Every Breath
By Serena
A/N: Thank you so much for waiting, guys. Darth Real Life has killed me this past week - additional workload. I'm afraid it's going to be hard for me to find time to update - but I will, sooner or later, I promise. :) We've still got to get Spock and Uhura back together. :)
Chapter Eleven: You
She'd never felt this breathless.
She'd never felt this alive.
What she didn't know was that underneath it all... he felt the same way.
Uhura checked her watch. She was supposed to meet Spock to look over the fall semester. She couldn't help but feel her heart race as she thought of her appointment with the Vulcan professor. They'd been meeting at least twice a week now - usually more. They would spend hours talking of Starfleet, their futures, languages, and family. Spock seemed reluctant to speak of his father, but of his mother, he would mention with as much love and admiration as a Vulcan possibly could. They would go on walks down near the Golden Gate bridge, around campus, and around the city. On occasions, he'd take her hiking in the hills and give her a personalized botany course on the wildflowers that grew there.
Uhura knew she was falling fast for the Vulcan. She knew she shouldn't. But how could she possibly not? Everyone complained that Vulcans were emotionless blocks of ice, incapable of feeling anything other than cold disdain for humans.
But she begged to differ. She knew he had emotions. She saw signs of them every time they were together. The terseness in his posture when someone shot them an odd look. The tightening of his jaw when a fellow male colleague eyed Uhura lecherously.
The heat in his dark eyes when he looked at her.
Oh, yes. He had emotions.
But she was the only one to witness them.
Uhura clutched her PADD closer to herself and smiled, feeling like a giggly schoolgirl. A slight bounce came into her step. She nearly danced down the hall and opened the door into Spock's office -
And came face to face with a pretty blond cadet standing at Spock's desk, smiling brightly.
"... And I'd love for you to come, if you can," she was saying.
Nyota froze. Spock, who had been sitting in his chair, immediately rose to his feet, a new, subtle light in his eyes. "Cadet Uhura," he greeted with a hint of warmness concealed in his tone. "Punctual as always."
Nyota looked at the blond cadet... oh, what was her name? Christy Church? Chrissy Church? Christine, that was it. Christine Chapel. Something that had to do with a church. Needless to say, Christine didn't look too pleased to see Nyota. But Nyota adopted a small, polite smile and walked up to the two of them. "Hello. I've seen you around. You're in for nursing, right?"
"Yes," Christine said, her tone a little less than friendly. "You must be Uhura."
"Guilty as charged," Nyota said with a smile. "Nice to meet you. Are you here to get the linguistics outline early? You're one of the smart few," she laughed, coming behind Spock's desk to stand beside him. She placed her small stack of PADDs on the desk.
Christine scowled. "No, I was just having a chat with Professor Spock." She looked at Spock and smiled, all traces of annoyance gone from her pretty face. "So, do you think you'll be able to make it?"
Spock inclined his head in the negative. "I'm afraid not, Cadet Chapel. I've already planned something for that evening."
"Oh." Christine's gaze flickered to Nyota. "I see. Another time, then?"
Go away, Nyota was saying mentally. Just go away before I have to hurt you, blondie.
"Perhaps," Spock answered coolly.
Christine's face fell, and she cast Nyota a quick, dark look before flouncing out of the room.
"She's pretty," Nyota grumbled. "And blond. All guys like blonds."
Spock stared after Christine before glancing down at her. "I must differ with you on that subject, Nyota," he said. "I myself do not prefer blonds."
Nyota saw the heat returning to his gaze and swallowed. "You don't?"
"No. She is visually appealing to most men, I am sure. But I am not one of them."
"Why not?" Nyota found herself whispering.
"She isn't you."
Without hesitation, he drew her forward to him and touched his warm lips to hers.
"Hello?" Uhura shouted in Romulan. "Hello, is anyone there?" She pounded on the door with her fist, trying to hold back the strong feeling of despair and raw panic. She could do this. She could do this. Calm. Calm. She had to remain calm.
After a moment, a Romulan woman dressed in a dark navy robe opened the door.
"Hello," rasped Uhura in Romulan. "I... I was wondering if you could help me."
The woman stared at her impassively. "You're an outsider."
"Yes."
The woman eyed her clothing. For a second, Uhura froze in fear that the woman would easily recognize her Starfleet uniform - but then she remembered that she was still wearing Salran's simple, very unrecognizable clothing.
Well, she thought dryly, at least he was good for something.
