I am both amazed at how quickly this is being written and at how much I dislike having so little of the plot my own. That being said, thank you to all who are still reading this, and I'm sorry for the scenes that are essentially copied from the movie. I promise you, there is at least a slight difference from the movie with each scene you recognize. To restate what I said previously, if a scene from the movie isn't written, then it happened exactly the same way it did in the movie.
Many thanks to my beta, Amodestpoet. He has helped me keep my sanity even as I take on too many projects at once. And recently informed me of a problem with my plot on a totally different story, which I love him and hate him for.
Ramble over! Sorry.
Please, read and enjoy!
When Spock returned in the dark and early morning hours, he found Nia curled on top of the covers of their bed.
Tear tracks were evident on her cheeks, but she wasn't currently crying.
Nor was she asleep.
She stretched out a hand. "Come here," she said. Her tone was soft, voice low and gentle as if he were a skittish animal.
He might have resented the treatment another day. Instead, he moved to the bed and lied next to her. Tentatively, his fingers wrapped around hers. Uncertainty plagued him for the briefest of moments. Should he share the emotions of the past evening with her? Would she think any differently of him or of Pike?
Logic pushed that emotion away. Her ability would not just comfort him, but would also help him regain control of himself.
Almost as if she knew when he had committed to the decision, Spock felt the main body of her emotions beginning to connect with his. He pushed back with his mind, connecting them mentally and emotionally.
Her breath left her in a gasp as she felt and saw the death of his mentor. Her heart broke as the turmoil raging through Spock hit her hard in the chest. The fear and pain from the mortal wound delivered to Pike's chest. The knowledge and yearning against the coming end and his desperation for Spock to do something, anything, -
Tears welled up and spilled over her cheeks, creating news tracks from on her skin. She pulled him close, comforting herself with his rapid heartbeat and cool skin and comforting him in turn with her own emotions.
Neither slept, but both rested.
Too soon, Spock was called away again. He was going to aide in the search through the wreckage of the attacker's ship.
Nia let him go, knowing she would just be in the way if she went with him. Instead, she returned to the labs on her own time, hoping there would be something for her to do, that there would be some sort of distraction available for her.
There was none.
She should have known better. Even though there were no tears, the somber atmosphere was tangible for the Paladian. It likely would have been even if her sensitivity to such things hadn't been heightened by Narsow's men on Palad.
She did find her use, though.
When she entered the lab she had been using the previous day, she found Sulu sitting at the table, staring at the samples. His arms were crossed, and his muscles were tense. Dark eyebrows were furrowed of his vacantly staring eyes.
"Hikaru?" Nia whispered, using his given name for the first time.
His head snapped up. "Nia," he replied, a brief smirk crossing his face.
Slowly, Nia sat down next to him. "There's not much I can do," she told him, "but I can do this?" She offered a hand to him.
Carefully and as if he were at war with himself, he reached out and grasped her head.
Nia, in the same way she had shared with Spock's grief, attempted to lessen some of Sulu's load. She didn't take away his grief, oh no, that wasn't the way Paladian empathy worked. No, all she could do was assure him he wasn't alone, and spread her calm the same way his grief was spread between them.
A few short minutes later, Sulu let go of her hand and let out a shaky breath. Some of the tension in his body had released and he seemed to unfold from himself as he stood. Sulu nodded at her, placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed briefly before he left the room.
Nia watched him go, and as the doors shut behind him she felt tears slowly fall down her cheeks.
The day already felt long.
She did some preparations for meaningless tests, not watching to try anything complex in her influenced emotional state.
It wasn't long though, before Chekov came to see her. "Sulu…" his voice choked off and he raised one fist to rub roughly at his lips.
Nia's shoulders slumped. She'd forgotten how much of a kid Chekov really was. He'd held up so well with everything the Enterprise had so far thrown at him, that it was almost a shock to see him in this rough state.
"Come here," she directed softly.
Chekov left ten minutes later, strides long and determined even as he furiously flicked through information on his data PADD.
Nia slumped in her seat, forehead resting on the table.
One by one, members of the bridge crew showed up and spent time with Nia, each 'session' wearing more and more on Nia. Only Uhura stayed for any length of time, something Nia was unendingly grateful for.
