AN: Usual disclaimer, the rights to Star Trek etc belong to someone else. Thank you to those who have already reviewed and waited patiently for the endgame. I hope it was worth the wait…

Chapter 10

Three months after the visit to New Vulcan...

He rode his motorcycle fast, as fast as the limits would allow him. He felt the wind whip through his hair, slightly longer than he'd usually have it, he felt free. His jeans were ripped, and covered in oil stains. The bike had broken down a few hours earlier and he had spent the afternoon fixing it. He had had little contact with Starfleet over the past 9 months – extended medical leave they had called it. He needed a break from everyone and everything, not even McCoy or Admiral Pike knew where he was.

He knew he had to leave, too much had happened - he recalled what led him to make that decision. The Vulcan's had given him the all clear and he was about to leave sickbay, gingerly he had tried to step down from his bed, but McCoy had wanted to run a few more tests. 'For my peace of mind' he had pleaded. It was late, and only he and Spock remained in the dimly lit room. As he lay on his bed he lamented his reasons for leaving were not just restricted to hating being in sickbay. Spock abruptly spoke up 'I am not asleep Jim', as he opened his eyes; his face betrayed none of the turmoil they had experienced on Theytan. Kirk eyed him, he was unsure what to do, so he simply said 'what now?' They both knew they would have to discuss what had happened. Spock ignored his question, and instead apologised. 'I'm sorry for inflicting harm on you. I had no right to force our meld'. He watched Kirk waiting for acknowledgement. Kirk carefully and slowly formulated his response. He took a deep breath and spoke, 'As Captain I know you were under the influence of Déjà, and accept shit happens. But as your friend I'm not ready to accept your apology'. It pained Kirk to admit it. 'You violated me and used something I have no control over against me', his voice had an edge. Spock replied passively, 'she loves us both', and turned away to stare at the ceiling. Then his facial features hardened, 'I know you were together, I could smell you all over her, and her on you when you came into the grand hall…superior sense of Vulcan smell', he spat out. Stunned that Spock knew, Kirk stuttered, 'I didn't…we didn't…mean for anything to happen…I'm sorry…' Spock glared at him; his eyes blazed with fury 'at this moment in time, I cannot accept your apology. You tried to take what is mine!' Jim sighed, and rubbed his face with his hands, he was tired and irritable, 'She is not a fucking commodity, she has free will. I didn't make her do anything!' Trying to control his breathing Spock returned to staring at the ceiling 'she will have to choose…'

Kirk remembered how that went - Uhura had chosen Spock, and he made damn sure she knew how much that had hurt him. For a long time he cursed the day he joined Starfleet. He had refused therapy - never again would his private thoughts be on parade for all to see. For months he suffered nightmares, and couldn't sleep unless driven to exhaustion so that he could not dream. He had nearly fallen back into his destructive habits, only the intervention of a punch to the face, had shocked him out of his depression. That had been some time ago, and he was feeling happy again. Recently, he had even considered returning to Starfleet. He pulled up outside his home, the only building for miles. He had built it himself, this was his therapy. Small but perfectly formed, it was the opposite of the metal and sterile white of the Enterprise. Warm earth tones greeted him as he opened the front door. It took him awhile to register that someone was sitting in his chair near the fireplace.

Uhura had waited until she was sure she knew what she wanted to say to him. So much time had passed, that she was frightened of how he would react to her. After leaving New Vulcan, she thought about Kirk. She had felt guilty for pushing him away, she felt even guiltier for not attempting to see him sooner. Instead she had travelled; visiting planets whose languages fascinated her. It was on one of those planets, sat in a bar she finally let herself think about Kirk. Without the influence of Spock, the intensity of the situation, and the passage of time, she felt she could impartially assess her feelings. Nursing a drink she recalled the time Kirk had given her a birthday gift. Not many people had known it was her birthday, but somehow he had found out. He had left the gift outside her dorm room. When she had opened the box it was an onyx pendant. For months she had fondly observed the pendant in the store window, wistfully longing to own it. The cost was prohibitive, the same number of credits as a trip home to Kenya. Upon seeing it, she had promptly walked round to his dorm and demanded he take it back. She was not going to be one of those girls who fell into his bed at the sight of a nice gift. He had looked startled at her tirade, and held up his hands, 'No strings attached. From one friend to another'. He had taken a chance on her, she realised she needed to do the same with him. She absentmindedly played with the pendant, it was frustrating her that she had no idea where to look for him, and then it hit her, during one of their late night discussions he talked about owning a cabin by his favourite lake in Iowa.