"Why do you need my help? Where did you come from?" the woman demanded suspiciously. Romulans were never known to be the open, friendly type, but Uhura wouldn't be dissuaded. She'd come too far to just give up now because of a few cold words.
"I've been kidnapped," Uhura said quickly with an anxious frown. "Forced to come here with my kidnapper. He's coming after me, and I need to hide before he finds me. Please, help me, I beg you!" She didn't have to hide her panic. Salran and Ayel wouldn't be far behind, and there was no telling what either of them would do to her after what she'd pulled.
"Kidnapped," said the woman. "Arridanian?"
Uhura nodded. "Yes. Please, if you know anything about Arridanian males, then you know he won't give up until he's found me. A few days - that's all I need. Just need to rest, hide... and I'm injured. I can't... I can't make it..." To her own horror, her vision began to blur. Spock's own burst of fear didn't help. Her head grew dizzy, and she swayed, unable to make out what the woman was saying to her now. Her eyes slid shut, and she collapsed to the ground.
He'd never felt this way before. Not with anyone. But the rush of deep, hot emotions that sizzled through his body when he touched her mouth didn't go away. They grew stronger... hotter. After a pause, their lips crashed together in an intense bonding of mind, body, heart.
It was the most incredible thing Spock had ever experienced. Quantum mechanics and advanced Bolian linguistics didn't come light years close to this.
Instinctively, his hands touched her waist. Her hands responded in kind by wrapping around his neck tightly. They drew closer together. Finally, regrettably, it was Nyota who had to pull away, gasping for breath.
"Sorry," she breathed, "I needed air."
Spock felt his lips twitching upward. "I seem to as well." His breathing was slightly labored.
"Spock..." She looked at him, not apprehensive, but merely as a confirmation. "Does this mean..."
He looked at her right in the eyes. "Do you really have to ask that, Nyota?"
She gazed at him for a moment, then smiled. "No. I suppose I don't." Her hands caressed his cheeks and ran back to his hair, over his ears. "This is... so different."
"I know."
"I've never felt like this. We're so... connected. Is it just me? Am I the only one who feels like there's more to what's going on with us than what normal couples go through?"
"No," he said. "I don't think so. I..."
Images. Feelings. Memories flashed through his head, causing him to halt mid-sentence. He didn't even realize she had frozen as well until he found himself staring at her widened eyes.
"Spock," she breathed. "Spock!" She launched herself into his arms. "Oh, thank goodness!" she cried. "I thought this wouldn't happen again - I mean, I didn't know if it would."
"Nyota." His hands gripped her tightly. "Nyota, are you all right? What is going on?"
"I'm unconscious," she said, pulling back only a bit. "Spock, I'm on Romulus!"
He couldn't hide the sudden burst of alarm at her words. "Romulus? Why?"
"Salran - the man who kidnapped me - made a deal with some Romulan soldiers who survived Nero's ship destruction. But I managed to escape - for now. I don't know if they'll find me, but they're right on my tail!"
Spock took her head in both his hands. "It will be all right, Nyota," he promised. "I am coming for you. Do you understand? I am coming for you. Nothing will stop me." He didn't even notice the intense passion and determination in his voice, or the fact that his hands were shaking.
Nyota nodded, but her eyes were frightened. "Spock. What's going on?"
Spock's lips pressed tightly together.
"Spock, answer me," she said anxiously. "Something's not right. You're shaking. You're not yourself."
His jaw clenched. "No. No, I am not."
"What's going on? Are you all right?"
He tried to think of how to put his precarious condition, but in the end, he merely said grimly, "I will be. Once I have you, Nyota."
She nodded slowly. "All right. All right. I don't know where I am on Romulus, but I'll wait for you. I'll try to get out a signal. Something."
He nodded in return, and, with a jolt of emotion flashing through his core, he leaned forward and caught her lips in another hot kiss, holding her as close as possible. She was his. His. He would find her.
"Spock," she gasped, pulling away as his vision began to fade once again. "Spock, I love you! Do you hear me? I love you!"
"Nyota!" He reached for her but felt her slipping from his grasp. "Nyota!"
"Spock?"
"Spock!"
"Spock?"
Spock's eyes flew open. "Nyota!"
"Sorry, kid, I'm not that pretty," McCoy rumbled, standing over him with a hypospray in one hand.
Spock frowned and sat up. Kirk was there, too, on Spock's other side, and frowning in concern at his friend. "What happened?"
"You passed out," Kirk explained worriedly, his arms folded over his chest. "You were explaining about... your, uh, condition, and you just collapsed. It was like you were in a coma, and Doc had to give you some pretty strong stuff to bring you back."
