A/N - And here's the final part enjoy!


Spock's dreams were confusing and fleeting; moments of the fight replayed in his mind as he saw himself through a red haze. He grew more restless as images flashed of Jim gripped in Khan's hand's utterly helpless, Jim lying in a pool of steadily growing crimson, Jim dead.

The Vulcan woke with a start as he detected something making contact with his arm; his hand immediately shot out to defend himself and came to land on warm skin. He opened his eyes and looked into the face of Doctor McCoy who still held a hypo-spray next to the first officer's skin; it took Spock a little longer than usual to connect the injection with his awakening. Bones stayed silent and calm as Spock readjusted to his surroundings and ascertained he was in no danger; the Vulcan released his grip on McCoy's arm and relaxed back in bed. The Doctor hadn't flinched and didn't look angry after the reflex if anything he looked amused which was curious.

"Welcome back to the land of the living sleeping beauty." The jovial tone helped Spock bring himself fully back into alertness; not that he would tell the good Doctor that of course.

Spock ignored the sarcastic barb and instead ran a critical eye over his surroundings; his eyes fell on a bed to his right and his chest dropped as he saw the occupant: Jim. The Vulcan attempted to garner as much visual evidence as he could to ascertain his Captain's condition; Spock was honestly just relieved to see the man alive. His dreams had left him rather unsettled.

Spock's attention returned to the Doctor as McCoy ran his tricorder over Spock's frame, and referred to his clipboard; adding notes in areas and correcting some in others. The Vulcan tested his throat with a cough before beginning his evidence gathering; he needed information.

"How long?" Spock's throat sounded a little unsteady even to his own ears.

"Three hours and 42 minutes." McCoy supplied helpfully his attention still on the readings; Spock knew the Doctor always had trouble with his Vulcan physiology with it differing so far from a human's.

This information puzzled the first officer for a few moments; he should not have remained unconscious for such an extended period of time. After further analysis Spock detected hints of a sedative circling his blood stream; McCoy read his mind before he could voice the accusing query.

"And yes you're damn right I sedated you. I wanted you to stay put for more than 10 minutes to actually let me do my job."

Spock closed his eyes to regain control that Doctor McCoy had unknowingly just toppled; he was clearly still compromised. Spock hated not being in control and the Doctor had taken that away from him; whether it was in his best interest or not was beside the point Spock had a duty to this ship and he could not perform said duty whilst unconscious.

"Doctor what if there had been an emergency on the bridge?"

Doctor McCoy clamped down onto the obvious guilt trip immediately snapping at his patient. "For god's sake Spock we're obviously still alive; if there had been a problem Scotty would have dealt with it."

Spock wanted to argue the case further but the Doctor didn't give him a chance; he resigned that there was no logic in trying to debate the past with McCoy as it would not change his current predicament. It was like the old earth idiom he had often heard the crew use 'It's no use crying over spilt milk.'

McCoy grinned triumphantly at Spock's silence. "So want to hear the diagnosis?"

Spock accepted his fate grimly and nodded slowly.

"Well you certainly gave the bone knitter a good workout; 4 broken ribs, both arms sprained, heavy concussion, skull fracture, irregular heart rhythm not to mention severe bruising and a broken hand from your run in with the wall; nobody can believe you punched through dura-steel by the way but there's a Spock shaped hole to prove it!"

Spock listened as the Doctor reeled off the rather large list and winced at the last detail; another distressing reminder of his complete loss of control and cause of his current shame. He had attempted to keep track of his own injuries during the ordeal, but it was evident his concentration must have been effected as some of the injuries were news to the Vulcan.

"I did not intend to strike the wall Doctor." Spock interrupted in a grave tone; the moment in question haunting his mind. He illogically felt his broken hand flinch as he remembered the white hot pain shooting up his arm as the wall crumbled beneath his will; it was a wonder he had been able to bury the agony.

"No I know." McCoy replied evenly knowing full well that the blow was meant for Khan.

The Doctor coughed as an awkward silence fell between the pair; he finished his scans and moved onto a visual examination of Spock's injuries poking and prodding areas to assess the Vulcan's response. Once the Doctor was satisfied with the progress of Spock's healing he turned his attention back to his patient's mental state.

"How are you feeling?"

For a fleeting moment Spock considered stretching the truth and simply stating that he was fine; the notion didn't last long as Spock knew McCoy would see straight through any subterfuge. There was no point in lying.

