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kowaiyoukaiTitle: We Reach Our Apogee Slowly (Part 6c)
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kowaiyoukai
Rating: R
Pairing: eventual like whoa Kirk/Spock (STFU), Spock/Uhura (blame JJ, not me)
Warning(s): Angst, meta, language, attempts at witty banter, overly-important tone, intentionally confusing parts, potentially OOC everybody
Spoilers: Star Trek XI (2009) (a.k.a. Star Trek XI, Star Trek 2009, Star Trek Reboot, New Trek, and can we please just pick one name for this fandom people?!)
Word Count: 6,624/26,171 (for this part/for all of part 6)
Disclaimer: Star Trek belongs to Gene Roddenberry, mostly, but also a lot of other people/groups like Paramount, J.J. Abrams, and the various writers/directors. I'm not one of those people, sadly, because if I was I'd be filthy rich.
Beta Acknowledgment: None! I know there are errors, so please let me know if you see any! Thanks!
Summary: Jim quickly realized he was going to have to break the rules if he wanted to survive on the Enterprise.
A/N: OMG, let's not discuss the amount of trouble I had with this part. Well, it's done now and THANK GOD FOR THAT. I'm hoping part 7 won't take nearly as long as this did, but with HBP coming out, time'll be short. I've already got plans for the midnight showing, plus at least one other showing this weekend. You guys know how that goes. *is excited*
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Othersides 1 | Part 6a | Part 6b
Spock had no idea that humans were able to get into such contorted positions while deeply unconscious. He had never slept next to anyone before, but he had seen other people sleeping, and none of them had even come close to moving the way Jim did. First of all, Jim's limbs were making a desperate attempt at escaping from his torso. His arms and legs were spread as far as they could go, bent at odd angles as if they could be free if they only kept on twisting. This might have amused Spock under normal conditions. However, Jim had started the night sleeping less than two feet away from him and had somehow managed to end it with half of his body sprawled over Spock. Even that wouldn't have been a huge problem if Jim hadn't been all sharp angles and jerky movements. One of his legs was covering Spock's right leg and had burrowed beneath his left leg, finally ending with Jim's ankle hooked around Spock's leg a few inches below his knee. Both of Jim's arms were in Spock's personal space—one was haphazardly thrown across his torso and the other was obviously meant to be pillowing Jim's head, but of course this ended in disaster with Jim's elbow resting right next to Spock's nose so that every time Spock moved his head he ended up getting poked in the eye.
Spock had no idea how he had ended up like this, since he had gone to sleep and woken up lying in the exact same position. Obviously this was all Jim's fault. Spock wanted to get up to start working on the cure, but Jim was all over him and he wasn't entirely sure how to go about removing the man without waking him up. Sure, he was strong enough to get Jim off him no problem. It was actually difficult not to move in a way that would cause Jim discomfort, given how his leg was tangled in-between Spock's own and his hand seemed content to bury itself in Spock's shirt, fingers twisting around the material.
"'S ho'," Jim mumbled, wriggling uncomfortably.
Spock inhaled and exhaled once, deeply, attempting to remain calm. They were stuck on a desert planet and Jim was pressed against Spock, who had a higher body temperature than humans did. Of course it would be hot for him. Was it really too much to ask for Jim to not make ridiculous comments while sleeping?
"Spock?" McCoy asked, quietly. "You up?"
"Yes, Doctor," Spock replied. "Have you started working on the cure?"
"No, I've been standing here watching you and Jim cuddle," McCoy said, rolling his eyes.
Spock hesitated. He tilted his head at a painful angle for a few seconds until he could make out McCoy bent over the table, working next to the emitter which was happily murmuring away. It was incredibly unlikely that McCoy had been watching them sleep. That comment must have been sarcastic. "I offered to share my blanket with him and he accepted," Spock explained. "It was the only logical course of action since—"
"Sure," McCoy interrupted. "But I don't really care right now. Are you going to help me with this or not?"
"I will assist you in a moment," Spock stated.
It took a few minutes, but Spock was eventually able to disentangle himself from Jim and stand up. He walked over to McCoy, rolling his shoulders, feeling the minor aches of sleeping on the ground get worse as he moved. "How far have you progressed?"
Almost an hour later Uhura woke up. She immediately seemed to move a bit slower than usual, but Spock brushed that off as a mixture of boredom and idleness. With nothing to do and all day to do it, anyone would take their time. She rolled up her blanket and put it away, walking around the tent a few times to amuse herself. Almost an hour after that, Jim finally sat up, stretching and yawning, kicking his feet idly out in front of him. Spock didn't even spare a glance at him, knowing Jim would only take that as permission to interrupt their work with questions designed to alleviate his boredom. Spock and McCoy had made good progress, eliminating over two hundred possible combinations of the medical supplies due to various ill effects or having no effect on the disease, but there were still plenty more to check. They didn't have time to worry about entertaining Jim and Uhura.
As the hours passed, Spock knew he was being of less and less use. He had completed all the steps that McCoy did not need to personally oversee. He didn't have the medical knowledge to run tests on the other samples himself, which left him standing there occasionally handing McCoy something or briefly checking the emitter for potential problems. However, there was nothing else to do in the tent, so unless he felt as though he was impeding McCoy's progress, Spock would stay just in case he was needed.
Or at least, that was his intention. But about two hours after they had eaten lunch, which was a spare helping of the food they had brought with them, Uhura began to behave oddly. She started walking even slower than she had been, pausing before taking each step as though she had to concentrate incredibly hard to do it. After a few minutes she sat down, slumped against her bag, and closed her eyes, breathing irregularly. Spock exchanged a glance with McCoy, then with Jim. McCoy's mouth tightened and he continued to work, concentrating on his task. Jim walked over to Uhura and knelt in front of her, saying something too quietly for Spock to hear. He paused a few moments and then got up and walked to stand next to Spock.
"She wants you," Jim said, shortly. "She's shivering, says she feels cold."
Spock glanced at Jim, but he was looking down at the table, suddenly absorbed in what McCoy was working on. "Uhura requested my presence?"
Jim shuffled his feet. "Not exactly," he hedged. "But you should go anyway. I mean, I know I… well, she wants you there."
"I see," Spock said. He turned to McCoy, who was cursing under his breath, obviously displeased with the result of his last test. "Do you require my assistance here, Doctor?"
"What?" McCoy asked, looking up briefly before going back to his work and waving a hand in Spock's general direction. "No, it's fine, just leave me be."
Spock hesitated, unsure if he would be more helpful helping Uhura or McCoy. Then Jim laid a hand on his arm and said, "Just go, okay? I'll stay here in case Bones needs anything."
Spock nodded and walked over to Uhura, sitting beside her in one swift movement. She leaned against him and he could immediately feel how low her body temperature was. Reaching behind them, Spock grasped the edge of his blanket and pulled it closer, maneuvering so that he was able to wrap her in it. Then he put his arm around her and drew her closer, knowing his own body heat combined with the natural temperature of the planet was the best combination they currently had available to maximize heat.
"You came," Uhura said. "I thought you were working with McCoy."
"I was under the impression you wanted me here," Spock replied.
"I do," she said, slowly. "Thanks. I feel all screwed up."
"Rest for now," Spock said.
Uhura was still shivering against him, but she slowly started to calm down. Spock was already thinking about what he would do if someone else got sick. If it was Jim, it wouldn't be so bad, since Spock could use his other arm and then both of them would get the warmth they needed from him. But McCoy needed to be free to work on the cure, and that would mean Spock would have to choose between them, and that was something he'd rather not consider. Technically, Spock would be able to stand next to McCoy while he worked and put an arm around his shoulders, but Spock also had doubts about just how much work McCoy would be able to get done if he started having the symptoms Uhura was currently showing. With any sort of luck, McCoy would finish the cure soon and they wouldn't even have to worry about it.
Uhura mumbled a little, half-asleep, and Spock decided to let her rest. Nothing could be gained from waking her. Jim was still by the table watching McCoy, although he darted an occasional furtive glance towards them. Spock was able to catch his eye when he was looking their way. He raised an eyebrow interrogatively, but Jim looked quickly away without replying.
Instead of worrying about the rest of them contracting the disease or Jim's confusing behavior, Spock decided to clear his mind and meditate for a while. It would do him a world of good to feel set apart from his problems for an hour or two.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Jim had the worst luck in the world. There he was, trying not to get in anyone's way, and all anyone was doing was giving him hassle about it. McCoy kept on glancing at him as though he expected Jim to take the hint and go somewhere else, but there really was no place else to go. The tent was arranged so that facing McCoy was the only place where he wouldn't actually have to look at Spock and Uhura, unless he wanted to stand and stare at the wall for the rest of the day. Which, by the way, he really didn't. He'd take looking at the wall before looking at Spock holding onto Uhura, though. No questions asked.
Sure, he knew he only had himself to blame. Technically, Uhura hadn't even asked him to get Spock for her. But he had known what she wanted when she said she wasn't feeling well. They were dating, so it made sense, and Jim felt a certain sense of kinship with her. If he was in her situation, he'd want Spock to be the one holding him. He couldn't entirely blame her for it.
In fact, the more he thought about it, the more he realized he wasn't actually even all that jealous. Sure, he was a little jealous, because she had what he knew he would never be able to have, but besides that there was really nothing. He liked Uhura and she was sick. He wouldn't begrudge her some comfort now. But even more than that, Jim knew that Spock didn't want to see Uhura like this. Spock had seen enough of his friends and loved ones injured and dying. Jim didn't want him to lose anyone else.
