Title: Paradise
Genre: Romance / Drama
Rating: T, for language
Pairing: Kirk x Spock
Spoilers: Star Trek: Deep Space 9, Season 2, Episode 15, "Paradise"
Summary: The path to paradise passes directly through hell.
Word Count: 4,992
Warnings: Light torture

Disclaimer: Not mine. Summary is from Dan Brown's Inferno.

A/N: I don't know why this episode of DS9 made me think of doing a Reboot version, but it did. Originally, I started this with an anticipated M rating at the end, but my muse said no. So it's sweeter.

"Captain, I'm still not certain this is the wisest course of action."

When Jim Kirk lifts his gaze from the runabout's controls his gaze is bright and blue. "Come on, Spock! Where's your sense of adventure?" He grins, insolent and charming, smile wide and open. When Spock would have opened his mouth to answer, Kirk waves him off and turns back to the consul. "Don't answer that. But really though – you aren't a little excited?"

He takes a long moment to answer, watching the enthusiastic way his captain is scanning readouts and preparing them for landing on the uncharted planet below. "Excitement is an emotion," he settles on saying. Not really an answer and Kirk looks at him side-eyed, seeing the evasion for what it was.

"Uh-huh." The gaze is too knowing, too piercing, and so Spock turns to look out the window, at the planet swiftly coming up to meet them as Kirk expertly steers the craft. It never failed to amaze Spock the intelligence hidden beneath what appeared to others as such a carefree and wild exterior. "Well I'll be excited enough for the both of us then and – " The craft gives a sudden lurch, the lights flicker, and an alarm starts to blare in a repetitive, resonating pattern. "Shit."

Coming to stand behind him, Spock peers down at the controls. "It appears there is a duonetic energy field surrounding the area that is disrupting all of our electronic devices."

"You think I don't know that?!"

Spock watches him try and rectify the situation, but the runabout gives another jolt that almost makes him stumble. "Captain, it appears we're going to crash."

"Then strap the fuck in, Commander!"

He does so without delay, doing his best to assist in keeping the electronic system functional for as long as possible while Kirk focuses on steering the ship and avoiding trees. His face is set and determined, eyes a steely blue as the flit from controls to window, hands white-knuckled gripped on the steering wheel. Their landing is a bumpy, shuddering ordeal, but since their power completely flickers off and stays that way about two minutes after Spock sits down, it's as good a landing as they can hope for. The ship seems intact, baring the electrical problems.

"Captain, the Enterprise will attempt to check in with us in approximately four hours. I estimate that it will take them no longer than 22.5 hours to remedy the duonetic energy field issue and beam us out. In the meantime – "

"Jesus Spock, hold on a minute." When Spock glances up, Kirk is sprawled spread-eagled on the ground, breathing deeply.

"Captain?" He take a step forward, unsure what the problem is, unsure how to help, unsure if he should reach out and -

"I just, need a minute to breathe." A sliver of blue as his eyes crack open. "That could have been bad, Spock. You – we could have died."

A moment of silence as Spock stares at him in confusion. It is unlike the Captain to worry, so he isn't sure what to say. "On the contrary, Captain, the situation was not that dire." When Kirk arches a brow, Spock quirks his own. "After all, you haven't even lost your shirt."

There's a beat of quiet and then Kirk laughs, full-throated and real, and it makes Spock swell with pride that he's the cause of it. He turns before the Captain can see the emotion in his eyes and goes back to scanning the forest around them. It is only a moment before he is quietly murmuring to the captain, drawing his attention to the trio of natives that is staring at them in abject confusion.

Kirk is climbing to his feet, idly brushing dirt off his gold command shirt, already grinning his First Contact smile, brilliant and alluring, able to put anyone at ease, so well known throughout the Federation for his ability to charm anyone. It's almost enough to make you hate him really. Except no, not really. Not when his smile is so earnest. His eyes so pleasant. Spock shifts so he is more situated between his captain and the trio of natives, a movement that does not go unnoticed by Kirk, who flashes him a toothy grin before greeting their guests.

