It was like walking into a force field, so thick was the tension in Sickbay when the doors parted. McCoy had evidently not moved from the 'com, and stood with his arms crossed and a pronounced scowl on his face.

The captain was glaring at the doctor, but switched the full force of his anger to the Vulcan as Spock entered. "I hope my first officer is more informative than my chief medical officer."

Spock was silent as Kirk crossed the small room to McCoy's desk and picked up a gold command tunic. The skin on Kirk's shoulder was shiny and pink with newness, but flexed smoothly as he pulled the shirt over his head. Kirk tugged the hem down as he turned, then placed his fists on his hips as neither McCoy nor Spock offered anything.

"You shouldn't be moving around, Jim," McCoy said, his voice a mixture of annoyance and concern. "You've still got a concussion, and the seda—" he broke off at Kirk's angry scowl.

Kirk knew McCoy was right. His head was pounding and the room had this annoying tendency to spin on him. But he was angry, and that anger kept him fueled. He looked back at Spock. "What happened?"

Spock took a slow breath and met his captain's eyes calmly. "I am not entirely certain," he said truthfully.

"I see," Kirk said. He pinched the bridge of his nose, and was suddenly far too calm. "Rather, I'll tell you what I did see," he continued as he clasped his hands behind his back and began pacing. Spock and McCoy both eyed him warily, because they knew this artificial calm was the most dangerous kind. "I saw a Romulan boarding party attempt to take over my ship. I saw one of them vanish, with the two of you, and with what I know was a time travel device." Kirk paused in his pacing to level a cool gaze at Spock. "Before that, I saw the two of you, looking exactly as you do now, appear in a corridor with the same device." Kirk moved a step closer to Spock and tilted his head. "Now I have several Romulan corpses in the mortuary, and a time traveling device that seems to have completely vanished along with another Romulan. That's what I see."

Spock straightened his shoulders as Kirk took another step closer, standing toe to toe with the Vulcan to look him directly in the eye.

"What I don't see," Kirk said very quietly, "is why two of my officers are withholding information vital to the security of the Enterprise."

Spock was possessed of a singularly strong will, but he could feel that will beginning to waver when pitted against that of one James T. Kirk. Spock was convinced, however, that his and McCoy's experiences in the past would be needed at some point in the future. He was certain that was what the alien had meant. He was also quite certain the alien would enforce its threat to remove the memory. Spock lowered his eyes, but remained silent.

"You're both relieved of duty and confined to quarters," Kirk snapped.

"Jim," McCoy objected with a heavy sigh. "You're just going to have to trust us on this one. Please."

Kirk frowned as he noticed the state of his uniform for the first time, and looked back at Spock. Standing this close to the Vulcan, Kirk could see that he looked horrible, worse than whatever he'd seen in the corridor before all of this began. The bruise on his jaw had darkened and was coated in a thin layer of unshaven stubble. Up close, he could see that the small tears in his uniform each had a green outline, as though he'd been sprayed with shards of glass that had cut right through the material. Spock's sense of duty had kept him on the bridge, but Kirk could clearly see that the Vulcan belonged in sickbay.

The captain's irritation was fizzling in the face of his growing concern. Kirk did trust them. What he was having trouble with was why they weren't trusting him. "Spock," he said, taking his first officer by the shoulders to give him a little shake. "What in the world happ—"

Spock inhaled sharply, an aborted gasp. Kirk snatched his hands back as though he'd burned his friend, but moved quickly to catch Spock as the Vulcan staggered back a step. The bulkhead caught them both, but it was Kirk that was keeping them upright. Spock gave up on trying to stand on his own power and instead focused on shoring up his mental shields. He'd had no idea they were weakened so much. Any other person, and it would not have been such a problem. But Jim's mind had always been... Spock's eyes widened in dawning realization.

"Bones!" Kirk barked, but McCoy had already bolted across Sickbay to snatch up a tricorder.

Kirk leaned to one side to let him in closer, but McCoy was shaking his head as he waved the medical attachment over Spock. "That infernal machine," he said angrily. "I knew this was—" the doctor's eyes rolled into the back of his head.

