A little warning the characters may be slightly OC.

Spock was sitting in a lounge chair, reading from his PADD. It had been exactly 10 days since Jim had woken from his coma. McCoy was insistent that as a contingency to his release he was not to be left alone, so naturally Spock volunteered to have Jim stay at his apartment. Jim reluctantly agreed, not wanting to spend another day in the hospital. Spock made sure to do all that was necessary so that Jim was as comfortable as possible. He set the temperature to human standard, even though it made him colder than usual, which was why he was currently wearing a thick black turtleneck and warm brown pants.

Jim was asleep in Spock's bedroom, even though he tried to protest. He insisted that the couch was fine, but Spock was firm with his position, stating that Vulcans did not need as much sleep as humans, and Jim's body still needed time to recover.

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a loud piercing scream, he leapt from his chair and ran to the bedroom. He saw that Jim was thrashing about in his bed. He seemed to be experiencing a nightmare.

He had failed his mission. He didn't get to the core in time and the ship was going down. The worst part was that he was trapped behind the glass and he couldn't help his crew.

Both Chekov and Scotty were caught in the explosion of a boiler. They were being burned alive.

Sulu was being electroculted by a broken cable that had been sparking all around the floor.

Uhura was impaled by some shrapnel in her throat. She gasped for breath while grasping at her throat. She fell to the floor with a thud.

The ship had cracked and split apart, crew members were sucked out of the ship. Bones and Carol among them. Bones had resisted, grabbing a pipe and hanging on for all he was worth, he grabbed onto Carol too. He and Jim locked eyes, and it broke Jim's heart to see the pure fear they held, and then he was sucked away too.

And Spock…

Jim looked around desperately, and much to his horror saw Spock and Khan fighting. Like he did with Marcus, he grabbed Spock by both sides of his head and crushed his skull in.

"NOOOOOOOO!" Jim screamed out in horror.

Khan looked to Jim, and had an evil grin on his face. He walked slowly to Jim, his hands dripping with Spock's green blood. He kneeled to face him.

"It's all your fault." He said, "You led them to their deaths. Pike was right…you're not fit to be in the chair."

Then Jim felt a pressure on his body, and he felt something shaking him.

Jim screamed in horror and threw his arms out, trying to fend off whatever was shaking him, only for his wrists to be caught in a strong grip.

"-aptain, Captain…Jim!" Spock's voice called out.

Jim finally stopped resisting when he saw that it was only Spock.

"Spock! We have to get away!" He rambled, grabbing Spock's arms. "He's coming! Khan's coming! We need to get the crew off the ship now!"

"Jim, we are not aboard the Enterprise," Spock explained patiently, "We are in my quarters, do you not remember?"

Jim thought back for a moment and it all came back to him. He had just been discharged from the hospital, and Spock volunteered to have him stay in his quarters. He looked down and saw that instead of the white scrubs the hospital provided for him, he was wearing a gray t-shirt and red flannel pajama pants.

"Khan?"

"He is in stasis right now Captain." Spock said, his voice getting slightly colder.

"So everybody's okay?" Jim asked, not releasing his grip on Spock's sleeve.

"Yes Captain." Spock said. "All is well."

It was those words that caused Jim to break. His face crumpled as he finally allowed himself to release all the emotions he had been holding back since the death of Pike. He latched onto Spock and began crying into his neck.

Spock jumped back startled by his friend's actions. His entire stature had stiffened, not being used to this type of situation. Then he looked down and seeing Jim in such a state…troubled him.

Deciding for once to listen to his human instincts. He wrapped his own arms around Jim in turn and pulled him closer to his chest, holding him securely in his arms.

"It is alright Jim." He said, "Everything is alright now."

"I'm sorry," Jim gasped out, "I'm sorry Spock, I'm so sorry for everything. It's my fault, it's all my fault."

"No Jim." Spock argued. "You are not responsible for Khan's actions or that of Admiral Marcus, you performed to the best of your ability and you succeeded, you saved over three hundred lives."

Jim shook his head, "People died on my watch Spock, people died because of the decisions I made!"

