Heya, here's the next part of T'Amona. And in record time too! XD Considering how long it usually takes me to update my stories... *hangs head in shame*
But anyways, onwards! Read on and review people, let me know what you think. ^^
Oh, and by the by, this beginning bit is from the actual end of the movie, so I dont own that, ok? :D
Star date: 2258
Location: USS Enterprise
"Thrusters and impulse engines at your command, sir." Sulu said, expertly working the controls of the Enterprise in his capable hands, flicking numerous important switches and buttons to prepare the ship for takeoff.
"Weapons systems and shields are on standby." Chekov added in his thick accent, glancing back over his shoulder as he too fiddled with the controls at his station. Thankfully the young Russian ensign had regained consciousness and was completely sober now, thanks to a hangover concoction hypospray to the neck from Dr McCoy.
Lieutenant Uhura spun around gently in her chair, turning to face the turbolift doors that had just opened to reveal Captain James T. Kirk, who looked rather dashing in his new yellow uniform shirt, if he did say so himself.
"Dock control reports ready." Uhura said, crossing one dark shapely leg over the other without flashing her underwear beneath her short uniform skirt. That was quite impressive actually, considering just how short that skirt was. "Captain."
The slight sarcastic emphasis she put on his title didn't go unnoticed to Jim, but he could tell by the little smile she gave him while she said it that she didn't mean it in a nasty way. He knew that their relationship would be mostly based on sarcasm and rolled eyes, as it had been right up from the moment he met the beautiful Nyota Uhura in that bar where, moments after meeting her, he'd had the living shit beat out of him by a huge man he'd nicknamed 'Cupcake'. It was pretty ironic that Cupcake now served under him on the Enterprise. Now Jim could taunt him into a livid rage and get away with it. Oh the perks of being a Captain.
Jim looked around the bridge, taking in the faces of his crew with a warm feeling spreading through his chest that reminded him of how a proud father would look down at his newborn son. And Jim honestly did feel that way. He was proud of his crew. Every last one of them, even if he knew them well or their names escaped him, he was so damn proud.
He made his way down a couple of stairs and caught sight of his good friend Bones. His good friend Bones who'd barged into his room at the crack of dawn and shot him with a hypospray before Jim had even had chance to leap out of bed and run for cover. His neck still hurt, but he resisted the urge to wince and rub his throat, instead reaching out and slapping Bones on the shoulder, his sapphire eyes sparkling with delight.
"Bones, buckle up."
Bones rolled his eyes and shook his head in amusement as Jim continued past him to the Captain's chair that was now all his, and was sat waiting for him. Jim couldn't help feeling ever so slightly smug as he sat down, his hands running over the cool metal armrests. He took a few moments to savour the feeling before he pressed the communicator for engineering.
"Scotty, how we doing?"
"Dilithium chambers at maximum, Captain." The Scotsman answered immediately, and Jim could practically hear the happiness in Scotty's voice. God, that man loved the Enterprise more than he loved his own mother. It was borderline obsessive, actually, if Jim was being completely honest.
Smiling to himself, Jim released the intercom and looked around his crew again, unable to resist. And it was at that moment that he realised someone was missing. Someone who really shouldn't be missing, considering he was Jim's First Officer. Spock. Where was he anyway? It wasn't like Spock to be late for anything, especially something as important as this.
Jim glanced around again, double-checking that the half-Vulcan wasn't hiding in a dark corner somewhere. There was no sign of him. Jim felt a small swell of sadness rush through his chest. He knew he and Spock didn't exactly see eye-to-eye on almost everything, but did he really hate Jim that much to leave the Enterprise without saying a single word to him? Obviously he hadn't said anything to Uhura either, since Jim doubted she'd still be smiling if she knew Spock had turned tail and run for the hills. He hadn't mentioned anything in any of the bars last night, but then again, Jim hadn't exactly been at his most sober, so even if he had, Jim doubted he would've remembered.
Jim bit back a sigh that would've been a mixture of misery and annoyance. Well, more annoyance than misery. Dammit, he'd need another First Officer now. And as much as he wanted to deny it, no one could do a better job than Spock had. He'd been sort of getting used to having Spock at his right hand.
'Ah well,' he thought glumly, 'life's a bitch. Spock's loss.'
Jim looked over towards Sulu, his smile slowly returning.
"Mr Sulu, prepare to engage thrusters."
Sulu's response was drowned out by the hiss of the turbolift doors, and Jim attention was instantly diverted as he swiftly turned his head in that direction.
The doors gently slid open and a familiar tall, dark-haired, dark-eyed, green-skinned half-Vulcan stepped out onto the bridge.
"Permission to come aboard, Captain?" Spock inquired as the turbolift doors shut smoothly behind him with another hiss. Jim felt his lips curl upwards into a smile.
"Permission granted." He said. Spock walked further into the bridge, making his way down the stairs towards his Captain. Jim rose to his feet, meeting him halfway.
"As you have yet to select a First Officer, respectfully I would like to submit my candidacy" Spock stated, coming to a stop in front of Jim. His hands were clasped behind his back, as Jim expected they would be. "Should you desire, I can provide character references."
Jim fought back the wide grin that threatened to spread at Spock's words. He was silent for a moment, more for suspense than hesitation. Because, lets be honest, there was absolutely no hesitation about it.
"It would be my honour, Commander."
Spock inclined his head respectfully to Jim, averting his rich chocolate brown gaze quickly as he continued on past the Captain, heading for his station. Jim stood there for a moment, nodding his head once with a satisfied smile as he turned and sat back down in his chair. His chair… God, it felt so good to say that.
