Leonard had been awake probably at least 48 hours straight when Christine had handed him a blanket and pillow and wordlessly pointed to one of the few unoccupied beds in the medical center. He’d opened his mouth to protest that he couldn’t, but a stern look and a shake of her head told him it wouldn’t do him any good. There was no arguing with Christine Chapel-Pike when she had her mind made up about something. As usual, she was right. He’d no longer laid down than he was sound asleep. Despite his protests, he’d been exhausted and the sleep was much needed.
Sometime after he’d drifted off, the dreams started. Beginning with the start of their five year mission, he dreamed the next three years of his life. The five year mission, Yorktown, Krall, the destruction of the Enterprise. It was the most vivid dream he’d ever experienced in his life and it didn’t end until about a week and a half into his visit to Sahara II, where he’d been reunited with Christine and met Lauren. Something pulled him from the dream then, although he couldn’t say what.
The images stuck with him along with one hell of a headache, but it didn’t feel like just a dream. Suddenly, he understood what other people meant when they talked about those damn memories updates. “You’ve got crappy timing, Atlantis,” he muttered as he swung his legs off the bed and stumbled out of the room to hunt down an analgesic for the headache, rubbing at his temples to try and drive off some of the pain in the meantime.
It had been a grueling week and Christine was exhausted. She couldn’t even begin to guess how much sleep she’d gotten but it couldn’t have been much. Trying to hold things together for Lauren hadn’t left her much time for herself but thankfully she had amazing friends who had helped her by taking Lauren for a little bit at a time so Christine could rest or as was most often the case, fall apart and have a good cry.
At least now she could do something. Chris was back along with the others and while some of them were badly injured, they were all going to make it. Rose had been kind enough to take Lauren when Christine had had to report to Medical and she’d been splitting time between working, spending time with her husband and checking on her daughter. She had just come around a corner when she saw McCoy and he looked like hell. Without saying a word, she grabbed some linens and gave them to him, or more accurately shoved them in his face, and while she thought he’d protest, he didn’t to her surprise. Good. He needed to take a nap.
She had lost track of time and when she saw Leonard coming down the hall, she was about to tell him to go back and sleep but she could tell by looking at him that he had slept although not very well. “Hey,” she said as she walked up to him. “Did you not sleep very much? You look a little better but not a lot. Things are okay if you want to go lay back down.”
“I slept, alright,” he grumbled. Lying back down was the last thing he wanted right now, even though some real sleep would be nice. “Got about 3 years of memories and a whopper of a headache for my trouble.”
Memories of their time on Sahara II were fresh as he looked at her and he found himself reaching for her hand, squeezing it warmly. “How’re you holding up?” he asked a little more gently. Everyone was stable, but her husband had been one of the worst. Christine had kept going like a trooper, but she knew seeing him so battered wasn’t easy, especially since she’d been through it before.
“Damn that’s a lot to get at once,” she said. What exactly had he remembered? When he squeezed her hand, she figured it out and took a breath. “I’m okay. Chris is resting right now, I checked on the kiddo and she’s fine. So I’m good for now. I was going to go have a cup of coffee or a Diet Coke or something. Klingon bloodwine sounds good but I’m on duty. Do they have that at Cava? I’ve never thought to check.”
Leonard chuckled at her ramblings. He wasn’t sure he believed she was really okay, but he wasn’t going to push the issue right at the moment. Christine would talk if and when she decided she was ready.
Making a face, he shook his head. “You know I’ll take a good Tennessee Whiskey any day,” he countered. “Maybe some Saurian Brandy. I think some of the bars stock that. Never thought to ask for the Klingon stuff.”
He dropped off for a moment before fixing her with a look that spoke volumes. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked softly. He knew she already had the memories he’d just been given. “About Sahara III?” A part of him already knew the answer but he asked the question anyway.
Christine sighed. “How could I? When I got here, Chris was here, you were with Molly, I thought it was best to just keep it to myself. I don’t regret it, not in the least but it was just something I would have to keep as a cherished memory.” she shook her head. “I’ve seen so many people get memory updates so I should have expected that you would as some point but it never crossed my mind.”
“I know.” He understood why she’d kept quiet. Hell, he might not have mentioned it, either, if their roles had been reversed. Pike had been gone there; here things were different. She was probably right. Sahara II was nothing more than a cherished memory, for both of them.
“Let’s go get some coffee,” he suggest, rubbing the back of her hand lightly with his thumb before letting go. “Fitzsimmons is watching our patients and we could both use a minute, unless you’d rather look in on Chris again.” He knew more than most how hard the past week had been on her and he wouldn’t blame her for not wanting to let the man out of her sight after everything they’d been through together.
“No, coffee would be good. Chris was nearly asleep when I just left him. He’d had some pain meds and was drifting off. I had to make him take them, but that should be no surprise,” she said. “I’d love to get off my feet for a bit.” She loved her job but sometimes she had to remember that she was human and she needed to rest. It was one reason why she and McCoy had always worked so well together, they were two of a kind.
Leonard thought nothing of slipping an arm around Christine’s shoulders to lead her toward the nearest source of coffee. Normally, Coffee Me Better would be the best place, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to go that far away. There was luckily a small coffee shop here on their floor of the base, too.
She didn’t think anything about the gesture, it wasn’t something that he’d never done before and she didn’t really care if anyone thought it odd. “Oh good, you mean real coffee and not whatever someone brewed in the staff lounge god knows how many hours ago.” Christine took a deep breath as they exited the main part of Medical. “It feels good to get outside even if it’s still inside.”
“Obviously,” he remarked with a roll of his eyes. He agreed that it felt good to get out of there, if t only for a moment or two. They’d both been working long hours with very little sleep over the past couple of days. “If you’re nice to me, I might even buy you a pastry,” he teased.
“Oooo...you know the way to my heart is through my stomach. There’s reason I like you so much.” When he’d told her about his memory update, she had instantly been afraid that it would be awkward but so far it hadn’t been and Christine hoped that continued.”Hopefully they’ve got some good pastries today and not sucky ones”
“Just one reason?” he teased her. No matter what they’d spend years dancing around at home, Christine was one of his best friends. He was always going to feel comfortable around her, no matter what. They’d missed any window they might have had and they were both with other people, but that had never affected their friendship before. Having a few new memories of time they’d spent together wasn’t going to change that.
“Well only one that I’m going to admit to right now,” she said and looked at him with a grin. Their friendship had been one of the few constants in her life for a long time and she was glad that he was here with her. The two of them might lead separate lives but they always knew they could count on one another and Christine wouldn’t have it any other way.