"Come on in," Uhura said when Kirk and Spock reached her door. Kirk looked her up and down, and past her into the room beyond. Was this a trap? Probably. But hey, if he could talk down a teenage boy, why not Uhura?

Almost as soon as he thought it he had to internally laugh at himself. Uhura had dimensions he would never comprehend. Charlie was simple compared to her. He stepped inside, followed by his first officer, an eyebrow close to his hairline.

"Have a seat, boys." Two of her chairs came up behind them, scooping them up. Spock handled himself well. Kirk kind of splayed into his. Uhura gave a little chuckle.

"You want to talk to me? What are you going to do? You're not going to kill me. You love me too much." She walked behind them and ruffled Kirk's hair. He jerked his head away from her. Spock grabbed her wrist and pulled her over to his chair. Kirk watched, a little perturbed by his aggression.

"Lieutenant, cease your physical contact with the Captain." The way he said it was flat, but there was a tightening in his jaw that Kirk knew meant danger.

"Or what?" She said, sitting in Spock's lap. "You'll maroon me? Oh wait, you were already gonna do that, weren't you?"

"We have no choice. Your intellect will surpass ours to such an extent that you will see us as- to make an analogy, as humans see mice. Our brains will be nothing in comparison to yours. We must protect ourselves."

"Why shouldn't I run the ship, if that's true? You're Vulcan. You won't admit that it would be logical for the most intelligent person on the ship to be in control of it?"

"Both my Human and Vulcan halves would not agree to that statement. Kirk is less intelligent than many crew members aboard this ship-"

"Hey!" Kirk said. He knew it was true, but still. That was blunt.

"-However." The full stop was meant for Kirk, he was sure. "Intelligence does not necessarily prove that one also has leadership or creativity, both of which are required in Starfleet captains. Kirk fulfills all three of these requirements, in greater quantities than any of the crew aboard this ship, and, as far as I am aware, than any of the other captains in Starfleet."

Kirk couldn't help but grin. That was really nice of Spock to say. And Vulcans couldn't lie, either. He was blushing.

Uhura locked eyes with Kirk, angry. Spock seemed to know this and encircled Uhura's hips with his hands. Kirk's blush died quickly at the sight. She turned her gaze on Spock.

"You think you're so smart. You think you know how to play me cause I'm a lowly human. Well- I'm not anymore. Like you said, you're beneath me now."

She took his hands off of her. "So you wouldn't really know who should be running this ship, would you?"

Spock didn't respond. His brain was working, though, Kirk could see it.

"Uhura, listen, you're right, you probably should be running the ship. It's just, you have to get down on our level. This is too fast. We're used to you as our Lieutenant. If it's okay with you, we're going to give you a few days of shore leave- we're not going to leave you there forever- and when we have an answer to this- once we know more about the energy field, and Starfleet knows too, we'll pick you up right away. I swear to you we'll pick you up right away."

Uhura screwed up her face at him like he was a tribble. She petted his hair. Didn't even try to make it sexual this time. She literally pet him like he was an animal. "Aww, you are too adorable, little Kirk. Let the grown ups talk."

It made him angry. Fuuu- he felt like he was going into Khan mode. But apparently he wasn't, since McCoy had taken that perk away from him. Is this what normal anger felt like before? Maybe there was a little jealousy mixed in there. It really added to the flavor, didn't it?

"Do not speak down to our Captain."

"Don't speak down to me. You have no idea what I can do to you, baby." Uhura got off of Spock's lap and stood in front of both of them. Sheesh. Kirk had taken for granted how awesome it was to have her on their side.

"Baby?"

Spock said this term with such disdain- made Uhura sound like a total moron for using that term of endearment. Or in this case, whatever she was doing with the word.

She pointed her right hand at Spock, all five fingers parallel to the ground, and suddenly beams of- lightning? Left her and travelled to Spock. Spock shuddered and fell from his chair to the ground, his brown irises disappearing into white.

Kirk stared for a moment. Uhura stepped closer to him and shot him again with lightning- with both hands this time. His back arched strangely. A drop of saliva travelled from his mouth down his cheek and to the floor below. He was in pain.

"What did I say?!"

Kirk felt sure now. That antidote didn't do shit. His blood rushed through him at three times the speed it should. He felt himself growl. He looked at his hands and saw his veins popping. He stepped in front of her lightning fingers and threw her back.

She collided with her coffee table and then righted herself. He rushed her. The backs of her knees hit the table again and he pushed her onto her back, trying to aim her hands away from Spock.

"Oh good. Some resistance," she said, laughing. She directed her lightning at Kirk but he felt nothing. There was smoke rising from them. She twisted her legs in his and threw him off to the side. His head knocked the corner of the sofa. They were both on the floor now.

