A shame there's so little of this pairing :( Well, here's my shot at it...
The USS Enterprise's brig hummed with electricity as lights and cameras followed the communication's officer down the hallway. Footsteps vibrated the floors through each magnificent stride, and reflected off the prominent soles of her sleek, dark boots. Red lights flashed excitedly at the recognition of a visitor.
The passage through the brig was normally not in Lieutenant Uhura's usual roundabout. The floor was at the very bottom of the Enterprise, with only a few medical centers located in the far back. Any reason to descend to the bottom floor was fairly extraneous.
"Anything detected, Lieutenant?" Kirk had asked earlier, acknowledging her from his position on the captain's seat.
"No, Captain. All clear."
"Good. Get McCoy up here, will you? I'd like a report on Harrison's blood sample."
Naturally, Uhura found herself pressing the only foreign button on the turbolift, and she descended in silence. When the white doors slid open, she stepped out cautiously, noting how silent the hallways had become after the doors slithered shut behind her.
Fixing her crimson uniform, Uhura strode forward with her chin held high. Fortunately, she realized she wasn't entirely alone after a couple of medical assistants draped in blue passed her as they headed towards the turbolift. When she turned the corner, she found more of the staff walking unhurriedly as they gathered equipment and headed back in the direction of the bunker.
Most of the cells were notably vacant, except for the one driven between two-joined hallways, holding the Enterprise's lone prisoner, John Harrison.
His dark figure loomed deep within the cell, near the corner of the built in bench. He sat erect- almost peacefully. Uhura almost mistook him for resting until she drew a bit closer and noticed his eyes blaring with vitality, the intense blue that had frightened her on Cronos.
Upon sensing her presence among the passing assistants, the eyes of the prisoner suddenly flickered towards her, aiming the cold line of tension into the very knot of her stomach.
Uhura lingered for a moment to brace herself from Harrison's cruel stare, but immediately continued onward, striding past the cell with as much confidence as she could boast. However, it was only until she felt the tug of his pulling gaze that her footsteps again faltered, and she stopped altogether when she reached the midpoint of the room.
It seemed inevitable that there had to be some sort of exchange between them, since Uhura took his blank expression as some sort of challenge. The blue eyes goaded her, mocking her from behind the glass, all the way from the back corner of his placement. Uhura felt herself torn under the possibilities. Both Kirk and Spock would disapprove of her speaking to him; it would be such a useless confrontation. But she found herself drawn to his intensity, and she yearned to prove how equally tenacious she was.
Spock doesn't have control over me, Uhura decided. With her mind made up, the communication's officer narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms, taking a few steps forward towards his cell.
"Just how long have you been plotting to betray Starfleet, Mr. Harrison?"
The question hung in the air for several dragging seconds, as the prisoner regarded her carefully, looking her right in the eye. Something in his face disclosed amusement, yet Uhura couldn't quite pin it out since he showed no sign of smiling.
"Do my decisions regarding my past trouble you, Lieutenant?"
His voice dripped with obscenity, deep and throaty with a surprisingly rich quality that rung through Uhura's entire being. She softly bristled and raised her chin a little higher. "When they concern my crew and captain," she spoke defiantly. "I find it intriguing why you would go about wiping out innocent lives at Starfleet Headquarters, and yet spare the lives of a few on Cronos."
"Mm," Harrison murmured in return. "A very unusual request, indeed."
"Too unusual for you?"
"On the contrary, Lieutenant," The prisoner stood and towered over her in his dark suit. "I only hesitate because despite your outward audacity, I suspect a different motive behind your questions. I find it…" he paused, taking a step closer to the glass. "intriguing that you would address the entire Enterprise, rather than your lone concern."
Uhura struggled to remain passive as she stood with her arms crossed, waiting for Harrison to spell it out for her.
"Mr. Spock," he said delicately, and turned his face slightly to the left. "Am I correct?"
Anger erupted deep inside her. "Do not dare, for one moment believe that my sole focus is on him," Uhura muttered spitefully. "You are mistaken. The whole crew is my family, and I care about their well- being equally."
That was when Harrison smiled. It was a slight smile- only half revealed through the change of position in his jaw. "You must pardon me for assuming such thoughts then, Lieutenant," his voice slithered with poison. "Perhaps my research has led me… astray."
Uhura could feel her confidence crumbling, and she had the sudden urge to walk off and seek out McCoy. "Why would you aid us if you knew this was where you would end up?" she asked bluntly, releasing her crossed arms and drawing them behind her back.
"There are things in this universe that any man would pursue despite the consequences, my dear. Things that would drive one to the brink of insanity, yet bring knowledge to comfort him in the truth that the cost for the possession, is all the more significant."
Uhura's eyes narrowed further. "And what is this possession?"
