Author's Note: So why the fight you ask? We'll its simple. Bones has a child. A daughter at that. And he is not coming at this from the position of CMO- but as a father. If you have ever read John Grisham's "A Time to Kill" or have seen the movie- you'll understand. Hit first, ask questions later. It's a very emotional response. This is it for this week, but we shall resume on Monday. Happy Friday everyone!
The Prince: Ascension
Chapter 10
Jim lay in his bed, arms behind his head, body still. But, he wasn't asleep. His eyes were closed but his mind was wide awake.
He needed desperately to find a solution to this stalemate. It had been weeks since his last discussion with Spock, and since then nothing had gotten better. In fact, he felt the situation had gotten worse.
Now instead of one person drawing completely away, both had done it. To each other and the rest of the crew.
He hadn't even seen Spock in the gym and he had noticed the Vulcan had spent increasing time in "meditation"- at least, that was the excuse Spock gave for ignoring and rejecting every social event and call.
The crew couldn't continue to operate like this. He wanted his friends back- but at this point he would settle for having his officers back.
It was shit like this, Jim thought, that Starfleet worried about when they said officers shouldn't get involved with each other.
This was a prime example.
But part of him didn't believe that. He knew in his heart this was more than just a lover's quarrel. But if something didn't happen soon- he'd have to make an executive decision- breaking up the best damned command team in the Federation- but one of them would have to go…
It was the first time he had considered such a thing seriously, and the thought of it hurt more than he would ever admit.
All of a sudden his comm. System went off. It was his head security chief- Cupcake.
"Captain! We have a problem outside- please come now."
Cupcake's voice was raised louder than usual and Kirk heard the sounds of something crashing and glass breaking.
"What the hell?" he thought to himself.
He had activated his soundproofing, as was his wont to do and had so far been completely oblivious to the happenings in the hall.
He quickly slipped on his standard-issue black pants and t-shirt and a pair of regular shoes before walking out into the hall.
What he saw next stopped him dead in his tracks. As he witnessed his Chief Medical Officer and First Officer locked in mortal combat.
II
McCoy's fist connected with the Vulcan's jaw and he watched with satisfaction as Spock's head snapped back. It was all the clearance the Doctor needed as he began to advance- fists flying.
Spock felt the doctor's impact and stumbled, completely surprised by the attack. Before he had a chance to recover the Doctor was on him- landing several more hits before his mind registered the attack. But he compensated quickly.
He was not about to let the doctor use him as a punching bag- but he also sought to avoid additional hits. Instead, he chose to block and to try to reason with McCoy.
'Doctor, I do not understand why you are physically assaulting me." He said through a series of complicated maneuvers designed to thwart McCoy's attacks.
"You sorry bastard! I know what you did. She told me. I know what you did to her!"
The doctor's yell of anger and the accusation triggered something dark within Spock and instantly the Vulcan went from being on the defensive to being the attacker.
McCoy saw the mood shift and knew that he had struck a chord. Unfortunately- it was the wrong chord.
Spock was on him in an instant, slamming McCoy so hard into the steel doors it made a dent.
The Doctor moved quickly- barely escaping a hit that sent Spock's fist through the door.
It opened from the impact and in a series of fists and yells both men were out of the room and taking the fight to the hall.
McCoy turned and, catching Spock by surprise, managed to trip him up. He went down hard on the hall floors and grabbed McCoy in his fall. Both men were on each other – hands around necks and fighting to kill.
Soon security was on them, two for McCoy and four that were currently trying in vain to subdue Spock- who was tossing them across the hall like rag dolls.
It was not until Kirk stepped into the hall that everyone froze.
"WHAT. THE FUCK. IS GOING ON?!"
III
He could not believe the melee that had broken out. It reminded him of a bad parody of the various bar fights he'd been in. Except, this was no joke.
His two senior officers stood glaring at each other, chests heaving, fists locked as if to resume the fight they'd just been broken out of.
Suddenly Kirk felt a major headache coming on. He wasn't even remotely near joking as the seriousness of the situation made itself abundantly clear.
Assault against a fellow officer was a court-martial offense.
He didn't feel like being Captain right now. In fact, he wanted to give the job to someone else so that he wouldn't have to do what he knew he had to do next.
"Security, escort Mr. Spock and Dr. McCoy to the brig."
"Aye sir," came the response as his two friends were taken to the turbo lift.
