Author's Note: I know I'm spoiling you guys, uploading three chapters in one day, but I may not be able to post for a little while, so I'm letting you have it all at once. Just try to make it last! ;)
Nyota blinked. 'Excuse me?'
'The doctor and I have developed a rapport over the last few months,' Spock continued, undaunted by her lack of an immediate response, 'which is quite understandable and expected when one considers our mutual interest in watching over the captain. Four days ago, he asked for my permission in pursuing a relationship with you. I still do not understand why he made such a request, but he assured me that it was necessary. I gave my consent, and last night, at 0142, I witnessed an intimate moment between the two of you in a bar. You left together, and I assumed that events had reached a conclusion satisfactory for all parties.
'This morning, however, that assumption was questioned when the captain cancelled our plans for breakfast to have, as he called it, "an emergency therapy session" with the doctor. I may only conclude from this that some part of the evening went badly. Therefore, I have come to ask what happened, and what your future plans are with regard to Dr McCoy.'
Nyota stared at her former boyfriend, shocked, but was saved from having to answer just then by the insistent beep of her coffee maker. She took the opportunity to collect her thoughts, and began drinking the coffee black, wincing as it scalded her tongue, but unwilling to wait.
'Let me get this straight,' Nyota said slowly, setting her coffee on the side table and sinking down into one of the chairs across from Spock. 'You and McCoy are friends now, and he asked you if he could date me, your ex-girlfriend, and you said yes. Last night you were at the bar and saw me and him kissing, and leaving together. Now this morning you heard from Jim that something else happened, and you came straight here to interrogate me about it?'
'I believe "interrogate" to be an inaccurate description of-'
'Spock,' she said, 'I was exaggerating. Just... what makes you think that you, my ex-boyfriend, have any right to ask me what I'm doing with another man?'
He gave her a very patient look, tinged with the sort of condescension he had aimed at slow students who failed to meet his expectations. 'Dr McCoy requested my permission in pursuing this relationship, and he is, as you say, my friend. I am bound to make inquiries into this matter.' Nyota let out a groan and buried her face in her hands for a long moment, summoning the patience and the courage to deal with this without simply ordering him out of her quarters.
'Spock,' she said again. 'He asked for your permission because he thought you might still have feelings for me, and he didn't want any relationship he and I might start to bother you, because the two of you are friends. It's an etiquette thing, it doesn't actually make you responsible for what's happened.'
'Then something has happened.'
'What part of "none of your business" don't you understand?' she groaned, but without any real conviction. Spock had always been nosy, but he had always been able to pass it off as curiosity about human culture before.
'You did not actually tell me that it was "none of my business,"' Spock pointed out mildly, and Nyota glared at him in warning. 'I simply wish to know if you are intent on "stringing him along," as the expression goes, in the same manner you did with me.' Her eyes widened and she inhaled sharply as though he'd just slapped her—which, vocally, he had.
Suddenly, she knew exactly what this was about. Spock was still in the dark (with good reason) as to why she had broken up with him. To him, as Jim had said months ago, it just looked like she was being a bitch. Now he was afraid that she was going to hurt McCoy the same way she'd hurt him.
Not for the first time, she felt a pang of regret for what she'd had to do. 'I didn't mean to hurt you, Spock.'
'Perhaps not,' he said, 'and though I did not come here to discuss our... situation, I must admit that it might have some bearing, considering that my concern is that your relationship with the doctor will proceed in a similar manner, and meet a similar end.'
'I'm not out to hurt him, Spock, and I wasn't out to hurt you.'
'As I said, perhaps not,' he conceded, 'but it would appear, judging from this morning's events, that you have already done so. I was with Jim when McCoy sent his request, and the doctor seemed... upset by the manner in which events progressed with you.'
Nyota sighed, and squeezed her eyes shut for a long moment, bracing herself against the pain still pounding away behind her eyes.
'Look, Spock, I appreciate your concern, and I'm sure Dr McCoy does, too, but it really isn't your business,' she insisted, and she didn't miss the flash of hurt in his eyes.
'At one time, you confided such things in me,' he murmured, and she had to bite the inside of her cheek to stifle the pain. 'Even before we were engaged in a relationship. I would request that we at least remain friends.' Spock fell silent for a long moment, and Nyota said nothing, realising that Spock hadn't yet finished. 'When the doctor asked for my permission, he also asked if I still harboured feelings for you. The answer was—and remains—complex. I find that I no longer... have as strong a desire for the relationship we had, but I do... miss your company.'
Nyota felt her stomach roil unpleasantly. That Spock was willing to reveal his feelings in this way was telling, and she couldn't shoot him down now, even though he'd said 'as strong a desire'-his feelings for her were still there, they hadn't disappeared, but he was willing to put them aside for the sake of continuing a friendship with her.
'I avoided you to give you space,' she said, half an explanation and half an apology. Spock inclined his head in acceptance.
'I understand. However, if you are willing, I would request that we attempt to salvage our friendship,' Spock told her candidly, and after a beat, Nyota managed a smile.
'I'd like that.'
'Then perhaps we could continue our discussion?' Spock requested. 'I would invite you to tell me about your relationship with Dr McCoy, as your friend.'
Everything about this screamed 'bad idea' to Nyota. For starters, she would have to tell him what... happened the night before, and she would have to figure out for herself what she was doing with McCoy—what she wanted to do with McCoy.
'Yeah, Uhura. Let's hear all about it—as your friends.' She jumped, and turned to see Jim standing in the doorway, his expression forbidding and body practically vibrating with suppressed anger. 'Let's hear all about why you screwed a guy who's in love with you and then left the morning after without so much as "thanks." Let's hear all about that.'
