Chapter 10

Just to let you know, I'm being selective about Starfleet academy stuff - this story will be dull and super-long if I stay true to the movie-canon of Spock already having been at the academy for FOUR WHOLE YEARS before Jim joins up.

So I was thinking that I could speed it along a bit, and make Spock an instructor (or whatever) by the middle of his second year. I mean Starfleet is kind of a cross between the military and university so he could get ahead a bit quicker…if anyone has objections about the fact that I'm playing around with details then I'm sorry.

I just really didn't want to write epically long Jim-less 'spock at the academy' chapters. Plus I don't really know much about the academy anyway - so they would be crappy and annoying to trawl through just to get to the jim/spock goodness later on.

Also, bit of Uhura-bashing in this chapter - spock likes jim and boys…not Uhura…and he's too polite to tell her to leave him alone and that he is gay

Sorry for any Uhura/Spock lovers…but they don't figure as a couple in this story

Spock walked along the road away from the club and away from Jim. He really did not expect his trip to Iowa to turn out this way. He wanted to at least talk to Jim, just to get a chance to explain. But Sam had made sure that he couldn't even see Jim, let alone talk to him.

He sat on the kerb when he felt he was far enough away, sighing in defeat. He rested his elbows on his knees and stared at the ground. He had had a wasted journey, and had come to the conclusion that perhaps he and Jim were just not going to get any chances to reunite. Sam had forbid him from seeing Jim, and Spock knew that he should respect that. So that meant returning to the academy, all hope of a reunion lost.

His 'prince charming', as his mother had called him, was perpetually off limits. The riding up on a steed and marrying and riding into the sunset was off the cards.

"Spock? Is that you?" He was shaken from his miserable reverie by the familiar voice. It was his uncle Thomas, who was staring at him and smiling.

"Uncle?" Spock responded after pushing his Jim-related thoughts aside. Where they belonged - not thought about.

"Hey buddy, what brings you to Iowa? Perhaps a certain blonde-haired blue eyed someone?" Thomas replied, sitting himself next to Spock, looking at him knowingly.

Spock just resigned himself to nodding, knowing that Thomas already knew the answer.

"You made the correct assumption about my venture here. Although, it did not go as planned. I have come to the somewhat painful conclusion that the relationship between Jim and I is…not to be." Spock spoke stoically and calmly, knowing that it was pointless to deny the evident truth. Anything that could have been, was now gone, and this would allow him time to focus on education and becoming the best he could within Starfleet.

Thomas sighed next to him, wrapping an arm around the younger's shoulders and squeezing lightly.

"That's real unfortunate, Spock; he seemed like a really sweet kid. When are you planning on returning to San Francisco? And yes, I have been filled in on everything that happened with your father and the science academy" Thomas chuckled, waiting for Spock's answer.

"Mother told you? I expected as much. I was planning on returning tomorrow lunch time. Would it be completely disrespectful of me to ask to stay in your guest room until then?" Spock broached carefully looking into his uncle's warm brown eyes.

"Of course not, I was going to suggest as much anyway. I wouldn't have you staying in any hotel. Come on, let's go and have some tea and a chat. You have to tell me all about your new life here." the human smiled and stood from the kerb, nodding in the direction of his house. Spock stood slowly and followed his uncle towards the house. It was a short walk away, and Spock was happy that he was not being badgered with questions.

Within minutes of arriving at the small house Spock found himself sitting on the sofa with a cup of tea clamped in his hands. Thomas was sitting in the armchair to his left, smiling slightly.

"How are you finding Starfleet?" Thomas broached, taking a sip from his cup and fixing Spock with a warm stare.

"It is most enlightening, thank you. The change in teaching methods in comparison to Vulcan is…refreshing. I feel as if I am less constrained here." Spock explained, looking around the living room and remembering when he and Jim had visited there. They had been sitting on the sofa entwined, and Jim had hugged him in the entry hall, and they had made cookies in the kitchen. These memories were painful to think about, as he could tell from Sam's frosty reception that there was little chance of Jim being together with him once more.

"So, are you going to tell me what happened back there? Or am I going to have to guess?" Thomas spoke into the silence, after watching Spock looking around with a slight frown on his face. He didn't like to see his nephew upset and he had learnt to read Vulcan facial expressions, and he knew that the boy's brain was working overtime thinking about everything that had happened.