It hit him then—really, truly punched him in the jaw—that he was in love with Spock. Not just lust, not just wanting to have completely heterosexual sex with, but love. He didn't know how it had happened. He hadn't even though it could happen, much less this quickly, but there it was. Obvious, unavoidable, and hanging over him like a blinking neon sign that he felt anyone could read at any moment. That the realization came, oddly enough, thanks to Uhura was surprising but not entirely unexpected. Watching Spock and Uhura sit quietly together in the corner had Jim uneasy. He reminded himself he wasn't all that jealous—because he wasn't, really, and the small amount he was didn't matter enough to mention it. It was that Jim suddenly realized that he truly did not want Uhura to be hurt. He hadn't ever actively wished her harm. She was an outstanding officer and he knew he was lucky to have her in his crew. Yet her relationship with Spock had left him resenting her, even when he tried not to. Now, though, Jim realized that Spock did care for Uhura. It was open to debate how much exactly and what his feelings were, but right now it didn't matter if Spock simply thought of her as a friend or as much more than that. Someone who was close to Spock was in danger, and Jim didn't want Spock to go through that. Jim didn't want to see that look on Spock's face again—the one he'd had directly after the Vulcan Massacre and during the memorial services. Losing Uhura would hurt Spock. He repeated that thought to himself, knowing it was true and unable to find any fault with it. Jim didn't want to see Spock hurt exponentially more than he wanted Uhura and Spock's relationship to be over. He wouldn't want to see any of his crew hurt, but the idea of standing aside as Spock lost yet another person vital to his happiness was unthinkable. Spock was only just starting to make sense of out of the Vulcan Massacre. It was too soon for him to process more tragedy. Uhura needed to be all right. Spock couldn't handle it any other way.
So Jim was in love. There was no other reason why he would think so unselfishly about this. He had been so close to Spock last night. Now all he could think was that, if he had to spend a lifetime at Spock's side without ever touching him, watching as Spock stayed with Uhura or went into and out of relationships with other people, it would be fine as long as he was able to have moments where he could pretend. He had been able to pretend, last night. With Spock lying next to him, wholly focused on him, it had been easy to pretend. He thought it might get harder as time passed. It was already hard to imagine and he'd only realized a few minutes ago. But he'd deal with that when it came up. Right now, he needed to see if there was anything he could do. Maybe McCoy needed help with—
Then it hit him. McCoy. His best friend in the whole galaxy, wonderful sardonic McCoy, surely he would know what to do. If Jim could gather up the courage to actually speak about his epiphany, McCoy might have some form of advice. It was equally likely that he'd only laugh or hit him, but Jim could hope. Of course, he'd have to wait until he was ready. Jim was sure he loved Spock, he just knew it, somehow, but he wasn't sure enough to tell McCoy and be mocked for it. It was still too new. He needed to think on it a bit, let it cool down before he was prepared to get told off for it. He didn't want to hear he was an idiot for falling in love with someone who was probably unattainable. He just wanted to roll around in it for a while—really suck it up so he could understand what all the hype was about. It was his first time being in love, after all. He was ready to be wowed.
Jim actually was wowed moments later when McCoy shouted that he'd found a possible cure. It was actually a wordless cry of relief, but Jim got it anyway. He looked up to find McCoy holding a vial of liquid and exhaling slowly.
"That it?" Jim asked, quietly. McCoy nodded. "So we just need to test it, right? Find out if it works or not."
"Yeah," McCoy replied. "We need someone who's sick. One of the colonists, I guess."
Jim immediately realized why that wouldn't work. Before he could say anything, though, Uhura spoke up. "I'll take it." Everyone looked at her. "It makes sense," she continued, speaking slower than usual. "If the cure doesn't work, the colonists don't need to know about it. When we find the one that works, we'll let them know we've got it. Until then, if we use them as test subjects they're bound to get even more pissed at us than they already are."
Jim looked at Spock, who was staring at McCoy. Then he looked back at McCoy to find him frowning.
"I don't like it," McCoy said. "I can't be entirely sure what the effects of this drug will be."
"Well, it got rid of the disease in the blood samples you had, right?" Uhura asked.
"Of course," McCoy said, slightly irritated. "I wouldn't bother with it if it hadn't."
"Okay," she replied. "Then use it on me."
"Just do it," Jim said, interrupting any further arguments. "She's right and you know it."
McCoy looked distinctly unhappy with the arrangement, but he still brought over a needle and the vial of medicine to Uhura. Jim watched as McCoy injected her with the liquid, and although he knew it was stupid he still half-expected some kind of immediate reaction to the drug. Uhura jumping up and down, her skin turning blue, her arm exploding—something.
"Now we wait," McCoy said.
So they waited. Every half-hour McCoy took small blood samples from Uhura to check her progress, but by the fifth hour even Jim could see she was feeling better. Her temperature was back to normal and she was walking and speaking at a rate much closer to her usual, although it was still a bit slower. At the end of the sixth hour, McCoy pronounced her cured and that strain of medicine a success—for humans. Immediately McCoy injected himself and Jim with the medicine, and Jim did not struggle against the needle at all because he knew Spock was watching and he was actually quite manly and impressive when he wanted to be.
Spock and McCoy began speaking in low tones about the process to convert that medicine to be fit for use by the colonists and by Vulcans. Jim tuned them out, no longer even able to pretend to be interested in the proceedings. He was done with this planet and with weird space diseases. He'd be more than happy to leave when they were done.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Once Uhura had been cured, it took another twenty-one point two eight hours to make the correct adjustments to the medicine for it to be usable by both the colonists and himself. McCoy gave Spock his version of the medicine. Then he looked at the entrance to the tent warily.
"We need a colonist to test it on," McCoy said.
Uhura nodded and said, "I'll tell them we might have a cure."
Spock listened as Uhura spoke to one of the guards. He was getting the hang of this language. It was difficult because they used far more consonants than he was used to in either language, but he thought he could make out a few of the most often-used words—me, you, us, them, and, sickness, healthy, leader. It would be interesting to study this language, once they were finished with this mission. These people had no words to describe electrical objects, after all. That was a rare find in the galaxy.
Once Uhura had finished speaking, she turned to them and shrugged. "They'll bring somebody over. They say if the cure doesn't work, though, there'll be consequences."
McCoy grit his teeth. "Of course they say that. Of course." He began pacing in short strides. "Here I am, working my ass off all day long to help them, and all they want to do is kill us."
"Bones," Jim said, sighing. He walked over to McCoy and put a hand on his shoulder. "It'll be fine. The cure worked on us. It'll work on them."
Spock didn't want to say the obvious, but McCoy ended up saying it for him. "You don't know that. And if it doesn't work we'll be in ten kinds of shit and it'll be my fault."
"Doctor, you have done everything you can to produce the correct antidote," Spock said. "If there is a fault within the medicine, it would be illogical to blame you for it."
McCoy and Jim both looked at Spock, McCoy surprised and Jim grateful. Spock blinked and raised an eyebrow, once again unsure why his logical statements brought about such odd reactions from humans.
He didn't have long to think about it. A colonist stumbled into the tent—a woman who was clearly far more advanced in her symptoms than Uhura had been. McCoy immediately told her to sit down, and Uhura translated. The woman half-sat and half-fell onto the ground. McCoy gave her the injection, and Spock realized it was a very good thing the woman was barely able to function because otherwise she might have struggled against the needle.
"Now we wait," McCoy said. "Again."
It didn't take long for there to be a reaction. In the first hour she was sitting up straighter, and by the end of the third she was arguing quite vehemently against McCoy's half-hour tests on her blood. After seven hours, McCoy let his head fall on the table. Spock was concerned, but Jim smiled and walked over to McCoy, gently pushing his shoulder against Spock's when he passed by.
"That's it," McCoy said, calmly. "I'm done."
"Good job, Bones." Jim pat him on the head a few times, which earned him a glare. "You've earned a vacation."
"I hear Orion is lovely this time of year," McCoy said, sighing.
"I was thinking more along the lines of a week in bed," Jim said, grinning. He waggled his eyebrows. "You've probably got your choice of the nurses, too, lucky bastard."
McCoy rolled his eyes. "They've all got the hots for this Captain Kirk I've heard so much about. He's supposed to be charming and handsome and all of that, but I've never seen anyone fitting that description." He paused. "Except in the mirror, of course."
"Of course," Jim allowed. He looked over at Uhura then and said, "Can you please tell the guards that we've discovered the cure, but that we need to have our other equipment back and to go back up to our ship to reproduce it in the amount they need."
Uhura nodded. "Happy to, sir." She spoke briefly to the guards, and in minutes they had their communicators and suits back.
Spock was handed out the communicators and began to re-pack his belongings. As Uhura and McCoy did the same, Jim contacted the Enterprise for the first time in almost four days.
"Enterprise, Kirk here. Do you read?"
"Captain Kirk, this is the Enterprise. It's good to hear from you," Sulu said, relief evident in his voice even through the static of the communicator.
"Same here," Jim replied. "Get a lock on our coordinates. We'll be beaming back up shortly. I'll let you know when we're ready."
"Will do," Sulu said.
Jim flipped his communicator shut and looked at the emitter he was standing near, buzzing away on the table, before turning to Spock. "These emitters really came in handy," he said, thoughtfully.
Spock raised his eyebrows. Of course they'd come in handy—he'd made them because otherwise they wouldn't have been able to complete their mission. Was Jim simply thanking him? "Indeed," Spock replied, deeming that to be a safe answer.
"Hm," Jim murmured, nodding. He looked around and saw that Uhura and McCoy were both packing their bags. "Oh, right."
Spock simply watched as the three of them finished collecting their belongings. He was already prepared to leave, but he assisted McCoy in packing all of the medical supplies and equipment. Once they were done, Jim flipped open his communicator and ordered the Enterprise to beam them up. Spock quickly shut off the emitter and held onto it, along with the rest of his supplies, as the world dissolved around him.
When he re-appeared on the Enterprise, he saw Scotty smiling at them. Jim and McCoy walked off the platform first, Uhura trailing close behind.
"You're back." Spock would never understand why humans felt the need state the obvious, but he said nothing to Scotty's illogical comment.
"Thank God," Uhura said, shaking her head. "I'm going to my quarters. I need a shower." She waved at Spock and then left, leaving the rest of them standing there staring after her.
"I'd like to go relax," McCoy said. "But first I have to make enough of this medicine to treat those assholes."
McCoy strode out, still ticked off, and Spock moved to follow him, ready to try and help if he was needed. But Jim held him back, grabbing his elbow and shaking his head. He dropped his hand quickly, which was unusual behavior for Jim, who normally kept his hold of people for at least thirty seconds once he touched them. Spock wondered about it, but decided asking would be strange especially since they were all tired and in a bad mood from the mission.