Kirk lunged for him, but he was not fast enough and lost his grip on Spock as all three fell to the deck. He untangled himself from the pile of arms and legs and got to his knees. He gave his head a firm shake to try to clear it, but the room refused to stay still. He should have let McCoy finish patching him up, but the doctor's evasive replies to his questions had set him off. McCoy had obviously been prepared for a fight, though; Sickbay was empty except for the three of them. That was a problem.

Spock was mortified by his inability to move. McCoy was evidently correct, however. The time travel machine's rough handling had finally caught up to him. It was not so much the physical exhaustion that was sapping his strength, but the mental. He watched, unmoving, as Kirk managed to get to his feet and cross to the 'com on the wall. There was a rushing sound in his ears so he did not hear what the captain said into it, but it was no doubt a call for assistance. Spock struggled to hang onto consciousness as black pinpricks encroached on the blurry edges of his vision.

The captain made it back to McCoy, and knelt to turn him over. He checked for a pulse, and breathed out a relieved sigh. Spock had no doubt that it was the doctor's careless choice of words that had resulted in his collapse, but he too was relieved. He had not gotten any sense of malice from his brief mental encounter with the alien, but that mind had been so unlike anything he had ever encountered that he couldn't be certain what would constitute malice to that race. The probe had been quite thorough, and in fact was contributing to his current lack of shielding, but to that alien it had been the same as using a tricorder to obtain information.

He let out an involuntary gasp as Kirk tried to move him, and made an instinctive, if feeble, attempt to bat the captain's hands away. "Please," Spock managed to say, his voice raspy with strain. "Do not..." Kirk instantly let go of him and Spock rolled onto his back.

From the very beginning, Spock had always felt an affinity for Jim. He had never met anyone who had accepted him, a half-breed torn between two worlds, as easily and as completely as did the new captain of the Enterprise. They were nearing the end of their five year mission, and during that time trying circumstances had necessitated the need to meld with various members of the crew. Though they understood the need, and had agreed to the intrusion, it was still alien and uncomfortable to them. There was something more about touching Jim's mind. Something deeper, no matter how superficial he might try to make the joining.

He was vaguely aware of a horde of medical personnel flooding into Sickbay, of Jim's muffled voice telling them what had happened. He felt hands on him, felt emotions brushing up against his weakened mental shields as he was lifted from the deck, but it was nothing compared to the shock to his system that Jim's touch brought. It was as if his shields did not exist to the human, unless he put extra effort into them. Effort that he simply could not spare at the moment.

James T. Kirk was a very private man, and did not take well to any intrusion into his privacy no matter how well intentioned. Yet despite this, one quiet night over a game of chess several years ago, Jim had given him permission to do whatever he felt was needed for the safety of the Enterprise and her crew. Including the captain. He had said that the only way he would ever object was if he was not in his right mind – and then Spock absolutely had permission to correct that. Thus, Spock had felt no hesitation in his light meld with the infant Jim, because it had been necessary. The second meld had been a kindness... not truly needed. But he had felt no guilt in that either. He had come to believe that he could not allow Jim to suffer when it was within his power to prevent it.

A firm surface beneath his back told Spock he was on a biobed. His sight had already gone, and the voices around him were little more than indistinct, meaningless sounds. Spock's final thoughts as darkness clutched at him was that those events in Iowa were not new. He, McCoy, and that Romulan had not altered the past at all – they had already been a part of it.

The ramifications of that realization of the past's effect on the present sent Spock's mind reeling into the blackness and were the first to greet him when he awoke.

Spock blinked until Nurse Chapel's face came into focus.

She smiled down at him. "Welcome back, Mister Spock," she said and moved away before he could summon a reply.

He saw that the biobed next to his was occupied by the captain, and the one next to that had the doctor. Both were unconscious but it looked like McCoy would be rejoining them soon. McCoy let out a small moan as Chapel pressed a hypo to Kirk's arm.

McCoy propped himself up on his elbows and looked around blearily.

"I strongly advise you to remain in bed, Doctor McCoy," Nurse Chapel said as she reloaded the hypo with another cartridge.

McCoy ignored her, and looked at Spock, raising a hand to tap at the side of his head. "Still there," he said. "One hell of a warning, though."