"Sore." He answered finally, he would have to enter a Vulcan healing trance to speed up his recovery but the bone knitter had evidently done a good job.

McCoy's brows rose at the honesty and Spock could see by the other man's features that the good Doctor was clearly shocked.

"I'm not surprised after that fight, you two really didn't pull any punches." McCoy murmured thoughtfully.

Again Spock felt deep shame tinge his features the Doctor was correct; he knew better than anyone how deeply he had lost control and to make matters worse some of the crew had seen him McCoy included.

"Speaking of which…" McCoy trailed off as he struggled to think of where to begin; Spock knew the Doctor wanted to ask about his out of character actions down in engineering.

"Doctor can we postpone this conversation to a later date." His tone was strained, features pained. Spock needed time to sort through his thoughts before bringing them to the forefront where they could prove to be uncontrollable.

"Spock I really don't think you should bottle this up…" McCoy began gently before being interrupted by the first officer again.

"Please Doctor."

McCoy stopped in his tracks and really looked at the Vulcan; he had never heard Spock plead with anyone. Perhaps Spock did need time to sort through it all on his own first.

"Okay Spock but this conversation is delayed not cancelled." He wagged a warning finger at Spock jovially.

"Understood." Spock replied seriously.

McCoy cleared his throat at the awkward silence. "Now am I going to have to sedate you again to get some rest or will you go into one of your Vulcan voodoo malarkey's."

Spock didn't dignify the latter with a response. "Doctor there are other matters to attend to first." Spock's gaze landed on Jim's steady breathing.

McCoy relinquished his hard stare as his compassionate side let out, of course Spock would not rest until he knew Jim's condition. The Doctor sighed and then headed over to Jim's bed and monitored the readings; their friend looked peaceful as he rested and thankfully the pain no longer scarred his face.

"Well he's finally out of the woods." McCoy began. "He's still in an induced coma while we monitor his condition; so far no bleeds on the brain, brain activity looks normal and the pressure has reduced. We're going to keep him under until at least tomorrow to ensure full regeneration of the tissue up there, and actually having him unconscious all this time has allowed the bone knitter and tissue regenerator to do it's job. Usually with all his squirming and escape attempts we have to do half of the procedures again!"

Spock listened carefully to the Doctor's analysis and was dismayed to learn the information did little to ease his anxiety; he doubted that anything would excluding seeing Jim awake. Hearing Jim had been placed in a medically induced coma confirmed Spock's fears; his Captain's head injuries were severe.

He tried the keep the edge of panic out of his voice. "How long will he be incapacitated Doctor?"

"It's hard to say for sure but we'll know more tomorrow if we can bring him out of it; I'm not going to lie Spock he was pretty bad when we got him here…"

Spock interrupted the Doctor before he could say anything that would make this guilty feeling too much to handle. "List of injuries?" Spock need data to truly know what state Jim was in.

McCoy sighed before reeling off the almighty list. "He had a sizeable skull fracture, pressure on the brain, broken nose, bruising to his larynx, broken collarbone, sprained arms, broken hand, several cracked vertebrae, displaced pelvic bone, 3 broken ribs on the left and 2 on the right, collapsed lung and his left leg had several tendons pulled and was sprained badly."

Spock's face betrayed nothing but inside he felt his anger simmering again; it was much worse than he had imagined. Khan had inflicted so much damage all because he couldn't protect his Captain.

Bones' gaze softened as he recognised guilt fleetingly cross the Vulcan's features. "It wasn't your fault Spock."

"It is my duty…" Spock began wearily; they both knew it was up to him to keep the Captain out of danger and he had failed.

McCoy interrupted the first officer hotly. "You know as well as I do that Jim is his own worst enemy; he rushes into danger without any thought to himself."

Spock could not deny McCoy's statement was truthful; it did not help abate his guilt in the slightest though. Bones' gaze drifted to his friend's sleeping body wistfully and Spock shared the Doctor's sensation; he wished Jim would be less reckless with this own life; he wished Jim would wake up. Too often Spock and McCoy had waited by their Captain's bedside after missions gone wrong; more often than not Jim had rushed head first into danger and gotten himself injured.

Spock had evidently been staring at Jim for too long as McCoy noticed; not only did he notice but a gentle smile pulled at his lips. Either Spock's emotions were slipping too easily through his mask, which was entirely possible in his damaged state, or McCoy was becoming better at reading him.