"So, not a good time, then?" Scotty asked, frowning.
Spock looked at Scotty disapprovingly. "You beamed me into a lake."
"I did?" Scotty asked. He laughed and then bit his lower lip. "I mean, oh, I'm sorry, sir. And I say that with complete sincerity. It won't happen again."
"Don't worry about it," Jim said, offhandedly. "You're getting a raise." Spock raised an eyebrow. Jim turned to look at him. "And you're coming with me for a minute."
"Captain?" Spock asked.
"Don't argue, just come on," Jim said.
They walked towards the door as Scotty said, "Was that a joke? Because I really would like a raise."
"Not a joke," Jim called back as they left the room. "Keep it up and you'll be a rich man, Scotty."
"Nice," Scotty replied.
Spock catalogued the entire conversation as yet another example of human behavior that he would never understand. He followed Jim down the corridor to an empty room, which they both entered. Jim immediately turned to face Spock and said, "Listen, I don't want you to tell Bones about this yet, okay? Because he's still pissed about the colonists and he'll just flip out for no reason."
"What are you talking about, Captain?" Spock asked, hoping Jim would answer and wouldn't just continue speaking assuming Spock could follow his train of thought.
"Those emitters," Jim said. "How many of them could you rig up in the next few hours?"
Spock paused, considering. "It took me three hours to make the last emitter. Now that I have a better grasp on them, I might be able to make one in two hours. That is assuming that the materials are provided, of course."
"Oh, yeah," Jim said. "And do you think you could maybe, I don't know, draw up some plans or something?"
"Plans?" Spock repeated.
"You know, like a diagram that lets other people know how to make them," Jim explained.
"It is quite possible," Spock replied. "I could re-create a virtual model using the computer and—"
"No, no," Jim said, suddenly. "I mean, on paper." He hesitated. "See, I had this idea. You know how we have the cure for the disease, but we don't know what causes it or how it's spread?"
"Yes," Spock answered after a few seconds when it became clear the question was not rhetorical and Jim really did expect an answer. Humans. So intent on stating the obvious.
"Okay," Jim said. "Well, I'm thinking even if we leave enough medicine for the colonists here, the disease might come back or it might keep spreading." He shrugged. "We don't know enough about it yet, and I think if we give them the emitters and the materials to make their own medicine, that would be better than just warping away and hoping it doesn't have a second outbreak. What do you think?"
"I think that is an intelligent plan," Spock replied. He had been considering how the colonists could create more medicine themselves for a while, but he had been hesitant about giving them technological capability. "However, this is a culture that has survived and thrived without technology. Giving them these tools will change their society in ways we cannot imagine," Spock said, attempting to get across his concerns.
"Yeah," Jim said, slowly. "But what else can we do? It's ridiculous to think just because of this planet's atmosphere they've been left without computers and what have you. Plus, we can't expect other ships to come by and keep on doing this kind of thing. This is a section of the galaxy that hardly gets any traffic at all, and even less now, thanks to…" Jim trailed off, gesturing wildly to indicate the lack of ships and officers caused by Nero's attack.
"Captain, I actually do agree that your plan is the only solution," Spock said, one corner of his mouth twitching upwards at Jim's antics. "I only wanted to point out the consequences our actions will have."
"Oh," Jim said. "Well. Okay then. Consequences noted." He scratched the back of his head and sighed. "But I can't think of anything else we can do here. So I'll get Bones to write down how to make the cure, all three versions, I guess, just in case. And the both of you need to update Starfleet's records so they've got all this information in case it comes up again."
"Of course," Spock said, in a way that indicated how ridiculous it was that Jim would even think he needed to tell Spock how to do his job.
Jim grinned. "Right then," he said. "Guess I'm off to go argue with Bones."
Spock went to his quarters for a quick shower and a change of clothes before he began working on drawing out a diagram on how to make the emitter. Once the diagram was complete, he began working on making yet another of these machines that he felt he was getting a bit too good at creating. He made two more before Uhura knocked on the door to his quarters. He let her in, hoping this wasn't a social call since he was in the middle of working.
"Kirk says he's going back down to the planet to talk to Kopel." She shrugged. "He wants me to go with him to translate, but he asked me to come get what you've been working on first."
Spock nodded and walked to where he had left his bags. He emptied one out and placed the two emitters in it, then retrieved the original two emitters and arranged them in the bag as well. He picked up the bag and handed it to Uhura, then rolled up the large paper he had drawn incredibly detailed plans on, using only pictures to show what to do since he knew they spoke different languages. He gave that to her as well.
"There," he said. "That is everything I have. Tell Captain Kirk I will be on the bridge when he returns."
"Okay," Uhura said. She glanced at Spock and then at the floor and then back up at him. "Listen, about you and Kirk…"
"Yes?" Spock asked, after she had not said anything for a few seconds.
"You guys are really…" Uhura struggled for a word.
"Captain Kirk and I are friends," Spock said. He wondered if she really had not already known that. Hadn't he made that clear to her? Was he being too subtle?
She hefted the bag in her hand and shook her head. "No, I mean—yeah, okay. Never mind. I'll see you later."
"All right," Spock replied. She left and Spock realized even if he studied for millions of years, there were some aspects of human behavior that he would truly never understand.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Jim's meeting with Kopel lasted for all of five minutes. They beamed back down to the surface of the planet and met with Kopel and his gang of warriors once again. This time, though, they also beamed down with crates full of medicine. They had only been gone just over five hours, but it had been enough time to produce more than enough medicine thanks to the wondrous glory of replicators. Jim loved machines. He really did.
Jim briefly explained to Uhura what he had already told Spock, and she rephrased it to sound more diplomatic. That was fine by Jim. He had no intention of starting a war if he could avoid it.
"He's asking why you would do this," Uhura said. "He doesn't understand why we had the ability to use technology on this planet and we hid it from them."
"Well, they did treat us like prisoners," Jim said, shrugging.
Uhura exchanged a few words, then said, "He says they were wrong to do so. And he wants to thank you for giving them this opportunity."
Jim pointed to one crate. "Tell him to open that one."
Uhura spoke and then one of Kopel's men walked forward and opened the crate. His eyes widened as he picked up a communicator. He spoke quickly and then Uhura said, "They don't understand. They still think they're weapons."
"I know," Jim said. "Explain to them that they're used for communicating. Tell them they've been ignored by the Federation for too long, and they can use these to get in touch with nearby planets and the closest Federation outposts, if they need anything. They'll have to use the emitters, of course, but still."
Uhura nodded. She spoke at length with the colonists, while Jim paid more attention to their body language than to what they were saying. Kopel and his cohorts seemed to relax a bit. One of them was nodding, and another was on the verge of not frowning. Jim sensed the beginning of a beautiful relationship where he could stay far away from them and they could still get what they needed to survive.
Uhura turned to Jim. "They understand why we lied and I actually think they respect you for it. They'd like an explanation about how the emitters work and how to give out the medicine, though."
Jim gestured to Uhura and said, "Well, explain away. You know it all, right?"
Uhura sighed. "Yes, sir." She knelt down to take an emitter out of the bag at her feet, turning it on for the colonists to see. Meanwhile, Jim unrolled the diagram and showed one of the colonists who seemed quite interested in the machine how it worked. After that, they showed how to inject someone with the medicine. Luckily enough, it worked no matter where it was injected into the body, so that was a simple matter of convincing the colonists that sticking themselves with a needle was not going to injure them. Much. Finally, they showed Kopel the smaller plans to create more medicine, which were clear but also complicated and harder to explain.
When they were finished, Jim held his hand out towards Kopel. Uhura spoke briefly, and then Kopel reached out and shook his hand, really tightly in that way that some guys who were overly concerned with appearing manly did. Jim didn't let any discomfort show, and instead squeezed his hand back. They let go and Jim turned on one of the emitters, flipping open his communicator.
"Enterprise, Kirk. Beam us up in five minutes."
"Acknowledged."
Jim closed his communicator and they turned off the emitter. Uhura cautioned the colonists once more about being careful with the emitters and the medicine, and the group left with their new toys, each person carrying one crate while Kopel carried the bag of emitters and the plans to make more.
"Let's hope they don't do anything awful," Uhura said, watching them go.
"Yeah," Jim agreed. "But at least we're done here. And I don't think they're that bad, really. They just need to get out of the stone age."
"Hm," Uhura agreed. She was silent for a few moments, during which time Jim wondered if they'd be standing in awkward silence for the next minute until they were beamed up. "So, you and Spock are pretty close."
It was something, but it definitely wasn't the conversation topic Jim had been expecting. "We're friends," he replied, shrugging.
"So I hear," Uhura said.
Jim looked at her, confused and wondering what the heck that was supposed to mean, before a heavy feeling of paranoia settled over him. Had he given himself away? Already? It had only been a little while since he'd figured it out for himself. Did Uhura have mind-reading powers? Or was this that girl thing where he did something that was completely unnoticeable by other guys but had girls all in fits? But no, it couldn't be either of those. She was probably just trying to talk about something else that Jim couldn't figure out. He was about to ask her, but then they were beamed back on board the ship. She walked out of the transporter room too quickly to try and stop, and Jim stared after her before leaving to go to his quarters. He had what was going to be an annoyingly long Captain's Log entry to make.
A few minutes after he got to his quarters, though, the intercom sounded. Jim pressed the button and Chekov said, "Captain, Admiral Pike would like to speak with you."
Jim sighed. "All right, put him through."
"Jim?" Pike asked.
"Pike," Jim replied. "If you're going to give me another mission, I'll tell you right now that's going to move you to the bottom of my list of favorite commanding officers."
Pike chuckled. "No, no more missions. Yet."
"Thank God," Jim said.
"So it was rough, then?"
"I'll send you the log entry when I'm done with it," Jim replied. "It'll be maybe an hour."
"That's fine," Pike said. He hesitated. "But I didn't call to talk about that."
