Disclaimer: I am neither lucky, powerful, rich, or influential enough to own Star Trek. If I did I certainly wouldn't be sitting around fantasying about it. (Ha! Who am I kidding, I still would!) But regardless, everything and everyone belongs to their respective studio's, corporations, and companies. (God damnit!) And thus, I own nothing but my rabid plot bunnies and hopeless dreams, thank you very much!

Authors Note #1: While I am in the middle of writing four or five different stories at the moment this one was simply demanding to be told, resorting to even haunting my dreams in order to do so. Sometimes having an overactive imagination bites!

Authors Note #2: Unlike in a Zoo, please feel free to feed the author! Your reviews not only give me a warm fuzzy feeling inside, but they also help me improve myself. So yes, please read and review.

Illogically in Love

Chapter Four - "But don't tell me where the road ends, cause I just don't wanna know, No I don't wanna know.."

He felt something powerful clench in his gut as he watched them, twisting at his insides until the very air he breathed in burned as it touched his lungs. He watched as the man buried his face into the thickness of her hair, the one hand not tightly wrapped around her waist dug into the brownish blond strands, cupping her head as his lips moved intimately close to her ear, whispering words that were lost in the noise of the crowd.

He hadn't realized he had moved until he found himself standing directly in front of them, not two meters shy of from where they stood, leaving Mister Scott and the Andorian to conclude the requisition procedures without him. He was so close that he could smell the mans aftershave, smell his scent beginning to leech onto hers, overpowering her more subtle, feminine scent. The mere thought alone was disturbing..

It was only moments later that he broke the silence between them, unable to bear it any longer as their embrace continued. Schooling himself, he raised an eyebrow, his mouth a hard slash across his features. "Miss Chapel?" He inquired, his voice hard as he stressed each syllable that left his lips.

But if she noticed his changed demeanour she gave him no sign, twisting about in the mans embrace as if only just realizing he was still there. 'She had forgotten about him.' He realised, Christine Chapel had entirely forgotten about him the moment this stranger had walked in. It was a situation that he had never before experienced, and one he certainly did not relish.

She flashed an unrestrained grin at him before turning back to the fiery-haired man, a pleased pink flush coloring her high cheek bones as the man pressed a chaste kiss to her forehead, laughing as he playfully batted her away when she attempted to do the same, joking about the lip-stick prints.

When the man finally pulled back, he twirled her around in a lazy circle as he gradually let her slip down, remaining pelvis to pelvis with her for such a long moment that he had to wonder if the man had done it purposely.

When they finally separated, the stranger kept his arm slung familiarly across her shoulders, sending him a friendly smile that did not once diminish when his enthusiasm was not returned as the woman rushed to introduce them.

"Oh I am sorry! Mister Spock, this is Jethro Temperance Commings. Jethro, Mister Spock, the Enterprise's first officer." She relayed happily, looking from both of them as if watching a tennis match.

The stranger broke the silence between them first, warmly extending his hand to shake as he spoke. "A pleasure Mister Spock. Please just call me Jethro. CeeCee has told me so much about you. She thinks very highly of you." He offered, his smile not wavering an iota when Spock paused a few long seconds before briefly shaking the mans hand in return.

He wasn't entirely sure what the man expected from him, and he was far too caught up in repressing the rising sense of unease in his mind to launch into a professional conversation with this...man.

As he abruptly released the mans hand from his own, he suddenly realized the emotion he was experiencing… jealously. What a horrid, poisoning feeling, rising like bile in his gullet, clouding his mind and judgement with suggestive whispers and half-veiled images. He was jealous of this man. Jealous of his connection, whatever it might be towards Christine. Jealous!

"Indeed." He finally replied, watching Christine's face fall marginally as she somehow caught on to the change in his demeanour.

"And what is your business on a Federation starbase Mr. Commings?" He asked his tone even, but hard.

If he had been any less of a Vulcan he was positive that the man would have irritated him, showing no outward sign of hostility or falling humour at his coldness, his smile firmly in place as he tugged Christine in for another friendly squeeze, his grin going impossibly larger when she giggled and blushed, fending him off jokingly with a small, delicate hand.

