Author's Note: Okay, this is my first Star Trek story, so if there are mistakes or the characters are too out of character, I apologise. It is a bit cheesy too, but oh well! I do not own Star Trek.
To Make You Hear My Love
Sitting in the Captain's chair of the Enterprise, the Captain watched the stars zoom past as his ship travelled at warp five.
It was difficult to think that only a year ago he had become Captain of the greatest ship in the fleet, along with her incredible crew. The position felt so natural to him, that he could not help but think that he had been the Captain for his entire life.
There were boring day, such as diplomatic talks or just simply travelling at warp to their destination, like today. Yet despite the lack of action, Jim still managed to find observing the ever passing stars to be therapeutic and entrancing.
Sighing to himself, the young Captain took another bite out the red apple he had clutched in his right hand. It may have been made by the replicator, whose taste takes a while to get used to, but he felt that it helped his arrogant and cheeky demeanor.
Swallowing, the young captain turned to Lietenaunt Sulu to ask about the course they were set on, only to find both him and ensign Chekov staring at him. Frozen to the spot, the blonde swivelled in his chair and found that entire bridge staring back at him.
"What?" He finally question, after several moments of awkward silence.
However, all the Captain heard was a slight muffling noise, but no one was moving nor speaking as Jim skimmed his eyes over the entire bridge crew.
Yet as his eyes settled on his Vulcan First Officer, he noticed that his mouth was moving, a tendril of concern in his eyes.
"Can you say that again, Spock?"
"Jim...you...well?" Was all Jim could make out by following both the muffled sound in his ears and the lip movements of his First Officer.
At his frown and silence, Spock stepped closer to the Captain.
"Jim, are you well?"
"Oh!" exclaimed Jim. "I thought that was what you said."
"Captain, perhaps it would be wise for you see Dr McCoy, as it appears your hearing may be damaged from the explosion that occurred during your planetside mission nought point six days ago."
"Nah, I'm fine, Spock!" He exclaimed once again, a shred of nervousness evident in the slight shakiness of his voice.
"I must insist, Sir." Resulting in an eye roll from the Captain.
"Please, Jim." Continued Spock, causing Jim to look up in to his chocolate brown eyes. The slight pleading his First Officer's tone had caught him off guard- he had never heard Spock use that tone before.
With a sigh, Jim nodded, rising from his chair.
"Spock, you have the conn."
As he reached the turbolift and pressed the button for the medical bay, he noticed that Spock had actually followed him in to the lift.
Seeing Jim's frown, Spock returned his gaze to the turbolift doors.
"I simply wish to ensure that my Captain's health is at its maximum." Although for Jim, that translated to 'I'm worried about you and want to make sure you are taken care of."
"You're just worried that I won't be able to hear you insult and disagree with my decisions," Jim smirked.
"Vulcan's do not worry, Jim," Said Spock, earning yet another eye roll from Jim. "Although, I do find the prospect of you not being able to hear my voice to be disappointing."
Jim continued to smirk until he realised just what Spock had just said, causing his smirk to transform in to a look of pure shock, as he turned to gape at his First Officer, who continued to stare at the turbolift doors.
As they reached the correct level, the doors opened and Spock strode out, leaving a gaping Captain to snap out of his stupor.
"What...hell...you...back...?!" shouted the doctor.
"Honestly, you hadn't even seen me yet," replied Jim. "How did you know it was me?"
"Doctor's intuition," grumbled Doctor McCoy as he reached Jim. "What's the matter with you now?"
"Loss of hearing from a distance," spoke up Spock, althougth the doctor did not choose to look at him as he spoke, it had become somewhat of a routine when the First Officer escorted his Captain to the doctor. "ninety four point three percent likely due to the explosion during yesterday's mission."
"Dammit, Jim," the doctor said, as he examined his friend. "I'm still waiting for the day when you have a mission, or at least go a month, without having to come and see me."
"The likeliness of that doctor is less than one point seven percent."
"Jee, thanks" responded Jim, causing the doctor to mumble something about a 'stupidly stubborn Captain'.
After forty minutes under the doctor's care, and seven hyposprays later, the Captain was cleared to return to duty.
"It'll take a few hours for your hearing to return to normal."
"What?" Jim questioned. "Not able to return it to one hundred percent? Disappointing, doctor, disappointing."
"It would have had to be one hundred percent to start with, you grandpa."