"Manoeuvring thrusters, Mr Sulu."
"Thrusters on standby." Sulu answered. Out of the corner of his eye, Jim saw Uhura turn back to her station, the smile on her face wider than ever.
"Take us out." Jim instructed, sitting up a little straighter in his new chair.
"Aye aye, Captain."
They'd barely been up in the air for more than three hours before Captain Kirk was being communicated by Bones in the medical bay.
"Jim?"
"Yeah, Bones?"
"Jim, come down here. The Vulcan girl's awake." Bones hesitated a moment. "You should bring the hobgoblin with you."
"I was going to bring him down with me anyway." Jim answered, smirking slightly as he heard Bones mutter something about pointy-eared bastards under his breath as he cut off the communicator. Jim rose from his chair, stretching his arms out widely with a contented sigh as the slight ache in his muscles was eased.
"Mr Sulu, you have the conn. Spock, we're needed in the sickbay. Sounds like our guests are coming back to the land of the living." Jim said, gesturing for his First Officer to follow him as he headed for the turbolift As expected, Spock fell into step beside the blond Captain and they entered the turbolift side by side, Jim reaching across Spock to press the button for the right floor. The doors hissed shut and the lift began to descend.
Last night, Jim thought it was safe to say that all of them had been so damn shocked to find a Vulcan on earth. Not that Vulcans didn't visit earth from time to time, but Jim knew that practically every remaining Vulcan in the universe right now was heading straight for New Vulcan, a planet they had claimed as their own that was similar to the one they'd lost so they could begin to repopulate and restore their numbers. New Vulcan's climate was as close to the original Vulcan's as they were going to get, and they'd been lucky that it had been uninhabited. The Enterprise's first mission was involved with New Vulcan, naturally. Vulcan had been an important part of the Federation, and the new colony needed technology and other necessities to ensure the continuation of their race and the growth and development of their new home planet. Basically, the Enterprise was responsible for the safe delivery of that technology and necessities. It was all ready and waiting in the cargo bay. In less than a week, the Enterprise would arrive at New Vulcan.
But Jim remembered the look on his First Officer's face when he'd stared down at the unconscious girl in his arms and realised that she was Vulcan. His usually stoic features had gone slack momentarily, his rich chocolate brown eyes widening in disbelief. It'd only lasted a couple of seconds, but Jim hadn't missed Spock's lapse.
Jim glanced over at Spock now. The half-Vulcan was stood stock still, staring straight ahead with his hands clasped as they always were behind his back. His face was emotionless, set in its usual neutral expression. He blinked freely, waiting patiently for the lift to come to a halt.
"Spock?" Jim suddenly spoke, turning his head so he was fully looking at his First Officer. Spock turned his own head with an elegant grace that Jim would never be able to achieve.
"Yes, Captain?"
"What d'you think?"
Spock blinked once, tilting his head a little to the side in apparent confusion.
"I think a great many things, Captain. Perhaps you should be more specific." He replied in his deep yet even baritone. Jim reached up with one hand and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, feeling a bit of a tool.
"Uh, I mean what d'you think about her? The Vulcan girl." He clarified. Spock inclined his head once more, this time in thought. Well, at least that's what Jim guessed it was. After spending so much time around Spock, Jim was beginning to pick up on little things that Spock did in accordance with his moods. He was even starting to notice brief flashes of emotion in his eyes every now and then. Usually it was either anger or annoyance, but hey, that's a start, right?
"I do not know a substantial amount about her yet, Captain, so my thoughts on her are currently inconclusive." Spock answered, logical as ever. Jim nodded slowly, running a hand through his thick blond hair.
"Same here, I suppose." He shrugged as the turbolift came to a smooth stop and the doors slid open. Stepping out from the turbolift, the Captain and his First Officer made their way down the short corridor to the sickbay.
Jim suddenly let out a laugh and nudged Spock playfully in the arm, grinning at the half-Vulcan when Spock looked towards the blond man, an almost infinitesimal furrowing of his tapered eyebrows that didn't pass unnoticed by Jim.
"Let's hope she isn't as uptight as you, Commander." Jim winked. Another reaction from Spock that hadn't passed unnoticed to Jim was how the half-Vulcan had tensed his body when Jim's elbow touched with his arm, and how he'd subtly moved himself away from the contact. Vulcan's didn't like to be touched, Jim knew, but he couldn't help it. He was a naturally touchy person. Whether he was giving a friendly slap on the back or throwing his arm around someone's shoulders, it was entirely normal for Jim. And he sometimes forgot that his First Officer hated to be touched. Spock had already given up on reminding him about it after about the twentieth time it'd happened.
"Indeed." Spock said, stepping back so the Captain could enter the sickbay before him. With an appreciative smile that Spock didn't return, (not that Jim had expected him to), Jim sidestepped the half-Vulcan and made his way through the doors into the medbay, Spock following his lead.
"They're my patients, and I'm not going to let some white-suit quack take them off my hands just because we're going offworld tomorrow. They're coming back with us so I can treat them properly in my medical bay!"
Those had been Bones's exact words last night when Sulu had suggested taking the two survivors to the local Terran hospital. Needless to say, no one had been about to argue with McCoy, and when Spock had logically added that the Vulcan girl would need to be transported to New Vulcan as soon as possible, and that the young human boy would be safe and well-cared for aboard the Enterprise as they hadn't been able to find anyone willing to take him in at such short notice, that just made the whole idea even more final. So here they were, on board the Enterprise. And now, the girl was about to find out that she was on her way to the new Vulcan colony and the boy to discover he had no family left. Jim wasn't looking forward to that conversation.