He followed behind. But not before casting a look at the damage in the hall. This was the senior staff quarters. So he, and the bridge crew of higher ranks resided on this floor. A few doors were opened as faces peeped out to see the action.
He barked his orders quickly.
"If you do not want to be a part of this or risk disciplinary action, I suggest you return to your quarters!"
The heads disappeared and doors swooshed closed.
He stepped over the broken filaments of lights and emergency wall units, now shattered. The fight had apparently started in Spock's quarters…
But what the hell? As he made his way down to the brig, he was certain he would not like how this story began.
IV
The two officers were housed in separate units directly beside one another. Jim approached the first to find his first officer, shirt ripped and fists bloody (red) sitting cross-legged on the floor in the corner. His eyes closed. Meditating.
Of course. Jim thought.
Next he moved to the next cell, which housed his CMO.
Bones sat on the edge of the bed, head in his hands, which were also bloody (green).
Neither man acknowledged his presence.
He cleared his throat and signaled the guards to remove the force-fields.
At the sudden disappearance of the mechanical humming, both men turned to look at him.
"I'm going to let you two out of here. But on penalty of court martial, you are not to touch one another."
His words were terse- and radiated his own foul mood.
"Do you understand?"
Two sets of eyes, one blue and one brown looked at him and, standing in identical postures of attention said, "Yes, sir."
"Good. Now follow me."
Three sets of feet headed into the conference room.
"Computer, lock and sound-proof room. Cease vocal recordings."
Satisfied at the computer's compliance and with the knowledge that the conversation about to take place was completely off the record, Kirk sat down.
Spock and McCoy remained standing- each man positioned on the left and right wall respectively.
Kirk rested his elbows on the table, raising his hands to rub his temples as he studied the two men before him.
This had to be some sick, twisted turn of the universe that would cause the most important members of his command team to try to kill each other in the middle of the night in the hallway.
Finally, he spoke.
"One of you better start talking."
The ensuing silence let him know neither man wanted to say anything.
"NOW."
He knew his tone was forceful, but his patience was wearing thin. They had only been out of port now five months, and already all hell had broken loose on his ship. If the senior crew could not get along- what did that mean for the rest of the mission? For the crew? For the ship?
Finally, McCoy broke first.
"Ask the Vulcan. Seems your first officer isn't as innocent as he looks."
Jim watched as Spock's fists flexed, then released. He remained silent.
"Spock, what happened?"
"The doctor assaulted me. I defended myself."
Kirk was not dumb. Though he knew Vulcans did not lie- he also knew they were prone to tell the bare minimum of truth.
He turned to McCoy.
"Bones, did you attack him?"
"Somebody needed to," came a grudging reply. Kirk was taken aback by the Doctor's tone.
"Bones, you know Starfleet's rules on shit like this! What the hell possessed you to attack Spock?"
At that, McCoy's head snapped up and he looked at Jim, his tone bitter and laced with malice.
Jerking his head in Spock's direction he said-
"Why don't you ask your Vulcan- he knows the answer."
Kirk looked to Spock.
"Well?"
The Vulcan said nothing, and Kirk found himself growing more frustrated by the moment at the complete lack of communication going on.
"What the fuck happened back there! One of you better start talking now or I swear I'll personally see to your court-martials! Bones!"
"I can't, Captain. Doctor-patient confidentiality. But I will say this. Ask your first officer to tell you why he and the Lieutenant are no longer together. Get him to tell you what he did."
With that, Kirk watched as Spock drew himself up and began walking towards McCoy- fists clenched. He'd seen his before, and he also knew he needed to stop it before it escalated into something worse and only two of the three original occupants emerged from the room.
"Spock! Stop! Sit down. That's an order!"
He watched as the Vulcan froze and turned to face him.
"What happened, Spock? Tell me. That's an order."
He watched as the Vulcan's demeanor went from confrontational to completely defeated as he sat at the far end of the table, facing the Captain, but uncharacteristically staring down- and his hands, now folded in a form of prayer.
After a long tense silence in the room, Spock spoke, his voice calm and even. His face set in stone.
Jim could tell that despite the Vulcan's stoicism, his first officer was in spiritual warfare.
Finally, Spock spoke.
"I cannot. And if you choose to court-martial me, I accept it."
And for the first time in his entire life…Jim Kirk had absolutely nothing to say. Instead, he rose from the table, and without a backward glance at McCoy or Spock, he left the room.