"To what are you referring?" Spock asked, feigning ignorance. This was met with a raised eyebrow from his uncle.

"You went into a bar, I saw you come out of it with your hood pulled up a while later. I was getting some groceries from the store and you were going in when I went into the store, and then you were on the kerb when I came back out. So, what happened in there?" Thomas was not going to let it go, and he knew that something had happened.

Spock looked up at him, nodding apologetically.

"Yes, I did visit a bar. I had not intended to do anything other than get a beverage - to perhaps instil some courage for when I would visit Jim at his mother's house later. But it so happened that Jim and his brother were drinking in the bar at the same time as myself." Spock talked quietly, staring into the teacup that was still between his hands, watching the liquid resolutely.

"Jim was there? Did you talk to him?" Thomas blurted out, leaning forward to enable himself to hear the response better.

"I did not talk to him. I had intended to after I had realised it was him. but his brother would not permit me, he said that I had hurt jim enough by not contacting him while I had been on vulcan, and that it would be better if jim didn't know I was here on Earth. He would not let me have the chance to explain the circumstances or reasons for my inability to contact his brother. As the terran phrase says 'I could not get a word in edge-ways'." Spock frowned at this point; Thomas just opened and closed his mouth for a few moments.

"He wouldn't let you talk to him? If Jim knew what your father had done I'm sure he would understand the contact kerfuffle. I can't believe his brother acted like that! And after you came all this way to see Jim!" Thomas placed his empty tea cup on the table and sighed, frowning too.

"I can understand his reaction, for someone who is unaware of what my father did it would seem that I had used Jim when I was here, allowed him to fall in love with me, and then I severed ties with him as soon as I had acquired all I could from him. Of course this is not true, but to a bystander it could look this way. And I know for a fact that his family are very protective of him, and will form ranks against those who threaten Jim. It is most unfortunate that I could not defend my actions." Spock replied diplomatically, slightly shocked at the fact that he had come to terms with the situation so quickly.

It was only logical to learn from the events and to move on, not to focus and worry about what could have been said or done. What had happened could not be undone or changed; merely the ramifications can be dealt with, assessed and then forgotten.

Spock had other things to focus on, such as a new project that one of his professors had set; the creation of a training simulation that could be used for new cadets coming to Starfleet. The title of it swam within Spock's brain - "The Kobayashi Maru" he had to work around this slightly ambiguous title to create said programme. At least this freedom from the one he loved - no, not loved…had loved (past tense made it painful but it was necessary) allowed him time to think about this project.

"I'm sorry that it didn't work out for you, Spock. Maybe you could try again another time? Or give Jim a call and explain what happened?" Thomas suggested, patting his nephew on the shoulder. Spock yawned widely in a most un-vulcan fashion, squeezing his eyes tight shut and running a hand across his face. He felt exhausted by the travelling and the encounter at the bar.

"I do not feel that would be a wise decision, Thomas. If Sam believes I should detach myself from Jim, and he knows his brother better than I do, then I shall acquiesce to his request. Besides it will allow me to focus on my academy work." Spock replied, his voice cold and serious. A detachment was evident in his very attitude that his father would be proud of. This made him cringe inwardly.

"Well, if that's what you think then I'm not going to argue with you. There's been a bundle of unfortunate circumstances hanging over your and Jim's relationship from the start. Quite sad really, as I've never seen you as happy as you were that week." He patted Spock's arm once more and stood from the chair, disappearing into the hall to fetch some blankets and a sleeping bag from the linen closet. He placed them on the sofa next to Spock and placed a kiss on his nephew's forehead, seeing the look in the boy's eyes that told him his mind was reeling through a lot of difficult memories.

"G'night Spock, I'll see you in the morning." Thomas murmured, smiling gently and plodding up the stairs towards his bedroom. Spock removed his boots and jacket, and slipped into the sleeping bag, he curled up into the sofa and let his eyes fall closed.

Jim held the glass of water between his fingers, his head thumping painfully as Laz stirred in his sleep inches away. Ok, so drinking a hell of a lot and fucking total strangers…for money? Not the best idea. There was sleeping with people, who you'd had a conversation with and knew a little bit about. That kind of hook-up was fine. But having sex for money? That was definitely a new low for him. The memory of the prostituting had come back to him about twenty minutes ago, when he had awoken from his sleep and plodded to the kitchen.

