Character(s)/Pairing(s) Spock, Uhura, no pairing.
Genre Death/Friendship/Hurt-Comfort
Rating PG
Word Count 491
Disclaimer Star Trek c. Paramount, CBS, NBC.
Summary In a fit of blood rage, Spock landed himself into a situation that quickly got out of hand on the Vulcan colony. Uhura tries to offer what support she can in the aftermath.
Warning(s) Character death, sort of generic baby spoilers for the TOS episode "Amock Time"
Notes For a while, I've felt that in the AOS universe, Uhura is kind of or might become in subsequent movies the McCoy to Spock's Kirk. Anyway, I've been nursing this particular bunny since I saw someone posted an essay about Uhura and McCoy and sexism or something in fandom (I didn't get around to reading it). So, kind of a combination of the two and a bunny led to this. Also I've been dying to write something for where_no_woman on LJ for a long time.
Worst Laid Plans
"…and then I killed him."
The voice was so faint but the timbre set to her bones as though it was ice on metal. Slowly she breathed. Her dark eyes searched his form. He sat just inches away on a bench in a vacant recreation room she had privacy locked, his shoulders slightly slumped, fingers intertwined tightly in front of his torso. His hair almost covered the tips of his eyebrow when his head bent.
The Enterprise was still in orbit around the new Vulcan colony. Days ago, Spock seemed to lose his mind. His Vulcan training slowly stripped away to the most intense emotion, preparing the barely thirty-year-old for what was a spawning ritual. Things were rougher with the loss of Vulcan, but life cycles still went forward. Spock had a new prospective wife since his former betrothed died in the destruction of their native planet. The new prospective wife took an instant liking to their captain, and that was where everything went horribly wrong.
"Spock…" Uhura reached out, gingerly touching his arm. A bruise was still visible on her wrist where he had grabbed it in a furry during the blood rage. She could feel the added guilt without being a touch telepath herself.
"I will resign," Spock continued numbly. "I will turn myself into the authorities."
"Spock, you couldn't – "
He reached out and the tips of his fingers hovered above her bruise. "That is why I must do this." His eyes flickered to hers. "If I cannot control myself…. I killed my captain, Nyota, my," he hesitated, "friend."
Uhura reached out and hugged him tightly. She knew he was a touch telepath. She knew how he shrunk from touch, but even back at the academy she did what she felt was the right thing to do. He let her, but did not quite return the gesture.
"And you," he added quietly, "I could have killed you too."
Uhura tried to find a response but nothing seemed the right thing to say. It was not all right. It had hurt her, and who knew what would happen in seven years wherever they would be. Before she could decide on even a sound to utter, the older alien slipped from her grasp.
"I have to tell the doctor." Spock rose and with two strategic tugs, his uniform was unwrinkled. He looked down at her and set his features into the numbingly blank Vulcan façade.
"I will miss you," she said. "He will too and everyone."
Spock said nothing and Uhura was not sure he believed everyone could miss the murderer of a well-loved captain.
When the recreation door closed behind him, she leaned back against the bench and looked up at the ceiling. With a slow breath, she stood and removed the lock before exiting herself. Her shift would start in three minutes. As much as she wanted to stand with Spock, this was something he chose to bear alone.
End