In the sickbay, the first thing Jim noticed was that curtains had been drawn around one of the biobeds, and Dr McCoy was standing beside it, his back turned to Jim and Spock. Hearing their footsteps as they approached him, Bones whirled around to face them, the expression on his face thunderous as he wrung his hands together as though he was trying to prevent himself from strangling someone.
'Uh oh,' Jim thought, 'I know that face. That's how he usually looks when someone severely pisses him off. Usually when he's around me or Spock. Mostly me, though.'
"Are all you Vulcans so Goddamn stubborn?!" Bones immediately hissed at Spock, but before either he or Jim could respond, one of the curtains were drawn back and there stood the Vulcan girl survivor from the fire, her head bowed as she kept her gaze solely down at her hands where she was just finishing rewrapping them in fresh bandages. Jim blinked, momentarily thrown. 'Wait, shouldn't Bones be the one doing the bandaging?' Shooting a quick glance at his friend, he quickly got a good idea as to what he'd meant about Vulcans being stubborn.
The girl was struggling a little with the bandages and Bones stepped forwards to help her.
"Here, let me get that…"
Her head shot up and she levelled him with a stare that was so cold it literally froze him in his tracks. Jim was sure the room temperature had just dropped a few degrees.
"Please refrain from physical contact with me, Doctor." She said in a voice that was somehow soft yet icy at the same time. Now Jim was both surprised and concerned. He was used to Spock with his emotionless demeanour, but he had never thought that a Vulcan could be so… so cold. They're not supposed to act like that, are they?
Jim looked over at Spock, frowning slightly. Almost as though he'd read his mind, Spock met the Captain's gaze and turned his head marginally to the left then to the right. It was almost imperceptible, but Jim understood perfectly. No, Vulcans aren't supposed to act like that.
Belatedly realising that she had company, the Vulcan girl's head whipped around towards Jim and Spock. And Jim instantly took in everything he saw before him. The girl was young, barely more than a teenager, and she was small and slender. Her elfin face was more beautiful than he could remember it being, but that's probably because her green-tinted skin was clean now instead of smeared with blood and ash like it had been last night. Her hair was long and sleek, a waterfall of pure ebony down to her waist with a straight fringe just above her tapered eyebrows, and he could only just see a glimpse of her pointed ears beneath the dark silky locks.
The black robes she was wearing were still torn, bloodied and burnt, and she'd taken off the top half and tied it around her waist so it looked like she was wearing a long skirt. Bandages encircled her entire torso, the white cloth covering her breasts and stomach completely from view. There was a nasty inky coloured bruise covering her left shoulder, as well as a necklace of bruises around her throat that looked sickeningly to be in the shape of handprints. Someone had obviously grabbed her by the neck and choked her hard enough to leave those cruel marks on her skin. But who? The boy's family who had died in the fire? Had they abused her? No, that couldn't be right. Even if a gang of fully-grown Terran men had set upon that girl, no way would they've been able to subdue a Vulcan. She would've easily beaten them, and she would've walked away completely untouched.
And if that family had somehow hurt her, Jim highly doubted she would've risked her life trying to save the boy from the same fate as his parents like she did. It wouldn't have been logical, so a Vulcan wouldn't have done it. But she had.
Through one of the many burnt holes in her robes, Jim could see another bandage was fastened around her left thigh. A few patches of her skin were a lighter colour than the rest from where Bones had used his dermal regenerator on most of her burns and cuts. This girl had been through hell, and it was obvious that the majority of the damage hadn't been caused by the blaze.
The expression on her face was one that no one in the room had been expecting. The amount of pure emotion on her Vulcan features was enough to bring Jim's mind to an abrupt shuddering halt. Her full greenish lips were pressed together into a tight line, and her eyes were wide and burning with so much life and unrepressed feeling that Jim was starting to wonder if she was really Vulcan at all. And if that weren't enough, Jim noticed that her eyes weren't the typical dark brown they should be, and were instead a bright sparkling cobalt blue, only a shade or two darker than his own.
'Who the hell is this girl? Or rather, what the hell is she?'
The very moment she caught sight of Jim and Spock, those cerulean orbs grew even wider with disbelief. She cast her stare slowly from Spock to Jim, and the blond Captain noticed that there was more than disbelief swimming in her eyes now. He didn't know what exactly, but if he had to name it he would've said it was a mixture of wonder and relief, as though she'd just found something that had been lost for a long time.
Her eyes fully met Jim's, blue searing into blue. And if it was even possible, her eyes tripled in size. Jim could've sworn he saw tears brimming in them, but none fell.
"Admiral?"
Jim looked around briefly for a second before he realised she was talking to him.
"Admiral?" He frowned, 'Yeah, I wish.' "No, I'm Captain James T. Kirk of the USS Enterprise." He'd already started with introductions so he decided to finish them. "This is my First Officer, Mr Spock, and you've already met my Chief Medical Officer Doctor McCoy. And you are…?"