He knew he'd had sex with someone because it hurt when he walked. And not an I-just-had-the-best-night-out kind of pain, but an I-had-some-rough-and-decidedly-dodgy-sex-last-night sort of pain. And then the guy's orgasm face and the feeling of a certain bodily fluid dribbling down his thighs came back to him. And the handful of cash being handed to him as the guy slurred his thanks buzzed in his bleary memory.

He could see Laz's disapproving face, his brother looking disappointed and worried. Then a thought of Spock flashed across his mind. How would he react if he found out what Jim had been up to the night before? Well he probably wouldn't care anyway. He was probably having the time of his life at the science academy, sizing up all the vulcan guys who weren't complicated or emotional, and weren't whole planets away.

Thinking of Spock was weird, after all the time he had been trying to do anything but that. Every person he had sex with, or flirted with or looked at was just an object to distract him from what had happened. But he kept thoughts of Spock to a minimum; it just made it harder to be with the other people.

He couldn't help but wonder what Spock was doing at that very moment. Would he be asleep looking all adorable and ruffled and hot? Or would he be at school, talking to some other vulcans and learning? He was wondering what had happened regarding Spock's future. Academy? Or marriage? He'd tried to block out all thoughts of Spock, but now he couldn't get it off his mind. You can't just switch off feelings like that. All the sex and alcohol in the world couldn't drown the love he'd felt in those few days. He had an unbelievable urge to call Spock. To talk to him, to find out what had been happening, how he was coping, how his mum and dad were.

Then a wave of nausea hit him and he ran down the hall into the bathroom and threw up into the toilet. His throat was burning as he leant against the porcelain and he really wanted his glass of water. Suffice to say any thoughts he had of doing anything that required any movement flew straight from his brain as his broiling stomach was more demanding that phoning the guy that had abandoned him and cut off all contact anyway.

Spock pulled a new jumper over his head and ran pale fingers through his hair. He could hear Thomas mulling around the kitchen behind him. He looked at the clock and saw that it was 11:00 o'clock already. The rest had definitely done him some good though.

He grabbed the PADD that he had placed in the suitcase and started to read through his notes for the Kobayashi Maru simulation. He already had the idea outlined and had started to configure programming numbers and data. Thomas appeared at his shoulder, holding two mugs of tea and raising his eyebrows as he watched Spock's fingers gliding deftly over the PADD.

"Back to work already, huh? I see you've inherited the Vulcan ability to distance yourself." He said with a ghost of a smile on his face.

Spock looked up at his uncle and accepted the cup that was extended to him.

"I have been set a project by one of my professors, and, now that I do not have thoughts of Jim to distract me any longer, I can focus all of my attention upon it." he replied in a monotone, passing the PADD to his uncle to read over.

"A simulation where cadets have to show that they can accept fear and a likelihood of failure, and still show their ability to be in command of their ship and their crew? This is a really great idea; you've obviously got the intelligence that your mother has." Thomas commented, smiling slightly as he handed it back.

"Thank you. I thought that it would be a good test of the cadets' characters and ability to cope." Spock answered, taking a sip from the mug. He proceeded to work on the PADD for another half an hour, as Thomas took a shower.

Then he and his uncle carried his suitcase into his car and drove to the space dock. It felt strange to be leaving Iowa again; he remembered how he had left in tears last time, feeling utterly lost and hurt. This time had been less of a success; he had been warned off Jim by Sam and not even got a chance to explain. It had been nice to see his uncle again though, and to have someone to talk to who understood him.

He hugged his uncle goodbye, smiling at him.

"Thank you for being so hospitable, uncle. I appreciated the company and your conversation. It would have been a lonely and miserable trip were it not for your kindness." Spock said, looking into his uncle's warm brown eyes that so resembled his mothers. The older man smiled and patted Spock's arm fondly.

"You're welcome Spock; it's been really nice to see you. I'm sorry that your trip didn't go as planned, I was glad to help you through it and to have company. Good luck with that simulation, you should get some recognition for such a great creation. Goodbye." Thomas replied, carrying Spock's suitcase onto the shuttle.

