Don't own.

If you missed the Tarsus chapter because of the double update, turn back a chapter. Otherwise, carry on.

… … .. . .. … …

"And after that, I just ended up staying with Garrovick and his family for a while." Jim concluded, shrugging.

Spock sat silent, contemplating the story he had just been told. He had already surmised that Jim had been on Tarsus IV during the Kodos incident. He had not even begun to conceive the true horrors that had occurred there, though. It stood to reason that such a case, and the list of survivors no less, would be kept confidential and of the highest clearance.

Jim's light tone belied the nerves he was feeling. He chewed thoughtfully at his lip a moment, waiting for some kind of response.

"May I seek clarification on a point?" Spock finally asked.

"Might as well." Jim nodded to him, wondering just what the question would be.

"You indicated, at the beginning of the story, that ten people other than yourself were aware of the in depth nature of your occurrences, as could not be found in the report. Though I include the fact that Doctor McCoy is no doubt privy to this information as well, and the eight other survivors you have mentioned, I can not fathom who would be the tenth person." Spock's brow was furrowed ever so slightly, deeply in thought. "Who is it?"

Jim chilled, a sneer firmly in place. "Kodos."

"Kodos was believed dead." Spock's tone was almost inquisitive.

"Maybe he is, but he'll always count as one of the people who knows the whole story." Jim explained. "He witnessed every moment of it, he forced us to tell him what he hadn't seen. He knew then, and I hope to god if he crawled off that planet he did it with those visions of what he did haunting his every minute."

"Jim…" Spock, didn't want to frown, and upset him, but his eyes said everything.

"I'm fine." He told him, shaking his head. "Really. We should probably get to meditating now, though."

"Indeed." Spock murmured, looking at him with concern.

"Seriously." Jim scolded, scooting a littler closer from his spot on the floor to bring their knees together.

Spock stiffened immediately, shifting his knee away from the touch. Jim snorted at that, blue eyes dancing. It was silly, considering they were going to be holding hands again to be so stuffy about where their knees were. Naturally, Jim loved the subtle way Spock would glare at him when he realized Jim was teasing him with those touches.

He held his hands out, palm up, wily grin in place.

But Spock just stared at him, brown eyes unfathomable. Finally he stood, an action that caused Jim to drop his hands in surprise.

"What? What's wrong?" Jim tried to keep his alarm under control.

"I do not believe I can meditate tonight." Spock turned to leave, heading through the bathroom to his own room.

"Don't you fucking dare." Jim hissed, springing to his feet.

Spock looked in his direction, muted remorse in his eyes. "I do not wish to harm you, Jim. In my current state, my rampant emotions could cause you pain. It is prudent for me to understand what you have told me before I subject you to my weakened barriers."

"That's a bullshit answer and you know it." Jim spat. "You know what? Fine. Leave. Walk away, just like everyone else."

"To what are you referring?" Spock turned back around fully, looking him over in concern.

"You're no better than any of them!" His words were angry, hot with unfounded and unreasonable accusations. "Just like mom, and Sam, and just like Garrovick and Bones! You're just like them."

He caught the pattern immediately. He knew Sam left Jim with Frank. He knew he'd been given into Frank's care by his mother after…whatever had happened. He could only imagine how Garrovick and McCoy had left him in some time of need. Jim felt he was abandoning him.

"I am not leaving you, Jim." Spock corrected to no avail.

"Just go!" Jim cried in anguish. "Just leave me alone! I can take care of myself. I always have."

"No. Jim." Spock found himself wanting to snap and shake the other man by his shoulders and do something to make him realize what he meant. "You are not alone aboard this starship. You would find every one of your crew insulted by such an insinuation. … Myself included."

It was hard to admit, because it laid bare the truth of just how much he was beginning to treasure Jim's friendship. He could not be ashamed of that, and yet it was not something he wished to admit even to himself. It spoke of a weakness far deeper than he was willing to admit. Far deeper than he was willing to explore.

Jim look away, bitterness blatant in his eyes. "Then why are you leaving me?"

"I do not wish to harm you." Spock repeated, stepping closer.

"This is what's 'harming' me." Jim snarled, not willing to let go of his anger. "What did you think, that just walking off and ignoring it until it was more convenient for you would be alright with me? Maybe you don't get that it hurts to tell someone something and have them go process it far, far away from you, but that's what it boils down to. I lay something that is serious to me out in the open and you walk off, completely oblivious to how you're digging a knife into me by doing it."