Kirk threw his right arm around her neck and pulled her back onto him before she could flee. She wriggled but he just tightened his grip.

Suddenly a vase flew at him. It crashed, hard, into his forehead. He could feel the sting of shards of glass. His face was wet from the water that the alien flowers were in. He felt a leaf plastered against his cheek. He shook his face a few times, but other objects were hurling themselves at him. A heavy glass orb clunked into his skull several times before it broke. Uhura was using her telekinesis to throw things at him. But he was not about to let go.

She turned herself in his grasp and pushed herself up to where her face was in line with his. She bit his neck and then his lip. She tried to kiss him. He turned his face away and used his other hand to cover her mouth. She bit the side of his hand until she drew blood.

Spock regained consciousness, feeling the after effects of a moderate electrical shock. He looked over at the struggle happening between Jim and Nyota.

She was pumping electricity into him through his arm and his side. He was clearly experiencing the superhuman effects of Khan's DNA, which meant that the Doctor's attempt had been ineffective. Spock felt a wave- illogically- of relief, spread through him, at this thought.

He dragged himself to his feet, the symptoms Doctor McCoy described as 'pins and needles' surging through his joints. He hailed the bridge.

"Sulu."

"Lieutenant, this is Commander Spock-"

"Yeah, okay, what's up?"

"Increase to warp 8 and take us to the closest Class M planet."

"You got it. At this heading, we'll be there in ten minutes."

"Affirmative."

He hung up and hailed the Doctor.

"Why would I want to talk to you?! You jut made out with my best friend-"

"This is Spock."

"Oh. Well. Could still be true. What is it, Spock?"

"Please bring a sedative to Uhura's quarters. She and the Captain are engaged in combat, and she has harnessed control of electrical surges. She will need to be unconscious to be transported to the planet."

"Shocking. The peace talks didn't work."

"It would be more efficient to deliver any derisive statements after you incapacitate the threat to our ship, Doctor."

"Alright, alright, I'm on my way."

"Doctor- bring two sedatives."

But he was gone. Spock took this moment to try to split Jim and Uhura apart from each other. They were both savage in response. Spock once again received a jolt of electricity from Uhura's hand. Jim grabbed her hand away from his forearm and shoved Spock away from them.

"Jim!" Spock yelled. Jim looked at him, eyes softening slightly, but he did not otherwise acknowledge Spock. The blue fire in them immediately returned to the hyperactive and livid Nyota.

Smiling, she brought her free hand down along Kirk's chest … until it hovered over a very sensitive area on his pants. She sent a blast of electricity- it actually appeared as a ball of light- into him- right there, and he let go of her, falling back, gasping in pain, tears streaming from his eyes.

Spock stepped in, grabbing the insides of her elbows so she could not direct her power towards Kirk. Nyota's doors opened again and McCoy stepped in. He immediately injected the hypospray into her neck and she wilted. Her eyes turned from that strange silver hue back to their original, beautiful brown.

Jim sat up. He growled loudly. He was sweating through his shirt. The muscles in his neck were standing out in clean lines. McCoy looked from Jim to Spock. Spock nodded. McCoy stuck a hypo in Jim's neck too. He collapsed immediately, but Spock could still see the blood pumping beneath his skin.

"Doctor, your cure did not work."

"Tell me something I don't know," he muttered at Spock. He turned his face away from the Captain, though, and to Uhura.

"Your cure may have had the opposite effect from what you had intended."

"My response was sarcastic and rhetorical, Spock. I can see what it did with my own eyes."

"Thank you for specifying. On occasion, it is still challenging for me to interpret the intentions of human statements."

McCoy ran his medical scanner over Spock. He lifted his brow at the Vulcan. "In my case, you can safely assume whatever I say will fall into one of those two categories."

"Sarcastic or rhetorical?"

"That's correct." The Doctor retrieved a salve from his bag. He uncapped it and began applying it to Uhura's hands. They were burned, even though the electricity was travelling from her.

There was a hail. The button seemed to press itself on the screen.

"What is it?" Doctor McCoy asked the wall.

"Sulu here. We've arrived at the planet. Awaiting further orders."

"I'll take her to the transport pad," the Doctor told him, quietly, so the intercom wouldn't hear it.

"I'll be on the bridge presently," Spock said to Sulu.

"Copy that, we'll wait on you," Sulu responded. The button pressed itself again to hang up. Spock gave it a bemused look.

The Doctor scooped Nyota into his arms. "I think it's safe to say you're in command until he comes to. Take him to his quarters."

Spock nodded and imitated the way McCoy lifted Nyota as he lifted Jim into his own arms. The heat radiated off of the Captain and wherever Spock touched his skin, he could feel the quick pulse of the blood through Jim's body.