Faking a look of shock, the Captain mockingly clutched his chest in response to the insult.
"Look who's talking, Bones."
With a wink, the young Captain all but fled the medical bay, as Bones starting preparing another hypospray.
Close behind him, Spock followed the Captain, a hint of humour in his eyes after watching their exchange.
"Must you always antagonise each other?"
"It's our friendship, Spock," Jim replied, nudging Spock with his elbow, causing the taller man to tense slightly. "It's just way we are with each other."
At his silence, Jim looked over at his First Officer to find him looking down with a frown on his usually blank face.
"Spock?"
Hearing the concern in his Captain's voice, Spock looked up to the cerulean eyes staring at him worriedly.
"We do not converse in the same way," responded Spock after several seconds of silence. "Does that mean we are not friends?"
Jim had not expected this response, causing him to frown and try to figure out what to say, but his silence only caused Spock's doubt to grow.
"I see, Captain." Responded a disappointed Spock, leaving the turbolift as soon as the doors opened on the bridge. Left once again to regain his composure in the turbolift, Jim quickly ran a hand through his blonde hair, before entering the bridge.
With about an hour before the end of their shift, the Captain was becoming restless. His hearing had mostly returned, but not entirely for he could still occasionally hear muffled speech. They were not set to arrive at their destination until tomorrow, due to its distance from their planetside mission late yesterday, so their whole shift consisted of travelling and checking communications for anything that may pop up.
Swivelling in his chair, the Captain observed the crew once more. His self-less nature, allowed his to find pleasure in seeing his crew happy and enjoying their jobs.
Sulu and Chekov were checking the Enterprise's course every so often and ensuring that the engine's remained fully functional. However, they were also nattering on about who invented certain alcoholic drinks.
"What are you nattering old ladies going on about?" Jim interrupted, causing Chekov to blush and Sulu to confidently turn to his Captain and share his opinion.
"I don't care who made it as long as it's good," the Captain commented with a grin, before turning to the ensign. "Aren't you too young to drink, anyway?"
Chekov's blush deepened considerable, causing the Captain's grin to widen, before he walked away, doing his rounds of each of the crew members.
Once he reached communication's and the science officer's station, he saw Uhura and Spock in deep conversion, during which the communication's officer placed a hand on Spock's shoulder. Usually, the action would not have bothered Jim, but he noticed that Spock did not tense under her touch, as he does with him.
As a wave of an unknown motion overcame the young Captain, Spock looked up at him before quickly looking away and focusing back on his own station.
Frowning, Jim decided to avoid persuing a conversation with either of them, returning to his chair with an ungracefully drop on to it.
Was he jealous?
Shaking his head, Jim tried to shove the thought from his mind.
Since when did he have feelings for Spock?
'You're being ridiculous,' Jim chastised himself. 'Even if you did, he would never feel the same, it would be illogical.'
His own use of the word, caused the Captain to chuckle to himself, while rolling his eyes.
Hearing the muffled sound again, Jim turned around in his chair to see Uhura seemingly trying to get Spock's attention. Looking over at the man in question, Jim saw his chocolate brown eyes staring intensely at him, causing his breath to hitch.
"Spock?" Uhura spoke again, her voice coming through clearly to the Captain, causing him a slight pain which made him grimace.
In an instance, his First Office was by his side.
"Captain?"
"Don't worry, I'm fine."
"You appear in pain, Jim," Spock said sternly.
"I'm fine, Spock."
"Jim, please-"
"I'M FINE!" Jim shouted, causing the entire bridge to freeze and the slight pain in his ears to increase momentarily.
"Sorry guys," Jim spoke quietly, as his grimace slowly relaxed.
"Jim..."
"Go back to your station, Mr Spock," At his First Officer's hesitation, Jim continued. "That's an order."
Having its desired effect, Spock complied and returned to his station. Jim just could not talk to him right now, not when he was starting to have feelings that he did not understand. He had to admit that Spock was attractive, in fact it was one of his first impressions of the guy, other than a few insulting remarks due to the context in which they met.
Looking over his shoulder, Jim saw Uhura and Spock deep in conversation once again, causing earlier's feeling of jealousy to rise once again.
Returning his focus back to the observation window in front of him, Jim watched the stars pass by, before sighing to himself and leaning his head against the back of the chair.
