Casual Contact

A/N: Here it is! Managed to finally scrape enough time between exams - and thank you for all the good luck wishes! Plus I love the fact you guys are enjoying this - I hope this chapter brings you the same feelings :)


"Get a stretcher in here!" Bones barked to the men on the transporter as he skidded to the fallen Vulcan's side, the displayed anger at the discovery of hundreds of injured citizens forgotten with the endangerment of one of their own.

Spock's body was being hit with violent spasms, fortunately Jim's reflexives had kicked in quick enough for him to catch his friend's head before it cracked against the floor with the rest of his limbs but that meant he now had clear view of the familiar brown eyes, which from a distance may seemed closed but placed on his lap showed the rapid flickering indicating the Vulcan was still conscious to a certain degree.

"What have you done you idiot," He whispered, the words more to himself than the fallen man, he'd known Spock hadn't been in full health – he'd admitted it a few hours ago for goodness sake – and yet he'd still gone and asked the self-sacrificing lunatic to do a mind-meld with a war victim.

"Jim!" The commanding tone snapped his attention, "Hold down his shoulders so he doesn't damage his back."

He followed the order, "Bones what's wrong with him?"

"I don't know," The doctor's medi-scanner was being made use of but at the man's wrinkle inducing frown it clearly wasn't providing answers, "I need to get him to the medical bay."

The young man found Spock's head suddenly taken from his legs by two nurses he hadn't noticed arriving and he had to physically bite down on his lip to hold back a shout and clutch onto his friend; even in these moments he was still a Captain and had to show a controlled appearance.

But that didn't stop him from clutching the Vulcan's hand as he was lifted onto a stretcher and retaining the grip as it was rushed down the corridors.

"Has he shown any reaction to the transporter before now?" Bones sharply enquired.

"When we came down it seemed to affect his head but if there was a time before that he hid it well."

"How did he seem affected?"

"Light headed – he had to balance himself against the wall."

"Which means that was at least the third trip," He gruffed, "I'm going to put a damn sign up in that room! Doesn't anyone have the sense to not beam when they're not in full health!"

"Spock doesn't seem to believe in rules unless he authorised them."

A passing officer stumbled back through the door she'd been walking out of as the procession rushed past, "He doesn't get a say when it comes to my department – place your hand under his head."

Jim winched as his friend's back lurched again and a hint of desperation laced his voice, "He's too strong – he's going to break something."

"Dammit," He hissed as the large collection of people pushing the stretcher failed to all fit through the door, "Vulcans always make the worst patients – get him on the bed!"

The spasms had lessened to instead form a constant vibrating throughout his limbs but it was still no easy fete and Jim shoved away one of the nurses a bit harder than necessary when they let Spock's arm flop and crash into the bedside desk, "Bones!"

"For goodness sake Jim! Would you just –" On nearly tripping over an equipment tray he glared at the bustling room, since for some reason every officer with some form of medical training seemed to have appeared to assist the Vulcan, and lashed his voice over the masses, "Alright everyone who isn't a patient, Christine or my damn superior officer get out!"

Despite the doctor having the tone of a savage bear the order didn't ignite an immediate response, an ill Spock seemed to fascinate people as if he was just a specimen rather than an actual being; which in Jim's books was a clear excuse to start throwing punches – which must have been apparent in his eyes when his head snapped up to the room's occupants.

"Finally," Bones huffed as they practically ran out the door at their Captain's silent threat and he quickly hooked Spock up to the scanner, "Now what else do you know?"

"What?" Jim directed his gaze from the door.

Placing a hand on the Vulcan's chest as he tapped away at the screen his voice demanded truth, "The past few days this one's been clinging to you like a limpet, now unless I've got a long line of ladies to let down on your behalf, you know something important."

"He's not handling his grief well," It would feel like a betrayal of confidence if he wasn't clamping down his friend's arm to prevent him from hurting himself, "Been having troubling sleeping or meditating."

"Food?"

"The normal amount when we eat together."

"Behaviour?"

"More sullen but that's expected with what he's been through recently, however I can tell he pushes a lot of baggage down."

"Yeah well his whole species does that," A shudder ran through the Vulcan's chest and the doctor's hand was flung off, "Right, nurse I need you to knock him out – he's going to cause himself damage in this state."

At these words the hand still clasped within Jim's squeezed and although he couldn't read anything from his First Officer's hooded eyes he could tell it hadn't been a spasm.

He snatched Nurse Chapel's wrist just as the needle was about to penetrate the Vulcan's skin, "No!"

"Jim would you let me do my damn job!" The doctor shouted, although the anger was muffled by the pen in his mouth as his hands fastened bed-straps around the patient's arms.