"Goodbye, and thank you." Spock said, as he boarded the shuttle back to San .Francisco. He waved through the window as it sped away into the distance

Spock sat at the desk in his Starfleet quarters, the sound of loud music filtering through from the dorm next door. He had been working on the kobayashi maru simulation design for two hours, and the noise was starting to distract him. In 20 minutes he had a meeting with his tutor who was teaching him the basics of the Professor course the Academy ran. His lecturers had met up and decided that he was good professor material, so they had suggested that he could start the course a year early (as long as it could be completed alongside his other studies). So for two weeks he had been learning as much as he could and fitting the tutor sessions in with his other lectures.

He could just not focus with all the noise and decided to go next door to ask them to turn the music down. He placed the PADD on the desk and moved the books that had been resting on his knees on the desk too.

He walked calmly out of his room and stood outside his next door neighbour's door, knocking twice. The door opened to reveal Mark; the man Spock had had few dealings with since living next door to him in the accommodation. They greeted each other cordially and Spock had encountered him drunk numerous times. At this moment he was standing there without a shirt on, and Spock could count at least seven people in his room in various states of inebriation.

"Hey Spock, what can I do for you?" Mark asked, looking at him through bleary eyes.

"Mark, would you mind turning your music down please? I am trying to complete assignments and the noise is rather distracting." Spock replied calmly and clearly, wincing slightly at the screeching music.

"Oh, sorry Spock, I'll just get it…hey, Robbie can you turn the music down a bit, dude?" he called back into the room, to a familiar looking cadet who turned it down with a frown and a pout.

He sashayed towards the door still frowning resolutely. He leaned on the doorframe and looked Spock up and down.

"Who's the spoilsport then, Marky-Mark?" Robbie drawled his eyes half-lidded with drunkenness.

"This is Spock, he lives next door. He has a point about the music though Robbo, it is really loud. You know how much of a bitch it is to work when there's noise, well you would know if you actually did any assignments!" mark joked, nodding to spock.

While mark was talking Spock realised why the cadet was so familiar to him; he had seen his face within Jim's memory when they had mind melded. Robbie Anderson, the person that had treated Jim so terribly when he was so young, taken his virginity by force and been the cause of so much heartache, was standing in front of him.

He knew it was him, the image in his head was so clear and horrifying, he was unmistakably Robbie Anderson - the hair the eyes the cheekbones were so memorable.

Spock backed away slowly. He thanked Mark quietly and returned to his room, his work forgotten. He sat on the bed and pulled his knees up to his chest. While he had not spoken to Jim for a long while he still had an undying loyalty towards him. Yes, he was afraid of the kirk family wrath that would be rained upon him did he try to contact Jim or see him in Iowa again. But knowing how Robbie had treated the blonde still made his skin crawl (however biologically impossible that might be). Then a thought crossed his mind; if he could punish Robbie for what he had done to jim, then perhaps this could make up for his lack of contact? He was broken from his reverie by a knocking at his door.

He stood slowly and answered it, to reveal a female cadet with chocolate skin and a short red uniform. A long dark ponytail hung down her back and she was smiling slightly maniacally.

"You're Spock, right? I think we worked together on a linguistics project one time. I just wanted to ask you if you wanted any help with the alien biology homework. And I also wanted to say that it's great that you're doing the professor course as well as everything else. My lecturer said that you would be teaching some lessons for my communications class in the next couple of weeks and I'm super-excited to see what you are going to teach us; I'm sure you'll be a great teacher. I mean you are young enough that we can still find you attractive and also respectable enough to keep our interest." She babbled excitedly, not seeming to take a breath the entire time. Spock raised a dark eyebrow at her; she came across as quite overbearing and intense.

"I do not require any assistance with the alien biology homework, thank you. I believe you complimented me within your introductory speech, so I should thank you for that also. You did, however, fail to give me your name." spock responded, internally thanking that he was used to his mother's quick-talking nature and was able to decipher intelligible speech from the jumbled string of sounds the cadet had emitted.

The girl blushed lightly and giggled. Yes, giggled.

"Sorry about that, my name's Nyota Uhura. I am in your linguistics and alien biology classes. I just wanted to say 'Hi'." She spoke in a gushing and slightly superior tone, but Spock brushed this aside as he continued to view her sceptically.