"You did not kill those people," Spock insisted, "and every single person aboard the Enterprise knew the risks of being aboard a starship and accepted them."

"They were my responsibility Spock." Jim said, "I was the captain and I let everyone down. If I had listened to you or Bones, or Scotty, none of this would have happened."

Spock didn't know what else to do, so all he could do was hold him and try to comfort him as best as he could. He began to rock back and forth slightly to calm him down.

"Everything is alright Jim." Spock said, "Khan is back where he belongs, he can cause no further damage, and while you couldn't save the lives of those lost in space, your bravery allowed you to save the lives of the rest of the crew in our arrival to earth, at the cost of your own life."

Jim shuddered, remembering his time in the radiation chamber.

"I was so scared Spock." Jim sobbed. "I didn't feel brave, I was terrified. I felt so helpless and alone. I know that you were there on the outside but I was in the chamber by myself and it hurt...it hurt so much. I couldn't…I couldn't-"

He trailed off and buried his face in Spock's shoulder as if trying to hide away from the memories.

Spock tightened his grip, struggling with his own memories of that particular moment. He focused on calming Jim down and started to rub soothing circles around Jim's back as well as the back of his head, carding his fingers through his hair. He remembered his mother doing this to him whenever he was emotionally distressed as a child.

"Hush Jim." Spock said, "It is over. You will never have to experience such fear again, not so long as I breathe."

After a while Jim's tears and sobbing subsided, but he never released his grip on Spock's shirt.

"Spock?" Jim looked up at his friend in a pleading manner. "Could…could you stay here tonight...please? I don't want to be alone right now."

"Of course Jim." Spock said. "I would be more than happy to."

He maneuvered them so that they both lied on the bed, next to each other. Spock rested Jim's head slightly against his shoulder, and kept his arm around Jim's back. He coudl still feel Jim's frame shaking slightly and the fact that he was a touch telepath allowed him to feel the lingering fear Jim held. While it pained Spock to see Jim so visibly upset, it also showed him just how much Jim valued his friendship; the fact that he was allowing himself to break down in front of Spock's person showed that he had complete trust in him and Spock wasn't going to allow that trust to be misplaced.

"Rest Jim." Spock murmured, "There is nothing for you to fear, I will not allow anything to happen to you. You are safe with me."

"Thank you Spock." Jim said, fisting his fingers in Spock's shirt. "Thank you for being here."

"I will always be here for you Jim." Spock said, "Always."

Jim finally started to feel at ease and soon enough, his eyes began to droop and he eventually fell asleep.

Spock on the other hand was wide awake. For a while he just stared at Jim's sleeping form, making sure that he was safe. He may never admit it aloud, but the past month had been a terrifying experience for Spock. It nearly destroyed him, not knowing if Jim would live or die. It astounded him how much had changed, just a year ago Jim was his worst bane, now he was his closest friend and confidant.

He remembered the words of his future self, he spoke of a friendship that would define the both of them. At the time he didn't know what he meant, and Spock found it hard to believe that he could ever feel anything besides indifference towards Kirk. But now...he honestly couldn't imagine a world without James Tiberius Kirk, and the fact that he almost had to terrified him more than he could say.

He made sure to keep one hand on Jim's head while the other rested around his back. Jim seemed to be comforted by his presence and after everything he had been through, Spock wasn't going to deny him that peace no matter how uncomfortable he felt. Although deep down, he knew that he needed the contact as much as Jim did. Having Jim so close to him proved that he wasn't dead, that he was alive and breathing.

Jim shivered in his sleep and nestled closer to the warm body next to him, Spock complied by wrapping his arms more tightly around Jim and keeping his head tucked under his chin, absentmindedly running his fingers through Jim's hair. He couldn't change the past; he couldn't bring Admiral Pike back, he couldn't stop Marcus from setting Jim up with a suicide mission and he couldn't stop Jim from stepping into the radiation chamber.

But he could make sure Jim had a restful sleep tonight and that's exactly what he intended to do.

Thoughts?