"He's going to be alright Spock; we've performed surgery to fix the internal bleeding, his spine will have to have more bone knitter sessions but he will recover; well as long as he doesn't wake up and immediately start straining all the new skin and bones."

As much as Spock disliked having his anxiety noticed he was thankful the Doctor had sought to lessen it. The extra information surprisingly helped Spock a little; he looked more closely at Jim and noted he certainly looked better without the bloodied features and his breathing was no longer a haggard wheezing sound. Dr McCoy and his team had worked quickly and the Captain was far better for it.

Now that he knew Jim's fate Spock turned his attention to the ship. "And the Enterprise?"

McCoy's eyes narrowed for a moment as he internally debated whether to allow Spock access to Scotty's reports; the Vulcan had been pretty cooperative so far and Bones relented that the first officer wouldn't rest properly until he knew. Mind made up McCoy sighed and went to retrieve the reports Scotty had sent down every hour and made his way back over to Spock.

"You've got one hour to read this and send your messages Spock and then you're going back under. If you don't go into your healing trance then I'll just sedate you again." McCoy finished giddily a wide grin on his face; the Doctor was truly happy when he was in his element.

"Understood Doctor." Spock realised he didn't have much choice he was beaten; for now at least.

McCoy strode back over to the Captain and twiddled with controls on the bone knitter; he then proceeded back into his office most likely to type up Jim's latest condition. Spock took one last glance at his sleeping Captain before engrossing himself entirely in Scotty's reports.

It did not take long for Spock to read through the reports and reply to the relevant people with fresh orders; he needn't have worried as the ship was running smoothly. He allowed his thoughts to drift to another pressing matter as finally he was alone with his thoughts; he thought about his complete and utter loss of control. All his life Spock had dedicated himself to Vulcan teachings yet in a few short minutes he had disgraced his entire way of life; he felt unimaginable shame at the harsh truth but accepted it just the same. He had let his human side take over and so his worst fear had finally come to pass; it was clear his friendship to Jim had affected his actions there was no more pretending even to himself that the human did not compromise him.

The problem Spock was struggling with presently was how exactly he would go forward from here; it was clear if he wanted to rid himself of all temptations then there was only one course of action: a transfer. As soon as the thought crossed his mind he banished it harshly; that wouldn't solve the long term problem and would countenance to simply running away. Vulcans did not run away from their problems.

The thought of leaving wasn't only not fair to him it was unfair to his Captain; Jim Kirk was the finest man Spock had had the good fortune to meet and he was honoured to be a part of the man's life. The matter would require some deep meditation and Spock would have to dedicate more of his time to control especially as a weakness had clearly been discovered; his friendship with James T. Kirk.

Spock turned his attention back to the reports as messages returned to him following his queries; he shelved the other matter for another time and decided now was not the time for a dissection of the incident with Khan. Spock stamped down on a tremble in his hand at the thought; the hand that had almost murdered another.

As promised McCoy returned precisely one hour later and took the reports off of the first officer; he raised an eyebrow in open challenge when Spock didn't immediately lay himself back down again. The Vulcan held his stance defiantly for a further 3.4 seconds before realisation dawned that it was entirely futile; he could clearly see the hypo-spray held behind McCoy's back. With a sigh Spock lowered himself back onto the bed and prepared himself to enter a healing trance; McCoy flashed a victory smile.

Spock started to prepare his body for the trance cataloguing the state of all of his injuries; before he went under a nagging thought caused him to look over at Jim one more time. Even seeing him here seemingly on the mend Spock couldn't help but still feel anxious for his Captain; what if something happened when Spock was under?

"He'll still be here when you wake up Spock." The Doctor admonished.

Spock sighed wearily. "Yes thank you Doctor." There was no real bite to his tone though.

Spock closed his eyes and started to fall into a deep trance; the last thing he heard before he fell into unconsciousness was Doctor McCoy's chuckling.


Time flied past quickly aboard the Enterprise they had dropped off the prisoners at starbase 12 for trial and were now back following their usual orders; Spock was confined to sick-bay for a further day after exiting his healing trance much to his own chagrin and McCoy's delight. Spock had to battle to return to the bridge and McCoy eventually relented to clearing the first officer for light duties providing he allowed the Doctor to check up on him every evening and get plenty of rest. One sign of Spock not taking it easy and the Doctor had promised he would 'crash down on him like a tonne of bricks.'