"I figured," Jim said. "What's happened?" The pause was long enough that Jim wondered if the connection had been broken. "Admiral?"
"I'm here," Pike said. He sighed. "You should know there's been some trouble on New Vulcan."
Jim felt his body tense. "That can't be good. What kind of trouble?"
"The kind of trouble we should have expected but didn't," Pike replied. "There's been some talk among the Vulcans of investigating the Nero incident further, using the Federation's resources to do so, of course."
"I don't get it," Jim said. "Yeah, what happened was horrible. I feel bad for them and all, but… well, Nero's dead. I gave the order so I know. What needs to be investigated?"
"We're not entirely sure what they're going to ask for yet," Pike said. "But some of the higher-ups have been speculating it's going to involve the Romulans."
Jim groaned. "Involve them how?"
"Like I said, we just don't know," Pike stated. "Still, it's better for everyone if we're prepared."
There was a beat of heavy silence where all Jim could think was prepared for what? Then he realized this information was most likely classified or need-to-know and he shouldn't be hearing it. "Why'd you tell me this?" Jim asked, already half-suspecting but wanting to be wrong.
"Come on, Jim," Pike replied. "You know why."
"Let's say I don't so you can tell me anyway," Jim said. There was only one reason why Pike would consider him someone to keep informed on the activities of the Vulcans, and that was a reason he didn't want to consider.
Pike sighed. "I'll contact you again if anything else happens. Everyone's hoping it's going to be just talk, that nothing will come of it."
"You know what they say. Vulcans don't bluff." Jim spoke calmly, but he was already coming to some pretty bad conclusions.
"Neither does Starfleet," Pike said, just as calmly. "I'll keep you updated. Pike out."
Jim turned off the communicator and leaned back in his chair. Was it overly pessimistic to assume the worst, or was it something the military had drilled into him?
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Part 7
Feedback is complete awesomesauce! <3
EDIT: B/c HOMGtasty_boots and kroe_quette made an Apogee fanmix!! AN APOGEE FANMIX!! *fangirl flails then iz DED* This excites me beyond all reason and logical thought. Check it out, people! And let them know if you download and like it! THANK YOU, tasty_boots & kroe_quette!! You have my heart. Here it is --> ♥
Author:
kowaiyoukaiRating: R
Pairing: eventual like whoa Kirk/Spock (STFU), Spock/Uhura (blame JJ, not me)
Warning(s): Angst, meta, language, attempts at witty banter, overly-important tone, intentionally confusing parts, potentially OOC everybody
Spoilers: Star Trek XI (2009) (a.k.a. Star Trek XI, Star Trek 2009, Star Trek Reboot, New Trek, and can we please just pick one name for this fandom people?!)
Word Count: 6,624/26,171 (for this part/for all of part 6)
Disclaimer: Star Trek belongs to Gene Roddenberry, mostly, but also a lot of other people/groups like Paramount, J.J. Abrams, and the various writers/directors. I'm not one of those people, sadly, because if I was I'd be filthy rich.
Beta Acknowledgment: None! I know there are errors, so please let me know if you see any! Thanks!
Summary: Jim quickly realized he was going to have to break the rules if he wanted to survive on the Enterprise.
A/N: OMG, let's not discuss the amount of trouble I had with this part. Well, it's done now and THANK GOD FOR THAT. I'm hoping part 7 won't take nearly as long as this did, but with HBP coming out, time'll be short. I've already got plans for the midnight showing, plus at least one other showing this weekend. You guys know how that goes. *is excited*
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Othersides 1 | Part 6a | Part 6b
Spock had no idea that humans were able to get into such contorted positions while deeply unconscious. He had never slept next to anyone before, but he had seen other people sleeping, and none of them had even come close to moving the way Jim did. First of all, Jim's limbs were making a desperate attempt at escaping from his torso. His arms and legs were spread as far as they could go, bent at odd angles as if they could be free if they only kept on twisting. This might have amused Spock under normal conditions. However, Jim had started the night sleeping less than two feet away from him and had somehow managed to end it with half of his body sprawled over Spock. Even that wouldn't have been a huge problem if Jim hadn't been all sharp angles and jerky movements. One of his legs was covering Spock's right leg and had burrowed beneath his left leg, finally ending with Jim's ankle hooked around Spock's leg a few inches below his knee. Both of Jim's arms were in Spock's personal space—one was haphazardly thrown across his torso and the other was obviously meant to be pillowing Jim's head, but of course this ended in disaster with Jim's elbow resting right next to Spock's nose so that every time Spock moved his head he ended up getting poked in the eye.
Spock had no idea how he had ended up like this, since he had gone to sleep and woken up lying in the exact same position. Obviously this was all Jim's fault. Spock wanted to get up to start working on the cure, but Jim was all over him and he wasn't entirely sure how to go about removing the man without waking him up. Sure, he was strong enough to get Jim off him no problem. It was actually difficult not to move in a way that would cause Jim discomfort, given how his leg was tangled in-between Spock's own and his hand seemed content to bury itself in Spock's shirt, fingers twisting around the material.
"'S ho'," Jim mumbled, wriggling uncomfortably.
Spock inhaled and exhaled once, deeply, attempting to remain calm. They were stuck on a desert planet and Jim was pressed against Spock, who had a higher body temperature than humans did. Of course it would be hot for him. Was it really too much to ask for Jim to not make ridiculous comments while sleeping?
"Spock?" McCoy asked, quietly. "You up?"
"Yes, Doctor," Spock replied. "Have you started working on the cure?"
"No, I've been standing here watching you and Jim cuddle," McCoy said, rolling his eyes.
Spock hesitated. He tilted his head at a painful angle for a few seconds until he could make out McCoy bent over the table, working next to the emitter which was happily murmuring away. It was incredibly unlikely that McCoy had been watching them sleep. That comment must have been sarcastic. "I offered to share my blanket with him and he accepted," Spock explained. "It was the only logical course of action since—"
"Sure," McCoy interrupted. "But I don't really care right now. Are you going to help me with this or not?"
"I will assist you in a moment," Spock stated.
It took a few minutes, but Spock was eventually able to disentangle himself from Jim and stand up. He walked over to McCoy, rolling his shoulders, feeling the minor aches of sleeping on the ground get worse as he moved. "How far have you progressed?"
Almost an hour later Uhura woke up. She immediately seemed to move a bit slower than usual, but Spock brushed that off as a mixture of boredom and idleness. With nothing to do and all day to do it, anyone would take their time. She rolled up her blanket and put it away, walking around the tent a few times to amuse herself. Almost an hour after that, Jim finally sat up, stretching and yawning, kicking his feet idly out in front of him. Spock didn't even spare a glance at him, knowing Jim would only take that as permission to interrupt their work with questions designed to alleviate his boredom. Spock and McCoy had made good progress, eliminating over two hundred possible combinations of the medical supplies due to various ill effects or having no effect on the disease, but there were still plenty more to check. They didn't have time to worry about entertaining Jim and Uhura.
As the hours passed, Spock knew he was being of less and less use. He had completed all the steps that McCoy did not need to personally oversee. He didn't have the medical knowledge to run tests on the other samples himself, which left him standing there occasionally handing McCoy something or briefly checking the emitter for potential problems. However, there was nothing else to do in the tent, so unless he felt as though he was impeding McCoy's progress, Spock would stay just in case he was needed.
Or at least, that was his intention. But about two hours after they had eaten lunch, which was a spare helping of the food they had brought with them, Uhura began to behave oddly. She started walking even slower than she had been, pausing before taking each step as though she had to concentrate incredibly hard to do it. After a few minutes she sat down, slumped against her bag, and closed her eyes, breathing irregularly. Spock exchanged a glance with McCoy, then with Jim. McCoy's mouth tightened and he continued to work, concentrating on his task. Jim walked over to Uhura and knelt in front of her, saying something too quietly for Spock to hear. He paused a few moments and then got up and walked to stand next to Spock.
"She wants you," Jim said, shortly. "She's shivering, says she feels cold."
Spock glanced at Jim, but he was looking down at the table, suddenly absorbed in what McCoy was working on. "Uhura requested my presence?"
Jim shuffled his feet. "Not exactly," he hedged. "But you should go anyway. I mean, I know I… well, she wants you there."
"I see," Spock said. He turned to McCoy, who was cursing under his breath, obviously displeased with the result of his last test. "Do you require my assistance here, Doctor?"
"What?" McCoy asked, looking up briefly before going back to his work and waving a hand in Spock's general direction. "No, it's fine, just leave me be."
Spock hesitated, unsure if he would be more helpful helping Uhura or McCoy. Then Jim laid a hand on his arm and said, "Just go, okay? I'll stay here in case Bones needs anything."
Spock nodded and walked over to Uhura, sitting beside her in one swift movement. She leaned against him and he could immediately feel how low her body temperature was. Reaching behind them, Spock grasped the edge of his blanket and pulled it closer, maneuvering so that he was able to wrap her in it. Then he put his arm around her and drew her closer, knowing his own body heat combined with the natural temperature of the planet was the best combination they currently had available to maximize heat.
"You came," Uhura said. "I thought you were working with McCoy."
"I was under the impression you wanted me here," Spock replied.
"I do," she said, slowly. "Thanks. I feel all screwed up."
"Rest for now," Spock said.
Uhura was still shivering against him, but she slowly started to calm down. Spock was already thinking about what he would do if someone else got sick. If it was Jim, it wouldn't be so bad, since Spock could use his other arm and then both of them would get the warmth they needed from him. But McCoy needed to be free to work on the cure, and that would mean Spock would have to choose between them, and that was something he'd rather not consider. Technically, Spock would be able to stand next to McCoy while he worked and put an arm around his shoulders, but Spock also had doubts about just how much work McCoy would be able to get done if he started having the symptoms Uhura was currently showing. With any sort of luck, McCoy would finish the cure soon and they wouldn't even have to worry about it.
Uhura mumbled a little, half-asleep, and Spock decided to let her rest. Nothing could be gained from waking her. Jim was still by the table watching McCoy, although he darted an occasional furtive glance towards them. Spock was able to catch his eye when he was looking their way. He raised an eyebrow interrogatively, but Jim looked quickly away without replying.
