Fic: "Perspectives", Part 5 of 6 (Kirk/McCoy)

[mijan]

Title: "Perspectives" (5/6)
Author: mijan
Rating: PG-13
Summary:"I can't fix it next time, Jim. I almost couldn't fix it the first time." McCoy reached up and touched Kirk's cheek. "It'll be okay."  A Starfleet Captain faces danger and death every day, but looking his own mortality in the face had been more than Kirk had been able to handle.  Even more, he couldn't accept that his best friend hadn't been able to face it either.  Now, it was time to face both.
Canon: Based in the ST:XI universe, but strongly influenced by TOS.
Characters: McCoy, Kirk, Spock, with ensemble appearances by Sulu, Uhura, a couple of random Ensigns, and most of the medical staff.
Notes: My immense thanks to my beta reader, classics_geek , and my test-reader, red_rahl . You guys are awesome!

Links: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

Disclaimer: Gene Roddenberry is God, Paramount Pictures is Pope, and this is blasphemy. Enjoy!

From the previous installment:

Jim heard his own voice join the cacophony clashing above him. At least he thought it was his own voice. He didn't know anymore. "I didn't mean to… I had to be… on the bridge. I'm sorry. Sorry. My fault. Wanted to see my crew. My ship. Couldn't stay there. I'm sorry, Bones. Bones…"
And Bones was saying, "It's alright, Jim. I've got you."
"I know you do, Bones. I know…"
There were strong arms lifting him, and another hand gripping his tightly – the voices were further away now – then the whoosh of turbolift doors, and the muffled thud of feet running down the hall…

*********

And now, the continuation...


(Consciousness and dreams blended together, neither particularly pleasant. No matter how drowsy or how deep he drifted, he couldn't forget why he was there...)


(To be continued...)

Comments

My final thoughts (finally!)

[triadruid.livejournal.com]

I'm replying to part 5 because in some ways I wish it had ended here. Also, I don't want to embroil your kirk_mccoy comm with a mixed review by a non-writer. :)

I loved the idea and execution of this fic. I think it worked extremely well as the 'episodic fic' you were aiming for. It very much blends the TOS characters into the gaps left in ST:XI, and while that could be jarring for some purists, I liked it because it was very comfortable (I'm a TOS fan from way back...well not ALL the way back, but you get the idea). There were several moments of chuckling out loud at quips, or misty eyes at intense moments: Bones and Spock working overtime, constantly, was right out of the best of the old medical eps. And Kirk's slowly mounting horror at what he's put his friends through was very much in tone with BOTH Kirks, albeit one we don't get to see very often ("Where No Man Has Gone Before", "By Any Other Name").

So really, my only complaint with the episode is the last half-entry, i.e. the slash. I think the bonding between the two (three, really) officers is pitch-perfect just as it is, and the romantic angle seems rushed and tacked on. It's not often in our current culture that men get to be emotionally close without being romantically entangled, and it felt like a step backward for them to still fall into that false dichotomy 250 years later... to me. But it's a relatively small complaint.

Re: My final thoughts (finally!)

[mijan.livejournal.com]

Honestly... and don't tell this to my fellow slashers... but I had actually wanted to leave it at the end of part five. I still wanted to include the scenes that closed up the episode part of the story (the alien beings and all that), but I liked where it ended in part five. I actually thought about going back and re-working it so that the end was more of a heartfelt bond between best friends... but alas... I did make that mistake.

I'm glad the rest of it worked for you. I had really wanted to blend what I felt was the best of both universes, and I'm delighted that it had that effect. Yes, I was a TOS fan back in the day, even before I got into TNG when it started. It might not have been when it originally aired, but I *was* raised by two Trek fans. :)

I'm currently working on another fic, and I'm keeping it as more of a close bond and best friends situation, but a very deep friendship. I'm working on the fine details right now... but it'll take a lot more writing. It's not episode-like though, even though I have plots ready for more episode-style fics. This one is actually set at the Academy, early in their time there. I hope it works!