"He doesn't want to be forced into an unconscious state!"

"Oh and he sent you a telepathic message did he?"

"Look I can tell Bones!"

"And I can tell knocking him out will lower the spasms so let go of Christine's wrist!"

"What if it makes him worse?"

"So you're a doctor now as well – well isn't that mighty fine!"

"This isn't –"

"Um… Keptain?"

"What!"

The poor lad almost fell over at the murderous growl that flew towards him as Jim's head snapped around, "I – there was an incident… an attack in one of the nearby cities – some officers saw the end of it."

A tense silence fell as the young Captain regulated his heavy breathing, he didn't want to leave Spock with no idea of the reason for his condition plus he felt largely responsible for the incident since it was him who asked him to perform a mind-meld in his weak health; but as a commanding officer he didn't have the privilege to let emotions guide his decisions.

Bones replied for him, "He'll come now," He may want his friend's mothering nerves out of the medical bay but his tone still held sympathy for the fear he could see on the kid's face, "Won't you Jim."

Despite appearing incoherent Jim was pretty sure his friend was aware of what was happening because at Chekov's report the shaking lessened, as if he was forcing down his condition to urge the Captain to enquire what had caused the havoc they'd witness on Kandra.

Crouching down, he leant forward and whispered for the Vulcan's ears only, "If you dare play down your illness and don't let Bones treat you I will make it my life's task to ensure you never win a game of chess again."

His features may not have moved but Jim could see the smirk on his friend's lips and for a second the rapidly fluttering eyes caught his gaze; giving his hand one final squeeze he forced himself to release the grip and headed towards Chekov, "Alright take me to the witnesses."

"Yes sir," The kid stuttered as he exited the doors, but just as they were about to close a hand grasped onto the metal and Jim's head slid back into view.

"Leonard… " He waited for the man to catch his eye, "Please."

The doctor's face melted into an expression only reserved for his surrogate little brother, "He'll be back up and at your shoulder in no time."

Jim's gaze flicked to his First Officer one more time before giving a slight nod and letting the doors slide shut.

A stretched breath left Bone's lips, he waved Christine away as she dabbed a wet cloth over the Vulcan's brow which had begun to draw beads of sweat and took over the action; Spock may have a direct line to his anger button and he may not have a clue why anyone would want to spend extended periods of time with him but Jim clearly held great care for the man so he would receive the same attention he would bestow on his own blood.

He wiped away a tear of sweat from the officer's cheek, "You know, for a species who claims to have no emotions – you're certainly good at instilling them in others."

Besides, the goblin may get on his nerves but that didn't mean he disliked him… much.


Chekov's eyebrows knitted together when the Captain paused to glance back into the medical bay and his voice gained a pitch as the man return down the corridor, "Is the Commander going to be alright Keptain?"

Jim's fear arose at the question which in turn manifested into defensive anger, however on seeing the kid's wide eyes full of pure innocent concern for the Vulcan he idolised, he forced it down; snapping at the boy wasn't going to do any good.

"Yeah, don't worry he's just been having a few bad days," An urge to run back and stay by his friend's side began to form so he quickly redirected the topic to hide behind his indifferent captain façade, "Now who saw the attack?"

Chekov stole a fleeting glance to the distant medical door as they turned the corner but re-focused his attention at the official tone, "Ensign Roberts and Valkof, they were exploring ze local market when they came across ze borders of the fighting – they didn't involve themselves though."

"Good, we need to understand the situation before we start picking sides," Jim hoped this time to get more than just the word rebels to go on – he internally winched at the stab of guilt for that thought track.

"Sides Keptain?"

He briefly clasped the kid's shoulder, "Kandra's a whole lot more complicated than you would think Chekov."

Then he strode ahead into the board room leaving a now significantly less relaxed officer to follow behind.

Two young women were slouched against the table whispering in heated tones on his arrival, they sharply stood to attention at the familiar hiss of the door; it was only the ones younger than him who reacted with such assertiveness at his presence… so it wasn't a usual occurrence.

"Ensigns," He nodded, not in the mood for his usual happy-go-lucky manner, "I believe you have a report."

The blonde, who he recognised as Roberts since she was human so by default wasn't Valkof who he knew was the only Orion on board, answered quickly, "Yes Captain, we were in one of the east side cities when we saw an attack being carried out on the region; it was almost over when we happened upon it – there was a lot of damage, buildings in flames, blasted rubble covering the area and lots… lots of casualties."

Her voice broke slightly at the end, memories of the incident causing distress, so he directed his next question to the Orion, "What can you tell me about the rebels?"

"Rebels?" She stumbled at the word and met then man's gaze, "Is that who they were?"