"May I ask how you knew that I resided in this building?" Spock asked, looking into her face intently. He supposed that, if you were inclined that way, she was fairly aesthetically appealing - her eyes were almond-shaped and a dark shade of brown, she had full lips and high sweeping cheekbones. But he was not that way inclined, rather more intrigued why this cadet, that he had barely spoken to, had made such a point to seek him out at his accommodation.

"Oh…well, I heard your flatmate Mark talking about you and he said you lived next door." she blushed deeper and looked down at the floor nervously.

"I apologise, Miss Uhura, but before you visited me I was attempting to complete some outstanding assignments. Thank you for your compliments and it was pleasing to meet you. We may have more chance to speak in the classes that we share; however, right now I wish to return to my work." Spock replied calmly, as she smiled awkwardly at him.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't realise you were busy. Sorry again. I guess I'll see you in lectures then. Thanks for letting me talk to you. Bye Spock." she responded, smiling as she turned and walked down the corridor.

Spock retreated back into his room and removed all of his clothes except his boxers and slipped into the familiar bed, thoughts of Robbie Anderson running over and over in his mind. With the occasional flick back to the intense cadet that had visited him moments ago. He stilled his breathing and tried to clear his clouded mind. After a few moments he found himself succumbing to sleep.

Jim looked over the Starfleet application that his mother had given him. She had picked it up for him when she'd visited her friend in San Francisco a few months previous and had forgotten all about it. Laz was sitting across from him, sipping from a large mug of tea, smiling and nodding encouragingly.

"I think it's a great idea, I mean you're smart enough for it, and you've always said you wanted to travel around the stars. Something to focus on too and you could be captain of a ship, that'd be awesome, Jimmy." He said, handing Jim a pen and smiling wider.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. But it's just a bit scary…what if they don't want me?" Jim said quietly, as he filled details in slowly.

"Oh, baby; they will want you, who could pass up a smart, energetic, strong-willed kid like you? If I was the admissions officer then I would snap you up in a second…and they will do exactly that when they get your application." Winona urged, patting him on the shoulder lightly.

Jim smiled up at her and murmured

"I hope so, mum."

Spock had been thinking about how to confront Robbie about what he had done to Jim, for 4 months now. He had gone over and over scenario's in his head.

He could not see a way that he could punish him, without getting into trouble at the academy. Perhaps he could tell the admirals that Robbie was violent and sex crazed.

He could use his power as a trainee professor to influence the board of governors. Or he could force Robbie to resign from the academy. He could always just cause him as much pain as he had caused Jim, through fighting not Robbie's own methods of torture, of course.

Also he was distracted from these thoughts by the frequent interruptions in his daily routine by Nyota Uhura. If he was honest he found her company more of an overwhelming excess of positivity and shrill speaking than anything else. But he would not tell her this. She was perfectly well-meaning and intelligent and she wanted to be in his company a lot of the time. This was an irritation to say the least.

With all of her intellect she apparently could not take the hint that he wished to study alone in his room, and no; she didn't have to help him arrange his revision notes, and no; he didn't want to spend his free time drinking in bars with her. Her awareness of vulcans tending to seek solace and solitude and meditation time was also inexistent.

It was most unfortunate that Mark had informed her of where his room was. She was often interrupting his studying and working on the kobayashi maru simulation, to ask him to go out with her. He politely declined on these occasions. This did not deter her either.

So the weeks passed by quickly, Spock had taken up jogging around the park in san Francisco called Dolores Park; it served as an effective method of clearing his mind, and keeping fit at the same time. He had found that coming to Starfleet had caused his diet to go down hill slightly, preferring to eat replicated meals of little nutritional value and soup rather than solid meals. These were easier to eat between studying and preparing lecture notes for the classes he had set about teaching in the past month, and organising his revision into subjects.

While out jogging he also managed not to be in the direct vicinity of overbearing people, such as the frat boys that lived in his building and a certain dark-haired female cadet that would not leave him alone.

Then he saw something that made his brain flip over. Robbie Anderson was also jogging in the park; Spock came to a stop and watched the vile human turn off down one of the darker more heavily-wooded areas of the park.

'Perfect' thought Spock, jogging again to catch up with Robbie.

