Title: In the doghouse.
Author:akili
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I don't own these characters and I am not making any money from this story.
A/N:This was written in response to a prompt. It is only my second story ever! I hope you enjoy.
Nyota stood outside the door to her quarters nervously smiling as crew members passed by. When they had passed she pounded the door again and whispered harshly "You are being illogical!"
She got no response. She sighed, turning her back to the door and leaning against it. She called out again "Computer? Override security Delta Zeta 228 dash 4; authorization U-H-U-R-S-P-3 point 1 4."
"Authorization Code not recognized, security override failed," responded the ship's feminine voice. Nyota realized that the ship's computer always said its directives in the same manner, but she still felt like there was undue emphasis on the word "failed." She grunted. Turning back to face the door, she pressed her forehead against the cool plastic and made a decision.
"Fine Spock. I'll give you some time to... I don't know. Meditate? I'm sure that it is not lost on you that you're being illogical. Maybe you should reflect on that." Nyota Uhura then turned on her heel and walked toward the mess hall.
She had come off of duty that day to find that she couldn't access her quarters. After trying again and again, she asked to computer to locate the ship's first officer. The computer had indicated that he was in his quarters, approximately 1.8 meters away from her. It surprised Nyota, especially since she could not feel him inside with her mind. She knew he wasn't dead, but she also knew that something was wrong. She'd spoken to the door for nearly an hour before giving up. For a half Vulcan, he was certainly being pissy and immature. She knew something was wrong, but she had no idea what. She hadn't even seen him today since their shifts had changed. The last time she had been able to see him had been at least 18 hours ago when she made sure to meet him as he returned from a mission with an away team. She only had a few hours before her own shift started, but the mission was very close to the neutral zone and she wanted to be sure he was back unharmed. Spock had gotten very good at blocking her from his mind during tense and dangerous times. Some of the away team had been injured and medics from sickbay were in the room too. Nyota understood that there had been danger and did not think anything of her lack of access to Spock's mind.
When she greeted him in the transporter room he barely made eye contact with her. They'd talked about making sure to keep things inconspicuous, even though the command team and anyone with quarters on deck 6 knew of their relationship. Still, it felt a little strange now that Nyota was going back over it in her head. She thought about the situation. It was her, Scotty, Kirk, Ensign Yang, Lieutenant Garcia and, of course Spock in the transporter room. When the away team had beamed onto the platform, Captain Kirk was supporting Garcia. Nyota had moved aside as the medical team rushed in to take him and that was when she had looked to Spock. Spock usually liked to give her a heads up when something like that happened, especially when there was a lot of blood. Initially, it had all seemed reasonable; there were people who weren't part of the bridge crew there and there was a man who was obviously seriously injured. She had simply believed that Spock was focused on the other man and on maintaining professionalism. Obviously that was not what was happening now though.
Nyota sat near a window and exhaled. She'd taken a cup of Oolong to the table with her, happy to see that the credits that she shared with Spock hadn't suddenly disappeared. With her chin in her hands, she thought back over the last couple of days. Things had been difficult with the Enterprise coming so close to the neutral zone. They were simply there to evacuate several damaged Terran freighters that had been caught in the cross fire between a Klingon border patrolling ship and a pirate ship. When they arrived, there were accusations of conspiracy towards the earth freighter and the news that there were hostages being held by the pirate ship on a space station within the neutral zone. Kirk had gone with the away team to negotiate the release of the hostages. There was nothing about this situation, or the resulting encounter in the transporter room that would make sense for why Spock was acting so strangely. Nyota went back further.
Her shift change had made things a little tense for the couple. She knew Spock enjoyed routine immensely and their routine of being off duty within a couple of hours of each other was as close to perfect as they had come since the Enterprise had been commissioned. When they had entered course for the neutral zone, however, there had to be senior staff and command crew on the bridge at all times so she worked 12 hours with Captain Kirk, while Spock relieved him and saw Nyota as she left for their quarters. She hadn't really seen much of Spock since this change. Her shift had been reduced to 10 hours, so she had a little time to see him in passing, but not much. She did her best though and although she knew it strained their relationship, she also knew it was not her fault that she was working those hours. Indeed, Spock had more of a hand in the rotation of the bridge crew than did Nyota. It wasn't just stupid for him to be angry about that, but illogical. But he was being illogical now. He would not even talk to her or tell her what was wrong.
Nyota slammed her teacup down as Kirk passed by with a plate of sliders and a bowl of ketchup. He grinned at her, receiving a raised eyebrow and frown in return.
"Lieutenant." He nodded.
"Captain," Nyota said dryly. She really was not in the mood to talk to him or explain why she was sitting alone in the mess hall instead of sleeping in her quarters. Kirk looked at her and began to say something, but thought better of it. As he began to walk away, Nyota sighed. Kirk changed direction and sat across from her. Nyota repressed the urge to roll her eyes.
