AN: Also, to those of you who are familiar with Gibbs' rules, I'm leaving out the ones that are obviously crime-related (like the real rule 2). So the numbering is gonna be off on a lot of these.

Rule 2 – Never Be Unreachable

Rule #2 was actually the first rule Kirk and Spock managed to agree on. After Kirk's death, Spock refused to let him out of sight unless it was with a communicator. Kirk never could find it in him to be angry about it. After all, he was frightened for Spock as well. He still remembers his last thoughts as the world faded into blackness – the ship is safe, but Kahn is still out there.

So they made an agreement – they were never to be unreachable, unless previously agreed upon. Kirk waited a long time before telling Spock he wouldn't be reached for one night. He didn't really want to scare the Vulcan any more than he already had. As predicted, Spock wasn't thrilled with the idea, but he respected Kirk's need for privacy.

They don't engage the exception to their rule often, maybe once a month or so. Day one of shore leave is that exception. Day two they have lunch and dinner together, playing chess after the evening meal and enjoying talking about anything that isn't duty-related.

Day three everything goes to hell.

Kirk can't reach Spock. He wants to know if Spock wants to play chess with him that evening, or if he'd rather have some alone time with Uhura (they haven't spent much time together since the whole Kahn incident, and Kirk just hopes he's not the reason for that) but Spock isn't answering his communicator. It makes Kirk's blood run cold. This has never happened before.

He decides to contact Uhura before he starts panicking. "Kirk to Uhura."

"Uhura here. What's up?"

"Is Spock with you?" Kirk can practically see the look he's no doubt getting in response to that question. Still, Uhura gives his question a serious answer.

"No. Last I saw him was yesterday at lunch. Is something wrong?"

Kirk curses rather impressively. "I can't reach him." He doesn't wait for Uhura to respond. He closes the communicator and takes off down the hall of the resort, racing to Spock's room. He's glad he still has his phaser at his hip – he doesn't know what he's about to walk in on. He doesn't bother buzzing in. If Spock can't answer his communicator, he won't be able to answer the door. Instead he punches in the key code and lets himself in, phaser drawn.

"Jim!"

Spock is in there (thankfully), lying in a bloodied heap by his bed. His communicator is on the pillow, where he always keeps it when he's meditating. In a flash Kirk is beside him, assessing the damage as well as he can. Green blood trickles down the Vulcan's face from a deep gash on his forehead, and he's been stabbed several times. Kirk tugs his shirt up, trying to see the wounds better. His hands are shaking as he pulls out his communicator.

"Kirk to McCoy. Spock's room – now."

"I am fine." Spock attempts to sit up. "Jim – "

"Stay down!" His hands are still shaking as he puts pressure on the deepest of the wounds. "What the hell happened, Spock?"

The Vulcan grunts. "A thief. I was meditating – he caught me by surprise. I was struck in the head with something heavy, and he stabbed me when I wouldn't stay down." He meets Kirk's gaze, and the captain almost laughs at the indignant fury he sees there. "I imagine he would have continued if my communicator hadn't gone off. He was not very stable."

Kirk can't quite choke back a laugh. It comes out rather hysterical. "Yeah, anyone who would attack a Vulcan isn't stable, Spock." he says, relief almost taking him off his feet. If Spock can joke, then he's fine. "Looks like Rule 2 saved the day."

Spock smiles at him. It's not a human smile, but it's a smile nonetheless, and Kirk grins at him in return. "It would appear so."

That's when McCoy arrives. "Holy shit. Seriously, you two can find trouble no matter where you go." He kneels down beside Kirk and pulls out his med kit. "Okay, Jim – I need you to move now. This space is cramped as it is." Kirk nods and starts to pull back, but Spock reaches out and grabs his wrist.

The skin-on-skin contact gives him a brief glimpse into Spock's mind before the shields come back up. The Vulcan is – well, scared is not the proper term for it. Unnerved, really. He's been taken by surprise, and that doesn't happen often. So Kirk moves out of McCoy's way and settles down beside Spock again. McCoy just shrugs. "Okay, that works too."

McCoy works in silence. The wounds aren't that deep, despite the sheer amount of blood everywhere. He chalks that up to the Vulcan moving around when he shouldn't have been, trying to reach the stupid communicator. By the time he's finished, Spock has gone into a healing trance. McCoy looks up at Kirk. "Finished."

Kirk nods. "He's okay now?"

"He will be. I'd like to keep him on the Enterprise for observation, but moving him now would be a bad idea."

"Well, will moving him to the bed be bad?" Kirk asks, wincing a little at the awkward position Spock is in. "He's putting a crick in my neck, and I'm just looking at him." That makes McCoy chuckle, but the two of them lift Spock and lay him on the bed. Kirk removes his bloodstained shirt and pulls a blanket over him.

"You gonna stay here with him?" McCoy asks.

"Of course." Kirk glances at him. "I'm the captain; it's my job."

"Heh. You and I both know that when it comes to Spock, nothing is just your job." the doctor teases. "Actually, I'll keep watch for a while. You need to go inform the station commander that some crazy person is going around stabbing people he can't steal from."

Kirk rolls his eyes. "Shit. I hate paperwork."

"Get used to it, kid."

The captain grabs his communicator and phaser before walking away. He stops at the door. "Let me know if he wakes up before I get back, okay?"

McCoy sighs. "Jim, it wasn't that bad. It could have been – it could have been really bad – but you found him in time. Looks like your silly rules aren't so silly after all. Yes, I will let you know if he wakes up." Kirk nods, glances at Spock, and leaves.

He's completely unaware of the blood on his hands until he makes his appearance before the station commander. In retrospect, he probably should have washed up first, but at least this way he got his point across much better. Threats alone can only do so much.

When he makes it back to Spock's room, Uhura is there, sitting beside him. Kirk winces. "Sorry. I should have told you he's okay." he says quietly. He's never been in the same room with Spock during one of his healing trances – is it like sleep or a coma? He doesn't know, so he keeps his voice down. He doesn't need McCoy to tell him waking the injured Vulcan up would be a bad idea.

Uhura just stares at him. Kirk can see the tears she won't let fall. She doesn't say anything to him. She just gets up and leaves the room. Kirk sighs and settles in beside Spock.

"Dude, I think Uhura is pissed at you." he says to no one in particular. "If you need a place to hide when you get better, you know where to find me."