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Starfleet’s graduation ceremony was scheduled to be held on May 1st, and James T. Kirk was on the list to walk across the stage. Leonard McCoy was scheduled to be in his anatomy final at the same time.
“Damn,” Leo muttered when he realized what day his finals began on. He sighed and picked up his cell phone, using the speed dial to call Jim.
“Hey!” his boyfriend chirped when he answered. “Are you getting excited for my graduation?”
“I can’t after all,” Leo said, his voice impossible to communicate the way he felt about letting Jim down. “Finals start that day, darlin’. I can’t be gone.”
“Oh.” One syllable was all it took to communicate how let down Jim felt. “Don’t worry about it, Bones. I understand. Really.” He was trying to make himself not sound upset, and failing miserably.
“I’m really, really sorry, darlin’. I’d give anything to be there, I really would. But I can’t miss this day. Can you ask your mom to record you walking across the stage?”
Jim laughed, a real laugh, but small. “I think she’s already planning on it. Seeing as I’m also valedictorian and all.”
Leo nearly dropped the phone as he struggled to keep himself on the chair. “You’re what?”
“Uh… I wanted it to be a surprise,” Jim mumbled.
“Sure as hell surprised me, kid. How’d you manage to beat out Carol?”
“Dunno, but I was one hundredth higher than her when they calculated our final cumulative GPAs. She’s salutatorian, and she thought it was hilarious that I managed to beat her by just that much.”
“Well, nice job kid. You got a speech written?”
“Working on it right now.” Jim suddenly sounded nervous, except Leo had never known the kid to be nervous. “Bones, what if I fuck it up?”
“You’ll do fine, kid. Trust me, anything you say will be great and everyone will remember it forever.”
“Even if I just say something along the lines of ‘Fuck you, Athens’?”
Leo laughed. “Especially if you say something like that. Though I don’t think the administration would be all too happy with that. Nor your mom.”
“Would ‘Fuck you, Starfleet’ be better?”
“Doubt it. Maybe put it a little more eloquently, and then we’ll see.”
“Got it. Hey, I’ve actually got to go to work now, but I’ll talk to you later, okay?”
“Sounds good, darlin’. Love you.”
“Love you too, babe.” Leo could hear how much better Jim sounded after the conversation, and out the phone down with a smile- until he looked at the pile of books on his desk to study over the next three weeks.
“Damn,” he muttered to himself.
Jim was walking down the street, hands in his pockets and deep in thought when he saw it- smoke on the horizon, and flashing blue and red lights. He frowned- they were near where the diner was located. Horrified by the thought, he broke into a dead run towards Enterprise, almost as if to assure himself that it wasn’t where the smoke was coming from and he could catch bits of the latest gossip about the fire as he retrieved the dishes from the tables.
He skidded to a halt when he realized that it was his workplace on fire, and there were several ambulances among the fire trucks. Better yet, a crowd had begun to form. Jim shoved his way through the mob, and he had to swallow a lump in his throat as he watched the hoses spray down the place that had quickly become his sanctuary when he first moved to Georgia.
“Son, I’m sorry, but you need to leave,” a firefighter said gently, his face smeared with ash. “We’re sending the whole crowd away.”
“I- I work here,” Jim said numbly. “I was supposed to start my shift in ten minutes.”
“Be glad it wasn’t twenty minutes ago.”
“What about the owner, Mr. Pike? Is he alright? What about the other employees and the guests and-“
“Whoa, kid. Listen, the owner, is he a tall guy, greyish hair?”
“Yeah, that’s him.”
The firefighter’s face morphed into an even more grim expression, if that was possible. “He’s alive, but he’s pretty bad off. As far as I know, everyone is alive and he has the most serious injuries. He’s in good hands now. Go home and get some rest. Call your friends and tell them to stay away. Your boss should be able to receive visitors at the hospital tomorrow or the day after, okay?” He placed his hand on Jim’ shoulder, and for the first time, Jim read the nametag- Barnett.
“Thank you,” Jim said, almost dazed. “I’ll spread the word to stay away.” He turned, brain still churning, and began walking in a trancelike state.
“Jim! Thank God you’re alright!”
He didn’t see Carol until she had almost tackled him, burying her face in his shoulder. “What happened?” she whispered.
“I don’t know, but it’s pretty bad. The firefighters won’t let me anywhere near the site, but I’d guess this wasn’t just a kitchen fire. It looked too big.” Jim squeezed her in his arms again before she released her grip.
Carol gasped. “Are you saying you think it was arson?”
“I’m saying,” Jim said, his mouth set in a thin line, “That if it wasn’t an accident, whoever is responsible better watch out.”
“Agreed,” Carol said firmly. “But there’s nothing we can do for now. We should head home or… somewhere.”
“Yeah,” Jim said, his voice flat. “I’m gonna go home and get ahead on homework. Call me if you need anything, okay?”
“Alright,” Carol said, sounding a little choked. “I’ll tell everyone to stay away. We should go to the hospital tomorrow, if we can.”
“Definitely,” Jim agreed. “He’d like seeing us. I’ll call you tonight, okay?”
Carol nodded, and they went their separate ways home, neither one really paying attention but feet unconsciously carrying them home.
When he got home, he went straight to his room, thankful that his mother had gone to pick up his brother from college. Curling himself into a ball on his bed, he pulled a blanket up to cover himself, despite the late April warmth.
He picked up his phone and typed in the number he had committed to heart, despite the speed dial.
“Jim? Are you okay?” Leo was worried, and rightfully so- he wasn’t expecting Jim to call for another six hours or so, depending on when the kid got off work.
“No.”
The one syllable was still the only cue Leo needed. “What happened?” he asked urgently. “Jim, are you hurt? Where are you? Do you need me to come home?”
“’M at home,” Jim mumbled. “I’m fine, physically. But Bones, the diner’s gone. Pike and part of the staff were inside, as well as several customers. Pike’s been taken to the hospital, probably ICU. I can’t think straight.”
He could hear the clatter of the phone as Leo dropped it on the desk, followed by the dull static that only came from leaving the phone on speaker. “Jim, listen to me. I’m coming home for you. I’ll get on the first train out and be there as soon as I can.” There were small thumps that Jim could only assume were from haphazardly throwing items into a bag, and he almost smiled.
“No, Bones,” he said firmly. “I’ll be okay, just not right now. You need to stay at school and study. I’ll call you if I need to talk, or anything, okay? Stay there. I’ll see you after your semester’s done, okay?”
“Okay,” Leo finally said, but he wasn’t going to unpack just yet. “If you need me, Jim, just call me and I’ll come home. And I’ll always be on Skype for you, darlin’.”
“I will, Bones,” he promised. “I should go- tell everyone that the diner’s closed indefinitely,” he said, almost robotically, and hung up.
Mississippi was way too far from Athens, in Leo’s opinion right then. The one time Jim needed him, and he had finals preventing from hopping on the first train out.
He just hoped Jim would be okay.