A hard glare formed the response and she rapidly flicked her eyes back to the far wall, "I mean it was hard to make them out sir, the ones we could distinguish seemed to be normal Kandrians; they each had small bags flung on their backs with I assume held some form of grenade or similar weapon and their guns were the same as the types carried by the few security guards we've seen over the past few days."

"Although I did think I saw one of them with a model that looked more earth originated," Roberts interjected.

Jim frowned, there was no way these Kandrians could have gotten hold of any of their weapons… but just in case, "Go conn the armoury and get a check on the numbers," He muttered for Chekov alone, who immediately rushed from the room.

"Is there anything else you can tell me?" He continued.

"Yes."

"No sir."

Fierce glares passed between the women; now it was clear what the heated whispering had been about.

"Actually yes, the attackers had –"

"They were fighting so clearly it was just –"

" – red not this black –"

" – so no help –"

" – just wants to seem important – "

" – no, she just wants to –"

"Shut up!"

Both mouths stumbled at the Captain's uncharacteristic harsh tone.

Jim bit the inside of his cheek and forced out a deep breath, "Sorry… but please - be quiet."

The Russian kid took this moment to reappear and skid to the young man's side, "No weapons missing Keptain," He whispered.

"Look," Jim addressed the two women, "What you witnessed is of great importance, so I don't care if you only think you saw something or if you don't think it's relevant – you tell me."

Their second for decision making was too long.

"That means now officers!"

Roberts, who had been the one wanting to share some information, jumped at the bark and stumbled over her words, "Eyes! They – well you know Kandrian's all have the changing eye colours, the ones attacking… they didn't."

The Captain rose an eyebrow so Valkof expanded, "She means their eyes were black, any of them who seemed to be initiating the attack there was just a consistent black," Condescension slipped into her tone, "Of course it was an emotionally charged area, so this could easily have just been a generic colour reflecting their feelings of anger, determination and whatever else was running through their minds."

The blonde was quick to rebuke, "Then why were the other citizens flicking between different shades it –"

"Okay thank you," He interrupted before the slicing words could start becoming scratching nails, "You've been very helpful - dismissed."

Roberts reflexively snapped shut and allowing herself a final glare at her colleague she hastily departed; Valkof returned the look, then seemed as if she wanted to say something else to the Captain but changed her mind and also took the exit – although with that purposeful Orion sway of the hips.

Jim's posture deflated and he ran a hand through his hair, "Well the only use that had was to note I should check those two don't need to be reassigned to separate work stations."

Chekov bit his lip, "What vere you looking for Keptain?"

Of course a seventeen year old kid had nowhere near a high enough level of security clearance to be informed of the investigations into a potential war on a foreign planet – so Jim slung an arm over his shoulders, leading him out into the empty corridor and quickly updated him on all the suspicions and information they'd found out about the Kandrians.

"But why wouldn't they vant our help?" The kid exclaimed; his hands curled into small fists at his side on hearing the conditions of the beds of injured citizens.

Because K'Son's a stuck-up arrogant dictator, he thought whilst his mouth replied, "I don't know; the stress of these situations can often mess with the logic of those in charge."

"Then they shouldn't be in charge," Chekov muttered.

Jim didn't comment but lightly squeezed the kid's neck in agreement before letting his hand drop, "Do you know anything else of this attack? Or heard of something similar?"

He frowned, "Nothing over than what Roberts and Valkof said… although – yesterday me and Lily were exploring some of the further regions of the city –"

"Lily?" Jim questioned.

Blood rushed to the young pilot's cheeks, "Um – Officer Parsons."

A smirk flickered through the Captain's whirling stress and nerves at the remembrance of the pretty young officer Chekov had been passing glances with at the welcoming feast, "Oh, first names now is it?"

His skin took an even deeper tone.

Jim took pity, "Alright, so what did you find on your date?"

The kid threw him a glare, "Ve were exploring the distant regions and we came across an abandoned settlement – ze houses for mile had all been destroyed, ze rubble just left but it didn't look recent… all the burnt items were too far rotted and the ash definitely wasn't new."

This certainly brought some perspective; these attacks much have started quite a while before they arrived, which meant the Kandrian's were in a lot more trouble than just a few hundred casualties, "Is there any chance you could guess how long ago this area you found was destroyed?"

"I can give you more than a guess Keptain," He chirped, "I took a sample of the ash and gave it to Sulu this morning, he should have finished the tests on it by now."

That's when Jim realised the Chekov had been leading him to the Botany lab without his notice, sometimes he really wished the kid was his little brother so he could take claim for how awesome he was; but alas he settled for clapping a hand on his back and pressing pride into his tone, "Good thinking kid."

