Arise

To The Beating Heart

Spock woke to the soft feeling of something pressing to his back, disappearing for a moment, before he felt it once more. Opening his eyes to the darkened room, he saw that there was light streaming through cracks of closed curtains. Phoenix's bedroom curtains. Rolling slightly and looking over his shoulder, he caught sight of Phoenix placing a careful kiss to a long green scabbed scratch near his side that had been caused by her nails.

"I am so sorry for what I did to you, Spock," She whispered gently, one of her fingers ghosting along a scratch left behind. Her dark eyes looked up to his lighter ones, a stream of sunlight coming through a crack in the curtains and hitting her right iris, a speck of red appearing in the path.

"Are you alright now, Phoenix?" Spock asked, noticing that she seemed more herself than she had the past couple times he saw her.

"It's not over," She admitted quietly, looking directly into the path of the sun. "I can still feel it, the fever and the…emotion. It is not as strong as it was before and I can think clearly again, but there is still a couple more days left…"She trailed off, one of her long fingers trailing along a cut on his back. Spock looked toward a dark shadow on her hip as he turned onto his back, her hands leaving his body.

"I hurt you," He stated regretfully, his hand moving to her hip. The skin was still as smooth as it had been the night before, but its perfect porcelain colour had been marred by the large print of his hands. He placed his hand over her right hip, his left hand matching the bruise to perfection.

"We both need some time to heal," She whispered, her hand taking hold of his own and mirroring it, the feel of their fingertips making a connection causing them both to inhale deeply and relax. The mind meld was still pulsing strongly between them, their close contact through the remainder of the night strengthening it. Spock moved his free arm around her shoulders, pulling her up against him and lying them both back down on the bed. He could feel her breasts pressed against his chest, the skin even silkier than the rest of her. His fingertips slid down along her spine for a moment, before he placed his hand against her face and let their minds open between them again.

Phoenix relaxed against him, her body going lax.

The strange faces all around her brought forth a sense of panic that she wished would disappear, the feeling greatly disturbing. Her body didn't move at her will, preventing her from escaping from the frightening sights around her. Nothing was familiar, nothing was comforting. People were talking and moving around her, making her flinch away against the wall behind her.

Someone said something to her right and moved toward her with a strange, sharp object and she instinctively tried to move away from it, her muscles giving away as she did so and causing her to topple to the left off the bed she was lying on. Two sets of hands caught her before she fell and she stumbled away from them as well, the sheets of the bed moving away from her and exposing the white clothing that she had been put in.

"I was frightened," Phoenix admitted quietly, her arms winding around his waist.

"I could feel your panic," He replied soothingly, his nose ghosting along her own as he turned his head, looking down at her through her hair. Because the strands were loose they fell into her face and over her body like silky black threads, catching the light of the sun. Spock was shocked at the closeness—the completeness—of holding onto Phoenix, saving her.

"Is this what humans call love?" Phoenix asked quietly, feeling his emotions and understanding the basics of his thoughts through the link that connected their minds. Spock glanced down at her face, seeing that she had closed her eyes and looked completely relaxed against him but he could feel and hear her breathing was beginning to pick up steadily.

"You are feeling unwell once more," He said, feeling the unease that was rising inside of her. He could feel her discomfort as though it were his own, tugging at his gut when he would feel the heat inside of her peak again. She shivered against his hold as her breath puffed out against his neck, her fingers digging into his bare back as she fought against the feelings erupting inside of her. "Don't fight anymore, Phoenix," Spoke said gently, his thumb stroking along her cheek soothingly.

Her pupils dilated and her heart rate sped up until it nearly matched the pace of an Earth's hummingbird, her nails biting at his back as she forgot all about the pain that she had already put him through and the deep regret that she felt about doing so. Spock gently eased her backward until she was lying on the mattress, kneeling over her. Her usually pale face was flushed slightly green from her rapid heart rate.

Bending to brush a light kiss against her lips, her eyes drifted closed as she let her body succumb to feeling. Spock's hand moved to linger over her ribs again, feeling her heart pounding erratically behind them. His lips moved down to caress her strong jaw bone, feeling her throbbing pulse as he ghosted down along her neck, the tight pale skin stretched over the long extension. Dipping a kiss into the hollow of the center of her collar bone he caused her to inhale sharply, her chest pressing up toward him.

He continued to trace a straight line down the center of her chest, between her heaving breasts, toward her naval. He pressed his forehead against the dip at the base of her ribcage, his hands lowering to slide along her sides soothingly. Her hands rose to grip at the sheets above her head, her eyes remaining closed as she tried to withhold herself from reacting to his touches. He moved his attentions to her hips then, stroking the hand shaped bruises that he had left on her hips. She didn't seem to feel pain as his fingertips ghosted over the greenish yellow skin and Spock couldn't help but feel relieved.

Spock looked up toward Phoenix when she suddenly moved, sitting up and guiding his chin upward until they were face to face. The sun hit her right eyes again, the red crescent appearing a moment before it faded back into the dark brown of her eye. Her lips met his gently as her hands moved up to slide through his straight hair, sliding backward along his skull until she had her arms wrapped loosely around his neck. Her grip was slowly tightening as her movements took on a desperate tone.

҉

"It had been in everyone's best interest for her to mate someone else, someone of full Vulcan heritage," One of the elders said calmly to Sarek as they walked side by side, marching along the corridors of Sarek's home. Amanda trailed behind them, trying to seem indifferent but was burning on the inside.