"Lieutenant, what's up?" he asked as he took a bite from the small sandwich.
"Nothing." she said, suddenly tending to her tea cooling tea.
"Aww, c'mon, you can tell me. I can order you to if that makes it easier," he said smiling around a mouthful of burger and ketchup.
"I'd really rather not..." Nyota started, but thought of something, "did anything happen when you were all on the space station?"
"Hmm. Well, we were shot at by a crew of Ferengi pirates, but you knew about that. No, beyond my stupendous diplomatic skills getting one of my men nearly killed? Not a thing I can think of." Kirk brought his eyebrows together "Well, you know, Spock had to come even though he was set to be off duty, but he's a trooper. In fact he seemed down right thrilled to be going. Well, for a Vulcan. A half Vulcan anyway." Kirk shrugged and stood up. He looked back over his shoulder "I have to be back on shift soon Lieutenant, so I'm going to get some sleep. I'd suggest the same for you."
Nyota knew the Captain was right. She stood up and started walking toward sickbay. McCoy would be good for an empty bed without asking too many questions. She would be on for a shift again in only 4 hours. Then something occurred to her. Why wasn't Spock on the Bridge? Nyota called out "Computer? Locate Commander Spock." In the quiet hallway the computer responded "Commander Spock is within his quarters on Deck 6, approximately 23 meters from your location." Nyota was becoming less annoyed and more concerned. She quickened her pace to the sickbay.
McCoy was on extended duty too. He was alone with his El-Aurian nurse, monitoring the vital signs of Garcia and tending to several members of the crew that were there with various ailments. He looked at her, nodded toward an empty bed and turned back toward his patient. After he had dealt with each patient, he came to her. Nyota yawned.
"Uhura, what's going on? Are you feeling alright?" said McCoy as he readied his medical tricorder.
"I'm fine Len," Nyota started, then yawned again. "I'm just really tired. Do you think it would be ok if I took a nap on one of the spare beds? I'll move happily if someone needs it."
"Why would you sleep here Uhura? You have quarters. Nice quarters because," McCoy lowered his voice to a whisper and made sure the nurse was not in earshot "you share with the first officer." McCoy eyed Nyota. She just shook her head and began to take off her boots.
"I have to be on the bridge in less than four hours Len. I really don't have time to explain. And even if I did, I don't know that I could." Nyota looked at the nurse, Acholan, as she lifted her legs onto the bed.
McCoy lowered his voice and got closer to Nyota "Is something wrong with Spock? What? Did he do something to you because if he did I.."
"He didn't do anything Len. Well, he locked me out without explanation and he's not speaking to me, but I'm not prepared to have you throw him into the brig for that."
"He did what? What is he? A 16 year old girl? Seriously Uhura," McCoy continued. "I don't know why you put up with him. You could do better. Between this and that thing you told me about when you were in for your physical."
Nyota shot up. How could she be so stupid? Her mind rushed back to her last visit to sickbay, approximately 60 hours ago. Kirk, Spock and McCoy had all agreed that the bridge crew should be subject to physicals due to their increases in hours. It was paramount in such a high stakes situation that all members of the bridge be functioning as healthily as possible. Nyota had dutifully come down for an examination by McCoy. She was fine but McCoy's tricorder had picked up several hematomas. More than several hematomas. Somewhere in the range of a 100 hematomas. They were scattered across her shoulders and clavicles in the shape of teeth, and sprinkled across her arms, back, thighs, hips and around her waist in circumferences that would perfectly match up to a certain half-Vulcan commander's fingertips. Most of them were older, and Nyota hadn't given explaining them any thought when she'd reported to sickbay. She hadn't used a dermakit because she and Spock had become expert at making sure not to leave marks anywhere that her uniform did not cover. She had a much easier time of it than he ever did what with his long pants and she knew than if McCoy had examined him, he would have found deep canals on Spock's back that had been left by her overeager fingernails and teeth marks trailing down the front of Spock's body that would make an Orion blush.
McCoy had nearly lost it when Nyota started explaining; but she trusted him and made sure that he promised her that he wouldn't breath a word of her... tastes with Spock to another soul. Especially not to Spock. Nyota thought hard. McCoy was discreet. She could count on that. She looked at the Nurse Ancholan. She hadn't been on duty that day. No, Ancholan was El Aurian and she was incredibly trustworthy. Who else could have possibly been there? Nyota's eyes widened as she took off running in bare feet toward the turbo lift. McCoy shook his head and picked up her boots, placing them under his desk.
Nyota pounded on the door of the quarters she shared with Spock. In her mind she willed him to answer this time. He did not. She sighed and looked around. There was no one in the corridor with her. She started talking.