Jim had just finished packing his suitcases to get ready to go to San Francisco. The acceptance letter had arrived two weeks ago, and he had spent most of that fortnight out drinking with his brother and Laz and Jack. He had been so hung-over and then so drunk again frequently in the past few days, so much so that he was surprised his body could move at all. He was running on strong cups of tea and the huge grins his friends and family flashed his way as they watched him tearing around the house collecting his belongings.

"I can't believe I'm actually going to Starfleet! This is so fucking exciting!" Jim said, hugging Laz goodbye for the billionth time as he waited for the shuttle to take him.

"My baby boy, all grown up and moving out…to Starfleet no less! You'd better make me proud James Tiberius Kirk!" his mother gushed, wiping tears from her eyes with the sleeve of her cardigan. Jim hugged her too, placing a kiss on her wet cheek.

"I love you mum, thanks for always believing in me and I will make you proud…I'll be captain James Tiberius Kirk and then I will fly by here in my spaceship and take you all on a trip around the stars and planets." He laughed as she stroked his cheek and smiled through the tears.

Sam hugged him next, patting him on the back.

"I'm gonna miss you, bro. but I know you're going to have tonnes of fun in San Fran with all those clubs and bars and hot cadets running around. Good luck, man. Not that you need It." his brother said, grinning and winking, as he slipped a condom into Jim's jean pocket.

"Thanks Sam, I've got to get there first, I won't be thinking about any 'hot cadets' for a little while yet. I'm going to miss you looking out for me; maybe you could come along as my bodyguard and wingman?" Jim replied, wiping a tear from his eye as he made jokes to distract from his sadness at having to leave Iowa.

With a final hug to his mum he picked up his cases and boarded the shuttle, waving and shouting that he loved them all out of the window as it flew away into the sky. Sam wrapped an arm around his mum's shoulder, as she slipped her hand into Laz's shaking hand.

Spock tackled Robbie to the ground and straddled the wriggling man, swinging his arm and punching him in the Jaw, hard. Robbie's eyes widen and he attempts to grab the Vulcan's wrists.

"WHAT THE FUCK MAN? WHAT DID I EVER DO TO YOU?" he shouted, managing to push Spock off of him and crawling away slightly. He stood upright, his jaw already turning red from the punch.

Spock stood up gracefully and turned on Robbie again.

"it was not me you committed an offence against." He spoke calmly, trying not to let emotion rule him.

"Who was it then? Some friend of yours?" Robbie spat, moving away from spock, preparing himself to be tackled again.

"Yes, do you remember a James Kirk? You were friends with his brother Sam, I believe?" spock felt the adrenaline pumping in his veins and stared into the man's face for a flicker of recognition in his cruel eyes.

"Oh yeah; cute little blonde kid, super up for it…yeah I remember him." he replied, laughing cruelly as he seemed to recall the event that had harmed Jim so much. He really did make Spock's skin crawl.

"YOU WILL PAY FOR THE WAY YOU TREATED HIM! HE WAS ONLY A CHILD; DO YOU HAVE NO HUMANITY?" spock shouted back, feeling anger bubble up in his chest and spill over. The man before him clearly did not care about Jim, or how he may have felt afterwards.

"Age doesn't come into it when you're horny, well not for me anyway." Was robbie's repulsive reply.

"I wish for you to resign from Starfleet, I'm sure the admiralty and other cadets would be horrified to hear what habits you were involved in; raping innocent children is hardly something you want on your record, is it Mr. Anderson"

"You wouldn't dare report me." Robbie said, the response somewhat weakened by a quiver in his voice.

"I will not have to if you resign. There will be no record for you if you are no longer a cadet." Spock quipped back coolly.

"I don't think I will actually, I like Starfleet; especially the new kids that come in at age 17…they're cute." Robbie leered, moving his hips to emphasise the latter part of his statement.

Spock shivered in repulsion and locked gazes with Robbie.

"IF YOU WILL NOT DO SO WILLINGLY, I WILL FORCE THE RESIGNTION FROM YOU" Spock shouted, pushing Robbie backwards into a tree. The human cringed at the pain but a smile played across his lips

"I'd like to see you try." He whispered, leaning close to Spock's face and licking his cheek languidly. Spock backed away, grimacing and wiping his cheek.

"You will regret challenging me; as you will regret ever harming Jim." with that spock proceeded to punch and kick and push at every piece of Robbie he could reach.

He revelled in seeing the blood dribble from the human's nose and eyebrow. He heard a few satisfying cracks of broken or fractured bones in Robbie's arms and legs.