"Hello there! Sorry about crashing on your planet! I'm James T. Kirk, Captain of the USS Enterprise of the United Federation of Planets, and this is my XO Spock of the planet Vulcan."

If Spock could have garnered the emotion to face palm, he would have. So much for the Prime Directive.

"I guess the duonetic energy field got you, too, huh?"

Though Spock can't show his surprise, Kirk's jaw drops in shock. "You're regular people!"

At this outburst from his captain, Spock can't hold in a sigh. "I think my Captain means to convey his surprise that a group of individuals on a planet near the outskirts of known space would be familiar with such things as duonetic energy fields."

The leader of the group blinks. "Uh, yeah, well," his eyes shift away from Kirk who is still stupefied. "Our ship was caught in the same energy field about ten years ago. We've been here ever since."

The captain is visibly bouncing with excitement now. "A rescue mission! Is anyone in your colony a damsel?"

A blink. "We don't want to be rescued."

"What?"

A soft smile and the man gestures for the pair of them to follow him. "Come with me, let me show you what we've built."

It is honestly a tad surprising what these people have managed to accomplish in a decade. Alixus, the declared leader of their group, is a severe woman, who reminds Spock of the Vulcan matrons back at school when he was a child. Her hair is in a tight bun, her nose hawkish, her eyes sharp. They've built a world for themselves completely free of technology. When Kirk makes an offhand comment that they must have been traveling lightly, for there's very little sign of technology anywhere, Alixus explains.

"We rid ourselves of those items shortly after our arrival here. Humans are entirely too dependent on technology; our crash was a blessing in disguise now that we have rid ourselves of those shackles."

Spock is carefully schooling his expression, but he has no illusion that his captain will remain quiet on the matter.

"That's insane!" Kirk's disbelief is tangible, vibrating through the air like strings of a violin. "You must have been going somewhere to be this far out in space – don't you want to get there, to explore, to see?" The Captain of the Enterprise has always had his head, and his heart, in the deep vastness of space. To live a life completely grounded must seem like a prison to him.

The man who led them here, Joseph, shrugs. "I'll admit that, at first, I wanted to repair our ship, find the cause of the energy disruption, leave. But now, having built a life here, everything that Alixus has done, has helped us create, is the perfect life. I would never want to change that."

Kirk gapes for a long moment, before breaking it into laugh. Spock watches the motion ripple through his captain, belly-aching and visceral and feels a bloom of warmth in his chest at the sound. "Man, whatever you say, but I need adventure, so we'll be heading home soon enough!"

When Joseph would have answered them, a loud cough cuts him off and they turn to see a young woman, frail, pale, and emaciated being wheeled in by an apparent orderly.

"That's Meg," Joseph tells the pair of them. "She likes to sit in the sun, since, well… she might not get to see it much longer."

Spock takes a long sweeping look at her: the whites of her eyes tinted the lightest blue, her finger beds pulled back and bruised, her hair with streaks of grey long before her time. "She appears to have Ferengi Fever," he comments, noticing the flush of her cheeks, the sweat on her brow. When Kirk turns to him questioningly, Spock nods. "It's a simple enough illness to cure, Doctor McCoy could probably accomplish it with minimal effort with inoculations currently stored on the Enterprise."

"Hey that's great news!" Kirk is vivid with joy at helping someone, as always. "After our crew finds a way to get through the energy field, we can bring you some – "

"I fear that is not possible, James." Spock bristles at the informal way Alixus addresses him, but remains silent. His captain has got steely-eyed and rigid, eyes honed in on the woman like a lounging lion. "Your crew will not find a way to rescue you; your life is here now. I suggest you learn the way of our people and accept it. Perhaps a change of clothing?" She gestures from his uniform, clearly sweltering in the jungle heat, to her archaic and loose farmer's garb.

His answer, when it comes, it flinty. "I have utmost faith in my crew." His gaze is all business, the same man who faced down Khan and Klingons and Romulans. "And a Captain," he stresses the word meaningfully, "never removes his uniform."

