extremely painful so, I'm terribly sorry about that." Trelane concluded, not sounding sorry at all.

 "that bastard. Any word from the Enterprise yet? Did you manage to get through to them?" Bones said, scanning him while preparing what medical supplies he had. "No, not yet. Look, Bones-" Jim said before getting hit with a truckload of agony. Gasping for breath, his knees gave out and pulled both him and Bones onto the floor. "No, no, no, stay with me, stay with me. Cmon." Bones pleaded, his hands shaking, hot wet tears falling from his eyes. 

Jim didn't really want to die. But, Bones was here.

Dying with Bones was okay. 

Do you think its gone too far? a voice questioned out of thin air. 

Yeah, maybe. a second voice said. 

Okay, here goes nothing. 

There was a crack of lightning and Jim's pain was gone. 

Suddenly, Bones leaned down and kissed him right before the pain left. "I love you, you know that?"

Bones said, his hands framing Jim's face while Jim's hands were on the nape of his neck or twisted in his shirt, kissing him back softly, "you love me?" he whispered quietly, looking in his eyes. Bones simply replied with a more desperate, rougher, kiss before they felt rematerialized on the transported. "you love me." Jim whispered, the realization hitting him before kissing him back, living in the moment, savoring the touch on his lips. 

"oh." Scotty's voice rang out, sounding pleasantly shocked and a little delighted. "okay. I guess I'll just go and uh, I'll just put a security lock on the door so you won't be interrupted. Mr. Spock has the conn." Scotty said and abruptly left. "yeah, I do love you Jim. If, if you don't feel the same way then that,'s okay. I just-" Bones sighed, put his head in his hands and started to walk away. "No, Bones, come back." Jim pleaded quietly, pulling him back by the waist. "I love you too." he said, kissing him like he had all the time in the world, and Bones kissed him back, wanting more and wishing that their moment would last forever.