By the end of his tirade, he was huffing, tears barely held in the corners of his eyes by sheer will not to loose control. His hands were fisted tight at his sides, shoulders slumped in an odd combination with his otherwise ridged posture. From this hunched, almost defensive form, he glared out at Spock, waiting for his response.

Spock didn't know what to say. Jim was right. He wasn't the kind to open up, and so far the only people who had listened to some part of his past had been more than willing to stay. He had been the one to walk out on Jim and McCoy after their sharing session. He had walked out on Nyota when she tried to comfort him after his mother's death. He was the one walking out now. He could only imagine how it would have felt for Pike to have walked away, those years ago, when he first arrived at the academy.

"It was foolish of me not to take into consideration how my actions would appear from your point of view." Spock spoke slowly, considering every word with delicate poise. "However, you should be aware that I would never abandon you, no matter what of your past is revealed to me."

Jim felt himself go red with anger and embarrassment. That had been his worry from the start, hadn't it? And Spock just dismissed his worries like he hadn't had a lifetime of experiences telling him not to trust others with his troubles. Spock spoke to him as though it were absurd to think someone would hold his past against him. And maybe it was, because Spock wasn't human, and didn't look at it the same way as Jim did.

"You shouldn't make promises you can't keep."

"What do you think I will find that would make me desire to leave your side as First Officer and friend?" Spock stepped closer, frowning ever so slightly.

Jim didn't answer, staring imploringly at him, eyes earnestly searching for some sign that he could trust him. He wanted, quite a bit, to trust him on this. To simply, finally open up about everything and, for once in his life, be completely free of secrets with just one person. Better still, the thought he could truly be exorcised of his ghosts without loosing one of the greatest things in his life. To have someone see him like he would never have thought possible, and not shy away at the horrors there. To be accepted.

"Jim…I have hurt you. That was never my intention." Spock took another step closer, hands clenched behind his back to refrain from reaching out to him. "Tell me what I must do."

Jim didn't think about the consequences of his request, knowing it was an illogical, unrelated demand, but one he wanted fulfilled anyway. "Can I touch your ears?"

Dark emerald sprang to life on Spock's cheeks as he blinked in surprise. It seemed a complete non-sequitur to him. It was an apparent derailment of their conversation, completely absurd and illogical in nature.

"Yes?" He answered, too uncertain in his own agreement to notice the inaccurate grammar of Jim's question.

Jim stepped forward quickly, reaching up before Spock could decide he didn't particularly like Jim's demand. He knew exactly what he was looking for, and he could have just asked, but he found the exact words stuck in his throat. That wasn't quite what he wanted to ask, but it served the same purpose either way.

It was decidedly awkward as Jim cupped Spock's ears in his hands, fingers delicately tracing their shape. He softly roved his fingers over them, mindful not to tug at the tips when he brushed them between his thumb and forefinger. Spock stared blankly into his eyes, confused and unable to detect a clear emotion or thought in relation to Jim's actions. His brown eyes opened wider when Jim found what he was looking for.

Just below his calloused fingertips, on Spock's left ear, was the slightest trace of a scar. It was naked to the visible eye, but the skin there was of the slightest different texture, noticeable only by someone who knew what to look for and was intimately familiar with the feel of long healed scars. Jim's other hand fell to his side as he continued to probe the small scar, surveying the damage that had once freely bled by willful design.

The room was no longer filled with awkward, tense confusion. Instead, Spock thoroughly understood the relation of Jim's request to what he had done. Not all of Jim's scars could be so easily detected, and indeed, those dark ones, hidden away, spoke loudest of feeling rejected. He raised his own hand to encompass Jim's, fleeting embarrassment ignored.

"I have already accepted you as you are, Jim." Spock told him truthfully. "What has occurred in the past to make you this way is included in that acceptance."

Jim flushed at the admission, thumb still tracing small patterns across the overwrought flesh. "Then don't leave me."

"I will stay as long as you desire me to." He gently lowered Jim's hand, brown eyes filled with determined ebony swirls.

There was a tentative truth there, silently waiting for one of them to seize it. Jim drew his hand back, smiling ever so slightly.

"Thank you. I…I'm actually pretty tired. I think I'm going to go to bed, so…" He glanced away. "I guess I'll see you in the morning. Goodnight, Spock."

