"Fascinating." Spock said.
"You want pictures of old people?" Kirk asked, in disbelief.
"There are pictures of the fallen with those who are coming to their peak." Swahelik said.
Swahelik was the leader of alien race that recently accomplished warp drive so this was first contact. McCoy folded his arms shaking his head. Swahelik looked over toward the doctor with a complexed facial expression as though he had a voice in the man's direction. He turned his head in the direction of the two.
"I sense great elderly relations between you two." Swahelik said.
"My grandparents died when I was six." Kirk said.
"My father is not yet elderly." Spock said.
"No, I correct myself," Swahelik said. "I sense you are . . elderly?" He was looking off in the direction of Spock, bewildered, and surprised with raised eyebrows. "But that. . . that is wrong. You are quite young for a off-worlder." Spock raised an eyebrow at the commentary being made. "And your voice indicates you are not over a hundred."
A light bulb went off in Kirk's mind.
"Do you wish to have a picture of Old Spock?" Kirk asked.
"Preferably." Swahelik said.
Spock looked over in the direction of Kirk virtually surprised by the inside and he had a calm, stoic face by the outside.
"Captain," Spock said. "Their culture is all about images and elderly having spirits around them. I do not believe my other self has spirits crossing over from alternate universe surrounding him."
Kirk smiled.
"You don't know what you are talking about." Kirk said, flipping his communicator out.
A mere thirty minutes later, Kirk returned with a picture frame panting. He had obviously ran sacked his room, tossed many of his belongings over his shoulder, went through the drawers, and under his bed. He had also slipped while sprinting his way to the transporter room like it was a emergency. Kirk reappeared taking breaths across from Spock and McCoy. McCoy sighed, shaking his head.
"I got it." Kirk said, waving the picture frame in the air.
"Do I really want to know he had other you's consent when he took the picture?" McCoy said.
"I believe he weaseled a copy of the photograph of my counterpart from the photographer." Spock said.
"Got that right!" Kirk approached Swahelik then handed it to the blue skinned man.
Swahelik glided his hand over the photograph somehow, and oddly, making the air turn chilly around the landing party. Kirk saw there was a older woman by the man's side peering over the frame with large curious eyes. There were other warrior like men in the dense fog. Swahelik looked up in the direction of the young man with the edges of his eyes glowing a bright blue. To Spock and McCoy, there was nothing creepy going on. Just the man drifting his hand over the picture frame glaring in the direction of Kirk.
The woman looked up in the direction of Kirk and pointed at him with her crooked finger.
"You have walked among the dead," Swahelik said. "You see them, Captain Kirk."
When Kirk opened his mouth, only a scream escaped and his world turned to black.
When Kirk's world grew to brightness out of the darkness he heard McCoy's voice and Spock's as well.
"I cannot believe he fainted over a picture." McCoy said.
"I have known the captain to faint over the smallest detail." Spock noted.
Kirk's eye struggled to open.
"Oh shut it." Kirk mumbled.
"Jim," McCoy said. "You are very fortunate that Spock caught you before your head landed on the ground and got a concussion."
"Gee, thanks Spock," Kirk said. "How long have I been out?"
"Two days, four hours, thirty-two minutes, and four seconds." Spock replied.
"Wait, two days?" Kirk said, in shock.
"They claimed your soul was undergoin' some cleasenin'. Said you died before but you never died on my watch!"
Kirk looked over toward Spock.
"And did they join the federation?" Kirk asked.
"I was able to pick up where you left off," Spock said. "And in that time, we accepted their 'soul healer's help. Affirmative, they did."
"Bunch of nonsense." McCoy said.
"And your body glowed." Spock said.
"It . . . glowed?" Kirk asked.
"Affirmative." Spock said.
"Funny sight, really." McCoy snickered.
"Your chest had a large darkened hole on it, which was alarming as it was spreading and moving. I took some tricorder readings where it read as EMF. Electromagnetic force that was not harmless. Apparently you came into contact with a dying alien exactly four days, two hours, thirty-six minutes, and two seconds ago who was stricken down by a blast to the chest. They were able to purge away the negative energy though it took a majority of the day."