Over the next two days the first officer stopped by med-bay too many times to count pestering Bones for an update to Jim's condition; of course the Vulcan didn't classify it as pestering but the Doctor certainly did. It took all of Bones' patience to not throw the Vulcan out on his ass after the 5th visit in one day but one look at the man's face destroyed McCoy's conviction; Spock was simply worried about his friend who hadn't woken up yet.

McCoy had taken Jim out of the coma on the 3rd day; he had decided to keep the Captain under longer after the pressure on the man's skull was slow to react. Bones explained that this was often the case when there were skull fractures in the mix not to mention how exhausted the Captain's body would be with all the other problems; it had turned out for the best anyway as this way Jim's other injuries were nicely healing without undue strain.

That was yesterday afternoon but Jim still showed no sign of waking; McCoy wasn't worried yet after all Jim's body had been through he had seen many cases just like this. Spock on the other hand was starting to panic and it certainly wasn't helping the first officer's guilt. That's why McCoy was relieved to be disturbed from his office work by Jim's monitors; the Captain was waking up. He hurried out of the office with a large grin plastered to his face; not even the sight of Spock hovering by the Captain's bed deterred him. How had he missed the Vulcan sneaking in?

McCoy checked Jim's readings by hand and anxiously waited for his friend to show any sign of awareness; one look up into Spock's face told the Doctor that he was also anxious to see Jim come round.

"Jim can you hear me?" Bones shook his friend's shoulder gently hoping the act would help raise the Captain out of his stupor; the man was going to be very confused and probably not making much sense when he did eventually surface but waking up for the first time was a good sign; not to mention it looked like Spock needed confirmation that Jim was still actually in there.

Jim felt heavy; all of his limbs were like lead and his body didn't want to respond to his commands. He could hear Bones' voice breaking through the fog in his mind and grow more prominent so he fought to break through the haze and surface; when had waking up been this impossible. He had to let his friend know he could hear him but all he could manage at the moment was unintelligible nonsense.

"Hmmm…"

His throat felt dry and his tongue would also not obey him; he felt a brief panic overtake him as he struggled to remember where he was. It didn't take long for his memories to flash back to the engineering section; he remembered Khan had set the ship to destruct and he remembered pain so much pain. In response he groaned lightly as his body echoed with the misery Khan had inflicted; that's why he felt so damn sore and it certainly explained the dull ache he felt in his bones.

"Jim I need you to open your eyes for me." Jim felt a hand on his shoulder gently shaking him out of his stupor; he followed the voice and fought to surface.

His eyes fluttered open slowly and immediately squeezed shut again against the blinding light.

"Computer: Lights 25%." Jim recognised Spock's voice and inwardly sighed in relief; the events down in the engineering room were rather fuzzy so he was glad to hear his first officer alive.

With the lighting down Jim managed to open his eyes again and it wasn't long before he adjusted to the new surroundings. Spock commanded the computer to slowly return the lighting to normal levels which was much appreciated by Jim; he glanced to Bones and noted the Doctor was busy taking readings.

His eyes latched onto Jim's a second later and the Doctor smiled widely; "Welcome back."

Jim wanted to say something anything but that was much easier said than done; he ended up harshly coughing in response. Bones and Spock helped him sit up slowly and Jim accepted the offered straw stuck in his face; water was exactly what his parched throat was craving.

"Here drink slowly."

Jim closed his eyes in relief as the cool liquid soothed his dry throat; water had never tasted so sweet. When he was done Spock and McCoy helped ease him back down onto his pillow; he bit back a grimace as a shooting pain danced up his spine.

"Thanks." Jim replied croakily.

McCoy hadn't missed the grimace and was busy scanning the area with his tricorder monitoring and recording his findings quietly. Jim took the time to properly gather his wits he glanced to his right and noted Spock stood rigidly with his hands clasped behind his back. Funnily the Vulcan seemed more reserved than usual and was unnaturally quiet even for Spock. It didn't pass by Jim's attention that his first officer was having trouble meeting his gaze for longer than a few seconds; something was wrong.

"The ship?" He asked desperately his mind already mocking his concern; if there was something really wrong then none of them would be having this conversation now.

Jim ignored Bones scoff as his eyes intensely scoured Spock's face for any bad signs.

Spock sensed his Captain's worry and quickly reassured Jim's panic. "All is well Captain."

Jim released a breath he didn't know he was holding; he could relax somewhat knowing the Enterprise was okay it seems he had gotten to the controls in time.