"Goodnight, Jim." Spock bowed his head in allowance and turned to leave, feeling like his abrupt dismissal was a sign of some deeper issue between them.

He would not question it, though. Jim wished to be alone, now, and he would grant him that. It seemed he could do nothing else right tonight, so that in the end all he could do was follow Jim's request. Jim's emotions had been eerily blank, apparently the lessons on meditation improving his own skills in burying his feelings. Spock would meditate on the matter, and attempt to discern what he could further do to prove to Jim his sincerity.

… .. .

"What the hell…at fuck all in the night…" McCoy grumbled, tightening the towel around his waist as he moved to answer the pounding on his door. "I'm trying to shower Jim."

He yanked the door open to a disturbingly calm Kirk. Stepping aside for the almost catatonic man, he watched in wonderment as he came in and stood perfectly in place, saying nothing in greeting, nor making to sit or pace as was usual. McCoy hurried back into the bathroom to dress in record time and was mildly distraught to find Jim hadn't moved an inch in the time it had taken.

"Jim…" McCoy scowled when he received no response. "Do I need to get a medkit in here?"

Jim looked up at that, but was still a blank wall, unemotive. McCoy crossed his arms, considering what more he could possibly say to get a rise, or at least some kind of response from him.

"Should I hypo you?" No response, extremely worrisome. "Do I need to ask Spock what is going on?"

Jim sprang to life at that, cheeks flushing a vibrant red, hanging his head in embarrassment. McCoy watched in interest as Jim twisted the hem of his gold command tunic, chewing at his lip. He shut his eyes, taking a deep breath, then opened them again, fixing McCoy with a desperate look.

"I need help."

"Obviously." McCoy answered impulsively, even as he questioned the quavering in Jim's voice.

"I'm serious." He snapped. "I…Shit. I though I was in over my head before."

"Oh this can't be good." McCoy winced, directing him to sit down. "What happened this time?"

Jim sat down heavily, sinking almost bonelessly onto the bed, to stare down at his hands and consider what to say. McCoy glanced at his desk, yet another hiding place of sometimes very necessary alcohol, and briefly considered how bad this night was going to be. When Jim looked up at him, making a face as serious as any he'd ever seen him take into a fight that meant something, he dropped the thought of alcohol. If it had been something bad, but, in the end, was small potatoes, alcohol was a decent antiseptic for the initial pain. This clearly was going to take something a little more serious.

"Spock."

McCoy quirked an eyebrow at him. "Okay, good to know…what does he have to do with this? Did he do something?"

"No, Bones." Jim furrowed his brow, a desperate look on his face. "I…he…he promised to stay."

"Was he planning on leaving?"

"Nng…not exactly, no…it's complicated. But it was the way he said it. It was so…so real, Bones." Jim heaved a sigh. "I don't know what to think. He said he's already accepted everything about me, even if I haven't told him it yet. How can he just say that?"

McCoy rolled his eyes at the exasperated tone Jim had taken. "Some people find they trust someone, and aren't constantly looking for some flaw in order to run away."

"I never looked for flaws in you." Jim protested.

"You didn't have to. And that made it easier on you to trust me. I wasn't Mr. Perfect, got-my-shit-together, can-do-no-wrong. There was no point in thinking I was hiding some dark shit when you'd already seen some of my worst." McCoy sighed, knowing the light tone did nothing to show how shaken Jim was. "Face it, Jim. You're a captain, and you've already proven you're a responsible guy. People are going to put their trust in you. Especially people who you've managed to worm you way under their skin."

"I'm hardly under Spock's skin." He knew arguing against the rest of that would get them nowhere.

McCoy shook his head, greatly amused by that. "Yeah Jim, you are. You're under his skin and swimming in that green blood of his. Nothing you can do about it now. You're stuck with him, like a loyal dog trotting along with its master."

"None of that made a lick of sense." Jim informed him testily, scowling. "And he shouldn't trust me. We've been back and forth all last month. We hardly know each other. It was just a few weeks ago we'd finally gotten past our utter hate fests. Or did you forget that?"

"Who could?" The abrasive doctor grunted. "I don't expect you to really understand, since you don't trust him-"

"I do to!" Jim yelped.

McCoy rounded on him with a snap. "Then why are you so quick to presume he's just going to dump you like a sack of overripe peaches? You either don't trust him, or you don't want to trust him because then you'd have to accept that maybe you can move on and have real relationships that aren't based on some weird sense of mutual responsibility and masochism. You don't want a relationship deeper than trusting someone with your life, because than feelings get involved and you're scared you'll get hurt."