Instead of worrying about the rest of them contracting the disease or Jim's confusing behavior, Spock decided to clear his mind and meditate for a while. It would do him a world of good to feel set apart from his problems for an hour or two.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Jim had the worst luck in the world. There he was, trying not to get in anyone's way, and all anyone was doing was giving him hassle about it. McCoy kept on glancing at him as though he expected Jim to take the hint and go somewhere else, but there really was no place else to go. The tent was arranged so that facing McCoy was the only place where he wouldn't actually have to look at Spock and Uhura, unless he wanted to stand and stare at the wall for the rest of the day. Which, by the way, he really didn't. He'd take looking at the wall before looking at Spock holding onto Uhura, though. No questions asked.
Sure, he knew he only had himself to blame. Technically, Uhura hadn't even asked him to get Spock for her. But he had known what she wanted when she said she wasn't feeling well. They were dating, so it made sense, and Jim felt a certain sense of kinship with her. If he was in her situation, he'd want Spock to be the one holding him. He couldn't entirely blame her for it.
In fact, the more he thought about it, the more he realized he wasn't actually even all that jealous. Sure, he was a little jealous, because she had what he knew he would never be able to have, but besides that there was really nothing. He liked Uhura and she was sick. He wouldn't begrudge her some comfort now. But even more than that, Jim knew that Spock didn't want to see Uhura like this. Spock had seen enough of his friends and loved ones injured and dying. Jim didn't want him to lose anyone else.
It hit him then—really, truly punched him in the jaw—that he was in love with Spock. Not just lust, not just wanting to have completely heterosexual sex with, but love. He didn't know how it had happened. He hadn't even though it could happen, much less this quickly, but there it was. Obvious, unavoidable, and hanging over him like a blinking neon sign that he felt anyone could read at any moment. That the realization came, oddly enough, thanks to Uhura was surprising but not entirely unexpected. Watching Spock and Uhura sit quietly together in the corner had Jim uneasy. He reminded himself he wasn't all that jealous—because he wasn't, really, and the small amount he was didn't matter enough to mention it. It was that Jim suddenly realized that he truly did not want Uhura to be hurt. He hadn't ever actively wished her harm. She was an outstanding officer and he knew he was lucky to have her in his crew. Yet her relationship with Spock had left him resenting her, even when he tried not to. Now, though, Jim realized that Spock did care for Uhura. It was open to debate how much exactly and what his feelings were, but right now it didn't matter if Spock simply thought of her as a friend or as much more than that. Someone who was close to Spock was in danger, and Jim didn't want Spock to go through that. Jim didn't want to see that look on Spock's face again—the one he'd had directly after the Vulcan Massacre and during the memorial services. Losing Uhura would hurt Spock. He repeated that thought to himself, knowing it was true and unable to find any fault with it. Jim didn't want to see Spock hurt exponentially more than he wanted Uhura and Spock's relationship to be over. He wouldn't want to see any of his crew hurt, but the idea of standing aside as Spock lost yet another person vital to his happiness was unthinkable. Spock was only just starting to make sense of out of the Vulcan Massacre. It was too soon for him to process more tragedy. Uhura needed to be all right. Spock couldn't handle it any other way.
So Jim was in love. There was no other reason why he would think so unselfishly about this. He had been so close to Spock last night. Now all he could think was that, if he had to spend a lifetime at Spock's side without ever touching him, watching as Spock stayed with Uhura or went into and out of relationships with other people, it would be fine as long as he was able to have moments where he could pretend. He had been able to pretend, last night. With Spock lying next to him, wholly focused on him, it had been easy to pretend. He thought it might get harder as time passed. It was already hard to imagine and he'd only realized a few minutes ago. But he'd deal with that when it came up. Right now, he needed to see if there was anything he could do. Maybe McCoy needed help with—
Then it hit him. McCoy. His best friend in the whole galaxy, wonderful sardonic McCoy, surely he would know what to do. If Jim could gather up the courage to actually speak about his epiphany, McCoy might have some form of advice. It was equally likely that he'd only laugh or hit him, but Jim could hope. Of course, he'd have to wait until he was ready. Jim was sure he loved Spock, he just knew it, somehow, but he wasn't sure enough to tell McCoy and be mocked for it. It was still too new. He needed to think on it a bit, let it cool down before he was prepared to get told off for it. He didn't want to hear he was an idiot for falling in love with someone who was probably unattainable. He just wanted to roll around in it for a while—really suck it up so he could understand what all the hype was about. It was his first time being in love, after all. He was ready to be wowed.
Jim actually was wowed moments later when McCoy shouted that he'd found a possible cure. It was actually a wordless cry of relief, but Jim got it anyway. He looked up to find McCoy holding a vial of liquid and exhaling slowly.
"That it?" Jim asked, quietly. McCoy nodded. "So we just need to test it, right? Find out if it works or not."
"Yeah," McCoy replied. "We need someone who's sick. One of the colonists, I guess."
Jim immediately realized why that wouldn't work. Before he could say anything, though, Uhura spoke up. "I'll take it." Everyone looked at her. "It makes sense," she continued, speaking slower than usual. "If the cure doesn't work, the colonists don't need to know about it. When we find the one that works, we'll let them know we've got it. Until then, if we use them as test subjects they're bound to get even more pissed at us than they already are."
Jim looked at Spock, who was staring at McCoy. Then he looked back at McCoy to find him frowning.
"I don't like it," McCoy said. "I can't be entirely sure what the effects of this drug will be."
"Well, it got rid of the disease in the blood samples you had, right?" Uhura asked.
"Of course," McCoy said, slightly irritated. "I wouldn't bother with it if it hadn't."
"Okay," she replied. "Then use it on me."
"Just do it," Jim said, interrupting any further arguments. "She's right and you know it."
McCoy looked distinctly unhappy with the arrangement, but he still brought over a needle and the vial of medicine to Uhura. Jim watched as McCoy injected her with the liquid, and although he knew it was stupid he still half-expected some kind of immediate reaction to the drug. Uhura jumping up and down, her skin turning blue, her arm exploding—something.
"Now we wait," McCoy said.
So they waited. Every half-hour McCoy took small blood samples from Uhura to check her progress, but by the fifth hour even Jim could see she was feeling better. Her temperature was back to normal and she was walking and speaking at a rate much closer to her usual, although it was still a bit slower. At the end of the sixth hour, McCoy pronounced her cured and that strain of medicine a success—for humans. Immediately McCoy injected himself and Jim with the medicine, and Jim did not struggle against the needle at all because he knew Spock was watching and he was actually quite manly and impressive when he wanted to be.
Spock and McCoy began speaking in low tones about the process to convert that medicine to be fit for use by the colonists and by Vulcans. Jim tuned them out, no longer even able to pretend to be interested in the proceedings. He was done with this planet and with weird space diseases. He'd be more than happy to leave when they were done.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Once Uhura had been cured, it took another twenty-one point two eight hours to make the correct adjustments to the medicine for it to be usable by both the colonists and himself. McCoy gave Spock his version of the medicine. Then he looked at the entrance to the tent warily.
"We need a colonist to test it on," McCoy said.
Uhura nodded and said, "I'll tell them we might have a cure."
Spock listened as Uhura spoke to one of the guards. He was getting the hang of this language. It was difficult because they used far more consonants than he was used to in either language, but he thought he could make out a few of the most often-used words—me, you, us, them, and, sickness, healthy, leader. It would be interesting to study this language, once they were finished with this mission. These people had no words to describe electrical objects, after all. That was a rare find in the galaxy.
Once Uhura had finished speaking, she turned to them and shrugged. "They'll bring somebody over. They say if the cure doesn't work, though, there'll be consequences."
McCoy grit his teeth. "Of course they say that. Of course." He began pacing in short strides. "Here I am, working my ass off all day long to help them, and all they want to do is kill us."
"Bones," Jim said, sighing. He walked over to McCoy and put a hand on his shoulder. "It'll be fine. The cure worked on us. It'll work on them."
Spock didn't want to say the obvious, but McCoy ended up saying it for him. "You don't know that. And if it doesn't work we'll be in ten kinds of shit and it'll be my fault."
"Doctor, you have done everything you can to produce the correct antidote," Spock said. "If there is a fault within the medicine, it would be illogical to blame you for it."
McCoy and Jim both looked at Spock, McCoy surprised and Jim grateful. Spock blinked and raised an eyebrow, once again unsure why his logical statements brought about such odd reactions from humans.
He didn't have long to think about it. A colonist stumbled into the tent—a woman who was clearly far more advanced in her symptoms than Uhura had been. McCoy immediately told her to sit down, and Uhura translated. The woman half-sat and half-fell onto the ground. McCoy gave her the injection, and Spock realized it was a very good thing the woman was barely able to function because otherwise she might have struggled against the needle.
"Now we wait," McCoy said. "Again."
It didn't take long for there to be a reaction. In the first hour she was sitting up straighter, and by the end of the third she was arguing quite vehemently against McCoy's half-hour tests on her blood. After seven hours, McCoy let his head fall on the table. Spock was concerned, but Jim smiled and walked over to McCoy, gently pushing his shoulder against Spock's when he passed by.
"That's it," McCoy said, calmly. "I'm done."
"Good job, Bones." Jim pat him on the head a few times, which earned him a glare. "You've earned a vacation."
"I hear Orion is lovely this time of year," McCoy said, sighing.
"I was thinking more along the lines of a week in bed," Jim said, grinning. He waggled his eyebrows. "You've probably got your choice of the nurses, too, lucky bastard."
McCoy rolled his eyes. "They've all got the hots for this Captain Kirk I've heard so much about. He's supposed to be charming and handsome and all of that, but I've never seen anyone fitting that description." He paused. "Except in the mirror, of course."
"Of course," Jim allowed. He looked over at Uhura then and said, "Can you please tell the guards that we've discovered the cure, but that we need to have our other equipment back and to go back up to our ship to reproduce it in the amount they need."
