Note: After rewatching The Original Series, I watched all of the movies for the first time. It was a ride, to say the least, and I just had to fill in the gaps.
"You treacherous-" Admiral James Kirk shouted. "You wanted my command all along! Was this your plan, strand me on Earth so you'd be next in line for a starship?" He pounded his fists on the table.
"Jim," Spock protested, his voice hardly more than a whisper, "You know I have never desired command."
"Liar! Stab me in the back first chance you get! Get out! I never want to see you again!" Jim roared.
Spock searched his former captain's eyes for any trace of regret, but it seemed any affection Jim had once held had all burned away in desperation as months passed without hope of an active commission. There was nothing more Spock could say, so he obeyed his captain's orders - he turned and left.
Jim waited by the door of Mr. Spock's temporary quarters on the newly reconstructed Enterprise. He took a deep breath to steel himself and hit the buzzer. His heart hammered in his chest as the seconds dragged on. He wondered if maybe Spock was sleeping or meditating or wasn't in - maybe he ought to drop by later. Or, given everything that had happened, maybe Spock didn't want to talk to him at all. Jim certainly wouldn't have wanted to speak to himself after everything he'd said when they last saw each other, more than two years ago.
Jim had almost convinced himself to leave again when he heard Spock answer from inside, "Enter." His voice was flatter and deeper than it had been in all the time Jim knew him, but there was no doubt who it was.
The door slid open and Jim stepped inside, his chest twinging with nerves. Spock was back in Vulcan robes, seated on the bed with his legs crossed in front of him to meditate.
"I didn't mean to interrupt," Jim said with an attempt at a smile. "It's nothing urgent; I can come back later." He turned to leave.
"The interruption is not an unwelcome one," Spock replied, his voice still inhumanly stiff.
Jim turned back to face him with a nod. "Good, good." He rubbed his hands together for something to do with them. "How are you doing? Recovering from the mind meld with V'ger?"
"My recovery is progressing as expected," Spock replied. "To what do I owe this honor, Admiral?" His eyebrows rose as he spoke. The question couldn't have been serious, but his lips remained pressed together in a thin line.
"Well," Jim began, but he didn't know where he was going. He took another deep breath to steady his nerves. "I owe you an apology."
Spock quirked a skeptical eyebrow at him as though to ask, "Really?"
Jim smiled despite himself at the familiar gesture. "I know," he said. His expression turned serious. "I was so desperate to get back into space I forgot everything else. When you were given a captaincy, I couldn't see beyond my own jealousy. I don't blame you for not wanting to see head or tail of me after all that. And by the time my head cooled enough for me to realize I'd made a mistake, you were already on Vulcan."
Spock remained silent, watching the admiral impassively as he spoke.
"I want you to know," Jim continued, "That you're the most intelligent, most logical, most loyal man I know. You deserve a lot better than a prematurely aged admiral who's too blind to see even that."
Spock cocked his head to the side and considered Jim's words. He seemed to take his time mulling them over.
Finally, Spock said, "I am pleased that you have seen the error of your ways. I have also learned from my mistake. In our years on the Enterprise together you showed me the value of human emotion and in the subsequent months on Earth you showed me the accompanying dangers. Your emotion was what made you great, but it also destroyed you. After seeing you in such a state, I concluded that emotion was not worth the risk and returned to Vulcan to spare myself your fate. I was wrong. Had I completed the Kolinahr, I would only have been left empty and meaningless like V'ger."
A spark of raw hope lit up Jim's tired eyes. "And what now? You know my feelings for you couldn't change if I tried, and I don't particularly want to try."
Spock took Jim's words in and seemed to consider them. Jim searched his eyes for some indication of what he was thinking, but maybe it had just been too long.
At long last, Spock said, his voice slow and hesitant, "I am no longer accustomed to expressing emotions as I once was. My time on Vulcan changed me as your time on Earth changed you. We will not be able to return to what we were."
Jim frowned, but nodded in acknowledgement. "I know." Still, his eyes shone with determination as he continued, "But that doesn't mean we can't try to create something new. I still need you; I always have and always will. I still want you by my side, if that's where you want to be." He hesitated. "And if we end up stuck back on Earth, well, the two of us have gotten out of worse situations, haven't we, Mr. Spock?" He flashed Spock a smile.
Spock considered his words for a moment before he asked, "What if I am assigned a captaincy?"
Jim frowned. He answered, his expression set, "Then I'll follow you out there somehow, on a ship of my own or as a senior advisor, whether it takes weeks or months or years, it doesn't matter. I'll join you out there."
Spock nodded in assent. "In that case, I can conclude that it is only logical for me to remain by your side."
Jim grinned at him, a wide open smile that almost made him look ten years younger, though the past two years had still left their indelible mark.
Jim was certain that he saw the corners of Spock's lips curve upward in response. Slowly, Spock extended a hand toward Jim, his first two fingers out, inviting Jim to do the same.
Jim's eyes widened in surprise and he was nearly shaking with relief as he extended his own hand to meet Spock's.
The tips of their fingers gently brushed against each other. Jim almost felt a wave of warmth traveling up his arm. A shiver ran down his spine even though they were just barely touching. Spock's eyes fell closed as he was immersed in human emotion. Spock was almost smiling by the time their fingers separated and he opened his eyes to meet Jim's gaze.
Whatever came, they would face it together.
Note: The biggest question I had after watching The Motion Picture was how it all happened. How did Kirk and Spock go from a happy couple to the estranged mess that they are at the beginning of the movie? I was especially perplexed by how Spock's entire arc over the course of The Original Series, of coming to accept his human side, had been reversed so suddenly. Since Kirk's decline after being made an admiral and stuck on Earth made a little more sense to me, that's where I decided to start, and this is what I came up with.
I'm currently working on a longer story about Kirk and Spock's gradual reconciliation after The Motion Picture.