"Report please Mr Spock."

McCoy rolled his eyes and smiled knowingly. "Be brief please Spock; Jim won't be conscious for much longer."

Jim ignored the veiled threat and focussed his attention entirely on Spock's response; he knew he would never rest easy until he had been caught up. Spock reeled off a brief version events and informed the Captain of their current position. Jim had to try and fight his shock when he learned just how long he had been out of action for; he didn't like the feeling of not being control of his own ship.

In the time Spock spent relaying the facts; Jim's vision finally cleared properly and he felt much more like himself. There was a dull ache echoing throughout his body but nothing struck out as particularly painful only sore; from his grogginess he had obviously been pumped with a tonne of different painkillers and sedatives.

When Spock finished his report Jim nodded at the information; he was inwardly relieved Khan and his followers were off the ship. He would rest a lot easier knowing that danger had passed. The Enterprise was in good hands with Spock while he remained a captive in med-bay. McCoy had been busy scanning Jim's system whilst recording the new information; often accompanied by a hum of satisfaction. His blue eyes turned on Jim's as soon as ship's business was out of the way.

"How are you feeling Jim?"

Jim assessed his own body internally and realised immediately how exhausted he felt; his muscles all ached badly and he felt stiff as a board.

"Honestly?" Jim asked fighting off a yawn. "I feel like I've been hit by a train. Several times."

McCoy smiled sadly. "In a way you were."

Silence fell over the trio and Jim took the moment to study his XO more carefully; he remembered the Vulcan fighting with Khan. The Captain scolded himself for not checking Spock's condition earlier; perhaps he wasn't quite himself yet.

There were no physical signs of Spock's encounter; well none that Jim could see from his vantage point anyway. A strange look threatened to take over Spock's features which stopped Jim short; maybe he was imagining things but he could have sworn his first officer had just looked guilty. Surely the Vulcan didn't blame himself for this?

McCoy's gaze flicked between the two friends as the silence extended; Jim needed his rest but these two needed a moment alone more. The Doctor sighed as he accepted that Jim would not properly rest until he knew Spock was really okay; these two were just as bad as each other; stubborn to the last.

"I'll be back in 2 minutes Jim and then you're going back under to rest." He emphasised the last word strongly causing a smile to tug at Kirk's lips; the implied threat was perfectly clear Doctor McCoy took no prisoners.

Moments later it was just Spock and Jim in the room; the silence was almost deafening. The Captain fought against the urge to fidget and one glance up at Spock informed him that the Vulcan was struggling to stay put also. Spock's hands remained clasped behind his back as usual; back ramrod straight and eyes facing anywhere but his Captain's. Jim was struggling what how to start when surprisingly Spock beat him to it.

"Captain I must apologise for my actions and I submit myself to you for any disciplinary action you think necessary…"

Jim found his own jaw fall open in shock; what on earth was Spock talking about?

"Spock…" He croaked quietly before being completely drowned out as self-recriminating words continued to tumble out of the Vulcan's mouth at blinding speed.

"I have not only failed my ship, this crew but I have failed in my primary duty which is to protect your life Captain therefore…

Enough was enough.

"Spock stop!" Jim interrupted sharply forcing the first officer to stumble over his words and glance up at his Captain in shock; it was the first time Spock had met his eye.

"Captain?" Spock began in a confused tone.

Jim interrupted the Vulcan again before this got even more out of hand. "There will be no disciplinary action Mr Spock; I was the one who raced into that room without thinking therefore the fault lies with me."

"I should have…"

"Should have what Spock? As valiantly as you try I don't think anyone could protect me from my own recklessness." Jim felt ashamed; how long had Spock been feeling guilty for something Jim had caused.

Jim looked back up at his first officer and held his gaze; he hadn't freed his first officer from the burden of guilt but there was a flicker of amusement at Jim confessing to his own recklessness.

"I raced ahead of you Spock and that was entirely my fault; if I had stopped to think for a second then maybe I would have foreseen Khan's trap. It's a miracle I managed to halt the Enterprise's destruction; I was the one who put the ship in danger."

Spock remained silent as he muddled through Jim's confession.

"Spock you were the one who stopped Khan; you ensured the safety of the crew. Thank god for Vulcan strength."