"It's Jethro, please! Mr. Commings is my father, and I am definitely not that formal." He mock begged, giving him a lingering, calculating look before slowly disentangling himself from Christine's embrace, a unreadable look flitting across his intelligent green eyes as one of his hands returned to his trouser pocket.

"And while I hate to say it, I am here on business. Not in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that the Enterprise was docking here at the same time! Pure, dumb luck eh?" He commented, looking down at Christine with a fond smile.

"Vulcan's don't believe in luck." He returned sternly, mildly surprised when the man only quirked a lip in response.

"Don't I know it?" He returned with a shake of his head. "My best friend, other then CeeCee here of course, is a Vulcan and she tells me the exact same thing. Maybe you're related?" He replied jokingly, canting his hips to the side in a careless gesture as he bent to pick up Christine's forgotten purse.

The head nurse took that as an opportunity to cut in, now watching him carefully out of the corner of her eye, as if concerned he was in danger of spontaneously combusting. "Jethro owns a construction company; he designs and builds Starbase's." She relayed pride evident in her words.

"Oh come now CeeCee, you make it sound like it is more exciting and complicated then what you two do with Starfleet." He protested, appearing genuinely embarrassed by the fuss the young nurse was making over him.

"He is being too modest." She cut in, giving him a proud smile. "When he bought the business he negotiated a contract with Starfleet. Now nearly all the starbases and space stations within sixteen sectors of here have either been built or is maintained by Jethro's company." She explained.

Apparently having given up on stemming Christine's praises, he nodded to Spock as he took over the natural flow of the conversation. "That much is true, I am actually here to meet with the Station supervisor and run a list of new protocols by him. Most importantly a new security program I designed to essentially shield this particular starbase, which as you know, in recent months has been continually at risk from rogue pirating fleets. Starfleet is stretched rather thin out here I am afraid, and the old system is just not cutting it anymore." He remarked, sweeping his arm out to gesture at the whole room as he drove his point home.

"But enough about me!" The man suddenly exclaimed, his left hand gesturing exuberantly through the air as he punctuated his words with the movement. "I want to hear about the Enterprise. How was the mission into the Jelbanese Nebula? And the treaty negotiations between the Rigellians and the Selbruim consortium? I know I have been hearing the odd rumour myself through the business channels and I heard that things were getting pretty dicey down there until you guys showed up."

"I believe that that is not appropriate conversation for this time. Such matters are for Starfleet officers only. Most of our current mission information is not available to the public Mr. Commings." He returned stonily, his tone perhaps slightly more harsh then his norm as he edged a step closer to Christine, attempting to ignore the look on her face as he finished, her mouth falling open to form a delicate 'o' of surprise as an annoyed flush returned to her cheeks.

However, once again the mans unfailable enthusiasm shone through, saving the trio from a awkward conversational lull by simply grinning back, smiling as if he was enjoying some private joke as he waved off Christine's stuttered attempt at apologies, the head nurse looking more stunned with anger then at a loss for words.

"Oh of course, of course! I should have known this mission would be considered classified. After all the Selbruim consortium issue is certainly no laughing matter." He nodded understandingly. He was about to say more when his civilian communicator shrilled for his attention, loud despite being muffled by the layers of his sports coat.

"My apologies, that'll be the Station supervisor." He remarked balefully, slipping a hand into his pocket and silencing the noise.

"However, I am sure he will understand the reason I am late." He replied roguishly. "After all, a chance meeting with a lovely lady such as yourself doesn't happen every millennium!" He joked, grinning at Christine who snickered in return, tossing her hair back as she swatted him playfully.

"Speaking of which, can I have the honour of taking my favourite gal in the entire universe out for dinner and dancing tonight?" He asked mock-grandly, making an exaggerated bow towards Christine, his hand extended upwards as he took on a stance worthy of any princely function, sticking his nose high in the air even as both he and the woman at his side began snorting with barely contained laughter.

He wasn't sure what to make of this. Of them. Humans were confusing at the best of times, but this man served to confound him with nearly every sentence and action he made. The man seemed to be blind to even his most blatant attempts to end this meeting and return Christine to his sole company. Not to mention his easy, confident, and familiar way with Christine served to make the hairs on the back of his neck prickle with every passing moment.