He stopped by the door and scrutinised her. He had wondered if she would still affect him as she had before. She did, and he achingly wanted to hold her, but something held him back. 'Nyota' he breathed out her name. She turned around; her hair was loose and cascaded down her back. In her dark denim jeans and a halter top, it was a beautiful summer day, yet she still shivered when she saw him. 'How did you find me? What are you doing here?' he finally found his voice, and hoped it betrayed none of his feelings for her. She stepped forward, and then stopped. She was suddenly at a loss what to say. She looked around his living room before settling on his face. 'I missed you. I'm sorry. I think I'm in love with you', she rushed the words out before she lost her courage. She took another faltering step forward, closing the distance between them. His shoulders relaxed, he had not realised he was tense 'you think or you know?' he asked for clarification. The one time they had been in this position before he had got burned. He was not sure if he could survive that again. 'I…I know that I love you. Don't be an ass and make me say it again…' He grinned, and rushed forward grabbing her towards him for a passionate kiss, filled with all the longing he held over the past nine months. They broke apart, 'what about Spock?' he hesitantly asked. She placed one hand on his chest feeling his heartbeat. 'We're just friends. He helped me understand'. She looked up at him. 'He said that he had always known that I was in love with someone else'. Kirk allowed himself to feel a flutter of hope. Saying it out loud to him, and admitting it to herself she felt so exposed. She buried her face against his white tshirt waiting for him to respond. He stepped out of their embrace, turning towards the door, 'You're killing me woman', he said desperately needing fresh air. She had said everything he had ever wanted to hear from her and now he felt overwhelmed. He signalled for her hand, and pulled her outside walking her to the edge of the lake. He stood behind her, with his arms around her waist, as she leaned back against him he felt her nervousness. It was very strange to be this close to her again. 'Nyota, let's get something to eat'. She had expected a different reaction to their kiss and her confession. 'You want to take me to dinner?' she made to step out of his embrace with a quizzical look on her face, he held onto her tighter to stop her moving away from him. 'No, I'm going to cook for you, then we're going to talk, and then we'll see what happens next.

Later on having eaten, they faced one another on the sofa and talked deep into night. They had laughed, he loved that sound. She had gone quiet, then bashfully asked if he remembered the time in the turbolift, then confessed that she had wanted him to kiss her. So he happily obliged, smiling as they pulled apart, 'see, I knew you were attracted to me', he cockily stated. She playfully smacked him on his arm. Only when she yawned, he insisted that they go to sleep. He led her to his bedroom, and dug out an old tshirt she could sleep in. Suddenly feeling very shy, she disappeared to the bathroom to get changed. During that time he'd changed into his pyjama bottoms, and sleep shirt. He was pacing anxiously; they were not going to do anything other than sleep. She finally came out; the tshirt was too long for her and came down to the middle of her thighs. He stopped and observed that she had amazing legs, and wanted to feel them around him again. She tipped her head to the side, admiring him. 'No sex' she had repeatedly said to herself in the bathroom. When she thought she believed it she came out to see him. 'Ok, which side should I take?' as she pointed to the bed, he shrugged his shoulders. This would be the first time ever a girl had slept in his bed. Sex yes, but never staying overnight. He then pointed to the right hand side; it was closer to the bathroom in case she needed to get up in the middle of the night. She gracefully crept into his bed and pulled the covers over her. He got in and lay facing her, he was smiling. 'What?' She uttered. 'You know, I've fantasised about this, you in my bed'. He whispered with a smile on his face. She rolled her eyes, but he could tell she was happy. She watched his hair fall across his forehead; he distractedly pushed it out of his eyes. She leant over and gave him a kiss, then settled down to sleep. Kirk moved onto his back, one arm behind his head, the other across his stomach. He considered her, and pinched himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming. He smiled to himself, and then let himself slip to sleep.

Morning sunlight streamed into his bedroom and Kirk woke up with a start, the right side of the bed was cold and empty. For a second he was bereft, had it been a dream? Only when he could hear the kettle brewing and smelt coffee, he allowed himself to exhale the deep breath he was holding. He padded down the stairs, and when he reached the last step he saw she had her back to him. His heart swelled with pride, she was finally his and she was here in his kitchen. Standing at the counter she appeared to placing food on plates. He approached her as quietly as he could, and slide his arms around her waist and dropped a kiss on the side of her neck. She startled a little, and then spun round to greet him with a loving smile.