"Spock. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for it to happen." Nyota sighed and thought about the transporter room. The staff that came to get Garcia included Nurse Chapel. Spock had mentioned Chapel before and how he was sure that she not only suspected the true nature of his relationship with Nyota, but that she was in fact actively trying to seduce him away from her. Nyota had laughed about it at first but as time went on, she did notice the Nurse standing far too close to him for human comfort, much less Vulcan comfort. Spock had told Nyota that Chapel had been assisting McCoy in an examination of Spock and that she had placed her fingertips in direct contact with his. Spock said that the feeling he got through the contact convinced him that it was totally intentional.
Poor Spock. She didn't know what had happened but if Nurse Chapel had heard the fuss that McCoy had been making over the bruises all over her body, it didn't matter if she'd also heard Nyota explaining, as tactfully as possible, them away. Nurse Chapel had given up on being discrete with her affection toward Spock. What had she done? Nyota wondered. What had Nurse Chapel done?
"Oh no." Nyota moaned, mostly to herself, against the door. Thinking the worst, she envisioned Nurse Chapel cornering Spock somewhere and what? Presenting herself to be bitten? Even mentioning something like that would mortify Spock as a Vulcan and a commanding officer, the attempt to act upon it? That'd be enough to keep her in the doghouse for a year. "I'm so sorry Spock. I... I probably deserve to stay out here forever. I'm really sorry. It had not occurred to me at all that McCoy would get so riled up and..." The door slid open while she was mid-sentence.
"McCoy? Is it your implication that Dr. McCoy knows about this as well?" Spock looked the same as always, face blank, his hands behind his back, his head craned to either side, looking past Nyota. Nyota could tell that he was angry. Standing in such close proximity to him, it was impossible for him to shield so tightly from her. Mind melds had their downsides.
"Oh Spock. I'm sorry. I swear. When I went for my physical..." Spock stepped past her into the corridor and looked around.
"I would appreciate it, Nyota, if you discontinued broadcasting this information all over the ship." Spock spoke in more a more terse tone than usual. He turned and walked into their quarters, leaving the door open behind him. Nyota followed and the door slid shut behind her.
"Spock. Again, I'm so sorry. It wasn't really something I could fix. I had no idea she'd heard... I," Nyota thought about it for a moment "I'm almost positive that she wasn't even in the sickbay when I was getting my physical." She went on "When I went to see Len he detected some of the old... markings from before our schedules changed. I'd forgotten all about them when I'd gotten the Captain's order to report to sickbay. Obviously Len couldn't see them, all he had was a tricorder reading that there were nearly a hundred of them in various states of healing. He assumed the worst. You know he tends to be... melodramatic." Nyota put her hand on her forehead. "I don't know. By the time I'd convinced him that you weren't beating me, maybe Chapel walked in? Who knows. Len was so up in arms maybe she heard him from beyond the sickbay doors? I really don't know."
Spock paced the small sitting area of his quarters. Nyota could see a small but distinct downward curve to his mouth. What on earth had happened? "Listen, Spock, I trust Len. I know that you are," she paused "dubious; however, I know that you know that he is a consummate professional. He is an exceptional doctor and I know he would never break doctor patient confidentiality. He's ethical Spock."
"Nyota, he infected his friend with an illness so that he could illegally bring him aboard the Enterprise in a time of crisis. Is that what you are referring to when you say 'consummate professional?'" Nyota could not argue with that.
"Spock you would not trust Dr. McCoy to be on this ship as chief medical officer if you truly believed him to be corrupt or untrustworthy in some way. You are, after all, first officer and it would be your duty in that position, not to mention as a person that lives by the teachings of Surak, to ensure that he was performing his duties optimally for the safety of the crew." Nyota knew that appealing to his logic would help him along in changing subjects. "Spock, I have no idea what happened, but whatever it is, I don't think McCoy had anything to do with it. Do you want to tell me what happened?"
"No." Spock turned away from Nyota. Was it that bad? Nyota wasn't sure she wanted to know. Ultimately, it was down to her carelessness that anything had happened at all so she should face it and take responsibility.
"I don't know how else to tell you that I'm sorry Spock. I don't know what happened and I know that it is illogical to focus on the past that cannot be changed, but I take full responsibility for whatever happened. I'll understand if you'd like me to seek my own quarters now that you don't trust my... discretion. I'll do anything I can to regain your trust, but I understand if you need space. I, I'll go pack some things. I can go sleep on Len's sofa...er... I'll just go slip into one of the vacant guest quarters with the crew of the freighters. I just need to get some sleep so I can get through my next shift. You can take all the time you need." Nyota stood up and went toward the sleeping alcove where her clean uniforms were hidden in a small closet. Her eyes burned with exhaustion and with unshed tears of frustration. Mainly, she was angry with herself but she was also annoyed at Chapel. It was not in Nyota's nature to be jealous and even though she knew Chapel had some weird thing for Spock and seemed to be emboldened by Spock's relationship with the communications officer; Nyota was really irked that she was so unprofessional about it all. She wondered who did that sort of thing? Spock had an infinitely long fuse. Yes, he found certain human behaviors uncouth and irritating, but he rarely became angry. Add to that the fact that he was never angry with Nyota? It made Nyota very curious about what had happened between Nurse Chapel and the half-Vulcan.