Jim gaped at him in shock, surprised by the outburst. McCoy continued anyway, ignoring the soft sputtering from the man beside him.

"Guess what, though, Jim. We aren't just patching each other up anymore. You came to me because there were feelings involved tonight and I'm the closest thing you have to someone you can talk about feelings to. It took us the ass end of forever to get to the point where our relationship could almost be called a normal, if a bit close, friendship, but we're there. Get off your damn high horse and accept what Spock's offering you because I'd bet you a life-time supply of Alderian firewater that Spock has a problem with the whole 'feelings' aspect of your relationship too and doesn't really have anyone he can call a friend besides Uhura." McCoy heaved in breaths, angry rant taking a bit from him.

"I…"

"I swear to God if you waffle about I'm going to leave you hypoed, in your underwear, in a Jefferies tube."

"That's…specific." Jim frowned.

"Jim…"

"I didn't realize you thought I was pushing you away." Jim started softly. "And I'm sorry for that. I'm not trying to keep you at arm's distance. I'm just…you're right. I'm afraid I'm going to get hurt. I've trusted too many people who hurt me to just blindly hand it over anymore."

"Isn't that how the heart works?" McCoy asked sourly.

"What I'm trying to say…" Jim rolled his eyes at him. "Is that you're right, and I should be giving Spock more of a chance. I think I need to pay more attention to our relationship and figure out what is going on with it. If I just barrel into this blindly, we're both going to get hurt."

He missed the doctor's sharp inhalation. McCoy just knew what Jim would find if he opened himself up and started looking hard enough. That smacked of trouble. It was too late, now, for him to protest though.

"That almost sounds like the mature decision." He said sarcastically.

"Gee, thanks." Jim rolled his eyes. "You'd think I never made one of those."

… .. .

"Two days." Jim mumbled around his bacon, no more sure of what he was doing than he had been the night before.

Speaking to Spock had been anything but illuminating on the issues of the crop failure. He had almost hoped talking it out with Spock would make something click, but the only thing he found out last night was that Spock was a very forgiving guy and Bones had finally gotten fed up with his bull. That, and he had some serious re-evaluation of his life he apparently needed to do. He was almost as tired of being a kid as everyone was having to deal with his childish behavior.

"Jim…May I join you?" Spock appeared out of nowhere, waiting patiently to be accepted or declined.

"Uh…Of course." Jim nodded quickly.

Across the canteen, his senior crew was glaring at his table with pure exasperation. Scotty wasn't bothering to look over.

"They fought again, didn't they?" Sulu asked, eyes darting between them and his pancakes.

"It sure looks like it." Uhura sighed.

"Iz looking like vhat?" Chekov asked as he approached, then sighed when he realized they were looking at Jim and Spock. "Iz Keptin und Kommander again?"

"Don't worry about it." Sulu said quickly, pulling his eyes from their table.

"Iz not much I can be doing. They are like pre-varp society. Ken not be given the knovledges too soon or they vill not be readiez for it."

"What?" Uhura spoke, but all three of them looked at him.

"Iz apt, da? Ve are knoving they are on werge of finding information on ovn, but they vill not be beliwing if ve tell them. They vill fight against knovledges if giwen too soon. So they are hawing to figure out on their ovn, and they are wery slouv in doing so." Chekov sighed knowingly, earning confused looks.

"What knowledge?"

"That they are being in lowves, duh." Chekov rolled his eyes.

There was a stunned moment of silence as Sulu and Uhura processed that Chekov was apparently aware of the tentative, impending relationship just close to happening between their command team. Scotty seemed to be contemplating the kids way of putting it.

"Aye, tha's pretty fittin' laddy." Scotty broke the silence.

"Since when did you know about that?" Sulu choked out.

"Iz obwious from start of mission. They vere hawing looks on bridge."

"L-looks?" Uhura choked, flushing.

"He's righ' on tha' one." Scotty chuckle. "Right eye se-"

"Stop!" Sulu coughed in alarm. "Both of you stop!"

"Do not be telling you had no noticed!" Chekov said, alarmed.

"We didn't know you noticed!" Uhura whispered urgently as a crewmember passed.

"Iz not problem, iz it?" Chekov asked worriedly. "I am knoving you vere inwolwed vith Kommander."