The offhanded comment had been supposed to be jovial but Jim didn't miss the involuntary flinch and ghosted look that passed over Spock's features for a second; so his XO hadn't resolved his problems yet. He decided to steer the topic away and deal with one set of self-blame at a time; Jim was beginning to believe Spock was more stubborn than he was!

"…and if you hadn't come in when you had…" Jim paused as a tremor ran through his hand; he hadn't felt entirely helpless like that in some time. "I owe you my life Spock."

Spock's cheeks tinged with a faint green blush and the first officer looked exceedingly uncomfortable; he was embarrassed. The sight helped lift Jim's sprits he could see that Spock had taken some of his words on board; hopefully the first officer wouldn't blame himself any longer.

It took a few moments for Spock to get his uncharacteristic reaction under control. "You owe me nothing Jim."

Jim felt a fluttering in his chest as his and Spock's eyes remained locked; countless hidden meanings passed between the command team and Jim allowed himself to grin madly as all was right between them once more. It had worried him seeing Spock so reserved when he had first returned to the land of the living.

He cleared his throat as the room fell into a contented silence and veered the topic of conversation towards his first officer; he couldn't help but remember witnessing the Vulcan's hand gripped around Khan's throat' not to mention how his first officer had just reacted to Jim talking about Vulcan strength. Jim hadn't been aware of very much after Spock entered the room but he would never forget the way Bones screamed at the XO to stop; the Vulcan had clearly lost control and Jim knew how damaging that could be.

"So how are you doing Spock?" His tone reduced to a sombre note which Spock picked up on immediately.

His mask was back in place in a flash correctly assuming where this conversation was heading.

"My wounds are almost healed Captain; I am functioning perfectly well." The response was clipped.

Jim ran a calloused hand over his tired features as he fought off another wave of exhaustion; it wouldn't be long before Bones returned most likely with a sedative in tow.

"I didn't mean physically Spock." Jim met his first's gaze sympathetically; he knew Spock hated talks like this but Jim needed to know the Vulcan was up for command.

Spock's eyes turned to the floor as he suddenly found something very interesting to inspect on his boot; Jim could see the cogs turning in his friend's mind as he formulated a response. When he did finally voice his thoughts Jim was pleasantly surprised with the honesty.

"I am fit for duty Captain and to answer your question I am…" Spock struggled to find a term he was happy with in the end he resorted to something McCoy or Jim would have said. "…working on it."

Jim nodded slowly and acknowledged just how difficult that would have been for Spock to admit; the trust he held in Jim was humbling.

"Alright Spock. If you ever need anyone to talk to…" He let his words trail off as Spock's intense gaze met his once more.

Jim felt rather speechless as he watched Spock's mind sift through his Captain's words; he wasn't sure if he'd gone a step too far. His worries were quickly abated as Spock quickly cleared up his reaction.

"Thank you Jim." Spock replied genuinely moved and evidently grateful for his Captain's offer.

Jim nodded in response not trusting his voice to back up his thoughts; in truth he still felt a little bowled over. The pair were interrupted by the approaching footsteps of McCoy; the sound served to bring them both back into reality and in Jim's case he felt it ten fold. He couldn't help a yawn escape his strained throat which of course didn't escape the Doctor's notice.

"See you've tired him out Spock!" McCoy exclaimed with no real bite; Jim could see straight through his friends subtle attempt to test the waters. Bones was a Doctor after all and had known the pair of them had some things to sort out; he imagined Spock had been more uptight than usual for Bones to allow Jim and his first officer to talk. As Jim thought about it he realised the Doctor had been longer than 2 minutes…

Spock's brow rose at the accusation. "I can assure you Doctor it was Jim who tired himself out."

The first officer's body language remained still and projected perfect Vulcan control but Jim and Bones knew this particular Vulcan all too well; they both deduced Spock had acknowledged McCoy was winding his friend up and had replied in kind. McCoy's body language relaxed and he allowed a smile to tug at his lips; some air had certainly been cleared between the two stubborn idiots.

Jim didn't understand why he had to be the butt of the joke though and he was not tired. Even as the thought crossed his mind Jim found himself valiantly struggling to wipe the sleep from his eyes; his limbs felt heavy and he realised that sleep was threatening to envelope him again. Perhaps he was a little tired.

"Thanks for throwing me under the bus Spock." Jim muttered miserably unable to keep the exhaustion from seeping into his voice.

Spock looked affronted and shocked. "I would never throw you under a bus Captain."