"My name is of no consequence, so you are not permitted to learn it." She cut across him, staring him down while still managing to blink freely. Uncomfortable silence followed her words and the tension in the room cranked up a notch. Out of the corner of his eye, Jim noticed that his First Officer's posture was even stiffer than usual, and the tiny tightening of the green-tinted skin around his lips and eyes gave him away even though he was trying so hard to keep his features stoic. He looked pissed. Really pissed. As in, I'm-going-to-strangle-you pissed. And Jim was all too familiar with that, speaking from experience and all…
The Vulcan girl glared at Jim a little more and then looked away, her right hand coming up to gingerly touch her bruised shoulder, barely suppressing a wince as she did so. She might've been Vulcan, but she was nowhere near as good as Spock when it came to hiding her emotions. Jim could easily read the pain in those unusual eyes of hers.
A soft groan suddenly cut through the silence in the medbay and four attentions were immediately diverted. The Vulcan girl spun on her heel and yanked back the curtain at the opposite side of her bed, revealing another biobed currently inhabited by the young human boy, blond-haired and befreckled. She was at his side so swiftly that Jim had blinked and actually missed her moving.
"T'A…mon…a…" The kid murmured as he began to stir from his sleep. One bandaged hand went straight to his forehead, smoothing back his blond locks tenderly from his face, the Vulcan's expression almost motherly. The sharp inhaling of breath came from his right, and Jim resisted the urge to glance over at Spock questioningly, instead continuing to watch the girl with the boy.
Bones came up to the other side of Jim, and signalled away from them with a quick jerk of his head. Jim nodded and the three of them turned and walked a fair few metres away from the strangers, out of superior Vulcan earshot.
"So what's the diagnosis, Bones?" He asked. Bones shot a quick look over his shoulder before leaning in a little closer, just to make absolutely sure they weren't being overhead. Leonard McCoy and paranoia got on about as well as Leonard McCoy and alcohol, and Jim knew from personal experience (again) that the good doctor could drink him under a table ten times over, and still be as sober as when he started.
"The kid's going to be fine. He just had a few cuts and burns that I've already sorted out, and a pretty nasty gash on the back of his head which only needed a couple of stitches. He'll be right as rain in no time. But the Vulcan… she's a different story."
"The majority of her injuries were not sustained during the fire." Spock observed.
"Damn straight they weren't." Bones agreed. "She has a deep slash running from her right collar bone, down her back and ending a few inches above her left hip. It looks like it was done with something extremely sharp, maybe a spearhead or some weapon like it. I stitched it up the best I could when she eventually let me, but it'll leave one hell of a scar.
"There's also a nasty phaser burn on her left thigh and a few superficial burns from the fire here and there, but she let me fix them to some extent with the dermal regenerator. Her left shoulder was dislocated, but she sorted that out by herself. Trapped her arm between her knees and punched it straight back into the socket."
Jim winced, goosebumps tingling his spine as he imagined the sound her shoulder had made when it popped back into place.
"What about her hands?"
"Ah… Jim, I have no idea what happened to her hands. She wouldn't let me look, or even scan them with my tricorder. She just asked for fresh bandages and drew the curtains while she changed them."
"She wouldn't let you? Whenever I won't let you help me when I end up battered and bruised in places I didn't even know I had places, you just jab a hypospray in my neck and I'm out before I hit the floor!"
"Yeah, Jim, but you aren't more than twice as strong as me, and you can't nerve pinch me in under a second like a Vulcan can." Bones pointed out dryly. Jim blinked, then turned to look slyly up at Spock.
"Nerve pinch?" He asked, devilishly intrigued for a second before realisation suddenly dawned. "Ahh… so that's how you knocked me out on the bridge before you marooned me on Delta Vega." Spock's eyes flickered momentarily as he inclined his head but he didn't answer, instead returning his attention to Bones.
"Did she inform you of how she sustained those wounds, Doctor McCoy?"
"Did she hell." Bones snorted. "She didn't say a single word. Wouldn't even acknowledge me when I asked about them. Damned stubborn pointy-eared pixie."
"Pixie, Bones?" Jim repeated, grinning despite himself. Bones massaged his temples as he sighed heavily, obviously thinking 'God, give me fucking strength.'
"Well, I can hardly call her a hobgoblin now, can I? That title's already taken." He shot a dirty look up at the taller half-Vulcan First Officer that Spock feigned ignorance to noticing.
"T'Amona… Where are we? Are you ok? Your shoulder…" A youthful voice asked softly with an unmistakeable tremor of fear and uncertainty. Kirk turned back to the occupied biobed, his movements followed perfectly by Spock and Bones. The blond-haired kid was struggling to pull himself up onto his elbows, and the Vulcan girl pushed him gently but firmly back onto the bed.
"I'm fine, Damien. We're both fine. We're safe now." She assured him as he reached out and brushed his shaking fingers delicately over her bruised shoulder. This time she did a much better job of concealing her pain, her features staying completely even, her eyes remaining impressively calm and untroubled. The kid, Damien, nibbled his bottom lip anxiously, his dark brown eyes darting up from her arm to meet her soft gaze.
"My mum and dad…?" He whispered so quietly that she had to lean in a little to hear him. His eyes were impossibly wide and desperate as he stared up at her, and Jim watched as she sadly shook her head once before averting her gaze from his. The boy stared at her in horror-struck silence, his face scrunching as tears brimmed in his eyes and overflowed down his pale cheeks. Without warning, he threw himself against her chest, wrapping his arms tightly around her waist and weeping his heart out into the front of her bandages. At first, her entire body had frozen rigid, just like Spock's had when Jim nudged him earlier, but to Jim's total unexpected shock, she soon relaxed into the young boy's embrace, brushing her fingers soothingly through his hair as she murmured words of comfort in his ear.