Uhura nodded. "Happy to, sir." She spoke briefly to the guards, and in minutes they had their communicators and suits back.
Spock was handed out the communicators and began to re-pack his belongings. As Uhura and McCoy did the same, Jim contacted the Enterprise for the first time in almost four days.
"Enterprise, Kirk here. Do you read?"
"Captain Kirk, this is the Enterprise. It's good to hear from you," Sulu said, relief evident in his voice even through the static of the communicator.
"Same here," Jim replied. "Get a lock on our coordinates. We'll be beaming back up shortly. I'll let you know when we're ready."
"Will do," Sulu said.
Jim flipped his communicator shut and looked at the emitter he was standing near, buzzing away on the table, before turning to Spock. "These emitters really came in handy," he said, thoughtfully.
Spock raised his eyebrows. Of course they'd come in handy—he'd made them because otherwise they wouldn't have been able to complete their mission. Was Jim simply thanking him? "Indeed," Spock replied, deeming that to be a safe answer.
"Hm," Jim murmured, nodding. He looked around and saw that Uhura and McCoy were both packing their bags. "Oh, right."
Spock simply watched as the three of them finished collecting their belongings. He was already prepared to leave, but he assisted McCoy in packing all of the medical supplies and equipment. Once they were done, Jim flipped open his communicator and ordered the Enterprise to beam them up. Spock quickly shut off the emitter and held onto it, along with the rest of his supplies, as the world dissolved around him.
When he re-appeared on the Enterprise, he saw Scotty smiling at them. Jim and McCoy walked off the platform first, Uhura trailing close behind.
"You're back." Spock would never understand why humans felt the need state the obvious, but he said nothing to Scotty's illogical comment.
"Thank God," Uhura said, shaking her head. "I'm going to my quarters. I need a shower." She waved at Spock and then left, leaving the rest of them standing there staring after her.
"I'd like to go relax," McCoy said. "But first I have to make enough of this medicine to treat those assholes."
McCoy strode out, still ticked off, and Spock moved to follow him, ready to try and help if he was needed. But Jim held him back, grabbing his elbow and shaking his head. He dropped his hand quickly, which was unusual behavior for Jim, who normally kept his hold of people for at least thirty seconds once he touched them. Spock wondered about it, but decided asking would be strange especially since they were all tired and in a bad mood from the mission.
"So, not a good time, then?" Scotty asked, frowning.
Spock looked at Scotty disapprovingly. "You beamed me into a lake."
"I did?" Scotty asked. He laughed and then bit his lower lip. "I mean, oh, I'm sorry, sir. And I say that with complete sincerity. It won't happen again."
"Don't worry about it," Jim said, offhandedly. "You're getting a raise." Spock raised an eyebrow. Jim turned to look at him. "And you're coming with me for a minute."
"Captain?" Spock asked.
"Don't argue, just come on," Jim said.
They walked towards the door as Scotty said, "Was that a joke? Because I really would like a raise."
"Not a joke," Jim called back as they left the room. "Keep it up and you'll be a rich man, Scotty."
"Nice," Scotty replied.
Spock catalogued the entire conversation as yet another example of human behavior that he would never understand. He followed Jim down the corridor to an empty room, which they both entered. Jim immediately turned to face Spock and said, "Listen, I don't want you to tell Bones about this yet, okay? Because he's still pissed about the colonists and he'll just flip out for no reason."
"What are you talking about, Captain?" Spock asked, hoping Jim would answer and wouldn't just continue speaking assuming Spock could follow his train of thought.
"Those emitters," Jim said. "How many of them could you rig up in the next few hours?"
Spock paused, considering. "It took me three hours to make the last emitter. Now that I have a better grasp on them, I might be able to make one in two hours. That is assuming that the materials are provided, of course."
"Oh, yeah," Jim said. "And do you think you could maybe, I don't know, draw up some plans or something?"
"Plans?" Spock repeated.
"You know, like a diagram that lets other people know how to make them," Jim explained.
"It is quite possible," Spock replied. "I could re-create a virtual model using the computer and—"
"No, no," Jim said, suddenly. "I mean, on paper." He hesitated. "See, I had this idea. You know how we have the cure for the disease, but we don't know what causes it or how it's spread?"
"Yes," Spock answered after a few seconds when it became clear the question was not rhetorical and Jim really did expect an answer. Humans. So intent on stating the obvious.
"Okay," Jim said. "Well, I'm thinking even if we leave enough medicine for the colonists here, the disease might come back or it might keep spreading." He shrugged. "We don't know enough about it yet, and I think if we give them the emitters and the materials to make their own medicine, that would be better than just warping away and hoping it doesn't have a second outbreak. What do you think?"
"I think that is an intelligent plan," Spock replied. He had been considering how the colonists could create more medicine themselves for a while, but he had been hesitant about giving them technological capability. "However, this is a culture that has survived and thrived without technology. Giving them these tools will change their society in ways we cannot imagine," Spock said, attempting to get across his concerns.
"Yeah," Jim said, slowly. "But what else can we do? It's ridiculous to think just because of this planet's atmosphere they've been left without computers and what have you. Plus, we can't expect other ships to come by and keep on doing this kind of thing. This is a section of the galaxy that hardly gets any traffic at all, and even less now, thanks to…" Jim trailed off, gesturing wildly to indicate the lack of ships and officers caused by Nero's attack.
"Captain, I actually do agree that your plan is the only solution," Spock said, one corner of his mouth twitching upwards at Jim's antics. "I only wanted to point out the consequences our actions will have."
"Oh," Jim said. "Well. Okay then. Consequences noted." He scratched the back of his head and sighed. "But I can't think of anything else we can do here. So I'll get Bones to write down how to make the cure, all three versions, I guess, just in case. And the both of you need to update Starfleet's records so they've got all this information in case it comes up again."
"Of course," Spock said, in a way that indicated how ridiculous it was that Jim would even think he needed to tell Spock how to do his job.
Jim grinned. "Right then," he said. "Guess I'm off to go argue with Bones."
Spock went to his quarters for a quick shower and a change of clothes before he began working on drawing out a diagram on how to make the emitter. Once the diagram was complete, he began working on making yet another of these machines that he felt he was getting a bit too good at creating. He made two more before Uhura knocked on the door to his quarters. He let her in, hoping this wasn't a social call since he was in the middle of working.
"Kirk says he's going back down to the planet to talk to Kopel." She shrugged. "He wants me to go with him to translate, but he asked me to come get what you've been working on first."
Spock nodded and walked to where he had left his bags. He emptied one out and placed the two emitters in it, then retrieved the original two emitters and arranged them in the bag as well. He picked up the bag and handed it to Uhura, then rolled up the large paper he had drawn incredibly detailed plans on, using only pictures to show what to do since he knew they spoke different languages. He gave that to her as well.
"There," he said. "That is everything I have. Tell Captain Kirk I will be on the bridge when he returns."
"Okay," Uhura said. She glanced at Spock and then at the floor and then back up at him. "Listen, about you and Kirk…"
"Yes?" Spock asked, after she had not said anything for a few seconds.
"You guys are really…" Uhura struggled for a word.
"Captain Kirk and I are friends," Spock said. He wondered if she really had not already known that. Hadn't he made that clear to her? Was he being too subtle?
She hefted the bag in her hand and shook her head. "No, I mean—yeah, okay. Never mind. I'll see you later."
"All right," Spock replied. She left and Spock realized even if he studied for millions of years, there were some aspects of human behavior that he would truly never understand.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Jim's meeting with Kopel lasted for all of five minutes. They beamed back down to the surface of the planet and met with Kopel and his gang of warriors once again. This time, though, they also beamed down with crates full of medicine. They had only been gone just over five hours, but it had been enough time to produce more than enough medicine thanks to the wondrous glory of replicators. Jim loved machines. He really did.
Jim briefly explained to Uhura what he had already told Spock, and she rephrased it to sound more diplomatic. That was fine by Jim. He had no intention of starting a war if he could avoid it.
"He's asking why you would do this," Uhura said. "He doesn't understand why we had the ability to use technology on this planet and we hid it from them."
"Well, they did treat us like prisoners," Jim said, shrugging.
Uhura exchanged a few words, then said, "He says they were wrong to do so. And he wants to thank you for giving them this opportunity."
Jim pointed to one crate. "Tell him to open that one."
Uhura spoke and then one of Kopel's men walked forward and opened the crate. His eyes widened as he picked up a communicator. He spoke quickly and then Uhura said, "They don't understand. They still think they're weapons."
"I know," Jim said. "Explain to them that they're used for communicating. Tell them they've been ignored by the Federation for too long, and they can use these to get in touch with nearby planets and the closest Federation outposts, if they need anything. They'll have to use the emitters, of course, but still."
Uhura nodded. She spoke at length with the colonists, while Jim paid more attention to their body language than to what they were saying. Kopel and his cohorts seemed to relax a bit. One of them was nodding, and another was on the verge of not frowning. Jim sensed the beginning of a beautiful relationship where he could stay far away from them and they could still get what they needed to survive.
Uhura turned to Jim. "They understand why we lied and I actually think they respect you for it. They'd like an explanation about how the emitters work and how to give out the medicine, though."
Jim gestured to Uhura and said, "Well, explain away. You know it all, right?"
Uhura sighed. "Yes, sir." She knelt down to take an emitter out of the bag at her feet, turning it on for the colonists to see. Meanwhile, Jim unrolled the diagram and showed one of the colonists who seemed quite interested in the machine how it worked. After that, they showed how to inject someone with the medicine. Luckily enough, it worked no matter where it was injected into the body, so that was a simple matter of convincing the colonists that sticking themselves with a needle was not going to injure them. Much. Finally, they showed Kopel the smaller plans to create more medicine, which were clear but also complicated and harder to explain.
When they were finished, Jim held his hand out towards Kopel. Uhura spoke briefly, and then Kopel reached out and shook his hand, really tightly in that way that some guys who were overly concerned with appearing manly did. Jim didn't let any discomfort show, and instead squeezed his hand back. They let go and Jim turned on one of the emitters, flipping open his communicator.