Spock scowled. "You shouldn't have."
Bones shot him a dirty look. "Gee, thanks. Appreciate it. Maybe next time I'll let you stay asleep."
"Please do," Spock growled ferociously.
"Spock," Kirk warned.
"I was so close, Captain!" Spock said in pure frustration. "So close! I know where Nyota is!"
Kirk straightened immediately. "What? Where?"
"On Romulus," Spock snarled. "I do not know her exact location, but I will soon. She and I have established a connection that has enabled me to communicate with her twice. We need to get to Romulus. Now."
"Whoa, wait, hold it," Bones interjected. "What about the Admiral? Didn't he have some kind of mission for us?"
"It can wait," Spock growled.
Bones scowled. "Now, listen here -"
"Bones, it's all right," Kirk interrupted. "Remember what I was talking about? Vulcan physiology?"
Bones shot Spock a look. "Something about once every seven years you need to get a girl. Am I right?"
"Close enough," Kirk said. "But you didn't get a chance to finish telling me, Spock, about your... condition."
Spock's jaw clenched. "We do not speak of it."
"Like I said, you don't have a choice," Kirk said.
Spock sighed and flexed his hands. "It is a chemical unbalance that degrades my condition. It will grow worse in the coming week."
"Worse? How bad are we talking when you say worse?" Kirk demanded.
"It is fatal if I do not resolve the pon-farr," Spock muttered. "And the only way I can do that... is to... bond with Nyota."
There was an uncomfortable pause.
"So let me see if I got this right," Bones said. "We have to find Uhura and get her back to you within the next seven days, or you're going to die."
Spock nodded stiffly. "Crudely put, but to the point."
Bones glared at him, and then at Kirk. "Dammit, Jim, I'm a doctor, not a matchmaker! That's your territory! We've gotta find her before it's too late! Unless this green-blooded hobgoblin chooses to pick someone else as his... mate." He glanced at Spock and was met with a fierce, deadly glare. "Yeah, I didn't think so."
"You said you had some kind of connection to Uhura," Kirk said to Spock. "Is she all right? Do you know where she is on Romulus? Or why she's there?"
"I feel her emotions as she feels them," Spock said, struggling to maintain his emotional control. Every minute, every second he felt as if his skin were jumping out everywhere at once. The plakk tow would come soon... and after that, it would be too late. He needed Nyota, and he needed her now. She was his. "Right now, she is frightened, alone, and I believe in hiding."
"How do you know she's in hiding?"
"She told me," Spock said. He growled and bolted up from his seat, pacing the room agitatedly. "We cannot be wasting time discussing this while Nyota is out there waiting for us to come to her aid, Jim! We must find her now before it is too late!"
"Whoa, hey, calm down there," Bones said, placing a reassuring hand on the Vulcan's arm. But Spock jerked away with a snarl.
"Do not presume to tell me what to do!" he roared. "I must find her!"
Bones shot a startled look to Kirk, but the Captain didn't look surprised. Just solemn, grimly accepting. The Captain nodded slowly and said, "Then, there's only one thing left to do. Find Uhura and get her the hell back."
Abruptly, the doors to sickbay slid open, revealing Alastar, looking quite irritated. "Hey, Kirk. You're not answering your combadge."
"That's because I turned it off. For a reason."
"Well, your shidding Admiral doesn't care about your reasons," she said. "He wants to talk with you now."
Kirk sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh joy." He looked at Alastar. "Just so you know, you're not the only one who's going to murder your fiance when all this is over."
"Shidding Salran," Alastar hissed, folding her arms over her chest sulkily.
McCoy and Kirk exchanged glances. Spock's lips pressed tightly together as he attempted to keep his cool.
"Well, let's look at the bright side," said Kirk in a lighter tone. "At least now I know how to swear in Arridanian."
TBC...
OK, so this was a really long chapter to make up for no chapters. I actually don't know if this is going to be a full twenty chapters, but we'll see. :) I don't want to make you guys wait too long.
OK, it's that time - the time you've been waiting for: the ARAGORN QUOTE OF THE DAY (TM)!
"He's not alone. Sam went with him."
I always liked it when he said that. Don't know why. But then again, I don't know why Gandalf was surprised that Sam went with Frodo. What'd he think, that Sam just packed up and went home alone, abandoning Frodo? Sheesh.
I hoped you enjoyed your ARAGORN QUOTE OF THE DAY (TM). Brought you by yours truly. :)
- Serena
