Unlike words, thoughts came without any real linear pattern. One moment, Kirk was remembering a moment from childhood and the next, Khan was there. He was dying, then alive again. There was a bar where he hit on Spock's whatever Vulcans have instead of girlfriends. Pike. No Pike. Too much alcohol. Spock himself, so much older, so careful with Jim. His friend. His best friend. There had been a closeness there--

Jim struggled to hold onto that memory because it gave them a jumping off point. He fought like salmon in the streams on Earth, struggling to move forward against the current and pull some of Spock down into himself as well. A safety net. A blanket.

Eventually, their thoughts simply joined and it was like Spock had always been there. It was a comfort to be embraced, not pushed out.

I think I've forgotten how to sleep since... Since Khan.