"Spock?" Nyota asked. Spock was still pacing but he stopped moving and looked at her. "Why aren't you on duty?" Spock straightened and walked toward her.
"I was ordered by the captain to take a full shift of rest. He stated that he believed that I needed time away from the bridge. He seemed to believe that my performance had been impacted." Spock looked down. When he spoke, it was softly "I do believe that the recent disruption in my routine, coupled with the events of the last few days and the lack of time for meditation has affected my control." Spock was not looking at Nyota when he said this.
"I see." Nyota nodded once, unsuccessfully suppressing a yawn. She reached for her uniforms as she said "Well, I suppose that I'll come for the rest of my things when I find a different place to stay. Hopefully, when you've had some rest, you and I can find an agreeable time for me to come for the rest of..." Nyota was still shocked by how quickly Spock could move in a lower gravity environment. He'd closed the 2 meters between them in less than a second. When she turned around he was standing less than an inch from her.
"Nyota it is illogical for you seek out a new place to sleep tonight. Your shift starts in just over three hours. I...will meditate while you rest. Perhaps we will be able to discuss this further after we have both had time to reflect."
Suddenly, the last thing that Nyota wanted to do was sleep. Spock was so close to her, she felt his body heat like it was a blast furnace against her. Involuntarily she felt the corners of her mouth move up. In such close proximity to her, she knew he felt her sparks of jealousy toward Chapel through their mental connection. She knew what jealousy did to Vulcans, it was an aphrodisiac of some sort. Spock must have been having a rough time of things if he was unable to shield his suddenly increased desire from her. Unfortunately, at that moment, her mind and body went two completely different ways and neither was toward arousal. She suddenly wanted more than anything to know what had happened that would cause Spock to admit any weakness. She also wanted to collapse. The heat from Spock's nearness and the sudden rush of emotions took the last of her energy after a trying day. Nyota simply nodded and leaned forward toward Spock's warmth. It was the last thing she remembered.
When Nyota woke up, Spock wasn't in the room. In fact, when she rolled over she saw that she was four hours late for her shift. Nyota jumped out of the bed and sprinted, in her stale uniform, around the room looking for her boots. Where were her boots? As Nyota prepared to jog to sickbay to retrieve her boots and, ultimately, her reprimand for being late for her bridge shift the door chimed. Nyota frowned. Who could that be?
"Computer? Identify." Nyota grabbed at a glass of water to at least rinse her mouth out before heading to the bridge. It would have to do.
"McCoy, Doctor, Leonard" the computer responded.
"Enter!" Nyota said, relieved and hopeful that her boots were with the doctor. McCoy had her boots and he walked in stiffly, as though he was afraid of breaking something.
"Well, I guess you two made up?" McCoy looked down and focused on the carpet. "You never came back down to sickbay. I asked Jim if he'd heard anything from you. I didn't tell him you left your boots. Anyway, Jim said that Spock had moved your shift to coincide with his own. Since you were off... I thought I'd bring these up. I didn't want to disturb anything though." McCoy looked around nervously. He did not seem to want to observe any evidence of what Spock and Nyota did together.
"He moved my shift?" Nyota's mouth hung open. Spock had refused to move her shift because he thought it would seem nepotistic. Nyota had come to take her boots from McCoy, but with this news she just flopped down on the sofa in the little sitting area. What in the world was going on? "Len?" Nyota asked, "When was the last time Nurse Chapel was in?"
McCoy told Nyota that Chapel had changed her own shift in the last week or so. She was working with some of the other doctors in sickbay and he hadn't really seen her for a while-- at least since the rush of bridge crew physicals. Nyota had asked if she had been assisting with all of the bridge crew physicals. McCoy looked startled when Nyota's line of questioning started to sink in; however, he told her that all of his top nurses had been helping with the physicals. He needed his doctors to work on the continuing medical conditions of the rest of the crew and he couldn't trust the less experienced nurses with the level of diagnostic testing that would need to be done for his medical reports. Nurses Ancholan, Chapel, Abdullah and Hsi had been assisting with all of the shifts of the bridge crew. Nyota had crossed her legs, leaned back into the sofa and cocked her head to one side. She thanked McCoy for bringing her boots and for being so reserved about everything between she and Spock. He left, shaking his head and saying "Uhura, I'm not just your doctor, I'm your friend. And despite what that damn Vulcan believes, I'm his friend too." Nyota nodded and thanked him as the door slid shut between them.