After denying each other for so long, being so close, their desires took over. Uhura melted into his embrace, as his hands moved to grab her face; she used the opportunity to explore his back and chest with gentle strokes. He groaned into her mouth, her touch was negating all sensible thoughts about eating breakfast. He used his body to back her up towards the sofa, all the while kissing her. 'What about breakfast', she asked breathlessly. 'Fuck the food', and he began kissing her again, as he lay her down on the sofa. She stopped kissing him, and looked into his eyes. His blue eyes were startling, and were full of need for her, he ground himself against her, just so she would know how much he wanted her. Uhura tilted her head back and she let out a sound so wanton that Kirk began clawing at her t-shirt and underwear to get her naked. Uhura was also caught in up in his want, she was dragging his tshirt off over his head, and using her legs to pull down his bottoms. Finally, with skin to skin contact they stilled, legs entwined. He dropped his mouth tolasciviously suck on her erect nipple, whilst using his hand to caress the other, all the time maintaining eye contact with her. He wanted to see how much she was enjoying it, making the anticipation all the more exciting. '…Jim…' she wailed, the sensation was stupefying. She arched her back off the sofa to allow him more access to her breasts. He accepted the invitation and began laying butterfly kisses between them. She could feel his erection resting against her thigh, and was desperate to feel him in her. She began guiding him into her, but he pulled back. 'No…we're going to take our time…', then he began kissing down her chest, towards her belly button and then his head disappeared between her legs. 'Guess there are benefits to his sexual exploits', she thought pleasurably to herself, she gripped the side of the sofa, trying to stifle the need to scream. The quickening and tightening signalled the start of her orgasm, allowing it to wash over her, she shuddered and groaned with gratification. Kirk raised up his head with a knowing sexy smile, taking the opportunity to catch him off guard she wrapped her legs around his and flipped them using a move she learnt during a self-defence class, he was now on his back. Wanting to repay the avid attention he had given her, she straddled him and began kissing his jaw allowing her hair to caress him at the same time, slowly moving down his chest. He was taking shallow breaths, leaning on his elbows he gazed at her as she took each nipple in turn, and swirled her tongue around them, Kirk hummed in appreciation. She looked up and saw his eyes were now closed, his mouth agape as he was trying to control his breathing. Her kisses followed his happy trail, and attentively her lips brushed his skin all the way down until she took his penis in her mouth and gently sucked. Not expecting the warmth, he growled '…if you carry on doing that, I won't make it…' With that he pulled her up, beseeching her to join them as one. Needing no further invitation, she took advantage of her position straddling him, she slowly lowered herself onto him. It was exquisite pain, she thought if she moved any faster she felt she would break apart. Her panting aroused Kirk even more, by this point he had manoeuvred himself so his legs were planted on the floor for more support. Knees either side of his thighs, she used her arms around his neck to steady herself, then she began moving, slowly at first, gently gathering her rhythm letting him respond in kind thrusting upwards to meet her movement for movement. It felt like time had stood still, all the doubts, the hurt and pain erased by their coming together. He captured her mouth with his, and used his tongue to explore her. She aggressively responded to his invasion, using her teeth to nip at his lower lip, grinding down harder and faster as she felt the waves of pleasure build up within her. His hands gripped her hips harder, as he struggled for leverage savagely impaling her. He could feel her tightening around him, they were both so close. Using his left hand, he cupped her face, she momentarily slowed down to focus on him, he needed to let her know, 'I love you, it has and always will be you'. That sent her over the edge, her screams could be heard outside the cabin. His release followed soon after.

Slowly their breathing returned to normal, sated for now, he rested his forehead against chest aware that he was still linked to her in the most intimate way possible. She jokingly said, 'so that's what they were all talking about back at the academy'. Peering upwards, he brushed her sweat slicked hair from her face, and with a serious voice retorted 'woman, don't you know, I'm fricking awesome in the sack'. Then he broke into a grin, 'I don't know about you, but I'm hungry now', nodding his head to the cold breakfast on the side. She stepped off him, stretching her legs looking for her t-shirt and underwear. Kirk in his amorousness had hurled both towards the front door. He slipped his bottoms back on, walked towards the counter and sat down at the breakfast bar, when Uhura approached trying to arrange her hair in a ponytail, her grabbed her and drew her towards his lap. He then curled his arm around her hip to stop her moving away and proceeded to feed both of them. 'Am I great cook or what?' Uhura flashed a brilliant smile as she impatiently grabbed a piece of bacon, waiting for Kirk to agree, he nodded as he swallowed, and then cleared his throat, 'I'm not ready to let you go', and then in a gentler voice added 'don't ever go'. He was almost pleading, his candour astonished her. She felt a lump form in her chest, but knew what to say, so confidently replied with her head angled towards him, 'I'm not going anywhere'.

AN: There is only the epilogue after this, and then it is the end.

AN2: All you Kirk/Uhura pairing fans out there, feel free to recommend this story to a friend. I feel it's time we made a stand for these two!