Jim's heart felt like it had been clamped in a vice and squeezed. Damien's sobs echoed around the entire sickbay, and both Spock and Bones looked uncomfortable with the emotional scene before them. Well, Bones looked uncomfortable, shifting from foot to foot while Spock had pointedly turned his head away to the side, his hands clenched so hard behind his back that he was in danger of ripping his own arms off. And Jim couldn't help it. He tried to resist the sudden urge that swelled up inside him, but it just wasn't happening. He crossed the room with a few easy strides, and before his common sense caught up with his impulses, or before anyone could shout out a warning, Jim's hand landed consolingly on the Vulcan's undamaged shoulder.
Not one of his best ideas, he abruptly realised when he found himself being slammed bodily against the nearest wall, his feet dangling a good few inches off the ground while a slender bandaged hand gripped him by the neck. Cerulean eyes glared into his with nothing but pure undiluted fury as the Captain's airway was clamped firmly shut beneath her greenish fingers.
"Don't touch me!" She snarled, her voice thick with venomous rage. Jim gagged and choked, trying to pull her hand from his throat, cursing Vulcan superior strength when no matter how hard he yanked, she didn't budge an inch.
"T'Amona!!" Damien shouted from where he'd been abruptly left alone on his biobed. Jim could see the expression of horror and disbelief on his freckled face as he stretched his hand out towards them as though he was attempting to pull the enraged girl back from the other side of the room. But before he had chance to throw back the covers and run over to them, a larger green-skinned hand seized hold of the girl's bandaged wrist.
Both she and Jim looked up to find Spock standing incredibly close, the look on his face unmistakeably the same as it had been that time on the bridge when he himself had strangled Jim. And Jim instantly felt sorry for the girl who was about to be on the receiving end of a severely pissed-yet-logical reprimanding from Spock. And by reprimanding, he meant he was about to make her feel like shit in the space of about three seconds.
"Release the Captain immediately, or I will forcibly remove you from him." Spock ordered, the tone of his voice almost as cold as hers. Jim's vision was starting to turn hazy, black creeping in from the corners. His lungs ached for oxygen and he could feel his pulse pounding unbearably hard through his head, making it difficult for him to think straight. Luckily for him, his First Officer's threat had managed to cut through the girl's rage and she instantly let go, stepping back gracefully as Captain Kirk came crashing to the floor with a hell of a lot less grace.
Bones was swiftly by his side, his hands going straight under Jim's armpits as he heaved him back to his feet. Jim held onto him, coughing harshly and massaging his throat until the room stopped spinning and he could breathe properly again. He couldn't actually see his attacker anymore, since the back of a blue uniform shirt and a head of sleek dark hair in front of him were obstructing his view.
Spock stood between the girl and the Captain like he was his own personal bodyguard, blocking Jim from view and harm with his deceptively slender form. And Jim had to admit he was surprised. Hell, he was more than surprised! Who would've thought it? Spock acting Jim's very own Vulcan shield to protect him from other psychotic Vulcans. Not Jim, that's for damn sure.
"I advise you to keep your distance. If you attempt to murder the Captain again, you will spend the rest of the voyage below. Do you understand?" Spock warned her. By 'below' he meant locked up in one of the cells in the brig. Basically, the threat was: Try to kill Jim, end up in jail. Only it sounded much more impressive and foreboding coming from Spock.
The girl didn't answer. Jim peered around his First Officer and saw that she wasn't even looking at Spock, instead staring down at her splayed bandaged hands as though she couldn't believe what she'd just done. Jim would've bet his new Captain's chair that she hadn't even been listening to the older Vulcan.
"T'Amona!" Damien cried, darting over to them after he'd wrestled himself free of the bedsheets. Jim suddenly realised that that was the Vulcan girl's name, whereas before he'd thought the kid just been murmuring incoherent words having just woken up. He looked about ready to fling his arms around the girl once more, but he threw on the brakes when he was less than a foot away from her. And when Jim looked back at her, he immediately saw why.
T'Amona was no longer looking at her hands. She had folded them demurely in front of her, and her head was bowed so all Jim could see was the crown of her onyx head. Her sapphire eyes were fixed on the ground at her feet and her long hair had fallen forwards, hiding her elfin features behind two curtains of black.
A jolt of unease shot through Jim's chest. The way she held herself… humble and submissive, making eye contact with no one… He'd seen this pose before. But not from her.
This was exactly how his mother used to look whenever Frank started with her. Every time he lost his temper, every time he shouted the house down, every time he abused Winona Kirk. She always looked like this. It was always the same.
And he was seeing it all over again in the Vulcan girl named T'Amona.
"Forgive me." She whispered. Jim's heart clenched again. "I shouldn't have… I don't know why I…"
Her entwined fingers were twitching like a couple of dying spiders, and Damien leaned close to her and laid his smaller palm over her injured hands. He stared up at her, his eyes clear and warm despite being ringed with red from crying. T'Amona glanced down at him and swallowed audibly, her throat working hard.
"I need to meditate." She eventually spoke again, her voice even less than a whisper now.
Feeling strangely helpless and confused, Jim glanced back at his First Officer for guidance. Spock was frowning openly, his forehead creased the deepest Jim had ever seen it. And that wasn't all that he could see. What looked to be repulsion and incomprehension swirled in the depths of his rich chocolate-coloured irises, and at that moment, Jim could truly recognise the human side of the half-Vulcan.