The quarters they are given are Spartan, but enough. Spock spends most of his night in meditation, coming up with scenarios and possible ways to remedy the issues from this side of the energy field in order to contact the Enterprise. He comes up with nothing but theories, since, without the tools to work with and the source of the problem, he cannot fathom what the issue is, there are too many possible variable. He's disgruntled and irritated when a commotion rouses him out of his contemplation hours before dawn, but doesn't let it show, merely arches a brow when Kirk claps him on the shoulder and tells him he should have stayed in bed. He murmurs his own greeting, but anymore conversation is drowned out in a haze of red when Jim calls out to their host, supposedly also roused by Jim's loud voice.

"Hey, Alixus! Some woman named Cassandra showed up in my room a little while ago, said you had sent her." There's a beat, a pause. "She was naked."

"She was what?" Though Spock's tone is icy, the look in his eyes clearly isn't, judging by the startled look Kirk sends him.

"Chill, Commander, nothing happened."

"That is unfortunate, James," Alixus says. "I did indeed send Cassandra to you, as a way of welcoming you to our colony."

There is nothing but red in Spock's vision at the idea that the matriarch of these people sending a young woman as a peace offering to his Captain, to Jim. He should have demanded the roomed together. That woman could have been a killer, a kidnapper, anyone. He never would have imagined a seducer, but now that he could, it seemed an ideal way to coerce Jim to do something. His hands shake imperceptibly at the idea, at how close, at how easy it would have been to lure Jim's attention away from the Enterprise, from him.

But, as always, Kirk surprises him. He tilts his head as he observes Alixus. "How… contemptible." Spock's heart clenches – Kirk will want that woman, will want to stay, will want to bring her back to the Enterprise with him, he will sleep with her, sweating and entangled and hot – "But how utterly indifferent to your people as individuals." Alixus looks rigid with shock. "And it's Captain."

Her features are shaking with anger. "I think perhaps… Captain," the word is a sneer that makes Spock bristle, "that as a show of good faith, since you are so concerned with nighttime visitors, you should stand watch tonight."

Spock can tell Jim's forthcoming smile is forced, but Alixus doesn't seem to notice, as he agrees. Spock voices his discomfort as the woman leaves. "Captain, are you sure" nothing happened with the woman "this is wise?"

A shrug. "Your own preliminary reports on the planet didn't sense any large predators, so I can't imagine it'll be very exciting." When Spock opens his mouth, Jim beats him to the punch. "And don't you dare think about being all noble and staying out here with me." His mouth snaps closed. "One of us should be well-rested tomorrow." Spock stares at him for a long moment before nodding his assent, and the motion makes his captain smirk. "Have sweet dreams then, Commander."

Luckily Kirk has already spun neatly on his heel and walked out the door, so he doesn't see the green flush at the tips of Spock's ears.

Spock is out of bed and out of his quarters at the barest crack of dawn, eager to check on his captain. He comes not a moment too soon, since Alixus is already there, and whatever she is saying had the captain positively military grade rigid with agitation, his jaw set in a stiff line that makes Spock's jaw ache just to look at it. His eyes are blazing.

"Captain," he greets, with a pointed glance at their host. "Is there a problem?"

"Of course not, Spock." The disuse of his title from the woman doesn't irritate him half as much as her continued disuse of the captain's. "I was merely explaining to James that all men here work in the fields during the daylight hours. However if he is too weary from his overnight vigil, I could understand why he would like to leave the work to others."

It is a dig, a ploy, and Spock knows that it will work.

"Of course I can work, Alixus. After all, a starship captain's work is never done. A little manual labor might be just the break I need while I wait for my crew."

The answer seems to annoy her. "As you say, James." Blue eyes narrow. "The fields are hot during the afternoon, shall I have Cassandra bring you a change of clothing?" She's gesturing again at his gold command shirt, which, until this mission, Spock has never seen remain intact for so long.

