A/N: Hello, everyone! I would like to happily greet all of you who have decided to grace my second-ever Star Trek story with your presence! I'm telling you now that updates will be sporadic, so bare wit me and simply enjoy some drama-ridden Spirk. Also, I will be updating my story "A Mother's Lullaby" soon. I just had to stop putting off finishing the first chapter of this story so I could finally get it up. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I am in no way, shape, or form tied with Star Trek.

He should have seen it coming. He should have seen the signs. At least, he believes he should have.

It had been going on for a while now. The changes had been gradual, but still noticeable. First, the routines of how they made sure to have time for one another had started to decrease. The older of the couple would start taking longer shifts in the science labs, insisting that there were highly important projects that needed his attention, and the younger of the two took that fact in stride and cherished the their time together. Quickly, though, the same mentioned younger of the two men had begun to tire of falling asleep in bed alone so he started to work hours into the night off in his actual office a few decks up from the shared quarters with his lover.

The fact he has been working more, shifting through documents and data PADDs with more documents that have both already been approved or till waiting for approval/rejection faster, is the reason the currently twenty-six year old blonde, who has known his twenty-nine year old love for a year and a half now and has been physical as well as emotional lovers with said being for the past three months of their four month relationship, is racing through the halls of the starship Enterprise to their room.

It had begun a few short months after an incident where the younger of the duo had almost died, and his raven-haired friend had hunted down the man who had been the indirect cause. Because of that, James Tiberius Kirk lived. Thanks to Spock hunting down Khan—and of course Uhura, Bones, and everyone else doing their parts—Jim had returned from the dead.

It had taken five months, the literal night before the Enterprise crew attended a memorial for the fallen officers/reinstating of the fleet's flag ship until both Captain and Commander had admitted to one another why they truly couldn't lose one another... why they couldn't leave one another behind of their own free wills.

They were friends, yes, but also brothers, and both wanted yet also felt destined and desired to be lovers as well. James honestly hadn't known of how to describe that sort of love until Spock had gifted him the Vulcan term as well as the human equivalent. But, since he's learned them he can't deny that it suits their relationship well.

T'hy'la.

Soulmates.

They have not undergone a Vulcan bonding ceremony, or a Terran wedding, but it was like they hadn't needed it. Their minds, bodies, souls, and the type of men they were in general made themselves two halves of a whole. One a positive and the other the negative, they were like magnets that couldn't help but be attracted to one another no matter how different they are.

Now, let us revisit the other signs that he should have noticed…. They haven't kissed in at least two weeks now if Jim's math was right. (Of course it was right. Though he was a repeat offender, he was a still a damn genius. Oh, how he wished he was dumb enough to get that sort of simple math wrong right now, though.) Then there was their love making as well, if it could even be called that any more. Hell—Jim didn't care if it made him sound like a heart-broken woman, but it was so detached. They didn't meld during their peak of ecstasy where their minds could be at their absolute closest without them bonding. Actually… now that the blue-eyed man thought about it they haven't melded in about as long as they haven't kissed. Just more signs.

He should have seen it.

Now, back on the topic of their differences… Kirk always rejoices in them for, deep-down, he knew that if he was with someone too much like him that he'd go insane. But, he loved that fact that he was white and Spock was black. That his First Officer was Ying and he Yang, or he the Captain is day while the half-Vulcan be night.

However, he now feels he should have known that if it was something he liked, though, that Spock would hate it. It was like that roughly fifty percent of the time, anyway.

Feet pounding hard, James would finally come upon a door that he had to knock on—the knocking had only recently been a renewed requirement these past two weeks, 'I could be meditating, the work in the lab has been admittedly stressful.,' he not have fallen for that bullshit reason for he never would have before—and he would begin to pound upon it. One, two, three, and finally a forth, hard pound against the metal that made his knuckles sting and no doubt left them bright red. He'd wait, count to five-Mississippi even, before he repeated his knocking. He got through this repetition three more times before he finally hear a voice—had it always been so stoic these past weeks or was he just noticing?—call out, "Enter."

"What the fuck is this, Spock?" Jim questioned in a hard tone, he thrusting the PADD screen-out towards the half-Vulcan male. The young captain was obviously not going to beat around the bush, especially once his blue eyes met the site of the room. Spock standing at their bed, any and all personal items he had, as well as some clothes, all just having barely finished being packed into the silver suitcase before he had barged in. The man in question remained frozen, but then spared the device a moment's glance before returning his attention back to the task at hand, "That is a formal request by Captain Steiner of the USS Morris for my temporary transfer of myself as Science Officer to her ship. She wishes for me to train her ensigns, and manage her ship's Science Department, until Starfleet Academy's next graduation ceremony. Then, she will be able to draft a cadet of the Science Track graduating as a commander to become her new Chief Science Officer, and I shall return to the Enterprise."