Nyota found out that she was not due to be on the bridge for another three hours. Where was Spock? Before Nyota went to look for him, she showered and dressed in a clean uniform. She checked the computer and saw that Nurse Chapel had changed her shift to correspond with Spock's takeover of the bridge. Nyota raised an eyebrow and inquired of the computer where the ship's first officer was.
In the gym on deck 12, Spock was pummeling a dummy and he didn't hear Nyota as she walked up behind him. He was very vigorously attacking the martial arts training tool as Nyota breathed softly into his mind.
Spock? Can we talk?
Spock did not stop abruptly, but wound down his attacks until he was was barely tapping the air around him. Sweat ran down his face and neck, soaking the tight black shirt that he wore when training. The shirt had no sleeves, a narrow round neck and fit him like a second skin. It didn't help that it was wet and clinging to him in such a suggestive way, his nipples standing out obviously against the smooth fabric. Nyota took a deep breath and tried to focus. Spock inhaled and exhaled quickly as his shoulders began to relax.
"Spock? What is going on?" Nyota began "I'm not completely slow. I know something happened with Nurse Chapel. She must have been around during the bridge physicals and overheard me talking to Len, but what happened? Did she tell the other nurses? Did she..." Nyota frowned, "Did she act inappropriately toward you?"
"Inappropriate would be a severe understatement Nyota." Oh. It was that bad. Nyota tried to reach out to Spock's mind so that he could be spared the embarrassment of having to spell it out for her. She had her normal access to him, her mate, but it was as though there was a dark wall in front of her where Nurse Chapel should be. Nyota took a deep breath.
"Ok. You don't want to talk about that. Well, can we talk about us? I'm still willing to move out if you need me to. I don't know how separations work with mind melds, but I'm willing to keep to myself until you sort out how you... what would work best going forward." Nyota did not want to set Spock off on a tangent on Vulcan feelings. He walked toward her, the smell of his fresh sweat filled her nose. She felt a spark of electricity shoot from between her shoulder blades down her spine. Spock tilted his head and looked into her eyes, his hands familiarly behind his back.
"During my meditation it occurred to me that, although the primary responsibility for this... breech, is with you that it is not solely your fault." Nyota suppressed a smile. Finally, Spock was seeing sense! Maybe a good chunk of meditation and a good workout was all he needed. Spock continued "After all Nyota, if you had forgotten about the markings I'd left on your body, then perhaps I was remiss in some manner. If I were performing my duty as your bond mate adequately, you would have remembered and perhaps none of this would have happened." Nyota felt the weight of Spock's gaze travel from her face to her breasts and then to her bare thighs beneath her skirt. Spock said "I do endeavor to perform more than adequately," as he took a step toward Nyota, closing whatever distance there was.
Nyota watched Spock as he stretched and dressed for his shift. They had really come up against time in the end, but it had been a while. The aches on her inner thighs were a place holder for next time. Spock usually liked to review the communications logs and events that had transpired on the bridge before assuming command of the ship but he did not even have time to shower. Nyota smirked at the idea that she'd be working with him today, smelling their mingled scents on his skin and knowing that green scabs were forming along his shoulders and chest. Nyota's smile was positively evil. Her shift didn't start for another hour though. She had not asked Spock why he had moved her shift, but she had an idea.
In her second clean uniform of the day, Nyota took her position at the communication station on the bridge. They were starting a course back to the colony that the freighter's crew had originated from in the Sol system. Since they were leaving the neutral zone, things were relatively quiet. Nyota was catching up on the communications received during the last shift and analyzing them for her master report to the captain when the bridge door opened. She had been basking in the afterglow of her time with Spock in stereo, sharing both her own recollections and those of Spock's mind. He was filled with pleasurable memories when he gingerly walked the bridge, his shoulders throbbing or when he moved a certain way and caught the scent of Nyota on his body. Suddenly, however, the high came crashing down.
Spock's open mind and warm projections suddenly went dark and cold. When Nyota took a look around the bridge, she saw Nurse Chapel's blonde head heading directly toward Spock. Nyota frowned. Chapel was not a bad looking woman. Her hair was in a retro hairstyle called the 'Pixie' cut and it framed her face well. She was not as tall as Nyota, nor was she as lean, but she looked, as Spock had said it "healthy and symmetrical". Nyota noticed that the nurse did not even glance her way and recalled that the nurse had changed her schedule to fit Spock's duty times just after Nyota's physical examination. Why would she look Nyota's direction? She was obviously used to the schedule. Nyota frowned and continued to watch.
Nurse Chapel came to Spock with a PADD and handed it to him. This was not something out of the ordinary. There was always a medical officer coming to the bridge to update the captain on the condition of crew members with serious injuries and for approval of various items, usually when the Chief Medical Officer was not available. Spock's face shifted imperceptibly to anyone but Nyota. Spock walked as he talked, the nurse had to hurry along to keep up with the tall commander. As Spock got closer to her, Nyota turned around and appeared to be busy with her work. Spock stopped several feet from Nyota.
