Thorn in the Garden of Life

[losthunter]

Hunter paced his apartment, his phone in one hand, and a list of phone numbers in his other hand. He just got off the phone with Marcus, one of the six other people who had been given a gift by Kendra. And had learned that Marcus had been attacked by Austin.

Luckily, Marcus was able to get away, without any major side effects.

But Hunter was now worried about the others. And so he was making calls to everyone else who he had talked to, and warned them about Austin so they could stay safe.

And he knew it was time to face Austin again. But even though he felt like it was an emergency, Hunter knew that it would be better to make sure someone else came with him. He also knew exactly who he wanted to have by his side.

Jim. Austin attacked another person. I feel like I need to deal with this. Are you available to come with me?

Comments

[boldygoing]

"Fuck. Seriously?" Jim doesn't disbelieve them. It just seems like this curse is one awful layer on top of another. And he's disturbed that his memories are being thrown out for all to see, with himself completely unaware. "I can't go home like this."

At the very least, his mother won't understand, and their relationship is rocky enough already without bringing up the final event that led to Jim running away from home, once he'd recovered enough from his ordeal to leave the hospital. He certainly can't teach his classes like this. Or be around Starfleet at all. That'd be a fast track to a psych hold and getting his command revoked.

[losthunter]

"You can stay here." Hunter immediately offers. He considers himself responsible for the fact that Jim's safety is compromised. He can at least give him a safe place to stay, until the curse runs its course.

"I can create a warded area, where if something happens in your memories that invoke a physical response, Hunter can place you into that area so that you do not harm yourself, or others." Hermione glances around the apartment for a suitable place to create something.

"And you should remove your weapons... for the time being... until this is over." She knows about his knife. But doesn't want to seem him using it, because of a flashback.

[boldygoing]

She has a good point. A damn good point. Jim hates going unarmed, but he can easily think of several memories that would be dangerous for any bystanders, and the horrifying thought that he might harm Hunter in the grips of his darkest nightmares is enough to convince him.

He immediately unholsters his phaser and hands it over to Hunter, before bending down to pull his knife from his boot.

He clutches the knife against his chest, a white-knuckled grip around the handle, as he listens to the sound of footsteps, just outside the building. He hadn't thought the colonists who lived here would be back so soon. His makeshift bag, a sweater with the neck tied shut, only carries a few small items he's managed to find - a water bottle, two small pieces of chocolate, a wilted handful of lettuce. Not enough. But there's little else to find, all the real food rationed away to nothing, the tiny hoard under guard at the governor's house. Too dangerous to raid.

He can't risk getting caught. Not now.

Jimmy grabs the sweater and heads for the back door as quietly as possible, but he only makes it halfway there before a hand closes roughly on his shoulder, and he panics, swinging around with the knife, its edge biting into flesh and spraying him with red. The man bellows, falling back and clutching at the gash in his belly, cursing as blood spills over his hand.

He doesn't wait to see what happens next.

[losthunter]

Hunter takes the phaser, and gives it to Hermione, when he notices that Jim is now clutching the knife against his chest.

"Jim?" He calls out softly.

Then Jim moves as if he is heading towards the door. Hunter had followed him, and was just barely able to step back when Jim swings around and attacks with that knife. Luckily for him, one of the charms on his vest is a Protego spell, which protects him from getting cut.

Hermione jumps up, quickly casting a Protego spell on the door that Jim is approaching, so he can not leave. She decides against casting an Accio spell on the knife, since Jim is gripping the knife too tightly right now.

"Jim!" Hunter tries again, trying to reach him.

[boldygoing]

The knife falls to the floor as Jim flings it away from himself, as if it was a venomous snake. His hands are shaking even worse than they did after the first flashback, at the realization that he might've nearly just killed someone. "Are you okay?" His voice holds not a small amount of panic, bordering on hysteria. He can't control his own actions, and it is terrifying.

He doesn't dare approach Hunter, afraid that he'll do something else to hurt him, his gaze frantically scanning Hunter's body for injuries.

[losthunter]

Hunter moves forward, a little cautiously, but then wraps his arms around Jim once he realizes that Jim is not caught in a flashback anymore. "I'm okay."

Hermione picks up the knife, where it was flung to the floor. She then moves into the kitchen, and packs up any knifes that are on the counter top. Then, as if experienced with doing this before, Hermione goes through the rest of the apartment. Every now and then she collects something that could be used as a weapon. She finds an empty drawer in Hunter's art studio, where she can place all the items into the drawer, and then closes it with a locking spell.

"I'm okay." Hunter repeats softly. But he is terrified for Jim right now.

[boldygoing]

Jim is terrified of himself right now, so that's fair. He holds onto Hunter, hands moving a little as he restlessly double checks for injuries. "Point fucking made, holy shit," he manages, in a strangled voice. "I could've killed you."

[losthunter]

Hunter lets Jim double check him for injuries. There is only a scratch on the vest that he is wearing, where the spell protected him.

"We might not be able to stop this... but is there any way that he doesn't have to suffer through all the bad stuff? Any way we can get good memories in there?"

Hermione comes back, and tilts her head in thought. "It would be difficult. Bad memories have a habit of being fresher in our thoughts."

[boldygoing]

"I've got a lot of them, too," Jim says, his voice muffled against Hunter's shoulder. Of all the curses he could've been hit by, this is possibly the worst.

