Work Text:
Jim Kirk, former Starfleet Admiral and retired Captain thought he could get used to spending parts of his retirement accompanying his husband to diplomatic conferences. They were generally boring and several of them involved issues he hadn’t even been aware of, but he got to be with Spock. They even occasionally got to go off planet, it was nice to travel the stars and be able to relax, not having to worry about what the crew was doing or how so many delegates were getting along in the close quarters of a starship. When he wasn’t accompanying Spock, he returned to teaching at the Academy, heading up a handful of command courses throughout the year. Beyond that he was retired and grounded, though only in his early sixties he knew he had plenty of life left to live but after the events surrounding the peace treaty with the Klingons he realized he was no longer able to go galivanting across the cosmos. So, he and Spock retired from active duty and pursued less dangerous options. Spock, after the success of the Khitomer Conference, had begun to transition from Starfleet special envoy to taking his father’s place as the Vulcan Ambassador. Sarek still had many years ahead of him as an Ambassador, but he had a limited amount of time left with Amanda. Spock began taking on many of his father’s minor engagements, busy work really and everything that required the older Vulcan to travel to Earth.
That’s how they found themselves at a conference being held in San Francisco, it was a weekend event so Jim had accompanied Spock to the large building on the Starfleet Academy campus. Starfleet was hosting the conference in attempts to foster the building of more diplomatic ties and as a recruitment for cadets interested in the diplomatic corps. Sarek had been asked months ago to deliver a key note address on the merits of fostering as many diplomatic ties as possible as the Federation grew and expanded. A few weeks ago, Sarek had asked his son to take his place at the conference, Spock had readily agreed. Spock would be busy with the event organizers until after his speech, so Jim found himself a seat in the auditorium and worked on his PADD. In the transition between one speaker and the next Jim was joined by Bones and Scotty. They generally got together on the weekends when Bones’ schedule at Starfleet Medical would allow it. The couple had no interest in the conference except it was where their friends were, after Spock’s speech they would get a late lunch/early dinner and relax at either Jim and Spock’s apartment or the apartment shared by the engineer and Doctor. Jim spoke quietly with his friends as they waited for Spock to step up to the podium, why the organizers wanted the Vulcan Ambassador to give such an address Jim wasn’t sure. He supposed it had something to do with Vulcan being a founding member of the Federation.
Jim watched as his husband began to speak at the sculpted glass podium. Spock’s voice had always had a calming effect on Jim, as he delivered the speech mostly written by his father, he projected the same confidence he had with everything he had done. Jim let the words wash over him not really listening just enjoying the sound of his husband’s voice.
Later Jim would recall how everything seemed to slowdown. As Spock began to wrap up his speech, he shifted his weight from his right foot to his left and placed his hands behind his back. Polite applause started as Spock finished, many people stood in a sign of respect for the Vulcan ambassador. Jim had just stood to make his way to the side of the stage to greet his husband when the glass podium shattered, and Spock fell to the ground. Several people closer to the stage screamed and in the next second Jim was running down the few steps that separated him from the stage not caring who he knocked out of his way. He didn’t feel sixty as he forwent the stairs and hoisted himself directly onto the stage. Carefully skirting the large shards of glass Jim gathered Spock into his arms noticing the dark stain that was spreading across the light-colored robe he’d chosen to wear. Jim pulled the many layers apart looking for the wound, his breath caught on a sob, green blood flowed from a wound so close to where Spock’s heart was. Jim pressed a hand over the wound attempting to stop the flow of blood, under his fingers he could still feel the flutter of Spock’s faster heartrate. He reached his other hand up caressing the Vulcan’s face trying to get him to open his eyes.
“Spock open your eyes honey. Look at me Spock,” Jim said, his voice started low, but he raised it as he realized how loud the auditorium still was. Spock’s eyes fluttered but remained closed. Behind him Jim heard footsteps quickly crossing the stage, he looked up to see a harried looking Bones kneel on the other side of Spock. He pulled out his ever-present tricorder and waved it over the prone figure, Bones pursed his lips as results began scrolling across the screen.
“Damn, he was hit with an actual projectile. Its done a lot of damage, try and keep him awake Jim I’m going to call for an emergency beam to Starfleet Medical.” Bones said pulling out his communicator.
“Spock, I need you to stay awake. Please Spock I’m not losing you again,” Jim said. With each word his voice became more desperate, he kept his hand cupped to Spock’s face his thumb stroking over the high cheekbone. The slanted eyebrows creased in obvious pain and Spock’s eyelids fluttered again this time opening just a sliver. The brown orbs were unfocused with pain, but they sought Jim’s face. Spock raised a shaky hand to nudge his fingers against Jim’s face, across their bond Jim could feel Spock’s intent. He let go of Spock’s face and gripped the hand at his face tightly. “None of that Spock, you are not going to die. Bones and I will not let you; you have many more years before your katra will rest at the top of Mount Seleya.”