Spock let all of the rage and hatred he had ever felt and repressed in his life pour from him, channelling it into this fight. He walked away minutes later, leaving Robbie lying in the mud, groaning as he tried to move. He strangely didn't feel regret for his actions.

Jim had been in Starfleet for a week and a half and he had already ended up in the hospital wing. He was sitting on a bed, as a nurse bandaged his newly broken arm.

He and his new class had been training in the gym for agility and general fitness; he had tripped over one of the hym mats and had landed awkwardly against a bench. Yeah, not the sexiest of ways to get injured, not because he was standing up for someone in a fight, because he was a klutz and fell over a gym mat. Not cool jimmy, very not cool.

The nurse said that he had to wait the plaster set for at least 5 minutes. They already knew him in the hospital wing, even before the broken arm, he had had two allergic reactions (strawberries and sneaky peanuts in a cake he had been given) and went into anaphylactic shock for the latter. Damn allergies. So the nurses and doctors knew how much he hated sitting still in the ward doing nothing.

He had hit it off really well with one of the doctors, a country man from Georgia who had a young daughter and a crazy wife who was cheating on him and was in the middle of a crappy divorce. Leonard McCoy They had talked in the cafeteria on his first day and he had offered Jim a sip from his hip flask of bourbon during the walk to the admiral's speech. He would never forget the first thing he'd said.

"McCoy, Leonard McCoy, my wife took the whole planet in the divorce, all I've got left is me bones. Hence why I'm here in Starfleet; thought I might as well start my life over." This was when jim created his new friend's nickname; 'Bones'.

He was glad that he had made a friend already; at least he wouldn't be friendless.

So he leapt of the bed, careful not to shake his broken arm too much, and walked around, looking to see if there were any long-stay patients. The ward was empty, except for a dark haired man who was wired up to some machines and had a cast on one of his arms and one of his legs; he had a lot of blood on his face and hands, and was snoring lightly.

Jim moved closer to the patient and recoiled in horror when he saw his face.

How could he be here? He went to Spain, he couldn't be…it just couldn't be him. Not here! This wasn't fair!

Jim had forgotten about him, moved on, and got used to the idea that he was miles and miles away. But now he was right here, inches from him. Jim wanted to congratulate whoever had done this to the cruel bastard that was Robbie Anderson.

He was pissed that he hadn't had the chance to throw a few punches himself. Suddenly Robbie awoke, groaning and wincing.

"Resign…Starfleet. Need to resign…resign…Starfleet." Was all he croaked out in his low voice, before turning his head and going back to sleep.

"That's all he's been saying since he came in here a few weeks ago. He filled out the form to resign as soon as one of the nurses got it for him. He must really hate Starfleet to want to leave so badly. He also called his parents in Spain saying he was returning home as soon as he was well enough." One of the doctors had appeared at Jim's shoulder, as he was backing away from the man who had terrorised his thoughts for years.

All he wanted to do was leave, get as far away from Robbie as possible and go and have a strong drink of Bones' whiskey stash. For a doctor he sure did drink a lot of alcohol. Hey, Jim wasn't complaining.

Jesus! That is one long chapter - some stuff actually happens…shocker!

- Spock in Iowa being all cock-blocked and recovering with Thomas

- Jim being hung-over and remembering his drunken behaviour

- Spock starting to work on the Kobayashi maru thing - I don't know much about it other than what's in the 2009 movie and what is mentioned in one of the TOS movies with shatner( so sorry if it is incorrect)

-Spock at Starfleet dealing with frat-boy housemates and insistent Uhura

- ROBBIE IN STARFLEET - OMGWTF? OH NO

- Jim applying for Starfleet and getting accepted and then joining up

- Spock resolving the Robbie situation by kicking butt

- And then Jim seeing beat up!Robbie in the hospital wing - ready to GTFO of there sharpish - being a pedo-rapist is not what he wants on his record

Whoa very long and a little bit repetitive with all the shuttle rides and angst and ignorance of what the other one is doing…still not together yet though they will be soon…

But does the course of love run smooth…uh yeah generally not

The ending is going to have to be so schmoopy and fluffy and induce so many WARM AND FUZZY FEELINGS to make up for all this angst and non-action

Hope this is ok x