Damien patted T'Amona's hand before rounding on the Captain, glaring up at him as though it had been entirely Jim's fault that the boy's Vulcan friend had tried to kill him.
"Who are you and where are we?" He demanded with so much authority that Jim actually blinked at him in surprise.
"I'm Jim Kirk, Captain of the USS Enterprise." Jim told him, "This is Spock and Dr McCoy. We're heading for New Vulcan to deliver some important cargo."
Damien surveyed him with scrutiny for a few moments. Jim stared back at him, smiling pleasantly. After a while, the kid muttered something and wrinkled his nose, flicking his gaze from Jim, to Spock, then back again, ignoring McCoy completely.
"Are they part of the 'important cargo'?" He asked. Jim frowned at him.
"What? Who?"
"T'Amona and Spock. Are they part of the cargo you need to deliver? I heard my mum and dad talking. They said the planet the Vulcans lived on has been destroyed, and that every Vulcan in the universe was being transported to New Vulcan to help rebuild their race. That's what you want T'Amona for. And Spock too."
The kid suddenly stopped there, realisation dawning on his youthful face.
"Wait, aren't you…"
"Damien." T'Amona cut across him, the tone of her voice firm even though she still hadn't lifted her head and made eye contact with anyone. The way she said his name sounded almost like a warning to Jim, and the boy obviously took it that way because he reluctantly fell silent but continued to stare up at Spock in curiosity and suspicion.
"I need to meditate." T'Amona repeated.
Jim nodded and turned to Bones, who had been watching the whole thing from the sidelines and hadn't said a single word yet.
"Bones, what d'you think? Are they well enough to be discharged from here?" He asked. Bones gave him a wry smile, shaking his head slightly in a mixture of exasperation and amusement.
"I think it's pretty obvious they're well enough, Jim. The fact that they're actually on their feet and trying to kill you kinda gave it away."
"Hey, I haven't tried to kill him yet!" Damien cried indignantly.
"Notice how you said 'yet', kid."
"I would never kill him." T'Amona murmured quietly, but everyone heard her. And everyone stared at her incredulously. Well, not everyone. Spock was doing a pretty good impression of a Vulcan statue and Jim would've thought he'd actually died standing up if it weren't for the telltale rising and falling of his chest as he breathed.
"That statement is a contradiction to your previous actions." His First Officer stated, not even looking at the smaller Vulcan, staring at a fixed point on the wall a little above her head.
T'Amona shook her head and didn't answer.
"You leave her alone!" Damien growled at Spock, moving to stand in front of T'Amona in the same protective way Spock had stood in front of Jim. His brown eyes narrowed almost into slits and his mouth was stretched taut in an angry slash across his face. "You've got no idea what she's been through!"
Spock stared the boy down effortlessly, his calm gaze such a contrast to the heated vehemence in the young Terran's eyes.
"We are both in the same situation. The planet that was taken from us was as much mine as it was hers. I carry the burden of our loss as heavily as she does."
"That's not what I meant! She's hurt really bad! Can't you see that? The last thing she needs right now is people like you making everything worse, especially after what happened back at the…"
"Damien, stop. Please." T'Amona interrupted once more, this time pleadingly. Damien worriedly glanced back over his shoulder at her and then looked away miserably, his shoulders slumping as though he carried the weight of the world on them. Poor kid. He'd just lost his family, and the only person he has left is a seriously troubled Vulcan girl who probably needs more help than he does.
'Especially after what happened back at the what? What are these two hiding from us?'
The kid brought his gaze back to meet Jim's.
"Can we go now?" He asked despondently. Jim smiled at him reassuringly and the boy managed a weak half-hearted twitch of his lips in return.
"Yeah, sure you can go. Right, Bones?"
"Hang on, let me scan you first, just to make sure." Bones replied, seemingly whipping his trusty tricorder out of nowhere and proceeded to wave it over the boy. Damien looked quite scared now, staring uneasily at the device in Bones's hand as it passed over every inch of his body, reading his vital signs and displaying them to the Doctor.
"You're fine." Bones grunted to the relieved boy before moving forwards to do the same to T'Amona. Without looking up, she dodged gracefully out of his reach, the meaning crystal clear. McCoy swore under his breath and pocketed his tricorder, turning away from the Vulcan female.
"And apparently she's fine too." He muttered as he walked towards the previously occupied biobed and proceeded to straighten out the covers, pointedly ignoring the others crowding his sickbay. Jim could tell he was irritated. It didn't take a genius to figure that one out.
"Mr Spock," Jim addressed his First Officer. "Please show our guests to their temporary quarters."
Spock inclined his head to him slightly in acknowledgement, also looking less than impressed with their newest 'guests'.
"Yes, Captain." He answered smartly, turning on his heel and proceeding to make his way out of the medbay, Damien and T'Amona not far behind. Just as she got to the doorway, T'Amona raised her head and looked back at Jim with an unreadable expression on her face, those bright azure eyes of hers piercing directly into his. She opened her mouth to say something, but caught herself at the last moment and swiftly exited the room after Spock and Damien without a second glance, the doors sliding silently shut behind her.
Jim sighed heavily, running one hand through his hair while the other came up to massage his bruised throat.
"Why is it that every Vulcan you meet, they all end up trying to kill you somewhere along the line?" Bones inquired dryly. Jim glanced over to find his best friend standing with his hands on his hips, his head tilted to the side in amusement as he stared at him.