Spock gently let Jim roll out of his arms onto the bed. Apart from a couple of burns and bruises, he looked similar to the way he had when Spock had seen him sleeping earlier.

Spock removed Jim's shirts. There were some burns on his chest as well. Spock went to Jim's bathroom and searched through his toiletries. He had some medical supplies as well. Spock suspected that the Doctor had left them here, knowing Jim's tendencies to get physically injured.

He brought some salve back, similar to what McCoy had used on Nyota, and bandages, and sat on the bed to apply them. First was Jim's hand. He could see Nyota's teeth marks in the tear of the flesh. Anger bubbled inside him, but he pushed it down. There was nothing he could do at this time to rectify the action. Spock carefully wiped the blood off with a tissue and applied the bandage. For a moment, with no reason that he could discern, he lifted Jim's bandaged hand to his face and held it there. He exhaled a breath and then set his hand back down on the bed, brushing his fingers along Jim's knuckles as he did so.

The texture of the salve on his fingers was thick but warm. It was a pleasant feeling, running his fingers over Jim's skin. He applied it to the burns on his forehead, his chest, and his side.

Jim did not respond to any of these touches. He was still safely under from the hypospray. Spock's thoughts drifted to where the worst of the burns would be. Green suddenly flooding his cheeks, Spock stood from the bed, dropping the container.

Though no one was present, he still felt shame at his thought and his clumsiness. He set the salve beside the bed and hurried from Jim's room. He could apply it himself when he awoke.

Finally Spock showed up on the bridge. Sulu was getting tired of constantly being in charge. Especially when he was just waiting on one of them. They were constantly traipsing around, beating each other up (Spock confirmed this one again), and hardly ever at their posts.

"What are we doing here, Commander?" Sulu asked.

As usual, he didn't merit a response. Spock leaned over Kirk's chair and hailed.

"Doctor McCoy, are you ready to beam down with Lieutenant Uhura?"

"Oy, it's Scotty, eh, how aboot em ah ready to beam them doun fer ya?"

Spock seemed close to rolling his eyes. He sat down in the Captain's chair. "Are you?"

"Aye, ready when you are."

"Thank you. Doctor?"

"Ready, Spock. She's coming around, better hurry."

Spock finally looked at him. "Lieutenant Sulu, have you found an appropriate and safe location?"

"I guess so, but I still don't know why we're sending-"

"Energize, Mr. Scott."

What was going on? What had he missed? The life support systems had been going wonky earlier, but that was it. Why would McCoy be taking Uhura, unconscious, down to some random planet they knew nothing about? But he wasn't going to get an answer, obviously. He'd just have to ride it out and hope to figure out what was going on along the way. Isn't that always how it was? Government bureaucracy.

He saw their life readings on the surface. The readings looked… weird. Like they were too strong to be human readings.

"They're down there, Commander."

Spock waited a minute or two before hailing the Doctor.

"Doctor McCoy, come in."

"Reading you Spock. I think you should leave now."

"As soon as you are aboard. Have you left supplies for Uhura? Is the planet habitable?"

"It's fine. Don't worry. And don't beam me up. I don't know if you remember what Carol said, but I'm feeling it too. You can't have me on the ship, either, or it'll be the same situation."

"You have not exhibited dangerous symptoms as the Lieutenant did."

Sulu started to piece things together. This was from that zap from the purple energy field….

"I'm feeling it now."

"I understand that you are emotionally invested in the well-being of Lieutenant Uhura, but you are responsible first to the hundreds of lives aboard the Enterprise-"

Spock was stopped in the middle of being an asshole when he was literally lifted out of the Captain's chair, hung in midair for a second or two, and was then unceremoniously thrown into the front window. He slid down to the floor with a sound of wiping on glass.

Spock regained his composure, now bright green, standing and pulling down his blue shirt. But everyone on the bridge was staring at him. Sulu knew he should be terrified, but he was trying not to laugh.

"Thought you needed a little perspective," McCoy called. "Now get outta here before we destroy you."

Spock stared through the window at the planet below. He looked- clueless. Now Sulu was scared.

"Lieutenant, continue on our original trajectory, warp 8."

"Sir, that's a little fast-"

"Intentionally so."

Sulu entered the coordinates and speed and hit it. Everyone jolted a little bit as they hit warp. Maybe the jolt felt extra strong, Sulu thought, since they realized they'd just left their doctor and communications officer on that random planet back there.

Spock came over to Sulu. "Lieutenant. I will be writing a report to Starfleet in the Captain's room. You have control of the bridge. Please call me or the Captain there if you need any assistance."

"You got it, Commander." Sulu answered. "…uh, Spock?"

"Yes, Lieutenant?"

"Are they going to be okay?"

Spock looked down at his feet and then back up at Sulu, his shoulder hunching a little. "I do not know."