"Nurse Chapel," said Spock "Again, the information that you have provided me is unacceptable. One does not have to be a trained medical professional to understand that the projections that are provided in this report are simply inaccurate."
"Commander, as I explained last time, these projections are made with both the crew of the Enterprise and the crew of the damaged freighters in mind." The nurse stepped closer to the half-Vulcan and said, her voice quieting, "As I told you last time, I would be happy to go over these numbers with you in private if you find them to be implausible."
"That will be unnecessary Nurse Chapel. Any numbers that you need to provide me you can send via email or you could have included them in this report. I will simply confer with Dr. McCoy from this time forward." Nurse Chapel's eyes widened a bit before she spoke again.
"Commander, Dr. McCoy won't be on shift again until 1400 hours and we have to submit these numbers before 1000 hours so that we can intercept these supplies prior to reaching the colony. I assure you that if we work together," Nurse Chapel closed more distance between Spock and herself, "this can be resolved without unnecessary delay."
Nyota rolled her eyes. How could an plainly intelligent woman, one who had been selected for service on the Enterprise, be so cliché? And on top of that, she was so obvious. No wonder why Spock had not wanted to be alone with her. Spock was obviously so distressed by the nurse's attempts to get him alone that he'd rather alert everyone to his intimate relationship with Nyota than to face her alone. And what had happened already that would make Spock so adverse to simply getting the numbers done. Spock had been in uncomfortable situations before, but that wouldn't ever stop him from actually getting something done. Nyota frowned.
"Commander," Nyota turned toward Spock, "I could not help overhearing." She looked at Chapel, who had gone pale, and continued. "If it makes things more efficient, I am aware of a secondary supply company that has a ship that that would be able to intercept our course in the same sector but closer to the human colony that is our destination. The supplier is more expensive due to its proximity to the planet and the increased demand it receives; however, it would relieve any need to rush the projection out without Dr. McCoy's approval. I believe that a slight increase in cost with assurances that the projections are correct would be preferable to the cost associated with errors in the projections." Spock tilted his head to the side and considered Nyota.
"Lieutenant, your logic is sound. Please make the arrangements that you described and forward them to Dr. McCoy and myself along with any appropriate deadline."
"Aye sir." Nyota nodded and turned back toward her work. Spock began to walk forward but Nurse Chapel did not move. Spock went around her, something required him to brush against Nyota's back with his left arm. As he passed Nyota, he leaned into her slightly, a gesture that was impossible for her to confuse with clumsiness. She smiled to herself. Apparently, it was also impossible for Nurse Chapel to ignore. Chapel began to walk toward Nyota and stopped, her mouth turning into a straight line. Nyota looked over her shoulder and raised an eyebrow. Chapel swiftly pivoted and stomped away.
Nyota's shift had begun at 0600 and ended at 1600. Spock and Kirk were still working twelve hour shifts until they were completely clear of the neutral zone, so Uhura was not surprised when he entered their quarters at 1730. Nyota was out of uniform, wearing the usual soft black shorts and a black tank top that she wore since Spock kept the temperature so high in the cabin, both revealed a number of Commander Spock's markings on her body. Spock watched her as she stood and pulled two cups of tea from the replicator.
" It has been some time since you and I have been able to share time while off duty. I take it that it is your intention to spend the entirety of this time between us inadvertently arousing me?" Nyota laughed.
"No Spock, that isn't my intention. We've been apart here in our quarters for so long that I almost forgot how warm it is when you're here. Since you've changed the access code for the cabin's controls back to our common password, I simple reset the temperature control to account for our new shifts." She handed him a mug of roobios and motioned him toward the sofa. "Thanks for changing my shift by the way. I wish you would have told me about Chapel though. I could have been a little more prepared for her... throwing herself at you." Nyota frowned.
"I apologize Nyota. It seems that a conflation of events has caused me to act in a highly illogical manner. You are, of course, correct. Nurse Chapel's behavior has been highly inappropriate. I refuse to go anywhere with her unless I am accompanied by other crew members. Interestingly enough today she only appeared on the bridge once. During the last week she appeared on the bridge no less than four times per shift. I am unsure if it was simply your proximity, your suggestion, the scent of you on my body or some combination of those things that prevented her... advances."
"It's fine Spock. It's my fault for letting our personal information slip out in a way that she could have accessed it anyway." Nyota told Spock about Chapel's sudden shift change after Nyota's physical exam. Nyota also mentioned that while she had not made any clear accusations of impropriety, she had strongly implied to McCoy that Chapel may have used private medical information in an unprofessional manner. "I could not tell him more than that though, since I really don't know what happened." Spock's was laying on his back on the sofa, his head in Nyota's lap. Nyota was running her fingers through his hair and absentmindedly stroking his ears. Spock shifted.