But Jim waves her off, only partially polite. "Captain – "

"I know what you're going to say, Spock." He already sounds weary, already been away from the cool, vastness of space and adventure and crew too long.

"Oh?" An arch of brow.

"You're going to tell me I should stay out of the fields today, give me some statistic that I don't believe you didn't pull out of your ass about how I'll be more help rested."

Though that had been what he had been about to say, Spock can't stop the childishness of proving Kirk wrong. "On the contrary, Captain." It is only when he has Jim's full attention that he finishes his statement. "I merely wished to point out that, at the apparent level of heat and humidity you can expect this environment to achieve today, it might be a wise decision to do what you do best." When Jim looks confused, he adds, not without a small about of teasing. "Lose your shirt."

Out of all the responses that Kirk could make, blushing to the roots of his hair isn't the one he expects to see. But Spock can't even lie to himself that it doesn't make his stomach clench in a sudden surge of want. He starts to take a step back, to put distance between himself and those earnest blue eyes, but in a sudden change of mind, steps closer again.

"Captain," his voice is low, safe from prying ears, "I have attempted to repair our communicators enough to reach the Enterprise, but so far there has been no change in frequency. I can – "

"Be careful, Spock." It's the tone he says it in that makes Spock snap to almost attention. "Last night while I was at my post…" Jim sighs. "Have you seen the metal boxes near the square?" When Spock nods, he continues. "Last night, Alixus let a man out of one of them."

Spock blinks. "Based on the temperature and the material of those boxes, the temperature in the interior could exceed 120 degrees Fahrenheit."

"Yeah and that kid looked it." Spock can hear an echo of something in voice, something that Spock cannot fathom. "When I tried to figure out why they were trying to cook him to death, Alixus told me it's the mandated and voted upon punishment for basically everything." He looked disgusted. "That kid stole a candle, Spock." His voice is aching with history that Spock does not know, his eyes are far away with it, lost.

"Captain – "

"Spock, be careful, that's all I'm saying."

And Spock hears him and he believes him and agrees with him, but also… But also, Spock knows that Kirk can't help but want to help people. And that girl Meg is dying of something McCoy could fix in mere minutes. And there are others who they can see are looking up at the sky with the same yearning Kirk himself does, anchored by gravity and isolation and rules. So Spock hears him, but he knows that he will not listen, because Jim would not listen.

"Spock." His name is a plea. "Be careful."

He's careful, so, so careful, all day long. Only working on his communicator when his keen hearing can't sense anywhere near. And his work pays off when he manages to send a brief SOS through the energy field. He knows it will reach the Enterprise, knows that when they missed their rendezvous call, McCoy immediately loses his mind over worry for Kirk and has them looking high and low for them. But apparently it's no careful enough. Because somehow, and he can't wait to figure out how, but the time the workers are coming in from the fields, Alixus and two men have brought Spock out to the square, just in time for the captain to walk over.

"Is there a problem here?" His voice is steel.

"This man has been wasting his day attempting to activate his technological devices."

Kirk's eyes never waver from the woman. "A leader would know that contact with my crew is the best for some members of this colony who are too ill to survive."

"Meg is dead." Kirk steps backwards in shock. "And your officer was defiling her memory!"

"Come again?"

"There is no one who was more devoted to our ways than Meg." Kirk scoffs at that, but Alixus continues. "By adamantly continuing to refuse to live by our way of life, he has defiled her very existence. Punishment is due."

Spock could care less about this woman's archaic form of punishment. Vulcan, with its two suns, it leaps and bounds hotter than this world, and it is only a matter of time before they're rescued. But he does care when his captain – his idiotic, hero complex, brave, foolish captain – says, "I'm his commanding officer. Punish me."

When Alixus smiles, it is positively feral. "As you wish."

Spock almost cannot bear to watch them lock his captain away in what amounts to little more than an oven and it is only Kirk's keen-eyed glance that keeps Spock from using his Vulcan nerve pinch freely and without care. Even with the nonverbal reassurance from Jim that this will be okay, Spock finds he is having trouble breathing, he cannot look away, cannot stop his hands from clenching into fists at the urge to do something. When the door slams closed behind Jim it is like the lid of a coffin slamming shut.