He took a step closer to the glass, where Uhura could see every detail of his face. The bright paleness of his complexion, the menacing twist of his mouth and the piercing blue that seemed unable to snap from its death grip on her. She could see every strand of sleek, black hair that was drawn back and reflected off the translucent lights, the smooth material of his dark suit that clutched at his throat. He truly was as intimidating at Uhura remembered in the clouds of the Klingon world dust- dressed in fine leather with his hair scrambled and shaken.
He looked down at her, with a new glint in his eye. "Tell me," his slick voice murmured. "Did Mr. Kirk send you here to interrogate me?"
The question took the communication's officer by surprise. "No," she backfired narrowly. "You really believe he'd send me for that kind of job?"
"His question was similar to yours," Harrison explained, turning away from her to gaze into the flickering red light in the back of the cell. Uhura felt a rush of relaxation being released from the tenacity of his everlasting stare. "Therefore, I will tell you the same I told him. If you really want to know why I did what I did, then take a look at the coordinates, 23 17 46 11."
Uhura let out an irritated breath. "I already know about the coordinates, Harrison. Kirk doesn't keep a lot of things from us."
He turned back to face her. "He plans to follow them?"
"Not likely," Uhura stated. "But given your flawed record, his decision shouldn't be seen as all that unreasonable."
"Mm," Harrison droned huskily, locking eyes with the officer again. "Perhaps you should not deem me so inferior, Lieutenant. It was not your protectors who shot down the Klingons as the one drained your life, nor was it another that made sure the blade did not penetrate Mr. Kirk as he was held to the ground." Uhura became appalled with how gruesome Harrison's voice had become. "Poor Mr. Spock could not even hold on to his own weapon properly."
"You do not have the credentials to insult Commander Spock, Mr. Harrison."
"Do I not?" Harrison challenged with the slight rise in his eyebrows. "I have studied him very closely. What is Mr. Spock's value to the Enterprise other than his intellectual features? Does he prove beneficial when the fate of the ship rests on his shoulders- when he chooses the emotions from his own heart rather than the logical option?" He paused to watch Uhura's stupefied expression unfold.
"Well, perhaps I have wasted your time with knowledge you already know, Lieutenant," he observed carefully. "Perhaps I have only given you information you do not wish to accept into your own calculations… since the two of you are, I forget…" his eyes examined her up and down. "…intimate."
Uhura swallowed, and finally broke away from him, focusing on the flickering red behind his tall figure. "There are sides to him that you haven't yet examined, then," she backfired. "Spock makes more rational, logical choices than he does personal."
Harrison considered her words before answering. "Are you quite certain? If both Mr. Kirk's life and yours were on the line in a crucial mission, would he truly choose the Enterprise's captain over his lover's?"
"He would do the right thing," Uhura bit out, forcefully.
John Harrison's face filled with dark amusement as he watched the girl before him squirm in her own words. "You have chosen a weak infatuate, Lieutenant Uhura…" he dragged out her name with a shuddering effect. "One that will fail you, one that cannot save you from the depths of his own intellectual foolishness."
"He doesn't need to save me from anything," Uhura rasped out as she drew dangerously close to the glass. "I can take care of myself."
A pregnant silence filled the brig, where not a single footstep or bristle from the assistance was heard. Uhura was consumed with the frightening realization that she was alone, and that no one could restrain Harrison from what he was about to do. He merely took a step closer so that his breath touched the glass, and he angled his head down to where Uhura returned it heatedly.
"Can you save yourself from everyone, Uhura?" he questioned dangerously. "Can you save yourself… from me?"
Terror racked her ribs at the hallow nature of his appearance, the darkness pulsing throughout the room. For a moment, she even forgot there was a shield of glass between them, separating the choice of her life and her death by his hands. All behind a single sheet of glass.
"Yes," she spoke, boldly and perfectly. "Of course."
"Hey, hey, hey!" Kirk's voice drowned the humming of tension as his voice filled the halls. Uhura was suddenly yanked back from her proximity to the glass. Kirk shot her one questionable look, but saved the berating for the prisoner as he turned back around. "Do you need me to restate how fortunate you are for being held here rather than blown to oblivion like I was authorized? Do not speak. You have no business talking to my crew."
Harrison's eyes flickered up to the captain's, a droning movement that was almost sluggish in its progression. Uhura prepared an explanation to backfire Harrison's accusation that she had first spoken to him, but his response was quite the opposite.
"Yes… Captain."
Kirk took Harrison's obedience without another word, and he quickly bustled Uhura with him, towards the medical bunker where McCoy still remained at work. Harrison stood in the same place as he lingered on the space where the captain and the girl had been standing. Then, slowly, he took an even closer step towards the glass to look down the hallway, staring after their retreating figures.
"I shall help you decide, my dear," he spoke ominously before retreating back into the depths of his cold cell.
Well, since we didn't know his name was Khan in this part, I decided it would be easier to just keep the JH name. Tell me if I should continue- or if its better as just a one- shot!