Jim went to wave off his first officer as once again the Vulcan misunderstood the phrase but stopped short as he noticed Spock's lip twitching; the first officer was teasing him. The Captain glared at Spock who managed to keep his mirth under wraps far better than Jim did; it wasn't long before he started chuckling with McCoy following soon after.

Jim eyed the Doctor loading a hypo-spray and started to make a fuss. "I'm not tired Bones, stop mothering me!"

Jim knew he had made a mistake as Bone's face did not budge and his friend looked down exasperated. "Dammit Jim you've just woken up from a coma!"

His head shot round to Bones in shock at that latest piece of information he had simply assumed the Doctor had kept him sedated for him to be out this long; he must have been more seriously injured than he originally believed.

Bones sighed at his friend's reaction; he had assumed that his delayed awakening would have been covered in his conversation with Spock. He laid a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder and changed tact to friendly Doctor.

"Sorry Jim I thought ears would have told you." McCoy grinned as Spock acknowledged the barb by narrowing his gaze slightly. "We put you under to give your body the chance to start recovering especially your head; everything's on the mend now so as long as you don't aggravate anything we should have you out of here within the week."

Bones breathed in relief as he spied the tension leave his friend's shoulder's; Jim could really work himself into a state.

With a cheeky grin Jim decided to try his luck. "A week?"

McCoy glared at his friend but couldn't keep the infectious smile off his face also. "Yes Jim a week."

The Captain responded with an overdramatic sigh and his face stunk of mock despair; ever the drama queen.

"What am I going to do with you?" McCoy chuckled as he readjusted Jim's covers.

"Let me go?" Jim beamed happily and allowed his trade-mark grin to spread across his face; he almost managed to forestall his eyelids dropping but not entirely.

McCoy barked a laugh at the statement before bringing the hypo-spray into view. "Oh no my friend with the amount your body went through you can expect an extended stay."

"It was worth a try…" He muttered gloomily and resigned himself to his fate.

He felt his eye's grow heavier with each growing second and distantly felt McCoy inject the hypo-spray into his arm; his last sight was of Spock glancing fondly down upon him.


The next time Jim awoke he found Spock waiting for him; the first officer stopped by every day after his shift ended to update his Captain on the ship's progress. Of course the reports were just a subterfuge as Spock always stayed long after they had finished discussing ships business. Sometimes he would bring his chess kit and the pair would spend hours thrashing one another, and other times they would simply talk. Jim always asked for an update on the crew including Spock's recovery; his injuries were healing quite nicely and he hoped to be cleared by McCoy for full duty soon. Soon enough the distractions Spock brought no longer held Jim's attention; it didn't take long for Jim to become completely restless and so the plans for escape began.

On one particular evening Spock had noted his Captain's behaviour had grown more fidgety than usual, and the younger man was acting very peculiarly whenever McCoy came near. In their chess match Jim had been off focus and appeared to be on the lookout for the good Doctor; Spock refrained from calling his Captain out on the strange behaviour. Spock had just finished packing up the chess set when Jim's slightly crazed eyes met his and he spoke in an urgent whisper; the first officer was genuinely concerned until the words tumbled from Jim's mouth at lightening speed.

"Spock you've got to get me out of here!" The Captain hissed as he continually glanced around for any sign of McCoy returning.

Spock had to fight a smile emerging as his Captain's behaviour now made perfect sense; Jim had seemingly reached his limit in med-bay. In all honesty Spock had expected this response sooner; Jim had already been awake for 3 days.

"I'm afraid I cannot do that Captain." Spock replied regrettably; he felt Jim's pain over being cooped up but Jim needed to be here.

"But Spock I can't take it anymore!" Jim's eyes were wild and he shook his arms to emphasise his point.

Spock was interrupted before he could even start his reply by the swish of a door. Jim's eyes grew wide as McCoy strode into the room; Spock found the entire ordeal rather comical. The first officer spun to meet the good Doctor as he heard his footsteps halt; surprisingly Bones was glaring at both of them.

"Whatever conspiracies or escape attempts you two have concocted I want you to forget it." His demanding tone was directed at Jim in particular who sunk deeper beneath his covers at being caught out; Spock resisted the urge to roll his eyes at how childish these two fully grown adults were being.

McCoy's gaze suddenly flicked to him, "and you pointy ears visiting hours are over; let the Captain rest."

