Chapter 11

Spock entered the medical bay, having being called there during his off-time. He did not mind at all. Uhura was busy anyway, which left him only sleep as a viable option.

However, he was not fatigued enough to warrant such action, so the Doctor's summoning was not particularly bothersome.

He had a good idea of what the Doctor was having problems with, and he saw that he was right when he entered the medical bay.

The young Assassin lay on one of the beds, Bones leaning over him.

"Doctor, I assume this is important. However, I do not have your medical expertise, so I am at a loss as to why you have summoned me."

Bones nodded. "Believe me, I wouldn't have called you if I didn't expect you to be able to do anything."

Spock folded his arms behind his back, and approached the unmoving young man. There were prominent dark circles under his eyes, and his face was pale.

"He is exhibiting all signs of insomnia." Spock observed, raising one of his eyebrows.

McCoy gave him a dirty look. "You don't say! Dammit, man, I can tell that much. He's been having such nightmares that they don't allow him to sleep for a long period of time for over a year now. The frustrating thing is I can't do anything about it, and he acts like nothing is wrong."

Spock nodded. "Although I have spent little time with him, I am aware that he has a tendency to care more than the crew than himself. While his concern for the crew is admirable, he also tries to draw away any attention from himself. Perhaps this is due to his way of life, being trained to avoid drawing any attention to himself."

Bones nodded. "Yeah, that could be it. Or he's just being damned stubborn to the point of being masochistic."

Spock nodded. "Nonetheless, Doctor, I fail to see the reason that you have called me."

Bones paused, then began to speak. "I heard that Vulcans are able to surpress traumatic memories by sheer will power, and that Vulcans are telepathic by touch. Is there a way that he could learn that stuff?"

Spock raised both of his eyebrows. "No, not without years upon years of concentration. However, I can do a mind-meld, in which I contact his subconscious with my mind. You must understand, Doctor, that to do this would jeapordize the trust that is between you, me, and him. I may be able to remove the images from his mind, but the cost of this could turn him against you, since the mind is considered to be the most private area for those who have one. Do you understand, Doctor?"

Spock watched Bone's face stiffen, and pain resided in the Doctor's eyes for a brief moment. The doctor swallowed, and touched the young man's face. "I'm sorry, kid."

Spock felt as if he were intruding on something private, and he knew instinctively that he was.

"Do it."

Spock nodded, and placed his hand on the Assassin's temples, fingers stretched between each temple.

After about two standard hours, Spock broke away, looking exhausted. "I was not able to release him completely of the memories, but he should be able to sleep at longer periods."

I opened my eyes, and sat up.

In my sleep, I had felt another's presence in my mind, sorting through my past. I did not usually get angry, but somebody had been in my mind, completely without my permission. I had never felt so violated or betrayed.

"What the hell did you do?" My voice trembled with rage, and it took all my restraint not to start throwing hay-makers.

"I was able to dislodge whatever distressing memories kept you from sleeping. I assure you that I had to do so, in order to cure your insomnia." Spock explained, not liking the predatory gaze of the Assassin.

"And why didn't you ask my permission before hacking into my brain?"

McCoy stepped foward. "I asked him to do that. You weren't sleeping, and I had to do something."

McCoy flinched as the young Assassin's gaze fell on him. "No. You can't have. I trusted you."

Bones flinched again, seeing the hurt in the young man's eyes. "It was either that or watch you die from lack of sleep and your damned stubbornness."

Bones tried to lay a hand on the Assassin's shoulder, but was rejected with a shove. "You didn't ask me for my permission, and you think that's my fault?"

Bones, seeing the mistake he had just made, tried to backpedal, but Jame's glare cut him off. "Shut up! For your own safety, leave me the fuck alone while I think this shit through. Some day, perhaps I will let you off the fucking hook for allowing someone to do this, Leonard. But for now, stay the hell away from me!"

I turned to leave the medical bay, then turned to Spock.

"Thank you for your concern, Spock, but next time, get my permission instead of someone else's, or I'll slit your throat."

With that, I left the medical bay with a sweep of my cape.

No relationship is ever perfect, everybody knows that. This is the first of the few conflicts between the two men. What do you think: was James overreacting, or was McCoy overstepping his authority? Who is in the right here? Bear in mind, James is not your typical bad-ass. His skill and prowess hides alot of insecurity, and this insecurity can lead to outbursts of emotion such as this. Thus we can see that his character is flawed. I leave it up to the reader to decide who is in the right.