"Why do you have to have feelings for him?" he whispered to himself. "He'll never feel the same, you're not useful to a Vulcan."
The bridge around him was much to focused on their work and conversations with their colleagues to hear him, but as the young Captain sat up straight again, he remembered a fact about Vulcan hearing.
Swivelling at record speed, the blonde settled his eyes once again on his First Officer, who just so happened to be looking at him as well. From the look of shock on his face (also known as marginally widened eyes), Jim could tell that he had heard.
As Uhura noticed the exchange, Jim gulped, tearing his eyes away and returning his focus to the sight of space passing them by.
As Jim returned to his quarters, he immediately tore off his shirt, before landing on his bed. However, instead of being able to fall asleep, the sound of his padd notifying him of a message coaxed him away from his bed.
Frowning, Jim opened the message only to find that an article had been forwarded to him.
"Vulcan's are expected to take a suitable mate, with which to reproduce and subsequently rebuild their race, after the destruction of their planet nearly leaves them extinct."
Noticing that the article had been forwarded to him by Spock only caused Jim's frown to deepen. After what he had heard Jim say on the bridge was he just trying to reject him, for not being 'suitable'.
As though he could read Jim's mind, he sent another message.
Spock: I'm only half-Vulcan, Jim.
Sitting in the mess hall, the Captain was eating his breakfast. Due to his inability to sleep any longer, he was quite early, hence why he was currently sat alone.
He had only just sat down and took a sip of his juice when his First Officer settled across from him, causing him to swallow quickly in an futile attempt to not choke.
"Jesus, Spock," Jim gasped as he tried gain his breath back. "Are you trying to kill me?"
At his silence, Jim looked up to see that his eyes had darkened considerably.
"It was a joke," Jim whispered, seeing Spock's shoulders relax slightly but not competely.
"I trust your hearing has returned completely."
"Yup," Jim grumbled, as he began to eat his breakfast.
"Good."
"Okay, what's wrong?"
"Captain?" Spock frowned- well as much as a Vulcan could frown.
"Don't you 'Captain' me," Jim scolded. "Since when are you monosyllabic?"
At the silent response, Jim looked up to find brown eyes staring at him, with an unreadable emotion.
"Did the prospect of me being unable to hear your angelic voice frighten you that much?" Jim quipped, using humour as an excuse to avoid looking in to Spock's eyes.
"Yes."
As Jim looked back up, he found Spock in the same position as before, although the emotion in his eyes was now readable.
Longing.
"Although, the 'angelic' section is questionable," Spock continued, humour reaching his eyes, along with a slight smile, a smile he had not shared with anyone, not even his mother. It was enough to cause Jim's breath to hitch in his throat, before he grinned back.
Unsure what to say next, the duo remained in silence as Jim finished his juice.
"I know why we don't act like me and Bone's do," Jim finally spoke, interrupting the silence. "Because we're not friends."
As Spock tensed and began to immediately withdraw back in to his usually stoic self, Jim instinctively reached out and clasped Spock's wrist.
"No, Spock," he continued. "I mean, we're more than friends."
As Spock looked in to Jim's cerulean eyes, his hardened look crumbled back in to one of longing, and it was enough to make Jim's insides melt.
"You have feelings for me, Jim," Spock stated, a hint of questioning and nervousness in his tone, as he looked down at the wrist still held by the Captain.
"And you have feelings for me, don't you, Spock?"
As he nodded to confirm, Jim released a breath he did not know he had held in.
"The prospect of you being unable to hear me caused me concern for your health," Spock explained, pausing momentarily. "But it also made me confront the possibility that you may never hear my voice again, should the cause of your hearing loss cause further damage."
"Why would that be so disturbing, Spock?"
"Because on the other hand, the idea of not being able to hear your voice again would petrify me to my very core."
"I thought Vulcan's didn't get petrified." Jim quipped, as the contents of Spock's statement caused his cheeks to redden.
"Half-Vulcan."
This caused Jim to smile, which in turn caused Spock's lips to twitch slightly at the edges.
"My half-Vulcan?"
Spock simply raised an eyebrow at him, before he confirmed it.
"My half-Vulcan," Jim nodded to himself.
It was not love, not yet at least, but several months down the line Spock was internally thankful that his Jim's hearing had returned completely, for he wanted him to be able to hear his voice perfectly when he said three words he himself had never said, and Jim had never heard.
I love you.