“Jim,” Spock rasped. As he spoke a trickle of blood seeped from his mouth.
“Stay with me, honey. I know it hurts; Bones is calling for an emergency beam right now.” Jim placed a kiss against the palm of hand he still clutched against his cheek. He pushed everything he had through the bond, all his love and the need for Spock to stay awake. Spock’s chest rattled with each labored breath. Jim looked up briefly at Bones who was speaking rapidly into his comm with presumably Starfleet Medical. He looked down again forcing a smile, hopefully a reassuring smile, but Spock’s eyes were slipping closed again.
“Taluhk……nash-veh…...k’dular……...adun,” Spock said, his voice hardly more than a whisper. The hand still clutched to Jim’s face went limp as Spock’s eyes closed.
“Spock, no Spock wake up. Spock!” He didn’t care that he was yelling by the end, he let go of the Vulcan’s hand and started shaking his shoulder. He just kept shouting Spock’s name over and over until he felt Bones grab his hand pressed to the wound in Spock’s side.
“Beam out in 15 seconds Jim. Give him to me, you stay here with Monty and try figure out what the hell happened,” Bones said moving to take Spock’s weight and replace Jim’s hand over the wound.
“But…”
“No time to argue Jim, you can help by finding out who did this while I put him back together.” Jim hesitated for another second before relinquishing his husbands limp form to his best friend. In moments they engulfed in golden light and were gone. Jim sat for a moment just staring at where they had been before looking down at his hands one of which was covered in his husbands’ emerald blood.
“Capt’n, Starfleet security is waiting for us. I just spoke to a lieutenant they’re willin’ to keep us in the loop,” Scotty’s soft brogue came from behind him as the engineer’s calloused hand came down on his shoulder. Jim took a shaky breath before nodding and pushing himself up off the floor. He certainly felt 60 now.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It was a few hours later that Jim found himself looking at the man who had attempted to assassinate his husband through the glass of a Starfleet interrogation room. He was a well-known mercenary though Jim couldn’t be bothered to recall his name now. He favored a highly modified projectile weapon; he told the security officer interrogating him that a physical projectile caused more damage. Jim clenched his fists as the merc continued to talk showing no remorse and seemingly unconcerned that he had been caught. Then the interrogator asked the question that Jim actually cared about.
“Why was Ambassador Spock the target?”
“Don’t know, clients don’t usually tell me such things. My instructions were to take out the Vulcan Ambassador.”
“The Vulcan Ambassador, those were the only instructions?” The interrogator asked. Jim held his breath for a moment as what the interrogator was implying.
“Yup, just that.” Jim turned to the Security officer in the observation room with him, a young lieutenant just out of the Academy.
“Lieutenant listen carefully. Call the Vulcan Embassy tell them everything if they don’t already know what’s happened, then tell them Ambassador Sarek might be in danger. While you do that, I need to call my in -laws.” The lieutenant hesitated for a moment before heading out of the room to follow Jim’s instructions. Jim took one more look through the two-way mirror at the mercenary, a man they had never met that had been paid to take his husband from him. Jim clenched his fists again before he left the room and followed the lieutenant to the communications terminals.
The call took a few moments to connect, as the screen blinked with the outgoing call Jim found himself hoping for the first time that Amanda did not pick up the call. He didn’t think he could tell her that her son might be dead, that some hired gun had shot her only son. He didn’t want to have to tell Sarek either but at least with the older Vulcan he didn’t have to worry about causing a heart attack. There was beep as the call connected and Sarek’s face filled the screen.
“James, this is unexpected,” Sarek said after a moment.
“I’m sorry to disturb you Sarek but somethings happened,” Jim began. “There was an incident at the conference, an assassin was sent to take out the Vulcan Ambassador. Spock…Spock was shot, Bones transported with him to Starfleet medical about an hour ago. Last I heard he was still in surgery.”
“I see,” Sarek said softly. He looked away from the screen for a moment, taking a moment to regain control Jim hoped and not because Amanda had just heard everything he had just said.
“Sir, I’m calling to tell you this and to let you know that you too may be targeted. The mercenary wasn’t given specific instruction on which Vulcan Ambassador, since this was a last-minute change I’m concerned for your safety. We are also contacting the Vulcan Embassy with everything we know.”
“I appreciate your concern James; I will consult with the Vulcan Council on the matter. Please keep me updated, I hope we won’t have to lose our son again.”