"I am unconvinced that it would be a wise plan of action to suggest anything further to Dr. McCoy." Spock spoke quietly. "It is my understanding that in matters of this type, that humans are incredibly unpredictable." Spock was quiet for a moment before beginning again. "Yes. As a matter of fact Nurse Chapel has behaved in a manner that, but for information that was provided to me through other experiences with her, would be considered merely questionable and may not merit a full reprimand by human standards." Nyota thought about asking again, but she thought that Spock would come to t in his own time. She could feel a sense of apprehension as she occasionally grazed his temples. He continued, "Nyota, do you recall when we returned from from the mission on Kana 7?" Nyota nodded. She knew exactly what he was referring to because it had been then that he started to shield her from away team violence. It had also been the time that Chapel had, according to Spock, intentionally touched his fingers. Spock began again, "It was like that situation when I went for Dr. McCoy's physical examination. My examination was subsequent to yours." Spock paused and looked up at Nyota. She tilted her head.
"Nurse Abdullah began the preliminary portion of the diagnostics while Dr. McCoy finished his examination of Lieutenant Sulu. A few moments later Nurse Chapel came in and informed Nurse Abdullah that she was needed elsewhere and that she would complete the initial portion of my examination." Nyota nodded again. She knew that Nurse Abdullah was a certified midwife for a number of species and was always being called away to deliver babies. "At first," Spock went on "Nurse Chapel was perfectly professional. Almost guarded. I simply regarded her demeanor as a shift back toward the professionalism that was expected upon the Enterprise. When she began using the tricorder her demeanor changed."
"I suspect, now, that the tricorder picked up the evidence of your... eagerness Nyota; however, Nurse Chapel did not inquire about any of it." Spock was focused on the ceiling. "It was not until my first extended shift to relieve the Captain that things became...unpleasant." Nyota intertwined her fingers with Spock as a gesture of reassurance and tried to push that feeling through their telepathic connection. Spock continued "She entered the bridge and gave me the report of injuries from the crew of the damaged freighters. She wished for me to authorize the sickbay to take over certain cargo space to treat the number of the freighter's injured crew; however, she did not have specifics. It was not an illogical idea, considering the number of injured persons and the capacity of our sickbay." Spock made fleeting eye contact with Nyota.
"I accompanied Nurse Chapel to Dr. McCoy's office to determine the exact requirements for space to care for the wounded. It was logical to issue an order immediately to prepare to receive the freighter's crew." Spock paused, "Of course, Dr. McCoy was not on duty at this time. Still, I thought nothing out of the ordinary as I accessed Dr. McCoy's files." Spock's eyebrow raised as he said "In hindsight, perhaps I should have."
"Nurse Chapel was standing very close to me. I considered ignoring it but it had happened before and I told her that 'Although personal space requirements amongst human and vulcans differ, it would be preferable to me that you stand back a full meter while I work.'" Spock recalled. "Instead of complying with my request, she touched my back." Spock seemed physically uncomfortable at the memory. "She ran her fingers along the nearly healed marks that you left behind Nyota. She said that she was was not certain but that she 'suspected that' I liked to have my personal space violated." Spock's eyes were now moving from one spot to another in quick succession. Nyota took several deep breaths. She wanted to radiate calm instead of fury. It was not just that Chapel had acted questionably, but she was harassing a crew member. A commanding officer that clearly rejected her affections. Nyota noticed that her free hand was balled into a fist. She took another long breath and exhaled slowly. She focused on trying to comfort Spock. She lightly smoothed his hair back.
"I see." Nyota said, as gently as possible. She was not sure how much of the quickly rising tide of fury was hers and how much was left over from Spock. He'd been angry enough to lock her out, she recalled. She also knew that Vulcans were incredibly possessive. She wondered how much of his possessiveness carried over into her.
"I insisted that she immediately stop touching me. I told her that it was not only inappropriate but unprofessional and subject to reprimand. She seemed to realize the error on her part; but then she said something quite unusual. She said 'I guess you only only like your personal space invaded by those in your direct command.'" Spock looked at Uhura. "I do believe that I have lived amongst humans long enough to detect sarcasm and other vocal inflections; however, Nyota, I am unsure. Would that have been a likely placement of sarcastic inflection?"
