Actions

Work Header

Rating:
Archive Warning:
Category:
Fandom:
Relationships:
Characters:
Additional Tags:
Language:
English
Series:
Part 1 of Threads
Stats:
Published:
2018-09-14
Completed:
2018-10-26
Words:
22,802
Chapters:
11/11
Comments:
151
Kudos:
492
Bookmarks:
68
Hits:
8,672

Convergence

Summary:

Three years into the five-year mission they find someone completely unexpected. Unfortunately, coming back from the dead is not always immediate sunshine and happy endings… especially if, so far as he’s concerned, Christopher Pike is not the one who died.

Notes:

If you’d like a backstory for the Kirk/McCoy, Pike/Boyce and Tarsus references here, it will be consistent with The Red Wheelbarrow. You don't have to read more of the series than that (but you could read The Red Wheelbarrow, Giants, Xenopolycythemia and then Convergence as a mini-series in its own right. The rest of the series assumes its own trajectory after that and will no longer fit with this).

Chapter 1: Morning, 2263.1

Chapter Text

Sulphur. A yellow mist near the ground and a smell that made McCoy’s nostrils twitch; the doctor scrubbed a hand through his hair and sighed, trust Jim to stay on the ship when they beamed down to the rotten egg planet. If you ignored the yellow mist the surface was almost pretty: craggy foothills rising into mountains scored by waterfalls, purplish flowers blanketing the valley. The Al’tair had described it as their sacred valley; a place of convergence, whatever that meant. It had been part of a monologue that was, in Leonard’s opinion, a little hippy-dippy for his taste.

Small flowers crushed under his boots released a spicy scent into the air that was almost heady. Leonard reminded himself of what the aliens had said: a place of convergence of realities, where those needing healing could be found. Convergence of realities could mean just about anything, although he cast a fervent hope that it wasn’t anything psychotropic. After years of carefully cultivating his reputation, Leonard didn’t fancy beaming back to the ship wearing his underwear on his head and babbling about the dancing pink sehlats.

The second part of the Al’tair proclamation was how he found himself wandering through the valley with his medical kit: the federation representative ready to heal anyone who needed it. So far, he’d been depressingly alone.

Resisting the urge to comm the ship for a beam-up, Leonard continued along the narrow path that snaked through the valley, telling himself to enjoy the real earth under his feet. 1400, he made a mental note for his log, two hours on the surface and not a goddamn thing.

His tricorder gave a trill: three descending notes indicating a life form. The doctor stopped, eyebrows knitting together as he consulted the reading. Whatever it was, it was in the cave he could see just fifty meters away. It could be an animal, but those in need of healing were covered by an oath he’d taken, and he had to go and check.

Wishing he had a phaser, Leonard carefully picked his way over loose rocks at the mouth of the cave, softly moving into the shadow and waiting for his eyes to adjust. There was something sitting on the cave floor, just visible where light spilled in from the entrance. After a moment, something resolved into someone. Familiar blue eyes, greying hair at the temples… he felt the breath catch in his chest as their eyes met.

Similarly startled, it took the older man a moment before he was able to breathe, “McCoy? Leonard McCoy?”

Heart thumping in his chest, Leonard’s voice didn’t sound like his own as he replied, “Admiral Pike?” A breeze from the cave mouth ruffled the hair on the back of his neck, making it prickle with the realization that there was a goddamn ghost in front of him.

“Oh my God.” Pike scrambled awkwardly to his feet, crookedly leaning against the cave wall once he was upright. “How did you get here? Who sent you to look for me?”

“We weren’t looking for you.” Leonard was still a bit too stunned to manage anything better than blurting out in continued surprise: “You’re dead.”

A silence stretched between them before Pike barked out a short laugh and retorted, “Well as you can see: rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated.”

They weren’t rumors. The doctor could feel his heart pounding in his chest, because he’d seen the aftermath of Daystrom. He’d seen the goddamn death certificate and he’d seen the look on Jim’s face afterwards. Focusing instead on the admiral’s first question, Leonard offered, “The Enterprise is in orbit; we’re negotiating a Federation-entry treaty with the Al’tair.”