“I hope you won’t either, I’ll call you as soon as I know more.” Sarek nodded before he signed off with the ta’al. Jim returned the gesture before the screen went blank. Jim sighed, scrubbing his hands over his face. He looked down at his watch before standing and exiting the area, he needed to get to the hospital. After they had been informed security had captured the assassin Jim had sent Scotty to the hospital to relay any updates, so far there had been nothing except his initial report that Spock was still in surgery. When he arrived at Starfleet Medical an ensign directed him to a private waiting area where he found Scotty working on a PADD. The old engineer looked up as Jim entered the room offering half a smile.
“No new news yet Jim, I tried asking the young lady at the nurse’s station if there was an update not too long ago but the answer was the same. No one has been in or out of the operating theater since Len took Spock in,” Scotty said as he switched off the PADD. Jim nodded as he sat down on the couch in the room, he’d never been good at waiting.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Jim lost track of the hours he and Scotty sat in that small waiting area; the sun had set before anyone came in with any news. Before that they had received calls from all the former bridge crew, even Sulu and Rand out in deep space on the Excelsior. The assassination attempt was all over the Starfleet comm channels, every ship in the area of Vulcan was on high alert in case whoever ordered the hit at the conference tried anything while Ambassador Sarek was at home. Ships farther out, like the Excelsior, were looking at subspace chatter from the Federation’s underbelly. Starfleet wasn’t going to stop until they found answers for themselves and the Vulcan High Council.
The sun had disappeared below the horizon, leaving the room illuminated by the stark lighting Jim always associated with sickbays, when a nurse popped her head in to let them know that Dr. McCoy would be with them shortly. Jim couldn’t say anything just nodded his head as his heart pounded with renewed anxiety. Scotty thanked the nurse when Jim didn’t respond, she gave the engineer an understanding smile before retreating from the room. Jim clasped his hands together and looked back at the ground. He pressed an elbow into his bouncing leg, a nervous tick that hadn’t surfaced in many years, to try and get it stop with no luck. Several minute later the door opened again, and Jim looked up to see a very tired looking Bones step in still in his scrubs, Jim tried not to look at the green blood staining the blue fabric.
“Spock’s going to be just fine Jim, everything went as smoothly as it could. We went through practically all of the T- blood that we had but it was worth it,” Bones said, sitting down with a tired sigh. Scotty went over and sat next to him taking one of the doctor’s hands in his, Bones offered his partner a tired smile.
“How bad was it Bones, what’s his recovery look like,” Jim said after taking a steadying breath.
“I’d like to find the weapon that did this and personally though it in an incinerator is what I’d like to do. Tell me you guys caught the guy?”
“Yeah, Starfleet Security has him in custody. They allowed me to watch the initial interrogation, some hired mercenary who prefers old fashioned projectiles says they cause more damage.”
“Hmph, well he’s not wrong. The bullet was highly modified, it missed Spock’s heart by centimeters once it traveled a certain distance it fragmented, practically exploded. We pulled pieces from his spine, his right lung, and there was some soft tissue damage that we knitted back together easily enough. His chest and back are going to be very sore for a while. He also had a laceration to his leg from when the glass podium shattered, nothing too bad mostly muscle but I don’t want him walking without support for a while. Vulcan rapid healing aside he’s going to be recovering from this for a while.”
“Any idea when he’ll be waking up,” Jim asked. He was trying so very hard to remain in control of the emotions threatening to pour out of him, he wasn’t sure he was doing a very good job.
“Anesthesia will wear off within the hour, but you know Spock, he’ll wake up when he damn well feels like it. Even now his mind is probably already assessing what damage he can nudge into healing faster,” Bones said, sighing he scrubbed his hands over his face before he stood up again. “Come on Jim I’ll walk you to his room, the nurses know you’re staying the night.” They exited the private waiting area and made their way down several halls that all looked alike before Bones stopped before a door at the end of the last hall. Jim bid his friends farewell with a final assurance from Bones that he would be around if anything happened. Jim pressed the panel to get the door open, he stepped into a dimly lit standard hospital room with a bed on the left wall. Jim’s eyes rested on the figure resting in the bed and just watched for a moment as Spock’s chest rose and fell. There was a chair already placed next to the bed and Jim walked softly over to it. He sank slowly onto it while he assessed his husband’s form. The Vulcan looked comfortably asleep and not like he’d been bleeding out on a stage several hours before. He knew that beneath the hospital gown he’d find a fresh scar that would fade within a few days, the only external evidence of the ordeal. He reached forward and ghosted his fingers across the back of Spock’s cool hand, and in his mind the bond hummed before going back to the quiet state it usually stayed in when Spock wasn’t conscious. Jim sighed again while retracting his hand to grab his PADD to send a quick message to Sarek. He would call later with more information, but he was too tired, his father in law would understand that. He set the PADD aside and reached out and took Spock’s hand in his. He wanted to stay awake if he could, just to watch Spock continue to breath. He hoped Spock would wake soon, even briefly, for his piece of mind.
