Chapter Text
T-Minus 2 Days
“Bones, I need you to do me a favor.”
The long-suffering doctor heaved a sigh. He knew that voice anywhere and he knew it spelled trouble. Jim Kirk asking for a favor was never anything good. “I’m a little busy,” he said, not bothering to look up from the sink where he was scrubbing blood and grime from underneath his nails.
“It’s okay, I’ll wait,” Jim said cheerfully. Leonard finally looks up, narrowing his eyes at his captain, his calloused hands still under the running water.
“Damn,” he muttered, turning it off and shaking them dry before wiping them on the front of his white coat. “Thought maybe you would’ve gone by now.” Jim shrugged, his eyes following Leonard as the older man took off his coat, draping it over his arm and crossing the medbay. Jim lingered behind at the sink for a few paces before Leonard called back. “Walk and talk, Jim. I got shit to do.”
Jim quickly caught up, his long legs eating up the distance. “I need you to be captain,” he said.
Leonard froze, his palm just above the door lock. However, he didn’t stay still for long, whipping around to meet Jim’s eyes. “I’m sorry, what?” he said. “You want me to do what?”
“Be captain,” Jim prompted, his hands behind his back and bouncing up and down on his toes. “It’ll just be for a few days. I need Spock, Uhura, and Sulu down on planet with me to help out with the Rultluun and Rultleen treaties. You’re basically the next highest-ranking officer on the ship, so I need you to be acting captain while we’re gone.”
Leonard dropped his coat, grabbing Jim’s chin with one hand, tipping it back, and looking deep into his eyes. “Ow, Bones, what the hell?” Jim chirped, dancing back out of his grip. “What’s the for?”
“I’m checking you for a concussion.” Leonard said. “You can’t be right up there because it sounds like you just asked be to be captain.”
“I did,” Jim said.
“Goddammit, Jim,” Leonard said, his eyes closed and his palm over his face. “I’m a doctor, not a fucking starship captain. ”