"Hardly every Vulcan, Bones. Just the crazy ones." Jim retorted, feeling about a hundred years old instead of twenty-five. "And anyway, it's not only the Vulcans who want to kill me, but quite a few other species as well."
"Yeah, usually within the first ten seconds of meeting you." Bones agreed. Jim snorted in response but didn't deny it. The truth hurt, after all.
"To be honest, I'm surprised you ever lived past twenty."
"You and me both, Bonesy. You and me both."
They shared a comfortable silence for a couple of seconds, the only sound Bones's shoes squeaking on the floor and his clothes rustling as he fussed around the biobeds, finishing tidying the covers and replacing all his medical tools and instruments he'd used back to their respective places.
"Something isn't right." Bones announced, and Jim jumped slightly, having not expected him to speak. He didn't bother asking what he meant, because he had a pretty good idea already.
"You feel it too, huh?"
"Yeah… that Vulcan's injuries, they couldn't have come from the boy's family. No way. We all saw how the kid was all over her like a Goddamn rash, and he's the only one she'd let touch her. We're missing something here, Jim. Something big."
"So what if we are, Bones? She's not going to tell us. Hell, she wouldn't even let the kid tell us." Jim groaned. An idea suddenly sprung to form in his head and he stood up a little straighter, a hopeful smile spreading across his handsome face. "Hey, d'you think we should get Spock to talk to her? I bet he could get it out of her, Vulcan to Vulcan, y'know?"
Bones looked at him as though he'd just shouted that he wanted to bend him over the nearest biobed and ride him like a cowgirl. And even though that idea was a damn scary one, Jim had to admit that the expression on McCoy's face was absolutely fucking hilarious.
"Are you insane, Jim?" Bones gaped at him like he couldn't believe the blond Captain's stupidity. "Didn't you see the way Spock was looking at her? He's disgusted by her, Jim."
"What're you talking about? Sure, he looked a little more tense than usual, but he wasn't disgusted."
"You didn't see his eyes. He was disgusted alright. Don't forget that an emotional Vulcan isn't exactly welcomed with open arms to the rest of them, Jim. And I'll be damned if she wasn't the most emotional Vulcan I've ever seen. Even Spock isn't that emotional, and he's half human for God's sake!"
Come to think of it, Jim realised Bones had a very good point there. After that incident in the bridge where Spock had seized Jim by the throat and throttled him against the control panel until his legs had almost quit kicking, the Vulcan hybrid had regretted his illogical and emotional actions for God knows how long. He probably still hadn't forgiven himself for his raw human display in front of everyone. And his father had been there too. That was the worst part of it, Jim knew. Spock felt like he had failed his father, failed his Vulcan heritage. And it was entirely Jim's fault. Maybe that's another reason why he and his First Officers weren't exactly bosom buddies right now.
"Fuck." Jim swore. "That's just great. The last thing we need around here is a Vulcan pissing match, Bones. I can already see that happening. The minute the shock wears off and she goes back to her logical self, she's going to be a carbon copy of Spock, and they're going to absolutely despise each other. I just know it! Coping with one of them was hard enough, but two…" Jim looked up and levelled Bones with a tired knowing stare. "This is going to feel like the longest voyage of our lives, Bones."
"You don't have to point out the obvious to me, Jim." Bones drawled, rubbing the bridge of his nose wearily. "All I can say is that I'm glad most of my time is spent down here instead of on the bridge. The only time I'm going to see either of them in the next few days is if they suddenly fall ill or if they both lose their rags and try to kill each other. Other than that, there'll be no Vulcans crowding my sickbay."
"You'll probably be seeing a lot more of me, though." Jim chuckled, grinning widely at the older man. Bones smirked straight back at him.
"Yeah, trying to stop you from killing yourself."
"Actually, I was thinking I might 'accidentally' maroon myself somewhere."
"Not Delta Vega, I hope. You nearly got eaten last time."
"Hell no, not Delta Vega. I'd rather be castrated than go back there."
"And then you'd lose your will to live along with your most frequently used body part."
"Ouch, harsh, Bones. I'll have you know I haven't slept with anyone since Gaila, and that was ages ago."
"Hardly ages, Jim. But I have to admit I'm surprised you've lasted this long without sex. Must be a record for you, hm?"
"Oh, har-de-har, Dr Comic Genius. Just because you haven't been laid since the Stone Age."
"The Stone Age? Well, maybe that's because I actually have standards, unlike some, Jim, since you'd sleep with any slut who opened her legs for you, even if she had blue skin or five sets of eyes or something. Hell, even if she had tentacles instead of legs, you'd still screw her." Bones retorted. Jim laughed loudly, admitting defeat as he threw his arm around Bones's shoulders.
"Ah, I love you Bonesy. This place would be just so damn boring without you and your sunny disposition to brighten my day." Jim grinned, gripping his friend in a one-armed hug. Bones rolled his eyes and grumbled, but he didn't pull away. He allowed himself to be hugged for a few seconds before taking hold on Jim's wrist and ducking out from under his arm.
"Go on, get outta here Jim. You've got a ship to captain, remember?"
"How could I ever forget, Bones?"
Jim flashed him the infamous James T. Kirk grin, the one that never failed to make every female life form within a ten-metre radius melt into a puddle of goo. Unless one of those female life forms happened to be Lieutenant Uhura, of course. Somehow she managed to resist the blond Captain's charms, something that Jim just couldn't comprehend. Not that he let that stop him every time he tried and failed to seduce the young woman, and got his ass handed to him as a result.
