Insomnia; it sucks. Not Beta'd!
Word count: 800
Rating: T

Insomnia was a bitch.

For four nights he had been lying on his back, fully awake, when the rest of the ship was sound asleep. Well, except for the night crew. But all of Alpha shift was sleeping. Except for him. It was always just him out of that shift that remained awake at these ungodly hours. So, he often wandered the halls, and checked in on the night crew at least once each night. The night crew found it to be a regular thing by now, and greeted him more like a drinking buddy than a captain , per his request. But tonight, Jim didn't go to the bridge to say 'hello.' Instead, he went to the usually empty rec room.

Sometimes he fell asleep out here, though only for a couple precious hours. It was barely enough rest to keep him going, but then, what would coffee do without him? With little thought, Kirk took a seat on his favorite 'couch' (it was more like a lounge chair, but he called it a couch) and grabbed one of the PADDs from the stack beside it. He began reading an old Earth novel entitled "A Clockwork Orange," out of sheer boredom. Just as he began to become fully entranced by the psychopathic main character, a voice broke the spell,

"Captain?"

"Hm?" Jim looked up to see the only pointy-eared member of his crew staring at him expectantly. One of Spock's eyebrows was raised, as usual, in a questioning manner, he noted. "Spock? The hell are you doing up so late?"

"I could inquire the same, Captain," Spock replied, a hint of accusation in his tone. Kirk replied with a shrug and moved over so the first officer could join him. Spock sat beside him, rigid backed and still casting a questioning gaze. Kirk rolled his eyes with a sigh,

"Can you not look at me like that?"

"I am simply wondering why you are up so late. Humans require more rest than Vulcans. You should be asleep."

Spock had observed the dark rings under the sleep deprived, dull eyes of his captain. Granted, he usually looked tired, but this was a different tired. Either he was the only one that noticed, or the rest of the Alpha shift crew simply ignored it.

"So I'm having a little insomnia, big freakin' deal," Kirk answered. "Now, will you tell me why you are up?"

"I was finishing an experiment in the labs, and decided that I would continue my research in here."

It wasn't a complete lie, Vulcan's cannot do so. Spock had been finishing his work in the labs and he had a little research left to accomplish. Yet, as he was walking back to his cabin, he had seen the captain and decided to follow.

"You should still be asleep," Kirk told him.

"As should you. Why not ask Doctor McCoy for a sleeping aid?"

He scoffed, "Yeah, and have him harp at me like a mother hen. I'd rather deal with a little loss of sleep then with a temperamental Bones."

"It is not good for your health, Captain," Spock told him.

"I'm fine, Spock. Just…just let me read, okay?"

He is averting the subject. Why isn't he sleeping? the first officer wondered. He decided to take a different approach.

"Captain…Jim, do you know why you are not sleeping?"

Kirk raised an eyebrow as the half-Vulcan called him by his actual name. Inwardly, he grimaced. He was prone to bouts of transient insomnia, due to sheer stress most of the time. But this time would be worse, he knew it, lasting for at least a week. And he knew why. It was his problem to handle though, not Spock's, not anyone else's.

"I wish to help you, Jim."

"W-What?" the captain asked, slightly shocked. The tone of his first officer's voice is what caught his attention, not the statement itself. He had heard Bones's gruff, accusatory tone saying the same words. Yet this, from the man that had once tried to choke him to death, was sympathetic and somehow calming.

"I believe your hearing is not impaired, though I will needlessly repeat myself. I wish to help you, Jim."

"You have a great gift for sarcasm, Spock," Jim replied with a little smirk. "I don't think you could help me though. I don't think anyone can, really."

"Why is that?" the half-Vulcan asked a little forcefully. The captain knew he wasn't getting out of this conversation unless he gave Spock an answer. He couldn't lie, because that damned hobgoblin would know. He couldn't simply order Spock to leave, without some retaliation. He only really had one option; tell the truth. Crestfallen, he whispered,

"Spock, what time is it?"

"1:34 AM, Earth standard time."

"…It's now officially my birthday."

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