"Enterprise, Kirk. Beam us up in five minutes."
"Acknowledged."
Jim closed his communicator and they turned off the emitter. Uhura cautioned the colonists once more about being careful with the emitters and the medicine, and the group left with their new toys, each person carrying one crate while Kopel carried the bag of emitters and the plans to make more.
"Let's hope they don't do anything awful," Uhura said, watching them go.
"Yeah," Jim agreed. "But at least we're done here. And I don't think they're that bad, really. They just need to get out of the stone age."
"Hm," Uhura agreed. She was silent for a few moments, during which time Jim wondered if they'd be standing in awkward silence for the next minute until they were beamed up. "So, you and Spock are pretty close."
It was something, but it definitely wasn't the conversation topic Jim had been expecting. "We're friends," he replied, shrugging.
"So I hear," Uhura said.
Jim looked at her, confused and wondering what the heck that was supposed to mean, before a heavy feeling of paranoia settled over him. Had he given himself away? Already? It had only been a little while since he'd figured it out for himself. Did Uhura have mind-reading powers? Or was this that girl thing where he did something that was completely unnoticeable by other guys but had girls all in fits? But no, it couldn't be either of those. She was probably just trying to talk about something else that Jim couldn't figure out. He was about to ask her, but then they were beamed back on board the ship. She walked out of the transporter room too quickly to try and stop, and Jim stared after her before leaving to go to his quarters. He had what was going to be an annoyingly long Captain's Log entry to make.
A few minutes after he got to his quarters, though, the intercom sounded. Jim pressed the button and Chekov said, "Captain, Admiral Pike would like to speak with you."
Jim sighed. "All right, put him through."
"Jim?" Pike asked.
"Pike," Jim replied. "If you're going to give me another mission, I'll tell you right now that's going to move you to the bottom of my list of favorite commanding officers."
Pike chuckled. "No, no more missions. Yet."
"Thank God," Jim said.
"So it was rough, then?"
"I'll send you the log entry when I'm done with it," Jim replied. "It'll be maybe an hour."
"That's fine," Pike said. He hesitated. "But I didn't call to talk about that."
"I figured," Jim said. "What's happened?" The pause was long enough that Jim wondered if the connection had been broken. "Admiral?"
"I'm here," Pike said. He sighed. "You should know there's been some trouble on New Vulcan."
Jim felt his body tense. "That can't be good. What kind of trouble?"
"The kind of trouble we should have expected but didn't," Pike replied. "There's been some talk among the Vulcans of investigating the Nero incident further, using the Federation's resources to do so, of course."
"I don't get it," Jim said. "Yeah, what happened was horrible. I feel bad for them and all, but… well, Nero's dead. I gave the order so I know. What needs to be investigated?"
"We're not entirely sure what they're going to ask for yet," Pike said. "But some of the higher-ups have been speculating it's going to involve the Romulans."
Jim groaned. "Involve them how?"
"Like I said, we just don't know," Pike stated. "Still, it's better for everyone if we're prepared."
There was a beat of heavy silence where all Jim could think was prepared for what? Then he realized this information was most likely classified or need-to-know and he shouldn't be hearing it. "Why'd you tell me this?" Jim asked, already half-suspecting but wanting to be wrong.
"Come on, Jim," Pike replied. "You know why."
"Let's say I don't so you can tell me anyway," Jim said. There was only one reason why Pike would consider him someone to keep informed on the activities of the Vulcans, and that was a reason he didn't want to consider.
Pike sighed. "I'll contact you again if anything else happens. Everyone's hoping it's going to be just talk, that nothing will come of it."
"You know what they say. Vulcans don't bluff." Jim spoke calmly, but he was already coming to some pretty bad conclusions.
"Neither does Starfleet," Pike said, just as calmly. "I'll keep you updated. Pike out."
Jim turned off the communicator and leaned back in his chair. Was it overly pessimistic to assume the worst, or was it something the military had drilled into him?
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Part 7
Feedback is complete awesomesauce! <3
EDIT: B/c HOMG
tasty_boots and kroe_quette made an Apogee fanmix!! AN APOGEE FANMIX!! *fangirl flails then iz DED* This excites me beyond all reason and logical thought. Check it out, people! And let them know if you download and like it! THANK YOU, tasty_boots & kroe_quette!! You have my heart. Here it is --> ♥
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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Date: 2009-07-13 11:34 pm (UTC)Finally, Kirk, you idiot. *laughs*
I think I'm going to go reread the rest of the series now ♥
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Date: 2009-07-15 08:01 pm (UTC)YES THERE WILL BE TROUBLE OF THE VULCAN VARIETY. We'll see how that all plays out. Should be interesting.
Finally, Kirk, you idiot. *laughs* -- This made me smile. Yes, he is an idiot when it comes to his uber-love for Spock.
Re-reading is love. I always re-read fics. <3
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Date: 2009-07-13 11:48 pm (UTC)I'm always checking for updates!
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Date: 2009-07-15 08:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-13 11:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-15 08:16 pm (UTC)WILL UPDATE WHEN 7 IS DONE H'OKAY?! *crosses heart*
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Date: 2009-07-14 12:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-17 05:43 pm (UTC)ICON LOVE!! ♥ I need to re-watch Xena, srsly. I forget everything about it. *shakes head*
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Date: 2009-07-14 12:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-17 05:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-14 12:58 am (UTC)AW, SPOCK. Oblivious. So cute. :D
...D8 PIKE. BAD. BAD PIKE. NUUUUUU. -flail-
Can't wait for the next update<3
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Date: 2009-07-17 05:44 pm (UTC)Spock needs to buy all the vowels to even have a chance at guessing right now. *headdesk*
NO, WHY BAD PIKE? *pets Pike* He's just doing his job. PIKE GOT TO GET PAID, SON.
7's up and I'm working on 8 now! *is so late replying to comments that everyone is confused*
ICON LOVE. <3
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Date: 2009-07-14 01:30 am (UTC)I want to give Bones a hug. Poor Bones, having to deal with
Melrose PlaceJim being weird, Uhura being sick, and Spock being oblivious; on top of ungrateful colonists and cramped conditions. Jim owes him a fine bottle of Saurian Brandy (especially for the headache he's about to give him in the next few chapters, I suspect. ♥) It's not easy being a doctor on theLoveboatEnterprise, that's for sure. ;)Sulu also deserves a hug for waiting four day for Kirk to contact him. Holy cow. That's stress for ya. Geez. But good on him.
A maybe-sorta hug for Uhura, since I can sympathize. I expected her to ask Spock about Jim, but the other way around? She must seriously be suspicious. I guess having your boyfriend share a blanket with someone else (was it for all four days? ♥) surely is a cause for concern. But that was still some balls for asking Jim about it, though (Oh Jim, you're not obvious AT ALL.)
(LOL at Scotty's promotion for the whole thing.
I wonder if that story will be told at the wedding.)And Jim... I'm surprised he figured it out, but also not surprised. He's a smart guy, so obviously he wasn't going to wallow in denial forever. I guess Uhura DOES get her hug for making the epiphany happen (and good on Kirk for pushing Spock over there, although he was aware of being jealous. ♥) My only concern (okay, there are many!) is that Jim is going to screw everything up for a dozen chapters, because he won't know how to act normal, now (he'll be like Uhura, but on a new level of annoying for Spock?) It's all... up in the air! (You sneaky, sneaky author, you!)
Now it's just making Spock jealous... *wicked grin*. (Where's that "chick of the week" when you need her?)
I really dig the cliffhanger. Of course the Vulcans aren't going to let "bygones be bygones". Sure, Nero's gone, and they're logical, but that's unreasonable. They need closure, too (although I suppose it's going to go beyond that... it'll be interesting to see what Spock does, and if Uhura and Kirk make any difference about it.)
Anyway, I think I'm going to go re-read some chapters, too. I look forward to the next update! ♥ Thanks for writing this awesome stuff. (Have fun at HBP!)
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Date: 2009-07-14 01:35 am (UTC)Spock had no idea that humans were able to get into such contorted positions while deeply unconscious.
MADE ME SQUEE LIKE CRAZY. Seriously. I'm turning into a 12-year-old girl, for crying out loud.
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Date: 2009-07-14 01:31 am (UTC)Uhura's "so you and Spock" attempts were smile-worthy. (I loved the last sentence of the previous chapter of she and Bones staring at each other in the night.)
Kirk's "you will go to the bottom of my superior's list" comment to Pike was VERY true to his character.
Awesome cliffhanger. And, one that will take the story into an amazing new direction. Well done.
(If you are ever in the mood for Pinto requests...I'd love to see a story where Mrs. Pine and Mrs. Quinto (the moms) meet for lunch and discuss their boys and their relationship. Mom power.)
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Date: 2009-07-17 05:45 pm (UTC)Poor Uhura, how is she supposed to bring THAT up in conversation? *headdesk* WIN! I re-wrote the last sentence of 6b like three times to get it to sound good.
LOL, YES, my fingers were typing that out before I even knew what he was going to say. Oh, Jim. *pets him*
The whole New Vulcan plot line is going to take a while to develop, so just hang out for it or something. *nervous laughter* It'll happen, OKAY?!
LOL, I know nothing about their moms though! I barely know enough about them to write them half-way convincingly. *headdesk* But we'll see. :D
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Date: 2009-07-14 01:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-17 05:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-14 02:15 am (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2009-07-14 03:52 am (UTC)Great tie up of the virus storyline - I liked Kirk giving them the emitters, etc.
And now I'm scared about New Vulcan :/
AMAZING, can't wait for more!
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Date: 2009-07-17 05:46 pm (UTC)HE IS SO, SO, SO IN LOVE, AND IT IS AWESOME. --> This made me squee like the fangirl I am.
Jim and Spock just need to STFU and get together already. FOR SRSLY. Uhura's getting it a bit, Bones' getting it a bit, but they just don't get it. ARGH BOYS. *smacks them*
Thanks, glad you liked Kirk giving them the emitters. That was a last minute addition. It just seemed like something he would do.