Shuffling forward into the brighter light of the cave mouth, one hand braced against the rock for support, Pike asked, “When were you assigned to the Enterprise?”

When was I not, he wondered. Figuring the admiral meant after Nibiru, Leonard replied, “Three years ago; for the five-year mission.” Recovering enough to open his kit and pull out a hand scanner, he waved the device over the admiral: slightly under nourished, and some markers of long-term stress, but otherwise healthy. Definitely human, if the readings were to be believed. He’d have to get Pike into a scanner to see what could have happened to the chest wound mentioned on the death certificate.

Pike’s forehead wrinkled, “I thought that mission was suspended?”

Shaking his head in confusion because nothing made any goddamn sense, Leonard offered what he did know, “It took a year to get Enterprise spaceworthy after Khan, but the brass were keen to get things back on track. Not to mention the public interest in humanitarian and peacekeeping priorities.”

Pike’s face shuttered at the reference to the augment, jaw clenching as he ground out, “I left Starfleet and joined Section 31 to track down the bastard who killed my son.”

His son. Leonard frowned in confusion; he’d never heard a son mentioned, never seen a living blood-relative in the man’s medical files. How could Jim not have known? Not have mentioned it if he did? Grasping for an explanation, he asked, “What’s the date?”

“Not sure how long I’ve been here.” Pike frowned, guessing, “2262.363?”

“2263.1” Close enough that it didn’t seem like a case of time-travel.

Quirking an eyebrow, the admiral offered a wearily sarcastic, “Happy new year.” It was the same voice, same dry wit, as always. Pike had aged as well, from what Leonard could remember: the white that had been confined to his sideburns had crept into the hair at his temples.

Four years. Swallowing the sour taste in his mouth, Leonard settled for action instead and flipped open his communicator, “McCoy to Enterprise: two to beam up. Scotty, can you please have the captain meet us in the transporter bay; and otherwise clear the room.” He didn’t quite know what to expect from the reunion that was about to occur, heart already thumping at the thought of what this could mean for Jim.

A long moment stretched as Leonard and Pike were lost to their own thoughts, sorting through the jumble of confusion between them. Eventually, they were saved from further talk by a familiar tingle and swirl of light.

Leonard breathed a sigh of relief when he found the room empty but for Scotty and Jim, the latter standing just inside the door with his head cocked to one side. Facing straight ahead, it was possible to see the exact moment Jim recognized the figure on the other transporter pad: the half-smirk melted off his face, whatever jibe he had prepared for Leonard forgotten as his features went lax in surprise.

“James!” The exclamation from Pike came out strangled, as if the man was out of practice saying the name.

The admiral’s normally coordinated movements turned jerky; he stumbled off the transporter pad and reached out with visibly trembling hands. “Oh my god, Jamie.” Pike wrapped his arms tightly around Jim, forcing the other man’s head onto his shoulder as he gave a choked murmur that sounded like, “Son.”

Jamie. Leonard felt an eyebrow make a break for his hairline. Since when had Pike called the younger man Jamie?

Jim either hadn’t noticed or hadn’t cared, as he seemed to be returning the embrace with equal fervor. Scotty caught the doctor’s eye and excused himself with a little nod, slipping out the door without the other men noticing the movement.

There was a hitch in Jim’s voice that Leonard had only heard very rarely as the captain murmured, “Sir, it’s so good to see you.” It was echoes of after the Narada and after Khan and after fifteen thousand killed under the hulk of the Vengeance in San Francisco and it turned Leonard’s stomach to hear it now, even under happy circumstances.

Pike reluctantly pulled back, hands coming up to frame Jim’s face and he gently said, “I think this counts as off duty enough that you’re allowed to call me dad.”

Leonard froze, the grav plating seeming to give a sickening turn even as he found himself growling in surprise, “What the Hell?”