#wtrog

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An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Chapters: 21/21 Fandom: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies) Rating: Explicit Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: James T. Kirk/Leonard "Bones" McCoy, Leonard "Bones" McCoy/Jocelyn Darnell Characters: Leonard "Bones" McCoy, James T. Kirk, Spock, Christopher Pike, Jocelyn Darnell, Geoffrey M'Benga, Hikaru Sulu, Pavel Chekov, Nyota Uhura, Montgomery Scott, Joanna McCoy, George Kirk Additional Tags: Alternative Universe - FBI, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Thriller, Suspense, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Romance, Friendship, hurt!Bones, also, Hurt!Jim, and even hurt!Spock if you squint, badass bones, Plot Twists, domestic abuse, Psychological Trauma, Triggers, Emotional Hurt, implied BDSM, Spies & Secret Agents, protective!jim, Protective Kirk, Protective Bones, Protective Spock, Dom/sub Undertones, Minor Character Death, Character Death, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Additional Warnings In Author's Note Summary:

"He liked to think he wasn't a weak man. Just...holding it together. For Joanna's sake."

On the surface, Leonard has it all. He's a respected surgeon, boyfriend to a beautiful, successful woman, and father to a teenaged daughter who loves him. Underneath, he's haunted by his secrets, burdened by his choices, and living with the very woman he's working to bring down. He'd loathe his life completely, who he's become, if it weren't for one man and his love. A new beginning is on the horizon, with Jim by his side.

But the wrong secrets resurface. His future swiftly darkens, and he discovers he can't trust anyone.

Maybe not even himself.

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Where the Ragged Ones Go, excerpt

That’s it,” Leonard tenderly praises him as the waves of ecstasy ebb. His fingers dance gracefully along his back as he admires him. “So good, Jim. So beautiful, Darlin’.”

Spent and contented, Jim goes slack in his arms. He could listen to him whisper those words forever. He wants to listen to them for days on end. But he’s also exhausted. He’s exhausted by work, by the strain he faces on a daily basis, worrying about Leonard’s safety, as well as Joanna’s. He exhales a rough breath, mind beginning to clear. At least when Leonard was here with Jim, like this, he’s safe.

As if sensing his need to rest, Leonard helps him lie on his back on the bed. His body sinks into the mattress. There are no more words spoken between them. But he catches the wild look in his lover’s eyes once more as he bends down to kiss him. Leonard wants this all over again. And soon. So does he. But, they’d simply run out of time.

Leonard pulls away. “I’ll be back,” he says softly, caressing Jim’s cheek.

He climbs off the bed and goes into Jim’s bathroom for a washcloth. He returns and cleans them up like he always does. After he slips back onto the bed, he reaches over to the nightstand and grabs another cigar.

He draws Jim into his arms. Jim traces a circle on Leonard’s bare chest.

“Will you agree to it, eventually?” Jim asks into the silence.

He hopes for Jo’s sake that he does agree. She’s fourteen. Fourteen going on sixteen. At times, she even looked like she could be sixteen. Maybe even seventeen.

Leonard is quiet, blowing out a steady stream of smoke. “If I say yes now, will it destroy your operation?”

“We’d find a way,” Jim says, skirting the real question, just like Leo had avoided his.

“You know that’s not how it works,” Leonard says, his low drawl thickening. “If I leave, she’ll know something’s up and hightail it outta here. You’ll have to work another decade to get this close to her again. You need me. As a floater, like your captain said I could be if I refuse Witness Protection.”

Jim is quiet. What he said was true. But he can’t say yes for fear it would influence his decision. He reaches up to curl his hand around the arm that’s like a fixture around his chest, holding him tightly against Leonard’s body.

They both watch the hands round the clock for the last moment they have together before Leonard has to leave. Wishing that time would just stop.

Leonard finally sighs. “Kid, you can’t get rid of me this easily.” He presses a kiss against the top of his head, like a blessing. “I stay.”