"I think I know why there aren't very many Paladian grief counselors," Nia confided.
Uhura frowned. "What? On Palad?"
Nia nodded. "Or on Earth. Or anywhere really."
"But then, how do you- ?" She cut herself off and nodded. "Anyone on Palad would be able to do what you're doing. Families, friends, even complete strangers."
"Technically, yes," Nia replied. "But it's pretty taboo to violate a stranger's privacy like that without getting express permission first."
Uhura nodded and watched as Nia rest her head on her hand, elbow propped on the table. "I think I'm the last anyways," she said. Reaching out on hand, she rubbed across Nia's shoulders. "When you do that, are taking on everyone's grief?"
"And sharing some of mine, though it's not nearly the same as doing this with other Paladians."
"You look exhausted," the other woman commented.
Indeed, the Paladian woman had dark yellow bags under her eyes. Most of her skin had a slight yellow tinge to it and even her hair lacked its usual life as it hung limply around her face. "I'm okay," Nia assured her.
With a sigh, Uhura gently pulled the older woman into a one armed embrace. Nia let her head rest on her shoulder, gladly accepting the comfort that was freely offered.
"I was so scared," the whisper escaped her before Nia could even think of not saying it.
Uhura's grip tightened for a moment. "So was I. I should have called."
Nia shook her head. "Wouldn't have mattered. I would have hung up as soon as I realized you weren't someone who could tell me anything."
Uhura snorted. "I can see that happening. You're a complete mess all worked up."
"Shut up," Nia moaned. "Even if you're right. That's what was so good about me and Wena. She'd freak out, and I'd keep calm 'cause someone needed to be calm. But with Spock…"
"You've got someone who is always calm," Uhura's voice tightened as she spoke.
Nia sighed. "It's probably a good thing or means something about how much I trust him emotionally, but I don't know." She lifted her head, and decided to change the subject. "Are you still mad at him?"
Rolling her eyes, the darker skinned woman gave the lighter an exasperated look. "Let's just say I'm glad things worked out between you two and not between us, for a whole different reason now."
Unable to help herself, Nia began to chuckle. "Don't be too hard on him. As confused as you all are by him, he's just as confused by you. In fact, -"
Both Uhura's communicator chimed and the doors to the lab hissed open at the same time, cutting off the rest of what Nia was going to say.
Spock stepped through the open doorway, as Uhura checked her communicator. "We're to report to the Enterprise," Uhura stated, surprised.
"What? Are you going after him? The one who did this?" Nia sat up in, suddenly alert.
Spock nodded. "Correct. The Enterprise will be leaving promptly."
"I'm going with you," she stated.
"You are not," Spock calmly refuted.
Nia jerked, taken aback. "Why not? I'll submit a request and Kirk can authorize it."
"You will not be accompanying us," Spock stated again. "Submitting a request would be pointless."
"Why?" Nia asked again. "What reasoning do you have for keeping me here?"
As she watched the married pair, Uhura wisely kept her mouth shut.
"You would serve no purpose to this mission. There is no reason to have extraneous personnel on this mission," Spock explained to her. He turned to leave.
Frowning Nia was prepared to accept his answer with one clarification. "Which other scientists are you leaving behind?"
He didn't look back as he left.
Nia stared as the lab doors closed, eyebrows high on her face. "Alright, did that seem odd to you, too?"
Uhura gave her an incredulous look. "Honey, everything he does lately seems odd."
"Right," Nia said, nodding. "Well, good luck on your mission. I hope you catch the bastard."She winced and added "And keep an eye on my husband, just in case."
Wrapping her arms around Nia, Uhura gave her a tight hug. "Thank you and I will. You take care here, ok?"
As Nia nodded, the sound of a communicator chiming rang through the room again.
Uhura checked. "It's not mine," she said, looking up at Nia.
"Ah," Nia grabbed her communicator. "It's mine." She read the message and let out a slightly hysterical giggle. "Well, this just takes the pie."
"Cake," Uhura absentmindedly corrected. "What is it?"
"Starfleet Command has just authorized me to return to the Enterprise."
STSTSTST
Kirk hadn't slept. He hadn't bothered to try either. He knew Spock went home to his wife, but there was no point for him to go.