LOL, the New Vulcan plot line that everyone is freaking out about is going to be a long time coming, so chill for the time being and think of Jim and Spock macking it. You'll feel better. And 7's up and 8 is getting written. Go, insomnia writing powers, GO!! XD
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Date: 2009-07-14 04:55 am (UTC)♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
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Date: 2009-07-17 05:46 pm (UTC)>.>
<.<
O.O
*glomp attacks!!*
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Date: 2009-07-14 04:57 am (UTC)I absolutely cannot wait for the next installment/update/chapter/etc. XD
♥♥♥
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Date: 2009-07-17 05:47 pm (UTC)7's up and 8's getting written and I know I'm late replying to comments, hokay?!
YOU USED MY FAVORITE ICON YAYZ HAPPINESS. ♥
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Date: 2009-07-14 06:48 am (UTC)Bonus points, of course, for any active involvement of Bones :D
I also like you switching of POVs. It's nice to hear both sides of a story, especially if it takes some time to come about. There's only one thing that I stumble over whenever I read it: When in Spock's POV the chief engineer is called "Scotty". I may be wrong, but I don't think he ever called him that during TOS or the old movies. Arguably, this is an alternative universe, but I still feel, Spock would only call him "Mr. Scott" (just as he never calls the good doctor "Bones").
I'm very much looking forward to the next installment! It's such good stuff! :)
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Date: 2009-07-17 05:48 pm (UTC)Re: Scotty! I basically decided I'd have both Jim and Spock use the same terminology for the extra characters during narration: Uhura, McCoy, Scotty, Chekov, and Sulu. In Spock!dialogue, it's Lieutenant Uhura, Doctor McCoy, Mr. Scott, Mr. Chekov, and Mr. Sulu (although I think I might have used Ensign too). In Jim!dialogue, it's Uhura, Bones, Scotty, Chekov, and Sulu. So I guess it makes sense in my mind? *scratches head* But I think you're right, Spock always calls people by their titles and full names, except for Jim. But I hate doing that in narration so I didn't. OH WELL. *facepalm*
7's up and 8's being written and eventually this fic will be done, perhaps before eighty years have passed. *headdesk*
ICON LOVE. OMG YAYZ. That is so cute I could just die from it. <3
BTW, I meant the one with the cuddle. Although this new icon is also QUITE AWESOMEAUCETASTIC!! \o/
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Date: 2009-07-14 01:33 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2009-07-14 07:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-17 05:48 pm (UTC)OMG I LOVE THE ENGRISH PRONUNCIATION OF YOUR NAME, SRSLY. <3 ALSO ICON LOVE BECAUSE CLOUD IS AWESOMESAUCE. \o/
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Date: 2009-07-15 12:40 am (UTC)I can't wait to see what happens next! Great chapter!
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Date: 2009-07-17 05:48 pm (UTC)BTW, srsly, where is your icon from? It seems familiar and I know I should know it, but I can't place it right now. *headdesk* OMG I FAIL AT FANDOM.
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Date: 2009-07-15 01:17 am (UTC)I'm curious to see what this trouble on New Vulcan will end up being, especially given Spock's already feeling guilty about life, the universe and everything.
Keep up the good work, and enjoy HP!
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Date: 2009-07-17 05:49 pm (UTC)OK, the New Vulcan issue is going to take a while to come to fruition, so don't get all ansty about it. XP But yes, Spock is feeling guilty about everything and it's all a disaster, and if that's what Spock's feeling like just imagine what's going on on New Vulcan.
HBP SUCKED. They cut my favorite Harry/Draco parts. D:
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Date: 2009-07-15 01:54 am (UTC)I loved this part and the ones before it...totally great! Can't wait for more!
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Date: 2009-07-17 05:49 pm (UTC)Glad you're still enjoying the fic! :D
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Date: 2009-07-15 11:28 am (UTC)They walked towards the door as Scotty said, "Was that a joke? Because I really would like a raise."
I love that little bit of insecure humor you've brought in to the story.
that and i have been watching pegg/frost stuff for like the last week or so and am hanging on to Scotty's every word latelyKirk's epiphany was perhaps more hilarious to me than it should have been, but then again it is 3:30am and everything is funny right now. I like how it was somehow organic in its origins, but he still surprised himself with it.
I adore how confused Spock is with humans and their behavior. New stuff keeps happening and he is thinking through it in a purely pragmatic sort of process, and truely doesn't understand how all this stuff comes to fruition around him.
PS: I loved that you used the word 'exponentially', because it is perhaps one of my favorite words ever.
even if it makes me think of math, which is definately the last thing I would take with me to a deserted island.no subject
Date: 2009-07-17 05:50 pm (UTC)It was really difficult gettinghis epiphany right because it had to be equally meaningful and funny, since it's Jim and all. But any way you take it is cool with me. I think it's always a shock when you realize you're in love, or that you might be in love, so it made sense that it felt natural to the reader but like OMGWTFBBQSAUCE to Jim. *pets him*
Spock's uber-confusion over human behavior is something I absolutely adore. Because even though he's half-human, he was raised on Vulcan and so all of the small things we pick up on Earth growing up he just missed. That is super fun to play with. :D
Exponentially is an exponentially exceptional word to use. Math does indeed suck, but stealing terms from the sciences and using them for writing in UBERWIN! Thus, Apogee--in astronomy, the distance at which two objects are furthest in orbit from each other. YAY SCIENCE TERMS TAKEN METAPHORICALLY. \o/
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Date: 2009-07-15 10:35 pm (UTC)and Uhura was made of WIN. ♥ So that was extra special. And oooooh~ Romulan intrigue. Nice nice twist. and your Pike/Kirk interaction was icing on the cake there.
All in all, this was a bowl of AWESOME with sparkles and sunshine on top. ^_^ I'm looking forward to the next part like Woah. ♥
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Date: 2009-07-17 05:50 pm (UTC)Uhura is always made of win, she's just also a lot of the time made of wanting Spock's body which pits her against Kirk and thus the massive in-fighting occurs. YES ROMULAN INTRIGUE. But you'll have to wait ninety billion years for that plot to occur. -_-;; Pike is kind of amazing and I love it when him and Kirk are all commanding officer-y together. XD
YAY! Sparkles and sunsine always make everything better. 7's up and 8's in the process of being written. *bangs away at the keybaord*
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Date: 2009-07-17 09:16 am (UTC)"'S ho'," Jim mumbled, wriggling uncomfortably.
Spock inhaled and exhaled once, deeply, attempting to remain calm. They were stuck on a desert planet and Jim was pressed against Spock, who had a high body temperature than humans did. Of course it would be hot for him. Was it really too much to ask for Jim to not make ridiculous comments while sleeping?
Okay, seriously... I had to take a break at this point. I was laughing so hard I couldn't breathe. XD
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Date: 2009-07-17 05:53 pm (UTC)LOL, yes, Spock really is the least observant of them all. Vulcan logic FTL!! >.<;;
Oh, your quotation made me realize a grammatical error! It should be higher, not high. *runs off to fix it*
But yes, I snorfled when I wrote that. It was like, dude, JIM WHAT ARE YOU DOING, DEEP BREATHS SPOCK CHIZALL. LOL, the mental image has me grinning again. \o/
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Date: 2009-07-20 09:32 am (UTC)Lightbulb moment for Jim, finally! Now he's just got to decide what to do with the knowledge. I wonder what McCoy will say once Jim gets up the courage to mention it... unless Bones gets there first and calls Jim on it.
Uhura's obviously going to do something with the conversation she overheard, but the question is: what? She's sort of raised it with both Spock and Jim, but only in a slight way. She'll need to really spell it out for Spock to understand what her thoughts are, or maybe she'll corner Jim again.
And as if all that wasn't enough, now the Vulcans are kicking off!
Laura.
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Date: 2009-07-21 12:37 am (UTC)Bones did do a lot of really hard work. *pets him* And Jim, you know, it's awesome he gets it but that's not going to make things any easier for anyone. XD
Bones and Jim will be having future conversations, so it's all coming in due time. *evil plotting* As for Uhura, I think she's just trying to figure out what exactly it means that Spock was so close with Jim. I don't think she wants to accept the obvious yet. Keyword: YET.
OMG, the whole thing with New Vulcan is going to take a while to get to, so don't get too excited about it yet. *headdesk*
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Date: 2009-08-26 10:55 pm (UTC)They were stuck on a desert planet and Jim was pressed against Spock, who had a higher body temperature than humans did. Of course it would be hot for him. Was it really too much to ask for Jim to not make ridiculous comments while sleeping?
..Probably. *smirk*
Whoohoooo!!! Jim finally got the clue that he loves Spock! *flails in glee* (Now...who wants to make a bet on the chapter Spock will finally get smack by the clue stick?
......It's probably going to be around Chapter 20(?) or later...*sigh*)"Doctor, you have done everything you can to produce the correct antidote," Spock said. "If there is a fault within the medicine, it would be illogical to blame you for it."
*glee* Indeed, gotta agree with Spock. :D
"I did?" Scotty asked. He laughed and then bit his lower lip. "I mean, oh, I'm sorry, sir. And I say that with complete sincerity. It won't happen again."
*snerks and tries not to laugh* do it again. DO IT AGAIN.
He wondered if she really had not already known that. Hadn't he made that clear to her? Was he being too subtle?
Oh, no. She is speaking of something...else. *snerk*
Well, at least the aliens thank them. (And weren't too much of asses.)
*stares at the Pike and Jim talk* Oh shit. OH SHI-.
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Date: 2009-09-08 04:04 am (UTC)Asking Jim not to make ridiculous comments at any point in his life is just a waste of time. :P
YAYZ!! *happy dances* It's fun when Jim realizes what we all have known from the get-go. And LOL, I think chapter 20 is being pretty optimistic, really. XP
I <3 Spock and McCoy bonding.
You and Jim are in complete agreement about Spock's state of undress. Somehow, this doesn't surprise me.
LOL, poor Spock. He just doesn't get it. *shakes head*
The aliens were fairly annoying throughout, IMHO, but they did thank them. It's true.
*DUN DUN DUUUN* The dramatic reverb stuns us all.
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