"Does everyone know-" Uhura started in exasperation.

"You weren't exactly subtle." Sulu admitted.

"We were talking about their love life, I believe." Uhura growled. "And how we can get them together without just telling them."

"There are way too many plots going on in this ship." Sulu groaned, dropping his head to the table.

Back at their table, Jim and Spock were decidedly silent. Mostly because they weren't sure what to say to break the silence. Jim had no idea where to go with a conversation, since they were entering an entirely new area of relationships to him. It occurred to him there was still one aspect of their relationship that hadn't changed.

"How are things going in the science department?" His voice didn't waver, thankfully, but his tone was tense.

"All experiments are in order, Captain." Spock replied easily, though his eyes held a measure of relief. "You may find one in particular of interest though."

"Oh?" Jim perked up.

If Spock said it would be interesting…

"The ensigns you became acquainted with prior are attempting to isolate the chemical structure of the Keruvian moss."

"What?" Jim laughed. "Why?"

"I was told it was in the hopes of making not only a binding solution, but a solvent against it as well." Spock looked mildly amused, like the whole idea was pleasantly ridiculous.

"And you approved this?" Jim shook his head in surprise.

"Indeed. I encouraged it as an exercise in analysis and synthesizing of foreign substances. It is a subject I have found their education to be lacking in." Spock admitted.

Jim frowned. "I haven't really had a good chance to look at what classes my younger crew members have been missing. I've been getting reports from every department about needing extra hours for more elaborate training. Every time I sit down to figure out what lessons I can order in mass, I end up swamped with so much other paperwork."

"If I may, Captain…" The look on Spock's face implied he had a suggestion.

"By all means."

"It would not be particularly difficult to discern the needs of my own department. Perhaps such would also be the case with the other department heads?"

"Yeah, okay…where are you going with this?"

"In addition to the required lessons not completed by the junior staff, there are far more detailed lessons, more specified in the least, that would prove beneficial." Spock steepled his fingers. "I would suggest the implementation of an educational system, to be added to the work rotation, for continued education of all personnel."

"That's quite a bit of work." Jim pointed out, not really disagreeing. "But at heart, the Enterprise is a learning vessel, isn't it?"

"My thoughts exactly, Captain." Spock's lips twitched through a smug smirk. "It would encourage the education necessary for specialization that much of the crew would not otherwise receive."

"We'd need data disks recorded by some of the highest in the fields." Jim hummed thoughtfully. "I think you'd find, though, that most of the crew would take to the information willingly. Obviously they'll be given real time to work on it, but don't be too surprised if people start spending their free time with their noses buried in a data chip of the latest scientific material or something."

"I have no doubt of this, Jim." Spock gave him the slightest smile.

"Sneaky Vulcan." He accused in amusement. "You want to get the crew excited over learning. You're hoping they'll be more prepared for exploratory missions if they don't just have basic Starfleet knowledge."

"I have no reason to deny such."

Jim laughed enthusiastically. At times like that he couldn't help but wonder how he ever managed to be uncomfortable around him. Spock seemed like just the kind of person he would be friends with, assuming of course that they managed to get that far. His sharp but subtle wit and stealthy humor was something Jim enjoyed immensely.

Spock ducked his head to resume eating, feeling decidedly better than he had the night before. After leaving Jim, his actions weighed heavily on him. He was coming to understand the quick, resourceful mind, not a contradiction, but a far expansive range of understanding. It was his strange ability to see both sides of the boards, from different perspectives than his own, that made him such a dangerous tactician, in both fighting and friendship. Spock rather enjoyed that quick cunning.

It seemed they were becoming quiet proficient at determining the other's line of thinking.

"Hurry up and finish eating." Jim ordered. "We should get to the bridge."

"Of course, Captain." Spock inclined his head in agreement.

… .. .

"Spock, get over here. I need you."

Jim's disgruntled announcement came after an over exaggerated groan that had caught most of the crew's attention. Spock came over quietly, immediately peering down at Jim's PADD, to assist him as much as he could. He noticed immediately that the captain had improperly filled out a form, out of order no less.

"Captain…" Spock's eyes cast blatant disapproval in his direction. "While I understand your current intent is to alert Starfleet command to the…absurdity of unnecessary paperwork, perhaps you should consider allowing yourself a reprise? You are making sophomoric mistakes that you are normally quite capable of avoiding."