Kirk got up right feeling pain in his chest.
"My ribs feel sore." Kirk said.
"We were not allowed to see the method of which they removed the electromagnetic force-" Spock caught his captain from falling down.
"Spock, make sure he gets to his quarters." McCoy said.
"Affirmative." Spock said.
"I am not tired." Kirk protested.
"Jim,you need another day of rest with those ribs. Doctor's orders." McCoy said.
"All right, Bones." Kirk said.
Kirk's arm wrapped around the shoulder of Spock feeling lethargic. They went out of med bay then down the hall. How did everything change before his eyes to Swahelik's surroundings. He can't just see ghosts because he had a slightly problem with some EMF crawling all over his body. The doors closed behind them into room 121. He saw the picture frame on the table beside his bed. His entire room was neat and tidy almost as though someone had come in and did some cleaning while he was out.
"Who cleaned my room?" Kirk asked.
"It is quite therapeutic." Spock replied.
"Aww, thanks." Kirk said.
Spock placed the young man onto the bed. Kirk's hand found its way to the photograph with a great big yawn. His eyes landed on the picture frame to see a somewhat smiling Spock (Vulcanian smiling, that's what Kirk found himself defining it as) where he saw a hand on the older man's shoulder. He squinted his eyes turning them in the direction where there should be a empty space. It was not long before he found himself staring at a young transparent man somewhere in his mid thirties. Wait, he looked almost and exactly like Kirk. His groggy eyes widened. There was a smile on the man's face as he sat down in a adjoining chair beside the Vulcan.
Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod.
MYOTHERSELFMYOTHERSELFMYOTHERSELFMYOTHERSELFMYOTHERSELFHASBEENWITHHIMTHISENTIRE TIME.
"Sppooock." Kirk said.
"Yes?" Spock stood by the doorway.
"If I am going to die, I am going to haunt someone else more interesting than you." Kirk said.
"I do not recommend you haunting me. Go to sleep, captain, your mind is quite unclear." Spock said.
"Other me is haunting older you." Kirk said.
"Illogical." Spock said.
Kirk tossed the picture at Spock.
"See for yourself." Kirk said, then he took off his two pairs of shirts and grabbed at his blanket attempting to bring it over as he came to the side closing his eyes falling into the comfortable darkness.
Spock caught the picture frame then he looked down toward it. He could see visibly a gray figure sitting alongside his older self. They appeared to be happy by the facial expressions. Spock had seen this numerous times over the past two days but he did not pay attention to it other than his counterpart smiling back. So unlike the ways of the Vulcan. His other self was less controlled than he was. He had both feet in his heritage: human and Vulcan. The two in the photograph were smiling, they were happy, despite being apart. They were so close to one another that even in the death one would find their way back to the other and be by their side.
Spock put the picture frame on the counter across from the sleeping captain. Spock Prime and Kirk Prime had a deep, forged friendship that defined one another. Spock and Kirk's friendship was still growing, it hadn't defined them together as individuals: yet. They saved each others back plenty of times. It was illogical to feel unexpected emotions when Kirk smiled when Spock came to the rescue. Spock looked over to the captain who barely had the blanket over his chest. Spock put the blanket completely over the captain then put a gray pillow under the man's head.
Spock walked away.
"Frank, I don't know where Sam went. Don't hit me." Kirk talked in his sleep stopping the Vulcan in his tracks.
Spock looked over his shoulder with a raised eyebrow.
"I am sorry. . ." Kirk turned over snuggling into the teddy bear. "I didn't mean it."
Spock lowered his eyebrow then exited Kirk's quarters. Our scene moved to the stirring man squeezing the teddy bear close to his chest curling up covered by the purple-blue blanket. There were tears forming under his eyelashes and his face contorted into that of pain. We then see the doors open where a blurry figure came over. The figure sat down at the edge of the bed then placed one hand on the side of Kirk's face. The dream changed in Kirk's mind to something pleasant. A smile grew on Kirk's face, but perhaps that isn't what mattered the most to the blurry figure, while a content purr came from the sleeping man.
The figure took his hand off the side of Kirk's face then stood up and walked out of Kirk's room with hands behind his back.
The End.