Spock flicked off the annoyance at the barb before turning back to Jim; he could see his Captain was pleading for him to stay, to help. The Vulcan had only stalled replying for 2.4 seconds but evidently that was too long for the good Doctor.

"Let me make this simple for you Mr Spock if you don't leave immediately I'll revoke your light duty status; haul you back in here and make you carry out the rest of your treatment sedated." Spock gulped as the threat reached his ears; he could think of no worse fate.

With one sorrowful glance back at Jim; Spock made up his mind. From the hurtful expression crossing his Captain's face he guessed Jim had figured it out also.

"I'm sorry Captain…" Spock meant it but this was for Jim's own good.

Jim flopped back into his pillows with an exasperated huff. "Fine fine… Leave me alone to my fate."

Spock was genuinely concerned for a moment over Jim's seemingly miserable attitude but he caught the slight smirk pull at his Captain's lips and so his worries were quelled.

The pair looked towards the door as it opened with a mechanical swish; Nurse Chapel entered and made a beeline for Doctor McCoy. Spock could make out the duo's conversation with his advanced hearing; the Doctor was needed urgently with another patient. McCoy threw the pair one of his famous glares before turning on his heel and following Christine out; Spock and Jim both caught the look McCoy threw their way before he scurried off and deciphered it's underlying meaning immediately.

We're not finished here…

Jim chuckled softly at his best friends behaviour his bedside manner was certainly an acquired taste. When Spock glanced back down at his Captain; Jim's smile widened into a full blown grin. To an outsider his first officer's expression was stoic but to Jim it was something different entirely; he could see the smile threatening to pull at the Vulcan's lips and the amused glint in his eye.

"I should take my leave Captain before Doctor McCoy makes good on his threat." Spock's voice was light and jovial.

As his first officer turned to leave Jim reached out and grasped his arm. "Spock wait a minute." he felt the Vulcan stiffen for a moment before the tension leaved his body at the unexpected touch.

Spock turned back to face his CO with a questioning gaze one brow slanted so high it became hidden beneath his fringe.

Jim didn't know how to begin but he had to get this subject off of his mind before it drove him crazy he already anticipated Spock to clam up, but he couldn't leave it any longer. Jim decided the best action was to just come right out and say it.

"You almost killed him." The statement was said as though Jim was reciting a fact but there was no reproach in his tone.

Jim noticed regrettably the change in his first officer's posture as the man became stiffer and his features once again resembled a blank mask; not willing to allow any emotions to slip by. It was too bad for the Vulcan that Jim could read his first officer like a book.

"That is correct." Spock replied stiffly.

The Captain had 1001 questions and queries about the entire affair down in engineering but now was not the time or place to grill Spock. Jim had heard from bones that Spock had been shaken after the incident and during said incident had been angrier than anyone had ever seen him. It seemed Spock had always been holding back on Jim when they sparred together; Jim knew that if he were to ever face Spock's full fury he wouldn't last two seconds.

Presently Jim only wished to know one thing of his first officer; not to mention the information might cause a revelation for the Vulcan too whom often worried too much about his damn emotions.

"What made you do it?" Jim asked softly.

To the Captain's surprise Spock didn't take long to formulate a response evidently he had already given the matter some thought.

"You Captain."

Jim already knew the answer to the next question before he asked it but perhaps Spock needed to hear it aloud, as far as Jim was concerned his first officer had made a decision and acted upon it based purely on emotion and he worried that this would make Spock become reserved around humans once again.

"What made you stop?"

Spock's eyes glistened with amusement and he sighed before answering indicating he knew exactly what his Captain was up to.

"You Captain."

Jim nodded thoughtfully still keeping up the pretence that this knowledge was new to him. A crafty response came to mind that was just too good to pass up; even if it was classified as blatant teasing.

"Forgive me if I'm overlooking something Spock but that seems highly illogical." Jim managed to keep a straight face until he uttered his first officer's favoured phrase; a grin pulled at his lips as Spock acknowledged the teasing for what it was.

The XO paused for a minute as if coming to a conclusion to an internal battle himself. "Actually Jim, if you think about it… It is the most logical statement in the world."

Jim was stunned by the sincerity of Spock's gaze there were so many hidden meanings behind those words; so much left unsaid. The Captain had become an expert at reading between the lines when it came to Spock; the first officer had just said something not only with his words but also with his eyes that had struck a chord with Jim.

'Because you are my friend.'


A/N - And that's a wrap! Hope you enjoyed this little piece :)

Until next time...