When Scotty showed him where the attacker had beamed to, a fire had been forged in him. Scotty was right in that the treaty didn't allow for them to go to Kronos, not even to hunt down an enemy.
That didn't deter Kirk.
It did surprise him when Spock never argued with him. He listened to the discussion with Admiral Marcus instead, at times a distinct frown across his face.
For this mission, Kirk wanted someone he knew at his side. He asked for Spock, and there was no hesitation from Admiral Marcus.
Of course, he started to regret that as soon as he boarded the shuttle craft with the man.
"As I am again your First Officer, it is now my duty to strongly object to our mission parameters," Spock said to him.
Kirk resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Of course it is."
"There is no Starfleet regulation that condemns a man to die without a trial, something you and Admiral Marcus are forgetting."
Tension rolled through Kirk's body, the image of Pike's vacant face filling his mind.
"Also," Spock continued. "Preemptively firing torpedoes at the Klingon homeworld goes against –"
Kirk had to interrupt him before his frustration grew beyond what he could handle. "You yourself said the area is uninhabited. There's only gonna be one casualty." He looked down at the data PADD in his hands. "And in case you weren't listening, our orders have nothing to do with Starfleet regulation."
McCoy seemed to finally catch on to what was happening, and aghast question falling out of his mouth.
Both officers ignored him.
"Regulations aside, this action is morally wrong," Spock protested.
Having had enough, Kirk snapped back "Regulation aside, pulling your ass out of a volcano was morally right. And I didn't win any points for that." He ignored McCoy's directive to calm down. "I'm not going to take ethics lessons from a robot."
Of course, Spock had to derive the most asinine conclusion from his statement, calling Kirk defensive.
Spock continued pushing his point, and Kirk was all too grateful for the distraction a blond science officer he had never seen before presented as she appeared before him.
He let her on the ship just to spite Spock, not that her credentials in advance weaponry wouldn't be useful.
It had nothing to do with the fact that the only open seat was between him and Spock.
Still, she made a great shield.
He boarded the ship and after a disastrous conversation with Scotty that ended with the shorter man resigning, Kirk entered the turbolift to the bridge.
Uhura was there. "Captain, I'm so sorry about Captain Pike."
"We all are," he replied, not interested in having a heart to heart.
"Are you okay?"
"Fine. Thank you, Lieutenant." He crossed his arms. Sighed. "Actually, Scotty just quit. And my First Officer is second-guessing me every chance he gets." He growled, low in his chest. "Sometimes I just want to rip the bangs off his head." He glanced at Uhura's tense form. "I'm sorry, that was inappropriate." He shook his head. "Maybe it's just me, I mean his – "
"It's not just you," Uhura interrupted him before she could stop herself.
He stared at her. "It's not?" When she didn't reply, he turned to fully face her. "What do you know? Are you guys fighting?"
"No," she replied curtly.
"His wife?"
"I'd rather not talk about it, sir," Uhura told him, not willing to gossip about her First Officer, even if it was to her Captain.
The blond man gapped at her. "I know they've fought before, but I still have a hard time picturing it."
The turbolift doors opened, and Captain Kirk no longer had to imagine what a marital spat involving his First Officer looked like.
"You disobeyed a direct order from-"
"No, I didn't!"
Nia was directly in front of Spock, neither bothering to keep their voices down.
"Your request submission shows evidence to the contrary."
Hands over her face, Nia tried to breathe out slowly and calm down. It didn't work. "I didn't submit the request. I was reassigned!"
Spock held up his data PADD. "There is no point in continuing with such falsehood when I have received a copy of your request."
"Oh no," Uhura muttered.
"I didn't send the request!" Nia finally shrieked. "Don't you dare call me a liar!" Taking a step back, she muttered "I'll be in the labs unless you have some need of me, Commander."
Kirk stepped forward. "Sargent," he said, unable to call her anything else at the moment. "Report to the labs," his tone brooked no argument.
She darted past him to the turbolift, muttering "Yes, Captain," as she went.
Kirk leveled a look at his First Officer.
Clearing her throat, the communications officer stepped forward. "For the record, I was there when she received the request for her to report to the Enterprise. She didn't go against you, sir."