"Yes," Nyota sighed, a sense of unease mingling with her anger. Spock was right. Nurse Chapel could be very unpredictable, especially if she thought that Spock was playing favorites or if she thought she was in danger in some way. The truth was that there was no way to leverage Spock and Nyota's relationship into something against them. Jim had made it clear that he was fine with their relationship as long as it did not interfere with their duty. It actually had been Jim that pointed out, before Spock had melded with Nyota, that married couples serve on ships together all the time. They were not exactly married yet; but Spock had explained that the mind meld was more like an engagement period on Vulcan until a Vulcan male reached a certain stage of his life. She was still unclear on all that went on and published medical research was startlingly quiet on the subject. Still, they were engaged and they were professionally discreet. Spock went out of his way to make sure that he treated Nyota no differently than any other member of the bridge crew while they were working. In fact, beyond a few instances of lingering eye contact or a light touch in passing, even Nyota tended to forget that she came home to Spock every night.
"I believed it was over at that point; however, as we prepared to contact the space station she became more insistent." Spock consulted his memory "She did not attempt to touch me again immediately; however, she made several comments that were unwelcome. For example, when I was having a conversation with Dr. Lewis about transporting the hostages immediately to the extended sickbay, he said that he 'could not foresee any kinks in the plan'; Nurse Chapel remarked that she thought that I'd like it if there were, after Dr. Lewis had walked away."
Nyota began to explain what Nurse Chapel meant but Spock stopped her "Nyota, I went through Starfleet academy with several hundred young human men. I am familiar with the term." Spock began to recount the other instances of inappropriate behavior on the part of the nurse in the time since the first incident. He told her that the nurse had implied that a 'real woman could heal the scratches she left behind' without prompting and that she took to following Spock into empty rooms while he was on duty. Spock related that he was unsure how to handle the situation as a commanding officer. At the time that he was going to speak to Dr. McCoy about it he found the nurse setting a broken arm. He turned around to leave when he realized that McCoy was in a meeting with another officer but his passage was blocked by the nurse. Spock recounted that he insisted that the nurse desist with her behaviors at which point the nurse said something very shocking to the commander's mind.
"You act like you don't like the things the rest of us like, but your little girlfriend tells a different story. You can act reserved and as though you're above all of our petty emotion, but I know what you're really like Commander," Spock recalled. The nurse had stood very near to Spock at that time and grabbed his hand, dragging her nails across his palm.
Nyota gasped. Spock said "I simply wished to exit that situation as quickly as possible. I could not think of an appropriate response. I was, as you say, stunned into silence." Spock paused, "The Captain asked me to accompany him on the away team when he received the news of the hostage situation. It was welcome when compared to the thought of more of Nurse Chapel's attentions." Spock sat up now and turned to face Nyota. "I was under the impression that you had willingly or carelessly divulged the information to her Nyota. We take such pains to be discrete. I could not think of a situation that would arise in which she would come across such accurate information accidentally."
Nyota nodded. Truly, she understood and was incredibly sorry for the situation. Spock and Nyota talked a bit more about the details of the events that had occurred over the last few days before Nyota went to bed. Spock lay next to her because she found the weight and heat of his body comforting. Nyota thought of something.
"Spock, did you change my shift specifically to help you deal with Chapel?" Nyota suspected the answer was yes and she was correct. Spock indicated that his avoidance of the nurse and her constant interruption had begun to effect the efficiency of the bridge. He said that it was easier to change Nyota's shift than his own and the bridge crew that he commanded were all familiar with his and Nyota's relationship, it was a logical choice. He did not think that the nurse would be quite so bold if she knew Nyota was present and he had been correct. When Chapel had realized that Nyota was on the bridge, she did not come back to harass Spock. Nyota suspected that Chapel thought of her behavior as a game, her own awkward way of flirting but that things had gone too far when Nyota had inadvertently confirmed that Spock was neither inaccessible nor asexual. Chapel would have probably kept her affection to herself but for meek attempts at garnering Spock's intentions if she did not have a vivid image of Spock and Nyota clawing at each other in the throes of passion.
Nyota snuggled into Spock's form and thought about it more. It really hadn't been Nyota's disclosure to McCoy that had triggered Chapel's behavior. Spock reasoned that Chapel suspected their relationship, but never had it confirmed since only a handful of the Enterprise's crew knew of it. Chapel had likely heard the commotion between McCoy and Nyota, but did not confirm that Spock was the person they were talking to until she took over for Nurse Abdullah. From the comments that Spock had relayed to Nyota, Nyota thought that Chapel probably felt that it was unfair for a human subordinate to have Spock, at least while all appearances would indicate that such a thing was impossible. Spock began to stroke Nyota's arm and she dozed off, thinking, at last of how to make the usually mild mannered nurse calm down again.
The ship was well into Federation space and Spock and Nyota's schedule was nearly back to normal before Nurse Chapel entered their lives again. Spock was sitting with Nyota at a table in the mess hall. Spock was eating a dish of lentils and rice while he read an exploratory report from the next system that the ship was scheduled to encounter. Nyota was eating a fairly passable plate of fried plantains from the replicator. She was alternating between reading a journal of comparative bipedal linguistics and talking to Spock about the next system when she looked up and unintentionally made eye contact with the nurse.