It's been a while, but with the end of this quarter of grad school, and the first month of the school year down, I have a bit of free time. I find that this is has been so fun to write! I hope you have enjoyed it.

As always I own nothing!

As Uhura made her way to the bridge, she couldn't get her encounter with Spock out of her mind. It was odd to have been subjected to that part of him, as he always kept himself under control. Yet, it had also been intriguing. It showed her that Spock could feel. Something he rarely let her see. While it hadn't come from her Spock, it was nice to see anyway.

When the door to the bridge slid open, Uhura paused momentarily at the sight in front of her. While the bridge crew was entirely the same on this ship as hers, the looks she was receiving were definitely something she wasn't used to. From Sulu to the science officer sitting in Spock's station, she was the recipient of hot, leering stares. Many of them expressing a looking of knowing, as if they had already succeeded in getting her attention.

Squaring her shoulders and holding her head high, she made her way to her station. The onlookers then returned to their previous tasks.

"Chekov, have you set phasers to target the Halkan planet?" Mr. Sulu asked, going back to the task at hand.

"Set and ready, Mr. Sulu."

"Good, good," Sulu, who seemed pleased with the results, left his chair, sent a knowing look to Chekov, and made his way over to where Uhura had just sat down.

As Uhura put her communicator in her ear, she was shocked to find herself sitting in the relfection of Sulu, who had resumed his leering of her scantily clad body. She avoided eye contact for a brief moment when she noticed the scar that ran the full length of his face, from his right temple down to just below the corner of his mouth. For a brief moment, she wondered if her counterpart had given it to him.

When she remained silent, he roughly grabbed her chin, forcing her head to tilt back in order to meet his gaze more fully.

"Well, Uhura?" He taunted.

"Well, what?"

"Still no interest? What could I do to make you come around?" He asked, adding the slightest pressure to her face.

"Shouldn't you be manning the helm, sir?" She asked through gritted teeth, understanding full well what his question meant.

"Who's here to see? The Captain? Spock?" Uhura didn't miss the slight emphasis on the way he said Spock's name, which meant he had to be aware of her relationship with the First Officer.

When she still didn't respond, he merely chucked and asked, "Want to play, little mouse? There's no cat here." At that she roughly jerked her face out of his hand, and raised back as if to slap him. Before she could make contact or he could retaliate, Kirk chose that moment to make his way onto the bridge.

As he entered, every crew member on deck stood, and saluted him, the same way the others had done before. With the briefest look at Uhura, Kirk returned the salute, relieving the crew, and they went back to work.

He made his way over to her, "Communications Report."

"All storm damage has been repaired, sir." As he leaned down to take the PADD from her hand, she whispered, "You have been ordered to destroy the Halkan planet. Phasers have been set."

With a discreet nod, he handed back the PADD, and made his way to the captain's chair.

"What is our status, Mr. Sulu?"

"Phasers set and locked, Captain. We await your command."

When Kirk said nothing, Sulu looked at him and repeated his statement with concern, "Captain, your command?"

"Stand by."

With a shocked glance as Chekov, Sulu looked at the planet on screen, looked back at Kirk, and did as he was told.

"Captain?" Kirk looked down at his chair intercom when Scotty beeped it. He had sent Scotty to engineering to see if he could stop the phasers from being set.

"Kirk, Here."

"Report: There has been no damage to the phasers, sir." He stated, almost in a resigned voice.

"Very good, Mr. Scott." Kirk didn't know what he could do now. What he needed was a good distraction to keep the Enterprise from firing on the Halkans. As he was trying to devise a plan, Spock came onto the bridge.

With a quick glance at Uhura, Spock made his way to stand beside the captain's chair. If he saw her distress, he made no mention of it.

"Captain, if we wait any longer, the planet will be out of firing range. Shall I give the order?"

"No, Mr. Spock."

"No, Captain?" He asked with the same concern that Sulu had shown earlier, his eyebrow lifting higher than usual? When Kirk made no notion to change his stance, Spock took action.

"Mr. Sulu, lock onto the planet."

Looking back at Uhura, Kirk stated, loud enough for everyone to hear, "Uhura, hail the Halkan Council."

"Yes, sir." As she did as she was commanded, she heard Spock, who's tone had begun to show more curiosity.

"Captain? Why do you wish to speak with them again? We gained nothing the last time you attempted to."

"Spock, you yourself said this was a new race, one which we know nothing of. Besides the crystals, there are other things on their planet which hold value."

"Yes, Captain, but were we to aim our phasers at one of their cities, we could preserve the planet at a whole. We cannot allow their refusal of the Empire's wishes."

"Yes, but then relations would be harder to build." Kirk left his chair to stand next to Sulu, "Put phasers on standby."

"Captain, this is a direct violation of your command. What…." Kirk cut him off before his could finish his sentence. In a voice that certainly didn't sound like his own Kirk state, "Mr. Spock, I have my reasons. You will be privy to them when I deem it necessary."

By this time, Uhura had successfully hailed the leader of the Halkan Council who was waiting to speak with Kirk. Before the Halkan could speak, Kirk interrupted him.

"This is the last time I will attempt to reason with you. You have 12 hours to comply with our demands, or we will attack your planet and simply take what we want."

"Captain, we simply cannot allow your demands. We are compelled to keep you from destruction. We…."

"No more excuses, you have 12 hours, no more. Screen off." As Uhura did as he asked, he returned his attention to Sulu and Chekov. "Turn off phasers."

As they did as he bade the, Spock had yet to take his eyes off of the Captain. He was unprecedented for Kirk to not go through with the directive that was in place. It was true that the destruction of the Halkan planet would be a waste of life and resources, but an example had to be made of them for disregarding the Empire's wishes. Before Spock could make his wishes known, Kirk stated, "I will be in my quarters. Uhura, please have McCoy and Scotty meet me there."

"Yes, sir." Looking back at her console, ready to send the message.

As he made his way off of the bridge, Spock's words stopped him.

"Captain, you have put yourself in situation with the Empire. I am required to report your dealings posthaste."

"You are free to do so." And with that, made his way onto the elevator, leaving his First Officer gazing after him.

When the doors closed, Kirk found himself shocked to find a knife pressed into his back.

"Not one vord, Kepten."