More late night thoughts to add to my collection of things I want to write but also feel overwhelmed by:
The AOS crew meets their Mirror!verse counterparts, resulting in the infamous mind meld.
And Len just...doesn't tell anyone. Completely shuts down and shuts everyone one out.
It's not uncommon, for him to be so avoidant after a hard mission or around certain days, but this is something different entirely. It's never lasted this long and he's never avoided Spock in particular like this before. And it's that avoidance that get Spock thinking about what exactly might have happened.
He reached out to Ambassador Spock, who confirms his fears suspicions and explains what he had to do for his own Dr. McCoy, forming a new mind meld to help him piece back together those parts of his mind that his own Mirror!counterpart had torn through to get the information he wanted. He is worried though, his Dr. McCoy didn't try to hide what had happened, had never seemed afraid of him after. That this Dr. McCoy has such trepidation implies that there is something deeper at play and he recommends telling Jim first, before saying anything to Leonard himself.
Spock follows this council and goes to Jim who flashes so many emotions across his face in such rapid succession, it's a wonder he doesn't combust. "I'll talk to him." is all he says before walking away.
In the end, Len agrees to the recommended treatment plan. It takes some convincing still yet, and it's at least partially due to the migraine become totally debilitating, but he agrees. In the end Spock understands a great deal more about Leonard than he ever expected to, and he can't find it within him to hold on to the initial hurt he never would have admitted to feeling the first time Leonard skittered out of the room as soon as Spock entered.