Jim glared up at him through the lecture. "Spock, can I speak with you a minute?"

He noticed him tense before nodding. Jim cast a look in Sulu's direction as he stood. When his pilot nodded, he lead Spock off the bridge and into the nearest briefing room. They stared at each other in silence a moment.

"I'm not doing any unnecessary paperwork." Jim blurted out.

"While that is technically true-"

"No, Spock." Jim cut him off, shaking his head. "You don't get it. The admirals aren't pissed at me. Well, okay, there were a few scathing, sarcastic remarks, but check a holo feed every now and then. They've been lauding me to the media as responsible."

Jim wasn't sure if he should be laughing when Spock's only reply was the upward sweep of his brows.

"I've been getting updates from some of my…less admiral friends." Jim admitted, shrugging. "Apparently it's been a big deal that everyone thinks I'll just hotshot my way through my paperwork and, get this, make up captain's logs. Now, the original paper load I still have no idea on, but when I delved into filing every contrite piece of paper I could find…at first media was skeptical, saying I had you doing most of the work, but with specifics from engineering, medical, all that being carefully leaked by Starfleet to make my entire crew look like they're busting their asses? That changed me from the rebel hero who took over a ship to do what needed done, and then never gave it back, to the Federation poster boy."

"I would not presume you would find that pleasing." Spock admitted, still considering what he was being told.

"Oh I hate it." Jim laughed. "But this is good. If I keep this up, my crew will get full reign again and I won't be playing lapdog. We'll actually get to explore the unknown sometime during this five year mission."

"You have put much consideration into this." Spock accused.

"Does that really seem surprising?" Jim frowned, tone no longer as light.

"No." He found himself entirely truthful in that answer. "But it is intriguing. You are quite aware that, in all likelihood, you have made a difficult situation for yourself?"

"It's not that bad." He pushed back his blond hair with a sigh. "Once the media gets used to the idea that I can apparently do no wrong, Starfleet will bitch at me to stop sending so much paperwork, because the only use they have for it is to show it off. I fill out a few extra reports that look good every now and then, that can be used for leaks, and people go on thinking I'm working at the same level as before."

"This had not been your original intent."

"Plans change."

"If you would like, I will go over your reports to ensure they are accurate before they are sent out." Spock inclined his head to him, conceding that the discussion was over.

"Thank you." Jim hummed, rubbing at his sore neck. "It would help a lot."

"Is there anything else, Captain?"

Jim looked over at him, honestly wondering if there was. So far, everything was in order. So far they couldn't find any problem worse than an old fungus that was a day and a half from being eradicated, because the scientists on his ship were geniuses and had three different, viable plans for eradicating it. Jim shook his head no, even as he started towards the door.

Spock was between him and the door. He hadn't though about it when he first started moving, but the fact that he stopped, toe to toe with him meant he really should have been thinking about it. Spock tilted his head ever so slightly, looking mildly confused by the sudden intrusion. And, rather than use that brain of his, like he promised himself he would, Jim reached up, fingers grazing the scar on Spock's ear. Spock didn't tense, by some miracle of Vulcan training, but Jim felt the extra heat under his fingers as blood rushed to his ears.

He coughed awkwardly, drawing his hand back. "T-that's all, thank you."

Spock stared after him a moment, willing his heart beat to return to it's normal rate. He would not allow Jim to see how he had startled him. He had given him permission and, as he should have known with Jim, he would have to revoke it if he wished for him to stop. He chose to ignore the logic of considering this option in favor of returning to his work.

The crew was suspiciously silent when they both returned. They remained silent through the shift as Jim and Spock conferred on the documents he was detailing.

As soon as the shift was over, Jim set aside his paperwork. "Hey Sulu, Bones finally released me to do what I want in the exercise rooms. Want to go a few rounds?"

He missed the look Spock shot him, and no one else was fluent enough in his moods to decipher it. Sulu shrugged, stretching as he stood.

"I could use a good match." He grinned. "Think you can provide one?"

Jim did. And not just for Sulu. The majority of his off time, he spent sparring members of his security crew. He barely remembered to stop for a bit to eat before he headed back to his room to sleep. He knew it had been rude to basically cancel his plans with Spock but, after what happened in the briefing room, he wasn't exactly willing to touch Spock more than absolutely necessary. At least, not until he figured out why he wanted to.

… … .. . .. … …

Have I mentioned how very slow progressing this fic is? Because it is.