Captain James T. Kirk—he loved how that sounded—sat sipping his coffee in a quiet corner of the mess hall. Soon enough, the crew would be awake, and filing in for breakfast. He wanted to enjoy the silence for as long as it lasted.

He read over the latest reports, and learned that the Enterprise was running smoothly. No emergencies or major mishaps to speak of, and there were no signs of enemies approaching. Lt. Uhura had intercepted a foreign transmission, but after conferring with Spock on the translation, assured him that it was nothing to worry about.

He wondered how long the peace would last.

"Captain Kirk."

Jim looked up from his papers, and gave a little smile. "Commander Spock."

"Might I have a word with you, Captain?"

"Of course, Spock. And you don't have to call me that."

"You are my superior. It is your title. I—"

"Okay, I get it. Have a seat, and we'll talk." Jim gestured to the empty seat across from him. Spock sat down, suddenly looking very uncomfortable. And his thumbs, what were they doing?

Fidgeting. Spock was actually fidgeting.

Jim sipped his coffee to hide his grin.

"Why don't you tell me what's got you all hot and bothered?"

"I find myself in need of your assistance."

Jim lifted an eyebrow. It wasn't often that a genius asked for his help. How could he refuse?

"Anything for you."

"I would like to gain access to Lt. Uhura's sleeping quarters."

Jim snickered. "I would have thought you'd already gained access."

"Now is not the time for your double entendres, Jim."

"Alright, I'm sorry. What do you need from me?"

The crew had slowly begun to shuffle into the mess.

"When the time comes, I will inform you."

Spock very coolly walked away from the conversation, leaving Jim shaking his head.

In a matter of mere seconds, Spock had overridden the security panel safeguarding Uhura's quarters, and simply walked in.

"Why do you even need me?"

"To keep watch."

"Keep watch? I'm the lookout?!"

"If that is what you choose to term yourself."

Jim peeked into her room while Spock rooted around for whatever it was he wanted. It was not the cleanest of rooms, but certainly not the dirtiest. He liked to think that he held that title. Clothes lay scattered on the floor, a pristine white bra hung over the back of a chair. All of these were things that Spock seemed to ignore.

"You are certain that she will not return soon?" he asked, eyes locking on something next to the bed.

"I'm positive," Jim assured him. "I sent her on one hell of a wild-goose chase."

From his crouched position beside Lt. Uhura's bed, Spock slowly turned his head, and stared at him.

"I'll explain it later. Hurry up!"

Kirk pressed his back against the outside wall again, trying too hard to look nonchalant. People stared at him as they passed, to which he replied with a wave, and a, "Hi, how are you today?"

"There is no need to rush me," Spock said, emerging from the room. "I have what I came for."

"Let's see it then."

Spock slid the object into Kirk's hands while he repaired the security panel, which took all of about two seconds.

"A book? All of this for a book?" He opened it, and thumbed through. "It's not even in English."

Finished with the panel, Spock snatched the book back. "That is of no consequence."

"I thought you wanted a pair of her panties, or something."

Really, the whole ordeal just seemed a waste of time now.

"Panties?" he said, contemplating the word. "What use would I have with her panties?"

Jim just shook his head. "Nevermind."

OK. Let me start off with saying that all of you guys are awesome! And, I know that this is mostly filler, but you have to have filler to get to the good stuff, right? And it's pretty important filler. :)

Next thing—it was brought to my attention that even though I set this story after the film, I made our favorite pair seem as though they hardly knew each other in the first chapter. This little problem has been fixed, I hope, and I encourage you all to re-read the chapter. If you liked it just the way it was, forget I said anything. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, the same goes for you.

Part #3 is coming up next!