"I know what is says, I'm not that much of and idiot. What I mean is why I was notified my first officer is going to be gone from the ship for three months, and why this has an my approval code upon it."

"Because I intentionally neglected to alert you of it until the time came for my departure—which the USS Morris will be her in exactly 21.259 minutes time. Also, your approval code is upon the data-document because I placed it there."

At the response given, Kirk tense his shock and his expression became pained. He figured that's what happened, and had no doubt in his mind that Spock wasn't going to tell him anything besides these straight truths, but... but it hurt, greatly, to have in confirmed by the half-Vulcan's own lips. The visible pain in expression was highly brief, however, before he school his features into a harsh scowl.

"You... You can't do that. It's against protocol and regulation because all documents for transfers off ship—no matter if they be temporary or permanent—has to me looked over by me, and that piece of shit transfer sure wasn't. Forgery, Spock? That's a crime against Starfleet and mutinous towards your captain." The blonde stated firmly, his scowl turning in to a full-on glare.

Spock spared him a glance, and then turned his attention to glaring roughly six feet in front of him, "In other such cases, this would be true. However, I am under the command of and infantile captain," Jim flinched at the insult, but Spock didn't seem to care he hurt the man's feelings and barreled on, "who constantly goes against protocol, including the protocol that goes against sharing his approval code with anyone. Which, due to the fact he didn't want to be bothered with paperwork, granted me the knowledge of and also gave me full authority to approve any and all documents that required my code, his code, or both." With those words, which were nothing but monotone but still ice-cold, he'd snap his suitcase shut, lock it with a code, and proceed to lift it to his side in one swift motion by the handle.

Yet again Jim was frozen in place, but just before Spock was able to walk fully past him the younger man snapped out a hand, grasped firmly at the science-blue clad upper arm of the Vulcan, and turned his head up to look the man eyes to eye.

"Spock, you can't just leave like this. Don't... d-don't you care?" Despite having practically whispered this, Jim's voice broke as pain danced behind his eyes. Spock returned the stare, and for a brief moment hope coursed through Jim as he swore he saw something flash through those chocolate brown eyes. But, that hope was quickly demolished by a reply of, "To care is illogical. Goodbye, Captain." And with that, the half-Vulcan easily slipped his arm from the stunned human's grasp, slip out the door, and then be gone from sight as it 'swooshed' shut behind him.

The next ship-morning as word word got around that Commander Spock was now gone from the ship a couple months, Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy went off to the captain's quarters once being alerted by Mr. Scott personally that Jim had requested for the third-in-command personally to take up command of the bridge for the day.

Once to the door he was looking for, Leonard wasted no time in using his medical-override to unlock the damn thing and quickly stepped into dark room as the door shut behind him. "Jim...? Computer, lights to 80%." With a ding of compliance, the lights would illuminate the room and McCoy would do a once over of the place until his eyes stopped on one of the rooms corner.

There James T. Kirk was. He was just sitting in a corner, knees pulled up to his chest, face buried from view into those same-said knees, and the kids as still as a rock. If it wasn't for the slightly shaky rise and fall of the command-gold clad shoulders, the good doctor might have thought his friend wasn't breathing.

"...Jim?" McCoy questioned again, hesitant as he slowly began to walk over. Something had happened, no doubt between the blonde idiot and the pointy-eared idiot, and the last time Jim was as in this much of a defensive position was after a nightmare in their dorm-room at the academy and he had busted Leonard's lip with a hit before returning to a present state of mind.

However, any thought of caution was ripped from thought as a broken, heavy, emotion-fill and barely muffled sob filled the room as the captain's body shook hard once.

"Aw hell, kid..." And with that, the ships CMO would rush over, knell down, and pull the younger man into a snug embrace. Later, maybe a few hours or days from now, he would whine about his shirt, or complain about ow Jim buried his tear-ridden face into the crook of his neck and shoulder, or how he had fist his shirt so tight wit is hands he nearly tore holes through it. Right now, though, non of that mattered.

"B-Bones... He... h-he..."

"Shh, kid. Just... I know, Jim. You know I know, and I'm not gonna make you explain it yet. Just shh..." It didn't take a genius to figure out what happened, and the fact this was James Kirk who was the one crying with a broken heart—a man who didn't believe in commitment, and was a womanizer but turned loyal and fell in love with a male green-blooded bastard? Well... That made McCoy glare hard at nothing, make the hug a bit more snug, and to also move a hand to lightly card through short blonde hair.

A/N #2: Well, everybody, that was the first chapter! Please, review to let me know what you thought of it. Favorite if you loved it and want updates, and follow it for the same reasons.

Sincerely, MSU82