The beam that emerged from the words was enough to momentarily dampen the worry for Spock which hadn't left his mind, however it hit full frontal again as Sulu turned to greet them, "Evening Captain – where's the Commander?"

The faltering question could hardly be deemed surprising since as Bones had pointed out earlier for the past week one man hadn't been seen without the other, but it still earned the pilot a predatory glare, "Medical bay – he's not feeling too good, now what's this I hear about ash dating?"

Sulu sent a quick glance at his younger friend as Jim moved passed him to perch on one of the desks but Chekov shook his head, so he followed the topic deflection, "Yeah, well obviously ash doesn't really fall into my plant category but it's simple enough to date back – it's been there roughly thirty years I'd say."

"Roughly thirty? The best equipment in the galaxy and that's all you can give me?" He raised an eyebrow knowing it would goad the man into calculating the actual sum.

Which it did.

"Fine then Mr I-Want-More," Sulu snappily replied, stomping over to the computer and rushing his fingers over the touch-pad.

The corner of Jim's lips quirked upwards and he threw Chekov a wink before letting his gaze fall to the rhythmic swinging of his legs as he waited; he was really tempted to conn Bones and check if he had found what was wrong with Spock yet, but he knew that leaving the bay less than twenty minutes ago meant that if he hadn't been informed of anything – then nothing had happened, plus the good doctor would also bark his ear off for the interruption.

Yet it didn't stop his hand subconsciously moving towards his communicator.

"Okay got it," The voice diverted his hand through his hair, "In eight days this ash burnt exactly 25 years ago."

Sulu spun on his chair to face the Captain, "That mean anything to you?"

Annoyingly it really didn't and if he wasn't reciting the textbook of proper conduct of a Starfleet Commander when under emotional stress in his mind, he would have flung a few glass cylinders against the far wall to show this.

Instead, he lightly shook his head and slid back onto the floor, "Not a single thing – right, where's Uhura?" In events where he was lacking knowledge she was usually a sensible course of action, "If she can't tell me some importance of 25 years past so I can actually start making a shred of sense about this mess then we're all quitting Starfleet and becoming space outlaws."

The sentence ended as more of a shout than he meant it so he followed it with a flamboyant exit just for the dramatics; causing Sulu, who didn't have a clue what mess the Captain was talking about, to cast an eye to a project he'd been hoping to start and set off after the man because he couldn't deny he curiosity had perked.

"Could ve become space outlaws anyway?"

Whacking Chekov over the head on the way.

Jim gritted his teeth on sensing another person had been added to his entourage, it meant he'd actually have to get around to holding a senior meeting to explain the delicate situation they'd found themselves in – and he really wasn't in the mood.

He cast a longing glance at the empty space by his shoulder, this was the first incident where he didn't have the Vulcan standing there ready to give advice or tell he was starting to get frustrated and step forward to take control; even though they'd only become friends recently Spock had always been there for him and now here he was not having a clue on how to return the action.

"She should be on the bridge," Sulu called out, struggling to keep up with the Captain's double strides, something more than a mission was bothering the man; he leant over to Chekov to whisper, "What's up with him?"

A mixture of grief, worry and anger crossed the kid's face giving the pilot another person to be concerned about, "Pavel, you okay?"

"Ze Commander didn't look well in the Medical Bay," He replied, "And these Kandrian's haven't turned out as nice as ve would like."

Sulu placed a hand on his friend's shoulder, he didn't get why Chekov liked the robot so much but he was clearly worried about him which meant it mattered; although his mind latched onto the mention of their hosts, he hadn't seen anything to indicate suspicions – but then again he'd only had a handful of brief interactions.

"How so?" He asked.

Chekov's mouth opened but it was the Captain who replied, "You'll find out when I call a briefing."

The two men glanced at each other but said nothing more; he may not act like any other Starfleet Commander but when that tone came out it made it impossible to forget the man wasn't just another friend.

There was only a skeleton crew on the bridge but fortunately Uhura was still sat at her station staring at symbols flashing across the screen, "Lieutenant."

She turned at the familiar voice but her words didn't have the usual sarcastic undertone that was present when seeing Jim Kirk, "Captain," She frowned, "Where's –"

"Spock's not here right now!" He snapped, not enjoying being repeatedly reminded of his friend's absence however the upset that lit Uhura's eyes pulled his guilt back – after all it was her boyfriend.