"Lieutenant, report to your station," Kirk ordered, eyes not leaving Spock. "As for you Commander, would it not have been more professional to have such a discussion in private?"
The Vulcan tilted his head. "I don't see how that matters, Captain."
Kirk gritted his teeth. "Right. Well, I'm not the one who just called his wife a liar in front of the entire bridge crew." He sighed. "We have an important mission ahead of us, Spock. I don't need any more distractions."
"Understood," Spock replied, tone clipped.
Heading for Chekov, Kirk shook his head. He didn't have time for this.
STSTSTST
As Nia stormed through the halls, she wasn't paying enough attention to her surroundings. Her shoulder slammed into a blonde officer with an unfamiliar face.
"I am so sorry," Nia began apologized instantly, internally berating herself for getting so caught up in her head that she wasn't watching where she was going.
The woman collected her fallen data PADD and replied in clear British tones "It's alright. No harm done." She glanced up and smiled at Nia.
The Paladian held out her hand. "I'm sorry, I don't believe I've seen you on board before. Have you just been transferred?"
"Yes, that's correct. I'm Dr. Wallace," the woman replied.
Nia grinned. "Well, I'm Dr. Sargent if you aren't comfortable just calling me Nia. I'm afraid my actual married name in unpronounceable to humans."
Wallace was surprised. "I hadn't realized there were such differences between Paladian language and Standard."
"There isn't," Nia corrected. "My married name is Vulcan."
Her eyes opened wide. "Oh, you're the – "
"Paladian who married a Vulcan. First Officer Commander Spock, in fact," Nia told her, smile dimming for a short second.
"Really?" Wallace was surprised, until she realized her faux pas. "I'm sorry, not that there's anything wrong with that, I just – "
Nia actually chuckled. "Don't worry, I haven't taken any offence." She sighed. "Well, Dr. Wallace – "
"Carol, if I'm to call you Nia."
Nia nodded. "Well, Carol, I need to report to my labs. I'll be seeing you around, alright?"
The woman nodded and they parted ways.
The short interaction had been long enough for Nia to calm significantly, her pace to the labs no less urgent, but much less harried.
Once she was inside and at her usual spot in her lab, Nia settled down. She hadn't had much time to prepare for her arrival to the Enterprise, but she'd had just long enough to gather some work together. When Spock had told her earlier that she wouldn't be need on this trip, she'd been forced to admit he was right.
Since he clearly hadn't changed his mind, she was going to stay out of his way as much as possible and work in the peace of her own lab.
It felt good to be back, anyways.
She was on her own for several minutes before Michaels appeared in the doorway. "What are you doing here?"
"Tactful as ever, Michaels," Nia gently reprimanded. "I'm here because Command requested it of me."
"You mean the Commander?" The brunette asked.
Nia shook her head negatively. "No, I mean Starfleet Command. One of the admirals." Giving Michaels a put upon look, she told her "Commander Spock was firmly against my arrival here. Had he the choice, I would still be working in the Earth-based labs."
Crewman Michaels was picked up on the agitated undertone in her coworker's voice. "I see," she said. "Well, then what are we to be working on now – "
Both women yelped as the floor beneath their feet jerked and tossed them to the floor.
"What just happened?" the younger woman groaned as she struggled to sit up.
Nia pushed the fallen stool off of her and winced at the soreness of her hip. "I think we just dropped out of warp." Yep, she was definitely going to be bruised later.
"Dropped out of warp? But that was so rough…"
"I don't think it was intentional." Nia slowly stood along with her crewman.
Michaels looked rattled. "But we must be in Klingon territory by now… How can we be stopped? What do you think happened?"
Later, Nia would blame her frayed nerves for snapping. "I don't know, Michaels! I'm not an engineer and after my husband called me a liar in front of the captain, I doubt he'll be willing to offer me any explanation even if I ask."
Michaels blinked once, twice, and then sputtered "Commander Spock called you liar?"
A/N: So, obviously the poor, poor characters of this story are under a huge amount of stress. This chapter actually went a completely different direction than I originally planned, and it's all Spock's fault.
Seriously. It is.
Thank you so much to those who are still reading and reviewing. You all are awesome and this includes: angel897, Teddy bear 007, Thanlia's Royal King, and Amodestpoet.
Let me know what you all think!
-Spirit