"In her best interest or yours?" Amanda asked as they turned the corner to head toward Phoenix's room. Spock hadn't been seen since the previous day and Amanda was starting to worry that the Elders might do something desperate. The Elder stopped at Amanda's question and looked back at her, a lack of any emotion colouring his features.

"Phoenix's mind is rare, no one has ever thought that there was a possibility of such intelligence in someone that has human gene," He began, causing Amanda to frown. "With the proper mate, she would be able to breed a very useful offspring."

"That's disgusting," She snapped before she had a moment to control herself, "You're speaking about her as though she's an animal only meant for your uses. She's a person who has lived through something traumatic. And you're talking about giving her the perfect match but were going to just give her any male in order for her to survive Pon Farr. You know as well as I do that Spock succeeds well past the limits that you set for him. He's the best in his age group, what better match for Phoenix than him?"

The elder would have given her a dark look she was sure, if he was able to do such a thing. Sarek didn't seem pleased that she had spoken out to boldly, but wasn't in his right to correct her. She was right. He knew much of the way that humans thought and acted and for Phoenix to be treated in the way that the Elders wanted to treat her would go against many of their laws and consciences.

"Spock saved her life, yes, but he's also found someone that he can be with. He was no longer betrothed when he made his decision, he was of sound mind," Amanda finished quietly, looking down the hall to where Phoenix's door was located.

"Be that as it may, Phoenix is a child of the planet. She has no parent to hand her off to a mate and so it is up to the Council to choose a proper male for her," The elder said as he looked Amanda directly in the eye. She looked back challengingly, her usual calm and pleasant nature darkening into a threatening and protective mother figure.

"Not while she lives under my roof, which won't be much longer as it is. She and Spock are both going to be finishing with their schooling soon and could be leaving to live on their own or in the dorms provided around campus," She offered, continuing walking as the elder gave her darkened looks.

"Mrs. Greyson-"

A door opened further down the hallway, bringing pause to all three adults. They looked up in time to see Spock step from Phoenix's room alone, dressed in his school uniform and looking freshly showered. Amanda could have sworn she saw a bite mark on his neck as he cast a glance their way, bowing slightly to the elder before he moved to leave.

"Spock," Sarek called, halting his sons escape.

"Yes, father?" Spock asked casually, turning to face the elder male once more, his hands moving to clasp behind his back.

"You know that this must be discussed?"

"Yes, I am aware." Amanda looked between Sarek and her son, knowing that something was passing between them that she was never going to understand. The elder that stood beside Sarek seemed completely forgotten in the moment between the small family.

"How is Phoenix?" Amanda asked quietly, drawing her son's attention away from his father. His gaze seemed to soften when it landed on her, causing her to relax slightly. She was relieved that Spock's Vulcan blood didn't turn him against her as well.

"She is recuperating, but is fairing far better. Now, I must depart." Bowing his head to the three of them respectfully, he turned to leave. Amanda had to stop herself from gapping when she saw a green tinged part of skin on his neck in the distinct shape of two rows of teeth. She held her tongue, though, and merely watched as he walked away until he had disappeared around the corner to head to his own room.

҉

Phoenix looked in the mirror at the bruises that had appeared on her hips and one small one on the base of her neck where Spock had pinched her with his teeth. Her body was sore from the physical motions that it had been but through the past couple of hours and she knew that she would need to meditate again to let her body heal more efficiently.

Her hair was damp from the shower that she had just stepped out of and stuck to her skin, giving her upper body a black frame. She had agreed with Amanda that she needed to trim it a bit, but she refused to let it become too short. She had a preference to longer hair and she was sure that Spock did as well when she woke to him running his fingers gently through the tangles.

A sudden chime at her door caused her to pause, wondering why someone would be coming to her now. She had told Spock to take care of himself for a while so she could clean herself up and meditate so she wouldn't expect him to return so soon. Pulling a robe on quickly she moved over to the door and taped the screen to see who was standing on the other side. Amanda's face appeared in the screen as she waited slightly impatiently for any sign that the younger female was going to respond.

Opening the door, Amanda jumped at the sudden movement before she smiled at the sight of Phoenix standing before her. The Vulcan offered a small smile and stepped aside to allow Amanda entrance to her room.

"How are you feeling?" She asked hesitantly, moving forward as though she wanted to hug Phoenix but stopping herself at the last minute. Phoenix was silently grateful that she had stopped, already too overwhelmed with emotions—both her own and Spock's—to take any more.

"Much better, thank you for asking. I should be prepared to head back to school by tomorrow," Phoenix assured, wondering why is seemed far more tense to be in Amanda's presence than it usually was. Maybe it was because of what had just happened with her son?

"There's no need to rush back, Phoenix, you're far ahead of your peers. I'm sure that you'll be perfectly fine if you take off a few more days," Amanda quickly interrupted, shaking her head, the scarf around her head shifting aside to show a curl of dark brown hair. Phoenix nodded in understanding, looking away from the older woman and down toward the messed sheets of her bed, a single tear showing in one of the parts where she had gripped it.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed, it's always great to hear what you think! I know that this one is a tad bit short, the next ones will be longer, I promise. Please comment, you all know how much I love them! We writers live off of your feedback!