Once and

[madimpossibledreamer]

Main Points:
Star Trek (the 2009!movie verse)/Merlin crossover
Summary: James T. Kirk realizes that he's been reincarnated, and he's not the only one on the Enterprise.
Word Count: 920
Rating: Gen
Note: hints of !ship but can be read as just bromance too /grin

        They’ve switched places, Jim realizes, finally, when he stops being smug about being the Second Coming of a literary rather than biblical kind.  He’s still the Captain of men, but Merlin—
        Merlin used to believe in magic and fairy tales and happy endings.  Sometimes pathologically so.  He used to be a shining star of optimism and almost even naivete.  Now it’s like they’ve switched places.  It’s not like he believes a lot of the stuff that spews out of his mouth, but it’s always better to have a brave, happy face on, because it’s easier to face the world like that.  He’s not sure if that’s how it’d been for Merlin, way back when, during their first lives.  Maybe it’s some kind of cosmic karma.  He made fun of it enough now he has to see it from the other side.  Now Merlin’s dour and always muttering dark predictions, and, well, that’s not exactly how it went, but it’s Merlin who questions Arthur about impossible plans and ridiculous beliefs with nothing to base them on.  Bones’ a man of science who doesn’t believe in magic or the impossible, despite the miracles his legendary hands pull out of the air on a regular basis.  It’s Arthur who has an open mind, Arthur who doesn’t immediately jump to the conclusion that anything unknown is out to destroy the Camelot—
        —er, the Enterprise.
        But maybe, though Bones has never shown a sign of remembering like he has—maybe waiting for all those centuries with no sign of sacrifices paying off, maybe that would ruin anyone’s mood, enough for a lifetime.
        For all the grumbling (some things don’t change), Merlin still hasn’t learned how to say no.  Not to Arthur.  Never to Arthur.
        And it’s not as if he hasn’t realized the hardships and, yes, even violence Bones has used on him in the past, in either life, to keep him from doing something stupid or save him after the previously mentioned act of stupidity.  Getting hit in the face by Merlin feels familiar even after all these centuries.  And, well, it’s not like he can help his effortless charm any more than he can help accidentally ticking things off.  Apparently that’s just how he’s wired.
        Maybe it’s that Bones doesn’t have to hide his worry or his intelligence.  He can fix things and not lie about the means he took or even that he was behind it.  So where he’d see a smile, now Merlin has no reason to not be honest with him.  It’s a refreshing feeling.
        He still has Merlin’s trust, loyalty, belief.  The man doesn’t understand him, and he still doesn’t understand the man, or magic, even after all this time, but he’s trying so that has to count for something doesn’t it?
        Also, he could’ve told Merlin that Freya would bring him nothing but heartbreak, but since he wouldn’t appreciate an ‘I told you so’ he just brings booze instead.  Merlin appreciates it.
        Also he stays well clear of Guinevere this time.  Though just flirting with her with no intention to follow through (usually he’s good at the follow through, but he’s actually trying this time) doesn’t break everything, and Lancelot does growl a little but doesn’t relinquish what is his, and for that Arthur approves.  Wholeheartedly.
        He should probably stop saying that out loud, since Spock is really starting to get his Confused-Slash-Judging Eyebrow stuck in a permanent sort of position.
        But he’s happy, the king of the castle with his loyal knights, and yes, he demands the impossible of them all, but he would die for any of them.  And is perfectly convinced that yes, with just enough willpower, the impossible is really more of just—a guideline.  Merlin’s shown him the impossible before.  Pulled off stunts he wouldn’t even have believed.  This time, it’s just him following a lead (and Bones would complain about that, only he has no intention of actually voicing any of this because that would probably lead to everyone thinking he’s crazy and demoting him and he refuses to let that happen when he’s happy).
        And no, Merlin, he’s not going to apologize, or stop, or anything, because he’s the Captain, and he’s responsible for their lives, and he’s not about to abandon them.  Any leader worth anything has the same loyalty to his underlings as they have to him, or he hasn’t earned their loyalty, pure and simple.  He is physically incapable of leaving anyone behind.  Really, he just—can’t.
        The thing is, he’s got what he’s always wanted.  His Captaincy, because he’s the strategist, he’s a leader, it’s in his blood.  But he doesn’t have to hunt down innocents.  For the most part, Starfleet orders are so much better than his father’s.  He can be the kind of leader he wants to be.  Which, okay, yeah, it’s unconventional, but he’s always been a smug little brat (or prat, right, Merlin?), but he’s also been told he’s brave and has a huge heart and regularly, somehow, pulls off the impossible.  How could he not be happy?
        Bones is starting to worry, though, about his random happy mood.  “Life’s just good,” he explains with a smile, and Merlin can’t do anything but grumble about that and start off on one of his death rants, and he listens with a fond smile, because they orbit each other like a binary star, they always have, and Merlin’s still fixing things when he can, and he can’t find it in himself to complain about that.