Jim didn’t know when he’d fallen asleep but the next thing he knew he was blinking his eyes open to the soft glow of early morning light. He looked around the room for a moment, looking for what had woken him, the sunlight wasn’t enough. When his eyes settled on Spock, he saw that he was being observed by the Vulcan’s deep brown eyes.
“Spock,” Jim breathed the name. He stood from his seat to shift to sitting on the bed taking Spock’s hand in both of his. “How are you feeling?”
“As one might expect after what occurred yesterday. Am I correct in assuming I have Dr. McCoy to thank for my continued existence,” Spock said. His voice was rougher than usual but that was understandable.
“Of course, even if he hadn’t been at the conference, he’d have been here ready to take care of you.” Jim smiled softly down at Spock and squeezed his hand. Spock hummed and nodded letting his eyes close briefly. If Jim hadn’t been watching, and wasn’t so in tune with his husband, he would have missed the slight grimace of pain. “Speaking of Bones, he’s going to want to know you’re awake.” Jim said reaching down to grab his PADD. He typed a message out one handed and sent it off quickly. Within a few minutes the door to the room hissed open to admit the old country doctor. He carried his own PADD which presumably held Spock’s chart and any notes from the night nurses.
“Well I’m glad to see you slept through the night, now I imagine you’re in no small amount of pain. Don’t try to deny it either,” Bones said as he stepped up next to the bed. If he were human Spock would have rolled his eyes at the doctor instead, he simply sighed and nodded.
“There is a sharp continuous pain in my lower back and my midsection is rather sore.” Spock said, to which McCoy nodded.
“About what I expected, we were at it a long time trying to find every piece of that damn bullet. A lot of your injuries will need to heal the old-fashioned way even given your generally accelerated healing. I’m prescribing some pain killers that will work with your physiology and some physiotherapy as well. The bullet did some damaged to the mid and lower lumbar area of the spine, walking might be a little off for a little, so I don’t want you doing anything unassisted for a while.”
“I understand Doctor, and how long do you wish me to remain here?” Spock asked.
“Another day at least, want to make sure nothing strange crops up, however unlikely that might be.” Bones said as he went around the bed to prep a hypo that he pressed into Spock’s neck. The pain killer must have been fast acting because Jim could see Spock visibly relax. Bones made a few notes on the PADD before he said anything else.
“Jim fill you in yet about what went on after you were shot?”
“Not yet, I take it the matter has at least been resolved?” Spock asked turning to Jim.
“Resolved enough, Starfleet security caught the guy fairly quickly. Damn cocky bastard didn’t seem to care that he had been caught. He couldn’t tell us who hired him only that he had been hired to “kill the Vulcan Ambassador” I’ve contacted your father so he’s aware there might be something going on. I haven’t received any updates since I came here last night but all of Starfleet is working on this.”
“My father is aware of everything that happened?”
“Yes, and he knows you’re going to be all right, I messaged him last night before I fell asleep.” Spock nodded again closing his eyes briefly. He seemed to still be tired, Bones went over some things with Jim before he left them alone. Jim pressed a kiss to Spock’s hand as the Vulcan appeared to settle into sleep. He rested Spock’s hand on his blanket covered chest before he stood to stretch, sleeping in a chair the night before had not done him any favors. He paced quietly to the window and watched the sun continue to rise over San Francisco. It was always a beautiful sight to see, though nothing compared to what they had seen in their many years in space.
“You are still troubled by yesterday’s events ashayam.” Spock’s voice startled Jim from his thoughts. He turned to see Spock watching him closely.
“I thought you had fallen asleep,” Jim said with a raised eyebrow.
“Not entirely.” Jim huffed a laugh before he rejoined Spock on the bed, kicking off his boots so he could lay on his side next to Spock.
“I just really thought we’d be done with all of this near-death nonsense once we retired.”
“I too had hoped we might continue our lives with some level of calm predictability, it can still happen of course but this has not been what you would call a ‘promising start,’” Spock said as he shifted carefully next to Jim allowing his husband more space on the bed.
“That’s one way of putting it,” Jim said as he made himself comfortable. “We’ll get through this together Spock as we always have. Bones put you back together, now I just have to keep you together.”
“I have every confidence in your abilities Jim,” Spock said softly, Jim felt Spock turn his head and nuzzle into his own curly hair.
“Love you Spock,” Jim said equally as softly.
“As I love you.” The two fell asleep in short order both exhausted from the events of the last 24 hours. Their sleep schedule would likely be all kinds of screwed up later, but the sleep was needed. At some point Bones came back in to see the two curled together, he just rolled his eyes and pulled out a second blanket to drape over Jim. He’d go over the recovery plan with them later.