Title: A Pirate's Life For Me Fandom: Star Trek XI Pairing: Kirk/McCoy AU Rating: PG-13 Contents: Alternate universe, slash

Disclaimer: So not mine, even when they're playing pirates. A/N: Credit for the first name I gave McCoy's wife goes to <lj user="calicokat">. More notes in the first comment. <lj-cut text="Thirty-two standard days ago, the _Lenore_ was raided by Captain Kirk of the rogue ship _Iowa_."> Drowsing on a narrow shelf of a bed with Jim's arm and leg slung possessively across his body, it occurs to Leonard that it's been a month now. Thirty-two standard days ago, the <i>Lenore</i> was raided by Captain Kirk of the rogue ship <i>Iowa</i> and her efficient crew. Not that McCoy noticed their lack of murderousness at the time, when Kirk looked at his documents, muttered, "Sawbones, huh?" and pushed him into the hands of two strong young women. It wasn't until later, sitting on a crate of ration bars with the rest of the valuable cargo, that he realized he'd been abducted without a bruise, that the <i>Lenore</i> had been taken and left again with only three stunnings and no loss of life. Maybe that's why Leonard didn't automatically discount everything the pirate captain said, or maybe it was the man's cheerful smile, the way he sat on another crate at Leonard's level with his sidearm holstered and his hands open. Maybe, as long as McCoy's being honest with himself, here in the dark with Jim's breath warm on his nape, it was the square shoulders and tight pants, the sunny hair and blue-sky eyes. Whatever the reason, Leonard was caught much more securely by his own heart than

by pirate hands, long before Jim ever laid a finger on him. If anyone had told Dr. Leonard McCoy a year ago that he'd be divorced, he would've believed them; he and Rebecca hadn't been suiting each other for awhile. If that person had added that he'd finally find contentment out in the black void of space, shanghaied onto a little rattletrap flying on the wrong side of the law, patching up her crew and trading kisses with her captain, he would've diagnosed delusions and applied a hypo of sedative. But here he is, in bed with a pirate, literally and figuratively. He presses a little against Jim warm all down his back, and smiles into the dark. Jim's console beeps urgently. Leonard groans as Jim jerks awake, drops a quick kiss on his jaw, and gets up. It was funny at first to see Jim, shirt torn and face bruised, sitting at his little desk like a bureaucrat, to see that even pirates have mail to answer like anyone else, but right now McCoy wants to be asleep with Jim, not listen to him type. Then Jim curses, and the low fury of his tone jerks Leonard upright. The blue light of the console deepens every line on Jim's face. He looks older than his few years, grim and dangerous, and his eyes glitter coldly when he glances up at McCoy. "Congratulations," he says, no cheer in his voice at all. "Your ransom came through." "Ransom?" Leonard echoes. "Who in the hell would waste credits on me?" He has no immediate family left, just cousins whose names he's forgotten, not even a job to want him back; he was heading out to the colonies to find one.

Jim shrugs, a reflexive jerk, as he looks down at the screen. "We ran the next of kin off your papers when we took you aboard." The euphemism makes him smirk lopsidedly despite himself, and there's the Jim Leonard's come to know in this past amazing month, the one who teasingly calls him 'Bones' and slaps his crewmembers' backs. Leonard can breathe, at least. "I hadn't realized yet..." Jim trails off, and gets up. "Anyway. Rebecca McCoy Cleary replied with an advance, and a revocable bonus to guarantee you're unharmed." Jim sits beside Leonard, and the cheer is forced but welcome when he adds, "You didn't tell me you've got a sister. She as cute as you are?" Leonard wishes he didn't have to answer, "She's not my sister, she's Rebecca Cleary McCoy, my ex-wife." For one appalling moment Jim's face goes completely blank. Then he grins, wide and fake, and lightly punches Leonard's arm. "She must not hate you that much if she's willing to put up the credits to get you back in one piece." Leonard nods numbly. The divorce was pretty bad, but Rebecca certainly wouldn't leave him to the tender mercies of a gang of criminals, any more than he would abandon her to a dire fate. Even if, right now, he really wishes she would. "Jim," he says softly, unsure if he's presuming, uncertain what to say next. Jim cuts him off. "So, where do you want to be dropped off?" The forced cheer is starting to grate. "Someplace you're okay waiting for a few hours, to give us a head start." "Dammit, I don't!" Knowing Jim can stop him without breaking a

sweat, McCoy grabs his shoulders. "I don't... you need a doctor, you know, you and your crazy kids." "You want to stay?" Jim asks slowly, his eyes going as wide as when Leonard first took his hand. "On this 'leaky little foil pack of a boat'?" "You forgot 'fucking'," Leonard corrects him. "'Little fucking foil pack of a boat.'" Jim's smile eases into something real and sweet as he lifts his hand to Leonard's chin. "Jim, I've got no life to go back to. Rebecca's too decent to let me come to harm, but maybe I could tell her--" Jim shakes his head, his blue eyes full of pain. "How's she going to know you're not just reading off my script? I don't think..." He glances down, calculating. "I could turn down the money. I would value you here if you never treated another wound. But I can't just make off with a Federation citizen indefinitely." "They've done fuck all to rescue me so far," McCoy points out, Jim's hand on his throat. It should be threatening, it feels like home. "She's the only one who cares if I go back." "Yeah, well, I already knew the Federation were a pack of jackasses," Jim mutters. "And they'll care if it looks like you're being tortured or brainwashed. I'm sorry, Bones. I didn't... this all used to run right on schedule. I've never kidnapped someone I'd rather keep than have the money." Jim looks a little bemused at his own words, and Leonard's heart does a funny flip he doesn't want to recognize. "So you make a practice of carrying innocent people off into the

black?" Leonard asks as wryly as he can, and Jim's answering smile has never been more innocent. "Only the cute ones," Jim says, and Leonard doesn't know which of them kisses the other first, he just knows he needs to feel Jim's lips on his, Jim's chest rising and falling against his, Jim's hands tight on his skin. It's been a month and a day, and already he never wants to leave this man. Rebecca's doing her level best to rescue him, and God help him in his selfish ingratitude, but he may never forgive her for it.