"Oh! I would be honoured my...liege." Christine finally replied, the sentence punctuated by laughter as she sought to control herself, smoothing down her hair, and pressing a reassuring hand down along her clothing as she composed herself once again. Not looking the least bit contrite about her emotional outburst as she set eyes on him again, her sharp blue eyes worrisomely empty of the warmth that she usual reserved for him. A challenge clearly made in her fiery blue eyes as she readily accepted the mans invitation.

And then, as if the evening hadn't already been fraught with strange twists and surprises, the man turned towards him, his face warm as he rose his hand in a perfect Vulcan salute "Live long and prosper, Mister Spock, I hope we have a chance to meet again before your shore leave is up." He offered, apparently sincere, before turning to Christine and pulling her in for a quick one armed hug.

"Pick you up in say two hours then Chris? The 'Blue Nova' has an Andorian jazz group performing tonight." He replied with a grin, winking at her exaggeratedly as he slipped off her arm, waiting for her quick agreement before waving to them both as he slipped back into the ebbing crowd of people all around them.

This predictably left them both to a rather uncomfortable silence, the mood rapidly darkening as the seconds ticked by in silence. He was full of questions, who was this man? How did he know her? Why? In what way? What were his intentions? What were HER intentions? But as it turned out, he didn't have the chance to ask even one, as the Enterprises head nurse faced off in front of him like a cage fighter.

"I have no idea what has gotten into you Spock. But whatever it is would it have killed you to be civil?!" She asked angrily, nearly dropping her hand bag as she whipped it over her shoulder, whirling on her heel, as she stalked out in the opposite direction. Leaving in a cloud of frustration, anger, and disappointment so thick that despite his mental shields he could sense it in the air like a scent.

He watched her go with a stirring sense of unease and uncertainty, his keen eyes following her as she made her way through the crowd and around the corner as her anger fuelled her fast steps. He had hardly felt so at odds with himself. One part of his nature screamed that this man was a threat, and yet, for all intents and purposes he was one of the most charming, thoughtful, intellectual, and friendly human beings he had ever met. The man was universal, someone who the Doctor would have likely coined as a true "Renaissance man". Essentially, if he were any less a Vulcan he would have had a hard time trying to hate him.

After a long moment of contemplation he finally broke out of his thoughts and returned to the console area, finding Mister Scott just finishing recounting all the materials for transport. The Scottish man hailed him as he returned, filling him in on the Andorian's additions to the manifesto before switching their conversation onto a much more personal tract.

"I couldn't help but notice our Nurse Chapel and that strapping young lad of hers." The man commented conversationally as they headed back towards the nearest transporter room.

"They must have known each other for quite some time, and not have seen each other for nearly as long if the way they greeted each other was any indication." He continued with a grin, the engineer's observations doing little to settle his agitated frame of mind.

"I am unsure of their affiliation." He finally responded, meeting the mans sharp brown eyes as they bunched together to let a anti-gravity sled piled high with plasma cells through the bustling corridor.

"I simply wished to ensure she was alright." He decided, unable to fully explain the reason why he had interrupted their emotional moment, seeing this as the closest to the truth that he was able to share.

"The man was unfamiliar, and this Starbase is not unknown for its share of criminal...incidents." He explained, remembering back to having read such reports himself a mere week before they had been scheduled to dock.

However it appeared that the intelligent Scotsman was not entirely taken with his explanation, his eyes suddenly twinkling as he studied Spock's expression. Grinning he shook his head, as if something monumentous had suddenly occurred to him.

"Ach she's a strong headed lass our Christine, aye. But she'll come around." The mature engineer commented, tilting his head sagely as he uncoiled the length of circuitry wiring from around his shoulder, clearly hiding an amused grin as he turned the corner and stepped into the transporter room ahead of him, leaving the bemused Vulcan to wonder just when he had become so utterly transparent...

A/N: Did you like this chapter? Review and let me know! And also, as always, thanks for the reviews! I try to respond to each one, but if I missed you somewhere along the way, my bad! And also a thank you to those of you who are reviewing anonymously, I would thank you personally if I could!

A/N: My chapter title is lyrics from Thriving Ivory's song: "Angels on the Moon". The band is awesome; check them out on youtube or what not! I am sure you are picking up on a trend right now, and yes, I am currently obsessed with Thriving Ivory..and I am definitely NOT sorry! Ha!