Spock raised an eyebrow but did not reply, though he was gratified that McCoy had not lost the memory. He was more preoccupied with the captain, who was blinking up at the ceiling. He could not explain the thing he had done without breaking the restriction placed on speaking of the time travel incident.

McCoy struggled until he was upright, but stopped as Nurse Chapel approached. She held the hypospray close enough to the doctor so that he could see the label. "You wouldn't dare," McCoy said in disbelief.

Chapel had served with Leonard McCoy far too long, for her voice was calm and steady. "I can't release you from Sickbay, Doctor, let alone declare you fit for duty."

McCoy turned to look at Kirk, who had managed to get into a sitting position. Kirk ran a hand through his hair and looked at Spock, who had not bothered to move.

Chapel held out a clipboard, the old fashioned kind with real paper that McCoy favored. The doctor snatched it out of her hands and scowled down at it. Then he flipped a page. And another. He chewed at the inside of his cheek in frustration, then handed it back to her. He flopped back onto the mattress with a distinct air of ill grace.

Kirk gave a little snort of amusement as he swung his legs over the side of the biobed.

"I'm sorry, Captain," Chapel said, "but all three of you are confined to Sickbay."

Kirk raised both eyebrows at her with indignation, but the nurse was not to be deterred. She raised the hypospray and smiled. "I will sedate you, sir, if necessary."

Temporarily stunned into silence, he watched as Chapel placed a hand on the biomonitor above McCoy. The forward half of the bed inclined into a half-seated position with a soft hum of electricity, and Chapel smiled sweetly at McCoy's glare.

McCoy snorted and wriggled his bony shoulders deeper into the pillow to get comfortable. "Don't try to fight it, Jim."

Kirk looked at Spock as Chapel crossed to the Vulcan's bed. Spock made no objection as she adjusted the angle of the biobed, and merely gave a small sigh as she insisted on placing an extra pillow behind his head. He was in desperate need of meditation, and sleep, and was too exhausted to even attempt to hide it. She pressed another control, and within seconds the mattress beneath him warmed to a most agreeable temperature.

Kirk held up a hand as Chapel got near him. "You can't keep me here, Nurse."

Chapel smiled at him as she adjusted his bed as well. She fluffed a pillow, set it in place, and then pushed a hand against Kirk's chest. The captain fell back with a soft woof of surprise. He opened his mouth to object, but Chapel brandished the hypo.

The three highest ranking officers on the ship were being held at bay by a woman with a hypospray. Kirk couldn't stop the laugh that suddenly burst out of him, and he raised both hands in surrender.

"Told ya," McCoy muttered with a huge yawn.

Chapel moved to the foot of Kirk's bed and smiled at all three of them in turn. There was more than a little amusement in that smile, and a hefty dollop of satisfaction. She waggled the hypospray at them before turning to leave Sickbay.

"Congratulations, Bones," Kirk said as the door closed behind her. "You've created a second in command that's just as sadistic as you are."

The only reply he received was a snore, and Kirk turned to see that McCoy was already sound asleep. Kirk sighed, and decided to make the most of his captivity. He adjusted the pillow at his back, then pulled the biobed's library reader towards him.

There were no restrictions placed on it, and his call to the bridge was answered almost immediately by Scotty. "Aye, hello Cap'n!" the engineer greeted with a huge, beaming smile. "Are ye being held hostage by Doctor McCoy's wee tyrant?"

"Yes," Kirk admitted. Scotty's cheer was contagious, so it was hard to be upset at her. From McCoy's reaction, they did probably need to be in sickbay. His shoulder itched like crazy and his head was still throbbing. He was grateful the sickbay staff respected his desire to avoid painkillers, as they tended to stunt his ability to concentrate. Best to just give in with dignity.

Scotty hesitated for a moment. "Ah, Cap'n, the lass does have the authority at the moment, Sir. I cannae-"

Kirk waved a hand to stop him. "It's fine, Scotty. I just want a status report."

"Oh," Scotty said, and his cheery smile returned. "In that case, Sir, I'm pleased to report that nothing of any interest has happened since the intruders were... ah... apprehended." Scotty paused uncertainly, but one of the few things Kirk had managed to get out of McCoy before the doctor had called Spock down to Sickbay was the fate of the Romulans. Most of them, anyway.