As the crowd begins to disperse, Alixus stops before him. "I trust you will not be meddling with anymore technology?"

Spock, in answer, adjusts his stance, standing at an unyielding parade rest, eyes laser focused on the box his captain is locked in. "I will not be moving, you can be assured of that."

It is hours (months, years) it seems like when Alixus returns with a jug of water and a change of clothing. She barely glances at Spock before gesturing for someone to open the door. When Kirk staggers out, he is drenched in sweat, uniform still on. His face is heated and flushed; he is panting with dehydration.

"James." She nods her head at him in cool disdain. Spock is moving forward before he can stop himself, but a glance of sky blue eyes stops him. He can feel the look on his own face – yearning and terrified, but he quashes it down to be strong. "I thought you might be thirsty." Indeed, Kirk's eyes are riveted on the water. "I'd be glad to give you a glass… if you'd care to change out of your uniform."

Spock feels the moment stretch and though he can hope for Kirk's answer to be what he wants (Say yes. You are overheating. You could die. The Enterprise is too far away. You could die. Just say yes.) he knows what it will be. Because his captain is prideful and arrogant, but he has every reason to be, and Spock cannot fault him for that. But even so, when Kirk spins around and staggers back into his oven, slamming the door behind him, the sound rings in Spock's ears for minutes afterward.

One hour. Then two. Then three, four, five, go by. And when it seems this is less of a punishment and more of a death sentence, Spock decides he has had enough. He'll save the captain and get him back onboard the Enterprise or he'll die trying. So he heads back to his room, finds his phaser and pulls it apart, intent of finding a setting that will bypass the duonetic field. He is tunnel-vision focused on his task, so intent on it, that it is only Joseph's startled exclamation of surprise that clues him in to his visitor.

Spock glances up, slow and languid, eyes carefully blank. "I will save my captain. And I will return him to his ship." It is not a question, but a fact.

Joseph is quiet for a long, long moment and Spock cannot begin to wonder what is going through his head as he eyes the equipment in Spock's lap. After his contemplation, he says, "I was never here." And then he leaves as quickly as he had appeared.

Spock waits a long beat, but it seems Joseph is going to keep this quiet, so he continues to work with calm desperation until, with a beep and a flashing light, his phaser clicks on. Immediately afterwards, there's a crackle from his communicator.

"Jim? Jim?!"

Spock would know that frantic twang anywhere. "Doctor McCoy."

"Spock! What the hell is going on you green-blooded bastard? If Jim is hurt – "

"During my previous interaction with the captain he was mostly uninjured, but –"

"Mostly uninjured?!"

"- time is of the essence, doctor. There is no time to explain. Lock on to my location, but stand by. The captain is currently being held in a metal device that I fear will block a transporter beam."

"What? Oh yeah, Scotty couldn't find him, I thought…" His voice is choked.

"Not if I can help it, doctor. Stay locked on me, as soon as you can lock onto the captain, beam us out."

"Understood, Commander."

The communicator clicks off and Spock stands, bracing himself for what is sure to be a chaotic ordeal. He plans out the most plausible scenarios and the chances of success. He adamantly refuses to imagine a scenario where Jim does not make it out of that box alive.

On paper, the rescue is picture perfect. Spock walks like he is supposed to be walking across the courtyard, and, as always, when you walk with purpose, people assume your walk has a purpose. No one questions him. No one thinks to ask where he is going and why. It is not until he is standing beside Jim's cage that they glance about, hesitant and wary. It is not until he pulls his phaser out and blasts off the lock that they stir, frantic and angry, and try to stop him.

But by then it is too late. By then Kirk has tumbled out of his metal coffin, Spock's name on his lips like a lifeline and collapsed into his arms. By then, the Enterprise has suddenly seen Kirk's signal, locked onto, and beamed them out.