Speaking of getting his ass handed to him, Jim was still amazed at how much strength that Vulcan girl possessed in that tiny slender frame of hers. Sure, he knew they were naturally stronger than humans, but for some weird reason, Jim had taken one look at her and just instinctively assumed that she was a fragile delicate young girl. Boy, had he sure got that one wrong. She'd lifted him up into the air, for crying out loud! His feet had actually left the ground! How the hell did that happen?
Jim rubbed his throat again, wincing.
Bones was instantly in his face, whipping his tricorder out so fast that he almost gave Jim a third nostril.
"Can you breathe alright? Do you feel any obstruction in your airway? Dammit Jim, don't downplay this. If it hurts, tell me. For all we know that pointy-eared green-blooded pixie could've crushed your larynx." Bones ranted, scanning Jim's throat at least three times, just to make sure. Jim swallowed experimentally and he felt Bones's fingers ride against the ridges of his windpipe with the action.
"I'm fine, Bones. Really. And if she'd crushed my larynx, would I even be able to talk right now? Or, more importantly, breathe?" He pointed out. Bones didn't reply, glaring at him instead over the top of his tricorder. Jim wisely shut up then, knowing the good doctor was mere moments away from pulling out one of the many hyposprays that lived in his pocket and jabbing him with it out of spite.
"Just bruised, by the looks of it. Could've been worse." Bones paused for a minute, looking thoughtful as he frowned at Jim's neck, scrutinising his newest bruises with such intensity that Jim thought it was a miracle he didn't burn twin holes through his throat with his eyes. "Actually… It should've been worse. Judging by how angry she was, she could've easily caused some serious internal damage to your throat, but for some reason she held herself back. Huh. Seems like she really did mean what she said about how she would never kill you."
"I usually have that effect on women." Jim quipped back, but inside he was thinking along the same lines. Why did she hold back? Why would she never kill him? And why doesn't she like to be touched? Ok, yeah, every Vulcan hated to be touched, but she just took that to a whole new level. T'Amona wasn't your everyday average Vulcan, that's for damn sure. And if she had been an everyday average Vulcan at some point in time, then she must've been in some seriously deep shit to turn her into how she was now. Poor girl. What happened to you, T'Amona? What changed you?
"Keep an eye on her, Jim." Bones warned, stepping back and taking his tricorder with him. "She's a really troubled young girl. She isn't thinking straight, lashing out in anger, and she has total physical aversion to everyone's touch but the kid's, and these aren't good signs at all. Whatever you do, don't piss her off, Jim. A troubled Vulcan is a damn dangerous Vulcan, and one wrong move could just about be the last thing you ever do. And Spock won't always be around to save your hide like today."
Jim chuckled, although that thought made him slightly uneasy. He'd already been on the receiving end of a pissed off Vulcan, and that'd almost been the last thing he'd ever done. And then today too, with a different but similarly pissed of Vulcan. Jim really hoped that it wasn't going to be third time lucky for the next Vulcan who decided to throttle him.
"Aw, c'mon Bones, she said she'd never kill me." He pointed out. Bones frowned, deep lines etching themselves across his forehead.
"If I'm right then she might not be able to stop herself. With such large cranial capacities, Vulcans are increasingly susceptible to brain-related illnesses and diseases, more than twice the risk we humans are."
"Meaning we have a Vulcan onboard who's one more confrontation away from losing her marbles."
"Exactly. If she starts acting any more odd than she already is doing, you gotta let me know Jim, and I swear I'll hypospray her so fast she won't even see me coming. The last thing we need right now is a volatile Vulcan roaming the Enterprise."
"You got it, Bones." Jim nodded. He'd already intended to keep a close eye on their mysterious female guest. He was completely intrigued. Such injuries… the way she acted… so much emotion in her unusual coloured eyes… She was, to steal one of his First Officer's favourite words, fascinating. And the fact that she was a damn pretty girl made him all the more eager to learn as much as he could about her…
"Don't even think about it, Jim." Bones's voice cut through his thoughts, and Jim came back to reality with a bump, blinking at the Doctor.
"What?" He asked, his eyes widening with mock-innocence. Bones rolled his eyes and slapped his palm to his forehead harshly.
"Please, for the love of all that is holy, please Jim, don't go down that road. I know you have your reputation of a womaniser to uphold and all, but if you really value your life, don't go for the Vulcan!" Bones groaned. Jim grinned at him. Womaniser? Huh, he'd half expected Bones to call him a manwhore. Same thing really, but maybe womaniser was a bit less insulting. To him, anyway.
"Relax Bones, I'm not that suicidal."
Bones glanced up at him, his eyes narrowing critically.
"She probably too young for you anyway." He pointed out. Jim shrugged, conceding the point.
"Yeah, probably. But maybe she looks younger than she actually is. You never know."
"And I bet you intend to find out, don't you?"
Jim's grin grew by a couple of molars.
"Damn straight I do!" He laughed. Bones shook his head, muttering something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like "The next time she tries to strangle you, I hope she does a better job of it."
"You and me both, Bonesy!" Jim chuckled, ducking out of the sickbay before Bones could grab a hypospray and fling it after him like a dart.
Might be a while until I update this next, I've got really behind on Are You Afraid Of The Dark and I Can't Believe I Love You. I've been neglecting them for too long, so I need to work on them right now before some of my readers end up actually murdering me. Alex, Clare, you know who you are! XD
Anyways, hoped you like, go ahead and leave me a review will ya? Pretty please! ^^
See ya next time!