Kirk nodded for him to continue.

Scott shrugged. "Tha's about it, Sir. Most of the damage has been repaired, and nary a peep has been heard from the Romulan Star Empire. We, ah," Scotty paused again, uncertain. "We haven't filed a report with Starfleet just yet."

Kirk looked over at Spock at this statement, for that ought to have been done by now. Spock just regarded him with a blank, calm expression. Something about Spock's silence was eating at Kirk. At first it had made him angry, but that anger had burned away until only concern was left behind.

Kirk waved a hand. "Leave that to me, Scotty."

"Aye, sir," his chief engineer said with more than a hint of relief. "An it's good to hear from ye, sir."

Kirk signed off and looked over at McCoy as another soft snore drifted up from the doctor. He supposed, if he had to be confined to sickbay, that at least he was in good company. He smiled, and looked over at Spock on his other side. The smile faltered at Spock's silent stare.

Something was obviously troubling his friend. Now that he'd calmed down, he knew Spock wouldn't deny him information unless it was absolutely necessary. Which meant that, whatever had happened to them, they were being coerced into silence. "Listen," he said. "I'm not happy about it, Spock, but..." he paused to take a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I trust you. If you say you can't tell me what happened... then... I guess I just have to accept that." Kirk's mouth twisted in a sardonic little smile. "'Specialy if you and Bones both agree on the same thing."

Spock said nothing. Of course Jim trusted him. Exposure to Spock's mind, at such an early age, had left an impression on Jim's undeveloped brain. The permission given was not fair. It's very existence was a paradox. Jim Kirk had been predisposed to trust him by events that had happened long before the Vulcan had joined Starfleet. It was not of his own free will.

Kirk frowned. "I know that you would never do anything to put the Enterprise in danger. Ever."

Spock blinked. That was true, and had nothing to do with Spock's interference in Iowa's past.

Kirk sighed. He looked back over at McCoy and wished he knew what was wrong. "I trust both of you."

Spock's shoulders relaxed. That was also true. Jim Kirk trusted McCoy every bit as much, and in fact had always had a tendency to put faith in people. There was still a connection between them, forged over time by multiple contacts. A link that Spock had never noticed before and could barely detect even now. But it was an immense relief to think perhaps Jim's trust in Spock was not a result of the Vulcan's tampering. That it was not against his will.

"Thank you," Spock said.

Kirk smiled. "Get some rest, Spock."

Spock needed meditation more than rest, at this point, but did not reply. His eyes slid closed as he cleared his mind and sank into the welcome emptiness. If his memories could be likened to pages, it felt as if most of those pages had been scattered across a table. Spock began to sort through them, putting them back into the nice, logical order that he preferred.

Spock did not know what to do about his discovery of the unintentional connection. He hesitated to call it a bond, for it was nothing that substantial. It was not something that Jim had consented to - indeed, Jim was no doubt completely unaware of it.

Spock could not tell him of it, however. Not without being able to explain how it had happened. And when. And that option had been taken from him by a brief encounter with an alien. He would have to meditate on that another time. He did not know what future events that alien had spoken of. It could happen tomorrow, or many years from now. There were many unanswered questions resulting from the past couple days, questions that may never get answered. There was no logic in dwelling on them. For now, the Enterprise was safe, and things were as normal as they generally got for the starship and her crew.

Spock resisted a sigh as a loud snore from McCoy drifted into his meditation.

Author's Note: The telepathic bond between Vulcan mates is a matter of canon. As a matter of fanon, Gene Roddenberry's only published novel told of a link between Kirk and Spock. He did not state it as a marriage bond, nor as an intentional one, and I personally do not write it as such. But I do choose to believe it existed. The fact that Sarek managed to hide three heart attacks from Amanda is the basis of my notion that a Vulcan-human bond is not as perceptible to the human half of such a union. In my personal Star Trek Timeline, the discovery of this accidental bond played a large part in Spock's running to Gol and Kolinahr prior to the events in The Motion Picture. But that's a scrawling for another time.