Spock's last view of the planet as his atoms scream apart is the positively livid face of Alixus as she watches them go.

His report is brief, to the point, "no fluff" as Jim likes to say. But in reality, he is almost broken with how his captain came out of that box. Rematerializing on the Enterprise and Jim is nearly catatonic with dehydration, nearly delirious with heatstroke. His eyes are like blue lanterns in his flushed face and he is staring at Spock like some prophets stare at images of their gods. He has not stopped repeating Spock's name like a mantra, a litany he is reciting over and over and over.

It resonates somewhere in Spock's chest. Even now, hours later, he can still hear it ringing in his ears. Like a prayer. Like a salvation.

McCoy's report that he has sent Kirk back to his quarters, rehydrated and without the looming threat of sunstroke, makes Spock as joyful as a Vulcan can be in mixed company. "That is excellent news, Doctor."

"Excellent, huh? That's a pretty emotional word for you, isn't it?"

"I am not sure what you – "

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever." The doctor sighs, voice loud and static over the intercom. "Listen, if I'm being honest with you, it was a close call. The kid was an hour, maybe two, away from being so dehydrated his organs shut down." The thought of that snaps through Spock like a whip, sudden and intense. "You managed to get him out in the nick of time." Not quick enough, in Spock's opinion. "Don't beat yourself up like I'm sure you already are." There's a loaded pause. "And go check on him. It'll make you both feel better."

"Doctor – "

"Don't even start with me, kid. I'm old. I'm not an idiot." And the line clicks off.

Now, Spock could dwell on all the undercurrents in the good doctor's statements. Could try and puzzle them out, figure out what he knows, how he knows it, what he should do about it. But, in the interest of being truthful to himself, he doesn't really care what McCoy thinks he knows or how he found out. He wants to see Jim and that's all that really matters to him.

The captain's quarters are cool, which is not really a surprise. But the coolness shivers across Spock's warm Vulcan skin like a winter breeze. Just the sight of Jim sitting in nothing but loose sleeping pants and a tank top is enough to make him shiver. His eyes slide lazily open at the sound of his door whoosing open and when they see who it is, Jim sits up, eyes tentative. "Hey Spock."

He nods. "Captain, I came to verify for myself that you were recovering adequately."

He blinks. "I, uh, yeah I guess so." He laughs, suddenly, the sound high pitched and forced, and sheepishly rubs the back of his head. "Say, uh, Spock? Did I… did I say anything… well Bones said I was delirious and shit and I just wanted to know if well I said anything… weird… when you rescued me?"

Spock suddenly remembers the litany of Spock Spock Spock being whispered in hushed, breathy tones into his neck as Jim hung limp and pliant against him. Any thought of waving off Jim's concerns as dashed when Jim can clearly see the answer in his eyes.

"Shit." Jim looks positively ghostly with shock. "I'm sorry, for whatever it was. It was nothing, I don't know what I was – "

Two steps and Spock is beside the bed, staring down at his captain, vibrating with the energy thrumming through him at the memory of his name being repeated like it was the only thing keeping Jim with him.

"Captain." He pauses, starts again. "Jim." Jim stops his tirade and stares up at him, waiting for the inevitable hammer to fall. "It was not nothing." His captain's face starts to fall, but goes rigid with shock when Spock makes a graceful slide to his knees, so he can look up at Jim instead. "Jim, it was not nothing."

"I – " He swallows. "What… what did I say?" He's visibly cringing as he waits for the answer.

"My name." Jim appears taken aback at that, even more so when Spock lifts his own trembling hands to place them over his captain's. "Just my name." Jim swallows again and the very nervousness of the gesture makes Spock more comfortable with his own nerves. "But it was as if it was the only thing holding you here." With me. He doesn't say that, but the words hang there in the air between them.

When Jim turns his hands to grasp Spock's, its more than words could ever say. When he smiles, it is sunrise. When he leans down to press their lips together, it is a supernova. When he whispers Spock's name, it is paradise.