"Sorry," He muttered, moving closer to the desk and lowering his voice from the prying ears of the whole room who were now staring in his direction, "He collapsed earlier after we beamed onto the ship, he's in the Medical Bay now and Bones is trying to find out what's wrong but I don't know anything else so far – you can go see him in a minute but I just –"

At his news she dropped her head and he was sure he spotted a tear trickle down her cheek; he lay a hand on her shoulder and gently rubbed his thumb across the fabric, "Don't worry I'm sure it's nothing – you know Spock and his Vulcan health."

"He won't want to see me," The whisper was barely audible.

As he wasn't in her eye-line Jim allowed himself an eye-roll, he wasn't in a patient enough state to deal with the woman's emotions but he had to say something, "Oh I'm sure that's not true."

However the next sentence she uttered lost any patience he'd been pretending to have, "Didn't he tell you?" She glanced up with wet confusion in her gaze, "I told him we should take a break from our relationship the other day."

"Oh."

Jim's hand fell off her shoulder and he took a step back – that guilt for snapping at her a few moments ago had also quite quickly disappeared.

"I thought it would do him good – I didn't know he was ill –"

"I came to use your habit of learning the history of culture we meet," He cut her off, unable to hide the frost to his tone; it was obvious to anyone who paid attention to Spock that something had been wrong with him for the past week, even Bones noticed and he didn't even like the Vulcan, yet his girlfriend somehow decided that the best way to deal with it wasn't to perhaps ask about the situation but simply take a break.

Uhura stiffened at the reply, her distress slipping behind a neutral mask knowing she'd just damaged yet another relationship; guaranteed the Captain didn't rank particularly high on her list but she'd hoped he'd eventually become less arrogant and they'd get along better. The irony was that this protective reaction on Spock's behalf actually made her like the man who she'd always seen to just be a rash idiot who stole her boyfriend's… ex-boyfriend's ranking position – yet the incident allowing her to see this side meant he now probably thought a lot less of her.

"What can I do for you Captain?"

Jim folded his arms and managed to sound reasonably professional again, "In eight days, did anything of significance happen on this planet exactly 25 years ago?"

Her brow dipped at the question, "Well… that'll be the anniversary of the return of Kandra's first off-world expedition."

"I'm assuming you know that because there's some celebration that we may end up getting invited too if we're still trying to get the contract signed by then," He groaned, there was no way he was going to partake in festivities when people were getting attacked in their own homes.

"Actually no," She murmured, "It's the opposite – I remember reading the information and finding it weird that there seemed to be no mention of the event in any of the upcoming lists."

"What?" Jim frowned, forgetting his anger at the woman as his mind focused on the puzzle, "That makes no sense, there should at least be –"

A tingling suddenly hit the back of his mind and his expression froze; there was something… he could remember there was something…

He automatically spun to the space at his shoulder since this would usually be where Spock's mind would also click and he'd inform the Captain what he was trying to remember – however glossing over the stab of worry on thinking of why the Vulcan wasn't there, he continued his circular motion and jogged over to where Chekov and Sulu where chatting by the front of the bridge.

"The first mission!" Jim exclaimed as he grabbed the startled kid's face, "There was something to do with the first mission."

"Um… okay Keptain," Chekov stuttered, grabbing onto the man's wrists in fear he was going to accidently crush his head with his surprisingly strong grip.

Sulu had taken a step forward at the attack, but the Captain didn't seem to be doing any harm except freaking the kid out with an intense stare - he glanced over to Uhura but she offered nothing more than a shrug.

First mission – he remembered talking about that with someone… Spock! Yes, they'd been discussing the halls with K'Son – a new one had been built… the Chian – yes the Chian had been built for off-world planning's and then… then K'Son had told them how nine people had gone on the first exhibition…

"It is curious."

"What?"

"My query on the name of the first being to leave Kandra - he did not answer it."

"Maybe it just slipped his mind."

"Who was the first human to step on land that wasn't Earth?"

"Neil Armstrong – oh, I get what you mean."

"The first being to hold the event of something as important as leaving the planet, it is not a fact you can simply forget."

That was it!

"He didn't say!" Jim shouted, clapping his hands on Chekov's cheeks and leaping back, "K'Son didn't want to say!"

Now all the occupants of the bridge were casting the Captain a wary gaze, a few wondering if they should call Doctor McCoy just in case; however just as quickly as the energetic jumping around started, it disappeared and their straight-headed leader was back.

"Sulu get the senior team in the boardroom immediately," He ordered, striding out the room without a backwards glance, "I don't care where they are, if I don't see them in five minutes they'll be working during our next Shore leave."

The pilot was fixed staring at the door for a few seconds before turning to face his friend who was rubbing his slightly reddened cheeks, "Don't look at me," The kid grumbled, "I just hope ze Commander gets better before the Keptain makes a habit of hitting me."


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