He's still shaken up, but he pulls away, trying once again to recover his composure. He doesn't feel right without the weight of the knife against his ankle, but holy shit, it is not worth the small comfort it brings. At least he has the ration bars on him.

[losthunter]

It makes Hunter angry to think that Austin had wanted Jim to be swallowed by his dark memories. To have his mind waste away into the flashbacks.

"Please Hermione. If there is something we can do. Someway I can share his pain..." Hunter feels almost desperate. Jim was able to break Hunter from his curse. And he now feels helpless.

Especially when Jim pulls away. He knows that Jim needs to regain his own senses. But it still makes him feel like there is nothing he can do.

"I'm sorry Hunter. I am not skilled with Legilimency. The last time I used that magic on a non-magical mind..." Hermione took a breath. "My parents don't remember me anymore because of how I broke their memories. I don't dare to do anything like that to Jim. I don't want him to forget us..."

"Fuck..." Hunter wishes he had a punching bag right now.

[boldygoing]

Jim wants to reassure Hunter that it's fine, that he can get through this okay, but he honestly doesn't know if that's true. There is one thing that he knows, though. "I don't want anyone tampering with my memories. They're shitty and awful, but they're mine. I wouldn't be me without them."

Despite the traumas he's been through, he wouldn't be Jim Kirk without them. Even the other Jim, the one from old Spock's timeline, had to suffer through Tarsus IV. It'd be a comfort that it's something they share, if not for how awful the entire ordeal was.

[losthunter]

"Okay. I have locked up everything that I thought could be used as a weapon. There is a spell preventing either of you access to the items." Hermione depends on her logic to help get through the situation. "I have warded your shower, Hunter, as a place you can take Jim if he reacts in a way, that has to have him confined until the memory is gone."

"I will available if you need me," Hermione tells Hunter. She feels that it is best if there is one less person around to witness Jim's dark secrets.

[boldygoing]

The shower? Really? Jim does suppose that's probably the space where he can do the least harm, but still.

In any case, having all the sharp objects and various other potential weapons locked up is a good idea, no matter how much it reminds him of suicide watch protocols. And he definitely wants as few witnesses as possible. One person is more than enough; he doesn't want to be entirely alone, with only his darkest memories for company, but he also wants to keep his suffering as private as he can.

It helps a little that Hunter already knows that Jim was on Tarsus. He may not know what it means, not fully, but Jim won't need to reveal anything classified. The important part of the secret is that Jim was there in the first place.

Either way, he returns to the kitchen area to get a proper glass of water this time, both because of the aftereffects of the flashbacks, and because he needs something to do with his hands. Something not involving a knife.

[losthunter]

Hunter thanks Hermione for her help, from both of them. He knows it is not the solutions that they had wanted, but at least they have some answers.

And then she is gone, and it is just the two of them.

Hunter feels a little restless. He sends a detailed message to his father, about how dangerous the suspect who tried to attack him was. Perhaps he can get Austin on a most-wanted list.

"I'm sorry that this happened to you."

[boldygoing]

It's been a while since Jim has really thought about how great it is to have unlimited clean water on demand. He fills the glass to the brim, before turning back to face Hunter again. "Me too. It's not your fault though."

If Jim doesn't get to blame himself, Hunter doesn't either.

[losthunter]

"Maybe there is something we can to do, to distract your mind?" Hunter is open to suggestions.

[boldygoing]

"I don't know..." Jim takes a drink from his glass, still kind of freaked out and nervous. "I feel like I owe you an explanation."

[losthunter]

Hunter moves a chair closer to the counter, where he can sit down. "You feel that you can get through an explanation, right now?"

[boldygoing]

"Maybe not. It's a long story." It's not even a story that Jim wants to tell, mostly because he doesn't want to think about it. But he doesn't have a choice about that, anymore, and he did try to kill Hunter.

But Hunter does have a point. With as often as he's already triggered flashbacks, it seems unlikely at best that he'll be able to get through it uninterrupted.

[losthunter]

"I would be more than willing to listen to your story, when we don't have to worry about you spacing out on me again." Hunter can see that it weighs heavily on Jim's mind right now. And it is no wonder why.

"I don't know if your flashbacks are triggered by anything... but if we could avoid the triggers, then even better."

[boldygoing]

"I don't know if that's possible." Jim appreciates the thought, but he has to be honest. He's dangerous, right now. And he doesn't want Hunter to be unprepared. "We can try, but I don't know."

[losthunter]

"I would do anything if it meant you didn't have to go through another flashback." Hunter rests his head in his hands for a moment.

[boldygoing]

"I know. Me too." Jim's body language is uncharacteristically uncertain. This is even touchier than the time he got LOLed. At least then, he was only talking about it.

"I don't think a movie is a good idea," he says, not quite sure.

[losthunter]

"No. Definitely not a good idea."

Hunter doesn't have any suggestions for a distraction right now. He is a little afraid that Jim might go overboard, if he offers him lunch. And he is not sure that the hot tub would be relaxing.

"Maybe, try to focus on a good memory?"

[boldygoing]

Jim isn't sure if that'll work, and especially not if he has to keep it up for two days. But it's worth a shot.

And that means having to come up with a good memory to even focus on in the first place. "Our roadtrip was nice," he says, a little hesitant. It's been a while since their journey across Iowa, but it's still a treasured day in Jim's memories.