Chapter Text
He nearly ran into the door of the lecture hall, quickly stopping to open it. He walked in and took a seat in the middle, looking at his watch to see that he made it with a minute to spare. He looked up when the hall went silent, the lecturer walking in. It was a special class, as they had a mystery guest speaker. He looked carefully at the tall man. He looked familiar, but he couldn’t remember where he’d seen him before. When he began his presentation, Jim’s jaw dropped. He knew that voice, but that couldn’t be. He looked at the man, and his suspicions were confirmed. Holy shit, it’s Tommy, he thought. I can’t believe it.
He sat through the rest of the lecture, carefully paying attention. He wanted to know what Tommy had been doing, what he was working on. At the end, all he could think of was how proud he was of his little brother. He actually fucking did it. Jim was completely awestruck. He actually made a grain that’s resistant to fungi. He devoted his life to preventing another incident like Tarsus IV.
He stayed in his seat, waiting until everyone was gone before walking to the front of the hall. Thomas was facing away from him, and he tapped him on the shoulder.
“What the hell?!” Thomas said, jumping a full foot in the air before spinning around.
“Hey.”
“Oh my god, Jimmy?”
Thomas slammed into him, hugging him tightly and Jim wrapped his arms around him.
“I missed you so much, JT. God I missed you,” he said against Jim’s chest.
“I missed you too, Tommy. I can’t believe you’re here.”
“I can’t believe you’re here! You’re older than me! Why am teaching your class?” he exclaimed. He began laughing, and it quickly turned into crying.
“Oh Tommy, don’t cry…” he soothed, glad that this was his last class of the day. I mean, if it hadn’t been he would have skipped, but it’s easier to not. He was also glad that there wasn’t anything else happening in this room today.
When Tommy had stopped crying he let go of Jim and wiped at his eyes. Jim slung an arm over his shoulder and said, “Come with me?”
“What, you think I’d say no? Sure, JT, I’ll go with you.”
Jim led him out of the building and to his dorm, getting only a few strange looks along the way. He typed in his code and opened his door, leading Tommy in.
“Jim, what the hell’d I say ‘bout bringin’ people here? I don’t want to know who your one-night stands are, thank you very much,” Bones said as he walked into the room, annoyed.
Tommy burst into laughter at the look on Jim’s face.
“God no! That’s disgusting, Bones! He’s my brother!” he shouted, gently whacking Thomas on the back of the head when he didn’t stop laughing.
“Jim, that’s not Sam. Did you hit your head again?”
“He’s my adopted brother, Bones. This is Thomas.”
“Wait, is this Thomas as in one of the eight people that you periodically cry about when you’re sad and drunk?” Bones asked.
“Ha! I knew you cared!” Thomas said jokingly.
“When did I make you think that I didn’t?” he said, somewhat panicked.
“No, no, it was a joke, I’m sorry,” Thomas said quickly. “I know you love me.”
“I’ll just take that as a yes, then,” said Bones.
“Yeah. This is Tommy, who apparently actually started doing something with his life much sooner than I did, seeing as he just taught my science course.”
Bones looked at his watch and realized that he was about to be late.
“Shit, I’ve gotta go. I promised this kid that I’d help them out with an assignment. I have the graveyard shift, so I guess I’ll see you in class tomorrow.”
“Bye Bones!” Jim said as he left, and he closed the door behind him.
Jim led Thomas over to the couch and they both sat down, Thomas curling up under his arm.
“Seriously though, how’d I end up teaching you? I’m older,” Thomas asked.
“I spent the first 9 years after I got back in college. I really like to learn, and I was smart enough to get a shit ton of scholarships.”
“Jesus Christ, man. Didn’t you already have a doctorate when I met you?”
“Now I have 5.”
Thomas cracked up.
“Why are they making you take all of the basics here, then?”
“Apparently all of my information is classified, and I’d have to take some of it anyway. I tested out of a lot, though.
“What did you do?”
“Went to college when I turned 18, got my bachelors in agricultural engineering and then got a doctorate in agricultural engineering with a concentration in biotech,” he said, yawning.
“You did damn good, man.”
“Thanks Jimmy,” he said, trying to keep his eyes open.
“Go to sleep Tommy. I could use a nap too, anyhow.”
“M’kay, g’night,” he said, allowing his eyes to close.
Jim smiled, watching his baby brother sleep for a little before drifting off to sleep.