Disclaimer: If I owned them, then I would be with them blowing up crazy Romulans and trying to keep Jim out (cough in) of sick bay. I would not be writing FanFiction. Okay, maybe I would, but ANYWAY! That is not the point. I do not own these amazing characters.

I apologize for the delay in this chapter! I didn't mean to let this one get away from me--I thought it was going to be out on time... and then I got mono and took a highly unexpected trip... and this fic just kind of got left in the dust. I apologize so much!!

Author's Note: Wow. You all are AWESOME! Everyone always talks about how they have the best reviewers, but I'm pretty certain you guys take the cake! Special thanks to Jordan, Korinix, and Kansas who aren't members of FanFiction but reviewed anyway! Also to Jordan--thanks for the offer of help!

Author's Note 2: I apologize for the meterology error in the last chapter. I have never been to Iowa, so I was unaware of the fact that that state does indeed receive snow.

Author's Note 3: A lot of you said that you really wanted to know where Jim learned how to build an igloo. Have no fear, that will be revealed in 'Z'! I promise!

I hope you all enjoy this one. It's kind of boring compared to some of the others, but I still like it. It features awesome Spock!!

The Quirks of Jim Kirk

Chapter 10

Jam

In which Jim gets stuck

Jim had a habit of randomly leaving the bridge and going down to engineering. No one thought anything of it—Scotty welcomed the 'competent help' and Spock didn't mind having the bridge quiet every once in a while. The other engineers down there didn't care too much either—they liked the Captain and he was a good engineer.

However, like all things concerning Jim, something was bound to go wrong. And it did during a Klingon attack. Jim was trying to help Scotty with an engine failure and since he was the second most qualified engineer on the ship that Scotty actually trusted (Scotty being the first, of course).

To get to the main engines, one had to be able to fit through a round tube and be able to climb head first down a ladder that would lead to instant death if there was a mistake. Naturally, Jim was the one who volunteered to go fix the problem with the main engine. And being practical engineers, Scotty and his motley crew didn't protest. They were too busy trying to stop the ship from imploding.

Jim got to the engines pretty quickly and was able to fix the problem despite the laser cannon blasts and shaking of the ship. However, he managed to break his wrist (no one was quite sure how), which probably led to Jim's predicament getting back out of the tubes.

He made it up the stairs all right, although he had to leave the tool box behind. Jim was good, but he wasn't that good. There was no way he could climb up a a ladder one handed.

It was getting into the tube that was the problem. Getting out of the tube was easy. But getting back into the tube that had an opening of about four feet with a broken wrist and a ladder that required at least one hand hold at all times was a little complicated.

Jim, being the genius, tried to use his broken wrist to hold onto the ladder. He let out a few choice swear words into his communicator when his arm burned in pain.

"Are you all right, there, laddie?" Scotty asked, his voice full of concern.

"M'fine," Jim said through clenched teeth. "I'll be up in a few minutes."

He stopped trying to get into the tube using his arms. He knew that there was no way that he was going to be able to accomplish that without falling into unconsciousness. So, Jim attempted to worm his way into the tube. He was working on pulling his feet into the tube when he suddenly found himself unable to move.

"Come on, come on!" he whispered.

"Captain?"

It was not Scotty's voice that sounded over the communicator. It was Spock's. Jim swore again as he struggled to move out of the tube opening. He was stuck.

"Captain, we are going to have to seal off the tube's opening," Spock said. "Are you inside of the tube?"

"Kind of," Jim grunted, attempting to wiggle his foot out from underneath him.

"Pardon?"

"I'm stuck in the opening," Jim said through gritted teeth. His arm started throbbing as he attempted to pull himself further into the tube.

"Damn it, Jim."

"Hiya, Bones," Jim said. "It's great to hear your voice."

"You're a fucking idiot," Bones replied. "How the hell did you get stuck?"

"I broke my wrist," Jim said, reaching out with his free foot, searching for something to press up against. "And now I'm stuck in the opening to the damn tube."

"Scotty and Chekov are on their way down," Bones said. "I'll get the hyposprays ready."

"Bones," Jim whined.

"Don't want to hear it, kid," Bones said. "No more runs to engineering after this either."

"Bones!" Jim complained.

Voices sounded down the tube right before Scotty's head appeared.

"You've got yourself in a right jam here, laddie," he said.

"Keptin? Are you all right?" Chekov asked from behind the Scotsman.

"I'm fine," Jim said. "Can you two get me out of here?"

"Hang on," Scotty said.

The chief of engineering backed up a little ways. He and Chekov began whispering in heavily accented voices. Jim wasn't really sure what was going on, but he hoped that the two crazy geniuses would be able to think up of something.

"All right, that will work," Scotty said. "You go tell the Doctor what we're about to do. I'll get 'im out of 'ere.'

"Yes, sir," Chekov said before disappearing from sight and sound all together.

Jim shot an inquiring glance toward his chief engineer, wondering what the Scottish man had in mind. He didn't have to wait long to find out.

"All right. On the count of three, I'm gonnae pull ye outta 'ere."

Jim grunted in agreement. He was beginning to feel lightheaded and extremely claustrophobic.

Scotty's hands gripped Jim's shoulders and pulled.

"Ow," Jim complained as the effort only resulted in his getting more jammed inside of the tube.

"Sorrae," Scotty said.

The engineer backed away for a minute, looking thoughtful.

"Aye'll be right back," he said.

"Wait!" Jim said as the other man backed out of the tube. "Don't--."

He trailed off as he realized that the engineer had left.

"Damn it," Jim muttered, trying once more to get himself unstuck. Somehow, he managed to end up with his head at the bottom of the tube and his left foot jammed in the ceiling and his right leg dangling uselessly out over the ladder. His broken wrist throbbed in time with his headache.

"Captain?"

Jim attempted to look to see if that was really Spock in the tunnels, but he ended up just banging his head against the side of the tube.

"Yes, Mr. Spock?" Jim croaked.

"May I inquire as to how you came to be in this position?" Spock asked. There was a faint undercurrent to his otherwise emotionless tone. Jim was shocked to realize that it was amusement.

Feeling more then a little offended; Jim didn't say anything, letting his silence be his response.

"Captain?" Spock inquired again.

"What?" Jim snapped. He was tired, his wrist hurt, his head ached, and he was getting more then a little fed up of being stuck in the damn tunnel.

"I was merely checking to see if you were conscious, Captain," Spock said.

The amusement was more noticeable this time around. Jim fought against the urge to stick out his tongue at his first officer, knowing that it was a highly undignified action for a starship captain to do. Plus, Spock wouldn't see it, so it kind of defeated the point.

"Can you just get me out of here?" Jim asked, letting some of his exhaustion seep into his tone.

Spock was quiet. Jim closed his eyes, hoping to relieve some of his headache.

The next thing Jim knew, he was waking up to the all too familiar sounds and scents of sick bay. He blinked, doing a double take as the harsh lights came into view.

How did I get out of the tunnel? he wondered.

"Jim?"

At the sound of Bones' voice, Jim jumped.

"Lo, Bones," he said. "How did I get here?"

"Spock," Bones said as if it explained everything.

Jim shot his friend an annoyed look. He knew that Spock had somehow gotten him out of the tunnel—that was obvious due to the fact that Jim was no longer in said tunnel.

"I don't know," Bones said honestly. "Spock didn't exactly keep up a running commentary. You're gonna have to ask him that yourself. What I want to know is how the hell you got stuck in the first place."

"You always said that my ego was too large for my own good," Jim quipped. "Guess you were right!"

Bones muttered something that sounded a lot like bastard before jamming a hypospray into Jim's neck.

Next week's Quirk: Katana, in which Jim shows that he is a master at swordmanship.. Stay tuned for more crack!!